rampage fall 2011 issue 3

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Rampage Fresno City College October 05, 2011 Volume CXXI, Edition 3 A mix of emotions has dawned over Fresno City College as long- time employees of the college and State Center Community College District take their talents elsewhere. Meanwhile, several key positions remain either unfilled or occupied on interim basis. Currently at FCC, the positions for president, the vice president for instruction, and dean of instruc- tion, applied technology are held on interim bases, and the offices of the vice president for Admin- istrative Services and director of financial aid are unfilled. Many are expressing concern about the departures and whether they could signal instability in the college or district, adverse- ly impact FCC’s accreditation. Tony Cantu, interim president of the FCC says the college is stable. He is not concerned about perceptions of instability even with the amount of changes taking place in such a short time. “It’s part of the process. People make changes for a variety of reasons,” said Cantu, who has now held the president’s posi- tion since April 1 when Cyn- thia Azari departed to Riverside Community College. “People come and go. It just happens that this time, it’s one after another.” A trend that began with the de- parture of Dr. Azari last spring has continued with other prominent members such as Rick Christl, dean of applied technology; Sonny Silva, interim financial aid direc- tor, and the latest, Michael Guerra, VP of administrative services. “We’re doing well. The Applied Technology division is doing well. The position of the Director of Financial Aid will be filled,” Cantu said. “Michael Guerra left. However, he has a wonderful staff. Any information we need will be available because Michael has worked very closely with his staff.” Cantu explained that there is no need to worry about accreditation. “We have processes in place, so we know the positions will be filled,” said Cantu. ”There is no discussion about combining posi- tions because the positions will be filled. For any information they [accreditation team members] ask that have to do with financial resources, there will be staff who can assist and answer questions, so it should not be an issue.” Rick Santos, linguistics in- structor and member of the FCC Strategic Plan- ning Council, said there is always a chance of instability when there is change in leadership, but that the college has not experienced that yet. “You can look up and down the state and find colleges that are on warning,” said Santos. “We have interims here, but they have been around for a long time. Our current president has been with the district for over 20 years. If all our inter- ims were from the outside, there would have been a possibility to develop some instability, but that is not how we have done it here.” And in this tough economy, Santos says the new leaders will be faced with the challenge of keeping an eye on the budget. “We don’t know what the budget will be like. We’re going to face mid-year cuts because the state is not getting as much revenue as Michael Guerra Resigns Dozens of students and faculty bid farewell to Michael Guerra, Vice President of Administrative Services in the Community Room of the Old Administration Building at Fresno City College on Sept. 27. Guerra an- nounced his resignation on Sept. 23. Interim President Tony Cantu opened the ceremony, and on behalf of FCC, thanked Guerra for his contribu- tions to the college. Representatives of the Associated Student Government presented a wrapped gift to him. Cantu said that he will miss Guerra and the stability he’s provided over the years. “He [Guerra] has been with the college for a long time, and he’s been in that position for a long time. That’s a lot of history we are losing,” said Cantu. Cantu’s sentiments were echoed by several others. Lynn Mallory who has worked with Guerra in Administrative Services for more than 15 years said she’ll miss him. “He’s been a great boss and a good friend. He is very easy to work with, and I have really enjoyed it,” said Mallory. “He has so much historical knowledge about this campus, and that’s going to be missed.” Print, Media and Communications FCC Braces for changes “People come and go. It just happens that this time, it’s one after another.” -Tony Cantu FCC President BY TOMAS KASSAHUN Rampage Reporter BY FRANK LOPEZ & TOMAS KASSAHUN Rampage Reporter See BRACING FOR CHANGE on Page 2 See GUERRA RESIGNS on Page 3 See Page 13 Affirmative Action Bake Sale VIEWS See Page 14 Discipline of an Angel SPORTS See Page 8 FUSE Music Festival ENTERTAINMENT See Page 3 FCC Job Fair NEWS FRESNO CITY COLLEGE AND DISTRICT OFFICE STAFF WERE ON HAND TO HONOR FORMER VP OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES, MICHAEL GUERRA ON SEPT. 27 IN THE COMMUNITY ROOM IN THE OAB. (UPPER LEFT) PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER KATHY BONILLA CHEERS AT RECEPTION. (UPPER RIGHT) MICHAEL GUERRA. (BOTTOM LEFT) FCC’S INTERIM PRESIDENT, TONY CANTU WITH MICHAEL GUERRA. (BOTTOM RIGHT) WELL-WISHERS LINE UP TO SAY GOODBYE TO MICHAEL GUERRA. PHOTOS BY PAUL SCHLESINGER

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Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

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Page 1: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

RampageFresnoCity

CollegeOctober 05, 2011Volume CXXI, Edition 3

A mix of emotions has dawned over Fresno City College as long-time employees of the college and State Center Community College District take their talents elsewhere. Meanwhile, several key positions remain either unfilled or occupied on interim basis.

Currently at FCC, the positions for president, the vice president for instruction, and dean of instruc-tion, applied technology are held on interim bases, and the offices of the vice president for Admin-istrative Services and director of financial aid are unfilled.

Many are expressing concern about the departures and whether they could signal instability in the college or district, adverse-ly impact FCC’s accreditation. Tony Cantu, interim president

of the FCC says the college is stable. He is not concerned about perceptions of instability even with the amount of changes taking place in such a short time.

“It’s part of the process. People make changes for a variety of reasons,” said Cantu, who has now held the president’s posi-tion since April 1 when Cyn-thia Azari departed to Riverside Community College. “People come and go. It just happens that this time, it’s one after another.” A trend that began with the de-parture of Dr. Azari last spring has continued with other prominent members such as Rick Christl, dean of applied technology; Sonny Silva, interim financial aid direc-tor, and the latest, Michael Guerra, VP of administrative services. “We’re doing well. The Applied Technology division is doing well. The position of the Director

of Financial Aid will be filled,” Cantu said. “Michael Guerra left. However, he has a wonderful staff. Any information we need will be available because Michael has worked very closely with his staff.”

Cantu explained that there is no need to worry about accreditation. “We have processes in place, so we know the positions will be filled,” said Cantu. ”There is no

discussion about combining posi-tions because the positions will be filled. For any information they [accreditation team members] ask that have to do with financial resources, there will be staff who

can assist and answer questions, so it should not be an issue.” Rick Santos, linguistics in-structor and member of the FCC Strategic Plan-

ning Council, said there is always a chance of instability when there is change in leadership, but that the college has not experienced that yet.

“You can look up and down the state and find colleges that are on warning,” said Santos. “We have interims here, but they have been around for a long time. Our current president has been with the district for over 20 years. If all our inter-ims were from the outside, there would have been a possibility to develop some instability, but that is not how we have done it here.” And in this tough economy, Santos says the new leaders will be faced with the challenge of keeping an eye on the budget. “We don’t know what the budget will be like. We’re going to face mid-year cuts because the state is not getting as much revenue as

Michael Guerra ResignsDozens of students and faculty

bid farewell to Michael Guerra, Vice President of Administrative Services in the Community Room of the Old Administration Building at Fresno City College on Sept. 27. Guerra an-nounced his resignation on Sept. 23.

Interim President Tony Cantu opened the ceremony, and on behalf of FCC, thanked Guerra for his contribu-tions to the college. Representatives of the Associated Student Government presented a wrapped gift to him.

Cantu said that he will miss Guerra and the stability he’s provided over the years. “He [Guerra] has been with the college for a long time, and he’s been in that position for a long time. That’s a lot of history we are losing,” said Cantu.

Cantu’s sentiments were echoed by several others. Lynn Mallory who has worked with Guerra in Administrative Services for more than 15 years said she’ll miss him. “He’s been a great boss and a good friend. He is very easy to work with, and I have really enjoyed it,” said Mallory. “He has so much historical knowledge about this campus, and that’s going to be missed.”

Print, Media and Communications

FCC Braces for changes

“People come and go. It just happens that this time, it’s one after another.”

-Tony CantuFCC President

By Tomas Kassahun

Rampage Reporter

By FranK Lopez& Tomas Kassahun

Rampage Reporter

See BRACING FOR CHANGE on Page 2

See GUERRA RESIGNS on Page 3

See Page 13

Affirmative Action Bake SaleVIEWS

See Page 14

Discipline of an AngelSPORTS

See Page 8

FUSE Music FestivalENTERTAINMENT

See Page 3

FCC Job FairNEWS

Fresno CiTy CoLLege and disTriCT oFFiCe sTaFF were on hand To honor Former Vp oF adminisTraTiVe serViCes, miChaeL guerra on sepT. 27 in The CommuniTy room in The oaB. (upper LeFT) puBLiC inFormaTion oFFiCer KaThy BoniLLa Cheers aT reCepTion. (upper righT) miChaeL guerra. (BoTTom LeFT) FCC’s inTerim presidenT, Tony CanTu wiTh miChaeL guerra. (BoTTom righT) weLL-wishers Line up To say goodBye To miChaeL guerra.

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Page 2: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

2 October 05, 2011 News

Fresno City College

1101 E. University Ave.Fresno, CA 93741

Managing Editor: Sydney ExciniaProduction Manager: Ramiro Gudino

News Editor: Jesse FranzViews Editor: Dylan Domingos

Entertainment/Online Editor: Max RosendahlPhoto Editor: Paul SchlesingerArt Director: Austin Verburg

Business Manager: Sydney ExciniaCopy Editor: Tomas Kassahun

Faculty Adviser: Dympna Ugwu-Oju

Rampage [email protected]

Adviser [email protected]

The Rampage is an award-winning newspaper published biweekly by the Fresno City College Journalism 4 & 5 programs and is a member of the Journalism Association of Community Colleges. Views expressed in The Rampage are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect those of Fresno City College,

its students, administration or the State Center Community College District.

About Us

Alexis AbrahmsonNathan A. AlonzoElizabeth AmaralSasha BellLaura BradleyTutmosis BrownAnnette De DiosMarcel DilworthDylan DomingosDaniel EngelhauptSydney ExciniaJesse FranzKristoffer GokaEmillio GutierrezMaddie HagobianMoriah JonesTomas Kassahun

Reporters

Office: (559) 442-8262Fax: (559) 265-5783

ContactsEditors

www.therampageonline.comVisit our web site for updates

Frank LopezPabel LopezPaulo NinoKarina OrnelasBrendan RaleyDylan PicazoNicole RandazzoKaitlin ReganPhilip RomarMia Barraza MartinezMax RosendahlJordan RussellPaul SchlesingerJoshua SheppardDavid ThammavongsaAustin Verburg

RampageFresnoCity

College

Campus BriefsBy Alexis Abrahamson

Rampage Reporter

CLUB RUSH III

Club Rush has been postponed from today to Oct. 12. All the campus clubs will be showing what they have to offer at this month’s Club Rush. Now is

the perfect time to take a stroll around the fountain to check-

out what each club has to offer. There will be booths all around with brochures and club leaders

to take you by the hand and explain the benefits of being a

part of their club. Its time to get involved, and maybe even meet some other students with similar

interests as your own.

“THROUGH MY EYES”

Guest Speaker

To spread awareness of domes-tic violence, Fresno City College is having Marjaree Mason speak to students and staff about the horrible outcomes of domestic

violence. If you or anyone close to you can relate, it’s a great time to get together as one and listen, hopefully even take one step closer to stopping the violence. The speech will be at 10 a.m. in the student lounge on Oct. 12.

“BE SMART WITH BODY

ART” About 36% of Americans cur-

rently have at least one tattoo. When it comes to piercings, the amount is too many to count. That’s why it’s a smart idea to know what to do when you are preparing to change your body image. Many people get sick every year from un-sanitized tools used to get tattoos or piercings. That is why FCC is having “Be smart with body art” to make students aware of the problems that can arise from having a bad tattoo or piercing. Come by the student lounge on Oct. 13 at 11:30 a.m. to get some more information and learn about which questions to ask before you go under the needle.

CHILI Bowl COOK-OFF

Football and food. It does not get better than that. On Oct. 15 at Ratcliffe Stadium around 7 p.m., there will be booths of different chili for students and friends to try out before the game against Modesto. It’s time to support your Rams and get your grub on!

Annual WInter Clothes

DriveThe Social Work Student Asso-

ciation of Fresno will be facilitat-ing it’s annual clothes drive until Nov. 4, to benefit those in times of economic desparity.

They will be collecting clothes, jackets, non-perishable foods, tarps, umbrellas, shoes, blankets, tents, and hygine products to dis-tribut during Nov. Donations will be accepted in the Library, Student Activities, Business Education, Humanities, and the ASG Office.

FCC FLU SHOT

CLINIC Fresno City College is now

providing free flu shots for ALL registered students this fall. It’s while supplies last, so if you are prone to getting sick or just want to make sure the student cough-ing next to you wont spread the love, come by the Health Servic-es clinic to get your shot. Hours are from Mon-Fri from 89 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. For more information please call 442-4600 ext. #8268.

