volume 115 - issue 7
DESCRIPTION
The Roundup is the student run newspaper on the Pierce College campus.TRANSCRIPT
A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION
ROUNDUPtheroundupnews.comROUNDWoodland Hills, California Volume 115 - Issue 7 November 9, 2011 One copy free, each additional copy 50¢
The Brahma Bull statue was given a colorful sweater to keep it warm as were several trees lining the Grand Staircase during an explosion of yarn, in an effort to visually and metaphorically stitch the campus to-gether.
Brian and Christy Chambers, along with members of the Pierce Community and the Los Angeles Yarn Collective created the site-spe-cific installation in this, their latest yarn graffiti exhibit.
“I’m really motivated by the ab-surdity of it,” said Christy Chambers. “No one can walk by and not laugh
at this.”The bright colors are meant to
catch the eye of passersby and draw their attention up the art hill to the rest of the exhibit. Monika Del Bosque, instructor of arts, said she hopes the exhibit will draw attention to the art hill and help connect it the rest of campus.
Kathleen Burke-Kelly, Pierce Col-lege President, was among the people who donated hand knitted tree collars for their exhibit.
“It’s part of being on campus,” said Burke-Kelly. “Why wouldn’t I support the community?”
The term yarn bombing or yarn graffiti is an extension of street art which it-self grew from graffiti art-ists.
“Yarn bombing right now is a very hip happening thing,” said Monika Del Bosque, Pierce Art Gallery Di-rector. “If I waited another year or a couple years, for more funding it might not be so relevant.”
Street art has gone through many stages, Chambers explained. Street art, which first grew from graffiti that people used to claim territory, can include a variety of forms includ-ing mosaics, murals, stencil art and yarn bombing.
“You have to divorce yourself from this thing that you spend a lot of time on and then wrap it around a trash can,” said Chambers. “Some-one will eventually come and tear it off.”
The bull’s sweater was created by
the up-cycling of old afghan blankets. This art symbolizes the recycling of something old into something new. The horns and tail were pre-fabri-cated by the Chambers, taking two months of effort.
The artwork, which will be on dis-play through Dec. 10, meanders up the Grand Staircase and leads to the Art Gallery where more of the Cham-bers’ work will be on display.
The couple will lead a discussion on their artwork and the inspiration behind it Thursday in the Great Hall with a reception to be hosted in the gallery.
Katelyn Dorroh, a member of the Los Angeles Yarn Collective who helped create the installation, knit-ted together old scarves from her
first crochet projects in an effort to showcase her handmade work. She considers handmade products supe-rior to products made in factories by corporations.
Darlyn Yee, another Yarn Collec-tive member, said she enjoyed cro-cheting and knitting because fabric was her medium of choice.
“I can express myself in fiber or fabric better than anything else,” Yee said. “It didn’t matter what the fabric would be when it grew up.”
RU Online? Visit theroundupnews.com to
find continuous coverage on this event.
Tue., Nov. 15:Sunny; High 66•, Low 45•
Students will no longer be able to take more than 18 units while attend-ing colleges in the Los Angeles Com-munity College District (LACCD), according to Marco De La Garza, dean of student services.
Prior to this, students were forbid-den from enrolling in more than 18 units at a particular college without permission, but there was no system to keep them from enrolling in more units at a different LACCD college.
This loophole has now been closed.
Students wanting to take more than 18 units must download a form from the Pierce website and then ob-tain permission from the Counseling Office.
“If you want to take that extra unit and you have a 2.0, it might not be such a good idea,” said De La Garza.
The move came in response to the over enrollment of students who then never showed up for classes thereby causing difficulty for other students, their professors and the administra-tion.
“That’s one more spot that’s not being reserved,” said De La Garza.
Starting July 1, 2014, President Obama announced, the Income Based Repayment (IBR) plan will allow students to repay their stu-dent loans at a rate of 10 percent of their monthly income instead of the current 15 percent, according to a press release from the White House
Old western sorting� e Equestrian Center teaches cowboys to rope
Knitting the campus together
Unit cap extends to district
Yarn gra� ti installation is the next evolution of street Coburn Palmer
Jose RomeroGraffi ti: The Brahama Bull statue at Pierce College Woodland Hills Calif. was fi tted with a sweater by Christy Chambers and the Los Angeles Yarn Collective Saturday
Coburn [email protected]
Roping: James Greer from Way Out West Ranch located in Hemet, Calif. demonstrates how to ma-neuver a cow in the sorting clinic hosted at Los Angeles Pierce Col-lege’s Eques-trian Center’s Ranch Sorting Clinic & Jack-pot Saturday, November 5. Teams competed for prizes during the competi-tion
Angela Tafoya
Men on horseback galloped to-ward the calf, twirling lasso’s to capture it as they jumped down and tied it hoof to hoof in prepara-tion for branding.
The student clinic for the Ranch Sorting event met on Sat-urday at the Pierce College eques-trian center.
