Volume 59, Issue 3

A N AT I O N A L PA C E M A K E R AWA R D N E W S PA P E R

Volume 59, Issue 3

theswcsun.com

Winter Edition 2015-16

Retirements will reshape college

By Domonique Scott Assistant News Editor

One thing is for certain, Southwestern College will be a very different place on Feb. 1, 2016.

With 54 employees retiring this semester, a mad rush is under way to replenish the ranks. Southwestern College President Dr. Melinda Nish has pushed through a collegewide reorganization following the retirement of four deans. Social Science will be partnered with Arts and Communications, the

Business programs that had been split up in 2012 will be reunited and teamed with applied Technology and Economics. Language and Literature will absorb Humanities. Health will be updated to Wellness and Exercise Science. Math and Science will remain the same.

“As it stands right now with our current enrollment and our programs, we think this is a stable structure,” Nish said. “We did it with the intention that it was not a contingency plan and that it is a stable structure and that is a big

difference from what we did in 2012.”

Nish said all retiring faculty will be replaced, albeit with younger, less expensive personnel. A raise in the California Faculty Obligation Number (FON) will lead to hiring more full-time faculty, she said.

Nish said she is confident that this reorganization will be successful.

“We have got a line of ongoing money that can only be used to hire full-time tenure track faculty,” she said. “I must hire a minimum of seven full time faculty with that

money plus I have 16 retirements.

That is 23 faculty. We may even want to go a little further than 23, we may go up to 30.”

A Faculty Hiring Prioritization Committee recently ranked 52 requests for new and replacement faculty positions. Depending on available funding, the college will go down the list and advertise for tenure-track faculty positions. Top ranked positions are administration of justice, architecture, biology, please see Reorganization pg. A3

Chopra, former president, dies at 78

TECHNOLOGICAL MELTDOWN Air conditioning failure causes destruction of college servers, 14 months of student data

By Mary York Photo Editor

RECOVERY—After a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ server meltdown, IT specialists Cliff Sharp and Al Garrett worked a 24-hour shift to recover lost data. Their efforts, along with months of data re-entry by fiscal services account technicians Betty Keys and Kim Hoang-Nguyen, mitigated the damage done to several college departments.

By Alberto Calderon Sports Editor

A massive meltdown of the college’s data servers in July that caused chaos for students attempting to register for classes is still bedeviling a number of college employees. Fiscal services technicians

in particular have been slammed with Herculean data recovery tasks.

SWC IT Director Dan Borges wrote a report describing a data loss with reverberations that are still being felt throughout the campus. Borges wrote: “No one was expecting to 1) endure a complete thermal shutdown event and

2) for the College to lose all their (sic) data, but that is exactly what happened on Tuesday night the 14th of July.”

“I would consider this to be a real severe technological disaster that you normally don’t see,” he said. “The worst please see Meltdown pg. A4

Former Southwestern College Superintendent Raj Kumar Chopra died November 2 in Houston, Texas. He was 78.

Friends and family were invited to “join in the celebration of the joy he brought to the world” on November 7 and asked to make contributions to the Dr. Raj Chopra Scholarship fund at Bowling Green State University, Ohio.

Chopra was appointed to the position of SWC superintendent in July 2006.

“I was on the SWC governing board when we hired Dr. Raj Chopra,” said former board member Terri Valladolid. “He was a visionary with his number one priority being student success. I had the privilege of experiencing Dr. Chopra’s generous, kind and passionate soul.”

Chopra resigned from his position at SWC weeks after the November 2010 governing board elections ushered in a new majority. He had been criticized over fund raising activities for board incumbents, soliciting funds from Proposition R contract hopefuls and misappropriating college resources. Chopra was later prosecuted by the San Diego Country District Attorney for 13 felony and misdemeanor charges, including perjury, accepting a bribe and conflict of interest. He claimed he was in poor health and accepted a plea bargain. He did three months of community service after pleading guilty to one misdemeanor.

During the last year of Chopra’s tenure at SWC, the college was placed on probation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges for having “a climate of fear and mistrust.” Under his leadership, 429 classes were cut despite sufficient funding, freedom of speech on campus was restricted and three faculty members were suspended for two weeks for their participation in a student demonstration. He ordered the suspension of the college newspaper in September 2010, but faculty and students refused to comply and published during Fall 2010 with contributions from alumni, faculty and staff.

The cause of Chopra’s death has not been released.

Campus police handcuff student during smoking confrontation

By Andrew Dyer Assistant Arts Editor

Sergio Esparza/Staff

BLUE CURTAIN— Amelia Lindell, 19, was handcuffed by campus police and detained by six officers during a confrontation over smoking on campus.

A Southwestern College student was handcuffed and detained when a verbal warning about the smoke free campus policy turned into a physical confrontation with a campus police officer.

SWC Police Officer Torrence Carrington called for backup after confronting a student for vaping near the campus bus stop.

Carrington was speaking with the alleged vaper, Chris Lopez, 24, a recording arts major, when his companion, Amelia Lindell, 19, a double major in history and psychology, became argumentative.

She was physically subdued by SWC police and detained in handcuffs.

Lindell said she was on edge due to the way the officer engaged them.

“From the moment he walked up, he was really aggressive,” she said.

“I asked why he was harassing us. I might have been sassy, but I wasn’t doing anything illegal.”

Lopez said he was under the impression that the smokefree policy was not going to b e e n f o r c e d t h i s s e m e s t e r.

“I had vaped,” he said, “and I gave it back to my friend when the cop got there. They sent out an email (saying) they weren’t going to enforce the rules until next semester.”

U.S. Navy veteran Jarell Stewart, 28, an automotive technology major, was with Lindell when she was detained. “(The officer) wanted her to move,” he said, “and she said ‘No, just leave us alone.’ He freaked out and called for backup. He was still

arguing with her when the second cop got there. He took out his handcuffs and slapped them on her.

She tried to resist (but) the other cop jumped in (to) hold her down while she’s getting handcuffed. They were kind of rough with her.”

Lindell said her reaction was defensive.

“I was just trying to get him off of me,” she said. “When you’re a small girl and you’re being grabbed by a big guy, you’re going to freak out.”

SWCPD personnel would not comment to The Sun directly about the incident, but the department released a statement. It read in part: “He (Carrington) told the female (Lindell) to stand aside and not interfere. When she continued, she was detained, for the safety of the please see Confrontation pg. A4

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The Sun releases McClellan recording

Luz Aurora Aramburo, editor

NEWS

Winter Edition 2015-16 — Vol. 59, Issue 3

Tel: (619) 482-6368 E-mail: news@theswcsun.com

Structural deficit doused

A lawyer retained by Dean of Student Services Mia McClellan has informed Southwestern College President Dr. Melinda Nish that McClellan is preparing to sue The Sun student newspaper and its faculty advisor for $5 million.

Los Angeles attorney Dale L. Gronemeier informed SWC outside counsel Trevin E. Sims that McClellan may sue Professor of Journalism Dr. Max Branscomb and The Sun for defamation of character related to an article titled “Former Sun photographer impersonated police chief ” (Feb. 14, 2015). In the article McClellan denied communicating with an anonymous agitprop publication, even though her own college emails clearly indicated that she had. An anonymous publication that called itself The Jag Wire illegally accessed student records in its efforts to recruit and screen potential writers.

McClellan said that she never denied communicating with The Jag Wire and said the student journalists had misquoted her. In separate letters she demanded a retraction, then a correction. Both demands were denied 18-0

by The Sun’s Editorial Board, which stands firmly behind the story as completely accurate.

In March, theswcsun.com posted the segment of the interview in which McClellan denied communicating with The Jag Wire. Since that time she has accused Branscomb and The Sun of editing the recording of her voice and publishing the segment out of context. Neither of McClellan’s charges are true. It was the intent of the Editorial Board of The Sun to publish the complete recording of the interview in April, but when McClellan began threatening to sue, the Board decided to seek its own legal advice.

Earlier this month student editors and Branscomb spoke to and subsequently met with a First Amendment attorney from the Student Press Law Center of Arlington,Virginia. They were advised to go ahead and post the entire interview.

The interview and transcription can be found online at theswcsun.com.

Victor Santander /Staff

By Sun Staff

By Luz Aurora Aramburo News Editor

A scare ran through the college when a former vice president declared a $ 6.8 million structural deficit earlier this semester. Interim Vice President of Financial Affairs Jim Austin lowered the collective blood pressure on campus when he said the college would have a balanced budget.

He added, however, that a bumpy future might lie ahead.

Austin said the college’s low ending balance might not be enough to put out future fires.

“How much do you want to be counting trees instead of understanding the forest is burning down?” he asked the governing board.

Trustee Tim Nader ran with the metaphor.

“Right, but if you see the forest is burning down,” he said, “you need

to get into what the causes are and we were told earlier this year that the forest was burning down.”

Austin added fuel to the fire.

“And if you look at the long term,” he said, “it might not be burning down, but you’ve got a lot of kindling building up.”

Trustee Griselda Delgado lit up.

“We also need to know where the water is,” she said. “I know the forest is burning. I want to look for the water. I don’t want to ask the wrong questions because I don’t want to micromanage, but we need to be educated in what questions to ask.

I can see what (numbers are) going up, and which are down, but how do I know where to look for the water?”

Austin said Southwestern’s figurative forest is not burning yet, but warned that its ending balance is too small.

SWC’s FY10-11 ending balance

covered several expenses in FY 1112, a year when much of the college’s state funding was unexpectedly and severely reduced, said Austin.

Sufficient “water” had been saved up by the college to douse the flames before a major conflagration.

Board members asked Austin to construct a five-year strategy to build up an ending balance comparable to other mid-sized districts.

“The goal not to spend every penny, every year,” said Austin. “It is to spend the money (we need to) but have a balance (for) next year and keep it for a rainy day.”

Projecting future budget years will involve systemic adjustments, said Austin. Nader agreed.

“As we all know, these numbers are pretty volatile from year to year,” he said. “This isn’t going to be set in concrete. When you are doing

Shooter drill raises questions

By Chariti Niccole Staff Writer

In 1999 Southwestern College dodged a bullet when Norman Burkett was arrested at a gas station across the street with an assault rifle and 265 rounds of high velocity ammunition.

SWC Police Chief Michael Cash said it was time to prepare for the unthinkable.

Cash coordinated a district-wide drill he said tested the preparedness of the students, faculty, campus police and emergency technology.

Emails were sent to students and staff informing them of the drill time. At 10:30 a.m. the drill began.

Blue emergency pole sirens and their flashing lights alerted students.

Amanda Mosure, 21, marine biology, was participating in a Dance Club fund raiser outside the Student Center during the drill.

“I saw lights flashing from the pole down by the buses,” she said, “but the blue pole in front of the ASO building didn’t go off at all.”

Mosure and other members of the Dance Club said they knew about the drill, but were not forced to participate. They stood outside and continued to fund raise.

Some employees said they were concerned about the amount of information provided before the drill.

Professor of French Nora Portillo said she was disappointed in the drill.

“The information sent to us was on a short notice and it was not very detailed,” she said. “I did not think that I was well prepared, nor informed to guide my students.”

Benny Pastrana, bookstore operations assistant, agreed. Pastrana said the bookstore has its own emergency procedure, but he was not sure if the employees there should follow that procedure or do something else. He said he was not instructed on drill procedures, so the store continued its normal operation.

In the Learning Resource Center Kimberly Bedolla, 19, business law, reported a different experience.

“They announced when the drill was about to begin,” she said. “They

Mary York /Staff

DRILL BY THE BOOK—Aries Vergara, 19, and friends hide in the hallway between bookshelves and study rooms to stay out of sight during the active shooter drill. It lasted for half an hour and librarians were instructed to keep students away from doors and windows and to turn the lights off. Vergara said she did not mind that the drill interrupted her work if it meant that the campus would be prepared for an emergency.

instructed us to stay away from the windows and told us the doors were going to be locked.”

Bedolla said it was an effective drill and now she knows how to react if there was an active shooter on campus.

SWC President Dr. Melinda Nish said she told Cash the phones and emergency communication worked well, but classroom locks were a major issue.

“The doors have to be locked from outside with a key,” Nish said. “There was no way to lock the doors and get back inside.”

California Assembly Bill 211 passed in 2010 states that any new classrooms built after July 1, 2011 must have the ability to lock from the inside. Most of the campus was built before 2011, but the new classrooms in DeVore Stadium, finished in 2014, cannot be locked from the inside, a violation of the law. Nish also said she was not completely satisfied with the blue poles.

“In the 1600 building we didn’t hear anything, we didn’t see anything,” she said. “That’s why we needed this drill.”

Cash said he was pleased with the initial feedback from the drill, but was waiting to receive the surveys sent to the faculty and students.

“We are going to get together with the ASO and the safety committee and see how well we did and what we need to change,” he said.

Cash said another purpose of the drill was to train the students and staff on how to react during an active shooter scenario, but not everyone was willing to participate.

“People are going to be people and do what they want to do,” he said.

“Our job is to get the information out to our students and staff, and give them the best tools.”

Alerts were sent via email, text and phone prior to and during the drill, but not all students received warnings or information about the drill. Cash said he urges all students to login to WebAdvisor to verify and update personal information so they can be notified of future drills or real emergencies on campus.

it, it’s not in the same sense as Stalin where come Hell or high water, we’re sticking to the plan.”

Austin said fluid situations such as government policy, economic variation, enrollment number and other variables determine how much state funding SWC will get. None of those numbers can be accurately predicted.

“The five-year plan is never set in concrete,” he said. “It needs to be a living document because situations change.”

Board members thanked Austin for his service and his insights.

Tim Flood, currently Grossmont C o l l e g e ’s v i c e p r e s i d e n t o f administrative services, is expected to be ratified by the board on December 15 as SWC’s new vice president of fiscal services. He would begin January.

Spring starts earlier next semester

By Jaime Pronoble Editor-In-Chief

Gr o u n d h o g s h a v e p re d i c t e d an early spring at Southwestern College, which will host its first January short session courses since 2006-07.

SWC President Dr. Melinda Nish said the short-term session was made possible by the compressed calendar.

“I put my foot down and said I made a promise to the students that if we went to compressed calendar, they were going to have an opportunity to take classes in January,” she said.

All campuses excluding Higher Educational Center National City and Crown Cove Aquatic Center will be open for the short term.

Students will be able to select from a list of more than 70 courses to take before the spring semester officially starts.

“We don’t have to offer 200 or 300 classes in January, but we’re offering 75 to 100 sections of what we think are some of the most highly demanded transfer courses that students need,” said Nish.

Classes include sections in history, health and communications. Nish said a January session will be a regular occurrence.

Claudia Sarabia, 19, an engineering major, said it would be beneficial for many students, but she would not register for the January session classes because there are none she needs.

“I’m trying to take more advanced classes, and it really wouldn’t work out,” she said.

Computer science major Albert Hernandez, 21, said the four-week term is too short.

“For more complicated classes, it’s not enough time,” he said.

Nish said four week courses are very intensive, but should be doable.

Sp r i n g s h o r t s e s s i o n b e g i n s January 4.

NEWS

The Southwestern College Sun

Winter Edition 2015-16 — Vol. 59, Issue 3

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Students can lose FAFSA if caught with drugs

By Nathaniel Park Assistant Photo Editor

David Hodges /Staff

CASH LINE—Students wait in line at the Financial Aid office for news on their applications.

Ricasa’s lawsuit dismissed by judge

By Jaime Pronoble Editor-In-Chief

Former EOPS director Arlie Ricasa had filed a lawsuit against Southwestern College following a demotion to a counselor position in 2014.

Governing board members voted unanimously in support of the recommendation to demote Ricasa who had admitted to a misdemeanor in the Southbay Corruption Case.

A poll previously conducted by The Sun found that 82 percent of its voters were in favor of Ricasa’s termination, 4.5 percent said she should remain in her former administrative position and 13.5 percent were unsure.

Ricasa had appealed her demotion to be reversed, claiming the college did not follow the Brown Act prior to her change in position. The judge from the California Office of Administrative Hearings upheld the college’s decision to demote Ricasa.

Following the appeal, SWC released this statement: “A ruling in favor of Southwestern College was issued Tuesday, Nov. 17 in this matter. A judge from the California Office of Administrative Hearings has upheld the College’s demotion of Ms. Ricasa for her misuse of College facilities and resources to commit a crime. The judge ruled there was a clear nexus between Ms. Ricasa’s criminal conduct at the Sweetwater Union High School District and her employment with the College, which justified her demotion.

“The judge also closely examined and completely rejected Ms. Ricasa’s claim that the Brown Act was violated.

“The District is pleased with the judge’s ruling and looks forward to resolution of the related litigation Ms. Ricasa has initiated in the Superior Court. Due to the ongoing nature of that litigation, the College has no further comment at this time.”

Reorganization: 55 retirements will reshape faculty, staff Continued from pg. A1

English, communication, chemistry, sociology, art history, theatre arts and telemedia.

A total of seven full-time faculty will be hired using $824,000 allotted from the state and will partly be used to pay for adjunct instructors until the new faculty replace them.

“I don’t know if SWC has ever gotten an allotment like this,” said Nish.

Of the 55 employees leaving SWC, four of them are deans. Nish said it was priority to fill those spots in January.

Three deans have been reassigned.

Dr. Mink Stavenga will move from Instructional Support Services to the position of dean of the new School of Business and Technology. Dr. Mark Meadows asked to move from dean of the School of Social Science, Business and Humanities to the position of Director of Continuing Education.

Mia McClellan was transferred from Dean of Student Services to Dean of

Applying for financial aid through FAFSA has been tedious and stressful Southwestern College students. It is a lengthy, complex process and even the most researched and affluent applicants can still make mistakes on their paperwork or misunderstand information.

One area many students do not understand ways one can lose their FAFSA funding is the use of illegal drugs. Receiving a federal or state drug conviction will cause a student to become ineligible for FAFSA. “To suddenly lose that funding for something you didn’t know you could lose it for is a big deal,” said Amanda Eldridge, 24, mathematics major. “There is a lot of information that isn’t easily available, and it’s really hard to go find all these things and you have to know what you are looking for.”

Section 484(r) of the Higher Education Act lays out the rules and guidelines surrounding drug convictions and their effect on financial aid. In order to lose your financial aid, convictions must occur during a period of time in which

Instructional Support Services.

