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November 15, 2012Volume 106, Issue 11

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The independent student voice of PCC. Serving Pasadena Since 1915.

BoardOKsnewhires7 positionsare filledCHRISTINE MICHAELSStaff Writer

New and vacant positionswere filled after the Board ofTrustees approved seven newhires at the Nov. 7 meeting.

The new positions were creat-ed to fill the Business andCollege Services Team.

The Executive Director ofBusiness Services will be JosephSimoneschi, who will be respon-sible for “managing and inte-grating a program of broad,comprehensive business servic-es,” according to Office ofHuman Resources description.

The Interim Director of FiscalServices will be Maria Descalzo,who will be acting as the dis-trict’s chief financial officer andcontroller and will be in chargeof all fiscal services operationsand plans on campus, accordingto the job announcement.

The Interim Associate Deanfor Curriculum and Programreview will be Matthew Jordan.Jordan will be working closelywith the Curriculum andInstruction committee and thedirector of institutional effective-ness.

The Instructional Designer

Pathways program receives prestigious awardMARY NURRENBERNStaff Writer

The First Year Pathways pro-gram will receive theChancellors Student Successaward given out by ChancellorBrice W. Harris, as part of theCommunity College League ofCalifornia’s annual conferenceon Friday.

The Pathways program workswith students graduating fromdistrict high schools. It focuses

on helping students identify andcomplete their academic goals,according to Brock Klein, interimassociate dean, teaching andlearning center.

“If students can make itthrough the first year, theirchance of completion in collegeincreases,” said Klein.

Through the program studentsparticipate in Summer Bridgeprograms which are also calledJams. Some of the jams havebeen for ESL, Design and Math.

They are two-week, no cost pro-grams which integrate instruc-tion and structured supplemen-tal support with engaging orien-tation to college activities,according to Klein.

The other element to help thestudents is counselors andcoaches according to ShelaghRose, faculty lead, Pathways.

Counselor Cecile DavisAnderson explains the differ-ences between the counselorsand the coaches. “The counselors

are professionals who are alsofaculty, and their role is to helpstudents with educational andcareer goals,” said DavisAnderson. “The coaches are paraprofessionals and their role is tohelp students follow through onthe educational and career goalsby getting them engaged oncampus and using resources,”.

Students usually drop out forpersonal reasons, according toLily Tran, first year coach.

Tips offered for staying healthy on a tight budget NICHOLAS ZEBROWSKIManaging Editor

Students were given a chanceto learn more about eatinghealthy and staying fit Tuesdayat a healthy food workshoporganized by Cross Cultural andStudent Health Centers.

The workshop included apresentation by LilibethKatigbak, a Dietetic Intern fromCalifornia State PolytechnicUniversity Pomona, who spokeabout nutrition concepts, nutri-

tional facts labels, tips for shop-ping and eating out, and gavedetailed information aboutnutrients and how students caneat healthy.

Katigbak explained that eatinghealthy is key to succeeding as acollege student. "[Healthy eat-ing] is a preventive form of med-icine," Katigbak explained. "Ifyou are healthy you are notspending money on medicine,"she said, adding it is a great wayfor college student to not onlystay healthy, but save money.

"We want to raise awarenesson what we're eating and howwe can be healthier," Katigbaksaid.

Katigbak is currently workingon her post graduate studiesafter graduating Cal PolyPomona with a Bachelors Degreein Nutrition. Her presentation ispart of a nine-month practicalexperience requirement of herdegree program.

Student Health ServicesCoordinator Jo Buczkoexplained that the workshop

was to give students a chance tolearn how they can stay healthy.

According to Buczko, healthyeating can help students do bet-ter in their classes. "[Healthy eat-ing is important] so students canhandle stress and have moreenergy," Buczko said. Buczkoherself tries to stay healthy byeating smart and staying active.

Nursing student Crystal DelReal attended the workshop to Buren Smith/Courier

Lilibeth Katigbak explains nutritional food at a workshopTuesday.

Women’s soccer team players TaylorGore, left, Amanda Papac, Danielle Busta

and Cassandra Orozco celebrate duringthe half time break on Friday Nov. 9.

After a 12-4-5 record, the women’s soc-cer team heads to the Southern

California Regional Playoffs today.

Below: Midfielder Jennifer Hernandezbreaks away from a pack of ECC

Compton Center players in Friday night’sgame at Robinson Stadium.

Photographs by Makoto Lane

/ Courier

Playoff bound

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Trip to Asia

Instructor revealstreasures of Chinesestudy abroad programPage 8»

Continued on page 9

Continued on page 9 Continued on page 9

CHRISTINE MICHAELSStaff Writer

When walking into the Ujima “house-hold”, the smell of baked potatoes andbread rolls was overwhelmingly pleasantand hunger-inducing.

“Don’t take that roll before you offer itto our guest,” said Ujima Counselor GenaLopez to one of her 40-odd students.

Every Tuesday, first-year college stu-dents huddle and walk in groups to thesmall Ujima office, covered in postershailing African American success storiessuch as Martin Luther King, Jr., and UjimaPathway founder Jacqueline Doddes.

“Ujima is Swahili for collective workand responsibility,” explained Lopez witha bright smile and a soft voice.

The Ujima Pathways program hasstood up to its name and duty of keepinghundreds of black students on the pathtowards a collegial lifestyle since Doddesbegan it in 1999.

Ujima’s mission is to be an empower-ment source for students coming from adifferent background, where the focus onschool is not as strong, according toLopez.

The program, which is geared towardsblack students, aims to build a collegiatemindset, according to Ujima members.

Ujima student Timothy Smith, physicaltherapy, believes the program’s family-like environment aids in keeping himmotivated to do well in school.

“It’s a really close-knit group. We call it

the family,” he mused. “It keeps us in line.This program keeps us whipped intoshape.”

The program splits students into twodifferent comprehension levels – Ajani,

meaning “hewho wins” inSwahili, andNsaa, meaning“excellence andauthority” inSwahili, accord-ing to Lopez.The Ajani group

is comprehensive in English 400, whilethe Nsaa group is comprehensive inEnglish 100.

“People in my cohort may think on thesame level, but we each bring a differentperspective into the group,” she said.

Chelsee Glover-Odom, undeclared, feltthe entire program is there to build notjust a collegiate mindset, but also a collegecharacter.

“[Ujima] transforms you … it’s a char-acter builder, and a personality builder,too,” she said.

Lopez felt the program’s goals were

met with not just a family setting, butwith a system of reciprocation.

“We have to get involved. If we serveyou, you serve us. It’s about the ‘we’,”Lopez said.

Lopez is proud to be a member of theUjima program by helping students.

“[Ujima] gives under-served studentsthe opportunity to build a community. Itis an empowerment program.[Counselors] have to get involved. It’s allfor the students and better for the stu-dents,” she said.

