First Copy Free
Oct. 4, 2011
Volume 14, Issue 2
theAccent.org
NEWS New law to require student vaccinations | Page 4
CAMPUS The voice, roots behind Tje Austin | Page 8
News → Events
News → Student Government Association
SGA secretary resigns
Students volunteer to help feed families Walter Challapa
Requirements for clubs, organizations stir up student controversy
Lead Photographer
Karissa Rodriguez
Editor-in-Chief
Standing up for his beliefs and unwilling to compromise for the sake of avoiding conflict, Student Government Association (SGA) Secretary Ryan May said he resigned from his position Sept. 24. May said that he quit after feeling intimidated into signing an officer commitment agreement form before reading the new fall 2011 Student Clubs and Organizations Handbook, which he believed to contain several detrimental requirements for clubs and organizations. “I felt like I was put into a place where I had no options,” May said. “If I didn’t sign it, the student government then starts to fear that we’re not going to have funding and represent the students.” There are 19 club requirements and 21 organization Student Life requirements that must be met in order to become a recognized club or organization broken down into varying categories, according to the handbook. May is not the only person vocalizing their disapproval of the student clubs and organizations requirements, the Facebook account Fix Studentlife emerged online last week criticizing not only the handbook, but Student Life as a department and Student Life Director Cheryl Richard as well. Facebook page ACC Underground was also created last week but has served more as a place for students to communicate about all ACC-related issues. According to a Facebook post by Student Life, both Fix Studentlife and ACC Underground have been blocked from posting anything on Student Life’s Facebook page. The groups were blocked because Student Life felt even though they encourage students to express themselves, they fear the groups will post false information, Student Life Communications Coordinator Lori Blewett said. Fix Studentlife said only four student clubs and organizations were approved and the rest were denied, which is inaccurate. Blewett said as of Sept. 29, 17 clubs and organizations are approved, 12
LIFE & ARTS Fantastic Fest highlights and more | Page 10
Adrienne Sparks•Staff Photographer
STEPPING DOWN — Government major Ryan May, an advocate for problem solving between student clubs and organizations and the Office of Student Life, resigned from his position as SGA Secretary Sept. 24. May said he still wants to participate and represent students in SGA despite his resignation. are under review and none were denied. a part of the process.” She said Student May said Fix Studentlife has not life constantly solicits feedback, posts offered constructive solutions to student surveys and is available on all campuses. concerns about Student Life, and suggests Richard said Student Life’s mission working with Student Life would be more is to provide resources to enable their productive than attacking them online. students to succeed in the classroom and He wants students to have a voice, and beyond. said he and a number of students don’t “Every day our team comes to work feel like they do. to engage with students and provide May said the Student Organizations them meaningful student development and Clubs Council (SOCC) should review opportunities in the best way we know the handbook to adress concerns. how, and that is what we will continue to SOCC is a new council this semester do,” Richard said. created by Student Life as a way to improve communication. Look for an in-depth follow-up story “We are always open to improving to this story in the Oct. 25 issue of The how we do things in Student Life,” Accent. Individuals can also visit www. Blewett said in an email. “That’s why we theaccent.org to read the handbook or the created the [SOCC] — so students can be requirements.
Six members of the Austin Community College Phi Theta Kappa honor society (PTK) made community food donations ready for distribution to hungry families on Sept. 22 at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas (CAFB). Students Kathryn Morryn, Marcelo Uriegas, Huong-Annie Vo, Kenneth Reeves, Christie Taylor and Tanya Sandler volunteered from 6-8:30 p.m. at the CAFB building on South Congress Avenue. There they handled different kinds of alimentary products, cleaned containers, inspected expiration dates, labeled products and sorted and made boxes of food ready for distribution to CAFB’s partner agencies and their clients. “We volunteer to come here,” Morryn said. It is her first semester as a leader of this group, and she said she believes this activity will help hungry Central Texans. One of PTK’s goals is to give students opportunities to become scholar driven servant leaders through volunteer efforts and access to scholarships at leading universities. Students in PTK take advantage of volunteer opportunities for many reasons. “This is a release for my stress after classes, and it is important to do because we
know that we are helping hungry people,” Uriegas said. “This volunteer activity will help add to my resume because I am planning to attend the Dental School of the University of Texas in San Antonio or Houston.” Accofding to CAFB, their main mission is to nourish hungry people and lead the community in ending hunger. Since 1981, CAFB in collaboration with more than 350 partner agencies has been helping Central Texas in need by providing health food, nutritional program assistance and education. Furthermore, CAFB accomplishes its missions thanks to volunteers like ACC students. “Helping over here is the opportunity to help the community,” Taylor said. “Besides homework, classes and other obligations, it is possible to do this volunteer work with an organized schedule.” In addition to their regular operations, CAFB has helped provide food and other items to Bastrop County fire victims. The organization provides more than 17 million pounds of food and grocery products each year. Students were reminded of the benefits of their efforts by a sign posted next to the CAFB building’s exit which read: “Your time helps feed our hungry Central Texas neighbors.”
Walter Challapa•Lead Photographer
VOLUNTEER WORK — Accounting major Christie Taylor
and photographic technology major Kenneth Reeves inspect alimentary foods at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas on Sept. 22.
New → Events
News → Education
Students read their rights at debate
College cuts the cord on phone registration method
Debate teaches students about constitutional rights Era Sundar
Campus Editor
Civility and decorum prevailed as 400 hundred students discussed and debated constitutional issues at the fifth annual Constitution Debate Day Celebration held Sept. 22 at the Palmer Events Center. The event was sponsored by the Center for Public Policy and Political Studies (CPPPS), the Center for Student Political Studies (CSPS), the Student Government Association (SGA), the City of Austin, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Texas, and the American Board of Trial Advocates. Participants discussed 18 scenarios involving constitutional issues taken from current hot button topics such as same-sex marriage, multilingual election ballots, and government mandated health insurance. Peck Young, director of CPPPS, said organizers chose scenarios that demonstrate the modern relevance of the Constitution. “We have the oldest constitution still enforced in the world and the first put into effect in modern times,” said Young. “If we are to be a nation of free people, we must understand it and how it applies to us.” Economics major Ted George said he agreed with Young’s assessment. “The scenarios were rich in depth and allowed you to sink your teeth into them,” he said. “You couldn’t ask for a better discussion.”
During the discussions, attendees explored a single scenario or constitutional issue with the other participants at their table. They were able to refer to a booklet containing a copy of the Constitution, which had been given to each person at the beginning of the event. In addition to the printed materials, 47 ACC faculty, staff and community members served as facilitators to ensure that discussions at each table ran smoothly. Also, 25 constitutional guides, mostly lawyers and judges, provided legal expertise and assisted in the understanding of complex issues. Following the discussions, 36 students were chosen to present arguments for or against each of the 18 issues that had been explored. Each speaker was given one minute to present his or her position at microphones set up in the center of the room. “The student presentations were outstanding,” said Samantha Davis, president of CSPS. “It’s always inspiring to see how involved people get. Perhaps some will be inspired to become lawyers.” “It was infinitely educational,” said Charles Martinez, undeclared major. “The fact that we could share knowledge with experts that have experience in the legal system made this an amazing opportunity for people to understand the basis of what we have in this country.” Courtney Williams, a social work major at the University of Texas at Austin, shared Martinez’s positive impression but said she would like to see more women and minority participants at the event. Adjunct government professor and attorney Jeffrey Millstone moderated the
Alejandro Alvarado Staff Writer
Era Sundar•Campus Editor
CIVIL DISCOURSE — Paralegal
major Thomas White participates in the Constitution Debate Day Celebration held on Sept. 8 at the Palmer Events Center. debates and commented on the event’s relevance to students. “The preamble reminds us it’s our duty to reaffirm the constitution each generation,” Millstone said. “This unique event celebrated the Constitution, not by passive talking, but by having students engage and debate. This required time and effort by the participants and everyone got something they’ll remember.”
Austin Community College eliminated their long-standing automated phone registration option (TREG) on Sept. 22. Students received notifications through emails and postal mail informing them of the method changes. The message indicated that a trend in online registration has grown significantly high and has become the primary choice for most students. According to Kathleen Christensen, vice president of Student Success and Support Systems, the number of students using phone registration has steadily declined over the past few years with only 32 percent of all students using the phone registration in 2008, which led to an even lower 15 percent by the spring of 2011, Christensen said that security issues were also involved with the decision to eliminate the phone registration option. “Personal information like Social Security numbers are just not secure with the use of an automated phone system,” Christensen said. “It just does not conform to the law in the way that we would like it to.” Few students have felt that
the change creates problems with the registration process, but many still believe that more changes need to be added in order to improve the process. Student Kim Baker said the decision to eliminate this option was not a drawback and that the online option offers a better overview of the classes available. However, Baker said she chose to register for her first semester through an adviser to be better informed on the type of classes she needs. “I was advised that if there was a way to choose a teacher over a time and location then that would be the best way to go,” Baker said. Student Chelsea Lee said she remains neutral on the automated phone option decision, but that online registration should have a way to store students’ billing information so that it can be used for future semesters. “I found out later that my classes were dropped, so I had to start all over again,” Lee said, after assuming that her previous payment information would automatically provide payment for her current classes. For more information about registration, students can log on to www.austincc.edu/register.
