CHRONICLE Richland
Vol. XLI Issue 1 January 13, 2015
JE SUIS
CHARLIE Terrorist attacks in Paris leave 20 dead: Pg. 7 Richlandchronicle.wordpress.com
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CAMPUS/NEWS
Cold weather welcomes students back Returning students were scrambling for their warm clothes to cover up and protect from the cold temperatures and wind that greeted them as they trickled back to campus. They darted from building to building to keep warm, with even the ducks swarming together for warmth on Lake Thunderduck. Cold weather will still be with us for the start of classes next week. Staff photos by Melanie Brandow
Richlandchronicle.wordpress.com January 13, 2015
Students are greeted by cold temperatures and wind while walking on campus to and from the parking lot.
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The ducks on Lake Thunderduck huddle for warmth on a freezing day at Richland.
A child is bundled up for a trip out into the cold.
Are you willing to work for Obama’s free two-year college tuition proposal?
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama wants publicly funded community college available to all Americans, a sweeping proposal that would make higher education as accessible as a high school diploma to boost weak U.S. wages and skills for the modern workforce. The initiative’s price tag has yet to be re-
vealed, and it faces a Republican Congress averse to big new spending programs. Obama was promoting the idea in a visit Friday to Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tenn. “Put simply, what I’d like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everybody who is willing to work for it,” Obama said. “It’s something that we can accomplish, and it’s something that will train our workforce so that we can compete with anybody in the world.” Administration officials on a conference call with reporters Thursday evening said the funding details would come out later with the president’s budget next month. They estimated 9 million students could participate and save an average of $3,800 in tuition per year.
That suggests an annual cost in the tens of billions of dollars. Students would qualify if they attend at least half-time, maintain a 2.5 GPA and make progress toward completing a degree or certificate program. Participating schools would have to meet certain academic requirements. White House spokesman said the federal government would pick up 75 percent of the cost and the final quarter would come from states that opt into the program. In his 2013 State of the Union address, Obama proposed universal preschool, which Congress did not take up because of cost. Obama policy adviser Cecilia Munoz pointed out that even without federal action, many states are taking up the idea and expanding preschool. Munoz pointed out that a Republican
— Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam — last year signed into law a pioneering scholarship program called Tennessee Promise that provides free community and technical college tuition for two years. It has drawn 58,000 applicants, almost 90 percent of the state’s high school seniors. Munoz said Obama’s proposal, America’s College Promise, was inspired by the popular Tennessee plan and a similar program in Chicago. Obama also was being joined on the Tennessee visit by Vice President Joe Biden. They also planned to visit a manufacturing facility, Techmer PM in Clinton, Tenn., to promote a second proposal to create a fund to help lowwage workers with high potential get training in growing fields like energy, information technology and advanced manufacturing. — Associated Press
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CAMPUS/NEWS
Earthquakes rattle DFW Metroplex JOYCE JACKSON
Staff photo Joyce Jackson
Student artist Bill Rudd had his winning painting, “Dragon’s Laugh,” displayed in Dr. Joe May’s office last year.
Emeritus student honored for painting When Bill Rudd was a pre-teen, he was a dreamer and an artist. Then he got a degree in engineering. “I had to prove that a dreamer and an artist could be a good engineer,” Rudd said. But after 40 years of working as an electrical engineer, he retired in 2002 from Raytheon. Since then, he discovered a new hobby – art. “After I retired, I’m now trying to prove that a good engineer can be a dreamer and an artist,” Rudd said. Rudd, 75, began his work as a Richland College continuing education art student in 2005 and then moved on to credit classes. Rudd obtained an associate degree from Richland in 2012, with an emphasis in art. This semester he is taking advanced drawing and painting classes with professors Tom Motley and Jim Stover. “The classes are for me at my age, being retired, absolutely fantastic because there are about 15 emeritus students that hang out with me and we have been together for five or six years,” he said. Last May, Rudd had one of his paintings, titled “Dragon’s Laugh,” selected for display in Chancellor Joe May’s office at the Dallas County Community College District
