T
TEMPEST
Get ready to vote! Your election guide inside on page 4
Are you doing this ‘stoopid’ thing? OPINION ON 2
Stick around campus Friday night for live music FEATURES ON 7
Atypical professor leaves lasting impression NEWS ON 6
• APRIL 22 - MAY 5, 2015 • VOL. 31, NO. 13 • FAIRFIELD, CA • www.solanotempest.net •
ASSC suggestion “box” reveals student concerns, desires staff report Stephon Harris, sports medicine major, adds a suggestion for Solano to have a male volleyball team to the ASSC student suggestions poster April 1, 2015. Students enjoyed the benefits of their suggestions when food trucks arrived on campus earlier this semester. Students grab the opportunity to write out their suggestions while enjoying ASSC’s free pizza on Wednesdays on the main campus. The ASSC aims to “ensure everyone has a chance to speak up,” said Zachary Freeman, political science major and Humanities senator for ASSC. The suggestions are collated and acted on during the ASSC meetings every Tuesday at 12:30 pm in Room 1421, such as having food trucks on campus, which many students requested.
Luningning de Jesus / Tempest
Hopes rekindled for BS biotech manufacturing program Luningning de Jesus Staff writer ldejesus@solanotempest.net
Solano Community College has another chance at offering a Bachelor of Science in Biotech Manufacturing program come 2017. The California Community Colleges Board of Governors communicated that one or two spots in the Baccalaureate Pilot Program have become available, according
to Yashica Crawford, Chief of Staff. Solano was invited to reapply. “We’re really optimistic. We’re going to throw our hat in the ring again and see what happens,” said Crawford. Feedback from evaluators on the proposed program has been taken into consideration. “There are definitely a few key areas that they wanted some greater emphasis on,” Crawford said. While the proposal was quite strong in
areas like the description of the curriculum plan, the evaluators wanted to see more emphasis on how Solano would implement the program, according to Crawford. Crawford lauded the team that has been working diligently on the revised proposal, including James DeKloe, director of Solano’s biotechnology program, Edward Re, biotechnology professor, Leslie Minor, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Michael Wyly, Academic Senate President,
MORE ONLINE AT WWW.SOLANOTEMPEST.NET follow us on Twitter for more frequent updates: @solanotempest
and Crawford. “We’re all excited. We have all hands on deck, so I think this a great example of everybody working together to make something really special happen.” If approved, Solano will be able to offer students in the Industrial Biotechnology program a seamless transition to earning their Bachelors degree.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK “If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.” - Emma Goldman
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THE TEMPEST n APRIL 22 - MAY 5, 2015
opinion: social media editorial
Why getting news from FB is stoopid Editor’s note: Editorials are the opinion of The Tempest editorial board. How often have you gotten your “daily briefing” by scrolling through your Facebook or Twitter feed? Depending on who posted the links, those news sources may or may not be credible. More and more, so-called “news” comes from websites with a strong bias, be it conservative, liberal, or otherwise; or from celebrity news sites, which frequently make stuff up. Facebook has gone beyond being merely a social media platform, with the Pew Research Center saying 30 percent of American adults use it as an aggregate source of information. Sad to say, this is not the most reliable source at all. Should
you really believe your boyfriend who read on his friend’s status page that Beyoncé is giving out free tickets to her concert? Of course not! What is astonishing and frightening is the fact that the American populace, a people once paranoid about making sure they have accurate information, is losing their critical eye, and becoming less curious and unwilling to dig and search for the truth. People blindly accept what they read and hear without checking their sources. The loss of critical thinking leads us to become complacent about societal norms, or things that have slipped into American lives and become common place. Despite losing their critical eye, Americans have not
lost our curiosity. We are easily tempted by click bait, which are a huge source of income for many sites. Chances are that your attention has been snagged by a headline like “They pointed a telescope at the sun, 5 years later? Unbelievable” while scrolling through your Facebook feed. Your curiosity aroused, you click on the link to read the cool part of the article. Advertisers often pay a certain amount per clicks on links from articles, which makes money for the content producer and keeps everyone happy. It is also the reason why articles on Facebook can be misleading. Speaking of misleading, news satire published by the likes of The Onion and
The Daily Currant confuse the issue even more. While The Onion parodies current events – some real and some fictional – The Daily Currant is all-out fiction. This is NOT news, people! Do you really think that a site called The Onion is publishing any information that is not satire? Let’s hope not! The thing is, the irony on The Daily Currant is sometimes so subtle that it has fooled many into thinking it is real news. Even reputable news organizations like The Washington Post have erroneously picked up information from this site. Which just goes to show that publishers of news satires should make it clear to their readers that about whether their news is accurate or not.