“We have had to do research with reorganization because our practice is not consistent,” Nish said. “All of the management reassignments are voluntar y. We do have right of assignment and we could force somebody to go into a certain position, but we were very clear that we wanted

Stavenga

the student was receiving funding through financial aid. Even though the FAFSA application includes q u e s t i o n s re g a rd i n g p r i o r d r u g convictions, many people are not aware that their FAFSA is at risk and are therefore at risk of halting their education.

While it may take a year to two years, depending on the number of offenses incurred, students are able to regain FAFSA money and shorten their period of ineligibility.

These include a drug rehab program, passing two unscheduled drug tests or having the conviction reversed to wait out the period of ineligibility, which is either two years depending on whether it is a first or second offense and whether it was possession or possession selling. Third offenses will result in an indefinite suspension of funds.

Patti Larkin, director of financial aid evaluations and veteran’s services, said rules and regulations are passed down from the Department of Education and are to be enforced according to their code.

“We are not really involved on the decision making side, that comes down to our senators and representatives,” she said.

“Mia McClellan has a lot of experience in the student affairs side, so we aren’t moving her because she is doing a poor job, but we asked her ‘are you are interested’ and she decided it would be a new challenge and she wanted to do it,” Nish said. “None of this was because of poor job performance or discipline or anything like that.”

Meadows

any reassignments to be voluntary and people who did not want to be reassigned were not going to be forced.”

Nish said Stavenga has a degree that relates to his choice of reassignment, and Meadows and McClellan volunteered for their new positions. Nish said McClellan went through training in Sacramento as part of her new assignment.

McClellan

Deans for Student Services, the School of Math, Science and Engineering, the School of Wellness and Exercise Science, and the School of Arts, Communication and Social Science have yet to be filled. Interim deans are serving Arts and Communication and Student Services.

“Reorganizations are not going to make 100 percent (of the) people happy

“What we do here is enforce the law, It is important to know that federal financial aid is federal money, they tell us what we have to check, and how we have to check it, and they give us a lot of guidelines. So our job is to follow that,” Explains Larkin.

Manuel Meraz, a 25 year-old computer science major fervently disagrees with the policy saying, “Medical marijuana or any kind of marijuana or drug like that, I feel like that should have nothing to do with your FAFSA and education,” he said.

“What if they are a 4.0 student, they are very active in clubs, and they are actually helping the community but they got caught smoking some powder at home? Now they can’t get their financial aid. That does not really show any kind of critical thinking skills on their part.”

Eldridge says she supports the rule.

“I think it is a fair policy, but I think it would be more fair if they were letting people know. Especially with marijuana being more legalized now, it is kind of at a point where it is sort of legal and it is sort of not and it’s this game of who is going to accept this level of legality and who is going to say ‘that’s not good enough,’” she said.

100 percent of the time,” said Nish.

Eileen Zwierski, administrative assistant for the School of Arts and Communication, said she was concerned about the timing of the reorganization.

“I feel at this time we do not have the resources to accomplish this reorganization in a smooth way,” she said. “I feel services to faculty and students will be delayed, time lines will not be met and a lot of frustration will come from students and staff.”

Zwierski suggested the transitions be made during the summer.

“It takes time for the whole campus to go through a major transition like this,” she said.

Nish said these issues had been addressed.

“We are planning on making this transition for the start of the spring semester, that is our goal, and we are not changing it now,” she said.

In January hiring committees will begin to fill the 16 spots lost to retirees, said Nish. She said she would like the new deans to participate in the faculty hiring process.

“I want to get as many deans here as soon as possible so they go out there when we do the faculty hiring and they can sit in on those committees,” she said.

Adjunct instructors advocate for equity

By Viandy Gonzalez Staff Writer

Geoffrey Johnson may be a parttime instructor, but he is a full-time advocate for adjuncts.

Johnson helped to lead activities at Southwestern College’s Equity Week where adjunct instructors asked for equal hourly pay, better health care, paid office hours and other considerations.

A p a r t - t i m e i n s t r u c t o r, o r adjunct, is paid $60-$65 during class time, which is only 25 percent of their deserved salary, according to Johnson, an adjunct humanities instructor and SWC’s adjunct representative.

“Plan your lesson, put together materials, teach the class, grade the papers and get paid for the middle third,” said Johnson, referencing the fact that adjuncts are only paid for their actual classroom hours.

Adjunct English instructor David Hurwitz said besides low salary, some SWC adjuncts receive no benefits.

Dr. Joel Levine, dean of the School of Language and Literature, said students should not notice the difference between a full-time professor and an adjunct.

“Every aspect of life is related,” he said. “We can’t have equity with full-time staff and not part-time staff. They have to have the same qualifications.”

Levine said in previous years SWC’s full-time faculty taught 70 percent of all classes, while 30 percent were taught by part-time

adjunct instructors. Now, he said, those numbers have switched with adjuncts teaching 70 percent of all classes.

“In elementary school they would not stand for it,” said Levine. “Why do we stand for it in community college?”

Johnson said there are 237 fulltime instructors and 708 part-time instructors at SWC, and that 52 percent of all units are taught by adjuncts. Some adjuncts have worked at SWC for 30 years and have not moved into permanent positions, he said. Hiring adjuncts means the college does not have to pay for health insurance or retirement benefits, he said.

Johnson, like other adjunct advocates, said the U.S. is becoming a nation of part-time college and university instructors, eroding the quality of public education.

SWC’s faculty union joined a statewide campaign to ask Governor Jerry Brown and the legislature for $50 million to fund pay equity, $30 million for office hours and $37.7 million for full-time positions.

SCEA also asked Brown to pass a true job security bill for adjuncts that includes job security after six semesters, seniority based on date of hire and a one semester improvement plan for adjuncts in the event of a poor evaluation.

Adjuncts also sought legislation to make student loan forgiveness easier for part-timers and to raise the minimum wage for all part-time workers.

Bianca Quilantan /Staff

VISION OF EQUITY—Humanities Instructor Geoffery Johnson called for higher pay, better health care and office hours for adjuncts,

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Winter Edition 2015-16 — Vol. 59, Issue 3

Meltdown: College seeks to recover after disastrous data loss Continued from pg. A1

by far in my 30-year career. I’ve heard about or read about stuff like this, but it is not a normal thing.”

Early on the first day of registration for fall semester, the phones in the Student Service Center began to ring with anxious and perplexed students demanding answers.

Admissions technician Percival Concha said it was an unexpected frenzy.

“It was really chaotic,” he said.

“Students were calling in all day asking a lot of questions and we didn’t really know what was happening that first day.”

SWC was experiencing a total shutdown of its data servers caused by overheating. A construction crew was installing a new ventilation system in the room that houses the servers.

It is a smaller scale version of a space resembling those famed IBM commercials, replete with taller-thanyour-average-person towers of data, equipped with massive computing power and blinking lights. During the transition period, a temporary ventilation system was installed to keep the room cool. On first night after the temporary HVAC unit was hooked up, it failed. It malfunctioned at 10 p.m. By 2 a.m. the temperature in the room was 130 degrees. At one point the temperature rose one degree per minute.

At 5:30 a.m.

IT supervisor Everett Garnick reported for work and was the first to discover the electronic mayhem. Borges said the gravity of the situation slowly became evident.

“At first the team was optimistic,” he said. “We thought, ‘Oh, it’ll only be a couple hours.’ But right around 10 or 11 a.m. I could see the glazed look in their eyes when you realize this is going to be a serious problem and the recovery was going to be much more difficult than the equipment touts when we buy it.”

The result was 100 percent data loss for SWC. SWC President Dr. Melinda Nish said her immediate reaction was not fit for FCC airwaves.

“When I first heard about it, well

maybe I can’t say those words on tape,” she said. “My initial reaction was that this was the worst time this could happen because we were just going into registration and fiscal independence.”

Borges said that due to the complexity of the network it is difficult to pinpoint why the data became corrupted and was ultimately lost.

“We can only surmise certain things, the end result was that all the data was corrupted and there was no recovering all of it,” he said. “What we found was, we have four shelves of discs. They have an auto shut off mechanism if it gets too hot. For whatever reason instead of them all shutting down, three went down and one stayed up and was trying to communicate with the other three. In doing so it may have become corrupted and then corrupted the other ones on the reboot.”

IT supervisors Al Garret and Cliff Sharp worked for 24 straight hours following the meltdown to help mitigate some of the damage. Even so, the campus-wide impact was extensive and indiscriminate, Borges said, affecting almost every department.

Counselor David Ramirez said he and colleagues received some very bad news.

“A year’s worth of counselor notes were lost,” he said. “Every time a student meets with a counselor, notes are taken to help keep track of the student’s progress. We got completely blindsided. There was more shock and disbelief than anything. The thought was that in this day and age, there would be a backup for all this information.”

Borges’ report stated that the back-up system had “outdated software” and “old hardware,” which had been brought to the attention of Nish and other college administrators multiple times in the past.

Borges said administrators rolled the dice.

“In the report, IT took responsibility, it’s true we needed resources,” he said.

“The risks were known. The district accepted those risks, just like you do anytime you have to make that decision. A lot of times you get lucky and you never have to pay the price.

This time we paid the piper. I think it’s unfortunate and there are still reverberations.”

Nish said the college is determined to learn from this event.

“There were different updates being

“I would consider this to be a real severe technological disaster that you normally don’t see. The worst by far in my 30-year career.”

Dan Borges

Alberto Calderon/Staff

done on different parts of the system,” she said. “Now it’s not gambling. We know exactly when we are updating everything. When we had to restore data, some of it was easy to restore and some of it was not because the backups weren’t being done on a regular basis.

That was because of a long history of certain programs being installed and not having a protocol of what the backup was. So that’s not the case anymore.”

Borges said fiscal services took the worst blow. Director of Finance Wayne Yanda said the meltdown has severely tested his team.

“We did get hit pretty hard,” he said.

“The two biggest areas that were hit were the food service operations as well as the ASO and the book store operations. Those three operations were not backed-up regularly, so we lost essentially 14 months of data that we had to re-enter manually over the past three months and we had to do that at the same time we were preparing for our year-end audit. We were very successful at having people work overtime and working double time just trying to get everything reentered.”

Account technicians Betty Keys and Kim Hoang-Nguyen have handled the brunt of the manual data entry working 65-70 hour weeks for the last two months.

Keys declined to discuss her workload. With tears in her eyes, she said that it had been very trying and that she was too close to the issue to talk about it. Hoang-Nguyen also declined to talk about the extra workload, stating that she was simply too swamped with work to spare time,

Continued from pg. A1

Sergio Espinoza/Staff

AFTER SCHOOL DETENTION— Amelia Lindell is handcuffed by a policeman for interferring as her friend was questioned.

more like a display of power than a response to a threat.

“It was just a show,” he said. “They can do this whenever they want, whenever they feel like it, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

SWCPD’s statement claims both students were cited for misconduct, but Lindell and Lopez both denied that.

“Neither one of us were given citations or tickets or anything,” Lindell said.

Police Chief Michael Cash previously told The Sun the campus police would work to educate students on the new smoke-free policy and roll it out over three semesters.

He said this semester police would educate students and next semester police will issue verbal warnings. Citations would begin in Fall 2016, according to Cash.

“Some will comply,” Cash said. “Some will be belligerent and won’t.”

This is the second instance this semester that a female student has complained to The Sun about mistreatment by SWC police officers. After a sexual

Tel: (619) 482-6368 E-mail: news@theswcsun.com

POWERFUL MEMORY — IT Director Dan Borges compares the old storage area network to the new one, which he said is more powerful and will better protect college documents.

Confrontation: Student handcuffed during police action officer, because he was outnumbered.”

After Lindell was handcuffed, four additional SWC police officers arrived on the scene. Lindell said she was left in handcuffs for at least 20 minutes before police offered an explanation. Carrington told her she had interfered with his investigation. She said he then began to inform her about the smoking policy and question her about whether or not she had a criminal record, and why she and her friends are always at the bus stop.

“He kept asking over and over again if I had a criminal record (and) if I was hiding warrants or anything like that,” Lindell said.

Stewart said he felt helpless watching how the police handled his friend.

“She was pretty emotional and she was crying,” Stewart said.

Another student, Aaron Pretty, 22, a dental hygiene major, witnessed what happened and described the scene as bizarre.

“I feel like they were both wrong,” he said, “but the police should be able to handle it better.”

Pretty said he could not understand how one woman required a six-officer response.

“Their presence can be intimidating,” he said.

Before Carrington would release her, Lindell said he wanted to take her picture.

“He said they needed a picture of my face to see if I was a criminal,” she said.

She said Carrington refused to let her wipe away her tears before being photographed.

Stewart said the whole incident looked

Luz Aurora Aramburo, editor

NEWS

battery incident on Sept. 10, another police officer allegedly told the female victim that she should have expected the assault due to what she was wearing.

Lindell was still in tears when discussing the episode days later.

“He was just so aggressive towards me,” she said. “Most campuses have some sort of female security or officers at least. What if they had to frisk me?”

Cash said a report on the incident had been submitted to the dean of student services and would not comment further.

SWC Police would not allow Sun reporters access to the report taken on the incident, which is contrary to California state law. Cash did not respond to a California Public Records Act request for a copy of the report, submitted on Nov. 20. California state law mandates public officials produce requested documents within 10 days or provide justification as to why access cannot be granted. The law specifically bars using this time period solely to delay access to records.

but did say that it had been very difficult.

Yanda said he is proud of the way his staff has rallied.

“We are blessed with a very great staff,” he said. “We pulled together as a team and we are expecting a very clean audit for fifth year in a row.”

Borges said the finance department and other campus personnel came together to help the college recover from the fiasco. The “IT Disaster and Recovery” report was part of that effort to own up to mistakes and document what went wrong to help the college avoid similar pitfalls in the future, said Borges. Nish said Borges and his IT

team have recuperated nicely.

“It’s always better to learn the easy way and not the hard way,” she said.

“I wish it hadn’t happened, but at the end of the day I was pretty pleased with the way our IT staff was able to marshal its resources and get things done. I’m very pleased with how they documented their recovery so that we know exactly what was done, and what were the trouble spots.”

In the wake of the meltdown the college is spending $725,000 in an effort to reduce future vulnerability.

Among the big tickets items is a new storage area network (SAN, the main storage platform where all data is stored) that retails for $ 1.1 million.

Borges said the school is getting it for $497,000.

Borges said the new equipment improves the college’s ability to recover.

“Once we implement what we are doing, we are going to put SWC in the top 10 of California community colleges,” he said. “After we install everything if we had the same disaster we could probably restore everything in two days.”

Borges said the report and technology improvements impressed the accreditation team.

“In fact, IT got a commendation if you can believe it,” he said. “That just means they noticed something positive. I was shocked because you’d think that wouldn’t happen after something like this.”

Borges said the whole fiasco proved to be a positive.

“People can throw stones and cast blame if they want,” he said. “For me it’s about finding solutions. At times it felt like the weight of the college rested on my shoulders, but having the new SAN and all of the equipment helps me sleep better at night.”

Winter Edition 2015-16 — Volume 59, Issue 3

VIEWPOINTS

The Southwestern College Sun

A5

Editorials, Opinions and Letters to the Editor

The mission of the Southwestern College Sun is to serve its campuses and their communities by providing information, insights and stimulating discussions of news, activities and topics relevant to our readers. The staff strives to produce a newspaper that is timely, accurate, fair, interesting, visual and accessible to readers. Though the “Sun” is a student publication, staff members ascribe to the ethical and moral guidelines of professional journalists.

ALYSSA PAJARILLO

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Millennials have power when they get involved

Jaime Pronoble MANAGING EDITOR

Nicholas Baltz PRODUCTION MANAGER

Bianca Quilantan COPY EDITOR

Brian del Carmen SENIOR STAFF

Andrew Perez NEWS

Luz Aurora Aramburo, editor Danielle Eldridge, assistant Domonique Scott, assistant VIEWPOINTS

Alyssa Pajarillo, editor Stephanie Garrido, assistant Victor Santander, assistant CAMPUS

Asjia Daniels, editor Mariah Boyd, assistant Eliza Cana, assistant ARTS

Cesar Hirsch, editor Alejandro Duran, assistant Andrew Dyer, assistant SPORTS

Alberto Calderon, editor ONLINE

Mirella Lopez, editor Stefanie Tellez, assistant

Dan Cordero/staff

editorial

PHOTOGRAPHY

Mary York, editor Nathaniel Park, assistant

STAFF WRITERS

Viandy Gonzalez

Kimberly Ajayi Darcy Aguayo

Martin Loftin

Rudee Amaral

Elizabeth Lugo

JoseLuis Baylon

Priscilla Mendoza

Caitlin Flynn

Chariti Niccole

Cristofer Garcia

Netzai Sanchez

Diego Gomez

CARTOONISTS

Karen-Alleluia Agbuya Dan Cordero Alan Luna

The Issue: Our dean of student services and campus police chief have failed to protect students from bullying and sexual assault.

Our Position: We need an energetic, fair and ethical professional to serve as Title IX Compliance Officer.

SWC students need a strong and wise Title IX Compliance Officer

Michelle Phillips Blake Tomczak

Dear New Title IX Compliance Officer,

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Alonzo Ackerman Sergio Esparza Alexa Flores David Hodges Adriana Molina ADVISOR

Dr. Max Branscomb

AWARDS/HONORS Student Press Law Center

Society of Professional

National College Press

Journalists

Freedom Award, 2011

National Mark of

National Newspaper

Excellence, 2001-15

Association

First Amendment Award,

National College

2002, 2005

Newspaper of the Year, 2004-16

San Diego Press Club

Associated Collegiate Press

Excellence in Journalism

National College Newspaper

Awards 1999-2015

of the Year

Directors Award for

National Newspaper Pacemaker

Defense of Free Speech,

Award,

2012

2003-06, 2008, 2009, 2011,

Journalism Association of

2012-2015

Community Colleges

General Excellence Awards,

Pacesetter Award 2001-15

2001-15

General Excellence

Best of Show Awards, 2003-15

Awards, 2000-15

Columbia University

San Diego County Fair

Scholastic Press Association

Media Competition

Gold Medal for Journalism

Best of Show 2001-03,

Excellence, 2001-16

2005-2015

California Newspaper

American Scholastic Press

Publishers Assoc.

