the skyline view volume xxxi issue 1
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The Skyline View Volume XXXI Issue 1TRANSCRIPT
Sports
Volume XXXI - Issue 1 August 30, 2012 www.theskylineview.comSkyline ViewT
he The Voice of Skyline College, San Bruno, California
by Renee Abu-ZaghibraTSV News Editor
Possible campus shut-down
by Will Nacouzi TSV Multimedia Editor
This July 2, 2012 the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior College notified City College of San Francisco that it unless it ad-dresses fully the problems identified by the commission in 2006, it will close next year, 2013, at the end of the spring semester.
The commission has requested that City submit an special report to the commission, which will show how City plans to address these problems, this special report is due this coming October, 15th.
Out of a total of eight problems, that the commission identified in 2006, City College has failed to address three of them while only partially addressing the other five, which the commission found out this year in March, when it sent a team to City College. In addition to these the team also made an additional 14 recommendations.
The first of the unaddressed point was the question of City’s Financial Planning and Stability, while it is not in the red, the accreditation team’s, 2012, report illustrated that current spending by City College did not match revenues and as a result the College has been forced to borrow money in the short term in order to meet current financial needs.
The second unaddressed point, in the words of the team was “Physical Facilities Contingency Planning” only services to reinforce the above point by showing that City College does not have the financial reserves to weather any unforeseen incident in the future, especially with the current state of the economy.
The last unaddressed point, is the “Physical Facilities Maintenances Planning” or in other words, does a college have the funding to oper-ate and maintain existing facilities and any new existing facilities to be built in the future, thus in this case funding will be set aside for this. However City College lacks any adequate funds for this and also lacks the funds for scheduled maintenance of existing facilities.
“I don’t think that they are in danger of closing or losing their ac-creditation at this point.” said Dean Joe Morella said “they’ll need a good plan and they’ll have to do what they need to do in order to keep their ac-creditation.”
These three points aside, the com-mission noted that City College does a great job in serving the needs of
Features
Transfer Center sign in building 2.Daniel Chee/ The Skyline View
EntertainmentFind us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
The San Matean ends production after 84 years
College of San Mateo will be without a student-run free press for the first time in 84 years as of the 2012 fall semester.
The San Matean and the four classes offered which assembled the editorial are cancelled due to low enrollment. The former advi-sor to the Journalism program, Ed Remitz, has reportedly taken the opportunity to retire after more than twenty years of supervising the production of the paper. He is currently unavailable for comment.
“The paper was cancelled because less than 20 students were enrolled in the production classes.” Varsha Ranjit, former Managing
Editor for the spring 2012 semester said, “The paper had been on the verge of extinction.”
The San Matean has recorded the history of life on the campus of CSM since 1928 and has won nu-merous prestigious awards includ-ing one from the Society of Profes-sional Journalists for coverage of the San Bruno gas explosion and resulting fire. At least one former staff writer has gone on to write for the San Francisco Examiner.
The small team of staff has received support over Facebook and through an online petition set up by Kayla Figard, former editor-in-chief. Their online edition is still active; however it will deactivate
by Vince BiancaLanaTSV Staff Writer
CSM continued on Page 2
@TheSkylineView
CCSF continued on Page 2
CSU restricts spring admission
California State University plans to close admissions allow-ing only a limited number of California residents for the spring of 2013, because of budget cuts made to campuses.
Massive budget cuts have caused 10 of the 23 campuses included in the CSU system to allow a limited number of students to enroll. The small amount of students they are admitting differ between each campus and each program, but one of the few exceptions are college students transferring from California com-munity colleges who have already received an “associated degree of transfer.” Colleges have just
Stephanie Hall/ The Skyline View
A sign directs people to an extinct newspaper.
CSU continued on Page 2
recently begun offering this degree of transfer and therefore not many students have earned the ability to transfer yet.
“Campuses are closed to most students, however, a limited num-ber of students are being admit-ted — mainly those who earned Associate for Transfer degrees from California Community Col-leges,” said Erik Fallis, media rela-tions manager of California State University. “This exception likely has the most direct impact on your peers at Skyline College.”
Senate Bill 1440, which was passed in September 2010, cre-ated the degree in order to form a smoother path for community col-lege students who want to transfer into state universities. In many
community colleges, the condi-tions for an associate degree are different from what is required to transfer to CSU or the University of California.
There are 5 programs that have been approved of the transfer degree, while others are still in process. Jacqueline Escobar, the transfer center director, recom-mends to apply for the degree in this fall semester to give the trans-fer center “a heads up” on who will be completing the associated degree of transfer. Workshops will be held about the degree and will help the students understand the different programs, the advantages, and who benefits.
“We encourage students to apply for the degree because it has
many benefits for students,” said Escobar.
According to Erik Fallis, CSU is not in favor of limiting access to higher education and does not think that it is in the best inter-est of California. Regrettably, the university’s state support has cut about $1 million since 2007-2008. The state government is imposing that CSU is to make difficult compromises “between access, affordability and quality”.
