The Bed You Never Want To End Up In

Wally Gilbert comes to AVCsee pg. 3

Eye on Fashionsee pg. 5

AVC wins against El Caminosee pg. 8

Campus sheriffs crack down on unregistered vehicles

Agnes Jose-Eguaras, director of basic skills and Title V activities at AVC, was recently appointed one of the California Community Colleges’ Success Network (3CSN) Regional Coordinators.

“It’s an honor not only for me, but for AVC, to serve in such a leadership role,” Jose-Eguaras said. Out of California’s 112 community colleges, there are only seven regional coordinators for the whole state.

“My passion is education,” Jose-Eguaras said. “We’re in the business of changing people’s lives.”

Regional coordinators build a single network of faculty, counselors and admin-istrators statewide to share results and ex-periences from basic skills activities and programs designed to help students suc-ceed where they need help the most.

“In my humble opinion, Agnes Jose-Eguaras is one of the most valuable people on our campus,” said Santi Tafarella, Eng-lish professor and co-chair for the Basic Skills Committee. “She’s an exemplary rep-resentative for the whole college, and, to be honest, they couldn’t have done better.”

Jose-Eguaras said she first took the co-ordinator post temporarily for the Foothills and Inland Empire region in Fall 2011 when the previous coordinator moved away for an-other job up north.

“Normally there would have been a vote,”

Jose-Eguaras said, “but no one else stepped forward [to take on the post of coordinator].” So, in January 2012, members from the re-gion’s schools asked her to accept the posi-tion officially.

“We have a lot of students who are com-ing into college, and they’re not prepared for transfer level courses,” Jose-Eguaras said.

Recent assessment scores for AVC stu-

dents revealed that 40 percent need basic skills reading, 58 percent need basic skills English and 92 percent need basic skills math.

Jose-Eguaras gave a PowerPoint presenta-tion to AVC’s Board of Trustees on Feb. 13 proving the success of improved basic skills programs the school has adopted, such as ac-celerated courses, in-class tutoring and

SMARTHINKING online tutoring. During the presentation Jose-Eguaras

showed that 48.8 percent of students who took a regular 16-week course of English 99 in Spring 2011 passed, but 72.5 percent passed in an accelerated eight-week course and were ready to move on to the next level for the rest of the semester.

“This is really dramatic,” said Betty Wienke, President of the Board of Trustees.

Every month, Jose-Eguaras meets with members from at least 14 community col-leges to share results, participate in events and go through workshops focused on how to best help students. Then, on top of her re-gional work, Jose-Eguaras is involved with statewide initiatives, work for the Chancel-lor’s office and numerous events with the other six coordinators.

“She needs all the support she can get,” Tafarella said. “I hope that the college gives her proper financial resources and moral support, and honors the difficulty of what she’s going to be doing.”

But Jose-Eguaras is grateful for the help she has gotten so far.

“I can’t do it alone,” Jose-Eguaras said. “What I want to highlight is the fact that we, as a college and an institution, really need to get together in collaboration with each other to help our students.”

NewsPage 2 March 2012

AVC employee chosen to be state regional coordinator

Three cars belonging to AVC students were towed away and im-pounded by the Lancaster Sher-iff’s Department on Feb. 22 due to car registration issues.

If a car’s registration is behind more than six months, the Sher-iff’s department has the right to impound the car under the Cali-fornia Vehicle Code.

For one student, Vincent King, this was the second time in only a week that his silver Pontiac has been impounded.

King said he was on his way to class when he saw the tow truck in the parking lot.

“When I saw the tow truck, I knew they were taking my car,” King said.

Officer Ray Murgatroyd, the

Lancaster Sheriff Department Su-pervisor for AVC, said King had been given a “Temporary Mov-ing Permit” to get his car smog checked and registered, but had not done it in the time specified, so they took his car again.

King said he had gone to the DMV to get another permit after the first one expired, but because he had not written the date on the form, it was not valid.

“Now I’ve got to pay city fees which are $80, plus impound fees which are $120,” King said. “I al-ready paid $485 for the registra-tion [it just hasn’t gone through yet], and I just paid the tow com-pany $188 last week to get it out.”

Murgatroyd told King he could take the proper documentation to the Sheriff’s Station, speak with the Watch Commander “and he has the power to say, ‘Ok, I be-

lieve you. Go get your car.’”“It’s not about making money

or anything like that,” Murg-atroyd said. “It’s just to get these cars registered properly ... every-body has to do it.”

“Sometimes people pay for the registration,” he said, “but forget to put the proper tabs on their li-cense plate.”