FORUM
page 2
Forum → Opinion Columns
From the desk of the Editor-In-Chief
Karissa Rodriguez Editor-in-Chief
It’s funny how our world revolves around the internet. While in the middle putting together this issue - on press day no less, the internet stopped working at Austin Community College campuses. Editors grumbled about the lack of access to emails and Google for researching stories, but we kept working offline. Fortunately the black out didn’t last too long, but that got me to wondering if we rely on the internet too much in our daily lives. A Sept. 26 Pew research study of 2,251 adults, age 18 and older interviewed by phone, found that out of 79 percent of Americans who are online, as well as Americans ages 18-39, the internet ranks as a top source of information for most of the subjects surveyed.
Researchers asked people if they got information about their local communities from the internet, television, radio, newspapers, word of mouth, and other news sources. The results are not very surprising, but if most people are receiving information about their local communities online, how accurate is what they are reading? Facebook, Twitter, and other social media are rapidly becoming news sources for everyone. I find this alarming because most of the information being transmitted on the web are just snippets of information and the validity can be questionable. I whole heartedly believe that newspapers are not dying and that we are the best source for local information. Our readers can rely on us to provide them with news that matters to them. We encourage readers to reach out to us and provide us feedback on stories, photos and other published works. Leave us a comment on our website or email us a letter to the editor. After completing our first issue without a full time adviser, we received a lot of positive feedback. Let us know what you think of Accent and tell us what we are doing right or wrong because the only way to improve the paper and push ourselves forward is through hearing what our readers think of us.
Forum → Opinion Columns
OF
ALL
TRADES
DIY composted:
• Leaves, twigs, bark, grass and hedge clippings, pine needles, peat moss, algae, garden waste and young weeds. • Fruit and vegetable waste, corn stalks, peanut shells, coffee grounds, tea bags, citrus rinds and rinsed out eggshells. • Used paper towels, shredded cardboard, wood chippings, sawdust, shredded newspaper and other thin papers.
Natalie Casanova
Life & Arts Editor
Learn how to make your own compost Being a college student during these economic times is tough on the wallet. Doing or making things yourself instead of buying products and services is one way students can save money. I’ve learned to be a Jill of all trades and I want to share my penny-wise ways with readers so in each issue of the Accent I’ll be covering do-it-yourself methods for all kinds of projects. Composting is an easy and manageable way to reduce waste and save on soil and fertilizer for your home garden. What is compost, you ask? It is recycled and decomposed organic matter that can be used as a fertilizer and soil. Compost is a key ingredient for organic farming and provides a plethora of nutrients for your plants and vegetation. The only materials you’ll need outside of what you will be composting is an out-door bin and a shovel or pitchfork. You can build your own bin in a corner of your yard or find one at a local home improvement store. There are several different kinds of bins you can use – big small, covered, meshed for aeration and even round bins that are easy to roll and aerate. I suggest also getting a small covered trash can for inside your home, so you can have a receptacle close by for compostable materials. Waste materials needed for composting fall under two main categories: high in carbon brown materials and high in nitrogen green materials. Here is a list of basic substances that should be
Here are some items you should avoid adding to your compost bin: • Toxic plants such as poison ivy and oleander, diseased plants and weeds that have begun producing seeds because they may survive the composting process and spread to the rest of your garden. • Beans, bones, bread, dairy products, fish, grains, grease, meat, food items cooked in oil and pet waste. Water your compost a little bit each week, but cover it when there is rain. Too much water will make your compost stink and slow down the decay process. While the pile is decomposing it will begin to give off heat, if meat and dairy products are in the pile it will produce too much heat. Use a pitchfork or shovel to turn and aerate the contents of your compost often, so that it all decomposes at equal rates. When you add new materials, don’t pack it down, the bacteria and microbes working to destroy your pile need the air to decompose your materials. It can take anywhere from a few months to a year to fully decompose. You’ll know when some or all of your compost is ready to be used because it will begin to look like soil, crumbly and moist. The finished product will be a rich dark color, and have a strong earthy smell. You shouldn’t be able to pick out any of the original materials you put in the compost, so if it’s too lumpy or chunky it may need more time to decompose. When your pile is ready, spread it in and around your garden like you would fertilizer or soil and see your organic garden bloom full of life from the rich nutrients you just supplied it.
www.theAccent.org
Oct. 4, 2011
Forum → Editorial
Get off of Facebook
Megan McKay • staff artist
New student run Facebook accounts should offer solutions to student concerns, not add to them Staff Editorial Facebook is not a place where students should attack Austin Community College departments - nor should it be used as a tool to gather an army of students to attack the Office of Student Life for their shortcomings. One new account on Facebook has done just that. The account Fix Studentlife has been publicly attacking Student Life and Student Life Director Cheryl Richard. The creators of Fix Studentlife explained that they created the page after several students came to them expressing their frustration with Student Life. Their chief concerns include new club and organization requirements and the lack of communication between students and Student Life employees. Fix Studentlife has a noble cause, but they are going about it in completely the wrong way. Instead of offering solutions, they are just taking petty jabs at Student Life. For example, the account hosts an uploaded photo of a bell pepper in the shape of a penis with a Student Life banner affixed to it gives the assumption that Fix Studentlife is calling Student Life, well, dicks. Another ACC-related account has appeared as well that offered all ACC students a place online to share their thoughts or feelings. The page, ACC Underground has remained neutral and is offering a somewhat less biased point of view on the situation. We are not trying to define what should or shouldn’t be allowed on Facebook, but at the same time, though, what is Fix Studentlife really trying to accomplish by shouting and attacking? Offer us some solutions please. Merely creating the account and venting frustrations online is not constructive nor conducive to solving the problems between select students and Student Life. The creators behind the page also need to understand that they are 100 percent responsible for what they post online, a fact backed up by Mike Hiestand, a consulting attorney for Student Press Law Center. “If school officials — or anyone for that matter — find statements by students that are libelous or otherwise unlawful, the authors can be sued,” Heistand said in an email. Fix Studentlife has made slanderous claims against Richard. In their ‘About Me’ section, Fix Studentlife writes that “Cheryl Richard has her finger in every pie! She rules with an iron fist.” They also conclude in their letter that Richard needs to be replaced.
“FINALLY---- RETRAIN, REPURPOSE, or REPLACE CHERYL RICHARD! The woman is toxic! She is a drain. She treats her employees badly, and if you make her mad, and you are at ACC in any way, she will attack!” writes Fix StudentLife. Where are the facts behind this claim? Richard, from our point of view, has been responsive to student requests for interviews, made sure that every campus has a Student Life office and is always open to listening to students. Suing the authors of Fix Studentlife or even ACC Underground would be an extreme measure played out by Student Life officials, but they do have every right to. There is no denying, though, that Student Life does have some issues that are in need of improvement. Students online and in person have complained that when they seek advice or a solution to a problem from a Student Life employee, they hit a brick wall. Instead of receiving help, they either get sent to someone else or are told thank you for their feedback and that their issue will be addressed, but more often than not, no one ever follows up and addresses issues brought up by students. An example of this is exemplified by the resignation of Student Government Association (SGA) Secretary Ryan May. May resigned because he didn’t agree with the requirements listed on the officer agreement form that all student club and organization officers must agree to before being approved by Student Life to be an official club or organization. When May brought this issue up in an emailed letter to SGA adviser Jennifer Flowers, Richard, and Vice President of Student Support and Success Systems Kathleen Christensen, the only response he received came from Richard. “I will be forwarding the letter to the Club/Org Process holder and we will review your concerns and respond to you regarding your concerns,” Richard wrote in an email to May on Sept. 19. May hasn’t received any response since. We understand that scheduling conflicts and the overwhelming amount of hard work Student Life employees do can cause delayed response times, but that doesn’t excuse Student Life employees from ignoring student concerns and complaints. Either way, both Fix Studentlife and Student Life are notoffering solutions to issues that affect students. This needs to change. Students who feel strongly about this issue should contact Richard or another Student Life employee to voice their concerns instead of turning to Facebook to vent frustrations. To read emails and more related to this issue, visit theaccent.org.
Forum → Opinion Columns
Study buddies, study breaks will help make things easier for you and keep you from getting burned out. Study Buddies:
Nathan Bustillos Staff Reporter
Midterms are rapidly approaching and for some students that means due dates for major essays and other projects are coming up. For others, midterms equate to long, stressful weeks of studying or late-night cram sessions. Whether you’re facing strenuous hours of studying or writing lengthy essays, these websites
When it comes to finding research materials for essays or book reports, one of the best websites to find a wealth of information is questia.com. This website lets you search through thousands of scholarly books, journal articles in the areas of humanities and social sciences, as well as newspaper articles and magazines. Questia.com also allows you to highlight parts of a book and make notes on specific pages so you can use that information at a later time. Aside from that, the website also lets you save books in a “personal bookshelf” for use later on and you can generate a bibliography or works cited page directly on the website in any format you may need. With the amount of resources questia.com has, you would be hard-pressed to find
a book or some other resource that the website doesn’t have. The only downside to this website is the cost for membership. They do have a free trial but it only lasts for one day. After the 24-hour period, your membership automatically renews to one of three options that you choose when you first subscribe. The options they have available are $99.95 for one year, $49.95 every three months, and $19.95 for a one-month subscription. These prices do add up and in today’s economy, they may not be reasonable for some students. Study Breaks: Pogo.com is very similar to the website I mentioned in the last Study Buddies & Study Breaks column. Pogo.com allows users to create a free account and play hundreds of games including well-known favorites such as Scrabble, Monopoly, Yahtzee and several others. The website awards players with tokens every time you play which
you can use toward small gifts from the site. You can also enter to win daily prizes ranging from more tokens to other, larger prizes. In addition you can chat with other users either while you play or in the lobbies for every game. Pogo allows access to games by non-members, but there are limitations for guest users. The limitations for guest accounts don’t necessarily detract from the enjoyment on the website. You can still play every game available on the site for free and you can also download the games if you choose to. The only limitations are that you cannot keep your tokens and you do not have access to daily prizes. The fact that the website is completely free is an added bonus for users on top of being able to win prizes on a daily basis. Although there aren’t as many games on pogo as on onemorelevel.com, the games that are available make this site a good place for students to take a break from their studies.
