EC Union Issue 3, September 26, 2013

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U NION September 26, 2013 Torrance, California NEWS LINE UCLA Admissions Workshop UCLA will have an admissions workshop on Monday from 1 to 2 p.m. The workshop will go over GPA requirements, extracurricu- lar activities, transfer agreement guarantee (TAG) and applying to the school. For more information, call 310-660-3593, ext. 6137. Nursing Info Session The nursing program will have a workshop on Oct. 3 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. It will cover require- ments needed to obtain an A.A. in nursing and preparing for the National Council License Examination (NCLEX). For more information, call 310-660-3593, ext. 3408. Resumé Writing Workshop Resumé writing skills enhance- ment will be on Oct. 3 from 1 to 2 p.m. The workshop will teach how to use different techniques to organize and put job experience, references and personal qualities into a resumé. For more informa- tion, call 310-660-3593, ext. 3408. Careers in the Medical Field as an MD Students who are interested in the various professions that hold a medical doctor title, there will be a workshop on Oct. 3 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in Room 218A of the Student Services Center. For more information, call 310-660-3593, ext. 3408. Careers in Law as a Lawyer Corprate, civil, private and fam- ily are some of many careers in law that are available. There will be a workshop highlighting many others Oct. 8 from 1 to 2 p.m. For more information, call 310-660- 3593, ext. 3408. By Sam Tedla EL CAMINO COLLEGE T h e eccunion.com John Fordiani/ Union Japanese nursing student Ayumi Katanaya uses a welding simulator during a scavenger hunt on campus Tuesday. Nursing students from Osaka, Japan took a tour of the campus, attended an emergency response seminar, and participated in a photo scavenger hunt. International exchange Jessica Martinez News Editor F or the past 13 years, nursing students from Osaka, Japan have visited EC in an effort to learn about our industry and technology, just as they did on Tuesday. Forty-two students spent the day learning about the EMT program, taking a tour of the campus, and enjoying a scaven- ger hunt, Daniel N. Shrader, associate dean of industry and technology, said. “Thirteen years later and it (the program) is just as strong as it ever was,” Ron Way, dean emeritus, said. “The partner- ship between El Camino and the nursing school is just awe- some.” Shrader said the event was started by Way. “I was there kind of from the beginning,” Way added. The Japanese students are from IS Nursing College in Osaka, Shrader said. Shrader said the nursing students from Japan interacted with students, faculty, and staff during their time on campus. “We have been dealing with this particular school for as long as I’ve known. It’s an annual event,” Shrader said. “They will be learning about us. Similarly, we are going to learn about them.” The program “gives our fire tech, EMT, and our nursing department international recognition,” Shrader said. Max Kimura, former newscaster, is responsible for the bond between EC and IS Nursing College. He “went into bridging gaps between schools,” Shrader said. “The leadership at our school helped Max make contacts. He was scouting and selected 10 colleges. He said EC was the best and most suited of the ones he saw,” Shrader said. “In addition, Max wants to give students from Japan a new experience and something they’re not familiar with.” Union File Photo The Child Development Center was almost closed down last year but has seen steady improvements both in enrollment and interest to save it. School shootings: if you see something, say something Lorenzo Gutierrez Staff Writer Run, hide, or fight. These are the three most important things you can do in the event of a shooting on campus, EC Police Chief Michael Trevis said. “If you hear gun shots; if you see these things, if you can run, run away from it. If you cannot, hide. Do the best you can do and hide, so this person doesn’t see you,” Trevis said. “And if you cannot run and if you cannot hide, then you have the right to defend yourself and others.” In preparation for such scenarios, Tre- vis said the EC police, Hawthorne police, and Gardena police departments come to- gether to run drills on campus when class- es are not in session. They practice how to enter buildings and save lives. “The campus police here at El Camino Torrance and the Compton Center, both places, our officers are trained,” Trevis said. “We have the training and we have the equipment to save people’s lives - to respond to these kinds of situations, to help people if something was to happen.” Trevis advises all students and faculty to be aware of their surroundings as well as knowing where the emergency exits and police phones are located. He also recom- mends saving the campus police phone number in your cell phone. “I don’t think about a shooting event. I I think about people who get hurt. I think it is very sad,” Jacquelyn Gallagher, 19, communications major, said. “But I think you cannot allow yourself to think all the time because it will drive you crazy.” The FBI classification of a serial mur - der is when two or more people are killed, according to the official FBI website. This year there have been 17 shootings with four or more killed from January to September, the most recent of which claimed the lives of 12 victims, according to The Huffington Post. Trevis also said that every student should have a survival plan, but some stu- dents like Rina Cortez, 21, nursing major, and Seulgi Ellen Lee, 17, political science major, don’t feel ready if a shooting were to occur. “I don’t really have a plan,” Lee said. Child Development Center finds bright spot Eric Hsieh Arts Editor Since it came under new management in July, EC’s Child Development Center has worked to remedy the chronic issues causing it to run at a deficit, employees said. The CDC faced a proposal for closure last January which was struck down by the board of trustees in favor of a plan to revitalize en- rollment and more fully integrate the center into the child development curriculum. “Before I started, the biggest problem would have been enrollment,” Jennifer Montgomery, interim program director at the CDC, said. “When you look at all the issues, whether it be the budget, the program itself, whatever the problem was, the root of it is that we need more families.” Montgomery is confident that efforts un- dertaken to boost the center’s profile are in- deed working. “We’re getting phone calls and visits al- most on a daily basis,” she said. “We have, since I started, tripled our student popula- tion. Whatever we’re doing to reach out to the students seems to be working.” On top of advertising for visibility, Mont- gomery has made it a point to improve ac- cessibility as well. To that end, the center works with local agencies like Connections for Children and CalWORKs. “We established a contract with Con- nections for Children, which is our local resource and referral agency,” Montgomery said. “They help low-income families pay for [See SHOOTING READINESS, Page 2] [See CDC, Page 2] Charles Ryder/ Union A group of students from IS Nursing College, with their student ambassador, visit President Tom Fallo in the Board Room. [See JAPANESE STUDENTS, Page 2] Winter session canceled in favor of two summer sessions Sam Tedla Staff Writer El Camino has canceled its winter term this year to create two six-week summer sessions. Because of this, the spring 2014 se- mester will begin in January and end in May, as opposed to the regular mid-Feb- ruary start and early June end, according to the calendar on the EC website. One reason EC canceled winter was because the long break between fall and spring hindered faculty who don’t teach classes during the winter from being a part of key meetings, Chris Jeffries, ath- letic counselor, said. “There was too much of a break be- tween the fall and the spring where not all faculty was on campus, so committee meetings were being suspended because faculty wasn’t around,” Jeffries added. The back-to-back six-week sum- mer sessions would help the Full Time Equivalent Students (FTES) numbers go up which helps funding, Jeffries said. “That makes no sense,” Devyn Ro- chelle, 19, music major, said. “Why would they cancel winter because some faculty aren’t able to meet up for some meetings?” According to calstate.edu, students who intend on applying to CSUs to at- tend in the fall of 2014 are required to have completed all transfer required coursework by spring 2013. “I think it negatively affects students who are trying to transfer in an efficient amount of time, with classes already be- ing hard to get it and needing to complete classes by the end of spring it detremen- tally affects students from transfering on time,” Kelsey Iino, counselor, said. The cancelation of winter session will shorten winter break from last year’s two-month gap between fall and spring, to this year’s one-month gap. Having a shorter winter vacation could be the one benefit for those who don’t usually take winter because they won’t be out of the school enviroment for so long, Jeffries said. Despite nearly being shut down last year, the CDC has seen improvement in enrollment [See WINTER SESSION CUT, Page 2] Men’s soccer team wins first game of season...Page 7 Japanese nursing students explored El Camino Tuesday

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The third issue of the Union of fall 2013, covering El Camino sports, arts, and of course news

Transcript of EC Union Issue 3, September 26, 2013

Page 1: EC Union Issue 3, September 26, 2013

UnionSeptember 26, 2013 Torrance, California

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UCLA Admissions Workshop

UCLA will have an admissions workshop on Monday from 1 to 2 p.m. The workshop will go over GPA requirements, extracurricu-lar activities, transfer agreement guarantee (TAG) and applying to the school. For more information, call 310-660-3593, ext. 6137.

