Pies for S.T.A.R.s

F.Y.I.

Streak grows to 6Women’s Volleyball fills win column, poised to share first place conference title — page 5

Copeland stunsLongest-running one-man show in San Francisco history comes to LMC — page 3

Important Dates

Novemberis National Novel

Writing Month

Nov. 21Last day to drop a class with a “W” appearing on your transcript

Dec. 3-6Drama Department’s production of RENT at the California Theatre in downtown Pittsburg

Soccer season endsPerfming better than last year, Women’s Soccer season ends with 6-10-1 record — page 5

Library loans books

Ambassadors sought

allows for access

S.T.E.M. offers resume boost

4-1 vote moves project forward

Neighborhood shows distaste

Graphic by Bertha Aguilar • Experience

New site in relation to neighboring homes.

Students, faculty and staff gathered on the steps of the Outdoor Quad Nov. 12 as the Student Transfer Academy Representatives (S.T.A.R.s) club supporter Brianna Klipp pied Professor of Communication and Director of Forensics Kasey Gardner in the face. Money was raised in a fundraising event that took place in the Indoor Quad Nov. 11. Students, faculty and staff, along with other representatives from S.T.A.R.s, raised approximately $360 to help assist future graduates by providing the necessary funds needed for application fees to four-year universities. For more information on the S.T.A.R.s club, please contact advisor Ade Origunwa by email at aorigunwa@losmedanos.edu.

Photos by Cathie Lawrence • Experience

“Being able to write that you ... helped in these classes tutoring, that’s pretty big.”

— Ana Castro

Board decides to buildV O L . 8 1 , N O . 1 1 F R I D A Y , N O V . 1 4 , 2 0 1 4 L M C E X P E R I E N C E . C O M

By CASSIE DICKMANcdickman@lmcexperience.com

Residents of the Summerset and Trilogy retire-ment communities piled into the Summerset IV Lodge last week to let officials from the Contra Costa Community College District and the city of Brentwood know they no longer support the site selected for construction of the new permanent Los Medanos College Brentwood Center campus.

District Governing Board Vice President John Nejedly, who represents Ward IV where the new campus is slated to be built, was invited to a special town hall meeting Nov. 7 to answer questions and address concerns from about 200 members of the age-restricted communities in the area.

He brought with him the college district’s Chief

By BERTHA AGUILAR baguilar@lmcexperience.com

The Los Medanos College Science, Technology, Engineer-ing and Math departments are looking for students majoring in the aforementioned fields to join S.T.E.M. Ambassadors. The program’s purpose is tutoring students at Pittsburg High School grades 9 through 12.

“I like interacting with them, it’s fun” said tutor and biology major Nazifa Fazil. This ongo-ing program is a great way for students to meet the community service requirements that most universities ask for.

“People are using [S.T.E.M. Ambassadors] to write on their applications for transfer,” said S.T.E.M. Initiatives Connector Ana Castro, adding, “Being able to write that you went into Pitts-burg High School and helped in these classes tutoring, that’s pretty big.”

Those who sign up get to set their own hours and all tutoring takes place during school hours.

“At first it seems like if they are scared of us, at least me, and then once I spend like a day or two there, they kinda got cool with me,” said tutor and Biology major Jerry Thind.

This program has been in place since last spring and as long as students are willing to tutor, it will continue. Students looking to volunteer can contact Castro by emailing her at acas-tro@losmedanos.edu or contact her by phone at 473-7679.

Another program that is available for S.T.E.M. majors that will aid in skills development is The Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship (MLEF). This 10 week program, which will be from June 1, 2015 to August 7 has been in existence for 20 years and has provided students with

See MEET, page 6

See STEM, page 6

By ALEX TAGLIAMONTEatagliamonte@lmcexperience.com

The LMC textbook loan program or the textbook reserve collection is a part-nership between the library and LMCAS. A good portion that funds the textbook loan program comes from the LMCAS budget. Additional funds also come from the LMC foundation, a Dow Chemical Grant and the Exito Grant.

“We were very excited to have this program recognized by the visiting accreditation team, it is a wonderful example of student-college partner-ship,” Librarian Christina Goff said.

The textbook loan program allows the library to purchase current copies of textbooks being used in classes across campus. The librar y also partners with faculty who has donated a copy of their required materials, these materials are in the library’s collection for the duration of the semester.

Students can also rent out a book for three hours at a time inside the library; however the library does have some textbooks available to take out of the library for different lengths of time. The Brent-wood campus also maintains a textbook reserve collection.

The Pittsburg campus currently has 1,364 items in their collection, while Brent-wood has 160. However these numbers can vary depending on which courses are going to be offered at each location.

Future plans for this pro-gram includes making re-quired course materials avail-able to all students regardless of their financial situation.

“With the rising costs of textbooks, delays in financial aid awards, or just life circum-stances, not everyone can afford to buy all their books they need,” Goff added.

LMC is aware that in order to be successful in all courses, students need to keep up with the materials being covered in class.

Additional funds are neces-sary to add to the collection.

“We also want to be sure See BOOK, page 6

Nature Club looks for helpThe Nature Club will be holding a volunteer day Nov. 15 on campus in the Nature Preserve. The club will be building a path from the north hillside to make the preserve more accessible to students, faculty and staff. Volun-teers are encouraged to bring some simple equipment like shovels and pickaxes. For more information, contact Josh-ua Kohl at 470-6680 or at jkohldls@gmail.com

Kennedy-King spots openThe Kennedy-King Memorial Scholarship application is now available. The deadline to apply is Feb. 2, 2015. The scholarship gives two $4,000 awards per year to members of underrep-resented minority groups in California. There will be upcoming workshops on n Completing the Ap-plication: Friday Nov. 21 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. in CC2-223n How to Write a Winning Essay: Tuesdays Dec. 2 and Jan. 20 in the Center for Academic Support in Level 3 of the CORE.Call 473-7590 to reserve a spot in these workshops as space is limited.

English Lunch and Learn

Learn what an English degree can do for you with the new Associate in Arts in English for Transfer (ADT).

The English Department will be hosting a workshop to help students with plan-ning an educational path in English.

The event will be held in Room CC2-280 Monday Nov. 17 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will feature free burritos from Las Panchitas for the first 100 people.

For more information, contact Karen Nakaji at 473-7862.

By CASSIE DICKMANcdickman@lmcexperience.com

After two months of delay, the Contra Costa Community College District Governing Board voted 4-1 in favor of moving forward with building the Los Medanos College permanent Brentwood Center campus at the current site previously selected by the district.

The decision came after the college district board received the results from a feasibility study conducted to determine whether the future permanent Brentwood Center campus should be built on land already owned by the district, located at Marsh Creek Road and Vineyards Parkway, or at a new location, near a possible future eBART station next to the Mokelumne Trail

See SITE, page 6

QuotableL O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

Perspectives 2

The LMC Experience is published Fridays by students in the Journalism Program. The newspaper serves both as a laboratory for journalism classes and as a First Amendment forum for campus communication. Opinions expressed in the Experience are solely those of the students and do not represent the views of the college.

