The Collegian -- Feb. 8, 2013

In Spring 2012, cam-pus officials announced summer school for this year would be cancelled.

That decision has now changed.

The move to eliminate the summer session was reversed thanks to Prop. 30 funding. The proposi-tion, passed last Novem-

ber during the General Election, saved Delta from having to make more cuts in classes and staff.

Prop. 30 stops the state of California from cutting more classes in schools.

It also gives more mon-ey to education.

This proposition raises taxes on those who make 250,000 dollars a year and raises sales tax by ¼ cents for seven years.

“The decision to cut summer school, is so that the students have more options during the fall and spring,” said Cath-erine Mooney, Director of Admissions and Records.

Mooney also men-tioned since Prop. 30 passed and the campus is receiving more fund-ing money, Delta is com-mitted to have summer school.

Students returned to campus this se-mester to find new construction in the Shima center.

Shima building was built in 1976, ac-cording to the 2005 Stockton Campus Master plan.

Since the construction of the new math and science building, the CAT program has been moved across campus to the Holt building.

The CAT program is a four-year training program where students work, and attend classes as an apprenticeship.

The students are required to attend summer classes in order to maintain par-ticipation in this program.

This relocation is not permanent, the program will be moving back to the Shi-ma side of campus upon completion of the construction.

“We know the end result so we are willing to participate”, said Larry Paulsen, member of the CAT program, AG Engineering/ Small Engine. “This building is a positive thing.”

The timing behind the construction is sparking many students’ curiosity.

Delta has been planning to improve this portion of campus for some years now with blueprints for a five-year con-struction plan being made in July of 2008.

Placement of the new math and sci-ence building was difficult for campus officials. The building is being built to replace the outdated laboratory spaces in the Cunningham center.

Discussions of the purpose of this newly liberated space have varied from recreational to educational.

The construction is planned to be

thecollegianIssue 8 • Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 • deltacollegian.net One free copy

Shima under construction

by sofia [email protected]

Summer intersession has returned

FIND US

INSIDE

UPCOMING

Mustang Basketball season continues Page 7

Students and staff sound off on guns Pages 4-5

Staff writer speaks out against police injustice Page 3

Softball vs. BulldogsLayland field Tues. Feb. 123 p.m.

Men’s basketball vs. Wolverines Blanchard GymTues. Feb. 125:30 p.m.

DEMOLITION: Passing student looks on as the new construction progresses in Shima.

by salvador [email protected]

Technology used to fight crime at Delta

Delta College is considerably a safe cam-pus as compared to Stockton as a whole, but the campus police department is taking a productive approach to ensure safety on campus.

One-way students can be cautious and in-formed is by taking advantage of the many electronic-alert systems available such as AlertU and TipSoft.

AlertU has more than 8,500 subscribers and TipSoft has 950 subscribers.

With TipSoft, students have the ability to report a crime anonymously.

“Since our official TipSoft launch, District Police have responded to and investigated 12 anonymous tips,” said Officer Jim Bock in an email interview.

The college police department’s Face-book page, which has approximately 1,400 subscribers, is also updated frequently throughout the semester.

Crime on campus has increased since the year 2000, when Delta was a different place, but call escorts have also decreased since then.

“Students feel safe talking or texting on the phone until they reach their car,” said Sgt. Robert Di Piero.

However, many students are unaware of their surroundings because they are too busy with their phones. The police department makes ev-ery attempt to ensure safety on campus.

In January, there were three drug abuse violations, one petty theft, and nine total ar-rests.

Di Piero, who has worked at Delta Col-lege since 1995, encourages students to call for escorts and to take advantage of the mo-bile crime alert system.

“Sometimes, students who witness a crime don’t report it because they don’t want to be involved,” Di Piero said.

In addition to electronic policing, officers are also patrolling stairwells and around cam-pus buildings.

by valerie [email protected]

SIGN UP• Go to deltacollege.edu/e-mail.

html• Click the links to TipSoft and

AlertU in the right sidebar• Enter your phone number

continued on PAGE 8

Read more about campus safety on PAGE 4Program moved for ‘positive’ change to campus

PHOTO BY JAMES STRIPLIN

continued on PAGE 8

The biggest problem we have whenever a discus-sion concerning some-

thing like gun control is rekin-dled is the language used to skirt around the facts of the situation.

Soapbox phrases such as “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” or “if they didn’t

have a gun, they’d used some-thing else” are fine and good, but they fail to deter the cold facts of the purpose of a gun.

A knife can be used for many things. Fire can be used both destroyer and life bringer.

But a gun’s sole purpose is to kill. That’s what they are made for.

Dating back all the way to China’s discovery of gun-

powder, it’s purpose has been to cause as much damage on human life as possible.

When I hear “a gun being used improperly,” I wonder if we’re actually all using the same language we’ve agreed on.