Oct. 4, 2011
www.theAccent.org
Forum → Opinion Columns
Forum → Opinion Columns
Lessons learned from Middle East Staff Writer
In Bahrain over 50 people have been arrested. In Yemen over 170 people have been murdered. In Syria, the death toll went over 2000. In Libya the massacre exceeded 5000. What have all these people died for? Their right to life. Since December 2010 one Middle Eastern country after another started fighting for their rights to live happy free lives. Last December the uprising began in Tunisia where a young Tunisian man named Mohamed Bouazzizi set himself on fire in response to the confiscation, by authorities, of the cart he sold fruits and vegetables in to support his five younger siblings and parents. During that time, Tunisia was suffering from high unemployment rates under the rule of a dictator, then President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. As a result of feeling humiliated by the dictatorships ruthless treatment, Mohamed burned himself and died days after due to the injuries. His death inspired many Tunisians to revolt against Abidine, and despite the high death toll they suffered from as well, they kept demonstrating into January 2011 to overthrow the president until they did so with success, unseating the president and having Interpol (international Police Criminal Organization) running after him for possession of expropriated property and for transferring foreign currency abroad as stated in an Al-Jazeera English website article. Not much longer after Tunisia overthrew their president, Egypt followed in their footsteps overthrowing another dictator, Hosni Mubarak, who for decades silenced many of his people to a life of poverty. Following Egypt, Libya, during February decided to revolt against their ruling dictator, Muammar al Qaddafi, whom in an attempt to control his people had his loyal forces brutally kill thousands of people in order to maintain his place in power. However once again the will of the people was above the president; and with the help of Libyan rebellions and NATO, Qaddafi was taken out of power and is now on the run. Other countries now revolting include Bahrain, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Syria is a sorrowful case, where in an attempt to bring equality and order to the country, Bashar Alassad, the Syrian president is now torturing his revolting citizens under a life of constant fear and humiliation. Thousands have been murdered and many more tortured, not excluding the torture of
children including the famous case of Thamer Alsahri 15 and Hamza Alkhateeb 13, who where in the highest definition tortured in the most gruesome way to die. Yemen’s uprising started very recently, and again human brutality is witnessed with people being shot by snipers in deadly areas. Another country which has maintained a unique history of it’s own revolution is Palestine. For over 60 years they have been fighting for their right to their land in what is now Israel and what they do own called the West Bank. There are currently ongoing discussions in the UN for whether they should have a country of their own established, and whether their name be added to the UN. For more information visit english. aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/ unpalestine/ One may wonder after reading this, what is it that keeps people so persistent in this fight? Under the extreme pain and tears there is a part of humanity that cannot give up it’s right to life and dignity. The Middle Eastern civilians will no longer put up with humiliation. Their courage is indefinable and their faith in God is strong. Although countries like Tunisia, Egypt and Libya have overthrown their governments, they still have a long journey in setting up a new one. Not to mention that a war torn country like Libya still remains to be reconstructed. These countries will suffer from the pain they experienced, but future generations will be able to look back proudly knowing that their past generations did not remain silenced by cruelty. The Middle Eastern Revolution is a wonderful example of how humans still continue to fight for their unalienable rights. Although it is painful to read about, it is important to introduce this issue to students, giving them a wider perspective on what is happening around the globe, it is a tap into the shoes of other people who want their voices to be recognized. All the information written in this article was obtained from Al-Jazeera websites, however most news channels include information about the uprising. The only difference is how much is reported about each country. Libya got a lot of attention due to the fact that it is considered a high oil country. However Syria, which is still suffering daily did not receive as much attention here in the United States. The message in this last sentence is to encourage students to explore different media channels and learn more about different perspectives.
corrections In the Sept. 20 issue of the Accent we identified the writer of a letter to the editor as anonymous. The writer should have been identified as Tod Beardsley. In the article Students invited to debate rights, Samantha Davis should have been attributed as the president of the Center for Student Political Studies. On our staff box, Kelly MacNiven’s name was misspelled. We apologize for all errors made. Errors found in the paper should be reported to editor@austincc.edu.
Advertising 512.223.0122
R.B. tests positive for rabies
Editorial 512.223.0393
Alexander Aries Staff Writer
Austin Veterinary Hospital-Shocking news was announced Saturday, when ACC district
Fax 512.223.0904
RRC, 4400 College Park Drive, Room 2107 Round Rock, TX 78665 Editor-in-Chief...........................................................................................................Karissa Rodriguez Photo Editor.......................................................................................................................... Joey Gidseg Layout Editor.................................................................................................................Elizabeth Brown Web Editor........................................................................................................ Dana Manickavasagam Campus Editor.........................................................................................................................Era Sundar Life & Arts Editor ...................................................................................................... Natalie Casanova Multimedia Editor...................................................................................................... Edgar Rodriguez Accent Adviser.................................................................................................................position vacant Student Life Director.................................................................................................... Cheryl Richard Student Life Communications Coordinator............................................................Lori Blewett Staff Reporters: Birdie Michaels, Layla Elayyadi, Nathan Bustillos Lead Photographer: Walter Challapa Staff Designer: Kristen Sauls Writers: Joshua House, Alexander Aries, Alejandro Alvarado, Aaron Davis, Rozanna Yousef, Kristina Pollard, Jessica Blair Photographers: Adrienne Sparks, Sarah Grover, Ashley Udell, Bethany Wagner Staff Artist: Megan McKay ACC President/CEO Dr. Richard Rhodes Board of Trustees Dr. Barbara P. Mink—Chair, Jeffrey Richard—Vice Chair, John Michael V. Cortez—Secretary, Tim Mahoney, Nan McRaven, Dr. Victor H. P. Villarreal, Guadalupe Q. Sosa, Dr. James W. McGufee, Allen H. Kaplan All rights reserved. All content is the property of Accent and may not be reproduced, published or retransmitted in any form without written permission from the Office of Student Life. Accent is the student newspaper of Austin Community College and is printed by the Austin American-Statesman. Accent is published biweekly. ACC students may submit articles for publication in Accent to RRC’s Student Publication Office, Room 2107; e-mail articles to accent@austincc.edu or fax submissions to 223-0904. ACC does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, political affiliation or disability. Accent offers ACC’s faculty, staff, students and surrounding community a complete source of information about student life. Accent welcomes your input, as well as information about errors. If you notice any information that warrants a correction please e-mail accent@austincc.edu. Individual views, columns, letters to the editor and other opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of Accent.
spokesman Shaun Adler confirmed reports that R.B. Bbhoggawact, more commonly known as “The Riverbat,” has contracted rabies. The Riverbat has been ACC’s mascot since November 2010. “Anyone who knows him has probably noticed his recent odd behavior,” explained Adler. “He’s just not been himself.” Suspicion arose following The Riverbat’s performance at last week’s intramural kickball game. “He was acting really strange,” recalls Jessica Anderson, one of the kickballers. “It was like he was confused, like he didn’t know where he was.” Commenting on his foaming mouth, she added “I though he just worked
up a bit of a lather…he had been flopping around all over the place.” Rabies is a viral infection that attacks the central nervous system and causes acute encephalitis. It is characterized by flu-like symptoms which progress to confusion, paralysis, anxiety, paranoia and hallucinations. If not treated in the early phase of the infection the usual result is death. “I warned him not to hang out with those other bats!” lamented Matt Smith, a friend of The Riverbat. “Every year, it’s the same thing. Those other bats come to Austin and roost under the Congress Avenue Bridge and just party all the time!” Mr. Smith places the blame squarely on the migratory
bats. “If he hadn’t gone over there all the time, then this never would’ve happened!” Doctors at the Austin Veterinary Hospital said The Riverbat will remain in the ICU for the foreseeable future. They urge any students who have had contact with The Riverbat to immediately seek testing for rabies. “We’re lucky we caught him when we did,” said Dr. Nathan Friedman. “Any later, and there would be no hope at all.” For now, The Riverbat continues his struggle surrounded by his sixty wives and ninety-eight children. Well-wishers can send words of encouragement to The Riverbat at the Austin Community College website.
Forum → Letters
ACC professor pens open letter to Mohammad Khazaee, Ambassador and Permanent Representative, United Nations, representing the Islamic Republic of Iran Dave Hill
Guest Columnist
Re: Denial of education to citizens Dear Ambassador Khazaee, Since when is education illegal? This letter is to re-inform and remind you of a grave injustice committed by your government against some of its own citizens. It’s about education. This injustice occurs in the nation you represent, the Islamic Republic of Iran. Your government has denied many of the most basic rights to the Bahai minority, simply because of their religious faith. The denial of rights includes denial of access to education. Since when is education illegal? In the eyes of the just people of the world, the Bahai’s of Iran have committed no crime. In the eyes of their government, their faith is their crime. Their latest “crime” is the Bahai Institute of Higher Education (BIHE). After Bahai students were expelled from public
schools and colleges, and Bahai professors and staff were dismissed from their jobs by government orders, the BIHE was formed as an alternative, in order to educate youth who became victims of a most cruel and heartless government sponsored discrimination. In the aftermath of the expulsions and firings, the BIHE, an originally informal institute, was organized to train Bahai and other youth for academic endeavors and professional opportunities in their nation and beyond. The institute has subsequently gained recognition in academic circles as an institute that prepares students for additional studies in many nations. The students could even improve your nation. Now the BIHE has been declared illegal by the government of Iran. Since when is education illegal? On May 21 of this year, the Iranian regime conducted raids on the homes of BIHE staff. Some 39 homes in Teheran, Karaj, Isfahan, and Shiraz were
Corner
Literary
Rozanna Yousef
Forum | Page 3
searched and 18 people were arrested. According to reports from your own government, 11 of these individuals are now charged with “conspiracy against national security” for establishing “the illegal Bahai Institute of Higher Education”. Since when is education illegal? The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948. Article 2 forbids discrimination against anyone based on several criteria, including religion. Article 26 states, in part, “Everyone has the right to education.” Iran proudly states on their UN website that they are a founding member of the UN. Since when is it OK for Iran to fail to live up to its UN obligations? Since when is education illegal in your nation? In the worldwide community of education and higher learning of today, there can be few if any circumstances that are more egregious than those perpetrated by your government upon the BIHE.