The 2012-13 state budget in-cludes a mid-year budget cut for CSU depending on the result of Proposition 30 on the November ballot. If voters reject the mea-sure, the CSU will be cut by an additional $250 million, meaning
Due budgetary constrants the California State University system limits enrollment
Journalism programs are cut from CSM curriculum due to little enrollment
Cafeteria Remodeling Completed page 5
What coward sends robots to fight!? page 7
Read about womans soccer page 8
CCSF accredition at risk
2 August 30, 2012Skyline ViewThe News
The Staff
Want more news?www.theskylineview.com
Or maybe you have news for us?(650) 738-4377
Want to yell at [email protected]
Or use snail mail:The Skyline View
c/o Language ArtsRoom 8-8110
Skyline College3300 College Drive
San Bruno CA 94066
Editor In ChiefStephen Benoit
News EditorRenee abu-zaghibra
Features EditorLauren Concon
Opinions Editorjj Valdez
Entertainment EditorJay johnson
Sports EditorMegan Benveniste
Online EditorRich Estrada
Multimedia EditorWill Nacouzi
Photo EditorDaniel chee
Editors at largemarc arguello
jay johnsonjj valdez
Staff WritersPatrick esguerra
diane thaoChristopher KorpVince Biancalana
Aaron washingtonsarah yiu
eric wongJustine abellana
Photographersdaniel Chee
will nacouzi
CartoonistJJ Valdez
Alyssa Koszis
Faculty AdviserNancy Kaplan-Biegel
The Skyline View is a First Amend-ment Publication. The Skyline View is published bi-weekly during the spring
and fall semesters by the journalism students at Skyline College. The Skyline
View is a member of the Journalism Association of Community Colleges. Opinions expressed in the paper are
those of the writers and should not be interpreted as the views of Skyline Col-
lege, SMCCCD, the faculty, administra-tors or the newspaper adviser. Addi-
tionally, the paper does not endorse any of the products or services advertised. The Skyline View welcomes Letters to the Editors; letters must include full name, address, and phone number for
verification. The Skyline View reserves the right to edit letters for length, libel,
clarity, and taste.
Aftermath of Chevron oil refinery expolsion
Budget cuts impact once again CSU transfers continued from page 1
pending lack of payment to the publisher.
Meager efforts to sponsor a Journalism Club which could produce a smaller, more condensed and infrequent paper have been too insignificant to render another editorial on CSM campus this upcoming semester. Without offer-ing credits, no program as involved as publishing a newspaper could expect students to give up so much free time.
“I don’t see it happening as a club,” commented Joe Wirt, Communications Director for the California Newspaper Publishers
Association. “I can’t think of any campus newspapers that operate as a club.”
Without instruction or a suit-able advisor, community college-level journalist hopefuls will have to join the Journalism program at Skyline but in doing so they might lose out on a chance to cover news in their own community.
The small family of staff writ-ers and editors isn’t the only group losing here. Without free student press, the whole school is left in the dark. An institution focused on the distribution of informa-tion must now implement word of mouth for events and student affairs. Without news coverage,
attendance at sports events and community events will suffer along with student involvement and awareness with policy changes to the school.
“Students have valued having a voice at their schools before there were instructors and advisors to help them,” said Wirt. “It’s a flag that’s not going to fly anymore.”
According to Yasmine Mah-moud, former editor-in-chief, the aspect of The San Matean she will miss most is “being able to work with people and help with writing and cultivating skills in those who have never worked on a paper.” She transferred to San Jose State this semester and was disappointed
the institution will have lost almost $1.2 billion since 2007-08. This would result in the formu-lation of a contingency plan to manage the budget cut adopted by the CSU Trustees at their Sep-tember meeting. Options include approaches to reduce payroll costs, a tuition fee increase, enrollment reductions, and other ways to re-ceive additional earnings or reduce spending.
“(It’s) messed up that they want money over trying to educate kids from the same state,” said Desi Fa-tilua, a student of Skyline College.
The first workshop for the
it’s diverse student population and the community by providing them with the course and programs that they need.
This sentiment was reflected by student government President Sanchez, who said that “They’ve done a great job” and that they (City College) have great programs and it has always been their for the com-munities which it services.
President Sanchez pointed out during the course of the interview that should City close next year, it will only force current City students to travel further to surrounding col-leges like CSM, Skyline, or a college in the east bay in order to continue their education.
“Simply stated, San Francisco City College will not close,” wrote district chancellor Ron Galatoto
continued from page 1
continued from page 1
Staffers scramble to circulate petition to save paper
The Chevron oil refinery fire in Richmond on August 6, 2012 cast lingering after effects on the Bay Area. The residual smoke from burning volatile organic chemicals were an immediate health concern to those local to Richmond and the neighboring area.
The refinery was forced to shut down due to the incident. As a result, many citizens outside of Chevron and its customers are influenced by this predicament.
“We will be working to repair the affected equipment so that we can resume normal operations as soon as we can do so safely,” said Sean Comey, external communications advisor of Chevron corporation.
According to Professor of Biol-ogy, Christine Case, there is little to no long term effects to be concerned with. The pollutants will not stay in the area and cost lasting damage un-less they concentrate to a waterway.
“Pollutants they go into the air, move with the wind, and then usually get rained out,” Case said. “They’re heavy, and that means with gravity and even with rain that they will fall to the ground. Then when they land on the ground, bacteria will prob-ably decompose them and it will be relatively harmless.”
by Sarah YiuTSV Staff Writer
Case stated that since the wind from the Bay Area blows gener-ally from west to east, those in San Bruno were at a safe distance from the chemicals of the smoke.
Though important, the health of the inhabitants of the Bay Area is not the only concern stemming from the fire. The price of gasoline consumers have to pay had risen quickly after the incident. The price went up 20-25 cents more a gallon.
From an economic standpoint, the raise in gas prices will not have a large impact. It is the same from an environmental standpoint. Once the initial fire and smoke had cleared, a variety of health hazards diminished significantly. Therefore, even if the price raise in a necessary commod-ity is hindering to the public, the inhabitants of Richmond took the immediate impact of the refinery fire.
