The Lion’s Pride - Mountain View College · 2017-07-27 · speaker, Dr. Kimi King, a...

Table of Contents

General News 1 Culture and La Voz Estudiantil 10 STEM-ing Hot News 20 Student Life 25

Sustainability 39 Sports 40 Entertainment 42

Lion’s Pride The

Fall 2015 Vol. 2 Issue 1

By Vanessa Quiroz When researching how beauty is por-trayed in the media today, the majority of the advertisements display unrealistic expectations of the human body. When companies advertise to women, they dis-play thin women with long luscious hair, super clear and light skin, covered with makeup and fake tans to show how all women are supposed to look. It is very rare to see a darker, full-bodied woman in any advertisements. When companies advertise to men, the women in the adver-tisements are usually very thin and wear a minimal amount of clothing, leaving little to the imagination. It is very sad how these advertisements are everywhere, and both little girls and boys begin to admire mod-els and are influenced to want to look the same way. It is also painful to see our youth influ-enced by meaningless standards of the human body. When children want to go swimming fully clothed or decide they can’t wear something because other peo-ple will laugh at the way they look, it is just plain crazy. The older generation should teach the younger generation that our bodies are all different and, yet, beautiful. There is no need to bully anyone for the way he or she looks or to be jealous of someone for supposedly looking “prettier” than another person. We are all beautiful in our own way, and we need to learn to love our bodies because, if we do not love and respect ourselves and our bodies, who will?

However, this will always be a chal-lenge, especially with the media having an influence on what we are supposed to look like. The only thing we can do is re-mind ourselves that we are all human, we are all beautiful, and we should to teach our little ones that the kind of beauty that is advertised is fake. Future generations should know that they are more beautiful than fake models because they are as natural and as beautiful as God made them.

What truly makes someone beautiful is what is inside him or her, and how they act is what makes them attractive and unique. I have never really been one to look at a person’s appearance when I think of beauty. Beauty, to me, is deter-mined by how nice a person is, how they treat others, and how they present them-selves. Beauty is more than looks, and it comes in different colors, shapes, and sizes. People just have to look beyond the exterior and focus on what really matters.

Beauty permeates Mountain View College

This image, produced by Collage Creator, is made of individual photos of Mountain View students and employees

Photos taken by Luke Story

2

By Babatunde Adetoro Due to the success of the first edition of TEDx Mountain View College, there was a campus-wide desire for another installment. After much anticipation, the second edition was held on September 24, 2015. The event started with a sense of excitement in the air at the registration tables. An addition to the second install-ment was the incorporation of social me-dia; tweets were scrolled live on projector screens. At last, the doors to MVC’s Per-formance Hall opened at 5:45 p.m. The host for the night was Krys Boyd, the host and managing editor of KERA-FM’s midday talk show Think. Mountain View College’s President, Dr. Robert Gar-za, introduced Boyd to the audience. Overall, there were seven performers for the night; six of which gave very compel-ling speeches, while the other, a visual arts painter, provided aesthetic entertain-ment. The first speaker for the night was Brent Brown, an award-winning architect based in Dallas and the founder and vi-sionary of bcWORKSHOP (building com-munity workshop). He is a strong advo-cate for public design, renewable energy, and physical form. Brown gave a compel-

ling speech about decision making, titled “Choice Empowers.” Next, Dr. Deb Yoder, a professor of psychology at Mountain View College, took to the stage. She has served more than thirty years in higher education as a coach, administrator, and professor. Dr.

Yoder is a licensed professional counselor supervisor, a certified Daring Way TM facili-tator, an Appreciative Inquiry facilitator, and an emotional intelligence researcher. Dr. Yoder gave a wonderful speech titled

“When We Dare to Listen,” in which she talked about her life experiences, her fears, and her decision to rise above those fears. She connected with her audi-ence emotionally. Following Dr. Yoder was another MVC professor, Stacy Vasquez, who teaches biology. In his speech, “Sanitizing Society,” Vasquez talked about bacteria and people’s fear of these microscopic agents. He made mention of the Ebola outbreak, the resulting rush to buy sanitiz-ers, and the fact that about five pounds of human body weight is made up of bacte-ria. Overall, it was a very educational talk. After a short intermission, the fourth speaker, Dr. Kimi King, a distinguished professor at the University of North Texas (UNT), came on stage. Her research inter-ests include human and civil rights, inter-national law, conflict resolution, gender studies, and sexual violence. Dr. King enlightened the audience on a topic called “Triumph of Justice.” She talked about the Hague and the International War Crimes Tribunal. Dr. Dwight Randle, a professor of chemistry and biology at Richland Col-lege, graced the stage next. Dr. Randle

(Continued on page 3)

TheLion’s Pride Founded in 2014

Editor-in-Chief: Luke Story

Chief Editorial Advisor: Jason Schneider

Chief Design Advisor: Jennifer Gehrig

Advisors: Jean Baker, Kathryn Barnett, Les Brinkerhoff, David Couric, Rick Dashiell, Lori De La Cruz, Brenda Epperson, Rusty Fox, Darius Frasure, Sarah Hutchings, Hayden Kilmarnok (Miguel Esparza), Jill Lain, Keith

McKinnon, April Minjares, Scott Powers, Ulises Rodríguez, and Karen Valencia

Editorial Staff: Babatunde A. Adetoro, Héber Bibang, Eduard Prieto Caballero, Miguel Cordero, Emily Cortez, Juan Antonio Martinez Lopez, and Herbert McCullough

Contributing Writers: Ary Bennett, Miranda Heart, Brenda Reyes, Alayna Dublin, Eivon Garcia, Gerardo Aguinaga Torres, Tosin Emmanuel Adebayo, Yassien Fadul, Bianca Muñoz, Francisco Rogers, and Cindy Umana

Photographer: Carlos Granados

TEDx II returns to Mountain View College

Lion painted by artist Ange Hillz at TEDx

3

served as the Science and Medicine Advi-sor for the American Heart Association. He also served on the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for Baylor Research Institute, which is charged with the regulatory and patient protection oversight of clinical re-search. Speaking on the topic, “Celebrating the Maverick Path: Non-Traditional Careers for Science Majors,” Dr. Randle took us further on the journey of enlightenment. He devised an engaging and entertaining game in which he had the audience members guess which sci-entist was in the picture.

The last speaker of the night was another MVC professor, Naima Montacer. She is an environmental writer and pas-sionate biology professor. In her presenta-tion, “Connect to Cool Climate Change,” she took us on a boat ride. She made us see how important it is to protect the envi-ronment and works hard to encourage others to explore and connect with nature. Lastly, a young, emerging artist with an extraordinary ability to evoke emotions through the use of paint, Ange Hillz, took the stage to the amazement of the audi-ence. He speed-painted a lion upside down in less than five minutes. When he flipped the painting right side up, the audi-ence was in awe, concluding a night of ed uc a t i o n a nd e n t e r t a i nm en t : “edutainment.”

(Continued from page 2)

By Hayden Esparza

Mesquite Convention Center—Seventh Chancellor of DCCCD, Dr. Joe May, announced that he, the board of trustees, and the Foundation board had devised a plan to network the seven unique Dallas County colleges during his speech for the 50th anniversary of the Dal-las County Community College District. Dr. May described “network” as it relates to the success of Texas Health Resources, which networked hospitals,

clinics, non-profit organizations, and hundreds of other access points to meet the individual needs for the com-munity. Networking the seven commu-nity colleges of D a l l a s w i l l strengthen the district’s ability to

individually service students of a growing economy, which requires a skilled work-force. In 1965, Dallas’ workforce had wit-nessed a demand of 25% for post-secondary education. Fifty years later, 70% of the available jobs require a post-

secondary education, which is an average increase of 1% per year. Dallas County’s higher education network plan will be the first nationwide. Although the plan is not modeled after the health care network, the district’s model will aid Dallas’ increasing poverty rate using the strengths of faculty and staff “while meeting the ever changing needs of the communities we serve,” said Dr. May. “With this approach, we will return, I be-lieve, to the thinking of our founders. La-dies and gentlemen, I believe this is the new Dallas County Community College District way, as we think about how to meet the needs for the next 50 years.” The Network, as proposed, should allow everyone access to educational programs and gather existing resources from local organizations, local businesses, and neighboring schools. In other words, the board will increase personal services to the students and staff of Dallas County and to those falling below the poverty line. Future students should be part of the generation that witnesses a decrease in the poverty rate of Dallas. According to the United States Census Bureau, nearly one in five people fell below the poverty line from 2009 to 2013, while Regina Mon-toya of the Dallas Morning News pub-

lished in her column, Poverty is Eating at Dallas’ Core, the city of Dallas is ranked highest for impoverished children “with one million or more residents.” Regina Montoya is a Harvard alumni, who has served as co-chair for Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings’ committee on poverty.

DCCCD celebrates 50th anniversary with plan to alleviate poverty in Dallas

TEDx II

Photo by Carlos Granados

Photo by Carlos Granados

Dr. Joe May

Dr. Joe May visits MVC

4

By Herbert McCullough

Mountain View College was recently

honored to host a rally for 2016 Presiden-

tial Candidate Hillary Clinton. Clinton has

extensive experience in politics, having

also served as a New York Senator, Sec-

retary of State, and First Lady. The rally

saw more than a thousand attendees,

including members of the Dallas City

Council, MVC students and faculty, and

visitors from the community and other

schools. Republicans and Democrats

across the state—and even the nation—

packed Mountain View College, anticipat-

ing the appearance of Hillary Clinton.

The Barack Obama Male Leadership

Academy Choir sang the national anthem

to officially begin the rally. The President

of Women of Worth, student ambassador,

and first generation student, Cindi Robles

Perez, introduced Senator Clinton. Stand-

ing behind Clinton on stage were Trinidad

Garza ECHS students, members of the

League of United Latin American Citizens,

and members of Phi Theta Kappa.

In her speech, Clinton outlined the

importance of affordable higher education,

health care, and women’s health. Ad-

dressing the Syrian refugee crisis, Clinton

said, “Of course we have to have a lot of

vigilance, and we have to vet people; but,

we can’t act as though we’re shutting the

door to people in need without undermin-

ing who we are as Americans.”

She also argued for lower taxation on

lower income workers, which received a

roar of applause. After her speech, Clinton

shook hands with the audience and was

kind enough to take selfies with many of

those who attended.

Clinton is an accomplished individual,

and many students and faculty, regardless

of their political ideologies, were thrilled to

see her.

To our readers, do not forget to vote.

Your vote is your voice, and your voice

matters in deciding the future of our na-

tion.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign visits Mountain View College

Photo taken by Professor Luke Story



Hillary Clinton speaks at MVC

Attendees crowd into MVC’s gymnasium to listen to Hillary Clinton

Clinton takes a selfie Fleurette Akoudina

5


During the fall of 2015, The Lion’s Pride

conducted an interview with Dr. Karen

Valencia to get a better understanding

of her multifaceted role at MVC.

How does it feel to be the head of two

divisions?

It’s busy. It’s very busy, indeed. With-

in Instructional Resources, we have the

Academic Center for Writing, which I’m

very proud of, the Instructional Support

Lab as well as the Library and Media Ser-

vices. I also do curriculum, new programs,

and catalog within that job title. Communi-cations and Social Sciences is the largest

division on campus, and it’s made up of a

huge number of disciplines. Can you explain your background?

I got to move around a lot when I was

young. I got to live all over the world, and

that has influenced the way I think and do

things. I went to school at eight universi-

ties before it was all over. I really believe

in education. I have two baccalaureate

degrees: a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.S.

Microbiology. I also have two master’s

degrees: a M.S. in Immune Hematoma

Coagulopathies—or bleeding disorders—

and a M.A. in Education. I also have an

Ed.D. in Administration and Supervision. What is it like to be the Chair of the

Institutional Review Board?

Oh, it’s a lot of fun! The Institutional

Review Board has to do with research that

is done on the Mountain View campus.

Therefore, anyone who wants to do re-

search and collect data does an abstract

and submits it to the committee, and we

take a look to see whether it’s worth the

time of our institution to support that. If it’s

beneficial for both the researcher and for

the institution, then we go ahead and in-

vite that researcher to do their data collec-

tion here. We often ask them to share

their data with us, and it’s very interesting

to get back some of the papers and publi-

cations that they do with research from

our campus. Can you explain your history of being a

part of the Curriculum Committee?

I’ve been chair and liaison of the Cur-

riculum Committee for a number of years,

and I really love curriculum. We have a

very detailed way of doing curriculum here

on this campus. The changes come down

from the Texas Code Ward, and they

come to our vice presidents who in turn

charge the DCCCD Curriculum Committee

chairs to get their disciplines together and

to talk about changes at the state level,

additions or deletions that they want made in their course work, and changes in pre-

requisites and co-requisites. They enjoy

getting together several times during the

year, most generally at the beginning of

the fall semester. They make recommen-

dations, go to the campuses, and review

and approve projects before going back to

the Discipline Committee. It’s a lot of work

and fun. Can you explain your history of being

co-chair of the IT Committee?

You guys have done your homework.

Commendations to you! We started this a

couple of years ago, and we wanted to get

together those people that had a stake in

putting together all of the technology on

the campus over a rolling five year period.

So, we got together and talked about not

only things that we need right now as far

as technology for the campus but also

things that we’d like to pilot and things that

we would like to implement over the next

five years. Can you explain the field of curriculum

and institutional resources?

