The Telescope 73.04

Vol. 73, No. 4

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Suspect pleads guilty to two on campus assaults Ana Acosta Summer Aguirre STAFF EDITORS

The Palomar College Police Department released the identity of the suspect involved in two on-campus assaults that occurred the week of Aug. 26.

The suspect pled guilty to the two crimes on Sept.

16, according to the San Diego District Attorney’s office.

The alleged perpetrator was revealed to be a registered sex offender from Oceanside named Adam Christian Johnson. He was described as a 20-year-old African American, and is not a student of Palomar College.

The nature of the assaults have been identified as “Sexual Battery” and “Annoying/Molesting a Child” on the campus police’s crime log.

Johnson was placed in custody on Aug. 28 after reportedly touching two females without consent, according to Palomar Police Chief Chris Moore.

According to Moore, the victim that reported the second assault was 17.

The first assault occurred at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 26 in the C building on the southwest side of the San Marcos campus. The PCPD was alerted of the incident around 4:45 p.m. the same day.

The PCPD was notified of a second attack on Aug. 27. The victim claimed to have been assaulted by the same suspect around 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 26 by the D building near Comet Circle West.

This is a developing story.

AACOSTA@THE-TELESCOPE.COM SAGUIRRE@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Archaeology student Casey Vann at Anthropology Days held on Oct. 31, 2019 at Palomar campus. Kurt Lapid/The Telescope

Celebrating humanity through Anthropology

SEE PAGE 3 OPINION

SEE PAGE 6

Faculty members calling for President’s resignation Ana Acosta STAFF EDITOR

Faculty members gathered to create a resolution requesting President/ Superintendent Joi Lin Blake’s immediate removal determining that they do not have confidence in her leadership.

President Blake sent an emailed response to the poll results, saying that “intentional, transformational change takes time.

Over the past three plus years, we have addressed difficult long-standing obstacles that have prevented the college from attaining fiscal stability.”

Blake further said that there is much more work left to complete in the future, and that it will not be an easy task.

“To maintain our high level of public trust and promises to the students we serve, our governance structures and financial priorities must evolve,”

ARTS & CULTURE

Intentional power outages cause new hazards

Fornite’s new season provokes mixed reviews

Utility companies that practice intentional power outages are threatening the lives of locals.

The newest Chapter of Fortnite leaves player reviews divided and ‘in a really weird place.’

Blake wrote, “I am committed to seeing these intentional changes through and look forward to the long-term financial stability to come.”

The Poll Results Two English professors, Barbara Kelber and Jerry Jenkins, presented a petition to the Faculty Senate that requested the initiation of a poll to determine the level of confidence that faculty members have in Blake’s leadership.

The poll was distributed to 321 full-time faculty members on Oct. 4. The results were revealed on Oct. 22 in an email sent by Craig Thompson, the Faculty Senate President.

Approximately 75 percent of full-time faculty members responded to the poll. Out of 237 votes, 92 percent of participants voted that they have no confidence in the future of Blake’s presidency.

The results further revealed that 20 respon-

SEE PAGE 5

dents voted that they do have confidence in Blake and three ballots were disqualified.

The Resolution As a response to the vote, the Faculty Senate decided to create a resolution that would call for Blake’s removal.

“We can pretty much anticipate what the board is going to do, they’re going to say ‘thank you very much’ and do what they want to do anyhow,” Jackie Martin, a member of the Faculty Senate said.

“We felt that we really need to have some strong language in the resolution and not just the numbers.”

Teresa Laughlin, Faculty Senate member and Co-President of Palomar’s faculty union, spoke about the issues that the resolution will address.

These issues included the claims that President Blake has failed to remain fiscally responsible, adhere to board policies regarding hiring and has

not followed shared governance procedures.

The resolution discusses these issues in depth, citing specific initiatives that were approved by Blake, such as the establishment of the Middle College program without required discussion, efforts requiring diversity status for applicants while hiring and the resignation of “several skilled, qualified administrators.”

Faculty members present at the Faculty Senate meeting on Oct. 28 agreed to officially demand Blake’s resignation in their resolution.

“It seems the obvious thing,” Martin said. “I think it’s important that we state it.”

Thompson will present the resolution to President Blake and board trustees at the Governing Board meeting at 5 p.m. on Nov. 12 in room SSC-1.

SPORTS

Volleyball captain brings team to success Women’s Volleyball outside hitter Alina Lecakes-Jones shares her passion for volleyball, teaching and makeup.

SEE CONFIDENCE ON PAGE 3

SEE PAGE 8

2 • NEWS

November 12, 2019

t BRIEFLY t UPCOMING EVENTS

Tuesday 3 p.m. Men’s Soccer v. San Diego Mesa College 5 p.m. Governing Board Meeting SSC-1

FUTURE ESSAY WRITING WORKSHOPS ESCONDIDO --- The Escondido TLC will be hosting ‘What’s Your Point?’ a writers workshop focusing on writing thesis statements.

The workshop will be held from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday Nov. 14 in room ESC-500B.

The workshop will cover choosing and introducing a topic for essays, correctly addressing the prompt, making a clear and convincing argument and supporting your points.

There will also be in-person sign ups or

OCTOBER IN REVIEW

students can email escondidotlc@palomar. edu to sign up.

For more information on the event call (760)744-1150 at ext. 8171 or visit www.palomar. edu/tlc/escondido.