Nursing Info Session

The nursing program will have a workshop on Oct. 3 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. It will cover require-ments needed to obtain an A.A. in nursing and preparing for the National Council License Examination (NCLEX). For more information, call 310-660-3593, ext. 3408.

Resumé Writing Workshop

Resumé writing skills enhance-ment will be on Oct. 3 from 1 to 2 p.m. The workshop will teach how to use different techniques to organize and put job experience, references and personal qualities into a resumé. For more informa-tion, call 310-660-3593, ext. 3408.

Careers in the Medical Field as an MD

Students who are interested in the various professions that hold a medical doctor title, there will be a workshop on Oct. 3 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in Room 218A of the Student Services Center. For more information, call 310-660-3593, ext. 3408.

Careers in Law as a Lawyer

Corprate, civil, private and fam-ily are some of many careers in law that are available. There will be a workshop highlighting many others Oct. 8 from 1 to 2 p.m. For more information, call 310-660-3593, ext. 3408.

By Sam Tedla

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eccunion.com

John Fordiani/ UnionJapanese nursing student Ayumi Katanaya uses a welding simulator during a scavenger hunt on campus Tuesday. Nursing students from Osaka, Japan took a tour of the campus, attended an emergency response seminar, and participated in a photo scavenger hunt.

International exchange

Jessica MartinezNews Editor

For the past 13 years, nursing students from Osaka, Japan have visited EC in an effort to learn about our industry and technology, just as they did on Tuesday.

Forty-two students spent the day learning about the EMT program, taking a tour of the campus, and enjoying a scaven-ger hunt, Daniel N. Shrader, associate dean of industry and technology, said.

“Thirteen years later and it (the program) is just as strong as it ever was,” Ron Way, dean emeritus, said. “The partner-ship between El Camino and the nursing school is just awe-some.”

Shrader said the event was started by Way. “I was there kind of from the beginning,” Way added.

The Japanese students are from IS Nursing College in Osaka, Shrader said.

Shrader said the nursing students from Japan interacted with students, faculty, and staff during their time on campus.

“We have been dealing with this particular school for as long as I’ve known. It’s an annual event,” Shrader said. “They will be learning about us. Similarly, we are going to learn about them.”

The program “gives our fire tech, EMT, and our nursing department international recognition,” Shrader said.

Max Kimura, former newscaster, is responsible for the bond between EC and IS Nursing College. He “went into

bridging gaps between schools,” Shrader said.“The leadership at our school helped Max make contacts.

He was scouting and selected 10 colleges. He said EC was the best and most suited of the ones he saw,” Shrader said. “In addition, Max wants to give students from Japan a new experience and something they’re not familiar with.”

Union File PhotoThe Child Development Center was almost closed down last year but has seen steady improvements both in enrollment and interest to save it.

School shootings: if you see something, say somethingLorenzo GutierrezStaff Writer

Run, hide, or fight. These are the three most important things you can do in the event of a shooting on campus, EC Police Chief Michael Trevis said.

“If you hear gun shots; if you see these things, if you can run, run away from it. If you cannot, hide. Do the best you can do and hide, so this person doesn’t see you,” Trevis said. “And if you cannot run and if you cannot hide, then you have the right to defend yourself and others.”

In preparation for such scenarios, Tre-vis said the EC police, Hawthorne police, and Gardena police departments come to-gether to run drills on campus when class-es are not in session. They practice how to enter buildings and save lives.

“The campus police here at El Camino Torrance and the Compton Center, both places, our officers are trained,” Trevis said. “We have the training and we have the equipment to save people’s lives - to respond to these kinds of situations, to help people if something was to happen.”

Trevis advises all students and faculty to be aware of their surroundings as well as knowing where the emergency exits and police phones are located. He also recom-mends saving the campus police phone number in your cell phone.

“I don’t think about a shooting event. I I think about people who get hurt. I think it is very sad,” Jacquelyn Gallagher, 19, communications major, said. “But I think you cannot allow yourself to think all the time because it will drive you crazy.”

The FBI classification of a serial mur-der is when two or more people are killed, according to the official FBI website.

This year there have been 17 shootings with four or more killed from January to September, the most recent of which claimed the lives of 12 victims, according to The Huffington Post.

Trevis also said that every student should have a survival plan, but some stu-dents like Rina Cortez, 21, nursing major, and Seulgi Ellen Lee, 17, political science major, don’t feel ready if a shooting were to occur.

“I don’t really have a plan,” Lee said.

Child Development Center finds bright spotEric HsiehArts Editor

Since it came under new management in July, EC’s Child Development Center has worked to remedy the chronic issues causing it to run at a deficit, employees said.

The CDC faced a proposal for closure last January which was struck down by the board of trustees in favor of a plan to revitalize en-rollment and more fully integrate the center into the child development curriculum.

“Before I started, the biggest problem would have been enrollment,” Jennifer Montgomery, interim program director at the CDC, said. “When you look at all the issues, whether it be the budget, the program itself, whatever the problem was, the root of it is that we need more families.”

Montgomery is confident that efforts un-dertaken to boost the center’s profile are in-deed working.

“We’re getting phone calls and visits al-most on a daily basis,” she said. “We have, since I started, tripled our student popula-tion. Whatever we’re doing to reach out to the students seems to be working.”

On top of advertising for visibility, Mont-gomery has made it a point to improve ac-cessibility as well. To that end, the center works with local agencies like Connections for Children and CalWORKs.

“We established a contract with Con-nections for Children, which is our local resource and referral agency,” Montgomery said. “They help low-income families pay for

[See SHOOTING READINESS, Page 2]

[See CDC, Page 2]

Charles Ryder/ UnionA group of students from IS Nursing College, with their student ambassador, visit President Tom Fallo in the Board Room.

[See JAPANESE STUDENTS, Page 2]

Winter session canceled in favor of two summer sessionsSam TedlaStaff Writer

El Camino has canceled its winter term this year to create two six-week summer sessions.

Because of this, the spring 2014 se-mester will begin in January and end in May, as opposed to the regular mid-Feb-ruary start and early June end, according to the calendar on the EC website.

One reason EC canceled winter was because the long break between fall and spring hindered faculty who don’t teach classes during the winter from being a part of key meetings, Chris Jeffries, ath-letic counselor, said.

“There was too much of a break be-tween the fall and the spring where not all faculty was on campus, so committee meetings were being suspended because faculty wasn’t around,” Jeffries added.

The back-to-back six-week sum-mer sessions would help the Full Time Equivalent Students (FTES) numbers go up which helps funding, Jeffries said.

“That makes no sense,” Devyn Ro-chelle, 19, music major, said. “Why would they cancel winter because some faculty aren’t able to meet up for some meetings?”

According to calstate.edu, students who intend on applying to CSUs to at-tend in the fall of 2014 are required to have completed all transfer required coursework by spring 2013.

“I think it negatively affects students who are trying to transfer in an efficient amount of time, with classes already be-ing hard to get it and needing to complete classes by the end of spring it detremen-tally affects students from transfering on time,” Kelsey Iino, counselor, said.

The cancelation of winter session will shorten winter break from last year’s two-month gap between fall and spring, to this year’s one-month gap.

Having a shorter winter vacation could be the one benefit for those who don’t usually take winter because they won’t be out of the school enviroment for so long, Jeffries said.

Despite nearly being shut down last year, the CDC has seen improvement in enrollment

[See WINTER SESSION CUT, Page 2]

Men’s soccer team wins first game of season...Page 7

Japanese nursing students explored El Camino Tuesday

Page 2: EC Union Issue 3, September 26, 2013

2 El Camino College Union September 26, 2013newsPOLICE BEATBy Chris Guzman

Bicyclist receives citation for $30,000 warrant

sept. 20, 3:00 a.m.—A non-student was riding his bike across campus. When police stopped him, they found he had a $30,000 traffic warrant out of Torrance PD. They issued a citation and he was released.

Female student says she’ll get help after seeming suicidal

sept. 19, 3:00 p.m.—Officers responded to the Student Health Center. There was a student who seemed suicidal. She agreed to check herself into a hospital for further examination and was transferred to an area hospital.