(DCCCD) in downtown Dallas. Rudd received $100 and was honored at a reception at the district office. Rudd said “Dragon’s Laugh” is an acrylic 28-by-22 inch canvas and was on the third floor of the building. He has since picked it up and brought it home. “‘Dragon’s Laugh’ is a high value, intensive hued red, orange and yellow burst of energy streaming across a cool blue universe,” Rudd said. “I painted it in the spring of 2012 at Richland with an intent to render a high energy, emotionally uplifting influence on the observer.” Just when Rudd thought the district was finished with his painting, he received another surprise by email last Nov. 3. It said, “Congratulations! Your art has been selected to be showcased on the 2014-15 DCCCD Foundation Note Cards.” “It was a pleasing and surprising emotional response,” he said. Rudd said there are 10 note cards with envelopes per set that will be given to DCCCD Foundation Board members and other friends of the foundation. They can be used for announcing special events or conveying personal notes to a number of community and
civic leaders. He will also receive a set of the note cards for personal use, as well as a $25 stipend. Rudd said his painting now hangs in his entryway at his home. “My wife Dianna, the first thing she did was hang it up,” he said. “She’s more interested in promoting me than I am. She’s not artistic, but she’s an excellent critiquer in composition and color consultant.” Rudd said he could sell his painting, but he wouldn’t know what to charge. He continued to work at his art last summer and will do so this semester at home, focusing on landscape projects in oil, such as “Jericho Sunset,” “ FM 711 Deep East Texas” and “Meadow in the Mountains.” “I have a garage studio that I have adapted to,” he said. “In a week, I probably spend 20 to 24 hours on my own. “I’m a methodical artist,” Rudd said. “I spend a good bit of time going slowly, attacking the art work. Many artists are methodical, but move more rapidly than I do. ” To view images of Rudd’s artwork, go to www.billrudd.com. — Joyce Jackson
The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has had its share of cluster earthquakes lately. The week of Jan. 5 produced more tremors, mainly in the Irving area, but others in the Metroplex were not exempt. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports that three quakes hit the Irving area Wednesday, Jan. 7. Irving police reported no deaths, injuries or major damage. According to an Associated Press report, the USGS has requested that the public stop calling 911. A few people in the Richland community , experienced the effects of the earthquakes. Rosalie Sanchez, 38, a Richland Collegiate High School enrollment specialist, lives in Lakewood and was at a friend’s house off Walnut Hill and Inwood Road when the quake hit. “We were just sitting there eating dinner,” Sanchez said. “We saw her chandelier in the dining room start to shake. Then we thought, ‘What’s going on?’” Sanchez and her friend then realized that it was an earthquake. “It caused a crack in one of her walls in the laundry room,” she said. “We didn’t call anybody. We just figured we would hear about it in the newspaper.” It was the first earthquake that Sanchez said she had experienced in Texas. Veterans Affairs Department Specialist Corey Loverson, 35, said he has lived in Irving for 10 years in an apartment complex, and experienced one of the latest quakes. “It was 6 p.m. I was watching basketball,” Loverson said. He then felt the building shake. “It wasn’t a violent shake. It felt like a car had hit the building and caused a little shake. I was OK with it. There was no damage.” Loverson said it lasted 15 seconds, but he has experienced other quakes that lasted 30 to 45 seconds. “It was enough to make you wonder what in the world is going on,” Loverson said. He didn’t call anybody. “I’m a college basketball fanatic,” he said. “As long as it didn’t mess up my game, I’m OK. They don’t scare me much.” Omar Demachkie, 19, a student working toward an associate degree in science, also experienced some shakes as he drove alone. “It was around midnight. I was driving in downtown Dallas going to Waxahachie,” Demachkie said. “The car shook, but I could keep control of it.” Demachkie said the shaking lasted only a minute or so. “I thought it was just the wind,” he said. “Later, everybody was talking about it.”
