LariatSADDLEBACK AND IRVINE VALLEY COLLEGES’ STUDENT NEWSPAPER

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VOLUME 45, ISSUE 7 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2012 LARIATNEWS.COM

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See TRUSTEE page 4

Barack Obama was re-elected as Presi-dent of the United States Tuesday night, securing the victory with an electoral vote count of 303 to challenger Mitt Romney’s 206, prompting diverse reaction from Sad-dleback College faculty and students.

“It was pretty much what I expected on the popular vote side, but it wasn’t what I expected as far as the electoral votes,” Lee Haggerty, a political science instructor said. “I figured the electoral votes would be clos-er than what they were. Obviously Obama’s strategy was to go for those states that had more electoral votes because he recognized that’s what determines whose president. And his team, I should say, evidently did a good job because Romney’s people did a re-ally good job and it was very, very close if you look at the popular vote.”

Despite the big young-voter turnout in the 2008 election, more voters between the ages of 18 to 29 voiced their opinions in this year’s presidential race – jumping to 19 percent, one more than the last presidential election.

Age was not the only factor in the Presi-dent’s win, but there was also a factor of

race. The white vote also shrunk this elec-tion dropping from 43 percent in 2008 to 39 percent this year while the African-Ameri-can vote stayed at a steady 13 percent simi-lar to 2008 numbers according to CNN.

History instructor, David Dileo, shared a few words about the election saying Obama is easier to read, understand and relate with compared to Romney.

We have seen what he has done over the past four years, thus allowing him to be much clearer on where he stands, Deleo said, adding that Obama has faced a lot of pressure during his tenure as President from the very beginning during his inauguration to this election. As for Romney - he will

be harder to navigate, and I don’t know of anyone who can understand what he may or may not do.

“He has a lot to prove and this time he has no fingers to point at. He inherited his own mess, Kevin Heartly, 23, political sci-ence said. “If he doesn’t uphold his prom-ises this time I think he’ll be held more ac-countable.”

As for a democratic president with a republican House, Haggerty said that both parties would have to reach a compromise to reach their goals.

“What I’m hoping is that now we passed all of this and we recognize that it’s in our benefit to work closely together - both sides

Obama re-elected for second term

2012 ELECTION COVERAGE

O B A M A

332 YOUNG DEMOCRATSSaddleback club

supports Obama, Prop. 30

PRESIDENTIALCampus reacts to a second term

for Barack Obama

PROPOSITIONSPropositions soon to be put into

effect after citizens tackled issues at the polls

SEE PAGES ILLUSTRATION By ANIBAL SANTOS / LARIAT

Jemal, Jay, Lang win SOCCCDtrustee seats

Er ik woods & josEph Esp ir ituStaff Writers

Evan da s ilva & kristEn wilcoxStaff Writers

TIM JEMAL- AREA 7: Masters in International Busi-ness from George Washington University.

“I care deeply about education and our economic fu-ture. I will usher in a new era in shared governance with students, faculty, staff and the electorate. I will serve with integrity, honesty and transparency. I will make de-cisions based on the best interest of our community col-leges, not on personal or partisan political interests. The community deserves nothing less”

WILLIAM O. JAY- AREA 3: Masters of Education from University of Vermont. Served as Saddleback Col-lege President from 1981-1983.

“Today our colleges must expand educational oppor-tunities for young college students, adults, and seniors and increase high technology and skill training for the community and our employees.”

DAvID LANG- AREA 1: Certified Public Accountant. Member of Irvine Chamber of Commerce.

“I enjoy working to achieve a balance between cur-rent needs and preparing for the future needs of students and the community.”

FLICKR COMMONS: KEVIN GEBHARDT/ WCHI NEWS

Obama talks to supporters on election rally night.

