Viewpoints - April 5

April 5, 2012

Vol. xxxVIVI, No. 11

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

Acting out

Features story see Pages 8-9 For a

Paul ledesma / Staff photographer

Suspense: Jordan Maxwell and Haley Rubin rehearse for the RCC Theater Department’s upcoming production of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.”

Students vote for the next student trustee page 4

RCC women’s tennis wins conference page 13

Cyclists compete in the Redlands Bicycle Classic page 11

2 | April 5, 2012

Viewpoints

Serving students since 1922

News

91 freeway construction info A CalTrans representative is scheduled to visit Riverside City College to discuss the upcoming state Route 91 construction project.

The presentation is scheduled for April 18 at 12:15 p.m. and 12:45 p.m. in the Cafeteria.

Riverside supports its veterans The 7th Annual Salute to Veterans Parade will march through downtown Riverside April 21 at 10:00 a.m. There will be marching bands, military vehicles, mounted horse units, veterans and flyovers. Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Stan Brown is the Grand Marshal.

The route will be Magnolia and Ramona to Market and 10th to the Riverside County Courthouse.

For more information go to asalutetoveterans.com.

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 will 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.

Grammy winner honors RCC’s best The Riverside Community College District will hold its 2012 Awards and Arts Gala on April 26 5:30-10 p.m. at the Riverside Convention Center.

The dinner will recognize individuals and groups who have contributed to the district.

The event will also feature performances from RCCD’s various performing arts groups and an appearance from Grammy winning singer Jon Secada.

Tickets are $100 with proceeds going to student enrichment activities at Moreno Valley, Norco and Riverside City Colleges.

For reservations contact Diana Meza at 951-222-8958

Riverside celebrates Easter Various parks throughout Riverside will have a citywide Easter celebration on April 7 at 10 a.m. Each park will have its own unique celebration of the holiday and there is plenty to choose from.

An Easter bunny, Easter egg hunts, candy, face-painting, balloon-animals, and a clown or two will be at most of the parks.

For more information call 951-826-2000

‘The sun will come out’ at Landis

The Landis Performing Arts Center presents “Annie” beginning April 13. It will run Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until April 22.

The Broadway favorite about a plucky orphan features classics like “Tomorrow” and “Hard Knock Life.”

For more information call 951-222-8100 or go to performanceriverside.org.

Getting ‘Real’ in Riverside MTV is bringing casting for its long running series “The Real World” to Riverside.

The open casting call for season 28 is scheduled for April 11 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Worthington’s Tavern at 3587 University Ave. While they welcome all types of personalities, this season casting directors are looking for applicants who have challenges living an everyday life that most take for granted.

Interested parties should bring a recent picture, photo ID and must be 21 or older

by March 1, 2013.

Those who can’t make it to the open call may still apply online at bunim-murray. com/tvcasting.

The literary side of RCC The Riverside City College Stay Classy Creative Writing Club and ASRCC are sponsoring the spring 2012 literary series.

All events will be in the Digital Library Auditorium beginning at 7 p.m., are open to students, staff and faculty and offer free admission.

The April 19 event features Donna Hilbert with “The Green Season” and “Grief Becomes Me.”

Allison Perez / Photo Editor

Bad news: Students will see changes in the way the college decides which

academic areas are most important to keep, and pilot programs that will be more successful in achieving transfer from RCC to four-year institutions.

The academic goals at RCC are changing Ashley Anderson News editor Riverside City College students will notice a few changes around campus starting this summer and next fall, as administrators map out which academic areas are most important at the college.

The main priorities that have come out of administrator and faculty strategic planning are that maintaining the college accreditation, helping students transfer, and technical education at RCC are among the highest goals.

Unfortunately, due to lack of success in basic skill levels and English as a second language classes risk being drastically cut.

“We haven’t done as great a job in terms of success. Successful completion means graduation, certification, and employment,” said Wolde-Ab Isaac, vice president of academic affairs. “They look at the basic skills levels 4, 5, 6. We feel the resources we put into elevating these students, the gap is too large. When they come in with 6th and 7th grade skills bringing them up to college level takes too long.”

“The feeling among the ESL students is a feeling of discrimination because we do not have a voice here at RCC. Among the teachers, among the ESL students, we feel that this action is very offensive to us.

We are here because we have an academic goal (...)” said Gloria Wells, RCC student. “ (...) everybody has an academic goal. The majority of them want to transfer and go to a university and taking ESL classes are given the basic skills of reading, speaking, and writing to succeed here at college, and then transfer to the universities.”

Another area that may face changes is the Individual Learning Activity or open labs in areas like foreign language and math which may be reduced. Large class stipend that are not planned, will be the first to go, “we have to focus on those things we can do

well, our main focus by strategic planning is to maintain accreditation and transfer is a high priority and also technical education” said Isaac.

In general, student services will be reduced because the grants are reduced and no funding will be available in the general fund to keep these programs going.

“The open labs for languages, math and reading and writing center are being supervised by full-time or part-time faculty and that takes huge amounts of resources to be able to open those labs,” he said “The whole of MLK will be labs made up of tutors and supplemental instruction perhaps students instead of faculty, but the faculty involvement will be slightly reduced.”

However, there is a new program set to start at RCC in the near future called completion counts. This is for high school seniors from Alvord Unified School District and the Riverside Unified School District, whereby seniors will have “fast track” access to all the classes needed to transfer in a two year period.

The incoming high school students who qualify for the program sign a contract and then receive priority registration so they won’t stay at RCC any longer than they have to and can transfer quicker.

“What the fast track system does is bridge the high school to direct college level courses (at RCC) and then a guaranteed transfer,” Isaac said “because transfer rates so far have not been that great, the new initiative takes on from whatever experience of success that we have had.”

“This program is under the CLIP Grant, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, given to only a few cities in the United States,” he said. “It’s still at the pilot phase, anywhere between 300-500 students qualify, and if this model works we would like to create this pathway, this will be a high priority in the future if this works.”

Viewpoints

Serving students since 1922

News

April 5, 2012 | 3

Undecided plans for RCC buildings Plans for the unoccupied Physical and Life Science buildings at RCC are still unknown Jeremy fuerte Staff Writer With the completion of the new Math, Science and Nursing building, the attention of Riverside City College now falls on the old Physical Science and Life Science buildings as the college hopes to renovate them in the future.

While the Physical and Life Science buildings have currently been shut down, they will eventually host the Business and Computer Information Systems programs as well as Student Services according to Norm Godin, vice president of Business Services.

The renovated buildings will have two tiered lecture halls, multiple business and CIS labs and studios as well as faculty offices.

However, as nice as the new buildings may someday become, the project is currently not funded.

“We are waiting for the state to fund the project and because of the state’s current financial situation we aren’t certain when the state will issue new bonds for construction,” Godin said.

Whenever the funding is acquired, it will be through bonds which don’t have any impact on the funding of education and are voter approved.

“The costs in providing instruction are in things like the teacher’s salary where the revenues

Luis Solis / Staff Photographer

Abandoned: The Physical and Life Science buildings at Riverside City College are not being used at the moment ever since the newly Math, Science and Nursing building opened at the beginning of the spring semester. for that should be the revenues the state generates in the current year and spends in the current year,” Godin said. “It’s two different forms of funding.”

If the state fails to issue bonds for new construction to RCC this year, the next time the state will issue bonds is in 2014.

