Club RushSept. 18, 2012

“Despite all the challenges students face, EVC strives to make sure they succeed.”

M e s s e n g e rPRESENTED BY THE: EVERGREEN VALLEY COLLEGE NEWSPAPER CLUB

V o l u m e 4 , I s s u e 1 1

The Sept . 2012

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Welcome Back!

It’s about that time in the year once again! Students have ended their 3 month break away from our institu-tion to again come back for the fall 2012 Semester. Some are sluggish and others are excited to start the new semester, but are they prepared to witness the mo-notony or some of the changes?

Our students were welcomed and woken up by the en-ergetic Associated Student Government as we partnered with Student Life to coordinate Welcome Week during the first two days of school. The ASG and Student Life interacted with new and returning students by having them crab walk, do jumping jacks, or jog across fields to share a sense of unity with our students. We also provided complementary school supplies, EVC attire, and coffee. Lastly, we and other faculty around campus serviced students by answering their questions or direct-ing them to their designated courses.

From my perspective, the start of the year is filled with changes and both things that you know and those that you anticipate will happen. For example many returning students know specific places will be packed with stu-dents, such as the financial aid office where a long line of students extends from the office to the Montgomery Hall auditorium. The EVC campus bookstore continu-ously has traffic because of students getting textbooks or other school supplies.

Also classes being filled the first couple days with students being unable to find seats because they are oc-cupied by registered and waitlisted students. For some of our students, getting those “add codes” are the most important things throughout the first few days. Students arrive extra earlier for classes and either search for or negotiate with professors to ensure that they get added into the course. Returning students have the advantage of knowing to be proactive and avoid those areas, while unfortunately for new students they do not.

One thing that will always remain during the first few weeks of school is “The Game of Textbooks”. Based on the experiences of returning students, gathering textbooks is a game because students will do whatever it takes to get their textbooks for the semester.

In this game students start off with one move which is

to purchase textbooks at the campus bookstore; how-ever due to prices, students choose that move as a last resort. The moves students make in this game include borrowing or purchasing from friends (classmates) or special programs, standing outside or visiting classes to sell used textbooks, selling them back to the campus bookstore, purchasing online, and advertising around campus. However, if all else fails students can resort to the better alternative, and buy them from the campus bookstore; “The Game of Textbooks” will always live on to be played.

Although some things remain, there will be changes such as orange lines in the parking lots for motorcycles and carpool parking for the supposed newly imple-mented carpool passes. Don’t forget the huge fenced off square patch of dirt right in the middle of the campus adjacent to the Gullo 2 building (where the portables were). It has been asked why they are gone or what will/ should be placed there.

Another change, but more so a gift to our campus and its students, is the mural painting on the Cedro build-ing. This mural was created by the EVC Art and Design Club during summer vacation.

Due to budget cuts another change that drastically af-fects our students is the price for units. Previously the price per unit was $36 now it is $46. This $10 increase could be a possible reason why enrollment rates were lower this semester than previous semesters, quite a se-vere change for EVC. Overall our students are preparing themselves to start their pursuits of higher education. Despite all the challenges students face, EVC strives to make sure they succeed. As students we are always welcomed back by these kinds of experiences where it’s natural to undergo and adjust.

The ASG, clubs, special programs, and faculty encour-age our students to take full advantage of all opportuni-ties offered to them. College is a place that needs to be explored in order to get the full experience. Excel in classes, become involved around campus, and feel free to wonder what they plan to do with that huge patch of dirt on our campus.

Enjoy this semester and welcome back students!

Timothy BurpeeAS Activities Dir.

Coupon i

nside

!

On 9/12/12, Wednesday, at approxi-mately 8:27pm, a case of domestic violence occurred in parking lot 9 at Evergreen Valley College, San Jose. The victim, a student at EVC, was assaulted by the suspect (also an EVC Student) while she was re-turning to her vehicle. The suspect struck the victim in the face and upper torso area, causing redness to both areas. The suspect also deflated the victim’s vehicle tires during the altercation. The suspect fled scene prior to the police arriving on scene. The victim refused medical aid and an Emergency Protective Order from District Police. The investiga-tion and is open and District Police is actively attempting to locate the suspect.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE-RELATED BATTERY IN LOT 9

Raymund AguirreChief of Police

sjeccd.edu/business/distpolice

Page 2 September 2012NewsPRESENTED BY THE: EVERGREEN VALLEY COLLEGE NEWSPAPER CLUB

For more information go to: evccafe.com

CUT HERE & RECYCLE!

