College of San Mateo • www.sanmatean.com

San MateanTHE

Volume 175, Number 8 Dec. 12, 2011

“Courage” rocks out at the Electronic Music Concert on Nov. 30, with (from left to right) Joey Has-sid, 19, on vocals and piano, Belen Alvarez, 23, on vocals and the violin, Sam Miller, 20, on bass and Jordan Grimes, 19, on the synthesizer. Story on page 5.

Electronic compositionsPhoto by Greg Marshall of The San Matean

CSM Admin. of Justice courses cut

A member of an iconic Arkansas civil rights move-ment group is slated to teach at all three dis-trict colleges.

Minnijean Brown-Trick-ey wil l be

teaching a course titled Civil Rights: The U.S. Civil Rights Movement during the spring 2012 semester.

Brown-Trickey was one of the Little Rock Nine, the first group of African-American students to go to

‘Little Rock 9’ member to teach district-wide

a desegregated school in Arkansas in 1957.

Brown-Trickey will be teach-ing the course jointly with course consultant Jeff Steinberg, founder of a nationally recognized organi-zation called Sojourn to the Past, an immersion program that sends participants on trips across the country to interact with places rich in civil rights movement history.

The same course will be offered at all three district campuses. It is an evening class that will be offered on Tuesdays at CSM, Thursdays at Cañada and Mondays at Skyline.

Brown-Trickey will be hired as regular staff at all the colleges she will teach at, said Donna Bestock, dean of the social sciences depart-

Jeffery GonzalezThe San Matean

Administration of justice stu-dents who are planning on transfer-ring to a California State University will have to look to other schools to complete their requirements.

Students will need to take classes at Skyline College to fulfill course requirements that will be missing at CSM.

After aligning to the Senate Bill 1440, the justice administration department will face changes. Classes such as ADMJ 153-Special

Larisse BorelliThe San Matean

Law Enforcement Issue will be discontinued after spring 2012 and CSM is no longer offering ADMJ 710-Police Report Writing.

“Students who need that course should check with their counselor to see if they can graduate under 2011-2012 requirements, or they can go up to Skyline and take ADMJ 110,” said Michelle Schneider, justice administration coordinator who is responsible for the SB 1440 alignment.

Although some classes are no longer available in CSM, students do not see the change as negative.

World beats get students, teachers dancingSee page 6 and 7

Financial aid:Is it really worth thetrouble?See page 4

On and off field success continued for footballSee page 9

Left to right: Rico Riemedio, Rudy Corpuz, jr, and German Yam-bao promote gang intervention from ex-gang members.

Ex-cons speakPhoto by David Sharpe of The San Matean

See “Civil Rights” on page 11

“I would be upset, but at the same time I learned good things and the instructors are good at teaching us,” said Bill Bermudez, 19, engineering student. “If you think about getting your major, the more classes you take the best for you.”

The new classes taking place in CSM will aid students when they are ready to transfer to CSUs.

“Before we aligned to SB 1440 , we had a problem with Sacramento State, students had to retake the classes all over again, because they did not accept our classes such as ADMJ 153” said Peter Nannarone,

administration of justice instructor.“Instead of the ADMJ 153 class

we will be offering a new class, the Juvenile Prestigious and Law,” said Nannarone.

“Students that took the discon-tinued classes will have to take the new classes in order to gather all units to transfer,” he said.

The changes being made in ad-ministration of justice department will go into effect by January 2012, but the new degree requirements take effect in fall 2012.

“Much of our curriculum will re-main the same, with the addition of

Minnijean Brown-Trickey

See “KCSM” on page 11

KCSM TV put up for auction

CSM’s television station, KCSM TV, went up for bid on Wednesday, Dec. 7 on the district website after

the district decided it could not keep fund-

ing its deficit earlier this year.“To date, all efforts undertaken

to raise additional revenue and re-duce expenditures in order to make KCSM TV self sufficient have not been successful,” said a district office announcement.

Because of the district’s lack of funds, it was decided after many public discussions that suspending the funding of KCSM TV’s deficit was a necessary decision to move towards the board’s adopted “core values,” said the announcement.

KCSM TV has been running at a $1 million deficit a year for the past two years, said CSM presi-dent Michael Claire. The deficit has been covered by the district’s

Jeffery Gonzalezand Giselle SuarezThe San Matean

information on the judicial process and corrections,” said Schneider.

Students who have taken admin-istration of justice classes over the past six semesters received e-mails warning them about the classes’ discontinuances.

“We will try to work with stu-dents who come to speak with us, or contact this office through their counselor,” said Schneider.

Students can schedule appoint-ments with their counselors to find out if they can still graduate or transfer under 2011-2012 catalogue requirements.

ment of Skyline. The new class will be funded by

Measure G, a parcel tax approved in the San Mateo County in 2010. The district took advantage of Measure G’s wording that states special funds can go to support innovative programs, said Bestock.

The class is in an experimental phase because it was last minute and it is the first time it is being offered, but hopes are high that it will work out well so that it may become a regular course in district curricula, she said.

The course originated in the Skyline social sciences department and the other two campuses cloned the class, said David Johnson, the

general fund.The district has resolved to sell

the television station license to the highest bidder, though this decision was the district’s last resort, accord-ing to the announcement.

The doors opened for bidding as soon as the posting went online and will go on until Feb. 14, 2012.

Marylin Lawrence, general man-ager of KCSM, kept a contact list of interested parties and send out a brief as soon as the station was put on sale. She sent out 40 emails the same day it was put up for bid, as well as various other physical mail packages, said Lawrence.

“It’s a public broadcasting sta-tion,” said Claire. “It’s the license that’s being sold and it has to be sold to a public entity.”

The sale of the station will free some money for the district and help alleviate some economic stress on all three campuses, added Claire.

KCSM TV has not subscribed to a rating system for a few years, but the last time they did, it was cal-culated that 400,000 viewers tuned

News

Start of Inter-semester RecessSunday, Dec. 18

Fall 2011 offi cial grades available on WebSMARTThursday, Jan. 5, 2012

Concurrent Enrollment Information NightThursday, Jan. 12, 2012, 6 - 7:30 p.m.Bldg. 2, Room 110

End of Inter-semester RecessMonday, Jan. 16, 2012

Start of Spring 2012 SemesterTuesday, Jan. 17, 2012

SportsCSM Basketball Invitational TourneySunday, Dec. 18, Start time TBABuilding 8, Gymnasium

CSM Basketball vs. San Jose Community CollegeThursday, Dec. 22, 5 p.m.Building 8, Gymnasium

CSM Basketball Foothill College TourneyWednesday, Dec. 28, Start time TBAFoothill College

CSM Basketball Foothill College TourneyThursday, Dec. 29, Start time TBAFoothill College

CSM Basketball Foothill College TourneyFriday, Dec. 30, Start time TBAFoothill College

CSM Basketball vs. San Francisco City CollegeWednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, 5:30 p.m.City College of San Francisco

CSM Basketball vs. Las Positas CollegeFriday, Jan. 6, 2012, 5 p.m.Building 8, Gymnasium

CSM Basketball vs. Foothill CollegeWednesday, Jan. 11, 2012, 5 p.m.Foothill College

CSM Basketball vs. Chabot CollegeFriday, Jan. 13, 2012, 5 p.m.Chabot College

CAMPUS BRIEFSIf there is an event that readers would like listed in Campus Briefs, please submit it to The San Matean at Bldg. 10, Room 180, or sanmatean@smccd.edu, or call 574-6330. Submissions should be typed neatly.

by Daryl Legaspi-Gobrera

Page 2 • The SAN MATEAN Dec. 12, 2011

CaMpUS BlottEr Wednesday, Nov. 30 11:15 a.m. — A student was found in his car in Lot 2B by an offi cer doing permit enforcement with a marijuana-fi lled paper in hand. The students’ marijuana was confi scated and destroyed, and he was referred to the Vice President of Student Services.