Actually, that is the title of our divi-

sion, and it’s more or less coalesced from

the different job elements that I do. Within

our division, we work with curriculum, cat-alog, new programs, and research institu-

tional review boards. We also work with

the library, databases, Instructional Sup-

port, the Academic Center for Writing, and

Media…So, it’s a busy place!


MVC speaks with Dr. Valencia

Photo taken by Luke Story Dr. Karen Valencia works on writing new programs for MVC

6

What has influenced you to choose

your career at Mountain View College?

That’s kind of a complex question. On

a personal level, I was working in Nash-

ville. My mother became very ill, and I

came home to take care of her. It was a

good decision for me because I was ac-

cepted to work here at Mountain View College. I’ve been here for ten years, and

it has been a fabulous experience. I really

enjoy working with the staff, with the stu-

dents, and with all of the variety that goes

on in this campus. I would put this institu-

tion toe-to-toe with any institute of higher learning in the country. We’ve got some

very fine faculty here, and our students go

on to do some incredible things. What do you think about The Lion’s

Pride, Mountain View College’s own

academic newspaper?

The Lion’s Pride is my pride! There is so much good work going with regards to

The Lion’s Pride and The Lion’s Roar. I am thrilled at the quality of work that’s

being turned out by staff and students.

And I’m really proud of the commitment

that they have, the initiative and drive.

When I’ve read some of the articles–and

I’m putting both together–and submissions

that have been given by students and staff

alike, the amount of talent we have here

on this campus is incredible! What are the biggest challenges and

greatest rewards of working at Moun-

tain View College?

The rewards are personal satisfaction

and a job well done. I’m proud of the peo-

ple that I work with. The great range of

talent that we have in all of the areas that I

supervise is a profundity of incredible fac-

ulty and staff, but I think what I’m most proud of is the accomplishments of the

students. When they first start attending

Mountain View, many students are nerv-

ous. You know they’re scared, and seeing

them bloom over the time that they are

here is really rewarding. It makes me con-

tinue to want to work forever. Can you explain the current marketing

efforts that have made Mountain View

College the most student-populated

campus in the DCCCD community?

I know that we have an incredible

marketing staff that has done some very

creative things recently to bring Mountain

View and its name into the spotlight. Our

community is recognizing what a wonder-

ful institution that Mountain View is.

They’re recognizing that we’ve got some

great programs here. Since I’ve been

here, we’ve put in Nursing, and we’ve put

in Engineering, Mechatronics, Machining.

Students are coming because they realize

they can get a wonderful education here

and then go out and get jobs, and that’s

really rewarding to me. What about the students of Mountain

View College has impressed you most

of all?

I think the commitment students show

when many of them have so many chal-

lenges shows. Many of our students work

full-time, have children, come from other

countries, and come with challenges. Peo-ple of less character would be over-

whelmed, but their commitment and their

pride shines through in the end. Moreover,

their devotion to their work and the fact

that they complete their degrees and go

out and get some incredible jobs is re-

warding to me. Having worked on the

state committee, I know that our students

can go toe-to-toe with anybody in the

country. They’re very competitive, and our

receiving institutions recognize the quality

of students that we’re turning out here.

We’re constantly working on new pro-

grams that will increase the number of

jobs that students can get and earn a

good living for their families. What does your future at Mountain

View College look like?

I hope I’m here for a long time! There

are a lot of programs that I still want to

write and a lot of programs that I’d still like

to see implemented here, so I hope that

Mountain View will allow me to stay for a

number of years. Furthermore, I’d like to

see a lot more students graduate.


Dr. Valencia (interview)

7


Mountain View College welcomed,

thanked, and honored MVC students and

staff who had served in the United States

armed forces. Shira Bland, Cathy Ed-

wards, and Staci Lowe of the Office of

Student Life prepared breakfast in rooms

S1029 and 1030, where students and

faculty members spoke with veterans who

had served or were currently serving. Af-

ter breakfast, the event moved outside to

the student courtyard for the MVC Veter-

ans Ceremony.

Molina High School’s ROTC Color

Guard, led by Colonel Senior Army In-

structor Joe E. Conley, posted the colors for the ceremony. Mountain View’s stu-

dent ambassador Alayna Dublin sang the

national anthem.

Next, Jose Sandoval, a veteran, sa-

luted and welcomed the National Honor

Society. Sandoval welcomed Sergeant

Santos of the National Guard as he gave

the invocation. After the invocation, Ash-

ley Crosby, also a veteran, enlightened

the MVC Community on the history of

Veterans Day, which began at the end of

“The Great War” on the eleventh hour of

the eleventh day of the eleventh month in

1918. Remembrance Day is another

name for Veterans Day in Canada and the

United Kingdom, which were two Ameri-

can allies in the Great War. Before World

War II, Veterans Day was called Armistice

Day, officially recognized on June 4, 1926,

when businesses were briefly suspended

at 11a.m. However, after World War II, in

1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower

renamed the holiday Veterans Day. Veter-

ans Day continues to be observed on No-

vember 11, and it is a day to celebrate

America’s veterans for “their patriotism,

love of country, and willingness to serve

and sacrifice for the common good.”

Jose Sandoval later presented three

distinguished veterans: Lt. Colonel Pedro

S. Parra, United States Air Force veteran, his son, a veteran as well as our Veterans

Honor Society Advisor, Richard Parra,

and Mr. Hancock, the eldest member of

our Emeritus Center. After a thunderous

round of applause, Jose Sandoval and

Gary Calhoun presented the President of

Mountain View College, Dr. Robert Garza.

Dr. Garza, who served as the keynote

speaker during Palo Alto’s Veterans Day

observances for the past several years

and whose father and grandfather both

proudly served, gave special remarks. In

his remarks, President Dr. Garza high-

lighted the importance of understanding

that freedom is not free, and he stressed

that there are still men and women in

combat around the world such as in Syria,


MVC salutes its veterans

Photo taken by Herbert McCullough

Photo taken by Herbert

MVC’s veterans gather for photo at Veterans Day celebration

Ms. Shoshana Johnson speaks at Veterans Day celebration

8

By Babatunde Adetoro

Mountain View College has been

fortunate to have a wonderful faculty and

staff over the years. Many of these individ-

uals have put in their time and effort to make this college a fun, conducive learn-

ing environment.

This year, Ms. Cathy Edwards and

Dr. Geoff Grimes were the 2015 recipients

of Mountain View College’s Presidential

Award. These individuals have worked

obsequiously, diligently, and sagaciously

among the Mountain View family.

Ms. Cathy Edwards is a Mountain

View College alumnus. In addition to be-

ing a full-time student, she worked part-

time as a departmental assistant for the

Office of Student Life. She earned her

bachelor’s degree from Dallas Baptist

University. Ms. Edwards has been at

Mountain View for twenty years, fifteen of

which have been as Director of the Office

of Student Life.

Referred to by students as Ms. Cathy,

she found the announcement of being a

recipient of the Presidential Award at the

2015 convocation a serendipitous sur-

prise. Ms. Cathy stated, “I was humbled

because I am usually the one giving the

surprises.” She felt very grateful, and she

was looking forward to working with the

new president knowing that he supported her department’s work. She explained, “I

am MVC proud for so many reasons.

MVC gave me my foundation; four of my

kids came to MVC. MVC Presidential

Award recipients and I have been working

with students for twenty years. I recently

met an old student from nineteen or twen-

ty years ago, and the ex-student wants to

send her kid here due to the impact we

have on the students. I am proud that we

have new generations of students coming

and proud that we are giving the same

quality education to students.”

Dr. Geoff Grimes has been at Moun-

tain View College since 1971. He has taught a full range of English classes and

sponsored many student clubs. Currently,


Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Afterward, Ms. Shoshana Johnson

told her inspiring story of being an immi-

grant from Panama, attending the Univer-

sity of Texas at El Paso, completing basic

training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina

and advanced individual training (AIT) at

Fort Lee, Virginia, working as an Army cook with the 507th at Fort Bliss, experi-

encing a terrifying ambush in Nasiriyah,

deploying to Iraq in 2003, and being res-

cued by members of the Marines. John-

son's story conveyed lessons about com-

passion, forgiveness, and the struggle

veterans face when coming back home.

Even though veterans touch US soil

again, they are not at home yet.

Jose Sandoval, Cathy Edwards, Dr.

Garza, and the National Honor Society

recognized Mountain View College’s vet-

erans with a medal of appreciation. After

the thunderous applause, Richard Parra,

along with the National Honors Society,

presented the Wreath Laying Ceremony, thanking and honoring those veterans

who had departed, both on and off the

battlefield.


W114 Monday—Thursday 7:30a.m.—

9:00p.m.

Friday & Saturday 7:30a.m.—

4:30p.m.

The Ink Spot Academic Center for Writing

Writing Center Help Desk [email protected] Phone: 972-860-5606 Room W114

MVC salutes our veterans

Dedicated employees receive MVC Presidential Award


Ms. Cathy Edwards and Dr. Geoff Grimes

9

By Ary Bennett

Cedar Hill is a town on the outskirts of

Dallas, which currently appears to be

flourishing. The mayor is Rob Franke, and

he has served as mayor for Cedar Hill for

five terms. According to Cedarhilltx.com,

the council members include: Stephen

Mason, Daniel C. Haydin Jr., Jami

McCain, Chris Parvin, Clifford R. Shaw,

and Wallace Swayze.

The council does not appear to pass

ordinances frequently; in fact, most of

their ordinances are correcting flaws in their past ordinances. The council passed

an ordinance in August of 2014 making a

new no parking zone on High Pointe

Lane. This no parking zone is located on

a fairly narrow street, which only has

space for safe parking on one side as well

as being the road where an elementary

school is placed. The ordinance requires

that signs be put up designating the strip

as a no parking zone as well as allowing

for fines to be given to anyone found park-

ing in the no parking zone, according to

the city’s website.

The mayor and the council members had good intentions toward the citizens of

Cedar Hill when they passed this law.

Since the street is narrow and has a

school, it is not safe for the drivers or the

pedestrians to have cars parked on both

sides of the road. The road is too narrow

for drivers to drive safely and allows too

many blind spots where children cannot

be seen and kept within a safe distance

from danger that the road presents. Pe-

destrians, especially children, are in dan-

ger crossing the street because parked

cars along the side of the street prevent

drivers and on-coming vehicles from see-ing pedestrians crossing the street. By

passing this ordinance, the city council

made both driving and walking home from

the elementary school on High Pointe

Lane much safer.

The city of Cedar Hill tries to make it

easy for its citizens to get involved. They

have clearly stated times for council meet-

ings when a person runs for office, the city

holds elections, and the council shares

information about its people in office. The

government of Cedar Hill does its best to

run Cedar Hill in a way that is both pleas-

ing and helpful for its citizens.

he sponsors the Magic Club. Dr. Grimes

organized a number of experiential learn-

ing excursions to Mexico, Canada, and

Guatemala, and he codirected the Boston

excursion for the last fifteen years.

Dr. Grimes also helped in pioneering

distance-learning classes, and he taught

the first online English course at Mountain View College that started in the 1990s.

Dr. Grimes was flattered and honored

to receive this award. “It was a very kindly

thing and a little embarrassing,” he said.

Being a man of few words, when asked

about why he has MVC Pride, he replied,

“Because of the challenges faced as fac-

ulty, I am proud to be able to better serve

the students. I try to do better so that I can

help the students learn better. I am fo-

cused on helping students become confi-

dent and competent writers. Every day, I

feel challenged to help students excel in

their assignments and writing courses. If these students increase their confidence,

they will become more competent and I

have been privileged to see it happen.”

Congratulations to Ms. Cathy Ed-

wards and Dr. Geoff Grimes for their im-

peccable service at Mountain View Col-

lege.

Previous recipients of the presidential

award included Bonnie Hueston, Fred

Taylor, Terry Devall, Juan Baldor, and Dr.

Geoff Grimes. In addition, some depart-

ments and committees received this

award such as the Facilities SECC Com-

mittee, SACS Self-Study Team, and SACS First Monitoring Report Team.


Government of Cedar Hill in the MVC area reaches resolutions over a problem with city ordinances

Presidential Award recipients

10

By Miranda Heart My name is Miranda Heart. I am origi-nally from Damascus, Syria. I have been married since 2012. Before that, I studied media, and I have worked as a journalist since 2007. I wrote for a political website, then for a beauty magazine. I quit writing about political issues after the Syrian cri-sis started. I was asked to do some field covers for the marches that were happen-ing in Syria to support the role of Bashar Al-Assad, the current president. Also, I was asked to write about the crisis and about the Syrian army’s achievements according to Syrian official TV and the Syrian official news agency, SANA, with-out any other sources of information. I refused to do that because it was against my professional ethics. I believed that Bashar Al-Assad was responsible for most of the violence, killing, and torture, which was happening in Syria. I tried to avoid covering these events, but my excuses didn’t convince the website’s editor, so he started to put pressure on me that made me quit working for them. Before the war occurred, my country used to be very beautiful and interesting. If you ever visited, it would remain in your mind for a very long time. Syria is on the continent of Asia, located in the Middle East on the shore of Mediterranean Sea and bordered, from the north down to the west, by Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Pal-

estine, and Lebanon. It is one of the old-est inhabited regions in the world with archaeological finds dating the first human habitation at 700,000 years ago. In Damascus, the capital of Syria, there were many places that you would have enjoyed visiting. I will list some as I remember them: Qasion Mountain’s high-est point is 3,776 ft., and it overlooks the city of Damascus. It has a lot of restau-rants from which the whole city can be viewed. Saydnaya is also located on the mountain. The name of Saydnaya in the old Aramic language refers to the Virgin Mary. Saydnaya is second in religious importance to Jerusalem. There is also Alhamidya Souq, the largest shopping center. It was built in 1780 and is located

inside the old city of Damascus, behind the famous Damascus Castle. There you can find all sorts of ancient souvenirs. Al Azm Palace is a very nice historical place, originally built in 1750. It used to be the home of the Ottoman governor of Damas-cus, As'ad Pasha al-Azm. The palace now houses the Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions, and all the sculptures in it are made from wax. I love my country so much, but I had to leave it because there is a war going on now. Life has become really dangerous. There is a lack of food, electricity, and water. They made us leave our house, and when we returned, the house was damaged and the furniture stolen. So I left my family, my house, my memories, and even my career, which I used to like. I wish I could stop the war and help my people there, but there is nothing I can do. Even though I love my country very much, I prefer my new life here in the United States more than anything else. I consider it my new home.

