Lariat
Coachella
the student voice of Saddleback College & Irvine Valley College since 1968
Wednesday, May 6 , 2015
volume 47, issue 16
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SOCCCD appoints Dr. Barbara Jay Emilie Christensen Editor-in-Chief
The South Orange County Community College District appointed Barbara (Bobbie) Jay to the Board of Trustees at 5 p.m. Monday, April 28, after publicly interviewing eight candidates in the Ronald Reagan Board of Trustees Room 145 of the Health Sciences Building at Saddleback College. The board made the decision to appoint a trustee rather than hold an election because of the alleged $24 million it would have cost the district. Each candidate was given 15 minutes to answer five questions about their qualifications and potential role as a trustee, followed by a discussion among the
attending board members. Trustee David Lang recused himself from the voting proceedings per the Political Reform Act and Government Code 87105 after it was determined that he had a legitimate conflict of interest, as one of the candidates is a client of Lang’s Certified Public Accountant firm, while Trustee Nancy Padberg was also not present as she has been injured and on leave for some time. Since only four of the seven members of the board were present, any appointment had to be unanimously agreed upon by present members. After ranking their top candidates, SOCCCD Vice President Timothy Jemal made a motion to appoint can-
didate Bobbie Jay. The motion was seconded by board president T.J. Prendergast and resulted in a unanimous “yes” vote from President Predergast, VP Jemal, Trustee Marcia Milchiker and Trustee James Wright. “Dr. Jay brings a wealth of experience to the board, having owned, operated and managed a local business in south Orange County,” said Natalie Cooney of the SOCCCD public affairs office in a press release. “She has a D.D.S. from the University of Southern California. Her top priority as a trustee is protect the educational quality at the colleges because she considers that to be the key to a better lives for the South Orange County Community College students.”
The newly appointed Trustee Bobbie Jay, widow of the late Trustee William Jay whose vacant seat she now fills, will serve as an interim member until December 2, 2016, presiding over district Area 3 which includes Laguna Beach, Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, and parts of Laguna Hills, Newport Beach, San Clemente and unincorporated areas, according to the SOCCCD main page. Trustee Jay stated on Monday that she does not intend to run as an incumbent in the next election, a fact voting member President Prendergast said was definitely taken into consideration, positively influencing his vote. echristensen.lariat@gmail.com
courtesy of
Natalie Cooney
All smiles: Prendergrast welcomes Jay, the newest trustee.
Body of missing woman found in local creek bed
The search for Erica Alonso has ended, after she disappeared on Valentine’s Day Brook Marquez contributor
Niko LabarBera/ Photo Editor
rippin lowers: Filipe Toledo, gets carried from the cobblestone bottom beach to the winners podium.
Filipe Toledo wins Oakley Lowers Pro Toledo is proving to be the standout surfer this year on the World Championship Tour, but keep an eye on rookie Rodriguez niko Labarera Photo editor
Filipe Toledo proved why he is considered one of the best small wave surfers in the world, after winning the first World Surf League Qualifying Series 10,000 of the year at the Oakley Lowers Pro at Trestles Beach in San Clemente California. With 96 of the best surfers in the world competing from 17 different countries, the 20-year-old Brazilian showed why he was the standout going into the event. Toledo started strong with a 9.87 on his first wave of the event, and kept that pace throughout the week. He was able to get his combined wave score in the excellent range during every heat, and had an average two wave score of 16.64. He advanced through each round without any loses during the event. Toledo’s unmatched air game and quick style of surfing proved to be impossible to counter, but powerful surfers like Dusty Payne and second place finalist Jeremy Flores showed strong bottom turns and powerful carves were still worthy of 8s and 9s in the judges’ eyes.