Wednesday, Nov. 30 2 p.m. — A man and two women were found in Lot 6C by an offi cer who drove by and smelled marijuana. When the non-students were approached, the offi cer told them to leave campus.

Tuesday Dec. 5 4 p.m. — A student was driving down East Perimiter Road near Lot 8 at the same time a professor was driving in the opposite direction. When the student got distracted by picking something up she crossed into the oncoming traffi c lane and hit the professor’s vehicle head on. The were no injuries but the student’s small sedan was completely damaged by the professors mid sized SUV. The SUV only had superfi cial damage. The student’s car was towed off the scene and the professor’s car was driven away.

This information was provided by Chief of Security John Wells.— Ariana Anderberg

The San Matean

Mother recalls tragedy

Photos showed family members smiling as their boat went across the water, giving a vibe of rejoice and praise.

The boat had been the vessel for a memorial so ashes could be spread into the sea for Phyllis Macay, 59, and a scrapbook made for her mother showed more pictures of people paying their respects.

Macay, daughter of a former Skyline student, and three others were killed by Somalian pirates on Feb. 22 during a hostage situation in the Indian Ocean.

“She was a special person,” said her mother Patty Drinkwater, 83, as she turned the pages of the scrapbook. “A very special person.”

Her daughter was full of life and fun, she said.

Drinkwater opened an earring case and showed the earring found on her daughter. She then took out a bracelet case reveling a cloth bracelet colored red and yellow.

“The F.B.I. came the day she was captured,” she said. “I don’t know what I would have done without them. It’s much better to know then to wonder.”

Macay had been captured and held hostage by Somalian pirates on Feb. 17, 2011.

Couple Jean and Scott Adams were on the ship with Robert Riggle and Macay. They had been sailing a yacht, called the Quest, in the Indian Ocean by the coast of Oman.

“They already had information on my children and their children,” said Drinkwater. “They were try-ing to fi gure out how much they could demand. It was a business with them.”

The Navy landed on the ship after days of negotiation. When they boarded on Feb. 22, two pirates had already been killed while the Navy shot two others and captured

Erasmo MartinezThe San Matean

13 pirates on the ship. Two had been captured for negotiations, pulling a total of 19 involved pirates.

That day, Macay and the three other hostages, had been shot and severely wounded. The Navy rushed them to surgery, but all four died during the operations.

They immediately held a me-

morial for Macay. The Navy sent Drinkwater a scrapbook of the service showing pictures of Navy Seals saluting the caskets covered by American fl ags.

Drinkwater placed this in a con-tainer that held the earring, bracelet and a scrapbook of her daughter’s travels.

“Everyone she met loved her,” she said. “And she loved them.”

Macay had graduated from Michigan State where she majored in interior design. Throughout her life, she worked in various furniture stores.

“She loved doing the things she wanted to do,” recalls her sister

Cynthia Flynn, 55, during a phone conversation with The San Matean. “She meant the world to me.”

Macay was an active person. She went river rafting and skydiving.

The trip in Somalia wasn’t her fi rst. She traveled the world on yachts and posted about them on a website called PPM WorldTour.

Her mother remembers a story when she was traveling. There was a little girl who pointed at Macay’s shoes and said she loved them.

“She just took them off and gave it to her,” she said.

Her mother and sister said Macay was always a kind person.

“She always laughed and smiled,” said Flynn. “She probably didn’t panic when she was held hostage, but asked them what they were doing.”

Seven of the pirates have been sentenced for life. The Navy has captured the leader of the pirates, who will go on trial in January. The other remaining pirates are being tried in Virginia, with each convicted pirate having to go to federal prison without parole.

“People ask if I get angry at God,” Drinkwater said. “I say ‘How can you say such a thing?’ I thank God for every day I had with her.”

We got it covered!The San Matean, Building 10,

Room 180650-574-6330,

sanmatean@smccd.edu

Video Journalism?

Photo courtesy of Patty DrinkwaterLeft to Right: Phyllis Macay and mother Patty Drinkwater.

CSM Career Center will start offering one-hour workshops for informational interviews in spring 2012.

The program would consist of interviews with people who have a career or a job in a related fi eld and ask questions that they are interested in, said Eileen O’Brien, the Career Center director.

These workshops are intended to help students arrange interviews with companies and alumni of CSM.

Career workshops to be offeredLoren Vasquez

The San Matean

“The purpose of informational interviews is to gather information on a career, not job hunting,” said O’Brien.

The workshops will be offered fi rst to career-class students who have enrolled in a career class either this semester or next semester.

“The workshops are a stepping stone into informational inter-views,” said O’Brien.

“Students are ready and under-stand employer expectations and we don’t (want) them to refl ect bad upon the CSM community by not being prepared,” she said.

The workshops will aid students

in asking questions when conduct-ing an interview, how to dress prop-erly and encourage job shadowing.

“Staying in touch with employers is important. One-out-of-12 infor-mational interviews results into a job offer,” said O’Brien. Without the program, one-out-of-200 resu-més sent out result in a job offer.

“I think it is a great idea,” said student Jackie Romero, 23.

“Especially since how hard it is to fi nd a job these days. It is important for students to make connections and contacts in a career they are interested in and to see fi rst hand also,” she said.

“Everyone she met loved her and

she loved them”– Patty Drinkwater

News FeatureDec. 12, 2011 The SAN MATEAN • Page 3

Class cut process extensive

Cañada prof. honored by White HouseCañada College professor Ameli-

to Enriquez won the Presidential Award for excellence in science, mathematics and engineering mentoring.

“I feel honored and I can’t believe I was selected,” said Enriquez.

Usually eight or nine award winners are selected by the White House and the National Science Foundation every year; half are individuals and the other half are programs.

Mintoy TillmanThe San Matean

“I was con-tacted by the White House O f f i c e o f Science and Technology policy,” said Enriquez.“I enjoy teaching and mentor-ing,” he said.

Enriquez, who was the only individual selected in California, received this award in recognition for mentoring students through mathematics and engineering.

“Another professor had told me to change my profession after fail-ing one class, Enriquez encouraged me that I could do it,” said one of his students, Juan Quant, 32. “He is the most deserving professor that could receive this award.”

Being a minority can be discour-aging itself, Quant explained. “He wants minorities to succeed,” said Quant. “He motivated me.”

Enriquez uses two programs: “The Math Jam, which is a two-week intensive program and the Summer Engineering Institute, which is a two-week engineering

program at San Francisco State University,” he said.

Another program mentioned was the Scholarships and Science Technology Institute.

“We have a 10-week internship for engineering students funded by NASA,” said Enriquez.

Because many of his students writing in to help his nomination, Enriquez feels that all of Cañada should be recognized, he said.

“It’s the support I got from the students that helped me win the nomination,” said Enriquez.