campus conversation-the extended version reporters/photographers: staff
Have you ever Googled yourself? What did you find?
“Yeah! I just got surprised that it was a famous singer, so I was just like ‘Cool! I didn’t even know.’” Zulema Osorio science
“No, since I know a lot of Brittany’s I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t really care.’” Brittany Gomez science
“Yes, actually. It was for a class. It was just kinda random, I didn’t think there were a lot of people with my name... my last name too! It wasn’t anything shocking, but it was kinda cool.”
“No, nope!” Jordan Lahey nursing
Brianna Hall business
“Yes. A different Cory Belser came up who I guess was more famous than me... He was a basketball player, but um, I did have some articles from sports from high school and stuff like that.” Cory Belser liberal arts
“Have I ever Googled myself? Yeah, I found all of my music. I do EDM, so I found anything that was related to gigs I’ve done, and promotional, and etc. etc. It wasn’t for ego or anything, it was just to see what content would show up. I did find some news reporters from across the world, since my names pretty unique.” Hassan Sabbagh business
“Yes I have. Well, I’m an actor and I do plays, so I do Google myself. Fortunately I see me still, there’s pictures of the plays that I’ve done. I remember a movie called ‘Wanted,’ and the actor Googled himself and it says ‘No results,’ and it says ‘loser, loser,’ and so I guess it’s a thing like you do it to see ‘Do I exist to the rest of the world.’ There is kinda like a subconscious thing. Then it’s like, ‘Are you tied to your name?” Nestor Campos Jr.
“Of course I’ve Googled myself. Who hasn’t Googled themselves? It was like in 6th grade or something, I don’t remember.” Brian Ratliff welding
opinion
THE TEMPEST n APRIL 22-MAY 5, 2015
K
3
em’s orner
Do it for the likes Social media is becoming a source of an inflated ego for much of America’s youth, but is this really how we should be fostering our young adults? In this day and age of social media it seems that people tend to depend on what strangers think of them rather than the people closest to them. A girl posting a picture of herself half-dressed is almost guaranteed to get more attention than a young woman wearing a cap and gown getting ready to graduate. When did we all become obsessed with trying to gather all of this attention from people we will most likely never meet in life? From the very first like on Facebook, there seems to have been a race for people to become “internet famous”, or at least, to get a little more noticed by the masses. This seems to be a little more prevalent in teens and young adults. Generation M2, as these 8-18 year olds are being called, seem to be more interested in winning a popularity contest amongst their peers. Posting what’s considered “cool” or “in”, trying to fit in with everybody else instead of being their own person. This has become so prevalent that pediatricians are trying to come up with ways to reach out to their young patients. CNN reported that Dr. David Hill, chairman-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ council on communications and media, gathered a panel of pediatricians together for a discussion titled, “Social Me-
The Tempest is published by Solano College students. Opinions expressed in the paper are those of the individual writers and artists, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the college’s governing board, the administration, the faculty and staff, or the Associated Students of Solano College. Readers may take up to five copies of The Tempest free. Additional copies may be purchased for 25 cents. Member: California College Media Association • Journalism Association of Community Colleges • California Newspaper Publishers Association • Associated Collegiate Press