Ranch sorting is a sport that came from the time when farmers needed to separate cattle in order to transport, brand, or perform needed medical activities on the
calves.A team of two, on horses try
to sort 10 cattle in as little time as possible from one pen in to anoth-er. The team with the fastest time wins the competition, but there are rules the contestants must follow.
The idea came from tasks that needed to be performed during calving season, according to Tom Fafard, a history major and Eques-trian Center student at Pierce.
“When it was time to round up all of calves together, they would be branded, given their shots and other medical exams, and if neces-sary are castrated,” said Fafard.
The two day event was hosted
by the Equestrian Center and sup-ported by the Boots and Saddle club and attended by national champion James Greer.
“I tried it for the first time last week and it was also the first time my horse had seen cows,” said Mc-Inerney.
Students had the opportunity to rent a horse to use for the clinic or competition or bring their own horse..
The winning team received a first place belt buckle as their prize and the winner of the Kel-logg competition won a new sad-dle for their horse.
Contributing: Carlos Islas
NewsNewsBRIEFSGO mobile! For the latest news and
campus events visit
theroundupnews.com
Additional fall sessions appease students
Loan payback made easier
Pierce will add 42 new sessions of speech, math and English classes for the Spring semester.
Thurs., Nov. 10:Partly cloudyHigh 75•, Low 45•
Sat., Nov. 12:Cloudy, 40 percent chance of rainHigh 65•, Low 45•
Sun., Nov. 13:Cloudy, 40 percent chance of rainHigh 65•, Low 45•
Wed., Nov. 9:Winds 15 to 20 mphHigh 75•, Low 45•
Fri., Nov. 11:Winds 15 to 20 mphHigh 75•, Low 45•
Mon., Nov. 14:Partly cloudHigh 66•, Low 40•
Visit the campus weather station for more information.
Alex Smith
Congressman Brad Sherman to host town hall in the Great Hall Wed. Nov. 9 at 12:30p.m.
Page 4,
Walking Shield back-pack, clothing and food
drive.
ROUNDUP: November 9, 2011Opinion 2
Letters to the Editor6201 Winnetka Ave.
Woodland Hills, CA 91371Room: Pierce College Village 8211
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denigration. Writers are given the opportunity to
revise unacceptable letters.The Pierce College Roundup
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Cartoons and photos, unless run under the editorial masthead, and columns are the opinions of the creators and not necessarily that of the Roundup.
The college newspaper is published
Roundup
Editor in chief ..........Coburn Palmer News Editor ............................Kevin ReynoldsFeatures Editor...................Michaia HernandezA&E Editor ..............................James HermonSports Editor.........................Rodrigo CarbonelAssistant Sports Editor....................Navid KhoiOpinion Editor............................Eduardo Razo
Photo Editor...............................Jose RomeroOnline Editor............................. Jose Romero Multimedia Editor.............................Eli DiazCartoonist..............................Maria SalvadorCopy Editor..........................Tanita IndelicatoSenior Sports Writer.................Bryan MelaraSenior Editor..............Victor Stephen Ka-mont
Advisers................................. Amara Aguilar.................................... Jill Connelly................................... Stefanie Frith..........................................Jeff Favre
Advertising Manager...................Julie Bailey[For advertising call Julie at (818) 710-2960]
as a learning experience under the college journalism instructional program. The editorial and advertising materials published herein, including any opinions expressed, are the responsibility of the student newspaper staff.
Under appropriate state and federal court decisions, these materials are free from prior restraint by the virtue of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.
Accordingly, materials published herein, including any opinions expressed, should not be interpreted as the position of the L.A. Community College District, the college or any officer or employee thereof.
Photographers:Emad AbbasiOzlem BilisJordan LaufeLynn LevittTessa MillerTavares RobinsongreenMani Shabbooi Angela TafoyaYenifer VelasquezWilliam WellesJavier Zazueta
Reporters:Calvin AlagotSean DullaghanTemi FajemisinYajayra GilLior HaykeenGina GutierrezCarlos IslasAlana KennedyShannon MaLindsay MartinezArash RodTaylor Rouch Alex SmithHenry Thomas Walker
—EDITORIAL— Three StrikesA new rule prevents students from taking a class with more than three withdrawals
—PRO—
In fact, there have only been approximately 1,300 visits – counting follow-ups – to the facility so far in the semester, said Health Center Director Beth Benne.
During the fall 2010 semester, there were 2,085 visits to the center’s medical clinic, with 888 of them coming from unique patients, according to records.
That’s approximately four percent of the total population of students for that semester.
During the fall 2009 semester, on the other hand, 718 unique patients visited the medical clinic.
Although the numbers are getting better, they’re still bad.
That’s just shameful, considering exactly how beneficial the Health Center really is to students who use it.
Both students and staff members should be responsible for ensuring that facilities like the Health Center are utilized to its fullest extent.
Upon paying registration fees at Pierce College, students are required to also pay a mandatory $11 health fee.