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Ujima program fosters family, success

Makoto Lane / CourierUjima counselor Gina Lopez with club members in their home room CC224 on Oct. 30. The Ujima pathways program seeks to empow-er students from all different backgrounds.

AMANDA PIMENTELStaff Writer

At the age of 27, TamiekoMartin enlisted in the army asshe decided that her dancingcareer, at her age, was becomingdifficult to achieve. Martin wasstationed in Germany as a UnitSupply Sargent. After servingfor six years Martin’s armycareer was cut short as she suf-fered an injury overseas and wasno longer able to serve.

Martin, as well as, KrystalShamburger, Navy, were select-ed as the two main guests toappear on the new season of theRicki Lake show. The segmenttitled “Fatigues to Fabulous”focused on the lives of womanveterans after leaving the mili-tary. These two women veteransas well as students were able toshare their stories and raiseawareness about life after themilitary for women veterans.

Ricki Lake gave all guests onthe show complimentarymakeovers.

But the surprises did not endthere. Martin’s boyfriend,Conrad Lindsay, teamed up withthe Ricki Lake show producersto give her the surprise of a lifetime. Lindsay took the opportu-nity to profess his love nation-wide and proposed to Martin.

“I’m so happy to have sharedmy special moment with theRicki Lake show. It’s something Icould keep for life and look backon,” said Martin. “But as abroadcast journalist student Iwould have liked the opportuni-

ty to sit down with Ricki gainsome of her knowledge andadvice on the industry, she hasso much experience I wouldhave liked some direction but Iam also beyond grateful for

what she did for all of us.”“I am overjoyed that the

nation as a whole is starting tounderstand and recognize that aquarter-million female veteranshave served this country because

for too long that population hasbeen silenced,” said CarolCalandra, case manager for theveterans’ resource center. “It waswith great pride that we couldjoin forces to educate the coun-

try.”The Ricki Lake show had con-

tacted the veterans resource cen-ter on July 2 because Lake wascoming back to day time televi-sion, and wanted one of theirfirst programs to bring aware-ness on how much femininityhad been lost for female servicemember said Calandra. “Theshow wanted them to embracetheir sexiness,” she said.

“You spend so long in yourfatigues that you forget how tobe a woman. You forget how tobe sexy, but when you are at warnone of that matters,” saidCalandra.

Twelve veterans were giventhe opportunity to be a guest onthe show and after many inter-views, two were chosen.

“[Martin] is very influential inbringing female veterans togeth-er. She wants to help otherfemale veterans. She is amazing-ly beautiful inside and out andthat is why I believe they choseher,” said Calandra.

Homelessness, suicide, sexualassault are real issues that veter-ans deal with: 17 veterans a daycommit suicide, 107,000 sleep onthe streets on any given day andthis population includes woman,the Ricki Lake show wanted tohonor these woman the best waythey could by showing thesewoman how beautiful they are,said Calandra.

The show aired Sept. 6 andwas played on the Piazza so thatthe campus could enjoy their fel-low veterans sharing their sto-ries of life after the military.

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Women veterans star on television

Teresa Mendoza / CourierTamieko Martin, a student veteran, was selected as a guest to appear on the new season of the RickiLake show in the segment titled “Fatigues to Fabulous”. Martin was stationed in Germany as a Unit SupplySargent but due to an injury overseas she was unable to continue her army career.

Speech and debate teamvictorious at contestTIFFANY HERRERAStaff Writer

PCC’s speech and debateteam, ranked sixth in the nationand second in state, won eightfirst places in competition onSaturday at CSU Northridge.

According to Instructor JoshuaFleming, one of the team’s advi-sors, team members placed firstin eight events that they entered.

“[Four] of those [first] placeswent to new novice competitors,so we’re really excited aboutthat,” said Fleming in an email.

Tory Tunzi, communicationsmajor, placed first forProgrammed Oral Interpretationand Poetry Interpretation.“Programmed OralInterpretation is like a mix of allthe different genres,” said Tunzi.

At a meeting before the com-petition, Tunzi was confident inthe team. “It’s a different dynam-ic because last year we [had] somany [people returning] and abunch of first-years,” he said.

“So this year we have a coupleof [people returning] and a lot ofnew people…By the end of theyear [I think] we’ll have goodchemistry together and we’ll beable to compete really well,” said

Tunzi.Fleming agreed with Tunzi’s

assessment. “[This is] a hugerebuilding year. [It will be] a funyear but we’re starting fromscratch,” said Fleming.

Diego Madero, art historymajor, is the team’s go-to fordebate but didn’t compete in thedebate events on Saturdaybecause he picked another event.“I am taking another event,which is Persuasion,” he said. “[Iwill] try to polish that and takedebate into our next tournamentwhich is at the end of themonth.”

Vanessa Giles, theater major,competed with a piece in prosefrom a memoir. She explainedthat the piece has a message.

Giles, who recently starred inthe production of Hecuba, com-pared her speech competitions toacting. “It’s kind of like actingbut not quite. There are a lot ofrules that come with [the compe-tition],” she said. “It’s fun to do.It’s not anything like being onstage…It’s much different than Ithought it would be.”

According to Fleming, anotherthing that has the team excited isthey just received a brand newfull time coach, Cindy Phu.

4 Courier November 15, 2012Opinion

Letters to the EditorThe Courier welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be about

300 words and may be edited by Courier staff. All letters must containyour full name and a correct daytime phone number. Letters can bedelivered to the Courier office in CC 208 or sent by e­mail to michaels_courier@yahoo.com.

Corrections The Courier staff endeavors to ensure accuracy in all aspects of its report­

ing. If you believe we have made an error, please contact us at (626) 585­7130or via e­mail to saul.nicholas@yahoo.com.

Note to ReadersONLINE POLL RESULTSONLINE POLL RESULTSOnline, we asked: How do you feel about thepresidential election results?

Results as of 5 p.m. Wednesday:Disturbed: 29%On the fence: 5%Relieved: 47%Thrilled: 17% vote at

pccCourier.com

EditorialCourier2011 JACC General Excellence

Award WinnerEditor­in­ChiefNicholas Saul

Managing EditorNicholas Zebrowski

Online EditorAnthony Richetts

Opinion EditorChristine Michaels

Assist. Opinion EditorBenjamin Simpson

Arts & Entertainment EditorPaul Ochoa

Features EditorEmily Chang ­ Chien

Assist. Features EditorShelly Maldonado

Sports EditorPhilip McCormick

Assist. Sports EditorKarla Sosa

Photo EditorBuren Smith

Assist. Photo EditorAntonio Gandara

Online Photo EditorTeresa Mendoza

Scene EditorMax Perez

Staff Writers:Alfonso Ardon, Ander Arostegui,Raymond Bernal, Yeyson Caballeros,Geness Gilkey, Alan Lopez, MaryNurrenbern, Elizabeth Piedra, AmandaPimentel, Luis Rodriguez, MykeisaWillis

Staff Photographers: Cicely Chisholm, Justin Clay, JohnGarcia, Wendy Garcia, ConcepcionGonzalez, Gabriela Gonzalez, JordanHarris, Makoto Lane, Triana Melendez,John Novak, Anar Nyantaisuren,Patricia Reyes, Daniel Valencia, AlexisVillanueva, Ryan Yamamoto

Faculty AdviserWarren Swil

Photography AdviserRachel Fermi

Advertising CoordinatorAnthony Richetts

The Courier is published weekly by thePasadena City College JournalismDepartment and is a free­speechforum. Editorial opinions and com­ments are those of the authors and donot necessarily represent the positionof the institution and its administra­tion, student government or that ofthe Pasadena Area Community CollegeDistrict.

