Issue 3, 9/20./12

Measure E’s energy efficiency improvements could save up to $1 millionKarly DaquilaStaff Writer

Local facility bond Mea-sure E, which is designed to create a “greener” and more efficient version of EC, will be a major item on the ballot this November.

In 2002, voters of the El Camino Community Col-lege district passed a facilities bond, enabling the construc-tion of new buildings and remodeling that is seen now on campus. While the money

from the 2002 bond is almost gone, Measure E hopes to con-tinue the work set in motion by the earlier bond.

“The people in the district will be giving money directly for the infrastructure of the college. You can see the infra-structure benefitting in the new building, the plumbing and the repairs.” Ken Brown, board of trustees member, said.

One major limitation of the bill is that the funds gained will not be usable for employ-ee salaries or retirement funds.

Instead the money will only be used for facilities, equip-ment and improvements to the physical well being of the campus, Bill Beverly, board of trustees president, said

However, despite that limi-tation, the bill is extremely im-portant to the campus’s future, Beverly said.

“Measure E extends our bond. We know that specific money is 100 percent guar-anteed to go into our campus. That money can only be used for specified capital purposes,

but at least it goes directly into our campus,” Beverly said.

While that means the mon-ey won’t be usable as a means to increase the current num-ber of courses at El Camino, the money saved by making improvements to the campus could quickly build to a sub-stantial figure.

“Right now because of the facilities that have been completed to date from the 2002 measure, we have saved $100,000 in energy costs at El Camino. When we finish the

projects from the 2002 bond measure, the college will save $360,000 in energy costs,” Ann Garten, community rela-tions director, said.

If Measure E passes and all projects are completed, not only will the college save nearly $1 million in annual energy costs, but also the col-lege’s carbon footprint will be reduced greatly, Garten added.

“The residents who are vot-ing on Measure E, will pay a certain portion in their proper-ty tax bill. Right now from the

2002 bond, people pay $16.88 per $100,000 of assessed val-ue of their home (not market value). With the passage of Measure E this November, the property tax would increase by only $7 more per $100,000 of assessed value of their property,” Garten said.

Only those who live within the El Camino district (Haw-thorne, Lawndale, Inglewood, Torrance, Redondo beach, Manhattan Beach and El Se-gundo) will able to vote on the measure in November, since it

will only affect them. Current students at EC are

“reaping the benefits from students from 10 years ago,” and now students in 2012 are able to make the same impact on future students by voting to support Measure E on during the November election, Gar-ten said.

“The world isn’t about to-day, it’s about looking forward and thinking about providing for the students that will be here 10 years from now,” Gar-ten added.

Monique JudgeCo-Opinion Editor

Financial woes, construction delays and litigious finger pointing have led to the new Math, Business and Allied Health Building not opening as sched-uled for fall semester.

Tom Brown, director of facilities and planning services for EC, said a combi-nation of several different factors con-tributed to the delays.

“The coordination of the trades is the greatest delay,” Brown said.

Coordination of trades, or subcon-tractors, is the job of Taisei Construction, the firm that won the bid to complete the project.

Brown said that because Taisei has not done a good job of coordinating their subcontractors, there have been “de-

lays” and “additional charges” with sub-contractors having to come back a sec-ond or third time to complete their work.

Jaysen Van, operations risk manager for Taisei Construction, has a different opinion.

“I believe it is directly related to the defective plans and specifications, as well as the district’s failure to properly administer the project,” Van said.

Van said the original plans and speci-fications failed to identify existing un-derground utilities on the job site, and this added to the construction delays.

“The district’s architect failed to meet a standard of care,” Van said.

Brown said that to place the blame solely on the defective drawings would be a “great error,” but he did acknowl-edge that because of conflicts with the drawings, the district could be heading

into arbitration with LPA, the architec-tural firm that planned the project.

“A lot of this is a lot of finger point-ing,” Brown said.

“It would not be a surprise to me if the contractor

plans to blame the architect for some

of the problems, just like I’m sure the architect plans to blame the contractor for some of the problems, and just like the college feels there is plenty of blame to go around.” Jo

Ann Higdon, vice presi- dent of admin-istrative services for EC, said.

Brown said that among the problems waiting to be resolved in the construction project are elevators that have not been certified by the state, an air-conditioning system that has neither been commis-sioned nor turned on, corridor lighting and flooring that needs to be installed, stairway handrails that need to be put in place, and painting yet to be completed.

Brown added that the painting has been delayed in part due to the painters recently walking off the job.

Van said that this is due to the sub-contractors, including the painters, going bankrupt on the job.

Brown blamed the subcontractor bankruptcy issue on both Taisei and their subcontractors underbidding the job, and said that Taisei “definitely underbid.”

Van disagreed.“Taisei was plus or minus two per-

cent from the next lowest bidder, and plus or minus ten percent from all bid-ders. This is a provable fact,” Van said.

School administrators originally expected a bid of around $23 million, while Taisai’s winnig bid was $20.6 mil-lion, according to a March 2010 board of trustees meeting agenda.

Van added that the district realized a nearly $18 million windfall at the incep-tion of this project, and instead of keep-ing those funds in reserve, reallocated them to other projects.

“I have no idea what he is talking about,” Higdon said. “I find it amazing that someone would say that.”

“How I reallocate funds after a bid is the college’s business; it is not the con-tractor’s business,” Higdon added.

Higdon said that the bond does allow for funds to be reallocated after a bid.

“Did the college benefit from a down-turn in the construction industry? Abso-lutely. We had bids come in significantly lower than what we had originally ex-pected. The taxpayers are getting a great buy,” Higdon said.

Van said that Taisei has taken a $6.5 million loss on the project.

“We do plan to pursue a claim against the district,” Van said.

“The college is absolutely deter-mined that the building that is going to be built is going to be the building that we planned to have, and it is going to ser-vice our students and our faculty in the way it was intended, and frankly, if that means that the opening is going to be delayed a little, that is what is going to happen,” Higdon said.

Sept. 20, 2012 Torrance, California

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Puente Mentor Training Workshop

Students interested in joining the Puente Mentor Program should attend the Puente Men-tor Training workshop today in Humanities Room 208 from 6 to 7 p.m. For more details, call 310-660-3593, ext. 3408

CSU Long Beach Admis-sions workshopThe Transfer Services Depart-ment will be hosting a workshop on CSU Long Beach Admis-sions next Tuesday from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Distance Education Room. To learn more, call 310-660-3593, ext. 3408

Transfer Day Fair on Library Lawn

Next Tuesday the Transfer Ser-vices Department will be host-ing a Transfer Day Fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Schauerman Library lawn. For more informa-tion, interested persons may call 310-660-3593, ext. 6137

Transfer Admissions Guarantee Workshop

Students involved in the Honors Transfer Program are encour-aged to attend the TAG workshop next Wednesday from 3 to 5 p.m. in CommunicationsRoom 309. Students in attendance will learn about the HTP TAG agreements. Interested persons may contact the Transfer Services Department

Personal Statement Workshop

Students interested in learning how to write a personal statement for transfer applications should attend the Personal Statement Workshop next Thursday from 1 to 2 p.m. in MCS 100A. For more information, interested persons may call 310-660-3593, ext. 3408

By Thomas Schmit

UNIONEL CAMINO COLLEGEUNIONFeatures:

Legal disputes stall MBA Building completion Angela Songco

Staff Writer

Recent changes to federal financial aid poli-cies have affected a large section of the student body, especially those who were not working to-wards a specific degree or certificate, a college official said.

“Some students had been on financial aid for a very long time without completing any program,” Hortense Cooper, director of the fi-nancial aid department, said. “With the chang-es, students and the institution are held more ac-countable for receiving federal dollars.”

Cooper said that as part of re-authorization of funds to higher education by congress, im-portant changes in financial aid were put into place in July.

She said that one of the major changes in the program was the number of years a student could be eligible to receive a Pell Grant, which was the largest federal grant available for stu-dents.

“The lifetime eligibility of Pell Grant was reduced to twelve semesters or four to six years maximum eligibility,” she said.

Pell Grant eligibility used to be for 18 semes-ters or about nine years prior to the changes, she said.

Cooper said another change in the federal financial aid program is the requirement to have a high school diploma or its equivalent to be eligible to receive financial aid. In the past, as long as a financial aid applicant passed the ability–to-benefit test, the student could receive financial aid.

“The main concern with the diploma was to be sure that students who will really be working towards a degree will receive it,” she added.

Two students had opposing opinions on the issue.

Crystalyn Redd, 23, child development ma-jor, said that if students do not have the means to cover their educational expenses, it would be harder for them to pass their classes. She also said that some students have personal reasons why they had to take some time to finish their education but that those years helped them build maturity.

