V O L . 8 0 , N O . 9 F R I D A Y , A P R I L 1 1 , 2 0 1 4 L M C E X P E R I E N C E . C O M

Double feature feverReview of Descending into Darkness and Daddy’s Little Girl — page 4

Music and management Profile on Music Department Chair and Academic Senate President Silvester Henderson — page 3

Baseball now in secondThe Mustangs have won three of their last four games after going on a four-game losing streak — page 5

F.Y.I.Important

Dates

Aprilis Autism

Awareness Month

April 23Begin registration for continuing students by appointment

April 28Priority registration for EOPS, DSPS, qualified veterans, qualified foster youth and CalWorks

April 30Special registration for DSPS notetakers, early graduation ap-plicants and qualified athletes

Student proficiency charts high

Lynda.com a learning resource

2014 summer schedule outCheck out the 2014 schedule of classes for this summer online at los-medanos.edu/schedule

Blood drive upcomingGive blood and save lives in Library Room L-109 Tuesday, April 22 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. All donors will receive a custom César Chávez blood drive T-shirt. To schedule your donation appointment contact Student Life at 439-2181 ext. 3266 or register online at blood-heroes.com, click ‘Donate Blood’ and enter sponsor code: LosMC

Earth Day events at LMCn April 22, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. — Earth Day Activ-ities in the Main Outdoor Quad such as exhibits and giveaways.n April 22/23 — LMC Nature Preserve will be selling Native plants from California.n April 24, 3 to 3:30 p.m. — Presentation in Library Room L-109 from the Climate Reality Project about climate change and how to make a difference. Go to losmedanos.edu/sustainability/Upcomin-gEvents.asp

Martial arts in the quad

Milton Smith goes over the basics of Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art consisting of acrobatic dancing, to Tyler Ingram Wednesday, April 2 in the third floor College Complex. Smith and Ingram were practicing the art to kill time before Ingram’s 3 p.m. class started.

Photos by Irvin Trigueros

By BERTHA AGUILARbaguilar@lmcexperience.com

Lynda.com takes the meaning of a library to another level. It provides easy to follow video tutorials that can help anyone learn software, improve business skills or achieve personal goals.

The Professional Development Advisory Committee (PDAC) has recently purchased a license for all Contra Costa County Community College District employees to use the website.

Mary Oleson from the district wide profes-sional development committee said, “we are really excited about lynda.com.” Oleson, who is also the LMC site administrator for lynda.com, is very thrilled that this new tool is now offered to all district employees.

Expert teachers who are working profession-als teach these video tutorials. Lynda.com has a library of over 110,000 web-based tutorials on subjects such as; web design, photography, business skills, music, 3D animation and much more. “The courses are broken up into modules so you can look for what you want and get in and get out,” said Oleson. “I think that it’s just going to assist our faculty in being better users of technology and gather other tools along the way,” she added.

By TAMMY SEWARDsteward@lmcexperience.com

Los Medanos College’s Transfer Center will host over 20 universities during Spring Transfer Day April 17.

As the spring semester comes to an end, getting the right information about transferring to another college might be furthest from your mind. With so many different colleges in and out of state, it is hard to know which one is the best for you.

“We are planning for all of the activity to happen in the outdoor quad,” said Transfer Center Coor-dinator Adeirawo Origunwa. “So far we expect the weather to cooperate with us.”

“Late in the afternoon we will also host a workshop for students to get to know more about private universities,” Origunwa said. “Rep-resentatives from John F. Kennedy University, Fisk University and the Experience UC Berkeley Transfer Program will be representing the workshop.”

All activities will be at the Pitts-burg campus.

“We do try to have workshops

Over 20 schools to attend event

See DAY, page 6

By BRENDAN CROSSbcross@lmcexperience.com

The Los Medanos College General Education Committee collected over 300 student papers during the fall 2013 semester. Students from GE courses in journalism, biology, philosophy and political science were asked to write an essay about an ethical topic which would then be graded for proficiency.

A presentation to all faculty Monday, March 31 led by GE Committee Chair

and English Professor Alex Sterling shed light on the topic.

The research was to learn how students do in an assignment that measures three GE student learning objectives (writing/reading, critical thinking, ethics) in relation to the number of GE courses that student has taken.

Based on a rubric, each paper was scored as high proficient (HP), profi-cient (P) or not proficient (NP) in the

three aforementioned topics. Proficient was defined as “meets our expectations for a student at or near completion of the AA/AS degree” according to an email sent out by Sterling.

The basic findings were that GE works. The more GE courses a student takes, the higher their proficiency was in ethical thinking, critical thinking and writing.

“Based on what we have, it is the

All faculty are encouraged to take advantage of this tool and use it as frequently as possible “We are really committed to increasing the usage on campus so that we can keep it, it’s just a great tool,” said Oleson.

The PDAC has only purchased a one-year contract and they hope to extend it to next year, but that all depends on the usage by the staff this year after they are able to determine if this tool was beneficial.

“We are hoping to be able to down the road provide some sort of incentive for employees for the amount of usage that they do,” said Oleson.

Other LMC employees have already started using the website. Administrative Assistant for Student Services Kathy Cullar has begun taking a course on Microsoft Excel.

See LYNDA, page 6

See GE, page 6

Graphic by Irvin Trigueros

Writing and thinking improves as students complete more GE.

GE classes prove useful

Tutorials abound

Screenshot of lynda.com’s homepage.

Transfer day nears

“I think that it’s going to assist our faculty in being better users of technology and gather other tools along the way.”— Mary Oleson

Award-winning cartoon by Joseph Delano

F R I D A Y , A P R I L 1 1 , 2 0 1 4

“One is not born a woman, but becomes one.”

— Simone de Beauvoir

Editor’s NotE

Dakotah Zabroski BROSKI’S CORNER

KellieMcCownSO IT GOES

Editorial

Show the real side of women

Equality for both genders

“I think media conveys gender roles negatively. The expectations they want men and women to fulfill is ridiculous.”

— Lauren Dunn

“Very one-sided I’d say.” — Jeffry Zamjahn

“I think the media needs to step into the 21st century because I’m the type of woman who believes in providing for myself — no men needed.”

— Anna Espinoza

“It is portrayed based on a person’s community and history of where they come from.” — Tim Harrison

“I feel that men are allowed to basically sit around and get fat,while women are supposed to go around and have children.”

— Justine Jefferson

“At times I don’t feel like it’s true to reality.”

