solano tempest
DESCRIPTION
Our May 9 2012 issue with the amazing community college gameTRANSCRIPT
FAIRFIELD, CALIF.www.solanotempest.net
MORE ONLINE AT WWW.SOLANOTEMPEST.NET - Bonus photos of Cinco de Mayo and local band El Loma Prieta
“Change is not always growth, but growth is often rooted in change.”
-R.A. Salvatore
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
8SEE CINCO DE MAYO, PAGE 2
COFFEE BREAK ON 4
VOL. 28, NO. 14MAY 9 - SEPT. 4, 2012T H E V O I C E O F S O L A N O C O L L E G E
THE TEMPEST
Is college monopolizing your life? 4
Practice makes perfect: 6
Softball team takes division
champs again
SPORTS ON 10
3 El Loma Prieta rocks
Band is a fusion of reggae, rock and progressive metal
A&E ON 8
Steamroller smackdown!6
SCC artists take printmaking to Dixon May Fair
A&E ON 9
Voting: Use it or lose it 6
Exercise your right to vote
OPINION ON 5
By Sharman [email protected]
If the beautiful weather was a portent of the day ahead, the Cinco de Mayo festivities at Solano Com-munity College certainly proved a success.
With colorful costumes and vibrant smiles, danc-ers from Napa Valley’s Ballet Folklorico brightened the event, the girls twirling their dresses and the boys tapping their heels to the Mexican folk music playing from the loudspeakers.
“It makes me proud as a student, it makes me proud of being a Mexican to be here celebrating Cinco de Mayo with you guys,” said Jose Montes, represent-ing the student government on campus.
Other members of the student government were present, including Geff Freire, Davis Martinez and Daniel Schmitgal. Schmitgal sported a festive sombre-ro stood at the front of the campus shaking a sign for the event.
Employees from the Solano County Library came to promote their “What do you geek?” campaign, along with employees from the Cordelia Fire Department, BabyFirst, Consumer Choice Marketing, and other various booths were present at the event.
By Deborah GrahamOnline [email protected]
The second Solano Community Col-lege Education Fair saw community mem-bers and students experiencing a wide array of career degree and certificate programs offered at the college Sunday.
The event was interactive fun for all. Students and community members were able to see robots in action, help build an airplane, analyze a crime scene, earn a free typing certificate, have their hair and make-up done, then get a photo. There was an ambulance available to explore, virtual welding, CPR training and more.
Some new additions this year included Passport to Prizes. K-12 teachers and stu-dents were encouraged to download these passports, bring them to the event and get each square with the listed course stamped. Winning teachers with the most partici-pants received a $100 gift card and students received a $25 gift card.
Another new feature to the fair was a car show. Auto body instructor Dan Ulrich’s buddies dedicated their free time to show
off their classic vehicles. “I have been doing cars all my life. I
asked my close friends if they could bring their cars out to help out the college, and they did,” Ulrich said. “I am trying to get the program accredited. It is helpful when people see the work these students do.”
Professor Tom Woodbeck from the film and television department said that it was his first time participating at the fair.
“This has been so much fun for me.” Woodbeck said. “It is nice to see such a large turnout in support of the college.”
Debra Berrett, faculty member and co-chair of the event, said she was pleased with the turnout. “There is so much more going on this year,” Berrett said. “It was heavily marketed towards K-12. I think it was im-portant getting them down here and intro-duced to all the programs. Samantha Schneider, 18, a deaf studies major, said she learned about the fair from her career life plan teacher. She came out to see the programs the college had to offer. “I am glad I came. I wanted to come and see what other opportunities were out there.”
The dance group Ballet Folklorico performs at the Cinco de Mayo event on campus.
Sharman Bruni/Tempest
Career Education Fair draws large crowd
A cosmetology student gives a hair demo at the career fair on Sunday, May 6.
Deborah Graham/Tempest
Cinco de Mayo returns with sun and fun at Solano College
NEWS2 THE TEMPEST n MAY 9 - SEPT. 4, 2012
By John GliddenStaff [email protected]
The Solano Community College gov-erning board, during its May 2 meeting, announced that the district had reached a settlement with Carey Roth, former vice-president of administrative and business services at Solano College.
Rosemary Thurston, governing board president, announced that Roth will receive a total of $135,000. The Solano district will have to pay $45,000 with the remaining bal-ance being paid by insurance.
“The Solano Community College Dis-trict is part of SWACC (Statewide Associa-tion of Community Colleges)” said Eugene B. Elliot, counsel representing the Solano College District, in an email to The Tem-pest.
According to the SWACC website, “[SWACC] was formed for the purposes of providing the services and other items necessary and appropriate for the establish-ment, operation and maintenance of a joint program for liability and property damage claims against public agencies.”
In addition to the monetary payment, the district will provide a letter of recom-mendation for Roth.
“Mr. Roth has requested a letter setting forth the dates of his employment with the District and a statement setting forth his job duties,” said Elliot in the same email.
Leo Donahue, Roth’s legal counsel for the case, declined to comment.
