The LMC Experience May 2012

Scholarship and Stellar Awards held last Friday

Creative arts thrive at LMC

Photo by Nina Rosales

Nick Garcia directs Adriana Martinez aand Zack Jensen in a scene from “Happily Ever After,” a spoof on classic tales such as “Cinderella” and “Snow White.”

Photo by Irvin Trigueros

Interim President Richard Livingston hands counselor Phil Gottlieb his retirement gift last Monday.

Photo by Sarah Berkson

ACE students prepare their social justice projects which will be presented May 24 at 4 p.m. in the library.

Appeals process gives options

By KELLIE McCOWNStaff Writer

Paris Coolger was not the best student when she first started Los Medanos College. Her study skills were poor, and her grades were what some would call “less than average.”

A combination of the two, along with a 1.9 GPA, caught the eye of Coolger’s academic counselor, who suggested that she join the Academy for College Excellence program. However, Coolger was not interested.

Then she received a phone call from the ACE program director Tue Rust, convincing her to check the program out. After the first initial meeting, Coolger was convinced that

ACE was a program she could benefit from. ACE is a full-time community college pro-

gram that introduces a new vision of academic life to students from diverse backgrounds that are unprepared for higher education. The program assesses a students existing approach to academics and teaches learn-ing skills that increases effectiveness in the student, while promoting self-efficiency and personal goal setting.

Now, Coolger has raised her GPA from a 1.9 to a 2.9, with the expectation of it rising above a 3.0 after the Spring 2012 semester. She also now holds the title of vice president of

By SAMUEL GONZALEZStaff Writer

Los Medanos College’s third annual New Play Festival, which opens next Monday, is truly a vehicle for the display of student creativity. Everything about the festival, from the plays themselves to the posters used to advertise the show, were created by LMC students.

The New Play Festival is the result of col-laboration between the English, drama and graphic arts departments at LMC.

Students in Barbara Austin’s creative writing class write the plays and Drama Department chair Nick Garcia selects the plays that will be in the festival. Garcia brought the idea for the festival with him from the University of Iowa, which he said is really big into new plays and new play development.

“I wanted to bring that here. It’s really im-portant to me to get new voices out,” Garcia said. “I went to Barbara Austin and said if you guys want to write plays we’ll put them up. She loved the idea.”

Garcia also got Curtis Corlew’s graphic design students on board to create the post-ers for promotion of the play.

“This is one of the few really campus wide collaborations, it’s turned into a pretty cool event,” Garcia said. “Its still growing and getting better, were still learning.”

The New Play Festival runs for three nights and consists of two nights of plays and one night of improv comedy. Four plays will be performed each of Griffith has come to LMC after a four year stint as head softball coach at DVC. the first two nights.

Katherine Matuszak’s play “Shift,” about a teenager who tries to seduce an older waitress, is one of the plays that made it into the festival.

By OMAR HAMILTON and DEXTER DUNZWEILERStaff Writer

Students, faculty, friends and fam-ily all gathered in the recital hall on Friday, May 11 2012 to celebrate LMC students transferring and earning scholarships.

The event was the first in a day of recognition for outstanding LMC students and programs.

The energy in the room was elec-trifying as Interim President Richard Livingston opened the ceremonies. “We lose sight of what student suc-cess means…this is what it means,” Livingston said in his opening speech. Livingston praised all the hard work and sacrifices those students made in their journey here at LMC.

Lindy Maynes came on stage and added a bit of humor and warm words in her speech. Maynes joked that when the students being recognized become rich and famous that they will give back to LMC, the students responded “yes Ms. Mayers,” in unison. Maynes ended her time on stage by introducing AGS Vice President and student ambassador Alan Webster.

Webster told an inspiring story of how he got to this place at LMC. Web-ster started at LMC taking a couple of music production classes for fun, but school was nit his main priority at the time. After realizing he wanted to do more with his life Webster became a full time, hardworking, motivated student. Webster got emotional discussing his story. The crowd was all ears as

Webster told his story and gave him a round of applause as he sat down.

Following Webster’s speech, the students were recognized. Over 300 students were recognized and over 80 scholarships were presented to the students. Each student was announced individually as the audience applauded each student. The students were all smiles after receiving their award and taking a photo with Livingston before they walked off stage.

The awards didn’t end after the scholarships were all handed out. One lucky student received an iPad in the raffle amongst winners. Ervin Herrera initially won the award, but was not present to receive the award so they picked another name. Erik

See PLAY, page 6

See AWARD, page 6

Next week is finals week. Students can get final dates and times from their teachers or by looking at the schedule above. First, locate the day and class meeting time on the top chart and note the letter in the time slot. Then, locate the letter representing the time block for your regularly scheduled class on the bottom schedule, which will tell you the date and time your final will take place for that class.

New Play Festival is student driven production

Success in the spotlight

Interested in anime? The Anime club is looking for up to seven LMC students to join them at ‘Fanime,’ an anime con-vention that runs from May 25 to the 28. Fanime will be held at the San Jose Convention Center. For more information contact the club adviser at [email protected].

Finals are coming up next week and students can get finals dates and times from their teachers or from the schedule above. Find the day and meeting time of your class on the left and match it with the letter on the right to find out when your final will be held.

Head softball coach Tim Griffith is looking for experienced and non-experienced players to build a new softball team for the Spring 2013 season. Griffith has come over to LMC after a four year stint as head softball coach at DVC. The fall softball section is now in the college catalog. For more information contact Coach Griffith at 439-2181 ext. 3140 or email him a tgriffith@los medanos.edu.F

YI

Prepare for finals

Softball is back this fall

Attention all anime fans

Photo by Irvin Trigueros

Interim President Richard Livingston presents Gloria Duran with the La Raza Staff and Faculty Scholarship.

See ACE, page 6

By CICELY DIAMONDStaff Writer

Students who disagree with a grade they recieved have the The Student Grade Ap-peal Process to resolve grade disputes between students and teachers.

Grade appeals used to be known as the Grievance Pro-cess.

“The chancellor of the dis-trict office just implemented this change [in name],” said Gil Rodriguez, dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, who has been involved in student grade appeals since 1997.

He added that the new title is much more student friendly.

