Viewpoints - April 26

April 26, 2012

Vol. xxxVIVI, No. 12

An Associated Collegiate Press two-time national Pacemaker award-winning newspaper, serving as the voice of the students since 1922.

Riverside, CA | www.viewpointsonline.org

Riverside City College

America’s Veterans honored Riverside showed its appreciation for the Veterans of the U.S. on April 21 during the “A Salute to Veterans Parade” For a

news story

see Page 5

Allison perez / photo editor

Never forgotten: Fred McDowell remembers his late father, Frank McDowell, who served as a military police in World War II, by participating in the “A Salute to Veterans Parade” in Riverside on April 21.

RCC students learn sign language page 20

Freeway construction on 91 freeway page 7

RCC women’s swim heads off to state page 21

2 | April 26, 2012

Viewpoints

Serving students since 1922

News

Celebrate Dance 2012 Renew, reinvent, and recreate; Riverside City College plans to hold its Celebrate Dance 2012 performance directed by: Rita Chenoweth and Eunice Estrada on May 3, 2012 at 8 p.m. in the Landis Preforming Arts Theater. Tickets are on sale now, and are available at the Box Office or online at the Landis website. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $10 for students with a valid school I.D., faculty, and children 3 years of age or older. Children under the age of 3 and/or infants will not be admitted.

52nd Annual Distinguished Faculty Lecture Riverside City College is hosting the 52 annual Distinguished Faculty Lecture on May 10, 2012, from 12:50-1:50 p.m. The lecture is scheduled to be held in the Digital Library auditorium. This year the lecture is scheduled to be given by Jose Duran, Associate Professor of Business Administration, and several other courses at the Moreno Valley Campus. His lecture is entitled “The Janus Approach to Technology’s Impact: An Educating Perspective.” All faculty, staff and students are welcome to this free presentation. For more information visit: www.rcc.edu

SAFE soccer tournament The SAFE Soccer Tournament is scheduled to be held at the Riverside Community College Norco campus on May 12, 2012. The tournament is six teams vs. six teams; the age limit is 16 and older. The cost is $10 per person, and registration starts at 7:30 a.m. on May 12. First place receives $150 in prize money, and second place winners receives $100 in prize money. There will be award trophies presented for both place winners.

For more information: Call (951) 251-4495.

Courage to remember From May 16-30, 2012 the Diversity Committee and the Digital Library of Riverside City College are co-sponsoring an exhibit entitled “Courage to Remember.” This traveling exhibit presents The Museum of Tolerance displayed in a 30-panel display of photographic material covering the World War Two era and the Holocaust in Germany. This display is in the Digital Library of the RCC main campus during library hours.

For more information visit: www.wiesenthel.com

President’s Honor Recital On Wednesday, May 23, the Riverside City College Music Company requests that you save the date for the 2012 President’s Honor Recital. The featured performances are by the 2012 President’s Honor Scholarship recipients. The performance starts at 7 p.m. in the Digital Library auditorium. This event is free of charge and open to the public.

31st Annual UCR Pow-Wow

The University of California Riverside campus plans to hold its 31 annual pow-wow on Friday, May 25, 2012 from 5 p.m.-10 p.m. It continues through the weekend starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday until 10 p.m. at the UCR Sports Complex located at 100 Blaine St. The event is an inter-tribal social gathering celebrating Native American culture and traditions through singing, drumming, and dancing. This event is open and free of charge to the public.

For more information: Call (951) 827-1012

Spend the summer in Central Europe Travel to central Europe with Riverside Community College District’s summer tour.

From June 28 through July 14 participants tour Prague, Czech Republic, Krakow, Poland, Budapest, Hungary, Vienna and other places.

For fliers, reservation forms and information visit the study abroad office in Quadrangle 100 or email jan.schall@rcc.edu.

Walk in San Bernardino for family violence

California State University, San Bernardino plans to host the ninth annual Walk Away from Family Violence Walk-a-Thon on Saturday May 5, 2012. Registration Begins at 7:30 a.m.

The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that as many as 2 million women a year are physically abused by an intimate partner.

Registration forms can be retrieved at the Option House website at www.optionhouse. org, along with a donation of $10, children under 16 are free. Proceeds from this event will go to Option House, Inc. to help victims of family violence.

Jarred JACKSON / online Editor

no access: Samantha Gregory, an RCC student, studies in the World Language Lab, as many other students wait awhile to use the lab’s computers.

Limited resources in a crammed corner

RCC students wait for available computers at the lab to work on their assignments Veronica Widman Staff writer Students try everything to raise their math grades and exam results, but they haven’t thought about learning a new language.

According to the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages, research has shown that studying a foreign language can improve a student’s analytical and interpretive capacities, which correlates to a rise in English and math grades, as well as entrance exam scores.

Language study on someone’s record can also catch the eye of anyone reading the person’s job or college application.

Students who attend Riverside City College are given the opportunity to learn a foreign language at a community college price and hundreds of students are taking advantage of that opportunity.

But students who have chosen to study a foreign language at RCC have been experiencing grief in the Language Lab which they are required to attend as part of their language course.

As is the case with most programs on campus, the California budget cuts can be blamed, in part, for the issues that students are having in the lab.

According to Dorothy Gaylor, the department chair of World Languages, hundreds of students are being served in the lab with only 39 computers available, causing an overcrowding at times.

“We have an overflow room, with about 13 additional computers,” she said. “But we have not been able to provide staffing in this

room, again due to budget cuts.”

Derek Brown, an RCC student studying French, has had to wait on numerous occasions for an available computer.

“I guess I can’t really complain since there were plenty of others who were waiting even longer than me,” he said.

The lack of computers is not the only problem students are having in the lab.

The hours of operation have also been reduced and the lab is no longer open on weekends.

Julia Goldfarb, an RCC student, is just one of the many who are frustrated with this change.

“I work all week so it was most convenient for me to come in on the weekends,” she said. “I know the school needs to save money but we need to pass our classes, too.”

Students are wondering what can be done to fix the issues that they are having in the lab.

“If the school could just buy a few more computers, I think it would help out a lot,” Brown said.

According to Gaylor, the lab has been able to meet most of the student’s needs, despite the tremendous overcrowding during peak hours; still, students are frustrated with the lack of space, as well as other problems the budget cuts are causing.

“I have to say that the only thing that can be done to improve the situation from what it is now is for Gov. Brown’s tax initiative to pass in November of this year,” Gaylor said.

“If it does, then we may be able to sustain lab operations as they are now; otherwise, we are facing more cuts.”

Viewpoints

April 26, 2012 | 3

Serving students since 1922

News

Basic skill classes are being cut

English as a Second Language are classes being cut as RCC eliminates basic skill classes Javier Cabrera Editor in chief Ashley Anderson News Editor Since Gregory Gray, chancellor of Riverside Community College District, announced the District will be cutting $14.31 million from its budget for the 2012-13 academic year, Riverside City College, along with Norco College and Moreno Valley College, has been doing its part to cut from its budget.

The District took the task to cut $9.48 million of the $14.31 million, as the three colleges had to make up the difference and Cynthia Azari’s, president of RCC, task was to cut $2.68 million from RCC’s budget. “ We a r e c u t t i n g b a c k everywhere,” she said. “We are cutting 633 full-time equivalent students next year; that is about 1,200 to 1,500 (head) count.”

Part of the $2.68 million in cuts at RCC are the classes from English as a Second Language.

The ESL classes projected to be eliminated are 51, 52, 53, 71, 72, 91, and 92 while 54,73, and 93 are being reduced.

The ESL classes being cut are classes that focus on oral communication, writing and g r a m m a r, a n d r e a d i n g a n d vocabulary. The ESL classes being cut are also the ones four levels below the transfer classes such as English 1A. According to a power point which Carla Reible, an associate professor of ESL, presented to the English department, Azari and Wolde-Ab Isaac, vice president of Academic Affairs, International students at RCC generate $1.9 million to the general fund.

This semester, 70 international visa students enrolled in ESL 53, 54 and 55, according to the power point by Reible. And according to the power point, those who meet the requirements and are placed in 53 will not be admitted.

Reible said the cuts to the ESL classes will have an impact on the local area of population.

She said most of the ESL students at RCC come from adult schools or high schools.

“We have a large non-native speaking population in our high schools,” Reible said. “Even though they get ESL and they get the language, they haven’t acquired the academic fluency.”

She said the ESL students who enroll at RCC can speak English ,but they cannot write or read at the level needed to complete English 50.

Reible said the faculty, including Azari, has suggested the ESL students can go to adult schools.

“If we can get them served there (adult school), that’s more we can offer here,” Azari said.

According to Reible, adult school isn’t an option for ESL students.

“What I’ve heard faculty say is, ‘well they can just go to an adult

Luis Solis / Staff Photographer

Learning something new: Vesuti Nash, an English as a Second Language student, receives help from Mira Lugo, a part-time instructor during a session at the Reading and Writing Center at Riverside City College. school,’ but the adult school has been cut; their classes have been reduced,” she said.

Reible said adult school is completely different from RCC ESL classes because adult school has classes that are writing classes with no textbooks and are open entry, open exit. “(It) means that the students come and then they can leave whenever they want to, so you take that kind of learning environment versus what your expected to do in English 50, and it’s just a different sort of thing.”

Reible said students enrolling at RCC after the ESL class cuts are made will have to go somewhere else if they test into a lower basic skill class.

“What the impact is going to be is there’s going to be a lot of people coming in, and either they are going to test into English 60 and they are just not going to have an ESL, or the only thing that we will have left once the sequential cuts are done, will be a few classes of 54 and some 55, and so only if they’re at that essay writing advanced area will they have some place to go,” she said.

Reible said students can attend an adult school, but the classes at adult school won’t be enough.

“My concern is that it’s not going to adequately prepare them for the rigors of what we’re expecting in our English classes,” she said.

The power point said a greater percentage of Latino students place into basic skill classes and non-native speakers must acquire academic English language in the same time that native speakers are allowed to remediate.

“Eliminating the entry point for these students will be effectively denying access,” according to the power point by Reible.

Gloria Wells, an ESL student who has completed the program and has been a student leader for other ESL students, said the cuts to the ESL classes have a feeling of discrimination.

“The feeling among the ESL students is a feeling of discrimination because we do not

have a voice here at RCC,” she said. “Among the teachers, among the ESL students, we feel that this action is very offensive to us.”

Wells said the ESL students at RCC are studying to do more than learn English.

“We are here because we have an academic goal; we are not here to only learn the language,” she said. “The majority of them want to transfer and go to a university and taking ESL classes are giving the basic skills of reading, speaking, and writing to succeed here at college, and then transfer to the universities.”

We l l s s a i d t h e s o l u t i o n the college is suggesting ESL students to go to adult school is ridiculous.

“That made me laugh because I don’t know if you realize that those schools are filled and they don’t have the capacity to get all these students from the college,” she said.

Wells said the ESL students at RCC came from the adult schools because the adult school classes are not enough.

“They came from those schools, because those schools are not well organized or prepared,” she said.

Juan Robles, an ESL student who is almost completed with the program, said taking ESL classes at adult school is not enough.

“Before I attended college and the ESL program, I used to go to Mongolia Adult School and it is not enough,” he said. “The information and the education there is very low.”

Robles said the ESL classes at RCC helped him a lot.

“When I came here and took ESL 51, the grammar and structure of the class was much better and more challenging to push you to study more, to focus more and to spend more time in grammar writing or on your oral skills and reading papers,” he said. “(The instructors at RCC) challenge you because you receive a grade but the adult school’s teachers don’t care about your education or English.”

Robles said the college level ESL classes are more effective.

4 | April 26, 2012

Viewpoints

Serving students since 1922

News

Students run to be ASRCC president Candidates running for Associated Students of RCC president pitch their ideas to students Javier Cabrera Editor in Chief

A new president of Associated Students of Riverside City College will be elected May 4, as Doug Figueroa and Giovanni Aviña are the candidates running looking to make a change in the way students at the college respond to the issues going on at RCC. The candidates spoke to a group of students on April 19 at the stairs leading to the Martin Luther King Jr. Teaching and Learning Center on a blazing sunny afternoon, addressing their concerns and ideas they had regarding the RCC student body.

