California is on the brink of one of the worst droughts that it has experienced in decades.

Despite the rain over this past weekend, California’s drought will hardly be any less catastrophic. Across the state as a whole, precipitation is down to about 20 percent of normal levels and this has prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emer-gency.

In short, a full-fledged water crisis is expected for California’s 38 million residents.

The state faces a water shortfall that will more than likely mean

higher food prices and costs of living. This has many students worried and caused them to alter their behavior.

Haya Hilton, a 20-year-old student has had this issue in the back of her mind.

“I’ve been telling [my family] to turn off faucets while brush-ing their teeth,” she said.

The biggest fear for students is that water will start to be ra-

• News 1,2,3 • Opinions 4,5 • Sports 6 • Editorial 4 • Arts & Features 7,8 • Campus Buzz 4 • Calendar 2 • Police Beat 2 • Staff Information 2 •

TheINQUIRER

Student Voice of diablo Valley college

Desire2Learn in full swing:Have at thee! Hamlet shines in most recent school play. See Page 8.

Electronic privacy: Data collecting, and why it is not something that should be condoned. See Page 5.

The district makes switch to a new online course platform. See Page 2.

Copyright © 2013 The Inquirer - Diablo Valley College

Thursday, February 6 - Wednesday, March 5, 2014Volume 85 No. 1

www.TheInquirerOnline.com

Calm before the drought Fresno

Sonoma

KernM

endocino

Shaver Lake Heights Mutual Water Company, plus a community district

City of Cloverdale, City of Healdsburg

Three Kern water associations, and Camp Condor

City of Willits, Redwood Valley Community Water District, plus a community district

Californiaturns to waterconservationin reponse to shortage

Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing to increase Cali-fornia community college funding by about $1 bil-lion as part of the 2014- 2015 budget.

According to a Contra Costa Times article from Jan. 14, this money could allow more students to enroll, freeze unit fees at $46, hire more counselors and add more classes.

Interim Vice President of Instruction Rachel Westlake is optimistic about the ability to expand, explaining that DVC has had to make many cuts and turn away students who couldn’t get their needed classes in recent years. This money could provide more opportunities to those students.

But the outcome of this money is dependent upon the need for students to be in school.

“It’s as good as (long as) we have student de-mand,” Westlake said. “If there are students out there who need the classes and if this money is giv-ing us that ability to serve those students, then it’s a good thing. If we find that there aren’t students out there who are wanting this, then we either have to evaluate whether we are doing the outreach that we need to the students who are not coming or we have to evaluate whether the demand is really there.”

Beth Hauscarriague, dean of counseling and en-rollment services, echoes similar sentiments about having turned away students for a long time, and with this potential money going towards commu-nity colleges, the school needs to gain back stu-dents that have been turned away.

“We’ve increased our marketing efforts and sending information out to the county residents and encouraging, reminding them that we’re here… we have great faculty and we have these great classes,” she said.

Hauscarriague finds that this money could con-tinue to add to the ongoing growth the college is going through. For example, DVC has already be-gun adding more courses to the schedule, includ-ing late start classes this February.

She’s open to the possibility of adding even more courses, especially those that are in impacted de-partments, such as science, math and English. But the ability to add courses depends the space that is available for them on campus.

“It’s not just about money, if we get more fund-ing. It’s also about what space we have on campus and when we have the space available,” she said. “If we are to capacity at a certain time, maybe that means we can offer classes at non-peak times, but it’s pretty challenging when you have such popular and impacted classes that your facilities and your space limit you on how many sections you can of-

These are among thecommunities and water

districts at risk of runningout of water in the next

one hundred days

New bill boosts community college budget

RACHEL ANN REYES Editor-in-chief

BUDGET, Page 2 DROUGHT, Page 3

COLLIN JAMESNews editor

Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey

newsThursday, Feb. 6 - Wednesday, March 5, 2014

2calendar

police beat

Saturday, Feb. 8thHamletPerforming Arts Center, 8:00 p.m.to 10:30 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 13Advanced Piano/Piano Ensemble RecitalMusic 101, 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Women’s Basketball vs.Sac CityGymnasium, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Men’s Basketball vs. Sac CityGymnasium, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 21Swimming & Diving - Las Pos-itas InvitationalAway event, All day

Women’s Basketball vs. Modesto (Sophomore Night)Gymnasium, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Men’s Basketball vs. Modesto (Sophomore Night)Gymnasium, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 14DVC Library ComplexAt 11:41 a.m., a subject was con-tacted for being on campus in violation of his probation. The subject was found to have sev-eral warrants and was arrested. A search of the subject’s backpack revealed several items of drug paraphernalia.