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Copy Editor
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MOVIES
Dogs of the year: The worst movies of 2014 RICKY MILLER
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Entertainment Editor
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Here’s my list of more-than-disappointing 2014 movies (aka the worst movies of the year): 1. “Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones” — Yuckity yuck. Yet another entry into the “found footage” series does nothing more than tick off the viewer into having another everyday person dealing with ramblings from the unknown. Grade: F 2. “Oculus” — This is yet another reason for me to dislike horror flicks. Some shenanigans involve a haunted mirror that binds trouble wherever winds up. It was just plain tedious and pretentious. D+ 3. “Haunted House 2” — Relevant in that the item they were poking fun at actually was a mild box office hit. That would be an “Annabelle”-like doll that wreaks havoc on our main characters’ life. It receives a smidgen of a better letter grade in that it actually made me laugh a little. C4. “Pompeii” — A mild disappointment from director Paul W.S. Anderson, who thrilled with the intense and creepy ghost flick with 1997’s “Event Horizon.” The story here is the end of human civilization a la another letdown that was Darren Aronfsky’s “Noah.” It was just an excuse for Anderson to have viewers witnessing catastrophe aplenty without stupid robots and mechanized beings. C5. (tie) “The Nut Job” and “Rio 2” — The ticket-buying public and moviegoers love their creatures. The first involved rodents while the latter involved a pair of almost extinct blue macaws. I know moviemakers are trying for the kid market, but someone in higher authority at the studios needs to have their head examined when having a flick where kids are not even mentioned in the plot. Both flicks: CAlso awful/disappointing were Renny Harlin’s 3-D mess “The Legend of Hercules,” the trite documentary of Dinesh D’Souza’s “America: Imagine the World Without Her,” the low-budget “Twister” clone “Into the Storm” and the separated-at-birth saga, “The Identical.” And that’s not all: There is the annoying “E.T.” wannabe “Earth to Echo,” the letdown of “300: Rise of an Empire,” Paul Hagiss’s hollow multicharacter study, “Third Person,” Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez’s “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For,” and the end to one of the worst trilogies ever, Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged: Who is John Gault?” Clockwise from top left:”Rio 2,” “Haunted House 2,” “Oculus,” “Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones,” “The Nut Job,” “Pompeii.”
Ricky’s Take
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“Selma” — Fact-based drama of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oy- circa 1970. The headliner here is Oscar-nominated Joaquin Phoenix, here,the a former assassin-for-hire who gets Maya pulledRudolph, back intoJosh elowo) and his dealings with LBJ (Tom Wilkinson), as well as George his “Walk Line” co-star, Reese Witherspoon, seething underworld thought he left the behind. Wallace (Tim Roth), and King’s attempt to get equal status in the nation’s Brolin,the Oscar winner Benicio DelheToro (“Traffic”), underrated Eric “Birdman (“The Unexpected Ignorance”) ability to vote. Great movie,orbut difficult to watch atVirtue times.of Grade: A- Roberts,(“Stonehearst “Runaway Train”), as well Owen Wilson. Asylum” C+as-Dallas’s This isown an intriguing tale B“Into the Woods” — Family musical all actor the characters “The about Imitation Game” — One of of the 10 best institution from last year, B - Michael Keaton is a involving washed-up staging aofonevarious denizens a mental thatthisin-gem lore, includingman the big badon wolf (Johnny Depp), Cinderella Kendfinds mathematician Turing “Starand Trek: show Broadway who deals with a(Anna variety of precludes MichaelAlan Caine, Jim (Benedict Sturgess, Cumberbatch, Kate Beckinsale rick), Jack (Daniel Huttlestone) and Meryl Streep as the “Witch.” From Into Darkness”) trying to crack the Enigma code during World War II. Adicaments and problems preceding the opening of his play. Ben Kingsley. lyricist Stephen Sondheim and Rob Marshall, the director of the Oscar- “Whiplash” — An awesome flick starring Miles Teller (“The Spectacu“Fury” “St. Bill a curmudgeon of an winning “Chicago.” C+ B+ - Brad Pitt is commander of a platoon of lar Now”) as Vincent” a drummer B in -the BigMurray Apple. isJ.K. Simmons is impressive “Inherent Vice” — One of my favorite directors, PaulinThomas Anderand ruthless as his teacher, Fletcher. A- door neighbor kid (Jaeden soldiers facing predicaments aplenty Germany at the old man who befriends a next son (“Boogieend Nights”) tackles of the California underworld of World Wardenizens II. Lieberher) who learns to fend for himself in the everyday
“John Wick” B - Keanu Reeves is the title character
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COLUMN/SPORTS
That was not enough to keep religious fanatics from creating an unnecessary stink about the film’s questionable subject matter Staff Writer which showed Jesus Christ (Willem Dafoe) When someone forbids you from either as exactly who he was, a human being, who, seeing a movie, reading a certain book or like all of us, struggled with temptation. looking at a particular work of art, what’s the What especially angered religious groups was first thing you want to do? Just the opposite, a dream sequence showing the Son of God right? You are going to watch that film, read as he is dying on the cross settling down that book and gaze proudly at that artwork with Mary Magdelene (Barbara Hershey) whether you like it or not. If nothing else, and raising a family. The end result was the you are going to view it just because someone film played in only one theater in the Dallas told you not to. In other words, you do it out area and could only be rented a year later in independent video store chains. Blockbuster of spite. That’s what my response was to my dad video opted not to carry the film. The point behind my plan to go against when he forbade me to see a little movie directed by Oscar-winning director Martin Dad’s wishes back then and opting to see “The Scorsese called “The Last Temptation of Last Temptation of Christ” (which didn’t Christ” in August 1988. I was 18 and fresh happen until a year later) and doing battle out of high school when that movie came with protesters outside the movie theater is out. In my opinion, I could watch whatever the same point Americans, Hollywood and the hell I wanted, and just because I was even President Barack Obama felt when Sony raised a Catholic and attended both private pulled “The Interview.” The comedy about two want-to-be serious elementary and high schools didn’t mean I subscribed to everything the Catholic Church journalists (James Franco and Seth Rogen) recruited by the CIA to assassinate North proscribed. To quote Scorsese, “I’m a lapsed Catholic. Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was pulled from But I am Roman Catholic, there’s no way out its planned Christmas Day release Dec. 17 because of 9/11 style threats from computer of it.” Based on author Nikos Kazantzakis’ hackers believed to be from North Korea. When Sony did an about-face, releasing fictional 1953 novel, “The Last Temptation of Christ” opened with the title card assuring “The Interview” in independent and arthouse viewers “This film is not based upon the theaters across the country in limited release gospels but upon this fictional exploration on Christmas Day, Americans celebrated freedom of speech and artistic expression by of the eternal spiritual conflict.”
JOE STUMPO
paying to see the film, whether the critics embraced it or not. Most did not, but if audiences actually listened to movie critics, there’d be no Transformers movies. “This movie will be awful, but it’s my choice to watch awful,” wrote one Twitter user about the comedy. I apply that same reasoning to “The Last Temptation of Christ.” In America, I decide for myself what’s trash. Not my parents, not the government and most certainly not terrorists. I have not seen “The Interview” in a theater. I have not paid to download it online. At least now, I can decide whether I want to see it or not. If and when I do, I predict my feelings about the film will be the same as I had after fast-forwarding to the last 20 minutes of Scorsese’s film when I rented it a year later just to see what all fuss was about. To this day, I still haven’t seen “The Last Temptation of Christ” in its entirety, not because of the supposed sacrilegious content, but because the movie is just so damned boring. I could use it in place of those maximum strength sleep aid pills I often take to fall asleep. In the end, I found the hype was a big deal about nothing and the only reason Scorsese’s movie, much like “The Interview’s” combined $20 million gross in theater and online sales so far, got so much attention were these two words: controversy sells.
Thunderducks make All-America team
Image courtesy rlc5.dcccd.edu
Women’s soccer forward, Lauren Vasquez, proudly holding plaque from the NCJAA.
Three Richland College soccer players were recently named to the Division III first team All-America team by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Cassandra Andrade and Lauren Vasquez, who both play the forward position, were selected from the women’s team, and Fernando Arellano, was selected from the men’s team. The All-America team is comprised of the top 11 NJCAA Division III soccer players in the country. Both Andrade and Vasquez were also named first team all-conference. Andrade was also named Metro Athletic Conference (MAC) Offensive MVP, and Vasquez was named overall MAC Conference MVP. In a Richland College statement, women’s soccer coach Scott Toups said “Both young women were very good for us this year. Lauren served as the team captain and also led the
team in scoring. Her leadership is invaluable on and off the field. Lauren plays very hard and works harder than just about any other player I have ever coached.” On the men’s team, Arellano was not only the team’s best defender, but he also was a sophomore leader who organized, communicated and supported the defense and the team. “Fernando was a key ingredient in our success,” said Richland’s men’s soccer coach Sean Worley. “He is an excellent player and leader. He is well-liked and respected by his teammates and he was a pleasure to coach this year.” The women’s team ended with a 16-6-2 record, and the men’s team ended with a 24-2-1 record. Both teams played in their respective national championship games this season. — Richland Communications and Athletics Departments contributed to this story
Men’s home basketball games Jan. 21 Brookhaven College 2 p.m. Jan. 31 Eastfield College 2 p.m. Feb. 4 Mountain View College 7 p.m. Feb. 11 Cedar Valley College 7 p.m.