See OBAMA page 4

Saddleback students and faculty react to the incumbent’s 303-206electoral vote victory

The Nov. 6 South Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees election names David B. Lang for Area 1, William O. Jay for Area 3, and ushered in first-time trustee Timothy Jemal as the new Area 7 member

ROCKS THE VOTE

LariatTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 20122

LARIATNEWS.COM/NEWS

2012 ELECTION SPECIAL EDIT ION

HIGH STAKESVoters roll dice with tax increase in California,

four more years of Obama

California proposition scorecard

32 FAIL

35 PASS

38 FAIL

33 FAIL

36 PASS

39 PASS

34 FAIL

37 FAIL

40 PASS

30 PASS 31 FAILTax increase and criminal penalty reforms pass, death sentence and label-free foods stay

Increase on income taxes on high incomes for seven years and sales tax increas-es a quarter-cent for four years. Revenues for schools and other programs.

Fiscal responsibilities for legislature and government will NOT change.

NO change to existing laws regulating the ability of unions and corporations to use money deducted from employee’s paychecks for political purposes.

Insurers can continue to provide discounts to long-term auto customers, but will be prohibited from providing discounts for users switching.

Certain offenders convicted for murder can continue to be sentenced to death. Status of those currently under death sentence will NOT change.

Longer prison sentences and larger fines for human trafficking crimes.

Some criminal offenders with two prior serious or violent felony convictions would be sentenced to shorter terms in state prison.

Genetically engineered foods sold in California would continue to NOT have specific labeling requirements.

State personal income tax rates will remain at cur-rent levels (before Prop 30 increases). No additional funding for K-12 schools from Prop 38 increase.

Multi-state businesses will no longer be able to chose the method for determining California state taxable income that is most advantageous for them.

California state Senate district boundaries certified by Citizens Redistricting Commission will continue to be used.

Compiled by ZaCh Cavanagh, information from Cal ifornia off iC ial voter information guide .

Campus reaction to passing of Prop 30

“I’m very excited, it was an important measure that California voters took to

support schools.”- Tod A. Burnett, President,

Saddleback College

“I don’t necessarily think throwing money directly into the

school is going to fix it. I feel that the education system needs reform to where its funding can

be used most efficiently.”- Nick Cerneka, 20,

communications

“Thrilled very much so that it passed! I am not going to have to worry about tuition going

up when I want to transfer to a university soon.”

- Mason Berger, 18, business

“It’s going to allow community colleges not to have to continue cutting classes. Also, it’s going to allow the Cal States and the UCs to be able to accept more

students ... [I’m] very happy that the proposition passed and

that California still feels that education is priority.”

- Jorge Guerrero, counselor,Saddleback College

President Barack Obama wins a second term with 303 electoral votes over Romney at 206, and Kathryn Peña, President of the Saddleback Young Democrats Club, is relieved for college students everywhere.

The Young Democrats Club supported Obama be-cause he is a “strong advocate for education,” Peña said. Also, Obama supports “women in terms of equal pay and also for reproductive rights as well as the LGBT communities.”

The Young Democrats also supported Irvine’s cur-rent mayor, Sukhee Kang, in the Mission Viejo race for Congress. Kang spoke at Saddleback College on Tuesday, Oct. 30 and they want him in office because ‘We need to take back democratic control of congress because of the lack of changes in the last two years [due to] Republican Party obstruction,” Peña added. “Sukhee Kang has a history of working with both par-ties to achieve results.” Kang lost his race for the U.S. representative for the 45th District to John Campbell by a 40.5 to 59.5 percent of the vote.

The Young Democrats supported Prop 30 which stops $6 billion in budget cuts to education. Current state schools are significantly impacted and classes are being dropped because of budget cuts and “a student is lucky to transfer within two years,” Peña said.

Prop 30 also increases income tax on people who earn over $250,000 per year for a period of seven years and includes a sales tax increase of one-quarter cent for four years.

What concerned Peña about Romney becoming president is that he wanted to make “cuts to education and veterans benefits.” Also Romney’s plan to elimi-nate Planned Parenthood also didn’t sit well with the Young Democrats: “a lot of women and men depend on Planned Parenthood,” Peña said.

