San Francisco State University has fallen victim to California’s budget cuts, resulting in the termina-tion of classes, enrollment cuts and other financial cuts in general. This has brought some SFSU students to Skyline to get the education they need.

D u e to lack of f u n d i n g , SFSU was directed by t h e C S U C h a n c e l -lor’s Office to decrease enrollment by 10.8% for fall of 2010 , re -ducing enrollment from 30,468 in fall of 2009 to 29,716. SFSU plans on having 29,800 students for fall of 2011.

“When the budget is cut, the University must find ways to cut ex-penses both in terms of classes and

services that support students,” said Jo Volkert, Associate Vice President, Enrollment Management at SFSU. “We must also look carefully at how many students we admit so that we do not enroll more students than we can serve.”

Joseph Newell, an SFSU ma-rine biology student, is one of the

people af-fected by the cuts. He usu-ally gets tutor ing from his s c i e n c e t e a c h e r d u r i n g his office h o u r s , b u t h i s

science teacher’s hours were cut, so Newell was forced to find help elsewhere. Luckily, Newell is the head barista for Skyline Coffee here on campus, so he now gets the science help he needs from the Learning Center. Unfortunately, the Learning Center does not provide

Check us out online -look us up on Facebook or Twitter!

“When the budget is cut, the University must find ways to cut expenses both in terms of classes and services that sup-

port students,”

--Jo Volkert

Volume XXIX - Issue 3 March 03, 2011 www.theskylineview.com

Dean Kevin SantoS/the SKyline viewProfessor Suzuki discusses the impact of the budget cuts on students.

Skyline Against the Cuts held a teach-in on March 2 to discuss the drastic repercussions of Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget cuts to student services.

The state deficit is hovering around $25.4 billion for the 2011-12 fiscal year, and California’s college students are going to take the brunt of the proposed budget cuts. Ap-proximately $1.4 billion is getting cut from California’s higher edu-cation budget. San Mateo County Community College District is expecting an $8 million cut.

These budget cuts not only in-crease tuition, but they also limit classes offered, shorten library hours, increase class sizes, and criti-cally affect student services.

The teach-in focused on the stu-dent services that would be affected. Student services such as Child Development Services, Extended Opportunity Program and Service, and English as a Second Language programs were all affected by the string of budget cuts from previous years.

The main student service that is currently being affected by the budget cuts is EOPS. This program helps low-income students by pro-viding them with book vouchers, meal tickets and bus passes. But for the last two years, the budget cuts to community colleges severely af-fected these services. It is becoming

Teach-in focuses on budget cuts

more competitive between eligible students to get these services.

Black Student Union President Floyd Madden said these services are “something that has been es-sential to some people to stay in school.”

Economics professor Masao Suzuki discussed and explained the effect of cyclical recession, the decline in tax revenue and other state policies regarding the state deficit.

Suzuki said that the proposed tax extensions on sales, income and vehicle taxes are regressive, meaning low-income households end up paying a higher percent-age of the taxes than high-income households. The contrasting policy that could be pursued is to tax the rich, but considering that the rich have more political clout, it is less likely to happen.

Student organizer Michael Mad-den said that these budget cuts are only affecting the lowest economic strata of students. Since most of the student services cater to those in economic need, students from low-income households are affected the most by these budget cuts.

Student services in dangerby Dean Kevin Santos

Catch a sneak peak of Skyline’s new gallery exhibit on page 3

free services.“I can’t spend time at SF State after class, so it is convenient for me to go to the

Learning Center,” Newell said.Newell is not the only student who has had to find other ways to get an educa-

tion, and some students simply stopped trying because the help they need is not readily available.

Newell said he knows people who have had to put off their careers because of school budget cuts. They are discouraged when a class they need for their major is cut and then they have to wait another semester to take it, which prolongs their time at school and puts finan-cial stress on them.

Volkert justifies these cuts by saying reducing the number of students allowed to enroll gives current students a much better chance of getting the classes they need than in the past.

Robyn Graham contributed information to this article.

Enrollment and class cuts at SFSUStudents turned away and come to Skyline instead

by Brittany M. Olgardt

Get to know the movie Unkown on page 6

SanDra r. BarBa/BigStocKphoto

SFSU cuts bring more students to Skyline.

For more information, Skyline Against the Cuts has a table in the cafeteria Monday

through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and holds weekly meetings on Tuesdays at 2:30 p.m. in room 308 at Pacific

Heights.

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N e w sThe Staff

Want more news?www.theskylineview.com

Or maybe you have news for us?(650) 738-4377

Want to yell at us?theskylineview@gmail.com

Or use snail mail:The Skyline Viewc/o Language Arts

Room 8-8110Skyline College

3300 College DriveSan Bruno CA 94066

Editor-In-ChiefMarc Arguello

News EditorJJ Valdez

Opinions EditorAlexis De GuzmanFeatures Editor

Robyn GrahamEntertainment Editor

Brittany M. OlgardtSports Editor

Blair HardeeCopy Editor Liz McMahonProofreader

Timothy MarasiganPhotos Editor

Larry CrystalGraphics Editor

Alyssa KoszisOnline EditorStephen Benoit

Multimedia EditorBrittany M. Olgardt

Staff WritersJay Johnson

Lea NaqishbendiKiriakos Vilchez

Stephanie AgostinelliAdrianna Smith

Denise JuarezHanul Park

Milan SubediCamille WielandDaniel BeckmanMario Rodriguez

Dean Kevin Santos

Faculty AdviserNancy Kaplan-Biegel

The Skyline View is a First Amend-ment Publication. The Skyline View

is published bi-weekly during the spring and fall semesters by the jour-nalism students at Skyline College. The Skyline View is a member of the Journalism Association of Commu-nity Colleges. Opinions expressed

in the paper are those of the writers and should not be interpreted as the views of Skyline College, SMCCCD,

the faculty, administrators or the newspaper adviser. Additionally, the

paper does not endorse any of the products or services advertised.

