C onnection THE
Campus art gallery exhibits ‘Living on a Dollar a Day’ See Page 6 AliciaNunez Ilaga | The The Connection Connection Kainoa
New Head of Police
Los Rios Community College District welcomes police chief News, Page 2 Issue 4 Spring 2018 Student voice of CRC since 1970
Our Life Stories
Eleventh annual conference provides writing workshops Features, Page 5
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Mental Health
Recognizing the issue in Asian communities Opinion, Page 9
TWITTER @crcconnection
Athlete Honored
Former CRC Gymnast inducted to Hall of Fame Sports, Page 10
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May 3,2018
>>News
New police chief addresses concerns surrounding campus and local community By Crick Fulenchek cfulenchek.connect@gmail Sacramento Community College District welcomed its new district police Chief Larry Savidge, originally hailing from Orange County, CA. Savidge spent 30 years providing police services in the military as a part of the Air Force, where he honed his skills in working with that community before moving on to Director of Public Safety at Trident Technical College in South Carolina. He spent the next eight years there before heading back to California and joining with the Sacramento police. The newly-appointed chief is concerned with building relationships with the students on campus and committed to providing them a safe environment in which to learn and grow. “He seems eager and attentive to the department and the needs of the district,” said Sgt. Michael Olson. Savidge is anxious to continue to build inroads with the community by working
with students and staff of the college, saying, “Campus law is more proactive than
If you look back at the 90s and 80s, there was a war on drugs, that was a lot of the focus in law enforcement, Going into “We try to be involved in 2020, this era here, our current challenges are more social,” communities by estabsaid Savidge. “We’re dealing lishing relationships with with a lot of social issues that are difficult to navigate.” community members.” Janice Ayin, a 22-year-old — Larry Savidge film major, said she grew up Los Rios District Police Chief with a different perception of police. reactive.” “Growing up, I’ve always However, Savidge faces had a fear [of police], maybe his share of challenges, both it’s from the neighborhood I internally and externally to the grew up in, I just have a bad campus police force itself. reaction,” said Ayin. “Firstly, there is a Whatever the obstacles, challenge of staffing the Savidge remains steadfast. department,” said Savidge “We try to be involved in “We have 33 in the department communities by establishing and we are short about 10, due relationships with community to all sorts of problems, some members. This trust facilitates self inflicted. All agencies are a proactive response to hurting.” problems on campus,” Savidge “We are having trouble said. He plans to achieve this hiring quality people because “by being present, talking to quality people don’t want to students, talking to staff. It’s be police,” Savidge said. important that the officers Savidge is also aware of seems approachable.” Sacramento’s current political Savidge also hears the climate. concerns of those who feel ”Things have changed a lot less represented such as Black in the last in the last 10 years. Lives Matter members.
Kainoa Nunez | The Connection
Police Chief Larry Savidge addresses concerns students have on campus.
“Too many police officers don’t look like the communities they are serving and aren’t from the communities they serve,” said Savidge. Savidge empathises with the students who are DACA recipients or Dreamers. ”We are not going to look
for undocumented students and will not cooperate with blank unless they have a warrant, per federal law,” said Savidge. Savidge said he is passionate about making the place safe where students can learn and study.
Campus offers tips to students with undecided majors By Chi Nguyen chi.phanmai.nguyen@gmail.com The campus held an event titled “Undecided but You can Fight it” on April 16th in the cafeteria to help students that have undecided majors find ones that are suitable for them when attending college. The event was planned and organized by Cosumnes River College student ambassadors from the Student Life and Leadership Center. “A lot of people coming to college do not know what they want to do,” said 22-yearold computer major Jasmin Cornejo, who was also one of the organizers. “We want to
help them decide what their majors should be.” Along the hallway, different departments were tabling information for students on what majors they had to offer. “This is a good place to stop by and see what CRC has offered in terms of degree and certificate programs,” said Outreach Specialist Traci Scott. “For example, architecture design technology is a great program; the job outlook for this is really good, the payment is good and a lot people do not know about it.” In addition, Scott also noticed that students would have some uncertainties after visiting the event because there
were many options. Therefore, she suggested that students might start with looking at the things they enjoy doing.
“A lot of people coming to college do not know what they want to do.” — Jasmin Cornejo 22-year-old computer major
Andrea Hader, a 25-yearold social science major, visited the event and said that all the faculties were very nice and knowledgeable. “They were willing to listen to any questions that I asked
and talked to me about the resources they have,” Hader said. However, when talking about what should be improved in the future, there were still some concerns. “I’m not sure how well-publicized the event was,” said Scott. “Maybe some faculty members offer extra credits or they would bring their classes through, so they actually get to come in.” On the perspective as a student, Hader said that there weren’t any professors joining the event. She suggested there should be professors and some speakers who would talk about their experience in
CRC. Getting other departments involved in this event was one of the difficulties that the organizers faced. Cornejo said it would have been cool if the organizers could have planned,w and told the departments about it sooner, recommending the beginning of the spring semester. Nevertheless, the event still took place as planned and Cornejo said the result she expected was to expose students to what we have on campus and what majors CRC offers. Hader expressed her expectation that this event should be held twice a year because it is helpful to students.
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Events raise sexual harrasment awareness By Max Connor and Dario Lizarraga mconnor.connect@gmail.com dlizarraga.connect@gmail.com
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and in the wake of the Iris Perez’s story of being sexually harassed by a long time school counselor, students and the district are talking about what more can be done to make Los Rios schools a safe place for people to report cases of harassment. The campus held several events in April to raise awareness of the issue of sexual harassment and assault, yet none of the students interviewed were aware of the different resources available on campus. “I’m pretty sure student services has something, other than that I don’t have a clue,” said Diego Hernandez, a 19-year-old psychology student. Every student interviewed said that if they or a friend needed to report an incident they would go to the police. None of them mentioned the Woman Escaping A Violent Environment advocate Elissa Crandall on campus or Title
IX officer Kimberly McDaniel. “It’s important for people to know where they can go, I think a lot of people automatically assume their only option is to call 911,” said Shelby Vice, a WEAVE employee who held an event called “The Clothesline Project” on Wednesday. The event allowed people to design t-shirts to bring awareness or show support to survivors of sexual assault or domestic violence. The Los Rios Administration has been making a push to make sure that campuses are a place where students feel comfortable reporting incidents of sexual harassment, but transparency about the process of investigations and visibility of the resources available, seem to be the major barriers for students who may need to file a complaint. The Connection obtained records for the last five years which showed the number of sexual harassment cases filed with human resources and the outcome of those investigations. Over that time, there have been 28 cases filed throughout the district. All but one of those cases were inves-
tigated by human resources or the campus equity officer. “Our investigators are very well trained,” said Ryan Cox, associate vice chancellor of human resources. “They are required by law to make a determination.”
but could not give specifics because each case has so many unique variables. In cases of more serious criminal offenses, the police are notified and they take over the investigation.
