V O L . 7 1 , N O . 1 1 F R I D A Y , N O V . 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 P I T T S B U R G , C A

F.Y.I. Survey allows a voice

Achieve photo

The area in mind for the new student union is the old football practice fi eld at LMC.

Honors hosts open mic nightOpen Mic Night will take place tonight from 7 to 11 p.m. in the LMC cafeteria. Tickets are available at the Honors Center. It is $6 at the door, unless ticket was previously purchased. There will be non-alcoholic Margaritas, Pina-Coladas and Strawberry Daiquiris at the event for $2 each. No offensive language and no put-downs. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

By ERRICK PAGE JR.Staff Writer

In order for the Contra Costa Community College District to have better understanding of LMC students’ concerns and attitudes – students must voice their opinions, and Student Trustee Christina Cannon is providing them with that opportunity in the form of an online student survey.

For the remainder of the month of November, students

may participate in a brief online survey where issues such as

budget cuts, public transporta-tion, textbook affordability, and experiences with teachers and faculty are addressed.

“If our student voice is to be heard, strong communication must occur so that I can hear your thoughts, issues and concerns, and share with you the topics and decisions that are being made by the district that impact students,” said Cannon. “I just want to make

Photo by Angela Janicki

Drama teacher Nick Garcia is the fi rst full time drama teacher since the 1970s. He works with drama student Lashanta Ford in his Drama 31 class, Principles of Improvisation and Movement.

Leading role for GarciaFull-timer hired for drama dept.By ANGELA JANICKIStaff Writer

There is a new face on stage at LMC. The college recently hired Nick Garcia as the fi rst full-time, tenure-track drama instructor since the early years when Marlon Shanks led LMC’s theater program. After Shanks left LMC to go to Diablo Valley College, he was not replaced for quite some time.

Garcia will now star in this leading role. Growing up, Garcia was “never sure which career” he wanted to pursue.

“I always loved stories growing up. I wanted to be a doctor one day, a lawyer the next, and the only way to do that was in my imagina-tion and with acting,” said Garcia.

He furthered his education after high school and attended Adams State College in Colorado where he majored in theater, and went to graduate school at the University of Iowa where he received a Master’s of Fine Arts in acting.

“Once I started getting into theater I have never stopped. There are not always jobs acting, so I started directing, designing, stage managing, and theatrical carpentry.”

Garcia’s previous job was as Ar-tistic Director of Children’s Theater Programming at the George Daily Auditorium in Oskaloosa, Iowa. There he designed the curriculum for the children’s theater program, directed and designed shows, and began working on establishing a resident theater company.

When Jo Perry-Folino set foot on the Los Medanos campus close to 20 years ago, the Drama was defunct.

By KYLE DEMPSEYStaff Writer

Raising money, making plans and coming up with ideas are all part of the development process for a new student union building on campus.

Planning for the new building began more than fi ve years ago with the introduction of a new student fee.

In the 2003-2004 school year, in anticipation of collecting money toward building a new student union, proposed by student government and later approved, the end result was to charge LMC students a Student Activities Fee of up to $10 a year per student. The new fee went into effect in the spring semester of 2004 and has

been collected each semester since then.As of June 30 this year the Los Medanos Col-

lege student body has raised $609,380 to replace and expand the small Student Activities Offi ce Room 800A out of the cafeteria into a traditional student union. Most of the money has come from interest earned on fees.

Every student is charged $1 per unit with a maximum of $10 per year, in addition to all other charges for enrollment, and is it paid at the time of registration. Future fees will add to the already collected $609,380, which will be used for funding the future construction and maintenance of the student union.

The planning of and ideas for the student

By FERNANDA LOPEZStaff Writer

The Journalism Association of Community Colleges held their NorCal 2009 Conference last Saturday at San Jose State Univer-sity. The event featured a full day of workshops, contests and speakers and ended with an exciting awards ceremony.

The confer-ence began with several shor t opening speech-es among which included a wel-come from Bill Briggs, Director of the San Jose State University School of Jour-nalism and Mass Communica-tion, who encouraged students to enjoy their experience at JACC.

After Briggs’ welcoming speech, Matt Hufman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and current editorial editor for the

Las Vegas Sun, gave the keynote address titled, “The Revolution Will Not be Twitterized: Prepar-ing for Journalism in the 21st Century.”

Hufman talked about his past experiences in journalism and

how his experi-ences have been life changing over the years. His emotions showed as he talked about the difference he made in people’s lives through his re-porting and the change that it has evoked.

He tells stu-dents that “good journalism pro-

duces results” and encourages them to take advantage of the career they have chosen because people really do care.

Hufman talked about the epiphany he had at his first JACC conference when, after a

Plans for new student union

Student paper wins general excellence

Deadline soon to drop classesNov. 20 is the last day to withdraw from full-term classes with a W appear-ing on your transcript instead of receiving an F. A transcript looks better with a W than it does with an F. Visit the Admissions Offi ce Room CC3-401. Monday-Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 to 4 p.m.

Student Life film with pizzaStudent Life presents the Social Justice Film Series movie #3, “KIDS,” about a group of vacuous, thought-less New York City teens in their ceaseless quest for sex, drugs and trouble, on Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. in the Library Community Room 109. It is free admission and there will be free water and pizza.

Guest spreads AIDS awarenessThe Umoja Schalars Program welcomes Linda Brown, an advocate for AIDS awareness, who will be speaking Nov. 18 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Library Community Room 109.

UC Berkeley rep drop-inThose wanting to transfer will have the opportunity to meet with a representative from University of Califor-nia Berkeley on Nov. 18 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. and again from 12 to 2 p.m. in the Transfer Center Room CC3-434. This is a drop-in session only. Call 439-2181 ext. 3124 for more informa-tion.

See UNION, page 6See JACC, page 6

See NICK, page 6

District wants to hear from all concerned studentsTrustee Visit■ What: Budget Forum■ When: Nov. 18 at 2 p.m.■ Where: The Recital Hall

Room 720■ Why: Trustee Christina

Cannon will speak about college budget cuts and how students can do something about it.

“I just want to make sure that all students have the most information available to them, and to use all resources.”

— Christina CannonSee SURVEY page 6

Quotable

“What is LMC doing to motivate its students and where is the school spirit?”

— Elsa Cruz-Garcia

“More information about what’s going on in the community.”

— Kevin Loftus

C O M P I L E D B Y C H Y R A ’ C E B R O W NVoices What campus issues would you like to have addressed in the Experience?

“More politics and community resources to help students and others in our community.”

— Abram Aranda

Lost regard for our teachers

Cartoon by Erin Johnson

F R I D A Y , N O V . 1 3 , 2 0 0 9

“Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.”

— James Dean

The Experience welcomes Letters to the Editor and Guest Columns. All members of the Los Medanos College community including students, faculty and staff are welcome and encouraged to write Guest Columns and Letters to the Editor.