Figueroa and Aviña addressed the budget cuts occurring at the college, the lack of participation from students and the ways they were going to make students involved with the student activities on campus.

“One of the reasons why students may not be involved is because they’re not informed,” Aviña said. “There is about 35 clubs here on campus so there is something for someone here, and if there isn’t, they’re more than welcome to create their own club.”

Figueroa said every student needs to be involved with what is happening at the campus.

“We need to include 100 percent of our population here,” he said. “We have such a diverse campus, and some of the things that I’ve already been doing is being involved with clubs.”

One club that Figueroa has been involved with is Active Minds, a club focusing on mental health.

Figueroa said the club engages with the students at RCC by doing workshops and meeting with students one on one.

“It creates engaging in conversation with students, it gets more students involved because not everyone wants to join a club or what not,” he said.

The candidates shift their focus on the class cuts as Aviña suggests fundraising as an option to keep activities going for students at RCC. “Definitely fundraising would be an option, as well, working together with all of student government and the new student trustee elect Noemi (Jubaer) to help resolve that issue as far as how we can deal with the budget cuts,” he said.

to be elected.

“The reason why students are not motivated is because they don’t see this as a school that, ‘oh I’m here for two years then I’m going to be leaving,’ but that’s not the perception we want them to see, we want them to know this is a place they can get involved, it can be a second home for a lot of students,” he said.

The candidates running for ASRCC president took the week of April 23 through 27 to campaign and gain another RCC student’s vote as the election for ASRCC president is scheduled to be on May 1 and 2 in front of the Martin Luther King Jr. Teaching and Learning Center from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Noemi Jubaer wins student trustee Luis Solis / Staff Photographer

Luis Solis / Staff Photographer

Solution: Giovanni Aviña said

Uniting: Doug Figueroa said he

Both candidates said they believe the budget cuts are something students should not run away from.

“The first challenge is going to be all the class cuts; they’re looking at cutting all the basic skills classes and English as a Second Language classes,” Figueroa said. “It’s up to us to come and collaborate and come up with a solution.”

Figueroa said students will need to get involved with each other and should consider having tutoring groups and peerto-peer groups, so everyone can get through the cuts.

“We already know the changes are going to happen, the solution is to find solutions to collaborate on an improvement on how we can deal with those challenges,” he said.

Victoria Hecht is running with Aviña as his vice president while Miguel Bagsit is running with Figueroa as his vice president.

Hecht said she has plenty of networking among RCC students to have a feel for what RCC students want when the subject is student activities.

“Definitely through school events because we do have school events, but they’re not for everyone,” she said. “We need something that can really connect all of the different programs: drama, athletics, the clubs, executives and Senate.”

Hecht wants the student body at RCC to unite and become as one.

“Everyone really needs to come together and I believe the students really need to be informed of what’s available for them here on campus.”

Bagsit said he will wants to work on getting students active on campus if he were

fundraising can be one way students can absorb the cuts and have enough for more student activities.

wants to have 100 percent of the student population at RCC involved with everything.

Noemi Jubaer defeated Keenan Johnson for student trustee of Riverside Community College District on April 6 as Jubaer received 363 total votes from Riverside City College, Norco College and Moreno Valley College, while Johnson received 266 total votes from the three colleges.

Jubaer received 48 votes from RCC while Johnson received 93 votes.

Jubaer received 221 votes from Norco while Johnson received 98 votes.

Jubaer received 94 votes from Moreno Valley while Johnson received 75 votes.

Watch a video of the candidates running for president of Associated Students of Riverside City College now at YouTube by subscribing to ViewpointsofRCC. Find out the results on May 4 by liking Viewpoints’ Facebook fanpage by searching “Riverside City College Viewpoints” Also follow Viewpoints on Twitter: @RCCViewpoints

Cuts arise in the student government budget at RCC Associated Students of RCC revises its budget it also gets caught in the college’s cuts Jeremy fuerte Staff Writer In the face of the worst economy since the Great Depression, nine members of the Associated Students of Riverside City College were faced with the difficult task of creating a rough draft of the Associated Students of RCC budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year.

The committee spent a total of two days deliberating over different proposals before finally voting on a rough draft.

“We spent two long days looking over the proposals,” Miguel Bagsit, co-director of the board of commissioners said, “It was a grueling process and justifying the decisions we made was the hardest part.”

This is Bagsit’s first year involved in ASRCC, and he is running for vice president of ASRCC for the next school year. He was focused on providing as much funding as possible to clubs on campus and hoped to get

students more involved with the college.

“Contemplating who to sponsor and whether it was fair was hard to decide,” he said, “Giving everyone as much as we should and getting students involved was our main goal.”

Bagsit was joined by John Peña, chairman of the interclub council, who also hopes to get more students involved on campus and raise school spirit.

“The main goal of creating the budget was to reach out and motivate students to become more involved on campus, as well as to remove the stigma that most students perceive of community colleges by instilling school pride into the students,” Peña said.

In order to finalize the budget, it must now be approved by the ASRCC Senate and signed by the president of ASRCC; however, the rough budget moderately increases the funding for sports and clubs but decreases the funding for ASRCC. In order to make up for this decrease,

Joey Reynoso, interim president of ASRCC, hopes to see a student representation fee passed.

“I would like to see a student representation fee passed so we can have more lobbying days so we can meet with more state assembly people and let them know what we’re facing with at our schools,” Reynoso said. “The thing is, lobbying works.”

Members of ASRCC have gone on lobbying trips in the past speaking to state assemblymen and hope to guarantee that there is always somebody fighting for students by having a student representation fee passed.

“If we have students contribute $1 for that fee, we can do so much more for the students and guarantee someone is constantly fighting for their rights and their needs,” Reynoso said.

Charged with creating an ASRCC budget in the face of budget cuts across the state,

members of the committee recognized the difficulty of creating a fair budget, but hope for a bigger budget in the future.

“I wish we had a bigger budget in order to reach out more to students, but I also understand that the economy isn’t in the best state right now,” Peña said. “We will have to work with what we have and make the best of it with the resources at our disposal.”

Bagsit will also have a hand in creating the ASRCC budget for the following fiscal year if he is elected.

“Creating the budget is difficult and this was my first year in helping to draft it,” Bagsit said. “My ultimate goal is to be fair and equal when creating the budget.”

With a new ASRCC president coming in next year, he or she will have a challenge.

“Whoever it may be, they’re going to have a very tense situation on their hands that they are going to take on, so I definitely think it’s going to take on a shadowing process next year,” Reynoso said.

Viewpoints

News

April 26, 2012 | 5

Serving students since 1922

Riverside honors its Veterans

The ‘A Salute to Veterans Parade’ marched through Riverside April 21 to honor the Veterans Courtney Coleman Staff Writer Military vehicles rode along Mangolia Avenue as Riverside honored its veterans in the “A Salute to Veterans Parade” on April 21.

The parade started in the lower campus parking lot of Riverside City College as the participants geared up for the long route of the parade beginning at Ramona Street and ending on Tenth Street.

The parade featured World War II vehicles packed with military families, Scotsmen marching in kilts, and an appearance from the mayor and C-17 flyovers.

Organizations like the 82nd Airborne WWII Living History Association and The Combat Infantrymen’s Association had various cars in the parade too.

Other non-profits walked amongst the crowd, shaking hands and handing out medals to veterans standing by watching the festivities.

RCC’s Veterans Club members rode on a truck during the parade.

The club also hoped to let the community know they are doing their part to honor the veterans.

“It’s a great camaraderie builder for the veterans within the Veterans Club,” said Jose Villasenor, the club’s president.

“We don’t have many things going for us within the school yet, so the first chance I saw (the parade) come up, I jumped on it for us to build cohesiveness within our club.”

Bystanders withstood the hot weather to show their respects to veterans and current military

personnel.

Amid the crowd were veterans like Gill Zimmerman, who was overjoyed to see his community honoring men and women like him.

“We’ve been aware of the parade for several years and it’s a great thing,” he said.

Zimmerman came to Riverside in 1973 after receiving an offer to serve at March Airforce Base’s hospital and has been a part of the community ever since.

Other veterans like Bob Martinez, retired from the Marine Corps, was given the opportunity to participate in the parade itself.

“I was in the Marine Corps even though I’m in an Army jeep,” Martinez said. “It’s a great thrill.”

S o m e o f t h e p a r a d e ’s participants had family members who had served in the military.

For Fred McDowell, dressing up as a WWII paratrooper was his way of honoring his late father, Frank McDowell, who had served during WWII. “(He) was a military police man, who right at the end of the second World War, was sent to Germany to look for fugitive Nazis and escort them to the trials at Nuremberg,” Fred said of his father’s duties. “Later after that he came back to the United States, joined the National Guard, and then he went to Japan; he got to see what it was like in both countries that had been devastated by war.”

The “A Salute to Veterans Parade” reminded the community not to forget our country’s heroes.

“I’m from the generation that when we grew up there were World War II veterans everywhere,” Fred

Allison Perez / Photo Editor

Waving old glory: Gill and Maria Zimmerman wave their American flags as the “A Salute to Veterans Parade” pass by them near the Riverside Community Hospital. said. “And now as they pass on, there are fewer and fewer people to tell their story.”

Other participants shared their appreciation for those who sacrificed their lives for their freedom.

“We are blessed to have freedom,” Annie Lunetta said.

“Our veterans have lost their lives in order to give us that and we are proud to be part of this parade.”

Watch a video of the “A Salute to Veterans Parade” now on YouTube by subscribing to ViewpointsofRCC

Allison Perez / photo editor

Soldier in the field: Logan Creighton helps re-enact soldiers from WWII as a way of honoring veterans.

RCC Veterans seek to be mentors in the community

The Veterans club at RCC are going to be a part of a coalition to help homeless Veterans Javier Cabrera Editor in Chief Assisting and tutoring are common actions taken by Riverside City College students to get through their classes, but the Veterans Club at RCC is taking those two actions to another level.

The Veterans Club has joined a Homeless Veterans Coalition group in Riverside to help guide homeless veterans back to the right path.

“The Homeless Veterans Coalition program is just to streamline a one stop center for homeless veterans to get them from the streets to basically a working-class citizen,” said Jose Villasenor, president of the RCC Veterans Club.

The club got its break to participate with the coalition through an invitation from the club’s former president, Marquis Palmer, who is a homeless outreach specialist for Riverside.

“He’s reaching back out to us

and wants RCC specifically to be the first educational group to help out,” Villasenor said.

Villasenor said the club has come a long way since it first started in a broom closet in the cafeteria at RCC and being a group of Veterans.

“We’re actually trying to become something more tangible than just a group of people, who are veterans, we’re actually trying to help each other out in more than just one way,” he said.

Villasenor said Palmer figured the club can be an arm in the coalition because they can help veterans figure out if they want to return to college and earn an education, and the club can help the veterans with anything they might want to know about college.

“As student veterans, we can’t tell them exactly how to go about their business, but we can point them in the right direction,” Villasenor said.

Villasenor said the club was welcoming to the idea of being

a part of the coalition when he pitched the idea to them. “(Each member) comes from different backgrounds and each one of them has their own difficult issues and each one of us can feed off each other with different information and help,” he said.

Abdul Romero-Green, an RCC Veteran student, said he can relate to the other homeless Veterans because he was homeless once.

“I was homeless for a week and I got the information from a cop, who was a fellow veteran, to go to Loma Linda, where they do checkups on you to make sure you don’t have any issues,” he said.

Romero-Green said the checkups are needed to clear a veteran to stay at the U.S. Vets Riverside on the March Air force base.