On the other side of the issue, Juan Carlos Valdovinos, 30, psychology major, said that these changes were good reinforcements so that students can have the guidance and motivation to move forward with their education.

“Some (students) just get money and stay here forever but these changes will help us stay on track,” he said.

Cooper said that many students had read about these changes but didn’t really understand how they affected them. She added that some students just did not read the information at all.

“Students need to understand these regula-tions that may affect them,” Cooper said. “It should not be ‘how much I am getting and when am I getting it’ mentality anymore.”

Changes to financial aid limit Pell Grant

March 2010: Construction of MBA building begins, with a projected cost of $20.6 million, according to board of trustees agenda from March 15, 2010

Fall 2011: original projected completion date of the MBA building

October 2011: Taisai Con-struction cites issues with the architectural drawings provided by LPA

Spring 2012: Current projected completion date of the MBA building

August 2012: DE Smith, the subcontractor responsible for painting the MBA building, files for bankruptcy

Timeline of the MBA Buildingconstruction

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EC alumnus has connection to the space shuttle soon landing at LAXCarl MartinStaff Writer

As anticipation grows over the arrival of the space shuttle En-deavor in Los Angeles tomorrow, students should know that an EC alumnus was a member of its final space mission, Joe Holliday, earth sciences professor, said.

Holliday said U.S. Air Force Col. Michael Fincke was the mis-sion specialist on Endeavours’ final 16-day space flight. He also completed two tours on the inter-

national space station.“That’s amazing that he spent

almost a year of his life out in space,” Holliday said.

He added that he has a pic-ture of Fincke in the space sta-tion wearing a sweatshirt with El Camino printed across the front.

Finke was one of only two stu-dents majoring in geology when he attended EC in 1993 and al-though Holliday didn’t have him in any of his classes they have spent time together over the years, he said.

“He’s a really nice guy, not egotistic like Buzz Aldrin,” Hol-liday said.

He said that Fincke was a good example of the interesting ca-reer paths that many EC geology alumni pursue.

Holliday added that he was excited about having Endeavour here in Los Angeles.

“I’m hoping this is going to be a great opportunity to organize trips to the Science Center for the Science Club as well as my geol-ogy students,” Holliday said.

The arrival of Endeavour has peaked the interest of at least one student.

Lee Takeuchi, 19, astrophys-ics major, said he is a member of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Club and sees this as a chance to learn more about space travel.

“I’ll probably take the opportu-nity to go see Endeavour,” Takeu-chi said. “Not only to learn about it, but the replacements being built by companies like SpaceX.”

After completing a tour across the country mounted on a spe-

cially-built Boeing 747, the space shuttle will be landing at Los Angeles International Airport to-morrow, ushering in the end of the space shuttle program, according to NASA

According to the NASA web-site, the plane carrying the shut-tle will make low-level flyovers of areas in Northern California, including Sacramento and San Francisco before landing in Los Angeles.

Endeavour will remain at LAX for several weeks while it is be-

ing prepared for a 12-mile crawl through the streets of Ingelwood and Los Angeles to the California Science Center where it is sched-uled to arrive Oct. 13 and will be put on exhibit Oct. 30, according to the science center’s website.

According to the science cen-ter Website. Endeavour was the newest of NASA’s space shuttle fleet and flew 25 missions from 1992 until 2011. It spent about 300 days in orbit and traveled over 1.2 million miles in space during its mission lifetime.

POLICE BEATBy Coree Heard

Student allegedly stole and then returned book

Sept. 11, 11 a.m.–Police responded to a call from the Bookstore. After a male student could not purchase a book because his credit card was declined, he slammed the book down and left the Bookstore. He returned an hour later, grabbed the book and ran out of the store. He returned again to bring back the book and apologize to the Bookstore staff. No charges were filed.

Bike reported stolen near Humanities Building

Sept. 10, 11 a.m.–Officers re-sponded to a call regarding a bike that was allegedly stolen from a bike rack near the Humanities Building. A male student parked and secured his bike in the rack, but upon his re-turn, he found his bike had been tak-en although the chain and lock were still intact. There were no witnesses and police do not have a suspect.

Altercation in parking lot gets physical

Sept. 5, 4 p.m.–Officers re-sponded to parking lot B after receiving a call about an alterca-tion between a male student and a female student. When officers ar-rived, the female student alleged that during a scheduled visitation with their child in the parking lot the male student had encroached on her personal space. He said she pushed him and She said he slapped her. The male student denied the claim and the female student refused to press charges. No arrest was made.

2 El Camino College Union September 20, 2012NEWS

Accreditation back on trackMonique JudgeCo-Opinion Editor

Four years after being placed on warning by the Accrediting Commis-sion for Community and Junior Col-leges (ACCJC), the college has made progress toward ensuring it retains its accreditation status.

The college was initially placed on warning in February 2009 after an Oc-tober 2008 visit from an ACCJC task force found the college lacking in sev-eral areas including student learning outcomes (SLO), which are meant to ensure that the college continues to make improvements in the delivery of student learning.

“The warning was from the 2008 accreditation visit and we cleared it up within the year in which we re-sponded to those recommendations,” Jeanie Nishime, vice president of student and community advancement said.

According to a letter from the AC-CJC posted on the EC website, the college was given two years to correct the issues the task force found con-cern with. The original due date for completion was October 2009.

During the October 2009 task force visit, it was found that the college had made substantial improvements in its processes for assessing institutional quality and making improvements.

“We addressed all the recommen-dations and those were all accepted by the commission,” Nishime said.

According to a December 2009 let-ter from the Commission available on the EC accreditation website, “All appropriate participants are now in-volved in the program review process,

all program reviews have been docu-mented as completed, and the pro-jected timetables showing scheduled program reviews through 2016 should meet the Commission standard.”

“In other words, we are in no danger of losing our accreditation,” Nishime said.

Each division of the college has at least one SLO facilitator whose job it is to ensure that all faculty are con-ducting course assessments, know when assessments are due and how to plan and carry out assessments.

Rachel Williams, full-time Eng-lish instructor, is the facilitator of the SLOs for the Humanities Division.

“One hundred percent of our cours-es have SLO in humanities, and so do all our programs,” Williams said. “We are making sure we have done regular assessments.”

Williams added that a great deal of time has been spent making sure that student learning outcomes are in line with what the college faculty wants the students to learn.

“Our division is making really good progress. Everyone understands the importance the SLOs, and that there is a reason why we are doing it, and that it is important for our accreditation as an institution,” Williams said.

“We are at one hundred percent in terms of every course and every pro-gram having an SLO. We are on track to be at one hundred whenever our schedule says we will be,” Williams added.

The follow-up report from the col-lege, which is due on Oct. 15, has been drafted by President Tom Fallo and is available for viewing on the EC accreditation website.

Photography students receive acclaimKyle Mounce Staff Writer

After pitting their photos against other stu-dents from across the globe, six EC students will have their work featured in the book, “Best of College & High School Photography 2012,” Darilyn Rowan, photography professor, said.

The photographers featured in the book placed in the top 10 percent of a competition that had 16,000 entries from all over the world and was judged by several prestigious photography professionals, Rowan said.

EC students featured in the publication in-clude:

Joseph Clausen, Patricia Kim, Robert Long, Gloria Plascencia and Jason Riney, Rowan said.

“Being featured in the publication is a very big deal in the photography community, since Photographer’s Forum’s contest is world re-nown,” Rowan said.

“As an artist, being recognized in the publi-cation is a great honor,” Long, 29, photography major said. “It’s motivation to know that if you keep doing something that you love doing, even-tually you will be one of the best and be the best

that you can be.”Long said this was the second year he had

entered the contest, but his first time being pub-lished in the book; he had also been featured in the EC Myriad recently.

Long said that he intends to submit an en-try into the contest next year and is confident in his repeated success. He added that he plans to continue improving himself and getting closer to becoming a professional photographer.

“I see myself owning my own studio and hiring other photographers to do other types of work,” Long said.

Plascencia, 52, photography major, said that this is her third time being featured in the book. She said it is great to be published, but that she still remains focused on being published as a professional photographer rather than as a stu-dent.

Plascencia said that she is a fine art photog-rapher who specializes in photographing natural landscapes, but that she is excited about a cur-rent project in which she portrays someone who is homeless in self-portraits.

“I like to tell a story with my images,” Pla-cencia said. “I can find art anywhere I go.”

Board split delays vote on Proposition 30Karly Daquila Staff Writer

After a difference of opinion over officially endorsing Propo-sition 30, the board of trustees suspended a vote on the matter until their next meeting, Jasmine Hormati, board of trustees’ stu-dent representative, said.

Only four out of the five board members with voting power were present at the meeting.