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E

ExperienceL M C e x p e r i e n c e . c o m

MemberCalifornia Newspaper Publishers Association

“Were it left for me to decide whether we should have a government without news-papers, or newspapers with-out a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

— Thomas Jefferson

Voices

F R I D A Y , N O V . 1 4 , 2 0 1 4

“Is it a crime to fight for what is mine?”

— Tupac Shakur

There is something troubling about the textbook industry today. I can’t be the first who ever asked why those “required” textbooks students are forced to buy each semester are so doggone expensive, that according to the online education database website onlineeducation.net, the average textbook goes for around $175. Another stunning statistic from the same source, also cites a whopping “812 percent increase in college textbook prices since 1978.”

Many people I talked to believe there are many reasons for this, but to me there is really only one reason this has happened — to get as much money from students as publishers can legally get away with.

If you observe the current textbook market, you will clearly see it is essentially a monopoly that lacks any sort of competition among its vendors. In a normal supply-and-demand market, book publishers would compete against each other for the students’ money. In this current “sellers market” however, publishers are able to charge whatever they wish. Many students are forced to cough up the money since most professors require textbooks in their courses.

It seems evident that the publishers’ principle goal is to make as much money as possible, which is fine by me. I have no problem with capitalism; I am used to it and can bear it — as long as I am not forced into buying what they are selling. Unfortunately in this case I am, and that is just wrong.

What shows even greater levels of greed by these publishers is the constant reprinting of second, third, fourth, and so on editions, sometimes annually, that lower the shelf life and value of the previous versions. Through these re-printings the price of the book will increase an average of 12 percent. Even the “custom” textbooks tailored to individual schools are favored toward the publishers financially, as the books are useless outside of your school and rarely able to be sold as used books. I understand education costs money, but students shouldn’t be getting taken advantage of so blatantly.

Even when I had thought “stick it to the man” by getting a used textbook off Ebay for $100 instead of paying the full $220, the publishers still found other routes into my pockets. I assumed I was ready to go that first day of class until I found out the course required not only the textbook but also the access code to get on the textbook publisher’s site. “No big deal” I thought... it shouldn’t cost that much right? Wrong! It was $120 for the code. I thought I could bypass the system. I was wrong.

Even more depressing about the is that universities and schools are essentially bribed by publishers by way of donations of funds or computers, lab grants and the like. These “donations” usually entail the university or school making the texts from the donating publisher required. This means the schools are knowingly or unknowingly accomplices to this daylight robbery.

Many students have skipped buying a textbook altogether, trading a blow to our wallets in exchange for a blow to our grade in a course. I have found myself on more than one occasion debating whether to pay a bill and have money left over, or to buy a textbook and be broke.

The current textbook market must be reevaluated because it may be working for publishers but it’s not working for stu-dents. With all the roadblocks people face in getting an education, the price of books should not be a final nail in the coffin of a prospective student.

Hopefully more students will begin to realize what’s going on with the textbook industry and attempt to make changes instead of letting the next generation of learners deal with the problem.

Republican Texas State Senator Donna Campbell is proposing an unfair amendment that would support the continual discrimi-nation against members of the LGBT com-munity. This topic is yet again of relevance due to cases in different states such as Iowa and Hawaii where small business owners have refused employment and services to LGBT people.

This proposal would let Texas businesses continue to refuse the employment of LGBT people on the grounds that their strongly held, religious beliefs somehow doesn’t allow them to support their lifestyle.

Some critics came out against the law because it would empower extremely reli-gious and radical conservative types while simultaneously demoralizing entire groups of people and not even based on the content of their character but on a factor that does not affect anyone except for the individual themselves. Even other Republicans came out against the amendment.

There are many religious conservatives probably willing to support everything this bill stand for. Here’s the thing: the bible is against many things that these so-called Christians are partaking in anyway includ-ing combining fabrics, getting piercings and tattoos and eating pork. This would render their arguments not only invalid, but hypocritical as well.

Also according to Luke 6:37 in the Bible, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; con-demn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

It is to my understanding that even if you are going to try and justify this amendment by using the Bible as a scapegoat for your idiocy, you’re still wrong because man holds no authority over the lifestyle of another.

Allowing this form of ill-justified dis-crimination to continue means spreading irrational hatred spawned from ignorance and fear and depriving work able citizens of jobs and careers, which in turn also supports negative generalizations made about Christianity.

From a progressive and non-religious standpoint, this amendment does not belong in modern society. Most of the country wants to move forward in terms of race and gender and the acceptance sexual preferences but it’s still surprisingly difficult to get people to stop ostracizing those who are different from the “societal norm.”

Another problem is how exactly do these people — who want the present to resemble the past as much as possible — keep getting into these authoritative positions?

Maybe it’s because the people who oppose their radical ideals refuse to vote. This past election had garnered the lowest voter turn-out since 1942. The fact that people refused to get out there and made a difference is part of the reason whackjobs keep winning elections.

So part of this is on we the people, particularly on moderates, independents, liberals, democrats and the LGBT people belonging to these political groups as well. In a nation where it’s still legal in 29 states to brazenly discriminate against people based on sexual orientation, we’d better be out making a difference.

There is hope however. This is Campbell’s second attempt at proposing an amendment to “protect religious freedom” which means the first failed. It’s all right to want to prac-tice your beliefs but when it comes down to using those beliefs to ostracize people, you’ve gone too far.

Old-fashioned people in positions of power need to not only re-evaluate their positions on partial economic and social policy but they also need to stop enforcing their personal agendas on people who hold no belief in the same ideas.

Matt MageeGUEST COLUMNIST

Kimberly StellySOCIALLY UNWELL

Editorial

Are textbooks made of gold?

Using the law to discriminate

“I feel pretty safe. I mean I do security work. My advice to everyone is to stay in groups. Stay in lit areas.”

— Eric Redman

“I don’t really worry about it too much. I do think about it as far as when I am up here late tutoring and it gets dark early.”

— Tylisha Watt

“Since I’ve been involved in two carjackings, not real safe. I got shot one of the times, four times, trying to pick up milk on the way home. ”

— Rob Sinoy

“I can say, personally, I feel safe because I try to stay in groups.”

— Azaria Bynum

“I feel really safe. I haven’t really seen any recent violence on campus or anything like that but I’m still always keeping my guard up.”

— Dean Taylor

“Safe. I don’t have any reason to be scared when I go outside. I live in Oakley so it’s not that bad over there.”

— Jhoanna Chavoya

Learn to protect yourself

The crime statistics for the city of Pittsburg this year have been relatively low but with the recent shootings in Antioch and the thefts on the Los Medanos College campus, crime is still a threat to residents of Pittsburg and its neighboring cities. While we should be more mindful of our surroundings, cops and security guards should be working harder to ensure the safety of students and residents in general.

Pittsburg has just had its first and second homicides of the year. Brian Adams, 22, of An-tioch, was arrested for the shooting of an unidentified 19-year-old male last Thursday and late last month, 22-year-old male Dominique Thomas, was shot and killed. No suspects have been arrested in the latter case. Still, this isn’t necessarily a reflection of the homicide rate in Pittsburg. It’s decreased since last July.