If you are interested in expressing your opinions on campus or world issues in the newspaper, bring your submissions to room CC3-601 and put them in the Perspectives Editor’s mailbox or mail them to Experience c/o Los Medanos College, 2700 E. Leland Road, Pittsburg, CA 94565. Letters and columns must be typed, signed and include both a day and evening phone number for verifi cation. They may be edited for content and length at the editor’s discretion.

READER OPINION POLICY

EDITORIAL

Take action against fl u

“How we can resolve parking issues on campus.”

— Marquise Williams

“Security issues on campus. We need more campus security at night.”

— Jennifer Johnson

“How we can get more of the core classes we need for prerequisites. This is always a hassle because they fi ll up quick.”

— Adrien Martin

Budget cuts affecting cafeteria prices

JustinSheardGUEST COLUMNIST

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

Perspectives 2

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E

Experiencee x p e r i e n c e . l o s m e d a n o s . e d u

MemberCalifornia Newspaper Publishers Association

“Were it left for me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a mo-ment to prefer the latter.”

— Thomas Jefferson

The LMC Experience is published Fridays by the journalism program. The newspaper serves as a laboratory for journalism classes and as a First Amend-ment forum for campus communication. Opinions expressed in the Experience are solely those of the students and do not represent the views of the college.

Editor in Chief ............ ANGELICA GONZALEZPerspectives Editor .................. LEAH MARTIN and CHYRA’CE BROWNCampus Editor .......................... NICK NELSON and FERNANDA LOPEZFeatures Editor ......................... WILL ROGERS and MARK MARTINEZSports Editor ............................ DENNIS BILESChief Copy Editor ............ KATELYN GIBBONSPhoto Editor .................................... JO BRUNOGraphics Editor ...............CHRISTINA CORTEZVideo Editor ........................... SAUSHE YOUNG

DominqueMyersGUEST COLUMNIST

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Humanity present in faith

Take a moment to refl ect back

“Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition.”-Jacques Martin Barzun.

It has always boggled my mind that teachers are not as highly valued as they should be. They don’t get paid enough, people put too much strain on them and society doesn’t value them as much as some other occupations.

Teachers do not get paid enough for their jobs. Teachers are shaping young children’s minds. They are teaching them the intellect that they need to survive in the outside world. Yet, entertainment jobs get paid more than teachers.

I’m not trying to knock sports. I enjoy a good football game or basketball game just as much as everyone else. But how is it that athletes and movie stars get paid millions of dollars, where we get nothing but mere entertainment. And teachers get paid way less? I know it just can’t be me who thinks this is wrong.

Teachers have a lot of pressure and are put through a lot of strain. Nowadays classrooms aren’t like they used to be. Now classrooms are over crowded.

Teachers have a curriculum that they are forced to teach. They don’t have time to teach a subject over and over again for those kids who don’t get it. This hurts the kids in the long run because when kids don’t understand something they lose motivation in their work and they also start to become disengaged in the classroom.

This is a direct correlation to low test scores. The government is setting standards for these schools and when they fail the government comes and takes over. But how do you expect every student to get every lesson, when the teacher doesn’t have time to go over it?

They can’t sit down with every student and make sure they understand when there are too many kids and teachers have deadlines. They have lessons that they must teach everyday and move on.

Society doesn’t put teachers in the top oc-cupations. I work at an after school program here in Antioch. Time and time again I’m asking the kids what they want to be.

Kindergarten through fi fth grade, boys and girls all say the same things. They all have in their minds that entertainment jobs are what they should be doing. It’s all about fame now. Not making a difference in the world or help-ing people.

I rarely hear I want to be a doctor. I want to be lawyer. I never hear I want to be a cop. Most often I hear I want to be a basketball player, a rapper, a singer, or a wrestler. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be in the entertainment business. I mean who wouldn’t want to? All that money! You get fame and fortune.

But with society throwing it in our face con-stantly, I think kids values are going to be out of whack. Society needs to help inspire kids to change the world. And right now I think they’re doing a poor job.

Teaching is the most important job in the world. Think about it, without teachers what type of person would you have become? What type of things would you have learned without them?

As kids you spend most of your day at school. That’s a fact. So why is it that we don’t value teachers like we should?

Their jobs are constantly down played. They help to shape the minds of young children. They instill them with the things they need to make them succeed in the world.

Without teachers we would all be on our own for learning. We’d have our parents but they have to work. And with all these budget cuts and teacher layoffs you’re not just hurt-ing the teachers, you’re also jeopardizing the future of the kids.

Teachers need more support and it can’t just come from parents. It needs to be the communities. It needs to be the government. It needs to be society.

Nostalgia. What is nostalgia? The Webster’s Dictionary defi nition of nostalgia is, “A wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable con-dition.” To some people nostalgia is thought of as a bad thing, a waste of time and almost detrimental to their future, why dwell on the past? You must look forward at the opportuni-ties ahead of you.

Well, to me nostalgia is a refl ection of the good things that has happened to you in your life and reminds you of a simpler time where you can sit back and assess how your life has evolved. Evolution and progress is a good thing right? Most would return to their sci-ence education and say yes, and I agree with them. Hollywood would agree. Many movies have banked off of nostalgia with the recent blockbusters of the past two of three summers.

So I would like for you to take a little nostalgic journey with me. I am a part of “Generation Y”, so anyone before the late 1970s may not be able to relate and anyone after the late 1980s may have never heard of some of things I’m going to talk about.

Does anyone remember the Jheri Curl? A popular hairstyle of its time in the 80s but as many nostalgic moments, looking back at it, the hairstyle was atrocious. Alongside the Jheri curl was the Mane, or the infamous “Big Hair” of the 80s, but as well looking back at it you fi nd yourself pondering, “what were they thinking?” Yet another popularly comical hairstyle was the Mullet, the hairstyle that says, “Business in the front and party in the back.” Then last but not least and my personal favorite because I had one, is the Box Cut, and to add a little spice I had the ducktail too. You know what I’m talking about if you had one. This was popular into the early 90s and in some cultures you still see it. Probably the most famous person to still have a box cut hair style to this day is Jean Claude Van Damme.

Enough of hairstyles, lets get a little closer to home. Cartoons of the 80s were among some of the most eccentric and ambitious as they came, often looking towards the future and space or introducing mythical creatures of the past.

Do you remember Transformers? Of course you do, especially with the recent blockbuster from 2007 and its sequel that released earlier this year. This was one of my personal favorites, following robots who came to earth looking for a new energy source, but in their search the Autobots have to fi ght off the Decepticons. Another favorite was Thundercats, which has yet to have a blockbuster recreation. Their journey was to rebuild their home planet, which was destroyed prior to the television show starting.

I could go on all day, maybe even write a book reminiscing about the 80s, but instead I’m going to list off a few things and you can have your own nostalgic moment if you see something you remember from your childhood.