Remember that?Well, for those of you who don’t
know this – and we’re sure there are a lot of you out there – that $11 entitles you to low-cost, sometimes even free, services at the Health Center.
It’s strange that students don’t even attempt to find out why they’re being asked to pay the health fee, considering the economic and financial issues that have affected us as a nation.
It may just be $11, but it’s still money (hopefully) well earned.
Some low-cost services students are entitled to are: STD testing, urine pregnancy tests, and TB skin testing – just to name a few.
Free services, on the other hand, include nutrition counseling, over-the-counter medication, physical exams, and psychological services.
These are especially helpful for students who don’t have health insurance.
For example, it costs a few hundred dollars to get tested for STDs in hospitals. If you get your lab work done at the Health Center, however, it will cost you less than $15.
While there are free clinics that offer testing free of charge, the lines can go on forever.
Another example is the blood chemistry panel, which is usually done as part of the annual physical examination. While a clinic typically charges $50 to $75, the Health Center only charges $8.
To get an hour-long initial consultation with a nutritionist, on the other hand, can cost someone who doesn’t have insurance up to $200. Follow-up visits, if required, can cost someone $100 or so.
Well, guess what?At the Health Center, you get to
see a nutritionist for free.We don’t know about you, but
we’d much rather see the nutritionist at the Health Center.
One of the reasons students don’t utilize the Health Center is lack of awareness. This is fault on both the students’ and the Health Center’s part.
Students should be responsible for finding these things out for themselves, especially since their money is involved. There really is no reason for students to not know about the Health Center.
On the other hand, the Health
Center could do a better job of making itself known.
Some students don’t even know where the Health Center is!
For those of you who don’t, it’s located on the second floor of the Student Services Building.
We’ve already had “Meet Your Counselors” and “Meet Your Major.” Maybe the Health Center can organize an event similar to the two, where its staff would go out and set up informational booths in the Great Hall.
Faculty members could also help with promoting the facility by informing their classes of the services offered.
Increased promotion of the facility, as well as the services offered, should be able to increase student use.
The next time you need to acquire over-the-counter medication or get a physical exam done, you might want to consider just doing them at the Health Center.
Don’t waste health fee
Dropped a class the first time you’ve taken it? That is absolutely fine.
Life happens, right? Work comes up, family needs you, you realize you took too much on yourself. It’s more than reasonable to decide to drop a class.
Dropped a class the second time you ‘ve taken it? Okay, someone didn’t do his calculations right.
At this point, I hope that you either realize that this subject isn’t for you, or that you need specific conditions, such as taking less units, if you ever decide to actually finish this class.
Now, you decided to sign up for the same class again, and dropped it
for the third time? That is simply irresponsible.
What logical reason could one have to drop the same class three times?
A student that withdraws from the same class three different times should not be allowed to take this class again.
Motivation and persistency hold a great part in one’s success in
school. It’s no wonder that those who work hard are later accepted by prestigious universities.
A Pierce student can normally drop a class with no consequences up to two weeks after the beginning of a semester.
Thus, if one’s transcript shows two W’s for the same class
before they sign up for it for the third time, it means that they have already taken the class for long enough twice to know what they are getting themselves into.
Also, what about the hundreds of students attempting to “crash” courses every semester?
You know, the ones who continue to show up even two weeks after the semester begins in hope of acquiring the units they need to transfer.
Those who continue to sign up for classes and then withdraw from them prevent these “crashers” from taking the classes they need.
For the sake of the students themselves, and for those who are trying to get through community college, it is crucial to spot the students who think finishing an entire course is an option, and forbid them from registration for classes that they will most likely drop.
Lior Haykeen
Maria Salvador
—Letter to the Editor—
Carlos Islas
Dear Stefanie and the ROUNDUP staff:Thanks, again, for the article. One slight flaw in pronunciation from the online version: “he also suggests having an introductory teen-taught course.” I actually said, “. . . an introductory team-taught course”; an interdisciplinary course would be useful.
Nice coverage. Thanks to both Gina Gutierrez and the photographer. As always, it’s a pleasure working with the ROUNDUP, a great paper on our campus.
Richard Follett -- Instructor of English
—CON—
—COMIC—
Students pay an $11 health fee, so they should use the services at the Health Center
Maria SalvaDor
The new regulation by the Board of Trustees should not count past “W’s”, it should allow the students to start fresh.
When this regulation takes effect, Summer 2012, it will leave students who do have withdrawals in unpleasant situations.
The ones with only one “W” in a class will be limited to the new number of three, but will leave the students with two W’s in a situation where if they happen to withdrawal again from the same class they will now have to appeal or take the class in another district.
The Board of Trustees wants us, the students, to be more responsible with our classes; which is great, but past W’s shouldn’t affect our current academic career.
None of us had any knowledge back then when we decided to withdraw, that there eventually was going to be a limit as to how many times we could withdrawal from a class.
