By Asia CamagongASSOCIATE EDITOR

Combating the stress and grief afflicting those on cam-pus, the cutting of a single yellow ribbon summoned a call to put the college on the right track.

Faculty, staff and students gathered at Comet Stadium Oct. 14 at noon to celebrate Health Day and introduce the opening of the upgraded track and football field and a new campus feature, the power walk and run course, in a ribbon-cutting ceremo-ny.

“Health Day (is about)

making good choices,” physical education professor Robert Creer said. “In order to be healthy, you have to make healthy choices, and if we don’t start looking at health, we’re not going to make it in the world.”

The ribbon cutting was one out of three events hon-oring Health Day, as a blood drive and Wellness Fair pro-moting health awareness to students were also conduct-ed separately on campus.

“This event is most spe-cial, because (we have) been here on the institution suf-fering through (tough) eco-nomic times,” Director of Financial Aid Viviane La

Mothe said. “To see this is amazing.”

As attendants assembled behind a podium, President McKinley Williams com-memorated the event in a speech to be broadcasted on KCCC-TV, the college tele-vision station.

Funded by the Measure A bond passed in 2006, the new track and football field symbolize a new step toward “healthy living,” Williams said in his speech.

By Holly PabloEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Reports show that annual student headcount and per-sistent rates have contin-ued to rise at Contra Costa College, however, comple-tion rates of basic skills courses need improvement.

“We’re making prog-ress,” President McKinley Williams said. “But basic skills (have) taken a little bit of a dip. We want to look into the reasons why.”

The 2009 Accountability Reporting for the Community Colleges (ARCC) shows that CCC’s annual success-ful course completion rates for basic skills courses fluc-tuated from 59.1 percent in 2005-06, to 60.3 percent in 2006-07 and 57 percent in 2007-08.

The ARCC, a macro-level view of the successes and needed improvements of California community colleges, is the creation of Assembly Bill 1417 in 2004.

The 2009 report, which focuses on figures from the 2007-08 academic year, marks the third year of this analysis. The data is com-piled and used in compari-son with the previous years’ findings, in order to create a system for analyzing per-

formance.“The ARCC report is the

state’s attempt to measure the effectiveness of our col-lege on certain entities, such as retention, program com-pletion, degrees and certifi-cates,” Williams said.

The final report was com-pleted in January, and the nar-rative was completed during the summer, Senior Dean of Research and Planning Tim Clow said. The findings, including the college’s plan of action, were presented to the district Governing Board on Sept. 30.

Between the academic years of 2006-07 and 2007-08, CCC experienced a head-c o u n t increase of 712 s t u -d e n t s . A l s o , t h e number of full-t i m e equiva-l e n t students (FTES), a mea-sure of e v e r y 15 units enrolled at the college, jumped f r o m 5,463 to 6,429 in the same period.

Besides individual col-lege data, the 110 communi-ty colleges are separated into

By Brent BaintoSCENE EDITOR

All vacant positions of the ASU Board have been filled for a hopefully more engaging staff to represent the student body.

For the first time in rough-ly 20 years, the 20 senator

positions of the ASU Board, including the president and vice presidents, have been occupied to address the dif-ferent constituency groups of students on campus, Student Life Supervisor Jennifer Ounjian said. Each senator’s position entails the necessity to address the issues of des-ignated student groups on campus.

“(Having a full board is) a great benefit for the ASU,” ASU President Kristina Bautista said.

A child’s fantasy

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TreatmentEarly detection key to cancer

scene page 6◆ spotlight page 5◆

ISAAC THOMAS / THE ADVOCATE

Taking a stand — San Francisco State’s Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies Kenneth Monterio speaks against the statewide budget cuts at a public education rally Thursday at San Francisco Civic Center.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

By Cody McFarlandSTAFF ILLUSTRATOR

Students are urged to be more aware of their surround-ings after the fourth in a series of attempted armed robber-ies has raised questions about safety on and around campus.

This marks the second suc-cessful robbery this semester and is the direct result of an inattentive student body, Police Services Chief Charles Gibson said.

“Students’ fight-flight reflexes are stifled by tech-

nology,” he said. “They aren’t aware of their surroundings, (because) they are constantly on the phone texting or lis-tening to iPods. By the time they notice the robbers, it’s too late.”

The robbery occurred just off campus near the Bus Transfer Center, on Valencia Way in the Del Camino-Valencia housing complexes on Oct. 8 at 11:30 a.m., but was not reported until 1:30 p.m.

The San Pablo Police Department (SPPD) was unable to answer the call, so Police Services on campus was contacted. It was considered an outside assist on the behalf of the SPPD, Police Services Sgt.

Jose Oliveira said.“A major part of this case

was when the crime occurred,” Oliveira said. “This was the first time this semester in which a robbery took place in the morning.”

Though most robberies take place in the early evening or at night, they are still known to happen during the day and students should realize this, he said.

According to the police reports, the suspects are two African-American males in their late teens to early 20s, both about 5-feet-9-inches tall and were wearing black sweat-shirts and dark jeans. Their descriptions match those of the

Safety questioned

Report shows completion rates irregular

ASU secures 20 members

■ SEE ASU: Page 3

“(Students) aren’t aware of their sur-roundings, (because) they are

constantly on the phone

texting or listening to iPods. By

the time they notice the

robbers, it’s too late.”

Charles Gibson,Police Services chief

focus page 8◆

Student life represented by full board

By Isaac ThomasPHOTO EDITOR

SAN FRANCISCO —Students from all over San Francisco gathered at City Hall Thursday for a rally protesting budget cuts and calling on public officials to defend public education.

The event was orga-nized by a committee of San

Francisco State and City College of San Francisco professors trying to get their students involved with their futures.

San Francisco State pro-fessor Brigitte Davila said planning for the rally began a while ago, as the college instructors wanted to hold a protest to hopefully attract some attention to the issues and get the ball rolling.

“I’ve never seen cuts this bad in all of the 15 years I’ve been teaching,” Davila said. “We have had budget cuts before, but this time it wasn’t a trim. I think a lot of

people are misunderstand-ing it.”

Not only have budget cuts forced colleges to cut sec-tions from their schedules this semester, but professors are losing work as well and there is nothing they can do about it, she said.

“I have less hours that I work now, and my students have paid more for less classes,” Davila said.

Sponsored by various education unions in San Francisco, the rally was a cry to save public education by taxing big business.

Politicians and college

professors spoke out to the crowd about how cut-ting education now is going to affect everyone in the future.

Attendees included stu-dents from K-12 schools throughout San Francisco, San Francisco City College and San Francisco State.

San Francisco State Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies Kenneth Monterio said statewide budget cuts have already taken a toll on students at San Francisco State.

“The effects of the budget

Second robbery creates concern

Rally protests statewide cuts to funding

Basic skills need work

FIGHTING FOR EDUCATION

Event urges healthy living

ERIK VERDUZCO / THE ADVOCATE

By a nose — Natural, Social and Applied Sciences Division Dean Terence Elliott (left) and Senior Dean of Students Frank Hernandez cross the finish line after a walk around the track Wednesday.

“Compared to our peer

groups, we’re not

too bad off, but we’d love to be above the average in all the

categories”

McKinley Williams,college president

■ SEE ROBBERY: Page 3

■ SEE RALLY: Page 3 ■ SEE REPORT: Page 3

■ SEE HEALTH: Page 3

Fitness concernsLiving well is not solely determined by social conditions. Individuals are respon-sible for making the right choices.page 2

editorial

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 21, 2009 ● VOL. 93, NO. 7

EditorialAttainable lifestyle

Healthy living found in maximizing of resources

he most common New Year’s res-olutions usually include regular exercise and healthy eating.

For most, the energy of the new year brings an inner sense of motivation that fails to persevere throughout the year.

These good intentions fall short not only because of the lack of self-moti-vation, but because humans are often products of their environments.

Fast food, liquor stores and smoke shops surround Contra Costa College and its neighboring cities. Healthy alternatives and fresh produce are not readily available at affordable prices to students and residents.

While the introduction of Subway in the Student Dining Room slightly increases the college’s food choices, the sandwiches are not all that healthy.

A footlong Italian BMT packs on 900 calories of the recommended 2,000 cal-ories a day intake by the United States Health and Human Services.

In terms of exercise, the lack of accessible parks and recreational areas, along with the negative stigma of vio-lence in Richmond, also adds a possible factor for reduced activity.

The social conditions in which we live are a huge determinant in our health, as shown in a documentary by the Public Broadcasting System, “Unnatural Causes... is inequality making us sick?” The fifth episode of the series, “Place Matters,” compares Richmond to West Point in Seattle, Wash.

Residents of a disadvantaged city such as Richmond were shown to have a 50-80 percent higher risk for heart disease due to stresses of finances, housing, education and safety.

