The hallway outside of SSV 151 was full half an hour before the Board of Trustees Regular Meeting on April 11, as classified staff gathered to contest two items on the agenda. The Antelope Valley Col-lege Federation of Clas-sified Employees and its supporters dressed in blue, and stood in unison, whis-pering and awaiting what seemed to be their impend-ing doom.

Communications No. 135 and No. 132 were the items looming in every-one’s mind, as they meant possible layoffs and reduc-tions for 54 full-time clas-sified staff members, and a difficult decision for the Board.

Communications No. 132 (Resolution to reduce or eliminate classified ser-vices) and No. 135 (Reso-lution to reduce hours), as they read, are a “request to authorize the issuance of 45-day notices to the em-ployees holding the clas-sified positions outlined in the attached resolution.” They go on to state that should the layoffs be un-necessary, the District “has the option to rescind layoff notices.”

One by one, members and supporters presented

their thoughts on these res-olutions, many asking that the Board postpone voting on the items to give more time for negotiations.

“This has caused so much stress on campus; wait on the letter of intent until there is an opportu-nity for negotiations—con-sider all of the possibilities before taking any action,” said Shirlene Thatch, a classified employee for 34 years.

“Take into consideration families and lives that are affected with just a letter of intent,” requested Sara Stanton, a classified staff member who works in the Student Services building.

Joseph West, also a clas-sified staff member, sug-gested that by delaying their decision, the Board would be “demonstrating their willingness to work with classified staff.”

Their pleas, however, were denied in 3-2 votes on both Communications.

“[The Board] has worked very hard to resolve this is-sue, but it is not easy—not at all. We did not cause this. If you want to point fingers, point to San Fran-cisco. This was a very dif-ficult decision, but we have to move forward,” said Dr. Jackie Fisher, President of AVC and Superintendent of the Board.

“We have a responsi-

bility to keep this college open, we have no other option but to issue those notices,” said Vice Presi-dent of the Board Betty Wienke. Wienke said she is sympathetic, as she was a classified employee her-self for 32 years. “If there was any way possible [to avoid this], I would fight with my life.”

“I’m extremely disap-pointed in today’s deci-sion,” said ASO President Enrique Camacho. He add-ed, in a separate interview, that ASO fully supports the classified staff.

The Board’s decision has brought up many con-cerns throughout campus, particularly regarding se-niority of staff listed to re-ceive layoff notices.

Although unaffected, Mary Margaret McGuire, a full-time tenure faculty mem-ber said the list was arbi-trary.

“It seemed as if the names were pulled out of hats…There is a need for transparency.”

Additional staff ex-plained that the layoff no-tices may go to the wrong people, causing unneces-sary concern.

Michael Shane Turner, Vice President of Human Resources, in a separate interview explained the procedure for layoffs, ac-cording to the California

Education Code.“When we think of lay-

offs, we think of laying off a person, but that is not accurate. We lay off posi-tions. The district decides we don’t need [a given] po-sition, and then the person is notified.” As for issues with seniority, Turner said that employees of the same position have the option to displace someone of less seniority in order to keep their position.

Additionally, there has been a lot of what many deem “finger-pointing” among staff. Accusations that the faculty has yet to step for-ward and offer solutions were met with frustration.

“Faculty is in nego-tiations. [We have] taken quite a few cuts in over-load and adjunct, and are willing to negotiate and do whatever it takes to save as many jobs as possible,” said Dr. Susan Lowry, president of the Antelope Valley College Federation of Teachers.

On April 12, letters of intent were sent to 54 clas-sified staff members. It reads: “On April 11, 2011, the Board of Trustees of the Antelope Valley Com-munity College District adopted a resolution re-ducing certain classified services due to a lack of work and/or lack of funds. This letter constitutes no-

tice that your position…has been affected by this ac-tion and will be reduced as indicated below effective at the end of the working day of June 3, 2011…”

AVCFCE President Pa-mela Ford, said she feels the language of the letter indicates the finality of the Board’s decision.

“These are not letters of ‘intent’, which is disheart-ening,” she said.

“It’s a very, very difficult time. I’m very sympathetic to the classified staff,” said Board trustee Steve Buf-falo.

Pamela Ford expressed her remorse in a conclusive statement at the April 11 meeting.

“You have not just low-ered the morale of the classified staff, you’ve dev-astated them. They’re wor-ried.” “The reason we’re here is for the students, [and by cutting classified staff] we’re hurting the people we’re here for.”

The question now, Ford said in a separate inter-view, is what will happen next. As of press time, the Board and classified staff are in negotiations and are discussing a proposal brought forth by classified employees.

Though he was unable to disclose any details, Turn-er said it was “creative and solution-oriented.”

Order 66 at Mel Booker’s

Page 3

Classified staff asks Board for ‘fairness’

Page 7

Threat of layoffs and reductions leads to finger-pointing among staff

By Natasha CastroStaff Writer

Brandon Mann / ExaminerWhile classified staff (left) show their solidarity with blue t-shirts, the Board (right) votes 3-2 in favor of issuing layoff notices.

