el Don - March 14, 2011

NEWS/OPTIONAL FEE/ 3 • NEWS/ENROLLMENT DROPS/ 4 • SPORTS/SWIMMERS SINK/ 6

NEWS / 3

dMarch 14, 2011 / Vol. 88 / No. 7

Are you bothered by vandalism on campus?

eldonnews.org

THE POLL:

Santa Ana struggles to stay ahead of vandals

as resources are strained

el Don /SANTA ANA COLLEGE / eldononews.org

TAGGED

Davi

d De

Ridd

er /

el D

on

2

el Don/

SANTA

ANA C

OLL

EGE

• M

ONDAY, M

ARCH 1

4, 2

011/

eldonnew

s.org

el Don /SANTA ANA COLLEGE • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2011/eldonnews.orgINSIDE

As the web editor,

my main function is

to provide el Don’s

editors, writers,

and photographers

another platform

to showcase their

journalistic passion

and skills. My other

function is to technically maintain the integri-

ty of el Don websites, which is a never-ending

process as cyber technology is constantly

evolving. We have set up a brand new web-

site for viewers to explore the many talents of

the students who are involved in the produc-

tion of el Don news. So pause at the Contact-

Us page to submit a comment or add your

email to our notification list at eldonnews.org.

/ Josephine Gan / Web Editor

A TALE OF TWO SISTERSSPORTS 7 / The Hooper twins are transforming the softball team. Kristen has caught the majority of games, and is instrumental in the revival of the Dons’ pitching. Kaitlyn, recruited as a pitcher, bides her time in the outfield.

How to contact usel Don encourages the expression of all views. Letters should be no longer than 150 words, signed, and include a contact phone number, major and e-mailed to [email protected] or mailed to SAC el Don, 17th at Bristol St., Santa Ana, CA 92706. el Don reserves the right to refuse advertising and does not necessarily subscribe to the views of the advertisers. For adver-tising rates and information, contact Allene Symons: (714) 564-5617, fax: (714) 564-0821, or e-mail [email protected]

S A N T A A N A C O L L E G E

Editor in ChiefBlanca Valdivia

[email protected]

Business ManagerAllene Symons

[email protected]

AdviserProf. C.W. Little Jr.

[email protected]

Design EditorDaniel Espinosa [email protected]

Web EditorJosephine [email protected]

Style EditorJessica [email protected]

Photo EditorDaniel [email protected]

Sports EditorTim [email protected]

The Editor’s Desk d

d HIDDEN FALLS / Black Star Canyon is nestled in a serene and untouched corner of suburban Orange County, just 20 minutes away from central Orange County. / Nick Aaron / el Don

STYLE 12

‘DON’T SMOKE CRACK’VIEWS 9 / Charlie Sheen’s winning public rants, from making Tiger Blood part of everyday parlance to owning the world record for reaching one million Twitter followers, is worth more money than the $43 million he lost after being fired by CBS.

THAT LOOKS FAMILIARSTYLE 11 / The Main Art Gallery shows works by the late Robert Dowd, a California-born pioneer of Pop Art, a movement that exploits common objects, turns them into surprising images and puts a twist on the familiar.

NEWS

3

el Don /SANTA ANA COLLEGE • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2011/eldonnews.org

el Don/

SANTA

ANA C

OLL

EGE

• M

ONDAY, M

ARCH 1

4, 2

011/

eldonnew

s.org

Vandalism has taken a toll on college resources, from money to manpower, as maintenance person-nel rush to paint over tags – the illegible but recognizable symbols that mark an individual’s or gang’s unique identity. In 2009, the District reported 51 incidents of vandalism on its two campuses. Santa Ana College ac-counted for 36 of those cases. Custodians are constantly pulled away from their designated duties to scrub pen marks and spray paint from bathroom, locker room and

perimeter walls, classroom tables and vending machines. The graveyard cleaning crew, on duty from about 10 p.m. through the early morning, actively search out the illegal artwork, Plant Manager Ron Jones said. “The next day we determine whether or not the evidence must be recorded, and then our staff quickly removes it,” Jones said. Removing tags and graffiti as quickly as possible is crucial, said James Wooley, supervisor of campus safety and security.

