TheINQUIRER

Student Voice of diablo Valley college

• NEWS 1, 2 • OPINIONS 5, 6 • SPORTS 3, 4 • EDITORIAL 5 • ARTS & FEATURES 7, 8 • CAMPUS BUZZ 5 • CALENDAR 2 • POLICE BEAT 2 • STAFF INFORMATION 5•

Fresh faces for football: DVC Vikings welcome both new and old players for the new seasons. See Page 4.

Letters to the Editor: Former CalWORKs coordinator speaks out in regards to “Blowing the Whistle.” See Page 6.

Volume 82 No. 6 Copyright © 2013 The Inquirer - Diablo Valley College www.TheInquirerOnline.com Thursday, May 16 - Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Season of Change

A prospective bill may affect students’ ability to register for classes.

With the number of budget cuts on the in-crease, the California Community Colleges Board of Governors has decided to take action by endorsing the Student Success Task Force.

The task force was the result of the state Board of Governors’ attempt to revitalize the community college system by initiating a “12-month strategic planning process to ensure student success.” Following Senate Bill 1143 (Chapter 409, Statutes of 2010), the task force was formed in January 2011, composed of 20 members chosen from a diverse group of com-munity college faculty, students, researchers, staff, as well as external stakeholders.

The task force decided that it was vital to raise the assessment standards for first-time college students to make sure that those students have the basic math and English to pass the 12th grade. Because of this, one change of policy made by the task force is that community colleg-es must comply with the K-12 Common Core State Standards and implement these standards into each college’s assessment system.

Furthermore, upon registration, entering stu-dents are required to complete an orientation and take the school’s English and math assess-ments before being able to register for classes. If a student lacks readiness for collegiate-level core requirements, then they are strongly ad-vised to enroll in a support resource (such as a student success course).

The task force also devised a system where

If you are registering for the fall and you don’t like surprises, now might be a good time to look away. Changes in state regula-tions and campus policy slated to take effect after the summer could significantly impact your

semester.Most students will notice the differences

in three areas: activity classes like music and physical education can no longer be taken multiple times for credit; classes that meet twice a week will be five minutes longer; and P.E. and speech classes must now be sought under kinesiology and communications studies.

In an effort to make room for new stu-dents, the California Community Colleges Board of Governors approved changes to the education code eliminating repeatability in most subjects.

This change affects “activity” classes - such as physical education, music, art, and drama -- which have now been broken into beginning, intermediate and advanced sec-tions.

Complicating matters, courses of “simi-lar content” will be assigned to “families.” Students can only enroll in four classes per family, with classes taken in the past count-ing toward the limit.

According to a press release, California Community Colleges Board of Governors President Scott Himelstein said, “It doesn’t make sense for us to allow students to take the same physical education course four times on the taxpayer’s dime while we are closing our doors on those looking for a de-gree or seeking job skills.”

Some students are unhappy with the new

limits on repeatability. In a list provided by the Academic Senate for California Commu-nity Colleges, objections included, “Students need additional time and practice to develop skills,” and “Students may pass a course (re-ceive a C grade) but not be proficient,” and “Students need a large quantity and variety

of performance experiences in order to be eligible for transfer.”

DVC freshman Victoria Frazer says, “The cap only detours students from potentially receiving a degree, or general ed., and I hon-estly don’t see the point in that.”

Posters on a higher education discussion board say cutting repeatability overlooks that some disciplines can’t be learned quickly.

“I am concerned about “forcing” a dancer

to move from A-D level of ballet in order to take it 4 times,” one instructor wrote. “A student starting at A level (beginning) will never be ready for D level (en pointe) in 4 semesters.

Students enter and progress at different levels. Student may need to spend 3 semes-ters at level C before moving to level D. And you cannot have all levels (A–D) in the same class as the needs are very different.”

While being blocked from enrolling in a section might strike some as an incon-venient, DVC’s next change penciled for fall may add to the suspense: P.E. students scheduling their next class in the Life Sci-ences building at the top of the hill on the other side of campus may get an unexpected extension to their exercise regimen.

Five minutes will also be added to class-es which meet on Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday, effectively cutting the time between classes from 15 to 10 minutes.

It may not sound like a lot of time, but the funding DVC receives for the 5 minute difference is significant.

According to Vice President of Instruc-tion Susan Lamb, DVC has been losing a whopping $1.5 to $2 million annually in state apportionment because of the shorter class meeting times.

By meeting for an hour and 20 minutes weekly, the college can collect apportion-ment for the full hour and 30 minutes the state allows.

Though the move would return DVC to a schedule it once held in the ‘90s and also currently shared by other state schools, the change doesn’t sit well with everyone.

BRIAN BUNTINGOnline editor

Prospectivebill may affect student registration

KARIN JENSEN, JULIA KINKELA / The Inquirer

REGISTRATION, Page 2

Upcoming fall changes at DVC will affect “activity” classes such as P.E. and music. Course repeatability will also be limited for those classes.

CHANGES, Page 2

Summer films: Check out our opinions on the high-anticipated ‘Iron Man 3” and “The Great Gatsby.” See Page 7.

Fall semester will bring longer classes, new names

Need to Know

Classes which meet Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday will now be 5 minutes longer.

P.E. and speech classes will now be called kinesiology and communications studies respectively.

“Activity” classes - such as music and P.E. classes - will no longer be able to be repeated for credit.

MONA TALEB_AGHAStaff writer

“I have my classes spaced. I have class in the Math Build-ing, but if I need to get to biology, I need those extra five minutes, because I don’t want to get grade deduction points,” explained psychol-ogy major Shurooq Salman.

And although the link isn’t obvious at first glance, the name changes to kinesiology and communications studies are related to the loss of re-peatability.

The California Communi-ty Colleges Student Success Task Force wants to seg-regate degree-specific pro-grams under umbrella labels (like kinesiology) that can

be used statewide, and then identify families of courses that offer curriculum they deem to be similar enough to count against the repeat cap.