Culture and La Voz Estudiantil

Syrian recalls life at peace before the war in the Middle East

11

By Herbert McCullough During Native American Heritage Month, which falls in November, Mountain View College was honored to welcome Dallas’ great Bear Claw Singers and Dance Troupe to share their cultural herit-age with the Mountain View College com-munity. The Bear Claw Singers have been performing for twelve years across Texas and the rest of the United States and have members from the Kiowa and Comanche Tribes of Texas and Oklahoma. These singers come together with other Native American communities across the south-western United States to celebrate their proud heritage. The most powerful instrument that is used is the drum, which has the beat of a heart. Just like a heart, the drum’s beat represents healing, love, and blessing to others. The first song was a welcoming song, where the Bear Claw Singers welcomed the Dance Troupes. The lead singer ad-dressed how diverse many Native Ameri-can tribes are and how that diversity rep-resents the United States. He addressed the strong contributions of Native Ameri-cans to the American armed forces since

World War I, although many were not rec-ognized citizens by the government. They also sang a song that honored those who have lost their lives and are still serving in the armed forces. A dance trouper presented a dance to

represent the story of healing. Another dance trouper from the Kiowa Tribe per-formed a dance to represent motherhood and its blessings. The dancers consider it the most calming dance they have ever done. The next dance, from the Sioux, was called Stomping Grass. This dance was very special because it was performed by two of the youngest members of the troupe, one a teenager and the other a small child. The dancer of the Blackfoot Tribe honored the Great Prairie Chicken, a colorful prairie bird that dances to attract a mate. In the same vein, the Bear Claw Sing-ers also performed a traditional song that was used to attract loved ones like a mod-ern love song. One of the most vibrant dances was from an experienced gentle-man of the Comanche Tribe who per-formed a battle dance. As the event end-ed, the Bear Claw Singers and the Dance Troupe invited attendees to join them in a dance and song representing friendship.

Bear Claw Singers and Dance Troupe share their native heritage with MVC



12

Attendees of Dia de los Muertos celebration dress in traditional clothing


Sigma Delta Mu is a Mountain View

College club that expresses and cele-

brates the heritage of the vast and diverse

Hispanic community. Sigma Delta Mu

hosted a celebration of the traditional

Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos at

Moutain View College.

The modern practices of Día de los

Muertos are influenced by Spanish and

indigenous cultures. This day connects to

the common Spaniard tradition of All

Souls Day; however, during the time that

Mexico was among the Spanish Empire,

many indigenous, folklore traditions were

still practiced. During Día de los Muertos,

the dead are remembered and honored,

and people are taught that death is a cy-

cle of life and to be expected, not feared.

The host, Ulisses Rodríguez, comical-

ly apologized about the rain since the

event was expected to be hosted in the

courtyard, but, due to the weather, it was

relocated in the S Building. Despite this,

many students and faculty members at-tended.

During the event, Sigma Delta Mu

read Calaveras Literarias (i.e., a genrte of

traditional poems for Día de los Muertos)

written by the fall 2015 Spanish 1411

class. Among Sigma Delta Mu, Adriana

Perez Niño, Miranda Tellez, and Brenda

Reyes also read poems. Calaveras Lit-

erarias are traditional poems recited dur-

ing Día de los Muertos. The poems refer


Dia de los Muertos


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onal help?

If you answered yes to any of the

ques ons above, MVC’s Instruc on-

al Video Database might be just the

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13

to death, but they can also be comical and

political satires, which were common after

the 1910 Revolution in Mexico. As a

Spanish 1411 student, I also took the

stage and recited my own Calaveras Lit-

erarias.

As the last Calaveras Literarias was

read, the event finished with activities

such as taking photos and playing games.

People attending were served sugared

bread and hot chocolate. This event was

culturally enlightening for those who are

not familiar with traditions of other nations

and with more events like this, students

and faculty are encouraged to express

their customs.



Dia de los Muertos

14

By Herbert McCullough and

Heber Bibang

Mountain View College a organisé la

semaine annuelle des humanités en

W181/183 dans l'Édifice de l'Ouest. Cet

événement a été organisé par trois des

meilleurs professeurs don’t : Dre Janice

Franklin, Joseph Brockway, Randy Clow-

er, et Luc Histoire. Cet événement a

également été organisé par quatre élèves

Ambassadeurs de Mountain View Collèges dont: Jorge Pina, Herbert

McCullough, Daniel, et Alyana Dublin.

Malgré les défis de l'accueil d'un événe-

ment de une semaine, les étudiants et les

professeurs ont travaillé très dur pour que

cette semaine humanitaire demarre et

prenne fin avec un grand coup. Ce fut un

événement réussi et instructif.

Lundi (octobre 19)

La semaine humanitaire commença

avec de la poésie de Joe, qui a été ac-

cueilli par Joseph Brockway et l'étudiant

ambassadeur Jorge Pina. Dans cet expo-

sé, le professeur Brockway posa les in-

structives questions suivantes: « Qu’est-

ce-qu’un un poème? Qu'est-ce qui fait un

poème? À quoi ressemble t-il? » Toutes

ces questions et bien d'autres ont été dis-

cutées lors de cette conférence. Dans cet

exposé, il nous a présenté des poèmes en

anglais, français et espagnol. Il a com-

mencé avec la présentation et la discus-

sion du poème « De quien es la poesi »

par Felix Franco Oppenheimer, qui a dit :

« la poésie appartient à chacun et elle est partout. » Un autre travail qu'il a présenté

était celui d'un Français nommé Isidore-

Lucien uruguayen Ducasse, qui lui a dit :

« la poésie est créé par tous, et non pas

par un. » D'autres poètes et œuvres qu'il

nous a montré inclurent « Dans la station

du métro » de Ezra Pound et « Rimas »

de Edger Allen Garcia. Il nous a informé

que la rime et le symbolisme sont la forme

de base de la poésie. Le poète le plus

intéressant qu'il nous présenta fut le Fu-

turisme F.T. Marinetti de l'Italie, qui lui

utilisa son travail pour contester l'interna-

tionalisme. Il a terminé cette conférence

avec la série Erra; où la poésie est expri-

mée par le sentiment de choquer, dé-

goûter, faire honte et des métaphores joyeuses.

Mardi (20 octobre)

Le deuxième jour de la semaine des

Sciences Humaines a commencé avec la

question de Pauvert Bin-Asset et du

groupe de discussion l'Éducation, qui les

a accueilli par les deux Tre Noirs, à savoir

le Président de treco de placement collec-

tif ltée, le Dr. Janice Franklin, et l'étudiant

ambassadeur : Herbert McCullough. Dans

cet exposé, le Président Noir nous a in-

formé sur la raison pour laquelle il est

important pour d’aucun de construire son

avenir financier à un âge précoce. Malgré

la croissance de l'économie du Texas et

en dépit de l'accroissement de la puis-

sance économique de la génération du

millénaire, beaucoup de gens manquent

de lumières financière et de stabilité. De

ce fait, de nombreux jeunes sont pris dans

un cycle infernal de la pauvreté. En outre,

il expliqua que plus de la moitié de la pop-

ulation de Dallas est incapable de sub-

venir à leurs besoins sans un revenu sta-

ble pendant trois mois (les rendant fi-nancièrement pauvre). Il a également

expliqué l'expérience très utile en ce qui

concerne le prépa université; il était à la

fois un étudiant de Mountain View College

et de El Centro College. Il a encouragé les

étudiants à ne pas s'inquiéter si c'était leur

premier semestre et leur leur filière un-

decis. Selon lui, la première année devrait

être cella-là où les étudiant doivent ap-

prendre à se découvrir avant de décider

de leur spécialisation. Le Président Noir et

le Dr Franklin ont également expliqué

l'importance d'étudier la filière. Il a terminé

cette conférence en donnant à la Commu-

nauté de Mountain View College des pa-

roles de sagesse sur comment il est deve-

nu un homme d'affaires réussi et com-ment devenir un homme d'affaires.

Mercredi (21 octobre)

Le tiers de la semaine des humanités

a commencé avec l'Identité, qui est animé

par le Dr. Janice Franklin, et l'étudiant

ambassadeur : Daniel Leareno et Dr

Franklin a commencé cette conférence en

demandant ce que c’est que l'Identité. Elle

a répondu en disant: « C'est compliqué. »

Les deux definitions comunes compren-

nent: 1) La condition d'être soi-même; et

2) Le caractère de ce qu'une personne/

place/chose est. Elle exposa le fait que ce

que constitue une identité sont l'ascend-

ance, profession, et l'image. En démarrant

avec l'ascendance, elle s’inclua à sa char-

mante famille; qui comprenait sa mère de

Louisiane et son père de l'Oklahoma. Elle

a également eu l'amabilité de nous mon-

trer son test ADN, où elle peut retracer

ses ancêtres au Ghana, l'Irlande et de la

Norvège. Elle a également expliqué com-

ment le concept de race est une création

de l'homme et n'a pas de la biologie. Ce-

pendant, le racisme systémique existe toujours. Elle a expliqué la différence en-

tre la race et l'ethnicité à travers le re-

censement des États-Unis. Elle a mis fin à

cette conférence avec une entrevue de

Rachel Dolezal. Lorsque l'entrevue était


Semaine des sciences humaines

15

terminée, la question qui est apparue a

été «qui fait de vous ce dont vous êtes :

vous-même ou la société? »

Jeudi (22 octobre)

La quatrième semaine des Humani-

tés était une vidéo avec Randy Clower,

qui a été accueillie par la vidéaste Randy Crowford, Dre Janice Franklin, et

l'étudiant ambassadeur : Herbert

McCullough. Dans cette conférence,

M. Clower éclaira les étudiants sur la ré-

volution de la photographie avec son baby

-boomer âge à l'ère post-millénaire actuel.

De loin, l'élément le plus intéressant de

cette présentation était quand il nous a

montré un vidéo de son baby-boomer, y

compris son expérience avec la guerre du

Viêt-Nam Projet et de la révolution contre-

culture. Comme nous avions du temps

supplémentaire, il devait nous montrer

plus de vidéos qu'il a travaillées sur, y

compr i s ce l u i conc e rnan t l e

30e anniversaire de Mountain View Col-

lege, la Journée de Reconnaissance de l’

Étudiant en Spring 2015, et la Convoca-

tion Étudiante du semestre de Fall 2015.

Vendredi (octobre 23)

Le dernier jour de la Semaine des

sciences humaines a été sur l’expression;

ce qui a été animé par les Conseillers

Academiques de Rédaction, le professeur

Luc Story, le Dr. Janice Franklin, et l'étudiant Ambassadeur : Alyana Dublin.

La semaine des Sciences humaines ne pu

prendre fin sur une note supérieure, que

où les étudiants et membres du corps

professoral ont été encouragés à exprimer

leur poésie, littérature dramatique, et mot

de discours. Les Exploits inclurent la per-

formance de Drame de Mountain View

College effectuant une scène d’un livre de

Mountain View intituté: Dans le Mag-

nifique Nord (Into the Beautiful North). Ils

étaient aussi assez gentils d’avoir présen-

té trois autres œuvres; un comprenant

pourquoi d’aucun devrait envisager aller

apprendre à Mountain View College.

D’autres œuvres était deux disserta-

tions, dont l'une des professeurs de l'État

les plus respectés de la Communauté

DCCCD, et l’autre de Jonothon York sur

l'intégration des arts et des sciences champs; le président de l'astrophysique

Club, et Ian Gris sur la reconstruction du

Texas et de l'Irak. D’autres expositions

inclurent un poème du professeur Darius

Frasure, ainsi que un discours du vice-

président du Kevin Williams Writing

Lounge: Heber Bibang. Un des travaux

litteraires intéressants inclut une bilingue

fiction Français-Anglais du vice-président

Heber Bibang et du Président Herbert

McCullough, du Kevin Williams Writing

Lounge. La derniere performance, mais

non la moindre, était un Dave Chappell

influencé sonnet du professeur Luke

Story.

En conclusion, la Semaine des sci-

ences humaines était une grande oppor-

tunité tant pour ceux de la Communauté

de Mountain View College de s’exprimer

en tant que des êtres humains fiers et

curieux. Les thèmes de cette semaine

allaient de la littérature, à financer, s’iden-

tifier, et la photographie. Se porter vo-

lontaire et participer à cette série d'événe-

ments a été une expérience très humble et accueillante, et je suis impatient de

revoir comment la prochaine semainte

des Sciences Humaines se passera.


Theatre

Auditions for Romeo and Juliet will be performed March 30-April 2, 2016.

