The Renegade Rip Bakersfield College
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Vol. 83 ∙ No. 11
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Fighting
Staat to ride across country
for
Rights
By Jon Nelson Reporter
The idea of a Bakersfield man riding a bike across the country for charity might be considered unusual if that man weren’t Jeremy Staat. In February, Staat and fellow veteran, Wesley Leon Barrientos will ride from Jeremy Staat the Wall of Valor in Bakersfield to the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the crosscountry trip is to bring attention to veteran issues and childhood obesity. The men hope to visit as many venues as possible along the way to talk about the ride. Staat also wants to close the generation gap between soldiers. “I thought, ‘What can we do to unite these two walls?’” said Staat about the planning process for the ride. If you’ve never heard of Staat, then you’re among the minority. The Bakersfield native has had successful careers in both the NFL and the military. He now spends most of his time working locally with veteran causes. “Our rights are given to us by vets,” said Staat. The former Marine started the Jeremy Staat Foundation in June 2011, after taking part in a presentation where the hosting school paid a large amount of money to have a speaker. He didn’t think it was right for funds to be taken away from schools that desperately need them. “I would do this for free,” said Staat, remembering that day. The organization adopted the motto, “To bring living history to the classroom by offering life experiences to our youth through a veteran speaking board without taking away needed financial resources from our lacking educational system.” He makes it clear that the focus should be put on the children and not him. “It has nothing to do with me,” he said. “It’s all about the kids.” In 2011 alone, the Jeremy Staat Foundation raised over $560,000 for the Kern County Wall of Valor. The wall is located on Truxtun Avenue, and consists of several glass panels that list the names of over 1,000 Kern County residents who have been killed in battle. “These memorials are living memorials because we continue to add names,” said Staat, regarding the wall. But despite all of the work he’s doing these days, Staat still puts family first. “At the end of the day, I don’t care how big my house is or how much money I have in the bank. It’s the relationships that matter.”
By America Garza
Gregory d. cook / The Rip
Bakersfield College student-activist Tara Mitchell displays a sign during an Occupy protest in the Free Speech Area of the BC campus Oct. 12.
Artists gather at Marketplace for Via Arte By Monica Bolger Reporter
megan luecke / The Rip
Beth Ansolabehere, a Bakersfield College graduate, works on a portrait of Steve Jobs during the Via Arte festival at The Marketplace on Sept. 8. Artists create works of art on the asphalt of the parking lot in chalk.
Inside
Reporter
Pages 6-7: Volkslauf provides ultimate challenge for runners Page 8
Powdered hands and stained jeans were the result of hand-drawn artwork that blanketed the Marketplace parking lot for the annual event of Via Arte on Oct. 8-9. The “Italian Street Painting Festival” celebrated its 13th year of live and admissionfree entertainment. It inspires the community and is sponsored by the Bakersfield Museum of Art. Bakersfield College student Jesse Calderon attended the weekend event and took a liking to the scene that lay beneath his feet. “My buddy and I went on Sunday for a couple of hours to check out the work, plus the company I work for, Ordiz-Melby, was participating in it and had its own square,” said Calderon. “They made a rainbow-colored zebra and it looked pretty real.” Ordiz-Melby Architects Inc. along with other companies, such as Chevron, Knights Services Inc., Starbucks, Sequoia Sandwich Company, The Boys and Girls Club, Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, and political leadPlease see VIA ARTE, Page 4
Salzman speaks about time studying kung fu Nate Perez
The Rip debates the benefits of colonizing the great Red Planet.
speech wrapped in a gospel – and she took it to the pulpit of the preacher responsible for it. To say that Tara Mitchell According to Mitchell, the stands up for what she believes events that transpired after would in is an understatement. lead her to discover her purpose The 23-year-old Bakersfield in life. College communication student, After being allowed inside the and self-declared “queer activist,” church by security, Mitchell and has been physically assaulted, her group walked to the front of kicked out of school and nearly the congregation in the middle of arrested for her outspoken stance Sunday service, and held signs against what with the phoshe believes is tographs of hate rhetoric “I don’t want to look back 50 gay teens who aimed at the had commithomosexual years from now, when the ted suicide community. because of What com- [lesbian, gay, bisexual and bullying. pels Mitchell transgender] community has The group to stand so stood in siardently in more rights, and not be able lence until support of her the service to say I had a part in that.” c o n c l u d e d , beliefs is best –Tara Mitchell, summed up but Mitchell as a sense of believes they BC student duty. conveyed their “I don’t message loud want to look back 50 years from and clear: “You don’t understand now, when the [lesbian, gay, bi- the implications of your words. sexual and transgender] commu- We can fix this.” nity has more rights, and not be According to Mitchell, the able to say I had a part in that,” scene was difficult to bear for she said. members of the church and proYou could say that Mitchell test groups alike. was baptized in the flame of civil “Some of us were crying bedissent. She organized her first cause we were hearing this mesprotest in 2009 while majoring sage of Jesus Christ, who was a in gender and women’s studies savior, who loved everyone, and at Minnesota State University yet were also being bombarded Mankato. It was a protest against by hatred from the same people,” what she felt was anti-gay hate Please see TARA, Page 3 Reporter
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Duboski carries on the family tradition at BC as a quarterback.
After graduating from Yale University, Mark Salzman was offered a job in China where he taught English at a medical school and studied kung fu for two years. He wrote his most notable title, “Iron and Silk,” based on his experiences in China. Later, the memoir was turned into a film where Salzman played himself. Growing up, Salzman never
intended on being a writer. He was obsessed with martial arts and Chinese culture. He wasn’t fond of reading and he was an extremely awkward child, petite with a high voice. “I only read books that were assigned to me,” said Salzman. Salzman grew up in Greenwich, Conn. and attended Yale University where he originally intended on studying music, but changed his major to Chinese Language and Literature. Please see SALZMAN, Page 4
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Mark Salzman gives a reading from his book “True Notebooks,” telling of the young boys he helped in Central Juvenile Hall in the Fireside Room on Oct. 12.
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Gay Pride | The LGBTQ community gathers to show their pride By America Garza Reporter
The T-shirts and bumper stickers at Bakersfield United in Pride read, “Come out, come out, wherever you are.” And come out they did. On October 15th, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community came together to celebrate their unique culture during the annual gay pride event at Stramler Park, hosted by the Bakersfield LGBTQ. Whitney Weddell, chairman of the board of the Bakersfield LGBTQ, explained the significance of the event. “Freedom. For six hours, you can be who you are, quite comfortably, in the arms of a community that is totally accepting of the diversity of the community we represent. It’s a freedom we never feel any other time in Bakersfield,” Weddell said. A diverse array of people took advantage of that spirit of freedom as they walked the grounds of Stramler Park during the event. Same-sex couples displayed their affection, individuals expressed their gender identity, and supporters of the gay community all came out without fear of reprisal in an otherwise conservative town. In many ways, Bakersfield United in Pride 2011 resembled the traditional family carnival. All of the classic carnival food was there. The live entertainment featured every style of music from belly dancing to Broadway musical. There was a designated kids zone, complete with
a bounce house and clown. Games and prizes were offered at some booths and raffle tickets were sold at others. National organizations, like the Human Rights campaign and Parents and Family of Lesbian and Gays, set up booths next to local groups. According to Weddell, Bakersfield Pride is a uniquely family event. It doesn’t resemble the over-the-top style of festival synonymous with gay pride in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles. Alison Shafer attended the event with her family. She is a supporter of the Bakersfield College Gay-Straight Association and made the drive from Nevada to visit friends volunteering at Bakersfield Pride. She decided to take advantage of the resources being offered to families of recently “out” individuals, particularly those who are having trouble dealing with their sexuality. In a society that still holds many taboos about homosexuality, Weddell believes that pride events provide a safe environment for those individuals who feel they have to hide a part of who they are from the world. “A lot of folks just don’t know freedom here. They’re afraid to tell their neighbors, and they’re afraid people will find out. Our event affords them the opportunity to kind of let their guard down and be among people for whom it’s not going to be an issue,” she said. Photos by nathan wilson / The Rip
Adreana Garner and Julie Roberts sell flags, bracelets, jewelry and other various items at their booth during Gay Pride 2011 at Stramler Park on Oct. 15.
First Friday gives a touch of the chills
Former Korn member strikes out on his own By Martin Chang
By Cassandra McGowan
Online Editor
Reporter
“Fright Sights” was The Foundry’s contribution to Bakersfield’s First Friday on Oct. 7. The art exhibition featured local artists whose work correlates with the frightfulness of Halloween. Alan Willis is part owner of The Foundry and an airbrush artist. Willis had three of his pieces displayed at the event, an airbrushing of Dexter, Hannibal Lecter, and Christian Bale from his role in “American Psycho.” Willis said he has only been creating art since 2007. Before becoming an artist, Willis was a painter for 30 years and then designed camouflaged airbrush designs for firearms. He yearned for something more and said his work on firearms was “like an itch that wasn’t getting scratched.” Willis said, “49-years-old and not sure where all this comes from yet. I’m a late bloomer in this world.” Willis also has some of his artwork displayed in the Bakersfield College Veteran’s Center. There were many other paintings from other artists, like one of a creepy looking kid with snot hanging out of his nose that looked like some sort of alien child. The display was not packed, but there were just enough people in and out to keep a steady flow of conversation about all the different styles of art within the gallery. There was even a wall dedicated to little handmade masks, necklaces, and various other handmade trinkets. The Foundry has been in Bakersfield for a year but recently moved from the corner of Chester Avenue and 17th Street to 20th Street right next to Dagny’s Coffee Company. The gallery is still under construction, so you can only view by appointment or on First Friday, according to The Foundry’s Curator and part owner, Christina Sweet. Sweet is also a local artist who specializes in acrylic paintings, but did not have any art in this exhibit. “We encourage new artists to join,” said Sweet. Sweet explained how calling to set up appointments is the best way to get it done.
Gregory d. cook / The Rip
Artist Alan Willis poses with a chair he decorated to be auctioned off as a fund raiser at The Foundry on Oct. 13. The Foundry also has two other part owners, Alan Urquhart who is in graphic design and Darren Powers whose forte is collage. The next big event the gallery will be holding is “Lost and Foundry,” which is an exhibit in which they are calling upon artists to use their imagination and turn one man’s trash into another man’s treasure. Literally. The Foundry is asking artists to find old trash and recyclables and create art with it. There is a $75 prize awaiting the artist with the best piece, and artists can have up to three entries. The deadline to enter your art for this showing is Dec. 16.
