The Connection

Los Rios Chancellor Brice Harris spoke to students, faculty and staff at Cosumnes River Col-lege on April 10 about the budget crisis facing Los Rios community colleges, saying that the crisis is “by far the worst and by far the longest.”

The forum was one of four meetings being held at each of the Los Rios colleges. Harris opened the forum by addressing the se-verity of the budget crisis.

“Most experts, not just me, will tell you that it is the worst in modern history,” Harris said.

Since the 2009-2010 academ-ic year, the Los Rios district has dealt with a $77 million budget deficit, cutting 1,430 class sec-

tions, according to the chancel-lor’s presentation.

Harris presented three bud-get scenarios for the next two aca-demic years: best case, mid-range and worst case. These decisions depend on Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax initiative passing in November.

Under the best case scenario, Brown’s tax initiative gets on the ballot in November and passes.

The revenue from the initia-

tive would generate approximate-ly $218 million in funding for California community colleges, which could mean $7.6 million for Los Rios colleges.

Under the mid-range sce-nario, the tax initiative gets on the ballot in November and passes, but the governor would use the $218 million to pay down part of the $900 million debt for Califor-nia community colleges.

Under the worst case scenar-io, Brown’s tax initiative doesn’t make it to the ballot or doesn’t pass, resulting in a $264 mil-lion cut in funding for California community colleges. This would result in a $12 million cut for Los Rios colleges.

If the worst scenario occurs, the district will have to cut 830 class sections in the next two aca-

Volume 58, Issue 1 www.thecrcconnection.comVolume 59, Issue 5 April 19, 2012

The sound of jazz and the smell of wine filled the air on April 14 at Gala 2012, an annual fundraiser presented by the Cosumnes River College Founda-tion in which all proceeds benefit students.

Guests were greeted with a warm welcome and a wine glass as they entered the CRC cafeteria. Pa-trons of the event were invited to taste wines from California vineyards such as Heritage Oak and Ironstone vine-yards.

Along with the wine, event-goers were treated to Hors d’oeuvres, made by CRC’s culi-nary department. The fundraiser also held a silent auction that al-lowed guests to bid on items, such as a photo of the 1980 U.S. Olym-pic gold-medal winning hockey team signed by goaltender Jim Craig.

After giving the guests a chance to get comfortable at the event, Los Rios Chancellor Brice Harris addressed the crowd of more than 200 people.

“This is a very difficult time for everyone in this economy,” he said. “However, your support this evening will have a direct impact on thousands of students.”

After Harris’ speech, CRC President Deborah Travis intro-duced the emcee for the night, CBS13/CW31 news anchor Mari-anne McClary.

“The atmosphere here is just great,” McClary said. “It’s great to see events like this that truly help students.”

The goal of the event was to raise money for the CRC Annual Fund. The CRC Founda-tion’s goal is to establish scholarships, grants and other as-sistance for students and

raise funds to improve the col-

lege experience, according to the

event’s program.“Gala is a signature fund-

raising event for the CRC Foundation,” Travis said. “All proceeds go to scholarships and most of the stuff that we have is donated.”

Two hours into the event, the silent auction closed and the live auction began. Elk

Grove Vice Mayor Pat Hume did the honors of live

auctioneer.The auction featured things

like a guitar signed by music leg-end Eric Clapton and an eight-day, seven-night trip to South Lake Tahoe.

When the auction concluded, guests continued to sample food and wine.

The fundraiser is very impor-tant to CRC, and the support was a great thing to see, Travis said.

“This fundraiser helps make sure we can continue our mission and help out our students,” Travis said.

Annual event raises money for students

By Zachary [email protected]

Los Rios Chancellor Brice Harris (top) addresses the crowd during the Gala event on April 14 in the cafeteria. Board member Kevin Pressey (bottom) pours a glass of Cosentino Tempranillo wine to a guest.

Mike Hendrickson | The Connection

By Tracy Gilkerson & Vince Schwede

Connection Staff

Los Rios chancellor holds budget forum

See HARRIS, Page 8

Mike Hendrickson | The Connection

'Road warriors' ready to make playoff runThe baseball team, who currently play all their games away from Cosumnes River College, are in second place in the Big 8 conference standings and have won nine of their last 12 games. See Page 6

Proposed tuition increase raises fears for community college studentsA tuition proposal at Santa Monica College that would charge more for high-demand classes was recently shot down. But the issue raises a question for students: would they pay more to get into required classes? See Page 8

Students network to find jobsThe third annual FutureFair on April 11 allowed students interested in human service careers to connect with professionals and regional managers. Over 40 businesses and agencies visited, and students agreed that the career fair was a positive experience. See Page 4

A new scholarship proposal is aimed to keep the cost of col-lege affordable for middle-in-come families by eliminating out-of-state corporate spending.

Proposed by California As-sembly Speaker John Perez, the Middle Class Scholarship Act would reduce tuition at Califor-nia’s public colleges, making it af-fordable for middle-class families.

"The California Middle Class Scholarship Act is very simple,” Perez said in a video posted on the Middle Class Scholarship Act website. "Too many families are getting squeezed out of higher education. The Middle Class Scholarship Act reduces fees at UC system and the CSU system by two-thirds, giving tremendous

assistance to those families to make college affordable again."

Assemblyman Richard Pan, who is a sponsor of the bill, spoke at a Cosumnes River College about the act in front of more than 100 students on March 28. He told students that the act will have a positive impact.

