The holiday season has hit thedesert, and what many consider tobe the most wonderful time of theyear can also be the most dangerous.According to the Los Angeles PoliceDepartment, the number of retailcrime cases and robberies tend torise during December, making it es-sential to practice safe habits whileshopping for loved ones this month.

There are several measures totake to ensure a safe drive to andfrom stores with these tips in accor-dance with the LAPD CrimePrevention Section. When venturingon your holiday shopping spree, itis recommended that you have some-one else accompany you and toalways lock your car doors and closeyour windows when leaving theparking lot. Also make sure to parkas close to the store entrance as pos-sible and if you must shop at night,park under a streetlight or in a well-lit area. It is very important not tohave any shopping bags or valuableitems visible through your car win-dows; make sure to hide them inthe trunk of your car or under theseats to avoid becoming a target ofburglary.

Once you have finished yourholiday shopping at a mall or storeand are about to return to your car

in the parking lot, have your carkeys ready in your hand as you headout the exit doors. Maintain a firmhold of your purse and shoppingbags while walking to your car, anddo not put them down as you openyour car doors. If you feel uncom-fortable walking out by yourself orare suspicious of the surroundings,have mall or store security escortyou out to your car.

Danger is not only present inparking lots, but also in the storesthemselves. The LAPD recommendsdressing comfortably and casual,without wearing any expensive jew-elry while shopping, and to also notcarry a purse if possible. It is alsoadvised to not carry a large amountof cash with you and to always havea driver’s license or form of identi-fication at hand for emergencies.

Try to avoid carrying large quan-tities of bags or packages for easiermobility and views of your sur-roundings. Another threat to be waryof is con-artists who try to divert at-tention away from your purchasesso they can steal them. Be cautiouswhenever a stranger approachesyou for any reason while in a store.Holiday shopping can be fun, butit is vital to stay alert and rememberthese safety tips to ensure a happyand safe winter season with yourloved ones.

As of Nov. 20, the UC Board ofRegents voted 14-7 in favor of raisingtuition by an average of 5 percentevery year for the next five yearsstarting next fall.

The price of tuition is expectedto rise up by $600 for California stu-dents and over $1,700 for out-of-statestudents in the 2015-16 semesters.If tuition continues to increase by 5percent based on the previous year’scost, it can be expected to reach

$15,560 for in-state students.Allegedly the tuition increase

is to combat the cost of inflation andcover the increase in costs for edu-cation as more students enroll in theUC educational system.

Max Feagle, vice-president ofCollege of the Desert’s MESA, askswhere the money that the UCs aregetting will go and mocks the 5 per-cent increase to combat inflation bysaying “that’s not how inflationworks” and says that the schoolscan obtain more money by droppingtuition rates and thus encouragingenrollment. This seems to be the

prevailing idea among students whohave protested the rise in costs.

According to the New YorkTimes, the price of tuition in Californiafor a public four-year university ex-ceeds the national average by about$9,100. Regardless of that, UC Pres-ident Janet Napolitano claims thatthe governor’s budget is insufficientto maintain the level of educationthe UC system provides.

The College of the DesertWomen's golf team competedin the State Finals at Morro Bay

Golf Course last month wherethey went on to win first placeand win the school's first cham-pionship since 1998.

COD led the tournamentafter the first day with a scoreof 310, fourteen strokes ahead

of second place College of theCanyons. The second day sawtheir lead cut when Canyonsscored a 323 to finish with a 647.COD followed their first daywith a 334 score to hold on bythree strokes for a two-day total

of 644, enough to win first place.The team started it's cham-

p i o n s h i p s e a s o n b y g o i n gundefeated at the Orange EmpireConference. They continuedtheir success at the SouthernCalifornia Regional Tournament

where they competed againstsix other teams at the TemeculaCreek Inn Golf Course. The teamwent undefeated at Regionalsbefore going on to the State Fi-nals at Morro Bay.

Individually at Temecula,Samantha Stewart placed sixth,Fumika Matsumoto seventh, andRaney ninth. The top thirteengirls from the tournament gotthe chance to compete as indi-viduals at State.

First place College of theDesert (644) and second placeCollege of the Canyons (647)represented the two best teamsfrom Southern California. Theother two of the four contestantat State were third place SierraCollege (650) and fourth placeModesto College (678) from theNorth.

COD had three players com-pete as individuals. All threeplaced in the top ten, includingMatsumoto with a 162 two-daytotal (1oth), Raney with 160 (8th),and Stewart, who placed sixthwith a 157 score and was namedto the All-State Team.

"Our goal all season was towin State and we achieved it!"said Stewart.

This is the fifth state titlefor College of the Desert but thefirst in fifteen years since theWomen's golf team won it fouryears in a row from 1995-1998.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 ◆ VOLUME 62, ISSUE 5

Opinion 2

fEATURES 3

cAMPUS LIFE 4

lOCAL 5

cULTURE 6

cURRENT aFFFAIRS 7

SPORTS 8

The ChaparralStudent Voice of College of The Desert Since 1962 www.thechaparral.net

FEATURESPG. 3PriorityRegistraionlist is nowavailable

COD Women's golf team wins 1st at State Finals

PHOTO COURTESY OF COD WOMEN’S GOLF TEAMPictured from left to Right: Gary Sabella (Head Coach), Elisa Carrillo, Fumika Matsumoto, Chantelle McCarthy, Samantha Stewart (Capt.), Erin Lind, Brooke Raney, and Ray Rogers (Asst. Coach)

BY IVAN VALENZUELA

CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

University of California announces a rise in tuition

AP IMAGESCaitriona Smyth, center, yells as she and other students march under Sather Gate during aprotest against tuition increases at the University of California Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., Mon-day, Nov. 24, 2014.

BY GABRIEL LOPEZ

STUDENT CONTRIBUTOR

Please see TUITION, Pg. 4

You’re making a list andchecking it twice, butbefore you go out here’ssome adviceBY CRYSTAL HARRELL

CAMPUS LIFE

LOCALPG. 5Palm SpringsHIV Confer-ence marked“World AidsDay”

Pg. 2 • Opinion THE CHAPARRAL MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFIvan ValenzuelaPaola Fernandez

PRODUCTION MANAGER

COPY EDITORJasmine Hernandez

SECTION EDITORSOpinion - Ivan Valenzuela

Paola FernandezFeatures - Staff

Campus Life - Crystal HarrellLocal - Daniel Magana

Culture & Entertainment - Gene PietragalloAaron Teel

Current Affairs - Andrea CastanedaSports - Antonio Ruvalcaba

ADVERTISING MANAGER -Elizabeth IbarraGregoria Partida

FACULTY ADVISORTed Grofer

Mondays & Wednesdays 11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Office: Room 4, South Annex

PHONE: (760) 776-7244FAX: (760) 862-1338

WEBSITE: www.thechaparral.netEMAIL: chaparral@collegeofthedesert.edu

The Chaparral will be published five times this semester. All edi-torials are strictly the opinions of the editorial board, and do notnecessarily reflect any opinions held by The Chaparral staff orCollege of Desert. Editorials are subject to review by the editorialboard.