I’m not for taking away guns. I like guns. I have guns.

But what we need to remember is that the Second Amendment was put into ef-

fect based on what the firearm of the day was – a musket.

It was an inaccurate, non-spiraled ball of metal that could be fired and reloaded at a super-fast three rounds per minute. That can’t be said about today’s weaponry.

An AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle is far too destruc-tive of a weapon to be allowed in the hands of non-military

personnel.No civilian should have a

need for a gun that can fire hundreds of ballistic ordinance rounds.

Yes, the Second Amend-ment is important.

But there is something wrong if under legal document it is OK for a civilian to own a flamethrower, an AA-12 or a Nuclear missle.

The Second Amendment in the Constitution states “A well-regulated

Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

The Second Amendment clearly gives citizens the right to keep and bear arms.

We do not need “gun con-trol.”

What we need is better enforcement of current laws and more in depth screening of people who apply for a gun permit or to purchase a firearm.

Gun control laws do not prevent criminals from getting a hold of guns.

They will find another way to obtain them.

In fact the way the law is now “an estimated 40% of gun transactions are handled privately,” according to TIME Magazine.

I understand how some people may agree seeing as how

many states do have strict gun laws and yet tragedies like Sandy Hook continue to happen.

However, gun control is only a false sense of security.

If owning an assault rifle is banned or there are restrictions put on ammo or high capac-ity clips that only means that people are going to hide the fact that they have these types of weapons or obtain them illegally.

Gun trafficking happens all the time.

While the White House is encouraging Congress to outlaw lying on paperwork about the actual gun buyers, this has not yet been put into effect, and it would only work if people were 100% honest.

Shall we ban knives, bats, hammers, rope, cars, trucks, all pills, etc. because they can be used to commit a murder?

That’s absurd.Guns don’t kill people. People kill people. In fact suicide is still the

number one leading cause of unnatural death, not guns.

Stricter gun laws don’t protect peopleby haley [email protected]

Issue 8 • Feb. 8, 2013 • deltacollegian.net2 opinion

by chris [email protected]

THE COLLEGIAN — SPRING 2013

EditorJames Striplin

News editorBrian Ratto

Opinon editorJustin Tristano Entertainment & sports editorChristopher Howze

Feature editorsKarina Ramirez & Valerie Smith

Copy editorHaley Pitto

StaffCameron BryantChristina CornejoChristian CovarrubiasVictoria DavilaJermaine DavisDerrion DunnAshley GordonAlyssa GressMichael JohnsonShallena JohnsonValerie LancerSean MendozaAndrea MasuretSalvador OrtizDiane RiveraHeidi SharpSofia SherDevin Valdez

AdviserTara Cuslidge-Staiano

AdvertisingThe Collegian offers display advertising at competitive rates. Call (209) 954-5156 or email [email protected] for more information.

Letters to the editorLetters raising issues and opinions not represented by the newspaper are encour-aged, but should not be taken as a reflection of the opinions of the staff or adviser.

EditorialUnsigned editorials reflect the position of the entire Colle-gian staff.

Comments, letters and editori-als with a byline represent the opinion of the writer, solely. This paper does not endorse or represent the opinions of the adviser, the mass communica-tion department, the Fine Arts Division, the printer or San Joaquin Delta College administration.

Mission statement The Collegian is a student run First Amendment newspaper that prides itself on its commitment to the students of San Joaquin Delta College while maintaining its indepen-dence of any outside influ-ence.

The Collegian will reinvigo-rate the credo that the news-paper speaks for the students, checks abuses of power and stands vigilant in the protec-tion of democracy and free speech.

Collegian writers offer opinions on gun control debateMental health should be deciding factor in discussionby micheal johnson [email protected]

Gun control seems to be a hot topic in Cali-fornia these days.

In light of the school shooting in Newtown, Con-necticut, the legislature has been franticly working to push for stricter gun laws.

The nation has been split between those who approve of the proposal and those who don’t. It’s not about assault rifles and magazine capacities; the bigger issue is the need for a stronger mental health and background check system.

According to President Barack Obama, 40 percent of gun purchases are conducted without background checks.

If this is true, a psychopath can buy enough guns and ammo to start WWIII and nobody would know.

Often mental health data and felony convictions are not reported.

According to news reports, in Minnesota a 14-year-old boy killed his

mother with a shotgun and was later able to legally pur-chase other firearms.

This happened because there is a loophole for vio-lent felons and people found mentally ill in the criminal background-check system.

In most states, a person’s juvenile record is considered “sealed” when the person turns 18.

If that person gets a back-ground check, those prior convictions will not show up, therefore making it legal to purchase a firearm without any red flags.

Whether you agree or disagree with the president’s proposal, we can all agree that something must be done to reduce the massive slaughter of innocent people.