“I’ve been staying there for like a year now and through that program it helps veterans get back on their feet,” he said. “(My) life took a toll and they helped me get my paperwork together, like my permanent residence card and work force, then helped me get

back to school.”

Romero-Green said he is always willing to help someone in need.

He said he does not feel great about what he has when he sees someone else struggling at the time he is being blessed.

“If I see someone walk through the door for the first time I just say ‘you need something?’ and point them in the right direction,” Romero-Green said. “I joined this (coalition) because it helps me network and helps my social skills.”

Luis Solis / Staff Photographer

A helping hand: Jose Villasenor (right) is the president

of the Veterans club at RCC, which will be joining a coalition to assist homeless Veterans in Riverside.

Viewpoints

News

Serving students since 1922

6 | April 26, 2012

Notable writers visit RCC club

The Stay Classy Creative Writing Club at RCC invites several writers to share their work Jeremy fuerte Staff Writer Members of the Stay Classy Creative Writing Club were unable to hide their excitement last week as published writers Donna Hilbert and Chiwan Choi visited Riverside to share their poetry and speak with students.

“It’s this mixture of awesome admiration but at the same time you can connect with them on a personal level,” Jazzy Smith said of the writers. “Seeing them in person is like seeing a celebrity.”

Smith is the president of the club at Riverside City College and she isn’t the only one who appreciates meeting with published writers.

“It energizes us as a club and connects us with the literary world so people see we aren’t just sitting around and daydreaming,” Brennan Gonering said. “We’re actually involved in the community.”

Instructor Jo Scott-Coe makes much of this possible by asking her contacts in the literary world to come and speak to the club.

“You have to pay attention to what you like, go to other readings, meet people and talk to people, buy books, and just follow up and continue contact,” she said.

As an instructor, Scott-Coe believes it is important to students to be able to interact with writers.

“It’s incredibly important because it gives students an opportunity to see that literature is alive,” she said. “It’s not dead on the street.”

On April 19, Scott-Coe put her connections to work asking Hilbert to visit RCC to show a screening of “Grief Becomes Me: A Love Story,” and read some of her poetry

Kristin kamoto / Special to Viewpoints

stay classy: Chiwan Choi, a published writer, met with the Stay Classy Creative Writing Club and shared his work. to a packed audience.

“It was really fun,” Hilbert said. “As a writer, if you ever want to sell a book you have to come out to these events, but it was really fun to come out and speak to this group.”

Hilbert has been writing for over 30 years and her latest work was published in the fall of 2011.

She was a college dropout but went back to school through a community college, eventually earning her master’s degree. The community college system holds a special place in her heart.

“I wouldn’t have been able to go back to school if it hadn’t been for the community college

system, and some of the best professors I’ve ever had were at the community college,” she said. “I love going to speak to community colleges.”

On April 20, Chiwan Choi made the two hour long trip from Los Angeles to Riverside in order to share his poetry at Back to the Grind and was pleased with the turnout.

“I was really surprised on a Friday night, on a hot day like that, to see a whole bunch of college aged people packed in a coffee house for a poetry reading,” he said. “That was fantastic and a couple of the open mic people were really good.”

Like Hilbert, Choi believes it is important to connect with students and aspiring writers.

“For a group like Stay Classy you need to connect with people that are passionate about what you do,” he said.

Choi’s essays and poems have been featured in numerous journals and magazines. His first major collection of poetry was published in 2010.

He now owns a small publishing company with which he aspires to help other writers become known.

“My wife and I started this publishing company because we just felt writers weren’t being

respected or printed enough,” he said. “We just happened to know a bunch of talented writers who weren’t getting published so we wanted to do our part to get their work out there.”

Under the leadership of Smith, the Stay Classy Creative Writing Club is going to publish some of its members’ poetry in a chapbook.

She said she hopes the club continues to grow and is known for being a safe place for writers to express themselves.

“Our goal is to have a safe place for written expression and to help people find themselves in a safe community, it sounds a little like therapy,” she said, laughing.

Student Services, cuts and possible future changes

A look at Student Services for the upcoming 2012-2013 academic year at RCC itzel farias Asst. news editor With the anticipated budget cuts for the upcoming academic year, students are interested in the effects it will have on them and their education.

Compared to this year, students will probably feel the effect of budget cuts slightly more than before.

With Riverside Community College District facing a budget cut of about $14.7 million and Riverside City College having to make a cut of around $2.7 million, the change is sure to be felt.

“It’s difficult to exactly pinpoint what the effects are going to be on the students because we haven’t actually been through it,” said Edward Bush, vice president of Student Services. “We were making our determinations of our cuts in student services; we really try to operate under the philosophy of what can we cut that will have the least effect on our students.”

The cuts have to be made and the students at RCC will be the first

ones to be impacted.

The Extended Opportunity Programs and Services, known as EOPS, is one area that will be affected by the budget cuts.

The program assists low income students in achieving academic success by providing them with the right tools and resources.

It will face a cut of over $200,000 and the two counselors, who meet with the students that are in the program, will be reduced to one.

This will surely be felt by the students because meeting with their counselor is mandated and the program will now have to organize themselves with just one counselor and still be able to provide for their students.

“Three years ago, the state reduced our budget by approximately 32 to 40 percent, but what the college district did at that time was to use its own money, to what we call ‘backfield money’… to fill that gap,” Bush said. “So for the last three years

we didn’t have to take any cuts to that program… but because of the budget cut situation the district can no longer provide that backfield money and so we had to reduce that.”

However, the program is looking into using other resources to provide its students with the information they need, such as general counseling, advisers and technology. Still, nothing is yet set in stone.

Other areas that are facing cuts are staff, student workers and athletics.

The student worker budget of $30,000 has been eliminated and there is a possibility of staff reduction.

Athletics is taking a cut of about $218,000. Many expenses were reduced, including travel costs.

Bush said the athletic coaches at RCC were involved with the reduction of the athletics department’s budget.

“They came around the table and looked at their budget and then

they made their recommendations to get to the target they needed to hit,” Bush said. “However, budget suggestions have to be approved by the Board of Trustees so that won’t become official until the next board meeting this month.”

Along with budget cuts, new programs are being looked into as well.

The two year completion guarantee is one of them.

This program will give students from Riverside, who have graduated from Riverside Unified School District and Alvord Unified School District, and who are eligible to take English 50 (or higher) and math 35 (or higher) priority registration if they opt to follow the contract.

The contract states that the students must take at least 15 credits a semester, finish within two years, and take English and math in their first semester, among other requirements; they are projecting about 275 eligible incoming freshmen.

The Out of Order Committee

is also considering implementing a “unit cap.”

Once a student hits his or her unit cap, that is to say, completes a certain number of units to where they are at “a position to move on,” they will go to the end of the list in registration to allow other students to move up. This will help students access the courses they need and help them advance and somewhat alleviate the difficulty of getting into a class.

“I think it’s important for them (students) to value the seat that they’re in when they’re in a class,” Bush said. “A lot of students drop and withdraw if they don’t like the course.”

Bush said the students do not have the luxury to decide when they want to take a class.

“It’s trying to be a little difficult because in the past they knew that in the next term they would be able to get in the class again and that might not be the case,” he said. “So, my advice to them is for them to value the class and have a set plan.”

News

Viewpoints

Serving students since 1922

April 26, 2012 | 7

RCC braces for freeway closures

A spokeswoman from Caltrans warns RCC students of the 91 freeway construction project itzel farias Asst. news editor Commuting to Riverside City College will change for many students and faculty now that the construction of the State Route 91/ High Occupancy Vehicle project, also known as the SR-91 HOV project, has begun.

The project consists of the construction of a high occupancy vehicle lane (a carpool lane) in each direction of State Route 91, which is meant to help alleviate car congestion, as well as the modification and reconstruction of 13 bridges.

The reconstruction of these 13 bridges is one of the concerns many students and faculty have.

The impact it may have on the population of the campus and finding a detour to their regular route are a few of them.

“Each bridge will be down for about a year each,” said Shelli Lombardo, Caltrans public information officer. “Bridges will not be down at the same time, if you use one bridge, you have to find your way through another.”

Lombardo suggests students should add 45 minutes to their commute, especially when construction for the 14th Street bridge starts, because there will be only one lane for each direction.

Allison Perez / Photo editor

Traffic jam: The bridge on Cridge Street, which intersects Riverside City College near the Cosmetology department, is

one of 13 bridges Caltrans is rebuilding through the State Route 91/High Occupancy Vehicle project.

The 14th Street bridge will be time, you will dropped from your probably condense my classes into As it will take time for this under construction for a year and class,” Lombardo said. lesser days.” project to be completed, Lombardo a half to two years.

Kevin Grissom, a student at One of the major concerns suggests students to stay updated Commuting to the college RCC, is one of the many that will Grissom has is the length of time with the status of the project. with extra time will be crucial for be affected by the project. the project will take to complete.

“Really know about this project students because the same rules “I ride my bike to school, so The project is estimated to be so (they) can get into the campus still apply. it’s going to add even more time completed in three and half years; and into (their) classes on time,” “Keep in mind that if any of to get to the college because riding with construction ending in 2015. she said. you have financial aid, if any of a bike already takes longer than “Major concern that I have Students can email Lombardo you play sports, this (project) will a car,” Grissom said. “I come is that contractions always take for more information at shelli_ affect you, if you are in and out of here five days a week, Monday to longer than they say they will,” lombardo@dot.ca.gov with the the campus... if you’re not here on Friday, and because of that, I will Grissom said. subject title of “91 .”

8 | April 26, 2012

Viewpoints

Serving students since 1922

Viewpoints

Opinions Serving students since 1922

Viewpoints Staff

April 26, 2012 | 9

EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Javier Cabrera (951) 222-8495 viewpoints@rcc.edu eic@viewpointsonline.org MANAGING EDITOR Destiny Rivera 951-222-8488 managingeditor@viewpointsonline.org ADVERTISING MANAGER Leah Frost 951-222-8488 ads@viewpointsonline.org FACULTY ADVISERS Allan Lovelace Dan Evans NEWS EDITOR Ashley Anderson news@viewpointsonline.org

SPORTS EDITOR James Williams sports@viewpointsonline.org

FEATURES EDITOR OPINIONS EDITOR Sam Finch Amanda Rougeaux opinions@viewpointsonline.org features@viewpointsonline.org

Illustration by Susan Parker

Passing through: Los Angeles high school students may get easier graduation requirements.

PHOTO EDITOR Allison Perez photo@viewpointsonline.org

Putting aside the value of education

STAFF Gabriel Alvarado Diego Alvarez Brian Bash Kayleigh Brown Monique Carrasco Amanda Charter Edwin Chavez Iliana Chavez Courtney Coleman Edward Diaz Sean Egle Itzel Farias Jeremy Fuerte Roberto Gonzalez Oscar Grover Daniel Haskins Jasmine Hoof Norihito Ikeda

Jarred Jackson Shawanda Kinsey Lizbeth Landeros Paul Ledesma Sean Maulding Fred McCarthy Audrey Mosley Susan Parker Alejandra Rodriguez Rafael Rodriguez Laith Salama Selenne Sevilla Luis Solis Na’Ilah Thomas Jonathan Vela Franco Villalobos Veronica Widman Alexis Wiest

Education seems to be the item on the back burner.

While higher education continues to be struck by large cuts, the Los Angeles Unified School District has decided to make a decision that reflects in a negative way to students.

The district wants to reduce the credits its high school students need to graduate and receive a diploma.

The high school students need 230 credits to graduate but the district wants to reduce 25 percent and make the requirement 170 credits.

The reason why the district wants to make the change is because they want to reduce the risk of its students dropping out of school.

“If we don’t do something, we have to be prepared to be pushing out kids as dropouts,” Jamie Aquino, the deputy superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, said to the LA Times in the article “LAUSD considers lowering the bar for graduation” by Howard Blume.

“We face a massive dropout rate in four years,” he said to the LA Times.

