express, volume 96, issue 2

SERVING THE SACRAMENTO CITY COLLEGE COMMUNITY SINCE 1922 Volume 96 Issue 2 September 25, 2012

2 09.25.12 • OPINION • SAC CITY EXPRESS

Views published in the Express do not reflect those of the Los Rios Community College District Board of Trustees, the Associate Student Government, City College Journalism department, administration, student body or faculty, unless otherwise stated.

Let the Express know what you think. Letters should be 300 words or less. Please include contact information. No anonymous letters will be printed. The Express reserves the right to edit or reject any article, advertisement or illustration deemed inappropriate, including letters to the editor.

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ContactSacramento City College3835 Freeport Blvd.Sacramento, CA 95822-1386Phone: 916.558.2561 / 2562Fax: 916.558.2282email: [email protected]

Editor-in-ChiefJason Van Sandt

Online Managing EditorDaniel Wilson

News EditorMatt Joye

Sports EditorSteven Senn

Features EditorAngelo Mabalot

Arts&Entertainment EditorWendy Aguilar

Photo EditorsTony Wallin- PrintEvan E. Duran- Online

Multimedia EditorL.T. ClaytonWeb ManagerKate PaloySocial Media OnlineJoseph Hall

Design EditorMatt Matteucci

Assistant Design EditorVivian Liu

Ad ManagerDustin Druecker

PhotographersRichard Hannah Callib Heard Kelvin SandersJ.D. Villanueva

WritersCherene BriggsAaron JacksonTrevon JohnsonMichael JonesJessica RineYvonne SantyAlex SchildgenJose D. VillanuevaDiane WadeLatrice Watts

Danielle WilliamsNaomi Williams

Senior DesignersMatt MatteucciVivian Liu

Page DesignersDavid AngsteadLamere CarterCerberna CrenshawDa'Meah JohnsonBrent KennedyAngelo MabalotElaine RomeroRodica SimionasNicki Winstead

AdvisersRandy AllenDianne HeimerRachel LeibrockKate Murphy

Cover Design: Matt Matteucci

"I prefer an iPhone because I don't really

mess around with Androids. I'm not

really familiar with Androids plus I like the keyboard more

on the iPhone."

"Android all the way. I love the Android. They're a bit more flexibile and multi-func-tional. Apple is too limited."

"I have an iPod but an Android phone. It took me a while

to get used to it but now I'm pretty good with it. The Android

weighs more than the iPhone so you know

you actually have something in your

hand, which is nice."

"I have an iPhone but I've had both, and I prefer the Apple because it's more simple. I have had some problems with (Apple) but I understand it better the more I use it."

iPhone or Android?

• Tony Wallin Photographer • [email protected]

Kaleb Jones, 18History

Amelia Amezquita, 19 Business Administration

CITYTALK

Sean Coghlan, 19

Business

Ian Stuwart, 29

Social Services

EDITORIAL: iGroan 5(times)It’s just not worth it

Wind the clocks back a little less than a year ago to Oct. 14, 2011. Nationwide, the

scene at AT&T or Verizon Wireless retailers was described as having hun-dreds of people waiting in line, with some waiting overnight. If you were passing by without knowing anything about modern technology, you would think that something free was being handed out.

It seemed silly that people would wait this desperately for the newest iPhone, but you still had faith in hu-manity because these people weren’t trampling each other like it was Black Friday. It should also be noted that this

was for a cell phone that had a “S” tagged to the back of its predecessor’s name, with new digital smart mouth Siri, who you could talk to.

For everyone who didn’t have the “gotta have the newest electron-ics” mentality, it continued to become more ridiculous.

“It’s the most amazing iPhone yet,” was Apple’s slogan for the iPhone 4S.

Fast forward closer to the present. On Sept. 13, 2012, technology media website CNET.com reported that the Apple online store server went gone down a day after revealing the iPhone 5. CNET later reported the day after, on the first day of pre-order for the new phone, multiple websites of carriers of the latest model were sold out within an hour since the pre-order started at midnight. TechCrunch.com reported that last year’s iPhone 4S took 22 hours to sell out from its pre-order, show-ing the increase in demand for Apple’s stranglehold on the mobile industry.

But why are consumers going out of their way to get the newest iPhone?

A visual comparison between the two smart phones shows that the biggest difference is that the iPhone 5 is taller and thinner, and its external shell is metal compared to its previous incarnation’s glass casing.

So it can hold an extra line of icons on the home screen. What’s the big whoop?

The iPhone 5 is thinner, lighter and faster. Its camera? Well, it hasn’t

changed much, but it’s still better than the iPhone 4S.

You would think that new technology could produce a smarter phone that didn’t produce radiation or had a sensor that shuts off the phone when the user starts to text while driving, but Apple isn’t some deity that stops car accidents.