Letters to the editor are printed in the order they are receivedwith space and deadline considerations, and may be assigned tofuture publications.

Students are invited to submit any original and appropriate cre-ative materials to the editorial board of The Chaparral. Materialsmay be sent to the following address: Editor, The Chaparral, Col-lege of the Desert, 43-500 Monterey Ave, Palm Desert, Ca, 92260.

All letters must include a phone number for verification. TheChaparral reserves the right to edit for libel and/or length asneeded.

Opinion

With the seasons changing,months ending and holidayscoming, it seems to be that every-one is in a good mood. There’sjust something about Decemberthat changes everyone’s attitude.There comes a wide opening foremployment due to the season,people come together to bringin the holidays, and the winterseason begins.

Many people celebrate thelast month of the year in differentways. Former College of theDesert student, Stephen Perduementioned, “December’s atmos-phere enlightens people as theirfamilies get together and cele-brate. My family’s tradition isgetting together at my grand-

mother’s house and helping herbake different desserts then sit-ting by her fire while we enjoyeach other ’s company.”

In other terms, many peopleare blessed to find a job duringthe holiday season in order toprovide gifts to their friends andfamily. Current employee at 24Hour Fitness, Greg Morrisonsays, “I never thought I’d beable to find a job during thistime of year because the genepool of applicants is quite big ,being that it is the holidays andpeople like myself who get cho-sen as a new hire are extremelylucky!” Seasonal jobs are alwaysthe busiest.

During the season, familiesspend more time shopping atthe mall or purchasing groceriesat their local store. Current em-ployee at Starbucks, Jessica Prado

mentions, “During this time inDecember, Starbucks is at it’sbusiest. We get many customersfrom different parts of town oreven out of town, but my coworkers and I look forward tothis busy season because it makeswork go by much quicker. Weenjoy making those hol idaydrinks and seeing our customerscome back for more.”

December is a great monthto reminisce about how the yearwent. It’s also a perfect time toset goals for the following year,but it sure is bittersweet as thelast month of the year comes toan end. But in the meantime,let’s all grab our favorite pairof pajamas, sit around the fire-place and enjoy these sweaterweather nights with a red holi-day cup from Starbucks as webid farewell to 2014.

The season of love and giving is upon us

Holidays are a time we spendwith our loved ones. We give eachother love and different forms ofappreciation. During Thanksgivingwe display gratitude for everythingwe have received throughout theyear. But during the Christmasseason we think about gifts togive to family and friends.

However, do we ever take thetime to think of the less fortunateand how we can give back to ourcommunity? Here in the CoachellaValley there are many homelessshelters and families that are notable to afford Thanksgiving meals,much less a gift for their lovedones.

There are many different typesof charity events to which we cancontribute. Last month Martha’sVillage & Kitchen along with FINDFood Bank made a difference byhaving their annual ThanksgivingDay 5k Run/Walk. All proceedswent towards helping to endhunger in the Coachella Valley.Events such as the 5K run encour-age the community to be involvedand help each other out in difficult

times of need.The Coachella Valley Rescue

Mission (CVRM) is also contribut-ing to our community by havingtheir annual Toy Drive. The ToyDrive gives children that are lessfortunate a toy that they wouldotherwise not receive. Throughoutthe Coachella Valley there aremany organizations and businessesthat have a toy drop box for anyoneto donate an unwrapped or newtoy. For listings of drop box loca-tions please log on to CVRMwebsite: www.cvrm.org/annual-toy-drive-2014/

Giving back doesn’t neces-sarily mean donating money; wecan also donate our time. Manyshelters throughout the CoachellaValley allow individuals to helpby serving food to families duringthe holidays and throughout theyear.

Making a difference in ourcommunity gives us an opportu-nity to help families that reallyare in need. Anything, small orbig, makes a difference, even do-nating a dollar to The SalvationArmy volunteers outside of thelocal Wal-Mart stores will makea difference in a family's life.

BY BETSUA MONTOYA

STUDENT CONTRIBUTOR

Ringing in December with the spirit of Christmas

BY KERRY TORIBIO

STUDENT CONTRIBUTOR

AP IMAGESShoppers get in the spirit of Christmas outside a JCPenney store in Glendale, Calif.

AP IMAGESA woman walking her dog stops to admire a vintage Santa Claus holiday window display at Lord & Taylor department store in New York

PHOTO COURTESY OF CVRM FACEBOOKPeople wait in a line outside the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission

PHOTO COURTESY OF CVRM FACEBOOK

Volunteers at the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission servingpumpkin pie on Thanksgiving 2014