Those in West Point, however, were at less risk. Because of government efforts to raise health awareness, residents have cleaner and safer streets.

While no one person can change these conditions, individuals must take responsibility and make smarter food decisions.

As part of the healthy living theme the college has chosen for 2009-10, campuswide health events were held on Oct. 14 to increase awareness.

Yet, not many students showed up for the Wellness Fair, blood drive and rib-bon cutting ceremony for the remodeled track and football field.

Students should be concerned with what they eat because food consump-tion plays a crucial role in energy, memory and overall brain function.

Even by preparing meals at home on Sunday to last throughout the week, students can ensure that they are aware of what they are eating.

In addition, the college offers an Independent Study physical education course in the Fitness Center.

Healthy living is attainable. It is just a matter of making the most out of avail-able resources.

T

“I’m jogging, eating fruits, and next semes-ter I plan on taking a (physical education) course in the Fitness Center.”

Reza Rezvanipolitical science

CampusComment

What do you do to stay healthy?

“I play soccer with my friend for one-and-a-half hours twice a week. And I just try to eat healthy. No junk food, no fast food.”

Daniel Hernandezbiology

“I’m trying to exercise and incorporate fruits and vegetables in my daily diet.”

Remita Thomasearly childhood development

“I try to eat a healthy well-balanced diet, take my prescribed medica-tion, get plenty of rest and try to avoid contact with unhealthy people, although it’s hard to do.”

Manning Petersontutor

“My husband and I ride bikes 3-10 miles a day and we walk. We take vitamins, and we make sure we see the doc-tor.”

Christina Berelmedical assisting

“I just exercise, eat healthy, study and stay focused.”

Meuy Saechaonursing

Quotable“Freedom of speech is not about good speech versus bad; it’s about who holds

the power to decide which is which.”

Robyn E. BlumnerEditorial writer/columnist,

St. Petersburg Times1998

Holly Pabloeditor-in-chief

Sam Attal

associate editor

Asia Camagongassociate editor

Alec Surmaniassociate editor

Cassandra Junielspotlight editor

Diana Reyesopinion editor

Dariush Azmoudehsports editor

Lamar Jamesnews editor

Brent Baintoscene editor

Jack Andersonspecial projects editor

Isaac Thomasphoto editor

Erik Verduzcoassistant photo editor

Paul DeBoltfaculty adviser

Staff writersNatalie Estrada

Anthony FarrChad Garcia

Malcolm LastraJon Pinlac

Kristina PlazaAlexandra Waite

Staff photographersCrystal Joy BisGeorge Morin

Adam OliverDesmond Sylva

Brian YoungRoman Young

Staff illustratorsJames Heck

Cody McFarlandJoel Ode

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CRYSTAL JOY BIS AND BRIAN YOUNG / THE ADVOCATE

Informant, authorities violate trust in sting

■ Law enforcement

notice of business permit revocation was issued

to the Health Care Center Massage in Pinole on Oct. 1 due to verified claims of sexual favors.

The Pinole Police Department (PPD) affirmed claims made by a citizen informant (CI) regarding the performance of the business by conducting an undercover prostitution sting. The sting, carried out by the PPD along with special agents from the WESTNET Narcotics Task Force on Sept. 30, entailed the necessity to confirm suspicions of the favors administered by a particu-lar therapist at the massage establishment.

An undercover officer entered the center for a massage (which was given) and a sexual advance by the therapist was offered during the massage for an agreed amount of money. Subsequently, the therapist began to administer the pleasuring and was arrested shortly after. The process of the sting and revocation is questionable, considering the claims made by the CI.

The claims made prior to the sting operation were of that very nature. The CI had informed the PPD of two accounts where he had received favors from the same therapist after being massaged.

On the first occasion, the CI said he was pleasured without asking, or being asked. No additional price was added to the service, but the CI tipped the therapist. To confirm the pleasuring as a regular practice, the CI

returned to receive the favor a second time and did so. The therapist was tipped the second time as well.

The above facts were found on the revocation notice posted by the city of Pinole. Although there are no further details of the follow-ing actions detailed from the PPD, or judi-cial rami-fications, consensual sex between the CI and therapist can be inferred.

The CI did not deny the advances. And whether the additional services were therapist/patient conduct or not, no underlying reason for police involvement was given.

The acts were of evident consent. In addition to the uncoerced services, the CI paid on both occasions.

His willingness to accept pleasuring twice show his obvious agreement to pur-chasing sex. Though there was no specific reasoning for the CI’s conduct, he had done much more damage to the

business and its owner and employees.

The sting operation and consequential permit revoca-tion can be arguably deemed unethical. The owner and therapist, who face prostitu-tion charges, were abused for their also contentious hospi-tality. Although their pleasur-ing services are unlawful, the unspoken confidentiality between patient and therapist was broken.

Not only did the CI vio-late trust, the undercover officer began to receive the pleasuring service as well. In the notice of revocation, it was not stated at what point the officer decided to get his fellow officers involved and make the arrest.

The fate of the business is unknown, but conclusions of closure can be drawn. The owner and employees can also face a variable time of unemployment.

Background checks are likely to have been run for every employee along with interrogations. The owner and unknown number of therapists are of Asian descent. It is also unknown whether they are legal citi-zens of the U.S. or have work permits that can be revoked.

The possible repercus-sions are many and are unde-served for the business and its owner and workers. The CI and undercover officer’s actions should be taken into heavy consideration and should not be dismissed.

Brent Bainto is scene editor of The Advocate. Contact him at bbainto.advocate@gmail.com.

CODY MCFARLAND/ THE ADVOCATE

brentbainto

A

THE ADVOCATE l WEDNESDAY, OCT. 21, 20092 OPINION

The

claims

made

prior to

the sting

operation

were of

that very

nature.

cuts are devastating. They hit at all levels,” Monterio said. “Making it more difficult for students to get classes makes it more difficult for them to graduate.”

With the CSU budget deficit falling to $584 billion this year and fee increases rising 32 percent in 2009, up 182 percent since 2002, students are finding it harder than ever to find the funds for their education, he said.

Monterio said that most of the financial aid now is in the form of loans.

“The more loans you take out, the fewer choices you have because your primary goal is to pay back the loans you took out, not to necessarily do the profession that you set out to do,” he said.

Not only have the fee increases made it more difficult for students to afford col-lege, but San Francisco State will also not be accepting any applications for the spring 2010 semester.

San Francisco State student Honora Keller said that not allowing spring transfers in this year delays the access of any community college students from receiving a higher edu-cation.

Contact Isaac Thomas at ithomas.advocate@gmail.com.

suspects from the previous rob-beries, so the crimes are seen as related, Oliveira said.

SPPD officers arrested three suspects for robbery near Hilltop slightly over a week ago match-ing the descriptions of the robbers on campus, Oliveira said. Their connection with the cases on and around campus is not yet certain, he said.

President McKinley Williams said students need to pay close attention to what is around them.

“(They should) walk in groups and not venture into isolated areas alone,” he said.

The victim, a 19-year-old male student, said in the report that he was walking by himself to the mall after class. He hopped the fence into the housing proj-ect to take a shortcut, where the

two suspects approached him and demanded his belongings.

One suspect appeared to have a dark-colored handgun, though the victim was unsure if it was real or a pellet gun. His backpack, cell phone and wallet were taken, but he was given his schoolbooks back after asking to keep them, Oliveira said.

“Students should comply with robbers so they don’t get hurt and leave the rest up to the police,” he said. “Your iPod or cell phone isn’t worth your life.”

Students are advised to conceal electronics, travel in groups and call for police escorts if need be. They should dial ext. 4207 or call 510-236-2820 to request an escort, make a report or contact Police Services for any assistance.

Student Al John Jose said he was not aware another robbery

had occurred, but feels as if he is informed enough to avoid poten-tial robberies or at least handle such a situation appropriately.

“I’ve lived in this area my entire life,” Jose said. “That kind of thing doesn’t really faze me.”

To reduce crime in or around the Bus Transfer Center, the col-lege has closed the pedestrian gate to the housing complex and put up fencing to prevent easy escapes. The fences might see some reno-vation, however, as they are easily climbable, Oliveira said.

The installation of a $7,500 surveillance system in the turn-around is planned but not possible at the time, due to the educational budget crisis, Oliveira said.

Contact Cody McFarland at cmcfarland.advocate@gmail.com.

Newsline

Monday, Oct. 12Suspect was stopped

for a traffic violation, and it was determined that the driver’s license was suspend-ed. Suspect was cited and released.

Suspect was cited for pos-session of marijuana inside of a vehicle.

Tuesday, Oct. 13Suspect was stopped for

a traffic violation, and it was determined that he had a warrant for his arrest and a suspended driver’s license. Suspect was arrested and transported.