— Moses Lawson

Stand up with hashtags

lEttErs to thE Editor

How do you feel the media conveys gender roles?C o m p i l e d b y J a z m i n e G o r d o n a n d K i m b e r l y S t e l l y

In today’s society we already have a pre-determined view on gender. From birth, boys and girls have to follow “societal rules.”

Boys are always told to “man-up,” hide feelings and to be tough, while girls are expected to always be nice and act lady-like. Literally from Day 1 boys and girls are dressed in either pink or blue based on their gender and have to follow these set of guidelines. The major source of the problem comes from the media. Specifically speaking, movie producers and advertisers.

For example, when is the last time you saw a commercial for super hero toys that had a girl in it? Or how about the last time you saw a movie with the main character as a female and she wasn’t nude, partially nude, or sexualized? It happens way more than you think, but as a society we are so used to it, we don’t even flinch at the sight of it.

In fact only 15 percent of movies had a lead character as a woman, more shockingly of those 15 percent, those women were three times more likely to appear nude, or partially nude.

The thing is, since society doesn’t care, movies like “Magic Mike” and advertisers like GoDaddy will continue to push their products and send the wrong image to future generations.

There has been a movement to try to put an end to this started by the Representation Project. While it is a good start, it may not be the best way to go about the problem.

The goal of the Representation Project is “to fight media with media.” The project started a new hashtag under the name #notbuyingit.

The whole point of the hashtag is for users of socially media to reply to sexist advertisers simply let them know they don’t agree with the message of their advertisement and aren’t spending their money on it.

The problem with this is, even bad publicity is still publicity and ultimately companies with sexist messages are still having their product talked about. In some cases, they are talked about even more with all the social media post.

While it’s a good start, it’s only the first part of a two-step process. After the people are well informed via social media, then the people need to execute a well-planned boycott.

A boycott will hit a company hard and they will be forced to either change their ways or struggle financially; either way it will get the message across.

However, a step even before that is to inform society, especially the youth of the negative effects of sexism. Just like sexual education taught in schools, it should be taught that boys and girls don’t have to follow the gender norms.

Not only should today’s youth be taught that, but today’s adults (especially parents) also need to know that if a child doesn’t live up to gender norms then that is okay as well and there should be no repercussions.

The first reason being, that if a society is informed about why sexism is bad, then they will be able to watch the movie and take it with a grain of salt.

Secondly, if you’re going to sit down and watch a movie, then you know what you’re getting into, especially since you consented to watch the movie.

Thirdly, while many don’t agree with the message, limiting movies based on their content will violate the First Amendment, which of course is illegal.

Sexist ideas and sexist portrayals will most likely always exist, but that doesn’t mean the people can’t get together and help reduce it as much as possible as well change the minds of advertisers and producers.

It won’t be an easy task, but if the people band together rather than feel helpless as an individual then it can be done.

The media has failed women. As children, the first playthings given to us are dolls with unrealistic body proportions. As teens, we see advertisements for beauty campaigns that use Photoshopped models. As adults, we see fewer television shows, commer-cials or films with strong female leads, and more with women playing over-sexualized supportive roles.

I’ve seen the Carl’s Jr. commercials, and no woman washes a car like that.

These images are targeted to girls at an early developmental age, and have helped raise a generation of women who believe success is not based on mind or ability, but on an over-sexualized standard of beauty.

The Representation Project, a non-profit advocacy group that fights to educate society and stop sexism in the media, reports that according to the NY Daily News, American teens spend 31 hours a week watching T.V., 17 listening to music, 3 hours a watching movies and 10 hours online.

This averages out to about 10 hours a day of media consumption. During this time girls between the ages of 11 and 14 see an average of 500 ads a day.

When those girls grow up, they will spend between $12,000 and $15,000 a year on beauty products and salon services. That’s more than my upcoming Sacramento State University tuition for the 2014-2015 school year.

Instead of giving tips to teens and young women on ways to boost their grade point average or how to become leaders in their communities, they fill pages with fashion tips, beauty secrets and fad workouts.

Studies done by the South Carolina De-partment of Mental Health show that as a result of magazine beauty ads geared toward teens and women, 53 percent of 13-year-old girls are unhappy with their bodies, a statistic that increases to 78 percent by the age of 17.

The same study concluded there is a con-nection between negative feelings women have of themselves as they grow up in the age of beauty ads and the 65 percent of U.S. women and girls who report having eating disorders.

To stop dangerous gender stereotypes in the media we have to demand women be represented fairly. Women make up 51 percent of today’s population, yet only two of our Supreme Court Justices are female.

Nancy Pelosi rose higher in political office than any other women in history becoming the first women Speaker of the House and, according to the Washington Post, “Pelosi in the view of many scholars consolidated more power during the first half of the Obama administration, and wielded it more effec-tively than any speaker in modern history.”

Yet Pelosi never made it on the cover of any nationally recognized news publication during that time. However, John Boehner’s image graced the covers of Newsweek and Time before he was even given the gavel.

No wonder women spend more money on beauty products than education. How can they see themselves as valuable when society puts them into a structured box?

Take action against sexism in the media. Join The Representation Project’s online campaign #notbuyingit to bring attention to gender discrimination. Whenever you see an ad, movie, or product that uses sexism or objectifies women, share the link with #notbuyingit.

sNike, H&M and Marc Jacobs have pulled ads that have been boycotted by #notbuyingit. GoDaddy fired their ad agency to “rethink our historically sexist style of advertising.”

Both men and women need to demand fair portrayal. We need to break out of the box and take a stand against sexism in the media and start celebrating women for who they are instead of limiting them to an advertised idea of beauty.

Before the era of constant connection, communication, and information, advocacy and protesting took place outside tall office buildings and usually centered on one message belted out by a single individual standing on a soapbox holding a mega-phone. Fast-forward to today, and a centralized message can reach millions of people around the world with the brush of a keystroke, or more specifically, a hashtag.

Such an example can be seen with The Representation Projects online campaign against sexism in the media, #notbuyingit. The online protest has brought national attention to H&M, Nike, and GoDaddy for using sexism in their advertising by protestors sharing links to their websites with #notbuyingit, and boycotting not only the advertised product, but the company as a whole. This was so effective, GoDaddy dropped their marketing advisors in 2013 in favor of advertising in a way that was more positive towards women.