“Why should we reward cor-porations who move jobs out of California?” said Pan, who was in charge of the event. “This [act] will put $150 million into the community college system.”

The $150 million would increase fee waivers or provide grants to cover the costs of books, transportation or other educa-tional expenses. The act aims to slash college fees by two-thirds for all students with a family income less than $150,000, according to a brochure about the Middle Class

Scholarship Act distributed by Pan.

“I think that it will definitely help kids who can't afford col-lege, afford it,” said Justin Henry, a 29-year-old communications major.

The act will close a $1 billion corporate tax loophole that allows out-of-state corporations to have lower California taxes, according to the brochure.

Communications professor Colette Harris-Mathews support-ed the event and the act.

“It’s important to have this civ-ic engagement,” Harris-Mathews said. “We have to do something to fund community colleges and make community colleges more available to students.”

While the majority of the students in attendance were in favor of the act, there were some students that were not so quick to support the act.

“I’m just a little bit skepti-cal of it because while I’m all for pushing education in California, we’re just kind of faced with this grim reality that we are $13 billion in debt in just California alone,” said Michael Lindsley, 21, a com-puter science/mathematics major. “Stuff like this, I don’t just go up and sign it.”

While not every student was in favor of the act, there was no denying the passion they felt about improving community col-leges.

“We are at a time where we need to redevelop our commu-nity,” said 22-year-old undeclared major Natasha Sanders. “It takes hard work and effort to make things better.”

April 19, 2012 | cAmpus news | 2 www.thecrcconnection.com

The ConnectionEditor-in-Chief: Imran MajidCampus News Editor: Imran MajidOpinion Editor: Takara CampbellLifestyle Editor: Ashley BoucherSports Editor: Jon WilsonOnline Editor: Tammi KolesinskiCopy Editor: Stephan StarnesFaculty Adviser: Rubina Gulati

Staf

f

Carlo Dela Cruz, Cody Durham Demitri Fellines, Mike Hendrickson, Tracy Gilkerson, Ian Graves, Zachary Hannigan, Erik Juarez, Josh Lee, Ben Levy, Alex Mosqueda, Vince Schwede

The Connection is an award-winning newspaper published bi-weekly by the Journalism 400 newspaper production class. Editorials and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the students, staff or faculty of CRC or Los Rios Community College District. The Connection is a member of the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC).

Letters to the Editor must be typed, signed and include the first and last name of the author and a phone number. They must be 200 words or less and may be edited for length, clarity or taste.

Telephone: (916) 691-7471Fax: (916) 691-7181Website: www.thecrcconnection.comE-mail: [email protected]

The ConnectionCosumnes River College8401 Center ParkwaySacramento, CA 95823

Edit

ors

Issue 4: A news story on the faculty forum held by Los Rios College Federation of Teachers President Dean Murakami said the trombone clause would result in a 9 percent decrease in the salaries of Los Rios employees. The actual number is 6 percent.

It is the duty of The Connection to report all news with the highest accuracy, brevity and clarity as possible. All feedback regarding stories and photos should be sent to [email protected].

Corrections

facebook.com/CRCconnection twitter.com/CRCconnection

Like The Connection on Facebook and follow @CRCconnection on Twitter to stay up-to-date with all the latest CRC news, trends and stories.

Proposed scholarship act aims to end wasteful corporate spending

By Cody [email protected]

California Assemblyman Richard Pan speaks at Cosumnes River College on March 28 about the Middle Class Scholarship Act.

Ian Graves | The ConnectionHawk’s EyeHealth services available to students on campus

The Cosumnes River College health services office is open Monday through Thursday and offers tuberculosis testing, health evaluations and reproductive services. The office is located in OPS 126, and there is no charge for students. Appointments are recommended, but drop-ins are welcome.

For more information, call (916) 691-7584 or visit crc.losrios.edu.

Professor and theater department prepare for fairytale opera

“What Your Parents Don’t Want You to Know… (About Fairytales),” an opera written by CRC professor Kurt Erickson and directed by theatre arts professor Cheri Fortin, will open on April 19. Shows are scheduled to run through April 22, and tickets are $10 for general admission or $8 for students and faculty with a valid I.D.

The opera is based on the Grimm brothers’ fairytale “Cinderella.” It will include a narrator presenting the sweeter and more popular version of the story, while the actors rebel and explain the original, darker story of “Cinderella.” The play “embraces a love of the macabre, silliness, and the truth about fairy tales in a post-Disney era,” according to the play's website.

All performances will be in the Recital Hall. For more information, contact the box office at (916) 691-7802.

Supplemental enrollment form now available

The supplemental enrollment form on eServices is now available to fill out. Completion of the form will give students an enrollment date and allow them to register for classes beginning on the given date. Enrollment dates begin on April 30, and open registration begins on May 21.

For more information, visit www.losrios.edu.

Next blood drive set to begin on April 24

The next blood drive at CRC will be held on April 24 and 25. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., students can donate blood at the bloodmobiles located between the LRC and Science buildings. Participants must have a valid I.D. and are encouraged to drink plenty of fluids. Participants will receive a free pint of ice cream from Baskin-Robbins.

For more information, contact Michelle Barkley at (916) 691-7767. Counseling appointments

are drop-in onlyStudents can sign up for

Counseling appointments in the Counseling Center until April 27. From April 30 through Aug. 24, appointments are on a drop-in basis only. Office hours are Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Visit crc.losrios.edu for updates and changes.