Gold Cup soccer coming to area AUGUSTINE MUKOKA Staff Writer
Tickets for the U.S. men’s national soccer team Gold Cup match on July 7 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco have gone on sale, with FC Dallas fans getting special offers. It’s the first time in eight years the U.S. men’s national team will play at Toyota Stadium, and excitement is building for what is expected to be a sold-out event. Jon Marks, an official for FC Dallas responsible for ticket sales, said that locals can secure seats by purchasing season tickets. Tickets for the season start at as low as $315 with a monthly payment option of $53. “All FC Dallas season ticket holders will have this match included in their 2015 package and will be given their seats for this amazing doubleheader event,” Marks said. “As a bonus, all FC Dallas season ticket holders will also receive a complimentary parking pass for this Gold Cup event.” In December, Toyota Stadium was named as one of the 13 sites where the 2015 Confederation of North Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Gold Cup will be played this summer. Toyota Stadium can accommodate a crowd of approximately 21,000 fans for soccer. Frisco officials are expected to prepare for a huge turnout, considering the 2011 Gold Cup games at AT&T Stadium had a record attendance of more than 81,000.
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Don’t tell me what I can and can’t watch
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OBITUARY
Chancellor remembered as community leader MELANIE BRANDOW Editor-in-Chief
The founding chancellor of the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD), Dr. Bill J. Priest, passed away on Dec. 31 at the age of 97. Priest served as chancellor from 1965 to 1981 and had a major influence on the development of the DCCCD. He was well respected locally and nationally. Leaders, students, educators and colleagues in the Dallas area looked up to him as an expert in higher education and a leader for the community college movement. In a statement issued by the DCCCD, Dr. Joe May, the district’s current chancellor, said he was deeply saddened to learn of Priest’s death. “Dr. Priest was the very embodiment of leadership. His vision for Dallas was far greater than our district because he was a community leader first and a college leader second.” Kathy Yates, a Richland government professor, remembered Priest as a fine, honorable man, “who led this district from one small office to a district with seven colleges, thousands and thousands of students and great prestige as an institution of higher education in the nation.” As chancellor emeritus, Priest also served community and junior colleges through his
involvement with many professional organizations, including his role as board chairman of the American Council on Education and president of the American Association of Community Colleges; he also helped found the League for Innovation in the Community College. According to the DCCCD communications office, several educational entities are named in his honor, including the Bill J. Priest Institute for Economic Development (now the Bill J. Priest Campus of El Centro College), which celebrated its 25th anniversary in fall 2014, and the Bill J. Priest Center for Community College Education at the University of North Texas. The Bill J. Priest Administration Building at American River College also was named in his honor; Priest was that college’s first president (from 1955-1964) and became the first superintendent of the Los Rios Junior College District (Calif.) in 1964, the year before he started his tenure as DCCCD’s first chancellor. Priest was a man of diverse interests and accomplishments. The district’s statement noted that Priest served as an intelligence officer for the United States Navy in the Philippines and postwar-Japan. He was among the first Americans to visit Hiroshima after the dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945. Priest also loved professional baseball and was a pitcher with Connie Mack’s Philadephia
Richland
CHRONICLE STUDENT MEDIA LEADERS Editor-in-Chief Layout Editor Photography Editor Entertainment Editor Copy Editor
ON THE COVER Je Suis Charlie poster
COVER AND FONTS Staff illustration Kisten S. Chetty Certain cover fonts are provided by the following: http://www.nymfont.com - http://www.bvfonts.com
STUDENT MEDIA STAFF Isai Diaz Audrey Morton Augustine Mukoka Joe Stumpo
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Quan Tran Raymond Thomas Pronk Pete Shannon
Image courtesy texashistory.unt.edu
Former chancellor Dr. Bill J. Priest
Athletics. He was initiated into the Athletic Hall of Fame at the University of California at Berkeley. An observance honoring Priest is expected to be announced by the DCCCD at a later date.