—Jon Pinlac

CrimeWatch

Robbery | On Valencia Way■ FROM: Page 1

accenta d v o c a t e

TwitterReceive breaking news and updates by following The Advocate’s Twitter account, AccentAdvocate.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

CAMPUS BEAT WEDNESDAY, OCT. 21, 2009 l THE ADVOCATE 3

Renaming of SSC hits wall

By Asia CamagongASSOCIATE EDITOR

Upon receiving a response from the district on Oct. 14 regarding a proposal to rename the Student Services Center in memory of honored college employee Martin Padilla, many on campus were left confused and distraught.

They were not, however, discour-aged and dismissed any idea of for-feiting the proposal, as plans to find a way to try again began to formulate thereafter.

“(We were) very disappointed, (but) we stand by the belief that (Padilla) gave so much more to the college,” Classified Senate President Mercy Pono said.

After being reviewed by district Chancellor Helen Benjamin and the Governing Board, the proposal

to rename the SSC to the Martin Padilla Student Services Center was reported to not meet the qualifica-tions of Board Policy 5029, titled Donor Recognition.

The policy states that the board will “recognize major financial con-tributions to the District/College in a variety of ways, including but not limited to, naming of buildings.”

The last board meeting held three weeks ago determined that the pro-posal “did not perform to the crite-ria” of the policy and would not be placed on the agenda, Governing Board Vice President Anthony Gordon said.

Yet, despite the refusal, the Classified Senate and College Council remain persistent.

“Absolutely, we’re going to keep trying,” co-Classified Senate Vice President John Christensen said. “We feel that (Padilla) deserves rec-ognition.”

Padilla, college evening and Saturday program monitor, was killed at the age of 51 on Aug. 28,

2008 in a head-on car collision.Supported by college manage-

ment, faculty, classified staff and students, the proposal recog-nizes Padilla’s “commitment, integrity and willingness to go beyond his job requirements,” Pono said.

“It’s fitting to have the SSC (named after him) since he exemplified stu-dent services,” she said.

A l t h o u g h hired as a part-time employee, Padilla volun-teered an “untold number of hours

without any expectations of being compensated,” Christensen said. “He gave more than 110 percent of his

time and life to the college.”Before countering the board

response, the college plans to exam-ine the complete text of the Donor Recognition policy to find out how to meet the criteria, Pono said.

“We want to take time to look at what we’re being told before mak-ing decisions as to what to do next,” Academic Senate President Richard Akers said.

Pono said that by researching the history of the district and its nam-ing policy, there may be a loophole bringing the proposal to fruition. A list of plans will be presented at the next College Council meeting on Nov. 11 discussing future plans.

Although the renaming of the SSC is acknowledged as a deserved change, it belongs to the district, Dr. Akers said.

“There needs to be consideration beyond economic when considering naming a facility,” he said.

Contact Asia Camagong at aca-magong.advocate@gmail.com.

‘Padilla’ building effort continues

With a full board, more is to be accomplished, she said. The higher number of ASU representatives makes it easier for the organization to cover all areas of the campus, Bautista said.

In addition to returning mem-bers of the ASU and newly elected executives, many of the senators are also serving on the board for the first time. Senator of Transfer, Concurrent Enrolled and Full-Time Students Pedro Araujo expressed contentment with the different con-stituency groups that are now being represented.

“There’s more variety (with the ASU),” he said.Bautista said that having new members gives a

fresh vibe for the ASU and for the senators them-selves.

Ounjian said these new members were recruited by continuing ASU representatives and invites sent to people on the college’s dean’s list.

As each senator, new and returning, visits his or her constituency group, he or she reports the issues found among students that are then discussed in board meetings held weekly in the ASU chambers.

Issues are presented and members brainstorm solutions. Additionally, new proposals affecting fac-

ulty and students are also debated.The information from each meeting is then relayed

to each senator’s constituency group. Opinions are gathered are reported back in further meetings.

Instead of five members, there are now 20 that can provide input and share workload, Senator of Non-Resident and English as Second Language (ESL) Reza Rezvani said.

“It should be a good semester and year (for the ASU),” he said.

Although there is general content with a full ASU staff, there are some drawbacks. Vice President of Clubs Henry Parker said that it is good hav-

ing a full board, but that it takes longer than usual to go through procedures during board meetings.

Ounjian said, “It’s really intense (having a full ASU board.”

Though all senator positions are occupied, Ounjian said that it did not necessarily mean that the ASU is fully functional.

She said much can be accomplished with a full board, but that students still must be dedicated to their duties on staff.

Contact Brent Bainto at bbainto.advocate@gmail.com.

peer groups based on similar characteristics that provide further comparisons.

Grouping is not figured by demographics or proximity to each other, Dr. Clow said, but elements that the colleges have no control over.

Examples include similarities in the amount of students receiving financial aid or the physical distance that the college is from a University of California or California State University campus.

CCC has generally maintained its peer group average in all areas except for both completion and improvement rates for credit basic skills courses.

“Compared to our peer group (colleges), we’re not too bad off, but we’d love to be above the average in all the categories,” Williams said.

As included in the college’s self-assess-ment, the student body at CCC is increas-ingly diverse, as indicated with the fact that 79 percent of the students are from ethnic minority groups, according to the report. Also, a considerable portion of the student body speaks English as their second lan-guage.

Williams said because of this, the success rates for basic skills courses show a 3.3 per-cent decrease between the years of 2005-07 and 2007-08, which may be inaccurate.

Some students enter the college with the sole intention of gaining basic communica-tion skills that will help them find employ-ment, he said, but when these students do not return for a following semester, the college success rates decline.

Student Life Supervisor Jennifer Ounjian said the college has addressed ways to improve the success rates of students enrolled in basic skills or English as a second language (ESL) courses.

First-Year Experience (FYE) is a program catered toward new basic skills students.

Through access to a designated counselor and specialized workshops, such as tips to battle test anxiety, 93 percent of participating students showed higher completion rates in math and English than their peers last year.

In fall 2008, 173 FYE students met with counselor Joey Tobener over 297 total ses-sions. Not only did they receive advice in their academics, they received help in career planning, Tobener said.

The results show that if students get involved on campus, they will “linger and learn,” he said.

The program has experienced cuts as part of the economic crisis. This semester, the coordinator position has been eliminated, but the program will still thrive, Ounjian said.

One problem with the report, however, is that because the exact dates it is based on are unknown, numbers can changed, he said.

“It’s like a puzzle of continuous evalua-tion,” Clow said.

Contact Holly Pablo at hpablo.advocate@gmail.com.

As soon as the ribbon was cut, each attendant was invit-ed to walk one lap around the track to mark its official opening to the public.

“We waited so long to have a nice football and track stadium,” Athletic Director John Wade said.

The new face of the track, with its bright blue color, will grab the attention of onlook-ers expecting a standard-looking facility, he said.

The makeover of the foot-ball field will also garner more interest with its new material and color scheme, he said.

“The design is so untypi-cal of what you see in the Bay Area,” Wade said. “It is a unique venue.”

Wade said that after visit-ing different football fields at various colleges in Southern California, he was inspired to change the material of the field from Astroturf to Sprinturf, which is composed of synthetic rubber.

“(The track and field) is something else the people of Contra Costa College can feel good about,” he said.

In addition, the ceremony introduced the power walk and run course implemented throughout the campus.

Students interesting in taking advantage of the pub-lic path can enroll in PE-156, a one-unit physical condi-tioning class providing basic health and fitness concepts.

Wade said, parallel to the opening of the new stadium complex and campus exer-cise course, that Health Day recognized the importance of staying healthy despite going through harsh economic and social times.

“A lot of people turn to vices, when they should be (working on) health,” Wade said.

Transfer/Career Center Coordinator Robin Harrison said the event was important to her because of her dedica-tion to staying fit.

“Everybody needs to be as healthy as we can,” Harrison said. “The longer (we) are here, the more important it is to stay fit.”

Contact Asia Camagong at acamagong.advocate@gmail.com.

Report ASU | All vacant seats occupied

Rally | Cuts Health | Track

“It’s really intense (having a full) ASU

board.”

Jennifer Ounjian,Student Life supervisor

“It’s fitting to have the SSC (named

after Padilla) since he

exemplified student

services”

Mercy Pono,Classified Senate

president

■ FROM: Page 1 ■ FROM: Page 1

■ FROM: Page 1 ■ FROM: Page 1

■ DSPS

Film seriescontinues

The seventh installment of the Disability Awareness Film Series continues with “No Bigger Than a Minute,” a film exploring dwarfism through the director’s own experience as a “little per-son.”

The film will be shown Thursday from 12:30-2 p.m. in the Library and Learning Resource Center, room LLRC-107.

■ FORUM

Group to talk prison reform

Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner is hosting a forum, “The Costs of Corrections,” Monday from 7-9 p.m. in LA-100.