According to the LMC website, the overall grievance process itself addresses prob-lems related to instructors, employees, grades, unlawful discrimination or harassment, safety, parking, academic status and student services, and complaints regarding these things can be reported through this procedure.

LMC student Jonathan Johnson has been through this process in the past with an instructor and said he was successful in getting justice.

“The process is simple, you file a student complaint form and basically wait your turn to fight the man,” he said.

Johnson filed an appeal against an instructor regard-ing his reinstatement into a class that he felt he was dropped from without notice. Before having to go through the procedure of taking his issue to the dean, “I was able to sort out the issue with my instructor and got my spot back,” he said.

He said he handled his situa-tion on his own informally and “dodged the lengthy process I did not want to go through.”

Student Hollie Taylor, ex-perienced a similar situation but had to go beyond the informal procedure, which

ACE streamlines transfer path

See GRADE, page 6

Grades not always final

V O L . 7 6 , N O . 1 3 F R I D A y , M A y 1 8 , 2 0 1 2 P I T T S B U R G , C A

Quotable

“When I’m studying for finals I always stare into space thinking of everything I need to do, instead of doing it.”

— Ashley Curry

“I’m always here on campus working, and I’m usually helping other people with their finals instead of my own.” — Ninnette Alfaro

Voices What do you find yourself doing when you’re supposed to be studying for finals?

“It’s ironic, when I’m supposed to be studying, I’m always studying for another final that isn’t as important.” — Cristian Hernandez

Cartoon by Jesus Chico

F R I D A Y , M A Y 1 8 , 2 0 1 2

“Saying goodbye doesn’t mean anything. It’s the time we spent together that matters, not how we left it.”

— Trey Parker

The Experience welcomes Letters to the Editor and Guest Columns. Bring to room CC3-301. Submissions must be typed, signed and include a phone number for verification.

ReadeR OpiniOn pOlicy

“I end up looking up jazz or funk music on YouTube, more so for entertainment.” — Vince Gonzales

“When I’m studying for finals I always end up either finding something to eat or taking a nap.” — Erin Warren

“I get distracted by playing the piano and being on facebook when I’m supposed to be studying.” — Josue Dabule

Priscilla SandovalONE LOVE

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

Perspectives 2

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E

Experiencee x p e r i e n c e . l o s m e d a n o s . e d u

MemberCalifornia Newspaper Publishers Association

“Were it left for me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a mo-ment to prefer the latter.”

— Thomas Jefferson

The LMC Experience is published Fridays by the journalism program. The newspaper serves as a laboratory for journalism classes and as a First Amend-ment forum for campus communication. Opinions expressed in the Experience are solely those of the students and do not represent the views of the college.

Laura Crabtree sERIOusLY?!

editOR’s nOte

Editor in Chief ................ SAMUEL GONZALEZ

Perspectives Editors ......... MARK MARTINEZ and PRISCILLA SANDOVAL

Campus Editors ................. IRVIN TRIGUEROS and MARK FRANCIS

Features Editors ................. JARED THOMSON and TAYLOR HILL

Sports Editors .................. LAURA CRABTREE and LISA CASSIDY

Photo Editor .......................... CALLIB CARVER

Assistant Photo Editor.............. JESUS CHICO

Valuable lessons outside of class

Bittersweet end to a long journey

My last semester at LMC is coming to a close and at the risk of sounding clichéd I have to say the whole semester has been bittersweet. I am so ready for my classes to be over and am excited to start the new chapter of my life at Sac State.

It is a little sad knowing that this is my last column for the LMC Experience and I will soon be leaving my beloved Journalism Lab and lab buddies for good.

My LMC story isn’t your get in and get out as fast as you can type of experience. I am one of “those” students who stayed at LMC for what seemed to be the longest time but I am not ashamed or embarrassed because in my time at LMC I have accomplished things that college graduates accomplish without ever having a degree.

I graduated from high school not wanting to come here, but ended up enrolling anyway. I hated it at first and had a hard time decid-ing on what I really wanted to do. I thought I needed a more creative school and set my sights on the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco, I thought it would be the right type of environment for me.

I ended up taking a break from LMC and was going to go to FIDM. Those plans fell through and I found myself working for Wachovia Bank and not going to school at all for about a year. I’ve always worked while going to school because I come from a single parent family and have always had financial responsibilities, but I had never worked in such a professional environment.

In that year I learned a lot working for a major corporation and learned even more because I was working for Wachovia when the whole collapse of the economy was going on.

Even though I liked my job, I felt like I wasn’t reaching my full potential just working, so I decided to re-enroll at LMC and take night classes while I worked full-time for the bank.

During this time I accomplished my goal of buying a car on my own without anyone’s help ,or a co-signer. When Wachovia was bought out by Wells Fargo my whole world was turned upside down and my comfortable routine of working during the day and taking night classes was interrupted.

I took another break from school to get my work life together and comfortable again. It was during this break that I got hired at Chase Bank as a personal banker, a position that college graduates have applied for and some have gotten turned down due to their lack of corporate work experience. I was able to secure the position due to my financial in-stitution background. Things were okay and I liked my job enough but I wasn’t fully happy and felt like I needed to do something.

Enter LMC in my life again. I couldn’t get away from this school. This time I decided it was time to make school a priority and stepped down from my personal banker role and became a part-time teller working only 20 hours a week instead of 40 and going to school full-time.

This was the semester I enrolled in Cindy McGrath’s Journalism 10 class and truly discovered my passion and the career path I wanted to take.

Thanks to Cindy’s passion for journalism and encouragement I realized that I wanted to be a journalist and haven’t looked back since. A year later I am graduating from LMC with an AA and will start the journalism program at Sac State in the fall.

It has definitely been a nontraditional college experience but I wouldn’t want it any other way, I have learned so much and have met so many amazing people and formed life-long friendships throughout my time at LMC, both at school and at work.

If anything can be gained from my experi-ence it’s that it doesn’t matter how you get somewhere as long as you make it and achieve what you set out to do all while learning and experiencing real-life on the way.

C o m p i l e d b y J e s u s C h i C o

Final words from the chief

’

Mark MartinezX-MARk’s ThE sPOT

Samuel GonzalezEDITOR-IN-ChIEF

When I look back at the time I’ve spent at LMC, it’s hard to believe that I have become the person who I am now.

