Vol. 40 No. 1 March 2011Antelope Valley College, Lancaster, Calif.

THE AVC

CAMPUS

NEWSPAPER Examiner

– 1 –They’re not prisoners,

they’re “detainees.”It sounds better, as if they’re mere-

ly inconvenienced rather than shoe-

horned into cinderblock cells,

thumbing their military-issued

Korans and waiting to be interrogat-

ed. One-third are innocents caught

up in sweeps; one-third are jihadists

who will slit your throat, and one-

third are opportunists who will rat

out their neighbors. You will hold

them for 14 days, no more, while the

interrogators try to

figure out who is

what. Each gets a CF,

for Camp Fallouja,

and a four-digit number. No names

will be used, mainly because num-

bers fit more easily onto spread-

sheets. They will be forever known

as entas. “Enta” means “you” in

Arabic, and that’s what you call

them day after day, meal after meal,

port-a-potty call after port-a-potty

call. “Enta, ishra mai,” you say, and

the enta drinks his water, and if you

say, “Enta, ishra mai kulak,” he

drinks all of his water, every drop,

and holds the bottle upside down to

prove it.

– 2 –It’s not personal.

The enta who screams “meesta!”

every 10 seconds for 48 hours

straight isn’t doing it to infuriate

you, his captor. What it boils down

to is that he can’t pronounce “mis-

ter,” and he was carrying that 155-

millimeter round in the back of his

pickup, and he was going to try to

blow you up, and the reason he was

picked by the insurgent leaders to

haul the shell is that he’s soft in the

head, which is why he cannot stop

screaming “meesta!”

The major who watches NASCAR

races on satellite TV in his air-condi-

tioned office at the battalion head-

quarters while you and your

Marines march entas to and from

the latrines in 120-degree heat isn’t

doing it to antago-

nize you, his subor-

dinate. Frankly, he’s

just over here for

the retirement money, and he didn’t

want to be in charge of four region-

al detention facilities in Al Anbar

province any more than you wanted

to end up as the warden in Fallouja.

He wants to keep his head down

and forget about the fact that if one,

just one, of your Marines snaps and

goes Abu Ghraib on a detainee, his

pension is out the window.

– 3 –You won’t fire your

weapon in anger.You’ll fire plenty of training

rounds. You’ll be awakened nightly

by outgoing artillery shells being

blasted into the ether a mere 400

meters from your tin-can hooch,

California is going bankrupt; is AVC next?

“Think of strategies to help mitigate these bud-get reductions. We can get through it; it’s going to be a little painful, but we can make it,” said President Jackie Fisher. “At this point, furloughs are not an option.”

The statement provided little comfort to the crowd, who felt powerless over the lack of financial support from the government.

“We will be expected to serve as many students as we’re serving now but we can’t cut classes? If we don’t start turning students away, the community will continue to think we can do more and more with less and less,” commented Dr. Susan Lowry.

In fall 2010, projections for the future of California community colleges ap-peared optimistic, but the Feb. 9 Town Hall Meeting at Antelope Valley Col-lege provided new infor-mation from the adminis-tration, which countered previous statements.

Negotiations in state legislature have led to con-sidered reductions to our base number of students; a “workload reduction”.

This means there will be reductions to classes and less help from faculty to go around.

Deborah Wallace, Vice President of Business Services, confirmed as-sumptions that the school is still going through hard times financially.

“We’ve spent more than we’ve earned over the past few years, so the bottom

line is we have to make some hardcore decisions to get us back into black.”

Prop. 98 will hold the fate of community colleg-es. If the proposition is sus-pended in June, then Cali-fornia community colleges will lose even more money.

The general problem also revolves around ful-filling an obligation to the government and the col-

lege, not knowing when to expect payment for fulfill-ing those obligations.

A formula called FTES, or full time equivalent students, dictates how the college is paid from the government.

This is contrary to what many believe, which is that the college directly receives the money from students that register to take a class.

Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed raising unit fees for classes by $10, from $26 to $36.

This money would help the college tremendously in the future.

However, the money, which is not promised, has to first get past property taxing and other expenses

By Brandon Mann & Natasha CastroStaff Writers

See Budget, page 2

Brandon Mann / Examiner

Students and faculty attend the Feb. 9 Town Hall Meeting to discuss AVC’s dire financial situation.

The parking lots for the first few weeks are always chaos; that’s something that you can bet your life on.

But this semester, it wasn’t just crashers causing overflow and backups; this time it was the unfinished so-lar panels.

According to a news release on the AVC website, the delay is due to the snow, and both parking lots will be open on March 18th.

Knowing that the parking lots in the first two weeks of the se-mester are crazy, AVC opened parking lot 10, adjacent to the LS 1 building, to help ease the pain.

After February 27th, however, parking lot 10 will be closed again.

Again, they are as-suring us that if the stu-dents park in lot 1 by Brent Carter Marauder Stadium and in parking lots 14 and 15 closer to J-8, we shouldn’t have a problem.

But what do the stu-dents think?

“I hate it; why should I have to pay for a park-ing pass when most of the time I can’t even park on campus?,” said Jennifer Smith.

She is only one of many students who have experienced overflow, and have been parking in the neighborhoods surrounding AVC.

Many students had no idea that parking lot number 10 will be clos-ing again.

“That sucks; I don’t want to have to get here any earlier, parking is hard enough now,” said Jessica Dorsey.

AVC is doing what they can to get the pan-els done at as little of an inconvenience to us as possible, but the stu-dents are unhappy with the parking situation.

A little bit of comfort might come from the fact that it is all almost done with.

After March 18, the parking lots will go back to just having the normal hassles and An-telope Valley College will be a green campus.

Solar panelsrunning lateBy Sarah NiemannStaff Writer

The Lancaster Perform-ing Center has announced a new addition to its 2010-2011 season.

Created by Ilan Azriel, “The Aluminum Show” features movement, dance, visual theatre and humor in a unique and family-friendly experience.

In the show, aluminum toned industrial materi-als are used by a combi-nation of dancers, lights, and sound.

The show chronicles the journey of a young ma-chine that is determined to reunite with its parents.

On the way, the machine befriends a human and finds adventure and excite-ment in a world ruled by strange technology.

“The Aluminum Show” will be presented in two public performances on Tuesday, March 16 and Wednesday, March 17 at 7 p.m.

There will also be an Arts for Youth Program performance on Wednes-day, March 16 at 11 a.m.

At a press conference held by city officials on Feb. 15 at the Lancaster

Performing Arts Center to announce the addition of The Aluminum Show, there was a definite excitement in the air.