Though the number of violent crimes in total has gone down, there has been an increase in larceny and rape in both Pittsburg and Antioch. Theft in Antioch has decreased while larceny and property crimes have gone up in Pittsburg since 2013. These are all issues affecting college students.

According to the school’s website, the most common crime commited on campus, is theft.Some LMC students don’t feel the need to take extra precautions when setting out late at night or early in the mornings around the lake when the campus appears to be deserted. They put their trust in the police or the school’s security team which isn’t foolish but it would be beneficial to consider the risks of roaming the city without a means to protect yourself.

If something were to happen, the police might be backed up and sometimes, they are slow to respond whether it be because of other crimes in action or the fear or lazinees of some officers.

On college campuses, security might be busy on the other side of the campus. Some might suggest carrying a weapon which could be effective except it’s unlawful. Most schools in California have a strict code of conduct prohbiting the possession of weapons on campus.

Both residents and students need to be more aware of their surroundings and do whatever they can to protect their families and personal assets. Installing burglar and checking to make sure your car alarms work would decrease vehicle theft and burglary. Carrying flashlights and whistles, walking in well-lit areas and traveling in groups would deter the amount of aggravated assaults.

The police aren’t always timely and sometimes it seems as though they aren’t even trying to be. They might be your best bet agaisnt criminal actvity but they aren’t one hundred percent reliable. All it takes is a moment for crime to take place and so having backup plan other than police or security is not only wise and reccomended but gives students and citizens a sense of security.

The Experience welcomes Letters to the Editor and Guest Columns. All members of the Los Medanos College community — students, faculty and staff — are encouraged to write.

If you are interested in expressing your opinions on campus, national or world issues, bring your submissions to room CC3-301 and put them in the Perspectives Editor’s mailbox or mail them to Experience c/o Los Medanos College, 2700 E Leland Road, Pittsburg, CA 94565. You may also send them electronically through the Experience online newsite lmcexperience.com. Letters and columns must be typed, signed and include a phone number for verification. They may be edited for clarity, content taste and length at the editor’s discretion.

rEadEr opinion policy

LMC transfer event story is usefulDEAR EDITOR:

In the Los Medanos College Experience, Vol. 81, No 7, I came across an article that was very beneficial to me. “Transfer Event to give insight” by Damian Lewin was extremely helpful with dates and times that four-year institutions would be visiting our campus.

This story not only helped by giving me information on visitations, but also gave me specific directions on how to make appointments to meet with other schools about broadening my education at a four-year university.

With the help of this article, I attended one of the transferring events and was able to talk to two of the schools I will be applying to this month.

If it weren’t for this article, I would not have known what the event had to offer. Each college had its own booth with advisers who came

from the school to talk to the students and give them more of a direction if they desired to transfer to their school.

Something that could have been more beneficial might have been an interview with a LMC student who has attended these transfer events before to really connect with readers and make it more personal and relatable.

Another good idea might have been an interview with a student who had transferred from LMC to a four-year university. However, the access we have with transfer universities is extremely interactive and helpful.

Not all community colleges have such easy access to four-year universities like Los Med-anos does. The college newspaper also lets me know what’s going on to help my process of transferring.

— Jazmine Zamora, LMC sophomore

lEttErs to thE Editor

With the recent rash of local violence, how safe do you feel?C o m p i l e d b y b e r t h a a g u i l a r & J a z m i n e g o r d o n

Editor-in-Chief .................... JOSEPH DELANO

Perspectives Editors ........JAZMINE GORDONand KIMBERLY STELLY

Campus Editor .................. .CASSIE DICKMAN

Features Editor ...................... DAMIAN LEWIN

Sports Editor ....................... .....STEVEN LUKE

Photo Editors .................. CATHIE LAWRENCEand BERTHA AGUILAR

Associate Editors....................... JOSH WOODand SUZZANNE SPERRY

Web Editor ..........................BRENDAN CROSS

Experience • Joey Fajardo

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

CampusQuotable

3F R I D A Y , N O V . 1 4 , 2 0 1 4

“Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.”— Ludwig van Beethoven

Spicing things up

Planning a path of study Counseling service informs

Sweet sixteen for the Experience

— compiled from press releases and staff reports

Newswatch

The Sagrada Família Roman Catholic Church in Barcelona, Spain.

By LISSETTE URBINAlurbina@lmcexperience.com

From beginning to end, counselors guide the way for students’ futures and can help with any obstacle they encounter.

Los Medanos College’s Counseling service is designed to help students in planning a path of study which reflects their interests.

When students first attend LMC they are encouraged to see a coun-selor as soon as possible, but many don’t know what counselors provide.

Counselors help explain graduation requirements and transfer options for earning bachelor’s degrees. They also provide career planning, and can help with personal decisions.

“If I hadn’t seen a counselor, I would still be trying to figure out what class-es I need in order to transfer,” says psychology major Daniella Castro.

As a member of the Transfer Acad-emy on campus, Castro is required to talk to a counselor twice a semester compared with the general recom-mendation of one visit per semester. She also has priority in making appointments with her counselor, which, she said has helped her in planning to transfer by the Fall 2015 semester.

Student athletes are also recom-mended to see a counselor each

Award-winning cartoon by Kimberly Stelly

Fourth place winner for On-the-Spot Editorial Cartoon.

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

Student Assistant Mylene Lim serves Robin Armour’s “The Whole Enchilada Chicken Soup” to Administrative Assistant Sylvia Benzler during the 5th Annual Soup Cook-Off in the Indoor Quad.

By RATTANA KIMrkim@lmcexperience.com

The 5th Annual Soup Cook-Off, hosted by Los Medanos College’s Classified Senate, raised a total of $887.16 for student scholarships, which is $50.06 more than last year. The event was held Novem-ber 11 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Indoor Quad.

Linda Man-iscalco, the cashier from Admissions and Records, was the chair of the event and aims to raise money for scholar-ships that will be awarded to LMC stu-dents.

“It was a success as many students, staff, faculty and man-agers all participated for the common good of raising money for student scholarships,” said Maniscalco. “Everyone seemed

to have a good time and a lot of soup was made, sold, and eaten.”

There were fifteen various soup entries from faculty, staff, and even a group of students. Each soup “shot” was $1 each and a bowl with bread was

$4. After stu-dents, faculty and staff went around tast-ing the soups, they dropped their vote for favorite soup in the People’s Choice Award box.

Tessa Gar-land, Maria M a r t i n e z and a few of their other friends got together and made Chick-en Genochi,

which included ingredients like chicken, dumplings and celery. It was their first time entering the contest.

“We never made it and just threw it together so it was our

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

Central Services Receptionist Tamy Portillo and her mother Beatriz Portillo serve Appliance Technology Instructor Len Price during the Soup Cook-Off.

Money raised for scholarship

first new experience,” said Garland.

Throughout the event, there were four judges tasting each different soup. This included student Taima Miller, Athletic Counselor Michelle Mack, John Schall from Marketing, and Kenny Purizaga from Disabled Students Programs & Services (DSPS).

At the end of the event, the winners of the contest and raffles prizes were an-nounced. The winners of the judges’ choices were: 1st place Kathy Grif fin from Human Resources/Business Office for SpongeBob Squarepants Clam Chowder; 2nd place Shannon

Quigley for Kale Curry; and 3rd place Robin Armour for Chicken Enchilada Soup. The winner of the People’s Choice Award was Extra Loaded Potato Soup by Melina Rodriguez from Workforce Development Programs.