In a Task Force agenda summary back in 2011, un-der the heading “Physical Education,” they state their goal clearly, “Separate inter-collegiate athletics from PE as much as possible. Use the separate TOP codes for the courses aimed at dance, PE, health, and athletics.”

2 Thursday, May 16 - Wednesday, September 11, 2013The Inquirer - Diablo Valley College

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Friday and Saturday, May 17 & 18Track & Field California State JC ChampionshipsAway Event

Saturday, May 18Bloch’s Sacred ServicePAC complex, 8 p.m.

Tuesday, May 21CSU East Bay University rep visitCareer, Employment and Transfer center in the Counseling Building, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

JFK University rep visitCareer, Employment and Transfer center in the Counseling Building 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Friday, May 24Graduation CeremonyViking Stadium, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Monday, May 27Memorial Day

Tuesday, May 28Open/walk-in registration for all students Summer 2013Admissions and Records, 8 a.m.

Wednesday, May 29Summer 2013 registration for special admit/concurrent high school students beginsDVC, all day

Monday, May 20 to Friday May 24Final Exams - Spring 2013For more information, go to: http://goo.gl/mpdlC

Tuesday, April 30DVC Lot 1At 4:04 a.m., a subject was contacted in lot 1, getting into a vehicle with gov-ernment license plates. It was determined that the subject had stolen the vehicle from the United States Air Force recruiting office. The subject was ar-rested.

DVC Art Building women’s restroomBetween 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., a subject was con-tacted after acting strange-ly inside a restroom. The subject was found to be intoxicated and was trans-ported to the Martinez Detention Facility.

Thursday, May 2DVC Art Complex, Room A 102At 11:38 a.m., a student reported that her laptop was taken when it was left unattended in the class-room.

DVC Art Complex, Room A 101At 12:03 p.m., a student reported that her cell phone was taken from her backpack when it was left unattended in the class-room.

DVC is one step closer to becoming a smoke-free campus.

According to Vice President of Legislative Af-fairs and President-elect Sam Park, ASDVC has voted on an initiative that would push smoking ar-eas and ashtrays further away from campus, making our school smoke free.

Park acknowledges that this topic of becoming a smoke free campus is still in its early stages, as it would still need to be ratified and approved by the district.

According to Park, state law requires the use of tobacco to be at least 20 feet outside of government funded buildings, such as our school.

But students have been voicing their disdain over the current location of smoking areas.

“We’ve had complaints when we were gather-ing ASDVC surveys from our students,” said Park. “[They were] saying that there are smokers too close to the entrances. Spring time comes and a lot of students are getting allergies from pollens or dust and they’re going around and smoking irritates their airways, so they have been making their complaints to the ASDVC board.”

Bryan Pinelli, a 28-year-old DVC student, agrees with the initiative explaining that they should move smoking pits to alternative areas, allowing people the opportunity not to smell or walk through the smoke.Park doesn’t plan to “disenfranchise” stu-dents who smoke.

He intends to further separate the smokers and non-smokers, which can give those who do smoke the freedom to do so, without interfering with the

health of those who do not.Jamie Smith, a 23-year-old psychology major,

tries to be considerate of others when she smokes and thinks that having a designated area for other smokers would be a good idea.

“I think they’re valid concerns for the people that don’t want to have to walk through it and stuff but at the same time I feel like in California the anti-smoking campaigns have gone really far to where… smokers are like the new Republicans, everybody hates them,” said Smith. “So I think if they were going to do that, they would just have to make sure that the smokers aren’t just standing in the parking lot, but actually have a designated area.”

While ASDVC is on board with the idea of be-coming a smoke free campus, Park understands that there is a certain stigma that follows that label.

“There seems to be this notion by just the words ‘smoke free’ that we are immediately targeting smokers in campus and that’s not true,” said Park. “What we want to say is: we’re going to provide them with accessible, designated smoking areas where it doesn’t really harm others who do not smoke, so we’re also thinking about our smoking population here.”

ASDVC begins anti-smoking push on campus

Contact RACHEL ANN REYES at rreyes@TheInquirerOnline.com

a students’ progress is measured by specific achievements, such as the completion of a collegiate-level math course or the completion of fifteen se-mester units with a satisfactory grade. The system is designed to mitigate “loss points” - potential moments where students are likely to drop out or lose academic momentum.

The most controversial policy change proposed by the SSTF was

the reprioritization of students regis-tering for classes. Instead of priority registration being given to students with the greatest amount of accumu-lated units, priority registration will be given to entering students, or students who have declared an educational goal and have been consistently fol-lowing the course of study for their declared major, degree or certificate.

Students are also highly recom-

mended to declare a plan of study by their third semester. Theoretically, this would make each student’s time in community college more effective and would allow them to graduate faster. However, for students who spend more time in community col-lege, their stay may be prolonged due to no longer being eligible for priority registration.

So far this bill has proved success-

ful, as all the recommendations made by the SSTF were passed two months later as the Student Success Act of 2012 in a 33-1 vote. The bill has now advanced to the state Assembly, and will be voted on by the Assembly Committee of Higher Education on June 19.

REGISTRATIONFrom Page 1

RACHEL ANN REYESNews editor

JULIA KINKELA/ The Inquirer

Contact MONA TALEB-AGHA at mtalebagha@TheInquirerOnline.com

CHANGESFrom Page 1

Contact BRIAN BUNTING at bbunting@TheInquirerOnline.

com

Haleigh Jones would be one of the many smokers affected by ASDVC’s initiative.

Entering the 2013 women’s tennis season, Darya Ashim hoped to overcome an unfor-tunate knee injury which side-lined her tennis career nearly two years.

She returned to the court with the goal of mastering the sport she has loved ever since her grandfather introduced it to her as a child.

“I suffered a really bad in-jury when I was 16. I tore my meniscus and that was really bad,” Ashim explained. “Last semester was the first time I held a racket again so it was pretty nice to actually win something and compete again after not competing for so long.”