That is not to say that it was alright for the student to accumulate W’s, but back when we did withdrawal we had no limit. We were only affected by non passing grades such as D’s and
F’s. One could argue and state that
this new regulation violates ex post factor laws, which states that if an action at the time was legal it cannot be made illegal by any new law.
Would that not mean that past W’s cannot count towards the limit count since this regulation did not exist when the student withdrew from class?
Students should be allowed to start fresh and be well aware of the new rule instead of being blindsided by their past mistakes.
ROUNDUP: November 9, 2011 News 3
A California king snake, a falcon, and a macaw shared the stage in a presentation by Moorpark’s animal outreach program from America’s Teaching Zoo as they spoke to a room full of students during Friday’s presentation at the Center for Sciences.
Presidents and vice presidents from across the LACCD, along with the chancellor also attended the presentation along with 30 Canoga Park High School students.
The group of Moorpark students, who are enrolled in a program called America’s Teaching Zoo, gives outreach programs to the public while training to be pre-veterinary majors.
“They’re practicing their outreach on us,” said Leland Shapiro, chair of agriculture and natural resources.
When not giving outreach demonstrations the group spends nine hours every day taking care of the animals at the Moorpark zoo,
according to Fike. Becoming a vet doesn’t necessarily
mean going to a clinic every day,” said Diane Werner.
The group explained that there were many different opportunities for those with veterinary degrees including training animals for movies and TV.
“Most of us think that these animals should be out in the wild,” explained Fike. “It takes a lot of effort to rehabilitate an animal, especially if you don’t want to get them used to people.”
The group explained that pre-vets often become conservationists as well. Being a conservationist means not only recycling but also making the most of our planets resources by buying the best product possible at the time to avoid re-buying that item soon afterward.
“You get to be greedy and buy a great TV at the same time,” said Werner.
We educate people about animals in order to save” them,” said Fike.
Coburn [email protected]
America’s Teaching Zoo visits Pierce College
Javier ZazuetaPretty Bird: Candace Shelton, of the Exotic and Animal Training and Management Program at Moorpark College, with a military macaw
Sheriff ’s BlotterCarlos [email protected]
Oct. 24 - Vandalism of a vehicle by Avenue of Champions
Oct. 25 - Incident reported by the horse stables
Oct. 25 - Traffic collision in Parking Lot 7
Oct. 26 - Petty theft by the 3600 building
Oct. 26 - Incident report by Mall area
Oct. 26 - Injury report in women’s locker room
Oct. 27 - Employee incident by Student Services Building
Oct. 28 - Student incident by the South Mall
-Compiled from Sheriff ’s Report
Pierce College celebrated Dia de los Muertos with the help from Chicno student movement of Aztlan (MECHA) club in the Great Hall.
The holiday originates from Aztec and Mayan tradi-tions, according to Club Adviser Xocoyotizin Herrera.
It is a celebration of the life of a dead loved one. MECHA is a club dedicated to promoting Chicano
Studies.Some of the students who attended the event had the op-
portunity to get their face painted in the form of a “calav-era” or skull.
The students could also take part in making art for the dead in the form of “papel picado” which is a decoration in which various patterns are cut into the paper.
Traditional sweet bread “Pan de Muerto” was placed around an altar as an important part of the celebration.
The altars are made to honor our dead loved ones, ac-cording to Herrera. The altar consists of various items that the individual liked when they were alive. The items can include dishes of food, drinks and alcoholic beverages.
“[The altars] can have anything the individual liked.” Said Herrera.
“It’s not a time of mourning,” said Herrera. “it’s a time to celebrate the dead.”
Carlos Islas
A day to Celebrate the deadDia de los Muertos celebrated by new club on campus
Moorpark College students showcase exotic animals
Lynn LevittFace Paint: Angela Ojeda gets her face painted as part of
the Dia de los Muertos celebration in the Great Hall.
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Next to Parking Lot 8, hidden behind a red chicken coup, next to the farm, a state park sits in a little used corner of the campus.
Known as The Old Trapper’s Lodge, the park was designed by artist John Ehn to give the viewer a sense of the old west as he saw it.
Although hundreds of students pass by every day on their way to class, few have ever wandered over and gazed at the statues depicting life in the old west.
“I’ve always wanted to explore it, but I was afraid of getting cited,” said Fabian Suazo, a 26-year-old automotive major. “I’ve been wondering what the statues are there for.”
Ehn used members of his family to model his statues after and scattered memorabilia, such as rusted farm implements around the grounds, to help capture the authentic western feeling.
The statues, showing cowboys, Indians and other western characters, are scattered around the park in various poses including two who are locked in combat. The statues of a settler and an American Indian help tell the story of a battle also depicted on a tombstone in the park’s boot hill.
The boot hill is a mock graveyard depicting wooden tombstones written in the colorful style of the era they depict.