Instructor Mark Lehr is confident that taxpayers will pass any funding for education or construction purposes related to education.

“The tax payers have been really good at funding and helping schools out, so if they pass anything they’ll pass that and funding for education,” Lehr said. “I just have that feeling.”

Current students have mixed feelings about reconstructing the old building in order to be used for the Business and CIS programs.

“It’s a waste of time,” Christina Fuentes said. “But if they’re going to build a new building I wouldn’t mind that. It would be nice.”

Norco College decides on its new president Sean maulding Staff Writer Starting in July, Dale Paul Parnell Jr. will be replacing Debbie DiThomas, who is the current interim president of Norco College.

This decision came after a four month candidate search conducted by an 11 member committee of student, faculty, and community representatives.

After the search committee narrowed down the candidates, the Board of Trustees gave their opinions.

“Parnell has lots of experience with diverse college students, and that’s most important,” said Janet Green, president of the Board of Trustees. “He has experience working with faculty.”

These qualifications correspond with the criterion set forth by the Norco College Presidential Search Prospectus.

In this prospectus, it is listed that the president shall work “to provide leadership and effectively work within a shared governance environment,” and “to recruit and retain a qualified, diverse full-time and part-time faculty and staff.”

Before Norco College, Parnell was the vice president of Academic

Affairs at Rio Hondo College in Whittier.

As the vice president, he supervised several hundred full time faculty, administrators, and staff.

Besides supervising staff, the duties of Parnell will include identifying and managing sources of private and public funding to serve the organization.

G r e e n n o t e d P a r n e l l ’s experience in bond campaigning.

A bond is a financial asset issued by governments to institutions, including schools, to assist with funding.

She was also impressed with his ability to negotiate for the use of these funds.

“Another thing he is good in is negotiations,” Green said.

“With no money coming to the colleges; it’s going to be really super important to have somebody who has experiences in negotiating with our faculty.”

Recently, Norco College was awarded a $3.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation for use in establishing training in warehouse and distribution-center supply chains.

This will not be Parnell’s first experience with bonds.

At Rio Hondo College, Parnell

monitored $245 million in bond construction projects.

He also cochaired a successful $219 million bond campaign as the dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences, at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga.

One more important duty of the Norco College president is to communicate and work with other colleges in the Riverside Community College District.

Parnell already has plans to establish this connection.

Parnell plans for the three college presidents to “get together this spring to talk about each college and the issues, the district and how (they) can work together.”

From his start as a director for academic programs for the Community College of the Air Force in the 1980s, to the present day, Parnell has been working in the community college system for many years.

Now he is bringing all of that experience to Norco College.

“I’ve been working (in community colleges) for dozens of years now, and I’m totally infatuated with the good that is coming from them and how much fun it is to watch students succeed,” Parnell said. “They’re a great opportunity.”

Like Viewpoints’ Facebook fan page by searching “Riverside City College Viewpoints” Follow Viewpoints on Twitter: @RCCViewpoints

Viewpoints

Serving students since 1922

4 | April 5, 2012

News

Candidates run to address students’ needs

Candidates for student trustee of RCCD make efforts in their campaigns to RCC students Javier Cabrera Editor in Chief As the spring semester rolls on at Riverside City College, students from Norco College, Moreno Valley College and RCC are heading to the polls to elect their next student trustee of the Riverside Community College District.

Noemi Jubaer and Keenan Johnson are the two candidates running for student trustee of the district this time and are the two looking to replace Nick Bygon, current student trustee of RCCD. “I think they have a lot of enthusiasm for the position,” Bygon said.

Bygon said the two candidates have attended a student district consultation council meeting where they both were able to meet student leaders from each college, and where he was able to have discussions with both of them.

“I think they are both motivated individuals,” he said.

With the consistent conversations of class cuts and budget cut proposals popping up every week at RCC, the candidates lobbied to RCC students during a forum at the RCC Cafeteria on March 29.

“Ultimately I think RCC students want classes,” Johnson said. “That’s the biggest one.”

Jubaer said aside from more classes, students want lower textbook prices, lower food prices and better transportation.

“We are one district, but we should have a sort of transportation between the three colleges too, (so) students can come and go and attend all the classes that they need,” she said. “Because not (each) college offers the courses that we need, which are required for some students.”

As for the next student trustee coming into office, Bygon said the next one will have the challenge of not having a lot of experience to the position.

“I don’t really think that serves as their disadvantage in this respect,” he said. “It’s really about having the essential tools to be a leader that you can essentially perform in this position.”

Aside from the lack of experience, Bygon said the incoming student trustee will have a mentor helping him or her with everything they need to learn and each candidate will sit in on a Board of Trustees meeting prior to being elected.

Each candidate said communicating with the student presidents at each college and student leaders at all three colleges are some actions they will want to do once they are elected as student trustee.

“I think that there should be a strong communication and cooperation within that entire work force of students,” Johnson said.

Jubaer said she wants to act as a voice for the RCCD students.

“I want to present the ideas and views and encourage my fellow students to voice out their ideas,” she said. “I want that to happen because then I can go and present their views to the Board of Trustees, who will ultimately make the decision.”

Jubaer and Johnson said they will both continue using studenttrustee.com, a website Bygon created when he first became student trustee last spring.

The website’s purpose is to inform students from all three colleges on what is going on at the Board of Trustees meetings, news and updates by the student trustee.

“Social media (gets) the community more involved and up to date,” Johnson said.

The student trustee election took place April 4 and 5 at each college and the winner was yet to be announced at the time Viewpoints went to press.

RCCD students can find out who wins by liking Viewpoints’ Facebook fan page by searching “Riverside City College Viewpoints” or by following on Twitter @RCCViewpoints.

Luis Solis / Staff Photographer

Pick me: Keenan Johnson, who is running for student trustee, speaks to RCC students on March 29.

Luis Solis / Staff Photographer

No, pick me: Noemi Jubaer, a candidate for student trustee, gave her speech to RCC students on March 29.

Viewpoints

Opinions

April 5, 2012 | 5

Serving students since 1922

Viewpoints Staff

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 INSCAPE EDITOR PHOTO EDITOR Lizbeth Landeros Allison Perez photo@viewpointsonline.org inscape@viewpointsonline.org

Allison Perez / Photo Editor

iced out: Cal State recently announced a plan to freeze enrollment at its colleges.

Cal State puts freeze on students

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Jarred Jackson

STAFF Gabriel Alvarado Christin Alvarez Diego Alvarez Brian Bash Kayleign 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

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

“Nowhere to go” seems to be the only thought running through many community college students’ minds.

Last month, Cal State University officials announced the state college system will put a freeze on enrollment to deal with its budget cut fiasco starting in the spring.

The Cal State system already has cut $750 million in funding in the current academic year.

Eight Cal State campuses will be accepting several hundred students transferring from community colleges next spring, which includes Fullerton, Chico, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

With the pressure to finish as soon as possible at the community college level, students now have to look ahead and find a different route to get themselves into a Cal State school.

As Cal States choose to put a freeze on their enrollments, community college students now have to spend more time finding alternative universities such as private or out of state college.

The average community college student is going to have a difficult challenge to be accepted into private universities , such as the University of Southern California and Stanford, or will need to spend an extra year applying for out- of- state universities.

The extra year will take its toll on students looking to transfer to alternative universities, because most students have been spending the past two years taking classes that transfer to the Cal State universities.