“If you love Blue Man

Group, this is Blue Man Group times ten,” said Theresa Yvonne, the

Performing Arts Manager for LPAC.

A big hit throughout the world, “The Aluminum Show” debuted in 2003 at the Israel Festival in Jeru-

salem. The show first ar-rived in the United States in 2009, where it ran more

than 60 performances at the Trump Plaza in At-lantic City.

The current tour of 50 performances marks the second trip to the U.S. for

the show. Photos and a clip of the show can be found at its website, www.alumi-

num-show.com. “This looks like

it’s going to be an amazing show,” Lancaster City Vice Mayor Ron Smith said.

The Arts for Youth program at LPAC provides opportuni-ties for students to ex-perience and appreci-ate the performing arts while enhancing their educational de-velopment, according to LPAC’s website.

Students will be exposed to envi-ronmental issues such as recycling.

Waste Manage-ment will have an interactive kiosk set up at LPAC throughout March.

The kiosk, called a Greeno-

polis, provides a place for people to bring their re-cyclable goods.

‘The Aluminum Show’ to come to LPACBy Kevin Michael KramerStaff Writer

Kevin Michael Kramer / ExaminerFrom Left to Right: Waste Management representative Julianne Fulton, Vice Mayor and AVC instructor Ron Smith and Performing Arts Manager Theresa Yvonne.

See LPAC, page 2

Baseball season starts Page 8

VP Deb. Wallace tells it like it is Pages 1 & 2

Page 2 March 2011News

before the college sees any revenue, according to Wallace.

In a follow-up Town Hall Meeting held on Feb. 14, Wallace an-nounced that the Leg-islative Analyst Office released numbers incon-sistent with those of Gov-ernor Brown’s proposal.

While Brown proposed a $10 increase, the LAO estimated increases be-tween $20-$40.

That is, rather than the current unit fee of $10, students could be charged upwards of $66 per unit.

Wallace assured stu-dents and faculty that although the situation for upcoming semesters looks grave, AVC has worked with the Strate-gic Planning and Budget Committee (SPBC) to re-duce class schedules, saving an estimated $2 million.

She also mentioned a surplus from previous se-mesters, which administra-tors have no plans to spend.

Rather, she said it will be saved and taken into the next fiscal year.

There is much specula-tion regarding what have come to be known as “the three assumptions.”

Best-case scenario, ac-cording to Fisher and Wallace, tax extensions are passed in June and Scenario 1 is enacted.

This would mean a $4 million hit to AVC’s Gen-eral Fund, a $2.9 million net reduction, an increase

in student fees expected to collect $1.1 million extra and a loss of 1,227 FTE.

Fisher has said that this assumption is, to him, unlikely. Rather, he said AVC should focus on Scenarios 2 and 3.

“If [Prop. 98] doesn’t hit the ballot, we automati-cally move to assumption 2 or 3—we just don’t know right now,” said Wallace.

In Scenario 2, AVC will receive only mini-mal Prop. 98 funding, face a hit of $6.3 million to its General Fund and $5.2 million net reduc-tion, and lose approxi-mately 2,158 FTE.

“Anything over a $5 million [net reduction] is adjustment to salary and benefits. And 83-85% of the General Fund is used for benefits,” said Wallace.

Scenario 3, which has been deemed “cata-strophic” by Wallace, assumes the suspension

of Prop. 98 funding, and failure of tax extensions.

This would leave AVC with a “significant hit to salaries and benefits,” a $11 million hit to the General Fund, increase in student fees to earn an additional $2.8 million and a estimated 3,873 FTE lost.

At this point, no deci-sions or strategies have been developed, and a tentative budget is going to be discussed.

Fisher has opposed sug-gestions to further raise student fees, as he said he wants to minimize the im-pact to students.

However, credit unit fees are out of AVC’s con-trol and any increases are therefore necessary.

Even so, many students have wondered why the school claims to be in dire straits financially when the college is still growing and building new structures.

“The budget reduction is not a result of us mis-managing our money. It’s a nationwide issue,” said Jackie Fisher.

The president went on to explain that the school would look to other expen-ditures to reduce.

This would then weigh less on the school’s current financial reserve.

“There’s a challenge, we have new facilities coming on campus. If we don’t support those facili-ties they will deteriorate. What I’m asking is for you all to come up with some new strategies on how we can help maintain these new facilities.”

BudgetContinued from 1

LPACContinued from 1

It’s 10:30 a.m. on the Antelope Valley College campus. It’s a school holiday. There’s not a student in sight… except for six dedicated cadets.

While the rest of the student body is tak-ing the day off, the members of the cadet program are training hard.

Sitting in a darkened Learning Center, the cadets listen intently as Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Miguel Ruiz explains how to de-escalate potentially threatening situations.

Some of them have already put Ruiz’s lessons to use in the field.

The AVC Cadet program started as a joint effort between the AVC Administration and the Los Ange-les County Sheriff’s Department. The cadets get a little taste of law enforcement work through on-the-job training.

They will learn how to handle basic situations like disturbanc-es and traffic incidents in the parking lot.

The cadets are student workers, working a maximum of twenty hours per week. The cadet program works with students based on their class schedules.

Usually they work Monday through Fri-day, but when there’s a scheduled event on the weekend, like a basketball or soft-ball game, cadets can expect to have their schedules adjusted to cover the event.

The cadet program will be especially useful to those students who are seek-ing a career in law enforcement or criminal justice.

“I really want to become a homicide de-tective or a crime scene investigator,” Ca-det Giovanna Ortega said.

Getting into the AVC cadet program is no easy feat. Applicants are first re-quired to take a written exam, followed by an interview. Students must then

pass a rigorous background check. Over 70 applicants took the written test,

but only 15 students made it past the in-terview round. The final number of appli-cants was whittled down to just ten cadets.

Cadets must also be at least 18 years old, enrolled in at least six units per semester, and be Administration of Justice Majors.

Though the program is new, some cadets have already been in dangerous situations. Cadet Tierra Fava explained a particularly harrowing experience during a police car chase.

“I was on a ride-a-long with a deputy,” Fava said. “He was chasing after some-body who was running red lights. I loved it. It was exciting.”

According to the cadet programs advising deputy, Los Angeles Coun-ty Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Feickert, the dangers the cadets will face on the job are very real.

“Anytime you’re put in a situation such as wearing a uniform, maybe in a position of authority or some-thing that the general public would associate with law enforcement, you

always put yourself in harms way to a cer-tain degree,” Feickert said. “You never know what people can do.”