Many modern day uprisings and demands for social change have been brought about by internet activisim. Revolutionary demonstrations and protests in 2010 brought the riots of the Arab Spring to an international level. A small call for protest against Wall Street by the an online community that called Anoymous sparked the Occupy Movement that spread across the United States, and today politicians running for office use the internet to both promote themselves and smear their opponent.

As the power of the internet grows, and more communities are formed online, the Experi-ence feels that using social media to encourage change is the advocacy tool of the future, and can be a powerful way to address social issues on campus. We are a generation of experts on social media, and have seen how far a message can go when young people of a like mind come together online to make a difference, change the course of a conversation, and call for social change. As students, we should all be fighting for education reform, a balanced budget, and fair representation. The next time one of these issues are in danger, do not settle for explanations or apologies. Students of LMC, pick up your hashtags and fight back.

It’s not necessary to conformDEAR EDITOR:

Most people believe the road to success is going to college, getting a degree and becom-ing rich. However, the “American Dream” is not what we believe it to be.

Grammar school, high school and college don’t teach you to be an entrepreneur. In fact there is not one high school in the United States that has a class that teaches students how to start their own business or invent their own product.

In America today, the average cost to attend a four-year college is $27,293 plus textbooks, and that’s substantially higher than it was five years ago. By the time you graduate you’re already in debt and filing for bankruptcy.

And what do you do when you’ve only learned one skill? That’s all you know how to do. You will be stuck in a system where you never gain anything and never go anywhere because of that debt. The college system doesn’t want you to know that.

They want you to learn a skill so you can be in the workforce and make companies money. Companies donate money to universities and colleges so that they have an endless crew of slaves to make them rich.

Figure that you go to college, you get a

degree, and you don’t get a job so you end up working at Walmart. When you go to Walmart you’ll notice maybe 10 cashiers open so you figure that they make at minimum $8 an hour. Multiply that by 10, that’s $80 an hour the store has to pay to the 10 cashiers who are working. The average cashier makes $5,000 an hour; multiply that by the 10 cashiers that’s $50,000. Out of $50,000 the store only has to pay out $80. That’s what college does — it trains you to go into a work force.

Whether it’s mechanics, computer pro-gramming, journalism, etc., you make a little while the person you work for is getting rich.

They don’t teach you to be like Bill Gates who started Microsoft, or Warren Buffett, they just want you to be somebody who conforms to what they say.

Should we trust this scam the government calls college? Or instead buy our own land, build our own houses, learn how to grow our own vegetables, and hunt for our own meat?

A person spends 30 percent of their income on food. Food prices are steadily going up. When are we going to wake up and not be a slave to the system? We do not have to conform to society’s expectations.

— Cierra Allen

The Los Medanos College Experience staff attended the Journalism Association of Commu-nity Colleges State Convention where The Representation Project was featured. The project is a non-profit organization that uses film and media to bring awareness about discrimination and objectification caused by gender stereotypes. The Experience staff believes this issue is important today and decided to devote this week’s Perspectives Page to the topic.

The Editorial Cartoon above won third place in the On-the-Spot Editorial Cartoon contest at the convention. The contest was based on The Representation Project presentation.

ABOUT THIS PAGE

QuotableL O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

Perspectives 2

The LMC Experience is published Fridays by students in the Journalism Program. The newspaper serves both as a laboratory for journalism classes and as a First Amendment forum for campus communication. Opinions expressed in the Experience are solely those of the students and do not represent the views of the college.

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E

ExperienceL M C e x p e r i e n c e . c o m

MemberCalifornia Newspaper Publishers Association

“Were it left for me to decide whether we should have a government without news-papers, or newspapers with-out a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

— Thomas Jefferson

Editor-in-Chief .................... BRENDAN CROSS Perspectives Editors...... AISHLING DOHERTY and JAZMINE GORDONCampus Editors ..................JOSEPH DELANO and ALEXANDRA TAGLIAMONTEFeatures Editors .......................RATTANA KIM and STEPHANIE PATTISONSports Editors ....................... LUKE JOHNSON and DAKOTAH ZABROSKI

Photo Editor ....................... IRVIN TRIGUEROS

Web Editor ..................STEPHANIE PATTISON

Associate Editors...............BERTHA AGUILAR and STEVEN LUKE

Voices

F R I D A Y , A P R I L 1 1 , 2 0 1 4

“Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must first set yourself on fire.”

— Fred Shero

Photo by Gustavo Vazquez

LMC Experience staff poses with numerous awards. From left: Adviser Cindy McGrath, Irvin Trigueros, Aishling Doherty, Adviser Curtis Corlew, Joseph Delano, Steven Luke, Kellie McCown, Dakotah Zabroski, Luke Johnson, Brendan Cross, Jazmine Gordon, Rattana Kim and Kimberly Stelly.

Henderson strikes a chord at LMC

Experience newspaper staff shines

Long time educator finds his rhythm among best on campus

Online resource offers college courses for free

— compiled from press releasesand staff reports

NewswatchR.E.A.D. Club boutique is on

The R.E.A.D. Club will be selling Mountain Mike’s Pizza FundRaising Cards in the indoor quad on Wednesday, April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Receive a free slice of pizza when you purchase a card for $20.

Other activities include a “wheel-spin” game for priz-es and will have some riddles and jokes to answer for additional prizes.

Proceeds of the event will go to the Text Book Loan Fund.

Drop in counseling availableThe Counseling Department will be making hours

accessible for counselors to conduct drop-in counseling. The hours change from week to week, for the upcoming week, 4/14 - 4/18, the hours are:n Monday, April 14: from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.n Tuesday, April 15: from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.n Wednesday, April 16: from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.n Thursday, April 17: from 9 to 10:30 a.m. and from 2

to 3:30 p.m.n Friday, April 18: from 9 to 11 a.m.

These times are subject to change, and a Student ID Number is required for students to be seen.

Contact the Counseling Department at 431-2181 ext. 3334 for additional information and to confirm the above times.

Nursing Seminar registry openThe Nursing Success! Seminar for Summer 2014 will

be held June 10-12 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The free event will be hosted by Samuel Merritt Uni-

versity in Oakland.The programs highlighted include two tracks:

n Track 1 focuses on members of community colleges who are interested in applying to direct entry transfer BSN program.

n Track 2 focuses on students who have already received a Bachelor’s Degree in a different field and who are interested in applying for the Advanced Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program.For more information about the programs, visit www.

samuelmerritt.edu/nursingsuccess. If you would like to attend the seminar, register online.