Lecture on Participating

In College

GovernanceToday from 3 to 5 p.m. in OAB

251 there will be an informa-tional lecture on the guidelines of how to become an active member in the college’s shared governence as a student.

they anticipated,” Santos said. “We have to develop contingency plans, and we are going to need the help of as many people as possible.” Santos said that while it’s al-ways a challenge to have a change in administration, it’s a matter of doing enough research and mak-ing the right decisions. He has been with the district since 1994 but cannot recall witnessing these many changes in such a short amount of time within the district.

Lacy Barnes, psychology instructor at Reedley College and president of the State Center Federation of Teachers, Local 1533, said the district needs unusual and creative leadership in these unusual times.

Barnes used Chancellor Debo-rah Blue, who became leader of the district in the summer of 2010, as an example. “The chancellor was hired because her credentials are in order. We will have to depend

Bracing For Change

Online Stories

on that and hope for the best,” she said. “In a couple of years, we will know the answer. Only time will tell.”

Barnes explained the importance of making decisions with students in mind as they are usually most impacted by changes. “Students are always the recipients of deci-sions made,” and the district must never forget that, Barnes said.

She said students must hold the administration accountable, just as students are held accountable for what they are supposed to do in

the classroom. “We are here to serve students.

The institution exists to educate future members of society and leaders in the Central Valley,” Barnes said. “That’s the reason students are engaged in the committee structure, and in the decision making structures, not just at the college level, but also at the district level.”

Continued From Page 1

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

KIDmunIty EDucatEs chIlDrEn

-sasha BEll The afterschool music

program at FCC enlightens young children with a hands-on learning experience focusing on various styles of artistic music, instruments, and culture from

around the world.

“EvErythIng on It”

-alExIs aBrahamson This review is a must read for all ages. Childhood memories will flood your imagination as you laugh and cherish the

times of the famous poet, Shel Silverstein.

rams stanD unDEfEatED

Keep up with the most recent

coverage of FCC football at therampageonline.com

all thEsE storIEs anD

morE only atthErampagEonlInE.com

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

Corrections-“Students Unaware of Budget

Facts” by Frank Lopez in the Sept. 21 issue of the Rampage, has a factual error. Contrary to a statement in the story, ABX 132 does not result in a fee increase. In fact, it defers a proposed fee increase to the summer of 2012. We sincerely apologize for whatever inconveniences this has caused.

-In “FCC ART SPACE GAL-LERY” by Alexis Abrahamson, she reported that the exhibit in the Art Space gallery was a student exhibit. It was in fact an exhibit

Page 3: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

3October 05, 2011NewsJob Fair Creates opportunities

By Elizabeth Amaral Rampage Reporter

By Frank LopezRampage Reporter

department manager, Richard Harrison, said really cared about the students. “Everything that he planned and did benefited stu-dents,” said Harrison. “He did a lot to just keep the college running.”

Guerra said he is glad he was able to help the college grow but that FCC helped him grow in many ways. He added he will miss FCC because of the students.

“That’s what I’m going to remember most; the students and how they enriched my life. How a student would say what their dreams were,” said Guerra. “Dreams can come true. My dream came true working here.”

Michael Guerra began his career at FCC as bookstore manager in 1990. He began his current po-sition as VP of Administrative Services in 1996.

With a lifetime Community College Teaching Credential in Business and Industrial Relations, Guerra had several responsibili-ties, including, budget develop-ment, bursar functions, safety,

building services in terms of custodial, classified personnel,

categorical oversight and produc-tion services.

Guerra earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from California State University, Fresno and a Master’s Degree in Human Resource and Organizational De-velopment from the University of San Francisco.

He established the Fresno His-panic Scholarship Fund and also the Eleanor Rico Ruiz Memorial Scholarship, a scholarship award-ed to single Latina parents who demonstrate academic achieve-ment while raising a family.

Guerra had also participated as a member of the Accrediting Commission for colleges such as Leeward Community College, Moorpark College and Pasadena City College.

His resignation took effect on Sept. 30. He will be joining Modesto Jr. College as VP for Administrative Services.

Guerra Resigns

Fresno City College provides many classes that teach a wide range of academic subjects. While colleges stress and require courses in math and science, they also require students to engage in hu-manity courses. There are many concepts and ideas that students are exposed to throughout their college career that can provide much more than academic credit.

The American Pluralism course is a sociological class that can be personally and socially enriching for those who embrace its teach-ings.

What is pluralism?Pluralism is a condition in which

many different cultures coexist in a society and still maintain their own cultural differences. It seeks to overcome racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination and contends that diversity is benefi-cial for a society. The course cov-ers these topics while focusing on how they have affected American society throughout history and in the present.

FCC professor, Dr. Bernard Na-varro, has been teaching American Pluralism since 2006. Navarro became increasingly interested in American Pluralism when former FCC professor, Jerry Bill, asked him if he would like to teach a section.

“The class to me, when I started learning about it, was just really intriguing. I sat in on some of the classes and I just really enjoyed the idea behind the class,” says Na-

varro. “Sociologically speaking, those issues are really important to me and I really wanted to be a part of it.” He then asked FCC professor, Paul Gilmore, if he could discuss social class for the American Pluralism sections.

“Dr. Navarro asked me to talk about social class and alienation,” said Gilmore. “While they dealt with many different cultures, they hadn’t really dealt with the issue of class in America.”

One of the dynamics of the class is that there are more than just one instructor for the course. Different professors come in and lecture on their area of expertise. Notable instructors who teach the course are: Dr. Navarro, an expert in American Indian studies; Paul Gilmore who lectures on social class issues; FCC professor, Re-becca Slayton, an expert on the social and psychological aspects of stereotypes; and FCC professor, Matt Espinosa Watson, a specialist in Chicano history and culture.

Students are presented with a variety of world views and ideas that deal with many social issues prevalent in our society.

“I think American pluralism is an unusual class because it has so many instructors. It’s a class that gets at the incredible diversity of our society. It’s not necessarily a social problems class,” says Gilm-ore, “But it’s an examination of the fabric of our society, the many different threads that make up the fabric of our society.”

Dr. Navarro also has his students participate in group discussions and exercises in which students

confront their own social standings and world views. The knowledge that American Pluralism provides can be an important tool to prop-erly understand how American society functions and how social issues arise.

“A student interested in learning about cultural diversity, issues per-taining to racism, discrimination, prejudice, that’s the class you want to take,” said Navarro.

FCC student, Jennifer Vargas, took American Pluralism during her freshman year in 2009. Vargas says that she really enjoyed the class and that it influenced her to view the world differently and pursue her education.

“We have such a linear way of thinking. When you’re in that class you see that there are so many dif-ferent cultures and backgrounds and ways of thinking,” says Var-gas. “You realize that there are other options and other ways of thinking.”

American Pluralism promotes ideologies of equality and em-bracing the diverse cultures and customs of people from all over the world. It is an area of study that can help people overcome social prejudices and bigotry.

“It’s good to take a class like this every once in a while, even if it’s not the thing you’re really interested in,” says Gilmore. “It’s a snapshot on another world. It teaches you a different language in a way; a different way of viewing the world.”

Pluralism Course Enriches

While the economy has not seemed to turn around, Fresno has found a way to hire new employees. On Wednesday local businesses came to Fresno City College to hire possible FCC students. Many different job op-portunities were offered.

The unemployed students of Fresno City College were thrilled to know that hiring employers were coming to the campus. The job fair took place in the FCC caf-eteria and was filled with students. Cristina Johnson, a freshman and business major, has been looking for employment since her junior year in high school. “I need a job because I need some extra cash for little things I need.” says Johnson. “I talked to the people from New Rock and I thought it was cool job, and I hope to hear from them”.

Nicole Kellogg, a freshman at FCC, has been looking for em-ployment for a year and has not found any employment. “I have had trouble finding a job because of my school schedule and because I don’t have a car, so it makes it harder for me to go from one place to another” says Kellogg. She was glad to hear about the position available at the radio station.

Photography major James Mc-Guire has been in search of em-ployment for over a year. “I have been looking for a job in lots of warehouses around the city and I have also been looking for em-ployment in retail . As McGuire was searching for employment he came across the D&H company and hopes to hear back from them.

There are also students like Psych major John Reyes who are currently employed, but don’t have the hours they need. Reyes has been searching for another job for about a year now. Reyes said, “I came back to school because I wanted to get my PhD in Psych,

but they told me my credits were too old, so I had to start over again”. Reyes was looking around the job fair and came across the Interim Healthcare booth, and hopes to seek possible employ-ment there.

Interim Health-care was avail-able to hire CNAs (Certified Nurse Assistant), HHAs (Home Heal th Aid), LVNs (Li-c e n s e d Vo c a -t ional Nurse) , and RNs (Reg-istered Nurse). A minimum of 1 year experience is needed. “In our job of work we are always in need of help, so the economy does not really affect us” says Cat, a representative from Interim Healthcare.

Some jobs such as the United States CIS had no jobs for the Fresno area, but were hiring for national as well as cities around California such as Los Angeles area, Orange County, San Diego, and Sacramento areas. “We have seen a decrease in the count of employees we hire due to the economy, but we have not had any layoffs” says Monica Cous-ins, an employee of the CIS. “If we have an immigration reform soon, we will be in search of more employees.”

The job fair showed students that there are numerous positions are available. IRS for the area of Fresno has the positions of internal revenue, clerks, and data tran-scribers. High School diploma is needed and also 1 year of general-ized experience is required.

United States Army came to the job fair looking for new recruits and aiming for college students who would like to be army of-

ficers. CAL Works Employment De-

velopment is also offering em-ployment opportunities. They are always working alongside with the Workforce and with the FCC Workforce Development. Their website is always updated with

local hiring in Fresno. Their office is located inside the Manchester Center.

Several companies also of-fered seasonal jobs at the job fair. China Peak was one of these companies. They are located in the Sierra National Forest and are looking for employees for the winter season. They have 12 open positions and can be located in the Sierra Vista Mall. “We are hoping to hire friendly, Fresno residents” says Liz, the representative of China Peak.

D&H Distributing is hiring seasonal workers as well. “The economy has not affected us for the most part; we have been in business for over 25 years and we have been very busy this year” said Matias Smith. They are look-

ing for candi-dates that have special skills of distributing.

W i L K S Broadcasting Group has full and part time

p o s i t i o n s available. For sales oppor-tunities, they have Market M a n a g e r , Sales Man-ager, and Ac-count Execu-

tives positions available. For

broadcasting opportunities, they have Program director, On Air Talent, Board operator, Remote Technician, and part of the produc-tion group.

Internships are also available through the Cocola Broadcasting Companies. They have a sales position available and are look-ing for a responsible and reliable worker with a 1 year experience in media sales.

FedEx is looking for about 10-15 seasonal part time employees.

“The economy has affected us, but we are still able to hire “ says Queintin a FedEx employee. Fresno Economic Opportunities are looking for child development positions, and cashiers.

Goodwill is in search for em-ployees in 6 different departments. They have positions available in the two store locations in Fresno. They also have a store supervisor in Madera and a store manager in Visalia. “The economy has sure helped us, we have been increasing sales and expanding” says Vicki Nendin.

Another company that has thrived despite the economy is Costco. They are looking for 5-15 part time and seasonal workers. They have positions available in their two locations in the Fresno area. “The economy has not af-fected our sales, we have actually increased our sales by 10 percent,” says Veronica, a Costco Repre-sentative.

Some companies such as Money Mart don’t require much experi-ence. They are hiring managers and assistants. “We are looking for friendly hardworking people that are willing to be trained, even if they do not have much experi-ence”, said Jenifer Wart. For the manager position a 1 year supervi-sor experience is required.

The reporter can be reached at [email protected] reporter can be reached at

[email protected]

FCC sTudenTs read The handouTs aT The empLoymenT resourCe CenTer BooTh during The FaLL JoB Fair.

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

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Page 4: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

4 October 05, 2011 News

Behind The Counter

It’s the 11:00 a.m. brunch rush on Monday morning at the Fresno City College Campus Café dining room.

Dozens of students and staff stand in lines, waiting to order their food. The café is abuzz with activities. Students huddle around various tables, eating, chatting, play-ing cards, or just studying while they await their next class. Voices are occasionally raised, and the chatter and ac-tivities stay con-stant, even as the rush ebbs.

The students’ relaxed mood is in stark contrast to the crew of cooks noticeably scrambling from station to station, taking orders, cooking orders and dispatching foods to the patrons in quick suc-cession. The cooks banter with customers, ribbing and coaxing them as they order and wait for their food.

On this morning, cooks David Walker, Steve Stephens, and Ramiro Gonzales are at work in

the kitchen. They move swiftly and in rhythm, like a well-oiled machine. The sounds of clanking utensils and the sizzle of food on the grill mix with the conversa-tions and the temperature rises. Many FCC students and staff who are patrons of the eatery know the three men by sight, but few know their stories and their commitment to feeding the community.

Working in a kitchen takes a certain sense of passion and dedication, said Gonzales who has worked in the cafeteria for one and a half years. He said he loves the job and has always been drawn to work in a kitchen. “There was a time in my life when

I couldn’t find my gift,” Gonzales said. “I always wondered what my gift was, and when I was in high school, I worked with a bud-dy in a kitchen of a restaurant he owned. I liked the environment.”