The program has been very successful early on. Cadets have already been suc-cessful at helping the LA County Sher-iff’s Department make a narcotics arrest, helped in the recovery of stolen merchan-dise from a burglary at the Marauder Bookstore and successfully participated in de-escalating certain situations.

“It’s been a really positive thing, well re-ceived by most people, especially admin-istration on campus,” Feickert said.

The cadets are having fun while learn-ing and taking in the whole experience.

“Even if I didn’t get paid, I would still do this,” Ortega said. “I like it that much.”

By Kevin Michael KramerStaff Writer

Cadets on AVC campus

Brandon Mann / ExaminerAVC President Jackie Fisher in Feb. 9 Town Hall Meeting.

Brandon Bird / Examiner

By doing so, they can receive points that are re-deemable for discounts on tickets to shows at LPAC.

All of the proceeds from the Greenopolis will be donated to the Arts for Youth program.

Waste Management is also a sponsor of “The Aluminum Show.”

“Waste Management is

proud to be a part of the Lancaster Performing Arts Center’s Aluminum Show and happy to sup-port the Arts for Youth Program,” Waste Manage-ment representative Juli-anne Fulton said.

“Recycling education comes first at Waste Man-agement,” Fulton added.

Tickets for “The Alumi-num Show” are $30 for the orchestra section and $25 for the balcony section.

For students on a bud-get, student rush tickets

in the balcony section will be made available one hour prior to the eve-ning show times for $10, as long as there are unsold seats avaliable.

“They are great for mu-sical or theater students,” Yvonne said.

All tickets, except stu-dent rush tickets, can be purchased by visiting the LPAC box office at 750 W. Lancaster Blvd, Lan-caster CA 93534, by tele-phone at 661-723-5950, or by web.

Features Page 3March 2011

“Going green” is the way of our world it seems, it is this sentiment that has led many environmentally concerned people to request what are called natural burials.

Rather than being embalmed or cremated, these men and women see the value of a less costly and more earth-friendly method of being laid to rest.

The basic criterion for a nat-ural burial is achieving mini-mal impact on the environ-ment. In fact, often times such rituals can benefit surrounding soils and plant life. The dead are wrapped in organic linen, plain wooden boxes or other biodegradable materials and buried on natural hillsides and under trees.

Though engraved stones or plaques are sometimes used in place of headstones, it is even more common for graves to be found via GPS coordinates.

Kathy Curry, manager for the Forever Fernwood Cem-etery in Mills Valley, CA, explained that Forever Fern-wood’s natural burial grounds are laid out in 12-foot hexagons, with two plots per hexagon.

That being said, when a new plot is purchased, the cemetery locates it via GPS and maps it into the hexagon to prevent overlapping. These coordinates are then added to respective da-tabases for easy retrieval.

Along with GPS coordinates, Curry noted, the deceased are buried with a radio frequency ID with a name and date for ad-ditional security.

Forever Fernwood is one of two cemeteries in California that provides natural burial ser-vices.

The Fernwood Cemetery was bought in 2004 by Tyler Cassi-ty’s Forever Enterprise as a 32-acre lot with space set aside for natural burials. Originally, con-cerns about profit and senior cit-

izen accessibility to the natural burial ground’s rough, uneven paths were arisen. However, it seems these concerns have not prevented success.

According to Curry, the addi-tion is “continually growing in popularity.”

She estimated that the cem-etery has approximately 200 naturally buried to date.

Along with nature, technolo-gy also plays an interesting role in enhancing the natural burial alternative at Forever Fernwood through a free service called Forever LifeStories. By signing up, friends and family can cre-ate digital media scrapbooks and video clips in memory of their deceased loved ones. Ac-cording to Curry, Fernwood would like to find a way to link a person’s coordinates to their Forever LifeStory, but simply

do not have the technology to do so.

Joshua Tree Memorial Park of Joshua Tree, CA, has made an-nouncements of implementing a natural burial service as well, though has yet to put forth any additional information regard-ing the changes.

The Green Burial Council, a non-profit organization estab-lished to ensure the safety of natural areas dealing with buri-als, recognizes the cemetery has met the organization’s posted standards “to be permanently protected via a conservation easement or deed restriction, and that an operator engage in restoration planning as well as adhere to a set of ecologically sound protocols.”

The first natural burial cem-etery established in the United States was opened in 1998, and

now there are over 300 sites countrywide offering the ser-vice. For years, cremation has been seen as the cost effective and environmentally friendly alternative to embalming, and more traditional burials. With the renewed interest in a more spiritual “returning to earth,” the issue of cost is naturally concerning.

According to The Centre for Natural Burial, the estimated cost of natural burials range from $1,000-$4,000. This amount usually includes the plot of land, costs to open and close the grave, an optional stone marker and an additional fee to help maintain the property.

Cremating services, accord-ing to What It Costs, can range from $700-$1,000 for the most basic services. Compare these to a traditional embalming and

burial at $6,500 (without the plot, burial fees or headstone), and it is clear cremation and natural burials outweigh the op-tion tremendously. Though cre-mation expenses are somewhat lower, many argue that the cost in pollution and fossil fuels it expends make up the difference.

There is also the option of doing both cremation, and a natural burial. This is the solu-tion for many organ donors, as they can be cremated and then placed and buried in biodegrad-able urns.

With so much talk about en-vironmental awareness, even in death, many pet owners have brought up the question of natu-ral burials for animals.

Many people practice a simi-lar ritual by burying pets in their backyards, but that re-quires permits to be legal, and leaves those without land with-out “green” options. Pet cem-eteries often bury their animals in plastic caskets, or other simi-larly harmful materials.

This is a serious concern of the Green Pet-Burial Society, a newly formed organization with similar goals to that of the Green Burial Council.

In February of this year, the Green Pet-Burial Society pro-posed to the board of the LA Pet Memorial Park that they designate a part of any future extensions for natural burials. The planning is an ongoing ef-fort, however, it is it the mission of the Society to work towards effective alternatives to tradi-tional (and harmful) burials.

According to the Associated Press, a March 2010 survey by the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Asso-ciation found a quarter of those polled “like the concept of en-vironmentally friendly burials.” Paired with the latest means of “geolocating” loved ones, we find an innovative way of recon-necting to our ancestral pasts and traditions, while also ex-ploring the possibilities of our technological futures.

By Natasha CastroStaff Writer

Fading to black and going green at the same time

Fernwood Burials / Courtesy photoThe beautiful greenery of Mills County provides the final resting place for friends and family.

