the advocate - may 11, 2011
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May 11, 2011 issueTRANSCRIPT
By Hilberth IbarraNEWS EDITOR
With the budget crisis affect-ing higher education statewide, the district chancellor passed a proposal to significantly restructure the administrative organization of the District Office in an effort to save the district money for the upcom-ing year.
This proposal was passed on May 1 by the district Governing Board and will be implemented at the beginning of the next fis-cal year starting on July 1.
The restructuring outlined in the proposal includes the elimi-nation of two contract admin-istrator positions, restructuring of the administrative service areas, combining of technol-ogy and educational services areas and the consolidation of research and planning func-tions, district Chancellor Helen Benjamin said.
A component of this pro-posal is the elimination of the associate vice chancellor/chief financial officer, vice chancel-lor, districtwide planning and educational services positions.
With the elimination of these
positions, some duties will be redistributed in the administra-tive services area and the chan-cellor will take on other duties, Benjamin said.
“We took away the whole associate vice chancellor level (of the administra-tive organi-zation) and combined the two vice chancellors into one vice chan-cellor,” she said.
O t h e r c h a n g e s i n c l u d e r e s t r u c -turing the administra-tive servic-es area and combining the tech-nology and educational s e r v i c e s areas.
T h e s e c h a n g e s will create new positions with clear accountabilities as well as redistributing duties to existing administrators.
“These changes will allow us to lead the district with a slimmer administrative struc-ture here at the District Office,”
C M Y K C M Y K
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW B
C M Y K C M Y K
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW B
THE STUDENT VOICE OF CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE, SAN PABLO, CALIF.SINCE 19508 PAGES, ONE COPY FREE
VOL. 96, NO. 21WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2011
ACCENTADVOCATE.COM
Legacy‘Miss O’
remembered
Athletic successFootball players receive scholarships
sports page 7◆scene page 8◆
‘Richmond’ play excites
Drama department hosts successful performance
spotlight page 6◆
Association aims to save sports funds
By Malcolm LastraSPORTS EDITOR
This year has been a hectic one for athletic programs, with teams throughout the state being threatened with elimination.
As the 2011-12 fiscal year is quickly approach-ing with its large financial cuts planned for California community colleges, the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) is trying to find alternatives to allevi-ate the current budget crisis with cuts to be made toward team schedules and roster size.
If passed, a proposal made by college President McKinley Williams on Feb. 23 in a CCCAA board meeting would reduce the number of players who can be on a travel roster in all sports, and with it, a survey will be required to show if a sport is being funded by the institution or through fundraising. The proposal will be voted upon in July.
Community colleges in California are looking for new ways to save money and maintain their athletic programs, said Tom Kinnard, former Contra Costa College football coach and current director of operations for the Northern California Football Association (NCFA). “The NCFA will have to cut back at least $50,000 as teams are limiting the number of players who can attend a road game.”
Despite the proposal to downsize travel ros-ters, colleges will have to be aware of Title V of the Education Amendments of 1972.
Section 55220 states regulations under which the district may conduct field trips and excur-sions for students in connection with courses of instruction or college-related social, educational, cultural, athletic, or musical activities to and from places in California.
Proposed changes face state athletic programs
■ SEE ATHLETICS: Page 4
■ SEE STRUCTURE: Page 4
Administration sees reshapingDistrict Office structure to seereconstruction
DISAPPEARING ACT
Carter
The current President of the California Community College Athletic Association is propos-ing more solutions to help keep athletic teams alive. One solu-tion is to limit team travel ros-ters, which would save colleges money on transporta-tion costs.
By Alexandra WaiteNEWS EDITOR
The friendly face and warm disposi-tion of mail clerk Sheri Hintz is known to almost all faculty and staff at Contra Costa College. A strong presence on the campus, she delivers mail and packages every day to each building.
Hintz, who has worked at the college for almost five years, said she was notified on May 5 that she will be transferred from CCC to the Diablo Valley College-San Ramon Valley Center July 1.
More job reassign-ments like Hintz’s, posi-tion cutbacks and fur-loughs are set to go into effect on July 1 as part of classified staff and management reduc-tions at the college, Vice President Carol Maga said.
Specific information, such as how many positions will be affected amidst the cuts were not publicly disclosed until Tuesday’s special Governing Board meeting where trustees voted to approve the motion to
■ SEE LAYOFFS: Page 4
Staffing positions cutCollege
employees
to face
hour
reductions,
layoffs
beginning
July 1
reduce the number of classified staff members.As of press time Tuesday, the list of those
positions being affected had not yet been made public.
Maga said the state cuts to community colleges are causing the college to down-size its staffing.
“The decision was made in response to the incredible financial losses the college is experiencing,” she said. “We are forced to make these decisions.”
Director of Business Services Mariles Magalong said that the cuts are needed in order for the college to balance its 2011-12 budget.
As a result of the reductions, students will also be affected through a loss in essential ser-vices at the college.
“The college will no longer be able to offer the same level of instruction and student-level
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DARIUSH AZMOUDEH / THE ADVOCATE
“We don’t want to be doing this. We wish
this wasn’t happening.”
Carol Maga,vice president
“These changes
will allow us to lead the dis-
trict with a slimmer
admin-istrative structure
here at the District Office.”
Tim Leong,director of commu-nictions and com-munity relations
WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2011 ● VOL. 96, NO. 21
EditorialNecessarypresenceStudent publication serves as vital gem
uring its 61-year existence, The Advocate has been a vital source of news across campus and
throughout the district.The paper delivers timely informa-
tion about what’s happening on campus and in the community on a weekly basis. Its goal is to find facts, speak to sources and report news that is impor-tant to students as soon as the paper’s staff hears about it.
It also serves an equally impor-tant purpose as a campus watchdog. Newspaper staff members and editors are responsible for publishing factual stories about decisions made by col-lege or district employees that affect students. Throughout the paper’s tenure, many of these articles have brought about positive change.
It is the responsibility of Advocate reporters to do gritty journalism and get to the core of stories, even when they are asked to avoid reporting on topics that may make the college look bad.
The students who have practiced and continue to practice solid journalism are responsible for making The Advocate stand out. It is not the large number of awards that fill the walls of the news-room that make the paper great, but it is the willingness of students to carry the torch and continue covering the campus with vigilance and integrity.
The days of censorship are long gone for The Advocate after students fought to keep administrators from censoring their stories prior to publication in the 60s.
Back then, when students wrote sto-ries that administrators did not approve of, they were often berated and pres-sured not to publish the information administrators did not want seen by the public.
In their defense, former adviser Alma Oberst Holmgren helped students fight censorship by teaching them to stand up for themselves and know their rights.
Oberst Holmgren, who recently died at the age of 95, required that her stu-dents report with a standard of profes-sionalism that The Advocate had held since the mid-60s.
