First Copy FreeVolume 13, Issue 6

December 6, 2010theAccent.org

See CAMPUS, pg. 5

See DANCE, pg. 5

19-year-old in need of a new kidney

Student uses ballet background to explore other forms of dance

New garden full of Texas foliage SGA continues DREAM Act work

Sitting in a hospital bed and plugged into IV’s and monitoring machines is just another day in the life of 19-year-old ACC student Julian Casey.

Over the past eight years, Casey has been in and out of hospitals receiving chemotherapy treatment and dialysis aft er being diagnosed with lupus nephritis at an early age.

Lupus nephritis is a chronic disease where the immune system cannot tell the diff erence between foreign invaders like viruses, bacteria and germs and your body’s healthy tissues, according to the Lupus Foundation of America. Because of this, antibodies attack and destroy healthy tissue.

Earlier this year, Casey’s disease caused her to suff er from kidney failure.A longtime family friend, Leslie Kroschewsky, was a match and donated

her kidney to Casey who underwent kidney transplant surgery on April 2.Unfortunately, Casey says there were complications with the surgery

that led to her needing a second kidney transplant.Casey is currently admitted at Methodist Specialty and Transplant Clinic

hospital in San Antonio, TX for complications from lupus.“I had a reaction to the drug that is suppose to make my body accept the

new kidney,” Casey said.Due to this reaction, Casey’s new kidney became damaged and will not

be functional within a matter of months.“My fi rst doctor told me that my new kidney had only two months, and

that was a month ago,” Casey said.Casey and her family asked for a second opinion aft er hearing this

diagnosis and was told that her kidney could last anywhere from one to six months.

About 15.7 percent of people who have received a kidney are on the waiting list for another one according to data from the United Network for Organ Sharing which oversees organ procurement nationwide. As of Dec. 2 there are 87,386 people nationwide on the transplant list waiting for a kidney.

Despite her struggles, Casey is focused on getting her education. She graduated high school last year and is currently taking a math class at ACC.

She is unsure of what she would like to do as far as declaring a major, but likes attending ACC so far.

“Its nice going to ACC because I can get my basics out of the way at my own pace,” Casey said.

In addition to taking a class at ACC, Casey also works at Crabtree & Evelyn in Round Rock Premium Outlets.

Casey remains hopeful that she will receive a new kidney.If she doesn’t receive a second kidney within the next few months, Casey

will be put back on daily dialysis. However, the dialysis will tax her body greatly and may complicate her ability to receive another kidney.

Th ose interested in reading more about Casey’s story can visit her blog online at cotaforjulianac.com where she writes about what is currently happening in her life.

ACC dancer performs in Dance Choreographers’ Showcase

Gracefully leaping through the air in a tilt jump position and balancing on just his hands in a complex handstand position are just two of the ways dance major Alex Crank creates expression through movement by dancing.

For the past three years, Crank has been cultivating his passion for dance in classes taken at ACC.

“I started out (in high school) with dancing for color guard where you spin fl ags on the marching band and you dance and spin rifl es. I started doing that, and I found a passion for it. I really wanted to just pursue it and see what else

Th e Rio Grande Campus got a little more green as students planted a demo garden near the corner of Rio Grande and 12th street by the front entrance to the main building. Th e Students for Environmental Outreach planted the garden as the fi rst step toward making Rio Grande Campus a certifi ed wildlife habitat.

According to Amy Cunningham, the faculty advisor for Students for Environmental Outreach, the students in the organization plan on meeting with a habitat steward from the National Wildlife Foundation sometime in January to have the garden evaluated and fi nd out what else needs to be included in order to certify the campus.

In order to have a certifi ed native wildlife habitat, the project must meet certain criteria while providing for the wildlife. Th ese include protection for the garden, a water source in the form of a bird bath, that the art department has volunteered to create, and not using any chemicals. Fertilizer may be used in the form of natural compost such as vegetables, eggshells and coff ee grounds according to Cunningham.

“It means that we are modeling how to live in harmony with nature. How to share human spaces to meet human needs and wildlife needs at the same time,” said Cunningham.

Th e garden was planted on Nov. 24 and will include 84 diff erent native plants to Texas. Th e college provided the soil, mulch, and rocks for the garden. Th e group was in charge of raising the money to buy the plants.

Th ey received thirty dollars in the form of donations, while the rest of the money came from a gift certifi cate won during this year’s annual Project Build-A-Park sponsored by the Offi ce of Student Life and Th e Austin Parks Foundation.

“We bought everything that is native to this area and tried to fi nd the fl owers that would benefi t the most wildlife in the area,” said Cunningham who bought

Aft er publicly announcing their endorsement of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act last year, the Student Government Association (SGA) is now focusing on promoting the act by garnering support from ACC students and administration leaders.

Th e DREAM Act is bipartisan legislation that would give undocumented high school graduates the opportunity to obtain conditional permanent residency provided that they serve for two years in the military or complete two years of education at a higher education institute.

Th e bill, which was fi rst introduced in 2001, was called into the House of Representatives for the eighth time last week, and is currently being debated in Congress.

SGA hopes to spread awareness about the hotly debated immigration issue by holding advocacy events in the spring.

“We’re trying to create pressure within the school to gain public support for it,” explained Dylan Pera, the vice president of SGA. “Th at has

always been our goal, and it says so in our resolution.”

ACC’s administration recently adopted the resolution, which urged them to support the DREAM Act unanimously because, according to Pera, “it pushes the fundamentals of what ACC stands for.”

Along with planning advocacy events, SGA is currently in the process of sending the resolution to state and congressional representatives.

ACC is not the only school making an eff ort to raise awareness. In the past year, there have been a number of protests, debates, hunger strikes, and sit-ins all across the nation. Th e most recent one happened just last week, when dozens of UTSA students and San Antonio residents urged Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson to vote on the bill by staging a sit-in at Hutchinson’s San Antonio offi ce.

“We believe it’s a fundamental right for everyone to have an education, whether they were born here or not. Th e point is, they are students here, and they should have the right to be educated. Everyone deserves an education. It’s a simple fact of student rights,” said Pera. “And that’s our main goal, to support student rights.”

Student waits for second transplant

is out there besides color guard. So I moved on to other forms of dance. Ballet and jazz and modern,” Crank explained.

Upon becoming an ACC student, Crank began studying ballet. However, aft er learning new forms of dances over the years, he has learned that he enjoys jazz and contemporary dancing styles much more than ballet.

“Th ose both have ballet basics in them as far as techniques, but they’re also more free form. You can do a lot more as far as movement and variety,” Crank said.

ACC’s dance department off ers classes that teach students about various dance forms

commuNity → PeoPlearts → PerFormiNG arts

commuNity → rio GraNde camPusNews → studeNt GoverNmeNt associatioN

PRE-OP — Student Juliana Casey receives medication through her IV in preparation for her kidney transplant surgery on April 2. The kidney Casey received is failing, and she will have to undergo another surgery in the future.

LEAP FORWARD — Dance student Alex Crank leaps into the air in the tilt jump position during his Dance Performance Workshop class. Crank aspires to be a choreographer in the future and has taken dance classes at ACC for three years.