There’s nothing that can make you quite as bitter than studying for that term paper, or test, or presentation; unless, of course, you’re one of those heathens who thrive on academia. If you are, I salute you, and you need read no further. Go on. Trade the paper for that five million word page on “Atlas Shrugged.”

No, don’t. Please. I need you. We need each other. Let’s not end it like this.

Anyway, the rest of us find ourselves struggling to keep our weary eyelids from snapping shut, in-haling energy drinks and coffee or strapping elec-trodes to our heads for shock therapy treatments. But does it really have to be this way? Do our nights have to be perpet-ually consumed by long hours of mind-numbing monotony?

Perhaps not. With these helpful hints, you’ll find

yourself enjoying your study time. Yes, enjoying it. Wrap your head around that notion for awhile.

But be warned! Not all of these are for you. A certain amount of self control is required to be irresponsible.

1. Don’t put it off. That should be pretty self-explanatory. It should be common sense, too, but let’s be honest with our-selves. There’s no way you’re going to approach MLA format without some trepidation. But you will save yourself count-less hours of worry if you just do it when you’re supposed to.

2. Work at night. This seems strange, but there’s science behind it. A study at the University of Liège in Belgium showed that people who wake up early show a reduction in brain activity, particularly as-sociated with attention span after 10.5 hours. Night people, on the other hand, appeared to function more efficiently on the same timeframe.

There’s a catch to this, however. Early risers ex-hibited a less problem-atic recovery period after waking, so it’s not wise to pull an all-nighter before the day of that big test.

3. Chocolate. Need I say more? Put it in your face. Did you just solve a really difficult equation? Eat some chocolate. Oth-er feasible alternatives include: butterscotch, ice cream, or escargot for the really adventurous. But chocolate is useful for another reason: it re-leases serotonin, which reinforces your sense of reward and can feasibly motivate you to do better. Of course, it might just make you eat a whole box of chocolates.

4. Make it a drinking game. I’m serious. If you love a pint as much as the next fellow, have a sip every time you read the word “Nazi” in “The Di-ary of Anne Frank.” Be responsible, though. It’ll do you no good to wake up and turn in your paper with a hangover, wonder-

ing how the phrase “For real” ended up on the page. If you’re not the drinking type, substitute alcohol with hot cocoa. Chocolate, it seems, can substitute just about any-thing. Again, the idea is to reward yourself for the effort you’ve put into your assignment.

5. Exercise while you study. The reason is sci-entific: lifting weights while you cram may seem distracting, but the in-crease of blow flow will reinforce your concentra-tion. It directly affects the development of new cells in the hippocampus, the portion of your brain that stores long-term memory and the forming thereof.

6. Be creative. Just be-cause you’ve got five ran-dom suggestions stuffed down your throat doesn’t mean that you can’t come up with your own plot to take over the world – or your final exam.

Do you have any tips for studying? We would love to hear them. Good night, and good luck.

A guide to effectively irresponsible studyingBy Ben FassettStaff Writer

Amber Lucido / Courtesy photo

Page 4 March 2011Features

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Examiner ANTELOPE VALLEY

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

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Antelope Valley College celebrates Black History MonthBy Chris GonzalezStaff Writer

Monica Zambrano and Berenice Salceda coordinated one of the Black History Month celebrations in the Lancaster campus cafeteria between 11-1:00 P.M. on Febuary 24th.

The festivities included poster board displays, with information on many famous figures in black history, and a short corresponding trivia game.

A selection of contemporary music was played to help set the mood of the event.

Although there were few students initially interested in the event, many more gathered as peach cobbler was served as part of the celebratory events.

Of special note was the attendance of respected photographer Johnathan

Jason Hemsath / ExaminerJohn Broussard’s gallery filled the campus cafeteria with poingnant images.

I’ll be honest with you folks, I’m a World of War-craft player. I play on and off, but even when I’m not playing WoW I’m usually playing some-thing else like Counter-Strike: Source, or Kill-ing Floor. That being said I almost never play solo which means I’m ei-ther using in game chat, Ventrilo, or Mumble. Last December shortly after Christmas I de-cided it was time to change a few things to make my laptop a little more gaming friendly. I thought to myself “How can I make this bet-ter without spending a bunch of money on in-ternals?” and the answer I came up with was sim-ple: new external parts. Most people when they hear gaming upgrades think graphics cards, motherboards, RAM etc. when really unless you’re trying to build a gam-ing rig all you need are a couple simple tweaks to make your average PC more gaming friendly. First on my list was a headset. I cannot stress enough how hard it is to find a decent one that will last more than a couple months. Walmart used to carry some cheaply made ones that worked for a while but would end up losing a connec-tion somewhere in the cord rendering them com-pletely useless. At $20 a

pop it wasn’t so horrible every couple months to go get a new pair but over time it adds up so instead I decided to go with a higher quality pair made by Plantronics. The Plantronics GameCom 367 Closed-Ear Gaming Headset is a BEASTLY set of headphones let me just say. I was so excited when I cracked these monkey’s open I couldn’t wait to turn the volume all the way up and listen to some Parkway Drive. The 40mm speakers make for ridiculously amazing vol-ume along with the noise canceling foam around the ear pieces. The mic is hidden in the left side of the connecting band and flips down when you need it. One thing that makes these headphones spe-cial is that they’re stereo headphones but they have a unique balancing prop-erty that lets you hear different things in each speaker depending on how the music is mixed or whats going on in your game of choice.

Second thing on my list was a new mouse. A sim-ple three button mouse is cool... if you like get-ting your face torn off by zombies or smashed in by some 10 year old kid playing a Paladin. For this reason it was imperative I found something with a few extra buttons and bet-ter response. I really didn’t want to go with a Logitech or Microsoft mouse be-cause often times they’re products while good, are

over priced. I went with a relatively cheap solution to my problem, the Gear Head Wireless Optical Tilt-Wheel Mouse. This mouse is good for what it is but I found a couple problems with it. The software that comes with it wouldn’t load in win-dows 7 under compatibili-ty mode or just in general. Tech support on the Gear Head website was practi-cally non-responsive and when they did finally get back to me, they referred me to 1 of 3 posts on their website I had already read to no avail. Another problem I found with it was that when the bat-teries got low the buttons randomly assigned them-selves to opening Firefox and MS Outlook mak-ing them entirely useless for the purpose intended when I bought it. A simple change of batteries oddly enough fixed that prob-lem. All in all it’s a de-cent product if you’re not concerned with assigning buttons outside of a game.

