Vol 65 Edition 9

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Vol. 65, Ed. 9 • March 12, 2014

Emily K. Rabasto / rabastoe@gmail.com

California State Assemblyman Paul Fong shouts “si, se puede!” as he addresses a group of community college students rallying at the Capitol for the annual March in March. Each year, students from across California lead the demonstration to lobby state legislators for more affordable education.

Mediocrity at March in March

THE CURRENT CO-EIC PUT DOWN HIS PEN AND PICKED UP A SIGN

WHILE MOST HELD SIGNS, OUR PRESIDENT HELD HIS CELLPHONE

By Ed Gebing

By Melissa Hurtado & John Ferrannini

edgebingjr@gmail.com

W

hile I carried a sign at the March in March, ARC Associated Student Body Student Senate President Kenneth Hinton carried his cellphone.

Hinton had said that the main focus of the march was to lobby the state legislature for textbook affordability.

On Feb. 4, 27 days before the march Hinton was quoted by the Current as saying, “It’s one of the best feelings to march in there and lobby (the State Legislature) on behalf of the students.”

Yet on Feb. 6 Hinton didn’t attend lobby day, instead sending Sen. Laurie Jones and Sen. Ross Rayala to

SEE ED, PAGE 7

hurtadom73@gmail.com jferr1995@gmail.com

A Zach Tierney / ztierney.zt@gmail.com

Sarah Scott / scott.sarah8@gmail.com

American River Current’s Co-editor-in-chief Ed Gebing carries a sign advocating for cheaper education while ASB Student Senate President Kenneth Hinton looks down at his phone during the March in March rally on March 3.

merican River College students marched from Raley Field to the Capitol in downtown Sacramento as part of the sixth March in March after months of planning from the Associated Student Body.

Five students marched to the Capitol and nine more joined to watch speeches on the Capitol’s South Lawn.

The students who attended the march met in the Center for Leadership and Development at 7:30 a.m. and left in a charter bus to Raley Field about 40 minutes later.

SEE ASB, PAGE 7

FOR MORE COVERAGE AND TO VIEW A GALLERY OF PHOTOS FROM MARCH IN MARCH GO TO ARCURRENT.COM

Petitioner accused of slapping student arrested

By Barbara Harvey barbaraapharvey@gmail.com

Peter Messick, the student slapped by a signature gatherer on March 4 near the theater department.

A LOOK INSIDE

An American River College student was slapped by a man collecting signatures for a petition on Tuesday, March 4 just after 1 p.m.

Theater major Peter Messick, was speaking with a fellow theater major near the Fine Arts division office, when he was approached by the individual.

3

Candlelight Vigil The Autistic Self Advocacy Network mourn those killed because of their disability.

“I was talking with my friend Andy about theater things, and one of the petitioners was under the impression that I was talking, and I quote, ‘s— about him,’ then he proceeded to go on and wanted to know if I wanted to ‘fade’ (fight),” Messick said.

“I said no, I didn’t want any trouble, and then he goes back to his station, and about five minutes later, he comes back, says the same thing, almost verbatim and then he slaps me.

8

I said ‘we’re not talking about you, we’re talking about theater stuff,’ and then he slaps me and was threatening to fight me,” Messick said.

According to Messick, the suspect left the area immediately after the confrontation. Messick stated that he was unsure of what to do, explaining “(I) talked with a couple friends and they said ‘No, you need to report this.’”

Later that day, the suspect, a man

ARC Orchestra

School music department puts on concert March 12 and 15 on the ARC Main Stage.

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named Pavel Postelnyak was apprehended by campus police and charged with battery. Postelnyak was in possession of brass knuckles and a knife, according to the police report. “(The suspect having weapons) was very concerning for me. I’m lucky that he didn’t reach for the knife, or reach for the brass knuckles and hurt me more. I’m lucky to just get out with a slap in the face. It was definite-

SEE SLAP, PAGE 2

3D Printer at ARC

College research club uses grant money to build a printer and work on aquaponics experiment.

March 12, 2014

Page 2

Students rally behind SB 850

News

BILL WOULD INTRODUCE PILOT PROGRAM FOR FOUR-YEAR DEGREES AT COMMUNITY COLLEGES

By Melissa Hurtado & Kyle Moore hurtadom73@gmail.com news.kylemoore@gmail.com A bill introduced in January to the California Senate could make California community colleges eligible to offer bachelor’s degrees.

Senate bill 850, sponsored by Marty Block (D-San Diego) would allow the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to authorize an eight year pilot program for one baccalaureate degree per campus per district.

“The 21st century work field progressively demands a need for higher education and the demand for education beyond the community college level however, is not currently being met by California’s four-year institutions in certain fields,” reads the bill.

The bill says that in order for California to remain “economically competitive” in the future, the states needs to produce one million more bachelor’s degrees in the next few decades.

“I think it would be good, a lot of people come here because they can’t afford the bigger universities, so having a four year here would be better,” said Samantha

Bratvold an early childhood education major.

Some students feel that American River College is as qualified as other schools. “(ARC) should be just as accredited as any other school. Students try actually; in my opinion, even harder than they do at some four year universities,” said Aaron Padilla a micro-biologist major.

ARC counselor Jennifer Scalzi said that while she doesn’t know all the specifics of the bill she suspects that community colleges wouldn’t offer the academic degrees offered in nearby schools.

A section of the bill makes it clear that it does not want to “duplicate similar programs offered by nearby public postsecondary educational institutions.”

Scalzi believes the bill would more likely affect the vocational training programs on campus.

“ARC is very progressive in the way of thinking, I suspect it would be more vocational bachelors (offered), ARC is set up to continue those programs,” said Scalzi.

Vocational education is defined by the National Center for Educational Statistics as being “organized educational programs

Editors-in-Chief Ed Gebing Emily K. Rabasto

Managing Editor

Jonathan H. Ellyson

News Editor

Melissa Hur tado

Sports Editor

Kameron Schmid

Arts & Culture Editor Adnan Ramic

Scene Editor

Barbara Har vey

Opinion Editor Brooke Pur ves

Photo Editor Zach Tierney

offering a sequence of courses which are directly related to the preparation of individuals in paid or unpaid employment in current

or emerging occupations.”

SB 850 is set for hearing by the Senate Education Committee on March 19.

Slap: Are petitioners getting too agressive?

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ly unnerving to see that when they were patting him down he had brass knuckles,” Messick said.

Messick believes that the incident should raise questions among the administration regarding the advisability of petitioners on campus.

“I’m hoping the administration locks down, and kind of says ‘ok, well, let’s look at this as a lesson of should we let petitioners back on campus?” Messick said.

Some petitioners are paid to collect signatures, according to Donte Sloan, an ARC student currently working on campus circulating multiple petitions.

“Well, actually yeah, we get paid a dollar per signature,” said Sloan, who initially denied being paid.

Sloan, however, disagrees with the tactics of some of the more aggressive petitioners on campus.

“I don’t advocate that,” Sloan said, in response to the slapping incident. “You gotta be more civil with these types of things like that.

If people don’t wanna sign the petition.”

Some students have noted an increase in petitioners on campus this semester.

“Some of them are (too aggressive). They keep saying like, ‘oh, come on,’” said Vinson Saldivar, an ARC student who works in the counseling center.

“They should be screened,” said Saldivar, regarding the slapping incident. “Something should be done.”

Dean of Student Services Manuel Perez addressed rules regarding where to distribute information and materials on campus.

“Anybody can come on campus. We kind of operate like a public park. People usually ask ‘Where can I protest? Where can I pass out information? Distribute materials?’ and the answer is really anywhere on campus,” said Perez.

There are certain restrictions – visitors are

ASBNOTEBOOK

By John Ferrannini jferr1995@gmail.com Gifts for students and questions of club funding have been dominating the meetings of the Associated Student Body Student Senate.

The senate recently passed two bills: one giving away $340 worth of gift cards to students for the spring 2014 elections, another, giving $410 worth of pencils, blue books, scantrons and campus folders as part of a finals giveaway for 200 students.