As a former newswoman, Oberst Holmgren would want The Advocate to continue pursuing stories about the budget crisis that has drastically hurt this campus recently.
She exposed her students to a real-world experience of how professional newsrooms are run. She even fought for the creation of a state-of-the-art newsroom on campus that would end up being one of the largest community college newsrooms in the country.
For all her dedication and love for the journalism department at this college, The Advocate staff would like to honor Oberst Holmgren.
The newsroom will be dedicated to her during the fall semester.
D
“I ate a lot and chilled with my mom. We made a webcam video together. It’s on Youtube.com.”
Ariana Lazonursing
CampusComment
What did you do for Mother’s Day?
“I cooked my mother breakfast and bought her a camera.”
Billy Dotypsychology and criminal justice
“I wrote my mom a poem and decorated the house.”
Rebecca Guiterrezliberal arts
“I gave my mother roses for Mother’s Day.”
Darrel Andrewsliberal arts
“I am in a traditional Mexican music band, so i sang a song to my mom.”
Ruby Esparzaundecided
“I spent it with my family. We went to the marina and ate dinner. I got her a pedicure and we watched ‘The Karate Kid.’ It was a good day”
Kim Lainenursing
FAYTHE DELROSARIO AND JESSE SUTHERLAND / THE ADVOCATE
Apathetic generation should give a hand
■ Empathy
admit that I am not exact-ly an optimistic person.
Some of my friends tell me that I can be a little harsh from time to time. I lack some empathy, but I do my best to try and push aside my cynicism when I listen to the concerns of my friends and family.
Though it is a bit of a struggle, I try to give them my full attention and keep more smarmy remarks to myself.
Difficult as this may be, there is a payoff.
Attempting this patience makes good practice in deal-ing with strangers encoun-tered in everyday life.
It is easy to get caught up in your own affairs, but once in a while it is worth the potential aggravation to try to understand others.
Recently, I read a news article that opened my eyes. Researchers at the University of Michigan found that today’s college students have a lack of empathy in compar-ison to previous generations.
The research continued to state that this generation is generally apathetic to their surroundings. Today’s gener-ation is less likely to under-stand the emotions of others and express concern for the less fortunate.
The meta-analysis reviewed the results of 72 different studies that were conducted between 1979 and 2009 of 14,000 American college students. It revealed that the biggest drop in empathy occurred after 2000, and college students today are about 40 percent lower in empathy when compared to
college students in the 1980s and 1990s.
The researchers said that there are several possible reasons as to why they dis-covered such a big drop in empathy.
They claim social network-ing as one of the big culprits among college students. With the ease of hav-ing friends online and responding to messages at their own convenience, today’s genera-tion is more likely to ignore others’ problems or con-cerns and spend less time on face-to-face interaction.
The study also points out that due to our fast-paced environment and hypercompetitive society, which focuses on success, we become more wrapped up in our own problems and needs as we become less aware of the concerns of others.
It seems that our gen-eration comes off as being self-centered, narcissistic, individualistic and uncaring, making our elders dub us as “Generation Me.”
Is that what you want our generation to be known
as? Is our generation really comprised of selfish, spoiled brats?
While the study made me more aware of the problems with my generation, I was resistant to fully believe in what the article said.
Was it because of cyni-cism like the study pointed out?
No. I just don’t believe that empa-thy is dead. Even though it is on a decline, empathy is not completely missing from this generation.
Unfortunately, there is less emphasis on learn-ing empathy these days, which is another possible reason for the drop. What ever happened to treat-ing others how they liked to be treated?
It takes time and practice to learn empathy. Try it next time when your friend comes to you with
a problem. Try to take time and learn to listen by putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and by trying to be more understanding.
Yes, it is so much easier to tune someone out, but it takes a bigger person to try to understand what others are going through.
April Halog is a staff writer of The Advocate. Contact her at [email protected].
JON RUNNING / THE ADVOCATE
aprilhalog
I
THE ADVOCATE l WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 20112 OPINION
Try to take
time and
learn to
listen by
putting
yourself
in someone
else’s shoes
and by trying
to be more
understanding.
Quotable“News is like food; it is the
cooking and serving that makes it acceptable, not
the material itself.”
Rose MacaulayEnglish writer
1926
Sam Attaleditor-in-chief
George Morinart director
Dariush Azmoudeh
online editor
Lamar Jamesassociate editor
Cassidy Goodingopinion editor
Malcolm Lastrasports editor
Hilberth IbarraAdam Oliver
Alexandra Waitenews editors
Jermaine Harrison circulation manager
Paul DeBoltfaculty adviser
Staff writersChristopher Clausen
April HalogIris Jett
Horace JordanAngelina Rucobo
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Staff photographersQing Huang
Jesse SutherlandChristian Urrutia
Roman Young
Staff illustratorsJared Amdahl
Faythe Del RosarioJon Running
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are also predicting a zombie apoca-lypse.
And though a claim like this is refuted by all manners of nature and logic, the conjecture tempts the imagi-nation.
Despite the sheer impossibility of the situation, the Internet has scores of zombie survival sites, noting not only the best ways to destroy the walking dead, but the sorts of items and people you’ll want to travel with, as well.
On nearly every one of these forums, as well as in Max Brooks’ book, “The Zombie Survival Guide,” the main solution to a pesky undead is to damage its brain. Apparently, the rest of its organs are not vital to its animation.
The most efficient way to do this is with a bullet to the zombie’s head.
However, as ammunition can be cumbersome to carry and difficult to locate, a swift hit with a crowbar or baseball bat also suffices.
Other more outlandish strategies, including feeding zombies through wood chippers or submerging them in vats of acid, are also explored as fun alternatives to the norm.
Carrying food and clean water is obviously an essential part of surviv-ing any sort of emergency situation, but when dealing with ter-rain full of roaming zombies, other things also have to be
his month marks the 400th anniversary of the
King James Version of the Holy Bible and according to the Washington Times, the Bible is the most read book throughout history, as well as being the best-selling book ever published with more than 6 billion copies produced.
However, this is not to say that its internal consistency has not been questioned or that the Bible itself is not subjected to high levels of criticism.
There is no single book of the Bible, because the indi-vidual books, which are con-sidered Biblical Canon, are defined as a list of books con-sidered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular reli-gious community, and often vary from one denomination to another.
Due to this fact, the con-tents of these books do not share some of the same infor-mation, a lot of the time lead-ing to inaccuracies and often mistranslations of what was originally written compared to newer versions of the text.
Undeniably, the Bible is an incredibly powerful doctrine of faith and those who see it as such cannot change their perspective toward the Holy Book to see the rumored rid-dling of mistakes, but criti-cism of it has given validity to inconsistency within the various Biblical manuscripts and the Biblical Canon as a whole.
In regards to Biblical criticism, there are two types: textual criticism and higher criticism. With old or original manuscripts, they were copied by hand by ancient scholars or scribes, which increased the number of errors made from copying long extensive works that were sometimes misinterpreted.
