December04 Issue by The Et Cetera

Etera

Eastfield College

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Texting and Driving

kills

get the message? Page 3 â&#x17E;¤

Volume 45, Issue 6

News

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Put it on your

Calendar December Wed

The “SoFresh Student Art Exhibit” will be held Wednesday through Friday in F-219C from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. A recital series featuring the Eastfield Jazz Ensemble will be held from 12:30-1:50 p.m. in the Performance Hall, F-209

Fri

A matinee of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” will be held at 11 a.m. in the Performance Hall. An evening performance will be held at 7 p.m. There will also be shows on Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and on Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. The EFC Chorus will hold its second annual Holiday Pops Concert from 7-9 p.m. in F-117.

Mon

Fri

13 Mon

Final exam week begins. Sell your textbooks to the campus bookstore Dec. 9-12 from 8 a.m.-6 p.m.

Last day of Fall Semester.

Winter semester begins.

Math Final Exam Review Sessions

Wed., Dec. 4

DMAT 0099, 1:30-3:30 p.m. in L-207 (Kamman) MATH 1314, 12-1 p.m. in L-207 (Kelman)

Thurs, Dec. 5

DMAT 0097, 2:30-3:30 p.m. in L-207 (Kelly) MATH 1314, 3-5 p.m. in L-207 (Johnson)

Thurs, Dec. 5

MATH 1314, 12:30-2 p.m. in N-243 (Race)

About the cover

Photo Illustration and design by Yolanda Ramirez

www.eastfieldnews.com

The Et Cetera

Students protest ‘illegal’ game at UT

By Justin David Tate Life & Arts Editor

Student protests at colleges across the state, including Eastfield, led to the disintegration of an event known as the “Catch an Illegal Immigrant Game” at the University of Texas at Austin. On Nov. 18, a group called the Young Conservatives of Texas announced the game would be played on the UT campus in two days. Within 24 hours, public outcry from students led to the event’s cancellation. The object of the game was to find people on campus wearing shirts displaying the words “illegal immigrant.” Students who caught these people would be awarded $25 gift cards. The day the game was announced, students such as University of Texas at Dallas political science major Abi Zapote immediately reached out to thousands of students at Southern Methodist University and the University of North Texas, among others. “I was disgusted by their actions because I was undocumented for 15 years,” said Zapote, who is also the district deputy director for young adults at LULAC. “Knowing that these people went out of their way to plan this game, knowing that it was UT [Austin], a really great university in Texas, knowing that racism is still prevalent there, it just bothered me a lot.” Her coalition of students organized by 5 p.m. on Nov. 18, placing phone calls to the president of UT Austin and the college’s board of trustees. A counter protest was planned for Nov. 20 in Austin at the same time as the YCT event was originally scheduled. The protests attracted thousands of supporters on Facebook and about 500 students in person, eight of whom rode with Zapote in two cars from Dallas to join the demonstration. America Ferrera, star of the ABC comedy “Ugly Betty” and co-chair of Voto Latino, a group reaching out to young Latin voters, spoke at UT Austin to

Yolanda ramirez/The Et cetera

Teresa Tinoco and fellow Eastfield LULAC members protest in the courtyard.

voice her support for the protests. “The dreamers I know are the students who press on with their education through great financial hardship in order to become doctors, teachers, business owners, lawyers, scientists and innovators,” Ferrera said through a megaphone. “Those dreams are more powerful than any obstacle that comes before them.” In a statement sent Nov. 19, YCT-UT Chapter President Lorenzo Garcia said the decision to award $25 gift cards was “misguided.” “I believed that our event would spark this dis-

cussion on campus,” Garcia said in the statement, which also announced the cancellation of the event. “And though we will no longer be holding the event, I hope that the publicity surrounding the event will create debate among students.” Former Eastfield LULAC President Chris Enriquez agrees a discussion should happen, but he doesn’t believe this was the right way to bring up the topic. “For a lot of people, the fear of getting caught is very real,” Enriquez said. “And then to make a game out of it and give out $25 gift cards, that’s kind of mocking the issue.” Enriquez was sitting at a table in the back of the Student Life office when he saw the news on his phone. He immediately organized Eastfield LULAC members to stage their own demonstration on campus in support of the protests held in Austin. Enriquez is a former member of the North Texas Dream Team that helps lobby for laws to allow undocumented students and workers to remain in the United States legally. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was considered a small victory by the Dream Team. The order from President Barack Obama sent on June of last year allowed undocumented students ages 16-31 who came into the country before they turned 15 to apply to remain in the country legally. For Eastfield student Gabriel Estrada, who also participated in Enriquez’s on-campus demonstration, the order meant he did not have to fear deportation any longer. It also allowed him other privileges he didn’t previously enjoy. “Now I can be a part of the American dream,” he said. “I can get a [driver’s] license. I can get a job. Those things, some people take them for granted.” As the second anniversary of DACA approaches, many DACA students will have to apply again. Zapote believes the protest was an inspiration. “I think that it’s such a positive thing to know that college students aren’t just sitting down and waiting for things to happen,” she said.

Incoming DCCCD chancellor brings new ideas By Justin David Tate Life & Arts Editor

For the full interview, visit us online at www.eastfieldnews.com

Dr. Joe May, chancellor of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, is expected to succeed retiring DCCCD Chancellor Dr. Wright Lassiter next semester. The official Board of Trustees vote to hire May took place on Tuesday after press time. May, who will start his new position on Feb. 26, spoke with The Et Cetera in a recent telephone interview.

Dallas district. About the same number of students, budget, employees, but a little larger geographic area.

Tell me about your position as chancellor of the Louisiana College and Technical College System. It’s really like a statewide district, very similar in many ways to the

q A

So what led you to where you are now, to that position? I was well aware that the Louisiana system was created in 1999. It was poised for outstanding growth, but it had some challenges because it was still in the recovery phase from both Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Katrina. So while it was a great state with relatively young community and technical colleges, we definitely had our challenges. We overcame them. We’ve grown, built campuses and added new facilities, so that’s

been real exciting for me for the past seven years, to be a part of creating something new in Louisiana.

q A

What do you think was your greatest triumph during your seven-year career? There are several things that I’m really proud of that we were able to accomplish. One, working with the state legislature to secure investments of well over $900 million to put in the types of programs that lead to greatpaying jobs within the state. … Right now in Louisiana, for example, the average student who owns an associate’s degree has a higher salary than the average person earning a bachelor’s degree. And I think that’s important because what we need to make sure is that we’re continuing to put in the

Dr. Joe May

programs that align with those greatpaying jobs so when people graduate, they have some type of certificate or award. And they have the knowledge and skills to go to work.