Walker also said that he al-ways had a passion for cooking. “I would help my mother in the kitchen when I was eight or nine, even though half of the time, I really didn’t know what I was

doing, Walker said. “I was just a kid trying to help his mom.”

In addition to his childhood cooking experiences, Walker also worked at Mono Wind Casino as a cook. “I love it; it took me a while to adjust to it. While working at the casino, I would have to serve

up to 200 tribal members, and if I was by myself, I had to learn to handle it,” he said. Walker he enjoys the interaction with the customers. “I could be having a bad day, but I don’t let it affect my relationship with the custom-ers,” he said.

The third member of the team, Steve Stephens, said he has al-ways loved cooking. “I’ve had the passion for cooking all my

life, and to get paid to do what you like doing, that’ll work,” he said. Stephens is a graduate of the FCC culinary arts program. As a student, he volunteered in the College Cafe and was hired after graduation.

Ramiro Gonzales said of the

seamless operation with his co-worker, “I realized that we are like a football team. We all come together to make it happen and get credited for it.” The staff of 15 people, including cashiers, keeps things running smoothly and the years of experience shows through while watching them work. He said this teamwork and dedication is especially important during the busy times of the day when a lot of students need to be fed fast. All three look to the future and would love to continue cook-

ing and work-ing in kitchens. For now, how-ever, this team of cooks will continue to feed the cus tom-ers at the FCC Campus Café. “In the future I would like to start my own restaurant, but not now with the way the economy is, it’s scary,” Walker said. “You can jump in, but can you swim? That would be later on.”

The ease with which the three move around the kitchen and serve their customers make it seem easy. It’s not easy,” Walker said. “We got our rhythm in the kitchen.”

ramiro gonzaLes (LeFT), sTeVe sTephens (middLe), daVid waLKer (righT), prepare Food For hungry sTudenTs aT The FCC Campus CaFe

Are you stressed? Are you hav-ing relationship problems, trouble sleeping, or difficulty handling you academic workload? Do you feel as though you can’t handle college life?

If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions, then perhaps a visit to FCC’s Psychological Services is in order. Psychological Services is the campus support network for students who are experiencing difficulty of any kind. According to their mission statement, they are “committed to enhancing and supporting the intellectual and personal growth of FCC students.”

Through individualized therapy and a commitment to ensuring holistic wellness, the staff of Psychological Services works to assist students through life’s hardships. Dr. Brian Olowude, Coordinator of Psychological Services, said, “Change is never easy for anyone, and we are kind of like the coaches in people’s change process.”

Psych Services welcomes any student who is experiencing any difficulty. “Our job isn’t to judge a person’s difficulties – it’s to help them with it,” said Dr. Olowude.

This semester, the Psych Ser-vices staff is preparing for an unusually high number of ap-pointments after consistent in-crease in past years. According to Dr. Olowude, the number of ap-pointments last year rose to 1,139 from 977 in 2009. These numbers do not include “crisis” appoint-ments, in which the client re-quires immedi-ate attention. The number of crisis appoint-ments rose to 113 last year, opposed to 65 in 2009.

A factor that is partially re-sponsible for this rapid in-crease is the level of stress at FCC. Last year FCC completed the American College Health Survey, which collected data from more than 30,000 students at 39 college campuses across the country. “And we did find that the level of stress for our students on our campus is unusually high,” said Dr. Olowude.

These results prompted Psych Services to enact a “Stress Less, Achieve More” initiative, which according to Dr. Olowude is “to help people recognize and under-stand what stress is.” He added, “We’re hoping to help them man-age their stress, which will also help them manage their studies

better and ultimately be more suc-cessful in their college careers.”

To help students be more suc-cessful, Psych Services has posted several resources on their website, which can be accessed under the “For Students” tab of the FCC homepage. Information regard-ing several mental health issues

such as stress, depression, ADD/ADHD, and grief are available. Also available is a “Relaxation and Wellness Center.” This feature provides free lessons in relaxation via downloadable MP3 files, bro-chures on stress management and sleep habits, and a PowerPoint presentation on stress.

Psych Services also partners with other campus ser-vices to provide thorough, individ-ualized treatment for each student. “We work col-laboratively with all of our partners including Student Services, faculty members, and our s taff members, because students come in contact

with all of those people and we want to make sure that we are pro-viding the best services possible,” said Dr. Olowude. He added, “We want to be able to serve the entire student. We may not be medical professionals, but we have medi-cal professionals on our campus, that is, our college nurses, that

Psych Services offers Assistance On Campus

we work collaboratively with to figure out how can we best serve this student.”

Ideally, every FCC student would experience such individual care. Dr Guadalupe Vasquez, Clinical Supervisor, said, “I think it would be a great experience if everyone would try therapy at least once, but we can’t force people to do it. We’re here for them if they want to try it.” Dr. Olowude added, “Being open to our services is al-ways a benefit because you don’t know what you can learn by just being still for a while and focusing on where you want to be in life.”

College students have times when they feel tired, frustrated, and unmotivated. During these times, the staff of Psychologi-cal Services is here to help. Dr. Olowude said, “It’s a unique ex-perience to have someone focused just on you and really listen to what you’re going through. And people are surprised at how much strength they have when they’re able to move some of the other stuff aside. Then they can realize ‘I can be healthy. There is a way for me to achieve and be successful.”

Psychological Services is lo-cated in Room 216 of the Student Center Building. Simply walk in and ask someone for an appoint-ment, and they will help you begin the scheduling process.

By paBeL Lopez

Rampage Reporter

By Jordan russeLL

Rampage Reporter

Services Available Off Campus

Suicide & Crisis Hotline 1-800-784-2433Rape Counseling Service (559)497-2900

Domestic Violence PreventionGLBT Nation Youth Talkline 1-800-246-7743

(559)237-4706

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

The Lives of FCC’s Favorite Chefs

Page 5: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

5October 05, 2011News

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When at Freno State Mendez was no stranger to balancing education and parenthood. Now as department chair of counseling at Fresno City College, she can reflect back on her academic and parental achieviments. Enlight-ened by her personal struggles Mendez now seeks to help students overcome problems similar to those she encountered.

Mendez is a widow. Her hus-band died at 34, leaving her with the sole responsibility of raising their young children.

“Who would ever think that anybody is going to die that young and not plan?” Mendez said of her husband’s unexpected death. She depended on welfare to support her

and her children but soon found how frustrating it was to deal with the system.

She decided to enroll in college. “They [welfare employees] are just very condescending in the way they talked to me,” Mendez said. “So, that was my motivation to get

out of that.”For Mendez and others like her,

managing school and work can be challenging. Raising children, on top of that, is complicated.

More than 50 percent of the stu-dents that are on academic proba-tion at FCC are parents, according to Mendez, chair of the counseling department. Some are single par-ents; some are married, and some are not the biological parents of the children they’re raising. Some students have the responsibility of raising siblings and foster children.

Student parents face a myriad of issues, including a lack of support, working too many hours, inability to prioritize and managing the chil-dren’s often complex needs and schedules. While they acknowl-edge that the job of parenting is a high-stress position, they say they

try to make school and parenthood work for them.

Among those claiming a lack of support is Linda Mendez. She said her family did not support her deci-sion to return to school. “When my husband died, my whole family, even extended family, was against

me going to school,” she said. With no support from family

members, she was forced to wait to begin school until her young-est son was toilet trained and eligible to enter into a daycare program.

Mendez worked 30 hours each day and carried 12 units at the same time. The stress of school, work and her husband’s death

took a toll on Mendez as well as on her children.

“I didn’t realize the children were going through such grief,” she said. “I knew I was going through grief, but the way they responded was different.” She was shocked to discover that one of her

children was suicidal. “And he was like 6, 7 or 8 years old,” she said.

Drea Cerda, a 32-year-old ma-joring in drug and alcohol coun-seling, has been attending FCC for three semesters now. She is a single mother to 7-year-old Jonas. Cerda admits that balanc-ing children and school are hard to combine because school work follows her home. “When you go to school, you come home, and you still have to deal with school because you have homework,” she said. That is different from employment which you can leave once you leave the workplace.

Cerda said that when she first started her college education, she was not entirely sure how to utilize that system. “Even when I did have people to help me watch Jonas, I felt like I had other things (besides schoolwork) that needed to get done,” Cerda said.

Despite the hardships, the wom-en are determined to make a good life for themselves and their chil-dren. Mendez presses on with her school work, trying not to ignore her obligations as a mother. She required her children to think through requests before they made them of her and to become more organized, and believes they are better people now for it.

“They had an after-school pro-gram, and whenever they had to do anything at the school, they’d say, ‘Mom, you need to sign this’ or ‘so and so invited me to a sleepover.’” But to be able to go to the sleepover, the children would first have to answer mom’s ques-tions so that I feel I can approve. “I would tell my children that if they cannot answer the questions, they won’t be able to go,” said Mendez. “I didn’t realize this, but it caused them to develop critical thinking skills. And they learned to be very resourceful, and they were good communicators.”

Cerda said she too has found a way to combine school work and parenting responsibilities by doing her homework alongside Jonas when he does his homework. “We sit at the table, spread out our stuff, and he does his (homework) and I do mine,” she said. Luckily for

A Mother’s MotivationParents Struggle to balance Education and a Family

her, she has an adequate support system, and she is better at pri-oritizing. She said, “This semester, I’ve learned to go ahead and real-ize that it’s ok to put things off for a while and do school stuff first.”

Some new parents at FCC say they have not had experienced any difficulties combining their educa-tion with raising children. Twenty one year old Maricela Nava who has been attending FCC since summer of 2010 returned to school right after giving birth. Nava de-cided to return to class when her daughter was only days old.

“I did not want to get behind in class or get dropped,” she said. Nava says her studies have yet to be affected by her newborn, as she completes her work while her baby is sleeping. And when she is in school, her boyfriend and his mother watch the infant. She said that her “good” schedule is also another element that makes her responsibilities a little easier. “My school schedule is only Tuesday and Thursday,” she said. “It works because I’m only away from her those two days instead of the whole week.”

Another couple that has sched-uled school around parenting is Tiffany and Ryne Hatfield. Tiffany, 21, is a child development major who has been attending FCC since 2010. Both she and her husband have deliberately scheduled their classes to fit around their 4-month-old, Savannah’s schedule. “We looked at our schedule, and we’re like, ‘ok, well if we stagger our courses, we can have time so both of us can be with the baby’,” she said. “And we made it so that if one of us is in class, the other has the baby. We do this on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.”

Despite the different living situ-ations, these FCC parents all stress the importance of resourcefulness and support. “When you’re a parent, you’re so stressed and so tired,” says Mendez. “You need the whole community to come together and help you get through school.”

“When my husband died, my whole family, even extended family, was against me going to school”

-Linda Mendez

By niCoLe randazzo Turpin

Rampage Reporter

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

ryne and TiFFany haTFieLd Bring Their 4-monTh oLd daughTer, saVannah To FCC.

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Page 6: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

6 October 05, 2011 News

Are you looking to shed some of those pounds before the holi-days? Or perhaps just wanting to get your body healthy? Con-sidering some of the hot dieting trends this year? Here’s a list of them, as well as some things to consider before your choose which “diet” is best for you.

Paleo Diet: This diet focuses on the foods

that our hunter/gatherer ancestors consumed. With this diet you are limited to eating lean meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits and nuts. How does it work? The foods listed above are high in ben-eficial nutrients (soluble fiber, anti-oxidant vitamins, phytochemicals, omega-3 and monounsaturated fats, and low-glycemic carbohy-drates) which promote good health and are low in the foods and nu-trients such as refined sugars and grains, saturated and trans fats, salt, high-glycemic carbohydrates, and processed foods. Daily ex-ercise is encouraged to help lose weight.(thepaleodiet.com)

HCG: Short for the Human Chorionic

Gonadotropin, is a hormone pro-duced during pregnancy. One of its functions is to ensure the growing fetus receives enough nutrients to grow and develop normally. It does this by making the abnormal fat stored in the mother’s body available for use. The mother’s body is then able to use this fat for nutrients and energy despite her intake. How it works? With

this diet a person orally consumes a small amount of the HCG hor-mone, reduces their caloric intake to 500 calories per day. Exer-cise is completely restricted. It is meant to loose weight fast, especially since you burn ap-proximately 3,500-4,000 calories per day. (www.hgcdiet.com)

Detox/Liquid Diet:

These programs help remove impurities and toxins from the body while replenishing it with vital nutrients. Some people on this program experience side benefits such as weight loss, increased en-ergy, improved concentration, im-proved digestion, better sleep and reduced cravings. How it works? Your body stores fat and impurities regularly. To get rid of these im-purities, you cleanse. Afterward, the impurities are released, so the body sheds the fat. Then you maintain your weight by keeping on a regular cleansing sched-ule. Exercise is recommended daily. (cleanseyourbody.com)