Adventures of Johnny Quest, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Beetlejuice, Bravestarr, Care Bears, Charlie Brown, Curious George, Duck Tales, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, The Flintstones, Garfi eld, G.I. Joe, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Mighty Mouse (one of my personal favorites, you could fi nd home videos of me quoting this cartoon), Rambo, Robocop, metallic lunch boxes, Cabbage Patch Kids, Play-Doh, Tonka Trucks, Barbie, Smurfs, Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Donkey Kong, Michael Jackson, Guns N Roses, Whitney Houston and Van Halen.

I’m sorry, I may be a bit too nostalgic, but the point I am making is it’s sometimes a good idea to refl ect and remember where you come from and where you have gone and to cherish the good times in life. That’s what nostalgia is all about and for those who can’t think of any nostalgic moments in their life, now is a good time to start creating some.

DEAR EDITOR:As the economy seems to falter, prices at com-

munity colleges seem to get higher. Food in the cafeteria seems like it keeps getting more and more expensive. Being a second year student I have seen the rise in food prices slowly go up.

When students go on break most of them decide to go to the cafeteria to get something to eat or some snacks. It seems like everything at the school is going up in price.

Students deserve a well priced menu that doesn’t hurt the students pocket but also helps the school out.

Changes in food prices have been steadily rising for the last year. While it might not be a huge jump in prices, it is slowly affecting the students at LMC. There are some dishes and snacks that are obviously not worth the prices, but we have to deal with it or we get no food.

That’s how it is, they set the prices knowing that the students will pay either way. Snacks keep the student going, giving them energy to make it through the day. What will happen now that the food prices are going up? Will people stop going into the cafeteria and spending their money elsewhere?

Gonzalo Hernandez an LMC student and athlete was quoted saying, “The food here is not worthy the money, it’s the same as wasting gas to go buy food somewhere else.”

The cafeteria has been less of a place to eat

DEAR EDITOR:In reference to the article Corey Hunt wrote

about Christians in last week’s paper, I have just one item to mention. While I do not know about any specifi c Christian that the writer met and talked to, I do know that Christian Scripture from the Letter of St. James says, “If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?”

Mother Theresa of Calcutta, as an example, was certainly very interested in dealing with the humanitarian necessities of the poorest of the poor. The Christian faith defi nitely has a huge concern for humanity.

— Michael Norris

but more of a hangout place due to the fact of prices increasing.

I personally believe that the school should make fair prices for the cafeteria, because if not it will lose business. It needs to be able to make money but also help out the college student’s pocket. Personally I stopped going to the caf-eteria because of the prices. Once a fair price is set then business will boom.

— Gerardo Magana

It’s that time of year again when everyone begins to get the sniffl es or you begin to hear coughing, hacking, sneezing and the blowing of noses into the softness of tissues. It’s fl u season and very important precautions should and need to be followed for your own health, and

the health of others. Preventative measures big and small can be taken this season. This in-

cludes sneezing into your shoulder (instead of your hands which tend to touch everything), making sure to wash your hands with soap and water (hand sanitizer is okay on occasion, but there is nothing like using good old soap and water), and not sharing items such as drinks or even cigarettes.

If you feel like you have fl u symptoms be cautious and stay home from school and work. Let e-mails become your best friend between you, your instructors and classmates.

Also, if you feel the urge to spit, don’t spit on the ground where everyone walks. Do it in a more appropriate place. Lastly, the most important tip to stay healthy is try and keep warm. Wear a jacket when it’s cold, wear scarves, hats and gloves. It’s all about staying healthy the old-fashioned way.

Popular program hands-onRecording Arts provides a ‘simulated work experience’

Photo by Fernanda Lopez

Matthew Millecam practices his technique on a keyboard in the Midi Lab located in the Music building at LMC.

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

CampusQuotable

Improved to the Core

LMC’s administrator of justice

Photo from Feb. 14, 1975 LMC Experience, page 3

Police offi cers undergo an inspection at the academy.

By FERNANDA LOPEZ and NICK NELSONStaff Writers

Have you ever felt the need to stand up for justice and the law? Former LMC director of the Administration of Justice program, Joe McKeown, felt that same need throughout his life.

McKeown began his law enforcement career as a juvenile offi cer, then proceeded to become a training offi cer, a chief of police, and the chief of public safety for the East Bay Regional Parks District.

McKeown believed that education was an important thing for law enforcement offi cers to have, as it allowed them the ability to relate to the individuals they dealt with on a day-to-day basis.

“Since we live in a society where there are rules, it is part of my job to see that the best people possible are thoroughly trained to enforce these rules,” said McKeown.

Joe was certainly one to take his own advice, as he achieved a bachelor’s and master’s degree as a part-time college student.

He emphasized education for offi cers by saying that “there is no one area where more power is given to a single person.”

“I feel very fortunate to be in law enforcement at a very excit-ing time,” he explained. “This is a time of change, both social and political.”

By ANTHONY MAYSStaff Writer

With its move to Level 3 of the main College Complex, “The Core Reading and Writing Center,” has added new services and programs aiming to help students succeed with their schoolwork.

One of the new programs, The Professor Is In, involves teachers doing offi ce hours in the Core and instead of doing it in their offi ce, where they are easily accessible to assist any student who needs help with their skills and assignments. Students are also able to schedule appointments with teachers and meet in the Core.

The Core is also continuing peer tutor-ing as well as scholarship programs. They have also expanded the number of tutors that help students in the Core.

Along with the eight computers that were originally in the Reading and Writing Center, they have added seven laptops that are available for students to use.

The Core has also upgraded its look by adding new furniture in its larger space. In the future, the Core hopes to increase the number of workshops like Study Skills Workshops. The coordinators of the Core have also noticed a big difference since the move, that being that more students

are coming in for help.“That might be because we are more

visible,” said Sandra Mills, Reading and Writing Center coordinator.

Others feel that The Core is more produc-tive because its new and improved image.

“I think that it’s more professional,” said Core receptionist Claryssa Ford.

Some think the new location is better than its old home on the bottom fl oor.

“The cement walls made you feel dark and closed in, like you’re doing homework in jail,” said Core tutor Mark Asher.

Needless to say, the new Core has been a success.

By JAIME CORONELStaff Writer

With its focus on hands-on instruction and the opportunity to interact with instructors who are working professionals in the audio fi eld, LMC’s Recording Arts Program is popular with students. “After completing the program, I was extremely prepared for the real world,” said Kasey Albritton, a 2008 graduate who also works for the music department.

Students who are interested in recording arts as a major should make sure to sign up early when registration begins on Nov. 30 as classes fi ll up fast. The program is suitable for those seeking to enter music technology or related industry fi elds.

Music teacher James Horner received his degree in recording arts in 2007. He said he took the program simply to further his knowledge in music, and describes it as having professionalism and a high level of teaching.

According to the LMC website, the program offers state-of-the-art equipment, with two fully equipped 24-track recording studios. Students use the equipment and

facilities in groups and under an instruc-tor’s supervision.

Alex Showers, who plans to major in recording arts, took a summer workshop with part-time instructor Rick Shiner. Stu-dents were able to record a professional drummer, a full band, as well as their own instruments.