GREEN THUMB — Amy Cunningham, faculty advisor for Students for Environmental Outreach, rearranges plants to plan out the layout of the new garden at Rio Grande Campus. Cunningham helped plant the garden with students to help certify the campus as a native wildlife habitat.

GET INVOLVED• Th ose who are interested or know someone who might be interested in being a donor can contact Methodist Specialty and Transplant Clinic’s donor hotline at (210)575-4483• Casey’s second kidney transplant will cost her family more than $5,000. To help by donating money to her family to pay for Casey’s medical costs, visit cotaforjulianac.com for more information.• Volunteers are also needed to help plan and implement fundraising activities. Interested individuals and groups should contact Children’s Organ Transplant Association and reach Juliana C. Community Coordinator, Maureen Connors, at 512.335.2950 or maureenconnors@austin.rr.com.

Photo courtesy of Juliana Casey

Karissa Rodriguez • Photo/Web Editor

Adrienne Sparks • Staff Photographer

Karissa Rodriguez Photo/Web Editor

Karissa Rodriguez Photo/Web Editor

Natalee Blanchat Staff Writer Hilary Shepherd

Staff Reporter

NEW DESIGNATED SMOKING AREAS PG. 3MATHLETE TAKES FIRST PLACE PG. 4

FIND THE PERFECT GIFT IN YOUR FAVORITE AUSTIN STORE PG. 9

page 2 www.theAccent.org Dec. 6 2010FORUM

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All rights reserved. All content is the property of Accent and may not be reproduced, published or retransmitted in any form without written permission from the Office of Student Life. Accent is the student newspaper of Austin Community College and is printed by the Austin American-Statesman. Accent is published biweekly. ACC students may submit articles for publication in Accent to RGC’s Office of Student Life Room 101.1; e-mail articles to accent@austincc.edu or fax submissions to 223-3086. ACC does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, political affiliation or disability. Accent offers ACC’s faculty, staff, students and surrounding community a complete source of information about student life. Accent welcomes your input, as well as information about errors. If you notice any information that warrants a correction please e-mail accent@austincc.edu. Individual views, columns, letters to the editor and other opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of Accent.

Editor-in-Chief ...................................................................................... Christopher A. SmithAssistant Editor .................................................................................... Sarah NevePhoto and Web Editor ....................................................................... Karissa RodriguezLayout Editor ......................................................................................... Chris ScottLife & Arts Editor ................................................................................ Sarah VasquezCampus Editor ...................................................................................... Michael Needham

Accent Adviser ...................................................................................... Matthew ConnollyAccent Coordinator ............................................................................ Lori BlewettStudent Life Director ......................................................................... Cheryl Richard

Staff Reporters Diana Leite, Hilary ShepherdLead Photographer Andrew PaganStaff Designers Elizabeth Brown, Carmen MaverickWriters Natalee Blanchat, Austin Nicholas, Caleb Wang, Jason WitmerPhotographer Adrienne Sparks, Janelle MatousACC President Dr. Stephen B. KinslowBoard of Trustees Dr. Barbara P. Mink—Chair; Allen H. Kaplan—Vice Chair; John Michael V. Cortez—Secretary, Tim Mahoney, Nan McRaven, Jeffrey Richard, Dr. Victor H. P. Villarreal, Guadalupe Q. Sosa, Dr. James W. McGufee

Letter from Student Governmentcorrections

for 11/22/10

In the “Gamers compete, play demos” story Karissa Rodriguez should have shared the byline.

The “Pumping iron for bench press prize” should say that only the top three weightlifters in the men’s and women’s division got trophies.

College students are the number one demographic to suffer from sleep deprivation. In fact, 63 percent college students do not get enough sleep, according to a recent 2010 study released by the National Sleep Foundation.

The sad thing is that a lot of us are willing to be deprived of sleep just to have one or more

Our mascot looks ridiculous. Most mascots do. Everyone is getting their shots in about the goofy purple riverbat, and that’s fine.

However, John Kelso, town curmudgeon, and columnist at the Austin American-Statesman, took a swing in his Nov. 25 column that went too far.

While it may be hard not to laugh at a big purple bat, it’s a different thing altogether to then proceed to insinuate that ACC students are underachievers who will all end up working for the smart kids who got to go to UT.

Kelso isn’t alone in his misinformed and mean-spirited attack on community college students. It’s becoming somewhat of a trend.

Just this week a Daily Texan columnist wrote about how she liked taking classes at ACC, but then went on to say that community colleges were in dire need of reform because the graduation rates are abysmal, and that even when we graduate our degrees won’t be worth much compared to hers.

Graduation rates at community colleges are low because students often transfer to four-year institutions before completing a degree. It’s also worth mentioning that ACC produces the most transfers to four-year institutions in the state, and that our transfer students outperform students who started at a four-year institutions.

This college is much more than just a place for poorly performing students go to make an easy “A”. People who attend ACC run the gamut from high school students getting an early start, 20-somethings working their way through their

basics, workers looking for a trade certificate and older people coming back to learn new skills or change direction.

Austin Community College is providing a service to this community and working to create a better educated state. It’s where our police officers and firefighters are certified, and our nurses and pharmacists are trained.

Poking fun at the hard-working students who are often employed full-time to put themselves through school to “learn how to install solar panels” is tacky, and it makes Kelso sound like a snob.

Make fun of the new mascot. We’re tough. We can take it. But don’t group all the students here together and label them slackers.

Sure, the Riverbat is silly. It’s not as “regal” as a steer chewing its cud on the sidelines of a football game or as “fierce” as a feral cat - I mean bobcat. The Riverbat is not meant to bounce around aimlessly on the sideline of a sporting event, but to promote ACC at community outreach events, interact with little kids and get people to notice ACC.

It wasn’t really made to appeal to 20-something college students, cranky newspaper columnists, or adults coming back to school.

Students need affordable classes, convenient locations and knowledgeable professors who are accessible. Students need a place to get an education that does not come with a lifetime of debt.

ACC comes through where it counts for this community, and our students, whether they transfer to a four-year university or enter the workforce, are valuable to the economy and to the future of this state.

Season’s Greetings Students,

As the weather cools and many of us begin to plan for the break, Student Government would like to take this time to

hours of study or party time.As an editor for the Accent,

parent of two preschoolers, and part-time college student I am way more familiar with sleep deprivation than most. On an average night I get about 4 to 5 hours of sleep, but I still somehow manage to power through my day and repeat the cycle every day.

I know it’s not healthy to get as little sleep as I do, but with my hectic schedule, it’s

difficult to carve out enough time to sleep, so I’ve begun researching ways to improve my sleep habits and share them with all my fellow sleepless college students.

The following are a few effective ways to improve your sleep habits and avoid sleep deprivation.

Go to bed!

Obvious tip number one is to get more sleep. Don’t stay out late partying, studying, procrastinating studying and/or staying up all night watching television or surfing the web.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, there is no “magic number” when it comes to getting a full night’s sleep. It depends on the individual, but the average college student

needs anywhere from 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night.

The simplest, but not necessarily the easiest way to get those hours is to establish consistent sleep and wake schedules, even on weekends.

One way to do this is exactly the same way I helped get my own kids on a sleep schedule: by creating a regular, relaxing bedtime routine.