The cost of private colleges and out of state colleges also will be a burden to students as most cannot afford the

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.

enormous tuition rates at those universities.

Along with high school students looking to enroll into community colleges where they are turning away over 600,000 students, community colleges are feeling the same effect as they are the next batch of students being turned away from the Cal State system.

Many students are looking for ways to express their stress at what is going on with the education system in California, and there is no sense of thought of who is to put the blame on.

With all the other cuts taking place in the state, every one is not pleased that their organizations or programs are being limited in funding and students need to express their displeasure to the state about how it is taking away funding and resources from educations.

Students across the state have to realize their future is at stake, and the state is not supporting their education.

One thing that stays with students is the education they receive.

No one can take the education away that someone acquired, and if students continue to allow the state to do what it wants then eventually the students will be allowing California to take their education.

The time is changing in today’s world, where the current generation has to deal with multiple issues that are preventing them from succeeding in education and lives a pleasant live like past generations did.

Students need to start thinking out of the box and explore different options to finish their education such as leaving California or even the country to finish their education since

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

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April 5, 2012

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

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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

6 | April 5, 2012

Serving students since 1922

Opinions

Handling signs of depression

Veronica Widman Staff Writer One of the biggest and most tragic decisions that a college student can make is the decision to end his or her own life.

According to the American College Health Association, suicide is currently the second most common cause of death among college students.

There are flyers scattered around the Riverside City College campus that urge students to speak with a counselor if they are feeling overwhelmed or stressed, but are students reading these words or do they go unnoticed?

What else can be done if a student does not seek help?

Unfortunately, there is not much one can do if a student has been considering suicide with no detectable changes in their behavior and no signs to foreshadow what they plan to do, but if students make themselves aware of the warning signs that can be recognized, it might just save a life.

Probably the most obvious of all warning signs is depression.

If the depression is noticeable, it should not be taken lightly.

It is imperative that the issue be addressed by the student, a

teacher, a friend, or a loved one, to the safest extent possible.

According to WebMD, over 90 percent of people who committed suicide had clinical depression or another diagnosable mental disorder.

However, only 39 percent of people with severe depression seek out a mental health professional.

Other warning signs include always talking or thinking about death, depression that gets worse, tempting fate with risky behavior, such as driving fast or running red lights, losing interest in things one used to care about, putting affairs in order or tying up loose ends, saying things like “it would be better if I was not here,” or visiting and calling people to say goodbye.

One of the final warning signs that should be taken the most serious is a sudden, unexpected switch from being very sad to being very calm or appearing to be happy.

When a student has been contemplating taking his or her own life and is struggling with depression or substance abuse, the idea of suicide can seem comforting or calming.

This would cause the student to no longer seem depressed, but rather happy that it will all finally be over.

Students, parents, and others should not mistake this warning sign as a sign that the student is improving or that they are no longer depressed, as it can be a fatal mistake.

Students: if you are, in fact, feeling overwhelmed or stressed, you are strongly urged to seek

Allison Perez / Photo Editor

Depression: Too much stress can cause depression and suicidal thoughts. help.

There are professionally trained therapists available on campus, ready and more than willing to help.

With homework, midterms, finals, and work, it is reasonable for a student to feel overwhelmed, but it is important to still realize that suicide is not the answer.

If it is a specific environment that is stressing you out or causing your depression, then remove yourself from the environment.

If it is school or work, take a vacation.

It is estimated that every suicide intimately affects at least six other people and those people are left with unresolved grief, confusion, and feelings of abandonment.

Suicidal persons believe that, in ending their life, they are getting rid of the pain.

In all actuality, they are only passing it on tenfold to their friends and family.

Research has found that many young people who survived a suicide attempt are very glad to be alive and never attempted suicide again.

If you are having suicidal fantasies or you recognize a student with suicidal tendencies, please do not let the issue go unattended.

Each life is precious and it is a tragedy when one is ended all too soon.

For more information and to get involved visit www. twloha.com

Teaching students safety measures in universities

Leah Frost Advertising Manager According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a man calmly walked into a grocery store, approached the customer service counter and declared, “I just shot some people.”

One Goh, a 43- year- old man, made this declaration in the public grocery story after allegedly leaving Oikos University, a small Christian University located in Oakland, according to the paper.

Despite his calm demeanor, an hour earlier a gruesome scene nearly 5 miles down the road left seven dead and three injured on the university campus.

According to The Chronicle, the suspect, a former nursing student at the university, is rumored to have unresolved issues with the college that may have triggered

the rampage projected onto the innocent students still actively attending classes on campus.

The gunman used a 45-caliber handgun to cause what has been stated as one of the “deadliest campus attacks in California history,” by The Chronicle.

This is a situation that is tragic on so many levels. The loss students will have to endure for their classmates, the loss the families of the victims will feel as they grieve over their loved ones and an event that should have never happened.

The violation of safety and security that will be felt campus wide as they process of grief and recovery will no doubt be slow to heal the university and every person that steps foot on the grounds.

Although this is a tragedy that will have an imprint in the history of the college, the state and education as a whole, there is a deeper underlying problem of desensitization that is setting in with the growth of violence on campuses throughout the country.

Students are being taught at a young age how to deal with natural disasters. With an earthquake, duck and cover. In a tsunami, get to high ground. In a fire don’t panic,

stop drop and roll and move to a designated safety area.

Many schools have intensified security and instilled a sense of safety in the form of metal detectors, on site cameras and lock down of campuses during school hours. Though how much safety does this really bring college students? The answer, not much. If the person is determined enough, he or she will probably find a way around intense security measures.

Once upon a time, lockers were available at all upper level schools for the privacy and convenience of the students, a little place that was theirs during school hours to store books, decorate, etc. Students now live without that extended privacy and must prove on a daily basis that they are trustworthy and safe to be around because of mistakes made by people in past generations.

There is usually more to the story when a person snaps and creates violent situations around innocent students, but the rarity of attacks at the university level is not as common as attacks within the K-12 school systems.

The events that took place at Oikos University are a reminder that no one is safe, not even

at a religious higher education university.

The impending 5- year anniversary of the violence that took place at Virginia Tech was being reviewed in the news yesterday morning prior to the Oikos attack.

These examples of chaos and fear played out without direct reasoning is exactly why school systems at the K-12 level as well as the university level need to rethink their approach to safety.

Students are properly given basic information on how to deal with a natural disaster, but are they given proper tools to defend themselves in an attack?

Are there plans laid out on how to react if a threat or act of violence is aimed at the learning institutions?

It may seem counterproductive to teach students how to fight violence with violence, or how to find a safe place to hide in the event tragedy strikes, but the alternatives of merely beefing up security with metal detectors and taking away students privacy seems like an easy ineffective route. Most schools take these precautions because it is the least expensive route to teaching about and imposing security measures.

Schools should teach younger and older students alike to have the inner strength to protect themselves instead of teaching them that they can’t take a nail file to school as to not give someone the opportunity to turn it into a weapon is Teach students to follow their instincts if there is an attack and to live without fear. To be armed with the knowledge in the back of their minds that they are capable of protecting themselves prior to a violent event so that when and if tragedy occurs, they know in the aftermath they did everything they could, instead of being powerless.

Students should have a sense of security and a desire to focus on learning when they enter an educational facility, not the fear that the next person to enter their classroom may be the person who violates their human existence by opening fire.