I used to be a shy quiet guy who always kept to himself, I had no direction and no clue as to what to do, one thing was for sure though, when I first started LMC I knew I wanted to be a journalist, I had a passion for writing and loved the news.

Growing up I always wanted to make my mark on the world, I wanted to stand out from the crowd and do my own thing without having any fear or compromising myself.

Being in journalism really helped me come out of my shell, I became a new and improved version of myself and I have my journalism family to thank for that.

Everything I learned in my classes was useful for the moment, but the real lessons I learned were the ones in the Journalism Lab.

After spending three years in this lab, I have an extensive set of memories and have created long lasting friendships with some of the most amazing people I have ever met.

The biggest impact on me during my time at LMC hands down is my journalism adviser Cindy McGrath, she has been the greatest support system I’ve ever had, everything I’ve learned about journalism I learned from her. She’s helped me succeed by pushing me to do my

In the fall, I will be starting school at Uni-versity of Nevada, Reno. Unlike most people who spend years at LMC, I’ve only been here three semesters. In that amount of time with a full schedule my social life was taken away from me. What little friends I did have disap-peared, but I managed to learn some invaluable information and build a family with some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.

I learned proportions in Statistics, saw insights of the government in Anthropology, uncovered the history of the Samurai in Ancient History, designed artwork that I never thought I was capable of in Graphic Design, but all of this serves me with not a single lesson or memory.

Among these classes, I took journalism classes all three semesters. Entering my first journalism class a year ago I never expected to meet some of the most incredible people ever. I joined The Experience staff only seeing everyone as a bunch of nerds all thrown into one tiny classroom.

The first people I met were Mark Martinez and Lisa Cassidy. Mark has continued to play the big brother role since day one. He is one of the smartest journalists in the lab, no doubt about it. He is always there to steer me in the right direction when I hit a dead end in my writing and brainstorms with me when my creativity runs dry.

Mark also subconsciously broke me free of my homophobia stage, he taught me that not all gays are flamboyant and they are normal people too. Mark will always be that special gay best friend that every girl needs.

Lisa became one of the sisters I never had. We both share hardly anything in common, but our mindset to think like men holds our bond together tight.

We shared our love for sports and spent endless days and nights trying to improve our sports section of the newspaper. After work-ing together as Sports Editors we managed to create the most amazing designs that the sports page had ever seen.

I later met Taylor Hill and Jesus Chico. Chico taught me more about design than I ever thought I could learn. He’s continued to be the best tutor, and mentor to me possible. I consider myself to be a Chicolette because my work now demonstrates the best qualities that Chico taught me.

Taylor joined newspaper out of nowhere and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one on staff not ready to accept the new girl. Before I knew it Taylor was being called the mini Laura, she too had raced cars in the past and had the same hair color and cut as I did.

Taylor quickly became one of my best friends and I began sharing everything with her. We became the little tag team of the journalism lab ganging up on the others, always full of pranks and jokes. She now will be playing a role in my wedding and I guarantee this friendship will last.

The last person to my special family is Cindy McGrath, my mommy. Cindy guided me step by step through all three semesters by holding my hand as I transformed into a journalist in front of her eyes. She taught me everything I know about journalism, down to the finest detail.

Not only did she guide me as a journalist but she also guided me through life. Cindy taught me a lot about different types of people and how to work with others. She also taught me how to focus on the bigger picture in life, not just the now.

Even though I can’t take my discombobu-lated little family of nerds with me, I can take their memories and life lessons wherever my future may lead me.

Reflecting on my life at the Experience

best and most importantly has always believed in me during the times I was out of confidence and didn’t believe in myself. I don’t know where I would be if it wasn’t for her encouragement and support to help guide me during my three years inside the newsroom.

As I transfer and move onto the next big thing in my life, I can’t wait for all the new experiences I will have and continue to write about.

I learned a lot about relationships and I hope that you, the readers, have been entertained and even gained some insight about yourselves as well as have a new outlook on relationships.

Don’t forget to always remember your worth and never settle for less. Follow your dreams and work hard because it makes the pay off even better. And, most importantly, never ever fall for a yo-yo.

Dear reaDerS:This is my last issue as editor of the Experi-

ence and I’m both sad and glad that it’s over. Sad because there’s so much I wanted to do and improve on, I wish there were a few more issues to go. I’m also sad becasue I’m going to miss all the ink-stained misfits that spent way too much time in the journalism lab and are now moving on.

I’m also kind of relieved that my time is up because being editor was one of the most chal-lenging things I ever did. It wasn’t easy, but I’ve learned so much and I had plenty of fun.

My thanks go out to everyone who helped to get a paper out every week, no matter how small their contribution.

Thanks also go out to all our page editors for putting up with a chronic procrastinator like me. I’m lucky there wasn’t a mutiny against me this semester.

But nevermind the difficulties, everybody on the staff did alot of things right. We got alot of cool things done this semester.

My thanks especially go out to my official advisors Cindy McGrath and Curtis Corlew, for sharing their wisdom and calm judgement.

It’s been a great privelege to work under the tutelage of Mrs. McGrath, whom I like to call the guru of journalism. I like what Mrs.

McGrath says about our roles at the Experi-ence. “This is a learning paper” she reminds us. We get to experiment and make mistakes and that’s okay. We’re here to learn. We’re all her for the experience.

I didn’t come to LMC with plans to major in journalism, but I’m so glad that I’ve ended up here. The coolest thing about journalism is that you meet people and experience things that you never might have if it wasn’t for an assignment.

I hope the Experience is never seen as expendable in times of bad budgets, and that students who love to write and tell stories find their way to the Experience and keep it going for many years to come. In closing, take care, thanks for reading us and good luck with those finals.

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

Features 3F R I D A Y , M A Y 1 8 , 2 0 1 2

Quotable“A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.”

— Leopold Stokowski

By SAMUEL GONZALEZStaff Writer

The Los Medanos Col-lege Chorus and Chamber Chorale put on a quality show in the Recital Hall last Tuesday, in their final concert for this semester.

To anyone who’s never been to a choral concert at LMC, think about checking one out.

The sound of fine voices stand-i n g mostly

alone, no frills and going from booming to cooing with nary a snag makes for a striking experience.

The music makes you want to laugh, cry, sing and dance, sometimes all at the same time.