“I wish I’d known about [The Old Trapper’s Lodge] before. I would have been able to appreciate it more,” said 24-year-old sociology major Jake Solomon. “I’ll definitely pay more attention to it next time. I mean, it’s another special thing that makes this school what it is.”
The park, a California registered historical landmark, was first brought to Pierce by Richard Moyer, who was an assistant Dean at the time, according to Larry Kraus, associate
vice president of administrative services.
Although on college property, Pierce is not responsible for maintaining or cleaning the park, according to Paul Nieman, director of facilities. It is however, responsible for keeping the park safe, which means protecting it from ongoing construction.
Despite its obscure location, a few students and faculty are aware of the
old west park.“It’s a bit intimidating, but
fascinating at the same time,” said 19-year-old Leandra Alex, who discovered the park through a friend. “There should be more advertisement for the park. I mean, that’s why I went [to see it] - because I found out about it.”
ROUNDUP: November 9, 2011Features4Kids get supplies for the holidaysPierce collects backpacks filled with toys and clothes for 260 children living in reservation
The e-mails come every year as the fall semester begins and the holidays approach.
Sent by the same person, under a very peculiar e-mail address – it has the word “cows” in it – they are received by
administration, faculty and staff members alike.With unwavering commitment, Dr. Leland Shapiro,
director of the Pre-Veterinary Science program and department chair of the Agriculture and Natural Resources department, sends the e-mails out to remind his colleagues of an annual backpack drive he participates in.
Under his leadership, the Pre-Veterinary Club partners with the Walking Shield American Indian Society for the organization’s Holiday Gift Drive.
The club has been working with Walking Shield, a group dedicated to helping improve the quality of life of American Indians nationwide, since 1987.
Throughout the years, the project has evolved from a simple toy drive to a backpack drive.
Shapiro coordinates with Walking Shield to “adopt” a number of children from a specific Indian reservation for the holidays by way of the backpacks.
For this year, the children assigned were from the Chippewa reservation in North Dakota.
“Every year, we try to help the poorest of the children,” Shapiro said. “We don’t work with the reservations that have casinos or oil, because they have an income source.”
Each backpack collected is assigned to a specific child, and is filled with clothing, hygiene items, toys and school supplies.
Only children from the reservation who stay in school from the end of August through the weeks prior to the holidays are eligible to receive stuffed backpacks, said Shapiro.
“The whole point of the program is to encourage kids to stay in school,” said Nicole Vengoechea, the Pre-Veterinary Club member currently in charge of the Walking Shield program.
This year, Shapiro volunteered to help “adopt” 260 children.
Though the Pre-Veterinary Club is mainly in charge of the operation, students and faculty members outside of the club also help out in whatever way they can.
For instance, students and faculty of the Child Development program volunteered to supply 40 children aged 3 to 5 with backpacks.
The Child Development Center also assisted in meeting the quota this year, stuffing 10 backpacks with supplies.
“It’s a way to kick off the holiday season,” said Assistant Professor of Child Development Tracy Drelen. “We take donations throughout the year. We really try to step it up and make it bigger and better.”
Though Shapiro admits that the current economic
situation has made it harder to ask people to make donations, he commends his colleagues for their willingness to help out.
He recalls a particular situation two years ago, when, four days before the all the backpacks needed to be collected, he realized that he still needed 30 backpacks.
“I sent one more [e-mail] and in three days, I had all of
them,” he said. “I can’t thank the faculty enough. They’ve been overwhelmingly helpful throughout the years.”
If you would like to donate supplies for next year’s haul, e-mail [email protected].
Michaia [email protected]
Statues in Western townState park on campus remains hidden treasureCoburn [email protected]
Lynn LevittSTATUE: “Kidnapped,” which shows a Native American kidnap-ping a woman, is one of the many life-size statues that can be found in The Old Trapper’s Lodge.
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Ava Weintraub / Special to the RoundupVOLUNTEERS: Child Development program volunteers help stuff backpacks Oct. 27 with school supplies, toys, clothing and hygiene items as part of the Walking Shield American Indian Society Holiday Gift Drive. The drive is coordinated by the Pre-Veterinary club.
ROUNDUP: November 9, 2011 Arts & Entertainment 5
Dark tight clothing, jet black hair across his face, lip piercing and multiple demonic rings on his hands only add to the style that exudes from the art of Ryan Aleister Merrick, 25-year-old.
Merrick is in his first quarter at Pierce and is here to learn video editing and audio recording to help him on his way into the job market as a photographer and videographer.
“I’ve been an artist my whole life” say’s Merrick and plays music as well.
The artist slash musician says that he has always been attracted to the darker metaphysical world.
“I just found this folder of my preschool drawings the other day and its all monsters and demons,” said Merrick, “I’ve been pretty dark since I was a kid.”
His childhood interests grew from monsters to extraterrestrials working with
pencil and ink drawings. “I learned anatomy,
learned perspective, learned how to put detail into everything that came out of my mind” said Merrick, creating a theme and style for himself as an artist.
