The Express 30.4

A FIRST AMENDMENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF LAS POSITAS COLLEGE DECEMBER 12, 2018

VOL. 30 ISSUE NO. 4

FIRST COPY FREE; ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS EACH

District leaders ignore student health concerns PAGE 3 & 11

Photo Illustration by Victoria Lachnit

The year in review, according to The Express Page 6 & 7

What's next for men's basketball Page 8

2 NEWS Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Emily Forschen Managing Editor Kirstie Burgess News Editor Trevor Gregory Campus Life Editor Yesenia Medina Sports Editor Devin Bradshaw Opinion Editor Arion Armeniakos Photo Editor Victoria Lachnit Copy Editor Les Mahler Web Editor Jennifer Snook Production Staff Thiha Naing Rebecca Robison Giovanna Seabra Adam Vanderhoofen

Editorial

and

Adviser Melissa Korber Business Manager Marcus Thompson II Technology Manager Jeff Bennett Lead Design Mentor Brianna Guillory Design Mentor Julia Coty Student Assistant Jose Garcia

© 2018 Express.* Reproduction in any form is strictly prohibited.

The Express is a First Amendment publication of the students of Las Positas College. It is published most Fridays during the academic year. The students who staff the Express run an editorially independent newsroom. Unsigned editorials reflect the collective opinion of the editorial board. Other opinions express the views of individual writers and artists are not to be considered the views of the publication’s staff, editorial board, advisors, the associated students, the college administration or the board of trustees. *Students retain copyright ownership of the content they create, including words, photographs, graphics, illustrations, cartoons and other work. The Express retains copyright ownership to advertisements the Express creates. The Express retains the right to use all material in all forms in perpetuity.

Letters to the Editor The Express is a public forum newspaper that seeks to encourage robust discussion among members of the college community. Letters to the editor, editorial and opinion pieces, freelance articles and photographs may be sent via e-mail or U.S. mail. Pieces must be typed and signed and include contact information, including a daytime phone number. Anonymous submissions will not be printed. All submissions are edited for space and clarity, and upon publication become the property of the Express.

lpcexpressnews.com

California fires leaves many feeling devastated

By Rebecca Robison @REBECCAROBISO19

n November of this year, two fires broke I out in Los Angeles and Butte County, named the Camp Fire and Woolsey Fire.

The Camp Fire, which was the deadliest in California’s history, devastated over 140,000 acres, killed 85 people and even closed schools in the surrounding area that were affected by the smoke.

Firefighters from all across the state rushed to help battle the fires, and donate what they could in support. Around 20 Colorado firefighters also traveled to help, bringing along extra fire engines.

In Livermore, schools were forced to close as a result of the harsh smoke from the Camp Fire. At least 256 other schools have closed due to the fires and smoke, with some being closed for weeks.

The air quality reached hazardous levels, with the air quality index reaching over 301.

Many have been warned of the dangerous effects of the smoke, including an uprise in asthma, lung disease and many more defects.

Small portions of metals had been detected in the air following the fires.

In an effort to combat increased medical risks as a result of the smoke, stores such as Home Depot, Kelly-Moore Paints and local police departments handed out free N95 masks to families in need. However, the masks quickly ran out due to the large demand.

It is still unknown what caused the Woolsey Fire, however the winds caused it to spread rapidly, reaching uncontrollable levels, spreading through Liberty Canyon and reaching near Calabasas. Multiple celebrity houses have been damaged from the fire, including stars Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth, Robin Thicke and Gabe Kapler.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West had hired

Photo courtesy of The White House on Flickr President Trump visited Skyway Villa Mobile Home and RV Park Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018, to witness the devastation of the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. According to the East Bay Times, the fire was the most deadly and destructive fire in California history.

private firefighters in an effort to ensure their $60 million mansion.

Hemsworth and Cyrus donated $500,000 to fire victims. Other celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres, Khloe Kardashian and Guy Fieri have also donated supplies and money to affected families The fire in Paradise has rumored to be connected to the Pacific Gas and Electric company, also known as PG&E, with some claiming that they are responsible for the initial spark that started it.

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Travis Miller, a Morningstar utility analyst stated, “PG&E still faces a very rough road going forward... and we think that’s still a legitimate assumption.”

As of now, the case against the company is still ongoing, however, state officials have

discovered a possible fault in equipment near the initial ignition point. 35 families who were affected by the fires have come forward to sue PG&E, trying to make up for the losses.

Overall, the fires are estimated to have done around $15 billion in damages.

Jose Garcia, the student assistant for Express adviser Melissa Korber, lost his home in the Camp Fire. “We bought a house, and we never got to actually move in,” he said, “I’ve never had anything like that happen before… it’s hard. The hardest thing is that we are the lucky ones compared to other families.”

As a result of the fires, many were and still are in need of assistance. If you wish to donate, you can call your local fire department for details or the American Red Cross to locate drop off centers.

California teachers push for CPR renewal requirements

By Kirstie Burgess @KIRSTIEBROOKEEE

ver 10 years ago, Capistrano O Valley High School photography teacher Wendy McElfish

was required to get her CPR certification in order to become a teacher. Years later in 2012, she found one of her sons, unresponsive and blue.

When this tragedy struck, she had forgotten most of everything she had learned about CPR. Luckily, her neighbor knew CPR and saved him.

In California it is required that public school teachers complete CPR training for their teaching credential. Once the training is done, teachers are not required to renew that training. In the case of McElfish and her son, renewing CPR training could be vital in saving her son’s life.

“Renewing my CPR certificate, like many other things in life, never crossed my mind, unless I was required to do it. Teachers are required every few years to

renew their credential in order to stay in the classroom. Why is updating their CPR certification not a part of this requirement?”

McElfish said on her change.org petition to try to change policies to get teachers to renew their CPR certification when they renew their teaching credential.