“Plaintiff [Roth] disclosed that he be-lieved the Defendant [Solano College] was willfully misrepresenting official govern-ment fiscal documents to present Solano in a false light in order to make it appear that SCCD met the California Community Col-lege Chancellor requirement that SCCD have a minimum reserve balance of five per-cent of operating expenses for unrestricted funds,” Roth’s complaint alleges.
The suit also states that the failure of SCCD to maintain this reserve balance would result in the Chancellor of the Cali-fornia Community College system declaring Solano fiscally insolvent; which would lead the Chancellor to take over the Solano Dis-trict and then merge Solano with a nearby community college district.
“After being praised for his [Roth’s] job performance, having saved the SCCD $6 [million when Roth] disclosed to his superi-ors that this information must be addressed, [Roth] was quickly and summarily fired (re-leased from probation),” Roth’s suit alleges.
“A final dismissal has not yet been en-tered in this case. Further comment by the District regarding this matter would thus not be appropriate at this time,” said Elliot in the email to The Tempest.
The governing board, in closed session, voted 5-0 to accept the terms between Roth and the district. Trustees McCaffrey and Honeychurch were not in attendance at the meeting.
Roth worked at Solano College from Dec. 2009 to June 2010.
By John GliddenStaff [email protected]
Kelsey Moran-Richardson, the president of the Associated Students of Solano Col-lege (ASSC) student government, has re-signed.
The new president of the ASSC student government is Kristine Barruzo.
“Kelsey vacated the president position, and I assume the office of president,” said Barruzo to the ASSC student government during their May 1 meeting.
During the initial weeks of the spring semester, Moran-Richardson, the then-pres-ident of ASSC student government, nomi-nated Barruzo for the office of vice-presi-dent. The ASSC student senate approved the nomination.
In April, Barruzo resigned from the posi-tion of vice-president to become the ASSC student government health and physical education associate. Associate is akin to a senate position without the ability to make motions or binding votes but associates have an advisory vote.
To replace Barruzo, Moran-Richardson nominated Naser Baig to be the new ASSC vice-president of the ASSC student govern-ment.
Baig resigned from his position as aca-demic curriculum senator, to be eligible for the office of vice-president of ASSC student
government. The ASSC student senate ap-proved his nomination to the office of vice-president.
The ASSC constitution states that the vice president will assume the position of president if the office is vacated.
Official ASSC agendas from April 3 to May 1 listed Barruzo as an associate and Baig as the vice-president of ASSC student government.
“I never submitted my letter of resigna-tion,” Barruzo said at the May 1 ASSC stu-dent government meeting.
Last week, The Tempest learned that Moran-Richardson was ineligible for the position of president of ASSC student gov-ernment because she was not enrolled in at least six units at Solano College.
Article I, section 1 of the ASSC bylaws defines the eligibility requirement of the ASSC president and other executive officers of the ASSC student government, “Execu-tive officers shall complete a minimum of six (6) units in each semester that they hold office.”
“I have nothing to say,” said Moran-Richardson when asked whether she was enrolled in six units at Solano College.
Mostafa Ghous, Director of Student De-velopment did not respond to emails asking if Moran-Richardson was still holding an of-fice in student government.
By Deborah GrahamOnline [email protected]
The door opens and you are greeted with a warm smile. Your records are reviewed, suggestions made and by end of your visit to Brenda Tucker’s office you are on a clear path to success. This is what Tucker, coun-selor for Solano Community College, does on a day-to-day basis. She challenges stu-dents to go beyond their own expectations, to aim high.
Tucker’s title goes beyond that of coun-selor. She is one of 16 counselors at SCC. For the past six years her role at SCC has included being a caregiver, psychiatrist, nurturer, activist, and grief counselor. A Berkeley native, she attained her psychol-ogy and educational degrees from Cal State Hayward, U.C. Berkley, Argosy University, San Francisco State and a certificate in orga-nizational development and social behavior through Wright Institute.
Tucker spent the past 20 years doing motivational speaking tours throughout her community, hosting several radio shows, one of which was a relationship talk show for KDIA AM, which she hosted for two years.
“I was doing all these things but I knew I wanted to go back into academics,” Tucker said. “I specifically wanted to work with the community college population.”
When Tucker looked into applying for SCC she scaled back her private practice, workshops and seminars. She did several years in many part-time colleges before she came to Solano. Tucker’s first year at SCC was as an interim counselor before taking on the role as a permanent counselor. Her other counseling roles at the college includ-ed positions at disability services program, and the Umoja program.
“I came to Dr. Tucker just seeking a business degree. She has encouraged me to go much further with my educational goals.” said Tiffany McIntyre-Finley, student and mother of three. “She has helped me see my true destiny.”
Due to Tucker’s encouragement McIn-tyre-Finley is pursuing a teaching career at the high school level.
Tucker doesn’t see anything special about her way of counseling. She says she feels it is important to allow students the op-portunity to develop a sense of purpose.
“Sometimes,” she says, “a student’s pur-pose is to find a purpose. They come here hoping to develop a sense of who they are and who they can become.”
She says she finds her biggest challenges
can be students who have low reading or writing scores and the college doesn’t have enough resources to accommodate them.