“I’ve never seen such a big turnout for something as simple as soup so I thought it was really fun,” said student Olivia Granger.

Not only did the event help to raise money for student scholarships, but faculty, staff and students enjoyed partici-pating in the event whether they were the ones creating or tasting the variety of soups.

“It was a success as many students, staff, faculty and managers all participated for the common good of raising money for student scholarships.”

— Linda Maniscalco

Barcelona beckonsInterested in traveling to Barcelona next fall? The Study

Abroad program will be offering the option to experience incredible architecture, cuisine and culture all while furthering your education in Barcelona in the fall of 2015.

A meeting for those interested will be held at DVC Tuesday, Nov. 18 from 3 to 4 p.m. in Room LA-114, and Wednesday, Dec. 10, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in room LA-119.

If you are interested in more information, contact the Study Abroad Office via e-mail at Studyabroad@dvc.edu or call 969-2507

Study abroad in ItalyFlorence awaits. Study abroad in Florence, Italy this

spring. Experience amazing food, architecture and history all while furthering your education.

If interested contact the Study Abroad Office at DVC, 969-2507. The Study Abroad Office can be emailed at studyabroad@dvc.edu

LMC offers free tutoringSearching for help in school? Drop by the Center for

Academic Support on the main campus. The center offers tutoring in a variety of subjects and

is located on the third floor of the college CORE, Room CO-300.

The center is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Visit the front desk for information about peer tutoring, writing consultations, and when professors will be available for support or call 473-7590.

The Brentwood Campus Center for Academic Support, located in Room 13, also offers free tutoring in a variety of subjects, including anthropology, chemistry, economics, philosophy, sociology and many more. Tutoring is done on a drop in basis. Changes in schedule are posted on the door. For more information, call 473-6925

Help available for parentsLos Medanos College’s California Work Opportunity

and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS) serves students attending LMC who receive financial aid and are parents. Services include priority registration, educational and career counseling and educational workshops.

If you would like more information, call 473-7482 or visit the office in Room CC2-257. Office hours are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Award-winning cartoon by Joseph Delano

Second place winner for On-the-Spot Editorial Cartoon.

By RATTANA KIMrkim@lmcexperience.com

The Los Medanos College Experience took home 16 awards from the Journalism Association of Community Colleges annual regional conference Nov. 8 at California State University-Sacramento.

“I was excited to be part of a great team and winning another award was just the cherry on top of what was already a great time,” said Experience Editor-in-Chief Joseph Delano.

The students from the Northern regional community colleges participated in a variety of workshops and on-the-spot contests. The contests were based on a “Broccoli and Cake” presentation by keynote speaker Ian Hill on meeting the chal-lenges of journalism today. Hill is the executive producer for digital and social media for News 10 in Sacramento. He focused his remarks on the strategy of giving people what they want so they will stumble upon what they need in the process.

The conference gave students the opportunity to learn and expand their knowledge in journalism and gave helpful advice to being a better journalist.

“I got to meet a lot of different editors from the Norcal colleges in the Editors Round Table meeting and discuss issues with our paper,” said Sports Editor Steven Luke, adding, “the one workshop I went to, run by Bay Area News Group Columnist Marcus Thompson, was very informative and will help me in my future as a sports writer.”

An award ceremony closed the conference with the Experience taking home numerous awards. The Experience won General Excellence in the Publications Contest for its print edition published during the 2013-14 academic year. Several former staffers won awards in various categories of the Publications Contest. Former Photo Editor Irvin Trigueros, who graduated with an A.A. in Journalism last May, won five awards:

n Third place for News Photos.n Third place for the Photo Essay contest.n Honorable Mention for the Photo Essay

contest.n Third place for Inside Page Layout, sharing

credit with Brendan Cross.n Third place for Sports Action Photo.

Three current staff members were honored for their onsite work covering Ian Hill’s “Broccoli and Cake” speech. Editor-in-Chief Joseph Delano and Perspectives Editor Kimberly Stelly won second and fourth place, respectively, in the Editorial Cartoon category. Sports Editor Steven Luke won second place in the Opinion Writing category.

“I felt fantastic about winning. I really thought I did well in the contest, but I really didn’t think I did well enough to win so I was surprised,” said Luke about his first win at a JACC event.

Other awards were:n Christine Menchaca, first place for Profile

Feature Story.n Christina Samuel, first place for Webcast/

Broadcast News.n Joey Fajardo, first place for Editorial Cartoon

Publication.n Brendan Cross, second place for Front Page

Layout (Broadsheet).n Dakotah Zabroski, third place for Webcast/

Broadcast News.See PATH, page 6See JACC, page 6

L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

Features 4Quotable

F R I D A Y , N O V . 1 4 , 2 0 1 4

“One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can’t utter.” — James Earl Jones

“My mother’s arms were a blanket. A blanket that kept me warm when the world was so cold.”

Brian Copeland performs during his special engagement in the LMC Recital Hall Nov. 12.

One-man act performs to full house

MarqueeThe sounds of music

The Los Medanos College Music Department will be hosting events in the upcoming weeks featuring performances by students and ensembles from around the Bay Area. Concerts are held in the Recital Hall. For more information, call 439-2181 ex. 3218.

n Friday, Nov. 14 — Sophomore Recital #1. Begins at 7:30 p.m. Admission: free.

n Friday, Nov. 21 — Sophomore Recital #2. Begins at 7:30 p.m. Admission: free.

n Wednesday, Dec. 3 — LMC Guitar Con-cert. Begins at 7:30 p.m. Admission: free.

Downtown has it allBoth located in the historic downtown

areas of their respected communities, the California Theatre in Pittsburg and the El Campanil Theatre in Antioch will feature a variety of events throughout November and December. The different events at both venues are set to include movies, dance and musical sets that promise to delight audiences of all ages.

EL CAMPANIL THEATREThe El Campanil Theatre is located at

602 W Second St. in Antioch. For ticket sales and additional information please call 757-9500.

n Friday, Nov. 21 — El Campanil Chil-dren’s Theatre Presents: The Elves and the Shoemaker. Begins at 7:30 p.m. Admission: $12 for adults, $10 for seniors $8 for youths.

n Saturday, Nov. 22 — Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra: We Are the Nation - A Salute To Veterans. Begins at 7:30 p.m. Admission: $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, $7 for youths.

CALIFORNIA THEATREThe California Theatre is located at

351 Railroad Ave.in Pittsburg. For ticket sales and additional information please call 427-1611.

n Wednesday, Dec. 3 to Saturday, Dec. 6 — LMC Department of Dramatic Arts in conjunction with LMCAS, Pittsburg Arts & Community Foundation, and Keller Canyon present: RENT. Begins at 7:30 p.m. Admission: $12 to $18.

n Sunday, Dec. 7 — Lightwire Theatre - A Very Electric Christmas. Begins at 3 p.m. Admission: $15 to $34.