The panel will discuss prison reform and its impact on the budget, community and public safety.

The event is free and open to the public.

■ PERFORMANCES

Drama galaopens show

The drama and culinary arts departments are host-ing a “MacBeth” gala din-ner and performance Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. in the Three Seasons Restaurant. The play begins at 8 p.m. in the Knox Center.

Tickets for the gala and performance are $30. Contact Zolayma Martin for tickets and reservations at 510-235-7800, ext. 4363.

■ ASU

Holiday party to celebrate

The ASU is hosting the annual Fall Festival on Oct. 30 in the Amphitheatre from noon to 3 p.m.

The event will celebrate Halloween and the many holidays of the season.

For more information, contact the ASU at 510-235-7800, ext. 4237.

■ DISTRICT

Survey seeksstudent view

Student Trustee Christina Cannon is conducting a short online survey to address stu-dents’ concerns, thoughts and needs on campus.

The survey is available at www.4cd.net/gb/student_trustee/default.aspx until the end of October.

A closer lookThe 19-year-old victim had his cell phone, backpack and wallet stolen by two male sus-pects off campus on Valencia Way on Oct 8 at 11:30 a.m.

INFOGRAPHIC BY SAM ATTAL / THE ADVOCATE

By Alexandra Waite and Crystal Joy Bis

STAFF WRITERS

Students gathered information on health awareness, career paths, violence solutions and child care during an event in the Student Dining Room on Oct. 14 promot-ing active lifestyles.

Hosted by the health and human services (HHS) department, the 22nd annual Wellness Fair and Blood Centers of the Pacific (BCP) Blood Drive brought information on local jobs, programs and steps to living well to Contra Costa College.

“Considering it’s been raining outside, we had a pretty decent turnout,” dental assisting depart-ment Chairwoman Sandra Everhart said. “The fair is good for the campus community, because they have programs to give students the opportunity to learn more about their health.”

The fair consisted of eight booths advocating the physical health of students and faculty,

promoting counseling for mental health and providing information about health-related professions and affordable child care.

“(The event) was good, very educational,” student Ulysses Ilg said.

Booths run by the HHS, physi-cal education and dental assisting departments offered information to students on how to stay healthy with crowd-pleasing visual aids and activities.

“The students who came were interested in learning, stayed for a long time and interacted,” physical education department Chairwoman Beth Goehring said. “I wanted to provide information about (sexu-ally transmitted diseases), drug abuse, breast cancer and testicular cancer.”

Goehring ran the health and physical education booth, where students performed self-exams for breast and testicular cancer on life-like simulation models.

She got her point across with models of diseased organs inflicted with STDs and drug abuse.

Ilg said he learned to avoid drugs or sharing needles “period” after seeing Goehring’s display.

The dental health booth headed by Everhart and other dental assis-

tants engaged students with several games to win prizes such as tooth-brushes and sugarless gum.

“We have these activities to gen-erate more interest about dental health,” Everhart said.

While booths enticed students, BCP workers were in the Recreation Room extracting more than 20 pints of blood from students and staff, said Paula Butterfield, a BCP recruiter who helped set up the event.

Thirty-eight people showed

interest in giving blood and 23 were capable of donating it, she said. Between 16-22 donors ended up giving blood.

The process began with an inquiry of the height and weight of potential donors. If requirements were not met, they were automati-cally turned away.

Potential donors with new piercings or tattoos, or who had recently traveled to a malaria-rid-den country, must wait between 6-12 months before being eligible

to donate blood. People with less than 38 percent iron levels in their blood also cannot donate.

Because of the eliminating fac-tors, on the average only 17 out of 28 people who register are actually able to donate, Butterfield said.

The most blood any one person should donate in any given 56 days is one pint of blood, which is equal to 500 milliliters.

Contact writers at letters.advocate@gmail.com

By George MorinSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The Bay Area Outreach Recreation Program (BORP) pre-vailed once again against Contra Costa College students, faculty and staff in the Disabled Students Programs and Services’ (DSPS) wheelchair basketball game in the Gymnasium Friday.

BORP, DSPS, the CCC Foundation and the athletic department co-sponsored the event. The game is hosted every October to bring awareness to the community and college about people living with disabili-ties during Disabled Awareness Month.

“We’re doing this to show that people with disabilities are capa-

ble of so much,” DSPS Manager Yasuko Abe said.

Close to 100 people attended or played at the wheelchair bas-ketball match, which ended with BORP snagging a 113-109 win.

CCC was given 50 points at the start of the game and the start of the second half.

“The game was a lot closer this year. Our team was able to hold back their offense much bet-ter,” Police Services Officer Tim Thomas said.

The wheelchair basketball game was the second exhibi-tion match between BORP and CCC staff, faculty and students. Everyone participating in the event was in wheelchairs for the game.

“It was possible for teams to have some people both in and out of wheelchairs, but it wouldn’t be all that safe,” BORP member Marcus Oden said.

This is just one of the many events and programs that DSPS is planning.

“We have created a film series, (the sale of) novelty crafts and the wheelchair game to help raise money to open up our computer services room,” learning disabili-ties specialist Peggy Fleming said.

BORP was started in 1975 by UC Berkeley students who want-ed a program for people with dis-abilities. The program provides sports and other recreational pro-grams for the disabled.

“We’re glad that we all can come together and bring events like this to life,” BORP Executive Director Kaia Burkett. “It’s a lot easier to bring awareness when you have people with you.”

Abe has worked with Burkett to create annual exhibition games between CCC and BORP as a way to introduce BORP to the college community and bring awareness to its programs.

Contact George Morin at gmorin.advocate@gmail.com.

Events pushfor wellnessFair, blood drive focus on health

GEORGE MORIN / THE ADVOCATE

Sucking it up — Student Cari Tam gives blood, as her friend Jeffery Taulbee shows support at the blood drive in the Recreation Room Wednesday. The event, along with the Wellness Fair held in the Student Dining Room, was put together as a collective effort to promote health.

Speech team nabs Sweepstakes silver

THE ADVOCATE l WEDNESDAY, OCT. 21, 20094 CAMPUS BEAT

By Asia CamagongASSOCIATE EDITOR

RICHMOND — When former gang member Gonzolo Rucobo was growing up in Richmond, he never imagined himself standing on stage explaining the vitality of violence prevention.

Years later, however, his voice and the voices of others have worked to combat the crime affecting those within the community.

Hosted by the Southeast Asian Young Leaders (SEAYL), Richmond Youth Student Empowerment (RYSE) and other local organizations, the sixth annual Youth Stopping Violence Summit was held Saturday in the Richmond Auditorium to address the power of the young community put-

ting a stop to crime.Featuring a series of workshops,

speakers and performances held throughout the day and ending with a candlelight vigil, the event promoted the importance of the youth move-ment toward establishing a change.

“Stand up for all the difficult times,” Mayor of Richmond Gayle McLaughlin said in a speech. “(We’re suffering) environmental issues and social and economic crises. How will your generation relate to all of this?

“Your generation is essential in doing the fight,” she said.

Though dedicated to educating the public, the day also paid tribute to those lost to violence.

The first Youth Stopping Violence Summit was held after Middle College High School and Contra Costa College student Chan

Boonkeut was murdered in her home due to gang violence in 2003.

In addition, a moment of silence honored SEAYL member Alan Lee, who was killed in an October shoot-ing during a drug deal.

“(Violence) is something the youth has to address,” SEAYL Program Coordinator John Abella said. “(We need) to educate the com-munity about the real issues.”

Tables were set up promoting a series of organizations and programs dedicated to saving members of the community from violence.

Groups such as the U.S. Census Bureau, Asian Law Caucus, Youthworks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Council, Rubicon Programs Inc., Bay Area Peacekeepers, Anakbayan East Bay and others were organized to educate attendants.

“(This event) is important because it sends a united message that not only does the youth care about vio-lence, but they care to do something about it,” said Eva Gernier, Rubicon Programs Inc. program coordinator.

An assortment of workshops taught different groups about anger management, self-respect, healthy living, drugs and alcohol, ethnic studies, dating violence and other aspects of aggression leading to criminal activity.

“The main thing about the (Youth Stopping Violence Summit) is (attendants) come here to take some-thing out of the workshops here,” Anakbayan East Bay member Greg Ollano said.

Contact Asia Camagong at aca-magong.advocate@gmail.com.

By Diana ReyesOPINION EDITOR

Placing second in the Sweepstakes com-petition, the Speech and Debate team outper-formed many other colleges at the 41st Santa Rosa Junior College Invitational Oct. 9-11.