Student returns to room in the library to find items missing

sept. 19, 12:30 p.m.—A male student made a theft report. He was in one of the study rooms in the library. He left for an hour. Upon his return, he realized some of his belongings were missing. Student discovers grand theft auto

sept. 18, 8:13 p.m.—Officers responded to the station regarding a grand theft auto report. A male student parked his car in a park-ing lot and it was stolen sometime between his classes from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. He came out after his class and discovered his car was gone.

Male student experienc-es lower abdominal pain during English class

sept. 18, 10:15 a.m.—Officers responded to the Health Center because a male student experi-enced pain in his lower abdomen during his English class. Two stu-dents from class assisted in walk-ing him over. He refused to be transported and he was released.

Custodian slips and falls while cleaning

sept. 17, 1:00 a.m.—Medical personnel responded to a medical aid call. A female custodian mop-ping inside a restroom had slipped and fallen. She was transported to an area hospital for treatment.

Males transported after being caught with alcohol

sept. 16, 7:00 p.m.—Two El Camino Police deputies observed three male subjects walking north-bound past the Administration Buillding. The subjects smelled of alcohol. Upon search, they found possession of open alcohol con-tainers. One of the students had passed the alcohol limit. He was taken to the Torrance Police Sta-tion and the other two subjects were transported to the El Camino Police Station.

Student receives citation for traffic warrant

sept. 12, 9:00 a.m.—A female student reported to authorities that she had a verbal dispute with an-other student earlier in the day. When the officials ran her name, a $30,000 traffic warrant appeared. She was given a citation.

Bike stolen near Humani-ties Building

sept. 11, 10:05 a.m.—Officers responded to the station regard-ing a theft report. The student explained to authorities he had locked his bike on the east side of the Humanities Building at ap-proximately 11 a.m. When he re-turned an hour later, he noticed his bike was gone.

Softball player faints on field

sept. 10, 9:00 a.m.—Officers were called to the South Athletic Field in response to a medical aid call. A student from the softball team had fainted. She was trans-ferred to an area hospital for fur-ther treatment.

Child Development Center

child care.”

“I’ve been working with our Cal-WORKs department here on cam-pus,” she added. “Students are now finding out, not only that we’re here, but that we’re accepting these pro-grams.”

Jessica Simundson, 24, child de-velopment major, works at the center and benefits from CalWORKs. She anticipates that the inclusion of these agencies will mean positive things for her workplace.

“Had they not had CalWORKs, my son wouldn’t have been able to come here,” Si-mundson said. “A lot of the moms at school right now can’t afford to pay for child care. There were parents who knew about [the center], but the cost stopped them.”

On top of upward trends in enroll-ment, Montgomery’s involvement is interpreted by some as a positive step toward more closely integrating the center with the school’s child devel-opment program.

“EC has a fantastic child develop-ment department. They teach theory and we are congruent with that the-ory,” Toni Newman, teacher at the center, said. “Ms. Montgomery com-ing over here has completely helped. The bridge that we lacked in the past is connected now.”

“You can’t just send [practicum students] out to another location because the philosophy of the cam-pus might be different,” she added. “Without this center, I can’t see the child development program being as strong as it is today.”

Despite positive inroads into fix-ing the center’s flaws, critics point out that it has not yet developed into a financially viable program.

According to the Sept. 3 academic senate meeting agenda, the district is projected to transfer $257,750 into the child development fund this year in order to keep the center fiscally sound.

To some, the necessity of that amount is difficult to comprehend,

let alone sup-port.

“I pay $600 [a semester] in tuition,” Jenni-fer Kyeong, 18, business ma-jor, said. “You could help more than 400 stu-dents who re-ally need it, go to school.”

When asked what enroll-ment would have to look

like to offset the center’s operating cost, Montgomery admits she is un-certain what it would take.

“I don’t think it’s possible for me to give you that number,” she said. “I understand that there’s a deficit and I understand that the school has been subsidizing the center. I don’t know that there’s a magic number that would make a significant differ-ence.”

Still, Montgomery maintains that the value provided by the center goes beyond an accountant’s balance.

“I want other board members and administration to come here be-cause I feel like you need the human aspect,” she said. “I need you here to see the kids, the families. We’ve talked so much about numbers and there’s no humanity in that.”

Continued From Page 1

School shooting readiness

Fred Gonzales, 18, undecided major, said he often thinks about what would happen if a shooting were to occur on campus.

“Hopefully it doesn’t happen, but it will be terrible if it happens,” he said. “[My plan] would be to get as

far away from the guy as quickly as possible. I learned krav maga.”

Trevis wants all the campus community to be safe so that the students can achieve their goals and dreams.

“I need everyone’s help in com-munity policing, where everybody is looking out for everyone else,” Trevis said.

Continued From Page 1

Last week, the students spent two days on Catalina camping and exploring the island before coming to EC, Shrader said.

“Their (the program’s) goal is to create an international familiarity,” Shrader said.

Although the event has been going on for many years, this is the first year the scavenger hunt is being added in. The hunt gives the students a view of the campus, Shrader said.

“It’s good to have a cultural exchange when we can,” Stephanie Rodriguez, dean of industry and technology, added, “because we never know where our students are going to end up working or where their students will.”

Way had the opportunity to visit the IS Nursing College in Osaka and spoke at their inauguration. He explained the students there celebrate getting into the nursing program, not when they graduate, as they do in the U.S.

He asked someone at the cere-monies why this was, and they said not everyone gets into the program and because “everyone graduates. Why celebrate that?”

In the past, the visits have been “enlightening, educational, and informative,” Way said. “It turned out to be a great opportunity for the Japan students and students at El Camino.”

“I think it’s all about benefit-ting the students - whether it’s our partner college in Japan or our students,” Shrader said.

Continued From Page 1

Making learning easier

Davion WalkerStaff Writer

Advanced level of teaching can prove to be daunting for various students taking college courses, however, El Camino’s Supplemental In-struction program helps to remove apprehension in students and supplant assurance.

SI is an academic assistance program that utilizes peer-assisted study sessions which is of-fered here at EC.

Luis Barrueta, Supplemental Instruction coor-dinator, said “SI was birthed in the early 70’s at University of Missouri-Kansas City and began at El Camino in the summer of 2002 to offer aca-demic support with demanding classes.”

“The SI coach is a student who has success-fully passed the class that they’re coaching and now works in partnership with the instructor to help stu-dents with academic sup-port which plays out in the classroom,” said Bar-rueta.

The SI program began with a handful of classes, but since has grown, he added.

“The special thing about SI is after class twice a week for 50 min-utes, the SI coach facilitates a group study ses-sion which is peer to peer, basically students helping students,” Barrueta added.

Elizabeth Schwartz, SI program assistant, said “the El Camino’s SI program started with four math classes: Math 23, Math 40 (2), Math 70.”

“This fall semester SI has 47 sections and has maintained 45-50 sections for the past few years in different courses such as Anthropology 1, Art 141, Astronomy 20, Biology 10, Chemistry 20, Geology 1, Political Science 1, Psychology 5 and various mathematic courses,” Schwartz said.

The program has plans to begin SI sessions for accounting, economics, and philosophy classes, Schwartz added.

SI has proven to help students much more so than their counterparts that don’t attend SI, ac-cording to the SI spring data sheet.

“Last semester was actually the most uti-lized semester for SI that we had,” Barrueta said. “About 45 percent of the students in the classes attended regularly.”

According to the SI spring data sheet, “the na-tional’s average is about 15 percent of students attend SI regularly.”

“The strategy owes part of its success to the increased time students spend studying with oth-er students in their groups,” he added.

Former SI student turned SI coach, Lori Ishigo, 22, pre-enginering major, relished over her experience as an SI student.

“The coach would do a lot of study group work, mock quizzes, and also mock exams which were very beneficial,” Ishigo said. “Without SI, I probably would have struggled.”

SI coach, Angela Appel, 23, geology major, credited the SI program for not only being helpful to students but also helpful for SI coaches.

“Every time I sit in the lecture with the SI class, I learn more than when I took the class which helps me as a coach,” Appel said. “The re-

ally cool thing is that I’m considering being a teacher for geology so being a SI coach has kind of shown me that I do well in front of people and I can explain things really well.”

Students now have a bridge to fill the seem-ingly large gap between them and professors through SI. SI coach, Renate Boronowsky, 26, biology major, praised the SI program for this.

“We’re the person that is on the students’ side and the teacher’s side,” Boronowsky said. “We’re really good at making our students not only like the subject, but to see the teachers as people and not this big figurehead at the front of the class-room.”

Supplemental Instruction is offered for a number of courses and has helped many students improve their grades.

“The SI coach facilitates a group study session which is peer to peer, basically students helping students.”

— Luis Barrueta SI coordinator

Japanese nursing students

Winter session cut

“Some students that need to work could use that time to save money to pay for spring, but I mean I’m sure people have mixed feelings about the long break,” Iino said.

In the past, in order to remain full-time students, athletes would take classes in the winter to be eli-gible to play spring sports. Now, they won’t have this option any-more. Jeffries said.

“Well, I was very opposed to it as a counselor, mostly because I work with student athletes, and many of

them utilize the winter to be eligi-ble for spring sports,” Jeffries said. “Also because I think students tend to do better in winter, because it’s shorter and they meet daily so they can just focus on those classes.”

Students who want to take win-ter will look for alternatives, which may deter students from EC.

“I could see students are going to take the winter class somewhere else and stay there,” Jeffries said. “The main reason will be because their winter will extend over when our spring starts, and they can’t be in two places at once.”

Continued From Page 1

“I need you here to see the kids, the families. We’ve talked so much about numbers and there’s no humanity in that.”

— Jennifer Montgomery interim program director

Page 3: EC Union Issue 3, September 26, 2013

FeaturesSeptember 26, 2013 El Camino College Union 3

Davion WalkerStaff Writer

Your heart races. Signs of panic are on your face, and you’re breaking out in a cold sweat; your smart-phone isn’t where you thought it was. After 30 minutes of search

and rescue, you find it, but now you’re late for class.

Incidents like these are indications that students are growing more attached to smart-phones.

“I can’t go anywhere without my Galaxy,” Ashley Jackson, 21, undecided major said. “Its a part of me, I feel naked without it.”

According to infographic research done by HackCollege.com, 57 percent of U.S. college students use smartphones.

Smartphones are so popular in today’s society that this past week, people were camping out for days in front of Apple stores just to get their hands on the latest iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c.

“Smartphones are super popular in todays so-ciety,” Stefanie Eriksen, 19, liberal studies major said. “Their beneficial for sure because we can look up anything, anytime we want.”

Students who use smartphones can check email, listen to music, take photos, watch mov-ies, surf the internet, use social networks, play games, download apps, type text messages and every once in a while use it for its original pur-pose; to make a phone call.

A survey conducted this past week on EC campus suggested that out of 100 students, more than half (63) of them had an Apple iPhone.

Smartphones made by Android smartphones came in a distant second place with 30 and various other smartphones rounded the bottom portion off with seven.

This sample size is evident that the Apple iPhone is more commonly seen amongst stu-dents as opposed to Androids; just walk around campus and you will see an abundance of this phone ranging in different models due to the fact that a new one is released every year.

The latest version of the iPhone is the 5, but many are already eager to get their hands on the latest models that come in an abundance of dif-ferent colors.

“I’m due for an upgrade soon and I want the 5s,” Chris Fletes, 20, undecided major said. “I’m excited for the new fingerprint app on the phone.”

Although not everyone is rushing to get a new

phone, there are students who are happy with the phone they currently have and don’t plan to upgrade any time soon.

“I don’t see the difference with the new ver-sion,” Dalexis Hayes, 18, political science major said. “They made a few changes but I am happy with the phone I have now.”

Even though smartphones possess tons of pos-itive qualities, according to the book “iDisorder: Understanding our obsession with technology and overcoming its hold on us” by Larry Rosen, research psychologist at the University of Cal State Dominguez Hills, technology is causing people to exhibit symptoms of problems includ-ing narcissistic-personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, addiction and depression, among others.

Carlos Gonzalez, 21, business, suggest that smartphones may be the cause of social discon-nect.

“They bring us together in a sense that we have many options for communicating, but also disconnect us because we lose our person to person interaction because things like text mes-saging, FaceTime, and Tango does it for us,” said Gonzalez. “I think we are slaves to our phones.”

Whether you like them or not, smartphones are here to stay and will only become an even bigger part of society and student’s lives.

“It’s very beneficial especially for navigation and browsing the internet,” Danny Perez, 21, mechanical engineering major said. “They have their positives, but it’s a gift and a curse.”

*Photos courtesy of Apple & Samsung

Is your phone up to date?

Page 4: EC Union Issue 3, September 26, 2013

As anyone who has ever had to wait through multiple lines at the DMV

can tell you, bureaucracy stinks. Oftentimes, common sense can go straight out the window in favor of bureaucratic expediency.

While a number of these situ-ations exist all around us every day, a glaring example is fast ap-proaching. This will be EC’s first winter without an actual winter session, and it’s the students who will feel the loss.

Now, from a bureaucratic view point, canceling winter session and shortening our break was a great idea. Not only will the school be in a position to better capitalize on Full Time Student Equivalency regulations to earn more money, they can also do away with the pesky reshuffling of faculty and committee meet-ings to accommodate vacationing teachers and staff. What could possibly be wrong with that?

It’s only when you stop to con-sider what the actual function of a public college is that you begin to notice something is amiss. The purpose of a school like EC is to provide an education to the public, whether that be a single class, an associate degree, or preparing for a transfer to another school. With that in mind, canceling winter ses-sion was a terrible idea.

For starters, anyone trying to

transfer to a CSU within a rea-sonable amount of time is in a very awkward position; many stu-dents depend on winter session to squeeze in requirements before transferring for the spring semes-ter. Now, those students have to either wait until fall, or go to some other school to complete their re-quirements, which means EC los-es money.

Additionally, if anyone takes those courses at another school and aren’t immediately transfer-ring, they’re likely not coming back anyways, since our spring se-mester now starts well before their winter ends. More money

Athletes are also in a sticky sit-uation. Being able to take courses over the winter allows them to free up their schedule for the rest of the year, when they’re likely

swamped with practice. If EC had an ice hockey team, they’d prob-ably be excited by the changes, but since we don’t, it’s doubtful any of our athletes will be excited by the prospect of summer classes -and-

practices.Even run of the mill students

don’t have much to look forward to. After all, many six week class-es can be brutal affairs, condens-ing a full semester’s of learning

into a fraction of the time. What could be better than having to do that twice in a row?

It’s understandable that our ad-ministration could be led by the prospect of short term gains and

expediency to cancel winter ses-sion. After all, the reasoning that more money means more students served makes sense. However, it’s important to remember that costs are measured in more than just money, and if the education of stu-dents suffer, ultimately it’s EC that will lose out.

However, if all of this both-ers you, don’t give up. You can do something about it. It wasn’t all that long ago that crowds of students stood up to protect their winter session against much lon-ger odds than now. Proposition 30 has passed, the financial crisis we faced has become more man-ageable. Winter session may be canceled this semester, but if we put our collective foot down and let EC know that we want change, they will listen.

For instance, Tom Fallo’s office is open to students every Tuesday at 2 p.m., why not drop by to let him know how you feel?

Another venue to share your grievences are the school’s Board of Trustees meetings; it was a group of dedicated students at a Board of Trustees meeting in March of 2012 that saved winter session for 2013.

Never underestimate the power of your own voice to affect change. If enough voices are raised at once, not even bureaucracy can get in your way.See related article on Page 1

Illustration by Eugene Chang

The Issue• The lack of winter session

does more to hurt students than help them.

Our Stand• If students want win-

ter session back, they need to bring it to the administration’s attention.

4 El Camino College Union September 26, 2013EDITORIAL

A Sunday confession

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Editor-in-Chief .......................................................................Thomas SchmitManaging Editor ..........................................................................Rigo BonillaNews Editor ...........................................................................Jessica MartinezAssistant News Editor ....................................................................Saul PradoOpinion Editor .............................................................................Rigo BonillaFeatures Editor ....................................................................... Brian CamachoArts Editor ..................................................................................... Eric HsiehSports Editor ...........................................................................Matthew SimonSocial Media Editor ................................................................Thomas SchmitPhoto Editor ................................................................................Amira PetrusAdvertising Manager ..........................................................Kimberly BrandesAdviser .................................................................................Kate McLaughlinPhoto Adviser...................................................................................Gary KohatsuTechnical Support ............................................................................ Don Treat

Vol. 67, No. 3September 26, 2013

E-mail: [email protected]: (310) 660-3328Advertising: (310) 660-3329

UNIONEL CAMINO COLLEGE

Winter session gone but not forgotten

Awareness is better than kevlar for saving livesThe nature of an open campus

can, at times, provide the student body with a sense of security that comes with large public crowds. An organized and heavily popu-lated area can make one feel quite comfortable in his surroundings.