3-Day Diet: As it sounds, this diet is complet-

ed in 3-day regiments. It claims that a person can loose up to 10 pounds during this regiment. It is a very specific food diet that must be followed precisely. Portions must be eaten exactly as prescribed and you cannot overeat. The 3-day meal plan is listed below: Day 1 Breakfast: Black coffee or tea, with 1-2 packets Sweet & Low or Equal,1/2 grapefruit or juice,1 piece of toast with 1 tablespoon peanut butter. Lunch:1/2 cup tuna,1 piece toast, Black coffee or

tea, with 1-2 packets Sweet & Low or Equal. Dinner:3 ounces any lean meat or chicken,1 cup green beans 1 cup carrots,1 apple,1 cup regular vanilla ice cream. Day 2 Breakfast: Black coffee or tea, with 1-2 packets Sweet & Low or Equal,1 egg, 1/2 banana, 1 piece of toast. Lunch: 1 cup of cottage cheese or tuna, 8 regular saltine crack-ers. Dinner: 2 beef franks,1 cup of broccoli or cabbage,1/2 cup carrots,1/2 banana,1/2 cup reg-ular vanilla ice cream. Day 3 Breakfast:Black coffee or tea, with 1-2 packets Sweet & Low or Equal, 5 regular saltine crack-ers, 1 ounce of cheddar cheese, 1 apple. Lunch: Black coffee or tea, with 1-2 packets Sweet & Low or Equal, 1 boiled egg, 1 piece of toast. Dinner: 1 cup of tuna,1 cup of carrots, 1 cup cauliflower, 1 cup melon, 1/2 cup regular vanilla ice cream. In addition to its strict daily food prescription, dieters drink 4 cups of water or noncaloric drinks daily. How It Works? The combination of the suggested foods included in this plan is supposed to cre-ate a unique metabolic reaction and boost fat burning. You must alternate with four to five days of normal eating for this diet to work. Exercise is not mentioned with this diet. (www.webmd.com/diet/features/3-day-diet) So which one is the best for you? Perhaps you should consider advice from a nutri-tionist before going on a diet. Ricarda Cerda, M.S., R.D., Fresno City College’s food and nutrition instructor, said that what she believes in is “a healthy life-

style”, not dieting. This means to eat healthy foods and do some sort of physical activity daily. The effects of most diets are the “yo-yo” effect. This is when you get on a diet, loose weight, get off the diet and then gain back all (if not more) weight. This is not only frustrating, but it is “hard on your cardiovascular system” said Cerda. She mentioned that some diets emphasize one certain type of food group, you might end up getting too much of that group, such as saturated fat or fiber. She suggests slowing down while eating, enjoying the taste of the food, the health it will give you and for the gift of food itself. Eating a variety of colorful foods and including them into your daily diet is not only pleasing to the eye but the color represents the phytochemicals in that food and research has proven that it is an indicator of the health value of food, according to Cerda.

“Get your greens, reds like to-matoes, red pepper and fruits like watermelon, get your oranges, and purple, like berries. We do eat with our eyes,” said Cerda. FCC’s nutritionist agrees that por-tion size does matter. “If you look at the portions that were served in the ‘70s to today,” said Cerda, “we are eating ginormous portions.” She suggests to buy smaller plates to re-duce portion size and caloric intake. If you are looking to lose weight, “one hour of exercise a day” would be best, according to Cerda. How-ever, if you wish to maintain your weight, “30 minutes daily” should be best. She suggests to take into consideration not only the number on the scale, but other important health signs like blood pressure, blood sugar level and cholesterol levels. “The emphasis should be on health, than on weight loss or number on the scale,” said Cerda.

Popular Diets for Fall 2011Some Dieting StatiSticS:

50%

25%

95%

35%

of women are Dieting at any given time

of men are Dieting at any given time

of DieterS regain the weight they loSt within 5 yearS

of “occaSional” DieterS will turn into chronic DieterS

According to fitnessforweightloss.com

Breast Cancer is the most com-mon cancer seen in woman, be-sides skin cancer with an estimated 230, 480 new cases developing in 2011 alone. 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer in her life-time. Though death rates for breast cancer have been substantially decreasing, an overwhelming estimated 39,520 women will die from breast cancer in 2011, according to the National Cancer Society.

Breast Cancer is the sec-ond leading cause of death in women, the chances that breast cancer will be the cause of death in a woman, is 1 in 35, about 3 percent.

Breast Cancer can be fully treated if detected early enough. Professionals strongly urge women in their late teens up to early 30s to have clinical breast exams at least every three years. In between visits though, all women should know how to perform a self breast exam. Nearly 70 percent of cancer is discovered through self examination. Early detection has a 98 percent, five

year survival rate. Mary Smith and Jennifer Bren-

nan registered nurses at Fresno City College, stress the importance of monthly self breast exams. “It is important to feel both breasts and compare, if one feels different, you should check with a doctor,” says Smith. There is a possibility that lumps, or abnormalities aren’t in fact, breast cancer but it’s better to be safe than sorry, the nurses said.

Donay Butler is an Intern at the West Fresno Healthcare Coali-tion, promoting Breast Cancer Awareness. “There is no sure way to prevent Breast Cancer.

However limiting alcohol intake, eating healthy and exercising regularly will reduce risks. Early detection is key,” says Butler. When asked how to perform a self breast exam, Butler explained, “It entails pushing into the breast in a circular motion feeling for lumps, however breasts can be naturally lumpy so it has mixed results for early detection. Any lump, change in texture, dimpling, irritation in the breast, as well as any changes in the nipple such as inversion or swelling should be checked out by a doctor”

For more information regard-ing health tips about breast can-cer be sure to check out KSEE 24 Buddy Check on campus Oct. 11 at 12:30pm in the Student Lounge. Susan G. Komen Ex-ecutive Director will speak about Breast Cancer awareness and prevention. KSEE 24’s Buddy Check also offers information on breast cancer and other vital

self-help tips. You may register for your free Buddy Check kit at www.ksee24.com/lifestyle/buddy-check.

Breast Cancer Awareness at FCC

Be Smart with Body Art, an educational campaign informing students on the potential risks of piercings and tattoos, will be on campus Oct. 13. Representa-tives from UC Davis and Sacra-mento State will be at the Student Lounge at 11am.

UCD and Sacramento State have teamed up to address the lack of awareness with an inno-vative new multimedia campaign that educates young people about ways to prevent the spread of viral hepatitis C when getting tattoos or piercings.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is called a silent epidemic be-cause people with acute HCV often have no symptoms or mild symptoms such as fatigue and body aches. Though, it is the much commonly spread disease through needles that have not been properly sterilized. About 75 to 80 percent of people infect-ed with HVC, develop chronic HVC and increase their risk for liver disease, cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Adolescents and young adults are in danger of HCV because of an “incredible lack of awareness

and education regarding HCV,” according to research presented at the American College of Gas-troenterology Annual Meeting.

Research presented by UC Da-vis and Sacramento State showed that nearly 40 percent of college students believe that tattooing and piercing are unlikely to pose health risks.

“It’s so important to know what questions to ask when con-sidering a tattoo. That knowledge goes a long way to help prevent disease transmission,” said FCC RN, Mary Smith

According to Be Smart with Body Art the most important questions to ask before receiv-ing a piercing or tattoo are as followed:

-Do you use new needles? -Do you use new ink caps for

each client? -Do you sterilize all equipment

that may come in contact with blood?

-Do you wear single-use latex gloves?

-Do you cover fresh tattoos to prevent infection or hepatitis C virus transmission?

“Be smart with Body Art”

By sasha BeLL

Rampage Reporter

By maddie hagoBian

Rampage Reporter

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

By maddie hagoBian

Rampage Reporter

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

iLLusTraTion By ausTin VerBurg

Page 7: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

7October 05, 2011Entertainment

Hemmingway’s Whiskey resonates

He is one of the fastest rising artists in country music with his flip flops and beach cowboy style.

Kenny Chesney recently record-ed his 15th album titled “Heming-way’s Whiskey,” which provides a vast collective of country musical styles. The album serves as a form of showing audiences that don’t necessarily listen to country on a regular basis that all country music and artists do not have the same sound.

Inside listeners will find that the album seems to be a mixture between the new Nashville sound of contemporary country and the older “twang” that has been a staple in the genre. Songs such as “Coastal,” “Small Y’all,” “Where I Grew Up,” and “Round and Round” are some of those traditional songs.

These traditional songs have lyr-ics that take listeners on a mental trip, or a flashback of growing up in the country. The lyrics to “Coastal” will most resonate with listeners who are looking to get away for a weekend and are looking for the

By naThan aLonzo

Rampage Reporterupbeat track to be their anthem.

Another one of the great things about this album are the duets that Chesney performs with some great artists. In the song “Small Y’all” he teams up with Country Music Hall of Famer George Jones in a song that has a honkytonk “twang” to it, and shows just how great old school and modern country sound blended together.

The second duet that Chesney performs in the album is with rock singer Grace Potter from the band “Grace Potter and The Nocturnals.” Their duet “You and Tequila” has become one of the most popular songs in country music right now, already reaching the No.1 spot in the nationally syndicated Country Top 40 count-down, and the American Country Countdown.

Some of the other songs on the album that went on to earn the No.1 single spot in country music around the nation were “The Boys of Fall,” “Somewhere with you,” and “Live a Little.”

The song “Boys of Fall” trans-lated into much more than just a No.1 hit for Chesney. Shortly after

the album was released Chesney was the producer and co-director of the ESPN special titled after the song. The special outlined the making of the video, as well as the meaning behind the song, which was the adventure and spirit of the game of football for Chesney.

The song “The Boys of Fall” would become the theme song for the game of football all across the nation, with fans singing along to it at games at every level, from pee-wee football to in cameos for the NFL.

The new approach to country music apparently is being well re-ceived by listeners who have made “Hemingway’s Whiskey” one of the top-selling albums in country music within the past year. 183,000 copies were sold within the first week, and the album eventually went on to be certified platinum by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America.)

After the album release, Chesney has been touring the country in the “going coastal” tour, which is selling out arenas all over the country as well is in Canada. Re-cently Chesney was recognized

for being the only country artist since Willie Nelson to sell out the Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.

This recent success, although great, pales to the accomplish-ments that Chesney has compiled in his time on the national country music stage. Since his appearance on the national stage in 1994 with his debut album titled “In My Wildest Dreams” Chesney has

released 15 albums, 14 of those have gone on to be certified gold or better by the RIAA.

He has also amassed 30 top 10 singles, 20 No.1’s, and has been the American Country Music Awards Entertainer of the Year six times.

So what is next for Kenny Chesney?

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

Just two months ago, an as-piring young guitarist named Yafate Shiferaw an up and coming drummer named Jon Cuevas were part of a local band called Valley of Unrest. Since then, Shiferaw and Cue-vas have left Valley of Unrest and joined guitarist Adam Or-nelas, vocalist Sonny Westmo-reland, and bass player Sean Westmoreland to form a brand new band known as Pillars. Their first song, “Broken Windows”, was written in four hours. Since then they have written three more songs and in the process have be-comes closer to each other. “I noticed a lot of similarities with local bands here in Fresno. We have influence from other bands but I feel like we can bring something different to this area by combining different types of music that we all listen to,” said vocalist Sonny Westmoreland. While the topics vary, the band is focused on always sending a positive message to their listen-ers.

“I wrote the songs based on what I see nowadays. I write to those people who feel like they are not loved and I try to tell them to pick themselves up,”

local Band ThrivesBy Tomas Kassahun

Rampage Reportersaid Sonny Westmoreland.

Although it is a time in which many local bands are emerging, the Pillars say they are only fo-cused on playing the music they love and they are not deterred by the current competition.

The process hasn’t been easy concidering that the creation and management of a band normally requires precise communication, sufficient funding, energy and a lot of time. But through it all, the Pillars feel that they have made significant progress.

On Oct. 22, the Pillars will be ready to show Fresno what they are made of as they perform for the first time at the Woodward Park Amphitheater.

“The limits are endless. It all depends on how committed this whole band is,” said Sonny Westmoreland, “Our goal is to eventually go on tour. We are not going to rush anything, but we want to go out of state someday.”

They hope to have more peo-ple discover their music as they promote themselves through their account on facebook.com.

Despite the challenge, the band is enjoying the bond gained through playing together and also enjoying the simple joy of playing music.

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

The dance program at FCC has been generating student talent for more than 30 years, and with their annual Fall Workshop in addition to their Spring Concert, they are showing no sign of slowing.

This semester, dancers are under the artistic direction of Jimmy Hao who has accumulated an extensive background in dancing, teaching, and choreographing at various professional schools and compa-nies throughout the world.

Hao believes the Fall Workshop

is a good way to present FCC dance to the community; it pos-sess a lot of experimental pieces mainly associated with contem-porary and modern techniques, all choreographed by the students themselves.

“You want to give everyone the opportunity to dance,” said Hao. The dance program shows sttudents’ potential by requiring

FCC workshop to showcase student dancers

By Karina orneLas

Rampage Reporterprevious dance experience as well as auditions in order to be part of the more serious courses in the program. “An audition guarantees a performance,” he said.

When you see students return-ing semester after semester simply to be a part of the program, at times staying for up to four years, you know they have something truly special there.

“They trust us and we can polish our students’ skills in many ways,” said Hao.

Carmen Kuykendall, a dance major, has been attending FCC and

has been with the dance depart-ment for five semesters. She has been dancing for six years, and with this being her last semester at FCC she feels that being one of the several stu-dent choreogra-phers for the Fall Workshop is her last shot at cre-ating something for FCC.