$1 OFF WHEN YOU BRING THIS COUPON IN TO THE EVC CAFE!LOCATED NEXT TO THE CAFETERIA

HOURS OF OPERATIONMonday through Thursday - 8:00am to 2:00pmFriday - CLOSED

$After a long summer, the campus is once again filled with hustling bustling students. Most are looking for classrooms, others are anxiously waiting to see whether they can add their classes. Whatever it maybe, it is no doubt that some of Evergreen Valley College busiest days are on the first few weeks of school.

Associated Student Government greets new and returning students by celebrating Welcome Week for the fall 2012. Coffee and tea was served in front of the Gullo building to help students stay on top of their game as they enter the new semester. Passer byer’s listened to the music and student government messages. Students and faculty were welcomed to play games and for the brave souls that did, prizes such as free EVC t-shirts, banners, folders, and lanyards were given out.

Announcements of vacant positions were made for VP of Finance, Public Relations, and Senator. Students interested in inquir-ing must be enrolled in at least 6 units and have a cumulative GPA of 2.0. Each position has unique responsibilities which adhere to their different roles in Student Government.

For example, the Vice-President of Fi-nance acts as the manager of the organi-zation’s funds and as the treasurer of the ASG. This includes keeping an organized record of all financial transactions and funds.

On the other hand, the job of the Public Relations Director consists of informing the students about all the activities and events of the Student Government which is often done through website visuals. The Public Relations Director manages all the advertisements and promotions for ASG

events.The Senators (Representatives At-Large) sits in committees and assists in the pro-gramming board or any ASG events. The body of Senators is vital component of ASG since they act as an extension of the executive board as well a representation of the student body. Applications for the of-ficer roles are available in room G-201. Joining Student Government is not all work and no play. Being a part of Associ-ated Student Government is an exceptional way to meet new people and exercise your leadership skills.

Welcome Week is only one of the numer-ous campus-wide activities and programs that ASG coordinates. Upcoming events such as club rush and meet-and-greet the president will give students the opportuni-ties to socialize with their fellow peers as well as participate in school events.

Announcements & Welcome Week“Announcements of vacant positions were made...Students interested in inquir-ing must be enrolled in at least 6 units and have a cumulative GPA of 2.0.”Tammy Do

AS Senator

The MATH & SCIENCERESOURCE CENTER

The MSRC provides tutoring and/or student learning resources to support all EVC Astronomy, Biology, Chemestry, Earth Science, Math, and Physics courses. All tutoring and resource services are offered free on a drop-in, open-lab basis to registered EVC students only. Ap-pointments are not necessary. To recieve tutoring and access any resource service, a student must register for an II210 supervised Tutoring section in the center. This is a non-credit course.

Fall 2012 Hours

Monday - Thursday: 9 am - 6 pm

Friday: 9 am - 6 pm

Saturday & Sunday: Closed

Further information, contact:(408). 274 . 7900 EXT. 6883

Or by emailing:evcmathsciencentr@evc.edu

* AD Provided by EVC-MSRC

Join the Newspaper Club and help us inform our fellow students.

Every Tuesday from 3pm - 5pmin Roble G-131.

See contact info on pg 4.

A hearty salutation to you, welcome back to school! If you’re new here at Evergreen Valley College, myself and the staff of The Messenger welcome you with open arms. I hope your summer was well spent, sublime, and filled with many experiences. Can you recall what you ended up doing during your summer?

For me, I personally can’t recall what happened in the beginning of my summer, it’s like it went away in a flash, even when unemployed . . . I do know that during the last half of my summer I participated in an orchestra, painted a mural on this campus, and learned a fruitful of information about activism in Berkley.

Now that we’re here, we have to move forward and get into high gear for the school year ahead of us! Echoing last year’s successes, we here at The Messenger are looking for-ward to another positive outcome for the school year on all fronts of student life.