sense of belonging and a connecdia: The Good, the Bad and the tion to others that is not built on Ugly”, which focuses on various real-life experiences. This makes topics for the pediatricians to it increasingly easy to lose yourdiscuss with their patients. This self to internet associations and is a good idea because then it gives them more weight than opens up the doors of converthey really deserve. sations that their patients may not be able to talk comfortably It’s already bad enough to live about with their parents. Espea life where you don’t think cially if they’re possibly being bullied or pressured into doing Kemberlee Jones too highly of yourself that you would put yourself out there to things that could very well be Staff writer be judged by faceless people and harmful to themselves and their kjones@ well-being. Especially those who solanotempest.net profiles. Many people, like myalready have self-esteem issues. self, can take the negativity being spouted by people on social media and it Jodie Gummow of Alternet, reported doesn’t affect them in any way. They post that social media can sometimes be more what they want and say what they feel and hurtful than helpful, especially when it is really don’t care who has what to say about being used to gain some sort of validation it. amongst your peers. A study conducted But what happens to those who essentially by the University of Salford in the UK has shown that up to two-thirds of people find live their lives by how many “likes” they get they have issues sleeping after spending or how many friends and followers they any amount of time surfing around social have? When the pain of someone’s everyday media. Of the 298 users that were polled, life is coupled with nothing but negativity more than half of them have said that social on seemingly neutral ground, that doesn’t media has caused them major self-esteem is- leave them much room to feel good about sues. themselves. The Atlantic researched the social media blog site Tumblr and noticed Then I sit and wonder, how can the in- that it seems that low self-esteem is being ternet make someone lose their self-esteem? shown to be a more beautiful thing than According to psychotherapist Sherrie someone who thinks highly of themselves. Campbell, social media can give a false
TEMPEST
THE
THE VOICE OF SOLANO COLLEGE
Dagmar Kuta staff writers:
editor-in-chief
staff photographers: news/features editor: Dagmar Kuta
Makafui Ahorney Mo’Nique Booker Luningning de Jesus Joy Harris Daphne Kuta Qhianna Sanchez Suzy-Jane Edwards-Freet
opinion editor: Kemberlee Jones
Kemberlee Jones Joy Harris
sports editors: Mo’Nique Booker and Joy Harris *
*
*
faculty adviser: Samanda Dorger
Dr. Mark Reinecke, chief psychologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, has said that during the vulnerable years of adolescence, kids tend to seek out self-affirmation and recognition from others. This new, easy promise of being recognized as strong, beautiful, and mysterious by their Tumblr “followers” can be very tempting. In theory, this may lead them to believe that being termed as “misunderstood” is what it the in thing is. Unfortunately, in the end, it doesn’t help them… it only hurts them and leads them to more depression and at the end of the spectrum, self-harm. There is always going to be an upside and a downside to this social media fad that has taken over the lives of young adults and even people my age. It might feel good to post a picture or a quote and get 50 or more “likes” on it. But at the end of the day, just how many of those people are actually supporting you to see you succeed, and how many of them are secretly hoping you’ll fail? When you put too much emphasis on what other people think, then you lose your individuality. And in this day and age, it is better to stand out for being the unique individuals that we were created to be as opposed to someone who follows along just to be considered “cool”.
contact us: It is Tempest policy to correct any errors in the paper. Please contact us if you spot one. To get in touch with us: phone: (707) 864-7000, ext. 4361 e-mail: tempest@solano.edu postal address: SCC, Room 1861 4000 Suisun Valley Road, Fairfield, California 94534
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THE TEMPEST n APRIL 22 - MAY 5, 2015
elections
ASSC studen
Qhianna Sanchez Staff writer
President/Vice President
QSanchez@solanotempest.net
Although ASSC elections were pushed back six weeks from the end of March to May 4 -7, there still is plenty of competition among the candidates. Two teams are running for the president and vice president positions, while three candidates are running for the position of student trustee. The only position running uncontested is legislative advocate. According to the ASSC website. the president’s duties are to meet regularly with the president of the college, manage student committees, propose the ASSC budget, and ensure the senate adheres to policy documents, parliamentary procedure, and the Brown Act. The vice president is to help in these duties as well as to run the Inter-Club Council (ICC).