His biggest influence he says is H.R. Giger, who is most commonly know for his work on the 1980’s film “Alien”.
After graduating from Agoura Hills Highschool, Merrick attended the Art Institute of California, Los Angeles (AIC), from 2005 to 2008.
“They have some of the best people in the industry at the art school but they cant teach” said Merrick.
Merrick has displayed his art in a couple college art galleries, which now include work with paint on canvas and sculptures, and expressed interest in getting his artwork into a gallery somewhere in Los Angeles.
Merrick has been doing work as a photographer and
making video’s for a couple years he says. He has had several job offers but has not been successful in being hired on many occasions because he doesn’t have experience with Final Cut Pro, a commonly used video editing program.
The school system at AIC did not allow students to take classes outside of their major, so Merrick never had the opportunity to explore the fields of video and audio recording and editing. That’s why Merrick decided to come to Pierce.
“Here the teachers genuinely care about teaching you, they will sit down and explain it to me until I don’t have any more questions.” says Merrick.
Although the lab hours barely allow you enough time to do the work required, Merrick appreciates how much the teacher’s at Pierce genuinely care for their students he says.
Tin Nguyen, 24, art and dance major walks towards the stage adjacent to the music building with his “personal funk system” red boom box over his shoulder. He walks up the stairs bends down to plug his boom box in and ‘Battle Cry’ by Nu Jabes begins to play. His body twists and lowers to the floor, spinning around and landing with his hands holding his weight in a ‘freeze’ pose.
“I wasn’t even in the U.S. when I started dancing,” said Nguyen.
Born in Vietnam, Nguyen moved to the United States at the age of 10 to pursue life in a new country and later became influenced by this country’s hip-hop inspired dance called breaking or break dancing.
“When I was a kid I always danced to Michael Jackson, and I saw breaking [break dancing] on the Internet,” said Nguyen
He started break dancing at 18-years-old, while attending college at the University of California, Irvine.
“I didn’t really get a chance to break until I went away for college,” said Nguyen. “One of my dorm-mates started
breaking too.” Nguyen is currently in
a B-boy club called Urban Movement that will be performing the spring concert.
“Tin Nguyen is going to be in the spring dance called the prestige this semester,” said Dance Instructor Marian Weiser.
Although Urban Movement has 20 members, a group of 4 or 5 members that were chosen by the dance instructor Marian Weiser will be performing for the spring concert. They have only two weeks to choreograph a dance routine.
“Tin is a really good hip-hop dancer,” said Helgar Birungi, fellow classmate.
Nguyen dances to different genres of music using rap and hip-hop occasionally he uses rock to challenge himself. He practices at home and uses weightlifting, eating healthy and conditioning as ways to keep himself in shape.
“Breaking is about trying to communicate to other people. In dance we have vocabulary in our movements,” said Nguyen. “That’s just how we talk with our bodies, so we can tell a story and certain things we do while dancing are like words to a story.”
Nguyen has injured himself
numerous times while break dancing but refuses to ever quit.
“For dancers we really try to connect to the music, this is our story, this is our movement, its like making art but instead of it remaining permanent its like boom, its there and its impermanent but it still exists,” said Nguyen.
Nguyen has total creative control of his dances and choreography.
“It’s very natural in breaking, there’s a way when you battle somebody where you are able to talk to your opponent through you moves,” said Nguyen.
Nguyen prefers to practice his dancing until he is comfortable with his moves.
“In cyphers we share our stories, this is how I express the music, this is how I express the bass line with moving my shoulders or whatever, I’ll hit the freeze on the snares,” said Nguyen.
Nguyen also dances modern dance as well as break dancing at cyphers, which are dance circle.
“Once I got into it, it really wasn’t even a choice. ‘Am I going to go break? Am I going to go b-boy? Yes,’” said Nguyen.
Spotlight:
piercing and multiple demonic rings on his hands only add to the style that exudes from the art of Ryan Aleister Merrick,
Merrick is in his first quarter at Pierce and is here to learn video editing and audio recording to help him on his way into the job market as a photographer and videographer.
“I’ve been an artist my whole life” say’s Merrick and plays music as well.
The artist slash musician says that he has always been attracted to the darker metaphysical world.
“I just found this folder of my preschool drawings the other day and its all monsters and demons,” said Merrick, “I’ve been pretty dark since I was a kid.”
His childhood interests grew from monsters to extraterrestrials working with
of my mind” said Merrick, creating a theme and style for himself as an artist.
His biggest influence he says is H.R. Giger, who is most commonly know for his work on the 1980’s film “Alien”.
After graduating from Agoura Hills Highschool, Merrick attended the Art Institute of California, Los Angeles (AIC), from 2005 to 2008.
“They have some of the best people in the industry at the art school but they cant teach” said Merrick.
Merrick has displayed his art in a couple college art galleries, which now include work with paint on canvas
The school system at AIC did not allow students to take classes outside of their major, so Merrick never had the opportunity to explore the fields of video and audio recording and editing. That’s why Merrick decided to come to Pierce.