In this case, the owner of the vehicle can prove he or she has registered, but must still pay a ticket of $33.

Of the three cars impounded on Feb. 22, according to Murgatroyd, one had not been registered since 2009, another since 2010 and the third in 2011.

Murgatroyd said that lately the sheriffs have found a couple of cars with registration issues every day during their routine checks at AVC, but “this is nothing new.”

Sheriffs impound student cars

The Antelope Valley College mourns the loss of another long-time fac-ulty member. Associate Professor Beverly Beyer finally succumbed af-ter a two-year battle with lung cancer on Jan. 30. She is survived by her husband, Ed Beyer, who works as a professor of computer information science at AVC.

Funeral services for Beyer were held on Feb. 9 at Father Serra Parish in Quartz Hill. She rests in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery.

Beyer started work at AVC as an adjunct instructor in the Business and Computer Studies Division in Jan. 2001. She then worked as assistant di-rector of Corporate and Community Education before accepting a full-time tenure at AVC in Aug. 2002.

The Beyer family has requested that memorial contributions be sent to support lung cancer research conducted by Beyer’s former physician, Dr. Marianna Koczywas. Donations may be made out to “City of Hope/Dr. Koczywas’ Research” at:

City of Hope Gift Administration 1055 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90017

By Kat WilsonStaff Writer

By Kat WilsonStaff Writer

William Lofgren/ ExaminerAgnes Jose-Eguaras said she is thrilled to take on the duties of her new position.

Courtesy PhotoAnother day at the office: Campus Security impounds their third car.

Prof. loses long battle with cancerBy Ben Fassett, Staff Writer

A full house attended Breastfest, which was hosted at the Industry Theater on Feb. 18, to help fundraise towards breast cancer research plus get the chance to watch some favorite local bands.

At 6 p.m., the line outside of Industry The-ater on Avenue K in Lancaster had fans and supporters anxious to enter the loud, smokey room that would be the witness to mosh pits, rowdy heavy metal and a good time for those involved in performing, donating and sup-porting.

Bare Knuckles, Life for a Life, Mark My Words, This Place is a Zoo, Few Words For Comfort, Redeemer, Amenaza, and Sover-eign Strength were the final line-up for the

benefit show. As the night progressed, the more the crowd grew. Aside from a good concert and wristband to prove, the first 100 people to enter the venue also got a free post-er giving tribute to the headlining band, Sov-ereign Strength, and their six years of music.

Multiple bands drew crowds with different people and some of the same. Some of the bands, like Redeemer and Mark My Words, were Christian-based hardcore bands which did not disappoint the crowd with their heavy guitar riffs and strong vocals. Whereas This Place Is A Zoo pleased the energy-driven mosh pit with their equally as energetic in-struments and band members. The deeper into the night the concert went, the more en-ergy the bands received and the more they would project back into the crowd.

Few Words For Comfort, who were invited,

and excited, to perform alongside Sovereign Strength, jumped right into the opportunity, especially since lead singer, Marcus, has a tie to the cause, having grandmothers who had both been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The band even made some donations them-selves by buying “Mosh for Boobies” T-shirts at the merchandise tables, and Marcus giv-ing five dollars from his pocket to the benefit. After performing a successful set with his band, Marcus modestly said, “Support from the crowd was more than normal coming out here; it was good.”

By the time Amenaza hit the stage, the trumpets, guitars and drums turned most of the crowd into a massive circle pit. With fluc-tuating speeds in each song, the ska-metal band fed the circle pit the excitement they were waiting for.

The promoter who approached Tully Huf-faker, owner of Industry Theater, for the chance to raise money for research, Ed-win Acuna, took the stage before Sovereign Strength finished off the night by mentioning there being over 300 attendees.

He also stated that he began the Breastfest after having an aunt diagnosed with breast cancer and wanting to help in any way.

When Sovereign Strength took the stage, they began their set thanking the AV locals for their support throughout the years and mentioning the importance of the fundrasing.

As their final show, the leading band screamed their hearts out during each song, as did the fans in the crowd who asked for an encore from the AV-based hardcore band which was an epic finish to the night.

Page 3March 2012 Features

On Thursday, Feb 16, AVC played host to Nobel Prize-winning scientist and art-ist, Dr. Walter Gilbert. Gilbert, 79, is per-haps best known for his work in sci-ence, particularly in the field of chemistry.

He earned a Nobel Prize for his work on de-vising new meth-ods for determin-ing the sequence of nucleotides in a nucleic acid.

He holds two bachelor’s, one in chemistry and on in physics. He also holds a masters in physics and a Ph.D in mathematics.