STUDENT MEDIA ADVISERS Erica Edwards Jack Fletcher David Goodloe Tim Jones
Steve Noviello Larry Ratliff Marshall Siegel
ISSUE DATES
January 13 January 20 January 27 February 3 February 10 February 17 February 24
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Melanie Brandow Kisten S. Chetty Blanca Reyes Ricky Miller Joyce Jackson
March 3 March 24 April 7 April 21 April 29 May 6 May 13
AWARDS
CMA Newspaper of the Year Finalist, 2014 ACP Pacemaker Winner, 2000, 2001, 2007 ACP Pacemaker Finalist, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007 ACP Online Pacemaker Finalist, 2007, 2008 1st Place - TIPA Sweepstakes, 2005 3rd Place - TIPA Online, 2005 & 2006 1st Place – TCCJA Overall General Excellence, 2014 Over 170 Texas college journalism awards since 2000
CONTACT INFORMATION
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Staff meetings: Monday and Wednesday 2 p.m. in E-020 Letter Policy Letters to the editor may be edited for space. They will be edited for spelling, grammar and malicious or libelous statements. Letters must be the work of the writer and must be signed. For identification and verification purposes, letters also must include the writer’s classification (grade level), full name, address and telephone number, although address and telephone number will not be published. Editorial Policy The Chronicle is the official student-produced newspaper of Richland College. Editorials, cartoons, columns and letters are the opinions of individual students and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other individual student writers, editors, advisers or the college administration. © Richland Chronicle 2014
NEWS/ OPINION
taneous raids in two locations: a printing plant in the town of Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of Paris, where the Kouachis were holed up, and the Paris supermarket where Coulibaly killed four hostages and threatened more violence unless the police let the Kouachis go. The three gunmen were dead — but the authorities also discovered four dead hostages at the market. Sixteen hostages were freed, one from the printing plant and 15 others from the store. The attackers had ties both to each other and to terrorist activities that reached back years and extended from Paris to al-Qaida in Yemen. They epitomized Western authorities’ greatest fear: Islamic radicals who trained abroad and came home to stage attacks. After the killings at the Charlie Hebdo offices, Cherif Kouachi, 32, and his 34-year-old brother Said led police on a chase around northeastern France, robbing a gas station and stealing a car before ending up at the printing plant in Dammartin-en-Goele, near Charles de Gaulle airport. One of the brothers was wounded in the neck at one point during a shootout with police after he commandeered a car, Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said. Authorities said the brothers temporarily took a man hostage at the plant but let him go, and a second man was later discovered to have been hiding inside the building. A member of the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula gave a statement in English to The Associated Press saying the group’s leadership “directed the operations and they have chosen their target carefully.” At the kosher grocery near the Porte de Vincennes neighborhood in Paris, the gunman
burst in shooting just a few hours before the Jewish Sabbath began, declaring “You know who I am,” the official recounted. The attack came before sundown when the store would have been crowded with shoppers. Coulibaly killed the four people in the market shortly after entering, Molins said. Several people wounded when Coulibaly opened fire in the grocery store were able to flee and get medical care, the official said. The mayor’s office also shut down all shops along Rosiers Street in the city’s famed Marais neighborhood in the heart of the tourist district. Hours before the Jewish Sabbath, the street is usually crowded with shoppers. The street is also only a kilometer (half-mile) from Charlie Hebdo’s offices. Authorities increasingly grew to see links between the attackers after they discovered that Boumeddiene and the companion of one of the Kouachi brothers had exchanged about 500 phone calls, Molins said. He added that several people have been given preliminary charges in the investigation. They include relatives of the three gunmen. Several people who were wounded when the gunman opened fire in the grocery store fled and got medical care, the official said. Minutes before police stormed both sites, Coulibaly had threatened more violence if authorities launched an assault on the two brothers, a police official said. A group of people holed up in the supermarket’s freezer — apparently unbeknownst to the gunman. BFM also said it spoke with Coulibaly, who said he and the Kouachis were coordinating their actions, and that he was with the militant Islamic State group. The organizations are
normally rivals. Police said Coulibaly had been a co-suspect with Cherif Kouachi in a court case involving terrorism that never made it to trial. Cherif Kouachi was convicted of terrorism charges in 2008 for ties to a network sending jihadis to fight U.S. forces in Iraq. According to a Yemeni security official, Said Kouachi is suspected of having fought for alQaida in Yemen. Another senior security official added that Said was in Yemen until 2012. Both brothers were also on the U.S. no-fly list, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss foreign intelligence publicly. Authorities around Europe have warned of the threat posed by the return of Western jihadis trained in warfare. France counts at least 1,200 citizens in the war zone in Syria — headed there, returned or dead. Both the Islamic State group and al-Qaida have threatened France, home to Western Europe’s largest Muslim population. The publication Charlie Hebdo had long drawn threats for its depictions of Islam, although it also lampooned other religions and political figures. It had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad, and a sketch of Islamic State’s leader was the last tweet sent by the irreverent newspaper minutes before the attack. Eight journalists, two police officers, a maintenance worker and a visitor were killed in the newspaper attack, including the paper’s editor. Charlie Hebdo plans a special edition next week, produced in the offices of another paper. — The Associated Press
A terrorist attack or workplace political violence? RAYMOND THOMAS PRONK Staff Writer
Be on the lookout for people who lack a sense of humor and/or are easily offended. Political correctness kills. National leaders expressed their reaction and support of France and the French people after the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris last week. President Barack Obama said, “I want to express my deepest sympathies to the people of Paris and the people of France for the terrible terrorist attack that took place earlier today. … The fact that this was an attack on journalists, an attack on our free press also underscores that these terrorists fear freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The values that we share with the French people – a universal belief in freedom of expression is something that can’t be silenced by the senseless violence of a few.”