“Recording workshops are grounded in reality,” said Showers, adding, “Rick Shiner makes it easy to understand.”

Program coordinator Frank Dorritie explains that recording arts “students will experience a simulated work experience,” adding that it is not necessary for beginning students to have any recording experience. “They just need personality and a good work ethic to succeed,” he said.

Robert Johnson graduated from the program in 2008 and currently works as an assistant for Shiner. He also has a job with a live sound company, Rich Audio, where he works with recording artists in live concerts. He gives the LMC program credit for his success.

“The program goes in depth,” he said, adding that it gives “a lot of useful informa-

tion and good amount of preparation for the real world.”

Still, “students need desire and drive to follow through,” said Dorritie. “It is not a glamorous program of courses.”

That is to say that it takes a great amount of effort for students to do well in recording arts courses.

As a result, he recommends students to send him e-mails at fdorriti@losmedanos.edu for information and advice about the program.

“Of all the other arts programs, the re-cording arts program is the most honest in Los Medanos College. You learn what you need to learn, there are no surprises,” said Albritton.

Talented musician and former LMC stu-dent Rick Sims has been asked by Dorritie to participate in his student’s recording arts projects. Students were able to record him for their projects on two occasions.

“It was an enjoyable learning experience, in a comfortable environment,” he said.

The Recording Arts Program offers a four-semester sequence consisting of 10

See ARTS, page 6

F R I D A Y , N O V . 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 3NEWSWATCH

— Compiled from press releases and staff reports

“If we could sell our experiences for what they cost us, we’d all be millionaires.”

— Abigail Van Buren

Important dates to remember■ Nov. 26-29: Thanksgiving weekend, college closed■ Nov. 30: Registration for continuing students begins, by

appointment

Upcoming on campus■ Nov. 21: 4CD Student Retreat, all day

LMC board and club meetings■ Inter Club Council (ICC): Mondays from 3 to 4 p.m. in

the Library Conference Room 105. ■ Brother 2 Sister Alliance: Mondays at 2:30 p.m. in the

Library Conference Room.■ Green Team: Tuesdays from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Student

Life Offi ce room 800A.■ La Raza Unida: Wednesday from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Library

Conference Room 105.■ Rotaract: Second and fourth Thursday at 2 p.m. in Confer-

ence room 409.■ Drama Club: Thursdays at 3 p.m. in the Little Theatre.■ Freedom Ink: Fridays at 11 a.m. in Student Life Offi ce

romm 800A.■ LMCAS: Fridays from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Library Com-

munity Room 109.■ Anime Unlimited: Fridays from 3 to 6 p.m. in Math room

204.■ The Breakfast Club: Fridays from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the

Library Community Room 109. Editor’s Note: For a full listing of clubs and their schedules check with the

Student Life offi ce.

Academic support for studentsThe Core: Center for Academic Support, formerly known

as the Reading and Writing Center, has reopened in a remod-eled facility on Level 3 of the College Complex at the main Pittsburg campus. The program is intended for struggling students who need extra help in reading and writing. Profes-sors and peer tutors are available to help students get on the right track with reading and writing. Call 439-2181 ext. 3176 for more information.

Math tutoring availableIf you need that extra help in your math class, you can

go to tutoring lab hours Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. You will be able to meet with staff as well as tutors to help you with the math class you take. It is free for LMC students and the community.

Chamber Orchestra performingLMC music department would like to invite you to the

Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra on Nov. 21 from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Featuring Bay Area Choral Ensemble, Cantare Con Vivo. General admission is $10 and for students & seniors $8.

La Raza welcomes everybodyLa Raza Unida is holding a student club on Wednesday

at 2 p.m. in the library Room 105. If you are interested in the La Raza Club or if you need information and questions answered contact advisors Carmen Pacheco at 439-2181 ext. 3423, and Rosa Armendariz at 439-2181 ext 3213.

Get help in music studiesThe Core will be having music help on Tuesdays and

Thursdays from 1 to 5 p.m. in Room CO-300. You can to talk to a student tutor to help you improve your musical talent for more information contact Sandra Mills at 439-2181 ext. 3176

Help out with Rotaract ClubAre you interested in helping out your community while

making your transcript look better? With the Rotaract club you can do that. Meetings will be held every other Monday starting Monday Nov. 2 from 2 to 3 p.m. in Room 409. For more information contact Kent Li at Kli@losmedanos.edu.

Assessment Center now openThe Assessment Center is now open for Spring 2010

testing with some new policies in place. Students are now allowed to test only once per academic year. Assessment is offered on a drop-in basis during specifi ed hours. Testing is also available at the Brentwood center.

CSUs, UCs taking applicationsCalifornia State University (CSU) and the University of

California (UC) are both accepting transfer admission applica-tions through Nov. 30th. Call the Counseling Offi ce at 439-2181 ext. 3334 for drop-in hours or to make an appointment.

Biology tutoring being offeredIf you need more help in your biology class before your

fi nal, you can get that extra help in Bio 20, 21, and 50. For more information contact Kent Li or Ralph Ednalino by going to the Biology tutoring center in room 622.

Drama Club open to allAre you interested in joining the LMC Drama Club (Thes-

pian Love/Shenanigans)? Do you have a passion for dramatic arts? Well here’s your chance, go to the Little Theater Room. 622 to get your sign up sheet. Anyone is welcome to sign up.

Gospel Choir holds concertIf you like gospel music and want to witness it live, LMC

will be holding a Gospel Concert on Saturday, Dec. 5 from 7 - 8p.m. Admission runs $16 at the door or $14 in advance.

LMC String Ensemble performsThe music department will be holding the LMC String

Ensemble at the Pittsburg Senior Center on Friday, Dec. 4 from 8 – 9 p.m. Admission is free and all LMC students are welcome.

35 YEARS AGO AT LMC

Editor’s Note: 35 years ago at LMC is a regular feature drawn from the pages of old LMC Experience student newspapers.

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

Features 4Quotable“Many men go fi shing all their lives not knowing it is not fi sh they are after.”

— Henry Thoreau

Las Panchitas is a ‘lucky’ find

50 Cent album a disappointment

‘Broken Embraces’ is a must see foreign movie

‘Darfur Now’is missed by students

King’s latest book full of short stories

By ANDREA NGUYENStaff Writer

There are few fi lms as graceful as “Los Abrazos Rotos” (Broken Embraces). And while the title readily gives you an idea of what happens, I couldn’t

have anticipated the care director Pedro Almodóvar put into

the fi lm’s visual details. It seems to be one of his trademarks; nearly every shot is attractive to the eye.

The movie is set in Madrid, in 2008. Lluís Homar — who looks strikingly like Kelsey Grammer today, only sexier — plays Harry Caine (pronounced

By JAIME CORONELStaff Writer

There were many empty seats at the Social Justice Film Series event hosted by the Offi ce of Student life Oct. 28. Many missed the min- blowing fi lm “Darfur Now” about the current genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. Those present enjoyed

free pizza and refreshments. This isn’t the fi rst time Student Life has hosted an event like this one.

