The Telescope 68.15

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/THE_TELESCOPE STUDENTS’ FASHION DESIGNS MAKE RUNWAY DEBUT @TELESCOPENEWS

Annual MODA fashion show on May 8 featured Palomar student designs • Page 15

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Vol. 68, No. 15 • Monday, May 11, 2015

Retirement bonus postponed again SUSAN WHALEY THE TELESCOPE

A decision on whether to grant an early retirement bonus program for employees has been postponed a second time, with the faculty union alleging a conflict of interest.

The Governing Board’s decision whether or not to approve the Supplementary Early Retirement Plan, also known as the SERP, is now set for May 12 after its members review the union’s documents.

The faculty union members said they sought legal counsel the day before the SERP, a bonus equaling 75 percent of someone’s salary to retire early, was scheduled for a vote by Palomar’s elected, five-member Governing

Illustration by Paul Nelson/ The Telescope

Board during its April 28 Governing.

Both sides are considering a new rehire plan that would cut the time in half, meaning it would only take four months to hire replacement employees.

The union members sent a letter to the Governing Board proposing President Robert Deegan, Vice President of Instruction Berta Cuaron and Vice President of Human Resources John Tortarolo not take part in the bonus alleging that their job roles provided a conflict of interest in negotiating their own financial contracts.

By approving the SERP, it could “expose representatives of the District to criminal liability,” according to the email sent by the union co-president Shannon Lienhart.

Lienhart’s reasoning behind the allegations of a conflict of interest concerning Deegan, Cuaron and Tortarolo is because they were involved in crafting the SERP and also have invested financial interest in its approval, she said in emails.

Tortarolo, the lead negotiator for the district, was unavailable for comment until after

the next Governing Board meeting, according to his secretary.

Traditionally, Palomar officials decline to comment on issues where lawsuits might be pending.

When it becomes a conflict of interest is after you take the SERP, that’s when people are no longer supposed to be part of determining the assumptions TERESA LAUGHLIN • UNION NEGOTIATOR

Teresa Laughlin, lead negotiator of the union, said the conflict of interest is because the three named officials made changes to the SERP after they had chosen to take it.

“When it becomes a conflict of interest is after you take the SERP, that’s when people are no longer supposed to be part of determining the assumptions,” Laughlin said. She noted that she and another union negotiator signed a contract refusing to take the SERP even though they were eligible.

The other issue with the early retirement is the plan on how to replace retirees. Laughlin said the initial assumptions were a

full and immediate placement of classified staff. Then districts officials changed their minds in early April, saying it would take eight months for rehiring to save the college more money. Laughlin said this was a shift of around $2 million from the initial numbers were drafted.

Palomar employees had until April 3 to sign up to retire. Many on the campus said they are furious that, after a month, they still don’t know if they can afford to retire June 30.

Angry emails have been sent from faculty and staff because of the union’s statements and many staffers have come forward at the Governing Board meetings to complain publicly.

Bruce Bishop, a speech professor, spoke to the Governing Board and has been active on all-staff emails as well.

“It appears our (union) leadership is trying to throw out as many objections and allegations as possible, without regard for truth, ethics, accuracy, or the impact on those who have faithfully served this college ... The efforts of the (union) have created a toxic climate that will exist long after we are gone,” Bishop said via email.

Bishop declined to talk to The Telescope in person and referred to the emails he already sent out.

JUMP TO RETIRE PAGE 2

Palomar student, former student injured in deadly car crash JODY JOHNSON THE TELESCOPE

Two Palomar College students, one former and one current, were involved in a fatal car crash that occurred May 1.

The accident left two students in a medically-induced coma and resulted in the injury of their mother, and the deaths of their grandmother and father.

The accident occurred on Interstate 15 near Mira Mesa Blvd., where the two cars collided head-on.

Shane McDonald, 21, was driving the wrong way when his Audi A4 collided with the students’ family Honda Civic. The vehicles slammed into each other head-on when both vehicles changed lanes to avoid one another.

The collision killed Rodolfo De La Torre and Teresa Hernandez on impact with former Palomar photography student Julio De La Torre and his mother Angelica suffering broken necks, head trauma and abdominal injuries. Palomar student Carolina De La Torre, Julio’s sister, suffered broken ribs and a broken clavicle, and head trauma.

Julio De La Torre has been described as a “talented young photographer devoted to his craft.”

JUMP TO CRASH PAGE 19

Comets baseball rounding home on historic season MIKE ADAMS THE TELESCOPE

They are No. 1 in Southern California, No. 5 in the nation and boast a conference men’s coach and scholar athlete of the year.

It’s been quite a season for Comet’s baseball.

After having 20 players from last year’s 28-11 team move on to play at four-year universities, Head Coach Buck Taylor and his coaching staff’s program reloaded for 2015. Going 30-6 (21-3 PCAC Conference) and having two, 10-game winning streaks, the Comet’s have scorched their way to a 5th straight PCAC title.

“They don’t like losing - that’s for sure - and they’re not used to it,” Taylor said after the Comet’s 4-2 round 1 playoff victory over Riverside City college at Myers Field on May 2. Taylor was also just named men’s coach of the year for the second time, after also winning in the title in 2009.

A habit of winning mixed with

Palomar baseball team members celebrate in the Wallace Memorial Pool after The Comets swept visiting Riverside City College on May 2 and advanced to the next round of the Southern California playoffs. • Philip Farry / The Telescope

camaraderie that can clearly be heard from the dugout pushes Palomar on their hunt for a first state title. After the May 2 victory, the team celebrated by practicing their diving skills off Wallace Memorial Pool’s high board.

The battery of sophomore lefthander Jake Barnett and catcher Frank Christy has been one of California’s

strongest. On the mound, Barnett leads the team in wins (8-2) and PCAC in strikeouts (74). Christy, who in 2013 was drafted in the 37th round by the Oakland Athletics, has been a force batting clean up with nine home runs and 47 RBI’s, good for second and third in respective state rankings.

The key to being a student athlete

is excelling both on and off the field, and third baseman Vince Mori is one of the school’s exemplary performers.

Mori’s combination of a 3.95 GPA and .315 batting average earned him the distinction of PCAC scholar-athlete of the year for all sports at the May 5 meeting of the conference’s 10 athletic directors.

A trio of Comets pitchers: Troy Lamparello, Tyler Russell, and Taylor Turski each have five victories this season. Turski’s 0.80 ERA through 56 innings pitched is second best in all of the state. Collectively, the pitching staff owns the best ERA in the state of 1.91, ahead of the No.1 team in the nation, Northern California’s San Joaquin Delta, which was second with 1.97.

This season couldn’t have come at a better time for the program with the Comets saying goodbye to their storied Myers Field and moving a 10-minute walk to the other end of campus and a brand new ballpark with facilities that will be ready for play next year.

Up next, Palomar is set to play Irvine Valley College 23-16 (8-11 away).

The Comets (17-1 home) will continue as the top seeded club and have home field advantage until the Final Four round.

As for coach Taylor’s expectations, “We’re gonna win every game.”

MADAMS@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

2 • NEWS

Monday, May 11, 2015

Palomar Escondido students, employees feel connected with main campus despite distance KIRK MATTU

mall and had a grand reopening in Fall 2013.

The remodel added student gathAlthough Palomar’s Escondido ering areas and provided an expancampus is nine miles away from sion on student services like those the main campus, staff and students found on Palomar’s main campus. there said the smaller campus re- Students can receive services from mains deeply connected to Palomar the Teaching Learning Center, College’s San Marcos site and there’s Counseling and Enrollment Serno sense of isolation. vices, Health Services, the Ernest J. In fact, it “is kind of like a hidden Allen Library, a café and bookstore gem, ” said Katy French, the head to name just a few. librarian at the Escondido Center.

Escondido Center Manager Tom French added that the smaller class- Medel said that students are offered rooms and size of the campus creates an array of services at the center so a much more intimate environment. that they would not need to visit the main campus.

“When a student walks in through that door, they can get everything they need to get taken care of here Escondido center,” Medel said.

The greater availability of at the Vanessa Ruiz, an animal science full-time faculty to meet major, said that the Escondido Censmaller size has overshadowed with students would be ter’s her experiences of the large crowds beneficial for the center found at the main campus.

“I like it here more than the main Gary Sosa • PROFESSOR campus,” Ruiz said. “I love it. I think the people here are nicer and they always try to help you.”

“In the perspective of a student, Barbara Everett, an adjunct proyou go to campus and you immedi- fessor in child development, said ately find a parking spot. You’re in she has enjoyed her time teaching the building in less than a minute. at Escondido because of its smaller You’re in your classroom in two min- family-like environment. utes,” French said.

“If you see someone who’s She added that the smaller class- struggling with something you rooms and size of the campus creates can take them by the hand and a much more intimate environment walk them across the hall and say, compared to the ability to become ‘Here, this person can help you,’” more anonymous on the main cam- Everett said. pus.

She added that the support staff Escondido Center was trans- at the center is readily available and formed from a commercial strip approachable and that the smaller THE TELESCOPE

CORRECTION Barbara Kelber is not a member of the Instructional Planning Council, or IPC. We acknowledge and apologize for this mistake.

Escondido Campus • Stephen Davis/The Telescope

campus has given students, staff and faculty the opportunity to greet one another by name.

Gary Sosa, an English as a Second Language professor, mimics Everett’s sentiments and adds that because of the central location of administrative services, it has made it easier to “walk in and talk to people.”

While the center has a mix of both adjunct and full-time faculty members, Sosa said he would like to see more full-time faculty members teach at the center. The greater availability of full-time faculty to meet with students would be beneficial for

the center, but would need departmental support and a greater number of classes offered at the center, Sosa said.

“The reputation and stability to see the same faces is helpful for the center to grow,” Sosa said.

While the center offers the necessities of student services, students who attend classes at the Escondido Center notice the lack of student activities offered on the campus.

Associated Student Government President Mario Gaspar, who is currently taking classes at both the main campus and Escondido Cen-

ter, said he has found that students want ASG activities held at the center but has found difficulty meeting that need with such a small board of senators.

“Currently we are trying to do a lot better job with getting involved at the Escondido Center,” Gaspar said.

“What I did start trying to do with that was take some of the flyers here (on the main campus) and post them over there whenever I got a chance to do so to advertise some of our events.”

RETIRE

had was they would only participate in the SERP if the staff retiring would be hired back as soon as possible, Aaron Holmes, classified staff president, said during the April 13 Governing Board meeting.

When the numbers came out in mid-April on how much money Palomar would save because of the SERP, they showed if Palomar rehired staff immediately it would not save the college money. The only reason the numbers show the college would save money is if the staff positions are not filled in for eight months.

This is one of the reasons the SERP was postponed at first.

Laughlin said the District has come up with a new rehiring plan for staff, which will be brought up

at the May 12 Governing Board meeting. Instead of eight months, the plan is to allow four months to rehire.

The last time Palomar officials looked at an early retirement, it was in 2004, when then-College president Sherill L. Amador took the incentive according to public affairs documents from the California State University department. She announced her retirement before the SERP was brought to the board for initial approval.

The eight others who opted in the early retirement were the vice president of human resources, deans, directors and faculty members.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

The SERP decision was first postponed on April 13 because of a conflict regarding the timeframe to rehire classified staff.

The union and classified staff members have said they believed the SERP should not get passed until the rehiring issue was resolved. Now the issue of legality is brought into question.

Laughlin said she is worried about the district being sued and it was the union’s duty to warn the Governing Board members. The members could be charged criminally, she said.

During negotiations last year, one stipulation the classified staff

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NEWS • 3

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Focused On Palomar Monday, May 11, 2015 Vol. 68, No. 15 Palomar College, San Marcos, Calif.

SUSAN WHALEY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MIKE PETERSON MANAGING EDITOR & OPINION EDITOR CHRISTOPHER BULLOCK SPORTS EDITOR JOEL VAUGHN CO-A&E EDITOR STEVEN BURIEK CO-A&E EDITOR KIRK MATTU ONLINE EDITOR STEPHEN DAVIS PHOTO EDITOR

Show reruns in Planetarium all semester AMBER ROSARIO THE TELESCOPE

JOHN LUCIA CARTOONIST ERIN HIRO ADVISER DEB HELLMAN BUSINESS MANAGER STAFF WRITERS MIKE ADAMS, LEAH BAENA, PETER BRIGHT, BROOKE CRAWFORD, TAMARA EAKINS, RODNEY FIGUEROA, JODY JOHNSON, MICHAEL HAMERSCHLAG, FERN MENEZES, FAYE NOUROLLAHI, CLAUDIA RODRIGUEZ, ED ROSA, AMBER ROSARIO, ALEXANDRA ROTHMAN, ROBERT RUKAVINA, JOE SANDOVAL, ROMA WATKINS, KRISTINA WALTON, ZACHARY WATSON PHOTOGRAPHERS JACOB BANKS, EVAN CAST, CASEY COUSINS, DIRK CALLUM, PHILIP FARRY, ADAM GUERRERO, MEREDITH JAMES, SETH JONES, MICHAEL KAPLAN, DANIEL KRESGE, BELEN LADD, PAUL NELSON, JUSTIN SUMSTINE, RICARDO TORRES 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/ SEARCH “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 TYPEWRITTEN, 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 8 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, PALOMAR FACULTY AND STAFF MEMBERS OR THE GOVERNING BOARD TRUSTEES. ASSOCIATED COLLEGE PRESS

Palomar College Planetarium • File photo by Francois Swart

CALIFORNIA NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER’S ASSOCIATION

This semester Palomar’s Planetarium has noticeably lacked a new show in its line up of astronomical masterpieces being shown in the 50foot Astrotec dome.

The Fulldome Presentation “Moons: Worlds of Mystery” has been playing since last semester.

The reason for this is quite simple according to Planetarium Director, Mark Lane.

“When choosing the show this time I just did not find anything that I liked,” Lane said.

Lane pointed out that licensing to show some of these films could cost up to $12,000 and at their most extravagant is $40,000.

The lack of a new show this semester has not particularly affected ticket sales. The line-up proves to keep attendees intrigued. After the

April 2 showing of “Moons,” Frankie Younger, a Palomar linguistics major, said he found the show interesting.

“I’m taking an astronomy class and this really helps reinforce concepts that we learn,” Younger said.

Lynzee DeSantis, a student from Mt. San Jacinto College, seconded that motion.

“This is such an innovative way to keep the public interested in the subject matter.”

Since 1965, Palomar’s Planetarium has been putting on visually breathtaking shows every Friday evening. The shows and activities held at the Planetarium help educate students and the community about astronomy and space sciences.

Two JVC digital projectors work together to display a very realistic image of the night sky on the dome of the Planetarium. This full-dome view of the sky and other astronomy

related movies make learning about the subject interactive and unique.

Since the opening of the new Planetarium in 2012, the shows that have been part of the Fulldome Presentation have been very popular.

This semester, however, there has not been a new show added to this lineup.

The well-received show “Moons: Worlds of Mystery,” has been shown since last year.

Because the Planetarium is a selffunding entity that is open only once a week, it is important that the provided content attracts viewers. This causes Lane to be cautious when choosing shows.

He said he knows the shows that are chosen need to be interesting, educational and affordable.

Usually something new falls into the lineup every six months.

“Six months seems to be the sweet spot,” Lane said. He has had

people asking about when the newest show will be aired, his response is strategic.

Since the new Planetarium is only three years old, people have not seen all the shows they have backlogged. This is a great opportunity to now rotate the shows they still have licensing over until something truly great strikes Lane’s interest. This allows for a degree of variety to the shows, without leaving people waiting for the next best thing.

“Secret Lives of Stars,” “Undiscovered Worlds” and “Stars: Powerhouses of the Universe” will be rotating with “Moons: Worlds of Mystery” every Friday evening until June 26 tentatively.

For more information on the Planetarium, shows and tickets visit the website http://www.palomar. edu/planetarium/.

AROSARIO@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Multiple bike thefts on campus cause extra precaution ALEXANDRA ROTHMAN THE TELESCOPE

Recently, there has been a high number of reports filed for stolen bikes at Palomar.

Signs have beem posted throughout campus where students leave their bikes, warning students to lock them up.

“Bike theft is a common problem that all campuses have,” Campus Police Sgt. Michael Maines said.

“We are aggressively going after it.”

He added that bike theft is a theft of opportunity based upon people’s changing situations, such as someone’s car breaking down or not having a ride home.

“People look for bikes that have weak locks or have not been locked up,” Maines explained.

The sign posted by the MD Building was created as an effort to urge students to be responsible with their bicycles. The campus po-

Sign posted near bicycle rack by MD Building • Stephen Davis/The Telescope

lice are relying on students to do all they can to prevent bike theft. This includes using a strong lock and cable.

Maines said that any crime of

opportunity, like bike thievery, is difficult for police officers to control. The campus police believe that the signs and stressing the importance of responsibility are going to

help keep the crime rate down.

“Awareness is the biggest prevention,” he added.

James Dobson, a computer science major at Palomar, rides his bike from the train to school every day. But in late February, his locked bike was stolen.

Dobson voiced his frustration.

Although the theft was reported to campus police, it was never returned. He was then required to purchase a brand new bike, because he still needed transportation to school.

“They looked for it, but they didn’t find it,” Dobson said. “It’s been months.”

Dobson said he took precautions to make sure his bike was secured.

“It had a lock on it.” He said he thinks the thief cut the lock.

“Unless there’s more security, bike theft will go on,” he added.

AROTHMAN@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

4 • NEWS

Monday, May 11, 2015

Three ways to prep your car for summer 2. Inspect all tires

1. Inspect all drive belts and hoses

3. Inspect radiator and cooling system Photos by Stephen Davis/The Telescope

JODY JOHNSON THE TELESCOPE

Summertime is on the horizon, which means there will be road trips with your family and friends. Your car is picked to be the road trip vehicle, and you know your car can handle the drive.

As you’re driving on the freeway, suddenly the engine starts to emit smoke. You pull over to the side of the road, and you lift the hood of your car to air out the smoke. Do you know what do in this situation? Do your passengers? Before you headed out on this summer road trip, did you inspect your car for any maintenance? Your answer is probably no.