“The fire at Chevron is not just an issue between Chevron and its cus-tomers,” said Professor of Econom-ics, Masao Suzuki. “It’s an issue to everybody living around there even if they’re not Chevron customers.”
Despite the incident happening only within Richmond‘s vicinity, gas prices ended up rising all across California.
“Companies that have unplanned shutdowns often need to buy ad-ditional product at higher market
prices to meet customer demands,” said Comey.
Commuters are paying more for gasoline for a variety reasons. According to Suzuki, this is due to the fact that the gas industry is concentrated to few corporations. When the Chevron refinery went out, it created enough of a shortage of gasoline supply to raise prices.
Chevron, along side its competi-tors, increased gas prices without hesitation after the incident.
It is because Chevron, along with the other major gas corporations can “profit even more from the ups and downs by quickly raising prices, or
Associated Degree of Transfer is September 13th. Students can find more information about the degree at sp1440.org
via email. I am confident that they will
recover from this predicament and continue to successfully serve its dedicated and loyal students for many generations to come.”
The possible of City College even closing would very well have an impact on the surrounding col-leges. To read the full report it is available at http://www.ccsf.edu/Offices/Research_Planning/pdf/CCSFEvalReport16May2012.pdf
to find no one in her Journalism program that had need for mentor-ing. Some of the skills she learned and valued most were associ-ated with teamwork rather than English, indicating the commodity this newspaper really was to its community.
The petition has so far garnered 225 supporters and hopes for at least 275 more signatures to show public support of these classes. Former staff writers are encourag-ing students to save the paper they love and depend on.
“I will miss our team the most,” said Ranjit. “I came to the San Ma-tean to learn more about Journal-ism, but I stayed for the people.
City College at knifes edge
even raising them in anticipation,“ said Suzuki. “But then when there’s downward pressure, they tend to go down rather slowly.”
Those who commute to Skyline everyday using fuel will continue to be affected by the price spike in gasoline. The faculty and student body of Skyline will be carrying that very burden.
“It’s all about money. Everyone needs gas so no matter if they raise it or not,” said Skyline student Jonathan Gulingan. “People can get mad but we can’t do anything about it because we all need gas to get places.”
Source: Gasbuddy.comSarah Yiu / The Skyline View
Immediate rise in gas prices throughout the Bay Area
editorial Skyline’s the last student written paper in the district
We’re the only paper left-- for now!
Opinionspage 3 August, 30 2012Skyline ViewT
Journalism is an important facet of everyone’s life. It keeps you current on what’s happening in the world and separates fact from fiction, yet it seems lately schools have been cutting journalism programs.
You might or might not have heard the journalism department at CSM was decimated. In fact, the instructor of these classes apparently found out through a student instead of be-ing contacted by the school itself. We recently learned the San Jose City College journalism department is fighting to keep afloat as well.
expect a club to put out the paper. We feel very fortunate that many people we’ve interacted with on campus for the most part appreciate us. We really do care about interact-ing with our college, and from our extensive experience with other schools through the Journalism As-sociation of Community Colleges we know we’re not the only ones.
Can you imagine a world without journalists? Without a trusted source of information you wouldn’t know if what you were reading was true or not. There have been times where
we’ve heard rumors around campus and investigated them only to find out that they were just rumors and we’d tell our readers that through social media or even in person if we overheard it. Would you really want to go to a school where you couldn’t tell if a rumor was real or not?
That’s why it’s important for CSM and SJCC to have their jour-nalism programs reinstated. We may have a rivalry going on with other journalism programs because of the job market and JACC but the last thing we’d want is one of our
competitors to be a victim of what we’d consider a bad decision on the part of their school’s management.
We ask you to stand with us in supporting the staff of the San Matean and the City College Times in their fight to get their programs back. SJCC needs to reach a certain amount of students enrolled to be saved according to the City College Times’ twitter feed.
The San Matean has a petition going on change.org which can be viewed at: chn.ge/OwjI38
Hurt & Healby JJ Valdez
How do you feel about that fact that Skyline is the only student driven newspaper in the distric?
“We’re the only source left so if students want to know something from another school [they] wouldn’t know.”
Jessica Martin
Hurt– Other news goes uncovered
“Schools should know what’s going on in their community, not just Skyline. I mean let’s say five guys gang up on this one guy and now one reports on it, then the guys who did it will have more inventive to do it again.”
Neo Marcos
Hurt– Future consequences
“It’s a hurt in general. For me it’s because it shows how much of a lack of funding there is overall in making sure these classes don’t fair. Basically it shows how much they don’t care for education.”
Alexander Atkinson
HURT – Education in general
“Hurt for those who want to enroll in those classes. Having a [News]paper is a privilege, it’s a way for students to express themselves and project the opinions of the school.”
Rochid Amghar
HURT – Lost voices
“Now we have less competition so now we’re the best in the district. [Other schools] will still get their news from other sources.”
Nicole Salazar
Heal – We’re now the best
We at The Skyline View would like to say one thing and pardon our french but this is a load of bull. Student papers aren’t just impor-tant learning tools for those of us who aspire to be journalists, but serve as a method for us to foster a community within our college. We pursue student interests and ask questions that the student body wants to know but may not know how to put to words.
We believe that CSM and SJCC should have their journalism programs reinstated immediately. Putting a newspaper together as a club is a completely unrealistic expectation; it really takes not only a class but a dedicated teacher who loves what they do to show the way. We know from experience just how much work goes into making a student newspaper. We’re not only paying for a three unit class, but we’re doing far more than 3 units’ worth of work.