The Skyline View welcomes Let-ters to the Editors; letters must in-

clude full name, address, and phone number for verification. The Skyline View reserves the right to edit letters

for length, libel, clarity, and taste.

On Feb. 23, the Skyline Veterans Club served as host for an on-campus event welcoming back student veter-ans and raising awareness.

Jarom Vahai, president of the Veterans Club, was host for the event and invited various representatives.

Vahai said the purpose of the event was to welcome veterans to Skyline. “We want to raise awareness that there are veterans here. We have 113 veterans on campus.”

The event started at noon and ended about 2 p.m. with various representatives from different orga-nizations talking with students in the quad and the cafeteria about veteran services and opportunities.

Vahai and other club members said the main objectives of the event were to educate veteran students about what they’re entitled to and to unify them as a group on campus.

“There’s a lot of information I’ve been able to give out just by word of mouth. I’ve been able to help veterans who didn’t realize they had certain benefits for education, hospitals or retirements,” Vahai said. “So it’s important that we get together so everyone is aware of these benefits.”

One of the more noticeable guests present at the event was Sgt. Mat-thew Stohner, an Air Force reserve recruiter who, despite being in full uniform, was there not to recruit but to support.

“I’m here today to support our

veterans and also to promote about the Air Force reserve to veterans who are eligible to continue in the military service. They can do so as a reserve member of the Air Force,” Stohner said. “And it’s for aware-ness; we let people know because a lot of them think you need to go on active duty just to join the Air Force, which is not true.” Stohner said the flexible scheduling and the close proximity of the Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield makes it possible to serve while continuing an educa-tion or maintaining a family.

Stohner is scheduled to return to Skyline on March 3 to try to recruit students.

Both Vahai and Stohner social-ized in the quad for most of the event while other representatives were in the cafeteria. Such representatives included Rich Brugger, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8750 in Daly City and member of the Marine Corps battalion in San Francisco.

“I’m here to help out other vets to let them know of the programs that are available to them,” Brug-ger said. “That they can get some compensation if they were injured mentally, physically, in any war or if they had some kind of (physical) problem that got aggravated when they were in the service.”

At one point during the event, a student veteran told Brugger about a claim that was refused. Brugger advised the student to try again and

added that if he were to get the same results, he should come see him again and he would offer to drive him to Oakland to do the claim over there if necessary.

During the event, Brugger shared his space with another representative, Carolyn Liven-good, president of The Avenue of Flags. The Avenue of Flags is a not-for-profit group that over-sees Veterans Day and Memorial Day programs and raises public awareness about Golden Gate National Cemetery’s historical significance.

“We raise awareness of the im-portance of the men and women in service to our country by being out in the public,” Livengood said. “We also brought informa-tion about our next veterans pro-gram, which will be a Memorial Day program.”

Livengood’s reason for at-tending the event was largely an ideological one. She did not enlist in the military, but she grew up in a household with many veterans and lived through World War II.

The event also included mem-bers of the United States Depart-ment of Veterans Affairs, which parked its 38-foot mobile vet center near lot M.

One of the representatives tending the mobile center was Dustin Noll, a readjustment coun-seling technician who came at the request of Vahai.

“We do outreach specifically for Iraq and Afghanistan campaign veter-ans but also veterans in general,” Noll said. “We brought the mobile vet center here because it’s an eye catcher, and at the same it’s capable of providing counseling as well as getting people enrolled in the VA medical system.”

Noll said there are only four mobile vet centers in all of California, each of which is used to help communities and districts which don’t have VA hospitals or clinics readily available.

“Vets centers’ main purpose is for readjustment counseling for those who have been in areas of combat operations,” Noll said. “Secondly, we provide financial counseling (and) educational counseling.”

During Nolls’ stay on campus, vet-erans and their family members came by throughout the day asking about benefits and claims they’ve submitted to enroll in the VA medical system.

This is the first semester the Skyline Veterans Club organized a welcome-back event, and Vahai said they plan on doing so every semester from here on out.

According to Vahai he does this to help out his fellow veterans so they are more enabled to lead productive lives.

“We have a lot of veterans now who make up a large part of the unemployed and homeless because they don’t know about their benefits and rights that were given to them by the veterans who fought before us,” Vahai said.

Veterans club hosts welcoming eventStudents learn about benefits they never knew they had

by JJ Valdez

JJ valDez/the SKyline view

Matthew Stohner (right) and Jarom Vahai (second to the right) talk to students about programs and benefits.

JJ valDez/the SKyline viewThe Department of Veterans Affairs’ mobile vet center was parked just outside of building 4.

w a s p r o -vided with w h i l e i n high school: a safe place to talk.