Any college or university whose core mission is to educate the youth of today and the professionals of tomorrow should be outraged. Please explain why the academic world should be silent, when your nation has made education illegal. Regards, Dave Hill, Adjunct Department of Geology Austin Community College Austin, Texas PS: There is more information on Facebook where you can read “Conspiracy to Educate: Guilty as Charged” University World News online newspaper: universityworldnews.com in Issue 187, dated 04 September 2011 CNN: ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC611164?ref=feeds%2Flatest kxly: www.kxly.com/ education/28077800/detail. html.
Creative writing by Austin Community College Students
Kristina Pollard Staff Writer
THE SUSCEPTIBLE FEMINIST
She was the sort of woman, who upon entering a room, immediately compelled every other double x chromosomally inclined life form to question their own femininity. There were few moments in the day when she didn’t look as if she had just exercised her libido though she often claimed that she was not prone to brief romantic encounters. Thus was the way her hair was tussled and her cheekbones were flushed over naturally that she constantly appeared to have just been loved. Lingering was one of her specialties and she practiced this art in several places in which lingering was loudly discouraged including elevators, open houses and college campuses in which she did not attend. In fact she did not attend anything. She had no job and kept no friends. Her life seemed brilliantly confined to the moments in which she walked into a building she did not belong and the moments in which she floated out. Her demeanor often led strangers (which were coincidentally the only type of people she interacted with) to believe that her veins were rich with royal blood. She relocated her life every seven months and only took apartments with the number sixty-nine, because she enjoyed the opportunity for the witty conversation that it provided. She was careful to consume less than four hundred and fifty calories a day though her body was well accustomed to this strict regimen and she seldom felt hungry. On all of her lingering adventures she was accompanied by a book and several critical eyes. It was on one of the unique occasions that she did not have with her a ridiculously large tome that a certain man saw her and realized he needed to kill her. It was not a thought that spontaneously sprung into his mind as morbid thoughts are like to do but a compulsion that hardened his skin and made him ache with the force of the necessity of the act. He was a soft man with feminine features and was constantly falling prey to the more masculine members of his gender. By way of twisted downward social comparison he found solace from his torture in the fact that he was at least more physically competent than those who bore the children. In him was a gruesome universe of hatred that leaked from his pores and infected those with unfortunate proximity. The origins of his contempt for society as a whole are not easily traced but what is known is that on a disturbingly humid night in Texas he sat in a restaurant and thought of ways that he would murder a pretty lady. She was at the end of the bar in the restaurant. Having given specific orders to the bartender to
not force small talk upon her (she had found and concluded that relations between customers and servers are always false as the latter’s salary is dependent upon the persuasion of said relations and so she could not enjoy them) she focused her eyes on studying the contents of the establishment. She studied faces and apparel and played stories in her head about what her life would be if she knew someone. When she discovered that she much preferred transient loneliness to the make believe underneath her curls she dropped her eyes in disappointment and noticed a man in the corner staring her way. It was she that invited him elsewhere by paying her bill, walking to the exit/entrance and glancing at him. It was that significant glance that every man hopes to receive from an attractive stranger and even he with his antisocial tendencies and almost complete lack of comprehension of the social world could recognize what the look signified. It seemed ridiculously perfect to him that he should be provided with such a solid opportunity for his blood lust and he accepted it with the grace of a man lost in the desert, glancing around suspiciously every few feet. When they had reached a location of sweet seclusion (specifically they were in the alley bordering the restaurant) she took hold of the lapels of his brown overcoat and began. These were the forms of human relations that she reveled in and as such knew how to proceed, foregoing the pleasantries. If life’s meaning could be confined to a single vision it would be the fantastic display on a human face of finding afterlife. This can be accomplished in two ways. As she was at his neck he began to find hers. His fingers discovered the veins beneath her skin and he applied pressure. At first this was not an unwelcome act and she encouraged the roughness, mirroring his less than gentle approach by biting his jaw and digging her finger nails into his forearm. A few minutes would find his style becoming more aggressive and she had just begun to realize the motivation of his actions. The word “no” was tossed around a few times before he found her mouth and abruptly put an end to her protests with his hand. He needed to draw the act out, savor every moment of terror before he destroyed her. There was the sound of clothes ripping and of jewelry falling to the ground and all this aroused in him a powerful masculinity. In her was an archaic feminine sense of danger and a realization as to the specifics of her situation. She became acutely aware of her small stature in such a world full of strong men with ill intent and the glorious anger that it provided her with. Their fight proceeded in-between grimy alley walls and beneath leaking dumpsters, punctuated frequently by quick flashes of silver. At the end there was only a pool of crimson and a figure that walked slowly away from a body.
NEWS
Page 4
www.theAccent.org
News → Crime and Safety
Oct. 4, 2011
News Briefs
Fighting bacterial meningitis Fall enrollment at an all time
high due to consistent growth
Despite the economic downturn, ACC’s enrollment continues to grow by leaps and bounds as the addition of 1,000 new students brings enrollment totals to 45,100 this semester, which is a 2 percent increase over last fall. Most of the growth occurred in Elgin ISD and Hays CISD where enrollment increased by 58 percent and 39 percent respectively. New campuses are in the works for these service areas as all existing campuses are operating at or near capacity. “We are thrilled to see growth in these important communities,” said Richard Rhodes, ACC president and CEO. “There is a clear need for increased access to higher education and ACC is committed to serving students throughout the region.” Although general enrollment continues to increase, there has been a 9 percent drop in the number of full-time students.
College organizes aid for victims of Bastrop wildfires
Dana Manickavasagam•Web Editor
SURVIVOR — Sabrina Holland (right) and her daughter Shamika Lewis (left) pose for a photo during the summer. Holland, who after completing her associate degree in May 2011 continues to take classes at ACC.
The ACC community will lend a helping hand to victims of the Bastrop wildfires through volunteer relief efforts on Saturday October 8. Efforts will be coordinated through the Bastrop Volunteer Reception Center, where volunteers will distribute food and supplies or be assigned to clear damaged properties. Work will be carried out in three phases and volunteers may sign up for the 9 a.m.–12:30 p.m., 12:30–4 p.m. or 4–7 p.m. shifts. “We are reaching out to our neighbors,” said college event coordinator Dahlia Anzaldua-Torres. “We see a community in need and we want to help.” Interested persons are encouraged to register online and indicate the shift they will attend as well as their T-shirt size, as free T-shirts will be given out. For more information contact Anzaldua-Torres, at 512-2237595 or anzaldua@austincc.edu.
State law to require new, former students get vaccinations Golf tournament to raise money Karissa Rodriguez
Editor-in-Chief
Era Sundar
Campus Editor It started with a headache in March 2009, but after several misdiagnoses and 17 hospital visits, Sabrina Holland discovered she had contracted bacterial meningitis after doctors performed a spinal tap on her. Holland was sick from March 2009 through Nov. 2009. Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord which can result in brain damage or even death. A new law has been enacted to help prevent students like Holland from contracting the disease in the future. In May of this year, Gov. Rick Perry signed the Jamie Schanbaum and Nicolis Williams Act which will require all new college students under 30 years old taking on-campus classes to receive bacterial meningitis vaccinations. ACC will be accepting proof of vaccination in the form of a physician-signed or -stamped form, official state or local immunization record, or official record from school officials.
In preparation for the new law, ACC is revising the admissions and registration process to include the requirement. Students can also go to austincc.edu/apply/ immunizations/ for more information from the college about the vaccine. The act will take effect Jan. 2012 and current students will be grandfathered in. Only new or returning former students will be required to receive the vaccine. Those with religious beliefs or whose health could be at risk if vaccinated are also exempt. The law comes two years too late for Holland, though, a 2011 Presidential Student Achievement Award winner. Holland said it took months before doctors determined she had contracted bacterial meningitis. “The doctor said I needed glasses so I got glasses,” said Holland after seeking medical advice for her headaches shortly after they began. “One doctor said I had a sinus infection so I was taking sinus infection medicine. Then the headaches came once a week and eventually I had headaches everyday. I had to take pills for headache[s] every single day.” Her headaches quickly
escalated over time. In July of 2009, Holland said she was driving with a headache when her arm went numb, followed by her tongue and she then started “talking funny.” She pulled over and called EMS. Doctors told her she had had a transient ischemic attack, which is like a stroke in that it produces similar symptoms, but they usually only last a few minutes and cause no permanent damage. Twice during her illness, Holland said she needed to be transported from ACC by ambulance and she lost 60 pounds due to her inability to eat. During her most dire hospitalization, Holland said doctors told her mother she would either “die or be a vegetable for the rest of her life.” Holland said meningitis is serious and has friends who have become deaf because of the disease. She encourages students to receive the vaccination, but not all students are happy about the new law. “I don’t like the government forcing me to get an unnecessary vaccine,” ACC student Christine Woods said. “If I want the vaccine, I’ll get it. I don’t need big brother controlling my life.”