Bedtime routines help get your mind and body ready for sleep by creating a relaxing way to wind down from a busy day.Avoid stimulating activities

Falling asleep is more than just laying down and closing your eyes. You need to create an environment that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool in order to fall asleep faster and more comfortably.

Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex. Keep out electronics like televisions and computers that can keep you awake. Also, avoid watching television or surfing the internet at least an hour before getting ready for bed since they stimulate your mind and can make it harder to fall asleep.Monitor how much you eat and drink during the day.

What you do during the day affects your sleep habits. This includes eating and drinking caffeine or alcohol right before bedtime.

Doing any of those will prolong the amount of time it takes for you to fall asleep, so it’s best to avoid those activities.

The best ways to avoid prolonging falling asleep is by

congratulate the exiting class of 2010. It is always hard to see members of our ACC Family leave us, but we know each of you will go on to accomplish great goals and succeed with many of the skills we built together. You have much to be proud of and we wish you safe travels into the bright future ahead.

Our organization has been working this semester to accomplish an amazing list of accomplishments. We would like to take the time to recognize these reached goals.

Movember—We helped raise awareness for Men’s Cancer and took donations from generous patrons for the Livestrong Foundation.

Project Build-a-Park—We work with dozens of clubs and organizations from across the ACC District to clean up

Barton Springs Pool and the surrounding area.

Dream Act Support—With the recent elections several students in support of the Dream Act have been taking action. Student Government has signed a resolution to continue to support the Dream Act.

Finally, Student Government will have a several new positions for Campus Senators and Executive Officers opening up. We invite anyone interested in getting involved in State, Local, or Nation Government to apply for these positions. We hope to see everyone else back in the Spring after a safe and happy holidays!

Best Regards,

Rodney HermesACC Student GovernmentDirector of Communications

Community college bashing is wrong

Pick on mascotnot students

finishing eating and drinking anything at least two hours before bedtime. This is because is takes time for your body to properly break down food and drinks.

What it really comes down to, though, is your willingness to teach yourself how to fall asleep on a regular schedule to avoid sleep deprivation.

It’s important to avoid sleep deprivation because there are several long-term and immediate effects that can affect your health and your grades.

Sleep deprivation can cause heart disease, diabetes, and obesity according to the National Sleep Foundation.

I will be taking these tips to heart because I want to live a long and healthy life, no matter how hectic and busy it is.

Have Something to say?The Accent wants to know what you think. Write a letter to the editor by sending an email to editor@austincc.edu or by clicking the contact us tab at theaccent.org.

Departing editors Christopher A. Smith, Michael Needham, and Chris Scott would like to thank Sarah Neve for writing the goodbye column so we could all keep working on our last issue.

I don’t want to write this. It’s deadline day. Two section editors are not even in this room, and our main designer has a class in an hour. I’m trying to drink the coffee from this morning, but I believe that our adviser has made it extra strong and gross as a passive aggressive reaction to us not turning our content in on time.

I should be reading and re-reading every page in this issue, and I will, until 10:00 p.m. tonight when the police ask me to leave the building.

However, after a massive spacing problem left a hole in the newspaper, I was asked to write this goodbye column at the last minute.

Back in May of 2008 I got an e-mail (thank God for archives) asking me to apply to work on the magazine that Student Life puts out every summer. That turned into an editor position, which turned into becoming the Assistant Editor and Editor-in-Chief at the Accent.

Since then, I’ve spent hundreds and hundreds of hours in front of a computer, living off Simons’s Cafe and pizza. I’ve spent two and a half years fighting with writers, co-workers, the college administration, the college police, the heads of local businesses, other students and insane people who aren’t with the college but try to write for

∫∫ 30Departing editors say quick

goodbye mid-deadlineSarah Neve Assistant Editor

the Accent anyway. I’ve gotten in trouble with

loved ones about checking my e-mail 1,000 times a day and about not being able to leave work at work when I get home.

I’ve bored people I genuinely care about to tears ranting about the ins and outs of some new policy or some terrible interview for hours.

That being said, it’s also been the most valuable and educational experience I’ve ever had. I’d like to use this space to encourage students to get involved with Accent.

I’ve met and worked for some of the most talented people anyone could imagine. The time I’ve had here has made me a better writer, a better manager, and a more well informed and active member of my community.

I have to get back to work now. But trust me please, when I tell you that the late nights, missed deadlines, fights with family about long hours, and the 647 e-mails each week are worth the opportunities this organization offers the students who get involved.

ALL itKarissa

Explains

Staff Editorial

Karissa Rodriguez Photo/Web Editor

Learn how to get more sleep

Dec. 6, 2010 www.theAccent.org page 3NEWS

Holiday Book drive taking off

A student-run book drive centered on the holidays won’t end when the season is over.

Avy Gonzalez, the ACC student in charge of the Star Children’s Literacy Project, has filed a 501(c)(3) form to make the project an official nonprofit organization.

“We have a three year plan,” said Gonzalez. “Once I leave ACC, I’m going to continue working on this organization. There is a board of directors already formulated, and we are going to continue to make sure this message is kept alive. We hope that students really embrace it, and realize this is one of the best things they can do to give back to the community at this stage in their lives.”

The message for the project, which was derived from ACC’s Center for Political Studies, is that a light of learning has been lit for all chidlren says Gonzalez. To accomplish this goal, book drive boxes were placed in the student life office at each ACC campus.

Gonzalez recounted a story about one student that had

broken down in tears while speaking about the project. She had been raised by immigrant parents that worked night and day to support the family. She found solace in the books they had.

“The books brought her to a different world and were a comforting source for her personal life,” said Gonzalez. “She views this as her opportunity to share this opportunity with other kids that may be in the same circumstance.”

Gonzalez plans to take the project to other colleges in the area.

“We really want to promote literacy amongst them to make it a better community,” said Gonzalez.

He also plans on taking the project to youth organizations so children can also benefit from it.

“This is a way to give back to other kids that aren’t as privileged as they are,” said Gonzalez.

Gonzalez said that more and more students are getting excited about this project.

“There were some people who never had thought about being in a volunteer group until they had heard about this,” said Gonzalez.

News → eveNts

KID FRIENDLY — ACC students are encouraged to donate children’s books for this year’s holiday season for the Star Children’s Literacy Project led by student Avy Gonzalez.

Karissa Rodriguez • Photo/Web Editor

Michael Needham Campus Editor

The auction is hosted on 32auctions.com. Log in to view items, and bid on baskets.

ID: APTE2010Password: APTE2010

continued from pg. 1

News BriefsPublic transportation might reach Cypress Creek Campus

Dance performance based on semester long choreography class

Auction raises scholarship moneyCaleb Wang Staff Writer

An online silent auction to raise money for the ACC Foundation will run from Dec. 6 to Dec. 10.

The ACC Foundation is a non-profit corporation started in 1991. They collect and distribute gifts from private donors to help fund scholarships and programs at ACC.

This year, bidders will vie for themed gift baskets.

The Association of Professional Technical Employees (ATPE) is hosting the auction. They donate items and assemble the baskets, and everything is bid on online.

“The Association hosts fundraisers every year. For

the last two years we hosted the ‘You Rock’ fundraiser by encouraging people to buy rocks and saying ‘You Rock’,” said Bethany Bell one of the leaders for the fundraiser.