The award ceremony takes place

Dec. 11 to 13.“I think we’re going to get a tour

of the White House,” he said.He does not know what to expect

once he gets there, he said. “The awarded will be asked about

policy on math, engineering, sci-ence education in the U.S.,” he said.

He plans to bring his mother to Washington D.C. with him.

“My mom is going to the White House,” said Enriquez. “It’s going to be special for her, she is 81 now.”

Cañada College is acknowledg-ing his achievement by holding a reception on Dec. 15 in his honor.

Amelito Enriquez

Cañada lends a helping hand to working adults

Cañada’s College for Working Adults program, started up this year, creating an opportunity for busy adults to earn an associate degree and transfer to a four-year university.

“It reaches a forgotten sector of our students, our average is age 38,” said Jeri Eznekier, assistant project director.

Mintoy TillmanThe San Matean

This program was an important move for Cañada College because a great portion of their students fit into this category.

“Our vice president used her Measure G money to start this program,” said Eznekier.

Classes are held on Thursday nights and every other Saturday making it convenient for students who work full-time or have children to tend to.

“Our courses are almost all

hybrid courses, there are some online courses and assignments,” said Eznekier.

The College for Working Adults is working on possibly expanding to multiple cohorts and business options said Sara Cooper, director of College for Working Adults.

Students earn degrees in inter-disciplinary studies.

This includes 60 general edu-cation units that are transferable to University of California and

California State University.“Students will receive an associ-

ate degree in human services and/or arts and humanities,” said Eznekier.

There will be 35 students in the cohort, beginning next semester.

“We may possibly raise it to two cohorts,” said Eznekier.

Each student is able to to see a College for Working Adults counselor and can have access to specialized tutoring sessions while they are on campus.

“Most of our students can receive financial aid,” said Cooper.

If students qualify, they will receive the same financial aid as other students do.

“They’re with the same students for three years until they graduate,” said Eznekier.

Each cohort that starts each semester continues with the same students throughout the program until they meet their educational goals.

Kayla Figardand Yasmine Mahmoud

The San Matean In the midst of the budget crisis,

classes are cut and programs are restructured, frustrating students and faculty. The process of eliminat-ing and restructuring programs can seem confused and rushed, but in reality, choices are made only after elaborate processes.

Programs can be cut for many reasons including changing trends, enrollment and budget.

While the reasons for class cuts are varied, the budget plays a mas-sive role in the decisions.

“You have to make some tough calls...calls that you wouldn’t have to make if our (financial) situation was better,” said CSM President Michael Claire.

Class cuts do not always mean that a whole program or department is at risk of elimination.

The cutting of classes can be attributed to many factors, such as low enrollment in a certain section, or because another more popular course can fill the same requirements.

“Everybody gets slammed,” said Teresa Morris, Chair of the Com-mittee on Instruction and librarian

for the CSM library.Library Studies went through

the process and was evaluated for its effectiveness among students. Changes were made to the curricu-lum. “It was a six to eight month process,” said Morris.

Classes or programs which do not have high success rates in student transfers and job availability are likely candidates for elimination. Success meaning high transfer and job availability locally.

“You have to let go of the stuff were there is not quite the demand,” said Claire.

Whether or not basic skills, job training and transfer to four-year post-secondary institutions are supported by a class or program are deciding factors when assessing course value.

“If (the classes) are transfer programs, it is a balancing act, if you have a low amount of money you want to help as many students possible,” said Vice President of Instruction Susan Estes.

Program consolidation is another option when class cuts are consid-ered so that students are not left stranded and unable to complete their educational goal.

For example, the CSM admin-istration of justice program is no

longer able to offer certain classes, but classes are offered at the two other colleges within the district.

An example of cooperative edu-cation is working with CSM’s sister colleges, said Claire.

The vice presidents across the district have been looking into consolidation.

Another way class cuts are being countered is by providing courses through community education.

Community education courses are meant for those pursuing life-long learning, are non-credit and must be paid for by the student enrolled.

“A lot of people are just there to learn,” said Claire. “All three colleges are shifting to community education.”

Claire, his management team, Governing Council and CSM Academic Senate President James Carranza will review the class cut and consolidation process in the event of future cuts, said Carranza.

“...I think we can make (the process) more efficient. Cuts and restructuring are difficult process-es,” said Carranza. “So Governing Council must continue to work to make it more efficient as we represent faculty for the benefit of students.”

The administration develops criteria

Proposed criteria and data are analyzed

Criteria and data are applied

Reccomendations to discontinue program are made

Graphic by Yasmine Mahmoud of The San Matean

The steps taken by CSM administration before cuts are made.

Criteria• Changing trends• Enrollment• Budget• Local job availability• Availability at other colleges

Graphic by Yasnube Mahmoud of The San Matean

The general criteria for making cuts on classes that CSM administration follows.

Criteria for class cuts vary, numerous steps taken before final desicions made

News/Campus LiFePage 4 • The SAN MATEAN Dec.12 , 2011

Financial aid: Is it really worth it?

As tuition increases and com-petition for financial aid continues to grow, students continue to take advantage of various forms of

Varsha RanjitThe San Matean

In the Mix By Erasmo Martinez

Has Christmas become too commerical?

Zack Cantu, 18Undecided, Sunnyvale

“Yes, it’s become all about buying things now.”

Heather Manuel, 19Dentistry, Daly City

“Yes, people are blinded by consumerism. It defeats the purpose.”

Ivana Barrios, 18Psychology, Foster City

“People have lost the meaning, it’s all about sales and buying things.”

Devon Yoshimine, 20Undecided, Half Moon Bay

“Yes, it’s no longer about staying at home with your family.”

Hiro Nara, 18Undecided, Foster City “I think it is still genuine, but it changes as you get older.”

Art by Ciara Cooksey and Yasmine Mahmoud of The San Matean

Students must meet these stipulations to qualify for federal financial aid.

financial aid. Scholarships, grants and work-

study are among the many oppor-tunities available to students.

When it comes to opportuni-ties that have specific eligibility requirements, students do not only

Enrollment, health services and parking fees are among the many costs students pay.

Depending on a student’s finan-cial situation, financial aid covers a significant amount of these costs which may go beyond tuition fees, such as living expenses.

Student Erik Luccro, 18, thinks students should at least apply for grants, even if they face ineligibil-ity he said.

“Education is needed to succeed in life, to thrive in life and for the students who are not eligible for financial aid, it saddens me to hear that,” said Luccro.

Eligibility proves to be the main concern expressed by students.

“College is a good choice in or-der to educate yourself, but going straight for the jobs and money is a harder choice,” said student Joshua Rhodes, 21. “They should improve

Art by Ariana Anderberg of The San Matean

Financial aid helps disadvantaged students study, but is costly.

The value of education/Is it worth it?

the financial aid system so those who really need it can be eligible.”

Although students may be award-ed more in financial aid if they are full-time, they may be still eligible even if they are part-time students.

“An education is important for your professional career,” said student John Kilie, 19. “It is a broken system because it doesn’t help those who should be eligible at least a little bit.”

Eligibility struggles

face academic competition. The difficulty to obtain financial

aid combined with growing tuition costs is discouraging and may cause students to even consider: is educa-tion worth it?

To be eligible for financial aid at CSM, students must meet basic requirements such as being enrolled

in an eligible program and having financial need.