MW, or M only 8:00 AM MON-DEC 15

7:00, 7:15, 7:30, or 8:00 AMMWF, WR, or W only: 8:00 AMWED DEC 17

08:30 or 09:00 AM MT, MW, orM only: 8:00 AM MON DEC 15

07:30, 8:00, or 09:00 AM TR or Tonly: 8:00 AM TUE DEC 16

08:00 or 08:30 AM MTWR orMTWRF: 8:00 AM THUR DEC18

08:00 or 08:30 AM R only:8:00 AM THUR DEC 18

08:00, 08:30, or 9:00 AM F only:8:00 AM FRI DEC 19

9:00 AM MTWR:8:00 AM TUE DEC 16

9:00 AM MWF or MTWRF:8:00 AM FRI DEC 19

9:30 AM TR10:00 AM THUR DEC 18

9:30 or 10:00 AM MW or MWF:10:00 AM MON DEC 15

10:00, 10:30 or 11:00 AM TR:10:00 AM TUE DEC 16

10:00 AM MTWR, MTWRF, orTWRF:10:00 AM THUR DEC 1810:00 AM F only:10:00 AM FRI DEC 19

11:00 AM MTWR or MTWRF:10:00 AM TUE DEC 16

11:00 AM MW:10:00 AM WED DEC 17

11:00 AM MWF or MTWF:10:00 AM FRI DEC 1912:00 N MTWR:10:00 AM WED DEC 17

12:00 or 12:30 PM T only:12:00 N TUE DEC 16

12:30 PM MW, MWF or M only:12:00 N MON DEC 15

12:30 or 1:00 PM TR or R only:12:00 N THUR DEC 18

1:00 or 1:15 PM MW or M only:12:00 N MON DEC 15

1:00 PM MTWR or T only:12:00 N TUE DEC 16

1:30 or 2:00 PM M only:2:00 PM MON DEC 15

1:30 or 2:15 PM T only:2:00 PM TUE DEC 16

2:00 PM MWF or MTWRF:12:00 N FRI DEC 19

2:00 PM MTWR:2:00 PM THUR DEC 18

2:00 or 2:15 PM TR:2:00 PM TUE DEC 16

2:00 or 2:15 PM W only: 2:00 PM WED DEC 17

2:00 or 2:15 PM R only:2:00 PM THUR DEC 18

2:00 or 2:45 PM MW:2:00 PM WED DEC 17

2:30 PM MW:2:00 PM MON DEC 15

2:30 PM TR:2:00 PM THUR DEC 18

3:00 PM MWF, MTW orMTWRF: 2:00 PM FRI DEC 19

3:30 PM MW:4:00 PM MON DEC 15

3:30 or 4:00 PM M only:4:00 PM MON DEC 15

3:30 or 4:00 PM TR:4:00 PM TUE DEC 16

3:30, 4:00 or 4:30 PM T only:4:00 PM TUE DEC 16

3:30, 4:00 or 4:30 PM W only:4:00 PM WED DEC 17

3:30, 4:00 or 4:30 PM R only: 4:00 PM THUR DEC 18

4:00 PM MW or MTWR:

4:00 PM WED DEC 17

5:00, 5:15, 5:30 or 6:00 PM Monly 6:00 PM MON DEC 155:00, 5:15, 5:30 or 6:00 PMMTWR, TR, or T only:6:00 PM TUE DEC 16

5:00, 5:15, 5:30 or 6:00 PM MWor W only:6:00 PM WED DEC 17

5:00, 5:15, 5:30 or 6:00 PM Ronly: 6:00 PM THUR DEC 18

6:30, 6:50, 7:00, 7:30 or 8:00 PMMW or M only:8:00 PM MON DEC 156:30, 6:50, 7:00, 7:30 or 8:00 PM Tonly:8:00 PM TUE DEC 16

6:30, 6:50, 7:00, 7:30 or 8:00 PMW only:8:00 PM WED DEC 17

6:30, 6:50, 7:00, 7:30 or 8:00 PMTR or R only:8:00 PM THUR DEC 18

It can be difficult to make theright choice when choosing healthinsurance plans if you are not awareof the difference between the typesof plans available. Health Mainte-nance Organizations (HMOs) areorganizations of health care, whichprovide you with health care pro-fessionals and facilities to create a“provider network.” With HMO in-surance, you will typically pay asmall co-payment when visiting aphysician or hospital within the plan.On the other hand there is another

health insurance that stands as aPreferred Provider Organization(PPO). These organizations have aspecific contract with specific insur-ance companies which are less strictunlike the HMO. The PPO is a com-bination of fee for services, like HMOthere is a limited number of doctorsand hospitals to choose from. WithPPOs the advantage is that you donot need a primary care physician’spermission to see a specialist of anykind.

For HMO there will be a smallcharge for each visit to the doctor’soffice and hospital. On the contraryfor PPO, actually there is a deductiblefor some services you might acquirefor each visit. Unlike HMO you ac-

tually are in charge of choice of yourdoctor to monitor your health care.

PPOs cost more than HMOs,but many people choose them be-cause they are less restrictive. Youwill have more control over yourown healthcare decisions than youwould have under an HMO.

Often, your financial situationwill make the decision for you. HMOsare significantly less expensive andlimit your out-of-pocket costs. How-ever, if you want more autonomyin making your healthcare decisions,PPOs are a better bet.

Understanding the differencebetween HMO and PPO plans canhelp you make the right insurancechoice for your entire family.

Features • Pg. 3THE CHAPARRALMONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

Features

Know your health insurance options BY GREGORIA PARTIDA

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Christmas to most Americansis a time for giving, to share withthose around them. Mexico alsoshares that belief but in a differentway. One of the only major similaritiesis that they both celebrate the birthof Christ. In Mexico the celebrationsusually take place Dec. 24, ChristmasEve and in the U.S, Dec. 25 ChristmasDay is the big celebration day.

Christmas in America has re-placed its Christ symbols with SantaClaus, stockings and decorated Christ-mas Trees making the holiday opento all religious beliefs. While accordingto ehow.com “Christians remain trueto their observance of religious faithand regard the Nativity scene (thedepiction of the manger where Christwas born) as the main icon for theholiday.”

On Christmas Eve in Mexicopeople from neighborhoods partic-ipate in “Posadas” which is translatedin English as “ Inns”. Posadas arecelebrations from Dec. 16 to ChristmasEve but in some neighborhoods itonly takes place Christmas Eve night.Each of the nine days, two membersrepresent the Virgin Mary and herhusband Joseph and they go to theirneighbor’s houses and sing a songasking for a place to stay and theneighbors represent the Inn keepers

and they sing back. In the U.S. reen-actors visit three homes and at thethird home they sing and pray andthen they stay to party. At theseparties according to student, AndreaBorunda, they have piñatas that arefilled with candy for the kids' enter-tainment. Americans also go fromdoor to door singing Christmas carolswhich may or may not include reli-gious songs.

“What my family does tradi-tionally is we gather together in ourneighborhood and we decorate ourstreet with paper dollies from oneside of a house to the next.” said stu-dent Gregoria Partida, “During thePosada festivities we eat tamalesand pozole and we drink hot drinkssuch as champurrado and atole.” InAmerica many houses can be seendecorated with Christmas lights andtraditionally many Americans haveChristmas parties and/or Christmasdinners and they usually eat turkey,ham, apple cider, and hot chocolate.

Both cultures give presents forthe holiday, the difference is accordingto some of the Hispanic students inthe College of the Desert’s newspaperproduction class is that Mexican fam-ilies tend to open their presents onChristmas Eve instead of waitinguntil Christmas morning. In Americathe tradition is to tell children toleave out cookies and milk at nightfor Santa and that he will sneak intothe house and leave presents thatthe kids can open in the morning.

Christmas in Mexico v.

Christmas in America

AP IMAGES

BY ANDREA CASTANEDA

CURRENT AFFAIRS EDITOR

A child tries to break a Mexican Christmas piñata during a street"posada", in an upscale neighborhood in Mexico City

AP IMAGESChristmas trees stand in the East Room of the White House inWashington, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014

Fall 2014 final exam schedule

Friends of the College of theDesert Library (FOTL) held a suc-cessful fall season book sale in theCravens Student Services CenterNov. 14-16. The event was put to-gether by the FOTL in order to raisemoney for the COD library.

They sold books that were do-nated by the community with thehelp of volunteers. The money thatwas raised will be used to buy newbooks along with anything else re-qu i red to keep the l i b ra ryfunctioning.