The Courier is written and produced asa learning experience for student writ­ers, photographers and editors in theJournalism Department.

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© Copyright 2012 Courier. All rights reserved.

New law rips ‘community’ out ofCalifornia’s two-year colleges

Section 3 of Senate Bill 1456,also known as the StudentSuccess Act of 2012, states: “It isthe intent of the Legislature toensure equal education opportu-nity for all Californians.” Theproblem with the statement isthe Student Success Act doesanything but provide that.

The new law has essentiallychanged the mission of a com-munity college from educatingthe community to focusing ononly students who are workingtowards an occupational certifi-cate or transferring.

With changes to repeatability,priority registration, and mostimportantly funding require-ments, lifelong learners havebeen taken out of the picture.

The Student Success Act seemsto show that the lawmakers upin Sacramento no longer see life-long learning as somethingworthwhile, but as a financial

liability.According the SSA, college

funding will be based on thenumber of Full Time EquivalentStudents’ (FTES) graduation andtransfer rates.

Senator Alan Lowenthal, co-author of SB 1456 said: “It isunacceptable that more than 50percent of community collegestudents are not graduating ortransferring within six years.”

According to the PCCExtension website, about 12,000community members enroll innon-credit, no-grade courseseach fiscal year.

With the college currently hav-ing over 24,000 studentsenrolled, fewer than half takelifelong learning courses.

It makes sense then, that near-ly half of community college stu-dents do not transfer or receive adegree, because they are notlooking for either.

Funding for a community col-lege should not be based ontransfer and graduation rates,alone. Lifelong learning is beingfinancially extinguished by thestate Legislature.

The SSA has not only cut life-long learning, but it has alsomade it more difficult for life-long learners to stay in thosenon-credit, no-grade courses.

Course repeatability has beenvirtually eliminated, meaninglifelong learners will no longerbe able to retake a class.

Registration priority will bebased on grade point average.What does this mean for life longlearners who do not receive agrade for their classes?

President Mark Rocha felt theconsequences for lifelong learn-ing at community colleges wereregrettable.

“It absolutely breaks my heart… the funding is being dimin-

ished … the budget forces us tomake choices … we have to allo-cate our funds to higher priori-ties [like transferring],” he saidat an Oct. 11 news conference.Rocha explained the college istrying to get more revenuethrough fundraising by the col-lege’s foundation.

The next question is, willfundraising alone be enough tokeep lifelong learning for ourcommunity? The state is forcingcommunity college students tomove forward with a transferdegree or a certificate in orderfor colleges to receive morefunding.

What can students workingtowards certificates or transferdo to help lifelong learners con-tinue their studies? Hit thebooks, do your homework, andget out of here, before the other12,000 students are kicked out.

Best of the Web

Comments recently posted to stories published onlineThe following comments were posted in

response to ‘Students are not commodities,education is not a business,” part II:

I can’t resist another analogy – the hugeinterstate highway system built during theEisenhower administration at about thesame time that the education “Master Plan”was drafted.

It was the greatest infrastructure projectever built – but now our highways and otherparts of our infrastructure are deterioratingbecause there’s no money to maintain them.Our roads and bridges and electrical grid arecrumbling under stresses they were neverdesigned to carry.

I’m sorry that faculty members and stu-dents have been surprised by the swiftreduction of class sections, but in this worldeverything has to be paid for with money –and riots in Spain and Greece don’t give meconfidence that things are going to improve.

-Bear Stearns

I am a former PCC student. I am truly out-raged and saddened by the commentary fol-lowing Professor McCabe and ProfessorJuge’s op ed Piece in the Courier. PCC wasone of the top transfer colleges in theCalifornia Community College system whileI was a student and remains one of the toptransfer institutions in the state.

Therefore, I am at loss to understand whythe current college administration and theBoard of Trustees would want to fix some-thing that is clearly not broken by changingthe calendar, hiring new administrators andmanagers and purchasing a $10.5 millionsoftware system while cutting classes so des-perately needed by students.

-Angry Lancer

I really believe it takes guts and thick skinto be able to write something so raw andpowerful. Let us not forget that there have

been tensions on campus about these issues,and nobody has spoken up so loudly andclearly as these two esteemed professors.Professors Juge and McCabe are wonderfuland highly educated persons whose educat-ed and deeply insightful view of how ourcollege community has changed shows us adifferent perspective on our surroundings.

In essence, I think it is fair to say that theireducated opinion matters, because they saidwhat nobody else had the courage to say.

-An educated opinion matters more

The following comments were posted inresponse to “Marijuana: a convincing eco-nomic argument for legalization”:

Estimates show that marijuana isAmerica’s number one cash crop. However,marijuana remains untaxed. This is a newsource of income for our nation, an incomewe desperately need.

Over 500 of the nation’s top economic pro-fessors have shared their opinion in support-ing the removing the prohibition and impos-ing the taxation and regulation of marijuanaas a way to slow the federal deficit.

Ending marijuana prohibition would savethe U.S. $7.7 billion annually. That is nearlyas much as Congress’ proposed BudgetControl Act. Think of the jobs it would cre-ate, the court time I would save and the jailspace it would free up for actual criminals.

Isn’t it time we at least open the floor fordebate?

-Electedface

I wholeheartedly agree with the logic, butI find one small problem with the numbersyou are focusing on. A look at the entire pic-ture is much more of a dramatic point.

Please check the Department of JusticeNational Drug Intelligence Center reportentitled “The Economic Impact of Illicit DrugUse on American Society.” It is a breakdown

of state and federal expenditure fighting thewar on the drugs.

The study details in just one year $193 bil-lion was spent on it. Marijuana is a criticallynchpin sustaining police department drugsquads, private prisons, rehabs and psychia-trist who partake in the war against drugsand suck on the government tit.

The ONDCP also releases a similarlynamed report that discloses their expendi-ture.With pharmaceutical grade opiatederivatives causing massive organ damageto a growing addicted society, maybe it istime to even offer heroin legally.