However, it is not his scientific achieve-ment that brings him to AVC. The school’s art gallery is lined with examples of his work.

The event was held by the AVC Foundation, but was open to all of the campus. When it came time for Gilbert to speak, there were about 40 people listening.

There are 43 pieces of his work on display. All of these limited edition pieces are for sale; a catalog is available from the art gallery for $10.

Gilbert’s artwork varies from realistic pho-

tography, abstract and digital artwork. Gilbert started out using a small two mega-pixel cam-era; he would take his photos and enlarge the dimensions to two-by-three-feet.

His early works in this style are of Marzipan fruits made in Italy. Later on, he photographed derelict and abandoned machinery in Warsaw, Pol.

“The way he takes an image of an ordinary object and blows it up, you see it in a differ-ent way. I really like it,” said Yvonne Har-rison, an art student at AVC.

Gilbert moved on from photography in his artistic pursuits.

He began to ex-periment and create images by hand with

computer programs. Some of these generated images are entirely abstract exercises in color. Others are infinite fractals that repeat their pat-tern. And still more of his work focuses on dif-ferent shapes and patterns so that one can follow a certain shape and discover the profile of a hu-man face within black and white lines.

One certainly does not expect such an ac-claimed and awarded scientist to go into the field of the arts.

“I find the similarity in creative impulse.

When you do science in terms of trying to cre-ate new science you’re driven by an impulse to create new knowledge. In the art [world] you are also driven to create something new, an image that has an emotional impact on the viewer,” said Gilbert.

He also spoke briefly about how he goes

through the process of creating his art, explainng that it is very much like the experiments he used to conduct as a scientist.

“I like to think of [the art] experiments in vi-sual terms. After building up an image, if it’s an image I like, I’ll keep it. If it didn’t work I discard it and move onto something else,” said Gilbert.

Nobel Prize-winning scientist displays his artworkBy Joshua SanchezStaff Writer

Joshua Sanchez/ ExaminerHarvard professor shares insights into how to succeed “Love your work and work harder than anybody else. Anybody can be great.”

BREASTFEST 2012Photo Courtsey of Ryan Albertson(Left to Right) Redeemer Drummer, Cody Swift., Redeemer Bassist Phillip Hrenuic, Redeemer Vocalist Tanner Sift, Redeemer Guitarist Austin Wayman, Amenaza Vocalist, Buddah.

By Maria MedinaStaff Writer

“One certainly does not expect such an ac-claimed and awarded scientist to go into the field of arts.”

Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes” is the latest production by the AVC Theater Department. It will tour from March 23 through the end of May around the Antelope Valley.

The play is being produced by AVC’s Professor of The-ater, Jonet Leighton. It’s being directed by returning AVC director, Stephan Wolfert, who has done Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and “Twelfth Night” at AVC

“The Emperor’s New Clothes” is a short story about a superficial emperor who orders a suit from tailors, which can only be visible to those who are worthy of filling his position. In fulfilling the emperor’s requests, an invisible suit is made, which he assumes to be the suit itself. The entire empire decides to follow along, with the exception of a young child who has no problem speaking out on the non-existent clothes of the emperor, which is when he decides to quit being so vain.

Having booked 13 schools so far, the cast and crew of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” will perform in schools in Lancaster and Palmdale and will travel as far as Mojave and Agua Dulce. Being a play geared towards kindergarten students up to fourth graders, the work is labeled as “The-ater for Young Audiences” or TYA.

Having already performed and worked with children, such as when Wolfert directed Pinocchio, the theater de-partment knows how to cope with various audiences, from kindergarteners, to fifth graders, to children with special needs, the department is professional. However, not every aspect of the production process is simple. Most of the per-formances at the elementary schools will be held in, what is called, a “cafetorium” where there are no facilities to bring in lighting for plays. In some cases, the schools are around 80 years old. Trying to book a school is quite a long process of administrations and school boards reviewing the propos-al, which Leighton said, “sometimes, it’s like ‘ok, a month

until I hear from them.’” Criminal background checks are also a common process when trying to book a school for a performance in order to keep the children safe.

During shows, Leighton admits it can be quite a work-load. The cast and crew all work together from [the earliest] call time at 6:45 a.m. loading the vans with props, light-ing, etc. Once at the school, they jump on stage, perform and with 10 minutes between performances, take a quick breather before heading back. When all is done and they return to campus, the crew has to unload everything off the vans into the theater room; they will be doing the same rou-tine every Friday beginning Mar. 23. But with all the hard work and wrap-ups at 4:30 p.m., the cast also gets a lot of experience working in theater and “really can get to know their character and develop their character through 25 per-formances,” said Leighton. The cast and crew also gain positive feedback from the schools themselves. Schools far out in rural Tehachapi and California City have the staff and faculty of the schools grateful and happy to have the-ater present once in a while.