Along with decreasing the required credits needed to graduate, the district wants to allow its students to pass college-prep classes with a “D”, although college students must pass their college classes with at least a “C.” Marlene Canter, a former board member of the district, said in the article that the decisions by the Los Angeles Unified School District do not make sense to push for a college-prep curriculum but not the grades necessary for the courses to count.

The decision is not appealing because, at a time when education is needed to continue driving a nation that is in a bad situation with its economy, the United States need to

LETTERS TO THE

EDITOR

Letters to the editor should be kept to 250 words or less. Deliver letters to the Viewpoints office in the room behind the Assessment Building. Viewpoints reserves the right to edit letters for space and to reject libelous or obscene letters. Letters to the editor and columns represent the opinions of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the entire Viewpoints staff, Viewpoints faculty advisers, student government, faculty, administration nor the Board of Trustees.

look out for its youth and make sure the future of the nation will be in good hands.

By making a decision to make students feel receiving a “D” in their classes okay, the school is making the thought process of these students worse, because the students are now thinking whatever they do with minimum work will get them through life.

Having enough to get by is not the mind set American children should set themselves for in life because if the youth of the nation thinks this way, then nothing will get done and the production and growth from these students will continue to decrease.

The message the Los Angeles Unified School District is sending its students is that they do not need discipline and they do not need to be motivated to work their hardest and reach for their highest goals in life.

Andres Schleicher, the senior education official at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, said only New Zealand, Spain, Turkey and Mexico have lower high school completion rates than the U.S., according to an article from the New York Times titled “Many nations Passing U.S. education, experts say,” by Sam Dillon.

“About seven in 10 American students get a high school diploma,” Schleicher said.

Schleicher said Finland has the world’s best performing education system because of its highly effective way of recruiting, training and supporting teachers.

The United States needs to learn from Finland and care for its students and teachers and stop taking resources from the education, because the road Americans are taking right now is going to lead them to more ugly issues.

Viewpoints’ editorials represent the majority opinion of and are written by the Viewpoints student editorial board.

Member:

viewpoints R

California Newspaper Publishers Association

Journalism Association of Community Colleges

Associated Collegiate Press

I

V

E

R

S

I

D

E

C

I

T

Y

C

O

L

L

E

Vol. XXXVIVI, No. 12

G

E

April 26, 2012

Reach us: PHONE: (951) 222-8488 E-mail: viewpoints@rcc.edu Editor in Chief PHONE: (951) 222-8495

Printing Schedule

Copy deadline: Photo deadline: Ad deadline: Next issue:

May May May May

1 2 2 10

Viewpoints is a public forum, First Amendment newspaper.

Student editors have authority to make all content decisions without censorship or advance approval. © 2012 by the Viewpoints staff, Riverside City College, 4800 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside, CA. 92506-0528. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission of the Viewpoints Editor-in-Chief.

Viewpoints

10 | April 26, 2012

Opinions

Serving students since 1922

A rescue call turns the wrong way Franco Villalobos Staff Writer The national emergency number 911 was created so that people could call local police authorities for help in a time of crisis or emergency. Unfortunately, there have been more than a few mishandled cases at the cost of the caller’s life.

According to CBS Denver. com, on April 1 at approximately 4:10 a.m. a gentleman by the name of Jimma Reat, 25, along with family members and a friend, were on their way back home in a rental Dodge Charger.

As they were driving down Sheridan Boulevard a few unidentified male suspects in a Jeep Cherokee began throwing miscellaneous items at the Dodge.

According to Sony Jackson from Denver police, the suspects in the Jeep threw a bottle at the victims’ car, breaking the rear window.

Shortly after, one of the suspects pointed a handgun at the victims in the Dodge Charger. Jimma Reat and his company managed to escape from the danger.

The victims then did what everyone is programmed to do in a situation such as this and dialed 911 for help.

Reat’s cousin Ran Pal, who was also in the Dodge Charger, called 911 to report what had happened.

During the call the 911 dispatcher instructed them to

return to the location where the incident had happened in order for them to receive police assistance.

Reat and the 911 dispatcher argued over returning to the scene, though the dispatcher won the argument.

In the dispatcher’s defense, Reat and his company were no longer within local police jurisdiction.

Reat and his group trusted the instructions of a professionally trained 911 dispatcher and returned to the location where they found themselves with the suspects in the Jeep Cherokee again.

This time, the suspects’ malicious actions did not break another window, they took the life of Jimma Reat.

Later, during a news conference, Carl Simpson, executive director of Denver 911, said that the dispatcher followed “lower level policies”, where a driver is to return to the scene if it was a minor hit and run accident for police assistance.

The Executive Director also said the dispatcher should have been aware that this was a “higherlevel” event, meaning someone’s life was being threatened.

It appears that the dispatcher that took the call has been placed on leave while authorities investigate the case.

Ernie Fransseen, Denver 911 operations manager sent out an apology to Reat’s family.

“We have policies that say we could have responded outside of Denver or could have involved other jurisdiction,” said Ernie Fransseen.

It is hard to imagine that if a call to 911 was never made, this nightmare would have just ended with a broken window on an insured rental vehicle.

Reat and his group trusted in

Diego alvarez / staff photographer

Misjudgment: Victim Jimma Reat, 25, needlessly loses his life after a 911 operator’s advise sends him to his family back to the scene of a violent crime in Denver, CO. the guidance of the dispatcher just like most others would do.

Even 911 is not perfect. Though there are highly trained specialists on the other end of the phone line, there is still plenty of room for human error.

In this case, and in many other cases, a fatal error.

In this particular story there are many unanswered questions. How did the dispatcher not know what procedure to follow?

According to Denver 911 it was a misjudgment on the dispatcher’s behalf and did not assess the situation correctly, though isn’t that what these dispatchers are trained to do in the first place?

The dispatcher was clearly at fault here. When dispatchers make decisions, they have lives in their hands.

After reading many other reports of mishandled 911 calls it becomes clear that 911 dispatchers

are in fact trained, but how many different types of emergencies can you really be trained for?

Perhaps we need to look at the way they are trained or even go as far as to how much our states fund these 911 call centers to find out if these dispatches really are fully and properly trained for any and every situation.

Another factor would be the type of people who are actually hired to answer these calls.

Do we have people that actually care for others in danger and want to help?

What about all the false alarms 911 receives when someone calls as a prank or for a meaningless reason?

Real emergency calls have been confused with pranks in the past. It is safe to assume that dispatchers get frustrated with all of the pranks they get and start to take situations less seriously.

According to National Emergency Number Association, 45 percent of calls in 2011 were false alarms.

We could all help and become aware of the way our 911 centers are run by looking up the National Emergency Number Association or log on to Votesmart.org.

We c o u l d s t r e n g t h e n o r help reform our 911 system by logging on to existing projects like the Denise Amberlee project (deniseamberlee.org).

If we put more information about the 911 call centers out in the open to educate people on the procedures and the incident levels we may be able to understand why this misunderstanding happened.

No matter the excuse, it comes down to someone in need dialing 911 and the dispatchers’ decisions and knowledge to carefully assess the situation and give the right direction to the caller.

Students are being asked prior to enrolling into colleges

Jasmine Hoof Staff Writer We are all familiar with the usual school applications that are filled out every year and what the questions consist of. The common questions include name, date of birth, and ethnicity. But what if they added sexual orientation as a question?

Of course, like the rest of the inquest, it would all be voluntary.

Though if you did answer, would you answer it honestly?

Unlike the other questions this subject is not exactly out there in the open for everyone to see like ethnicity. It is up to the individual to share that information, whether freely or to a select number of people.

I personally can say that this topic carries positive and negative outcomes in the end depending on that person’s willingness to tell

what was or still may be a secret.

From a positive perspective, I think colleges would be the best place to conduct this experiment. It is the most open and nonjudgmental environment.

Students feel more comfortable expressing their views and choices during this time without the pressure of being ridiculed for it.

This is when we are figuring out who we are and meant to become.

Students would be more open to answering the question with honesty and without worry.

By asking this of students, we could put the information to good use.

“Collecting such data would help schools know whether they are offering enough services targeting the gay and lesbian population, such as support and counseling,” said KTLA. Having more ways for the gay and lesbian groups to reach out and be accepted would definitely be a huge improvement that our society needs.

The most common reasons for depression are because of dealing with the challenge of sexual orientation. We need to

prove that we are understanding of their struggles and are accepting and open.

Homosexual persons are no different than the rest of the world’s population and there are people who can help and who want to help.

Unfortunately you have to look at the negatives as well. First off, would people be willing to “out” themselves for a better cause? For many, they would see this as a way to single out students who are gay and ridicule them.

Also, could we trust people to answer honestly? There are still many who want to keep their sexual identity a secret and are not ready to be publicly recognized.

When it came down to asking students how they felt about a survey like this the outcome was very positive. Almost all agreed that this was a great idea and a great way to accept the homosexual lifestyle as a normal part in our society.

This is a perfect example of how our college community, gay or straight, are willing to try out new ideas and integrate all students.

na’ilah Thomas /staff photographer

Colleges may ask: A new question may be added to the

college registration questionnaire.

With the college atmosphere All in all, in order for something to work without worrying about being so open and accepting it the consequences that could occur, should be no problem at all to we have to take precautions to perform a survey like this to make make students more comfortable sure everyone gets their needs with releasing such personal met and feels that there is at least one place that will always accept information.

For instance, we could make them.

Straight, gay, transsexual, these surveys anonymous to insure our students’ privacy. Let our or bisexual, all of our student campuses know the benefits of p o p u l a t i o n d e s e r v e e q u a l doing these types of things to representation in our schools show how important it is and to ensure an amazing college make people aware of the benefits experience and a bright joyful future. it could have.

Viewpoints

Opinions

April 26, 2012 | 11

Serving students since 1922

Incidents that reflect a depression Selenne Sevilla Staff Writer A new study from researchers at Jay W. Forrester’s institute at Massachusetts institute of technology has recently predicted that the next great depression is set to occur in the year 2030.

“The world could suffer from a global economic collapse … (and) precipitous population decline if people continue to consume the world’s resources at the current pace,” the research study said.

This prediction can be more accurate than people hope it to be because of the direction the economy is heading now.

Most people don’t realize how many resources we all use and how easily our only resources could disappear.

As the population continues to increase so does the demand for resources, but resources in this economy are either limited or much too expensive.

Since population growth is outsourcing the world’s resources, the prediction of a second great depression is hardly surprising.

Half the world is already falling into economic depression rather rapidly.

“The world is on track for disaster,” said Australian physicist Graham Turner.

A great depression prediction can be very accurate because the U.S., being one of the nation’s biggest countries, is already in economic crisis.

Globalization’s effect has already increased in America due to companies having to cut their work force by moving their companies overseas so they can pay their workers less.

If jobs are being outsourced what jobs will be available to the people of the United States?

Thousands of Americans have already lost their jobs in the last few years and have yet to find a new source of work.

As a result, the demand for goods is decreasing. People do not have money to buy non-essentials because they are more concerned about paying for necessary living expenses that can become reposed at any given time.

As the demand for products goes down, so does the economy, causing more job loss and panic.

If unemployment numbers like the recent ones continue to increase, the accuracy of this prediction will become very true, and it may come sooner than the original prediction.

I n a r e c e n t n e w s p a p e r, “Depression is on the way,” released in 2008, a source says that Steve Keen, professor of economics at the University of Western Sydney, has been warning of a global financial crisis for almost three years.

And now that Wall Street is in meltdown, stock markets around the world are tumbling, and banks collapsing, his views are gaining credibility.

Given that an economics professor believes global financial crisis is on the way, this prediction should not be ignored.

Wall Street, the world’s largest stock exchange market, is in fact in meltdown.

Wall Street is not the only large stock market of the world.

pAUL lEDESMA / staff photographer

Foreclosure: The United States is now seeing more foreclosures and repossessions due to the state of the nation’s economy and unemployment.