In textual criticism, the goal is to spot the errors, correct them and then try to mimic the original source material using copies of man-uscripts, but usually not the original document itself. All of the scriptures comprising the entire Christian Biblical Canon were copied from one scribe to another over the span of hundreds of years by hand.
Many of the inconsisten-cies lie within the fact that the scriptures weren’t written until years later, after most of the subject matter had taken place, or from stories that were told orally and then con-verted into text.
Translation has also led to a number of issues, as the original languages are often quite different in grammar and word meaning than the ones the scripture is translated into.
For readability, clarity or other reasons, translators may choose different wording or sentence structure. More recently, several discoveries of ancient manuscripts, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, have led to modern translations like the “New International Version” that differs some-what from the older ones.
Furthermore, some schol-ars suggest that none of the original Biblical manuscripts still exist. Summing up the inaccuracies located through-out the bible, comedian David Cross said, “The Bible may literally be the oldest game of telephone.”
Christian Urrutia is a staff writer of The Advocate. Contact him at [email protected].
christianurrutia
Most-read book open to interpretation
T
■ Religion
By Cassidy GoodingOPINION EDITOR
n May 21, Judgment Day will hit Earth and God will
begin to take only the most virtuous up to heaven’s paradise. By Oct. 21, the entire planet will be in flames and the unsaved will perish in the fire.
These dates are according to the schedule presented by the eBible Fellowship, just one of the fanatically pessimistic Christian groups that has taken bits of Bible scripture and pre-dicted the world will end in five short months.
On its Web page describing the rapture, the congregation claims that God has lost faith in mankind, and that for the past 23 years, Satan has been reigning in churches and all over the world. On May 21, God will start the process of scrapping his creation, Earth, only saving those that have pledged their souls to him.
In the months between May 21 and Oct. 21, those who haven’t heeded the Internet and billboard warnings adver-tising the ultimatum of confess or burn will be “tormented” by all sorts of vengeful amusements God has in store for sinners.
Earthquakes, freeing the corps-es of all the world’s dead, will, as stated by eBi-ble’s website, ravage all seven continents to ensure that, while the unsaved await an eternal flame, “Death will be every-where.”
Though this particu-lar piece doesn’t say whether the unearthed corpses will be reani-mated, many zeal-ots
With rapture nearing, zombie danger looms
O
Undead threat
FORUM WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2011 l THE ADVOCATE 3■ Accessibility
Student feels campus woeshave several pet peeves associated with being in a
wheelchair. The two most important
school-related issues on my list involve campus parking and the elevators here at Contra Costa College.
I have been in a wheel-chair for the last 13 years and I always display a dis-abled placard in my car win-dow.
This allows me the privi-lege of parking my car in specially designated parking spaces.
The most important place for me to have access to parking now is on campus, as I am an English as a Second Language student.
I need these spaces every day.
However, it seems like every day when I arrive all these disabled spaces have already been taken.
In many cases, I see peo-ple parking in these spaces who do not appear to have any mobility problems. This kind of behavior makes me angry. Maybe these people
are in a hurry and just aren’t thinking, but they really complicate my life.
I wonder if people know that the minimum fine for parking in a disabled space is $250 and it’s the one park-ing offense that a judge can’t change, even if you appeal it.
The parking lots are more full than ever this semes-ter. Consequently, I have to arrive at school earlier in the morning to find a disabled space. Sometimes, it is hard finding one; as a result, I have to park my car a long way from my classroom buildings.
This creates difficul-ties for me because some buildings are on the hill, and sometimes it is raining. Occasionally I’m lucky and I find a disabled spot, but
another car arrives and parks right next to mine.
Usually there are two disabled spots together in a parking lot and in between them is an area with blue stripes. It’s not legal to park there, but some students do. That’s a problem, because when I return from class and want to get into my car, I can’t because I need my car doors wide open, but an ille-gally parked car is too close.
So I have to wait and ask for help to move my car.
Sometimes I feel sad about this because these spaces are designed for peo-ple like me who really need them. If mobile students paid more attention and didn’t occupy those blue handi-capped spaces, my life would be a lot easier at school.
Another inconvenience is the elevators on campus. The Liberal Arts Building, for instance, has only one elevator for its three floors. I happen to have a class on the third floor, which poses a challenge.
Quite often, the elevator is
out of order, so to get to my class, I need to ask some-one for help pushing me up the hill. We have to exit the building and go the long way around.
Sometimes I’m out of luck because there isn’t any-one around to help me. This is especially not fun when it rains.
I believe our college administration needs to have periodic inspections of the elevator and other facilities like automatic doors.
The college needs to ensure that these services are in proper working order to meet the needs of students like myself who cannot attend class without them.
While I appreciate all the ramps here, the newly remodeled bathrooms and my thoughtful friends who are so willing to lend me a hand, life at CCC would be a more enjoyable experience for all disabled students if these issues were addressed.
Ramon Chavez is a CCC student.
I
taken into account.Many of the online plans suggest
also carrying grenades in case of zom-bie hordes, and cite bite-proof cloth-ing, such as leather or canvas, as the best to use. Traveling with a trusted dog that can sniff out danger zones or warn of nearby zombie footfalls is another way to stay safe.
Setting a zombie on fire, though seemingly effective and perhaps enter-taining, is one thing many “experts” do not recommend.
The heat will eventually liquefy the zombie’s brain, but before that, it will still chase you, setting its path on fire.
Doctors, soldiers or former Boy Scouts make the most sensical team-mates against zombies, as these are the people in the average community who will be of the most use in hazardous and stressful conditions. Fire fighters and police officers are commendable choices, as well, for their experience with firearms and rescue situations.
Hiding out until the zombies’ bodies deteriorate is another option for those who cannot stomach the carnage.
Some plans that feature this tactic postulate that once the zombie food supply — humans — becomes scarce, they will die out within a decade or two.
Since the end of the world is slotted for October, though, we all may
as well jump in feet first next month and get to killing some zombies.
JARED AMDAHL / THE ADVOCATE
ramonchavezGUEST COMMENTARY
accenta d v o c a t e
TwitterReceive breaking news and updates by following The Advocate’s Twitter account, AccentAdvocate.
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
■ TOURNAMENT
Students to give speeches
The speech department will host the Speech Intramural Tournament on Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m. in the LA Building.
The staging area at the begin-ning of the tournament will be in LA-100, and when the com-petition begins, rounds will take place in classrooms all over the LA Building from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
From 5:30 to 6 p.m., featured speakers and speech team mem-bers will perform speeches and answer questions about the team and speech team courses.
For more information, contact Connie Anderson at 510-235-7800, ext. 4544.
Newsline
Saturday, April 30:
An officer conducted a traffic stop of a person on a bicycle riding the wrong way on a campus street. The suspect was found to be in pos-session of about 28.5 grams or less of marijuana. The suspect received a citation and was released from the scene.