Association

California College Newspaper

Community College

of the Year, 2013, 2015

Newspaper of the Year

Student Newspaper

San Diego County

General Excellence, 2002-15

Multicultural Heritage Award

We need your help.

Southwestern College student safety and equality has been turned into a big red rubber ball as the administration bounced the Title IX officer position from one apathetic administrator to another in its never-ending game of four square.

We hope you are different.

It is up to the new yard duty, the Title IX officer, to send these administrators to class.

Over the past few years SWC has been plagued with student services administrators who do not care about the well-being of students. We also have a chief of police who parses words rather than doing something about sexual assaults on our campus.

That is where you come in, new Title IX officer.

We look to you to provide stability to the position that has not been tended to with the attention and seriousness it deserves. We expect you to be fully versed in Title IX law and our college’s compliance efforts.

We are counting on you to work closely with our campus community and to keep students safe. We need a man or woman who will take seriously such matters as sexual harassment, sexual battery, rape and violence against women instead of sweeping them under the rug.

It is a huge responsibility and you will need help.

Everyone on campus should be responsible for promoting compliance with Title IX. The time for bumbling and hypocrisy is over. This college needs to grow up and join a 21st century that no longer tolerates sexual assault on college campuses.

You are responsible for knowing that the law prohibits sex discrimination on campus and sexual misconduct against students including harassment, sexual battery, rape and sexual exploitation. It is your

Online Comments Policy

responsibility to oversee SWC’s response to reports and complaints of sex discrimination in all forms and monitor all outcomes.

As a campus with a growing record of sexual misconduct, we look to you to provide a friendly face to victims of sex discrimination. Make yourself known and be accessible to students instead of hiding behind a closed office door like the detached administrators of the past.

As a campus with poorly trained faculty, campus police, administrators and students, we look to you to be prepared with information regarding students’ rights and sensitivity training to all members of the campus community.

As a campus notorious for sending victimized students through hoops of fire in order to file grievances and complaints, we look to you to provide information on how to file a sex discrimination complaint and direct students to resources where they can receive the support services they may need. We need you to end the “it’s not my problem” mentality we too often run into.

Your role is vital to maintaining a welcoming, equitable and safe environment for ever y member in the SWC community. Hold the position with conviction and transparency. Be a crusader for equality and progressive change.

Stand strong and do not lose yourself along the way like other administrators have in the past.

Show us guidance, provide us training and be available to us.

Together we can clear the grey clouds of fear, sexual harassment, battery and sex discrimination that hang over the college. Guide SWC out of the darkness by being the light that illuminates these issues and provides solutions. Be an ombudsperson who will speak up if deans, police officers or anyone else steps out of line or fails to protect us.

We wish you all the best. We are counting on you.

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will not consider publishing letters that arrive unsigned.

Millennials have been called many things, including “overly sensitive” and “too politically correct.” “Sensitive” and “political” are more accurate.

Whether these monikers are fitting or not, the “don’t judge” generation has opened the gateway for sex positivity.

Americans 30 and younger are committed to sexual awareness, health, rights and advocacy. Millennials applied the necessary pressure to the Congress and Supreme Court to end discrimination against gay marriage.

Anti-slut shaming, body policing and queer-positive rhetoric of millennials may sound like whiny white noise to old-fashioned conservatives, but it is actually giving voice to change.

Armed with their open-mindedness, diversity and tech savvy, millennials are the most sex-positive generation in American history. Discussing sex is no longer taboo. With intelligent conversation comes intelligent ideas and more enlightened public policy.

Sex educators are noticing and so are those in power.

Groups like Planned Parenthood have applied the tech savviness of millennials and have created a youth-oriented Tumblr blog to further sex education outreach.

Planned Parenthood’s blog consists of informational graphics on contraceptives, sexually transmitted diseases, consent, body positivity, feminism and queer positivity.

Planned Parenthood’s Tumblr even has a timely and active Q&A feature where people can ask questions.

Questions include “What’s the deal with emergency contraceptives?” and “I was sexually assaulted, what should I do?” All the questioned are answered

by Planned Parenthood’s Chief Medical Officer, an OB-GYN. Change has happened fast. Less than a decade ago, sex education was limited to only a few days in high school.

Today, sex-related questions can now be answered with easy access to accurate information on a social media platform.

Sex education received by millennials was too brief and basic. They are now calling for reform, with 88 percent of millennials asking for more comprehensive sex education in public schools.

Millennial’s sex education is one change. Religion is another.

One in three millennials do not identify with any religion and their views of contraception reflect that.

Young people believe in the right to affordable contraception regardless of religious beliefs.

In a survey conducted by the Public Religious Research Institute, 56 percent of millennials said that choosing to have an abortion is the most responsible decision a woman can make. The same study found that 58 percent of young people opposed the Supreme Court ruling that small businesses have the right to opt out of providing insurance coverage for contraception based on religious objections.

Contraception does not have the same taboo as it did for their parents, with only 9 percent of millennials saying that contraception is wrong.

Millennials want to see fairness when it comes to health services, contraception and abortion.

In 2020, 39 percent of all voters will be millennials, according to the Youth Advocacy Group. That is more than enough for this generation to be the new movers and shakers of reproductive rights and sex education.

Alyssa may be reached at sexandthesun@theswcsun.com

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Alyssa Pajarillo, editor

VIEWPOINTS

Winter Edition 2015-16 — Vol. 59, Issue 3

Tel: (619) 482-6368 E-mail: viewpoints@theswcsun.com

Academic success is more than just transferring quickly

By Mary York A perspective

Pinned in the corner of Southwestern College professor Dr. Max Branscomb’s office window is a note which reads, “follow your bliss.” As students reel from the pressure to pick a major, a university, a future, those three words become a fount of wisdom.

In the United States, 80 percent of college students change their major at least once, according to the National Center for Education Statistics in 2013, and on average students will switch between majors three times before graduating.

When it comes to buying a house or choosing a spouse, people are encouraged to wait and give the decision time. A financial undertaking with such a profound effect on one’s life should not be rushed into. And yet that is what college students at SWC and around the country are being pressured to do. Pick a major. Transfer.

Influenced by institutional standards for measuring “success,” community colleges are trying to find ways to increase the number of students who will leave the nest to pursue their B.A.s. This mindset, understandable though it may be, does not calculate the personal growth and development of students who come to this college to learn and find their way.

Priority registration and incentives given to students with clean transfer plans all work towards pressure-pushing students to move quickly through the system. College planning on a state level is becoming increasingly pipelined by legislation.

Although it is understandable that the college would want to streamline the transfer process for those ready to move on, and limit unnecessary lollygagging from students who are procrastinating on the difficult step of moving on, there is something greater at stake.

Higher education has become a diploma mill. The New York Times reported in 2012 that 41 percent of college graduates are employed in jobs that do not require a degree. There is a pressure from administrators to professors to the families we return to at the end of the day to finish our degrees. Get the diploma, they say.

But not only is the diploma a misleading promise of employment, it

is quickly becoming an unreasonably expensive investment.

The Economic Policy Institute reported that the graduating class of 2015 will be facing an unstable market with wages for college graduates down 2.0 percent since 2007.

“The rising cost of college combined with the failure of wages to grow for young college graduates signals that a college education is becoming a more uncertain investment,” the report stated. “The cost of higher education has grown far more rapidly than median family income, leaving students with little choice but to take out loans which, upon graduating into a labor market with limited job opportunities, they may not have the funds to repay.”

None of this is to say that an education is not a worthy goal.

Rather, it should serve as a reminder that job assurance is not the sole purpose of the college experience. This is where life happens.

This is where we begin to evolve into the people we hope to one day be. But it takes time.

SWC offers hundreds of courses including arts, languages, medicine and various trade skills. Community colleges are home to student veterans, retired community members and young people who have not yet figured out how they fit in the world. With affordable classes

Michelle Phillips/staff

and so many opportunities to broaden personal horizons, a slower pace may be just what some students need to find their real passion.

Well-intentioned administrators and faculty might want to get students to move on quickly, but there is value in taking time to make a good decision. Finding your purpose, following your bliss, is not something you can put a price on and it is not something you can systemize. We need to stop seeing it as such.

Attending this college is not just a way to get a degree. It is a way to start a life.

Letter to the Editor Disappointed SWCPD let a sexual predator walk free

Michelle Phillips/staff

Campus police, American cops must learn to police themselves

By Cristofer Garcia A perspective

Recent events indicate a faltering relationship between police departments and the people they are responsible to protect. Every week it seems we hear of an incident that leads to a dead citizen and a police officer in the crosshairs.

Criticizing the wrongdoings of police officers is not undermining the work and role of police departments in America.

Police provide a critical role in society, so one must examine the state of the police and evaluate whether or not they meet their obligation to protect and serve.

Police misconduct sparks public debate over incidents like that in South Carolina where a teenager was thrown out of her seat by a police officer who was called to escort her out of class for disruptive behavior as well as stories such as those of Eric Garner, Sandra Bland and others.

Many argue that if the subjects in the stories had only been more compliant then the incidents could have been avoided. True, but simply resisting orders does not justify aggression by police.

Some police do not feel they are subject to the same laws they enforce and behave badly because they think their badge will protect them.

Police sometimes have to react to dangerous situations, but this cannot justify the violence that we see in too many of these videos. People were killed because they had a bad attitude or committed a minor offense. Attitude is not a crime and a minor offense should not be punishable by death. Hard to handle should not mean easy to kill.

Some local departments have violent histories, trouble with sexual harassment and theft. A report released in 2015 by the Police Executive Research Forum investigating misconduct in the San Diego Police Department found 17 cases of police misconduct. One case involved an employee with 19 counts of shoplifting, while four other cases involved four different officers who were accused of criminal sexual assault or battery while on duty.

It is doubtful parents would enroll their child in a school where teachers were criminals. Yet the public unknowingly allows some criminals to carry guns and exercise great power.

Southwestern College has suffered from police misconduct. Our police chief fired his weapon inside an office, narrowly missing three employees. Two are on long-term stress leave at great cost to the taxpayers. He has created a hostile work environment and recklessly endangered employees’ lives. That the chief also has a documented history of excessive use of force and poor judgment brings to question what other sorts of things are kept from the public and students.

Recent incidents outline the lack of sophistication by SWCPD. One involving a female student ended with six male officers on the scene, one of whom handcuffed her. A recent sexual assault against a female student concluded with the escorting SWC officer saying in essence, “Well, of course that happened to you, look at what you are wearing.”

When incidents like these are swept

under the carpet and officers are allowed to remain on campus without repercussions, it demonstrates a lack of self-policing by our officers.

A step in the right direction would be to make SWCPD more diverse. A recent magazine described the lack of female police officers in America. National statistics show that women cops are less likely to overreact, behave violently or commit crimes. Fewer complaints are brought against female officers.

Sensitivity training should be required, especially in light of the snide comments made by the SWCPD officer toward the sexual harassment victim. Chief of Police Michael Cash has asked sexual harassment activist Jeffrey Bucholtz for help training campus police officers.

It is a move in the right direction, but as usual, late. In a recent letter to The Sun, Cash said he wants students to feel comfortable calling campus police, but his actions do not match his rhetoric.

His officers in the recent sexual assault incidents do not exactly foster that kind of confidence. SWCPD has a history of punishing sexual assault victims but sloughing them off, ignoring them or insulting them.

In c i d e n t s l i k e t h a t a f f e c t o u r community. Just last year the city of San Diego announced it would pay $5.9 million to a woman victimized by former police officer Anthony Arevalos who had been on the force for 18 years.

Citizens need to demand that the police officers in the community serve a good purpose. It is a reasonable expectation.

Rape, statutory rape, attempted rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent exposure, sexual harassment, stalking or corrupting a minor are crimes of sexual assault.

With those facts in mind, Danielle Eldridge’s piece in September’s Southwestern Sun, “Student in Jail Following SDSU Sexual Assault,” was riveting. It brought to light the fact that SWC appears to be an environment replete with prey for sexual predators because sexual assault simply does not happen at SWC even if it does. There has not been a sex crime at SWC in at least the past four years, according the SWPD crime logs, which The Sun found to be inaccurate as recently as October (2014) when it was uncovered that disclosures of sexual assault by three students had been ignored by SWCPD, and by extension, national Clery Act regulations. No harm, no foul as long as SWC’s sex crime statistics remain essentially nonexistent.

Oh, the joy sexual predators must feel, knowing that it is open season at SWC. Predators may potentially stalk, touch or rape at will, without ever being arrested, tried, and convicted, without being mandated to report as a sex offender. Indeed, SWC is a predator’s paradise.

T h a n k f u l l y, Sa n Di e g o St a t e University police were doing their job so by arresting Glenn Paulo Balancar in October, an alleged assailant with seven misdemeanor counts of sexual battery. SWCPD loosed him to prey upon even more students. After being definitively identified, how does it happen that three out of three students who said that Balancar followed and/or touched them inappropriately never reached the SWPD crime logs as sexual battery?

One reason that zero sex crimes are in the log is because, according to Eldridge’s interview with SWPD Chief Michael Cash, battery is not sexual unless an intimate body part has been touched. Excuse me? My inner thigh happens to be a very intimate part of my body. How often is it that a perfect stranger touches you there?

So, to the brave soul who courageously came forward, I must

ask: did you feel safe as the campus policeman, who accompanied you to the SWCPD office, insisted that you had it coming to you because of the way you were dressed? Once there, did they ask you questions like, “How far away from your crotch was his hand?”

I want them to know what “intimate body parts” means since they seem to be oblivious. Certainly, what is deemed to be intimate to a male-dominated police department is vastly different than the behavior found to be inappropriate by female students.

Stu de nt s are al rea dy lee r y o f disclosing sexual assault. Only 5 percent ever do, according to the C e n t e r f o r A m e r i c a n Pro g re s s .

Knowing that campus police refuse to take disclosures of sexual assault seriously presents SWC with a huge credibility gap. When a student has been stalked and intimately touched without permission, sexual assault has occurred. Is it going to take a bruised and battered body to appear at the door of the SWCP office to get an appropriate response?

W h y d o e s S WC P D re f u s e t o document criminal sexual acts?

Unfortunately, I am left with more unanswered questions and sorely lacking in any faith that I, or my fellow students, would receive fair treatment when reporting a campus sexual assault. With national statistics on sexual assault indicating 1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men are sexually assaulted while in college, most campuses face a national epidemic, being valiantly fought by advocates and survivors across the country.

Survivors certainly acknowledge that sexual battery is a problem.

President Obama recognized the problem and formed a task force to fight the problem. Advocates and activists are fighting against the problem, leading me to believe that any campus reporting “zero” sex crimes is perpetuating a long-held fallacy. SWCPD’s silence sounds a resonate call, “SWC is a safe haven for sexual predators.” On this campus, sexual assault simply does not happen, even if it does.

Lorise Diamond

Correction: Missing byline CORRECTION: A photograph published on the front page of Issue 2, “Water Walking Winner” was intended as wild art to lead readers to an article on page A9. Due to a design error, the article covering the Walk On Water competition had no headline and failed to include the byline of the reporter.

Adriana Molina wrote the article. The Sun regrets this error.

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The Southwestern College Sun

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Thinking Out

Loud

Winter Edition 2015-16 — Vol. 59, Issue 3

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Click baiting websites create uproar, consternation for the wrong reasons

Do you feel prepared for an active shooter on campus?

“I believe in the Second Amendment and if you’re a law-abiding citizen you should be able to be armed to protect yourself.”

Steve Styles, International Relations

r

de

an nt

“I feel I wouldn’t know what to do in the situation. I don’t think we practice enough drills in this school.”

Marysol Huicochea, Psychology

“I know where the emergency poles are, I’ve read the emails, and since I’m a student worker, I’m trained in what to do.”

Evelyn Cadena, Communication

“I think I have only felt prepared because of what I have learned from the active shooter events that have already occurred, and from past drills in high school.”

Nereyda Valdez, Telemedia Major

“No one is every really prepared for it.

I have a background in martial arts, so they teach you what to do if you’re confronted with one” Jose Salzido, Music

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r to Vic

By Martin Loftin A perspective

It is easy to feel any emotion on demand thanks to the World Wide Web. All it takes is following the right (or wrong) content aggregator.

Happiness or rage are both only a click away.

On Facebook and Twitter people share falsified stories and statistics that fit their own worldview. A Republican presidential candidate recently retweeted an image stating false numbers of homicides between whites and blacks. The source, Crime Statistics Bureau – San Francisco, is not even a real organization. Its image originated from a Twitter account belonging to a United Kingdom white supremacist group.

False information spreads like wildfire on the Internet and people need to be careful about who they trust if they do not want to get caught in the blaze.

Websites get their revenue from selling advertising on their pages and they work to attract the most views to maximize revenue.

These sites, known as “clickbait,” feature articles made to generate traffic and are ushering in a new age of yellow journalism.

When print media was finding its bearings in the United States in the 1880s, a circulation war broke out between Joseph Pulitzer’s New York

World and William Randolph Heart’s New York Journal. Both newspapers resorted to sensationalism, falsified sources and on scandal in order to sell as many issues as possible.

Eventually people got sick of the dishonesty that became synonymous with print media. In 1902, a group of concerned journalists and publishers organized a movement to change the news.

It took the efforts of the Sigma Delta Chi, now known as the Society of Professional Journalists, to convince many of the country’s largest publications to strive for accuracy in their reporting.

Today, America is again facing an epidemic of misinformation. Websites like Upworthy and Buzzfeed popularized tactics that have become the common strategy of clickbait websites. They bait readers with interesting taglines or inflammatory statements, but the reporting involved is minimal at best. It is not uncommon for clickbait sites to rehash another source’s stories to fit their own agendas.

Some of these sites earn money by distributing lies to an audience that does not understand that the source is satire or parody. They go on to share these stories to their friends and followers, ignorant to the inherent mistruth they are participating in.

The Onion is the most famous satirical news site, and while its articles are

ff ta s /

Sa

comedy-based, the messages behind their stories are all too real. Although there might still be a few people who get upset at The Onion for some of their more ridiculous stories, by now most people with Internet experience know the truth.