Don’t fret, here’s a breakdown of the main issues you need to look at in order to prepare your vehicle for the summer.

1) Inspect all drive belts and hoses Inspecting all belts and hoses can prevent any engine damage to your car.

Belts give power to the steering pump, the cooling pump, and the air conditioner compressor. Hoses produce a connection for coolant flow between the engine and radiator. Hoses only take 4 to 5 years to deteriorate. Failure to inspect the belts and hoses can lead to your engine overheating.

2) Inspect all tires Always check the air pressure in your tires. Tires lose about 1 to 2 pounds of air per month. In the summer weather, tires are prone to overinflation which is a reason why you see burnt rubber on the roads in the summertime. You can find many automotive services that offer a cheap way to pump air in your tires. Check out freeairpump.com to search for locations

that offer free air for your car. One automotive service called Discount Tires is noted for offering a free service to fill up your tires with air.

Also, do not buy used tires for your car. As much as it is beneficial to save money on tires, used tires will usually have deteriorated due to the worn-out rubber. It’s better to invest in new tires rather than be at risk of an accident with used tires.

3) Inspect the Radiator and the Cooling System The radiator and the cooling system are very important to the car during summer. Check for leaks and breaks in the system and add coolant or antifreeze. Antifreeze helps to raise the boiling point to 260 degrees, which helps to prevent the overheating of the engine. Changing the fluids routinely will help to prolong the lifespan of many major car components.

The costs for these services will vary depending on the automotive mechanic you go to. Usually, you will have to pay the mechanic hourly, then you will have to pay for the parts you need. The parts of larger vehicles cost more. Once everything is accounted for, a car owner can expect to spend several hundred dollars on their car if they don’t take care of their car routinely.

“Summer is one of those months that can be hard for vehicles,” explained automotive professor Anthony Fedon. “It puts the car at risk and passengers at risk, too. We then have to go into survival mode, and figure out what is wrong with our car.”

Professor Fedon recommends that many people fix their cars in the springtime when they may receive a few extra dollars in tax refunds.

“It is also important to find a highly qualified auto facility and then build a

relationship with the mechanic. Building a relationship with a mechanic will save you money and always focus on prioritizing the main issues that are affecting your car,” he said.

Fedon encourages students to take AT 100 because they will learn what kind of questions should be asked when dealing with a mechanic.

“Inspecting your car routinely and also performing maintenance on your car will extend the life span of your vehicle,” Fedon said, adding his 2001 Ford Escape has 456,000 miles on it and the original engine.

JJOHNSON@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

NEWS • 5

the-telescope.com

Cocos Fires: A year later

Last summer North County was covered by fires.

The Cocos Fire in San Marcos sparked on May 14 and wasn’t extinguished until May 22 of 2014.

Palomar College officials had to postpone its commencement ceremony and reschedule finals because the campus closed as evacuations were put in place.

According to Wildfire Today, 1,995 acres burned and 36 homes were destroyed.

Earlier in March, eight miles of trails in San Marcos were reopened after they were damaged by the fires.

Top left: The Cocos Fire on May 14, 2014. The fire caused the cancelation of classes at Palomar College and California State University San Marcos. • File photo from Joe Davis.

Top right: The aftermath of the Cocos Fire reached the top of Double Peak Park in San Marcos. • Justin Sumstine/The Telescope Middle: Navy and Marine Corps aircraft assisted CAL FIRE to battle the Cocos Fire on May 15, 2014. • Stephen Davis/The Telescope Bottom: The Cocos Fire on May 15, 2014. • File photo from Ian Hanner

6 • OPINION LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

A toast to The Telescope

This isn’t an ordinary class. Students come two hours early, stay until 10 p.m., and even come in on non-class days. Students create here, make friends here and begin their future here. This is the student newsroom.

I started out on the Palomar College student newspaper, The Telescope, as a shaking, terrified staff writer. Four semesters later and it’s time to finally say goodbye.

I went from not-so-good staff writer, to confused sports editor, to editor-in-chief in these last four semesters and I have never been more grateful for an experience. I have learned more about myself than ever before thanks to my adviser, student peers and the newspaper employees.

I have been inspired and humbled by the staff writers and, most of all, the editors I have worked so closely with. From scared writer, unsure of my own ability, I found a family in everyone around me. I found my voice and I found my future dream job.

I want to say farewell to the students and community at Palomar who I have had the honor of reporting the news to as well as learning from along the way.

And thank you to my friends and family who have been forced to listen to me talk about newspaper drama for two years and dealt with me changing plans to work around my newspaper schedule.

After so many sacrifices in my personal life, I can happily look back and know it was worth the hard work, late nights editing and writing, and the five cups of coffee every day.

Goodbye The Telescope. I know the next era of students running the newspaper will do a great job.

Monday, May 11, 2015 EDITORIAL

Early retirement is a mess We at The Telescope are fed up with the lack of timeliness and seriousness concerning the early retirement incentive, also known as the golden handshake, for employees at Palomar College.

Officials on campus are fighting against each other and need to reach a decision now.

The Governing Board pulled the approval of the golden handshake once again during its April 28 meeting. This is the second time the approval has been placed in limbo. It was first postponed on April 14.

May 12 is the newest date to approve or deny the golden handshake. The district is waiting until the last minute and that is lazy and irresponsible because they had two weeks to determine if the numbers would financially benefit the college.

Two weeks should have been enough time to go over the numbers and reach an agreement with all bodies on campus. We want the Governing Board to stop postponing the decision and figure it out.

Employees taking the bonus,

75 percent of their annual salary, have to retire by July 1. That gives Palomar officials only two months to find adequate replacement for all the 89 people who signed up.

The Governing Board needs to make a decision that is best for the college and the students.

If the golden handshake is denied, then will those 89 people still retire? Palomar is in a stage of confusion and chaos. We want this to be taken seriously, especially by the faculty union.

In an email from Shannon Lienhart, co-president of the union, the union proposed they will only support the golden handshake if President Robert Deegan, Vice President of Instruction Berta Cuaron and Vice

President of Human Resources John Tortarolo will still retire, but not take part in the bonus.

Though The Telescope has stopped caring whether anyone will or will not exit with their bonus, we want to know our education still matters to officials at Palomar. Everyone seems to be so concerned with the golden handshake and personal afflictions with one another, they aren’t even taking the students’ education into consideration.

The Governing Board needs to make a decision that is best for the college and the students.

The union and administrators need to reach an agreement for this happen. Stop being stubborn and remember the students come first, not personal vendettas and greedy bonuses.

Students need to go to the Governing Board and speak out and let their voices be heard.

Enough is enough and Palomar needs to figure this mess out now.

No more postponing our future at Palomar.

EDITOR@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

EDITORIAL

ASG has apathy problem Palomar College’s Associated Student Government seems to have an apathy problem.

Only two candidates ran for positions, uncontested, in the recent ASG elections. That’s a problem.

Though it is at no fault of the ASG itself, it doesn’t change the fact that Palomar students need stable and passionate representation.

The ASG at Palomar tends to have a high turnover rate. Delegates, senators and presidents come and go quickly. It makes sense at a community college, where students are only expected to stay for a short period of time, but students on ASG have a tendency to quit halfway through a semester.

But it still doesn’t change that Palomar students deserve the best that the ASG can offer.

It can be ventured that the majority of Palomar students have no idea what exactly the ASG does.

In fact, many probably don’t know that the ASG even exists.

This is unfortunate, because the ASG does have an important job to do. The ASG, at its very core, is meant to give the student body a voice.

Anyone who has spent time with the ASG in recent months can tell that their numbers are low.

Many of the senator and delegate seats remain open. Only one person, Sen. Malik Spence, is returning as the ASG president.

This is a result of apathy. A lot of people are probably hesitant to get involved with campus affairs at a 2-year college, especially in the midst of transfer planning and choosing what college to go to next.

But this is a skewed viewpoint.

Being in ASG is a noble job and an enriching opportunity. More students should take up the mantle of student government and get involved, but they don’t.

We’re not saying the ASG is doing a terrible job. Maybe they have harsher critics than us, but they seem to have done the best that they could with the staff they’ve had.

All we’re saying is that the ASG could definitely do a better job, especially if students actually started

JOHN’S CORNER

Cartoon by John Lucia/The Telescope

caring about the college they attend. If more students joined ASG, imagine what kind of job they could be doing.

If the ASG elections are a model for students hoping to pursue a job in politics, then we aren’t setting up the best foundation for their future careers.

We’re tired of uncontested ASG elections. Students deserve stability and passion in their representation.

That’s all we’re asking.

EDITOR@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Hello Editor!

I recently read your editorial regarding the food service at Palomar College and I would like to thank you for taking the time to write a thoughtful critique. We are always looking to improve every semester and give the students of Palomar College excellent service. Lately we have come under new management and we regretfully acknowledge that we haven’t been reaching out to our students as much as we should. We plan to change that and become more involved with our campus and its community. We are currently re-designing our café and expanding our menu to include lower calorie, vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options for our customers with sensitive dietary needs. We have even partnered with the calorie counting app MyFitnessPal so students can track the nutrition facts of the items we have to offer before purchasing them.

We understand that students are price sensitive and with rising food costs it can become frustrating. We have attempted to remedy this by offering Comet Cash.

Comet Cash is a prepaid meal plan that you can purchase through the cafeteria and use at any of our dining locations. For every $100 you purchase in Comet Cash you receive $10 free in bonus cash. Both Comet Cash and bonus cash rolls over every month you don’t use it so you don’t have to worry about losing it.

We would like to emphasize the fact that your voice counts and we would love to hear any of your opinions, questions or concerns. If you would like to send feedback directly to us about our food, its quality and pricing please take our Campus Dining survey at www.campusdiningvoice.com. We have also created social media accounts where you can contact us at any time. Facebook users can like our page at www.facebook.com/campusdining. Twitter users can follow atnd tweet us @HearMeAramark. Instagram users can follow us @PalomarDining. We use our social media accounts to deliver information about new food offerings, special deals, contests and giveaways. We also use our social media accounts to receive direct feedback from customers. Thank you for reading this and we do hope to hear from the rest of the students at Palomar soon.

Sincerely, Kinaya Bryant Marketing Manager Aramark Food Services

OPINION• 7

the-telescope.com

I found my passion inside a newsroom CHRISTOPHER BULLOCK THE TELESCOPE

I’ve been going to Palomar on and off since 2004, but none of those years have been as fulfilling as these last two.

Working for The Telescope gave me a new perspective on my professional life, and has also given me a newfound sense of purpose I would not have gained if I hadn’t gone back to school.

I originally graduated from Palomar in 2008 with a Liberal Arts degree. Afterward, I figured I would move forward and continue working my same job as a retail manager, and hope I fell into a job that paid me well enough to survive on my own.

Four years later, I found that to be a huge mistake. Between my graduation and August 2012, I had worked five different jobs, while working at least two jobs simultaneously the entire time. I felt discouraged, lost my confidence and lost my faith. I didn’t feel like I was ever going to be a success.

It was in August 2012 that I made the decision to go back to school, starting in Spring 2013. My original plan was to go into radio and television; people tell me all the time that I have the perfect radio voice. As part of the criteria, I was supposed to take a communications class.

I opted for an online COMM 100 class, which would fit my work schedule and allowed me to pace myself. During our orientation, my professor, Erin Hiro, brought up the school’s newspaper, The Telescope.

She was essentially recruiting for her class, which at first I didn’t pay any mind. But as I continued through my COMM class, I found that writing became fun to me again.

In the summer, I took my first journalism class, JOUR 101, which was also with Hiro. My first big assignment was to interview a professional journalist. I interviewed Matt Calkins, a sports writer with the U-T San Diego.

I actually found that to be very freeing, and decided to give The Telescope a shot in the fall.

During the fall, I joined the newspaper staff as a rookie writer. I was nervous as hell, and wasn’t sure how I was going to do working with an actual staff. Fortunately, Professor Hiro issued all the rookie writers a mentor.

My mentor was Heather Randall, conews editor and a veteran of the staff.

She issued me a story that at first, seemed bigger than it actually was.

I went ahead, did the legwork and ended up with a dud. I came back and told her what I had gotten, and felt

THE CRITICAL COMMENT

Unrest in Baltimore is just a symptom of larger issues Slavery is over, Jim Crow is over. But we have not yet killed prejudice, not by a long shot.

MIKE PETERSON THE TELESCOPE

We should be ashamed of ourselves.

We should be ashamed that we’ve turned a blind eye to the widespread systematic racism and subjugation of minorities.

The riots in Baltimore were just a symptom of a much larger problem.

Call the protesters and rioters “thugs” all you want. It doesn’t change the issue at hand. It’s just another way of marginalizing the root issue.

Prejudice still exists in our country. That’s a fact. We are in no way “post-racial.”

The U.S. has the largest prison population in the world. According to the NAACP, about half of the 2.3 million incarcerated people in the U.S. are African American. Black Americans are estimated to be six times more likely to be jailed than Caucasians.

Minorities are also more likely to be stopped than Caucasians. An ACLU studied concluded that, in California, African Americans are three times more likely to be stopped

by police than white Americans.

And no, this is not because African Americans are more likely to commit crimes.

According to Bureau of Justice statistics, the rate of drug use among white Americans is just as high or higher than black Americans. But more African Americans are jailed on account of drug offenses than Caucasians.

Unemployment and crime are also closely related. In communities where unemployment is higher, the crime rate is also elevated.

Related to this, a study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research looked at how employers react to different races.

Identical resumes were sent out to various employers, with half the resumes having white-sounding names and half with names common to the African American population.

The study found that for every 10 resumes sent out, resumes with traditionally white-sounding names got a callback. The rate for resumes with black-sounding names was about 15 sent out to one callback.

Along with unemployment, education is always also a factor.

African American and Hispanic students are much more likely to attend poorly-funded schools, according to the Center for American Progress. Black students are also

more likely to be punished for misbehaving, even as early as preschool, according to a Department of Education report.

For reasons such as these, it’s no wonder that some disenfranchised minority communities take to displays of anger and hopelessness. It may be the only way for the rest of the population to pay attention to the issue at hand.

So often we look to our founding fathers as arbiters of morality. But we should be ashamed that when Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, he still owned slaves.

Slavery is over. Jim Crow is over.

But we have not yet killed prejudice.

Not by a long shot.

The problem is that we aren’t paying attention. We don’t care about an issue unless it affects or threatens to inconvenience us.

The issues of law enforcement militarization and police brutality only add to the problem. No, not all cops are racist. That’s also an ignorant view.

But police overreach and systematic racism do work hand-in-hand to create situations like Baltimore.

It’s a volatile mixture that oftentimes explodes into civil unrest. Baltimore isn’t the U.S. first city to erupt into riots.

We can’t oversimplify the issue and blame it all on one thing.

As citizens of this country, we should be at the forefront of pioneering a prejudice-free future. It should be an ever-present conversation, not just one spurred by images of flaming buildings on cable news networks.

The problem is deeply ingrained.

It’s up to us to uproot it.

MPETERSON@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

like I let the staff down. I almost gave up and quit the paper.

Fortunately, Heather and our editor-in-chief, Cliff Ireland, pushed me to continue on and see what I could get. At the end, I turned in a halfway decent story. For the first time in a long time, I felt accomplished, and wanted more. So I continued to write more stories, and built my way up to covering one of the school’s premier events, the annual scholarship gala that the Palomar Foundation hosts every fall.

By the end of the semester, I really was happy with the paper, and couldn’t wait to come back. I didn’t expect, nor did I really know, that they were looking to me as an aspiring editor. Even to this day, I still feel that this was the biggest honor I have ever received, more than my first associate’s degree. It was because of this that I switched my major from TV and radio to journalism.

I was touched that someone felt I had the ability to touch people through my stories.

Within the last year and a half (the first part as a co-news editor, the last

year as sports editor), I have finally discovered what it’s like to be in a real-life working environment, where I know that I am responsible for delivering the news to my fellow students, that I have to make sure they know what goes on at Palomar. It has been a rewarding experience. I’ve gotten to work with plenty of talented writers, have traveled up and down California to hone my newfound craft, and have developed personal and business relationships that I will forever be grateful for.

If I had never made the choice to go back to school, truthfully ... I don’t know where my life would’ve headed. I can only say that going back has been the best decision I have ever made. I’ll be transferring to Sacramento State University this fall with a degree in a field that I am passionate about.

And I’ll be the first of my mother’s children to go for a bachelor’s degree.

That is something to be proud of.

CBULLOCK@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Learn to know difference between wants and needs TAMARA EAKINS THE TELESCOPE

Distinguishing between a want and a need may seem like quite a simple task. However, for most college students, deciding whether something is a necessity or merely a desire can be a daily struggle and sometimes making the choice to do what is necessary as a member of society is even harder.

According to FrugalLiving. com, 87 percent of college students between the ages of 19 and 23 categorize “achieving a passing grade in every class” as a need when, in actuality, it is nothing more than a want.

A want comes from a desire to do or have something. Needs are conscious necessary steps, people or actions. A student may want to get an A on a test. To achieve that goal of a perfect score, they will need to study.

We may want to go on vacation after the semester ends, but to do so we may need to ditch the weekend plans and save up some money. The necessity is what must be done in order to get what we want.

“I want many things in life,” said history major Cory Mathis when asked about this. “Unfortunately a lot of the time I don’t have the time or energy to do what I need to do in order to get them.”

The reality for most college students is that they are constantly longing for things that are seemingly out of reach. This struggle leads to nothing but frustration. In order to break the self-fulfilling negative cycle of longing without satisfying, one must change their mindset.

There are many things we need in life. We need family and friends.

We need food and water. We need to be open minded when dealing with others of different backgrounds and lifestyles than our own. All of these are necessary because without them, we may never thrive to our fullest potential and succeed.

To know when you want something rather than need something, you must think twice and ask yourself a few honest questions: Can I live without this? Will this definitely help me to reach my end goal? Will this benefit me in the future or just in the short term? Asking yourself these important questions will help you to understand the value of what it is that you are longing for.