Tuesday’s audience was treated to classy romance ballads, a slice of pop, a spiritual and an original Jamaica inspired piece.

The show began with a string of solo perfor-mances. The songs, drawn mostly from Broadway musicals and old Hollywood movies, had titles like, “The Shadow of Your Smile,” and “Once Upon a Dream.”

Awards presented at exhibitBy LAURA CRABTREEStaff Writer

The LMC Art Gallery had its final reception last Thursday, handing out awards to many of the LMC student artists.

There were approximately 50 people all squished together viewing the many pieces of art produced by LMC’s students. Among this group were students, parents, teachers

and faculty from around campus.

There were several different forms of artwork displayed in the gallery. There was drawing, charcoal, ink, acrylic canvas, digital print, clay, ceramic, oil pastels, plaster, wax and photography.

There were 10 awards given out for the students’ displays. The judges, John Schall and Eloine Chapman found it very difficult to judge all the students pieces. “It’s wonderful student work, I am alumni. I am surprised how good all the work is, it’s hard making decisions,” said Chapman.

The first award handed out was the ceramics award, which was given to Arianna Rodriguez for her piece “Mi Sagrada Familia”.

Next, the painting award, which was awarded to Todd Daidle for his painting “Abstract Skull”.

The next award winner was Felipa Gonzales. Gonzales won the 2-D award for “Metamor-phosis” and the Best of Show Award for her same piece. “I am really excited this is my first time ever participating in any type of event like this, I can’t believe it,” said Gonzales.

Madaline Lopez was awarded the drawing award for her drawing titled, “Nude Mail”.

Jaime Young was awarded the graphic design award for her “Lot’s o’ Bikes” poster. The best photo was awarded to Louis Sath for her photo”On My Mind”. “Abuelos” was Lillian Solis’ piece which won the Digital Art award.

The last awards handed out were the Jurors awards. Two individuals were presented with this award. First, was Daniel Salcedo for his piece “Dropping In”. Second was “Tides of Time” created by Debby Tein.

Along with the awards, a $500 scholarship was awarded to Tracy Wen for her piece “Drawing of Shoes.”

“I am very excited, it’s unexpected,” said Wen “I just filled out a paper with my best work, but didn’t expect to win.”

LaTonya Adkins did a great job with “Once Upon a Dream” in what was an impressive first public solo performance.

“I was really nervous, but I did better than I thought I would,” Adkins said. “I can’t wait to do it again.”

After the solos the choir performed an original and upbeat, multi-layered piece called “Jamaican

Students’ strings and singing entertains at guitar concert

Chorus impressive

HHHH HHHHH

— Laura Crabtree— Taylor Hill— Mark Martinez

When star ting to watch this movie I wasn’t exactly sure what it was even about. I saw the previews and knew that it was girl meets guy and another guy then began dating both. Other than that the previews didn’t give that much away (which is nice).

Well lets just say after watching “This Means War” I was not disap-pointed and would watch again in a heart beat. I was wondering the whole time what was going to hap-pen next and that made the movie more enjoyable.

It wasn’t like other movies when the ending was given away mid way through. You actually saw the final outcome at the end of the movie, which allowed the movie to end properly.

This is a must see over the sum-mer you would not regret it. It is the perfect mix of comedy and romance. Now go rent it!

‘This Means War’ Movie summary: When two CIA agents who are best friends fall in love with the same woman it changes everything. When deciding not to tell her they know each other they fight to win her heart, pulling out all the stops and fighting skills to try and steal her away from one another. The movie runs for 97 minutes and is rated PG-13.

Taylor says: One of the best movies

DVD REVIEW CREWLaura says: On the edge of my seat

HHHHH

Mark says: More Chelsea please

Most movies show all the best parts in the previews, they always kill it by showing the funniest scenes. Then, when you actually watch the movie, you’ve already seen the funny parts so it’s not nearly as entertaining to view.

“This Means War” had previews that most definitely did not show the funniest scenes, which made the movie much better. Throughout the entire film I constantly found myself laughing at Lauren (Reese Witherspoon). The characters have very real, believable personalities make the film much more relatable to real life.

I also loved that throughout the entire movie the end is never given away. I was constantly asking my-self which agent would she pick? Or will she even pick one at all? The ending of the movie was very satisfying and the movie actually ended, rather than left me hanging.

Even though I was a little disap-pointed for not being able to see ‘This Means War’ in theaters it was definitely worth the wait to see it on DVD.

The movie was funny from start to finish. It’s a perfect date movie because it has all the important elements: romance, comedy and action.

One of the best characters of the movie was Lauren’s friend Trish played by the amazingly funny Chelsea Handler.

Handler had so many funny scenes and one liners that she pretty much stole the show at certain points of the movie.

I really enjoyed how the movie kept you guessing and was unpre-dictable, it kept me watching with more interest than being bored.

‘This Means War’ is a perfect movie to watch anytime and you definitely won’t regret it.

By CARLOS HERNANDEZStaff Writer

The clock struck 7 p.m. as the lights dimmed in Recital Hall 720. A spotlight stayed on the microphones and multiple rows of chairs lined up front with approximately 30 students. The performing group prepared as guitar instructor Michael Wil-liams stepped forward to the mic and welcomed the audience to his classes’ recital.

Williams announced the first performance as his beginning guitar class playing “Hotel California.” He returned to his seat with his guitar. Many from the audience raised a cell phone or camera to record the performance. After a three-count from Williams the group began

to play.After the first song, a couple

students from the audience got up and joined the performing group with their guitars. The performing group was now a mix of the beginning, interme-diate and advanced classes and together they play “Simple Gifts.”

Williams stepped up to the microphone and cued the begin-ning class to join the audience, leaving only a small group of performers up front.

Williams, with his interme-diate and advanced students, played the next three songs, “Here, There and Everywhere,” “Minuet” by Mozart, and “Hide-away.” With the latter’s country style tone, members of the audi-ence had either their heads or

their feet bouncing to the beat.After the three songs, the

rest of the performing students joined the audience and the solos began. First up was beginning guitar student Aishya Earls who announced she was singing an original song “I Fell in Love,” based on a real life experience. With Williams playing the guitar, Earls performed her Blues song.

Next up was beginning guitar student Denice Walker who sang the romantic “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.” As her voice filled the room, some couples within the audience could be seen smiling and holding hands.

