divergence april 2015

DThe Cypress ChroniCl

e

Bring a littlecolor intoyour life!

best springbreak techDon’t go on vacation without checkingoff the hot tech on our list: P. 32

+CYCHRON.COM

DIVERGENCE MAGAZINEVol. VII Issue 5 | April 2015

SALLYSAADIT H E A R T O F

Her works and her inspiration: P. 9

THE CYPRESS CHRONICLE 2

A P R I L

I N T H I S I S S U ESpring Break is more of a halfway

mark of the spring semester. This is the point where you stop and reevalute your decisions. Are you going to pass that class? Are you doing to travel any-where new this spring break? Hope-fully you do. Plan ahead and save.

While some of us are still trying to figure out our hidden talent, Sally Saadi shows off her drawing and sketching skills. You should totally check her out, and by that I mean her art! She can draw anything from cartoons to naked people. Did you do a double take there? Nudity is art, people.

In this issue we also have some juicy insight from AS elections to financial funds issues. We got all the details on what you need to know. We’ll let you

decide whose side you’re on. Join us though, on the dark side. We have beer.

Divergence picks gets all sci-fi this issue, Firelord’s library is awesome, as always. A cool new addition is our comic section. We would like to thank our artists for accomplishing things we just could not do. They can draw and be funny while doing it on paper at the same time.

Check out all the cool tech gadgets you can take with you on your vacay this spring. You’ll get some awesome selfies with the selfie stick and some old school pics with the Instax camera. For those lucky ones who don’t have to work during that week, we envy you. So enjoy it and take advantage of your time off. Until next time!

DIVERGENCE / Celsa Maldonado

The talented Sally Saadi shares her and her life experence creating beautiful works of art. 9

^ casting couch ^

DIVERGENCE MAGAZINE3

18Study Abroad is in full swing, and the lucky stu-dents want to share their adventures with you!

07 AS WoesThe problem with As-sociated Students.

09 Sally Saadi Divercence talks to stu-dent artist Sally Saadi.

18 Letters from RomeStudy Abroad in Rome looks like a lot of fun.

22 WiFi Theft?Are Cypress’ neighbors stealing our new high-speed WiFi?

24 Leonard NimoyIn memory of sci-fi leg-end Leonard Nimoy.

25 Firelord’s LibraryCreative writing from students and staff.

33 Hot TechOur picks on the best tech for your next vacation.

FEATURES MONTHLY05 Editorial

What this administration needs: communication.

14 Street BuzzHow long have you been at Cypress?

16 HoroscopesPlease don’t take these seriously.

17 ComixThe student life, in doo-dle form, by Jack Taylor.

21 Divergence PicksThe top 10 Sci-Fi mov-ies of our generation.

THE COVERA self-portrait by Sally Saadi.

Read more of Saadi’s art and her process of produc-ing these works, page 9.

17Check out Divergence’s new comic stips section, fur-nished by the creative Jack Taylor.

What’s the deal with these new devices? And are the College’s neighbors stealing precious WiFi bandwidth?

22

Get yourse l f another helping of creative writ-ing from the ever-growing treasures of the Firelord.

25

Photo courtesy Ed Giardina

4 The Cypress ChroniCle / Divergence

Spring is upon us, which m e a n s t h e w e a t h e r ’ s perfect for that weekend getaway you’ve always wanted. Of course, you can’t leave your tech be-hind! See Features Editor Erik Lucas’ top tech picks for your next vacation, all modeled by the lovely Yamilet Panduro, page 32.

PHOTO BY | Gerard Avelino

5April 2015

Editor-in-Chief Victoria Cardenas Editor-in-Chief Jeff Lopez

Managing Editor Gerard Avelino Divergence Editor Celsa Maldonado

Creative Writing Editor Kyo Okamuro Features Editor Erik Lucas

Cychron.com Manager Jean Poincelet CCMN Manager Jhovani Estrada

CCMN Asst. Manager Jamal Bostick

Staff: Joseph Henry, Dylan Moore, Jerviss Musgni.

Faculty Advisor Robert Mercer

Mailing Address Cypress College, 9200 Valley View St., Cypress, CA 90630

Email: [email protected] Phone: 714-484-7269

©2015 The Cypress Chronicle unless otherwise stated; all rights reserved.

EDITORIALIn the previous issue of Divergence

magazine, the editorial focused on the problem created when The Cypress Chron-icle’s Classroom Related Program and Activities (CRPA) funds were put on hold. Also stated was that Vice President of Ad-ministrative Services Karen Cant had failed to notify the editors or the advisor after the cuts had been made. The editorial said it was her decision to put the account on hold. It was the only information the edi-tors could obtain at the bursar’s office at the time. The advisor was told she had been the one to make the cuts. However, stated in the editorial is the fact that the editors did not know what Cant’s rationale was and that a meeting had been set up with her to resolve the issue. Also stated, is that The Chronicle advisor had gone through the proper chan-nels to gather information as to why this was, and that no response had been given. It was not the editors’ intention to put the blame solely on her or even say that it was her fault. The editorial was simply stating what the editors knew at the time and that they were in the process of acquiring more information, seeing as how the only time the editors could get with Cant was after the release of the magazine.

A couple days after the release of the new issue of Divergence, Vol. VII Issue 4, the editorial board, along with our advisor Robert Mercer, entered the newsroom to find a letter had been left inside the room on top of one of the computers. The letter was from College President Bob Simpson, addressed to The Chronicle in regards to the editorial. Overlooking the fact that we don’t know who delivered the letter, let alone how it was brought inside, the edi-tors read the response to the editorial and learned the president’s point on the issue. The editors had been at a journalism con-ference the week before when the president read the same letter at the Cypress College Academic Senate.

Deciding to speak with the president be-fore writing The Chronicle’s response, the editors set an appointment with Simpson to clear the air. He said that what prompted him to write the response was that he wor-ried that readers would read the article and get the idea it was written to impugn the in-tegrity of the administrators of the college. He also made it clear to us that the CRPA funds were to be allocated to their respec-tive accounts and that any unused funds would be transferred to the following year. However, CRPA would not be replenished until previous funds had been used. That is the reason why The Chronicle account was put on hold after having accumulated approximately $23,000.

Having that cleared up, the editors asked why The Chronicle was not notified of this decision. Simpson said that the informa-

tion goes to the responsible administrator and it is that administrator’s responsibility to inform whoever is affected. So where was the break in the chain of information for us? There was no explanation why the adviser or the editors were not told. He said this decision to cut CRPA funds to individual programs with large balances was talked about in 2012-13 in the Budget and Planning committee that had student, man-agement, and faculty representation and that the information wasn’t secret.

Before leaving the meeting with the president, the editors did state the carry-over funds in The Chronicle account was there as a contingency fund due to an unfortunate event that had taken place years before when the administration failed to help The Chronicle out in a moment of crisis. President Simpson’s response to this was, “as long as I am president of Cypress College, your printing cost will be covered.”, It is good to know that he is here to help us The Chronicle for as long as he is President. He said he plans to be president of Cypress College for at least two more years, and that he has no intention in run-ning for NOCCCD chancellor.

Having had our questions answered, the editorial board deemed the information satisfactory. All information given to the editors during the meeting was, of course, backed up with documents that Simpson had present during the interview.

However, the editors also received cop-ies of these documents after filing a Califor-nia Public Records Demand letter with the North Orange County Community College District (NOCCCD) Chancellor’s Office. It took a little over a week for us to receive them officially, and only after these docu-ments having first appeared mysteriously in the newsroom, and five days after they were presented to the Cypress College Presi-dent’s Budget Committee and to the Fine Arts Dean’s department leaders’ meeting.

After reviewing all the documents, the editors discovered that the policy was not dated. They also noticed that, after add-ing up the allocated money, the total of all CRPA accounts equaled approximately $75,000, not the $90,000 which is the total budgeted amount of the CRPA fund. Also, an allocation was made in the name “CRPA - Vision.” Reviewing the documents led to the questions: When was the policy made? Where does the unallocated money go to? and What is “Vision”?