“Dancing is my main outlet of creative ex-pression. It gets things out, like someone paints or draws,” Kuyk-e n d a l l s a i d .

Kuykendall was introduced to dance at a young age, focusing solely on musical theatre. This se-mester, she is co-choreographing for the first time, and although she has choreographed before, she still recognizes the difficulty and frustration drawn into the fundamentals of leading a group into one uniform idea in dance.

“You Are My Alligator,” a dance piece Kuykendall has been

collaborating on with dancer Ashley Allen, tells the story of an alligator personified as a human being. It describes a dysfunctional relationship between a man and a woman. They said, “We’re both really passionate about it, we both feel what the characters are going through.”

In regard to the importance of the selected dance, Kuykendall stresses, “Every single person takes something different. Some-one will relate or know someone who has gone through the same thing.” She said, “The audience will relate to what they see in the piece, even if it’s not what we try to convey. They’ll apply it to their life.” Like Hao said, the most important thing is a quality performance.

Quality performance is some-thing that 23-year-old Amanda Tannous knows a lot about. Since elementary school, Tannous has been involved in various styles of dance, ultimately being introduced to a more skilled form of dance at FCC. In addition to her artistic dance roots, Tannous has also choreographed; she is currently focused on transitioning a dance piece she began last year into a polished dance performance.

“It wasn’t fulfilled enough for me. It’s more finished, and feeding it into a group of dancers works really well,” Tannous said of her yet-untitled piece about domina-tion. Her concept for the piece is similar to a “last one standing” mentality. She explained, “Every-one has something in the world or life that they want to dominate and overcome.”

For Tannous, and many others, dance is a stress reliever. It’s some-thing people can turn to when they feel down but also when they feel happy. “It’s like something com-ing out from inside of you. I love seeing what people can do with what I create,” she said, “Some can do things I can’t do with it.”

With that, she considers the importance of communication between choreographers and dancers. When she and the other student choreographers create a dance routine they seem to un-derstand their vision and style, a common well minded talent some dancers share.

Artistic director, Hao, compares the more formal side of the Spring Concert to the Fall Workshop. Ac-cording to Hao, the Fall Workshop

has a wide variety of creative piec-es to offer, including “Dishes,” created by student choreographer Zachary Garcia.

“The dancers in the program do a beautiful job and they will continue to do that. You will learn a lot from us,” Hao said.

Be sure to check out the FCC’s Fall Workshop on December 2-4.

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

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Page 8: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

8 October 05, 2011 Entertainment

For years there have been nu-merous music festivals around the country. Now, for the fourth year in a row, Fresno’s own music festival continues to thrive. The Fresno Urban Sound Experience Festival – or FUSE Fest for short – has for the first time expanded into a full-blown, two-day festival with more than seven venues and a line-up of more than 30 bands.

Unlike some music festivals, the FUSE Fest is designed with no headliners among the all-local bands. This effortlessly empha-sizes the wide range of musical talent found around Fresno. The

current state of the festival has been compared by some to the South by Southwest Music Con-ference and Festival (SXSW) in its early stages.

This year’s festival began on Friday with four venues: Joe’s

Steakhouse, Downtown Club, Hero’s Sports Lounge, and Club One.

“The best thing [about FUSE] is that it brings people together and they go see live music instead of just going to a bar or watch-ing a movie,” said Tom Walzem, guitarist for surf-rock band, The Neptunes. Friday night at Hero’s Sports Lounge was not their first FUSE appearance though. They were a part of the first FUSE Fest back in 2008, and they see first-hand the impact the festival has on the community of Fresno.

“The crowd [at Hero’s] really listened carefully. All the people who came to FUSE came out be-cause they really wanted to hear the music,” Walzem said. See-

ing how smoothly the festival ran, Walzem credits the festival with helping The Nep-tunes reach wider audiences for their music.

The festival is a good method of showing the c e n t r a l v a l l e y that Fresno has a great music scene of many different genres. One way the FUSE Festi-val is able to ex-pand the number and distance of the people that they reach is with the help of the Dirty Dowdy Podcast by Chris “Dirty” D o w d y f r o m

Fresno’s New Rock 104.1 radio station.

“As far as mainstream, some people don’t know what it is,” Dowdy said about the FUSE fes-tival. He hopes that with the in-volvement of New Rock 104.1 this

y e a r , m o r e people w i l l s t a r t g e t -ting the m e s -s a g e a n d h e l p sp r ead it even further.

A l -though this year the fes-t i v a l has ex-p a n d e d in days, v e n -ues and b a n d s , D o w d y believes t h e r e i s s t i l l room for growth;

especially with the occasional difficulty of trying for events in the downtown area of Fresno. Still, he remains positive in that these issues will simply take time.

A big contributor to keeping up with the positive assurance is the feedback received from festival-goers. Some audiences are already supportive to begin with, and the wider the festival opens up those doors, the more open people will be to local music they have never heard before.

That positivity doesn’t only reach audiences, but also the bands themselves. Spanish experimental-rock band, Dia Del Astronauta, had their first experience with the FUSE Fest as a result of Aire Espacial’s unfortunate last-minute cancellation due to an emergency.

“We enjoy playing, we never play for the money,” said Dia Del Astronauta drummer, An-gel. “With more unknown small bands, you don’t feel anyone is better than the other,” added singer and guitarist, Abraham. With the adrenaline rush that they get from being on stage, the festival shows that hard work pays off, and it has

now opened up more doors for Dia Del Astronauta, who played at Fulton 55 on Saturday. While their original ideal was to create music for soundtracks, after seven years of playing together, Dia Del Astro-nauta is inspired by the FUSE Fest to keep going and do more.

Serving as Saturday’s headquar-ters for the festival, Fulton 55 in downtown had double the acts by

splitting them up between the main stage downstairs and the smaller and more intimate Coffeehouse Stage upstairs. While most of the acts that performed upstairs were mainly acoustic – such as Heather & Joe, and Suicide Lounge – the bands that played downstairs had a lot more noise to make.

“There is talent, Fresno breeds talent,” said Adam Lee of Let’s Go Bowling, “Fresno has had a unique, rich music scene for decades; we need to celebrate!” That is by no means an exaggeration, Let’s Go Bowling has been around since the 80s and they have traveled far enough, performed with big-enough bands, and remained true to Fresno to know that first-hand.

Let’s Go Bowl-ing’s ska sound had the crowd at Ful-ton 55 dancing and jumping during their

entire set. W h i l e they may be widely k n o w n , the FUSE Fest gives audiences the opportunity to sam-ple some great mu-sic and re-member it later. As 1 0 4 . 1 ’s D o w d y p u t i t , “It’s al l u n d e r the um-brella of FUSE.”

P a u l M i s k u -l i n o f Let’s Go Bowling,

echoes The Nep-tunes’ Tom Walzem when he says that with the festival, he hopes people are in-spired to text each other and actually meet up in person. Clearly, the FUSE Fest is an event no one in Fresno should miss. It comes once a year, and each year

it’s better than the last. Besides be-ing about the music, it’s also about demonstrating what downtown Fresno is and can be.

As fusefest.com says, “Forget what you’ve heard or think you know about Fresno’s music scene. Experience it for yourself.”

By Karina orneLas

Rampage Reporter “There is talent, Fresno breeds talent. Fresno has had a unique, rich music scene for decades; we need to celebrate!”

Adam LeeLets Go Bowling

Fuseing DowntownMusic festival showcases mix of local talent

(Left to Right) Victor DesRoches of Boxcar Figaro at Hero’s Sports Bar, Blake Jones and The Trike Shop at Tokyo Gardens, (Center) , Eddie Arellano of Irie Sun, (left to right) Lance

Canales and Adan Infante of Lance Canales and the Flood at Hero’s Sports Bar

Page 9: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

9October 05, 2011Entertainment

The stage of the Fresno city College Theater will be trans-formed into a cave for a few weeks in October for the produc-tion of “The Illusion.”

aLCandre (Kesahwne Keene) and amanuensis (Ben mCnamara)

“The Illusion” Delivers

“The heart chases memory

through the cavern of dreams.”

By paBeL Lopez

Rampage Reporter

The play delivers all of the elements, humor, dialogue, twists and turns of the story add up to a wonderful production. The actors nail every emotion, be it happi-ness, sadness or confusion.

“The Illusion” by Tony Kushner is the story of a remorseful father, Pridamant, played by Luis Ramentes. With the help of a magician Al-candre (Keshawne Keene) and his assistant Amanu-ensis (Ben Mcnamara), Pridamant gets a chance to see his son, whom he sent away 15 years ago.

Many of the actors in this works play characters with three different names, so the play is constantly changing characters’ names, motives and allegiances until a twist in the end brings all of the small confusions together.

The magician Alcandre tells the father to “expect nothing from these visions” but procceds to show him three visions of how his son, going by the names Calisto, Clindor and Theognenes, played by Jano Cota, is living his life. In the first vision, the son is a young brash character full of swagger who tries to seduce a young maiden by the names Melibea, Isabelle, and Ttippolyta (played by Bridgette Manders). He seems to fail until her maid and friend, a character who goes by Elicia, Lyse, Clarina (played

by Lena Aguilan) helps him. Melibea’s suitor played by Josh Hansen (Pleribo, Adraste, and Prince Florilame) confronts him and is sent away.

At this point, the story is sent to the second vision in which the son

is a servant to Matamore (David Manning) who is interested in Isabelle. Meanwhile, Isabelle and her suitor (Hansen) are in the middle of an argument about their relationship. After this argument, Clindor and Isabelle are shown to be in love after a passionate affair. Shortly after, Clindor is in a rela-tionship with Clarina, Isabelle’s maid and a discussion on love and money follows.

The play uses some of the same actors to play different roles which could be pleased. For example, the son goes by a differ-ent name in every vision that the magician conjures. The magician tells the father and the audience to “stop acting like a lawyer” and not focus so much on trivial things like names.

One of the play’s biggest strengths is the wordplay in the

dialogue. The playwright uses words and their multiple mean-ings in a masterful way. The actors seem to be aware of just how important this is to the play and succeed in simplifying the dialogue and its multiple mean-ings throughout the play.

Humor is a recurring element in this play. But the play also deals with serious issues such

as love, abandonment, and fate. Matamore (David Manning), a deluded “conqueror of empires” is especially humorous, but every character in the play gets a chance to show off their sardonic sense of humor at some point in the production.

The difference between young and old is shown throughout the play. The son is shown as full of hope when discussing love and life. The father is shown as more pessimistic and cynical. The char-acters played by Josh Hansen are rich and condescending, while all three characters that the son in the story are shown as poor and humble.

“The Illusion” will be playing Oct. 7, 8, 12, 13, 14 and 15 at 7:30pm. General admission will be $14 and $12 for students.The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

In rehearsals, the rough texture of the cave walls was already set, giving the actors a feel of what they would be working with on opening night.

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Page 10: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

10 October 05, 2011 Entertainment

In 2003 everyone had their noses buried in a blue book with a sarcastic young dragon smiling up from the front cover.

Christopher Paolini’s debut novel “Eragon” had hit shelves. Its fan base exploded across the nation, selling 2.5 million copies and topping the New York Times Children’s Books Bestseller list for 121 weeks. Still, critics and reviews were quick to point out the similarities between the book and movies such as “Star Wars” and “The Lord of the Rings.”

Despite the less than savory re-views, Paolini’s fans were calling for more, more, MORE!

Unfortunately they would have to wait a full two years before Paolini released “Eldest” in 2005. The second installment in the Inheritance trilogy topped charts once again and together with “Eragon” sold over 15 mil-lion copies.

“I was glad his writing had improved so much,” says English major Will Christiansen, “I had to respect that he had changed in such a good way, but then I realized that maybe not all the changes were for the best.”

Critics once again were eager to point out the similarities be-tween Eldest and other works such as “The Lord of the Rings” and the “Dragonriders of Pern.” Still, that didn’t stop fans from grabbing the ruby red books off the shelves and gobbling up the words hungrily. After two years of waiting, they were eager to know more. Eldest was the first of the Inheritance books to tell the story through the eyes of Roran, Eragon’s cousin.

In 2006 the Inheritance series took a big fall. The “Eragon”

The fall season is new game release season. It’s right before Christmas, so it’s completely reasonable that the distributors would want their new games being released when the most shopping is being done. Thus, we see some of the biggest titles of the year come out between the months of September and December.

This year in particular is seeing some amazing releases. Games like “Gears of War 3” and “Dues Ex: Human Revolution” have hit the store shelves and were im-mediate successes. But the season

By ausTin VerBurg

Rampage ReporterThe D-Padisn’t over and there are still many big releases to come. Here are a few I’m definitely keeping an eye on:

1Batman Arkham City- The first release in this

series, “Arkham Asylum”, was probably one of the bet-

ter super hero games I had ever played before.

Fans of the darker movie tril-ogy, the third installment, being released in 2012, should defi-nitely see to getting their hands on this video game series, with the new one releasing in Oct. 18.

While the two are not tied to-gether, the game series definitely pays homage to the grittier Bat-man we’ve all come to love.