She certainly silenced any remaining doubt the injury

had left by earning the Big 8 Conference MVP award and the 2013 ITA National Women’s Rookie Player of the Year, all while claim-ing the number one ranked spot in NorCal and number five ranking in California for Women’s Tennis.

She is the first student-ath-lete in DVC history to win the ITA Women’s Rookie Player of the Year, a truly remark-able accomplishment.

“I’ve been working really hard for the past four or five months to get to that posi-tion. When I actually won, I felt really proud of myself and proud of my coaches,” Ashim said. “I felt like I was representing DVC in a good way.”

Darya displayed a work ethic and unmatched deter-mination that not only led to

her great personal success, but contributed to leading the Women’s Tennis team to a highly respectable 2013 cam-paign.

The team represented DVC very well by finishing the sea-son with an 11-3 record over-all, while boasting the number three ranking in Nor-Cal and number five ranking in Cali-fornia.

“Darya elevated every-body’s game, not only on our team but the entire Big 8 Conference,” said assistant coach Ruthie Ignacio. “She was the one to beat!”

Her story has been inspi-rational to her teammates, coaches, and all who have witnessed or shared a part in the tennis program. In the last several months, Ashim has gone from a DVC rookie to a national standout, garner-

ing transfer and scholarship interest from Sonoma State University and Holy Names University.

“Wherever Darya goes she will leave her mark on the ten-nis court for which ever pro-gram she chooses to transfer to and play for,” head coach Jackie Ponciano-Babb said. “She definitely has made her case for becoming the first fe-male tennis player to eventu-ally be inducted into the Dia-blo Valley College Athletics Hall of Fame.”

Nothing stands in the way of Ashim’s success.

She has overcome injury and come back stronger than ever, leaving a legacy and set-ting a valiant example for all student-athletes to follow in her footsteps.

“Darya is the type of student-athlete that a coach

would love to have as part of their program,” Ponciano-Babb said. “As long as she be-lieves in herself and executes her game plan, she will more than likely win her match.”

It is her desire and self-con-fidence that has propelled her to win in such an impressive fashion.

However, at the end of the day, she plays for the love of the game. She is simply do-ing what she enjoys and does best.

“I just really like the expe-rience. Win or lose, I actu-ally like going on the court and trying my best, showing everyone else what I got.” Ashim said. “I love being on the court with other people.”

EVAN WESLEYStaff writer

Rising track and field star Briana Walker returns from Saturday’s Nor-Cal finals disappointed, but deter-mined to come back next year even stronger.

Walker stated in an interview fol-lowing the May 11 finals in Sacra-mento, “I think we were all disap-pointed. We had a good thing going and wanted to take it to State. But I know I tried my best and my team-mates did too. I’m happy we got as far as we did.”

Considering the competition, Walker can be proud of her 6th place finish in the Women’s 100 me-ter hurdles. Finishing in 15.80 sec-onds, just short of the rank and time necessary to qualify to compete at the state championship. Walker will be a strong contender in next year’s competition.

The Women’s 4 x 100 meter relay team, in which Walker ran the third leg, also finished a respectable 7th

place with a time of 49.98 seconds.Hurdles coach Sally Stafford ex-

plained, “Hurdling requires inten-sive technique work and it takes time to master it. It also takes speed and flexibility which are some of Bri-ana’s most innate abilities.”

Walker, a 19 year-old Mississippi native, joined the DVC Track and Field team this spring as a freshman and already shows great potential, according to head coach Shelly Pier-son. “Briana is a natural track ath-lete. Her strongest event is the 100 meter high-hurdles, but she’s strong in everything else too. She’s an im-perative third leg on our 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 meter relay teams.”

Down-to-earth and soft-spoken, Walker talked about the difficult ad-justment she had relocating to Cali-fornia at age 15. “I went to Alham-bra High School in Martinez when we moved out to California. It took me a while to get used to things and make new friends. I was really closed off and shy when I was younger so it was kind of hard for me to reach

out to other people, but it got better as it went along.”

Pierson describes Walker as a sweet girl who wouldn’t hurt a fly. “The coaches here at DVC are teaching her to be more aggressive. I tell her when you get out on the track you need to growl, you need to have that fire in your heart burning. Before every race I’m like growl...growl!”

Walker agrees that she is learning to be more aggressive. “If I really want something I go after it now. I absolutely love the 100 hurdles...I want to win every time. I always look down the line of hurdles and say to myself, ‘just get to the end as fast as you can.’ I’m putting all this work in, why wouldn’t I want to win?...I want to be the best.”

Pierson believes Walker has the talent and ability to be a NorCal champion next year. “Briana is go-ing to do very well as a sophomore here at DVC. I know she will excel and has the potential to move on to the next level and hurdle at the four

year university level.”When looking into the future,

Walker is considering a degree in kinesiology. “My dream school is San Diego State, it’s such a beautiful campus and they have a wonderful kinesiology program. I’d like to get my master’s in occupational therapy. I would love to rehabilitate and work with kids with permanent disabili-ties. If I could, I would still like to run in college - I hope to continue to compete.”

For now, Walker continues to live in Martinez with her mom Selena, 16-year-old brother Jonathan, and 11-year-old sister Alyssa. Walker said, “We have an athletic family, my brother and sister both play soccer, and I go to their games and they come to my meets when they’re not too far away. We love cheering each other on, it’s so much fun.”

The family also enjoys mom’s special home cooking together. “My favorite dinner is my mom’s fried chicken, collard greens, mashed-potatoes, and macaroni and cheese.

Oh my goodness, they’re delicious - it reminds me of home.” Looking at Walker’s willowy frame, you would never suspect such indulgences.

Another sinful pleasure Walker confessed is, “I’m a gamer girl, I love to play video games - ‘Call of Duty,’ ‘Skyrim,’ ‘Assassin’s Creed,’ ‘Halo’ - I just love it.”