“There could be a lot of factors as to why students might be eligible but don’t take advantages of finan-cial aid,” said Claudia Menjivar, Director of Financial Services.

Students who are not native English speakers or low-income students are an example of those who may not be taking advantage of the financial aid they are eligible for.

“I believe that the standard re-quirements for eligibility are fair,” said Menjivar. “We want to make sure the right money goes to the right people who need it.”

Financial aid benificial, say studentsFinancial aid is provided differ-

ently to each individual student on the college, giving each student their own story on how it works for them.

An anonymous student applied for financial aid. She explained that is was determined her and her husbands wage was enough to get her through school and support their son.

“According to them, I should be able to pay $1,700 of my own

Erasmo MartinezThe San Matean

money,” she said. “What was messed up is I put the paperwork in May and was told the first week of school I wasn’t able to get it.”

In order to get financial aid, students are required to fill out the Free Application for Federal Stu-dent Aid, said Claudia Menjivar, Director of Financial Aid.

“Any student can get it,” she said. “Whether your a full-time or part-time student.”

Students must fill out the FASFA application in order to determine if they can be awarded money, how much they can be awarded to pay

for classes and other expenses. Income of the individual and who

they provide for or don’t provide for is also considered.

Full-time students tend to re-ceive more money than part-time students, said Menjivar.

With that, students who file as dependent (relying on a family member’s income) receive less than an independent student.

Board of Governors fee waivers, Cal Grants, federal work loans and general loans and grants are ac-counted for when someone applies.

Marica Wick, 35, is a full-time

student taking 12 units said she will be receiving $6,000 from financial aid.

“This is the first year I’m getting financial aid,” she said. “I decided to switch careers, so I needed to take more classes.”

Wick used to have a managerial position at her work that paid well enough for her classes. This year she stepped down form that position.

Now with a higher school load, the money allows her to pay school expenses.

“(Applying) was a pretty easy process,” she added. “They consid-

er everything you’re eligible for.”Wick will be receiving $6,000

for this semester and the next. The money is paid in different stalls in separate amounts in the semester.

Student Brandon Snyder, 25, is another student working and in need of money to pay bills and pay for school.

“For this school year I got like $7,500,” he said. “I got half of it at the beginning of the semester and the other half I’ll get in January.”

“Because of low wages I don’t get a lot of money,” he said. “Financial aid definitely helps.”

Students grow impatient with aid officeImpatience with the CSM De-

partment of Financial Aid has lead many students to file complaints regarding inability to provide aid in a timely manner.

Carlos MesquitaThe San Matean

The reported delays have caused students who do not have a bank account to purchase supplies late.

Charles Ragland, 21, student and football player, uses the direct deposit of Sallie Mae and has issued a complaint against the financial aid department.

“They take way too long,” said Ragland. Ragland filled out the Sallie Mae form two weeks prior the fall semester and was informed that he would receive his financial aid in the beginning of the semester.

When Ragland went to withdraw the money from his account, he was

told by the financial aid department that there were some errors on a tax refund and was asked to resubmit his form. After three weeks, Rag-land had not yet received his check.

The financial aid department is currently working very hard to provide speedy access to funds and

a process that is simple but does re-quire some action by students, said Patricia Christel, the spokeswoman for the CSM Sallie Mae program.

Students have the opportunity to select their preferred method

See “Sallie Mae” on page 11

Campus LiFeDec. 12, 2011 The SAN MATEAN • Page 5

‘Love Language’ speaks to YouTube

Manuel OrbegozoThe San Matean

Electricity meets music at CSMLights dimmed in the CSM theater as music students featured their tracks on Nov. 30 at the Electronic Music Concert.Many of the songs performed had audio playing from the theater speakers while lights accompanied them. While the

majority of performances followed this format, others showcased tunes with projected visuals mixed with live performances.One performance started with Eligo Tapia, 20, playing his Jackson Soloist guitar to a mellow drum beat as blue back-

ground projected behind him.“I had an atmospheric sound for the first part,” he said about “Shimmer,” the solo he had performed. “(The) second half

was more of a soundtrack influence.”Red lighted behind Tapia while the electronic beat sampled powerful drums over heavy shredding from his guitar.“I wrote and recorded (the song) yesterday,” he said. “I stayed up till 3:30 (a.m.) to practice.”Another piece, called “Overcuriosity,” had music student Billy Bate, 33, using Abelton, a device used to do electronic

performances, to perform live synthesizer sounds and visuals to go along with it.“I never did live visuals,” he said. “This was more of a show of years of ongoing work using techniques from the class.”The visuals showed a mirrored image focusing on a road that lead to an abstractly colored moon. As this flashed on a

projector, electronic drums played with samples, one including a laughing man, fitting the visuals with a spacey track.In the audio and visual department, a video clip from the film “Game of Death” had audio dubbed over the scene, giving

a comedic spin to the Bruce Lee action film.Allen Haysbert,19, had created the piece in the Electronic Music 293: Audio for Visual Media course.“I was going to do something more violent,” he said. “But I decided on my second option of Bruce Lee.”The video had kept the audience laughing the whole time.The band Courage performed two songs to close the concert. Joey Hassid, 19, sang and played the piano, Belen Alvarez,

23, sang and played the violin, Sam Miller, 20 was on bass, Dominic Mercurio, played the drums and Jordan Grimes,19, played the saxophone.

Both songs had each band member, one playing saxophone and the other a violin, pulling interesting sounds. Hassid explained that the band added the saxophone last minute.

“We may do some last minute crew changes,” he said. “But we’re glad the sax player was there.”Krys Bobrowski, the electronic music professor, said that this concert is done every semester. Each piece is produced

and composed by students from the electronic music classes.“This concert is an opportunity for students to produce a live show and perform,” Bobrowski said. “(The concert) covers

a wide variety of musical styles as well as audio and visual clips.”

—Story by Erasmo Martinez Photo of Eligo Tapia by Greg Marshall The San Matean

With more than 4 million views on his channel, student Kenneth Roque seems to have found the key to making a successful YouTube video.

Roque’s remake of “Love Lan-guage,” an original video by the Jubilee Project, has more views than the original video.

The Jubilee Project is an orga-nization that focuses on creating videos to raise awareness for issues associated with human rights such as deaf children in America, refu-gees in North Korea, HIV/AIDS and more.

The video shows a boy (Roque) who meets a girl, played by Jackie Nguyen, while sitting together on the same bench and starts to com-municate with her through writing on post-its until she reveals through sign language that she is deaf.

“A friend of mine had a random video project for school. We came across the Jubilee Project and we thought we should remake it,” said Roque.

Roque’s remake surpassed the original video by 3 million views. Other remakes made by different filmmakers have yet to reach the million view mark.

“It’s still flattering when people recognize me at times,” said Nguyen, 16.

“When we released the remake and started getting a lot of views, (The Jubilee Project) emailed me and thanked me for remaking the video,” said Roque. “They’re really thankful I helped them raise aware-ness for deaf children in America.”

Roque believes that the key to have a successful video on You-Tube is to understand that viewers have a low attention span and that constant change in scenes is neces-sary, he said.

He will continue to make videos as long as people keep watching,

said Roque. “You just gotta know what people like to watch at the moment.”

Roque looks for sad songs that will sync perfectly with his videos, he said.“I mainly base my videos from the song that I’m using. I don’t make the video and then look for the song. I look for a song and then make the video. It’s like looking for a story,” said Roque.