Outside of those two things I bought a USB hub which has nothing to do with gaming but makes it easier to turn my two port laptop into a 5 port beast. I don’t really want to talk about that because to be honest, the thing was kind of a piece of junk. The good news howev-er is that now my laptop is much more gaming friendly and I’m a much more sane person because of it. Remember kids: kill zombies, not real people.

By Russel SpencerStaff Writer

Plug and play upgrades to make your PC more gaming friendly

Broussard. He displayed an assortment of 12 photographs on the stage.

Broussard, who attended Bakersfield Community College with Dr. Jackie Fischer, will have his work displayed at an art center in

Las Vegas in the fall. With a tentative launch of Oct-Nov, Broussard’s Art Exhibit will be titled “Mama’s Fabric,” and will feature cross section of 20 subjects across 11 ethnicities. Art like this helps create a dialogue among us all.

Jason Hemsath / Examiner

The budget cuts are effecting everyone. The Associated

Student Organization has some ideas for how we as stu-dents can do something, so the AVC Examiner is giving them a chance to speak out.

This is a letter from your ASO:

Today we face to-gether as a state a very

grim outlook when it comes to the economic bud-

get of California, especially the Community Colleges.

Governor Jerry Brown has proposed many cuts to the Cali-fornia Community Colleges, and Antelope Valley College has been looking for alternatives to keep us alive financially. ASO is no excep-tion to this rule.

Many of you may or may not know that most of the money that we pay in tuition, profit and others move to Sacramento, and most of the time we do not see that money back because it goes to other government projects.

Because of this, AVC and ASO have little money that stays here in the community.

The only fund that ASO has at its disposal is the Student Represen-tation Fee (The $1 fee everyone pays during registration), which can only be used for advocacy and leadership purposes only. This means that by law, we cannot touch this money for activities and events that ASO has in plan for the whole student body to use (events like Sexual Responsibility Day, the new Hearts and Hands food bank, the drunk driving awareness, etc.); not to mention the need for a much needed Student Health Center which has been in talks for this past year.

Because the student’s fund is under-funded, we request the whole student body to stand together in thinking of new ways that we can resolve this issue.

One of the two solutions that the student body has found viable is to implement a Student Activities Fee and a Student Health Fee, along with the already-existing Student Representation Fee.

If, and only if, these propositions pass through the upcoming ASO elections in May, both of these fees are guaranteed to stay here at AVC to help us, the students, on whatever services we need without

OpinionMarch 2011 Page 5

We were despondent, desperate for some juice for this issue when a sloppy storm hit, but then out of vulgar neces-sity the wisest of winds blew in my opinion editor.

He came to me on Thursday last week for something “spicy” and dis-putable, sadly my mind was preoccu-pied on get-rich-quick schemes and becoming an A-List celebrity.

Who is the leader of our free world? Is he the man behind the red but-

ton, the commander in grief, and the bronze arms pulling the strings of our war machine?

Barack Hussein Obama is a poster boy, with more flare than a Middle Eastern firefight.

He definitely isn’t “our guy,” in terms of statistical applause or any quantitative process.

By the manner in which current opinions are accumulated, he reveals himself as too nice of a leader.

For example, don’t bow in front of another leader, especially if he is the Emperor of Japan, this might lead people to believe your sensitive diplo-macy is fickle, or just a great segue conversation on Fox, following Bill the American Backyard Grill O’reily’s cut of jumping clowns and trapeze artist.

For all the gruff the man gets, Barack Obama could easily be mistak-en or accepted as one of the three most

charming people that you will ever meet in your life.

He’s the only President you could bump into on the street and instantly become infected by his “sheer courtesy.”

What a shame shadow casters like Hilary R. Clinton and Joe Biden stir an invisible political pot, and divvy out copper wire issues like immigration reform and free speech.

The middleman is constantly bombard-

ed by a short-sided congress, cyclically futile and generously corrupt, shouting their contrasting dead ideologies from the rafters of their ghost-like existence.

When Obama wasn’t invited to the Clinton wedding, my smiling President was commendably considerate, he made a public appearance to assure his denizens of his persistent and active humility.

He has an Ivy League education and thus the sensibility to deal with social

pressures with a rare kind of com-passion, like bowing.

Cheerlessly, my President doesn’t show the same kind of diligence in his role as our liberal and legal mischief-maker.

He has a tough time getting from point A to point B, which is a much needed genetic trait when signing greasy bills.

Fear nothing, but his flaws in direction could potentially be dev-astating to the flow and collective statement of our country.

Even guiltless men do wicked things, whether it be pushing a paradoxical health care bill, crack-ing on foreign policy, or steering the whiny and fickle private banks from treacherous reefs with large sums of transparent money.

Unfairly so, it’s not even his fault; who can endure the night, and still take names in the morning?

I want a President who will cut off the limbs off of injustices and back door deals.

Someone with more than any Ivy-League tongue and less of a vainglorious glare like that of

Richard Nixon and Bush, Inc. Now, clumsily in the darkness of the

media driven dark ages, I flip on an old transistor radio and the romantic music stars.

It’s either you kick ass in politics and die young, or you take the shape of a snake or mongoose and let the delirium play on loop, all day and all night, until Winter Solstice 2012.

By Wes HorowitzStaff Writer

The age of the hunk Presidents: Barack Obama

Amber Lucido / Special to the ExaminerBarrack Hussein Obama is “the only president you could bump into on the street and instantly become infected by his ‘sheer courtesy’.”

the fear and worries that the State might remove those funds from us. That money would help us build a new Student Health Center (that

will assist students with first aid needs during school hours) with the Health Fee.

In addition, more activities will be available to the students and even give the Student Lounge a much needed remodeling so it can serve stu-dents for generations to come. These funds, by law, cannot

be unsuitable to the student’s financial needs (meaning that we can’t overcharge for these fees, they would have to be a reasonable price) and they can be waived by special request, just like the Student Rep Fee.

We, the Associated Student Organization, want to keep our student body informed of these, and we want to ask for your opinion. We cannot and will not move ahead until we hear your opinion first.

I want to encourage everyone to email your ASO president, Enrique Camacho, and tell him whether or not you are in favor of these fees.

We need to hear from you soon, as the elections in May will come by fast. Enrique’s email is asopresident@avc.edu. We want to also encourage faculty to help us promote this and to provide your input as well.

Thank you so much for your time.

March 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 Heather Palmer

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

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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

Editorial: The dilema between taxes and budget cutsExaminer editorials and editorial cartoons are the unsigned opinions and views of the editorial board.

This quote actually came from even before Franklin, but his phras-ing is easier to under-stand than the originator, Daniel Defoe.