Volunteer president of theFOTL, Marge Dodge said, “Theturnout was very good with Fridaybeing our busiest day, and a lot ofstreet fair people showing up onSaturday and Sunday.”

“Overwhelming with so manybooks to choose from, especiallyfrom the classics,” Customer LeoPadilla described the turnout. “Eventhe customers prompted friends tojoin in."

"There was a good steadyturnout especially with the goodweather,” said Chairman LauraLee Marcarian. She added that “Agentleman came here and pickedout nine boxes of books that willbe sent to the University of Arme-nia.”

Many books were sold fromthe inventory of more than 10,000

books across multiple genres. Vol-unteer Sharyn Mckee estimatedthat they made about $6000 dollarsthrough this book sale.

On what happens with the left-over books she elaborated that they"donated six boxes to the Commu-nications Department for studentsto borrow at their convenience.”

With a successful turnout fromcustomers and sales, the FOTL willcontinue to have future book sales.“We’ll have three sales a year forthe fall, spring, and summer,” said

Dodge. “What we would like tosee is more students volunteers.”

“The people that showed upwere interested in books,” saidMckee, “we’d be more than happyto have more students to volunteerin March.”

Padilla stated that he “hopesthis will continue with this beingthe only book sale for the valley,especially since they have booksyou won’t find anywhere else.”

The books that were sold “in-creases reading with the books

being inexpensive,” said Dodge.“Giving the people easy access tobooks.”

“It will add culture for peopleto educate them with different viewsand ideas,” said Padilla, “whichwill encourage more people to readwith their low prices which arebetter than Barnes and Noble.”

“Since a lot of children showedup to buy books it will encouragethem to be lifelong readers,” saidMckee.

“Something that makes me re-

ally happy is when people comein with their list of books they’relooking for and when they find ithere they are also very happy; Ifind that very fulfilling.”

Printed books are not finishedyet, with so many passionate peopleboth buying and volunteering theirtime. Given this, the book sale willcontinue on for many more seasonsat COD.

Pg. 4 • Campus Life THE CHAPARRAL MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

Campus LifeFriends of the College of the Desert Library host fall book sale

ASCOD investigates:Introducing HonorClasses to COD

Honor classes are typi-cally higher-tier level classes andthey are currently being offeredin junior colleges in the Northernregion of California and in the LosAngeles area, as well as highschools in the Coachella Valley.Recently the Associated Studentsof College of the Desert(ASCOD)and the Inter Club Council(ICC)began investigating the pros andcons of the system to find meritin introducing the system into Col-lege of the Desert.

Douglas, a member and officerof ICC, says that they are in thebeginning stages of investigatinghow it may effect and how it maybenefit them, but as of right now,nothing is known. He also saysthat ICC is hopeful of hearing stu-dent opinions as to the matter ofintroducing the system.

“Sure, why not?” says BarbaraTrujillo, a chemical engineeringmajor at COD. “If they feel pre-pared for Honor courses theyshould take them.” Another studentthat agrees with the addition ofHonor classes, Chelsea Manger,says that implementing the Honorcourses would provide studentslooking to transfer with a betterway to show off their abilities tofour-year universities.

“Higher level classes for col-lege are usually just major specificcourses,” says Hannah Ruzicka,one opposed to the idea of intro-ducing Honor classes, “I can’t

think of any real reasoning behind“honor” classes besides the nicelabel of Honor classes.” She asksif the courses would relevant tothe educational system past highschool and they would have anyrelevancy on students’ transferstatus or BA. Noting that currentlyASCOD has no information in re-gards to how the courses wouldbenefit students, she says that itwould just be “more classes that’lltake more time and money.”

One student enrolled in theMath Engineering Science Achieve-ment (MESA) program, whowished to stay anonymous, rec-ommends that the “Honor coursescould be structured as independentstudy courses offered to smallgroups of students.” She says theway it would work is that thecourses would be offered basedon student interests rather thanattendance. The way the systemworks, it would prevent courseswith low enrollment from beingcancelled. Classes would not belisted and only be offered to certainstudents in specific departments.In this manner, students wouldobtain credits for classes in regardsto their major and faculty thatwished to teach certain subjectswould be able to do so regardlessof number of attendees.

Whether or not the Honorcourses become a part of COD iscurrently unknown, until furtherinvestigation of how the systemworks and benefits the studentbody, the topic is still on the table.

BY GABRIEL LOPEZ

STUDENT CONTRIBUTOR

BY RUSSELL SHELDEN

STUDENT CONTRIBUTOR

PHOTO COURTESY OF FRIENDS OF COLLEGE OF THE DESERT LIBRARY FACEBOOKShoppers looking through the wide selection of affordable book provided by the Friends of the COD Library

15% student discount until Dec. 30

Governor Jerry Brown, whohas opposed the increase in tuition,intended to keep tuition costs atthe 2011-12 level and use the taxincrease of Prop 30 to give the UCsincreased funding if they main-tained the cost of education flatfor the next 4 years. But since theBoard of Regents has moved toraise tuition it is unknown whatGovernor Brown intends to do

next.For students who receive fi-

nancia l ga in and are wi thinlow-to-middle income, tuition isfree and will continue to be assuch regardless of the hike in costs.For anybody whose family annualincome exceeds $175,000 will haveto pay the full increase in costs.

Tuitioncontinued from pg 1

The Palm Springs ConventionCenter hosted its second HIV Con-ference on December 1. The purposewas aimed to educate, empower andraise awareness about the diseasefor those living in the Coachella Val-ley.

The message was shared withover 100 people at the Pathways toHealth and Well-Being conferencefor Aids patients in conjunction withWorld Aids Day.

Experts say despite the advancesin treatment and better understandingof the virus, the fight against thediease is far from over.

“There's so many people whothink that there's been a vaccineagainst HIV, or that there's been acure for Aids and that somehow it'snot a concern anymore," says BarryDayton, Director of Marketing andCommunications with the DesertAids Project.

It has been over 30 years sincethe first case of HIV was reported

in the Riverside County. More than6,300 cases have been reported tothe department of public health, and2,988 people in the county have diedfrom the disease, according to theRiverside County Department ofPublic Health.

"Recent numbers have shownthat there are perhaps 2,000 or morepeople in the Coachella Valley whoare living with HIV, but are unawareof their HIV status," says Dayton.

Throughout the day, expertsstressed the importance of reener-gizing the commitment and fightagainst HIV, saying it had lost someof its appeal and solidarity they oncehad in facing it.

"It's been proven that if you geton HIV medication early on, youbecome 96 percent less likely to passit onto somebody else," says Day-ton.

The Riverside County Depart-ment of Public Health offers programsthat help end the spread and improvethe well-being of those living withthe virus.