“The young filmmaker finds his inspiration in people, many of whom are fellow CSM students, that come up to him and ask him to post more videos. “I thought it was cool to get lots of views, but then people started recognizing me at school from YouTube and they kept asking me to make more videos,” said Roque.

Roque considers himself a romantic. The videos are not situ-ations that have happened to him. In fact, he’s been single for a year.

Roque, who plans on majoring in Business, only sees film as a hobby. “I would love to do film as a major but knowing the industry, it’s pretty hard to be successful in the field. Although I’ve been suc-cessful on YouTube already, I’m still convinced it is pretty hard,” said Roque.

“Working with (Roque) was re-ally fun. We’ve known each other for a while so it a little bit more comfortable,” said Nguyen.

Roque’s success on Youtube has helped him become well known around campus.

“It’s great when people you don’t even know come up to you and tell you those things,” said Roque.

I was invited to do a meet and greet with a bunch of other YouTube celebrities at Galileo High School. They played a couple of my videos while the others played music live,” said Roque.

To view Roque’s remake of Love Language and more videos, visit http://www.youtube.com/user/BootiHole.

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The San Matean 650-574-6330 • sanmatean@smccd.edu

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Campus LiFeDec. 12, 2011

o one taught Rudy Ramirez how to feel about music, he lived it. This was the message he portrayed in his World Beat Groove presentation on Nov. 7 in the main theater.

The event began with the collaboration of The Rhythm Shakerz, an African drum ensemble, followed by a PowerPoint presentation given by Ramirez, explaining the background of world beat music.

Ramirez’s band, Zanzibar set off the party with music in several languages and a carnival led by Ramirez himself that came from the top and made its procession around the theater.

Ramirez’s daughter, Missy Ramirez, who is a CSM student, performed a belly dance piece afterwards.“We play for change,” said Ramirez. “Music is the language of the world. It crosses all boundaries, gen-

erations, genders and cultures. That’s the power of music, that’s the beauty and we’re doing change and can’t go wrong.”

The audience interacted with the performers throughout the event.“It was a great event; it raised awareness for this new genre of music. It was energetic and everyone got

really into it and got up from their seats to dance,” said student Daniella Medeiro, 20. A raffle was held as well, in which free passes to the zoo and Six Flags were given away.As the final performance, the Rhythm Shakerz joined Zanzibar in song.Ramirez is known for hosting events where he explains and showcases different genres of world music.

— Text by Manuel Orbegozo Photos by Shaun Carmody and Greg Marshall

The San Matean

Professor, othersdance and jam

N

Campus LiFe The SAN MATEAN • Page 6 and 7

Photos clockwise from top: Rudy Ramirez and Kerry Wing perform as Missy Ramirez dances; Ramirez and Wing perform an original piece, The Rythym Shakerz and Ramirez drum in the final number; drummer Ricardo Molina plays the bongos; Ramirez performs traditional Latin music as a member of the audience (foreground) dances.

sportsPages 8 • The SAN MATEAN Dec. 12, 2011

Lady Bulldogs fall short at Cuesta As the women’s basketball sea-

son is underway, the Lady Bulldogs are steady at 6-3 record following a Cuesta Conoco Phillips Invitational last weekend.

CSM faced three powerhouse opponents at Bakersfield College, Cuesta College, but fell short in the championship game against Barstow College 54-52.

Before the tournament went underway, Bakersfield College was off to a hot start as well, winning their first four-out-of-five games.

Bakersfield College had height,

which CSM currently lacks the Lady Bulldogs were able to crash the boards and record 36 total rebounds.

“Though we’re a small team, height wise, Chesca Roth and Han-nan Salah we’re big in the opener,” said head coach, Michelle Warner. “(Salah) had 12 points with seven rebounds, and Chesca contributed with 10 points and seven rebounds.”

Not only were Roth and Salah playing key roles in the rebound-ing game, but sophomore guard, Kimmie Fung opened the Cuesta tournament scoring 20 of CSM’s 59 total points, going along with six rebounds of her own, as the Lady

A stud on the court and in the classroom

Lady Bulldog Clarissa Mendoza was picked as All-State Academic Selection and will be presented with the award during the 2011-2012 state championship, in Vertura on Friday, March 9, 2012. This honor was awarded to only five outstanding players in all of California, and only one other in the NorCal region. “She wanted (the award) last

be harder to stay there. The true test is maintaining that and being consistent with it.” Mendoza has been relentlessly been working to earn the honor and doesn’t plan to slow down, she said. “Clarissa is an idealist student athlete who executes both on and off the court, a great team player and an even greater role model,” said Mendoza’s teammate Jennifer Piccolotti. “She also works part time on top of school and basketball,” she said.

year,” said Coach Michelle Warner. Mendoza is the first from CSM to receive the award in a long time,

she said. “I’m very proud of myself and I do feel hon-ored to receive the award but it doesn’t mean that I can let up and relax,”

said Mendoza. “It took hard work to get up there and it’s going to

Lack of men’s basketball team leaves questions

The absence of a men’s basketball team has been a topic of discussion surrounding CSM’s athletic depart-ment. The question has been asked to athletic director Andreas Wolf before and students are wondering what the reason is. “We (CSM) have had the program many years ago,” said Wolf. “I can-not honestly tell you the reason why the program was dropped.” While CSM does not offer a male basketball team for CSM, students, Dominic Tejo, 19, Jonathan Tuason, 20, and Stephen Johnson, 19, are three of the four Cañada College players who attend CSM academi-cally, but play basketball at Cañada

Sol LadvienkaThe San Matean

College. “To me, it’s a whole different area,” said Tuason. “I can’t re-

ally relate to the people at Ca-ñada because it is located in a geographically affluent area.” “With CSM not having a bas-ketball team, it

means that I have to drive to Cañada everyday after school, which is a bit stressful at times,” said Tejo. “Bas-ketball is such a widely-followed sport too, and since we already have a women’s team, why not have a men’s team too?” Wolf has always thought of adding more sport programs to the school such as men’s basketball and

women’s volleyball, but, because of budget issues and financial limita-tions, will have to wait, he said.“I really enjoy playing at Caña-da,” said John-son. “I have met new people and made new friends.” “Our team and coaches are great,” said Tejo. “We are a very young team who have a lot of grow-ing to do, but with time we will be a strong force.” “We are well represented among our surrounding colleges,” said Wolf regarding the Skyline and Cañada College’s sports’ programs. “It’s a way to produce very good student athletes and an even better

way of an aggressive recruiting style.” Another reason for the absence of the sport is the three prong test of compliance referring to Title IX. Each of the three prongs have a sig-nificance behind them. Prong one makes sure that the proportionality is at about an even amount with male and female athletes. “At CSM, we’re always aim-ing to be at an even fifty-fifty,” said Wolf. “I definitely support bringing Men’s basketball back,” said Tuason. Prong two lists that the athletic department add programs based on the interest of students and under-represented sex, as for Prong three fully accommodates and meeting the needs of the underrepresented

sex, as well as a survey needing to be filled out, then which the athletic overseer will carefully review. “I am completely loyal to my Cañada team, don’t get that wrong,” said Tejo. “I feel like it would make it more interesting to have a brand new team coming into the picture and seeing how they could do against already established teams.” He feels strong with how the coaches impact the players both on the court and in the classroom, said Wolf. “I’d rather be a small school and strong with the progression of our athletic program instead of a big school with exposure to the school,” said Wolf. “We have been able to produce very good student athletes and its not unusual to see athletes succeed from CSM.”