“The split between the board was caused because two mem-bers had concerns whether the money would come back to schools while the other two members felt very strongly that schools in California would in

fact benefit greatly from Propo-sition 30,” Hormati said. “Want-ing more information to make an informed decision either way, we tabled the vote until the fifth trustee was present.”

Bill Beverly, board president, said that viewpoints expressed by board members during the dis-cussion of Proposition 30 indi-cated that if a vote had been taken it would have ended in a tie.

Beverly said that his personal reticence in supporting Proposi-tion 30 was due to the broad na-ture of the measure.

“The problem is that the mea-sure itself doesn’t guarantee that the increases will result in supple-mental money for education. In

other words, they still could take these tax increases but not give us more money because there is no guarantee,” Beverly said.

Without the passage of Propo-sition 30, schools and colleges face an additional $6 billion in budget cuts, affecting K-12 schools, community colleges, the California State University sys-tem and the University of Cali-fornia system, according to the California Voter Guide.

Hormati said that people had the power to help protect educa-tion by voting for Proposition 30 in November.

“Proposition 30 is really im-portant because if it doesn’t pass, we’re going to have budget cuts,

which means less classes, less services for students and as a stu-dent rep. (representative), I think that is a really big issue,” Horma-ti said. “If it doesn’t pass, we’re going to be in a lot of trouble across California.”

Kenneth Brown, board mem-ber, said that although Proposi-tion 30 has its benefits, there is no explicit language in the prop-osition that specifies the exact amount of money that will go di-rectly to community colleges, but if Proposition 30 does not allo-cate necessary support there will be guaranteed cuts.

“It’s really important that the word get out to anyone of voting age that this is directly going to

affect them,” Brown said. He added that it was the “duty”

of voters to research the measures and candidates that will be on the November ballot.

The next board meeting is scheduled for Oct. 5 and will be held in the board room located in the Administration Building. Meetings are open to the public.

“I am frankly not one that has a whole lot of faith or trust in them (politicians),” Bev-erly said. “So even if we base it (vote for Proposition 30) on the fact that if we get more money and there won’t be cuts, at the end of the day when they (politicians) go back to Northern California they can do whatever they want.”

Courtesy of Gloria Plascencia“Alone in the Crowd” by Gloria Plascencia is a Photographer’s Forum magazine 2012 competition finalist photo.

September 20, 2012 El Camino College Union 3FEATURES

Mixing a combination of water and flour, she kneeds it until it becomes a “masa” (dough) and smoothly spreads it on maxan husks to make the traditional Guatemalan “tamales.”

In another part of the world, the vibrant colors and patterns flow freely across the stage as the Folklorico dancers sway their arms smoothly to the sounds of the Ma-riachi music.

Meanwhile, in the Puerto Rican is-lands, dancers break a sweat as they dance the night away to the salsa.

Whether it is music, food or celebra-tions, they are all traditions and although they are celebrated in different Latin American countries, they are all celebrat-ed in the U.S. to celebrate as part of His-panic Heritage Month.

Celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, Hispanic Heritage Month recognizes the

achievements of Hispanics throughout history.

It is also a time where Hispanic people take time to recognize their background and where their ancestors come from.

“I’m proud of my heritage for a lot of reasons. The culture is pretty amazing, the music, the traditions, even the way I look is something to be proud of,” Jaime Morales, 19, Architecture major said.

A few misconceptions about Hispanic Heritage Month is that only the Mexican culture celebrates this month and some may even associate it with Cinco de Mayo.

However, according to the U.S. Cen-sus, the term Hispanic is defined as “peo-ple who classified themselves in one of the specific Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino such as: Mexican, Mexican-American, Chica-no, Puerto Rican or “Cuban.”

Students like Andrea Netro, 19, crimi-nal justice major said being able to iden-

tify herself is important. “I identify myself as a Latina,” Netro

said. “My dad is from El Districto Fed-eral and my mom is from San Luis Potosi. We have Mexican-style parties like quin-ceneras, posadas and fiestas.”

Other students take part in celebrating the independence of the country where their parents came from.

“Well, my family always celebrates El Grito de Dolores. I just love the vibrancy and color of my heritage,” Amber Lopez, 18, liberal studies major said about her Mexican heritage celebrations.

Magaly Herrera, 18, sociology major, said she is proud of where she comes from as every aspect of her heritage is a part in who she is.

“Yes, I’m very proud of my heritage, the food, the music, it’s all an important part of being El Salvadorian,” she said.

Celebrating Hispanic Culture through traditions

Viridiana Vaca-RiosEditor-in-Chief

L.A. area events

Chanclaso

The Los Angeles City Employ-ees Chicano Association will host its annual Chanclaso reception in recognition of the significant con-tributions and achievements for Hispanic Heritage Month.

Josefina Salinas, from 92.3 FM Radio, will be the Mistress of Cer-emonies. When: Friday, Oct. 3

Where: City Hall Third Floor Rotunda and Forecourt, 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles

Cost: FreeInformation: 213-847-2229 or

[email protected]

Fiesta Mexicana IX

Fiesta Mexicana is a long tradition of honoring L.A.’s local musical heritage. Called variedad concert which means variety, the show features the Mariachi Monumental, Trio Casablanca and the voices of Roberto Romo, Cindy Luna and recording artist Belinda Gomez. Banda Futura will also be playing at the event. When: Sept. 24

Where: Ford AmphitheatreFor more information interested per-

sons may call 323-461-3673.

Mapping Another LA: The Chicano Art Movement

Beginning with the establish-ment of the first Chicano art gallery in 1969 in East L.A., Chicano art-ists launched a collective reimagin-ing of the urban landscape through photography, graphic arts, murals and large-scale architectural plans, as well as through painting, sculp-ture, installation, and drawing.

When: Oct. 16Where: UCLA Fowler Museum

Baja SplashCultural Festival

Live music from Mariachi to in-teractive percussion, crafts, cuisine, art, and educational shows about the amazing animals of Baja will be featured at the event. There will be the celebration of National His-panic Heritage Month with its10th annual bilingual festival featuring cultural dance performances from ancient Aztec to folk dances from Mexico and beyond.

When: Sunday and MondayWhere: Long Beach Aquarium

Hispanic heritage within l.a.

El Camino is Spanish for "The Road." whichrefers to Califor-nia's first road: "El Camino Real," which means "The King's Road," or "The Royal Road."

Olvera Street is in the oldest part of Downtown Los An-geles, California, and is part of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument. Many Latinos refer to it as “La Placita Olvera.”

Plaza Mexico is surrounded by a church, government buildings, markets and museums. At the Plaza, there are fountains and a “kiosco,” which is a raised platform used as a stage. The purpose of the plaza design is to be able to have social gatherings and public entertainment. Plaza Mexico is located in Lynwood and offers a variety of places to shop and eat.

Los Feliz, CA, also known as Rancho Los Feliz, Spanish for “Feliz

Ranch” is named for its land grantee José Vicente Feliz. The 6,647-acre Rancho Los Feliz was one of the first land grants in California.

Pell Grants should remain available to students Pell Grant eligibility regula-

tions have changed in a way that puts students who are unable to at-tend classes on a full-time basis at an unfair disadvantage.

The new regulations, which went into effect in July 2012, change the maximum Pell Grant eligibility from 18 semesters, or nine years, to just twelve semes-ters, or six years. The idea behind the changes is that many students have been on financial aid for years without making any prog-ress toward their degree.

The problem with a blanket change such as this is that in addi-tion to targeting the students that are taxing the system, it unfairly penalizes students that for various reasons cannot attend school full time in order to complete a degree.

Most college catalogs have a paragraph in them that suggests working students limit the num-ber of units they take based on the number of hours they work per week.

According to the EC college catalog, “If employment requires 40 hours or more per week, stu-dents would limit their study pro-gram to 7 units or less each semes-ter.”

Following that example, a stu-dent taking 7 units a semester would take roughly nine semes-ters just to complete an associate degree. The same student would require close to 17 semesters to complete a four-year program.

The way the regulations are set now, a student in that situation

would run out of aid eligibility before they completed their full program.

Should students be penalized for following direct advice from their college? No.

Instead of lumping everyone under the same umbrella with this new policy, the Department of Education and individual col-

leges should instead focus on the students that are abusing the sys-tem, and allow students that are making steady progress towards degree completion to continue to receive their Pell Grants.

A lot of students have obliga-tions that make full-time atten-dance in a college program im-possible. To tell these students that they will only get aid through part of their program and then be on their own for the rest is unfair and unnecessary.

If school financial aid depart-ments worked in conjunction with advisers and counseling de-partments to make sure that all students are on track with their programs, these problems would likely go away over time.

Limiting Pell Grant eligibility in this manner is not solving the problem it is meant to address; it is in fact causing more problems, and will hinder many students from being able to get an educa-tion.