This taken into con-sideration, let’s examine what’s going on with the economic meltdown in our country and what it means for taxes in our state.

California Gov. Jerry Brown is working toward a special election set in June.

One of the largest issues proposed is an extension of a sales tax increase, set to expire in July.

Taxation itself isn’t the issue here. The problem with it is that people are up in arms about not cut-ting such items as pen-sions, education, public services, etc.

That is all well and good except that we’re still missing a piece to the puzzle. California has no money left.

It’s not that we don’t want our educa-tors/firefighters/po-lice to be well taken care of, we absolutely do.

The problem is that we simply do not have the funds neces-sary to take care of them without causing more of a meltdown in the rest of the state’s economy.

Taxes are contrib-uted by anyone work-ing in the country and are then trans-lated into the income of the state and fed-eral government by way of government departments.

Now how are these two governing bodies supposed to generate funds without taxes?

The truth is they can’t. This gives rise to another question: why do we pay taxes in the first place? There are a multitude of reasons, but the short an-swer is that a long, long time ago in a country not so far away, a bunch of guys got together and

drafted the principles said country is founded on.

So even if we do pay taxes simply because we have to, where does all our money go?

Tax money goes into anything not funded by a private interest, i.e. roads, public transport, public broadcasting.

This is not the first time that California has seen a tax issue with such volatility.

Back in the ‘70s the

people of California were faced with increasing property taxes, which were forcing people out of their homes.

Needless to say, those things are bad, which is why Californians – one in particular named How-ard Jarvis – decided they needed to take action and pass Prop. 13.

You might be thinking, “Well now that we know where the tax money comes from and where it

goes, why does any of this matter?”

It matters because as mentioned before, we’re tapped out. California is very much on the broke side of things as far as economics go but the real problem is deciding who pays, how much, and when?

That is for the voters to decide. Either we ap-prove this tax extension or we face cuts. Well what are the cuts we might experience?

Your kids might get worse education, your house might burn

down, crime might go up, or it might be all three.

Realistically. In our view none of those things is a legitimate argument to extend taxes.

Except maybe educa-tion but only if they plan to cut to educational pro-grams rather than teacher salaries, even then it’s still very unlikely.

So what will happen? Chances are we get deeper in the hole and continue bleeding funds until

there’s none left to bleed. Either we vote to ex-

tend the tax increase that everyone pays, or the gov-ernment decides what gets cut to make up the funds we’re short.

That’s a very stark view, but in the scheme of things it’s probably the most accurate.

So what should we do? You can do whatever

you want, the only real suggestion anyone can offer is that if you want to know where the money is coming from, extend the taxes.

If you want the govern-ment to decide what gets cut and what gets buffed, vote no to extend the taxes.

The truth is people are broke because of the Great Recession and can’t afford to keep paying higher and higher taxes.

Come hell or high wa-ter something desperately needs to change, and we feel that State spending needs to be cut before any sort of taxation can even be discussed.

“’In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” –Benjamin Franklin

Russell Spencer / ExaminerThe magic dollar—watch as it dissapears right before your eyes.

Parking lot delays: How they impact the students

On the surface, a solar-powered parking structure sounds like a great idea.

Go green, save the environment, lower the carbon footprint.

Get off of that South-ern California Edison power teat.

A small victory for the masses indeed!

Finally, the money grubbing evildoers of the world will feel the cold stinging sensation of a slap to face!

But what if it could have been better? How could an idea so heart-

warming, inspiring and pure as green energy pos-sibly get any better?

For one thing, the project could have been finished on time.

Antelope Valley Col-lege’s solar-paneled parking structure has fallen drasti-cally behind schedule.

According to AVC’s website, www.avc.edu, the solar-paneled parking structure was supposed to be completed by Feb. 5, 2011 just in time for the start of the spring 2011 semester.

Yet, as of the date of this writing, parking lots 10 and 11 are still closed for construction.

Strike one.

True, parking lot 10 did open temporarily from Feb. 7-27, but it will re-main closed, along with parking lot 11, from Feb. 27-March 17, according to a recent news statement posted on www.avc.edu.

The statement also de-scribed that the extended parking lot closures are due to “snow and other factors.”

It did snow in the area from Jan. 2-3; so two of the extra closure days can be accounted for.

What of the other six-teen days?

What are the “other factors” that cause the delay? Are they hiding something?

Strike two.

Despite these setbacks, the solar paneled parking structure still seems to be more upside than down-side, especially when the money is considered.

As reported by the AVC Examiner in the fall of 2010, the park-ing structure will cost $7.6 million and will be financed and built by Chevron Energy Systems.

Also reported by the Examiner, the project will pay for itself by lowering utility costs and saving the college money on the electric bill.

The money saved will go into the school’s gen-eral fund.

That all seems great

until the true downside of this project is revealed.

As demonstrated by the student protests in Sac-ramento last spring, a lot of students are upset that California colleges have cut so many classes due to budget constraints.

Students want more classes, but they are un-likely to get them.

Money in the general fund can not be used to fund any additional classes or instructors.

According to an article on USA Today’s web-site, California’s budget deficit has led to a drastic reduction of funding to public colleges.

The colleges reacted by

cutting programs, elimi-nating classes and laying off staff.

Only a balanced bud-get can bring back the lost classes.

Strike three.So when you arrive on

campus on March 18 and find solar-panel covered parking lots 10 and 11 open for parking, please use them.

As you park, please look up at those solar panels and realize that it could have been better.

Look up at those pan-els, but feel a cold sting-ing sensation on the side of your face.

You have just been slapped.

By Kevin Michael KramerStaff Writer

THE AVC

CAMPUS

NEWSPAPER Examiner

– 1 –They’re not prisoners,

they’re “detainees.”It sounds better, as if they’re mere-

ly inconvenienced rather than shoe-

horned into cinderblock cells,

thumbing their military-issued

Korans and waiting to be interrogat-

ed. One-third are innocents caught

up in sweeps; one-third are jihadists

who will slit your throat, and one-

third are opportunists who will rat

out their neighbors. You will hold

them for 14 days, no more, while the

interrogators try to

figure out who is

what. Each gets a CF,

for Camp Fallouja,

and a four-digit number. No names

will be used, mainly because num-

bers fit more easily onto spread-

sheets. They will be forever known

as entas. “Enta” means “you” in

Arabic, and that’s what you call

them day after day, meal after meal,

port-a-potty call after port-a-potty

call. “Enta, ishra mai,” you say, and

the enta drinks his water, and if you

say, “Enta, ishra mai kulak,” he

drinks all of his water, every drop,

and holds the bottle upside down to

prove it.