DVC BookstoreAt 1:17 p.m., there was a report of a male subject who was plac-ing textbooks into a backpack. The student was detained and paid for the textbooks.

Tuesday, Jan. 21DVC Library Complex, Bike RackBetween 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., a student reported that someone cut his bike lock and stole his bi-cycle from the bike rack under-neath the library.

Wednesday, Jan. 22DVC Parking Lot 8At 10:45 p.m., a student reported that his vehicle was stolen from campus. There were no witnesses.

Editorial Board Staff

• Phone: 925.969.2543 • Email: inquirer@dvc.edu • Website: www.TheInquirerOnline.com • Printed six times per semester •

THE INQUIRERDiablo Valley College

321 Golf Club Road, H-102Pleasant Hill, CA 94523

The Inquirer is published Thursdays during the school year by the Diablo Valley College journalism students. Unsigned articles appear-

ing on the opinions page are editorials and reflect a two-thirds majority opinion of the editorial staff. Signed columns and cartoons are the opin-

ions of the writer or artist and not necessarily those of The Inquirer, Diablo Valley College or Contra Costa Community College District.

STAFF MEMBERS Andrew Barber, Josh Bradshaw, Aurora Byrne, Tyler Elmore, Malachi Harris, Bronchey Hodges, Wesley Ihezue, Amrita Kaur, Allan Kew, Keanda Lewis, Vivian Natalia, Regina Ortanez, Mister Simmons Jr., Tara Tashayod, INSTRUCTIONAL LAB COORDINATOR Julius ReaADVISER Mary Mazzocco

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MANAGING EDITORNEWS EDITOR OPINIONS EDITOR PHOTO CHIEF

Rachel Ann ReyesBenjamin Davidson

Collin JamesSasan Kasravi

Gustavo Vasquez

District-wide platform shows promiseSpring 2014 has kicked off with the district-

wide implementation of the online learning platform Desire2Learn, also known as D2L. Although the program has been in use since spring 2013, only a limited number of instruc-tors and students were using the system.

This semester, however, the program has seen a growth in usage for almost every sub-ject and classroom across Diablo Valley College in both the Pleasant Hill and San Ramon cam-puses.

On initial implementation, the launch expe-rienced some snags and had a slow start, but with time and further training, most of the bugs have been worked through — the result being a more stable, user-friendly, easy to navi-gate online instructional program with mobile phone notification capability. The smart-phone generation can rejoice.

With the first month of the semester coming to an end, many students and instructors have had the chance to use the system, but not nec-essarily by choice.

English instructor Maggie McKenzie spoke of her experience and highlighted some pros and cons.

“Some pros are that we don’t have to use our own servers for assignments,” McKenzie said. “This system is more streamlined and stable than WebCT before it. My students can store their assignments and stay on track. But the cons are, unlike WebCT, I can’t personal-ize it and D2L still does occasionally go down, maybe because more people use it now. But the training workshop for D2L has been great and very helpful, I highly recommend it.”

Neal Skapura, the instructional technology coordinator at DVC, explained that the pro-gram began in fall 2012. He was one of the first instructors to implement D2L in his Eng-lish-126 course. Skapura holds weekly work-shops for instructors on how to use D2L. The instructors then use that know-how to help guide their students in the classroom.

“All the instructors and professors need to do in order for their students to be successful

using D2L, is spend six to ten minutes in the classroom on training at the beginning, just to help them find their way to specific tools,” Skapura said. “Students can then use the links to pull up assignments, discussion threads and set-up notifications to receive information di-rectly to their cell phones per SMS or email. It is very efficient and convenient. The student help menu button on D2L is a great way for students to get access to tutorials in the system, if they get stuck.”

Across both campuses instructors and stu-dents gave positive feed-back about this new change, adding to the plethora of tools and re-sources available to them for a more efficient learning experience.

Sunyoung Woo, an international transfer stu-dent from Korea explains the benefits of online work.

“In Korea we didn’t have anything online, so it was hard to keep up with schoolwork only in the classroom,” Woo said. “I want more help to find where to set-up notifications and sometimes I forget to check D2L for my assign-ments, but it is convenient and good to have.

Face to face class is better, but this is also very good.”

D2L already has some fans. Ryan Benney, 18, says all his classes, including art history, use D2L and he loves it.

“It’s easy to use, it has everything I need like assignments, notes, discussions and the sylla-bus,” he said. “It’s very convenient.”

Many students also like the SMS notifica-tions, in case they forget to check D2L. Jana Junelle Marquez, 18, even uses D2L for her jazz history class.

“I like that I get text messages about my grades to my phone, that’s so cool,” Marquez said. “It’s convenient. I hope it’s here to stay.”