A growing issue today is that we long for a change without ever doing something to create one. We turn on the television and are bombarded with headline stories of brutality and injustice. Most of us will gasp in horror and shake our heads in disapproval only to turn a blind eye. We recoil at the thought of leaving our comfort zones and stepping out into the world of “making it happen.”

In an informal survey of 15 Palomar College students, 10 said that they wanted to see positive changes happen within our society in the next 10 years. When asked what they had done to help influence the societal change they wanted to see, all 10 students said they had done nothing.

Our wants and needs are powerful. As the next generation of influential leaders, practicing implementing necessary steps to achieve goals within our society can help to build a stronger community; we must take what we practice every day as college students and shift it into our lives as functioning members of society.

Taking the time to ponder a decision before you make it is the best way to come to the right conclusion.

Evaluate and then take the necessary steps to move forward. It is okay to want things in life, but what we want may not always be what we need and doing what we need to do is the only sure way to get what we want. When we realize this we will soon be able to achieve more than we could ever possibly imagine.

TEAKINS@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

8 • OPINION

Monday, May 11, 2015

Amid our drought, take desalination with a grain of salt MIKE PETERSON

not a privilege with a high price tag.

Beyond the monetary impact, the environmental impact of an increase in energy use and the ecological footprint of the plants themselves are significant as well.

Desalination produces a brackish, salty ooze as a waste byproduct.

With no clear or effective plans in place to dispose of this byproduct, it could have a devastating effect on the local environment.

An environment that helps California’s tourism industry to thrive.

The plants themselves may also be a hazard to our shores. The giant pipes that suck in water could also vacuum up many types of fish, fish eggs and plankton that make up the bulk of the food chain in the ecosystem.

Destroying any link in this food chain is bound to have a terrible effect on the biodiversity of our local oceans.

Hundreds of thousands of people come to San Diego to enjoy the weather and the coastline. If we compromise that, we risk a huge economic hit.

THE TELESCOPE

Desalination is too expensive and ecologically damaging to be a workable solution for California’s drought.

Since 2011, our state has experienced the worst water shortage in decades. With officials and citizens alike scrambling for solutions, we’re left grasping at whatever straws seem to be halfway possible answers.

Desalination is one of these. At its simplest, it is the process of removing the salt content from seawater, rendering it safe to drink and use for other purposes.

A simple enough solution, especially when we look to the vast ocean beside us to help cure our thirsty state’s hydration problem.

But desalination is expensive. A plant in Carlsbad, expected to be completed in 2016, is expected to cost around $1 billion to build.

That’s not even counting the operating costs associated with desalination.

If water is unaffordable by the majority of citizens, then it’s not a workable solution.

Desalination is expensive because of the large amounts of energy that it takes to run the plants continuously.

It’s expected that drinking water produced by desalination costs about five times as much as water produced by normal means. In San Diego, the water bill is expected to rise $5 to $7 because of the cost.

If water is unaffordable by the majority of citizens, then it’s not a workable solution. Obviously, water is essential to the lives and livelihood of California’s citizens; making it an overpriced luxury is a recipe for disaster.

We have to stress that drinking water is a fundamental human right,

Let’s also not forget that desalination hasn’t worked before. California has been through droughts in the past, and each time, desalination is looked at as a possible solution.

In the 1980s, a desalination plant was built in Santa Barbara. The plant cost $34 million, was barely finished and then dismantled once the drought ended.

Investing in desalination as a widespread solution isn’t economically sound. They take so long to build and are so expensive that, most of the time, the drought ends before they are fully operable.

We should be restricting our water use, reassessing our priorities (especially on the agricultural side) and perhaps praying for rain. Let’s not put all our faith in something that might not pan out.

California has a water problem - one that should scare us all. San Diego in particular heavily relies on outside sources of water. But desalination is a solution that we should be weary of.

MPETERSON@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Illustration by Daniel Kresge/The Telescope

Internet challenges have potential for both good, bad BROOKE CRAWFORD THE TELESCOPE

Social media has allowed people from all over to share, like and comment on social trends that have been exposed on the Internet in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately, not all these trends are beneficial or safe for continued sharing.

The ALS Challenge generated more than 2 million videos, 28 million Facebook conversations, and many different variations of nominations. This major social trend begs the question, what do ice buckets have in common with ALS? ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.

The challenge was originally accredited to Pete Frates, a Boston College baseball player who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2012. Although the athlete was unable to communicate through speech and movement, he used a 1989 song by Vanilla Ice called “Ice, Ice Baby.”

An article in the Wall Street Journal reported that the idea behind the challenge first came about when pro golfers started dousing themselves in ice water to prompt fellow golfers to support animal charities.

Time Magazine reported that the challenge raised more than $12 million in proceeds to help those with the disease. Although the videos

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is dunked with a bucket of ice water by quarterback Chase Daniel and running back Jamaal Charles after the final training camp practice on Aug. 14, 2014. • David Eulitt/MCT Campus

may seem to make light of the seriousness surrounding Lou Gehrig’s disease, the playful and sincere nature provide an inviting atmosphere for others to join in support.

These challenges stem from social trends and one undeniable fact about the American culture is the innate need or want to follow the trend. Everyone knows about the Kardashian family and the different trends that they have fostered. The latest is the “Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge.” Videos surfaced of the face altering challenge after Kylie Jenner let fans know her lip plumping technique.

Instead lip challenges that yield the “Kylie Jenner lips” there are videos of so many who have bruised their faces or burst blood vessels.

Since when did fuller lips start being a trend that others follow?

Being a woman of ethnic background, I haven’t felt the need to do the challenge. I do not see the value in wanting to look like, talk like or act like another person. This challenge supports the idea that it is not OK to be satisfied with who you are and that affects our generation of women negatively.

Why not create a challenge that

empowers our generation instead of contributing to the wave of body alterations?

Not all of the challenges are for a cause or trend. Some are posted just for a good laugh.

The Cinnamon Challenge.

I had not heard about the challenge prior to researching about the viral videos that are flooding social media. This challenge requires a person to swallow a tablespoon of cinnamon within a time frame without the use of any liquids.

I decided I had to see what all the rave was about. The first video that

popped up was by the comedian GloZell. Instead of following challenge rules, she chose to use a ladle to pour the cinnamon. This challenge has no relevance or benefit to anyone watching, but it was just the laugh that I needed. Sometimes these challenges are better spread than the ones that have negative connotations. Everyone could use a good laugh.

Unfortunately not all social media challenges are a positive contribution to society. A recent addition to the many challenges is the Eric Sheppard Challenge. This “challenge” looks to have others disrespect and trample the American flag.

In light of current events, this sort of behavior is not beneficial or supportive to America. There are not many who have participated in this disappointing social media “trend” but the video is still going viral regardless of participation.

All in all, I believe these waves of spreading charities or benefits are a positive and creative way to make a change. Some Americans take something that can be used for positivity and shape it for personal agenda.

Does everyone agree with the way that the government runs everything? Should girls be attempting to change their bodies without consulting a professional? Not in the least bit. Social media should be used to empower, spread joy and create change.

BCRAWFORD@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

OPINION • 9

the-telescope.com COLUMN

SPEAK OUT

‘I’m 20 years old and nothing makes a whole lot of sense’

Have you heard about early retirement? Do you think it’s important?

LEAH BAENA THE TELESCOPE

I’m 20 years old and nothing makes a whole lot of sense. I sipped my coffee slow this morning, two cups.

As I looked out into the stillness of my backyard, I knew it was going to be a good day to write, I could sense clarity when it graced me with its presence.

I pulled my hair back into a French braid, the tail swooped over my right shoulder.

Nothing fancy.

I didn’t know where I was going, I just wanted to drive and listen to The Lumineers, I just wanted to be outside in the warm sunshine with my aviators on and the windows down.

I needed to feel in control, it’s something I haven’t felt in a good while.

I drove into town and bought some sunflowers, made small talk with the cashier and grabbed an iced latte from a small coffee shop on my way home.

The month of April was sliding through my fingers as the heat moved in, I longed to forsake this moment and return to the chill January brought me, but I could not and the aging of time reminded me that I have to make decisions about my future.

After laying the flowers across the kitchen counter, I began to cut them down. Stem by stem I sliced and they snapped, I thought of how sad it is to compromise something beautiful just to make it your own.

People are a lot like these flowers in this way, I am a lot like store-bought flowers in this way. Constantly altering myself to accommodate the needs of the next person, while slowly losing identity in adjusting my personality for the comfort of another.

I am a sunflower whose length is shortened with each chop, will I ever know who I am?

At the age of 17, I graduated high school on a warm May afternoon, my feet were sweating, slipping out of these dumb, tan wedges I bought specifically for the occasion. I walked out in these same shoes feeling the same

“I knew the president was retiring from reading the paper, but I didn’t know about the other people. I do care, I feel that they have a lot of effect on what goes on around school. A lot of the teachers I’ve had on campus were amazing so whoever replaces them better be up for the job.”

WAFAA AGHA, ARABIC MAJOR

“No I did not know about it but I do care because it seems quite memorable and deserves a celebration, maybe a banquet can be thrown for them.

Those positions sound important and vital in how Palomar runs; I think it’ll have a huge impact with them gone.”

ZACHARY DEWEY, BUSINESS FINANCE

Leah Baena’s workspace, with iced coffee and sunflowers. • Leah Baena/The Telescope

way I walked in, being told I had accomplished something but I had no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

I’ve been in college for three years, and it’s a lot like those dumb, tan wedges. My feet had blisters that night, those shoes were not good for me but I insisted and so I pushed and pushed.

Education is a great thing, most of it essential, however I wonder if we are losing our humanity in the process. I have to wonder if we are people anymore when we’re working to pay for school, going to school to get a better job, getting a better job so we can pay off school.

A day like today made me very thankful for my independence, without it I wouldn’t know what kind of flowers I like or what kind of coffee I wanted to order. I felt beautiful with my hair pulled back because I said so, not because anyone else did.

I have had a congregation of slow moments filled with curiosity, wonder, and little direction, in my life.

I’ve learned that it’s so good to fall in love with things, with sunrises or sunsets, wave currents or riptides, it seems most of us have lost sight of

who we are.

Some days I want to be a surgeon, other days I want to open my own coffee shop with book shelves upon the walls, some days I want to purchase a ticket to Kenya and put my bare feet into the clay-like sand and dance with little children.

I am not alone, sunflowers are typically grown in rows, in vast fields.

Maybe you’ve been told to grow up, to focus, to hurry up and decide. It didn’t have to come from the outside, it could have come from within.

But if you are a sunflower whose length is shortened with each chop, will you ever know who you are?

We are different patterns, breeds, shapes and sizes. Used for different purposes, hosts of different seasons.

We are filled with folly, beauty, anger, love, envy, appreciation, fear, trust, and it’s not to be taken lightly. You might not know where you’re going, but you can get lost in what you love regardless and maybe, just maybe that’s when opportunity knocks.

Grow little flower, it’s a big, big world. One with no one qualified to limit your capabilities.

“I definitely did not know about it, I do care just because I know they have a lot of importance to our school and in what we do and all the things that go into the school. I think we should care because those are important positions and they’re the ones who are holding the school together.”

ADILENE GARCIA-MIRANDA, COMPUTER SCIENCE

“I did not, and I feel like I should care because it’ll affect me as a student and my peers. I kind of wish the student body has a say in who gets hired.”

JUAN ALVA, SOCIOLOGY

LBAENA@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Brian Williams and Bill O’Reilly, what’s the difference?

ERIN ESKENS THE TELESCOPE

Why did Brian Williams have his career suspended over “misremembering” one story, while Bill O’Reilly is making a career out of doing the same thing?

“Seek truth and report it.”

The code of ethics for journalists is founded on honesty, integrity and accurate reporting. When a trusted journalist breaks this code, their reputation is instantly tarnished and their career is immediately scrutinized.

When a journalist chooses to tell a good story over telling an accurate one, they are consciously breaking the code of ethics they agreed to abide by. It is only fair to

question them and look at their accuracy with a critical eye, right?

When nighttime news anchor Brian Williams broke this code in February, he experienced this backlash first hand as many were quick to call him out. His career, which spanned over 20 years, was put on hold due to him “misremembering” certain facts.

No one was quicker to call Williams out faster and more aggressively than political pundit Bill O’Reilly. O’Reilly urged his viewers to “think about other news agencies that are distorting the facts” because deception is out there.

Ironically, though, O’Reilly has faced multiple accusations of distorting the facts and reporting lessthan-accurately on several major

news stories, including lying about reporting in a war zone and being attacked during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

O’Reilly’s tall tales have been documented, so why wasn’t he held to the same journalistic standard as Brian Williams? It comes down to public opinion and what they’re reporting on.

O’Reilly has made a career out of controversy, flame wars and aggressive behavior. He is not considered a “serious” journalist because he’s a pundit on Fox News, a station known for biased reporting, inflammatory stories, and pandering to a conservative audience hellbent on lampooning liberals.

If O’Reilly “misremembers,” who cares? He still got the facts

mostly right. O’Reilly is not responsible for informing the whole public, just the small portion who rely on Fox News for their daily dose of right wing reporting.

Williams on the other hand, is the lead anchor for a national, nightly news broadcast. He was the unbiased, dog-loving, benevolent authority who was welcomed into our living rooms five days a week.

For Williams to break our trust was devastating and unexpected.

We, as a public, put our good faith in Williams. We did not put our good faith in O’Reilly.

It may not be right, but Bill O’Reilly is not held as accountable for his lies because we don’t view him as an authority on journalism. Even though O’Reilly is still

misleading the public and breaking the code of ethics, it’s almost expected he do so. Bill O’Reilly is controversial, while Brian Williams is not.

Williams is expected to be truthful and accurate, asking the same of O’Reilly would almost be expecting too much. O’Reilly does not have the same status and character as America’s news anchor— O’Reilly’s rapport with the nation is frayed, provocative and controversial.

While Brian Williams may never again hold the same reputation because of his actions, it is only because he had the reputation to protect.

EESKENS@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

10 • OPINION

Monday, May 11, 2015

It’s time for churches to start paying their fair share EDWARD ROSA THE TELESCOPE

The United States of America is, at least on paper, a democratic society. We have a government, made up of elected officials whose job is supposed to be to work for the people who elected them.

On some level, this is still true today. Although it could definitely be argued that the only constituents to whom our elected officials are beholden are those who line their pockets with the capital they need to maintain certain lifestyles.

Regardless of how one feels about the state of democracy in this country, few would argue that money is a huge problem. People are always running out of it, or in need of it, and theoretically, money is not infinite.

There is a limit to how much money does, or at least should, exist.

That’s why we pay taxes in this country. If the government is a body of elected officials tasked with serving the public, well they are going to need money to get things done.

Fix potholes, pay judges, police and firemen, keep a functioning military, etc. These things all take money to make them happen.

So on some level, American citizens should actually be into paying taxes, because that’s the only way this thing works. Yet people, businesses and organizations are constantly on the lookout for ways to avoid paying taxes. The worst offender in this department are reli-

gious organizations. Churches.

That needs to stop immediately.

Today, churches and religious institutions file taxes as a 501(c)(3) organization. According to IRS.gov, “To be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, an organization must be organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3), and none of its earnings may inure to any private shareholder or individual. In addition, it may not be an action organization, i.e., it may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities and it may not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates.”

So once again, on paper, any proponent of a church’s right to their tax exempt status seems vindicated. But anybody with a brain in their head can see what is really going on.

Every year, these religious organizations receive millions of dollars in donations. Tax-free donations.

These donations do not have to be reported, as they are not taxable under their filings status. Even though the law explicitly states that these organizations may not attempt to influence legislation, that is exactly what they are doing.

Why else would the Republican party be so aligned with the religious right in this country, that it undermines all of their goals? It is because there is so much money for these political shills to be gifted in one way or another, that they will continuously push for new laws that force the rest of the country to adhere to the asinine, outdated and backwards tenets that their ideologically warped constituents push for.

Not only are these attempts at using law to regulate morality ethically reprehensible, but they aren’t very well thought out either. Take for example the continuous attempts by the religious right to restrict a woman’s access to her own reproductive autonomy.

$

They want to pass all kinds of laws forcing women to bear unwanted children. However, they want no part of protecting these children once they are here. The same party that wants to ban abortion is also the one that wants to make deep cuts to most forms of aid for families. That is the food stamps and medical assistance that keep many of these families going.

They are then, by some kind of Bizarro World rationale, in favor of things like capital punishment. It is absolutely ludicrous, and the worst part is, we are all paying to subsidize this ridiculous nonsense.

This is exactly how the recent debacle in Indiana over their law that institutionalizes discrimination on a state level happened. Too many churches with way too much money to throw around raising a stink about something that shouldn’t even be an issue. Never mind what destructive legislation they are passing in Congress, the gays want me to serve them

dinner. That is the kind of juvenile and socially malignant activity that we are all supporting financially.

Now, I firmly believe in an American citizen’s right to believe in whatever ridiculous nonsense you like. At one point, I too believed that Paul McCartney died in a car crash in 1966. But I’ll be damned if public funds have to go to pay for it.

In a time where schools are underfunded and drastically slashing programs from their curricula, America more or less leads the world in credit card debt, and federal as well as state governments are struggling to stay afloat financially, it seems to me that it’s time to tighten our proverbial belt.

Someone who patronizes a church may receive a sense of satisfaction for their attendance, but the reality is they are being sold a service. Churches have no positive value when it comes to civil infrastructure.

Why do we permit billions of dollars of potential tax revenue to be flushed down the toilet by allowing these purveyors of myth to dodge paying their fair share?

Tax-exempt status for religious institutions is a bogus and unfair privilege whose time as a thing needs to draw to a close. Believe in whatever preposterous theology you like.

Stop making the rest of us pay for it.

You keep your fairy tales. I want my kid to get a decent education.

EROSA@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Hello Barbie invades children’s privacy AMBER ROSARIO THE TELESCOPE

In efforts to save face, Mattel is using Artificial Intelligence to attract new customers and quite frankly it’s unnerving.

“Hello Barbie” is the newest addition to the Barbie repertoire and what makes this Barbie different is that it uses a form of A.I. to connect with the children using it.