“Sometimes these things are like a conversation between rival taggers, and they’re likely to answer back if they see the message,” Wooley said. Carved mirrors are trickier, Jones said. They must be replaced, but the current state budget crisis that has led to deep cuts in district funding prevents the campus from doing so. The etched-in symbols remain, giving rival taggers opportunity to respond, making bathroom mirrors like the burger joint parking lots where rivals flash their credentials. That ethos has actually led to iden-tifying specific individuals. Last year, a student from the Gon-zalo and Felicitas Mendez Funda-mental Intermediate School tagged his so-called moniker around cam-pus, Wooley said. The middle school student, whose identity cannot be released because he is a minor, was identified by law enforcement through his previous work around Santa Ana.

SCRATCHED / While the maintenance crew can clean painted walls, vandalized mirrors have to be replaced. / David DeRidder / el Don

VANDALS HIT CAMPUS

He had five minutes between classes and needed a quick detour for instant relief in the Fine Arts men’s bathroom. Student Jeff Ruben looked up from washing his hands. He wasn’t counting on an instant

art show. Taggers had carved their unmistakable marks on the mirror. “Graffitti is expected since we’re in Santa Ana. It can even look nice sometimes,” Ruben said.

HOURS OF LABOR LOST TO CLEANUPS

BY JASON TRUONG / el Don

OPTIONAL FEE PLACED ON BALLOT

In an effort to narrow a funding gap brought on by a budget shortfall, the ASG Student Senate proposed add-ing an optional $1 fee. The proposal will be on the ballot for the election on March 29 and 30. The money would be used for expenses of students who travel to speak on behalf of Santa Ana College at conferences statewide. If the agenda at the conference affects tuition, including AB 540 students, then the $1 student repre-sentation fee could be used, ASG Vice President Steven Mendoza said. “If it’s going to help out the school, I might as well,” said second year student Erika Lozano. Last year, ASG sent three repre-sentatives to the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, which is the governing body for all community colleges in California. Ideally, the student senate would like to send up to eight representatives, Mendoza said. “SSCCC means a voice in voting for rules and regulations that would affect SAC students and also the abil-ity to propose changes in rules or regulations,” Mendoza said. With students paying the optional $1 extra fee at registration, ASG could collect $28,000 a semester. / Daniel Hernandez

AROUND CAMPUS

Wes Killingbeck / MCT

Please see TAGGING , Page 5

NEWS

4


el Don/

SANTA

ANA C

OLL

EGE

• M

ONDAY, M

ARCH 1

4, 2

011/

eldonnew

s.org

TRINITY LAW SCHOOL!2200 North Grand Avenue, Santa Ana, CA 92705 800.922.4748 | www.TLS.edu

Get Your Associates Degree and go to Law School.

Good Idea.

Great Idea.

All of the above.

You can attend law school upon completion of your Associates Degree. Go straight to law school. Save time, save money, and get a great education with unlimited opportunities.

Enroll in Trinity Law School in the Fall.PAY OFF YOUR EDUCATION

SSG Miguel DeLaRosa 714-720-9322

NATIONALGUARD -800-GO-GUARD

Tuition costs shouldn’t stop you from reaching your goals in life. By joining the Army National Guard, you’ll receive the money you need to help pay for college as well as the skills and training you need to get the career you want. If you’re looking to get through college, with the Army National Guard, you can!

State Font Standard

Font: Gill Sans Regular

Outline: .25

Size: 24pt

Tracking: 32

Horizontal Scale: 110%

Vertical Scale: 105%

CALIFORNIA

AMS-02_4.7x5.4_DeLaRosa.indd 1 1/24/11 9:09 AM

ENROLLMENT FALLSA funding shortfall triggered by the slow economic recovery has

prompted the college to offer fewer classes this semester

BY DANIEL HERNANDEZ / el Don

Martha Cowley / el Don

Student enrollment at Santa Ana College dropped 28 percent this spring in part because of California’s economic crisis, district officials said. This semester 19,719 students en-rolled in credited classes compared to 25,329 last spring. A big chunk of the enrollment decline has to do with fewer classes offered in the Sheriff ’s Academy and Fire Technology programs, Vice Presi-dent of Academic Affairs Norman Fujimoto said. Two possible explanations for the drop off in the fire technology department are the early start in the semester that gave students less time to register and the city also curtailed tuition reimbursement, said Ken Soltis, associate dean for fire technol-ogy and public safety. “Until the economy changes, the tide