— Krista Moore

TLC TO HOST WORKSHOP ON HOW TO APPLY FOR HEALTHCARE COVERAGE Wednesday 5 p.m. Women’s Volleyball v.

Imperial Valley 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. ASG Diversity Day SU-Quad

Thursday 1 - 2 p.m. Zavadilka Chamber Orchestra D-10

Friday 3 p.m. Men’s Soccer v. Mira Costa 7 - 9 p.m. Jazz Ensemble Performance Howard Brubeck Theatre

Saturday 6 p.m. Football v. San Diego Mesa College

SAN MARCOS --North County Health Services will be on campus Wednesday Nov. 13 for an information workshop about healthcare coverage.

The workshop will be held from 11 a.m. to 12 noon in the TLC building.

The event will cover where and how

students can apply for healthcare as well as learn the importance of preventative care.

The event will also discuss scheduling regular doctor’s visits such as screenings and physicals.

They will also be discussing how NCHS can assist with the application process.

There will be another presentation held from 1 to 2 p.m. on Dec. 2 at the TLC center.

To register for the event students can visit or call (760) 744-1150 ext.

3931.

For more details visit www.palomar.edu/tlc/ sanmarcos — Krista Moore

The Palomar College Foundation held their annual Monster Dash and Bash event on Oct. 19. The event raised over $75,000 which will fund future student scholarships and provide textbook support. Dianna Webb/The Telescope.

GEOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT TO HOST GIS DAY CELEBRATION SAN MARCOS --- Palomar College’s Geographic Information Systems program will be holding their GIS Day Celebration from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 13 in the Natural Sciences building.

There will be numerous events that are free and open to the public. Trivia, other competitions and

even a drone presentation will be available.

Here is the schedule of events: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Where in the World?

Trivia.

NS Lobby 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Virtual Sandbox NS Lobby

12 noon – 1 p.m.

Geocaching Competition NS Lobby 5:30 – 7 p.m.

GIS and Drone Presentations NS-135

The World Languages Department hosted Café International on Oct. 29. Students were able to practice languages as they traveled around booths that represented different countries.

Adel Bautista/The Telescope.

— Nicholas Casadona

Monday 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Blood Drive Parking Lot 6

Wednesday 6 p.m. Men’s Basketball v.

Cerritos

Thursday

Palomar player Julia Miller blocks Miramar from getting a goal.

Women’s Waterpolo beat Miramar on Oct. 30, 2019. This game was their seventh straight win. Ashley Rupp/The Telescope.

1 - 2 p.m. The Library at Night Musical Performance Howard Brubeck Theatre

Friday 11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. ASG Meeting SU-204

Monday 6 p.m. Men’s Basketball v. San Bernardino Valley College

Friday 7 - 10 p.m. “THE UNCOMMON” Howard Brubeck Theatre

Palomar hosted ‘Tarde Da Familia,’ an event where Latino professionals spoke on their success stories and how they overcame adversity when achieving their educational and career goals. Oct. 25, 2019 held at the Palomar College Escondido Campus. Kurt Lapid/The Telescope.

NEWS • 3

the-telescope.com

CONFIDENCE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Archaeology professor Jim Eighmey teaches students about flintnapping at Anthropology Days on Oct. 30, 2019 at the Palomar campus San Marcos. Kurt Lapid/ The Telescope.

Bones, spears and cave art: Celebrating humanity through ‘Anthropology Days’ Jordan Spurgeon STAFF EDITOR

Bones, spears, art and flint knapping, all featured in one event.

The second annual Palomar College Anthropology Days event was held on Oct. 30 and 31 at the San Marcos Campus, near the clocktower.

Day one showcased all the anthropology department has to offer for students. Attendees were able to touch and feel bones, watch a movie in a tent, learn how to throw an atlatl and paint cave art.

Archaeology professor Betsy Pain expressed her excitement about being a part of Anthropology Days.

“Our program is one of the best in California because it’s hands-on,” Pain said. “Students from fouryear universities come here to get more experience.”

One part of the event that students appeared to be drawn to most, was the atlatl throwing. It looks like spear throwing, but it was originally a technology that was used nearly 17,000 years ago to hunt.

Greg Graham Macier, an Archaeology major and member of the Anthropology Club, spent most of the day helping out with the atlatl throwing.

“This event was fun, I’m glad to be a part of it

Top: ‘Who’s Your Cousin’ game at the second annual Anthropology Days on Oct. 30, 2019. Nick Ng/The Telescope.

Bottom: Anthropology Club President Casey Vann creates her own cave art at the second annual Anthropology Days on Oct. 30, 2019. Kurt Lapid/The Telescope.

for the first time,” Macier said.

The Anthropology Club spent a long time planning this event. Casey Vann, the president of the club, has spent much of her time around the anthropology department.

Vann helped set up the event and ran some of the booths.

“This event is great ex-

posure to the program,” Vann said. “Not many people know about our program, but now they can see it and have some fun in the sun with us.”

Students from around campus came up to the booths throughout the day to see what all the commotion was about.

“It’s really interesting and really informative,”

said Palomar student Michael Morris, “They talked about how to excavate and understand bones. I also learned there’s a magic and witchcraft class which really interests me.”

Every professor involved took the time to demonstrate and tell students about different classes in the fields of anthropology.

Professor Jim Eighmey spent time flint knapping, to show students what he does out in the field. He had the goal of bringing awareness to the opportunities that are available through the Anthropology Department.