The measures taken so far are progress, but students should learn that they have more power to control their surroundings than a metal detector can to protect them in the end.

Knowledge is power, and knowledge of self protection can be just as powerful as any manmade weapon.

Viewpoints

Opinions

April 5, 2012 | 7

Serving students since 1922

Teen shot by head watchmen Amanda Rougeaux Opinions editor A seventeen year old boy was shot and killed in Stanford, Florida on Feb. 26.

George Zimmerman was found standing over the body armed with a handgun.

Zimmerman, 28, is a self appointed neighborhood watch captain.

The killing of the boy, Trayvon Martin, has brought up many controversies all over the U.S. Zimmerman said he shot in self defense, though when police arrived.

Martin was found with only an iced tea and a bag of Skittles next to him.

Many eyewitnesses also account that Martin was unarmed.

Zimmerman had followed Martin for several minutes before the two had a violent altercation.

Some facts are clear in this case, others not so much. The facts we know are, Zimmerman followed Martin for several minutes before the shooting and had called the police prior to following and shooting Martin.

The police dispatcher was told about a suspicious looking character wearing a hood and later told Zimmerman to stay in his car until the police arrive, which Zimmerman disobeyed.

In the police tape, Zimmerman clearly states “he’s black” at least five times. Police who arrived on the scene later confirm that they might have missed a key element

of racial profiling stated in the tape.

Martin and Zimmerman got into a violent altercation before the boy was shot.

Martin was on the phone with his unnamed girlfriend at the time who has told police that she heard Martin ask someone “why are you following me” and then a scuffle.

Many believe this was an act of racial profiling because of the peculiar facts and eyewitness accounts.

Others believe this to be an act of an insane man who wanted to be a hero.

Zimmerman has yet to be charged with a crime.

People have been raising questions and controversy about the Stanford police department and how they are handled this case.

On March 13th, ABC news uncovered questionable police conduct in this case.

An ABC news article states “Zimmerman described Martin as suspicious because he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and walking slowly in the rain, police later told residents at a town hall.”

This raises a question, why would someone with a hooded sweatshirt in the rain look suspicious?

Was it because he was a colored young boy holding candy and an iced tea with his hood up in the rain? Questions like these can only be answered by Zimmerman.

On March 28 an ABC News exclusive surfaced with new evidence.

A video of the night Martin was shot showing Zimmerman being escorted into the police station.

This is a relevant video because in an earlier article ABC said, “According to the police report, Zimmerman, who was armed with a handgun, was found bleeding

Image courtesy of: Orange County Florida Jail from the nose and the back of the head, standing over Martin, who was unresponsive after being shot”.

In the surveillance video, Zimmerman has no signs of blood or bruising on him. This video has brought up new controversy about Zimmerman’s original “selfdefense” statement.

Honestly, the facts in this case do not add up. Zimmerman was never drug or alcohol tested the night of the murder. Police just ‘accepted’ his self-defense statement without further testing.

Although another reason Zimmerman has not been charged

could be because of the “standyour-ground” law in Florida.

The law is supposed to protect a person who has murdered by another because the person felt he or she was in imminent danger.

This law was not made for the purpose of this case.

People should see that Zimmerman put himself in an uncontrollable situation by following Martin. Should the “stand-your-ground” law apply if the person it is protecting made so many crucial mistakes as a watchman and citizen? This defense has its boundaries. When you have made someone feel so

threatened by following them that the person has to ask why you are in pursuit, it seems that the law should be void.

If a person feels threatened ,the fight or flight mechanism turns on in the brain causing impulse and adrenaline.

Obviously, Martin tried to fight but why? Did Zimmerman start the altercation after being asked why he was following Martin, or did Martin start the altercation because he felt threatened?

This case continues to be an open controversy and will continue to be until justice is served found.

Higher enrollment prices are deciding for the students

Selenne Sevilla Staff Writer Ever dream of higher education but reconsidered after knowing your chances to be enrolled?

Well, many students value their education, but as student enrollment increases many students are discouraged to apply.

The amount of students applying to community colleges increases every year. Community colleges are a gateway for those who may not have succeeded in high school or do not have the money to go to a big name college.

Community colleges have an open admissions policy.

Therefore it is not very hard

to attend these colleges. However, now that more students are applying, fewer schools have the capacity and money to give these students their education.

As enrollment increases more budget cuts are being enforced, and classes and programs are becoming less available to the students. Students are affected by this because not many will have an opportunity to live the American Dream or even get close to living it. When classrooms are so full of students, very few students get a chance to actually communicate with their professors about their grades and their progress, so many students begin to fall behind or lose focus in the class.

Riverside City College student Manuel Chavez, states, “I believe over enrollment in colleges will affect me in ways that may alter my success to complete school such as classes being limited and quickly filled. And overall the campus will be overfilled with students making it complicated to be involved with the school.” Decades ago, college

may not have been a choice for everyone but, as generations pass us by, competition to get enrolled into college continues to grow therefore making it increasingly difficult and stressful to students who struggle to get classes.

University of Michigan, National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good, “Who Is College For? A Community Discussion Guide” researched that, “Based upon current census data and enrollment trends, greater than 2.3 million more students will attend college by 2015 and ECS estimates this number could reach 8 million new students if a greater proportion of high school graduates attend college. This gap could well affect how many people U.S. higher education can accommodate and, as a result, who will be able to attend college.”

In order for colleges to offer students a quality education demands for a higher grade point average will increase. And overall impaction requirements will be

stricter. “The reality individuals face is one of limited capacity to serve all students equally well. The current system is not prepared to meet the growing demand. When spaces are limited, what are the most equitable ways to admit students?”

If access to college is limited students will feel obligated to settle for less, although they can achieve much more. Students will start deciding not to go to college even though many jobs require a college degree. Students need guidance and knowledge to be successful and complete school.

“College is seen as an important path to economic success and civic leadership”. If colleges cannot accommodate students in classes this can and will affect the future of prospective students.

One may think that impaction requirements getting stricter are not a way to discourage students, but rather to encourage students to work harder and to believe that anything is possible.

But with so much competition

going on, one is not always guaranteed. Students may also lose hope in themselves because standards are being set higher. Also students may become increasingly depressed and hopeless resulting in the suicides of many young people.

One may not be able to achieve such a grade point average because they are dealing with other life situations. Personally for me impaction effects my education because there will be a larger population and with a larger population my education may be at stake.

There are higher demands of applications submitted to colleges every year, so this makes the chances to getting into the college of my choice slimmer. Impaction also effects my decisions to further my education because I have encountered many other situations in my life that strain me from being able to give as much time to my education as I’d like in order to achieve a higher grade point average.

Viewpoints

8| April 5, 2012

In class and on stage

Serving students since 1922

April 5, 2012 | 9

Samuel finch features editor

Just as every journey must begin with a single step, so must every acting career begin with a single role, whether big or small.

“I was a dancing potato chip,” said Jodi Julian, associate professor and Theater department chair.

Though Julian has worked with Riverside City College for the past 13 years, acting was not originally a conscious pursuit on her part.

“It’s always really been something that I’ve fallen into,” she said. “I never chose this as a path, it was just always the next thing and I’ve been very fortunate in my career as an artist to keep getting jobs. To me it’s about the work, not about how great I was or how much of a star I wanted to be or anything like that, I just wanted to continue to work all of the time.”