Bubbling with even greater en-thusiasm, Walker’s eyes lit up as she talked about her real passion: art. “I want to have a giant art studio just to do whatever I want - have a giant kiln, paint, sculpt, and I want to take glass blowing classes as well.” Clear and definitive, Walker proclaims, “Art is really my passion. If I could do one thing for the rest of my life it would be art.”

Walker’s future looks bright, what-ever road she decides to travel. Any obstacles life presents she is sure to overcome — one hurdle at a time, until she wins the race.

Sports 3The Inquirer - Diablo Valley CollegeThursday, May 16 - Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Darya Ashim wins ITA National Women’s Rookie of the Year

Contact LUCIA NARDI at lnardi@TheInquirerOnline.com

Contact EVAN WESLEY at ewesley@

TheInquirerOnline.com

Courtesy of SHELLY PIERSON

“Last semester was the first time

I held a racket again so it was pretty nice to actually win

something and compete again after not competing for

so long.”

~DARYA ASHIMDVC Tennis Player

Briana Walker shines bright at NorCal’s 2013 track and field finals

LUCIA NARDIStaff writer

DVC’s Briana Walker leads the pack in the 100-meter hurdles event at the Jack Albiani Invitational held at Modesto Junior College on March 8.

DVC football is sending off a team’s worth of talent to four-year institutions while looking to reload for a big year.

Coming off of a successful season, capped off with an East Bay Bowl victory over Laney College, the Vikings are welcoming back their re-turnees, as well as scouting a new crop of talent.

Head coach Mike Darr has a very bright outlook on the upcoming season, raving about his veterans’ presence.

“The guys who have been here have done a great job of taking on leadership roles, and helping the new guys get acclimated,” he said.

He’s also excited about the overall explosiveness of his team, particularly of his of-fensive and defensive lines.

And it is a defensive line which boasts the top recruit in the entire country in Tui Talia from Ygnacio Valley High School.

His recruitment, was ex-emplified by the constant presence of Oregon Univer-sity’s main scout around him.

“It’s a huge, new experi-

ence I’m going through. A lot of coaches are hitting me up on Facebook and stuff. It’s just been wild,” Talia said.

And what are his goals for the upcoming season?

“I just want to get, like, over 10 sacks. And that’s about it,” he said with a laugh.

As impressive as they ap-pear, Darr didn’t stop at his trench players, pointing out “an impressive group of run-ning backs” and “very skilled and intelligent defensive backs.”

Darr spoke confidently of his team’s potential, stating his belief that they can play for the Nor-Cal champion-ship.

“That East Bay Bowl was a special one for us, but we’re capable of more if we contin-ue down the path we’re on,” Darr said.

Although he is looking ahead, coach Darr remains aware and attentive of the players he’s watching transfer to four-year programs.

The destinations include household names such as Cal, UNLV, Utah, Houston, BYU and San Diego State; as well as lesser known schools, like Redlands, Malone, South-west Oklahoma, Southeast-

ern Louisiana, Eastern New Mexico, Duquesne and Texas State.

The one oddity is wide re-ceiver Diante Jackson, who is mulling over attending Whit-tier College, joining the Arena Football League, or jump-ing to the Canadian Football League.

Wide receiver Andre Lewis, a Utah signee, spoke about the plethora of transfers.

“I feel like it’s putting DVC on the map,” Lewis said. “All the athletes that are around the Concord area are going to want to come down to DVC to try to better their lives and get a full ride scholarship.”

Lewis also talked about his own transfer process.

“Man, now that’s exciting. That’s really a great accom-plishment, because I know how much work I had to put in to get where I’m at now. Not too many kids can say they’re playing in a Division-1 league. So to be able to get that opportunity is an amaz-ing blessing for me.”

4 Thursday, May 16 - Wednesday, September 11, 2013The Inquirer - Diablo Valley College

Sports

Advertisement

Past and present unite Newcomers and returnees delve into

football workouts in preparation for fall

Running back Deshawn Johnson, catching an out route in spring practice, showcases his footwork for a starting position.KARIN JENSEN / The Inquirer

GABRIEL AGURCIASenior staff writer

Contact GABRIEL AGURCIA at gagurcia

@TheInquirerOnline.comDVC prospect Kyle Hill attempts to make a good impression on the field.

KARIN JENSEN / The Inquirer

Editorial Board Staff

• Phone: 925.685.1230 ext. 2313 • Fax: 925.681.3045 • Email: inquirer@dvc.edu • Website: www.TheInquirerOnline.com • Printed Every Two Weeks •

How do you feel about having five

fewer minutes between classes in

the fall?

BuzzTh

e

THE INQUIRER

Diablo Valley College321 Golf Club Road, H-102

Pleasant Hill, CA 94523

The Inquirer is published Thursday mornings during the school year by the journalism students of Diablo Valley College. All unsigned articles appearing on the opinions page are editorials and reflect a two-thirds majority opinion of the editorial staff. All signed columns and cartoons are the opinions of the writer or artists and not necessarily those of The Inquirer, Diablo Valley College or Contra Costa Community College District.

Interviewed andphotographed by: Collin James

“Thats fine. 10 minutes is cool wth me.”

ANTIN ANKERSON, 33Music industrial studies

“Five minutes isn’t that big of a difference.”

NEIL CASTRO, 24Music performance

“I don’t like it. 5 minutes could make you or break

you.”

JANICE PETERSON, 20Criminal Justice

SENIOR STAFF WRITERS Gabriel Agurcia, Pablo Caballero, Theresa Marie, Hakeem MontesSTAFF WRITERS Lucia Nardi, Alejandro Ramos, Mona Taleb-Agha, Evan Wesley

PHOTOGRAPHERS Matthew Emmanuel, Julia Kinkela

INSTRUCTIONAL LAB COORDINATOR Julius ReaADVISER Mary Mazzocco

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Josh “Grassy” KnollMANAGING EDITOR Samantha ChiuONLINE EDITOR Brian BuntingNEWS EDITOR Collin James Rachel Ann ReyesSPORTS EDITOR Aaron HudsonOPINIONS EDITORS Sasan Kasravi ARTS & FEATURES EDITOR Troy Patton PHOTO CHIEF Karin JensenCOPY EDITOR Andrew O’Connor-Watts

Opinion

“I like to get food inbe-tween classes, but its not a

big deal.”