M u s e says tha t e v e r y o n e you pass in the hall or sit next to in class has coping abilities. How soon you lose your cool depends on how intense the drama or pressure is, and Sky-line students between ages 18 and 26 have enough pressures.

Events1820: The Missouri Compromise passes.1847: The Post Office Department is au-thorized to issue postage stamps.1871: Congress establishes the civil service system.1879: Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood be-comes the first female lawyer to be heard by the Supreme Court. 1885: AT&T incorporates.1887: Anne Sullivan begins teaching six-year-old blind-deaf Helen Keller. 1921: Toronto’s Dr. Banting and Dr. Best announce discovery of insulin.1931: “Star Spangled Banner” officially becomes U.S. national anthem.1969: Apollo 9 launched for 151 Earth orbits (10 days).

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Dear Johnny,I’m dating this great guy that opens doors for me, takes me out to places I like to go, and

actually listens to me when I talk. There is just one thing that I don’t know what to do about: he drinks too much and sometimes even shows up to a date buzzed. He’s not angry or mean, he’s just really goofy and sometimes rude. I don’t know what to do.

From, Miss

Dear Miss,Dating is a wonderful thing;

you get to go out, have fun and get to know someone else intimately. Listen to one of the key phrases in that sentence: “get to know some-one.” That is the whole reason you go on multiple dates, right? You need to be honest, especially in a new relationship or while dating someone new. If you don’t tell them what’s bothering you now, they will hold it against you later by saying things like, “I was like this when I met you,” or “This has never bothered you before!” The last thing you want to do is get into

For all of you out there that do or do not agree with what I say, I encourage you to e-mail me your opinions or post comments online. Once again the e-mail address is advice.johnny@gmail.com. Send me your thoughts, questions, and critiques. I am waiting to hear from you. Also keep up with our twitter account, @advicejohnny. we will have updates, advice and on the spot situation control.

Current ExhibitWhat: Private = PublicWhen: Until March 18Where: Building 1 (next to parking lot E)

Upcoming Exhibit What: Student Art Exhibit When: April 18 - May 13Submission Drop-Offs: March 26 - April 1

Gallery HoursMonday-Tuesday 1 - 7Wednesday 1 - 5Thursday 2 - 4Friday 10 - 12 Saturday 10 - 3 Sunday closed

Get to know Skyline’s psychologist Beverly Muse The most effective way to chan-

nel your frustrations and manage your mind is to talk with Beverly Muse, a counselor here at Skyline.

Her story begins with growing up in a family involved with do-mestic violence, constant fighting and financial hardships. She knew she wasn’t the problem but couldn’t change the situation or her parents. She went directly to her counselor to get help, which inspired her to pursue psychology. In hindsight, she wanted to give back the service she

by Larry CrystalKnow when to help yourself, others and how to take advantage of Skyline services

“We all need a place to talk about it,” Muse said, “so you can find answers inside and develop their own ways to coping. Over-eating, drinking, substance abuse, gambling or shopping can get overgrown like ivy works and start as an anesthetic that becomes a poison, so we need to find the balance.”

Muse goes on to explain that once depression begins, everything looks negative, empty and fatigued. It’s like walking around and the colors have gone out of the world. It takes every effort to get up in the morning

and perform normal routines. There can also be significant red flags such as isolation, withdrawal, change in clothing or poor hygiene.

Signs of depression include anx-iety, debilitation, self-loathing and negative self-talk. Any thoughts about suicide, hopelessness or de-spair are also signs of depression. “The truth is, if I can’t fix my car, I’m going to an auto mechanic,” Muse said. “I’m not a cardiologist, and if I have heart problems, I go to a cardiologist.”

Remember, going to see Beverly

Muse doesn’t mean you’re crazy. “It’s a sign of strength,” Muse said. “We’re not going to tell other people. It’s really powerful to be able to tell your story and have a witness.”

Psychiatric services are located in building 2 next to the nurse’s of-fice. They are available to currently enrolled students free of charge, Monday through Friday. Beverly Muse, MFT is in room 2221; her phone number is (650) 738-4459. You can also talk with Liz Llamas, MFT by calling (650) 738-4351.

an argument with this person about why you didn’t tell them about something that bothered you in the beginning; it’s a wasteful argument that leads nowhere.

My advice is to go right out and say it, not while he is intoxicated and possibly dangerous. Sit him down when you are both sober and ready to have a serious conversation; it’s either that or stop calling him all together and say that it isn’t working out (one of the benefits of just dating and not being in a relationship). This isn’t one of those problems that ends up working itself out or one of those

things you can just overlook. In fact, your being honest with this person could possibly lead him to seek help for a drinking problem and send you into the arms of a mature man that you have fun with. You are right to worry when a guy is fantastic but is socially awkward enough to show up to a date buzzed--that’s weird. Bring these concerns to his atten-tion if you want to continue to have these great dates, and you will also feel good about genuinely helping a person with a problem.

Good luck!

Does private equal public?Studio vs. Commissioned art, Skyline’s gallery

by Robyn Graham

roByn graham/the SKyline view

A sculpture by John Wehrle stands in front of Megan Wilson’s wall mural titled “Meditation on the Value of Nothing.”

Does private equal public? In the dictionary definition, obviously not. But what about in the art world? Do artists who are commissioned to do murals, for instance, also do murals in their own time?