Julian embodies this view in her outlook on teaching.

“I want students to be successful in acting as a career, whether it’s a career going to school or a career in Hollywood or a career on Broadway or whatever they choose, I want them to be focused in that sense,” she said.

This desire has certainly had an impact on those who have taken Julian’s classes, such as Bryan Young.

“I’ve been doing theater for a long time,” Young said. “Other kids would do basketball; I’d go to rehearsal. Then in high school, when you have to start making decisions, and they start slimming down to what you’re good at, junior to senior year I started really looking at what I was good at and what I wanted to do specifically. That’s when I made the decision that this is where I wanted to go to and I shopped around colleges and I decided to come here to RCC.” Young’s time with the RCC Theater department has helped him further discern his aspirations.

“I’ve been working with Jodi Julian for about two and a half years,” Young said. “I really see her as a mentor for what I’m trying to do and the way she teaches is very career-oriented. I mean, coming out of high school and not knowing what I was going to do, and then coming here really put me on a very direct track to what I want to do.”

Young is not the only student to be propelled forward by involvement with the Theater department.

“Since I’ve started here, basically everything that I am now is from RCC,” said Alex White. “It’s built me up to what I am now. Plus, 100 percent of my friends are in this program.”

White started his college theater involvement with the play “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” where he performed alongside classmate Haley Rubin.

“It’s definitely helped me grow as an actor and as a person,” Rubin said. “Like Alex said, we’re all friends in the program. It’s fun and it’s something that’s going to propel us towards what we want to do.”

Both White and Rubin are cast to perform in the department’s upcoming production of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” starting in May. Rubin elaborated on how acting has helped her personal growth.

“You’re learning things about yourself with every line that you say, everything that you read, everything that you write, you’re learning more and more and building yourself up as a person,” she said.

Miguel Bagsit echoed Rubin’s sentiment, though he only began with the department last fall.

“This is something that’s very unique in its own way, theater acting,” Bagsit said. “It’s not something everybody does. Being here with a department that has a wealth of knowledge and a lot of people who are investing time in it, it really helps me want to grow and want to become a part of it more than I’ve ever been.”

Students involved with the department spoke not only of their pasts and presents, but of their hopes for the future as well.

“I hope that it keeps going strong,” White said. “It’s been solid for me, it’s been a great learning environment and a place to grow. It’s too bad that now with the economy we had to cut the summer program and so I’m hoping that nothing more gets cut because it’s all so valuable. It’s where I’ve spent the last four years of my life becoming a new person.”

Miguel Castellano added his thoughts to White’s desire to see the department grow and remain strong, a hope reiterated by their classmates.

“The quality of work this community college puts out is amazing,” Castellano said. “I just wish that the Riverside community would recognize it more as its own entity. A lot of people get us confused with Performance Riverside and think it’s all one thing but it’s not.

We’re two, separate things and I think it’d be nice for the community to know that the community college itself has a theater department that does really good work.”

With “The Crucible” on the horizon, Julian keeps an open mind for the future.

“As long as the director’s heart is in it and the kids are excited about it, that’s what I want to do next,” she said.

Paul Ledesma / Staff photographer

harmony: The RCC Musical Theater ensemble gathers around to practice together.

Paul Ledesma / Staff Photographer

Suspense: Kyara Pintos, Victoria Walcott and Megan Grametbaur practice expressions of horror during one of their rehearsals for Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.”

Paul Ledesma / Staff photographer

expression: Nicholas Alexander (center) belts it out with the RCC Musical Theater ensemble.

10 | April 5, 2012

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Opinions

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Serving students since 1922

Race to the finish in Redlands Bicyclists of the National Racing Calendar compete in the Redlands Bicycle Classic Sean Egle Staff Writer The 28th annual Redlands Bicycle Classic hosted some of the world’s elite riders in both the men’s and women’s categories.

The nearly 300 mile race was held in both the cities of Redlands and Beaumont, over a four day span from March 22 through March 25.

The bicycle classic is one of the longest running stage races in America, and has hosted some of cycling’s most iconic names.

The race is also the first race which opens the National Racing Calendar.

This year’s event held four stages: The Sun Time TrialPrologue, City of Beaumont Road Race, City of Redlands Criterium, and Beaver Medical Group Sunset Road Race.

Each stage of the race consists of its own technical courses and mileages.

The four day event started with a 3.1 mile time trial event that challenged each rider on an individual level.

In the time trial, there is no help from the riders’ respective

team, just the rider and his or her bicycle.

Phillip Gaimon held the fastest time over the 191 men that entered the competition with an overall time of 9:25.

Gaimon admitted that every team had their own rider that could make a move to win the race.

“We’re just taking it one day at a time,” he said.

Gaimon was holding his lead just two second above the next rider.

Megan Guarnier was the fastest woman on the day, beating out 86 other competitors to claim top spot on the podium with a time of 11:19.

Day two of the event would test the riders on a different scale: endurance.

With a looped course making its way throughout Beaumont, the men rode a 120.5 mile course and the women rode a 72.3 mile course.

Patrick Bevin of Bissell Pro Cycling claimed the victory with a time of 4:34:44.

Loren Rowney brought in the fastest time for the women, winning the stage in just over

Sean Egle / Staff Photographer

Ahead of the Pack: Phillip Gaimon (front) won the four day Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Sean Egle / Staff Photographer

against the wind: The four day race is the start to the National Racing Calendar and tested many of its competitors with steep hills and grueling conditions. three hours.

Although winning one of the stages is a special moment for any cyclist, the overall win for the event is based on overall time that secures the race win and points in the general classification standings within the National Racing Calendar.

Both Gaimon and Guarnier held onto their overall lead after the second day of racing and headed into stage two wearing the yellow jersey.

Stage three would bring the riders back into Redlands with a 1.2 mile circuit.

The men endured a grueling 90 minutes worth of racing while the women battled it out for 60 minutes.

Bevin again showed the rest of the pack how to claim a stage win, making it two-for-two with one final day of racing ahead.

“I have no ambition to win the

(overall) race, but I’m enjoying Redlands,” he said. “It was a comfortable pace and the win showed how strong the team is.”

Meanwhile, Guarnier defended her leader’s jersey while putting in a strong individual effort to claim second place on the day, just behind Joelie Numainville.

Day four sent the riders into the steep hills of Redlands on a course similar to the one raced in Beaumont two days prior.

Guarnier again showed she will be a true force to reckon with in the remainder of the 2012 National Racing Calendar as she claimed fifth place on the day, giving her the overall win by a margin of three seconds.

And while Guarnier remained undefeated, Loren Rowney returned to the podium with a third placed finish.

“I felt good today; I don’t consider myself the greatest

climber, so to be up there with those girls was good,” she said.

The weather played its part for the men’s race, as temperatures dropped into the low 50s with strong winds and rain.

Many riders chose to forgo attempting to finish the race and “abandoned,” or dropped out of the race, as a result of fatigue, weather or a combination of factors.

At the finish, Bevin once again claimed top spot on the podium making it three wins in three consecutive stages.

The impressive display puts Bevin into second overall in the point’s classification in National Racing Calendar.

Like Guarnier, Gaimon kept the leader’s jersey throughout the four day event.

Taking fifth place on stage three, he finished in first place with the same margin of two seconds to none other than Bevin.