Go get your joust on By Esteban Ramirez Reporter
The Village Artisans hosted the Medieval Faire with events such as jousting, wool spinning, clogging, lamp work demonstration and they also had plenty of vendors for Two days here at Bakersfield on Oct. 1516. It was at Central Park and this is the second consecutive year that they’ve had the Medieval Faire here at Bakersfield after stopping during the ‘70s. This fair is non-profit and they donate to kids art programs because they feel that there aren’t many art programs currently, according to vice-president assistant director Linda Schorr. “I think what makes the fair great is the quality of the crafters, the park and just the friendly atmosphere,” said Schorr. She said that they were also supposed to have a speaker and a magician, but they never showed up. Laurie Jo Phillips was at the fair and is an artist that has been going to many fairs for over 25 years. “I think this fair is great because of the variety of arts, crafts and that
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
there is plenty of things to do here. It’s just a beautiful setting with good food and entertainment,” she said. Debra Clutter, who does lamp work, gave her take on the fair. “I think the music and the fact that people are dressed up is great, but also that they have jousting and bounce houses for the kids. “I really like that they allowed me to bring my torch and let me show a demonstration on how lamp work is done,” she said. Lamp work is when someone uses the flame of a lamp to make beads and Clutter has been doing it for five years. “I think lamp work is neat because glass has unique properties that even allow you to make jewelry and put designs on it.” Keith Barnes, who is the owner of The Garden Spot, shared his views on the fair. “I really like the jousting and that the merchants are dressed with the proper attire, but I think that they could have more planned events throughout the day and a little more music that fits in with the fair. “This is a lot more different than my restaurant since I have a salad bar and here I’m just making tri-tips and turkey legs.”
Nathan wilson / The Rip
Gary Thundercloud plays the Native American flute during the Medieval Faire at Mill Creek Park on Oct. 16. Tom Pope, who is one of the jousters, commented on the fair. “I think it’s a great opportunity for the community to come enjoy all of our passions and for everyone to have a good time. “I really enjoy putting on a good show for everyone and people can even be a part of the show.” Pope said that they participate in jousting competitions and usually spent 2-3 weeks out of town competing.
When Brian Welch, musician, author, Bakersfield native and former guitarist of the heavymetal band Korn, was at his lowest, he found God at a time when his use of drugs, such as methamphetamine, was at its worst. “I started praying, I felt this intense love come into me when I was at my worst moment. I was in such a horrible dysfunctional gutter, but I felt this feeling of euphoria and love come over me,” said Welch. “Instantly I cared about living again.” This spiritual experience led him to take another look at his life. He decided that his life needed a change and that’s when he left Korn. “I remember my business partner telling me I should stay in Korn and while he was telling me, I was thinking, ‘I just want to go home and quit Korn.’ “I wanted to be home for my kid, I didn’t want to sign a contract that kept me touring for two years straight again. So I just quit, that was the moment I knew [I wanted to quit.] “I went home and I quit within an hour. I was done. I was out of the band. “I got touched by God and it totally changed my life and I wanted to figure out who this being was that I got touched inside [by], and I also wanted to be at my own pad instead of being gone on the road all the time,” he said. “It all was a big piece of it, it all came together. “It wasn’t like I got to leave the evil band, cause I’m a Christian now. It was just ‘I got to figure my new life out’.” Since leaving the group in 2005, Welch has used his music and books as a way of telling his story and connecting with people that have a connection to his work. “When I get personal with people, I really like it. That’s the most important part, because it all comes down to that for me. That’s what life is, connecting with the Divine and that’s where we’re all from and so I love to do that. Whenever I can connect with people like that,” he said. “Last night I got to connect with someone like that, he was struggling and my music got to touch their (sic) life. I love to hear people tell their stories.” Welch has recently released his new single “Paralyzed” on the Internet. It is a new single off his new EP, which is planned for
release in early 2012. Welch wants to accomplish a lot with his new music. “We’re just trying to focus on quality songs, quality lyrics and quality riffs, that a lot of people can connect with,” he said. Welch recalls his time with Korn as like being in a family, but a dysfunctional one. “We did laugh and have fun a lot. We were wasted the whole time, that’s the only thing that sucks,” he said. “There were maybe three to five shows that we didn’t drink, like in over ten years. Being wasted the whole time just kind of clouds it up.” Another big step for Welch was his sobriety. “I don’t kill myself with that stuff now. It’s helped everything, I’m clear in everything I do, music, family,” he said. “It’s really being high to me. It’s just the best high ever, being clean and clear and sober.” Recently, Welch faced his past when he played a show in a bar. “I had a lot of crazy, weird emotions because I saw people I used to drink with in the crowd and they were good friends and everything, but it brought back those memories,” he said. “I saw the singer from Korn (Johnathan Davis) and I hadn’t seen him for six years and he came to see me. It was really emotional, I was just a wreck afterwards.” Welch describes his relationship with the former members of Korn as a distant relationship that is recently getting closer. “They’re busy and I’m busy. I didn’t talk to or see the singer for six years. “I just saw him a month ago. There’s a disconnect you know, you go your way and they go their way, there was not a lot of friendship there. “(But) just recently we started texting once in a while. It was cool to reconnect as friends,” he said. Welch has mixed feelings about the thoughts of rejoining Korn. “It would have to totally make sense and it would have to be for some kind of purpose just because, I’m focused on purpose, destiny, like everything’s got to have a purpose, if there’s some kind of reason its supposed to happen, then sure. “I don’t know, we will see what happens. One month I’ll say ‘I’ll never, never, never go back’ then Six months later I’ll say something else. I just don’t know. I feel like I don’t know what the future holds.”
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The living dead invade the stage By Patricia Rocha Reporter
The comedy-horror play “Geeks vs. Zombies” showing at The Empty Space is a production filled with what you’d expect from the title: references to comic books, video games, indie music, and of course, zombies. What may surprise audiences is the fact that beneath the pop culture references and profanity-laced dialogue, is a strong message of character and friendship. Written by James Kopp and David Rock, the story centers around four friends, selfproclaimed geeks who have survived a month-long zombie invasion by using the knowledge they’ve acquired from all the movies, music, comic books, and video games they’ve mastered. Co-writer James Kopp said he’d always wanted to write a zombie-themed play because there wasn’t one that referenced and poked fun at all the other zombie-themed mediums already out there. “You would think there’d already be one,” said Kopp. When Kopp’s longtime friend David Rock was on a similar writing path at the same time, Kopp asked him to help. “I said, ‘sure, let’s try this out,’” said Rock, recalling the next four to five months the pair spent together writing the play. Both writers say they wanted to write a real, meaningful plot, balanced with the fun zombie theme. Through the intense zombie fights, crude jokes, and lots of
talk of Star Trek, Resident Evil, Larry Flynt and Max Brooks, audiences will find there is more to the show than the title may suggest. “Our main goal was to write a story, then zombies on top,” said Rock. “We wanted to write about friendship,” said Kopp. “It’s a fun show, unlike anything you’ll see this year.” Being the second year the show has played at The Empty Space, fans from last year were glad to come back to see it once more. “I first saw it last year, and it was pretty amazing,” said Tyler Palo, 17. “The name is what really brought us in.” These fans thought the play was worth sharing to others, and brought their friends. “We heard it was really good from our friends,” said Norma Camorling, 17. “I think it’s pretty epic.” Some changes were made to the original script so that this version was filled with more jokes and laughs than last year’s. “I noticed some of the script was changed,” said Eric Danes, 18. “There were more pop culture references which were really funny.” Like last year, a similar themed art gallery, called “Art vs. Zombies”, accompanies the play. The brainchild of Rock, the gallery houses many different pieces, from paintings and drawings to clothing and figurines. The gallery has grown since its introduction last year from eight artists to more than 30 this year. “I’m very proud,” said Rock.
The Style channel is really not too stylish What are you wearing? | The Rip’s Features Editor talks about what’s hot and what’s not.
Patricia rocha / The Rip
From left: David Lee Rock, James Kopp, Josh Evans and Thor Reese pose as their characters Blair, Macready, Loomis and Wallace who must save the world from zombies. “It takes an army to make that gallery.” Those associated with the play are proud of the work everyone puts in to the production, and hope people will come and support the play and The Empty Space itself by continuing to donate. “It’s really amazing,” said zombie actress Janice Bondurant, who is currently studying Criminal Justice at Bakersfield
College. “I’m super, super proud. These guys are brilliant and this is one of the best [productions] I’ve ever been in.” “I love the theme of friendship, of where your priorities lie,” she says. “But I also love the trashcan fight scene. All of the fight scenes are awesome.” Though the zombies are the main threat, the real villain of the production seems to be the fake blood and sugar glass
used. “I just go to work like this,” said Rock as he looked down at his shiny red stained hands. “We use a lot of Dawn soap,” said Bondurant. “It’ll stay for a day to two days.” The play and gallery are open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday this October starting at 7:30 p.m. at The Empty Space, 706 Oak Street, with admission being a suggested $10 donation.
A startling depiction of teen deaths By Patricia Rocha Reporter
Based on statistics that show 99 people between the ages of 10 and 25, die every day in the United States, “The 99” is a walk-through theater that graphically reenacts the causes of these deaths and the choices that lead up to them that can usually be avoided. The extremely graphic walk through, which is not suggested for those under the age of 11, simulates car crash scenes, gang violence, teen suicide, domestic violence and drug abuse. “Usually the people who come through are with someone who has been through before, but most people have no idea,” said Addison Soebbing, 25, who works for security watching over the hundreds of people who wait in line for hours for the 45-minute theater walk through. The production is popular among those grounded in the Christian faith as it does have a strong Christian message. “I would say there is a message
in this event, I don’t believe in tricking people or hiding it,” said Braden Unruh, 17. “I think it’s a cool event even if you aren’t religious or saved or whatever.” Unruh said the most memorable part for him was the car crash scene, having just recently been involved in a car crash. “People can understand what happens after they do what they do, they don’t always realize it during,” he said. Dana Carrillo, 14, has worked for the production since it opened, as an actress, runner, and now counselor for those seeking more information on the cause. “They’re awestruck,” she said, describing the overall audience reaction. “Some are bawling because it’s their first time.” The entire walk through is extremely memorable, but most find the last few sets to be shocking, as they graphically depict hell and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. “I think the most memorable part is Hell,” says Carrillo. “It really shows you what all your bad
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A slideshow of the Oct. 15 football game between Allan Hancock and BC. The fourth installment of the Renegade Rip podcast that covers various topics regarding Bakersfield College.
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A display of a car wreck from “The 99” shows the dangers of careless driving. choices eventually lead up to.” “I’m definitely going to tell people about it,” said Sammy Donohue, 17, who said he’s going to bring friends next weekend. “Trust me, it’s going to change your life for eternity. Literally, eternity is at stake,” he said. The 99 event is located at Canyon Hills Church on 7001 Auburn Street, and will be open BRandon barraza / The Rip to audiences on Oct. 21-23, and 27-31 from 7-11 p.m. Admis- People wait to enter “The 99” Canyon Hills Assembly of sion is $10, $3 with a coupon. God on Oct. 12.
Tara: Student stands up for rights Continued from Page 1 Mitchell said. At the end of the service Mitchell’s group exited the church, exchanged a few words with the preacher, and went home. It wasn’t until a week later when Mitchell found herself being interviewed about the protest for national news outlets, like The Chronicle of Higher Education and the Huffington Post, that she realized the significance of her actions. “In that moment, I realized this is for me,” she said. “This is what I want to do with my life. Not only did we change the perspectives of people in that congregation, but people who were in that protest group, too. Suddenly, we all wanted to fight for what we believed in.” The incident would eventually lead to Mitchell being asked to leave MSU Mankato, but it
Tara Mitchell was the learning experience of a lifetime, and she has few regrets. In the two years since then, Mitchell relocated back to Bakersfield and enrolled in the communication program at BC. She is continuing her efforts to support the gay community, most recently by holding a onewoman demonstration on campus celebrating the repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. “Thank God for gay soldiers” is what her bright orange sign read that day.
Mitchell has no plans to change her direct, unapologetic style of protesting. While often controversial, she says her true intention is to provoke thought and change minds, not offend people. Mitchell, who was born and raised in Bakersfield, believes the atmosphere at BC is not as progressive as in other schools. She is calling on students to make an effort to expand their world-view and become more educated about minority issues. “I think that once we become more educated about people who are different than us, and we stop being so xenophobic about things, we will get people to open up and realize we’re all people living in the same place,” Mitchell said. “We all want the same thing.”
The Style channel is my favorite channel, but I have many complaints about it, especially because it’s called the Style channel. When I hear Style channel, I automatically think that all the shows on the channel are about fashion. That’s my biggest problem with the chan- Chrystal Fortt nel; most of the shows aren’t about fashion. Some shows kind of fit the description of the Style channel. They have a featured reality series called “Jerseylicious”, a show based on all the drama that goes on in a hair salon called the Gatsby in New Jersey. “Jerseylicious” is fascinating with all the makeup, hairstyles, and events they do, but their style is hideous. Olivia and Tracy are the focus cast of the show. They’re both hair and makeup artists that hate each other and fight with each other during and after work. I think they should just get over their differences and become friends. They would probably be fantastic friends if they could share their terrible fashion together. Olivia and Tracy’s fashion are all about zebra prints, sparkle, chunky plastic jewelry, and oversized nails, as if they don’t look fake enough with the big hair and over done makeup. They look as if a 13-year-old went on a shopping spree and handed over their wardrobe. One show that has a really good style of fashion is “How Do I Look.” The host of “How Do I Look” always looks great and has the trendiest outfits on as she tells people how bad their style is and that it needs to change. The women who go on the show are always women who dress horribly. These are 30-year-old women who don’t wear bras, they don’t comb their hair, they wear pajamas every day in public, or they dress like hookers. Along with their awful taste in style, they always have some kind of characteristic problem, like they’re depressed, they don’t want to have friends, they think they’re defying society, or they have low self-esteem. At the end of the show, the women always seem glad that their friends or family put them on the show to give them a new makeover. My only problem with the show (beside it being incredibly cheesy) is that the show is making weird people look normal and throwing them into society so us normal people have to deal with them. When people are dressed weird, it’s probably because they are weird and normal people know to stay away from those people. There are a few other shows that have a fashionable focused cast like “Sex and the City” and “Big Rich Texas” which is basically about rich women that have some kind of drama between themselves and men. I can see the connection to the Style channel with these two shows, but what the heck does “Supernanny” have to do with the Style channel? “Tia & Tamera”, “Giuliana & Bill” and “Clean House” have nothing to do with style. I say leave all of these other shows to the Bravo channel and keep the Style channel about style. Once they do, we will all have a channel dedicated to the one thing we love instead of watching poorly-raised children.
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Via arte: Art is not
always permanent Continued from Page 1 -ers like Kevin McCarthy occupied different sponsorship squares with their names alongside their signature artwork. “My favorite image, I’d have to say was the black Jesus and the portrait of Steve Jobs,” said Calderon. “Pretty sad actually.” The hands that created the commemorating profile of the Steve Jobs portrait were those of second place winner, Beth Ansolabehere. “I found the picture on the cover of TIME Magazine from April of last year and I loved it,” said Ansolabehere. “I decided to go ahead and use it for my piece this year.” Ansolabehere has been competing in Via Arte for 10 years and started when she was a junior in high school. She used specific materials for her presentation in this year’s event. “I used chalk-pastels in black
and white and made a very photo-realistic portrait of Steve Jobs,” said Ansolabehere. “Although it was a drawing and not a photo, it was drawn in a way that is detail-oriented in order to look like a photograph. It was a tribute to a great man that had recently passed away, way too young.” said Ansolabehere. “He was a brilliant man that changed the world of technology.” Ansolabehere’s efforts were successful in sponsoring the Bakersfield Museum of Art and were an appropriate attribute in contributing to the live entertainment. “I am sponsored every year by Peggy Darling, under the sponsorship title ‘The Hayden Building,’” she said. “She has sponsored me every year and I can’t thank her enough for her generosity and consistent support of the arts here in Bakersfield,” said Ansolabehere. “ The square I did this year was an 8-by-8 foot
Right: Clifford Picar works on his piece, a sillouette of Mickey Mouse filled with Disney characters Oct. 12. square and I believe it was 400 dollars.” Ansolabehere earned second place in the “Reproduction” category and is enthusiastic about competing again next year in Via Arte. “It’s such an amazing event and brings great awareness to the arts and all the talent that lives here in Bakersfield,” said Ansolabehere.
Salzman: He was kung-fu writing Continued from Page 1 Salzman gave three presentations on Oct. 11 at the Fireside Room. His presentation titled “Fall Down Seven Times, Get up Eight: Chapters from the Writing Life” discussed the challenges of writing and focused on three books: “Iron and Silk” described his time spent in China, “True Notebooks: A Writer’s Year at Juvenile Hall” described his experiences on teaching young inmates writing skills and “Lying Awake,” his novel about a nun experiencing spiritual visions due to a health issue where the nun must make a decision between a life-saving operation or her spiritual quest. Salzman seemed particularly fond of his time spent at the juvenile detention center. Salzman said, “the grammar wasn’t great, but the stories and the potential were phenomenal. That’s what writing is to me.” To this day, Salzman still keeps in contact with some of the boys that he encountered in the juvenile system. Despite Salzman being an accomplished author,
News Briefs Halloween donations
The Bakersfield College Theater Club is requesting candy donations for their Safe Halloween event at the Kern County Museum on Oct. 3031, an event for kids to celebrate Halloween in a safe environment. All donations can be dropped off at Fine Arts 69 during office hours.
Representatives on campus
Feel free to take an opportunity to connect with your legislators on Oct. 20 by meeting with a representative from Assemblywoman Shannon Grove and Assemblyman David Valadao from 11 a.m. to noon in Levinson Hall, room 5.
Skills workshops
Critical Academic Skills Workshops are available for free on campus and focus on a variety of topics useful to students. All workshops are in SS151. On Oct. 19, there will be an Effective Essays workshop from 1 p.m.-2 p.m. From 2 p.m.– 3 p.m., there is the Getting Organized workshop. From 3 p.m.–4 p.m., there is the Appalling Apostrophes workshop. From 4 p.m.–5 p.m., there is the Rescuing Research workshop. Other workshops are available most days, and a schedule can be found on the BC website on the Student Success page.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Fox Theater will be holding a full production and screening of Rocky Horror Picture Show on Oct 29. Costumes are encouraged and attendees must be 17+. Tickets are $10 and prop bags are $4. Check the Fox Theater website for further details.
Zombie Apocalypse
Zombie Apocalypse 2011 will be at the Valley Plaza Mall Oct. 29-31 at 2 p.m. Try to survive three days of zombie attacks! Read rules and regulations at the Web site www.2011halloweenzombieevent. com.
Safe Halloween
Safe Halloween 2011 is going to be held on October 30-31 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Kern County Museum. Children between the ages of three to twelve will Trick-or-Treat at over 35 stations, and there will be a costume contest, a carnival and a cakewalk. For more information please phone 868-8414.
Lethal Beauty
Bakersfield Museum of Art will be presenting their exhibit “Lethal Beauty: Samurai Weapons and Armor” until Nov. 20. Check www.bmoa.org for schedules of open days and times, admission prices, and free admission days.
eleonor segura / The Rip
Above: The 13th annual Via Arte is an art festival that showcases the art of various artists at the Marketplace.
he still faced many challenges writing his books. He resorted to unusual methods such as wearing foil while writing and going to an authors resort in order to finish his work. All the seats in the Fireside room seemed taken and there were even people sitting on the floor in order to catch the event. David Guerrero, 19, said, “I didn’t know who he was. I saw the poster in the library and the description sounded interesting, so I decided to go.” Salzman was the Cerro Author chosen for 2011. Reference Librarian Marci Lingo organized the event. Each year, Bakersfield College receives spending money for events like these where speakers well suited for BC students give presentations. The library purchased copies of Salzman’s books to specifically be distributed to students for free on Sept. 14. Salzman currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and their two children. For now, Salzman has no plans to write another book.
