Issue 18, May 19, 2011

May 19, 2011 Torrance, Calif

UnionEl Camino College

NEWS LINE

-Tayani Davis

Get help with navigating MyECC Portal

Sock Drive currently hap-pening

Event for new EC students this Monday

EC observatory open to public tomorrow night

High school student orien-tation on campus today

Today the Honors Transfer Pro-gram is hosting an orientation for high school students from 7 to 9 p.m. in the East Dining Room.

Students can come and check out the evening sky through telescopes at the EC observatory tomorrow from 8 to 9:30 p.m. if weather permits. In-terested persons may call (310) 660-3593 ext. 3373.

On Monday from 2:30 to 4 p.m. there will be an event to guide stu-dents through the steps of becoming an EC student. Interested persons can contact the front desk of the Special Resource Center for exact location.

A sock drive for mental health pa-tients at L.A. Metro is happening on campus until May 27. There will be a box in the front hallway of the Tech-nical Arts Building for new (not used) sock donations.

There will be a session Monday from 4 to 5 p.m. assisting students on how to navigate the MyECC portal. This session will take place in the Special Resource Center; please ask front desk for location upon arrival.

When Randy Firestone, behavioral and social sciences professor, found out that students weren’t upset regarding the shortage of funds that threat-ened higher education while the military’s budget remains strong, he decided to do something about it.

So with the help of the Philosophy Club, he started the “Education, not Militarization” rally, which will take place on campus today from 1 to 1:50 p.m. All students are encouraged to attend.

“I was disgusted that they (students) weren’t standing up for education, especially when there’s so much to lose,” Firestone said. “So I asked the

Philosophy Club to get involved.”The club has a sub-group working on a project

to get other campuses involved in “Student Fight Back Week,” which runs from May 16 to 20.

During that time, club members are encourag-ing schools around the country to hold venues in support of more funding going to education.

These schools are being asked to hold peaceful rallies chanting the phrase: “Education, not Mili-tarization.”

Legislators have made clear that while the funds for education are disappearing, it will never hap-pen to the military because those funds are “off limit,” Firestone said.

The goal of the event is to raise the conscious-

ness of others and to realize that schools are more important than the effort to invest in keeping the war going. The club believes that maintaining edu-cational opportunities for students should be re-considered.

Debra Bowen, Secretary of State, will be a political speaker for the event, as well as Peter Mathews, founder of Rescue Education California.

“Mathews’ talk will be on ‘Education over Oil Companies, and he has started a petition to tax oil companies for off-shore drilling, with the proceeds going towards education,” Firestone said.

Curtiss Jensen, president of the Philosophy Club, has great expectations for the week ahead, as well as the rally.

“We’re hoping for a positive change; I don’t totally agree with the current policy regarding the schools losing funding,” Jensen said.

The club has sent out invitations for speakers, and political fi gures that can come forth in support of trending money back to the government so that students can complete their educations.

Richard Bernot, member of the Philosophy Club, has been very busy, with the club letting oth-er students know what’s about to occur.

They plan a huge outcome.“We’ve sent out letters to 120 schools, asking

them to assist us by participating in this week’s event. It would be great if we could get some sup-port,” Bernot said.

Nicholette RaeckeStaff Writer

‘Education, not Militarization’ rally on campus today

Jessica MendozaStaff Writer

EC welcomes...The Music of the Beatles

Eric Taylor, 23, administration of justice major, balances a soccer ball on his head while Simon Ao, 18 business major, looks on out front of Cafe Camino.

Patrick Osborne /Union

Students play a game of soccer

After a hard day’s night, fi nally everything decided to come to-gether.

That is to say, your ticket to ride the Music of the Beatles class is fi nally here.

“The Beatles are the Mozart of our time,” Dr. William Doyle, music professor, said. “They are present in our society and are still talked about; that is why I feel that we should have this class.”

Finally, after a three-year-long process of preparation and dedi-cation, Doyle has created a class for students to learn about the music of The Beatles.

“In all of my music appreciation classes I teach, one thing that I like to do when teaching the elements of music section of the class, is play some Beatles music,” Doyle said. “I noticed as time went on, less and less people recognize that it was The Beatles and some would even ask me, ‘Who are The Beatles?’ It was outstanding to me that there were people who didn’t know who they were, so that began my thinking of teaching a class on the Beatles.”

Doyle believes that the Beatles music is the basis of what music has become throughout the generations.

“Three years ago when I went to see The Beatles Cirque du So-leil show in Las Vegas, I was so blown away by it and the audiences reaction to it, that I said to myself that I really need to make this happen,” Doyle said.

Doyle got straight to work, doing research and gathering infor-mation to create a class of this legendary band.

“When I approached the faculty, not everyone was enthusiastic at the time,” Doyle said. “But I began writing the class and it took me one year to write it and one year to get it passed through all the committees, the board of trustees, and everyone it goes through. It was a long process,” Doyle said.

Doyle waited almost a year to hear approval of his class that he dedicated hours of his time to prepare.

“I found out in May 2010 that we were going to have the class for the fall, but the concern was that it wasn’t going to fi ll up since it wasn’t in the printed catalogs,” Doyle said. “I put a few fl iers up around campus and within a couple days it was fi lled and closed. It was instantaneous.”

And so students joined the class, also named Music 17, to expe-rience the course in its inaugural semester.

“When I found out they had a whole class dedicated to their his-

tory and the importance of their complex musical breakthroughs, I was the fi rst person to sign up,” Tyler Bozeman, 19, music major, said.

Music 17 is also transferable to the California State University and University of California systems.

“It’s not just a fl uff class, I wanted it to be about music of The Beatles,” Doyle said. “You really do learn something, we cover the music composition and the lyrics and how they go together and what they did that was so unique.”

The course surveys the musical styles of the Beatles from 1957-1970, covering the Beatles’ various musical periods, compositions, and cultural impact of the class.

Going on its third semester, this class will be offered again in the fall on Wednesdays from 2 to 5:10 p.m.

Current students taking this class have spread the word to their peers that this class is worth taking during their time at EC.

“This class allows all students to learn about musicians that rev-olutionized music,” Melissa Van Brunt, 22, communications major, said. “I walked into this class as a huge Beatles fan; I feel I will leave this class as a Beatles connoisseur.”