John Quezon took the stage next as Walker and Williams left the spotlight, and instead of

PAY OFF YOUR EDUCATIONTuition costs shouldn’t stop you from reaching your goals in life. By joining the Army National Guard, you’ll receive the money you need to help pay for college as well as the skills and training you need to get the career you want. If you’re looking to get through college, with the Army National Guard, you can!

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Student creativity shines at LMC

REVIEW

Photo by Samuel Gonzalez

Guest performer Kasey Diaz gets the crowd going with her version of Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You.”

Photo by Nina Rosales

Students Darryl Rodgers (back) and James Bellinger (front) observe student artwork at the Student Exhibit reception last week.

REVIEW

See MUSIC, page 6

See SHOW, page 6

F R I D A Y , M A Y 1 8 , 2 0 1 2 4“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”

— Abraham Lincoin

College community meets new permanent president

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Photos by Irvin Trigueros

(Left) New LMC President Bob Kratochvil shakes hands with Student Life coordinator Demetria Lawrence at his meet and greet reception last Friday afternoon in the President’s office. (Right) Kratochvil snacks and talks with LMC interim-president Richard Livingston.

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

CampusQuotable

Kratochvil gets aquainted with LMC

Welders test skills

Seven contestants competed for cash prizes in rudimentary contest

Photo by Irvin Trigueros

Welding Technology Major Blake Rogers finished in third place in the first Shielded Metal Arc Welding Contest this past Saturday afternoon.

By IRVIN TRIGUEROSStaff Writer

Los Medanos College held a meet and greet reception for its new president, Bob Kratochvil, at the president’s office last Friday afternoon.

Following the retiree reception last Wednesday, LMC staff and faculty held a party welcoming Kratochvil for his recent victory in the election for LMC’s next col-lege president.

In a room full of more than a few dozen people, a gratuitous amount of zesty snacks were served for all the attendees. It was a fun time for various faculties to meet and greet Interim-President Richard Livings-ton’s successor, who was there giving his props as well.

Kratochvil knows that Livingston has been a great president who has done so much for the college since it’s opening in 1974, and is hopeful that the transition will be a good one.

As Kratochvil entered the office, he thanked and welcomed everyone who came, shook

their hands individually and personally conversed with the instructors attending.

For many of the people, though, they didn’t know anything about Kratochvil.

That is why Kratochvil sincerely believes that his first, and most important, task is taking the time to know the people, to get a feel of the faculty, the culture, ideals, and strengths and weaknesses of the college.

He also wants to have discussions with staff to know what input they could give him to make improvements or changes to the campus.

“I can’t imagine there’s too many weak-nesses [here],” said Kratochvil. “But certainly there is where [the staff] would like to see, maybe some changes or improvements [made on the college].”

Contra Costa Community College District Chancellor Helen Benjamin is confident of Kratochvil’s abilities and qualifications as the new president; the college is in good hands.

“I think his qualifications meet the col-leges’,” said Benjamin. “He has a grasp of the college.”

By IRVIN TRIGUEROSStaff Writer

Los Medanos College’s Welding Technology Department held its first Shielded Metal Arc Welding Contest this past Saturday afternoon.

Taking place inside a rather bright Welding Lab, seven contestants competed to win cash prizes of – $100 for first place, $50 for second, and $25 for third. “Enough to pay for your gas,” joked Joe Meyer, instructor and program advisor.

However, the main motivation isn’t money. Meyer made it clear that “the purpose is to help motivate students in welding,” and to help them get experience in the field. Although Meyer said he was expecting about a dozen students to participate, only seven participants came. Nevertheless, he said he was proud of those who competed, especially the three winners.

Bill Konzak, first place winner, cites being “always careful with tools” as his reason for succeeding in the competition.

Welding Technology Major Anthony Lombardo, won second place. He said he would have won first, but he spent too much time prepping.

“I was about 90 percent done; I [was] almost finished,” he said in good spirit.

Every participant was given metal pieces to weld into a specific weldment and submit to the judges within 45 minutes. However, the participants commented that the limited amount of time impaired them.

Third place winner Blake Rogers, Welding Technology Major graduate, felt that they “[could have been given] a little more time to complete the assignment, approximately five minutes or so.”

Although it was an issue for most competitors, Konzak said that it felt like a “very difficult, but a good exam.”

Lombardo said he competes there “for friendly competition,” and had a fun time.

Despite the preliminary nature of the contest, everyone agreed it was a strong experience.

Rogers called it a fun and exciting experience. “[It was] good for the students as well as the staff,” he added.

Meyers plans to make this an annual event, he noted that improvements would be made for next year’s contest based on feedback.

“I’m gonna add fewer welds to allow the stu-dents more time,” said Meyer, “and go through more fabrication instructions with the students, so that it’s a good learning experience for all.”

“Its good to have an instructor that brings new ideas to the welding lab,” said Rogers.

Contest participants needed to be enrolled in and completed one welding lab class out of five and to have completed all three welding theory classes. On top of that, bringing and wearing the proper safety gear was strongly advised.

The judges included Welding Lab Instructor See BIND, page 6

F R I D A Y , M A Y 1 8 , 2 0 1 2 5“Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid.”

— Hedy Lamarr

Program helps with math, English

healthy lifestylesHELPING YOU thrive

This article is proudly sponsored by Kaiser Permanente.

Andy Rodgers, MD, is Physician Site Leader for the Livermore Medical Offices.

We all have 24 hours in a day. Yet some of us feel like we have no time at all, while others manage to get their work done and have

time to relax and enjoy life. The pressures of time can take its toll on your health creating tension and anxiety, loss of sleep, poor nutrition, and negative effects on your mood and self-esteem.

An organized, relaxed life would not only be more pleasurable, but it’s healthier, too. Stress-free living isn’t realistic for most of us, however there are things you can do to manage your time, deal with procrastination, and accomplish important priorities in a more relaxed, enjoyable way.

The key is to discover what’s really important to you and do those things well. Help stop your time struggles with these tips:

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• Liveinthemoment:Break the rushing habit and be present in the moment. Try driving 5-10 miles slower, try not wearing a watch, schedule some protected free time, or focus your full attention on the task at hand.