After these discoveries, the editors sought out another meeting with an admin-istrator to figure things out. However, as President Simpson was off-campus, the edi-tors turned to Vice President Cant, simply asking for two minutes of her time to ask

this one question. The editors heard Cant tell her office manager she had to leave campus in 20 minutes and she, too, was unavailable.

Luckily, a second meeting with Presi-dent Simpson was secured, allowing the editors to add the information we needed before this deadline.

Simpson said he did not know the answers exactly, but that he would look into it by asking Cant because she would most likely know.

By the next week, The Chronicle received documents from the President’s office with answers to the questions we had asked. The correspondence states that CRPA guidelines have been followed for as long as CRPA funds have existed at the college. However, the The Chronicle adviser says was told by the original ad-viser, Terry Itnyre (1966-1996) the policy was the Chronicle kept all carryover. The current adviser (1966 to the present), also was told this was the policy until this month.

The letter further states, the guidelines were distributed in 2013 to provide clar-ity and consistency. But when were the policies written? The question remains unanswered.

In response to where the unallo-cated money is deposited, the reply was that the college CRPA fund fluctuates from year to year. If the amount of

the fund is greater that $90,000, the ad-ditional amount is carried over in the same amount to the next year. The extra amount would become a contingency for programs to rely on in emergencies. Again, the question goes unanswered: where does the unallocated money go to? Does it remain in the account until the next year and the value C.R.P.A increases? The answer to the original question sim-ply brought out more questions.

The CRPA allocation marked “Vi-sion,” on the other hand, was for a Media Arts Design Department publication that no longer exists. However, if it is no longer a program, why does it still have a remaining balance of $1,449.57 in its CRPA account?

The bottom line is that every answer The Chronicle gets uncovers more ques-tions, and there may be no end to fol-lowup interviews with administrators on these important budget issues.

Questions upon questions only show that the college still has a long way before the administration is sufficiently transpar-ent and communication is open. The school isn’t perfect, and nobody expects it to be. But while there are questions to ask, The Chronicle will be here to continue asking them. That’s our job as student journalists.

For a complete list of CRPA alloca-tions, visit cychron.com. D


There is no greater supporter of First Amendment rights

than I. I include in this support the basic right of freedom of the press. Journalists have great lati-tude to publish as they deem ap-propriate. One would hope that in the exercise of this precious right, they would also exercise appropriate standards of fairness before impugning the integrity of subjects of their articles and editorials.

The recent (March 2015) edi-tion of Divergence Magazine contains an unattributed editorial addressing a variety of concerns related to our Journalism pro-gram. These concerns include the status of College Related Programs and Activities (CRPA) funds, student access to College instructional facilities, access to information, and other unspeci-fied obstacles.

CRPA funds have been al-located for many years to certain performance-related instructional programs of the College to al-lay their related costs and needs. Examples of this are the purchase of theater scripts for our produc-tions, musical scores, athletic team uniforms, etc. A review of CRPA accounts more than three years ago indicated that some of the programs, including Journalism, were not expending these dollars and had not done so for a number of years. The annual CRPA al-location to Journalism was $4,500. The account had accumulated over $23,000. All program administra-tors were informed that CRPA programs with large accumulations would not be receiving additional allocations until the accumulated funds had been expended on legiti-mate program needs.

During the time that Journal-ism had accumulated its large CRPA reserves, the program requested that the College re-place stolen computer equipment valued at approximately $10,000. The College did so. The College recently remodeled, refurbished and re-outfitted the Journalism Newsroom at a cost of approxi-mately $50,000. Again, no CRPA funds were contributed to this project. The remodel was funded entirely out of College reserves. The editorial now claims that the CRPA funds are being held by the Journalism program “as a security measure” and “in case of an emergency”. If the funds are not to be dedicated in support of Journalism program needs as indicated in the instances cited above, under what circumstances would the program propose to utilize these funds?

“Line of sight” is another issue raised in the editorial. I attempted to put that to rest when I previously addressed the Academic Senate on the issue of unsupervised student access to College instructional spaces. “Line of Sight” was not and is not the issue. The issue is that of student and staff safety, and the security and safeguarding of College facilities and equipment. The Journalism program is not immune to such threats. I also stated in the Senate meeting that the College would work with the Journalism program to provide the facilities access students need for their Journalism purpose. To this date, we have received no request from the program for ad-ditional support.

The article further claims that Vice President Karen Cant had

decided to keep Journalism from receiving their CRPA funds. Let me be clear. Journalism con-tinues to maintain a significant CRPA fund. The decision not to allocate additional funds to pro-grams that were not expending their allocations was a College-level decision that applies to all programs receiving CRPA funds and was approved by me. The decision was previously discussed and shared at the College as in-dicated. I want to reiterate that CRPA funds are not intended as program savings accounts. They are intended to be utilized in the year they are allocated to address ongoing program needs.

The editorial goes on to claim that Vice President Cant did not contact The Chronicle to inquire about this money and that infor-mation about the CRPA account was being denied. As stated previously, once the fact of pro-grams not utilizing their CRPA funds was identified, the decision not to allocate additional funds was shared with program man-agers, including the Journalism program. That is the standard and normal way that informa-tion of this nature is shared. It is unfortunate if the significance of this information was not under-stood. Additionally, the Bursar was asked by Journalism students for information related to their CRPA account. These students were informed that the Dean of the Fine Arts Division and the Journalism Department Coor-dinator both had access to the CRPA budget and could provide them with this information.

The fundamental question of the editorial relates to the needs of the program. The edito-

rial states: “The newsroom has already gone under a couple of mishaps with the hours being cut, line of sight issue, and as of now lack of funding. This could be a crippling blow to The Chronicle’s First Amendment Rights;…”. I would ask in response, what does our Journalism program need that is not being adequately addressed by the College and which requires the accumulation of tens of thousands of dollars in a CRPA account? If the cur-rent need is so great, why have the accumulated CRPA funds not been utilized? I ask Journalism students and the program coor-dinator to bring those needs for-ward through the regular College funding processes so they can be discussed openly and evaluated. Those that are legitimate will be addressed, as they have been in the past, in accord with College resource allocation procedures.

Finally, I want to inform The Chronicle and all College com-munity members that Vice Presi-dent Cant’s door is open to any-one on College matters. She will meet with students, faculty and staff to discuss with them any is-sues of budget and facilities that are of concern to them as she did with Chronicle reporters who requested to speak with her after the editorial had been finalized.

(Eds’ Note: This message was deliv-ered to The Cypress Chronicle’s email, and a copy was left in the news-room. Dr. Simpson’s letter, in response to the Editorial published in the March 2015 edition of Divergence Magazine, is being published here by request.)

Response to Editorial Regarding Journalism Program Funds Dr. Bob Simpson, President, Cypress College

7April 2015

Dissociated Students:Such was the case in previous se-

mesters when elected officials were removed from office due to alleged in-eligibility issues, that is, low grade point averages or being enrolled in less than the mandated minimum amount of units. Former Student Trustee Claudia Peña was removed from office over this technicality, and yet this ouster was faced with questions that have yet to be answered: Why was Peña singled out? How were her student records obtained, and were student privacy laws circumvented?

There is unprecedented difficulty in getting definite answers to those questions due to an astounding lack of transparency with certain members of student government. One event in which The Cypress Chronicle was faced with such barriers to keeping our student government accountable was this Spring Semester’s AS election.

STORY BY | Celsa Maldonado, Joseph Henry, and Gerard AvelinoWITH REPORTS FROM | Jacqueline Camacho and Cynthia Rodriguez

Staffing and Transparency Problems Plague Student Government

Spring ElEction irrEgularitiES

The Associated Students elec-tions were held on Feb. 18 and 19. On Feb. 18, Student Trustee candidate Tiana Buttice stood by the voting booth with her campaign materials, according to sources who were near the voting booth.

