The Renegade Ripwww.therip.comVol. 84 ! No. 1 Wednesday February 1, 2012

Bakersfield College

Smoking takes

By Zak S. CowanEditor in Chief

On-campus smoking is one of the most talked about issues at Ba-

kersfield College, and has been for some time now, for probably longer

than most students realize.The Student Government Associa-

tion’s current smoking agenda, which will eventually lead to a poll deciding the

ultimate policy, has been going on since the spring semester of 2004. But back in 1988,

there was a similar, but fairly different

battle going on at BC regarding tobacco use.Until Jan. 1, 1988, smok-

ing was allowed inside buildings on the BC campus, until SGA helped enact a new policy effectively ending indoor smoking.

And so started the conflict.The only building on campus that allowed smoking

was the teachers’ lounge, and student smokers used it to their advantage, but this led to a confrontation with the teachers that used the lounge, and the students going there to smoke.

Lisa Martinez, who was the self-proclaimed leader of the “crusade to establish an indoor smoking area,” was at the forefront in many of the issues, including the September 1988 clash over the teachers’ lounge.

“This is the teachers’ lounge, and they want their place just like anyone else,” Martinez said in a Sept. 12, 1988 issue of the Renegade Rip. “All we’re asking for is a little place to eat and smoke our cigarettes. We don’t want to cause trouble or infringe on the teachers.”

By Zak S. CowanEditor in Chief

A poll to help decide the fate of on-campus smoking will be tak-ing place in the coming weeks, and the Student Government As-sociation is working to get the word out to achieve maximum participation.

The polling, which will in-clude students, faculty and ad-minis t ra tors , was planned for the first week of school, but because of con-

tractual issues between SGA and their online voting host, Votenet, the poll will happen at a later, un-known date.

“We’re in the process of re-newing the contract, and once that contract is renewed then we’ll be able to move forward with the vote,” said Derrick Ken-ner, SGA’s general counsel, who has been at the forefront of their smoking agenda while work-ing with BCOUGH, an ad hoc committee created by California Youth Advocacy Network.

“The goal for BCOUGH is to provide advocacy for students, administrators, staff and faculty, as well as the development [of] a policy that suites the campus as far as tobacco use is concerned,” Kenner said.

The poll, according to Kenner, will provide accurate information about what the complete body of Bakersfield College wants for a policy regarding on-campus to-

center stagebacco use.

Students will choose from three different policies: a 100 percent tobacco free campus, designated smoking areas or leaving the policy as it stands now which allows tobacco use as long as it is 20 feet away from building entrances.

The three policies were chosen from an original survey conduct-ed during the fall that included seven total policies.

This won’t be the first time BC students have been surveyed on the issue of on-campus tobacco use; it’s happened four times, in fact, between 2004-09, the latter of which led to a designated-area policy.

After the polling is finished, SGA will look to president Greg Chamberlain to put the policy in place.

Chamberlain said that the SGA and the participants of the poll will be able to count on him to enact whatever policy gets the most support.

“I will support the wishes of the students,” Chamberlain said. “I, personally, am in support of limiting smoking, because second-hand smoking is a real issue. A lot of people are walk-ing around campus smoking and it can be very uncomfortable for people, especially for those with allergies.”

Enforcement of a policy has been a concern ever since to-bacco use became an issue back

The Rip conducted a poll of 250 participants on campus, 242 of which are current Bakersfield College students. The poll par-ticipants chose between three different policies directly from the poll that SGA will conduct in the coming weeks, which are:

Issues of the

past

Policy A (26.8 %)

Policy B (20.8 %)

Policy C (52.4 %) Please see 1988, Page 4

Policy A: 100 percent smoke-free campus.

Policy C: Designated-smoking areas.

Policy B: Keeping with the state law.

Please see SMOKING, Page 4

By Keith KaczmarekReporter

Beginning in the summer ses-sion, fees at all California com-munity colleges will change from $36 per unit to $46 per unit.

This change was mandated by the 2011 Budget Act and was set off by California budget shortfalls that set off “triggers” in the budget approved in De-cember and based on just how much money was missing from the budget this year. This lack of money set off the worse-case scenario triggers, known as the “Tier 1” and “Tier 2” triggers,

and all have been enacted except for K-12 revenue limit cuts.