Leighton said, “I don’t know how many people realize the behind the scenes support the administration gives us,” in regards to the cargo trucks, props and equipment they provide for the theater deparment.

Students from the Hans Chris-tian Andersen production are ex-tremely excited to begin rehears-als and to perform their latest pro-duction. Crystal Schumacher is the stage manager and has worked on multiple stage managing jobs before at AVC, like “Phantom Tollbooth,” who mentions packets the teachers receive which “cheers them right up” and contains color-ing pages for the children.

Experienced theater actress, playing Citizen 1 and Beverage

Steward, Serena Aartman is on her second semester here at AVC and with plays like “Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast” in her resume, she talks about the Tailor charac-ters in the play as “an interesting twist that I’ve never seen before” and looks forward to performing at elementary schools since she is studying to become a preschool teacher.

Aspiring film actress and AVC production veteran, Dani-elle Sappleton, who will play Tailor number 2, is also excit-ed to gain experience with children. Sappleton said, “about the play in general, I’m excited to perform for children.” Equally as excited to be a part of the cast is Tiffany Risher, who Wolfert recommended she audition for the play, which will be her first at AVC as Guard Number 2.

The cast receives tons of ‘thank you’s’ in return for per-forming at the elementary schools, which gives them even more pride and excitement after production wraps up.

The first performance of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” will be at Agua Dulce Elementary School on Mar. 23. as well as at Desert Christian School and will continue throughout the AV until the end of May, with a stop on campus in the new Performing Arts Building on Apr. 28 and 29 for general audiences.

Features March 2012Page 4

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By Maria MedinaStaff Writer

AVC Theater Department to debut “The Emperor’s New Clothes”

Photo Courtesy of Ryan Alberston(Left to Right) : (Bottom Row) Stephan Wolfert (Director), Sequan Peele, Mike Milam, James Higgins, David Hodrick, T.J. Dyson, Augusto Calderon (Top Row) Tay’lavr Paige, Adasha Ann Surratt, Tiffany Risher, Brianna Herrera, Danielle Sappleton, Marylyn Cochran, Elizabeth Higgins.

Eye on By Maria

Fashion Cortes

March 2012 Page 5

Sandra Mireya: Fashion Sensation

Sandra Mireya is a fashion sensation and a model of confi-dence and charisma. Her bubbly, yet spunky, personality can be seen through her sense of style and favorite fashion trends.

“I would like to say that I’m preppy with a touch of spunk. I love pop colors, but I also like to be polished. I am a bit quirky, to be honest with you,” she said. This combination of elements makes her AVC’s Best Dressed Girl.

She takes a lot of inspiration from fellow quirky girl Zooey Deschanel and songstresses Regina Spektor and Kate Nash. It’s their cute and kooky uses of color that has her so transfixed. These three unique women have perfected the style that every-one is craving now: the beautiful blend between classic femi-nine pieces and bright and bold colors.

Although Mireya takes a lot of inspiration from her idols, there are certain trends that she adores and is making all her own. “I love bold color blazers. I am totally in love with them. They can take a simple outfit to a whole other level. I have three pairs in bright red, hot pink and white. I just can’t get enough.”

There are also particular winged accessories that Mireya will never leave the house without. “There is something so liberating about birds. I have bird and wing necklaces on long chains that I always wear.”

There is a particular trend circulating now that she prefers to stay far, far away from. She abhors animal print leggings. She points out that unless you have incredibly thin legs, they are ter-ribly unflattering. No girl wants to look like one of the members of LMFAO.

The beauty of Mireya is that she is also a role model for plus-size girls everywhere that haven’t realized just how beauti-ful they are. “Just because you’re curvy doesn’t mean you’re doomed to over-sized t-shirts and mom jeans. Skinny jeans are your friends and black isn’t always flattering. Have fun with your wardrobe, don’t be afraid. Play up your best features and just have fun.”

Worst Place to shop at the Mall:

Hollister

Hollister is the number one place to find summer clothes all year long. The store is promoted as chic and fun with plastic palm trees adorning the bungalow style front en-trance and a shirtless boy smiling down at you. For those of us who enjoy seeing mon-ey in our wallets, Hollister is not the place

to shop. In actuality, it’s the wrong place to shop if you don’t enjoy spending $50 on a skirt. The entire store is completely over priced. It’s a wonder they are still in business. A simple pull-over sweater can set you back almost $60, and that isn’t including tax.