This is definitely counterintui-tive. The rules need to be changed.

-See related article on Page 1

Illustration by Monique Judge

Measure E will benefit both EC and the surrounding environmentA vote of yes on the measure will go a long way toward making the campus more green

Measure E is a proposal to raise property taxes in Haw-thorne, Lawndale, Inglewood, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Man-hattan Beach and El Segundo, and send the money directly into the EC campus.

For students, this should be an easy decision. Most students aren’t homeowners and will re-main unaffected.

For homeowners, having a top-of-the-line community col-lege in the district can only raise property values. At $7 more per $100,000 of assessed property value, the tax increase is mini-mal.

A similar measure that passed in 2002 has been a great success and has already saved EC money.

This makes confidence in this measure come much easier.

Measure E will be dedicated 100 percent to physical plant changes. The money will be used to make the campus more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

Going green is the going theme right now.

Changes like these seem in-evitable for a campus striving to be a premier institution. It makes sense to complete these projects now, especially in light of other proposed projects on campus.

This is not just about EC and its students.

As society moves forward in the 21st century, the emphasis is going to be on how big of a car-

bon footprint is being left behind. Society’s daily routines may

be easily overlooked, but with a growing population, every ad-vance toward limiting resource waste can have an exponential impact on protecting the future.

It does seem a bit impractical on the surface because the areas that students tend to notice more readily are extended waits for counselors, the long lines at the cashier’s office, and the book-store visits that cost them in both money and time.

However, more resources for staff could be obtained indirectly.

EC stands to save significant money by being energy efficient.

With the money the campus saves in the long run, more coun-

selors and desk clerks could be hired.

The measure will also be an equalizer in the process, by al-lowing for older buildings on campus to be upgraded.

The Humanities Building is an oasis of comfort on a hot summer day, but one might look at a class-room in the Manhattan Beach Boulevard Modules and wonder if it’s the same campus.

The MBBM rooms are each equipped with a giant air con-ditioning unit about the size of 1950s television set. When the units knock into action they gri-mace with the amount of energy surging through them.

Sitting in a class full of hybrid cars would be quieter, and they’re

still no match for the persistent California sun.

The MBBM classrooms also lack windows, which means no natural light and no fresh air cir-culating. The rooms rely purely on artificial air and light which can be costly in the long term.

Contrast that with the Human-ities building.

The Humanities building has three floors of classrooms that each have at least one wall full of windows.

The building is fully air-con-ditioned, so students will always walk into a temperature regulated space.

There are bathroom facilities for both sexes on every floor of the building, and two elevators to

service students on opposite ends of the hallway; no other building on campus boasts that.

Learning in the Humanities Building is far easier than learn-ing in an MBBM classroom.

It is worth mentioning that the EC Associated Students Organi-zation passed a resolution sup-porting Measure E.

While EC is making leaps and bounds into the future, there is still much room for improvement.

Measure E should be wel-comed by anyone with a class in an older building.

The view from Crenshaw Bou-levard is spectacular, but there are still a few neglected corners in our big campus.

-See related article on Page 1

The Issue• Should all students be held

to the same set of stan-dards for Pell Grants?

Our Stand• No. Each student should be

judged individually.

4 El Camino College Union September 20, 2012EDITORIAL

Associated Collegiate Press Regional Pacemaker Award1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2012California Newspaper Publishers’ Association General Excellence Award1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005 Journalism Association of Community Colleges General Excellence Award1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

The Union is published Thursdays by Journalism 11 students at El Camino Col-lege, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance, CA 90506, and is free to the student body and staff.

Unsigned editorials and cartoons are the opinion of the editorial board and do not re-flect the views of the student body, staff or administration. Letters to the editor must be signed and must be received one week prior to publication in the Union office, Humani-ties Building Room 113.

Letters are subject to editing for space, libel, obscenity and disruption of the edu-cational process. Single copies of the Union are free; multiple copies can be requested through the Union.

Editor-in-Chief ........................................ Viridiana Vaca-RiosCo-News Editor .....................................................Thomas SchmitCo-News Editor ...........................................................Philip PrinsCo-Opinion Editor .......................................... Monique JudgeCo-Opinion Editor .............................................. Rigo Bonilla Features Editor ........................................ Viridiana Vaca-RiosArts Editor .............................................................. Diane Vay Sports Editor ......................................................Mary AlvarezPhoto Editor ..........................................................Philip PrinsAdvertising Manager ....................................Stephanie Alcorn Adviser ..........................................................Lori MedigovichAdviser .........................................................Kate McLaughlinTechnical Support ....................................................Don Treat

Vol. 66, No. 03September 20, 2012

E-mail: [email protected]: (310) 660-3328Advertising: (310) 660-3329

CAMPUS INSIGHT

I came into this country il-legally, using my brother’s identity. I was a 14-year-old kid crossing the border to pursue the American dream.

At the San Ysidro, an agent from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE be-

gan asking me a lot of questions. I didn’t under-stand him because I didn’t speak any English at all. My aunt was translating everything for me. I was afraid of being caught, but fortunately we made it across the border with no problems.

In the beginning, it was hard for me. I had a new city and a new lifestyle to get used to. Being illegal means you have less opportunities to get a good education and find a good job.

Those first days, I really wanted to go back to home. I wanted to find a job and begin working, but they always asked for a Social Security num-ber, and I did not have one.

When I did find a job, I drove myself to work, and many times I was pulled over. I got numerous “no driver’s license” tickets and had my car taken away, but I had to drive to work.

Paying for school was no easier, because tuition is expensive, and we all know it, but I work, and I am proud of the fact that I have paid for my education.

I first heard about the DREAM act from my fa-ther. I did some research on it and learned more. I felt a sense of pride for those that started the move-ment, because in some way they were fighting for the benefit of thousands of illegal students.

I then applied for the AB540 program, and I was excited about the possibility of being able to con-tinue studying with the worry of financial burden.

A few months later, Deferred Action for Child-hood Arrivals was approved and I now had the chance to work legally with a valid Social Secu-rity number. A valid SSN means a person has more chances of succeeding in this country.

As a student, it meant that I would be able to get the benefits of financial aid. It also meant I could receive a driver’s license. I don’t know about you, but I plan to continue to remain alert to see what else awaits us, me and many other illegal immigrant students in the fu-ture.

Editor’s Note: To protect the identity of Jesus Gonzalez, his image has been omitted.

The views expressed here are the author’s and do not represent those of the Union, its staff, editorial board or advisors.

COMMENTARY

Finally. The Department of Homeland Security has ad-dressed the biggest threat to the American way of life since Dub-step and skinny jeans.

“There are all kinds of emer-gencies out there that we can

prepare for. Take a zombie apocalypse for example,” according to an article posted on the DHS’ official website.

The article goes on to list preventive measures for a zombie apocalypse and other disasters like having water, food, clothes and medication readily available.

Why President Barack Obama and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney haven’t addressed this issue is baffling.

Healthcare and taxes? Zombies. Foreign policy and the national deficit? Zombies!

With bath salts and face-chewing incidents com-ing to national attention recently and AMC’s hit se-ries “The Walking Dead” returning for its third-sea-son on Oct. 14, zombies are on the tip of America’s teeth.

The truth is that most of the time nobody listens to precautions unless there’s a gimmick. Compared to the rest of the world, Americans have it good with things like iPhones, giant televisions and Netflix.

Perhaps the American dream is the haze of denial

we carry with us in our daily lives. Life is fragile.It’s not exactly fun to think about scenarios in

which our lives could drastically change for the worst in a day, unless of course you’re hypothetically strat-egizing for a zombie showdown.

Where would you get your water? How long would the food in your house last you? Would the freeways even be an option for evacuation, or would they be deadlocked in traffic?

Maybe the whole undead uprising idea is ridicu-lous, but anything can happen in this life.

For Californians a devastating earthquake is a very real possibility.

A terrorist attack is a possibility.If some silly zombie-talk is what it takes for peo-

ple to take a second and think about survival situa-tions, it’s definitely worth the eye-rolls.

There are natural disasters and human tragedies every day around the world, it would be silly not to have thought about survival before the situation arises.

While life may seem secure with all this technol-ogy and convenience cushioning us from the harsh realities that life sometimes deals out, being prepared can only make us more comfortable.

So, whether it’s Mother Nature, the tides of poli-tics or hoards of flesh-depraved undead, having a fallback plan can save your life.

Jesus GonzalezArchitecture major, 21

Rigo BonillaCo-Opinion Editor

DREAM act can give opportunities for students A zombie apocalypse is a real possibility

EL CAMINO COLLEGEUNION

CAMPUS CORNER

By Rigo Bonilla

Brooke Matson is the Presi-dent of the ASO. The ASO will meet every other Thursday at 1:00 p.m. in the Administration Building, Room 233.