“Here the teachers genuinely care about teaching
Alana Kennedy
Art and Dance students are acti ve in their
areas of study on and off campus
William Welles
Sean Dullaghan
ABOVE: Student choreographer free-style near the courtyard of the Performing Arts Building.
LEFT: Art Student, Ryan Aleister Merrick outside of room 3303 in the Art Department.
Mani Shabbooi
Spring 2012 classes start January 23.
Registration for Open University takes place online and in person, Jan. 23 – Feb. 10.
Course Fees: $320 per unit
Registration Begins January 23
You can take academic-credit classes at California State University, Northridge this Spring 2012 without formal application and admission to the university.
Community college students can take the same university classes as regularly enrolled Cal State Northridge students, so long as they meet course prerequisites, space is available in the class, and the instructor approves.
Credits earned through Open University may be applied to degree work and transferred to other universities.
Enroll in Open University courses through Cal State Northridge’s Tseng College.
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ROUNDUP: November 9, 2011Photo Essay 6
An
explosionof
yarn
Photos by: Jose Romero
Creating: Artist Christy Chambers puts the finishing touches on the Bull statue.
Bull Sweater: The Brahama Bull statue at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif. was fitted with a sweater by Christy Chambers and the Los Angeles Yarn Collective Saturday, Nov. 5.
Collar: Members of the community and the Los Angeles Yarn Collective donated hand-knitted tree collars for a yarn graffiti exhibit.
Student: Ella Fortney, 11, from Bridges Charter School, donates her tree collar to the yarn bomb exhibit.
Collar: Darlyn Lee decorates a tree near the grand staircase.
A yarn bombing of the campus ended in the bull statue acquiring a
sweater while the trees lining the Grand Staircase received tree collars.
The yarn bombing leads up to the Art Hill where the exhibit, Domes-
tic Vandal is on display in the Art Gallery until Dec. 16.
Artists Brian and Christy created the exhibit as an extension of their
street art.
Inspired by the absurdity of the exhibit the Chambers said they hope
their bull sweater will bring laughter to the campus.
- Jose Romero
ROUNDUP: November 9, 2011 Sports 7
The Pierce College women’s soccer team fought a hard battle against Santa Monica
College and came away with a last minute tie from what was a very sloppy game by their standards.
The field did no favors for either team. The game had both teams turning over the ball several times and neither being able to gain control over it during the first half.
The score at the end of the 90 minutes was 1-1. Pierce managed to come back from being down 1-0 at the last minute.
“Being down we shuffled, we through people up, we switched it around,” said Brahmas’ head coach Adolfo Perez. “We took one of our defenders and through her up top. We did a lot of things.”
Pierce, as they have shown in their previous games, was dangerous from corner kicks. Emily Streb had an opportunity from a corner kick, but failed to score.
Santa Monica struck first in the opening minutes of the second half and would continue to lead the game all the way until the final minutes.
The Corsairs scored off a header coming from a corner kick that went past the goal keeper and a defender at the post.
The Brahmas’ hard work would pay off in the final minutes of the game when freshman forward Edith Dominguez was fouled in the penalty area.
With the game on the line sophomore midfielder Jessica Gonzalez stepped up and scored the penalty.
“I think we got rewarded,” said Perez. “Not for our beautiful soccer, but for our hard work.”
The Brahmas could have tied earlier in the game when sophomore midfielder Sophie Forrester received a centered pass and touched it past the goal keeper, but one of Santa Monica’s defender was able to clear the ball before it reached the back of the net.
“I think if we would have had more time we would have scored,” said assistant coach Jose Mejia. “But we got ourselves [in this] situation in the first place.”The next game for the Brahmas’ soccer team will be at College of the Canyons on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 3 p.m.
Carlos Islas
* W Soccer vs Citrus Friday, Nov. 11. @ 3 p.m.* W Volleyball vs saNta moNiCa WedNesday, Nov. 9 @ 7 p.m. @ West L.a. Friday, Nov 11 @ 7 p.m.* Football vs L.a. vaLLey saturday, Nov. 12 @ 7 p.m.
SportsAgenda
Compiled by:Rodrigo Carbonel and Navid Khoi
SOCCER
VOLLEYBALLDanetta Boykin
Jessica Gonzalez
The Pierce College football team will finally be playing their first home game on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Shepard Stadium.
Though the football field itself has been ready for months, construction of the stadium’s visitor section is not yet finished, said Athletic Director Bob Lofrano.
“The workers got to a point where they OK-ed having a crowd at the stadium,” he said. “[The stadium] is now ready for us to bring people in.”
The stadium will again be turned into a construction zone Sunday, and it will take another two months before it is completed, said Lofrano.
The Brahmas and rival L.A. Valley will be playing for the rights to the San Fernando Valley Victory Bell, a trophy given to the winner of the annual Valley-Pierce game which the Brahmas has kept for two years.