What is the cost of the lack of quality con-trol and instruction provided by a legitimatecompany verse a thug? How many overdos-es could be prevented and organs savedwhen we start to approach drug abuse as adisease with education and health care?!Numerous studies have shown marijuanacan act as a alternative to depressants likealcohol or stimulants like amphetamine:what is the savings in that? An eminent sci-entist on the subject Donald Tashkin con-cludes that even after a half a century ofheavy use, no COPD, emphysema or cancerrisk. You cannot say the same for anythingcannabinoids is an alternative to.

-Egadsno

The following comment was posted inresponse to “School officials ecstatic overthe passing of Prop. 30”:

The cuts are NOT behind us – Proposition30 really only balances the state budget. Thefinancial situation for K-12 schools remainsdire. It still costs $1,100 to take one class atCSULA, and the tuition at UCLA is still$15,000 per year. If that doesn’t indicate theend of the education “Master Plan” then Idon’t know what does.

-Lehman BrosMake your voice heard! Visit

pccCourier.com and post a commentto one of the Courier online stories.

5CourierNovember 15, 2012 Op­Ed

How will the passage of Proposition 30 affect you?

Reporting by: Anthony Richetts, Photos by: Max Perez

“Ideally I would like a larger roster ofclasses since the school is very over-crowded and it’s very difficult to get

classes.”Shani Shafrir, Health and nutrition

“I hope that winter session is broughtback and that more classes are added

so I can graduate sooner.”LisaRey Morales, Graphic Design

“I hope it’s going to bring the winterintersession back or just make tuition

cheaper.”Victoria Jinenez, psychology

“It’ll make things at school better andmake it easier for students to study

and graduate.”Billy Han, Photography

“I’m going to be more optimistic aboutmy future, and I’m not going to bedepressed as I was before about

budget cuts, and classes being cut. I’mvery happy that it passed because it

will benefit a lot of schools.Mariam Mkhitaryam, Astronomy

“I don’t want to put too much weight onit. A lot of people are speculating thatit might not do anything. The money is

there but who’s to say it’s actuallygoing to go in the right direction?”

Natalia Guerrero, Undecided

“I’ll get more classes and I’ll get out ofhere as soon as possible. That is thegoal of everyone here at PCC. So I

think it will be very effective and helpme out a lot.”

Georgette Guevara,Communications and broadcasting

“The school Board said they wouldn’tcut classes if it passed, so I’m hopingthe teachers will be able to hold them

to that promise. Hopefully I’ll be able toget classes a little easier now. I think

it’s good for education.”Sean Regan, Political Science

“It’s a good thing, but I’m kind of iffy onit, even when I was voting for it. It justseems like the government will havemore control over the schools rather

than the schools themselves.”Marina Gutierrez, psychology

“It’ll gives us a chance to open upmore funds for students, specificallycommunity colleges that have been

cancelling a lot of classes.” Sarah Hamil, Nursing

VOICES:

Does Electoral College still work?Y

E

S

Current systembetter filters thepopular vote

N

O

It doesn’t alwaysreflect the will of the people

CHRISTINE MICHAELSOpinion Editor

When writing the U.S. Constitution, thefounding fathers did not trust the judg-ment of ordinary Americans, and saw theElectoral College as a means to preventthe election of someone unsuitable foroffice.

To this day, the Electoral College stillprevents the less informed public fromvoting an unsuitable candidate into thehighest office in the land. This does notmean that the average American voter’svote does not count towards who willbecome president. In this year’s presiden-tial election, the swing states such as Ohiohad more Mitt Romney campaign adver-tisements than traditionally Republicanvoting states, according to theCongressional Research Service.

One can say this is because Romneywanted the popular vote in those swingstates. But if anyone watched the presi-dential debates, he or she would see whothe clear winner was.

The Electoral College’s representationis in a way a better-filtered popular vote.

According to Tom Landsford’s academ-

ic article in 2008’s ‘Presidential ElectionProcess,’ when Americans go to the pollsthey vote for the electors in favor of a cer-tain presidential candidate. Voters gettheir voices heard through the ElectoralCollege.

Not only does the Electoral Collegeallow voters to indirectly let their voicesbe heard by choosing their government’sleaders, but it also maintains a federalsystem and government representation inpresidential elections, according to use-lectionals.org. This governmental repre-sentation is decided by the voters’ major-ity party preference.

In California, for example, if 50.1 per-cent voted Democratic and 49.9 percentvoted Republican, the Electoral Collegewould vote Democratic in the presidentialelection. The popular majority party pref-erence in each state is what makes theElectoral College vote one way or theother, according to the CongressionalResearch Service.

Do not hate the Electoral Collegebecause you believe your voice is notheard. Your vote still counts, just in amore condensed way.

PHILIP MCCORMICKStaff Writer

It’s been just over a week since the pres-idential election and once again, the ques-tion about whether or not the UnitedStates should keep the Electoral Collegehas come up.

The Electoral College should be abol-ished and the majority vote should deter-mine who the president is, no matterwhat his or her political party affiliationis.

In 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote48.38 percent over George Bush’s 47.87percent but because Bush received moreElectoral College votes, he won the presi-dency.

Do you believe that’s right? Shouldn’tthe voters decide the fate of this country?

The 2000 election clearly showed thatthe Electoral College can, and possiblywill again, fail the nation’s will as to whoshould be the president.

Bush was the Electoral College’s presi-dent, not the peoples’ president.

If someone in Texas voted for PresidentBarack Obama but the state he or shelived in had more votes for Mitt Romney,

so the state went ‘red’ for Romney, itwould seem that person’s vote didn’tcount.

This is what happens in so-called ‘safe’states. Your vote doesn’t seem to count asmuch as it would in a ‘swing’ state and sothe ‘safe’ states are usually called beforeany votes have even been counted.

All of this also contributes to discour-aged citizens who may not want to vote,because they feel that it won’t matter inthe end.

Their vote holds no value to them andwhy should it? The Electoral College hasalready determined that their state isgoing to go into one of the politicalparty’s corners.

Every American’s vote should count.It’s their right to vote and they should beheard, no matter how far to the right orleft their views are.

The Electoral College should either beamended so that it would take the popu-lar vote more into account, or it shouldjust be abolished.

SCENESCENE October 25, 2012 7Courier

The Endeavour parks for spectators to take pictures as makes its last trip to theCalifornia Science Center along Crenshaw Boulevard on Oct. 13.

Photos By Concepcion Gonzales and Teresa MendozaThe Space Shuttle Endeavor, on its voyage across California toward Los AngelesInternational Airport passes by Griffith Observatory and the surrounding area onSept. 21.

Photos by Max Perez and Junko Inoue

Endeavour sits as the centerpiece for the California Science Center’s newexhibit on Nov. 12.