A future ‘hero’ for all agesBy STEVEN LUKEsluke@lmcexperience.com

Disney has long made a living on building great stories that do not tug at the heart strings of the audience, but leave them smiling after ev-erything turns around.

In the future would of San Fransokyo, a mixture of San

Francisco and Tokyo, the hyper

intelligent Hiro Hamada has been misusing his genius to hustle robot fighting. He finds the light and changes his mind about attending col-lege when his older brother Tadashi shows him what he

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and his friends are working on at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology.

The 14-year-old genius is inspired by what he sees, especially the medical service robot his brother created named Beta Max. He decides he does want to go to college, and an epic journey follows.

In true Disney fashion, Hiro has to deal with loss and failure on his journey with Beta Max by his side, but in the end lessons are learned and all is right with the world.

“Big Hero 6” is just yet anoth-er win for the folks at Disney who have making movies for children down to a science, and this time they did it without another Disney Princess or catchy songs. Instead the film pulls you in with robots and the imaginative technology of the future.

This movie is great for all kids, including those who seek to entertain the kid at heart.

Copeland captivates

By DAMIAN LEWINdlewin@lmcexperience.com

As applause erupted inside the Recital Hall Nov. 12, the audience rose to its feet to show its appreciation, compassion and respect towards writer, actor and comedian Brian Copeland. Copeland captivated a packed house of students, faculty and members of the community that came to watch the Bay Area native perform a special free engagement of his one-man show

“Not A Genuine Black Man.” The show was a retelling of his experiences growing up

in the area during the 1970s. Moving back and forth between different

periods in his life, Brian Copeland brings his past to life through the varied tones in his voice and demeanor of his stage presence. Blending humor, drama and an inspiring ability to morph between various characters, the many faces of Copeland’s performance have the ability to both delight and sadden the audience.

With an ability to engage an audience in laughter, levitate their spirits with his wit and on-stage humor, Copeland can immediately change direction, sending the audience into a sense of awe, leaving them watching silently as he retells the darker, more personal events from his life.

While the amount of “f-bombs” and subject matter may be inappropriate for younger ages, the theme of the show is one that all should learn from an early age.

“My mother really wanted white children,” the actor said in an upbeat tone. Delighted, the audience laughed and took it as an-other humorous moment in the show.

E x p r e s s e d by a delicate, well-spoken tone and a soft touch to h is chest , the por trayal of his mother

left the audience feeling compassion towards his relationship with a woman whom had so much influence on his life. It is not until later in the show that the true meaning of that statement, and the overall theme is truly expressed.

“Mother really wanted the respect white people seem to give each other based on their heritage,” said Copeland, rephrasing the account that his mother “wanted white children.” It was respect she wanted, for herself and her family.

From a small child, moving to a “99.99%” white neighborhood in San Leandro as an attempt to escape the horrible abuse inflicted by his father, to an adult man facing his own inner demons that eventually lead to the culmination of an attempt on his own life, Copeland’s story is a dramatic telling of just one-man’s experiences with racism and the overwhelming effects on his life.

Delightfully charming, witty and driven by a sense of personal experiences that will make the audience laugh and cry, Brian Copeland’s “Not A Genuine Black Man” is an excellent achievement that earns the actor, comedian, father and son the “respect” he deserves.

Photos by Bertha Aguilar • Experience

Photo courtesy of imdb.com

Hiro (left) and Beta Max, stars of Disney’s “Big Hero 6.”

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QuotableL O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C E

Sports

By STEVEN LUKEsluke@lmcexperience.com

Randy Moss is just one in a long line of players to play for both Bay Area football teams. Unlike Jerry Rice and Bill Romanowski he did not lead either team to true greatness, but his story is one everyone should know.

ESPN’s latest installment, Rand University, of their critically acclaimed “30 for 30” series taught the viewer everything they need to know about where the eccentric superstar came from and why he turned out the way he did.

The film starts out in the unincor-porated town of Rand, West Virginia, which, according to the narrator means it is just as much an idea as it is a town and explains that the town produces athletes, but they never seem to get out.

Those athletes all end up attending what is known as Rand University, not an actual

school, but a 7-11 parking lot where they end up drinking, doing drugs, and never end up doing anything better with their lives outside of Rand.

This story shows the parallel of Moss and his best friend Sam Singleton Jr. They were both extraordinary athletes, but one fell victim to Rand University while the other barely escaped.

This was another big hit for the 30 for 30 series as it explains how Moss turned out the way he did. He could’ve been the best wide receiver in the history of the game, but his surroundings growing up made him guarded and changed the course of his career.

Rand University is another terrific story in the “30 for 30” series and a

must watch for any fan of the NFL in the Bay Area. It gives helps the viewer to understand the methods behind the madness that is Randy Moss.

F R I D A Y , N O V . 1 4 , 2 0 1 4 5“My God given talent is my ability to stick with training longer than anybody else.”

— Herschel Walker

‘30 for 30: Rand University’See TITLE, page 6See BALL, page 6

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Stangs honor sophomores

Fantasy football cornerStart – Tavon Austin against the BroncosS t e v e n L u k e

Sit – Matthew Stafford against the CardinalsPick Up – Jordan Matthews, Eagles WR

Start – Anquan Boldin against the GiantsB r e n d a n C r o s s

Sit – Andre Johnson against the BrownsPick Up – Kyle Rudolph, Vikings TE

Start – RG3 against the BuccaneersL u k e J o h n s o n

Sit – Brendan Oliver against the RaidersPick Up – Adrian Peterson, Vikings RB

Photos by Cathie Lawrence • Experience

The Mustangs home season ended with a 2-0 loss to the Yuba College 49ers. In the game the Mustangs lost their defensive sweeper, Lauren Ayers, to injury for the second time this season. She had to be helped off the field by after hurting her left knee (left). Mustangs Aimee Strain collides with 49ers goalkeeper Aracely Garcia while attempting to head in the ball for a goal (right).

Win puts Mustangs in line for first place

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

Outside hitter and team captain Taylor Scriven leaps to serve the ball in the win over the Comets.

Streak is pushed to six wins after shutout of CCC

Stangs set to battle Yuba in biggest match of season

Home season ends in a loss

By LOGAN JONES and STEVEN LUKEsluke@lmcexperience.com

The Mustangs pushed their winning streak to six with a 3-0 win over the Contra Costa College Comets Tuesday, Oct. 11. The win increases the team’s chances of contention for first place and at least a share of the conference title.

In the first set, there was a lack of focus among the Mustangs causing the match to be close early. The Comets were able to keep the match close because of multiple unforced errors and miscommunications by the Mustangs.

They tightened focus midway through the set and used their size advantage to spread the lead and win 25-15, but the lack of focus and miscommunications would continue.

The second set showed a similar shaky start causing Head Coach Lou Panzella to shout from the sidelines

“pick it up,” and “let’s play, let’s go.” The Mustangs bounced back from an early deficit of 12-8 after Panzella called a time out and regrouped the team. They went on to win the second set by a score of 25-17.

The third set showed a more competitive match up with both teams playing well. The result was the same with the Mustangs winning in a tighter match, 25-21.

The team’s ability to withhold opposition and rally back allowed the team to close out each set.

Team Captain Taylor Scriven was a huge help in the win and compli-mented her teammates after the game.