The Onion has created a parody clickbait site called “Clickhole.” Like its parent site, stories on Clickhole are obviously false, created for entertainment value. Their stories almost feel true despite not being based on actual events, such as an article about some aspect of human nature or society that would be impossible to write in reality. The blog post “I Was Never Able To Accept My Son’s Autism Until I Monetized It Through Blogging,” is a perfect example of their style of creating articles that shine a light on certain subjects without having the sources behind it.

This is a new era of propaganda, but people now have the freedom to choose which propaganda they want to explore.

Although credible research shows that there is no link between vaccinations and autism, many people cherry-pick and use the one or two sites that claim the opposite. Diseases that had disappeared are now resurfacing thanks to paranoid parents choosing to risk their children’s lives because of false things they read on the Internet.

This system is toxic to the human brain and the profusion of sites that promote racist, sexist or ableist ideologies

is frightening. Reading these websites poisons the minds of unsuspecting people and causes individuals to take up arms against innocent people because they have been convinced that the world is against them and the only thing they can trust is the Second Amendment.

Although Fox News is the most watched source of falsified information, CNN and MSNBC have also made ethical missteps.

CNN is owned by Time Warner Inc., a corporation that contributed more than $500,000 to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Since huge corporations own all the major news networks, their credibility in reporting information that affects their owner is questionable.

While individual reporters might not share the same biases as the company they work for, they willingly participate in the media circus that distracts the public from the real issues.

It has become difficult to find news that is actually fair and balanced without it just being a trademarked slogan.

Truth is not subjective.

Brainwashing is not as simple and direct as it appears in fiction. Propaganda can be subtle, but the effects can be violent.

There is more information available to people than at any other time in human history and much of it is useful, much of it is not. Americans have to be pickier than ever about what they read, lest they pick up an electronic brain disease.

Businesses should curtail hostility to body art

By Kimberly Ajayi A perspective

Tattoos are no longer taboo – except for some employers.

Piercings and hair color can also turn an otherwise qualified job candidate back into the unemployment line. Selfexpression becomes self-elimination.

In a professional setting perception rules, which is understandable. If employers want to project a formal or business casual façade, they have that right. That right, however, does justify discrimination. Decorative body modification is popular among millennials, but unnecessarily stigmatized.

A 2012 The Harris Poll reported that 50 percent of adults perceive people with ink as more rebellious. About 27 percent see people with tattoos as less intelligent. If, however, the same person were to apply with their tattoos covered, they are seen for their personality and qualities, and more likely to get the job.

For those fortunate enough to find employment despite their tattoos, piercings or hair color, “corrections” to their outward appearance are often required. Tattoos and piercings must be removed or covered and hair dyed a natural color.

This comes with a price. Some workers feel stripped of their identity, which can disrupt the atmosphere of the work environment. It is like telling someone to wear a mask while they work because their face is offensive.

In a 2011 CareerBuilder survey,

31 percent of employers said they would deny an employee a promotion due to tattoos and 37 percent said they would a deny a promotion due to piercings.

Sometimes these concerns are legitimate. In the case that a piercing, tattoo or hair color has the potential to disrupt the workplace or create an unsafe work environment, adjustments must be made. Piercings, like any other piece of jewelry, could cause injury to employees working with heavy machinery, large magnets or welding tools. Obscene tattoos, gruesome piercings or brightly multicolored colored hair can be distracting or offensive.

Employees who work with the public should not have to alter their appearance in order to service customers.

Those who serve behind the scenes should not be censored.

Society needs to adjust to decorative body modification in the workplace. Tattoos, piercings or wild hair are symbols of freedom.

Instead of judging the book by its cover, judge it by its content. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it illegal to deny someone a position due to sex or race. Body art should receive the same protection.

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Winter Edition 2015-16 — Vol. 59, Issue 3

Tel: (619) 482-6368 E-mail: viewpoints@theswcsun.com

Transgender individuals need protection from a violent society

By Dan Cordero A perspective

Even with rising stars like Laverne Cox and Caitlyn Jenner making waves and gaining exposure in mainstream media, transgender people are still facing incredible levels of discrimination fueled by a of lack of understanding and the perpetuation of misconceptions about our community.

More concerning is the fact that even with all the attention being given to this marginalized community, the platform that allows trans people to speak out about the realities of our lives and the difficulties we face daily is still overshadowed by society’s obsession with our physical bodies and transitions.

New interest in the trans community in the news and entertainment media leads to questions from members of the community who have not previously given trans people much thought. While this natural curiosity in a previously overlooked community is understandable and more often than not originates from a well-intentioned desire to better understand, the problem arises when our voices are silenced and our bodies become sensationalized.

Media focus on trans bodies creates a culture that feels entitled to the intimate details of trans people’s physical journeys.

This invasive and ignorant focus inevitably leaves non-trans people to a severely skewed perception, often resulting in very dangerous outcomes for transgender people.

At least 81 transgender people have lost their lives to anti-transgender violence in 2015, according to advocate.com.

U.S. cities suffer from “particularly acute problems with fatal transphobic violence,” with the number of trans women killed this year reaching “nearly double that of the total killed last year.”

A survey conducted in 2011 by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force focused on discrimination against the trans community. It reported that trans

Blake Tomzcak/staff

people experienced twice the unemployment rate. Of those who responded, 19 percent said that they become homeless at some point due to their transition. The survey also reported that respondents endured an alarming rate of harassment in school

Social media ‘advocacy’ lame without voting

By Blake Tomczak A perspective

On June 11, 1963, a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk set himself on fire. Thích Quảng Đức was an advocate against the South Vietnamese Diem regime’s pro-catholic policies and discriminatory Buddhist laws.

Today’s advocacy looks different. People will click “like,” retweet and use clever hashtags to feel as if they are participating in a cause.

It is important to recognize what separates real advocacy from pseudo-advocacy and the effects of these two methods of activism.

Real advocacy stems from tangible actions through participation in movements and consistent behaviors supporting the movement being advocated.

Such actions are observable in the present-day through activists like Malala Yousafzai, who showed resilience in attending school against the orders of local Taliban leaders in Pakistan banning girls from attending school. Malala was shot three times on the way to school. Since then she has used her experiences to advocate for women’s right to education.

Some, however, feign advocacy for their social presence and satisfy their own moral compasses by effortlessly posting on social media without taking initiative to assist their alleged cause.

According to CNN, at least 128 were killed during the attacks in Paris. In response,

Alan Luna/staff

thousands of Facebook users changed their profile pictures to resemble the Paris flag without aiding any anti-ISIS campaigns or sending financial help to a devastated city.

By n o t p a r t i c i p a t i n g wholeheartedly in a movement, the status quo is allowed to continue unchecked.

Supporting a president on social media but not sharing their platform, not attending organizational meetings and not voting does nothing to help the president’s campaign.

According to Washington Post, only 19.9 percent of 1829 year-old American citizens voted in the previous midterm election.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Sanders scored an outstanding 407,000 mentions online on the night of the first Democratic Debate, more than all of the other Democratic candidates combined. He will still not be able to make it past the party primaries unless his supporters vote.

The only route in which progress can be made is through eradicating misconceptions.

This progression must be aimed at both those who falsely represent movements and those who are resistant to them.

Exercising openness and allowing criticism from others, and thinking critically in an unbiased fashion is one path to personal reform. It is the unwillingness to accept change that leads to toxic traditions maintaining a place in the modern world. If they continue being swept under the rug, these issues will never be addressed.

settings as well as suicide attempts.

This is the reality of what it means to live as a transgender person.Despite the fact that trans people experience harassment, discrimination and assault disproportionately compared to the rest of

the LGBT community, these are not the facts or stories that get told when we have a rare moment in the spotlight. Instead, media personalities such as Katie Couric and Maury Povich use trans people as a means to draw in viewers for the shock value, focusing

on the bodies of their transgender guests, like the freak shows of years past.

When Couric invited Carmen Carrera and Laverne Cox—two performers who openly identify as transgender women—to her talk show in 2014, the episode quickly took a familiar nosedive. Carrera was introduced by Couric saying she had been “born a man,” a statement that invalidates Carrera’s identity as a woman and not-sosubtlety perpetuated the “man in a dress” trope that causes so much damage to trans women. Carrera was also peppered with an onslaught of invasive questions about her body and transition. Couric went so far as to ask her about whether or not her “private parts were different now” before being shut down by Carrera, who said she did not want to speak about something that personal.

Couric’s mistreatment of Carrera mirrors the mainstream media, which ultimately does nothing to help America see transgender people as people. When people are seen as somehow less human it is easier to stigmatize and hate them. Trans people are among the most brutalized and murdered within the LGBT community. In 2015 alone, a rash of violence against trans people include scores who were stabbed, shot or beaten to death.

When the conversation about trans people focuses on just our bodies our identities, hopes, dreams, struggles and accomplishments are diminished. We are used as a means to garner ratings as obscure curiosities. That also contributes to a culture that continuously fuels and cycles the daily discrimination and oppression of transgender people all over the world.

Conversations about the transgender community need to shift focus. Trans people need to be given the opportunity to spread awareness about the day to day realities of our own lives and tell the stories that remind the rest of the world that we are not so different from anyone else. Society’s obsession has with what’s lying in our pants is destructive and ill mannered. We are individuals with struggles, dreams and accomplishments.

Mens’ Rights Movement is a fraud

By Andrew Dyer A perspective

Nowhere has regressive and toxic ideology festered like it has on the Internet. Socially isolated individuals have found connections in countless insular electronic communities.

Surrounding themselves with those who share a common perspective, they become inoculated against infusions of different ideas.

This toxic feedback loop of circular reasoning is evident in the Men’s Rights Movement and its adherents, Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs.) Throughout its history, feminism has been met with reactionist male resistance, but the Internet has fueled new level of vitriol. Browse any web forum devoted to men’s rights, like A Voice for Men and it will burn with a litany of misogynistic ideology peppered with defensive male posturing.

Though they pretend to be advocacy groups, one would be hard-pressed to find any evidence of advocacy. Instead, many pages are devoted to abject denial of today’s feminist issues. Things like the wage gap and rape culture are dismissed male companionship as a commodity, they say, as coordinated deceptions. The entire scene is trading their sex for material security. To them, any fit for an academic study on missing the point. man who provides friendship without receiving sex A more popular men’s rights forum on Reddit, is viewed as a fool, because sex is the only thing of the self-styled “front page of the Internet,” boasts value women have to offer. more than 100,000 subscribers. On the Men’s “Nice guys” are doomed to this fate while jerks, Rights subreddit, the forum’s most popular jocks, and the bullies of their youth win the girls submissions are posts defending statutory rapists, by virtue of their physical appearance or income anti-feminist screeds and links to articles detailing bracket. The myth of the “nice guy” crumbles false-rape accusations. Though statistically rare, when, considered from the woman’s perspective, the spectre of the false-rape accusation dominates they are actually attempting to manipulate their the forum. The Department of Justice estimates way into bed by feigning friendship. But, like much that only 35 percent of rapes are reported. of men’s rights ideology, the only perspective worth Coupled with findings by the National Center consideration is a man’s. for the Prosecution of Violence Against Women The danger in buying into this narrative was that a mere seven percent of those were false, the illustrated in blood by Isla Vista shooter Elliot false-rape fear machine sputters and fails.

Rodger. In 2014 the troubled 22-year-old shot and One tent pole of anti-feminist theory is killed six people at UC Santa Barbara. His 137abject denial that our society page manifesto was an extreme is patriarchal. Recently, Dilbert example of the frustration cartoonist Scott Adams turned many young men experience To them, any man who when their romantic realities do off his brain and logged into his blog to complain that men are provides friendship without not align with their hormonal expected to pay for dates with receiving sex is viewed as a desires. His life, isolated and women without the guarantee dominated by online games, of sex. He went on to argue that, fool, because sex is the only is one many men his age can as the gatekeepers of sex, it was thing of value women have identify with. actually women who held the R o d g e r’s c o m p l a i n t s to offer. power in society. In dropping mimicked common themes this brain-turd into his toilet of of men’s forums online when a blog, Adams claimed he had he talked about the brutality single-handedly refuted any of the “real world.” notion of patriarchy. Adams should not deny “The meanest and depraved men come out on the existence of patriarchy in the same breath top, and women flock to them,” Rodger’s manifesto where he also whines about the necessity of reads. “The good, decent men are laughed at.” obtaining consent. Adams’ repulsive notions When the hashtag #yesallwomen began trending are what feminists are referring to when talking after the shooting, it was an outlet for women tired about rape culture. of the harassment they receive from men online. It Internet echo chambers incubate toxic attitudes was not long before the reactionary hashtag like these, with sometimes violent consequences. #notallmen popped up, as if on cue, to derail the A popular meme among these communities is conversation and make it again about men’s feelings avoidance of the “friendzone,” a sexless orbit instead of women’s. self-styled “nice guys” are condemned to inhabit It is rare to meet a woman who has spent any time around women they desire. Women only view on social media who has not experienced unwanted

Dan Cordero/staff

comments, critiques and photos. Discussion of this issue was co-opted by reactionary men, the delicate fragility of their masculinity again under threat by the mere acknowledgment of the problem.

Another online maelstrom, “gamergate,” was an egregious example of organized Internet communities coordinating a harassment campaign against women. Although participants claim their crusade was about ethics in video game journalism, the death threats and constant social media harassment towards women in the media and industry did not lend any credibility to that claim. Developer Brianna Wu had to leave her home due to death threats.

“I hope you enjoy your last moments on earth,” read one post. “You did nothing worthwhile with your life.”

MRAs see a world where they are constantly under attack, beset on all sides threat by angry, militant feminists and good men cower under the threat of false-rape accusations. Women’s issues, when brought to the forefront, are met with skepticism and attempts to rationalize away.

Campus sexual assault continues to be a leading concern and the most prevalent threat to women on campus, yet statistical outliers, like the Rolling Stone rape story or the Duke lacrosse scandal, receive disproportionate media coverage and are heralded as examples of the dangers of taking feminist concerns too seriously.

Feminism today is no more extreme or less relevant than it was a century ago. Acknowledgement of the issues raised in feminist theory, like male privilege, does not threaten men or minimize anyone’s accomplishments. Men should recognize that antifeminist ideologies are a threat to them as well as women. The nature of these internet communities is not conducive to rational discussion of the issue, because evidence opposed to the prevailing narrative is unwelcome and dismissed out-of-hand. Before subscribing to the anti-feminist groupthink of the internet man-o-sphere, young men should be the logical beings they claim to be and rationally consider the world from another perspective, that of a feminist.

Winter Edition 2015-16 — Volume 59, Issue 3

The Southwestern College Sun

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Photos by Andrew Dyer

MARCH ON THE MALL— Southwestern College students joined activists who march through Westfield Horton Plaza mall on Black Friday to protest African-American deaths at the hands of police.

Black Lives rally chides Black Friday “Black lives matter, not Black Friday,” was the message approximately 100 protesters brought to the streets and shops of downtown San Diego the Friday after Thanksgiving. Activists from United Against Police Terror, Justice or Else, and the University of San Diego’s Black Student Union rallied at the Hall of Justice for a news conference before marching. Several speakers spoke about what they called an epidemic of police violence against people of color, and said this warranted more attention than Black Friday sales.

The action was held at the same time marchers in Chicago continued their protests of the shooting death of 17-yearold Laquan McDonald by a Chicago police officer following the release of video of the incident.

Also present was Alyahe Ali-McCall, cousin of Anthony Ashford, a black man killed by San Diego Harbor police on Oct. 27.

“I never thought my cousin, coming to the San Diego area to visit a family member, would not return,” Ali-McCall said,

standing behind a bank of microphones.

“I thought the police were here to protect and serve, so why is my cousin dead at 29?”

Police said Ashford attacked a police officer after being seen looking into cars in a parking lot on North Harbor Drive.

Marchers made their way to the corner of F and 5th Street where, on Oct. 20, Lamontez Jones was shot and killed by San Diego police after allegedly pointing a replica handgun at them. The officers did not turn on their body cameras, a matter of contention among many in the community. It was the second police shooting in six months where SDPD officers failed to activate their body cameras.

After a short “die-in” at the intersection, protesters made their way to Westfield Horton Plaza mall, marching through several levels before stopping on the main floor to bring their message to shoppers.

Rayne Ibarra-Brown, a member of the Black Student Union at USD, read a list of demands through a bullhorn.

“We’re in the mall to remind them black lives should be getting more press and

attention that Black Friday deals,” Ibarra-Brown said. “But also, where did this consumer culture come from, (and) what foundation was it built on? Slavery.”

Not all bystanders agreed with the message.

J o h n n y Pantoja, visiting S a n Diego f o r t h e first

By Andrew Dyer Assistant Arts Editor

time, was surprised to see protesters out at the mall.

“I wasn’t expecting anything to get this intense out here for some shopping,” Pantoja said. “I heard like five different chants that had nothing to do with each other. They just annoyed everybody.”

Other shoppers took exception to the notion of “black lives matter.”

“All lives matter,” said shopper Herb Hernandez in response to the protesters’ chant. “They should’ve done all lives matter. That makes more sense to me.”

I b a r r a - Br ow n e x p l a i n e d t o t h e significance of the phrase.

“All lives do matter. It’s absolutely true,” she said. “The thing is that hasn’t been the way our society has functioned. ‘Black lives matter’ is not exclusive, it’s inserting ourselves into the narrative. Black lives have mattered significantly less than others, and so to say ‘all lives matter’ is to erase that struggle, and erase our erasure.”

No arrests were made during the protest, and after about 20 minutes, the group left the mall and returned to the Hall of Justice.

Campus rally protests violence against American transgender community

By Alexa Flores Staff Writer

Transgender Americans are among the most misunderstood of citizens.

Also the most brutalized and murdered.

Dan Grayson Cordero, an art major, organized a vigil aided by Danielle Eldridge and Nathaniel Park in support of transgender rights and called for a gentler treatment of transgender men and women. He read a lengthy list of transgender murder victims in the United States to bring attention to the high levels of violence suffered by the transgender community.

Cordero used his personal knowledge and experiences to speak to attendees about what it is to be transgender.

“Assault is a big issue in our society,” he said. “There is this big misconception that trans women fall along the lines of kind of like a drag queen image.