The deadline for priority registration is April 30. After the deadline, applications may not be accepted if spots are full.

By ALEXANDRA TAGLIAMONTEatagliamonte@lmcexperience.com

Los Medanos College Music Professor and newly elected Academic Senate President has led a fulfilling life. From a rough childhood to living his life’s dream as an educator, Silvester Henderson is a true Cinderella story.

As a child, Henderson had to place cardboard inside the soles of his worn out shoes to extend their life. In his neighborhood he was faced with gangs constantly at war with each other, and the pressure of drugs surrounded him. He soon found the importance of survival.

His family barely made ends meet, his mother worked as a wool-presser making $2 an hour, and his father as a naval supplier. With both incomes they made about $6,000 a year in 1960’s East Oakland. Their family counted themselves vlucky. They had jobs when many in the neighborhood couldn’t say the same.

“My upbringing was very poor, however, my family emphasized education,” said Henderson.

Henderson also struggled as an overweight child. Henderson recalls the second day of junior high when he was beat up in the shower for no reason other than his weight.

“That’s just how they were,” he said.

Eventually, his self-esteem suffered and he searched for a way out. He found an escape through music. His interest in music blossomed when he was five and visited his aunt’s house, where he would mess around on an old family piano while his mother got her hair done. His mother saw her son’s passion and the family saved $300 to purchase a piano when Henderson was eight years old.

“Music is the most important tool that supports all aspects of learning. It supports calculation, reading, leadership, writing, analy-sis, marketing, creativity and communication,” Henderson said.

He began studying music with his cousin, Larry, and then with a handful of teachers. He loved playing classical music and decided he

wanted to teach someday. Then, at church, a woman named Helen Stevens showed up with her choir, the Voices of Christ, for a special event.

Henderson was mesmerized. “I remember begging my mother to let me study with her,” he said.

He studied with her for years, and when he was 16 he started taking classes at San Francisco State University while working seven different jobs to pay his way. He delivered medical supplies, he cut grass, he cleaned peoples’ homes — anything. He also started playing piano and singing at weddings and funerals.

“I was hustlin’ all the time,” he said, laughing.“My parents taught me that, and we knew

there was a sense of perseverance and hard work inside of us, and that was better than any financial gift,” he said. “They were just doing well enough to be able to survive on their own, so they wanted us to be independent.”

Last year Henderson was a quarterfinalist for the inaugural Grammy Music Educator Award, which is designed “to bring atten-tion to the excellent and impactful work being done by thousands of music teachers across the U.S.” The award comes with a $10,000 honorarium, but that’s not what excited Henderson.

“My goal wasn’t for me to gain money,” said Henderson, who is also the longtime music pastor at Palma Ceia Baptist Church in Hayward. “My goal is to impact and affect the lives of young people.”

Now Henderson, 54, is one of the Bay Area’s most celebrated music professors and choral instructors and has cultivated an impressive career not only in music, but in education as well.

Henderson has been a music professor and choral instructor for over 30 years, and has designed an accredited gospel music curric-ulum that is currently being used in some of the nation’s largest colleges and universities.

His resumé is extensive as well. Henderson taught in the San Francisco State music de-Photo courtesy of Jim Steven/Bay Area News Group

Silvester Henderson melodiously demonstrates his passion for the arts. See MUSIC, page 6

“Music is the most important tool that supports all aspects of learning. It supports calculation, reading and leadership.”— Silvester Henderson

By AISHLING DOHERTYadoherty@lmcexperience.com

College can be exciting and stressful. The first year is one that helps students decide what major they want to declare. Sometimes students do not know what major is the right choice for them. The time it takes to figure out what areas of study interest them can add up, both in wasted time and in dollars.

In comes Coursera. Coursera is an online school that offers students a

chance to take a wide variety of classes for free. The courses are taught by professors from around the world and also from big universities, including Princeton University and Stanford University and last about 6-8 weeks.

Students who complete the courses will often receive a “statement of accomplishment” that is signed by the professor. The information gar-nered from these classes may just give an edge to a student applying for colleges in the future.

According to their website, www.cousera.org, “Coursera empowers people to improve their lives, the lives of their families, and the communities they live in with education.”

Coursera is truly a worldwide phenomenon, as people from all over the globe are able to take high level classes.

Current Coursera student Jeffer-son Bien-Aimé from Haiti studied Electronics Engineering at the State University of Haiti before going for

a Master in Database and System Integration at the University of Sophia Antipolis at Nice, in France.

Aimé came across Coursera when a friend told him about the school. “I saw it was very interesting and I fell in love with it.”

“I take a lot of classes from Cour-sera, most of them are related to Business Management, Economics and Finance because I wanted to have knowledge that could help me manage the company I wanted to

build,” said Aimé. For example, a couple of the classes

that Coursera offers are:Epigenetic Control of Gene Expres-

sion, offered from the University of Melbourne. The course covers “the principles of epigenetic control of gene expression, how epigenetic control contributes to cellular differentiation and development, and how it goes wrong in disease.” This course starts on April 28 and lasts 8 weeks.

See FREE, page 6

By RATTANA KIMrkim@lmcexperience.com

The Los Medanos College Experience was recognized for the talent of its staff and took home eight awards from the 59th Annual Journalism Association of Community Colleges convention last weekend.

The convention ran from April 3 to 5 at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel and Convention Center. There was an attendance of 545 students and advisers from 43 community college journalism programs from across the state.

During the convention, students were given the opportunity to attend various workshops and participate in on-the-spot

contests.Editor in Chief Brendan Cross and

Campus Editor Joey Delano brought home awards from the on-the-spot contests. Cross won in the On-the-Spot Instagram category for a selection of photos shot and posted during the convention.

Delano won third place in On-the-Spot Editorial Cartoon for an illustrated opinion statement about a presentation on The Representation Project, which seeks to use film and media to correct gender stereotypes.

Being Delano’s first time at the state convention, he enjoyed hanging out with the other staff members and the workshops. “Well, I didn’t know what to expect going into JACC, never been, and I thought it was very exciting,” said Delano.

Delano was shocked to have won; especially with the limited experience he had drawing for the staff. Now, Delano

feels more confident about doing more editorial cartoons in the future. Other meritorious awards the Los Medanos College Experience received included Online General Excellence for its news site www.lmcexperience.com.

Although the website is regularly updated, Editor-in-chief Brendan Cross plans to do more with the online website.