Meet the candidates President and Vice-President Casey Bess & Erika Gonzalez, incumbents
Lorenzo Hays-Phillips & Rodney Harrison II
Ages: Bess: 30, Gonzalez: 22 Majors: Bess: biology, Gonzalez: psychology GPA: Bess: “about 3.4,” Gonzalez: 2.7 Free time: Bess was a gamer until he got involved in student government, now “free time is a rare commodity”; Gonzalez likes to spend time with her boyfriend, watch movies, and explore new places to eat.
Ages: Hays-Phillips: 50, Harrison:18 Majors: Hays-Phillips has 10 AAs from SCC, 2 BAs from UC Davis and is currently going for his AA in sociology/history, Harrison: political science GPA: Hays-Phillips: 3.2 (when left Solano in 2010) Harrison 3.22 Free time: Hays-Phillips volunteers at the library for an adult literacy program (he received an award for 70 hours volunteered last year); Harrison enjoys studying politics.
Bess & Gonzalez: Create the groundwork Casey Bess and Erika Gonzalez are running for re-election because they want to be able to complete what they started during their first term. “A lot of what I wanted to get done is something that takes time,” Bess said. “You have to create the groundwork and then you have to implement it. I’m running up against my time running out. That’s the whole reason I’m running again. I think it’s really important that I finish what I started.” “We started this, we have to, if not to finish it, at least clean it up,” Gonzalez said. “Because
the way that I see it righ it’s just a hot mess. It bug have to clean it and make at least, not just forget even happened,” Gonzale Bess and Gonzalez ran posed together in spring They ran together because first choice for vice pr in spring 2014 left schoo well-paying job. “I was h resort,” Gonzalez said, lau “Even though she was resort, she’s probably way than any of them woul been—they were too lik Bess said. –Qhianna Sanchez/T
Student Trustee Student trustee
Nicholas Battiste
Zachary Freeman
Age: 23 Major: Main focus is auto body and mechanics; his other majors include small business, accounting, political science, and graphic design GPA: 2.82 Free time: Battiste enjoys going to the Sonoma raceway on Wednesday nights to watch drift cars, sometimes plays League of Legends, works on cars, spends time with siblings, and parties.
Age: 21 Major: political science GPA: That’s not something I was expecting to be asked, but I know it’s above 2.0 Free time: Outside of homework, Freeman is an avid gamer (he’s the president of SCC’s gamer club) and reader of non-fiction, especially history.
Larry Bartlow did not respond by the time this article was due for publication.
Legislative Advocate Vanessa Franklin Age: 25 Major: She is majoring in criminal justice and history to become a lawyer; she also is majoring in theater as a hobby. GPA: 3.5 Free time: “My daughter is my number one priority. She’s the one I’m doing all this for.” Source: individual candidates
Larry Bartlow, Nicholas Battiste, Zachary Fre The student trustee attends SCC governing board meetings and reports to the governing board. Nicholas Battiste, current career technical education ASSC senator, says he likes solving problems in unique ways. Earlier this semester, he submitted candidate applications for all four elected positions because “our election code is very flawed. And I made it a point to show to the election committee that it was flawed. With me declaring all four positions, I got the election committee to change it to one position only without actually amending it,” Battiste said. He is running for student trustee because it fits better to his nature and role in the senate, Battiste said. His number one goal is outreach to students, especially for their rights
on campus. Zachary ASSC senato Bess asked hi leadership ex and has been portion of his As a youth, Scout in the learned every the ability to right attitude and done alm troop. I led a where we rep railings, holes Larry Bartl this article wa
election
April 23: first mandatory candidates’ assembly Clock tower at 1 p.m. (tentative)
April 22: first mandatory candidates’ assembly Where: Clock tower, 1 p.m. (tentative)
May 4 – May 7: election week Any currently registered student of SCC may vote. Voters must show some form of picture identification in order to receive a ballot. Locations and times to be determined by election committee meeting.