— Alexandra Waite
CrimeWatch
THE ADVOCATE l WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 20114 CAMPUS BEAT
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ADVERTISEMENT
■ FROM: Page 1
■ FROM: Page 1 ■ FROM: Page 1
Book sale helps fundresources
By Janit SaechaoSTAFF WRITER
From Tuesday to Thursday, Contra Costa College’s Friends of the Library (FOL) will be hosting a low-priced book sale in the Library and Learning Resource Center that will give students a chance to dig for gems.
On Tuesday, the book sale opened to FOL mem-bers only from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., then later opened to all students until 6 p.m. Today, the book sale will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Thursday, books will be sold from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Books and videos will cost from 50 cents to $5.All the money from the book sale will go toward
buying new books and supplies for the library.FOL President Janis Walsh said, “The Library
keeps getting its funds cut. Friends of the Library is the fundraising arm of the library. We raise money to supplement the Library. This money goes toward pur-chasing books, equipment, and online databases.”
This year, the Library is on a low budget for books and supplies.
“Raising money is twice as important this year,” said Ellen Geringer, secretary and treasurer of FOL.
Last year, FOL made more than $1,400 through the book sale. The money was used to pay for the databases available on the Library’s website.
“This certainly provides an essential service, enabling us to give students their needed resources,” Geringer said.
Most books in the sale are from CCC instructors and faculty, donated once a year. Some are older Library books.
Librarian Judy Flum said, “There is a lot of aca-demic stuff, but there is also a lot of fiction and a few DVDs and CDs.”
Flum said, “It’s nice to give students on tight budgets the opportunity to get books for cheap. The books make for great summer reading and students are able to walk out with a pile of books for just a few dollars.”
FOL will also be offering students the opportunity to become a member. For $12, students are catego-rized as “bookworms.”
Members are given book sale previews and a semi-annual FOL newsletter, Walsh said.
They are also able to attend FOL board meetings, which are held seven times a year where the group decides how to allocate the fundraised money for the purchase of books and library equipment, she said.
“I hope we make more money and get more mem-bers. It’s a lot more important this year than it was last year, or any of the years before,” Geringer said.
Layoffs | Staff positions will see reductions
Structure | ChangesTim Leong, director of communi-cations and community relations said.
Another component of the approved proposal is the consolida-tion of research and planning func-tions from Contra Costa College, Los Medanos College and Diablo Valley College to be centralized at the District Office.
Benjamin and Leong agreed the potential benefits to the district will be from the savings it sees from the administrative restructuring.
The District Office needs to reduce its budget by an estimated $1.4 million for 2011-12 and this proposal helps move toward that goal by saving the district an esti-mated $432,644, Benjamin said.
CCC Vice President Carol Maga said savings will come from the fact that there will be fewer people in charge of doing the same amount of work.
“This is what happens when you have a budget reduction — every-one is multi-tasking,” Maga said. “The first step is eliminating posi-tions and then restructuring so that the work stills gets done.”
Leong agreed.He said, “Any time that you
eliminate positions, the challenge will always be how do you get the work done.
“How do you get the work done in a satisfactory time period? The challenge will be just trying to manage the work in a way that it
still gets done correctly, efficiently and on time.”
In the face of increasing pres-sure from the state and a budget crisis that is in full swing, the dis-trict restructuring is just one piece in trying to solve the problem.
Officials at the colleges and the District Office said they are trying to implement cuts that will least affect students.
Leong said, “The problem is that we have to make cuts, and the question is, ‘Where do we make them?’
“We try to keep them as far away from the students as possible,” he said. “We hope that the restructur-ing will allow us to achieve the cost savings that we need without impacting our students because that prevents them from meeting their educational goals.”
“The problem is that we have to make cuts,
and the question is, ‘Where do we make
them?’ We try to keep them as far away from
the students as pos-sible.”
Timothy Leong,director of communictions and commu-
nity relations
Athletics | Proposal
support programs and services,” Magalong said.
Maga said once the changes are put in effect, the college hopes to consolidate as many positions as possible to make up for the loss in employees and services.
“We are going to be a smaller college, but still a comprehensive college,” Maga said.
Hintz’s work hours will see a change, and the great distance to the San Ramon Center will create
a large inconvenience for Hintz in her daily commute. She said she may need to take public transit to cope with transportation costs.
Hintz said she doesn’t feel good about the change in her job, and is sad to leave CCC. “It’s not good, but it is what it is,” she said. “I’m happy to have a job.”
Scheduling specialist Shannon Beckham is another employee whose position will be affected by the reductions. Hired as a student worker in 1993 and a full-time
employee in 1997, Beckham con-firmed her position will be one of those cut come the beginning of July. She declined to comment further about the circumstances of the reduction other than a confir-mation of its happening until the knowledge was made public at the Governing Board meeting.
Maga said the reductions are a difficult subject to tackle and no one at the college wants to cut-back.
“We don’t want to be doing this.
“The college will no longer be able to
offer the same level of instruction and stu-
dent-level support pro-grams and services.”
Mariles Magalong,director of business services
■ PERFORMANCE
Dance exhibition showcases skills
The CCC dance program will put on the Dance Jam 2011 on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Knox Center.
Tickets for general admission are $15 and $10 for students and seniors. Tickets may be purchased at the college Bookstore or at the door.
The performance will include Egyptian belly dancing, hip-hop, urban jazz, Argentine tango and many more styles of dance.
For more information, contact Latanya Tigner at 510-235-7800, ext. 4406.
■ TRANSFER
Reception gives recognition
The CCC Transfer Center is hosting its annual Transfer Reception on May 19 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Fireside Room.
The event will recognize stu-dents completing their educational goals and transferring to four-year colleges next semester.
For information on how to be included in the program, see Robin Harrison in SSC-106.
■ CEREMONY
Scholarship winners honored
The annual Kennedy-King Scholarship Banquet will take place on May 20 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Concord Crowne Plaza Hotel.
The event will acknowledge and congratulate the 2011 winners of the $8,000 scholarship, 11 of whom are from CCC.
Under Title V, a school cannot limit the number of student-ath-letes who will be able to travel to away games. The teams are forced to bring their entire roster, CCCAA President Carlyle Carter said.
Since football and baseball carry the most players on their rosters with 70 and 29 respectively, the proposal, if passed on July 1, would cut 15 players from the foot-ball team’s away-game roster and 6 from the baseball’s.
“The biggest cost for athlet-ics is travel,” Carter said. “If you have 100 football players, a school would need two buses, so if you can eliminate those costs an ath-letic team could save money.”
Current CCC football coach Alonzo Carter, no relation to Carlyle, said that his team is already in compliance to the pro-posal as the squad only uses one bus to travel on the road.
“(The roster cuts) is an act showing that the conferences are supporting cutting back to save a program,” Alonzo said. “Even though football generates the highest revenue compared to the other programs offered, it costs the most.”