All of the mass shootings that have taken place were, undoubtedly, a tragedy, but

we shouldn’t make rash deci-sions out of paranoia.

Some people aren’t clear on what the Obama administra-tion is trying to do.

The president is not trying to violate the Second Amend-ment, which allows people to bear arms, but have a com-bination of rules that would help curb gun violence.

We should face the reality that exists which is that the pre-vious ban on assault rifles has done little to curb gun violence.

People are still going to be able to obtain them even if it is illegal.

We can at least get into a would-be-buyer’s mental his-tory and see if he is mentally stable enough to own a gun in the first place.

This may allow law en-forcement to be proactive and stop things before they start.

Let’s not demonize the responsible people who use guns for hunting, sport and protection for the actions of a few miserable maniacs who need a hug.

Consider: If a gun’s ‘sole purpose’ is to kill, are they really being used improperly?

By society’s perspective, my uncle Ernest Duenez Jr. wasn’t a model citizen.

He made mistakes. But those mistakes weren’t who he was to my family.

Need help fixing your car? He was there in minutes. Need someone to protect you? He was your guardian angel. Need someone to make your long days shorter? He was there with his infamous jokes and pranks, with his dumb laugh.

To me, he was the golden child of the family. He was a family man who lived for his loved ones and would lay down his life for them in a heartbeat. He was a man searching for redemption and hunting for the path to an upswing in his life.

That search was cut short on June 8, 2011.

That day, Jr. was killed in an officer-involved shooting. He was shot 11 times by a Mante-ca Police Officer John Moody.

I remember where I was and what I was doing the moment I heard he died. I remember the immense pain and confusion my family and I were left with. We had been robbed the life of a loved one. Not a chance to say goodbye was given.

We were angry that one man could be judge, jury, and execu-tioner; deciding another person’s fate in a matter of 4.2 seconds.

The hurt and confusion, though, only grew when the person who killed our loved one was a person who is sup-posed to protect and serve.

Before this, I never thought about the issue of alleged police brutality or officers manipu-

lating the law for their own interests. Now, it weighs heavy on the hearts of my family and I everyday.

In December 2012, a year and a half after my uncle’s death, the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s office issued its findings on the murder. They told us that it was justified.

In response, my family re-leased the dash-cam video from the patrol car of the officer who fired the fatal shots. The video reveals the officer approaching, yelling “put your hands up” fol-lowed by a quick succession of other commands.

My uncle is shown trying to get out of the vehicle. Multiple shots ring out. Out of 13 total shots, 11 strike Jr’.s body and head. As he lay on the ground, his wife comes out of the house, screaming at the cops. “Help my husband, he’s dying.” No attempt to help by police was made. In-stead, the cops turned their guns toward her.

To our family, the video shows Jr., a man we all loved, being treated like an animal. Manteca Police took his dying body and threw him from his back onto his face before hand-cuffing him.

To us, the report wasn’t justice.To us, the Manteca Police

have played the victim, taking no responsibility for what we feel are the unlawful acts committed by one of their own. Instead, our family has seen the department change its story multiple times.

This gruesome, graphic, and personal video was released in hopes of receiving a larger investigation into the shooting, as well as find the true story that lead to Jr.’s death.

Nearly two months later, the video is on multiple websites.

It is also now in the hands of the United States Department of Justice. Still, we have yet to see any kind of response.

A column in The Modesto Bee by Ralph Shaffer, a re-tired professor from Cal Poly Pomona, on Dec. 17 called my uncle’s death “only one in a staggering death toll racked up by police and sheriff’s deputies.” The “body count” in a six-year period was 700, according to the article.

Shaffer writes: “As usual, the justification was that the officer ‘feared for his life.’”

This was a hard truth I had never realized or paid attention to until the issue hit close to home.

The number of police officers taking advantage of their power

continues to end in unjustified deaths, and they get away with it because of the power they have as officers of the law.

Consider the case of Oscar Grant in Oakland, or that of local teenager James Rivera who was shot by Stockton Police in 2010 after stealing a vehicle and leading police on a chase through North Stockton. His family is still seeking answers.

It upsets me that our justice sys-tem now seems anything but just.

My family is disturbed every-day by the fact that the man who killed our son, brother, uncle, husband, father and friend is still patrolling the streets as a man of peace.

It saddens me that people on the streets are more willing to help and protect one another, than the officers who are paid to

do just that.When is enough, enough?

I now realize that Jr. wasn’t the first victim of police brutality. It worries me that he won’t be the last.

It’s an overwhelming thought that today it was my loved one. Tomorrow it can be yours.

All of this happened because of a parole violation, a domestic dispute call to police and the assumption that he had a knife on him .

The report provides inconclu-sive details about the knife.

Regardless, no accusations made and/or previous records pulled against my uncle give a man the right to empty a whole clip on another man.