• Takefive:Take a time out for fun, relaxation, daydreaming, contemplation, family, friends, and hobbies. Many “busy” people find these moments refreshing and it enables them to be more productive.

For more information on time management and stress reduction, check out the Kaiser Permanente Web site at www.kp.org.

Put Time on Your SideBy Andy Rodgers, MD

CTE programs look to build skilled workforce

MESA program hooked on science

For the Spring 2012 semester, 18 African American students are completing Joeleen Hiltbrand’s English 221 class, a demographic success that has not been seen since the start of the program in 2007, said Program Director A’kilah Moore.

“They are here, but we want

By TIM THIMLERStaff Writer

The Mathematics, Engineer-ing, Science, Achievement (MESA) Program is a program specifically for Science, Technol-ogy, Engineering and Mathemat-ics (STEM) majors who plan on transferring to a four-year college or university.

Students in the program are given a student educational plan to keep them on track until they transfer.

“A lot of students get here and they end up taking classes that they don’t need to take or they either take too many classes or too few classes,” said MESA Director Carol Hernandez. “And when they’re ready to transfer they don’t have the right classes and the student educational plan basically gives the students a path.”

And the program does just that.MESA has provided students

with opportunities in way of in-ternships with such companies as Genentech, AT&T, PG&E, and Google. The program also helps tutor students in all of the STEM subjects.

The MESA program is ac-cepting of all STEM majors who apply but priority is given to first generation college students be-cause the program is also meant to help students financially.

MESA currently has some new ways to help students in the works.

“Coming this fall we’re actually implementing a MESA seminar Photo by Samuel Gonzalez

Shaun Regacho tinkers with circuits, Joe Campbell takes a nap and a mannequin named Schrödinger hangs out in the Mesa Center last Wednesday.

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

CampusQuotable

See UMOJA, page 6

Umoja aims for success

By CATALINA MARIAStaff Writer

Process Technology and Electrical and Instrumentation Technology might sound like a mouthful, but they are both a part of the Career and Technical Education Programs at LMC.

Career and Technical Education Programs, or CTEs, are specific groupings of classes that set a clear path to a career that requires a high level of competence with a matched level of payoff.

Those who master their respon-sibilities as process technicians can make more than $100,000 a year when working at refineries, chemical-processing facilities, and other related manufacturing industries.

“I think it’s a wonderful career to

“We need more people trained in this field. This is the kind of career that makes products and keeps our country going.”

— William Cruz

Training offered in electrical and chemical processing

Photo by Breawna Privett

Candice Tidwell and Jacqueline Jackson present at the Umoja scholars graduation ceremony last Wednesday.

See MESA, page 6

By KELLIE McCOWNStaff Writer

The walls of the Los Meda-nos College Umoja Scholars room in the Math Building are mounted with colorful posters of deep reds and bright oranges, representing a proud African heritage. The posters are eye catching, vibrant and attract the attention of anyone who walks into the room.

Among the wall art that adorns almost every corner, there is a small 11-inch by 14-inch poster that demands attention. It has little color, and only a small picture of one man in the center of the page.

The off white poster is of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech. Though the poster is much smaller than the rest, the pres-ence of the civil rights leader’s words can be felt around the room of young students, who have all pushed aside board games and laptops for open textbooks and note pads.

The Umoja Scholars program was established at LMC in the summer of 2007. Designed to enrich and nurture the academic success of the African American student body and first-generation college students, Umoja of-fers tutoring, mentorship, and academic counseling. The end

goal for participants is passing the math and English classes required for transfer to a four-year university or to obtain an AA degree.

“This program is about unity,” Jackie Jackson said. “Us sticking together as a family, and follow-ing through on our studies.”

follow,” commented PTEC Director William Cruz.

The Process Technology Program, or PTEC, looks for students who excel in math and verbal skills. Students must be willing to add a list of technical skills to their skill set.

Process Technicians are essential to chemical plants — they keep codes up to date which keep employees and everyone depending on them safe. They work with chemical engineers.

All instructors who teach classes that pertain to process technology have all worked or been retrained recently. Their students work in hands-on labs, receive lectures in class, and visit manufacturing industry sites.

When a process technician starts out, they will make $45,000 to $65,000 a

year, which is remarkable considering it only takes a two-year Associate in Science degree and a lot of hard work.

While some students do attain that $100,000 a year salary, it is not until they have proven themselves and stay at a job site for several years.

Two years might seem like a lot of time, but it’s actually a shorter amount of time than other careers that require a bachelor’s or master’s degree and whose salaries are about the same.

If the PTEC Program isn’t the right fit, then maybe the Electrical and In-strumentation Technology Program will be.

The Electrical and Instrumenta-tion Technology Program, or ETEC, provides two career options.

The first is as an electrical techni-cian specializing in keeping elaborate electrical automations systems up and running in the manufacturing and power generation industry.

The second career choice is an in-strumentation technician who works

in chemical plants, pharmaceutical plants, refineries, and water and waste treatment plants to keep process measurements and control systems under control.

There are many opportunities for participants of these CTE Programs, including work as an Electrical Trainee. The previous is example of a way to get enough hours needed to take the test to become a certified technician.

These programs require both spe-cialized classes and general education classes. Both of these programs are

designed for those who want to gradu-ate in just two years with a Certificate of Achievement.

“We need more people trained in this field,” Cruz said, “this is the kind of career that makes products and keeps our country going.”

Anyone who is interested in the field should highly consider joining ETEC.

Both PTEC and ETEC have summer recruiting plans.

A few teachers from some of the,surrounding high schools will be shadowing technicians in PTEC and ETEC careers.

This will hopefully sway teachers to encourage their students to join LMC’s PTEC and ETEC programs.

These career programs aren’t just recruiting high school students, but also students who can’t seem to find their places in other career choices.

If these programs entice a spark of interest, please contact Cruz, PTEC Director, at 439-2181 ext. 3775 or Cecil Nasworthy, ETEC Director, at ext. 3455.

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

F R I D A Y , M A Y 1 8 , 2 0 1 26OnlineFollow the LMC Experience on Facebook & TwitterBack Talk

BINDFrom page 4

AWARDFrom page 1

ACEFrom page 1

Photo by Nina Rosales

Adriana Martinez and Zachary Jensen rehearse for “Happily Ever After.”

UMOJAFrom page 5

SHOWFrom page 3

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Marketplace.” Accompanied by LMC student Vincent Gonzalez on a pair of congas.Next up was guest performer Kasey Diaz, a student at Kimball High School in Tracy. Diaz played the ukulele and sang Cee Lo Green’s “For-get You,” which caused many audience members to clap to the beat and sing right along.

“Were trying to get her to come to LMC,” director Silvester Henderson said to the audience when he introduced her. The audience clapped in approval. “But no pressure,” he added jokingly.

Diaz’s version of “Forget You,” besides being set to a relaxing ukulele, didn’t stray too far from the original, but she did add her own little twist to the lyrics here and there. Fellow guest performer Terrence Kelly, an operatic baritone, made a nice cap to the show, following Diaz.

“I’ve been in teaching mode for a long time, I don’t really sing anymore, so pray hard,”

MESAFrom page 5

PLAYFrom page 1

GRADEFrom page 1

MUSICFrom page 3

having the instructor play the guitar, Quezon sang and played the guitar for his cover of the song “She Will Be Loved.” Before he began, Quezon encour-aged anyone who knew the song to sing along, and a few quietly did just that.

Kerry Mapes played an un-named instrumental song fol-lowed by two songs were played by student Takafumo Oga, who is originally from Japan and performed “Her Most Beautiful Smile,” and “Melodies of Life.” He admitted to the audience how nervous he was, in which the crowd responded with claps and cheers to show support.

The next performance was a cover to Taylor Swift’s “Dear John,” by student Laura Smith singing, and Sierra Abasolo with instructor Willaims on guitar.

Then Williams handed over his guitar to Anthony Mora who

played two songs, starting with “Lagrima,” and finishing with the song he said he could not even pronounce, “Hoyfjeldsbilde.”

The final two songs of the night were played by student Giancarlo Santa Cruz who ad-mitted to the audience that he can play guitar but not sing, so he played the melody of Adele’s “Someone Like You,” and some people within the audience lip synched the lyrics to the song.

For the final song, Cruz had a female companion join him up front on stage to sing “More Than Words,” as he accompanied on the guitar.

Williams returned to the mi-crophone and asked the audience to give “one more round for all the great players.”

He was pleased with his stu-dents’ recital performance and joked that “they play better at concerts than in class.”

ultimately received the iPad along with the African-American Staff Scholarship, Kennedy King Memorial Scholarship and Umoja Community Scholarship.

UC Davis transfer, MESA and Puente member Sebastion Acevedo was all smiles after the awards. “I’m most definitely excited about transferring, but I love the experiences I had at LMC and with MESA.”

The Stellar Awards followed the transfer and scholarship ceremony at 5:30 p.m.

The ACE, MESA, Puente, Umoja, Transfer Academy, Hon-ors and Student Life programs each awarded students for their participation in the programs and the life of the college campus.

Award recipients, along with family and friends, were wel-comed to enjoy complimentary food and beverage.

While it was a warm evening the seats were shaded, and the staged was filled with exceptional students.

Jesse Rosalez, an LMC student and Transfer Academy member, was awarded the Transfer Spirit Award.

Recognized for keeping spirits high for students looking to transfer, Rosalez said, “I encour-age other students to be all they can be, keep them positive, tell them success is everywhere”.

The Transfer Academy helps students get information about their desired goal, “we help you on your path to wherever you want to go,” said Roasalez.

This is Rosalez’s first semes-ter with the Transfer Academy, since the new program has been around for only a year.

Marcus Creel, an LMC student and Puente program member, was awarded VIP — very im-portant peer.

Although Puente is Chicano-culture focused, all are welcome to participate, “I try to make it welcoming for all people, don’t want to exclude anyone,” said Creel.

Puente recognize the hard-ships facing Chicanos, “One goal for students in Puente is to make sure that once a degree is earned to come back and give to our predecessors,” said Creel.

Debora Van Eckhardt is an LMC student Ambassador who is a member of Honors, AGS, and Circle K, was awarded the LMACS leadership award.

“I try to go outside just my group and advocate for everyone,” Eckhardt said.

Eckhardt is a par t of the LMC’s Associated Students, looking to make change, and explained, “I hated politics, but I joined student government to get in a leadership role, to make a difference. It is a great opportunity you can talk to so many diverse people.”

The programs look to their members for leadership, excel-lence, tutoring and spirit. The students awarded were given a moment to be acknowledged for their hard work and special achievements.

gotiating with the individual one on one or through a facilitator.

“I tried resolving the issue myself with my instructor, but that lead me nowhere. It was so frustrating. I then had to go the next step and have a meeting with the dean,” she said.

Taylor was filing an appeal regarding a grade received that she felt wasn’t correct.

There are two ways students can address these issues — in-formally or formally.

An informal approach would be a student’s attempt in resolv-ing an issue themselves without notifying the dean or filing an appeal form.

A student would first tr y resolving the issue directly with the instructor and if that is unsuccessful the next person to see would be the department chair for that particular subject. If that fails then the formal ap-proach can be taken.

Rodriguez said the Office of Student Life is available for

of the ACE program for the Fall 2012 semester. She credits her success to Rust, and ACE

“ACE helped me to better in math, and I hate math. Now, I’m in calculus,” said Coolger. “I could not see myself succeeding at this college without the help of ACE and Tue.”

Aisha Hall is new to the ACE program, and says that the skills that she has learned have also helped her outside of the classroom.

“I use the skills I learned in ACE in class, and in my everyday life,” Hall explained. “I wanted stability. ACE offers that, and a lot more.”

According to Rust, the suc-cess rate of the ACE programs is not just limited to Coolger and Hall. “ACE students are eight to eleven times as likely to complete transfer-level math and English as compared to

in love with the class.“She’s so nurturing to her

students, and we do so many fun things,” Matuszak said about Austin and her writing classes. “Plus the opportunity to surround myself with fellow writers was too good to pass up.”

She wrote a play for the be-ginning class which she called a flop. This time around, “Shift” earned her the $1000 Perry-Folino Scholarship for Dramatic Writing.

“I knew this class focused on short plays, which actually caused a bit of hesitance when it came to sign up. I consider myself a novelist, not a play-wright and I was nervous,” Matuszak said.