Photos by Max Perez and Alexis Villanueva

WHAT HAS BEENENDEAVOURED

TERESA MENDOZAStaff Writer

Looking through photographsfrom the most recent studyabroad program trip to Beijing,Language Instructor Cathy Wei isexcited to share memories abouther first trip to mainland China. ATaiwan native, Wei had an interestin seeing more of China and in thespring of 1997, she took a sabbati-cal leave from teaching to travelthere.

“When I realized how bigChina is…seeing all the differentpeople from the north, south, eastand west, it broadened my hori-zons. There are 55 minorities thatare completely different, theirfaces, their customs their lan-guages and it’s truly amazinghow they can still communicate,”said Wei.

Wei spends more than 13 hoursper day on campus and when sheisn’t teaching she prepares herclasses, advises the global club,acts as chair of the Pasadena SisterCities Committee's ChinaSubcommittee and as the vicepresident of the ChineseLanguage Teachers' Associationof Southern California.

In 1997 with her inexhaustibleenergy she organized the college’sfirst travel abroad program toBeijing, China, which was offeredto students for three consecutiveyears during summer sessions,

according to Wei. Concurrently,Pasadena’s Sister City Committeeinvited Wei to join them in theeffort of building up the relation-ship with its sister city XichengDistrict, Beijing.

The study abroad to China pro-gram had been on hiatus for 13years but it resumed in spring2012. According to Wei, duringthe break PCC offered scholar-ships to students that tookChinese for three semesters allow-ing them to spend a semester inTaiwan or China.

The force behind Wei’s missionis fueled by her belief that “lan-guage is a messenger of a cul-ture’s values and stories.” Shesees her work and influencethrough the eyes of her studentsand their achievements.

Wei recalls a student who par-ticipated in the program in 1999,USC graduate, Chad Blackwell,presently a successful businessowner in China. “Chad donatedthe money needed for the stu-dents to travel toShanghai…allowing for a moreextensive experience. [Chad] alsooffered scholarships and intern-ships to PCC students that wantto study in China,” said Wei.

Business major Teresa Sung ofTaiwan descent, decided to partic-ipate in the study abroad programlast spring while learning aboutbarriers and language in a cultur-

al geography class. “I really want-ed to learn more Mandarin andexperience my own heritage andculture,” said Sung. During theprogram the students stayed ininternational dorms at CapitalNormal University, said DanielAdamczyk. “We met studentsfrom Korea and Russia that did

not speak any English but every-one was able to connect speakingin Mandarin,” he said. Studentstook business, Chinese literature,and language classes. “The lan-guage classes were extremely fastpaced four hours every morning,learning 20 to 30 words a day,”said Adamczyk, international

relations major. This semester heis re-taking Chinese level 2 toimprove his writing.

“My grandfather is the only onethat speaks the language in myfamily,” said Adamczyk. “I oftentry to practice my Mandarinspeaking to him and he is alwayscorrecting me, but he has a bigsmile when I try to speak.”

8 Courier November 15, 2012Features

Courtesy of Cathy Wei

Above: PCC Students and staffvisit Qianmen Gate in Beijing onthe first week travel in February.

Left: Language professor, CathyWei created the study abroadprogram in Beijing in 1997.Wendy Garcia/Courier

Counselor guides studentathletes through experienceYEYSON CABALLEROSStaff Writer

A counselor, an instructor, amentor, Michael McClellanbegins his days in a variety ofways. Some days his morningsmay begin in the classroom,teaching courses such as personalgrowth and development.

The next day it might begin asa counselor, following up withappointments with student ath-letes and faculty members; oreven meeting with student ath-letes to guide them and advisethem on methods of succeedingand coping with life.

Whether it is for academic rea-sons or for personal ones,McClellan believes in accessibili-ty and the ability for student ath-letes to be able to communicatewith him when any problem,issue, or concern arises.

“I have an open door policy,students have access to me allday long,” he says.

As the director of the AthleticZone program, his open doorpolicy draws athletes from everysport into the study hall facilityfor his counseling, guidance andadvice. Being a student athletehimself at the University ofOregon, McClellan has been suc-cessful on both sides of the edu-cational spectrum.

As a student athlete has wasadmitted with an athletic scholar-ship and double majored in rhet-oric communication and history.He then acquired three differentmaster degrees from differentinstitutions. He has worked withthe empowerment programs on

behalf of the counseling divisionsuch as the UJIMA program andis also a tenured faculty member.

His knowledge and expertisewon him the 2009 state counseloraward of the year given by the3C4A.

He was also nominated lastyear by students for the Risserteacher award.

According to Greg Altounian, acollege assistant under his obser-vation, McClellan’s knowledge ofthe academic system and itsapplications is what makes himso effective.

“He has the most knowledge ofall of us. He is an important fig-ure in the athletic departmentand in our [student-athletes andfaculty] lives,” says Altounian. Many alumni such as MirandaDoing have benefited fromMcClellan’s experience in theacademic environment and expe-rience in life.

“The advice he gave me hadvalue because I knew he wasonce a student athlete and he wasso good at it. Knowing that hemade it validates his word,” saidDoing.

McClellan’s commitment tosucceeding and to his students’success is backed up by hisresume. And although his suc-cess speaks for itself, McClellan isstill understanding of the strug-gles that student-athletes under-go during their time in collegeaccording to Altounian.

“He has not only succeeded, hehas also failed as well. He knowswhat it feels like to be a student-athlete,” he said.

Instructor treasuresstudy abroad program to China

PAUL OCHOAStaff Writer

With the support of theAssociated Students behindthem, representatives fromHUMAN Healthy Vending wereout in the Quad on Tuesdayoffering free samples of theirhealthier snack and drink alter-natives which would be provid-ed in their vending machines.

“We are doing a taste test tomake sure the students like the[products],” said Andrew Bott,AS vice president for businessaffairs.

With PCC’s vending contractwith Pepsi in limbo, the collegehas a choice between Pepsiagain, Coca-Cola or HUMAN(Helping Unite Mankind AndNutrition) Healthy Vending,according to Bott.

Bott, who has been workingtoward getting vendingmachines with healthier food oncampus, expressed his and theAssociated Students support forHUMAN Healthy Vending.

“Our contract with Pepsi isexpired, the AS has endorsedHUMAN in sticking with PCC’spledge to be environmentallyfriendly we decided to recom-mend [it],” said Bott.

Bott also explained how theHUMAN vending machinesoffered not only more varietyand healthier products but themachines themselves “are sus-tainable and use less electricity,”said Bott.

Alex Michael, easy nutritionspecialist, explained HUMAN’sgoals. “We were founded in 2003on the principle [that] wherevending machines exist

today they need nutrition. [Weare] a nutrition company firstand looking to make an impactthrough the vending machines,”said Michael.

Adam Washington, interna-tional business, felt the snackswere good but lacked flavor andoverall were a good choice forPCC.

“They’re pretty good [but] notas flavorful. If we had healthy[food] vending machines peoplewould use them and it would getPCC healthier,” saidWashington.