It’s aggrevating that their schools feel the programs are so unimportant that they can just cut it down to bare bones and
Recently a U.S. congressman from Missouri running for the Senate by the name of Todd Akin made a comment that raised some eyebrows, a comment so over-whelmingly ignorant that it has baffled and angered people around the country.
The infamous comment was paramount to victims of “le-gitimate rape” don’t get pregnant because the body shuts down the reproductive system under that kind of duress. That idea is absolutely ridiculous! If the body could shut down pregnancy like that on its own, why would birth control medication be so popu-lar? But the disbelief around his statement is what baffles me, he and his ilk in the extreme right of the Republican party represent ignoring science and facts for the sake of making an argument based solely on belief.
Denial of science, medical or otherwise, seems to be a growing trend that is hushed when brought to the attention of the average American. This is the same kind of logic you’d hear from someone trying to argue their way out of a ticket with a police officer. “Oh I’m sorry officer, I didn’t know I couldn’t drive 100 mph while drunk and throwing bricks out of the window.”
What I find disturbing is the
fact that Mr. Akin serves on the Committee of Science, Space and Technology in Congress. Do we really want someone who’s so ignorant about basic biology serving on a scientific commit-tee? I’m also disturbed by how many people are shocked by his beliefs, but not as shocked by his positions in Congress. Maybe I’m just jaded because I follow politics like a hawk, but this kind of belief isn’t uncommon in the far right in America.
Sure, plenty of politicians are trying to put distance between themselves and Akin, including Romney himself. Many more are trying to get him to drop out of the race because they believe he doesn’t have a prayer anymore, and that may very well be true. The political implications are really powerful in his state if he doesn’t drop out. His comments are going to energize democrats and independents just to vote against him, and those same people are probably going to vote for Obama in the presidential race.
You don’t have to search hard to find candidates who don’t believe in abortion under any circumstance, even rape or incest. I myself am pro-choice, I under-stand the need for abortion, I don’t necessarily like it, but it’s not my place to decide what someone else does with their body. I wouldn’t want someone regulating what I
can and cannot do to my body. One day I’d love to have cybernetic parts to replace parts that might be giving in to the ravages of time and there shouldn’t be a precedent that says that the government has a right to tell you what you can and cannot do to your own body.
In the end Akin’s beliefs are disgusting and to be despised. I have confidence he’ll not only lose in the Senate race, but possibly lose the state of Missouri for his party and quite possibly lose his congressional seat when the time comes for that election. It seems in the age where nothing you say is private people are seeing the true colors of elected officials, and the times are changing. The times are definitely changing for the better.
It’s like the GOP doesn’t want to win this time around
Republican puts foot in mouth
by Stephen BenoitTSV EIC
Opinions4 August 30, 2012Skyline ViewThe [email protected]
As a refreshing new semester comes about Skyline College, new and return-ing students are greeted by the dazzling new interior of Building 6.
Although it has been going through extreme makeovers from the disposal
of nasty couches to the building of a new shop, the most prominent
part of the whole experience would have to be the cafeteria. What better
place to discuss than the one that unites students and allows them to take a break to chow down? Or you know, have a spiffy new place to cram for an upcoming test in their next class, but that’s besides the point.
This campus is full of surprises and the makeover of the cafeteria was definitely one of them. Over the summer, renovations were happening with tarps and construction infiltrating Building 6. What’s cool about this is that I have witnessed this construction process first-hand, being one of the many students slaving over units during the summer. In fact, I’ve been drifting around since the Fall of 2011 and boy, have things changed! The building’s pretty much been having a heavy
face lift, butt lift, everything lift with the bandages being removed during the passing Summer semester. All for the better I say; Joan Rivers would be
proud. If you are a
re-
turning student, I’m sure you remember the modest (but effective) Skyline coffee stand in the far left corner of the lunch room near the fireplace. Well, that’s no more! As many know, we have a coffee shop by the name of World Cup Coffee & Tea that’s just fantastic and bustling with a very professional air! Even the next door Skyline Café has been busy moving its layout and keeping things convenient for students. I can tell you, I appreciate both of these places keeping me alive during classes with the food and drinks that they supply-- but just the establishments taking fantastic care of themselves is just the cherry on top.
So then, while exploring all the things this campus has to offer, take your time to truly enjoy everything. We’re only attending here for so long after all. If you have been around Building 6, you can see the spacious atmosphere of our lovely cafeteria with it’s new clean and modern flare that’s just ever so taste-ful. There are tall tables and restaurant quality booths for students to enjoy and many outlets to plug in their important electronics in.
And if you‘re still not convinced as to why these changes are so fantastic? Well, readers I will tell you why. Have you noticed the typical rectangular tables stiffing up the place the past semester? Even if you haven’t, trust me it did. The new design truly has students in mind with fresh features to keep groups in a comfortable setting. The tables are round, the couches are
organized in circles, and heck, it’s just never-ending
unity. I
Extreme makeover at Skyline yet againby Sarah YiuSkyline View Staff
mean, unless you’re in a booth but even then you’re still very able to connect with those around you in a practical way!
Besides that, comfort seems to be a main objective as well. Sure, we remember the couches we had and the cushioned chairs… But we also remem-ber that they got really disgusting and I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve witnessed irresponsible students flipping over cushions to cover up their spills and other nonsense. I’m the type to carry my own pen around because I think germs are icky, so imagine how I felt every time I wanted to sit down. Not too fantastic, yeah? I’m pretty sure the new booth covering’s something like vinyl and I can’t tell you how pleased I am with that. Instead of absorbent it’s repellant! To dirt and grime, not students.