A bill to give funding to Phi Theta Kappa has been stymied because the Joint Budget Com-

not permitted inside buildings, and cannot disrupt the learning environment. “(The situation) has gone to the point where it’s questionable whether this school should let petitioners back on campus, because it is a danger to the students, to the student body,” said Messick.

“I feel that the number one priority for a school, for the (ARC) campus, is the safety of the students,” Messick said.

ARC can’t restrict petitioners from coming on campus. However, Perez wants students to be aware of the proper channels for reporting violent behavior by visitors.

“If there’s ever any suspicion or allegation that this person could be a violent person, or has anything that’s potentially breaking our campus policies or visitors standard of conduct, police should be notified right away,” said Perez.

Sarah Scott

Web Editor

Brandon Nelson

Copy Chief

Jorden Hales

Advertising Manager Korbl Klimecki

Staff Writers

Shedric Allen John Ferrannini Kelly McCoy Kyle Moore Kevin Sheridan Sri Sherrell

Designers

Thalia Avila Walter Jones

Staff Photographers Phillip Kingsley Michael Pacheco Alex Panasenko

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Walter Hammer wold

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STUDENT SENATE: LESS MONEY, MO’ PROBLEMS

mittee did not submit its final budget for the year before the Feb. 14 deadline.

“Is there any better way to notify clubs in advance, that if you want to request funds, it has got to be by such and such a date?” asked Vice President Tami Dunning.

Student Senate President Kenneth Hinton, said that in the future, clubs will be made more aware of the fact that Student Senate cannot make new monetary commitments at this point in the year.

“I am going to put it in the president’s report for next year that the last day to advertise, or

Design Editor

Melissa Hurtado / hurtadom73@gmail.com

A student at March in March rides a unicycle while holding a sign in support of SB 850, which would let community colleges offer bachelor’s degrees.

request for funds, or to start that process is the last meeting in the fall,” said Hinton.

The ARC College Republicans requested $900 to attend the California Republican Convention this month. They too, have had trouble getting funds.

Director of Finance Jorge Riley, believes that this bill was excluded from the budget because of bias on the part of the board.

“They knew there were still people wanting money,” he said.

“They threw that extra money to the banquet, to serve themselves at the banquet.”

College Republican President Alexander Wrinkle, agrees that

there is a bias on the part of the board against his club.

“Considering other clubs have had their funding, which is reasonable, that’s what CAEB and others are supposed to do, I do feel like we were treated unfairly,” Wrinkle said. “We actually brought it up in January, and it never really was paid attention to.”

Luciana Curtis stated that the amount spent on trophies last year for the End-of-the-Year banquet was not $400, as stated in the previous meeting, but actually $659.25. She reiterated that she wants the senators to come to her with ideas for the banquet.

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Letters must be typed and can be submitted by mail, e-mail or in person at the following addresses: The American River Current 4700 College Oak Drive Liberal Arts, Room 120 Sacramento, CA 95841 Phone: 916-484-8304 Fax: 916-484-8668 E-mail: Current@arc.losrios.edu www.ARCurrent.com

News

March 12, 2014

Page 3

Research pioneer at ARC dies SENIOR ANALYST MADE STATISTICS ‘COME ALIVE’

By Kyle Moore news.kylemoore@gmail.com Jim Barr, who worked as a parttime instructor at American River College for over 20 years, died Dec. 19 at the age of 70.

“Jim always Jim Barr had a sparkle in his eye and a sincere enthusiasm for student success, whenever we talked,” said ARC’s Communications & Public Information Officer Scott Crow.

Barr began his career as a parttime psychology instructor at ARC, then spent 21 years as the college’s senior research analyst.

“He devoted his professional life to making research and statistics come alive, to show that data is about real people, not numbers,” said Interim ARC President Pam Walker.

Barr was active in many professional groups, including the Research and Planning Group for California Community Colleges and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges for, which he served on a number of accreditation teams.

“He did pioneering research work and laid the foundation for our research future. He also meant a lot to the field of California community college research, as he was a state-wide trailblazer in many of his methods,” said Crow.

Crow also stated that Barr was “an earnest supporter” of programs like Reading Across the Disciplines (RAD) and Writing Across Curriculum (WAC) on campus, and called his excitement for such programs “infectious.”

“He was a firm believer that all students are capable of reaching their dreams, with the right encouragement and support,” said Walker.

“While we all miss Jim terribly, his love for students has made an indelible mark on American River College.

His spirit will always live on,” Walker added.

CORRECTIONS

In Volume 65, Edition 8 of The Current, the following corrections are listed: On Page 1, Urijah Faber’s name is misspelled.

On Page 1, the $200k stolen in the scam article was in student aid, not loans.

In a headline on Page 3, the word colleagues is misspelled.

On Page 3, a cutline misidentifies a flag being at half-mast, it is at half-staff.

On Page 3, in the accredidation story, the official, Jane de Leon, is the accredidation officer for the Los Rios Community College District.

On Page 4, the five volleyball players were actually four players and the coach.

On Page 5, in Sports Updates, starting pitcher Thomas Peterson’s name was omitted.

On Page 10, the title of a Japanese manga referenced in Take This Class, “Akira,” is misidentified.

In Edition 7, Page 11, in the anti-gun section of the head to head, the writer implies that the police department has a small budget. The budget of the Los Rios Police Department is $3.3 million.

Emily K. Rabasto / rabastoe@gmail.com

ASB Student Senate Sen. Shayana Mendes weeps while Student Sen. Laurie Jones comforts her as the names of more than 100 disabled people who were killed by their parents or caregivers are read during a candlelight vigil at the state Capitol on Friday.

Slain disabled people mourned

By Melissa Hurtado hurtadom73@gmail.com The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) held a candlelight vigil at Capitol Park on Friday to remember those disabled people who have been killed by their family or caretakers.

ASAN is a non-profit organization that advocates for those with autism while aiming to educate communities and improve the public perception of autism.

The annual event was organized by the president of the Sacramento chapter of ASAN and American River College Student Senate Sen. Shayana Mendes.

A group of approximately ten people assembled near the Capitol at 6 p.m. to mourn the lives lost and share their experiences with being mistreated by caretakers.

Karen Simmons, a member of ASAN Sacramento told her story about how her life was

threatened by an at home nurse when the caretaker put a knife to her throat. Simmons also has lost her ability to sing after another caretaker put AJAX into her food, permanently damaging her vocal chords.

After hearing Simmons story, the crowd decided to sing a song in her honor. The tear filled group sang an emotional rendition of “Amazing Grace.”

It’s been over two years since George Hodgins, a 22-year-old autistic man, was shot and murdered by his mother, who then committed suicide. The death of Hodgins inspired these candlelight vigils to be held across the country.

Mendes believes that parents and caretakers do this because, “they feel stressed and frustrated, because they themselves don’t understand what disabled individuals go through.”

ASAN is run by people with autism and they do not believe in research or cures for those in

the autism spectrum.

Zachary Miller, a second semester ARC student studying business and marketing and the ASAN Sacramento vice president spoke in support of social equality for the disabled community.

“How many more people have to die before the world sees we have the right to live?” said Miller. “We’re sick and tired of people with disabilities being discriminated; we’re sick and tired of people with disabilities being taken advantage of.”

The group took turns reading a list of more than 100 names of victims. Along with their names and ages, the readers described the manner in which the victims were killed.

Hearing this proved too much to bear for the audience who wept and shook their heads in disbelief.

Among those in attendance was another Student Senate Sen., Laurie Jones, who said she

was happy to be there supporting a fellow board member.

Jones said the issue touched her heart and was shocked to think that people who are “disabled would be murdered at all, much less by their parents and guardians.”

Jones says that she has always keeps in mind and supports the vulnerable populations on campus when acting as a student leader.

