The Telescope 62.17

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PALOMAR COLLEGE, SAN MARCOS, CALIF. MONDAY MARCH 16, 2009

FOCUSED ON PALOMAR

VOL. 62, NO. 17

the-telescope.com

Will the recent stimulus plan benefit students? SHOKO HACHIYA THE TELESCOPE

President Barack Obama passed a $787-billion stimulus package, which is the biggest in history. The package is meant to create jobs, give relief to struggling families, homeowners and business owners in the worst economy since The Great Depression. The government will give tax cuts as well as spend to stimulate the economy. According to Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor in an e-mail from the Chancellor’s Office, he projects that California will receive more than $31 billion of the package. Of that California portion, K12 and higher education will receive $4.9 billion, which according to Palomar President Robert Deegan, means about 10 percent of that will be distributed to California’s Community College system and possibly the University of California and California State University systems as well. Some students are not optimistic about seeing any money. A student worker at the tutoring center, Nathan Harrenstein, said, “It’s a good stop-gap to help us get going for a short time of period.” But he does not think the stimulus plan will fix problems long term. Harrenstein said he thinks that the stimulus plan will probably help four-year universities, but will not impact students at Palomar. Deegan disagreed, saying he thinks Palomar students will receive some help from the stimulus plan by next semester. Alain Nguyen a student at the Natural Science building,

said he thinks the stimulus package won’t work long term. It “can be a good thing,” Nguyen said. “Some people would spend, but some people would save. Unless they spend and get the money flowing, it won’t work.” Palomar student Spencer White is not optimistic about the plan either. He said the plan will not benefit students. “From reading news, it is good for some corporations, but it does not seem many people want it,” he said. Palomar student Jay Styron, said, “They are spending money on non-stimulus. Lots of money is going to disappear into the government bureaucracies.” Styron said he thinks 25 percent of the money will be actual stimulus, but 75 percent will disappear. He also pointed out that although the plan will benefit students because they are spending more money on education, education is not an immediate stimulus. Styron’s wife, Liz Styron, agrees. She said that it will be great for the short term, but someone has to pay for it in future. There are students who have different thoughts. Palomar student Aly Dung, does not think the plan will affect her at all. She said, “I don’t pay attention to politics. Whatever he (Obama) comes up with is cool.” In the video on the recovery.gov, President Obama said that people can see how, when, and where the money is spent on the Web site, which will be frequently updated. President Obama also said the stimulus plan is counting on people’s participation.

Fashion club gets ready for March MELISSA SHANTE THE TELESCOPE

For anybody interested in building a career in fashion, Palomar College Fashion Club offers an opportunity to dive headfirst into its world with trips, charity events and of course, fashion shows. “We produce a lot,” said Gavin Gilinski, a fashion design student who entered the program at 14 years old, “and we get involved in our community. It’s a great start. ” The Fashion Club has a lot of activities planned for the spring

semester. Coming up in March, the club will be holding a fashion show with the hopes of collecting donations of clothes, toiletries, and blankets to take to an all-girl orphanage in Mexico. “Fashion is not just what you wear,” said Deziray CadmanMendoza, the club’s president. “You have to be able to understand your community and relate to it.”The club will also be producing handmade T-shirts for the orphans.

OPINION

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TURN TO FASHION PAGE 3

ROB BACON | THE TELESCOPE

Jarred Spears (right) as Roy Chon tickles Joe's gay feelings during a rehearsal of the play “Angels in America.” Daniel Hannify (left) plays Joe, who is a married Mormon man torn between obligation to his wife and religion and his gay impulses.

‘Angels’tackles tough issues ROBIN WITT THE TELESCOPE

The controversial play “Angels in America” is coming to Palomar College next month to tackle issues including politics, religion, sexual identify and AIDS. The play, set for April 17-26 at the Howard Brubeck Theatre, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama by Tony Kushner that has been swooning and shocking audiences since its original Broadway debut in 1993. “It is very powerful,”director and theater professor Michael Mufson said. “It is probably the best American play in the last 40 years.” Mufson said the play is still very relevant given the current political and economic situation. One of the main things he looks for when choosing a play is that it connects the community. What moved Mufson most about this play is the way the characters confront moments of crisis and what it reveals about who they are as individuals. “For some of the characters in

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this play, the crisis forces them to see tremendously painful, difficult and ugly things,”Mufson said.“And for some of them the crisis leads them to see tremendous beauty.” Someone that is in crisis is Harper Pitt, played by Calandra Crane. She describes her character as a mentally deranged, pill-popping, sex-starved Mormon housewife who is deathly afraid of life. Her Mormon husband, Joe Pitt, is played by Danny Hannify. His outward appearance makes it look like he has his act together, but he is struggling with a demon bigger than valium. He knows in his heart that he is a homosexual, which he tries to overcome by clinging to his faith and focusing on his wife’s flaws. Two of the themes in the play that everyone can relate to are abandonment and relationships, said actress Allison Bretall, who is studying history and plays the embodiment of the angel,a role she shares with another actress. Alex Guzman plays Louis Ironson, a gay, neurotic, overly-anx-

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ious, offensive man who, according to Guzman, is “funny in his own Jewish way.” Ironson is the lover of Prior Walter, a man who is just beginning to show symptoms of AIDS. “There is definitely already a sweetness between Louis and Prior that has been discovered,” Bretall said.“Even people who will be uncomfortable with the aspects of homosexuality in this play, I think it will be hard for them to deny how these moments that they face are captured on stage.” Bretall said the sex scene in the park is intense. “I won’t say it is graphic, it is not like anyone is naked or anything,” Bretall said. “It is clear what is going on and it is very real.” Bretall admits that not all of her friends will be attending the performance because of the homosexual subject matter. “It is unfortunate because I know that there is something that this play could touch in almost anyT U R N TO ANGELS PAGE 3

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