Winter session has been cut, classes are being trimmed and rumors of faculty being asked to take cutbacks in salary and health care all while EC’s reserve fund keeps grow-ing. Recorded as the largest reserve in the college’s history, the reserve fund will not be used during this time of need.

“The money in the fund is a buffer for bad times and if this isn’t bad times, then what is?” Don Brown, faculty negotiator of the Federation of Teachers, said.

In a recent article in the Daily Breeze, EC offi cials said that the college’s reserve fund had been “spent down” and is close to the minimum government requirement for the fund.

But with more than $23 million saved, the reserve fund has surpassed the minimum percentage required by the government.

According to the Legislative Analyst’s Offi ce, a community college, referred to as a district, is required to save between 1 percent and 5 percent of their General Fund expen-ditures in a reserve fund. The district is al-lowed to dip into the reserve fund at any time to provide fi nancial help for the operation of the college.

EC continues to budget conservatively, projecting one of the highest ending reserve fund balances for 2011.

“They are pretty conservative in spending but they are asking for faculty cutbacks and taking classes away,” Brown said. “We can’t justify that.”

And the major concern lingering in the minds of many is when a portion of the re-serve fund will be used to offset the budget crisis.

“We at the federation believe we should be using the reserve,” Elizabeth Shaddish, president of the Federation of Teachers, said. “Absolutely, we should be using it.”

Yet offi cials have come up with two rea-sons for not dipping into the fund; to hold on to the money in case the state budget gets worse in the next fi ve years and to get a bet-ter interest rate in order to fl oat a new bond to rebuild more of the campus, Shaddish said.

While some might agree, many other fac-ulty groups think the state of the economy is turning around.

“We can already see some positive chang-es,” Shaddish said. “So we are asking that they not use this $23 million as an excuse not to fund classes, and not to fund teachers, especially part-time faculty who have been hit the most.”

But some people are concerned that the business of education has turned into a busi-ness of banking.

“It has been said that if they keep this large reserve, they will be able to refi nance their current bonds and get a better credit rat-ing,” Brown said.

Since the reserve fund cannot be used for construction and the bonds can never go toward operations, the two are completely separate, Shaddish said.

“You cannot use bond money for any-thing but what the voters have approved it for,” Shaddish said. “And that means build-ing. You can have a million buildings and no teachers but that’s what the voters approved it for.”

So the reserve fund remains a question for faculty groups. As they continue to take the next steps in the negotiation process, Brown said they would continue to fi ght for educa-tion.

While rainy days have fallen on EC, fac-ulty groups continue to rally together but this diffi cult time has yet to change the minds of offi cials, Shaddish said.

“The reserve is saved for bad days,” Brown said. “And these are bad days.”

Ashley CurtinStaff Writer

Analyzing EC’s budget

May 19, 2011 / El Camino College Union2 NEWSPOLICE BEAT

Female student has her car vandalized

May 12, 3:50 p.m. — Of-fi cers responded to a vandalism report near the soccer fi eld. A female student had parked her car along the south line of the fi eld at 9 a.m. upon her return at 3:45 p.m. the front windshield of her vehicle was cracked. Of-fi cers checked the area for pos-sible objects but nothing was found and a vandalism report was fi led.

Student stalked by her ex-boyfriend

May 11, 5:40 p.m. — A fe-male student reported a stalking incident on campus. Her ex-boyfriend was showing up at EC and harassing her. She was advised by an offi cer to obtain a restraining order against the suspect and was made aware of the campus shuttle service as well as the 911 phones located throughout campus.

Man cited for several different infractions

May 15, 1:19 a.m. — A vehicle was pulled over at the corner of Redondo Beach and Crenshaw boulevards for front tinted windows. The driver stated he was on probation for brass knuckles. The offi -cers conducted a search of the vehicle and found a few con-tainers of marijuana. The male non-student was arrested and charged with possession while driving and also charged with driving on a suspended license.

—Ashley Curtin

Student experiences seizure on campus

May 16, 1:30 p.m. — A medical aid call was made from the Student Services Cen-ter when a male student started complaining of breathing prob-lems. He was very lethargic and had problems communicat-ing. The student was suffering from a seizure and paramedics were called to the scene. He was transported to an area hos-pital for further treatment.

Standing on the tip of her toes, she looks for a minute to fi gure out how high to post the poster. A minute or two pass-by and she fi nally brings the stapler up to the white kiosk, “snap,” she stands back and takes a look at the poster and begins to smile as she sees a picture of herself and at the bottom it reads, “Vote for Rebekka Asher for Associated Student Orga-nization President.”

Asher, 20, chemistry and mathematics ma-jor, has been involved with ASO for one year.Knowing that she will now be able to make a difference on the behalf of students and for her school is something she wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

“We do advocate on the behalf of students and that means that we do have the privilege to fi ght for them,” Asher said. “I want to kind

of know in the back of my mind that those thousands of students I’m fi ghting for are be-hind what I’m saying and it’s hard for them to support what were going in as if they don’t know that we exist.”

Asher began as a student at EC, going to school, taking many classes and studying hard just like every other student on campus.

“I love being on campus, I wasn’t part of a club yet, but I would always strive to take Friday classes and take Saturday workshops. I just knew I belonged to this campus some-how,” Asher said.

Asher learned a lot about ASO from outgo-ing President Jessica Lopez.

“She just told me she became president of student government; I adored her,” Asher said. “Jessica was so outgoing, she had so many passionate things to say about EC, she was so inspired about so many things she wanted to do it was catchy and I caught ir.”

Being a student that just attended a few classes then drove home was not the student she wanted to be. Like every student she saw the hardships students face, she saw the prob-lems that persist, and she wanted to be able to make a difference for students. “Finally along came ASO, and I was like you know what? This is what I was waiting for the whole time,” Asher said.

Rebecca Cobb, director of student develop-ment, who oversees ASO, believes that with Asher’s energy and vision she will do a great job in leading her team.

“Rebekka brings with her a great deal of en-ergy and true commitment to serve El Camino students. I believe Rebekka has a great vision for how to accomplish her goals and will lead a great team of Associated Student Offi cers and senators,” Cobb said.

Asher will take her position as ASO presi-dent on July 21.

President-elect plans to raise student awarenessTayani DavisStaff Writer

Imagine a roaring crowd of 12,000 people at the Mur-dock Stadium, all cheering for our Warriors.