This is the second semester of the Social Justice Film Series, according to David Belman Director of Student Life. The monthly series kicked off in spring 2009.

“The goal of the series is to help raise awareness about social justice issues and to encourage students to think about how they can positively impact our world,” said Belman.

“Darfur Now” is the story of six individuals whose actions make a difference in the life of millions. Murder, rape and destruction of villages were the types of atrocities depicted in the documentary. It took LMC students and faculty closer to the cruel reality in Darfur.

Larry Santiago works with disabled students at LMC and decided to take a group of them to the event. The Library Community Room was for most part empty when the event started.

“Those who did not attend,” said Santiago, “missed out on an opportunity to educate themselves.”

Millions of Sudanese civilians are forced to fl ee from their villages by armed forces who struggle for political control. According to UNICEF, the current total of displaced people is estimated to 2.7 million, half of those affected are children. It is also important to mention that Colombia is the

like “hurricane”). Harry used to be a movie director and his name used to be Mateo Blanco, but now he is blind and sticks to creating scripts and stories. Something happened to him many years ago and ever since, he has adopted his pseudonym and made it his only identity. One day, a man named Ernesto Martel dies, then a mysterious Ray X asks Harry to help him write a script and Harry’s agent Judit leaves town. Her son Diego (played by the handsome Tamar Novas) is left to spend time with Harry and he tells him the signifi cance of Ernesto’s death.

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Penelope Cruz as Lena and Lluis Homar as Harry.

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See DARFUR, page 6

F R I D A Y , N O V . 1 3 , 2 0 0 9

Restaurant: Las PanchitasLocation: 1270 E. Leland Rd.Phone: 925-432-8226 Price range: $5-$13

STARVING FOR CHANGE? Starving for Change is a new feature that highlights alternatives to the college cafeteria.

Photo by Jane Park

A waiter at Las Panchitas serves up a delicious Mexican meal to two hungry customers.

By ALEXANDRA MARTINEZStaff Writer

You know how sometimes you’ll be driving around and all of a sudden crave something? That’s what happened to me a few days ago, and I craved a big huge burrito. Lucky for me, I knew just the place to get one.

Sometimes when I drive home from school, I take a differ-ent route to avoid traffi c. This time, I got lucky because in my craving, I happened to pass a place called Las Panchitas. It is yet another Mexican restaurant, but this place has a few unique burritos that I’ve never seen at other Mexican restaurants.

The setting, like most Mexican restaurants, was very pastel. There were wooden chairs, and papel picado hung up. Since it was around Halloween time, they threw some statues of skeletons dressed up as mariachis (musicians). A very common piece of decoration in Mexico.

The owner was there and was very friendly. A lot of people were eating there, but he still made me feel important and didn’t just try to get through everyone’s order as fast as possible.

I ordered a “mini-lucky burrito” which, ironically, is a huge burrito that comes with your choice of meat, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions, rice, and beans. I or-dered mine with chicken fajitas. It was so incredibly delicious! From the size of the burrito, you wouldn’t expect that this is the mini version of what they call a “lucky burrito.”

The prices are very agreeable. I paid $6.50 for my burrito. In general prices range from about $5-13. Appetizers like nachos and bean dip are only about $4-5. It’s a great price for such good food.

What stood out the most to me was their amazing salsa. They have about four different kinds of salsa in big containers in the corner of the restaurant. You can serve yourself with the small plastic cups that are available, and they also have little paper bags to take the containers of salsa home in.

If you decide to try this place don’t miss out on the lime green salsa. It’s extremely hot, but it is without a doubt the best salsa I’ve ever had. Besides cilantro, I couldn’t really tell what it was made of. Whatever it was, it’s great.

I defi nitely recommend this place to any Mexican-food-lovers like myself. Happy eating.

By ERRICK PAGE JR.Staff Writer

Usually pressure makes a diamond, but in this case – pres-sure made 50 Cent create yet another lackluster album. Before I Self Destruct marks album number four by Hip-Hop’s heavy hitter, 50 Cent. After many delays the album will fi nally be in stores Tuesday, Nov. 17. However, if you can’t wait until then – the album is currently available exclusively on iTunes.

As a sequel to his debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ – 50 Cent returns to his hardcore, rugged street sound – even describing this album as “darker and more aggressive.”

While featuring production from Hip-Hop’s elite producer Dr. Dre and guest appearances from Eminem, Ne-Yo, and R. Kelly, this album is, sadly, a desperate attempt to give longtime fans

what they’ve been missing.Opening with “The Invitation,” this song sets the mood for

the rest of the album – dark and aggressive. Further along, and in usual fashion, 50 Cent taunts former G-Unit members Game and Young Buck in his song, “So Disrespectful” – one of the highlights of the album.

“Baby By Me,” featuring R&B superstar singer and song-writer Ne-Yo proves to be one of the strongest commercial singles on the album. 50 Cent samples his own lyrics from the 2007 hit “I Get Money”, as the song chants “have a baby by me, baby, be a millionaire” – which pretty much explains the song in its entirety.

What he’s known for the most, catchy hooks and popular radio singles is exactly what’s missing from this album, Before I Self Destruct.

Although making a return to his darker days, he forgets to return to the days that truly matter most – the days when he made hit singles such as “In Da Club,” “Wanksta,” and “21 Questions”. He neglects the days where he made hit records that you fell in love with and got excited about whenever you heard them, no matter where you were.

After a highly publicized loss against fellow Hip-Hop artist Kanye West in a battle of record sales, 50 Cent vowed that his fourth album, Before I Self Destruct, would be his hot-test body of work. Unfortunately, he failed to keep his vow.

For the die-hard 50 Cent fans, buying this album would be expected of you – so just add this one to the collection. Overall, Before I Self Destruct fails to deliver what 50 Cent promised, and as an album in whole, it is one of his weakest bodies of work, and a sad display of an artist whose talent never evolved.

By DAWN A. GREENStaff Writer

“Just After Sunset” is a refreshing return to the short story for author Ste-phen King. Known for writing lengthy novels that have at times stretched close to a thousand pages (think “It”) King early in his career made a name for his self by writing graphic short stories that often found their way onto the big screen. Theatre goers have been terrorized and amused by such King

creations as “Room 1408”, “The Mist” and “Rita Hayworth

and the Shawshank Redemption” as well as the grisly stories that became “Creepshow” and “Creepshow 2”. But to his large reading audience he has been the father of numerous novels that have averaged about 600 pages each, and for many years did not release anything signifi cantly shorter apart from his non-fi ction work “On Writing”.

His latest novels, “The Cell”, “Duma Key” and “Bag of Bones” have not disap-pointed, but I have often wondered if his faithful readership does not secretly

miss the brief and bizarre creations that found their ways to his pages when he was still young in his career. Apparently Stephen King wondered too.