“We really came together and started letting go,” Scriven said about the end of the game.

Even though the end result was a shutout win, Panzella believes the team could’ve played better because they were looking at the next game

By STEVEN LUKEsluke@lmcexperience.com

The Mustangs head to Yuba for the biggest game of the year tonight with a share of first place on the line.

Thanks in large part to a six-game winning streak that includes knocking off previously unbeaten Solano College, the Stangs have been dominant during the streak with only one game going to five sets and shutting out the opponent in three of the six games.

Each win has been important because they lost to both Yuba and Solano early in the conference schedule and have been playing behind both teams for the entire season.

After a three set win over the Contra Costa College Comets, they now have a chance to catch Yuba as a win would give them matching records of 11-2 with one game left to play.

Head coach Lou Panzella knows this is going to be tough, but believes his team is up for the challenge.

“We lost to them in five at home last time, so we know we can play with them,” he said. “There’s no fear factor there, so let’s just go out and play. I fully expect us to play one of our best matches of the season.”

He said he expects their best game, but in the post game huddle after the win over the Comets he told his team that it would be a short night if they played like that, and it wouldn’t be in the Mustangs favor.

Outside hitter Anna-Silvia Vega doesn’t believe their poor play against the Comets will carry over. She said that they play up to the better competition and expects to play well against Yuba.

“Whenever we play against teams that are a little more difficult we do play up,” she said. “I know that

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

LMC honored the sophomore Mustangs before the game (from left to right) Angela Hartwick, Alicia Rickli, Brianna Farber, Lauren Ayers, Mikayla Farber and Cecilia Chavez.

By STEVEN LUKE and CATHIE LAWRENCEsluke@lmcexperience.com

LMC soccer recognized “Breast Cancer Awareness Month” and outgoing sopho-mores before the final home game of the season on Thurs-day, Nov. 6, as the Stangs fell in the game to Yuba by a score of 2-0.

Players donned self-made custom pink jerseys that bore their nicknames along with pink shoelaces supplied by the school to commemorate the event.

In addition to wearing pink, the team honored the mother of defensive sweeper Lauren Ayers, Linda Ayers, who is battling the disease, by pre-senting her with a bouquet of pink roses prior to the start of the game.

Five other sophomore play-ers were honored along with Ayers’ mother as well.

“We celebrated our second year players at the beginning of the game with a little intro-duction about each and a rose,” head coach Mark Bryant said. “The six players recognized were Lauren Ayers, Cecilia Chavez, Alicia Rickli and An-gela Hartwick as second year players. The twins, Brianna and Mikayla Farber were also recognized as sophomores –

they red shirted last season.”With the pomp and circum-

stance out of the way, there was still a game to play.

The Mustangs held the Yuba College 49ers scoreless in the first half, but couldn’t stop Erika Linch in the second half. Linch scoring is no surprise as she is third in the state in scoring.

“Both goals were from a very good player and were probably the best goals scored on us all season,” Bryant said. “This player (Linch) made the difference in the game. It was a very close and hard-fought game.”

While Linch was the story

of the game for the 49ers, the story for the Mustangs was yet another injury when Ayers went down and had to be helped off the field.

Ayers had already injured the knee a few weeks earlier when she knocked the kneecap out of place. Because of the injury, Ayers could not fully bend her knee, but nonetheless wanted to finish out the rest of her sophomore season.

“I went to slide for the ball and landed with my knee completely bent underneath me,” she said. “It was really painful. When it happened I was very disappointed because

I didn’t want to have to sit on the bench for the end of my last game at LMC.”

Ayers will require surgery to fix the damage after the season, but she was able to get back on the field for the end of her final game at home.

With a sour taste in their mouths, the Stangs went into their last game of the season on the road against Solano College. The match ended with a 1-1 tie giving the Mustangs a final record of 6-10-1, 3-4-1 in conference.

The six wins are four more than they had in the 2013 season.

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CorrectionIn the Oct. 10 issue of

the Experience, LMC Head Coach Lou Panzella was quoted as saying “they can get better coaching.” It was inferred that he was talking about Napa Valley, but there was a miscom-munication between the two writers and he was actually making a joke about his own team.

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L O S M E D A N O S C O L L E G E E X P E R I E N C EF R I D A Y , N O V . 1 4 , 2 0 1 4 6

Facilities Planner Ray Pyle, Director of Communications and Community Relations Timothy Leong and LMC President Bob Kratochvil.

Increase of traffic in the neighborhoods near the pro-posed site for the new campus, located at Marsh Creek Road and Vineyards Parkway, and safety were the main issues residents wanted the college district to address.

Resident Louise Calderone said even if additional bus routes were to be added, Fairview Avenue would still be negatively impacted by an increase of cars because most students would still likely drive to school.

“Everybody is going to use Fairview Avenue for the quick-est access to the property,” said Calderone.

Until recently, the college district was not aware of any objections to the site it selected for the new Brentwood Center.

Diablo Valley College Pres-ident Peter Garcia — former LMC president, vice presi-dent and dean of economic development — worked on the project during the three phases of his career at LMC and said in an email interview that there were no complaints raised during the planning of the new campus.

“This was a long involved process, and no one objected at any point,” said Garcia. “The developer and existing residents saw the value of a community college on the Vineyards site and understood that our value would extend to their property.”

But this is not the case any-more and residents of the area

made their sentiments known at the meeting.

The biggest concern among residents was the influx of cars the new campus would bring to Fairview Avenue, and Pyle used data he collected to address the issue.

He said traffic down Fair-view Avenue should not be a problem because students will choose a more ideal course to go to school.

“The shortest route with the quickest access and the quickest turns is going to be straight down Route 4,” said Pyle.

Pyle explained that it would only take six minutes for students to reach the campus coming from Highway 4, which has all right turns, compared with the 10 minutes it would take if they went down Fairview Avenue, which has all left turns and more stop lights.

Summerset Vista Board of Directors President George Schmidt responded by point-ing out that at certain times throughout the day the amount of traffic will likely affect the roads students will take to get to school.

“How many of you sitting at that table have driven Highway 4 at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, [or at] 8 in the morning?” asked Schmidt.

Students are notorious for being late, he said, and will take the fastest option available and during peak traffic hours that will be Fairview Avenue.

Also, those who live in Trilogy and Summerset were concerned for their safety with more cars on the roads near where they live.

Resident Suzan Lawrence pointed out that if the college is built on the land currently owned by the district, it would

put the two most dangerous sets of drivers on the road at the same time — teenagers and seniors.

“They are not a good mix and I see a lot of them will be going up and down Fairview,” said Lawrence.

Teenage drivers tend to be more distracted, speed and are more likely to be impaired due to drugs and alcohol, explained Lawrence, and seniors have age-related impairments that affect their ability to drive. She added that seniors, as they grow older and frail, are more likely to be injured or die in an accident.

Nejedly said during the meet-ing the college district is willing to help mitigate safety impacts the new campus may cause by working with residents and in collaboration with government agencies. He said the district wants to ensure that “we are good neighbors where our campuses are” and there have already been improvements made to the current site to help with the flow of traffic.