They picture men in dresses

“Seeing the names (of murder victims) on the board, the photographs and learning exactly how they died made me realize what people like us have to go through to survive.”

Julie Lizarraga and that’s perpetuated by the media and the misconception in movies and shows and it’s not true. These women are inherently women.”

Participants lit candles in remembrance of the lives of transgender citizens that were lost. A poster of with blue, pink and white represented the colors of the transgender community.

Eldridge, a journalism major and co-coordinator of the event,

said Cordero is a brilliant and courageous leader.

“Dan is really good about being a spokesperson for his community,” she said. “He has been fortunate and uses it as a platform to speak out to those who aren’t as fortunate as him. So many of the stories he shared don’t get to be told. It is important to recognize they are more important than a headline or a statistic.”

Remembrance Day was celebrated to bring an educated perspective to SWC students and to give voice to those facing discrimination in the transgender community, said Eldridge. Former SWC student Julie Lizarraga said she identifies herself as transgender. She said she admires Cordero greatly.

“He knew the right words to say,” Lizarraga said. “Seeing the names (of murder victims) on the board, the photographs and learning exactly how they died made me realize what people like us have to go through to survive.”

David Hodges / Staff

A LONG, SAD LIST— Dan Cordero reads a list of transgender murder victims that stunned students with its length and brutality.

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Winter Edition 2015-16 — Volume 59, Issue 3

Outreach Specialist Juan Tapia dies at 41

Asjia Daniels, editor

CAMPUS

Tel: (619) 482-6368 E-mail: campus@theswcsun.com

Former star student shines in the classroom

By Nathaniel Park Assistant Photo Editor

Juan Javier Tapia

By Marty Loftin Staff Writer

Juan Javier Tapia, a Southwestern College outreach specialist, died August 10 of a heart attack at his home in Bonita. He was 41.

Tapia was described by his coworkers as personable and generous, and a talented outreach specialist who worked well with the Sweetwater Union High School District.

Director of Admissions and Records Nicolas Montez said Tapia loved his community. “Juan was a fantastic ambassador for SWC and a great person,” said Montez.

“He was always out in the community and attending special events like the Lemon Festival to promote the school. Juan had a passion for assisting students, he wanted to see them succeed and would go out of his way to help them.”

Erick Parga, a data software specialist in the Admissions and Records office, said he was a good friend of Tapia. On a Monday morning, Tapia did not show for work and did not call in sick. Parga went to Tapia’s home during lunch and called for an ambulance when he failed to answer the door.

Paramedics discovered that Tapia had died from heart failure. Parga said that he was devastated.

“As soon as you met him,” said Parga. “You were his friend right away. We work together, but we also did a lot of stuff after work. We were on the same softball team and we did a lot of fishing.”

Parga said that Tapia loved sports, but he loved to eat even more.

“We never missed a lunch,” he said. “Juan introduced me to a lot of new kinds of food.

He got me into Vietnamese pho and Thai food, which I would have never have tried without him.”

Tapia played softball, competed in fantasy football leagues and enjoyed fishing at the beach, said Parga.

On the Friday before his death, Tapia shared a meal with his friends and coworkers from admissions at the Mexican restaurant Papagallos where Tapia was a regular. Tapia was known for his generosity and it was not surprising that he treated everyone by paying for the entire meal, said Parga.

Parga said that Tapia was like a brother.

“He was always around if you needed help and he was always there to bail you out,” said Parga. “Juan was always available and if not he’d make time to be around his friends and family. What I’ll remember the most about him is our trips to TJ to get tacos or look around for new places to eat. Sometimes we’d even catch a movie.”

Montez said Tapia was a great employee and a great teammate who helped and supported his coworkers.

“He’s the kind of person you meet and never forget,” he said.

S

hannon Pagano’s mother often said her daughter had the soul of a teacher.

Pagano never really believed her, though, until she studied journalism at Southwestern College. Pondering words, photos and page design helped her to realize she had a gift for communication and leadership.

Diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at age three, Pagano’s life has been shaped by restrictive stereotypes the adjunct psychology instructor has battled through.

“I really shed my exterior shell of the stereotypical disabled girl while I was (in the journalism lab) and I also began to shed my skin as the abused housewife,” she said. “I really started to figure out that I meant more, that I was worth more, and that I deserved more than that.”

Pagano confessed that at first her college experience was a way to spend spare time rather than pursue a career.

“The stereotypical disabled girl for me at that time meant that education was just for the purpose of entertainment,” she said. “I had always been told that no disabled person could really succeed professionally.”

Her disability became an afterthought as Pagano rose though the ranks at The Sun to serve three semesters as Editor-in-Chief and a year as student president of the Journalism Association of Community Colleges.

Sh e w a s a 2 0 0 5 s t u d e n t o f Distinction Award recipient, the first student in a wheelchair ever so honored.

It was at The Sun that she met her future husband, Ken, who was also a former Editor-in-Chief and SODA winner. They were married by the newspaper adviser in the newsroom.

Former SWC President Norma Hernandez attended.

While studying journalism Pagano discovered she had skills as an interviewer. She became the paper’s go-to reporter for sensitive

interviews and was able to get people to open up about things they had been uncomfortable sharing with anyone else. Pagano eventually realized those skills were essential to a good therapist.

She discovered psychology and never went back.

As she began Master’s degree in counseling psychology, her mother was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer.

“I don’t even want to think about who I would be and what my life would be like if I had had any other mother,” she said. “She was nurturing and loving, but also a hard-ass. She

Photos By Mary York

FULL CIRCLE—Psychology instructor Shannon Pagano started her academic journey at SWC, served three semesters as Editor-in-Chief of The Sun and is a Student of Distinction Award recipient.

unconventional. Unwilling to use PowerPoint, she has created her own lecture style that allows her to use real life examples. Her students seem to love it.

Aleena Bascon, 21, an art major, took Pagano’s Psychology 101 class.

“As a teacher she puts real life lessons in and I think her teaching methods are very great in that way,” said Bascon.

“I like the fact that she doesn’t filter herself. A lot of teachers do and they are so structured. She gives us an opportunity to be open and I love that.

I love that about her.”

Colleagues have also noticed her methods. Tobeka Robbin, a fellow psychology adjunct, said she admired Pagano’s initiative.

“One of the things I like about her is that she actually came to me and said ‘If you ever need somebody to talk about disability and sexual issues, I would be able to come to your class and talk about it,’” said Robbin. “She made me realize that we don’t cover that much in our textbooks.”

Pagano’s willingness to use herself as an example can often have a strong effect on students attempting to understand their own life problems.

She teaches her students how to begin their individual healing processes.

“If your personal story, no matter how painful, would be in anyway beneficial to somebody else, then walking through that pain of retelling your story becomes cathartic,” she said. “It becomes therapeutic for both you and the person who is hearing it.”

Pagano said her mother told her she had the soul of a teacher.

“What she meant by it was that my soul was here to teach and that everything about my being, be it my soul or my physical disability and my limitations due to that disability, serve as a medium through which to teach,” she said. “I think she meant you are a teacher spiritually, that my purpose on this planet is that for as long as long as I draw breath I will be teaching others in some way or another.”

Director says business opportunities plentiful

By Viandy Gonzalez Staff Writer

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Follow us on: The SWC Sun Theswcsun @theswcsun Theswcsun Theswcsun

did not let me make excuses. She did not let me use my disability to get out of anything.”

Her mother pushed her to learn new ways to overcome her disability and find solutions, Pagano said.

“She didn’t let me abuse the system like people sometimes do,” she said.

“She made me figure out what I was capable of and I think she did that because she knew that I would be surprised to learn how much I was capable of doing. It was as much my mother's degree as it was mine.”

P a g a n o ’s t e a c h i n g s t y l e i s

Viandy Gonzalez / Staff

MULTINATIONAL FORCE— Victor Castillo encourages students to work hard and think globally during the International Business Conference hosted at SWC.

WC’s Business Club is not all business. There is a great amount of altruism mixed in.

Edgar Rodriguez, a business management major, said he has developed detailed plans to start his own company and he said he wants to watch it flourish in the near future.

His product — wigs for cancer patients.

Rodriguez said SWC is providing a foundation and has taught him the value of networking.

“Make friends and study business with like-minded people,” he said. “Create partnerships.”

Victor Castillo, Director of the Center for International Trades Development at SWC and master mentor to so many students is a business Jedi with 26 years experience as an economist, professor and business man. Castillo advices his business students to continue their education even if it is not a straight path.

He said SWC students are capable of great achievement.

“Anything you study is going to have a some kind of international impact,” he said. “We live in an amazing place in a great time.”

SWC Business Club President, Andrea Martin Martinez, said she became interested in the field once she realized business was an international affair.

International business is expanding worldwide because barrels are going

down and structures are opening up.

Martinez advised business students to become involved in internships and clubs to develop experience. Her SWC experience, she said, has given her new eyes to see through.

“I wonder how much (products) cost, why people buy things, and who was in charge,” she said.

Matthew Ortiz, club vice president,

“Anything you study is going to have a some kind of international impact.

We live in an amazing place in a great time.”

Victor Castillo agreed. He said he now views advertising differently. He said he no longer views TV commercials as a consumer, but rather as an aspiring entrepreneur.

Gustavo Perez admonished SWC students to pay attention and invest in themselves.

“Campus awareness of business practices need to expand,” he said.

“The sad truth is that the individuals here (at Southwestern) that don’t study, and don’t work hard don’t get on top of their game to transfer, they will be less relevant and will have less lucrative careers than those who start applying themselves here and now.”

CAMPUS

A future well The Southwestern College Sun

Winter Edition 2015-16 — Vol. 59, Issue 3

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in hand

Moises Aramburo lost four fingers in an accident, but got a second chance thanks to remarkable new bionic technology

By Alberto Calderon Sports Editor

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avigating his way through the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, host to the biggest medical convention in America, Moises Aramburo, 23, is met with quizzical looks and a bevy of questions from strangers as they curiously inspect his robot-assisted hand.

Aramburo said he has become accustomed to the attention since his accident three years ago, which resulted in the amputation of four fingers on his right hand. Today the attention is more focused on his cutting-edge prosthetic.

“People don’t know what to make of it,” he said. “They either think it’s a gaming device or some wrist brace. Dogs and children have the funniest reactions. Some dogs just bark at it while kids are either curious or run away to their parents.”

Aramburo is one of the first people in the world to be fitted with such a device. He was brought to the convention as a brand ambassador for Touch Bionics, the manufacturer of the new technology. In San Antonio he had media engagements that he handled with aplomb, retelling his story and modeling the new “Quantum Digits,” a testament to a life that refuses to be defined by tragedy. Since being brought on by the company three months ago he has been interviewed more than a dozen times, most recently by the Huffington Post on a segment about the intersection of robotics and everyday human life.

Aramburo said the most common question he fields is “How did it happen?”

“The news always takes the good Samaritan approach,” he said, “which is kind of right, but I didn’t lose my hand doing a good deed, so I don’t like how they do that, but news is news.”

Aramburo said he was on summer break from college in 2012 in his native Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and a tropical storm had left the streets flooded.

He and his brother Aaron went out to drive around in a friend’s brand new truck. After helping stranded drivers by towing them to safety, Aramburo said he had the idea to try to use the tow rope and a boogie board to surf on the vacant streets. He wrapped the rope around his knuckles and his friend began to slowly pull away in the truck. Aramburo said things quickly went wrong.

“It wasn’t even 10-15 seconds when I heard a snap and my hand was burning,” he said. “I put my hand up to my face, I just saw four bones sticking up and just blood and tendons, like a peeled banana. I looked down and (my fingers) were just laying on my boogie board. I grabbed them and put them back on, I didn’t know what to do with them. It never crossed my mind that that could happen. You know, you see your fingers farther than you’ve ever seen them, and you think of moving them and they don’t move.

It’s not something you’ve been trained to react to.”

Aaron said he saw everything through the back of the truck.

“I heard him yell and then saw him start running toward the hospital,” he said. “It was horrible. It was midnight and I had to go wake up my mom and tell her what had happened. I don’t like remembering anything about it, just the fact that when I talk about it I can remember that one decision that could have changed everything.”

With his four severed fingers in his possession, Aramburo said he ran into the hospital in search of a surgeon to reattach them. After going to multiple hospitals he was informed that there was no surgeon anywhere in the region able to perform the necessary surgery with any likelihood of success. He said his hope began to dwindle.

“I was sitting in the back of the ambulance just beating myself up,” he said. “I just kept thinking, ‘Look at what you did. You just changed your whole life over a stupid accident.’ It was extremely time sensitive, because I knew that once you lose a limb you only have so much time to reattach it.

I turned to my mom and said ‘I don’t know what we are going to do, but I

Photos By Mary York

BIOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY HAND-IN-HAND—Moises Aramburo has a state-of-the-art robotic hand made by Touch Bionics, for whom he is now a spokesperson. He expects a newer, more sophisticated hand in the near future.

have my fingers and I need someone to reattach them.’”

Aramburo said it was at this point that his family history played an important role.

“My family is one of the first settlers of Cabo,” he said. “We were the first ones to drive a motorcycle in Cabo, stuff like that, a lot of firsts. We have a lot of roots there, so we asked around to a lot of prominent families in the area if they had a friend with a private jet, since it was a medical emergency.

A family came through.”

After landing at Brown Field, Aramburo said his goal was within sight.

“We drove to UCSD Hillcrest and I walk into the emergency room with my fingers in a Styrofoam cooler,” he said. “I bang on the glass and sit down with my cooler down next to me and you can hear the ice sloshing and my fingers are in two Ziploc bags. I put my arm over it so no one steals my cooler. The nurse comes over and says ‘Oh, what’s the issue?’ I said ‘my fingers are in the cooler, I need someone to reattach them’ and she stares at the cooler not understanding.”

After an 18-hour surgery, the doctors were able to reattach all of Aramburo’s fingers. In the tests following the surgery, his pinky finger was found to be unresponsive. Aramburo took the setback in stride.

“I was like four out of five is not that bad,” he said. “I was just so happy.

For me, given what I had been through, that was a good ratio.”

His pinky finger’s unresponsiveness, however, was a harbinger of things to come.

“Five days later I wake up, it was five in the morning there are a bunch

of people,” he said. “They asked me to move my fingers and I couldn’t. The surgeon started crying and he said ‘I am really sorry but our surgery didn’t work.’ All my fingers turned black and they would not respond. They just died. When they told me it failed, I gave up. That was the worst because I did not know I could lose them at that point. I didn’t know there was a failure rate. Why would I not feel them in a week if I felt them and moved them (earlier)?”

In the ensuing months Aramburo underwent seven surgeries. The wound on his hand was so large it was unable to scar over, forcing the surgeons to graft skin from different parts of his body to cover it. He was in the hospital for two months.

Aaron Aramburo said his brother’s prospects looked dire.

“I remember going through my day trying not to use my right hand to see how he would have to live each day,” he said. “I knew it would be really hard for him and I knew he had to be super strong. I didn’t know what the outcome was going to be.”

Moises’s sister, Rebekah Aramburo, said her brother is one of the few people she knows that could overcome such a difficult situation.

“When I think about what I would have done in his situation,” she said, “I don’t think I would have been as strong. He was really down for a while, but we knew he would be OK. He is one of the strongest people I know. I really admire Moises. He just needed something to give him hope.”

Moises Arumburo’s silver lining came from an unexpected source. His ex-girlfriend’s father came to visit him in the hospital and brought a Touch Bionics pamphlet with all of the company’s prosthetic options. Aramburo said he immediately knew he had to have one. After receiving an outpouring of support from his family and friends, he had funds to purchase one.

Aramburo said the help he received was the most surprising part of his saga.

“I thought people wouldn’t want to help me for doing something so reckless,” he said, “It has been extremely humbling and I can’t express how grateful I am for everyone’s love and support.”

Once he was outfitted with his new prosthetic he resolved to take more control of his destiny.

“When I got this one, I was worried about how long I would be able to use this,” he said. “Like is this going to work forever? I wanted to prepare for something going wrong with it. Now that I have one, I didn’t want to think about going without one again. I began to show pictures of me showing it off on Instagram, hashtagging ‘touchbionics.’ I kind of started my own media campaign. I wanted to be the amputee that showed off his prosthetic the most, maybe even get on their radar.”

His efforts paid off. He received a call from the company and was asked to meet with some prospective customers who were interested in seeing the prosthetic up close. A couple weeks later they offered him a position as a brand ambassador and flew him to the company headquarters in Scotland where he was outfitted with the new “Quantum Fingers” hand model.

Aramburo said he is happy he has the chance to give back.

“I still remember the first time I went on the Touch Bionics website,” he said. “I saw someone showing off the hand and it gave me hope. To think I might be that person for someone else now is mind blowing. It wasn’t even a thought in my mind to be the most popular user, which I’m not.

There’s this one model, Rebekah Marine, who takes part in Fashion Week and everything. She’s a full hand user. I’m the most popular partial hand user, I like to think.”

Aramburo said he is just happy to be able to live life on his own terms.

“When I was in the hospital, sometimes I would share rooms with people who were close to dying,” he said. “I was in bed 20 hours a day I kept thinking to myself, ‘How did I get here?’ I would imagine myself trying to shake someone’s hand or get a promotion wearing a suit and not having a hand. I thought I screwed up every aspect of my life. The other day I booked a flight to Thailand. I’m going by myself for New Year’s. I didn’t know that was going to be possible. My injury does not hold me back in any way.”

Botanical Garden ‘an oasis in a parking lot jungle’

By Danielle Eldridge Assistant News Editor

Nathaniel Park / Staff

SECRET GARDEN OPEN TO ALL—SWC’S acclaimed horticultural center is often overlooked, but always beautiful.

South Bay’s Secret Garden is hiding in plain sight, but Indiana Jones himself would likely drive right past it.

Eduardo Minguia and his crew wish more people would journey to the campus treasure, which he calls “a hidden oasis in a parking lot jungle.”

Spanning four acres, the garden is divided into 12 areas that provide a living lab for the school’s horticultural classes as well as unique areas for visitors to enjoy.

“It’s essentially a four-acre outside classroom,” said Minguia. “The garden’s purpose is to serve as a canvas for a garden design student to practice building garden structures. These include water features, green houses, compost, an English inspired formal garden, and the most popular site, the fish pond. Southwestern students construct all of these features as a part of their curriculum for the horticultural program.