The Rip takes awards at JACC Bakersfield College’s student newspaper and online production – the Renegade Rip and TheRip.com – earned general excellence for work published in fall 2010 and spring 2011 at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges annual Southern Regional Conference at Cal State-Fullerton on Oct. 14-15. To achieve general excellence, publications must earn a certain points value judged by professional journalists. For print publication, the Rip received the highest score – 111 points – among the 25 other newspaper entries. Southwestern College near San Diego was second with 108. The Rip entered three consecutive issues from the spring 2011 semester. Rip students attending the conference participated in workshops, contests, tours of the Mass Communications program at Fullerton, and other journalism-related events. Approximately 30 community colleges and 300 students participated. Several Rip students earned mail-in contest and on-the-spot awards at a ceremony in the CSUF student union Oct. 15. During the conference, students participated in on-the-spot contests that included coverage of live events and completing assignments within a one-hour period after the event.
Renegade Rip award winners GENERAL EXCELLENCE ** The Renegade Rip student newspaper ** TheRip.com online publication MAIL-IN AWARDS First place ** Annie Stockman, magazine photo Second place ** James Licea, critical review Fourth place ** Annie Stockman and Mateo Melero, magazine cover Honorable mention ** Gregory D. Cook, feature photo ** Zak Cowan, magazine opinion ** Chrystal Fortt, line illustration ** Megan Luecke, sports action photo ** Michael Morrow, profile feature story ** Michael Wafford, editorial ON-THE-SPOT AWARDS Second place ** Gregory D. Cook, sports action photo Third place ** Zak Cowan, copy editing Honorable mention ** Zak Cowan, sports story ** Chrystal Fortt, broadcast newswriting
A live jazz band decorated the opening as visitors traveled around the vicinity to visualize illustrations and representational images of iconic figures, cartoon characters, influential leaders, and even anti-government and pro-civil rights pieces of work. This year’s Italian Art Festival featured not only talented artists, but also live jazz music and exotic belly dancing.
megan luecke / The Rip
Hot rod enthusiasts from around the state will gather in Bakersfield By Jon Nelson Reporter
The lanes of the Auto Club Famoso Raceway will be filled with hundreds of hot rods as the National Hot Rod Association celebrates the 20th anniversary of the California Hot Rod Reunion. The weekend of Oct. 21-23 is attracting not only local residents, but people from around the world. “Ticket sales have been high. We’re seeing record numbers,”
said Monique Valadez. Valadez is the education and public relations manager for the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. The reunion will feature car shows, events and competitions all designed to celebrate past and present superstars of drag racing. “We have a lot of history on display here,” said Valadez. One featured event is something organizers call a “cackle fest.” A cackle fest is when a group of drag racers get together to
rev their engines for the enjoyment of the crowd. The noise produced is a cackling sound. For the 20th anniversary the NHRA has put together a 100car cackle fest. A giant swap meet and nostalgia drag racing are also part of the festivities. Yet the California Hot Rod Reunion is not just for hot rod fans. “Overall, it’s a fun event for families,” said Valdez. “It showcases what California is all about, the excitement of racing and family.”
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The Renegade Rip www.therip.com
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Career Day offers BC students job chances By Esteban Ramirez Reporter
Many employers showed up to Bakersfield College’s Career Day and gave students different employment opportunities on Oct. 6 and many students came out to look for jobs and talk with the employers. “This is our first time coming to BC for Career Day, but I like that we get to get involved with students that are interested in this type of job,” said Elidia Vasquez, who is an agent producer at State Farm. “We are here offering jobs in telemarketing and producing. For the producing job they must have their PNC license and for telemarketing they must have custom marketing and have good phone skills,” she said. Endee Grijalva, a Bakersfield representative for Fresno Pacific University, was also at Career Day. “We consistently come out to BC’s Career Day because it’s always good to support BC. We’re here to support students that are trying to obtain the education needed for their career,” Grijalva said. She also said that students would need 60 transfer units, a 2.4 GPA, and for students that don’t have the units, they offer general education. “We also cater to working
adults by having evening classes and night classes,” Grijalva said. Maria Lara, an executive administrative assistant for KBAK-TV, was there looking for students interested in broadcasting. “It’s great to see that there’s a lot of students interested in broadcasting, and a lot of students asking for applications and internships so they can get their foot in the door of broadcasting. “We are also interested in people that are a one-man band. By that I mean someone that can shoot, write and read their own stories,” Lara said. She also explained how students that are interested could apply online at Bakersfieldnow. com. “I think what is interesting about this career is that it’s all about news, and you’re in front giving everybody the news,” she said. Panda Express returned to Career Day looking for students who want jobs while at BC. “I think this Career Day is going as good as last year and it looks by the setup that BC really wants their students to succeed,” said Panda Express general manager Mario Maldonado. “We hire a few people every year from BC’s Career Day and we got a worker here today that we hired from a past Career Day.
Gregory D. Cook / The Rip
Students mingle with representatives from many companies and schools offering information about job and training opportunities at the Bakersfield College Career Day on Oct. 6. “We usually come at least once every year, but it depends on our schedule and we’re pretty sure we will return for the one in the spring,” he said. Some students gave their take on what they thought of Career Day. “I’m surprised that it’s very full, but it’s cool that BC provides us with this to help us find a job although I don’t qualify for some of the jobs,” said Pam Valerino. Noel Castellanos, who is majoring in computer engineering, gave his take on it. “This is pretty good and I’m
glad that students are actually taking advantage of this and looking for jobs. I think that this is needed like once a month. “What I like about Career Day is it gives us a chance to talk with employers and look at various career opportunities. A couple of jobs I was interested in were KIA management and Memorial Hospital,” he said. Edgar Martinez, who is majoring in sociology, also gave his take on Career Day. “I think it’s good that BC actually helps you find a job because there is a lot of good opportunities out here.
Gregory D. Cook / The Rip
Southern California Gas Company representative Kevin Thomas talks to Tamy Daniels about some of the job opportunities available at his company during Bakersfield College’s Career Day on Oct. 6. “The job that I thought was interesting so far was UTI because you get to work on cars and I’m
into that,” he said. BC will have another Career day during the spring semester.
Fake earthquake coming By Jon Nelson Reporter
Gregory d. cook / The Rip
Lettuce is just one of the many crops grown by the Vegetable Production classes at BC.
BC garden gets a boost By Keith Kaczmarek Reporter
Bakersfield College has recently received large donations of materials for its Vegetable Production class. Green Heart donated 11,000 vegetable transplants, Community Recycling donated 10 tons of compost, Grimmway donated irrigation pipe, and American Ag donated fertilizer. The Vegetable Production class is geared toward teaching all aspects of vegetable production, and students work on BC’s farm plot located behind the library that also contains the animal production lab and several horses and cattle. The plants grown in the clay soil in that location are cultivated using both organic and traditional methods, and feature such plants as broccoli and several varieties of lettuce and cabbage. Joe Nunez is the instructor for the class and he brings his students his 11 years of experience as a farm adviser to Kern County. Working as a researcher and educator for the University of California, he works with local farmers and helps inform them of new findings related to crop pro-
duction. BC’s Vegetable Production class works on the farm on Friday mornings. “Once a week, they are all farmers,” he said. “I want to give them firsthand experience growing vegetables,” he said. “You can talk in class and go on field trips, but you need to actually do it. “This is an example where the [students] are learning first-hand with real-life experience. We have an opportunity to practice what we preach.” The class covers all aspects of vegetable production such as preparing the soil, planting methods, pest management, and the different characteristics of each plant. For some students, the class is also their first use of a tractor. Nunez suggests that students who want to take the class take the soil science and plant biology classes first. “As a foundation, [they] make the class easy because [they are] a culmination of those.” “It’s an all-in-one class. Teaches us everything,” said Damian Lewis, a forestry major who is currently in the class.
Bakersfield College will be among the eight million people who duck and cover as part of the Great California Shake Out. On Oct. 20 at 10:20 a.m. alarms will sound signaling everyone on the BC campus to go into an earthquake drill. For the mock disaster, students and staff will drop under desks and tables and hold in position until directed to stop. They will then be led out into open areas around the campus where they will be asked to wait
for further instruction. At that point, a system of runners will be used by administration to communicate with various groups around campus. “We’re way overdue for an earthquake,” said Amber Chiang, director of marketing and public relations for BC. The Bakersfield Fire Department will be on-site to participate and to oversee the procedure. “We need to be ready for a major emergency,” said Chiang. The entire earthquake drill will be guided by instructors and administrators who have been given instructions on what to do.
The Great California Shake Out began in 2008 as an effort by the Country Earthquake Alliance to make sure that Southern California residents were prepared for a disaster. In 2009 the group expanded to include all 58 counties in California. Both the main BC campus and the satellite campus in Delano will be participating in the event. Chiang would like to remind students to watch their email accounts for reminders of the mock disaster and to keep all belongings with them during the event.
Park ranger speaks at BC
Eleonor Segura / The Rip
The Agriculture Department hosts a dinner which gives students who are currently enrolled the opportunity to meet with professionals in the field of forestry at Bakersfield College on Oct. 6. By Monica Bolger Reporter
Supervising State Park Ranger Bill Moffat was the main focus of an on campus Society of American Foresters dinner hosted by the Agriculture Department on Oct. 6. The SAF dinner featured Moffat as the main speaker in an open discussion that brought awareness to students and faculty members about the Tule Elk State Reserve located near Stockdale highway. Moffat introduced his expertise about the Tule Elk population and the opportunities available for the public to view and provided information for those interested in hunting the elk. Professor Bill Kelley took a great interest in Moffat’s discussion and his enthusiasm for the park.
“Bill has been a state park ranger for almost 30 years and he really has a passion for the wildlife,” said Kelley. “He has a lot of history to share about the different parks and the origin of the animals and their species.” Moffat is currently a supervising ranger for Tejon and Allensworth State historical parks, along with Mojave Desert State Park and the Tule Elk Reserve. “It’s very interesting to learn about the Tule Elk population we have here in town,” said Kelley. “The elk originally have been around since the gold rush and have multiplied here after they were sent to the east coast.” Sophomore Yesenia Lopez was one student that attended the dinner who seemed enlightened by the discussion and wanted to see and explore more of its subject.
“I came for the food and to earn some extra credit, but I think this is pretty cool and may be worth taking my daughter to,” said Lopez. Moffat’s love for the elk has grown over many years of time spent working as a park ranger and has resided with his family at the on-site reserve location. Moffat’s discussion also shared advice about different careers available for those interested in working in the same environment as a wildlife worker or park ranger. The afternoon dinner was successful in providing information to the public about the Tule Elk State Reserve. According to Kelley and the Agriculture department, a different event will be hosted on campus every semester for the community to “enjoy” and “seek” information from.