APTE is asking members and non-member to donate items according to the theme of their campus.

Each campus has a different theme.

Rio Grande Campus’s theme is “Night on the Town” with suggested items of tickets to fine arts, restaurants or dance lessons.

Riverside Campus’s theme is “Fitness” with suggested items such as workout DVDs, yoga mats, and jump ropes.

“There is no specific dollar amount,” said Bell. “The more the merrier.”

Designated smoking on campus

The dance department is hosting this year’s Fall Dance Informance on Dec. 9 at 7 p.m.. The event will take place at Rio Grande Campus in Room 130. ACC students will be presenting works from their fall semester choreography class. The performance is a graded portion of the class.

Chair of the dance department, Jose Bustamante, said that in the past the events have been well attended and the students have had a good time.

“The students enjoy sharing what they have been working on over the semester,” said Bustamante.

This event will be free and open to the public.

Students at Cypress Creek Campus could recieve the option to use public transportation to get to school. The Cedar Park city council will meet this month and decide whether or not to pay Capital Metro for a one year pilot program. The city would need to contribute $80,400 to make it happen.

The Economic Development Board in Cedar Park has already authorized $51,000 to be used toward the pilot program. Now the council will decide whether or not to approve this expenditure. The remaining money needed for the program would be taken from the city’s $30,000 budget for transportation services for people with disabilities.

Smokers can expect covered, designated smoking areas to go up on every campus. This decision was reached by the Administrative Service Council (ASC) after a two-year debate.

In the spring of 2009, the college had voted to work toward making ACC completely smoke free by August of 2011. That language has been removed in the new administrative rule on smoking that President Kinslow passed over the summer.

According to Ben Ferrell, the executive vice president of finance and administration, the original vote to make the college smoke free didn’t pass by a large majority, and the logistics of a totally smoke free college create a lot of complications.

“This is the compromise between having no policy and being completely smoke free, which is no smoking anywhere on any campus...It’s about our employees as well as students, and they are not pariahs. Besides, if you’re somewhere like the Service Center, what are you supposed to do? Go stand in the road,” said Ferrell.

There is some concern that having only one smoking area on campus will be a problem as well.

“There are a lot of smokers on campus, and if they take away some of the areas to smoke in, it will be too crowded,” said Bryan Williams, a student at Rio Grande.

In the basketSVC — Sports ....................................ex.-A KoozieCYP — Do it Yourself (DIY) .............ex. Home décorEVC — Culinary ................................ex. cooking utensilsHBC — Family game night ...............ex. Board gamesNRG — Animal Love .........................ex. Pet toysPIN — Leisure ....................................ex. A SnuggieRGC — Night on the Town ...............ex. TicketsRRC — Relaxation/Spa .....................ex. Mani-Pedi setsRVC — Fitness ..................................ex. Workout DVDsSAC — Bookworm .............................ex. Book Light

Some campuses have designated smoking areas already. The new Round Rock Campus had them when it opened.

Over the summer, President Kinslow signed into effect the Smoke Free Environment Administrative Rule and associated Procedures and Guidelines, which no longer included to sentence about becoming smoke free by 2011.

“There are no longer any plans for the college to become smoke free. These covered smoking areas are the solution,” said Ferrell.

The rule states that all ACC facilities will provide designated smoking and no-smoking areas. These areas will be decided on by the campus managers with input gathered from employees and students.

The Campus Facilities Operations Committee has formed a sub-committee that will be responsible for implementing this administrative rule.

Meetings were held last month to gather input from employees and students on the locations of the designated smoking areas.

According to Rebecca Cole, the environmental health safety and insurance executive director, and member of the sub-committee, the information on recommended designated smoking areas gathered at these meetings will be compiled by the end of the week of Dec. 10.

The next step will be submitting that information to the Facilities and Construction department. There will then be a district-wide project to install

designated smoking structures, campus signage and urns.

The timeline for this project has not yet been established.

Once the smoking areas are set up, it will be the campus manager’s responsibility to enforce the rule. This presents its own set of challenges, because campus police can’t ticket someone for breaking an administrative rule.

“No formal policy on enforcement has been nailed down. We want to put up the locations and then see what enforcement is really needed,” said Ferrell.

“The campus police will remind smokers of the rule and where they need to be,” said Media Relations Coordinator Alexis Patterson. “We’ve never needed anything else than that. People have always complied.”

Campus could become certified wildlife habitatmost of the plants from Native Texas Nursery, located in far east Austin.

The long-term goal of these gardening projects is to eventually make the campus a certified wildlife habitat. To do that there has to be a few more additional garden areas with plants native to Texas.

George Griffith, the

Supervisor for Grounds and Building Maintenance for the ACC district, helped the group construct the garden bed. Griffith made trips to the Texas Disposal Systems landfill in order to collect mulch. He also delivered rock and soil, created an irrigation system and showed the group gardening techniques including the correct types of stone positioning.

“Hopefully it will make a positive impact on students and get a few more folks interested in native plants. They can admire the garden and the beauty of it. I hope it brings as much joy to others as it brings to me to see the beauty of it and the hard work that went into planting it,” said Griffith.

Kallysta Castillo, the officer of treasury for Students for

Environmental Outreach plans on bringing a blanket to school and studying by the garden once it warms up in the spring.

“I’m really excited to see the positive effects that its supposed to create on the biodiversity by encouraging the native species to come around,” said Castillo. “I’m looking forward to seeing the butterflies and the birds, that’s my favorite part.”

News → eveNts

News → Facilities

SMOKE BREAK — (From left to right) Students Billy Higdon, Cable Olson, Sunshine Groth and Bryan Williams take a smoking break between classes at the Rio Grande Campus.

Janelle Matous • Staff Photographer

Sarah Neve Assistant Editor

CAMPUS LIFEpage 4 | News www.theAccent.org Dec. 6, 2010

Calendar of events Mathlete takes first placeMark Lindberg accidentally

started at the end of the Student Math League competition test because he set it down wrong. Unknowingly, he was looking at the end of the test first.

The classical guitar performance major knew the questions were supposed to start easy and get progressively harder; so, when he looked at his upside down test he started to worry.

“I kind of freaked myself out because of how hard the problems were,” said Lindberg. “I turned the test around, and I started feeling a lot better.”

He went on to win first place in the fall round of the competition.

Every fall and spring semester, students compete in the Student Math League which is sponsored by the American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges (AMATYC). On Oct. 29, 76 ACC students took the 20 question test at an ACC campus of their choice.

The top eight students won cash prizes ranging from $100 to $250. The money mostly came from individual donations which are matched 2 to 1 by the ACC Foundation. Students that didn’t compete in the fall can still compete in the spring round which will take place in mid February.

ACC professor of mathematics and ACC Sponsor of the Student Math League, Tony Vance, explained the skill set needed to do well on the test.

“The contest doesn’t really reward procedural understanding of mathematics or memorization, although of course you have to know some facts and procedures. It more rewards creative thinking or the student’s ability to problem solve on the fly,” said Vance.

Lindberg’s opinions on math contests were similar to those of Vance.

“Competitions don’t require high levels of math,” said Lindberg. “They just challenge you to do the math you are doing better. I enjoy doing these because it stretches my abilities and makes me understand the math better.”

