spring 2013, issue 15, vol. 45 (march 13)
DESCRIPTION
The student-run weekly publication covering Saddleback College and Irvine Valley College.TRANSCRIPT
The Wounded Warrior’s, friends of the Saddleback VET club, played their annual Am-putee Softball game March 9th at Mission Viejo’s Youth Action Park. The event commemorated veterans injured in the line of duty.
It was an all-day event rais-ing money and awareness for the medical costs of military veterans, and promoted research and development of prostheses. The team travels the country year round playing games and speaking publically for the cause. It’s made up of
14 players from 12 states around the country. These are veterans and active-duty sol-diers whose injuries resulted in amputation while serving.
Thefirst game was played by the Wounded Warriors against the OC Veteransand First Re-sponders. For game two the Wounded Warriors played lo-cal celebrities including former Colts and USC football player Chris Galippo; former
Among the Wounded War-riors was Josh Wege, 23, a Marine Corps. medical retiree flown Wisconsin for Saturday the game. Josh is a double-leg amputee who was injured in an explosion in Afghanistan. He served from 2008 to 2011 and now travels year-round doing public speaking and playing at events. He now plans on at-tending Florida Golf Coast after having toured the campus and
later “hope[s] to become police officer or join the SWAT team”.
Also at the game was the Mayor of Mission Viejo, Rhon-da Reardon, who shared how honored and privileged the city was to have the Wounded War-riors call their home in Mission Viejo. While the traveling team did not feel welcome in other cities, last year the Wounded Warriors were
Mission Viejo was offered as their office annual home for the
event. She told her grandchil-dren “you’re going to see some things that you never had. These are men and women who fought on our behalf. They have paid a very high price.”
Eileen Gamble, 24, a Busi-ness major or was among the crowd and happy to support the cause. Gamble, an active mem-ber of the VET club, though not a veteran herself, said “it was a good event”.
For the full story go to www.lariatnews.com
LariatSADDLEBACK AND IRVINE VALLEY COLLEGES’ STUDENT NEWSPAPER
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VOLUME 45, ISSUE 14 WEDNESDAY, March 13, 2013 LARIATNEWS.COM
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Life Page 3
Opinion Page 2
A&E Page 4
LARIAT NEWS
IVC senior day here
Wounded Warriors get recreational
SUSAN RAY / LARIAT
BATTER UP: Leah O’Brien-Amico, former softball player for the US olympic team,stands on deck.
SuSan RayStaff Witer
AdAM kOLVITES / LARIAT
INFORMATION SHOWCASE: High school seniors browse the booths at IVC
Irvine Valley College show-cased its many programs and clubs for local high school se-niors Last Tuesday. Information provided included the Transfer Center, to the Administration of Justice, and everything in be-tween.
At the Student Success Cen-ter booth, Jose Arroyo, faculty tutor and math instructor, ex-plained the options and purpose of the SSC.
“We are here basically to talk about the different subjects that we offer free tutoring for,” Ar-royo said.
Members of disabled Stu-dent Programs and Services (dSPS) or Extended Opportu-nity Programs (EOPS) and Ser-vices can get up to two hours
at a time and one free hour per week for regular students in-volved in dSPS or EOPS.
Jasmine kim, one of the sev-en members of Associate Justice Club, explains the process of how to become part of Associat-ed Students of IVC (ASIVC), “I believe you have to have above a 2.0 GPA to be able to qualify and have to get an ASG sticker that costs ten dollars,” she said.
Some programs such as Fi-nancial Aid, EOPS, Admissions and Records, Careers and Job Placement, fine arts, journalism had insight from guidance coun-selors wer there as well.
Joey Nguyen, 17, a Seger-strom High School student from Costa Mesa, explains “his fa-vorite booth.”
“The guidance counselor one was pretty cool, they gave me a lot of information.”
Helen Locke, the director of
student life, had been working for IVC for 33 years, 13 of those as the director.
“We have clubs involved, ASIVC involved, honors stu-dents, as well as other students ... it’s a combination of every-one participating in it [senior day].” Locke said.