“We could always be doing more with online. The idea to move forward is to have people post on it everyday and have that be the main source of news and then we gather from that the best of to put in the paper. That’s kind of the transition we’re trying to make in the next few years,” said Cross.

Former Staff Writer Christine Men-chaca won first place in Profile Feature Story in the Publication Contest for her article published Aug. 30, 2013 about student Carlos Torres who plays paintball

See JACC, page 6

Student journalists win eight awards at annual convention

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

CampusQuotable

3

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

Features 4Quotable

F R I D A Y , A P R I L 1 1 , 2 0 1 4

“I absolutely want to have a career where you make ‘em laugh and make ‘em cry. It’s all theater.”

— Jim Carrey

“This play was bloody, maniacal, shocking and unbelievable. I would see this play a million more times if it were possible.”

— Stephanie Pattison

Double feature releaseBloody vengeance thrills the audience

LMC music eventsLos Medanos College is having a series

of musical events throughout the semester in the Recital Hall located in the Music building, next to the Lot C parking lot.n Concert Band Performance, Friday,

May 2, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. with Concord High School. General admission $5 and seniors/students $3.

n Guitar Concert, Monday, May 5, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Free admission.

n Gospel Celebration Concert, Saturday, May 10, 7 to 10 p.m. Admission $20 in advance and $25 at the door.

n Piano Honors Recital, Monday, May 12, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Free admission.

n Concert Band Performance, Tues-day, May 13, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. General admission $5 and seniors/students $3.

n Jazz Studio Concert, Wednesday, May 14, 7:30 to 9 p.m. Admission: TBA.

‘The Sound of Music’The California Theater is showing

the classic film “The Sound of Music” on Thursday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m. This film is brought to life by Rodgers and Hammerstein’s great and enduring music, including “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” and the title song, “The Sound of Music.”

All tickets are $5, available for purchase at www.pittsburgcaliforniatheatre.com. The California Theater is located at 351 Railroad Ave, Pittsburg.

‘Dream’ to play againThe Contra Costa College Drama Depart-

ment is performing the play, “Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare, directed by Linda Jackson-Whitmore. Events surround the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, to his kidnapped bride Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.

Four young Athenian lovers and a group of amatuer actors are bewitched and manipulated by the mischevious magic of the fairies that inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set.

The play will be showing April 30-May 3. Call (510) 235-7800 for more information and location.

‘Mousetrap’ is setAgatha Christie’s play “The Mousetrap”

is the world’s longest running play. It is now celebrating its 60th year and will be performed at the California Theater.

During a snow storm, a group of strangers are stranded in a boarding house, one of whom is a murderer. The suspects include a newlywed couple who run the boarding house, a spinster with a curious background, an architect who seems better equipped to be a chef, a retired Army major, a strange little man who claims his car has overturned in a drift and a jurist who makes life miserable for everyone.

The performances will take place May 9 at 8 p.m., May 10 at 2 and 8 p.m. and May 11 at 2 p.m. Ticket costs are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and students, $10 for children under age of 11. There is an additional $1.50 facility fee charge for all tickets. Purchase tickets at www.pittsburgcaliforniatheatre.com. The Cal-ifornia Theater is located at 351 Railroad Ave, Pittsburg.

Movies coming soonn “A Haunted House 2” — April 18 Rated: R; Genre: horror, comedyn “Transcendence” — April 18 Rated: PG-13; Genre: drama, mysteryn “The Other Woman” — April 25 Rated: R, Genre: comedy, romancen “The Quiet Ones” — April 25 Rated: PG-13, Genre: horror

— compiled from press releases and staff reports

Marquee

‘Captain America: Winter Soldier’

— Dakotah Zabroski— Alexandra Tagliamonte

Alexandra says:‘Winter Soldier’ marvel

REVIEW CREWDakotah says:Freakin’ awesome

HHHHHHHHH

Movie Summary: In this sequel to “Captain America: The First Avenger,” Steve Rogers, a.k.a Captain America, has been living in Washington D.C. to adjust to the modern world after teaming up with the Avengers. He runs into a friend and becomes involved with S.H.I.E.L.D. Captain America teams up with Black Widow and Falcon to expose a conspiracy within S.H.I.E.L.D. They find themselves up against a formidable opponent, the Winter Soldier.

“Winter Solider” is a nonstop thrill ride, from beginning to end. I found myself with a huge grin plastered on my face.

Chris Evan delivers his performance of Captain America with paranoia, determination and charm. Captain Rogers finds himself still adjusting to the new world and his allegiance to S.H.I.E.L.D. Commander Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and fellow Avenger Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson).

His trepidation turns out to be wise. Under the command of Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford), S.H.I.E.L.D. has been building three huge warships that will police the whole world.

Captain America discovers an enemy from his past will sit upon the throne and use a friend from his past as a lapdog.

Much fighting ensues. Cap befriends a sidekick named Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Black Widow turns out to be as trustworthy as an assassin can be, The stakes are high with an entire rogue army of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

The action can get repetitious but it’s never outright numbing (see the “Thor” movies; or don’t). Marvel studios deliver yet another hit.

Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier was an excellent follow-up to the first movie as well as an excellent piece in the puzzle to the Avengers. Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanova), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Furry) and Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/ Captain America) all played their roles marvelously.

The new addition of The Falcon (played by Anthony Mackie) was a perfect fit for the small squadron of soldiers led by Captain America.

The band of heroes face off against the Winter Soldier, who is the bad guy equivalent of Captain America. With a heavily mechanical metal arm, the Winter Soldiers has one mission; to eliminate Captain America.

Between that and double crossing going on within S.H.I.E.L.D, the Captain has his hands full which makes for endless excitement.I was kept guessing and did not expect so many turn of events, which was refreshing to see rather than only seeing endless fighting. It was a near-perfect mix of action and a compelling storyline.

f you’re a fan of super heroes, and lots of ass-kicking, then this is a must see.

Photo by Cathie Lawrence

In the play “Daddy’s Little Girl,” Angelica (Natalia Philbin) spikes her family members drinks as part of her evil plan.

By STEPHANIE PATTISONspattison@lmcexperience.com

Los Medanos College’s Drama Department is now showing “Dad-dy’s Little Girl” and “Descending into Darkness,” a double feature, both of which are plays written by students.

“Daddy’s Little Girl” was written by LMC stu-dent Fernando Bartolo and is about a middle child named Angelica who feels unappreciat-ed in her family. She cooks, cleans, is well mannered and yet to her parents she is con-stantly overshadowed by her two sisters.