The female section is, to no amazement, far more expensive than the male section. Dresses can range anywhere from $40-$60, while shirts, blouses and tank tops go from $20-$40 a piece. Sizes are also a monumental problem. The phrase “waif thin” comes into mind when I walk through the store. There are limited sizes to choose from so most people end up leaving the store less confident than when they walked in. The styles they offer also lack in variety. It is mainly summer and beach wear with the occasional sweater and exercise apparel here and there. I don’t recommend you walk in unless you’ve got $300 in your pocket or are content with wearing the stereotypical California look all year long.

Best Place to shop at the Mall:

Forever 21

Forever 21 takes the crown for being the most popular store at the mall. It also happens to be the best place to shop if you’re looking for va-riety, great prices and good service. When I say variety, I’m not just talking about clothing. Forever 21 sells everything from shoes, hats, make-up and accessories, sunglasses, and, of course, the latest in fashion trends.

It doesn’t matter if you’re Bohemian Chic or obsessed with the Mod movement, you can find it here, and you’re gauranteed to love everything you bought. One of the most important things about shopping there is the fact that you won’t be declaring bankruptcy by the time that you exit the store. Unlike most stores at the mall, you can enter with $100 and exit with an amazing pair of jeans, two or three great shirts and a pair of shoes that are bound to go with everything in your closet. Forever 21 also has every size available for the majority of their clothing. Their sizes range from extra small to 3-X large. Forever 21 Plus, their plus-size line, has become widely popular and offers very stylish and affordable clothing. You will never walk into this store wondering whether or not you’ll be too big or small to fit into the clothing. Forever 21 provides everything for you.

I came into political awareness when voting had become all the rage. You know, when Sean “P. Diddy Puffy Slightly Swollen” Combs put on his T-shirt telling you to vote or die, presumably in a freak tailoring accident. Gravely inspired by these cutthroat tactics, I rushed to the ballot box – years later.

All right, so maybe I wasn’t as concerned as I should have been.

My involvement in the decision-making process marked a brave new time; however, when I would no longer be able to wave off politics out of apathy or insufficient data. No, now was the time to get involved, to muscle my way through the flea circus and make firm, informed choices about how I want my country to be run.

Yeah, I voted for President Obama. I’m not going to lie to you out of regret or hindsight. The simple fact of the matter is that he scared me less than the cadaverous PR nightmare with death in his eyes, and the horrifying mental train wreck that was for-mer Governor Sarah Palin (and ye who doth dare continue to let her spout nonsense on thine broad-cast stations shouldst be ashamed).

We have since reached the end of term, and while disappointment isn’t the right word, it’s the only one I can think of.

So now I’m faced with the mind-numbing con-fusion of trying to decide whether I want to settle for an old failure, or risk trying out some new, fresh hell. Neither option seems very appealing, and I have a sneaking suspicion that I’m not alone.

In fact, this marks the first signs of the Repub-lican Party devouring itself. The ire of the candi-dates themselves have rubbed off on the favorite editorial mouthpieces, your O’Reillys and Lim-baughs, who tear everyone apart with more zeal than vultures over carrion.

Little wonder, too. Both likely Republican can-didates are about as appealing as a poke in the eye. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has that dangerous sort of hackneyed madness that throws us back to Bush and Nixon and the terrible sense that he believes that if he says something with enough conviction, it will be so.

I know it’s nitpicking, but when that man looked us square in the eye and told us that he was going to put a colony (and eventually the 51st state) on the

moon, I felt nauseous. It was the same knee-jerk response I got when President Bush told us through his Cheshire grin that he was going to put men on Mars, effectively ignoring the grim realities that we were facing back on earth; still trying to grab that feather left in the cap of a long-dead president who thought maybe he could put a man on the moon.

Yes, the space program was a big boon for Presi-dent John F. Kennedy. You just forgot that we don’t have a space program to speak of, anymore. Re-member? That went belly-up. So can we fix things before we start daydreaming again?

Meanwhile, former Senator Rick Santorum scratches at the soft walls of his cage, where his constituency tries desperately to keep him from swallowing his own tongue, and tries even harder to keep him from public speaking. They’ve had no choice but to set him loose recently, however. San-torum, in all of his ministerial fervor, decided that religion wasn’t getting a fair cop. He pointed the finger at Obama, chiding him for allowing Chris-tianity to be allegedly wiped out in Iraq. In other words, he is very upset that our President let the Iraqis get down to figuring our their own religious scruples on their own. For shame.