The prospect of danger reach-ing us while we are at ease in the confines of our campus may seem unlikely, but in reality, when mass shootings are becoming more

common, we need to question our safety.

After class, many students delve into their phones and mu-sic players and tune out the rest of the world as they make their way towards their next class or the parking lot. Chances are little else would be noticeable walking around campus, and you’d prob-ably be safe doing so 99 percent of the time.

However, this indifference to one’s surroundings can present a danger in itself and has resulted in some robberies and assaults on and around campus in the past.

The EC campus can be viewed as a microcosm of the greater Los Angeles area. Both have their nic-er, more affluent and well lit areas, as well as those less than desirable dark corridors and seedy walk-ways.

Unfortunately, we can’t be certain that we won’t run into any dangers while at school, so it stands to reason that we must en-sure our own safety.

A few simple steps can be tak-en to help make EC a safer place, and you can probably do them on your way to class. Something as simple as knowing where the emergency exits are or the loca-tion of the nearest “Code Blue”

police phones can make a huge difference in the event of an emer-gency situation.

Traveling in groups, especially at night, is always a good idea or even calling EC police and utiliz-ing the free evening shuttle escort service which will transport you anywhere on campus.

If you do find yourself walking around campus alone, be aware of your surroundings, stay alert and

stick to well lit areas.Of course you wouldn’t want

to approach any potential danger yourself. If you see suspicious be-havior, clear the area and call the EC campus police.

Although we can’t anticipate every scenario, incorporating small adjustments into our daily lives can help us prepare in the case of an emergency .

I was about 13 when I first real-ized that I was born different. My parents have always been accept-ing of my lifestyle, but it was hard telling my uncle and friends my secret: “Guys, I don’t really like football.”

Gasps. Somewhere a shirtless fat man with a cheese on his head is shedding a tear. A red blooded American male that doesn’t like football? It’s as if I have forsaken one of my God-given American rights like freedom or democracy.

It never fails. Every Monday I get asked if I saw the game yester-day. I probably didn’t.

It’s especially confusing to people because of my size. I’m a big guy. People assume I played high school football.

But do you know what a big guy does in football? He squats down and smashes into another big guy inches away from him, over and over. I want to catch the ball. I want to stanky leg in the end zone. Nope.

Just look at baseball. Half the guys have a gut. It feels like the everyman’s game. For me, foot-ball season is just that one lonely month between baseball and bas-ketball season. And now that the Dodgers look like they can go late into October, that might not even be the case any more.

It can get tough for a guy like me though. The other day my mom asked me if I could help her with her fantasy football team that she manages in a league with her co-workers. Sorry, mom. I dis-appoint you again.

Baseball and basketball are just more accessible. You can’t even put a face to name in foot-ball. In baseball you can see ev-ery facial expression and every emotion. And nobody can deny the light speed chess game that is basketball.

Even football die-hards are getting annoyed with the game. Players are getting fined left and right for tackling other players.

I thought that’s what it was all about.

And don’t get me started on the lack of Los Angeles football. How can a major sport filled with teams competing for a world title not have Los Angeles represent-ed? It’s silly.

How do you even pick a team? The colors? Because the mascot is cute? My cousin has only ever been to Mexico, but he’s a Chica-go Bears fan. How does that work out?

So, I’ll sacrifice the Monday water cooler conversations. I’m not going to force myself to watch teams I don’t care about to fit in with man time.

COMMENTARY

Rigo Bonilla Managing Editor

Years ago, it was freedom of reckless violence that used to de-fine video games, but in the latest generation, games have evolved past simple playgrounds of chaos into full fledged storytelling de-vices. The Grand Theft Auto se-ries defined the era of violence in video games, but also pushed boundaries for sex and drug use.

While the stories were usually compelling, the violence was usu-ally tongue-in-cheek. Personally I loved to kill, steal, cheat in the GTA games as a kid and young teen and I still don’t see issues with how they affected me.

The latest game though, Grand Theft Auto V, takes the content from previous games and makes it more believable and disturbing.

The story for GTA V is in-credibly compelling, comparable to serialized dramas on TV. It achieves this by developing in-teresting characters and having tragic deaths and moments which stick with you after the game

ends. That is why GTA V will be

heralded as a masterpiece, a free and beautifully developed world which accurately emulates our world and creates a compelling story.

But when explaining the game to non-gamers, the media will re-fer to moments where the game pushes past boundaries TV shows won’t touch. While this makes it more compelling for adults, it pushes too far for younger audi-ences.

Younger audiences must be considered in a game which mil-lions of people will play. The game can only be sold to those who are 17 or older, but where I work I have been personally asked by an 11-year-old if we had the game for sale while his par-ents were ready to buy it.

Its not the violence that I’m worried about exactly, its the con-text of it. This is a game where a genuine character, not an ambigu-

ous being, will murder someone in cold blood, then torture some-one in the next moment, and re-cord sodomy the next.

For the most part these scenes are irrelevant to the main story; rather they are moments where the game developers are trying to entertain and express their opin-ion of society. I like that Rockstar is willing to push boundaries for the sake of a deeper story, but the days of shock value in games is dying, and pointless instances of obscenity should be shot down.

The views expressed in Campus Insight are those of the authors. They do not represent the views or opinions of the Union, its staff, editorial board or advisers.

This column is available to students and faculty. All articles may be submit-ted to [email protected].

Please note that articles may be edited for content and length

CAMPUS INSIGHT

Intelligent violence is more disturbing than mindless violence

Russell Lewis 20, journalism major

Page 5: EC Union Issue 3, September 26, 2013

Buckled your seatbelt, used the turn signals, kept steadily at the speed limit, yet when the flashing red and blue are visible in your rear view mirror paired with that distinctive siren – an unbearable warmth drops in the pit of your stomach, $#*!

As if my mind isn’t full with enough dark and twisted craziness, whenever I get pulled over, my mind is not only dark, twisty, and crazy, but on Erythroxylum coca. While my mind is running a mile a minute, I’m fighting to remember the basics: pull over, turn off the engine, turn on the light, hands on the wheel, and don’t panic.

Everyone knows the general idea of the process that happens next, but did you know that without reasonable suspicion or probable cause, the officer technically doesn’t have the right to look through your car? Did you know that the questions they ask are phrased in a way that they want you to out yourself? Did you know that if you’re not being detained, you’re free to go? Interesting stuff.

Unless there is probable cause, backed with reasonable suspicion or there’s something in “plain view” — the police has no legal right to search your car. That doesn’t mean you get to sit there and tell the officer to shove it; that is resisting an officer, which leads to a whole other set of laws.

“Do you know how fast you were going?” Classic trick question. Under the 5th Amendment, you have protection against self-incrimination by refusing to admit you may or may not have broken a law. The less you say, the better.

Unless they are detaining you, or arresting you, don’t wait for the officer to let you go — be vocal and ask to go, key word: ASK. Not only may this help

extract you from a rendezvous with the law, it also diverts from the officer’s canny questions or threats. This doesn’t mean you can get up and leave just because you’ve vocalized your rights, because overall, you do not want to challenge the law.

Key phrases I’ve found useful are “Officer, I don’t consent to any

searches” or “Officer, am I free to go?” or the magic words “I am going to remain silent. I would like to see a lawyer.”

I’m not a lawyer or political scientist, nor am I here to give legal advice in any way shape or form. But like the song goes, you may have 99 problems, but don’t let your rights be one. Take it upon yourself to find out by research your rights. Because more often than not, we (the

young and good looking people of EC) are looked at as children and treated as such. What’s the point in living in this great nation where our rights are given to us freely, if we don’t know them and practice them?

Bottom line: don’t let the flashing lights put fear into you. You, as a good citizen, are entitled to your basic rights and are encouraged to put them to good use. Don’t let the man fool you.