Sol LadvienkaThe San Matean

Bulldogs were victorious 59-46.“We’ve gotten much better,”

said Salah. “We are still learning, but it has to be a team effort for all of us to be grabbing and crashing the boards.”

“Stealing and rebounding, you need to think of those as a million-dollar ball,” said Roth. “How badly do you want it?”

The Tournament’s Champion-ship Semifinals got underway against a 4-3 Cuesta team who also wanted to do well in the tournament, but a quick defense gave CSM another victory.

With recording 19 total steals, CSM shot 44 percent against a

Clarissa Mendoza

Giselle SuarezThe San Matean

stiff Cuesta zone defense, win-ning 72-65, improving 2-0 in the tournament.

“We played and shot well against Cuesta,” said Warner. “All 11 girls played and scored,” she said.

In the Championship finalé, CSM and Barstow Community College had the game tied a total of 15 times, before it came down to the wire as Barstow edged out CSM 54-52.

With a 16-point, three steals, two assists, three rebounds and a block, Nikki McDonald led the squad but came up just short.

“They shot a fall away jumper on the baseline to go up by two with 25 seconds left,” said Warner. “We had

the ball with 15 seconds remaining, Vanessa Castillo penetrated at the top of Barstow’s zone but couldn’t shoot. We were fortunate to steal an inbound attempt from Bartstow, but we were not able to get a shot off.”

CSM heads back home with a 6-3 record following a nail-biter performance from the Lady Bull-dogs after this past tournament. CSM will host Mission College Saturday, Dec. 10.

Following their game against Mission College, CSM will also host the Tom Martinez Invitational Tournament Dec. 16 to 18 as they face Allen Hancock College and San Jose City College.

Dominic Tejo Jonathan Tuason

Women’s Basketball Upcoming Schedule

12/10 Mission College 12/16 Allen Hancock 12/22 San Jose City College

12/28 Shasta *1/4 @ San Francisco

*1/6 Las Positas

*1/11 Foothill

*1/13 Chabot

*1/20 @ Skyline

*1/27 San Francisco

*2/1@ Las Positas

* 2/3 Foothill

* 2/8 Chabot

* 2/15 Skyline

* Coast Conference Game

Bulldogs earn honors and awardsAs the closing segment of an 8-3

year for CSM’s football team, the college held an annual award cer-emony, Dec. 8 in Building 10, with more than 200 athletes, coaches, friends and family in attendance to honor the athletes.

The award ceremony opened with comments from athletic director, Andreas Wolf as he was apprecia-tive of CSM’s volunteers through-out the season. Following Wolf, head football coach, Brett Pollack took the podium and acknowledged his coaching staff and reflected back on their season.

“We’re here tonight to celebrate the team and their individual work,” said Pollack. “It’s been a great year and honoring the team and the people behind the scenes, who also contributed this year.”

A slide show was shown for the crowd throughout each individual position and coaches took the po-

dium to talk about the season and the roles the players played.

“This is a good group of guys,” said linebacker’s coach Hansen Sekona regarding his line backing core. “It is a true blessing to coach these guys.”

As an individual award, first team All-Offense, All-Defense, All-NorCal Conference, and All-American awarded recipients were presented with a plaque listing the honor.

Hoko Fanaika was the only CSM Bulldog this season to earn All-American honors and NorCal Conference’s “Most Dominate Lineman.” Also awarded were Barrett Wangara, Alex Hubbard and Tevita Lataimua.

“Once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog,” said lineman coach Larry Owens as he and the rest of the coaching staff looked toward next season, but reflected upon the sophomores who will depart CSM. “Anywhere these men go, they will always bleed Bulldog Blue.”

Sol LadvienkaThe San Matean

Photo by Shaun Carmody of The San Matean

The CSM football team celebrates their 62-24 Bulldog Bowl victory over Diablo Valley College Nov. 19.

Lady Bulldog baller honored for academic achievement

sports Feature The SAN MATEAN • Page 9Dec. 12, 2011

Shaun CarmodyThe San Matean

The wall of CSM football head coach Brett Pollack’s of-fi ce is adorned with many things: photos of his children, photos of the teams he has coached, typical fur-nishings for t h e h e a d c o a c h o f any football team.

The most notable wall furnishing, however, is a framed and autographed Julian Edelman New England Patriots jersey.

Edelman is a return specialist for the three-time Super Bowl cham-pions, but just seven years ago he was taking snaps at College Heights Stadium for the Bulldogs.

It’s success stories like these that make CSM such a desirable destina-tion for recruits who were unable to secure scholarships straight out of high school.

“We want (recruits) to know that it’s very possible to move on to D-I schools,” said head coach Bret Pollack.

“There’s something like 10-15 players in the NFL that started out in the Nor-Cal conference,” said Pollack.

(One notable NorCal alum is 2011 Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers from Butte College).

Notable recent division-1 trans-fers from CSM include Cal running back David Akni, USC offensive lineman Jeremy Galten, and highly-touted Oregon wide receiver Rah-saan Vaughn.

Bulldogs on the recruiting radar of D-I schools include offensive guard Hoko Fanaika (reportedly sought out by 2010 NCAA champi-ons Auburn), safety Alex Hubbard, defensive lineman Barret Wingara, and wide receiver Antoine Turner.

“A lot of guys out of high school need work in the class room, weight room, and on the fi eld,” said Pol-lack.

“Going to a JC is another way of developing that. Improve your grades and skill and after two years here you can make that jump,” he said.

Lyman Faoliu, a current Bulldog defensive lineman, was recruited by Fresno State and University of Nevada during his high school ca-reer, but both programs, citing size concerns, asked him to walk-on in-stead of offering him a scholarship.

“They said they liked the way I played, but I couldn’t afford to go all the way out there without knowing if I’d make the team,” said Faoliu.

Shortly afterwards, Faoliu was introduced to CSM’s storied pro-gram and elite facilities.

Storied football program continues on-fi eld and academic success

43.75

36.25 Percent whoreceivedscholarships

Percent whodid notreceivescholarships

Football Players ScholarshipStatistics 2010 to 2011

Statistics provided by the Officeof Planning, Research andInstitutional Effectiveness

Brett Pollack

“(Defensive Coordinator Tim) Tulloch found me and he told me I’d fi t in perfectly,” said Faoliu, a freshman.

“I took a tour of the facilities and it was unlike any other JC,” he said.

Coming off a successful gray-shirt freshman season, Faoliu has no regrets about coming to CSM.

“(Playing for CSM) was the best possible decision,” said Faoliu. “I’m very happy here.”

In addition to success on the fi eld,

the coaching staff and athletic de-partment stress the need to succeed in the classroom.

“You can win state year after year and not have a single transfer and that might work for a while,” said Dean of Athletics Andreas Wolf.

“(But) if you have tremendous success in the classroom and a moderately successful team, you will generate a positive residual effect. That’s always been our focus here,” said Wolf.

According to Faoliu, Pollack will check the classes of the players to make sure they are attending. If not, there are consequences that include extra sprints in practice.

“You’d rather be sitting in class,” said Faoliu on the nature of the punishments.

The academic rigidity has proven successful in years past.