It’s almost surreal to see how nice our college is. Skyline really seems to beautify its campus constantly and even the classrooms are spiffy and new. It‘s nice to see the campus taking care of its aesthetics as much as it does its stu-dents. Basically with all of these positive changes, Skyline just seems like a prom-ising dream date to anyone. Now, if we can just take down Pacific Heights there would be nothing to stop Skyline for being first place in America’s Next Top Campus. Until then, I suppose we’ll just savor it’s modesty and take advantage of it appropriately.
From the care that’s always been there for the students to the new changes in Building 6; Skyline has added so much hard work dedicated to us. And of course, all of it is a welcome addition. With that said, keep your eyes peeled for the future fancy changes of our campus and con-
tinue to enjoy the view!
Cafeteria hits it’s prime
Extreme makeover at Skyline yet again
page 5 August 30, 2012 Skyline ViewTh
Features Skyline Cafeteria remodel completeStudents and staff happy with the finished appearance.
by Eric WongTSV Staff Writer
Whether you’re grabbing a bite to eat or just hanging out, there is no better place on campus to unwind than the newly remodeled cafeteria. If you’re a returning Skyline student, you’ve probably noticed some changes that took place over the summer. Instead of identical lackluster tables lining the Dining Hall, you can now find a variety of different seating options that range from small tables, cozy booths, and even bar stools. The comfort-able new seating can also be found outside the dining hall spreading throughout the building if you prefer to relax in a less crowded location. “It’s magnificent,” said Devin Morse, a student. “It’s a big improve-ment in comparison to last semester.” Building 6 has gone through a plethora of changes since it opened in January 2007. The refurbished seating is just one part of the many changes that have occurred in Din-ing Hall, though. Tom Bauer, Vice Chancellor of Auxiliary Services, says that it’s merely one stage of a
r e m o d e l t h a t b e g a n a l -most a year ago when World Cup Coffee & Tea was built . “We touched virtually every area of the dining room and each change has made such a difference.
Giving Back to your Community
By relocating the staff lounge and opening that area up for students, we were able to add space for another 50 seats,” said Bauer, “The redesign of the fireplace area has made a tremendous difference and really
helps create an area that we refer to as Skyline College’s living room. It is warm and comfortable and really sets the tone for the space.” Although many students cher-ish the bright modern feel of the
building, one of the most common complaints that has been encoun-tered is that the new seating ar-rangement takes up a lot of space and makes the building too crowded. Stephanie Arellano, another student, revealed that while the design is very appealing, the old tables were more practical. She said it can be tougher to find a place to sit and it’s “not the best layout for a school with this many students.” Despite the drawbacks, it can be m ostly agreed that the remodel is a pleasant change. Since the number of students have only kept increas-ing since the building opened, the administration had been looking for ways to give the cafeteria a fresh new feel that students would be proud to call their home away from home. The administration’s efforts have resulted in a largely positive response from the students who visit the Dining Hall often. “It’s an improvement, definitely an improvement. I think the furniture has a greater use and I like the fact that it can be used as a multipurpose venue and adds more opportunity,” said Robert Dean, Chief of Public Safety.
Daniel Chee/The Skyline View
The fireplace lounge is just one of the many changes in the the cafeteria.
School. Work. Family. Hob-bies. As busy as you can be dur-ing the semester, volunteering can be a rewarding experience, especially for students planning on entering the educational field. In The Learning Center, located in building 5 on the first floor in room 5100, students have the op-portunity to volunteer as peer tu-tors. For the first semester, tutors receive extensive training in the program, which includes shad-owing of either grad-students or faculty members who are tutoring. Together they collaborate with each other, so that these peer tutors learn as much as they can about teach-ing, about how to be an educator.” “[Peer tutors] receive plenty of support from faculty and staff...so that they have a better understanding about what is going on in a tutoring session and in the writing and read-ing lab,” said John Saenz, of the Lan-guage Arts and Learning Resources division in the Learning Center. By the end of the second semester, trainees will be facilitating work-shops with other peer tutors, grad tutors, and with faculty. They will also be able to observe the instructor and use that to become a better tutor. Students who excel in the program will be present in a class with a pro-fessor during every session so that they can learn about group teaching, group dynamics, and the difference between being in the position of instructor as opposed to being the student. The tutor volunteer oppor-tunity is ideal for students who wish to become educators because it af-fords them the opportunity to learn the different aspects of learning. “One of the big things about
the Learning Center especially a peer tutor, you’re given a lot of opportunity,” said Nick Major, a current tutor. “We have peer tutors right now going into classes be-coming supplemental instructors.” An ideal candidate is someone who is motivated and does well in their English classes, who want to learn, and who has good interper-sonal communication skills.
“I was recommended to come here by a teacher I very much respected. He saw that I had it in for helping peo-ple understand things,” said Major. If you’re looking to become an educator, are especially passionate about a specific subject, or just want the experience of teaching and help-ing others, this may be the place for you. It’s right on campus and easily accessible, and will grant students the opportunity to grow, not just as a tutor, but also as a future professional in the field.