The Renegade Rip www.therip.com
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fun in the mud
gregory d. cook / The Rip
Runners await the beginning of the 5k event at the 2011 Volkslauf mud run Oct. 8.
Nearly 1,500 mud-covered participants stormed through the obstacle courses at this year’s Bakersfield Volkslauf on Oct. 8 toward the finish line. Results 10k–Individual Men 1. Giovani Perezchica 2. Jason Lewis 3. Ryan Lucker 4. David Bacus 5. Gavino Quevedo
Time 46:05 46:59 47:14 49:25 50:15
Women 1. Monica Morley 2. Stacy Phelps 3. Valerie Voboril 4. Kara Martin 5. Katherine Powers
Time 59:02 1:03:45 1:03:51 1:04:28 1:05:56
Women 1. Morganne Hill 2. Allison Mackenzie 3. Erica Bailey 4. Alexa Hill 5. Taylor Clifton
Time 40:57 41:09 41:26 42:11 42:28
5k–Individual
Men 1. Monte Myers 2. Julian Irigoyen 3. David Cervantes 4. James Flores 5. Alvaro Quijada
Time 24:16 25:39 26:04 27:10 28:08
gregory d. cook / The Rip
Volkslauf racers splash their way through one of the ditches of the Peleliu, an obstacle that forces participants to cross ditches of muddy water then low crawl over hills.
gregory d. cook / The Rip
Monte Myers, 30, makes his way through Devil Doom Ditch, a quarter-mile trench of waist deep water on his way to a first-place overall victory in the individual 5k race at the 2011 Volkslauf. Myers, a Kern County Fire Department engineer, finished the race in 24 minutes and 16 seconds.
gregory d. cook / The Rip
Julian Irigoyen, 13, of Bakersfield, reaches for a rope as he negotiates the Tenaru River Crossing obstacle at the Volkslauf on Oct 8. Irigoyen ran the course in 25:39 to place second overall in the 5k competition.
megan luecke / The Rip
Matthew Pytlak, 22, from Bakersfield lands in the muddy waters of the Chu Lai Tunnels obstacle as he competes in the 10k distance competition at the Volkslauf on Oct. 8.
gregory d. cook / The Rip megan luecke / The Rip
gregory d. cook / The Rip
Racers help one another over Gunny Hall’s Wall as they near the end of the Volkslauf. The obstacle consists of an 8-foot wall with a rope on the other side.
Participants crawl through the mud of the Peleliu obstacle during the Volkslauf mud run Oct. 8
Racers attempt to wash off some of the mud and grime they picked up when they ran and negotiated the obstacles of the 15th annual Volkslauf The Ultimate Challenge on Oct. 8.
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Renegade Rip www.therip.com
Staff Editorial
An American visionary leaves behind global legacy The death of Steve Jobs has not just been the passing of a famous entrepreneur, but in many ways it has been a hit to the American Dream. The man’s life mirrors the mythology surrounding the promise of America. He started a small company with a few friends and turned it into one of the most successful in its industry, creating out of nothing a new way to make money and bring prosperity to those around him. Then he was fired from his own company, only to be brought back years later to herald a new period of innovation and profit. He was a free-thinking visionary and a consummate gambler when it came
to trying out new ideas, many of those ideas eventually becoming the standard for how those things were done for everyone. At any moment of our lives, most people in the United States are mere feet from a product that includes at least one idea that he promoted or created. He was also the proof of concept for the idea that a child of the counter-culture could come back from the wilderness with something useful for society. His experimentation with LSD and love for eastern philosophy seemed to have no effect on his ability to exist in the wildly conservative world of big business or prevent him from building
his own personal wealth. To the pioneers of Silicon Valley, he is the model of success. To computer guys, he’s an engineer who knew the science, but dominated the business world. Heck, even art students know his name simply because he’s the guy responsible for the products that make all of their favorite projects possible. Most importantly, to the average American, he was one of the few real job-creators and we lost him right when we needed some new jobs. He wasn’t a rich guy that moved around slips of paper with other rich guys and then through some “invisiblehand,” trickle-down magic was sup-
posed to create wealth for everyone, but instead he created real products and directly employed people for a fair wage while bringing something new and useful to society that we can hold it in our hands. To Americans, that is the dream. We need innovators who are not mired in the alliances and feuds of existing economic relationships. We don’t need people so entrenched in old ways of making money that they need to be bailed out by the government because no one else trusts them enough to float them a loan because there is doubt these old leviathans can still profit with their out-dated business models.
We need people who can take on Job’s role of head cheerleader for entire industries. He was a charismatic speaker with a gift for elegant turns of phrase and he invigorated people with a boundless optimism. Finding someone who can fill that niche is not going to be an easy task even though there are a few with the actual resume to justify such optimism. We need another white wizard to help us overcome the funk we seem to be in where protestors on both sides of the political spectrum are demanding that someone bring back the promise of the American Dream and just the hope of a better future.
Is the red planet really worth the journey? By Keith Kaczmarek Reporter
Getting to Mars is not going to be easy, and in the current economic climate it might not even seem like a good idea, but that’s only half the story. Going to Mars is going to involve more than just stuffing a few patriots into a glorified tin can that costs billions. It is going to involve discovering hundreds of new technologies that will affect our lives in unexpected and wonderful ways. The space program has already borne fruit in too many areas to count. Velcro, Teflon, and industrialgrade ceramics are just some of the more “spaceage” inventions, but the technologies created by the space program have applications in areas as diverse as make-up to cancer treatments. This means that the space program itself is one of the mythical “engines of growth” for our economy that pundits like to wax poetically about. Counterintuitively, the very act of pushing the boundaries of human exploration has also been quite good for the pocketbooks of the American people, creating new products and industries that employ Americans. Not only that, but the pure science needed for prolonged spaceflight seems to be the exact same science we need so desperately right now. Getting to Mars and back is going to require new ways to produce cheap and clean fuels, new ways to manufacture, new understanding of complex ecosystem and climate problems, new solutions for sustainable resource collection, and new materials that will make possible inventions that currently only exist in the imagination. While some people like to give credit for the current wealth and prosperity of the first world to democracy or to capitalism, in truth we owe it all to science. Science has not only kept the economy humming with new products, but it has created new economies of scale that make previously expensive products cheap enough for even the poorest to afford. Investing in the project to get to Mars is going to create science faster, simply accelerating the improvement of our lives. But the immediate concerns aside, a trip to Mars also deals with a long-time issue: we need more room. The human population has already risen to a level that could be unsustainable, and we need
PRO
a new frontier to explore. We need new lands to try out new social experiments free of thousands of years of history and prejudice and new resources to exploit, and we can’t start too early considering that Mars might not be ready for large-scale human habitation for hundreds of years. Of course, we have problems. No one is pretending that this is going to magically transform our society for the better, but given the track record science has for improving our lives and making them safer, better, and more productive, I’d prefer that my tax dollars go to a broad base of scientific research instead of being used to blow up foreigners in petty disputes over local resources and intractable politics. We should take to the stars not just to uphold our proud tradition of finding new frontiers to conquer, but because space is full of prosperity and profit if we are just willing to make the initial investment.
By Tyler McGinty Opinions Editor
Leave Mars alone! Why is humanity obsessed with looking onward and upward while ignoring the problems at their own feet? There is absolutely no need to even think about colonizing Mars when Earth has so much to fix already. Things like pollution, war, poverty and corruption. These aren’t the things I’d like to see spread to another planet. We can barely take care of one planet. To suggest we could handle two implies that we, as a species, have a monstrous ego. The sheer amount of research and development time, and the money to fund that, that would be spent in order to make Mars livable could be spent on far better things. Renewable energy sources, for
example. Hell, I’d settle for just a clean energy source. We really shouldn’t even think about colonies on other planets until we have these kinds of energy sources. The amount of energy needed to sustain a colony on Mars would have to be incredibly high. What would be the point of traveling to a new planet, setting up shop and then polluting it all over again? Furthermore, who is going to pay for such an outlandish venture? I doubt any government in the world would fund it, even if they could. China might have enough money to do it if we paid back all of our debt. Even if they could, no one government can lay claim to any part of Mars. It would violate space law (which is a real thing) set forth by the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. Since all of outer space is the “common heritage of mankind,” it can’t be owned by any government. With governments out of the picture due to legality and budget issues, that would just leave private companies to foot the bill, and space travel isn’t cheap. Just the fuel to get to Mars costs more than most people would see in their lives. It takes over $10,000 worth of fuel to get one pound of payload into a low Earth orbit. That’s just to get off Earth. Can you imagine the cost to actually get to Mars? I don’t even want to think about it. These exorbitant costs would leave space travel accessible only to the rich and the super-rich. I’d rather not see Mars turned into the priciest condominium complex catering to movie stars, oil tycoons and other various billionaires. The costs already mount up to ridiculous amounts without even considering making the planet livable in anyway. In addition to fuel, we’d have to find ways to make a renewable atmosphere, obtain a water source and create an agricultural system. If we took the outrageous amount of (hypothetical) money spent on colonizing Mars and spent it on technological advances and social welfare programs, you might not be looking at the stars so much anymore. You might find you’re happy here. Until we’ve got our first planet under control, we should absolutely not expand to another one. How about we leave Martian suburbia where it belongs: in cheap sci-fi books.
CON
Chrystal fortt / The Rip
Haggard’s ‘Tennessee’ leaves you yearning for more By Jon Nelson Reporter
After being raised around his music and seeing him half a dozen times in concert, I thought I knew everything there was to know about Merle Haggard. However, with his new record, “Working in Tennessee,” the “Okie from Muskogee” proves that despite his age, he still has a few surprises up his sleeve. The title track from the album is “Pure Haggard” in the best way possible. The lyrics seem to be about a down-on-his-luck country singer, but they could also be the superstar taking a jab at the country music establishment. The music is the mix of country and twangy Bluegrass that Haggard has perfected in the last few decades. “Down on the Houseboat” is a standout track because it’s so unusual.