Several players on the CCC football team have mixed feelings toward the potential travel roster cut as it will place the best players on the field, yet not everybody will have a chance to play.
“(The cut) is going to make
us work harder in practice to get a spot on the bus,” Comet defen-sive back Phillip Henderson said. “However, somebody will be left out and won’t be able to develop their skills.”
Along with the travel cuts, Carlyle Carter said that colleges have already made cuts on the number of games teams are able to play in a season.
“By making these cuts, a team could be prepared to absorb what-ever blow hits them,” he said. “So far, all teams in California have a combined total of 4,000 games reduced.
“Football didn’t have to reduce much though since they only play 10 games, so instead a scrimmage was canceled,” he said.
While these proposals are being looked over by officials, the CCC athletic department is still trying to find more ways to help fund its teams.
Athletic Director John Wade said the college is looking at a new fee proposal to generate revenue.
“Currently, we are trying to have a $2 activity fee which allows stu-dents to get discounts to sporting events on campus,” Wade said.
While the fee was proposed to the Associated Students Union by men’s basketball coach Miguel Johnson, district officials said that the fee will have to be an agree-ment between all the colleges in the district.
■ GRADUATION
Scholars receive acknowledgment
The annual CCC Graduation Commencement Ceremony will be on May 27 from 7 to 8:45 p.m. in the Gymnasium.
CAMPUS BEAT WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2011 l THE ADVOCATE 5
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Food and smiles — Buildings and Grounds Manager Bruce King (right) serves food to Transfer/Career Center assistant LaTonia Jackson (left) during the Staff Appreciation Day in the Fireside Room Friday. The event honored college employees for their service.
By Faythe Del RosarioSTAFF ILLUSTRATOR
Contra Costa College employ-ees were offered praise as a side dish with their luncheon at the annual Staff Appreciat ion Day in the Fireside Room on Friday.
Most of the food was catered by the culinary arts department, but at the beginning of the lunch, it was staff mem-bers who dished out the cuisine.
Police Services Chief Charles Gibson said, “I’m here to serve, and it’s an opportunity to take on different roles.
“These are hard fiscal times. It’s nice to see the (police) chief and president (McKinley Williams) serve food. It adds levity,” Gibson said.
Student Life Coordinator Kelly Ramos agreed.
“Layoffs are happening right now. When it comes to who is left, at this point it will help us come together,” she said. “It’s hard try-ing to console the people leaving while at the same time helping the students, but we have to do what
we have to.”R a m o s
said that she hopes Staff Appreciat ion Day would boost the morale of the staff mem-bers.
“It’s nice to break bread with co-work-ers,” she said. “It will lighten
the load, and make things less nerve-wracking.”
With the end of the spring semester nearing, Ramos said that there is a large amount of work to
be done.“The next three weeks are going
to be stressful, because we’re going to be closing out the year. Students are graduating and we have to put a smile on and congratulate them, but it’s hard because of what’s hap-pening financially,” she said.
Chef Dinari Brown, whose class prepared the majority of the food for the banquet, enjoyed the senti-
ment of the afternoon.“I think every day should be
Staff Appreciation Day, or at least once every (so often). CCC stu-dents are going really far, and it’s the staff that makes that possible,” he said.
“Some things slipped through the cracks, but overall today went fine,” he said. The lunch was a job for many culinary students.
Custodian Jeryl Landers enjoyed the meal.
“I saw a lot of smiles. Many of these people do not get to see each other in scenes like this very often. The lunch is a chance for everyone to congregate and talk,” he said.
“The lunch is beautiful,” Landers added with a huge grin. “The variety of different food and desserts is perfect.”
Annual luncheon brings workers recognition, joy
Pottery sale raises funds for art program
By Angelina RucoboSTAFF WRITER
To raise funds for supplies for the art department, an assortment of sculptures, vases and other ceramic items went up for sale May 2-10 in the Art Building atrium at this semester’s pottery sale.
Ceramics instructor Mary Law explained the need for the fundraiser, saying the money goes right back to the department and is used for supplies that the students need.
“The students pay a material fee to take
the class but it doesn’t cover much. This fundraiser is how we buy our clay,” she said.
The prices of the items ranged from 50 cents up to $30.
The types of pottery that were found at the fundraiser included sculptures, vases, bowls, mugs and plates, along with other items used daily.
The ceramic items were all made by the students and faculty in the ceramics classes, and each piece was chosen by the maker and contributed to help provide funds.
Law said that the items contributed were mainly earlier pieces students cre-ated and donated. Customers who came to the fundraiser found inexpensive, handmade objects that could be used for gifts.
Many came to purchase ceramic gifts for
Mother’s Day, she said.Paola Merino, a ceramics student, was
amazed at how great the pottery was and said, “The students here are amazing at pot-tery making. This shows that students take it seriously.”
Merino said all those on campus who vis-ited the Art Building during the fundraiser helped inspire students to continue in their pottery-making work. She said her reason for coming to the fundraiser was to support the arts.
“If people are here to support it, it shows that art is important,” Merino said.
Student Ray Jeffre, who also helped with the fundraiser, said that Contra Costa College is one of few colleges to supply students with free clay, and that events like the pottery sale should be supported so that
it remains free for students.Jeffre also said that the silent auction had
some pieces selling for as much as $150.Ann VanBlaricom, a ceramics student
who contributed some of her pottery to the fundraiser, said, “It feels like a privilege to have people buy your stuff. This is the first stuff I ever sold.”
Student-made pieces help generate money
“Layoffs are happen-ing right now. When it comes to who is left, at this point (the event)
will help us come together.”
Kelly Ramos,student life coordinator
“The students here are amaz-ing at pottery making. This shows that students take it
seriously.”
Paola Merino,student
By Sam AttalEDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The college newspaper has seen many advisers during its 61-year ten-ure, but perhaps none more influential in the development of professional journalistic standards than Alma Oberst Holmgren.
A former newswoman, Oberst Holmgren brought with her the expe-rience of working for multiple news organizations that would later help in introducing great changes to The Advocate when she took the faculty adviser job at Contra Costa College in 1964.
Although many of her former stu-dents were shocked to hear that she died of pneumonia at the age of 95 on March 15, they still carry with them the lessons she taught and the values she appreciated.
“She was an experienced journal-ist to start with,” 1968 editor-in-chief John Stark, currently working as a magazine editor in Minnesota, said. “She was the real thing. She lived in journalism.”
Through her rigorous standards, she expected professional work from students who were willing to cover the campus, former student Catherine Moss said.
“She insisted that everything from our fact-finding to our fact-checking to our paper’s layout to our deadlines mirrored the way a real news opera-tion worked,” said Moss, who was edi-tor-in-chief in 1969. “She had come up through the ranks in newspapers. She brought a fundamental knowledge in not only how newspapers worked, but what it took to work on them.”