elections
THE TEMPEST n APRIL 22 - MAY 5, 2015
5
nt elections President/Vice President
ht now, gs me. I e it okay that it ez said. n unopg 2014. e Bess’s resident ol for a his last ughing. my last y better ld have ke me,”
Hays-Phillips & Harrison: Empower students
Casey Bess
Lorenzo Hays-Phillips
President and vice president contenders Lorenzo Hays-Phillips and Rodney Harrison II are running to bring student government back on track, Hays-Phillips said. “The current student government is slowly being disintegrated, broken down,” Hays-Phillips said. “It’s ineffective for the students, it’s ineffective for the administration. I’d like to bring in students and train them the way I’ve been trained in student leadership and public service and empower them to hand them back their power,” Hays-Phillips said. “Our current president, our current trustee, and our career technical education senator, they’re doing a really good job.
I applaud them for that,” Harrison said. He believes that it’s time for a new face to come in since the current ASSC executive board has been painted as bad people by the administration, Harrison said. He and Hays-Phillips want to “do the same thing that they are doing with a better reputation than they have,” Harrison said. However, Harrison also said he may not be attending SCC next year. He hopes for acceptance to a private school in Florida, with summer 2015 as his last semester here. Harrison said if he and Hays-Phillips won, they would probably appoint Geff Freire to fill the vice president’s position. –Qhianna Sanchez/Tempest
Tempest
Legislative advocate
eeman
Vanessa Franklin, unopposed
Freeman, current humanities or, decided to run because Casey im to run. Freeman said he has xperience beyond that of school n practicing leadership for a large s life. he achieved the rank of Eagle e Boy Scouts. “It was there I ything I knew about leadership: o delegate, to lead, to have the e. I’ve held almost every position, most anything you could do in a small group to Mission Solano, painted the walls, fixed the chair s in the wall.” low did not respond by the time as due for publication. –Qhianna Sanchez/Tempest
Vanessa Franklin, current diversity affairs ASSC senator, is running unopposed for legislative advocate. The ASSC website states the legislative advocate’s role is to report to the ASSC on federal and state legislative affairs affecting students and the college, as well as to represent the college at national, statewide, and regional student meetings, and serve as the chairperson of the Political Activities Committees. Franklin says she was initially unsure about running, but both her adviser and incumbent president Bess encouraged her to run. “I fight for what I be-
lieve in, I go hard all the way, I do not back down from anything. I get to the point and do what I can to get my point across. I’m a fighter,” Franklin said. She is running to uphold the rights of the students, becoming the voice of the students and the college. “I fight for other people, not just myself. I look out for the best interests of everybody, again, not just myself,” Franklin said. “We, as senators, don’t interact with students as much as we should. Being that I’m new, I wanted to change that,” Franklin said. –Qhianna Sanchez/Tempest
timeline May 20: presentation of results to SCCD governing board. Where: 600 building during governing board meeting at 6:30
May 11: ballot count Location and time to be determined by election committee meeting.
May 12: ratification of election results by the ASSC Senate. Where: Fishbowl (1400 Building) during ASSC senate meeting at 12:30 p.m
Source: student services
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news
THE TEMPEST n APRIL 22 - MAY 5, 2015
A watershed moment for SCC student Daphne Kuta Staff writer daphnekuta@solanotempest.net
From top-secret government clearance to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) student trainee, it’s clear that SCC student Colin Eaton is well on his way to leaving his mark on the world. But, his passion for geology wasn’t always so clear. “Truthfully I was never into geology growing up or anything like that,” said Eaton, who served in the Marine Corps for nine years before coming to Solano to take classes. “When I left the Marines and started school, I did not have a plan. I knew that I wanted to do something scientific, but I felt as though I would find something more interesting than the rest and could then make a better decision.” Eaton’s internship involves working at the California Water Science Center in Sacramento. The
timing couldn’t be more fortunate, with California’s drought rearing its ugly head. “Water is an incredibly special and precious material with fascinating scientific properties crucial to all things geology,” said Eaton.
for USGS. He received an Excellence in Achievement award for his services there in mid-April.