She lauds the counseling department’s new drop-in program that allows students to come in to the department and be able to be seen on a first come, first-served basis. She says she sees these things as just the begin-ning of some “wonderful” changes that are coming to the counseling department
Erin Vines, director of counseling ser-vices, recognizes Tucker’s ability to take stu-dents who either are in a crisis situation or low academic standings and give them the motivation and drive to excel, despite many obstacles that get in their way.
“She has such a positive spirit, and has this uncanny ability to work with a student regarding some challenging situations,” Vines said. “You can go into her office on a casual conversation and it might become a therapeutic session. It is just who she is though. She has this wonderful intuition.”
SCC Trustee A. Marie Young and President Rosemary Thurston from the SCC govern-ing board were present at the event to show their support.
Congressman John Garamendi (D-Fairfield) also surprised the audience with a visit.“It’s a great privilege for me to share this day with all of you and to really pay tribute to
the extraordinary contributions that the Mexican culture has made in California and to America,” Garamendi said.
Garamendi also made a point of relaying to the audience the importance of voting and participating in the political process.
“All of us here, wherever you happen to be, wherever you happen to live, must begin to participate in the electoral process,” Garamendi said.
He spoke of next year’s Cinco de Mayo festival as well.“I understand it will be bigger, but not necessarily better next year, because it is terrific
this year.”“We look forward to having you here next year,” added Superintendent-President Jowel
Laguerre.
7 CINCO DE MAYO: FROM PAGE 1
ASSC president resigns
Brenda Tucker stays busy at Solano working as a school counselor.
Deborah Graham/Tempest
School counselor helps students find their purpose
College reaches $135,000 settlement with former VP
Festivities brighten the day during this year’s Cinco de Mayo event
MORE STORIES ON THE WEB
The future of campus theatre is at stake
Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society inducts new members
“She has such a posi-tive spirit, and has
this uncanny ability to work with a student re-garding some challeng-
ing situations.”
- Erin Vines
By John GliddenStaff [email protected]
About 50 students voted in Friday’s Associated Students of Solano College (ASSC) student government election for president, vice president, student trustee and three amendments to governing documents.
Arturo Castillo and Jack Spe-row, running for president and vice-president, respectively, gar-nered 51 ‘yes’ votes. Kayla Salazar, running for student trustee, re-ceived 54 ‘yes’ votes. All three are current members of ASSC student government and were running un-opposed.
All Solano College students enrolled in classes after the W deadline were eligible to vote in the election.
Phil McCaffrey Jr., current
career technical senator of ASSC student government, and member of the ASSC election committee, garnered six write-in votes for the office of legislative advocate.
The election committee was set to approve McCaffrey Jr. as the official winner of the office when the committee was informed that the ASSC election code forbids members of the election commit-tee from being candidates in the election.
McCaffrey Jr. worked the vot-ing polls as a member of the elec-tion committee.
Daniel Schmitgal, current ASSC senator, received four write-in votes for the legislative advocate position. It is unknown if Schmit-gal will accept the position.
Schmitgal initially submitted a candidacy form for the position of legislative advocate but records show that he turned in his candi-
dacy form a day after the deadline to submit the form; thus, his name was not placed on the ballot.
On the ballot were three chang-es to the ASSC governing docu-ments. Two of these changes were to the ASSC bylaws. The ASSC constitution states that amend-ments to the ASSC bylaws shall become a part of the bylaws with a majority vote of the ASSC student senate.
The ASSC student government held a special meeting April 20 in which six senators, a simple major-ity, voted to ratify the amendments to the bylaws.
The third change is one to the ASSC constitution, and the pro-cess to amend the ASSC constitu-tion is different than amending the ASSC bylaws. The ASSC constitution states that, “the membership of the ASSC shall consist of all students
currently enrolled at Solano Com-munity College.” and “ratification of this constitution any proposed amendments shall be placed on the spring semester general elec-tion ballot and shall require a two-thirds vote of the ASSC member-ship.”
Baig and the election com-mittee said that a two-thirds af-firmative vote of students who participated in the spring election is enough to amend the ASSC constitution, not two-thirds of all students currently enrolled at So-lano College.
“My emphasis is on ‘vote’ [list-ed in Article IX, section II of the ASSC constitution], if they don’t vote then they don’t get a say,” Baig said after the ballot counting meeting.
The constitutional change gar-nered 53 affirmative votes with four ‘no’ votes. Baig is recom-
mending that the ASSC student government adopt the 53 affirma-tive votes to alter the ASSC con-stitution.
“Maybe we should have ad-vertised a lot more. I think that is about it,” Baig said when asked about the low voter turn-out. “I wish there was more represen-tation, I wish there were more votes,” Baig said.
NEWS 3THE TEMPEST n MAY 9 - SEPT. 4, 2012
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change the world from heres a n f r a n c i s c o s a n ta r o s a s a n j o s e s a c r a m e n t o e a s t b ay
By Sharman [email protected]
Although he’s not in the circus, Frank Miranda performs quite the juggling act. He holds the position of chairman for Solano County’s Republican Central Committee, and is constantly involved in fundraisers, events, supporting candidates, and a myriad of other activities in the political circuit.