In the 2010-2011 academic year, 21 out of 32 sophomores on the football team transferred and 14 were given scholarships worth a total of $820,000.

“Two major groups whose lack of academic success have been prob-lematic are African-American and Pacifi c Islander males,” said Wolf.

“But for (individuals in those groups) in our athletic program, they have been performing at an exceedingly high level,” said Wolf.

Pollack cites these facts when sports at academic institutions is questioned.

“We’re an academic support group,” said Pollack, “the athletes always have us.”

Photo by Shaun Carmody of The San Matean

The historic success of the CSM football team has lead to the high transfer rate of its players.

Graphic by Yasmine Mahmoud of The San Matean

The CSM football program sent 21 of 32 sophomores to four year institutions in 2011.

Graphic by Yasmine Mahmoud of The San Matean

Of the players who transferred in 2011, 14 received athletic scholarships to their four-year institutions.

Notable CSM Football Transfers• Julian Edelman QB Kent State (2005)• Mike Alagamba OL Oregon (2006)• David Aknin RB Cal (2009)• Eddie Edler DB Arizona State (2009)• Matangi Tonga DL Houston (2009)• Joe Sampson DB BYU (2009)• Jeremy Galten OL USC (2010)• Rahsaan Vaughn WR Oregon (2010)

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advertisemeNtDec. 12, 2011 The SAN MATEAN • Page 10

The San Matean is so valuable no one has ever dared to make a paper hat out of it

If you looked up The San Matean in the dictionary, it would say “SEE ‘Excellence’”

To prepare for finals, studentsread The San Matean

If the First Amendment had a mascot, it would be The San Matean

Join The San Matean

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News/opiNioNDec. 12, 2011 The SAN MATEAN • Page 11

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Editorial Tough guy consequencesEveryone has been challenged

to a schoolyard fight, knows someone who has or has at least seen a similar kind of scenario un-fold on a TV show or in a movie. The bottom line is: it is an awk-ward situation to be in.

Shying away from a fight makes one look weak, but engaging puts one in great danger of getting in serious trouble or getting serious-ly hurt. For males, it is especially awkward because the societal ex-pectation to appear “tough” never goes away.

It is seen in sports, in boxing, and in Mixed Martial Arts, where inflicting bodily harm is sanc-tioned and often rewarded. There are rules and regulations of en-gagement in these instances, but

of receiving funds by choosing a debit card, direct deposit to a bank account, or a mailed check, said Christel. Students need to select their preferred option online and in some cases provide additional information.

Another s tudent , Ashley Manandhar, 20, was forced to go to the financial aid office due to a program error for her account online which failed to credit her with the awarded money in time for the semester.

“It took a month and a half to get the money,” said Manandhar.

Ramone Flow, 25, also uses the Sallie Mae method of direct deposit.

“I have gone over 90 units, so I am not able to get any financial aid without an appeal,” said Flow.

If a student is in good academic standing and is in need of financial help, an appeal is not required. The delay of two to three weeks, keeps students from buying their school supplies and textbooks, causing them to fall behind and not excel in their classes, said Flow.

Continued from Page 4Sallie Mae

Continued from Page 1Civil Rightsdean of Cañada’s social science department.

“They took the lead in designing and offering the course. Cañada and CSM followed suit,” said Johnson.

Materials were taken from the Sojourn to the Past trips and in-corporated into a class curriculum.

The focus of the class is to teach their definition of non-violence to Bay Area students, a demographic, Steinberg said is just as susceptible to racism as any group in the “deep south.”

“Americans like to say (the prob-lem) is over there,” said Steinberg. But even here in the Bay Area, we continue to use racially insensitive words to address friends or make jokes, he said.

“Language can be violence,” said

Steinberg. “People died because of the word n---- and now people use it as a joke,” he said.

The course aims to teach students to think differently about language and the world. Steinberg calls this change in thought the true meaning “non-violence.”

The class will use the civil rights movement to draw parallels with modern issues dealing with non-violence. It will also strive to reveal a different side of history, said Steinberg.

“I thought it was a great thing that a new course was being added as opposed to classes being cut,” said student representative on the committee, Kat Alvarado.

“It’s (a class) many of us would love to take ourselves,” said Be-stock.

Continued from Page 1KCSM

this gets lost during street fights.The compulsion to appear as

a tough guy can lead to injuries, property damages and even death, but for some reason, these very real possibilities remain abstract for young men.

A 19-year old CSM student was convicted in August of assault resulting in great bodily harm and sentenced to three years in prison. The San Matean published surveillance video of the assault, which occurred on campus, online at www.sanmatean.com.

When one watches the video, the viewer will notice one key fact about the altercation: only one punch was thrown.

One punch and a college stu-dent fresh out of high school gets

three years. That is potentially 1,095 days in either San Quen-tin or Pelican Bay for one lousy punch.

The problem is, a lot can hap-pen because of one punch. In this case, one punch caused the victim to fall backwards and hit his head on the pavement, the injuries sus-tained resulted in a coma.

The reason the assault occurred may be mere speculation, but what is certain is that serious con-sequences can result from even something as harmless as one lousy punch.

One is left to ask, is that one lousy punch worth ruining the life of others or oneself? No moment of anger and violence is worth a lifetime of trouble.

in every week to watch KCSM TV programming, she said

The fate of broadcasting classes is still to be determined since there will be no broadcasting station.

There is a possibility that an ar-rangement will made with PenTV, a cable access channel ran out of San Carlos for the San Mateo County, according to Lawrence.

About eight employees will be affected by the sale, said Lawrence. There is no faculty working for KCSM TV.

The selling of KCSM TV in-cludes the exchange of equipment, a television transmitter, and miscel-laneous camcorders that add up to a value of $6 million in hardware.

“That’s a lot of stuff to move,”

she said. Because the equipment is cumbersome to relocate, CSM will consider giving the buyer a one year lease to run out of the campus, she said.

The television station has been at CSM since 1964.

“It’s the end of an era,” said Lawrence. “It’s hard to see it go.”

The general statement posted online makes an effort to emphasize that KCSM FM will not be affected by the sale and it will continue to operate as JAZZ 91.1.

“I think it’s bad for the school; classes will be cut and jobs will be lost,” said Bryan Ellison, digital media student and KCSM FM employee. “I hope that whoever buys KCSM still lets us use (the station), but I doubt it.”

Request for records fulfilledThe San Matean is continuing

with First Amendment updates, reporting on an ongoing dispute with the administration regarding the future of its newspaper and website.

The San Matean has sent re-cords requests to CSM President Michael Claire and was recently notified that the records have been compiled.

The requests were regarding three issues previously discussed: adcamp, distribution box and sig-nage. The paper also asked about Journalism Adviser Ed Remitz’s

First Amendment updAte

Faculty Service Areas.After speaking with Daniel

Crump, northern representative for the Academic Senate for Com-munity Colleges, The San Matean learned that FSAs are sometimes used for layoffs. The San Matean believed this was concerning for the future of the journalism pro-gram so it requested records re-garding Remitz’s FSAs.

The San Matean was told by Jennifer Hughes, vice president of student services, that the signage will be posted some time around Dec. 15. “I have received confir-

mation that they will definitely be in place before the start of the spring semester,” said Hughes.

The San Matean has yet to hear response about implementing ad-camp.

The San Matean will review the records and update the website over the winter break.