For the 17,034 students at BC, these cuts to the state’s edu-cation budget will have little effect other than the state-mandated fee increase as KCCD has already set its own budget to account for the worse-case scenario that has oc-curred.

In an email from Sandra Ser-rano, Kern Community College

District chancellor, she stated, “KCCD remains on track with its financial plan, which includes

exercising re-straint. Our p r i o r i t i e s continue to be to educate students and retain our employees . Together we will protect

our mission to provide outstand-ing educational programs and services to our diverse students and communities.”

That being said, we have 13%

fewer students than we had last year, about 2,615 people as of Jan. 19.

The fee increase was supposed to go into effect retroactively be-ginning in the Spring semester, but timely action by the state leg-islature deferred the fee increase until Summer semester.

“There was no one that thought this would not happen,” said Am-ber Chiang, director of marketing and public relations for BC. “We needed to budget appropriately and we did that. Everything that has happened was planned for last May.”

Inside

Page 5Major changes to the ‘W’ grade could a!ect your

class schedule.

Page 3: Local studio provides outlet for budding musicians.

Page 10Women’s basketball moves

into "rst place in the Western State Conference.

Fee hike to take place for summer semester

By Keith KaczmarekReporter

The GET bus stop construction on Pan-orama was not completed over the winter break as planned, and students and faculty are now wondering why the construction seems to never end.

Scheduled to be finished last November by the GET construction crews, the project has run into a number of construction de-lays, and is tentatively expected to be com-pleted sometime this spring semester, but no firm date has been set.

Several issues were involved in getting

the new bus stop, such was the college need-ing to negotiate the terms of an easement, the strip of college land the city is allowed to use for the bus stop. Also, there was a need the preserve the trees on campus.

“We do our best to protect the trees dur-ing any construction project. As we knew the trees were in the area where the GET bus stop would be, part of our agreement with GET was that they would not damage any of our trees during the construction pro-cess,” said Paula Bray, manager in Mainte-nance and Operations.

The new bus stop is more conveniently

Bus stop timetable pushed backNATHAN WILSON / THE RIP

Over the winter break, Maintenance and Operations oversaw a number of construction projects across the campus. They are:

In response to a number of air quality complaints in the Admissions and Records building, an industrial hygienist was called in to perform air and sample testing and a high level of particulates was found. To correct this issue, all of the ductwork in the building was cleaned and the carpet and vinyl was replaced.

In FACE room 13, the home of Disabled Student Programs and Services, there was a carpet that pulled up from the floor and became a tripping hazard. It was replaced, and the asbestos under it was removed. The asbestos was non-friable.

In the Auto Technology Upper Lab it was discovered that a water leak ruining the floor tiles was coming from a drain that was plugged during the renovation. The drain was fixed and the flooring

replaced.After an annual required inspection by the government,

several fire alarms strobes and horns were found to be not functioning. They were replaced.

The Emergency Access Phones, also known as the “Blue Phones,” were removed. Public Safety noticed that they were not being used at all for their intended purpose and instead pranksters were activating them.

The Forums are undergoing continuing renovation with seats, tables, and lights replaced.

The SAM building renovation project has been delayed, as the vendors’ bids were roughly $2 million over budget on the current plans last December. This means the plans will be redone and “value engineered” in the hopes of new bids being under budget.

Please see BUDGET, Page 4

Please see BUS STOP, Page 4

“Register early and carefully. Take only what you need to

grow and go.”–Greg Chamberlain,

BC president

INSIDESGA’s plans for the

semester and beyond. Page: 5

Derrick Kenner

0

140

20406080

100120S

tudents

The Renegade Ripwww.therip.comVol. 84 ! No. 9 Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Bakersfield College

By Esteban RamirezSports Editor

After Jake Varner won the gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics and reached the goal he had been pursuing since he was in high school, he came back to his alma mater, Bakersfield High School, to speak to students about reaching their goals.

“It’s awesome being back at

BHS,” said Varner. “It’s great to see these kids and hopefully I en-couraged some of them so they can accomplish their goals.

“Nothing is impossible,” he said. “You can do whatever you want. You just got to put your mind to it and work hard at it. Just don’t ever give up.

“It was an exciting moment for me and it’s very surreal,” said Varner on winning the gold

medal in wrestling. “All the hard work paid off, and everyday it sinks in a little bit more each day that I’m an Olympic champion and it’s just an awesome feel-ing.”

Varner showed up to different events around Bakersfield on the three days he was in town. He started by speaking to BHS stu-dents and doing the coin toss in the BHS football game on Sept.

7. The next day, he attended a rally at Mill Creek Park and re-ceived honors from Mayor Har-vey Hall and U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy. Later that day, he attended the Bakersfield Blaze game, and threw out the first pitch. On Sept. 9 Varner went to an event that was held at Costco. Costco helped raise money so Varner’s family could travel to

Golden Moment

Public safety urges students to secure vehiclesBy Patricia Rocha

Editor in Chief

The Bakersfield College de-partment of public safety urges students to keep their vehicles safe after a Sept. 5 incident.

In an email interview, pub-lic safety sergeant Christopher Counts described the incident.

“While I was on patrol of the campus, I noticed a male sub-ject walking down Panorama Drive looking into vehicles,” said Counts. “DPS officers set up and watched him to see if he intended to break into a car. From a distance, it appeared he attempted to break a car window with an unknown object.”

When that proved to be un-

successful for the man, he rode through campus, where officers lost sight of him briefly.

“Public safety officer Mat-thew Rodriguez located him in the south east student parking lot looking into vehicles,” said Counts. “He then walked his bike across the street to the parking lot of Fastrip. He began breaking into a student’s vehicle that was parked on Mt. Vernon Avenue.”

Officers then contacted the Bakersfield Police Department.

“I contacted BPD on my radio and began providing them infor-mation on the suspect and his location,” he said. “Other DPS Officers staged in the area so the suspect would not get away. BPD arrived on scene and took

the suspect into custody.”Counts then described some

ways to prevent such an incident from occurring again.

“Completely roll up your win-dows and lock your doors,” he said. “Do not leave any valuables in plain sight, such as a purse, textbooks, laptop, backpacks, CD’s, IPods, etc. Set your car alarm if you have one.

“If you leave valuables in plain sight, it takes under 15 seconds for a theft of opportunity to hap-pen,” he said. “They break your window, reach in and remove your property and walk away, usually with no one seeing or hearing it happen.”

Counts said students and fac-ulty could help keep the campus

safe by following the motto, “if you see something, say some-thing.”

“If you are sitting in your ve-hicle studying before a class, walking to or from your car, or just entering a parking lot and you see someone that seems out of place or they are looking into vehicles, call the public safety department to let them know so they can respond to the area and make contact with the indi-vidual to ensure everything is as it should be,” he said.

“Please stay on the phone with the public safety dispatcher un-til the officers arrive on scene so they can be continually updated as to what is happening while they are responding.”

Inside

Page 6Students discuss whether or not MTV should be consid-

ered ‘music television.’

Page 8: Transfer day aids students with their transfer questions.

Page 10!e Renegades redeem

themselves a"er Mt. SAC loss.

PHOTOS BY MARTIN CHANG / THE RIP

Wrestling Olympic gold medalist Jake Varner, left, is held by his aunt Sheryl Cabral at the sidelines of a Bakersfield High School football game on Sept. 7. Cabral had not seen Varner since he had gone to the Olympics.

Above: Wrestling Olympic gold medalist Jake Varner pledges the flag before a Bakersfield High School football game on Sept. 7.

Right: Jake Varner looks at the result of a coin toss during a Bakersfield High School football game.

Olympic gold medalist Varner returns home

Please see VARNER, Page 11

By Omar Osegueraand Graham C Wheat

Rip Staff

When students returned for this semester, the person they elected as Student Government Association president was no longer in office.

Over the summer, Richard Peterson, the elected president, resigned as of June 30.

Peterson’s short experience as SGA president was not what he expected.

“I felt that everyone wasn’t on the same page,” said Peter-son. “I initially took the posi-tion because I felt I could be the voice of the students for cam-pus decisions, but after a month I felt I couldn’t really make that impact as SGA president.”