It has a ’80s pop-country, Jimmy Buffett feel that seems like such a sharp contrast to what I’ve come to expect from the man. The song “Sometimes I Dream” is the kind of beautifully gut-wrenching piece that could have only been written by an old soul that’s been to hell and back a few times. With lyrics like “Seldom I laugh and seldom I ever cry,” and “Forever a lonely man, but sometimes I dream,” it’s hard not to be transported into his torment. Along with new material, the legend also recorded a few country standards on the album. Haggard has covered “Cocaine Blues” (which happens to be one of my favorite songs of all time) for years but he puts a new spin on it for “Working in Tennessee.” The song is indescribably strange upon first listen.
A lbum R eview
It was only after a few spins that I was able to realize it sounded almost happy. A happy song about a man who kills his wife in a cocaine-induced frenzy? The highlight of the album comes with the last song. “Jackson,” also a cover, is a duet Haggard recorded with his daughter Theresa. I got chills listening to the song because Theresa sounds so much like June Carter Cash. It made me think of her and Johnny singing it and I almost got tears in my eyes. Thematically, “Working in Tennessee” is similar to much of what Haggard has done in the past. However, the album doesn’t feel stale. The listener is taken through a journey of struggle, love, despair and joy as seen through the eyes of the working class man. My only complaint about Haggard’s latest offercourtesy of google images ing is the length. At just over 30 minutes, it leaves me wondering, Merle Haggard’s “Working in Tennessee” “what else he’s got banging around in his head?” was released Oct. 4.
The Renegade Rip Editorial Board Winner of the 2003 and 2008 JACC Pacesetter Award The Renegade Rip is produced by Bakersfield College journalism classes, printed by Bakersfield Envelope & Printing Co. Inc., and circulated on Wednesdays during the fall and spring semesters. The newspaper is published under the auspices of the Kern Community College District Board of Trustees, but sole responsibility for its content rests with student editors. The Rip is a member of the Journalism Association of Community Colleges and the California Newspaper Publishers Association.
Staff
Editor in Chief........................Zak S. Cowan Reporters: Monica Bolger, America Garza, Keith Kaczmarek, Cassandra McGowan, Meisha Features Editor.......................Chrystal Fortt McMurray, Jon Nelson, Esteban Ramirez, Opinions Editor.......................Tyler McGinty Patricia Rocha Online Editor............................Martin Chang Photo Editor.........................Gregory D. Cook Production Editor...............Amber T. Troupe Photographers: Brandon Barraza, Gregory D. Cook, Megan Luecke, Nate Perez, Eleonor Segura, Nathan Wilson
Adviser.......................................................Danny Edwards
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Commentar y
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Renegade Rip www.therip.com
‘Rage’ is certain to satisfy your id BC Cheer Letter to the Editor
is tougher than you think Editor: I am responding to Zak S. Cowan’s comments on Sept. 21 that began with, “our cheer team is unbearable.” I realize that in the Oct. 5 edition of the Rip you admitted your error and called yourself a moron, which takes some courage. I still, however, would like to set the record straight on a few things. First of all, I wondered how many football games you’ve actually attended. I also wondered if you traveled with the teams to the out of town football games. And just how many sporting events do you attend on a regular basis? If you look in your archives, you will find an article from back in March that covered the Bakersfield College cheer team tryouts. The team was not chosen on “sparkle” as you call it, whatever that is. The members are selected on college-level talent alone and only after a week of clinic learning college-level material. A lot of the team’s cheers are tradition, that’s true. Have you looked in the stands lately? Our crowd is not made up of BC students. Our crowd is made up of loyal Renegade fans, the majority of whom are over the age of 50 or higher. They are the rooters who support the cheer team and the Renegades and attend football games at home and away. They are the ones wearing red and white and cheering in the stands. The cheer team is also held to a certain level of conservatism by the town we live in, the college we attend, and the fan base, which again, is over 50 years of age. If they get too far away from tradition or too risqué, we immediately hear about it regardless of the fact that neither the school nor the fans support us financially. Just so you know, the cheer team funds itself 100 percent. They pay to go to camp, which enables them to bring new sideline cheers and dance routines to the games every year. We can’t afford a professional choreographer and we do not have the time, money, or support to compete. We are too busy cheering for almost every sport that BC has to offer. You made mention of USC and Division-I. The USC cheer team wears the same uniform year after year and has for some thirty years now. They also do the same routines year after year. If they changed it up too much, everyone would balk. Many of the BC cheer team have gone on to cheer at fouryear schools, including DivisionI schools. They have even gone on to USC. So they are not lacking talent by any means. If you have better ideas, I certainly welcome them. Perhaps you could be the team’s next coach. But by all means, bring some ideas for financial assistance since each team member spends anywhere from $900 to $1,100 every year just to be out on that field or court cheering for the Renegades and receiving uncalled-for comments from people like you. This year I do think they will get a little more financial support because as the president of the BC Alumni Association, I usually donate money to the Rip, But since you ripped the BC cheer team, and myself, I think I’ll skip the Rip this year and give your share to the cheer team instead. We don’t really need “Alumni” like you at the games anyway. You probably only support the Renegades when they’re winning. Becki Whitson BC Cheer Coach
By Gregory D. Cook Photo editor
It’s just another evening on near-future Earth. In pod-like bunkers called Arks, all over the planet, the world’s best and brightest are being tucked into their cryo-beds and buried in the hope that they will one day emerge and rebuild civilization. In the sky, a rather large chunk menacing-looking of space-rock is smashing into the moon on its dramatic way to wipe out life as we know it. Sweet dreams. And so begin your adventures in “Rage,” the newest offering from legendary first-person shooter developer id Software, and for the most part, the ride is well worth the price of the ticket. While id didn’t actually invent the genre, as many believe, they can certainly claim credit for guiding it through its awkward adolescent phase with such groundbreaking titles as “Wolfenstein 3D,” “Doom” and the “Quake” series. “Rage’s” well-polished game play and breathtaking visuals make it worthy of a place on that list as well. The first thing a player will notice about “Rage” is the fact that it looks damn good. ame The outside world is filled with crumbling ruins of cities, and mountain ranges reneview dered in more vibrant color than most post-apocalyptic worlds in games of late, telling you that very little about this game is going to be muted or drab. The id Tech 5 engine does a fantastic job of bringing the world of “Rage” to the screen. Character animations are fluid and realistic, and the gore factor is definitely well represented. Shoot a mutant right in front of you with a double-barreled shotgun, and you can expect to get some of it on you. The artificial intelligence of the enemies the player faces in “Rage” is also pulled off pretty well, although there isn’t much variety in the types of opponents the player faces. Enemies generally come in two flavors; those that sit back and shoot at you, and those that prefer to take a more hands-on approach to their work and come at you with clubs, claws, knives or lit torches. Both have dynamic behaviors; the ranged opponents will try to find cover when they notice the player, and move if they see a better place, while the melee specialists rush you while dodging, rolling and jumping off walls like something out of a John Woo movie. There is a fair bit of personality to each enemy that makes up for the general lack of overall variety of encounter. Opponents will taunt you with insults and threats and when sufficiently wounded some will try to carry on the fight, while others will attempt to limp or crawl away. But to label “Rage” a first-person shooter is only telling half the story. A large part of the game takes place behind the wheel of your vehicle. Your vehicle is how you get to the various mission areas of the game, and for some reason, the post-apocalyptic world seems to be obsessed with the sport of armed auto racing. Every settlement in the wasteland sponsors a series of races and vehicle combat events that offer the player the opportunity to up-
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Screenshot by gregory d. cook / The Rip
Dan Hagar, voiced by John Goodman, is your beginning guide to the post-apocalyptic world of “Rage.” grade parts and weapons on their cars. This and other mini-games serve to give the player a lot to do other than just filling bandits and mutants full of lead. The game is not without its share of drawbacks though chiefly in the multiplayer realm. There are only two multiplayer modes to speak of; a two-player co-op mode that lets you explore some of the back stories of the characters with a friend, and a vehicle race mode that pits four players in a no-holds-barred rally to collect points for driving over checkpoints while attempting to blow up the other three racers. It is fun to begin with, but it gets old pretty fast. The fact that there is no large-scale player-versus-player game play seems odd coming from the makers of the Quake series, especially from the same company that brought us the Quake series. The story also seems move a bit too quickly, not that the game is too short. There are a good 20 or more hours of game even when played at a rushed pace, but the main characters never get developed quite as much as they could be before the player is whisked off to the next settlement to continue the main story. Although the races and abundance of side missions give the impression of an open world, the game is actually quite linear. And finally, the game’s ending is somewhat underwhelming. After spending most of the game learning to deal with enemies that, for the most part, put up a pretty good fight, you are handed a weapon that allows you to just walk to the end of the game as if you were taking a Sunday stroll in the park. The challenge just isn’t there like it was in the rest of the game. But despite these shortcomings, “Rage” is still an entertaining romp through the first-person and racing genres, worthy of the id Software name.
By Nate Perez Reporter
Gregory D. Cook / The Rip
America: Where a handful of robber barons helped destroy the economy and got paid for it. Where the wealthiest of all Americans are not properly taxed. Where you can live a lifestyle you can’t afford. Now we have people occupying Wall Street. The Occupy Wall Street protests now have union support and are acknowledged worldwide. They have gained major momentum since they originally started almost a month ago. Peaceful protests are occurring in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Cincinnati, Britain, and so forth. The protesters are made up of different political backgrounds: Anarchists, hippies, Ron Paul supporters, etc. Basically, these occupy movements may reek of patchouli. That being said, we should all support these protesters. Some of the protesters list of demands are: for congress to pass HR 1489, they want corporations to stop buying elections, they want the rich and the corporations to pay their fair share of taxes, they want
Wall Street criminals to be prosecuted, and so on. One thing I really like about these protesters is that they’re angry and they’re actually doing something about it. Most people just complain about the current state affairs, but they’re not willing to sacrifice in order to make change. One thing I don’t like about the protesters is the way they represent themselves. The whole 99% thing is a bit ridiculous to me. We get it, you got some crazy art degree and now you can’t be the famous artist you’ve always wanted to be. All jokes aside, all the pictures of people holding signs on their webcams are really embarrassing. I feel for them, but I can’t help but cringe when I see them. Despite what I don’t like about the Occupy Wall Street movement, I do like the message. They’re angry and they know what they’re fighting for. If you don’t think the wealthiest of all Americans should pay more in taxes something is wrong with you. The tycoons were supposed to create jobs and influence our economy in a good way, but instead they’re hurting us.