Eaton will primarily be collecting and inputting data from lakes, streams, and other water sources into a geographic information system to accumulate information regarding California’s water state.
“I didn’t just sift through a bunch of openings, decide which one sounded fun, and automatically get accepted. It took quite a bit of work, googling these positions, and also asking for recommendation letters from my professors, and those professors know who they are and how deeply I appreciate the time it takes to write those types of letters,” said Eaton.
Eaton took a physical geology course with Mark Feighner that helped make his decision for him. “There’s something about looking out at the world around you and seeing the little clues about the past and the gigantic forces at work that is simply fascinating.” He went on to take the honors course from Feighner, which solidified his passion for geology. Eaton worked in the tutoring center on campus during the 2014-15 school year, and is leaving them to work
Once the paperwork is completed, Eaton hopes to begin working in the summer.
“[The Honors Geo class was an] incredibly interesting glance into the type of education that doesn’t revolve around normally scheduled classes. Working with the rock saw and microscope made me feel, for the very first time in my life, like something of an actual scientist, and I do not think I will ever forget that.”
Daphne Kuta / Tempest
Colin Eaton holds his Excellence in Achievement award that he earned by working in the tutoring center during the semester.
“Atypical” professor leaves lasting impression on students and college
Makafui Ahorney / Tempest
DaPrato relaxes in one of his classrooms. The Spring 2015 semester will be his last full-time load at Solano Community College.
Makafui Ahorney Staff writer mahorney@solanotempest.net
Professor Robert DaPrato is one of Solano College’s longest serving teachers and one most students know at least by name. DaPrato has taught psychology at Solano College for over 35 years. “When I was in high school, I had a good friend who was a teacher. He was a high school teacher and I thought, ‘Gee, that sounds like fun,’” DaPrato said. “I went to a private school and the teachers there were all different than public schools but I thought it still would be fun to be a teacher.” DaPrato describes himself as an atypical employee. He has worked here longer than the average person stays at one job and this has made him a part of Solano College history. “Probably the most interesting thing about me is that I’ve worked with every president of Solano College. So when you go to the boardroom and look at all those pictures, the first one was the guy that hired me and that was when they moved the campus here from Vallejo.” DaPrato helped design the first smart classrooms for the college. He has been involved in curriculum development for the psychology program. DaPrato worked with former Solano College president Virginia Holton to revive the Education Foundation. In addition to the Fairfield campus, he has taught at the Vallejo campus, Travis Air Force Base, and even the California State Prison Solano. “I taught inside the prison with a classroom that had half inmates and
half regular students. I do remember one class in psychology where one of the inmates who said he was there because he had committed seven counts of rape. And everybody’s eyes went open, but then he had explained why. He had described how he’s come to understand the causes and the reasons and had gone through enough therapy that he was considered to be a resocialized person.” “I’ve had students that went on to four-year schools to graduate and then became professionals in the field who have said, ‘Do you remember me? I took a class from you in 1980 something’ and now they’re practising some place. That’s always rewarding.” The impression he made on those past students is one he still makes today. “Professor DaPrato is a very intelligent man,” said Daniel Keeling, one of DaPrato’s students. “He’s incredibly energetic and he loves what he teaches and that’s what makes you love it and you interested in it even if you may not be a psychology major.” Andrew Koon, another student, said, “He’s a really interesting professor in the sense that he explains things really well and he explains it in a way that people are actually going to listen to him. He uses humor and things to get our attention. I think that’s a really effective way of explaining things.” With all the knowledge he has acquired over the years and all the history he has witnessed, it is no wonder that DaPrato is thinking about writing a book. “This is my last full-time semester. Next year, I will be on a reduced load. I will only be teaching three classes and after that I am going to retire.”