Lindberg scored 27.5 out of 40 on the test. Vance said he was really impressed by the score.

This semester, for the first time ever, Vance set aside one hour to try his hand at the test. He was unable to beat Lindberg’s score.

“It’s not really very surprising,” said Vance. “I have no illusions that I am smarter or brighter than our students. I have more experience, and I feel like I can teach them a lot of math of course. In terms of these puzzle kinds of problems, we have some incredibly bright people here.”

After each round the top five scores are sent to the AMATYC national office. These scores make up the ACC math team. At the end of the spring round the scores will be tabulated and the winners will be announced at the AMATYC conference the following fall.

ACC has placed first in its region which consists of Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico in 2003, 2004, and 2007 to 2009. ACC is regularly in the top 20 nationally, said Vance.

Next fall, the conference will take place in Austin.

“I am really hoping that I will be able to accept an award for our students having done exceptionally well,” said Vance.

The winners of each round are usually honored at an ACC board of trustees meeting. This semester the board decided their schedule was too full to honor the winners and pushed the recognition to the Feb. 7 meeting. Vance explained why this could be a problem.

“My concern is that a lot of the students may have moved on and not be at ACC anymore,

and so they may not be able to attend the award presentation,” said Vance. “It’s only five minutes, but Doctor Kinslow says the agenda is very full, and he’s the president.”

Lindberg learned what kind of problems the test favored by printing off copies of old tests from the AMATYC website. While studying these tests, he would occasionally get stumped and seek help from his mother who is a math teacher.

“Together we were able to figure out something that would

work,” said Lindberg.After winning, his thoughts

went back to who had helped him.

“The first thing that I did when I learned that I had won was tell my mom that I had won, and she was equally happy,” said Lindberg.

Lindberg already has his eyes set on the next Student Math League.

“I intend to do the competition again in the spring, and I hope that I can do well there too,” said Lindberg.

commuNity → PeoPle

CRUNCHING NUMBERS — Mark Lindberg poses in front of several math equations during a break between classes at Northridge Campus. Lindberg won first place in the Student Math League which is sponsored by the American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges (AMATYC).

Sarah Vasquez • Life & Arts Editor

Michael Needham Campus Editor

ACC Solar Panel System DedicationDec. 9, 10 a.m.Eastview Campus, Outside Building 8000Students are invited to celebrate the installation of a solar panel system at Eastview Campus. There will be a dedication and refreshments will be served.

Fall Dance InformanceDec. 9, 7 p.m.Rio Grande Campus, Room 130Students are invited to watch a choreography presentation put on by the ACC dance department. Students from ACC choreography classes will present their work from the fall semester. This is a free event open to the public.

Final day for veterans to apply for advance payDec. 11All campusesVeterans are encouraged to apply for advance pay for spring semester before the deadline. Veterans interested in applying for advance pay should visit: austincc.edu/support/veterans

ACC Transportation Survey ClosesDec. 17All campusesStudents are invited to take the annual ACC Transportation Survey before it closes. Future alternative transportation concepts will be altered according to responses. The Capital Metro Green Pass idea came from past surveys. In addition, new parking areas were built because of past surveys. The survey should take 5 to 10 minutes to complete. The survey can be found at: austincc.edu

ACC Winter BreakDec. 21, 5 p.m. – Jan. 3, 8 a.m.All campusesAll campuses will be closed for winter break. There is an exception for Eastview Campus which will be open on Dec. 28 and 29 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. with limited services (admissions, advising, cashier, and financial aid).

Regular Registration EndsJan. 12, 5 p.m.All campusesStudents must complete their registration for 16 week classes before the deadline. Students wishing to increase the probability of adding a class should register as soon as possible.

Martin Luther King Jr. HolidayJan. 17All campusesAll campuses will be closed for this holiday.

Spring Classes BeginJan. 18All campusesStudents registered for 16 week and first eight week sessions will need to attend class.

Opinions from the students and staff at Pinnacle Campus

“What do you think of the new smoking areas on campus?”

All interviews and photos by Diana Leite

Jerard NussCriminal Justice, non-smoker“Smoking bothers me. If the [smoking areas] were further away from the building entrances, that would be better.”

Kym WhiteheadDental Hygiene, smoker“[Smokers] are doing nothing illegal, and if people move the areas further away from the campus, you endanger every single female smoker who will now have to ask for the police to escort them back to the campus.”

Ryan HallDental Hygiene, non-smoker“I don’t think it’s a good idea, because they [smokers] pay tuition too and they should be able to smoke just like people are able to eat on campus.”

Desiree GonzalezDental Hygiene, non-smoker“It is going to be dangerous, especially for women.”

Candace HummelHealth Information Technician, non-smoker“Good for me. I’m not a smoker. If I came more often to this campus, I wouldn’t like to have to walk through the smoke in order to get out of the door.”

Willy RegaladoNursing, smoker“What is the point of doing that? People don’t come near us when we are smoking anyway.”

continued from pg. 1

Dance student utilizes movement in fall Choreographers’ Showcaseincluding jazz, ballet and modern dance. More in-depth classes are offered as well, such as Anatomy for Dancers and Crank’s current class this semester, Dance Performance Workshop where students learn how to choreograph dances.

Crank believes that the dance department provides students with a great learning experiences.

“I love all the professors here. They’re wonderful teachers. All the classes here are really informative. You learn a lot about yourself in many different ways,” Crank said.

“You learn how to be more aware of your body and more aware of what you want to get out of [a dance],” Crank explained. “We are learning how to create movement, how to create a dance. You kind of find out what you want out of

that dance as far as emotions. What you want the audience to feel, what you want them to think.”

It’s those kind of skills Crank utilized when he participated in the Fall Choreographers’ Showcase on Dec. 3 and 4.

The showcase was part of this semester’s Big Read program and featured a dance performance titled the “Justice Project” in collaboration with the creative writing department.

Aside from his dance studies at ACC, Crank also volunteers in the Austin Metamorphosis Dance Ensemble.

In the ensemble, Crank has performed in numerous dance performances for children.

“We did James and the Giant Peach one year which was really fun and then The Land of Make Believe which was basically three acts of the Three Little Pigs, the Big Bad Wolf

and Goldilocks and The Three Bears. We have a show coming up in January,” Crank said.

After graduating from ACC, Crank aspires to become a choreographer.

“I really like to create movement, and I really like putting it on people because sometimes I have ideas in my head that I can’t necessarily do the way that I want and I see it, but some people can,” Crank said. “I really want to have what I have in my head put out there for the world to see.”

DEFYING GRAVITY — Dance student Alex Crank

balances himself on his hands in a dance position that is

a variation of a handstand. Crank enjoys contemporary

dancing because it allows him to have more freedom when it comes to choreographing

his own dance routines or positions.

Karissa Rodriguez • Photo/Web Editor

Dec. 6, 2010 www.theAccent.org News | page 5

Jacqueline Sinkes was once a single mother living in a shelter. Now she is registered nurse at a state supported living center. She attended ACC from the summer of 2006 to December of 2009 when she earned an Associate Degree of Applied Science in Nursing. She plans on obtaining a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

I decided to get my degree from ACC because it was cost effective and had flexible hours. The determining factor was money when I went back to school because I didn’t have any. Books and fees were less expensive, and ACC had convenient locations. I didn’t have a car at one point, so I was able to walk to class when I lived off Riverside. They also had an online option for the Nursing program. I was able to minimize my class time so I could be at home more with my kids. I was able to be a fulltime parent as well as a fulltime student.