NEWS

The Et Cetera

www.eastfieldnews.com

Wednesday December 4, 2013

Texting while driving increases danger

By Gereneicia Foster Staff Writer

“Sounds good my man, seeya soon, ill tw...” was the last text 22-year-old University of Northern Colorado student Alexander Heit wrote on April 3 before he drifted into oncoming traffic and rolled his car over, killing him. “I can’t discuss this now. Driving and facebooking is not safe! Haha,” was 18-year-old honor student Taylor Sauer’s final message on Jan. 12, 2012 before she plowed into a tanker at 80 mph in Idaho. On Nov. 7, tragedy hit closer to home when a 17-year-old Allen girl was killed in what investigators believe was another texting-anddriving incident. Emily Rayyan Stambaugh veered off the road, struck a tree and ended up lodged against a stone wall. Despite the messages “It can wait” and “Don’t text and drive” that can be seen and heard on almost every media outlet, distracted driving continues to happen. Last year distracted driving claimed approximately 3,328 lives, according to the website www.distraction.gov. Distracted driving is any activity that can divert a person’s attention away from the primary task of driving. The website notes that texting is the most alarming type of distraction because it requires visual, cognitive and manual attention from the driver. Statistics show that drivers under the age of 20 are among the most distracted drivers. In 2011, 21 percent of teens between the ages of 15 and 19 who were involved in a fatal car crash were distracted by cell phones, according

to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Aeronautical engineering major Fon Asagna believes teens are more prone to texting and driving than adults because they want to stay connected. “Teenagers believe in being involved with every and anything trendy,” he said. “It’s just how things have been. More often than not they want to be in the loop with current events.” However, a study conducted by the NHTSA, which included 6,000 drivers from all over the United States, showed that 68 percent of drivers ages 35-44 and 62 percent of those ages 4564 send texts and emails while driving. Teenagers and young adults between the ages of 18-20 had the highest percentage at 72 percent. Nursing major Jamelia Boone believes both adults and teens text and drive, but teens have more incidents because they feel invincible and don’t understand how severe their actions can be. “They don’t look deep into the outcome [of texting and driving] and how if something did happen how it really could affect you or someone that you’re with or even your family and their family,” she said. The annual National Occupant Protection Use Survey, which provides data on electronic device usage by drivers, states that during any daylight moment across the U.S., approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or other electronic devices while driving. Texas is one of nine states that hasn’t enacted a statewide ban against texting and driving. While 23 cities have enacted their own local

photo illustration by yolanda ramirez/The Et cetera

ordinances prohibiting distracted driving, Dallas and Mesquite are not included on this list. Currently, the only prohibitions for texting and driving are drivers with learning permits, who aren’t allowed to use cell phones within the first six months of driving. Drivers under 18 and all drivers in school zones are not al-

myPortal connects campus By María Yolisma García Staff Writer

A new wave of social media has hit the DCCCD. myPortal, a website intended to be a “single login site” for various district websites including eCampus and eConnect, was launched earlier this fall and is still in its introductory stage. It will serve as a platform for students and professors to be able to share documents and join collaborative groups through user profiles. Jack Thiehoff, interim director of education and administrative technology, said one of the goals of the single login option is to allow students, faculty and staff to access eCampus and other resources through an assigned email account. There are other benefits as well. “It will serve as a great opportunity for students to further engage with

their professors in a new and more effective way,” psychology professor Kim Chandler said. Georgeann Moss, a myPortal team member from the district office, said the site will give students easy access to different tools and functionalities such as announcements, team sites and online service links. “We can target announcements to different groups of people,” Moss said. “[For example] If you don’t receive financial aid you won’t see FA announcements. We can target those students who do receive FA to see FA announcements. It’s a way to lessen the clutter in your inbox.” Team sites are a new way to interact with officially sanctioned groups like Phi Theta Kappa, Student Government Association and many others. Campus groups can create a website on myPortal and are able to share meeting minutes, calendars or any oth-

er information pertaining to the group with their group members. “Team sites will enable us to enhance productivity,” Moss said. Instead of having multiple Facebook pages for one group, myPortal can be used as a central location for students who are members of the group to share information and read weekly updates from the club. A myPortal account is automatically made for students and faculty who have access to eConnect. When a user changes his or her password, a myPortal account is created. In 24 hours the user can sign into myPortal with the same login information for eConnect. From there, users gain access and can edit their homepages to tailor their content for other students and faculty members to see. “It’s a great tool and it’s going to be even greater a year from now if we all learn and grow together on how to use it,” Moss said.

lowed to use handheld devices. Nursing major Patrick Gales said having a statewide or a localized ban would ensure that drivers were only focused on the road. “To potentially save lives, make the roads safer and prevent accidents, I think there should be [a law banning texting while driving],” he said. Sgt. Melissa Jacobs of the Eastfield College Police Department agrees that either a statewide or local ban would be effective, but she said law enforcement officers would also play a big role in solving the problem. “I’m sure it would stop some people, but there are statewide laws on a lot of things that people continue to do,” she said. “It is more about enforcement then the actual law itself.” Several companies like AT&T and AAA are campaigning to bring awareness to this problem. Phone applications like AT&T Drive mode automatically send preset texts to let senders know you are driving. Textecution is another app that uses GPS to calculate a car’s speed. If you are going more than 10 mph it will automatically block texts. The NHTSA encourage drivers “that out of sight, out of mind is key” when it comes to cell phones. Turning the phones off, silencing them or designating a texter will help stop wrecks. Gales feels that if you are driving, then that is all you should be doing. There is no excuse for distracted driving. “You could take someone’s life with a simple text like ‘OK, I’ll be there,’” he said. “You need to focus on the road no matter how good of a driver or multi-tasker you are.”

Scholarship recipient

Special to The Et cetera

Business major Johnny Dubon, right, shakes Social Sciences Dean Mike Walker’s hand while receiving the John M. Thorne Memorial Scholarship.

The Et Cetera

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

NEWS Wednesday, December 4, 2013

5 www.eastfieldnews.com

The Et Cetera

learner adviser friend

By Kevin Cushingberry Jr. Editor in Chief

Kathy Bayne is a lifelong learner. She’s learned about the basics: science, math, English and history. And she’s learned the difficult stuff: biology, psychology, even auto tech. But Kathy isn’t a student, she’s an interpreter. In the process of hearing a message in English, converting it into American Sign Language and signing that message to a deaf student, educational interpreters must adopt an understanding of the classroom’s vocabulary. In fact, the learning process for interpreters starts before the semester begins. Many interpreters read textbooks ahead of time to gain knowledge of the key terms and research signs that will be useful for the class. “You have to learn whatever you’re interpreting before you interpret it,” said Bayne, a full-time staff interpreter who began learning ASL 35 years ago has been a professional interpreter for 21 years. “If you don’t understand what that person is saying in one [language], you can’t put it out in the other [language]. You can finger spell it, but you’re not going to be able to sign it.” Bayne, who has worked at Eastfield for 13 years, is familiar with most of the courses taught on campus. When she hears an instructor use a term unique to a certain class, she has usually heard it before and already figured out the signs, spelling and meaning. Mary McDermott, a part-time interpreter who has worked for the DCCCD since 1979 while also teaching at Samuell High School,

interpreter said the preparation educational interpreters complete prior to signing for a class is pivotal. However, she said some situations cannot be anticipated. “I’ve found that sometimes, especially with science, there aren’t signs for certain vocabulary,” she said. “You can finger spell, but you’re in a place where you’re talking about endoplasmic reticulum. He’s gone on for a while and I’m still spelling a word.” When this happens, McDermott and other interpreters do their best to spell out the word and catch up later. However, spelling out complicated words continuously for an 80-minute class can be physically and mentally exhausting. So, the interpreters and students get together to find shortcuts. “After a while, me and a student come up with a sign we’re going to use for that particular word in that particular class,” McDermott said. “For instance, we’ll just sign ER for endoplasmic reticulum. I’ll ask the deaf student if that’s OK with them because they would usually sign ER for emergency room. For some specific classes, you just have to go with something that both of us are comfortable with.” The DCCCD requires interpreters to have state-level certification. Disability Services Office director Bobbi White, who has a background in interpreting, said learning sign language isn’t easy. “It’s not like you take a couple classes and you’re proficient,” White said. “To be a good interpreter, to have really good conversational skills where I can understand you, you can understand me, that’s probably a 10-year process. [Interpreting] is a pretty exact science.”