Make absolutely no mistake, when this snake oil merchant talks about religious freedom, he’s talk-ing about Christians. Jews, Muslims and any other sect that might be a photo negative of his own com-plexion are not being considered here. It sounds harsh, but you can see the zealot gleam in his eye. His idea of a nation is under a very specific god. Freedom indeed.

It’s not as if Mitt Romney inspires confidence, either. The man struggles through nearly every in-terview I’ve seen him sit down for. You can see that smile grow taut, as if he might unhinge his jaws at any moment and bite a man’s skull clean off. It is hard to scrutinize his policies, too, when we’re not sure if they’re going to change at a whim. This is either the horrible confusion of a man who doesn’t know what the hell he believes in, or some cruel attempt to play Hamlet.

“I am mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.”

That’s great. But can we know what you’ve fi-nally decided to do?

Some of you might be praying for a Ron Paul win. I can’t do anything for you there. He’s become the sad-faced Elmer Fudd of the Republican Party. Anyone who has a say in this game simply isn’t

OpinionPage 6 March 2012

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What to do when you’re without a horse in this raceBy Ben FassettStaff Writer

Does it bother any-one else that we just got new chairs in the cafeteria? The school has so many things to worry about, and the thing they decide to “fix” is the tables and chairs?! Why fix what isn’t broken?

-Maria Marisol, Physics Major

going to let it happen. Heaven help the poor guy when he finds himself beset by the Rush Limbaughs of the world. They have torn him to pieces like an appetizer.

Meanwhile, Obama drowns in his own failure.

What I want from a presidential candidate is a removal from the slapstick, reality TV pall that campaigning has adopted. I don’t want to be distracted by shiny mottos or ide-als to glorify. What I want, ladies and gentle-men, is an itinerary. I want an agenda laid out before me, complete with works cited, in MLA format; a precise declaration of what it is these people hope to accomplish, and a complete explanation of how they intend to go about it. Numbers, references and statis-tics. I want to know where your money is coming from, and who is working behind the scenes. If you cannot tell me this, in a man-ner that any college professor would pass with at least a B, you are not allowed to be the president.

Can you imagine such a world?In the mean time, all we really have to

go on at the end of the day are the numbers. When you go to make your vote, make sure you have gotten your hands on all of the re-

liable, creditably sourced statistics you can manage. Take a close look at how these people have influenced their surroundings. Remember that the only difference between state and federal statistics, and their deeper meanings, is the scale. Solve for x. They are the only things that won’t lie to you. Com-pare everyone. There is safety and clarity in the decimals. Go as far back as you are men-tally prepared to, and take notice of the pro-gression. Who does better over time? That is particularly important, because whoever wins this general election is going to have to be in it for the long haul.

Antelope Valley College has provided an insight to this, in its own small way. The Owl Purdue Online Writing Lab contains a wealth of information for rhetorical and argumentative reasoning, which is vital to make informed political decisions. The Washington Post has a lot of resources avail-able as well, and has a pretty good track re-cord for accuracy when it comes to statistics. Alternatively, GPO’s website can provide an abundance of budget information.

More than anything, don’t believe the hype – Public Enemy was right all along. It’s only going to get worse from here.

As always, I’m looking forward to a new semester of the Examiner. However, I am hoping to see more news-you-can-use. Will you have any col-umns like this?

-Dani Jean Keinz, English Major

Opinion Page 7March 2012

Editor in ChiefNatasha Castro

Managing Editor Ben Fassett

News Editor Kat Wilson Opinion Editor Ellessea Owens Features EditorMaria Medina

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Advertising ManagerNguyen Douglas

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Editorial: copping a feel on the copyright questionThe AVC Examiner editorials are the unsigned views of the editorial board

Now that SOPA and PIPA are dead and bur-ied, thanks to one of the most over-publicized and over-dramatic up-roars in Internet history, the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act is in full swing.

Before you go ranting and raving about how this is all one giant con-spiracy theory, hell-bent on censoring the Inter-net and destroying your first amendment rights, actually sit down and read the bill.

It is a friendlier and smarter version of SOPA and PIPA.

It is the version that should have been pre-sented before all the protesting and complain-ing happened. It would have saved everyone a lot of grief and whining.

The first thing you should know about OPEN is that it focuses on foreign websites and would only apply to websites that are knowingly promoting

material under copyright violation. This means that entire websites can’t be shut down if they are suspected of violating copyright laws.

The complete opposite would have happened under SOPA and PIPA and for much less. If even one page contained illegal material, the whole site would have been shut down and the people in charge would have been arrested. Case and point, MegaUpload creator Kim Dotcom, who is now facing jail after being arrested in New Zealand.

Those of us who en-joy not going to jail for a random picture we googled and posted on our Tumblr, Twitter or Facebook pages should be rejoicing right now.