The seniors were also partic-ipating whether it was the pull-up competition at the Marines booth, pigging-out at the In-N-Out stand, training for boot camp in an over sized bounce house, or firing at a pretend shooting range at the Admin-istration of Justice booth. Stu-dents got a lot out of the event and are already planning their college success.
For the full story go to www.lariatnews.com.
alex aponteStaff Writer New gas tax passed
California just passed a 3.5 cent gasoline excise tax as of Feb. 28, to begin this summer. The new tax was passed by the State Board of Equalization un-der Assembly Bill x 8 6, chapter 11 and Senate Bill 70, chapter 9 (BOE).
This excise tax brings the total California tax package to 70.6 cents on every gal-lon of gasoline. Beginning in July 2013, California will be the highest gasoline tax state, (American Petroleum Institute).
“It’s just ridiculous,” Deanna Valle, child development said. “I think sometimes I need to get a smaller car, just to go places.”
Automobile Association of
America (AAA) reports that gasoline has risen by 46 cents per gallon since the first of the year.
“No matter how high they go, people will pay regardless,” kelcui Mclean, 20, account-ing said. “There’s a small per-centage that will probably start walking or maybe start biking, but for the most part I don’t think there’s much you can do if you live a few miles away from school and work.”
“Gasoline prices affects me financially.” Joshua Squirrell, 21, undecided said. “I started walking more, riding my bike, taking the bus.”
For the full story, go to www.lariatnews.com.
ShiRley SmithStaff writer
CSUF, community colleges partner in new scholarship program
The Howard Hughes Medi-cal Institute (HHMI) awarded Cal State Fullerton’s Research Scholars Program with a $1.2 million annual grant.
The program is choosing four college students from Cal State Fullerton, Saddleback College, Mt. Sac, and Santa Ana College to engage in the program.
HHMI strives to further edu-cate people’s knowledge in bi-ology and other sciences, while aiming to improve the future of science.
On CSUF’s website, Maria
C. Linder, professor of chem-istry and biochemistry, wrote, “The overarching goal is to pro-mote and encourage the flow of undergraduates from our di-verse and disadvantaged popu-lation into science and math ca-reers as leading researchers and teachers.”
“With the proper funding, students can get more of a hands on experience, which would also help them use their train-ing in school for their future work,” said former Saddleback student, Matt La Tourette, 21, business.
The new grant is focusing on bringing in a diverse group
of students that are passion-ate about “science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” according to CSUF’s website.
The program is year-round and begins Jun. 1. Applica-tion deadlines are Mar. 15 for graduates and Apr. 1 for under-graduates. A 500-word essay is required upon submission of ap-plication.
For further information or steps to apply to the HHMI Scholars Program, visit http://hhmi.fullerton.edu/apply.asp. More coverage is available at Lariatnews.com
Kyl ie CoRbettStaff Writer
“... you’re going to see some things that you
have never had. These are men and women who
fought on our behalf. They have paid a very
high price.”-Rhonda Reardon
STAYING POWER: Some domestic violence victims “Stay” with their abusers, like Rihanna, but she cannot expect people to not pry.
The Saddleback College ad-ministrators have “respectfully declined” the Lariat access to public information that could be used for awareness in terms of future tragedies.
Saddleback student Ali Syed went on a shooting spree Feb. 19, killing three people and ulti-mately taking his own life. Con-cerns, speculations, and mostly fear sprouted within Orange County.
In turn we, the Lariat staff, took it upon ourselves to dig to the core on the rarity of this is-sue, one which seldom occurs.
A specific email from the Lariat was sent out on Feb. 20 to Juan Avalos, Vice President of Student Services, and Sad-dleback College spokesperson Jennie McCue stating, “Under the California Public Records Act § 6250 et seq., I am request-ing an opportunity to inspect or obtain copies of public records that pertain to any involvement in the Disabled Students Pro-gram/Special Services that for-mer Saddleback student Syed may have had. [FERPA does not apply]”
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) had been previously used as a shield by the college to protect the rights of shooter Syed, which media lawyers called out as “bogus”-
In essence, the California Public Records Act requires a response within ten business days, and within that allotted time span we were de-nied.