Golly gee-willikers!

2Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3- While I normally wouldn’t throw two different games

into a single category and talk about them together, I find excep-tion in the fact that these two titles are in a competitive race to be the better of the “modern war” genre. While I have yet to truly introduce myself to the “Battlefield” series, the little I have played is amazing,

and everything I’ve heard is posi-tive. I have played each “CoD: MW” game, and haven’t been disappointed, despite it seeming like that game hasn’t made a new engine since “Call of Duty 3”. It’ll be interesting to see which of these FPS giants takes the crowd when “Battlefield 3” is released on Oct. 28 and “CoD: MW3” is released on Nov. 8.

3The Elder Scrolls V: Sky-rim-

The highly anticipated next chapter of the “Elder

Scrolls” saga finally hits story shelves on Nov. 11. Taking you to the kingdom of Skyrim, players now get to take on dragons as they go on a new epic quest. I’ve yet to play a Bethesda game that has had

“Inheritance” is at hand

By Laura BradLey

Rampage Reporter

movie was made, and fans groaned through an hour and a half of cheap graphics, a plot that didn’t follow the book, and characters that seemed more like caricatures rather than the Eragon, Arya, and Saphira the fans had come to know and love.

“The only character that re-mained the same was Brom,” says European History major, Al Grant, “The other charac-ters were so far gone it didn’t seem like I was really watching Eragon.”

Despite displeased fans, the “Eragon” film played on over 3,000 screens and made over $23 million in its first weekend.

Fans were nonplused after the movie, and rants on the internet became common. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the third and final book in the Inheritance tril-ogy. Rumors on the forums gave way to ideas of a green colored book with a dragon looking to the right entitled “Empire.”

However, the pattern of six lettered titles beginning with the letter “E” was broken in 2008 when Paolini released “Bris-inger.” Fans were surprised and anxious to learn that the Inheri-tance trilogy was now to be the Inheritance cycle. “Brisinger” sold over 550,000 copies on its first day on the shelves, and fans ate it up. “Brisinger” offered even more character point of views, expanding on the story even more.

Now, eight years after “Eragon” first hit shelves, “Inheritance”, the fourth and final book in the Inheritance cycle is at hand. The release date is set for Nov. 8 of this year, and many fans are ex-cited to finally see what Paolini has made us wait for.

any disappointing aspects other then a one-time glitch where I got stuck inside a rock in “Oblivion”. I can’t wait to play this new title.

4Assassin’s Creed: Revela-tions-

The new “AC” game continues the story of Ezio

and the protagonist of the first game, Altair. Releasing on Nov. 15, this game was intended to be a game for the Nintendo 3DS, until the developers decided to make it a new console release! With an upgraded and reshaped multi-player mode, “AC: Revelations” brings us back into the shoes of the assassins, and hopefully paves the way for “Assassin’s Creed 3”.

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

Phillip’s Korner10 Tips for the Big Fresno Fair

By phiLLip romar

Rampavge Reporter

1. B R I N G A C E L L P H O N E ! ! Y O U W I L L G E T L O S T I F Y O U D O N ’ T H A V E

ONE!! There’s going be a kabillion people over there so if you don’t stand out in a big crowd, y o u w ill g e t l o s t . O r y o u c a n d o w h a t I d o w h e n e v e r I ’ m l o o k i n g f o r m y f r i e n d s : S c r e a m t h e i r n a m e s l i k e y o u d o n ’ t h a v e a n y sense until you find them.

2. This year, they’ll be having one dol-lar carnival ride Wednesdays. So

if you want to save some d o u g h , b r i n g a f e w d o l -lars and have some fun.

3. W a n t a f r i e n d to get you in the fair for free? Do-nate Blood at the

Blood Center for a buy-one-get-one-free fair pass!! You have until the end of this week to do so. Be sid e s, hurt and sick people can always use a donor for the right blood t ype. If your scared of needles, tragic.

4. Don’t buy the tickets. Just buy t h e p a p e r w r i s t band. I remember

one time somebody spent $60 on tickets when she

could’ve just bought a pa-per wrist band for $30. It gets you unlimited rides. Makes no sense to even sell the tickets then, right?

5. Guys, if your g i r l f r i e n d o r your friend who s c r e a m s l i k e a

girl , does not l ike rides o r h e i g h t s , d o n ’ t b r i n g t h e m i f y o u ’ r e t r y i n g t o have fun. If you do, don’t force them on any rides, because that’s just going to ruin your relationship.

6. Don’t be weird. Please. It ’s l ike every year some-thing bizarre hap-

pens to me and my friends. I remember one time these girls threw ice cubes at me saying, “OMG A BLACK GUY!! HEY ICE CUBE, RAP FOR ME!! SING ME A SONG!!” Not Cool.

7. As a matter of fact, if you want to, go ahead. Do some-thing crazy. You’ll

j u s t g e t a r r e s t e d . T h e y have police over there for a reason. Though if they ask where you got that idea, you didn’t hear nothin’ from me.

8. If you don’t want to lose anything, DON’T BRING ANY-T H I N G ! ! ! I h a v e

been hearing the craziest stories about the things people lost at the fair. “I lost my life savings, my so-cial security card, my birth cer tificate, my baby, my girlfriend, my life…” DON’T B R I N G T H E M T H E N ! ! J u s t bring money, NOT ALL OF IT, a phone and a camera. What more do you need?

9. Almost every-thing at the fair is fried. It’s deli-cious, but fried,

a s i n u n h e a l t h y, s o e a t a t y o u r o w n r i s k , e s p e -cia lly w he n it co m e s to the deep fried Klondike bars. . . those are a death sentence all on their own.

10 . I f y o u think y o u ’ r e g o i n g t o t h r o w u p , DON’T RIDE ANY-

THING!! One time, some-body who rode “Super Shot Drop Tower” (Second best ride in my opinion. “The Starship 3000” being the first) and had to throw up but he threw up as they were speeding down. So yeah, it was raining throw up for a few seconds.Gross. Save us all the trauma of having to see your lunch and hold it down folks.

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

Page 11: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

11October 05, 2011Views

No matter how easy it is to point out the problem in a place that you live in, it does not exclude other areas from the prob-lem’s base. Meaning that the issue at hand isn’t exclusive to just America. However, America is most definitely one of the most relationship focused countries in the entire world and there could be a few definitive reasons for that:

America is a melting pot of numer-

ous cultures and therefore has no elicit traditional courting method.

There are a lot of things that make a rela-tionship happen in most countries; religion, race, social status, economic wellbeing, lo-cation, height, weight, appearance, parental guidance, education, and many more. The difficult part about subjecting America to cultural courting methods is that we blur the lines on most of the things that other coun-tries have held as standard. Having no clear definition on what it means to traditionally pursue or have a relationship with someone may in fact be a leading cause in America’s

love sick obsession with romance; chasing what we may not understand.

America’s media focuses on having a relationship and being suited for a relationship.

As many times as it has been said before it is true, the media focuses on personal image and sends the message, “You are only happy when you are beautiful. Real Women have curves, Beyonce at her best,” says Vogue Magazine.

Unfortunately this isn’t something uncom-mon to see it today’s world. Magazines, tele-vision, and movies alike have been promoting the idea that if you change yourself or become more fitted towards what we are present-ing then you might find true happiness in

America’s Obsession with Relationships

Fresno City College is home to the minds that both contribute and determine our future. These students hold change in the palms of their hands but they have become apathetic and complacent. The ignorance of the student population is alarming. Not all students choose not to be informed but a great number do.

I discovered this as I made my rounds through the campus asking students their views on the upcoming presidential elec-tions. As students, I expected their responses to be passionate and firm. I was confronted with the opposite in most cases.

“What do you think the biggest issue of the 2012 elections is”? A simple enough question that would give anyone a chance to have their voice heard. The responses I received though shocked me into silence and fear. The interviewees said, “I don’t know,” “I’m not into politics” and “What election,” I found myself in disbelief. Surely I was hearing things, surely there was a mistake.

It worries me that decisions and issues are

Are Students Complacent & Apathetic?decided upon by people that do not care or are simply uninterested in things that will affect their lives and the lives of others. Some students do not even take advantage of the simplest form of action our country offers; voting.

We as students have the minds to change the world and as citizens with the right to vote, we have the tools as well. Being in college gives us an extra step forward to informed and educated about what is going on in the world around us.

All it takes is us, as a com-munity, to pay attention and act. We have the power to vote but that does little when we do not know what we are voting on. How can we make the right decision if we do not first look around and gather information?

Of course there are reasons that we may not know what is going on as our lives are hectic but there is always five minutes to catch up on current events. Living in the age

of information, where the world is literally at our finger tips, gives us no excuse to not be informed.

I am not just talking about national or political issues either. There are changes happening on campus that not many people know about. When students are asked about budget cuts and how they feel about them,

the reporter is greeted with “We have budget cuts”?

As I walk the cam-pus, I hear students talking to each other about not being able to afford a book or having to carpool. Their tones sadden me as they seem to just accept it and not ask questions. We have become lazy, as students, when it comes

to finding ways to get by or taking action against something that we feel is unfair.

Times are hard right now and everyone understands that. Each person has been af-fected by the economy in one way or another

but that is no reason to be disheartened. There are ways to voice your discontent and there are ways to accomplish your goals.

With the campus in emotional limbo over the coming changes, it is no wonder that there are not lines of students waiting for deans or voicing their opinions. Tuition is being raised again and there is not even a whisper of it going through the students.

Many, when asked about it, reply with a shrug of the shoulders and say “It’s still cheap”. It may be cheap in comparison to other colleges and universities but where is the response?

I want the student body to care what hap-pens to their education and take charge of it. Pick up a newspaper more often or even go online and get up to date on the events happening around the world.

Learn about what is going on so that when the issue arises, something can be done about it. Change does not happen on its own. It has to be forced into existence and who better to be the voice of change than the minds of the future?

image that America has often set with it. There is a huge often unnoticed problem here, so much so that the only articles I could find on singleness itself were how to survive singleness and several articles re-minding people that singleness has purpose. Both of those ideas, despite intentions, set a tone; being single is looked down upon, and needs reassurance. Everything today is romantically charged, it has seemingly put down one of the biggest and most important parts of life, singleness.

I am by no means a relationship expert, and this article was written to point out that there may be a few problems in America’s obsession with romance and relationships. The lovesick atmosphere in America has been led by lack of understanding, inflated imagery, and social stigma on singleness. There are many other reasons America is this way when it comes to romance.

These are just the few on the surface. And of course, the real effect of the romanticism that we feel on an everyday basis is deter-mined by us as single beings.

The death penalty has been a huge debate in America for many decades, and although a 2010 study by Gallup’s annual crime survey shows that 64 percent of Americans approve the punishment, (in murder-related cases), the worldwide media coverage of the Troy Davis case may change people’s outlook on the debate.

On Sept. 21 2011 Troy Davis was ex-ecuted by lethal injection after a highly publicized outcry in which seven of the nine eye-witnesses who originally testi-fied against him in his case, recanted their testimonies.

Davis, an African-American, was con-victed of murdering Mark Allen MacPhail, a Caucasian police officer, in 1989. Doubts about Davis’ guilt began to arise after many of the prosecuting witnesses on the case began to recant their stories in 2000, nearly nine years after their initial testimonies. Some witnesses even alleged that they

suspected one of the most important wit-nesses to the case, Sylvester Coles, to be the actual shooter. Coles, along with Davis, were both suspects in the murder, but after Coles confessed to police that Davis was the shooter; Davis was declared the suspect. However, Davis never publicly admitted to the murder and maintained his innocence up until his death.

Troy Davis’ impending execution quickly became worldwide news after figures such as Pope Benedict XVI, former President Jimmy Carter, former FBI director William Sessions, and a group of six former wardens and correctional officials spoke against the execution and called for clemency from the Supreme Court. Many contributing facts such as the seven of the nine prosecuting witnesses recanting their testimonies, the police inability to find any DNA evidence, and the mistreatment of Sylvester Coles as a main suspect had left too many doubts in the minds of jurors, lawyers, judges, and people familiar with the case.

Since Davis’ death, many have begun

to wonder if the death penalty is working. Former President Jimmy Carter said of the Davis execution, “If one of our fellow citizens can be executed with so much doubt surrounding his guilt, then the death penalty system in our country is unjust and outdated.”

Today, in the United States, 14 of the 50 states, including the District of Columbia do not allow the death penalty as a form of punishment. Surprisingly, most taxpayers do not realize that carrying out one death sentence costs two to five times more than keeping that same criminal in prison for the rest of their life. Along with the argument that killing a prisoner is the “easy way out” compared to life in prison, studies show that states without the death penalty have consistently had a lower murder rate than states that do.

However, the most important argument against the death penalty is the possibility of an innocent man or woman being executed on the grounds of insufficient evidence and unreliable testimonies, i.e. the Troy Davis

case.Before the Troy Davis case, I never really

was opposed to the death penalty. However, after this case and learning all the facts, I have changed my view on the matter. Al-though I’m a firm believer in justice being served and people having to take responsi-bility for their actions, the death penalty is not a fair punishment. It sends the wrong message to our citizens. If murder is against the law, as well as a sin in the Bible, why is it okay for prisoners to be executed? Also, in my opinion, a life sentence in prison would be much worse than being euthanized, as it is a slow, horrible way to live the rest of your life.

