Richland Chronicle August 30th 2016

Richland

CHRONICLE Vol. XLIII Issue 2 August 30, 2016

Upgrades improve theater’s sound Pg. 2

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Richland Student Media

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Richland Student Media

2 FEATURE

August 30, 2016

Fannin Performance renovations will bring state-of-the-art sound to music and theater productions at Richland.

The Performance Hall is alive with the sound of music JOYCE JACKSON Copy Editor

Richlandstudentmedia.com

The Fannin Performance Hall is undergoing renovations that include upgrading the sound system.

Jennifer Owen, coordinator of Technical Theatre, said she began working on the project in 2014 because there was some unevenness to the sound in the auditorium. As the music department grew and a variety of events

were held in the Performance Hall, she said it was a struggle to get good sound out of the speakers.

Owen was asked to “take a look” at what could be done to resolve the problem. Years earlier in 2007, a former student who worked for a big sound company asked if he could do a sound demo at Richland.

“They brought in a whole bunch of gear and hung it in the Performance Hall,” Owen said.

“It was just amazing” though she lost touch with the student.

It was then that Owen became involved in what was happening in technology. She did some research and in 2014 attended the United States Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT) national workshop in Fort Worth.

“All the major manufacturers of gear came to town,” she said. “It’s really a workshop geared toward colleges, institutions and professional technicians. It’s not so much about acting. It’s about the technology of the entertainment industry, specifically theater.”

Owen then went to the Cotton Bowl where there was a big speaker and soundboard demo.

“Listening blind, not knowing whose sound system was on, every single time I heard a sound system that I was excited about, it was D&B Audio Technica’s,” Owen said. “When we had the demo in 2007 here at Richland, I had heard rap music through those speakers.

I had heard opera through them. I had heard hip-hop, about six or seven different types of music. Everything sounded fantastic.”

Owen said she’s looking for clarity of sound, particularly when you have complex ensembles, a place where each of the instruments can be heard within the mix so that there’s room for the low end sounds, room for the mid-range sounds and room for the really high end as well.

“In the college, we want to be responsible with our funding, and so I’m looking for a set of speakers that are going to sound good 10 to 15 years from now,” she said. “One of the advantages of the D&B speaker – that manufacturer puts a lot of research and development into what’s called, ‘passive design,’ so how the speaker sounds straight out of the box is dependent upon the materials used and the way those materials are engineered inside – unlike other speakers that sometimes get good sound out of them, but rely upon electronic capacitors and electronics within the speaker.”

Owen said she felt like the Audio Technica speakers are going to sound good 15 years from now because the electronics aren’t going to go bad.

“The second part of the sound system upgrade that we’ve gone to is, we have moved

File photo

from an analogue soundboard to a digital board,” she said. “And for that, I chose the DiGiCo SD9. It is one of the top-end professional boards. It’s the reason I chose it.”

Owen said the DiGiCo SD9 was used in eight out of 10 rock concerts last year and the year before, and it is one of the most used consoles on Broadway.

“One of the challenges that I find in teaching students is, working in the Theater Department, we do things with sound that’s a little different than what a band would do,” she said. “So, if you buy a console that’s geared toward rock ‘n’ roll, it’s very difficult to make it work for what we need to do in theater. This console works for both entities.”

A lot of students coming out of high school who have worked on digital sound consoles, Owen said, have worked primarily with a rock and roll concert board.

“They get very frustrated when they try to use it for theater,” she said. “It’s just hard to make it work.

“Because this board is set up to do both, I feel like we can be teaching our students in top-of-the-line industry technology and in terms of a teaching tool, it’s going to be easy for them to learn, whether they’re in the Music Department or whether they’re in the Theater Department. It’s going to meet their needs,” Owen said.

The cost for the Performance Hall sound renovation is around $200,000, according to Owen.

She also said Bai Company, a sound consulting company, suggested an upgrade in assisted listening for students with hearing challenges.

They can ask for an assisted listening device.

“Sound is one of those industries that is relatively new,” she said. “It’s an industry where we can train people to get jobs. There’s a huge market for highly trained people. We have alumni working in the industry because of the training they got here at Richland.”

Owen said she will be working with students to help run sound for the first theater production in October.

S August 30, 2016

CAMPUS 3

New website for Student Media Staff Writer

DFW is the nation’s fifth-largest media market and the largest in the South. The students and staff at the Richland Chronicle constantly provide award-winning journalism through interesting and informative stories.

With the advent of the journalism department’s website, www.richlandstudentmedia.com, students can stay up-to-date with Richland College around the clock. The new website features stories from the Chronicle newspaper, news, music, talk programs, podcasts on KDUX WebRadio plus video news and programs on Chronicle TV. The stories are also available on Richland Student Media’s pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Erica Edwards, program coordinator of journalism and student media, is excited that the journalism department can now be a major cohesive unit.

“The multimedia aspect of our presence has been greatly strengthened. The campus is our immediate audience and community, and our goal is to cover the entire campus thoroughly, fairly and accurately,” Edwards said.

She is encouraging the students and staff to turn to the site for one-stop shopping for news and information.

“Another goal is to give our students the experiences that they need to accompany and to complement their education. The new website is a great tool for students to hone

their craft and to strengthen their skill sets,” said Edwards.

“The fundamentals of journalism will help students become well-trained, ethical, responsible journalists and will help them land terrific jobs and make a difference in the community.”

Jack Fletcher, coordinator of multimedia production, has been working diligently to improve the television and radio station experience at Richland. Fletcher said the journalism department is now up to date with current industry standards.

The television studios have been fully upgraded to high definition and the three new HD cameras are hooked up with the SONY ANYCAST. The touchscreen digital switcher will be the new center for television production, especially in newscasts. With the presidential election and fall sports coming up, live on-the-scene, picture-in-picture reports can be available during any news program, plus live video calls via Skype.

A new radio streaming service is also available that allows students to broadcast commercial-free programming.

On the newspaper side, brand new high resolution digital cameras will bring more depth into the Richland Chronicle’s pages.

“The main thing about the student media website is its simplicity so that the content can speak for itself,” Fletcher said.

Students can update the website anytime with the latest content from all media at Richland, bringing more versatility. Richland has

The new student media website, at richlandstudentmedia.com, is now live.

upgraded its media resources to bring highquality programming via radio and television, allowing students to use state-of-the-art news gathering and editing software.

With on-the-job training and practical experience in print, television and radio production, students are encouraged to use these media resources to tell their stories. Richland journalism students have been recognized by numerous state and national press organizations and have also received many group and individual awards and scholarships.

Richland’s journalism program is looking for students who are interested in pursuing careers in mass communications. Skills learned in journalism are transferrable to many other disciplines including communications, marketing, media relations and business.

Those in different majors who are interested in volunteering with Student Media must be a student at Richland student, abide by the rules and give priority to students meeting project deadlines for journalism classes.

Richlandstudentmedia.com

TRU ARMSTRONG

4 ENTERTAINMENT

August 30, 2016

THE 10 WORST MOVIES OF 2016 SO FAR “Paradox” — Here’s a no-budget science-fiction flick that tries to be inventive by having a killer run around in a hazmat mask and inflict grievous bodily harm to his victims.

It contains decent performances but the storyline is contrived from the get-go.

D“The Angry Birds Movie” and “Ice Age: Collision Course” —

These are two unfunny entries that try to appeal to kids and completely miss the mark.

The first is based on the video game of the same name, while the latter is the fifth entry in the series. Even the appearance by Scrat doesn’t help.

C-

“The Neon Demon” — This is a superficial tale about the competitive world of modeling. Elle Fanning (“Super 8,” “We Bought a Zoo”) is very interesting, but suffers due to a less than cohesive conclusion. From “Drive” director Nicolas Winding Refn.

C-

“Knight of Cups” — I actually revisited director Terrence Malick’s film to watch the whole thing and was reminded why I walked out on this plodding entry that focuses on a Hollywood screenwriter portrayed by Christian Bale and his love life with two women, Cate Blanchett and Natalie Portman. It stars Brian Dennehy (“First Blood”) D+ “The Do-Over” — Yet another Adam Sandler flick that makes an appearance on my worst-of-the year list. He teams up with buddy David Spade. Together, they conspire to fake a death.

C“Zoolander 2” — Ben Stiller reprises

his role as Derek Zoolander, a male model with zero brains. With Penélope Cruz, Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell.

C-

Richlandstudentmedia.com

Elle Fanning in a scene from “The Neon Demon”

“Kubo and the Two Strings” — Another amazing entry from Laika Studios.

This is a road movie with quirky characters, intriguing subplots as backstories galore.

Features the voice talents of two Oscar-winning performers in Charlize Theron and Texan Matthew McConaughey. Not recommended for the tykes. I would say age 12 or older.

B+

Image courtesy imdb.com

Image courtesy imdb.com

Adam Sandler in a scene from “The Do-Over”

“The Ridiculous 6” — A forgettable Sandler-led Western parody in which his character searches for his father (Nick Nolte) while reconnecting with his siblings as well. The cast includes Sandler regulars Rob Schneider (again!), Luke Wilson, Terry Crews and Jon Lovitz.