Skapura affirms that plea.“It is here to stay,” he said. “It was a year long

process to find the best system out there. We stopped using WebCT because the code was out-dated. A panel of 20 faculty members vot-ed Desire2Learn as the best system for us and I really think it is.”

AMRITA KAURStaff member

Instructional technology coordinator Neal Skapura demonstrates to instructors how to use D2L on Jan. 27, 2014. The recent push to D2L has made instructors learn how to use the new program.

GUSTAVO VASQUEZ/ The Inquirer

BUDGETFrom Page 1

Contact AMRITA KAUR at akaur@TheInquirerOnline.com

fer."In addition to concerns about finding space for classes on campus,

there is also concern for finding faculty for those courses."But always taking into consideration that it’s not just: get increased

funding; it’s also finding faculty to teach those classes and having space to put them as well," Hauscarriague said. "So we have some limitations that go with that very welcomed increased funding, it’s a puzzle that you have to put together and sort it all out to see how all the pieces fit to make the best schedule for students.”

DVC President Peter Garcia finds that while this potential money adds to the growth of campus, it adds little to the cost-of-living adjust-ment (COLA).

According to Garcia, COLA addresses the loss and purchasing power that has been experienced as a result of inflation. COLA reflects the quality of services given to DVC.

Garcia notes that the college hasn't received COLAs in five years, but the 0.86 percent that Gov. Brown is proposing as an increase will be a good beginning to fund services. If Gov. Brown were to focus more on

COLA, rather than growth, services such as longer library hours, more tutoring and counseling would be areas on campus that would benefit.

In regards to freezing unit costs, Garcia finds that this was a good decision.

“Freezing enrollment costs is a great move… for students who pay out of pocket- it makes a difference,” he said.

Generally, Hauscarriague remains positive towards this potential money heading for the college.

“I think we’re incredibly fortunate, it’s been a very long dry spell and we’ve been through pretty tough times both with budget reductions and reducing the size of our staff here at the college… turning away students because we didn’t have the seats in classes and we couldn’t of-fer the classes that students needed," Hauscarriague said. "So certainly I find this to be a very hopeful… and excellent opportunity for us to take advantage; to offer some really great programs and really great classes for students and see them graduate or transfer.”

Contact RACHEL ANN REYES at rreyes@TheInquirerOnline.com

newsThursday, Feb. 6 - Wednesday, March 5, 2014

3

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DROUGHTFrom Page 1

-tioned. Marine biology major Dylan Heiross expressed his concern and ways he can alter his behavior.

“If it continues, the price of food will go up and water rationing maybe mandatory,” he said. “I’m taking shorter showers and drinking bottled water.”

East Bay Municipal Utility Distrcit, the util-ity company that supplies much of Alameda and Contra Costa counties with water, is preparing to reach out to the public to ask them to reduce their water intake. A public announcement is ex-pected on Feb. 11 to ask residents to voluntarily cut their water consumption. East Bay Mud is also providing free water saving devices and tips for the public.

Students like Aileen Semjam, 19, are worried about the cost of food in the long term.

“There will be less crop land in California, and our food supply will need to take in more imports,”she said.

The recent rains brought less than half an inch of rain to the area. In a statement provided by East Bay MUD’s public outreach official Nelsy Rodriguez, “[The rains] had a very minimal im-pact on our water levels. We will need another 30-35 inches of precipitation this season to fill our reservoirs to not have to declare a water shortage emergency.”

The drought is also set to bring in a lot of strain to the local environment. Currently a series of tunnels are being dug to bring more water to California’s Central Valley from the Sacramento Delta. Doing so will damage the fishing industry

that exists there, but may help control the cost of food. Bay Area residents, who currently receive their water from the Mokelumne River may be getting their supply from the Sacramento River as those sources dry up, according to East Bay MUD.

Robert Wright, who volunteers his time for the horticulture department at DVC, made the most of the relief by setting up water collection bar-rels near the green-houses. Wright and the rest of the horticulture department are preparing for the worst.

“A lot of what we are doing is to save water,” Wright stated. In addition, the horticulture de-partment will be hosting a workshop on Feb. 28 to teach people how to garden during the drought. “We are trying to be water wise and to use water at least twice.”

He also finds that a lower water supply will lead to higher food costs, especially in locally grown produce. Water prices may augment prices up to three times for food this year alone.

Much of DVC’s landscaping is being supplied by recycled water. This water is treated after being used in sewage and is rich in nutrients and nitro-gen. Fed by “purple pipes,” this water is unsafe to drink but perfect for watering plants.