Location: W37

Tuesday, January 26 • 6:30-9p.m.

Wednesday, January 27 • 6:30-9p.m.

Actors and stage combat experts and backstage crew are all needed.

Amy Mills Jackson 214-860-3685

[email protected]

Sigma Delta Mu, Xi de Texas

Join Today!

Honors those who attain excel-lence in the study of the Span-ish language and the litera-ture and culture of Spanish-speaking peoples.

Ulises Rodriguez

214-860-8792

[email protected]

Join LULAC Today!

Promotes a positive image of the His-panic community through cultur-al awareness, as well as through professional contacts.

Juan C. Garcia 214-860-3628

[email protected]

Semaine des sciences

16

By Herbert McCullough and

Heber Bibang

Mountain View College est très privi-

légié d'avoir de très exceptionnels

étudiants leaders. L'un de ces cas excep-

t i o n n e l s d ’ é t u d i a n t l e a d e r

est Bianca Muñoz: une tutrice de STEM,

Vice-Président de dirigeat au Phi Theta

Kappa, et élève Ambassadeur. Elle a été

assez aimable de nous avoir rejoint dans

un entretien pour discuter de ses expéri-

ences comme une étudiante leader.

Interrogée sur son titre de poste, elle a répondu : «Je suis une tutrice de STEM

pour Mountain View College. »

Lorsqu'on lui a demandé ce qu’elle

aime du fait d’etre une membre du pro-

gramme STEM à Mountain View College,

elle expliqua : «Je pense que ce que

j'aime le plus, c'est aider les élèves à at-

teindre leur plein potentiel, car ils ne

viennent sans comprendre; lorsqu'ils quit-

tent avec la compréhension du matériel,

c'est toujours un grand moment . »

Lorsqu'on lui a demandé quelle filière

elle souhaite poursuivre, sa réponse à

cette simple question était : « Je suis à la

poursuite d'un Bachelor (diplôme corre-

spondant au Master 1 dans l’Ensei-

gnement Francophone) en biologie, et

puis j'espère avoir un Master (diplôme

correspondant au Master 2 dans l’Ensei-

gnement Francophone) en études d'assis-

tance de médecins . »

L'un des éléments les plus intéres-

sants à propos de cette merveilleuse

étudiante leader est qu'elle a déjà son

Associates Degree (diplôme correspon-dant à la License tronc commun scien-

tifique dans l’Enseignement Franco-

phone). Quand on lui a demandé plus à

ce sujet, elle m’a brillamment éclairé son

incroyable exploit: « J'ai obtenu mon

diplôme d’Associate in Sience (License

Scientifique) en décembre dernier J'ai

cloturé cela en la félicitant en espagnol. »

Lorsqu'on lu i a demandé-

d'expliquer son expérience antérieur,

malgré que ce soit une question délicate,

elle fut assez aimable pour avoir répondu

comme ceci : « Je suis la première de ma

famille à fréquenter le College (institution

correspondante a un prepa Universitaire

dans l’Enseignement Francophone), j'ai

une soeur plus jeune, et j'ai toujours été

une intéllo; et j'ai toujours aimé l'école . »

Lorsqu'on lui demande quels sont ses

objectifs, elle a répondu : « Mon objectif

est, évidemment, de transférer dans une

université de quatre ans. Lequel? En ce

moement, celui qui m’intéresse le plus est

l'Université du Texas à Dallas, mais je

vais toujours postuler dans une différente variété d’écoles et voir ce qu'ils m'offrent.»

Lorsqu'on lui a demandé d'expliquer

pourquoi est-il important pour les

étudiants d’entrer dans une institution de

quatre ans à partir d'une Communauté

College (Prépa Universitaire) avec un

diplôme plutôt que sans un, elle a

gracieusement répondu cela en insistant:

« Je pense que les avantages de transfert

avec un diplôme est que vous êtes con-

sidérés comme étant un individu accom-

plis; de sorte que, lorsque vous êtes à

l'université, ils doivent vous exempter de

classes que vous avez déjà pris et adapt-

er à votre plan de diplôme. Je pense que

c'est l'un des avantages au lieu de

prendre un peu de classes et de transfer-er où l'université a le pouvoir de dire non,

nous n'accepterons pas ces classes. »

Lorsqu'on lui a demandé si elle ap-

parecie être un membre de Phi Theta

Kappa, elle a répondu : « Être membre de

Phi Theta Kappa est très cool, très im-

pressionnant. Cela m'a permis de trav-

ailler et améliorer mes compétences en

tant que dirigeante et me defier moi-

même plus . »

Quand on lui a demandé pourquoi

elle aime faire du bénévolat pour de nom-

breuses activités, elle répond à cette

question avec un sourire qui pourrait

bouger une nation : « J'adore faire du

bénévolat parce que j'aime ce sentiment

d'aider quelqu'un; j’apprecie juste aider

les gens. Faire quelque chose sans être

payee signifie que amez vraiment

beaucoup la chose, alors pourquoi pas ?»

Lorsqu'on lui a demandé qu’est-ce-

que cela fait d’être un étudiant Ambas-

sadeur et quells en sont les défis et les

récompenses d'en être un, elle a

gracieusement répondu : « J'adore être un étudiant Ambassadeur. Je crois que c'est

vraiment cool parce que vous obtenez

beaucoup de reconnaissance dans le


Une entrevue avec Bianca Muñoz: leader étudiant

Photo provided by Herbert McCullough Bianca Muñoz

17

The Lion’s Roar Academic Journal of Mountain View College

campus et les gens se souviennent de

votre nom, et mettre ce nom sur votre

visage, afin qu'ils sachent qui vous êtes.

Je pense que les défis sont en équilibre

avec votre école et votre vie en general

parce que parfois je donne des cours de

soutien et parfois je dois quitter l’ensei-

gnement pour aller à un événement, alors

il faut que je revienne car il y aura certains

eleves de m'attendre, d’où la difficulté. Je pense que les avantages sont que j'ai

l'occasion de rencontrer beaucoup de

gens; j’intéragis avec beaucoup de gens,

et j'introduis un grand nombre de per-

sonnes. C'est toujours un bon plus . »

Lorsqu'on lui a demandé quels con-

seils qu'elle donnerait à ceux qui

souhaiteraient devenir member du pro-

gramme STEM et de Phi Theta Kappa de

Mountain View College, elle a répondu :

« Je dirais faites le! Si vous ne faites rien,

et êtes simplement un étudiant qui vient

juste de l'école, qui rentre chez lui, vient à

l'école, rentre à la maison, vous faites mal

votre apprentissage (integration) dans la

vie universitaire. Cela peut-être accepta-

ble au lycée, mais pas à l’université, vous

n’irez nulle part comme ça. Vous devez

être impliqués; commencz quelque part.

Ce que je dis aux étudiants, ne faites

d’abord rien dans votre premier semes-

tre,habituez-vous à la vie de l’université,

puis si vous vous sentez suffisamment à

l'aise, soit prendre un travail d’étude dans

le campus ou joignez-vous à une organi-sation parce que nous avons plus de vingt

ici dans le campus, de sorte qu'il doit y

avoir une qui vous convienne. Cela vous

aidera à vous épanouir, et cela va aussi

vous aider à grandir, et vous aidera à aré-

aliser ce que vous voulez . »

Lorsqu'on lui a demandé quels con-

seils qu'elle donnerait à ceux qui

souhaitent devenir étudiant Ambassadeur,

elle a souligné très fortement à ce sujets :

« Je dirais postulez; postulez au début. Et

soyez sûr d'aller dans cette entrevue par-

ce que vous avez les meilleures notes,

mieux reprendre, les meilleurs dirigeants

de recommandation, mais tout se résume

à cette entrevue; ne soyez pas effrayés,

ne soyez pas intimidés, allez là-bas et

montrez leur le véritable vous, soyez hum-

ble, et amusez vous . »

Mme. Bianca Muñoz n'est pas

seulement une fantastique tutrice de

STEM , une étudiante Ambassadeur, et

une member Phi Theta Kappa; elle est

également quelqu'un qui est toujours à la

recherche du meilleur. Je lui ai posé la question la plus importante de toutes, qui

fait ses cheveux? Elle a ri et souligné le

fait qu’elle le fait par elle-même. Elle a mis

fin à cette entrevue de la meilleure façon

possible : « Mes cheveux

sont frisés ! »


Bianca Muñoz

About The Lion’s Roar The Lion’s Roar publishes writing of all kinds by Mountain View College students, faculty, staff and alumni. Additionally, in ac-cordance with the MVC QEP, The Lion’s Roar is intended to provide a venue to show-case writing at Mountain View College across the disciplines. Not only is The Lion’s Roar a place for poetry and short fiction, but it also publishes excellent research papers, digital artwork, essays and writing of any other sort. All fac-ulty should encourage their students to sub-mit their work to The Lion’s Roar; faculty who are aware of fine student writing can submit it themselves, with the student's doc-

umented consent. One of the best ways to reward fine student writing—more rewarding than any grade you can give it—is to encour-age students to publish for others to enjoy! Artistic, political or social commentary represents the views of the artists and writ-ers, and inclusion in The Lion’s Roar does not indicate editorial endorsement or non-endorsement of the writers' or artists' views. The Lion’s Roar does not claim to represent the views of Mountain View College, the Dallas County Community College District or its officers.

Contact Information

The Lion's Roar General Email: [email protected] Submissions: [email protected]

Editor-in-Chief

Luke Story

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 214-860-8748

Chief Faculty Editor/

QEP Culture of Writing Sub-

Committee Chair

Darius Ajai Frasure, MFA, MA

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 214-860-8857

18

Boletín informativo mensual redactado por estudiantes de la Sociedad Hispana

de Honores Sigma Delta Mu de Mountain View College


Cuando se acerca la navidad, en los

Estado Unidos de América es ya una tra-

dición para los norteamericanos acercar-

se a los grandes almacenes a realizar las

compras navideñas.

Sin embargo, no todo el mundo cele-

bra la navidad a base de compras navide-

ñas. Existen muchas maneras diferentes

de celebrar la navidad y cada uno escoge

su manera de hacerlo. De igual manera,

la navidad se celebra de manera distinta

en otros países.

En los Estados Unidos, la navidad es

una fiesta religiosa que fue declarada por

el gobierno de los Estados Unidos como

una fiesta nacional, para fomentar la paz

y la hermandad entre el pueblo estadouni-

dense (que todavía tenían secuelas de la

Guerra Civil Americana), en 1870. En los Estados Unidos, las personas celebran la

Navidad de manera similar a muchos

países europeos, donde los barrios están

decorados con motivos navideños, las

casas son decoradas con luces navideñas

y hay árboles navideños por todos los

rincones. En la víspera de la Navidad, las

familias se reúnen y los regalos son inter-

cambiados.

En México, las fiestas navideñas em-

piezan el 12 de diciembre con la fiesta de

la virgen de Guadalupe. Durante el mes

de diciembre, se honran y celebran las

historias de María y el nacimiento de Je-

sús, terminando con la fiesta de los Re-yes Magos el 6 de enero. Durante ese

día, los niños reciben regalos por parte de

los Reyes Magos, que viene siendo algo

parecido a los regalos que tradicional-

mente reciben los niños estadounidenses

en el día de Santa Claus.

En Cuba, la Navidad no es tan exten-

sa. En 1969 se prohibió la Navidad como

una fiesta nacional debido a que se re-

quería mano de obra para cultivar el azú-

car durante esas fechas. Afortunadamen-

te, la Navidad fue re-declarada Fiesta

nacional en 1990 y ahora se celebra du-

rante un día el 25 de diciembre.

En América Central, las celebracio-

nes navideñas son muy variadas. En El

Salvador, los niños celebran la Navidad

jugando con fuegos artificiales, los ado-

lescentes y adultos prefieren usar velas.

Las familias (como en los Estados Uni-

dos) se reúnen en una fiesta donde el

chocolate caliente y emparedados son

servidos.

En el otro hemisferio, la navidad se cele-bra en verano. Por ejemplo, en Brasil, es

común ver a Santa Claus haciendo surf

en Río de Janeiro.

La navidad es siempre navidad, y de

una manera u otra reúne familias alrede-

dor del mundo en una fiesta de nivel mun-

dial. ¡Feliz Navidad!

Art Club Join Today!

Promotes the growth of interest and appreciation of the arts and fos-ters continued learning.

Tina Medina

214-860-3654

[email protected]

International Friend-ship Club Join Today!

Promotes cultural awareness and diver-sity at Mountain View College.

Juan Sandoval

214-477-5856

Paola Medina

214-860-8700

[email protected]

Navidad en los Estados Unidos y América Latina

19

By Cindy Umana

¡El final de este maravilloso se-

mestre se acerca! Si no es demasia-

do, asegúrate de comprobar con tus

profesores si aún estas a tiempo de

incrementar tus calificaciones de algu-na u otra manera. Nunca duele estar

por delante de sus clases, así que

trata de tomar alguna clase durante

las vacaciones. Las clases de invierno

son rigurosas, las A requieren un poco

más de esfuerzo, pero no son imposi-

bles. Si lo hace, al finalizar el “winter term,” usted estará adelantado, y una

clase más cerca de su grado. Aun así,

si usted decide no tomar clases, no se

atrase en sus estudios. Existen sitios

web para personas que tienen dificul-

tades en matemáticas y lectura pue-

dan tomar ventaja de ellos. Ahora

bien, si usted prefiere disfrutar de una

navidad sin tareas pero quiere hacer

algo por su comunidad, existen cien-

tos de personas sin refugio o comida a las que usted puede ayudar en es-

tas fechas tan especiales. Las vaca-

ciones no son solo fiestas para recibir,

sino también un tiempo para dar.