Let us remember that in-justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

by devin [email protected]

Staff writer shares personal story of loved one lost at the hands of those who ‘protect and serve’Family cries: no justice, no peace

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEVIN VALDEZCRY FOR JUSTICE: The family of Ernest Duenez Jr. gathers to protest the actions of the Manteca Police Department.

Issue 8 • Feb. 8, 2013 • deltacollegian.net3 issues

The Christmas decorations have hit the clearance bins and been replaced by red and pink hearts, cheesy

candy and lovey-dovey décor.Seriously can’t we all just get a moment of peace? All of this shuffling from one holiday to the next has

become quite tiresome, not to mention that Valentine’s Day isn’t even about showing love to your significant other. There are 365 days in a year, yet Valentine’s Day is appar-ently the ONE day you’re supposed to actually show it.

Excuse me, but no. If you actually loved the other person you would get her or him flowers and chocolates every day or take them out to a nice romantic dinner.

You would perform some gesture that shows them you care.

Valentine’s Day is nothing more than an over-com-mercialized holiday.

Couples feel the need to be overly handsy and mushy in public. It’s a holiday people not a free for all to jump on each other like its Animal Planet.

Do us all a favor and get a room before you get ar-rested for public indecency.

I don’t want to see you feed your “snuggle bear” gross tasting candy hearts.

No. Or the opposite happens and men end the rela-tionship so they don’t have to spend $10 on a cheap piece of jewelry or some crappy chocolates that taste like dirt.

This is the one day that pressures relationships by put-ting unrealistic expectations on it.

Flowers are the perfect gift for this holiday because they are extremely expensive, you can wait until the last minute to remember them and much like the relation-ship they are slowly dying.

Don’t even get me started on all of the romantic ges-tures. People light 50 candles like they’re trying to perform a séance, buy expensive champagne and throw rose petals all over like they’re planting a flower garden in the room.

That’s sweet but if you go all out one year you are expected to do the same the next.

Actually you are expected to top it.Women get upset when the man does something

elaborate and thoughtful one year and orders a pizza and wants to stay in the next. That doesn’t mean the romance is dead, just the opposite in fact.

Valentine’s Day is just another day so let’s not treat it as if the fate of the free world depends on it and run around like a lovesick puppy that leaves others wonder-ing what’s wrong with people?

HEART BURN

wrongWhat’s

with haley [email protected]

with people?

Issue 8 • Feb. 8, 2013 • deltacollegian.net4 feature

Recent tragedies striking our nation, includ-ing the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, has made gun control a hot issue across the nation and in our local community.

In response, President Barack Obama has pro-posed a 23-point gun control plan to implement change. But how will it impact the Stockton community and Delta College students?

Many students may feel unaffected by these issues, but in reality gun control concerns are closer to home then we think.

With the Cleveland School massacre taking place in Stockton just 24 years ago and with all the current incidents occurring due to gunfire, students may be left feeling uneasy about cam-pus safety.

“I don’t want my students to come to class scared. I want them to be confident and know what to do in every situation,” said Mary Black-ford an English instructor on campus.

Blackford was one of the instructors who, on the urging of campus police, lectured on differ-ent “active shooter” scenarios at the beginning of the semester. She explained to her classes what to do and where to go if such a situation happened here.

Blackford has taken self-defense training courses and knows two forms of martial arts.

She is trained and certified to shoot a firearm.Campus police, in light of the Sandy Hook

shooting, implored instructors to show a video entitled “Run, Hide, Fight” to students. The vi-ral video is being shown across the country in classrooms.

Delta College is one of only a few community college campuses to have its own police depart-ment, a rare commodity.

“Delta College has had very few firearm re-

lated issues and is the safest public location in the City of Stockton. This track record of safety is directly attributed to the laws that are in place and the active police presence on the campus. Per state law, carrying a firearm on a community college campus is illegal,” Delta Officer Jim Bock said.

Blackford said the police presence is a definite safety plus.

“Having an armed police force on campus helps alleviate many of these scenarios from hap-pening on campus,” Blackford stated.

The opinions on gun control laws differ throughout campus.

“When guns are outlawed, outlaws will have guns,” said Blackford.

That means guns can and will fall in the wrong person’s hands.

Blackford stresses the importance of men-tal health programs and expanded background checks.

Dr. Manuel Roman is an adjunct professor for Delta College teaching sociology, criminal justice, and criminology. He has done extensive research on the topic.

“To somewhat quote Obama, if we have some type of gun-control plan and save any life, one life it is worth it, no life is expendable we have to do something,” said Roman.

Officer Bock said: “Although safety and well-being is at the heart of his plan, it is difficult to understand what affect the ban will have. This is due to the large circulation of banned items and the number of potentially affected people in possession of firearms prior to the proposed implementation.”

Roman, who is also a Vietnam War veteran and retired correctional officer, said: “I am not anti-gun, but we need very strict controls.”