“One of the things that’s really tragic is not the fact that it was autistic kids that that lost their life, but that anyone would lose their life killed in cold blood by someone who was supposed to love and protect and care for them, that is heartbreaking, autistic or not,” said attendee Bret Riley, a 22-year-old theater major at Sierra College.

Mendes and Miller hope to establish a club on campus to further advocate for those with disabilities.

ARC Ukrainian community reacts to crisis

By Brooke Purves brookempurves@gmail.com Ukraine will be a very different place if American River College student Alona Sazanova, a member of one of the largest ethnic groups on the ARC campus, is allowed to return in May to visit her family and friends.

The city of Kiev is still smoldering after a month-long blaze of bloody protests swept through the capital of the former soviet state, resulting in the deaths of as many as 88 citizens, according to news reports.

But the focus as of late has been on Crimea in the south, where Russian President Vladimir Putin waited only days after the closing of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi before sending troops to seize the peninsula, saying he is protecting ethnic Russians in the area.

Olga Tsomkalova, a student from Kherson in southern Ukraine, had felt relief after the fall of the government, believing that “the people of Ukraine (won) this war for democracy and freedom.”

Now she is concerned about the reported spread of pro-Russian propaganda and the military advancements by whom she calls “Adolf Putin.”

“I’m in shock!” said Tsomkalova in an email with The Current. She reported that family and friends who have Russian TV channels tell her they are seeing the spread

of lies as they did during the Soviet era.

The Crimean parliament voted to secede from the country Thursday and join Russia, reports BBC and other outlets.

Particular attention is being paid to ethnic Muslims in the area, which are seemingly being marked, literally and figuratively.

According to the New Yorker and other sources, homes of the Crimean Tatars have been marked with an “X,” much the way they were during World War II, when thousands of Muslims were forcibly removed from the area under direction from Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who gave the area to Russians.

“Ukrainians are good people,” Tsomkalova said. “They fight for freedom all (their) his-

tory. And they deserve (a) better future – for freedom and democracy.”

Ukraine was set for elections in May after protests forced President Viktor Yanukovych and several top aides and government officials from office.

“It’s a tragedy, (but) I see it’s not the end here,” said Olesya Sytnyk, a former ARC student. “So it’s painful for me … It was truly a big price paid.”

It is believed Yanukovych backed out of a 2013 European Union Trade agreement under pressure by neighboring Russia to keep political ties with Russia, and that Putin is working toward a realigning of the former Soviet states.

March 12, 2014

Page 4

Sports

Zach Tierney / ztierney.zt@gmail.com

Williams drives against Sierra College player Ericka Magana on Jan. 24. ARC went on to lose 51-71.

From Div. II redshirt to ARC’s best player

Kameron Schmid / kameronschmid@gmail.com

Caresse Williams, center, is given flowers by her family and head coach J.R. Matsunami, left, during the last game of the season on Feb. 21.

POINT GUARD CARESSE WILLIAMS’ JOURNEY FROM ACADEMIC INELIGIBILITY AT CHICO TO SOARING PLAY AT ARC

By Barbara Harvey & Kameron Schmid barbaraapharvey@gmail.com kameronschmid@gmail.com Before the last home game of the season for the women’s basketball team, sophomores Caresse Williams and Mackenzie Theiler were honored. Each was called to the center of the court, where they received flowers from their families and a round of applause from the crowd.

For Williams, the ceremony was certainly better than the last time she left a college.

Williams began her collegiate basketball career at Chico State in 2010, redshirting her freshman year and playing 20 games for the Wildcats during her sophomore season, averaging four points a game off the bench.

Williams struggled with her academics, to the point of being declared ineligible to play in her

junior season.

“For that one semester I had like, four F’s, so that’s why I had to leave, ultimately,” Williams said.

Williams was also unsatisfied with the environment within the team, both between the players and her relationship with head coach Brian Fogel.

Fogel was hired after Williams was recruited to Chico, and she feels that was part of the problem. “(Fogel) knew nothing about me ... He just brushed me off, like ‘Oh, this is a girl that was signed early’, or whatever.”

Williams mainly resented how her fellow teammates acted.

“I didn’t like my teammates. It was my first time having a team that doesn’t respect you. It was weird. I’m used to growing up with the same girls, who had each others back, and Chico wasn’t like that. It changed everything, and I

almost didn’t want to play for like a year after that, but then I started playing (at ARC), and I kind of fell in love with it again,” Williams said.

“I’m not going to lie, (Fogel) was a really good coach, I learned a lot. But the girls—it’s like, them talking behind your back about nothing. I got in trouble a couple times because they would tell people if I went out and partied.”

The environment at ARC couldn’t have been more different. Team hangouts are frequent, relationships are strong.

“The girls that were at Chico were older, and supposed to be more mature, like 22, and they were horrible with that kind of stuff, and these girls are like right out of high school, 18 or 19, and I can trust them with anything.”

Women’s basketball head coach J.R. Matsunami has seen Williams make large strides with her academics during her time

here. “(Williams) really cleaned up her grades, she’s over a 3.0, she’s getting an A.A. degree, and probably going to get some scholarship offers to Division II schools ... She’ll make all-conference, and possibly make all-state,” said Matsunami.

Williams did a lot of heavy lifting throughout the entire season. She lead the team in scoring (19.9), rebounds (5.5), and steals (3.8) per game on the way to a 10-16 regular season record.

Matsunami noted that Williams’ stats were also high because she spent more time on the court than any other member of the team.

“She’s having to play 40 minutes a game. As a coach, I haven’t had many players in my career that I trust to be on the floor for 40 minutes. Its really hard mentally, as well as physically, to play 40 minutes. In over 30 years of

coaching, I think I’ve had maybe five players I trust to play 40 minutes a game,” said Matsunami.

The team entered the playoffs, but lost to Laney College in the first round. Williams finished the game with 27 points and 6 steals.

And now, Williams is looking into the future, with numerous scholarship offers from Division II colleges. This week she’ll be visiting Regis University and Cal State Los Angeles, trying to decide where her next step is.

“My mom’s a little upset, because if I go to Colorado it’s going to be really far,” said Williams.

She’s leaving ARC with an A.A. in Social Science, and hopes to major in criminology and become a human trafficking officer. And if it weren’t already enough, she’s also interested in trying out MMA fighting.

“I’m just really excited to get back on track,” said Williams.

Sports

March 12, 2014

Page 5

Body types, workouts and diet

POWER TRAINING AND DISTANCE RUNS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE ON THE TRACK

By Brooke Purves brookempurves@gmail.com

Brooke Purves / brookempurves@gmail.com

Sprinter Ciara Richardson warms up before practice on the track in Beaver Stadium on Thursday.

When American River College track and field coach Jeannette Allred-Powless competed in the marathon event in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics as a fivefoot-ten endurance athlete, she didn’t have what you might call a “runner’s body.”

“They all looked at me and said, ‘What are you, a swimmer?’” she said of the other long-distance runners. “I said, ‘Well, I’m a triathlete,’ and they said, ‘Ah, that’s why you’re so gigantic,’ because I just towered over everybody … like a fish out of water.”

“It’s a myth if you think that of distance runners, saying, ‘Oh, the longer legs, the better,’ said Powless. “It actually works against you.”

While not all athletes have been born with the type of bodies some considere “ideal” for their sport or event, they all must work hard to be successful.

“It’s pretty fast paced,” said sprinter and general science major Ciara Richardson of her track events. “It takes a lot of strength, takes a lot of lungs, cardio.

(You have to be) mentally prepared for it because it’s a hard race.”

The 100-meter and 200-meter events,

which require the runner to go onefourth and one-half around the track, respectively, require explosive bursts of energy.

“Most of the time when we run, I hold my breath for three seconds, then I exhale as I’m running,” said Richardson.

That might result in just one breath for the entire 100 or 200 race. “(But) for the 400, I have to pace myself, pace my breathing, pace my steps, pace my body movements, so … my legs won’t give out,” she said.

Because sprinting requires so much strength and explosive power, Richardson spends extra time in the weight room in addition to her runs.

She works with an Olympic lifting trainer, focusing on squats, lunges and cleans, an explosive movement which involves lifting a weighted barbell off the floor and onto the front of the shoulders using primarily the muscles in the hips and thighs.

To fuel her intense workouts, Richardson consumes large amounts of protein. “I eat a lot of meat and rice and grains,” she said. “I try to eat as healthy as possible.”

Eating right is a necessity for any successful athlete.

SPORTSUPDATES

BASEBALL

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

ARC’s baseball team finally reached .500 after a March 7 win at Marin College by a final score of 8-1. Due to piling up rain delays, the team played four games in four days last week, winning three of the contests.

They began conference play yesterday against Sacramento City College.

ARC women’s basketball made the playoffs with a 10-16 record, but lost 56-53 in the first round at Laney College in Oakland. Sophomore point guard Caresse Williams finished with 27 points, but made only seven of 19 field goal attempts and 12 of 20 from the free throws.

SOFTBALL

SWIM AND DIVE

The softball team began conference play March 8 in a doubleheader against San Joaquin Delta College, where they lost both games. They now have an 0-2 record in conference play,and are 7-9 overall.

Pitcher/infielder Lolli Conway leads the team with a .457 batting average.

The men’s and women’s swim teams travel to San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton on Friday for the Big 8 Invite, the most important event of the season before championships begin. The next home meet is against Sierra College on March 21.

MEN’S TENNIS

WOMEN’S TENNIS

ARC’s men’s tennis club received its first loss of the season at home against Foothill College on March 8, by count of 4-5. The team is now 4-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play.

They are second in the Big 8 North Conference behind Santa Rosa, who they visit on March 18.

The women are now 5-3 after beating Folsom Lake College 8-1 on March 4. The win ended a 2-game losing streak to Big 8 opponents.

They are now 1-2 in conference play.

The next home match is March 14, against Diablo Valley College.

MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

ARC’s men’s track team competed well in the San Mateo 9-Way Meet on March 7. Robert Ellis tied for first in the 100-meter Dash with a time of 10:68 seconds and outright won the 200-meter Dash in 22:15. The men won nine events in total.

The women’s track team was successful in at the San Mateo 9-Way Meet, winning six total events. Kandace Compton finished .07 seconds behind winner Imani Heath in the 800-meter Run, and Kyrah Vaughn won the 400-meter Dash. The team lead the state in three separate events this season.

The engine that gets long distance runner and English major Cheyenne Drury through her long training sessions requires clean fuel, so her diet is calculated to provide her maximum nutrition, through nuts and nut butters, fruits and vegetables, lean meats and whole grains.

“It is important that I give my body the proper nutrients and take care of it,” she said.

Drury’s workout, while fundamentally different than Richardson’s, is equally intense. Although she does speed workouts, she also trains by focusing on pacing her long-distance runs.

“It’s really a fast twitch, slow twitch muscle fiber that you’re looking at who makes what event better,” said Powless.

Sprinters have “that fast twitch, they’ve got that larger muscle mass, their weight is going to be more mass than your elite distance runner,” she said.

Overall, said Powless, it’s a strength to weight ratio that makes a big difference to a runner’s performance. As athletes gain strength, they can gain weight along with it, and keeping that ratio in check through workouts and diet is essential.

Jorden Hales / halespersonal@gmail.com

Freshman Lovedeep Singh hits the ball during singles play against Foothill College. Singh has been described by his coach as a “stand out” performer this season.

Page 6

March 12, 2014

Feature

Emily K. Rabasto / rabastoe@gmail.com

Leading the march, Keith Montes of Diablo Valley College raises his middle fingers “to express his frustrations with the education system of California because of the millions of dollars cut from education each year.”

Los Rios students March in March

By Barbara Harvey

barbaraapharvey@gmail.com On March 3, community college students from California gathered at Raley Field for the annual March In March rally, which seeks to protect the affordability and accessibility of public higher education.

Among those present were representatives from the Associated Student Body Student Senates of American River College and Folsom Lake College, accompanied by Los Rios students and faculty.

ASB Student Senate President Kenneth Hinton was among the representatives from ARC, stating “(Textbook affordability) is the issue that we as a district care about the most, so that’s what we’re sticking to for our district, but other districts in our state have lobbied for other things.”

The ASB representatives from the Los Rios Community College District coordinated heavily regarding their stance and goals.

“We’re hoping to accomplish that we as a district can show unity, because we’re the only multi-member district in the region (two) and there’s 11 colleges in our district.

The rest of them are single district regions.

So we’re hoping to just show unity across Los Rios, and let our other members from across the state know that we’re all here from Los Rios to support the cause,” said Hinton.

Folsom Lake College ASB Student Senate President Jonathan Rogers believes that the issues addressed during March in March are of particular importance to the Los Rios District.

“The Los Rios District is the second-largest district in California. We are the closest to the Capitol and we have a responsibility to represent every community college student in California,” said Rogers. “Just looking at my own school, Folsom Lake College, a lot of students are on financial aid, over-

Emily K. Rabasto / rabastoe@gmail.com

Community college students from all parts of California march across Tower Bridge toward the Capitol for the annual March in March, which allows students an opportunity to lobby state legislators for cheaper education.

whelming percentages, so we’re not the rich white school that everyone thinks we are, but everyone I know, all my friends, everyone that comes to me, they work two or three jobs just trying to pay for textbooks, to pay for classes, and they realize the importance of education overall.”

The Folsom Lake College ASB Student Senate Vice President Gerald Sturgill echoed Rogers’ sentiments.

“I feel like this is an important cause. Students uniting from all over the state to show the legislators that we’re serious about our education,” Sturgill said. “I think it’s important for students to get involved. I’m not going to say that it seems like a lot of students just don’t care, but I don’t think they understand the ramifications of not getting involved.”

Among the ARC participants, five students attended, including Hinton, LeslieAnn Dameron and three students from coach Powless’ Adaptive Physical Education class, who offered extra credit for attending the march.

Adaptive PE student Hubert Johnson stated that he came out of curiosity.

“I actually wanted to know what it was like, because this is my first time,” Johnson said.

According to Sturgill, the weather on the day of the march may have played a part in the low turnout.

“We thought we were going to be a bigger group because we had more people

Emily K. Rabasto / rabastoe@gmail.com

(From left to right) ASB Student Senator Shayana Mendes, Randall Sly and Cheri Sparks of American River College arrived at the demonstration in a Paratransit vehicle to participate at March in March.

who booked for it, but they didn’t want to get rained on, so a lot of people cancelled,” Sturgill said.

The event lasted from 10 a.m. to just after noon, beginning at Raley Field and ending at the south side of the State Capitol, where speeches emphasizing the importance of community colleges and thanking students for their participation were given.

Former ARC student Martha Penry was among the speakers, telling the assembled crowd, “My daughter and I are both products of American River College, just down the road from here. We know the value of community colleges. My community college education allowed me–and I know it will allow you–the opportunity to reach career and personal goals.”

Feature

ASB: A vague proposal

March 12, 2014

Page 7

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The bus traveled less than fourteen miles with a total of nine passengers, two of whom were reporters from The Current. It was funded by Los Rios College Federation of Teachers, along with two Paratransit vans, to the tune of $950.

The idea to use public transportation and utilize the free bus passes available to all students was shut down in a Student Senate meeting.

“Regional Transit has issues of its complete own accord that, as an organization, we would be taking on if we chose to use that as our primary means of transportation, especially for that many people at one time,” argued Clubs and Events Board President Jeremy Diefenbacher.

Diefenbacher didn’t have to deal with these “issues” however, as he did not attend the March in March.

Some students rode in the Paratransit vans and others drove their car to the Capitol.

The board passed a bill on January 30 that allocated $4,500 to funding the March in March.

That funding came from the student representation account, whose stated mission is for “items solely for the purpose of student advocacy.”