“A lot of these things that they will be learning and experiencing here as a tutor will build to their life as they transfer to a different col-lege and grad school,” said Saenz. If you aren’t ready to volunteer in the learning center, but want to check it out, remember that there are a number of resources available. These include the Writing and Read-ing Lab, The ESOL Lab, the Language Lab, the Communications Studies Lab, the Math and Sciences Lab, and other tutoring dependent on the availability of additional tutors. Peer Tutoring and supplemental instruction is available to students enrolled in a Learning Center(LSKL) course. If you have any questions or need a little extra help, it is open Monday through Thursday: 8am-7pm and Friday: 8am to 4pm.
by Stephanie HallTSV Staff Writer
Visit the SparkPoint CenterServing Students and the Community
Programs and Services• Financial Education
• English Language Institute
• Career and Employment Services
• The Grove Scholars Program
• Food Pantry
• Tax Preparation Assistance
650-738-7035 – [email protected] – Bldg. 1, Room 1222
Call Today!650-738-7035
Or visit us in Room 1222
Team Fortress 2 gets Co-op, robotsby Marc ArguelloTSV Editor At Large
Entertainment 7August 30, 2012Skyline [email protected]
DEATH TO ROBOTS
Artwork courtesy of VAlVe Up to six players can join together to fight off the robot horde. The robots are filled with money, so there is plenty of incentive to blow them up.
Mann vs. Machine (MvM) is the latest free update to the insanely popular online shooter Team For-tress 2. After hinting and teasing at the existence of robot doppelgangers TF2 for months now, Valve released the update this August. In MvM, rather than the typical human vs. human combat that players have come to expect, this mode has play-ers forming up in teams of 6 to fight wave after wave of enemy robots.
The mode is very simple to understand, yet keeps up to TF2's standard of gameplay. Players can use all of their items and weapons
they've collected in the standard game modes. The robots have the same health as their human coun-terparts, and do the same amount of damage with their weapons (and even more so, with their giant ver-sions). This, combined with the fact that their numbers are pretty much endless, can make them actually pretty scary opponents. However, players can tip the balance in their favor with the use of upgrades.
The robots drop money when they are destroyed, and this money if collected, can be used to buy upgrades for your class or your weapon in the time between waves of
attackers. It's very similar to Killing Floor, where players have to return to a central shop between waves of monsters. In TF2, the shop is an up-grade booth at the spawn point, and the monsters are a variety of robots based on the TF2 cast.
It's also very much like a tower defense game, where the main goal is to prevent the enemies from get-ting to your base, and you have time to plan out your strategies in the time between waves. It all comes together very well though. The vari-ety of upgrades available offers TF2 a satisfying level of tactical depth that you'd expect more of an RPG
or Strategy game.Shooting robots together as a
team, collecting the money, and feeling your hard work pay off is very addicting. It’s apparent that a lot of work went into making MvM a robust game mode. Veteran TF2 players, the likes of which have played the game for years, will have just as much fun playing MvM as a brand new, hatless novice will. MvM currently features 3 maps to play on, each with three missions of varying difficulty. The standard difficulty will provide plenty of easy robots to shoot, while the harder settings will test the reflexes and strategies of even
hardened TF2 mercenaries. Valve has set the gold standard
with DLC. Team Fortress 2 is still completely free to play, and the Mann vs. Machine game mode is completely free as well. If you are a fan of cooperative shooters like Left 4 Dead, Killing Floor, or Borderlands, you have no reason not to try this. If you’ve grown bored with the typical TF2 gameplay, MvM is the best thing to happen to the game in a long time. If you’ve never played TF2 before, Mann Vs. Machine isn’t a bad place to start.
Will the sun break at dawn or vanish forever?Bethesda’s big hit “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” has come out with its first official DLC: “Dawnguard”, but is it worth the $20 price tag?by Stephen BenoitTSV EIC
Short answer: maybe. “Dawnguard” really feels directed toward a niche market. If you have interest in playing as a vampire, a were-wolf, or a vampire hunter then absolutely, this is the DLC for you. If not, you should wait until it goes on sale.
The DLC felt longer than I thought it would and the main storyline of “Dawnguard” integrated very well into the main storyline of the vanilla game. Also included is a much-needed overhaul of the vampire and werewolf systems. Vampires definitely feel more like a trade-off and less of a hassle and werewolves can finally pack more of a punch.
When I purchased “Dawnguard” I thought I was paying for the overhaul, access to cross-bows, and one big main linear series of quests. I wasn’t expecting a genuinely interesting side quest storyline, beautiful and diverse new environments and so many new monsters.
“Dawnguard” is definitely no “Twilight” movie. The aesthetic painted by the vampire faction is incredibly grim. Your first interac-tion in their headquarters is a great feast in the dining hall of a very gothic castle. These are vampires, so of course they’re feasting on mortals, the dining hall is a bloody mess as the vampires tear meat from human bones in a grotesque fashion around you.
The vampire and werewolf systems re-ceived a whole slew of perks that you can level independently of the usual leveling system. To level up your werewolf perks you need to eat corpses, and some of the perks improve the effectiveness of your feeding. For vampires feeding on a sleeping victim or draining their life through more mystical means will give you the perk points you will so desperately desire.
Crossbows are slower than normal bows
for the most part but can pack some power. The only downside that doesn’t have a trade-off is that there’s a grand total of four different crossbows, and it seems like they’re left far behind by bows after a certain level as the base damage of some bows seem to go a lot higher.
The new environments added to the game definitely feel like they are filling some typical fantasy environments which most of the time would feel campy, but are just done so beauti-fully well that it works. You can visit a breath-taking grove of ancient trees teeming with unbelievable power bestowed by the universe itself or valleys lost to the annals of time that resemble ancient legends from Viking mythol-ogy.