It is also comforting to know that Google, Twit-ter, Linkedln and many others are giving OPEN their full support.

That means that they won’t be forced to filter their sites, an act that a lot of SOPA and PIPA protesters saw as forced

censorship.It’s also no surprise

that the Hollywood cash machine is against this. They think that the act goes too easy on the pi-racy issue. I’m guessing they all want us flogged or burned to the stake for watching heinous movies without paying for it first.

OPEN is a clever al-ternative to the piracy issue. Let’s face it, it is never going to go away, that is just a fact. How-ever, OPEN could be the middle ground that ev-erybody was looking for.

After the outrage and eventual fold of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), bigwigs and policy mak-ers had to scratch their heads and go back to the drawing board.

Their last little foil had gone horribly wrong (so-liciting damn near more negative attention than past military policies) and now they had to write something that might actually protect private liberties and basic Constitutional rights. That sneaky little clause about free speech ruined every-thing for them yet again.

So the Online Protec-tion and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN) made its debut with a lot of pressure hanging over-head.

Words were scruti-nized, opinions made – but how does this new version stack up against the concerns and critiques that defeated its predecessor?

It can be admitted that this is a much “softer” form of policy. IP ad-dresses are not being

blocked and major busi-nesses, such as Google and Facebook, are not being forced to police their own search features and adver-tising, a task that any Inter-net businessman will tell you is near impossible un-less it’s the only thing you do for days on end. There’s simply too much informa-tion. Instead, OPEN targets payment methods, removing the cash flow from domes-tic regions to foreign web-sites hosting material that infringes copyright laws.

You may have already smelled the big ol’ “but.”

BUT the problem is that this bill is, at best, a tempo-

rary bandage. Foreign web-sites can exist without the cash flow. They may not be as numerous, and thereby theoretically easier to po-lice, but this will not stop the problem by any stretch of the imagination.

The bill also makes it dif-ficult for lower-income art-ists to enforce their copy-rights by referring them to the trade commission rather than local jurisdictions. It is by comparison much easier for the big name movie companies and musicians to enforce their rights with this process. Doesn’t make a lot of sense, does it?

The big guns can sur-vive just fine. The sudden change in technology put a dent in them, but they’re learning to use the new medium to their advantage. It’s the small mom-and-pop film companies and local artists who need to be pro-tected. What gives?

Sorry. If you can’t come to an agreement that’ll cover all the bases and protect everyone’s liberties equally, it can’t be. Govern-ment simply has no right to pick and choose who to go to bat for.

PRO

CON

Despite a late surge by the El Camino Col-lege Warriors (18-9), the seventh seeded An-telope Valley College Marauders (23-7) man-aged to avoid a consecutive third round exit from the playoff by defeating the fifteenth seeded Warriors 67-64.

After the win in the second round against the Irvine Valley Lasers, the Marauders had expected to match up against the second seed-ed Mt. San Antonio College Mounties, only to have the Warriors pull an upset to advance to the third round. Playing against the lower seed meant that the Marauders had home court advantage.

The game started off slowly with the Ma-rauders shooting 1 for 7 from the field and the Warriors 2 for 8 in the first five minutes.

“Slow start in playoff, that is kind of the norm,” said Coach John Taylor of the Ma-rauders. “Both teams are really intense and there is not going to be a lot of offense.”

However, the playoff atmosphere quickly kicked in and the game intensified.

Still, the Marauders had difficulty defend-ing Julian Camper, the 6 foot 4 inches, 280 pound starting center of the Warriors, in the post and allowed him to score 8 points and grab 7 boards just in the first half. Camper fin-ished the game with 16 points and 10 boards.

In the closing seconds of the half, the Marauders’ fans had a scare when their star guard Jason Johnson was knocked to the floor on a hard screen by Warriors starting guard David Howard.

“My back was turned,” said Johnson, “I turned around to get the steal at the top of the key and the guy was just there setting a

screen. Nobody called out the screen, so I just ran right into him.”

Johnson laid face down in the middle of the court for a few minutes before getting back up to cheers from the fans; the Marauders closed out the half with a three point lead, 29-26.

Heading into the second half, the story was much the same. Both teams fought for every possession and had to earn every point against the opposing teams swarming defense.

Six minutes into the second half, the War-riors took their first lead since the opening minutes which quickly disappeared on a jump shot by John Washington of the Marauders. Washington’s jumper sparked an 11-2 run by the Marauders which extended their lead to nine, 50-41, causing Coach Michael Fenison

of the Warriors to call a timeout. After the break, the Warriors fought back ferociously and closed in on the Marauders.