After several requests from The Current regarding the final amount spent, the board said it would not be able to provide their finalized numbers for a few more weeks. Beyond approximately $55 for tie-dye materials, no finacial details were disclosed.

The board did present a business plan that was approved at the last reading of the bill, when the bill was passed unanimously.

In order to save money, the board decided not to make new signs or shirts. They instead said they would be recycling old signs but showed up empty handed to the march.

The business plan has not been updated for more specific information as of Tuesday, March 11.

Less students showed up to the March in March than in the past.

“It was a very, very small turnout this year,” said ASB adviser Tanika Byrd, about both the March itself and ARC’s participation.

Hinton told The Current that he would be advocating for cheaper textbooks, however he did not attend Lobby Day in February and did not make any appointments to lobby at March in March.

When asked what proposals he had in order to make textbooks more affordable, he said “I don’t remember, because it was on our Lobby Day white paper, off the top of my head.”

Only Sen. Laurie Jones did any lobbying that day. She talked to assemblyman Richard Pan (DSacramento) and advocated for more benefits for adjunct faculty.

Hinton thought that the March in March was a complete success.

“I think it went phenomenal,” he said.

Courtesy of Kenneth Hinton

THE COST TO MARCH A copy of the proposed business plan for March in March, approved by the Student Senate, contains several glaring errors. The description for food is placed in the wrong column and the budget does not include an estimate for money to be spent on food.

Transportation to attend the march was funded by the Los Rios College Federation of Teachers and was not specified in the plan. Student Senate approved the allocation of $4,500 for the event and the board has not updated the plan with further details.

Photo illustrations by Adnan Ramic

An artist rendering of receipts show how much money was supposedly spent by ASB, and how much money was actually spent by Ed Gebing, who participated in the march.

The money spent by ASB came from the Student Representation Fee, from which $1 is collected from all students.

Ed: Proactive and low-cost use of resources CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Melissa Hurtado / hurtadom73@gmail.com

Zach Tierney / ztierney.zt@gmail.com

Kenneth Hinton takes a charter bus that was paid for by the LRCFT to March in March.

Ed Gebing also takes a bus to the rally, however he takes public transportation, which is free for ARC students.

Melissa Hurtado / hurtadom73@gmail.com

Zach Tierney / ztierney.zt@gmail.com

In preparation, Ed Gebing makes a sign for the rally. Kenneth Hinton wears a tie-dye shirt made by ASB while he participates in the march.

lobby on the behalf of ASB. Hinton didn’t even bother to lobby for anything while at the march.

I was able to use my Universal Transit Pass for free travel to the Capitol, while ASB chartered a bus and two Paratransit buses for approximately 15 people. One of the Paratransit buses was canceled due to a lack of participation from students who had previously RSVPed. I left campus a little after 8 a.m. and took one of the Regional Transit buses from the bus stop right in front of the school. From there the bus took me to the Light Rail station located at Watt and Interstate 80.

As I arrived at the train platform, I was just a bit late as I watched the train leave. The next train came 15 minutes later and dropped me off downtown right near the Capitol.

Once I arrived downtown I still had a 1.2 mile walk from the Capitol over the Tower Bridge to Raley Field, where there was a staging area for all of the students to gather before beginning the march.

I arrived at the staging area around the same time as the people who took the chartered bus from ARC, eliminating the argument from Clubs and Events Board President Jeremy Diefenbacher that “Regional Transit has issues of its complete own accord that (ASB) would be taking on if (ASB) chose to use that as our primary means of transportation.”

The Regional Transit bus that I was on had a total of 24 empty seats including the four spots for wheelchairs at the front of the bus.

The only mention at the march by ARC about textbooks was the sign that I had made out of crayons while sitting on the Light Rail heading to the march.

I got the cardboard for my sign for free and the eight pack of “Pirates Treasure” Crayola crayons were purchased from Target for a whopping 48 cents.

Instead of asking for more money than they actually needed for the march, ASB should have instead asked for an amount more closely related to their actual costs.

Page 8

March 12, 2014

Arts&Culture

One brush, two strokes

By Thalia Avila

odettethalia@gmail.com A blur here, scribble there.

Erase, erase, erase. Paint, paint.

Draw, erase and sketch a little line for the final touch.

The James Kaneko Gallery at American River College held a reception on Feb. 25 showcasing the art exhibit titled, “The Moon of the Jagged Suburbs”, which features pieces

by ARC art professor Craig N. Smith.

Smith’s work is best described as nature with strokes, scribbles, blurs and blobs placed on canvas. When it comes to the look of his artwork, it is as if he barely picks up his hand as he draws.

“There’s supposed to be some sort of unity. Everything is supposed to go together,” Smith said regarding his work.

A lot gets wiped out or erased

Kyle Moore / news.kylemoore@gmail.com

Craig N. Smith explains how he uses his drawings for future painting.

during Smith’s creative process.

Gray is visible in some parts, and color is more prominent in others. According to Smith, this characteristic is consistent even in areas where lines are drawn upon one another.

“You can see the pencil marks

(on the pieces). I can basically see him doing the work,” business major Jamie Sinclair said.

The paintings and drawings seem to have minds of their own, as they take different shapes when they are looked upon for

Competition winners to perform with Orchestra

long periods of time. Smith says he’s always going back to correct and erase parts of his work, which make them appear more unified. “(My) childhood,” Nand Mahasuwan, a psychology and theater arts major said while pointing at a painting titled, “Highway #1.”

“That one reminded me of Dr. Seuss. I like the colors and everything, and a lot of these are very colorful.”

Smith encourages people to always get a different perspective from different artists for inspiration. He says it is even better when the artist’s work is on campus, available to students for free.

The art show goes on until today and is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more coverage of upcoming art shows at the James Kaneko Gallery, be sure to go to arcurrent.com.

CONCERTO-ARIA WITH LEADING ARC VOCALISTS HIGHLIGHTS WORK BY MOZART, BACH AND VERDI

By John Ferrannini jferr1995@gmail.com The American River College orchestra will be performing with the winners of the third annual Concerto-Aria Competition tonight and tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the ARC theater.

The competition, held in October, was for any student who wanted to perform a solo. The students competing to perform with the orchestra were judged by a panel of ARC music faculty.

“It is a varied and interesting program – a very fun evening,” professor and Director of Orchestras Steven Thompson said.

“The Concerto-Aria nights are a highlight of our season. I am always amazed at the incredible talent we have at ARC.” “A concerto is a piece of music that is generally in three parts, or movements.

An aria is a solo for a singer that is often from an opera. We have four students who are singing arias with the orchestra. There are three pianists playing famous movements from concertos,” Thompson added.

The students who will be performing include Elena Yanovskiy, pianist; Wei-Shan Sun, flutist; Ardalan Gharachorloo, violinist; Mohammad Hasani, composer; and Tanya Berezkina and Justin Vaughn, vocalists.

The orchestra will perform four works

by Mozart, in addition to works by Bach and Verdi. The Mozart compositions are “Dalla sua pace,” from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” “Deh vieni non tardar,” from Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro,” “E amore un ladroncello,” from Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” and “Piano Concerto No. 23” in A major, second movement.

“I have been playing piano for 12 years,

two of which I spent studying here at ARC,” Yanovskiy said. “I chose the ‘Bach Concerto in D Minor’ to audition with because I heard my instructor perform it a year ago and I fell in love with it. I thought it would be an amazing experience to be able to perform it with an orchestra.”

Vaughn sings with the Sacramento Master Singers, and has been involved with various choirs for the past 15 years. He has been taking lessons with voice teachers to practice for his performances.

“It’s really fun to perform with the orchestra and that’s a nice opportunity that the campus provides and the orchestra provides to young singers and players,” Vaughn said. “It means a lot that they chose the people they did. The competition was really high this year and they chose a smaller number of people than they did in past years.”

Hasani moved to the U.S. from Iran five years ago to study music and also to escape religious persecution. He is playing a piece that originates from his native land, singing a Farsi poem.