Day one was seen as a success by Anthropology professor Anne-Marie Mobilia. She said, “I think we had a lot of activities that got students engaged and relaxed during the school day, while also teaching them a little about anthropology.”

Day two of Anthropology Days took place on Oct. 31. They had guest speakers from different anthropological fields came to speak to students from 9 a.m to 3 p.m in room SSC1-1.

The list of guest speakers, not from Palomar, included Dr. Koanne Martinez from Cal State San Marcos and Cindy Stankowski from the San Diego Archaeological Center.

Palomar professors and Anthropology Club members also spoke throughout day two.

For more information on future Anthropology Days and how to get involved with the anthropology department, visit www.palomar.edu/pages/ anthropology.

JSPURGEON@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Then and Now President Blake is one of two female president/superintendents to receive a vote of no confidence in Palomar history.

In 2003, Palomar President Sherrill L. Amador received a vote of no confidence from faculty and classified employees.

The poll was initiated after a member of the English department, Jack Quintero, created a petition with signatures from 10 percent of full time faculty members.

Out of the 220 faculty members that participated in the vote, 90 percent voted that they had no confidence in Amador’s leadership.

Faculty members initiated the poll when Palomar entered a financial crisis, and tensions rose when administrators proposed faculty layoffs.

Amador was cited as the cause of these issues, and faculty said that they were a result of her “mismanagement” and “leadership skills,” as reported in a past issue from The Telescope.

In recent events, many faculty members throughout Amador’s presidency showed their discontent at governing board meetings.

Faculty members reportedly “pounded on windows, shouting ‘Change your venue!’” when over 200 faculty members attended a meeting in the governing board room on April 8, 2003.

Recent faculty and classified unions have formally requested board members to change the venue of the governing board meetings due to an increased amount of attendees.

Due to the rise in tensions between faculty and administration, significant numbers of faculty have attended the recent governing board meetings.

This has resulted in attendees exceeding the room’s capacity of 92, forcing attendees to stand outside of the boardroom to maintain safety regulations.

The Palomar Faculty Federation, the faculty union, submitted a formal request for the upcoming Governing Board meeting on Nov. 12.

According to Laughlin, there has been no response to the request.

As a result of Amador’s vote of no confidence in 2003, trustee Mark Evilsizer, who is currently Board President, said that he beloved Amador “deserves an opportunity to change.”

Amador remained Palomar’s president until she made the decision to retire the following year in July 2004.

Featured image by Justin Enriquez/The Telescope.

AACOSTA@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

4 • LIFESTYLE

November 12 , 2019

This Thanksgiving, fill your plate up with gratitude Nicole Villanueva STAFF EDITOR

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word Thanksgiving? Is it a basted turkey fresh out of the oven or a pile of mashed potatoes smothered in gravy?

As the holidays roll around we tend to get excited about the modern traditions attached to them.

Thanksgiving means coming together and indulging in a feast for many of us. It’s also the time of year we take a brief moment to reflect on what we’re grateful for.

Some of us have participated in that obligatory, awkward, “let’s all go around the table and say what we’re grateful for” tradition.

There’s no reason you should only take one time of year to express gratitude. In fact, there are numerous reasons, and science backing, that says you should express gratitude often, daily even.

Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D. is an expert in the science of positive psychology. Currently a psychology professor at UC

Illustration of fall leaves spelling out the word “thankful.” Photo courtesy of trinitytoledo.org.

Davis, Emmons is the founding editor of The Journal of Positive Psychology and has over 200 written publications about gratitude.

His work is featured on forums such as The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Time, NPR and PBS. Based on extensive research and studies Emmons says that people who consistently practice gratitude benefit from improving their physical, psychological, and social health.

According to Emmons, being more grateful can actually lower your blood pressure, strengthen your immune system, make

you more alert, and help you become more compassionate and outgoing.

It also further develops your sense of self-worth and your relationships with others. These are only a few of the long list of benefits.

The benefits of gracious lifestyle stretch beyond personal gain. An article on Forbes.com titled, “An Attitude Of Gratitude Reaps Big Rewards” talks about how the practice of gratitude will help your professional career.

From an entry level employee, up the ladder to a CEO, having a mindset of gratitude and cultivating it throughout the

workplace will strengthen the fundamentals of your work ethic and culture.

Micheal Kurland, CEO of the successful industry marketing company Branded Group and author of the mentioned article says, “To express our gratitude, we continually reinvest in our team because we know they are the lifeblood of our organization. When employees see that you genuinely care about them and their well-being, they will go the distance for your business.”

Whether you’re trying to de-stress, find more meaning in your life, or become a better leader

gratitude is a great place to start. So how can you become a more grateful person? It is something that requires diligence and practice.

Luckily, rather thankfully, there’s an abundance of resources that teach us how to become more gracious.

One prevalent tip says a good place to start is with the keeping of a gratitude journal.

The act of simply starting or ending your day by writing a short list of what you are grateful for is enough to start a positive change in your brain patterns.

As easy as it sounds, the

key here is consistency.

For more inspiration watch the Ted Talk, “Want to be happy? Be grateful” by David Stein-Rast.

Stein-Rast, monk and interfaith scholar shares inspiring ways to find gratitude in the ordinary day to day tasks.

He helps you see things with a deeper understanding and appreciation.

A tangible read is always a great tool to have.

Gift yourself or a loved one with any of these books to develop some daily habits: “The Little Book of Gratitude” by Robert Emmons “Attitudes of Gratitude: How to Give and Receive Joy Every Day of Your Life” by M.J. Ryan “Thank and Grow Rich”

by Pam Grout

This Thanksgiving fill up on more than food.