Summer Lomendehe | The Connection
Students were able to write messages on shirts from a table by the quad.
There were three cases over the last five years in which a faculty member was found to have commited sexual harassment against a student. The district file states that “appropriate action was implemented” in each case but does not specify what the punishment may be. Cox said that “the discipline will fit the behavior,” in cases of sexual harassment
Cox also stressed that the district has a very strong non-retaliation policy which anyone who files a complaint is made aware of right away. While all the district policies can be found online and in the college catalog, Cox said they are open to any other methods of making the information about the process of filing a complaint clearer, including the possibility of making sta-
tistics about the number of cases filed each year available to the public. “I don’t know if publishing them would help,” said Cox. “The more we can get any information out about our sexual harassment, non-discrimination and non-retaliation policies, the better.” While talking to students and the experts at WEAVE, it seems that having the conversation about how to report cases of sexual harassment may be the most important component to increasing the likelihood that a victim will come forward. “Sexual harassment, rape and abuse of any kind are taboo in our culture, so we don’t talk about it,” said Jodie Reidreynoso, a 23-year-old deaf studies and social studies major who attended “the clothesline project” event on campus. “We try to help people but it’s really a hush-hush topic so it’s hard to let women or men know, who have been assaulted, how to get help.” Vice agreed with that sentiment which was shared by other students as well.
Geographical society conference returns to campus By Blynn Beltran bbeltran.connect@gmail.com The California Geographical Society held its 72nd annual conference in CRC on April 27. The opening of the conference was held for the second time since 1989, where all manner of geographers from California and beyond were in attendance. “We get students and faculty coming from our community colleges throughout the state as well as CSUs and UCs also participate with us,” President of CGS and CRC Geography Professor Scott Crosier said. The first day of the conference consisted of a barbeque in the quad where everyone got a chance to mingle. Dmytro Merezhko is a 20-year-old computer science major from Irvine Valley College who attended the event along with his friends and colleagues. He said that his interest in geography is what brought
him to the conference. “At the age of six or seven, my parents put a world map inside my room and that’s when I started learning where the different continents are, different countries and things like that,” Merezhko said.
quite a bit of people who come almost every year for the conference. Some of the people that attend the CGS conference come from as far as Michigan. “For the faculty, a lot of it is fellowship and camaraderie with our fellow geographers,”
conferences are like “family reunions” because he gets to see people that he hasn’t seen all year. “When you think about a college, there aren’t necessarily a lot of geographers,” Crosier said.
Blynn Beltran | The Connection
Geography Professor Scott Crosier introduces keynote speaker Dee Owens on April 27 during the conference.
“I’ve never been to any sort of big geography conference, so that’s my main goal.” Crosier said there are
CGS Business Manager and CSU Northridge Professor Steve Graves said. He also said that these
The barbecue was followed by a keynote talk by Dee Owens from the Oregon-California Trails Associa-
tion. The keynote was entitled “Discovering 1850s Overland Trails” and consisted of Gowens’ experiences rediscovering and preserving emigrant and wagon trails with OCTA. She also invited people who are interested in joining one of their walks to sign up for the California-Nevada chapter of OCTA. Crosier said that this threeday conference took approximately six months to plan and prepare with help from people like Cosumnes River College Geography Professor Debra Sharkey and American River College Geography Professor John Aubert. “For those people that have ever planned a wedding, it’s like the mega wedding,” Crosier said.“I hope that students and the people who are participating have a positive time.” For more information about membership and OCTA’s objective, enter online to their website at http://www. octa-trails.org.
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May 3, 2018
Math and English placements re-evaluated By Kaylin Flatland kflatland.connect@gmail.com
The Los Rios Community College District have implemented a new method on placement testings for placing students in their English and math courses. This new method will now be using student’s high school course information as well as assessment information instead of strictly placing students on their academic assessment abilities. Students now have a better chance at scoring into a more accurate class which well improve graduation or transfer rates as well. “As one of the mandates of Assembly Bill 705 passed last fall, all Los Rios Community College District campuses have now updated the method for placing students in their first English or math course and will now be using a combination of high school course information, high school GPA and assessment information,“ according to the Cosumnes River College website. Multiple measures are now being used to place stu-
For students to be eligible to have their Assessment placement re-evaluated, students must:
• Have graduated high school within the last ten years. • Be enrolled actively within the last two semesters by completeing the supplement form or completing the onine application. • Provide a copy of your high school transcript. • Complete the CRC Placement Re-Evaluation Form and send it to the Assessment Department Counter located in the Support Center in L-106. • Placement Re-Evaluation forms are available from Assessment, Counseling, Admissions and Records and English and Mathematics division offices. • Students may view potential new placements in their eServices account after 48 hours. If your scores have not changed after 48 hours, contact the Assessment Department at 916-691-7332. • Forms submitted without a high school transcript will not be processed. dents into their math and English courses, said Kathy Degn, the interim dean of student services and enrollment management. Degn said the previous assessment tests were not accurate predictors of students real true abilities for success in courses. “When you look at the research it is jaw dropping how students that prior would have been placed in the the lowest levels can now be placed two
to three levels higher and still succeed at the same time,” said Degn. Remedial math and English courses will now be replaced with co-requisite courses, taken alongside the main course to help support students who need further help with the content they are learning. Students enrolled in the spring semester are eligible to be re-evaluated for their math and English placements.
Degn said all current students are able to bring in high school transcripts that are less than 10 years old to have their placement reevaluated. If the new placement is not higher than the original placement, then it will not be used. Ryan Chiu, a 19-yearold computer science major, wished the reevaluation was implemented earlier. “If you pass a class in high school, that proves that you’re
at the level where you need to be,” said Chiu. For students who are over ten years or do not have previous school records to go off of they will have to take a similar assessment to be placed in their classes, said Degn. “I think that I would have been placed higher if they used my high school GPA because I did good in high school compared to taking the placement tests,” said Amber Bienh, a 19-year-old a fashion marketing major. “Some students have to stay for three years or more just to transfer to a UC school that they want depending on their major,” said Chiu. Chui said that this new method will help students take less time and effort to transfer. “You can go straight to pre-calculus and then take your other math class so it saves a lot of time,” Chui said. To have English and math courses re-evaluated, students can complete the CRC Placement Re-Evaluation Form and return it to the Assessment Department located in the Student Support Center in L-106.