I applied for Capital IDEA as a participant. They are a nonprofit grassroots organization that sponsors working families to get into high paying jobs or careers that pay a living wage through higher education.

Most people that come out this program are non-traditional students that have many barriers to success.There were several times throughout my education when I couldn’t pay my rent or electric bill and

they provided emergency funds to make sure that I was able to make it all the way through school.I decided to pursue a career in nursing because I had two kids and knew it was a high paying job with

job security. I knew I’d have flexible work hours and wanted to get into a career where I would work with people but also make a living wage. I wanted balance and flexibility so that I could be a more involved mom. It’s very much a caring, people-focused career.

I was living in a shelter at one point. I had a lot on my plate and I pushed myself to do really well in school. I made straight A’s up until my last year. I was an Honors student and had two children during the course of my education that were diagnosed as developmentally disabled, and went through a divorce.

I lost my support system at that time but I really felt with Capital IDEA that I was part of a community. Not just another person who filled out paperwork. I always knew that I had people who were not only depending on me to succeed. Not just my kids and my family; there were people who had a vested interest in making sure I achieved my dreams. I felt I had a support system.

I had professors that really touched my life and gave me the confidence and sense of support that I needed to make it through.

I work for an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded. It’s primarily an adult population residential facility for people with intellectual disabilities. In addition to that, the people who live there are wards of the state so it is state-supported. They have to be medically fragile or have needs that make them unable to live outside of a state facility. It’s identity affirming. I’m working at a place that’s a really good fit for me that maximizes my knowledge and skills.

A lot of the people I work with are non-verbal and have autism spectrum disorder. Since my son has autism, I see this as my life’s work and have a personal connection to the people I treat.

ACC is a very close-knit community and I’ve really walked away as a completely different person. I can hardly relate to the person I was in May 2006 when I first went back to school. I know now that with hard work and determination anything is possible.

For my money, I got an incredible education. You can’t go anywhere and get such skilled, intelligent instructors who really challenge you and really care. I went to a major university and I feel like anyone who thinks that ACC is not as good as a major school is ill-informed. I am proud to say that I went to ACC and graduated with an associate in nursing. With smaller class sizes, I was able to communicate more on a personal level with instructors that made it easier for me to push through.

There are a lot of trade-offs and you have to give up a lot of things, mainly sleep, that you will never be able to reclaim but the benefits are so worth it. If you are willing to struggle through it, you can make it. You will be different, and you will be smarter in the end.

What I can give to my children now is not just the income; it’s the school district they live in. I’ve completely shifted the socioeconomic class my children are growing up in because of my education. I know how to access resources like finding support. It’s made me a better mom. Anyone can do it if you really want it.

Jacqueline Sinkes

What I’veLearned

Instructor hopes to foster equality, understandingDawn Tawwater stands

in the front of the classroom hoping to give her students a greater perspective on human rights and equality.

She paces back and forth hurriedly in front of the dry-erase board, quoting statistics and writing down information in a scribble-scrabble manner, stopping every so often to see if any of her pupils have a question or comment about the material being covered.

Tawwater is a Sociology professor at ACC who focuses her curriculum on inequalities in society, mainly gender and race issues. On Dec. 4, she helped co-host a domestic violence awareness seminar during “The Justice Project” with a local organization, Safe Place, at the Rio Grande Campus.

Tawwater was born into a single parent home, she lived with her mother, and two sisters. Her mom worked as a beautician during the day, and went to school at night in hopes of pursuing a graduate degree.

She witnessed domestic violence at an early age in a relationship gone south between her mother and boyfriend of

four years. “He pulled the spark plugs

out of her car, stalked her, and verbally abused her,” said Tawwater.

Although Tawwater realized the injustice, she said that “at the time, I had no idea how to process because I had no intellectual backdrop to rely on.”

This experience led to her interest in gender inequality, and it caused her to further question the other forms of equality that she began to notice in the world around her.

Tawwater got her first opportunity to work toward the change she wanted to see at the age of 18 when she organized a protest against a Ku Klux Klan rally. After that rally, she understood that her calling was to be a human rights activist. She recalls the first realization about what she wanted to do with her life in her work with the Dallas Peacekeepers.

“I lived and worked among a lot of Quakers and Mennonites with the Dallas Peacekeepers. Both groups placed strong emphasis on pacifism and helping others. From then on I was sure that I knew that I wanted to help people.”

Work at the Dallas Peace Center included promoting

awareness about apartheid in South Africa, localized issues such as domestic violence, as well as heading anti-war protests in the Dallas area.

As she worked her way up the ranks, her passion for equality work grew, and her focus toward the human rights movement inspired her to devote her life to the cause.

Tawwater then attended Texas Women’s University and received her bachelor’s degree in sociology with a master’s degree in inequalities, race, and gender.

She began teaching during her early graduate studies to provide for her family.

“I was a single mom trying to provide for my three children.”

Her later graduate studies lead her to a small town in the Ivory Coast of West Africa named Adzop, where she spent six months studying the unique gender relationships within the various tribes in the area.

Tawwater draws on her various experiences to educate her students about the oppression that many Americans and people of the world alike face on a day to day basis and encourages the notion that different ways of life can and should be embraced and

celebrated.“I wanted to help

people with my sociological imagination,” said Tawwater. “People need to wake up and realize that equality can be achieved if children are educated on the past inequalities in history. Promoting sensitivity to issues of oppression in our culture is of the utmost importance to me. How can there not be a revolution going on when the statistics show that more and more women are being beaten daily than ever before. How can we justify something like that happening?”

She explained that ACC students can have a large impact on issues of inequality. She encouraged them to “educate yourselves, organize and start student groups. I’m dying to be a sponsor. If you can’t find the information on equality that you need in the classroom, then search outside. Be curious and wanting to be the change.”

Tawwater sums up her current goal with a smile, saying “I teach 3 classes daily, and I’ve taught for 15 years. That is a lot of students. If I can influence just one of my students to understand inequality through my teaching, then I have done my job.”

commuNity → PeoPle

EQUALITY LESSONS — Sociology instructor Dawn Tawwater gives a lecture to her class about equality and promotes culture sensitivity. Tawwater believes ACC students can have a large impact on issues of inequality.

Andrew Pagan • Lead Photographer

Austin Nicholas Staff Writer

Janelle Matous • Staff Photographer

page 6 www.theAccent.org Dec. 6, 2010LIFE & ARTSFortnight Forecast

College Sound is a recurring feature. If you’re an ACC student and a musician, please contact Sarah Vasquez, Life & Arts Editor at editor2@austincc.edu.

Feel the beat Music tweets

Austin engages in month-long write-a-thon

GT5 frustrates, impresses fans

Hip-hopping in AustinCollege Sou nd :Rapper breaks stereotype with use of nonviolent lyrics

Between day jobs, school and Thanksgiving, brave writers overdosed on caffeine, sacrificed nights of sleep and family time, became antisocial, and hid in coffee shops, all in the pursuit of the holy grail, the final word count of 50,000.