Make a pact with yourself to make some new and positive changes in your life, so you can have your turkey and eat it too.

NVILLANUEVA@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

My Chemical Romance reunites six years after breakup Victoria Price STAFF EDITOR

Bassist Mikey Way performing with My Chemical Romance on the 2011 Honda Civic Tour in Montreal, Canada. Photo courtesy of Brennan Schnell/Wikimedia Commons.

After a multitude of ominous social media posts and whispers around the music community, emo rock band My Chemical Romance announced their reunion, six years after their sudden breakup.

The reunion was announced on Oct. 31, with social media posts teasing their return.

Although the band broke up out of the blue in March 2013, they still have a heavy and dedicated fanbase.

My Chemical Romance formed in 2001 in New Jersey as the brainchild of lead singer Gerard Way. Previous to MCR, he had been involved in various garage bands, but they never led anywhere.

In 2001, Way was living in New York City and working as an intern for Cartoon Network.

On the day of the Sept.

11 attacks, Way claimed he was on his way home from work on the other side of the city and witnessed part of the event.

In an interview with Spin Magazine, Way said “I literally said to myself, ‘Fuck art. I’ve gotta get out

of the basement. I’ve gotta see the world. I’ve gotta make a difference.”’

Soon after, he wrote the song “Skylines and Turnstiles,” which became the band’s first official song.

From 2002 to 2010, My Chemical Romance released four studio albums.

Their third album, “The Black Parade,” released in 2006, went on to sell over 3 million copies in the United States alone.

For many years, a reunion seemed out of the question, since every member embarked on different projects.

Gerard Way released a solo album in 2014, and has been writing his graphic novels “The Umbrella Academy” as well as writing his own comic series with DC Comics under the reboot of the “Doom Patrol” series, a branch of the “Young Animal” comic series.

Rhythm guitarist Frank Iero has spent the past six years fronting his own band and has released multiple albums since MCR’s breakup, the most recent one being released a few months ago.

Bassist Mikey Way was involved in a electronicrock effort for a short pe-

riod of time, and recorded bass feature tracks for singer Andy Black and rock band Waterparks.

He has also joined the creative team on DC Comics, and has published his own series under the “Young Animal” franchise as well.

While the three previously mentioned members have been pretty active on social media and in the scene since the breakup, guitarist Ray Toro has been off the radar.

Toro released a solo album, “Remember the Laughter” in 2016, but it never gained much exposure.

Since their return, the group has announced a handful of shows.

The first one was announced shortly after the initial reunion announcement, and admission for the show taking place in Los Angeles next month retailed at $150 per ticket.

Even with the heavy ticket price, the event sold out in three minutes, with many fans waiting upwards of 30 minutes to get the chance to snag a ticket before getting word that it had sold out.

The band also announced that they will be

playing multiple stops of Download Festival taking place next year in Australia, New Zealand and Japan, their first round of shows since 2012.

There are rumors of a full tour to happen after the Los Angeles and overseas shows, but those have yet to be confirmed.

No clues about the setlist for the first show have been reveled, but fans can definitely expect to hear some classics at the upcoming shows.

The band has released demos of previously unreleased songs post-breakup, but there has been no confirmation that the group has been writing any new material.

For many fans, this renuion came as a surprise.

Many had accepted the fact that My Chemical Romance had their place in the music realm and that their story was over, so the announcement was the last thing anyone expected.

We still have over a month until their first reunion show, and fans will be waiting excitedly to see what MCR has in store.

VPRICE@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

ARTS & CULTURE • 5

the-telescope.com

The Telescope Focused On Palomar Tuesday, November 12, 2019 Vol. 73, No. 4 Palomar College, San Marcos, Calif.

VICTORIA PRICE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ANA ACOSTA MANAGING EDITOR NEWS EDITOR RIPP FRIESEN OPINION EDITOR SOPHIA BAUDER ASSISTANT OPINION EDITOR ALEX GARCIA ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR JORDAN SPURGEON SPORTS EDITOR SUMMER AGUIRRE ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR NICOLE VILLANUEVA LIFESTYLE EDITOR KRISTA MOORE SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR KIANA TEIXEIRA PHOTO EDITOR ERIN HIRO ADVISOR MAURICE THOMAS DESIGN MANAGER STAFF WRITERS

NICHOLAS CASADONA, CHEYENNE CYR, ENRIQUE DELEON, KYLE DYER, PATRICK FULLER, HALEY HARDY, ERIK LENNOX, NATALIE LOPEZ, MIA MCGREGOR, KOLETTE MOREHEAD, DRE’AS SANCHEZ, SEBASTIAN VENEGAS