This may seem like no problem to outsiders, but the California Elec-tions Code (section 18370) says that electioneering is not allowed within 100 feet of the polling place. Elec-tion observer guidelines also give further instructions saying that “any message that can be reasonably con-nected to a candidate or measure that is on the ballot cannot be al-lowed within 100 feet of the polls.” Candidates thus must not be near said voting place unless they them-selves are voting at that moment.

According to AS President, Joc-elyn Zaragoza, Buttice had already submitted her vote earlier that day.

“I had seen that she had already cast her vote. As she was casting her vote, I was walking up to the booth and then I had stepped out,” said Zaragoza. “I came back and she was there standing with flyers in her hand that were bright pink, talking to the guy working the booth.”

When asked the first time about this incident, Buttice denied any knowledge of any candidate standing near the booth. At the time she was asked, she was standing approximate-ly 100 feet from the voting booth.

The Chronicle returned later for clarification, and this second time, she had moved further away from

the booth. At first, Buttice did not want to be interviewed at all, but she finally stated that she was “aware that in the bylaws there are things that can disqualify” a candidate. She added that she was unaware of any rules being broken by her prescence at the booth.

“If that was happening, I think I would be uncomfortable with that,” she said. “However I don’t know that that has happened at all.”

Buttice has since been sworn in as Student Trustee, after winning the election against Claudia Peña and Wilson Peng, 112 to 81 to 50 votes.

The Chronicle sought the opin-ion of other involved individuals. Their statements follow:

David Okawa, AS Advisor: “At this particular point in time the by-laws do state something in regards to campaigning near the actual booth itself which is correct my un-derstanding.

“Like I said, I’m still looking into it because of the fact that the individual was in the area but there was no other students in the vicinity except for somebody who was col-lecting ballots. She was answering a question for the individual at the election table itselt. So, in regards

ABOVE: AS President Jocelyn Zaragoza attends the voting booth, Feb. 19. Photo by Celsa Maldonado.

Student Trustee Tiana Buttice

It seems like there’s some sort of staffing scandal at Associ-

ated Students (AS) every semester; this year is no exception.

There is already little student involvement in AS—elections barely turn out a measly 1.5 percent of the entire student body— but, as of late, ef-forts to exclude students who are involved seem to have increased, and questions are being left unanswered.


to that I can’t make adjustments in regards to one way or another because to my understanding as far as what I heard from everyone, she wasn’t handing it out to any stu-dents or anything of that nature she was just there to answer question.

“Other than that and that indi-vidual who was working the elec-tion booth itself wasn’t voting or anything either.”

Claudia Peña, Student Trustee Candidate: “This is a clear example of things that happened that go under the table and swept under the rug and nobody deals with it be-cause they are uncomfortable with saying you broke the rules.

“This is an election. You choose to represent the people, and you’re not going to abide by the election bylaws? What are you going to do when you’re in office? Are you go-ing to sweep this under the rug too? What are you really standing for?”

Jocelyn Zaragoza (AS Presi-dent): “I feel that [Okawa] is mis-reading it. Its not her [Buttice] first time running for anything she has been here for a while. She should know the rules.”

litErally running for officE

Another puzzling election story also came about Feb. 19, when Stu-dent Trustee Candidate Wilson Peng entered The Chronicle’s news-room, clutching one of his oppo-

nent’s flyers in one hand, seemingly wanting to talk to someone.

Upon seeing that The Chronicle was in the middle of interviewing not only AS President Zaragoza but also Peña herself, Peng hurriedly left the room.

“He came in with Claudia [Peña]’s poster in his hand, obviously to tell us something. But when he saw Claudia in here, he got scared and ran out,” said Chronicle Broadcast Assistant Jamal Bostick.

Zaragoza tried to follow Peng, followed by Chronicle reporters. However, Bostick said that Peng then “yelled at Jocelyn [Zaragoza], saying ‘don’t touch me.’”

Later that afternoon, reporters went to the AS office seeking com-ment from Peng, about the reasons for his brief visit to The Chronicle newsroom, as well as whether he had comment on the issue with alleged electioneering by the other Student Trustee candidate, Tiana Buttice.

Peng was busy volunteering for the AS office at that moment, but declined to set up a separate time for an interview.

“I do not want to talk negatively about my opponent,” said Peng. “I do not want to be interviewed.”

He then added, “I suggest you talk to your dean about this,” referring to Fine Arts Dean Joyce Carrigan, who, while being in charge of the division containing the Journalism Depart-ment, has no involvement in student government elections.

This left The Chronicle wonder-ing why exactly Peng entered the newsroom that day, and why he would not talk to reporters.

Unfortunately, Peng’s reaction—except perhaps for his flight from the newsroom—is usual for many in student government. Even more unfortunately, these officials do

not realize that their lack of com-ment both reflects badly on AS’s transparency and gives a disservice to the student body who they are supposed to serve.

StudEntS turn out for What? not ElEctionS.

Student government election turnout at Cypress College is downright dismal. During these past Spring elections, a total of 243 students cast their ballot. Compar-ing that to the number of enrolled students, which is over 15,000 each regular semester, makes it obvious that there is a big problem when it comes to student involvement.

Only 1.5 percent of the student body is involved in elections, which gives elected AS officials little in the way of a political mandate. Having been elected by an extremely small portion of the student body, it can be argued that AS does not legitimately represent Cypress College students.

impEachmEnt thrEatS

If there already weren’t enough problems with the way AS is run, recently-elected Executive Vice President Ryan Johnstonbaugh revealed during the Mar. 23 AS meet-ing that the process of impeachment has begun against President Jocelyn Zaragoza.

The letter of impeachment, handed to Zaragoza, says she “has failed to uphold and has neglected The Cypress College Associated Student [sic] By-Laws.”

It goes on to enumerate duties they say Zaragoza failed to do: represent AS in internal events, ef-fectively begin meetings on time, attend meetings of the President’s Advisory Cabinet (PAC), and regu-larly meet with the advisor. Zara-goza denies these claims.

“I have attended all the internal events on campus,” she said, “and my executive board knows meetings are on Monday at 11 o’clock. I can-not start meetings on time without quorum, which means my elected officials are not on time.”

Further, she also said that she did not attend PAC meetings as they conflicted with one of her classes. “I talked to my advisor and said that I wouldn’t be able to attend, she said, “so we found a representative.”

The letter was endorsed by John-stonbaugh and Orduño, as well as Tanya Washington, Amanda Aros, Krystal Kosacki, Karlos Mananza-rez, and Sameh Shalabi. The latter three, as well as Johnstonbaugh, were just recently elected into AS and were not on the council last semester.

“There was no possibility that they would know whether those ac-cusations are true,” said Zaragoza. “I was surprised. I feel like I do my job and I feel like a lot of them don’t understand what it takes to do everything behind the scenes.”

The hearing will be held at the AS conference room during their regular meering on April 6.

As the story is barely unfolding at press time, more details, as well as the impeachment letter, will be published on cychron.com.

SolutionS, plEaSE

If anything, AS seems to be more focused on fighting internal battles among an increasingly dissociated membership instead of discussing policy that affects student life. One thing that students should be able to expect is more transparency in the future.

The ball’s in your court, AS. D

David Okawa

9april 2015

SALLYSAADIART AND PROCESS:

Cypress College is filled with talent, and the halls of the Fine Arts Division are filled with creative works from these amazing student artists. This month,

Divergence Magazine is showcasing the work of one student whose colorful work deserved to be featured. — Ed.

Sally Saadi’s artwork immediately caught our eyes due to its use of vivid color, as well as a diverse range of subject matter and mediums. Divergence had the opportunity to talk with Saadi about her work and her process. Sally was kind enough to create a self portrait that graces the cover of this magazine.

STORY BY | Joseph Henry

DIVERGENCE: How many years have you been at Cy-press? And what art classes have you taken thus far?

SAADI: This is my 2nd semester here at Cypress. First se-mester I took Life drawing and Art History. Art History didn’t really feature any actual artwork; it was pretty much an introduction to art history. This semester I’m taking freehand drawing and color theory.

D: Have you always been interested in art?