News → Events
Giving back to the youth Phi Theta Kappa members host party for young patients at Austin State Hospital Rozanna Yousef Staff Writer
In total, 29 volunteers from Phi Theta Kappa honor society (PTK) threw a party for mentally ill children at Austin State Hospital (ASH)on Sept. 24. Around the ASH halls, an 11-year-old girl quickly ate her molten M&M’s, hoping to get away from her unit. A teenage boy described how he was given a shot in one state and woke up to find he was in another. Another boy walked around the room with a slightly odd look on his face. The hospital is currently home to 300 patients who suffer from acute mental illnesses, and according to the hospital website, the hospital focuses on treating these patients in a stress free environment with the goal of returning them to their communities. Volunteers of the event had the opportunity to entertain three groups of children for two hours. The youths consisted of boys and girls below the age of 13 as well as teenagers. The volunteers brought
pizza, cookies, donuts and other snacks to the party in addition to a couple of footballs for the children to play with. The three groups where introduced separately and volunteers got the opportunity to spend 15 minutes with each group. The 11-year-old girl said although she wanted to escape her unit, she enjoyed her time interacting with other kids her age and those around her. As for the teenage boy who found himself in Austin, he said he enjoyed the company of the volunteers and the fun they brought. A boy from the teenage group enjoyed his meal while talking to some of the volunteers about football. He asked if the volunteers where forced to come or whether they volunteered. They assured him that it was their idea. Volunteer Joanna Anderson, said the children at the hospital wanted to feel that somebody cares. In fact, all three groups seemed like they were disappointed the when the party ended. Anderson also said the children there have problems that range from depression
to bipolar disease and that although people think the children are aggressive, that is not really the case. Christina Olvera, treasurer of PTK, said she believes the event is an opportunity to clear up misconceptions about the behavior of children at ASH. “This event is very near and dear to my heart,” Olvera said. “I am all about getting the word out about how great these kids are and even more eager to clear up any misconceptions about patients of ASH.” PTK is an honor society that encourages its participants to become leaders in their community and serve their society. The program also offers scholarships to its participants. Once a student becomes a member of PTK, he or she remains a member for life. To join PTK potential members must have taken at least 12 credit hours at Austin Community College, as well as have maintained a GPA of at least 3.5 or higher. PTK plans to hold another event at the hospital sometime in November. For more information about PTK or future events, students can visit austincc.edu/ptk.
Holland offered advice for students who oppose the new law. “If you value your life go get a shot,” Holland said. “I wouldn’t see why you wouldn’t get a shot, [it’s] the same way you get vaccinated for polio or anything else. It prevents you from getting it so bad. It won’t kill you.” She said if she had known about the vaccine, she would have gotten the shot. Jamie Schanbaum, a 22-year-old Univeristy of Texas student and Paralymic gold medalist whom the new law is partially named after, warns those who have views against government mandated vaccinations to not put politics above their health. “I could have died,” Schanbaum said, who had to have her legs a some fingers amputated after contracting bacterial meningitis Nov. 2008. “I could have had mental impairments, I could have become deaf and blind … could have permanent internal lung damage and have to take 20 pills a day, and I don’t.” “That’s just lucky,” Schanbaum said. She urges people to get the vaccine, “You don’t want to go through what I went through at all.”
for student emergency fund
An opportunity for students to enjoy the golf is coming up. The Sixth Annual Austin Community College Scramble will be on Friday, October 7, at the Riverside Golf Course located at 1020 Grove Blvd. “We have over 90 players registered,” said Alicia Del Rio, coordinator of government and community relations. She said the proceeds from the registration fees will benefit the college’s Student Emergency Fund, which helps students remain in college when faced with a situation threatening the ability to remain enrolled. The ACC Golf Scramble tournament check-in is at 7 a.m. and the competition will begin at 8.00 a.m. Del Rio said registration for each participant was $75 and the even is sponsored Spaw Glass. In a scramble, each player tees off on each hole. The best of the tee shots is selected and all players play their second shot from that spot. The best of the second shots is determined and then all play their third shot from that spot, and so on until the ball is holed. “I think it is good idea to raise money and have students involved in sport activities,” said engineering major Hunter Roese. “I am not a golf fan, but I may participate in football or soccer later on.” Nursing major Michaeling Hernandez said she does not have time for golf because of classes and a part time job, but believes that sport teaches good health. “[It] helps a lot of human parts and prevents diabetes or cholesterol issues,” Hernandez said. “I think this golf event will benefit ACC students.” Thanks to the community’s ongoing support, ACC has distributed over $65,000.00 to affected students. “The Student Emergency Fund has assisted students with medical costs, housing, and other living expenses due to a misfortune, fire or illness,” Del Rio said. “Without this support, some students would have had to withdraw from college.”
News → Events
Students learn the Nuts and Bolts of forming clubs, organizations
Sarah Grover•Staff Photographer
ATTENTIVE — Students take notes and listen attentively as they learn valuable principles from the Student Life leaders at Nuts and Bolts held at the Highland Business Center Sept 23.
Oct. 4, 2011
www.theAccent.org
News | Page 5
News → Events
Faculty showcase art at annual reception
Aaron Davis Staff Writer
The image on display was at first somewhat difficult to ascertain, almost like a contradiction of itself. One could have a difficult time gaining bearings on this piece of art, which made it all the more intriguing. This was the creation of Austin Community College Professor Ashe Laughlin which was on display at the annual ACC Faculty Art Exhibit at Pump Project Gallery. Professor Laughlin, along with 45 other faculty members, is displaying his art at Pump Project until 12-5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays until Oct. 8. Here, students can see how their instructors contribute to the art community and get a first-hand view as to what their expression looks like outside of the classroom. David Thornberry, drawingprofessor at ACC’s Pinnacle campus, described the creative process behind his two pieces. “What I’ve been trying to do forever is to make my paintings less artistic and more sincere,” Thornberry said. “Less pretty and more raw or real; kind of pure I guess you could say. I just let layers and layers and layers build up and those layers become sort of more and more simplified.” Student David Thacker said, “It’s really cool to know that your professors are not only actively producing art, but that they can have the same contemporary views as we do.” Thacker said he wanted to see what his professors were involved in creating. Pump Project is an artist’s complex on the East side of Austin that not only showcases many up-and-coming artists, but also offers studios for artists in residence.
“I think that this year and last year we solved the gallery problem,” Thornberry said. “We had the problem of getting the right space, this one seems really casual and informal.” He said the space may be a touch small, but it is a good and the quality is really high. Laughlin expressed a similar confidence in the growing ability of the venue. “In the past we have gone to other venues that aren’t as cutting edge,” Laughlin said. “Pump Project is very well respected and is definitely a relevant gallery.” He said the venue is much closer to the community and much more aesthetically appealing. Laughlin said past exhibitions were held at the Dougherty Theatre which is sort of an older venue. “There’s just something fresher about Pump Project,” she said. Laughlin said goal is to change the way people look at paintings and to sort of break off from the traditional ground or surface of the painting. “I want to raise it up, so to speak,” He said. One of his works was a depth-bending piece which stood out like a playful bed of nails mounted on the wall. This piece really conveys number of things visually. From a frontal perspective, it reads as a traditional, pixilated image. From a side view, it completely changes the space in and around it. It raises the whole idea of ‘surface’ away from the traditional and conventional works. The creative process was a somewhat interesting one as it combines both natural and computer-aided techniques. First the paint is mixed into individual baby-food jars and allows them to dry. A computer router is used to drill identical, evenly-spaced holes into the
Photos by Ashley Udell•Staff Photographer
ART APPRECIATION — People gather at the Pump Project Art Complex for the Annual Faculty Exhibition reception to
view artwork created by Austin Community College faculty members on Sept. 23. A variety of work from participating faculty members is on display in the gallery through Oct. 8, and showcases pieces from Beth Schmitz of the Adjunct Jewelry Department and Ashe Laughlin of the Art Department.
wood where medical-grade Q-tips are dipped into the paint and placed in the holes. This annual exhibit continues to evolve and impress ambitious art student and curious spectators alike. It shows the inspiration behind those talented instructors who are tasked with inspiring art students into creating unique works of art. The ACC Faculty Art Exhibit will be on display at Pump Project Art Complex on 702 Shady Lane until Oct. 8th. The gallery is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 12 p.m. - 8 p.m. and by appointment.
� MODERN ART — A visitor at the
Annual Faculty Art Exhibition Reception demonstrates how to use an iPhone for an interactive art piece titled “New Dirt/ Interactive Excavator” by Brent Baggett. The work is on display at the Pump Project Art Complex along with other works by faculty members.