Meditation space available to students By Nekita Smith nesmith.connect@gmail.com
The campus recently opened a temporary Meditation Space which is a quiet, safe environment for students to reflect, pray and meditate for up to 15 minutes. The campus offers individual students up to a group of five to sign up. Although the current location is temporary, some students have already began utilizing the new space. “This year ended up being the perfect storm of having enough people that were interested and that were willing to push it forward,” said Anthropology Professor Anastasia Panagakos. Panagakos said faculty members have been advocating for the space over the last 10 years. “The whole idea of pausing during a busy day, whether its just to reflect, to pray, or to mediate or just to regroup is
real important,” said Panagakos. Panagakos also mentioned the focus and importance on mental health issues right now in our society. “We’re not giving enough time or resources to those kinds of things,” Panagakos said. A student explains having to go to the library to find somewhere quiet on campus. “Growing up in a big family, I never realized how much quiet and alone time I didn’t have until I was in college,” said Kayla Smith, 19, a broadcast journalism major. “I usually just end up on the top floor of the library when I really want complete quiet time.” Before the Meditation Space opened, students had to be creative in finding quiet or desolate places on campus. Administration was also finding that muslim students didn’t have a place to pray on campus, Panagakos said. “I witnessed people in the stairwells, praying beneath
the stairs and behind buildings, and that’s just not safe for our students to be doing that,” said Panagakos. Any Cosumnes River College student, staff or faculty member can use it. “It is non denominational, it doesn’t matter what your belief system is, just as long you follow the guidelines,” Panagakos said. Smith said she’s glad to know there’s a designated space to go to on campus and looks forward to signing up for a time now that the end of the semester is in full swing. Nate Harris, a 20-year-old political science major, said it seems pretty convenient because students can book the room during the available hours that accommodates student’s schedules as well. The space is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays at 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sign-up sheets can be found on the outside door of the Meditation Space.
Kainoa Nunez | The Connection
The Meditation Space is available Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays at 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. located in BS-144.
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>>Features
English professor explores the origin in a name By Summer Lomendehe slomendehe.connect@gmail.com Trang Abeid’s English as a Second Language Writing class held the event “The Meaning Behind My Name” on April 11 in L-105. The event featured several students from the class who showcased different presentations, poems and essays to a classroom full of students about the stories and meanings behind their names. “If we cannot understand a person’s name, we cannot understand a person’s culture,” said Hu Wai Xu, one of the students who presented during the event. In her opening remarks, Abeid described how she felt about her name growing up. “Why don’t I have an American name?” Abeid recalled asking her mother one time. Because she had her own story behind her name, Abeid said that this event ultimately was for her students to tell
their stories about their names. During his presentation, Xu explained how his name connected to his family’s roots. “My last name represents my family’s origin,” Xu said. He further said that the surname Xu, meaning ‘gently,’ has a long history dating back to 2300 B.C. Xu further said that his surname comes from the name of his ancestors’ first fief, which is a property of land given by a feudal lord. He also said Hua, which means ‘beauty and luster,’ also comes from his family tree. In his essay, Rosales explained how he doesn’t identify with his first given name. “My name is not my name in real life,” Rosales said, mentioning that his parents have always called him Lorenzo. Rosales said that while his name gives him a “legal identity,” it differentiates him from other people in a place where people are given the same names. In her essay, Feven Ok-
bay said that her name is reminiscent of her personality and identity. By being named Feven, meaning ‘heaven,’ it gives her strength and independence as a woman. Okbay said that people should love their names, even if it doesn’t reflect their personalities. “Our parents want to name us things they want us to see in ourselves,” Okbay said. Before a Q&A, student panelist Antonio Kon Cao explained the cultural differences in his name. Cao said he was born in Peru and lived there for 18 years before moving to the United States. He said his parents were originally from China, but moved to Peru 30 years ago. Cao further mentioned that his parents named him Antonio so he could fit in with everyone else in Peru. During the Q&A, student panelist Moises Alvarado said that growing up with a father
Summer Lomendehe | The Connection
Hu Wai Xu shares the long history of his name in L-105 on April 11.
who was a preacher made his faith stronger in addition to the meaning behind his name, which means ‘Moses.’ Like some of the other students who presented during the event, Alvarado said his name is religion-based. “It really connects to the song that is going to be delivered to the promise land,” Alvarado said.
ESL Professor Lisa Marchand brought her class to the event and told them to anticipate anticipate something similar in the future. Marchand also said that students shouldn’t feel embarrassed about their names. “It’s more important for students to honor their first and last names,” Marchand said.
Writers’ workshop helps people tell their life stories By Kainoa Nunez knunez.connect@gmail.com
The eleventh annual “Our Life Stories” event on campus invited writers, poets, and published authors to celebrate and learn about the writing element, on April 23 in the cafeteria and workshops in the business and science classrooms. The focus of the event this year was centered into three workshop sessions that students and volunteers were assigned to and expressed their knowledge of writing their life story. “It shows students who are taking creative writing courses the practical application of what they’re learning,” said English Professor Heather Hutcheson. Hutcheson was one of the main coordinators of this event and is working with the City of Sacramento’s Ethel Hart Senior Center as the Cosumnes River College representative. The event was generous-
ly supported this year by the California Writers Club of Sacramento, according to the conference schedule flyer. The non-profit California Writers Club Sacramento reaches out to writers of all ages, genders and level of development. The conference is designed to promote at a low cost for these vulnerable populations of students and volunteers, the creation of memoir through lectures, readings and workshops, according to the Our Stories event website. As each person was assigned to a workshop, each group had a guest to give a presentation. During their lecture, students were writing for the topic they were assigned to. “My first workshop was called ‘Using Research to Unlock the Past’,” Karl Perez, a 21-year-old early childhood education major said. “You need the right resources to acquire good quality and credible information.”
Kainoa Nunez | The Connection
Students, senior citizens, and volunteers work on their exercises and assignments in the cafeteria on April 28.
“We bring just anybody that we are interested in at that time, so curent folks and writers to select for next year,” Hutcheson said. Moor, who was one of the main speakers, presented a lecture called “Writing to History & Culture.” “We want to learn how to tell our life in a story, but how willing are we going to tell the story the right and truthful way,” Moor said. “Our jour-
neys are our life story.” From Moor’s perspective, he said he believes that it’s not about getting the right facts about writing or telling your life all at once. “It’s about reading poems, but we’re looking at tools to use,” he said. “That special person can inspire an entire room, and what it impress me was he immediately started off in a short little story poem format on how we all got here,” Dale
Steele, a 66-year-old senior citizen volunteer said. The event meant help students and attendees improve their writing skills and ensure that they have the tools to write about themselves and others. “We all have unique experiences that shine a light on what we’ve done to brighten the light in someone else,” Hutcheson said. “We’re more similar than we are different.”