“Everyone is competing for this water because of the nutrients and nitrogen [in it],” Wright said. “It provides water for the ball fields willow trees and toilets in the new buildings.”

Third annual poker tournament raises sports funds

Diablo Valley Men’s basketball Coach Steve Coccimiglio plays in the third annual DVC poker tourna-ment on February 1, 2014. Serving as the main fundraiser for the DVC athletics, the poker tournament yielded more thasn the goal amount for the ath-letic program. A total of eighty two players participated in the tourmament for prizes and raffle to support the college players.

Contact COLLIN JAMES at cjames@TheInquirerOnline.com

ANDREW BARBER / The Inquirer

Widener University, Liberty Magnet Tech-nology High School, Purdue University, South Carolina State University, University of Okla-homa.

These schools may or may not sound famil-iar, but these are just few of many schools that have experienced the grief and fear associated with campus shootings.

According to the Associated Press from Feb. 3, there have been at least 11 school shootings on campuses across the nation this year alone, ranging from K-12 schools to college universi-ties.

According to the American news reporting website The Daily Beast from Dec. 12, 2013, there have been at least 25 school shootings, about one every two weeks, since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Decem-ber 2012.

While we have a tendency to assume these things can’t happen to us, our college is no spe-cial exception and it’s fair to ask how prepared we are for a similar tragedy on our campus.

Lieutenant Chad Wehrmeister of DVC cam-pus police emphasizes that police officers have trained and prepared for the possibility of there ever being a shooting on campus.

They are ready to deal with critical incidents and have lockdowns planned if anything were to happen at school.

“The police department is on the college campus to facilitate a safe learning environ-ment,” Wehrmeister said.

He also finds that recognizing people who are at risk can sometimes be a more important factor than the situation itself.

While many big factors in preventative ef-forts seem out of our control, issues like gun control and mental illness that are currently a part of the national discussion on school shootings, there are still things we can control that might prevent these types of situations from happening.

In fact, some of those things are already un-derway.

Newin Orante, vice president of student services details an initiative in creating a team on campus that will be proactive and preven-tative in emergency situations and would be geared towards helping both students and fac-ulty on campus.

He credits Dean of Counseling and Enroll-ment services Beth Hauscarriague and Dean of Student Support Services Emily Stone for spearheading this initiative.

Orante explains that there are three com-ponents to this idea: helping students who are in need of mental health services, preventing dangerous situations from occurring on cam-pus, and a larger part in dealing with other agencies in the event of catastrophes.

If identifying a process and forming a team is done in a timely matter, Orante believes that marketing to and informing of the public could begin as early as this summer.

“When students and our college community as a whole are informed about what options are available to them, then they can have the confidence that whether something occurs off

campus (or not)...there’s resources for them. I think it’s a step that we want to go to and that’s what Beth and Emily are working on right now,” he said.

We commend and take pride in our campus security, which is even in talks about an emer-gency response team.

But we feel that it’s especially worthwhile that we appreciate the extra preventative step that DVC is taking to not only better the col-lege, but to provide extra safety and security to the thousands of students and numerous faculty members on campus.

Whether or not this proposed preventative measure manifests into something bigger may not be up to us.

However, with the alarming amount of school shootings happening all over the na-tion, it’s definitely an initiative that we believe needs to be taken seriously.

We want to see this kind of action succeed and taken seriously.

Because it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

OpinionsThursday, Feb. 6 - Wednesday, March 5, 2014

4

How would you feel if a student smoked an e-cigarette in class?

BuzzTh

e

Interviewed by: Regina Ortanez

Photographed by: Gustavo Vasquez

“It would probably bother me inside of the classroom... just because it’d be all over

the place while I’m trying to learn.”

LONNIE ORTIZ, 24Childhood education

“I really wouldn’t mind be-cause it is an e-cigarette and it’s

not a regular cigarette.”

MATT HESS, 20History

“It just seems kind of taboo to smoke in class. Outside, I don’t

really care because I don’t think it really gives off smoke.”

GABBY HINSE, 18Business

“Honestly, I wouldn’t mind it because apparently, its not ac-tually smoke. It’s just vapor.”

DAVID JENKINS, 19Environmental science

“It’s ridiculous that they would smoke the e-cigarette in class....

but there’s no smell, so you feel like you can’t complain.”

LAURA MCCKORMICK, 32Broadcasting

Opinions

EditorialStepping off the path to Sandy Hook

WESLEY IHEZUE / The Inquirer

Net neutraility ruling a reason for worryA recent court ruling has much

of the internet up in arms, and for a good reason. In the case of Veri-zon v. the FCC, a Washington DC circuit court ruled that the FCC could no longer enforce their poli-cy of net neutrality on the telecom companies that provide internet to their customers.