When it all becomes too much for Angelica she creates a diabolical plan to finally become daddy’s little girl.

Natalia Philbin’s (Angelica) per for-mance was riveting. She stole the show with her craziness and electricity. I enjoyed this play and the family unit was very believable.

They all had chemistry with one another and convinced the audience that they could actually be related. This play has plot twists that will keep you guessing and keep you glued to your seat.

Alexia Moreno, who played the younger sister Monica, was spectacular and really shined as the 12-year-old creative artist. Her acting really stuck out to me and brought me to tears in the end. “Daddy’s Little Girl” is a classic

drama with some twisted insanity thrown in.

“Descending into Darkness” is written by LMC student Dee White and is about Tyler who has split personality disorder. I found this interesting since there was another

actor playing Damon, Tyler’s other personality.

The play is about Tyler dealing with the conse-quences of Damon’s actions and trying to find a solution. This play was bloody, ma-niacal, shocking and unbelievable. I would see this play a million more times if it were possible.

Konnor Heredia portrayed Tyler and Lenard Jackson por-trayed Damon. I was highly impressed with both of these actors; they did a lot of things in sync with each other, since they are supposed to be the same person.

Lenard’s performance made the entire play for me; he was perfectly insane, and scared me to the point of strange intoxication.

The only complaint I have for this play is that there was not enough blood for me. There was a good amount of it, but I feel there still could have been more.

I am actually surprised that the Drama Department created some-thing this great. I now have even higher standards for the Drama Department and only expect more greatness to come.

Photo by Cathie Lawrence

Monica (Alexis Moreno) explains her aspirations and thoughts about art to Dr. Gabriel Morales (Zack Neese).

REVIEW

Photo by Cathie Lawrence

Angelica (Natalia Philbin) plots her brutal revenge toward her sisters to finally become daddy’s little girl.

By STEVEN LUKEsluke@lmcexperience.com

Last Monday the Pittsburg City Council voted unanimously to bring independent minor league baseball back to the city of Pittsburg.

The Pacific Association of Pro-fessional Baseball is a league that plays at the equivalent of A and AA minor league levels of MILB, but is not affiliated with any major league teams.

The Pittsburg team would take over the spot in the league vacated by the team that is listed as the East Bay Lumberjacks who ended the season as the Bay Cal Lumberjacks

after an ownership change during the middle of the season.

The Pittsburg team would not be known as the Lumberjacks, they would instead be renamed the Pittsburg Mettle to pay hom-age to how the city was built off of industry and the way they are currently rebuilding downtown.

This will not be the first time Pittsburg has had its own minor league team, 63 years ago the Pittsburg Diamonds played in town.

In order for the team to play in Pittsburg, the city would need to make upgrades of $350,000 to field 1 at City Park, the only full sized

field at the location. The project was presented by

Kolette Simontone, Community Relations Manager for the City of Pittsburg. She took charge when the owners of the team, known as the Backwards K Group, brought their proposition for the team to the City Council. The Group is headed by Wayne Franklin, a former professional baseball relief pitcher, his wife Chris, and Tom Macari.

Simonton put the proposal to-gether in a span of just over two weeks to make sure baseball came to Pittsburg. She presented the full proposal to the City Council at this

week’s meeting.“This is a great opportunity

to bring in people from all over the county to come and watch something they typically would drive all the way to Oakland or San Francisco to do,” she said.

She explained the proposal would upgrade the field with additional bleachers, safety netting, grass infield improvements, installation of a mound and scoreboard and improvements to the dugout and sound system. The field will also need fencing added and the current seating will need to be replaced.

F R I D A Y , A P R I L 1 1 , 2 0 1 4 5“Nobody’s a natural. You work hard to get good and then work to get better. It’s hard to stay on top.”

— Paul Coffey

Mustangs pitch into second

See PITT, page 6

Photo by Cathie Lawrence

Mustang second baseman Chaz Meadows readies for a pitch during the 1-0 loss to Mendocino College Tuesday, April 8 as the rest of the team looks on from the dugout. Meadows would go 0-3 with a walk and a stolen base in the losing effort.

LMC ends losing streak on mound

Swinging away

See BALL, page 6

By STEVEN LUKEsluke@lmcexperience.com

After giving up an average of eight runs a game during a four-game losing streak, the Mustangs pitching staff bounced back giving up eight runs in the next four games combined. They went 3-1 in the four games and moved into a three-way tie for sec-ond place in the Bay Valley Conference with eight games left to play.

The pitching was turned around by starting pitcher Ryan Petrangelo, who has been the ace of the staff all season long. He got the team off to the right start after the losing streak when he pitched his first complete game of the season in a 9-3 win.

In that game, Petrangelo gave up just one earned run and did not walk a batter for the first time all season. Staying in the strike zone and keeping the ball low were the two keys to his day he said.

“Keep the ball down, pound the zone and just try and get ahead quick with my fastball,” he said. “Just keep the ball down and stay ahead (of the batters).”

Keeping the ball down in the zone causes the batter to hit the ball into the ground rather than in the air, and it worked as Solano College hit into three double plays on the day.

The quality starting pitch-ing did not end with Petrange-lo. It carried over into the rest of the series against Solano as both starting pitchers, Daniel Bodishbaugh and Ben Polan-sky pitched well and got the win for the Mustangs giving up a total of three earned runs in 13 and two-thirds innings.

Mustangs Pitching Coach, Chris Bodishbaugh, said that keeping the ball down and pounding the strike zone was a key for all of the starting pitchers, not just Petrangelo.

By DAVID NELSONStaff Writer

The Los Medanos College baseball team beat Solano College 5-2 Saturday, April 5 to sweep the season series and they added an incredible nine stolen bases to their season total.

Catcher Wyatt Foreman, who went 1-3 with a run scored explained the team’s strategy, “Our game plan was just, get ahead early.”

The Mustangs did just that, starting out strong and scoring two quick runs in the bottom of the first inning. But Solano wasn’t going to go away so easily, and responded with two runs in the top of the third.

LMC continued to fight back by scoring another run in the bottom of the third, thanks to an RBI from first baseman Ryan Welsh. The Mustangs also put up a run in the bottom of the fourth off of an RBI from center fielder

Jerome Hill. To secure the victor y,

showing his versatility, pitcher Ben Polansky got an RBI in the bottom of the eighth inning to bring in left fielder Will George for the fifth Mustang run of the day.