When is the next meeting?

The next meeting is this Thurs-day. The Thursday meetings are the most popular.

What is the purpose of the ASO?

ASO is the student voice. It’s the student’s sole representation at the college, local, state, and fed-eral level.

How can students join the ASO, and what’s the process?

Students can print out the ASO application form on the EC web-site. After filling it out, they can turn it into my box in the activity center.

What’s the most challenging part of running the ASO?

Making sure that everything gets as much attention as it de-serves.

What issues are the senate addressing this semester?

We just passed a resolution sup-porting Measure E. We will ad-dress Prop. 30 next.

What are your personal views on Measure 30?

It’s a good thing. Facilities will be updated, not just for us, but for future students.

Do you have anything you would like to tell the EC student body?

It’s an important election year. Students have to be informed voters, no matter what their po-litical beliefs are.

What’s the most rewarding part of being in the ASO?

The most rewarding thing is feeling that i’m a part of some-thing that is bigger than myself.

Brooke MatsonPresident

Associated Students Organization

As summer transitions into fall, the student lifestyle also changes with itCOLUMN

Saturday marks the autumnal equinox, the first official day of fall. This signals the end of sum- mer months and the segue into winter months.

While welcoming fall with open arms, I cannot wait to wear scarves and enjoy the beauty that is the season of fall.

“I cannot endure to waste any- thing as precious as autumn sun- shine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air,” Nathaniel Hawthorne, an American novel-ist, said.

Even though summer months are magical, the transitional beau- ty that comes with welcoming fall is almost more of an exciting time.

Fall is filled with cozy fash-ions, delicious coffee drinks, “Rockto- ber” and it shares a cer-tain aura with the holiday season.

The current heat wave may have many thinking that I am in- sane for being as thrilled as I am for the autumnal season, but when considering the exciting things ahead, how can you not be?

The heatwave should be over soon-I hope.

Shifting from strappy sum- mer styles into the expressive fall trends is one of the easiest fashion feats to accomplish, especially on a student’s budget.

For the ladies, opting to layer tights under summer cut offs and dresses is a great way to resource- fully wear warm weather trends while trying to keep warm on your way to an 8 a.m. math class.

I have been noticing a growing trend among men.

The guys have been reaching for military inspired jackets to throw on over sweatshirts to keep warm. This is an inexpensively in- triguing piece that you can find at any thrift or surplus store.

While wearing a few scarves and cardigans, it only feels ap- propriate to be walking over the sunset colored leaves and brows-ing the upcoming concerts in the Los Angeles area.

With fall comes my favorite month: “Rocktober.”

It’s just around the corner, and it marks the beginning of concert season in the Los Angeles area.

A helpful tip to not miss your favorite artists coming to town is liking them on Facebook or sign- ing up for email updates.

Getting on mailing lists will ensure that you will not miss the opportunity to experience your favorite bands and artists.

I am personally excited for The

First Aid Kit, a Swedish folk duo, to come to The Fonda Theatre Oct. 16 and M. Ward to be at the Orpheum on Oct. 21.

Thankfully, fall coffee drinks are on the shelves and ready to be served at my favorite coffee shops. Somehow, pumpkin spice makes any day better, even after a long night at one of your favorite con- certs.

Personally, the coming of fall symbolizes a new year.

With the beginning of the se- mester, I feel that this is a starting point to be productive, yet still be able to slow down and enjoy every moment, especially as we head into the holidays.

Growing up, my family has always been extremely festive around the holidays.

Fall signifies the start of the holiday season, filled with family, friends and festive traditions.

Fall is like a kickoff to the holi- days. Though there may not be any holidays around the corner,

the rituals themselves like bun-dling up and chatting with friends on a cold September evening is as special to me as any calendar holiday.

Some may groan at the thought of losing their beloved summer, but I feel that we should welcome the change with open arms.

Throw on a scarf and get ready for the exciting things that fall has to offer!

Karly DaquilaStaff Writer

September 20, 2012 El Camino College Union 5OPINION

Every semester, California’s community colleges hand out fee waivers to students who prove their financial need, but the newly passed Student Success Act of 2012 changes that, requiring students to maintain a 2.0 GPA.

Students should be able to maintain, at the very minimum, a 2.0 GPA.

One of the main conversations students continue to have is how expensive every-thing is becoming, but there hasn’t been anything done about it, at least until now.

There is too much money being wasted on D average students every year who are rewarded for being undedicated.

The results of that great amount of mon-ey being abused are higher tuition rates, fewer classes, crowded classrooms and quite a few questions about whether com-munity college students are serious about their education.

Community colleges give the opportu-nity, especially to low-income students, to attend school, and while some are tak-ing advantage by working hard, others are dropping classes as soon as the money ar-rives.

What the Student Success Act will do for colleges all over California is weed out undedicated students before classes start; this will allow dedicated students to get the classes they need for them to meet their goal.

Once colleges stop investing in students who are not performing academically, the money can be used elsewhere.

The funds could be used for campus re-sources. For example, the Writing Center.

In past semesters, the Writing Center allowed students to print all their English related papers, but since last spring, those privileges have been eliminated.

It’s true that there are plenty of students who are not academically nor mentally pre-pared to attend college, but more campus workshops could send students up a better path.

The Spanish words el camino mean “the road” in English, but it should be the way to success, not the way to academic probation.

The new law even gives students a sec-ond chance by placing them on academic probation for the first time they drop below a 2.0 GPA.

One chance should be enough.

Financial aid shouldn’t be entirely based on GPA.

Not all students are coming from the same place, and they don’t all have the same goals.

Although many community colleges today are designed as stepping-stones to higher educational pursuits, and GPA does

play a part, there are other reasons that a GPA might not be required.

Many students looking specifically for job skills are doing so due to layoffs from their previous jobs in which financial re-sources to pay for community college are probably a big concern already.

To hold a student who is returning to school for job re-training, in automotive mechanics for example, to a 2.0 GPA, could be a huge impediment to their academic success.

Not everyone who attends community college is looking to go on to a higher edu-cation.

Many students who do, may be going in at a disadvantage after already being out of school for a number of years.

In addition, these students are probably returning to school because of economic issues. Many are either training in other skills or to enhancing their current set of skills.

This type of policy could have detrimen-tal impacts to these type of students and could possibly impair economic growth in the nation overall.

Community colleges today can be much more than just a stepchild of the higher ed-ucation system, as President Barack Obama said.

President Obama recognizes that the value of community colleges in not only providing that path to higher education, but also in providing re-training and job skills in this ever-changing economy.

In 2009, Obama proposed a $12 bil-lion plan to support community colleges in these type of efforts, but Congress only authorized $2 billion.

Just this year, Obama proposed another $8 billion plan, which Congress didn’t act on at all.

Obama’s plan alone could have trained more than two million new workers with skills leading directly to a job, according to a New York Times article in February. Illustration by Karla Marmolejo

All students should have at least a 2.0

Not all students share the same circumstances

Coree HeardStaff Writer

Carl MartinStaff Writer

UP FOR DEBATE

Should GPA determine financial aid eligibility?

Please connect with me by email at [email protected]

Follow me on Twitter @ECCUnion-Karly

Join the conversation online at www.eccunion.com

The views expressed in this column are those of the author. They do not repre-sent the views or opinions of the Union, its staff, editorial board or advisers.

CAMPUS VIEWPOINTS Should GPA determine financial aid elgibility?

Jamie Goya, 19,Pre-Med Biology Major

“No. Some people fall below a 2.0 GPA, not because they’re undedicated, but because they have lots of responsibility.”

Frank Villanueva, 21,Music Major

“Yes. If your GPA is below a 2.0, that means you’re not put-ting in work. Why even waste money on those students?”

Kacee Neria, 21,English Major

“No. It’s not always that people don’t apply themselves. Sometimes people don’t have a good job or a goal.”

Lester Gandionco, 21,Japanese Major

“Yes. All you need is a 2.0. Financial aid should encourage students to put in effort. Finan-cial aid is a privilege.”

Shantae Cole, 23,Chemical Engineering Major

“No. Everyone learns differ-ently. Not all students are fast learners, and some have a bad semester.”

Daniel Montoya, 19,Pre-Med Major

“Yes. The whole point is to help with school. If you’re not doing well, why should you get money that others could use?”

By Rigo Bonilla and Mikey Williams REPORTED FROM CAFE CAMINO

Ashley Marie PattersonStaff Writer

While paper mache, glitter and glue are what usually come to mind when arts and crafts are involved, sparks and flames and metal can also be art.

Among the classes offered on campus there are also courses such as welding that incorporate art.