“This is the third time that the orchestra is going to play my piece,” he said. “My piece is a mix of (traditional Persian) and (traditional worldwide) music that many of (the) performers in the orchestra consider an interesting and fun piece.”

Ultimately, professor Thompson believes that the orchestra will have a successful evening.

“We are very fortunate to have a rich history of fine music directors and students who have come through the program,” he said.

Admission to the concert is $10.

Adnan Ramic / adiramic@gmail.com

Justin Vaughn practices vocals from the piece “Dalla Sua Pace” by Mozart with Ralph Hughes playing on the piano.

Walty’s Cypher

By Walter Jones waltorlando@gmail.com Nowadays, it seems that any random person can become a successful musician without actual talent, but when it comes to hip-hop, there is more to it than just rhyming words together over a beat. So I ask the question, “What is the art of rap?” There are many different elements to rap.

You have the beat and the artist, but artist needs to have delivery, wordplay, flow and subject. All of these go hand and hand.

The beat is very important, because it’s the first thing you hear when the song comes on. The beat has to be able to draw people’s attention. One of the most recognizable is “Ambitionz Az A Ridah” by Tupac Shakur.

The artist has to have a good delivery, and what I mean by delivery is his or her voice–it has to be a voice that can suck people in. It has to be unique to the point that when people hear, they know it’s you. When you hear a slick-talking, mellow, laid back voice, you know it’s Snoop Dogg.

When it comes to word play, there are very few than can master this craft, making it an important element. It usually has a solid metaphor.

In Scarface’s “Guess Who’s Back,” Jay-Z has the first verse and says, “I came from the dirt, I emerged from it all without a stain on my shirt.” There are two meanings that you can pull away from these lines.

The flow is how well the song goes along together. If the words just seem thrown together, the record becomes a waste. The flow makes the song transition from beginning to end.

When you look at hip-hop there are plenty good quality songs, but few possess the art of rap. Rakim’s song “Paid In Full” has balance in every category, from the beat all the way down to his subject matter. His flow and delivery are what hook everyone in: “Thinking of a master plan/ cause ain’t nothing but sweat inside my hand/so I dig into my pocket all my money is spent/ so I dig deeper but still coming up with lint/so I start my mission leave my residence/thinking how I could get some dead presidents/I need money I used to be a stick up kid/so I think of all the devious things I did….”

March 12, 2014

Arts&Culture/Scene

Page 9

Vocal Ensemble to perform at home WITH 13 AWARDS, JAZZ ENSEMBLE IS KNOWN NATIONALLY BUT NOT LOCALLY

By Brandon Nelson brandon.nelson916@gmail.com

The American River Vocal Jazz Ensemble will be holding a concert on March 19 in the ARC Theater.

General admission will be just $10 at the door and the event will be open to the public. The concert will also have special guests from Natomas Charter School and their jazz choir. The show starts at 8 p.m. and should end around 10 p.m.

According to professor Art LaPierre, director of the ensemble, “it will include several faculty playing the rhythm section” as well.

The ensemble is well-known nation wide, most notably for its 13 DownBeat awards in different categories of the student’s achivement section, some of which can be found in LaPierre’s office.

DownBeat awards are given by DownBeat magazine, a national magazine that reviews jazz professionals and colleges with jazz programs.

“We compete in different categories. We participate in the vocal jazz ensemble collegiate level,

freshman through senior,” stated LaPierre.

Because There are no divisions seperating community colleges and four-year universities, ARC has to “go up against the big boys within this competition,” as LaPierre put it.

“It’s been an honor for the ensemble and the school to be recognized at the national level,” LaPierre said.

The ARC Vocal Jazz Ensemble has CDs that are available for students to purchase.

“We have nine CDs out and two more in, what they say, ‘the can.’”

LaPierre told The Current. “You can buy our CDs on our own ARC Vocal Jazz Ensemble website, or you can go to CDBaby.com.”

The ensemble will be competing at the the Next Generation Jazz Festival in Monterey on March 30. The winning group will be able to perform with some professionals in a group.

“I am excited and anxious for the upcoming concert! I am excited for our first ‘home’ concert of the season! We recently had the opportunity to perform at the American Choral Director’s Association (ACDA) Conference in Santa Barbara a couple of weeks

Adnan Ramic / adiramic@gmail.com

Director Art LaPierre goes over the vocals of the song “Ruby Baby.” Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller originally wrote the song but the rendition they will be performing is by Donald Fagen.

ago. After every performance we review our successes and our shortcomings.” Said Megan Ugarte in an email to The Current. Ugarte is a soprano in the ensemble.

“We typically see a crowd of 100 people or so. We try to pub-

licize as much as we can, but it can be hard to get people to come at 8 p.m. on a Wednesday. Every ticket sold buys us more time in the recording studio or helps pay for hotel rooms when we travel” said Darius Sharpe, a member of the ensemble.

LaPierre believes the makeup ensemble’s following is a rather peculiar.

“It’s weird we are known nationally better than we are known locally, I don’t know if that’s a jazz thing or if its because we’re a commuter school,” he said.

Campus patrol officers more than meter maids

By Jorden Hales halespersonal@gmail.com

Jorden Hales / halespersonal@gmail.com

A student purchases a one-day parking pass in Lot A, one of the busiest lots on campus. This lot in particular sees a dramatic increase in traffic during spring semesters.

L

CAMPUS PU SE “Well I’m in the pro-life club, so it would be great to change people’s opinion about that.”

-DANIELMADRID Music

You feel tremendous relief upon dismissal from a long, tiresome class.

Feeling the pure bliss of stepping out into fresh air, you make your way to the parking lot.

As your vehicle comes into your field of vision, you put some extra pep in your step as you anticipate the little free time available to you when you get home. Then, you notice the tiny envelope placed under the windshield wiper.

Squinted eyes and a gaping mouth become you as you hope to make out some 18-and-over club or church propaganda, but, as you suspected, you’ve been hit with a parking violation.

According to the Los Rios Police Department, 3,853 parking citations were written at American River College during the Fall 2013 semester.

These citations – which include parking without a valid permit, in driving lanes, in multiple spaces and with fraudulent permits – tallied a total of $131,272. Only $74,225 has been paid as of this writing.

Primarily, campus patrol officers handle parking enforcement at ARC. They wear light blue shirts instead

of the dark-colored uniforms to be distinguished from sworn officers.

Campus patrol officers are the “primary units that issue the parking citations,” according to Sgt. Mike Olson.

There are about 25 total officers, including sworn officers and campus patrol staff, responsible for patrolling the lots and parking garage. Between one and four of them are on patrol at any particular time.

Contrary to many students’ beliefs, these officers handle a lot more than parking citations.

Patrol officers also assist with jump-starts, changing of spare tires and crimes committed in the parking lots. “(Writing parking tickets is) just one of their duties … they also do vehicle patrol, foot patrol, we’ll be including them in bicycle patrol soon, they handle some of our reports,” said Olson.

Olson believes the idea that officers place special attention on writing citations is “a misconception” and states that other, more important issues often take precedent over said citations.

“We look at all the duties that we need to perform that day, at that time and what my staffing level is,” said Olson. “Is it a high priority? No. Parking

enforcement overall is a priority, but emergencies and large gatherings are of a greater priority.”

Once citations are issued, the collection of fees is handled by a citation-processing center for the police department. This company, which is contracted by the Los Rios Community College District, has its own appeal process, independent of Los Rios.

“It says right on the back of your citations, how to file a first-level appeal and then, if approved by the company, the ticket (is) dismissed,” said Olson. “If not, then you can file a second-level appeal and see someone in person, usually here at ARC.” Olson began his tenure with the Los Rios Police department prior to this arrangement with the third party, and believes it allows the department to be more efficient.

“When I first started, it was our duty to handle the first-level appeals and it was very time consuming,” said Olson. “It detracted greatly from everything else we could focus on.