OpiniOn | April 19, 2012 | 3www.thecrcconnection.com

Hawk Talk

“I went to Lake Camanche and I partied.”

Victoria Crabtree, 19Undeclared major

How did you spend your spring break?

“I had to work and do a lot of homework.”

Jose Bucio, 20Public Relations major

Compiled by Demitri Fellines.Photos by Carlo Dela Cruz.

Now I’m no commie. I be-lieve in free speech (and apple pie) as much as the next red-blooded American. So when I say college professors shouldn’t cuss, I’m not proposing a ban of ob-scenities. Professors should have every right to be vulgar; however, they should choose not to.

Potty-mouthed professors are setting a precedent that foul language is okay, which leaves students unprepared for the workplace.

If you want a career wash-ing dishes or mowing lawns, then by all means, cuss. But profanity doesn’t fly at a good job. You won’t find many business executives saying, “our profits this quarter hella increased,” or doctors say-

ing, “well shit, you have cancer.” Some might say college isn’t

for learning to become employees. On the contrary, one of the main purposes of college is to prepare students to become successful employees. Roles are taken to teach responsibility, deadlines are given to teach timeliness and group projects are assigned to teach collaboration, just as clean language should be used to teach professionalism.

Some might also say when professors curse, it captures their class’s attention. It does. But not for long. While cursing grabs the attention of students at first, the shock factor soon wears off, and after a few profanity-laden lec-tures, students become as unin-terested as they’ve always been.

Four letter words aren’t some “as seen on TV” solution to bor-

ing professors and their boring lectures, as proponents of profes-sor profanity would have you be-lieve. To capture the attention of students for the long term (and not just in an instant of exple-tives), teachers must make their lectures interesting, engaging and relevant.

Besides, if the only thing keeping a student's attention is the professor dropping a payload of f-bombs every lecture, then the student isn’t paying attention to

what’s important—the lesson. It is no great challenge to

abstain from being profane, but some professors may simply re-fuse.

In times of great stress or when emphasis is needed and professors find themselves un-able to express their thoughts with clean language, they should at least choose less profane words. This is illustrated by one of the most prestigious archaeology professors of all time—Indiana Jones.

In the midst of bloodthirsty cult members, Indy expresses his anguish with a mildly profane

“shit.” If he can restrain himself in that situation, then surely college professors can keep it clean in the midst of a markedly less blood-thirsty group—college students.

Sacramento and Kings deserve betterEditorial

Fans have endured a lack of committment from the Kings’ owners–the Maloof family–for over a decade now.

The time has come for them to either put up or shut up.

In a letter to the Maloofs on April 12, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson expressed his dis-appointment with the Maloofs for not honoring their verbal agree-ment, making it clear that the city would not change the terms of the deal.

"The best – and only – way to demonstrate that commitment is to honor the 'fair deal' as all other parties have done,” Johnson wrote. “Your handshake is your handshake. Your promise is your promise.”

Unfortunately, a handshake and a promise mean nothing to the Maloofs, and by sale or by self-enlightenment, it’s time the Sacramento Kings had an owner, or owners, that did value such agreements.

It was barely over a month ago that the Sacramento City Council approved a term sheet that outlined the funding for a new arena in Sacramento.

A term sheet that had been

agreed upon by the NBA, An-schutz Entertainment Group, the city of Sacramento and the Maloofs.

Excitement filled new City Hall in downtown Sacramento, and Gavin Maloof high-fived the many arena supporters in atten-dance.

As of April 13, Friday the 13th of all days, high-fives are the last thing arena supporters would give to any members of the Maloof family.

The Maloofs backed out of an arena deal that was initially deemed fair by all parties–includ-ing themselves–citing numerous disagreements they had with the term sheet in a PowerPoint pre-sentation delivered at the NBA Board of Governors meeting.

While the Maloofs said they had disagreed with much of the term sheet from the get-go, it sure didn’t seem that way when they walked on to center court of the Feb. 28 game against the Utah Jazz with Mayor Johnson, hands raised in the spirit of victory.

It didn’t seem that way when Gavin Maloof shed tears of joy after closed door negotiating dur-ing the 2012 All-Star weekend in

Orlando, Fla. The Maloofs pleaded for a

new arena for the better part of the last decade and are on record as saying that renovating the ex-isting Power Balance Pavilion was not a reasonable option for them.

But when the city of Sacra-mento stepped up to the chal-lenge of putting a feasible plan in place and the Maloofs were asked to pay up, they found a slew of reasons to back out of the deal and even backpedaled to suggest-ing Power Balance Pavilion reno-vation was now an option.

Confused yet? The only clarity that has

come from this debacle, is that the Maloofs either need to invest in the city of Sacramento with cold hard cash and signatures or sell the Kings to one of the sev-eral reported parties interested in purchasing the team.

Sacramento has proven its loyalty to the Kings, and the city does not deserve to be jerked around.

Fans have sold out 19 of the 26 seasons the Kings have been in Sacramento, and the city was–and still is–willing to put up $255.5 million towards the construction

of a new arena, according to the term sheet.

Sacramento has come through with a plan that was ac-cepted by the Sacramento City Council, even when NBA owners and Commissioner David Stern were pessimistic toward the pos-sibility that it could come up with a plan.

All the Maloofs have done thus far is hurt a city that has been nothing but loyal to them, and in the process, they have burned the bridge with a mayor that sin-cerely cared about being a partner and getting this deal done.