Cornelio Hernandez, 20, president of the Architecture Club invites all undecided majors and curious students to join to the Architecture club to have a better understanding about what architecture really is; the club has their meetings are every Thursday from 1-2 p.m. in the Technical Building in Room 253.

What students can find in the Architecture Club?

What you can find in the Architecture club is pretty much counseling, and what we try to do is bring professionals to our club. I invite them and they talk to us about their experiences in the field of architecture. They talk about their life experiences as they went to the university, and also, they give us a little tour of their offices and the projects they are working on. So it’s pretty interesting as we see how they start with a little diagram and get into like design structure of the building; it’s pretty cool. As for counseling, at first when I went to the architecture program here at EC, I didn’t know what classes to take, so something new that we try to do now is to counsel all these new members. People in the architecture program counsel them on what classes they should take and which ones they shouldn’t take and prepare them to deal with the architecture program. I call members who actually achieve their goals in architecture fields or whatever architect field they do.

What kind of activities does the club host?

As a club, the activities that we do is going out to tours visiting engineers offices and constructions sites. Last semester, we went to USC, and we also went on a trip to Oregon. Many students don’t go out of the state

of California, so this is a big trip. We went to visit the University of Oregon and we compared Southern California to Oregon. We also do design village. Design village is a big competition where the club sets up teams and each team designs a structure and builds it into life structure. Then we take the structure to Cal Poly in San Obispo, who hosts the event. In this competition, we compete against big universities and our community college is at the same level as these big universities so this is what makes the EC architecture program so good.

Can any student can be in this club?

Any architecture student and any undecided major students are welcome to our club. The undecided major students can come and check the program and see the counseling in the club.

Why should students be a part of this club?

The best reason to join to our club is because we visit universities who also have architecture programs. Also, the the club has a good environment, so everybody is very friendly, and we also help them in their projects guide them to take the right classes.

What is the mission of the Architecture Club?

The big goal of the architecture program is for students in this program is to achieve their goals, and to get their degree, so they can find a job with that degree. We want them to get good jobs in the architecture field.

What makes the Architecture Club unique?

What makes the architecture program unique is the talent that everybody has. Everyone has a different talent that says something about them. We find out about all that in the design village. Everybody puts his or her part into the design progress. So, thats’s the part that we love about architecture, because the buildings are also art, and everything has a different meaning, so as we draw our plan, sometimes our plan has a story and it makes the architecture unique and interesting.

Angela YimUnion Columnist

September 26, 2013 El Camino College Union 5

Students should compare the majors they’re interested in and choose the top money-maker, even if it’s not their passion.

The value of the dollar is continuing to decrease and competition in the world is increasing.

Of course it’s okay to do all the things in life that you’re passionate about, but as a hobby.

Students must ask themselves if sacrificing their favorite major is worth it.

You can be passionate about money because the underlying goal could be doing what you want to do later, with all the money you earn.

Nothing last forever, including careers, and choosing the right one could allow you the pleasure of having an early retirement.

Finanical freedom is more important than trying to provide for yourself by singing, or selling your original paintings.

There is nothing wrong with doing hair or painting a picture, put those are more like side jobs than career paths.

The thing that is wrong is the amount of time and money it will take for a student to basically end up making the same amount of money as a person who took a six month course and has a certificate.

The downfall of choosing a major you’re passionate in, but failing to succeed in, is regretting and the feeling of hopelessness.

The only good thing that can come out of an unforgiving career is a lesson learned.

It is possible to separate your work life and personal life, especially if you have climbed the social ladder.

It’s the jobs that do not secure people financially that people take home with them.

Most people who do hair at a hair shop also do hair when they are at home.

Perhaps if a student is that interested in cosmetology then the better option would be to major in business.

Majoring in business can grant graduates a lot more options and also enable them to

continue doing what they love to do.One thing is for sure: anything that’s not

work, won’t work.Not all majors and degrees are equal.

There are some degrees that don’t leave recipients hopeful to get a good career.

Over the past decade or so, when making major decisions in our lives, we have seemingly failed to factor in an important variant: our bliss.

When it comes to choosing a major, most of us are faced with stress levels that resemble that of the gameshow “Deal or No

Deal.” As if choosing one permanently

eliminates the option of the others, the majority of us go through a series of process of elimination, seeking to choose the most practical or guaranteed of future career opportunities.

Perhaps it’s the overly opportunistic world that has allowed the average student to become easily blinded and numb to the idea of personal fulfillment and passion.

Gen-Y, apathetic and uninterested in anything real outside of media-based extravaganzas: unless its post-worthy, its irrelevant. How did we become this? As evolved as a society as we have become, we have neglected our truest values.

MTV may broadcasts what a 20 million dollar mansion looks like, but what they don’t show is what the break down of mortgage for a house of that caliber looks like. They don’t show you the extensive amount of work that goes into maintaining all the amenities of such a lavish property.

They only show you what they want you to see and dangle riches off their limbs as though they carry no significance or value of any sort.

What has become of us that our judgments are so easily clouded and we willingly follow the trendy herd like a flock of sheep? Are we no longer individuals?

Our generation has forgotten the value of a dollar; our generation needs a slap of reality, because at the end of life - you’re leaving your Bugatti Veyron behind.

What good would an eight-figure income do you when you’re spending 12-hours a days doing what you hate? That would be like spending all day in the class you despise the most with the professor you just can’t stand nor care to understand.

When one is truly passionate about something, that something is valuable and ultimately the sacrifices and dedication will be substantial in the end.

Illustration by Eugene Chang

Students can make money to follow their passions

Money without fulfillment is just a burden

UP FOR DEBATE

Picking a major for money or passion?

• Please connect with me by email at [email protected]

• Follow me on Twitter @eccunionAng

• Join the conversation online at www.eccunion.com

• The views expressed in this column are those of the author. They do not represent the views or opinions of the Union, its staff, editorial board or advisers.

Eduardo Bustos, 22musio

“I would rather major in something i’m really passionate about because to me happiness is worth much more than just money.”

Mike Demott, 21,undecided

“I would rather do something I enjoy and live a happy life.”

Claudia Bermudez, 23,journalism

“I would chose a major I’m passionate about, because I’d rather do something with passion or not at all.”

Susan Bickford,math instructor

“Students are better served by taking a major that holds some passion for them. They will be engaged more in the deep thinking & implications of the material rather than just getting through.”

Mayra Lara, 26,chicano studies

“Students should not allow money to prevail their deepest desires in life. If your major comes from passion, you’ll be getting paid just being you.”

99 problems but my rights ain’t one

CAmPUs viEwPOinTs

CAmPUs CORnERBy Lorenzo Gutierrez

Column

Angela YimStaff writer

Coree HeardStaff writer

By Trent LedfordStaff writer

Page 6: EC Union Issue 3, September 26, 2013

arts

Eric Hsieh/ Unionan exhibit-goer pauses to appreciate Lori LaMont’s “red Fish Parade,” on watercolor, at Long Beach Museum of art’s running exhibit “Museum Menagerie”

Museum exhibition goes wildLong Beach Museum of Arts features critters from pigs to monkeys in “Museum Menagerie”Evelyn AvilaStaff Writer

On display through Nov. 3, “Museum Menagerie” presents a selection of artworks from the Long Beach Museum of Arts’s permanent collection that reminds viewers of their ongoing relation-ship to the animal kingdom.

The exhibit offers viewer a perspective on familiar animals through the eyes of artists using different media, including photo-graphs, paintings, and sculptures.

“Few museums can exhibit all of their holdings, and it is reward-

ing to be able to bring artworks out of storage that may not have been on view for a while and pres-ent them in a new context,” Sue Anne Robinson, director of col-lections and exhibitions, said in a recent interview with Gazzettes.

The curation of “Menagerie” was inspired by a fellow exhibit at the museum called “Architecture for Dogs,” which was a big hit due to its interactive exhibit, museum staff said.

The museum continued the family friendly theme with “Me-nagerie,” going beyond man’s best friend and sharing the spotlight

with lions, horses, sheep, chimps, even a pig and a bear.

“The exhibit was successful in executing the theme,” Jessie Hill, a Long Beach City College student, said. “I was able to look inside the artists’ mind and share the passion they have for animals. It gave me a beautiful view of colorful fish and a handsome little chimp.”