The FCC adopted a policy of net neutrality in 2010 to prevent Internet service providers from restricting access to certain web-sites while favoring others. Every website is treated equally in terms of the user’s ability to access it.

In essence, it allowed the users of the internet to decide which webpage they would like to visit based on its content and not its accessibility. However, the recent court decision could very well change all that.

The ruling stripped the FCC from preventing telecom compa-nies from acting as gate keepers and allows them to set broadband

speeds on websites individually. This has taken the power away from the people who use the in-ternet and into the hands in com-panies like Com-cast and AT&T.

One fear from advocacy groups like the Save the In-ternet Campaign is that these telecom companies can lim-it access to popu-lar sites by locking content behind premium plans. Us-ers would have to pay extra fees to view their favorite sites, like YouTube or Netflix, in addi-tion to paying for their internet ser-vice. While this is a major incon-venience for entertainment access, it would stifle access to education on the internet.

The current CEO of AT&T, Randall L. Stephenson, has reas-sured the public that this will not be the case and stated, “I don’t

see the court rul-ing changing how we or anyone else operates.”

But these state-ments do not re-flect past actions by other telecom companies. Com-cast is the worst offender of net neutrality, finding innovative ways to restrict access to competitors like Hulu and Netflix while promoting their own Xfinity brand.

Even if the premium internet plans never surface, the new rules on internet regulation only make censorship inevitable. Verizon,

whose most recent controversy included assisting the NSA in their infamous data collection efforts, could dodge responsibility by pre-venting their customers from ac-cessing news sites that cover them negatively.

The end of net neutrality is more than the end of streaming movies and television off Netflix uninterrupted for hours on end. It is the end of the internet all Americans have grown accustom to; rampant with pornography and piracy, but at the same time ripe for innovation.”

It was based around a very simple business model that pro-vided unrestricted access for just monthly fees, but all of that is now in jeopardy. Now, a platform that is used by hundreds of millions of Americans will be in the control of a handful of corporations.

COLLIN JAMESNews editor

Contact COLLIN JAMES atcjames@TheInquirerOnline.com

opinionsThursday, Feb. 6 - Wednesday, March 5, 2014

5Data collecting discreetly affects consumers

How often do you use the internet in your day-to-day life? Do you casually surf the web, or is your entire life stored in cyber-space somewhere?

Regardless of your internet usage, some-one is keeping a record of your browser history, personal information, buying habits and dirty little secrets.

No, it is not the National Security Association. In fact, it is internet advertisers and publishers who are after your personal information.

Understanding how your data is being collected is critical when it comes to stopping the collection alto-gether.

Regardless of who is tracking the information, it is extremely unsettling to find out it is happening so frequently.

The old way of tracking relied on cookies, a digital code that is stored on your computer. Since cookies do not work on mobile phone applications, and internet browsers are making it easier to remove cookies, advertisers and marketers had to rethink their data mining strategies.

According to a 2013 Forbes article writ-ten by Adam Tanner, fingerprinting is the new technique that publishers are turning to because it will not be removed when the cookies are deleted.

This technique allows the host website to look at key characteristics of the visiting computer such as what plugins are installed, what internet browser is being used, what programs are installed on your computer and even what fonts you like using.

All of this data generates a unique sig-nature that is saved under a profile that can be matched to you later.

This is completely unac-ceptable, no one should be allowed to make a profile without my permission.

As a rule of thumb, any-thing you don’t want peo-ple to know should not be posted online. There are some temporary solutions to this problem like using safe search plug-ins or browsers to view the internet anony-mously, or even using the private window features built in to most internet browsers.

This is not going to stop the data collection completely, but it will slow it down drastically.

Another way publishers, advertisers and marketers collect your data is by keeping tabs on social media websites, like Facebook.

Whenever you add profile information or check-in to a location, you have just opened yourself up to data collection.

According to an article posted to PC World entitled,“The 5 biggest online privacy

threats of 2013,” even uploaded and tagged photos can be used to create a facial recog-nition database.

Now your data will have a face and ev-eryone else in the photo will eventually have their data matched to their face as well. For some people this is not an issue, but for oth-ers it is extremely unacceptable.

Regardless of your feelings on this topic, if you use a social media website you cannot stop the data collection.

If it bothers you too much, just delete your profile and move on with your life.

All of this data mining is seemingly going unchecked. If this information makes you

uncomfortable, it should. Your privacy is being breached and it should be protected.

You would not let a stranger into your house to go investigate your hobbies or eat-ing habits, so why should data collectors be allowed so freely into your personal infor-mation?

The advertising and publishing compa-nies are quite literally stalking us, and we are letting them.