The Maloofs have also failed to realize that the arena deal is bigger than basketball.

It is a chance to be a part of history.

It is a chance to revamp the image and economics of a de-pressed city.

It is a chance to be immortal-ized forever in Northern Califor-nia.

It’s time the Maloofs either pony up some cash and invest in their team and their city or sell the team to somebody that will.

The city of Sacramento and the Kings deserve it.

“Just chilled at home, hung out with family. Didn't really do much.”

Matthew Erler, 20Undeclared major

Dear Editor,

In your March 29 article “Los Rios union leader presents lecture on status and future of commu-nity colleges,” there is a comment by Dean Murakami that if the deficit in funding is not resolved, a Los Rios contractual provision known as the trombone clause would be instituted.

The actual statement reads as follows “As a result, Murakami said the trombone clause will be instituted, resulting in a 9 percent decrease in the salaries of Los Rios employees.”

In fact, it is a 6 percent proposed salary reduction not a 9 percent decrease.

While still significant, it is important for our college community and its constituents to have accurate information and to understand the proposed salary rollback is a component of the district’s budget planning scenarios (Worst Case, X Bud-get).

The salary rollback will only be instituted in February 2013 if the November tax initiative is not successful and the community college system sustains additional statewide funding reductions.

Further information about the Los Rios District’s budget planning scenarios and the im-pacts on our college, employees and students is available through

my office and from our Public Information Officer, Kristie West.

In these challenging times, we want to make sure everyone at CRC is informed about the seriousness of the fiscal situation and has the opportunity to offer his/her feedback on the budget planning models.

Dr. Deborah J. Travis, President, Cosumnes River

College

Letter To The Editor

“I restored a bicycle from the '40s. I did all the body work and now I'm ready to paint it.”

Erika Bradley, 20Communications major

Profane or not profane: professors should be professional in the classroom

By Ben [email protected]

If you want to send a letter to

the editor, please contact us at connect@crc.

losrios.edu

If you just want to talk to us, follow us on Twitter @CRCconnection or "Like" us on

Facebook at Facebook.com/crcconnection.

com

Also, come visit us at

thecrcconnection.com!

“If you want a career washing dishes or mowing lawns, then by all means, cuss.”

Ben LevyStaff Writer

Before Edwin Edebiri found-ed the I Am Happy organization, he remembers how an economic recession in 2009 caused many people to lose their homes and jobs. This environment motivated Edebiri to shift the negativity of the world around him into some-thing more positive.

Edebiri began asking random strangers how happy they were on a scale of 1-10 and then proceed-ed with a quick discussion of the person’s life. One day, he encoun-tered a young man who scored very low. Surprised, Edebiri spent some time with the individual, telling stories and asking about his life. Shortly after the encoun-ter, the man called Edebiri and confessed that he was on the way to committing suicide the previ-ous day. He thanked Edebiri for saving his life.

Inspired, Edebiri founded and became the Chief Happiness Officer of the I Am Happy proj-ect. The organization was one of 40 agencies and businesses that visited Cosumnes River Col-lege on April 11 in the third an-nual FutureFair. The event, which targeted students interested in human services, psychology, so-cial work, counseling and other related majors, gave students an opportunity to meet face-to-face with potential employers, as well as gather facts on career options.

“One of the best ways for students to network is to come to career fairs,” said Anna Davtian, the main organizer of FutureFair.

“And giving them that opportu-nity is going to help them succeed in the future.”

Various recruiters and re-gional managers from colleges and volunteer organizations packed the cafeteria to meet with students. Raffle prizes were given to students who answered ques-tions related to jobs and careers, and students also had the oppor-tunity to have their resume re-viewed by professionals.

Eli Danis, a 21-year-old me-chanical engineering major, said that he found the event helpful, but also wished there was more organizations that appealed to a broader spectrum of majors.

“There’s a couple of applica-tions that did apply to me,” Danis said. “I’m probably going to fill them out and hopefully end up getting hired somewhere.”

Cindy Truong, a 23-year-old veterinary technology major, also saw the event as an opportunity to see what career paths are avail-able.

“I’m just trying to find a position I find interesting,” Tru-ong said. “It’s always fun to get to know more people and more businesses as well.”

Compared to past two years, FutureFair has added more orga-nizations that remain relevant to students majoring in human ser-vices, said human services profes-sor Hoyt Fong. Overall, the career fair allows professionals and stu-dents to work together to reach their goals, Fong said.

Edebiri emphasized the im-portance of helping other individ-uals. One of the best and quick-

est ways to become happy is to help other people, he said. Danis agreed, and said he liked the vari-ous opportunities to help out.

“I like the volunteer opportu-nities with tutoring,” Danis said. “I also like the volunteer opportu-nities to go to school and help out. That’s applicable to everybody, es-pecially college students.”

April 19, 2012 | LifestyLe | 4 www.thecrcconnection.com

Annual fair allows students to network with professionals

Clanci Cochran, recruitment coordinator and David Griffith, Senior Corps Member of City Year'snewest Sacramento location, are talking to students about donating their time to help students stay on the track to graduation at the FutureFair held in the Cosumnes River College cafeteria.

Ian Graves | The Connection

Maurice Cooper, a 24-year-old theatre arts major, answerss a ques-tion about job searching, posed by student personal assistant Anna Davtian. He won a T-shirt for his correct answer.