Now face the reality: the stadium doesn’t even come close to being fi lled come the night of a big football game. Why is it that we don’t see students with blue and white face paint the day of a big game? Lack of Warrior pride seems to be common on this campus.

“Community colleges don’t have the marketing power that a major college would have,” Tony Barbone, athletic director, said. “Our student’s time here is dispensable and their time is minimal.”

Most students here are working to transfer to a univer-sity. Time for a majority of EC’s students can be scarce, many have jobs, are taking 12 units and many are parents, Barbone said.

Students here at EC spend minimal extra time on cam-pus and don’t bother to attend the sporting events EC has to offer.

“I have never gone to any of the sporting events here on campus,” Ryan Tilgren, 23, sociology major, said. “It would be like you are getting emotionally attached to a stepping stone, my goal here is to transfer and that’s it.”

For some students, fi nding the time and transportation can be diffi cult.

“Aside from being a full time student, I also work full time,” Anna Cruz, 21, psychology major, said.

The football team is usually among the top when it comes to total attendance throughout the year.

“The fan base for our football team has the biggest turn out, but I believe that is because there are 85-100 players on the team which in result brings in more friends and family members,” Barbone said.

“Finding the time to make it back on campus for a sporting event would be diffi cult for me, especially since I don’t have a car,” Anna Cruz, 21, psychology major, said.

Due to less responsibilities and more time to attend events in high school, things change once students begin working and taking on a full-time schedule.

“In high school, not all students were working with a

full schedule or had families to take care of, but it’s a dif-ferent demographic here,” Barbone said.

Compared to other colleges such has UCLA, EC lacks the same pride that the students at universities have.

“EC is a commuter school, there is no dorm life where you can just walk over to the stadium and walk back to your room,” Barbone said.

With a wide variety of athletic programs provides some of the athletes notice there is small attendance at times, but that doesn’t affect the athletes.

“This has been such an awesome experience, we are like a family,” Atlee Schwab, baseball player, said.

The lack of school spirit can be because the team here changes every year, different people come in and out, compared to a four-year college where the team is more consistent, Schwab said.

“Regardless that we are at a community college you should always represent your school and have pride, like that Beach Boys song, “Be true to your school” you should be true to EC,” Barbone said.

Jessica MendozaStaff Writer

Students lack Warrior pride due to the short time spent on campus

Psychology major looks for the ideal body type for students

Robert Dewitz, psychology and sign language major, is conducting a research survey on gender differences and body satisfaction.

Interested in fi nding out what students fi nd as the most ideal body fi gure for themselves and in the opposite sex, De-witz plans to fi nd out the answers.

"What I'm looking for is differences over a few different aspects," Dewitz said. "I have two different surveys, one for males and one for females, and both of the surveys are identical, the only dif-ference being the scale is that one refl ects the female fi gure and the other refl ects the male fi gure. I will be examining and com-paring the results of the separate genders once I get them."

The survey consists of several parts.The fi rst segment contains a scale allow-ing participants to rate their own satisfac-tion with their bodies. The second part of the survey will show differences in what the participants think of their current body against what they believe their ideal body fi gure would be.

The third part will be what they believe each gender thinks is the most attractive body type, and the last part consists of two

questions about motives for participating in a fi tness class, whether it be for sexual attractiveness or health.

Dewitz has been going to different fi t-ness classrooms to get participants who are willing to take part of the survey as subjects. He chose fi tness classes to get more accurate results for his questions re-lating to physical activity.

At the moment, Dewitz's sample size is 86 men and 84 women, not too far away from his ideal population sample of 100 men and 100 women.

“I hope to see some signifi cant statisti-cal difference between the actual and ideal body fi gure,” Dewitz said.

All of Dewitz’s fi ndings will be rated on a 1-9 scale for satisfaction. One would be not satisfi ed and a nine would be very satisfi ed.

"Initially prior to conducting my re-search, It seemed like something that wouldn't be very attractive to me or inter-esting,” Dewitz said. “But after spending a lot of time and energy and putting a lot of hours and work into this, it’s actually been a whole lot of fun.”

The study itself is a project that he has been working on all semester for his psy-chology “9B-Introduction to Experimen-tal Research” class.

From what Dewitz has seen so far in

his survey, men prefer to be more mus-cular and women prefer to be skinnier, and men prefer thicker more full fi gured women.

This is different from what most wom-en typically believe men fi nd most at-tractive. But he has yet to come to a fi nal conclusion on his collected data, based on

the fact that he has yet to analyze it sta-tistically.

"I'm excited to fi nd out what results I get, there hasn’t been too many comments and research about what I have found, so I‘m interested to see what my survey comes up with."

Sam BarkeStaff Writer

Illustration by Dan Baldonado


May 19, 2011 / El Camino College Union 3

6 PHOTO ESSAY May 19, 2011 / El Camino College Union

Taking advantage of the photography department’s lighting studio, photography major Charles (last name), 60, captures an image of fellow student Matt Finley, 18. The extensive photography program covers both fi lm and digital imaging.

With winter session cut, students need to step up to the plate and fi ght for what we be-lieve in.

We can’t just sit here like lazy ducks and

Assembling a view camera for her photography class is art major Sarah Edsinga, 20. EC wphoto students have an opportunity to exhibit their images both on campus and at various South Bay venues. The range of photo courses includes art, portraiture, video and photojournalism.

/UnionJoshua Sherman

/UnionAndrew Kang

Firing up an oxy acetylene torch is welding student Martin Gastelum. The 42-year-old construction technology major fi nds th

First-year student of the Sign Language/Interpreter Training program, Robert DeWitz, 21, demonstrates his signing skills that he says will aid him in his professional endeavors.

/UnionRoger Morris

Viridiana Vaca-RiosCo-Opinion Editor

Haipha SimonCo-Editor-in-Chief

watch what the administrators are doing to our education.

Why change something that has been working so well? According to a study done by Institutional Research, 78 percent of the students were more successful dur-ing winter session than the fall semester. Also, much more transfer-driven and mo-tivated students attend the winter semester due to the fact that winter is only a couple of weeks, and highly-motivated students want to fi nish their classes as quickly as possible.

Last semester, Jeanie Nishime, vice president of student and community ad-vancement, said that calendar changes don’t just happen “overnight” and the last calendar change took about three years to go into effect. President Tom Fallo called the calendar change proposal just a “pro-posal” and that students needed to just re-lax and not worry so much.