THE TEMPEST n APRIL 22 - MAY 5, 2015
k c e h ro t
features 7
NA D A U T X R
O P S
SCC hosts live music event to support the sports department and the rugby club
Students are invited to Rock the Sport, a live music event featuring local rock bands, Think Again, Tarzandragon, IV Orpheus, and Ghost Color. The event is sponsored by SCC’s Nature of Sound club. Nature of Sound is a club that does outreach to generate opportunities in music, art and film. The event takes place on April 24 in the
1400 building from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The event is free, but donations are requested. Donations will benefit the athletics department and the rugby club. The event is organized by Hassan Sabbagh, the ASSC senator for Fine and Applied Arts and president of the club.
Speaking Falcons bring home gold from national tournament Daphne Kuta Staff writer daphnekuta@solanotempest.net
Editor’s note: Daphne Kuta is a member of the speech team. Solano’s Speaking Falcons competed in the 2015 Phi Rho Pi National Forensics Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio over spring break, bringing home gold, silver, and bronze awards in various categories. After competing against 56 other community colleges, Solano emerged with five awards from the six person team. Destiney Smith took home gold in International Public Debate; Remington Green a silver in Informative speaking; and Becky DeSantis and Daphne Kuta took bronze in Persuasive speaking and Informative speaking, respectively. As a team, Solano Community College took 3rd place in the Debate Sweepstakes. Ana Petero, head coach of the team, explained that the Speaking Falcons competed in small schools, where the maximum amount of event points you can take is 15, and Solano took 14.5 to nationals. The tournament lasted five days, with rounds starting at 8 am and ending at 7
pm. Students competed in at least three rounds a day, with some students competing in ten rounds a day, such as Kaleb Henderson-Redd, or Destiney Smith, who took four and three events respectively. Smith explained she felt the debate resolution almost skewed her out of the round. “When I found out I had to argue that the United States does not need to reform its immigration policy, I was sure there was no way I could win gold,” said Smith. “Having my teammates in the room with me during the debate, and [receiving] texts from my husband reminding me that Proverbs says ‘sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness’, gave me courage to do my best and have fun, no matter the outcome.” Smith ended up taking the win in her gold round, and said that she “cried out of shock” when she found out she won. “[I was] amazed that I won my last two rounds and super excited that I got a win for my team.” To see how you would fare at a debate tournament, coaches Ana Petero and Darren Phalen are putting on an On-Campus Tournament, which will be held May 8 from 1 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
photo courtesy of Ana Petero
The Speaking Falcon’s display awards on the final night of the tournament.
Notorious Hollywood flop gets another chance at Benicia High
Suzy Jane Edwards-Freet Staff writer sedwardsfreet@solanotempest.net
“A place where nobody dared to go...They call it Xanadu.” These are the opening lines to the title song by Electric Lights Orchestra. How could Jeff Lynne, writer, lead singer and future member of super group The Traveling Wilburys (google it!) have foreseen how accurate those words would be for the Olivia Newton-John vehicle? Newton-John was fresh from her success from the film version of “Grease” when “Xanadu” was released to mostly negative reviews. It barely managed to break even at the box office and was the catalyst for The Razzies, a yearly award given for the worst pictures and actors of the year. It is a musical in the classic sense, with a wonderful soundtrack by ELO and amazing choreography. It is the last picture featuring Gene Kelly, whom you may know from the 1952 “Singin’ In The Rain”. Kelly was in as fine form as ever, dancing his heart out. The picture also stars Michael Beck, who had a major hit with 1979’s
“The Warriors.” Newton-John plays Kira, one of the Seven Sisters and daughters of Zeus. They are the Muses who inspire artists. Enter Beck as Sonny Malone, a frustrated artist who feels he’s wasting his time and talents painting other peoples album covers. He meets retired musician and clarinet player Danny McGuire (Kelly), and Kira inspires them to open a 1940s/1980s hybrid roller disco. Then it gets weird. Though the movie flopped, it became a cult classic. The album, however, did not flop. It went certified Double Platinum in the U.S. and Gold in the U.K. The soundtrack alone contained five Top 20 singles. More pertinently, it inspired a tongue-in-cheek Broadway musical in 2007 that was nominated for several Tonys. While the picture cannot be judged in any way by the play, there is a wonderful opportunity to see it locally. Benicia High School is performing a production on May 1,2,8 & 9 at 7:00 p.m. and May 3 & 10 at 2 p.m. Dare to go see this play, and certainly see the film! You will be (dare I say it?)... a “mused”.