Having that done by an independent party eliminates all accusations of ‘well, you’re just saying ‘no’ because you want my money.’ And it frees the Sergeants especially up for other critical duties.”

If you had the power to change one thing on campus, what would it be?

“I would probably restrict smoking more than it is now. A lot more.”

-JONATHANMILBY Theater

“I wish that they wouldn’t do the pro-life crap, because it’s disgusting and gross.”

-EVANTHORLEY Undecided

“I think we should get professors that have an actual passion for their field, instead of just reading from the book.”

-EFRENFUENTES Music

March 12, 2014

Page 10

Scene

LRC provides resources to fight bad study habits

By Jonathan H. Ellyson jonathanellyson@gmail.com Studying, study habits and study strategies are all important parts of a college student’s success; at least they used to be. In a study between UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside researchers found that the average student’s study rate dropped from 24 hours per week in 1961 to 14 hours per week.

However, it can be misleading to compare college habits from students 50 years ago. Students today are doing more and more while in school, they used to be full-time but now they often juggle classes and multiple jobs.

Time management and motivation are big issues for students according to Reginald Laigol, the developer of a new smartphone app called “Study Habit,” which offers tips to get students into a study routine.

Technologies like the Internet can both be a help and hindrance to study efficiency; it can reduce research time, but is also full of distractions.

Furthermore, many students are not prepared for a college level workload. “Only 46 percent of high school students are prepared to face the rigorous demands of college,” reported a press release from academic and life skills summer program, SuperCamp.

One of the resources on campus students can use to improve on studying is the Learning Resource Center.

Beyond just being a computer lab the LRC is a useful tool

Kameron Schmid / kameronschmid@gmail.com

“Technologies like the Internet can both be a help and hindrance to study efficiency; it can reduce research time, but is also full of distractions.”

offering workshops, drop in tutoring, CD and DVD coursework provided by professors and recordings of college hour lectures.

“We provide workshops for students to be successful

academically and personally,” said LRC coordinator Connie Ayala. Last semester, they offered Computer and Math Skills labs weekly, that students could drop in to learn basic computer skills like email and D2L and review math skills to prepare for the COMPASS assessment process.

According to an email from Sarah Lehmann, the ARC library public services Librarian, “The ARC library offers many resources to support students’ research needs and academic success,” which includes “Research databases that students can use to find high-quality information for their assignments. The databases provide access to scholarly articles, magazines & newspaper articles, ebooks, reports, news, images, music, and more.”

If a student has good habits for research, but lacks the time management to effectively study strategically for classes, there is still help to be found. The Reading Across the Disciplines (RAD) program hosted a time management workshop to help students learn to prioritize assignments in February.

This type of workshop was new to this semester and Ayala hopes students will take advantage of the resources ARC offers.

The computer and math skills labs are held weekly, and the reading and writing centers are open Monday through Friday. These workshops and labs are all tools students can utilize at ARC to get the help they need.

“The smartest thing (a student) can do is take time to invest in the basics and ask for help.”

ARC’s Research Club bringing 3D printing to campus

By Kameron Schmid

kameronschmid@gmail.com Last semester, American River College’s Research Club, comprised of students from engineering, biology and social science majors, received a $3,200 grant from the ARC Foundation to fund two separate research projects.

One group of students from the club are conducting an aquaponics experiment, a project which was launched in January. The other group, with the help of Hacker Labs in downtown Sacramento, is building a 3D printer.

Hareem Zahid, president of the club, explained how the projects were chosen.

“They just jumped out on us.

Our members felt very passionate about these two projects.

We wanted to get every sector involved; we wanted physics, engineering, biology, chemistry and it’s hard to get one project that has everything involved.

“Our 3D printer focuses in on the mathematics and the engineering. And our aquaponics project is all chemistry and biology, plus a lot of physics and engineering, because we had to build the greenhouse and the water tanks,” said Zahid after a Research Club meeting on March 7.

“We try to be open to people who have ideas, and if it’s logically feasible, we give it a go,” she added.

TAKETHISCLASS

By Kyle Moore news.kylemoore@gmail.com On Thursday, Feb. 13, students in professor Susan Howes’ Young Adult Literature course enjoyed a Harry Potter party.

Students came dressed in HarProfessor Susan Howes ry Potter attire, armed with Hogwarts shirts, wands, capes, Harry Potter-style glasses, even “muggle” socks.

Howe encouraged students to bring to their own Harry Potter-themed cuisine, such as a dessert made to resemble “Mrs. Norris’ Potty,” “butterbeer” and Hagrid’s “rock cakes.”

Young adult literature has much in common with a typical English literature class, as according to the course description, “this course includes an analysis of literary elements, an examination of authors’ style and content, and reflection on what makes a piece of literature a classic.”

Professor Howe makes students feel welcome and wanted, and perhaps uniquely, she strives to make the class fun.

ENGLT 378 is a young person’s literary class that offers insight into the increasingly popular genre of young adult

The 3D printer project, lead

by Nile Mittow, is currently being built out of printed materials from a different 3D printer at Hacker Lab and parts ordered from China.

The first 3D printer was built in 1984 by Chuck Hull of 3D Systems Corp., but they remained rare, costly projects, largely until the 2000s, when they became more prevalent and less expensive to build.

“It was kind of a curiosity for all of us,” said Mittow. “Most of us know each other from MESA (Math, Engineering and Science Achievement). We all thought the idea was cool. I mean, it’s a hot glue gun on a three-axis robotic control, that can print up anything you design, to

certain requirements and specifications.”

The aquaponic experiment, co-lead by club members Emily Lovell and Jennifer Diamond, was the first project to begin.

“Basically an aquaponics system, you have fish and you have plants. You use the waste of the fish, which is in the water, and that water gives nutrients to the plants. They grow with that, and in turn they clean the water, and return it back to the fish. It’s a cycle. You could use it for countries that don’t have a lot of food.

They wouldn’t need to buy stuff, they could just use the cycle,” explained Diamond.

“We want to research what kind of fish can be most beneficial in an aquaponics system. Our

control is our plants, and we’re putting two different types of fish (goldfish and catfish) in our system and seeing which system develops better plant cells,” added Lovell.

The longest part of the aquaponics project, was the building of the greenhouse and water tanks to keep the fish in.

The club also has an official website, arcresearchclub.org, designed by Vice President Cherimae Vail, where they announce club news, post photos of the experiments, and update club members on open officer positions.

ARC Research Club meets Fridays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in room 368 of the Tech Ed department on campus.

ENGLT378: Young Adult Literature

literature, which includes recent bestsellers such as the Harry Potter, Hunger Games and Twilight series.

According to the course catalog, the course “presents an overview of young adult literature and is designed to incorporate the ever changing nature of this genre. The literature addressed reflects the themes of interest to young people.”

Furthermore, “Topics include a review of the history of young adult literature, readings of contemporary award-winning young adult literature, as well as a look at some of the classics from the past. Censorship concerns and culturally diverse selections also form a core part of the course.”

The prerequisite for this class is ENGWR 300 with a grade of a “C” or better, however, Howe recommends students complete ENGWR 301 before attempting such a rigorous course.

Howe expects students to have some prior knowledge of literature, such as plot, character, point-of-view and theme, all things one might learn in ENGWR 301, (an introduction to literature course).

Students must write their papers and present them. Professor Howe has students read their essays aloud to build confidence. If students refuse, she will read it aloud for the class. She wants her students to proud of their work--in this case, both loud and proud.

Photos by Kyle Moore / news.kylemoore@gmail.com

Students of ENGLT 378 on the day of their Harry Potter party. “Students came dressed in Harry Potter attire, armed with Hogwarts shirts, wands, capes, Harry Potter-style glasses, even ‘muggle’ socks.”

Students brought in Potter themed treats, including a dessert made to resemble “Mrs. Norris’ Potty.”