Part-time interpreter Leah Weeks only has three years of interpreting experience, but said having to interpret in different environments has given her unique experiences. “In every classroom that we enter, we encounter so many new cultures,” she said. “Each individual has their own culture that impacts everything that you do.” Weeks said the fact that every deaf person and hearing person has his or her own cultures makes for interesting situations. “Cultures are so imperative to communication between any two people,” Weeks said. Just as there is a hearing culture, deaf culture and interpreting culture, there are also subcultures within the college. Bayne said some of the students communicate verbally in ways she wouldn’t. “This one deaf kid was calling another kid the ‘N’ word,” Bayne said. “Well, I’m this old white lady. I’m not going to just yell out what he just said. I walked over to the guy, put my arm around him and said, ‘Hey, he just called you the ‘N’ word.’ That’s the hard stuff to interpret.” Educational interpreting isn’t just about communicating professors’ messages to students. It’s also about interpreting students’ messages to their professors. Bayne said when deaf students get mad at instructors, or tell an instructor off, interpreters can be put in a difficult position. “I’m having to say these things to this other adult,” she said. “Yeah, I’m telling them what the deaf student is saying, but it still feels like I’m saying it.” Seandra Smith-Reese, a hearing-impaired student who first enrolled at Eastfield in 1992, said interpreters are much more help-

ful now than they were 21 years ago. “Back then it wasn’t good,” she said. “I flunked my classes. They didn’t know what they were supposed to be signing. With the interpreters now, they will let my professors know if I ever have any questions. I like it now because I’m passing all my classes.” Smith-Reese said although she can communicate verbally on her own, she is more comfortable when an interpreter is there to help. “I do communicate using regular English, but when I have an interpreter, I will use ASL and they will make it sound smarter in English,” she said. The difficulty she had when she first stepped on campus made Smith-Reese appreciative of the many roles interpreters play when she returned to college in 2011. “One of my interpreters is my former professor,” she said. “We’ll go around on the weekend and go to church. If I have a hard time with some classes, like government, my interpreter will take her time and work with me longer. I have interpreters that will tutor each subject with me. I love them all.” Bayne said giving students extra help and sometimes going above and beyond her professional responsibilities is only natural after working at the college for so long. “The hard part is trying to keep my boundaries,” she said. “Because I’ve been here so long and I know so much of how the system works, I have a tendency to do a lot of other things besides interpret for the deaf students, like advise on their classes, become their friend, those kinds of things. When you’re just out doing your job, that doesn’t happen, but here it’s all kind of intertwined.”

opinion

6 The Et Cetera

Etera

María Yolisma García

Award-winning member of: • Texas Intercollegiate Press Association • Associated Collegiate Press • Texas Community College Journalism Association

Eastfield College 3737 Motley Drive Mesquite, TX 75150 Phone: 972-860-7130 Fax: 972-860-7646 Email: etc4640@dcccd.edu

We must fight for a nation of immigrants

Editor In Chief Kevin Cushingberry Jr. Life & Arts Editor Justin David Tate Opinion Editor Caitlin Piper Online Editor Miguel Padilla Design Editor Yolanda Ramirez Photo Editor Odessa Leeper Staff Writers Billy Dennis Kristen Dixon Karina Dunn Gereneicia Foster Emma Hahn Liritze Pedroza-Ortiz Marîa Yolisma Garcîa Trenton Blackshear Photographer Arica Hill Cartoonists Alex Hernandez Jonathan Wences Graphics Chadney Cantrell Advertising Manager Yolanda Ramirez Student Publications Manager Wendy L. Moore Faculty Adviser Lori Dann Editorial Policy The views expressed on the opinion pages and other opinion pieces and cartoons in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of The Et Cetera, Eastfield College or the Dallas County Community College District. The Et Cetera is published every two weeks— except December, January and summer months—by a student staff. Each member of the college community is entitled to one free copy of The Et Cetera. Additional copies are available in Room N-240. Letters to the Editor Letters must be typed, signed and include a phone number. Letters will be edited for profanity and vulgarity, Associated Press style, grammar, libel and space when needed. The content will remain that of the author. Letters considered for publication must be 250 words or fewer. Letters may be delivered to Room N-240 or sent to etc4640@dcccd.edu First Amendment Right Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

OUR VIEW

Texting while driving is a danger to drivers, those around them

If you own a cell phone and a driver’s license, chances are you’ve texted at least once while driving. If not, you’ve likely witnessed someone else doing so. According to a recent study conducted by the University of North Texas School of Public Health, texting while driving makes the average driver 23 times more likely to cause a crash than if he was only focusing on the road. Comparatively, talking on or listening to a cell phone only multiplies the likelihood of a crash 1.4 times. In 2011 alone, 1.3 million crashes in America were the result of texting while driving, including an estimated 2,500 in Texas. With the number of smartphone users going up every day, that figure is only going to increase. Many Americans don’t consider this to be a problem, but it is. There is no excuse for texting while behind the wheel. Text messages can wait until the driver has come to a stop and left the vehicle. By our very nature, we are unable to multitask effectively. Attempting to multitask while sur-

rounded by scores of two-ton vehicles and long stretches of asphalt is inconvenient at best and fatal at worst. Texas is one of only 32 states that prohibits novice drivers from using cell phone when behind the wheel. The state has also banned texting and phone use when drivers are in a school zone, or when they are driving a school bus. However, only 10 states prohibit any and all cell phone use from drivers of all ages and experience levels. Texas isn’t one of them. People who choose to text while driving are not only placing their own lives at risk, but the lives of everyone around them. Looking down for even a moment could result in an accident that causes serious injury or even death. No matter how well you think you are able to multitask, it is never safe to drive while distracted. No text message is important enough to endanger your life and the life of those around you. Put the phone down. The text can wait.

In a whirlwind of political unrest and the separation of families, the chance for a better nation lies in the hands of those who seek it. For 10 years the United States has not found a justifiable way of fixing broken immigration laws. For 10 years families have continuously been separated. For 10 years I have seen people pushed aside as secondclass citizens and exploited for cheap labor, all because they lack the paperwork necessary for them to be considered Americans. While Congress decides on the future of the country’s estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, the organizations that advocate for a just immigration reform have been hard at work. As an organizer for the North Texas Dream Team, an organization composed of undocumented youth and allies, I believe we must fight for immigration reform now. According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an estimated 400,000 people have been deported since the Obama administration began. Unfortunately, many of them were hard-working parents. The repeated separation of families has caused emotional pain for the children left behind, who are often dropped into the foster care system. This issue has been examined from many points of view, but it has never been seen as a human issue. What many fail to see are the stories of these 11 million people — their struggles and dreams. As an activist for an issue that affects many Americans including myself, I take this issue very seriously. Activism is much more than yelling at “the man” and protesting outside a congressman’s office. It’s staying up until 2 a.m., making sure a father of four is not deported for doing his job or organizing a lobby visit. Most importantly, activism is fighting for a nation built by immigrants, for immigrants. Being an activist is not a simple task. It takes time and passion, a drive to continue pushing government officials to take the needs of the people into consideration. While politicians mettle with the future of the estimated 11 million, hope for immigration reform lies in the very ashes of the dreams many had years ago. The stakes for comprehensive immigration reform have never been higher, and the time to pass it is now.