By Imran [email protected]

“One of the best ways for students to network is to come to career fairs, and giving them that opportunity is going to help them succeed in the future.”

Anna DavtianFuture Fair organizer

It’s been 100 years since the luxury steamship Titanic sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912. 1,515 people lost their lives in the tragedy. The in-cident is relived with the re-releasing of the film Titanic in IMAX 3D."I don't plan on watching it in 3D because I already know what's going to hap-pen," Ad-reanna Porter, 21, music major.

Titanic

On April 9, reports came out that Facebook bought Instagram, a popular mobile application on the Apple App store and the Andriod Market, for $1 billion. By purchasing Instragram, Face-book will acquire more users, and further advance their mobile experience."I feel it will be intergrated into Face-book," Bandon Hall, 19, psychol-ogy major.

The final installment of the popular “American Pie” movie franchise came to an end on April 6 when “American Reunion” was released into theaters, coming in second on the top box office with $21.5 million.

Jim, Michelle, Kevin, Stifler and the rest of the cast from

“American Pie” reunite for a weekend in East Great Falls for their high school reunion. During their time back for the weekend, the gang see what each other has been up to since Jim and Michelle’s wedding. They observe who’s changed and who still acts like they’re in high school.

As expected from an “American Pie” sequel, “American Reunion” was filled with laughs, old jokes, nudity, perverted comments and drunk people at parties. Some old romantic feelings also come back between a few of the characters, making viewers wonder who will end up together.

Stifler brought many laughs with all the pranks he pulled and the perverted things he said. However, if the writers didn’t bring back “The Stifmeister”, the humor of the movie would’ve been disappointing. It’s sad to say, but he brought most of the best laughs in the movie.

The comedy in “American Reunion” wasn’t what was expected of an “American Pie”

movie. “American Reunion” delivered humor that has been played out in previous “American Pie” movies, and it felt like deja vu.

It seems as though the writers of the movie relied too much on humor from the old movies, which made it seem unoriginal.

Most of the comedy in the movie came from nudity and sexual acts, which proves that the

“American Pie” movies need to come to an end.

Bringing back most of the main cast to see where everyone was at in their lives seemed like a great idea. However, it seemed as though the writers really wanted another installment of the franchise which, made it seem like “American Reunion” was trying too hard to live up to the previous movies.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie review site, critics gave “American Reunion” a 42 percent, while

“American Pie” was given a 60 percent.

To see all of the main cast one last time was a great way to end the “American Pie” franchise. If there turns out to be more

“American Pie” movies, I suspect that the opening box office numbers will go down and that the franchise will die out from all the repetition of jokes and pranks.

The “American Pie” movies have gone stale, so let’s just finish it here.

As communications professor Colette Harris-Mathews holds a small meditation book in her hands, she reads a passage.

“What does it mean to be alone? To be lonely?” Harris-Mathews says, summarizing the passage to a group of women gathered inside the classroom.

The passage becomes a discussion for the seven women. A person can still be lonely when not alone, the women concluded.

Like many, this Sister2Sister meeting at Cosumnes River College didn’t follow a planned curriculum but served as an informal mentoring session. The mentoring group is meant to be open for all women on campus but specifically serves underrepresented groups.

One of the women, 22-year-old mechanical engineering major Angileena Maurice said the group is just women “getting together, bettering each other as women and empowering each other.”

Sister2Sister members not only share their concerns, inspirations and thoughts in meetings but also reach out into the community around them. The group seeks to mentor the young generation, and in spring 2011 presented “Loving the Me I See” to 400 middle school girls at University of California, Davis, as part of a project with the Sacramento City Unified School district.

The women also hosted

the 2011 Welcome Reception for African-American students at CRC and are hoping to host the reception again in the fall in order to promote achievement of students from diverse populations.

To celebrate their accomplishments, the women of Sister2Sister recently attended “The Color Purple,” a musical adaption of the novel by Alice Walker.

“The themes in 'The Color Purple' allow students to see African-American history, interpersonal relationships, women overcoming obstacles and Celie’s [the central character of the play] identity development,” Harris-Mathews said.

To Harris-Mathews, being active in the community, both at CRC and beyond, is something all students should be involved in. And Sister2Sister is one place where students can start.

“There are 15,000 students at CRC, but I don’t think students are using their voice,” Harris-Mathews said. “Their voice is passive.”

Repeatedly, the women individually recognized Sister2Sister as having an enjoyable environment and being a safe place for the variety of discussions they have.

“We talk about everything, from stress to healthy relations and healthy eating,” 20-year-old early childhood development major Symphia Jackson-Weaver said.

Doing Zumba, receiving tips from a campus police officer,

listening to a presentation on etiquette and learning healthy food recipes are a few ways Sister2Sister members have spent their meetings.

Caylan Thompson, a 22-year-old architecture major, agreed but added that they discuss what they see happening in society as well.

Thompson doesn’t forget what the basis of the group is: mentoring.

“You have somebody to come to if you have any questions or even self-esteem issues,” Thompson said.

Another discussion circulates among the women.

What does it mean to be a woman? A question often asked during Women’s History Month. “Gender roles have been redefined,” Harris-Mathews said, joining in the discussion. Outside the classroom, students peer through the windows, ready for their upcoming lecture. The seven women, eager in conversations, walk out together, savoring what they can until their next meeting.