Prefaced by a nearly six page intro-duction explaining why he decided to try his hand at short stories again and

QuotableL O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

Sports F R I D A Y , N O V . 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 5“Slumps are like a soft bed. They’re easy to get into and hard to get out of.”

— Johnny Bench

Photo by Leah Martin

Setter Dolores Larry makes a set pass while middle blocker approaches the net and gets ready to bash a spike during the Mustangs’ loss to the Napa Valley Storm Tuesday night. LMC will close out the season this coming Wednesday night when they host the Yuba College 49ers.

Mustangs volleyball Stormed out

Unsung heroes of the game

Squad dominated by defending BVC champs

Photo by Larry D. Nalls Jr.

Athletic trainer Dacia Gold tapes an ice pack to the shoulder of football player Hector Roscoe after their Oct. 24 game against the Laney College Eagles.

By DENNIS BILESStaff Writer

In the world of sports, there will be games where you dominate the other team, and there inevitably will be games where you are suffering the domination. Tuesday night was a night of suffering for the Mustangs volleyball team.

Going into Tuesday’s showdown on the road against the Napa Valley Storm, the Mustangs were relegated to playing for pride as their quest to win the Bay Valley Conference title ended last two weeks ago as the Yuba

49ers and Napa pulled too far ahead in the standings as they battle it out for the championship. Unfortunately, even playing spoiler would not give LMC the motivation they needed to weather the Storm as they swept in straight sets 25-16, 25-14, and 25-15.

“We lost, they didn’t win. Our best hitter was way off. We made numerous mistakes,” head coach Joe Shahabi said.

All three sets would be mirror images of each other, with the Storm jumping out to a huge lead and the Mustangs struggling mightily to catch up. In the fi rst set, the Mustangs simply lacked

any kind of rhythm and consistency, but they did manage to put up a decent fi ght before losing the set.

Things just seemed to get worse as they second set began. Napa would take advantage of a number of mistakes by the Mustangs to take a commanding 14-3 lead. Their problems from the fi rst set became amplifi ed, and LMC seemed as if they were just going through the motions. At times it looked as though they were simply overmatched.

“When you fall so far behind its very hard to catch up,” Shahabi said. “There were times we got it together, but it quickly fell apart.”

The Mustangs would show occasional fl ashes of their potential, but it usually happens in between runs of points by Napa. The Storm would cruise to an easy victory in the second set.

The third set began just like the

fi rst two and the Mustangs quickly found themselves down 14-4. Just like in the fi rst two sets, everything the Mustangs tried to do just simply didn’t work. Despite their efforts, they just couldn’t get anything established. The Storm were quick to take advantage in every set. Napa was so effi cient, they would cruise to the victory in the third set and had the game wrapped up in exactly one hour. It’s pretty common for games to go for about a half hour to an hour longer.

“It was embarrassing,” Shahabi said. “I can give them the techniques to win, but they have to want to win.”

The loss drops the Mustangs record to 9-5 with an 8-4 mark in Bay Valley Conference play. After starting strong and putting themselves in the running for the conference title during the fi rst half, the Mustangs faltered in

the second. After their recent rough patch, the team has fallen to fourth place, which is where they will fi nish with third being out of reach and the fi fth place team, Mendocino, being too far behind.

Despite not meeting his expecta-tions, Shahabi is proud of the season his team has had thus far.

“If we beat Alameda, which we should, even if we lose to Yuba we’ll be one step ahead of where we were last year,” Shahabi said.

At the end of last season, Shahabi vowed to beat the odds and win the conference title. Although the team will fall short of that goal, the progress that was made this season is defi nitely an encouraging sign for the future.

LMC will host Yuba in the season fi nale next Wednesday night. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start.

By JOHN MARSHALLStaff Writer

Imagine going to a game without the lines, announcers, vendors, ticket takers and security. Would there still be a game or would it just be a matchup of weekend warriors?

What many people take for granted is that these workers, or in some cases volunteers, make it a “sporting event” rather than a game. From the bus drivers to the equipment managers, would it even be possible for a sporting event to happen without these people?

Start with the bus drivers. In this instance,

the bus drivers for Fresno City College have to start their workday on a Saturday at 5:30 a.m. to get their football team to LMC for a 1 p.m. game.

“We start by going to the yard to get the bus around 5:30 a.m. then check out the buses to make sure we have our supplies,” said Vince Hernandez, a bus driver for Fresno City College.

Then there is the equipment manager who seems to have an endless number of jobs come game day. Robert Rush, equipment manager for LMC for 35 years, has been on the fi eld since about 8:30 on this particular day, and doesn’t

See HERO, page 6

healthy lifestylesHELPING YOU thrive

Ready to Quit Smoking?By Andy Rodgers, MD

Every cigarette you smoke shortens your life by 11 minutes, meaning a whole pack cuts your lifespan by more than 3.5 hours.

Smoking increases your risk of heart attack, stroke, cancer, and many other serious health problems and is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. After just one year of being smoke-free, your risk of dying from heart disease is cut in half. If you are ready to quit, here are some ideas to help you succeed:

Your reason for quitting is important. Do you want to protect your heart, improve your health, live longer or save money? Having a reason that comes from you – not a friend or family member – helps you take ownership,

making it easier to quit for good. Set a quit date. Plan ahead for any problems or barriers. Plan

healthy things to do for those times when you would usually have a cigarette. Think about ways to reward yourself for reaching specific milestones. You can find “personal action plan” forms on the Kaiser Permanente Web site listed below.

Using nicotine replacement products and/or other quit- smoking medications doubles your chances of quitting. Nicotine is addictive,

so when you quit smoking your body craves nicotine. Medication eases the cravings and symptoms you might feel as you body withdraws from nicotine.

Friends and family can provide support and encouragement for you to stay smoke-free. They can also help distract you when you want to smoke, and they will understand when you’re a bit grouchy. You can also get support online, and/or over the phone by calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) or browsing these Web sites: www.lungusa.com and www.quitnet.com.

For more information on quitting smoking, visit the Kaiser Permanente Web site at www.kp.org/quitsmoking.

This article is proudly sponsored by Kaiser Permanente.

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

F R I D A Y , N O V . 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 6WebThe LMC Experience online edition has been temporarily suspended.Back Talk

ARTSFrom page 3

HEROFrom page 5

FILMFrom page 4

SURVEYFrom page 1

NICKFrom page 1

JACCFrom page 1

UNIONFrom page 1

DARFURFrom page 4

KINGFrom page 4

required classes and two elec-tives. Requirements are listed in the Los Medanos College Cata-log. Moreover, workshops are mainly hands-on, while theory classes are mainly lecture.

Linda Gist is taking a theory class with Dorritie, and recom-mends other students with no experience to join the program.

“I’m a newbie. I have no background in music,” she said. “But the teacher is great, I’m learning.”

Department chair Dorritie runs the program with part-time faculty members Shiner and Steve Savage. All three instruc-tors are currently working in the audio fi eld producing, sound reinforcing, and engineering records. The three have received

expect to be home until about 7 p.m. at the earliest.