One thing that bothers me about “Dawn-guard”, however, is that there was so much emphasis and advertising about crossbows. But “Dawnguard” comes with two new powerful artifact bows. I don’t really see the point of using a crossbow when these two new weapons kind of dwarf the power of crossbows. If you have the PC version of the game this isn’t a problem though because there are already a ton of mods to add new crossbows to the game.
Overall “Dawnguard” is a great deal of fun, and I’d say for me it was worth the $20, but this definitely isn’t the case for everyone. I feel if Bethesda wants a DLC to be priced $20 they need something that a modder can’t make or make nearly as well.
So if you’re a diehard fan of Skyrim, vam-pires, werewolves or vampire hunters, then this is definitely the DLC for you. If not, it’s bound to go on sale at some point and I’d definitely say it’s worth getting in the long run, especially if you’re buying it for PC, because the modding potential here is absolutely boggling.
Expendables 2 offers silly, action packed funThe epitome of a cheesy action flick, with a surprising amount of character depth. by Stephanie HallTSV Staff Writer
Barney Ross(Stallone) is back with friends for the sequel to the 2010 film The Expendables. He and his group of mercenaries Lee Christmas (Statham), Toll Road(Randy Couture), Gunner Jensen(Dolph Lundgren) , Hale Ceasar(Terry Crews), and Yin Yang(Jet Li), and protégé to Ross, Bill The Kid (Liam Hemsworth) form the must do a seemingly simple mission for the mysterious figure, Church(Bruce Willis), in order to avoid prison time, with the help of newcomer Maggie(Yu Nan).
When a seemingly simple mission turns brings them to a nasty confrontation with an opposing mercenary group led by Jean Villain(Jean-Claude Van Damme), the mission changes into a vendetta to be settled, and even more importantly, a fight to keep the balance of the world safe by keeping the object of the original mission out of the wrong hands.
This sort of film seems perfect for someone who really appreciates 80’s action movies. Many of the big names, including Stallone and much of the rest of the cast are staples from this era. It has an appeal to perhaps an older generation, but is actually funny. If I had to invite someone, I would take my older brother or my father.
I did find myself actually laughing aloud to it, especially in response to Chuck Norris telling a Chuck Norris joke! It is pure silliness. With that said, I would recommend going to see it if you need to hang out with a man-friend. There are a lot of laughs to be had at the silly dialogues, the 80’s action movie references, and the absolute ridiculousness of it. It was worth the cost of the movie tickets for a fun, light afternoon.
I wouldn’t buy it because, although it has many funny parts, it also has some paradoxi-cal plot elements. There is a really unsettling dichotomy between the elements which are
more serious, like the violence, and certain lines which reveal a greater character depth, and the elements which are sillier, like the cast selection, 80’s action movie references, and certain lines, specifically those with puns and inside jokes.
Because of this dichotomous nature of various elements, I was left wondering if this movie was intended to be a parody. If it was intended to be a parody, then at times it is very subtle, but makes a good statement and as far as I am concerned works. However, if it wasn’t intended to be a parody, then it’s sort of an unintended joke, and has a lot of non-cohesive plot elements.
The thing that is most responsible for this confusion is the depth that Barney as a charac-ter possesses. It is shown with his relationship with Billy the Kid and also with Maggie. Billy as a character is quite genuine. He adheres to his role without fail, and is completely believ-able as an(albeit somewhat simple) young army man in search of a better life outside of the violence of his existence as a mercenary.
Barney contributes additional depth to his character by his relationship with Maggie. Maggie asks Barney about his nervousness around her, to which he responds that he likes to keep a distance. Despite the fact that Maggie is one tough woman, she really represents an appeal to the humanity in a character as tough as Barney. Her character is empathetic and intuitive, and as a foil, adds depth to Barney by outlining his hidden vulnerability.
Another moment of depth, and perhaps the most important, is when upon the death of his comrade, Barney is distraught and has a mo-ment to ponder the line “why is it that the ones who deserve to live, that want to live the most, die, and the ones who don’t deserve to live keep going”. This line is a hidden gem in the movie that is quickly breezed over by another line, and forgotten about.
DEATH TO ROBOTS
SportsSkyline Upcoming Games
Aug. 31 @ Modesto 10 a.m. Sept. 5 @ Kentfield 2 p.m. Sept 7 @ Kentfield 6 p.m.
Women’s Soccer Men’s SoccerSept. 4 @ Skyline 2 p.m. Sept. 7 @ Ukiah 2 p.m. Sept. 8 @ Redding 10 a.m.
Aug. 31 @ Santa Rosa 3:30 p.m. Sept. 5 @ Skyline 4 p.m. Sept. 7 @ Skyline 4 p.m.
by Justine Abellana TSV Staff Writer
Five sophomores returning to Skyline soccer Veterans stepping their game up to mentor young talent
Daphne Manilla and Malissa Motylewski pose for the camera after their practice.
Daniel Chee/The Skyline
State qualifying champions return to the mat by Aaron Washington TSV Staff Writer
Will Nacouzi/The Skyline View
Wrestling team captain Tommy Howard (left) locks arms with Ro-man Ermolov
Wrestling looks to keep building off of the year they had
As a coach it is always ideal to bring a team back on the field with chemistry and progression from the prior year. It's normal to see a team return with 13 players to a 19 man...or in this case woman, roster. But for this year, the Skyline women's soccer team only has only five vet-eran players, Katlyn Jaques, Jazmin Cazares, Daphne Manilla, Malissa Motylewski, and Rasha Shehadeh. Last year, Katlyn Jaques led the team with 23 goals and 8 assists and Jazmin Cazares bringing in 8 goals and 6 assists.