Charmine Bolton, liberal arts,liked the idea of having a vend-ing machine on campus that pro-vide good tasting snacks that arealso healthy.

“Most people snack at schoolso if you’d have something thattastes good and is healthier that

would be good,” said Bolton.Michael Delaney, philosophy

enjoyed the food and liked theconvenience it would bring peo-ple who might be vegetarians orvegans and have to get theirfood off campus.

“I think it’s good because a lotof students are vegetarians orvegans and they have to go outof their way to get [organicfood]. The food is really good. Ican see myself enjoying it,” saidDelaney.

Washington explainedHUMAN’s reason for success istheir providence of general valueto the students. “We believe thegreatest values in the world; per-sonal or business comes whenyou can provide general value toothers. [That is] why we are sosuccessful because we put stu-dents first.”

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AS wants healthier snacks in machines

for Online Learning will beKatherine Dacco.

The Director of the Teachingand Learning Center will be BrockKlein.

The new Director of Facilitieswill be Rueben Smith.

The new hires will work underAssistant Superintendent andVice President of Business andCollege Services Robert Miller.

Miller looks forward to work-ing with his new team.

“I am very encouraged aboutthe future of our college and thecontributions this new team will

make. These professionals repre-sent the very best of what’s need-ed to support our college and thestudents our faculty and staff sup-port with passion and resolveevery day,” Miller said.

Director of InstitutionalEffectiveness Crystal Kollross feltrelieved and happy to have a newBusiness and College Servicesteam.

“We are exceedingly relieved.I’d like to thank the whole statefor passing Proposition 30,because none of these consentitems would have passed withoutit,” Kollross said.

“We are available to check inwith students (on a regularbasis),” said Tran.

The students appreciate thework the counselors and coachesdo. “My coach encourages me toask questions and offers advice,”said Jorge Pacheco, medical assist-ing.

Program outreach assistantJavier Carbajal Ramos helps to fillin the details about the back-

ground of FYP. “The FYP startedtwo years ago and has 800 stu-dents involved,” said CarbajalRamos.

The program aims to grow. “Weare planning to expand next yearto 1200 students. We want to con-tinue till all students have accessto the program,” said Klein.

The award is well received bythe Pathways program. “I amexcited, it has been a lot of work,”said Rose.

Pathways program wins award

Staying healthy on a tight budget

Board approves seven new hires

Justin Clay/CourierStudents wait in line for free samples of healthy alternatives to junk

Continued from page 1

learn more about health man-agement. "I wanted to learn howto manage my health on a collegebudget, they gave me a lot ofinformation," said Del Real.

Plates of vegetables, fruits, andother healthy snacks were offeredat the workshop.

Alma Primero, psychology

major, went because of concernswith the rise in obesity. "[I attend-ed] because obesity has gone up alot and it is just a way for studentsto know ways to get healthier,"Primero said. "[The workshop]gave students an idea of whatthere options were…the foodoffered was an example what stu-dents could eat," he said.

Continued from page 1

Continued from page 1

10 Courier November 15, 2012

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EMILY CHANG-CHIENStaff Writer

Students caused quite a com-motion on Thursday when theygathered in front of the CBuilding, calling for the properallocation of Proposition 30 fundsfor more classes.

According to protester KellyCamacho, English and fine arts,no particular student organizedthis rally. “Every student is aleader,” Camacho said. “Everystudent is affected by the crisis inspending priorities on campus.”

According to Camacho, stu-dents — many of whom werecomplete strangers to one another— came together in support ofeach other and empowered them-selves by taking direct action.“They brought the idea of studentpower to our ,” Camacho said.

Caesar Balatios, business and

culinary, passed out fliers andtalked to bystanders. Balatioswas one of the many studentswhose graduation was delayedbecause of the cutting of classes.

“This can happen to [other stu-dents] if we allow [theProposition 30] money to not goto [the students],” Balatios said.“All I am telling [the bystanders]to do is to come join us [and] letthe administrators know that weare here and we need thatmoney.”

Protester Yoana Pena, history,feels that the passage ofProposition 30 warrants a retroac-tive change to the academic calen-dar. “We really need to pressurethe administration to go back tothe old calendar.” she said.“Winter intersession is reallyimportant to all of us.”

“[The administration] needs tofully fund all of the classes, not

increase class size, but definitelymake new sections. Enough withthe wait lists … we need newclasses [and] new class sections,”Pena said.

However, not everyone wasthrilled by the demonstration.The protesters marched through-out campus making trips to the CBuilding, R Building, V Building,L Building, CC Building andShatford Library.

The protesters upped theirvigor as they trailed through thesecond floor of the R Building,opening classroom doors, hittingdoors, and urging students to“walk out for their education.”

Students and instructors staredat protesters, bewildered, as pro-testers screamed into classrooms.David Zepeda, undecided, admit-ted that although he agreed withthe message of the protesters, hefound the door opening rude.

Prop. 30 passage prompts rally

Protestersmarch around

campus onThursday

demandingthat the school

properly allo-cate

Proposition 30money for

more classes.One of thechants was

“Prop. 30 pass-es, we wantour classes.”

ConcepcionGonzalez /

Courier

Opera performancetakes audience onemotional thrill rideCHRISTINE MICHAELSStaff Writer

Upon leaving Harbeson Hallon a freezing and windy Fridaynight, one left ‘Opera Scenes’feeling like he or she just got offone of the most wild, phenome-nally sung and emotionallypacked musical roller coasters ofall time at PCC.

‘Opera Scenes,’ directed byAnne Marie K. de la Vega, tookits audience to a musical experi-ence like nothing before for $10.Sitting at most 50 feet away fromthe stage, the singers’ voicesshocked the audience with waveafter wave of goose bumps.

The foreign opera pieces fromEuropean composers Mozart,Gounod, Donizetti, Verdi, andBizet, did not have to be sung inEnglish for the audience tounderstand the emotions and sit-uations.

De la Vega’s quick run throughof the situation occurring beforeeach opera scene gave the audi-ence a briefing of what was to besung. The first note of theevening, sung by ClareBellefeuille- Rice, was heard soloud and clear it sent shiversthroughout the room. Her partas Gianetta in the scene “Sariapossibile” from Donizetti’s‘L’elisir d’amore,’ kept the audi-ence enthralled with her surpriseas a once poor Italian man wasdeclared the sole heir to a mil-lionaire’s fortune. The audiencebegan to laugh when the oncepoor and now drunk ItalianNemorino, played by MicahHowlett, was amazed at howwell the elixir he bought wasworking to catch the attention ofthe town’s women.

Howlett, a returning operasinger, felt great to be back onstage.

“[I] felt confident [on stage]. Itwas very nostalgic for me, since I

haven’t been singing opera for awhile. But it feels good to getback into it,” he said with asmile.

The professionalism of theentire performance made the $10ticket well worth its money.