“Sometimes you don’t feel comfortable talking to certain people about some things, but the good thing is in there, you can talk about anything,” Maurice added. “What happens in Sister2Sister stays in Sister2Sister.”

Sister2Sister members are always interested in more participants and encourage students to join for their next meetings in room BS 126 on April 19 and May 3 at 3 p.m.

“It’s open for all people,” Thompson said. “We are all sisters.”

LifestyLe | April 19, 2012 | 5www.thecrcconnection.com

By Ashley [email protected]

Campus group gathers women together to empower one another

By Josh [email protected]

Trending Now

Eight teams from both the Western and Eastern Con-ferences will square off in best-of-seven series' in hopes of reaching the NBA Finals. Playoffs begin on April 28 at 3 p.m. on ABC."I would like the Kings to wind but it's not going to happen," Hayley Arellano, 20, vet technician said. Instead Arellano will be root-ing the Miami Heat.

NBA playoffs

In early April, Pottermore, a website dedicated to being an interactive companion to the "Harry Potter" book series by J.K. Rowling, launched. "For fans of the 'Harry Potter' universe, it's a dream come true," said Michael Arthur, a 19-year-old undeclared ma-jor. "I remember in elemen-tary school, everyone wanted to be at Hog-warts."

Pottermore

Facebook buys Instagram

Compiled by Josh Lee, Ashley Yu, Tracy Gilkerson, Takara Campbell and Ben Levy.

All photos are courtesy photos.

Last piece of 'American Pie'

April 19, 2012 | SportS | 6 www.thecrcconnection.com

Baseball team is ready to make a playoff run

TRANSFERRING?FINISH SCHOOL YOUR WAY!

800.NAT.UNIV | getinfo.nu.edu/transfer

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY®

© 20

12 N

atio

nal U

nive

rsity

107

94

» Streamlined admissions

» No enrollment fee

» Flexible scheduling

» A unique one-course-per-month format

» Scholarship programs

At National University, we know you can’t sit in class all day or lock yourself in a library. You want to finish your degree and move on into a new career. National University makes that possible.

THE UNIVERSITY OF VALUES3 CONVENIENT LOCATIONS IN SACRAMENTO

Road warriors was the name given to the Hawks by head coach Tony Bloomfield, but the season didn’t start out so well for Bloom-field’s bunch, as the baseball team dropped five of their first eight games to begin the year.

The grind of a long season has been especially tough on the Hawks this year, considering the team has not played a game at their home field all year due to construction of a new one.

“You’re always at a disadvan-tage because you’re not playing at your home field,” sophomore catcher Shawn Wheeler said. “You don’t know the field too well, and you’re constantly traveling. But hey, it’s baseball, and you should be able to perform anywhere you play.”

But the Hawks have started to gain momentum and confi-dence after getting some games under their belt.

They have also played their way into second place in the Big 8 standings.

“The wheels are starting to roll and we're starting to figure out what it takes to win and com-pete,” Wheeler said.

The Hawks have battled through inconsistent hitting, shaky defense and erratic pitch-ing most of the season.

However, with a combination of gritty play and a keep-your-head-down-and-battle-through-it attitude, the team has been on a roll as of late, winning nine of their last 12 games.

“It’s been a tough season so far,” freshman pitcher Austin Ales said. “We struggled a little bit, but

we are starting to come around.”While the Hawks have begun

winning games (16-13), the team struggled early in the competitive Big 8 conference, losing five of their first eight conference games. But the Hawks did not fold their wings and now own a winning re-cord in conference (11-7).

Though the season is coming to an end and the Hawks are be-ginning to mesh as a team, there are still things they can improve on.

“There is always room for improvement for the team,” Ales said. “Everyday it could be some-thing different. We always need to work on the basics and keep on our game.”

Situational hitting has also proved difficult for the Hawks

this season.“Hitting in timely situations

has been a problem,” Wheeler said. “We need to finish games with the same intensity that we started with.”

S o p h o -more out-fielder Colby Brenner re-iterated on some of the team’s hitting woes.

“We need to work on getting ahead in the count,” he said. “As hitters, we need to not leave as many

guys on base.”While the team has struggled

with some aspects of the game, they have also excelled in other aspects.

“Some of our strengths are

freshman pitching, getting on base and competitiveness; every-one is in the game,” Wheeler said.

The Hawks only have a hand-ful of games left and are primed to make a push for the playoffs.


The baseball team has banded together on the road all season long while their new field is being built, and are now making a playoff push.

By Zach [email protected]

The semester is almost over, which means it’s time to register for summer and fall classes. Registration appointments begin on April 30, and the course schedule is

already available for review. Here is list of fitness and nutrition classes that are avail-able for you to take:

Summer:FITNS 354 – Individualized Physical Fitness – 1 UnitNUTRI 300 – Nutrition – 3 UnitsTMACT 361 – Team Sports – Beginning – .5 Unit -VolleyballTMACT 362 – Team Sports – 1.5 Units -Intermediate Basketball -Intermediate Soccer