The way style, concept, and ma-terials differ between privately and publicly commissioned works are the ideas explored in Skyline’s new exhibit, “Private = Public,” curated by gallery director Paul Briden-baugh, featuring six prominent California public work artists.

Viewers are able to compare the artists’ studio work with photos of their public works in the gallery and decide for themselves the similarities and differences.

Artists featured include Jet Martinez, Robert Ortbal, William Wareham, Megan Wilson, Johanna Poethig, and John Wehrle.

For a more in-depth article on the gallery exhibition with artist interviews and photos, check out theskylineview.com on Monday, March 7.

Beverly Muse

Have a smart phone?

Use this QR Barcode to check out a slideshow of the interior of new Building 4, with over 40 photos of Cosemtology classrooms, the sauna, and the new President’s office.

roByn graham/the SKyline view

Left, is the sauna for cosmetology clients and right, is the view from the new president’s office, both in building 4.

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Features

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OpiNiON

Kill the cold with carpools! Freezing in February

Thumbs up: “The Internet”

Well… there goes the rest of my day.

-Stephen Benoit

Cookies for Rookies Clouded judgement

Commuting by bike just got easier.

As an avid cyclist, I applaud the new additions to the campus: bike racks and a bike lane on College Drive.

I saw these bike racks being installed when I got out of my spin-ning class on Feb. 23. I felt delighted at the sight of these bike racks. It’s about time.

The very first thing I noticed when I started going to Skyline was the nonexistence of bike racks. Locked-up bikes were strewn throughout the campus. Some were locked to the handrails for the disabled ramp by Building 7. Some were locked to the light poles near the cafeteria. At one point, some were locked up inside the cafeteria, under the stairs.

I ride my bike with blue tires from campus to work every day, and my usual parking spot is the light pole near the smoking section by Building 8. With the new bike racks, that light pole will not get scratched up by a bike leaning against it.

Furthermore, a section of Col-lege Drive has been partitioned for bike commuters. This decongests

the road and makes it safer for bike commuters riding next to drivers hurrying to get out of school.

With the new bike racks through-out the campus and new bike lanes, Skyline is encouraging cyclists to ride their bikes to school. Compared to CSM, Skyline has fewer bike commuters, even though both cam-puses sit on top of a hill. But with all of these additions, Skyline is be-coming more bike friendly, despite the treacherously hilly commute to get here.

As somebody who is in the bike industry, I noticed that the trend of commuting with bicycles has been growing within the past few years. Bike companies are churning out numerous commuter bikes and trendy fixed-gear bikes to cater to this growing market. Urban cycling apparel is also growing; just look at those students with seat belt buckles on their messenger bags.

Skyline has finally caught on to this trend and decided to install some bike racks for those people who choose to commute without burning fossil fuel. It is nice to see this campus accommodate the needs of commuters.

Biking to SkylineMaking access to campus easier than ever

by Dean Kevin Santos

One of the perks that I enjoy about being a journalist is getting a sneak peak of the new additions to campus. For example, last week The Skyline View got a personal tour of the brand-new, sexy building 4. Our features editor, Robyn Graham, and I were shown basically every room in building 4, and the new additions have me pretty excited and extreme-ly jealous of students who will get to use them next semester.

All of the furnishings are expect-ed to be in by the middle of March. If all goes according to plan, the cos-metology program will be all moved in by next semester. From what we saw, all of the basic facilities work. The plumbing is functional, the electricity is on, and the entire interior is in place. However, I’m told by Project Coordinator Kanjana Srisupatpongsa that in some rooms, there are some minor corrections to be made.

While the new building is primar-ily for cosmetology students, a good portion of it is dedicated to admin-istration and general classroom use. The first floor has three brand-new,

gigantic classrooms. Each room can seat upwards of 100 students, comes equipped with dual projectors, and, coolest of all, each student has their own AC outlet on their desk. This will be extremely handy for students with laptops and for students that need to charge their phone so they can keep playing Angry Birds.

The top floor of the new building will be the new home of Skyline College’s administration depart-ment. There is absolutely no com-parison between building 1 and building 4’s offices. The top floor of building 4 offers substantially more room than the top floor of building 1 (where administration currently is) and offers an awesome view of several parts of the campus. From the president’s new office, you have a great view of the quad and the steps moving up to building 8. However, if students want a view, there is a rooftop walkway that will be avail-able to the general public.

We took a bunch of pictures while we were in the new building. To see the photos, go to our website theskylineview.com.

Cold weather: It may be fun to play in even for those of us who are all grown up, but it brings some really an-noying problems.

Fruit and vegetable prices are likely going to rise because there have been harsh frosts lately, and those can damage vegetables, fruit trees and other plants. Even two days of frost can kill crops and cripple a season. I’m not looking forward to paying more for a healthy treat.

Another milder problem that I’m intimately familiar with is that ants do not like cold weather and tend to make themselves at home in our homes when it’s cold outside. Even if I have no food lying around, they will inevitably come in to get out of the miserable cold weather. There’s nothing quite like waking up in the morning to find ants crawling all over your leg.