ALYSSA ORTEGA, 19Psychology/

Childhood development

Editorial

Opinions 5The Inquirer - Diablo Valley CollegeThursday, May 16 - Wednesday, September 11, 2013

“It’ll make it more frustrat-ing to get to class and to

get food between classes.”

STEPHANIE THORNE, 19Psychology

In October the NFL announced that San Fran-cisco and South Florida were the two finalists for the 2016 Super Bowl bid. If San Francisco doesn’t win the bid for the 50th Super Bowl, they will com-pete with Houston to host the 51st Super Bowl the following year.

First we must observe that the South Florida or-ganization must raise a staggering, $21 million to host the event.

Also meaning the cost of hosting the milestone game could be double the amount as last time the NFL championship came to Miami Gardens.

So how much money would it cost taxpayers in the bay area for this very same super bowl?

Look at it from a business perspective. With over 100 billion viewers each year for the last decade, how much business will the Super Bowl attract, be-tween hotels, taxis and Super Bowl memorabilia?

According to Jan Freitag, a senior executive at hotel industry tracker STR, who gives Hotel Check-

In readers the scoop on hotel rates once a quarter.“San Francisco is such a hot leisure and meetings

market that its group room rates increased by near-ly 10%,” Freitag said. “Rates are increasing so much that travelers are looking across the Bay Bridge to Oakland and south, to San Jose, for more afford-able accommodations.”

Since the game is likely to be held in the new Santa Clara $1.2 billion stadium expected to open in time for the 2014 season according to the city of Santa Clara construction schedule. Fans will have to take the same measures to see the game at a rela-tively affordable price.

According to Nicki Grossman, tourism director and a member of the organizing committee, the South Florida group expects the overall tab to hit about $21 million, which is less than the $25 million cited by rival San Francisco as its fundraising goal for the 2016 game.

The event takes on a new identity, as more than just a game. Its a business after all right?

The amount of money being thrown around and the politics that is involve can really open the eyes

of hopeful owners awaiting the next bid entry for a Super Bowl 52.

“We have the hotel rooms, we have the hospital-ity, we have the transportation network, we have the businesses, the community support, the philan-thropic support to do this right and do this well,” San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said.

As a strategic effort South Florida’s Super Bowl Bid Committee recruited past Miami Dolphin greats, such as Bob Griese, Jason Taylor and Dan Marino.

No shock that, Team CEO Jed York added For-mer quarterback Steve Young and coach George Seifert are joining the San Francisco Bay Area re-gional bid committee.

The San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl committee will send its final bid package to the NFL on May 7 and will travel to Boston to make a presentation to the league’s owners on May 21.

Contact AARON HUDSON at AHudson@TheInquirerOnline.com

Much is being made about NBA center Jason Collins -- the first active professional male athlete in one of the “Big 4” sports to come out as be-ing openly gay — and while there’s no shortage of ground covered by his story, we can’t help but notice that the story occurs in the context of a much deeper narrative.

The real story is that Collins’ dec-laration ‘is’ a story. Today the federal government still isn’t sure if some people should have the same rights as everyone else because of who they’re at-tracted to.

We’re hav-ing this dis-cussion be-cause we live in an age where athletes in profession-al sports are being scru-tinized for things entirely unrelated to either athleticism or sports.

The Collins story represents the latest rampart of professional sports culture to fall. This is no accident. There’s been a change in the main-stream treatment of what the ‘90s once identified as an “alternative lifestyle.”

He was helped by a host of pro-fessional athletes to come out be-fore him. From tennis star Martina Navratilova in 1981, to Greg Lou-ganis in 1995, Sheryl Swoopes, Billy Bean, Wade Davis, the list is longer than the anti-gay contingent would like to acknowledge.

Though he’s not the first to come out, in many ways he’s the best per-son for the job today - articulate,

humble, with a good grasp of his place in the spectrum of leaders re-sponsible for the vicissitudes of hu-man progress.

This packed inside of a 7-foot frame of cagey physicality whose playing style and presence stand as a rebuke to the stream of unfounded stereotypes leveled against gays in the sports community.

There’s no question Collins is a pioneer. But this isn’t about the hero that Collins winds up being.

It’s about the domino effect toler-ant people hope his story is a catalyst for.

“I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major Ameri-can team sport. But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation,” Col-lins wrote.

“I wish I wasn’t the kid in the class-

room raising his hand and saying, ‘I’m different.’ If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand.”

While it’s easy for us as outsiders to assume this is a manifest sign of inevitable change sweeping across sports, it’s more responsible to ac-knowledge how lonely it still is for the professional athletes we can as-sume are still out there, in the closet.

The tolerance we’re enjoying now is in its infancy, still fragile.

It’s up to us as individuals to keep it alive by criticizing homophobia, and refusing to judge athletes using factors as irrelevant as sexual orien-tation.

Why the Jason Collins story shouldn’t matter, but does

There’s no question Collins is a pioneer.

But this isn’t about the hero that Collins winds up being. It’s about the domino effect tolerant people hope his story is

a catalyst for.

AARON HUDSONStaff writer

The Real Deal: San Francisco and South Florida duke it out to host Super Bowl

Jason Collins, 34, is the first professional male athlete to come out as being openly gay while playing a team sport.

Hosting battle impacts Bay Area

Courtesy of MARISSA GAWEL / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

6 Thursday, May 16 - Wednesday, September 11, 2013The Inquirer - Diablo Valley College

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Letters to the editor

Most drivers will get one or two speeding tickets in their lifetime, but not all of them have time to go to traffic school and take the point off from their driving record.