In cities across France, the people are coming out for “Je Suis Charlie” (I am Charlie) rallies. A similar Islamic terrorist attack took place in the United States on Nov. 5, 2009, at Fort Hood, the nation’s largest Army post. U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, M.D., psychiatrist, and practicing Muslim of Palestinian descent, shot and killed 13 people (12 soldiers and one civilian) and wounded 30, mostly uniformed soldiers. Hasan was subsequently found guilty of 13 counts of premeditated murder in 2014 and was sentenced to death. Hasan has yet to be executed. In a memorial service for the Fort Hood victims, Obama refused to acknowledge that Islamic terrorism has a role in the shooting and said, “No faith justifies these murderous and craven acts.” The Obama administration instead considered the slaughter as “workplace violence.” This despite the fact that Hasan was yelling, “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great) and had exchanged repeated emails with the American-
born iman Anwar al-Awlaki, a terrorist leader in Yemen. Obama subsequently authorized in 2011 al-Awlaki’s killing by missiles fired by two Predator drones. On Sept. 11, 2012, an al-Qaida affiliate, Ansar al-Sharia, attacked and killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and wounded seven Americans, some seriously. Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice knew this was a well-planned, organized and executed terrorist attack, yet repeatedly mislead and lied to the American people claiming it was a “spontaneous demonstration” caused by an inflammatory YouTube video. Obama went to the United Nations on Sept. 25, 2012, and said, “A crude and disgusting video sparked outrage throughout the Muslim world” and “I know there are some who ask why we don’t just ban such a video. And the answer is enshrined in our laws: Our Constitu-
Richlandchronicle.wordpress.com January 13, 2015
Staff illustration Melanie Brandow
PARIS — With explosions and gunfire, security forces Friday ended three days of terror around Paris, killing the two al-Qaida-linked brothers who staged a murderous rampage at a satirical newspaper and an accomplice who seized hostages at a kosher supermarket to try to help the brothers escape. The worst terrorist violence France has seen in decades killed at least 20 people, including the three gunmen. A fourth suspect — the common law wife of the market attacker — was still at large and believed to be armed. Al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen said it directed the attack against the publication Charlie Hebdo to avenge the honor of the Prophet Muhammad, a frequent target of the weekly’s satire. The brothers were not unknown to authorities: One had a terrorism-related conviction for ties to a network sending fighters to battle American forces in Iraq, and both were on the U.S. no-fly list, according to a U.S. official. President Francois Hollande urged his nation to remain united and vigilant, and the city shut down a famed Jewish neighborhood amid fears of more violence. The drama, which played out on live TV and social media, began with the brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi methodically massacring 12 people Wednesday at the Charlie Hebdo offices, stopping to shoot a wounded police officer in the head before escaping by car. On Thursday, a gunman police identified as Amedy Coulibaly shot a policewoman to death south of Paris, although authorities were not sure at first if it was related to the Charlie Hebdo shootings. It all ended at dusk Friday with near-simul-
tion protects the right to practice free speech.” Later in his remarks, he said, “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. But to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see in the images of Jesus Christ that are desecrated, or churches that are destroyed, or the Holocaust that is denied.” While Obama at least described the latest incident as a terrorist attack, he refuses to describe it as an Islamic jihadist terrorist attack, which all three events clearly were. The aim of those who practice political correctness is not to tell the truth but to limit and ideally stop the free expression and exchange of ideas and opposing points of view. Political correctness lives in the Obama administration. Political correctness kills. Time to tell the whole truth, not half-truths, Mr. President. An expanded version of the article is available at: http://richlandchronicle.wordpress.com/