Peterson recalled getting

along great with everyone in SGA, but that feelings were not mutual among some members.

“I got along fine with most of the people, but I was get-ting static from at least one member,” said Peterson. “As president, I wanted to be ac-cepted by all [members] not just some.”

Another factor in Peterson’s resignation was his experience and the lack of help from mem-bers.

“When I was doing the meet-ings at first, I was told I wasn’t leading correctly,” he said. “Training wasn’t until mid July, but I started June 1, so I felt that if I was given more direction I would have known more,” said Peterson.

“Joyce was helpful to a point,

By Graham C WheatReporter

Republican Assemblywom-an Shannon Grove, represen-tative of the 32nd district of California, spoke to Bakersfield College students Sept. 17 about striving to meet their goals and her opposition to Proposition 30 in the Campus Center.

“Our state is burning,” said Grove, referring to the budget-ary anxiety in California.

“Nowhere in Governor Brown’s initiative does it guarantee money to community col-leges.”

Grove said that, most important was cutting frivolous spending in unnecessary areas and the reform of state deferral payments to education.

“We need to examine the policies that are holding educa-tion hostage,” she said.

Among the concerns, Grove feels the educational system in California is hampered by the high-speed rail project.

“We are sinking money into a project that is going nowhere,” she said. “Some of those funds should go to our ailing educa-tion system.”

Grove also said that the cur-rent system of deferred pay-ments to California schools is misleading, in that it does not paint an accurate picture

of state budget concerns.

Grove gave a laymen’s ex-ample of the situation.

“Let’s say you have a $200 car pay-

ment and you don’t pay it one month,” she said. “The next month you have to make a $400 payment. In our capitol, they don’t see it that way.

Representative discusses goals

Student government changes president

STEVEN MARTIN / THE RIP

Assemblywoman Shannon Grove speaks to BC students in the Campus Center on Monday.

InsideAdministrators discuss

the effects of the budget initiative Prop 30.

Page 5

Please see Grove, Page 5

Please see SGA, Page 5

The Renegade Ripwww.therip.comVol. 84 ! No. 12 Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Bakersfield College

By Esteban RamirezSports Editor

After Gov. Jerry Brown talked to students at Bakersfield College about Proposition 30, most BC students ap-preciated that Brown took some time to come to BC and talk to the students, and left more assured about Proposi-tion 30.

“I think it’s cool that he’s talking to our school and to show what we need to vote to increase our school,” said Ashley Roberts, a liberal studies major. “It’s great that he’s going to tell us what this prop is because some stu-dents have no idea.

“It’s great that he chose our col-lege to say the things that he needs

By Martin ChangOpinions and Features Editor

Gov. Jerry Brown spoke on the Ba-kersfield College campus Oct. 23 in support of Proposition 30.

In his speech, Brown told Califor-nia’s voters the choice they have this election.

“It’s really a stark question here,” he said. “Are you for the schools? Do you want to put money in? This is sec-ond grade arithmetic, billions in the schools, or billions out of the schools.

“There is no compromise. You vote for Proposition 30, you know you’re getting six to eight billion dollars pumped into California schools to help

our school kids and make our state bet-ter. If you vote no, they take out six million, it’s that simple.”

Brown also told voters that Propo-sition 30 and the issue of education funding goes beyond usual politics.

“You vote for a politician, maybe he changes his mind, you don’t know what you’re getting,” he said. “This is

not about elected officials or politi-cians or Sacramento or Washington, it’s about you, the students of Cali-fornia. It’s about families. It’s about teachers. It’s about California having the educational opportunity that built this state in the first place.”

Brown’s stop in Bakersfield was

By Omar OsegueraPhoto and Multimedia Editor

One of the most controversial topics in the upcoming elections is that of Proposi-tion 37. The proposition would demand all companies using genetically engineered food to label their product as genetically engineered.

Controversy around this topic resides in what its true purpose is. Some say it is all a scam by a lawyer wanting to make money off of the big food companies. Others say that those big companies are sending out that propaganda themselves, using millions of dollars to make sure it doesn’t pass, be-cause they don’t want people to know what is behind genetically engineered foods.