“It symbolizes our rivalry against them,” said Pierce offensive lineman Casey McDonagh. “[The home field advantage] will help motivate us to beat Valley.”
Despite the fact that the football players have never set foot on the newly remodeled stadium, they are confident that they will perform well.
“It’s going to be a new environment, but we’re not going to let that be an excuse,” said 20-year-old defensive tackle Marquel Combs.
Michaia [email protected]
Stadium almost ready
The sophomore midfielder scored the tying goal in the team’s game against Santa Monica on Friday at the last minute of the game. She leads the team with nine goals so far in the season.
The freshman spiked 16 kills in 29 attempts in the volleyball team’s victory against Glendale College on Friday. She has 235 kills for the season in 450 attempts which translates to an average of 3.56 kills per game.
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Deciding goal ties game
ROUNDUP: November 9, 2011Sports 8
Women’s volleyball remains undefeated, improving to an
impressive 23-0, winning all three sets against Glendale Community College on Friday.
The Brahmas were playing solid early on and were able to dish out an impressive 14-0 run in the first set, winning by a score of (25-7), seemingly looking as though they would cruise through the Vaquero squad without any problems.
However, Pierce got too comfortable and made some sloppy mistakes in the 2nd and 3rd sets, with scores of (25-18, 25-20).
Co-captain Kathleen Wright had a solid game with 8 aces and 16 digs to add to her resume.
Wright is averaging a team best of 2.00 digs per game.
Wright was confident in her teams ability to stride to victory while preparing to face a tough opponent.
“We didn’t want to fall down to their level, or give them free points on their errors because that’s what we did last time we played them”, said sophomore Kathleen Wright.
“We came in knowing what we were going to do against them, made sure
our defense is really in line, kept the ball on our side so we can put it away during serving, and we did a better job executing.”
Pierce was able to recover and maintain control for the rest of the match.
Freshman Danielle Hochman explained the framework for their success on the past 23 victories.
“First game we played very well together as a team, when we play together we cut down on our errors”, said Hochman. “ We really need to stay focused, but well learn from it and come out the next game even stronger.”
Freshman Danetta Boykin contributed with 16 kills.
Boykin is averaging an impressive 5.33 kills per game.
“ C o m m u n i c a t i o n is key,” said freshman Danetta Boykin. “We have
to serve tougher, take it game by game, and not get to crazy. We can’t
think about it too much and stay focused.”
The team doesn’t seemed to worried about the playoffs being just around the corner.
Also, Hochman sent a message to their upcoming playoff opponents.
“I cant wait to go to the playoffs and face some teams that will hopefully give us some competition,” Said Hochman. “Give us your best game.”
Pierce will stay home in their next game vs. Santa Monica on Wednesday, Nov. 9 @ 7 p.m.
Watch womens volleyball highlights from this season at
www.theroundupnews.com
It’s that time of year again, basketball season has started once more and that means another chance for the Brahmas to win the conference championships.
With five returning athletes, Brahmas’ head coach Edward Babayan said he hopes to lead the team to victory this season and repeat their conference championship from two years ago.
“Every night’s gonna be a dogfight,” said Babayan. “It all comes down to who plays harder through the stretch.”
Babayan said he has a lot of respect for the other teams in the conference but he expects Oxford, Cuesta and Ventura colleges to be the most challenging match ups.
Cross-town rival Moorpark College, known as a top mentally tough team, is also expected to put up a fight.
“We expect to take a few bruises at the start of the season,” said assistant coach Charles Wright.
The team will look to players like the ‘unguardable’ Josh Thomas, the ‘freak of nature athlete’ Hassan Stephens
and the ‘amazing’ Chris Smith to lead the team to victory.“A lot of our players have been out of school, but they
haven’t played college ball,” said Wright. “It’s gonna take our experienced players to hold them together.
The team has 24 allotted games this season, 12 conference games and 12 tournaments to play in preparation. The season started with the team’s first tournament Monday and will continue through February with the state championships occurring in March.
“Our roster has been in flex for the past few weeks,” said Babayan. “We’re not 100 percent sure who’ll be
playing the first game as to who’ll be playing the fourth game.”
The basketball team has been hurt less by the cuts to the Athletic Department than the other Pierce teams and so have been able to keep all their away games or they have found a work around.
While the team does have athletes from as far away as Australia they do not actively recruit from outside the state.
“There’s no tough opponent to me,” said Stephens. “You just gotta get out there and work hard.”
Volleyball team wins 23 games in a row Spiking the competition
Men’s basketball is gearing up for the 2011 season
Coburn [email protected]
Javier ZazuetaSpike: Freshman Sofi a Granato and sophomore Jasimine Levi got up to block Glendales freshman Jami Mugar shot.
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“I cant wait to go to the playoffs and face some
teams that will hopefully give us some competition,”
-Danielle Hochman Freshman volleball player
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