We’ve improved our formats and strengthened ways to communicate with students in order to defeat apathy. We also earned an honorable mention award for an “on the spot” comic at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges! Since that event, we are striving and doing our best to become an award winning Newspaper.

While mentioning the successes of last year’s Associated Student Government endeavors, I assure you that your new board will discover more ways to make student life even better here on this campus.

A few of the successful outcomes hosted by your A.S

were Musicpalooza: a talent show where students have a chance to present their musical talents; also for the first time having documented footage uploaded to the web. Turkey Bowl: a football game where all clubs on campus compete with one another to claim the title, champion. A Night in The Twilight Zone: a Halloween party along with a notable haunted house worth touring into.

I’m expecting that there are more ideas in their hat this year for pos-sibly more sponsored events by your A.S. Speaking of events, aside from the A.S, there are clubs and organiza-tions too who also host events here on campus.

Last spring, we had the Poetry Fes-tival hosted by the English Language Lovers Club, Miss Representation hosted by the Womyn’s Center, Tet Festival hosted by Vietnamese Stu-dent Association, Cinco De Mayo hosted by ENLACE, and in fall we had a Luau hosted by the Pacific Is-lander Club.

Reflecting back on our goals in the newspaper club, us representing you and all the other student voices who attend this campus is our principal. Not

only us, but at a different level, your Associated Student Government as well. We both encourage you and your fel-low peers to speak about your concerns and what is and isn’t following through or occurring within this college.

We appreciate and understand that it isn’t always easy to speak out. Often times people are afraid of reper-

cussions or retaliation for this reason we promise you that if you ask for confidentiality we will

respect your request. We will not disclose our sources! That is a promise. Unless of course you want your name and story mentioned. The newspaper is here for the students; we are the student’s voice!

Again, we’re here to amplify the voices of all students of this campus and provide

a stage for sincerity. We are here to serve you. You are paying student fees and you need to know where the money is being allocated. We as-sure you that your money is not only being spent on your education, but on other things that aren’t needed. Remember, the newspaper and your AS are here for you! Work hard, stay humble, keep informed, and with that

I leave you the best of luck for this school year.

On the summer before last I was given the opportunity to travel to Haiti, a troubled is-land nation located in the Caribbean. Before our trip my group and I were told to inform ourselves about the actual situation in the country because otherwise our experience there would have no context.

When I checked the Department of State website, it made clear that everything has gone wrong with our neighbor to the south, mentioning the 2010 earthquake which crippled its infrastructure, an outbreak of the waterborne cholera virus, and general lawlessness that presents a “persistent danger of violent crime, including armed robbery, homicide, rape, and kidnapping.”

This website has remained stagnant on the topic for years, I’d been told, and there is no misinterpreting its message. Haiti is on the list of countries that nobody should visit indefi-nitely.

Now this brought up more than a few questions, mainly pertaining to how the country reached its currently volatile state. As a result, I looked deeper than the opinions of gov-ernment officials who likely looked down on Haiti from the windows of their embassy.

One thing which astonished me about Haiti when I first heard it was its history, because it is a tale quite similar to our own. The revolutionary leaders of the country had much the same goals for their country as our founding fathers.

Sadly, the country hasn’t had the opportunity to seek true independence due to its per-petually weak economy. The poverty of Haiti has many causes, but the first blow was dealt when France with the help of its international allies (including the United States) charged the nation $2.5 million, or 80% of its national revenue, for damages inflicted during its revolution.

Until this debt was paid, the nation was put under “diplomatic quarantine” in the form of an armed embargo. Against the interests of its people, the self-appointed leaders of Haiti paid these debts, surrendering the economy and in effect the destiny of their country to foreign interests.

Haiti:The Cost of Freedom

Anthony DiSilvestreSenior Staff Writer

Elementary schoolhouse in Cite de SoleilPhoto Credit: Moses Omolade

Words from the Editor-in-Chief

Page 3 September 2012NewsPRESENTED BY THE: EVERGREEN VALLEY COLLEGE NEWSPAPER CLUB

When we arrived to the country I could still see the symptoms of those decisions made decades ago. We stayed in the nation’s capital of Port-Au-Prince for our visit, but beyond finding a great density of trade, there wasn’t much in the way of amenities in the area.