Well, they were very wrong about that. It only took a year for them to talk about it and come to a conclusion that would clearly hurt students more than benefi t them.

Nishime argues that everything is on hold during the winter and that everything stops, administrative-wise, due to the fact that the faculty are not under contract. However, what’s more important: Stu-dents or administration?

They need to step back and think of what would be better: administrative ef-fi ciency or student success?

They need to step back and think of what would be better: administrative ef-

Tools of the trade

PHOTO ESSAY 7May 19, 2011 / El Camino College Union

Honing his hair-styling skills in the lab environ-ment, cos-m e t o l o g y major Jus-tin Norman, 21, preps for walk-in customers from the college and the com-munity. In his second s e m e s t e r, Norman is w o r k i n g toward his A.S. degree and cer-tifi cates of a c h i e v e -ment and a c c o m -plishment. In 10 years, he said his goal is to open his own salon in Culver City.

/UnionJulie Ames

/UnionMichael Williams

he EC programs both thorough and enjoyable.


Hands-on work in EC’s automotive classes enables students to parlay their classroom skills into employ-ment in the auto repair business. From left, Automotive Technology majors Chris Barbosa, 18, and Jose Garcia, 22, work on rebuilding an engine.

Left: In preparation for a June 3 fashion show, Ally Rodriguez, 23, works on a busti-er in her Fashion 26b class. Now in her third year as a fash-ion design student, Rodriguez said she attends EC because of its extensive fash-ion program.

Right: Working with a construction model is Arthuro Galvan, 19. The architecture ma-jor can earn an A.S. degree and a certifi -cate of achievement to gain employment, or transfer to a uni-versity.

/Union

Roger Morris/Union

Julie Ames

OPINION 5May 19, 2011 / El Camino College Union

Is organic food worth the cost?


The benefi ts outweigh the high

cost.

There are alternatives to

eating organic.

Jennie Harris is the president of the Society of Music Club. The club meets in the Music Building, Room 125 across the hallway from the music library every Tuesday at 1 p.m.

What’s it like being presi-dent?It’s hard, but it’s worth it. It takes a lot of time away from practicing my music and from my studies, but when you have a lot of people who are appre-ciative and supportive of what you do, those things make all the difference. It’s a great de-partment and they are always there to help out.

What made you want to be-come president?I felt that I had to do it. It’s a very important job, especially right now with all of the bud-get cuts. Music and art are usu-ally always the fi rst to go, and someone has to be there to say stop. The music department here is great. Almost all of the music faculty have a doctor-ate and have exceptional talent with what they do. It’s a great department and someone has to stick up for it.

What is the main goal of Soci-ety of music?To directly support the music program. It started four years ago, when the campus tried to move the Music Library to the Schaeurman Library due to budget cuts. It’s a very impor-tant resource for music students and had it been moved, it would have been impractical for music students, who aren’t allowed to leave their rooms for practicing.

What are some of the fund-raisers and events the club has sponsored?Our biggest fundraiser is actu-ally this weekend, the student recital. Students audition for me and the rest of the cabinet in order to perform. The recital ends up becoming a whole ar-ray of student musical talents. We like to do what we are best at as opposed to selling food or doing something else. It’s im-portant that music students get to have opportunities to see pro-fessional musicians, so we hold events on Fridays where we get a professional DVD of a con-cert or opera in the choir room for students to see.

In what way does the club support the music program?We do a lot of fundraising and in doing that we can purchase music books for the library. We have purchased headphones for piano classes and a computer program for the students for the theory program.

Jennie HarrisPresident

Society of Music

Keeping pesticides and chemicals out of your food and out of your immune sys-tem is important. This is why it is worth it to eat organic, even if it means paying higher prices.

Everyone has to eat, so why not pay a bit extra to eat healthier food?

After all, people are paying for the prod-uct to be free of toxins that might keep one from being healthy. The extra money spent is worth it because 100 percent organic means the produce has to be grown using organic ingredients.

Another reason why organic food is worth the cost is because of the techniques used to grow the food. Organic food is grown and processed using no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.

Many of the fruits and vegetables grown have thin skins and would probably be satu-rated by pesticide sprays.

Those would include grapes, cherries, apples, pears, all berries and the family of stone fruits. While peaches, apricots and plums are also included.

Vegetables such as bell peppers, kale, celery and lettuces, as well as potatoes and tomatoes all have thin skins which can have toxin’s seep into them. People want clean food in their stomachs, we must also con-sider meats. If we purchase organic chicken and eggs, we can avoid tainted produce from chickens being fed antibiotics and hormones.

According to the website organic.org, animals that produce meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products do not take antibiotics or growth hormones.

Antibiotics given to animals make sick chicks appear well and hormones build big-ger chickens.

These ingredients can affect everyone including children.

For example, Trader Joe’s offers hor-mone-free eggs at a bargain. Each one is stamped with an expiration date so that people can know if they’re still fresh.

Organic farming has its advantages as well. Organic agriculture can maintain nat-ural nitrogen levels without adding chemi-cals to the soil.

As far as organic farming is concerned,

pesticide-free soil is great for reducing wa-ter pollution, thus reducing irrigation needs, making the soil retain moisture longer.

The planet becomes healed under or-ganic management practices, with fewer chances of soil erosion, water stress and drought.

Organic gardening can feed many and it can help us not only save the environment, but live a healthy lifestyle while doing so.

A package of organic strawberries costs $7. A gallon of organic milk is roughly $5. A block of organic cheese is more than $12.

In one grocery shopping trip, people could spend a week’s paycheck buying certifi ed organic food.

But without any proven health benefi ts and no signs of positive effects on the en-vironment, organic food does not consti-

tute the price.The term organic refers to the method

used to produce food which is free from pesticides, chemical fertilizers and is not processed with food additives.

But organic isn’t healthier.A study conducted by the Food Stan-

dards Agency (FSA) proved no difference in the nutrients found in organic produce, meat and dairy to those conventionally grown.

Adding organic food to the diet will not change the overall healthiness of a person.

All one needs is to eat a well-balanced diet.

Another thing to consider is the taste. Organic food has yet to be picked as the sweetest, freshest or juiciest by taste test participants when up against convention-al food.

Organic farming is increasing the use of our valuable resources including water.