is not going to change,” Fujimoto said. SAC offered 100 fewer class sec-tions this year because of budget cuts imposed by the state. With the new budget proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown in January, SAC may need to cut even more classes next year, Fujimoto said. Raising tuition prices would not solve all the problems, Fujimoto said. The college does not get the extra money, which instead is funneled to the state. Economically however, Fujimoto considers SAC to be a stable district. The district numbers are based on full time equivalencies or FTE. FTE is the total amount of units taken by students divided by 12. For example, one student with five units and another student with seven units count as one FTE. “Since we had a very large summer enrollment, that helps us meet our target for the year,” Fujimoto said.

To curb the downward trend this semester, 10 to 15 eight-week classes have been added. These are high demand general edu-cation classes that are not undergoing a drop in enrollment, such as English and Math courses. Part-time art concept teacher Mark

Leysen said he has not noticed the drop in enrollment. The two classes he teaches have about 70 students. “We won’t know if we meet the target until the end of the semester,” Fujimoto said. “As of right now we are only 34 FTE’s below our projected target.”

SAC ENROLLMENT DROPSpring 2011 student enrollment dropped 28 percent compared

to last year

Spring 201025,329Spring 201119,719

SAC offered 100 less class sections this semester due to

state budget cuts

BreakdownSAC

SAC

2010

2011

Source • RSCCD

NEWS

5


el Don/

SANTA

ANA C

OLL

EGE

• M

ONDAY, M

ARCH 1

4, 2

011/

eldonnew

s.org

Complete Your Bachelor’s Degree at

Azusa Pacific University

AZUSA | HIGH DESERT | INLAND EMPIRE | LOS ANGELES

MURRIETA | ORANGE COUNTY | SAN DIEGO | VENTURA COUNTY | ONLINE

CALL (626) 815-5301 CLICK www.apu.edu/explore/caps EMAIL [email protected]

Find out about the next HDEV or BSOL program start date. Contact us today!

11514

Choose from accelerated degrees online or on campus.

LIBERAL STUDIES

The B.A. in Human Development (HDEV)can prepare you for a career in education.In less than two years, you could be on your way to teaching in your own classroom.

LEADERSHIP

The versatile B.S. in Organizational Leadership (BSOL) makes it easy totake the next step in your career. You’lllearn relevant business strategies that can empower you to become an effective leader.

ABOUT THE PROGRAMS• Complete your degree in less than two years.

• Choose to earn your degree online, or attend class only one night a week at

a location near you.

• Applicants for the HDEV program must be at least 22 years old; BSOL program

applicants must be at least 25.

Campus safety took a photograph, and this helped police match the tag through a database that records tags. The student was identified, and his parents were required to pay for cleanup, Wooley said. In his seven years as head of campus safety, Wooley says he hasn’t encountered a case where a student or faculty member has been physically threatened by taggers. Taggers typically avoid con-frontation. Their purpose is to advertise their identity and that of their gangs, although not all taggers are affiliated with gangs. Wooley cites the recent press coverage of tagging that threatened Asians, Latinos, Catholics and Gov. Jerry Brown in cities across central

Orange County including Santa Ana, providing media coverage taggers want. Kim Henry, a Fullerton resi-dent, was arrested last month when she was caught on tape. While authorities have not been able to link threats against Gov. Brown to Henry, they were able to link her to the racial and religious threats that were sprayed across church walls and community centers. Henry spelled the word Catholics as “cathliks,” inadvertently creating an iden-tifiable moniker. For Ruben, a global stud-ies major, graffiti as art has devolved into mindless vandalism and urban blight. He offers one solution: “The people caught spraying should be forced to clean all of it up, so they can see what they’re really doing.”

8 0 0 . N AT. U N I V | g e t i n f o . n u . e d u / t r a n s f e r

N A T I O N A L U N I V E R S I T Y ®

At National University, we know how hard you’ve worked to get this far, and we want to help you get even further. As a community college transfer student, you’ll be able to take advantage of these great benefi ts. . .