Therefore, this suggests the debt has already begun to take its course and can lead to further exchange meltdowns and could even lead to the stock markets crashing.

An article, “Top 5 causes of the Great Depression” by Martin Kelly, was published in order to help people understand what factors led to the Great Depression.

“Two months after the original crash in October, stockholders had lost more than $40 billion dollars.

Even though the stock market began to regain some of its losses, by the end of 1930, it just was not enough and America truly entered what is called the Great Depression” Martin Kelly said.

This is frightening because we are already in a recession with many ups and downs. What if

there just isn’t enough money and resources to keep our economy afloat?

With these facts one can see that if a stock market crash is to happen in the United States again, people will be faced with a new, possibly more severe, great depression.

Stock markets are a main source for America’s income, along with the banks.

Unfortunately, banks are also beginning to collapse. Banks are not receiving enough payments and are therefore unsure about their economic stability. This has been causing banks to refrain from giving people loans and increase the amount of foreclosures on homes and businesses.

Because banks are refraining from giving out loans, people

have no way of making payments for things like houses and cars.

Their last source of income has been taken.

Banks and large companies are beginning to file for bankruptcy because they cannot repay debts owed to creditors due to of lack of income.

Because of many bankruptcy requests and other factors, struggling Americans are beginning to fear the prediction of the great depression may be frighteningly accurate.

Sources are pointing out that the United States and the global economy altogether are in a financial crisis that is not getting better.

If America does not resolve these issues rapidly, the world could be in for a rude awakening.

Viewpoints

12 | April 26, 2012

April 26, 2012 | 13

Serving students since 1922

Students express their creative side at RCC Destiny Rivera Managing Editor The sun was out and ready to paint the town red, literally.

With temperatures in the high 80s the artists who entered in Riverside City College’s “Chalk Walk” persevered through one of the first fiery days of spring.

Juan Samochoa worked on his piece all day on April 18; this was his second year entering the contest.

“I know I have a permanent sunburn for sure, for at least two weeks,” he said.

On top of that, he also received quite a lot of attention during the third day of the event, but the viewers were not much of a distraction.

“I’m pretty good about ignoring people,” he said.

“Usually, when I do art work, I zone out and just focus on what I’m doing.”

Chalk Walk is an event that has been going on for decades; it started in the late 1980’s with the Oceanography Club and continues today with only the Art Club, and the help of sponsoring from The Associated Students of Riverside City College.

This event went on the throughout Earth week, April 17 through 19 in front of the Martin Luther King Jr. Teaching and Learning Center, and was open to all RCC students, even if they were not in an art club or class.

“We try to encourage students to participate with the whole art scene,” Samochoa said.

“The majority of the students here are artists, but you don’t have to be an artist to participate.”

Norman Rockwell, an American artist who painted the “Four Freedoms” series in 1943, inspired Samochoa’s art piece.

The subject imagery rules were very specific. They included environmental concerns, such as disappearing rainforests, endangered species, pollution, and recycling.

Stacy Patino was another artist who entered in “Chalk Walk”; she has also taken several art classes at RCC. Patino said, “Since it is Earth week at RCC, I especially get really into it because I really think sustainable issues and Earth week is a big idea. I get really involved in it.”

The name of the original piece she worked on for the event was called “Love your Mother.”

“By ‘love’, I also mean to protect her. I am very inspired by nature,” said Patino.

“I know that it had to focus around Earth, having a protector, preserving her, and recycling issues. I thought about Earth and about how she nurtured us to help us grow up in our environment. We should preserve it for future generations and on.”

The only media allowed was non- toxic chalks and pastels.

The art club provided a limited amount for contestants from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., but artists had the option to bring a bulk of their own.

To finish his drawing of an octopus, Francisco Mesa had to come back the next day with his own vibrant colors.

“I am trying to make it colorful, because normally they’re seen more as a darker type of animal, and the lighter colors help. I want to bold everything up; add more contrast to make it pop out, and add more intense colors,” said Mesa “I don’t actually have the colors with me so I might have to bring them tomorrow so I could finish up by 12.”

After seeing a few of the drawings, Mesa knew he wanted to enter a piece based off the sea.

“To begin with, I had no idea what I actually was going to draw, but I saw that all the people were using more land animals that were more mammal based, so I thought ‘let’s use something from the sea,’’’ he said.

“It had to be an Earth based theme, which I kind of forgot about when I started doing this sea creature. I started incorporating the Earth and there are other elements that I am going to try to incorporate.”

Entries considered for awards were only original pieces of work.

Disqualifications went to any pieces that disrespected the guidelines, were inappropriate, or lacked theme.

First prize went to Stacy Patino, who won $75 for her “Love your Mother” work of art.

allison perez / photo editor

Taking Home The Money: Winner Stacy Patino avoids the heat and works on her “Love your Mother” art piece in the afternoon on April 18.

Allison perez / Photo Editor

Shading in the Shadows: Third place winner Robert Mesa fills in his

drawing under the cool shade.

allison perez / photo editor

Eyes on the prize: Juan Samochoa doesn’t lose focus due to onlookers for his Chalk Walk entry.

14 | April 26, 2012

Viewpoints

Serving students since 1922

Opinions

Viewpoints

Serving students since 1922

April 26, 2012 | 15

Viewpoints

Serving students since 1922

16 | April 26, 2012

America’s favorite teenager

stephanie holland senior staff assistant

Long before MTV, VH-1, iTunes and YouTube, “American Bandstand” was where young people went for the latest popular music.

As the host of “Bandstand,” Dick Clark was the man responsible for introducing America to everyone from Elvis Presley to Madonna.

For over 30 years, Clark, often called “America’s oldest living teenager,” brought the latest music, dances and fashion into homes around the country like an old friend who always seemed to know what everyone wanted to see and hear before they even knew it.

Clark passed away from a heart attack at the age 82 on April 18.

Clark began on “Bandstand” in 1956, taking it national in 1957.

From that point on every major music act appeared on the show.

Clark’s chemistry with the dancers and his non-threatening image helped rock and roll music reach a wider audience at a time when it was considered immoral.

He also had African-American artists on mainstream television and had integrated dancing with black and white teenagers when segregation was still the accepted practice.

As such he is often credited with changing the course of popular music.

Following his success on

“American Bandstand,” Clark branched out and began to build a TV empire that included “The $10,000 Pyramid,” “The American Music Awards,” “TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes” and of course “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.” Since 1972, Clark’s annual countdown from Times Square has been the benchmark of New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Following his stroke in 2004 Clark missed that year’s show but returned in 2005 and has cohosted every year since with Ryan Seacrest.

Seacrest has often been compared to Clark and remembered his mentor in a statement.

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of my dear friend Dick Clark. He has truly been one of the greatest influences in my life,” Seacrest said. “I idolized him from the start, and I was graced early on in my career with his generous advice and counsel.”

As word of his passing hit the Internet, many fans responded via Twitter that New Year’s Eve wouldn’t be the same without Clark.

Clark’s loss and iconic status was commented on in a statement

by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

“With ‘American Bandstand,’ he introduced decades’ worth of viewers to the music of our times. He reshaped the television landscape forever as a creative and

abc radio

legacy: Beginning with “Bandstand,” Dick Clark reshaped the entertainment inudstry. innovative producer,” Obama said.

“And, of course, for 40 years, we welcomed him into our homes to ring in the New Year.”

For nearly 60 years Dick Clark has been a television staple.

He kept America dancing and laughing through some of its hardest times.

The legacy of his contributions simply cannot be measured, however they can be seen in

the success of programs like “American Idol,” “The Voice,” “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” none of which would have been possible without Clark paving the way.

Viewpoints

Serving students since 1922

Inscape

April 26, 2012 | 17

‘Sun comes up’ at Landis theater Monique Carrascos Staff Writer Performance Riverside, Riverside’s theatre and performing arts program, has put on yet another extraordinary show on Riverside City College’s stage.

Certainly everyone remembers the classic story of a young, spirited orphan in search of her parents; an orphan who taught us that it’s a “hard knock life,” but things will turn out alright, because “tomorrow is only a day away.”

This little girl is none other than Annie, star of the film which won the hearts of millions with her charm, her courage, and most of all, her voice.

For anyone who has for some crazy reason not seen or heard of this film or the Broadway original, it is just about as theatrical as films come, and it is a musical; one with songs and musical numbers that are not so easy to perform.

With that being said, every person involved in the production of this play should most definitely be applauded.

The choreographers, the makeup artists, the costume-designers, the director, the live orchestra, everyone in between, and needless to say, the performers all worked together to create two hours of magic on the stage.

These performers had their work cut out for them on so many different levels.

Not only must they memorize lines and act out scenes as any movie actor would do, they also had to learn dance routines and sing tremendously famous Broadway style songs.

Not to mention the fact that everything is live and continuousif anything goes wrong, there are no second takes, and there will be no editing or voiceovers.

Forgotten lines, stumbling, tripping, voices cracking— unacceptable, for as they say in

performance riverside

Eternal Optimist: Jaidyn Young as Annie.

performance riverside

‘Tomorrow Tomorrow:’ John Shannon as Franklin Delano Roosevelt (center) offers

America a new deal in Performance Riverside’s production of “Annie.” theater, the show must go on.

David Aldrete, who played the As young as they are, most of Fortunately, opening night part of Oliver Warbucks, said his these girls have been in several was a success for Performance favorite part of his experience with musicals before this one, and all Riverside, as the play seemed to “Annie” had to be working with hope to be in many, many more. go on flawlessly. such wonderful talents.

“I started out dancing in This was certainly to be “As prepared as we felt we preschool. Then I realized I also expected of the older, more were, adding an audience on enjoyed singing, and when I was experienced performers, but the Opening Night was a third element eight, I saw a flyer for the musical biggest surprise of the night was no one could be completely ready production of School House Rock, the professionalism displayed by for,” said Natasha Harris, who got a part in that, and went from all of the younger girls. played Grace Farrell. there,” said Talia Atallah, who There were about 13 girls of But she felt that everyone did played July. varying ages in the production. very well, and was proud of the There were obviously some They primarily played the performance the girls gave, though high expectations for this play, roles of Annie’s friends from Harris said with those voices, she considering how familiar everyone the orphanage, and each one, as was not exactly surprised. is with the film, but with a whole young as she was, sang and danced The quality of the girls’ lot of charisma and a whole lot of with just as much passion and performance at such young ages talent, Performance Riverside was personality as the most seasoned must be due in part to their love able to create their own fantastic adult performer. and appreciation of theatre. interpretation of “Annie.”

A dream well on New spin on horror genre the way to reality Laith Salama staff writer

Monique Carrasco Staff Writer

The 10th Annual Riverside International Film Festival has finally arrived, and there happens to be a very special film being premiered this year, which should make Riverside City College students particularly excited to attend.

This film belongs to none other than Will Kim, an assistant art professor here at RCC. Kim’s film is an animated short inspired by his blind grandfather, who, as Kim puts it, “sees the world through his mind.”

Essentially, the film is about the dreams and imagination of a blind man, and Kim’s interpretation of what sort of magic and figures he might experience without possessing the gift of sight.

The story is told through Kim’s paintings, which, based on what has been presented in the trailer, are generously, vibrantly colorful, and are all sort of paradoxically messy and precise.

They are the perfect images to portray the obscurity which goes on in the minds of the blind.

The illustrations are, of course, created by Kim himself, with music and sound by Tatenori Hamasaka, and storyboard by both

Kim and Josue Geronimo.

Interestingly enough, Geronimo actually happens to be a student of Kim’s, whose film will also be featured in this year’s festival in the student night category.

Kim expresses his pride in Geronimo on his official art blog, where he also writes of the ways 2012 is turning out to be a great year for him in both his personal and professional life.

Not only is his first feature film about to premiere at the festival, but he and his wife Jian are just days away from the birth of their first baby boy.

Things have most definitely been looking up for Kim recently.