“I’m in charge of setting up the stadium. From the timers, pylons, scoreboard,” said Rush.

Why there so early? Rush has to not only do fi eld set up but he has to unlock the locker rooms for both teams, he has to make sure the uniforms for the Mustangs are clean and ready and he must make sure he locks the locker rooms up when they take the fi eld and open them back up when they come back for half time. After halftime, he locks the locker rooms once again until re-opening them when the game is over.

It’s now halftime, and this is the prime time during the game to get some food. It would be kind of hard to do with no vendors, wouldn’t it?. Vendors, ”Usually start preparing about

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A fl ashback to the early nine-ties shows aging businessman Ernesto (José Luis Gómez), who, because of external cir-cumstances, has a secretary-turned-mistress named Lena. Lena aspires to be an actress and auditions for the lead role in Harry’s latest fi lm, “Girls and Suitcases.”

Harry, moved by her beauty (it is Pénelope Cruz, after all, in her fourth fi lm with Almodóvar) gives her the part. Ernesto, who is extremely wealthy, produces the fi lm while Lena and Harry have a passionate affair, paying little attention to the fact that gay Ernesto Jr. is always wandering around the set, fi lm camera in hand. (This movie is both a drama and a thriller.)

Probably the most impressive thing about this fi lm, besides the acting, was the aesthetics. The furniture and color schemes are gorgeous.

This movie is awash in warm candy reds, greens, yellows, tangerines and azures. Red repeatedly appears throughout the fi lm: on clothes, belongings, cars. You can’t escape it, which is fi ne, because it contributes to the fi lm. For instance, Ray X immediately seems like a shady character. When he enters Harry’s apartment, the audience can see a red cloak

why he hadn’t for so many years, “Just After Sunset” is a lengthy collection of tales that run the spectrum of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, weight loss and the ever necessary, good, old-fashion moonlit haunting.

A particularly disturbing tale in the book details the conta-gious mental breakdown of a man, his psychiatrist, and the psychiatrist’s sister who, after her sibling’s death is made privy to the details of his patient.

Titled simply “N”, the 79 page story is set upon a small collection of stones whose placement feels eerily like that of Stonehenge. Glimpsed within the circle of these is a creature not of this world, whose very being causes the spectator to feel a need to restore order to his surroundings by performing simple tasks such as organizing desktop items in specifi c geomet-ric positions, and not leaving a place until an even number of brown shoes have been counted. A peek into this type of human angst is uncomfortable enough without King’s ability to trans-form the implausible into the perfectly believable. “N” is a tale that challenges the reader to reconsider the validity of certain madnesses.

“Just After Sunset” treats the reader to a bevy of previously unpublished stories, but replays a familiar tale or two as well. “The Cat from Hell” is a story that is best known as a chapter in the movie “Tales from the Dark Side”, but is seen here in writing with a far better, far more plausible ending. This addition seems to let the reader know that there is a marked difference between Stephen King’s work today and his work from many years ago. His short stories still have the capability to make the

country after Sudan with the most displaced people, 2 million, due to an internal civil confl ict.

“The mission of the Offi ce of Student Life is to provide leadership development oppor-tunities that support students in becoming agents of positive social change. This fi lm series helps educate students about current social justice issues and gives them a chance to discuss the issues.”

Evony Thorntin was not familiar with the catastrophic situation in Darfur, but she was ready to learn.

“I came because I wanted to learn about the issues in Darfur,” she said.

Leatrice Toland, another LMC student, attended the event simply because EOPS required her to do so. She chose “Darfur Now” out of a list of several events because she is interested in fi lm related events.

“The poor are always taken advantage of, they are treated like sheep,” she said, before the fi lm started.

The fi lm eventually proved Toland to be right. In their own words, Sudanese victims spoke out about the awful abuse they experience while armed forces attacked their villages.

Toward the end of the event students were given the oppor-tunity to speak their minds, and express their feeling about the documentary.

“In the past we have also shown, ‘Malcolm X,’ La ‘Misma Luna’ and ‘The Laramie Project.’ Each fi lm focuses on different issues,” said Belman.

The Offi ce of Student Life will once more give LMC students the opportunity to attend one of their fi lm series events. The next fi lm, “Kids,” will be shown on Nov. 18.

sure that all students have the most information available to them, and to use all resources. Since the budget cuts, a lot of resources are disappearing.”

In August, LMC was forced to raise tuition fees from $20 to $26 – raising frustration and concern from many students.

In addition to rising fees, LMC has also had to cut classes and funding from various popular services such as the Extended Opportunity Program & Services (EOPS) – forcing the service to deny many students from receiving fi nancial assistance.

“The most important issue is the budget crisis. I want stu-dents to know why their tuition increased from $20 to $26, and I want them to be able to voice their opinions and concerns,” said Cannon.

The online student survey may be found in the recent LMC Online Newsletter, which was e-mailed to all students. The survey may also be found by visiting Losmedanos.edu and clicking Student Services, then proceed to WebAdvisor. Once there, click the Student Trustee link – where a link to the online survey is provided.

“It did not exist except on the books but not in actuality. There were no classes being offered,” she said. “Stan Chin, the late former president of LMC, asked me to start bringing it back to life. I usually take on unpopular causes so naturally I stuck my chin out, annoyed a lot of people and said, ‘yes!’”

From that rebirth, Perry-Folino said she was determined to build the drama department from the ground up with a little help from her friends.

Carla Zilber-Smith, an LMC part-timer, the Shotgun Play-ers, the Student Senate — and eventually the administration — helped her out.

Enrollment grew and a full-time faculty position was ap-proved last year.

Garcia was hired for the job and has plans for the department.

“The drama department would love to put on as many shows as possible and develop a major. Those are the next two steps in building the program,” he said.

Garcia has already helped put together a Drama Club just this semester: Thespian Love. Staci Wright, co-president of the club, volunteered to help lead it.

“Nick asked our class if anyone wanted to help run this new drama club and since David [co-president] and I have taken numerous drama classes here, we both jumped to it,” she said.

They have had a few meet-ings so far. This fall one of the many things that are offered at Thespian Love is practicing on monologues for upcoming performances.

Thespian Love meets Thurs-days at 3 p.m. in the Little Theatre on the main campus.

LMC student BreAnna Muir, is currently enrolled in Garcia’s theater appreciation course and enjoys the material.

“It’s a very fun class that gives you a complete rundown of theater from the very start progressing to popular theater,” she said. “We talk about every-thing involving theater from politics to religion.”

Perry-Folino has great faith in Garcia taking over the drama department.

“He seems to be a creative and dedicated teacher,” she said. “I’d like to see where drama ends up in 10 years with him steering the ship. A new performing arts center? Collaboration with other colleges? Brilliant productions? He’s young, he has energy and it’s his time.”

writing competition in which he fi nished in sixth place, realized what journalism was all about.