The doll records the child’s voice, uses wifi to store the conversation to the cloud and uses speech recognition software to have personalized conversation with its user.

The more the child talks to “Hello Barbie,” by pressing the button located on her belt, the more “Hello Barbie” learns about its user: likes, dislikes, interests and so on.

Although Mattel claims to have safeguards in place to keep a breach of children’s privacy from happening, I am unconvinced that this is a great idea.

Yes, children are becoming more in tune with technology at a young age but does that mean they need a doll to listen to their intimate conversations as they grow? I don’t think so.

Many technological items use the cloud for storage these days but very few use it to record the conversations of its user and, in return, know important details.

Mattel and ToyTalk, the company who has created the technology used in the doll, say the use of the technology is only to better the doll and fu-

This X-ray image shows the Barbie Video Girl with its internal camera system. This doll is similar to the Hello Barbie doll, which features an audio recording device that saves its recordings to the cloud. Photo courtesy MCT Campus

ture speech recognition models for children, according to the Washington Post. However, there is a concern with the fact that many of the children using it could be subjected to advertising without knowing it.

Advertising already reaches children from almost every angle of consumption; now Barbie herself may be doing the task.

The kid inside of me would have loved this doll back in the 1990s. There have been many dolls in my childhood that talked back and it was extremely entertaining. So, the idea that a doll that could have specific conversations with me sounds fun.

However, that is my take from a young and impressionable perspective. As an adult, I just don’t find this to be a good idea. The differences between conversational dolls of the past

and “Hello Barbie” is that the older models had a line up of standard sayings that they used on every user.

There was no personalization, at least to this degree, and it was still quite entertaining. That simple technology still impresses many children today, who have grown up in an era where technology is king.

The use of A.I. in a Barbie doll seems like overkill. I can’t help but think that the people who will actually be listening are the leaders over at Mattel and they will use the most intimate conversations of young children to their financial gain.

The sales of Barbie have plummeted as the Washington Post reports: “Sales for Barbie sank 21 percent, and sales of its baby-oriented Fisher-Price brand declined 16 percent.”

The traditional toy brands who

have not integrated technology to their toy use may be struggling but I don’t believe this is the answer to their solutions.

As someone who has played with Barbie dolls, I can attest to the fact that young children tell their Barbie dolls everything. Some of the most intimate conversations children will have are with their dolls.

At the age that people are playing will dolls this is a time of self-discovery and forming opinions about themselves. These are conversations that should be kept between the Barbie doll and the child.

Not only would it be strange for the people behind the doll to be listening in on these conversations but the access it would provide the parents to the very conversations are just not okay.

Parents can choose to receive

emails that provide access to the child’s conversations with Barbie. That is not okay.

I understand it could provide parents with access to their child’s conversation and in theory leave them in control over what happens, but this is almost like your parent reading your diary behind your back. It is just unfair.

Lastly, I can’t help but to feel that this could put the child and the family in danger. Yes, the speech recognition software will most likely have to be activated through an app or website by the parent before use, but I assume that if the parents are buying this toy it is going to be used for the new-age conversational appeal.

Whoever is on the other end listening to these conversations could be collecting very personal and important information and that is scary.

“Hello Barbie” will conform to government standards such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection act, but will they really be safe?

Over the past year or two we have seen personal data being stolen from The Cloud storage and put onto the Internet for humiliation and who is to say this will be different.

These are children and the access this gives big businesses to their most personal moments is frightening. This seems like a play to gain information about it users, from Mattel, and I say they should find another way and leave the creepy “Hello Barbie” alone.

AROSARIO@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

A&E • 11

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The real pioneers of rock ‘n’ roll revealed EDWARD ROSA THE TELESCOPE

There are about a million bands out there, and as such, thousands of albums are released every year. A handful of these albums are rewarded with popular acclaim, and global sales. But do they really stand the test of time?

Certainly the throngs of Justin Bieber fans out there would argue that he is producing the most important work on the planet. And his bankroll has certainly benefited from the devotion of his “Beliebers.”

However, in 20 years will Justin Bieber be more than a pop cultural footnote?

Sure it seems like he rules the world right now, but ask Aaron Carter, Lief Garrett, or Edd “Kookie” Byrnes about how long they think that status will hold up. On a cosmic scale, the relevance of artists like Bieber lasts for but an infinitesimal fraction of time.

However, every now and again a record comes out and is not immediately received well. This can mean being ignored in terms of sales, or being maligned critically, or both, as is so often the case.

Yet, somehow, over time, these records gain momentum like the proverbial stone rolling down the mountainside. Sometime later, they are recognized as pivotal moments in musical evolution. Here are a couple of these records.

The Bus Boys’ “Minimum Wage Rock & Roll,” Rattlesnake Venom Records, 1980.

About the closest The Bus Boys ever got to mainstream success was having Eddie Murphy in their corner for a couple of years. This is a true tragedy, as Minimum Wage Rock & Roll represents some of the most vital and vibrant rock music of the early 1980s.

It is no secret that throughout American history, black culture has been stolen and re-worked by white folks. This is particularly the case with music. So here we have a record performed by a group of black guys (and one Hispanic), where we find them re-co-opting their own

Faith No More. Photo courtesy Ebet Roberts/Redferns

culture back from white people who first co-opted it in the 1950s.

Across 11 tracks, The Bus Boys take the energy of the New Wave scene (of which they were a fascinating part of), combine it with the dexterous capability of musicians who could play circles around their contemporaries, and the sarcastic wit of a bunch of incredibly smart and talented guys, who saw through the mendacity of what “black” music was supposed to be.

Consequently, The Bus Boys made a record that is technically excellent, super catchy, and incredibly funny and insightful. The Bus Boys stood on the outside of the circle of the popular kids, totally outdoing them, while making fun of them all at the same time.

“Minimum Wage Rock & Roll” is as important as it is fun. A crucial chronicle of of New Wave ephemera that history is unfortunately, and incorrectly too willing to want to sweep under the proverbial rug.

Faith No More “Angel Dust”, Slash Records, 1992 Faith No More had their longest rendezvous with commercial success in 1990, when their single “Epic,”

Photo courtesy Google free domain

off of their LP “The Real Thing” become popular on MTV. This song was responsible for single-handedly predicting the rap/rock fusion that would become the hallmark of so many records from the 1990s, even if it was simultaneously responsible (at least partially) for begetting that so often unfortunate trend.

Instantly pigeonholed, Faith No More became a moderate overnight success, a full year after their album had been released. However, when Faith No More released their follow up album “Angel Dust” in 1992, it succeeded mostly in generating blank stares rather than record sales.

This was a sad declaration of the

apathetic slothfulness that plagued the American record buying public, as the record is an absolute masterpiece.

Too frequently consumers regard adventurousness as obtuse or weird. People have an annoying tendency to treat things they have not been told are okay to like with fear and revulsion. Like dogs who can’t take a piss anywhere until the pack leader has already sniffed out a satisfactory location for them.

The fact of the matter was that over the course of the next 15 years, “Angel Dust” became something of a bible for the hordes of Nu-Metal bands that would clog up the American airwaves with their musical detritus for the majority of the artistically questionable late 1990s’.

To say that the legacy of “Angel Dust” was that it inspired legions of bands that were ultimately embarrassing and regrettable would be to ignore what a stroke of genius this album truly is though.

Fed up with the rock star posturing that so dominated the hair metal of the 1980s’, “Angel Dust” is a raw reaction to a musical landscape that was devoid of any real substance.

At times dark, brooding and vicious, the album is alternately uplifting and reaffirming at others.

Faith No More proved that rock music didn’t have to be about embracing hedonism and Paul Mitchell hair products.

Nirvana’s “Nevermind” is pretty much widely hailed as the record that brought Punk Rock into the mainstream in the 1990s. I’m not sure that this is a good thing, as Punk Rock is supposed to be reactionary, and should really eschew these kind of platinum rewards.

However, to the discerning ear, “Angel Dust” did just as much for rock & roll music as “Nevermind” did, at least in terms of affecting the next 10-15 years of rock music. The main difference was you wouldn’t catch the facemen, jocks and cheerleaders listening to it. And that felt, and still feels, pretty damn good.

EROSA@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Pmar__ Snapsss exposes Palomar College party scene JODY JOHNSON

Photo Credit to ihateblonde.com.

THE TELESCOPE

Palomar College, a place where students come to get an education to further succeed in life. You would not expect that students of Palomar College would want to achieve an education by looking at pmar_snapsss.

Pmar_snapsss is a student-run, Snapchat account, where anyone can submit their photos and then the owners of pmar_snapsss can post it on their story.

A glimpse at the Snapchat account portrays Palomar students enjoying the party life with the majority of people in the 20s age range. Pictures of people smoking and drinking are constantly being shown on their Snapchat account.

Marijuana is plastered all over: advertisements to sell weed or invitations to come smoke with people.

Whenever parties are being thrown, or smoking sessions are being held, the invite is open to everyone. Invi-

tations include the addresses where the party takes place, and they encourage everyone to come “turn up.”

Another mainstay of pmar_ snapsss is the photos of female breasts and videos of people twerking. These videos and pictures are user-submitted, so many will see these incriminating videos and pictures. Many of their account viewers love to see this type of content on the account, mainly because the audience is men. Don’t be surprised to find a short picture or video clip of several students engaging in sexual behavior.

This is the second unofficial Palomar College Snapchat account, as the first one, palomar_ snaps, was deactivated. Many Palomar students appear to love this account, based on the amount of students actively participating in submitting their pictures. Many post content asking pmar_snapsss

how to be included on their Snapchat story.

The college experience does include partying, having fun, and enjoying life using the motto: YOLO (you only live once). The content on pmar_snapsss embodies all of that lavish, party lifestyle that many see on reality shows and the Instagram pages of celebrities.

The other side of the college experience is nowhere to be seen on pmar_snapsss. There are no students studying, no student events, no positive images of what being a student entails.

If Palomar students are all worried about living life to the fullest, then we should all see the positive aspects on what being a student at Palomar College has to offer to the world.

JJOHNSON@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

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Monday, May 11, 2015

Retiring art faculty leave behind their mark of creativity JOEL VAUGHN THE TELESCOPE

In their early life, they cultivated their own creativity. Then they cultivated creativity in the lives of others.

Now, for these cultivators, it’s time to look at retirement.

Two of Palomar’s most wellknown art professors are retiring this semester. Doug Durrant and Michael Steirnagle are both experts in their perspective fields. Durrant has been teaching at Palomar for 44 years, and Steirnagle for 24 years.

Durrant formally trained in graphic design before becoming a professor, and was also a freelance graphic artist. His work has been used by Pacific Southwest Airlines and various automotive companies.

Automotives and aviation were a part of his early life, and both had influence over his career path.

“When I grew my dad built race cars. So I was always tied into garages and aviation, and I still am today. I still do aviation advertising in Texas, everything from paint designs to logos,” Durrant said.

Steirnagle’s experience was more based as an illustrator than a graphic artist.

“I’ve done album covers for Jerry Garcia, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Commodores, and a lot of other people like that,” Steirnagle said.

Durrant holds his art and the art of others in high regard as a cultural base, and as a tool to keep life fulfilling.

“I think we all really do understand that we carry on the world’s culture through our art, or our music, or our film, or our literature. It really is the strongest part of the world,” he said. “Material things can be fleeting, politics can be fleeting, but the cultural base is unique. It’s a privilege that we have that.”

Where Durrant’s philosophy behind teaching art is more that of a celebration of culture, Steirnagle’s is a co-improvement practice between teacher and student.

“What I found out was teaching was really a way of improving my own work. My philosophy of teaching was teaching what I already knew and what I wanted to learn, to keep moving ahead rather than just teaching the same stuff year after year. So

Professor Doug Durrant. • Joel Vaughn / The Telescope

Professor Michael Steirnagle (left) critiques artwork created by Palomar Art student Lisa Hourin. • Joel Vaughn / The Telescope

teaching became ultimately rewarding and helped the quality of my own work,” he said.

This practice is a valuable one, due to artists creating work in the confines of their own comfort zone. Once you start teaching a class, it becomes a valuable soundboard to discuss your work.

In Steirnagle’s words, “artists work in vacuums, so you tend to be in your own head a lot and sometimes you lose touch with people and what they are looking for. You don’t get feedback. You don’t have the sounding board to talk about your work, so

when I started to teach, my classes became my sounding board.

“I would discover that I wasn’t actually doing some of the things that I was teaching,” Steirnagle added. “So it was a two-way street, I learned as much as they did and at the end of every semester, I would try to tell my students that I hope you learned as much as I did.”

Durrant’s teaching career started in 1964 at San Diego State University.

“I started teaching college in 1964 at San Diego State. Then I went to Texas and taught three years at Sul Ross State University and I was art

teacher and rodeo sponsor,” Durrant said.

His career at Palomar College started in 1971, back when North County was more agriculturallybased and Palomar was much smaller.

“All the schools I worked at are great schools, but Palomar had a great President, Frederick Huber, and I was hired by Dean Howard Brubeck. It was a very strong cultural place at that time,” Durrant said.

What he has taken away from his experience as a professor is, “how valuable we are to each other and that there is not that much that separates any of us. Also, why have to continually battle the people that try to put us down. That’s what I’ve learned over the years of teaching.”

The class that he has always gotten the most out of teaching is still Drawing 1, particularly with students who think they can’t draw. This is due to the amount of care he puts into this class showing that anyone can draw.

This ties into his statement that, “Everyone see’s with their own eye and their own heart, and it’s valuable.”

Durrant ignites student’s careers in the arts; Steirnagle encourages them to continue it.

“Going off to a four-year school is very expensive for many of our students, but I encourage people not to think that way,” Durrant said. “If you

want to pursue art, don’t let economics get in your way. Don’t think of it as an easy job. It’s the hardest job there is, it’s also the most rewarding job there is.“ Durrant said he hopes his retirement will help him come full circle.

“As the natives say, ‘I’ll make the full circle.’ I’ll go back first to Arizona on the Navajo reservation to stay a couple of days to put my head back on,” Durrant said, adding that he is still recovering from his wife’s death from cancer.

“Grief and sorrow changes you,” he said.

“Then I’ll go back to my home town of Durango, it has changed completely since I was a kid in the forties. Then New Mexico, to stay on a friends ranch. Then to Texas by the Rio Grande for a rodeo reunion. So that I have made the full circle.”

Steirnagle said he sees his retirement as another step in his greater career as an artist and a teacher.

“If you’re an artist you don’t retire, you just change jobs,” Steirnagle said.

“So I’m continue teaching here, if they’ll have me, with one class. I also have a gallery over on Grand Avenue, so I’ll be teaching workshops over there.”

He also see’s what is necessary for the department to run smoothly once he’s gone.

“I’m hoping they’ll hire another full-time person here. In order for the department to run more efficiently, we need to have more full-time people,” Steirnagle added.

Durrant said he holds to how valuable of an impact they have had on his life.

“As I get ready to retire I think of all the people who have passed on that have worked with me and helped me, how genuine they were and how much they cared about education for everybody. So it’s been really fulfilling.”

As for what happens here once he is gone, he hopes that, “the art department will continue to be as strong as it has been with our fine faculty. (Professor) Lily Glass is determined to see the department progress.”

On May 16 from 5 to 8 p.m. Doug Durrant and Michael Steirnagle’s work will be featured in a retirement show at the Boehm Gallery.

JVAUGHN@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Students present art at the Boehm Gallery ALEXANDRA ROTHMAN THE TELESCOPE

The Boehm Gallery at Palomar College hosted an art show from Aprill 22-25 that showcased the best pieces of each class in Palomar’s art department.

Michelle Hauswirth, a secondsemester art student, works in the gallery, explained that there are art shows all semester long, but that the student showcase is special because it only happens once a year.

“All of the professors will showcase their students’ work,” she added. Hauswirth created an interactive head sculpture out of crayon called “Draw With Me” where students can pick up the sculpture and

use it to color.

Doug Durrant is an art professor who has been teaching and drawing water color since 1971. “This reflects not only the confidence of the art facility, but also the sincerity and skill level of the students,” he said when describing the art show.

“The departments always attract a top-level reputation in schools in San Diego and profession schools in Los Angeles. This work is tremendous and you can tell just by looking at it,” Durrant added.

Durrant added that The Boehm Gallery not only contributes to Palomar’s reputation, but it has also helped students advance their art career and develop their skills.

Alex Brown is an art student

Various works from the student art show.

• Stephen Davis/The Telescope

who created a self portrait called “Miss Monster Me.” She explained that the self portrait was an idol to

her insecurities.

“This art program is amazing with a wonderful community. I fi-

nally feel like I belong somewhere.” said Brown, her voice filled with emotion.

Christina LaTorraca is an English major who has been doodling and drawing since preschool. She said her drawing represented different elements of nature coming together.

She described how the Palomar art program has helped her not only grow as an artist, but also relieve stress.

“It has been very stress relieving,” LaTorraca said. “I feel very calm, it puts me in a different place.”

AROTHMAN@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

A&E • 13

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Palomar dance performance showcases range of styles ROMA WATKINS THE TELESCOPE

Palomar’s dance department put on a final performance of the Faculty Dance concert May 3, that featured a range of dance styles.

Director Patriceann Mead put on a concert filled with merriment, celebration, wonderful music, and dramatic undertones to show the dance department’s range of dance classes including world dance selections such as Afro-Cuban, near and Middle Eastern, Hip Hop, Jazz, Modern, Tap, Ballet, Ballroom, Hawaiian and Tahitian. Having such a range of styles offered is rare for any dance program, especially for a 2-year college, she said.

Palomar has two dance shows per year, Faculty Dance in the Spring and Winter Dance in the Fall. Anybody can perform in the shows by signing up for production classes.

The audience was aflutter as the clock ticked down to showtime.

When the lights finally dimmed there was an anticipation in the air. One single spotlight appeared onstage highlighting Mead.

She made a short announcement, then exited the stage. The curtains opened at the center to reveal a live band playing Cuban music. Dancers in multicolored costumes entered the

Dancers perform The Conga during the Faculty Dance Concert in the Howard Brubeck Theatre. The piece was choreographed by Patriceann Mead with musical arrangement by Silfredo La O’Vigo and Mark Lamson. • Photo courtesy Hugh Cox

stage and began to gyrate and flounce about in time with the vivacious music.