Are there any drawbacks to the new iPhone? The thinner design means there is a new docking plug, differing from the one used by Apple products since 2003, meaning that consumers will need to buy a $29 adapter just so they don’t have to buy a new car charger. Those who thought they were only paying for the $200 upgrade fee had another thing coming when all of their previous iPod/iPhone docks and cords become electronic waste.

And yet the numbers reported from Day 1 do not lie. The public is sold on the hottest new trends in electronics.

Apple continues to produce consumer friendly, innovative and eye-catching products, but is waiting in line at midnight and shelling out $200 worth it?

Check your phone contract to see if you’re eligible for an upgrade, and if so, treat yourself to an iPhone 5 when the lines die out and online shop serv-ers go back online. If not, do Mother Earth’s resources a favor and don’t buy into the hype because you don’t need to.

Illustration by Vivian Liu

SAC CITY EXPRESS • NEWS • 09.25.12 3

New recreuits needed for Student Senate

Come down to South Gym room 232!

• Alex Schildgen Staff Writer • [email protected]

If you’ve stepped onto the City College campus for more than two hours, chances are you will interact with at least 20 dif-

ferent people.In that time and with that many interac-

tions, chances are another member of the City College society will do something to piss you off.

Manners: Where have they gone and when did parents stop teaching their children the importance of being polite and considerate?

A woman sits in a class; her left leg, poor

posture and muffin top seep into the aisles while students struggle to pass.

Students are silent and the flickering of phones has ceased. The psych professor jab-bers on about Oedipus complexes and Freud.

Students sink further into their seats, depressed and ashamed as if the professor were talking directly at them.

The clatter of jingling key chains and ruffling paper breaks the trance.

The woman fumbles through her designer knock-off purse. She pulls out a blue toothbrush; the bristles covered with tattered tissue paper.

In her hands she examines the brush, smoothing the end of the handle then hold-

ing it up to the light. She shakes her head, unimpressed and upset.

Suddenly she unsheathes the inkwell of a cheap pen, using the tip of her teeth as pli-ers. She holds the pen up in all of its glory as if it’s the chalice of youth.

Looking in her direction, a student's mouth widens, allowing dust particles and small bugs to find refuge in his mouth. His eyebrows curl into gnarled and sun-dried caterpillars.

He is appalled, surprised and terrified. The leopard print deviant jams the ink

tube into her ear. Her arm is bent at the elbow and cocks back and forth.

Students continue listening to the lec-ture, unabashed and unconcerned.

The pen is finally removed from the canal.

She wipes the oozing clots of earwax

from the plastic and begins to write her notes. As you cross the parking lot you may

notice a Cadillac with spinning rims emit-ting too much bass and stealing a pedes-trian's right of way.

Perhaps a group of chatting schoolgirls in sun dresses and 3-inch heels will cross in front of your path almost nicking the tip of your foot.

You rush to open the door for them, hoping for a thank-you or even eye contact, with nothing in return but a scoff.

Where are you chivalry? A group of girls sit at a table in the

City Café, conversing over coffee before their next class. Over the blare of cellphone boom boxes one student describes chivalry.

“Opening a door or pulling a chair out,” says Iris Cirerol. “It’s old school, but it’s refreshing.”

Suddenly a bystander dressed in baggy clothes and wielding the noisy cellphone blurts out his definition.

“Calling a girl a 'stupid bitch' is dis-respectful,” he says, “Calling them a 'bad bitch' is a compliment. It’s just an urban thing.”

Lunchtime shakes the pit of students’ stomachs and the café is bombarded with hunger. Complete disorganization and chaos hits the students while they cipher through drinks, chips and wait for food hot off the grill.

Café Grillers work with beads of sweat running down their foreheads and stains on the issued mesh collared shirts.

Tension seems to rise with the student's hunger.

“Each day they have different moods,” says a City Café Griller. “Sometimes they can’t help it.”

The Griller says that students in the demographic of 18-25 are the most prob-lematic.

Last semester there were three separate incidents with three different café employ-ees. Each happened on the same day.

“We’re easy targets,” she says. “Some people are just rude and that’s their walk of life.”

Fragments of crumbs, puddles of sticky liquids, recyclables, and spread out chairs leave the café in shambles.

Dressed in blue collared shirts, two men leave the café through the sliding doors.

One of the workers pushes a laundry cart filled with a collection of litter while the other holds a cellophane bag filled with coffee cups and pizza crusts.

Their chests are puffed and their pos-ture is straight, dignified and working.

Like the Café employees, sanitation expert Jerry “Scary” Pair and his co-worker are hit with full force by the students’ lack of etiquette.

Pair brandishes a tattoo that reads, “Expect the Unexpected, “ while he and the co-worker explains the psyche of students with a bulging smile on his face.

“You gotta’ ask yourself, would you leave boom-boom un-flushed in your moth-er or father's house?” says Pair's associate.

Pair and his co-worker nod heads.“Students need to use the facilities

at their disposal with respect,” Pair says. “Treat it like your own home.”