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Even with the large array of championship tour surfers including Kelly Slater and local pro Kolohe Andino, Toledo appeared to be surfing on another level. He averaged seven waves each heat and was able to set up smooth turns and transitions on the larger set waves along with the smaller, inside breaks. Priority didn’t appear to be a concern as Toledo was able to surf the less desirable waves that other competitors would ignore. He executed an aerial maneuver on nearly every wave he caught and at times would execute two on one wave. Although all eyes were on Toledo, there were a handful of other competitors who stood out amongst the pack. Fellow Brazilian and rookie Michael Rodriguez was one of the standout surfers of the event, and although he went down to runner-up Jeremy Flores in the fourth round, he was able to execute a fully rotated air reverse with time running out to show the judges he can could under pressure. Another standout performance was from local surf icon Tanner Gadauskas. After seeing his brother Pat loose in round 3, Tanner battled his way
through to the quarterfinals only to loose to Wade Carmichael after a fall on the final set wave of the heat with little time to go. The wide variety of surfers from around the world provided a truly integrated surf competition, but the newly identified Brazilian storm surfers were the eye catchers of the weekend. Toledo is the third Brazilian in a row to win this event following Gabriel Medina and Miguel Pupo, and showed how strong the Brazilian presence is on tour. With his win on the Gold Coast and strong finish at Snapper Rocks, Toledo is proving to be the standout surfer this year on the World Championship Tour. He is currently in third place and sits 10,000 points shy of fellow Brazilian and current world leader Adriano De Souza. With momentum building from this win and the next WSL event schduled to take place in his home country of Brazil, Toledo will surely be the surfer to look at for at the upcoming Oi Rio Pro in Rio de Janerio.
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The Gauchos’ season ends after losing series to hawks 6
The body of a 28-year-old Laguna Hills woman who had been missing since Valentine’s Day was found on Tuesday, April 28, in a dry creek bed in the Cleveland National Forest in San Juan Capistrano, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. The woman, Stephanie Alonso was last seen leaving her boyfriend’s home in Irvine. Alonso is believed to have driven away from the house early Sunday morning in her white 2014 Honda Civic, which was later found in Aliso Viejo, approximately one mile from Alonso’s residence, according to the police. The Alonso family offered a $5,000 reward for any information that led to finding her. On Monday, April 27, the police were notified of the discovery of a decomposing body approximately 12 miles east of Interstate 5 after a group of Cal-Trans biologists came across the body. The coroner’s investigators were not able to determine a manner or cause of death, according to a release. Though the body was preliminarily identified as Alonso, it was not of-
courtesy of
Alonso: An autopsy was inconclusive as to the cause of death. ficially identified until Cal-ID records confirmed fingerprints. An autopsy to determine more information was performed on Wednesday, April 29. Any with information on the Erica Alonso investigation, please call the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Unit at 714-6477055 or 714- 647-7000. brooke_marquez@aol.com
Moms battle GMOs for children’s better Kaley Vick
contributor
The topic of genetically modified organisms has been circulating the Internet for some time now. Moms Across America founder and creator Zen Honeycutt came to Saddleback College to give a speech on GMOs and the harm they have on your body on Wednesday, April 23. Before starting her presentation, Honeycutt asked the room to raise their hands if they have a family member with a mental disorder. Afterwards, she asked if anyone has been affected by cancer or diabetes. A majority of the room raised their hands two or more times. She proceeded by introducing herself and her organization, Moms Across America, and she stated facts on how GMOs are in 85 percent of America’s processed food. Honeycutt is leading her own fight against GMOs because of her kids who had life-threatening food allergies, which she can’t understand because she and her husband do not have any allergies. After learning about GMOs, she changed her children’s diets to all organic non-GMO foods. One year later, they went from having life-threatening food allergies to
being able to be in the same contact with foods with minimum reactions. What Honeycutt wanted to show students in this presentation was the correlation between GMO foods and chronic illness. Many Saddleback students attended this presentation. “I came to this presentation because my teacher offered extra credit to attend,” said business major Forrest Anderson, 20. Moms Across America is a forum for moms to reach out and encourage others with how non-GMO products have impacted their lives. This platform allows for moms to learn about how to improve not only their own health, but the health of their children. This group currently has over 310 members, and has produced over 400 events about how to stop companies from using GMOs. Moms Across America’s slogan, “Empowered Moms, Healthy Kids. We are a national coalition of Unstoppable moms committed to empowering millions to educate themselves about GMOs and related pesticides, get GMOs lableled and offer GMOfree and organic solutions,” shows how passionate these moms are about GMOs. read more on page 2