C-

“Café Society” — Here’s another miss for writer-director Woody Allen. This time he peers into the lives of New York City transplants, including one played by Jesse Eisenberg. The film also stars Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively and Steve Carell. The setting and backdrop is 1930s Hollywood C-

“Sausage Party” — This warped and disgusting animated tale from Seth Rogen and friends follows grocery store objects and the lives they lead when they come to learn about the horrors of the outside world in which they are eaten alive.

C-

“Norm of the North” — This is uninvolving tale follows corporate bigwigs who want to turn Antarctica into a bustling tourist destination. At the center is a singing and dancing polar bear named Norm voiced

by Sandler’s old pal Rob Schneider.

C-

Also on my worst list are the Robert De Niro-led “Dirty Grandpa,” the one-and-done attempt at a trilogy “The 5th Wave,” Alex Proyas’s spectacle “Gods of Egypt,” “Dead Rising: Endgame” and the documentary from Dinesh D’Souza titled “Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party.”

—Ricky Miller

“Suicide Squad” — This tale has a plethora of individuals who, for all intents and purposes, are a bunch of selfish jerks. The cast includes Will Smith’s assassin for hire, Deadshot, Margot Robbie’s vexing Harley Quinn and Jared Leto’s menacing incarnation as Joker. Also vile and vicious is Viola Davis’s meanspirited bureaucrat Amanda Waller.

B+

“War Dogs” — “Based on a true story,” tale the film follows childhood friends in David Packouz (Miles Teller) and Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill) who go into business for themselves as weapons dealers during the Afghan conflict.

B-

“Hands of Stone” — Oscar-winner Robert De Niro still has some decent roles left in him, In in this fact-based drama he plays coach Ray Arcel, who sees promise in the young kid Roberto Duran (Edgar Ramirez). Also stars Ellen Barkin, Felicidad Iglesias, John Turturro and Usher Raymond.

B-

“Hell or High Water” — Brothers Troy Howard (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) rob banks as a way to settle some family debts.

Also involved is Jeff Bridges as Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton.

—Ricky Miller

B-

August 30, 2016

CAMPUS 5

Class examines Kennedy assassination JOYCE JACKSON Copy Editor

Do you remember exactly where you were on Friday, Nov. 22, 1963?

Unless you were too young or weren’t born yet, most of us remember exactly where we were the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in downtown Dallas. This November will be 53 years since the tragic event occurred.

Stephen Fagin, newly named full curator at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, was on campus Aug. 11 to give some insight into the assassination to a group of emeritus students. The museum is located at the former Texas School Book Depository at Elm and Houston Streets.

Fagin said the site at Dealey Plaza is now a national historic landmark. For many people, it’s a “sacred space,” like Pearl Harbor, the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City or the World Trade Center.

Fagin, who served as associate curator before his promotion, has been with the museum for 16 years. He discussed pictures of Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, from the www.jfk.org website. He could relate the experience to about everyone who attended the lecture because emeritus students must be at least 50 years of age.

“These moments and memories really connect us to that time period,” Fagin said.

“All of you here could tell me exactly where you were at 12:30 p.m. Central Time on Friday, Nov. 22, 1963. It’s a common bond that we all share; it’s part of the human experience.”

Fagin said at the museum, he talks to a lot of groups, especially young students and explains to them what he does as curator.

“Curators create narratives out of the chaos of history,” he said. “Certainly, when you think of the Kennedy assassination, the terms, ‘history’ and ‘chaos’ apply … so often you lose

sight of the meaning of the moment because the assassination sadly gets weighed down by a lot of baggage brought about by books and documentaries, films and TV shows over the last half century.”

Fagin will focus on the Kennedy assassination in a four-week noncredit course at Richland titled, “JFK, Dallas and the Power of Memory,” from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Sept. 12 to Oct. 3 in Crockett Hall, room C102. The cost is $30. It will rely heavily on films, video and photographs.

“We’ll do an extremely vivid walk-through of Nov. 22, told through the first-hand perspectives of more than two dozen participants – from a young girl who shook the president’s hand at Love Field, a high school student at W. W. Samuel High School to the press secretary who announced the president’s death to some of the Parkland Hospital physicians who struggled to save the president’s life – to some of the reporters who were waiting for the president at the Dallas Trade Mart for a luncheon he never arrived at,” Fagin said.

Stephen Fagin

Image courtesy The Sixth Floor Museum

Fagin said more people believe in a conspiracy than those who believe that Lee Harvey Oswald, a 24-year-old disillusioned ex-Marine, acted alone. The controversy still exists and Jack Ruby is also part of the assassination story.