California’s drought has wreaked havoc on lawns and gardens up and down the state, including SWC.

“We’ve let some lawns die off,” said irrigation tech Jose Muchka. “We have replaced some of our plants with native plants better adapted for the environment that require less water.”

Minguia, SWC’s field site manager said he and his crew will still maintain a large portion of the non-native plants they have for educational purposes.

Faculty often take advantage of the picturesque garden for instruction, Mingua said.

“Teachers bring their classes out here during the summer,” he said. “Art teachers, photography classes (and staff from the) child development center bring their kids for picnics. We definitely get used, not as much as we would like. Groups that use this place absolutely love it.”

Stressed out students can find sanctuary in the garden, Mingua said.

“It’s extremely peaceful,” he said.

“Students will find a shady spot and they’ll come to read or listen to music.

The farther you go into the semester, they kind of have this look on their face, that I remember when I was going to school that just says ‘I need a break’ and this is

the perfect environment.”

Landscape technicians confessed to some of their own stress. Water restrictions have put some of the garden’s oldest trees in peril.

“We have some trees that have been around for 50 years and are very valuable to us and the school,” said Enrique Gonzales Jr., an irrigation technician. “Water restrictions have cut down sprinkler time to five minutes twice a week. It’s just not enough water to maintain something properly.”

Through implementation of a new irrigation system, the gardening and irrigation team has found a modern way to handle the drought that should allow Southwestern more time to water their beloved plants. Minguia said that it is not the technology, but the team’s passion that will keep the garden growing strong.

“I don’t think the campus realizes how much these guys do to keep this campus looking the way it does,” said Minguia.

“Technology is another tool in our belt, but you can never replace a well-educated irrigation tech with a soil probe in his hand.”

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Winter Edition 2015-16 — Volume 59, Issue 3

Page Design By Mary York

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To the other side Story and Photos by Adriana Molina

“All of the world is a stage,” wrote Shakespeare. David Rivas is one player who, in his time, has played many parts.

Rivas made a small break in the ominous U.S.-Mexico border monolith his stage with an innovative and touching production, “Letters From the Wall.” An unlikely collaboration between the human rights group Border Angels, Amigos del REP and the U.S. Border Patrol created a transitory stage 200 feet from the intransient wall at Border Field State Park.

“These three short 10-minute plays are an adaptation of letters sent to (Border Angels founder) Enrique Morones,” Rivas said. “They are based on real-life events that occurred, only we have changed the names of those people to protect their identity.”

Due to the political nature of the plays, the Border Patrol insisted that Amigos del REP move to a canopy 200 feet away from Friendship Circle by the wall to perform.

Rivas’ plays depicted stories about a lion and its cubs, a deported veteran and separated twins. These stories were written to educate people about U.S. border policies that effect millions of people in the U.S. and Mexico daily. They represent harsh realities families face, but also the inspiring perseverance of people on both sides of la frontera. Rivas said his mission as a performing artist is to tell

Innovative plays straddle la linea, celebrate people on both sides

stories that matter.

“It’s about passing on the truth about what’s really going on,” said Rivas. “They are things that everyone should know about. If I can’t help (families or individuals) first hand, I’ll help them by doing plays.”

Playgoers did not sit in comfy chairs in a darkened theater. Like dusty migrants, attendees hiked through the rocky, trash-strewn trails of Border Field State Park. Morones gathered audience members at the park entrance at for a quick introduction of the event followed by a 40-minute walk to Friendship Park. He recounted stories of individuals and families who suffered while migrating through the desert to make it into the U.S. He spied a tattered red strip of cloth on the ground.

“These (immigrants) wrap pieces of clothing around their shoes to avoid leaving any shoe marks behind that can lead them to being caught,” he said.

As the group walked several Border Angels placed gallons of water along the trail for migrants. Morones said this was to prevent dehydration and death.

“The Border Patrol has mentioned their concerns to me saying that I am encouraging people to cross the border illegally by placing water for them, but I’m not,” he said. “There are thousands of people who

die crossing the border due to lack of water. I’m only helping them survive. It’s a human right.”

Through dirty roads, muddy puddles and prickly hills under a blazing autumn sun, a community of friends and families gathered beneath the shadow of the towering rusty wall. Bernardo Mazon, an SDSU student and actor for Amigos del REP, said the 40-minute hike was an artistic statement.

“The mere act of walking the path just to get (to Friendship Park) was theatre in itself,” he said. “People were spectators to the action that (actually happens) here.”

People from both sides watched “Letters from the Wall” with reverence and optimism. Karin Wedig, an assistant professor at the University of Denver, said she is a native of Berlin, a city which had an infamous wall.

“Coming from Germany and with what’s going on in Europe, we were really interested in the topic of migration and border issues,” she said.

After watching the plays, Wedig said she was inspired.

“I really liked them,” she said. “I definitely learned a lot by realizing that there’s plenty of important human rights work that needs to be done.”

COME TOGETHER —(top) Border Angels founder Enrique Morones speaks to a deportee standing on the Mexican side of the border. (l) An audience member of “Letters from the Wall” peers south into Mexico. (above) “Letters from the Wall” has a sizeable audience on the Tijuana side of la frontera.

Winter Edition 2015-16 — Volume 59, Issue 3

The Southwestern College Sun

SPORTS

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Olowora Repeats Win back-to-back state championships Turn down Nike to stay in school Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016

By Mary York

nyone who did not know her story may not have understood the shriek of agony Aminat Olowora loosed as she passed under the race clock, twisting her sweaty, sinewy body around to see her time.

Finishing at 17:02, more than 40 seconds ahead of the next runner at the California State Cross-Country Championship in Fresno, Olowora burst into tears and collapsed on the ground, exhausted and weeping, until two women assisted her over to a mat farther away to clear the finish line. Contenders for second place were just becoming visible on the horizon. Olowora cried for three minutes, head in her arms, before standing up and seeking out her teammates.

Olowora “Honestly, I’m preparing for the Olympics,” said Olowora.

“My target for the Olympics if I want to qualify is in the 15s, so I wanted to start preparing for that now. Every time I go to a meet I want to do my best. So that’s why I came here today, to do better.”

Head coach Dr. Duro Agbede said Olowora has much to be proud of.

“Sometimes the day you hope for the record is the day it won’t come,” he said. “That is what we planned so we could go after the record, but she took it a little faster for the first mile. When you go that fast, you have to pay for it later. Still,

“Every day I run I think about my mom, then I keep going. I have a goal. My mom wanted me to do the best, so every day I go out there and do the best.”

Aminat Olowora we are talking about Aminat. She is still the best ever to run on this track and she is still the state record holder.”

Olowora shattered the California state record at last year’s championship by slipping under the previously untouchable 17-minute barrier. Her time of 16:59 was seven seconds faster than the 1984 record. The Nigerian athlete has led every women’s 5K this season with record-pushing or record breaking paces. At the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Championship, she ran a stunning 16:11 and cleared the track nearly three minutes ahead of her nearest opponent.

Distance is not an unfamiliar concept for Olowora, who moved from her native Nigeria to pursue her passion for running. Diving into a new culture and a new school, Olowora set

Volleyball Players commute from Tijuana to fire up rebounding program See B2

out to improve her running time. After moving 8,000 miles away from home, she received a call that her mother had passed away. Unshakeable, she has since strapped up her shoes, put her head down and continued to train. Olowora said her mother always wanted her to do her best, so every drop of sweat she sheds has been to bring her closer to the qualifying time for the 2016 Olympics.

The California state championship race in Fresno was supposed to be more than a win.

“I try my best,” she said. “Seventeen minutes is not what I wanted, but it’s still OK. This tells me I need to prepare more, I need to go at it.

I trained hard for this meet, but today it didn’t work. There was a pain in my stomach from the start to the finish, I wanted to stop but I just kept telling myself, ‘Just keep going.’”

Bundled against the chilly Central California autumn in the school’s colors, Olowora went for a short jog to cool off and simmer down before the men’s race began. She had been fighting off sickness for two weeks and the race took its toll.

Olowora said she was not impressed with her win, but she takes it all in her very long stride.“I just needed to come here to do my best, even though I’m sick,” she said. “That doesn’t matter, it doesn’t count. I’m here. I finished the race. I won the race and I’m very happy for that.”

Olowora has had friends on her journey to achieve 15 minutes. As part of the SWC cross-country team, she is surrounded by fellow athletes, all inspired, all driven and all-in. Her team has seen quite a season, even if they have not seen much of Olowora. Two other runners accompanied Olowora and the coaches to Fresno to run their final race of the season.

Freshman David Flores had an outstanding season, finishing second at the Pacific Coast Conference Championship. He started off well in the men’s race in Fresno, but slipped behind and finished 46th place with a time of 21:33.

Sophomore Jasmine Vasquez finished the season in Fresno with a personal best, 19:46, nabbing 48th place.

“I did a different tactic this time,” she said. “I took off faster than usual, and just tried to hold on for dear life and hope that I didn’t die. We had four coaches all spread out throughout the course so that was very helpful.”

Amid throngs of colored jerseys representing schools throughout the state, the trio of panting Jaguars joined their coaches to await the medal ceremony beneath flickering rays of late-autumn sunshine.

I’ve learned a lot from (Agbede),” said Olowora. “Someone like me, sometimes my body doesn’t want to do something, but if you have a coach who is strict, he forces you to do it. Coming here from Nigeria, I’m doing better.

Every time when I was in Nigeria I was running 17 or 18. But coming here I’m running 16 low.

I’m very happy to be part of the SWC team and to have someone like coach Duro. He’s the best coach I’ve ever met.”

Mary York/Staff Immediately after receiving her medal in Fresno, Olowora became the main course for BID ME RUN AND I WILL STRIVE WITH THINGS IMPOSSIBLE—Aminat Olowora capped her epic SWC cross please see Olowora pg. B3

country career with a 40-second margin of victory and a second state championship.

Legend Dr. Duro Agbede retires after yet another PCAC title See B3

Basketball Preview

Soccer

With no returners on the squad, the men get off to a hot start

After another stellar season the men fall short in the playoffs

See B3

See B4

B2

Alberto Calderon, editor

ARTS

Winter Edition 2015-16 — Vol. 59, Issue 3

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Tel: (619) 482-6368 E-mail: arts@theswcsun.com

Amigas

Volleyball serves as a tool to change the lives of Tijuana born SWC students

By Diego Gomez Staff Writer

Brianda Diaz, Ivanna Mendez love volleyball.

Love volleyball. Like Tom Hanks loves volleyball.

Diaz crosses the border into the United States at 1 a.m. every Monday morning to attend Southwestern College and play on the resurrected volleyball team.

That’s tough.

What Mendez does is tougher. She commutes back and forth over la frontera daily, a grueling schedule that makes even volley coach Jennifer Saleaumua Taeatafa’s notoriously tough workouts pale in comparison.

“Crossing the border every day is very hard for me,” Mendez said. “All of my family and friends are in Tijuana, so the radical change is challenging. Even though it is not that far, it is still difficult for me.”

Travel is not the only struggle, Mendez said.

Adjusting to American schooling has also been difficult.

“It is challenging for me because the school program here is way different to the one in Mexico,” she said.

Diaz said her international commute does not allow much opportunity for down time.

“From Monday to Friday I live here, but I cross the border on the weekends, then I come back on Monday for school,” she said. “I cross the border on Sunday nights and it’s very stressful. I used to cross at three in the morning on Monday, but later noticed there is less line around 1 a.m., so I don’t get much sleep. Mondays are the worst for me.”

Saleaumua Taeatafa’s effort to turn around SWC’s underachieving volleyball program has a decidedly international flavor. Four Mexican players help form the core of the team. Besides Diaz and Mendez, Tijuaneros Aries Vergara and Alma Flores have found volleyball Valhalla in Chula Vista. Mendez said she is an English learner who is fluent in volleyball.

“I am learning a new language,” she said.

“Volleyball is a sport that has a universal language. From wherever you may be, we all play the same game and we can all fully understand that language.”

Vergara said her biggest challenge is not language, but time.

“It’s difficult time management wise,” she said.

“It’s school, it’s practice, it’s doing homework, so personally I’ve had a hard semester. If she says we have to run laps, we run them and run them well.

If you don’t, you may not start the next game.”

Vergara said Saleaumua Taeatafa’s tougher regime is paying off.

“Last season we were not used to this,” she said.

“This season has been more challenging for all of us. We have to give much more effort and maybe that is why we have won more games this season.”

Mendez, Diaz and Vergara first met on volleyball courts in Tijuana. Vergara said they have been friends for years.

“I’ve known Ivanna since I started playing volleyball around five years ago,” she said. “I’ve known Brianda since last season and we are all really good friends.”

Flores trained and played at the Tijuana High Performance Center for Athletes, which is a Mexican Olympic training center. She said she developed discipline from international play and international coaches.

“I have very little experience with Mexican volleyball coaches,” she said. “I’ve worked with Argentinian, Cubans, Dominicans and Chinese coaches.”

Flores said Saleaumua Taeatafa, a Bonita Vista High School legend who is considered San Diego county’s greatest ever high school volleyball player, has elevated the team.

“We’ve known her accomplishments as a player,” said Flores. “Some of us lack experience,

FANTASTIC FOUR—Ivanna Mendez embraces Brianda Diaz, Aries Vergara and Mendez, Alma Flores delivers a thunderous spike.

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but our coach is really putting a lot of effort to the team to show us what she knows about volleyball and that makes us all better players.”

Diaz said how improving as an athlete is what keeps any player inspired.

“In Mexico, volleyball terms may be different, the game may be approached in a different way, but at the end of the road it’s the same sport,” she said. “We all play it with the same passion and we all want to become better players.”

Mendez said sleeping enough is a problem.

“There is actually days where I don’t even get to sleep for trying to finish my homework,” she said.

Diaz said that her experience last year helped her become acquainted with the potential struggles.

“I’ve found a balance between school and volleyball, “she said. “I love them both.”

Olympic Training Center — SWC’s secret weapon

By Liz Lugo Staff Writer

Next summer marks the 120th birthday of the modern Olympic Games. More than a billion people around the world will be seated at the edge of their couches as they watch the planet’s best athletes strive for the pinnacle of athletic achievement, an Olympic gold medal.

Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Olympic Games, but much of the preparation for next summer’s accomplishments is happening right now in Chula Vista, home to a state-ofthe-art Olympic Training Center, one of only three in the country.

Southwestern College track and field coach Tony Campbell said Chula Vistans are aware of the training center, but rarely take advantage of it.

“It’s like Sea World.” he said, “We have it, but you don’t think about it much. It’s

great when family guests come from out of town and that’s probably the only time people think about it, aside from every four years when the Olympics occur.

Unfortunately, they don’t realize that these athletes are here year-round.”

Campbell is no stranger to Olympic caliber training. He was a three-time Olympian in the 110-meter hurdles, a silver medalist, three time world champion and top 10 in the world from 1980 to 1990. Under Campbell and Olympian cross-country coach Dr. Duro Agbede, SWC’s cross-country and track and field teams have been the most consistent athletic programs at the college. Campbell said that is no coincidence.

“It’s one of our secret weapons, being able to train at the Olympic Training Center,” he said. “No other (community college) has that opportunity. For us to be able to rub elbows with Olympic athletes, not just U.S. athletes, but they have a lot of foreign athletes throughout the year,

too. For our athletes to be able to get the opportunity to watch those athletes train and see their discipline, and see their work ethic, and then also sometimes get to know their coaches, ask them for tips, for critiques. These athletes are more than willing to share their information and help out, and they do so.”

When the modern Olympics began in 1896, it was a 42-event competition with fewer than 250 competitors from 14 nations. It has since ballooned to a 300-event sporting celebration with more than 10,000 competitors from 205 nations. Diverse terrain and year-round moderate weather makes Chula Vista a

uniquely accommodating location.

Sean Gaian, a professional BMX rider, said he gets the most out of his training when he is in San Diego County. “(Chula Vista) is the best place in the world for my sport,” he said. “The sand texture on the BMX track is really important and it can easily be affected by snow or heavy rain.”

A replica of the 2008 London Olympics’ BMX track sits behind the athlete checkin. Below Gaian, a steep ramp awaits him, ready to send riders off sandy mountains at heart dropping heights.

After an intense training session, AT&T Athlete Connections Center is available for some wind down time. There are plush lounge chairs and gaming consoles in every corner. Music is on in the background and visitors never know what world-class athletes could be coming around the corner. “The Fastest Man in please see Training Center pg. B3

SPORTS

The Southwestern College Sun

Winter Edition 2015-16 — Vol. 59, Issue 3

Olowora: Olympic hopeful wins her second state title

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Training Center: A Chula Vista treasure awaits SWC athletes Continued from pg. B2

Continued from pg. B1

Mary York/Staff

READY FOR THE PODIUM—Olowora and teammate Jasmine Vasquez wait for the awards ceremony at the California State Championships in Fresno.

hungry college scouts who have had her in their sights since she burst onto the scene in 2014.

Olowora’s 16 minute runs have also been noticed by professional sponsors.

She was offered $250,000 to run for Nike, but turned it down to chase an education instead.

“Sometimes I look at the money like, ‘OK, why am I going to school? I can just turn pro and get this money,’” she said.

“But I don’t need money now. I need the education, to have a degree in my hand.

Even if I stop running, I can still go back to something.”

Agbede, who is also a Nigerian migrant, said Olowora’s decision may stem from their culture.

“In our society there is nothing like a student athlete,” he said. “If you are doing athletics in any institution in my country you are doing that on your own. The school does not recognize athletics. It is what you do in the classroom (that matters), so if you are adding athletics to what you want to achieve, that is purely on your own.

So when we come here we follow the same code. A person like Aminat can go become a professional runner and make a ton of money, wbut that is not the society å comes from.”

College ambitions have not dåeterred her from an equally lofty goal, earning a place at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“Everything we are trying to do with the Olympics is on track,” she said.

“Cross-country doesn’t count much. I’m just trying to get in the 15s. I still need to keep working hard because running on a track is different than running on a road even though we are running the same 5K.” Agbede thinks it is a realistic goal.

“The chance is right there,” he said.

“She’s a hard worker. The only thing we need to do is calm her nerves down a little bit. Sometimes, like today, she gets overexcited.”