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ADDRESS THE TELESCOPE PALOMAR COLLEGE 1140 W. MISSION ROAD, SAN MARCOS, CA 92069 PHONE / 760-891-7865 NEWSROOM / H-103 WEBSITE/ WWW.THE-TELESCOPE. COM FACEBOOK/ “THE TELESCOPE” TWITTER/ @TELESCOPENEWS EMAIL/ EDITOR@THE-TELESCOPE. COM AD EMAIL/ ADS@THE-TELESCOPE. COM THE TELESCOPE WELCOMES ALL LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. LETTERS MUST BE TYPED, UNDER 300 WORDS AND INCLUDE THE AUTHOR’S FIRST AND LAST NAMES, MAJOR AND PHONE NUMBER. PHONE NUMBERS WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED. LETTERS SHOULD BE EMAILED TO EDITOR@THE-TELESCOPE.COM. THE TELESCOPE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO EDIT LETTERS FOR SPACE AND GRAMMATICAL ERRORS AND NOT TO PRINT LEWD OR LIBELOUS LETTERS. LETTERS MUST BE RECEIVED ONE WEEK PRIOR TO THE NEWSPAPER’S PUBLICATION TO BE CONSIDERED FOR INCLUSION. THE TELESCOPE IS PUBLISHED 5 TIMES PER SEMESTER. OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THE NEWSPAPER ARE THOSE OF THE INDIVIDUAL WRITERS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THOSE OF THE ENTIRE NEWSPAPER STAFF, THE EDITORIAL BOARD, PALOMAR FACULTY AND STAFF

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Teaser image for “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.” Courtesy of BagoGames/Flickr.

‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare:’ cop or drop?

Nicholas Casadona STAFF WRITER

Marking 16 years since the initial release of the series in 2003, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” raises the bar again with this impressive shooter.

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare,” which came out on Oct. 25, is developed

by Infinity Ward and published by Activision.

This marks the ninth occasion these companies have worked together on a game for this series. This is also the first “Call of Duty” to include “cross-platform play”, bringing together gamers from Xbox, PlayStation and PC. Despite mixed reviews on the internet, by word of

mouth, this year’s game is getting great reviews.

It’s remarkable how hooked everyone is on this game, and the longevity is promising.

Many will say “Call of Duty” is always the same, or that the developers just upgraded the graphics again.

Though those things may be true, in essence, it doesn’t take anything away from the outstanding job that was done on this specific game.

A few things could be changed with the game itself, but it’s nothing a few title updates can’t fix.

In fact, as of Oct. 28, the first update has already been released, hoping to prevent consoles

from crashing. The game is powerful and may overload some older consoles.

Regardless, the game itself is addicting.

In single player campaign mode, the cinematics are eye-popping, and striking to the smallest of details.

The story will take several hours to complete, depending on the difficulty, and there’s not a single moment to excuse oneself from the screen.

You’re always in control of the game, like when you’re holding back a civilian riot gone wrong at the U.S. Embassy in the fictional country of Urzikstan.

Captain Price also is featured often in the story,

who is an obvious fan favorite from the mission “All Ghillied Up” on “Call of Duty 4.”

Co-op holds various other modes where you can play missions pertaining to the story with friends online or on the same television.

Survival is key, setting traps and turrets to help defend the articulated waves of enemies might just save your life.

Multiplayer offers some of the best online game modes from previous installments.

Domination, Kill Confirmed and Search and Destroy are some of these returning modes, and Cyber Attack is a new favorite.

The gun customization

in this game is very intricate and there are over 100 camos to unlock.

The maps are bigger than the typical maps from the past, and there is even an exciting 64-player mode called “Ground War.” “I enjoy the game, I feel like you have to cover and conceal more. You aren’t doing Medal of Honor runs without getting ‘schwacked’. I love it,” said veteran and Palomar student Matthew Wayne Baugh.

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” is a game to fall in love with. From the epic campaign missions to earning a nuke in multiplayer, answer the call.

NCASADONA@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Fortnite’s newest season receives mixed reviews Alex Garcia STAFF EDITOR

We are just weeks into the newest season of the world’s hottest game, and here are some things you should know.

Let’s begin with the blackhole. The community was met with a blackhole on Oct. 13 when players were jumping in to take part in the live in-game event that was to celebrate the end of season 10.

Instead, the event ended up causing the whole map to be sucked in. Once the event ended people who were in the game were just stuck with a screen with a blackhole on it.

When the community saw this, many of them believed that this was the end of “Fortnite” for good.

Parents all around the world had their children raging at the television screen asking why they couldn’t play, and if the game was ever going to return.

“Fortnite” didn’t give any updates as to when and

if the game was going to return, so much of the community felt that it was over and that they should probably move on to a new game.

Only two days later, the game returned and better than before. It included a brand new map, new battle pass and vaulting and unvaulting of items and weapons that the community had been asking for.

When a new season begins, the map typically gets new points of interest (POI’s), but for this season Epic Games decided to give the community a brand new map.

Many felt it was time for a new map anyways, as they had started to get bored of having to play the same map for 10 seasons.

The New Map This new map is bigger than the first one, and has many new POI’s while also bringing back some old favorites such as Retail Row, Pleasant Park and Salty Springs.

A new season means a new battle pass, which

means new skins, pickaxes, gliders, gun skins, emotes and so on.

These add-ons cost 950 “vbucks” which translates to $9.50.

The New Battle Pass The new battle pass is pretty awesome. I love all the skins that come with it.

I also like that each of the skins has a variant that you can earn as you complete certain challenges throughout the season.

With each skin you earn all of its extras, including characters backbling, pickaxe, glider and gun wrap. “If you play Fortnite religiously like I do, then I highly recommend it,” said Palomar student Chris Garcia.

When each new season begins, some healing items, transportation to get around the map and guns either get vaulted for being too strong or un-vaulted because it will help with the current trend of the game.

The main concern of the community was the vaulting of all the transportation

items such as launch pads, hover-boards, bounce pads, rifts and so on.

Getting around the new map is a big pain. With the loss of those transportation items, Epic did add boats which is the only way to get around the map other than walking.