The thought of an innocent man or woman being executed because of some shady wit-nesses and overly eager police officers does not sit well with me. The most unsettling thought about this case is this is just one of the thousands that gained national notoriety. How many more Troy Davis’ are out there?

Troy Davis’ Possible Impact On the Death Penalty

life. Which brings forth a few questions; Who is to blame? The consumer or the producer? Are we just as guilty by feeding

into the idealism that Hollywood and iconic romances put forth? Furthermore, are the images put forth in the media all bad? Do they somehow give the populace hope that maybe somewhere there is love that is almost on the fantasy level? Maybe, but the real caliber of the issue is determined by us as individuals.

America is so re-

lationship focused that Singleness is often looked down upon.

Unfortunately being single can be difficult

for many reasons, but the elevation in dif-ficulty can be partially accredited to the

By dyLan piCazo

Rampage Reporter

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

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Rampage Reporter

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

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Rampage Reporter

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

Page 12: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

12 October 05, 2011 Views

“S21 because I love sushi and they have happy hour. You get all you can eat sushi for $20.”

Harmony Royer, Business

“I go to Taco Bell be-cause it’s close to cam-pus and really cheap.”

Veronica Nuon, Criminology

Where Is Your Favorite Inexpensive Place To Eat Lunch and Why?

“I go to my friends John and Sara’s house because they don’t charge me.”

Darelle Harvey, Creative Writing

& African American Studies

“I like a place called Thai Gem. It’s rela-tively inexpensive but I rarely eat out anyway. I enjoy the atmosphere there because it is nice-ly decorated and has great service.”

David Semsem, Asian Languages

“Jack in the Box be-cause it’s cheap and close by. The food is okay and I like their curly fries.”

Armando BeLeon, Welding

“I like McDonald’s because it’s good, cheap and usually I can find one wherever I’m at.”

Shayne Lusala, Computer Technology

“I go to El Pescador because their food is really fresh and they have amazing Mexican food.”

Tania Moguel, Mathematics

“Probably McDon-ald’s because you can get full for two bucks.”

Tabitha McCann,Clinical Psychology

Campus Voices

“I’d have ro say Wing Stop because on Mondays and Tuesdays they have 50 cent wings.”

Brandon Burns, Liberal Arts

“I like Au Lac cafe because it’s all vegetar-ian and vegan food. It’s delicious.”

Rebecca Carey, Business

“Robertito’s because they have great food and I love their bur-ritos.”

Zong Lor, Nursing

“The student cafe be-cause it’s inexpensive and it’s in the proxim-ity. You are around col-lege students and the campus atmosphere.”

Ena Kurene, Nursing

Since we were children, American society has placed an increasing stress on its citizens to attend college. We were taught in elementary to try and succeed in order to prepare for high school. High school is preparation for college, which once we finish, will guarantee us a successful career that will provide financial stability.

Students work through college with the ambition to be a doctor, an engineer, a sci-entist, or a number of different occupations. Many students take out loans that they will have to pay back and spend years in college to try and graduate with a degree in their chosen profession.

While I respect the romantic ideal that perseverance in college will help them ac-complish their goals, a college education

does not necessarily guarantee a college graduate employment once he enters the work force. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for college graduates is at 4.3 percent and with more college graduates entering the work force, there is more competition for jobs.

There is no question that students should strive to be as successful as they can during their college career, however, they should also ask themselves if the education they are pursuing will adequately support their future needs.

Because of all the stress that has been placed upon attending a college or univer-sity, a subconscious elitist view of education and the work-force is held by many people. Students will study for years in their field of interest and almost exclude other fields of study because they are preoccupied with finishing college. Since they spend so much time pursuing their studies to gain knowl-edge, it is difficult to get a job in their chosen field or gain any experience or skills.

During these economic times of hard-

ship and tribulation, it is not surprising to see former white collar employees with graduate degrees working blue collar jobs. We are familiar with a CEO working at a restaurant or graduate students with four year degrees waiting tables. Their college investments have yet to compensate them with a secure job.

Because of all the stress that has been placed upon attending a college or univer-sity, a subconscious elitist view of education and the work-force is held by many people. Most people do not choose to go to a tech-nical school and gain technical degrees for jobs that are in demand.

People are more likely to want to go to college to become a doctor than a plumber because a doctor makes more money. A doctor gains much more respect because of his training and his title. In order to become a doctor one must complete many courses over a number of years.

Ask yourself however, who has done more for public health; a doctor or a plumber?

Even after a student does graduate college

Educational Planning For Your Futurehe will not be guaranteed a job. He will have spent many years of his life at school and may have astounding student debts to pay.

It is important of course, for students to strive to succeed through their college ca-reer. It is important that they complete the work that will guarantee them their desired degree. However, it is also important that they gain other forms of knowledge that may not pertain to their future profession. There are opportunities in college to gain a diverse collection of knowledge.

Colleges do provide courses that offer technical degrees and training. Students can earn a degree to support their school career and also to have experience to fall back on in case their plans do not come to fruit.

I do not contend that students should drop out of high school or stop pursuing their aspirations. But they need to question their place in college and what they really want to do. I mean, it only affects their future.

“Education seems to be in America the only commodity of which the customer tries to get as little he can for his money.”

Max Leon Forman, Jewish-American writer.

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

By FranK Lopez

Rampage Reporter

By KaiTLin regan

Rampage ReporterBy daVid ThammaVonga

Rampage Reporter

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

Page 13: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

13October 05, 2011Views

Pro Con

It has come down to this. A bake sale is the new way to make a political statement. Not a strike or a protest, but a bake sale.

The credit for this latest innovation goes to the group of students at UC Berkeley who decided a bake sale would be the best way to bring attention to the debate on Affirmative Action.

Baked goods were sold to white male students for $2.00, $1.50 for Asians, $1.00 for Latinos, 75 cents for African Americans, and 25 cents for Native Americans. The prices for female students were discounted 25 cents in each of the above cases.

If the goal is to merely bring attention to the issue, then perhaps it has worked. With the help of the media which has covered the bake sale from all angles and thanks to al-most eight thousand views on YouTube, the bake sale has definitely attracted attention.

However, it’s hard to believe a bake sale is what it takes to change the course of Affirmative Action. And in a country where people have marched hundreds of miles just to have their voice heard, it’s odd that anyone would use bakery as a way to fight for equal rights.

From one of the most prestigious universities in the nation, it’s safe to expect a student body with a sufficient knowledge of history. It’s hard to believe the students at UC Berkeley would completely disregard the fact that so many people put their lives on the line in hopes of attaining equality. It wasn’t a bake sale which brought them this freedom they fought so hard for. But if it takes a bake sale to take away the right many minorities enjoy today, what does it say about this nation?

Are the students of UC Berkeley oblivious to the fact that so many immigrants went through so much just to own a small piece of land in this country? Have they never heard

of the sit ins, or Emmit Till, or the four little girls that were bombed in a church?

Nothing justifies these senseless tragedies; especially not a bake sale. The bake sale only resurrects an issue that shouldn’t be an issue at all. It diminishes a policy set to create diversity and equality in universities. It diminishes a policy set to make up for over 400 years of atrocity.

And yes, we have come a long ways in this country, but we have certainly not come all the way. Discrimination is not blatant, but it still hovers above us. To make matters worse, minorities don’t have nearly as much resources as whites. Many of them grow up in a world where survival is the goal and mediocrity is the norm. Through A f f i r m a t i v e Ac t ion , they have at least a fighting chance.

How do the s t u d e n t s o f U C B e r k l e y fight for their right by baking c u p c a k e s , while so many underprivileged kids fight with their life?

Maybe what this bake sale is really telling us is that we are making a mockery of our freedom in this country. Take a look at the world today and maybe you will understand what I mean. Last I checked, Libyans didn’t bake cupcakes to take down Gadhafi. Not that I’m suggesting starting a riot, but we could do a whole lot better than baking cookies.

Throughout history people have done very creative things in the midst of fighting for freedom. We have seen the best paintings, songs, and writings come from those who needed their voice heard. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this pales in comparison.

To the University of Berkley, this bake sale only brings negative attention, but hopefully it’s not a reflection of the overall student body. It is after all a school with a 4.19 median grade point for admitted freshmen and an average SAT Composite score of 2031 for admitted freshmen. You just wouldn’t know it judging by the bake sale.

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Rampage Reporter

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

Did Berkeley’s “Racist” Bake Sale Go too Far?The media, bewildered bloggers, and

even their own school have demonized the Berkley Republican Club for their satirical ‘Racist’ Bake Sale, an event on campus meant to show the illogic of affir-mative action. However, perhaps Berkley administrators should ask their history department about America’s long past of political theater before rebuking it.

Political theater has been a decorated concept in America, even before its found-ing. The Boston Tea Party in 1773 is the prime example. Three years before the Revolution, American colonists over-took British ships and dumped the tea

that they were caring into the harbor to pro-test the Tea Act. This act was so celebrated that nearly a quarter of a millennium later, an upcom-ing political par-ty took its name. Surely, this act, i f committed today, would be called a domes-tic act of terror, h o w e v e r w e celebrate it, but inexplicably, by in large remain

critical of subjectively priced baked goods. The bake sale is neither as disruptive

nor outlandish as people dressing as Na-tive Americans and disrupting commerce either. It raises a valid point: any system in which people are categorized by ethnic background, such as Affirmative Action is by definition discriminatory. Some may see it as a necessary evil, but that does not change the programs faults. As long as we segregate ourselves by race, we fall prey to ever increasing bigotry.

Why must race even be an issue when one looks for a place of higher education? In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Yet even today we still are trying to justify laws that will allow us to see someone by the color of their skin sooner than the content of their character through Affirmative Action.

He said, “I have a dream that one day

this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” However, Affirmative Action gives a deafening blow to this idea of equality, proposing a governmental distinction say-ing that people of this ethnic background are created equal, but people of this one are created just a little more equal.

Yet again he said, “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.” How can we ever come together if we make such arbitrary distinctions that drive us apart? When we categorize ourselves by race, an act that Affirmative Action promises to accom-plish, we no longer can sit at that table of brotherhood as family, but only as a white man, a black man, and a Mexican, with no room for us to be mutually American.

There is no such thing as white America, or black America, or Mexican America, or any other racial distinction one would have you put on it. There is only America. It has no color, it has no religion, and therefore enables the individual to have the freedom to choose who they want to be. Now surely, there are people in America that will try to define someone by their ethnic back-ground, and the vast majority of Americans are correct to believe that those people should be punished. Now, perhaps, some of that vast majority should ask themselves why they are trying to define someone by their ethnic background, through Affirma-tive Action.

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

By Jesse Franz Rampage Reporter

10. A nice shady tree:The rule of a good nap under a tree is

cleanness. You do not want to fall asleep under a tree and roll into a pile of poop. Most of the popular trees are near the grassy null next to the café. The nice cool breeze from the north is a plus on the warm days.

10 Places To Take A Nap Between ClassesBy Joshua sheppard

Rampage Reporter

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

1. In your bed:If you live nearby.

7. Nap club: Not sure if there is one but there should

be.

9. The grass lot next to the Clin-ton side of the campus:

It has all that you would want in a place to take a nap. Most of the time it is covered in shade and there is less chance of the traffic invading the z’s you might be catching. The only down fall is the idea of not being able to hear the noise of school to remind you that you are at school.

8. Nearby concrete bench next to your class:

Just be sure not to sit in old chewing gum or spilt soda. This could really make the day long.

6. Nearby fast food stop:The Taco Bell on Blackstone and McKin-

ley is my favorite. Just order something. Bean burrito easy onions works for me (extra red sauce).

4. The library: Just remember to place a book in front

of you and all is well … as long as you do not snore of course.

2. In your car:If you are the very few that get prime

parking under a shade, your car is a home away from home. Just be sure that you don’t accidentally forget you are at school and sleep the day away. And just a heads up, most of the time there will be other students that think you will be leaving so be kind and place a note on the back window stating you’re not leaving, but just napping. That’s a good way to stop the confusion or the line of cars to back up behind you.

5. Pacific Café:Most of the time there is a booth open for

a quick air conditioned power nap. I recom-mend purchasing a soda or a small bit to eat just in case the employees want to intrude your nap. It is never a quiet place to nap but ear buds can fix this problem.

3. The Old Administration Build-ing inner court yard:

It definitely has that Harry Potter Hog-warts feel. Most of the time there is no one around. If there are people, they are looking for a quiet place to study or nap as well and there is usually benches open overlooking the beautiful remodeled courtyard. Just be careful because the sound of the fountain may make you want to go to the bathroom sooner than you would like.

Page 14: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

14 October 05, 2011 Sports

Following a rocky start to the season, the Fresno City College women’s soccer team has won three consecutive games. They currently have a record of 6-3, and are ranked 2nd in the state in Power Points.

“They are learning about what

it takes to be a successful student-athlete. We just want them to keep improving and compete every day.”