Hail is also a great annoyance, and while this region has it particularly easy, hail still hurts on the skin and can do considerable damage even at its common pebble-like size. I used to visit Texas frequently and see hail balls the size of baseballs, and although we have nothing like that, this cold weather that so many people seem to love is dangerous for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers because it makes the roads slick. I recall seeing several accidents on the nights there were hail because people kept sliding and losing control of their vehicles.

As someone who has fruit trees all over their property, I can’t say I was happy to see a thick layer of ice on top of my truck. Swimming pools are also a hassle to clean in this cold weather, as it’s quite annoying to try and safely break a one-inch layer of ice in your pool that may potentially damage the structure.

While I know many people are fond of the snow and escape to Tahoe for weekend getaways, I really want the cold weather to stay there. I feel that this effect of cold in the area may be the direct result of global warming alter-ing things like jet streams on our planet. With gas prices rising due to the Libyan uprising and fears of an uprising in Saudi Arabia, I may just get myself a new bicycle and ride to school on that to save money and do my own part to stop global warming.

Peraps it would be good if everyone did something a little more eco-friendly to help reduce future global warm-ing and in effect these awful cold seasons. If you’re hesitant about riding a bike to school, you could try carpooling, as even that would help a lot.

If all goes well, “Mad dog of the Middle East” will be ousted Impending revo-lution threatens Libyan regime.

Welcome to the first edition of “Common Sense.” The name for

this column comes from a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine, an incred-ible mind and a Founding Father. Apparently, I’m not the only one who reveres the man, as Glenn Beck has named his book af-ter “Common Sense,” but I don’t think that he’s an accurate repre-sentation of a modern Paine.

Paine was a bril-liant progressive who was literally centuries ahead of his time. He’s es-sentially the father of social security, and he wanted universal healthcare and universal education. While he

was a religious man, he was so vehemently against religious in-stitutions that he was ostracized even after his death--no church would accept his re-

mains for burial.What inspires me about Paine

is he really was about helping the people and getting them informed, and while he loved freedom, he knew all the good things that could be provided by the government.

This column in-tends to inform you about my thoughts on current events from the perspective of someone who’s an advocate for equal rights for everyone, someone who believes that while freedom is fine, too much of

anything is bad for you.And so in the first

edition, I’d like to speak a little about Libya and the events there.

While I don’t like to quote Ronald Reagan,

I feel Gadhafi really is a “mad dog of the Middle East,” and, like a mad beast backed into a corner, he has snapped and become excessively vio-lent. His regime lies through its teeth and makes excuses to try to legitimize itself. I feel it won’t be long before the mad beast is final- l y put down and the people are freed.

People I’ve talk-ed to about the mas-sacre in Libya are sad about the loss of life, and while it’s fine to mourn for them, we need to honor their sacri-fices. We did not pressure them into fighting Gadhafi’s regime; we did not pass out hallucinogenic pills as Gad-hafi claims. They are fighting because they were inspired to fight for their freedom by events around the region, not by outside forces telling them that there’s a better way of life.

by JJ Valdez

HEAL

HURT

Topic: Skyline’s new solar compactors

Hurt: Skyline financially“They are expensive. Forty-seven hundred

dollars for a pair of trashcans seems a bit much.”

-Nayeli Molina

Hurt: Other departments“Why don’t we spend this kind of money

on something else, like tutoring on the week-ends? I feel it’s a waste because I haven’t even seen them.”

-Maritza Flores

Hurt: Skyline financially“They are a waste of money. If they have

them ’cause they can hold more trash, then why not buy more normal trashcans?”

-Vanessa Sagrado

Hurt: Clubs“The school really needs money, but they’re

using it on trashcans? They should focus more on funding clubs and activities on campus to bring students together.”

-Rose Wertheim

Hurt: Skyline financially“We shouldn’t pay so much money for

trash cans.”-Tamara Contreras

Heal: If used“In theory, it’s a good idea, but it all depends

if students actually use it and put trash in the right trash can. I have used it, but I didn’t un-derstand what its function was.”

-Lauren Rachel

Heal: Environment“Hopefully, it’ll be better for the environ-

ment since it can hold more trash.”-Gabriel Lujan

Hurt: Students now“It all depends. In the short run, it won’t

pay off for us, so maybe we could use that money for something else right now.”

-James Buoncristiani

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If all goes well, “Mad dog of the Middle East” will be ousted Im-pending revolution threatens Libyan regime.

Welcome to the first edition of “Common Sense.” The name for this column comes from a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine, an incred-ible mind and a Founding Father. Apparently, I’m not the only one who reveres the man, as Glenn Beck has named his book after “Common Sense,” but I don’t think that he’s an accurate representation of a modern Paine.

Paine was a brilliant progressive who was literally centuries ahead of his time. He’s essentially the father of social security, and he wanted uni-versal healthcare and universal educa-tion. While he was a religious man, he was so vehemently against religious institutions that he was ostracized even after his death--no church would accept his remains for burial.

What inspires me about Paine is he really was about helping the people

and getting them informed, and while he loved freedom, he knew all the good things that could be provided by the government.

This column intends to inform you about my thoughts on current events from the perspective of someone who’s an advocate for equal rights for everyone, someone who believes that while freedom is fine, too much of anything is bad for you.

And so in the first edition, I’d like to speak a little about Libya and the events there.