“Certain metals can be distorted and stretched,” Renee Newell, welding in-structor, said. “Because of this, I like to show the students the more creative side of welding.”

When attending her courses, students are presented with a different approach in welding that takes them away from the thought of simply fusing metal together.

Through these courses, students learn how to express their emotions through Newell’s “Heart” project.

The “Heart” project is used to test the welding student’s skills of creativity with the use of some project materials provid-ed for them.

“This project allows students to learn about control when it comes to heating the metal, how to identify different types of metals and which rods they need to use in order to get the result they are looking for,” Newell said.

She said showing students this side of welding could also surprise students, es-pecially since welding is viewed as more ‘macho’ or masculine kind of skill.

“Personally, from my experience in welding, there are two forms of welders,” Eddie Rodriguez, 39, undecided major, said. “The first one I consider them clas-sical welders who build buildings and bridges, which are structural; the second are the romantic welders.”

He said he refers to romantic welders as naïve welders who are not formally trained, yet display a certain knowledge of how to construct or build from within their hearts.

“I always like to see the moment when students can recognize the weld puddle, the joint where two metals can connect,” Newell said.

While metal may be melted together, it could also mold students into beginning

some experience through welding. “At first, when they get into the class,

they can’t see it because they have never done this before,“ Newell said. “But that moment when they actually see it for the first time is great, because then you know that they can control and shape the metal which makes the ‘Heart’ project a lot eas-ier for them.”

Amelia Soto, 20, arts major, may have been surprised when she heard the weld-ing department is focusing on what may be considered a more delicate side of a utilitarian skill.

“I thought the welding students will only be focusing more on the career side of welding, or more mechanical,” Soto said. “I thought they’d be focusing on the basics.”

Although students like Soto may not have expected welding to have an artistic side to it, the welding courses prove oth-erwise.

The course offers more than an artistic view to welding as well as requires stu-dents to brainstorm various ideas as to how they may want to add art into their welding structures or figures.

Newell said it gives her students a sense of confidence in the accomplish-ment of their skill levels as welders.

For students like Krista Williams, 18, arts major, an artistic approach to welding comes as no surprise.

“My dad is a welder, and I’ve always seen it as an art,” Williams said.

Williams said that although welding may be considered a functional activity, it is also a form of art.

Some students who have a history in art like Vicente Lara, 21, computer sci-ence major, may even show interest in how art and welding can be incorporated together.

“I used to draw a lot,” Lara said. “Al-though I don’t have much time to draw, I would like to see more sculptures: espe-cially metal sculpting.”

While the course may capture some in-terest of those related to the field of art, welding may require more than artistic knowledge.

“The art depends on how the person is; how they are, what they like, and their

knowledge of welding and skill,” Rodri-guez said.

He said the way a person creates a sculpture to weld also depends on their knowledge of how to use the equipment and material that he or she choses to use.

“Art is welding and welding is art,” Rodriguez said. “You have to have knowl-

edge from both sides because they go hand in hand.”

He said he views welding as an unlim-ited art form since various forms of art can take shape through melting metal.

“In welding, you can fuse any kind of metal together,” Rodriguez said. “That is the beauty of art in welding.”

ON THE

SCENE

Monique Judge

Art

‘The Subterranean’ at the Torrance Museum

On Saturday, “The Subtar-raneans” will be on display for its opening reception at the Torrance Art Museum. This exhibit will feature vari-ous artworks created by vari-ous artists. For the reception, the museum wil be open from 6–9 p.m. The exhibit is sched-uled to run through Nov. 3. For more information, interested persons may call 310-328-5310.

‘The Red Market’ comes to Torrance

On Wednesday, Scott Car-ney, an investigative journal-ist, will discuss his latest book, “The Red Market: On the Trail of the World’s Organ Brokers, Gone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers.” This book will focus on the “red market,” where human bodies and body parts are traded in se-cret. The event will take place at the Katy Geissert Civic Cen-ter Library Community Meet-ing Room at 7 p.m. For more information, interested persons may call 310-618-5959.

Movies

‘America Parklands 2’ at Marsee Auditorium

As part of the Discovery Travel Cinema series, the EC Center for the Arts presents “America’s Parklands 2,” a film that explores national parks from Alaska to the Florida Everglades. The film will be screened Monday, with show-times at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Marsee Auditorium. Tick-ets are $7, and may be pur-chased at the box office, via the Center for the Arts website, or by calling 1-800-832-ARTS.

Music

‘Musical Obbligatos’ at the Campus Theatre

On Saturday, as part of the Artists-In-Residence series, the EC Center For The Arts presents “Musical Obbliga-tos.” Barbara Dyer, Dane Teter, Vicki Muto, Kenner Bailey, Larry Steen and Alex Smith will perform works by Mey-erbeer, Mahler, Chabrier, Du-parc, Mozart, Humperdinck, Delibes, Wolf and Bolling. Showtime is 8 p.m. in the Cam-pus Theatre. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased at the box office, via the Center for the Arts website, or by calling 1-800-832-ARTS.

Musicians to perform at the Haag Recital Hall

On Oct. 1, Kurt Festinger will direct student musicians as they perform in the Haag Recital Hall at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10, and may be purchased at the box office, via the Center for the Arts website, or by call-ing 1-800-832-ARTS.

Theatre

American History under one stage

On Sept. 28, the Torrance Theater Company will feature its first performance for “The Complete History of America (Abridged).” Directed by Gia Jordahl, the performances will include songs and sketches. The performances are sched-uled to run through Oct. 27. Tickets will cost $25 per per-son. For more information, in-terested persons may call 424-243-6882.

6 El Camino College Union September 20, 2012ARTS

STAR RISING

Philip Prins/ UnionRenee Newel, welding instructor, uses a cutting rod to carve the shape of a heart out of a metal plate. Newell has been teaching at the college for three years and uses her welding abilities to teach students and to fulfill her artistic vision through metal sculpting.

Kyle Borden/ UnionHannah Klobuchar, 19, humanities major, uses photography to capture images of people in their native culture during her travels to other parts of the world.

Student captures different cultures through her photosVictor LiptzinStaff Writer

Staring through her Nikon D90 camera, she travels the world and takes pictures of people in their native culture.

Hannah Klobuchar, 19, humanities major, enjoys taking pictures of people in countries like Uganda, Africa and Honduras in South America.

“I like immersing myself in a different cul-ture, putting myself in a vulnerable position and get-ting to know dif-ferent people and their backgrounds and capturing it through a photo-graph,” Klobuchar said.

She said the reason she does this is to ex-press her feelings through photography and not through words.

While Klobuchar may have the option of taking photographs in the country, taking photos away from home on another continent may be what she considers a challenge for her photography skills.

“Being in a different country is like kind of being out of your comfort zone,” she said.

Klobuchar takes photos while she attends trips with organizations such as the Pennin-

sula Community Church and Living Water International, an organization that builds wa-ter wells in various countries, including Hon-duras.

Although she has already visited two coun-tries, Klobuchar said she plans to visit more places around the world such as Israel, Aus-tralia, Italy, England and Paris.

“I think Hannah Klobuchar is a great friend and is great at capturing God’s creation,” Rocci Medawar, 19, arts major, said.

While Klobuchar takes photos during her travels, she also spends some of her time creating photo albums.

One example of a photo album that she created includes “The

Beauty of the Honduran Heart,” an album built through a collection of photos during a medical mission.

Some of these medical missions offer med-ical assistance and hygiene instructions to vil-lagers in Honduras.

The book features children and adult vil-lagers washing hands.

“The photo that was the most compelling to me was with an elderly person’s hads wash-ing in water and you see the water flowing through these beautiful aged hands,” Darilyn Rowan, photography professor, said.

Welding takes shape in a form of art

Fifth movie survives from more than a deadly virusViridiana Vaca-RiosEditor-in-Chief

Dressed in a tight black, leather bodysuit, she swings a long silver chain above her head and wraps it around one of the zombie’s neck, sending the sound of its bones crushing throughout the room.

With a mob of flesh-eating zombies chasing after her, she runs to the center of the annoyingly bright hallway and pulls the loaded gun out of her boot and shoots at everything coming her way.

The fifth and latest installment of the “Resident Evil” saga is no different than past films.

Milla Jovovich who plays the main protagonist, “Alice,” returns to do what she does best, rip the heads off of zom-bies and to save the human race from the Umbrella Corporation’s T-virus all while wearing a form fitting ensemble.

The beginning of the movies takes the viewer back to where the last movie, “Resident Evil: Afterlife” ended, atop of Arcadia with the remaining survivors of the zombie infection.

After what they believed to be the end of their struggle to find a safe haven, the beginning of “Resident Evil: Retribu-tion,” kills that hope within the first three minutes of the movie as an army of the Umbrella Corporation attacks everybody in sight and captures Alice.