“Saddleback College must respectfully deny your request for DSPS records pertaining Ali Syed. These records are medical and/or psychological records and are protected under HIPAA laws and are not considered public information,” McCue
told the Lariat in an email.The lack of transparency
Saddleback administration has
bestowed upon the community is wrong and conspicuous.
The Lariat immediately de-
tected the use of HIPAA as a flaw that would weigh down the investigation process; just
the same old run-around for the persistent yet undeceived jour-nalist.
However, Adam Goldstein, attorney advocate for the Stu-dent Press Law Center was con-sulted to furthermore confirm that HIPAA did not apply in this case.
“This is really obnoxious. HIPAA only applies to people primarily in the business of pro-viding health care, insurance providers and billing companies working with insurance com-panies. It covers nothing a col-lege has, ever. This is just disre-
spectful. They don’t respect you enough to come up with a good lie anymore,” Goldstein wrote to the Lariat.
Immediately another email from the Lariat was sent to for McCue in which the process of HIPAA was dissected and cau-tiously cut part by part so that the structure of this Act that was passed by Congress may be examined and analyzed thor-oughly. Essentially HIPAA does not protect Syed’s records nor does FERPA; these rules cannot shield the most recent Orange County shooter.
According to Goldstein, Pima Community College re-fused to disclose student re-cords of a murderer in January 2011 and ended up paying over $25,000 in attorney fees. Which is another reason why Saddle-back administrators should comply with the Lariat’s re-quests.
If Syed had been a part of the disability or health service pro-grams, the information would be essential to the public. The administration needs to help shed light on the situation to create awareness and promote the services that Saddleback College has for it’s students. Hindering this information from the community is unacceptable and irreputable.
Saddleback administrators have declined to disclose public records that could reveal information pretaining to a murderer.
OPINION LariatWEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 20132
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The Lariat is the student news-paper of Irvine Valley College and Saddleback College. The Lariat is an independent, First Amendment, student-run public forum.
One copy of the Lariat is free. Additional copies may be pur-chased for $1 at the Lariat news-room, which is located in LRC 116.
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Unsigned editorials represent the views of the Lariat’s ediorial board and do not represent the views of Irvine Valley College or Saddleback College or the South Orange County Community Col-lege District.
Lariatnews.com launched in fall 2007. Visit us on Facebook at “Lariat Saddleback” or follow us on Twitter, @lariatnews.
About the Lariat
AnibAl SAntoSArts/Entertainment Editor
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Phone: (949) 582-4688E-Mail: [email protected]
LariatJohn WilSon
News EditorAngie l. PinedA
Editor-in-Chief
ShAnnelle SAnchezMultimedia Editor
VAlery FregoSoIVC Editor
MichAel grennellSports Editor
KriStine MArtinezLife Editor
hAyley SlyeOpinion Editor
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SteVen JungProduction Editor
Rihanna and Chris Brown’s relationship is ‘nobody’s busi-ness’ (like the song they re-corded in September 2012) but domestic abuse is a major issue that needs to be addressed.
On Feb. 8, 2009 at just be-fore midnight, Rihanna and Chris Brown were coming back from a pre-Grammy party when they got in verbal argument and Brown physically abused Ri-hanna.
Four years later, Rihanna and Brown have reconciled their relationship publicly for the second time after the assault. Rihanna said to Rolling Stone in Janurary 2013, “he’s not the monster everybody thinks he is.”
One hundred students from IVC and Saddleback College were surveyed with the ques-tion, “Do you think its okay that Rihanna has gotten back together with Chris Brown af-ter the domestic abuse incident
back in 2009?” Of all students surveyed, 31 percent of students said yes, they find it okay. The other 69 percent of students said no, it’s not okay.
In a November 2009 inter-view with Diane Sawyer, Ri-hanna publicly spoke out for the first time about the abuse, and even owned up to the decision to become a role model by stat-ing, “This happened to me and it can happen to anyone. I’m glad it happened to me, cause now I can help young girls when they go through it. Don’t react off love. F love. Because love is so blind.” She even recognized that it takes up to 8 or 9 tries to end a relationship with an abuser.