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Art gallery hosts exhibit from Pulitzer Prize winner By Max Connor mconnor.connect@gmail.com The Cosumnes River College Art Gallery held an opening reception on April 21 to introduce the new exhibit “Living on a Dollar a Day” which showcases a large variety of photos of people living in extreme poverty around the world. The exhibit comes from Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Renne C. Byer, who traveled to 10 different countries on four continents to document the conditions of the poorest people around the world. The photos can take your breath away and break your heart at the same time. “This is one of the most important exhibitions I have curated in the last almost 12 years,” said Yoshio Taylor, a CRC professor of fine art and the curator of the art gallery. The reception had more than 100 people show up to see the opening, have the opportunity to hear Byer speak and to ask her questions. In addition to the photographs, there was a documentary of Byer’s travels projected on one
wall with several seats set up so visitors can sit down and get more information about the exhibit and the photos. Much more than just an art exhibition, the photos all come with at least a one paragraph story describing the subject and the hardships they may be experiencing. Byer considers herself a “catalyst for change” and this exhibition debuts her efforts to allow people to opportunity to engage the subject further by downloading an app called “You Bridge It.” The app uses QR codes to allow people to gain more information about the photos in front of them, provides more detailed information and statistics about poverty and hunger around the world and even allows you to donate directly from the app. When Byer first debuted the exhibit in 2014, she got such a strong response from views that she felt the gallery had the power to create change. “The outpouring of support and all the comments made me start thinking, wow, we need another component
Max Connor | The Connection
Austin Gonzalez browses the photo collection by Renne C. Byer, showcasing poverty around the world.
for people,” Byer said. “The most important thing about this exhibit is if you can experience this audience engagement app.” Those who attended the event seemed moved and engaged with the exhibit, slowly walking through staring at the photos and carefully reading the stories.
“That’s insane that it’s so normalized,” said Austin Gonzales, 23, while viewing a photo of a small boy crying out because of hunger pains. “It’s like they just get used to it. That’s nuts.” The exhibit had many people stammering and shocked while also struck by the beauty of some of the photographs.
Sam Yang, a 25-year-old studio art major, who helped put the exhibit together, felt “honored” to be able to take part in the new exhibit. “All these pictures are very powerful, very touching to the heart,” said Yang. The exhibit is open Monday-Friday 11am-5pm until May 18. Admission is free.
Composers Ensemble incorporates artistic performance By Dario Lizarraga dlizarraga.connect@gmail.com The Cosumnes River College music department hosted its annual Composers Ensemble on April 23 and May 2. The goal of these events is to allow members the opportunity to perform onstage with compositions they’ve created themselves or adapted elsewhere. Taking place in the Recital Hall, the concert lasted about an hour and had eight to 10 performances. “The students meet once a week and we share works, present, talk about composers, techniques...” said program director Kurt Erickson. “Then by the end of the semester, we have a full concert worth of material and we give two shows.” The April event featured eight different performances by five musicians. Rick Martin, on the tenor saxophone
Dario Lizarraga | The Connection
Rick Martin, Daniel Horne, Jacob Montez and Kurt Erickson take a bow.
started things off by playing from the hall’s entrance doors before walking down the stairs toward the stage. First time performer Jacob Montez came out next, performing a piece on piano inspired by the final levels you find in old video games.
“I was a little nervous, a bit more than I expected to be,” Montez said after the show. “Honestly, I was completely calm until the point I started playing.” Another pianist, Ruvem Kutsar, appeared afterward to play two vastly different
works: the first piece correlates notes to an alphabetical letter, spelling out ‘Jesus’ while the second piece is meant to put the audience into a trance-like state. Martin returned to the stage to play two short pieces created by Gabriel J. Rivera, who was also the co-director and stage manager. “I’m a musician so I know what I would like if somebody was setting the stage for me, so I try to do that for all these musicians and composers,” Rivera said. Student Daniel Horne followed after Martin, performing an ‘avant-garde’ stage act involving a mask, flickering lights, and a mannequin. “This is the first time we’ve actually had a ‘performance art’ piece,” Erickson said. “Every semester is different. Different people come in and they have different interests.”
Horne then continued his act with a self-made song on piano and included lyrics that were a statement on the current political climate as well as other controversies involving government. The last performance of the night was done by Erickson, playing a complex piano piece involving repeating chords. The event ended with a showing of a student-made film, “The Dance,” which got was accepted into a few film festivals and was scored by Daniel Horne and Gabriel Lopez. The music department has a few more events lined up for the end of the semester between May 7 to 11, including concerts with the college’s orchestra, jazz band, concert band, and student recitals. General admission is $10, students and seniors are $5 and children 12 and under are free.
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‘Infinity War’ is here, brace for an impact By Kainoa Nunez knunez.connect@gmail.com
“Avengers: Infinity War” is a phenomenal film from beginning to the end that delivered what fans have been waiting for. With some of Marvel’s greatest superheroes from different worlds joining together, they set their sights to fight their most powerful adversary yet in the galaxy, the evil Thanos. The original release date was supposed to be on May 4, but it was released on April 27 because Marvel studios want to bring back Robert Downey Jr., the franchise star, for the upcoming Avengers film in 2019. The movie has already made 250 million dollars in the box office on its opening weekend, surpassing “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” opening box office of 247 million dollars. After the event of “The Avengers” movie, when Iron Man saved New York from an alien apocalypse with an atomic missile, the world thought that it would be the
end of the aliens invasion, but they were mistaken. The best hero appearance would have to be the Guardians of the Galaxy and Doctor Strange. Audiences were also happy to see appearances from Black Panther, Spider-Man and references of upcoming new villains. Despite having the themes of the Marvel characters, the film’s soundtrack could’ve been better. But the acting from all the characters was top notch and the cinematography was on cue in creating an exciting atmosphere. Josh Brolin, the voice of Thanos, did a great job at bringing the villain to life by being sinister, smart and above all, a tough enemy to defeat. Thanos is on a mission to collect the six infinity stones in order to control the universe. The six stones are; time, space, soul, reality, power and mind, and they are scattered across the universe. If they come together in the infinity gauntlet, it can cause the annihilation of the universe with a snap of his fingers.
ing his mission. Due to the death of key characters and the looming threat of bigger villains, things are more grim than the audience might’ve anticipated or expected. You’ll be shocked and amazed at how Stan Lee’s vision of a war would be this good. Expect plenty of battles, dialogue and chemistry that you will want to watch again and again. It’s an emotional rollercoaster that will make you ask tons of questions about why certain events happened or what else they can show next. This is the third franchise film in the Avengers series, and yes, there will be part two of “Infinity War,” which will be released on May 3, 2019. Be aware if you’re wondering what will earth’s mightiest heroes do to stop Thanos.