The Heartland Institute also con-fi rmed that producing organic food, such as tomatoes, uses more energy and causes more pollutants therefore it is far from “saving our environment.”

With growing demand, many large, well-known manufacturers have since joined the organic farming trend.

So buying organic food isn’t neces-sarily supporting small local businesses.

While so many people are worried about the pesticides used in conventional farming, there are much larger problems than just in the food we eat.

Both land and air pollution already has a negative affect on our health and the environment.

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, people are exposed to chemical pollution found in cleaning sup-plies to name a few.

The benefi ts include supporting our small community farmers, eliminat-ing the big carbon footprint from mass production and eating the freshest food picked that day.

It’s time we stop thinking organic is better and start putting money back into our wallets.

Black cats, broken mirrors or Friday the 13th.These are just a few of the thousands of superstitions

that came to be and have been a part of the lives of many people.

I wish I could say I’m not one of them, but I would be lying. Ever since I was a little girl, I had the idea that hav-ing a black cat walk in front of me would bring me bad luck, similiar to the bad luck of breaking a mirror.

Some of these myths go back to the old days. Black cats, for example, have always been associated with witches and other dark forces. Like the idea that a black cat crossing a person’s path is an omen for bad luck or some type of curse.

But the broken mirror or Friday the 13th had no rea-sonable explanation to me. Interested in the topic, I sat in front of my computer to research the basis behind some of these myths.

I was intrigued with many of the websites that appeared with many myths, good luck charms and explanations on why they are believed to be truth.

According to the website snopes.com, a mirror refl ects not only the image of a person’s body, but it also refl ects the soul of that person and when a mirror is broken the soul of that person is damaged, making it is less likely to

protect a person from bad luck.The seven years of bad luck

can be attributed to the Romans who thought life was renewed

every seven years and the curse would stay with a person. But with the widespread of all of these super-stitions people soon began to develop what they thought of as antidotes.

Like throwing salt over your shoulder, or knocking on wood, these were believed to in some way reverse

the curse.But I would dare to say that the greatest myth to many

of us is Friday the 13th. There is even a phobia for it called paraskevidekatriaphobia, dare to pronounce that!

In my family we take it as a perfect day for bad luck and we joke about it all the time. I would have to say that I’m more scared of the name of that phobia than the actual day.

For some it means good luck, while to others it’s almost as if tragedy had been waiting to get them on that day.

Last Friday we had a Friday the 13th and I’m sure some people came across some pretty interesting stories that will always and forever link that day to either good or bad luck.

According to the website snopes.com, Friday the 13th can be largely linked to religious beliefs.

Jesus was killed on a Friday, the Great Flood began on a Friday and the same day was also the scenario of many other tragedies.

The number 13 is bad luck because the number 12 represents completeness and one more number is said to disrupt that peace. Judas was the thirteenth guest at the last supper and the one to betray Jesus.

Friday the 13th, has a bad reputation. Some hotels are superstitious enough where they won’t make a thirteenth fl oor or even have a thirteenth room. It has also been said, that some cities don’t name any street with the number 13.

Thinking back, I would have to say that nothing really happens to me on that day. In fact, Friday is my favorite day because it means a short break from school.

But these are not the only myths lingering around. What about not opening an umbrella inside a house,

walking under a ladder, or that dreaming about birth means someone will die and dreaming about death means some-one will be born.

I’ve heard all of these and even though I’m not com-pletely crazy about any of them, I try to stay away from black cats, ladders, broken mirrors just in case.

Alma ZazuetaStaff Writer

Don’t believe the hype when it comes to superstitionsCOLUMN

Azebec Ayalew, 24,biology major

“Yes. Organic food can be worth the cost be-cause it can create healthier choices for people to have.”

Lana Aryan, 19, biology major

“Yes. It can be benefi cial over all for your health to buy or-ganic foods and to shop at places such as Trader Joes.”

Jose Lemus, 18, music major

“Buying organic food is costly and also it is more convenient to buy at the local grocery store than going to a farmers market.”

Kenny Santos, 20,environmental studies major

“No. It’s not worth the cost. It’s all the same to me, as long as you are eating some-thing then you’re good.”

Matthew Amberg, 20, undecided major

“It can be expensive, but if more people bought or-ganic food, then maybe the prices of it will go down.”

Jasmin Dalili, 18,psychology major

“It is worth it because your health is so important. All the hormones and steroids that is put in our food is unhealthy for our youth.”

CAMPUS VIEWPOINTSBy Jessica Mendoza and Anna Ashkinadze

Is organic food worth the cost?

UP FOR DEBATE CAMPUSCORNER

Illustration by Dan Baldonado

—Samuel Barke

Nicholette RaeckeStaff Writer

6 PHOTO ESSAY May 19, 2011 / El Camino College Union

Taking advantage of the photography department’s lighting studio, photography major Charles Osborne , 60, captures an image of fellow student Matt Finley, 18. The extensive photography program covers fi lm and digital imaging.

A needle to sew the delicate wrapped fabric around a mannequin, a fl aming red torch used to weld two pieces of iron to-gether, a camera to capture an everlasting moment or a simple brush to create a trendy hairstyle.

All of these are important tools in the success of many of the students on cam-pus. The vocational programs here provide students enrolled in them with vocational experience that prepares them for careers. Students in this program can earn their as-sociate’s degree or a certifi cate of achieve-ment.

For photography students, a lighting studio is available on campus. Also acces-sible to students is a fully-equipped photo wet lab, a digital lab as well as the chemi-cals needed in developing and printing pro-cesses.

Students interested in beauty can enroll in the cosmetology program and develop their skills in hair cutting, coloring, mani-curing and facials.

Interested in fashion? The fashion pro-gram focuses on many of the fi elds in fash-ion, including design and merchandising. With courses focused on clothing, fashion illustration and computer aided fashion de-sign, future fashionistas can let their cre-ativity go from a design on paper to real life form.

Another vocational program on campus helps students develop skills in welding fer-rous and non-ferrous alloys in fl at, vertical, horizontal and overhead positions. Other skills taught are layout, blueprint reading and pipe welding.

In architecture, students enrolled focus on the design aspect of buildings, learning about model making, three- dimensional drawing and structural analysis of build-ings.

There is an auto shop on campus where students in the automotive technology pro-gram learn about testing and troubleshoot-ing . This program prepares students to en-ter the technician in automotive service and smog certifi cation industry.