Why is Rihanna back to-gether with him after she ad-mitted that she should be a role model to her fans? We cannot blame her for being back to-gether with him.
“As an advocate, I expect one thing from the survivor, where society expects her to be a role model, [for] the victim to speak up, to do something, to
not return to her abuser, [soci-ety] expects so much from the victim,” Marissa Presley, Pre-vention Education Specialist for Laura’s House said. “I expect one thing for the victim, to re-main alive. That is my highest expectation and my only expec-tation.”
In an interview with Oprah in August 2012 she mentioned how she was “embarrassed” and “humiliated.” How can our so-ciety expect someone who is a victim of a physical and men-tal crime to be a spokesperson when they possibly are still be-ing abused?
“I personally never been in that situation,” Alexis Lee, 21, health science said. “Brown took it seriously and got help to better himself which makes me okay with it’.”
Will Brown continue to abuse her? According to the sta-tistics, possibly.
According to Presley, stud-ies show that people who com-plete the 52-week batter inter-vention program, 80 percemt
of them will continue to abuse. Brown completed this program by tweeting out a picture of his diploma for his fans back in De-cember 2010.
Domestic abuse is every-body’s business. This case is a great example to educate the young and our fellow students about domestic abuse.
Saddleback counseling cen-ter and the IVC health and well-ness center have many resources when it comes to help with do-mestic abuse by counseling and providing outside resources if needed. You can call, go online or even drop in to make an ap-pointment. If it is an emergency, they will not turn you away.
IVC EditorVAlery FregoSo
Why Saddleback administrators should comply with federal regulations.
LAWBREAKERS:
lAriAt StAFF
MelAnie robertSCopy Editor
“In that case I think it’s just better for those type of peo-ple to just split up.”
Campus Comments: Do you think it is okay for victims of domestic abuse to continue relationships with their abusers?
Rodney Woodland, 22UndecidedSaddleback
Hayley Vaughan, 18English
Saddleback
Edwin Lamothe, 32Math
Saddleback
PHOTO BY ANGIE L. PINEDA
by ShAnnelle SAnchez And John WilSon
“If you can hit somebody and beat them then you say you love them it’s
obviously not love.”
“I guess everything in life is a matter of
choice. You build your own path. So if you
decide to get back with somebody, I guess
it’s...your own choice”
Domestic violence is everybody’s business, but Rihanna and Chris Brown’s relationship is not
The tug-of-war with Saddleback administrators
“This is really obnoxious ... This is just dis-respectful. They don’t respect you enough
to come up with a good lie anymore,” Attorney Adam Goldstein
PHOTO COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGESPHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY VALERY FREGOSO
go to lAriAtneWS.coM to reAd the extended Article:
Editorial:
Saddleback College’s annual Big Band Swing thing was sold out last week in the Norman P. Murray Center in Mission Vie-jo. The event was held to help raise money for student scholar-ships in the arts.
The 1940s-era swing dance party featured Saddleback’s Big Band led by jazz instructor Joey Sellers and vocalist Adryan De-Leon who provided musical en-tertainment.
A dance concert was orga-nized by Angels for the Arts, a fundraising and support orga-nization for the performing and visual arts in Saddleback Col-lege.
“We are thrilled to have this year’s Big Band Swing Thing. It’s fun to have all these people here to celebrate what it is going on in Saddleback College, said Dean Bart McHenry. “It’s been growing every year.”
Vocalist Adryan DeLeon credits her time as a Saddleback student with the Big Band for her musical start.
“When I was going to Sad-dleback College, I auditioned for the Big Band,” DeLeon said. “I really started my career in Saddleback.”
Before the last dance of the night, Tom McCandess, of San Juan Capistrano, won $500 in a
raffle give-away which was pre-sented to him by Dean McHen-ry.
“[I like that] ticket sales go for the arts scholarships, said Diane Hooper, a retired SOCCCD faculty member.”
For the full story go to www.
lariatnews.com.
A&E LariatWEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 20134
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Get ready for midterms!!
Saddleback College’s pro-duction of “Broadway Baby” had a special guest, Bryonha Marie Parham, a Broadway star. She joined the college’s chorale and concert choir, last week, in the McKinney Theater for a mu-sical performance.