With the map being big it’s hard to go from one side to the other, especially if the storm circle is far from where you decide to land which many players get angry about.

The new season was welcomed by the community and there weren’t too many complaints, but Fortnite did add one major change to the game that many players are having a problem with: skill based matchmaking.

With this, you will be put into matches with players of the same skill level.

Epic also added bots (AI’s) that are not real players.

The reason for this was for people who are just jumping in and playing for the first time.

Many newcomers were complaining that they were

just running into sweaty players that have been playing the game since season one and weren’t enjoying the game like usual, so Epic thought by adding a skilled based matchmaking systems that players would only get matched up with players within the same skill level.

Players feel that this was not a good thing to add to the game, some feel that every game they jump into they have to try their hardest to get the win and sometimes they don’t want to go hard and would rather enjoy a casual game with their friends.

With the addition of bots, it can sometimes make the game too easy for someone who is really good at it.

“Fortnite” is in a really weird place right now as a game.

The community is split on whether or not they like the new map as well as other new features. The only way for you to find out is to jump in and get a win.

AGARCIA@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

6 • OPINION

November 12, 2019

Palomar College is cutting classes students need to complete degrees and certificates. Art by Summer Aguirre/The Telescope.

New California bill coddles Deadly and dangerous: the problem with planned outages sleepy students Nicole Villanueva STAFF EDITOR

Remember grandpa’s story about having to walk 10 miles in the snow to get to school? Well today’s generation of middle and high school students will never know that struggle.

For one, it doesn’t snow here in California. Secondly, students just got permission from the state to sleep in a little later on school days. Senate Bill 328 was passed on Oct. 13, 2019.

The new law prohibits middle schools from starting any earlier than 8 a.m. and high school no earlier than 8:30 a.m. It will take effect by July 2022.

Why? Young students are sleepy in the morning.

Guess who else is sleepy in the morning? The rest of the world.

Anthony J. Portantino, the state senator who wrote the bill said, “Generations of children will benefit from starting later in the morning as we know that test scores, attendance and graduation rates all improve after shifting to a later start time... I am also pleased that depression, sports injuries, suicidal thoughts and car accidents all decline as well.”

I’m sorry, but are we to believe the answer to raising test scores, lowering rates of teenage car accidents, suicidal thoughts and depression lies in an extra 30 minutes of sleep?

Not buying it.

What about the fact that our outdated American education system was

structured in 1893 and focuses on memorization and mass approach as opposed to treating students as individuals?

Maybe they are stressed and struggling because each of their five to six classes bombard them with names, dates and facts that have nothing to do with life skills and then deem them failures when they can’t memorize it all.

I’m not saying adequate sleep isn’t important. It absolutely is. I agree with the research that helped to push this bill. The American Academy of Pediatrics published a policy statement about why they support the bill for later start times.

The policy explains that the recommended amount of sleep for developing adolescents is 8.5-9.5 hours. To no surprise, studies show that most teenagers are sleep deprived in accordance to those hours.

So why not teach adolescents time management skills? Teach them why going to bed early is important. Teach them to put cell phones down at night.

An article by PBS.org links an increase of sleep loss in teenagers to smartphone usage. In this analysis, teens admit that looking at their smartphones is the last thing they do before bed.

By now, many of us are aware about the harm thatblue light emits from our phone screens. It signals to our brain that it is daylight, causing us to not get tired.

I’m sure students are rejoicing over the news that

they get some extra sleep, until the reality hits that they likely will have to make up the lost time at the end of the school day.

School on average ends around 2:30 p.m. Push that back an hour and now school busses are entering prime traffic time. Kids will get home later, cutting into homework time. And late out times will interfere with after school sports.

And guess who’s not rejoicing? Working parents. Many parents already struggle to fit in dropping off their children at school before they make their own commute to work.

Later start times will cut into their commute time.

Students will be stuck tired and waiting for class to start.

Some working parents also depend on their older teenagers to help watch their younger siblings after school. With elementary times remaining the same and high school times shifting, this can create a lot of challenges for families.

Although I can appreciate the state taking interest in student well-being, a mere shift in school start times seems like a lazy slapstick answer to a deeper rooted problem.

We need to dig deeper into why teenagers are worn out, tired, and/or distressed. Saying they can sleep in a little longer is a one size fits all band aid.

We need to demand better solutions for our students.

NVILLANUEVA@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Haley Hardy STAFF WRITER

In addition to earthquakes, fires and floods, California has a new man made hazard to watch out for--intentional power outages.

Utility companies have started the practice of precautionary outages to prevent their equipment from starting wildfires.

Why have they started this? In October 2018, power lines were blamed for the devastating wildfires in Northern California.

In a state that charges the most for electric consumption, California utilities have not used their plentiful resources to update wires with protective sheathing or put them underground.

Pacific Gas & Electric have already shut down the power in strategically chosen places in hopes of preventing fires and loss of life.

However, the planned shutdown resulted in the death of a senior citizen reliant on his airway pressure machine 12 minutes after PG&E cut the power to his home.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the utility company is trying to blame the death on his heart, but his daughter believes the outage was the contributing factor.

Anyone with deductive reasoning skills would agree that the stress of not being able

to breathe could cause a heart attack making the power outage a contributing factor to his death as his daughter claims.

Whether or not the power outage was responsible for his death, it is responsible for the loss of income to small businesses, families got sent home from work, schools closing, accidents from stop lights not working, hospital surgeries and services delayed, loss of perishable foods at stores and homes from refrigerators and freezers not working.