Manners, dead or alive: The crucifixion of decency

“ Opening a door or pulling a chair out— it's old school, but it's refreshing."

–Iris CirerolCity College Student

Food and trash left over in the cafeteria by students is a never-ending story on campus.

Tony Wallin | [email protected]

• Jessica Rine Staff Writer •[email protected]

At City College this fall Student Leadership and Development is gearing up to educate students about

the upcoming November election and—more specifically—get them involved by registering students to vote.

“It is a big thing this year,” states Anna Fralikhina, talking about the Nov. 6, 2012, election, when voters will decide between reelecting President Barack Obama or sending former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to the White House—and on a number of other propositions and political races directly affecting the state of California and higher education.

Fralikhina, a student personnel as-sistant for Student Leadership and De-velopment, is heading the voter registra-tion drive taking place over the next few weeks. Using funds provided by the federal government to register voters, Fralikhina is helping plan events that will get students involved and interested in the swiftly ap-proaching November election.

“It is important for [the students] to be educated in what the government is doing and get interested,” Fralikhina says. “It is important for the students to know the issues because it will affect us in the future.”

With tables on the Quad stocked with election information and voter registration cards, and strategically placed banners throughout campus counting down the days to election, Student Leadership and De-velopment is collaborating with the debate team, honors society and the Student As-sociated Council to help educate students on the issues and candidates, and hopefully encourage them that their votes matter, according to Fralikhina.

“We want to get students more involved, more excited, more pumped up about using their vote to protect their education,” says communications profes-sor Jared Anderson, who also coaches the forensics team.

Anderson has been working for the past two years to build a campuswide coali-tion, encouraging faculty, staff and students to come together and vote to make higher education a priority for Congress.

“Education should be a No. 1 priority for Congress, and it isn’t,” says Anderson.

Anderson hopes that students will make the effort to attend the forums, designed to inform students on this year’s propositions. Details are still being determined on when students will be on the Quad explaining propositions.

However, Monday, Oct. 22, there will be an informational forum in the Student Center at noon where experts on Proposition 30 will be discussing its impact on students and higher education, and will be able to answer any student questions, Anderson says.

“It is important, whether you support it or not, to know their vote will make a difference,” says Anderson.

Oct. 22 is also the postmark deadline for voter registration cards, according to the California Secretary of State website. Anderson hopes to spark voter interest with the information forum and have students rushing the tables to fill out the forms and meet the deadline.

“We will be putting up a link on the student government website so students can register to vote online,” says Student Associated Council President Taylor Valmores, noting that Student Leadership and Development is taking the effort to the Web, publicizing voter registration and election deadlines on its official Face-book page and the City College official Facebook page. According to Fralikhina, Student Leadership and Development will also be emailing all of the City College faculty and staff asking them to encour-age their students to register to vote.

The Student Advisory Council is advocating for increased student partici-pation this year—something Valmores highlighted in his convocation address to City College faculty and staff. SAC members are currently visiting class-rooms to encourage students to register to vote and maybe raise student interest in being more involved on campus, according to Valmores.

At the voter registration booth in the Quad on Sept. 17, student volunteers agree with the importance of students making use of their right to vote. This especially rings true for Lincoln Scott, 33, child develop-ment major, whose parents cannot vote

because they were not born in the United States.

“They made sure I have rights as a citizen,” Scott says, “so it is important to make use of our rights.”

For Anderson, it is not only important for the students to register to vote, but to use that vote to keep higher education widely accessible. The latest round of

financial cuts left thousands of students without access to college, Anderson says.

“We need to understand why it is so important for us to fight to keep that [higher education] system viable and accessible to all,” states Anderson. “If we lose community college, there is not a backup.”

Campus voter registration driveA coordinated effort focuses on assistance, education

Bill Maham, an ex-history teacher from City College who comes back every four years for voter registration, helps anthropology majors Nikole Gates and Dylan Cann, and administration of justice major Andrew Martinez, sign up to vote in this year's election.

Jason Van Sandt | [email protected]

4 09.25.12 • NEWS • SAC CITY EXPRESS

SAC CITY EXPRESS • NEWS • 09.25.12 5

• Michael Jones Staff Writer •[email protected]

Enrollment in the Los Rios Commu-nity College District is projected to be lower for the third consecutive

fall semester, as cuts in state funding have forced the district to decrease the number of sections offered despite increased demand, according to district officials.

“Our students have not been spared,” former LRCCD Chancellor Brice Harris told City College faculty at the fall convo-cation ceremony. “We’ve taken a total of 1,430 sections out [since 2009] or 9.3 per-cent of our offerings. We have denied our students as a result of this fiscal crisis.”

Harris called the crisis the worst “in modern times.”

In the spring of 2009, before the cuts went into effect, LRCCD had 88,236 stu-dents enrolled in classes. By spring of 2012, the number of enrolled students dropped to 84,063, despite new campuses in Davis and West Sacramento, according to Harris.