Fall:ADAPT 300 – Adapted Physical Education – 1-2 UnitsADAPT 332 – Adapted Aquatics – 1 UnitADAPT 336 – Motor Development for the Physically Challenged – 1-2 UnitsDANCE 310 – Jazz Dance – 1 UnitDANCE 311 – Urban Hip Hop – 1 UnitDANCE 320 – Ballet – 1 UnitDANCE 330 – Modern Dance – 1 UnitDANCE 372 – Dance Composition and Production – 2 UnitsFITNS 301 – Aerobics – 1.5 UnitsFITNS 306 – Aerobics: Cardio-Kickboxing – 1 UnitFITNS 316 – Lap Swimming – 1 UnitFITNS 320 – Body Fitness – 2 UnitsFITNS 323 – Fitness Ball – 1.5 UnitsFITNS 331 – Boot Camp Fitness – 1 UnitFITNS 334 – Off-Season Conditioning – 1.5 UnitsFITNS 335 – Pre-Season Conditioning for Basketball – 1.5 UnitsFITNS 352 – Power Sculpting – 1 UnitFITNS 355 – Workforce Fitness – 1 UnitFITNS 382 – Weight Training – 1.5 UnitsFITNS 390 – Basic Yoga – 1 UnitFITNS 406 – Walking and Jogging – 1.5 UnitsFITNS 440 – Swimming – 1 UnitKINES 301 – Personal Wellness – 3 UnitsNUTRI 300 – Nutrition – 3 UnitsNUTRI 310 – Cultural Foods of the World – 3 UnitsNUTRI 322 – Nutrition Issues Throughout Life – 3 UnitsNUTRI 340 – Nutrition and Metabolism – 3 UnitsNUTRI 350 – Community Nutrition – 3 UnitsPACT 310 – Badminton – 1 UnitPACT 392 – Tennis – 1.5 UnitsTMACT 320 – Basketball – 1 UnitTMACT 332 – Volleyball – 1.5 UnitsTMACT 361 – Team Sports – Beginning – .5 UnitsTMACT 362 – Team Sports – 1.5 Units -Intermediate Baseball -Intermediate Indoor Soccer -Intermediate Softball -Intermediate Soccer

Planning for summer and fall semesters

SportS | April 19, 2012 | 7www.thecrcconnection.com

Rain puts a damper on softball and baseball

The CRC softball field is empty after the doubleheader on April 14 was cancelled because of rainy conditions earlier in the week. The games were rescheduled for a later date.

Carlo Dela Cruz | The Connection

1 in 8 trees are cut down in the world to grow tobacco

300 cigarettes are produced from ONE tree

20 million people worldwide could be fed if

farmland grew food instead of tobacco

95% of Brazilian tobacco is treated with methyl bromide—a substance that depletes

the ozone layer 16 applications of pesticides are applied in the first

three months of growing tobacco

Student life iS better at Hawai‘i Pacific univerSity. Call 1-866-225-5478 to learn more.

TRANSFERRING HAS ITS PERKS.

www.hpu.edu/transfer

Smaller classrooms. Individualized attention. more than 50 undergraduate programs in a dynamic setting. there’s a reason why 1 in 3 of our students are transfers. Hawai‘i Pacific University offers the flexibility and convenience of transferring any number of credits – up to the first two years of your Bachelor’s degree – to keep your education right on track.

HPU admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin, religion, gender, age, ancestry, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status and disability.

> Transfer Completed Credits (No Minimum to Transfer)

> No Associate’s Degree Required

> California Transfer Agreements Honored

> Associate Degrees Credited for General Education Courses

> Transfer Scholarships Available

“Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day.”

It’s a lyric we’re all familiar with from our days of being chil-dren and wishing the rain would go away so we could have more time to play outdoors.

I’m willing to bet the Hawks might be singing this tune as well.

While there hasn’t been a ton of rain this season, the days it has rained have often landed on days the softball and baseball teams have been scheduled to play games.

Cosumnes River College ath-letic director Liz Belyea said that it normally rains more at the be-ginning of the spring sports sea-sons, but this year the rain seems to have come more toward the middle and end of the season.

Because of the rain, the soft-ball team had its April 12 double-header cancelled and its April 14 doubleheader postponed.

The baseball team had its April 12 game at Sacramento City College postponed.

In total, the softball team has had 10 games cancelled or post-poned, including four double-headers, while the baseball team has had nine, according to the s c h e d u l e s posted on the CRC athletic

website. “It makes it difficult,” Belyea

said. “Especially for the baseball team who has no home field.”

Though the rain has pre-sented scheduling conflicts, the baseball team has recently steam-rolled itself into a tie for first place in the Big 8 conference.

“The baseball team has been outstanding about dealing with no home field,” Belyea said. “Re-

scheduling makes it hard. I have not heard a single complaint from the coach or the team.”

The softball team hasn’t faired as well in the standings overall this season, but the team has gained some headway as of late, splitting their games in April.

In sports, momentum is ev-erything. Hopefully the untimely showers haven’t dampened the teams’ recent success.

By Jon [email protected]

Rain causes several game delays, but teams carry on

April 19, 2012 | Campus News | 8 www.thecrcconnection.com

demic years. Employees will also take a 6 percent cut in their sala-ries.

With all the decisions to in-crease fees at California’s public colleges, Harris said it is likely that many more students will start attending out-of-state colleges.

“We’re seeing a brain-drain

of this state that people refuse to acknowledge on the one hand, and they don’t understand the ramifications of that over the long haul,” Harris said. “So it’s not a good time to be a student in the state of California.”

Victoria Turney, an 18-year-old undeclared major, said she is thinking about transferring to a college outside the state.

“It’s a bit ridiculous, but out-of-state is going to actually cost me less than to go in my own state,” Turney said.

History professor Jason New-man noticed many faculty com-ing together to deal with the bud-get issues.