During her 16-year tenure, Oberst Holmgren would help shape The Advocate into a gem for many stu-dents to come and the image of the college.
A love for studentsThose who were enrolled in Oberst
Holmgren’s Newspaper Production class found out that she preferred to be called “Miss. O” by her students instead of Miss Oberst, which was her name before marriage.
They also learned that after she was done teaching her hour-long Monday, Wednesday, Friday Newspaper Production class, she would expect her students to continue their days on task with their assignments.
“When you’re on a student paper it doesn’t end at 11 o’clock when the class is over. It oozes into everything,” Moss said. “The thing with journalism is that it easily becomes a job.”
She would spend time outside of class with staff members individually to help them improve their skill set, current Faculty Adviser Paul DeBolt said.
“She was interested in you individ-ually,” said DeBolt, a former student and editor-in-chief. “You got to know her more than other teachers.”
Moss said Oberst Holmgren invest-ed time in her students to help them get a taste of the newspaper business and aid them in producing a “quality” newspaper every week.
“Quality for her meant going after the stories we thought were important and expecting that this was not going to be a popularity contest,” Moss said. “She taught us how newsrooms worked (and) insisted that as students we’d act as professionals.”
DeBolt said he remembers when he was pulled aside by Oberst Holmgren after class for not completing a story for a few weeks.
“She gave me that little extra kick in the butt,” he said. “She knew I could write.”
Oberst Holmgren was also known as a “stickler” for proper use of the English language and rules of report-ing, DeBolt said.
“She was real serious about teach-ing English skills and journalistic style. Accuracy was everything,” he said. “If you made a grammatical mistake she would let you know.”
DeBolt said one of the last things Oberst Holmgren told him before he transferred to San Diego State was that she was disappointed she was not be able to teach him the difference between “its” and “it’s.”
Some students became acquaint-ed with Oberst Holmgren outside of school as well.
Stark said he thanks her for setting him up to have lunch with then Gov. Ronald Reagan in Sacramento.
“She drove me to Sacramento and drove around while I had lunch with Gov. Ronald Reagan,” Stark said. “How many teachers do that?
Moss said Oberst Holmgren took students to speeches against the
Vietnam War.“It didn’t stop in the classroom and
it didn’t stop in The Advocate,” Moss said. “She took us everywhere. This was the era of Vietnam. There were people in the Bay Area making major speeches and she took us to cover them.”
Moss said she was often invited by Oberst Holmgren to partake in her favorite activities, such as hiking and attending museums.
“She showed us a way of living that was beyond the exposure of most of her students. Her way of teaching was through these expeditions,” Moss said. “Her love for the world and the love for us was boundless.”
She would also invite her students to dinners and parties with people from the professional news world. She, however, did not want her stu-dents to be star-struck.
“She expected us to participate, to ask questions, to engage,” Moss said. “She expected us to be part of the party, not witnesses.”
She treated her students like they were her family, DeBolt said.
“She didn’t have kids, she didn’t have a husband — we were her fam-ily,” DeBolt said.
DeBolt said he remembers Oberst Holmgren as “a sophisticated woman” who served her students fancy meals at her home during dinner parties.
She even published a weekly col-umn called “Good Food” in the West County Times.
Fighting for a causeBorn and raised in Owensboro, Ky,
Oberst Holmgren eventually moved to Evansville, Ind. where she lived for nearly 15 years. It was there where she began her news work at the Evansville Indiana Press.
She came to the Bay Area in 1955 and obtained a job for a sister publica-tion called the San Francisco News, where she served as a book editor.
She fell in love with the arts, nature and culture of San Francisco, her niece Stephanie Henrikson said.
She worked for the paper through its merger with the San Francisco Call-Bulletin.
After the paper went through a consolidation process and Oberst Holmgren was laid off, she opted to pursue an education. She received her undergraduate degree in journalism from San Francisco State and went on
to complete the graduate journalism program at UC Berkeley, earning her master’s, before coming to CCC to teach and cause a ruckus.
Previously, college administrators were used to censoring the paper, but when Oberst Holmgren’s students began publishing articles that the col-lege administration tried to censor, she was there to back the writers, Moss said.
“She would never let us back down,” Moss said. “She would insist we should stand up for ourselves and she stood up for (us).”
After the administration stopped interfering with the paper, another problem came up.
DeBolt said during his year as edi-tor-in-chief in 1974-75, the Associated Students Union, which controlled the finances for the paper, decided not to fund it. Immediately, Oberst Holmgren began to fight for the stu-dents and established funding through the district for the program.
During her first two years on cam-pus she established the first journal-ism department for the college and its associate degree and certificate of achievement in journalism.
Before she retired from the college in 1980, Oberst Holmgren fought to have a bigger newsroom for students to produce the paper. The newsroom, which was previously located in A-5, now the Eddie Rhodes Gallery, was a crammed work area for students.
Through much patience and per-sistence, Oberst Holmgren was able to persuade college administrators to build a state-of-the-art newsroom of her design in the Applied Arts Building, even though she would be retired by the time it was first occu-pied in 1983.
The facility, to this day, remains one the most equipped and spacious student newsrooms in the country.
Living legacyFormer Advocate staffers agree that
Oberst Holmgren’s legacy will live on through the generations of successful reporters The Advocate has produced throughout the years.
“Her legacy is a string of great students who have come out of this program since she got here,” DeBolt said. “You couldn’t even put a number on it.
“She will be here as long as the program’s going,” DeBolt said. “She
will have an influence.”Stark said every issue of The
Advocate represents Oberst Holmgren’s legacy.
“What (The Advocate) has evolved into is her legacy (as) one of the best college newspapers in the country,” he said.
Henrikson said her aunt represent-ed a standard of professionalism and independence up until her death.
“She was sharp as a tack to the very end,” Henrikson said. “She wanted to do things on her own.
Henrikson told a story of when she was 20 years old and Oberst Holmgren was nearly 60. She said the two went on a hiking trip and Oberst Holmgren quickly left her behind.
She agreed with Oberst Holmgren’s former students about her legacy, and said those who met her and knew her well will always remember her.
“You live on through people who you’ve left behind,” Henrikson said.
Always an adviserMoss, DeBolt and Stark said Oberst
Holmgren remained their adviser even after they left CCC.
“This is a rare relationship,” Moss said. “I stayed extremely close to her and this is certainly one of the greatest gifts of my life.”
DeBolt said he continued to ask Oberst Holmgren for advice with prob-lems that came up during his career. He said she continued to remain a strong supporter of The Advocate.
“She was our biggest cheerleader for a lot of years,” he said.
DeBolt still looks up to her and will not let her lessons slip in his mind.
“I just wanted to please her. Wanting her to be proud (of the paper and pro-gram) was always important to me,” he said. “There’s never a day I don’t think about her.”
Stark said he would call her for career advice often, right up until she passed away.