Next time you use the internet, just re-member that someone will be watching your every move.

JOSH BRADSHAWStaff member

JOSH BRADSHAW / The Inquirer

Contact JOSH BRADSHAW atjbradshaw@TheInquirerOnline.com

The year 2014 appears to be the year of leveling op-portunity.

In his State of the Union Address on Jan. 28, Presi-dent Obama attempted to rally support for policies that will help strengthen the middle class. With his main goal being the building of “ladders of opportunity into the middle class,” the President pushed for high hopes that his administration’s agenda will be achieved.

For DVC students, the goals of the State of the Union are indeed ideal for tackling the rising costs of living and tuition. While many of these ideas are idealistically possible to legislate, a large majority of these propositions will face large amounts of scrutiny by conservatives and economists worried about tam-pering with the free market

The president stressed that all lev-els of education need reform, and the availability for higher education should rest on academic achievement rather than financial worth.

One of his strategies is a call for attacking student loan debt. He urged reform in the handling of stu-dent loans, while proposing a cap on monthly payments for student loans to only 10 percent of the individual’s monthly income.

DVC students should find this pro-posal to be one of the most reward-ing objectives of the next year, but such action will more than likely encounter much resistance in the House of Representatives.

Another important point for DVC students is the president’s declaration that he will use an executive order to raise the minimum wage for federal workers to $10.10.

While hoping that his fellow politicians in Washington would work together to create legislation on the issue, the president made clear, as he did repeatedly through-out the address, that such legislation would meet tough opposition.

As controversial and politically divisive as the fund-ing for the Affordable Care Act was and still is, a mere mention of a higher minimum wage will evoke a massive

backlash from the fiscally conservative.The strongest demographic that can be won in this

fight is the student population. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and En-gagement, 51 percent of the youth demographic (18-29) voted in the 2008 election, compared to the mere 24per-cent that voted in the 2010 midterms.

I will not go into my own thoughts as to why these statistics are what they are. But what I do know is that as a demographic, students make up around 15 percent of the electorate. Students are a major plurality in districts

and in states with upcoming elections.What does this have to do with the State of

the Union? The president knows he faces an uphill battle this year, with a midterm election that will most likely overtake every important issue the Congress will endlessly debate. So he is following the example that conservatives constructed with the Tea Party Movement following his first election.

He is going to try to appeal to the electorate rather than his fellow politicians. By signaling that the responsibility to help the middle class is being neglected by a bickering Congress, the president has moved to recreate the kind of feverish effect that Gay Marriage has had on the state level.

Students are the golden resources that await use. If we create uproar and pursue an agenda as a collective group that threatens to sway

an election, then the eyes of Washington will fall upon us. Disregarding my bias, students should be advancing whatever cause they believe is right, and should create local groups that connect with other colleges and univer-sities in the city, county, state and nation.

We can decide who will represent us and what they will pursue as our representatives. That is the fundamental aspect of being a democratically elected representative.

And as the President’s State of the Union attempts to convey, it’s our time to take the reins of change and make our futures better.

Allan KewStaff member

Contact ALLAN KEW atakew@TheInquirerOnline.com

Navigating‘the friendzone’ Dear Answers: I have very strong feelings for my best

friend, but he doesn’t see me that way. He definitely treats me differently from other girls and gives me a lot more attention…

How do I bridge the gap between friendship and something more than that?

Dear Wishing for More: It sounds like you actually aren’t sure about how he feels, so if you really want a chance at ro-mance, you are going to need to talk to him. The best ap-proach is to start with letting him know how you feel, without coming on so strong that you’re overwhelming.

Perhaps go to a movie, then follow with coffee. You will both be relaxed, and more apt to communicate. Let him know what a great friend he is, and how highly you think of him.

If he still seems receptive, tell him that you are open to tak-ing your relationship to the next level. If he has been crushing on you, he will be relieved to know that you feel the same way.

If he doesn’t share your feelings, things could get awkward for awhile, but the more gentle your approach, the less likely that there will be a negative impact on your friendship.

If he really is your best friend, your honesty will bring you closer, whether it be as friends or as a couple.

Relationship issues? Family tension? Wondering how to get involved on campus? Submit questions to AByrne@theinquireronline.com, with “Answers” in the subject line.

WESLEY IHEZUE / The Inquirer

Students should act on Obama’s plans

sportsThursday, Feb. 6 - Wednesday, March 5, 2014

6

Doctor of

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A new semester and a new field starts off the se-mester for the DVC softball team as they welcomed in a new home field for their 2014 spring season.With a new team and a brand new field this season is looking great for the DVC Vikings.

With a whole new layout and many new amenities, the team showed their excitement for the new season during their first couple of practices.