“We will continue to discuss with you and with them any improvements outside our property that you think are needed,” he said.

But after hearing complaints from residents, Nejedly said he is still set on building the permanent Brentwood Center at the Trilogy site and said his hope is the college district governing board will vote to go ahead with the project at its Nov. 12 meeting (see accompa-nying story from page 1), and that it will have the residents’ support in moving forward.

“At this point in time Pioneer Square makes the most sense for a permanent Brentwood Center. Most impor tantly because we own the land,

but thanks to the passage of Measure E we now have the funding to build on that prop-erty right away,” said Nejedly, adding that it was the best site when it was bought in 2011, and it still is today.

In contrast, Governing Board Member Greg Enholm, who represents Ward V, said he still wants the location of the future Brentwood Center to be moved to an area more centrally located.

“Having heard, for an hour and a half, the college district and the residents, I remain convinced that the Moklumne Trail location is the better place from a long-term perspective,” said Enholm.

Enholm has been a ardent supporter of BART Board of Directors President and Sum-merset resident Joel Keller’s 11th-hour proposal to move the current site allocated for the new campus to a spot near a possible future eBART station at Lone Tree Way and the Mokelumne Trail — moving it from Nejedly’s Ward IV to Enholm’s Ward V.

Also during the meeting, the college district officials took the opportunity to clear up issues concerning the Supplemental Environmental Impact Report, which had been brought up in other meetings and cor-respondences regarding the Brentwood Center site.

In a guest commentary for the Contra Costa Times, Keller said the college district’s SEIR acknowledged the LMC Brent-wood Center project would “degrade the level of service at the intersection of Marsh Creek Way and Highway 4 to an unacceptable level but concludes this is an unavoid-able impact.”

Lack of traffic lights in the

area already creates dangerous driving conditions on Fairview Avenue, said Keller, adding that the “addition of the unmitigated college district automobile traffic” will only make a bad situation worse.

Enholm has also quoted information such as this from the SEIR to support his rea-soning to move the current site chosen for the future Brentwood Center.

“The most important issue identified is that the SR4/Marsh Creek Road interchange will have so much additional student/faculty/staff traffic that will have an unacceptable LOS (Level of Service) at many times,” said Enholm in an email regarding the implications of the SEIR conducted by the college district.

But Pyle explained at the meeting why this information, even though it was extracted from the SEIR, is not realistic.

The original Cowell property chosen by the district for the future location of the new Brentwood Center was stilled zoned for a community college campus at the time of the SEIR. Since the college district was proposing to change the zon-ing of the new Pioneer site, which is about 300 yards away from the Cowell property, to a community college campus as well, the state required the district to study the area as if there were two fully-functional campuses operating at the same time.

“If you look just at one sec-tion of it, of course [the SEIR] shows a significant impact be-cause it’s got two 5,000-student community colleges across the street from each other,” explained Pyle.

So because the college district realized this was not

realistic and there would never be two community colleges in that area, he said, the district did an alternative study, also included in the SEIR, that analyzed the impacts of only one college operating in that vicinity. The results of that study showed no significant, or less than significant, impacts to the environment and traffic.

Pyle also pointed out that in the new Brentwood city plan, the Cowell property has now been rezoned to commercial development, thus validating the college district’s findings in the alternative study.

Keller said in an interview that unless the college district has a way to mitigate the increase of cars on Fairview Avenue, the zoning issue is a minor point.

Kratochvil noted in an in-ter view after the meeting that there needs to be open dialogue with the community during the building process from here on out.

“We do our design based on student and instructional needs but because this is being built in an area that is already established we are going to have to have, and build, relationships with the people in the surrounding areas so that we can make sure that they know … what it is that we’re building,” said Kratochvil.

He also commented on the issue of traffic and the need to collaborate with everyone. “On the exterior traffic issue,” he said, “that’s just something that we are just going to have to work with the city on, with the fire department, with our architects and things like that to see what we can do in an inclusive manner to make sure that that’s mitigated.”

when we play our next game with Yuba we are definitely going to play up, and we’re going to fight because they are in first place and we are in second, and it’s going to feel good if we win.”

They aren’t just going to have to play up to the competition; they are going to have to play the best game of the year like Panzella said. They will have to be the best they can be because Yuba has a winning streak of their own; an 8-game streak that includes wins over Solano and the Mustangs.

Even if the Mustangs win, they still have one match left against the College of Alameda at home. Panzella believes that game will be just as important because whether they beat Yuba or not a loss to Alameda could cause them to miss the playoffs altogether.

“We have to take care of Friday, and then what ever happens Friday, Tuesday is another big match for us,” he said. “So we have to make sure we take care of our business for two more matches.”

Solano is right behind them in the standings sitting just one game back and a loss could put the Stangs out of the playoffs all together.

You can catch the final home game of the regular season Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 6 p.m.

on the schedule.“They had a little bit of our

next match on their minds,” he said adding, “I think they were looking a little passed this game, and they shouldn’t. It’s something I was kinda scared about all week and probably talked about a little too much, so I probably didn’t do my job very well.”

The next game becomes the biggest game of the year for the Mustangs, making it easy to see why they Panzella would believe they were look-ing forward to the next game.

“Alameda [is] 3-9 going into tonight,” Panzella said.

The team travels to first place Yuba College today, and Tuesday, Nov. 18 faces the College of Alameda at home.

With two games remaining, the team looks in good shape for at least a share of first place.

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semester. Athletics Counselor Michelle Mack has the job of helping athletes keep their grades up and stay on course to transfer.

“To encourage students, I talk to the coaches to let them know how their athletes are, but ultimately it’s the student’s responsibility to stay on track,” she said.

Students don’t have to be in a program to get one-on-one attention from counselors. Music major Justin Simon likes to check whether he’s on track and keep updated with changing pre-requisites for transfer.

“I would probably be fine in terms of taking the correct courses on my own,” he said adding, “I just wouldn’t have the reassurance that a counselor could provide.”

Counselor Sophia Ramirez recommends counseling be-cause a lot of students out of high school aren’t familiar with navigating higher education. As a counselor, she tries to en-gage with students as much as possible to any student passing by with a simple “hello” and “have you seen a counselor lately?”

She was inspired to help others as she recalls, “as a first generation child, college wasn’t really considered a big deal but I wanted to have a career, not just be limited to a job.” Ramirez wanted to guide students along the same path and give them the same opportunity.

Seeing a counselor is a crucial step many don’t utilize until they don’t know what to do and need help. According to the LMC Website, it is highly recommended for students to seek the help of counselors from their first year to the last to make sure they are on track to graduate.

For more information about the Transfer Academy, call 473-7444 or visit them in Room CC2-225. To make an appointment with a counselor, call 473-7449 or make an ap-pointment in person in Room CC2-271.

n Kimberly Stelly, third place for Critical Review.

“The staf f is filled with dedicated and creative stu-dents, and I am proud of the work they do every week,” said Experience Adviser and Journalism Department Chair Cindy McGrath.

“Awards are a nice acknowl-edgment of their efforts, but the real prize is the experience that will prepare them for transfer to four-year schools, or for jobs as print, online or broadcast journalists when they leave LMC,” she added.