He now believes that a jour-nalist’s job is to fi nd out the information and tell it and that we need more “people to explain an increasingly complicated world,“ and let them know why they should care.

Hufman emphasized that “the world doesn’t need more online journalists, it needs more journalists online.”

He exemplified that even in this modern time it is still important for journalists to fi nd out what people cannot other wise fi nd online and get out there and talk to people.

As Hufman ended his speech he reminded students that they are living in a great and also an exciting time to be a journalist.

As the day continued the students participated in work-shops ranging from topics about photography to landing your fi rst journalism job. Other students participated in competitions.

The competitions included news writing, news photo, edito-rial cartoon, opinion writing, and news judgment and page layout.

Among the award recipients

was Justin Troxell, former editor-in-chief of the Experience, who won second place for front-page broadsheet layout.

“I was surprised to hear that I placed…I always enjoyed layout but never thought it was one of my strong points,” said Troxell. “I’m glad I was able to bring some glory to the Experience,” he added.

Another award-winner was Tom Garcia, whose column about the importance of living healthy and his advice to ride a bike won him second place in the opinion writing category.

Also among the winners was Laura Letkeman, who won fourth place for her mail-in profile feature story on LMC biology instructor Durwynne Hsieh.

Finally, there was Erin John-son who received an honorable mention for his editorial cartoon in the on-the-spot competition.

The Los Medanos College Experience also received an award for general excellence as a student publication.

“I am very proud of our staff and all the hard work they put into the paper,” said Angelica Gonzalez. “We hope to win again down in Los Angeles in April.”

union became a little more real in the 2006-2007 academic year when the College’s Educational Master Plan and Facilities Master Plan were completed.

“Our current student lead-ers and Student Life staff have contributed signifi cantly to the planning phase,” said LMC President Peter Garcia.

Student Activities Coordinator David Belman and LMC Vice President Bruce Cutler believe the student union will include Student Government Offi ces, a Student Life Office, a new cafeteria, more space for Student

Learning Communities, a new bookstore and a game room.

“In working with our architec-tural fi rm, TBP Architecture and the Student Life Offi ce, we have identifi ed the current football practice fi eld as the location for the Student Union,” said Cutler.

There is currently no set timeline established for the construction of the building and there won’t be one until LMC has identifi ed full funding for the building.

The college community will review construction plans before they are fi nalized.

more than 30 Grammy nomina-tions and 12 Grammy Awards. Two of Dorritie’s recordings have won Grammy Awards in the Latin and Jazz categories, among a total of nine nominations.

Other recording arts gradu-ates include John Burk, Vice President of Concord Records, Kevin Sellars, CD Mastering Engineer at Lucas Films, Mi-chael Anderson, Staff Engineer at Fantasy Studios, and Nancy Sanders, Engineer Sound Pilot Studies.

“Students need knowledge and solid basics in music business for them to succeed in the recording industry,” said Dorritie.

The bottom line is that stu-dents will obtain necessary skills in the recording industry once they’ve completed the program’s courses.

2 days before the game or tournaments,” said head coach for the volleyball Joe Shahabi. In addition to coaching the vol-leyball team, Shahabi also sells snacks and other food items for the school during other games at home.

He prepares by going to Costco to get most of the snacks and drinks for the game and will get some of the supplies and food from Wal-Mart and Target. He also said that being a Vendor is, “Lots of work,” but he likes doing it and it gives him a chance to watch the game while he vending.

Behind the scenes, there are many of jobs besides the coaches and players that make it an event. Without these workers here it would be an organized sport being played between two teams on a fi eld with no referees, no markers, trainers, uniforms, or anything that makes it different from just being a pickup game in the park.

hanging on the wall behind him, the color a hint he is an antagonist.

Almodóvar also places geo-metric art all over the place, from the pillows to a giant statue of a rotating orb. There is almost always something to look at in this fi lm. Sometimes, when the actors were talking, I would fi nd my eye wandering behind them to the insides of building they were in. It’s that mesmerizing.

A few images from the fi lm come to mind, a giant yellow wall, the somewhat erotic wall-sized painting of a collec-tion of apples and the extreme close-up of a tear dropping on a ripe tomato.

The fi lm for the most part consisted of close-ups of the face, or else medium shots, showing the actors from the shoulders up. There’s a good deal of talking, so it only makes sense that the camera focus on whoever’s speaking. There are also over-the-shoulder shots and gentle shots of the camera panning or tilting up and down. There’s a scene where Harry and Diego are talking. The cam-era focuses on Diego’s profi le while he talks, then pans to the right as Harry, who is a few feet away, replies, back and forth. It was almost hypnotizing.

The camera also tracks the movements of the characters

and changes its movement to fi t the mood. In an intense love scene between Harry and Lena, the camera moves almost errati-cally, even spinning a full 360 degrees to capture the chaos of the moment. There is only one scene where the camera is not at eye-level, when the tables are turned. Other than that, this fi lm looks you dead in the eye.

The actors were ideally cast. Cruz is lovely as the eager and treacherous Lena. Homar plays studly Harry with both vulnerability and charm. And Gómez does very well as Lena’s jaded sugar daddy/clingy lover. Blanca Portillo also has some good scenes as Harry’s sym-pathetic agent; sometimes she had more presence than Harry.

The ending was anti-climatic, but most of the time, I was en-tertained. Again, the fi lm’s plot did not often surprise me and the ease of predictability made me not as emotionally invested in the fi lm. But the story itself is still enjoyable. Harry’s rela-tionship with Lena is a beautiful one. And the haunting song “Werewolf” by Cat Power only served to enrich the feelings of the characters. What the movie lacked in surprise, it made up for in visual imagery and act-ing. “Broken Embraces” is not just an elegant and melancholy fi lm — it is a work of art.reader wish for better lighting

and less wiggle room beneath the bed, but as he has grown over the years, his work has metamorphosed as well. The boogey man still exists, but it does not always originate in Maine, it isn’t certain to gain a win, and there is more room for interpretation within the tale, as if King, having grown, anticipates this of his audience as well and thusly assigns them more responsibility.

For me the book was awe-some, but primarily because it was written by Stephen King. A twenty-year fan of his work, I fi rmly believe that the greatest literary goof he could ever make would be to put down his pen. But I must admit that this book might disappoint those who are expecting works that are entirely like his other short fi ctions. If you are seeking short stories like “The Finger” (a tale in which a bodiless fi nger comes peeping out of a young man’s bathroom drain), or “The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet” (a hilarious short about the contagion of madness), this is not it. “Just After Sunset” is a collection of stories that portray the author as he has evolved over the decades, whose fears and concerns have likely evolved as well.

Readers shouldn’t be surprised to fi nd a horror story that centers around a portly man with high cholesterol who begins daily walks on his indoor treadmill, or a traveling salesman who has only recently discovered the infi delity of his wife. For the committed reader, “Just After Sunset” truly shows fans an ever-developing author whose style continues to incorporate the newest phases of his own life. From cover to cover, King shows that he still has the ability to make a reader look over their shoulder.