While I don’t like to quote Ronald Reagan, I feel Gadhafi really is a “mad dog of the Middle East,” and, like a mad beast backed into a corner, he has snapped and become exces-sively violent. His regime lies through its teeth and makes excuses to try to legitimize itself. I feel it won’t be long before the mad beast is finally put down and the people are freed.

People I’ve talked to about the massacre in Libya are sad about the loss of life, and while it’s fine to

mourn for them, we need to honor their sacrifices. We did not pressure them into fighting Gadhafi’s regime; we did not pass out hallucinogenic pills as Gadhafi claims. They are fighting because they were inspired to fight for their freedom by events around the region, not by outside forces telling them that there’s a better way of life.

The fact that this is happening in Libya makes me happy because Gad-hafi had an iron grip on the country and had as strong an arm as it gets. This opens the door for other coun-tries to realize that change is possible, even in the most dire conditions.

Overall, as globalization becomes more widespread, the grip dictators have over their countries loosen more and more. It’s only a matter of time before freedom becomes more common around the world. Perhaps all this violence will end with some semblance of peace--for a while, at least.

� March 3, �011Skyline ViewThe

eNtertaiNmeNt

“I Am Number Four” good enough for sequel

© 2010 DreamworKS ii DiStriBution co., llcThis is an “I Am Number Four” movie poster.

“Unknown”should remain unknown

“A man awakens from a coma, only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one, (not even his wife), believes him,” (IMDb.com). Sounds awesome, right?! Wrong. Epic trailers, A-list actors and a great premise should have made this a must-see film, but something went terribly wrong.

Liam Neeson is an amazing actor known for playing stoic roles where his actions are so extraordinary that his quiet personality is a nice con-trast. However, in “Unknown” his character’s personality, the bland German scenery and the lack of a quality story made every minute painfully boring.

Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) has a beautiful wife and a seemingly successful life as a botanist, but it is all stolen from him after a terrible accident. All of this happens in the first three minutes of the movie, and it will be the only excitement until the last three minutes of the movie.

Every scene is one dull thing af-ter another. Even the small romantic spark that crops up is nothing more than an orange-ish, dead ember.

by Brittany Olgardt

© 2011 warner BroS. entertainment inc.

“Take back your life” is the slogan from the movie “Unknown.”

Loriens, after it was attacked by a race known as the Mogadorians. These nine Loriens were special, the only ones who could possibly rise against the Mogadorians once they were old enough. John and his Lorien guardian, Henri, travel from place to place trying to hide from the Mogadorians, eventually com-ing to the movie’s main location: Paradise, Ohio.

John Smith is played by Alex Pettyfer. Pettyfer started his acting career back in 2005, and his first big break came with the 2006 movie “Alex Rider: Operation Storm-breaker.” We can all see Pettyfer again in the future as he stars with Vanessa Hudgens in the new movie “Beastly,” scheduled to be released later in March.

One thing I’m curious about is the Mogadorians’ way of “finishing the job.” It appears that they don’t want to leave annihilating an entire race incomplete, since they continue to hunt John and his fellow Loriens here on Earth. By the start of the movie, they have already killed the first two and take out Number 3 in the introduction. But why is it that

they’re killing them off in numerical order? Is there a certain significance to it, or are they just being obses-sive-compulsive?

The movie itself was well worth the watch. It had great action se-quences, good character chemistry, and it definitely left itself open for a sequel. I must warn you that it is not a movie for the faint of heart, though. John and one of his new friends, Sarah, go through a fairly grisly haunted house at a local fair, and when a couple of large alien-monster-things fight, one of them emerges victorious by biting into the other’s throat. Although even that second scene is not as grue-some as a lot of what’s out there, it’s still good to give people a fair warning.

I definitely recommend this movie to both fans of the book and those who just want a good sci-fi movie to watch. The story certainly piqued my interest, and I will defi-nitely watch out for any movie titles that may look like a sequel to it.

by Timothy Marasigan

“I Am Number Four” was origi-nally a science-fiction novel written by Pittacus Lore. If you think Mr. Lore’s parents were trying to be mean, don’t worry: “Pittacus Lore” is the pen name of the authors, James Frey and Jobie Hughes. The book went on sale August 3, 2010, and the movie came out February 18, 2011.

I had not heard much about the movie before I watched it. Aside from a poster seen on the sides of SamTrans buses, I didn’t know any-thing other than the name. It wasn’t until Skyline’s four-day weekend that I looked it up. Out of a lot of the other new releases I researched, such as “Unknown” and “Gnomeo and Juliet,” “I Am Number Four” intrigued me the most.

We follow a boy known as Num-ber Four. He’s had to go by a num-ber of aliases, and his most recent one, which is what he’s called by throughout most of the movie, is the ever-so-original “John Smith.” John is one of nine youths that have escaped their planet, the home of the

Since Dr. Harris spends the whole movie being “unknown,” ev-ery character we meet along the way brushes him off or takes no notice. Even his wife (January Jones) seems indifferent in general. It feels like he spends an hour and a half aimlessly walking around Germany.

At some point, things pick up a little, but it is like throwing a lit match into a toilet bowl. Every car chase, act of violence or would-be suspenseful moment fails. Some-how, this movie managed to make two car chases boring.

The movie has an interesting climax towards the end, but the ending, like much of the movie, is unsatisfying.