“Safety is No. 2 at AVC”

Page 6

AV residents and visitors came to the 20th Annual Poppy Festival, a celebra-tion of the strange and curi-ous sights that make up our homestead.

The festival, a two day soi-rée held at the Lancaster City Park, completely transformed the scenery into a milling throng eager to take in the sights, scents and tastes.

The sights were many: a whole galaxy of booths ped-dling their wares, from red-wood signs to the standard selection of T-shirts (com-plete with band logos and various witticisms), wooden clocks, wind chimes and home made quilts.

Wind chimes, in fact, seemed to be out in force with three different booths offering a wide variety. Local businesses like the Antelope Valley Press and the Lancaster Performing Arts Center were shoulder to shoulder with the big companies like Costco and T-Mobile.

The flight industry, a long standing backbone for the com-munity’s economy, was also pres-ent with its very own section of-fering an insight into modern and historical aviation. Religion was represented as well, offering free Bibles and stationing booths to

support their various denomina-tions.

SOAR High School was also represented, selling soft drinks and water.

“Business is good,” said stu-dent Xavier Trejo. “All of the proceeds go to the Associate Stu-dent Body – the students, in other words,” added Principal Michael

Dutton, who was also present at the booth.

Media and sponsor contact for the City of Lancaster Jeff Campbell was impressed with the turnout.

“We don’t have the numbers tallied yet, but this is by far the hugest festival we’ve had, [with] about 350 to 400 booths. We try to have something dif-ferent every time, and some-times that’s hard to do, but we did really well this year,” he said.

Daniel, a young long-time resident, voiced his surprise

about the event. “This is my first time com-

ing,” he said. “Every time it came around I was busy, or I would just drive past it. But the booths are interesting.”

The fun wasn’t all for the adults,

however. The kids had access to wooden Thompson machine guns and PVC bows and arrows, pre-sumably to scare the daylights out of their parents with the later.

Scattered throughout was a choice selection of children’s at-tractions and carnival games. Also presented was a unique look at rain forest animals, where kids and adults both could come into

close contact with a capuchin monkey, emperor scorpions, coatimundi, emu and a very sleepy kinkajou.

Indeed, animals had quite the spotlight including a pet-ting zoo with alpaca, goats and Shetland ponies, as well as puppies up for adoption.

Concession stands sold ev-erything from sausages to balsamic oils and spices, and made the air thick with aroma in nearly every part of the park.

The Festival offered a wide variety of music and dance on several stages: solo perform-ers, a rendition of Alice and Wonderland and belly danc-ing. Swing bands, dulcimers and percussion could be heard from anywhere in the park.

“The music is what really got me,” said one visitor, “I was looking over all the booths, and yeah, they’re great, but I got to see a lot of acts that I would not have if I hadn’t gone. It’s pretty cool.”

Pretty cool indeed, madam.

Page 2 April 2011NewsPoppy Festival blooms in the Antelope ValleyBy Ben FassettStaff Writer

Some Antelope Valley College students have abused and vandalized various cam-pus facilities such as the library, instruc-tional media center and cafeteria.

Recently, the AVC library was vandal-ized when unknown students used library-provided dry erase markers to write graffiti and other things on the walls. Most of the vandalism was found in the upstairs study rooms, where students can group together to study for assignments, tests and projects.

Each of the study rooms has a dry erase white board attached to one of the walls. Dry erase markers were provided by li-brary staff so that students would be able to write on the boards as they studied, much like how instructors sometimes write important concepts or terms on the board during lectures.

Some students have abused this privi-lege as is evident by the graffiti in nearly

every study room. There are green, red, and brown smudges on the walls where attempts have been made to clean up the graffiti.

There are also several more fresh mark-ings. Not all of the graffiti appears to be gang related. There are some classic bath-room-wall phrases such as “For a good time call…” scrawled on the study room walls.

As a result of the vandalism of the study rooms, the library staff no longer provides dry-erase markers to students. There are signs posted in the study rooms and throughout the library that read, “Due to vandalism [sic] dry erase markers will no longer be allowed in the study rooms.”

Students must have an AVC identification card to procure the use of one of the study rooms, but b e c a u s e the library staff cannot check the

rooms after each student leaves, they can-not attribute the damage to any specific student.

The vandalism extends beyond the study rooms. The inside of the elevator was also defaced, as well as the stairwell next door to the elevator. The stall in the men’s rest-room was also kicked down. There have been other misuses too.

“Students use the library as their meet-ing place,” said Dawn Vargas, a library staff member. “They’ll just sit there and talk and chat and play cards, play games.”

Theft has also been a problem. In one instance, a student replaced a reserved book with a reference book, destroying it in the process, in attempt to smuggle the reserve book out of the library.

Also according to Vargas, some students have been caught using the study rooms for sexual ac-tivities.

“There used to be smaller windows on the (study room) doors,” Vargas said. “They would take a piece of paper and put it over the window.”

Using campus facilities for sexual activity seems to be a recurring theme. It has also happened in the instructional media center.