Bakersfield native and local food market owner Chuck Naus feels that Proposition 37 should pass.

“Yes on 37 is a grassroots effort to just very simply [have] our foods labeled prop-erly,” began Naus. “Right now our foods [being sold] are not disclosing what items are in the food that are genetically modi-fied.”

Naus also believes that what the “No on 37” campaign says is untrue.

“That’s all this really is about; it’s not about special interest groups,” explained Naus.

“If you really want to boil it down to that, every political decision is fueled by special

By Merritt HollowayReporter

More than 40 percent of Bakersfield Col-lege students polled over the past two weeks said they would vote for Barack Obama in the Nov. 6 presidential election. Mitt Rom-ney received 23 percent of the votes.

Ron Paul received four votes, while governor of Wisconsin and Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and Jill Stein of the Green Party each received one vote.

An informal survey of 280 students was conducted to see who students were voting for in this election.

Many of the student comments were var-ied, and some of the people polled were po-larized in their choices, or non-choices.

The question was asked: “Whom do you plan to vote for in the 2012 presidential election?” The results are as follows:

Obama received 113 votes, or 40.4 per-cent of the total votes, and Romney re-ceived 66 votes, or 23 percent.

Forty-eight students were undecided, 43 are not voting, while nine chose not to disclose. Four students chose to vote for themselves.

Pre-medical student Carmen Alvarez said she had been exploring some blogging sites and heard that Obama doesn’t really help the community colleges; however, she heard that Romney is really not trying to help the colleges.

“Everything he [Obama] said he was go-ing to do four years ago, he did,” said Alva-rez. “He said he was going to get the troops out of Iraq. He did that.”

Child development major Tina Natividad agreed. She said she saw the televised de-bates.

Elections sweep BC campus

Students react to Gov. Brown’s visit

Students weigh in on voting

Local grocer thinks Prop. 37 good idea

OMAR OSEGUERA / THE RIP

Gov. Jerry Brown visits Bakersfield College campus to promote the Proposition 30 initiative that will fund all levels of public education. Brown was accompanied by a group of supporters including SGA President Danitza Romo and State Senator Michael J. Rubio.

to say, and I think it will give us more information regarding it,” said Maria Heredia, who’s majoring in child de-velopment.

BC student Tyler Samora, unde-clared major, explained that it was great that someone in politics is com-ing to talk about the proposition.

“I think it’s a good thing,” said Samo-ra. “If more people in politics would spend more time with the average man then they will know what they’re going through, and it will help them make their decisions for our economy and for everyone. The fact that he came down here shows that he pays close at-

tention to the average person.“I was really glad that so many

people in a position of power also sup-ported it because when those people support it they can get the word out, and get more people educated so they vote on 30 to get it passed.

OMAR OSEGUERA / THE RIP

Gov. Jerry Brown’s appearance to discuss Proposition 30 and its affects on BC drew in a crowd.

Election Edition

Governor visits BC, encourages a ‘yes’ vote on Prop. 30

Rally held to inform students on Prop. 30

OMAR OESGUERA / THE RIP

Music major Hannah Dimolfetto holds a “Yes on 30” sign at the Yes on Proposition 30 rally Oct. 25.

Please see REACTION, Page 4

By Patricia RochaEditor in Chief

An informational rally was held in the free speech area on Oct. 25 to discuss the affects Proposition 30 would have on Ba-kersfield College.

Speakers urged students to vote yes on the proposition, as it would mean a loss of funds this college would need to operate

going into next year if it fails. “If Proposition 30 does not pass, BC will

be facing severe financial difficulties, which may result in programs being cut, profes-sors being laid off, and fewer students being able to enroll in class,” said student govern-ment president Danitza Romo.

Faith in Action volunteer Daniel Lande-ros also spoke at the rally.

Please see PRESIDENT, Page 4

Please see BROWN, Page 4

Please see PROP 37, Page 4 Please see RALLY, Page 4

The Election Discussion Continues:

BC professors weigh in on the importance of

voting.

Page 4

Opinion: Reporter goes beyond the two major political

parties.

Page 7

The Editorial Staff endorses candidates and propositions.

Page 7