Miranda encourages voters, especially college students, to get involved in the po-litical process.
“Without the people voting, we’re never going to change things,” Miranda said.
Miranda sees Obama as a president that has led people to be dependent on govern-ment. Miranda supports Romney and the
pursuit of capitalism. He believes that with-in two years of Romney taking office, our country will “be running again.”
The committee relies on the help of vol-unteers and dedicated staff members like Franklin Carballo.
Carballo encourages constituents of any party affiliation to become active in their political community. He believes in the va-lidity of the two-party system and its basis in American government.
“When you work with a party, you re-ally have to understand what’s best for the party. By doing this, you’ll have a strong government,” Carballo said.
Carballo spoke fondly of Miranda. “When he became the chairman of the (So-lano County) Republican Party, he made some changes that really put me to work
harder for him,” Carballo said. “He is a man of action.”
Miranda believes in hard work and at-tributes his success to his dedication.
“Nobody gave me a thing, I just worked like heck all my life,” Miranda said. “Once I make a goal, I stick to it.”
Miranda relays that individuals can reg-ister to vote at the committee office as well as find out how they can get involved in lo-cal politics.
“Most of the time we’re open five days a week, Thursday being the only day the secretary isn’t here,” Miranda said. “If you want to get involved, all you need to do is come down.”The Republican Committee’s offices are lo-cated at 625 Jackson St. in Fairfield.
Solano County Republican Committee chairman looks to the future with vigor
Voter turn-out was low at this year’s student body elections
Although 1200 ballots were printed, only around 50 were used.
John Glidden/Tempest
Frank Miranda poses in front of re-districting maps at the Solano County Republican Committee.
Sharman Bruni/Tempest
Join The Tempest: Journalism 60
ASSC is growing and learningEditor-
I would like to take the op-portunity to address the article you published on April 25 en-titled, “Student government not following election code.” As the chair of the election committee, I believe that the title of the piece is misleading.
The author, John Glidden, brings up some issues that he sees as violations. However I hope you will note that he also acknowl-edges, albeit lopsidedly, that the committee did remedy any missteps. For instance, he admits that the period of availability of declaration of candidacy forms was extended and that the ASSC did in fact “comply with this sec-tion of the code.”
The initial mandatory can-didates’ meeting was declared invalid due to lack of a published agenda, and I freely own that was an error on my part. However, as
Mr. Glidden notes, we “make up for this deficiency” by scheduling a second meeting, with a correctly posted agenda, in a public area, and in full compliance with the Brown Act.
Every semester, the ASSC is reborn. An influx of new students are exposed to a system of poli-cies that are initially foreign and counter-intuitive. It takes about three-quarters of the semester for the students of Political Science 50 – the class behind the ASSC – to get used to using parliamentary procedure and conforming to the Brown Act at every meeting
By the time the ASSC Senate finds its rhythm, the semester draws to a close. It is a learning process, and mistakes will be made. Mr. Glidden himself was
a long-standing member of the ASSC and presiding secretary of the election committee last year
In the Spring 2011 elections, the election calendar was ap-proved a mere five weeks prior to the actual elections. Do the errors of the past justify errors in current or future sessions of the ASSC? No. However, I would take the position that our current senate has done a better job of comply-ing with the election code than most prior sessions of student government.
– Naser Baig,
Vice President, ASSC
Chair Spring 2012 Election Com-mittee
OPINION4 THE TEMPEST n MAY 9 - SEPT. 4, 2012
ON THE WEB
See more stories, opinion pieces and polls on our
website at:Solanotempest.net
Wed. May 9ASSC Political Forum12:30 p.m.Back of cafeteria (1400 Bldg)
Sacramento State transfer representative on campusDrop in 9 - 11:30. Appointments Noon - 2:30
Thur. May 10Student Health CenterOutreach Health Services5 - 6:30 p.m.Vacaville Center
Bike to Work Day 2012Energizer station will be set up in Quad, 8 - 10 a.m.Building 1400
ICC Meetings – last meeting12:30 - 1:30 p.m.Room 1421
Spring Choral Concert7:30 p.m.Hosted by Solano College ChoralSolano College Campus Theatre Building 1200
May 10-12Horticulture Spring Plant SaleThurs. 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.Fri. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.Sat. 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Building 100
Fri. May 11Solano College Spring Film Festi-val, free student film screening6 - 9 p.m.Hosted by Solano College Film DepartmentSuisun Harbor Theatre720 Main Street, Suisun City
Mon. May 14CSU East Bay transfer representa-tive on campusDrop in 9-11:30. Appointments Noon-2:30
UC Davis transfer representative on campus Drop in: 9-10:30, Appointments: 10:30 - 11:30 and
12:30 - 2:30
May 16-22Evening class final exams
May 17-23Day class final exams
Sat. May 19Final exams, Saturday classes
Sun. May 20Final exams, Sunday classes
Mon. May 21Horticulture Club Meeting6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.Bldg. 1000
Wed. May 23Graduation ceremony10:30 a.m.Holister Field
Thurs. May 24The Sound of Music7:30 p.m.Hosted by Solano Youth Theatre Solano College Campus Theatre Building 1200
Sat. June 2Aquatics Adventure & Water Safety Day11:30 a.m .- 3 p.m.SCC poolContact [email protected]
Mon. Aug. 13Fall 2012 classes begin
campus calendarThe problem with
the rap industry is there’s too many, “talk-ers” and not enough “doers”.