Information on these all of these pro-grams is available to all students on the EC website as well as the counseling offi ce.

Assembling a view camera for her photography class is art major Sarah Edsinga, 20. Photo students have an opportunity to exhibit their images both on campus and at various South Bay venues. The range of photo courses includes art, portraiture, video and photojournalism.


/UnionAndrew Kang

Firing up an oxy acetylene torch is welding student Martin Gastelum. The 42-year-old construction technology major fi nds th

Viridiana Vaca-RiosCo-Opinion Editor

Haipha SimonCo-Editor-in-Chief

T of the trade

PHOTO ESSAY 7May 19, 2011 / El Camino College Union

Honing his hair-styling skills in the lab environment, cosmetology major Justin Norman, 21, preps for walk-in customers from the college and the community. In his second semester, Norman is work-ing toward his associate degree and certifi cates of achievement and accomplishment. In 10 years, he said his goal is to open his own salon in Culver City.

UnionJulie Ames/

/UnionMichael Williams

he EC programs both thorough and enjoyable.


Hands-on work in automotive classes enables students to parlay their classroom skills into employment in the auto repair business. From left, automotive technology majors Jose Garcia, 22 and Chris Barbosa, 18, work on rebuilding an engine.

Left: In preparation for a June 3 fashion show, Ally Rodriguez, 23, works on a busti-er in her Fashion 26b class. Now in her third year as a fash-ion design student, Rodriguez said she attends EC because of its extensive fash-ion program.

Right: Working with a construction model is Arthuro Galvan, 19. The architecture major can earn an associate degree and a certifi cate of achievement to gain employment, or transfer to a univer-sity.

/Union

Roger Morris/Union

Julie Ames

May 19, 2011 / El Camino College Union8

Playing drums at six-years-old for his church’s band was Tomas Orozco, 20, music major’s fi rst experience with music. As heavy metal music ruled the air-waves during his teen years, Oro-zco put down his drumsticks to rock out on the guitar.

“That’s when I became se-rious about making music and found my passion for music,” Orozco said.

His passion continued throughout high school. Joining an after school music program at Banning High School (BHS) in Wilmington, Orozco played guitar in a 15-piece instrumental ensemble. The group performed in school concerts and played for the community at ceremonies, fi -estas and carnivals.

“We didn’t have enough funding because of budget cuts so it quickly disintegrated,” Orozco said. “But I knew this was some-thing I wanted to keep doing.”

Known as Conquistadores, Orozco’s current project, is a three-piece band consisting of a Requinto guitar, a classical guitar and a stand-up bass guitar accom-

panied by Orozco on vocals. “We are an acoustic band that

plays interpretations of music al-ready made ranging from Latin American to Mexican folk, jazz and pop,” Orozco said.

Infl uenced by the Latin Amer-ican musical genre from the ‘40s and ‘50s, Orozco plays melodies on the Requinto guitar. The Mex-ican instrument has a deep body style and produces a smaller high pitched sound compared to the classical guitar, he said.

In his fi rst year at EC, Orozco is learning vocal techniques and perfecting his musical skills by being part of the Applied Music Program.

“EC has showed me what I could become if I just perfect my voice,” Orzoco said. “After tak-ing some voice classes, I saw how I could benefi t if I gave myself to voice and music.”

Orozco was urged to enroll in the music program by his friend and band-mate, Esai Saucedo, 22, music major. Initially meeting at

BHS, Saucedo was heavily in-volved in EC’s music department before transfering to California State University, Northridge and plays the classical guitar for their band.

“He is a natural,” Saucedo said. “I had to work on him to get out of his comfort zone and attend a college out of his immediate community. I really admire his hard work and am happy to have him by my side playing music.”

Conquistadores play at many private celebrations including birthday parties and wedding receptions as well as public out-ings. They will perform “Volver, Volver,” a Mexican ranchera to-morrow night for El Camino So-ciety of Music’s student recital at 7 p.m. in the Haag Recital Hall.

As a band they look to in-crease their popularity and start writing their own music.

“We want to share our music and inspire others like we are in-spired by so much music,” Oro-zco said.

Orozco said he has enough love for what he is doing to pur-sue it at all costs.

“If you have the drive, every-thing will fall into place,” Orozco said. “Music is about sharing it and receiving it.”

ARTS 9May 19, 2011 / El Camino College Union

EC Concert band to perform at Marsee

Featuring an American pre-miere of EC student Nicholas Sobko’s “March of the Brewski Brothers” and an “Irish Tune from Country Derry” by Percy Grainger, the EC Concert Band will perform this Sunday at 3 p.m.

The concert will take place at Marsee auditorium. Tickets are $10. Student tickets can be pur-chased for $5 a half hour prior to the show. For more information, interested persons may call 800-832-ARTS.

—Joshua Sherman

Contemporary, classical and Mexican folk music are just a few acts on the program for the El Camino Society of Music’s bi-anual recital. The event begins at 7 p.m. in the Haag Recital Hall.

In collaboration with the Japa-nese Cultural Club, a portion of the proceeds will benefi t relief in Japan as well as the Midwest. Tickets are $10 and can be pur-chased at the box offi ce. For more information, interested per-sons may call 800-832-ARTS.

The 29th annual spring fash-ion show titled “Cosmic Nights will take place June 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Marsee Auditorium.

Tickets cost $7 presale and $10 at the door. For ticket infor-mation, interested persons may e-mail [email protected] or charge by phone at 310-329-5345.

ON THE SCENE

Music

El Camino Society of Music presents recital

29th annual fashion show at Marsee

Music

Fashion

Art show displays student talent

“Untitled” by Susan Hamidi (left) along with other student produced art is currently on display for the mixed media student art show taking place until Friday, June 3 in the Art Gallery.

Tomas Orozco, 20, music major, will perform at 7 p.m. in Haag Recital Hall tomorrow with Conquistadores.Patrick Osbourne /Union

Singer connects with roots


STAR RISING

Jose Flores /Union

Dressed in a typical black suit and white shirt, Conan O’Brien fans have the opportunity to pay him a visit in the Art Gallery.

A papier-mâché marrionette puppet of the late night talk show host hangs alongside a handful of other puppets at the entrance of the annual student art show.

Art Gallery curator Susanna Meiers said this is the fi rst time they have showcased puppets in the student art show and is ex-cited to see the response they will generate.