S: Yes all my life. I grew up watching my dad paint so our house has always been like a mini gallery. He would always hang his paintings in there?


D: What’s your favorite type of artwork to do?

S: I like all types of art, I’m in-spired by a lot of artists notably Salvador Dali, Picasso and pretty much all of them. Every style is my favorite because I can look at a piece and take some ideas from all of them.

D: What mediums do you like working in?

S: I like working in all of them, I’m still learning how to work in many of them.

D: Where do you get the inspira-tion for your drawings?

S: My dad, he works on a lot of contemporary work.

D: And specifically the criteria of your work? We saw you had some Disney like work?

S: Yes! I’m a big Disney fan, I love cartoons as well. I mean that’s my major, I’m trying to become an animator in the future.

D: As far as your process goes for creating a piece like this (referring to the self-portrait that she created for our magazine cover), do you work from a photograph?

S: Yes, in this specific one I worked off of a few photographs. I would just work with the photograph in front of me, but it’s completely different from the photograph. I really just took the idea and the posture and my facial details then make them my way.

D: What would your process be like for this piece?

S: I would start in pencil first, and then plan everything out. Then I would work with light colors, for example in the face I worked with colored pencil and then went over it with watercolors to blend the colors and make them more

vibrant.

D: How long did this piece take?

S: This piece took about 6 hours over two days.

D: Do you feel like your art classes are more difficult than your regular classes?

S: They’re more fun than my other classes because I’m doing something that I enjoy.

D: What does being an artist mean to you?

S: The future, because that’s what I’m majoring in. Being called an artist would be a huge honor.

D: If you could work with any animation studio, who would you work with/for?

S: Disney, I’m a huge fan.

D: What are some of your favorite animated movies?

S: All the classic ones, due to the fact that it took so much effort build them, each took six years and were masterpieces.

D: What do you like about your work?

S: I’m still developing my style. I like to use colors to make it playful and happy.

D: What do you dislike about your work? Or is there anything you feel like you can work on?

S: Drawing portraiture is hard. Learning to draw figures and faces is mostly what I’m here for.

Divergence would like to thank Sally for her willingness to share her artwork with us, and our read-ers. D

D: What was the inspiration behind this piece?

S: This piece was not from my head, it’s based on a piece in a book with a lot of vintage style. I really like the 1950’s vintage style, and this is my interpretation of the original piece.

▲

11April 2015

◄This is a color theory piece based on a piece by Frago-nard , a French Rococo painter from the late 1700s. Saadi researched the mas-terpiece and completely changed its colors to make it look modern.

D: Did you find it difficult to work in this medium?

S: Yes, her dress and the environment were very dif-ficult to replicate in this medium. I had to play with the colors to get the effects of folds.

D: Had you ever worked in this medium before.

S: This was actually my first time working in this me-dium, we had done collages before but this was the first time I’d done a collage based on an image.

►S: This was a piece that I did for my life drawing class. It’s based off of a master’s piece and the subject of the assignment was muscle studies.

D: What did you like about this piece?

S: I feel that I did well on the shading and proportions of it.

D: Do you feel like it’s easier to work off of a live model, or do you prefer working from photographs?

S: While it’s easier to work off of a photograph I prefer live models. It changes things when I’m observing in real life, with my own eyes.


◄“The Eyes of Paris”

D: Was this piece for a particular class? Did you use a model for this?

S: Yes, it was for my life draw-ing class. We had to use a model from previous in the class and insert it into a creative environ-ment.

D: Why Paris?

S: Paris has a lot of art and is known as “the city of art”. This painting is inspired by my dream of going to Paris one day.

D: How long did this piece take?

S: It took me three days to com-plete.

►S: This is an example of a still life; it’s one of the pieces that I did in high school. This one is different from the original piece that I based it off of; I used more vibrant colors especially in the petals.

D: What do you like about working with watercolor? Do you especially like working in that medium?

S: I do like watercolor because it gives a very cool effect when colors blend, you get some unexpected colors with this process.

13April 2015

CYPRESS COLLEGETheater and Dance Department

Schedule of Events

A Midsummer Night’s DreamApril 17, 18, 24, and 25, 8 p.m.April 19 and 28, 4 p.m.

People in MotionMy 7, 8, and 9, 8 p.m.

May 10, 4 p.m.


streetbuzzINTERVIEWS BY | Jean Poincelet and Dylan Moore

Cypress college is a stepping-stone for many students on their way to a successful future, so we were curi-ous: how far along are you on your community college plan? Are you on your way out of here, or are you taking a bit longer than expected? There’s no shame in being here for more than two years. Here’s what

some of y’all said:

“I’ve been here for three semesters. I’m on track, I should be out of here by next spring when I transfer. I’ve already been accepted.”

Keiandre Wax, Major: Psychology

Michele TranMajor: Computer Science

“I’ve only been here three semesters, I usually go to OCC. It’s going to take me an extra year to graduate. I think it’s just the classes - I’m not going to rush it, either.”

Mikale WareMajor: Graphic Design

“This is my fifth semester here. I got set back a little bit because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I’m on track now, I’m transferring to Cal State Fullerton next spring.”

15April 2015

Khasna JumaMajor: Art

“This is my fifth semester. It’s taking a little longer to graduate, but I’m almost done. Two more semesters. I’m planning to transfer to the Academy of Art Univer-sity in San Francisco.”

Guiovainni PickettMajor: Computer Forensics

“I’ve been off and on at Cypress for 5 years. Cypress is the cheapest. Origi-nally, I was expecting to be here for three years, because I didn’t know what my major was.”

16 thE cyprESS chroniclE / Divergence

horoscopes

ARIES (Mar. 21 to Apr. 20)You a hot piece of ass, and you’re that good good in life. Stay away from coconut wa-ter, and kiss a Libra.

ARIESHAPPY BIRTHDAY TO

LIBRA (Sept. 24 to Oct. 23)Precious rainbow faerie child, don’t date a white person in the summer; you will lose $20. Fair-ies will steal your dragon eggs.

TAURUS (Apr. 21 to May 21)snow friend. white lily child. fragile gluten-free cracker. mayo skin. the smell of sun-tan lotion. Disney’s Frozen.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24 to Nov. 22)You need spice. Here’s the spice: it’s Libra. Stop loving them, even though you can’t. You will gain $20.

GEMINI (May 22 to Jun. 21)Don’t just be loyal when you want to be. Stop pushing people away. Don’t be uncul-tured swine.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 to Dec. 21)Get off of Tinder and stop breaking promises. Siri is not a drug dealer. I mean iPhones crack all the time but not like that.

CANCER (Jun. 22 to Jul. 22)You have brains. You have beauty. You may even have dat booty. Now use it. Stop holding back. ;)

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 - Jan. 20)Don’t ditch your friends for that girl. She’s gonna dump you. You’ll regret everything. Capri-corn? More like Capricarma.

LEO (Jul. 23 to Aug. 22)You’re frumpy, and you need to let other people talk. But she gets ya. Try hard enough and you might look like Louis Tomlinson.

AQUARIUS (21 Jan. - Feb. 19)It’s bad to hit women, but you should already know that. Also, on a totally unrelated note, congrats on getting laid.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 23)Don’t be afraid to try new things. Step out of the com-fort zone. Just do it. Don’t ask questions. Here’s a parachute.

PISCES (Feb. 20 - Mar. 20)Good things are going to happen for you. Just stay away f rom douchebags . They’ll bring you down.

^

DISCLAIMER: Seriously, if you believe any of these, please re-evaluate your life choices. These horoscopes are provided for entertainment purposes only. The Cypress Chronicle and its staff are not responsible for any actions taken due to the above column. Just please don’t do anything stupid, for your own sake.

Look at the sky. Illuminati con-firmed. Look in the palm of your hand. Illuminati confirmed. Look into your soul. Illuminati con-firmed. Tu es un ananas. Also, don’t look up “truffle butter”. Happy birthday! :)

HOW TO MAKE

These aren’t your ordinary jello shots. This is the perfect party favor to add to your soiree. Super easy to make and very fun to eat!