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Bobcat Day - Round Rock Join us at facebook.com/TexasStateRRHEC www.rrhec.txstate.edu
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CAMPUS LIFE Page 6
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Campus Life → Eastview Campus
Getting there with ACC College hosts transfer fairs, offers opportunity to meet university representatives Walter Challapa
Lead Photographer
Students gained much needed information about moving on to a four-year college or university at the fall 2011 Transfer Fair events held at the Cypress Creek, Eastview and Round Rock campuses in September. “Higher education should be a priority for all students. An associate degree is not enough. I have to go beyond and be competitive in the work place,” said kinesiology/biology major Eric Bowers at the East View Campus transfer event which was held on Sept. 23. “There are more than 20 universities over here, and this is great. Instead of visiting 20 different websites, they are all here in the same room.” Students had opportunities to meet one-on-one with University of Texas at Austin (UT) Advising Marketplace representatives at the Cypress Creek Transfer Fair. About forty-five universities were represented at the Round Rock Campus Transfer Fair which was held on Sept. 27, according to information provided by Maggie Maher from the ACC’s Office of Articulation and Transfer Resources. “UT and Texas State University were there at RRC.
Also we had another 40 schools at East View Campus for September 28,” Maher said. Lamar University, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, The Art Institutes, Texas A&M, De Vry University and Texas Tech University were among the schools in attendance. “The next event our office will be hosting is the ACC/ Texas State Networking Forum and Advising Marketplace which will be on Oct. 7 at Pinnacle Campus.” Universities with pre professional curricula were among the favorites for most ACC students because of the earning potential they provide, according to Rebecca Gay, transfer counselor of Sam Houston State University. Pre medical & criminal justice major Brittany Ford gave credence to Gay’s theory. ” Further education means to earn more money,” said Ford. “I want to go to four year university. I find in this transfer event details about GPA requirements and any other information that other students do not know.” An Air Force detachment also participated at the EVC transfer event. Captain Michael Arguello and Second Lieutenant Michael Clark explained to AAC students how they can join the Reserve Officer Training Corps, graduate with bachelor’s
Walter Challapa
Military service members who served and are still serving our nation, had the opportunity to find more educational benefits at the Humvee to ACC event held on Sept. 29 at Round Rock Campus. The transition from the battlefield to the classroom is not always easy. For this reason, this Veterans Appreciation and Open House event met Austin Community College student services staff, Veterans Affairs specialists, Financial Aid staff and the Disability Services with students who have prior military service and are looking for the next step in their careers. “Some people think that we are just killers. Our mission is to protect our country, protect the rights and the American citizens,” said Biology major and Army veteran Oreatha Easley. “I am here to continue my education. This is an excellent opportunity for Veterans. ACC just today show that they care about us.” Former Army Scout and Engineering major Joshua Geeslin chose to servce his nation first and said that he is now glad to return to school after ten years. “[Returning to college is like reactivating my education,” Geeslin said. “Some academic advisers and teachers told me weeks in advance about this, and I am here because some Non Commissioned Officers told me that with a degree I will be stronger.” The appreciation even provided veterans new to the college and returning veterans with the opportunity to see what services are available for them at ACC and mascot R.B. was in attendance also to congratulate and thank visitors for their service. The group Operation Honor Our Heroes displayed flags in honor of the more than 500 Texas troops who have died in the years since 9/11. The Texas National Guard, Austin Vet Center, Hope for Heroes, Texas State University, Southwestern University, Texans Veterans Commission, the Green Zone Resource Center, Goodwill Industries, The Samaritan center and the Travis County Office of the Constable Precinct 4 were among the organizations that attended the appreciation event held from 10.50 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. around the Building 2000 courtyard. Although suicide is a serious issue in former military members,
Transportation service to end in Round Rock Staff Reporter
Walter Challapa•Lead Photographer
INFORMATIVE — Pre-medical major Brittany Ford receives transfer information from a four-year university representative at the Fall 2011 Transfer Fair on Sept. 28 at Eastview campus. degree and become an officer in the Air Force at the same time. These transfer events were and are still open to allow ACC students the opportunity to meet with recruiters from many universities and schools. For more information those interested can go to ACC’s main calendar, or contact Maggie Maher at mmaher@ austincc.edu , or 512-223-7636. “ACC students receive a sound educational foundation
which makes them highly recruited among our university partners,” said Dr. Mary Jane McReynolds, director of ACC’s Office of Articulation and Transfer Resources. “We want to make it easy for students to learn about the many opportunities that are available to them.” Students will have another opportunity to attend a Transfer Fair on Oct. 7 at Pinnacle Campus.
Veterans invited to open house Lead Photographer
Campus Life → Round Rock Campus
Nathan Bustillos
Campus Life → Round Rock Campus
Humvee to ACC helps transition vetrans into college classrooms
Oct. 4, 2011
Maria Canchola, a Constable from the Travis County Office of Precinct 4, gave an emotional speech including solutions that are available particularly from the Veterans Affairs benefits. Canchola was not able to stop his tears when she said that Veterans are not forgotten. The Humvee to ACC event was created by Mervin Jones, an ACC counselor and Army veteran, three years ago. Jones said at that time that many military veterans were unclear about their educational benefits. The first event was held on Saturday, July 25, 2009, at ACC’s Riverside Campus. Jones gave a speech during the recent event where he assured that Veterans fought for freedom, and it is not free. “Veterans need to know they can achieve a college degree and succeed – and they’re not alone,” said Jones. “We owe them our gratitude and are committed to doing everything we can to help.”
The Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) provides demand-response bus transportation to citizens in most counties in Central Texas and the Texas Hill Country. According to the CARTS website, the service is formed by an “interlocal agreement by nine county governments in the seventy-five hundred square mile region surrounding the Texas capital city” and it is governed by a member of the Commissioners Courts for each of the nine county governments. Recently, the City of Round Rock announced that the contract between the city and the CARTS service will expire and it will not be renewed. The City of Round Rock’s Planning and Programs Administrator David Bartels said the city is currently trying to find a replacement for the service with a private contractor. Bartels said the reason for the contract not being renewed is because “CARTS is required by law to provide public transportation in a rural community. Back in 2000, the City of Round Rock surpassed 50,000 in population, so we went from a ‘rural community’ to a ‘small urban community.’” Round Rock has seen an increase in population from 60,000 in the year 2000 to 100,000 in last year’s census. Although a replacement for the CARTS demand-response service is currently in the works, Bartels says the schedule for procurement of the new service has not been set. Once the new service contract is made with the city of Round Rock, it will take
up to 90 days before the new service is actually activated. The contract between CARTS and Round Rock expires on Sept. 30 but CARTS has agreed to continue to provide service until the end of the calendar year for citizens in Round Rock. At that point, the city hopes to have a replacement transit service in place. In terms of the cost of the new transit service versus the cost of CARTS, Bartels said the difference is mainly in the fact that CARTS was a subsidized service, whereas the new service will be unsubsidized. The CARTS service cost the city $300,000 per year to continue to run whereas the new, unsubsidized service will cost $500,000 per year. One of the potential ways that will be proposed to reduce costs will be to limit ridership to the elderly and the disabled. The city will be getting guidance from the city council for things such as hours of operation to keep costs low. The City of Round Rock will hold make a 20-minute presentation to the city council to propose service changes to replace the CARTS demandresponse service. The meeting will be open to the general public and it will take place on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. in downtown Round Rock at the Round Rock Public Library. The agenda for the city council meeting will be posted on the City of Round Rock’s website one week before the scheduled meeting. For more information interested persons can visit the city’s website at www.roundrocktexas. gov and click on “Round Rock City Council” in the top left next to the picture of Mayor Alan McGraw.
rant & rave After Congress passed the G.I. Bill in 2008, veteran enrollment at colleges has soared. Do you think ACC is doing a good job educating and offering services to veterans? Why or why not?
Jenna Parry th Major H ea l
“I think they are doing remarkably well. Financial Aid, Veterans affairs, Office for Students with Disabilities and Administration are all aware because even the professors have served and are looking for help for students who are continuing and starting education. There is help available and more coming to meet. I am glad I am part of this special time.”
Matthew Clark M
a ss
Communicati
on
Walter Challapa•Lead Photographer
HONOR — Attendees view a display of flags honoring more than 500 Texas military troops who have died since 9/11 at the From Humvee to ACC event at Round Rock campus.
“I was not in the service, but some of my friends who attend ACC and were in the military feel ACC has helped them a lot. They like the way teachers make an effort to connect, engage, and assist them with their educational needs.”
Susan Bickford Social Work
Walter Challapa•Lead Photographer
SERVE AND PROTECT — Mervin Jones, an Army veteran,
creator of the Humvee to ACC, gives a speech to ACC students, former and current military members and special guests on Sept. 29 at Round Rock Campus.
Walter Challapa•Lead Photographer
FROM THE HEART — Maria Canchola, from the Travis
County Office for constable precinct 4, wipes away tears after an emotional speech at the veterans appreciation event .