Roman said there should be no need for sale of automatic weapons at gun shows or in shops.

Automatic guns are primarily used by the mili-tary, a held trigger allows for 45 rounds to be shot per minute.

He also heavily believes, like Blackford, men-tal health programs and training are necessary actions.

“With the gun control action in force anyone that has gone to counseling would be put into system and flagged when trying to purchase a gun,” said Roman.

Roman tries to give his students some type of background on scenarios and reassures his stu-dents.

“I tell them don’t worry should something happen I am prepared to do anything and every-thing possible to keep us safe,” he said.

Bock and the Delta Police force work hard at trying to make students aware of their surround-ings. The “Run, Hide, Fight” videos have gone viral around the nation and are encouraged to be watched by the department.

“The District Police Department tries to ad-dress these situations through the use of our Facebook page. When crimes occur, or arrests happen, we notify the students. Although Delta is the safest public location in Stockton, we want all who come here to understand that crime still happens and to be on the lookout. Addition-ally, we provide countless safety presentations throughout the year to classes when requested. We encourage students to have their professors request a presentation at some point during the semester.”

The genuine concern of all Delta staff mem-bers seems to be of the upmost concern for the students. The gun control issue is a serious mat-ter, and will affect us as students if the plan is implemented or not.

“These are the things that are big issues in ev-ery community, and has to be thought of in ev-ery community,” said Roman.

Jan. 17, 1989Cleveland Elementary - StocktonA shooter opened fire on a schoolyard, killing five children and wounding 29, then ended his life.Weapon: AK-47 Assault Rifle (legally obtained)

May 1, 1992 Lindhurst High School - Olivehurst, Calif.A former student terrorized the high school, killing four and wounding 15 in retaliation of a failing grade. He later surrendered to police.Weapons: pump-action 12-gauge shotgun, .22-caliber rifle

Aug. 15, 1996 San Diego State University - San Diego, Calif.A graduate student murdered three pro-fessors during a master’s thesis defense.Weapon: 9mm semiautomatic handgun

March 5, 2001 Santana High School - Santee, Calif.A Santee student shot two dead and injured 13, in response to bullying, before being appre-hended by police.Weapon: .22-caliber long-barrel revolver (taken from father)

Jan. 30, 2006 Mail processing plant - Goleta, Calif.A female shooter with a history of mental illness shot and killed seven people before committing suicide.Weapon: 9mm semiautomatic pistol

1990 20131995 2000 2005 2010April 20, 1999 Columbine High School - Littleton, Colo.Two students begin shooting after their explosives failed, killing 12, and wounding 21. The shooters committed suicide before SWAT arrived.Weapons: semiautomatic TEC DC9 handgun, 2 shotguns, rifle, explosives (Obtained from friends, illegally)

April 16, 2007Virginia Tech University - Blacksburg, Va.An undergraduate barricaded himself in a science building, shot 33 dead, and wounded 15 before committing suicide.Weapons: Glock 19, Walther P22 pistol (legally obtained)

Feb. 14, 2008Northern Illinois University - DeKalb, Ill.A former student opened fire on an auditorium killing four and wounding 18. Weapons: Glock 19, 12-gauge shotgun, 9mm semiauto-matic pistol, .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol (purchased legally)

Jan. 8, 2011Tucson, Ariz.A shooter identified as being paranoid schizophrenic attempt-ed the assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords during a public event. He killed six others and wounded 13, including Giffords.Weapon: Glock 19

July 20, 2012Aurora, Colo.Twelve were killed and 58 wounded when a shooter opened fire on a movie theater.Weapons: AR-15 rifle, pump-action 12-gauge shot-gun, two Glock 22 pistols (all purchased legally)

Dec. 14, 2012Sandy Hook Elementary – Newtown, Conn.A Shooter broke through security and attacked class-rooms, killing 20 children and six school personnel.Weapons:10mm Glock, Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistol, .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle (obtained from mother)

IN THE CROSSHAIRS

After recent, high profile school shootings, the debate of whether citizens have the right to bear specific types of arms is in question, with the focus on everything from mental health to the Second Amendment.

by valerie [email protected]

More than 1,500 people have lost their lives to gun related violence since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Dec. 14.

Feb. 3 marked Stockton’s first homicide of the year. A 34-year old man was gunned down in the early morning in South Stockton.

“We have this flood of guns everywhere,” John Sims, Professor of Law at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. “Reducing or eliminating the super dangerous weapons is a good idea … and follows the constitution.”

The Second Amendment has long been sub-ject to varying interpretations.

Initially, Sims said, the amendment was de-signed to protect the militia.