“Given that had we been funded for growth at normal levels, we would have grown by 10,000 or more students [above

2009 enrollment levels]. We estimate that around 20,000 students in the Greater Sacramento area are being denied access to education,” says Associate Vice Chancellor of Communications Susie Williams.

Williams cited the budget cuts as the reason for lower enrollment.

Some City College students are already struggling with the effects of fewer class offerings.

“Summer [semester]… I had prob-lems,” said Jeremy Liebscher, a mechanical engineering major in his second year at City College. “I notice [classes] all fill up and a lot of people just get turned down.”

Liebscher says this also affects his fi-nancial situation, now that he has to stay at City College [longer than he planned] before he can transfer.

“A lot of people are worried that they’re not going to get what they want,” said Natasha Alston, a cinema major in her second semester of classes.

Alston and Liebscher both say that they have friends and family who go to City Col-lege for convenience and that other schools aren’t viable options.

Williams said that the massive cuts and drop in enrollment could affect more than just individual students, saying there is an effect on the broader California economy.

“It is important to note that these statewide budget cuts and drastic drops in enrollment [are] a statewide phenomenon and will have a huge impact on our state and its ability to provide a trained work-force to meet the needs of our economy,”

Williams explains.But for some students, a measure of

despair has already set in.“[City College] is failing me,” said

Ikemmuddin Niazi, a criminal justice major who hasn’t been able to get all of the classes he needs.

According to the California Commu-nity College Chancellor’s Office website, the 2011-12 school year saw 2.4 million stu-dents enrolled in community colleges across California, down 485,000 since 2009.

Additional reporting done by Matt M. Joye. Email: [email protected]

Worst crisis 'in modern times'Budget cuts mean fewer classes and students

"[City College] is failing me.”

–Ikemmuddin Niazi

Budget cuts this year have greatly reduced both classes and students at City College.


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Honors at CityHonors classes and society offer unique benefits to students in the know

• Matt M. Joye News Editor •[email protected]

City College offers many programs and services, so it is understandable that not everyone knows the differ-

ence between honors classes and the honors society. Some don’t know anything about the honors program at all.

“Nothing,” says City College student Tazama Hunter, 17, when asked what she knows about the honors program.

In fact, the two programs are sepa-rate—though they often complement each other—and City College students utilize the advantages of both programs to in-crease learning opportunities, improve their transfer and scholarship chances, and come together in ways that benefit others as well.

“Everybody is there for business. Nobody takes the honors statistics [course] because they just need to check statistics off their list,” statistics and math professor Debbie Van Sickle explains. “They actu-ally chose to take the class that’s harder and requires more work. From a statistical point of view, that’s a self-selected sample.”

There are 31 honors classes listed in the City College honors program. Seven are offered this fall, including World Litera-ture: Antiquity to the Early Modern World (ENGLT 480); History of the United States (HIST 483); and Survey of Music History and Literature (MUFHL 481), according to the eservices website.

“In [honors] classes you have students who don’t just want to pass the class, but also care about academics a little bit more,” explained former City College student Linda Plutino, who last year won the presti-gious Regent’s Scholarship and now attends UC Davis.

Students must have at least a 3.0 GPA and eligibility for ENGWR 300 to enroll in an honors course. Complete four honors classes with a “B” or better, and a stu-dent earns the honors designation on their transcript and eligibility for the Transfer Alliance Program with UCLA, according to English professor Anna Joy.

But perhaps the biggest difference is the seminar format. The classes are smaller in terms of the number of students they enroll: the minimum and maximum

number of students is 15, according to Van Sickle.

Honors classes are not completely different than regular classes, said Plutino, who added that in some ways they are “more relaxed.”

That format may be harder to sustain in tough budget times.

“The classes now are changing because of budget cuts, so we have [more] blended classes,” says Joy, noting that applies to two honors classes this semester, “It’s not… just 15 or 18 students. You’ve got a [regular-sized class] with a component for the hon-ors students doing a little bit more.”

In contrast to honors classes, there is also a student-run Honors Society at City College, part of the larger Phi Theta Kappa International Honors Society.

“What I’ve probably gotten most out of it is just getting to work and network with these great people that are really moti-vated, smart people,” says Honors Society President Jeff Nakata, stressing that every-one benefits from the friendships and bonds that are made working together.

And then there are the scholarships.

“Scholarships is one of the biggest things of joining Phi Theta Kappa, it’s one of the biggest opportuni-ties,” explains Nakata. “You get access to $37 million—just for Phi Theta Kappans alone.”

There is no fee to join the Honors Soci-ety, though there is a $60 fee to become part of the national organi-zation. Last semester there were 140 students in the City Honors So-ciety, and Nakata says sign-ups have been even more numerous this fall.

Since 2000 the Sacramento City Col-lege Foundation paid student fees, but fund-ing cuts have left Nakata and Joy pursuing other options.