Chugi Takahashi, student and Young Democrat Club member, said that Romney would be a bad idea right now because he doesn’t sound like someone who will deliver on his promises and that he intends to low-er taxes on the rich and will “keep us getting deeper in debt … like in the George Bush times.”

What students tend to agree on is that it is a bad time to change leadership and that we want the mid-dle class to come back and have a better chance and, “Obama has a good plan for this,” said Takahashi.

Saddleback student Adrian Hernandez, a Young Democrat’s Club member, is a veteran who served in Iraq and didn’t like what he saw there. He felt that

something “wasn’t right,” so he eventually left the military. One of the reasons he is voting for Obama is because, “he said he would end the war in Iraq and he did.”

Hernandez isn’t interested in “funding useless wars,” and says that Obama’s “ideologies” coincide with his. Hernandez also likes the fact that Obama ac-knowledges climate change. “That’s a plus,” he said.

Hernandez’s biggest concern about Romney get-ting elected was that there could be an “explosion of violence” because not enough programs are available to help people in need. He was also concerned about environmental issues such as more drilling and the fact that a lot of Republicans won’t even acknowledge that climate change exists.

Like a lot of students, Hernandez’s biggest concern is education. “Not everybody wants a degree,” Her-nandez said. Students want to take classes that are ap-plicable to getting a job or learn a skill that will help them earn a living in the future. “We need to take a long, hard look at how we are teaching kids and what we are trying to accomplish,” Hernandez said.

More people are becoming aware of the disparity in student’s education and the current demand for techni-cal skills in the job market.

Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft, never finished college but his foundation has made education a pri-mary mission. Grants are now awarded to people who want to correct the current problems with higher edu-cation that keep kids from graduating on time. Ac-cording to the foundation website, www.gatesfoun-dation.org, Gates stresses that teachers are critical to student achievement.

As a result, the foundation invests in research and reform efforts to discover what makes a teacher more effective. In addition, they promote clear and consis-tent standards that help teachers identify student learn-ing gaps.

On a local Orange County level, Tim Jemal, a first-time candidate in the race to become a member of the Board of Trustees in the South Orange County Com-munity District (SOCCCD) states on his website that he supports “quality education for transfer, profes-sional and vocational students.” He also supports the Emeritus Program for life-long learning.

Contacted after his win on Tuesday, Jemal said, “I will focus on developing meaningful partnerships be-tween our community colleges and the county’s most innovative technology firms. My goal is for our com-munity colleges to stay ahead of industry trends and deliver training and education programs most needed to secure good-paying jobs in the local economy. We should strive to build long-term partnerships with key growth sectors of the Orange County economy, including technology and health care, which require some level of higher education

ILLustratIons by anIbaL santos / LarIat

Cathy Lee tayLorStaff Writer

ctaylor45@saddleback.edu

2012 ELECTION SPECIAL EDIT ION 3

LARIATNEWS.COM/NEWS

LariatTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2012

HIGH STAKESVoters roll dice with tax increase in California,

four more years of Obama

Young Democrats support local candidates, Prop 30Saddleback club supports candidates, Obama and measure that end up as Tuesday’s winners

robErt sHoEMaKE / LarIatBOOTH: Citizens fill out their ballots at the Dana Point Branch Library on Tuesday morning.

Campus reaction to President Obama’s re-election

“I feel that Romney had more of a promising plan for our

country and I don’t feel safe with Obama as

our President again.”- Taylor Brenner, 20,

psychology

“I’m pretty happy Obama won. I didn’t really like

Romney and his energy policies ... And I didn’t like that he

and the Republican Party had such controversial opinions on women’s reproductive rights.”

- Katie Whittemore, 21,environmental studies

“I am very hopeful for the change that Obama has

promised America . This was my first year voting and actually being involved in politics . I

read all the prompts and was aware of who I was voting for and what I was voting for. ”

- Brittany Gibson, 22,major undecided

“Obama has done little to help our economy. We are

done.”- Morgan Cross, 18,

business

JasMInE Pourazar / LarIatBOArD: Support shown for Obama on a Saddleback corkboard.

of the isle,” Haggerty said. “I’m just not sure if the Republicans are willing and ready to make that move so that we can forget about the last four years and find the president crossing over the aisle – working with the Repub-licans. Otherwise, it’s going to be business as usual and I don’t think we can afford that.