After drivers receive the speed ticket, they would get six months to decide whether to plead not guilty and request a court hearing date or plead guilty and apply for traffic school; in addition, the driver who wants to avoid the insurance go-ing up or pay the full amount in three months.

If they pass the six month period no matter in what rea-son, there is no make up for the decision or any other way to cancel the ticket.

If drivers did not pay the ticket before the due day, they might receive a bench warrant out for their arrest.

When the Department of Motor Vehicles made this rule, they probably did not consider some situations that may make the driver unable to take traffic school.

For example, some people who had an accident and went to the hospital, some people who were in a foreign country in that period of time or other reasonable problems.

Around July 1, 2011, the California court system agreed Department of Motor Vehicles changed a law to close a loophole and avoid some drivers abusing the traffic school system.

“It closes a loophole if you will, where certain individuals were gaming the system and going to traffic school multiple times within an 18 month period of time.” (Capital Public radio July 27, 2011)

After the law changed, drivers are only allowed to take traffic school once a year in the period of six months.

Changing the law obviously can decrease drivers abusing the traffic school system, but it also effect some people who are unable to take traffic school within six months after they received the speed ticket.

In my personal experience, I received a speed ticket in May 2012, but I left the country in June and came back in August.

By the time I came back, it was already passed three months period so I needed to pay the ticket before I left and confess I am guilty.

The period for resolve the ticket and taking traffic school was really short, and I could not even made the decision cor-rectly.

I suggest extending both of the periods of time to let the driver have enough time to make their right decisions

- Sincerely,Yi Wan CheungDVC Student

Setting the record straightAs the former CalWORKs Coordinator, I would like to set

the record straight. A little fact checking in the article “Blow-ing the Whistle” would have revealed that the story claimed by Ms. Smith does not check out.

While I have no knowledge of the specific details of the case due to student confidentiality, there are state and college policies that do not ring true in Ms. Smith’s claims.

CalWORKs students who are approved for education as part of their Welfare-to-Work activity plan may be eligible for either college or county paid childcare. In order for a Cal-WORKs student to receive this benefit, students must meet eligibility requirements and they are responsible for provid-ing proper documentation to verify that eligibility.

Admittedly the application process for county paid child care is cumbersome; it requires submission to the county of a DVC education plan, a copy of the student’s transcript showing satisfactory academic progress, a current class schedule, verification of any financial aid provided by the college, an affidavit from the child care provider, a six page application and then finally the approval from the county employment specialist.

If an eligible student is unable to obtain county paid child care, it is because the student did not complete the process in a timely fashion.

CalWORKs students may also be eligible for college paid

on-campus child care. The DVC Children’s Center gives pri-ority to continuing students. This is true whether the stu-dents are supported by CalWORKs or not. Typically slots are full well before the start of any term.

In order for a new student to be placed on the waitlist, the student must have completed an intake session and attend an orientation session for each semester which provides stu-dents with timelines to assure students receive the resources they need to start the semester.

They must also be in good standing with the college Cal-WORKs program which means maintaining county eligibil-ity for Welfare-to-Work services and maintaining satisfactory academic progress.

Smith claims that she lost an internship because she could not get on campus child care; however, parents must be on

campus when children are in the care of the DVC Children’s Center. She would not have been able to participate in the internship while her child was on campus.

She also claimed that she had to drop classes because she could not find affordable child care. The county could have paid her off-campus child care had she submitted the neces-sary documentation in time to complete the county process.

The article printed in the Inquirer states, “The internal au-dit concluded that the student worker did not steal gas cards or falsify time cards. . . .”

The college and district administration has done its due diligence in this matter. Processes have been adjusted to en-sure accuracy, and unfortunately the CalWORKs program will cease its provision of gas cards to students needing as-sistance with transportation expenses.

Current and future CalWORKs students are truly those impacted by this case. I encourage the Inquirer to check the facts. The policies and laws governing the California Com-munity College CalWORKs Programs and the California Department of Social Services are public record and readily available. A little investigation would have revealed a differ-ent story.

- Dona DeRussoFormer CalWORKs Coordinator (1998 – 2011)

Closing loophole not worth inconvenience

If an eligible student is unable to obtain county paid child care, it is because the student did not complete the process in a timely

fashion.

I wanted to share some information with you on a wonderful book by a stand out local author. Magical Echo by Linda Kay Silva is a must read that kept me turning the pages!

“There are a lot of bodies buried in the Las Vegas desert, and Echo has to work doubly hard not to wind up one of them. Between the murderous antics of super-naturals who are off the grid, and becom-

ing mired in a murder investigation with too many unanswered questions, Echo and company must navigate the treacherous wa-ters of the Vegas strip.

As she gets deeper into the investigation, she and her people are brutally attacked by rival supernaturals who have decided to make the casinos their own personal bank.

As Echo realizes there is an enemy within her ranks, she must call on the one person who wants nothing more to do with her, as well as accept help from some of the most unlikeliest heroes.

Can Echo solve the murder before be-coming the killer’s next victim? Does she, at last, have what...”

-Kelley Mayor

Prop 37 narrowly failed last year, but the number of people (and companies like Whole Foods) who feel we deserve the right to know what is in our food has in-creased dramatically.

To show how many people have a stake in this issue, activists around the world will stand to March Against Monsanto.

Monsanto has been the benefactor of far too many corporate subsi-dies and political favorit-ism, causing an almost monopoly over the world’s food supply to the detriment of or-ganic and small farmers. The U.S. Congress

recently passed a bill that bans courts from halting the sale of Monsanto’s genetically-

modified seeds, and several former Monsanto executives now sit on the board of the FDA.

We have a right to know what is in the food we eat, and we deserve the right to demand food that is not genetically-modified if we so choose.

Check out the facebook for local events https://www.facebook.com/

events/483492741706645/.

-Courtney Schreiner

When the Department of Motor Vehicles made this rule, they

probably did not consider some situa-tions that may make the driver unable

to take traffic school.