– 2 –It’s not personal.

The enta who screams “meesta!”

every 10 seconds for 48 hours

straight isn’t doing it to infuriate

you, his captor. What it boils down

to is that he can’t pronounce “mis-

ter,” and he was carrying that 155-

millimeter round in the back of his

pickup, and he was going to try to

blow you up, and the reason he was

picked by the insurgent leaders to

haul the shell is that he’s soft in the

head, which is why he cannot stop

screaming “meesta!”

The major who watches NASCAR

races on satellite TV in his air-condi-

tioned office at the battalion head-

quarters while you and your

Marines march entas to and from

the latrines in 120-degree heat isn’t

doing it to antago-

nize you, his subor-

dinate. Frankly, he’s

just over here for

the retirement money, and he didn’t

want to be in charge of four region-

al detention facilities in Al Anbar

province any more than you wanted

to end up as the warden in Fallouja.

He wants to keep his head down

and forget about the fact that if one,

just one, of your Marines snaps and

goes Abu Ghraib on a detainee, his

pension is out the window.

– 3 –You won’t fire your

weapon in anger.You’ll fire plenty of training

rounds. You’ll be awakened nightly

by outgoing artillery shells being

blasted into the ether a mere 400

meters from your tin-can hooch,

Page 7March 2011 Sports

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1. Spurs(47-10)

The Spurs are six games ahead of the rest of the West and five games ahead of the entire league. With the departure of Western Conference superstars, Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams, it’s safe to say that the Spurs will most likely finish the season atop the West.

2. Mavericks(41-16)

Going 14-1 in the last fifteen games, it is easy to forget that the Mavericks are still without Caron Butler who is looking at a playoff return. The depth of the team will carry them through the season without a hitch.

3. Heat(52-15)

With Chris Bosh finally

playing like an All-Star, Lebron James posting the second ever triple-double at the All-Star Game, and Dwyane Wade playing as if the tweaked ankle is not affecting him at all, the Heat look to take the lead in the East.

4. Celtics(41-14)

Without making any moves before the trade deadline, the Celtics have quietly maintained their lead in the East thanks to their veteran All-Stars Pierce, Garnett, Allen, and Rondo.

5. Lakers(40-19)

Kobe’s MVP

performance at the All-Star Game allowed Lakers fans to overlook the three-game skid for at least the All-Star Weekend. Still, with the second half of the season under way, the Lakers will have to find a way to get back on the winning track and the return of Matt Barnes will help immensely.

6. Bulls(38-17)

The Bulls, in my opinion, still need a pure shooter to open up the floor for Rose and Boozer, but are managing to be amongst the top teams in the competitive East.

7. Magic(36-22)

With the power shifting

to the Eastern Conference, the Magic are just where they need to be. Finishing the season in the top four

in the East is not an easy task and the Magic must finish the second half of the season strong in order to avoid the talented teams of the East in the first round of the playoffs.

8. Thunder(36-20)

Not exactly the team people expected to see after giving the Lakers such a hard time in the playoffs last season but the Thunder are still a team to be reckoned with in the West with the Durant, Westbrook duo.

9. Blazers(32-25)

Brandon Roy is still not a 100 percent but LaMarcus Aldridge is doing more than enough to fill his shoes. Once Roy returns to his original form, the Blazers will become the contender everyone expected them to be prior to the season.

10. Knicks(29-26)

The Knicks finally

brought Carmelo to MSG and got Chauncey along with him. Not exactly the “big 3” they wanted to challenge the ones in Miami and Boston, but an improvement nevertheless.

11. Hawks(34-23)

The Hawks seemed to

be a potential contender in the East a few seasons back but have not improved since. Maybe it is time to make a change, perhaps at the point.

12. Grizzlies(32-27)

Fighting for a playoff

spot when they are five games above .500 goes to show just how competitive the West is. We’ll see where they end up with Gay’s shoulder injury coming into play.

13. Nuggets(33-25)

The trade with the

Knicks was not that big of a loss for the Nuggets, getting a win against the Grizzlies shorthanded to prove it. Still, when you lose a player of Anthony’s caliber and not get the same in return, you are bound to drop a few spots.

14. Suns(28-27)

With Steve Nash

missing the All-Star Game and his team being 2 games out of the playoff spot, the glory days of the

National Basketball Association power rankingsBy Benjamin MinStaff Writer

run-and-gun Suns are a mere memory for the fans of Phoenix

15. Hornets(34-25)

The Hornets exploded out the gate at the beginning of the season but have drastically slowed down. If Okafor does not return anytime soon, the Hornets just may be out of playoff contention.

16. Nets(17-40)

The addition of Deron

Williams would improve any team in the league. However, the move is just one of many to come in the near future. Surrounding Williams with even more talent would make the Nets yet another title contender in the East.

17. 76ers(28-29)

The most

surprising team this season in my opinion, the 76ers are competing for a playoff spot and are going unnoticed in the busy East. They have five players averaging double-digit points led by Elton Brand with a little over 15 per game.

18. Warriors(26-30)

Much improved from

the previous season, the Warriors still must do

more to fight for a playoff spot in the competitive West. Being the team with the most road games left isn’t going to do much to help the cause.

19. Rockets(28-31)

Four games out of the playoff spot, the Rockets lost the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes and seem to have another

wasted season on their hands.

20. Clippers(21-37)

Although their record

hasn’t improved much, the Clippers have become one of the most interesting teams to watch thanks to a certain player by the name of Blake Griffin. The additions of Mo Williams and Jamario Moon will only add to the Clippers’ highlight reel.

21. Pacers(26-30)

The Pacers are having

no trouble scoring this season but are fighting for the last playoff spot in the East. Did I mention that our hometown hero Paul George is averaging over eight points a game? Well as cliché as it may sound, defense wins championships.

22. Bobcats(25-32)

With the prospect of

trading their star Gerald Wallace flying out the window, the Bobcats don’t have much to look forward to. Maybe Michael does have to make a comeback and help the team.

23. Bucks(22-35)

The Bucks were the

victim of the celebratory debut of Anthony in MSG on Wednesday night, losing 114-108. At least they are only two games out of the playoff race.

24. T-wolves(13-45)

The one bright spot

for the Timberwolves the entire season has been the performance of Kevin Love. Will he surpass Moses Malone’s record of 50 consecutive double-doubles?

25. Jazz(31-27)

First Jerry Sloan and

now Deron Williams, The Jazz have lost the faces of their franchise. If this isn’t the beginning of a rebuilding process then I don’t know what is.