opinion The Et Cetera

Sexual assault cases call for better investigation Daniel and Jennifer liked each other. Attending the same university, they found themselves together one night and had consensual sex. About five days later, Jennifer accused Daniel of sexual assault. The initial outcry — Jennifer’s account of the assault — was made on campus. Later she filed a formal criminal complaint. Ultimately, Daniel went to trial for sexual assault. In today’s legal environment, individuals Rebecca accused of sexual assault are presumed guilty. This Trottershould be unlikely within a Moore justice system based on the presumption of innocence. While I trust the workings of our justice system, it is my opinion that the investigation process of sexual assault cases is broken. As a state-trained victims’ advocate and criminal defense investigator, I am aware of the training provided to, and practices followed by, advocates, investigators and prosecutors. Sexual assault cases are difficult at best. Addressing an accusation makes most people uncomfortable. At one time sexual assault was thought to be about sex. The idea that sex could be about power was inconceivable. This old thinking allowed for the common defense, that the victims, who were willing participants, regretted their actions. Victims were assumed to be lying. They were drilled with questions; their personal lives were attacked. Women stopped complaining. Men never came forward. The old process needed to change. However, the pendulum swing toward victim’s advocacy brought a new extreme: absolute belief of the victim’s outcry and allegation. I agree with believing the victim. It is essential to building trust. Victims must trust the first person they tell. They have to have trust in law enforcement and the prosecution, whom they rely on from complaint to conviction. Unfortunately, absolute belief in an accusation without question denies the accused a defense. You cannot prove a negative. That’s the purpose of a justice system designed to burden the prosecution with proving guilt. An investigation should reveal the truth and evidence to corroborate the claim. The most important part of this revelation is asking questions of all involved, including the victim. The practice must be to trust but verify, not believe without question. It’s time we bring balance to the investigative process of these cases. This requires educating young women and men. These are the basics: Males and females, young and old, are sexually assaulted. Those who are straight and those who are gay are victimized. The promiscuous, monogamous and virginal are assaulted. The poor and the rich suffer attacks. You get the picture. Know too that both males and females are assailants. Assailants are strangers and friends. People can even be victimized by their spouses. Complaints are sometimes made by victims who are not ready, or who are unable, to tell the entire truth. Some victims exaggerate. Others may accuse someone other than their true assailant. Still, some victims create their stories for their own benefit. In Jennifer’s case, it was simply a matter of protecting her reputation and hiding her sexual activity from her parents. She wasn’t assaulted. This demonstrates the importance of a thorough investigation. For the victims, the accused and the integrity of the justice system, determining the facts is vital. Jennifer’s perpetuation of the myth, that victims are liars, adds to the pain for true victims. Her selfish lie could have caused Daniel to serve jail time and register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Daniel was found not guilty. Daniel was lucky. Editor’s note: The names used in this column are fictional.

7 www.eastfieldnews.com

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

FCKH8’s avarice is putting lives at risk

FCKH8, an American T-shirt company well known for its pro-LGBT stance, has launched a campaign in which it will send 10,000 pro-gay coloring books to families in Russia in exchange for 100,000 tumblr reblogs. Titled “Misha & His Moms Go to the Olympics,” the bilingual EnglishRussian book tells the story of Misha, a young Russian boy with lesbian parents. Alongside Pascal, a French boy with two fathers, and Li Min, a Canadian girl with heterosexual parents, Misha attends the 2014 Sochi Olympics while musing on the aggressive anti-LGBT laws in modern Russia. Although I am a staunch supporter of LGBT rights, I believe this campaign is incredibly dangerous. Currently, it is illegal to be pro-gay or pro-trans in Russia. These laws have resulted in the imprisonment and even death of countless people. Russian law enforcement is legally obligated to turn a blind eye to LGBT-related hate crimes, and many citizens have fled the country as a result. FCKH8 has made no indication that it will alert the 10,000 families before it mails the coloring books, making them the unwitting recipients of an American company’s illegal publicity stunt. If Russian authorities happen to find the books in the possession of the families, it could put their lives at risk.

Caitlin Piper

Additionally, despite FCKH8’s claim that the books will be concealed during shipment, they are bound to be discovered by Russian customs at some point, and there is no guarantee that the recipients’ families will not turn in the books themselves. This would give the Russian government ample reason to tighten shipping and importing laws and take further action against pro-LGBT activists in the country. FCKH8 is also willing to stretch the truth in order to spread its views. One coloring page shows two female Olympic medalists kissing publicly in defiance of the laws, clearly inspired by the kiss between Russian athletes Ksenia Ryzhova and Yulia Gushinca earlier this year, despite their adamant claim that the kiss was purely platonic and misconstrued by the Western media. While the message behind its campaign is certainly a positive one, I can’t

even say FCKH8’s intentions are pure. Though its decision to not send out the coloring books until its original post received a certain number of reblogs ultimately turned out to be a blessing in disguise, the act shows the company is only doing it for the publicity. There is no reason why the company can’t just send out the coloring books without the encouragement of the public. Better yet, there is no reason why it can’t just donate the money set aside to print and ship the coloring books to more reputable pro-LGBT organizations. Ultimately, this campaign is an effort to sell T-shirts in the West while placing innocent people in danger in the East. Many well-meaning but misguided people are falling for it, and every uninformed reblog is bringing the campaign closer to fruition. FCKH8 is endangering Russian families and manipulating tumblr users for their own gain in the name of the LGBT community. Frankly, I find this disgusting. This campaign will ultimately help no one, and if the overwhelmingly negative response from the Internet is anything to go by, it is actively harming the company’s reputation. There are ways to help the LGBT community, both in and out of Russia. This is not one of them.

Our generation should promote change Our great-grandfathers’ legacies were built on the backs of the wars of their fathers. Born to soldiers, their fathers instilled in them the lessons of the age, yet the only lesson that they actually had to teach them was fear. Thus, our great-grandfathers, who were practically born into the age of fear, grew up with a never-say-die attitude. They fought for themselves, and though they might not have been as accepting of other races as we are today, they were not afraid of fighting tooth and nail with businesses that were attempting to encroach upon the liberties their fathers laid out for them. In doing so, they left a path paved with effort and purpose all the way to the future. Their legacy is Hard Work. Due to our great-grandfather’s nonacceptance of other people, they fought great wars and left the world emotionally broken and fearful of continued conflict. While they played a game of chicken on an extreme scale, the children were brought up to believe that anyone can be your enemy. Also, the government, despite whatever it tells you, is really only out for itself.