For its first formal competition of the year, the group competed against other col-leges and universities, including sister col-lege Diablo Valley College, Saint Mary’s University, Cal State-Chico, Santa Rosa Junior College, UC Davis and Chabot

College.Contra Costa College speech professor

Rachel Dwiggins-Beeler said preparations for the competition began at the beginning of the semester. The team’s prime focuses have been parliamentary debate, impromptu and interpretation, as well as preparing students for extemporaneous speeches.

She said that despite being a little shy, after two months of training, the team has an appreciable number of strong competitors.

“We have won a lot of awards so far (as of this competition),” Dwiggins-Beeler said. “Our team is looking really strong this year.”

Alongside returning competitors, tourna-ment participants also included new stu-dents. Dwiggins-Beeler said students get to compete with others at their level of exper-tise and level of comfort.

“There is another competition scheduled for the fall semester, and three expected for the spring, depending on where the stu-dents are at,” she said. “Most importantly, it depends on our budget.”

Parliamentarian for the ASU Adam Austin is a returning student in the Speech and Debate team.

“I’ve been competing for two years,” Austin said. “I had a year break, and I’m a little rusty.”

Despite his yearlong absence, Austin placed as a finalist in Open Persuasion by presenting a speech on the human papillo-mavirus (HPV).

He said the Open Persuasion process involves several preliminary rounds where students compete against other colleges. Austin said that although he was only able to receive a finalist award, it was still pleasing

to win.“Next time I am going to work extra hard

and take home the gold,” he said.Director of forensics and team coach

Julie Labrincha said it was a really great experience, because it gives students the edge they need to transfer to four-year col-leges. It grants them the opportunity to meet new people and create connections with people from other schools.

“This is the best team we’ve had in a couple of years,” Labrincha said. “ We’re really excited for the future.”

CCC peace and conflict studies major Mahak Hassan, who took the gold in Dramatic Interpretations, said the event was fun.

Contact Diana Reyes at dreyes.advocate@gmail.com.

Crop of experienced, new competitors see growth at invitational

Contest highlights abilities

Youth conference combats violence

ERIK VERDUZCO / THE ADVOCATE

Tight D — Bay Area Outreach Recreation Program (BORP) player Marc Geritz defends baseball coach Marvin Webb on the in-bound pass during the wheelchair basketball game held Friday in the Gymnasium. Contra Costa College lost to BORP, 113-109.

Basketball game draws attention to local program

The Five WsWho: Southeast Asian Young Leaders (SEAYL). Richmond Youth Student Empowerment (RYSE) and other local organizations

What: The sixth annual Youth Stopping Violence Summit

Where: Richmond Auditorium

When: Saturday

Why: To address the power of the youth to stop crime

By Cassandra JunielSPOTLIGHT EDITOR

Keeping informed and taking action are key factors toward establishing and main-taining overall good health. One of the many aspects of having a healthy body includes the importance of establishing and maintaining breast health.

To continue to educate and promote good breast health, the National Breast Care Awareness Month (NBCAM) organization shares information on the disease of breast cancer and provides significant access to screening services — with the help of gov-ernment agencies, professional medical asso-ciations and public service organizations.

Along with the label of Breast Cancer Awareness Month for October, this year marks NBCAM’s 25th anniversary of bring-ing awareness, and educating and empower-ing the public about the disease.

Breast cancer is a disease in which malig-nant cancer cells form in the tissues of the breast. It differs by individual, age group and with even the kinds of cells within the tumors themselves, affecting more women in the United States than any other type of cancer.

Approximately 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and more than 40,000 will die from it, according to www.nationalbreastcancer.org. As well, roughly 1,700 men will also be diagnosed with breast cancer and 450 will die each year, according to the same Web site.

Much has been accomplished to date in breast cancer research, and the NBCAM continues to remain dedicated in its charge toward empowering individuals to be sole sufficient toward their own breast health.

Receiving the diagnosis that one has breast cancer does not necessarily mean the end of a life. Of the many survivors that have discovered this truth is one professor that is a Contra Costa College jewel.

English professor Barbara McClain is a 20-year survivor of breast cancer, and said she is really blessed.

“I do not dwell on the fact that I had breast

cancer, and I’m happy as a survivor that I can go on with my life,” McClain said.

She remains grateful and thankful to a persistent gynecologist, who at the time of her examination became concerned about the feel of an unusual swollen lymph node in her breast through a routine examination.

A fine needle aspiration (FNA), which is a biopsy of a lump using only a thin, small needle, was performed and confirmed the gynecologist’s suspicions one week later.

“After meeting with my gynecologist and having the fine needle, I had a mammogram, chest X-ray, blood tests and a bone scan that

all came back negative; there was no detec-tion of cancer,” McClain said. “Only was it after the results of the fine needle did the confirmation come back showing cancer cells.”

A mastectomy was performed the next day after the confirmation came in. The whereabouts of the lump were unknown pre-vious to the surgery but discovered through pathology findings post-surgery.

“I am thankful to have another year and continue to celebrate life,” McClain said.

She now freely lends her time to speak to those in need of support when necessary.

Although resources are available and breast cancer awareness happens through-out the year, during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a wide aspect of activities occur around the world, including sponsor-ship by major celebrities to raise funds for breast cancer research, campaigns for early detection and mammograms for those unable to afford them, charitable benefit events, dif-ferent aspects of educating the public and a special time to recognize survivors.

On a national basis, celebrities, various partners and the NBCAM, support the cause through the recording of public address mes-sages and service announcements.

McClain says that there is life after breast cancer, and although not everyone is as fortunate as she is, she tells her story to help other families. Although she encour-ages mammograms, McClain stresses annual physical examinations for young adults, as well as the older ones.

“I was detected with breast cancer through my annual routine, physical examination. (Mammograms) sometimes do not catch all cancers,” she said.

Establishing good breast health means taking proactive measures, individually and through one’s medical provider.

With that, the National Breast Cancer Foundation recommends four key preventive measures that everyone can take, including: risk factors (recognizing personal and family history); signs and symptoms; early detec-tion (beginning the plan for oneself, begin-ning at the age of 20); and self-examination.

“It is really important for us to know we have a role to play in our health,” McClain said.

Contact Cassandra Juniel at cjuniel.advocate@gmail.com.

ADAM OLIVER / THE ADVOCATE

Symbol of hope — English professor Barbara McClain, a breast cancer survi-vor, teaches students in her English 1A class in LA-104 Monday with a smile. McClain serves as a reminder of how one can overcome the disease.

Breast cancer awareness inspires

Program honors 40 years of service

SPOTLIGHT WEDNESDAY, OCT. 21, 2009 l THE ADVOCATE 5

“When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.”

— Maya Angelou, poet

By Adam OliverSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Celebrating its 40th year of service to California community college stu-dents this month, Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) contin-ues to serve and assist students, even in the face of a near 40 percent state budget cut.

Born out of the Civil Rights Movement, EOPS was established by the state Legislature on Sept. 4, 1969 to enable students affected by language, social and economic handicaps to achieve their educational goals and continues to

do so today, EOPS specialist Delores Daniels said.

To honor the 40th anniversary of EOPS, California Sen. Denise Ducheny authored a bill that was amended in September to make October EOPS awareness month, EOPS Coordinator Barbara Kwoka said.

EOPS provides books, bus passes, gas cards and counseling services for low-income individuals and students of low-income families throughout all 110 California community colleges.

Unfortunately, the program has had to downsize its services in order to make due with the current $64.4 million state-wide allotment, Kwoka said.

“We hate to be limited, we see the need,” EOPS/CARE Outreach Coordinator Kenneth Reynolds said.

While the federal government is stressing the importance of education and increasing the amount of financial aid, California community colleges are losing funding for a vital asset that serves many students, Reynolds said.

EOPS Club President Dezell McCray Jr. said, “It’s like having a guiding hand out there. When you stray away, they’ll pull you back in.”

Reynolds, who was once an EOPS student, said the program changes lives.

“We add that extra little support that makes the difference,” he said.

The program has existed at CCC since its creation in 1969, when EOPS statewide served only 13,000 students with around $2.8 million, Daniels said.

Now the program must work through the unprecedented 39.8 percent decrease while attempting to cater to the growing need, Kwoka said.

Yet, EOPS remains confident that it will weather the storm and eventually get back the funding needed to adequately support the program, Kwoka said.

“We’ve been here for 40 years, and we’ll be around for another 40,” he said.

Contact Adam Oliver at aoliver.advocate@gmail.com.

Reynolds

A former EOPS student himself, Reynolds helps the program provide financial and other aid to those in need.

By Holly PabloEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Though Fe Ponce is pursuing a career in the culinary arts, her mindset is fitting for that of a phi-losopher.

The 42-year-old culinary arts student has always been the type to live without limits. When recount-ing how she balances school, work, family, friends and personal time, Ponce said she remembers her simple life philosophy to get her through the day.