November was the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and according to the NaNoWriMo website, 964 people from the Austin region wrote almost 25 million words this year. NaNoWriMo is a marathon when writers around the globe compete against the 30-day deadline, in the hope that they will complete a 50,000-word long novel.

“Some days I just couldn’t write,” said Emily Bristow, Austin municipal liaison. “On the other days, I tried to make up by writing a whole lot. It also helped that I went to the 12 hour lockdown, because I usually set a goal that 12 hours means 10,000 words. I’ve

Keith UrbanGet CloserAn album full of romantic lyrics, musical clichés and very little good old country. If you like mainstream pop, buy this album.

Chocolat Feast - Eat Local Week BenefeastDec. 6, 7:00 p.m.Alamo Drafthouse South LamarEnjoy a feast inspired by the main characters of the movie Chocolat prepared only with local ingredients. Chocolate Feast is part of Eat Local Week, a event sponsored by Edible Austin to raise money for Urban Roots Youth Development Program.

Christmas at the CarillonDec. 6, 8:00 p.m. The Long Center for the Performing ArtsThe five time Grammy-nominated choral ensemble Conspirare will perform its holiday program in Austin with music that range from classical to pop. Start the Christmas Holiday with beautiful live music.

Girlie Night: Love ActuallyDec. 7, 7:00 p.m.Alamo Drafthouse at the RitzChristmas is coming. It’s time to start watching all those holiday flicks that will make the guys fight back their tears and girls sob loudly. Forget about “Jingle Bells,” sing along to “Christmas is All Around.”

Clogging ClassesEvery Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. Contemporary Cloggers7402 Brodie Ln Austin, TX 78745Join a Clogging class and learn how to tap like Broadway dancers. Clogging is an American folk dance that mixes tapping, Irish folk dance and square dancing.

After delay after delay, the Playstation 3 exclusive Gran Turismo 5 (GT5) racing simulation video game was finally released on Nov. 24.

Six years ago was the last time a full Gran Turismo video game was released. It has been two years since game developers Polyphonic teased gamers with the unsatisfying Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (GT5 Prologue).

GT5 Prologue was released with the intention of giving gamers a sample of what was to come in GT5, but it left gamers feeling frustrated since the game was so limited in car, track and race challenges.

GT5 is a racing simulation game where players navigate through race challenges to earn trophies and collect money to buy new, better cars.

The game is a frustrating mix of amazing content and glaring shortcomings. Because of this, fans of the Gran Turismo franchise are feeling a love/hate relationship with this game because the game

was so hyped and touted for years as the next greatest racing game. It’s not revolutionary, nor is it groundbreaking.

Fans of the game and those familiar with the history behind the franchise will love the game despite its flaws for the simple fact that it’s a new Gran Turismo. Anyone new to the franchise will think its just another racing game.

GT5 is less of a new revolutionary racing game and more of an extension of its predecessor Gran Turismo 4 (GT4).

The most frustrating aspect of this game is the excruciatingly long loading times.

Taking over an hour to install the game data onto the PS3 hard drive is ridiculous.

The actual gameplay is great. There are 1,000 cars, hundreds of events and 71 track variations to choose from including a new addition to the game: the famed Top Gear test track modeled after the British television show.

Cars in the game range from a Prius to a Redbull Formula 1 car.

The physics of the game feels fantastic and is a big step up from

GT4. Improved collision physics cause there to be less “bouncing” off walls and other cars in this game. Instead, when you bump into another car either you or your opponent will end up spinning off the track.

Sadly though, there still isn’t any collision damage in this game. That is something fans have been asking for every time a new Gran Turismo game is released.

In place of this is the addition of used cars available for purchase that are already damaged.

Another new addition to the series is the special events section. Here, players can be taught the art of drafting through traffic by Jeff Gordon and learn the art of drifting from Rally World Champion driver Sebastien Loeb. These events are the highlight of GT5, but most are very short.

GT5 is a must buy for fans of the franchise and gamers who love a good racing game. However, gamers seeking an innovative, revolutionary gaming experience will not find one here because GT5, to be frank, is just another simple racing game.

Shane O’Byrne broke his back lifting weights when he was in high school and changed his life plan of wanting to be a football player.

“I was planning to go to (the University of Southern California), be star linebacker on the team, just outrageous little kid stuff,” said O’Byrne. “That’s when basically everything changed.”

O’Byrne then made the decision to begin a hip hop career and now goes by the moniker Pro-Gres. When he’s not creating music, O’Byrne is studying communications at ACC.

“I’ve been doing it for about a year and a half now and things are finally starting to take off,” said O’Byrne.

O’Byrne hopes to change how hip hop isn’t one of the more popular music genres in the Austin music scene that is mostly dominated by rock and Americana.

“(The hip-hop community) is really trying to focus on bringing (Austin) hip hop mainstream because when everyone talks about rap, it’s all about New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Houston even.

In Austin, there’s no market for hip hop,” said O’Byrne.

Hip-hop and rap have notorious reputations for being “thugged-out” and promoting violence and derogatory lyrics. Examples of this can be seen in past situations such as a brawl breaking at the 2000 Source Hip-Hop Music Awards and the local 2009 shooting in front of the former-Spiro’s nightclub after a hip-hop show.

Despite this reputation, O’Byrne debates that not all violence is confined to hip-hop.

“I’ve been to so many shows. I’ve probably performed at about 40 shows and been to about another 400 shows. I think only about three times there were ever anything violent breaking out,” said O’Byrne. “It’s funny though. The more rock shows or the more punk rock shows that I’ve been to, that’s where I usually see more craziness happen.”

Looking past whether hip-hop promotes a violent mentality’s never-ending debate, O’Byrne focuses his lyrics on his real life situations and emotions and avoids writing about violence and bling.

“I don’t have any bling. I’m broke. I’m a student. I got a pair of Versace glasses that I bought three years ago and that’s what I rock,” said O’Byrne. “The last thing I want is to be is that cliché. ‘Oh yeah, I got a big old diamond, but at the same time I owe the government $15,000 in back taxes.’”

In one song of his in particular, “Not Sorry (For That),” O’Byrne’s raps about past experiences of getting in trouble, selling drugs and dealing with what he says were bad decisions.

The lyrics such as “I’m out of control. I can’t make sense of itself, so I smoke every day cause it mellows me out” were inspired after a conversation with a high school friend who he lost contact with.

“I was just ‘Hey man, I just wish that things would have been different between us because we were really good friends, but I can’t really say that I’m sorry for anything that I did because if I did that, then I’m not really being honest with myself,’” said O’Byrne. “Yes, I was really wrong to do it, but I can’t apologize for it because it made me the stronger man that I am today.”

O’Byrne currently has several projects in the work that he hopes to release in the upcoming year.

“My main focus is putting out my mix tape right now,” said O’Byrne. “It’s probably going just be an online drop. Put it on iTunes, Amazon and all that.”

He hopes to release it on New Year’s Day, with a backup plan of releasing it on Jan. 11, which will be 1/11/11.

Additionally, O’Byrne has a plan to release a super remix track with the who’s who of Austin hip-hop artists. He already has about 14 artists to contribute to the 20 minute long song.