By Brenda Reyes

En el año 1531 una "Señora del Cielo" se le apareció a San Juan Die-go. Ella le pidió que le dijera al obispo de Tepeyac que construyera una igle-sia en el lugar donde se le apareció. Cuando Juan Diego fue al obispo para informarle que la Madre de Jesús pidió una iglesia en lo alto del cerro en la que él la vio, su tilma cayó y con

ella unas rosas. Algo muy interesante es que en la tilma de Juan Diego apa-rece la imagen de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe y se dice que si uno mira en sus ojos se puede ver exactamente lo que vio ella en ese momento. Mu-chos mexicanos la celebran el 12 de diciembre haciendo una peregrina-ción. Los niños pequeños se visten con trajes tradicionales y todo el mun-do canta y reza en su camino a la Ba-sílica de Guadalupe, en la Ciudad de México. Cada año, hay un estimado de unos 10 millones de personas que van a la Basílica, haciendo esa iglesia una de las más visitada del mundo. No importa cómo los católicos de Mé-xico elijan celebrar la patrona de Méxi-co, porque lo único importante es el respeto que se le otorgue el 12 de diciembre.

Boletín informativo mensual redactado por estudiantes de la Sociedad Hispana

de Honores Sigma Delta Mu de Mountain View College

Fin de clases

La Virgen de Guadalupe

February 8, 2016 – A day full of student life fun!

12:00 AM RecycleMania: Club Paper Contest Location: West Hallway

10:10 AM Building Pathways to Success: Understanding Your Learning Style Location: S1029/1030

12:00 PM RecycleMania Kick-off: Pledge Drive and Club Paper Contest Kick-off Location: Treetop Lounge

5:00 PM Black History Month Movie Night Location: S1029/1030

20

By Alayna Dublin

“The most courageous act is still to

think for yourself. Aloud” (Coco Chanel).

The Science Technology Engineering

and Math (STEM) fields have been satu-

rated for centuries with men. However, in

recent times, women have felt the urge,

fueled by their curiosity and carried out by

their persistence, to join these men in their

pursuit of knowledge. From Rosalind Franklin’s discovery of DNA structure, to

Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s jour-

ney to space, to Wangari Maathai’s efforts

to reduce poverty through the introduction

of the “idea of community based tree

planting” which led to the Green Belt

Movement, to Martha Coston’s invention

of the Coston Flare, used by military forc-

es, it is obvious that the capacity of fe-

males to excel in STEM fields is both di-

verse and strong. Even in our own educa-

tional environment, here at Dallas County

Community College District, there are

many creative females in STEM.

A biology professor at Mountain View

College, Naima Montacer has a Master of

Science in Biology with a focus in wildlife.

Professor Montacer is interested in sci-

ence because of a love for wildlife instilled

as a child. As a child, Professor Montacer

loved the outdoors and often played out-

side with brothers. This fueled a curiosity for the outdoors. In addition to teaching,

Professor Montacer publishes environ-

mental focused articles in which she is

able to interact with different community

groups. With these methods, she seeks to

inspire eagerness for learning and under-

standing science. Support from those

close to her and her independent charac-

ter helped her succeed in attaining her

degrees. Montacer testifies that she was

fortunate to have taken this journey with-

out discrimination or ridicule because of

her gender. However, as she progressed

to her master’s degree, she met some

resistance from the male saturated field.

She explained it was her strength and

determination that made her conquer the

slight teasing from male colleagues. In

addition to the solidified strength, Mon-

tacer recognizes every small triumph as

highlights in her career. Among her high-

lights as an educator, she counts the suc-

cesses and increases her students’ hun-

ger for knowledge. Montacer advises all

females in STEM to not lose their spirit,

even in these male dominated fields.

One of our esteemed biology and

nutrition professors is Dr. Neeti Srivasta-

va. Fascinated with biology, Dr. Srivasta-

va pursued her Ph. D in Bioscience and

Biotechnology from the Indian

Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India. Thereafter, Dr. Srivastava continued her

professional work at the University of To-

(Continued on page 21) Dr. Naima Montacer

Dr. Neeti Srivastava

Females in STEM work with MVC students

Photo provided by Sarah Hutchings


21

ledo, researching responses to meningo-

coccal and pneumococcal vaccines, and

studying immunology. After her break to

start a family, Dr. Srivastava resumed

working and began teaching at Mountain

View College. Being an educator afforded

her various advantages such as more

flexibility to manage her family and career.

Dr. Srivastava takes the example of hard work and dedication from the life of

Dr. Rosalind Franklin, who persevered in

her career despite the lack of credit given

to her for her work. Dr. Srivastava was

fortunate enough to have the support of

friends and family as she made the neces-

sary choices to advance both personally

and professionally. She counts her scien-

tific publications as the highpoints of her

professional career and the successes of

her students as the highlights of her ca-

reer as an educator. Dr. Srivastava advis-

es that a person should have a passion

for their work. “Find your passion and fol-

low your dreams,” says Dr. Srivastava.

Coming from a family of scientists

and holding many positions as an educa-

tor and scientist, Dr. Peggy Shadduck was

always filled with curiosity for the world

around her. Dr. Shadduck began her

STEM career in the math field as an actu-

ary (i.e., a professional who analyzes fi-

nancial risks). Interested in the psycholog-

ical workings of patients with mental dys-

functions, she pursued a master’s degree

in neuroscience from Northwestern Uni-

versity and Ph. D in neuro-pharmacology

from Southern Illinois University. Thereaf-

ter, Dr. Shadduck taught in college as a post-doctoral fellowship and fell in love

with being an educator. Henceforth, she

has remained in education. Dr. Shad-

duck’s experiences in STEM fields now

are much better than when she began her

educational journey. Often, she had to be

comfortable being the only girl in her

class. Many times in her undergraduate

years, she encountered people who were

unaware of their own sexist biases. As an

encouragement and inspiration, she

looked to her colleague Kathleen Jagger.

Dr. Shadduck explains, “I was falling

into relaxing and shying away from leader-

ship roles.” Fortunately, Ms. Jagger

pushed her to get involved and away from

complacency. “I was the first woman to be

the chair of the science department at my

college,” Dr. Shadduck elaborates. Some

male faculty members were not pleased,

but she persevered. Currently, Dr. Shad-

duck serves as the Director of the DCCCD

STEM Institute. She advises that women

must be willing to follow their passions no

matter what they are. “You should enjoy

what you’re doing, [and] be open to

change,” she advises.

The consensus? Follow your pas-

sions! Along with the long line of females that came before, these female profes-

sionals have overcome various obstacles

in order to see their dreams come to pass.

Many students have been impacted and

strides made in STEM education because

of the willingness of these women to con-

tinue, despite family crises, subtle discrim-

ination, emotional and physical challeng-

es, and immigration. Strides are continu-

ously being made. STEM females can

look back at their history and find great

encouragement to propel them towards an

unlimited future, filled with wonder and

innovation. The world is yours.


Dr. Peggy Shadduck Photo provided by Sarah Hutchings

Females in STEM

22

By Eivon Garcia

Mountain View College is excited to

have new Polymerase Chain Reaction

(PCR) equipment. It will benefit current

and future students in biology classes

because they now have the resources to

study DNA with new technology in a new

way. This new equipment is being first

used by Dr. Hilton, the adjunct biology professor on campus.

According to Dr. Hilton, PCR is a pro-

cess that copies DNA. It allows research-

ers to make a lot of DNA from very little,

making it possible to build a fingerprint

from DNA. DNA polymerase is the en-

zyme that copies DNA. Other ingredients

that make this process possible are pri-

mers. Primers determine the part of the

DNA sample that will be copied. A thermo-

cycler is used to change the temperature

of the sample for certain amounts of time.

The first step is to “unzip” (i.e., an

enzyme called a helicase separates the

hydrogen bonds that hold DNA together)

the small sample of DNA at 95° C. Then

the primers bind with the human DNA at

about 55-60°C, and, finally, it copies the

DNA at a temperature of -70°C. PCR is

used in molecular biology, and it is very

important in forensics. PCR can also be

used to determine paternity. The benefits

of this new process are that it has a low

cost and is controllable.

Dr. Chris Hilton

Photo provided by Sarah Hutchings Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) comes to Mountain View College


23

By Tosin Emmanuel Adebayo

The Día de la Familia festival was an

exciting and fun-filled event that took

place at Mountain View College on Satur-

day, April 18, 2015. Día de la Familia is an

annual event that started over 20 years

ago in an effort to encourage families to

engage with the DCCCD college pro-

grams and services, while highlighting

local partners and resources. The event

included food, entertainment, and educa-

tional experiences. In addition to being

served a nice meal, the attendees partici-pated in a variety of activities, like step

dancing, Zumba dancing, face painting,

tours of the community garden and aqua-

ponics, and a 3K run.

Of all the events, the static electricity

demonstration by the physics lab stood

out the most and fascinated everyone who

passed by it. The question on everyone’s

lips was, “Why is people’s hair standing

up without being touched?” Ian Grey, a

physics lab assistant, Professor Shahnaz

Sokhansanj, physics instructor, and Em-

manuel Adebayo, physics lab assistant,

worked with attendees to demonstrate

how static electricity works and why peo-

ple’s hair stands up when they touch the

metal ball on the Van de Graaff generator. How the Van de Graaff generator cre-

ates static electricity

Everyone has probably experienced

static electricity during the winter. During a

dry winter, static electricity can build up in

our bodies and cause a spark to jump

from our bodies to pieces of metal or other

people’s bodies. A Van de Graaff genera-

tor is a device for producing a high voltage

electrostatic charge. The generator was

invented by American physicist Robert J.

Van de Graaff in 1931 to supply the volt-

age needed for early particle accelerators.

A classroom model of a Van de Graaff generator provides the static




Attendees of “dia de la familia” experience static electricity first hand

Ian Grey demonstrates how to use the Van de Graaff generator

Student experiences the effects of static electricity on hair

24

“The Pen Is Our Power” What is a QEP-Enhanced Course Sec-

tion (WICS/WECS)?

Writing Intensive Course Sections (WICS)

and Writing Enhanced Course Sections

(WECS) are courses that contain an in-

creased focus on writing. Students will

participate in discipline-specific writing

assignments and have increased access

to writing resources, such as specialized

software and tutoring. Which courses will be WICS/WECS?

Are they only English courses?

WICS/WECS will be available in all disci-

plines and all levels. History, Science,

Business, Trades, Nursing. Math, core

courses, electives – whatever subject you

are taking, there will probably be a QEP-

Enhanced Course Section available. The

faculty who teach these courses will be

specially trained and certified to add the

QEP-Enhanced Course Section compo-

nent. Will a QEP-Enhanced Course Section

be harder than the current courses?

Not necessarily. Faculty in these courses

will be reinforcing instruction learned in

previous Developmental Writing and/or

English Composition. Students enrolled in

QEP-Enhanced Course Sections will be

familiar with the grading standards (see link to college writing rubric), the writing

process and the writing resources provid-

ed by the college. In many ways, this fa-

miliarity may create a much more valuable

learning experience.

Why would I want to take a WICS/

WECS course?

It is good for you. Studies have shown

that students that can express themselves

through written communication often have

higher grades, can engage in a deeper

level of learning and often perform better

in their future career fields. In addition,

many local universities have emphasized

the need for incoming transfer students to

be good writers. Are WICS/WECS part of the Honors

Scholars program?

Yes. Students are eligible to receive hon-

ors credits.

charge that makes the participants’ hairs

stand up. A simple Van de Graaff genera-

tor is made up of a hollow metal sphere

that is supported by a cylindrical insulating

stand. A motor-driven rubber belt inside

the support stand passes by a comb-like

set of metal tips that are maintained at a

large negative potential relative to ground.

Discharge by the tips deposits a continu-

ous supply of electrons on the belt, which are carried up into the hollow conduction

sphere.

Since the electric field inside the

sphere is zero, the charge is not prevent-

ed from leaking into the metal points (tiny

lightning rods) inside the sphere. The

electrons repel one another to the outer

surface of the sphere, just as static charge

always lies on the outer surface of any

conductor. This leaves the inside un-

charged and able to receive more elec-

trons as they are brought up by the belt.

The process continues, and the charge

builds up until the negative potential of the

sphere is much greater than that of the

voltage source at the bottom—on the or-

der of millions of volts.

A sphere with a radius of one meter

can be raised to a potential of 3 million

volts before electrical discharge occurs

through the air. Lengthening the radius of

the sphere or placing the entire system in

a container filled with high pressure gas increases the voltage. Van de Graaff gen-

erators can produce charges as high as

20 million volts. Touching one can truly be

a “hair-raising experience.” How to create static electricity at home

There are various ways to create stat-

ic electricity at home. One of the possible

ways to generate static electricity is using

common household items like balloons,

wool, and cereal. Follow these simple

steps to generate static electricity:

1) Rub an inflated balloon with a piece of

wool;

2) Rub the balloon and wool together for

10 to 15 seconds;

3) circle the portion you rubbed on the

balloon using a pen/marker because the

strongest ionization (movement of elec-

trons in the atoms which is the cause of

static) will be at this point;

4) Bring the inflated balloon near a

piece of cereal;

5) Tie a piece of sugarless puffed cereal

to a thread and bring the inflated balloon

close to it.

