• NEWS 1, 2 • SPORTS 4 • OPINIONS 5 • EDITORIAL 5 • ENTERTAINMENT 6 • CAMPUS BUZZ 5 • CALENDER 2 • POLICE BEAT 2 • FEATURES 3 • STAFF INFORMATION 5 •

S tudents on campus have had mixed reac-

tions to the notion of increased fees and

cuts to California’s education.

“It pisses me off,” said current DVC student Mariah Martin, 20 of Danville. “I don’t think they should cut from schools,

everyone should have a right to education.”

Sarah Macy, nutrition major, came from a four-year college to

attend DVC. “It’s the cheaper choice of going to a four-year,”

Macy said. “Junior college is the cheaper choice with or without

the fee increase.”

ASDVC is unsure whether a $28,000 in-consistency in its reserve budget is an ac-counting error or not.

The issue first came to light in the fall when officers learned of a discrepancy be-tween ASDVC account statements and the bank account statements. ASDVC is also currently facing a $20,000 deficit in its op-erations account that covers student activi-ties and services.

When asked about whether the discrepan-cy was a management issue or an accounting issue, ASDVC Controller Chelsea Cheung said, “ There are too many uncertainties to make a judgment.”

Progress on the issue has been moving at

MIKE ALFIERICopy editor

ASDVC, Page 2

STEPHEN LANGSAMStaff writer

COUNCIL, Page 2

Diablo Valley College was projecting a $2.9 million deficit for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, but currently the state is projecting a much higher deficit of $5.2 million for the same time frame.

In addition to the $2.9 million deficit for the ‘11-‘12 fiscal year, the long-term budget projection at the state is not good. Currently, projections indicate that:

Firstly, DVC will not receive any money for cost of living adjustment or growth until 2013-2014. Secondly, DVC may not return to 2007-2008 funding levels until 2015-2016.

Lastly, over the next five years community colleges could face reductions between 9.6 and 19.3 percent .

On top of the gloomy news from the state, the college will face about $2 million

DVC is in for a long road to financial recovery

ASDVC unsure about $28,000 error

FEES, Page 2

MIKE ALFIERICopy editor

$26/unit

$36/unit$12.5 billion16

1,14

1 st

uden

ts $100 m

illion

$17.8 billionVolume 78 No. 2 Copyright © 2010 The Inquirer - Diablo Valley College www.TheInquirerOnline.com Thursday, March 3, 2011

Students thoughts

over fee hikes

Viking’s playoff shot:

Earth, Wind and Fire: Take a look at DVC’s wind ensemble as its next concert approaches on March 4. See page 3.

Out in Cold: Inquirer Editorial Board discusses Modesto Junior College’s elimination of mass com-munication division. See page 5.

Check out basketball’s progress in the Big 8 conference. Go to TheInquirerOnline.com

TheINQUIRER

Student Voice of diablo Valley college

“Track is Back”: Shelly Pierson takes over as the new track and field coach . See page 4.

Jordan EstradaGuard

2 Thursday, March 3, 2011The Inquirer - Diablo Valley College

NewsCALENDAR

POLICE BEAT

Feb. 24, 2011DVC Cafeteria: An un-known person stole a wallet out of a purse.

DVC Bookstore: A stu-dent stole multiple items from the bookstore. Per the manager’s request, the student paid for the items. The student was issued a 626 advisement and is not to return to campus until he speaks with the Bill Oye, dean of student life.

DVC Lot 3: An unknown driver hit a student’s car.

Advertisement

Tuesday, Mar. 1 – May 1Fall admission notification begins and continues for UC applicants

Friday, Mar. 4Multicultural Shadow DayUC Berkeley9am–3pm

Friday, Mar. 4Symphonic Band and Wind EnsemblePerforming Arts Center6pm

Saturday, Mar. 5Philharmonic OrchestraPerforming Arts Center8pm

Sunday, Mar. 6Distinguished Lecture SeriesDr. Bill Garrett DVC Library Building, the Forum2pm

Tuesday, Mar. 8ASDVC meets to discuss next college president3pm

Tuesday, Mar. 8Whistling Vivaldi ProjectCollecting Wisdom: Faculty Round Table BLF-CCC12:30pm

Wednesday, Mar. 9Art Party DVC Gallery6-8pm

Saturday, Mar. 269th Annual Day of the Teacher ConferenceCSU East Bay Concord Campus9am–2:15pm

Thursday, Mar. 31Deadline to apply for AA/AS degree or certificate

Tuesday, April 5Storytelling ConcertTrophy Room6-9pm

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Silent Witness:Working together to solve crime the Silent Witness tip line provides a means of communication for members of the campus community to provide district police with information anonymously. Silent Witness hot line: 925.685.1230

Lost and Found:Students can go into Police Services between 7:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. during the week to handle lost or found items.