Trenton Blackshear

With things like the “Red Scare” and the ever-looming fear of a nuclear holocaust, is it any wonder our grandparents’ generation wouldn’t even trust their children with the future? Striving to change the way the government acted out its role, their generation fought in the streets. Racism, fascism and fear all eventually fell beneath their feet. So our grandparents’ legacy is Equality. Equality is a dangerous thing, as our parents found out. Human beings are not equal, and not everyone can be on the same level. While our grandparents were out marching in the streets, our parents were being subjected to talk of equality and hope. Those two things came eventually, but were either too late or didn’t come as advertised. Being confronted with the problem

of the unreachable ideal of “total equality,” yet being forced to attempt to make it work anyway, gave birth to a generation of hypocrites. The same businesses our great-grandfathers attempted to keep down reared their ugly heads, and our parents swallowed the entire tale they were fed. Simultaneously preaching their goodness while neglecting the future and disrespecting the past is why our parents’ legacy is Hypocrisy. But what is our legacy? We’re still in the middle of ours. Will our children say that we were the people who fought back against a generation which only cared about itself? Are we going to be the spark that lights our way back to the path our great-grandfathers walked? Or will we be the sheep, only living while being placated by the master’s goodwill? We have in our hands better tools than our great-grandfathers could ever have dreamed. Yet what do we do with them? We will light a fire to light our children’s path. We refuse to be eaten by the wolves of our great-grandparents’ generation. Our legacy will be the Spark of Change.

Life&Arts

The Et Cetera

www.eastfieldnews.com

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Dancer leaps continents for dreams By Justin David Tate Life & Arts Editor

Onstage, 18-year-old Lo Goodson struggles to wrap four broken toes. The speech pathology and psychology double major enlists the help of her dance instructor, Danielle Georgiou, to apply her more-experienced technique. Goodson has to perform in a few days, and properly wrapping her toes will at least help keep them in place. Standing nearby on stage is international business and linguistics major Marissa Walden, also a dancer with multiple broken toes. Watching Georgiou’s expert toewrapping display, she admits she “would not have been that delicate.” Georgiou has had a lot of practice setting bones and nursing her own injuries over the course of 26 years as a dancer. Broken toes. Dislocated knees. Dislocated shoulders. Pinched nerves. Strained hip flexors. Pulled quad muscles. Four concussions. And that’s just what she can remember. “I probably have the body of, like, a 75-year-old,” Georgiou said. “But I’m not 75.” Georgiou is 29, and her relationship with dance began at age 3 through creative movement courses. She began dancing after her father, Richland College Dean of Learning Enrichment and Academic Development Thales Georgiou, noticed her response to music as early as age 2. “When she would hear music, she would get up and dance a bit and wanted to get involved with the classics at that time,” Thales said. She began ballet at age 5, continuing until her first serious injury at age 14, which slowed her progress for the first time in her career. While rehearsing in a dance studio for “Swan Lake,” a dancer lost her balance and fell onto Georgiou. Georgiou’s knee hit a metal pole. “I was like, ‘Eh! Something hurts!’ And my kneecap was off to the side of my knee,” Georgiou said. “My teacher was like, ‘Yeah, you’re going to be in some pain for a while.’” The teacher popped Georgiou’s

Yolanda Ramirez/The Et cetera

Danielle Georgiou displays her passion through modern dance.

dislocated knee back into place. She wore a knee brace and did not touch another dance floor for two years. Georgiou fell in love with dance again when she discovered modern dance in high school, abandoning ballet for something new and exciting. “It was the first time I was allowed to be creative and have my own voice,” Georgiou said. “In ballet, you don’t. You do what you’re told and that’s the end of the story. Being 16, you want to rebel. You want to talk back, and modern allowed that for me.” Through modern dance, Georgiou’s confidence grew. She wore her heart on her sleeve and developed a reputation for brutal honesty with her students and colleagues. “I don’t hide my emotions very well because I don’t believe that I should, and I think that has affected the way that I perform,” she said.

“I think I always had it in me. I was a very sensitive child, so I think it was always there, but modern dance made me more comfortable in my own skin.” Her bluntness can be heard as the rehearsals grow long. If she sees students slacking, especially as the next show draws near, she will push for excellence and the utmost effort. Eastfield Dance Company member Ana Karla, or A.K. as Georgiou calls her, is thankful for that honesty. “[She’ll] embrace us, hug us, tell us we’re doing good, tell us when we’re doing bad, call out our mistakes,” Karla said. “I think only real people would do that for you. She said that we perform how we practice, and if you’re not dancing from your heart, you shouldn’t dance at all.” Karla, after starting as Georgiou’s student, now choreographs

alongside her, incorporating her hip-hop background while still maintaining an open mind. Georgiou credits her parents with teaching her to be confident in her every decision. She said witnessing her parents become U.S. citizens brought that point home for her even more. Her parents earned their degrees from universities in France and London in the early 1980s, then moved from the tiny island of Cyprus to Texas, a state Georgiou said could probably hold 100 Cypruses. When Georgiou was 7 years old, her parents stood in a crowded courtroom to be sworn in as U.S. citizens. Though too young to gather the full significance of what her parents were doing, Georgiou still remembers the smell of garlic, French fries, curry and dishes from all over the world. It smelled like a “spice bazaar,” with the aroma of curry being particularly comforting because it was used in recipes her mother carried over from Cyprus. Stories such as these helped form Georgiou’s understanding of what confidence was, and that confidence translated into one of the boldest steps of her dance career yet in 2009: performance art. She began experimenting with mixed media, recording her dance performances in alternative spaces such as parking garages and warehouses. Sometimes she would eat paper, cover herself in what appeared to be blood, gyrate on concrete, wood or any surface that would lend itself to the story she wanted to tell with film and dance. She also started hosting “happenings,” an art phenomenon from the 1960s and ’70s that performance artists such as Georgiou are resurrecting. They invite people under the premise of a mere party and surprise guests with a free show. Georgiou would surprise friends and colleagues with a performance that sometimes included elaborate lights, sound and costumes. One of these free shows led, through word-of-mouth, to her first commissioned gig with Vicki Meek, a South Dallas Cultural Center director who saw one of her

performances in a video at a local film festival. Georgiou has since been commissioned to perform and choreograph all over the world, from Berlin to New York. She’s opened her own dance company, DGDG [Danielle Georgiou Dance Group] in 2011, and even writes as a dance critic for the Dallas Morning News. Georgiou finds Texas, contrary to what some may believe, to be a great place to be an artist. Along with the cheap cost of living, Georgiou believes the state has many great dance schools, and still finds she can travel due to the demand for her talent. “New York is wonderful,” Georgiou said. “I go there two, three times a year. I love it, but most people I know that live in New York can’t wait to get out for a weekend. They want to leave because you need open space to think, and Texas has lots of open space.” But her worldwide success hasn’t made her any less humble or unprofessional, according to technical theater coordinator Lori Honeycutt. “She’s so on her game, it’s great to work with her,” Honeycutt said. “There are no surprises. She tells you what she wants.” Honeycutt cast her faeries for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” last fall based solely on acting ability. Georgiou was brought in to teach choreography to the students such as art major Jessica Phillips, who had never seen lifts or other advanced dance maneuvers, and now had to perform them. After a few minutes of flailing her legs as she swayed in the arms of the man who was to lift her, Georgiou was able to instruct Phillips on how to hold onto her partner, point her toes straight to the sky and keep her legs stiff and tight. After two rehearsals, she no longer wiggled, and held her legs straight in the air. “That really impressed me that she could take that first dance rehearsal and say, ‘I know you’ve never done this, but you can,’ and then got them to the point where they were like, ‘Yeah, we totally can. This is cool’ in such a short amount of time,” Honeycutt said. “I think she can teach anybody.”