The instructional media center houses several computers for students to use for educational purposes, as well as several rooms that students can use to view in-structional media, such as films.

“We have to monitor our rooms… and just make sure that they’re not in there us-ing it as a motel room,” said Instructional Media Coordinator Shirlene Thatch.

“We have, on occasion, found students in the rooms really not even using the media, but using (the rooms) as a little love nest.”

Thatch articulated that it was hard to keep an eye on the students using comput-ers and the ones using the viewing rooms because the media center is understaffed. Some hourly paid employees have received

cutbacks in their work schedules.It is also difficult for the staff to deter-

mine if the students are using the media that they requested appropriately.

“They can ask to watch a feature film, but I don’t have the curriculum for their class to see if it’s on the list for their class,” Thatch said.

Another abused facility on campus is the cafeteria. Unlike the library and instruc-tional media center, the cafeteria is a place where students are allowed to congregate, eat, study and socialize.

The abuse of the cafeteria comes in the form of trash. Students often leave their trash on the tables or floor, instead of throwing it away.

“People don’t have places to go or sit, but that’s no excuse for not cleaning up after yourself,” said Food Services Supervisor Debra Smith.

According to Smith, an AVC employee of 21 years, students not throwing their trash away have been a problem for many years. The problem is also more than just aesthetically displeasing.

“(We’re) constantly picking up French fries and packets of ketchup and stuff like that that become safety hazards,” Smith said. “People can fall, slip. It doesn’t take much for that to happen.”

Smith makes it clear that the majority of students that frequent the cafeteria are not the problem.

“This is a place for the students to gath-er,” Smith said. “It’s a good time to get together with your friends, to maybe even talk about a test or whatever you need to do, so its good, it can be a positive thing.”

“We appreciate the staff and students’ business, but we’d also appreciate it if peo-ple would take a little more pride in what we do have, ” Smith added.

Vargas echoes Smith’s sentiment that the majority of students are not at fault.

“It’s unfortunate,” said Vargas, “that there are a few individuals here at the col-lege that ruin the ability for students who actually need to use the services.”

Natasha Castro / ExaminerPatrons show their creativity on a chalkboard provided by the Lancaster Museum/Art Gallery.

Natasha Castro / ExaminerLemonade vendors stays busy as people tried to beat the heat.

Sex, trash and vandalism: students abuse campus facilitiesBy Kevin KramerStaff Writer

Brandon Bird / ExaminerAs a result of the vandalism of the study rooms, the library staff no longer provides dry-erase markers to students.

FeaturesFeatures Page 3April 2011

You aren’t going to get any spoiler warnings in this review because this movie is just that bad. No, this review is really for all those millions of people who watched this movie and said it was awesome. I think I am one of the few people who didn’t like this movie, and the fact that it climbed to number seven in the box office this week makes my skin crawl. “Source Code” is rife with plot holes and unanswered questions. If I could sum up this entire movie in one word, it would be “frustra-tion.”

The movie starts with our hero Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) waking up in a Metro-Link train after a few minutes of stumbling around and asking some very strange questions when the train abruptly explodes. Next he wakes up in a crashed helicopter or a sim-ulator. He then encounters Col-leen Goodwin, who instructs and brings him out of his temporary amnesia. Armed with a tiny bit of new knowledge, they send him into the Source Code (something to do with Quantum Mechanics, because we’re all physicists so we can relate). What the Source Code is, exactly, is a way to transplant someone’s mind into the body of someone else’s for eight minutes at a time.

That’s the basic premise of the film: time travel. The plot is equal-ly simple: find out who the bomber was so the authorities can catch him before he nukes downtown Chicago. Like I said, this review is more to explain why this film sucked for me rather than give a pro verses con analysis. So if you want the Cliff Notes version, here it is: don’t see this film.

First of all, why didn’t they tell him anything? Wouldn’t it have been better to have just briefed him from the beginning like he wanted? Wouldn’t that help him

provide the information that they actually wanted sooner if he knew what he was actually looking for? Throughout the first 30 minutes of this movie the audience is hanging clueless as to what is happening because we have no back-story and no reference to base anything off of. They’re counting on us to play the guessing game of “Whodunit” and stare at the pretty effects.

Second, what is a captain in the Air Force (Army? Which is it, folks?) doing flying rescue mis-sions in Afghanistan? He went into Officer Candidate School, possibly got backed by a congress-man and went to West Point – just to fly a chopper? That may be considered nitpicking, but come on. Most Captains in the military command troop movements and air strikes. They’re getting paid, at the very least, $6,000 a month. I’m sure they aren’t doing that by fly-ing choppers.

Third, I figured out that this guy was dead about the second time that he came out of the Source Code. It’s so obvious it’s almost pitiful; you can tell just from the operator’s expression when he asks perfectly logical questions (e.g. “why is there hydraulic fluid leaking in here?”), and she has no idea he’s going on about. And when the “capsule” freezes over you can just tell it’s a representa-tion of his mind and that each time he goes in it messes with him.