In 2008, the Supreme Court confirmed, in the District of Columbia vs. Heller case, that individuals themselves do have the right to bear arms. “D.C had banned handguns almost entirely. The court agreed with [Heller]. As for a political entity, D.C is very un-usual in controlling guns,” Sims said. So far, the Su-preme Court has agreed to the right of having a gun in the home to protect oneself. But today, the debate

arises over what types of guns civilians have the right to obtain.

A semi-automatic AR-15 can fire 45 shots a minute. “As-sault rifles make pos-sible a certain kind of visible horrible crime,” Sims said.

However, deaths caused by assault rifles are relatively small in number. It begs the question: are we the people, and politicians, point-ing the finger at the wrong subject? “If you looked at the

number of people who are killed today, most of those people would be killed by handguns,” he said.

After the theater shooting in Colorado, Texas Re-publican Rep. Louie Gohmert, made a controversial comment saying less peo-ple would have been killed if someone were carrying a gun. Sims partly disagrees. “Most people who have guns aren’t trained. When you’re dealing with people who are untrained, the number [of casualties] esca-lates dramatically,” he said.

As deadly as they may be, banning handguns is out of the question, accord-ing to Sims. “It might start to raise questions on the sec-ond amendment. I don’t think we’ll see that happen.”

Action is already being taken towards tight-ening gun laws, even as the debate rages on.

In January, President Barack Obama passed 23 executive orders for gun control regulations.

In the 16-page document released by the White House, the emphasis is primarily on background checks.

One section reads: “The background check system is the most efficient and effective way to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous indi-viduals, but we need to make sure it has access to complete information about these individuals.”

The FBI created the National Instant Crimi-nal Background Check System in 1998.

It is used by Federal Firearms Licenses to quickly verify if the customer is suitable to pos-ses a firearm.

The new proposals by the President would close the gun show loophole. At a licensed firearms dealer, a licensed gun store – the consumer is legally required to take a background check. In gun shows, or private dealers, a person is not subject to that check.

Everyday, the number of victims rises. Either with a handgun, or an assault rifle – the power of the gun is unquestionable.

“Killing someone without a gun is hard to do. It’s a messy business. Obviously, everything in the world has been used as a murder weapon, but not as of-ten,” Sims said.

GUN CONTROL CAMPUS POLL

ANTI

Fifty Delta College students were polled on campus, whether pro- or anti-choice on stricter gun control laws in regards to President Barack Obama’s implementa-tion of a 23-point plan for numerous restrictions and controls on firearms.

PRO

The right to bear arms?

24%

76%

by karina [email protected]

JOHN SIMS

GUN RELATED INCIDENTS IN CALIFORNIA AND THE UNITED STATES INFORMATION COMPILED BY CHRISTINA CORNEJO

COLLEGIAN PHOTOILLUSTRATION

IMAGE FROM MODERNARMS, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

A second look at handguns and background checks

Issue 8 • Feb. 8, 2013 • deltacollegian.net6 entertainmentby andrea [email protected]

This is the end ... again

He chose to make a difference. Chose to get a degree. To learn

new skills. And it was all made possible by the National Guard.

Contact Sergeant Arturo Alcantar at 209. 496. 50601-800-GO-GUARD

THIS MOMENT BEGAN WITH A CHOICE.

10BW-04_6x7_Alcantar.indd 1 1/16/13 11:05 AM

On Feb. 8, President Mi-chael Lewis of the Black Stu-dent Union (BSU), is hosting Delta’s first 2013 Black His-tory Event “A Past To Remem-ber, A Future To Pursue.”

The BSU committee has not put on an event since 2010.

In hopes of reaching out to local communities, the event is free to the public and will be held at the Tillie Lewis Theatre.

the event will host sev-eral guest speakers including Judge Lauren Thompson (the first black judge of stockton), Willie Douglas and Ross Dickson.

This event will also feature live

performances by Beloved Sisters, Pop Star Singer A.G, and more entertainment to come.

“We want the students and the communities to join us, in celebrating history. We hope to reach out and share a sense of pride, understanding, and importance of African Ameri-can History. As the President of The BSU, I have worked extremely hard create a fun, free, and educated event. This event is not just for African American people, but people in general. So we hope, all will come and enjoy this fulfilling event,” said BSU President Michael Lewis.

The University of the Pacific is holding its Annual Black His-tory Month Program.

It started on the first of February and will have a variety of activities throughout the rest of the month.

Some of the highlights include a lecture and performance by Grammy award winner Anthony Hamilton, a lecture from basketball legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and a Gospel Concert featuring J.J. Hairston & Youthful Praise and Anita Wilson.

Delta College’s Tillie Lewis Theatre is also getting involved by housing the Presentations of Dr. James Taylor and Dr. Manu Ampim.

For more information you can log onto go.pacific.edu/black-history or call (209) 946-7707.

The end of the world! No one knows when it will happen, why it will happen or if it will happen. Most religions have their own doomsday parable,

as such Hollywood for years has peaked our interest in the morbid fascination on how the world will end.