The Riverside International Film Festival runs April 29. For more information go to riverside filmfest.org

It’s highly recommended that if the reader has not seen “Cabin in the Woods,” they should stop what they’re doing and go see it, because it was great.

Not knowing anything about it was 50 percent of what made it so enjoyable.

That being said, this movie was mind blowing.

I t s t a r t s o ff u n u s u a l l y, introducing the villains, then continues on to introduce the characters.

Thank God they introduced our heroes; the number one issue about horror movies is they never offer teenagers the viewers can care about while they wait for them to be slaughtered. In “The Cabin in the Woods,” fans didn’t want them to die.

The movie progresses in an intentionally traditional fashion.

They come across a creepy old man telling them it’s a bad idea to go into that cabin. They go anyway.

There’s a lot of teenage antics, including sex, drugs, and loud music, but nothing too crazy. There was plenty of clever dialogue and classy filming.

Then they find some shady antiques that raise the “zombie redneck torture family” from their graves, and the murdering blood

Image courtesy of: Lionsgate frenzy begins.

It appears that the cabin in the The movie develops a sense of movie was the same one used in humor that makes all the recycled the “Evil Dead” movies, or it was material original. at least meant to look that way.

Everything that happens to the When the movie ends, the heroes is organized and controlled viewer will have a lot of questions, by a mysterious organization that but they honestly don’t matter. appears otherwise harmless, like Maybe it’s the chaotic ending normal office workers. These are or the comedic side that makes the comic reliefs. otherwise valid questions about And let’s just say the movie everything going on irrelevant, but is an emotional roller coaster. the point is that the questions take It jumps back and forth without a far backseat to the ride. warning from scary to funny to This movie was a good time, creepy to lovable, repeat, and not if a horror movie can ever be necessarily in that order. described that way.

The end of the movie gets “The Cabin In The Woods” so gleefully chaotic with horror has a lot to offer its audience, stereotypes, viewers don’t even especially those who are into the know where to begin. genre. For everyone else, you may It seems in many ways that the not want this to be your first horror movie was made by horror fans. movie.

Viewpoints

18 | April 26, 2012

Inscape

Serving students since 1922

‘Lockout’ has nothing new Roberto Gonzalez Staff Writer A future in which high technology can open the imagination of people to the impossible is what the story is about in the new science fiction movie “Lockout.”

The film follows Snow, played

by Guy Pearce, who is a sarcastic ex-government official who is falsely convicted of murdering his partner on an undercover mission.

Snow has a been given the chance to be free if he can rescue the president’s daughter, Emilie Warnock, played by Maggie Grace.

Warnock sets foot on a mission to investigate the side effects of the treatments that inmates of maximum security must receive and whether it is humane.

The action unravels when viewers realize that the jail, MS: ONE, a prototype jail, is located in space.

Warnock is a straight forward character and she wants nothing but the best treatment, even for inmates who have committed horrible crimes.

Snow must rescue her from all the inmates who have unleashed themselves and taken control of the ship.

The suspense comes together when the inmates realize the

president’s daughter is on the ship.

The film gives a sense of mystery with the action, but it was unique because it contained comedy from Snow throughout the movie, who carried himself without worries, yet was focused on his mission.

Watching this movie reminds the viewer of the 1981 film “Escape from New York” because it basically contains the same plot except that the prison is in space rather than New York.

Snow has similar characteristics to that film’s main character Snake Plissken, whose mission is to rescue the president from a prison.

“Lockout” expressed the characters plainly; the bad guys were bad and the good guys were good. The viewer was not mislead or confused throughout the film.

Although the film was actionpacked, it had its confusing moments, as the whole film seems to be compacted into its 95 minutes.

At one moment Snow is outside the prison, and the next he is crawling around. The viewer is left wondering if this really is a maximum security prison.

How did he just get inside with no alarm or security device going on?

This brought viewers back to the realization that it is just a

Courtney Coleman Staff Writer

niece to get into theater when she was seven years old. Now a sixthgrader, she has enjoyed being in plays and musicals ever since.

“It means a lot,” Moya said.

“Being able to do this on my free time.”

Auditioning for musicals has also brought Moya closer to her father, who gives her voice lessons and comes to all her performances.

Parents waiting for their children to audition for “West Side Story” are happy to be involved.

Theater mom Robin McCain has happily supported her teenage daughter’s interest in performing arts.

“I think (theater) is a good opportunity for them to challenge themselves,” McCain said. “The confidence they gain is huge. And I think poise (and) the ability to present yourself and you need that now for different kinds of situations.”

You can see confidence shine through the kids during the auditions. Some of the youngest performers are the most fearless singers.

Each performer has their own way with dealing with nerves.

Moya would encourage newcomers “to relax and sing from your heart.”

“Shake it out before,” said David Fuller, a sophomore in high school. “To get the nerves out.

That’s what I do.”

Fuller is one of the many teens who participate in theater for the love of the art.

The children auditioning for

Film District

Prison Break: Snow (Guy Pearce) is sent to a maximum security prison to rescue the

first daughter (Maggie Grace) in “Lockout.” film because of the location and secrets even though it has many to great science fiction films such the inefficiency of the guards unrealistic moments. Although it as “Star Wars,” “Aliens” and “Star to control the inmates running is a fun film, it does not match up Trek.” loose.

One would think a prison in space would be expensive and a waste of money. With that said, “Lockout” is a great film that leaves viewers with an imagination and experience that can continue The Stay Classy Creative possibly get published in the next to (and just might) unravel more Writing Club is holding a contest issue of Viewpoints. throughout the spring semester The next deadline is May 1. called “Your Poem Here.” Writers The club meets every Tuesday can submit poetry (1-25 lines) to 12:50-1:50 p.m. in Quadrangle heyjazzybird@hotmail.com, and 212.

“West Side Story” know that theater doesn’t bring instant popularity, but for them it’s all about taking a chance and trying something different. Not all of them will get call backs, but that won’t stop them I wish on every dandelion, and on every from trying again. shooting star Wolgemuth and Sandlyn have I sing on every birthday, and dance when encouraging parting comments for first timers and shy performers. rain falls hard Just that little bit of support lets I cherish four leafed clovers, and scout timid individuals walk away with for pots of gold more pride.

The small amount of hope I laugh when people are jolly, and cry performers get auditioning keeps when people scold them coming back for more despite I yearn to taste the rainbow, and skip the challenge.

Being in plays and musicals and dance with glee is a test especially to boys, who But this is all in secret! Shh! My age typically are made fun of for defies the real me participating in theater.

“I used to call it gay,” Fuller I take thou treat or trick to heart, and said. “Now I just have fun with fear black coals for Christmas it…it’s an outlet.”

I dread the years forgot and gone in fear At first glance no one would know that some of the little girls that I will miss this have better communication skills I lolly gag and hoot and toot than people twice their age or that I hop scotch and hula hoop the college students auditioning have found better friends in their I cootie proof all of my things theater family than they have I believe in fairy tales and time anywhere else. machines What people wouldn’t see on the surface is that theater offers I overload on sugar and feel the high of these kids a chance to become life better people.

I look around at no smiles but frowns Garrett Goodell, one of the older boys auditioning, encourages and always wonder why? youth to consider giving theater I yearn to taste the rainbow, and skip a try even if they don’t plan on and dance with glee making a career out of it.

“If you know you can do Oh how I wish I could be myself, outside, something,” Goodell says, “you in the world, and be free might as well do it…there’s no sense in wasting the talent.”

‘Your Poem Here:’ this week’s winner

Reviving love for the arts Jumping into the unknown and trying something new for the first time is never easy.

Youth especially can relate to this concept as grade school, high school and college life are filled with taking risks and coming out of our comfort zone.

Kids and young adults can participate in all kinds of activities that help them to get past their insecurities and become better people.

One of those activities is theater arts.

Some people might see theater as a waste of time since singing, dancing and acting can’t really be used in “real life.”

But maybe there’s more to this lost art than meets the eye.

Debbie Wolgemuth, founder of the Riverside Youth Theater, puts all her energy into productions knowing how the kids who participate can benefit.

The Riverside Youth Theater held vocal auditions for its latest production, “West Side Story,” on April 16.

Wolgemuth, along with dance choreographer Rebecca Sandlyn, scored each audition based on tone, pitch, and rhythm.

Experience is appreciated but not a necessity as long as the performer does well in those three areas.

Being able to audition without a lot of experience opens doors for kids like 12 year old Natalie Moya to experience musical theater.

Moya was inspired by her

Untitled by Kristina Rodriguez

Viewpoints

Serving students since 1922

April 26, 2012 | 19

Viewpoints

20 | April 26, 2012

Serving students since 1922

Interpreters lend helping hand samuel finch features editor As a language grows and evolves, it draws speakers from many different sources.

For some, the inspiration to enter the field of interpreting comes at a young age.

“My first exposure was when I was a little girl,” said Diana MacDougall, World Languages department chair and coordinator of the Interpreter Education Program.

“My neighbors were Deaf. I saw they were signing and went home and looked in the dictionary under ‘deaf’ and memorized the alphabet and introduced myself. I wasn’t shy.”

A graduate of RCC, MacDougall has been teaching full time for 16 years and interpreting American Sign Language for over 30 years. In addition to teaching all of the courses required for the interpreting program, MacDougall also teaches sociology and anthropology, including linguistics.

“Research has shown that a language is a language is a language, whether it’s a visual one or an auditory one, the process is pretty much the same for learning it,” MacDougall said. “Some people tend to be more visual and might gravitate toward a visual language, while others might be more auditory and pick up accents and so forth. The process of learning a language is the same, not only the vocabulary, but the culture, syntax, and grammar rules, how to engage and how to have dialogue, like any other language.”

Riverside City College’s ASL Interpreting Program strives

to prepare those interested in becoming nationally certified interpreters.

Students must complete four semesters of ASL courses or equivalent and be near-fluent before entering the Interpreter Education Program. The program takes two years, and includes a number of courses taken consecutively, beginning with two the first semester and one each of the following three semesters.

These courses include further education in the fundamentals of ASL, professional ethics, examination of aspects of American Deaf culture, and extensive preparation for interpreting.

Students earn an associate’s degree or a certificate upon completion, but many continue taking general education courses in order to transfer and earn a bachelor’s degree, working toward national certification in the process.

Due to the need for extensive student participation and instructor interaction, class sizes are kept small.

“To be standard within the industry we like to keep it to about 15 students, no more, but because of budget cuts and wanting to work with the college, I had a class coming in, the graduating class now, of about 30 students,” MacDougall said. “That’s double what we should have, but the need is there.”

The class scheduled to graduate at the end of the spring 2012 semester currently stands at 10 students. Three of these students, Cecilia Mendez, Katie Collins and Tabatha King, spoke highly of their experiences with the program.

For Mendez, a trilingual student, learning the cultural aspect of ASL was perhaps most

ALLISON PEREZ / Photo Editor

Looking forward: Cecilia Mendez discusses her upcoming graduation from the ASL

Interpreting Program and her plans for the future. intriguing. rewarding.

“I think the Deaf Culture class “Interpreting III, when we has definitely been one of my got the opportunity to actually favorite classes, just because interpret,” Collins said of her coming into the interpreting favorite course. “One and two were program and the Deaf world I learning, observing professional had no idea there was this Deaf interpreters, but in Interpreting community, this Deaf world, I just III we actually got to go what thought I was coming to interpret we call ‘in the hot seat,’ where one language to the other,” Mendez we got to be in the interpreting said. “I had to learn about the Deaf chair, interpreting for Deaf clients. community and their views and It was what we were working how they view sign language.” towards, so it was a very exciting For Collins, reaching the experience.” heart of interpreting was greatly In the case of King, the program’s reinforcement of ASL’s basics was greatly beneficial.

“I would say probably one of my favorite classes, and it’s low on the totem pole, was finger spelling,” King said. “As a student interpreter I’ve always been very hard at critiquing myself and trying to interpret because it’s not my language, and one of the aspects was finger spelling. I always felt that I wasn’t getting finger spelling enough, so that when I was trying to finger spell, it wasn’t clear enough. But in the class itself you learn certain shortcuts, certain breaks in words, that it was OK to pause there.”