For more information visithttp://www.rivcohivaids.org/

The Desert Arts Festival will beheld at Frances Stevens Park inDowntown Palm Springs on De-cember 13-14, 2014. It will feature100 artists presenting their originalwork in all mediums of two andthree dimensional fine art, includingpaintings in acrylic, oils and water-colors, photography, etchings,

sculpture in clay, glass, metal, stoneand wood. Each artist will be presentto meet with the public and discusstheir work. All work is available forpurchase.In addition to fine art, finecrafts will also be presented. Festivalattendees will find blown glass,turned wood, semi-precious jewelry,pottery, stained glass, and an arrayof high-quality crafts.

Frances Stevens Park is locatedat 538 N. Palm Canyon Drive, at thecorner of Palm Canyon Drive and

Alejo Road. The hours of the eventare from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm on Sat-urday and Sunday. Admission andparking are free. The event is handicapaccessible.

This Festival is presented byWest Coast Artists and benefits theDesert Art Center, a local Non-ProfitOrganization, offering classes in fineart. For additional information visitourwebsite at www.westcoastartists.comor call 818-813-4478.

Native American culture willcome alive with Native Americansong and dance at the festive WinterGathering POW WOW presentedby the Twenty-Nine Palms Band ofMission Indians December 12th-14that the Spotlight 29 Casino Showroom.Admission is free.

Native Americans from acrossthe United States and Canada attendthe gathering for a spectacular displayof traditional handmade dresses,dancing, songs, arts, crafts and food.The Winter Gathering POW WOWprovides a great opportunity forpeople of all ages to participate in amemorable cultural event filled withNative American tradition and her-itage.

The Winter Gathering POWWOW brings multiple tribes togetherto compete in various dance anddrum contests. Guests will see dancersin the “tiny tots” group (6 years andunder), up to the “golden age” group,which will feature both men andwomen ages 65 and older. Cash prizes

are awarded to the top performersin every category. Special perform-ances include the Iron Man FancyDance, as well as the Men andWomen’s Team Dance.

A highlight of the Winter Gath-ering POW WOW is the Grand Entry,where all of the tribal dancers enterthe Spotlight Showroom in a pro-cession. Grand Entry times are Fridayat 7 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and 7p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.

Guests can also enjoy deliciousfood, including authentic recipeslike Native American Fry Bread andIndian Tacos. A variety of vendorswill be on hand selling items suchas Native American jewelry, NativeAmerican art work as well as clothingand apparel, Navajo Pottery and tra-ditional dream catchers.

Winter Gathering POW WOWhours:Friday, December 12 from 7:00p.m. – 11:00 p.m.Saturday, December 13 from 1:00p.m. – 11:00 p.m.Sunday, December 14 from 1:00p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

For more information, call 866-377-6829or visit www.Spotlight29.com.

Local • Pg. 5THE CHAPARRALMONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

LocalNative American POW WOW features Indian songs and dance

BY DANIEL MAGAÑA

LOCAL EDITOR

PHOTO COURTESY OF AP IMAGESNative American tribe member looks up at the skies

Palm Springs to host Desert Arts FestivalPalm Springs HIV Conference

marks 'World Aids Day'

BY DANIEL MAGAÑA

LOCAL EDITOR

BY ALEXANDRA WINNER

STUDENT CONTRIBUTOR

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHANGE.ORGAttendees look into the different art stations

Though you might not haveheard, there are no longer any casesof Ebola in the U.S.. On Nov. 11 Ebolasurvivor Dr. Craig Spencer was re-leased from the hospital and thenumber of domestic cases is backdown to zero. With the dramaticdrop in news coverage it would seemthat the Ebola crisis is over. Thishowever is far from the truth.

Though many news outlets areless inclined to cover it, there is stilla major Ebola outbreak in West Africa.As of Dec. 4, Ebola has infected morethan 17,000 people and killed at least6,000 of them. Many experts thinkthis is an underestimation; cases gounreported because healthcare centers

have to turn people away and bodiesare buried by families without beingtested.

The countries where the out-breaks are strongest lack hospitalsand medical equipment. Most health-care centers don’t have the properprotective equipment for their staffand if they do, they haven’t beentrained to use it. Governments andassistance agencies are working tobuild and stock better healthcarecenters, but the biggest problem willbe staffing them. These countrieshave few medical professionals andthese new centers need hundreds.

With Ebola’s high rate of infect-ing healthcare workers many peoplewonder what will be left after theoutbreak is controlled. There are ap-proximately 98 nurses for every10,000 patients in the U.S. Right now

there are three nurses per 10,000 pa-tients in Liberia and in Sierra Leonethere are only two. There’s no tellingwhat kind of healthcare system willsurvive this.

The problems don’t stop oncea person has survived Ebola either.In countries were Ebola is not wellunderstood, many survivors areturned away and shunned from theirhomes.

And as the Ebola outbreaktrudges on, international attentionwanes. There definitely has beentremendous support from the world-wide community and the U.S. hasbeen a leading contributor, but we’vebarely scratched surface of whatthese countries need.

Gasoline, like dozens ofother resources, has been a painfulnecessity for the average driver overthe last ten years. Like water, electricityand food, gasoline is one of America'smost-used resources. However, overthe last two months, most drivershave noticed a significant decreasein the amount of money they havebeen taking out their pockets at thegas pump. This is due to a 28 percentdecrease in oil prices.

According tofedprimerate.com, oil, the mainsource used to create gasoline was

once priced at nearly $107.00 a barrel(42 gallons) in mid 2014. Due to oilcompanies using new techniques todrill for oil, prices have plummetedto only $66.00 a barrel over the lastsix months. But why? Where is thisoil coming from? Did we make somekind of deal? The truth is that theUnited States has actually beenfinding its own oil for about thesame amount of time that we haveall seen a drop in gas prices. Sateslike North Dakota and Texas havehad a booming market for oil drillingover the past year due to new tech-niques for drilling and drilling innew areas. Gasbuddy.com has arecorded chart for U.S. prices showingsome cities getting prices lover than

$2.31 per gallon!This isn't necessarily the

first time gas prices have droppedby a substantial amount over thelast couple of years, but this is oneof the lowest recorded falls in cost-per-barrel over a six-month period.What does this mean? According tonytimes.com and AAA Auto Club,the average family could be savingup to $120.00 a month for every tencent drop in the price of gasoline.While there are dozens of expertswith mixed predictions about whatwill happen next with the price ofoil, there seems to be good signs ofstability until the holidays are over.

Recently Governor JerryBrown signed a bill to ban one-timeuse plastic shopping bags in Cali-fornia, under SB270. The law goesinto effect for large chains like Walmartand Target on July1, 2015 and forconvenience stores and liquor storeson July 1, 2016.