“How can I make everything better, not just for myself, but for everyone? It’s just the idealist in me that wants to see a better world,” Ponce said. “We’re all connected with each other, through the planets and the universe.”

Her positive attitude serves her well, as she is one of the main student voices of the culinary arts department. Not only is she the lead student coordinator in the upcom-ing Food and Wine Event on April 18, she tutors her peers and sits in as a student representative during weekly department meetings.

“She makes sure that the stu-dents have a voice in things,” culinary arts professor James Fink said. “Also, a very mellow person is really a plus in the kitchen.”

Ponce was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States with her parents and three older siblings when she was 13 years old.

After living in San Francisco for eight years, she moved to the East Bay. The Oakland resident speaks Tagalog, another Filipino dialect called Kapampangan, English and

has studied French and Italian.Currently in her second semes-

ter in the culinary arts program, Ponce is pursuing her third career endeavor. But instead of defining her goals to managing a restaurant, she said that she is keeping an open mind and embracing the learning opportunities that come her way.

“It’s going to happen in its own time. I’m not focusing on how to make money,” Ponce said. “Just how to make food taste great.”

Ponce worked as a middle manager for a nonprofit orga-nization for 10 years, specializ-ing in child care for low-income families.

During her employment, she managed a $5 million contract, ensuring that the funds were being spent toward those purposes.

After gaining experience in social work, she gained her certi-fication in massage therapy. For the past five years, Ponce has been working as a massage thera-pist at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco.

Though the work is fulfilling, Ponce realized that she could not practice massage therapy forever, especially since the nature of the business was too superficial for her taste.

After a one-year search for culi-nary arts programs, Ponce decided on Contra Costa College, based on the fact that the department focuses on basic French cooking techniques.

“It’s really brought so much

growth for me in the last 10 months,” Ponce said. “The support I have from the staff is overwhelm-ing.”

Culinary arts department Chairman Nader Sharkes said that by using her organizational and managerial skills gained through previous employments, Ponce is able to lead her classmates in a professional manner.

Along with approximately 25 of her peers, Ponce is soliciting partic-ipation from restaurants, wineries

and breweries for the Food and Wine Event.

Their goal, Ponce said, is a combination of 40 vendors.

She serves as an oasis, Fink said, because Ponce remains

calm and relaxed even though kitchens can be hectic environ-ments.

Ponce said she tries to live her life honorably. She loves to read, travel, spend time with her 9-year-old niece and cook for her friends during her spare time.

Currently, Ponce focuses her time on helping her classmates and learning all that she can through her experiences at the Three Seasons Restaurant.

Recently, she began tutoring her classmates who are enrolled in the Food Safety Training class. Ponce also is tutoring her peers who are enrolled in the Food Service and Applied Math for Food Service classes. In these classes, students learn how to cost out recipes and how to decrease or increase the size

of a recipe.“It’s one of the harder parts

of the program,” Fink said. “She is very involved. She does set an example and is a very good role model.”

Every three weeks, the Three Seasons Restaurant is broken into six teams of four to five students. The groups are assigned different tasks each week.

Anthony Castillo, who worked as Ponce’s teammate for the week

of Oct. 12, said that although it was his first experience working with her, he can see that Ponce is the glue that holds her group together.

“I like working with her. She’s on top of her game, and she’s always there to help,” Castillo said.

Sharkes said that with her great personality, dedication and profes-sionalism, Ponce will go far.

Contact Holly Pablo at hpablo.advocate@gmail.com.

ADAM OLIVER / THE ADVOCATE

Setting an example — Culinary arts student Fe Ponce helps her peers set up the Three Seasons Restaurant Oct. 14. The 42-year-old is a stable role model within the program.

Ponce leads with personality, dedication

“She’s always on top of her game, and she’s always there to help.”

Anthony Castillo,culinary arts student

LIFE AMONG THE WILD THINGS

Newreleases:“Transfor-mers: Revenge of the Fallen” (PG-13)

“Cheri”(R)

“Love ‘N Dancing” (R)

“The L Word: Final Season” (NR)

Games

CDs

DVDs

Movies

This week:“Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” (PG-13)

“Astro Boy” (PG)

“Saw VI” (R)

“Amelia” (PG)

Newreleases:Julian Casablan-cas: “Phrazes for the Young”

Flight of the Conchords: “I Told You I Was Freaky”

Atlas Sound: “Logos”

Sufjan Stevens: “The BQE”

The Roots: “How I Got Over”

Cartel: “Cycles”

Unleashed

Editor’s note: This column lists popular new (and upcoming) releases for the week.

Newreleases:“WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010” (PS3/XBOX360/WII – T)

“Grand Theft Auto: China Wars” (PSP – M)

“FIFA Soccer 10” (PS3/XBOX360/WII – E)

“Border-lands” (PS3/XBOX360 – M)

THE ADVOCATE l WEDNESDAY, OCT. 21, 20096 SCENE

‘Macbeth’ tragedy awaits premiere

By Chad GarciaSTAFF WRITER

In a dimly lit theater room, Clay David directs a group of actors, prepar-ing them to revive and reinterpret a Shakespeare tragedy.

Not too long ago, the production had just three costumes and several pieces of concept art pinned onto a corkboard.

Now the costumes are finished, and the actors are rehearsing their lines with excitement.

The drama department’s showing of “Macbeth” will soon be ready for its Oct. 29-31 showings at 8 p.m. in the Knox Center. Tickets are $5 for students and seniors and $15 for the general public.

David, department chairman and director, said the production is being created in less time than any previous

play in the college’s history.The normal time for a production

to go from concept to finished prod-uct usually takes eight weeks, he said. “Macbeth” will be completed in three-and-a-half weeks.

Because of this, David said the turn-out for the event will be dependent on faculty and college support.

The Three Seasons Restaurant will host a gala, featuring a three-course meal that begins at 6 p.m. before the play on opening night, Oct. 29.

Those who make reservations will be the first seated. Tickets are $30.

A total of 50 actors, not including stagehands, are hurriedly studying their dialogues, some also learning to wield weaponry, David said.

“I’m something like a football coach. I hype up the actors right before they go on the ‘field,’” he said.

Gasper Brenal, a student and actor in the play, said the director’s methods are very effective.

Considering David has to “physi-cally teach” his students memorization of dialogue, delivery of dialogue and

movement on stage, it is impressive that so much has been accomplished in such little time, Brenal said.

Along with the play being set in the far post-apocalyptic future of 2024, David said there will be many “gender switches,” meaning characters origi-nally meant to be played by males are instead played by females and vice versa.

“In the original Shakespeare play, it was illegal for women to be in them. So I thought it might be interesting to switch around a few of the roles,” he said.

The play’s standard running time is generally around three hours. David, however, has compressed it to 75 min-utes.

Theater staging specialist John R. Morocco will be responsible for the lighting and multimedia elements of the department’s interpretation of “Macbeth,” such as sound effects, music and visual effects.

“For the first time ever, the play will be implementing the use of high-pow-ered projection machines,” Morocco

said.This will allow for seamless back-

ground changes and also serve well as a visual narrative to go along with dialogue, he said.

Additionally, Morocco said the department has accomplished this while simultaneously using fewer resources than previous productions due to bud-get cuts.

“Because of the budget cuts, we’ve been forced to cut play productions,” Morocco said. “This semester, only two plays will be held, as opposed to last semester having five.”

He said that although they usually recycle a lot of their backdrops and props, this year even if they want-ed more, only paint could have been afforded.

For more information about the play or upcoming productions, contact the drama department at 510-235-7800, ext. 4363.

Contact Chad Garcia at cgarcia.advocate@gmail.com.

By Alec SurmaniASSOCIATE EDITOR

When you’re young, everything breaks your heart — even happiness.

The world and all the sensations it offers, from jawbreakers to parental discipline, is so majestically fresh through a child’s perception that trifles birth campaigns faster than parents can remind themselves that the issue is rarely the issue.

At some point along “Where the Wild Things Are,” amidst a showcase of monsters dealing with adult problems like children, the viewer begins to wonder: “Wait a second, how did we get here?”

But the answer is irrelevant. It involves a destroyed igloo, sibling conflict, empty stom-ach and who knows what else.

Essentially, something didn’t go his way, and Max, the young boy at the center of the

story,

reacted as if there was a collective effort to deprive him of attention.

Like most children, boys especially, he appears to be physically indestructible.

During one of the film’s many racing scenes of blissfully aimless action, a univer-sal staple of youth, a playful dirt clod fight breaks out. A clump barely misses slamming into Max’s head, but he just laughs and runs along, without care to the fact that the clod was larger than his head, thrown by a 10-foot tall beast with little self-control and responsi-ble for near decapitation.

Director Spike Jonze wisely juxtaposes this near-invulnerability with spectacles of emotional fragility.