As the opening number ended the audience began to applaud uproariously. The next dance in the show was Swingtime Boogie, the first of five tap dances choreographed by Valerie Clark. We then saw a classic jazz number entitled “Dancin’ Dan,” choreographed by Sue Gilson.

Next up was a modern piece by Ericka Aisha Moore, which included some lovely moments. This piece had

it all. Swirling motion, angular movements, emotion, soul and partnered lifts.

We were then transported to the Middle East by Sohaila’s “Fantasia,” a bellydance routine with four women in gorgeous silken dresses and sparkly bra tops. This piece incorporated fans with silk fabric attached. The girls spun and waved the fans such that the fabric rippled, creating the illusion of flames or water.

Sohaila’s piece ended Act One and left a tranquil atmosphere through-

out the theater for the audience to enjoy during intermission.

Act Two opened with a Hula then continued into another tap and another modern piece. The next high point in the show came when School’s Out began.

The story behind this clever, energetic piece is that janitors and lunch ladies find drumsticks in the music room after hours and begin to create rhythms with the sticks. They add in their feet and by the end of the dance both groups are creating complicated

sounds that mesh perfectly with the auditory smorgasbord of Meghan Trainor’s “Bang Dem Sticks.”

The show then continued with another dance by Sohaila, a modern dance by Joei Waldron, another Tap, and wrapped up with a Tahitian piece.

After the show, the dancers stayed and Mead came back onstage to introduce faculty and award the prestigious Dancer Awards. Daphne Delgado was the Most Improved, Anna Broberg won the award for being a Quiet Star, Natsumi Kawamura was awarded the Rising Star, and Gian Yubane and Rickey Richardson won the award for Dancer of the Year.

The awards are kept a secret until they are announced onstage. The recipients seemed shocked and elated.

Flowers were given out. The audience cheered.

After the show, when asked how he felt when winning the award Richardson said, “At first I was really confused but then I felt really overwhelmed with appreciation and love because I feel like people have noticed the work that Gian and I have put in.”

The lighting designs by Matthew Novotny were superb, as were the costumes by Jane Craig-Jones and Chelsea Marsh.

RWATKINS@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Tattoo culture digs deep at Palomar ERIN ESKENS THE TELESCOPE

Photo courtesy of Gauchito Grill

Argentinian cuisine delights ALEXANDRA ROTHMAN THE TELESCOPE

Tucked away in a hidden strip mall only a few minutes away from Palomar College, Gauchito Grill serves authentic Argentinian food.

This small restaurant is a break from the typical taco and sandwich shops, and brings a bite of Argentina to the San Marcos locality.

Celeste Bran, from Guatamala, has created a restaurant decorated with photos and posters depicting the culture, flavors, and famous people from the South American country best known for its revered, first-class beef. Gauchito Grill also features a variety of salads, sandwiches, and appetizers.

Located in the shopping center on Twin Oaks Valley Road, Gauchito Grill is not the typical quick serve place.

Instead of the ordinary fountain drinks, guests can choose from a variety of Tejava teas or San Pellegrino orange, strawberry, and lemon-flavored sodas. If an alcoholic drink is preferred, there is also a selection of imported beers and wine.

Guests could choose to sit in the clean and colorful dining area inside filled with lighting and music that

provides a cozy and romantic ambiance. Fans provide a cool relief on a hot day. If one wishes to enjoy the fresh air, Gauchito Grill also provides outdoor patio seating.

The house special chips are the perfect start to a meal. Cut and fried in-house, they are salted and mixed with cilantro and chopped onion and served in a basket.

For lunch, try their Gym Chicken salad. Gauchito Grill uses 100 percent organic natural chicken and spring mix with organic brown rice, tomato, onion, walnuts, and sesame seeds. Or, enjoy one of their sandwiches, like the veggie one that includes grilled eggplant and portobello mushrooms.

Along with these selections, Gauchito Grill is also famous for their empanadas. These are hand-baked, mini-dough pies filled with everything from spicy beef, to chicken, to a blue cheese medley. They are served with a homemade chimichurri sauce.

Although one empanada is $2.75 a piece, they are hand-made and labor intensive.

Gauchito Grill is an ideal lunch option for college students looking for something new, delicious, and healthy.

AROTHMAN@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

It’s been said that you can’t have just one, that they’re addicting and exhilarating and painful—but in a good way. Tattoos are a very personal and very permanent form of art, self-expression, and testament to one’s pain tolerance.

Whether it’s a meaningful reminder of a loved one or painful reminder of a spring break gone awry, behind every tattoo is a story.

For James Licata and Hannah Sabatino, there are two sides to the story of their coordinating tattoos.

The lyrics “you grabbed my hand and we fell into it like a daydream or a fever” are scribbled in ink across their thighs, Licata’s tattoo begins the line and Sabatino’s finishes it. The lyrics come from Dead Flag Blues by Godspeed You! Black Emperor, a song that holds special meaning to the pair.

“The lyrics mean something to both of us and we will always mean something to each other,” said Sabatino, admitting she was fully aware of the stigma surrounding couples with matching tattoos.

While the two are no longer in a relationship, Sabatino said she wanted to commemorate “a period of my life that I want to remember forever. I wanted the words that were tied to those emotions to be permanently in place on my skin.”

To Licata, the tattoo is no less significant. It is a sweet remembrance of a meaningful relationship.

He does not regret his choice in tattoo, stating “getting a matching tattoo with someone you love

Photo illustration. • Stephen Davis /The Telescope

isn’t as a bad as an idea as everyone likes to tell you.”

“At one time in my life I was loved by someone willing to ‘grab my hand and fall into a love which was at times like a daydream, and at others, like a fever,’” he said.

For Franki Boker, her collection of tattoos is ever growing. With four so far, she plans to keep going and add more tattoos, saying some of them are “unfinished.”

Each tattoo is symbolizes something special for Boker. She has music notes for her love of singing, a cross for family members, a meaningful quote, and her favorite number—13.

“My tattoos are a little random, and nothing is too big because I haven’t found an artist that I think is detailed enough to take on my

bigger piece ideas.”

Even her first tattoo, a gift from her mom when she turned 18, remains incomplete in her eyes.

Bright pink roses, her grandmother’s favorite flower, wrap around a cross for her grandfather on her ankle. This is her only tattoo with color, a conscious choice for Boker, who intends to keep it that way.

“I one day hope to bring a few more music notes down my neck and meet at the top of my spine,” she says, talking about a dainty assembly of music notes that adorn her neck, just behind her ear.

Boker, however, is still unsure of just how to finish that tattoo, so she is “waiting for an idea to strike.”

EESKENS@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

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Monday, May 11, 2015

Tromp to the Palomar P Campus role

playing club helps players connect

MIKE ADAMS THE TELESCOPE

Every Palomar student has seen it, whether while driving to school or walking around campus: the ubiquitous P on the side of Owens Peak, located just east of the college.

With a round trip distance of two miles, the trail leading up to the peak is a great way for students to get some exercise in during a busy academic week.

The round trip is relatively easy, even for non-experienced hikers such as myself. To get to its western entrance from the school, take Comet Circle up to Borden Road where you’ll find the trailhead located right behind the street light.

From there, the most straightforward trail will be the one to the left.

I’ve hiked this trail close to 15 times while a student at Palomar.

The trail can take as little as 40 minutes if you choose not to stay at the peak for long. For those who like to sit and enjoy the view, however, there is ample seating close to the P itself, as well as further up the hill.

The sights from the mountain are spectacular, even at a relatively low level. You can see out west to the Pacific ocean, and appreciate the cozy suburbia layout of the houses in San Marcos in front of you.

If you have the extra three minutes to hike further up the summit you’ll be rewarded with a wonderful 360-degree view of the surrounding area and the sweet feeling of a cool, unbroken breeze.

As you hike, you’ll notice that there is little to no shade for you to use as a respite from the sun. That’s why it’s important to bring sun-

EDWARD ROSA THE TELESCOPE

Palomar students hike to the white “P” on Owens Peak. • Philip Farry/The Telescope

block and plenty of water for your hike.

On a recent hike, I brought a floppy hat to wear, which provided great, encompassing protection from the sun. Wear suitable hiking gear like shorts and decent training shoes. The restricting denim of jeans on a hot day can get infuriating around step 12. The distance is short, albeit steep one at points, so remember that the more stuff you prepare for the hike, the more comfortable a break you’ll have once you reach the P. When you’re finished and begin the descent, make sure to have

secure footing with each step and look for firm rocks that will not give way when you put your weight on them. I’d advise even taking steps at an angle as a precautionary measure if you’d like to avoid what could be a very painful rock surfing session.

With the upcoming finals, it’s important to take time for your body and mind during your studies, and hiking up to the P is a great way to do it. Hiking and exercising should help to get the blood in your brain pumping and give your eyes a break from a laptop screen.

MADAMS@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Role Playing Games. For some, this phrase conjures up images of socially maladjusted recluses, dwelling in basements. But for many others, the phrase means something entirely different. Escape, adventure, action and, believe it or not, social connection.

That is what the Tabletop Gaming Club at Palomar is all about.

Started by cinema major Ian Laughbaum and his friend Greg Hoey this semester, the Tabletop Gaming Club is a place where students can come together, to commiserate with like-minded individuals.

Specifically, the club is “an organization that promotes, encourages and helps organize games that are ultimately played off campus,” club adviser Bill Jahnel said. The games Professor Jahnel refers to are role playing games (RPG for short).

To put an even finer point on it, club president and co-founder Laughblum said: “The focus of the club, we really wanted it to be not so much people who already knew how to play the game, but people who don’t and really want to get into it.”

Perhaps a little back story on role playing games might be in order, for the otherwise uninitiated.

RPG’s are games, sort of like board games with no board. Players create characters that they will play as. It could be almost anything, depending on the game you are playing. Human, robot, vampire, paladin, mage, elf, etc. Whatever you want to be.

During this creation stage, players roll dice for their character’s “stats,” such as charisma, dexterity and luck. Once the characters have been created, it is all up to one particular player to create a scenario in which the characters that the players have created for themselves will exist.

The players then role play as their characters, navigating their way through whatever quest their Dungeon Master has set out for them. Some players take this role playing more seriously than others. The point is to immerse yourselves into a game that is complex and dense enough that you feel as if you are actually having these adventures with your cohorts.

Typically, these games have a significantly higher level of difficulty than your average board game. Connect Four, Clue and Monopoly are a far cry from games like Dungeons & Dragons, Gamma World, and Shadowrun in terms of difficulty.

On this very phenomenon, Laughblum remarked: “We (Laughblum and club VP Greg Hoey) noticed on campus whenever we would talk about D&D

(Dungeons & Dragons), there are so many people who have always wanted to try it, or get into it, but have never found the group.”

That is one of the reasons the club was founded. To provide a resource for students who may be interested in learning about, or participating in these type of games, yet who don’t know much abut how to play, or even where to start.

To someone on the outside looking in, the rules for many of these games can seem positively baffling. The Tabletop Gaming Club seeks to put those potential players at ease. The club’s members, and advising faculty, are all very knowledgeable about a number of different games and gaming systems.

Once you have figured out what you want to play, and how to roll characters, the next obstacle is to find a group to play with.

Unlike most other tabletop games, an RPG session typically will last anywhere from 3 to 8 hours or more. Traditionally, groups of people that play these games tend to stick together, as the campaigns can be very lengthy.

In addition, the groups stay relatively small, because that’s how games tend to work best. So finding a group of like-minded individuals, who want to play the same game, with the same level of enthusiasm, and for the same lengthy amount of time each week can be challenging, players say.

Yet another function of the club is to help connect people in need with each other. Those looking for players to join a campaign they wish to start, and those looking for a group to join. This can be of even greater benefit to students who have an interest in these games, yet who lack the social grace or confidence to try and drum up some interest on their own.

So here comes the tabletop club. Offering those who are so inclined safe harbor within its walls.

Giving role players a safehouse on campus, where they are free to be themselves.

Campus clubs can give a student a place to feel like they belong while they are struggling to find their social footing out there in the interpersonal quagmire of campus life. Also, participation in campus clubs helps to pad the old resume, and 4-year schools love seeing that kind of stuff on a student’s application.

If you enjoy RPG’s, or are looking for a way to learn more about them, or you are just looking for a spot on campus where kindred spirits can meet and greet, the Tabletop Gaming Club awaits. The Tabletop Gaming Club meets every Monday from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in room MD-305 on Palomar’s main campus.

EROSA@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

A&E • 15

the-telescope.com

Students prepare in style for annual MODA fashion show JODY JOHNSON THE TELESCOPE

The production of a fashion show isn’t just about the designers, it also involves merchandisers and buyers. People may think that a fashion show just involves models strutting down the catwalk wearing a designer’s clothes.

That is only one part of putting together a fashion show. Behind the scenes, there’s also people working together to create a fashionable environment for the audience.

The MODA Fashion Show is presented by Fashion Design Instructors Rita Campo-Griggs and Chetna Bhatt. Both have worked in the fashion undustry for numerous years, so they know a thing or two about organizing a fashion event.

“Designers begin with a sketch which becomes a realization then comes to life in the execution of the garment. Merchandisers promote style and make products desirable for buyers,” Campo-Griggs said.

This year’s fashion theme is Global View. The idea of this theme reflects how fashion is a major economic industry all around the world. “(We want to) educate the public on fashion is a big business,” Campo-Griggs said. “Fashion is a trillion-dollar industry. Everything from costumes in entertainment to everyday apparel, it’s all about manufacturing textile.”

“All around the world, there are countries coming together to make one garment,” noted Campo-Griggs when further explaining the con-

Palomar fashion students Yui Moriki (left) and Brian Legg work on a catalog featuring all of the pieces for the MODA Fashion Show. The event was May 8 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. • Dirk Callum/The Telescope

cept of Global View.

Fashion Design student Daisy Guzman is one of the designers in this year’s fashion show. Her designs will be included within a group at the very end of the show.

“My designs are inspired by the psychedelic, trippy nature of Scooby Doo,” Guzman said. According

to Guzman, this show will be a lot different from last year’s show.

Yui Moriki, a Fashion Design student, is graduating from Palomar and is excited for her designs to be included in the show. “(My designs take inspiration from) a Japanese Kimono mixed with a regular dress. I like to call it a

Kimono Dress,” she said.

Fashion Designer Mariana Gavaghan said she is very proud of her fashion designs that will be showcased in the show. Her designs are inspired by Day of the Dead with a new age twist.

“People can expect color. Lots of color. I was inspired as it’s my heri-

tage and I just really like Day of the Dead,” she said.

Although not all the designers are being showcased at the show, they also have many bright ideas of what they would have designed for the show.

Fashion Designer Ashley Colvin said she would have implemented a military-inspired outfit if she was in the show. Stylistically different from the military theme, Designer Anna Pena would have designed her creations with a touch of spring, including pastel colors and utilizing flowers.

Gaining inspiration from the gaming and cosplay world, Designer Ines Reyes would have loved to design her creations modeled after Assassin’s Creed.

The Fashion Merchandising students seem to know what they want to do with their fashion expertise.

Merchandiser Andie Cabero said she would love to one day become a buyer for a major retail store.

Both Kristen Seneff and Hannah Ramirez share the same outlook of working with Anthropologie, a retail store. Hannah Bassett said she aspires to become a stylist, while Angel Putney wants to pursue a career in Visual Merchandising.

“I really hope people come see it, to get a new perspective of a fashion student,” Reyes said.

This year, the hard work went into preparing for the annual MODA Fashion Show, which took place May 8 at the California Center for the Arts Concert Hall in Escondido. For moreinformation, contact the Fashion Department at (760) 744-1150 ext. 2349.

JJOHNSON@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

No technology for three days, challenge accepted BROOKE CRAWFORD THE TELESCOPE

In an age of technology at our fingertips, refraining from answering texts and ignoring notifications is easier said than done.

I gave up all technology for three days and lived to tell about it; with this experiment I gained a new perspective.

Technology is integral into our lives. Take these facts: In 1973 the first cell phone was created and a few years later, in 1981, came the personal computer better known as PC. The millennial generation has also been referred to as the technology generation. I could not agree more.

My assignment for The Telescope: No technology for three days. Because I am tech savvy this was a major struggle. The first couple of hours were a cake walk. There are all sorts of distractions like the gym, reading a book, or my all time favorite ... catching up on sleep.

The issues arose when I went out into public. I watched as everyone else had their cellphone, tablet or computer. Groups laughed about the latest trends on social media and others were deep into conversation on their cell phones. I did not realize just how much I rely on these devices for day-to-day routines. I did not have a cellphone until I was well into my teen years and in less than a decade

it is something I cannot seem to live without.

My thoughts or worries seemed to overrule any serious thought I may have had. What if there is an emergency? I wonder how many missed calls and voicemails I have by now?

How am I going to survive the next day?

Meeting up with friends seemed a bit more difficult than usual. When my friends were so engrossed in their technology, it felt much like I was not part of the group. I used pay phones for important calls I needed to make, which meant that I needed to keep change in my purse. I had forgotten that those even existed, much less were available for my use.

At work, I had to use a computer so that I could access the database we use to keep track of things outside of the filing system. The temptation to log into my social media on my break was greater because of the easy access. The feeling that I got was instant irritation and slight frustration.

Normally, we do not consider these things because as a generation we are on top of our technology devices and avenues for social media.

I had several voicemails of moderate to extreme importance and although I made arrangements beforehand, situations arose that needed my attention. I also decided that I did not want to inform all of my friends and family of my experiment to see what

Cartoon by John Lucia/The Telescope

the effect would be from their end. I would suggest that a landline should be in place for scenarios such as this.

Others may not take kindly to wondering or worrying about your well being.

Ultimately, I learned a few things while abstaining from technology.

First, it is possible to accomplish being technology free for a few days.

Although irritating at times, it gave me a moment to enjoy some things I had not done in a while such as painting and finishing a book. I was also

able to notice different things about the world I live in. I saw people in a different light and valued personal connections on a deeper level. Finally, I learned how to survive without technology in a world where it is prevalent. I see that it may have been easier back in my teen years because it did not exist on the same scale that it does now.