The new field is rebuilt with a whole new layout including a new drainage system, sod and grass. The field also includes a brand new windshield and back-stop surrounding the facility. It is equipped for the team with player cubbies and new dugouts for both the home and away teams.

Fans of DVC softball will also be pleased to hear that the field includes new and improved bleachers.

With the new season starting, the new home field is already getting positive feedback from both the coach-es and athletic department. Division secretary Marisa Greenberg explained the many amenities that were done to the field and said that everything is new and improved.

When asked about the new field and how much more improved it was compared to the old layout, the coaches had nothing but wonderful things to say about the new home field.

Coach Angie Goularte loves the field said that “the drainage is so much more better and will make prac-tices easier without the flooding.” She said the softball players are taking pride of the facility and are happy to have a new field.

Coach Goularte is excited to see where the season takes them. With great chemistry and a brand new home field this season is looking great for the DVC softball team.

The first home game on the new field was on Tues-day, Feb.4 against San Francisco Community College.

New softball field is ready for opening season

KEANDA LEWIS/ The Inquirer

The new dugout (left) were included in the remodeling project in addition to the new scoreboard and playing field.

KEANDA LEWISStaff member

Contact KEANDA LEWIS at klewis@TheInquirerOnline.com

DVC’s softball team (above and bottom right) tests out the new field during a practice session on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

arts & featuresThursday, Feb. 6 - Wednesday, March 5, 2014

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Faculty and members of the community marked the end of a DVC art exhibit on Saturday, Feb. 1.

"From the New Time Zone," showcased 93 pieces of work from artist Boris Lyub-ner.

His art consisted of charcoal, watercolor and oil paints. The show consisted of mul-tiple portfolios, landscapes, figuratives, and the largest: pet portraits. It was displayed in the DVC Library from Nov. 25, 2013 through Jan. 31, 2014.

Lyubner started doing art when he was 8 years old in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He attended the Saint Petersburg Academy of Art before immigrating to the United States in 1989. His teachings in design were more traditional in Russia than what was happen-ing in the United States.

“When I immigrated to this country in '89, all drawings were drawn by computers. I was coming from Russia and there weren’t no computers," Lyubner recalled.

Several DVC students showed their sup-port for the artist by attending the reception which also included his friends and family.

Steve Carlson, an industrial electronic technology major, attended the reception and described Lyubner's work.

“A lot of color, lively. The pictures are tastefully done," he said.

Sasha Rozenberg, a member of the den-tal lab technician program, said, “his work is very professional and his artwork is also very vibrant, he pays a lot of attention to the feelings and emotion you get from the painting."

“My favorite paintings are of the dogs because I am a dog lover. He’s also done a watercolor painting of my dog and surpris-ingly, watercolor is he said the most difficult

medium to work with because you can’t go back and change it, unlike oil paintings."

Lyubner also personally expressed his gratitude by mentioning, “it’s been fun to show my work here and I hope you guys, as

students and faculty, enjoyed my work and I appreciate it."

GUSTAVO VASQUEZPhoto Chief

Art exhibit lightens up library

GUSTAVO VASQUEZ / The Inquirer

Artist Boris Lyubner, with the help of DVC student Sasha Rozenberg, pack away aportion of the 93 pieces which were in the exhibit on Saturday, Feb 1, 2014.

Contact GUSTAVO VASQUEZ at gvasquez@TheInquirerOnline.com

"Hamlet," as performed by DVC’s drama department, offers an intriguing, multi-dimensional portrayal of one of William Shakespeare's most famous tragedies.

Director Nicole Hess-Diestler and as-sistant director Maiya Corral successfully reinterpret this classic as an emotional and character driven drama.

The story is of young Hamlet, whose fa-ther has just died, and whose uncle prompt-ly marries his widowed mother.

Hamlet struggles with feelings of grief and betrayal, desperately seeking someone to blame for his pain.

As his suspicions grow, his relationships begin to suffer, causing him to withdraw in-ternally.

The more unstable he becomes, the more his loved ones attempt to reach out to him, causing him to question the motives of even those he had trusted most.

Grief, madness and the various ways in which we cope with loss, are brilliantly ex-plored in this sophisticated reinvention of a classic.

This adaptation takes place in Denmark, South Carolina, bringing the drama closer to home, causing the story to become more relatable to a contemporary audience.

Gordon Belanger’s performance in the title role of Hamlet allows us to feel his suf-fering, and understand his obsessions and

gradual loss of sanity. It was as if we could feel his heartache,

and wanted to protect him from the unin-tended consequences of his actions. Be-langer had many winning scenes, but one of the most dramatic comes early in the play, when Hamlet believes he is being visited by the ghost of his dead father.