The Warriors capitalized on a missed dunk by Sean Boston of the Marauders with four minutes left to play in the game and reduced their deficit to just six points, creating a five-point swing.

The Marauders managed to hold onto the six point lead until the closing seconds of the game until Johnson missed two crucial free throws with just 27 seconds left in the game.

“My nose was just throbbing,” said Johnson when asked about his missed free throws. “I just tried to play through it and I couldn’t re-ally lift my head. It was on line but I just shot it a little short.”

On the ensuing possession, Warriors for-ward Cameron Gray threw up a 3-pointer on a fast break which found the bottom of the basket, bringing them within three points of the Marauders with just 24.5 seconds left in the game.

The Warriors kept the game interesting until Marauders’ Da’Shawn Gomez’s free throws sealed the victory for the home team.

The guard duo of Gomez and Johnson proved too much for the Warriors and the Marauders came out on top, awarding them a ticket to the quarterfinals of the state playoff.

“I haven’t seen a better backcourt in the state,” said Coach Taylor about his two guards. “I wouldn’t trade our guys for the world.”

Gomez finished the game with 17 points to add to Johnson’s 20 for a total of 37 points be-tween the two players. After the game, Gomez credited his teammates for his performance.

“My teammates, they helped me get going, especially my bigs,” said Gomez. “My team-mates helped me get a lot of these open shots because they created for me a little bit and they helped me spread the floor.”

Gomez also shot 50 percent from behind the arc, capitalizing on four of his eight at-tempts from the distance.

After facing a team that advanced with an upset, the Marauders play against the Riv-erside Community College Tigers who also pulled an upset against the second seeded Saddleback College Gauchos in the next round as the paper goes to print.

The Marauders beat the Tigers in their pre-vious meeting 66-46.

SportsPage 8 March 2012

Men’s basketball marauding through the playoffBy Benjamin MinStaff Writer

AVC softball losing streak at three and counting

Robert Villapudua / ExaminerAVC Marauders’ starting guard Jason Johnson rises up for a jump shot from the baseline in a very hard fought win against the El Camino College Warriors.

AVC faced off against Cerritos College on Feb. 24 in hopes of end-ing a two-game losing streak.

Starting pitcher Brooke Farrell breezed by the Cerritos hitters and gave up no runs in the first inning.

In the bottom of the first inning, Destinee King reached on a base hit. Shauna Perky bunted King over, but reached on an infield hit.

“I watch the fielders on first and third; if they are playing back and there is a runner on first, I lay down the bunt and run to first as fast as I can with my quick speed,” Perky said about her bunting ability. “If there is no one on base, I just swing away.”

Michelle Cannon drove in a run with a ground out to make the score

1-0. Farrell pitched a scoreless sec-ond inning.

In the bottom of the inning, Far-rell reached first on a catcher’s in-terference. Jessica Perez singled and there were then runners on first and second base. Mandy Dale bunted the runners over.

King singled in a run to make the score 2-0. Perky lined a single to bring in both King and Perez to make the score 4-0. Breanne Farinas hit a double to bring in Perky. Can-non hit a two-run home run to make the score 7-0.

In the top of the third inning, Cer-ritos scored five runs off of Farrell. The score was then 7-5. In the top of the fourth inning, Cerritos tied the game. In the bottom of the inning, Cannon drew a walk. Stephanie Me-dina hit a double to right field. There were runners at second and third for

Farrell. She hit a double to center field scoring both Cannon and Me-dina. The score was 9-7, and Farrell injured her shoulder on the dive to

second base. In the top of the fifth inning, Ni-

cole Peters came in as a replacement on the mound. She gave up three

runs, giving Cerritos a 10-9 lead. At the bottom of the fifth inning, AVC recaptured the lead when their slug-ger, Medina, hit a three-run home run to center.

Cerritos made the game 12-11 in the top of the sixth inning then re-took the lead in the top of the sev-enth by scoring two more runs.

In the bottom of the seventh in-ning, a miscommunication on the bases led to a runner being thrown out at third. AVC lost the game by a run, making their record 7-5.

“Once everyone is healthy, I like our chances,” said Coach Vargas af-ter the game.

AVC’s losing streak is up to three and the Marauders look to get back on track against Desert College.

By Ravi SurampudiStaff Writer

Courtesy photoAVC’s catcher Michelle Cannon tags out Cerritos College’s second baseman Alexxa Sanabria in Marauders’ third consecutive loss.

Follow Benjamin Min on Twitter@AVCSports

Follow Ravi Surampudi on Twitter@RaviSurampudi