Courtesy Photo
The quest is to stop Thanos from capturing all the stones, will pose a challenge that will put our heroes in life
and death situations in an attempt to save humanity. It was frustrating to watch Thanos be one step ahead of accomplish-
Score out 4.5 of 5 stars For more TV reviews, visit thecrcconnection.com or follow the Connection on Twitter @crcconnection
Professor outlines feasbility for other sources of energy By Summer Lomendehe slomendehe.connect@gmail.com Physics and Astronomy Professor Michael Strong presented the “Energy for the United States: A Path to 2050” lecture on April 16 in WINN150. The event, attended by students and faculty, focused on identifying problematic sources of energy in the country and looking for better alternatives. “We all live on the same earth,” Strong said. “We all need to be good caretakers.” During his lecture, Strong said that the quantity of oil is becoming very limited. “We have finite supply of hydrocarbons,” Strong said, further adding that there’s a 50-year supply of oil left. Even if the country stopped using oil as a major source of energy, he said that they’ll still be used for lubricants, pesticides, herbicides, and pharmaceuticals. Strong discussed the
problems of solar cells called photovoltaics being used as a main source of energy, saying that there would need to be 31 panels per household to supply everyone in the country. Strong also said that photovoltaics have a lifetime of 20 years. “They slowly decline,” Strong said. “In 20 years, they decline very fast.” As a solution, Strong listed concentrated solar power as an alternate source of energy. “We’ve been using concentrated solar since the 1970s,” Strong said, citing the heating of pools as one example that uses it. Despite the potential, Strong said that this kind of technology needs to be improved. Strong said nuclear energy is another alternative energy source, but is often misunderstood. “Most of the reactors were designed in the 60s and are 70s
technology,” Strong said. Strong said that newer kinds of nuclear technology include the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor, which is a molten salt reactor. “Fluorides are very stable,” Strong said. “Thorium itself is one or two steps away from uranium.” Strong further said that it’s very hard to weaponize due to to its half-life. Strong said that people should become more familiarized with recent developments of nuclear technology. “We need to be more educated about this,” Strong said. During a Q&A, Psychology Professor James Frazee asked what the risk vs. rewards were regarding photovoltaics and nuclear energy. “Part of the risk-reward is the sheer number of concentrated solar areas needed,” Strong said. “Photovoltaic would need 11 billion solar panels, while concentrated solar power would only need 2 billion.”
Summer Lomendehe | The Connection
Professor Michael Strong during his presentation “Energy for the United States: A Path to 2050” on April 16.
Frazee also asked what the issues of investment were involving the two. “It would actually cost a little bit less to build reactors,” Strong said, adding that it would save $12 trillion. Waiman Sce, a 24-year-old communications major, said that the lecture was a good event. “It’s interesting because I
learned something new,” Sce said. She also said that the concepts of solar panels and photovoltaics were interesting, as well. However, Sce said that she wanted to see possible arguments to the solutions that were listed during the lecture. “I want to hear the challenge to the solutions,” Sce said.
May 3, 2018
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>>Opinion
HAWK TALK Compiled by Blynn Beltran and Crick Fulenchek
What are your plans for the summer?
Lorenzo Murillo 61, ASL
Ahriana Levingston 20, theatre
“I’ll probably be doing some theatre for drama club, working on a local production and taking classes.”
“On Labor day, we’re going to San Diego for a family reunion. We’re going to see my cousins who I haven’t seen in 46 years.”
Christopher Michael 22, accounting
“I’m going to be moving to Utah, not necessarily looking forward to it but I will be attending Brigham Young, they have a good accounting department. “
Derrick Aragon 19, computer science
“Going to be picking up more shifts at work and summer school and I might go to Disneyland.”
Halimeh Edais 20, journalism
“Traveling, I’m going to my home country, Palestine, and volunteering in some refugee camps.”
EDITORIAL
There needs to be more than racial bias training With racial incidents, such as the shooting death of Stephon Clark and the nationwide protests in response to the shooting, making headlines recently, it’s clear that there is heightened tension between the police and the African American community Now, the focus has come to racial tensions at businesses as well since there was an altercation between two black individuals with a Philadelphia Starbucks store manager that was followed by an interaction with police. What began as a visit to the cafe turned south when the men had asked to use the restroom, but were denied because they had not purchased anything and had refused to leave. Starbucks executive Chairman Howard Shultz recommended employees should be trained for racial bias, and called for 8,000 Starbucks stores to be closed on May 29. The afternoon will be spent educating approximately 175,000 employees about racial bias. It was the right thing to do morally and business wise, especially with racial tension being as high as it is now. Reactions to the stores closing for training were mostly favorable on social media. Author and journalist Sophia Nelson tweeted, “Kudos to #Starbucks CEO he is killing it!” Actor George Takei even tweeted: “If you are angry about @ Starbucks closing for a day to train staff and help stop racial profiling, you are kind of part of the problem.” Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson acknowledged that the larger issue around racial bias doesn’t just involve mega-corporations such as themselves, it involves dedication from smaller corporations in local communities as well, according to an article from Paper. Starbucks plans to have experts such as former Attorney General Eric Holder and CEO of the Anti-Defamation League Jonathan Greenblatt to help design a new racial bias program. One thing that is praiseworthy is that Starbucks is not integrating racial bias with programs like “diversity” training. It seems as this training will strictly focus more on the racism that is underlying around these incidents. Implicit bias is the unconscious thought of stereotypes when encountering the certain individual. Although video footage of this has recently surfaced, racism in these establishments is nothing new. According to an article released by CNN, a Denny’s in Washington was criticized because one of their waitresses attempting to make a group of young black men pay for their bill before they ate. Earlier this year in February, a video was uploaded by a woman who said the men were being racially profiled and thought to have not paid off the bill, according to a Washington Post article. For employers who believe their workplace lacks diversity, they must face their bias head on. Of course, bias comes in a variety of ways, some even taking the form of an implicit bias, which is the unconscious associating certain characteristics to a certain group of people. They must ask themselves why they find people of color more suspicious than a white person. Incidents like Starbucks will continue to happen even if employers hire more people of color. In order for things to change, it requires us to address our own biases. What can be taken from these incidents is that large and small companies need training that focuses strictly on implicit bias as well as employees acknowledging their own biases.