Fourth, the two villains in this movie have the weakest mo-tives I have probably ever seen. The brother (Michael Arden) just wants to show off his amazing ability to build a dirty bomb, and Dr. Rutledge (Jeffery Wright, who is way over the top in this movie) just wants his science experiment funded. I’m not exactly sure why, either. Does he honestly care about helping people? Does he just want a Nobel Prize in quantum me-chanics? Is he just a gimpy mad scientist? I’ll go with the last one, since I like cartoons.

Finally, the ending: our captain is put into Sean Fentress’ body – the guy who he’s been using this whole time. Okay. What the heck happened to Sean then? Is he dead? Did he get pushed into someone else’s life? Could you honestly live with yourself know-ing that you stole this man’s very life from him? Not only possibly killed him, but stole his girlfriend, home, family, and job? His cat and dog (if he had a cat and dog)? What about his livelihood? Does he remarkably know how to teach history at the university now? Not only that, but how many times did he jump into the Source Code be-forehand? Remember how many times he survived? At least three – think about how he completely ruined the memory people are go-ing to have of him.

The film should have ended when the bomber was caught. Rut-

ledge should have just wiped Col-ter’s memory clean and then kept him the way he was, because that’s what he wanted. The military would have done the same thing too; “the needs of the many before the needs of the few.” Ring a bell? Or better yet, they could have done nothing. In the past we’ve seen that he’s completely at their mercy, and in future missions he’d have expe-rience to draw off of, making him that much more effective.

Now I have to admit that I did like some things about the movie. Aside from Rutledge’s over the top antics, the acting was superb. The visual effects and cinematography was also top notch. I have to give a resounding applause for being a movie that isn’t a sequel or a re-make of something, such as the tripe we’re being forced to watch most of the time nowadays. The golden moments were there: the

Captain talking on the phone with his father was very real, as was the kiss freeze frame. The whole premise works really well too, and it does engage the viewer until some of those ugly plot holes rear up their ugly head.

Do I recommend this movie? Absolutely not. I don’t care if it’s going to end up on a lot of top ten lists for the best movies of 2011 I think it’s stupid gimmicky and leaves a lot to be desired, is it one of the worst movies? No, it just isn’t doing enough, there was so much more that could have been done, so many avenues that could have been explored but were just left hanging mid air. I know I said it’s good because it’s an original license, but come on Hollywood. You can do better. Please, we’re begging you, give us better and original stories; hold the paradox-riddled storylines, please.

‘Source Code’ leaves us dazed and confusedBy Josh SanchezStaff Writer

Courtesy photo / Vendome Pictures Jake Gyllenhaal matches our confused expression scene for scene in this maddening film.

‘Order 66’ and more shred faces at Mel Booker’sBy Brandon BirdStaff Writer

It’s been said that rock is dead. Well on April 1, 2011 at Mel Booker’s Mu-sic rock came alive and in full swing. Four hard rockin’ bands showed off their talents at Mel Book-er’s music shop for their fans, and all for only $6 admission.

Pulling into the park-ing lot, the excitement of an impending audile as-sault was already running through my veins. Roadies and band members were pulling gear to the stage from trucks, trailers, vans, and anything else that can possible hold equipment. With the lights on, the mi-crophone checks sounded off, the excitement inten-sifying. Getting closer to show time, the fans start-ed lining up and piling into the small local music shop. The first band to showcase their talents was Order 66, and they righ-teously kicked the show off with good spirits, roar-ing guitars and emotional-

ly strong, eclectic vocals. The show was put on by

No Bull Promotions, ran by Jesse Davidson and co-founder Seth King. “We try to accommodate local students by providing low cost shows,” Jesse said. “A lot of us are local students and we all understand the financial challenges that [school] comes with.” A big part on providing the low cost show was owner Mel Booker, for offering a rent-free space for the night. And well, the ad-mission fees, it was donat-ed to Red Cross, raising over $750 for the night.

The show included great music, with awe-some choreographed per-formances by All Hail the Crimson Kings. Cthulu really got the crowd amped with some seri-ous, bone crushing mosh pits. And Knights of the Fallen Empire played like they’ve been together for years, with a new lead singer playing with them for the first time. All in all it was a great show for all ages, right here in the A.V.

Brandon Bird / Examiner Alex Fletcher, Johnny Mendoza and Don Bakeman at work.

Brandon Bird / ExaminerAlex Fletcher rocks the mic at Mel Booker’s.

Features April 2011Page 4

client: Brandman Universitydescription: Comm College NWSP Ad BW QP NBnumber: BUCO-0270Trim: 4.75" x 10"publication: Antelope Valley College -

Examiner ANTELOPE VALLEY

prepared by: Dentsu Americacreative director: B. Ganttart director: copywriter: B. Thompsonstudio: S. Meinekeproduction manager: traffic manager:

proofreader ________

art director ________

copywriter ________

studio ________

account exe. ________

account sup. ________

management sup. ________

product specialist ________

OK TO RELEASE ________issue date: 2/28/2011

material close: 2/9/2011

RECEIPT OF THIS ADVERTISING MATERIAL DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SPACE ORDER.