In the home we stayed at there was no running water, and in any water that didn’t come from a bottle or bag (yes, bagged water) there was the threat of cholera, so every day our hosts had to purchase water at the supermarket a 10 minute from the house. Our electricity came from a power generator and transportation was the back of a pickup truck.

Despite all this, I noticed an organized effort by the people of the city to solve these prob-lems plaguing them. Community leaders have focused public attention on the necessities, the services and goods a growing country needs, such as education.

Many Haitians are forced to work in the fields or factories for minimum wage (2-$3 per day) because they never had access to schools. With the introduction of a new public school to the community, more parents can see their children attain higher education. Even adults who had no school when they were young are given a second chance to become profession-als in a field.

And in order to reduce reliance on overpriced imports, gardens have cropped up in the unlikeliest of places, such as on roof tops and in a field located in Cite de Soleil: the poorest neighborhood in the city.

With the help of Global Exchange, our group brought some supplies to grassroots organi-zations in the city them to help weather the hard times. The best part of my trip was seeing the smiles on the faces of Haitians knowing that they haven’t been forgotten.

The problem hasn’t been that the world has forgotten the country, but aid given through the wrong channels ends up in someone’s pocket instead of helping the people. There are in-deed other problems facing Haiti besides its poor infrastructure and a stunted economy, and I will cover those in a later issue.

If the Haitians are to ever wrest back control of their lives, it will be when they have the resources to become self-sufficient and combat the ever-growing monopoly on their country.

Information on Haiti’s history from The Uses of Haiti by Paul Farmer

Construction site of a new school to be completed in 4 yearsPhoto Credit: Andrea Kennedy

Edward BalaoroEditor-in-Chief

“... we are striving and doing our best to become an award winning Newspaper."

Page 4 September 2012NewsPRESENTED BY THE: EVERGREEN VALLEY COLLEGE NEWSPAPER CLUB

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to become a doctor? Not sure how to get there? EVC Pre-Meds Club is making their first ever debut on campus, and we’re here to stay! As a club, we aim to guide aspiring students into becoming physicians, but we’ll work together in getting a better understanding of the health status of our community.

Not only is EVC Pre-Meds Club an oppor-tunity to become a leader on campus and in the community, but it is also an oppor-tunity to learn more about how you can better your chance in getting into Medical school.

Are you thinking that only super smart people with GPA’s of 4.0 get into medi-cal school? That’s nonsense. Everybody is unique in their own way, and medi-cal schools know that. So, many medical schools actually look at various dimen-sions of your life: academics, work, family responsibilities, MCAT scores, and the list goes on! Everyone has a chance and capac-ity to become a leader and a physician one day, so you should think about it. We’ll be meeting twice a month on campus, so please do stay in touch!

Julie NgoPresident of EVC Pre-Meds

Demystifyingthe Pre-Medical

Myths

For further information please feel free to contact us at: evc.premeds@gmail.com

Or

Check us out on Facebook: www.facebook.com/EVCPreMeds

The Messenger

Everg reen Va l ley Co l lege ’ s Newspaper C lub

2010 - 2013

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Editor-in-Chief : Edward Balaoro

Managing Editor : Francisco Zarate

Chief-of-Journalsim Depo. : Anthony DiSilvesteri

Chief-of-Multimedia Depo. : Madison Muong

Advisors : Sterling Warner & MarJorie Clark

Webmaster : Tyler Boutte

Lead Photographer: Jerome Guiang

Lead Designer : Steven DeMartini

Secretary : Veronica Lechuga

Treasurer : Remi Kloth

• Funded in part by the Associated Student government of Evergreen Valley College •

We distinguish ourselves with an enduring elegance in design, typography, and engaging readers with bold use of visual truth. We are the collective voice of the students. Join the cause to keep your fellow students informed on campus by joining us or, by contributing your media to the paper.

Bryan SablanShane DantzlerChris FattaliniTammy DoEric Nguyen

Timothy BurpeeLupita Torres

Veronica LechugaShawn SieuBekki ZarcoJulie Ngo

David TorresAnthony DiSilvesteri

Remi Kloth

Journalism Department:

Katerina ChantzisSteven DemartiniJerome GuiangMichael Kieper

Jose PeralesTyler Boutte

Matthew Sablan

Christin RodriguezJoe Nguyen

Multimedia Department: