By Dariush AzmoudehASSOCIATE EDITOR

Following a football tradition, Contra Costa College held a tailgate party before the Comets’ Homecoming game Saturday on Stadium Drive between Lot 2 and Lot 3.

The event was held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., continuing for an hour after the game’s kickoff.

Students, faculty and staff gathered before the game to enjoy food, karaoke and the presence of others all while supporting Comet spirit.

The campus club Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Leaders sold beads and noise-makers to show support for the football team.

“We’re selling silver and blue beads to

represent our colors, and noisemakers to make noise for our team,” TSTL president Charity Ruth Edmondson said.

With the tailgate party being set up by the college, Student Life and the Associated Students Union gathered the student clubs and vendors to set up booths. Student clubs, programs and vendors were selling food and merchandise. Also being offered was fresh, organic produce from a farmers’ market booth.

“I went out to various farmers’ markets to get vendors to come out to the event today,” Student Life director Kelly Ramos said.

Barbecue grills were set up where faculty and staff grilled various foods, ranging from the traditional hot dogs and burgers to frog legs, all being offered for free along with chips and drinks.

By Cassidy GoodingOPINION EDITOR

Updated early Monday morning, the fund being collected for the Martin Padilla memo-rial statue stood at $6,260, Senior Executive Assistant to the President Melody Hanson said.

Martin Padilla, former evening and Saturday pro-gram monitor, was struck and killed while driving to the col-lege from his Pinole home in August 2008. Because of Padilla’s excellent service to the college, a committee was formed to find a way to memorialize him.

“Martin Padilla was enormously dedicat-ed,” said Academic Senate President Richard Akers, who explained that among his vari-ety of positions throughout his 22 years

By Cody McFwarlandSCENE EDITOR

The budget wait is finally over, but the news is not all good for the state’s commu-nity colleges.

Though the long-wind-ed efforts of state legis-lators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to agree upon an adoption budget appear to have paid off at first glance, the increases in funding detailed in the bud-get’s language are nothing more than a fallacy, Senior Dean of Students Frank Hernandez said.

“As in past years, the state has effectively created a budget out of smoke and mirrors,” Hernandez said. “This budget may appear impressive at first, but to me looks like the ones I’ve seen over the last five years – years when the state failed to reach its intended rev-enues and education paid

C M Y K C M Y K

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW B

C M Y K C M Y K

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW B

THE WEEKLY STUDENT VOICE OF CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE, SAN PABLO, CALIF.SINCE 195012 PAGES, ONE COPY FREE

VOL. 95, NO. 7WEDNESDAY, OCT. 20, 2010

ACCENTADVOCATE.COM

Budget finally unveiled

ADAM OLIVER / THE ADVOCATE

Proud smile — The new Comet cheerleaders perform an invigorating dance routine to raise students’ spirits two days before the Homecoming game in the Amphitheatre on Thursday. This was the first rally held this semester.

New figures disappointing

■ SEE BUDGET: Page 4

Rally

boosts

student

morale,

wishes

good

luck to

football

team in

Home-

coming

game

StompedSoccer squad secures goals

Drama fascinates ‘Mad Men’ revisits1960s lifestyle

scene page 12◆spotlight page 9◆

SalonsevaluatedNearby nail shops

tested, reviewed

sports page 11◆

PUMP IT UP

False fundingThough the recently approved adoption budget appears to benefit community colleges more than originally expected, history sug-gests rev-enues will not meet deferred payments, creat-ing more economic hardship for colleges. page 2

editorial

PADILLA

Donations growingBy Dariush Azmoudeh

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

The Contra Costa College Blue & Silver Day Rally drew a crowd in the Amphitheatre on Thursday to raise Comet spirit for the football team’s Homecoming game on Saturday.

The Comet cheerleaders pumped up the crowd as well as the football team to get ready for Saturday’s game against College of the Redwoods.

“I thought it was fantastic,” college President McKinley Williams said. “It was a beautiful day to show Comet spirit and I’m proud of everyone.”

The rally was set up by Marketing and Communication Coordinator Michele Jackson.

“I think this rally went very well for being the first one,” Jackson said. “The only thing we could have done better is to have more Comets out there.”

Jackson, who is also adviser of the cheer squad, said her goal for the rally was to introduce the cheerlead-ing squad to the school along with the football team and to bring the school

together.The rally began with a dance rou-

tine by the Comet cheerleaders, danc-ing to “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black Eyed Peas, followed by football coach Alonzo Carter giving a speech to the crowd about supporting and par-ticipating by show-ing up at the team’s game.

“It was a good chance to get fan support and to try to get them to the game,” Comet safety Phillip Henderson said. “It’s always good to have that (extra) man.”

By extra man, Henderson meant the advantage of getting the crowd behind the team.

After his speech, Carter brought each one of his players to the center stage, calling their names one by one.

“(The rally) helps us a lot,” Carter said. “It was good and fun seeing (the players) enjoying each other off the

field.”After the football players went back

to their seats, the cheerleaders gave a cheer that was to be used at the game. They spelled “silver” and then “blue” after which the crowd, mainly the foot-

ball team, chanted the school’s color back and forth with the cheerleaders.

Williams gave a speech about school pride and his support for the football team.

“(The rally) was wonderful, it was well put together and it’s good for the school,” Carter said. “It was a good job, well

approached.”Carter said he enjoyed the cheer-

leaders’ introduction as well as Williams’ speech.

“If you have the president behind you, you know it’s good,” he said.

Spectator and student Maria Rubio ■ SEE RALLY: Page 4 ■ SEE PADILLA: Page 4

SAM ATTAL / THE ADVOCATE

Tastes like chicken — Academic Senate President Richard Akers serves bar-becued frog legs by the Tennis Courts during the tailgate party on Saturday.

Tailgate celebration embodies school pride

■ SEE PARTY: Page 4

“(The rally) was won-derful, it was well

put together and it’s good for the school. It was a good job, well

approached.”

Alonzo Carter,football coach

RaisingSPiritCOMET

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 20, 2010 ● VOL. 95, NO. 7

EditorialDeferrals deceptiveLate budget plan leaves

district guessing t appears as if students are in for another academic year full of wait-lists, crowded classrooms, limited

sections and minimal services.It took 93 days after the start of

California’s fiscal year to establish an adoption budget for 2010-11, setting a record for the latest budget deal in state history.

Anticipation was built only to end in disappointment. The new education budget, though sugarcoated to seem advantageous compared to previous pro-jections, ultimately translates to another set of stagnant semesters, in which the college is not expected to grow, shrink or change at all.

The worst part is that legislators attempted to appease the demands of higher education with deferrals, oth-erwise known as notifications of pay-ments to be reimbursed by the state to community colleges by July 2011 at the earliest.

The adoption budget includes $189 million in deferrals, the predicted reve-nues for which are not anticipated to be fulfilled – not by July, not ever – based on recent fiscal examples, according to Contra Costa College Senior Dean of Students Frank Hernandez.

Community colleges presented with deferrals are forced to take out loans from banks that will accrue interest and prove to be more costly in the long run. If state revenues fall short, then pro-jected deferrals will be reduced, if not entirely eliminated, resulting in a debt to banks that further harms the quality of education in California.

The ambiguity of the budget is heightened by the fact that the governor to be elected on Nov. 2 will be given the opportunity to revise figures upon entering office.

The competence of our heads of state comes into question: why did it take nearly three months over deadline to reproduce the tentative budget proposal if the only additions made to it were a string of IOUs history and educa-tors deem misleading and unable to be met?

Detestable to say the least, such actions should be avoided at all costs in the formation of future state budgets. As well, legislators should settle their differences earlier on and organize to produce an adoption budget on dead-line.

Our district has made the wise deci-sion to disregard the deferrals outlined by the new budget proposal. If the state actually accumulates expected revenues, the district will be granted its deferrals free of interest and the hassle of dealing with the bank.

Until then, district and college admin-istrators need to hold out and continue the static state of operations with cau-tion as to how much money the district is spending.

I

“It could have been better and longer.”

Riyada Jenkinspsychology

CampusComment

What did you think of Thursday’s rally?

“I’m glad people came out and showed school spirit.”

Taliah Kirrensociology

“Everyone had a good part in it.”

Luis Vegaphysical science

“It was OK. Nothing spectacular, but I’m glad they did it.”

Tim Brownundecided

“It was much needed. I think we should have a rally before every game.”

Nicole Makernursing

“It was cool. I really enjoyed the music and performances.”

Charmaign Holmespsychology

Quotable“We (newspapers) are

like oxygen. When we’re there, nobody says much

about us. But can you imagine what it would be like without oxygen — or

newspapers?”

Kavi Chongkittavorneditor2001

Sam Attaleditor-in-chief

Dariush Azmoudeh

associate editor

Lamar Jamesassociate editor

Cassidy Goodingopinion editor

Cassandra Junielspotlight editor

Malcolm Lastrasports editor

Alexandra Waitenews editor

Cody McFarlandscene editor

George Morinphoto editor

Christian Sotoassistant photo editor

Jermaine Harrison circulation manager

Paul DeBoltfaculty adviser

Staff writersHilberth Ibarra

Natalie EstradaCary Gooding

April HalogCheuk Ko

Janit SaechaoRodney Woodson

Staff photographersQing HuangAdam Oliver

Staff illustratorsRoy ChanJoel Ode

Faythe Del Rosario

HonorsACP National Newspaper

Pacemaker Award1990, 1994, 1997,1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008,

2009

CNPA Better Newspaper Contest 1st Place Award

1970, 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000

JACC Pacesetter Award1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,

2010

Member

Associated Collegiate Press

California Newspaper Publishers Association

Journalism Association of Community Colleges

How to reach usPhone: 510.235.7800

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E-mail: advocate@contracosta.edu

or letters.advocate@gmail.com

Editorial policyColumns and editorial

cartoons are the opinion of individual writers and

artists and not that of The Advocate. Editorials reflect the majority opinion of the

Editorial Board, which is made up of student editors.

ROY CHAN / THE ADVOCATE

Teen suicide rates rampant, avoidable

■ Society

n unfavorable number that continues to rise is

that of teen suicide.The National Institute of

Mental Health believes that as many as 25 suicides are attempted for each one that is completed. That means that for every teen suicide you hear of, there are probably at least 25 other attempts made. This still does not cover the teenage suicides and attempts that are never publicized.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the third leading cause of death for youth ages 15 to 24 is suicide. The two things that cause more death among teenagers are car accidents and homicide.

There are many reasons why teens end their lives. The leading cause is depres-sion. Factors that may cause depression are anxiety, rela-tionship problems, domestic violence, feelings of worth-lessness and taunting, other-wise known as bullying.

Are we, as friends and/or family members, paying enough attention to teens or providing them the help they need? Are we recognizing significant changes in them, such as mood swings or periods of depression? The individual may be a victim of a hate crime or taunting, but have we reached out to them about it?

These are just some of the things to think about on behalf of those we care about who may be contemplating suicide.

They need our help; they’re in pain and it’s neces-sary to do everything we can to keep them on the right

course. Many times, the signs may not be recogniz-able, yet when they are, those are the times we need to do our best. And that goes for parents, teachers, school and church leaders.

There are times when a potential suicide victim may voice his or her concerns to someone, yet it may have been considered a “minor” situation. I believe we should consider them all important because a minor thing can turn into a major one fast.

One such situation that occurred in late September was that of 13-year-old Seth Walsh from Tehachapi, Calif., who was continuously picked on by his school-mates.

The kids at his school discovered that he was gay and began to harass him for it. On the day he committed suicide, Walsh telephoned his mother to pick him up from school. Even though she noticed fear in his voice, she had become accustomed to regular panicked calls and told her son to walk home.

She eventually got him from school, where she heard kids calling him names. Walsh was especially upset this time because someone he considered a friend was in the crowd of kids.

When he got home, he took a shower and, shortly thereafter, walked outside

and hung himself.Although bullying situ-

ations like this may appear to be minor, even expected, there still should have been a sense of urgency taken on behalf of his mom. That moment may have saved his life.

Many people have heard about Tyler Clementi, the 18-year-old freshman at Rutgers University in Piscataway Township, N.J. who jumped from the George Washington Bridge in an apparent suicide on Sept. 22.

The reason given, accord-ing to investigators, was that Clementi had sexual relations with a man in his dorm room that, without his knowledge, was taped and allegedly streamed over the Internet by roommate Dharun Ravi and hallmate Molly Wei.

They were charged with two counts of invasion of privacy. Both Wei and Ravi could face up to five years in prison, as well as the pos-sible charge of a hate crime.

Unfortunately, there are many other examples of young people who have taken their lives just weeks apart from the two men-tioned above. The point is that young people are calling out for help and many of us are not hearing them.

There are a number of resources available for troubled teens, yet the most important help we can pro-vide is that of personally reaching out to them.

Cassandra Juniel is spot-light editor of The Advocate. Contact her at cjuniel.advocate@gmail.com.

FAYTHE DEL ROSARIO / THE ADVOCATE

cassandrajuniel

A

THE ADVOCATE l WEDNESDAY, OCT. 20, 20102 OPINION

t seems that in contempo-rary times there is an acute

lack of activism within our society.

The lack of community activism is not new. It is easy to point to instances of apa-thy within the general public from the lack of voter regis-tration to the lack of school involvement from parents. People just don’t seem to care anymore.

Both of these examples can be traced to people’s lack of confidence in themselves because they are so discour-aged by the state of the world, leading them to drop out of involvement in their neigh-borhood and community.

There have been many attempts to address the issue of community apathy, from government intervention in the form of welfare to build up those in need to President Obama’s “Yes We Can” cam-paign.

But the best way to have more people care about their communities is for young people to be proud of their culture. If they do not see their people in a good light, they will be demoralized and feel less inclined to uphold the values of their community.

In 1948, a prisoner by the name of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, also known as Malcolm X, learned of and read about the African Diaspora from his younger brother Philbert. Over the next 17 years he worked to better his community raising the self esteem of African- Americans because he learned of, and was proud of, his heritage.

Whether you can relate to him or agree with him is not the point.

The important part is that he was able to change himself from a criminal to a com-munity activist and leader by being proud of who he was.

During the civil rights movement, every person knew they had to serve as an example for the rest of their people to follow, so they had to act at their best.

The African-American demonstrators during the 1960s were proud to be who they were and had a firm foundation from which to draw strength. Sadly, children are not taught to be proud of their culture anymore.

A quick accusation of eth-nocentrism is voiced if some-one is seen to be too proud. We are taught that we are all the same and that we are all of the same background, but that is not what we should be taught.

Telling people that we are all equal when we are not being treated equally can pro-duce resentment.

We should be taught that we are all human beings and that all of us have a long and honorable heritage, but that no race, class, creed, or cul-ture is stronger or better than any other.

We should teach tolerance and acceptance, not homoge-neity. We are all, obviously, not around others of our same culture all the time, so we should respect and be inter-ested in other cultures.

Children should be taught not only of their similari-ties to each other but also of their differences. We should celebrate our differences, not pretend they don’t exist.

Cheuk Ko is a staff writer for The Advocate. Contact him at cko.advocate@gmail.com.

cheukko

Disparities to be honored, not ignored

I

■ Diversity

By Cassidy GoodingOPINION EDITOR

ooking over man’s vast array of inventions from the past cen-tury or so, many would point to computers, televisions or bat-

tery-powered cars as the innovations with the largest impact on human-kind. These are all, of course, debat-able, but one novelty most would not immediately place on this list is the Chihuahua.

Not only the Chihuahua, but the English bulldog, the golden retriever or the lhasa apso. They are man’s best friend, and perhaps the most rewarding creation in history. From their wagging tails to their endearing whines, the dog is man’s teammate, ally and most treasured companion. But how did they get that way?

The dog is one species that looks like many, with more variation in size, shape and temperament than any other creature on the planet. Canis familia-ris, which undoubtedly stemmed from the common wolf, has taken a 15,000 year odyssey from its ancestral form to the wildly diverse friends we’re familiar with today.

The American Kennel Club, a registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the U.S., recognizes more than 200 different breeds of domesticated canines. Around the world, the number of breeds and mixed breeds is double that, thanks to centuries of aggressive selective breeding on man’s part.

Zoologists believe the domestica-tion of dogs started with ancient humans capturing wolf cubs to keep as pets.

The first record of a specific breed dates back to ancient Egypt, where hunters selected the fastest of their packs to keep procreating. This Egyptian ancestor is repre-sented today by a popular racing breed, the saluki.

It wasn’t until the mid-dle of the 19th cen-tury that dogs were intentionally bred for look, rather than just utility. The Victorian era in Europe is char-acterized among many things by its burgeoning leisure class that was obsessed with perfection and design. From archi-tecture to livestock, these Europeans were all about the “look good,” and it wasn’t long before this transcended to their dogs.

80 percent of today’s

Dogs engineered to protect, serve, cherish mankind

L

Puppy Lovebreeds didn’t exist 130 years ago. Since the 19th century, when the explosion of dog breeds started, humans have been conducting the longest-running eugenics experiment in history.

Eugenics is loosely defined as the quest for perfection of a species, and the way breeders have been con-trolling with whom their dogs mate has created many distinct styles and shapes of the animal.

We’ve bred dogs to be fast. We’ve bred them to be strong, obedient, perceptive tools to use for many dif-ferent uses. German shepherds are widely recognized as police attack dogs. Bloodhounds sniff out bomb threats in airports. Newfoundlands search for and rescue hikers caught in avalanches. Even Chihuahuas serve as status sym-bols

FORUM WEDNESDAY, OCT. 20, 2010 l THE ADVOCATE 3■ Intoxicants

War on drugs endless, uselessith users ranging from early teenagers to

senior citizens, Americans are trying to get a buzz by almost any means necessary. Illegal or not, people have and will find ways to get their hands on their favorite intoxicants.

Lately there have been people getting high from drinking codeine syrup or inhaling aerosol computer dusters. Laws have been put in place to regulate what the public can become intoxicat-ed by, and these laws change according to what people are using.

Alcohol is legal for citi-zens over the age of 21 and tobacco provides a slight feeling of relaxation for smokers over the age of 18, though a lot of people shy away from the two because of their deadly qualities.

Cigarettes continue to give users and those in contact with users respira-tory problems and, in many cases, lung cancer. Alcohol destroys the liver and leads to many health problems.

I’ve always wondered why alcohol and cigarettes remain legal when they both can be fatal. Marijuana is cur-rently illegal, yet there has never been a case of some-one dying from an overdose using only marijuana. What’s wrong with this picture?

Marijuana is known as a “gateway drug” because “experts” say that it can lead to harsher drug use. Seriously? I’ve smoked some weed in my lifetime and am around marijuana users daily. Neither I, nor any of them, have ever decided to kick things up a notch by snorting cocaine or shooting heroine.

The recreational use of prescription drugs is becom-ing more and more popular. I don’t know what’s more discouraging: that legal

intoxicants are notorious killers or that America’s best pain medication is being used by people to get high.

Pain medicine does noth-ing to heal pain, it simply numbs the nervous system. This means that non-drug users will be exposed to addictive drugs by simply trying to relieve their bodies of aches.

And the drug industry is poorly regulated. It seems you don’t have to be in need anymore to get doctor-pre-scribed medications. How else can anyone explain the fact that there are currently those who deal prescription medications on the street?

We are led to believe that getting drunk is fine as long as you are at home and over the age of 21. We can drink in bars, but it is illegal to be intoxicated in public and understandably to drive drunk.

Other than that we can only get high when we’re sick. But if they are all drugs and they all serve the same purpose, why not make all

drugs illegal?The fact is people love to

feel free from the stresses of the world by, at times, intoxi-cating themselves. Let’s not beat around the bush: if intoxication is bad, then it should be banned or compe-tently regulated. Otherwise, why bother? People will always get what they need to get high.

As the war on drugs con-tinues with efforts to rid the streets of dealers and users, more drugs keep sprout-ing up. The drug war seems to jail more people at the expense of taxpayers instead of stopping people from being involved with drugs.

Is there a solution to the drug problem? I don’t think so. As long as there is stress to be eased and fun to be had, people will always get buzzed. So choose wisely, because the wrong high can kill you.

Rodney Woodson is a staff writer for The Advocate. Contact him at rwoodson.advocate@gmail.com.

rodneywoodson

W

peeking out from designer purses. In addition to all of these traits,

we’ve also bred dogs to love us. In studies made by zoologists com-

paring a pack of dogs to a pack of wolves brought up in the same condi-tions under the same care, man’s best friend has shown he is called that for a reason.

Dogs, unlike even domesticated wolves, mimic their human master for approval. The dogs in the study showed a great deal more affection and dependence on their human than the very pack-centered wolves. They were also much more receptive to their master’s emotions and willing to learn trained behaviors.

A dog’s loyalty, therefore, and the feelings they incite in us, is not a learned behavior. Fido, Fluffy and Max were not trained to cater to our

whims. The unconditional love we receive from them is inherent, a

product of our species evolving together over the millennia.

Contact Cassidy Gooding at cgood-ing.advocate@gmail.com.

FAYTHE DEL ROSARIO / THE ADVOCATE

said she enjoyed the rally and that the cheerleaders and football team were pret-ty energetic. She said she thinks that the rally raised enough school spirit that it will get a good crowd going to the game.

“Now we have more people aware of the football team and hopefully more people will go to the game on Saturday,” she said.

Rubio said she was planning to go to the Homecoming game, hoping for a good game.

Williams said that he was happy to see faculty, staff and students at the event and had a positive feeling for the Homecoming game.

“We’re going to win,” he said. “The team is real pumped. It’s going to be a great football game and afternoon.”

Contact Dariush Azmoudeh at dazmoudeh.advocate@gmail.com.

“We’re not charging for food. Everybody brings a lit-tle bit and shares,” Marketing and Communication Coordinator Michele Jackson said.

The other booths charged for food with vendors trying to make money and student clubs and programs trying to raise money for future projects.

The Puente Club sold chicharrones, Mexican pork rinds, to raise money for their club.

“We’re trying to raise money for the Puente Scholarship and to create new events to help the com-munity,” Puente Club Vice President Sandy Teodoro said. “We hope to have some profit for our future proj-ects.”

Students from the culi-nary arts program were pres-ent to sell food.

“We’re doing pulled pork, hamburgers and regular hot dogs with tropical and regu-lar lemonade. We also have empanadas,” culinary arts student Jennifer Gonzalez said.

The money raised by culinary arts will be used to send students to study abroad, she said.

Vendor Lesley Lara sold items made by Indian women that she has brought back from trips to India. She told everyone who went to her booth the story behind the items and about the women who made them.

“Every time somebody comes by, I give them a his-

tory of where these items come from,” she said.

While most of the faculty

and staff were happy with the event, softball coach Ed Miller said that the event

could have used more stu-dent presence.

“I think it’s not as sup-ported as it should be,” Miller said. “It’s a great event to support school spir-it. It should be packed to help elevate the school and the athletic program.”

Despite that, the cheer-leaders were present to do a performance before the game. The Business Club and EOPS hosted the kara-

oke at the tailgate party, where attendees sang.

“I’m loving it, it’s a great day,” college President McKinley Williams said. “I think (the tailgate party is) heightening our school spirit and in the long run, this will be good for creating a posi-tive attitude.”

Contact Dariush Azmoudeh at dazmoudeh.advocate@gmail.com.

the price.”Outlined in the budget is a series

of deferrals that, when examined next to recent budgetary examples, prove to act as IOUs from the state that fall short of expected revenues and eventually impose cuts on col-leges, he said.

These deferrals are notifications of payments to be reimbursed by the state to community colleges by July 2011 at the earliest.

“Our biggest fear (at the district) is that when the money is due in July, the state will not have met rev-enues to actually pay the deferrals,” Vice Chancellor of Administration Services Kindred Murillo said.

The budget includes $189 million in total deferrals for community col-leges throughout the state, $14 to $17 million of which are allocated to the Contra Costa Community College District, she said.

Murillo suggests that the dis-trict does not use deferred funds to finance any operations, as the state may not fulfill their projected rev-enues to reimburse colleges.

“We don’t want to spend what we don’t have,” she said.

Contra Costa College Director of Business Services Mariles Magalong said community colleges presented with deferrals are forced to borrow money from banks equivalent to the amount they are promised by the

state. Even if the state does achieve its revenue goals and pays the colleg-es back, interest will have accumu-lated on the loans and will ultimately cost colleges more money.

And this is the best possible out-come.

If projections of revenues fail to be realized, the state will have to decrease the money it allocates to schools, putting colleges in debt with banks by reducing, if not entirely removing, their deferral payments.

“The situation is very unpredictable, anything can hap-pen,” Magalong said. “The pru-dent thing is just to know what has been given to us without spending it. It just might get taken away.”

The district used to accrue up to a million dollars annually in inter-est on its reserve funds, which have now been spent compensating for education cuts, Murillo said.

Following the Nov. 2 election, the entire state budget is subject to review by the newly elected gover-nor of California.

Murillo said the biggest issue sur-rounding the budget is uncertainty, stating she is apprehensive to trust its figures and is concerned about revi-sions due to occur when a governor is elected.

“The new governor is inheriting a mess,” she said. “Whoever it is will have to review the entire budget and make necessary cuts if projections are wrong.”

The adoption budget is an improvement on the predicted budget imple-mented by the district on Sept. 8, Magalong said, yet the additional fund-ing it boasts will only be fulfilled if revenues meet projections to finance defer-rals.

The new budget pro-poses a 2.2 per-cent enrollment growth funding increase, with a

statewide impact of $126 million among growing community col-leges.

A backfill payment for categorical cuts made in the 2009-10 school year returns $35 million to programs such

as EOPS, DSPS and CalWORKs at community colleges throughout the state.

Also, colleges have the opportu-nity to apply for funding in the form of two new grants; $25 million in economic and workforce develop-ment and $20 million in career tech-nology educational programs grants will be awarded to schools deemed most deserving, she said.

Amidst all this, an additional $3 million in district revenue is pre-dicted for this year. These figures are strictly hypothetical and have the potential to not be realized.

“All this budget does is give us hope to stay the same,” Hernandez said. “We’re never going to see those deferrals. I expect that by early spring there will be talk of revisions to the budget and our deferrals will be cut. I hope I am wrong.”

Mid-year evaluations might prove that revenues are not met, and cuts may be seen as early as January, Magalong said.

Hernandez said the college will remain on the same level of func-tionality it exhibited last academic year. He hopes students realize from recent semesters that classes will fill quickly, section offerings and the availability of student services will remain limited, and classrooms will still be crowded.

Contact Cody McFarland at cmcfarland.advocate@gmail.com.

Newsline

Monday, Oct. 11A victim reported being

harassed on campus.

A theft was reported on campus.

An officer responded to a medical report.

— Cassidy Gooding

CrimeWatch

accenta d v o c a t e

TwitterReceive breaking news and updates by following The Advocate’s Twitter account, AccentAdvocate.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

■ DEVELOPMENT

Human mind analyzed

Early childhood educa-tion professor Sandra Moore will moderate a showing of the film “Boy in the World,” Thursday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. The film highlights a Down syndrome boy’s pre-school years.

It will be shown in the Library and Learning Resource Center and is free to students. It will provide viewers insight into the affects of Down syndrome on the developing mind of a young child.

THE ADVOCATE l WEDNESDAY, OCT. 20, 20104 CAMPUS BEAT

Budget | Deferrals impose risks on colleges■ FROM: Page 1

Rallyof service at Contra Costa College, Padilla was most widely recognized as night manager.

“At night, there is still a great deal of stu-dents and staff on campus,” Dr. Akers said. “All day, if anything g o e s w r o n g they turn to man-agement. At night, manage-m e n t isn’t here. M a r t i n b e c a m e the go-to guy for any prob-lems.”

After proposing and veto-ing a few different options, the committee, which con-sists of four members from separate campus constituen-

cies, finally decided to have a statue of Padilla’s likeness placed in the plaza in front of the Student Services Center for all on campus to view. Along with the bust of

Padilla, the plan is for the statue to include an informa-tional plac-ard explain-ing why he’s being r e m e m -bered.

“ T h e plan is for the statue to be slightly greater than life size,” said Akers, “ w h i c h gives it

an ethereal quality.” When the bust is finished at 10% bigger than Padilla’s actu-al measurement, it will be “larger than life.”

The statue and plaque will be formed of bronze,

which according to Akers is the traditional medium for outdoor sculptures. Fine arts professor and renowned sculptor Jaijun Lu has been chosen to fashion the memo-rial piece, but cannot begin until the goal of $7,500 is accomplished.

The fund for the memo-rial sculpture opened on Aug. 12, and the commit-tee, comprised of Akers, interim Natural, Social and Applied Sciences Dean Leverett Smith, Student Services and Instructional Support Coordinator Mercy Pono and Senior Dean of Research and Planning Tim Clow originally hoped to collect the necessary funds by the end of the fall semes-ter.

It is a goal that is getting steadily more tangible, with more than $6,000 collected already.

In an attempt to spread the word about the effort to make this statue hap-pen, Akers created a video homage to Martin Padilla’s

work. The video requested donations and, “spread like a virus from person to person,” Akers said, and brought in a great deal of money.

All donations to the fund are tax deductible, and can be made by writing checks payable to the Contra Costa College Foundation.

Donations may be dropped off in AA-203 until the end of the semester, when the plans will be final-ized and begun.

After the bust is finished and erected, any remaining money collected will be rolled over into the Martin Padilla Scholarship, which is given annually to a trans-fer student of CCC.

“We’ve been very suc-cessful (in raising funds) so far,” Akers said. “Martin was loved, and the money we’ve raised reflects just how many people were affected by him.”

Contact Cassidy Gooding at cgooding.advocate@gmail.com.

“The situation is very unpredictable, any-thing can happen. The prudent thing

is just to know what has been given to us without spending it.

It just might get taken away.”

Mariles Magalong,director of business services

SAM ATTAL / THE ADVOCATE

Singing with spirit — EOPS assistant Culoz “Cookie” Davis sings karaoke during the tailgate party behind the Gymnasium on Saturday. The event showcased many vendors and products and was held to boost school spirit as part of Homecoming Week before the football team’s Homecoming game.

■ FROM: Page 1

Padilla | Memorial funding swells

“We’ve been suc-cessful (in rais-

ing funds) so far. Martin was loved,

and the money we’ve raised reflects just how many peo-ple were affected by

him.”

Richard Akers,academic senate president

“I think (the tailgate party is) height-ening our school spirit and in the long

run, this will be good for creating a positive attitude.”

McKinley Williams,president

■ IMPEDIMENTS

Library hosts dyslexia film

The film “Inside Dyslexia” will be shown in the Library from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, offering students a peek into life with dyslexia.

The film is free and open to the public, and will fol-low three dyslexic teenagers living in New York City for two years of their lives.

■ CELEBRATION

Fall Festival extols season

The Associated Students Union will be hosting its annual Fall Festival Oct. 27 in the Amphitheater from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students are encouraged to participate in this celebration of the new season.

Cotton candy, popcorn, snow cones and Henna tat-toos are just a few of the activities offered at the fes-tival.

■ DRAMA

Thriller acted for Halloween

Contra Costa College’s drama department will present “Sweeney Todd” in the Knox Center Oct. 27 through Oct. 30.

With a cast of 88 stu-dents, the bloody thriller will be played on stage in time for Halloween. Showtime is each of the four nights from 8 to 9:30 p.m., $15 general admission and $10 for stu-dents and seniors.

For more information contact 510-235-7800, ext. 4274.

Party | Staff, vendors serve food before game

■ FROM: Page 1

■ FROM: Page 1

■ HALLOWEEN

ASU to hold festive party

The ASU will host a Halloween Party on Oct. 28 from 8 p.m. to midnight in the Recreation Room.

Presale tickets will be available Monday for $5. The cost will be $7 at the door for CCC students attending the dance.

By Cody McFarlandSCENE EDITOR

To inform students of the negative impact Proposition 13, passed in 1978, has had on education in California, a new club on campus gathered local politicians to debate the proposition’s consequences.

The Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Leaders panelist debate, titled Prop. 13 and Education Today, was held on Oct. 13 in the Fireside Room from 1 to 3 p.m.

Panelists included Green Party Gubernatorial Candidate Laura Wells, Mayor of Richmond Gayle McLaughlin, Richmond mayoral candidate Nat Bates, former state legislator Robert Campbell and San Pablo City Council member Paul Morris.

With the exception of Morris, who took a neu-tral stance, the panelists all agreed that Proposition 13 has had a horrible impact on education in California and is due for revision.

“Proposition 13 poi-soned our education system and people need to know about it,” TSTL President Charity Ruth Edmondson said. “Even those who are for (Proposition) 13 know it

failed the education system. It was the unintended conse-quence.”

Many residents through-out the state are unaware not only of the proposition’s neg-ative impact on education, but even of its existence, Edmondson explained.

When voters approved Proposition 13 in 1978, it capped property tax at 1 per-cent of purchase price and limited annual increases to

no more than 2 percent if warranted by inflation.

Through a series of laws and ballot measures, a dif-ferent form of funding for education came into play and the state is now responsible for more than half of school budgets.

“Before 13, local schools were funded about 67 per-cent from local property tax, 8 percent from the federal government and 25 percent

from the state. After 13, those numbers were reversed – funding was shifted,” Campbell said.

“Suddenly the state was accountable for 67 percent; the fed remained at 8 (per-cent), but now the local taxes are only responsible for 25 percent.”

Since the state is relying heavily on income, sales and corporate taxes for its money and California is in a reces-

sion, all of those taxes get decreased. Lower property and income taxes mean less money for the state and thus the county, with education suffering because of it.

“It’s species-imperative to take care of the next gen-eration. That’s what this is about: making sure future generations get the education they deserve,” Wells said.

TSTL Vice President and CEO of Public Relations Anthony Yancy explained that the proposition is ulti-mately a double-edged sword; while it works well for homeowners, it is effec-tively crippling the state edu-cation system.

“We want to make stu-dents more aware of the bet-ter opportunities they will have if they get out and vote,” he said. “Their voices will be heard.”

Yancy encourages stu-dents to ask candidates, “If you’re not bettering my edu-cation, then why should I give you my vote?”

“Students need to under-stand that we have the power to vote and take California back,” Edmondson said.

Campbell said that Proposition 13 is never going to be completely removed, but it can be modi-fied through the initiative process.

He believes that it will change incrementally, that it is only a matter of finding solutions that will appeal to the public before it is modi-

fied.According to student

Henry Parker, member of TSTL, it is the objective of the group to put students in the spotlight, to address educational and community issues with them and find solutions to show them they can make a difference.

“The club is very self-empowering,” he said. “We want students to see that people have passion. That passion will inspire them to get involved.”

Though Edmondson felt the event went very well, she said she would have liked to see more people in atten-dance.

A speaker was placed out-side of the Fireside Room, projecting the debate to anyone in the amphitheater. Although the room was full, Edmondson hoped students would be gathered outside to hear the panelists.

Wells said she was pleased with the turnout and course of the debate, adding that the presence and involvement of students in events geared toward bettering education is “a testament to the youth and the human spirit.”

“I wish every community college would host events like this. The environment on this campus really builds your energy. There’s not another like it,” she said.

Contact Cody McFarland at cmcfarland.advocate@gmail.com.

By Sam AttalEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A student’s vehicle was burglarized on campus between 1 and 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 8.

Student Brandy Wilson said her Samsung cell phone was stolen from her four-door 1995 Acura Legend, which had been ransacked while parked in Lot 10.

“It was crazy,” Wilson said. “Everything was scat-tered everywhere.”

She returned to the car at 1 p.m. after parking it on campus earlier that day and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. When she came back again at 2:30 p.m., her doors were all unlocked and the car was a mess.

Police Services Sgt. Jose Oliveira reported to the crime and said the thief ripped the driver side door’s weather stripping in order to gain entry to the vehicle, making the case an act of burglary and vandalism. The glove box, from which the cell phone was taken, was previously locked but was also forced open.

“It was just random,” Oliveira said. “She didn’t have anything in open view.”

Wilson said she is wor-ried about parking in that same area, which is the clos-est student parking lot to Police Services.

“I don’t want to park in that lot anymore and it’s right behind the police,” Wilson said. She said she is also worried that there are no cameras in the campus lots.

The report came after another student had her four-door 1991 green Honda Accord stolen from upper Campus Drive near the Music Building on Sept. 30.

Wilson said she is not too worried about the overall situation since she did not lose much.

“I’m not really upset, they couldn’t get into the trunk so they couldn’t get into any-thing important,” she said. “I’m glad (the car) wasn’t stolen.”

Oliveira said there are currently no leads in the case but students must try and protect their own vehicles by taking precautions.

“Just remember, not that it applied in this scenario, (to) make sure valuables are locked up and are not in plain sight,” he said.

Contact Sam Attal at sat-tal.advocate@gmail.com.

CAMPUS BEAT WEDNESDAY, OCT. 20, 2010 l THE ADVOCATE 5

Student’s car ransacked, phone stolen

Vehicle burglarized on campus

SAM ATTAL / THE ADVOCATE

Speaking out — Laura Wells, Green Party candidate for governor, speaks on the Proposition 13 debate panel in the Fireside Room on Oct. 13.

Winners1st Place for Impromptu: Beulah Agababiaka

3rd Place for After Dinner Speaking: Jael Agababiaka

Finalist Communication Analysis: Kelly Sekins

Finalist Informative Speaking: Ashley Schauer

Finalist Persuasive Speaking: Margarita Romo-Romo

4th Place Overall Speaker for Parliamentary Debate: Devin Gamble

Crime scene

A student’s four-door 1995 white Acura Legend was burglar-ized in Lot 10 behind Police Services on Oct. 8 between 1 and 2:30 p.m. The student’s cell phone was stolen and the car’s weather strip-ping was damaged.

Speech team comes out victoriousINFORMATIONAL GRAPHIC BY SAM ATTAL / THE ADVOCATE

Educational ramifications far-reaching

Repercussions of Proposition 13 debated

By April HalogSTAFF WRITER

The Contra Costa College Speech and Debate team recently placed fifth in the Santa Rosa Speech and Debate Tournament that was held at Santa Rosa Junior College.

The tournament last-ed three days, from Oct. 8 to 10, pitting the Contra Costa College team against other community colleg-es such as the Santa Rosa Junior College and Diablo Valley College, as well as California State Universities such as San Francisco State,

Cal State-Chico and San Jose State.

Several members of the team placed in multiple speech categories.

Beulah Agababiaka placed first place gold for the impromptu speech cat-egory, Jael Agababiaka won third place bronze for After Dinner Speaking, Kelly Sekins became a finalist in Communication Analysis on Saturday and Sunday and became a finalist in Impromptu speaking.

Middle College High School student Margarita Romo-Romo placed fourth place in Persuasive Speaking for her speech on mountain

top removal for coal min-ing and Devin Gamble won fourth place overall speaker for Parliamentary Debate.

These accomplishments add to the team’s long list achievements, which include attendance at the UC Berkeley Tournament in fall 2009 and several trophies and medals from various speech tournaments.

Despite the team’s win-ning record, the Speech and Debate Team’s teachers and coaches do not push for students to win, but instead push them to learn.

“Learning a new skill is paramount to a medal,” said Julie Labrincha, the assis-

tant director of forensics and one of the team’s coaches. Labrincha has coached the team throughout her eight years teaching at CCC.

“Some teams win and some teams struggle, but in the end we always suc-ceed because we are a learn-ing based environment,” Labrincha said.

For education major Ashley Schauer, who placed fourth in the Informative Speech category for her speech on macular degen-eration and new telescopic lens for sight restoration, winning is not the goal when participating in speech tour-naments.

Schauer said, “It’s not important to win, it’s impor-tant to grow (as a speaker). I’m proud even if we don’t win because we (the team) work so hard.”

This is one of several speech tournaments that the team plans to participate in this year.

Next, the team will par-ticipate in the speech and debate tournament that will be held at sister college DVC in Pleasant Hill in two weeks.

Contact April Halog at ahalog.advocate@gmail.com.

THE ADVOCATE l WEDNESDAY, OCT. 20, 20106 FOCUS

Hungry for pumpkins — Competitors race to eat their pumpkin pies in the annual pumpkin pie eating competition at the Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin

Festival in Half Moon Bay on Saturday. The event marked its 40th anniversary of drawing crowds to the “World Pumpkin Capital” with its festivities.

Photos by Qing Huang

Massive affair — Crowds flow through Main Street during the annual Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival in Half Moon Bay on Saturday. More than 10,000 peo-ple visit and participate in the festival’s activities each year.

Abundant choices — Harvested pumpkins are displayed across the ground on Farmer John’s Pumpkin Farm at the festival in Half Moon Bay on Saturday.

Heavyweight champion — Sacramento pumpkin grower Ron Root shows off his 1,535 pound pumpkin during the festival in Half Moon Bay on Saturday.

The Greatpumpkin patch

Codeine syrup has been rising in popularity across the U.S. over the past five to six years. Its noto-riety stems from rappers who brag about drinking or “sippin’ syrup” on a regular basis, often times mixed with Sprite to form a drink called “Sizzurp.”

The increase in the abuse of this drug has forced the government to put age limits on over-the-counter syrups such as Nyquil that have sedating qualities similar to codeine.

Methylphenidate, the psycho-stimulant most commonly prescribed as a treatment for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), is similar to both amphetamines and cocaine, although its effects are gen-erally milder and less pleasurable.

The drug is contained in brand name medications such as Ritalin, Concerta and Methylin, and increases alertness and focus while blocking hunger and fatigue. Though popularly viewed as study drugs, these medica-tions are also abused as an easy and unhealthy way to lose weight.

It is addictive, can be overdosed and puts a great deal of stress on the heart by increasing heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature.

By Lamar JamesASSOCIATE EDITOR

Abusing prescription drugs can be defined as taking too many of the painkillers a doctor has pre-scribed or overusing diet pills for faster results, among other things. For whatever reason the drug is used, over using it can be a danger to one’s self.

In recent ads running on televi-sion, parents are advised that teens are no longer buying drugs on the streets, but are finding them at home in medicine cabinets. In this decade it has been more common-ly seen that teenagers and young adults are abusing prescription

medications.“We mostly see people abusing

pain medications,” Contra Costa college nursing professor Maryanne We r n e r - M c -Cullough said. “Drugs that fall into that catego-ry are Vicodin, and Valium. People initially get the drugs for valid reasons, but sometimes their consump-tion is not being monitored.”

Just about every drug has the potential for abuse, and they can all have some kinds of proper-ties that people can become depen-dent upon, she said.

“We see people abusing pain

medications for the effects it has on the body, and there has been a rise in the number of people who are abusing stimulants,” McCullough

said. Stimulants

are psychoac-tive drugs that increase activ-ity in the brain. Examples of stimulants are nicotine, caf-feine, cocaine, and amphet-amines.

The prob-lem begins when people

who are prescribed the drugs start to take them for the effects, and not the underlying problem they got them for.

“When people stop taking the

medications for the pain, or the problem they have, this can turn into a problem of overdosing, and building a dependency upon the drug,” McCullough said.

People can become hooked if they are not using the drugs in the prescribed fashion, and depending on the person and the drugs, some can become hooked faster than others because of their tolerance levels.

Student John Austin said he has not abused drugs, but knows people who have and noticed that drugs can take people out of char-acter.

“When people don’t have the drug of their choice, they become very irritable, and mad,” Austin said. “People who are abusing drugs will go at any length to get, whether it is from doctors, street vendors, friends, or someone else

yielding it to them. They will find ways to get it.”

Austin said he did not know if the abusers he knew were using the drugs for the effects, or if they were trying to escape something psychological.

People who are abusing drugs can be any member of society, but Austin knows the ones who are addicted need help.

“The people who I know abus-ing drugs are not bad people, they just need help to get off of the drugs. It really can’t be done alone,” he said.

Austin said he knows people are getting really bad when the drug takes them out of their character and they start to do things they would normally not do.

Contact Lamar James at ljames.advocate@gmail.com.

SPOTLIGHT WEDNESDAY, OCT. 20, 2010 l THE ADVOCATE 7

Narcotic abuse proves harmful

Prescription drugs endanger lives

Marijuana, commonly referred to as “weed,” has been discussed in terms of legalization for years, a dream and nightmare for the varying ideologies of Californians who are slated to vote on the drug’s legality in the election on Nov. 2.

Strong arguments have been made to legalize marijuana, as it has many uses that are recognized and utilized in modern medicine.

The problem lies with the people who choose to abuse the medication in order to get high.

Hydrocodone, a semi-synthetic opioid, is the most abused prescrip-tion drug in the U.S., according the Drug Enforcement Administration.

A mix of synthetic codeine and acetaminophen, hydrocodone relieves pain by changing the way the brain and nervous system respond to stim-uli and acts as a cough suppressant.

Common medications contain-ing the substance include Vicodin and Percocet. The imitation codeine portion is proven to be highly addic-tive and will elicit symptoms of with-drawal, such as nausea, cold sweats and vomiting, when regular users halt usage. These addictive properties breed a deadly habit, as the acet-aminophen portion of hydrocodone gradually destroys the liver.

PAGE DESIGN BY DARIUSH AZMOUDEH / THE ADVOCATE

Commonly abused prescription drugs

INFORMATIONAL GRAPHICS BY CODY MCFARLAND AND RODNEY WOODSON / THE ADVOCATE

“People initially get the drugs for valid reasons, but some-

times their consump-tion is not being mon-

itored.”

Maryanne Werner-McCullough,nursing professor

Hydrocodone Methylphenidate

Marijuana Codeine

By Lamar JamesASSOCIATE EDITOR

Professors and students joined together in LA-100 Friday to hear a plea from Hastings School of Law graduate and Contra Costa College alumnus, Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Mark E. Jackson.

Jackson, who was invited by the college to speak to students and encourage them to consider a career as an attorney, brought information to assist students determine their interest in going to law school, the steps to get there and career opportunities that are offered with a law degree.

Jackson also made an appeal to students to diversify the arena of law.

During the lecture, Jackson gave good and bad reasons for wanting to become an attorney, and presented students with an overview of what needs to be done to obtain this goal.

Jackson said there is a lot to be done to get into law school, but that should not discourage anyone. He said that like with anything else you would like to be good at, it takes hard work and focus.

“Most people would like to become attor-neys because there is a lot of money involved, and we are all taught the money is the most important aspect in career choices.” Jackson said. “That is a very bad reason for wanting to become an attorney, because there is a lot of rewarding work that can come from it.”

Jackson said the road to becoming an attorney is very challenging and involving, but sticking with it will be beneficial at the end.

“Many people think of a degree in crimi-nal justice as a requirement for becoming an attorney, but that is a misconception,” Jackson said.

As he explained, any major can prepare you for law school; it is all about the dedica-tion and the will to succeed which will get you a law degree.

Growing up, Jackson’s high school grades were not all that good, “But when I stepped on the CCC campus I knew it was time to get serious, and this is where the focus started,” he said. “Instead of focusing on a particular

major, focus on the core skills that will get you to and through law school. Some of the core skills include reading, writing and math.”

After focusing on the core skills and what you will need to get into law school, explore the different schools and find the one that will work for you.

“There are different programs which will help you get through. You have to utilize and take advantage of what they are offering.”

“It is very critical to expose students to lifelong professions, and it is very important to encourage students to think about becom-ing an attorney because more are needed

from urban areas,” CCC President McKinley Williams said.

Student Aisha Woods said the lecture was very informative and Jackson delivered the information in a persuading way.

“I had to come as a class assignment, but Mr. Jackson really made me want to look more into law,” she said.

“There are so many different arenas of law that you can apply what you learn to any one of them and be passionate about it,” Jackson said.

Contact Lamar James at ljames.advocate@gmail.com.

THE ADVOCATE l WEDNESDAY, OCT. 20, 20108 CAMPUS BEAT

ADVERTISEMENT

By Cheuk KoSTAFF WRITER

The group dedicated to pro-ducing student-run magazines, or zines, has been revived after a short half-year hiatus by La Raza studies professor Augustin Palacios. The group calls themselves The Zine Collective.

Zines are self-published maga-zines in which profits are not the main purpose of publication.

According to Palacios, The Zine Collective is for the creative, devi-ant, disillusioned, inspired, philo-sophical and artistic minds, to write and share anything that students

wish to publish.The collective is interested in

works of creative thought and pub-lishes and distributes prose, poetry, artwork, photography, social and political commentary, and intellec-tual opinions, Palacios said.

Palacios leads the group.Though not an official club by

ASU standards, the group meets every Thursday at 2 p.m. for 50 minutes in LA-28, on the bottom floor of the Liberal Arts Building.

“I like it low-key,” Palacios said. “We’re not even affiliated with the college.” It is a group for any stu-dent to submit anything.

“It has no official rules,” Palacios said, describing The Zine Collective as a group “for all us other weirdos.”

Students may submit anything that they please, may it be art,

funny cartoons, music videos or poetry in any language.

One poem, for example, sub-mitted by Palacios himself, called Desnuda Eres, was writ-ten in Spanish. “Any lan-guage is fine,” he said.

For student Luiz Castillo, The Zine Collective is there for stu-dents who want to “bring the message (they) want to bring out.”

“(There is) really no structure, because this is not a class,” Palacios said. “People are here because they want to be here, and in the end the group gets the (final) say.”

That is not to say that The Zine Collective does not check for mis-takes, however. Palacios, along with students, can help with edit-

ing or proofing.“(The Zine Collective) is not for

us to criticize over,” student Oscar Cañedo said. “(The Zine) is there

(for people) to learn to accept criticism without offense. If you want feedback, you ask for feedback.”

“You have the final say,” Palacios said. “It’s your poem.”

The group is lax when it comes to writing a zine. “Why are we hanging out, doing noth-ing?” Palacios said. “That’s

what we do, nothing.”Anything can be submit-

ted for publication at any time, although Mondays are the rec-ommended submission days, and all submissions are to be sent to ccczinecollective@gmail.com.

“There are no due dates and you’ll never need deadlines,”

Palacios said.All pages are black and white

with the exception of the cover page.

The process of producing the Zine itself however, is notoriously slow, as it only meets once a week and takes time for the final prod-uct to be printed, Palacios said. “We meet one week, next week we submit, third week: hopefully it’s printed.”

There was also a zine club last year, according to Castillo, but only one zine was published.

“It was only here for a year, once per semester,” Castillo said. “(This year) I’m looking for people to commit, as last time people backed out.”

Contact Cheuk Ko at cko.advocate@gmail.com.

Student-run magazine revived

Zine Collective revamps, improves

Alumnus presents expertise

LAMAR JAMES / THE ADVOCATE

Handing advice — Contra Costa alumnus and Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Mark E. Jackson hosted a discussion with students in LA-100 on Friday. In this talk, Jackson explored what law school has to offer students.

Palacios

By Natalie EstradaSTAFF WRITER

For the first time, 10 students have formed a team at Contra Costa College that will be competing next spring in the Shell Eco-Marathon.

This marathon gives students all over the United States the opportunity to build a fuel-efficient car that will be put to the test. The car can either run on internal combus-tion or electric mobility, but has to be built to specific guidelines.

“The weight of the car and the driver has to be 300 kilograms, so the objective is to keep it light and sturdy,” said team leader Quang Le. The team, dubbed the Eco Comets, has already designed the prototype and will start building the actual vehicle when it has the materials.

The car will be running on bio fuel that will be provided by the Three Seasons Restaurant.

Team member Zenas Saephan said he’s glad he has the opportunity to work with something that has to do with what he plans to do in the future.

The race will be held in Houston, Texas. Each driver will get the same amount of gas and will go around a track. The objec-tive is that the vehicle runs until the gas is out. The car that goes the farthest wins.

“I think it’s a good idea to build some-thing so small but yet very efficient,” stu-dent Daniel Saechao said.

The Eco Comets have been looking for sponsors to help them pay for their endeav-or. “We need sponsors,” Le said. “We have money, but having more sponsors would really help.”

This is CCC’s first time going to the Shell Eco-marathon, but not the first time Shell has hosted the event, which is also held in Europe and Asia. It’s an event that unites students interested in figuring meth-ods for using fuel more efficiently.

As for the Eco Comets, they are deter-mined to successfully complete the project, Saechao said.

Contact Natalie Estrada at nlestrada.advocate@gmail.com.

Novel car to race in Texas

Service offers job support

By Jermaine HarrisonCIRCULATION MANAGER

The holiday season is right around the corner, which means a lot of businesses and retail stores will be hiring for what they like to call “the peak season.”

Many students will be looking for jobs, meaning that those without a job will need to get serious about working, writing a resumé and going out to find a job.

“Look for (jobs at) stores that are hiring for the holidays, and you will eventually become a permanent worker,” student Jada Reuerente said.

“Students should consider all local retail areas, such as the Hilltop Mall, that has numerous stores that will be seeking help for the holi-days,” Contra Costa College’s Job Placement Center Specialist John Christensen said.

Many employers require that a person must provide a clean drug test, and submit a resumé with an application as well as references.

Employers post job listings on the website www.collegecentral.

com/contracosta, a URL provided by the Job Placement Center.

The website provides part time and full time job referrals, online job listings, referrals to federal college work study on campus jobs, refer-ral to internship opportunities and a professional resumé along with a cover letter.

S t u d e n t s could either have their resu-mé ready to post on the website or simply turn it in by going to the Job Placement Office located in the Student Services Center on campus.

If potential applicants don’t know how to create a resumé, they can go to the Job Placement Office and get a sample resumé along with a sample cover letter to submit to employers.

“Students should place their cover letter, resumé and references in a folder with their application to turn in to the employer, while still looking and calling around for other jobs,” student Irene Menor said.

Students should also keep in mind that employers judge prospective

employees by the way they dress.“Students should dress accord-

ingly, such as no street clothes, sportswear or hip-hop clothes,” Christensen said.

Christensen said that even if a person is unable to get the job, or an interview, one should always dress

nicely or appropri-ately, and should avoid overdress-ing.

“Be available for the actual work time, and be fit for the job by show-ing (the employer) that you want to work,” student Clarice Martinez said.

If students would like to make an appoint-

ment with Christensen, they can simply drop by the Job Placement Office and let him know what they are seeking.

Christensen said he will work with students to help them find a job that fits their time schedule and abilities.

Contact Jermaine Harrison at jharrison.advocate@gmail.com.

“Look for (jobs at) stores that are hiring for the holidays, and you will eventually

become a permanent worker.”

Jada Reurente,student

Campus office aids with search

SPOTLIGHT WEDNESDAY, OCT. 20, 2010 l THE ADVOCATE 9

Shiny and Shimmery

Rose Le’s NailsLocation: 3800 Klose Way Suite D, San Pablo

Rose Le’s Nails is located in the Hilltop Plaza near the Century 16 movie theater in Richmond. It’s a small family owned shop. It’s not fancy, but not run-down looking either. The atmosphere is very low key and it seems like a quiet place. When customers walk in, they are greeted right away. The staff seems nice and friendly, but quiet.

They charge a fair $12 for a manicure, which entails the basic routine: soaking nails, filing them, buffing out the nail surface, adding the cuticle cream, pushing down the cuticle, clipping them out, and giving a hand massage.

There were a variety of nail polish colors to choose from. They first applied a base coat, added two coats of nail polish and finished with a top coat.

The staff seemed gentle and professional. A manicure here is worth returning for.

— April Halog

AP NailsLocation: 454 Appian Way, El Sobrante

AP Nails is a small nail shop sandwiched between a Mexican restaurant and a Subway. The shop is barely noticeable when passing by, but once inside, the place is more spacious than one would think.

This shop doesn’t appear to be busy, so walk-ins are welcome. The people there are very friendly. They are quick to acquaint themselves with customers and their requests. Their services are the same as most other nail salons, with the obvious manicures, pedicures, acrylics and fills. Their nail polish color selection is quite small and redundant. Most colors are different shades of orange or red and the few colors that aren’t lack vibrance and are dull looking.

The women working are sociable, but rather hasty with their work. They are not very thorough when filing nails, leaving some longer or sharper than others. They also lack consistency when paint-ing nails. At times the coating turns out uneven and the polish bubbles after drying. But more than anything, AP Nails is convenient for those living in small El Sobrante. The people are friendly and the service is fast, but if you are looking for perfection, you won’t find it here.

— Janit Saechao

Tammy’s Nails and SpaLocation: 2801 Pinole Valley Road #C, Pinole

Tammy’s Nails and Spa is a local business in Pinole that specializes in making women feel beauti-ful.

The salon is very accommodating to people who are looking for manicures, pedicures or even those wanting to get hair removed from their body. The place has a variety of colored nail polishes to choose from on the back wall, and there are a few work stations where work occurs.

People can either make an appointment by phone or simply decide to walk in. The employees are quick at providing help to anyone who walks through the nail salon’s doors.

The price for a full set of acrylic nails is $25. The other options the salon offers are also reasonably priced.

The staff is friendly and polite to anyone who decides to go to them for their beauty needs. They smile and have a bit of small talk with the people they are assisting.

The service is very satisfactory but there is somewhat of a language barrier between customer and employee. More specific requests might not be fulfilled because the manicurists might not understand what is being asked. This can be frustrating for customers.

If you are looking for charming, friendly people who will cater to your needs in a speedy manner, Tammy’s Nails and Spa is the place to visit.

— Faythe Del Rosario

Precious NailsLocation: 3872 San Pablo Dam Road, El Sobrante

A small but powerful presence can be felt from the family-oriented atmosphere of Precious Nails, located in El Sobrante.

The employees of the salon are sure to make you feel as comfortable as possible. With four nail stations and two pedicure chairs, the staff members at Precious Nails really take the time to satisfy the customer.

While waiting for service, there is always a friendly conversation going on, or a Korean movie or soap opera playing on the 17-inch television posted in the corner of the salon. The smell of acrylic and acetone lets you know there is heavy-duty nail maintenance going on.

For students on a budget, the prices are very reasonable and the service is at its best. While waiting at Precious you will always hear the latest news or gossip about who has been coming in and out of the cannabis shop next door.

Since this is a friendly atmosphere, children feel welcome to wait for parents. The intimate space at Precious Nails is decorated with nail art and different photos of nail designs.

Be sure to always make an appointment ahead of time because Precious Nails is always known to be full.

— Lamar James

The Advocate reviews popular local nail shops

PAGE DESIGN BY DARIUSH AZMOUDEH / THE ADVOCATE

By Malcolm LastraSPORTS EDITOR

The definition of an athlete is one who is skilled physically, men-tally and emotionally in an athletic endeavor.

Although there are plenty of great athletes in sports, some set themselves apart from others by being put into the class as play-makers — those who show up on game day ready to make a game-changing play.

Comet sophomore defensive end Niko Aumua perfectly fits the mold of an athletic playmaker.

The 6-foot-6 inch Aumua is the undisputed leader of CCC foot-ball team’s defense, as he is seen everywhere on the field trying to make a play, whether it be sack-ing a quarterback, chasing down a player for a tackle or even catching touchdown passes while playing offense.

Simply put, Aumua does it all for the Comets, serving as the team’s long snapper, gunner on special teams, wide receiver and defensive end.

“We (the Comets) are ranked top 10 in the state in every defen-sive statistic, and a large part of that is him,” coach Alonzo Carter said. “He currently leads the team in tackles, tack-les for losses and sacks. He has found a joy in making plays on defense.”

Carter said he has known Aumua since his days coach-ing at Berkeley High School, when his team went against Aumua while he was attending Alameda High School.

Even through his playing days in high school, Aumua has been known as a playmaker, playing outside linebacker, defensive end and wide receiver.

“He was an all-conference player at both (wide receiver and defensive end) positions,” Carter

said. “Every time we played against Alameda, we had to game-plan against him.”

Despite his success in foot-ball, Aumua didn’t play the sport until his freshman year of high school. Aumua’s only athletic back-ground prior

to that was playing the physical sport of rugby.

“I have been playing rugby for (many) years,” Aumua said. “As far as the way I tackle in football,

rugby has made me a smarter tack-ler.”

After graduating from Alameda High School in 2008, Aumua took a year off before enrolling at Contra Costa College in 2009.

While playing on last season’s 1-9 squad, Aumua played wide receiver and had troubles on and off the field that caused him to be suspended for the majority of last season.

“He sat out the majority of his first year (at CCC), as he had issues with coaches,” Carter said.

When Carter was hired to coach the Comets, he changed the men-tality and character of the team and Aumua as he switched his position from receiver to defensive end.

“I wanted to convert him back to defense because I felt that he better suited the position,” Carter said. “I had seen the potential he had as a defensive end with his

wide receiver ability.”Along with converting Aumua

to a defensive end, Carter also challenged him to gain weight for his new position. Aumua respond-ed by bulking up 35 pounds in the offseason.

“I’m glad to see his turnaround as a person and player. He is now on track to getting his A.A. degree this upcoming spring,” Carter said. “He has only been playing his new position for half the season and he has already gotten offers from Division I schools such as Washington State University.”

Fellow Comets respect all of Aumua’s hard work and enjoy him as a teammate.

“Niko is a real cool person. He’s inspiring and keeps us level-headed in the game,” linebacker Stephon Cox-Gilmore said. “Just because he’s talented he doesn’t separate himself from the team as

he is able to talk to us.”Aside from football, Aumua’s

interests include spending time with family and taking speech and drama classes.

“I took drama in my first semester last fall and I have been taking it ever since,” Aumua said. “So far I have done two plays, the ‘Michael Jackson Tribute’ and ‘Josephine’s Pirates.’ At the end of this month I am going to be in the play ‘Sweeney Todd’.”

Aumua has high hopes of attending a Division I college after leaving CCC to continue to play football and try to make the NFL.

“It has been a pleasure watch-ing him grow and seeing his prog-ress,” Carter said. “If he continues to stay focused we may see him play on Sundays.”

Contact Malcolm Lastra at mlastra.advocate@gmail.com.

By Malcolm LastraSPORTS EDITOR

Consistent defensive play and a solid passing attack helped the football team win its first con-ference game 27-9 against the College of the Redwoods Saturday at Comet Stadium.

Contra Costa College (3-3 overall, 1-0 in the Bay Valley Conference) approached the Corsairs (0-1 in the BVC) with a versatile passing mentality as three receiving touchdowns helped seal the team’s second straight victory.

“I’m happy to get our third win,” coach Alonzo Carter said. “It’s the first time in a while that we had back to back wins and it feels good to (accomplish) that.”

The Comets look to get their third straight win in a road game against American River College (4-1 overall) this Saturday at 1 p.m. in Sacramento.

COR controlled the momentum of the game in the first quarter with strong runs from running back Malik Wilson, which led to a field goal by kicker Morgan Johnson.

Despite falling behind 3-0 enter-ing the sec-ond quarter, the Comets quickly woke up from their early slump to regain m o m e n -tum for the remainder of the game.

So far this season, CCC has normally attacked its opponents with a physical run-ning game, which would eventu-ally wear down opposing defens-es. However, the Comets showed a new tactic by decimating the

Corsairs through the air.“We (the Comets) have been

doing a little extra work on catch-ing the ball in practice,” Carter said. “Our receivers have been (putting hard work) into catching

the ball as it is real key for us to not drop the ball.”

Despite throwing a touchdown in every game this season, Comet quarter-back Jeffery Anderson was often rushed into hurried throws due to the opponents’ pass rush. However, against the Redwoods, Anderson looked comfortable find-ing his receivers from the pocket.

“I knew going into this game (Redwoods) was going to be playing a soft cover two zone, so we knew a lot of our quick routes could work against them,” Anderson said. “I just wanted to

get the ball to our (fast) players and let them do their thing.”

The result of this mental-ity was a 30-yard touchdown by receiver Najee Lovett thrown from Anderson in the second quarter.

On the next offensive drive, Anderson led the Comets down the field as he found defensive end (wide receiver on the play) Niko Aumua on a 7-yard lob pass in the back of the end zone to extend CCC’s lead to 14-3 going into halftime.

“When they put me back as receiver, I make sure I don’t miss any catch,” Aumua, who is a starter on defense, said. “I was thrown to twice so far this season and I have caught touchdowns on both (receptions).”

Defensively, the Comets played with intensity and physicality as they hurried the Corsairs quarter-backs, sacking them five times,

forcing two fumbles and nabbing two interceptions.

“(Defense) has been our staple (this season),” Carter said. “Our defense has been carrying us the whole year and we pride ourselves (on being) ranked top 25 in the state.”

CCC continued its effort on offense, scoring twice in the sec-ond half, once when Anderson connected with Lovett again for a 59-yard touchdown.

Although the Comets played well, penalties, notably on the defensive side of the ball, still proved to be a problem CCC is try-ing to fix as the squad committed nine, eight of them coming in the second half.

“Penalties weren’t a major problem. But we had a couple of little things that happened. For the most part we have been emphasiz-ing on cutting down on penalties

and making sure we don’t have those mistakes,” Carter said. “We (the coaching staff) have to beat that (philosophy) into the players’ heads because we don’t want to beat ourselves (with penalties).”

After giving up a late score to the Corsairs, the Comets were able to finish out the win.

Scoring in the red zone has been another issue the Comets look to address for the remainder of the season.

“We have to clean up (our red zone scoring) because we are leav-ing (points) on the field,” Anderson said. “To be a good ball club, we can’t be leaving (points) on the field. If our offensive line comes together, we’ll be pretty good for the rest of the season.”

Contact Malcolm Lastra at mlastra.advocate@gmail.com.

Comets triumph against Corsairs

ScoreBoardComets 27 Corsairs 9

Next game:Saturday at American River, 1 p.m.

Squad soars to win

Multi-talented athlete succeeds on gridironPlayer displays solid work ethic

SAM ATTAL / THE ADVOCATE

Soft hands — Comet defensive end Niko Aumua scores a touchdown as a wide receiver in the second quarter against the College of the Redwoods Saturday at Comet Stadium. CCC defeated the Corsairs with its passing game to take a 27-9 win.

DIVING IN GLORY

CHRISTIAN SOTO / THE ADVOCATE

Prime time playmaker — Sophomore defensive end Niko Aumua displays playmaking abilities on the field as he also plays wide receiver, long snapper, and gunner on special teams. After graduating, the Comet has aspirations of being an NFL player.

“I’m glad to see (Aumua’s) turn-

around as a person and player. He is now

on track to getting his A.A. degree this upcoming spring.”

Alonzo Carter,football coach

THE ADVOCATE l WEDNESDAY, OCT. 20, 201010 SPORTS

By Dariush AzmoudehASSOCIATE EDITOR

Entering the final min-utes of Friday’s game against Merritt College, the Contra Costa College men’s soccer team was seeing its halftime lead slipping away to a tie. But with a series of passes, the Comets scored the go ahead goal to earn the 3-2 home victory.

During stoppage time, Comet forward Andrew Balderas knew that the result of the game depended on him. Following a pass from forward Daniel Ramirez, Balderas was left in the box to fire a clear past the Thunderbirds’ defender and goalkeeper to give the Comets the victory.

“We were losing our com-posure, but I told the team to keep composure and to pass the ball,” Balderas said. “I knew I had to make that shot.”

Composure was key for the Comets’ victory after allowing Merritt to score two consecutive goals, which gave the Thunderbirds the 2-1 lead.

The match up between these two teams served as an important game in the Bay Valley Conference as the

Comets (5-7-1 overall, 4-2-0 BVC) overtook Merritt (5-6-2 overall, 3-2-0 BVC) for second place in the confer-ence.

“Merritt is a good team and a strong side,” Comets’ coach Nikki Ferguson said. “By (this) being a league game, you expect it to be physical and demanding.”

The Comets play their next game with a chance of taking first place against conference leader, Yuba College (9-2-1 overall, 5-1-0 in the BVC), on Friday at home at 4 p.m.

After taking an early lead at the end of the first half with a goal by forward Kenneth Henry, the Comets gave up a goal on the 65th minute on a questionable call as it appeared that Comet defender Juan Acosta cleared the ball right on the goal line. However, the linesmen gave the goal to the Thunderbirds.

“It was hectic because as a goalkeeper, you hate to get scored on. (That) goal today was a goalkeeping mistake, but for us it wasn’t a goal,” Comet goalkeeper Kevin

Esquivel said.Esquivel had a total of

seven saves in the game.Merritt’s second goal

came on a penalty kick in the second half.

“We came into the game knowing it was a win we need-ed. We found a way to keep composed and get the victory. I felt we grew a lot today,” Ferguson said.

The game-winning goal that Balderas scored was his second goal of the game.

His first goal was also important for the Comets, who were trailing 2-1, to tie the game back up in the sec-ond half. He scored on the 83rd minute, off a rebound from the Merritt goalkeeper.

“Usually after they score on us, we go down but we kept fighting and fighting. After our second goal, we got momentum,” Comet defend-er Steven Henry said. “We stayed composed. We worked our asses off today.”

Contact Dariush Azmoudeh at dazmoudeh.advocate@gmail.com.

By Hilberth IbarraSTAFF WRITER

Poor communication, early goals and the lack of offense led to the 3-0 defeat of the Contra Costa College women’s soccer team against the College of the Redwoods at home on Friday.

In spite of the loss, the Comets (0-10 overall, 0-3 in the Bay Valley Conference) say they have shown improvement throughout the season.

“In every single game we have improved,” goalkeeper Magaly Junco said. “Since the very first game we have been improving a lot as a team.”

The team looks forward to its next game against Yuba College at home on Friday at 1:30 p.m.

However, the College of the Redwoods got an early

2-0 lead in the first 10 min-utes of the game, catching the Comets off guard.

Junco said that as a team CCC needs to do a better job communicating. Defender Harsharan Bhangu said it took the team some time to get into the game, as the Comets started off a little slow.

Once they got into the game, CCC played strong. The team only gave up

one more goal in the second half, finishing the game well defensively.

Even though the Comets are s ignif icant ly improving, they are still strug-gling to find their rival’s net. Midfielder Joanna Gobea

said, “We need to focus on making shots.”

Defender Moni Rodriguez agrees. “We need to do better attacking the ball. We need to work on offense,” she said. This will be one of the keys to win-ning games in the future.

All agreed that they have shown major improvement and if they continue to work

Box scoresWomen’s soccer (Oct. 15)

College of the Redwoods,Contra CostaRedwoods 2 1 — 3CCC 0 0 — 0

First Half1, Redwoods, Averill 9, 3rd minute.2, Redwoods, Averill 9, 8th minute.

Second Half3, Redwoods, Visser 14, 62nd minute.

Yellow CardsCCC, Alexandra Waite.

Individual statistics

Goals — Redwoods — Averill 2, Visser. — CCC — None.

Assists — Redwoods — None. — CCC — None.

Shots on goal — Redwoods — 7. — CCC — 2.

Saves — Redwoods — Malfatti 2. — CCC — Junco 4.

Record — Redwoods — 7-5-1 overall, 2-1-1 in GVC. CCC — 0-10-0 overall, 0-3-0 in BVC.

Football (Oct.16)

Redwoods,Contra CostaRedwoods 3 0 0 6 — 9CCC 0 14 0 13 — 27

First Quarter Redwoods — Johnson 32 yd field goal 11:09.

Second Quarter CCC — Lovett 30 yd pass from Anderson (Munguia kick) 3:00. CCC — Aumua 7 yd pass from Anderson (Munguia kick) 0:28.

Third Quarter None Fourth Quarter CCC — Hines 6 yd run (Munguia kick) 14:10. CCC — Lovett 52 yd pass from Anderson (missed kick) 7:18. Redwoods — Edwards 2 yd run (missed kick) 1:30.

Individual statistics

Rushing — Redwoods — Wilson 11-37, Jensen 2-5,

Edwards 10-43, Fisk 6-(-3). — CCC — L.Green 8-19, Hines 8-31, Burden 1-9, Allen 5-18, Anderson 8-27, Morrow 1-(-3).

Passing — Redwoods— Jensen 2-7 8, Fisk 10-23-2 84. — CCC — Anderson 26-38-1 294.

Receiving — Redwoods — Wilson 1-9, Howard 1-(-1), Donaldio 1-4, Flood 3-24, Smith 2-22, Brooks 2-14. — CCC — K.Green 6-58, Morrow 2-17, Lovett 8-130, Williams 4-59, L.Green 2-6, Allen 2-23, Aumua 1-7, Hines 2-15.

Missed field goals — Redwoods — None. — CCC — 1.

Record — Redwoods— 0-6 overall, 0-1 in BVC. — CCC — 3-3 overall, 1-0 in BVC.

ScheduleFootball at American River College, Oct. 23, 1 p.m. vs. Solano Community College, Oct. 30, 1 p.m. at Shasta College, Nov. 6, 5 p.m. at Yuba College, Nov.13, 1 p.m.

Men’s soccer vs. Yuba College, Friday, 4 p.m. at Santa Rosa College, Oct. 26, 4 p.m. vs. College of Marin, Oct. 29, 4 p.m. at Merritt College, Nov. 2, 4 p.m. vs. Napa Valley College, Nov. 5, 4 p.m.

Women’s soccer vs. Yuba College, Friday, 1:30 p.m. at Mendocino College, Oct. 26, 3:30 p.m. vs. Los Medanos College, Oct. 29, 2 p.m.

Women’s volleyball at Napa Valley College, tonight, 6 p.m.

at Laney College, Friday, 6 p.m. vs. College of Alameda, Oct. 27 6 p.m.

StandingsFootball

Bay Valley Conference Overall W L W L Contra Costa 1 0 3 3 Shasta 1 0 1 5Solano 0 0 5 1 Yuba 0 1 2 4 Redwoods 0 1 0 6

CCC kicked in 3-0 lossSquad fails to establish solid overall play

SPORTS WEDNESDAY, OCT. 20, 2010 l THE ADVOCATE 11

Comets clinch victory in closing minutes

ScoreBoardCorsairs 3Comets 0

Next game: Friday at Yuba, 1:30 p.m.

GEORGE MORIN / THE ADVOCATE

Missed attempt — Comet defender Harsharan Bhangu (middle) misses a kick while being pressured by Corsair defenders Bri Averill (left) and Kara Schimike on the soccer field Friday.

FAILED SHOT

ADAM OLIVER / THE ADVOCATE

Getting a header — Comet forward Kenneth Henry heads the ball during the game against Merritt College on the soccer field Friday.

hard, they will continue to get better.

Junco said, “Every game that we play is a learning experience. We take what we did wrong in the game

and go over it in practice. It is always a learning phase for us.”

Coach Nikki Ferguson gives the team a lot of credit for the effort they put in.

“They put in hard work on a day-to-day basis to make themselves better. I think technically we contin-ue to improve every single day,” he said. “I have a lot of

respect for our team because they don’t quit.”

Contact Hilberth Ibarra at hibarra.advocate@gmail.com.

ScoreBoardComets 3Thunderbirds 2

Next game: Friday vs. Yuba, 4 p.m.

SportShortVolleyball squad unable to keep up its momentum as it falls to the Mustangs

Poor communication and bad passing caused the volleyball team to lose in three sets despite winning the first in results of 26-24, 20-25, 19-25 and 18-25.

The Comets (2-5 in the Bay Valley Conference) self-destructed at home against Los Medanos College (3-5) on Friday night.

“We weren’t talking (to each other) at all in the game,” Comet hitter Lynn Iosua said. The communication was good during the first set, but after that, Iosua said, the team was quiet.

The Comets trailed for the entire first set and only managed to take the lead when they scored the final two points of the set. CCC trailed early in the second set and never managed to recover as they lost three straight sets.

CCC setter Jazmine Mendoza said the team became overconfident after its come-from-behind win in the first set. She said the team thought it would be able to sweep the Mustangs had it been able to maintain solid play.

Comet volleyball coach Zachary Shrieve said they needed to pass better and not put balls over the net that were easy to hit. “When we have trouble, it’s because we’re not passing the ball well.”

Iosua said it was Comet mistakes that lost the game. When CCC did make mistakes, the Mustangs were consistently able to capitalize.

Taking advantage of Comet mistakes helped to provide point separation for the Mustangs as

they won all of their sets by a minimum margin of five points.

CCC had multiple opportunities to make plays on a few balls that were hit in the center of surrounding Comets, but nobody was able to take advantage.

“Everyone looked at each other and depend-ed on one another, but nobody made a move,” Shrieve said.

As the team continued to struggle, Shrieve said that he made some rotation adjustments.

Despite the changes by the coach, the Comets were still unable to slow down the LMC attack as Mustang hitters Briana Barham and Jessica Ulloa scored a combined 19 kills.

The Mustangs chased down almost every ball and were able to make plays on balls that seemed to be out of reach. CCC was able to overcome a five-point deficit in both the second and the fourth sets but lost both due to LMC strong play and CCC errors.

Mendoza said that the Comets were tentative and they needed to be more aggressive.

Shrieve said that the Comets needed to fight harder to get digs and keep the ball up. He said that the team needs to work harder and that although it had a rough outing it is improving.

The Comets visit Napa Valley College tonight at 6 p.m.

— Rodney Woodson

By Alexandra WaiteNEWS EDITOR

Those of us who did not live through the 1960s often take for granted the abundance of rights we possess, regardless of race and sex, and the sig-nificant medical breakthroughs that have given us a better quality of life.

One viewing of an episode of “Mad Men” can put that apprecia-tion quickly into check.

Set in the ’60s, the series follows the life of Don Draper, creative director of an advertis-ing agency located on Madison Avenue in New York City, in and out of the office.

The show immediately hooks the viewer with its incredibly precise detail in regard to the era in which it takes place. Everything about the series is unapologetically accurate, to the point where it makes those unfamiliar with the social mores of the decade extremely uncomfortable.

Back in those days, scientific evidence proving the harm-ful health effects of cigarette smoking was just beginning to emerge, and the characters exhibit their disregard for such

hearsay by constantly smoking anywhere they please. Scenes of employees chugging down glasses of liquor in their offices also occur frequently through-out each episode, making ubiq-uitous drinking and smoking a hallmark of the show.

“Mad Men” is not only pow-erful through its accurate align-ment with historical events, but the plot also finds strength from its elaborate structure. Not one element of the plot can be overlooked throughout the series, as even the small-

est factor can unlock a new perspective on a situation or a character’s story. This is what makes the show endlessly entertaining and addictive:

everything has substance.The series has something

for everyone to enjoy and feed into, whether it’s the visual style, complex plot or witty dialogue. Although mainly classified as a drama, “Mad Men” incorporates funny one-liners and humorous situations to counterbalance the serious aspects of the plot.

Several themes persist throughout the show, includ-ing sexism, feminism, adultery, racism and homophobia, and each is manifested through various subplots.

The greatest example of adultery is personified through Draper’s cheating ways. In

almost every episode of the series, Draper sleeps with new women, leaving his soon to be ex-wife Betty, to take care of his children and stay up late at night waiting for his return.

No one in the show is perfect — most are far from it. But the audience must decide if they can see past the imperfections of the characters and grow to like them, or at least conclude those negative qualities are too overbearing to forgive.

Though many cannot get past Draper’s tendency to sleep around, others choose to consider his unique and tumultuous history, which con-stantly haunts him and clouds his judgment. Acquiring this insight makes it easy to see he is one of the most complex and developed characters to ever appear on television.

Jon Hamm, who plays Draper, portrays this persona exceptionally well with an ease of tapping into a horde of emotions. Hamm can go from being cold and stern in one scene to sentimental and sensi-tive in another.

In season four, Draper begins to unveil his tender side when he starts writing about his emotions in a journal. His ability to unleash his thoughts on paper is a drastic change from previous seasons when he would bottle everything up, which further separated him from his family.

The blatant sexism that exists in the advertising agency of Sterling Cooper Draper

Pryce may shock those who are lucky enough to be unfamiliar with such behavior. Executives during the era made no secret of objectifying their secretar-ies, which often led to sexual advances, or caused women not to be taken seriously.

Peggy Olson, originally Draper’s secretary, breaks this mold by being crafty enough to shine through those expec-tations and becomes the first female copywriter in the office. Olson fights for respect from her peers, and though she rare-ly gets it, she allows viewers to recognize and appreciate how far women’s rights have come in the past 50 years.

The fashion, hairstyles, and makeup of the characters prove to be truly and commendably authentic of the ’60s.

Every article of clothing worn on the show is no differ-ent from anything people actu-ally wore in that decade, from the stiff and uncomfortable suits to the full-body women’s lingerie.

“Mad Men” transports the audience back to a time when women and minorities had to fight against prejudice every day in order to gain a better place in society.

While the series is intricate and well constructed, the plot is ambiguous enough to be interactive and challenges the viewer to formulate diverse interpretations.

Contact Alexandra Waite at awaite.advocate@gmail.com.

This week:Kings of Leon: “Come Around Sundown”

Bob Dylan: “The Bootleg Series: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964”

Shakira: “Sale el Sol”

Games

CDs

DVDs

Movies

This week:“Paranor-mal Activity 2” (R)

“Inhale” (NR)

“Kalamity” (R)

“Punching the Clown” (NR)

Unleashed

Editor’s note: This column lists popular new (and upcoming) releases for the week.

This week:Fallout: New Vegas (PS3, XBOX360, PC - M)

DJ Hero 2 (PS3, XBOX360, Wii - T)

Vanquish (PS3, XBOX360 - M)

THE ADVOCATE l WEDNESDAY, OCT. 20, 201012 SCENE

RevisitedDrama portrays stormy decade

This week:“Preda-tors” (R)

“Please Give” (R)

“Until the Light Takes Us” (NR)

“The Six Wives of Henry Lefay” (PG-13)

Pete CampbellHe works in account management at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Campbell is a partner and held a similar posi-tion at the old agency. He lives in an apart-ment, which is partially financed by his in-laws, with his wife Trudy. His affair with Olson resulted in a child.

Peggy OlsonNow a copy-writer with her own office, the Brooklyn native origi-nally worked as Draper’s secretary until she moved up and contrib-uted to two suc-cessful cam-paigns. Olson constantly attempts to achieve equal-ity with Draper and other colleagues, but receives mixed reactions.

Don Draper Previously the creative direc-tor of the Sterling Cooper advertising agency, where he produced ad cam-paigns and cli-ent relationships, Draper is one of the founding part-ners of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. After divorcing Betty Francis, whom he has three children with, he now lives in New York City.

Joan HarrisAs office man-ager of Sterling Cooper Draper

Pryce, Harris is the rock of the new agency. Though she had a lengthy

affair with Roger Sterling, she married Dr. Greg Harris, a surgical resi-dent. She quit in anticipation of her husband

becoming chief resident, but was

forced back into the agency when he failed to get the job.

Roger SterlingPartner of the new agency and a World

War II veter-an, Sterling

has suf-fered two heart attacks

but contin-ues to smoke and drink. He impulsively divorced his first wife Mona to

marry Draper’s previous sec-retary Jane Harris.

Betty FrancisA former model and ex-wife of Don Draper, Francis quickly married politi-cian Harry Francis after her divorce. She sepa-rated from Draper after dis-covering his infidelities, but did not consider divorce until she grew close to Harry Francis.

PAGE DESIGN BY DARIUSH AZMOUDEH / THE ADVOCATE

“Mad Men”

★★★★★Starring: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Christina HendricksNetwork: FXTime slot: Sunday, 10 p.m.Genre: Drama

tvreview

Revisited

Lead roles

‘MAD’ AGE