C H A P M A N U N I V E R S I T Y S Y S T E M

Budget crunches may have

other schools cutting courses,

but Brandman is expanding.

We’re adding business classes

to meet the increasing demand.

Brandman partners with

community colleges to make

transferring credits simple,

and that can make earning

your business degree a lot

more affordable.

We’ll never put your business degree dreams on hold.

Brandman University is a non-profit institution accredited by, and a member of, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

$�500�transfer��scholarship�To learn if you qualify call 800-746-0353.

Call 800-746-0353

Click brandman.edu/business

Follow us TM

antelope valley Campus

Earn your BachElor’s dEgrEE in BusinEss on campus or onlinE.

EmphasEs availaBlE in:

• accounting

• Entrepreneurship

• Finance

• general Business

• human resources

• information systems management

• marketing

• organizational communication

• organizational leadership

• supply chain systems

BUCO0270_BBA_QP_AVC_Feb_em0.indd 1 2/8/11 5:56 PM

Russell Spencer/ ExaminerThe hero is just a man, but the interface is a smooth operating pimp daddy.

By Russell SpencerStaff Writer

There are a number of cool visual effects in just about everything except radio and to be honest, I’m a huge fan of neat looking things. The picture to the right shows a few tweaks I made to my desktop interface which might make you think, “That doesn’t seem too impres-sive.” What you may not know is that it’s actually running Windows 7.

Rainmeter is responsible for all the gadgets in the top right corner which are actually functional widgets form-fit to what I want to know about my system. The big gauge-looking thing is actually a clock that displays the time and date. Next to it are a few other gadgets like network traffic and RAM/CPU usage along with hard drive activity.

Along with the neat visual effects of the desktop, switching between windows in full screen is subject to the classic alt tab function, or you can use the Windows key + Tab which is very cool in my opinion.

This is the interface I set up for my laptop. Same thing as the one at the top utilizing Rainmeter and Objectdock, though the dock and the icons are much cool on this one in my opinion.

There are plenty of resources out there on the web about how to build your own Rainmeter gadgets and where to find premades. The same applies to Objectdock.

Russell Spencer / ExaminerDemonstrating the Windows Key + Tab function for a streamlined, efficient effect.

Russell Spencer / ExaminerThe end result is a cool, efficient and easy-to-use interface that looks amazing.

CorrectionsDue to an editorial error, “Open Mic Night” was in fact called “Coffee House Night,” and

the photograph utilized was actually from an “Open Mic Night” article featured online.

OpinionOpinionApril 2011 Page 5

AVC Examiner Editor: Great editorial on gas

prices in the most recent edition of the Exam-iner. The picture really drew me in visually and made me want to read the article. Excellent job, Courtney!

-Brian Bailey

Thanks for the compli-ment on the photo! How-ever, credit also goes to our Online Editor Russell, and our Opinion Edi-tor Chris, for the artistic masterpiece; theirs are the minds behind the mad-ness.

-Courtney

Hi Examiner Staff this is my critique. I read through the entire Exam-iner.

I was extremely shocked to see every ar-ticle articulate and well thought out.

GO AVC!! However I think that

they should get more feedback from the cam-pus point of view as a whole with things that pertain more to us as a student body!

Pieces that pertain to finances, transfer day, and faculty things that we can grasp and hold.

I would like to see more

articles that unlock knowledge i.e....Which Campus Computer Lab has the best quiet study or how the IMC can print out a Student Report that informs a campus advisor on progress when appealing for F.A.O or a coach if you are on some type of Academic Probation.

I applaud the staff writers for their subjects but I believe Feedback produces intel-ligence and perfec-tion.

-Chantevia Griffin

In every issue we as a staff strive to find articles that we feel will appeal to a broad spectrum of the student and faculty bodies.

Before we print every issue, we check our inbox for feedback from the students and faculty.

Feel free to write us at avcexam-iner00@gmail.com with any ideas for articles. We want to hear from you

- Chris Gonzalez Opinion Editor

Dear Editor,

The story on the AVC summer classes being cut is unfortunate.

I knew about budget cuts and classes being cut, but I did not know to what extent.

The Examiner was very informa-tive about the lack of summer classes at AVC this year due to budget cuts.

It is bad for not only the students who were count-ing on taking those classes, but also the teachers who were counting on teach-ing this summer for income.

I also enjoyed reading about ‘Beauty and The Beast’ at the Pan-tages.

It was nice to read something that is fun and ex-citing and less seri-ous like the budget cuts.

- Lisa Monaco

I am excited to hear that you are enjoying our paper

- Chris Gonzalez Opinion Editor

Opinion

What I have to tell you is a bit frightening.

The operating permits for the elevators in the Business Education and Applied Learning build-ings are expired and have been since Dec. 16, 2010. Fire extinguisher inspec-tions have been allowed to expire as well.

Inspections and permits are an annual occurrence

for most public buildings. At AVC, on the other hand, they must think inspections and permit renewals are a “luxury.”