“Once you were her student, you were always her student,” he said. “She was my adviser when I was 17 years old and she was my adviser when I was 62 years old. She remained my adviser for 45 years.”
Oberst Holmgren is survived by her husband Roderick Holmgren, sis-ters Margie Furlong and Mary Emma Mellen, stepson Jack Holmgren and her 24 nieces and nephews.
THE ADVOCATE l WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 20116 SPOTLIGHT
A TRUE NEWSWOMAN
SPECIAL TO / THE ADVOCATE
Life-long motivator — The Advocate’s newspaper adviser from 1964-80, Alma Oberst Holmgren, is remembered by former Advocate staffers as a kind woman who embodied and taught the standards of professional journalism. Oberst Holmgren died of pneumonia at the age of 95 on March 15.
“She was my adviser when I was 17 years old and she was m
y adviser when I was 62 years old. She remained m
y adviser for 45 years.” — John Stark
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Adviser remains in hearts of many
“There’s never a day I don’t think about her.” — Paul DeBolt
“She was sharp as a tack till the very end.” — Stephanie Henrikson
SPORTS WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2011 l THE ADVOCATE 7
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By Dariush AzmoudehONLINE EDITOR
With the new water well activated at the soccer field, Contra Costa College should begin spending less on its utility bills.
The well was completed in February and the water generated from it will be used to water the fields to reduce spending during the summer.
“It’s an idea that was brought up four years ago by the Sustainability Committee, to drill a well and irrigate the athletic fields,” Building and Grounds Manager Bruce King said.
The plan is to pump water from an under-ground deposit into six storage containers
Athletes granted entrance10 football players awarded scholarships
INFORMATIONAL GRAPHIC BY DARIUSH AZMOUDEH / THE ADVOCATE
Well to help reduce field upkeep costs
“I went over my expec-tations (this year) and
all it does is benefit the kids. I’m proud of being here and being able to do what I do.”
Alonzo Carter,football coach
By Malcolm LastraSPORTS EDITOR
Before coming to Contra Costa College, football coach Alonzo Carter was known throughout the Bay Area for sending his high school players off to four-year univer-sities.
After completing his first year coaching the Comet football team, Carter is sending 10 players off to seven different four-year colleges on full ride and academic scholar-ships.
“I feel good about sending these guys off to the (next level),” Carter said. “(Moving players on) is what I do and it’s what the college brought me in to do.”
Sophomores Edgar Vega (Lincoln University of Missouri), Donnie Hogan (Central Washington), Niko Aumua (Washington State University), Noah Coogler (Menlo College), Sherard Allen (Notre Dame College of Ohio), Keon Burden (Notre Dame College of Ohio), Kevin Hall (New Mexico Highlands University), Chris Denchukwu (Southern Oregon), Adewale Kehinde (New Mexico Highlands University) and Marcus McClarty (New Mexico Highlands University) are the play-ers to receive scholar-ships.
“I’ve had faith in Carter (since he came to CCC) and I wouldn’t put my future in anyone else’s hands but his,” linebacker Coogler said. “I’m sure after this year, people’s negative (per-ception) of the college will not exist.”
Prior to the 2010-11 season, Carter said he wanted to make it clear to his players that he not only wanted them to improve their efforts on the field, but more importantly in the classroom.
“My biggest goal is for 95 percent of my sophomores to graduate in the spring,” Carter told The Advocate in September.
Carter backed up his goal well as he made an impact to the football program by having coaches and scouts from NCAA Division I schools come to spring practices to check out his players.
“Every day, we (the football team) would get about three to four D-I scouts to watch us prac-tice,” Carter said.
The players agree that the scouts’ presence made them practice harder.
“It was the first time that I saw football in a different way (when the scouts were around),” defensive end Aumua said. “Seeing scouts from different schools check-
ing us out and talking to us was definitely motivating.”
While 10 players were able to get schol-arships, Aumua was the only one from the group to go to a D-I college, as the remain-ing nine got into D-II schools.
Carter said that while he is used to send-
ing players to Division I, he has begun to appreciate the D-II and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) colleges that give his players a chance.
“I’m not too caught up on where these kids go. I just want them to move on to the next level,” he said.
Despite the players going to four-year colleges, Carter said that what solidifies their signing is their academic ability.
According to Carter, he was able to get 13 players from his team on the dean’s list and helped 28 players receive a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
“(Carter) always told us to study first and play hard second,” Kehinde said. “He wanted us to do what we needed to do in the classroom and finish strong.”
Other players agreed.“Our hard work really paid off,” defen-
sive lineman Denchukwu. “I learned that it is the grades that turn colleges on to you, not just football.”
Several players were excited that they were the first group under Carter to take their talents to the next level.
“Carter turned a bad program into a good
one, sending 10 of us to four-year schools in only his first year,” running back Allen said. “Knowing that my name is in that group will be a part of CCC history.”
Coogler said with him and his fellow teammates moving on to four-year schools, they will hopefully help motivate younger athletes to aspire the same goal.
“We’re setting an example for future guys (coming into the program) by showing them that you can go places through CCC,” he said. “I just hope coach Carter can continue to do what he does best (by giving players a second chance).”
According to Carter, he is still work-ing with sophomore wide receiver Kenneth Green, who is waiting to be signed by a four-year college.
Carter said that he is continuing to move players on to four-year colleges as he cur-rently has 12 returning players being looked at by D-I colleges.
“I went over my expectations (this year) and all it does is benefit the kids,” he said. “I’m proud of being here and being able to do what I do.”
that hold 30,000 gallons to water the fields, and cut from the extra $50,000 the college spends on water every summer, King said.
Brian Adair, director of facility support of the district, said, “The Sustainability Committee came up with several ideas and this was one of them, to bring water from the well. The basic idea was to use ground water, rather than domestic water, which will save the district on costs.”
For the well, a hole was dug more than 300 feet underground and water was obtained at around 200 feet. The storage containers take 18 hours to fill, pumping 30 gallons a minute, and have two pumps con-nected to water the fields. The entire system can last up to 50 years except for the pump, which can last up to 15 years, Adair said.
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Adair said that including the hard and soft costs of the project, the total was $350,000. But the college could see a saving of up to $20,000 to $30,000 a year.
“From concept to finish, construction took two years. Now, we’re trying to work out the last bugs,” he said.
Sustainability Committee member and Interim Natural, Social and Applied Sciences Division Dean Leverett Smith said, “I think it’s a good idea to use it as an alternative to watering the field instead of using drinking water.”
Smith was a member of the committee when the idea for the well was pitched to the district four years ago.
“It took longer than expected, but it will be interesting to see how much water it will give,” he said.
On Monday, Adair was on campus to check on the well and had tarps installed over the storage containers.
King said the tarps were being placed over the containers to prevent the formation of algae inside.
“I’m very green, so if we can save some utility cost, it will help the budget and help us be sustainable,” King said. “It will benefit the school for years to come.”