As they approach graduation, each of these three students look to the future with different aspirations.

“I have definitely been wanting to study psychology after I’m done with this program,” Mendez said. “I want to continue and offer counseling and community service ALLISON PEREZ / Photo EDITOR Teaching moment: Professor Diana MacDougall assists Melanie Perez, a student in her for the Deaf community as well as the Latino community, and just be first year of the ASL Interpreting Program, with an assignment.

available for anyone who needs help.”

Collins plans to apply the same body of knowledge to assist the Deaf community in her own ways.

“My goals upon completing this program and becoming a professional interpreter would be working in the medical field as a medical interpreter, and my main goal is to start a deaf ministry at my church,” Collins said.

Though King has a clear idea of what she would like to do with her education, she stated that she hopes to remain open to other possibilities.

“Taking these ASL courses, I’ve had the opportunity to take a praise and worship class, which is pretty much where we broke down music, and from there grew a love of musical interpretation,” King said. “After I graduate I would definitely like to continue in the performing arts and musical interpretation field, but also I don’t want to limit myself, so there are different genres like legal and VRS (Video Relay Service) that I would like to attempt as well.”

Though Mendez, Collins and King each have different aspirations upon graduation, they share one sentiment for the future of the program.

“I hope to see the interpretation program here at RCC grow,” Collins said in agreement with her classmates. “We’re seeing more students here in the program, but I’d also like to see more professors wanting to be involved.”

Viewpoints

Serving students since 1922

April 26, 2012 | 21

Na’llah Thomas / Staff Photographer

State swimming: Aimee Gingland, a member of the Riverside City College women’s swim and dive team, is one of nine members of the RCC team to qualify for the state championship meet, which will be held on April 28 at East Los Angeles College at 9 a.m.

Women’s swim is heading to state RCC women’s swim and dive team will be competing at the state championship meet Javier Cabrera Editor in Chief A second place finish at the Orange Empire Conference swim championship meet on April 21 is the best result the Riverside City College women’s swim and dive team could have wanted.

Led by Andrea Antonissen’s wins in the 50 and 100 backstrokes, the Tigers were able to rack up 634 points to finish behind Orange Coast College, who calculated 919.5 and win the conference title for a second straight season.

Antonissen set a record with a time of 52.38 in the 100 backstroke and finished 23.49 in the 50 back stroke.

Kamaehu Alboro finished the 50 event of the backstroke with a time of 27.24 and in the 100 event of the backstroke, she finished at 58.76. She was the only competitor to finish under the one minute mark.

The Tigers also took first place in the one-meter diving event as Haley McValey defeated Cypress College’s Megan Morse by three points as McValey finished the event with 174.20 points.

“We set four school records,” said David Almquist, coach of the RCC women’s swim and dive team.

“Andrea Antonissen was selected as the Orange Empire Conference swimmer of the meet.”

Almquist said he is happy with the results of the meet and of the season.

“The first 16 swims that we had (this season), I think 14 of them were lifetime best in the conference meet , so we are going to label that as a huge success,” he said.

Almquist said the conference meet has to be the hardest thing he had to do as a coach.

“The conference meet was the most difficult I have coached in at least 10 years, in terms of quality at the top level,” he said. “It was really hard.”

Almquist said the conference meet served as a way to prepare the team for state and it turned into something positive for the team.

“We were pretty happy because Golden West College was really close to us the whole time, and we had to really compete,” he said.

“We beat them by 19 points and out of 650 points, that is not a lot of points.”

Almquist said the team had a lot of goals as a team and as individuals.

“We had a lot of goals, one of them was for every single swimmer to do a lifetime best in the conference finals,” he said. “And we got that goal accomplished.”

Another goal the team had was to make the state finals.

“Another one was to just be the best team we could be and when you qualify with nine swimmers out of 16 on our team to the state championship, that’s a pretty good number,” Almquist said.

He said there are not many teams that can say they can send a high number of swimmers to the state championship.

Sarah Quinte, the assistant coach of the women’s swim and dive team, said the team has come a long way since the beginning of the season.

“I think as the season started, each meet was just a little bit harder, in terms of each meet was one or two days, so the swimmers from the beginning of the season, in January and February until now, did a much better job of being able to perform while the whole time versus one season and one meet,” she said.

Another highlight to the season has been swimmer Aimee Gingerland. As Almquist said, she has been a surprise.

“She actually improved enough to qualify for the state championship,” he said.

The state championship is scheduled to be on April 28 at East Los Angeles College at 9 a.m.

Allison Perez / Photo Editor

A Proven champion: Andrea Antonissen was named Orange Empire Conference coswimmer of the year, as she led RCC to a second place finish at the conference meet.

Watch videos of the Riverside City College athletic teams by subscribing to RCCathletics on YouTube.

Stay updated with the RCC athletic team’s season by liking Viewpoints’ Facebook fanpage by searching “Riverside City College”

Viewpoints

April 26, 2012 | 22

Serving students since 1922

The beautiful game in Liverpool Sports

Sean egle Staff Writer Frustration; along with losing, this is the worst feeling a football fan (or soccer to the average American fan) can feel and a feeling too often felt this season from supporters of Liverpool Football Club.

Once again, supporters like myself endured another agonizing 90 minutes of football as LFC were held to a 1-1 draw by a visiting Aston Villa Football Club on April 7th.

Supporters will feel that several questionable decisions made by the match officials cost their team the chance to bag all three points and move up in the league standings ahead of their town rival Everton Football Club.

Rivalries exist in most sports; Lakers and Celtics, Dodgers and Angels, etc. But some of the most passionate and intense rivalries exist among Europe’s elite football teams. Knowing this, I was wise to keep Liverpool’s colors hidden whilst in London.

After boarding the train headed from London to Liverpool, I threw on my bright red scarf bearing the crest of LFC. And why not, seeing as half the train’s passengers had already done so.

Outside of the Liverpool Lime Street Station, located in the heart of Liverpool, Liverpool was an ever-present sight.

Scarves, jerseys, jackets, dogs wearing red clothes, babies in mini uniforms. There was hardly a soul who was not wearing the color of the city’s main football team.

I headed to Liverpool’s stadium, Anfield, via a very crowded double-decker bus since no cars are allowed to park near the stadium. Instead some 45,000 fans take a bus, taxi, or walk to one of two gate entrances into the stadium.

The Bob Paisley Gates and Bill Shankly memorial gates are both dedicated to previous Liverpool managers.

The team bus arrived to what seemed half of the stadium’s capacity eagerly awaiting their arrival. Twenty-three players, the medical staff, the coaches, and LFC’s manager Kenny “King Kenny” Dalglish all moved from the bus and onto the pitch for their pre-game warm up.

The stadium filled slowly as many took an opportunity to grab a pint or two before match kickoff.

But as the stadium filled to its 45,000-plus capacity limit, Anfield became four walls of noise.

This game was the last to be played at Anfield before the Hillsborough memorial date. The club takes its history seriously and treats all members, current and fallen, with immense respect.

The noise became a pindrop silence immediately before the starting whistle. A minute’s

Sean Egle / Staff writer

Draw Game: Liverpool Football Club played Aston Villa Football Club on at Anfield in

Liverpool on April 7th. The game ended in a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes of play. silence was observed to remember much happier feel to it. for 90 minutes in what is often victims of what is known as the Adopted by the club in 1965, described as a poetic game.

Hillsborough tragedy. the song “You’ll Never Walk This game proved to be less On April 15, 1989, Liverpool Alone” is sung by Liverpool poetic and more nail-biting as the fans traveled to an away match in supporters before every match. game closed with a 1-1 draw and Hillsborough; 96 were killed and Fans hoist their scarves above each team taking a point for their more than 200 were injured. their head and belt out the lyrics league standings.

It was an eerie silence held that have become part of the club’s Fans emptied out onto the the full minute and ended with rich history. streets surrounding the stadium in the referee’s whistle and a loud I’ll admit I became a bit teary- what seemed a sea of red moving response from the crowd. Many eyed. It’s not every day one gets toward every available bus, taxi, were left in tears from remembering to sing the anthem of a world- and car. a tragedy that affected the beautiful recognized football with 45,000 Only in Europe are fans so game through every level in other fans. passionate, only in Liverpool are English football.

The ball is set and the game fans so dedicated.

After the whistle blew, another begins with the blast of the referee’s Only football can boast the title tradition followed- one with a whistle. Twenty-two men battle of “the beautiful game.”

Four players of the RCC men’s tennis went to regional NORIHITO IKEDA Staff Writer Ventura College men’s tennis team swept the Riverside City College Tigers in the first round of the Southern California Regional Team Tournament 5-0 on April 17.

The loss to the Ventura Pirates broke the Tigers’ three-game winning streak the team had going into the tournament.

Tigers No. 1 singles player Jordan Gobatie was the only Tigers player, who managed to win a set against the Pirates.

Gobatie had the lead going into the third set against Pirates player Jonathan Lin before the match was stopped in the third set.

The match between Gobatie and Lin was stopped because the Pirates had swept the Tigers, winning five points from the other five singles matches, which was enough to secure the victory.

Theo Arruda lost against Cameron Lee by 6-1, 6-1 in No. 3 singles, Tavyn Libao lost against Eder Giotto by 6-1, 6-2 in No. 5 singles, and Josh Stevenon lost against Tyler Sperry by 6-2, 6-2 in No. 6 singles.

Aliaksandr Pesniak had the close game against Paulo Fernandez in the first set, but he lost in No. 4 singles by 7-6, 6-3.

Ramazan Nureev, the No. 2 player for the Tigers, retired during the second set.

In every conference game for the Tigers, the team has always won or tied in at least one singles match.

Jim Elton, the coach of the Tigers, said before the match against the Pirates, “I do not think Ventura is as strong as they have been in the past but they are still very strong.”

Elton spoke about how familiar of a playoff opponent the Pirates are.

“It seems that we always end up playing them in the playoffs,” he said. “They have eliminated us from the playoffs many times.”

The Tigers were given the No. 6 seed in the tournament, after finishing with an 8-2 record and second place in the Orange Empire Conference.

The Tigers only two conference losses were against the Saddleback Gauchos, who finished in first place of the conference standings.

Elton said that they were depressed when they lost against Gauchos.

“They knew what was on the line, they knew that if we won, we would be conference champions and the higher seed going in the playoffs,” he said.

The Tigers did not let the loss to the Gauchos affect their confidence for the remainder of the regular season as they finished on a three game winning streak before entering the tournament.

“I do not think they changed much,” he said. “They just played at the level that they needed to play at.”

Even though the Tigers finished their playoff team tournament, they have the playoff individual tournament for singles and doubles

jarred jackson / online editor

Regional: Jordan Gobatie and Ramazan Nureev will be competing in doubles action in the Southern California regional championships on May 3-5 at Irvine Valley College. players.

They have three singles players who are seeded in the individual tournament: Gobatie, Nureev, and Arruda.

Gobatie, who is the No. 1 singles player for the Tigers, is the second seed in the individual tournament.

“He was close to being the

No. 1 seed, but he had lost against Saddleback and lost against Irvine,” Elton said.

Nureev is the third seed going into the tournament.

“Our No. 2 player is seeded higher than most of the other No. 1 players in the tournament,” Elton said.

Gobatie and Nureev are also

seeded as the No. 1 doubles team in the tournament.

“In order to make it out of conference, if you are seeded in the top eight, you have to hold your spot,” he said. “If you are not, you have to beat somebody in the top eight to take the spot.”

The tournament will be held on May 3-5 at Irvine Valley College.

Viewpoints

Serving students since 1922

Sports

April 26, 2012 | 23

Sports Briefs RCC football prepares for fall

Baseball

Fastpitch

Men’s Swim and Dive

Women’s Swim and Dive

Season Record 17-17 Conference: 12-9 Next Game: April 26 at Saddleback 6 p.m.