Former CalWORKs coordinator speaks on campus child care

Sharing love for local author’s book

Fight for proper food labels continuesthroughout california

We have a right to know what is in the food we eat, and we deserve the right to demand food that is not genetically-modi-fied if we so choose.

Can Echo solve the murder before becom-

ing the killer’s next victim?

Arts & features 7The Inquirer - Diablo Valley CollegeThursday, May 16 - Wednesday, September 11, 2013

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“The Great Gatsby” may be the greatest piece of American fiction ever written. The backdrop of the roaring twenties provided an interesting time and place for the novel, but the how and why transcend “Gatsby’s” window dressing. The human element and themes of decadence, love, betrayal and resisting change is what makes “Gatsby” intrinsically timeless.

It should come as no surprise then that di-rector Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of “The Great Gatsby” tries to use a heavy hand to force that timelessness by adding a mod-ern flair to the world of Jay Gatsby. Besides modern editing and special effects that most noticeable element of the contemporaneous injections was the music.

Jazz was such an intrinsic part of the world of swinging and speakeasys that its inclusion is nigh mandatory,and to the film’s credit, for the most part, the soundtrack is as bombastic as one would expect and subtle and nuanced when needed.

It’s the inclusion of the modern music from the likes of Jay-Z, Lana Del Rey and Amy Winehouse that do the film the most disser-vice. It’s obvious that Luhrmann was trying

to draw analogues between 1920’s and mod-ern cultural excess, but it drew me out of the film. More so during scenes where the mod-ern music would fade in and out of the most traditional jazz and big band backings. While the characters and themes are timeless, the set-ting of “Gatsby” is intrinsically shaped by the times, and I feel Lurhmann missed that point.

This misstep regarding the music stands as a direct contrast to the spectacular art direction throughout the film.

The scenes at Gatsby’s mansion in particu-lar are splendid. From costumes to lighting to set design, everything becomes swept up in a whirlwind of smart suits, short dresses and glitzy confetti that spirals inward, draw-ing the eye from spectacle to spectacle. Simply put, these scenes are kinetic and fun; a stark contrast to the more somber human moments that are often the bookends to these sorts of scenes.

These moments of humanity are what re-ally let “Gatsby” escape it’s aesthetic trappings and become more than just a pretty face. To their credit, the scenes themselves succeed, not because of a particularly clever script or dialogue, but because the acting is grounded as opposed to the larger-than-life visual styling.

It should come as no surprise then, that

Gatsby is the one that really steals the show. While he normally seems to exude confidence and charm in almost any role that calls for it, Leonardo DiCaprio seems purpose-built to fill the shoes of Jay Gatsby. As Gatsby, he is peer-less. At this point, DiCaprio is THE Gatsby.

The only problem I had with Gatsby as a character had nothing to do with the acting but rather how he’s built up throughout the film, or in this case, how little he’s built up. In the novel, Gatsby is made out to be up myste-rious and near-infallible character. Only near the end of the book do you see that facade fall and what’s left exposed is an incredibly flawed man, one who walks a line between pitiful and reprehensible.

The transformation in the film, I feel, is done much more quickly than it needed to be. With weaknesses and flaws exposed early, Gatsby’s fall is all too expected and ends up feeling like a slow slide instead of a drop off a cliff. What could have been a more nuanced and surprising bit of character development, instead has its card shown a too early and the pacing of the film suffers for it.

Another minor detail that was worrisome was the film sometimes relying on telling the viewer details instead of showing them. While the part of Nick Carraway is well played

by Toby Maguire, his character’s narration throughout the entirety of the film seems like an easy solution in a situation where sudden enlightenment is common and stories can become convoluted while trying to decipher what’s real and what’s fabricated by one or more of the tale’s players.

With such a huge legacy to live up to, it’s no surprise that Luhrmann’s adaptation of Fitzgerald’s magnum opus gets lost in its own opulence. Whether that opulence is a product of Luhrmann’s vision or just a by-product of adapting the novel to the silver-screen is up for debate.

Regardless, “The Great Gatsby” seems to stumble here and there but solid acting and stunning visuals help keep the film’s feet firmly planted more often than not.

What Luhrmann has created is a vision of “Gatsby” that is much like the man; larger-than-life, and inherently flawed. As a film, it has problems, but as a retelling of one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever written, it’s worth the whole damn bunch put together.

“Iron Man 3” begins months after the alien attacks of last summer’s “The Avengers” film. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has been ex-periencing panic attacks as a result of the inva-sion on New York City and in response, has buried himself in work on his Iron Man suits much to the chagrin of his girlfriend and CEO of Stark Enterprises, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

Meanwhile, a new terrorist group led by the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) has been respon-sible for numerous explosive attacks across the globe. The Mandarin hijacks the airwaves, playing videos with ominous explanations as to why these attacks were warranted. But when Stark’s head of security is gravely injured in a Mandarin attack, Stark makes the mistake of putting himself and Potts in danger with a public proclamation of his home address tell-ing the Mandarin, “I’ll leave the door unlocked for you.” And the plot begins to unfold.

“When is he going to put on a real Iron Man suit and fight some bad guys?” Despite my be-lief that those words should never be uttered during an “Iron Man” film, I found myself asking that very question about 45 minutes into the latest installment of Marvel’s newest superhero movie.

Don’t get me wrong, the film delivered on some of the expectations one looks for in a superhero or specifically an “Iron Man” film. There were plot twists (some more obvious than others), the destruction of beautiful and incredibly expensive looking buildings, the clever quips and Tony Stark-isms we all know and love.

Stark’s self-aware arrogance, which Downey Jr. so instinctively portrays, was the film’s sav-ing grace. His relationship with Harley Keener (Ty Simpkins) was refreshing enough to get me through to the action scenes but the film could have benefited from a better blend of the two.