In the music indus-try today you need to manage and excel in every aspect of your music– promoting, mar-keting, and performing.
You can’t expect anyone to push you further than you’re will-ing to push yourself. I can tell you through my own experience that it takes a lot of hard work and dedication.
I went to San Diego in pursuit of a career as a music producer. I graduated in 2008 with a degree in music production, now what to do with it?
I started producing my own beats in Vallejo. This led to recording my own songs and mixing and mastering them. In Vallejo, where some of the local artists include All American Mob, Mr. Apher of E.A.R. (Everybody’s A Rapper) Entertainment, Money Bag Management/Purple Session Entertain-ment, and Bay Boy Entertainment, I created Young Hicks Productions.
If you’re an artist, producer, engineer or promot-er, the work you do day-to-day is going to determine how far you’re going to get in this business. As an artist, your pay is a result of your lyrics and per-formance. As a producer, your pay is based on the quality of sound arrangement and as an engineer your pay is a result of your mixing and mastering skills. The promoter gets his/her money due to his/her hustle in arranging venues. If you’re not signed, these are things you’ll need to pay for. Don’t expect someone to hand you a meal ticket if you’re not investing time and money in your own business.
You have to be clear with yourself as an artist. You have to have purpose and intent. What are you making your music for? Who is the target group you want to listen to your music? What is the message you are communicating to your listener?
Most importantly you need to own up to your words, actions, and credibility. It’s an honor when someone listens to your music and understands where you’re coming from. When you’re able to ex-press a part of you that you don’t share all the time or allow everyone to see.
Recently I had a spontaneous run-in with Hip-Hop artist Redman, who had listened to some of my tracks and gave me feedback. It meant a lot to me that someone in the industry took the time to do this.
“It was an honor to meet you, and I love your songs,” said Redman. “Keep doing your thing and stay focused.” I never asked him to listen to my mu-sic, and to receive feedback, just from running into him randomly, is a blessing and shows progression for me. It’s not about how many people you know, it’s about who you know.
Music plays a big part in everyone’s life, whether it’s listening to music or making music. The key to this relationship between music and people is experience. Going through bad times some may listen to slow music to get through what they’re going through or put on something to make them happy. Looking to party, some may want faster more uplifting music. People relate most to what’s real, the truth, and what’s honest.
Anyone can make a dollar, how to maintain it and make it work for you is another topic entirely. Welcome to the music industry.
Val Hicks, a.k.a Young Hicks, is currently produc-ing a three-part series, offering three mixedtapes for free. Download, “The Struggle,” available this July, “The Hustle”to be released in September, and “The Bubble,” available on I-tunes and other music down-load sites in November.
Rap isn’t just talk
Letter to the editor
Don’t expect someone to hand you a meal ticket if
you’re not investing time and money in your own business.
By Val HicksStaff Writer
Every semester, the ASSC is reborn. An influx of new students are exposed to a system of policies that are initially
foreign and counter-intuitive.
VOICE YOUR OPINION
If you have something to say, a reaction to a story or an opinion on a topic, email us your view at:[email protected] you do send letters please make sure to in-clude your full name, and contact information (for verification purposes) and be advised that letters may be edited and/or shortened for length.
Yes, you read the title correctly. If you don’t vote, you should leave the country immediately. I have vacillated on this radical view but I grow tired of the low voter turnout in Solano County and in the United States as a whole. Many rejoice when there is a fifty percent turnout of regis-tered voters. That is quite pitiful and shameful. According to Solano’s registrar of voters, there were 191,387 reg-istered voters in Solano County during the November 2008 presidential election. Eighty-five percent of Solano county voters (that’s 162,638) cast a ballot. Compare this to November 2010 when 196,133 people were regis-tered to vote in Solano County but only 121,916 (62 percent) of the registered voters in Solano county voted. Where did the vot-ers go? Why did so many discard the vote so soon after 2008? My wrath is for those individuals who have never registered to vote, those who have let their voter registration lapse due to a lack of voting, those who are registered voters but refuse to vote, and, finally, these people are my abso-lute favorite, those who declare that they will never register to vote or actually vote. Well, hell, allow me to show you the door. Naturally, the above-mentioned individuals will assert one or more of the following reasons: I
have no time to learn about the issues or candidates, I am protest-ing the government (local, state, or federal), I don’t believe in voting (my favorite excuse), all the candidates are bad choices, etc. I have a small test. Now, I believe everyone should vote but there are a few groups I would like to single out. This test is quite simple. Find a mir-ror. Look at the mirror, staring at your reflection. Then read the next two lines. If you qualify for one or both lines – you really have no excuse not to vote. Are you ready? •The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condi-tion of servitude
•The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
How did it go? Did you qualify for one of the lines? Now do you understand the importance of voting? No? Need more proof? Okay, go to google.com and switch to image search of ‘Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith.’ Look at the full image – see that guy in the crowd pointing up at Shipp
and Smith? Do you see the glee and defiance in his eyes? Shipp and Smith were not lynched for voting – they weren’t lynched for other reasons but I have always thought of the man pointing up at Shipp and Smith when I cast a ballot. Every time, any-one, whether African-American, Caucasian-America, male, female, or any other ethnicity votes, you are telling that man pointing at Shipp and Smith to go to hell. Vote so you can erase that smirk off of his face. Vote so you can avenge Shipp and Smith. Did you know that suffragette Susan B. Anthony was arrested
for voting in the 1872 presidential election? She was arrested for vot-ing- arrested because women were not allowed to vote at that time. Vote to avenge Anthony’s arrest over such an arcane rule. I’m comforted by the words of William Lloyd Garrison who started his own newspaper: The
OPINION 5THE TEMPEST n MAY 9 - SEPT. 4, 2012
campus conversation
What are you doing over summer break?
“Looking for work and a place to live.”
-Andrew Billings. 22electronics
“I will be getting my driver’s li-cense and looking for work.”
-Kelly Bennett, 21 art
“I will be going to another school for summer break but coming back for the fall semester.”
-Nashawna Scott, 19fashion design
“I have been unemployed since ‘09 so basically I will be looking for a job.”
-Tyler Decker, 21aeronautics
“I am possibly going to Cancun, studying more information on criminal justice and also think-ing about going into the police academy.”
-Lorenzo Valenzuel, 19criminal justice
By John GliddenStaff Writer
The Tempest is published by Solano College
students. Opinions expressed in the paper
are those of the individual writers and artists,
and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of
the college’s governing board, the administra-
tion, the faculty and staff, or the Associated
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It is Tempest policy to correct any errors in the paper. Please contact us if you spot one. To get in touch with us:phone:(707) 864-7000, ext. 4361e-mail: [email protected] address:SCC, Room 18614000 Suisun Valley Road, Fairfield, California 94534
THE TEMPESTThe Voice of Solano College nVol. 28, No. 14
Sharman Brunieditor-in-chief
Sharman Bruninews editor
Ben Gognasports editorphoto editor
Nick Sestanovich a&e editor
Deborah Grahamonline editor
opinion editor
Camille LevasseurLarry RaglandJohn GliddenMark BeierlySam ZaghloulTim Hosford
Valentino HicksVigil Taltonstaff writers
Phillip Templecartoonist
Samanda Dorgeradviser
Your vote: Use it or lose itMy wrath is for those individuals who
have never registered to vote...
Suffragette Susan B. Anthony was arrested for voting in the 1872 presidential election because women were not allowed to vote.
Liberator in 1831. As an ardent moral abolitionist of slavery in America, Garrison wrote: “The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the dead.”
COFFEE BREAK6 THE TEMPEST n MAY 9 - SEPT. 4, 2012
Sometimes it’s a roll of the dice to get the classes you need, to transfer within two years, to collect financial aid, to find your books, or just to stay awake in class because you worked a double the night before. Take a break with our Community College game. Warm up your dice and start figuring your odds, and jump right in, it’s your turn. Is community college monopolizing your life?
COFFEE BREAK 7THE TEMPEST n MAY 9 - SEPT. 4, 2012
Phillip Temple/Tempest
Sometimes it’s a roll of the dice to get the classes you need, to transfer within two years, to collect financial aid, to find your books, or just to stay awake in class because you worked a double the night before. Take a break with our Community College game. Warm up your dice and start figuring your odds, and jump right in, it’s your turn.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT8 THE TEMPEST g MAY 9 - SEPT. 4, 2012
El Loma Prieta brings fusion of sounds to local scene
By Sharman Bruni Editor-in-Chief [email protected] Guzzling honey from a plastic bear, lead singer Kolby Stancil prepares for a show at Club Retro on April 26. Although he is feeling a bit under the weather, Stancil manages to carry himself with pride and invests himself passionately in his vocals as well as in his guitar playing. El Loma Prieta began in 2009 with Stancil, Dan Cagley (drums), Chad Perrault (bass) and guitarist Leland Van-dermeulen joining the team in 2011. The Vacaville band named themselves after the earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area in 1989. It’s quite a fitting name, as the band members of El Loma Prieta jolt audience members with a fusion of reggae, rock, and at times, a dash of progressive metal. “When I think of the band El Loma Prieta, I think of perseverance, dedica-tion and motivation, and about how much ELP has enlightened me to the true meaning of those words, as well as impacting me to executing the same actions in my own life,” said Lacey Paulson, who has been a close friend of the band members for almost 11 years. “They have each impacted on my life musically and personally so greatly it is hard to even describe without get-ting emotional. The music is unique, original and has now become some of my favorite music to listen to on a daily basis.”