“Ceres,” by Peter Zokosky, is the oil on panel painting that fea-tures that “handsome little chimp” in a serious pose with a flower.

In his childhood, his family kept a pair of rhesus monkeys as pets. Zokosky even took baths

with them and this kinship contin-ued into his work.

Another notable piece is “Rab-bit covered jar” by Elisabeth Hig-gins O’Conner, an abstract ce-ramic jar in the shape of a rabbit’s head.

“My favorite piece in this ex-hibit is this jar, it reminds me of my favorite childhood story, ‘Pe-ter Rabbit,’” Adam Garcia, a Long Beach resident, said. “It is sort of something I would like to have in my kitchen to store cookies in, and then tell my children the story.”

Fittingly, O’Conner has said that she seeks to explore the the-

matic use of animals in works like “Peter Rabbit.”

“My work is not necessarily about ‘animals’—but I use animal-like forms to investigate our deep historic connections to animals as a motif in literature and moral-ity tales such as the collection of Aesop’s Fables,” Higgins said in a recent interview with In the Make.

“The animal forms are a ve-hicle for viewers, an entry point, a pathway, something familiar to reach for,” she added, “that hope-fully allows them to engage more fully with the less apparent ideas at play.”

On the sceneErin Logan

theatre

Funny is the new sexy

“Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody” is a hilarious new musi-cal that brings the sexy book se-ries to life. The show will be held at the James Armstrong Theatre Oct. 4 and 5 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $45. The theatre is located at 3330 Civic Center Drive, Torrance, CA 90503.

One-act plays

Student-directed, one-act plays will be held Oct. 11 and 12 at 8 p.m. in the Campus Theatre. The student actors, directors, and play-wrights who have been featured in past “Student One-Act Plays” have been recognized for “outstanding achievement” by judges from the American College Theatre Festi-val. Tickets are $10 and children under the age of 5 will not be per-mitted.

“Phantasms”

Oct. 18 at 8 p.m., EC professor Jason Davidson will present his speech “Phantasms” which asks the question: “Can we commu-nicate with the dead?” Davidson will explain the history and dem-onstrate the methods of the Spri-tualist Movement, as well as ex-plaining how these techniques are still in use today. The event will be held in Marsee Auditorium. Tick-ets are $15. Call 1-800-832-ARTS for more information.

Film

Travel the Main Street of America

As part of its Discovery World Travel series, EC will be screen-ing the film “Route 66,” narrated by John Holod, on Oct. 7 at 3 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. Admission is $7. Come see the RV and travel adventure video that will save you time and money on your next road trip.

Art

Illumination

EC’s second exhibit of fall 2013 will be “Illumination.” Opening Oct. 7, the gallery will feature works by Victor Raphael in a variety of mediums ranging from painting and photography to digital technology and video. A reception for the exhibit will take place in the EC gallery Oct. 10 from 7 to 9 p.m., with an artist lecture the following week on Oct. 15 at 1 p.m. Visit www.elcamino.edu/artgallery for updated exhibit information.

Horror movies, strange tales, comic book worlds

The Torrance Art Museum is currently displaying “True Believ-ers,” which features art of the su-pernatural and the unknown. The exhibit includes featured works from Oscar-winner Tom Woodruff Jr. from the Terminator, Predator, and Alien franchises. The exhibit will remain open until Oct. 12. The Torrance Art Museum is lo-cated at 3320 Civic Center Drive, Torrance, CA 90503. Admission is free and their hours are Tues-day through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

MW Con 2013

Macross World Convention, which was started in 2001 by fans of the Japanese anime, has since grown into a huge gather-ing which will again be held on Oct. 5 from 12 to 6 p.m. Attendees can win door prizes, participate in contests, and visit vendors. Regis-tration closes Sept. 27 and prices vary depending on the registration packet chosen. The event will be held at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center in the Ken Miller Audito-rium, located at 3341 Civic Center Drive, Torrance, CA 90503.

6 El Camino College Union September 26, 2013

Show-stopper won’t be chart-topperTrent LedfordStaff Writer

The self-titled, genre-blending album “MGMT” explores an in-credible sound, one novel to even the experimental band.

MGMT makes a stylized de-parture from the subtleties of their previous two albums, while still keeping the same mind-blowing, core elements that popularized their discography.

The first highlight in “MGMT” is the talked-up single, “Alien Days.” It defies the stereotype of a top-charting song, but it sounds better than many of the formulaic singles populating the Billboard Hot 100.

The song has its eccentricities: a literal interpretation of the lyrics is impossible and it leans heavily upon instrumental sound to make it attractive. Despite all its quirks, the hook “I love those alien days” will draw in even the pickiest of

music fans.The second highlight song for

the album is “Cool Song No. 2,” another unique track, containing elements of rock and hip-hop.

MGMT released this song as a single the same day the album debuted and it stands as the most radio-like song on the album. If Columbia Records does as much to promote the song as they do for other brand-name artists, fans will pay attention and “Cool Song No. 2” could easily end up one of the year’s favorites.

The music video for the song is purposefully enigmatic. It vac-illates between depictions of a drug lord’s violence and his softer, guilt-ridden conscience.

The band won’t dominate any billboards soon, but it will find a niche here and there, helped by the name it made for itself with their first album, “Oracular Spectacu-lar.”

As a collection with layers and layers of sounds to it, “MGMT” is a complete body of art that isn’t dominated by one good song like other albums.

It transcends genre and dips into rock, alternative, punk, elec-tronic, and surf rock. Fans of Ju-lian Casablancas, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, and Vampire Week-end should give it a fair shot.

Every track has its individual merits and the collective result is MGMT’s best album so far.

“‘MGMt’ is a com-plete body of art that isn’t dominated by one good song like other albums.”

Photo Courtesy of Columbia Records

Page 7: EC Union Issue 3, September 26, 2013

Women’s volleyball team places fifth at SD tournament

Marquis ParkerStaff Writer

The women’s water polo team tied for first place last Friday, at the El Camino tournament.

After bouncing back from the Warriors’ first loss against Los Angeles Trade Tech College (13-16), the team tied with LA Valley College on Fri-day, defeating both Pasadena City College (19-9) and Rio Hondo College (9-6).

Coach Corey Stanbury was impressed with the teams’ performance overall during the tour-nament.

“The women played very well, winning both games, with only five minutes rest in between,” Stanbury said. “Alexis Ivans led the team in scor-ing, with nine goals for the two games, and she is our leading scorer for the season.”

Ivans also played great defense during the tournament, recording four steals as well as re-cording one assist.

“I was pleased with how well our defense played,” Stanbury said.

Freshman goalie Cambria Serrano recorded 20 saves in the two games, and had 27 total for the season.

“Serrano had some crucial blocks at critical times during the Rio Hondo game,” said Stan-bury.

Arlene Alvarado helped her team recording 12 steals in the tournament, and Nicole Kelsey with grabbed three.

Freshman utlity player Lauren Gottschalk grabbed five steals, and recorded six points on Friday.

“I feel as a team, we played well and we are

getting to know each other better as a team to build our chemistry,” said Gottschalk.

Evelyn Siguenza helped the team as well reocrding four points, and felt she played her role well.

“Playing two back-to-back games is a hard thing to do,” said Siguenza. “We were winded, but still managed to stay confident and win both games.”

The team feels there are still more kinks to improve on.

“We need to work more on our passing, and fix our errors on both defense and offense,” said Gottschalk.

The Warriors next game will be a doublehead-er Oct.2 at home against Rio Hondo Collegeand East Los Angeles.

Brian CamachoFeatures Editor

The EC women’s volley-ball team went into the San Diego Mesa Invitational knowing that this was its last chance to work out any problems before conference play starts; the Warriors also walked out of the invitation-al feeling like they can take on anybody, anywhere, any time.

The Warriors played a total of four games this past Friday and Saturday in San Diego and won three of their four games; beating Glen-dale College 3-1, losing to Bakersfield 3-2 and defeat-ing both Long Beach and Pierce College 3-0.

“We focused on energy coming off of the loss to Ba-kersfield,” sophomore setter SueKalena Tafao said. “We all just brought positive en-ergy to the court and won.”