Belanger was so convincing in his depic-tion of another worldly possession that I got chills and found myself gasping aloud.

The entire production was skillfully cast: Cassandra Grove as a regal and elegant Queen Gertrude, an earnest and protective Laertes played by Tyler Liams and an opti-mistic sweetness to Allen Miller’s Horatio. All the actors gave good performances, with standout performances from Jeremy Do-rado as Polonius, and Kailah Cayou as his daughter, Ophelia.

Cayou shows us a delicate vulnerability and innocence, which captured the spirit

of Ophelia beautifully, enticing us to follow into her soft sweet descent into madness. Dorado’s performance as Polonius was ab-solutely seamless, from beginning to end. He embodies his character so fully, in man-nerism, in tone and even in the subtleties of his facial expressions.

Dorado’s talent is palpable, with nuances in his performance which bring depth and humor to his character.

The set design was excellent, with shim-mering weepy willows reminding us of the southern setting, and smooth transitions from scene to scene, which kept our atten-tion in the story, as did the subtle musical score.

Music was soft and used only sparingly, an excellent example of ‘less being more.’ The costumes were well constructed, and Queen Gertrude’s dress was absolutely beautiful, with luxurious fabric and style.

The attention to detail in all aspects of this production are impressive, though the true genius here is in the range of emotions we experience along with the characters. This is not a show to miss.

“Hamlet” runs on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. starting Jan. 31 - Feb. 16 at the Performing Arts Center at Diablo Valley College. For tickets call (925) 969-2358 or visit the drama de-partment website at dvcdrama.net.

arts & featuresThursday, Feb. 6 - Wednesday, March 5, 2014

8Editor’s guide:

an exciting look at off-campus nightlife

By the time you are done reading this sentence, five peo-ple will have paid for a movie ticket in Contra Costa County — and possibly even popcorn and a soda.

Of course the only reason it wasn’t six people is because you are probably too overwhelmed by all of your options to actually pick a good spot to watch the premiere on the big screen. Or you are at school or work, wishing you were at the movies, relaxing.

In either case, that is why an Editor’s Guide is here to shed some light on local nightlife. And fortunately enough, the cinema that tops all the others is conveniently located right in our own backyard — North Concord.

As a matter of fact, it is the only drive-in between South Santa Clara and East Sacramento — 70 miles in either di-rection.

My name is Benjamin Davidson. As both an avid mem-ber of the Inquirer’s editorial board, and a born and bred Concord native, there is a long list of things that I’d like to share with those who frequent the greater and lesser parts of Contra Costa County.

So let me shed some light, or better yet, welcome the night, for all of the thrill-seekers out there who are looking to expand their spectrum of life after dark. And we’ll start with one of the most nostalgic date-night classics of cinema — the drive-ins.

For those that may not know, this is a place where you are able to take your car, your friends, your date, your snacks or even your blankets with you to the movies, all within the comfort of your own vehicle.

So if you are in the mood for a bit more privacy, or just want to bring your own food, go for it. They do have a snack shack that offers baseball game-esque snacks but it’s

not quite where you would want to bring your date to for a decent meal.

Although they do not allow barbecues, firearms and pets, that is counterbalanced by the complimentary jump-start that the employees will give you in the rare event that your car battery runs out of juice.

Open rain or shine, and accommodating charge cards, the drive-ins are the by far the best deal that you can get for late night entertainment -- not to mention a majority of all mov-ies run in tandem as double features.

You provide the speakers, and thus control the volume. The audio quality depends on your FM Stereo quality and it is tuned directly through your car FM stereo. If you don’t

have an FM stereo, bring a portable boom box; channel-ing it through your smartphone is also an option. And with the recent updates to an all-digital movie display system, the picture has much improved since their previous movie dis-play.

So whether you are looking for a late-night entertainment option, or you simply want to keep your pajamas on, the Solano West Wind drive-ins are a more than a viable option for students and community members alike looking for a little bit more out of their nightlife.

‘Hamlet’ steeped in intrigue and emotional depth

BENJAMIN DAVIDSON/ The Inquirer

The Solano West Wind drive-in, the only theater its kind in the East Bay.

BENJAMIN DAVIDSONManaging editor

Contact BENJAMIN DAVIDSON at bdavidson@TheInquirerOnline.com

AURORA BYRNEStaff member

Center, Nate Smith, playing Claudius, and Cassandra Grove, playing Queen Gertrude, rehearse with the cast on Jan. 28, in the PAC.

AURORA BYRNE / The Inquirer

Contact AURORA BYRNE at abyrne@TheInquirerOnline.com