March 12, 2014

Opinion

Page 11

LETTERTOTHEEDITOR INACCURATE REPORTING ON ASB MONEY MATTERS

Cartoon by Barbara Harvey & Stephen Harvey

“If we don’t award ourselves in some way, no one else on campus is going to.” –ASB Student Senate President Kenneth Hinton

CURRENTEDITORIAL current@arc.losrios.edu The American River College Associated Student Body Student Senate debated during an official meeting last month how much of the students’ money it would spend to pat itself on the collective back for a job well done.

The mission statement of the ASB Senate, as presented in the ASB constitution, is to provide a student voice at the college and district level, and to “promote the intellectual, artistic, cultural, and social life of students, and to provide a mechanism for the appropriate allocation of Associated Student Body Student Senate resources.”

Those resources include a percentage of the money that every student, every semester, pays through his or her student representation fee.

MONEY WELL SPENT?

Appropriate use of that money is, as noted, to pay for transportation, education, conferences, and other things pertaining to legislative training or lobbying efforts.

But a significant portion of these funds is being used to pay for the end of the year awards banquet, at which members will reward themselves for all the work they’ve accomplished while in ASB. At last year’s banquet they spent $659.25 on their awards and this year they are debating spending around $400.

The Club and Events Board is allocating up to $1,500 of their $10,000 annual budget on its banquet and the Student Senate has set aside up to $1,745.04 on a separate banquet. That’s nearly 20 percent of the ASB general fund.

A wiser use of those funds

would be to purchase textbooks for some of the most popular classes and put them on reserve in the library for students to use, since access to textbooks is a significant challenge to many of our lower income students.

The money would be better spent by sending a group on a trip, bringing something unique to campus, or even just doing something for a student body of over 35,000 students, versus an organization of two dozen or so representatives.

If members of ASB believe that they should receive a trophy or plaque for holding a position that less than one percent of the student body voted them into, it is clear that they do not understand their role in the lives of ARC students.

In the last election, only one

position ran opposed. Basically, if no one but themselves showed up on election day, the results would probably be the same.

A campus of this size needs a strong Student Body Senate. We need enthusiastic and engaging leaders that we can support.

When that happens, when the student body as a whole feels like ASB could be improving the lives of the students on campus by focusing on the needs of the students as a whole, then they will reap the rewards. Then the praise will come from outside of the organization.

Until then, drop the banquets and drop the participation awards.

The members of the Associated Student Body Student Senate are here to serve us. We are not here to serve them.

Color, ethnicity and language labels fail us THE FIXED DEFINITIONS OF RACE ARE IRRELEVANT

By Walter Jones waltorlando@gmail.com When people look at me, they see me as an African American male – even though neither I nor any member of my immediate family has been to Africa – but what they don’t know is that there is more to me than what appears on the surface.

American River College sociology professor Nidal Hijazi was born in Ghana, but is of Lebanese descent.

“Race is a social construction,” said Hijazi, “a creation that we have produced through history. It’s always defined by power struggles within any given society.”

So when Governor Jerry Brown projected in his new state budget that Latinos will surpass whites as the largest ethnic group in California this year, according to Mark Hugo Lopez of the Pew Research Center, one wonders who constructed the categories being used.

Latinos, technically, are people who come from countries in Latin America, but that could encompass many different ethnic and racial backgrounds: descendants of black slaves in Central America, native Mayan and Aztec peoples and Europeans, for example.

Any person, from any of these groups, would be considered “Latino,” even though

Brooke Purves / brookempurves@gmail.com Racial and ethnic categories hold different meanings, but people of similar skin color are often lumped together for the purpose of keeping statistics.

they are very different ethnically and racially. Someone from Brazil, a Latino, might be considered to be hispanic (someone who speaks Spanish) on a census, even if he speaks Portuguese.

“Ethnic categories give us a much more detailed understanding of somebody, be-

cause they’re based on customs, culture and language. Racial classifications are much broader. They’re a picture with a broader brush,” said Hijazi.

When I applied to be an American River College student, I had to identify my race on the application, and I was able to check as many boxes as I wanted to.

When I look at myself, I know I’m black, but I also have strong Native American blood in me through my father. Through my mother I have Portuguese blood and my last name is a possible relic of a white slave owner.

So why classify myself as just one race?

ARC student Maso Smith, a music engineering major, has a family background that identifies as Hawaiian, African American and Native American, specifically the Miwok tribe from here in the Sierra region.

“I identify myself as African American because I look more African than anything else,” said Smith, “(but) I don’t think it’s important to identify ourselves by race, because I think it’s more about who we are as a person.”

Race really isn’t an important thing to keep track of when there is no clear meaning behind it.

Checking a box next to a racial label doesn’t define who a person is; it’s simply something we create in society to differ ourselves from one another. We are all part of the same human race, just from different parts of the globe.

Dear Editor, Reading the article entitled “ASB Debates How Much to Spend ‘Awarding’ Themselves at Banquet” I found many inconsistencies in information about the budget, misquoted there were quotes allocated to the wrong board members. I find this to be unfortunate because the wrong information is being presented and out of context without an unbiased opinion to the students of American River College.

In the second paragraph, the quote President Hinton said arguing for some sort of recognition for the work of the board members was taken out of context, there was no information to previous comments made leading up to that quote. In the following paragraph President Hinton’s words seem to have been misinterpreted saying that spending $400 on awards is, “important to the Student Senate’s self-esteem...” and the figure of $400 is inaccurate. In the sixth and seventh paragraph, CAEB President Diefenbacher was wrongly quoted to say “I want a limit as to how much is spent on actual awards,” and “was self- gratifying activity.” this sentiment was expressed by Senators Lipuma, Elliot and Director of Public Relations Vargas. The following paragraph concerning the combining of the CAEB and Senate banquets the raising of question was done by Director of Finance Riley and later clarified

by Director of Public Relations Vargas. As with the following and fourteenth paragraph they were, was also taken out of context. As with the issue of the Bill for the Republican Club the article failed to mention that proper information was not given to the board in a timely manner and the scrutinizing was done for all organizations requesting funds from the board. Lastly, in the second to last paragraph of the article gave incorrect information of the funding of the buses for March in March it is not the Academic Union rather the Teachers Union providing the funds.

Along with the misinformation about the Teachers Union funding for the buses in a previous article by John Ferrannini “Student Senate Funds Student Advocacy Events” he wrote, “On the other hand, it looks like the senators will decide against taking public transit and will spend more than $800 on a bus and two Paratransit busses to take them from the ARC campus to the Capitol.” Which is not only giving inconsistent information but dishonest.

It truly disappoints me to have to write to the paper under these circumstances but the integrity of The Current and ARC ASB Student Senate is at risk with these inconsistencies. Hopefully, this will be an isolated incident. I hope to work and build a good relationship between these two organizations and hope it can continue to grow.

Sincerely,

Kenneth Hinton Student Senate President American River College

From the Editors, Upon review of President Kenneth Hinton’s letter to The Current, multiple attempts have been made to contact the president requesting evidence to support the claims and accusations he makes in the above letter. No acceptable clarification was provided by Hinton. The only correction to be made is that the LRCFT funded the transportation to March in March, not the Academic Union as previously reported.

E R E H Z U ARC W Is it art or is it vandalism? Some students at American River College would argue that the graffiti on this campus is a truer expression of creativity than any painting on a canvas or drawing on a paper. Many students have undoubtedly seen the art lining the walls of the various restrooms and halls around the school.

1. Street artists often use postage labels as a surface on which to create art. These labels can then be stuck like stickers wherever they want.

2. Creatures like these can be found placed in bathrooms across ARC. 3. As a common form of vandalism, people often draw or write things on bathroom walls that people can read when they use the restroom.

4. One bathroom artist signs his work as “DuhVinci”, a spin on the famed artist and inventor Leonardo DaVinci.

5. The women’s restroom on the east side of Davies jokingly warns the person in the stall that they are under surveillance.

6. The face of famed actor Bill Murray watches over a quiet zone in Davies Hall.

Photos by Zach Tierney & Sarah Scott

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