For a group used to raising money for charitable causes, needing to fundraise for the society itself feels a little weird, accord-ing to Nakata, who says brainstorming on fundraising possibilities is underway.

“When that day comes I know I will feel weird, and sort of bad, that we’re mak-ing money for ourselves,” admitted Nakata, who is pushing to use the group’s time and knowledge to help the community, if they can’t donate directly.

That’s because a core mission of the group is service, often in the form of com-munity service projects.

Joy says last year the group worked with Women’s Empowerment to fundraise and assist in getting the message out that

there is hope for women in abusive relation-ships.

This year the society is helping to host two debates on the propositions in the No-vember election, and developing a student hotline, hopefully pairing students in need with honors mentors, Nakata says.

“It’s forcing us to really look at other things that we can do. So perhaps we’re getting more creative in our thinking, and also creative in the entrepreneurial aspect,” said Nakata on their response to the funding shortfall. “And that’s something that we can then in the future give away, if we have enough money.”

Nakata hopes the fundraising ideas developed by the society can then have “a synergistic effect,” so other groups can model and benefit from the work of the honors society.

6 09.25.12 • NEWS • SAC CITY EXPRESS

English professor Anna Joy is also the Honors Society adviser for City College, which has been getting hit with bud-get cuts and forced to downgrade class sizes.


SAC CITY EXPRESS • ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT • 09.25.12 7

• Steven Senn Sports Editor •[email protected]

Most college students live on a tight budget and are always looking for

ways to stay entertained for free. Movie Night at the Learning Resource Center every Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. is an ideal way to see a selection of critically acclaimed movies on the big screen, without costing students a cent.

Now in its third year, the LRC staff will show one movie each week up until the end of the semester, and continuing at the start of the spring 2013 semester. “We want to give the students something to do that is not so academic; to have something to do that is just a nice break,” says Nicole Woolley, City College’s media librarian and movie night organizer.

The LRC staff picks favor-ites from a collection of almost a thousand feature films and showcases one each week on the giant screen in room 105 on the first floor of the LRC.

If you can’t make the movie night, every movie is also available for free checkout to students, faculty and staff.

Woolley says to show students that the LRC is a wel-coming environment, and to let them know what they have to offer besides computer labs and books.

She says she also believes that students are so busy with homework and studying for exams that they deserve a chance to “let loose." So far this semester, the LRC has screened last year’s Academy Award nominee for best picture “The Help,” as well as the all-time top grossing movie “Avatar” and Disney’s “Tangled,” an animated

retelling of the classic fairytale "Rapunzel"Another Oscar dar-ling, “The Fighter,” is slated for Sept. 27.

The film stars Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. This movie is based on a true story and takes a look into the life of real life boxer “Irish” Micky Ward and his drug-addled brother as he trains to become a professional. It is rated R. The film screenings are open to the public.

For more information on Movie Night at the Library email Ni-cole Woolley at [email protected] or call (916) 558-2509.

Save the date for movie nightLRC shows free films this fall

“We want to give the students something to do that is not so aca-demic; to have some-thing to do that is just a nice break.”

–Nicole Woolley

A RTS & ENTERTAINMENT

8 09.25.12 • ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT • SAC CITY EXPRESS


•AishaShahStaff Writer • [email protected]

The classic tale of a 7-year-old girl who falls into a land of wonder is a story most children come to know

and now City College students will get to revisit.

City College’s new Performing Arts Center will opens its doors to present its first theatrical production of the season Nov. 16 until Dec. 18 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. “Alice in Wonderland,” still in the early stages of production, must undergo tasks such as rehearsing for a new theater style and being fit for costumes.

“This is our very first show in our brand new remodeled theater,” says “Alice in Wonderland” costume director Nicole Sivell. “We’ve got this beautiful gigantic stage to fill and I think we’re go-ing to endeavor to make things as big and over the top as we can.”

Lewis Carroll’s classic tale "Alice in Wonderland” will be the first perfor-mance to light up the PAC stage since its reconstruction. Theater arts professor and “Alice in Wonderland” director Luther Hanson brings Carroll’s beloved narrative to life in a manner “that [students] have never seen before,” he says.

“There will definitely be some famil-iar elements that people are expecting to see, but I think folks will be surprised by a few things as well,” says Sivell.

In the meantime, the play, which is still weeks away, has kept everyone involved in the production busy. Ashley Olson, a City College student that has been cast to play the part of Alice, says that she not only had to show up for one audition, but three.

“The first day we did cold readings, which is where they will just give you a scene and a character, and they say ‘read

for this character,’” says Olson. “The first character I read for was a crying baby that did nothing other than cry.”

The following days after the first day of readings, Olson says she went back for dancing and singing auditions.