Agbede said Olowora’s record from the state championship last year could stand for decades. Now, he said, they will focus on her Olympic qualifying time for track season.

“Every race is experience,” he said. “Every race an athlete runs they gain experience and you learn better, fundamental approaches. What you get for one race you learn for the next race. We take what we’ve learned and continue to build on that for track season. That is where we start to move into the level that we now have to get to, because cross country is a preparation season for track. This is our preparation.”

More than a great athlete, Olowora is a great teammate.

“She’s always trying to push me,” said Vasquez. “Even during the race, I can hear her voice, ‘Push, Jasmine, use your arms!’ Most of the time, after she races she will be running around the course again trying to find us and cheer us on. She’s very humble.”

Vasquez said that through rooming together during out-of-town races, she has come to know Olowora very well.

“She’s not shy,” she said. “She has the most amazing personality. She’s hilarious.

I’ve cracked through her shell since last year. She has become one of my closest friends and I’m excited to see where she goes.”

Olowora’s win at Fresno puts her in an elite group of women who have won back-to-back titles on the course. It is a prestigious win for the college and a proud moment for the team she represents, said Agbede. But it is also has a special significance for the young woman who traveled across the world to run after her dreams.

“I’m proud of myself and I know my parents would be very proud of me, even though they don’t know much about what I’m doing here,” said Olowora. “Every day I run I think about my mom, then I keep going. I have a goal. My mom, she wanted me to do the best, so every day I go out there, I want to do the best.”

The Reluctant Legend Mary York/Staff

Dr. Duro Agbede says goodbye to cross country after 25 years of shaping great athletes, and even greater students

S

ports dynasties are largely a thing of the past. Red Auerbach’s Celtics, Jo h n Wo o d e n’s Bruins and Casey Stengel’s Yankees are sports history, a testament to the rare magic that can occur when talented athletes are paired with great coaches.

Add to the list Dr. Duro Agbede’s Jaguars.

Since his arrival 25 years ago, Southwestern College’s cross country team has been the dominant force in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference. His women’s teams have won 12 PCAC titles in the last 15 years and two state titles.

His pairing with Aminat Olowora this year and last has resulted in the fastest women’s 5K ever run in California.

It has been a historic run for

By Alberto Calderon

Agbede, but he is nearing the finish line.

Agbede announced his retirement from coaching.

“This is my last season,” he said.

“My time at SWC is not much of anything other than the kids. My

“I’m from (the) African jungle and I coach cross country. It’s not necessary to say more, but I can’t stop talking about the kids.”

Dr. Duro Agbede

job is just to report to practice and drive them crazy. Those kids who have come to this program and worked so hard, who brought the first state championship to

Southwestern, those are the ones who own that time. I’m just coming to report for work every day.”

At Agbede’s last cross country meet as a coach, Olowora won the state title by a whopping 40 seconds. The duo will now focus on the track season and Olympic qualifications. Agbede is no stranger to Olympic-caliber training, having worked with many Olympic runners in his native Nigeria.

Other information about his personal journey is hard to come by. Almost media phobic when it comes to speaking about himself, Agbede is effusive when discussing students.

“What will I tell people about myself?” he said. “I like to talk about my athletes. The only thing I can tell you about myself is my name. I’m from (the) African jungle and I coach cross country. It’s not please see Agbede pg. B4

Carlin Isles, a member of the U.S. National Rugby Union Team, praised the camaraderie of the OTC. “It’s good that you know whenever you walk around here people all want the same thing as you,” he said. “They all want to fight for something, whatever it may be, gold or just being the best, surrounding yourself with those types of people helps you day to day, ’cause you’re always working hard, but you need to find that motivation.”

Carlin is sponsored by Nike and Red Bull. He said after his time at the OTC he will soon head to Nike’s Oregon headquarters for tests where weaknesses of his will be identified and strengthened.

Olympic champions are forged by rigorous training. Campbell said the difference between an exceptional athlete and an Olympian is mentality.

“One thing I’ve noticed in myself and in other friends who are Olympic medalists that separates us is our tenacity in training,” he said. “It makes us Type A personalities, but we’re the type of individuals that you want in your corner because we’re going to get it done. We know how to break the through pain thresholds and mental barriers. Even when people are ready to quit, we know how to find that extra gear.”

Isles said he is accustomed to breaking those barriers.

“A lot of our sessions are about going to dark places, because it’s really about mental strength,” he said. “You’re either going to pass out or feel like you’re going to die. You’ll feel like quitting, but you can’t quit.”

Campbell said he’s not exactly sure why Chula Vista was chosen,w but he may have had something to do with it.

“I was going through some of my old artifacts,” he said, “and I found an old brochure from back when they wanted to build the Olympic Training Center and my picture was on the cover and I’m not even from San Diego (County).

The land was available, the weather was conducive to training, plus it had the lake there. I think that all helped. But one of the most important things was that the Eastlake Company donated the land to the U.S. Olympic Committee in a lease back program in the hopes that it would attract builders out that way, because when it first got built, SWC was as far as Chula Vista went. Because of the training center it continued to expand eastbound. That really made a difference, I think.”

Chula Vista’s Olympic Training Center is less than five miles from SWC, but light years ahead of other training facilities. SWC track athletes are, literally, in fast company.

No returners, no problem for young basketball team

By Charity Niccole Staff Writer

There is often rebuilding in community college sports, but the men’s basketball team is beyond that.

It is completely starting over.

Last year the SWC men’s basketball team was state ranked, Pacific Coast Athletic Conference champions and made a run for the state title. It seems like so long ago.

In a rare occurrence, the 2015-16 team is a completely different roster with no returning players from last year’s championship team.

Assistant coach Anthony Cosentino said he is well aware of the challenges the team will face with no returning players, but he wants to use that to fuel his new guys and make them play harder.

“We have a target on our backs now since we won conference last year with all sophomores, but now we are a completely different team,” he said. “With zero returners no one thinks we are going to win except us.”

Sophomore Marcus Gladden, a redshirt last year, said he is ready for the challenge of this season.

“I saw what was done last year,” he said. “I know what has to be done this year.”

An all-new team requires players to compete for starting positions and leadership roles which can cause strife, but the Jags have

come together faster than expected and are becoming a family, said Cosentino.

“None of these guys have played together at all, but the chemistry is going to continue to improve,” he said. “Communication is something we stress at practice.”

Competing this season is a much smaller group of players with no one over 6’5”. This could be a challenge when it comes to post play and rebounding on both sides of the court, which are areas of focus for the Jags.

Assistant coach Domenic Cosentino said he thinks small can be good.

“In some ways it’s positive because we are a lot faster with the lack of size,” he said.

“We play at our own fast pace and play to our strengths.”

Newcomer Marlon Cort, a transfer from Southeastern Iowa Community College, said this smaller team can win.

“Small ball works out because when we play a team slower than us we’re able to get out and run,” he said. “We are able to wear out the other team.”

A fast pace offense is important, but if the players cannot shoot the ball it defeats the purpose. The Jags are shooting the ball better than ever. Averaging 8.4 3-pointers per game and a 43.7 field goal percentage, head coach John Cosentino said shooting is a team

Mary York/Staff

BLAZING START—DeLano Jones soars to the hoop for a Jag’s team that is off to a suprising 9-5 record with no returning players.

strength. DeLano Jones, a freshman from Tempe, Arizona, leads the team, averaging 17.8 points per game and shooting 42.7 percent from behind the arc.

When the Jags play at their fast pace, shoot the ball well and transition flawlessly, they are a high scoring team. So far any time they score at least 80 points they walk away with the win.

SWC has played in three pre-season tournaments and have lost the first game of all three, which forced them to play in the consolation brackets. Instead of hanging their heads, they won the consolation bracket at all

three tournaments. Four out of the six wins were by double digits.

It is still early in the season, but the conference championship is still on the mind of players and coaches.

“In order for us to win we need a full defensive effort,” said Cort. “We can’t take any plays off.”

The Jaguars are ranked 20th in the state and 10th in the southern division, according to the California Community College Athletic Association. They are hoping to sneak up on some folks.

Alberto Calderon, editor

Given the boot B4

Winter Edition 2015-16 — Vol. 59, Issue 3

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Championship aspirations derailed in first round loss

By Diego Gomez Staff Writer

Soccer –The Beautiful Game– is also one fickle sport.

Dreams of a Southwestern College state championship run crashed in a first round state playoff upset against San Diego Mesa College, despite outplaying the Olympians most of the match. Mesa’s 2-1 win ended a promising season 14-44 for SWC. Days earlier SWC lost the PCAC championship to Cuyamaca by the a 3-2 score.

A scoreless match was wiped away in the 74th minute when a tackle by Jaguar’s center back Jesus Olguin against Mesa forward Allen Luhrs inside the box was whistled as a penalty. Luhrs converted for Mesa and 1-0 lead.

At the 82nd minute, against an all attacking and desperate Jaguars side, a great assist by Luhrs placed Mesa forward Victor Perez inside the box for an easy finish to go up 2-0.

SWC scored in the 90th minute on a corner kick which Jorge Lopez headed in. Lopez said he and his teammates were very disappointed.

“We had more talent, but they were hungry and they scored the goals,” he said. “Unfortunately, my goal did not really help and could not bring us back into the game. We just scored too late.”

Head coach Cem Tont, usually a paragon of soccer diplomacy, criticized the officials.

“My players had an outstanding season,” Tont said. “There were interesting calls and incredibly bad

officiating, but when you win, you need to learn how to lose also and today was a tough one to lose.”

Opportunities were there, but missed

by SWC. A turning point came at the 40th minute when midfielder Esteban Correa was fouled inside the box. He rocketed a low power shot that Mesa goalkeeper Ryan Daniels stopped at his left bottom corner.

Tont said that moment summed up the match.

“We were doing what we were suppose to do, keep possession and creating chances,” he said. “There was a lot of opportunities to put the game away, but we missed.”

Correa said he felt responsible.

“The momentum changed,” he said. “I forfeited the lead which would have been 1-0. I sacrificed the momentum, which it is very important in big games like this.”

SWC’s brilliant start to the season faded in November. An 11-game undefeated streak to start the season was sullied by a three-game losing streak to end it.

Forward Alejandro Camacho was the leading SWC scorer with 13 goals in 14 games.

Camacho said the playoff knockout can be seen as an experience for the team in the future.

“That is life, we have learned from our mistakes,” he said. “We wanted to be state champions. We have to get the job done next season. We have to get ourselves together again and hopefully do better.”

Photos by Mary York

NOT TO BE— (above) Sophomore Gustavo Melgar attempts to wrestle the ball away from Cuyamaca’s Cody Kygar in the PCAC championship game in which SWC suffered an agonizing 3-2 loss. (r) Freshman goalie Samuel Quinones thwarts a scoring attempt.

Agbede: Historic coach retires after building a dynasty Continued from pg. B3

necessary to say more, but I can’t stop talking about the kids.”

Eclipsing his status as a coach are his accomplishments as an educator.

“My success as a coach has been purely academic,” he said. “ The running championships, that comes as a byproduct, that is not the target itself.

The target of my coaching at SWC is getting them out to universities on athletic scholarships. I want 100 percent scholarships. Almost every single athlete I recruit, I must visit their parents. I must know the home they come from and immediately it will give me the environment and the condition to best help them. There is no day in practice that I won’t talk to my athletes about their future. About future, about future, about future.”

“In my part of the world you are recognized by what kind of letter is by your name.

We measure a person by academic achievement.”

Dr. Duro Agbede Agbede’s own life path was set in motion by a scholarship to Jackson State University in Mississippi. He was the first ever recipient of Football Hall of Famer Walter Peyton’s scholarship for outstanding athletics and academic achievement. Agbede said he made the most of the opportunity.

“Because I only had a four-year scholarship, I went very fast with my

undergraduate (studies),” he said. “I was able to finish my Master’s in that time.

Then I went back home and taught at a university for five years. After that I came back to do my (Educational Specialist) program and Ph.D. all within the scope of three and a half years.”

His runners seem to have caught sight of that vision. Olowora was offered a lucrative endorsement deal by Nike that she turned down in order to maintain her collegiate eligibility. It was a move that turned heads, but Agbede said he was not surprised.

“In my part of the world you are recognized by what kind of letter is by your name,” he said. “We measure a person by academic achievement. So it doesn’t matter whether you’ve been to the Olympics 10 times, if you have no education, you are nothing. Our parents don’t even want us to do sports.

For Olowora it is a major thing that she must be able to report back home. They are counting how many years she’s here and they are not counting whether she goes to the Olympics. They are counting when she will finish her education.”

Now that the cross country season ended, university recruiting begins.

After the state championship in Fresno, Agbede introduced some college recruiters to Olowora and Jasmine Vasquez. He gave them some room to get acquainted, but not much, keeping a watchful eye throughout the interaction.

Agbede said he stays very involved throughout the process.

“I’m like a salesman,” he said. “I want to sell their ability to the best school, but I also make sure that before they go, the coach there assures me and explains to me how they will graduate before I let them sign the letter. What if my athlete doesn’t finish in two years, what do you do? What’s the third year option? This athlete must finish their degree or you won’t get any athlete from this college.”

When talking about scholarship and academics, an intensity often referenced by his athletes creeps out.

“Appearing mostly mild mannered and soft spoken, Agbede’s looks can be deceiving,” said Vasquez. “When

he’s recruiting you, the first impression is that he’s mellow. Then you get to practice. He pushes our limits. We train

Mary York/Staff

DYNAMIC DURO—In their final race together fellow Nigerians Dr. Duro Agbede and Aminat Olowora take in her second consecutive state cross country title.

hard every single day, no rest days. He has a very strong personality. He will push you and push you until you can no longer push. I think that is what makes him special.”

During the PCAC championship Agbede stood at the last turn of the course, 300 yards from the finish line, and urged his athletes to finish strong. Freshman David Flores trailed a Cuyamaca runner by about 15 meters heading into the last stretch. Agbede came as close to the runner as he could, yelling “Come on, you’ve got to sprint!”

Pointing at the runner ahead of Flores, Agbede hollered, “Are you going to let this guy beat you? You’ve got to take it from him!” Flores overtook his opponent at the finish line.

Olowora said Agbede’s tutelage has helped her reach new heights.

“In Nigeria I was running 19s and 18s,” she said. “After training with Duro, I’m getting down to 16s and I hope to get to 15s soon for the Olympics. He is a very tough trainer. Sometime my body doesn’t want to do certain things.

Someone like Duro is important for me.

He’s the best coach I’ve ever had.”

Although Agbede is stepping down to deal with some health concerns, his passion for coaching has not waned.

He said he is leaving the door open for a possible return.

“I’ve had a couple of medical issues that I need to go and take care of right away,” he said. “I’m not the type that reports to a job just for the paycheck.

I am somebody who comes to work to achieve. I know that I am not able to, due to obstacles like my hip, an ankle injury, a knee that needs replacement.

All of this combined, I know it won’t allow me to stay at the level I set for myself. Not that I couldn’t stay and coach, it’s just that it won’t allow me to perform at the level I want to perform.

I am confident that the next person will come here and continue to build the program. That is what has been established here. I am confident in that.”

Winter Edition 2015-16 — Volume 59, Issue 3

The Southwestern College Sun

ARTS

B5

Thoughtful student show > REVIEW

By Cesar Hirsch Arts Editor

F

or years the Fall Student Art Show has exhibited an impressive and eclectic array of Southwestern College talent.

This year was no exception.

Hosted by the SWC Art Gallery, the exhibition gave students and faculty a glimpse into the rich artistic talent present in the community.

Impressive works by SWC art students sprawled across the gallery, including graphic design, sculpture, drawings, paintings, prints and photographs.

While some pieces relied on traditional styles, others were abstract and conceptually inventive.

Hidden toward the back of the gallery without much fanfare was a remarkable piece by Kelly I. Perkins, titled “Torch Wrench Power House Steam Plant” that eclipsed some of the more callow work. It depicted a young, well-built man tending to a complex piece of machinery with a wrench.

“ To r c h Wre n c h” p o s s e s s e d a n industrial quality to it that was accented by the stark contrast of its black and white tones. Adding to its dynamic quality was the playful use of light, which suggested movement to the still portrait along with the meticulous line work. It exuded a silent, earnest beauty.

Across the gallery, a photograph of a barren dirt road with sets of underdeveloped houses on both sides invited reflections of the devastating conditions some communities face.

The untitled, poignant tableaux by Micajah Truitt was juxtaposed with the remarkable quality of the composition and its depth of movement.

Simple, elegant and heartfelt was another untitled photograph by Aimee Briggs. Her portrait depicted an older man, wrinkled and pensive. Dimly lit, the man’s stare dissolved into the darkness of the background.

Entering the gallery guests were confronted with larger pieces. Some were conceptual sculptures, while others, though artistically beautiful, ser ved a more practical purpose, please see Art Show pg. B7

WELL CONSIDERED—Vida Mercado’s untitled sculpture exhibited at the 2015 Fall Student Art Show was a favorite in a rich, inspiring exhibit.

Sergio Esparza/Staff

> REVIEW

Architecture Expo lacks foundation

By Martin Loftin Staff Writer

Shelter is one of the most basic needs of human kind, but designing homes is anything but basic.

Southwestern College’s architecture program showcased the skills required for the profession at the SWC Architecture Expo, held at the student gallery.

Diana de la Torre, advisor to the architecture club, organized the project and helped the architecture program to put on this exhibition.

Most of the models and designs were interesting and well made, but a few pieces needed some home improvement.

Despite the program’s focus on transferring students to a more specialized architecture school, students are also given the tools to build their portfolios and pursue internships.

Creating models, drafting layouts and using design programs like AutoCAD and Revit are the basic skills needed to get into the world of architecture and make up much of the grunt work involved in an internship. Sculpting, graphic design and sketching are also useful skills as an architect.

Examples of student work included case studies of actual architectural projects, accompanied by models made of balsa wood, cardboard, foamcore, pasteboard and other materials.

A tiny replica of the Nonhyun Limelight Music Consulting by Dia Architecture based in South Korea stood before a poster of the actual building.

Like many of the pieces featured at the architecture expo, the creator was left unnamed. A wooden model of the Hechingen Studio, designed by Whitaker Studio but never built, also lacked any credit to who made it.