Eric Kelly’s comedy “Happily Ever After” also made it into the New Play festival. Kelly, a drama student who performed in last year’s New play festival

course,” said Hernandez.The course is an orientation for

any students who wish to partici-pate in the MESA Program and essentially helps them transfer.

The MESA Center, located in the Science building, provides “a place for students to hang out,” said Hernandez. “A big part of MESA is creating community so that students feel connected to the campus.”

During a recent visit to the center, Shaun Regacho, an aerospace engineering major, explained he went on a zero gravity space flight last summer with three other LMC MESA students to test an “electromag-netic launcher,” an experience he described as “amazing.”

MESA is not all business though. Chemistry major Tina Powers spoke up.

“Oh look, we’ve got Qui-Gon in the window,” she said, pointing to the Star Wars action figure on the windowsill.

“We have a bunch of freak-ishly smart kids who can use the computer to make Tetris,” said Powers, referring to a group of C++ students currently in the process of recreating the game of Tetris from scratch

“What this place is doing is giving people who have lesser opportunities a chance to gain higher socioeconomic status,” said cell biology/biochemistry/human biology major Nicholas Regennitter about the value he sees in MESA.

If you wish to apply to the program, or simply want more information on MESA or the upcoming Seminar Course begin-ning next fall, contact Hernandez at [email protected] or call 439-2181 ext. 3437.

to make sure they are success-ful,” Moore said. “Students are now taking ownership. That’s something that can’t be mea-sured. Student support shows our success.”

Math tutor Michael Carrillo sees the support of the program, and the unity of the scholars who make up Umoja.

“Even though I have only been here for a short time, I’ve noticed that there is a lot of love in here,” Carrillo said about the Umoja room, which helps build community as providing an en-vironment where students can get academic support. “Everyone helps each other.”

Dann Gesink, Welding Instruc-tor Josh Johnson, and Meyer.

The weldments were graded in 10 subjective categories that included dimensional accuracy, weld quality and workmanship.

If you are interested in Weld-ing Technology or welding in general, contact Meyer at 439-2181 ext. 3342.

students who are not part of a program or acceleration effort, “ said Rust.

To show their successes, students will present their find-ings on social justice issues at the Spring 2012 Presentation To The Community event. The event will be held on Thursday, May 24 from 4-6 p.m. Topics will range from police brutal-ity and immigration to cultural competency to challenges faced during childhood.

Students who are interested in the ACE program must be eligible for English 90, able to take 12 units, and majoring in fields other than science and business. As of May 16, there were only 23 available spots remaining in the ACE program. Interested students are encour-aged to contact Rust at [email protected] 925-439-2181 ext 3474.

In the shadow of Dr. Mar-tin Luther King Jr.’s portrait Wednesday afternoon, one woman braided the hair of another, discussing grades and the anxiety of up coming final exams.

At the other end of the table, three men were cracking the books. And Moore was discuss-ing plans to honor the success of the students at the 2012 Umoja Scholar’s Graduation later in the evening.

Students who are interested in the community that Umoja provides should contact Moore at [email protected] 439-2181 ext. 3243 or Tess Caldwell at [email protected] ext. 3375 about becoming a scholar.

students to consult with on the informal level if they need assistance.

“David Bellman and Demetria Lawrence of the Office of Student Life are there to help students early on to find resolution with their issues,” he said adding that “many student’s cases don’t make their way up to my office because of these two.”

A formal approach involves working through the dean. Once an issue cannot be resolved informally on the student’s behalf, Rodriguez steps in and sets up a hearing.

Hearings must take place within 30 days of a submitted Student Grade or Complaint form to ensure due process. Two student senators, two members of faculty and the dean hear the complaint.

“Sandi Schmidt, my secretary, contacts the two student sena-tors,” Rodriguez said. “These five individuals convene for an hour, 30 minutes given to each side. The entire audio of the hearing is taped.”

The college president then makes a decision within 10 days of the hearing.

“Now, if the student still is unhappy with the decision the issue is then passed along to the Governing Board.”

Rodriguez explained once that happens “the entire hear-ing must be transcribed” and forwarded to the Contra Costa Community College District Governing Board.

“That’s the final stop,” he said, adding “this rarely occurs for an issue to go that far, but when it does that’s it — their decision is final.”

Although the title has changed, there are still two separate forms that go along with specific issues. The “Student Grade Appeal” form is used for issues regarding instructors while the “Student Complaint” form is used for addressing complaints about an office, service, or college employee.Both of these forms can be found at the Office of Student Life, the Information Center or the Counseling Center.

Kelly said before getting started. Indeed, Kelly displayed a

little stage rust and had to stop himself at the beginning of one performance, but he recovered gracefully and continued.

Kelly sang a tune called “I Got Plenty of Nothing.”

“I got plenty of nothing, and nothing’s plenty for me. I got no car, I got no mule, I got no misery,” she sang.

Kelly’s final performance was a powerful spiritual. She said that spirituals are the beginning to all non-indigenous music in the United States.

“I would challenge young people and old people too, to learn a spiritual... without spiritu-als, no Beyoncé, no Trey Songz, no Four Tops,” Kelly said.

As he closed the show, Hen-derson received a bouquet of flowers from his choral students, who thanked him for his guid-ance and patience.

“I will take these to my wife,” said Henderson about the flow-ers to a laughing audience. “I do like flowers though.”

said that this was the first play he ever wrote.

“I’ve been acting for a while and I wanted to be a part of the writing side,” Kelly said.

Kelly sat in the Little Theatre last week and watched his play being rehearsed.

“It’s pretty cool to see it from

my mind going on stage. It’s hard not to want to be the director myself but I trust everything Nick Garcia does.”

The drama department is now busy getting ready for the festival. Last Tuesday, drama students in the Little Theater brought out ladders and screw-drivers to bring down the set from their last production.

The rest of the day was dedi-cated to rehearsals which lasted well past 9 pm.

Karen Hernandez has been with LMC’s drama department for two semesters and will be performing in the upcoming festival. Hernandez said they had two weeks to get ready with full rehearsals.

“Its really crazy here and its a lot of fun. Its like a big family, we all work together,” Hernandez said. “It feels like I live here because I’m here all the time.”

Tickets for the new Play Festival are $3 per person, adults only. For tickets call the box office at 439-2181 ext. 805.