>> Streamlined admissions

>> No enrollment fee

>> Flexible scheduling

>> Unique one-course-per-month format

>> Scholarship programs

What’sNext

For You?

An Affi liate of the National University System

COSTA MESA CAMPUS3390 Harbor Boulevard714.429.5100

TAGGING: NO END IN SIGHTContinued from page 3

“Sometimes these things are like a conversation

between rival tag-gers, and they’re likely to answer back if they see the message. ”

/Lt. James WooleyDistrict Safety and Security Supervisor

6

el Don/

SANTA

ANA C

OLL

EGE

• M

ONDAY, M

ARCH 1

4, 2

011/

eldonnew

s.org


high school swimmers had already committed to other programs. The difficulty is that nobody makes up their mind in July and it takes time to plan, Reyes said. During the fall season, Reyes recommended that Michelle Vos be hired to coach the swim team

because he felt that his coaching strengths were in water polo, not swimming, Bridges said. Reyes knows Vos from Long Beach Millikan High School where she was his assistant coach. In the fall Vos worked here as Reyes’ assistant water polo coach.

Reyes’ change of heart left Vos and Bridges in a predicament. The women began the season with four swimmers, two of whom left the Dons to focus on their full-time jobs. That left two swimmers able and eligible to compete. It takes at least four swimmers to compete in a relay. So the women stood no chance of winning this time around. For the sake of the athletes, college officials pulled the plug on the season and saved their eligibility. Vos says that recruiting efforts have landed several promising recruits for next year. Vos said she wants Santa Ana to be known for aquatics. “It’ll take a while, but I’m confident that with what we’re doing right now it is setting the building blocks for years to come.”

HIGH AND DRY / A late start forced Dean of Athletics Avie Bridges to scrap the Dons swim team this spring. / Martha Cowley / el Don

SWIMMING TAKES A DIVE

On a cold and windy afternoon, two women on the Dons swim team dive into the pool know-ing that their work will not pay off this season. The team opted not to compete this year in

order to save their eligibility for next season. “We attempted to have a team, but because of injuries and lack of numbers this year, we were not able to put a team in the pool,” Dean of Athletics Avie Bridges said. Because of the swift exit of last year’s swim coach, Al Reyes was hired in July to coach both the water polo and the swim team. The timing was devastating, as most top

NEW COACHES HIRED AFTER TOP SWIMMERS COMMITTED TO OTHER PROGRAMS

BY DANIEL HERNANDEZ / el Don

INJURIES PLAGUED DONS SEASON

Following his eighth season coach-ing the Dons, Head Coach David Breig is confronted with rebuilding the team after suffering through their worst season since the Eisenhower administration. The Don’s finished 3-21, it’s worst overall record since the 1956-1957 season when they finished 2-24 under Coach C.W. Murrell. Injuries played a huge part in the season’s outcome. With three start-ers out because of injuries, the Dons were left short-handed. “Record wise it went terrible,” said Breig. “We had a lack of depth.” Last season the Dons were 13-15. Despite a losing record the team advanced to the second round of the playoffs. Only two members of that team, sophomore guards Yama Kader and Marquis Bias, returned to play for the Dons. Before coming to Santa Ana College, Breig was the head coach at Mayfair High School in Lakewood. Breig has struggled with building a winning team since his transition from high school to the college level. During Breig’s seven years at Mayfair High School, he won 162 games and advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division II-A championship three times, winning the division in 1999. During his time here, Breig has had only one winning season, a 25-9 campaign in 2006-2007. “This was my worst season in my career in 19 years of coaching,” Breig said. While the season is over, Breig’s job never stops. It is time for him to begin recruiting new talent for next season. “Every year is a different year. You bring in new kids and keep working,” Breig said/ Evelyn Kielich

BASKETBALL

Dan Hubert / el Don

SPORTS

7

el Don/

SANTA

ANA C

OLL

EGE

• M

ONDAY, M

ARCH 1

4, 2

011/

eldonnew

s.org

SPORTSel Don /SANTA ANA COLLEGE • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2011/eldonnews.org

TWIN ENGINESThree things you should know about the Hoopers

The best possible catching mate for a pitcher would be their identical twin. For freshmen Kaitlyn and Kris-ten Hooper it is a reality. “We read each others’ minds,” Kristen said. Kristen is the catcher. “It was some-thing I always wanted to do but I was small, so I never put much thought into it.” At age 14 she strapped on the shin guards, slung the chest protec-tor over her shoulders, and pulled the mask over her face for the first time; “I tried it, liked it, so I kept doing it,” she said. Her twin, Kaitlyn, is the pitcher. She started pitching even younger, around age 8.