“ACC does not seem to show any educational discrimination against veterans, and enrolling in benefits through the college seems to be available. There are still some difficulties like long phone waiting times, and sometimes your class certification may fall to the accountability cracks. The VA representatives do a good job working with vets, but the system could use some improvements. I’d like to see more services in the future.” Interviews and photos by Walter Challapa
Oct. 4, 2011
www.theAccent.org
Learned What I’ve
Tje Austin
Dana Manickavasagam•Web Editor
Campus Life | Page 7
Birdie Michaels
Staff Reporter
Perhaps you remember Tje Austin from NBC’s hit show, “The Voice.” If the name doesn’t ring a bell, the unforgettable afro and million-dollar smile may. Tje Austin, who’s name is pronounced “Tye,” has resided in Austin for the past ten years, deeming it home. “I never thought about making music a career until I moved to Austin, Texas,” he said. Austin studied music at Austin Community College, which he attended from 2004 until 2006. “I studied Music Publishing at the Northridge campus,” Austin said. “The classes I took there were really cool, actually. The majority of the students were singer-songwriters.” He said his commercial music management professor, Roanna Gillespie, used to work for Universal or Sony. “She is awesome.” Growing up, Austin was exposed to a menagerie of musical genres. “Everybody in my family loves music, but we all have different tastes, so I got a lot of everything,” he said. “My upbringing was unique because it was multi-cultural and Mormon with a military background,” said Austin. The soul-singer is one of nine children, whose ages now range from 18 to 38. “My parents listened to different styles of music. They didn’t want us listening to certain stuff,” he said. He chose to listen to whatever he pleased once in college. Austin, no stranger to competition, had undergone a series of three or so auditions before he was selected to be a contestant on “The Voice.” “Each one was just as nerve-wrecking,” he said. He paraphrased the response he was given after his first audition, which took place in Austin’s own Music Lab, and said, “We kinda like your vibe; we’ll get back to you.” Austin, who seems very laid-back and humble, received a call following his hometown audition. He was told to pack for up to six weeks, and that he was being flown to Los Angeles to be on NBC’s “The Voice.” Once he arrived, Austin had to participate in yet another audition before the televised, blind audition, which landed him on Cee Lo Green’s team. Austin had chosen Cee Lo over Maroon 5’s Adam Levine, who had also offered him a slot on the show. Austin was eliminated from the competition during an exceedingly close battle round. During this neck-and-neck performance, Austin and his competitor, Nakia, sang a duo. It was a rendition of Ne-Yo’s “Closer.” Nakia, a fellow Austinite, was selected to advance. Austin’s elimination has in no way affected his progress as an artist. “Being on that show has made a lot of people want to work with me,” he said. “It has provided me with a lot of credibility.” Austin is in the process of recording a third album, the production of which he described as “a long, long, long process.” “It’s like raising a kid--not making one — but raising one,” he said. Though Austin’s charm may be a major agent by which his success has grown, the production and recording of his new album has been a completely separate entity from his time spent on NBC’s competitive singing program. Living in the live music capital of the world and having an uncompromising perseverance are but a couple of the elements that have brought him this far. One must not forget that his sultry R&B vocal style is very profound. Austin has been working closely with 5th Street Studios toward the launch of his latest recording project, a forthcoming album titled “Dreamin Big.”
WEDNES DA Y TU
Joshua House Staff Writer
30 students tried out for a new dance team Sept. 24 at Northridge Campus. The dance team, Engage, will be led by Mohncesha Washington, who will be leading a squad for the first time in her career. “I’ve taught dance in schools,” said Washington. “But I haven’t had an actual team, so I’m very excited about that.” Out of the 30 girls who tried out for the team, 12 made the
cut. Those who did not make the team were able to remain a part of the program to help out the team in other ways. Some girls joined the Hype Team which will focus on pumping up the crowd and getting them excited about the team during a performance. Other girls joined the promo team. Engage will not be entering in any competitions this year, according to Washington. “In the future we hope to grow stronger in numbers so that in the future we will be able to compete,” said Washington. “My goal for this year is to get our name out there and let people know that Engage does exist.” The team will undoubtedly face a lot of adversity this year because it is the first year of the program, and Washington said that the toughest challenge she will face this year is scheduling. “[Team members] are students first and we will have to work around their class schedule and the performances conflicting with that,” Washington said.
MONDAY
Dancers engage in new team at try outs
AY
News → Sports
Engage dance team welcomes a dozen new student dancers, others to support team
Oct. 4, 2011
Y DA ES
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DAY TUR SA
Page 8
FRI DA Y
SU N D
LIFE & ARTS
SDAY UR TH
Fortnight Forecast WYE OAK
October 14, 9:00 p.m. THE PARISH. Comparable to Cat Power, the smokey vocals WYE OAK, an indie folk duo hailing from Maryland, are paired with rhythmic sounds and soft percussion.
SFC FARMER’S MARKET
October 15, 9:00 a.m.-1:00p.m. 4TH & GUADALUPE. Whether it be groceries you are in need of, or a smooth cup of iced coffee/ aqua fresca paired with the best tamale you’ve ever had, the turning of the season couldn’t be a more appropriate time to dig up your reusable bag and take a stroll. Dogs are welcome, tables and live music are provided.
GROUPLOVE
October 20, 9:00 p.m. EMO’S. Having previously toured with artists such as Bright Eyes, Grouplove’s harmonious style has been compared to that of Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse. Grouplove will be performing with Los Angeles-based duo, The Belle Brigade.
HOUSE OF TORMENT
Dana Manickavasagam•Web Editor
Dana Manickavasagam•Web Editor
STRIKE A POSE — Students practice a dance routine while preparing to audition for new ACC dance team Engage.
GRACEFUL — Natalia Rodriguez rehearses with 30 other Austin Community College student as she gets ready to try out for the dance team. Engage held dance team try outs on Sept. 24 for ACC’s first dance team.
Every Friday at 7:00 p.m. HIGHLAND MALL. It’s that time again. Deemed “one of America’s scariest attractions” by the Travel Channel, the House of Torment will unfailingly provide you with a reason to shriek.
Food for thought: South Austin Jessica Blair
Staff Writer
Figuring out what to eat between classes is an important decision for any college student. All campuses have some form of a Simon’s Cafe. However, stepping away from the campus provides other choices to fill those tummies. Accent will feature several restaurants around the different campuses. In this issue, we feature Rio Grande Campus.
Make the move to Texas A&M University with Transfer Information Day, the only day specifically designed for undergraduate transfer students!
Mr. Natural
2414-A South Lamar This is the place for a wonderful vegetarian meal or a vegan meal as well without sacrificing any flavor. Cherry Creek Catfish has so much to offer, like an everyday special that starts at 11:00 a.m. and ends at 4:00 p.m. One of their special items is the Build-Your-Own-Omelet. There is a wonderful selection of fillings to choose from including avocado, potatoes, peppers, bacon and much more. In addition to having a great omelet, there is also a choice of pinto or black beans. This restaurant provides a great value with large protions all for under a measely $15. On top of having a great menu selection, they also have great staffing performing pleasant customer service, both in the kitchen and in the dining room. The staff will gladly help with suggestions for menu selections. The decor was a beautiful and the forest green color scheme was highlighted with wonderful pictures of light and shadows. It conveyed a very comfortable and homey atmosphere. The location helps bring more people into their establishment. At the corner of Bluebonnet and Lamar, is just one of their locations. This one is about a 20 minute drive from the Rio Grande campus. This beeing said, for a quick meal between classes, this would be a great place to go to.
Scale: $ = under 15 dollars an entree $$ = 15 to 20 dollars an entree $$$ = 20 to 25 dollars an entree
Friday, October 14, 2011 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Rudder Theatre Complex
$
Photo by Dana Manickavasagam • Web Editor
admissions.tamu.edu/TID It’s Time for Texas A&M.
Oct. 4, 2011
www.theAccent.org
Life & Arts | Page 9
Life & Arts → Movies
Cliched romantic comedy hits theaters Quirky rom-com deals with searching for love in the past Joey Galvan Staff Writer
“What’s Your Number?” is a quirky romantic comedy starring Anna Faris as Ally Darling, a thirty-something city girl. Faris’ character comes to realize that she has nothing to show from the multitude of ex boyfriends from her past. Motivated by a magazine article listing the average number of sexual partners at half the number she figures for herself, she decides perhaps she missed something somewhere along the way from all her previous trysts. Ultimately this leads her to the conclusion there may be some benefit toward giving some of her former lovers a second chance. This scenario opened up the floodgates to
all sorts of funny scenarios and awkward moments as she embarks on a journey of self discovery to try to figure out if she passed over Mr. Right. This movie begins kind of flat with occasional funny moments, but quickly picks up as audiences are introduced to her amusing cast of friends and her random ex-boyfriends who rarely disappoint. Near midway through the movie, viewers is hit with another flat performance occasional stale jokes, but Faris’ character development improves as she starts becoming more enlightened toward what she’s looking for in life. The chemistry between Faris and her co-stars, Chris Evans, Ari Graynor, and Blythe Danner, is undeniable as she meanders from one ex lover to the next. While this film may not be a cinematic masterpiece, Faris’ character is extremely likeable. It’s hard not to care about her plight to salvage just one enduring relationship from all her former lovers. “What’s Your Number?” is a must see which packs laugh out loud moments.
Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox
Hot Spots
Layla Elayyadi
Staff Reporter
& FOOD OT T S E P B OUT S HANG
deal ck Best r bu ou y for
Smokey Mo’s BBQ
Buzzin Margaritas
1550 Cypress Creek Rd Cedar Park, TX 78613 (512) 336-0500
Located where ever you need them. (512) 799-3065 & (512) 203-7615 A successful party must always include great tasting margaritas, but nobody wants to clear their bank account to have the best mixes in town. Buzzin margaritas, a delivery service company, saves budgets and offers rentals for drink machines and mixes for drinks. Buzzin Margaritas has a variety of mixes that are all alcoholfree unless you want to place your own alcohol into their mixes. This is perfect for college parties, children parties and other special occasions. Buzzin Margaritas will come to your location, set everything up, and place the mixes into the machine and within 24 hours they pick-up and clean everything. It’s that simple!