Dialogue carries new Clooney film By Nate Perez Reporter
“The Ides of March” doesn’t feature any fight scenes, or have any corny, over-the-top dilemma. What it does feature is great d i a logue, a ovie fantastic plot, eview and surprising entertainment given that it is a political drama. “The Ides of March” features an all-star cast: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei,
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Paul Giamatti, and Evan Rachel Wood. Gosling plays Stephen Meyers, a campaign press secretary that appears to be more than just an employee of prominent politician, Gov. Mike Morris (played by George Clooney). Meyers seems to really believe Morris can win because he is different from the other politicians. He’s honest, he sincerely believes in his cause, and he’s not another pawn. Morris is a progressive politician involved in an intense Democratic primary against a more conservative Democrat. The race is very close and any little mistake or mishap could cause either opponent to lose
Recalling the Green Album and Mikey Pop, Girls, Etc. | The Rip’s Opinions Editor shares his thoughts on pop culture and media
Occupy has right message
A local Occupy group protests in Oct. 13.
Column
ground. With the race getting closer and closer, Meyers begins to feel the pressure. When a campaign scandal breaks loose within the Morris campaign, Meyers has to figure out how to control the situation that is unfolding. You should watch this movie if you are over 30 or if you’re a fan of any of the above actors. You should definitely not watch this movie if you’re expecting some sort of fight scene or if you hate good movies. Gosling does a phenomenal job in this movie as he did in “Drive” and “Blue Valentine.” Gosling’s been in other films worth mentioning, such as “Lars and the Real Girl” and
“The Notebook.” The list of movies really shows his diversity and ability as an actor. Clooney not only starred in the “The Ides of March,” he also directed it. This is not the first time Clooney has directed a movie. He’s directed “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “Leatherheads,” and a few others, but “The Ides of March” appears to be one of his best. If you want to see over-thetop fight scenes with awful dialogue and a mediocre plot, go watch “Real Steel.” If you want to see good acting, quality dialogue, and an overall good movie, watch “The Ides of March.”
Celebrity deaths are rumored to come in threes, and it may be just because we stop paying attention after the third one, and this month was no exception. Within the same Tyler McGinty week Steve Jobs, Al Davis and Mikey Welsh all passed away. Poor Mikey may not have been as important as the others, but as a member of Weezer, he deserves something. Welsh was my second favorite Weezer bassist (and if you’re favorite is anyone but Matt Sharp, you’re wrong) not necessarily because of any special talent, but because he isn’t Scott Shriner, and to me he’s symbolic of a change for the band. Welsh joined Weezer after the departure of Sharp for the third album, “Weezer” (the green one, not the red one or the blue one) and their sound had changed incredibly. Weezer had gotten more popular, it seems everyone heard “Hash Pipe” or “Island in the Sun.” What was most shocking to me was how mean Welsh looked on the cover. It’s a stark contrast to how serene Sharp looks on the cover of “Weezer” (the blue one, not the red one or the green one.) He looks so upset, maybe because he thought that’s what rock stars should look like. I remember when I heard that he suffered from a mental breakdown. I wasn’t surprised at all. He looked like a guy ready to pop. Welsh ended up quitting music after his breakdown and focused on art after he got out of the hospital. If it weren’t for the fact that a drug overdose is his suspected cause of death, I would have thought it did a lot for him. More recent pictures of Welsh make him seem far more calm than the cover of “Weezer.” Sure, there are a couple of pictures where he looks pretty intense, but it looks far more appropriate as an artist specializing in outsider art than it ever did as a bassist for Weezer. Welsh also sent a mysterious tweet predicting his death on Sept. 26, saying he had a dream that he died in Chicago the next weekend. Afterward corrected to two weeks later, and that he should get his affairs in order. The timing is far too accurate to not be potential suicide, so Welsh probably wasn’t in his right mind. I know it’s foolish to attribute this to Welsh, especially since Weezer’s creative output is held firmly in the hands of Rivers Cuomo, but after Welsh left the band, it seems like Weezer went a bit downhill. A part of me knows that “Maladroit” is a better album technically, but “Weezer” (again, the green one) holds a part of my heart because it was the first Weezer album I owned. I really wish I had found Welsh’s art before his death. It’s sadly a case of finding out too late. Outsider art usually doesn’t impact the art world all that much, but it would have been cool to follow Welsh’s career. Mikey Welsh may not be missed by many people, but I’ll miss him. He was there when Weezer went in a radically new direction and devoted his life to art. For Weezer fans, he is an immortal part of their history, regardless of how you feel about Weezer before, after or during his short tenure as bassist.
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The Renegade Rip www.therip.com
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Another win for volleyball Meisha McMurray Reporter
Brandon Barraza / The Rip
Charisma Hernandez kills a volley.
Bakersfield College volleyball hosted College of the Canyons on Oct. 12 and won with scores of 25-18, 15-25, 14-25, 27-25, 15-9. BC is currently No. 12 in the Southern California Regional Poll and No. 20 in the latest women’s Volleyball State Poll with an overall record 9-5 and 2-1 in the Western State Conference. BC freshman Charisma Hernandez had 16 kills. “Toward the end of game four and game five, there’s no doubt Charisma was in there. The fire got hot and she carried us. Very happy for her,” said Volleyball Head Coach Carl Ferreira. Returning sophomore Sarah Horcher added 12 kills and 17 digs which brings her overall kill record to 106, and Erica Rico had 42 assists and 10 digs, which brings her assists record to 324. “Second-year player, one of the most very improved players in the
gym. I saw things in Erica in the end that I have never seen before. She had very demanding leadership as the setter, which I thought that was outstanding,” said Ferreira. Sophomore libero Rachel Christian had 24 digs and 18 perfect passes. After the game against COC, her overall digs record is 198. “One of her greatest strengths is serving, and one thing I enjoyed is how she responded defensively,” said Ferreira. “Erica and Rachel performed at levels I have never seen them play in before, and I am very proud of them.” Brittany Smith made the final kill for BC, allowing them to win over COC. Smith’s overall kill record is 110. “The thing I’m most happy with of this team is how what we do is so important to them. Having the mental side of the game allows their physical mentality to perform.” BC will travel to Glendale on Oct. 19, then host Santa Monica on Oct. 21.
Brandon Barraza / The Rip
Mikinzi Demarco of Bakersfield College comes down after hitting a kill past College of the Canyons’ Jennie Long at BC on Oct. 12.
Renegade soccer shuts out Glendale College 3-0 Bakersfield College soccer sits at a record of 6-3-3 overall and 2-2-2 in conference play after defeating Glendale on Oct.11 and LA Valley College on Oct.14 at BC. With no goals made ports in the first oundup half against Glendale, BC freshman Sabrina Spink made the first goal for BC to start the second half, with freshman Caitlyn Wilger assisting, putting them in the lead 1-0. BC returning sophomores Mitzi Ibarra and Sarena Underwood made the final two goals for BC allowing them to take home the win with the final score of 3-0. Stopping Glendale from making any goals was BC goalie Lauren Ash, who put up a great defense. Ash stopped every single goal attempt came from Glendale. Underwood, who had great ball control, managed to run with the ball from one side of the field to the other without losing the ball and allowed her to make her first goal attempt against Glendale. Three days later, BC took on LA Valley College and beat them with a score of 6-0. BC will travel to Fresno on Oct. 18, and then host Canyons and Santa Monica on Oct. 21 and Oct. 25.
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Wrestling BC’s wrestling team competed in a tournament at Modesto where it got big performances out of Lance Castenada and Mark Collier. The tournament was on Oct. 8 and the BC team placed 14th
Brandon Barraza / The Rip
Ceci Amador (7) goes up for a header in a game agianst Citrius College on Oct. 14. out of 20 teams with Fresno City getting first, Rio Hondo second and Sacramento City third. Two BC individuals wrestlers placed in the overall standings. Castenada, who wrestles in the 174 weight class, placed second, and Mark Collier, who’s in the 124 weight class, placed eighth. Mike Flores of Chabot College took first overall. “I really liked how we improved on our feet. We’re moving better, getting rid of high school habits and we’re making some growth as a team,” said wrestling coach Bill Kalivas. He also added that he is happy that they are applying techniques that they practice, but he wants
them just to be competitors and not let bad calls get to them. “I thought Castenada did a good job listening to the coaches and sticking to the strategies. I did think he made a couple mistakes in the final match that cost him. “We’re helping him eliminate those mistakes so he can put himself in good position to win.” Kalivas also said that Mark Collier, Jonathan Gomez and Jacob Pendleton wrestled well and continued to show progress. “Jonathan and Jacob are freshman and they’re are starting to use what they learn in practice and I think that’s going to help
them out as we go further into the season,” Kalivas said. The next tournament will be the Meat Head Movers Tournament at San Luis Obispo on Oct. 22. Cross country The BC men traveled to Mount Antonio College on Oct.14 for the Mt. SAC Invitational and finished ninth as a team. The first runner for BC was Richard Langdeaux, who finished with an overall time of 22:43. “Overall, it was not a bad performance,” said men’s coach Dave Frickel, noting that the team’s top runner, Robby Baker,
Brandon barraza / The Rip
BC’s Amber Beckham leaps high to deflect the ball away from Angela Castellanos of Citrus College on Oct. 4. had an off day. The Renegades will next compete in the Western State Conference finals Oct. 25 at Cuesta
College in San Luis Obispo. That will determine qualifying for the Southern California Regional on Nov. 4.