Be it alien invasions, robotic revolution, zombie apocalypse or just plain old biblical natural disasters. In a way, each movie doomsday scenario could be a reflection on our society.

For example, the American fear of communism spreading during the Cold War influenced movie ideas like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” in which aliens infiltrate the minds of ordinary people in society.

The thought of an extraterrestrial sharing their dif-ferent or advanced knowledge with us is exciting, but there is also the fear of something alien visiting us or taking over the Earth.

Movies like the “Terminator” shows the dark side of our dependency on technology, particularly in light of the Y2K scare. We have the need to make everything high-tech so we can make our lifestyle more comfortable.

These stories work off the idea of having our cre-

ations turn on us. Technological advances as some-thing as little as the iPhone or its Siri app gives the concept of tech turning on us some unneeded validity.

The most recent and popular apocalyptic scenario has become the zombie outbreak. Running off fears that stem closer to every day reality than we would like to admit.

Early on with films like 1968’s “Night Of The Living Dead.” The Communism angle came into play again; Zombies were slow moving but all encompassing dread. They could be anyone, including your friends or family.

When 9/11 happened, it shifted the paradigm of how we perceive horror. The fear now was with every-thing happening so fast and with unpredictability that filmmakers started to utilize those themes, hence the in-troduction of the fast pace zombie ala “28 Days Later.”

The last angle these types of flicks take are the Natural Disaster, with the notion that the destruction of humanity is unavoidable and out of our hands. That our Earth can turn her wrath on us anytime can make a person feel cosmically insignificant.

Hollywood continues to make movies because floods, tornadoes, asteroids, or earthquakes have more of a high possibility of happening then zombies, ro-bots and aliens taking over the world.

Other than being great fun, the doomsday genre provides an avenue to explore the extremes of humanity. Many are designed to provide the audience an avatar, to think for themselves of what they would do given the situation.

There seems to be a new apocalypse sprouting up every couple years be it Y2K, bird flu, the Mayans or full on bibli-cal judgment day and as long as those fears still exist Hol-lywood will keep people on their toes wondering… what if?

by ashley [email protected]

by wisdom-shallena [email protected]

First BSU event of the year today

Celebrity lecturers visit Pacific

APOCALYPSE MAYBE? There’s always a new THE END!ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS HOWZE

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Doomsday film genre predicts the world’s demise far too often for us to take it seriously

On Jan. 29, the Delta College men’s basketball program hosted the Sac City Cougars.

A large crowd flocked to the Blanchard Gym to witness inner-conference rivalry at its best.

With a score of 70-66 the Mustangs got the best of SCC.The win could have been easily predicted after the first

half when the score was 42-24.“We come to play with extreme intensity and purpose,”

said Delta Coach Rich Ressa.The offensive key to win was Santa Cruz-native Mitch

Postle. His basketball knowledge and towering 6’ 8” stature gives him the ability to put up big numbers in the post.

Postle led Delta in scoring with 18 points.Regardless of the score, the Cougars remained calm and

collected. By the time the second half started the Cougars had the upper hand causing a momentous comeback.

The Cougars out scored the Mustangs by 14 points dur-ing the last half.

“We have been in these situations before. So we were confi-dent we would take a big swing and be confident,” said Ressa.

Feeding off the home crowds intensity, Delta’s defense within the final minutes of the game was impenetrable.

The win has given the Mustangs a three-game winning streak.

“Right now we are tied for first place in our league, but that’s not in our minds. The only thing on our minds is the next game, “ said Ressa.

Delta is currently ranked 19th in the state and 10th in the north.

The team’s record is currently 13-7.The next home game will be Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 7:30

p.m. at the Blanchard Gym against Sierra College.

The Baltimore Ravens won the team’s second Super Bowl in franchise history with a hard-fought 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

The teams squared off in an in-stant classic Super Bowl on Feb. 3.

There were exciting build ups leading up to the game.

The Harbaugh brothers — Jim for the 49ers and John for the Ravens — were coaching against each other for the sec-ond time in their careers.

Legendary Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis played the last game of his career after announcing his retirement halfway through the season. San Francisco line-backer Patrick Willis was also out to prove that he is worth taking the torch from Ray Lewis as the best linebacker in football.

A power outage occurred unex-pectedly in the 3rd quarter, which resulted in a half hour delay.

The outage gave the 49ers new life as they stormed back from being down 22 points late in the 3rd quarter with a six-yard touchdown run from running back Frank Gore and quarterback Colin Kaepernick with a 15-yard run early in the 4th quarter to cut the Ravens lead to 31-29.

The final five minutes of the game provided intensity for the thousands in attendance and

millions at home. Ravens kicker Justin Tucker’s field goal extended the team’s lead to 34-29. It forced the 49ers to have a touchdown drive on the next possession.