This is Germond’s 11th year at Fresno City College. He has led the women’s soccer team to 1st place in the conference for

the past four years, and is hoping this year will be no different. The team’s record last year was 19 wins, 3 losses and 2 ties. Their playoff record was 3-1.

Germond says everyone has a role and everybody is differ-ent, but what he wants most is

for each student-athlete to give their best on the field and in the classroom.

And although the team features many talented individuals, Ger-mond says he doesn’t like to point out any individuals. “We expect all of our players to perform their

best and give everything they have to the team in order for us to succeed,” said Germond.

The Rams next home game is against Cabrillo College this Friday.

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

Women’s Soccer RecoversBy maddie hagoBian

Rampage Reporter

No halftime for McCowanLearning to juggle is one of the

key concepts of any college edu-cation. Athena “A.T.” McCowan, a 29-year-old student athlete, has mastered this and so much more. As a full time student working two jobs, she still finds time to play women’s professional tackle football for the Central California War Angels.

Majoring in foreign languages with an emphasis on Biblical Studies, McCowan is a full time student. She is enrolled in two classes here at Fresno City College while taking 16 units at Fresno Pacific University. While engaging in her studies, McCowan works 19 hours a week in the Fresno City College library.

“It’s hard,” she says, “but it’s very doable if you have the right type of discipline. It’s pretty much ultimately where you want to be and if you really want to get there or not”.

Alongside her foreign languages major, McCowan can read, write and speak Armenian fluently. Fur-thermore, she hopes to enhance her studies by learning Hebrew, Greek and possibly Arabic. These, she says, will help her interpret and transcribe the bible.

“To be honest, I wanted to go where God wanted me to be. I feel that he has given me the natural ability to learn language. For me, it’s very exciting to read and un-derstand ancient text”, she says.

Sara Lickk, a friend of McCow-an’s and a fan of the War Angels says that A.T. is a very driven and sincere person. Lickk also says that McCowan stands up for her beliefs but remains grounded.

“She stands up for what she believes in. She doesn’t force her beliefs on other people and she

practices what she preaches”, says Lickk.

Even though she studies the bi-ble, McCowan embraces the rough sport of football with open arms. As the center for the War Angels, she works hard to maintain her fitness and aptitude for the game. McCowan calls herself a physical person and describes how football helps her relieve stress. “I’m more of a physical person. It just allows for me to get my aggression out,” McCowan says.

Football also helps balance out her personality. It allows her to separate her talents and stimulate them both. Her hunger for knowl-edge is met with her academic work while her physical side is able to appear on the field.

Since women’s professional football is not widely known, it is a wonder how she got interested in the sport and how she came to play. According to McCowan, she has always wanted to play football and a news ad gave her the chance.

“I’ve wanted to play for a wom-an’s tackle league for I don’t know how long. And, all of a sudden it just showed up so I said ‘I’m there. I’m going to do whatever I have to in order to play,” McCowan said.

After seeing the ad and vowing to find out how to play, McCowan contacted Lisa King, the president of the War Angels and the wide receiver.

King spoke highly of McCowan and emphasized all of the work that she puts in to being the best player that she can be. She also describes McCowan as a fearless team leader.

“A.T. is hard working and shows no fear on the football field. She is small for a lineman, but is strong enough to compete against play-ers who are much bigger. To be a center and have to snap the ball to the quarterback when larger play-

ers are trying to knock you over is not an easy job and takes a fearless attitude,” King says.

According to King, McCowan goes above and beyond for her teammates. She says that she [Mc-Cowan] is always positive and will do anything to help out a fellow

player. In this, she agrees with Lickk who also goes on to talk of McCowan’s humor.

“She’s really funny,” Lickk says, “Always making jokes. She’s like Joe Pesci in pads”.

It’s not all fun and games for McCowan though. She takes the sport seriously and studies it on her own outside practice. Work-ing out on her own serves as a way for McCowan to focus on her responsibilities to her team while she nurtures her academic responsibilities.

This is where the time manage-ment matters the most, McCowan says. She constantly has to man-age her time and make sure that she keeps up with both her school work and the demands of her prac-tice schedule.

Somehow though, she finds the time to complete her homework and continue on towards her de-gree. With all of the time and effort it takes for McCowan to succeed, she will accept none of the credit. She says her strength comes from her faith.

“If I wasn’t serving God, I couldn’t do it,” she says. “When I’m weak, He’s my strength.”

McCowan will be playing in the upcoming season with the War Angels as they strive to make the playoffs. Look for number 54 on the offensive line during any War Angels game and you will see Athena McCowan ready to snap the ball and help her team to victory.

By KaiTLin regan

Rampage Reporter

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Page 15: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

15October 05, 2011Sports

No halftime for McCowan

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

The Fresno City College volleyball team prevailed in a home match against College of the Sequoias last Wednes-day night.

The Rams defeated COS in three sets. They won the first two sets with a score of 25-18, and the third set with a score of 25-20.

The game stood apar t in many

ways for FCC. I t was the Rams’ 52nd straight vic-tory in the C e n t r a l

Va l l e y

Conference, as well as the 100th career win for Head Coach Tracy Ainger-Schulte in her tenure at FCC.

“Hopefully this will be the start of another 100 wins for coach,” said sophomore Ash-ley Ferguson who had nine kills and ten digs.

Sophomore Alex Paredes continued her strong start to the season against COS as she recorded 13 kills and eight digs.

Paredes was an All-Ameri-can selection this pre-season as well as the CVC Player of the Year at the conclusion of last season.

Along with freshman Ka-maya Dixon (Washington Union), Paredes has put forth a performance that has fans wondering how far the Rams

will go this season. Freshman Middle Blocker

Lizzie Barrow says, “I think we played well [against COS] every time we stepped on the court we played as a team, not as individuals,” Barrow said.

With the win, the Rams improve their overall record to 8-4 and their CVC record to 2-0.

Twelve games into the sea-son, they are on track to ac-complish their goals by the end of this season. “We want to be state champions,” said Barrow.

The Rams will be travel-ing to Columbia College this Friday.

Volleyball Serves MilestoneTeam’s 52nd straight win is coach’s 100thBy naThan aLonzo

Rampage Reporter

the Rams linebacker.Justice understood that if he

wanted to play on the field on game day, he had to “work hard every day, every night, every practice and every workout.”

“It started with 7 a.m. runs, and right after that we worked out in the weight room,” said Justice.

Though Justice was exhausted

by the time he got to the weight room, he pushed himself to the max because he desperately want-ed a scholarship.

Even after all the hard work however, Justice didn’t get his scholarship.

With his schol-arship aspirations gone, Justice was ready to give up. But along came coach Tony Cavi-glia, who con-vinced him to join Fresno City

College. “It was weird going from

being an all-star in high school to being a nobody on a city col-lege team,” said Justice. “I was playing on special teams and if I were lucky I would get in the game for about five or six plays.”

After an injury to one of the

The reporter can be reached [email protected]

Players Adapt To Life Of JC FootballThe Rams defensive coach

sends in the play, “base jet 3”, a blitz package that sends in linebackers Caleb Justice, and Adam DeCosta to either pres-sure or sack the quarterback, or to crush the running back in the backfield.

When the opponent chooses to run a pass play, the two blitz-ing linebackers make their way towards the quarterback vig-orously. Justice sees the play transpire. DeCosta, the other linebacker, gets to the quarter-back fast. When quarterback scrambles, he throws the ball in panic. He misses his target and allows Justice to intercept the pass.

From there Justice knows ex-actly what to do. He jets towards the end zone hoping that the would-be tacklers wouldn’t catch him as he rumbles in for a score.

This type of play from Justice is one reason why the Rams are undefeated this season.

The former Bullard High

Knight got his football philoso-phy from his former head coach, Donnie Arax, who instilled into him the value of hard work.

“He actually helped me be-come a good football player because there we had to work hard. We got there early in the morning and left late at night. It was almost like a real job,” said

By marCeL diLworTh

Rampage Reporter

GameScheduleOct. 7

Women’s SoccerCabrillo College4 p.m.

Oct. 11Women’s SoccerCOS2 p.m.

Oct. 11Men’s SoccerModesto JC4 p.m.

Oct. 12Water poloSierra College3:30 p.m.

Oct. 12VolleyballWest Hills College6 p.m.

Oct. 13Women’s GolfFi Garden Golf

Course12 p.m.

Oct. 14Women’s SoccerTaft College4 p.m.

Oct. 14VolleyballPorterville College6 p.m.

Oct. 15FootballModesto JC7 p.m.

Oct. 19WrestlingSky-line Dual7 p.m.

starters, Justice stepped in and found his opportunity. In the championship game against Sac-ramento, Justice finally became a starter.

“I was a little nervous because I hadn’t started a game, being that it was my first game and it was against one of the best teams in our league,” said Justice.

In the days leading up to the championship game, Justice believed Sacramento City would see him as a weak link, so he worked hard to prepare for the game.

Justice played well, but the Rams lost that game.

This season the Rams have become one of the hardest hit-ting teams and Justice is a big reason why. He tries not to get carried away with the physical play, but he knows that many of his teammates will replay the big hits over and over.

“We can’t really hit each other in practice, so we get off all the pent up anger in the game.”

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Page 16: Rampage Fall 2011 Issue 3

16 October 05, 2011 Newsthe Fresno Fair is back in town

The reporter can be reached at [email protected]

By ausTin VerBurg

Rampage ReporterFresno is currently plastered with

the phrase “Big Times Are Back”. The Big Fresno Fair is right around the corner and have been preparing to put on a show with attractions both new and traditional, starting today.

Some changes to expect will be an added bridge between the Meyer’s Water and Wildlife Tree and Catfish Falls, located in the Table Mountain Rancheria Park. The Pirates in the Park pirate ship and Fort Fresno playgrounds will still be there as well.

The Greenhouse which replaced the reptile room will be in the same area, but the reptile exhibit will once again be brought back as the Rainforest Adventure, located in Kids’ Town. A mural dedicated to the cattlemen and women of Fresno will be added to the livestock pa-vilion.

Located in the Sports Zone will be the bull riding attraction, the ESPN booth, as well as an added video game area.

The kids section of the carnival has now been moved to the area in between the horse racing tracks, by the parking lot in the same area.

This change has allowed for more rides to be added to the regular carnival section, as well as help-ing prevent crowd congestion by allowing families with younger members to enjoy the kid rides in a separate area.

Every year, the Big Fresno Fair brings new changes and attractions as well as keeping the ones that crowds have already come to love. However, one might wonder what the people who put on the Fresno Fair are up to when the event isn’t going.

“You work at the fair? What do you do the rest of the year?” is a question that Lauri King, the Big Fresno Fair Deputy Manager, is asked quite a bit. “We get asked that by so many people,” said King. “To pull off an event like this, it takes an entire year.”

As soon as the fair ends, the crew takes about 30 days to wrap up the event, checking up on things like how much revenue did that year’s fair bring in and what attractions were more successful than others, critiquing certain things in order to contribute to the planning of the next year’s fair. This time is also the budget season, where they find out how much they’ll be able to spend

the following year.Next come the conferences, one

in December and another in Janu-ary. December is the International Association of Fairs in Las Ve-gas, with many attendees from all around the United States, as well as Canada. In January is the Western United States of Fairs. These con-ferences are where many ideas for the next fair come into play.

“We’re looking at entertainment, and we’re looking at different theme ideas. New concessioners, new vendors,” said King. “That’s where a lot of our planning really starts.”

Between the months of February and July, the fair grounds are used as rental facilities. However, July is when “we really start ramping up”, as ticket sales begin coming in and plans start to happen.

“Once September rolls around, it’s go time,” said King. “You usu-ally find that we don’t take days off from September to the end of the fair. Labor Day weekend is that last weekend you have off at this business.”

The process for setting up the fair follows checking many lists for various departments. Each section of the fair has its own attractions and plans different from that of

another. These lists are checked multiple times, making sure every department from maintenance to agriculture has everything it needs. They also follow various calendars to help make sure they are where they’re supposed to be at certain times.

During the weekend before, submitted work for the Home Arts department and Juniors department are judged, and the winners are named with ribbons displayed by the time the fair begins.

Exhibitors and concessioners begin moving in around two weeks before. Some of the exhibitors and concessioners are at the Bakersfield and LA county fairs until the very last day of those events, and then pack up and start setting up at Fresno the next morning, the Mon-day before the fair starts. This same day is the day all FFA and 4-H begin bringing in their livestock. Because of all this, Monday is a very busy day. From Monday to the end of the fair, there is always a crew on the grounds 24/7.

Tuesday, the day before the fair opens, is still a work day. However, Tuesday to Wednesday morning is an inspection time where many things are checked on and they

Behind-the-scenes at the Fresno Fairgrounds as exhibitors, competitors, and concessioners prepare for the opening day. Most rides and other attractions were previously at the L.A County and Kern County fairs the previous weekend.

make sure the fair is in good shape and ready for the crowds.

And finally, at 2 p.m. Wednesday, the Big Fresno Fair opens to the general public. However, during all this planning, building, and en-joyment, there’s always something for the crew that puts on the fair to work on.

“That’s the fun about this job,” said King, “No day is ever the same.”

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