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Men’s tennis comes up short Sports

Watch a video on the newly renovated Wheelock Gym at Riverside City College by visiting Viewponts’ YouTube channel at ViewpointsofRCC. Like Viewpionts’ Facebook fan page by searching “Riverside City College Viewpoints” Follow Viewpoints on Twitter: @RCCViewpoints Stay connected with Viewpoints

Allison Perez / Photo Editor

Double Edge: Jordan Gobatie and Ramazan Nureev won the first doubles match for RCC against Saddleback College on March 29.

Norithito ikeda Staff Writer The Riverside City College men’s tennis team lost 5-4 in match play against Orange Empire Conference rival Saddleback on March 29, which they could never lose to tie for the first place in the conference.

The Tigers and Saddleback had a close match. The lead had changed time after time through the match.

Theo Arruda won the third singles match before Saddleback caught up and overtook the Tigers with a three match winning streak.

Ramazan Nureev and Aliaksandr Pesniak won their matches, having both teams tied at 3-3 after the singles matches were completed.

The Tigers won the first doubles match while they lost the other two. They finished 1-2 in the three doubles matches.

The Tigers went 7-2 in the conference and have a 12-6 record overall.

In the second round of the conference schedule, the Tigers have already competed with three other rivals.

In the match against Fullerton on March 27, they finished 6-0 in singles and 2-1 in doubles.

Before the match against

Fullerton, Jim Elton, head coach of the men’s team, said, “I have confidence we are going to be fine, Fullerton would be an easy match.”

In the last meeting between the two teams, the Tigers shut out Fullerton 9-0 on March 6 on the road.

“Fullerton would be the opportunity for us to play,” Elton said.

Elton said he would sit a couple of higher level players down to rest them and let the other players have a chance to compete.

Jordan Gobatie, who is the No. 1 player for the Tigers, did not play in this match, despite playing in the first singles match in the Tigers’ last match against Fullerton.

“They have a good No. 1 who may give Jordan a good match.

He is probably one of the top four players in the conference,” Elton said. “But besides that, they do not have the stronger players.”

In the match against Cypress, they finished 6-0 in singles and 2-1 in doubles.

The Tigers finished 4-2 in singles and 1-2 in doubles in the match against Irvine Valley.

In the first singles match, Gobatie lost the close contest with Lance Dugan.

“He got a little frustrated. He is very confident in his abilities and his level of play,” Elton said.

“When he does not play at that level, he does not manage his frustrations very well.”

Gobatie’s overall record for the 2012 season is 11-4.

“I think he gets mad if it is even close. If he thinks he should be defeating his opponents, he feels like he should be demolishing them,” Elton said. “That’s something he needs to work on, his maturity.”

The scores of the second and third doubles matches were very close, and both finished 9-7.

Theo Arruda and Tavyn Libao had the early lead in the second match, leading 7-4, before the pair of Michael Sharp and Rafael Da Luz rallied back to win the doubles match for Irvine Valley, 9-7.

“We were up 7-4 and we had a lot of match points,” Elton said.

“We should have won that.”

The Tigers shuffled some players in the doubles including Aliaksandr Pesniak and Alex Mares, who were in the third doubles match, playing together for the first time.

The team also switched the sides of Gobatie and Nureev in the first doubles match.

“We have been playing it the other way with Jordan on the forehand side and Ramazan on the backhand side,” Elton said. “We switched them up because Jordan has a strong backhand.”

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Sports

Diego Alvarez / Staff Photographer

Hot streak: Tigers’ Camille Requiestas (left) and Brooke Vorhees are the top players leading the RCC women’s tennis team.

Baseball

Fastpitch

Men’s Basketball

Season Record Season Record 19-8 13-13 Conference: Conference: 10-4 8-5 Next Game: Next Game: April 10 at Golden West April 11 at Santa Ana 3 p.m.

2 p,m.

Season Record 17-11 Conference: 8-4

Women’s Basketball Season Record 10-18 Conference: 4-8

Men’s Tennis

Women’s Tennis

Season Record 13-6 Conference: 8-2 Next Game: April 3 vs. Paradise Valley 2 p.m.

Season Record 16-1 Conference: 10-0 Next Game: April 19 in Conference Tournament

Tigers are playoff bound

RCC women’s tennis wins its first Orange Empire Conference championship in over 12 years James Williams Sports editor

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

vs. Paradise Valley 2 p.m.

Baseball

Feb. 24

RCC 7 Sacramento City 0

Feb. 25

RCC 5 Sacramento City 8

Feb. 28

RCC 4 Mt. SAC 9

March 1

RCC 4 Santa Ana 3

March 3

RCC 4 Cypress 5

March 6

RCC 8 Fullerton 2

March 8

RCC 6 Golden West 5

March 10 RCC 6 Irvine Valley 0 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

vs. Santa Barbara 5 p.m.

April 5

vs. Cerro Coso 6 p.m.

April 10

at Golden West 2 p.m.

April 12

vs. Golden West 2 p.m.

April 14

at Irvine Valley 12 p.m.

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 vs. Saddleback

Feb. 24

RCC 11 Orange Coast 0

at Cerritos 8 a.m.

Feb. 27

RCC 9 East Los Angeles 5

March 3

at Cerritos 8 a.m.

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 17

vs. Ventura at Walnut 5 p.m.

March 17

at Mt. San Antonio 7 p.m.

March 20

RCC 6 Antelope Valley 2

March 21

vs. Orange Coast 3 p.m.

March 23

vs. Golden West 2 p.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

March 28

RCC 3 Fullerton 0

April 3

vs. Cypress 6 p.m.

Feb. 8

RCC 0 Cuesta 9

April 4

vs. Saddleback 6 p.m.

Feb. 10 RCC 3 Fresno 7

April 6

vs. Mt. San Antonio 6 p.m.

April 11

at Santa Ana 3 p.m.

April 13

at Orange Coast 2 p.m.

April 17

at Palomar 3 p.m.

April 18

vs. Golden West 6 p.m.

April 20

vs. Fullerton 6 p.m.

April 25

vs. Santiago Canyon 3 p.m.

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

March 24-25Bakersfield Tournament

RCC 10 Compton 1

Feb. 23 RCC 18 Sacramento City 13

RCC 4 Palomar 5

Feb. 14

March 2

Feb. 4

Feb. 21 RCC 3 Mt. SAC 2

Feb. 10

Fastpitch

RCC 3 Santiago Canyon 2

Feb. 18 RCC 3 Western Nevada 4

RCC 9 Fresno 0

vs. Cal State Long Beach

March 30

Feb. 17 RCC 1 Western Nevada 3

RCC 9 Imperial Valley 0

Feb. 6

Feb. 24

RCC 3 East Los Angeles 4

Feb. 16 RCC 4 Western Nevada 12

RCC 9 Victor Valley 0

Feb. 3

Feb. 22

Feb. 3

Feb. 11 RCC 7 Fresno 5

Women’s Tennis

Feb. 2

Cerritos 8 a.m.

April 14

Mt. SAC Relays at Mt. San 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.

After originally clinching a share of the Orange Empire Conference Title, the Riverside City College Women’s Tennis team claimed sole possession of the title after defeating the Orange Coast College Pirates, 7-2, on April 3.

This is the second conference title for the women’s tennis team under coach Nikki Bonzoumet.

The first conference title under her tenure was in the 2000 season, in her first year as coach.