Soon after, Alice awakes to find that

she must escape before the “Red Queen,” the highly advanced and self-aware Um-brella computer system, terminates her.

Unlike the past movies, where Alice is busy trying to save everyone, this film focuses on Alice’s escape.

During her escape, she undergoes a se-ries of “tests” that resemble places around the world, taking her to Moscow, Japan, New York City and a little place that is called “Suburbia.”

In these experimental “tests” provided by the Umbrella Corporation, she tries to escape in order to keep with her same goal; to find the people responsible for spreading the T-virus and infecting mil-lions.

With the help of a group of friends who are trying to save her (as Alice is the key to saving the world, obviously) they encounter many Umbrella- made zombies to keep them from escaping.

During the course of the movie, Al-ice finds herself battling once again with finding what is real and what is not as new characters and memories re-surface such as Rain Ocampo, played by Michelle Rodriguez.

For those who enjoy the “Resident Evil” sequels, they will not be disappoint-ed as the movie is filled with plenty of hungry and frightening looking zombies, the highly infectious T-virus and plenty of enemies attempting to kill the super-woman of them all, Alice.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Publicity“Resident Evil: Retribution” was released in theatres Sept. 14. This movie will be the fifth addition to the “Resident Evil” series.

Warriors feel the heat in San DiegoZachary WeberStaff Writer

This past weekend the War-riors had a two-day competition at the San Diego Mesa Invita-tional against four colleges Fri-day and Saturday.

Tarryn Luafalemana, outside hitter, had a balanced game with eight kills, 11 digs and three blocks in the second match of tournament.

At the tournament, the team beat Cuesta College in five sets 25-20, 22-25, 26-28, 25-21, 15-5, and Riverside College 22-25, 25-16, 23-25, 27-25, 15-5. The team lost to Bakersfield College 19-25, 29-31, 24-26 and Grossmont College 16-25, 25-27, 25-18, 22-25.

The first game of the weekend was against Cuesta College, and the Warriors had a difficult time, but were able to edge Cuesta out.

“We played inconsistent, we did not come ready to play,” Le Valley Pattison, coach, said.

Nigeria Owens, middle block-er, had 18 kills and seven blocks, and Elise Tizon, outside hitter, added 11 kills and six digs.

The second match of the tour-nament was against Riverside and it was a tough game, but the Warriors ended up with a win.

“We were happy to win,” Pat-tison said.

“We started out slow.” “I think the heat affected ev-

eryone,” she said.She said some people dealt

with it better than others.Owens added nine kills and

two digs.In the third match of the tour-

nament, the Warriors lost to Ba-kersfield in three games on Sat-urday.

The weather might have had an effect on some of the players, but they knew that it was not an excuse.

The games took place inside the gym at San Diego Mesa Col-

lege, which had no air condition-ing.

“We lost to Bakersfield in the third game,” Tizon said.

“There is no excuse, but I think the heat contributed to our loss. And the 106-degree temperature was not helping the team to per-form well,” Tizon said.

Britney Kronberger, middle blocker, got some playing time and Pattison said she was encour-aged to see that.

Nicole Echeverri, outside hit-ter, had 11 kills and five digs.

In the final game, the Warriors went up against Grossmont, but came up short.

“Grossmont was a good; team

it was a close game, we were not making plays we needed to work on our ball control,” Pattison said.

“We were not executing when the pressure was on late in the game,” Pattison said.

Tizon led the way with 14 kills and 12 digs. Echeverri chipped in with 10 kills and 11 digs.

After a tough loss to Cypress, the Warriors rebounded as they dominated College of the Canyons and swept them in three games.

The Women’s volleyball team beat College of the Canyons 25-20, 25-14, 25-19. Luafalemana led the way with six kills, nine digs and two blocks. Nigeria Owens contributed with five blocks and

nine digs.Pattison was pleased with the

teams’ performance, but knows they still have some work to do.

“We took care of the ball a lit-tle bit better, we still made some errors on passing that we need to clean up,” Pattison said.

“We just need more time to-gether; we are kind of learning each other tendencies,” Pattison said.

The Warriors’ defense was huge in its success against College of the Canyons.

“Blocking,” Luafalemana said. “Our blocking was much better and our serves were much better.”

Towards the end of the third

game, Pattison started to pull some of the starters.

“It was good to see contribu-tions from people who haven’t been yet,” Liz Hazell, assistant coach, said.

Suekalena Tafao entered the game for the first time this season.

Towards the end of the third set College of the Canyons made a comeback and wasn’t going down without a fight.

“We have to take care of the ball when the score is in 20s. You can’t make errors in the 20s,” Pat-tison said.

ON DECKBy Mary Alvarez

CROSS-COUNTRY

Saturday at 10:45 a.m.at Central Park, Huntington BeachGolden West Invitational

FOOTBALL

Saturday at 6 p.m. at EC vs. Long Beach City College

Sept. 29 at 6 p.m.at L.A. Harbor College

MEN’S SOCCER

Tomorrow at 2 p.m.at EC vs. Orange Coast College

Tuesday at 4 p.m.at Pasadena City College

Sept. 28 at 4 p.m.at Mt. San Antonio College

Oct. 2 at 4 p.m.at EC vs. Cerritos College

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Tuesday at 2 p.m.at Pasadena City College

Sept. 28 at 2 p.m.at Mt. San Antonio College

Oct. 2 at 2 p.m.at EC vs. Cerritos College

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Tomorrow at 6 p.m.at EC vs. Fullerton College

Sept. 28 at 6 p.m.at EC vs. East L.A. College

Oct. 3 at 6 p.m.at L.A. Harbor College

MEN’S WATER POLO

Tomorrow and Saturdayat San Diego Mesa Collegeat 4:15 p.m.

September 20, 2012 El Camino College Union 7SPORTS

Kyle Borden/ UnionNicole Echeverri dives for the ball against College of the Canyons last week while Tarryn Luafalemana, No. 28, stays in position to make a kill.

Men’s and women’s water polo teams turn out in second matchKarly DaquilaStaff Writer

After losing to Chaffey College in its season open-er, the women’s water polo team hosted a four-team tournament, competing against L.A. Valley and Santa Monica.

L.A. Valley beat the Warriors in a score of 11-10. While in the closing game against Santa Monica, the Warriors finished strong with a final score of 14-11.

“After being a little sluggish in the first half, EC put together a big third quarter lead by sophomore Alexis Solaro,” Corey Stanbury, coach, said.

Alexis (Solaro) took control of the game and beat Santa Monica by three goals, Stanbury added.

Douglas had an outstanding day with 12 saves against L.A. Valley and seven more against Santa Monica,” Stanbury added.

“I knew going into this weekend I had to really step it up with blocks and help out my team,” Shanese Douglas, sophomore, goalie, said.

Douglas said the team put in the hard work on the field and she wanted to do her part in the goal.

“That game against L.A. Valley was either my best game or close to it,” she said.

“Something I think that helped me tremendously before this weekend was on Thursday I worked with the two guy goalies Stephen (Sorbom) and Tanner (Castro) doing speed drills and technique drills,” Douglas added.

The men’s and women’s water polo South Coast Conference took place Wednesday, Sept. 12, at EC.

Both teams were up against Chaffey College, and played at “a very high level,” Stanbury said.

This was the women’s team’s first game of the sea-

son and resulted in a loss, 17-10, to Chaffey College.“On Wednesday, since it was our first game play-

ing together as a team, I feel like we were still trying to get use to playing with each other,” Douglas said.

The first half was a little rocky for the whole team, but in the second half the team started to work to-gether, she added.

“The Warriors had great plays, we just didn’t have enough time to make the push that we wanted,” Douglas, goalie, said.

The women’s team had a rough start in the first game of the season, Douglas added.

After a rocky start in opening game last week against Fullerton, the men’s defense was intense (1-1, 1-0) allowing Chaffey College to score three times within the first half of the game.

“The men’s water polo team works incredibly close together and gives a high performance,” Stabury said.

The men’s team win, 18-8, against Chaffey Col-lege in the South Coast Conference.

Stephen Sorbom stopped 10 shots, one of which he took with his face to ensure a lockdown defense in the third quarter.

Freshman Adam Rudow made five goals against Chaffey, the most of the entire game by one player.

The men’s team’s next match is tomorrow and Sat-urday in the San Diego Mesa Invitational.

The women’s team will be competing at the Mt. San Antonio Tournament tomorrow.

“Overall, our team just keeps getting better and better with every game we play,” Douglas said.

“I know this season with the addition of some re-ally great players plus our super awesome returners we have a shot to place high in conference,” Douglas said.

Kyle Borden/ UnionFilip Kostic, 19, utilities position, attempts to receive the ball at last Wednesday’s game against Chaffey College.