I very much enjoyed the first “Iron Man” film, which also did not feature Tony Stark’s fa-mous suit until late in the film, however in that case I was not bothered by it. In “Iron Man”

it was necessary to establish the character of Tony Stark and as it was an origin story for the franchise, it was fun to see him work on the suit from the remote, middle-eastern cave and see how he used the building of the first suit to escape from captivity. After his escape there was an entire storyline with Obadiah Stain as the primary villain and Stark was forced to use his new suit for a large part of the remainder of the film. We essentially got two movies in one.

The lack of suit-wearing could be a result of the directing change from Jon Favreau (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2”) to Shane Black (“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”). Perhaps it is a result of trying to mix things up from previous films. Or perhaps it is a result of it being the third movie in a franchise series which seems to be difficult to do well. Even Francis Ford Cop-pola couldn’t make a satisfying ending to the “Godfather” trilogy.

The Mandarin’s blatant allusion to Osama bin Laden and Islam in general, was probably the most irritating aspect of the film. These days, Islam and terrorism are as synonymous as the Soviet Union and communism were during the Cold War, and as a result, all film bad guys have to fall into those categories. Ad-ditionally, the climactic scene seemed like a huge advertisement for drone warfare which I won’t delve into, but again it was frustratingly transparent.

Comic book geeks will probably also be dis-appointed with the creative direction they take for the Mandarin’s character.

“Iron Man 3” had its moments, it kept a good meter on the comedy but ultimately fell short of the previous two films which seemed more cohesive and exciting. That being said, the film was still entertaining so if you want a fun movie experience there will be plenty of scenes to keep your attention as well as cheesy ones to crack jokes about with friends.

ANDREW O’CONNOR-WATTSCopy editor

Despite flaws, ‘Gatsby’ still glittersTROY PATTON

Arts and features editor

Contact TROY PATTON at tpatton@TheInquirerOnline.com

Contact ANDREW O’CONNOR-WATTS at aoconnorwatts@TheInquirerOnline.com

Leonardo DiCaprio’s portrayal of Jay Gatsby, the fabulous and flawed socialite and businessman, steals the show in the remake of Fitzgerald’s mastepiece.Courtesy of WARNER BRO. PICTURES

Series starts to show a bit of rust in ‘Iron Man 3’

PHOTOS BY THERESA MARIE / The InquirerRestaurant management and culinary art students dice, saute, grill, prepare delicacies and call out orders in the organized chaos of DVC’s kitchen.

Luciano Castaneda adds the finishing touches to pan-fried salmon.

Dicing heirloom tomatoes and drizzling pesto sauce are just two of the steps involved in Castaneda’s preparation of the Norseman’s pan-fried salmon.

The kitchen behind the Norseman is a flurry of activity as students in DVC’s hospitality

program learn and execute every aspect of preparing and presenting meals to guests.

&art

process

Bay Area comic book fans will have cause for celebration when the 2013 Big WOW! ComicFest de-scends on the San Jose Convention Center May 18-19.

In addition to what Operations Director Tatiana Dykes calls “...one of the most robust artist guest lists on the con circuit,” the convention will also feature various cosplay guests, guest artist panels and a Geek Fashion Show.

Professional artist and comic inker extraordinaire, Joe B. Weems V will be among the artists featured at the event. A recent transplant to the Northern California, Weems is excited to be attending his first Big WOW! ComicFest. In a phone in-terview with The Inquirer, Weems described his experience at past conventions as being “...like com-ing home… you feel completely ac-cepted in that environment.”

The third annual Big WOW! ComicFest, formerly known as Wonder Con, recently added to it’s already impressive docket of talent, with the living legend of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee for autograph and photo opportunities.

“We’re going to have Stan Lee there on Sunday, so that’s some-

thing to get excited about.” Weems said of the still growing list of comic legends scheduled to make appearances. “Joe Benitez will be doing a live panel, that’s a live art demonstration with Rose Ivy Wal-lace, who is a cosplay model… She’ll be cosplaying as Joe’s charac-ter Lady Mechanika.”

Artists Neal Adams of DC Com-ics fame and J. Scott Campbell will also be in attendance for interac-tion and book signings throughout the two day convention.

“Big WOW! is more of a classic-type convention, where you can walk up to your favorite creator and have a conversation with them. Where you can walk around and look at cool wares and dig through old comics and spend all day im-mersed in the culture. A place where you can be yourself and meet like-minded people for a fun, geeky weekend.” Dykes said of the expected ambiance at the event in a Facebook interview.

In addition to the myriad guests and experiences, many of the art-ists in attendance will offer contri-butions to an art auction held on Saturday evening. Aside from vari-ous pieces of original comic art-work donated for the auction, “...there will be an inking panel where a number of artists are given blue-

line pieces to ink.” Said Weems, who will be participating in the ink-ing panel with others. “That’s half the fun, seeing which pieces the artists chose to pick from and how they interpret the art.”

Whether the allure of world class artists, writers and creators draws people in, or the appeal of joining like-minded enthusiasts for non-judgmental good times, at-tendees are sure to find themselves immersed in an unrivaled experi-ence. “There’s nothing else like it.” Weems said of the general con-vention ambiance. A place where guests “...can let (their) freak-flag fly.” And “...don’t ever have to wor-ry about being judged.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones.” Dykes said of her convention an-ticipation. Of the impressive lists of guests, she was unable to chose a favorite. “I’m excited about ev-eryone on the list.”

Fortunately for those who share that passion and enthusiasm for comics and comic art, there’s no need to pick favorites over the course of the two-day extravagan-za. There will be something for ev-ery fan of the genre.

Convention hopes to WOW! comic fansJosh “Grassy” Knoll

Editor-in-chief

Contact Josh “Grassy” Knoll at jknoll@TheInquirerOnline.com

Courtesy of Joe B. Weems VArtwork Joe Weems did for a Darkstar’s “Dragon Skulls” skate-board deck line. Weems will be one of the artists featured in the upcoming Big WOW! ComicFest.

8 Thursday, May 16 - Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013The Inquirer - Diablo Valley CollegeArts & features