6) When you get close enough, you will notice that the balloon will start attracting

the cereal. You can try this with a drop of

water and notice as the charged part of

the balloon attracts the water.

Try bringing the part of the balloon that is

not circled close to the cereal and water.

Did it attract them? If it did not attract

them, why is it so?

Source:

Hewit, P. (2015). Electrostatics.

In Conceptual Physics (Twelfth ed., p. 424). Pearson.


Attendees of “Dia de la Familia”

25

Student Life

By Gerardo Aguinaga Torres

This past summer I was given the op-

portunity to be part of Dr. Rachael French’s

lab at San Jose State University. In Dr.

French’s lab, we tried to understand the

effects of Developmental Alcohol Exposure

on a developing mammalian organism.

Developmental Alcohol Exposure (DAE)

has been known to cause an array of phys-

iological and behavioral abnormalities, in-

cluding developmental delay, decreased

survival, and permanent neurobehavioral

abnormalities. These symptoms were col-lectively known as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum

Disorder (FASD). We established Drosoph-

ila melanogaster as a model for investigat-

ing the effects of ethanol exposure. By

understanding how ethanol exposure alters

gene expression and interacts with cell

signaling pathways, we began to formulate

treatments for the symptoms of FASD as

well as to prevent those same symptoms in

utero.

We studied genes in the Wnt pathway

as ethanol targets. Our goal was to deter-

mine how this pathway mediates DAE. We

approached this question in two ways:

First, we determined how mutations in the

Wnt pathway genes fz-2, drl-2, APC-2, and

sgg alter the growth and survival of flies

reared in ethanol. Based on previous re-

sults, we predicted that mutations reducing

Wnt signaling (fz-2 and drl-2) will cause

reduced survival, while mutations increas-

ing Wnt signaling (APC-2 and sgg) should

make the subjects’ (i.e., the flies’) survival

more likely. Second, we used quantitative

Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain

Reaction (RT-PCR) to determine the effect

of ethanol exposure on the expression of

these genes. We predicted that ethanol

exposure will reduce the expression of fz-2

and drl-2, while increasing expression of

APC-2 and sgg. The results from our ex-

periments proved vital for the understand-

ing of FASD and for the generation of

methods for prenatal treatment and pre-

vention.

Both fz and fz-2 showed a decrease in

survival for the flies reared in seven per-

cent ethanol compared to the control. How-

ever, the fz-2 mutant showed an increase

in lethality compared to the fz mutant. From

my results, it was assumed that fz was

protective against developmental ethanol

exposure. Although fz and fz-2 gene func-

tions appeared redundant, we saw a more

dramatic effect on the fz-2 mutant flies.

Further understanding how the fz gene

interacts in both pathways could be the

topic of future research. The Real-Time

Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) data

showed genetic expression of fz decreased

while the genetic expression of APC in-

creased. This matched with the microarray

data previously compiled in the lab. Since

the receptor protein was no longer sending

disheveled signals to dissociate the de-

struction-complex, the expression of APC


Student goes to San Jose State University for intern-ship and gains an unforgettable experience

Photo provided by Gerardo Aguinaga Torres

26

increased since it was not being deactivat-

ed. The activation of the destruction com-

plex destroyed β-catenin and hindered it

from inducing gene transcription in the

nucleus that, ultimately, resulted in the

death of the cell and later the organism. Opportunities for DCCCD Students

My research was funded by the Na-

tional Science Foundation (NSF). All costs for travel, lodging, and food were paid for

by the NSF. I also received a competitive

stipend throughout my ten-week intern-

ship at San Jose State University. Alt-

hough I was a community college student,

I was still able to conduct the same gradu-

ate-level research that undergraduate and

graduate students were conducting at Ivy

League universities and other universities

across the United States.

You, too, can do great research! You

will be working with other undergrads and

graduate students who will be more than

happy to help you in conducting your inde-

pendent research and answering any

questions you might have. Internships are

places where you learn, grow, and ask

questions.

Since my research was conducted in

the Bay Area of California, I was able to

explore and see new places around the

Bay when I was not working in the lab. I

stayed at the International House dormito-

ries, allowing me to be exposed to new

cultures, people, and new ways of thinking

that I could not have gotten anywhere

else.

The basic requirements for the intern-

ship at San Jose State University and

many others are at this website: https://

w w w . n s f . g o v / c r s s p r g m / r e u /

reu_search.jsp.

There are research opportunities for

all full-time college students in any field of

science. Anything from ocean science to

psychology, engineering, and the biologi-

cal sciences have an REU site at some

university in the United States. Some

even have internships in Europe, and eve-

rything is free. All you pay for are the sou-

venirs you buy for your friends and family.

Everything is covered by the National Sci-ence Foundation. You can come into the

program with little research experience,

but as with everything else in life, if you

work hard and have a positive attitude,

you will be successful. Take my research

experience as an example as to what the

impact a student from a small community

college in Dallas can have in the greater

scientific research community at a major

university. Both public and private institu-

tions are looking to diversify their science

programs, so San Jose State right now is

a great place to be a minority pursuing a

research career in science, technology,

mathematics, and engineering.

MVC’s STEM coordinator Juan Sand-

oval and I can provide more information

about the National Science Foundation

(NSF) and Research Experience Under-



San Jose State

Photo taken by Gerardo Aguinaga Torres

Photo taken by Gerardo Aguinaga Torres

27

graduates (REU). I will be more than hap-

py to help you with the application process

to do an internship to do great research.

Here are two sources to contact for

information regarding interest in research

and internship programs: Students may

find opportunities to do research and in-

ternship that NSF-REU offers from their

website at <https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/

reu/reu_search.jsp> and additional infor-

mation from Juan Sandoval by sending

him an email to [email protected].

Completing research at an NSF fund-

ed site, or other government or private

institution, can help prepare you for na-

tional conferences and symposiums

where you can present your research to

other undergraduate students, graduate

students, post-docs, and leading re-

searchers/professors from every major

university across the United States. M o r e

information about these scientific confer-

ences can be found at https://sacnas.org/

or by reaching any of the people previous-

ly mentioned. Thank you and happy re-

searching!


By Yassien Fadul This summer, I was fortunate enough

to participate in my first research-

experience at Brookhaven National Labor-

atory in New York. Another student, Juan

Sosa, and one of Mountain View College’s

chemistry professors, Mr. Jesse Fox, ac-

companied me. Since we entered the in-

ternship through Mountain View College

and not independently, we were assigned

to the Environmental Sciences depart-

ment. Typically, interns are placed in de-

partments relating to their area of study.

Our internship was ten weeks out of

the summer. Our project for the summer

was to work alongside an appointed men-

tor (a Brookhaven scientist) in studying six

different perfluorocarbon tracers (PFTs)

under geothermal conditions with the in-tent to determine the ideal PFT to track

the flow of water underground. Professor

Fox, Juan Sosa, and I worked in a labora-

tory five days a week for six to eight hours

a day running tests using a miniature au-

toclave to simulate geothermal conditions

at 200°C and 200psi.

This internship opportunity was a

good chance for us to get hands-on-

experience in the STEM field. We learned

that there is more to being a scientist and researcher than just running tests. They

have quite a few other things going on

around them as well. Although my major

is mechanical engineering and not envi-

ronmental science, I still learned valuable

information from this research experiment.

I believe every student majoring in the

areas of STEM should partake in any re-

search opportunities available, especially,

if an opportunity allows students to visit

somewhere new.

San Jose State

Summer research experience teaches students something new and opens new opportunities


Fall 2016 Applications Open March 1, 2016!

Starting in Fall 2016, DCCCD Foundation scholarships can be

accessed through myScholarships, our new online scholarship

application system. Until the Fall 2016 application period opens

on March 1, 2016, the Foundation has removed fall scholarship

pages from our website. The new system will allow you to easily

search and apply for scholarship opportunities using a single

electronic scholarship application. Eligible students will be auto-

matically matched to scholarship opportunities. If a scholarship

requires information beyond eligibility such as an essay or ques-

tions, the system allows you to enter it online.

Shad Rasco, Senior Director of Operations, 214-378-1532

or [email protected]

DCCCD Foundation 214-378-1531.

28

By Francisco Rogers

Texas A&M University Commerce—

Research Experiences for Undergradu-

ates (REU) is an internship program of-

fered by Texas A&M University at Com-

merce for students thinking about making

a career in research. The program mainly

targets students studying physics and

chemistry, emphasizing the disciplines of

science. The internship paid its interns.

Although the distance was a nice drive, it

was great to participate in the program.

I was able to pick up new information and techniques quickly, thanks to the kind

mentors who are in charge of specific

experiments and the participants. The

program gave us rooms in the new Lion’s

Pride Den apartments near the science

center. The apartments were nice, a little

small for many people, but we grew used

to them as we worked many nights away

from our dorm rooms.

We worked hard to understand and

present our experiments. The REU staff

was also very helpful and nice as they

tried what they could to inform and plan

things out so that we could finish the pro-

gram’s requisites such as assistance with

a presentation and reports. There were

some tiring aspects to it as well, such as

waking up early every morning to continue

our experiments. Many of us went to the

gym, which is free to REU participants,

and exercised by climbing the rock wall, swimming in the pool, or just going to

work out. I would highly recommend the

program to anyone interested, even in the

slightest, in a research field of science or

looking to make new friends and connec-

tions. It was a great experience and learn-

ing opportunity for me to be in the REU. I

hope to get accepted again for 2016.

MVC student is accepted in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program


MVC Fitness Center

Mountain View College’s hidden gem is our state-of-the art fitness center. With staff and a certified trainer on hand, the MVC Fitness Center is open to the com-munity.

29


Mountain View College is very fortu-

nate to have such outstanding student

leaders. One of these outstanding student

leaders is Melissa Silva: the President of

the Mountain View League of Latin Ameri-

can Citizens (LULAC) as well as a student

ambassador. Can you explain LULAC?

“The Leagued of United Latin Ameri-

can Citizen. We are a civil rights group

dedicated to educational, political, and

economic growth of the Latino Community. And it includes Mexicans, Colombians,

Puerto Ricans; anyone of Latino herit-

age.”

What is it like to be president of LU-

LAC?

“It’s really challenging especially

since we are a new council this year. We

had LULAC here at Mountain View before,

but it was inactive. This year it is back

active. Being president of a newly active

civil rights organization at a college cam-

pus where Latinos are the majority of the

students has been very difficult. However,

it’s rewarding because we’ve been able to

help and work with amazing people who have been making a difference, not just in

the community, but in Texas. I have also

(Continued on page 30) Photo taken by Herbert McCullough

Melissa Silva and Ms. Leslie Sanchez

By Bianca Muñoz

This summer proved to be the turning

point of my life. I started my summer as a

nursing major and ended the summer as a

biology major. My first life-changing expe-

rience took place at Johnson Space Cen-

ter in late May. I was in a cluster of stu-

dents from all over the country. Our mis-

sion was to create and program a rover

that would be sent to Mars to collect water

samples. Among my team, I was given the

position of Lead Design Engineer. As a

nursing major, I was freaked out by the

idea of being an engineer. However, my

team’s rover ended up retrieving the most

samples from the course and ultimately

winning the entire competition. This intern-

ship sparked my confidence tremendous-

ly.

Later this summer, I began my sec-

ond internship at Parkland Hospital. I was

working under the Pastoral Care Depart-

ment. This was one of the biggest chal-

lenges of my life. Through this internship, I

witnessed deaths, trauma, prayers, final

seconds of life, and even visited the

morgue quite a few times. Every day was

different from the last. I left that internship

more humble than when I began. This

summer was filled with opportunities that

have shaped my life the way it is now, and

I couldn’t be happier. I feel like for once I

have limitless potential to be whatever I want to be.

MVC student has a summer of opportunities

MVC interviews Melissa Silva



30

grown as a leader and developed skills I

didn’t even know I had or possessed.” Do you have to be a Latino to join LU-

LAC?

“No! You do not! Although we do

work for the well-being and advancement

of the Latino community, we do not just

encourage Hispanics or Latinos to join

LULAC but encourage everyone. The reason is that the issues LULAC advo-

cates affect people outside the Latino

community too. For example, regarding

voting, young people are not aware of

current local elections. A lot of policies like

free college tuition for universities affect

other minorities and other groups, so

that’s why we aren’t just exclusive to the

Latino Community because many issues

we advocate reach beyond ethnic lines.” What advice would you give to those

who are interested in joining LULAC

and becoming a Student Ambassador?

“The advice I would give them is to

just be you. Whether you are going

through the interview process with student

ambassadors or with LULAC, it’s im-

portant to be genuine to yourself. Because

you’re going to face different types of peo-

ple with different beliefs, different morals,

and different characteristics, it’s hard to

accept who others are if you cannot ac-

cept who you are,” she concluded.


Mountain View College Student Ambassadors: Herbert McCullough, Melissa Silva, guest speaker Ms. Leslie Sanchez, Eduard Prieto Caballero, and Alayna Dublin


Melissa Silva (Interview)


MVC Health Center The Health Center is a multi-purpose facility that promotes health, wellness and

preventive care for the college community. Registered nurses coordinate and

provide the health services.

STAFFED BY REGISTERED NURSES

SERVICES ARE PROVIDED TO CURRENT STUDENTS AND STAFF Services

•Rest and illness

•First Aid & Emergency Care

•Non-Prescription Medications: pain relievers, cold/allergy medications, antacids, etc.