On the scene at Club Retro, the band is joined by Room 121 Productions, a local film company whose name is de-rived from the doors of the film depart-ment at Solano Community College. “It’s exciting to see the beginning of a really good band forming,” said director Tyler Manzo. Manzo is a familiar face to the local film scene, working on shorts such as Belgian Waffles and An Occur-rence at C116. “I like their sound, I like their atti-tude, and I like their drive,” said Room 121 Productions founder Stevo Ng. “We match their creative force.” Outside of Club Retro, the members of El Loma Prieta come together for an interview. While Stancil may be the lead singer, a position that typically heads the face of a band, he passes the credit on to the other band members. “If it wasn’t for these guys motivation, there wouldn’t be a band,” Stancil said. The band lists such influences as Incubus, Deftones, and Sublime. “We all have our own weird back-grounds,” Vandermeulen said. “Dan is a big hip hop guy, Chad came from a punk rock background and Kolby is into (the band) Minus the Bear. We’re almost the equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife. All of us can play different types of instruments.” “We flow,” Dan adds. El Loma Prieta’s next show is May 11 at The Mutiny on 422 West 2nd Street, Antioch at 9 p.m.
(Left to right) Dan Cagley, Kolby Stancil, and Leland Vandermeulen perform as El Loma Prieta at Club Retro April 26.
EL LOMA PRIETA
-Friday, May 11 at The Mutiny, 9 p.m.
-422 West 2nd Street, Antioch
-Also playing with Forrest Day and Space Monkey Gangstas
-Learn more about the band @ElLomaPrieta.com
Vacaville band blends variety of styles for crowd-pleasing sound
Dan Cagley pours his soul into the drums at El Loma Prieta’s show at Club Retro on April 26.
Chad Perrault draws from a punk rock background to craft his bass lines for El Loma Prieta.
Photos by Sharman Bruni/Tempest
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 9THE TEMPEST g MAY 9 - SEPT. 4, 2012
Vinyl records and steamrollers inspire SCC art instructor
A rtists have many tools to work with. Most notable artists use a brush for their work, while others use tools to craft some abstract sculpture for their work.
Solano College art teacher Jeanne Lorenz would rather use a steamroller on one of her art projects. Printmaking, Lorenz’s artistic expertise, is essentially etching a plate painting onto a press. “The students really love it,” Lorenz said. Lorenz has been teaching at Solano for four years. During one of her color design classes, Lorenz challenged her students to make four paintings of daffodils using a handmade tool instead of a brush. Lorenz’s art work can be seen everywhere from the video pages of YouTube to the Oakland Art Gallery known as “The Compound Gallery.” It’s in The Compound Gallery where some of Lorenz’s finest work is there in the form of vinyl records. Lorenz would use a classic vinyl record of musicians such as AC/DC or LL Cool J and craft a colorful art piece shaped like a record. In the past few years, Lorenz has had group artist
exhibitions in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Lorenz’s latest showcase will be this week at the Dixon May Fair, where she will use a steamroller to craft and make large-scale printmaking projects in the fair’s Solano Steamroller Smackdown. The 12-ton black and white steamroller will be rolling through the fair and spinning inky imagery created by participants. All prints and t-shirts produced will be for sale, with proceeds benefiting the Solano college art department. Lorenz and her students will each make and steamroll three prints. The theme Lorenz is striving for her students is “country symbolism.”
Once again instead of reviewing something on Netflix like the name of the column would suggest, I’ve decided to talk about something I found on the internet so I could have an excuse to watch cartoons in class (shut up you would too if you could). So anyhow, here’s my first impression of this new Lovecraftian splat stick
romcom, “Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos.” You know who H.P. Lovecraft is, right? Of course you do. Early American horror writer, created the Cthulhu mythos, known for being very verbose and scaring audiences for life with the feeling of being totally alone in a cold uncaring universe? If you answered ‘no’ to any those questions, stop reading this right now. We don’t need your kind of riff-raff here. Are they gone? Good. This show has a very…different interpretation of Lovecraft’s work. It starts with our hero, Mahiro, being attacked by a gargoyle-looking god-knows-what, only to be saved at the last second by silver-haired girl who claims to be the Lovecraftian entity Nyarlathotep. Now, traditionally, Nyarlathotep has been depicted as a cross between Satan, Loki, Randall Flagg, and a mutilated cow corpse. Here she’s this cute, hyperactive nerd girl assigned by the local space police to stop smuggling on earth (apparently, we have the best entertainment in the universe. Who knew? ) and keep Mahiro safe (and get into his pants, but that goes without saying.) The series thus far seems to be built upon silliness, which I approve of. Nyarko’s main means of defending Mahiro is “Space CQC”, which involves beating things to death with a crowbar , a rock, use of a Pokémon (which has a 99 to 0 loss-win record…she keeps it around because it’s cute) and a blasphemous hand grenade. Apparently the rule is that anything you call “Space CQC” is considered ‘Space CQC’, even if your opponent disagrees with it. I had this weird kneejerk reaction one element of the show: since Nyarko acts like a small child on a constant sugar-high, Mahiro must occasionally resort to fork-related slapstick to get her to calm down. Now, this made me a feel a bit...awkward. Even though I knew if the genders were reversed, I wouldn’t care. It’s less of a problem with the show, and more a problem with my internalized double standards. Catch “Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos” on Crunchyroll.com, with a new episode every Monday.
FROM THE BOWELS OF NETFLIX
By Sam Zaghloul
Most notable artists use a brush for their work. Jeanne Lorenz would
rather use a steamroller on one of her projects.