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THE TEMPEST n APRIL 22 - MAY 5, 2015
sports swimming
Far left: Alex Palting holds the American flag during the National Anthem.
SCC hosts swim meet
Left:Freshman Gabriella Arca pulls ahead in the breaststroke.
Daphne Kuta/Tempest photos
Alyssa Haddon Zimmer (left) and Jayna Mislang (right) swim the butterfly section of their 100 individual medley.
Falcons wrap up season fifth in meet, some making career-best times Daphne Kuta Staff writer
swimming–but I am happy of what I accomplished this season.”
daphnekuta@solanotempest.net
“The fact that this is my last meet is kind of sad,” said Palting, a sophomore on the team, “even though it is bittersweet, I am glad it happened.” On the bright side, Palting said he broke times “that I thought I would not even be able to break.”
Editor’s note: Daphne Kuta is on the SCC swim team. The Solano Falcons swim team placed fifth last weekend in the 2015 Bay Valley Conference Swim Championships hosted by Solano College. Six community college swim teams met April 16-18, going head to head in individual and relay events. The top spot went to College of the Sequoias with 3,305 points. The Falcons earned a combined total of 875 points in 37 individual events and six relays. Other participating schools were Merced College, Shasta College, Laney College, and College of Marin. College of the Sequoias traveled the farthest, with a drive of four hours. “The team performed very well,” said SCC head coach Scott Parrish, “with most of the swimmers swimming their career-best times.” Solano’s team finished the semester
Daphne Kuta/Tempest photos
Second-year Solano swimmer Jayna Mislang competes in the individual medley race Sat. April 18 at Solano College. with 11 swimmers; seven women and four men. Of the 37 individual events, Solano took 17 races to the top eight. Ricky Morse and Daphne Kuta took all four events, Gabriella Arca took three of her four, Alex Palting and Jayna Mislang two of their four, and Eric Writer and Alyssa Haddon Zimmer took one. “I think that each swimmer improved immensely and posted their best times this weekend. So, great job to the entire team,” said Morse, a first-time Solano swimmer. “I was very excited about
achieving some of my personal goals as well, and had a fantastic time this season.” Second-year swimmer Mislang agreed with Morse and said that the team did “amazing.” “Knowing that it was the last meet of the season really pumped people up to do our best,” Mislang said, “and personally, knowing it’s the last meet that I will ever compete in on the Solano team is a bittersweet ending. I’m really going to miss the people on the team–and just
During the meet, the coordinators recognized the sophomore swimmers, and their intended schools of transfer. Some of Solano’s transfers are Morse, who intends to transfer to Grand Canyon University with a major in business management. Haddon Zimmer aims to transfer to SF State, majoring in oceanography; and Palting plans to transfer to SF State for biochemistry, with hopes of leading into his goal of becoming a pharmacist in the military. This meet marked the end of the swim season for the Solano College team. Anyone interested in joining next year’s team may consider taking swim conditioning classes in the summer and fall. Contact Scott Parrish (scott.parrish@ solano.edu) for more information.