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Opening up mental health for Asians By Summer Lomendehe slomendehe.connect@gmail.com Following the controversial video of Logan Paul in the Aokigahara forest and the death of South Korean pop singer Kim Jong-hyun, discussions about mental health in Asian communities have begun to take center stage. Mental health is often a topic that makes people feel uneasy. The stigmatization of mental illness has largely contributed to the uneasiness these conversations frequently carry. This stigmatization of mental illness has perpetuated a culture of silence and shame in Asian communities. It normalized the dangerous trend of dismissing noticeable symptoms of mental illness in
favor of trying to keep up an image that’s socially acceptable. The pressure in Asian communities to appear a certain way has specifically normalized the tendency to deny struggle and hardship, to the point that the idea of being mentally ill is doubted and minimized to being a single case of personal weakness. The culture behind academic success and the role of “tiger parenting” plays a crucial part in that normalization, as well. For Asian Americans, the model minority myth has distinctively placed unreasonable expectations on them to be the perfect model students in addition to all the other expectations that are already placed on them.
According to the American Psychological Association, Asian-American college students have a higher rate of suicidal thoughts in comparison to white college students. Despite this fact, many Asian and Asian Americans continuously chalk up these types of behavior to simply being weak, whether that kind of thought process is self-driven or influenced in some way by others. Because of this refusal to admit these sorts of difficulties in life, conversations about mental health typically get brushed aside in Asian communities. Asian Americans in the United States are less likely to seek out mental health services in comparison to other racial and ethnic groups, ac-
cording to an article published on the California Health Report website citing information from the 2008 and 2012 the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The problem none of us really have a definite answer to is on how to solve this complex, ongoing issue. How do we start conversations that are uncomfortable to talk about with people who might have wrong, preconceived notions about mental health and mental illness? Acknowledging the possibilities of being Asian and mentally ill is a key step to accepting the fact that mental illness does exist within our communities. Openly talking about the likelihood of being mentally ill shouldn’t be considered ta-
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boo. Getting professional help shouldn’t be something that’s frowned upon. Mental illness is not something anyone should be ashamed of. It does not define a person’s capability or selfworth. Restructuring the way mental illness is perceived as will change the way mental health is approached in Asian communities, a much needed move to promote healthy, well-balanced lifestyles. No one should ever have to be alone and internalize all that pain on their own. If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Line at 1-800-273-8255, text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or chat online at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
Did the arrest at Starbucks display implicit bias? By Blynn Beltran bbeltran.connect@gmail.com The arrest of two black men in a Starbucks in downtown Philadelphia spurred protests that will reform Starbucks’ infrastructure in the process., Starbucks is closing 8000 stores to conduct racial bias training, in response to the protests according to the Los Angeles Times. However, people are not seeing the true problem in this entire situation. The arrest was captured in a video on Twitter by Melissa DePino, who was a patron of Starbucks at the time. In an article published by Good Morning America, the two men were there to conduct a real estate meeting and in the video, it showed both Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson being placed under arrest. The man that they were there to meet defended them saying, “Why did they get called for? Because there were two black guys that were here to meet me?” Robinson and Nelson did not make a purchase from the store and were asked by the manager to leave with a warning that they will call the po-
lice if they didn’t, according to the same article by GMA. When the men refused to vacate, the police were called and asked the two gentlemen to leave the store. However, both men refused to leave as they were about to conduct a meeting with a client. “It’s a real estate meeting,” Robinson said when confronted by the police. “We’ve been working on this for months.” The first problem about this situation is that both Robinson and Nelson were in the wrong. Robinson and Nelson were conducting their business on private property without making a purchase. Not only that, they refused to leave when they were asked to, which gave the police no choice but to arrest them. Sure, the police did not follow procedure when conducting the arrest, but this doesn’t negate the fact that both Robinson and Nelson were not adhering to the establishment’s rules. Neither man was entitled to be in the store’s premises. This whole situation could’ve been avoided if Robinson and Nelson just made a purchase, but they didn’t.
Courtesy Photo
At the end of the day, Starbucks is still a business and they have the right to kick you out for their actual customers. Another problem that needs to be addressed is the lack of objectivity in America. People nowadays don’t bother researching any further than what they initially hear, see or read. An example would be Charlton Heston’s speech in Michael Moore’s movie, “Bowling for Columbine.” A
lot of people resented Heston for the speech he made in the movie, but in reality, his speech was edited. It is important to report situations of injustice because it is a serious and an ongoing problem that the U.S. has. There are plenty of examples of racial discrimination, such as he Emmett Till case. It opened the minds of millions of Americans throughout the 1950s due to how well-documented his death was.
However, unlike the case of Emmett Till, DePino did not report the entirety of the story. This not only led to outrage towards Starbucks, but also toward the police as well. This whole situation made DePino appear as a hero, but she missed several key factors. In turn, a lot of people were misled and thought the arrest happened because of the color of their skins and not because of the individuals' own actions.
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May 3, 2018
>>Sports
Former gymnast jumps into Sports Hall of Fame By Summer Lomendehe slomendehe.connect@gmail.com Former Hawks’ Gymnast Christine Jang was inducted into the California Community College Athletic Association’s Sports Hall of Fame on March 28. The banquet and awards ceremony, hosted in Concord, Calif., also honored other student-athletes and coaches like former American Football Defensive Lineman Ed Galigher and former NFL Head Coach Dick Vermeil. “She is by far the best athlete we’ve had,” said Assistant Athletic Director Jeanne Calamar. Calamar said that Jang, who competed as a gymnast in 1977 and 1979, won the title of state champion twice. “You have to be pretty darn good to do that,” Calamar said, further adding that she was the first and only female athlete to win two state titles. During her first year as an athlete, Calamar said that she suffered an ankle injury. She further added that Jang had already planned on transferring to a four-year university and would not compete again. However, after being convinced by her coach Gert Tipton to stay for another year, she returned to the sport and proceeded to win every event she participated in during the Valley Conference Championships. “Obviously, she was named the ‘Most Valuable Gymnast’ of the conference,” said Calamar said.