More inconveniences from the power outages include customers experiencing disabled credit cards, no atm, no internet, no cell phones, no water, no cooking, no showers, no flushing toilets, and gas pumps may not work.

They have not cleared the brush and debris around their aging and faulty infrastructures.

Instead of doing their due diligence they will be passing their mistakes onto the consumer.

In fact, according to The New York Times, Utility companies have paid tens of millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions to pass a California law that would allow them to pass the costs on to consumers by charging higher rates.

Consumer Watchdog found that California lawmakers were among the biggest beneficia-

ries of campaign contributions, money which could and should have been used to update Californians aging utility infrastructure.

Power companies claim these power outages are for our safety.

It’s a pack of lies being fed to the consumer as being in the best interest of the them.

It’s cheaper for electric companies to cut power than for them to update the equipment.

Customers will still end up paying. When outages occur the lines are not quickly turned back on because the electric companies have to inspect each power line before resuming service.

California has always had wildfires, they are not a new phenomenon, and utilities were never turned off to accommodate them.

The power outages accommodate only the shareholders of the utility companies from being sued for damage caused by their faulty, aged equipment.

They use their gains to find a way to bribe officials to continue with their shabby services trying to maximize their profit without investing in making the equipment safer.

Wildfires are not going away, maybe privately owned mega utility companies should.

HHARDY@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

SPORTS • 7

the-telescope.com

Sophomore water polo player leads team offensively Kyle Dyer STAFF WRITER

A player that has been making a big splash in water polo for the Comets is Kevin McCollum.

McCollum is playing his sophomore season with the Comets and is currently the leading goal scorer with 60 goals in 20 games.

Nineteen year old McCollum is an alumnus of Escondido High School He started playing water polo because he grew up watching his brothers play and he enjoyed it.

Before he got heavily involved in water polo he also played soccer and hockey.

After McCollum graduated, he decided to attend Palomar.

He said, “I decided to go to Palomar because I had classmates I knew that went or are currently in Palomar and decided to go not only because of that but also to help me

Palomar men’s water polo leading scorer Kevin McCollum poses for a portrait in front of the pool. Kevin Mijares/The Telescope.

academically.”

McCollum is majoring in Kinesiology and plans to transfer to Cal State Long Beach after finishing at Palomar.

Out of the water, McCollum enjoys hanging out with his teammates, especially Truman Irion and Nate Taylor.

“They have been the

guys I’ve been working really well with in practice,” McCollum said, “We all try to improve ourselves on the water.”

His goal for this season

is to build more chemistry with his teammates, many of whom have returned from last season.

Their experience together has helped them

battle for a conference title. They are currently in second place in the PCAC. When asked how Head Coach Kody Moffatt has led them, he said, “I look to him as someone who has been a strong mentor for me to help make me better as a player and he’s definitely made a great bond with the players he coaches.”

McCollum mentioned that the team needs to sharpen their power play offense in order to compete for a conference title.

They are currently 1211 on the season and 4-1 in conference play.

Moffatt also had high praise for McCollum.

“Kevin has shown to be a great teammate and is very competitive when it comes to playing,” he said, “He has been a pleasure to have as a player.”

KDYER@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Football through the lens

Taylor Williams drives between two defenders on Jan. 30, 2019. Photo courtesy of Hugh Cox.

Comets prepare for title run Krista Moore STAFF EDITOR

Top Left: Comets running back Damon Wigand runs into the endzone as quarterback Rodney Thompson celebrates. The Comets beat Moorpark 30-19 to open their season on Sept. 7.

Photo Courtesy of Hugh Cox. Top Right: The Comets defense sacks the Ventura college quarterback. The Comets lost 4538 on Sept. 28. Benjamin King/The Telescope.

Bottom Left: Comets tight end Isaiah Batton leaps for a catch against Grossmont College on Oct. 5. The Comets won 36-14. Kevin Mijares/The Telescope.

Bottom Right: The Comets defense brings down the El Camino College quarterback in the backfield. The Comets drop to 0-3 in Conference after losing 38-20 on Nov. 2. Kevin Mijares/ The Telescope.

Palomar Women’s basketball has officially tipped off their season looking to get back to the championship game.

The women finished 21-8 last season, in what Coach Leigh Marshall described as a down year, which she contributed to relying on a young team for big minutes.

With about half of the squad returning from last season, Marshall looks to regain some of the basketball IQ that Palomar is known to have.

Returning First Team All Conference point guard, Taylor Williams said, “Since we have a lot of sophomores, I want to carry over the seniority

attitude and have high IQ and leadership.”

Along with game awareness, newcomer Elexis Espina said she’d like to carry over the ability to be coachable this season.

The freshman played big minutes for the Comets off the bench in their first game and win of the season with 10 points, two assists and four rebounds.

Coach Marshall liked what she saw from Espina saying, “She plays really hard and she buys in and she just wants to do what’s best for the team.”

Along with Espina the Comets get back Nikki Mayoral, who sat out last season with an ACL injury, but had contributed the previous season.

Coming back to the court this season Mayoral

wants to carry out the energy and work ethic she has become accustomed to at Palomar mentioning it as a contagious quality within the team.

“The work ethic is the key to every good team.”

Mayoral said. “ In order to get the accolades a team must first do the dirty work not everyone loves doing.”

Coach Marshall is looking to Williams and Mayoral as two leaders to help guide the team to the universal goal of a state title.