Once the task of casting was out of the way, Hanson and theater arts professor Christine Nicholson say they were finally

ready to schedule their first rehearsal for Sept. 25. In the development of any theatri-cal play, rehearsals are always the most crucial stage; especially for a piece like

“Alice in Wonderland", where a great portion of the script is based off improv from the actors, says Hanson, which in turn allows them to develop and expand scenes before opening night.

“This is where the fun happens,” says Hanson. “We rehearse for about eight weeks, we do a lot of improv in rehearsal to develop scenes…we start off with the basic story of ‘Alice,’ get as much in there as we need to keep it together and then go on from that.”

The original script for the stage adapta-tion of “Alice in Wonderland,” written by Nicholson, will be performed using British pantomime, which is a traditional style of folk theater in the UK performed around the Christmas season.

The origins of British pantomime—also known as “panto”—dates all the way back to the Middle Ages, but the panto that exists

today is predominately aimed at children with plots that are based on famous fairy tales or folk legends such as “Cinderella,” “Aladdin” and “Peter Pan.”

“It is a mix of a fractured fairytale, dance, music, circus acts and current songs with changed lyrics—one big goofy holiday extravaganza,” says Hanson. “It is fasci-nating for children and adults at the same time.”

After having seen 10 pantomime shows in Britain and Canada, Nicholson and Hanson say they realized that almost no one was prac-ticing pantomime theater in the U.S., and as Hanson says they “decided to give it a try.”

“It’s a great entertainment for the holidays,” says Hanson. “It’s great for the whole family, it’s great for our students to learn a new form of [theater] and there’s a lot of opportunity for students in a show like this, especially this year in the big new space. We’re excited we get to make this really spectacular and colorful.”

Nicholson’s parody script uses all the elements of traditional panto-mime without losing too much of Carroll’s original narrative of “Alice” at the same time, as the theme good versus evil with the hero emerging triumph is one of the basic fundamentals a panto-mime play must include.

“Alice in Wonderland” will be City College’s first panto-mime play, and to stick to the roots of panto as much as pos-sible, Nicholson says she will be incorporating well-known British panto characters into her script that will serve as the comedy relief.

Carroll’s plot of Alice get-ting lost in Wonderland, meet-ing the Red Queen and others will be all present in Nichol-son’s panto version of “Alice in Wonderland” along with other common pantomime customs such as the use of costumes, songs from modern day pop culture and music will be all combined into the final produc-tion of the play.

"It’s not your normal show,” Olson says. “People think that when you go to the theater you have to be quiet…no it’s very audience interactive and it really kind of forces the audience to just have fun, sit back and relax.”

Tickets are currently available for purchase online at CityTheater.com, as well as Tick-etleap.com, for $15 and $13 for students and seniors. Children under 12 years of age are free.

Alicetakescenterstage'Alice in Wonderland' comes to the PAC this fall

"'AliceinWonderland'willhaveacolorfulandelaboratecostumewardrobeandwillalsobethefirstplaytobeperformedinthereconstructedtheater.

“Thisisourveryfirstshowinourbrandnewremodeledtheater”

–Nicole Sivell

A RTS & ENTERTAINMENT

SAC CITY EXPRESS • PROFILES • 09.25.12 9

A life in filmDiversity makesan effective professor

• Michael Jones Staff Writer •[email protected]

Wheeling more than 100 pounds of camera equipment into the room, professor Nathan Schemel sets up

a complicated system of metal poles, gears, and wheels that grip across the room as his students watch, fascinated and bemused. With the film lights turned on and heating up the room, he shows how it works with ease.

Schemel, 34, teaches filmmaking classes at City College.

“I believe the world’s full of opportu-nity, and being ready for that opportunity is an important part of being a professional,” the Sacramento native says.

Schemel produced a show for the Sac-ramento Kings called “House Party”. As a wrap-up and a set-up for Kings’ games, the show ran for five years, according to Schemel, and introduced him to his next gig: a show for the DIY network. Bill Swan presented an

opportunity for Schemel to produce a show on the network called “Turf War.”

“I had the creative side, but I also had the sports mind,” says Schemel. In Swan’s eyes, Schemel says, this made him ideal for a competitive landscaping show.

A former student, Skip Smith, 55, touts Schemel’s filmmaking experience as a major factor in the class’s effectiveness. “It makes the difference,” he says.

Schemel initially didn’t break into film-making for the artistic aspect.

“If I got into filmmaking, that would give me diversity in my life,” remembers Schemel, who earned a business degree. “It wasn’t so much that I loved film as an art, it was having a life that brought new chal-lenges to my life.”

He says he has since grown to appreci-ate it.

“Call it maturity,” he laughs. “When you start to study it, you start to get into it. You see how important it is as an art form.”

When he worked in the sound department for a film directed by William Shatner of “Star Trek” fame, he says the sound department’s advice was neglected and he even experienced a 21-hour workday. But that didn’t turn him away from feature films.

“The problem with doing feature films is that you’ll work from three to six weeks, and then immediately you’ll have to find another project,” he says.