Collin Pregliasco, dean of Kinesiology, Health, & Athletics and athletic director, said that she had a successful career as an athlete despite Jang’s history of her sports-related injury. “You can’t have a better career like she did,” Pregliasco said. In 1979, Calamar said that Jang was named ‘Gymnast of the Year’ by the Sacramento Hall of Fame. Pregliasco also said that Jang went to the Cosumnes River College Hall of Fame a few years ago. “She was a tremendous athlete in terms of all events,” Pregliasco said. Tipton, who was the former Athletic Director at CRC, said that Jang was an outstanding athlete while she was still a student at the college. “She did her routines diligently,” Tipton said. Tipton said that because gymnastics was not a team sport, Jang understood her role as an individual athlete. Despite this, Tipton said that she was encouraging to other gymnasts. “She was a ray of sunshine,” Tipton said, additionally saying that she was a joy to have in the gym. Both Calamar and Tipton said that Jang was a very humble athlete. “She never felt that she was that good,” Tipton said. Calamar said that being inducted into the CCCAA’s Sports Hall of Fame is one of the greatest accomplishments an athlete from a community college can earn. “That’s the highest honor any Cal-
Courtesy Photo
Former CRC gymnast Christine Jang and her husband Marc on March 28 at the 2018 CCCAA Sports Hall of Fame award ceremony.
ifornia community college athlete can ever receive,” Calamar said. Pregliasco also mentioned that Jang is one of the few CRC athletes to be honored by the CCAA. “She’s the second CRC athlete to be inducted,” Pregliasco said, citing former professional baseball player Jermaine Dye as the first athlete to be recognized. Pregliasco said that the speech Jang gave during the awards ceremony was a great one. “Her speech at the Hall of Fame was amazing,” Pregliasco said, later describing how she spoke about over-
coming adversity and learning work ethic in athletics. Pregliasco said that Jang “hit the nail on the head” on what it means to be an athlete during her speech. He further added that she recognized CRC and how the school had pushed he to where she is today. “She was a dedicated student,” Tipton said, citing her medical career as a result of that dedication. Pregliasco said that Jang is now employed as the head of the gynecology department at Kaiser Permanente in South Sacramento, where she has been practicing since 2003.
This season brought a new father son duo By Kaylin Flatland kflatland.connect@gmail.com This season the baseball team got two new additions, a new coach, Don Mico and a new infielder, his son JD Mico. The coach player relationship is something that is new to both of them.. “It’s been a positive experience for me, I didn’t get to see him play much in high school,” said coach Mico. In the beginning of the year I caught myself yelling at him more than others on the team, said Mico. He explained that he expects more out of his son than he does other players. Mico said that there is a big difference between high
school and college baseball that was something he noticed freshman on the team, including JD had to adapt to. The difference is bigger, stronger, faster guys. The team worked hard and did their best every game said Mico. Originally, his son JD was supposed to play at University of the Pacific after graduating from McClatchy High School, but later decided it was a better decision to go to CRC and follow up with baseball here said coach Mico. Other players did not have any issues with having the family aspect involved on the team, they didn’t really notice it. “Honestly if I wasn’t told, I wouldn’t notice. Everybody
treats everybody very fairly.” said Dean Lucas, outfielder. “He’s just a bit harder on him, just because he knows what he can get out of him and I think that is great. He pushes JD to do everything he needs to compete out here.” Overall, coach Mico was very proud of his son’s performance on the team. “As a dad I am proud to be able to coach him.” The father-son duo tend to leave their baseball talk on the field and family related conversations for home said coach Mico. JD Mico said that his dad was a large influence on him growing up and his interest in baseball. “Yeah, he was a very big
Kainoa Nunez | The Connection
JD Mico, on the left, and Don Mico talking to the umpire during the game versus Modesto Junior College on April 27.
influence. Ever since I was a kid I’ve always had a bat or a glove or ball in my hand. I’ve
always wanted to be like him, to be a baseball player.” said JD.
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Tanking takes the fun out of winning By Max Connor mconnor.connect@gmail.com
Kainoa Nunez| The Connection
Angela Hurtado, 19, serves during a match versus College of the Sequoias on March 6. The team struggled this year going 0-10 but players enjoyed the experience and built a good foudation for next year.
Tennis brings joy and hard work to student athletes Victoria Blanco vblanco.connect@gmail.com As tennis season comes to a close, the men’s and women’s tennis team continue to practice for the California State Community College Team Championships on April 25. The team consisted of first year players and one returning player, as well as new head coach Eva De Mars and assistant coach Shawn Bha. “They did well, given their inexperience at this level of play,” said De Mars. De Mars has been playing tennis for over 15 years and Bha has been playing tennis for over 30 years and is head coach at Florin High School. “They [players] are very dedicated, actually the doubles team won the championship tournament and James [Cruze] got second place,” said
Editor in Chief/Features Editor: Elizabeth Rodriguez News/Opinion Editor: Victoria Blanco Sports Editor: John Cabales Photo Editor: Kainoa Nunez Staff: Summer Lomendehe, Crick Fulenchek, Blynn Beltran, Kainoa Nunez, Lisa Wilson, Shannon Rusche, Arnold Fernandes, Max Connor, Dario Lizarraga, Kaylin Flatland, Nekita Smith, Genesis Pecoraro-Frayre
Bha. “I want to come back next year because tennis is my secret lover.” The women had an overall record of 0-10 and the men had a record of 1-5, winning one match against Santa Rosa. Nevertheless, the teams practiced hard and gained skills and a stronger bond. Freshman player Essie Bauldry said she enjoyed this season and will be coming back next semester. “It was hard training, but it was worth it at the end,” said Bauldry. “Tennis is fun.” Freshman player Hannah Dinkins said she will be coming back next season. “They’re really good coaches. They make you want to try harder,” said Dinkins. “Shawn makes you work really hard.” “She’s [De Mars] real-
ly enthusiastic, she’s funny and she’s a good teacher, she makes us want to come to practice,” said Dinkins. Freshman player Nathan Sy will not be back next year because he will be transferring schools, but he encourages students to “play hard, try hard.” De Mars said she has high hopes for next season as the women’s team is expecting at least 10 players. “We have high expectations for next year given the new recruits coming in,” De Mars said. Freshman player Gorden Thao will be back next season because he enjoyed the guidance of the assistant coaches. “The training was really good, they actually helped us a lot,” said Thao.“If you don’t run, then tennis isn’t the sport for you.”
The Connection is an award-winning newspaper published bi-weekly by the Journalism 410 & 411 media production class. Editorials and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the students, staff CRC or Losios Community College District.