If they don’t, we’ll have the same thing we’ve been having for the last four years and that is a president proposing certain programs and policies that never get implemented because they get through the senate where the democrats have majority, but they never get through the house because the Republican’s oppose it, and until the Repub-licans realize we’re all Ameri-cans, and even though we have our differences that we need to bring policies that are good for all of us.”

Ultimately, Haggerty said

that he’s glad that the race is over.

“This gives us the opportu-nity to really see this as a chal-lenge or to see this as an oppor-tunity to make the world better,” Haggerty said. “I’m hoping we see it more as the latter than the former. To me, what’s really going to determine this is does Boehner and his boys in the house take a position to be an obstructionist or do they make certain compromises in order to make the country a better country.”Students were asked whether or not they voted, and if they did vote, for whom did they vote. Forty different students on Tuesday afternoon were asked who they voted for and while not everyone was willing to an-swer, most were inclined to do so.For Obama, 27 total votes, 15 were male, and 13 were female. For Romney a total of 13 votes, nine were male and five were female.

“I don’t think it matters who you put into the White House, I think there’s going to be po-larization either way,” Alec Scheizenmeier,

19, psychology said.

The Nov. 6 South Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees elec-tion re-elected two incumbents, David B. Lang for Area One and William O. Jay for Area Three, and ushered in first-time trustee Timothy Jemal as the new Area Seven member who is filling the void left by Frank M. Meldau, who decided to step-down after taking over the position in Jan. of 2011.

Area One saw incumbent Lang and Irvine business attor-ney David L. Martin running for office. Lang took the position in a landslide, finishing with 154,961 votes (68.6 percent), according to www.smartvoter.

org - landing himself a fifth con-secutive term since 1996.

Some of his key stances in-clude the opposition of tax in-creases, the reduction of local bureaucracies, the increasing of job training, certificate, and transfer programs, and further supporting of the Emeritus pro-gram.

“I will continue to be an ad-vocate for students, a watchful guardian of our precious fiscal resources, and mindful of our colleges having the right mix of programs to adequately serve our students and community,” Lang said via email.

Jay faced businesswoman Arlene C. Greer and graduate student researcher Jennifer J. Long in the Area Three trustee

election. Jay handily won the position with 118,647 votes (52.9 percent), according to www.smartvoter.org and will now be on his third consecutive term after filling a trustee vacan-cy in 2004, and being elected to serve through the year 2012.

The Area Seven trustee election started off with John Williams running unopposed, which lead to Mike Moodian, Jan Serrantino-Cox, and Jemal joining the race. Jemal won the open trustee position allocating 70,764 votes (32.5 percent), as stated by www.smartvoter.org

Jemal said his primary con-cerns involve improving college and career readiness, working with the Advanced Technology & Education Park in Tustin to

expand student technical career education and vocational skills, to have Saddleback and Irvine Valley Colleges move into the top five graduation rates among two-year colleges throughout California, and prevent the rise of any new tuition fees for stu-dents.

“My central priority is to im-prove college and career readi-ness. If we don’t close the gap in college and career readiness, the U.S. is destined to mediocrity which is unacceptable to me... Our community colleges must communicate clearly with stu-dents the consequences in time and money of dropping out of college,” Jemal said via email.

NEWS LariatTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 20124

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Faculty, students react to presidential raceFrom OBAMA Page One

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LariatKristen WilcoxCo-Editor-In-Chief

SOCCCD board retains Lang, Jay, adds Jemal

edasilva1@saddleback.edu

From TRUSTEES Page One

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ROBERT SHOMAkE / LARIAT

Poll workers John Stanton and Beverly Ayala work the VOLUNTEER:booths during Tuesday’s election.