Ever the pragmatist, Schemel also says he can’t simply work for the artistic aspect of film, as he doesn’t have the luxury.

“Even TV makes people nauseous sometimes,” he jokes, referring to the inevitable cancellations that even the most successful shows face.

Opportunities have found their ways to Schemel throughout his life. Pragmatism and preparation are parts of his career, as is diversity. Schemel has made a filmmaking career in order to have a life of variety.

Now, he focuses solely on teaching and the occasional freelance work. As a new father, he also tends to his infant child.

“I enjoy teaching to light a fire in people,” he says about his job.

He takes an informal, loose approach to teaching, not adhering to any rigid struc-tures.

“In art, rules are meant to be broken.”

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Nathan Schemel is a new addition to City Col-lege's faculty who teaches film history.


• Ian Kappos Guest Writer•[email protected]

Teachers are about as diverse as class-rooms. Some may be mean, others empathetic. Some grade hard, some

give extra credit. And some are just born to teach.

Professor Steve Cirrone is one of the latter.

“I never wanted to teach until I real-ized I was born to teach,” says Cirrone, who cites a childhood game of teacher-and-stu-dent with his younger sister as the moment that revelation took place.

Cirrone, who has taught English and creative writing courses at City College for the past five years—and 15 years prior at community colleges from Virginia to California—has a knack and a passion for teaching rivaled by few.

“He is hands down my favorite teacher at SCC,” says Brittany Bogan, a student of his and also the editor-in-chief of last year’s campus literary journal Susurrus. “I’ve made sure to take at least one class of his every semester I’ve been here.”

Cirrone has certainly shown his pas-sion for learning: He earned a bachelor’s in

English and Russian literature from Bing-hamton University, SUNY. Shortly after receiving his master’s in English literature from Claremont University, he landed his first teaching job at the age of 22. He later went on to earn a doctorate in Renaissance literature.

It would seem that scholarship is some-thing Dr. Cirrone—affectionately dubbed Doc by his students—greatly values.

“What I like about teaching is every semester, despite the fact that I might teach the same material, the students change,” says Cirrone. “Teaching is what you make it.”

Aside from teaching, Cirrone is a dedicated novelist, playwright, painter and composer of symphonic music. He also enjoys involving himself in extracurricular activities that help further students’ aca-demic goals: Two years ago he arranged an English mentorship program for students looking to hone their writing skills, and he is currently working with two students of his on a presentation of medieval visionar-ies to be demonstrated on campus.

He likens the job of a teacher to a “wise facilitator.” He strives to ignite his students’ inner writer, in the hopes that at the end of any given semester, they will walk away with a deeper appreciation for the written arts and more confidence in their own writing skills.

“His teaching style is different from a lot of other professors at City College, in that he opens discussion for the class rather than lecturing, which encourages student-based learning and free-thinking,” says Ra-chel Hersch, a City College English major. “It’s much more engaging that way.”

Cirrone’s popularity among the student

body is well-known. His personable at-titude, admirable work ethic and appetite to educate are all qualities that have found him in good standing with the inhabitants of his classroom. Indeed, it seems that the general opinion of his academic zeal is nothing short of critical acclaim. He hopes

for nothing less than to establish a mutual enthusiasm for language and the written arts between him and his students.

“Teaching is like introducing a familiar city to a new visitor,” says Cirrone. “I get to relive the thrill.”

Born to teach: the 'wise facilitator'English professor Steve Cirrone is at home in the classroom

10 09.25.12 • PROFILES • SAC CITY EXPRESS

Steve Cirrone is an English professor at City College. Cirrone teaches his ENGWR 101 class in Rodda Hall South 307.



“He opens discussion for the class rather than lecturing. ”

–Rachel Hersch,

SAC CITY EXPRESS • PROFILES • 09.25.12 11

Ann Love| Courtesy of City College Foundation

• Angelo Mabalot Features Editor •

[email protected]

Economics professor Sandra Camarena says she believes that teaching the basic principles of economics should be

taught in manner in which students can grasp realism.

She relies on Deborah Saks, new dean of Business Division, to help figure out a way to continue teaching in a way that she believes will best reach her students.

“The second unit of my class on supply and demand is very important because it af-fects everything [in microeconomics],” says Camarena. “I take a little more care, precau-tion, and time with this unit in my class be-cause if the students aren't able to accurately grasp the theory I will lose them for the rest of the semester.”

Camarena holds auctions to teach to her students about supply and demand: students bid on items for cash and the highest bidder takes home the winnings. However, in order for an auction to be successful, to demonstrate demand there must be an adequate supplier.

Saks, dean of the Business Division, says she does what she can to help with Ca-marena’s process.

“I want to do what I can to help [with] that,” says Saks. “I've taken economics and I know that it can be a little bit dry. Having something that's really engaging and where you can actually see it in practice makes a big difference.”