Another requisite of adolescence, feelings carry so much weight that children express much of their creativity through the coping with these emotions.

The camera portrays and magnifies this state by following Max on

his level. When on screen, he rarely

takes up less than half of the shot, manifesting the spongelike

status of youth. Max can-not help but be affected

by everything that happens, and his com-

manding screen pres-ence makes sure

of it.His unfail-

ingly permeable heart drives

Max’s retreat to an island

free of humans. He

quickly learns, how-

ever, that such a place is not free of the prob-lems they face.

The Wild Things, originally devoid of per-sonality or independent thought in the book from which the film is based, struggle with all the complications of human life: expecta-tions, relationships, self-awareness.

Through the type of grandiose lies about one’s importance only told by the shameless and only believed by the gullible, Max instan-taneously becomes king of the Wild Things and is granted what every child desires in the face of authority — eminent power.

He quickly learns just what that entails.Each of the Wild Things suffers from emo-

tions Max ran away from in the first place. Only now they look to him for the solutions.

Although this can sometimes create awk-ward situations to watch, it provides invalu-able experience for the main character.

One of monsters asks early on, “Will you keep out the sadness?”

Max confirms with outward confidence, but the only ones who buy it are the Wild Things. He knows, just as the viewer knows, that considering he avoided confrontation at home, Max is likely to take the easier route in this foreign land as well.

Here, his frustration outlets only make problems worse, when the dirt clod fight leaves one injured and all distant. His lies, upon exposure, only foster more hopeless-ness. His public displays of internal struggle go relatively unnoticed, as there are no supe-riors to console him, which causes his self-doubt to be further contagious.

After he sees his efforts bearing only rotten fruit, Max asks, essentially to himself, “How does the king make his subjects feel better?”

It is in the moment that he realizes not the answer to this question, but why he asks it, that the viewer can begin to sympathize with the young boy and accept his evolution.

Max leaves the island with many issues still unresolved. Yet, his experiences and shift in perspective have imbued him with the abil-ity to finally begin to address them.

His quest’s purpose, signified by soundtrack centerpiece “Hideaway,” is to realize this. Complementing such a goal is Jonze’s move to shoot much of the film dur-ing twilight, as if the main character is always on the verge of change.

Upon returning home, in one of the film’s final scenes, Max’s mother removes the hood of her son’s iconic footie pajamas to reveal the person inside.

He is not a Wild Thing.What is underneath the shield of child-

hood fantasy is a boy slowly coping with being alive.

Max, like all children, exists as the form of human that is con-

stantly being told, but has yet to fully believe, that all of this is

somehow normal.

Contact Alec Surmani at asurmani.

advocate@gmail.com.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ISAAC THOMAS / THE ADVOCATE

Shakespeare goes post-apocalypse

“Where the Wild

Things Are”

★★★★★Starring: James Gandolfini, Max RecordsDirected by: Spike JonzeWhere: EverywhereGenre: Adventure

moviereview

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By Malcolm LastraSTAFF WRITER

With few opportunities on the offensive end of the field and a lack of competitive-ness, the women’s soccer team again failed to win its first game of the season Friday, losing to Yuba College 9-0 at home.

The Comets (0-7-0 overall, 0-3-0 in the Bay Valley Conference) were unsuccessful in their quest to simply compete against the 49ers (6-5-2 overall, 3-2-0 in the BVC), as they allowed nine unanswered goals.

“Our approach (to the game) wasn’t good enough,” coach Nikki Ferguson said. “We can’t compete with (only) two or three play-ers actually being excited with the game.”

Fatigue and aggravation caught up to the Comets’ defense, as they moved sluggishly and reacted slowly to the ball, allowing Yuba to keep it on their offen-sive side scoring five goals in the first half. Three of them were made by forward Liana Knight.

“I felt frustrated because the opponents had a lot of oppor-tunities (on the offensive side of the ball),” Comet defender Elissa Medina said. “It’s hard to stay focused when nothing is working.”

The team looks to bounce back against the College of Marin (0-5-0 overall, 0-3-0 in the BVC) Thursday after the Comets’ previ-ous game was canceled due to the weather conditions.

“(Going into the next game), we have to look at the other team, see what they do well and try to combat them and their strategy,” Ferguson said.

The Comets received a scare in the 30th minute of the first half when forward Jessica Miller was forced to sit the remainder of

the first half due to a knee injury after colliding with a Yuba defender.

“Jessica is a tough kid,” Ferguson said. “It’s going to take a lot to get her out of the game.”

The remainder of the game was no different than the first half, as the Comets continued their lack of effort on both sides of the ball, with players display-

ing no will to fight back.During the 68th minute of the half, Comet

goalkeeper Marianna Aguilera decided to sit out the remainder of the game after run-ning into 49er midfielder Lexy Kidd while attempting a block for what would be a converted goal.

As a result to losing Aguilera, Ferguson was forced to put Miller at the goalie posi-

tion.“When I started playing soccer, I played

goalie so it wasn’t a big deal (to play as goalkeeper),” Miller said.

Miller was able to block four of Yuba’s attempted goals. She allowed two goals from Knight, however, giving the 49er for-ward a total of five in the game, and another goal by Christine Baggio.

“(Miller) is an athlete,” Ferguson said. “However, despite who was playing at the goalie position, some of those goals were going to be made.”

CCC played their worst game all season, as they were able to hold all previous oppo-nents to under six goals.

“I’m a bit disappointed in how we played,” Ferguson said. “This is the first time we actually took a beating, and the first game where we weren’t competitive.”

Contact Malcolm Lastra at mlastra.advocate@gmail.com.

By Dariush AzmoudehSPORTS EDITOR

Three goals in the second half gave the Comets the edge over Napa Valley College in a 4-2 come-back victory at home on Friday.

Being down one goal a few times in the game to the Storm (0-6-2 overall, 0-3-0 in the Bay Valley Conference), the men’s soccer team (6-4-4 overall, 3-1-2 in the BVC) found a way to come back with a goal by midfielder Chris Garcia and three by forward Diego Orellana.

The Storm opened up the game in the 14th min-ute, when forward Luis Garcia knocked the ball into the goal on the rebound. The Comets, howev-er, were able to quickly respond to

the Storm goal three minutes later, when Orellana chipped the ball over the Napa Valley goalkeeper.

Comet coach Rudy Zeller said his team’s perseverance helped it to return from the deficit.

Contra Costa College’s next conference game is against College of Marin (1-5-2 overall, 1-1-0 in the BVC) on Friday at home at 4 p.m.

Zeller said the team has been rusty due to the fact that they last played a game on Oct. 6 at College

of Marin, due to a bye and a rained out game.

B e c a u s e of the Storm playing the offside trap, Orellana was ruled offside four times.

“It frus-trated me a lot,” Orellana said. “Rudy gave me good advice, and it paid off a lot. I was caught offside only one time in the second half.”

Beginning the second half tied 1-1, Napa Valley took the lead again four minutes into the half on a free kick. The Storm goal was not enough to keep the Comets down, because just two minutes later, Chris Garcia tied it up for CCC.

“(I was) focusing on what we

practiced and it put us back in (the game),” Chris Garcia said.

The Comets were able to turn the game around with another two goals by Orellana giving CCC the victory.

Orellana’s three goals in the game marks the second time the forward recorded a hat trick this

season. “In the second half, we were

able to beat (the offside trap), and it opened up the game for us,” Zeller said.

Contact Dariush Azmoudeh at dazmoudeh.advocate@gmail.com.

Men’s soccer Contra Costa College

V S.

College of Marin

When: Friday, 4 p.m.Where: Soccer fieldRecords: CCC 6-4-4 overall, 3-1-2 in the BVC. Marin 1-5-2 overall, 1-1-0 in the BVC.

Background: In the first meeting of these two teams this season, the Mariners got the best of the Comets by taking the advantage of two penalty kicks in the second half to get the 2-1 victory. The game was the Mariners’ first win of the season, and the Comets are look-ing to proving it was a fluke. Comet forward Diego Orellana has scored at least one goal in each of the previous five games and looks to extend his scoring streak.

—Dariush Azmoudeh

Contra Costa College

College of Marin

By Dariush AzmoudehSPORTS EDITOR

Intensity was not enough for the volleyball team on Oct. 14, as they fell in four sets to Laney College at home.

The Comets (1-8 overall, 1-7 in the Bay Valley Conference) began the game by playing strong in the first set and winning 25-23. The Eagles (2-10 overall, 1-7 in the BVC) fought back, however, and won the remaining sets 25-13, 29-27, and 25-17.

In the opening set, the Comets’ communication was a key factor to their good run.

“We did good,” freshman blocker Efaraima Danao said. “We hustled in the first set and communicated well.”

Contra Costa College’s next game is at home against Los Medanos College (5-3 overall, 4-1 in the BVC) Friday at 6 p.m.