The purpose of this newlaw is to save the planet. The 13 mil-lion plastic bags that are being handedout are ending up in waterways,landfills, and the ocean, and are beingmistaken for food and consumed byanimals, which is leading to theirdeath. “They [bags] don’t decompose,they don’t go away. Were still dealingwith the bags that were generatedin the 1980’s when the plastic bagfirst came into California.” accordingto Mark Murray who was interviewed

by CNN.The only downfall of this

new law is that now you either haveto purchase brown paper bags for10 cents or bring your own bags.The purpose is to encourage peopleto bring their own bags to reducelitter. The ban does not apply tofruits, vegetables or meats.

Recently Walmart in PalmSprings has already eliminated theplastic bags and are now selling thebrown paper bags. When asking acostumer what she thought aboutthis ban she said, “I think it’s a geniusidea and I don’t know why it tookthis long for it to be a law, plasticdoes not decompose so where arethese bags ending up? In placeswhere they shouldn’t and being eatenby animals. This is a reason whysome species are going extinct.” z.The only thing she said she didn’tagree with is having to buy the 10cent bags. California is the first toban the plastic bags, but won’t bethe last.

New York police officerfaced possible chargers for chokingand killing an unarmed man butwas declined indictment by StatenIsland grand jury on Dec. 3. PoliceOfficer Daniel Pantaleo, 29, facedpossible charges for the death of EricGardner, 43, which took place July17. Garner was being arrested forselling loose cigarettes. A cell phonevideo shows Pantaleo using a bannedchokehold to subdue the perpetrator.This chokehold was banned 21 yearsago because it could be deadly butit could be used if an officer’s life is

threatened.In the video Garner yells, “I

can’t breathe!” According to Foxnews, “Garner, who had health prob-lems, died as a result of the encounter.”The medical examiner ruled his deatha homicide by "compression of neck(chokehold), compression of chestand prone positioning during physicalrestraint by police," the medical ex-aminer's office has said. Chokeholdwith other health problems couldhave contributed to his death suchas asthma, diabetes and obesity.

The officer could face depart-mental charges but he was notcharged with a crime because thegrand jury of 14 whites and 9 mi-norities, according to CNN, thoughtthere was not enough evidence tocharge him. Many people are upset

because they believe not indictingPantaleo is a civil rights violationand NYPD are concerned that peoplewill protest like the protesters in Fer-guson. Garner’s family plans tosue New York city for $75 million.

Student Lizabeth Arriaga re-sponsed to the decision and incidentwith, "I think his asthma contributedto why he couldn't breathe and Ithink the cop did use unreasonableforce, maybe because the guy wasbig and they wanted to detain him.I don't think race had to do with thethe decision to not charge him butI think because the guy is a cop that'sthe reason he didn't get charged. Ithink there was enough evidenceand if it was a normal person thatdid this they would have beencharged.

An obstetrician-gynecologist inPalm Springs surrendered his medicallicense after being placed on probationearlier this year by the Medical Boardof California.Dr. Antonio Perez-Munoz, employed by the DesertRegional Medical Center, was foundguilty of negligence to his patients.

According to the Desert Sun theMedical Board of California wrote“respondent is subject to disciplinaryaction ... in that he committed grossnegligence in his care and treatmentof patient A.F., in the labor and de-livery of her baby.” The Desert Sunalso noted that records show thatA.F.’s child was born “blue and notbreathing” and that brain defectshave been found due to doctoral er-rors.

Palm Desert’s community andformer patients of Dr. Perez-Munozare shocked by this news. A sourcethat asked to stay anonymous andwho was a former patient of Dr.Perez-Munoz had the following to

say on the case “I’m glad we’re okay- but that poor mom. If I knew aboutthis, I would’ve picked a differentdoctor just in case”.

Christian Ceja, a Palm Desertresident, says “It’s uneasy to see howindividuals who are established intheir industry, such as doctors,lawyers, and police officers, and whoare seen as authority figures, are ca-pable of misusing their power andnegatively affect the people whotrust them in their profession.”

U.S. News & World Report’sdoctor finder stated that Dr. AntonioPerez-Munoz has been practicingfor 26 years with the medical degreehe received from University of PuertoRico School of Medicine. Perez-Munoz surrendered his medicallicense, wallet certificate and walllicense late October to the MedicalBoard of California.

According to the Desert Sun,spokesman Rich Ramhoff of theDesert Regional Medical Center, inPalm Springs said “Desert RegionalMedical Center is dedicated to pro-viding high quality healthcare servicesto every patient who enters ourdoors.”

Current Affairs • Pg. 7THE CHAPARRALMONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

Current Affairs

BY SASHA FLEISCHNER

STUDENT CONTRIBUTOR

BY ANDREA CASTANEDA

CURRENT AFFAIRS EDITOR

Local Ob-Gyn Doctor hasMedical License Revoked

New York Police Deparment officernot indicted for chokehold death

CRAIG RUTTLE/AP PHOTO

NYPD police officers surround a Department of Corrections bus at the Manhattan side of theManhattan Bridge Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014

A ban on plastic bagshas come to California

BY MARIA CASTRO

STUDENT CONTRIBUTOR

RICH PEDRONCELLI/AP PHOTO

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation on Tuesday, Sept. 30,2014 imposing the nation's first statewide ban on single-useplastic bags.

BY GENE PIETRAGALLO

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Gas prices are enjoying a dramatic decline

“A gas station advertising a discounted price for gas at $2.99 per gallon, with the purchase of acar wash, in Lynnwood, Wash. The U.S. is on track for the lowest annual average gas price since2010.”

ELAINE THOMPSON/AP PHOTO

BY REGAN KING

STUDENT CONTRIBUTOR

Ebola crisis isn’t over

ABBAS DULLEH/ AP PHOTOA man killed by the Ebola virus, lies in thestreet in the city center of Monrovia, Liberia

Marking the 20th anniversaryof the Playstation, Sony is releas-i n g a s p e c i a l e d i t i o n o f t h ePlayStation 4 to honor this cele-bration.

Currently the limited size ofproduction for these limited edi-t i o n P l a y S t a t i o n s 4 ' s w i l l b enumbered at 12,300 units world-wide. The color scheme of thisedit ion wil l be the same as thatof the original PlayStat ion 1; al ight t int of grey.

The box includes a verticalstand, a DualShock wireless con-troller and a camera. The pricefor the l imited edit ion consolewill be 49,800 yen ($410 US dol-lars) and is now available at theSony Store.

According to Sony the con-sole is priced at $499 US dollars.

The console will be available forpre-order at Sony.Store.com start-ing December 6.

The original playstation waslaunced on December 3rd, 1994and then released to the UnitedStates on September 9, 1995. Theconsole in the U.S. was priced at$299.