During games in high school Kris-ten called the pitches, with input from Kaitlyn. At times they could be two or three pitches ahead of the batter. A game plan could be set and executed without improvisation. The Hooper twins are from Patriot High School in Riverside, where both lettered three years in softball. Kaitlyn received all-league honors for the Sunkist League twice, second team as a sophomore and first team as a senior. In her final year in high school she pitched 55 2/3 innings only al-lowing 52 hits, and throwing seven complete games in eight starts. She says she loves the pressure of pitch-ing. “Everything is on you. You have to do your part for everyone else to

do theirs,” Kaitlyn said. Coach Jessica Rapoza approached the twins about playing for the Dons. “When I first met the Hoopers, they ran marathons. That was the main reason for recruiting them. They had all the obvious talents, and great at-titudes, but it takes something special to run marathons in high school,” she said. “They are hard working, ener-getic, and a joy to coach … The best work ethic I have ever seen.” Kristen has done the majority of catching for the Dons this season, starting 13 games and playing in all 18 games so far. Although Kaitlyn has yet to pitch for the Dons this year

DOUBLE PLAYRIVERSIDE SISTERS FIT RIGHT IN AT SANTA ANA COLLEGE

Double Trouble / The Hooper twins grew up in an athletic environment. They also played volleyball and ran marathons in high school. / David DeRidder / el Don

BY ERIC LOMELI / el Don

Please see HOOPERS, page 8

• Kristen has a plate and seven screws in her left elbow. During her junior year in high school she was hit by a pitch.

• Neither Kaitlyn nor Kristen wear batting gloves.

• Kaitlyn listens to country music including Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley and Kenny Chesney.

el Don/

SANTA

ANA C

OLL

EGE

• M

ONDAY, M

ARCH 1

4, 2

011/

eldonnew

s.org

8


©2009. Paid for by the United States Army. All rights reserved.

What do you need to succeed in today’s climate? You need to START STRONG.SM In Army ROTC, you’ll do just that. While attending college, you’ll gain strength, character, and unmatched leadership skills to lead the most well-trained individuals in any field. And when you graduate and complete Army ROTC, you can be commissioned as a U.S. Army Officer. Plus, to help pay for your education, you can earn a full-tuition, merit-based scholarship. ROTC will give you strength for a lifetime of success. There’s strong. Then there’s Army Strong.

For more information, visit goarmy.com/rotc/startstrong.

PREPARE TODAY TO LEAD FOR A LIFETIME.

SPORTS

AZUSA | HIGH DESERT | INLAND EMPIRE | LOS ANGELES | MURRIETA

ORANGE COUNTY | SAN DIEGO | VENTURA COUNTY | ONLINE

(800) 825-5278

www.apu.edu/explore/education

[email protected]

CallClickEmail

Earn your degree in educationin 12 –18 months at APU.

With more than 36 credential and master’s degree opportunities, we’re confident we have a program for you.

APU offers:• Convenient classes at 8 Southern California

locations and online.

• Programs in teaching, counseling, physical education, and administration.

• NCATE-accredited programs recognized by all 50 states and internationally.

• Resources that make transferring to APU a seamless process.

11209

Classes start five times throughout the year. Contact us today!

Continued from page 7

her gifts have never been questioned. She has started eight games in the outfield and played in 14 games overall. When looking for colleges they agreed that if one received an offer to play elsewhere, they should take it. Finishing each others’ sentences, they added that when the coach at SAC recruited them, “It happened to be both of us — we can both go there, so lets go.” Softball runs in the family. Their parents, Clint and Karen Hooper, coached Kaitlyn, Kristen, and their sister Kelly on their youth league teams. They wanted the full college experience, deciding to move from their parents’ house and take on their own responsibilities. The twins moved in with Kelly, who lives in Orange County. Kaitlyn and Kristen are the third set of twins playing sports for the Dons for the 2010-2011 school year. The soccer team fielded forwards Isabel and Zulema Chavez from Segerstrom High School. The volleyball team played right side hitter Jazmin Barrera and middle blocker Me-lina Barrera from Saddleback High School.