This movie is not worth watch-ing--not even renting or getting from Netflix. There is no moral to this story, no redeeming qualities, no awesome special effects, and the soundtrack is slow and methodi-cal. Even though it was based in Germany, there is little culture to be gleaned.

Out and About:Sign Hill Park

Do you like the feeling of being on top of the world---well, maybe not on top of the world, but on top of the mid-peninsula?

You know that sign on top of that hill in South Francisco that says “South San Francisco Indus-trial City”? The ubiquitous sign that oversees the mid-peninsula is open to visitors. It is named Sign Hill Park, and this is a guide to get-ting there.

We all have seen those letters, and most of us have wondered what it would be like being there. Those

letters have an imposing presence over the mid-peninsula. It is even visible all the way down from Col-lege of San Mateo.

The fastest way to get up to the letters is from the trailhead of Sign Hill Park at Palomar Ave. and Rocca Ave. in South San Francisco.

Make sure to bring cross-trainer shoes or hiking boots, as there are some steep parts to hike up. Walking up the loose soil is manageable with Chucks or Vans, but these shoes are prone to slippage. Also, wearing a long-sleeved shirt and long pants

is suggested because there are ticks waiting for some warm blood.

The easy way to get there is to take the trail that leads to the letters by following it and hiking a fairly steep walkway. It’s fairly intuitive. Be careful walking up toward the letters because of the loose soil, though; try walking on the grassy areas for a firmer grip.

The other way is actually faster but a little bit more challenging. There is a swing on top of a sharp incline near the trailhead. Go toward the swing and all you have to do

is hike all the way up the incline. Getting up there is relatively easy, considering it is wet season and the soil is tacky.

If you’re feeling adventurous, try the swing. It’s a blast swinging on that piece of metal bar hanging on a steel rope tied to a tree branch. Swinging on it gives the feeling of falling off a cliff; yet safely tethered, it’s euphoric bliss. It is worth the try, provided that you don’t fall and roll downhill.

By the swing, there is a walk-way leading to the letter “T.” This

part is steep, so be careful going up. Once you get to the letter “T,” the magnificent view of South San Francisco all the way down to San Mateo reveals itself.

To get to a higher elevation and a better view of the mid-peninsula, follow the switchbacks on the left of the letter “T” to get to the letter “S” in “San Francisco.”

It is a perfect place to sit and look down on the unobstructed view of the bay on the left, the mountains dividing the peninsula on the right, and everything else in between.

by Dean Kevin Santos

Dean Kevin SantoS/SKyline view

This breathtaking view can be seen from Sign Hill Park!

Baddest ComicsBy: Alyssa KoszisCold House Staff Favorites:

Entertainment QuotesJJ Valdez: “Some men just want to watch the world burn.” --Alfred, “Batman”

Alexis de Guzman: “Energy runs through all living networks. All energy is borrowed and one day you have to give it back.” --Neytiri, “Avatar”

Adrianna Smith: “In my world we eat rainbows and poop butterflies.” --“Horton Hears a Who”

Stephen Benoit: “I think, fundamentally, music is something inherently people love and need and relate to, and a lot of what’s out right now feels like McDonalds. It’s quick-fix. You kind of have a stomachache afterwards.” --Trent Reznor

Jay Johnson: “Some people never go crazy, what truly horrible lives they must live.” --Charles Bukowski

Brittany Olgardt: “Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac...It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole!” --Carl Spackler, “Caddyshack”

Kyle Chidester: “vampires sing alone.” --Conor O’Berst, said live in response to me not being quiet during the song Lua.

Tim Marasigan : “For Narnia!” --“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe”

Liz McMahon: “I hope you’re pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed - or worse, expelled.” --Hermione Granger, “Harry Potter and the \Chamber of Secrets”

�March 3, �011 Skyline ViewThe

eNtertaiNmeNt

SportsSkyline

Trojan chat

Upcoming Games

In a virtual interview, Skyline’s badminton coach for a decade fills us in about the program, the season, and

how returning players are invaluable to the team

Community colleges to lose subsidies for athletesStudents in sports classes might not count toward FTES apportionment funds

Recommendations for the 2011-12 state budget have been made, and athletic programs could be affected in the upcoming academic year.

In February, the California Leg-islative Analyst’s Office posted a number of suggestions for how California should handle its budget crisis. Spending on community col-leges and public universities makes up a considerable portion of the state budget, and Governor Jerry Brown has proposed a reduction of $1.8 billion from the General Fund for

higher education. About $55 million of it will come from state subsidies for community college athletics.

The suggestion appears on the LAO website with the simple recom-mendation that we “eliminate state funding for CCC intercollegiate ath-letics, for a savings of about $55 mil-lion in 2011-12.” However, a more detailed narrative of this proposal reveals that the recommendation is slightly more specific than that, and our sports teams aren’t directly at risk yet.

Currently, there are classes of-

fered at Skyline and many other community colleges that are de-signed specifically for athletes, like Women’s Soccer Theory: Defense and Baseball Theory: Offense. The school claims apportionments for the “full-time equivalent students” that enroll in such classes, as they would for students who sign up for classes like math or science. The LAO is suggesting that the Legisla-ture “prohibit colleges from count-ing these FTES for apportionment purposes,” and so the school would not be subsidized for them as they are for other students.