Frankly, I ob-ject. Disabled students have need of fully functional elevators.

They have a right and a privi-lege to ride in an elevator that they can be assured has

been tested and in-spected for safety and operational stability.

Ensuring that all el-evators are inspected regularly and on time is a priority.

In addition, all students on campus deserve to have tested and charged fire ex-tinguishers on campus in the event of a fire.

Student safety should come first.

When I arrive on the AVC campus, I

expect that the college president and the board of trustees have my best interest at heart.

When I see the signs in the elevators and all over the fire extin-guishers, I see exactly how much regard for my safety is given at AVC.

Four months have passed. How many more until this be-comes a priority? It’s been long enough al-ready.

April 2011Page 6 Opinion

Editor in ChiefBrandon Mann

Managing Editor Sarah Niemann

News Editor Natasha Castro Opinion Editor Chris Gonzalez Features Editor Ben Fassett Sports Editor Benjamin Min

Photo Editor Courtney Unander

Online EditorRussell Spencer

Copy EditorJordan Lofgren

Senior WritersWes HorowitzJoshua Sanchez

WritersKatrina GreenKevin Michael Kramer

Staff PhotographersBrandon BirdJason Hemsath

Advisers Jim BurnsCharles Hood

Advertising Manager Sebastian Jones

Advertising rates (661) 722-6300 x6996

Antelope Valley College’s Examiner is published by AVC

Language Arts classes, typeset on campus and distributed

Wednesdays during the school year. Examiner editorials and

editorial cartoons are the opinion of the editorial board. All

other opinion and editorial page material is the opinion of

the individual writer/artist, not of the Examiner. Views ex-

pressed in the Examiner do not necessarily reflect those of the

advisers, faculty members, administration or the Associated

Student Organization, although they are reviewed for publica-

tion by the advisers. Requests for news or feature coverage

or concerns about editorial or advertising content should be

addressed to the Editor in Chief. The Examiner is published

under the auspices of the Antelope Valley Community College

District Board of Trustees; however, sole responsibility for the

content rests with the Examiner editorial board. The Examiner

is printed by Aerotech News & Publishing.

Examiner StaffLetters to the Editor

Guidelines Letters to the Editor should include a clearly printed name, address, telephone number and major and/or occupation. Letters should be 300 words or less. Letters may be edited for space and clarity. Libel will not be printed. Letters received become property of the Examiner and may be published or reproduced at its discretion. Address all correspondence to:E-mail: avcexaminer00@gmail.comEditor, Examiner3041 West Ave. K, APL104Lancaster, CA 93536Telephone (661) 722-6300 x6496

Safety is number two at Antelope Valley College this yearBy Christopher GonzalezStaff Writer

Courtney Unander / ExaminerSome fire extinguisher and elevator permits have been expired for months on the main campus.

Illustration / Amber Lucido

Editorial Cartoon

In the midst of an economic meltdown na-tionwide our fine state of California seems to be having quite a few more is-sues pertaining to students. Whether you’re at the com-munity or university level is almost trivial when it comes to getting the short end of the political stick.

In the past few semesters we at AVC have seen unit costs go up and now there is talk of another increase. Whether the increase is a legitimate proposal is irrel-evant at this point because even a rumor of it is cause to stir the pot. Students are traditionally broke because the money we got from scholarships/grants/parents/jobs tends to go to tuition costs, books, and materials needed for class. Some students choose to use financial aid on beer, drugs, partying and the like, though the majority of us do use the money given to us to better ourselves and in turn the world. If talk of unit cost increases weren’t bad enough, the state government is also talking about cutting funds for community colleges.

We understand that the state doesn’t have any money, we get it, promise. The thing we can’t seem to grasp is why we’re getting

the shaft. Is it because colleges have lost the in-tellectual ability to orga-nize and protest? Are we simply so wrapped up in what’s going to happen next on “Jersey Shore” to notice how much harder things are getting? No. The simple answer is no.

Students are faced with two options in these trying times. Keep your head down and continue on hoping that our elect-ed officials will deal with the problems we elected them to deal with, so that we can get back to study-ing and passing the few classes we were able to get into this semester. Or we, like the rest of his-tory’s greatest changes, can choose to make our voices heard and fight the good fight.

This is not a simple re-bellion. This is not a war to be fought with guns and bombs. This is a call to arms for every student who’s tired of eating junk food because that’s all they can afford. This is a call to arms for everyone who’s been told they can’t transfer because the one class they need isn’t be-ing offered this semester or it’s full. We just want our right to education. Let’s make our voices

heard, let’s change the game. Let’s show the state and the world that we will not sit idly by and watch the world burn because of some squabbling old men in capitols.

Write to your senators and congressmen. Regard-less of which side you’re on, this is wrong. Fight the good fight and don’t stop until you’ve exhausted

every ounce of your final strength.

We know it’s hard enough to get homework done on time with everything else going on in our lives but this is a very necessary step toward reclaiming educa-tion in the name of those who fought and died for it along with those who have yet to breathe their first breath.