•Blood Pressure Monitoring

•Weight & Height Scales

•Test Facilities

•Nutrition Information

•Health Information and Literature; Diabetes, STI's, Alcohol & Drug Abuse, Awareness & Prevention, Death Rate, Exercise, and much more

•Student Health Insurance

•Community Health Resources/Referrals

•Special College Events

•Blood Drives

•STD Testing-Mobile Screening

•Wellness Events

Phone: 214-860-8713 Fax: 214-860-8704 Room: S1088 Hours: Monday & Thursday: 10:00 a.m.- 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

31

By Herbert McCullough The annual Humanities Week, hosted by the Office of Student Life, covered a host of topics ranging from literature, to finance, identity, and photography. Despite the challenges of hosting a week-long event, the students and faculty members worked hard to make this Humanities Week start and end with a bang. Humanities Week started off on Monday with “Poetry with Joe,” hosted by Professor Joseph Brockway. He asked the enlightening questions: What is a poem? What makes a poem? And what does it sound like? In his lecture, Brockway discussed American, French, Italian and Latin American poetry and informed the audience about rhyme and symbolism in basic poetry. Tuesday featured Tre Black hosting an education panel discussion about the importance of building one’s financial future at an early age and addressed the concerns of poverty in the growing economy of Texas and the rising economic power millennials have.

In the “Café Conversations” panel on that day, Dr. Janice Franklin attempted to answer the question of identity in the 21st century. The answer, “It’s complicated.” She also presented emotional debates regarding racial and gender identity. Thursday showcased videographer Randy Clower. In “Video with Randy,” Clower

enlightened students on the evolution of photography from the baby boomer generation to the current post-millennial era. He also showed a video of his baby boomer childhood, including his experience with the Vietnam War draft and the counter culture revolution. With spare time, he concluded with presenting videos of the 30th anniversary of Mountain View College, Student Recognition Day in the spring 2015 semester, and the Student Convocation of the fall 2015 semester. On Friday, Professors Luke Story and Amy Jackson hosted “Speaking Out Loud,” in which students and faculty members were encouraged to express themselves via poetry, dramatic literature, and spoken word. Performances included the Mountain View College Performance Ensemble Troup’s scene from the Common Book, Into the Beautiful North and a skit about why one should consider attending Mountain View College. Other performances included Jonathon York, Ian Grey, Darius Frasure, Herber Bibang, and Herbert McCullough. This year’s Humanities Week was a great opportunity for members of the Mountain View College community to express themselves as proud and creative human beings.

Calendar of Events 1/25/2016

9:00 AM College and University

Transfer Fair

Location: West Hallway

1/27/2016

9:30 AM Building Pathways to Suc-

cess: Note Taking Methods

Location: S1029/1030

1/27/2016




1/27/2016




1/27/2016 9:30 AM Building Pathways to Suc-



1/28/2016

12:30 PM Student Leadership Insti-tute: Applying Leadership to Life


1/28/2016

12:30 PM Student Leadership Insti-

tute: Apply Leadership to Life - Active Citizenship

Location: 1029/1030

2/8/2016

12:30 PM RecycleMania Kick-off &

Pledge Drive Location: Treetop Lounge

MVC holds Humanities Week during October 19-23, 2015



32

Student Clubs & Organizations Shira Bland (Coordinator)

214-860-8594

[email protected]

African Student Association

To unify the African student body and friends within MVC. We believe in creating a club where students can exchange ideas in the spirit of unity and humanity to cele-brate diversity.

Janice Walker 214-860-8644

[email protected]

Asian Culture Organization

Exposes students to the Asian culture through cultural events, film, music, and pop culture.

Dr. Jesse Gonzalez 214-860-3640

[email protected]

Black Student Organization

Develops an awareness of African Ameri-can heritage and culture through interaction and trips.

Lorraine Hoodjack 214-860-8767

[email protected]

Career Connections

Understanding how education and career planning connect. Network-ing with community re-sources and employers.

Oscar Santos 214-860-8871

[email protected]

Cultura Latina

To promote Latin American Cul-ture and the Spanish language through dance, the arts, and travel abroad.

Joseph Brockway 214-860-8896

[email protected]

Lions Club

To serve as a forum for transfer Stu-dents. Also to promote the growth of students’ awareness of trans-fer services in order to foster the contin-ued interest in transferring to four-year colleges and universities.

Johnathan Moss 214-860-8622 Gilda Nunez 214-860-8659

[email protected]; [email protected]

Student Government Association

Serves as the student voice, assists with programming, and promotes students issues and concerns.

Cathy Edwards 214-860-8715

Airik Sanders 214-860-8594

[email protected]

Student Veterans of America

Providing academic and career enhanc-ing resources for veterans attending MVC.

Dr. Leonard Garrett 214-860-8700

[email protected]

Women of Worth

Empowers and supports female stu-dents in their college journey through workshops and open discussions.

Alice Atchison 214-860-8818 Jennifer Mims 214-860-8685

[email protected]

Do all you can do. Aim high; the top score is the limit.

TSI: Texas Success Initiative For information about TSI Boot Camp: Call the Instructional Lab at 214-860-8538/8879 or visit-www.mountainviewcollege.edu/Academics/InstructionaISupport

Farzin Farzad: 972-860-5613 Sergio Ulloa: 214-860-8687

33

2015 Honors In Action Project Theme 4: Exploring the Natural Environment Our Hallmarks in Action (HIA) pro-ject was titled “Planting a Seed.” The project was concentrated towards re-searching and educating young ele-mentary school children on how to im-prove the quality of our soils nutritional value. The manner in which this was done was by creating a hands on work-shop dealing with composting and add-ing several organic matters that contain nutrients such as carbon, phosphorus, and potassium to the soil. We began by testing the pH of regular soil and the pH of the soil with organic matters added to it in order to see the differences in quality. In sci-ence, pH is a numeric scale used to measure the acidity or alkalinity of an aqueous solution from one to ten, with seven being neutral. Our research in-formation came from academic jour-nals and newspaper articles. This infor-mation gave a global perspective on various ways in which soil degradation affects people all around the world, how it influences their ways of life, and

the harm it ultimately does to the Earth. After the research was conducted we formed three committees that split the task of forming a project. One con-tacted several elementary schools that could partner with us, another commit-tee designed the project, and the final committee focused on expenses and materials. Leadership development was seen in several tasks our officers performed. Our VP of Leadership used her knowledge of biology and chemis-try to develop and implement a project. Our VP of Membership and VP of Five Star made contact with the ele-mentary schools they had connections with in order to have a target group to conduct our project on. Ultimately we saw a great deal of membership in-volvement, which is something our chapter had not experienced in several years, allowing the general members to develop new leadership skills through participation. Once we were able to solidify a project and audience, the officer team,

general members, and the officer team from Cedar Valley came together to do the hands on workshops at Grand Prai-rie Independent School District’s school for the highly gifted and Dallas Independent School District’s Anson Jones elementary school. We also had a helping hand from Ms. Lori De La Cruz, the sustainability and engineer-ing club advisor on campus, who gen-erously donated items for the project and educational books on the topic. In total we had 141 students participate from both elementary schools. Overall, we were able to have a huge impact on the children who partic-ipated in the project and from the feed-back we received from them they en-joyed the project very much. We con-ducted a set of questions for the chil-dren who participated to answer before and after the project that tested the children’s basic knowledge of what soil is and where its nutrition is obtained.

Inside this issue:

Overview 1

Preparation 2

Implementation 3

Reflection 4

34

Selection of Theme: The chapter decided to have an orga-nized process of reaching our theme. We began by narrowing down the themes of interest to theme 4 and theme 5. This was done during our summer officer meetings by voting. The chapter first invited Lori De la Cruz, who is the advisor of the Sustaina-bility Club at Mountain View College, to talk to us about several areas within the natural environment within theme 4. We invited Professor Jonathan York to talk to the chapter about outer space and give us information surrounding theme 5. After hearing both experts on their field, the chapter ultimately voted on doing the Hon-ors in Action research on theme 4. Develop Research Questions: 1. As resources become scarcer and pres-sure for their use increases, how will these challenges impact [soil]? 2. What opportunities exist to preserve the [soil] for future generations? 3. What are the novel ways of maximizing existing resources in use to mitigate or reduce the impact on largely undisturbed, rapidly diminishing areas of the [soil]? 4. What frontiers are available in [soil/the earth] to alleviate poverty, hunger and the growing expectations of global entrants into middle classes in societies that for-merly did not have established ones?

To what extent is it desirable and via-ble to restore balance between the pres-sure to extract and convert [soil] into pro-ductive areas and to conserve it? Analysis and Conclusions: After examining our research thor-oughly, our chapter came to the conclu-sion that the soil is not being taken care of as it should be. This is an important issue because, without soil, there would be no vegetation. There is a need in improving soil quality. As a chapter, we agreed that our greatest impact would be within the younger and future generation. Determination of Action: Our objectives for this HIA project was to have each officer provide at least three to five sources about soil, to complete the HIA journal and rubric by setting commit-tees, to find the right project, clubs, and other chapters that would participate with us in our project, to find the right elemen-tary schools to cooperate with us, and to inform the younger generation on how they can take care of the soil. During our officer meetings, the chapter created committees for the HIA journal and rubric. Out of all the scholarly sources presented, we chose eight to use in our HIA journal and for the project. Each officer was responsible to talk to another Phi Theta Kappa chapter

and another student club on campus, which they would then invite to participate in our HIA project. The Sustainability Club contributed by lending us some of their supplies. The President and VP of Leader-ship from the Cedar Valley’s Alpha Zeta Omicron chapter participated, and mem-bers of Sigma Delta Mu also helped. The biggest obstacle was finding the best way to make a project fun and educational for the children. The idea was to demonstrate to the students how to make the soil healthy. The steps in this process would be 1) to test the pH level of soil to see if it is healthy, 2) to find out how to improve the soil’s health, and 3) to plant a seed inside the new healthy soil. The chapter used a smart planning matrix, an instant group messaging app known as “group me,” and email to make sure the process was carried out efficiently and in order. After examining our research thor-oughly, our chapter came to the conclu-sion that the soil is not being taken care of as it should be. This is an important issue because, without soil, there would be no vegetation. There is a need for improving soil quality. As a chapter, we agreed that our greatest impact would be with the younger and future generations.

Join Phi Theta Kappa today Scholarship Phi Theta Kappa offers members opportunities to apply for over $87 million in scholarships opportunities from Phi Theta Kappa, partnering senior colleges, universities and foundations – a benefit unmatched by other honor societies. Leadership As well-rounded scholars, our members strive to be leaders of Mountain View College. Members have an opportunity to develop leadership skills that will be put to practice for years to come. This can be achieved through participation in our Honors in Action Project, holding an Officer position, or simply being involved in our Chapter with local and/or campus events. Service Throughout the year, our Chapter is involved, not only in campus events, but community-wide services as well. As servant leaders, members are encouraged to become involved in our chapter to be engaged in yearly activities. Community service and volunteer-ing information is announced at our general meetings. Fellowship As a Chapter, Omega Omega strives to become a well-bonded organization. It is in our Chapter’s interest to have a harmonic at-mosphere, not only within our Chapter, but with other Chapters of Phi Theta Kappa as well. Through multiple fellowship activities, we aim to develop a welcoming environment where students can connect with other colleagues who share the same interests and ambition for academic learning.

2015 Honors In Action Project Theme 4: Exploring the Natural Environment

Preparation

35

Leadership Roles: There was an immense amount of leadership displayed throughout the entire project. The chapter started out by plan-ning the project around the best date where the majority of officers would be available. Then, our VP of Membership, Alvaro Arroliga, and VP of Five Star, Va-lerie Diaz, took the initiative to contact elementary schools. Once the schools had been selected, it was time to prepare the material needed for the project. Our Vice President of Leadership, Bianca Munoz, created worksheets with ques-

tions and instructions that would be given to the students for the experiment. She also took the time to create detailed direc-tions for the officers and members to use as guides. Our Treasurer, Jose Cas-taneda, created a spreadsheet for the materials needed along with a total esti-mate on how much would be spent. Peter White, our VP of Public Relations, created a captivating flyer that was sent to our sister chapters and members. The day before the project, the entire chapter met together and went through a simulation of how the project would be executed with the students the following day. On the day

of the project, each of the officers took the initiative to lead during the project. Vice President of Public Relations was taking pictures as the other officers were working personally with students through the steps of the experiment and even rewarding them with gifts in the end. Collaboration: Omega Omega collaborated with Anson Jones Elementary School and School for the Highly Gifted, Cedar Val-ley’s Alpha Zeta Omicron chapter, and Sigma Delta Mu, which is the Spanish

Honor Society. The first elementary school we collaborated with was School of the Highly Gifted located in Grand Prairie, Texas. Omega Omega was able to work with over one hundred children, ranging from first grade to fifth grade. The children were active, and the teachers were very helpful. The second elementary school we were able to collaborate with is Anson Jones, a public elementary school located in Dallas, Texas. We had a total of fifty students show up. The children were in the second and third grade. These chil-dren were full of energy and very proac-tive with the project. Alpha Zeta Omicron

chapter helped out with our HIA project. They were helpful and even invited us to help them out with their HIA project. A couple of members from Sigma Delta Mu came to help out with the event at Anson Jones. Action: The manner in which this was done was by creating a hand-on workshop deal-ing with composting and adding several organic matters that contain nutrients such as carbon, phosphorus, and potassi-um to the soil. We began by testing the pH of regular soil and the pH of the soil with organic matters to see the differences in quality. When we began the project, we handed out a worksheet to each student that contain questions about the soil. The worksheet had two parts: a pre-assessment, which determined what the students knew about soil, and a final quiz, which revealed what the students had learned. We received a total of 141 work-sheets from both elementary schools. The project was a huge success. Every stu-dent showed improvement from the pre-assessment to the final quiz.