There are some positives to how we use technology today and why, in some cases, it can be deemed necessary.

Forbes staff writer Eric Savitz

states one example is the change to having mobile devices at meetings where there used to be nothing but a pencil and legal pad. Millennials see this as an advantage and use the Internet, e-mail and Twitter during meetings to capture notes, find information that may be helpful to the conversation, and more.

I find that constant communication and updates is vital in running our world in the most efficient way.

BCRAWFORD@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

16 • A&E

Monday, May 11, 2015

Students highlight natural beauty of Yosemite

Page 16

Page 17

Top: Yosemite Falls • Meredith James

Top right: Vernal Falls • Yoshikazu Yamashita

Middle: Mirror Lake • Meredith James

Top left: Nevada Falls • Yoshikazu Yamashita

Lower: Yosemite Falls • Dusty Wynne

Middle: Merced River • Niko Holt Bottom: Mirror Lake• Keiko Yamasaki

SUSAN WHALEY THE TELESCOPE

A class like no other at Palomar College traveled to the Eastern Sierras.

The reason for going was to capture the beauty of Yosemite National Park and nearby locations. The class is Photography 212 Landscape and Culture. Each semester that the class is offered, they travel to a different location.

This class, with photography professor Donna Cosentino, went for five days from March 25 to 29. The goal for the

landscape photography class is to expand one’s skills and style, according to Cosentino.

“Students consider composition and light as they strive to render a sense of place,” Cosentino said.

In the Fall 2015 semester Photography 171 Landscape and Culture will be offered and students have the chance to travel to the Eastern Sierras again.

For more information on the class, call (760) 744-1150 ext. 2440.

SWHALEY@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

the-telescope.com

A&E • 17

18 • NEWS Aaro, Colton J. Aaron, Nicholas J. Abbasi, Ibaad Abrams, Andrew C. Acton, Abraham Adame, Jessica Adame, Jose C. Adame,Gabriel M. Adams, Cuera H. Adams, Katherine N. Adams, Kyle L. Aguilar, Lydia D. Albergo, Thomas J. Alcantara, Rianna E. Alcocer, Antonio R. Alder, Jake B. Alegre, Charlyn S. Alejandre, Araceli Alfaro-Perez, Julian Alko, Veronica Alvarez, Humberto Alva, Esmeralda Arias, Miguel A. Aria, Katie M. Arsaga, Kevin E. Austin, Cole S. Auzenne, Darien P. Avant, Courtney N. Avery, Ashley N. Avery, Dalton J. Barber, Michael J. Barden, Zachariah C. Bates, Trevor A. Bautista, Sara L. Baxter, Brittney A. Bean, Angelique R. Beasley, Eli K. Beasley, K. Beason, Jacob C. Beck, William J. Becker, Matthew T. Bedard, Ivy H. Bejarano, Alberto Benfield, Eric J. Bennett, Jason Bennett, Lara A. Berg, Karran S. Bisbee, Katie M. Bishop, Garon L. Blake, Jasmin E. Blount, Michael S. Bobbitt, Tonya T. Boehringer, Allison L. Bogzaran, Kevin A. Bolanos, Christian Boomer, Shaylyn E. Borkton, Samuel R. Boswell, Darla Bourasa, Megan E. Bowlin, Destiny M. Boyajian, Nora Boyd, Loricia M. Bozir, Christopher M. Braun, Frederick G. Brenkus, Bradley E. Brewer, Benjamin D. Briggs, Deanna L. Bright, Gage W. Briseno, Andrea Brito, Emi A. Britton, Samantha L. Brixey, Sarina C. Brock, Kevin P. Broomfield, Derrick J. Brower, Alexandra R, Bullock, Christopher Buriek, Steven Burrows, Chase J. Burt, Sam H. Bush, Robert A. Butler, Kevin W. Calderon, Susana V. Caldwell, Maylin Y. Calica-Lowery, R. Cameron, Heather M. Campos, Anais Canales, Kayla Y. Canedo, Bianca Canseco, Luis F.

Canter, Joseph A. Cardenas, Aaron K..

Carpenter, Zachary P. Carranza, Paulino J. Carreira, Darren J. Castillo, Erica Castro, Kelly L. Cazarez, Ma E. Ceballos, Adrian Ceja, Elizabeth A. Cervantes, Mayra Chambers, Dan Chambers, v Chance, Heather A. Chapman, Robert W. Chavez, Javier Chavez, Liliana Childress, Vanessa A. Choate, Peter D. Christov, Lauranne C. Clifford, Cullen D. Cloyd, Brandi L. Cortes,Luis F. Cortez III, Ralph Cortez, Abigail Cowell, Kody N. Craig, Austin M. Crawford, Philip P. Crayton, Amber D. Creasman, James C. Crump, Tera D. Cruz, Arely Cruz, Henry Cruz, Joshua Cruz, Roxana Cruz, Stacie L. Cruz, Vicente A. Csikos, Ashleigh N. Cuevas, Emily A. Culal-lad, Dane Daniel, Carlie E. Daniel, Tracy Darcy, Marian C. Dare, Garrett M. Dato, Savanna L. Davey, Nathan M. Davidson, Allison T. Davis, Dakota Davis, Michele C. Davison, Brice E. Day, Jason M. De La Torre, Violeta De Lisser, Olivia C. De Yoe, Charles W. Dean, Amanda L. Dean, Evan M. Delgado, Daphne R. Deroche, Jessica I. Derose, Christian R. Diaz, Gustavo E. Diaz, Lizette Diaz, Melyna Diaz, Nancy DiCintio, Elena F. Diego, Alfredo Diego, Jesus Dimon, Patrick J. Dixon, Jeffrey H. Do, Kieu N. Doan,Vivian Dobbins, Christine L. Doghy, Kelly A. Donchev, Peter R. Donelson, Denise A. Dong, Wenli Dover, Amanda C. Dowling, Keith R. Downs, Chelsea N. Dubord, Alyssa L. Duke, Randall J. Duke, Terha C. Dumas, Amanda G. Dunn, Alexander T. Duran, Oscar Drri, Mikhail G. Eckert, Mitchell E. Edwards, Thomas J. Eisma, Joseph S. Ekblad, Daniel R.

Monday, May 11, 2015 Eker, Hulya El Maleh, Manal Elledge, Haley R. Elliott, Marina I. Ellis, Christopher H. Enciso, Natalie Enciso, Rebeca Ericson, Spencer J. Escobedo, Cristina Esoy, Glenn T. Esparza, Humberto Espinal, Maylin L. Enardo J. Evans, Allison M. Eveland, Nicholas M. Fabi, Kyle C. Falucho, Monique R. Fang, Sabavil T. Feather, David A. Feenstra, Andrew P. Felices, Mary A. Ferreira, Roman A. Fetalvo, Ronnel Field, Ryan T. Fields, Michelle C. Fierros, Maria E. Figlioli, Peter V. Queen J. M. Fischer, Lauren E. Frasier, Shea P. Fredricksen, Paige K. Freed, Judy A. Fregosi, James L. Frolander, Lacey E. Frost, Jonathan D. Fry, Jillian A. Fulton, Jason T. Furst, Rachael E. Galvan, Esmeralda Gannon, Tyson J. Garcea, Steven V. Garlejo, Rob Gaspar, Mario Gaspar, Miguel E. Gates, Brian T. Gatillo, Dina Gatillo, Miguel E. Gause, Heather J. Gawitt, Stephen B. Genduso, Lance O. George, Pearl M. Gillespie, Lauren A..

Grogan, Kyle M. Gronbach, Jessica L. Gruber, Sierra G. Guerrero, Areli Guerrero, Jose M. Guillen, Manuel Gutierrez, Keyla GutieRobert A. Guzvia S. Haderlie, Claire Han, Paul H. Hargis, Samantha R. Harms, Jason L. Harris, Kelly R. Harris, Linnea E. Hartcorn, Diane J. Harvey, Tamara L. Hayward, Susan M. Headrick, Michael T. Healy, Francisco Heaston, Tamara D. Heath, Shaunna M. C. Heiselt, Leonard T. Hernandez, Edwin J. Hez, Sophia E. Hernandez, Victoria Herrera, Karen B. Hickman, Natasha M. Higgins, Justin O. Higgins, Stephen D. Highland, Devin J. Hill, David R. Hill, Kendra E. Hodapp, Michael E. Hogan, Savanna A. Hogstrom, Julie M. Holdren, Elizabeth C.

Holiday, Empress A. Holland, Scott D. Hommel, Shannon N. Honnes, Vanessa Hoppe, Dylan M. Horner, Lauren M. Hosfield, Jason R. Howe, Jesse J. Howley, Casey M. Hozeska, Aarika L. Hua, Duc M. Huber, Rusty J. Huerta, Adriana Huerta, Jose A. Huerta, Nicholas A. Huerta, Rachel E. Hughes, Jonathan D. Huizar, Karla Hummel, Heather M. Ibanez, Jonathan A. Ignaciak, Michael S. Ilich, Spaso X. Ilich, Spaso X. Iosbaker, Ashley M. Iraheta, Julio A. Ishi, Takafumi Iwanski, Alyssa M. Jaberizad, Mahshid Jackson, Carol L. Jackson, Kevin W. Jafari, Omid Jaka, Sarah E. Jamal, Rajak S. James, Nicole E. Janich, Justin R. Javier, Viviana Jeansonne, Brigitte M. Jensen, Dane E..

Johnson, Chloe M. Johnson, Courtney K. Johnson, Susan D. Jones, Ashlyn T. Jones, Bryan M. Jones, Edgar W. Jones, Landon M. Jones, Shavatta S. Jordan, Shelby N. Journey, Jessica M. Joya, Ricardo T. Kabaci, Shannon K. Kahlor, cholas A. Kast, Georg R. Kaufman, Dean J. Keck, Stephen D..

King, Joshua E. King, Justin D. Kirkpatrick, Trevor G. Knapp, Canaan J. Knowles, Dylan W. Knox, Abigail L. Knox, Daniel J. Kohli, an P. Kuenzi, Nicolas Kuo, Chao-Ching Lanius, Malik L. Lara,arin M. Lash, Nicole M. Lashley, Monica J. LHannah N. Layton, Anna E. Lazaga,Genevieve I. Le, Tiffany T. Leakey, Samuel J. Legmanda C. Lemus, Ryan J. Leong, Brooke A. Lerno, Marci G. Licata, James R. Licata, James R. Lim, Jonathan A. Lim, Millie S. Linaker, David M. Lindow, Austin D. Lippman, Joseph D. Lisak, Amber N. Liuchan, Charlie V. Llamas, Rufina Lococo, Nicholas J. Loomis-Martin,

Lopez Flores, Lopez, Johnny J. Lopez, Meagan S. Lopez, Melissa A. Lopez, Paulina M. Lopez, Rafael Lopez, Rosa J. Lopez, Sonia Lowe, Jorge E. Lucero, Joseph E. Luchetta, Vincent J. Lule, Ricky G. Luse, Jessica M. Luttrull, Wendy M. Ly, Diane Ly, Sopha Lyda, Kirby Lykke, Martin D. Lyons, Ariana R. Lyons, Mona J. Magisti N. Mansy, Jacob D. Mapp, Eugene W. Marin, Janette Markham, Mariah Markland, Trevor B. Marquez, Laura L. Marriott, William J. Marshall, Flor D. Marshall, Kayla E. Marta, Olivia S. Martinez, Arturo G. Maune, Jesse D. May, Holly M. Menor, Shelly A. Meraz, Vanessa Miller, Amanda N. Mizuno, Kotono Moberly, Jon R. Montes, Laura A. Moore, Scott A. Morales, Jessica E. Moran, Lizette Moreland, Michelle C. Moretti, Roxanne N. Morgan, Estella Morgan, Nathan A. Mori, Vincent M. Morikawa, Chris A. Moriki, Yui Moshier, Brandon K. Mossman, David M. Motomura, Kosuke Mouck, Shannon R. Mowers, Jeffrey A. Muehl, John T. Muirhead, Rick R. Mulherin, John T. Muller, Ciara D. Mundy, Darryl S. Munoz, Torrey M. Munson, Chris D. Murillo, Yunior Murphy, Colleen E. Murray, Jacob A. Nash, Patrick J. Nassir, Sabrina Z. Navarro, Esteban E..

Ng, Veronica N. Nguyen, Andy Q. Nomura, Aiko Nordby, Gary W. O’Brian, Caroline M. O’Brien, Kyle S. O’Roy, Javante A. Oble, Imelda Ocheita, Sergio G. Oldar, Andrew M. Oldar, Kenneth J. Opdahl, Christina A. Ornelas, Ana M. Orozco, Lorena Pagunsan, Maricel Paklos, Jennifer Palm, Dwan P. Palma, Gavin M. Palmer, Joshua D. Paniagua, Luis A. Papp, David

Paxton, Vivian A. Payne, Jessica C. Pearson, Carl B. Pearson, Tara M. Pedersen, Charles R. Peirson, Gregory Pennington, Sara R. Perez, Ester.

Peters, Rebecca M. Peterson, Michael J. Pham, Anh Thu N. Pham, Michael T. Picard, Dilek Pierce, Kimberly M. Pike, Robert W. Pinckney, Alliya M. Pineda, Jessenia Pino, Marjon J. Piva, Garrett A. Plount, Steven C. Polanco, Zackary R. Polanco, Zackary R. Pollack, Alicia M. Poole, Karen M. Posdzich, Erich C. Post, Shane Potter, Garret L. Potthast, Nicholas A. Powell, Katherine P. Powell, Vanessa S. Pozos, Nora Prchal, Linda A..

Ramirez, Daisy Ramirez, Lenahan M. Ramirez, Luis A. Ramirez, Y. Ramler, Megan E. Ramos, Alfredo I. Rand, Corey A. Rangel, Catalina Rapoza, Dayne K. Razo, Rigoberto Reddick, Thomas G. Rettig, Chelsea L. Rettig, Chelsea L. Revalee, Desirae D. Reyes, Angela Rhaney, Michelle Rhea, Ashley S. Rheuby, Vanessa M. Rhone, Derrick L. Ricci, Kefren Richards, Lindsay N. Rideout, Rozalind E. Ridgley, James J. Rihan, Nehad Riley, Daniel J. Rivadeneyra, Douglas Rivas, Anthony R. Rivera, Noe Rivera, Noe Rivera, Vanessa M. Rizo, Gilberto E. Roberts, Solomon Robles, Karla V. Rodea, Uriel Roden, Carley J. Rodriguez, Jesse R. Rojas, Juan Roman, Eliacer J. Romeo, Ilda R. Romero, Nikki L. Rosa, Edward N. Rosado, Kassandra Rosales, Leslie Y. Rosas, Jorge A. Rose, Erik R. Rose, West L. Rosenberg, Daniel J. Rossi, Jennifer N. Rubalcava, Erika Ruttledge, Morgan A. Salazar, Alma D. Salvatierra, Andrea L. Sanchez, Vanessa Sandoval Jr, Frank L. Sandstoe, Jessica L. Sanford, Shawn Santana, Jacqueline

Schulman, Noah Schwab, Rebekah M. Sedano, Nicole M. Serna Rivera, Diana L. Serrano, Michael K. Sette, Mason S. Severns, Melanie J. Shadrick, Daniel J. Sharp, Kelsey B. Shasky, Erika M. Shiery, April A. Shilling, Tina M. Shimomura, Sumire Shin, Seulki Shini, Fadi Shinozaki, Masayuki Shively, Heather B. Shoaf, Ashley R. Sholley, Todd M. Simpson, Tyler Sleeper, Crystal C. Smethurst, Ryan A. Smith, Rachael A. Smith, Tiffany Smyers, Zachary S. Soriano, Jaime Sosa, Suriel A. Sostrom, Nikki S. Stephan, Tanner L. Stolar, Steven A. Storey, Eric J. Sullivan, Scott A. Sumner, Mike D. Sutton, Andrew C. Swart, Francois C. Vang, Maipe Vargas, Cynthia Vega, Olivia M. Vega, Victor Velasquez, Mariela Y. Velasquez, Ronaldo Velazco, Liliana M. Ventura, Luz M. Vergara, Ashley E. Vidaurri, Dustin W. Villalva, Jr., Jose M. Villanueva, Alyza C. Villegas, Melissa Walling, David E. Walsh, Micheal B. Walsh, Rachel T. Watson, Jay J. Way, Ryan K. Webb, Jordyn D. Weiss, Elusive V. Werk, Denise Westby, Candice G. Wheeler, Derek B. Whitley, Tara A. Whittaker, Tyler J. Wick, Ethan J. Willey, Brian D. Williams, Elke A. Wong, Charissa Y. Woodbury, Taylor M. Worts, Simone D. Wright, Gianna M. Wright, Heidi M. Yamada, Sadatoshi Yamada, Taikun Yamashita, Nao Yamashita, Yoshikazu Yauk, Martin A. Yentis, Gavin G. Yermian, Hannah L. Yokoshima, Yuka Yoshihara, Gavin G. Young, Jason Young, Kelsey M. Young, Morgan T. Yturralez, Aimee E. Yuok, Brandon S. Zamir, Nathanael N. Zavala, Maribel Zavoli, Dominic A. Zevely, Heather B. Zuniga, Alexandria N. Zuniga, Cody T. Zuo, Qin

Congratulations

Palomar College

graduates of 2015

from The Telescope

NEWS • 19

the-telescope.com

Voices of Palomar graduates 2015 FERN MENEZES THE TELESCOPE

On May 15, 2015 Palomar College will be having its commencement ceremonies, handing out degrees and certificates, and saying goodbye to a few of you. It’s time for that big sigh of relief – you’re graduating.

All the hard work, late nights, lost weekends, homework and stress are closer to evaporating.

Some students came directly from high school on their road of a lifelong dream they’d had since they were kids. For some, the road to graduation took more time and a lot of hard work. They juggled their work schedules and family nights to accommodate their classes and studies.

All have the one thing in common – this leg of their journey is over.