Adair said that other colleges in the district have different methods of irrigating their fields.
Los Medanos College uses water from the Delta Canal and Diablo Valley College uses treated sewer water.
“Before, (CCC was) buying water from the city. We paid quite a bit,” Adair said. “So pumping our own water will save us the cost.”
He said in the future the college hopes to improve the air conditioning and heating units on campus and to propose projects to the district to help conserve energy.
VegaLincoln University
AumuaWashington StateUniversity
HoganCentral Washington University
DenchukwuSouthern OregonUniversity
Hal, Jr.New Mexico Highlands University
Kehinde McClarty
AllenNotre Dame College of Ohio
Burden
CooglerMenlo College
The Comet football team, under coach Alonzo Carter, will send 10 players to four-year colleges on full-ride and academic scholarships this fall. Carter hopes to contnue his success of moving players on to the next level of play as he said he currently has 12 returning players being scouted by NCAA Division I universities.
THE ADVOCATE l WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 20118 SCENE
GEORGE MORIN / THE ADVOCATE
By George MorinART DIRECTOR
The drama department pre-sented a lively and exciting performance that celebrated the city of Richmond and its residents May 4 through Saturday at the Knox Center.
Written by drama depart-ment Chairman Clay David and directed by professor Kathryn McCarty, “Rockin’ in Richmond High 1966” was a grand musical experience.
The musical followed the lives of 14 seniors attending Richmond High School in 1966. The issues of marriage, the Vietnam War draft and the student graduation were the main themes of the plot.
The play was narrated by 71-year-old Odetta Jones, the first Bay Area disc jockey and a former Richmond High School counselor who worked at the school in 1966.
She narrates the students’ journey through this critical time in history. Jones, herself, spent time protesting during the Free Speech Movement
at UC Berkeley in 1964 and found it important for her students to be engaged in the politics of their time.
The students in the play go to Berkeley and witness the protests and activists of the time.
The underlying theme of the play seemed to place importance on informing
the audience about life in Richmond during 1966, because it was not the same of Berkeley or New York City.
There was a much dif-ferent face to Richmond at that time.
From the beginning of the play, char-
acter development was very strong. The actors’ expres-sions and personalities came out through the musical.
Miranda Romero fully immersed herself in her character, Pinky Tuscuderro, a pompous, but loving, young woman. Her love and despair at her senior ball when she finds out her sweetheart, Rocko Romero,
played by Jacob Manib, is being drafted into the Army to go to Vietnam made audi-ence members feel as if this couple, along with the other seven couples, were truly high school sweethearts in love.
The musical cues through-out the play were used effi-ciently and not overdone.
The musical acts were engaging, from the actors’ eye contact with the crowd to their vocal range, and the vol-ume made the singing parts easy to hear and follow.
The lighting remained a largely important tool in being able to tell apart the dif-ferent scenes that were hap-pening on stage as they would otherwise be confusing for the audience to follow.
And the actors did a great job acting out scenes with their body language.
Due to the lack of a set or props available on stage, actors had to rely on their performance to make the sto-rylines believable.
David’s use of costumes was exceptional at represent-ing the style of dress for high school students in the 1960s.
The choreography was simple, yet engaging, to the audience.
At times the actors stum-bled and bounced into each
David’s musical informs crowd about rich past
“Rockin’ in
Richmond High
1966”
★★★★★Venue: Knox CenterDirected by: Kathryn McCartyOpen Until: Closed
playreview
‘Country Grammar’ still able to delight
By Rodney WoodsonSTAFF WRITER
While scrolling through my iTunes library one evening, find-ing it hard to decide what to listen to, I picked a random song to hear.
The song was “Country Grammar,” the title track from Nelly’s debut album.
I was immediately reminded of the summer of 2000 when the CD was released. I was work-ing at Chuck E. Cheese Pizza in El Cerrito and if I had theme music for that period in my life, it would have been the album “Country Grammar.”
Today, with more than 8 mil-lion records sold, this is one of the best selling rap albums of all time.
Nelly’s rap style gives listeners a unique combination of rapping and singing, perfectly meshed and delivered through urban lyr-ics and scenarios that both enter-tain and provoke thought.
This album has it all — from street bangers like, “Thicky Thick
Album maintains strength in lyrics
LostTreasure
SPECIAL TO / THE ADVOCATE
In your face — Rapper Nelly has continued to make hit hip-hop music for the past 12 years.
Joyous celebration — Laverne
Defozzio (left), played by Stefanie Cervantes, celebrates winning an
award during the “Rockin’ in Richmond
High 1966” play in the
Knox Center on Saturday.
Drama department
Chairman Clay David’s
play was well received by
the audience members on
the play’s closing night on Saturday.
Play excites, revisitsturbulent Richmond
Graduation day — Buzz, played by Jay Lopez, sings to the crowd on his graduation day during the “Rockin’ in Richmond High 1966” musical in the Knox Center on Saturday.
other, but these mistakes seemed to happen because of the large number of actors on stage rather than their ability to remember their assigned places and actions.
David’s play, “Rockin’ in Richmond High 1966,” was a unique and captivating experi-ence.
The only complaint was the
length of the musical.With an overall longer
stage performance, the play could have been stronger, since there would have been more time to connect with the audience.
However, it was another interesting and rare play put together by David.
Girl” and “For My,” featuring then 18-year-old Lil Wayne, to unforgettable party songs like “E.I.” and “Ride Wit Me.”
In the rap music world of the early 21st century that was being dominated by the sound of Cash Money Records and the pro-duction style of Mannie Fresh, “Country Grammar” offered an alternative sound — and a sound that is still relevant today.
Producers Jay E and City Spud developed a unique blend of mostly quick drum patterns, funky bass lines and melodic keyboard sound effects. All these together still keep heads bob-bing throughout the entire listening experience.
Not only does Nelly provide something nice to listen to, he also gives his audience music that lets listeners know who he is as a member of society.
In “Utha Side,” he gives listen-ers three situations illustrating the downside of selling drugs, pros-titution and gang-banging while offering positive alternatives to them.
For example, he says, “I ain’t tryna sell you dreams, just tryna
show you that there’s other ways of gettin’ cream (money), just go to school and make something of your young life and watch it blow up.”
The final song on the album is a track called “Luven Me” that illustrates some of the mistakes he made with his mother, his girlfriend and his buddies, and how he will always be indebted to them.
Nelly shows a side of himself that is rarely seen from other rap-pers and this song, among others,
gives authenticity and personality to his music.
But if there is one thing that could be changed about this CD it would be the
title. It’s not that it’s a bad title, but a
self-titled album was warranted. Nelly expresses different sides
of himself. He also expresses his detailed life experiences, which suggest a personal connection to his lyrics.
In addition to highly entertain-ing music with beats that will get one’s body moving, he introduced us to his St. Louis style in this hip-hop classic.