What you need:

1 basket of fresh strawberries1 bottle of vodka1 box of strawberry gelatin mix1 small bowl of sugar

First, wash all the strawberries you plan on us-ing. Make sure they are a decent size and look good to eat.

Cut off the top part of the strawberry and the bottom tip. Cutting off the bottom will allow the strawberry to stand on its own so the gelatin mix doesn't spill. Scoop out the inside of the straw-berry as well.

Dip the strawberries into the sugar to coat it all around.

Follow the instructions on the gelatin box to make the fill for the strawberries.

Add vodka. How much? That is entirely up to you.

Pour the gelatin/alcohol mix into the strawber-ries. Place in fridge for a couple of hours and then enjoy! (In moderation.)

Strawberry

Shot sForeverby Celsa Maldonado

17April 2015

comix BY Jack Taylor

KIDNEYS

PARKING


ROMEletters from

Rome, the capital of the beautiful country of Italy, and historic center of culture, arts, and archi-tecture: this is the destination for Cypress College and Fullerton College’s 2015 Study Abroad program. Students in the program will not only earn 12 units of transferable credit, but they’ll

also do so while learning about poetry on the Spanish Steps, viewing masterpieces in the Vatican Mu-seum, and walking in the shadow of ancient gladiators at the Colloseum.

Art professor Ed Giardina and English professor Kathryn Sonne, the faculty in charge of the program, as well as the students on this amazing trip, have given The Cypress Chronicle a chance to show ev-eryone back home just exactly what these lucky students are experiencing walking through the streets of Italy. Check out some of our favorite photos on the next two pages, and look forward to seeing more on cychron.com.D

PHO

TO: B

ert Kaufm

ann, Wikim

edia Com

mons, C

C B

Y-SA

2.0

19April 2015

The biggest change in me that I have noticed would be the realization of

just how much I actually need to get by.

Packing a suitcase, or two, for three months seems a bit impossible at first, but you really start to evaluate what really is important. You get to a certain point and realize all that you thought you might need just isn't as important. "Living" doesn't require all the fluff that we surround ourselves with on a daily basis.

Personally, and as a group we have been given this amazing opportunity to strike out on our own, to re-invent ourselves where we see fit, and make the changes we want to make. Often these changes will occur with-out us even realizing it, which is absolutely amazing. Life doesn't always go smooth, and not everything is always peachy, but that is what helps us grow the most.

I have acquired a bit of self reliance and in-dependence from past trips, and I know that studying abroad will only add to this. I have learned to enjoy life as it happens, good or bad, and to not worry about all the extras.

David Dugoncevic

I have always considered myself a patient, caring, and under-standing person. Never too quick to react, and for the most part

usually putting others before myself. I have always tried to retain a hap-py go-getter attitude and after being abroad three weeks, I have now started to realize how well I can cope when life isn’t so peachy. Having the Wi-Fi break twice, the shower flood the bathroom, being washer-less, and friends having some difficult days I am now starting to surprise myself with the changes I see. This trip surprises me every single day. The curve balls are continuously thrown, and I am now continuously finding myself being more and more positive about every situation. I am growing, learning, and utterly grateful. Angela Lessing

▲

▲


Schools a bore, a redundant drive to and from school. That’s simply it. I just wanted a change of pace from my everyday life, study abroad provides an oppor-tunity to do just that.

Studying abroad is about being open, open to the good and the bad. To be true, to be genuine to yourself and to others. This is something the Ital-ians do best. They are vocal, unafraid to speak their mind. Passionate and endearing are my impressions of the Romans.

Mingyoung Lee

Upon my arrival in Rome I wasn't expecting much. I just wanted to

go with the flow and appear to be just another Roman, not an American tourist. Needless to say my Converse and hood-ies probably weren't the best wardrobe decisions, but, moving forward.

Now, a little more than a week in and I am absolutely in love with this city. From the pigeons in the markets, graffitied walls, crowded transportation systems, the history, architecture, food, GELATO, and more- every detail I notice about this city, whether it's negative or positive, just makes the experience more endearing and eye-opening.

At times I find myself wondering if I'm actually here. It's all very surreal and I cannot wait to explore every inch of this city and eventually move around to more regions of Italy! Ciao!

Sepi Esfahlani

▲ ►

21April 2015

DIVERGENCE

Wo w , w e ’ r e already half-way through

the decade. A lot has happened since then, and 2015 shows no sign of slowing down. So what’s so special about this year? Two words: Star Wars.

I t ’ s n o t j u s t S t a r Wars, however, but i t ’ s a lso Termina-tor Genisys, Jurassic World, and Mad Max: Fury Road . Ladies and gentlemen, the second renaissance has arrived: the Sci-fi Renaissance. Before we start swinging our lightsabers and riding our hoverboards in glee, let’s take a look back at the ten most innovative sci-films that helped paved the genre today.

REVIEWS BY | Jerviss Musngi

Kicking off this list is one of the most narratively complex films in the last couple of years. Inception is a tale about love, guilt, sorrow, and reconcilia-tion that is interwoven with the most unique backdrop for any science fiction film: dreams. It is amazing how intricate a movie plot can get, but can somehow manage to be coherent at the same time; Inception does this wonderfully.

Leonardo DiCaprio exhibits his trademark style of acting, while Ellen Page provides her spunky rebellious-youth-like charm to help create a palpable sense of a pupil-mentor rela-tionship between the two. Just be prepared to watch Inception more than once to get all of the details you might’ve missed.

PICKS

10Inception2010

In space, no one can hear you scream. That probably wasn’t the case when this master-piece arrived in the theaters. Back then, there hadn’t been a film that married sci-fi and horror quite like Alien. Sure, there were campy films like The Blob or Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but none of them encapsulated the sheer terror or nauseating isolation this film masterfully conveyed.

The Xenomorph remains a terrifying creature in all of sci-ence fiction. Remember the first time it revealed its tongue? How about learning that it has ACID for blood? And who could for-get that infamous chestburster scene within the kitchens of Nostromo? Ellen Ripley didn’t.

9 Alien1979

There has to be tons of Fallout fans out there. Nuclear apoca-lyptic wasteland? That was one of the coolest settings any video game has ever taken place in. Fallout fans can thank The Road Warrior for its inspiration.

It’s kind of unfortunate that this film, as well as its franchise, never became a household name, but long before Mel Gib-son went insane he was actu-ally cool as Mad Max. Makeshift vehicles, an angry animal child, metal boomerangs, and Lord Humongous are just some of the most memorable things in this Australian classic. Fans and newcomers alike will experience all of that again with this year’s Mad Max: Fury Road approach-ing theaters faster than the semi-truck scene. Post-Apoc-alyptic fans eat your heart out.

8 The Road Warrior 1981

Continued page 32


E njoying the up-g raded WiFi a t C y p r e s s C o l -

l e g e ? Yo u p r o b a b l y aren ' t the only one.

People in neighboring houses and apartment complexes have also been enjoying the campus' new wi re l e s s ne twork , ac -cording to Mike Kavanaugh, Cypress College manager of Systems Technology.

“They're filling it up pretty quick,” Kavanaugh stated.

Kavanaugh addressed this issue at a February Academic

Senate meeting, where he also spoke about the improve-ments to the campus wireless network.

“We added 118 brand new devices across campus. That means every building, every f loor is covered. Doing the math, that's about 9,500 con-nections.”

According to Kavanaugh, the outdoor areas of campus are also being fitted with new connectivity devices stretch-ing as far as the baseball and soccer f i e lds. However, as mentioned, the re-tooled and improved wireless service is

attracting a few unwelcome guests.

“I t ' s in te res t ing tha t we found r i gh t away tha t the neighborhood is now jumping on the campus wireless net-work,” he stated.

Not one to present a prob-lem without a feasible solution, Kavanaugh continues.

“What we think we're going to do is go ahead and turn on an authentication policy for the campus. Every staff and every student member of the campus community will be able to log in, just like you would to My-

Gateway.”

K avanaugh adds, “You ' l l only have to log in once a year, and all the connections by fall semester will be wiped clean, and you'll have to do it all over again.”

According to Kavanaugh, the new wireless system will be separated into three networks. There will be an “everybody” network for the public, a “staff-only” network which he claims will “basically be a maintenance setting for us”, and finally, a network for classrooms.

Many of the classes at Cy-

Wireless (in)Fidelity?Are Cypress College neighbors stealing our WiFi?

STORY BY | Jean Poincelet

23April 2015

press require frequent use of the internet, and with all of these c lasses happening at roughly the same time, there were problems with connec-tivity.

“It was really hard for those classes to function while com-peting for network space.” said Kavanaugh. “We segregated the network and we set them up so they'll have constant ac-cess. The stations that are in your classrooms, those of you that have smart classrooms, you're hard-wired to the wall so we don ' t have an i ssue there.”

Keli Cresswell, a 21 year-old psychology major told us “There's still some issues with it, I would say. Near the sun building, it's pretty weak.”

So how do the students feel about the neighboring build-ings stealing the campus WiFi?

“They're taking advantage of it, because it's supposed to be for us students,” Cresswell said. But when asked if the tables were to be turned and she was able to use the free campus WiFi in her home, Cresswell, like most of the stu-dents we spoke to, answered honestly.

“I probably would. I have to stream my Netflix somehow.”

Issac Tiburcio, a 21 year-old engineering major, shared his satisfaction with the new con-nectivity. “Sometimes it would lag and go away, but now it stays on.” Tiburcio also had no problem admitting that if he lived nearby, he would use the campus WiFi “if it was free.”

Elaine Pineda, 18, shared a similar sentiment. When asked about the neighborly WiFi theft, she told us “I don't know

how I feel about that. That's kind of messed up.” But again, when confronted wi th the idea of being in our neighbors shoes, she was honest about whether or not she would take advantage.

“I would be super happy if it reached out to me - but at the same time, I don't think they get the WiFi as good as us.”

Kavanaugh stated that this is “step one” of the process and that “we're about 95 percent complete”.

So what's phase two?

“Phase two is basically just adding more of these devices, more of these access points across the campus and adding to capacity. The feeling is that every student in every class-room will have a connection.”

Kavanaugh was confident that funding for these connec-tivity improvements will not be an issue.

“The funding request is go-ing in for phase two, and we don't see that we're going to have any problems with that.”

So, if you are one of the many students enjoying the up-graded WiFi here on campus, the best is sure to come - as soon as Cypress College can shake off the barnacles from the mighty new vessel of wire-less connectivity. D

TOP: Between the new WiFi network for classrooms and the stations hard-wired to the wall such as these computers in the library, Kavanaugh is confident no student will have to go without a proper connection

MIDDLE: WiFi connectivity is no longer confined to classrooms. The new devices provide signals in the quad, and reach as far as the baseball and soccer fields.

BOTTOM: Have you noticed any of these? This connectivity device, lo-cated in the science and math building, is one of 118 new devices installed around campus to broaden the availability of campus WiFi.

The feeling is that every

student in every classroom will have a

connection.”

“


STORY BY | Joseph Henry

Leonard Nimoy:

In Memoriam

Leonard Nimoy led a long and prosperous life during which he

influenced multiple genera-tions through his acting and directing. Nimoy died Feb. 27 at his home in Los An-geles, from chronic obstruc-tive pulmonary disease.

Most people know of Nimoy as Mr. Spock, the gaunt and logical first mate of the Starship Enterprise in the television and movie phenomenon Star Trek.

The devoted fans of Star Trek span generations, from the first 1966 series, to movies and new series in the 70s through the 90s, and finally to the 21st century with a reboot of the original se-ries in the form of two movies (in which Nimoy reprises his role of Spock).

The longevity of the series, as well as Nimoy’s career outside of Star Trek, has made him a household name. Whether you’re a fan of the series or not, you’ve undoubtedly felt the pangs of grief associated with the death of someone you’ve grown up admir-

ing and being entertained by.

As a character Nimoy taught us the value of logic, cool headedness, and that being intel-ligent was not something to be ashamed of.

As a person Nimoy, was sound morally and ethically. One in-stance of his sense of ethics was when he fought for equal pay for his 1966 series Star Trek co-star Nichelle Nichols. In a time when-equal pay for women and Black people wasn’t the hottest of top-ics, this was truly a selfless act.

William Shatner said in regards to his former co-star, “I loved him like a brother. We will all miss his humor, his talent, and his capacity to love.”

George Takei, another of Ni-moy’s Star Trek colleagues, pos-ited, “He was an extraordinarily talented man, but he was also a very decent human being. His tal-ent embraced directing as wellas acting and photography. He was a very sensitive man. And we feel his passing very much….And we miss him very much.”

Live long and prosper. D

25April 2015

Firelord’s LibraryCreative writing by students and staff

Curated by Kyo oKamuroart by Christian moreira, Christianmoreira.Com

26 Firelord’s Library

welCome baCK to the library, Cypress College’s little corner of creative writing by you and for you. For those of you who like minerals, and

those of you that need a little help, we have a tid bit on helpful rocks. And don’t forget that if this

interests you, you’re always more than welcome to submit your work and talk with the curator. They p cool. Keep that good good flow going,

write until your soul is unleashed.

Firelord’s Library Let’s get metaphysical Here is a list of crystals that help with creativity which any writer can take advantage of, if of course, your mind is open to this kind of thing:

CITRINEA hugely positive stone that is known for manifesting good vibes and negating negativity, it also just so happens to be good for money too. For the writer, it opens the mind to new thoughts and ideas and keeps the flow going, well, positively.

AMETRINEBrings intuition for success by combining the awareness of amethyst and the dynamic energy of citrine.

CHALCEDONYEnhances the ability to communicate and trans-late ideas into action and opens inspiration.

DIOPTASEEnlivens the imagination and the ability to use it creatively. Helps us yo see our inner riches and realize ambitions.

AMBEREncourages creativity and boosts self confidence.

SODALITEKeep a sodalite pyramid in your writing space to overcome writers’ block.

RHODOCHROSITEKeep a rhotochrosite sphere in your writing space to benefit the creative process and spirit of playfulness.

If this interests you, you can also look up these ones: Ruby, Iolite, Carnelian, and Jade. Mix and match! Collect them all!

27april 2015

by gerard avelino, 22, linguistiCs major

My mind projects an arm outstretched, Sensation needed to fulfill A russet dream, a rugged sketch Of heat, of hands, of battling wills.

But I withdraw, for even in A fantasy, the feeling makes Me doubt, and in this subtle sin, I can’t mistake the heightened stakes

With thrill, with a reverse of fates: My conquest of that reddened face, The sense of justice resonates With dreaming of a white embrace.

Released from cages, he goes free To yearn for touch, but not from me.

In Forbiddance: Sonnet III Grinning Reaperby alexander rose, 23, Creative writing major

His smile isSickeningly sweetAs he pulls back his lipsRevealing the fangsBeneath his fur,How charmingOne may thinkAs they witnessHis narrowed gazeDancing with amusement.They could never suspectThe intentions that dwellBehind this cheshire grinOr the desires that he holdsTo sink his teethInto their throat and tearThe flesh from its bone,To press his clawsHard against their chestAnd rip a part clothingMuscle and skin,To devour the heartBeating inside of thatBoned cage.Only as his tongueSlithers against his lipsGrazing over thoseSharpened teethWill they know,And by that timeOh, darlings In that momentYou will knowThat it is alreadyToo late,You can not escapeThis sickeningly sweetSmile.

stressed/well dressedby pj silverio, 21, fine arts major

running from my problemstripping over tall cansdipping before it all endsand i still manageto study for my next exam-psychtoo busy drowning in stress despitewhat you see, poker face I'm not alright

they tell me I'm so handsomelike I don't need to try hard for romancebut I disagree when I catch myself dancin'all alone with headphones on in the darkstaring at my strange reflectionthat's the hardest partfixated on the flawsthat all took over my heartjust enough withdrawnto forget whatever we all are


Ode to ShrekhaiKus by sebastian lam, 21, business major

Ogres have layersI don’t need anybodyGet out of my swamp!