The San Matean will continue to publish its newspaper and web-site under the current Digital Me-dia Program.The San Matean will update our website, www.sanma-tean.com, as it hears more about the future of the program.

Is college worth it?Cost has taken on a deeper meaning when it comes to a college edu-

cation. With budget cuts on the rise and students struggling to afford an education, the question is, is it all really worth it?

Many may deem a college education as unnecessary; that it is not a necessity in order to become a successful professional. From Abra-ham Lincoln to Steve Jobs, Steven Spielberg to Walt Disney, there are a handful of noteworthy individuals who have been able to become suc-cessful despite not having a complete college education.

What makes college necessary and so expensive? Are academics truly worth it in the end? While having a degree does not guarantee you hands-on experience in the field, is a chance to explore interests and pursue them through majors. Although getting classes becomes more and more challenging, especially with classes being cut at most col-leges, they are the basic needs of students. Basic needs that seem to grow less attainable.

Colleges do not simply increase tuition with the intention of creating difficulty for students; school funds are beneficial to improve services for students. Money from tuition fees is distributed in a multitude of ways depending on the institution. Generally, it is used to improve cam-pus resources and services.

The value of education is ultimately defined by students. Students continue to take advantage of as many financial aid opportunities as they can. They continue to find a balance between studying for classes and juggling part-time jobs.

Whether or not education is worth it can be seen through a students efforts or passivity; students who do put in the effort obviously are will-ing to bear the burdens of tuition increases and class cuts. Education is not about quantity, it is about quality.

opiNioN & pubLiC Forum The SAN MATEAN • Page 12Dec. 12, 2011

The San MaTean is a First Amendment newspaper published bi-weekly during the academic year by the DGME 260, 261, 265 and 270 students at College of San Mateo as a medium for campus communication and laboratory for classes. Opinions, letters and commentary reflect only the opinion of the writer, and not necessarily the opinion of The San MaTean. Letters to the Editor and opinion articles are welcome, although they may be edited for style, space, content and libel. Mail or deliver letters to Building 10, Room 180, 1700 W. Hillsdale Blvd., San Mateo, CA 94402. Telephone: 650-574-6330. E-mail: sanmatean@smccd.edu. All letters must be signed and accompanied by phone numbers or addresses to verify authorship. Names may be withheld upon request. Advertising that conforms to San Mateo County Community College District regulations is welcome. The San MaTean reserves the right to refuse advertising. Single copies are free —additional copies 25 cents each.

the saN mateaN is printed thanks to a generous donation of printing services by the San Francisco Newspaper Company

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Spin CyClE

Presently, the greatest source of controversy seems to be the National Defense Authorization Act.

The bill essentially entitles the government to indefinitely detain anyone they determine to be a possible terrorist, including American citizens. The civilian reaction has been overwhelmingly against the res-olution, perhaps the fiercest opposition to any congressional act since the financial bailouts of 2008.

To be frank, it is relieving.Not because the single greatest threat to American civil liberties may

pass congress and become law, but because people are ticked off about it.All too often, attempts to ignite political conversation are met with blank stares. The general feeling toward the matter appears to be indif-ference.

Honestly, the NDA may just be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back as far as student apathy towards matters of government goes.

One can only hope this sparks interest in the political process and leads students to realizing how far participation can go in terms of law making and preserving individual liberties.

Don’t standardize

NDAA: A cure to apathy

Sol ladvienKa

sports editor

Editorial Back Talkby Erasmo Martinez

While the holiday season is about spending time with family and friends, many people celebrate their faith as well. In the western world, Christmas is the most widely known celebration, as it is believed by most Christians to be the date of birth of Jesus Christ. However, many people of different faiths celebrate dif-ferent holidays during the winter months, such as the Jewish holiday Hanukkah and the Muslim holiday Eid.

The holidays have never had spiritual or religious sig-nificance for myself, as my immediate family is secular, however, my father’s family is devoutly Catholic and my mother’s family is devoutly Jewish.

I was never baptized nor have I independently attend-ed a religious service, but many outside of my family have stressed the importance of religion in their everyday life. Many have also warned of its drawbacks. Despite my secular up-bringing, religion has never been an abstract con-cept.

Growing up, during the holidays, I would spend time with both sides of my family. For my moth-

The holidays from a secular point of view

er’s family, we would travel to Southern California, where they live, and celebrate Hanukkah. Despite not belonging to the Jewish faith, my mother, sister and

I would respectfully observe the holiday when we visited family. We would repeat this practice with my father’s family, respectfully observ-ing Christmas, despite not identifying as Catholic.

We did this because reli-gion is incredibly important to both sides of my family. They respected my parents’ decision to raise my sister and I without religion, which is more accommodating than many other religious fami-lies. We have decided to ac-commodate their religious observances as a means of showing respect for their be-liefs.

This practice has made me understand the importance of the holidays beyond gift-

giving and department store sales. It has also helped me understand the importance of religion as a means of families coming together, not just for my relatives, but also for families of all religions and faiths.

—Shaun CarmodyThe San Matean

• ExcEllEncE in Journalism, sociEty of ProfEssional Journalists, norcal, 2011

• GEnEral ExcEllEncE, nEwsPaPEr, Jacc norcal, 2011• GEnEral ExcEllEncE, wEbsitE, Jacc norcal, 2011

Jorge Malta-Romero, 19Spanish, Millbrae

“It’s lame because some people might not be able to meet the deadline.”

Quincy Nelson, 18Business, San Francisco

“It’s fair because it makes more difficult to just add, then drop.”

Nicole Pritchard, 19Undecided, Daly City

“It’s appropriate because the school is losing money.”

Andrew Lon, 19Criminal Justice, Millbrae

“I’m glad they try to alert us, but Jan. 4 is too soon.”

Wallyson Jian, 18Economics, San Francisco

“I think it’s unfair, because some people can’t pay. They should be more lenient.”

What do you think of the new class fee deadline ?

Jonathan Chow, 18Economics, San Francisco

“It’s alright because the school needs money. It helps people get on track.”

Illustration by Ariana Anderberg of The San Matean

Transferring colleges is supposed to signify a fresh start. A student attends an orientation, may meet with a counselor and takes a place-ment test.

After recommendations made by the Academic Senate of California Community College’s appointed Student Success Task Force to stan-dardize placement tests statewide, is leaving some uneasy.

Some of the recommendations, especially those regarding standard-ization of testing, threaten to hold back students from doing as well as they could.

For example, if a student’s placement tests yield poor results and they later wish to take courses at another college district, they would be un-able to take a different placement test and perhaps score higher and move into a more advanced course.

Students and faculty should carefully observe the suggestions made by the Task Force, because their revisions directly affect how the Cali-fornia Community College system will operate in the future.

However, some of the Task Force’s suggestions are to be taken into consideration.

There are proposals which are already being utilized by the district, such as student education plans, which are a road-map of courses a student must take to reach their educational goals and rewards students who do this with earlier registration dates than those who opt out of it.

Another example of a recommendation that the district already per-forms is mandatory orientation before registration for non-continuing students. . The student body should focus on what changes are proposed and what will be implemented, because ultimately, the outcome will affect them the most.

A movement headed by The Guardsman, City College of San Fran-cisco’s newspaper criticized the Task Force’s recommendations, and the movement was met by change on the part of the Task Force. In order for the dialogue between students and the Task Force to continue, students need to carefully monitor the Task Force’s progress.