When have we given the world enough?

Sports Page 7April 2011 SportsMinor loss, major gain

Transferring?Finish School YOUR Way!

>>!!Streamlined admissions

>>!!No enrollment fee

>>!!Flexible scheduling

>>!!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’ve got work, family, and friends. You’re transferring because you want to fi nish your degree and move on into a new career. National University makes that possible with. . .

8 0 0 . N AT. U N I V ! " ! ! !g e t i n f o . n u . e d u / t r a n s f e r

N A T I O N A L U N I V E R S I T Y®

!"#$%$"&'()*+',"-+)./01)(2""34%5

!"#$%&'(#)*'+,$-. $/012#*

SHERMAN OAKS CAMPUS14724 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 801 • 818.817.2460

ONLINE INFORMATION CENTERin West Covina, 591 Plaza Drive • 626.939.1600

In Major League Base-ball, there are interleague games and the fans get to exper ience unique games that otherwise would be just topics of conversations in a barbershop in the Bronx, a l inger ing question in a pub in downtown Chicago and in the dreams of Los Ange-l inos fans.

Interleague games are games between the Ameri-can and National League teams that wouldn’t play

each other unti l the World Ser ies and became a real ity in June 1997. These games are much more than a reg-ular baseball game. It is a bragging r ight for the fans and hopefully an answer to those questions in barber-shops, pubs and dreams.

The New York fans can

see the Yankees play the Mets in the Subway Ser ies. Chicago can see the Cubs play the White Sox and in Los Angeles, the Dodgers can play the Angels.

AVC has its own home-town r ival. Since 2006, the Marauders have played an exhibit ion game with the Lancaster JetHawks.

The Lancaster JetHawks are a Class-A Houston As-tros aff i l iate and play in the California League.

In their past six games, the JetHawks have domi-nated everyone. In their last encounter on April 5, the JetHawks blanked the Ma-rauders 11-0.

What the scoreboard doesn’t show is the immea-surable exper ience the Ma-rauders gained.

“I real ly wasn’t con-cerned with winning or los-ing. I just wanted to have a good t ime and take this ex-per ience with me,” said Ar t Gutier rez the Marauders in-f ielder. “It gives you a look at where we might end up at, Division I school or minor league l ike the JetHawks.”

Gutier rez, who has a .260 bat t ing average and a .400 slugging percentage in con-ference games, reached base by get t ing hit by a pitch against the JetHawks and ended up 0-3. The Maraud-ers had some success on the

mound.The star t ing ace for AVC

was Steven Tremlin who pitched one inning and al-lowed one run on two hits and scored the Marauders f i rst st r ikeout of the day.

“It was excit ing. I st ruck out a minor leaguer and no one can take that away from

me,” said Tremlin. “This should build our confidence to continue in the remain-der of the season and f inish st rong.”

“It was a fast game. I wish we could’ve played the ful l 9 innings.”

Brad Sailor pitched the second inning and matched Tremlin’s effor ts al low-ing one run scored and one st r ikeout.

Freshman pitcher Zach Myas st ruck out two bat ters closing the thi rd inning.

The JetHawks f i rst home run came from Kody Hinze in the bot tom of the f if th against the Marauders’ r ight-handed rel iever Wes

By Avi IthierStaff Writer

Avi Ithier / ExaminerArt Gutierrez who swings against the Jethawks is the first baserunner for AVC.

Avi Ithier / ExaminerCory Stanton strikes out two and allows two home runs in the seventh inning.

See Baseball, page 8

SportsSportsPage 8 April 2011

Underdogs step up in the NBA PlayoffsAs the first

round of the NBA playoffs

shifts to the homes of the lower seeded teams, it has become more interesting than anyone could have anticipated. The top two Western Conference teams, the Los Ange-les Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs, have given up a game each on their home floors and are all even in their series against the New Orleans Hornets and the Memphis Grizzlies respectively.

The Eastern Conference also had its share of an upset with the Orlando Magic splitting the first two games with the At-lanta Hawks. With three teams forfeiting home-court advantage, the first round has become a lot more interesting.

West

San Antonio Spurs vs. Memphis Griz-zlies (1-1)

The top-seeded Spurs didn’t look like the team that won 61 games during the regular season during the first two games of its series against the Grizzlies. The ab-sence of Manu Ginobili played a huge role in the Spurs’ poor outing in the first game but the Grizzlies deserve a lot of credit for not crumbling under the pressure of play-ing a top-seeded team filled with veteran players.

As the series heads to Memphis, the Grizzlies front court of Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol have to play the way they did in the first game of the series in order to keep the experience of the Spurs to a nonfactor. Still, I don’t see the Grizzlies advancing to the next round of the playoffs with Ginobili back in the lineup.

Spurs in 6

Los Angeles Lakers vs. New Orleans Hornets (1-1)

The second of the top-seeded teams in the west, the Lakers, also gave up the first game of their series to the Hornets.