Parham recently performed in the Broadway production re-vivals of “Porgy and Bess” and “Ragtime.”
Scott Farthing, vocal music chairman, brought energy to the show, which kept the audience wanting more. Farthing happens to share a little history with Par-ham, because he was her high school music teacher.
“He taught at an all boys’ school in Kansas City,” Par-ham said. “I went to the all
girls’ school down the street, so I would come after school and do shows, and he was the con-ductor. He paid a lot of attention to detail, and he knew what he was talking about. He knew the voice, and he was fun, funny.”
“He wrote my college rec-ommendation letter,” Parham continued. “When he called me to do this I couldn’t believe it, because I haven’t seen him in almost 12 years. It’s a privilege to be here and this means a lot to me to be asked to do this.”
The show featured Broadway hits performed from produc-tions such as, “Guys and Dolls,” “Ain’t Misbehavin’”, “My Fair Lady”, “West Side Story” and “Les Miserables.” The musical numbers ranged from extremely upbeat, to mellow, and heartfelt songs.
For the full story go to www.lariatnews.com.
Everyone needs a little Broadway Baby
A Swinging
Good Time
PAckEd houSE: The Norman P. Murray Center was sold out and had a dance floor which was packed.
AnibAl SAntoS & Alex lArSen
staff writers
AnAstAsyA Korol (left) dAncing with child. AdryAn deleoen singing (top right) And erin leffler (bottom right) dAncing in thw
ShAnnelle SAnchez
Media editor
Broadway BaBy: Byrohna performs in the mcKinney theater.dAniAlle rAe sepulvedA / lAriAt
dAniAlle rAe sepulvedA / lAriAt
[email protected]@gmail.com
Alex lArsen / lAriAtA
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While in college many students feel that they have only four years to get all they want accomplished in order to get a job after graduation. Unfortunately, due to this stress and heavy competition in the job market, not only do students feel they need to graduate in four years with a good GPA, but with many extra curriculars.
After talking to Irvine Valley College counselor and professor, Robert Melendez, he gave advice to how stu-dents should be balancing their time during this stressful time in their lives.
“We all have the same amount of time in a day,” Me-lendez said. “24 hours a day, seven days a week, we can-not add time. I put it to the student to come up with their priority management schedule.”
Melendez uses “priority management” instead of us-ing time management because students need to find out what are his or her priorities and then to later figure out how to schedule it all together. Melendez encourages stu-dents to first chart what they do with their time weekly for students to be able to come to realize where their time goes and it helps when it comes to figuring out how to make their “priority management” schedule.
“Managing time can be hard when working 30 hours a week and taking 14 units, Dianna Rodriguez, 20, un-decided said. “By making a list of priorities, I am able to determine what studying and homework I need to get done first.”
Another issue students run into are the amount of work and internships they want to take on while in col-lege.
IVC student Vincent Tran, 20, business major recently left his job at Starbucks in order to work at a bank to get real world experience in the world of finance.
Melendez said that this was the best way to take on work or internships. It is important to be able to relate your experiences to what you want to do career wise.
The number one issue Melendez comes across with students r is the stress of finishing school fast.
“Most universities only care about your GPA,” Me-lendez said. “If that means staying 3, 4 years in school and lessening units each semester to get good grades then you should do it.”
Melendez also mentioned that many students he talks to tell him how it looks bad for them to stay more then two years or four years in college. And he always asks, “looks bad to who?”Many students come to a community college thinking that it is only a two years college, when in reality it really is not.
According to Melendez, .if you answered that it looks bad to your friends or family members, unless your friend or family member are the ones who will hire you outside of college, then you should take the time you need to fin-ish college and get the highest possible GPA you can get.
Lastly the best advice Melendez can give to balanc-ing your life is to allocate some ‘release time’ in your schedule. You will burn out with out this release time. It could be as simple as reading a book, getting coffee with friends or even playing sports.