The duo would love to play together as long as possible. But for the future their main focus is academics. Kristen is a nursing major with aspirations of becoming a cardiovascular nurse. Kaitlyn is a kinesiology major aiming for a doctorate in the subject. The two are undecided on where to transfer after college, but both want to stay in southern California. At 5 foot 4 inches tall the twins may not be prototypical athletes, but they have some-thing else on their side. Maybe identical twins complement each other. “In one word,” Coach Rapoza said, “they are ideal.”

HOOPERS: TWINS QUIET LEADERS

BATTER UP / Kristen has started 13 games as a freshman for the Dons. / Dan Hubert / el Don

el Don /SANTA ANA COLLEGE • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2011/eldonnews.orgVIEWS

STREET TAGGERS BE GONE A security guard patrols the col-lege grounds, keeping a watchful eye over the vacant campus. Suddenly he sees out of the corner of his eye a dark figure shuffling around in the shadows. He moves cautiously in that direction, not knowing whether the intruder is dangerous. Around the corner he sees the stranger with a can of spray paint tagging lampposts and park benches. “Stop!” calls the security guard as he chases after the vandal who quickly disappears into the night. Tagging or graffiti has become an increasing problem at Santa Ana College. While it is a victimless crime, it leaves the school with the bill for cleanup and repairs. The majority of maintenance done on campus involves cleaning up the results of such vandalism, costing the college thousands of dollars in labor. In a time characterized by budget cuts and layoffs, many of these re-

pairs are deferred. It is unfortunate the money that we spend on taxes and tuition has to go towards cleaning up the product of someone’s bad day. The culprit, in most cases, is never caught. However, security can often tie certain tags back to specific gangs and individuals. Last year a student from Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez Fundamen-tal Intermediate School was caught after tagging on campus when law enforcement matched his moniker to others found around Santa Ana. He was apprehended and his parents paid the damage. Perhaps that student was misbe-having like a child; perhaps they just wanted to leave their mark. Either way, what they did was vandalism. It is times like these — when funds are in short supply — that we should work together to make our campus a better place instead of ruining it.

STAFF EDITORIAL While vandals

rough up campus facilities in the

name of fun and bragging rights,

taxpayers pay the price.

SHEEN WINNING AFTER BEING FIRED

How much cocaine can Charlie Sheen do? Enough to kill two and a half men. Following the “Two and a Half Men” star’s manic rambling and insults directed towards CBS executives and producers, the CBS legal dream-team released an 11-page letter terminating Sheen’s contract. But his estimated $43 million a year lossis not getting in the way of his rise to the top. Many have speculated that Sheen has become too great a risk to ever work in show business again. But speculators fail to recognize that Sheen has Adonis DNA. They can’t process Sheen’s genius, man. Following the rants against “Two and a Half Men” creator, Chuck Lorre and CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves, Sheen dominated the media. In just 25 hours Sheen managed to gain over 1 million Twitter followers, leading Guinness World Records to establish a new category and crown him the champion. He started his own online talk show titled “Sheen’s Korner,” with well over 1 million views in just one day. Sheen and his camp are working on marketing his memorable utterances like “Tiger Blood,” “Adonis DNA,” and “Winning” on T-shirts, hats and mugs. He has even been in talks for a show with HDNet and a live on-stage show with Live Nation Entertainment. It seems like Sheen’s explosive behavior will land him in a better position than “Two and a Half Men” ever could. This is show-biz history in the making. When Sheen says he has “tiger blood drip-ping from his fangs,” he means business. Comedian Norm McDonald said it best on his Twitter feed Monday, “I pray that someone can help Charlie Sheen before he becomes even more successful, richer and happier.” Winning, anyone? / Amy Ellison