“hands-on research experi-ence” with the Department of Energy (DOE) of Fossil Energy according to their website.

“The goal of the program is to improve opportunities for under-represented students in these fields ... all eligible candidates are encouraged to apply,” said Program Manager Sandra Cortez in an email. Students accepted in this program will receive training and the mentorship of program officials and scientists.

Participants will receive a weekly stipend of $600 for undergraduate students and some may qualify to receive housing and travel allowance. Along with the experience and research skills the students will acquire, they will also present their research findings at a Technical Forum made up of peers, mentors, site representatives and senior Fossil Energy managers, and they will tour a technical site.

“The office of Fossil Energy is currently accepting applica-tions for the 2015 MLEF pro-gram,” said Cortez. Students interested in applying for this program must be at least 18 years old, be a citizen of the Unites States, be enrolled full-time in an accredited col-lege or university and have a cumulative 3.0 GPA or higher.

Location sites are based on a student’s qualifications and can take them all the way to Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Oregon, Lou-isiana and Washington. Two locations in Livermore and Berkley will also be consid-ered for placement although proximity to these sites does not play a factor in selection.

Applications deadline is Jan. 2, students can visit http://energy.gov/fe/about-us/students-and-teachers/mick-ey-leland-energy-fellowship to complete the application process and receive additional information regarding this program. An email can also be sent to MLEF@hq.doe.gov for more information.

that we have the material that is needed by students in all programs, so outreach to LMC students is crucial,” Goff continued.

During the 2013-2014 school year the library shows that there were 17,749 checkouts at the Pittsburg campus and 1,056 in Brentwood.

“I love that I am able to just check out the textbook that I need instead of paying out of pocket to rent or buy,” said LMC student Donna Eaves, adding, “I hope they keep finding ways to add to their collection and do away with renting altogether.”

and Lone Tree Way, suggested by BART Board of Directors President Joel Keller during an 11th-hour proposal at the district governing board’s Sept. 10 meeting.

Chief Facilities Planner Ray Pyle noted the district governing board had asked for “an unbiased and objective study for the board to review.”

“I believe you’ve got that and it provides an analysis and an evaluation of the essential advantages and disadvantages of relocating from our current-ly new planned site to some other as yet unspecified site.”

During the meeting Pyle said, “we have done our homework” in planning the center, and gave a summary of the study’s findings:n The current status of

center planning: The college district completed an SEIR, submitted a proposal to the city of Brentwood’s planning commission, and went through all levels of approvals of the state chancellor’s office. The site is shovel ready to open by Fall 2018.n The known and unknown

project factors of a potential site move near the Mokulmne Trail - Currently, the district is funded and approved to begin construction on the current land it owns and BART has not taken any steps or made any plans to move ahead with constructing an eBART station in the area near the Mokulumne Trail and Lone Tree Way.n Potential impact to the

Brentwood Center with the California Community Col-leges Board of Governors should the district decide to relocate to a new site: The college district would have to show the Board of Governors “the move does not represent a change to the underlying assumptions for which it was authorized” and if the district is not given approval, would likely lose the $1.1 million it is currently receiving annually to fund the center. In addition, moving less that ten miles away from the central campus is something that could cause the district to lose funding.n Potential cost impli-

cations of relocating the new Brentwood Center: the college district has already spent $4,803,488 to purchase the current Trilogy site and make improvements at the location to get the land ready for construction. It would cost the district an additional $8 million to $24 million to move the campus to one of the three alternative sites analysed in the study.

Although no Brentwood residents were at the meeting to voice concerns during public comment, Governing Board President John Mar-

quez, read aloud letters the district had received from members of the Trilogy and Summerset communities, both in support of and opposed to the current site.

Summerset Orchards res-ident Mike Oliver, who was at the Summerset special town hall meeting Nov. 7 (see accompanying story from page 1), said in a letter to the district, it was clear most of the members of the governing board do not understand the “traffic patterns” in that area of the district.

“The assumption that most vehicles will used the High-way 4 bypass to get to the new center is flawed,” he wrote. “Fair view Avenue will be the preferred route as future construction of the Balfour interchange and lane additions all the way to Marsh Creek Road will cause traffic delays for a decade or more to come.”

He also conveyed in the letter to the board, concerns about safety for those who live in the age-restricted communities near where the campus is slated to be built.

“Seniors moved to this part of the city because it is quiet with limited traffic, and safe for pedestrian, bicycle and golf cart traffic. To introduce young adults rushing to be on time for class while they are texting and talking on their cell phones will greatly impact the safety of seniors,” he wrote. “Furthermore, as seniors age, they are not necessarily the best drivers either, so intentionally mixing the two together seems a formula for sure disaster.”

In addition, he also wanted the board to realize that baby boomers make up the largest portion of the current “voting block.”

“I’m sure that these large communities of seniors will remember how we have been treated for years to come,” wrote Oliver.

In another letter to the district, Summerset I Board of Directors Tom Conover voiced his support for the current site and said, after attending the town hall meeting, the fears of excess traffic in the area due to the new campus have been over exaggerated.

“The city of Brentwood, as well as the college dis-trict, have done a fine job in studying the access to the community college and have logically determined that the impact on Fairview will be negligible,” wrote Conover.

Summerset 1 Board of Directors Vice President Steve Avellar also wrote a letter to show his support for the current planned location and expressed concerns that there are individuals who have a hidden agenda and are using members of the community to push it forward.

“In my opinion, there are a few people using some Sum-merset residents as pawns in their plan to move the college,” he wrote.

After reading to the board what residents wrote to the district, Marquez asked for comment from the members of the ad-hoc committee created to investigate a possible move.

Ad-hoc members John Nejedly and Greg Enholm expressed conflicting views.

Nejedly acknowledged the traffic concerns of the resi-dents in that area have some validity and the district should pay attention to potential problems and help mitigate them, but he said this should not be a determining factor in deciding whether or not to build at the current location.

“I think if we miss out on this opportunity now we could be delaying this project for a long, long time,” said Nejedly and added that the study “will confirm that this is the appropriate site to move forward with.”

Enholm disagreed with Nejedly’s final conclusion and voiced concerns that the certain issues regarding parking were not included in the final analysis.

“As I look at the feasibility study, one concern it doesn’t address …. is what happens when 1300 is not sufficient,” said Enholm emphatically.

He said eventually the college may need to expand its parking and the only way to do this is to build up be-cause there will be no room for expansion at the current location.

A parking structure would have to be built, costing the district $30,000 per space, and this aspect of planning still needed to be addressed.

After the findings of the feasibility study were pre-sented to the board and all comments had been heard, Board Member Matthew Rin motioned to put the issue to a vote and it was seconded by Board Secretary Vicki Gordon.

In the 4-1 vote, Enholm was the only board member to vote against moving ahead with plans to build the new Brentwood Center at the current location.

BART President Keller, who attended but didn’t speak at the meeting, expressed his disapproval of the governing board’s decision in an inter-view after the fact.

“I think it is insulting what they did,” said Keller, and added that after hearing concerns for safety from community members, they just discounted it.

Keller said the governing board acted imprudently and would ask, for it to reconsid-er, either because they had a change of heart or that a court asked them to.”