Elizabeth Mercado, operasinger Victor Mercado’s youngersister, believed the performancewas amazing.

“Coming from a music back-ground … the sound is awe-some. I totally like it,” she said.

In one of the most memorablescenes during the evening,Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’ scene “Un di,se ben rammentomi,” the audi-ence was taken to a tavern inItaly, where the Duke of Mantua,played by Franz Stary, seducedMaddalena, played by NatalieRingger.

Stary’s soothing, well-experi-enced voice seduced not onlyMaddalena, but also the audi-ence.

But on the other side of thestage, a distressed Gilda, playedby Japanese opera star AiMiyagi, clung to her stern fatherRigoletto, played by ArturoDumindin. Miyagi andDumindin’s distressing, sorrow-ful, emotion filled singingdeeply contrasted the seductionoccurring on the other side of thestage.

Dumindin, whose voice ispowerful on the stage, was softand quiet when describing hispride about the overall perform-ance.

“We weren’t perfect, but it wasvery, very good,” he said with asmile.

Overall, de la Vega’s directionof the ‘Opera Scenes’ was heartwrenching, laugh inducing, andfantastically executed. Oneshould definitely get a chance tosee these performers sing onceagain before they hit the bigstage.

Library receives additional fundsMARY NURRENBERNStaff Writer

The Shatford Library usuallyreceives $20,000 in award moneyfrom the Student Services Fundfor purchasing new textbooks.This year it was surprised toreceive an extra $8,000, accord-ing to Pearl Ly, interim assistantdean, library services.

The library provides textbooksfor students to use in the library.This requires maintenance suchas processing and mending,according to Ly.

“We have considered cuttingthese services before, but decid-ed to apply for extra fundsinstead,” said Ly.

When looking for a candidateto receive an award the SSF looksfor services that clearly benefitthe student body, according toSimon Fraser, AssociatedStudents President and SSF com-mittee member.

The library got the awardbecause it was a needed projectand so many students spendtime inside the library (usingtextbooks), said Ly.

Each week 3,000 textbooks areused which causes the covers toget worn out and the binding to

come apart, according to Ly.$3,000 from the award moneywill be used for repairs and sup-plies and the remaining $5,000will go towards student workers,said Ly.

“We will be able to haveextended hours in finals week(because of having the extramoney),” she said.

Library users were happy. “Iuse the textbooks three days outof four that I am here,” saidShanell Laurence, occupationaltherapy. “It is good that they willbe able to keep them in goodshape.”

“It is rare for a college to havea textbook collection as extensiveas ours,” said Jared P. Burton,librarian. “Last spring a surveywas conducted by the library tosee what the reaction would be ifthe library discontinued the text-book collection.Overwhelmingly the studentsshowed alarm and distress oversuch an idea.”

Students share in the excite-ment of the library receiving theaward.

“I think it is great that thelibrary got the award, it can usethe help,” said Thet Noe, politi-cal science.

BENJAMIN SIMPSONStaff Writer

On a cold and windy after-noon in Compton, the men’ssoccer team dominated its lastgame of the season. PCCplayed El Camino College-Compton Center on Friday win-ning by a score of 2-0.

Despite winning their lastgame, the men’s soccer teamfinished 4th in the South Coastconference and 17th in theSouthern California region.The first 14 teams in theSouthern California Regionenter the playoffs, so theLancers just missed the playoffsthis year.

Scoring was set off in the 15thminute with a cross by VahaganManoyan. He spent the first 15minutes bringing the ball downthe left wing, crossing the ballover and over again. One of themany crosses he made wentaround the keeper and foundIrving Rosales on the far post.

“I was playing right wing, Iwas touching the end line,” saidRosales, “and I finally madethat run down the line, where I

should have been the first 15minutes, the keeper came outand I chipped it over him.”

The second goal came in thesecond half, as the Lancerspushed the ball forward againand again.

Kevin Ramirez took a freekick from the 25-yard-line,looping it in to the near post,where Manoyan headed the ballback over the defenders andBrandon Flores finished it offby heading it over the goal-keeper.

“The game was dominated byus in the second half, we hadmore opportunities,” saidFlores.

“When we got there we didwhat we had to do. We werewaiting for the playoff seating,so we had to win that game,”said Coach Edgar Manvelyan.“We went there to win thegame, … we changed our wholelineup, we just kept pressing,kept pressing, kept pressing.In the second half we put allour sophomores in, a sopho-more congratulations, [by thattime] we had control of thegame fully.”

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Family basketball tandem keeps it professional

EMILY CHANG-CHIENFeatures Editor

The sound of stampeding feetpounding against the floorsechoed throughout the basket-ball court as players feverishlydribbled a basketball. The faintsmell of perspiration permeatedthe gymnasium as the playersdemonstrated relentless drills.

Men’s basketball team coachMike Swanegan watched histeam pensively as he shoutedencouragement to various play-ers.

From his gaze and the atten-tion he paid to every player, onewould not realize that SwaneganSr. is the father to shooting guardMike Swanegan, Jr.

Swanegan Sr. admitted thatbeing the father to a player is dif-ficult at times.

“But at other times, it’s good tosee him grow and blossom theway [I] want to see him grow,”he said.

However, Swanegan Jr. facesimmense pressure from team-mates and the crowd. Hebelieves that outsiders think thatthe coach favors his son.

“[It is] stressful, most of thetime, walking around school andbeing asked if you are thecoach’s son,” he said. “There isnever a day where I don’t get

asked that.”Swanegan Jr. has felt the diffi-

culty of being the son of thecoach since his freshmen year.He feels that he must live up tothe role that the public hasbestowed upon him.

“I have a lot of expectation formyself, from staff members toteammates, to my dad and to myfamily,” he said.

“If I don’t live up to that, I puta bad name on the family and onmy dad as well because heworks here.”

However, Swanegan Sr. thinksdifferently. “My expectations forhim are no different [than] forthe whole team in general: toplay to the best of [their] ability,and to be productive out on thefloor,” Swanegan Sr. said.

Shooting guard MarquiseTolson notes that Swanegan Sr.treats Swanegan Jr. as a regularplayer.

According to Tolson, there is atime and place for business, andanother for a relationship.

“On court, they are player andcoach,” Tolson said. “I mean,that is his son, but he gets no lee-way, he’s got to do the samething that everyone else [has] todo. … There [isn’t any]favoritism at all.”

Guard Evan Brooks echoedthis sentiment and added that

the father and son have a lot oflove for each other. Brooksemphasized that the coach doesnot play favorites. “He treats[Swanegan Jr.] like a player; hewants him to get better, and[Swanegan Jr.] doesn’t disap-point,”

Brooks said. “[The coach] letshim know when he makes a mis-take, and he lets him know when

he does [well].”However, the stress of being

the coach’s son has taughtSwanegan Jr. valuable lessons.“It has taught me how to dealwith stuff on my own, and it hasmade me grow up a lot,” he said.“It has taught me how to matureand take criticism from a lot ofpeople. The best positive is thathe is my dad and coach.”