I’m green, green is loveEverything around is greenI’m green, green is life.

Shrek and FionaStar-crossed ogres, togetherWith true love’s first kiss.

A Midnight Quandaryby ruben asenCio, 21, human serviCes major

Underneath the magic moonlightI made love on a hot summer night.Icy cold skin like sleetTouching warm soft skin that's sweet.Such smooth-silky skin that's lavender paleWith beautiful, soft, wavy, golden-blonde hair.Staring at me with gorgeous honey-almond brown eyesWhich propels my robust spirit into the skies.Never far out of my reachAs we made love on the beach.We were not by the Long Beach docksBut near the Seal Beach rocks.My rugged heart did not poundThe waves of the ocean were the only sound.We made serene love with passionAn emotion that is no longer in summer fashion.Since then, her spirit has been in an oblivious holeBecause no one since, has been able to move her soul.The persuasion was extremely riskyBut pleasurable, like drinking whisky.As the morning sets anew wa beautiful dayI take off as I burn rubber on the PCH highway.Riding alone with the single flame of fireThat burns with an intense, ferocious desire.That midnight, I experienced and heard no shameOnly the sound of the wave that whispered my name.

Madness of the Midnight Ranger Poem; A story of of a violent macho drunkby ruben asenCio, 21, human serviCes major

Out in Trabuco Canyon at a biker barHittin’ on a blonde-haired shootin’ starTo make this ordeal perfectly clearThe Ranger has had his avarice of beerOut of intimidation, the men only hissAs they know, the Ranger is made of blood, sweat, and pissHe does not run to hideBecause he has too much prideThe dog that’s visciousThe candy cane that’s delisciousHighlight pranksterMidnight gangsterEasy push ‘n’ pullerAnd a macho rock ‘n’ rollerYoung ladies love to spin the wheelAs they hope to win the dealTo make love to the man of Macho SteelHe is the man of the magic hourThe man with the psychedelic powerAnd the man too sweet sweet for ecstasy’ sourAs the job of the Ranger is doneThe ladies cry for the return of the wild oneOriginal photo by Patrick Pelster, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0

29april 2015

No ControlYou make yourself feel better. You build yourself up to

make it seem like it didn’t hurt as much as it did. You put on a smile and hide from the world. However, it’s like death. It’s killing you inside and you can feel every emotion run through your veins. You’re always told to stay strong and you’re always told that one day the hurt will pass. The one moment when you stop being strong though is when it all comes tumbling down.

It’s like an avalanche of emotions and you don’t know how to handle them, how to make it stop. It’s like a china doll shattering as it hits the floor. Your heart, something so fragile and full of beauty, is now in a million pieces. On some level in your mind you know you didn’t have to fall so deep, then again when it consumes you, there’s nothing to stop it. When it eats you alive and when everything you know is nothing but their love you realize there was nothing you could do about it, nothing absolutely nothing at all.

Eat you Alive Jealousy will eat you up alive. It fogs your mind and makes

you want to be someone else. It clouds your judgment till all you see is red. No matter who you are it has a way of making you want to change everything about yourself. You wish for things you wouldn’t give a damn for: to have that model’s body you saw in the magazine that one time, to be that fit girl all the boys want at school, maybe even change yourself completely. It’s a silly thing, jealousy.

But you feel it, you feel it when you’re in love, sometimes it’s all you feel. And when you’re trying to change everything about yourself the other person is too busy falling head over heels for the person you’re trying so desperately to shape yourself into. It’s a vicious cycle and it leaves you question-ing everything. Then when you get even the slightest atten-tion from the one you want, you cling to it. You cling to it because you know that jealousy is going to creep up into you later on when you’re alone in the dark and you realize you aren’t the only one in their life. They give this attention that you cling to but deep down you know there are others.

So you latch on to the attention like it was your last drink of water because you need something to wash that jealousy down when it eats you alive from the inside.

A Cat and Mouse GameI don’t want to feel it anymore. I don’t want to

remember your lips on my skin or your strong grip on my hips, bringing me closer to those venomous lips. I don’t want to remember the soft sighs that left my mouth or the moans that you let slip when all your walls came down. There was a time when I craved it all. Eventually I realized I was the only one who did crave it. You were like a drug that I wanted but I couldn’t afford. You had me at your every whim; I hung off your every word. My heart was yours to keep and yet you looked the other way. It stung; all the lies that spilled from your mouth and when all your walls went back up, it was when I knew.

I knew I wasn’t enough, you meant the world to me but I was nothing to you. I was a toy for you to play with, back and forth. I was a prey that you wanted to hunt down and the chase was fun until I realized I didn’t want to play anymore. This cat and mouse game was getting old and I knew it was time. All the cards on the table, arms wide open. It was all in front of you and instead, instead you chose to walk away and there wasn’t any way I was able to make you stay.

Always you before meI’m not trying to be the girl that changes you.

I’m not trying to be the girl who changes your mind set. I would love if you wanted me but if it’s not me then I’m not going to try and change that either. I don’t want to change anything about you. I adore you the way you are. The only thing I would change is the way you make me feel. You make me want to change everything about me and it’s more my fault then yours. I would change myself for you. I would be the person you wanted, that’s what I tell myself. But never you. I would never change you; because if I changed you then you wouldn’t be the one that I fell in love with, you wouldn’t be the one who has my heart. You’d be a complete stranger and I don’t think I can deal with that. I would rather lose myself before I lose you.

By Victoria cardEnaS, 21, VEtErinary SciEncE major


Chasing GhostsI see her curve in a shadowA ghostUntouchableUnattainable

I see her shadow in a curveBroken glass on the floorNearFar

The tree outsideThe light through the windowFool me once. . .Fool me twice. . .

Our Own EcosystemsIt was only her and ISilent she used a tissue to wipe away a tear from her eye

This was just last week on the subwayI took the next exit begging god not to remind me

He said, “Do you know what about you is the most beautiful?”Smiling she bowed her head and whispered, “No.”

I am the homeless man on the sidewalk singing sad songs and begging for changeI am the homeless man and I stood there and watched them walk awayI am the homeless man and I heard him say

“You are your own little ecosystem, and I’m on the outside looking in.Let me explain you see we’re each our own little world. Billions of lifeforms are clinging to you for life, and I’m one of them.”

I saw that woman last week on the subway, and I begged god not to remind meJust how alone and adrift each of us are.

ValentineWe’re only eight hours apartBut I’ve been miles awayFor days, months

Somewhere you’re decorating an officewith string and dangling hearts

I’m on a train tearing yarn from my gloveswatching them fall apart

They say that it gets better with timeBut here I am writing you a valentine

PicassoAll those cigarettes I lit for youWill manifest themselves as wrinkles and scarsImperfections on the fresco of your face

Michelangelo and I will both weep

She said, “God’s a Sculptor, he made you in his image”I don’t know if I believe it

Because when I look in the mirrorI see a Picasso painting staring back at me

MapsI’ve fallen in love with topographyYour’s specifically

I’ll climb to your heightsI’ll sink to your depths

You are the new world to me: unexplored territoryAnd I am the adventurer eager to practice cartography.