ADONIS DNA, TIGER BLOOD

David DeRidder / el Don

Nicolas Khayat / MCT

el Don/

SANTA

ANA C

OLL

EGE

• M

ONDAY, M

ARCH 1

4, 2

011/

eldonnew

s.org

9

10

el Don/

SANTA

ANA C

OLL

EGE

• M

ONDAY, M

ARCH 14

, 201

1/el

donnew

s.org


Robert Dowd was one of the earliest pop artists, a move-ment of the late 1950s to

early ‘60s using mundane objects as a central theme. Pop Art Money, now in the Main Art Gallery of the fine arts build-ing, includes 58 colorful and ironic pieces on loan from the private col-lection of Jack and Joan Quinn. Curator Phil Marquez calls it “one of the most valuable shows we’ve had in the SAC gallery.” Dowd made surprising altera-tions in these large-scale versions of everyday objects, primarily dollar bills and postage stamps. The artist questioned the value of money as a

flimsy piece of paper decorated with weighty symbols. In “$5 Lincoln Torn Watercolor” the dollar is ripped in half. Several of the bills show the U.S. president’s face replaced by other artists, such as Monet and Van Gogh. Since a recurrent theme is the worth of a dollar, in “$1.00 Gold Note” Dowd uses gold leaf sug-gesting an almost divine value of currency. Some pieces are enhanced with silver leaf. In a way, the postage stamps show the history of American transporta-tion from biplanes to blimps. “It’s kind of poignant,” Marquez said. In the piece “Geophysical Year”

some letters are missing, the globe is aflame and fingers touch as if in the act of creation. In some of his pieces Dowd makes a play on words, as in “Yellow Tone” showing Yellowstone National Park’s Old Faithful. Another piece in the show is “$50.00 Bank,” a three-dimensional construction filled with play money. In another series he shows the U.S. Treasury building on fire or split by a tornado. The Pop Art Money exhibit will run through April 1. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Wednesday evening 6:30 to 8:30.

BY TIFFANY JOHNSTONE / el Don

SKYMASTER

THE COLOR OF MONEY

PICASSO DOLLAR

TIME LINE

Dowd’s Pop Art broke through in 1962 with the exhibition New Painting of Common Objects in the Pasadena Art Museum.

After Robert Dowd was discharged from the U.S. Marines in 1957, he used his G.I. Bill for tuition to study at the Society of Arts and Crafts/Center for Creative Studies, one of the world’s top colleges.

He died in Los Angeles in 1996 at age 60 from complications of end renal failure.

Robert Dowd was born May 1, 1936 in Detroit, Michigan.

11

el Don/

SANTA

ANA C

OLL

EGE

• M

ONDAY,M

ARCH 1

4, 2

011/

eldonnew

s.org

STYLE

PICASSO DOLLAR GRAF ZEP*LIN

VINCENT DOLLAR

ROY’S FIVE BEACON AIRMAIL STAMP

el Don/

SANTA

ANA C

OLL

EGE

• M

ONDAY, M

ARCH 1

4, 2

011/

eldonnew

s.org

12

el Don /SANTA ANA COLLEGE • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2011/eldonnews.orgSTYLE

THE PATH TO NATURE / The beauty of nature is captured in a simple shot of grass and stones.

BLACK STAR CANYON FALLS / Natures beauty hidden in Orange County.

INSIDE / Hiking in Black Star Canyon will have you connecting to your inner self.

Hidden within Cleveland National Forest, Black Star Canyon Road provides an adventurous and refreshing escape from society’s fast-paced environment. You can start at the Black Star Canyon Main Gate, which is located around 20 minutes from central Orange County. Prepare for about a six-mile hike. When you see a group of huge concrete tubes veer right and follow the partly hidden trail leading to the stream. Hiking up the stream, you will discover a breathtaking landscape and the diversity of the natural preserve sur-rounding you. Around 45 minutes into the hike you should be getting tired, but the ambient sound of the stream and wind through the trees amplifies the feeling of serenity. This is a natural energy booster. After following the stream for about an hour and a half you will reach Black Star Canyon Falls, your final destina-tion. It’s as tall as a three-story building, standing about 50 feet high, making you feel like an insect while looking up at it. The beauty of the canyon, the forest around you, and the natural running water makes you feel that your journey has taken you far away from civilization.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY NICK AARON / el Don

SECRETBEAUTYREVIEW: Nature is all around us and some how we seem to miss it. Black Star Canyon will take you through the thrill of what nature is all about.

el Don - March 14, 2011

Documents

Transcript of el Don - March 14, 2011