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CAMPUS
May I see your student ID card? No card, no access. Both new and returning students to Richland College need a student identification card and a current semester validation sticker on the card to access campus computer labs, check out library books, obtain transcripts and access other facilities and services. After students have registered for classes and paid tuition and fees, they should take their registration summary/fee receipt to El Paso Hall, Room E-034, the ID Room to obtain their student photo ID card. Returning students should take their receipts to Room E-040, the Office of Student Life in El Paso Hall, to obtain a semester sticker that will be placed on their ID card. The above rooms are open Monday, Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday and Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. They are closed Saturdays and Sundays. In the event you have lost your Richland student ID card, there is a $10 replacement fee. While obtaining the card or semester sticker, ask for a free student planner, 2014-2015. The back cover of the planner has the campus map with a legend giving the names of all the buildings on the campus. That way, students will be able to find their way around campus and access various student facilities and services. — Raymond Thomas Pronk
Upcoming Events Wednesday
Richlandchronicle.wordpress.com January 13, 2015
Last day to register for full-term classes
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All students are encouraged to pick up a free Student Planner at the Office of Student Life in El Paso Hall, Room E-040. A campus map is on the back cover of the planner, as well as in the semester’s first and second issues of the Richland Chronicle newspaper. On each student’s registration summary there is a heading for Bldg/Room. For example, for students taking a geology course, the Bldg/Room might be RLWH WH163. The RL is Richland College. “WH” is Wichita Hall, followed by the room number, 163. Check the map legend below for building names: A Alamito: ACCESS Adjunct Faculty Center; Administration; Distance Learning; Emergency Management Office B Bonham: Classrooms; College Communications and Marketing; Graphics; Media; School of Engineering, Business and Technology; Web Office C Crockett: Brazos Gallery; Classrooms;
Dual Credit; Educational Transitions; Emeritus Office; Richland Collegiate High School (RCHS); Rising Star Program; School of Learning Enrichment and Academic Development; Trio/Soar Programs D Del Rio: Computer Labs E El Paso: Cafeteria; Career Services; Classrooms; Counseling Center; Office of Student Life; Richland Chronicle; Student I.D. Room; Student Lounge; Transfer Advising; Veterans Affairs; Working Wonders F Fannin: Arena Theatre; Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts; Performance Hall G Guadalupe: Dance Studio; Fitness Center; Gymnasiums; Swimming Pool H Hondo: Employee Services; Gardens; Thunderwater Organizational Learning Institute K Kiowa: Classrooms L Lavaca: Lago Vista Gallery; Library; School of World Languages, Cultures and Communications M Medina: Classrooms; Test Center; The
Learning Center N Neches: Classrooms; Office of Planning and Research for Institutional Effectiveness P Pecos: College Police; Facilities Services; Information Technology Support Center R LeCroy Center: Telecommunications SH Sabine Hall: Bookstore; Coffee Shop; Conference Rooms; School of Mathematics, Science and Health Professions; Science Labs T Thunderduck: Admissions; Advising; Cashier Windows; Classrooms; Computer Training Institute; Continuing Education; Disability Services; Financial Aid; Health Center; Multicultural Center; Multimedia Labs; Photography; Registration U Uvalde: Classrooms WH Wichita Hall: American English and Culture Institute (AECI); Classrooms; Engineering Labs; ESOL Lab; Health Professions; Language Lab; Print Shop Y Yegua: Classrooms — Raymond Thomas Pronk Image courtesy Lisa Grippo
LAST DAY TO REGISTER FOR CLASS: JANUARY 14!
Jan. 19
Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Campus Closed
Jan. 20
Chronicle Issue 2 on newsstands Classes begin Ask Me tables around campus Student Planners avaiable at Office of Student Life, El Paso Hall, Room 040
Jan. 28
9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Spring Transfer Fair (more than over 50 universities) El Paso Hall Inclement Weather Hotline (students): 972-238-6196 For Richland employees: 972-238-6912 Information available after 6 a.m.