3
LARIATNEWS.COM/LIFE
L IFE LariatWEDNESDAY, MARCh 13, 2013
S eries of peculiar events play out be-fore student’s eyes twice a week in the quad as Saddleback Sword group members go into Medieval Combat,
battling with large swords made of foam.Eli-jah Storm Dye, 23, psychology, founder of the Saddleback Sword group admits that people watch and respond with uncertainty.
“People are kind of laughing at it, and you know, I’m okay with that,” Dye said. “Be-cause if people are laughing, then they are smiling and it’s somewhat positive.”
The group is described as a club where people who enjoy the sport of Medieval Combat can come together. Combat takes place twice a week, Tuesdays from noon to 6 p.m., and Thursdays from 3 to 6 p.m.. Each sword is three layers of foam on the strik-ing surface, preventing most injuries, Dye said and that here have been no sword related injuries. Injuries that do occur are often due to surrounding factors such as slippery grass and metal drains in the quad. For preventive measures, the club now places chairs over the drains. An increase in student participation led Dye to create a sign in sheet for every meet-ing, as well as liability waivers for all partici-pants. “We had about 56 members signed in for one day,” Dye said. Another look at the sign in sheet later revealed that the number was even higher.
“A final count of attendance yesterday shows a total of 62 people who came and picked up a sword to fight with us,” Dye said. “Keep it up guys, and we will run out of swords.”
Despite the group’s growth since fall, Dye is hesitant to take the steps towards making the group an actual club under Saddleback, in fear of losing its authenticity.
“There’s a lot of red tape we would have to go through,” Dye said. “There’s a liability fac-tor, a need for an instructor, and I feel that these aspects would take away how open and free the group is currently.”
Dye describes Saddleback Sword as a laid back club, in which anyone should feel com-fortable exploring what it has to offer. Not only are people trying the unfamiliar sport, but ev-eryone is talking about it, Dye said.
“I was actually sitting at a restaurant the other night with my girlfriend and we were just chatting with a friend,” Dye said. “A table over, we heard someone mention Saddleback, and sure enough they were talking about Saddle-back Sword.”
The group’s Facebook page “Saddleback Sword,” has roughly 75 members. A website for Saddleback Sword is also in the works. Anyone interested in Medieval Combat can
join the group. Rules of combat can also be discussed with current members of the group.
Posts within the group in-clude discussion about up-coming events for
g r o u p
mem-bers, as well as c o s t u m e and weap-onry design.
In one post, group member Freddy Valdez ex-pressed his love for the sport. “A bunch of dorks that want to swing foam sticks in an epic fashion,” Valdez posted. “You guys make it fun, I witnessed great honor out there too.”
Saddleback Sword’s recent interaction with the campus includes being filmed by a student for a class project. The student want-ed to film members of the group in action for a short commercial.
“We got a couple cool shots filmed, and he took a couple of interviews,” Dye said. “Hopefully we will be seeing the progress on that soon.” Dye also mentioned that the best commercial project turned in, may possibly be aired on TV.
Saddleback Sword is not the only group where foam swords will be seen on a college
campus. The University of California, Irvine, has a
sword fighting club as well. UC Irvine’s
sword fight-i n g
club is in the
Be legar th realm of Medi-
eval Combat, which is considered a national
event.Saddleback Sword has re-
ceived recognition and guidance from the lead-er of the sword club at UC Irvine to become a Belegarth realm as well, Dye said.
Dye hopesthat Saddleback Sword will con-tinue to grow in size and popularity.
“I want to show people that this sport is not only fun, but acceptable,” Dye said. “Saddle-back Sword is a recruitment realm, where all people can feel comfortable trying it.”
S addleback Sword
Irvine Valley College Counselor Robert Melendez gives advice for those who seem to be taking on more then they can handle while they are in college.VA L E R Y F R E g O S OIVC Editor
Kylie Corbett/S
taff W
riter
Christina Abel WhiteChemistry Marina AminyEnglish CompositionApril Cubbage-VegaSociologyM. Andy GroundKinesiologyMichael HoggattLearning DisabilitiesChin LamEnglish as a Second
Second Language
Heidi OchoaSpeech/ForensicsAbby SirulnikBiologyBasil SmithPhilosophyChristina SmithChildDevelopment and EducationRay ZimmermanEnglish Composition
Former president and chair-man of the board of the National Organization for Marriage Mag-gie Gallagher spoke at a debate regarding same-sex marriage, where she opposed the idea of allowing same-sex couples to marry.