The ratio between freshman and sophomores is undeniably large this season, but head coach Kevin Cor-siglia knows that this is the chance to give the second year players an opportunity to become mentors to the young freshman.
“I think the sophomores need to be relied on as people that have knowledge and players that can as-sist in the process of learning of what we are trying to do here,” Corsiglia said. “If they want to look at some-body to see how to do it, they should be looking at the sophomores. The sophomores are models.”
Corsiglia sees these returning girls as mentors or teachers to the incoming freshman. They have been there before, in balancing work, homework, practice, and a normal life. If they did it once, they sure can teach it once, right?
Jaques, Cazares, Manilla, Mo-tylewski, and Shehaeh have seen it and done it before. In the most
recent years following the Skyline women’s soccer team coming in first as conference champions, City College women’s team was on the rise and since then has won every championship. With City College so close to home, some may pose the teams as upcoming rivals.
“We know the championship and where we want to get back to
runs through City College,” said Corsiglia.
Although, if their record is in-significant when they play against City College then it’s just another win. Corsiglia believes the feeling for his sophomores may be different. Much action went on between the girls last year with Skyline coming to an 0-2-1 record against City, you
can only imagine the intensity that went on, on the field.
“You could definitely feel the pressure in the game and with the sophomores last year,” said Manilla.
“I feel a rivalry!,” said Moty-lewski after agreeing with Manilla.
The two seemed very passionate about the rivalry. Another stepping stone these 5 veterans can offer their
freshman is how to keep cool and take on a prosperous team like City College. They have already given their newbies a heads up, because they know that at this point those girls are the only ones on the team that know how they work.
The first game against City Col-lege it will be played at Skyline, which should give the team a better stance on meeting them the first time this year. Another advantage they have on City is one of the reigning champs is now a Trojan. Leila Torres was a freshman at City College last year, and although she didn’t receive much play time, Leila knows the inside scoop on how they work. Both Manilla and Motylewski suspect Torres is a good weapon of knowl-edge against their rivals and can only hope that it helps give Skyline a leg up on competition.
Coach Corsiglia made note that his sophomores last year did a great job in helping teach the game and knows his ones this year can do the same. Some freshman may not be ready for their first game against Los Medanos on September 4, but even though its déjà vu for players like Manilla and Motylewski, karma should come around this season in assisting the younger players, since that was what helped the year prior.
They all believe the girls are a good group that is far from shy. One thing they do want to teach them is that it’s different at this level, that it isn’t high school, and though there will always be similarities, it’s more serious now. The girls agreed on a lot of things showing the chemistry is there with them.
It’s time to hit the mat yet again. The 2012 Skyline College Wrestling Team is preparing for another season and looks to build off their success from last year.
After sending six members of the team to the 2011 California Commu-nity College State Championships, Coach James Haddon and his team look forward to getting the new season started.
Monet Goldman, who qualified last year in the 157 lb weight class, looks forward to trying to return to the State Championships this year and make up for his struggles in last year’s tournament.
“It was great,” said Goldman. “I was the bottom seed and then my first match was against the number one wrestler in the state. So I beat him and that automatically qualified me to go to state, which was a huge
confidence booster. From then, I kept on winning”.
Once he got to the state tour-nament, Goldman was unable to advance after losing his last draw.
“My last match was against a very technical leg rider,” said Goldman. “He was very difficult,
technically, to handle. I hadn’t faced a leg rider before that.”
After losing in the state tourna-ment, Goldman is looking forward to seeing the same wrestlers he faced last year.
“Probably the best thing is facing the same guys from last year because we all kind of know each other and our techniques,” said Goldman. “It’s going to be nice to see them in the first tournament next month and see where my levels are and where these guys are at”.
Improving is something that Goldman and the team is aiming for, but much more than just physical improvement.
“It’s all mental,” said Goldman. “Which was something that was lacking in my mentality. Now I feel really confident now that I improved myself by going to state. It’s really just visualizing winning, visualizing being on the podium, visualizing
beating these guys as soon as you step on the mat.”
The main place where this im-provement takes place is during practice, which began long before the beginning of the school year.
“We had a two week camp every day for four hours,” said Goldman. “We did a lot of drilling, over and over.”
There is also some new blood on the team this year. Felix Lugo, a red-shirt freshman, is looking forward to just one thing.
“…to wrestling and being on that mat,” said Lugo. “It’s been a year and a half and I’m just excited to wrestle again”.
Head Coach James Haddon, who is in his ninth year coaching the team, is preaching the fundamentals to his team. “It’s always great to review basic techniques because in wrestling you really need to know how to control your opponent,”
said Goldman. “Once you take him down, you want to keep him down.” He continued to explain that as the season got closer, it was time for practice to become more intense. “Just last week we turned it up, really just going after each other and getting back into that fighting mentality”.
The team’s first chance to test their skills comes against the alumni in their annual Alumni Scrimmage. “Alumni is just whatever, all these old guys getting off their couches for one day out of the year.” said Gold-man. Since last year was the first time they had defeated the alumni, the 2012 Skyline Wrestling Team looks to keep the streak alive.
The Trojans are holding their an-nual Alumni Scrimmage on Septem-ber 7 at 7pm. The season officially begins with the Sacramento City College Tournament on September 22 at 9am.
WrestlingVolleyball Sept. 7 @ Skyline 7 p.m. Sept. 22 @ Sacramento 9 a.m. Sept. 28 @ Skyline 7 p.m.