CPR certification expires after two years and as of March 2017 teachers do not need to renew it, according to CPR training service, Sure Fire CPR. “Every two years CPR cards must be renewed, because one of the things that childcare centers have to be very aware of is they have to have certification done by someone who is EMSA certified, which is California Emergency Medical Services Authority,” Angela Lopez, the director of the Child Development Center on campus said.

The phrase CPR is very common and for most people, they know the basics of it. With repeated pressing on the chest area to try to revive an uncon-

scious person. But, not everyone is aware that there is a specific technique when CPR is done.

CPR stands for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and is an “emergency lifesaving procedure performed when the heart stops beating,” according to the CPR section on heart.org 18 states have mandatory CPR training for teachers in one way or another which leaves over half the U.S. left without training. So far, three more states have introduced bills for CPR training.

In states such as California and Indiana to get a teaching certificate, a potential teacher must be certified in CPR and First Aid. However, in Colorado, only one teacher is required to be CPR certified in the school. In Iowa and Vermont only P.E. and health teachers are required to be certified.

“I do agree with the policy that has the states require CPR for particular types of activities because they do increase stress levels in the body, which could

Photo Courtesy of US Army Corps of Engineers CPR training course attendees learn how to time chest compresses at the U.S. Army Corps Engineers District office in Sacramento, California.

potentially cause someone to have a health issue. I think it’s a good idea, the more people you have trained, the safer the environment is,” Lopez said.

NEWS 3

december 12, 2018

Key administrators ignore student petition

By Emily Forschen @EMILYSCHEN

ylah Schmedel was holding her L breath before Thanksgiving break for a few different reasons.

In the hazardous air quality due to the most devastating wildfire in California history, dozens of local schools closed for student health concerns. Las Positas College and Chabot College both remained open— a decision made under a hazy lack of communication.

Schmedel is the president of student government (LPCSG). One of the student senators, Breanna Hibbard, had started a petition to close the campus and it took off, getting over one thousand signatures in less than 24 hours. Schmedel, shocked by the quick response, promoted it and sent the evidence of health concerns to three key administrators.

Much to the dismay of many, the petition was seemingly ignored. School continued just like any other Tuesday. This left Schmedel disheartened and discouraged.

While many students wondered why this happened, she was already thinking ahead.

Her tone quickly changed from wondering why to planning why this won’t happen again.

The petition received more student participation than any other vote or poll that Schmedel could recall. “In a matter of hours she had over 300 (signatures) and

I was like, ‘Okay, that’s actually huge.’” To put that in perspective, the last student vote count on the constitution and bylaws of the school only received a total of 300 votes. “I don’t know if you know, but it’s very difficult to get the student body to speak up, so I was like, ‘Okay, clearly I need to step in,’” Schmedel said.

Schmedel laid out a detailed timeline to help students understand exactly what happened before Thanksgiving break.

Around 9:30 a.m., Hibbard texted Schmedel, asking potentially how many students it would take to get the Board of Trustee’s attention. Schmedel estimated approximately 300, based on previous student response levels. Hibbard posted the petition online shortly after. It picked up speed quickly. Students shared it on social media, sent it to their friends, gaining traction.

By noon, Schmedel noticed that it had reached nearly 200 in only two hours. The 300 that she originally said they would need to get the attention of administrators was close at hand in a matter of moments.

She asked Hibbard if she has contacted anybody. Hibbard had, at that point, reached out to LPC Interim President Roanna Bennie, LPC Vice President of Student Services William Garcia and district Interim Chancellor Thomas Fallo.

None of them had returned her email, so Lylah sent one of her own.

For hours, she and Hibbard had heard

Victoria Lachnit/Express Breanna Hibbard, author of the original petition and student senator, speaks to The Express.

nothing. “I just don’t believe no one was able to speak with me,” she bluntly stated.

Later in the afternoon, Hibbard got a response from Vice President Garcia.

She met with him and afterwards told Schmedel that he had addressed the chancellor’s reasons to keep school open, but Hibbard still felt uneasy. Later that evening, Schmedel went to speak with him.

“He kept trying to convince me that it wasn’t a problem, and I was like no, it is a problem. Students feel like this is a problem, which is why I’m here,” said Schmedel.

After a not so fruitful meeting, Schmedel returned to her office and sent another email to those key administrators.

She had learned that Interim President Roanna Bennie was at a conference and was not able to return her emails, so she pressed harder, trying to find a way to get to whoever would be right underneath her.

FOR THE REST OF THIS STORY, VISIT LPCEXPRESSNEWS.COM.

LPC hosts high school multimedia symposium

University of San Francisco

CSU deadline extended Due to the wildfires in California, CSU campuses have decided to extend their application deadlines.

The new deadline date for CSUs is December 15 at 11:59 p.m.. Students who have been experienced financial issues from the wildfires may request a fee waiver online by sending an email to calstateapply@calstate.edu.

LEARN TODAY. CHANGE TOMORROW. PROGRAMS IN: MANAGEMENT | NURSING (925) 867-2711 | usfca.edu/pleasanton 6120 Stoneridge Mall Rd., Ste. 150, Pleasanton, CA CHANGE THE WORLD FROM HE RE

P L E A S A N TO N

Las Positas campus opened its doors to high school students from the East Bay for the Press Pass Symposium. Press Pass was an event highlighting mass communication fields such as PR for social media, newswriting, filmmaking and photography. The event was kicked off by a keynote address from Shan Berries, a producer for San Francisco radio station 99.7. Students participated in workshops to hone their skills, as well as contests to test their abilities.

4 Campus life

lpcexpressnews.com

Las Positas club accomplishments in fall 2018

By Yesenia Medina @YESENIAAMEDINAA

BUSINESS CLUB They won first place in the design competition, the President won Mr. PBL (Phi Beta Lambda), won second place for highest membership increase, first place in money raised for March of Dimes, and all of the winning teams for the Business creation competition consisted of LPC students. They raised money for their main charity March of Dimes. The charity supports premature babies with birth defects and their families. In one day, they were able to raise $660.

Nichole Thomas, a representative from Uncle Credit Union, has been meeting with the Business Outreach Committee to plan workshops. Recently, members of the club were able to tour The Switch in downtown Livermore.

The Switch is a non-profit incubator that supports local startups who need a place to do their work.

PRE-NURSING CLUB They gained over 100 members this semester since the creation of the club last October. They

hosted an alumni panel where 12 former LPC students came back to speak about their experiences in nursing school and beyond nursing school. They are currently working to bring a TEAS English section Smartshop Workshop Series. The club also worked with the Director of the Paramedic program, Sebastian Wong, who offered to give their members Basic Life Support certification at an extreme discount.

Technology. They are working with Financial Aid Office to creating other requirements.

LPC AUTOMOTIVE CLUB Working towards creating a scholarship fund for future automotive students in memorial of a student who passed just before the beginning of the semester.

As of right now, the former student’s family support the idea of having a scholarship created in his memory. The Club voted to approve $2,500 of club funds to start the scholarship. They are hoping to receive funding from potential donors who are associated with the LPC automotive program. The process is to raise funds each semester to add to the scholarship fund. The only eligibility requirement so far is students who have decided to pursue the A.S. in Automotive

BLACK STUDENT UNION Guest speaker Brianna Williams was hosted on Dec. 7. who was a survivor and antihuman trafficking advocate.

YOURSELF

What’s your favorite Spongebob episode?

I would say it would have to be the one where they are performing in the Super Bowl.

Spongebob gave that solo and Squidward was conducting.

Overall, it was a really good episode because they showed clips from actual Super Bowls.

– Joey Gnagy, Psychology

The one where they spell out fun. It was very clever the way they did it. I saw a twitter video about it when the producer died.

– Keith Sheehan, Childhood Development

ENGINEERING CLUB They are coordinating a microcontrollers workshop series on how to program the brains of robots and interface with sensors.

Additionally, Prof. Keith Level, the head of STEM transfer, will be hosted a college transferring workshop with a Q&A.

ALPHA GAMMA SIGMA HONOR SOCIETY The 2018 Northern Fall Conference was held at LPC in early November. Fundraisers and bake sales were held in order to raise money to fund club scholarships honoring new and old members who have demonstrated community service and academic excellence.

PUENTE CLUB They are focusing on next year’s preparation such as weekly

Victoria Lachnit/The Express Business Club members discuss their performance at a conference on Nov. 26.

fundraisers, academic workshops and releasing merchandise.

ART AND DESIGN CLUB In October, members participated in ‘Inktober’ in which they each completed a

drawing every day of the month.

They hosted guest speaker, Karen Barry, a local artist demonstrated a linocut printmaking. She also carved own linocuts and made a few prints at one of their meetings.

campus life 5

December 12, 2018

Club aims to help Oakland foster youth homes

By Adam Vanderhoofven @AVANDERHOOFVEN

“T

his was literally the final straw,” Elizabeth Joy said of the incident. She left to “salvage her own sanity.”

Joy is a current student and member of the Christ In Action club on campus. She used to work in a foster home called The Resource Environment for Underprivileged Groups Enterprise (R.E.F.U.G.E.) in Oakland.

During her time there, she was distraught by the conditions and the situations she saw. She recognized a need that she hopes will positively impact the children she used to work with.

The R.E.F.U.G.E. is a foster home specifically for kids and teens suffering from mental health issues. In a community where mental health problems are so prevalent, Joy didn’t expect that to be the cause of many fights.

Only a few weeks into her employment, Joy found herself between two boys picking on a special needs child and she was punched.

This, however, was not the incident that caused her to leave.

The boy was being transferred to another house to prevent this from happening again. She was

Photo courtesy of Virginia Edwards Christ in Action fundrasies to get duffel bags for foster youth.

helping the child pack all of his belongings-- into garbage bags.

Seeing him have to put what few things he could call his own into trash bags deeply disturbed her.

This was what she called the final straw.

“One boy had been in 17 different foster homes and institutions in his life,” Joy said, “so the need is definitely there.”

There are five foster houses total in The R.E.F.U.G.E., three for boys and two for girls. Many of the girls are victims of human trafficking and regularly run away from the foster homes and back into the dangerous and extremely destructive lifestyle they are used to.

After three weeks working in the extreme stress of the

foster home Joy said she was “emotionally broke.” She feels the homes are run with little regard for the feelings of the individuals who often times have never felt what it is like to be in a loving home with parents and families by their sides.

Joy was done, but her desire to help was not. She could not stand to send another child out of the

foster home with garbage bags so she came up with the idea to donate duffel bags.

She brought her idea of buying the duffel bags and filling them with supplies to Christ In Action here, who excitedly picked up the idea.

Christ In Action is run by Virginia Edwards, classified library staff, who supported the idea from the getgo. Although the club has not yet officially kicked off the initiative, they have ordered a sample duffel bag to make sure it is adequate, and the idea is in motion.

The idea is that each child will receive a 26 inch duffel bag so they can put their belongings in something other than garbage bags. The bags will be filled with notes of encouragement, school supplies and toiletries.

At this time, Christ In Action plans to put together a bake sale to raise funds and awareness for the project. They also want to host a drive for school supplies and other items.

All students can donate if they wish, by dropping their donation to Edwards in the library. Students are encouraged to be a part of this club and help touch the lives of many children in need.

Christ In Action currently meets on Wednesdays from 2 p.m.-3 p.m. in room 1726.

Musical theater returning to LPC

By Giovanna Seabra @GIOVANNAEXPRESS

s the fall semester comes to an end, the A theater department prepares for their last showcase of the year and promise much more dur-

Campus Spotlight Speech Night at LPC Photo courtesy of Simi Pajetta On Dec. 7, the speech team, also known as the Talk Hawks, simulated what it is like at a tournament in front of the Las Positas community.

There were six speeches ranging from persuasive to impromptu to a duo speech. Many of the speeches performed had won honors at previous tournaments, including Angela Vasquez who won two first place awards for her persuasive speech about DACA students.

ing the spring semester. As their last showcase for the semester, the Las Positas Theater Department will show “Pop Rocks” – a musical about the evolution of the idea of rock musicals.

Professor Titian Lish from the theater department at LPC said, “The next event coming up is the musical theater showcase that we’ll be doing on Dec. 14 called Pop Rocks. It is basically an evening of musical theater and all of the music that’s being sung is sort of an evolution of the idea of rock musicals, starting from early musicals like the 60s and 70s going all the way to modern.”

Las Positas had fun and entertaining plays all throughout the year of 2018 all because of the students’ and faculty’s hard work and effort to make their program succeed each year. With musical theater not being offered for a while at the LPC theater department, Lish is excited to announce that their curriculum is back and updated for next semester.

Their upcoming play, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” is the spring semester’s main showcase and the theater department has already started working hard on bringing this musical comedy to life.

Production meetings with design team and staff have already commenced and the cast of the musical is already set. When students come back from winter break, rehearsals will begin and students will be expected to be off-book.

Photo courtesy of the Performing Arts Department Pop Rocks will open on Dec. 14 for a one night only showing.

FEAT

8 lpcexpressnews.com This year in

News In September, Judge Brett Kavanaugh was elected as Supreme Court Justice after his infamous hearings.

NASA launched the InSight Mars lander in May of 2018 and landed in November. NASA plans to have InSight study the interior of Mars.

Several natural disasters hit the world in 2018. Hurricanes Michael and Florence struck the East Coast, the Camp Fire struck Northern California, Hawaii’s Kilauea erupted, Southern California was innundated with mudflows, and a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia to name a few.

Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian journalist was assassinated in October. It is to be believed that Khashoggi was working on a story that was critical to the Saudi government, and that being the reason why he was killed.

The Democratic party candidate, Gavin Newsom was elected Governor in November of 2018. Newsom will become 40th Governor of California in January of 2019.

This year in

Campus Life In March, LPC students conducted a campus wide walkout. The demonstration was part of the national movement for gun control in the wake of the Parkland shooting.

LPC President Barry Russell retired this year because of his fight with brain cancer. He had initially intended to return to his position after stepping down last year. Initially taking over once he stepped down, interim President Roanna Bennie’s contract has been extended to the year 2020.

In the fall of 2018, the construction of the new 1000 building at LPC was finished. This was just in time for the Fall semester to begin, with several different classes being offered in the building.

In November, a student led petition gained over 1000 signatures to cancel classes due to health concerns of the smoke plaguing the Bay Area. Student senator Breanna Hibbard proposed the petition to administration, and was met with little success. “Going forward, we will re-evaluate and ensure that this will not happen again,” said Student government President Lylah Schmedel.

TURE

December,12,2018

9

This year in

Entertainment The stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child won several Tony awards in 2018. Awards include best play and best direction.

Marvel Studios reigned supreme in 2018, dominating the box office. Black Panther earned $700 billion and Infinity War earned $678 billion.

Director Guillermo del Toro had a successful year, with his movie The Shape of Water winning an Oscar for best picture.

In May, British royal family member Prince Harry and retired actress Meghan Markle became married. Markle became the first American to marry into the royal family.

Bruno Mars took home the Grammy for Record Of The Year for his album “24K Magic”. Mars also won Song Of The Year for “That’s What I Like”. Winning six Grammys in total for the 2018 year.

Game of Thrones took home the Emmy for best drama series and the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel won best comedy series. Saturday Night Live and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver won best variety sketch and talk series respectively.

This year in

Sports The Winter Olympics in PyeongChang Norway: 39 Germany: 31 Canada: 29 World Cup Champions: France Second Place: Croatia Third Place: Belgium Super Bowl Winner: Philadelphia Eagles Loser: New England Patriots MVP: Nick Foles NBA Finals Winner: Golden State Warriors Loser: Cleveland Cavaliers MVP: Kevin Durant World Series Winner: Boston Red Sox Loser: Los Angeles Dodgers MVP: Steve Pearce

Photo Illustrations by Jennifer Snook

8 Sports

lpcexpressnews.com

Follow us @LPCExPRESSNEWS

Men’s basketball starts off strong

Arion Ameniakos @ARIONAMENIAKOS

The Las Positas College men’s basketball team is off to yet another positive start this fall as the California Community College Athletic Association men’s basketball (CCCMBCA) season begins to take shape and teams slowly ramp up their preparation for the beginning of conference play in January.

The Hawks tipped off this season with an impressive six game win streak before losing two of their last three games to bring their record to the current (7-2), as they look to send a statement to the rest

Photo courtesy of Alan Lewis

Michael Hayes looks to score in a game against Butte Community College on Friday Nov. 2.

of the league after suffering an early exit from the post season last year at the hands of Santa Rosa.

Despite the strong start, fourth year head coach James Giacomazzi has remained coy on his team’s achievement so far with his focus being solely on getting even better ahead of the big games coming up.

“Our record is solid but we need to focus on the things we need to do to improve and keep working to get better and not become complacent, said Giacomazzi. “Right now, we’re playing okay in my opinion, but we have a lot to improve upon and if we acknowledge that we will get even better in a hurry. It’s all in the details,” he added.

Even though it’s still early days, it’s not difficult to see that this Hawks team is having fun while playing good basketball right now and Giacomazzi has admitted that despite there still being work to do, the team has developed a tight bond early on.

“The guys seem to really get along with one another and have a close bond, which is a positive. But we feel strongly that we’ll keep progressing in our camaraderie and cohesiveness as the season goes along,” said Giacomazzi.

The team also looks to have identified their leader through the emergence of the talented freshman guard, Michael Hayes.

The high-flying guard Hayes, who stands at 6 feet 4 inches tall, joined the Hawks out of West High School and has taken the community college scene by storm by putting up impressive numbers and leading the Hawks to their hot start, all while being the only freshman in the starting lineup.

Through nine games, Hayes has averaged 20.2 points per game on 60 percent shooting from the field which puts him in the top 15 in the state. Hayes’ latest high scoring performance came in the Hawks most recent win on Dec. 8 against West

Photo courtesy of Alan Lewis Michael Hayes, No. 25, is averaging 20.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game this season.

Valley where Hayes scored 32 of the teams 71 points.

Hayes also leads the Hawks in rebounds, averaging 9 per game and making his presence felt on both ends of the floor.

While noticing the undeniable talent of his guard, Giacomazzi is most excited about the future and how good Hayes could become in the years to come.

“Michael is a talented player but what’s exciting is that he still has so many areas to

his game where he can get better. He wants to improve facets to his game and he’ll have to work hard every day to achieve his goals and what he wants in terms of recruitment,” said Giacomazzi.

The Hawks entered this season ranked at No. 14 in the CCCMBCA pre-season polls and they will be looking at a top ten spot when the new rankings drop if they can keep up their good form heading into the conference play next month.

LPC women’s basketball looks to make a statement this year Devin Bradshaw @DEVINBRADSHAW_

The Las Positas women’s basketball team is off to a solid start. They have started this season 4-4, better than last season where they started 0-6, so maybe they have righted the ship and look to go into conference play.

A steady start is all the hawks could ask for at the beginning of this season. They are looking for their first winning season over .500 winning percentage after finishing last season 6-19. They will lean heavily on sophomore guard Ashley Hart. Hart has begun the season averaging 25.3 points per game on 47 percent shooting from the field raising her game from her freshman season where she averaged 12.4 points and shot 37 percent. She’s a key leader and the Hawks’ leading scorer this season after the loss of guard Jenna Kol. Hart has responded well to the challenge and hopes

to lead her team to a competitive season in the Coast-North division.

The whole team has focused on playing better defense this season, they are holding their opponents to 64.5 points per game and they have raised their scoring by 3 points this year to 63.8 points per game from 60 last year.

The upcoming Monterey Peninsula Tournament and the DeAnza College Tournament in the next couple weeks will be a great test for the hawks leading into conference play. These games will allow them to really test their improvements from last season and carry them over into a successful season in conference.

They received no votes to be ranked in the last CCCWBCA North Region Poll, but if they can raise their steady play just a bit, they could make their debut on the rankings before seasons end. But they would need a competitive in a tough Coast-North Conference this season.

Photo courtesy of Alan Lewis Ashley Hart leads the Hawks this season in scoring, assists and steals per game.

SPORTS 9

December 12,2018

Fire smokes out hawks playoff run Arion Armeniakos @ARIONARMENIAKOS

fter another successful A regular season, the Las Positas women’s soccer team fell

in the first round of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) playoffs round for the second year in a row.

The Hawks finished 13-33 in the regular season, almost identical to their record last season, placing them at No. 6 in the CCCAA rankings and granting them a home field advantage heading into the playoffs.

In the inaugural round, Las Positas was set to host lower ranked No. 11 Hartnell Community College Panthers.

During the regular season, the Hawks were very sound defensively. They conceded just under one goal per game. With a stingy defense behind them, the offense was able to focus solely on attacking opposing defenses.

Their offense improved this season, upping their goals scored from 61 to 67.

As the season was ending, an unforeseen challenge arose, just as playoffs were around the corner.

The Camp Fire that broke out in Butte County, California, resulted in poor air quality throughout Northern California.

Livermore was heavily affected, thus impacting the Hawks’ preparation mentally and physically.

After having their final regular season game postponed twice, which resulted in a no contest, the Hawks were forced to surrender their home field advantage. Instead, having to go on the road to Salinas, California to play Hartnell in their home in the opening round of the playoffs.

To add to that, the fires prevented the team from practicing for a week because of poor air quality according to Head Coach Paul Sapsford.

Despite the air impeding their preparation process and the cancellation of their final game, the team’s confidence didn’t waver.

They came out ready for battle, but fell just short. Despite a strong effort from Araceli Hinojosa and Sofia Escalante, who each scored a goal, the Hawks ended up losing at Hartnell 3-2.

After all was said and done, Sapsford reflected and expressed his dissatisfaction with the unfortunate turn of events for his team and how, despite fairly earning

Photo credit courtesy of Alan Lewis Camille Le Blanc fights for the ball. Hawks finished the season 13-3-3, losing in the first round of the playoffs against Hartnell.

their advantage, the playoffs abruptly turned into an uphill battle for his team due to lack of available practice sessions.

“The air quality resulted in us

not being able to play at home, despite us earning a home contest by virtue of our hard work and regular season record. But because of the air quality we had

to play away,” Sapsford said.

“I think that was a key factor in the outcome. I think if we would have played at home we would have won the game.”

Women’s Water Polo wins first conference title Devin Bradshaw @DEVINBRADSHAW_

ome wasn’t built in a day.

R It was a slow, tedious process that came with growing pains, but in their fourth year under coach Trevor Rose the

Photo credit courtesy of Alan Lewis Las Positas goalkeeper Negar Tehranian-Torghabeh blocks a scoring attempt from an opponent.

Las Positas Water Polo captured their first ever Coast-North Conference Championship.

This season was different for them, especially for Sophomore Nikki White.

“My first season was a lot of fun but was more laid back.

Whether we won or not,” White said, “This year we had a stronger team. We were serious about hanging a banner.”

With that coveted banner they now hold claim to something neither the men’s or women’s water polo team has accomplished before, a conference championship.

To achieve such heights in sports there needs to be a culture set.

Coach Rose has done an excellent job developing that culture over the past couple of years.

Their underdog mentality, and their fight helped them tremendously this season.

“There were a lot of games this season where people saw the match-up and thought we were going to lose because of past seasons,” freshman Mikayla Theide said, “We kept that in mind when we went into each game and we kept that mentality every game and do whatever was needed to bring home wins.”

That grittiness and toughness helped them to a 7-3 conference record and an appearance in the 2018 CCCAA Women’s Water Polo NORCAL Regional Championship. They lost in the first round but they are motivated to get back to that level moving forward. And hope to establish this season as the baseline for success in years to come.

10 OPINIONS lpcexpressnews.com Follow us @LPCExPRESSNEWS Depression and support go hand in hand he first one can’t stop cryT ing.

There’s no reason. She’s at

work, she’s busy, she has to put on a happy face for customers who must never know there’s anything wrong.

The next one is having problems with her girlfriend.

Her girlfriend is angry at her for painting her nails. She says her girlfriend is drinking so it’s going

to be a bad night. Then she leaves.

The third one is blaring heavy metal to cover up the sound of her parents fighting.

The fourth has to grow out her beard for the holidays so her family doesn’t suspect anything.

The fifth has to do her own injections and hates needles.

The sixth is being harassed for having the transgender flag in her avatar.

The seventh is scared that she’s thirty years too late to transition.

The eighth wants to die.

This might be normal at a group therapy session, but that’s not what it is. It’s just the group chat for transgender people I frequent.

And this is just a normal week.

People with similar experiences, interests and ideas tend to congregate; being able to connect with a large group of people who have similar experience can be great.

The level of support and understanding can be overwhelming — but there’s a cost.

When a large group of transgender people get together, oftentimes the only common ground is being transgender.

On the whole, being transgender is not a happy experience. It is often filled with pain, confusion, derision, harassment and exclusion. As good as it can be to share the triumphant feelings with others like me, the negative feelings are much more common.

According to the Human Rights Campaign Post-Election Survey of Youth in 2017, 40 percent of transgender youth are depressed — nearly four times the rate of cisgender (non-transgender) youth (which, at 12 percent, still seems staggeringly high).

Depressed people are often some of the most empathetic. Their experience with utter hopelessness can drive them to do everything they can to keep others away from that same despair.

For every issue that I have, there are a dozen people who have the same issue or worse. And with as much support as I get, I feel obligated to swoop in to be a sympathetic ear and shoulder to cry on.

The presence of people who are in much worse situations than me, people who are homeless, people who have been fired or who don’t have access to proper medical care, makes me feel much worse about my petty little complaints.

When so many of your friends and peers are in terrible situations, it’s difficult to be able to feel good about anything. Staying and listening is depressing — and leaving makes me feel guilty.

Unfortunately, there’s no way for me to help every single person I come in contact with, and certainly not if I want to stay in good mental health.

Sometimes you need to take care of yourself first. Les Mahler

Letter to the Editor

I

A Response to “Editorial: The Express backs Jim Acosta”

’ve come to the realization that the Express Editorial Board and its staff this semester — and that’s coming from my own personal observations and interactions with the staff — is perhaps the hardest working, most diligent and ambitious news crew out of all publications I’ve witnessed and worked with so far — it’s also the most disagreeable.

And when it comes to the Editorial Board supporting Jim Acosta, a yellow journalistic low-life with a chip on his shoulder, I only express disappointment on behalf of the Express, then great delight that they give me the chance to dispute and demolish this abomination of an “editorial” filled with numerous inaccuracies.

I assume whoever wrote this editorial (I assume it was Ms. Editor-in-Chief ), wrote this last minute without doing the proper research on this abominable piece of work, sitting in front of her computer, typing the words into a text document,

while sipping coffee in the middle of night before the deadline in support of a political provocateur and borderline madman. (If it isn’t, take everything that I wrote in this paragraph with a grain of salt).

Then, she has the shameless audacity and courage (which I admire) to back such an obnoxious and vile human being that the mainstream media instantly — and by default — rallies behind simply because Jim “Loser” Acosta, the Chief White House Correspondent of Fake News Network, had his press pass revoked, not only for being rude, but also for placing his hands on a defenseless woman while she was trying to take away the microphone he had been hogging the entire time with his stupid and uncreative questions. Then, he cried his way to his bosses at Fake News headquarters to get it reinstated. Boohoo.

The thing is about the media and press — and I being part of it — is that I don’t even trust it. I can agree on one thing

in this editorial that “without free press, on a local level, this community college newspaper would not exist.” However, my only complaint is that this newspaper isn’t being creative. It’s regurgitating the same narrative over and over again by every news publication and that triggers me A LOT. When Fake News Network does it, I’m fine with it. When a community college newspaper does it, I’m very disappointed especially when they also propagate the same kind of fake news.

But perhaps my biggest disappointment about this editorial is that the video that was mentioned on being “doctored” wasn’t even doctored at all. For a person like me who has years of video editing experience and I actually mean YEARS, I’ll make it easy for you editors to understand. When you’re trying to compress a video down from multi-media format such as .mp4 into a .gif (the “doctored” video), the compression from a high quality to lower quality bitrate is going to result in something

YOURSELF

called “bit-loss” which in other words, mean loss of data, which is why the video looks slowed down. Was it doctored?

Technically no. If it were, you’d see discrepancies in the video with obvious cuts and pauses, which even liberal and antiTrump news outlets such as BuzzFeed and the Washington Post agree with me in that there was NO tampering. The “doctored” video was NOT doctored.

Besides my grievances, I truly enjoyed this semester with all of you folks. When a nobody like me shows up halfway into the semester and without any proper introduction, it’s great that I felt like I was part of the team as I assimilated quickly into your ranks. Ms. Forschen has done a wonderful job managing and leading this band of noble and honest journalists (besides her…) along with this merry band of hardworking and ambitious editors. It is with this solemn occasion that even though I may disagree with some of you in class, just know that I’m sarcastic — 60 percent.

What is a unique New Years' Eve tradition that you have?

I just work so I can buy my whole family gifts for Christmas and it’s my sisters birthday too.

I like to spend time with my family and do fireworks.