Sports
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The Renegade Rip www.therip.com
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Duboski follows in the footsteps of past
Column
Remember Davis for the great things
By Zak S. Cowan
ceived from his father was passed down through more than one generation. When Brian Duboski took Brian’s grandfather, Philover the quarterback position for lip Duboski, played fullback Brian Burrell in Bakersfield Col- for the USC where he was the lege’s Sept. 17 game at Antelope lead-blocker for BC hall of fame Valley College, he wasn’t only coach Homer Beatty. living a dream, but was follow“When I was growing up, one ing in the footsteps of his father. of my dad’s best friends was the Brian’s father, John Duboski, quarterback coach on the freshplayed quarterback at Porter- man team at SC,” John Duboski ville College before the football said. “That’s where I got a lot team was disbanded and earned of my instruction, and so, it was a scholarship to play at UC Santa kind of funny because when BriBarbara. an first picked up a football, he “He’s been started throwa great father, ing spirals, mentor and “Sometimes things won’t go and I thought, coach,” Brian my gosh, your way, but it’s all about ‘Oh said. “I defithis kid is difnitely look how you deal with it. The way ferent.’ at him as my “So I started best friend I did, was I kept on working using some of and my hero.” hard and never gave up.” the same stratBrian is a egies with him –Brian Duboski quarterback that I was inbecause his structed when father was a quarterback, but I was a kid.” wasn’t told which journey to The Duboski family has used take. the game of football as an avenue “He never really forced me to to protect and build their bonds play,” Brian said. “He allowed and relationships. me to decide what I wanted to “It has just been a wonderdo.” ful time for us to always be toOnce Brian had decided he gether,” John said of his son’s was going to play football, his football career. “It has always father was there to teach him ev- been positive. It has never been a erything he knew. stressful thing … [and] it has just “He was a great person to learn been wonderful being his dad.” from as far as the quarterback Brian started just one game position,” Brian said. “So, a lot in his senior year of high school of my younger years, my coach- and is now BC’s starter for the ing was all from him.” foreseeable future. The tutelage that Brian re“I’ve been waiting for my time Editor in Chief
courtesy of Debbie duboski flippin
Phillip Duboski, Brian Duboski’s grandfather, played fullback at USC in 1936-1940.
Chiefed | The Rip’s Editor in Chief tells you what’s what in the world of sports.
megan luecke / The Rip
Brian Duboski commands his huddle in BC’s Oct. 5 loss to Allan Hancock College. for about three years,” Brian said. “So, finally getting the opportunity, it’s a great feeling.” Brian was gray-shirted his freshman year at College of the Sequoias in Visalia and decided to transfer to BC in 2010 after two semesters at COS. “[BC] was my first choice after graduation,” Brian said. “I always knew that BC had a rich tradition, a great history of football and a great football program. That’s a great attention-getter, for sure, just to know that if you go to BC, you’re big time.” In Brian’s four games he has played in, he’s passed for six touchdowns and scored four on
the ground. Brian, having already earned his associate degree, plans on moving on to a four-year school in the spring. From there he plans on becoming a high school teacher so that he, too, may pass on the knowledge he has learned throughout his life to those who need it. “For Brian, it’s never really been about football,” John said. “It’s his passion, his desire, it’s all about learning how to become a better person, a better human being, a better man, how to serve and as long as he wants to play football we’ll support him. “My wife and I love to see how
courtesy of john duboski
Brian’s father, John Duboski, played quarterback at Porterville College under famed Olympian Sim Iness in 1968.
he’s growing as a person through the game of football. Just watching him be his own person and growing to be his own man and to be responsible and take charge in his own life. That’s our greatest aspiration for him.” Brian said that he would like to continue playing football at the next level if the opportunity is provided to him but isn’t worried if life throws him another blind-side hit. “Sometimes things won’t go your way, but it’s all about how you deal with it,” Brian said. “The way I did, was I kept on working hard and never gave up.”
megan luecke / The Rip
Brian, like the generations before him, leads the Renegade’s in their game against Allan Hancock College on Oct. 5 at Memorial Stadium.
Fourth-quarter rally dooms Renegades By Zak S. Cowan Editor in Chief
Hancock 35, BC 28 BC-Hancock, Stats Bakersfield College Allan Hancock College
0 0
14 14
0 7
21_35 7_28
Second Quarter BC_Tubbs 42 pass from Duboski (Schleicher kick), 12:20. AHC_Artis-Payne 2 run (Miller kick), 4:49. BC_Duboski 1 run (Schleicher kick), 2:40. AHC_Henderson 40 pass from Jordan (Miller kick), :45. Third Quarter BC_Jackson 47 run (Schleicher kick), 11:07.
Fourth Quarter AHC_Artis-Payne 18 run (Miller kick), 14:52. AHC_Artis-Payne 23 run (Miller kick), 8:41. BC_Tubbs 2o pass from Duboski (Schleicher kick), 6:00. AHC_Rogers 17 pass from Jordan (Miller kick), 3:07. First downs Total Net Yards Rushes-yards Passing Punt Returns Kickoff Returns Interceptions Ret. Comp-Att-Int Sacked-Yards Lost Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Time of Possession
AHC 27 441 55-264 177 0-0 5-99 2-56 17-26-0 1-8 3-137 1-0 6-35 34:49
BC 18 402 34-197 205 1-5 4-83 0-0 14-28-2 3-20 5-164 1-0 7-66 25:11
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING_AHC, Artis-Payne 31-193, Bridge 16-92. BC_Sykes 26-138, Jackson 1-47, Cobb 3-17. PASSING_AHC, Jordan 17-26-0-177. BC, Duboski 14-27-2-205. RECEIVING_AHC, Henderson 9-104, Buhring 3-33, Rogers 3-30, Bridge 1-9, Morton 1-1. BC, Tubbs 5-104, Ossai 2-46, Dunn 2-19, Morris 2-17, Sykes 2-15 Moore 1-4.
Conference standings SCFA National Northern Conference All Games PF L W 198 El Camino 0 6 228 Allan Hancock 1 5 180 Cerritos 3 3 163 Bakersfield 3 3 162 Canyons 3 3 166 Ventura 3 3
PA 102 122 193 139 159 138
megan luecke / The Rip
Bakersfield College running back Jalen Sykes attempts to cut around Allan Handcock linebacker Cody Berry of Allan Hancock in Memorial Stadium on Oct. 15.
Allan Hancock College scored 21 fourth-quarter points to beat Bakersfield College 35-28 at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 15. The Renegades fell to 3-3, and put themselves in a really tough position to make the playoffs, and are three games behind undefeated El Camino in the National Northern Conference, while Hancock improved to 5-1. Hancock was winless in conference play last year, and now, Hancock and El Camino, two teams who finished at the bottom of the conference, are a combined 11-1. Quarterback Brian Duboski threw two touchdown passes, but threw two fourth-quarter interceptions, including one that came with 38 seconds left, sealing the game for Hancock. Both teams were kept out of the end zone in the first quarter, but in the second quarter alone four touchdowns were scored between the two teams. Both offenses had over 400 offensive yards, with both running rampant against the other’s rush defense. Running back Jalen Sykes continued his success on the ground for the Renegades, rushing for 138 yards, and wide receiver Darius Tubbs caught five passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns. BC will head to Ventura to face the Ventura College Pirates on Oct. 22 in the first of a two-game road trip. The Renegade’s final home game will be Nov. 5 against Cerritos College.
Al Davis, the rebellious owner of the Oakland Raiders, impacted more than just the game of football. He impacted American life tremendously during his 48 years with Oakland. Mr. Davis, who passed away Oct. 8, was instrumental in the fight to defeat racism in the National Football League. For anyone to say that they Zak S. Cowan don’t respect Mr. Davis would be a slap in the face to not only everyone involved with the NFL, but to every minority in the United States. When it was unheard of for NFL franchises to hire Latino head coaches, Mr. Davis hired Tom Flores, who later went on to win two Super Bowls for the Silver and Black. When it was unheard of for African-Americans to be hired as head coaches in the NFL, even though the majority of NFL players were African-American, Mr. Davis hired Art Shell in 1989, who went on to win Coach of the Year in 1990. Racism wasn’t the only evil that Mr. Davis spent his life fighting. Al Davis also hired Amy Trask in 1997 as CEO of the Raiders franchise, the first and only woman to hold a major position in an NFL franchise’s front office. Clearly, one of Mr. Davis’ biggest aspirations during his life was to eliminate anything standing in the way of total equality in the NFL. Mr. Davis’ fight to end inequality didn’t end with the people he hired either, and a lot of his biggest battles were fought behind closed doors. When the owners voted on the latest collective bargaining agreement between them and the players’ union, the Oakland Raiders were the only franchise that didn’t vote yes, instead choosing to abstain. “We had profound philosophical differences of a football and an economic nature,” Trask said after the vote. It is clear that Mr. Davis, being the players owner that he was, thought that the players deserved more than what they got out of the deal. He looked out for his players before he worried about profit margins, more so than any other owner in professional sports. When the other owners in the NFL used the NFL Network to intimidate the players’ union with the thought of a lost season, Mr. Davis and the Oakland Raiders stood on the side of the players, because they believed, as they should, that the players are the only reason why the NFL is where it’s at today. Mr. Davis should be remembered for the man he was and the actions he took throughout his life. In a time when America was divided on so many issues, he helped unite the game of football in more ways then just the AFL-NFL merger. Mr. Davis helped provide a model of equality that the American people could look up to. There have been rumors of who is going to take over for Mr. Davis for the franchise, but I think there is only one man Trask should consider in her search: John Madden. Mr. Davis, you will always be loved and admired.
Spotlight
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011
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Lisa Enns, as a seductive zombie nurse, and Brock Downing, as a dentist zombie, are ready to see patients.
Trends for Ghouls and c Goblins p Photos by Nathan Wilson Story and creative direction by Chrystal Fortt Makeup by Audraey Marie
Halloween is coming up and there are so many costumes to choose from. Bill West is the store manager of Spirit Halloween store on Stockdale Highway, and he knows all about the popular Halloween costumes for college students. “For the college-age group, the popular costumes for the ladies are the Leg Avenue brand and Dream Girls, which are a mix of everything from vampires to nurses and beer girls (Oktoberfest girls),” said West. He explained that girls wear almost anything that is more on the risqué side. The men, on the other hand, like to wear costumes that are easy and comfortable. “There are a lot of Roman costume sales due to the fact that a lot of them are more comfortable to wear all night,” he said. Comfort isn’t the only reason for popular costumes. A lot has to do with pop culture. “A lot of the Halloween trends come from what’s going on TV. Last year, ‘Jersey Shore’ was real popular because the series was still really big, but now there’s a new series so we have new costumes on that,” West said. West also explained that the movie “Zombieland” and “Twilight” has influenced a huge trend in zombie and vampire costumes. Charlie Sheen is so huge in pop culture that he has his own corner of costumes in the store.
Costumes provided by Spirit Halloween located on 4980 Stockdale Hwy. Klint Torres and Anais Mazur portray blood-drinking vampires with a detailed texture shirt and tantalizing dress.
Anais Mazur becomes a Roman goddess in a enchanting white gown.
Brock Downing is Charlie Sheen with a tiger blood flask and zombie baby.
Klint Torres is a bone-chilling skeleton wearing a bow tie and bound by an enslaving chain and lock.
Erica Deats portrays a monster-grinding Snooki wearing a cheetah dress.