26. Pistons(21-38)

Unlike the Jazz, the

Pistons failed to trade away their star player in Hamilton in order to begin their own rebuilding process.

27. Wizards(15-41)

Even if Wall translated

his MVP performance of the Rookie Sophomore Game, the Wizards have no chance of making the playoffs and might as well start preparing for the next season.

28. Kings(14-41)

The Kings are looking

to relocate to Anaheim by the beginning of next season. Maybe a change of location will spark the beginning of a new golden era.

29. Raptors(16-42)

The Raptors haven’t made much of a splash at all the entire season except when the Heat came to town. Of course Bosh and the Heat walked away with the win and the Raptors returned to the land of insignificance.

30. Cavaliers(10-47)

The Cavs are setting records in all the wrong ways. The meltdown of the defending champs cannot be credited to the Cavs after losing by 55 points to the Lakers and losing 26 consecutive games. Plus, the aquisition of Baron Davis wasn’t exactly to improve the teams play.

SportsPage 8 March 2011

Coming off a tough loss in its final conference league game against the Mt. San Jacinto Eagles, the Marauders came away with an overtime victory in its first Southern California Regional playoff game against the Oxnard College Condors, 100-93.

The Marauders came into the playoffs as the 12th seeded team and was one of five that made it out of its conference. The other four teams were San Bernardino Valley, Chaffey, Mt. San Jacinto, and Barstow.

Da’Shawn Gomez led the way for the Marauders, pouring in 32 points on a 9-for-13 shooting from the field. George McGrew also contributed with yet another double-double, finishing the game with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Marcus Falley of the Condors scored 27 points while Malcom Pope and Gary Johnson contributed with 21 and 18 points respectively, but failed to help their team advance to the second round of the playoff.

The game was close throughout the night with the Condors finishing the

first half with a 2-point lead and the Marauders returning the favor in the second half. “It seemed as if the last team with the ball would win the game,” said Marauders’ head coach John Taylor. “I thought we

played much better defense in overtime, which got us the win.”

The Marauders outscored the Condors 16-9 in the extra period and advanced to the second round of the State Playoff.

The Marauders ended the season 19-9. However, the record fails to show how close their losses were. “Where we finished is a little deceiving,” said Taylor, “I’m a little disappointed but our

conference is so tough and we still managed to make the playoff.”

Taylor believed that they didn’t get the breaks they needed during conference play but stayed optimistic, stating, “If we get the

breaks now, it’s better than getting the breaks then.”

In its final home conference game, the Marauders honored six sophomores on the team who could have very well played their last home game. Those six players, Nick Bennett, George McGrew, Gary Winfield, Jason Logan, Charles Cole, and Edwin Herrera, however, returned to the Marauder Gym and survived to play another day.

The Marauders’ run was cut short however in Saturday’s game against the Citrus College Fighting Owl, losing 88-63.

Gomez followed up his stellar performance against the Condors with a mere 11 points and failed to aid his team to another win.

McGrew also failed to follow up with a consecutive double-double game, only managing to grab eight boards.

Prior to the loss, Taylor believed that there was still room for improvement for the Marauders. “We need to play better defense and rebound better,” Taylor said.

The Marauders failed to improve on either against the the fourth seeded Fighting Owl.

Marauders’ playoff run cut short in lossBy Benjamin MinStaff Writer

Avi Ithier / Courtesy photoMarauders’ Da’Shawn Gomez (4) scored 32 points in the overtime win against the Oxnard College Condors, advancing AVC to the second round of the Southern California Regional.

The boys of summer are back in business. The Marauders who finished 6-31-1 overall and 5-19 in Foothill Conference will try and redeem themselves this season as they welcome 13 new freshman to their roster.

Returning this year and actively in the starting lineup are catcher Cole Brummer, shortstop Justin Hodges, outfielder Alex Mann and on his six season as head coach John Livermont.

FEB 5After a 3-2 loss in Pasadena the Marauders host their

first double-header against the Pasadena City College Lancers.

They split the games one each, losing the first game 10-5 and winning the second in extra innings 2-1 that would be their first win in the season and their first win in the new marauders Stadium.

Pasadena City 040 040 2 - 10 12 1Antelope Valley 000 030 2 - 5 9 2Pasadena City 000 000 001 0 - 1 4 0Antelope Valley 000 100 000 1 - 2 6 0

FEB 12After two road games losses one to Pierce College

14-2 and 6-7 to Porterville College Pirates the Marauders hosted and won their second consecutive home game to the Pirates 6-7.

Porterville 001 300 101 - 6 13 1Antelope Valley 010 000 330 - 7 11 0

FEB 14On Valentine’s Day the massacre happened in the ninth

inning when the Santa Barbara City College Vaqueros and the heart of their lineup scored 4 runs making it impossible for the Marauders to make a comeback and losing their first home game of the season.

Santa Barbara 001 002 014 - 8 11 1Antelope Valley 000 001 000 - 1 10 4

FEB 17Against the Warriors of El Camino College the

Marauders couldn’t overcome the devastating four run first inning dropping their sixth game of the season.

El Camino 400 000 020 - 6 9 1Antelope Valley 000 000 011 - 2 7 2

FEB 19In a close game against the Long Beach City Col-

lege the Marauders lost focus and allowed 5 runs in the eighth inning.

Long Beach City 001 311 050 - 11 13 1Antelope Valley 100 020 201 - 6 9 1

FEB 22In the last game before their conference games the Ma-

rauders lost 1-6 to the East LA College Huskies going into

conference games with a 2-8 record.East LA 020 020 110 - 6 9 0Antelope Valley 000 001 000 – 1 6 2“We schedule our pre-conference games with what I

though t o be though teams,” Said Coach Livermont “So when we see teams like the defending champions (Chaffey College) we know we can compete.”

By Avi IthierSpecial to the Examiner

By Avi IthierSpecial to the Examiner

Marauders’ Baseball is in full swing

Avi Ithier /Courtesy photoCory Stanton (19) pitches against Pasadena City College Lancers.

Avi Ithier / Courtesy photoSteven Tremlin pitched 8 innings allowing just 6 runs and 13 hits for AVC’s second win.

Eyes on a Star

Avi Ithier / Courtesy photoMarauders catcher Adriana Perez (19).

AVC Marauders’ softball star Adriana Perez has her eyes set on the University of Texas.

Perez, who is on her second season with AVC, is having a spectacular season, helped the Marauders dominate the Foothill conference.

The Marauders are currently 14-1, 2-1 losing this week-end only to Cerritos College Falcon.