On any given occasion, across the street from Cypress Creek campus people will notice a packed parking lot and a huge sign that says Smokey Mo’s BBQ. Smokey Mo’s has daily specials starting at $6.95 The restaurant has an open and fun environment for everyone and they also have multiple flat screens T.V.’s to watch multiple sports games. So if you want to enjoy some of the greatest barbecue, salads and desserts that Central Texas has to offer, then stop in to Smokey Mo’s BBQ. - Open Monday thru Saturday 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
ty guil T S E B re pleasu - Website: www.SmokeyMosBbq.com
Nathalie’s Donuts
1525 Cypress Creek Rd Suite N Cedar Park, TX 78613 (512) 851-0122 The best and sweetest deal that Cedar Park has to offer is Nathalie’s Donuts. This independently owned business serves fresh breakfast tacos along with breakfast sandwiches, kolaches, donut holes and specialty pastries. Customers can customize their donuts with various fillings and you can enjoy a $1 refill of coffee with your own cup here. Nathalie’s Donuts are Student Life approved, so that means that all ACC faculty and staff can enjoy 10% off their entire order of $4 or more. So stop on by with your friends and enjoy this delicious guilty pleasure! - Open Monday thru Sunday 5 a.m. – 1 p.m. Bethany Wagner•staff photographer
Join us for Preview Friday! Designed with you in mind, Preview Friday allows you to mingle with other transfer students and learn about: • How the transfer process works • Financial aid and scholarship opportunities • The Comet Connection tuition guarantee • Campus life You’ll also have the chance to talk one-on-one with an advisor in your major. Choose the date you’d like to attend:
Oct. 21, 2011 Nov. 4, 2011 Feb. 10, 2012 Feb. 24, 2012
REGISTER
NOW
RSVP at utdallas.edu/enroll/events. Directions to the UT Dallas campus available at utdallas.edu/directions.
page 10 | Life & Arts
www.theAccent.org
Oct. 4, 2011
Life & Arts → Movies
Fantastic films captivate Natalie Casanova
Life & Arts Editor
Known as the largest genre film festival in the U.S., Fantastic Fest brought some of the best and brightest horror, fantasy, sci-fi, and action movies from around the world to Austin, Texas for one week of fantastic thrills and events. This year’s edition took place Sept. 22-29 at Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar and The Highball. The festival housed filmmakers, directors, actors, geeks, fans and more all excited to see the 2011 film line-up. Between the long lines and screenings, festival-goers indulged in free ice cream from
FEARnet’s “Twisted Treats” truck and invoked carpal tunnel while playing the countless video games featured at the Fantastic Arcade. There was a party at Pinballz Arcade, a rowdy romp of yelling disguised as karaoke, awards, a prom and even a hobbit vs. hobbit edition of KNUCKLE Fantastic Debates, where Elijah Wood and Dominic Monaghan debated than boxed over the PC game World of Warcraft. Here are some highlights and reviews of films I surveyed.
Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)
This messy sequel is the queasy, over-bearing, sweaty, vomit-inducing follow-up to
Dana Manickavasagam•Web Editor
SMOOCH — Sporting a kiss from Maddi Black, Lawrence R.
Harvey poses for a photo on the red carpet at Fantastic Fest. Harvey portrays Martin, the main delusional character in the Dutch horror film “The Human Centipede II” which premiered at Fantastic Fest Sept. 22.
writer and director Tom Six’s shocking butt-to-mouth horror flick, The Human Centipede (First Sequence). How could Six have possibly outdone himself this time? Well, for starters he went Meta. The black and white film starts by following the silent, greasy, stubby, bulgy-eyed, pot-bellied Martin through his daily routine as a parking lot attendant, watching Human Centipede on his laptop and attacking people on the way to their cars. If at any point during the film you start to feel less nauseous, you’ll be reminded how revolting it is when Martin gently licks his dirty finger while heavily breathing, which he does often. His home life is disturbingly bizarre. His abusive mother calls on a pedophilic doctor to check in on Martin, who stays busy feeding his chattering pet centipede. The awkward sexually tense relationship between Martin and the doctor is very unrealistic, but then again neither is a 12-person human centipede. Martin has a demented obsession with the film and even masturbates to it using a strip of sandpaper. If that image alone is too much to bear, viewers need not go further because it only gets worse – much, much worse. Horror lovers who weren’t fazed by the first centipede complained it lacked gory imagery, so Six divulged the entire centipedemaking process with gutexpulsing visuals that change the way you look at staple guns. Six traded extensive plot twists and turns used in the first film for an all-out gross-out spectacle. The rest of the film is so horrific and immoral, I’m not sure I even want to speak of it again. I would not call this
a good horror flick, but it did exactly what it was supposed to do – shock and disgust its audience.
The Corridor
This Canadian psychological sci-fi thriller was among my favorites of the whole festival. It goes beyond the typical ‘cabin in the woods’ thriller and boasts some wildly unexpected turns. The film starts with an unsettling scene of an older woman face down in her own vomit in a house full of destroyed electronic devices. Frightened and unnerved, Tyler hid in the closet directly in front of his deceased mother. A group of Tyler’s friends search the house and find him wild-eyed, wielding a knife and sputtering what seems to be nonsense. He attacks two of his friends leaving them in complete shock. Tyler has clearly lost his marbles and no one can tell why or what has happened. The film fast-forwards a few years when Tyler is released from a mental facility and his four best friends meet him to scatter his mother’s ashes near her cabin in the woods. The friends have grown apart, and are a little apprehensive of Tyler even though he seems controlled and tranquil on his prescribed meds. This part of the film turned off many viewers because of the slow character build-up, but it is a necessary calm before the storm and gives you detailed insight to the characters’ personal motivations. While walking in the woods late at night, Tyler discovers some sort of watery, wavy, forcefield-like wall of light and steps into it to discover it is some sort of abstract hallway. He’s stunned with his discovery and
convinces his best friend Chris to see the manifestation. The others follow them and they all find the marvel together. Tyler is grateful at first that he is not crazy, that his friends can see this phenomenon, but their experience begins to change them in unpredictable ways more dangerous than they ever expected. From this part onward, the film is a psychological mindscrew weaving reasonable outcomes with abnormal reactions and outrageous deeds. The progression of the corridor’s effect festers inside and makes you question how you would respond to its calling.
The Day
An irritating thing most post-apocalyptic movies share is a lengthy exposition on how the world fell apart. This American film does a great job of letting you know very little about the preceding apocalypse – only what you need to – because it is more realistic for characters not to discuss the events considering they already lived them. We follow five wandering survivors with a dwindling bullet count. One survivor is ill, and with an approaching storm on its way the group takes shelter in an abandoned farmhouse. To be stationary puts them in high risk of being discovered by others. The tension constantly rises throughout this 24-hour view of these survivors’ lives, and erupts into battle against the dominating cannibal culture they are trying to escape.
Melancholia
This film gets my award for most beautiful cinematic imagery and landscapes, but I expect nothing less from
legendary director Lars Von Trier. Melancholia explores the dullest, murky corners of clinical depression. It begins with a slow and beautiful burn of Justine (Kirsten Dunst) ruining her own gorgeous wedding reception by disappearing and displaying her full-fledged depression on a day that is supposed to be filled with happiness. Her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) who organized the party is very upset with her and constantly tries to make things right. Justine notices a notable star in the Scorpio constellation is missing and they later find out it is being blocked by a recently discovered planet, Melancholia, that has been hiding behind the sun. Claire worries about reports the planet will collide with Earth while her husband tries to reassure her that it will merely fly past them. The film is a heavy-leaded, thought-provoking soul search into our deepest, darkest fears – the end of times. It really strikes a chord with its lurking, crippling fear of the finality of death. Justine creates so much ominous despair and desperation with her line, “Life is only on Earth, and not for long.” My fellow audience members left the theater like sad zombies with x-ray vision, staring straight through walls into the darkest recesses of their own minds. This movie conveys the feeling of curling up in a ball, sleeping for days and trying to get a grip on reality but stuck struggling through a tangled mess of gray yarn called depression For more highlights and film reviews from the festival, visit www. theaccent.org.
Life & Arts → Video Games
Indie games featured at fest Natalie Casanova
Life & Arts Editor
Many awesome, unique and crowd-pleasing indie games were featured at Fantastic Fest’s Fantastic Arcade Sept. 22-25 at The Highball. This event was open to the public, not just festival badge holders, and featured rows of TVs and laptops loaded with new games and even a few adapted into upright old-school arcade style machines. “Octodad” was hilarious. It’s premise was an octopus disguised as a human trying to perform mundane tasks turned bizarre and somewhat difficult like cleaning out the fridge or washing the dishes
using Octodad’s inky tentacles. The colorful kitchen tiles and silly plot make for a mildly addictive and entertaining game. “Jesus Vs. Dinosaurs” is an instant classic. People were waiting in line to play this game, peeking over shoulders for a preview. Players choose between playing as God or Darwin and create vehicles out of Tetris shaped blocks with wheels on them. When the cars are ready, a Jesus or dinosaur head appear on the front of the cars and they start rolling toward the opponent’s end of the rocky battlefield. The goal is to create bigger and longer Tetris cars faster so that when your dinosaur or prophet is released, they’ll be competent
enough to cross the screen and score a point. Cars can also collect crates full of power-ups or bombs, which can be used to either knock opponents back or launch your car forward. The PC version of the game is available for free download at grapefrukt.com/jesus-vsdinosaurs. “Skulls of the Shogun” is a strategy based battle game with a new twist. Apparently there is a long wait to get into the warrior afterlife, but one general can’t wait and decides to battle his way in. The storyline in the campaign is full of hilarity and unusual plot turns. The general teams up with archers, shogun and cavalry warriors to pursue their post-mortem hereafter.
Photo by Jack Plunkett/Fantastic Fest
GAME ON — Arcade Awards are presented on the last day of Fantastic Arcade during Fantastic Fest Sept. 25, 2011 at the Highball in in Austin, Tx.
Can’t wait to register? Find out when you’re eligible
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15+ credit hours
October 26
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November 1
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