The show focuses on provid-ing a platform where some of the best works produced by students, in a wide range of different me-dia, can be showcased and recog-nized.

“It’s a way of really getting to see the talents of the students who go to school here. It’s just phenomenal,” Meiers said. “It’s also a testimony to the instruction

that happens here at EC.”Due to limited space in the

gallery, however, Meiers said each faculty member teaching a studio art class is only allowed to choose two students from each class to be featured in the show.

Sean Reyes, 21, undeclared major, who realized his passion for photography during high school, said he was honored to be among a select few of students chosen to display his work.

“It is a blessing to be able to show my work and a bright op-portunity for others to see not only my work but also many of the other talented student’s art,” Reyes said. “It is an opportunity for students of the arts to get their work into a gallery environment and learn how to present their work in a professional manner.”

The show also dedicates one day to the Art Department Open House, taking place tomorrow from 6-9 p.m., which is devoted to recognizing students who were not featured in the show.

“We have some of the ‘cream

Rabiya HussainStaff Writer

of the crop’ here in the gallery but there is also lots of good work in the class room,” Meiers said.

Gina Ramirez, 22, fi lm major, who was at the Art Gallery Mon-day to support the work of her friends, said she was amazed by the collection of talent students at EC have.

“Everything is just remark-able!” she said. “Each piece of work is so fl awlessly put together which really makes you appreci-ate the passion of these artists. I think everyone should come by and at least take a brief look around. That alone is enough to be blown away.”

A gallery talk will take place next Thursday at 1 p.m. Orga-nized by the I.D.E.A.S. Art club, student artists whose work is dis-played in the gallery will discuss their work and their artistic pro-cess.

Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday.

Cassandra Volonakis’ “Conan” and other marionettes are on display.

Jose Flores /Union

Jose Flores /Union

10 SPORTS May 19, 2011 / El Camino College Union

Warriors move on to state championship fi nalsDebbie Jackson set the record in 1988 for the far-

thest javelin throw of 155 feet and 10 inches. Twenty-three years later, her daughter, Myshauna Alexander, almost broke the record by throwing with 152 feet and 9 inches.

Throwing just three feet short of her mother’s old school record, Alexander won the javelin event by over 30 feet.

“I don’t know whether to be happy about it or sad about it being so close yet so far,” Alexander said. “But she said she’d rather have me break it than any-body else.”

This mark moves her to No. 2 on the ECC All-Time Top 10.

“My series was not that good but it all came together in the end, and I fi nally got that one good throw,” Alexander said. “If I start the way I fi nish, then I should have a great day at state.”

The track and fi eld teams head to American River College for the state championship fi nals tomorrow.

The women’s team placed second with Mt. San Antonio College coming in fi rst and Cerritos College following EC. The men’s team placed fourth with Mt. SAC coming in fi rst as well.

“It was a huge day for us and we truly came through,” coach Dean Lofgren said.

The Southern California Regional Finals were also the qualifi ers for the state championship fi nals.

“With them performing that well and under that pressure really speaks how confi dent and yet relaxed they are,” Lofgren said.

There were also great performances on the track, as sprinter David Cardona won both the 1,500-meter and the 500 events.

“I’m feeling pretty confi dent and I’m ahead of the game,” Cardona said. “I just have to run a smart race and go for the title. All our training has come down to this and now it’s show time.

The women’s 400 relay team came out with a win remaining undefeated. The team included Isis Garland, Amanda Young, Ronisha Vallery and Shale’ Garland.

“We have a good team this year and I’m happy to

have them with me,” Shale’ Garland said. She went on to win the 400 and place second in

the 200.“I was sick last week so my performance wasn’t

where I wanted it to be,” Shale’ Garland said. “I kept thinking, ‘I have to make it to the next level and I can’t let sickness get to me,’ and I had to pull through.”

Vallery moved up the ECC All-Time Top 10 List to ninth with a win in the long jump and Rukayah Bent-Mikail won in the triple jump.

The men’s fi eld team showed strong performanc-es as well.

“I’m really looking forward to this weekend to see what these north guys got, and to show them what I got and what the south can do,” Jason Harrell said.

Harrell won the discus event, automatically quali-fying him for the state championship fi nals.

“Normally when I would go to the ring, the discus wouldn’t feel right in my hand, but this time it felt good,” Harrell said. “I was fi nally able to get back to what I was doing during the season and it was a great experience.”

Placing directly behind Harrell was freshman dis-cus thrower Alexander Tuliau.

“I really wanted to top Jason but we took one and two so that’s cool,” Tuliau said. “As long as we get the team some points, that’s what we came here to do.”

“This is my fi rst state championship meet so I’m kind of nervous right now, but practices are going well and hopefully I can make it feel like just another meet,” Tuliau added.

Kara Kalmar and Katrina Wilbanks also pulled through with a fi rst and third place in the pole vault.

“They are a very personable group that’s not phased by a lot of pressure which is hard to fi nd,” Lofgren said. “We’re excited when we have one So-Cal champion but to have nine in one meet is phe-nomenal.”

Last year, Cardona was the only track and fi eld member to reach the state competition level.

“It would be nice to be in a position to win a state title,” Lofgren said. “It’s great for the school, it’s great for the kids, and it’s something you have in history forever.”

Joshua ShermanStaff Writer

Roger Morris /Union

Doubles team gets bumped out of fi rst round in three sets Jorge CamarilloStaff Writer

It was “win or go home” for the Warriors.Attila Lassu and Andrew Sarawasi were battling

in the third set after splitting the fi rst two sets with their opponents, John Kariman and Jeffrey Leo of the Fresno City College Rams in the fi rst round of the Fresno State Tournament; Leo was playing for Aswin Kolady who was out with an injury.

The entire crowd was against Lassu and Sara-wasi as the doubles team from Fresno had the ad-vantage of being the home team.

The Warriors eventually lost the set and failed to move on in the tournament last Friday.

“The third set was very interesting and both teams were very pumped up and knew what was on the line,” coach Steve Van Kanegan said. “If

they lose they would go home and if they won they knew they would continue on to play with the top eight in the state. Third set was very exciting and dramatic.”

With drama building throughout the match, it wound up having a story book ending for the home team as Kariman and Leo pulled away late in the match.

“One of the opponent’s balls hit the net and just rolled and barely made it over the net, without our team being able to hit it and that took our wind out of our sail,” Van Kanegan said.