Life&Arts

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

MOVIE REVIEW

Statham hits close to home in new thriller ‘Homefront’ By Michelle Bahena Contributing Writer

In “Homefront,” Jason Statham plays Phil Broker, a widower and ex-Drug Enforcement Administration agent from Minnesota who settles in small-town Rayville, La. with his daughter, Maddie. But things aren’t quiet for long. After Maddie wins a fight with a schoolyard bully, Broker finds himself the target of Gator (James Franco), a local meth distributer. Trying to escape his past and protect his daughter, Broker must choose to run or protect the home of his late wife. The cast includes Winona Ryder as Sheryl Mott (Gator’s lover and partner in crime) and Kate Bosworth as Cassie Bodine (Gator’s hot-headed sister). Bosworth’s performance as a meth addict fantastically fits the vengeful Cassie. Both actresses deliver powerful performances as they capture the essence of drug distribution and consumption. Slightly similar to his past role in “Spring Breakers,” Franco returns again as a smalltown drug dealer, but this time with less of a bad-boy edge. Franco plays the part of a short-tempered meth cooker just well enough to make the plot of “Homefront” realistic. Statham also pulls off a compelling performance, playing the role of a single father protecting his only daughter. Sylvester Stallone’s screenplay of Chuck Logan’s novel “Homefront” softens Statham’s tough-guy image to a more fatherly persona. However, director Gary Fleder jumps straight into action within the first few minutes, which should satisfy just about any action movie fan. Fights break out every few minutes, and Fleder does an exceptional job increasing the tension in each heart-pounding scene. Overall, the audience won’t leave the theater disappointed as they watch Broker take down everyone from drug lords to vengeful bikers. The fight scenes are credible and flow along with the storyline. “Homefront” takes a father-daughter relationship to a whole new level, as Statham takes on whatever is thrown his way. This is a must-watch film that will leave you hanging on the edge of your seat. With drug use, strong language, brief sexuality and an abundance of violence, this R-rated film has it all.

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The Et Cetera

geocaching the real-world treasure hunt By Liritze Pedroza Staff Writer

The coordinates are N 32°49’, W 096°39’. The difficulty level and terrain are both easy. Its size is micro. The treasure has been there for three years, since geocacher Robin “Grrl_Unhinged” Washburn hid it. Larry “FatFogy” Cooley, another geocacher who has a cache on the campus, found his first cache in November 2006, some time after he heard about the activity in his metal detecting club. “The first three geocaches I found were in a cemetery on Grove Hill,” Cooley said. “There was a bison tube tied up to the middle of a wind chime. If it would’ve been a snake, it would’ve bit me.” After his first find, Cooley spent the next seven years finding caches. “I was hooked,” he said. Cooley is just one of the estimated 6 million people who enjoy the global treasure-hunting game known as geocaching. The objective of the game is to find a cache or container. Some caches have contents in them. If there are items inside the cache, the finder can take them as long as they replace them with items of their own. There are different types of caches one can find by entering coordinates into a GPS, anything from a bucket to a film canister. Caches are ranked on a scale of 1-5 by their difficulty to locate and the difficulty of the terrain. Sizes of caches can vary. Some can be as small as a centimeter wide by a centimeter long. These are called nano caches. People of all ages can register online to participate. They choose a cache to find, hunt for it, sign their username onto the log sheet inside to record their find, and then log their experience online. Geocaching started in the summer of 2000 when web developer Jeremy Irish came across the GPS Stash Hunt game, where people looked for items based on their coordinates on a website. At the time, only people who normally used a GPS for other activities, such as backpackers or boaters, knew about it. After his first find later that year, Irish decided to create a website that would

facilitate finding locations of caches by looking for them with a zip code so more people could participate. Geocaching.com started with 75 known caches. Now there are 2,271,298 geocaches around the globe. The idea of having caches nearby without knowing where it is is one of the reasons geocachers find scouting enjoyable. “It’s pretty neat to think that there are places that you go to all the time … and find that there’s a cache there,” said Allison “Aslomow” Slomowitz, a news photography professor and geocacher. Washburn said she once found a cache while her friend fixed a flat tire. “There was one lone cedar tree sitting by itself on the side of the road,” she said. “We stopped to fix the flat, and I turned around and I said, ‘That tree looks like a place where a geocache would be.’ And I went over there and found it. It was pretty obvious.” Other caches are more complicated. During one of her searches, Slomowitz said she had to solve a clue to be able to find the actual cache. “You had to solve a Sudoku puzzle in order to get the coordinates,” she said. “My friend and I had no idea what that was, so we had to learn how to play the game to figure out how to do it well and then get the coordinates. It took us hours.” Some experiences are not even pleasant. Cooley said once he accidentally grabbed a dry, dead squirrel that was covering a cache. “I couldn’t let go of that thing fast enough,” he said. The game only has one rule: If you take something from the cache, you must leave something of equal or greater value. Although the only rule is straightforward to geocachers, it means nothing to people who do not know about the game. Sometimes, they take the caches. “I will sure try to be unobvious when finding the cache, but it’s not uncommon for a muggle … to say ‘Hmm, what are those?’ and go grab it,” Washburn said. A muggle, someone who doesn’t know about geocaching, is just one of

the words that make up the geocaching glossary. Insider slang also includes many acronyms such as BYOP (bring your own pen/pencil), FTF (first to find), TFTH (thanks for the hide) and DNF (did not find). According to the geocaching website, the only required tool to successfully geocache is a GPS. However, some geocachers have developed their own must-haves. “I absolutely have to have this in this bag,” Washburn said, reading off his list. “A GPS, login pen, little roller thing [pin], pair of tweezers and a spare set of batteries.” Another reason people enjoy geocaching is because of its social benefits. “It got me out of the house, instead of being a couch potato,” Cooley said. “If you like to socialize, it can be a good hobby. If you don’t want to socialize, you can go out and do it by yourself.” He encourages muggles to give geocaching a chance. “Try it,” Cooley said. “If you like it, fine. Do it. If you don’t, you can say, ‘Hey, I went one time, I didn’t care too much for it.’”

LIFE&ArTS

10 Wednesday, December 4, 2013

www.eastfieldnews.com

The Et Cetera

Pakistani student chases auto marketing dreams

By Justin David Tate Life & Arts Editor

Prayer, parties and parades filled the day for Rameez Sohail every Aug. 14 in his native Pakistan. That is the day of his country’s independence, a nationally recognized holiday complete with no school, extravagant celebrations and food such as biryani, a dish made up of rice, chicken and spices. But this year, Sohail was far away from home in Mesquite. “This time I celebrated over here,” he said. “It’s really hard, but I met different people who belong to my culture, and it’s really good to see your people from your country in a different country.” Sohail came to Eastfield from Pakistan earlier this year to study automotive marketing and management. Prior to moving, he had to go through multiple interviews and show numerous documents to the U.S. consulate, a government representative that facilitates the travel of citizens of other countries to the United States. Because of the expense of his journey, including a $20,000 sponsorship from his American cousin that he had to show the U.S. consulate as proof of financial responsibility, Sohail has one thing on his mind: his studies. His cousin, who came to the U.S. at 4 years old, is now a 36-year-old bank manager for the Branch Banking and Trust. He checks in on “Ramz,” as he and other family members call Sohail. “It’s really important to focus on your studies,” they stress. “What about your studies? How are your studies going?” Sohail understands his role and abides by it, even at the cost of tradition. During summer school, during the Muslim holiday of Eid, Sohail prayed for 10 minutes and then went to class. Academic adviser Duane Evans believes Sohail’s dedication is the norm for international students. “Their main focus is education,” Evans said.

yolanda ramirez/The Et cetera

Rameez Sohail of Pakistan is studying automotive marketing and management.