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To tank or not to tank, that is the question. Whether tis’ nobler in the mind of a G.M. to rebuild than to tank and suffer the slings and arrows of fan base, is indeed a question every team must ask of themselves at certain points in their history. While Shakespeare was not discussing the merits of purposeful losing (tanking) versus trading older veteran players with high salaries in hopes of rebuilding a younger team with potential (rebuilding), the moral conflict of his famous soliloquy fits the conversation. With the conclusion of the NFL draft, the end of the NBA season and one month into the baseball season, it is a great time to dive into the merits of rebuilding as opposed to abhorrent practice of tanking. There is no doubt that at times it makes sense for a team to trade away highly paid veteran players, who clearly are not going to be able to contribute to a team that needs a new direction and an infusion of young talent which is affordable and cost controlled. The by product of that strategy is often a team that is not very competitive. Tanking, however, relates more to the desire to gain higher draft picks by willfully losing games, or by trading good players who are already cost controlled. The Marlins are a perfect example of the of both. They traded away Christian Yelich, a 26-year-old star outfielder with a team friendly contract that goes until 2022. Additionally, they traded Marcel Ozuna who also was under team control for two more years. Trading away Gian Carlo Stanton and his enormous contract is defendable, but trading away two other young players, with
some cost control, is a blatant attempt to reduce payroll to collect on revenue sharing and gain draft picks. This is not only a slap in the face to fans of the Marlins but also to the idea of sport and competition itself. There are currently seven teams who are already on pace to lose 100 games this year is baseball and we are only one month into the season. Baseball has no salary cap and if any team where to be put up for sale they would go for nearly a billion dollars if not more, so teams crying poor is an argument that does not hold water. Meanwhile, in the NBA you have Mark Cuban admitting that “it is our best interest to lose” games to acquire a higher draft pick. The Philadelphia 76ers, where purposefully terrible for several years in hopes of obtaining franchise altering players in the draft. But the years of only a few fans showing up on bags over their heads at games may only be worth it if they win a championship, which is very difficult to do. Even the most dominant team in the NBA, the Warriors, has shown that rebuilding can work without tanking. None of their top players were acquired with higher than the number seven pick in the draft. They built their team with smart drafting and scouting and then were able to add Kevin Durant in free agency after already winning one championship. Rebuilding is a necessary evil for a team to move on to a more hopeful era, but tanking is a moral affront to the very foundation of sports. The foundation of sports is two teams trying as hard as they can to win on any given day and the scourge of tanking is a dangerous and corrosive force eroding away fans trust and love of the game.
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May 3, 2018
Playoffs are up in the air after the win By Kainoa Nunez knunez.connect@gmail.com With the last home game of the season for the baseball team, the Hawks were optimistic that they would have a chance at a playoff spot after a series-winning victory against the Pirates of Modesto. The final score was 4-1. If any team loses, then the Hawks will continue on the road to the playoffs before coming back home to potentially host a playoff game. “We’re young with 19 freshmen and seven sophomores,” Assistant Coach Michael Hacker said. “We have a chance to make it to the playoffs.” After playing in Modesto on March 26 and playing backto-back games, the Hawks had little time to prepare, but they were ready to take care of business. Hawks pitcher Josh Caldwell played until the sixth inning before Josh Congress finished the game. “He did a great job, stepped in and just showed how much he cares for this team,” Caldwell said. The Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the first inning by outfielder Burle Dixon to score the first run from a sacrificed flyball by
first baseman Joey Pancratz to steal and slide safe on home base. In the third inning, the Pirates tied the game 1-1 from infielder Chris Alonzo by a single from outfielder Anthony Arredondo. The Pirates were not going to let the Hawks run them over from the first matchup, where they dominated them 14-0. The Hawks answered back by taking the lead after outfielder Dean Lucas scored the second run from an error that was thrown to third base. For the next two innings, neither team could score. Both were playing good defense. “Staying with each other, being good teammates and getting everything done were the positives,” outfielder Dean Lucas said. As Mico pulled Caldwell to rest in the dugout for the rest of the game, Congress prepared to close this game. In the bottom of the sixth inning with the bases loaded, the Hawks scored another point from utility Damien Chavez with a single to left field by Lucas. The bases were loaded again with Dixon up to bat, but was struck out. The score was 3-1. The Pirates tried to get back into the game, but the
Kainoa Nunez | The Connection
Sophomore first-baseman/left hand pitcher Joey Pankratz at bat against the Pirates of Modesto college in the bottom of the fifth inning at home on April 27.
Hawks prevented them from scoring. The Hawks scored their final run from Pancratz by another mistake from the Pirates. They tried to get a double out with Pancratz and Chavez, but Alonzo missed the catch to easily let Pancratz walk safely to home base.
“They played better than they did in the first game of this series, and they definitely came out by hitting the ball,” Caldwell said. Congress continued to be the dominant pitcher that he has been all season, and he closed the game by striking out Arredondo.
The final score was 4-1, ending the Hawks' regular season with a record of 19-21. As they wait for their upcoming schedule, the Hawks will have to be patient. If the Hawks swept the Pirates then “we would definitely be in the playoffs,” Hacker said.
Hawks get a shutout win against Vikings By Kainoa Nunez knunez.connect@gmail.com
The Hawks softball team ended their last home game of the 2018 season on April 17 in a shutout win against the Vikings of Diablo Valley College with a final score 3-0. It was sophomore day for team: centerfield Amber Wright, pitcher Ashleigh Berg, third baseman Taelor Ford, catcher Hannah Flynn, right fielder Cecilia Rivera, shortstop Korina Krueg and second baseman Veronica Smith were recognized. The last time the Hawks faced the Vikings was on March 28 at Diablo Valley in a doubleheader where they lost both games. “Gabby threw a nice game
against them,” Head Coach Kristy Schroeder said. “We played some good defense as well, and their pitcher was tough, but we capitalize some of their errors that they made on the field.” Hawks’ pitcher Gabrielle Montaie played through all seven innings. “Not to sound too cocky, but I was confident out there and making sure that all of my pitches were working,” Montaie said. “So today was actually a pretty good game.” Vikings pitcher Sita Manoa also had a good game. “We faced their pitcher before and knowing that we lost last time to her,” Rivera said. “So, switching that mentality and letting yourself know that we can beat her.” At the top of the fifth in-
ning, the Vikings were unable to score with two on base. The Hawks got on the board when Flynn got a run from a single by infielder Cassandra Thomas. The second run was from Thomas. M a k ing the score 2-0. “We came out ready and knowing that we were going to put those hits on them eventually in one of the innings,” Berg said. The next inning the Vikings tried to get on the board, but Montaie struck two of their players out and first baseman Ashlee Kaiser caught a popup ball. The Hawks scored another run in the bottom of the sixth inning when mid infielder Kylee Boykin got a bundt single from Berg that made the game 3-0.
Kainoa Nunez | The Connection
Sophomore Taelor Ford slides to second in the fourth inning on April 18.
Montaie ended the game in the seventh inning by striking out second baseman Madeline Cervantes. “One game at a time,”
Schroeder said. “You’re always thinking about post season in the back of your mind, but we got to focus our next matchup.”