Van Kanegan was still pleased with the overall performance of Lassu and Sarawasi.

“They played well,” Van Kanegan said. “They still had some weak points and when you play in the top level, your weakness really starts to show. But they have to work on their weakness, if they’re go-

ing to move on to the next level.”The state tournament all together had the best

16 teams participate in it, eight teams from the north and eight teams from the south, Van Kanegan said.

“We did pretty good, that’s as good as we can play, but the other team had that extra margin and proved to be better that day,” Sarawasi said.

As Sarawasi said he plans to return next year with a vengeance, they will use this experience to play even better next season.

”It was an adventure to drive (to Fresno),” Lassu said. “They had a good crowd and it turned out to be an exciting match and they were the victor of this epic day, so we will try again next year.”

All the players plan to return next season, unless work or class schedules get in the way of practice and game times, Van Kanegan said.

He also said that he is hoping that his team con-tinues to get better and tougher for next season and comes back stronger as a team.

“(Lassu and Sarawasi) just need to play a lot of matches in the off-season and need to work on their fi tness and become stronger and faster,” Van Kanegan said.

“As far as the overall team, everybody needs to be mentally tougher by playing more matches and just getting more experience,” he added.

EC fi nished with a 8-6 overall record, fi nishing second place in the South Coast Conference with a 5-4 conference record.

“I was very pleased,” Van Kanegan said. “We had a good group of guys and everybody got along well and they motivated each other. We had a lot of fun and played at a high level, so it was very satisfy-ing in all aspects of tennis.”

Isis Garland hands the baton off to Shale’ Garland during the 4 X 100 relay at Mt. San Antonio College.

“We got a lot better by the second game, but we didn’t have time to come back; It

was already too late.”

—Tanille BarnesBadminton player

Being honored as one of the best badminton play-er from Scotland, John Britton, badminton and soccer coach, was invited to attend a banquet and received praise at Scotland at the 100th anniversary of Scot-tish badminton.

He was honored by Prince Edward as a member of one of the top two men’s doubles team in the last 100 years.

Aside from receiving the Scottish honor, Brit-ton has also been inducted into the badminton hall of fame, as well as the EC Athletic Hall of Fame accompanied by his daughter Jaymie Baquero and his wife Traci Britton, both former national cham-pions.

“I guess this makes us the fi rst three members of the same family to make it into the EC Hall of Fame,” he said jokingly. “I’ll try getting my son in there too,

even though he’s never played.”Although Britton confessed that he was not very

good at giving interviews, after settling down, he be-gan to open up about his life as an athlete as well as a badminton and soccer coach, attributing the success of his career to his parents.

“As opposed to American parents, my parents never forced me to stick to one particular sport and encouraged me to play whatever I liked,” Britton said. “I was lucky enough that I got good at some of them and joined good teams.”

At the age of 10, Britton began playing badmin-ton, which he picked up from his mother, who he de-scribed as, “the best badminton player of her era.”

Baquero, assistant soccer coach, described him as a devoted teacher who spends most of his time learn-ing new and interesting ways of teaching the same thing to his players.

“He’s a great coach,” Baquero said. “He has the playing experience and he’s coached for many years,

so he defi nitely knows his stuff. He’s constantly watching games and reading soccer magazines to get new information and new ideas.”

As a father, Baquero described him as loving and supportive father who is always encouraging.

“He’s always cracking jokes, he makes sure we’re taken care of,” she added. “We still go to games to-gether. He’s great.”

While most people might assume that juggling two coaching positions simultaneously could be a challenge for him, Britton said the help and support of the athletic and equipment staff makes all the dif-ference.

Over the years as an athlete, Britton has also played tennis, water polo, rugby and soccer, joining several teams that competed nationally as well as in-ternationally.

“I honestly don’t have a favorite sport,” Britton said. “Any sport I play and have managed to avoid injury or pain is my favorite sport.”

Former national champion helps students at EC

Duo fails to record a win in the San Francisco State Championships

Going into uncharted territory, the doubles team of Tanille Barnes and Ku-miko Noguchi headed to compete in the San Francisco State Championships.

They left Thursday, on a six-hour drive toward San Francisco, a city where they’ve never went to before.

Barnes and Noguchi eventually lost their fi rst match at the tournament, which landed them in the consolation matches.

The team’s season came to end after a regular season record of 4-8.

“(The consolation match was a) match for the people that don’t make the fi rst round,” Barnes said. “It’s like a match for the losers basically so you won’t leave empty handed.”

While she acknowledged the fact that the other teams competing at the tourna-ment where much stronger than Barnes and Noguchi, Barnes said nervousness played a key factor in the team’s inabil-ity to win.

“We were so nervous we kept hitting the shuttlecock back to the really good players so we lost the fi rst game really fast,” Barnes said.

Once they had a chance to breathe and their nerves had settled down a little bit, Barnes said their performance im-proved greatly.

“We got a lot better by the second game, but we just didn’t have time to come back,” Barnes said. “It was already

too late.”Barnes and Noguchi had to go up

against a team which they have not beat-en in four tries in the regular season in

the consolation match. They battled East L.A. College’s No. 1 doubles team.

Coach John Britton said the team was off to a very good start.

“Actually, it was pretty cool, fi rst game in that match we beat them. We beat them really bad,” Barnes said. “But then the second game they changed how they were playing a little, and we couldn’t catch up to their changes.”

Britton said he was proud of the player’s efforts and could really see how much they had improved over the course of the season.

“The fi rst part of the season they got well-beaten by the East L.A. team,” Brit-ton said. “And it shows they have im-proved because by the end of the season they were running it close and actually

had a chance of beating them.” Noguchi, the star player of the team

as well as being the player with the most experience under her belt, said she was looking forward to next season and would defi nitely be back next season to play another year of badminton.

Britton added if badminton returns next season, the team will be much stron-ger compared to this season’s team.

Next year, the team will have fi ve re-turning players.

This year, they only had two players with experienced which affected its play during the regular season.

“It was fun,” Barnes said. “We hadn’t been there before, so once we were done with the tournament we took some time to look around.”

Staff WriterRabiya Hussain

Rabiya HussainStaff Writer


John Britton, soccer and badminton coach, was honored in Scotland earlier this year.

The season came to a close after a regular season record of 4-8.

Issue 18, May 19, 2011

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