“A lot of them, even though they may come from deprived backgrounds, their parents still scrimp and save and send them to the best schools, the best private schools in whatever country they’re in.” Evans cited a John Hopkins University study from 2009 that found immigrant blacks were nearly 15 percent more likely to attend college than their native black American counterparts and almost 3 percent more likely than white Americans. Although he did visit an American movie theater to see “The Great Gatsby,” Sohail has avoided the distractions he believes the country is filled with, such as clubs and television. A classmate in his listening and speaking class, Taeko Hasegawa, who is also an international student from Japan, inspires him to continue to do better. “Sometimes she has difficulties explaining her views and ideas in English, but she never gives up,” Sohail said of Hasegawa. “Her grades are actually better than mine. That shows how enthusiastic she is.” ESOL professor Ann Friederich taught

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Hasegawa a year ago in a writing course and acknowledged how much she’s grown. Friederich shared an example of a sentence Hasegawa wrote in the previous writing class: “First, go to school every day. Don’t do late, doing homework, and do preparation and review. Second, make a friend, direction of fun, don’t give up.” Hasegawa has improved leaps and bounds since then but still believes she is weak in her hearing and sees her age of 55 as a drawback to her learning. “I am full-time student; very, very hard for me because I am very old,” Hasegawa laughs. She is the proud grandmother of an American grandson she helps take care of in between submitting writing assignments and getting ready for tests. Back home in Japan, she was a management nurse in charge of other young nurses. Here in America, she works on improving her English in classes alongside Sohail. Friederich believes English is difficult for international students because nothing looks as it’s supposed to sound. “They work very hard and English is a very difficult language to learn,” Friederich said. “For example, you have the word cough, where you get an ‘f ’ sound out of the ‘gh.’” Sohail was taught English from kindergarten and throughout high school in Karachi, Pakistan. A recipient of an automotive technol-

ogy degree from St. Patrick’s Technical School, he believed his English was top notch until an instructor informed him otherwise when he kept saying “beer” when trying to say “bear.” Now Sohail is nearing the end of his ESOL classes. Should he pass them all, he could start college-level courses such as English and History 1301 in the spring. Sohail credits his adviser, Sheneika Hathaway, who works in the English Language Learning Advisement office, with guiding him through his academic career thus far. “Sometimes the process can be overwhelming for students,” Hathaway said. “I think that it’s a lot of reassuring and just being patient with the student and also kind of encouraging the student to be patient.” Sohail’s ultimate goal is to attend Northwood University to get a bachelor’s degree in automotive marketing and management after taking some business classes next semester at Eastfield. Upon finishing his degree, he plans to return to contribute to his home country’s economy and make a living while being with his family again. “My family is over there [Pakistan],” Sohail said. “My mom, my dad, my parents. I go back to my country, and if you are a masters graduate from U.S. universities or institutions, then you can go to any part of the world and you can get a good job.”

2014

Spring REGISTER NOW

* Last day to register for students who do not have an “Academic Standing” of good is January 11. * Last Day to register for regular semester term classes is January 15. (Only FLEX classes allowed after this date).

* NO LATE REGISTRATION. * Log on to eConnect. Plan your schedule and register today! * Spring 2014 Graduation application available online February 4 – March 15 For more information, go to www.eastfieldcollege.edu Navigate to Admissions and click Academic Advising

Download one of the many free apps on your smartphone and use it to scan the QR code to the left for more advising info. 3737 Motley Drive Mesquite, TX 75150 www.eastfieldcollege.edu An equal opportunity institution.

Life&Arts

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

www.eastfieldnews.com

The Et Cetera

Best places to burn off holiday calories

With the Thanksgiving break behind us and Christmas right around the corner, being mindful of workout routines is a must. The following are a few places to burn off that turkey and stuffing and all those Christmas sweets. The North Texas Outdoor Pursuit Center 1003 4th Ave, Carrollton, 75006

Located on the historic grain silos of old Downtown Carrollton, the North Texas Outdoor Pursuit Center offers affordable rock-climbing, backpacking and hiking activities. The Pursuit Center is great for a weekend workout, to break away from the ordinary and to become more attuned with your body through a nature-based workout. While there are many rock climbing trips to choose from, classes are also offered for those who are new to the sport. A $15 pass includes all necessary gear for climbing and full access to the facility. Title Boxing Club www.titleboxingclub.com

For those looking to tone their bodies and burn lots of calories, Title Boxing Club packs a punch. With many locations throughout Dallas/ Fort Worth, the club offers boxing, kickboxing and power hour classes, as well as personal training. Because the club believes in the power of dynamic workout classes, it has a “first shot free” offer that allows newcomers to attend a class for free. The club offers a variety of membership options, including a family membership. All memberships in-

clude access to all nationwide Title Boxing Clubs. YMCA www.ymcadallas.org

The YMCA is a great option for those looking to become part of an active community. The YMCA offers a variety of classes to its members, including Zumba and cycling. The YMCA is committed to bringing the community together through events such as the annual Turkey Trot, a 5K run/walk that offers a fun start to the Thanksgiving festivities for people all around the Dallas area. The YMCA also offers different types of memberships, depending on the needs of an individual or an entire family. Members can access all YMCAs nationwide. Bikram Yoga 6333 E. Mockingbird Lane #253 Dallas, 75214

For those looking to embrace their inner yogi, increase flexibility and detox their bodies, Bikram Yoga of Dallas delivers. With an unlimited yoga pass, members are allowed to attend as many yoga classes throughout the month as they wish. Members can enjoy a 90-minute class of hot yoga, which incorporates 26 yoga poses, each followed by the Savasana pose [the resting pose]. This form of yoga offers participants great health benefits as the body detoxes in the 105-degree room. Benefits of the practice include stress reduction, and some believe it can also alleviate chronic conditions such as depression, pain, anxiety and insomnia. Yoga can also

Yolanda ramirez/The Et cetera

An instructor at Bikram Yoga displays one of 26 poses practiced during a 90-minute session.

help reduce the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure, according to yoga instructors who have personally benefited from their practice. Running, walking and biking Several locations in Dallas

There are also fun workout op-

portunities that don’t cost a thing, such as biking, walking or running at White Rock Lake or at the Katy Trails in Uptown. Both White Rock and the Katy Trails offer great scenery to free-spirited souls looking to get a workout without paying a gym/ club/studio membership fee. The bike trail at White Rock Lake

is 9.33 miles long, offering a great distance for cardiovascular activity. Canoeing is another option on the lake. Anyone can enjoy an active lifestyle. You just need to find an activity that is right for you. — Compiled by Genesis Castillo

Sense-Able Gym provides outlet for special-needs children By Keturah Jones etc4640@dcccd.edu

Sense-Able Gym is a new sensory play space in Garland designed for children with special needs. Most of the gym’s patrons have autism or Asperger’s syndrome. Founder Shauna Mable has a background as a special education instructor and also has a son with Asperger’s. Curious to see why parents couldn’t stop raving about how wonderful their experiences have been here, I eagerly followed Mable from room to room. Each was filled with vivid shades of blue, yellow and red that were bright enough to catch anyone’s attention. It was hard to believe the gym had only been open for six months.