“It’s like this is a taste. This is all the best of us, and this is our best stuff on a really good track,” said O’Byrne.

always made it so far.”Bristow is a NaNoWriMo

veteran who won the competition every year since 1999.

It isn’t easy writing 1,667 words per day for 30 days. Life happens, especially in the busy month of November. Families invade the homes of the writers for Thanksgiving. There are presents to be exchange for Christmas. And for the students, there are finals.

Some NaNoWriMo writers have fought against the time but failed to meet the word count.

“This was a hard year for me. This was my sixth year (participating at NaNoWriMo). The first year that I have failed to get 50,000 words,” said Deanna Roy, who only wrote 12,000 words of her novel. “I moved, and it was too hard to do all the words and get my new house in order.”

NaNoWriMo is not only about vomiting words on a page, it is about knowing how to actually plot a plan, convince oneself to follow it

through, and be amazed with the result.

“To set a writing goal and actually type (the words) up for an entire month, independent of how painful it is to sit and write after a long day, is an accomplish in itself,” said Kurt Korfmacher, who had 16,000 words written at the Last Chance write-in, an event that was held at the Writer’s League of Texas hours before midnight on the last day of NaNoWriMo.

Korfmacher entered the word count race because of his fiancée Roy. He succeeded at his first two NaNoWriMo attempts. This year the words got the better of him, but he said he will keep filling his future Novembers with the writing challenge.

Now that November has come and gone, it is time for those who did finish their novels to celebrate and share battle tales. Next year, another word war will happen.

For information on how to participate in NaNoWriMo next year, visit nanowrimo.org.

AgallochMarrow Of The SpiritJohn Haughm’s vocals sound like Donald Duck possessed by devil spirits. Ignore the voice. The heavy guitar and drums are awesome.

William TylerBehold The SpiritIn this instrumental album with elements of eastern music, the acoustic guitar reigns. Brass and strings construct a beautiful background.

Calle 13Entren Los Que QuieranPuerto Rican duo raps in Spanish to smooth rhythms about social inequality. The rhythm is good for dancing and the lyrics are good for reflecting.

Orange JuiceCoals to NewcastleThis punk band brings the ‘80s back with guitar riffs that will make your hair perm up and synthetic sounds that will make your feet move.

Sister Sparrow and the Dirty BirdsSister Sparrow and the Dirty BirdsFeel the sensuality with Arleigh Kincheloe’s voice and the soul-rich saxophone. This album is golden for all soul fans.

arts → literature

arts → Games aNd tech

arts → music

HIP HOP REMIX — Communications major Shane O’Byrne prides himself for creating hip hop music that is non-stereotypical of the genre. Byrne raps about his own real life situations and emotions rather than violence.

Photo courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment America

Karissa Rodriguez • Photo/Web Editor

Diana Leite Staff Reporter

Karissa Rodriguez Photo/Web Editor

Sarah Vasquez Life & Arts Editor

Dec. 6, 2010 www.theAccent.org page 7

Tek Republik offers wide array of playable games at decent prices

With the rise of online gaming and gaming at home, public gaming locations, such as arcades, have been slowly declining.

Gamers are playing online more than ever, and while that is a lot of fun, there is always one thing missing from gaming events: tournaments or local area network (LAN) parties.

If you don’t have the time to set up these events, you can head over to a LAN center. LAN centers are essentially businesses that have been set up with all the equipment provided for you. You can come in, get your game on and leave when you want.

That time of year is upon us where, once again, we are faced with the dilemma of what to get people for the holidays. Living in Austin, it is easy to get overwhelmed with all the choices, and there are several ways

to attack this monster. You can pursue big box stores to look for what everyone else is going to get their loved ones, or you can shop local. Shopping locally not only stimulates the economy, but it supports local artists and their craft. There are local shops all around the city that all have their own unique appeal. One place to check out is the Blue Genie Art Bazaar at the Marchesa Hall on 6226 Middle Fiskville Rd. that runs from Dec. 1-24. At this annual celebration of local artists, you can find just what you want when shopping for anyone on your list.

Mana Culture’s South Austin Boutique2214 S. 1st St.www.manaculture.comThese amazing brass and silver rings are perfect for the lady you know who loves jewelry. Ranging in price from $56-$68, you can’t go wrong with these beautifully handmade treasures.

Laced With Romance Vintage1601 South 1st St.lacedwithromance.comVintage boots never go out of style, and this store does not disappoint. Priced from $50-$200, their wide selection of men’s and women’s boots makes it easy to find the perfect pair for your fashionista friends.

Badin’s Joyhttp://www.badinsjoy.comAvailable at Blue Genie Art Bazaar, these ceramic garden art stakes could be a big hit with the grandmother who loves to play in her flower beds. Priced at $12, they make a great stocking stuffer and offer a wide selection of design and size so you can find the one that suits her best.

Rory SkagenBlue Genie Art BazaarThis eclectic cutting board makes a great find for dads with a sense of humor. Made out of glass and priced at just $34, the artist has a keen eye for kitsch without the creepiness.

Texas Medicinalswww.texasmedicinals.comFor the all-natural friend, try out Texas Medicinals’ herbal tea tin. In a variety of flavors, the $10 tin is a great way to show your friends how much you care about the Earth and what they drink.

Studio 3www.Ilovestudiothree.comFor Mom, why not give her something that brightens up her kitchen? These fun cloth napkins were made using a mixture of refurbished vintage and organic cotton hand printed in original designs with environmentally friendly inks. At $26, they are a steal.

Nakatomi, Inc.www.nakatominc.comThese funky prints are a perfect gift for your geeky friend. Artist Tim Doyle takes us into his crazy world by drawing from pop culture at the bargain price of $25 per print.

of a local

Tek Republik is the only place in Austin that provides gamers with the public gaming experience.

Located at 5310 Burnet Road, Suite 106, Tek Republik is equipped with numerous computers and gaming consoles at a reasonable price.

All computers have top of the line specs and the newest games such as Halo: Reach and Call of Duty.

Tek Republik has different specials every day such as “World of Warcraft Wednesday” where people play World of Warcraft and Warhammer online for $2 per hour and “Ladies Night” where ladies can play for a mere $1 per hour on Fridays.

Normal prices are $2.50 per

hour before 5 p.m., and $3.50 after 5 p.m. on the weekdays.

If you are looking to play a multiplayer game and want some local competition, you can always catch someone playing Call of Duty or old-school favorites like Counter-Strike that you can join in with at Tek Republik. Also, if shooters aren’t your thing, you can always play with other World of Warcraft or Starcraft 2 players, among other games.

With a good selection of games and fair prices, you should definitely check out Tek Republik.

For their prices, game selection and other information about the game center, check out their website at tekrepublik.net.

DreamingChristmas

arts → Games aNd tech

GAME ON — Local Austinites play Call of Duty at Tek Republik. Tek Republik is Austin’s only public gaming center where gamers can pay to play on one of their numerous gaming and computer systems that line the walls and fill row after row of desks.

Gamers enjoy public multiplayer experience at location which provides numerous computers

Karissa Rodriguez • Photo/Web Editor

Jason Witmer Staff Writer

Janelle Matous Staff Writer