According to Palomar’s Enrollment Services the 2014 2015 evaluations total for those eligible to receive a degree or a certificate is almost 4,000 students. During the year of 2012 - 2013 that total was just over 4,400 students.

On California’s government website, College Navigator, the current graduation rate for Palomar is listed as 25 percent, this percentage is based on firsttime, first-year undergrads who complete their program within a specific amount of time.

Those transferring to a 4-year university is at 14 percent, also based on first-year, first-time undergrads transferring to another college within a specific time frame.

Palomar officials say they have always encouraged an atmosphere of growth and chal-

lenge. And this seems evident when speaking to students about their experiences while at Palomar. Many will look back to find the one thing that gave them the motivation to continue and see that it was the instructors.

Michael Dentoni, vice president of the campus student government, is graduating this year. His major is business finance and Dentoni said he looks forward to attending a 4-year college and becoming a Certified Public Accountant.

His most memorable time spent at Palomar has been competing with the Speech and Debate Team saying “our coaches are what really make the team.”

The debate team ended up fourth in the nation this semester.

Also, Dentoni’s experience working with the ASG has left an indelible image on him.

“Working with the ASG is a good way to learn real-world skills and at the same time add something to your college experience,” he said.

Dentoni’s recommendation to students at Palomar is “talk to your instructors, they’re a lot nicer, they’re a lot more personable, they’re a lot more willing to make small concessions” and “even if you think you’re not going to get (help) – ask for it if you’re having trouble.”

Dentoni also said he will be looking for a quiet, peaceful place outdoors to contemplate his graduation.

For Alberto Bajarano, a oneyear member and vice president of service with Phi Theta Kappa, graduation “feels like a huge stepping stone I’m passing over and getting on with my career.”

He said he went directly into the workforce following high school, then into the University of New Mexico to become a civil engineer. After a short time he left college and joined the U.S. Marines where he found his true calling: aviation.

While in the Marines, Bajarano was able to obtain his pilot’s license, work on helicopter engines, and develop his passion for flying. After he completed his service he “hit the ground running” with his education because of his love of flying.

And now Bajarano is graduating with a GPA of 3.72, and is obtaining an associate degree in aviation management.

He has been accepted into the bachelor’s program at Southern Illinois University, which is located on campus at Palomar in the new Natural Sciences Building.

Bajarano’s excitement is uncontained when speaking about his career path. He is looking forward to obtaining a master’s degree in occupational safety and then possibly a doctorate.

He recalls a time at Palomar when he was overwhelmed with five classes and was getting discouraged, he kept telling himself to “just push through.”

Bajarano, with the help of his wife, friends and tutors at Palomar, was able to turn everything around and enthusiastically come out ahead.

Bajarano said learning was much easier after that.

“I completely stopped thinking about my grades in the class and it (became about) how much knowledge I can actually absorb from my professors,”

New student body president hopes to make Palomar student voices heard CHRISTOPHER BULLOCK THE TELESCOPE

The new student government president already has plans for next semester after running unopposed.

Associated Student Government president-elect Malik Spence looks forward to making Palomar College a more involved campus.

Originally a delegate as the year started, Spence, a chemistry major, worked his way into the senator role as the Spring semester started. In midApril, he ran for the ASG President position uncontested. But that didn’t keep him from treating it like a competition.

In an interview, he stated his interest in student involvement led him to run.

“I’ve been involved with student government since my sophomore year of high school,” Spence said.

“Going into a leadership position

here at Palomar, I thought I could affect as many people as I could,” he added.

Going into the 2015-16 school year, Spence is looking to make the ASG more involved within the school; promoting their presence and making it more attractive to students.

“There is an organization that is proactive, and bettering students’ experiences here at Palomar,” Spence said.

“We are a highly motivated group and we like to do what we do,” he added.

One thing he hasn’t forgotten, however, is his main responsibility: to be a voice for the student body. And he plans on maintaining that.

“People want their voices to be heard, and it is our responsibility to make sure that they are heard,” Spence said.

CBULLOCK@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Malik Spence • Stephen Davis/The Telescope

Bajarano said. “Instead of trying to get a grade, I was trying to learn.”

What helped him a lot was an unpaid internship at the French Valley Airport in Temecula as an operations manager for Country Wide Flyers. This provided valuable hands-on experience while reinforcing his college education.

Bajarano’s advice to students entering Palomar is: “Don’t be afraid to talk to your professors. The professors here are so amazing, that’s what I love about Palomar College – the professors and staff. It’s amazing how much they care about the students.”

Bajarano’s graduation celebration will be dinner with family and then back on the road to his bachelor’s the very next day.

At the University of California Law School graduation in 2007 Charles Munger told the class that “You’re not going to get very far in life based on what you already know. You’re going to advance in life by what you’re going to learn after you leave here.”

Palomar College has been serving the community since Sept. 23, 1946 when they opened on the Vista High School campus with an enrollment of 100 students, a president, a dean and nine faculty members.

Today, though the enrollment at Palomar seems to vary with the economy, there were close to 25,000 students enrolled in six different campuses and over 1,500 faculty, staff and administrative employees..

Illustration by Joel Vaughn/The Telescope

FMENEZES@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

CRASH

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“I’ve known Julio for a number of years. He’s taken at least three classes with me,” said photography professor Donna Cosentino.

“We’re all very sad about this situation.”

Julio was in an induced coma, but as of May 6, he was alert and able to speak. He’s in a neck brace, awaiting to have a CT scan done on him to check if he will need to undergo any surgery for his injuries.

As of press time, his sister Carolina, was in the intensive care unit at Sharps. She is showing progress in her recovery, being able to stand and walk a few steps. She is alert and able to communicate a little, but still having trouble breathing and is in severe pain.

Their mother, Angelica, is in stable but very critical condition.

Shane McDonald was arraigned in the hospital on May 6. With his right leg and left wrist bandaged,

he plead not guilty to two counts of vehicle manslaughter while intoxicated, and five counts of felony DUI causing death or injury. If convicted, McDonald could face 20 years in prison.

A GoFundMe page has been created to help raise money for the De La Torre family for the costs of two funerals and the medical bills caused by the accident.

There will also be a fundraiser at Chick-fil-A on May 15, Friday.

It is located at 587 Grand Avenue in San Marcos and will operate from 4 to 7 p.m. and 50 percent of all sales will go to the De La Torre family.

For more updates on the De La Torre family, please go to the PrayforthedelaTorres Facebook page.

JJOHNSON@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

20 • SPORTS

Monday, May 11, 2015

Palomar Sand Volleyball team. Bottom Row (l-r) Ephril Leach, Haley Farnum, Brittany Andrade, Vanessa Flores, Ashli Pardi, Gabby Hutzler, Brittney Mitchell. Top Row (l/r) Molly Witzmann, Aspen Luedtke, Brenna Mann, Madi Stark, Colleen Jones, Hannah Seits, Rachel McFarland, Kelli Iverson. The team made history as the school’s 22nd sport. • Photos by Philip Farry/The Telescope

Sisterhood is key for new volleyball team KIRK MATTU THE TELESCOPE

The year 2015 marked the debut of Palomar College’s first sand volleyball team and the college’s 22nd sport.

Palomar College athletics have ushered in a year of advancement for the department with the addition of sand volleyball and their compliance with federal Title IX, a federal law that provides funding to educational programs where there is gender equity between men and women.

With the debut of the sand volleyball team the Comets have clocked in a 5-7 record overall this season, with a 2-4 conference record, while under the tutelage of Palomar’s five time Pacific Coast Athletic Conference coach of the year recipient, Head Volleyball Coach Karl Seiler.

“There’s definitely a lot of competition in the conference which is good, because it’s going to make us work harder for our wins,” Player Brenna Mann said. “We’re setting the standards for all the teams that come after us at Palomar.”

Collectively as a team, these 15 women have all viewed the opportunity to represent Palomar College as its first women’s sand volleyball team as both a challenging and rewarding experience transitioning into sand, but also a collective effort to represent and put out their best work.

“Some days it doesn’t really hit me until we stop and talk about it,” Player Brittany Andrade said. “This is something in history for Palomar.

It’s really cool to have this opportunity and to just have fun with it.”

A majority of the women on the team have grown and learned together inside the Dome last fall,

This is something in history for Palomar. It’s really cool to have this opportunity and to just have fun with it.

BRITTANY ANDRADE • ATHLETE

Palomar women’s sand volleyball coach Karl Seiler takes a moment to talk to the team during practice on Jan. 16. The team practices at nearby Mission Hills Church in preparation for its upcoming inaugural season. The addition of sand volleyball gave Palomar College 11 men’s sports and 11 women’s sports. • Philip Farry/The Telescope

while being on the 2014 women’s volleyball team, and have created a small knit family as a result.

The women’s volleyball team concluded their 2014 season with a 19-5 overall record and placed second out of nine teams in the PCAC. The transition from a hard-static surface found inside the Dome to the constant shifting of outdoor sand has been a challenge for the athletes as they compete for the first time in sand volleyball, Seiler said.

“They’ve been training really hard; they’re understanding the game better than they did in the beginning,” Coach Seiler said.

“They’re night and day better than

when they first started.”

The women’s sand volleyball team holds their practice five days out of the week from 8 to 10 a.m. at Mission Hills Church in San Marcos.

“It’s awesome that this is the first class of my day; yeah its sucks getting up at 5 in the morning and driving down from Temecula, but while everyone else is sitting in a desk, I’m out here getting to play volleyball everyday,” Player Hayley Farnum said.

Sand volleyball is played in pairs against an opposing team, and while each member of the team only has their other half dur-

ing the game they have all found support from one another as a collective team.

“I look up to a lot of the girls on my team,” Player Ephril Leach said.

“The older ones who’ve been here all know what their doing and they really help me out when I’m struggling.”

Outside of sand volleyball, all the women on the team are all fulltime students perusing their own academic pursuits and some have even taken on a college job.

Player Aspen Leudtke is a double major in business and psychology, coaches part-time outside of Palomar and has a full-time job as

a manager at Jersey Mike’s, a sandwich shop chain.

Some women on the team came into volleyball and found it as their true passion after spending several years in another sport. Mann and Colleen Jones both played soccer for 10 years prior to playing volleyball, and Farnum was a gymnast for nine years while living in Wisconsin.

While each athlete on the team have standout characteristics and personalities, the majority have a strong trend toward reggae music and an affinity for giraffes. They also like hanging outdoors, the beach, and staying active and have all created a sisterhood within the team.

“No matter how crabby we get at each other, seeing each other every day, there’s always still that love for each other. Nothing can tear us apart as a team,” Player Vanessa Flores said.

The women’s team finished the season with a split in the OEC Kerri Walsh-Jennings Division Regional; defeating Orange Coast 3-2 before losing to regional host Golden West, who advanced to the state playoffs with the win.

KMATTU@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

SPORTS • 21

the-telescope.com THE COFFEE BREAK

Here’s one final cup of coffee CHRISTOPHER BULLOCK THE TELESCOPE

Palomar women’s track and field team members Jessica Steinhoff (left) and Jessica Betancourt. The pair were a key element to not only cross country’s success, but the track and field team as well. • Philip Farry/The Telescope

The ‘Twin Jessicas’ look to make positive impact on and off the track MIKE PETERSON THE TELESCOPE

For two runners on the Palomar women’s track and field team, positivity and practice are the wellsprings of their success.

Jessica Betancourt, an environmental science major, and Jessica ‘Jessie’ Steinhoff, a nursing major, are both decorated members of Palomar College’s track and field team.

Steinhoff has qualified for the state track and field meet in the 10k with a huge personal record. Betancourt headed into the Southern California Community College Finals last week as the top athlete in the steeplechase, according to an email from track and field coach Jennifer Williams.

Coach Williams said that Steinhoff and Betancourt are both excellent leaders, always responsible with their practices and are all-around excellent additions to the team.

“I haven’t had two people on the team like this in years,” Williams said. “And I’ve been coaching for 16 years.”

Steinhoff has been on the track and field team for two years. She started track and field her senior year at Fallbrook High School. Prior to that, she had played soccer.

Betancourt also has experience running for a high school track and field team. She grew up with gymnastics, horseback riding and a stint on the volleyball team before making the varsity track team her freshman year.

After high school, she ran for Modesto Junior College. She came to Palomar, took a year off to focus on her academics and started running for track and field this year.

Steinhoff is a native of the San Diego area. Betancourt is originally from Northern California, but moved to

San Diego to attend Palomar College.

Betancourt attributes her success to practice and attitude.

“My coach always just says that perfect practice is perfect performance,” Betancourt said. “You’re not gonna wake up on race day and run great unless you run great every day.”

Steinhoff said her coach and her teammates are the sources of her success, as well as the drive to push her own limits.

“I always try to improve myself,” Steinhoff said. “My inspiration is just trying to get better and challenging myself.”

Both women support and challenge each other, and are great friends. Williams said that since Betancourt and Steinhoff started training together, they had a chemistry that allowed them to help each other out.

Betancourt is more of a speed runner, while Steinhoff has a bit more endurance, according to Williams. It helps when training partners have different strengths to play off of, she added.

Betancourt said her favorite part of the season so far are the relationship she has with her coach, as well as her friendship with Steinhoff.

Steinhoff ’s bubbly personality and positivity has caused her to change her attitude, Betancourt said.

“She’s the happiest person ever, she never has a bad day,” Betancourt said. “I’ve never seen her upset.”

Betancourt enjoys snowboarding in her spare time, although her coach has cautioned against it for fear of her getting injured. Not being a native to San Diego, she said that showing her family around and visiting new places in the San Diego area is a favorite thing for her to do.

“My family’s been so supportive, even living eight hours away,” Betancourt said, adding that they make

as many trips down as possible and always wish her good luck before meets.

Both women plan to transfer in the near future. Betancourt has received offers from various colleges in the Midwest, as well as Sacramento State. She has two more years of competition for the collegiate level and is planning on running her remaining college career. Steinhoff is talking to Texas A&M University and CSU-San Bernardino.

“They’re both talking to quite a few schools,” Williams said, “But they haven’t nailed down where they’re going.”

“They’re going to be terribly missed next year,” she added.

MPETERSON@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

In my year as sports editor for The Telescope, I’ve never been as excited to follow my school’s athletic programs as I have been with the Comets.

Watching our athletes not only progress on the court, but off the court as well, has been a highlight of my time as sports editor. In the Fall 2014 semester, we had 75 athletes (75!) be named to the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference All-Academic Team. Of the 75, 22 of them were football athletes.

Do you realize the effort it takes to be a full-time student and maintain a 3.0 grade point average? Now, add that to a grueling practice schedule, and weekly Friday games for 11 weeks. Not only is that ridiculous, but it makes even the hardest of workaholics look like chumps. But these students did it. Freshman offensive lineman Luke Davis did all that and then some: he took 22 units and finished with a perfect 4.0 GPA. You have to petition to take more than 17 units, and if you fail even one class, your student eligibility for the following semester can be suspended.

I tip my cap to them.

I also want to tip my cap to soon-to-be retiree Mark Eldridge.

For those who don’t know Eldridge, he has been a staple in the Palomar community for 40-plus years. He was a three-sport athlete here, excelling in football, baseball and track and field (back when the men had a track and field team, it was disbanded in 1981) before going to Washington State University as a starting safety; then moving on to Long Beach State for track and field.

Since coming back to Palomar as a coach in the late 1970s, the football, track and field, softball and women’s golf teams have enjoyed his tutelage.

As a result, he found great success.

As the softball coach, he went 1,038304-5, winning 29 conference cham-

pionships and three state titles before stepping down after the 2010 season.

He is one of only four community college coaches to be inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame; an honor he received in 2012.

He also was instrumental in starting the women’s golf team back in 2007. Since then, the team has been a powerhouse in the state gold scene; breeding two individual state champions, one team state championship (2009), and five conference championships.

He will now be handing over the team to Mark Halda, the men’s golf coach. Halda is no slouch himself; he was been a longtime assistant coach for the football team, and recently led the men’s golf team to the PCAC conference championship in its first year after moving from the Orange Empire Conference.

And now to the meat and potatoes of the athletic department, the teams themselves. Between our 22 sports, we claimed seven conference championships. The most impressive, so far, was the women’s basketball team. In her fifth season as head coach. Leigh Marshall has turned the team into a force to be reckoned with statewide. With leading scorer Keisha Cox leading the way on the court, the Comets had their best season ever, posting a 26-4 record (13-1 in the PCAC, winning their second conference title in three years), and making it all the way to the State Elite Eight for the first time in school history.

It’s been a pleasure and an honor getting to cover the Comets’ athletic teams. I’d like to say thank you to all the coaches who have cooperated with me and assisted with stories; and a special thank you to Athletic Dept. assistant Amber Slivick, whose help has been most gracious in getting all the information I need.

I wish Palomar the best of luck next season.

CBULLOCK@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

22 • SPORTS

Monday, May 11, 2015

Trainers mend and maintain Palomar’s athletes STEVEN BURIEK THE TELESCOPE

Behind every Palomar athlete there is a separate entity responsible for keeping them primed at peak physical performance.

The Palomar athletic training facility has been a haven for athletes to maintain a healthy and wellfunctioning body and come to be repaired and rejuvenated. The damage inflicted on the field, pool, court or arena, is mended in the athletic training facility.

Palomar’s athletes are the machines and the athletic trainers are the mechanics.

The constant flow of athletes require facilities to be broken down into three rooms. The first room is utilized for taping stations, the ice machine and an open space for functional treatments.

The back room along with an office for Athletic Training students is housed with exam tables, ice bags, hot moist packs, ultra sound and modalities ranging from electrical stimulation to Pre-Mod and even Biphasic physical therapy techniques.

Assistant Trainer Dennis Greenhill, SDSU alumn and previous head trainer at Scripps Ranch High School, has seen his day on the battlefield of athletes and injuries. He previously worked through the U.S. Olympic Committee with national teams, in minor league hockey, and then in arena football before he came to Palomar. A veteran of the trade, he’s been working here for eight years.

