CONGRATS, GRADS OF 2008 ENJOY THIS FULL COLOR ISSUE
This is our last issue of the academic year. Have a great summer and look for La Vozʼs next issue September 24.
Breaking the La Voz
Weekly
chains of
silence
THE VOICE OF DE ANZA Vol. 42, Issue 29
June 16, 2008
IN THIS ISSUE Robot versus the volcano! Just kidding. But check out page 11 for the most thrilling rendition we could imagine. Moʼ Money Moʼ Problems
Or maybe not. See page 5 for the story on the new ATM card students may be carrying next year.
Did you graduate? Chances are your newly educated self is in this issue. Page 6 and 7
INDEX
Campus Events...................p2 Weekly Notes....................p3 Economics for Everyone.....p10 Cheap Vacations...............p13 Arts and Entertainment.....p15 How to serve an ace...........p18 Editorial.........................p19 La Voz Weekly is a first amendment newspaper, produced by students for the campus community of De Anza College. La Voz Weekly is printed on recycled paper.
Three women involved in last year’s De Anza sexual assault case receive courage awards at sexual violence awareness event Ehssan Barkeshli LA VOZ NEWS
“She had vomit on her face that wasn’t hers ... a condom was thrown on the side of the bed. She had one shoe on; jeans wrapped around one ankle. She wasn’t moving, and she doesn’t remember anything,” said April Grolle Tuesday. Three witnesses to the alleged De Anza College baseball rape case were given awards for heroism and strength of action last Tuesday at an event aimed to take action against sexual violence titled“ Bearing Witness.” De Anza College President Brian Murphy spoke to roughly 100 audience members at the event, referring to the party last year as “the ugly incident of last march” and a “sad and sorry accident.” The women showed honor and responsibility while the others in the room didn’t, he said.
He called them “genuine and honest-to-god people.” De Anza student April Grolle and former students Lauren Chief Elk and Lauren Bryeans were introduced one at a time at
“We all want to
feel safe, so we look the other way and pretend it isnʼt happening.
”
Patrick Donovan, YWCA
the event hosted by the department of women’s studies, the Institute of Community and Civic Engagement and Students for Justice, and each given a Courage Award for taking action when they thought a rape occurred at a party thrown by members of the De Anza baseball team in March 2007.
The girls testified that they saw a 17-year-old girl involved in a sexual act with two men and immediately pulled her out of the room and away from the party. De Anza College Director of Marketing and Communications Marisa Spatafore said in regards to Murphy’s statements about the incident, “Both the district attorney and the state attorney general said it is likely without question, that something wrong happened that night, and [we] addressed what we could to the best of our ability.” So far, there has been no official court ruling that the girl in question was raped. After Santa Clara District Attorney Dolores Carr said she could not press charges in the case due to insufficient evidence in May 2007, she referred the case to California Attorney General Jerry Brown for review. On
May 3, 2008, almost one year later, Brown’s office announced, after more than 1,000 hourse of investigation, that it would not press charges against the baseball players who attended the party due to lack of evidence. “[Nobody] has prosecuted for it. Therefore the college understands that the legal process has taken its course,” Spatafore said. She did not say whether the college’s official stance is that a rape definitely happened on the night of the party. “20/20” was on site to cover the award ceremony and interview the girls afterward. The YWCA and Community Solutions, both women’s advocacy groups, also had representatives at the event.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TOM GUFFEY/LA VOZ
Campus no-smoking policy not enforced by police, hard for admins to enforce Paul Edison LA VOZ NEWS
Smoke
Haze
@
THOMAS PHAN/LA VOZ
Dare to smoke on campus? No student is subject to fines or court citations for smoking on the De Anza College campus, and so far, no student been placed under probation for violating the campus’s non-smoking policy. According to the Student Codes of Conduct, students are subject to disciplinary probation by Dean of Student Development Michele LeBleu-Burns if they are engaged in “willful or persistent smoking in any area where smoking has been prohibited by law or by regulation of the college or district.” Yet an administrator or faculty member who catches a student smoking on campus cannot legally coerce a student into giving their name or photo identification, making it nearly impossible for an administrator to punish a student without his consent. A student cannot be cited or fined by police because there is no state law in California that forbids smoking outdoors on college campuses. “What we’re trying to do is to be more educational rather than adversarial,” said LeBleu-Burns. Mary-Jo Lomax, the health educator in
charge of a smoking cessation program offered by Health Services, said there is no definite risk in students’ health from passing student smokers on the fringes of campus while walking onto campus grounds. Yet she is proud of the reduction of the second-hand smoke haze on campus since the no-smoking policy came into effect Sept. 1, 2005, she said. The district no-smoking policy in effect is Board Policy 3217 and states that the non-smoking regulation relies on “the consideration and cooperation” of both smokers and non-smokers on campus. LeBleu-Burns said the programs and policies are there to help students feel comfortable with the campus environment, smokers and non-smokers alike. Under disciplinary probation, students are excluded from participating in clubs and activities for specified periods of time but may still go to class, graduate and even transfer to a university. In November 2004, Foothill and De Anza faculty, staff and students participated in an online survey developed to assess their ...
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
La Voz Online
WWW.LAVOZDEANZA.COM