Gallagher said that she first got into what she called, “The Marriage Fight” around 1986. Back then, the largest problem to her was the divorce rate and the number of children that were born out of wedlock.
She said that as she joined the fight, it seemed like the state of marriage was beginning to improve; there were fewer children being born out of wedlock and the divorce rate was declining. But then, about 10 years ago, Gallagher said that marriage took a big hit as the debate over allowing same-sex couples to marry sprung up.
According to Gallagher, one of the biggest reasons for keeping mar-riage between a man and a woman is for the wellbeing of the children.
Gallagher says that the ideal structure for children is that they are born into a married family of one father and one mother.
“Everywhere, marriage has the same basic shape. It is a sexual union,” Gallagher said. “It is a union of at least one man and one wom-an. Marriage really matters, because children need a mom and a dad.”
Gallagher said that the most important part of marriage was to pro-create and care for the next generation of humans.
Gallagher also pointed out that marriage between one man and one woman has been universally recognized across societies and cultures for centuries.
She said that marriage is an institution that is sacred, dating back to the beginnings of Judea-Christianity, and that the idea of a man and a woman committed to each other and to raising a child is essential to society.
As Gallagher finished up her speech, she told the audience that de-spite what their beliefs might be, that they might take something from what she had to say.
“I’m hoping that you will go away from this talk with a new ap-preciation of marriage,” Gallagher said. “Not just as an intimate bond between two adults, but as a way to create the next generation that can be loved and loved by a mother and a father.”
Saddleback’s civil debate on same-sex couples
T wo days a week with foam
swords and shields, the
Saddleback Sword Club entertains the
quad with medieval combat
and battling.
Briana Terrafranca poses as she is shown, llike many students, juggling school and a social life
Are you spreading yourself too thin?
ANIBAL SANTOS/LARIAT
Congratulations to the 11 members of Saddleback’s faculty that received tenure at the Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 25.:
Wayne State University phi-losophy department chair Dr. John Corvino argued for the pro side. He said that often he is asked how, as a gay man and gay rights advocate, he can be friends with Gallagher, knowing she is actively fighting against his rights. Corvino joked that he answers, “I drink… a lot.”
Corvino opened the debate by addressing that it’s important to recognize that there are gay peo-ple in the world , they find hap-piness in same-sex relationships, their happiness doesn’t take away from heterosexual people and re-lationships are good for people.
“Relationships are good for people in the sense that having someone to come home to at night, wake up with in the morning and to share life’s joys and sorrows with is an important part of the human experience,” Corvino said.
Corvino brings up that people say they are against same-sex marriage for religious reasons, but he said that civil marriage is different that re-ligious marriage.
“It’s important to recognize that whatever the state does with respect to civil marriage, that will not change the rights of religious institutions to decide what kind of marriages they want to perform or not,” Corvino said.
Another issue he addresses is that some people say same-sex mar-riage is a threat to traditional marriage.
“We can support traditional, heterosexual marriage, while recogniz-ing that it’s not right for everyone,” Corvino said.
Some people say that same-sex marriage is bad for children, who need a mother and father, but Corvino responds that children can do well in “a variety of different family forms.”
“Every major health and welfare organization, who has looked at this research, has said the same thing,” Corvino said. “We find that children raised by same-sex couples do just as well children raised by different sex parents.”
He said same-sex marriage never takes children away from a biologi-cal parent who is competent and wants the child.
“Either marriage is this institution binding mothers and fathers, espe-cially fathers, to their children or it’s this loving commitment between two loving adults.”
Corvino said he opposes what Gallagher defines as marriage, because he believes it to be both of those things.
“I don’t think we should fight about same-sex marriage, but work together to bring marriage for all,” Corvino said.
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A same-sex marriage debate took place Mar. 7 between two of the nation’s leading and opposing voices on the topic, John Corvino and Maggie gallagher in the McKinney Theater.
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