A l t h o u g h m a n y p e o p l ethought i t was expens ive theyhad found it was appealing tothe younger generation. The orig-i n a l P l a yS t a i on s oon f ound ap l a c e on eve ry ch i l d o r t e en schristmas l ist .

The Playstation to this daycontinues to make many fans sat-i s f i e d . S o m e d a y s o o n t h ePlayStation will have much moretechnologic advancements in theworld of gaming to better satisfythe fans for the future

Sony was hit by unknown hack-ers on November 24, 2014 creatinga companywide computer shutdown.Information such as multimillion-dollar pre-bonus salaries of executivesand the Social Security numbers ofrank-and-file employees was leakedto the hackers and caused Sony andother authorities to investigate thesituation. A group known as theGuardians of Peace are taking creditfor the attacks.

Many people and various lawenforcement agencies are curious toknow whether the breach was linkedto Sony's upcoming movie, "The In-terview." This movie is a comedyabout two American journalists askedby the government to assassinatethe North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The F.B.I. sent a flash warningto security administrators at otherAmerican corporations so that theyare aware of the potential hazard ofthe malware that effected Sony. TheF.B.I. released a statement statingthat the malware was written in Ko-rean and deemed destructive innature.

The malware was designed toput a computer to sleep for twohours, after the computer is shut-down, it is then rebooted and directedto start wiping all of its files. Although

North Korea seems to be the centerof attention in this situation, thereis a possibility that the attack wascommitted by an employee or formeremployee.

The hackers also took controlof Sony's social networks includingtheir official site and twitter account.The hacker also put images of red

skeletons, warnings, and filled Sony'sTwitter with rants. From the attack,the hackers were able to release fourmovies to the public, including Annie,some of which have not been releasedyet. Sony is currently building theirsecurity stronger to hopefully avoidsuch an attack in the future.

BY AARON TEEL

CULTURE EDITOR

Pg. 6 • Culture News THE CHAPARRAL MONDAY, DECEMBER 8 , 2014

Culture & EntertainmentLast minute gift ideas for all of the people you forgot about this yearBY GENE PIETRAGALLO

CULTURE EDITOR

With some of the most popularholidays celebrated in the UnitedStates on their way, it's safe to saythat we all must be psychically andmentally prepared for absolute chaosover the next four weeks. If you'reat all celebrating the holidays thisyear, that means family, friends, lovedones, and even your in-laws that giveyou dirty looks for no reason maybe joining you over the holidays. sThis is just the beginning! In caseyou haven't realized yet, all of thesepeople are secretly hoping for somekind of gift from you.

Let's fast forward a couple ofweeks to the last hours before ourofficial holidays begin. Everybodyis ready to drink too much spikedeggnog and open presents next totheir fireplace. A Charlie Brown Christ-mas is playing on the new TV thatyour family waited in line for insteadof hanging out with you on Thanks-giving. All of your family membersare close by, even your Aunt Foremanand her family made it out to celebratethe holidays with you! Unfortunately,you forgot to buy gifts for all of AuntForeman's family. The best part isthat her family remembered gifts foryou. Her family takes note of yourignorance and decides it's best toleave your house immediately becauseyou have shown such a tremendousamount of disrespect to them. As theForeman's are frantically packing uptheir luggage and crying, your parentspull you aside and tell you how dis-appointed they are in you. This isthe cherry on top of this Christmassundae: They want you to move outas soon as possible. What could bedone to reverse the last ten minutesof your now-ruined Christmas? Noth-ing now......

Fortunately, we have complied a list of great last-minute gifts that areavailable on Amazon.com so that you can avoid such an awful holidaygathering and end 2014 in a happy mood:

1. "Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook: Eat Like You Give A F*ck"is the perfect gift for anyone you may be visiting over the holidays thatenjoys preparing delicious, home-cooked meals while simultaneouslyletting out their inner thug in a safe, contained way. Available on Amazon.comfor only $14.95 plus shipping and handling, this one is sure to take Grandma'scooking to adventurous new levels!

2. The "NECA 40054, A Christmas Story Nightlight Leg Lamp" is aminiature nightstand version of the lamp we all love and adore from the1983 Christmas Classic, "A Christmas Story". The NECA 40054 is availableon Amazon.com for only $12.25 plus shipping and handling and is guaranteedto upset any man's wife or girlfriend!

3. The "Taste of Christmas Gift Basket" is perfect for knocking entirefamilies off of your gift list and subliminally showing that you don't careabout buying gifts and put zero thought into anything! Inside the Taste ofChristmas basket are goodies like chocolate wafer bites and cinnamonpopcorn!

PHOTO BY THECOST.NET

It is available on Amazon.com for only $34.99 plus shipping and han-dling.

4. The "Anthon Berg Dark Chocolate Liqueurs with Original Spirits"is a personal favorite of many! Know anybody that loves chocolate andhard liquor? Why not mix the two into a devious concoction that is sureto make your holiday night a forgotten one! The Anthon Berg is a set oftiny dark chocolate bottles filled with a various spirits and wrapped in abeautifully decorated plastic casing. Perfect for Grandma! The AnthonBerg is available on Amazon.com $30.07 plus shipping and handling.

5. An actual lump of Coal! Is there anybody in your life that youactually do not like, but are forced to be in a close space with them for theholidays? Literally, just give them a lump of coal and joyfully watch asdirty looks ensue! Decorative bags of coal with "You've been naughty"stitched onto the front of them are available on Amazon.com for $4.99 plusshipping and handling.

Whatever your holiday needs may be, showing up with boring giftsor no gifts at all is unfair! A quick selection from this list may save yourlife and prevent your family from disowning you over the holidays!

Santa Clause, a publicly known holiday figure, prepares for the the toughest year of his career by training and staying in shape

Sony attacked by unknown hackers

PHOTO BY KITGURU.NETSony headquarters in Tokyo, Japan

PHOTO BY NERREACTOR.COMSony showing their special edition of the PlayStation 4

PHOTO BY SCREENCRUSH.COMSeth Rogen and Even Goldberg star in the upcoming movie, “The Interview

A special edition system marks the 20th anniversary of the PlayStation 4

BY AARON TEEL

CULTURE EDITOR

On August 9, 2014 FergusonPolice received a phone call fromtwo black males who were seen onvideo tape stealing a box of cigars.Officer Darren Wilson responded tothe call after spotting what seemedto be the two males. This is whereit all begins. After confronting themales, Dorian Johnson and MikeBrown. Wilson endured a strugglefrom inside his police vehicle and ashot from his gun was fired and thenhis gun was fired once more outsideof his car hitting and killing 18-yearold Mike Brown. The city of Fergusonbursts into protests and riots formany days forthcoming. On August14 President Obama addressed thenation and urged the investigatorsfor a “clear and transparent inves-tigation.” Between August 16 and18 the governor of Missouri Jay Nixondeclared a state of emergency andasked for the Nation Guard to bedeployed to the St. Louis suburb.On August 20th the Grand Jury beganits investigation and on Nov. 24 theGrand Jury decided not indict DarrenWilson.