With the victory, the playoff bound Tigers keep an undefeated 10-0 record in conference play and are also 16-1 overall in the regular season.

The Tigers are on a 13 game winning streak, suffering their last loss to Palomar College, 5-4, on Feb. 10.

Bonzoumet said, RCC has been the team every other team in the conference has been trying to beat.

“Everyone in the conference has been gunning for us the second time around,” she said.

In the match against the Pirates, the Tigers won their first four singles matches.

Tigers’ No. 3 singles player Alejandra Borja defeated Pirates’ player Haley Moss, who had to retire due to injury.

In doubles play, the Tigers managed to win two of their three doubles games.

The Tigers’ No. 2 doubles team of Natalie Tomlin and Camille Requiestas lost a close match to the Pirates’ team of Nicole Pham and Krystal Hernandez.

Before clinching sole possession of the conference title, the Tigers’ defeated the Saddleback College Gauchos, 8-1, on March 29.

The Tigers had clinched at least a share of the Orange Empire Conference title after defeating the Gauchos.

After the Tigers’ No. 1 player Brooke Vorhees lost her match to Gauchos No. 1 player Jeannette Losaria 6-1, 6-3.

In response to losing the first match, the Tigers went on to win the next eight matches against the Gauchos.

“We have had a great season thus far,” Bonzoumet said, after the win over Saddleback. “Right now, our goal is to win the conference outright and we can do that by defeating Orange Coast.”

“Orange Coast is a tough team and we do not take them lightly,” she said.

The Tigers had already held a victory over the Pirates from the first meeting between the two teams this season, 7-2, at home on March 13.

“When we played them the first time we played really well. We know that we will have to play even better to beat them this time,” Bonzoumet said.

“We will be prepared mentally and physically tomorrow as we travel on the road to take the title for our own,” Bonzoumet added before the game against the Pirates.

The Tigers will advance to the Southern California Regional Tournament with pairings to be announced on April 15.

The team will also compete in the Orange Empire Conference tournament on April 19 at Fullerton College.

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14 | April 5, 2012

‘Hunger Games’ lives up to hype Courtney Coleman Staff Writer The long anticipated film version of Suzanne Collins’ young adult series, “The Hunger Games” has finally hit theaters.

The franchise, on its way to becoming even more popular than the latest teenage rage “The Twilight Saga,” made 19 million at the box office just from the midnight premiere showings alone.

Set during the future, what was once North America is now called Panem, a cluster of districts run by District 1, also referred to simply as The Capitol.

Capitol leaders devised The Hunger Games, a contest in which two children, from each district, called tributes, are forced to battle to the death in an arena, while humanity watches on live television, to remind the districts who is boss and prevent future uprisings.

Gary Ross (“Seabiscuit” and “Pleasantville”) directed and cowrote the film adaption of Collins’ famed trilogy; a challenge that was executed brilliantly. He manages to veer from sci-fi clichés while still depicting a believable, though dark, future.

A combination of expertly shot scenes, extravagant costuming, an unorthodox musical score and superb acting help bring “The Hunger Games” to life.

Katniss Everdeen, the book’s heroine, is played by Jennifer Lawrence, also known for playing another steadfast character in “Winter’s Bone.”

Lawrence portrays confidence and strength in her character while still making Katniss relatable to the audience.

Without reading the books ,one might mistake Lawrence’s occasional lack of expression as bad acting. Considering Katniss’ original character is meant to come across as stoic (most of the character’s emotions taking place internally), Lawrence did a fine job.

Josh Hutcherson on the other hand, who plays the part of Peeta, had his mouth agape in nearly every scene as if he would break out into a smile at any moment.

That or he would look dumbfounded and confused, unlike his strong and extremely intelligent character.

The film makes the disturbing concept of “The Hunger Games” a reality from the start using a shaky camera and quick shots to keep audiences on edge up until the “reaping,” the event where the tributes are selected. Ross made sure the audience saw in a

Volunteer: Katniss Everdeen supports her family by hunting game in restricted areas of District 12. wide shot the hundreds of innocent children shuffle through the poor and rundown District 12 to the reaping - a scene eerily similar to holocaust depictions. The sight reminds the audience that this is not a happy movie.

The rest of the film keeps a steady, yet fast pace which takes viewers from the meager

District 12, to the technologically advanced Capitol, and finally to a forested battle arena where the audience watches painfully as the story’s characters come to terms with the horror of the games.

Inevitably, Ross had to pick and choose which material to take from the book and what to leave out. In the book, a lot of the story’s crucial

lionsgate

Girl on fire: Games host Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) presents Katniss to adoring fans and sponsors.

elements are explained through Katniss’ thoughts. Knowing that approach wouldn’t work onscreen, Ross skillfully explains loose ends by often reverting to the point of view of Capitol residents discussing the games as they watch on television.

“Hunger” fans were prepared to critique Ross’ film harshly if it didn’t live up to the book’s hype.

Fortunately it did, not only as an adaption, but film critics were also pleased at how well made the 2 1/2 hour long movie ended up being.

Some critics complain that the movie is a disturbing account

lionsgate

of teens, bloodily ending one another’s lives, but it’s more than that. Viewers can compare the grievances of the movie to real life misfortune. “The Hunger Games’” focus is more so about struggling to live in a cruel and unfair world. It’s the story of the unlikely rising up against injustice no matter the cost.

Ross knew what he was doing when it came to piecing together a movie that highlights hardship and triumph, while at the same time keeping the movie entertaining for first time viewers and “Hunger” fans alike.

lionsgate

Against the odds: Katniss evades enemies while searching the arena for fellow tribute Peeta Mallark.

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Inscape

Animated classic comes alive Monique Carrasco Staff Writer The timeless tale of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” has returned to the big screen in the new movie “Mirror Mirror,” and the film has certainly succeeded in bringing the story to life with both a brilliant cast, and a modern twist.

The film features Julia Roberts as the evil queen, Nathan Lane as her eccentric servant, and up and coming actress Lily Collins as Snow White.

The actors worked exceptionally well at bringing something fresh and new to each proverbial character, as well as making sure each persona was very clear and complete.

If there is anything to be said about the performances in this film, it should most certainly be about Collins, for perhaps the best part of this adaptation of “Snow White,” was its portrayal of Snow White herself.

As many know, her story was originally thought up by the Brothers Grimm, and had a dark, somewhat peculiar, feel to it.

But the iconic soft-spoken, good-natured character we all know today was, of course, made famous by Walt Disney.

This movie seemed to knit together its own ideas of Snow White with the age-old concepts

of both Disney and the Brothers Grimm in order to create a very interesting interpretation of a classic character.

Collins expressed a great understanding of her character’s growth over the course of the movie in an interview with The Vancouver Sun. “S he becom es a fighter physically and emotionally, and goes from this young, wide-eyed, innocent princess that everyone grew up knowing to a young woman who finds within herself the strength to fight for what she believes in,” Collins said in the interview.

In the original Disney film, the core concepts are love, friendship, and goodness over evil, but, while this movie certainly touches on those, it focuses more on bravery, empowerment and finding yourself.

Even with the love potions, the charming Prince, and the magic beast, this film proved to be more of a coming-of-age story than a simple children’s fairy tale.

It began with the narration of The Queen, as she introduced the story as her own.

She tells the audience of her “love story” with Snow White’s father, The King, and of her desire to remain both ruler of her kingdom, and the fairest woman in the world.