“We started off strong. It felt like everyone was having fun on the court,”

sophomore middle hitter Emily Hansen said. “In the second set, we went out of rotation, got frustrated and lost it.”

Things looked good for the Comets, beginning the second set by scoring four straight points and eventually obtaining a 7-1 lead, but the Eagles made a comeback.

Laney went on a 15-3 run to win the set by a score of 25-13.

“Laney came with intensity,” coach Azure’D Nunley said. “We sur-prised them in the first (set), o they came harder in the second.”

Trailing in the third set 24-22, the Comets came up with two points to tie the set at 24 and send it into a deuce.

Both teams rallied back and forth but unfortunately for the Comets, the Eagles scored twice in a row to get the game point and win

the set 29-27.“They fought hard, played with

intensity,” Nunley said. “(But) when a game is that close, there’s no room for mistakes.”

In the fourth set, the Eagles dug the Comets in a hole that they were not able to get out of by opening

the set with eight straight uncontested points. Those points went on to be costly because the Eagles would win the set by eight.

“At the end, it was communication,” Danao said. “In the last (set), we just got quiet. Every pass we had, we blew off.”

Despite the loss, Hansen said she thinks the team did not give up, but rather the other team caught up.

Contact Dariush Azmoudeh at dazmoudeh.advocate@gmail.com.

The football team proved to be defenseless in a 41-14 loss to the College of the Redwoods Saturday in Eureka.

The Comets allowed 458 yards of total offense, 426 of which came on the ground.

Contra Costa College (1-6 overall, 0-1 in the Bay Valley Conference) looks to get its second win of the sea-son against Yuba College Saturday in Maryville.

With the Comets giv-ing up so much yardage on defense and allowing big plays due to poor tackling, there was no way they could stay in the game, coach Dave Johnson said.

The Comets only man-aged 182 yards of total offense and turned the ball over on two fumbles.

In the second quarter,

the game shifted, as start-ing quarterback Don Miguel Tutass went down with a severe knee injury. He would not return.

His status is currently undetermined.

The Comets were led on the ground by Tyrell Smallwood who gained 106 yards on 13 carries and scored two touchdowns on runs of 69 and 8 yards. That was the only thing that went right for the offense, as it managed only 13 yards of total passing.

“Nobody played well, not the offense or the defense,” Johnson said. “Everybody played badly. The first quar-ter we played good, but after that everything went all downhill.”

— Anthony Farr

Box scoresWomen’s soccer (Oct. 16)

Yuba,Contra CostaYuba 5 4 — 9Contra Costa 0 0 — 0

First half1, Yuba, Knight 20, 2nd minute.2, Yuba, Rios 14, 26th minute.3, Yuba, Knight 20 (Kidd), 30th minute.4, Yuba, Knight 20, 36th minute.5, Yuba, Baggio 9, 45th minute.

Second half6, Yuba, Kidd 22, 57th minute.7, Yuba, Knight 20, 83rd minute.8, Yuba, Baggio 9, 88th minute.9, Yuba, Knight 20, 89th minute.

Individual statisticsGoals — Yuba — Knight 5, Baggio 2,

Rios, Kidd. — CCC — none.Assists — Yuba — Kidd. — CCC

— noneShots on goal — Yuba — 19. — CCC

— 1.Saves — Yuba — Paraita 1. — CCC

— Aguilera 6, Miller 4.Record — Yuba — 6-5-2 overall, 3-2-0

in BVC. — CCC — 0-7-0 overall, 0-3-0 in BVC.

Men’s soccer (Oct. 16)

Napa Valley,Contra CostaNapa Valley 1 1 — 2Contra Costa 1 3 — 4

First half1, NVC, L.Garcia 17 (Palayo), 14th

minute.1, CCC, Orellana 7 (Delgado), 17th

minute.

Second half2, NVC, Ramirez 30 (Palayo), 49th minute.2, CCC, C.Garcia 9, 51st minute.3, CCC, Orellana 7 (C.Vargas), 62nd

minute.4, CCC, Orellana 7 (Abonce), 78th minute.

Yellow cardsCCC, Diego Orellana, 16th minute.NVC, Julio Palayo, 64th minute.NVC, Cezar Arriola, 71st minute.CCC, Alfonso Martinez, 81st minute.

Individual statisticsGoals — NVC — L.Garcia, Ramirez.

— CCC — Orellana 3, C.Garcia.Assists — NVC — Palayo 2. — CCC

— Delgado, C.Vargas, Abonce.Shots on goal — NVC — 4. — CCC

— 7.Saves — NVC — Huijon 3. — CCC

— Perez 2.Record — NVC — 0-6-2 overall, 0-3-0

in BVC. — CCC — 6-4-4 overall, 3-1-2 in BVC.

ScheduleFootball

at Yuba, Saturday 1 p.m.vs. Shasta, Oct. 31 2 p.m.

Men’s soccervs. Marin, Friday 4 p.m.vs. Santa Rosa, Tuesday 4 p.m.

Volleyballvs. Los Medanos, Friday 6 p.m.at Napa Valley, Oct. 28 6 p.m.

Women’s soccervs. Marin, Thursday 3:30 p.m.at Solano, Friday 3:30 p.m.at Mendocino, Tuesday 3:30 p.m.

Team settles Storm in win

Game of the Week

Contra Costa College

College of Marin

ScoreBoardStorm 2 Comets 4

Next game: Friday vs. Marin,4 p.m.

SportShortCCC crushed in 41-14 loss, quarterback’s knee injured

Orellana’s three goals keep hopes for playoffs alive

Comets bulldozed by 49ers in landslide

SPORTS WEDNESDAY, OCT. 21, 2009 l THE ADVOCATE 7

ScoreBoard49ers 9 Comets 0

Next game: Thursday vs. Marin, 3:30 p.m.

ScoreBoardEagles def. Comets 23-25, 25-13, 29-27, 25-17

Next game: Friday vs. LMC,6 p.m.

Recovering women’s soccer program still looking for first win

ISAAC THOMAS / THE ADVOCATE

Determined — Comet forward Carlos Vargas (second from left) fights his way past Storm defenders Dionicio Arechiga (left) and Alberto Alverado during the second half of Friday’s game at home. The Comets came back after being down in the second half to win 4-2.

Squad blows early advantageLook of

defeat—Coach

Azure’D Nunley

displays her frus-

tration toward middle

hitter LaShara Johnson in a time

out during a game against Laney

at home on Oct.

14 in the Gymna-

sium. The Comets lost the

match in four sets

23-25, 25-13, 29-27,

25-17. SAM ATTAL / THE ADVOCATE

THE ADVOCATE l WEDNESDAY, OCT 21, 20098 FOCUS

Story and photos by Erik Verduzco

he second annual Treasure Island Music Festival featured nationally recognized talent across its two stages,

drawing large crowds throughout Saturday and Sunday.

Among the many indie bands featured in the lineup were acts such as Grizzly Bear, MSTRKRFT, MGMT and The Decemberists.

Despite Sunday’s cold weather, the atmo-sphere remained vivacious as the weather became pleasant into the night.

The festival began at noon with a set by Sleepy Sun and concluded at 10:30 p.m. with a headlining performance by The Flaming Lips.

The excitement from the crowd was nota-ble when Brooklyn-based indie rock band Grizzly Bear performed its leadoff single,

“Two Weeks,” from its latest album.As the sun set, the colorful scene of the

vibrant lights illuminated the island.Alongside the live bands, the public was

encouraged to visit a carnival-like area, which featured live art, games, contests, sideshow performances and a Ferris wheel for those who wanted to share a moment with their significant other or experience a bird’s eye view of Treasure Island, San Francisco and other surroundings.

The experience was captivating.Not often do Bay Area residents get to

watch their favorite bands play bayside with-out missing out on the scenic view of San Francisco.

Contact Erik Verduzco at everduzco.advocate@gmail.com.

T

MUSIC ON THEISLAND

A bet-ter view —Fans find spots to sit or stand in the back of the crowd to get a clear view of indie band Grizzly Bear at the Treasure Island Music Festival Sunday. The band was a crowd favorite, judging from the cheer-ing its members received after play-ing hits off its lat-est album “Vecka-timest.”

Lighting up —The

crowd remains

alive, as night creeps

onto the island

Sunday. The Ferris wheel and city lights

became the sourc-es of light for Yo La

Tengo’s night per-formance.

Having a good time — (Above) Colin Meloy of The Decemberists belts out songs from the group’s latest album, during Sunday’s festivities. (Below) Festival attendees take a break from the live music to walk around and visit the various activities that were set up to entertain the crowds Sunday.

(Above) Falling apart — Artist Robert D. Harris creates a piece using spray paint as his medium Sunday. The festival featured works and live art paintings by local artists.