The team will be playing its first home game against Santa Monica at 7 p.m. on Friday Nov. 15 in the Dome.

KMOORE@THE-TLESCOPE.COM

8 • SPORTS

November 12, 2019

Women’s Cross Country runs their way to PCAC Jordan Spurgeon STAFF EDITOR

The Palomar Women’s Cross Country team won the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Championship on Oct. 28.

The top five runners for the Comets earned all conference honors.

Freshman Addison Rose finished in second place, followed by fellow freshman Alexia Delgadillo who finished in third.

Jolie Beentjes finished in fifth, Brianna Frain finished in eighth and Mila Beentjes finished 13.

At the championship meet, Rose finished second overall with a personal best time of 20:00 minutes.

Delgadillo finished in third place with a time of 20:35. The two pushed each other back and forth all season long.

“It doesn’t matter what place we get, as long as we are working as a team,” said Delgadillo.

“When I saw her in the race I used her to push myself to catch her to be better for our team,” said Rose.

(Left) PCAC Women’s Cross Country championship trophy. Photo Courtesy of Sonia Rodriguez. (Right) Women’s Cross Country after winning the PCAC Championship on Oct. 28. Pictured from left to right: Lessli Maldonado, Alexia Delgadillo, Brianna Frain, Addison Rose, McKenna Brown, Mila Beentjes. Photo courtesy of Sonia Rodriguez.

As a team, the women spent all of their practices pushing each other to be better. Cross country is viewed as a solo sport, but team success was important to them.

“We learned that we could work better together than we could on our

own,” said Frain.

Coach Sonia Rodriguez had her hands full before the season began, when she took over the coaching duties for the men’s team, while still coaching the women’s team.

The team went through adversity all season long

but she is proud of how they’ve come together and pushed past any obstacle in their way.

In cross country, the times of each wteam’s top five runners count towards their score. Each overall place in the race has a point value.

Coach Rodriguez said, “One thing we did really well was run in a pack.

All of our runners one through five and outside our top five did a good job pushing each other to finish ahead of other teams’ top five to lower their scores.”

Balancing school and cross country is tough for many of these studentathletes. Sophomore Mila Beentjes considered not returning to run this year because she is taking 19 units in total.

“It’s possible to balance school, practice and a job, but you just have to want it,” Beentjes said.

Winning the PCAC championship was just one goal for this team.

They still have their eyes set on making a name for themselves at Regionals on Nov. 8 at Mission Bay Park.

“Last year we finished 13 out of 13 in Regionals, but this year we’re the underdogs that other teams fear,” said Frain, “ We are looking forward to showing that we are better than people believe.”

The Women and Men competed in the CCCAA SoCal Regional Championships on Nov. 8. For an updated story with their results, visit our website www.the-telescope.com.

JSPURGEON@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Volleyball player brings positivity to the court Sophia Bauder STAFF EDITOR

The Palomar Women’s Volleyball team has a leader who dominates on the court and elevates the skills of everyone around her through her team player mentality.

Alina Lecakes-Jones, captain of the Palomar Women’s Volleyball team, brings a spark of passion on and off the court.

Lecakes is a sophomore at Palomar College who started playing volleyball in eighth grade. Her mother had always wanted her to join a swim team, but that was not Lecakes’ vision.

Instead of signing up for swim, she decided to join a recreational volleyball team for fun when her friend mentioned there was an opening.

From the first time she stepped onto the court, Lecakes knew it was her sport. “I instantly fell in love with the sport the first time I played, it was an instant connection,” she said.

Lecakes’ passion for volleyball followed her into high school. Freshman year, she made the team and decided it was

something she wanted to pursue. She continued to play throughout her high school years, until she injured her left knee by tearing her ACL and meniscus.

After her injury she decided it would be best if she continued her volleyball career at a community college, which is what brought her to Palomar.

Lecakes is now the outside hitter for the Comets and has made 122 kills this season so far. Coming to Palomar and playing for the team has ultimately made her volleyball experience even better.

“Volleyball at Palomar has changed me completely and has developed me so much more,” said Lecakes, “I’ve never been the player that I am now.”

Her teammates feel that she is an essential part of the team. Carsyn Emerson, freshman and right side setter said, “Alina brings a lot of positivity and definitely makes our team communication better, she’s essentially our hype man.”

Not only do her teammates feel that she brings a positive presence, but her defensive specialist Arielle Vannoy expressed, “Alina leads our team, she

always brings us up when we’re doubting ourselves and speaks up when no one else wants to, we look up to her.”

Lecakes is the voice of their team and always brings a calming presence when they are feeling overwhelmed.

In her free time, Lecakes works at Fit in Solana Beach where she babysits children in the daycare center. She mentioned that she loves spending time with kids, and is currently studying Liberal Studies to become a kindergarten schoolteacher.

Makeup is another one of her passions. She spends a lot of her time on YouTube watching beauty videos, such as Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson.

She loves to just stay at home watching makeup tutorials, “I love doing my makeup, to me it’s like a creative outlook.”

Lecakes says she has had a positive experience at Palomar, but decided this is where her volleyball journey will end.

“I’ve had such a good experience here and I want to leave it at that.”

SBAUDER@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Alina Lecakes-Jones during women’s volleyball practice. Oct. 29 2019. Kiana Teixeira/The Telescope.

Palomar volleyball player Alina Lecakes-Jones celebrates after scoring against San Diego Mesa College on Nov. 6. Kevin Mijares/The Telescope.