I like to save my grades and I like to set a budget for Christmas gifts so I don’t spend my entire savings. I also like to hang out with friends when they come back from school.

We go to my aunt’s house and we sit outside for 30 minutes before and after the celebration to light up fireworks because it symbolizes new beginnings.

At the end of every year, for Christmas, I bake a chocolate whipped cake.

– Alfredo Duenas, Construction Mgmt.

– Farhat Nazari, Marketing

– Annalise Orozco, Communications

– Paola Samaniego, Business Admin.

– Kristine Martinez, Business

Opinion 11

December 12, 2018

Las Positas student experiences Camp Fire devastation

By Elizabeth Joy

“Everything is gone! There’s nothing left. Nothing.”

@ELIZABE53603091

vacuee Kate Peace was bent E down putting items in a trash bag. She told me how her 16-year-old son had been separated from her in all the panic, with no phone connection, after he left Paradise High School the day the fire erupted.

Peace spoke frantically, explaining what her son had been through, almost trapped inside the fire. “He made it out, but the person next to him didn’t,” she said.

Peace showed me a photo of her sister’s beet red back, covered in third degree burns. Abandoning her car, her sister had to literally run for her life with the flames at her back. Peace’s sister had witnessed people burning in their cars.

“Everything is gone! There’s nothing left. Nothing,” Peace said.

She and her entire family lost their homes. She fervently flipped through photos in her cell, showing me pictures of what was left of their homes.

The Walmart parking lot in Chico was a sea of tents and RVs, filled with survivors of the Camp Fire in Northern California. Kate Peace was only one of dozens camped out among others like them. Volunteers were handing out food and clothing. It was a completely surreal sight.

“You come here, you stand in

– Kate Peace

Elizabeth Joy/Express

A fire victim walking through a large camp of evacuees in the Chico Walmart parking lot on Nov. 19.

line, you feel like a beggar and you haven’t showered, and it’s just too much,” Peace said, holding back the tears, then made eye contact.

The tears came, followed by hugs.

As if this weren’t enough, Peace said she had caught someone robbing her. She had gone to the bathroom and when she came back, someone was stealing the donations she had received.

Peace said that the volunteers helping them, bringing and distributing supplies, caring for the victims, were frustrated with those who were taking advantage

of the crisis. Individuals who were not evacuees were coming to take from the surplus coming in to support them.

Because of this, organizations, including FEMA, were needing IDs with a Paradise address before giving them their services. Fair enough. But this did cause more issues for many, I discovered, as I roamed the parking lot, talking to those who were shopping.

One evacuee had been turned down for assistance because she had moved to Paradise in the last year and didn’t have a cur-

rent address on her ID. Her utility bills, connecting her to her address, had been burnt, and she was in waiting for a copy of a paycheck stub as proof. She felt humiliated.

It was obvious how much financial and social status contributed to an evacuees outcome.

Many were in grave circumstances before the fire ravaged their town.

Adding pillaging to the mix, creating distrust and suspicion, rubbed salt in the very raw wounds of individuals struggling with destitution already. There was the rumor that some volunteers were pocketing gift cards given for the evacuees as well.

I pushed away the judgements I wanted to make against individuals taking advantage of such a catastrophic scenario, feeling anger in my stomach kicking in.

Victimizing victims, especially for greed, is a human trait that rattles me, but I know raging against it, will never change it.

Though I was grateful for the love and support I was witnessing, all the added complex issues that these evacuees were facing, made my stomach knot up. Their anxiety stuck to me like the ash in the air on my skin.

Seeing two preschool aged children using hangers as swords, playing in a huge pile of donations while mom shopped, caused a mixture of sadness and gratefulness run through me.

Even though no one seemed to have a solution for the homeless evacuees when the rains came, I felt a calmness come over my heart and mind.

When I approached a masked elderly woman walking around the tent area, I asked if she was an evacuee. “No,” she said, “I’m looking for someone to give money to.”

My heart melted. I suggested she get a gift card for a grocery store or Walmart, instead, before parting. And talk to them, learn their story first.

Quickly snapping pictures of the survivors living in tents, I was too emotional at that point to question them.

I never want to be that indifferent journalist who just wants a hyped up story.

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY CHECK OUT LPCEXPRESSNEWS.COM

Students feel disrespected by their own school

By Victoria Lachnit @VIC_LACHNIT

“S

tudents first.”

That’s the motto that many of Las Positas’ administrators preached. It’s tied onto email signatures, splashed across other documents and school literature.

“Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant.”

That’s the Oxford Dictionary definition of the word facetious-- a word that would be the best descriptor of the treatment of students as of late.

During the week prior to Thanksgiving break, the administration at the ChabotLas Positas Community College district made a series of choices that only projected their disregard for students’ health and safety. The reasons only piled on, from not responding to a student petition to inadequately supplying campus safety with smoke masks.

As some professors cancelled class and others continued, the campus was thrown into a week-long disarray. The administration, after ignoring over a thousand voices on an online petition and email after email from student government representatives, still has offered no explanation. The timespan was too long, the response too last

minute, and the “Students First” message more facetious than ever.

The Camp Fire, a disaster recorded as the most destructive wildfire in California history, began on Nov. 8, 2018 in Butte County.

Not too long after, the resulting smoke started to creep into the Bay Area. This caused the Bay Area’s air quality index to reach an unhealthy level with the AQI reaching its worst point during the week before Thanksgiving. Out of the whole Bay Area, the Tri-Valley region had the worst air quality.

Despite that, Las Positas College was slow to respond to the ever present hazard to its students health.

On Wednesday, Nov. 14, the air was nearly hardly breathable, with many students complaining about coughing, asthma and headaches caused by the smoke.

The student health center and campus safety were handing out a limited amount of masks to students, and yet the school was still not canceling class.

Finally, on Thursday Nov. 15, the district sent out an emergency alert at 7:48 a.m. stating that the Chabot-Las Positas College District would be closed due to the smoke and that any further cancellations

were still to be decided.