The 49ers drove down the field and entered the red zone with a chance to take the lead for the first time.

The 49ers failed to score on first, second and third down which led to a crucial fourth down that brought controversy. The Ravens threw an all-out blitz to try to sack Kaepernick. He quickly threw the ball to Michael Crabtree but it turned out to be too high.

Ravens defensive back Jimmy Smith was questionably hold-ing Crabtree when the ball was thrown his way, no flags were thrown and 49ers coach Jim Har-baugh was irate on the sidelines.

The 49ers eventually had one more shot to win the game when the Ravens took a safety to run some clock out.

Baltimore kicked it off with 12 seconds left in the game and 49ers kick returner Ted Ginn Jr. gained about 15 yards off it but time winded down and the Ra-vens stormed the field as Super Bowl XLVII champions.

Lewis screamed in joy around his teammates that he’s retiring a champion. Quarterback Joe Flacco won the Super Bowl Most Valu-able Player award for throwing 287 yards and three touchdowns.

by christian [email protected]

Delta stomps Sac City

Ravens take Super Bowl despite late game tension, power outage

PHOTO BY CHRISTIAN COVARRUBIAS

by sean [email protected]

Issue 8 • Feb. 8, 2013 • deltacollegian.net7 sports

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The new season for the women’s bas-ketball, brings new challenges to over-come.

The team includes many new players, with very few returning from last season.

Gina Johnson, head coach, said “new tactics for this year’s team include more balance on the floor and coming togeth-er as a family.”

Fan support, including encouraging family from all over come to give

support for the team, is also part of the plan for success.

The team plays Modesto Junior Col-lege at 5:30 p.m. today in Modesto.

by darrion [email protected]

New season,news faces for lady Mustangs

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

SCORE: Alex Simmons making a free throw at the Jan. 29 game.

College is a learning experience some-times good, and sometimes bad but through it all you have people at the school that think of students as family.

Fauna Brewer was one of those peo-ple, one that truly cared for the students.

A Delta College employee for over 25 years, dubbed the “Queen of Shima” by her students.

She loved her work at Delta College.Brewer was in Instructional Sup-

port Assistant III in the Applied Math Lab which later became called the Basic Skills Math Lab.

“Fauna was loyal Delta employee and an amazing friend. She cared about every-one and to anyone who was around her very long she was like a mom,” said Mar-garet Thomas, Math 76 and 78 instructor.

She help students improve their basic skills math to gain the knowledge need-

ed to get into higher level courses.Delta College recently lost Brewer, af-

ter a valiant battle with cancer, and other complications.

Delta and Pacific denied grantIssue 8 • Feb. 8, 2013 • deltacollegian.netnews

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Both Delta College and the Uni-versity of the Pacific were unable to receive a R.A.D Systems grant that would’ve allowed students to be taught self defense by certified in-structors.

If Delta had received the grant, it could’ve allowed students to learn self defense essentials. It may have re-sulted in less occurrences of student harassment on campus as well.

Delta College Police Chief David Main said it was Pacific that originally applied for the grant, but the school was, unfortunately, denied.

The R.A.D. System, the acronym standing for rape, aggression and de-

fense, is a nationwide training tool that includes lectures, discussions and physical training.

Delta would have benefited from the grant in light of recent reports of student harassment, particularly in building stairwells.

Harassment on campus has been a problem that has been increasing steadily in the last several semesters.

Limited police personnel on cam-pus means students need to be more responsible for themselves.

The R.A.D Systems grant would’ve allowed students to do just that.

For now Delta will have to manage without it.

For more information on R.A.D Systems, including links to private in-structors, visit radsystems.com.

by diane [email protected]

ready by 2014-15.The building has not been remodeled

since the 1970s.Should there be concern for the

spreading of asbestos?It is highly unlikely that any one of

us will encounter asbestos due to pre-cautions taken by the construction crew spraying the building down with water as

they continue to tear it down. They are being extremely careful as the

process continues.If you find yourself walking towards

hallways that lead to nowhere, first, stop walking towards them.

Secondly, know that this construction will be over soon. With an estimated fin-ish in Jan. 2014.

PHOTO COURTESY SHEILA RICKETTS

GONE TOO SOON: Fauna was 50.

SHIMA: New construction welcomes studentscontinued from PAGE 1

Most parking lots also have cameras equipped that are monitored by the po-lice department.

The police department uses various strategies to encourage students and

provide tips for safety.It’s about putting information out

there, whether it’s done via Facebook, crime alert systems, or campus safety presentations.

8

TECH: New signage, emergency alert systems in usecontinued from PAGE 1

Delta loses basic skills aid, Fauna Brewer, after battle with cancerby brian [email protected]

CAMPUS SAFETY: Students entering the Shima southwest stairwell where the campus police have added new safety signage, listing ten safety recommendations.

PHOTO BY JAMES STRIPLIN