“It’s just kind of an open door policy. We try to get the kids to understand that we’re here as advocates for the athletes. We’re here to protect you, we’re here to make

Trainer Kayla Everett working on pitcher Kyle Cooper. • Philip Farry/The Telescope

Palomar trainer Amber Gates works on the calf of shortstop Dylan Breault. Palomar’s student trainers play a key role in keeping athletes in shape. • Philip Farry/ The Telescope

you better, we’re here to get you out there to do what you do,” Greenhill said.

Comets softball second baseman Brooke Huddleson, 21, has been a regular at the athletic facility after racking up various injuries.

“I dislocated my right knee cap in the fall, had to get surgery on my shoulder a couple years ago and tore my labrum and rotator cuff.

It’s super beneficial for me to come

in and use Stem and ultra sound.

I can tell a big difference from the beginning of the season until now,” she said.

Huddleson also took a moment to say how friendly the staff is.

Amber Gates (student trainer) is my best friend, I get along with all of the trainers. They are the real homies,” Huddleson said.

Even with the open door policy and a friendly demeanor with the

student athletes, the trainer faculty run a tight shift and keep it professional.

The athletic training staff is charged with anything from prevention to simple taping, preparing water for games and practice, evaluations, all the way to emergency medicine for about 425 athletes across 22 sports.

“We’ve had to fix fractures where both bones in the lower leg break. And so now you see this huge step down. We’ve deployed the AED (automated external defibrillator) a couple of times and oddly enough the two times we had to deploy the AED it wasn’t for athletes, it was for fans. That’s what we do, we are most skilled medical staff closest to the situation,” Greenhill said.

This facility’s certified staff are comprised of one full-time trainer, Greenhill as a 3/4-time staffer, and one hourly position. Depending on the year there are also five to 10 student trainers who work as interns or paid employees. Students gain experience and see if the field of physical training is something

they are interested in, or by gaining experience to find out if they like what the trainers do.

Student athletic trainer Renee Willrodt, 20, told The Telescope why she enjoys gaining experience here at Palomar’s training facility.

“I started back in high school and got an A in my physical trainer class. I fell in love with the relationships you build with the athletes and the experience you get. It never gets boring; there’s always a new injury, always a new problem you have to solve,” she said.

According to Greenhill, things are on the road of change for the athletic facility. Upcoming construction of new fields and building for sport purposes underway will include the creation of a new athletic facility on the other side of campus.

“I think what we’re working toward is just modernizing the program itself, the new facilities that are being built on the other end of campus are something we are going to be part of,” Greenhill said.

SBURIEK@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Palomar’s athletic department ensures that athletes excel in the classroom EDWARD ROSA THE TELESCOPE

Good grades are extremely important to a successful academic career, especially when a student gets into community college. Good grades are what will help ensure a student gets admitted to the school of their choice.

But what about athletes? The perception among many is that certainly, good grades might be nice, but if one is skilled at a sport, then good grades are no longer as important. Turns out, that notion could not be more inaccurate.

Sports are one of the most popular and profitable businesses in the world today. Millions, if not billions of dollars of revenue are generated annually by professional sports organizations.

One of the corollary effects of the popularity of sports is kids wanting to grow up to be athletes.

The caveat here is that save for the occasional transition into some kind of sports reporting, or coaching any career as an athlete will be short lived.

At least in a relative sense. So to plan a future that does not go beyond one’s tenure on the proverbial field of play could be considered unwise.

This challenge is no different for college athletes getting their education underway at Palomar. Fortunately,

your college athletics department is here to help.

In recent times, standards for athletes have been made increasingly more rigorous. With great pressure from the “outside world” 4-year universities have never been more sensitive to criticisms over giving athletes a pass in an academic sense.

For starters, once an athlete enrolls as a student full time, and takes a sport at Palomar, they are held to a strict, five semester limit for completing both their academic studies, as well as their athletic training. This may not seem exceptionally difficult for those with the mindset that one’s time at a community college should be limited to a four semester timetable.

This idea is sort of flawed. Often times, students in two-year colleges are trying to discover who they are; what they like and don’t like, and what they are good or not good at.

This kind of searching can take some time.

Tons of students enter Palomar with a specific major in mind, only to find out once they arrive that they have a better aptitude for a different subject, or that their heart just wasn’t in their initial major of choice as much as they thought it was.

Athletes, more than being asked, are expected to know that sports is what they want to do as soon as they enter college. Not only are they to not deter from that path, they are also expected to follow it with an almost dogged determination.

This is not to say that this is bad, but rather to add contrast to what an athlete at Palomar goes through versus what a student of just about any other discipline goes through. Contrary to popular belief, great athletes do not have it easier than other students. At least not here.

The point is that the student-athlete has to manage the same kind of academic schedule that any other full time student does, but they have to also participate in all of the required athletic activities as well.

Steve White, Palomar’s athletic counselor, and the man in charge of academic planning for athletes shared his thoughts on the matter.

“You have to deal with so many other factors, in terms of where your time goes,” he said.

He elucidated further on the requirements of student athletes.

“You have to go to meetings, you have to go to workouts, you have to go to study hall, you have to go to meals. If you miss meals,

you run,” White said.

This last comment in reference to the reprisal student athletes suffer should one become lax in their duties.

But that is part of what makes Palomar a good place for student athletes to begin their collegiate careers: the support system.

“They give you everything you need to really succeed in classes. They make sure you have your grades right, and make sure you have the right classes,” said Jaron Locke, a student athlete at Palomar, in reference to the support available to the students. “We have grade check every other week here, to make sure we don’t slip on our grades.”

Of course the future of student athletes isn’t the only matter of concern when it comes to their academic performance. There is money on the line as well.

Four-year universities receive money for scholarships that require their athletic student body to adhere to certain academic standards (Palomar doesn’t have any money for scholarships). Should the schools become non-compliant thanks to a student athlete not pulling his or her proverbial weight, the school might lose some of that money.

“San Diego State can’t afford to

lose four kids to Fresno, but they also can’t afford to lose four scholarships to USC or somebody,” said White about why a 4-year school would care about academic performances among their student athletes.

Palomar College is looking pretty good in this department, as last semester, 75 Palomar athletes were named to the PCAC All-Academic Team. Inclusion on this team requires a student be full time and carry a GPA of at least 3.0. It seems as if both students and coaches are pulling more than their share of the weight.

The old axiom cash rules everything around me comes to mind.

However for more reasons than simply the decadent amount of money athletics generates.

It also has a hand in the quality of life one lives. There are way more athletes who move on to different pastures after the lights on the field go out, than there are those upon whom the spotlight continues to shine.

That’s when those good grades are going to pay their most lucrative dividends. When the former student -athlete turned civilian is able to parlay their academic success into a way to stay productive.

EROSA@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

SPORTS • 23

the-telescope.com PALOMAR COLLEGE SPORTS ON THE GO

Men’s and womens tennis endure a rough season

Palomar tennis had particularly trying seasons, as tough competition and a lack of players led to losing seasons for both the men’s and women’s teams.

Ronnie Mancao, the team’s longtime head coach, dealt with a big loss of players in women’s tennis; not only losing PCAC Player of the Year and Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American Remy Littrell, but only having one returning member from last season, Teresa DeAnda.

Fortunately, the team found its shining star in freshman Bettina Olah.

Olah was the anchor of the team, beating last year’s reigning PCAC singles champion Jaella Conway during the regular season before losing to Conway in this year’s singles championship. Overall, the team went 6-10 on the season.

The men’s team had three players come back from last season, but unfortunately that didn’t lead to much improvement as far as wins are concerned. After a 5-23 record last year, the team only improved by one game, going 6-12 on the year. The bright spot? All six wins were conference wins.

Men’s VB finished strong

With both the 2013 and 2014 California Community College Athletic Association champs on their schedule, one could forgive the Palomar men’s volleyball team for wanting to cave in and bomb the season.

But if there was one word that defined this year’s squad; it was determination.

Guided by longtime coach Bjorn Dahl and sophomore team captain Kyle Bass, the Comets finished the season 8-9, with a 5-8 record in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference.

The conference record is impressive, considering that the PCAC is home to three of the last four state champions in Orange Coast, Irvine Valley and Golden West.

Bass, who sat out last season after playing his freshman year in 2013, led the team with 3.28 kills per set; which was good enough for 11th in the state.

He also finished in 11th in overall kills with 200. Freshman Eric Reider, from nearby Mission HIlls High School, finished fourth in the state with a hitting percentage of .423.

Track and Field

Coach Jennifer Williams and her Comets’ track and field team enjoyed moderate success this season, finishing fourth in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference.

Led by cross-country standouts Jessica Betancourt and Jessie Steinhoff, the team got a few first-place finishes during this season; none more impressive, however, than the performance turned in by freshman De’ondra Young at the PCAC Championships.

At the championship meet, Young finished first in both the hammer throw and shotput. With a distance of 167 feet, 3.08 inches, Young had the second-best distance between both the women and the men at the meet.

Earlier in the season, Betancourt and Steinhoff proved their worth against some of the best four-year universities in the state; claiming second and third place in the 3,000-meter race at the La Verne Invitational.

Swim team looks forward to offseason RODNEY FIGUEROA THE TELESCOPE

It’s the end of another season for Palomar’s Comets and a somber farewell to some of our students who are going to be moving beyond the scope of Palomar College. Individuals on both the men and women’s team look forward as their season came to a championship close.

The teams finished 14th and 22nd, respectively, in the CCAA Swimming & Diving Championships in East Los Angeles April 2830.

With the championship meet now in the books, many members are looking forward to life after Palomar. Many of them look forward to the summer weather and spending some time on the coast.

One such opinion was that of Rich Farley, who at the time of this reporting was anticipating the CCCAA Championship in the coming week. A physiology and neuroscience major, and strong contender for first place and a previous second place finisher in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference championship meet, Farley said he was both nervous and excited to perform in Los Angeles. As a graduating student, the 2-time swimmer of the year was looking forward to his summer break.

“I’m just playing (water) polo and trying to get school all done,” he said in a video interview during one of the team’s practices.

Farley was all smiles at the questions about any potential future in the sport.

“I’m already committed to UCSD and continuing my major there,” Farley said.

Water polo is also in the cards for Farley, who mentioned changing his focus from swimming to year-round practice in the high energy sport at UCSD once his

Palomar’s Landon Van Horn competes in the 100-yard freestyle held April 18 at Wallace Memorial Pool. • Philip Farry/The Telescope

time at Palomar ends.

“If I had to say one more thing it’s that the coaching staff is great; Jem, Scott, couldn’t be without them.

Great morally, ethically, teaching you not just swimming, but about being a better person,” Farley said.

Many of the other men’s swim team members had similar aspirations, even some taking a bit of time off to enjoy the rest of their summers.

Several members of the women’s team were also enthusiastic about the coming CCCAA Championship, with many of them looking forward to the time off as well from competition.

One such member was Kelly Harris, who has several individual victories under her belt throughout the season in the 200-meter freestyle. Harris has aspirations to continue her schooling and degree in nursing beyond Palomar.

Despite having been presented with a few opportunities to play water polo during the summer, she’s making the choice to stick to her academics and prepare for the future. A beach lifeguard for the city of Encinitas, she sticks close to her craft, a sport she believes has shaped her entire life.

“I’m probably going to stay here for another year or maybe a semester to finish my pre-reqs and then apply to nursing school,” Harris shared in a poolside interview, motivated to start a master’s program in her field of study and letting swimming take a backseat for a while.

She showed vested interest in providing assistance and support to the coaching staff in the future however, showing her love for her team by continuing to support the Comets.

The final words for the overall

feel of the season came not from the individual players who were looking toward the time off, but for those who remain. Coach Jem McAdams took some time to make some final statements about the team and their future prospects, leveraging the kind of community that Palomar College Swim and Water Polo coaches hope to instill in future team members.

“A lot of times our swimmers are here for two years and they get a positive experience from the program,” McAdams said. “Education is our big thing here. They have to finish up their academics and possibly transfer to a 4-year school academically. If they have the times that other universities are looking for, we try to match them up with an environment that fits their skills.”

RFIGUEROA@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

The Warrior helps one accept change SUSAN WHALEY TEHE TELESCOPE

Time to celebrate, let loose, have fun, take risks and not be afraid.

It’s the end of the semester and for a lot students, this day sometimes seemed like it would always stay on the horizon. But now it’s summer with no school and more freedom.

Even with all this fun, your yoga routine doesn’t need to be compromised and forgotten. Yoga isn’t a quick fix to ailments or losing weight; yoga is a lifestyle.

For a different yoga experience this week, try doing yoga on a slackline. A slackline is usually one or two inch-wide nylon webbing, which makes it bouncy.

This is where it gets fun and a bit tricky.

Being able to walk on a slackline takes a lot of time and patience, but with the effort and passion anyone can master the craft of balance. A relatively simple yoga pose to try on the slackline is the Warrior 2 yoga pose.

Start at the end point of the

The Telescope’s editor-in-chief Susan Whaley demonstrates the Warrior 2 yoga pose on a slackline. This pose helps one to remain grounded. • Amber Rosario/The Telescope

slackline, stand up and walk to the middle of the line. The mid-point is the least stable part of the line, yet if you move your body with the fluid motion, by bending your knees and bouncing slightly and breathing with the line, you can find your center point and hold your balance.

1. Slide your front foot slightly

forward and bend the knee to keep your front thigh parallel to the slackline.

2. The back leg and foot will turn slightly so it is perpendicular to the line. And keep the back leg straight, almost pushing into your front leg as your hips sink lower. Keep your legs strong.

3. Keep your arms out and palms down to be parallel to the line.

4. Face your head and eyes forward. Breathe and concentrate. On the slackline, it helps to focus on one static point to help balance.

To get out of the pose on the slackline, slide the front foot forward, turn your back leg back to facing forward and then keep walking on the line.

The Warrior 2 helps keep you grounded. Doing it on a slackline can remind you that you are capable of rooting yourself anywhere, which helps you accept any change that comes, such as graduating college, moving states or transferring to a 4-year university.

According to “Yoga Cures” by Tara Stiles, the Warrior 2 is also beneficial by countering binge eating, lack of self esteem and laziness.

If you aren’t ready for standing on the slackline yet, try sitting in a meditation pose. This will allow you to still practice balance and nostril breathing with the movement of the line in a more comfortable way.

SWHALEY@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

24 • SPORTS

Monday, May 11, 2015

Palomar’s Kali Pugh (left) and Summer Evans. The duo has been a driving force in the success of the Palomar Comets softball team, leading them a 33-3 record this season. • Photos by Dirk Callum/The Telescope

Softball pair turns game into valuable life lesson CHRISTOPHER BULLOCK THE TELESCOPE

It’s not often that a school has two players so dominant, that by the time the opposing team steps on the field, they know they’ve already lost.

When shortstop Kali Pugh and pitcher Summer Evans take the field at the same time, the end result has

KALI PUGH •.561 BATTING AVERAGE (5TH IN STATE) • 12 HOMERUNS (T-6TH IN STATE) • USED TO PLAY FIELD HOCKEY

been more or less the same: complete and total dominance.

Going into the conference playoffs, the Comets have a 33-3-1 record, and are ranked as the No. 1 team in Southern California (No. 2 in the state) by the California Community College Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association (CCCFCA). A lot of that has to do with the athletic efforts by Pugh and Evans.

Ask Lacey Craft, the team’s head softball coach and three-time consecutive Pacific Coast Athletic Conference (PCAC) Coach of the Year.

“Both of them came to us as talented athletes, but to see them grow academically and athletically, it’s been really fun to witness as a coach,” Craft said.

For both players, they started young and have had the chance to polish their game over the years.

Pugh has been playing softball since she was 5; a byproduct of a mom who was a star softball player in high school. Evans started when she was 10, claiming her competitiveness and love for team sports led her to the game.

Pugh, a 20-year-old sophomore and liberal arts major, came to Palomar not even sure she would be playing softball. Due to a couple of low grades in her high school career at Rancho Buena Vista High, she

was deemed NCAA-ineligible.

“I wasn’t going to play after high school, but then she (Craft) had me come out and showed me more about the game; it made me fall in love again,” Pugh said.

With Craft’s guidance and the team’s support, Pugh has blossomed into one of the best players in the state. In her two years at Palomar, Pugh has been named PCAC Player of the Year twice, 2014 CCCFCA State Player of the Year and 2014 Community College Softball AllAmerican.

As an end result, Pugh will be attending Oklahoma City University (ranked No. 1 in the National Athletic Intercollegiate Association) in Oklahoma City, Okla., this fall. She said she was heavily recruited by their softball coach Phil McSpadden, who is the winningest 4-year collegiate softball coach of all-time.

“I loved the environment and the school, so I’m excited to take the next step and continue forward,” Pugh said.

As for coach Craft, she couldn’t be more proud.

“She was able to study and learn the tools she needed to be successful on both ends, and now she’ll be able to continue her career at the 4-year level,” Craft said.

“As a non-qualifier out of high

school, this has proven to be a huge opportunity for kids like her,” she added.

Evans, who is in her freshman year, has been a shining star for the Comets since coming from Escondido High School. According to Craft, she almost didn’t become a Comet at all.

“We were lucky enough to have a relationship with the coaches at Escondido High, and got to witness some great games from Summer (Evans),” Craft said. One of the games Craft got to see Evans pitch was a perfect game.

“I knew if we could just keep her under the radar we’d get a really good pitcher, and we did,” Craft added.

Not surprisingly, Evans is humble about it all, claiming that it’s her teammates who push her to do well.

“Having teammates around to support me in everything I do, being able to have someone that understands what you’re going through, and the training you do every day ... really helps,” Evans said.

As for her inspiration, Evans didn’t have to look far. She looked out to the field during a practice and pointed out her teammate and third baseman, Aisha Hill.

“She’s really hard-working, and inspires me to work harder and go

further in my softball career,” she said.

When Hill heard the compliment, she had nothing but praise.

Not just for Evans, but for Pugh as well.

“I’m close to them both on and off the field; and it feels good having Summer in the circle, and Kali right next to me,” Hill said.

CBULLOCK@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

SUMMER EVANS •0.72 EARNED RUN AVG (3RD IN STATE) •23 WINS, 18 COMPLETE GAMES • LOVES TO CAMP AND FISH