The Mustangs had a smart game plan that they executed to perfection, including two sacrifice bunts by Wyatt Foreman and Jerome Hill to move runners into scoring postion.

One of the key factors in the game was the barrage of stolen bases by LMC players who swiped nine bags in total. Two of them were steals at home plate, one by second baseman Chaz Meadows, who has 11 stolen bases on the season, and the other by shortstop Ryan Lacy.

Head Coach Anthony D’Al-bora said, “We stole nine bases, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that in one game. We

Photos by Cathie Lawrence

Destinee Perkins makes solid contact during the Tuesday, April 8 doubleheader with Napa Valley College. The Mustangs lost both games and fell to a 4-27 record with four road games remaining.

Pittsburg to produce minor ball

Photo by Steven Luke

Two days after upgrades were aproved workers began making repairs.

Photo by Irvin Trigueros

Relief pitcher John Mead continued his strong season by pitching two perfect innings in a 1-0 loss to Mendocino.

Grand theft base path key to victory

See STEAL, page 6

QuotableL O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

Sports

STEALFrom page 5

PITTFrom page 5

FREEFrom page 3

MUSICFrom page 3

JACCFrom page 3

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C EF R I D A Y , A P R I L 1 1 , 2 0 1 4 6

LYNDAFrom page 1

GEFrom page 1

DAYFrom page 1

BALLFrom page 5

“I have browsed the lynda.com site and also begun a course in how to use pivot tables in MS excel and I love the format,” said Cullar. “I think lynda.com is an excellent resource for classified staff in particular. It will help us keep up with software upgrades and provide the help we need when we know what we want to do in a document but don’t

know or don’t remember how,” continued Cullar.

Videos can be watched on the go from a tablet, iPad or mobile device with unlimited access. New courses are added every week to keep the site up to date.

For more information head to the “about” tab on lynda.com where you can take a guided tour of the website.

here,” said Services Coordi-nator Sharon McLean, who works at the Brentwood center. “Recently, Brandman Uni-versity started setting up an information booth. CSU East Bay also sets up info booths regularly and will meet with students with an appointment.”

“One big component we have are bus tours,” McLean pointed out. “The information is on the website and in the transfer newsletter.”

Origunwa advised that hav-ing a printout of your unofficial transcripts could help to ease the process. “In some cases students could even be talking to admissions officer who ac-tually approves applications,” he said.

Remembering to apply a full year in advance to your school of choice can be daunting, but the Transfer Day can help students with information they need to transfer.

Any further information can be found on the LMC website http://www.losmedanos.edu/transfer/, or just drop into the Transfer Center in room CC2-225.

After Simonton’s presenta-tion the floor was opened to comment and there were two speakers, a rep of the Pittsburg Baseball and Softball Associa-tion and Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce CEO, Harry York.

The group from the PBSA presented a slide show that listed why they support the upgrades to the new field and how having a professional team would be beneficial to the boys and girls who play in their league.

The benefits include having players who can participate in clinics as well as fundraising opportunities with the team. They also cleared up common misconceptions that people had about the new team displacing the children in their league.

York spoke as a member of the community who has been through this before when he was a member of the Reno Chamber of Commerce and the city approved the addition of a minor league team.

“It’s a great thing in the community,” he said. “It’s just a great opportunity for families to get out, sit around, talk, have a soda and some popcorn. It’s a lot of fun. If you have the funds I’d certainly urge you to go for it.”

After the floor was closed to public comment the proposal was put to a vote and passed unanimously, 5-0.

Now that it has been ap-proved the upgrades are scheduled to begin no later than April 15, and the 78 game season for the Mettle would begin in June. The first home game is tentatively scheduled for June 17.

stole home twice, I know I’ve never seen that in one game.

Lacy, who has 17 stolen bas-es so far this year according to California Community College Baseball Coaches Association, had four stolen bags on the day.

“It’s always part of our game plan to steal bases” said Lacy.

The Mustangs also pitched a great game, led by Polansky. He got into trouble in the third inning, giving up two runs, but was able to come back strong, not giving up another till relief pitcher Nabeeh Blackburn was brought in in the sixth inning.

D’Albora was happy with Polansky’s day.

“Ben was awesome,” he said. “He just showed up to play.”

With playoffs only a few weeks away every win counts and sweeping a team is hard to do, said D’Albora, adding, “If we keep grinding like the way we play defense in practice, and the way we hit then we’ll be fine.”

This win gives the Mustangs a 16-11 record, 7-5 in confer-ence play, which puts them in second place in the Bay Valley Conference.

“Our approach has always been to force contact and throw strikes,” he said. “We’ve had them up on the field turf working on staying on line and working on throwing to catchers down.”

The pitching staff responded to the change having three consecutive quality starts, but relief pitcher John Mead also continued his excellent season pitching five innings over the last three games without allowing a single run.

The third consecutive game for Mead was in relief of Pe-trangelo’s most recent start against Mendocino College on Tuesday, April 8. Against Mendocino, Petrangelo threw six scoreless innings before being replaced by Ryan Der-dak, who gave up the only run of the game.

Petrangelo and the bullpen’s great day of only one run was bested by Mendocino’s starting pitcher Spencer Jones who pitched a complete game shutout.

Even with the loss, the team has climbed back up into sec-ond place in the conference, if the pitching can continue they have a chance at the playoffs and still have a chance to catch first place College of Marin.

If the Mustangs are going to do that it is going to have to be a full team effort. Head Coach Anthony D’Albora said that it is all three phases of the game that win the game, and during that win streak they played well at all three phases of the game.

The three phases of the game were evident in the third game against Solano as they had 11 hits, only allowed two earned runs and although they had two errors, they did not lead to runs for Solano.

D’Albora believes that ag-gressiveness will be the key going forward.

“When we’re aggressive, it’s hard for teams to compete with us,” he said.

That aggressiveness will need to continue if the team wants to catch Marin.

The Mustangs next home game is Saturday, April 12 against Mendocino.

Software Defined Network-ing offered from the Georgia Institute of Technology. In this course, you will “learn about software defined networking and how it is changing the way communications networks are managed, maintained, and secured.” This class starts on May 26 and lasts 8 weeks.

Almost everyone who is a part of the Coursera infrastruc-ture has a blog, Twitter and/or Facebook page. This is a part of bringing the school to life. Leadership, partners, students and developers are some of the people who can be read about to get more familiar with the program.