Camarena needed items that students would like to bid on, just as a thriving market would have consumers show price points in a downward sloping curve. Saks asked col-leagues to help Camarena get items for the auction.

“She made the whole idea possible because she had the idea to solicit donations,”

says Camarena. “In hard budget times, what that taught me is that you have to think out-side the box.”

As the new dean on campus, Saks says she never knows what her day is going to be like, but she is just glad to help the City Col-lege community.

Saks most recently held the position of dean of School of Business at Ivy Tech Com-munity College in West Lafayette, Ind. She says she decided to move because she and her husband, Robert, liked what the area had to offer after a California vacation.

"The job was similar to what it was at Ivy Tech, but it’s not identical," says Saks. "Some of the things I didn't do at Ivy Tech I do here, and some of the things I did at Ivy Tech I don't have to do them here."

Saks says she enjoys the fact that she has more direct interaction with the students here at City College than she did at her previous job.

"I like being able to help students when they really are in a crunch, like when they try to add the class and their permission number didn't work," says Saks. "I like to do some-thing about it. I feel like I can really make a difference."

Saks says she saw how numbers in busi-ness worked but she later wanted to focus on the human aspect. While working on her doc-torate in behavior and human resources from Indiana University, Bloomington, Saks taught classes as a graduate assistant; it was then, she says, that she realized that she wanted to focus on teaching as a part of her career.

"I gave the whole administration piece of the [education] a try and I found out that I kind of like that part too," says Saks. "It's a very different job to be an administrator than to be a faculty member, and I like both of them. Both of them are really great jobs."

Saks admits that she was unsure that she’d make it to the interview process, believ-ing instead that the district would hire an internal candidate.

And when they did offer her the job, Saks says, she had to think hard about her answer.

" I had to go with my gut instinct," says Saks. "Did I think it was going to be a good fit? Obviously they did or they wouldn't have offered me the job. It was a tough decision."

Saks says she knew she didn't want to live in West Lafayette forever and her hus-band was excited to retire in California.

"Who wouldn't like to come to Califor-nia?" says Saks. "The day I accepted the job I sold my snowblower."

Saks made the journey out West in March 2012, driving 22,000 miles in her Toyota Camry through the country accompanied by her beloved Bernese Mountain dog.

Saks says she got through the long drive by listening to audio books through her iPod, explaining it made more sense to drive than hire a moving company to bring her car. Saks says seeing scenic mountainous areas such as Salt Lake City and Lake Tahoe was an interesting bonus.

The trip, she adds, was smooth except for getting stuck in the snow at Donner Pass.

"The dogs love the snow, but I don't," says Saks. "So I don't mind taking them to see

it and let them wrap around in it. I just don't want to shovel it off my driveway and stuff."

Saks says she would love to enjoy all the area attractions such as nearby mountains, ocean and wine-tasting, but her husband is still in West Lafayette, working while they wait for their house to sell.

"[It’s] awful," says Saks. "I miss him. We know that this is kind of another price we pay in order to be able to be out here. Once he's here, we'll be able to enjoy our lives together. In the meantime, we're just hoping our house will sell."

The right business decisionCity College welcomes new dean of Business Division

“I had to go with my gut instinct.” – New SCC Business Dean

Dean of Business Division Deborah Saks.

Jason Van Sandt //Editor In Chief //[email protected]

On Saturday, Sept. 22 City COllege quarterback Ronald Beverly led the Panthers to victory over the Reedley Tigers 27-20, improving their record to 2-2 for the season.

Early in the first quarter Tigers’ kicker Dennis Gallo kicked a 31-yard field goal to put the Tigers up 3-0, but their lead wouldn’t hold through the quarter.

With two minutes left in the first quarter Beverly threw a 21-yard pass to wide receiver EJ Jones, followed by a successful field goal by Aaron Novoa, to put the Panthers on top where they would stay until half way through the fourth quarter.

Going into the fourth quarter the Panthers were up 20-13, until Tigers’ quarterback Sean Stell Jr. landed a 27-yard pass to wide receiver Terrance Tatume for a touchdown. Gallo’s successful field goal for the extra point would tie the game, but the Panthers were far from done.

The Panthers fought back and with a little over four minutes left in the game Beverly launched a 33-yard pass to Jones, clinching the win.

Left: City College Panthers raising their helmets before their 27-20 win against Reedley Tigers on Sept. 22.

Top: #5 City College running Lanier Logan back eludes #8 Dexter Clayton, Reedley College defensive back.

Left, top: #16 City College wide receiver Justin Rogers leaps over a Reedley College defender returning a punt.

Left, bottom: #5 City College running back Lanier Logan extends into the end zone for a touchdown.

Far left: #51 City College defen-sive lineman Dushawn McDan-iel pursues #11 Sean Stell Jr., Reedley College quarterback.

panthers claw back to beat tigersJason Van Sandt | [email protected]

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