Not even the Marianas TrenchCan compare to the drop-off past your chin

by ryan piorKowsKi, 23, radio-tv-film major

31april 2015

Do you havea story toshare with

the Firelord’sLibrary? Send an

e-mail [email protected]

I'm obsessed and mutual feelings don't existby pj silverio, 21, fine arts major

don't drink as much as I shouldI'm zipped up to the hoodin fleece armorI do think I'm quite the charmerbut charm can only take me fartheralong love's path with a partnerin crimein due timewe'll both be finewon't keep crying alonewhen you're mine

what's our relation?ship sailingwill we find land or sink to surrenderwant more than enoughtasting temptation? or is this all a bluff?are you gonna be the cure, the cure, the cure, the cure, the cure, the cureto monotony?or am I just insecureabout who I'm supposed to be

I don't want us to just be friends right nowHope I pull of playing pretend somehow

sweet.dream.by pj silverio, 21, fine arts major

what a deceiving fantasypulled me aside like a moon-lit tidecaught me just in time, held you desperately.sunshine hit my eyes and I went blindI could no longer see what you saw in me

I had a dream last nightthat you kissed me firstArms thrown up high Torsos pressed closeliving now living nowI woke up too soon to the real nightmareyou were days away and unawareliving now living now

while you asked about my lifethere was sleep in your eyesI could see that you were tryingdo you wanna get to know me?are you lonely? are you hungry for love or just trying to eat?just speak up, 'cause I can double the recipenot too sweet, only a spoonful of sugar.not too sure if you're dying for a taste, butmy sweet tooth might pull my loose lip's trigger


D I V E R G E N C E P I C K SContinued from page 21

E.T. made us laugh. E.T. frightened us. E.T. made us cry. Whichever one of those categories you may fall under, you cannot deny that E.T. also found a snuggly place in your heart.

The film introduced us to two of the most adorable pro-tagonists to ever hit the big screen: the innocent, but self-less Elliot, and the eccentric extra-terrestrial affectionately named E.T. Both of their child-like allure is enough to melt even the coldest of hearts.

The adventure to return E.T. home was grand and the enduring emotions felt long after this film’s initial release is a testament to acclaimed director Steven Spielburg’s brilliance. A film like this only comes around once a genera-tion.

7E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial 1982

Holy crap, did this sci-fi epic just incorporate some of Plato’s philosophy? Yes it did, and it did so with gusto.

Besides its outstanding visual effects (bullet time to name a few) and fantastic fight scenes, the thing that made The Matrix so revolutionary was its uncan-ny ability to engage its viewers.

It also featured Neo, the prophet-like figure, and the main character of The Matrix. Neo represents that curiosity that dwells within all of us, and our innate desire to challenge reality.

As long as films like these ask complicated questions like “What is the definition of re-ality?” or “Is truth a matter of perception?” there’s no doubt that we may be one step closer to the answers.

6The Matrix1999

Without Blade Runner, the term “Cyberpunk” may have never permeated itself within the lexicon of pop-culture. Blade Runner was that original.

Audiences were treated to eye-candy during the first fifteen minutes. Flying cars whirred by like leaves during an autumn afternoon, electronic billboards animated out of their own volition, skyscrapers lit up like a thousand fireflies, and the rain poured heavily; now that’s ambience.

Aside from the setting, the characters were no less inter-esting. Imagine every manly dude from any film-noir and add a tinge of Han Solo; that’s lead character Rick Deckard for you, and let’s not forget the enig-matic replicant , known as Roy Batty, whose final monologue will leave grown men to tears... tears in the rain.

5Blade Runner 1982

Seriously, if you haven’t seen this film by now, make like a tree and get outta here!

Out of the three feature films, it was difficult picking the best of the best, but ultimately, the very first Back to The Future reigns supreme. It captured ev-erything cool about the 1980’s. From the snazzy outfits to the natural lingo, anyone can literally travel back to this awesome time period without the need of a flux capacitor or a Delorean 500.

What makes this film so en-during, however, is the chem-istry between Marty McFly and his, cooky, but clearly not senile, friend Doc Brown. Marty is your average high school kid that can outsmart any dumb bully, and can easily win the hearts of many ladies, while Doc Brown is a genius inventor who’s prob-ably intelligent enough to create his own element. Who would’ve thought that these two were the perfect candidates for a time traveling film?

4Back to the Future 1985

Did your favorite make the list? For Divergence Picks’ Top 3 Sci-Fi movies, go to cychron.com!

33April 2015

BEST TECH FOR

SPRING

B R E A KSTORY BY | Erik Lucas PHOTOS BY | Gerard Avelino

Spring break is a magical time of year. It’s a time when you get to flee the soul-sucking mundane life of school, work and basic friends and travel to exotic desti-nations of leisure. For most this means staggering down to your local dive bar at 4pm and exhausting their supply of fire-ball and PBR. Class all the way. But for a lucky few, the pleasing sun-kissed vistas of Cabo, Cancun, Miami, or even South Padre await you.

Of course, what self-respecting spring-breaker would dare travel to these booze-filled cities of debauchery without some choice gadgetry? Not you, because I’m here to help you strap-up before you strip down, with the best the tech world has to offer to forlorn turn travelers. Join me in taking a trip with the breathtaking Yamilet Panduro as she traverses a sandy beach and lush wilderness, all with the latest in fashionable gadgetry and apps.


Welcome to a world where old-school is chic, and the camera phone is so last year.

This is the Instax Mini 8 by Fujifilm, a camera that puts the moments you capture literally in the palm of your hand. This delightfully cute point-and-shoot spits out 62 x 46mm instant pictures that resemble the Poloroids of

yesteryear, with a 1/60 sec. shutter speed and constant firing flash.

In addition to being able to instantly share your fun and flirty moments, this little camera makes for a great fash-ion-forward side piece, as Yami gracefully demonstrates here. The Instax Mini 8 currently retails at $84 on Amazon.

Fujifilm Instax Mini 8

35April 2015

Audio-Technica ATH-M50x headphones

Earbuds are nice for everyday use, but when you need a serious audio-nirvana sesh, noth-ing compares to the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x headphones. As the most critically acclaimed headphones Audio-Technica sell, the ATH-M50x deliver an unparalleled sound euphoria.

From the large aperture drivers, sound isolat-ing earcups and robust construction, the M50x provides an unmatched experience for the most critical audio professionals, not to mention our own headphone-aficionado Yami. The ATH-M50x retails for a well-worth it $160 on Amazon.

T-Mobile ZTE Hotspot

We’ve all been there: the hotel with the crappy $20 a day WiFi. It sickens me just to mention it. Whether you need to swipe some locals on Tinder, upload photos, or just unwind with Netflix after a long night of Cabo-Wabos and dancing, the ZTE Hotpot can ease that over-priced data hangover.

Using T-Mobile budget-friendly pay-as-you-go plans, this hotspot can connect to 8 devices and deliver 4G speeds at a fraction of that hotels cost. Traveling abroad? No worries, you can just pop in an international SIM card from whatever exotic land you’re visiting. All this wireless freedom can be obtained for just $49.99 at Best Buy. And yes, Yami did swipe right in case you’re wondering.

ChargerSticks Portable Charger

An obvious essential for not only spring break use, but everyday living as well, is the portable charger. Yes, the new iPhones and Galaxy’s have amazing battery life (or so they claim—I’m still skeptical), but in the middle of that 8–10 hour bender you’ll most likely be on, do you really want to see a black screen of death? Didn’t think so.

Do yourself, and your friend who’s obviously way more turn than you are, a favor and buy a charger. My favorite is the current offering by ChargerSticks, which is sold in a bevy of bright colors and can add

an extra 2–3 hours of life to your device of choice. Get one now at Ama-

zon for only $16.

Pebble Smartwatch

In a landscape currently satu-rated by gaudy wearable tech and overpriced wrist-gadgets, sits the ride and true Pebble Smartwatch. While it doesn’t have flashy specs like a touch screen or built-in mi-crophone, the Pebble excels at everyday necessities like a 5 day battery and outdoor readability.

Not only can you record a quick workout with it while on your va-cation, you can run right into the ocean too, as it has an industry best 5 ATM water resistance. It also is available in several fun colors, but as Yami shows us, white is stylish in any environment. Pebble Watch is $99 on getpebble.com.

To see more of Yami with her gadgets, visit Cychron.com, and don’t forget to follow us on Twit-ter (@cychron), YouTube (Cychron Media Network) and Facebook (The Cypress Chronicle).

Special thanks go to Austin Stur-divant, Celsa Maldonado, Yamilet Panduro, and Michelle Noriega. D

divergence april 2015

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