Laith Salama Staff Writer

retail of $59.99 plus tax and convenience fees.

The idea of downloadable addons was not only a genius way to make money, but also a great way to keep old games fresh.

For example, “Resident Evil 4” was released on the Gamecube and then re-released on the PlayStation 2 with more content in it.

Had downloadable content been around back then, fans wouldn’t have had to buy the game twice to play these extra missions.

Downloadable content is a good thing, but it’s being abused and can only get worse.

Recent rumors have stated that the next generation consoles will be exclusively downloadable and will no longer have disc-based games.

This puts a lot of emphasis on the systems’ capabilities and will allow for simpler shopping.

However, there is no real sense

Captivating: Lily Collins mystifies audiences in her role of Snow White.

The only thing standing in her way is the rightful heir to the throne–the beautiful Snow White.

With that in mind, The Queen declared, “Snow must do what snow does best…snow must fall.”

This statement painted a clear picture of good and evil and foreshadowed the events that lay ahead.

To further emphasize the foreshadowing, the statement was made once more, later in the film, just before The Queen ordered her servant to kill Snow White in

the forest.

But of course, this did not occur, instead, Snow White went on to meet the seven dwarves (a bit rougher than Disney’s), who enabled her yearn for adventure and taught her to be strong and fight her own battles, both literally and figuratively.

With her newfound courage, Snow went on to sword fight a prince, fall in love with him, save his life twice, and take her kingdom back from The Queen.

An ironic tone was evident, for in a strange turn of events the

relativity

princess saved the prince through the magic of true love’s kiss, Snow was not the one to fall, but rather the Queen. Though she introduced the story as her own, it turned out to be Snow White’s all along.

“Mirror Mirror” was just the right balance of whimsicality and realism, and though it may have wandered in parts from the classic tale of Snow White, one thing remained the same. The story’s encouragement for all to believe in kindness, love, and most importantly, yourself.

Gaming’s new generation ‘Your Poem Here:’ Nobody has money anymore, but somehow kids find enough money to afford video games, the ability to play online with their friends, and downloadable content.

Gaming has always been expensive, but now that it’s more popular than ever. The corporate money-making wizards have invented new ways to take gamers’ money.

Downloadable content is a system of online marketing that lets you purchase extra material for games you’ve already bought.

It also consists of entirely downloadable games and avatar accessories.

When it all adds up, it’s a lot of money going into a single game.

“Mortal Kombat,” for instance, is $60 if you buy it new and the online season pass is $30.

All together fans end up spending $90 for one game, and that’s assuming they bought the online pass and didn’t buy it all separately.

“Gears of War 3” is along the same lines. However, it could cost much more. “Gears of War 3’s” first downloadable content was released about a month after the game came out.

That’s hardly enough time to even get to know the original game and that means that it was planned before the game was released.

That’s content that could have, and should have been released with the game for the overpriced

of ownership as the physical copy is no longer distributed.

In addition, games that are not hard-coded onto a disk may be more susceptible to glitches and corrupt data.

The only real pro is that it would be cheaper for them to make and distribute and should therefore be sold at a cheaper rate.

However, gaming companies know gamers are willing to pay $60 to play a game, and that’s exactly what they’ll charge.

Their corporate greed for money will continue to require gamers to dish out needless amounts of cash for a game that has very little production cost to the companies.

A world of entirely digital gaming is only beneficial to the developers.

Gamers should get their money’s worth in return, or at least feel that the relationship between them and developers is mutual.

Allison Perez / photo editor

Changing times: Fans of games are now downloading the games online and on smartphones.

this week’s winner The Stay Classy Creative Writing Club is holding a contest throughout the spring semester called “Your Poem Here.” Writers can submit poetry (1-25 lines) to heyjazzybird@hotmail.com, and

possibly get published in the next issue of Viewpoints.

The next deadline is April 17.

The club meets every Tuesday 12:50-1:50 p.m. in Quadrangle 212.

“The Paradox of Anger” by Katie Palomo The blast of battle wounded me.

The gut wrenching shrapnel lacerated my flesh.

The moment of betrayal is done The promise made 20 years past, damaged.

The disappointment echoes in the silent yet thundering domain Of what once was trust and refuge.

Windows to the soul break and crumble – The fragments fall and reflect The hopeful yet dismal morning glory.

They are silent, glistening, and powerful.

Guilt condemns all except the uncompassionate, The surrounding air turns stale, The reflex of breath becomes distressing.

Bonds formed once by one the moment of origin, With discreet hidings shared amongst the pairing.

The gashes stung, but they brought empathy, A stigma yet appreciation of revelation.

Viewpoints

16 | April 5, 2012

Features

Serving students since 1922

Swimming in victories Shawanda Kinsey Staff Writer Dave Almquist has led the women’s swim and water polo teams to victory many times in his 17 years at Riverside City College.

“I’m glad to be able to win,” Almquist said. “It’s much more fun.”

If winning is fun for Almquist, he must have had a blast in 2011 when the women’s water polo team won its second state championship in a row.

The secret behind a winning team is a winning coach. Almquist has learned key strategies to bringing out the best in whatever team he coaches.

“The secret to being a good coach is to know the people and understand the team,” Almquist said. “When coaching one team, I found that putting pressure on them made them work harder, but with last season’s finals we found that putting too much pressure actually made the team stress, so we eased up and told them to do their best and there was much better results. The way you relate to the team is very critical to the team’s success.”

The ability to relate to the team is not only something that Almquist practices, but is also something he requires of the other coaches that he entrusts the team to.

“The coaches I hire must be able to relate to the team,” he said.

Not only is being able to relate to the team an important aspect of coaching, so is being able to create the team.

“Being a good recruiter is a huge deal,” Almquist said. “If you don’t recruit well, you won’t win.”

Almquist feels confident in the swimmers and divers they have recruited for this season. “ S w i m m i n g i s d i ff e r e n t from most other sports such as basketball or football in that it is pure sport and doesn’t get as much coverage,” Almquist said.

“There isn’t as many programs or scholarships for these sports and not much television coverage, so if you’re going to swim, it has to be because you enjoy it.”

“You can be a good swimmer regardless of your size, unlike other sports,” he said. “What matters the most in swimming is that you work hard.”

These aspects of water polo, swimming, and diving are what make Almquist most happy about coaching the sport and he’s surrounded by people who love the sport.

“When I first started coaching I wanted to win, win, win,” Almquist said.

Although Almquist still likes

diego alvarez / staff photographer

Coach: Dave Almquist stands beside the RCC Aquatics Complex’s Olympic-size pool. to win, he has discovered that it is about more than just winning.

“When I first started coaching I just wanted to win, win, win,” he said. “Now I realize that the most important thing is that we all have fun and enjoy what we do. You might not win the race, but if you swim the best you can, it’s something to be proud of, so for state conference finals I would like us to be the best we can be as

a team and I would like for every swimmer to do a lifetime best swim.”

Being a coach of college students does have its obstacles.

“The biggest obstacle for me right now in coaching would be academics,” Almquist said. “I feel as a coach you have to take academics real serious.”

Almquist along with other coaches work with the team

members and their counselors, making sure they get registered for the right classes.

They even monitor the team members’ grades to a certain extent to ensure they are on the right track academically.

Almquist works to ensure that Riverside City College’s swim, diving, and water polo teams continue winning both academically and athletically.