The Warriors received news that they will be with-out their leader, sophomore outside hitter Nicole Ech-everri, for the remainder of the season after x-rays re-vealed that Echeverri tore her ACL last week.

“It was really hard, sit-ting down watching every-

one play,” Echeverri said. “Hopefully I’ll have a fast recovery after my surgery.”

Echeverri is expected to have surgery on Oct. 24, but will not be playing for the remainder of the season.

Different players are stepping up and working together in order to make up for their lack of size and strength with a brand of fast and scrappy volleyball.

“They’re doing a really good job,” coach Le Valley Pattison said. “We’re not huge, obviously, so they have to work really hard.”

Freshman outside hitter Darlene Lee has been one of the key players during Ech-everri’s absence.

“I just want to be cooper-ative and help out the team,” Lee said.

Losing Echeverri has been a big blow to this team but it has brought the team together.

The Warriors begin con-ference play this Friday at 6 p.m. as they travel to Long Beach City College in what should be a heated rivalry game.

“We have two weeks be-fore we play so that gives us time to make some improve-ments,” Pattison said.

Offense shines in EC tournament

Emmanuel RamirezStaff Writer

After five consecutive games without a win the men’s soccer team was able to break through for their first victory with a dominate 3-0 shutout over Orange Coast College last Friday.

Recording its first win the of the season the team was pleased with its overall performance.

“Finally we got the win we de-served against a very good team,” coach John Britton said. “The team played really well, (I’m) very pleased with our performance,”

The team was also happy with the passing that lead to eventual goals.

“I think I played well giving two passes for goal,” sophomore midfielder Angel Lomeli said.

The teams’ confidence has al-ways been there and they were finally able to put everything to-gether.

“The high pressure on the other team helped win the ball back for counter attacks,” sophomore mid-fielder Andredavy Cervantes said.

The team’s chemistry showed and you can see the difference from previous games.

“I think we performed good, touching the ball and all,” fresh-men midfielder Branddon Cando said.

Freshman forward Kyrian Nwabueze scored a goal early in the game that gave El Camino the advantage and started to control the game how they wanted.

“After the first goal the team reacted good and kept the push-ing and attacking,” sophomore de-fender William Cando said.

After a slow finish to the first half Nwabueze came out firing and recorded his second goal in the 53rd minute giving the War-riors a 2-0 lead.

“When we scored the second goal our confidence boosted and we played more comfortable and easy,” William said. “It was really a one-sided game from the start.”

In the 87th minute freshman forward Manuel Paez put the ball in the back of the net for a 3-0 lead which sealed the deal for the team’s first victory of the season.

The bench was also a big fac-tor in the game giving the starters some rest.

“They do perform well while coming off from the bench,” Branddon said. “They know what

they are suppose to do but then again it might be difficult at one point to keep up with the intensity of the game, they do well.”

Even though the team came out with the win there are some im-

provements to be made.“We still have some areas we

can tighten up also we create a lot of chances but need to convert them,” Britton added.

The team will also work on

some of the fundamentals.“We just need to work on our

transition with the ball from the defense to the midfield,” Lomeli said. “As well as midfielders feed-ing the ball to our forwards to get

the goal.” El Camino will look to use

their momentum when they travel to Cypress College today at 3:00 p.m. to face the Chargers.

September 26, 2013 El Camino College Union 7sports

Warriors coast to first win

John Ruiz / UnionFreshman forward Kyrian Nwabueze takes flight to fight for possession of a loose ball during the men’s soccer team’s 3-0 shutout over Orange Coast College last Wednesday.

Kyrian Nwabueze scores twice in 3-0 shutout.

Gilberto Castro / UnionFreshman ultility player Alexis Ivans winds up to take a shot during EC’s water polo tournament last Friday. EC would go to tie for first place in the tournament.

Page 8: EC Union Issue 3, September 26, 2013

8 El Camino College Union September 26, 2013 sports

Sifrin puts on a show in rout

Football: Warriors 43 (2-1), Pasadena City 7 Men’S SoCCer: Warriors 3 (1-1-4), orange Coast 0 WoMen’S SoCCer: Warriors 0 (0-5-1), taft College 1

WoMen’S Volleyball: Took fifth place at San Diego tournament

WoMen’SWater Polo: Warriors (2-1)Defeated Pasadena andrio Hondo at eC tourney

FOR MORE SPORTS ACTION GO TO OUR WEB-SITE,ECCUNION.COM

WARRIORS’ SCOREBOARdWARRIORS’ SChEdUlE

Football: Sept. 28 at Long Beach City College 6 p.m. Men’S SoCCer: today at Cypress College 3 p.m.

WoMen’SSoCCer: Oct. 1 vs Pasadena4 p.m.

WoMen’S Volleyball:Oct. 4 at Long Beach City College6 p.m.

WoMen’S Water Polo:Oct. 2 vs rio Hondo 2 p.m.east los angeles 4 p.m.

CroSS Country:tomorrow at Golden West(M) 8 a.m. (W) 11 a.m.

Robert Chernetsky/ Unionsophomore tight end Jean sifrin leaps for a catch during the Warriors 43-7 dismantling of pasadena City College last Friday. sifrin went on to have four receptions for 114 yards and scored two touchdowns.

Brian CamachoFeatures Editor

Sensing that the pocket was starting to collapse, sophomore quarterback Cole Webb flushed out of the pocket and broke away for an 11-yard gain and the first down; this set up a 62-yard bomb downfield to sophomore tight end Jean Sifrin that gave EC a commanding lead before the half.

The Warriors clicked on all cylinders of the game as they defeated the visiting Pasadena City College 43-7 last Saturday at Murdock Stadium.

Along with the dominating performance, Sifrin shined netting four receptions for 114 yards and two touchdowns.

“Our guys were relentless tonight,” coach John Featherstone said. “It’s going to be an exciting year offensively for us.”

EC accumulated 585 yards of total offense and was able to find another good balance with 388 yards through the air and 197 on the ground.

“We’re a young football team,” Featherstone said. “This isn’t an easy league to come up and perform the way we’ve performed.”

The Warriors found a nice rhythm offensively and controlled the tempo of the game throughout the night; while the Pasadena defense looked lost against the dual threat attack of Webb.

Webb had yet another great game and is posting better numbers each and every week. He went 21 for 30 against Pasadena and racked up 309 yards and two touchdowns.

“Cole’s done a great job,” Featherstone said. “He’s got an arsenal to throw to and he can flush out of the pocket to create things instantly.”

EC stayed committed to the run game and it was evident as sophomore running back Desmond Reed had a breakout game with nine carries for 82 yards and a touchdown.

“Biggest holes I’ve seen all season,” Reed said. “We just need to stay focused, keep competing and

that’s all we need to do to win.”The Warriors opened up the flood gates with a

31-yard touchdown pass from Webb to Sifrin fol-lowed by a 5-yard run from freshman running back Martin Booker on the next drive which gave EC a 17-0 lead in the second quarter.

EC did not let up as Webb would find Sifrin again with a 62-yard pass coupled with another rushing touchdown from freshman offensive lineman Cory Sanicky to give EC a commanding 30-0 lead at the half.

From that moment on the Warriors would score three more times in the second half and never looked back.

Scouts from the University of Arizona were also on hand to witness Sifrin play and have shown inter-est in the tight end, although he is still uncertain as to what his plans are after the season.

“I’ll get the double team and open it up for my teammates,” Sifrin said. “That’s the reason I’m here, to create mismatches.”

The defense had its strongest performance of the season, shutting down the Pasadena offense the en-tire night by constantly applying pressure and not letting them find any consistency; Pasadena’s lone score was a garbage time touchdown with three minutes left in the game.

“The game plan was to get a doughnut (shut-out),” sophomore linebacker Kristopher Bass said. “We didn’t get it but we played well enough to get the zero through the fourth quarter so we’re pretty happy with ourselves.”

The Warriors will look to build off of this per-formance and keep their momentum going heading into a big rivalry game on the road against Long Beach City College, Saturday, Sept. 28, at 6 p.m.

“When the bell rings on Saturday we’ll be ready on every phase of defense and offense,” Feather-stone said. “This team is gelling and we’re getting better every week.”

Charles Ryder/ Unionsophomore tight end Jean sifrin strolls into the end zone for a 62-yard touchdown last saturday.