While this recommendation is not the end of community college athletics, it is cause for concern. Without enough state funding com-munity college athletic programs probably wouldn’t be able to sustain themselves, like we have already seen with athletics at UC Berke-ley. However, these reductions in subsidies are relatively small when compared to the vast amount the state plans to take away from the community college budget.

There were many other recom-mendations and findings recently posted by the LAO relating to the same issue of the amount of money allocated per student. Currently, the state supplies about $5,500 per com-munity college student (illustrated

in the graph on the left) but that amount will likely be reduced in the 2011-12 fiscal year. These cuts lead to higher fees for the students, as we have already seen with the proposed $10-per-unit increase.

In the graph above, it can be seen that the government expects students to be responsible for a higher percentage of their fees. The amount is proposed to increase to over 20% in 2011-12, compared to 10% in 2007-08. The trend is similar for the UC and CSU systems, so even students who will be transfer-

Coach ProfileName: Jan FosbergCoaching Badminton since: 2001Assistant Coaches: Maggie Ho and Jon Lee

@Jan Fosberg

Blair Hardee: Tell me a little about the badminton program.

Jan Fosberg: Skyline is in its 11th year of badminton. We’ve had five Conference Championship teams, and the same five teams finished second in the State Team Championships. We’ve also had two individual State Champions in singles from Skyline.

(Editor’s note: Badminton has

two championships per season. The first is a team competition, in which the winners from Northern and Southern California play each other, and the second is an indi-vidual championship, in which the top six doubles teams and the top eight singles players from each con-ference play each other.)

BH: How many players do you have, and what kind of commitment are players making when they sign up for the team?

JF: We currently have six play-ers but are still holding tryouts. We generally can carry as many players as want to play. Players commit to daily practices and twice-weekly matches while attending school full-time.

BH: Which other teams do you play?

JF: Our conference consists of [City College of San Francisco], De Anza, Mission and Fresno City Colleges.

BH: Why does the season start later than the other spring sports at Skyline?

JF: Our season begins later because we have a small confer-ence and don’t want a long period of no competition between the end of conference and post-season play. Our governing body, the CCCAA, determines when post-season is played.

BH: Tell me about the structure of your season.

JF: We begin with a conference pre-season tournament. The five teams that are in our conference make up all of the community col-leges in Northern California, so we generally don’t have any other pre-season matches. For conference, we play everyone twice--home and away. Matches consist of 21 points. Once a team wins 11 points, they win the match.

(Editor’s note: Winners in a singles match earn one point for

their team, and doubles winners earn two with the exception of number 3 doubles, who earns one.)

Post-season works as follows: the conference team champion (the team with the most team wins) plays the Southern California Champion for the State Championship. On the individual side, players must qualify to play in the State Cham-pionship. We hold “Conference Finals” the first week of May, in which any singles or doubles play-ers may enter. A bracket is drawn up, ranking players by their records in the regular season, and played out until only the top eight singles players and top six doubles teams are left. This is a single elimination tournament. Those top finishers are then entered into a seeded bracket to play the following week for the State Championship.

BH: Are there any promising freshmen you expect to excel this season?

JF: It’s a bit early in the season for me to predict this, and all of our

ring before next sememster could be impacted by these changes.

There’s no telling what the fu-ture holds for our athletic program and the future of affordable higher education in general, but the state government is clearly making strides to save money in any way possible. The reduction in funding is prob-lematic today, but some cutbacks are imperative on the way to economic recovery.

Summaries of these proposals can be found at www.lao.ca.gov, under the “Products” tab.

This graph shows the percentage of total fees for which students are responsible, and illustrates the proposed increase for next year.

freshmen are working hard to be the best they can be, but if I had to guess I’d say Gimen Lau will be a tough singles player. We’re still determin-ing who will pair up in doubles.

BH: Do you have any returning players this season? How do you feel these “veterans” could help the team this season?

JF: We have two returners this season: Adriane Tomimbang, who played last year, and Kaide Leviste, who returns after a year off. We look to the returners to be role models for the freshmen, to be leaders on the court, and of course to build on the skills they gained in their first season of competition. The level of play at the college level is far above what many freshmen saw in high school so it’s invaluable to the newer athletes to have the returners to “show them the ropes”.

Badminton’s official season begins March 22, with a pre-season Coast Conference tournament at DeAnza on March 19 at 12 pm.

Interview by Blair Hardee

by Blair Hardee

Baseball3/3 VS Gavilian College: 1 p.m.3/8 @ Cabrillo College: 2 p.m.3/10 VS Monterey Peninsula College: 2 p.m.3/12 VS Cañada College: 1 p.m.3/15 VS College of San Mateo: 2:30 p.m.3/17 @ Ohlone College: 2:30 pm

2/10 VS San Joaquin: L 12-8 (0-4)

2/11 VS San Joaquin: W 5-2 (1-4)

2/12 VS San Joaquin: L 11-2 (1-5)

2/20 @ Shasta College: L 9-8 (1-6)

2/20 @ Shasta College: L 11-4 (1-7)

2/24 VS Mendocino College: W 19-1 (2-7)

2/26 VS Mendocino College: W 8-1 (3-7)

2/26 VS Mendocino College: W 5-2 (4-7)

This is a representation of how much money the state government supplies per community college student.

COURTESY OF THE CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE ANAYLST’S OFFICE

COURTESY OF THE CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE ANAYLST’S OFFICE

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