There was reaction from peopleall across the World and UnitedStates. Multiple athletes stated theirdismay once the decision was madepublic including Lebron James, SerenaWilliams, Baron Davis, Kenny Smith,Matt Barnes, Jamal Crawford, MagicJohnson, Steve Nash, and KobeBryant. Lebron posted a picture onhis twitter of Mike Brown along withTrayvon Martin with their armswrapped around each other, alongwith a quote stating: “As a society

how do we do better and stop thingslike this happening time after time!!”The former 6th man of the year forthe Los Angeles Clippers Jamal Craw-ford also posted on his twitter: “Inlife we have to remember what isimportant, thoughts and prayerswith Ferguson...” Hall of Fame Legendand Los Angeles Dodgers co-ownerstated that: “We must work togetherto stop the unnecessary loss of youngmen of color. Justice was not servedin Ferguson.” There were many ath-letes who posted their disappointedfeelings about the Ferguson deci-sion.

Hall of Famer Charles Barkleyhad a different view on the wholesituation. Barkley has never beenquiet on the racial issue and onceagain spoke up about the Fergusonsituation criticizing segments of theblack community and condemnedthose who were rioting, looting stores,and burning buildings. “Those (ex-pletive) who are looting, those aren’treal black people, their scumbags.Real black people, they’re not outtheir looting. But unfortunately, theway the media portrays a lot of blackpeople, we only put the negativeblack people on television. We don’tput the hard-working black people.”He also went on to defend the policeand said that some of the black neigh-borhoods would be the “wild wildwest” without them.

In the final year of the Hu-mana sponsorship, the HumanaChallenge is going out with a bang.When word came out that PhilMickelson was going to come tothe desert to compete in the chal-lenge, the desert could not havebeen more excited. Phil is an eighttime PGA Champion and formerwinner of the Humana Challengeback in 2002 and 2004.

Mickelson is not the only listof big name golfers to commit to

the Challenge early on. Others in-clude European powerhouses IanPoulter, former World No.1 LukeDonald and Gonzalo Fernando-Castano, as well as FrancescoMollinari. Also among the earlycommitments are former AmericanPGA Champions Keegan Bradley,Jason Dufner, Zach Johnson andFedex Cup Champion B i l l yHorschel.

Along with all the PGA Cham-pions, there will be many celebritiesas well. According to Bob Marra,“the exact list won't be releaseduntil January."

Marra stated that the tourna-

ment attendees was the result of.“A little bit of luck, and little bitof skill and we have a great field.”In addition, there will be a gourmetfood truck area at Bob Hope Square.The tournament starts Jan. 19 andwill conclude Jan. 26.

Tickets are available locallyat multiple Lumpy’s locations inLa Quinta, Rancho Mirage, andat the PGA Superstore in PalmDesert. Ground tickets are alsoavailable on the Humana Challengewebsite: humanachallenge.comwith a 25% discount until Jan. 5.

Pg. 8 • Sports THE CHAPARRAL MONDAY, DECEMBER 8 , 2014

SportsThe Coachella Valley welcomes theHumana Challenge’s final year

AP IMAGESPatrick Reed hits his tee shot on fourth hole during the final round of the Humana Challenge lastyear

BY JORDAN WILLIAMS

STUDENT CONTRIBUTOR

Ferguson leaves a significant

impact on pro-athletes

AP IMAGES

People protesting at busy intersection in front of the state Capi-tol

BY JORDAN WILLIAMS

STUDENT CONTRIBUTOR

DC United moves one step

closer to soccer stadium

This Tuesday, December 2, TheDistrict of Columbia Soccer StadiumDevelopment Act of 2014 was votedunanimously to approve the plansto build a soccer stadium at Buzzardpoint, an industrial area in southwestWashington D.C. after 10 years ofsearching for a home. The vote wasan accumulation of a 2 year backand forth negotiation process andeven though it brought the club lotsof joy it came as a surprise. Thisvote marks the final steps for theapproval of the process.

According to mlssoccer.com,D.C United’s managing generalJason Levien wrote in an email “Wehave a deep appreciation for theD.C. Council’s continuing efforts

which culminated in today’s unan-imous 12-0 vote in favor of thestadium legislation,this is a significantstep toward securing a permanenthome for D.C. United.” The councilmembers have said it will be a hugefinancial gain for the city and op-portunity to build up a part of D.C.that has been undeveloped the lastcouple of years. The city will borrow$62 million to help finance the sta-d ium and the t eam wi l l beresponsible for its proper construc-tion.

The full council legislativehearing second reading and voteare scheduled for December 16,2014, once the process is completeit will be the final step and the build-ing for D.C. United’s home willbegin.

AP IMAGESThe expected outcome of the DC United stadium

ANTONIO RUVALCABA

SPORTS EDITOR

Liverpool striker gets in trouble for racist comment

AP IMAGESMario Balotelli attends a training session with the team at the Coverciano Training Center, nearFlorence, central Italy

The Football Association (FA)has charged Mario Balotelli, a Liv-erpool Football Club striker, forracist and anti-Semitic commentsmade on his Instagram account.

Balotelli reposted a picture onInstagram of the Super Mario char-acter with a caption saying he "jumpslike a black man and grabs coinslike a jew". This was deemed racistby many people and has causedcontroversy.

Balotelli has also been knownto start fights in practices, and isn'tvery well liked by some of his man-agers in his past clubs.

According to the FA, "Mario

Balotelli has been charged by theFA in relation to a recent postingon social media. It is alleged thatthe Liverpool player breached FArule E3[1] in that his posting wasabusive and/or insulting and/orimproper. It is further alleged thatthis is an 'aggravated breach' as de-fined by FA rule E3[2] as it includeda reference to ethnic origin and/orcolour and/or race and/or nation-ality and/or religion or belief."

Balotelli apologized last Mon-day via Twitter. His tweet read: "Iapologize if I've offended anyone.The post was meant to be anti-racistwith humour. I now understandthat out of context it may have theopposite effect."

Coach Pipo Castillo, COD'smens' and womens' soccer coach

had something to say about this in-cident.

"Although he has stated thathis intentions were meant to be‘anti-racist with humour’, it did notcome across like that to some people.I believe he thought it was 'funnyand not offensive', but we have tobe aware of the repercussions ourstatements will have on others. Itis unfortunate, that sometimes ourintentions come across as being of-fensive to others even if we meanwell. As a Hispanic male, I am notoffended by his post, but I sympa-thize with those who were."

ANTONIO RUVALCABA

SPORTS EDITOR