THE

Hidden Gem The first room on the tour was the Tech-nasium, which is stocked with iPads for the children to use. One parent, Madeline Milton, referred to it as the “cool-down room,” because it helps calm the children at the end of each visit. Next was the gym, which also has brightly colored walls as well as a huge foam and ball pit. The equipment in the gym is geared toward helping children develop sensory skills. One of the most popular areas in the gym is the Sensory Room. It has several water towers, each rigged with fiberoptics so the children can

change them to whatever color they want. There is also black lighting, so the colors of the room appear to glow in the dark. The room not only appeals to the senses of sight and touch, but also hearing. It includes a soundboard which plays more than 100 different clips. When patrons need to calm down, they come back to the room and hang out while others relax on a custom bean bag couch. What parents seem to enjoy most about the gym are the outside services it provides. This includes academic tutoring, behavior intervention and support, teen/adult nights, dance classes, children’s adaptive yoga, pre-school and kindergarten preparation and a home school curriculum. The gym can also host teen social nights and birthday parties. Additionally, the gym specializes in individu-

alized education programs (IEP) therapy, ADD/ ADHD support and a music therapy class. Because raising a special-needs child can be exhausting and time-consuming, Sense-Able Gym also hosts a “Parents’ Night Out.” Mable stresses that parents should not worry if their children act out in the gym because the staff is trained to handle such situations in a professional and caring manner. The gym is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Kids can play at an affordable price of $12 per child plus $6 for any additional siblings. For a full list of services and more about this hidden gem, visit www.sense-ablegym.com or check out their Facebook page under Sense-Able Gym.

Sports

The Et Cetera

Dec. 4 Dec. 6 Dec. 7 Dec. 10 Dec. 13 .

Basketball vs. E. Texas Flight 7:30 p.m. Basketball vs. SW Christian 7 p.m. Basketball at McLennan CC 6 p.m. Basketball vs. God’s Academy 7 p.m. Basketball vs. Cy-Fair CC 2 p.m.

www.eastfieldnews.com

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Lady Harvesters finish 6th in nation By Kevin Cushingberry Jr. Editor in Chief

Eastfield’s volleyball team started its season off on the wrong foot. After losing the coach who recruited them and only practicing a few weeks with coach Caitlin Smith before their first game, the Lady Harvesters weren’t sure how their story would end. “There were times when I thought there was no way we were going to get it together,” sophomore libero Cecilia Valadez said. “We wanted it, but things just weren’t clicking when we needed them to.” However, after their early-season struggles, the Lady Harvesters won four of their final seven regular-season games, finding their footing just in time to land them in a tie-breaker match with Richland to see which team would advance to the Metro Athletic Conference tournament. The Lady Harvesters posted three straight 3-0 wins in postseason conference games against Richland, North Lake and Brookhaven and went on to finish sixth in the NJCAA national tournament in Rochester, Minn. “It felt like I was in a dream,” Valadez said. “It felt perfect.” At nationals, Eastfield won its first set against SUNY Adirondack 25-23. It was a back-and-forth battle, with neither team able to secure a lead of more than three points throughout. The Lady Harvesters went up 2-0 after winning the second set 25-22. Eastfield needed to win just one more game in the best-of-five format to advance in the winners bracket. However, SUNY Adirondack won the third set 25-17 and took the fourth set 25-23 to even the match heading into a 15-point fifth set. The final set started as close as the first sets, with the teams knotted 8-8 after 16 points. However, SUNY Adirondack closed with a 7-1 run to win the set and the match. “Everyone was so tired by the fifth set,” sophomore captain Cynthia Martin said. “It just looked like the energy wasn’t there. Our errors and lack of energy only motivated our competitors, and they took advantage. I’m so disappointed that we gave them that game because we could have won. We were so close

Kevin Cushingberry Jr./The Et cetera

Sophomore all-American Cynthia Martin encourages her team in a huddle during their first-round game against SUNY Adirondack.

and we let it slip away. Everyone was extremely upset.” Martin, an honorable mention all-American choice last season, said inconsistency after a fast start was the team’s downfall. “We started off real strong,” she said. “Unfortunately, all the energy and confidence we had in the first two matches just dwindled. We were making error after error, and we just couldn’t get it together. We battled, but the errors were what killed us.” Exhausted, devastated and defeated, the Lady Harvesters had to quickly regroup to play the Fashion Institute of Technology immediately after the five-set loss. Again, they won the first set 25-20, but FIT, which came into the tournament ranked No. 7 in the nation, bounced back to tie the match with a 25-18 second-set win. The Lady Har-

vesters escaped with a one-point victory, 25-24, in the third set. Once again the Lady Harvesters only needed one more win to end the game. However, FIT won a tough fourth set, 27-25. “At that point we all just wanted to go ahead and get it over with,” Martin said. “Last match of the day, give it everything.” That’s exactly what they did. Their blocks, passes and hits were all there. They had smart ball placement. They were on a roll, and there was no stopping them. Finally, they won the set 15-12 for a 3-2 victory. “We gave every ounce of everything that we could,” Martin said. “We were not going to let that game slip through our fingers like we had before. We were all so relieved that finally we were done. I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired in my life.”

The win was the first national tournament victory in Eastfield history and the first of the season against a team ranked in the top 10 nationally. However, the Lady Harvesters couldn’t dwell on the win for long. They had to get up the next morning for the fifth-place game against No. 7 Northampton, Eastfield won the first set 25-15, the Lady Harvesters’ third consecutive first-set win in the tournament. However, Northampton won the second set 27-25 before losing the third to leave Eastfield in the lead 2-1. The Lady Harvesters lost the fourth set 25-15 and the fifth set 16-14 to end their tournament run. On Nov. 19, the team was recognized for its sixth-place finish at halftime of the basketball game against CYM Academy. Now that her volleyball career at

Eastfield College is over, Martin said she can look back with gratification. “Our team has overcome so many obstacles in order to get here,” she said. “We’ve achieved so much. We’ve made Eastfield history. We set a goal: Beat Brookhaven and make it to nationals before the season even started, and we went out there and we did it. That’s something to be proud of.” Martin said the season was an experience she will never forget. “No, we won’t be getting the ring we all wanted so badly, but we made memories, we made history, and most of all we proved something,” she said. “No matter how many roadblocks are placed before you, no matter who does or doesn’t believe in you, if you really want something all you have to do is believe and then go take it.”

Sports

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

www.eastfieldnews.com

The Et Cetera

From left, sophomore Jordan Taylor peeks under the net as she prepares to receive a serve in the Lady Harvesters first round game against SUNY Adirondack and freshman Brittany Jackson goes for a kill in the Harvesters’ secondround game against the Fashion Institute of Technology. Below, captain Cynthia Martin (8) leads the Lady Harvesters’ huddle as they plan their attack in the fifth-place game against Northhampton at nationals.

Eastfield

Rocks

Minnesota From left, sophomore an emotional Cecilia Valadez reacts after the Lady Harvesters’ first-round loss against SUNY Adirondack, and freshmen Brittany Jackson, left, and Paige Morris show off the NJCAA Region V tournament trophy. Photos by Kevin Cushingberry JR.

The Et Cetera

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Wrapup The Et Cetera

15 www.eastfield.com

Short Thoughts BY ALEX HERNANDEZ

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Wednesday, December 4, 2013

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