Both father and son have agood relationship Swanegan Sr.happily said. “One thing I try to[instill] in him is that once we geton this floor, it’s not father andson; it’s coach and player,” hesaid.

“Once we leave the gym, weare back to father and son. So asad day can turn into a happyday after practice.”

Men’s soccer dominates in season finale with a winover El Camino

Jordan Harris / CourierLancer Guard, Mike Swanegan ,left, stands next to his father, Head Coach Mike Swanegan, in the Hutto-Patterson Gym Nov. 03.

Father son duo debunkfavoritism stereotype

SPORTSSPORTSNovember 15, 2012OURIERC

Women’s basketball 3-0 in first 3 gamesPHILIP MCCORMICKSports Editor

The women’s basketball teamwent 3-0 in the Veterans DayTournament held in the Hutto-Patterson Gym over the week-end, getting off a great start tothe season and building hopesthat this team can get to theplayoffs again.

“We have high hopes for thisseason,” said GuardCharnequoia Jackson.

“And it felt really good to getoff to an unbeaten start.”

The highlight of the tourna-

ment for the crowd had to bewatching a new star being bornin Center Kaitlyn Parks, whohad three strong performances.Parks really out-shone the com-petition in games one and three,scoring 19 points and 15rebounds in the first game and23 points and 14 rebounds in thethird game.

“[Parks] is doing a great job asa freshman for the team,” saidGuard Stella Ghazarian, whohad 18 points and 7 rebounds inthe first game. “She does a won-derful job at getting us muchneeded rebounds and every-

thing else she does is just anextra.”

Games two and three werevery close, but game two felt alittle too close for Head CoachJoe Peron, as the Lancers won byonly one point, 47-46 being thefinal score.

“I don’t believe that I haveever had a team score under 50points in a game,” said Peron.“But we are playing some reallygood teams this weekend.”

PCC played SouthwesternCollege in the first game, IrvineValley College in the second andCypress College in the third.

The Lancers handledSouthwestern pretty well, buthad trouble with both IrvineValley and Cypress.

The game against IrvineValley went down to the wire.

The Lancers enjoyed an earlylead in the first half, but wentinto a shooting slump andcouldn’t hit any of their shots.

With 14.7 seconds left in thegame, PCC needed a stop… Andthey got it, along with the win

“A win is a win,” said Peron.“I thought that there were toomany whistles, but in the end,we found a way to come out on

top.Cypress College gave the

Lancers a run for their money aswell, but PCC had the upperhand in the final two minutes.

At the end of the third game,the final score being 58-52, theLancers had an unbeaten record.

“We have so much talent onthis team,” said Parks, who alsoreceived the Most ValuablePlayer award of the tournament.“I’m happy that we were able tosweep the tournament and getoff to an awesome start.”

Justin Clay/CourierFreshman Kaitlyn Parks shoots a hook-shot in the paint during PCC's 67-59 win over Southwestern Collegeon Friday in the Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium. The Lancers victory was the first of three straight in theVeterans Day Classic.

Women’s soccer getsplayoff berth with awin over ComptonANTHONY RICHETTSStaff Writer

The women’s soccer team dom-inated El Camino CollegeCompton Center Tartar with adaunting 8-0 victory in the lastgame of the regular season atRobinson Stadium on Nov. 9.

From the start of the game, theLancers proved the old adage thatthe best defense is a good offenseby gaining control of the ball earlyand maintaining a strong offensethroughout the game with greatpassing and multiple steals.

The Tartars were no match forthe Lancers that day and theyplayed a very weak game fromthe start.

In the first half, PCC managedto take a three-point lead. Eightminutes into the start, Lancer for-ward and top scorer VanessaCapra scored the first goal of thegame with an assist fromMidfielder/Forward LizbethRodriguez. Thirteen minutes in,PCC Forward CassandraSaavedra, with help from one ofthe Tartars, scored a second goal.

With two behind, Comptonmanaged to pick up the pace, buteven with the ball in scoringrange, they managed to botch per-fectly good opportunities to scoreand had the ball constantly stolenfrom them. With six minutes left

in the first half, Capra managed toscore an unassisted goal, bringingthe Lancers’ lead at the end of thefirst half to 3-0.

Seven minutes into the secondhalf, Forward Nancy Nunezscored a goal with a combinationof assists from Capra andRodriguez, bringing the score to4-0. PCC Midfielder Taylor Goretook advantage of a botched passout of the Lancers’ scoring zonefrom ECC Compton’s IvonneAmaya and scored the Lancers’fifth goal.

Half way through the secondhalf, the Lancers’ top scorerVanessa Capra took a hit in theknee by one of the Tartars’ andhad to refrain from playing therest of the game. But even withouttheir top scorer, the Lancers stillmanaged to maintain their strongoffense.

“The game overall was a suc-cess. We were able to control balland pass,” said French. “It was anissue because before where wewould be playing kick ball andwe needed to relax and stay calm,and we’re going to need that forthe playoffs because the teamswill be more competitive thanthis.”

The playoffs for the Lancersbegin today against Santa MonicaCollege at Occidental College at 3pm.

ForwardVanessa Capracharges afterthe ball down-field eventuallyscoring two ofthe eight goalsby PCC inFriday night'sgame atRobinsonStadium. PCCbeat ECCCompton, 8-0.

Makoto Lane /Courier

Volleyball’s 11-game win streak snappedADAM MITCHELLContributing Writer

The women’s volleyball team stumbled onThursday, losing 3-1 to the El Camino CollegeWarriors in Torrance.

The ECC Warriors came out firing taking the firsttwo games 25-19, and 25-22. The Lancers took thethird game 25-16, but that was all they couldmuster, losing the fourth and final game 25-23.

The match took place at El Camino College andthe home crowd was out in force. In front of theraucous home fans even the warm-ups seemed totake place at a fevered pace.

Coach Tammy Silva noted the mood. “The homecrowd was the difference,” she said. “[Our team]played more consistently than last game but thecrowd was a huge factor.”

There were miscommunications up front for the

Lancers for most of the first two games, resultingin 11 unforced errors in the first game to go alongwith 13 in the second. “We are not going to winwith that many unforced errors,” said Silva.

Despite the tough loss the Lancers came out inthe third game and played well, sparked by goodplay from both Jackie Valle-Acosta and KaileyFaust. Jennifer Estrada also was a great help ondefense with 18 defensive digs through all fourgames, but all proved to be not enough as gamethree was their only victory.

The loss moves PCC and ECC into a two way tieatop the conference, both with 11-1 conferencerecords.

The Lancers don’t have much time to reflect onthe loss turning around quickly to play Cerritos inthe next match-up. It is a good match-up to havecoming off a loss; the Lancers dominated Cerritosin their last meeting 3-0.