“I think that there’s a shared misery going on,” Newman said. “And in some ways, faculty differ-

ences disappear when we’re all in the same boat of budget decline.”

English professor Linda Sneed said the realization of all the numbers was overwhelming.

“I quite literally nearly cried twice,” Sneed said. “Not so much because this is new information to me. It’s really not. It’s just like anything that’s this big and this seemingly insurmountable. It’s

shocking when you encounter it in its fullness.”

Sneed appreciated the budget forum and stressed the impor-tance of understanding “how we got here,” saying that there is a move towards privatization.

“This is nothing new,” Sneed said. “There’s been an assault on the idea of public institutions and public service for a long time."

Harris: Salary cuts will occur if tax initiative fails to passContinued from page 1

Students react to Santa Monica's two-tier tuition planBy Alex Mosqueda

[email protected]

As the recent problems con-cerning tuition increases and budget cuts continue to grow in community colleges, Santa Moni-ca College decided to meet the sit-uation by proposing a two-tier tu-ition plan that would charge more for required graduation classes and give priority enrollment spots to students who are willing to pay more.

Originally planned to begin in the summer, the plan was con-ceived in order to start offering selected courses to students for a higher price. Instead of paying $46 a unit, SMC students were looking at prices as high as $180 a unit for core classes such as Eng-lish, math and science.

Students held a protest at a SMC’s Board of Trustees meeting on April 3, in which campus po-lice pepper sprayed protesters and several people suffered from mi-nor injuries as a result. The Board of Trustees voted to postpone the two-tier plan on April 6 after receiving conflicting responses from students and California Community College Chancellor Jack Scott.

“No one likes to see some-thing like this happen, and I ex-pressed that it might be wise to put this matter on hold,” Scott said in an interview, where he voiced his concern about the stu-dent protest and questioned the legality of the two-tier plan.

Los Rios Chancellor Brice Harris has made visits to Los Rios campuses in order to discuss the current budget situation and its effects on students and staff, ac-cording to CRC Public Informa-

tion Officer Kristie West. Harris was asked about his views about Santa Monica College's two-tier plan when meeting with CRC stu-dents, faculty and staff on April 10.

“We think it is probably il-legal and certainly immoral to charge more for classes so that students who have resources can then get them,” Harris said.

However, despite high rank-ing officials making public state-ments about their misgivings towards the two-tier plan, some students are growing uneasy themselves about the current state of the community college system.

“I’m a little worried because I already have the burden of saving for a four-year university,” said 26-year-old mathematics major Eric Young. “That’s why I decided to go to a community college in the first place, to save money. Ex-cept now I think I’m going to have to work more in order to afford both schools.”

If the situation were to occur at other community colleges there are students who would be willing to follow the plans of two-tier tu-ition. Kristina Madeira, a 21-year-old biology major, supported the plan and said she would pay more for classes without hesitation.

“I’m willing to pay whatever amount in order to complete my education,” Madeira said. “True, the amount I would be paying is kind of steep for community col-lege, but sadly education’s becom-ing expensive.”

While some might agree with Madeira’s views others believe it would create a rift between stu-dents.

Young also brings up the matter of students who aren’t eli-

gible for financial aid.“Some of my friends don’t

qualify for financial aid so this would cause a whole new prob-lem if tuition gets too pricey,” Young said. “So not only would they be unable to pay for school, they’re looking at the possibility of quitting.”

A Santa Monica student is restrained at the Board of Trustee's meeting on April 3. Students protested against the implementation of a two-tier system that would result in higher fees for high-demand classes.

Michael Price | Santa Monica Corsair

It’s mid-April and students are already on the home stretch to summer vacation and planning for the fall semester.

Many students received ac-ceptance letters from state col-leges and universities. Others are continuing their education here at Cosumnes River College.

Budget and department cuts haunt many students going for-ward and frustrate some profes-sors.

“Students are at a disadvan-tage,” Spanish professor Blanca Gill said in regards to cuts.

The Spanish Program at CRC offers less classes now than in 2002. The summer Spanish pro-gram has been cut by 50 percent last summer, resulting in fewer

sections. Further cuts this sum-mer leave only one Spanish class.

“If they (students) want an A.A. in Spanish, they might have to go to another school to get the classes they need,” Gill said.

There is no way to know at this point if more classes will be cut in the future, CRC Public In-formation Officer Kristie West said. “A lot will depend on the budget situation.”

Spanish professor Gabriel Torres hopes the government ini-tiatives to increase revenue will pass so that community colleges can get more money and higher education can continue to be available for everyone.

“Students need to get involved and vote,” Torres said.

In the meantime, students will be paying $46 per unit begin-

ning this summer and crossing their fingers in hopes they’ll get into the classes they want.

Students’ financial aid for the 2011-2012 year will also cover the summer semester. The new financial aid year begins in fall 2012. The financial aid office will be open most of the summer, and the hours are available on the CRC website.

Most students haven’t checked their enrollment dates. Dates were assigned through e-Services on April 12, though most students haven’t realized.

“I would recommend register-ing for classes as soon as they can,” West said. “The class schedule is online so students can begin to look for the classes they want and alternative classes in case their first choice is already full.”

Students prepare for summer, fall semesterBy Tammi Kolesinski

[email protected]

“We think it is probably illegal and certainly immoral to charge more for classes so that students who have resources can then get them.”

Brice HarrisLos Rios Chancellor

Documents

The Connection