Members of Phi Theta Kappa pose for a group photo

“THE PURPOSE OF PHI THETA KAPPA

SHALL BE TO RECOGNIZE AND ENCOUR-

AGE SCHOLARSHIP AMONG TWO-YEAR

COLLEGE STUDENTS. TO ACHIEVE THIS

PURPOSE, PHI THETA KAPPA SHALL PRO-

VIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE DEVELOP-

MENT OF LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE, FOR

AN INTELLECTUAL CLIMATE FOR EX-

CHANGE OF IDEAS AND IDEALS, FOR LIVE-

LY FELLOWSHIP FOR SCHOLARS AND FOR

STIMULATION OF INTEREST IN CONTINUING

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.”

2015 Honors In Action Project Theme 4: Exploring the Natural Environment

Implementation

36

Future Implications:

Acknowledgement

We influenced the younger generation on how to take care of soil, but our generation still does not know how to take care of soil. We

still need to influence our own generation so they can inform future generations about the importance of soil. There is still an oppor-

tunity to teach other elementary schools that are not being taught the value of our soil and how it ultimately provides life for us. At

some of the schools we visited, the students were not as knowledgeable about climate change, soil, and vegetation, whereas the

students from the School for the Highly Gifted knew a great deal about the importance of soil. The lack of knowledge and resources

in many other schools only proves that we need to continue to inform others and create a change in our soil.

Jorge Pina - Chapter President

Bianca Munoz - V.P. of Leadership

Fernanda Medina - V.P. of Scholarship

Eduard Prieto Caballero - V.P. of Service

Valerie Diaz - V.P. of Five Star

Peter White - V.P. of Public Relations

Daniel Laureano– V.P. of Hallmarks

Alvaro Arroliga - V.P. of Membership

Jose Castaneda - V.P. of Communication

Estefany Prieto - Historian

We also want to thank the members of Phi Theta Kappa, Omega Omega Chapter, and the officers of Cedar Valley College’s Alpha

Zeta Omicron chapter for helping us demonstrate soil conservation techniques for our future generations.

Members of Phi Theta Kappa

Reflection

37

Henry David Thoreau’s cabin

By Eduard Prieto Caballero

MVC helps its students to have a

better understanding of the history of this

country. The Office of Student Life offered

students the opportunity to go on an an-

nual trip to Boston. The trip was led by Dr.

Ken Alfers, Professor of History, Dr. Geoff

Grimes, Professor of English, and Cathy

Edwards, Director of the Office of Student Life. Fifteen students visited historic and

literary sites related to the American Rev-

olutionary War.

The students were delighted with the

landscape of Boston while the leaders of

our group drove us to our first destination

downtown to the Paul Revere House

(1735–1818), a house from the 1680s.

We visited Walden Pond, a lake located in

Concord where the writer, philosopher,

and transcendentalist Henry David Tho-

reau wrote his famous

book, Walden; or, Life in

the Woods, recording the experiences he had dur-

ing the two years, two

months, and two days

(1845—1847) that he

lived in a cabin. From the

cabin where Thoreau had lived, Dr. Grimes led our

group near a pond to a “cairn,” a human-

made pile of rocks. The place receives

stones with individual messages from all

the visitors who arrive there. Thus, we left

our own stones at the same place where

students from MVC have been leaving

stones since 1999.

The next stop on our tour was the

famous town of Lexington. There, we re-

ceived one of the best American history

classes, by Dr. Alfers

and Dr. Grimes, at the

exact place where the

first shot was fired in

the American Revolu-

tionary War at the Bat-

tle of Lexington on April

19, 1775. Therefore,

our group saw the

North Bridge and the

Old Manse. The North

Bridge is the place

where the British and the first “Americans”

faced each other during the Battle of Con-

cord in 1775. A few meters from the

bridge, the Old Manse sits in an emblem-

atic place by the Concord River. The Old

Manse (built in 1770) was the house of

the minister William Emerson and became

the center of the political, literary, and

social revolutions during the next century.

We went to the Robert Gould Shaw and

54th Massachusetts Regiment Memorial

to start the Black Heritage Trail walking

tour. The tour passed by emblematic

buildings, which served as homes, busi-

nesses of refugees , organizations,

schools, and officially ended at the na-

tion’s first African Meeting House. Howev-

er, our leaders on the MVC Boston excur-

sions added a few more emblematic plac-

es to visit before coming back to the hotel

using the “T.” We visited the site of the

Boston Massacre, and the Jewish Holo-

caust Memorial – Quincy Market.

The last day of our Boston excursion

started a little bit earlier than the rest of the days. That was caused by the task of

packing all our backpacks not only with

our personal luggage, but with all the sou-

venirs we brought back with us for the rest

of our lives. The first stop of the day was

to see a rock, but not just any rock, the


MVC students at the Paul Revere monument

Photo taken by Eduard Prieto Caballero


Students from MVC go on an excursion to Boston

38


Plymouth Rock! The Plymouth Rock is a

rock with the date 1620 carved on its sur-

face. The second place, and the last we

visited before our way back to Dallas, was

the Plymouth Plantation, which was a

complete trip to the past. The Plymouth

Plantation is a real scale representation of

what life looked like in the 17th century. The Plymouth Plantation is composed by

two different cultures: the English settle-

ment and the Native-American settlement.

We enjoyed that visit because it was

basically free time for us to explore a

“new” civilization where we had the oppor-

tunity to talk with, visit the homes of, learn

from, and have lunch with the reenactors,

even eating the food they ate.

Thanks to this experience provided

by MVC, we were able to review American

history in a life experience we will never

forget. This is an extraordinary excursion

that transports the students back to the

origins of American society, and enlarges

the knowledge of American history.

I can assure every one that the Bos-

ton excursion makes a huge impact every

year on the lives of students who take the

trip. Surely, it is something no one will

forget for the rest of his or her life.

2015 Participants: Myra Valdez, Aracely

Valdez, Joyma Tello, Vanessa Nuñez,

Destiny Buantello, Khalilah Frasure, Jose

Sandoval, Damian Olmos, Jose Campos, Francisco Alegria, Nancy Rodriguez, Sta-

cie Sims, Ricardo Garcia, Derwin Town-

send, Ciara Edwards, and Eduard Prieto

Caballero.


The North Bridge

MVC students at Harvard University

Plymouth Plantation (English settlement)

Plymouth Plantation (English settler cooking) Photo taken by Eduard Prieto Caballero



An excursion to Boston

39

Sustainability

Under the administration of Ms. Lori

De La Cruz, the Student Climate and Con-

servation Congress (Sc3) seeks to pro-

mote sustainability and educate the public

about the effects of wasting resources on

climate change. Sc3 stems from the Sus-

tainability Scholar program offered at

Mountain View College, where students

receive hands-on knowledge and experi-

ence to prepare them to apply sustainabil-

ity in any field a student pursues. The

student representation in this organization

is made up of both college students and

many brilliant students from the Trinidad

Garza Early College High School. Ms. De

La Cruz’s vision for this organization is to

help others “understand sustainability in

[their] daily lives and careers.” She elabo-

rates that numerous businesses today are

looking for ways to be sustainable. There-

fore, being a Sustainability Scholar “allows

the student to be more employable,” says

De La Cruz. With various exciting upcoming

events, students of Sc3 wait with bated

breaths for the next venture. Sc3 serves

not just Mountain View College but does

the community through workshops. The

organization has been able to donate

some of its produce to Café Momentum, a

business that assists juvenile offenders in

the positive redirection of their lives, which

is a great example of how one person’s

actions can create a cycle of generosity.

Upcoming activities include gardening,

congress meetings, and discussions on a

wide range of topics pertaining to commu-

nity service events, energy, water conser-

vation, landfill engineering, food reliability,

resilience, and global climate negotiations.

September began the video series,

Sustainability Series: Years of Living Dan-

gerously, which is shown once a month, and culminates in April 2016. The follow-

ing semester holds great promise for ad-

venture with events such as the Recycle

Mania recycling competition, Mountain View College’s Earth Day Celebration and

Wellness Fair, and Earth Day Texas.

The project demonstrated that sus-

tainability is not just in the physical envi-

ronment but in everything associated with

human survival. Experiences garnered

from these activities are great learning

tools for students as they prepare for the

work environment.

Sc3 gives students the chance to

learn, grow, and express themselves

through sustainable living. The congress

pushes students to not only think about

today but how actions today can affect tomorrow’s survival.

In October, Sc3 students collaborated

with the EPA recognizing World Food

Day. Students conducted a food waste

audit in the ECHS cafeteria and then

presented their findings to students on

November 2, 2015, in the Treetop

Lounge.

Sc3 meets most Wednes-days

Room: W184

Time: 2:30 -3:30 p.m.

Spring Semester 2016

February 10, 17, and 24

March 2, 9, 23, and 30

April 6, 13, and 20

May 4

Sc3 launches into spring with hands-on activities

40

SPORTS

Support Mountain View’s Basketball team. Jan 30 Brookhaven College 2p.m. Feb 3 Eastfield College 7p.m. Feb 6 Northlake College 2p.m. Feb 10 Richland College 7p.m. Feb 13 Cedar Valley College 2p.m. Feb 16, 18, and 20 Confer-ence Tournament TBA LeRoi Phillips, Men’s Basket-ball Coach Office: E07 Phone:214-860-8726 Email: [email protected]

Mountain View College men’s basketball

team began the month of December on a win-

ning note, Tuesday, December 1, against Texas

Wesleyan University JV. The final score was 93

-85. Revenge was sweet to the Lions, who lost

to the Rams at the beginning of the 2015-2016

season. Five players scored in double figures

with DeTarrius Kirk leading the way. He finished

the game with 24 points and 14 rebounds. An-

thony Walker Jr. contributed 18 points to go with

12 rebound. Reggie Myrks added 14 points,

Juriz Linzy 12 points, and Anthony Scott 10

points. The Lions continued their winning ways

with a victory over Tomball College Friday, De-

cember 4, 113-90. With Anthony Walker Jr lead-

ing with 21 points and 17 rebounds, five players

scored in double figures. Jamal Ray recorded

his first triple-double (19 points, 10 rebounds,

and 10 assists) in a Lions uniform. Juriz Linzy

had 16 points. Taray Martin and DeTarrius Kirk

scored 10 points apiece. (Coach Frederick

Washington).

Lions roar into December with two wins

Congratulations to Moun-

tain View College and MAC

Athlete on being selected

as Region 5 DIII Player of the Week!

Men's Soccer--- Ivann

Sanchez Mountain View

College

You can view the pictures

and write ups at the NJCAA

Region 5 Website.

Support Mountain View College’s volleyball team by attending the game. We will see you there.

41

Congratulations to Mountain View College Men's Basketball team on being selected third in the nation by the National Junior College Athletic association (NJCAA)

BASKETBALL QUICK STATS

Jan. 16 • MVC 67 • Northlake 71

Jan. 13 • MVC 93 • Eastfield 95

Jan. 9 • MVC 88 • Brookhaven 95

Jan. 5 • MVC 93 • El Centro 73

Dec. 8 •MVC 92 • CYM 73

Dec. 4 • MVC 116 • Tomball College 90

Dec. 1 • MVC 93 • Texas Wesleyan JV 85

Nov. 24 • MVC 92 • Southwestern Christian 84

Nov. 23 • MVC 69 • Weatherford 75

Nov. 20 • MVC 75 • OnPoint Academy 72

The Mountain View College

men’s basketball team along with the

coaching staff and athletic director

joined ex-NFL player, Dominic

Rhodes, in giving away turkeys to

deserving families Wednesday after-

noon at the Salvation Army. Rhodes,

heralded for his outstanding play in

the 2007 Super Bowl XLI victory with

the Indianapolis Colts, has been

spending much of his time doing

charitable acts of kindness that he

feels are for a worthy cause.

The team formed a line leading

to where each family would receive a

turkey. They gave high fives to all

family members as Rhodes issued a

turkey. Also, he posed for pictures

and gave away autographed photos.

Lions join former NFL star with turkey giveaway

Roar on, Lions!

42

Academic Word Power

43

Crossword Clues

Across

1. talking or tending to talk too much or freely

3. to laugh at, in scorn or contempt

4. having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas

5. to produce, cause, or give rise to

9. to lessen in force or intensity

14. easily understood; clearly perceived

15. deserving praise; commendable

17. to be indecisive

19. to dry up

21. extremely bold or daring

23. a deviation from the common rule

25. using few words; concise

26. to bring about prematurely

28. to debase or make impure

30. enthusiastic or heated in spirit

31. habitual dislike

33. of the same or similar kind

34. to appease or pacify

35. a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence

Down

2. to support with evidence

6. eager desire or endeavor

7. conforming to acceptable behavior

8. eruptive; unstable; unsettled

10. questionable; deliberately ambiguous

11. to hold oneself back voluntarily

12. a practical point of view

13. easily deceived or cheated

16. learned or scholarly

18. erratic or flighty

20. short-lived, transitory

22. not translucent; impenetrable by light

24. absence of emotion

26. wastefully or recklessly extravagant

27. a person who overemphasizes rules or details

29. to speak or write in favor

32. to make milder or less severe

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