Instead of playing like the team that went 17-1 after the All-Star break, the Lak-ers looked more like the team that lost five games in a row prior to the playoffs. How-ever, the Lakers turned it around in the sec-ond game, doing a better job slowing down Chris Paul and getting Andrew Bynum go-ing early on in the game.

As the series heads to New Orleans, the Lakers will have to use their size and

length to their advantage in order to take an easier route to their third consecutive championship. Although a team with a player like Chris Paul has a good chance of winning on any given night, the expe-rience and length of the Lakers will ulti-mately prove to be too much for the young Hornets.

Lakers in 5

Dallas Mavericks vs. Portland Trailblaz-ers (2-0)

Unlike the Spurs and the Lakers, the Mavericks took care of business on its home floor against the Trailblazers, tak-

ing a 2-0 lead on their opponent. Still, Dirk Nowitzki struggled against the smother-ing defense of the Trailblazers while Jason Kidd stepped up in a big way to will his team to a win, scoring 24 points.

The second game however was a differ-ent story as Dirk Nowitzki poured in 33 points and proved to have put his game 1 performance behind him.

As the series heads to Portland, the Mavericks cannot get another poor perfor-mance out of Nowitzki if they want to walk away with a win in the hostile environment of the Rose Garden. I expect the Mavericks to struggle a bit in Portland but will ulti-mately advance to the next round.

Mavericks in 6

Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Denver Nuggets (2-0)

It seemed as though the Denver Nug-gets could steal one on the road in game 1 against the Thunder and completing a hat-

trick of upset in the Western Conference, but fell just four points shy of doing so.

Just as it started to seem as if the duel between the fourth and fifth-seeded teams could fall either way, the Thunder silenced all of their doubters by blowing out the Nuggets in game 2 assisted by the stellar plays of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Du-rant.

As the series heads to Denver, the Nug-gets will have to crank up their intensity in order to slow down the all-star duo of the Thunder. Unfortunately, I don’t see West-brook or Durant slowing down anytime soon.

Thunder in 4

East

Chicago Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers (2-0)

Like many of the top-seeded teams in the playoffs, the Bulls seemed to struggle in the first game of their series against the Pacers as they barely escaped with a victo-ry thanks to an MVP-like performance by Derrick Rose. They escaped with yet an-other win in game 2 but both games were way too close for comfort.

The Bulls were expected to blow the Pacers out of each game but it has become evident that the Pacers are a team to be reckoned with.

As the series heads to Indiana, the Pac-ers hope to do a better job closing out games with their home fans to back them. Unfortunately, the Bulls now know that the Pacers will have to be taken more seriously and will close out the series in Indiana.

Bulls in 4

Miami Heat vs. Philadelphia 76ers (2-0)

The big three of Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, and Chris Bosh has managed to come together at just the right time. Al-though the 76ers gave the Heat a scare late in the first game, the star power of the Heat proved too much for the 76ers.

The second game wasn’t much of a com-petition as the Heat torched the 76ers by 21 points with the big three combining for 64 points.

As the series heads to Philadelphia, the 76ers will have to find a way to slow down Dwyane Wade and company which I don’t see them doing.

Heat in 4

Boston Celtics vs. New York Knicks (2-0)

The Celtics aren’t the team they were a year ago with the original big three not get-ting any younger and with Kendrick Per-kins now with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Still, they managed to squeeze out a win in game 1 with a 2-point victory and another one in game 2 with a 3-point victory.

In the absence of Chauncey Billups, Car-melo Anthony bumped his game up yet an-other notch but fell just short of making a game-tying 3-pointer in game 2 to tie the series.

As the series heads to New York, Billups is expected to make his return and will reenergize the Knicks along with the fans at Madison Square Garden. Expect the Knicks to push the defending Eastern Con-ference champs to the brink of elimination.

Celtics in 7

Orlando Magic vs. Atlanta Hawks (1-1)

The one team I expected to make an upset in the first round are the Hawks and they didn’t disappoint winning one on the road against the Magic. Although they couldn’t come away with another win in game 2, the Hawks now have the home-court advantage in the series as the series shifts to their court.

As the series heads to Atlanta, the one constant of the Magic is the play of Dwight Howard. However, other players such as Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson will have to step up and take some of the load off of Howard’s shoulders in order to win a game as the visiting team.

Hawks in 6

By Benjamin MinStaff Writer

Courtesy photo / nba.com

Horn.Hinze, who was draft-

ed by the Pit tsburgh Pi-rates in 2005 and is in his f i rst season with the JetHawks, gave the Ma-rauders words of encour-agement af ter the game.

“They are a good team,” said Hinze. “They need to put in the t ime l ike we did.”

Closing for AVC was freshman Cory Stanton who al lowed back-to-back homeruns in the bot tom of the seventh but st ruck out the last two bat ters for the JetHawks.

The Marauders, who have had a rough season and are cur rently ranked eighth in the Foothil l Conference with a 5-16 record, look to build on this loss with a roster ful l of ta lented freshmen and a season of hardship.

The last game of the season wil l be a double-header on April 28 at noon when the Maraud-ers wil l host Mt. San Ja-cinto.

BaseballContinued from 7