Season Record 27-11 Conference: 16-4 Next Game: April 11 at Santa Ana 3 p.m.

Next Game:

Next Game:

April 28 State Championships at Monterey Park,CA

April 28 State Championships at Monterey Park,CA

Swimming/Diving March 2

vs. Orange Coast 1 p.m.

March 9

vs. Chaffey 9 a.m.

March 10 vs. Chaffey 10 a.m.

March 23 vs. Saddleback and Fullerton 2 p.m.

April 6

vs. Palomar 1 p.m.

April 13

OEC Dive Championships at El Camino 10 a.m.

April 14

OEC Dive Championships at El Camino 11 a.m.

April 21

Orange Empire Championships at Riverside 9 a.m.

April 28

State Championship at East Los Angeles 9 a.m.

Men’s Tennis Jan. 31

RCC 3 Los Angeles Pierce 6

Feb. 2

RCC 2 Desert 7

Feb. 9

RCC 9 Victor Valley 0

Feb. 10

RCC 8 Palomar 1

Feb. 11

RCC 0 UC Riverside 9

Feb. 14

RCC 7 San Diego City 2

Feb. 23

RCC 1 Mt. San Jacinto 8

Feb. 28

RCC 9 Cypress 0

March 1

RCC 5 Irvine Valley 4

March 6

RCC 9 Fullerton 0

March 8

RCC 4 Saddleback 5

March 13 RCC 9 Orange Coast 0 March 15 RCC 8 Mt. San Antonio 1 March 20 RCC 8 Cypress 1 March 22 RCC 5 Irvine Valley 4 March 27 RCC 8 Fullerton 1 March 29 RCC 4 Saddleback 5 March 30 RCC 6 San Diego Mesa 3 April 3

RCC 8 Orange Coast 1

April 5

RCC 9 Paradise Valley 0

Baseball Feb. 21 RCC 3 Mt. SAC 2 Feb. 23 RCC 18 Sacramento City 13

March 13 RCC 4 Orange Coast 10 March 15 RCC 7 Saddleback 6 March 20 RCC 6 Santa Ana 2 March 22 RCC 5 Santa Ana 13 March 24 RCC 1 Cypress 4 March 27 RCC 5 Cypress 2 March 29 RCC 2 Fullerton 4 March 30 RCC 9 Fullerton 5 April 4

RCC 8 Santa Barbara 4

April 5

RCC 8 Cerro Coso 3

April 10

RCC 11 Golden West 2

April 12

RCC 2 Golden West 3

April 14

RCC 4 Irvine Valley 6

April 17

RCC 4 Irvine Valley 6

April 19

RCC 1 Orange Coast 3

April 20

RCC 4 Orange Coast 3

April 24

RCC 3 Saddleback 5

April 26

at Saddleback 6 p.m.

Fastpitch

Feb. 24

RCC 11 Orange Coast 0

Feb. 27

RCC 9 East Los Angeles 5

Feb. 29

RCC 3 Golden West 0

March 1

RCC 4 Fullerton 0

March 3-4 Fresno Tournament March 7

RCC 1 Santiago Canyon 0

March 9

RCC 6 Saddleback 12

March 14

RCC 2 Cypress 1

March 16

RCC 4 Santa Ana 5

March 20

RCC 6 Antelope Valley 2

March 21

RCC 6 Orange Coast 5

March 23

RCC 10 Golden West 0

March 24

Bakersfield Tournament

March 25

Bakersfield Tournament

March 28

RCC 3 Fullerton 0

March 30

RCC 3 Santiago Canyon 2

April 3

RCC 1 Cypress 3

April 4

RCC 5 Saddleback 4

April 6

RCC 1 Mt.San Antonio 3

April 12

RCC 5 Santa Ana 2

April 16

RCC 10 Orange Coast 2

RCC 7 Sacramento City 0

Feb. 25

April 17

RCC 2 Palomar 0

RCC 5 Sacramento City 8

Feb. 28

April 18

RCC 6 Golden West 4

RCC 4 Mt. SAC 9

April 20

RCC 10 Fullerton 2

April 21

RCC 5 Bakersfield 3

April 23

RCC 2 Ventura 4

April 23

RCC 2 Mt. Sac 4

April 25

vs. Santiago Canyon 3 p.m.

March 3 RCC 4 Cypress 5 March 6 RCC 8 Fullerton 2 March 8 RCC 6 Golden West 5

Season Record 14-7 Conference: 11-3 Next Game: May 3-5 at Regional Championships at 2 p.m.

Women’s Tennis Season Record 16-2 Conference: 10-0 Next Game: May 3-5 at Regional Championships at 2 p.m.

Women’s Tennis

March 10 RCC 6 Irvine Valley 0

Feb. 24

March 1 RCC 4 Santa Ana 3

Men’s Tennis

Feb. 2

RCC 9 Victor Valley 0

Feb. 3

RCC 9 Imperial Valley 0

Feb. 6

RCC 9 Fresno 0

Feb. 10

RCC 4 Palomar 5

Feb. 14

RCC 9 Antelope Valley 0

Feb. 16

RCC 6 Glendale 3

Feb. 23

RCC 9 Mt. San Jacinto 0

Feb. 28

RCC 8 Cypress 1

March 1

RCC 8 Irvine Valley 1

March 6

RCC 7 Fullerton 2

March 8

RCC 8 Saddleback 1

March 13

RCC 7 Orange Coast 2

March 20

RCC 7 Cypress 2

March 22

RCC 9 Irvine Valley 0

March 27

RCC 7 Fullerton 2

March 29

RCC 8 Saddleback 1

April 3

RCC 7 Orange Coast 2

Track and Field

Feb. 22

vs. Cal State Long Beach

Feb. 24

vs. Saddleback

March 2

at Cerritos 8 a.m.

March 3

at Cerritos 8 a.m.

March 9-10 Ben Brown Invitational at Cal State Fullerton March 14-15 Conference Multi-Championships at Saddleback March 16-17 Aztec Invite at San Diego State March 22-23 Riverside Open March 30

at Orange Coast and Santiago Canyon at Orange Coast 2 p.m.

April 10

Regional Heptathlon and Decathlon Championships at Cerritos 8 a.m.

April 11

Regional Heptathlon and Decathlon Championships at Cerritos 8 a.m.

April 14

Mt. SAC Relays at Mt. San

The Tigers of the Riverside City College football team has begun spring practice in preparation for the upcoming 2012 season during the fall semester.

“We lost 20 starters and at this level, that is not as typical as you think, to lose that many starters,” said Tigers football coach Tom Craft.

“I think the biggest hit was in the offense, we lost out five linemen, our quarterback, one of our tight ends, four receivers and three of our top four running backs.”

The program will be competing in the National Central Division, after they were moved to the new conference during the offseason. After finishing the 2011 season undefeated with 11-0 straight victories and a No. 5 national ranking, the Tigers had made a strong case to be in the Southern California Championship game.

The Tigers switched division from the East Central Division to give them a better strength of schedule and chance to reach the Southern California Championship game for the upcoming season.

“We will be inexperienced but we had a great recruiting year, our biggest concern is ourselves, not necessarily who we play,” Craft said.

The season will open on the road for the Tigers against Ventura College on Sept. 1

Fastpitch takes second in OEC The fastpitch team clinched second place in the Orange Empire Conference after the team defeated Fullerton, 10-2, in a conference match up on April 20.

Tigers’ pitcher Nicole Zink, who will be attending Long Beach State, picked up win No. 19 of the season and No. 37 of her career at RCC. The Tigers were on pace to win 30 games this season which would have been the fifth season in the last six years. The Tigers have an overall record of 27-11 with one game left against Santiago Canyon.

Women’s tennis advancing players to regional tournament.

Women’s tennis will have two double teams and two single players advancing from the Orange Empire Conference Tournament and onto the Southern California Regional Tournament in May. The Tigers advancing to doubles play in the regional tournament are Brooke Vorhees/AJ Borja and Camille Requiestas/Natalie Tomlin.

Requiestas and Vorhees will also be playing in singles completion for the regional tournament.

The four athletes also earned All-Orange Empire Conference honors for their accoplisments this season. RCC head coach Nikki Bonzoumet was named Coach of the Year for the conference.

Antonio 8 a.m.

April 20

Conference Prelims at Saddleback 10 a.m.

April 27

Conference Championships at Saddleback 10 a.m.

May 5

Regional Prelims at San Diego Mesa 9 a.m.

May 12

Regional Championship 9 a.m.

May 19

State Championship 10 a.m.

Antonissen finishes career as OEC conference co-swimmer of the year.

Swimmer Andrea Antonissen will finish her aquatics career at RCC after she was named the Orange Empire Conference Co-Swimmer of the Year for the 2012 season.

Antonissen was also a part of two water polo championship teams at RCC in 2010 and 2011.

Viewpoints

24 | April 26, 2012

Serving students since 1922

Sports

Baseball alive in playoff chase Jeremy fuerte Staff Writer It’s go time for the Riverside City College Tigers baseball team as they fight to clinch a spot in the playoffs.

The Tigers had a national ranking in the preseason but are now tied for third place in the Orange Empire Conference with a record of 16-16 and a 9-8 conference record.

The Irvine Valley College Lasers scored a pair of runs in the top of the eighth to come from behind and beat the Tigers with a 6-4 lead at the Evans Sports Complex on April 17.

The Tigers scored in the first three innings but failed to score a run for the rest of the game.

In the first inning, RCC center fielder Cade Gotta hit a single up the middle to be the first Tiger on base.

He rounded second base to third when first baseman Daniel Arellano hit a single through the hole at short stop.

After Arellano was caught attempting to steal second, right fielder Ryan Garvey hit a single through the right side to allow Gotta to score for a first inning score of 1-0.

In the second inning with one out, shortstop Jake Middleton reached first on an infield scoring

error by the Lasers. Second baseman Elija Briseno hit a RBI triple driving in Middleton for a score. Briseno later scored off an infield out to finish the second inning with a 3-2 score.

In the third inning with one out, catcher Brad Burcroff hit a single to right field and advanced to second off of a fielding error by the Lasers.

Burcroff then advanced to third after designated hitter Set Walston grounded out to the second baseman. Left fielder Joe Ortuno then singled up the middle for an RBI, allowing Burcroff to score and closing the third inning with a score of 4-2.

The Tigers are now fighting for a playoff spot after the game on April 17 with four games left and have struggled the entire season with inconsistent playing..

“The biggest thing has been our inability to play consistent fundamental baseball,” associate head coach Andy Rojo said. “We are making mistakes that should not be made at this point in the season. We are our biggest enemies because of our inability to make plays.”

The inconsistent play has plagued both the offense and the defense this season.

“From the top, bottom, from the offense to the defense, our record is a reflection of how we

are because of our inability to play consistent baseball,” Rojo said.

The Orange Coast Conference is one of the toughest community college conferences in the country.

“Orange Empire conference is the most competitive and toughest junior college conferences in the nation and our record isn’t indicative of the type of team we have,” Rojo said. “At any point, any team can beat anybody at any given day because the conference is one of the best in the nation.”

The Tigers’ record and their desire to make the playoffs have given them a sense of urgency heading into the last games of the season.

“Overall, we’re playing with a sense of urgency,” Rojo said.

“We are in a position to fight for the playoffs this season, and it’s win time.”

The Tigers are playing to win the last of their four games, but if they finish their last four games with a record of 2-2, they have a realistic chance at clinching a spot in the playoffs. From there, they’ll play to win against any team they get matched against.

“We’ll take our chances of who we get matched up against at playoffs,” Rojo said.

The Tigers’ last game is on April 26 at 6 p.m. against Saddleback College at Saddleback.

Allison Perez / Photo Editor

Playoff hunt: Tigers infielder Grady Espinosa attempting to swing at a pitch against Irvine Valley College on April 17.