Once you make a free ac-count, you can enroll in class-es, for free. Each course is clearly defined and even has information detailing who your professor will be. Some of the professors give links to their blogs or the schools they teach at other universities.

Coursera of fers a great experience. No matter if you are a student, professor or a person who hasn’t took a class in a long time, Coursera may just be the best option for you to help bolster your educational career.

“What I like about Coursera is the philosophy behind it. Education is a free right and people must have it free. Cour-sera made available classes that would cost me a lot of money to attend,” said Aimé.

Students, professors or lifelong learners who would like to learn more information about Coursera, check out the school’s webpage at www.coursera.org/.

partment for thirteen years. He then followed that feat by twenty years of teaching music and African-American Studies at University of California, Berkeley. As well as serving as LMC’s music department chair for the past thirteen years, he has recently been elected Academic Senate President at LMC.

“(My goals are) to deliver the best service that I can as the Senate President. I am working hard to improve upon the structure of the Senate meeting, while being innovate in offering new conversation topics and procedures,” Hen-derson says of his new position as Academic Senate President.

“What I appreciate and value most from Professor Henderson is his ability to relate to his students and communicate and teach despite our differing backgrounds and learning styles,’ LMC student Amber Griego says. “Taking his voice class has brought me substantial growth. It’s especially helped in building my confidence on stage and stregthen and develop my technique.”

Henderson also dabbles in real estate; he is the owner of Mr. Gospel Properties and is an active real estate investor.

“You were not going to become wealthy being an educator,” he says. “That’s where real estate came in.” His home in an upscale gated community in Pleasanton is a testament to his success.

Henderson not only has a successful career, but also found success in his personal life.

He has been married to his wife Cecile since he was twenty-two and has three daughters: Carlena, Celisse and Charde.

Henderson often reflects on his time spent as an overweight child who was constantly surrounded by the pressure to fail but never wanted to do anything wrong.

“I remember telling myself, ‘I don’t want to live like this. I don’t know what to do, I just know I want something else,” he said.

competitively for Oakland Fuzion.

Staff Photographer Cathie Lawrence won Fourth Place in Online Photo Story/Essay in the Publication Contest for an online slideshow Nov. 20 about the “Queer: The Now” exhibit in the LMC Art Gallery.

Special Projects Editor Kellie McCown received a meritori-ous award in the Publication Contest Enterprise News Sto-ry/Series category for writing and editing an in-depth story about the issue of smoking on campus.

The smoking package, which ran in the Dec. 6, 2013 issue of the Experience, was also

the subject of other honors. Former Editor in Chief Peter Costanza and former Graphics Editor Jesus Chico won first place in Photo Illustration for a photographic image illustration used along with the smoking story.

Chico, Costanza and Mc-Cown also shared second place in Inside Page Layout for their two-page design of the package.

“I felt honored that my hard work was recognized by an organization that I have so much respect for and with it being my last state convention as a student, so I’m going into interning for JACC on a high

note,” said McCown. “I hope that I can make the JACC experience as educational and supportive and wonderful for journalism community colleges journalists.”

Now being back at Los Medanos College and dedicat-ing long hours to putting the Experience out each Friday, there are only four weekly issues left.

“I personally am rejuvenated for journalism. I hope everyone else in the lab is as well. I just hope everyone feels more mo-tivated to get through the end of the school year and make an awesome paper every week,” said Cross.

GE courses that are having a desired effect,” said Sterling.

Students who had complet-ed 0-9 GE units passed the assignment about 20, 40 and 50 percent pass rate in ethical thinking, critical thinking and writing, respectively. Students who had completed over 21 GE units passed about 60, 70, and 80 percent pass rate in the three categories.

While there was positivity on the findings, GE Committee Member and Political Science Professor Dave Zimny said more research is needed.

“The problem with doing a more thorough study is that it would take literally several years to gather the data be-fore we would really know in a stronger sense what the relationship was,” said Zimny.

He added, “Considering the strong correlation here, this is consistent with many

other studies done. We are pretty confident in saying that completing more GE units does result in higher competencies in ethical thinking, critical thinking or writing.”

District Senior Dean of Research and Planning Greg Stoup, who did research for the study, echoed Zimny.

“We are left with looking at observational studies of differ-ent populations of students that are distinguished by certain behavioral traits that might be related to a higher score, so we cannot control that. However, this is a study that has been done in various methodologies and the same general finding keeps coming up. They show the same general pattern of an increase in proficiency,” said Stoup.

For more information con-tact Sterling at 439-2181 ext. 3212.

© 2014 JFK University JFKU14_75An Affi liate of The National University System | www.nusystem.org. JFK University is a nonprofi t University accredited by WASC .

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healthy lifestylesHELPING YOU thrive

This article is proudly sponsored by Kaiser Permanente.

Mary Klemm, DO, is Physician Site Leader

for the Antioch Medical Center.

Walk It OffBy Mary Klemm, DO

Believe it or not, walking is one of the easiest ways to get exercise and stay healthy. Experts recommend at least 2½ hours of moderate

activity a week, such as brisk walking, brisk cycling, or yard work. It’s fine to walk in spurts of 10 minutes or more throughout your day and week. Before you start, talk with your doctor to make sure it’s okay for you to begin a walking program.

Brisk walking is aerobic exercise, which helps strengthen your heart, lungs and muscles. A strong heart carries more blood, along with oxygen and nutrients, to the rest of your body. Walking can help lower blood pressure, improve your mood and energy; and help you maintain a healthy weight. Regular exercise also helps prevent anxiety and depression. Walking is also a weight-bearing activity, meaning it works the muscles and bones against gravity, so it also helps reduce your risk of osteoporosis and broken bones.

Here are a few tips to get you started on a walking program:

• Start with a short-term goal. For example, walk for 5 or 10 minutes every day. Or increase your number of steps by 300 to 500 each day.

• After you’ve made walking a habit, set a longer-term goal. You may want to set a goal of walking briskly for at least 30 minutes a day or work up to 10,000 steps a day. You can try to do this 5 days a week or more.

• You can wear a pedometer to track your steps each day. • To stay motivated, find a walking partner, such as a family member, friend, or

coworker. Daily dog walks are also a great way to keep up your walking routine.

For more information on walking for fitness and other exercise ideas, go to Kaiser Permanente’s Web site at www.kp.org/fitness.

Follow us on Twitter@KPDiablo

Visit us at kp.org/diablo