Sasay Guerrero created an excellent miniature house that she designed. Named “The Reading Garden,” this piece was created by Guerrero for the Architecture 151 -Design II course. It featured a small structure with a curved roof and a large outdoor area with trees and a river of hot glue.

This place, if built, would be an excellent place to relax and read a novel.

Even though the pieces featured were by students of various levels of proficiency, every poster, model, sculpture or design should have been attributed to its creator. please see Architecture pg. B6

Courtesy Photo

MÁGICA DE MEXICO—Shown here with San Ysidro’s Ballet Folklorico in Brazil, SWC’S Mariachi Garibaldi won over crowds this semester in India.

Mariachi dazzles ancient, musical India

By Alonzo Ackerman Staff Writer

“India is the cradle of human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the great grandmother of tradition.”

-Mark Twain Two rich traditions enjoyed a spirited introduction when Southwestern College’s Mariachi Garibaldi arrived in the humid, bustling city of Gurgaon, 16 miles from New Delhi.

Mariachi had come to Mother India and she was pleased.

Mariachi director Dr. Jeff Nevin said visiting India was beyond a culture shock.

“For Americans, when we cross the border into Tijuana, we feel like we are in another country,” he said. “All the streets look different, people are driving different. It just feels different. India is Mexico times 10. It was a real shock for us to get there.”

Nevin said the shock was also musical.

“Indian music is completely another language,” he said.

Last year while performing in Brazil SWC’s mariachi included sambas in their program. Nevins said it was impossible to incorporate traditional Indian music into their repertoire this year.

“Mariachis are really adaptable,” he said, “(but) I couldn’t figure out how to adapt it (to traditional Indian music). I certainly didn’t want to play their music poorly.”

Indian music was confusing, said Nevin, and so were road symbols written in an unintelligible language.

Multitudes of people on the streets along with stifling weather contributed to a sense of estrangement. Indians, however, like the Russians, Chinese and Brazilians before them, fell in love with the passion and virtuosity of the mariachi. Other acts from around the world also shared their traditional performing arts to the audience of about 100. Off stage, SWC’s mariachi discovered new music and old.

Violinist Jacqueline Sierra said she was surprised to

hear a Polish group playing polkas, a genre mariachi is built on. “(They) did a couple of polkas, which is something that we do as well, so it was interesting to see how they danced to something that we played,” she said.

Guitarist Andrew Rodriguez said the group saw the contrasting realities of hyper-urbanized New Delhi and rural landscapes filled with cows, pigs and huts during the six-hour bus trip to Agra. Outside the brick-colored walls of the Red Fort of Agra, monkeys looking out for food were standing on the city walls, he said, while children panhandled on the street.

“It was an adventure to get (to Agra),” he said. “We got to really see the road to get over there. It was just interesting because there was a lot of poverty in the surrounding area of the (Taj Mahal).”

Considered one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage site, the architectural masterpiece was built as a please see Mariachi pg. B6

B6

Cesar Hirsch, editor

ARTS

Winter Edition 2015-16 — Vol. 59, Issue 3

Tel: (619) 482-6368 E-mail: arts@theswcsun.com

> REVIEW

Euphoria Brass Band true to New Orleans

Sergio Esparza/Staff

HORN OF PLENTY—Trumpeter Steve Ebner channeled a bit of Louis Armstrong during an excellent performance by the Euphoria Brass Band.

and swerving into the extravagant. The familiar sound of “Sexual Healing” filled the air, invigorating audience members.

Good times did roll when the San Diego- The brass arrangement of the popular based ensemble delivered Southwestern song left the crowd excitedly mouthing College students the exhilarating rush of the words and wanting more. brass band music. Music lovers swarmed As the crowd began to settle, the into the Southwestern College recital Euphoria Brass Band had with time for room. They filled every seat and left a final piece, an original composition by latecomers settling for the floor, just like J.P. Balmat. A roaring applause filled the a steamy jazz haunt on Bourbon Street. room as the band finished.

J.P. Balmat introduced “Whoopin Dixieland Jazz from The Big Easy is Blues” with a brief history of their anything but easy. Euphoria Brass Band rendition of this valiant song. J.P. Balmat made it look easy. Laissez les bon temps and crew followed with a blistering rouler! version of audience for the next “Just a New Orleans jazz married pop music Closer Walk with Thee,” a mournful cry in “Sexual Healing”, which left the crowd ushering in the atmosphere of a street mouthing words and wanting more. funeral.

Musicians from Euphoria Brass Band Soon, the sound dissipated and proved they are masters of their art and transitioned to an upbeat celebration could let the good times roll. Louis of life, veering from the depressive Armstrong smiled.

By Sergio Esparza Staff Writer

Architecture: Expo blends polished with works in progress Continued from pg. B5

Pieces featured in the student art gallery better served as an example of the architecture program as a whole. Mistakes in presentation made it difficult to take some pieces seriously.

Two such unlabeled pieces were especially poorly presented. One was a poster of a house with various angles and views of the layout. The design was not bad, but beneath the design was a spiel praising the house, saying “this innovative design will change the way we see our near future, by bringing it to our doorsteps today,” and other such overblown rhetoric. If a house is really that great, the design should speak for itself, which, in this case, it did not.

Another strange design was a home designed to look like a cave. The Cave looked like a paper mache sculpture of a

huge irregular rock on the outside. It was not the prettiest home, and instead of continuing the organic rock formation that inspired the exterior, the interior simply incorporated simple, square rooms hidden within the large empty shell.

It is understandable that the architecture computer program used to design the building is not capable of the natural organic shapes found in actual caves, but the difference between the interior and exterior was jarring and unpleasant.

One wall in the gallery was dedicated to children’s drawings of their perspective of the homeless. Many depicted homeless people as dangerous animals, though a few explained that these people are unfortunate people with serious issues. Given the highstakes market architects belong too, it is unfortunate that so much effort is put into designing buildings for the super rich and not creating inexpensive homes for those with no homes.

The children’s drawings featured at the Architecture Expo reflect the sad state of human culture: those with no home are less than human.

ENVOYS OF THE ARTS—Mariachi Garibaldi planted SWC’s flag in India during a well-received tour.

Mariachi: Tour of India bewildering and inspirational Continued from pg. B5

mausoleum for the Persian princess Mumtaz Mahal in 1648. The Taj Mahal and its white marble amazed SWC students.

“It was incredible,” said violinist Hyrami Godoy. “It honestly felt like it was a dream. It was just unreal!”

Rodriguez said Indians were confused about the nationality of the band. Nevin explained to audiences the interrelation between border city San Diego and

northern Mexico and how an American mariachi could represent the United States.

Mariachi Garibaldi performed two songs with a dance group from Mexico during its performance in the International Ethnic Folklore Festival. Rodriguez said that teaming up with Mexican performing artists made his wish of connecting with other musicians on stage come true.

Sensitized by what they saw on the side of the road, Rodriguez said, the mariachi switched from touristic to altruistic as they gave out food on the streets of Agra.

“The hotel packed us a bunch of lunches and a lot of us didn’t eat them because we had (eaten already), so we had 40 boxed lunches that were not eaten,” he said. “So we actually ended up giving

Andrew Dyer/Staff

those to the kids in the city that were homeless.”

Nevin said the presentations were great, even though the audience was not as large as expected. That was not the only downside the group faced. Rodriguez said organizer’s persistent tardiness made the group uneasy.

“They would tell us to report at three o’ clock and then the bus wouldn’t show up to pick us up until like six o’ clock,” Rodriguez said. “That was the only thing that threw us off.”

Time issues aside, Rodriguez said the passage to India was wondrous. “(Traveling) gives us a whole different perspective of the lives we live here and how other people live around the world,” he said.

Photos by Sergio Esparza

FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION—SWC architecture students explored residential design concepts in these two unmarked models at the SWC Architecture Student Expo.

ARTS

The Southwestern College Sun

Winter Edition 2015-16 — Vol. 59, Issue 3

B7

Guitarists ignite hot Latin Jazz Ensemble > REVIEW

By Alexa Flores Staff Writer

VOICE OF MARIACHI IN AMERICA — Mariachi Garibaldi sparkled at the annual Mariachi & Friends concert at Mayan Hall.

Andrew Dyer/Staff

Globe-trotting Mariachi brings it all back home > REVIEW

By Andrew Dyer Assistant Arts Editor

SWC’s Mariachi Garibaldi enjoys a stellar reputation and has traveled internationally.

Its performance at the annual Mariachi Garibaldi & Friends concert made it clear their renown is well deserved.

From its opening number, a stirring instrumental, “El Viajero,” Mariachi Garibaldi demonstrated strength and artistry in every section. Layered above the relentless rhythms of the vihuela, guittaron and guitar, the violins set the mood and the brass the melody. Together they carried away an electrified audience.

Mariachi Garibaldi features a deep stable of musical talent, with many of its musicians taking a turn on lead

vocals during solos, duets and the occasional trio. Nevin surveyed his ensemble during every song, seemingly choosing vocalists at random. All were up to the task. They would approach the microphone instrument in hand and pick up the verse where the previous vocalist left off. Like American Jazz, this performance technique kept the show unpredictable and fresh.

Mariachi Garibaldi’s friends also had chops. Four impressive local mariachis performed, two from Southwestern College, Chula Vista High School’s Mariachi Chula Vista and Mariachi Estado de Oro from San Ysidro’s Southwest High School.

The opening act was another iteration of Mariachi Garibaldi, but director Dr. Jeff Nevin took liberty with the members and integrated players from the elite touring group. It was quick to connect with the audience, with every singer receiving hearty rounds of

Art Show: Student Art Show exhibits masterful works by very talented creative team Continued from pg. B5

including a table by Michelle Natividad. Blue with round arches between each leg, the table’s geometric flourishes and vivid color perfectly balanced the dynamic between form and function.

“Sinuosity” by Jose Vera and Rodrigo Sous was a small sculpture that depicted two abstract configurations playfully interwoven with one another. It seemed to be a study in the linear interaction of shapes.

Kelera Bates’ black and white print “Frogs”

applause with each number.

Mariachi Chula Vista opened its set with a choral piece, allowing singers to warm their vocal cords collectively before their solos. A slightly out-of-tune string section was a noticeable distraction from an otherwise outstanding performance.

Their featured singers demonstrated serious talent.

Mariachi Estado de Oro confidently took the stage in traditional costumes and sombreros. The group was tight, upbeat and fun. Their musicianship belied their amateur status and, at times, threatened to upstage their more established hosts.

Guitarist Ruth Gonzalez, a junior, stunned the audience with the timbre and intensity of her voice. She sang “Farsante,” and demonstrated a command and confidence that were at once delicate and powerful.

For its final number sophomore Miguel Corral stepped out from

showed the intricacies of a plant. Its depth gave meaning to something otherwise innocuous.

Two promotional posters for the exhibit hung on the center wall. Chloe Lamfers and Jesus Ramirez utilized features reminiscent of the Swiss Style in their designs.

With sharp lines and a stark palette, Diana Rodriguez’s depiction of a faceless woman looking through a window titled “Gouache on Bristol Board” was captivating. The scene’s quiet tension was uneasy to the viewer.

On two hands, the face of a man with closed eyes rested in the air. Vida Mercado’s untitled sculpture was large and eye-catching. Completely white, the man posed like a stoic.

Visually intriguing, thoughtful and artistically innovative, SWC art students brought freshness to Chula Vista’s cultural hub and burnished the institution’s reputation as a hotbed of creativity.

behind his guitar for a suave rendition, in English, of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.” The young crooner channeled Old Blue Eyes, flirting with the audience and reveling in his center stage turn with style.

For the last song of the evening, Nevin invited the high school musicians to join Mariachi Garibaldi on stage. Younger students stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the world champions, joining in a rousing rendition of “Viva Veracúz II.” When the final stanza ended, the crowd erupted in applause and rose in a standing ovation as players took a final bow.

Mariachi Garibaldi’s international reputation as America’s best collegiate mariachi is well deserved. Nevin’s effort to promote high school mariachi is savvy. By developing the next generation of players, it is difficult to imagine SWC’s prowess diluting anytime soon.

Conductor Dr. Jorge Pastrana insisted he was not out for blood, but his musicians at Latin Jazz Nights played like their lives (and grades) depended on it.

“They’re not bleeding yet, so unless I see blood I will not stop,” Pastrana deadpanned as he looked over the fingertips of his talented guitar ensemble.

Beethoven’s “Turkish March” brought smiles to the audience who recognized it as the theme song of the popular Mexican sitcom “Chavo Del Ocho.”

Pastrana’s guitarists also owned their rendition of “Spanish Serenade.”

Pastrana played bongo for “Samba de Orpheous” and “Triste,” adding spice to a terrific acoustic set.

“It just goes to show that many of the students that started in Guitar I e vo l ve d t o I I quickly and became good readers are now performing Pastrana today with pride,” he said.

“Autumn Leaves” ushered in the entire Latin Jazz Ensemble as trumpets, electric guitars and piano shook the audience. Alfredo Lopes on alto saxophone was pitch perfect, his horn’s vibrant tones adding a jazzy excitement to the number.

Percussion soloist Emmanuel David had a rougher go. His vocals and strikes failed to synchronize which made it hard to hear his voice.

Latin classic “Besame Mucho” was an ideal selection. Ensemble vocals from percussionist Maribel Mancilla blended perfectly with trumpeter Mike for a match made in Heaven.

Not to be outdone, percussionist Susana Gomez demonstrated vocals chops on “Shadow of Your Smile” and had the audience roaring.

Playful song “Manteca” showed the truest spirit of Latin Jazz, a syncopated, fiery yet smooth hybrid of its New Orleans cousin.

Pastrana and Co. showed why they deserved a seat at SWC’s bounteous performing arts banquet.

Musicians in our corner of the country can flat out play.

Photos by Sergio Esparza

REVEALING ART—(left) Baraciel Almada’s provocative work “Queen of Hearts” gave an edge to the Fall 2015 Student Art Show. (above) In “Torch Wrench Power House Steam Plant,” Kelly I. Perkins shows remarkable attention to detail with its meticulous line work.

B8

Winter Edition 2015-16 — Vol. 59, Issue 3

ARTS

Cesar Hirsch, editor

Tel: (619) 482-6368 E-mail: arts@theswcsun.com

Photos by Sergio Esparza

BORDERLANDS RENAISSANCE— SWC’s Art Gallery, in collaboration with the Centro Cultural Tijuana, brought in 17 active Mexican artists for a provocative exhibit titled “1+1: CECUT/Tijuana.”

By Alan Luna Staff Writer

To know a city, you must know its art. But what to make of Tijuana? A city that, until recently, was seen as either a hedonistic, perverse playground for American hordes or a bloody stage for the power struggles of the region’s drug cartels.

Beleaguered Tijuana has struggled to create a new identity for itself and cement its place as a global city. A regional economic and political hub, Tijuana is now also the artistic engine of northwestern Mexico.

Southwestern College hosted the exhibition “1+1: CECUT/Tijuana, Mexico,” an effort between SWC and the Centro Cultural Tijuana to gauge the state of contemporary Tijuanan art.

It featured paintings and photographs by 17 active Mexican artists from the contemporary art scene and the last years of the 20th century.

Tijuana is a city characterized by movement and migration. Home of the world’s most active border crossing, Tijuana hosts transitory masses which originate from throughout the Americas.

Tijuana’s new artistic identity is that of a melting pot, blending human elements from across Mexico, from lush Chiapas on the Guatemalan border to the desertic northern states.

A melding of place and time was apparent in the exhibition. “Transumante gitanos (1999),” an abstract oil painting

by Lourdes Lewis suggested four vague figures standing forlorn before a gray background. Gritty texture and colors drew the eye to a surface richly textured with sand.

Another striking piece, Roberto Gandarilla’s “La Rebelion de los Caidos (1999)” is an acrylic painting on a wooden panel. Its foreground is dominated by a solitary figure, violently painted red, its extremities extended as if dancing, while behind it figures are arrayed in contorted forms, roughly painted in.

“La madrina de los grillos,” a crayon and oil paint canvas by Oscar Ortega, is a jumbled array of black and white forms.

Subjects are disjointed and reassembled, with hints of expression and movement.

Founded in 1889, Tijuana is a thoroughly modern city in that it does not share the same ancient history of cities in central Mexico. As such, Tijuana occupies a curious place in the modern Mexican consciousness. Though one of Mexico’s largest cities, Tijuana is often dismissed as a provincial backwater, occupying a space similar to what Nome, Alaska is to continental Americans.

It has, however, prospered in recent decades, and where there is money, there is art. Despite the veneer of new construction in the city, the artwork has an element of the countryside, and the stark, raw nature that characterizes rugged Baja California.

Leon Felipe Chargoy’s landscape photography captures the wide skies of Baja California, vivid with dramatic cloud formations smeared with light and shadow, like an El Greco fever dream.

Although his pictures include evidence of human activity, be they roads that lead to unknown horizons and fences with nothing to sequester, they convey a feeling of desolation, their desertscapes otherwise untouched by humanity.

“La Rumorosa (2013)” by Juan Angel Castillo, an oil painting on canvas, features a vast vision of desert, a lunar landscape rich with earth shades and the desert sky looming above.

Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz supposedly once famously quipped “Poor Mexico! So far from God, yet so close to the United States!” Nowhere is this wry statement truer than the border city of Tijuana, its identity shaped by its American neighbors as much as its southern Mexican ancestors. There exists an uneasy dialogue between the sister cities of Tijuana and San Diego.

A towering border wall, though regulating the movement of people, is useless against the migration of creativity and ideas. Tijuana has survived every hardship placed upon it, and still manages to prosper and thrive.

With change, the art and culture of Tijuana will also change, as it synthesizes the millennial treasures and experiences of its people into a new identity. Though borne from many places, its art is wholly and authentically Tijuanense.

“The wall, though regulating the movement of people, is useless against the migration of creativity and ideas.”

> REVIEW

Exhibit of Tijuana art borders on greatness

GRIPES OVER STEREOTYPES — “Mextasy,” by William A. Nericcio, protests hostile and often highly offensive portrayals of Mexicans in American media.

His collection shows objects, symbols and characters that the American media has created to denigrate Mexicans, as well as other symbols of oppression.