Jeanne Lorenz has used old vinyl records to create her artwork.
Photos courtesy of Jeanne Lorenz
“Nyarko-San” is a Lovecraft throwback
DiXON MAY FAIR
- May 10-13 on 655 South 1st Street in Dixon
-Performances by English Beat with the Romantics, Kellie Pickler & Phil Vassar, and Larry the Cable Guy.
-$12 for adults, $8 for seniors and military, and $7 for children 12 and under
-Wednesday opens at 4 p.m. for some carnival rides and Snoop Dogg concert
-More information @DixonMayFair.com
SPORTS10 THE TEMPEST n MAY 9 - SEPT. 4, 2012
Practice perfect
The Solano Falcons softball team had a strong 28-9 season overall, 19-1 conference. Solano has collected seven consecutive Bay Valley Conference titles and reached the playoffs eight years in a row. Leading the conference by two games over Yuba College (17-3), Solano clinched the conference after beating Napa April 19. Hannah Wilbur pitched in 28 games, starting 19 with a 1.26 ERA. She went 21-5 overall with
193 strikeouts. She received All-State pitcher of the year as well as MVP pitcher of the year. Darian Quist-Richard was awarded 1st team outfield and the All Nor-Cal statewide award. Darian had a .447 batting aver-age, 37 runs scored, 55 hits and 25 RBIs. Solano has made the playoffs eight consecutive years in a row, collecting seven consecutive Bay Valley Conference titles. “Our goal is to win, but it
comes down to who is the best team,” coach Terri Pearson-Bloom said. “The key is to recruiting great players and developing their talents.” The Falcons played playoff games in Fresno last weekend against Fresno City College. They lost Saturday 1-0 and Sunday 9-0, ending their season.
– Ben Gogna/Tempest
Solano softball dominates division once again with seventh championship in a row
makes
Photos by Tim Hosford/Tempest
Solano Community College softball players Monieka Takeda-Torix, left, Lynzie Ryan and Autumn Price run during a recent practice.
Outfielder Lynzie Ryan
wears her eye-black in a
unique way.
Autumn Price laughs during a light moment at soft-ball practice.
A glove and visor sit in the
dugout at a recent Falcons
softball practice.
Photos by Tim Hosford/The Tempest
SPORTS 11THE TEMPEST n MAY 9 - SEPT. 4, 2012
Pitching Coach Cheryl Mitchell gives pointers to players.
Audrey Musgrove and teammates watch a game.
Falcons catcher Monieka Takeda-Torix, right, confers with pitcher Hannah Wilbur during recent game.
Photos by Tim Hosford/Tempest
Darian Quist-Richard, left, and Monieka Takeda-Torix give each other a high-five in the dugout.
The Solano softball team huddles before a game.
“The key is to recruiting great players and developing their talents.”
– Terri Pearson-Bloom, softball head coach
SPORTS12 THE TEMPEST n MAY 9 - SEPT. 4, 2012
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Three Solano basketball players signed letters of intent to two dif-ferent schools at 1 p.m. on May 3 at Solano Community College.
“I’m very proud of these girls,” Matt Borchert said. “I’m excited for them and their futures.”
Presley (Star) Neufeld, will be
transferring to the NCAA Division III School, Eastern
Nazarene University, in Quincy, Massachusetts and will be playing point guard. Neufeld averaged 7 points per game, 4.5 assists and 2
steals here at Solano Community College.
“It was a great opportunity to come to Solano,” Neufeld said. “Without Borchert, I wouldn’t be where I’m at now and heading to Eastern Nazarene University.”
Both Shannon Rankin and Tara Cooley will be transferring to San Francisco State.
Rankin was All Conference, Academic All Conference and
won the Falcon award carry-ing 13.3 points per game, 7.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals.
“My two years at Solano developed me into the player I
am today,” Tara Cooley said. “My coaches and teammates taught me how to be a determined and hard working player that I will now carry on over to San Francisco State which is the perfect school and program for an athlete with a lot of heart and motivation like myself.”
Cooley was an All Conference as a freshman and carried 8.9 points per game, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals.
“One of the best decisions I ever made was choosing to come to Solano.” Shannon Rankin said. “Without coach Borchert and my teammates support, I wouldn’t have had the oppor-tunity to go on and play at San Francisco State. I can’t thank them enough.”
Three Solano basketball athletes sign onto four year universitiesBy Ben GognaSports/Photo [email protected]
Star Neufeld, Tara Cooley and Shannon Rankin (left to right) signing the letters of intent to the schools they plan on transferring to. They signed the letters Thursday, May 3 at Solano Community College.
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Solano Community College is offering ‘Aquatics Adventure & Water Safety Day’ Saturday, June 2, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Solano College pool, locat-ted at 4000 Suisun Valley Rd, Fairfield, Calif.
The event will include safety instructions, demonstrations from aquatic experts, and free swim-ming lessons.
For more information [email protected]
Aquatics
Solano to hold water safety day
Join the ‘Tempset’in the fall of 2012.Staff looking for
photographers, writers, artists. For more information,
contact:[email protected]