“When I recount fun facts about our museum to people, I often say we are the

Image courtesy Associate Press

President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy arrive at Love Field.

second most visited historic site in the state of Texas behind the Alamo in San Antonio,” he said. “More than two thirds of our visitors were born after 1963. More than two thirds of the people that come to our museum, and we have attendance roughly of over 350,000 people per year, don’t have the memories you have. They don’t remember the assassination.”

Fagin said the museum has oral history recollections from a number of people in this community who remember going to other states or countries and being harassed or criticized because they came from Dallas, “the city that killed the president.”

“The Kennedy assassination is about us. It’s about who we are and our memories,” he said.

“And so, as part of this course, I’m going to offer attendees the chance to add their stories, their voices to this ongoing oral history project that we’ve been doing at our museum since

“The Kennedy assassination is about us. It’s about who we are and our memories.”

—Stephen Fagin we opened way back in 1989.”

There are over 1,500 storytellers in the collection who have shared where they were on that fateful day, according to Fagin.

Anyone of any age can sign up for this course through the Emeritus Plus 50 Program in Thunderduck Hall, Room T160, call 972-238-6972 or 6989, or go to www.richlandcollege.edu/emeritus.

SARAH McGEE Staff Writer

Registering to vote is not complicated, but the deadline is coming up fast.

In Texas, people must be registered by Oct. 11 to vote in the national election on Nov. 8.

On Election Day, all you need is an acceptable ID (driver’s license, passport or other government ID).

Everyone can vote if they are U.S. citizens,

at least 17 years and 10 months old (18 by Election Day), have a Texas address and not have a felony conviction or have been judged incompetent by a court.

Citizens can register to vote in person, online or through the mail. Register in person at 2377 North Stemmons Fwy., Dallas 75207 or through the internet at: teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do.

Voter registration cards can be downloaded and printed at: webservices.sos. state.tx.us/vrrequest/index.asp. Completed forms must be received by Oct. 11.

Richlandstudentmedia.com

Voting can’t be that hard, can it?

6 CAMPUS

August 30, 2016

Multicultural Center welcomes all students FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ Staff Writer

Richlandstudentmedia.com

Richland College is a very diverse campus with 79 different languages represented throughout the college. Everywhere around campus you can find a student from a different country and background; from Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Turkey, Vietnam and many other places around the world. Many times when a new student from another country comes to register at Richland they go to the Multicultural Center.

Nhan Lai, who works at the Multicultural Center as an admission specialist and department assistant, started at the Multicultural Center after she got her associate degree at Richland and transferred to the University of Texas at Dallas. She is now working on her bachelor’s degree.

As an admission specialist, she processes student applications and assigns them to advisers so they can get their visa from the United States Embassy. According to Nhan, students from more than 100 countries get help at the Multicultural Center to process their paperwork.

The Multicultural Center has two sections; English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), which is for permanent residents who speak English as a second language, and the American English and Culture Center (AECI), which is for students who study abroad and are from outside the United States.

The ESOL and AECI are both programs that include international student specialists and academic advisers who help students learn English and get their college degrees. Both ESOL and AECI take students through five levels. The AECI program takes approximately two months to complete followed by a competency test. The ESOL program takes four months to complete.

The programs are separated by students in the AECI program who do not have residency and must take a minimum of 12 hours to maintain their visa. An AECI student who has completed level 3 will be able to take the TSI test. If they pass, they can move on to taking college level classes and get one step closer toward getting their degree. If students do not pass, they are required to take level 4 to continue on to college level classes. Students in the ESOL program have residency and do not have course load requirements.

Richland

CHRONICLE STUDENT MEDIA LEADERS Entertainment Editor Copy Editor

Ricky Miller Joyce Jackson

ON THE COVER

Richland College Convocation, Aug. 25, 2016. Credit: Paul Knudsen/Richland Marketing Department

Get a job!

ALY RODRIGUES Staff Writer

Don’t be desperate if you have no idea what you are going to do with your life.

The pressure to choose a major and a profession is a concern for many Richland students. Sometimes it can be difficult. Luckily, Richland has a way to help: the Career Center. There are resources and specialists there to help students.

The Career Center comes in handy when you are living with indecision. Warren Osby, coordinator of career services, gives students support and information.

One of the services provided is an assessment for individuals. It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers. It’s simply a system designed to identify individual interests. With those results, the next step is to sit down with a specialist and go over the results to identify a possible career field.

“We explain to them and we show them again how to research information from those careers,” Osby said.

“We narrow it down to the one where students might say, ‘This is what I want to do.’