The students were very distraught over the district’s slow response to the issue.

Prior to the messages from the emergency alert system, Las Positas student and Twitter user @yungtura tweeted, “Our air quality index is 229 and Sac’s is 195… their classes are cancelled and ours aren’t… why.” The tweet quickly garnered responses from multiple students in agreement and over 45 interactions.

“For God’s sake, they’ve canceled classes in Sacramento for a whole week and the AQI is worse here,” said Katie Borg, another student.

Once the alert had gone out, she went on to say, “The index was 20 points away from being hazardous last night. I feel bad for all the people who drove all the way to school from other cities just to find out that it was canceled 15 minutes before the class started.”

This exact situation happened to James Simmons. In an interview, he said that he was sitting in his desk ready for class right as he got the message.

The campus should have been closed much earlier than Thursday morning right before class but instead by deciding to wait so long, the college put their student’s

physical health at risk.

Not reacting to the poor air quality fast enough is not the first time the school has put its students’ health and safety at risk.

During the fall semester of 2017, there was an active shooter scare on the Las Positas College campus. While the “active shooter” turned out to be just a student with a Nerf gun, the fear felt by the students and staff present on campus during this time was very real.

Once the threat was cleared, the school’s emergency alert system sent out messages saying that classes would go on that day as planned, completely disregarding the fact that students and faculty were left distraught following the scare.

The effects of the scare were so severe that some of the professors that were on campus at the time had to take the rest of the day off for the benefit of their mental health. Professor Lucas Hasten canceled classes for the rest of that day and even the next day because he was so shaken up.

The way Las Positas treats its students and faculty is disgusting. It is very clear that the school does not care about its students’ or faculty’s mental and physical health.

12 special feature

lpcexpressnews.com

Chancellor search heats up in public forum

By Emily Forschen @EMILYSCHEN

T

he hunt is nearly ending as the search for a new chancellor of the district has narrowed down to three. The candidates are Lisa Avery, Ph.D., David Dore, Ed.D. and Walter Tribley, Ph.D. On Dec. 11, each of the candidates participated in a public forum at Las Positas, where they discussed topics such as inclusivity, financial management skills and the difficulties of overseeing two schools. The three candidates were given the opportunity to give opening and closing statements. Between the statements, candidates fielded general questions from Interim President Roanna Bennie and questions from the public. The audience consisted of a diverse group of employees from both schools as well as the district offices.

Lisa Avery spoke first, answering Bennie’s questions while striding back and forth across the lecture hall. She is currently the president of Portland Community College in Portland, Ore. Her Doctorate of Philosophy was earned in social work at University of Illinois, Chicago. She emphasized multiple times that displaying her humanity is one of the most integral parts of her leadership style.

Avery uses social media to connect with students and faculty on a more personal level, evolving her social media presence to fit whatever the most popular platform of the time is. She considers herself a “system

thinker” and has a record of establishing safe spaces and activities for minority students.

An hour later, Walter Tribley spoke.

Still recovering from a total knee replacement, he sat for his opening statement before standing for the public forum, rarely relying on his cane. He currently serves as the superintendent and president of Monterey Peninsula College and holds his Doctorate of Philosophy in biochemistry and biophysics.

“I do not have one preconceived idea about what I could bring. I want to learn and listen,” he stated. “(This district is) innovative. I want to join something like that.”

Tribley was highly complimentary of the district’s innovations, citing the support for “Dreamer” students, English acceleration and dual enrollment courses as three of the main examples of this. He praised the district for its balance between Chabot and Las Positas. When asked about inclusivity and his record, he emphasized that it is “embarrassing” how long it has taken for schools to get proper accommodations for students and faculty of various sexualities and genders.

The final candidate to speak was David Dore. He earned his Doctorate of Education at Pepperdine University and currently serves as president and vice chancellor of Workforce and Economic Development at Pima Community College District in Tucson, Ariz. Dore’s presentation differed from the other candidates’ as

The Express endorses Lisa Avery for Chancellor

Courtesy of Lisa Avery/ CLPCCD The Express endorses Dr. Lisa Avery, pictured above.

he Express, after careful T consideration and review of all three candidates, endors-

es Dr. Lisa Avery for chancellor of the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District. Dr.

Avery’s obvious dedication to student interest and strong record of both financial and educational competence made her a standout candidate for the leadership position. Another strength that Avery showed was her confidence and her complete transparency, something that the other two candidates could not manage to outshine.

When asked about a particularly memorable failure, Avery responded nearly without hesitation, telling about a time she hired somebody too quickly and they were not able to take on the tasks involved. She expressed regret that she had not only failed herself, but the person and the students. “Sometimes, no action and waiting is better than the wrong path,” she said of her greatest takeaway. Her answers all showed signs of a highly collaborative worker with genuine passion. Avery’s collected countenance and tone of transparency make her, based on this forum, the most qualified and best candidate for the chancellorship.

Victoria Lachnit/Express Dr. David Dore, the final candidate to present, speaks to the public about his experience as Interim President Roanna Bennie moderates.

he first introduced himself on a personal level, telling a story about having a sister with developmental disabilities.

“I think what is lacking (in leadership today) is empathy,” he said. His vision for the district included wanting to “lead the vision for access, equity and student vision.” He cited Fred Rogers of “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood” as another foundation of his teaching philosophies. Rogers once told him that “love is at the center of all learning,” which he carried with him and says still influences his decision making.

He emphasized that his personal pas-

sion for accessibility was not limited to those with just physical disabilities. Dore mentioned that he was, as far as he was aware, one of the only “out” faculty at his current district position and actively worked to make district offices a safe space for LGBTQ faculty and students. He considers himself an empathetic leader who is unafraid to make decisions.

The candidates will be involved in another forum at Chabot College in Hayward, Calif. on Dec. 12 at 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Stage One Theater. Video will be made available of both forums on Friday, Dec. 14.