Zachary WeberStaff Writer

Looking to recover from a disap-pointing loss in last Wednesday’s game, the women’s soccer team did exactly that, as it shutout Alan Han-cock at home last Friday.

The team dominated Alan Han-cock beating the Bulldogs easily, 5-0.

This was the teams’ first win of the regular season and in Friday’s game it was evident that the team had re-grouped and was determined to win.

“We got off to a great start and we finally started to play well as a team,” Jaymie Baquero, coach, said.

“We talked a lot more and we were a lot more organized,” Jasmine Brink, defender, said.

Baquero said she knew that her team would finally implement what it has been practicing and would work together as a team instead of individ-ual players.

“We know we had to play as a unit and we knew we could,” Baquero said.

“There wasn’t one player who stood out. Everyone contributed; it was a to-tal team effort,” Baquero added.

Even after the women’s soccer team’s victorious win, the team knows that there is still work to be done to have successful outcomes.

“The key is to continue to work hard and be on the same page going forward,” Baquero said.

The Warriors loss, 4-1, to Golden West on Wednesday.

Freshman goalkeeper Alyssa Heely

made some great saves but it wasn’t enough to hold off Golden West.

“We need to keep on working as a unit. We need to build a little bit more cohesion. We are finally getting ev-eryone eligible and healthy,” Baquero said.

“We still have a long way to go; we still have a lot of games left, and we’re just looking to progress and get bet-ter,” Baquero said.

The men’s soccer team bounced back from a defeat on Wednesday by tying, 2-2, against Rio Hondo College.

It was a physical game and the Warriors didn’t back down.

The team’s intensity was up which helped the Warriors score the first goal in the first half taking the lead 1-0.

In the second half, the Warriors scored again, taking a commanding 2-0 lead.

Towards the end of the second half, the Warriors relaxed and Rio Hondo got back in the game.

Rio Hondo scored two goals, which

in the end cost the Warriors a win.Ozzy Rodriguez, middle fielder, is

not disappointed with the team’s ef-fort and grit.

“I’m very satisfied. We elevated our mindset it shows we want to win,” Rodriquez said.

“Our intensity was up. Even though it was hot we were dominat-ing on defense,” Rodriguez said.

Playing as a team is what helped the Warriors get on the board first.

“The level of unity mainly is the fact that we scored first,” Nolan Dean, goalie, said.

In Tuesday’s game against San Bernardino Valley College, the men’s team scored the only goal, giv-ing them the 1-0 lead.

“It’s good because we needed it. We were coming off a draw at Rio Hondo, and I feel that we shouldn’t have lost at Victor Valley,” Shaun Nagano, midfielder, said.

“We got to keep our intensity up. We are all friends now, towards the beginning of the season we were all strangers, so I think our chemistry is getting better,” Nagano added.

Going forward, the Warriors have plans to make the post season, and any loss may cost the men’s team the chance for a spot in the conference.

“This is a must win. We are trying to get into the playoffs,” Dean said.

The men’s and women’s soccer teams will begin their South Coast Conference on Tuesday at Pasadena City College.

Men’s cross-country team places sixth at Costa Mesa Invite Brooke BuckawayStaff Writer

After running against several Universities of Cali-fornia and California State Schools in last week’s meet, the cross-country team faced a new kind of competition at the Southern California Preview in Costa Mesa last Saturday.

“The competition is extremely good. The team that won is the favored team and the defending state champions,” Sean Sheil, assistant coach, said.

Among the runners for the men’s 4-mile course was American River College, defending state cham-pions, and the top two long distance runners in the country.

“The runners are testing themselves to see what they can do. We’re learning, they’re learning as they go and when they run with those guys, that’s what they have to do,” Sheil said.

Tyler Caracoza, 18, engineering major, admitted that the team did not do as well as it had hoped but is

using this race to better prepare itself for the future.Caracoza placed 46th with a time of 22:16.54.“I think we did decent to not so great because our

guys were tired,” Caracoza said. “I could have moved up in certain places and taken

the middle parts of the race with more tenacity, but,

overall, I think I did pretty well,” Caracoza added.As a team the Warriors did not reach their high

expectations, although placing sixth overall and run-

ning against some of the top athletes in the country.“We got a few rookie mistakes from the guys,”

Dean Lofgren, coach, said, “If you’re going to take the lead from these guys you better be ready because the level that we compete against here is very good.”

Reo Miranda, 17, undecided major, said he felt the heat of the sun as well as the competition when he ran with the lead pack from American River College in the second mile and placed 34th with a time of 21:57.10.

“I was a little disappointed because I got caught in the front group and I knew that would be trouble for me because I would have to keep that pace,” Miranda said.

“I eventually fell back on the third mile and just tried to hold on from there on out,” Miranda said.

The women’s team demonstrated its ability to power through the competition by placing 11th in the women’s 5,000 meter course.

Brittany Householder, 19, psychology major, ran after being out for three weeks due to a knee injury

and placed 132nd with a time of 23:31:48.“This week was my first week back and my knee

was hurting me Monday and Tuesday so Thursday was my only running day this week,” Householder said.

Being the only returning runner on the women’s team, Lofgren and Sheil project Householder to be one of the leading runners for the future meets and encourage her to push through her injury.

“Not running for a long time takes out all the hard work you put in,” Householder said.

“For not having all of that my time was pretty good,” she added.

Although not meeting their expectations for this meet, the cross-country team has high hopes for Sat-urday’s meet at the Golden West Invitational at Cen-tral Park in Huntington Beach.

“It’s early in the season and we are here to get a feel for the competition,” Lofgren said. “It’s a learn-ing experience.”

Sam TedlaStaff Writer

The Warriors redeemed itself in a well-rounded effort against Pasadena City Col-lege in last Saturday’s game.

“We got fired up this week with this win.We got our swag back,” Ivan McLennan, linebacker, said.

The Warriors defense had 11 tackles, four sacks and six quarterback hurries that resulted in an interception by defensive back Royshaun Lewis and a forced fumble by Austin Johnson.

“We had a good game on defense, but I think our d-line had a great game,” McLen-nan said.

After allowing Alan Hancock to run for 293 yards last week, the Warriors held Pas-adena to 93 yards on the ground.

“We basically just were group tackling. Then one player was with someone the rest of the defense came in and finished off the tackle,” McLennan said.

“We learned that everyone has to gang tackle, 11 hats on the football,” McLennan added.

Austin Johnson led the defense with three sacks, 15 tackles and 3.5 which were tackles for loss.

“We’ve got some young guys on defense who can run and fly around you,” John Featherstone, coach, said.

Early on, the defense only allowed six points to Pasadena.

Pasadena’s offense did not score its first touchdown until the fourth quarter.

“We discussed this all week. The de-

fense gave us good field position, and it was time to reward them,” Kenneth Holmes, wide receiver, said.

“I thought Jesse (Scroggins) and Nick (King) did a nice job,” Featherstone said. “They both scrambled when they had to.”

Jesse Scroggins had 152 yards on seven of 12 pass attempts and two touchdowns.

Nicholas King had on four of seven pass attempts and a touchdown.

“It felt good. We practiced hard try-ing to get our timing down, right and we finally got it in the game,” Holmes said. “We had good blocking from the offensive line which gave us time to convert on those throws.”

Kenneth Holmes led the receiving core with 112 yards on three catches and two touchdowns.

The Warriors’ run game led the offense with 217 yards with 41 rushing attempts.

Terrell Dollberry had 72 yards on 11 rushing attempts including two touch-downs.

“Some of our backs have been banged up so this was the week we knew we were going to run them,” Featherstone said.

“Obviously if you can get your run-ning game going then all your play action, screens and draws start to work,” Feather-stone added.

After their stout performance against Pasadena, the Warriors will look to ride this momentum against Long Beach City College, Saturday at 6 p.m.

“The kids are fired to play another arch rival in Long Beach here at home,” Feath-erstone said.

Michael Williams/UnionDennis Chaidez becomes airborne to win possession of the ball against a player for the Alan Hancock College team Friday at Murdock Stadium. The Warriors defeated the Bulldogs with physical play 5-0.

8 El Camino College Union September 20, 2012SPORTS

Philip Prins/ UnionTerrell Dolberry, sophomore running back, prepares to reverse directions to avoid Darius Andres, linebacker for the Pasadena City College Lancers. The Warriors beat the Lancers 46-27 in the team’s first win.

Warriors’ defense gets the team its first victory

Women’s soccer team triumphs against Alan Hancock College

“We need to keep working together as a unit. We need to build a little bit more cohesion.”

—Jaymie Baquer coach

“I was a little disappointed because I got caught in the front group and I knew that would be trouble for me because I would have to keep that pace.”

—Reo Miranda runner