The guidance program is the right tool to make sure students choose the right degree.

It does not cost anything and yet, it can save them time and money.”

Osby said it’s more and more common for students to drop classes and sometimes even give up on a degree when close to graduation and move to another career field.

Andreia Matta, 27, has degrees in biomedicine. She does not work in that field but is now preparing to major in fashion next semester in Canada.

Their services are not only for individuals who need a little push to find their major/career field. The Career Center has services to assist with résumé writing and cover letters.

They also offer access to an amazing tool called Perfect Interview that is described as “an innovative learning tool one can use to enhance job interviewing skills and develop an edge over the competition.”

After students have been through these processes and feel they are ready to start a career, the center can help them find a job.

The Career center is located in El Paso Hall, Room EO90.

CORRECTION:

In the Aug. 23 issue of the Chronicle, the source of funding for the wrestling program was incorrectly stated. The wrestling program was reinstated with support from the Richland College Office of Student Life.

COVER AND FONTS

Certain cover fonts are provided by the following www.nymfont.com – www.bvfonts.com

STUDENT MEDIA STAFF Anthony Ante Tru Armstrong Ahlam M. Al Mahrooq Vanessa Myron

Sarah McGee Aly Rodrigues Fernando Rodriguez Quan Tran Isai Diaz

STUDENT MEDIA ADVISERS Erica Edwards

David Goodloe

Jack Fletcher

Tim Jones

Meg Fullwood

Larry Ratliff

REMAINING ISSUE DATES September 6

November 1

September 13

November 8

September 20

November 15

September 27

November 22

October 4

December 6

October 11

December 13

October 25

AWARDS

CMA Two-Year Radio Station of the Year 2015 ACP Best of Show Award 2015 ACP Photo Excellence Award 2015 CMA Newspaper of the Year Finalist, 2014 1st Place – TCCJA Overall General Excellence, 2014 2nd Place – Pinnacle College Media Award, 2014 1st Place – TIPA Sweepstakes, 2005 3rd Place – TIPA Online, 2005 & 2006 ACP Pacemaker Winner, 2000, 2001, 2007 ACP Pacemaker Finalist, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007 ACP Online Pacemaker finalist, 2007, 2008 Over 270 Texas college journalism awards since 2000

CONTACT INFORMATION

El Paso Hall, Room E020, 12800 Abrams Rd., Dallas 75243 Newsroom: 972-238-6068; richlandchronicle@gmail.com Advertising: 972-238-6068 Email: Advertise@dcccd.edu Fax: 972-238-6037 Staff meetings Fall semester: Monday and Wednesday at 2 p.m. in E020 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 2016

CAMPUS 7

August 30, 2016

Sports: Basketball tryouts open Staff Writer

Sports are a big part of college life for both participants and spectators.

Richland College basketball has multiple titles, including Metro-Athletics Conference Champions in 2014. It has the coaches, facilities and physical training equipment that all contribute to the team’s success.

Basketball coach Jon Havens said, “College sports are a way to meet friends and to be involved in college life. Every student is encouraged to join and play on the Richland basketball team if they meet the requirements.”

Any student at Richland who wants to play basketball has to be enrolled in 12 credit hours.

“We are a two-semester sport. In order to play in the second semester, you must pass all 12 credit hours in the semester,” said Havens.

All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated.

Sept. 6 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Free Treats & Sweets: Bring student ID

Recital Series: Faculty jazz group Fannin Performance Hall, Room F102

El Paso lounge

Sept. 6 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

12 to 1 p.m.

Club Fair

Reception for artist Du Chau

El Paso lounge

Brazos art gallery

Sept. 8 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Club Fair and Back-to-School Bash East breezeway

Sept. 9 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

9/11 Remembrance event Cafeteria stage

File photo

Richlandstudentmedia.com

ANTHONY ANTE

The coach further stressed the need for sportsmanship and a winning attitude. The basketball team, like every other team at Richland, has rules, regulations and requirements for full participation.

Havens said that new athletes must be high school graduates, or the equivalent, and must try out to make the team.

“I am happy to see all my athletes’ progress academically because that’s their main goal in the college. I am happy whenever the team is made,” said Havens.

Every fall, all intending athletes participate in an open tryout in order to be recruited. All students interested in joining the team are welcome to try out for the team then.

For more information, contact Havens at jhavens@dcccd.edu. More information is available at richlandcollege.edu/athletics/basketball/.

Upcoming Events

8

August 30, 2016

Welcome Thunderducks!

Here’s to a successful Fall 2016 Semester

From your friends at:

Richlandstudentmedia.com

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