CLARIFICATIONS

In the article, “Speaking out costs jobs, coaches claim” in the Feb. 17 issue of The In-quirer, Erin Buzuvis, Western New England College School of Law associate professor, commented on wrongful terminations in general instead of the case at hand.

Contact MIKE ALFIERI at malfieri@TheInquirerOnline.

com

Gov. Jerry Brown has pro-posed increasing unit fees from $26 to $36 dollars for community college students and cutting $400 million from community colleges in the 2011-2012 budget. Brown’s proposed budget will cut spending by $12.5 billion and increase revenue by $12 billion.

The budget deficit is pushing Californians to make tough decisions, and the Governor’s hope of balancing the budget is rid-ing on the hopes of voters’ cooperation. Voters will be asked to extend existing temporary taxes, hoping to create a $1 billion reserve.

“This is a disaster for California, considering com-munity colleges continue to experience record demand due to high unemployment, returning veterans and re-cord high school gradua-tions,” said the California Community College League in a blog post.

The cuts to the colleges will cost 161,141 students their funding, even after an allowance of $110 mil-lion added for enrollment growth.

Tim Leong at the Contra Costa Community College District said in a phone in-terview there were many challenges faced by the pro-posed cuts. When it comes to determining if the district will cut further educational programs, Leong said, “ev-erything will be evaluated.”

The Contra Costa Com-munity College district sup-ports the fee increase party because tuition makes up a small part of revenue. Vice Chancellor of Adminis-trative Services Kindred Murillo said, “The State of California can no longer af-ford to provide community college higher education for $26 per unit.”

The proposal to raise fees to $36 is an increase of 38 percent, and would gener-ate $100 million. The fee increase comes on the heels of a 30 percent increase two years ago. Even at $36 dol-lars a unit, fees at California Community Colleges are the lowest in the nation. The next lowest is New Mexico at $40 a unit.

When asked about the possibility of even higher tuition if the temporary tax-es are not approved, DVC student Joey Johnson, 18, said, “That’s not a bad thing, I’d be ok with it.”

The California Commu-nity College League went on its blog to say, “This certain-ly feels like the end of an era of sticker-price affordability in California’s community colleges.”

Even with cuts, the Leg-islative Analyst projects an annual budget shortfall of $17.8 billion over the next five years.

a slow pace. Account state-ments from November and December were provided to ASDVC Feb. 1, though no ac-counting error was noted on them.

Associate Chancellor of Fi-nance Sierra Muindi, who was in charge of the accounts at the district, resigned recently, further delaying action. Ch-eung said the district was hav-ing trouble communicating with ASDVC because of the resignation.

Vice Chancellor of Ad-ministrative Services Kindred Murillo is currently overseeing the discrepancy at the district. “I was unaware of any com-munication problems with ASDVC,” Murillo said in a phone interview. Murillo be-lieves the district has gotten to the bottom of the discrepancy and will be speaking with AS-DVC on March 1 on the issue. “I believe it is an accounting issue and there is no reason to believe in any mismanage-ment of funds.”

At the beginning of the school year, ASDVC had a projected operations budget of $72,000. Sticker sales from students account for most of the operations budget.

But, since the fall semester, sticker sales have steadily de-clined. In the month of Janu-ary alone, ASDVC brought in only $1,800 from the sales, significantly less than last se-mester. The money might be hard to make up through sticker sales at $8 a sticker and ASDVC has already dipped into their reserve fund to cov-er costs.

The book rental program is believed by ASDVC to have further discouraged sticker sales, said Cheung, as many students have opted to rent books and stickers provide no discount for rentals. If the is-

sue doesn’t change, “it will not be a healthy situation for next year,” Cheung said.

ASDVC Advisor Yvonne Canada fears additional staff-ing cuts in Student Life if the budget doesn’t change. “It’s not sustainable,” said Canada. ASDVC is already us-ing $79,000 dollars of its re-serve funds of approximately $180,000 to support two part-time faculty positions for ASDVC. ASDVC observed in its first session back this semester that the sticker sales had dropped by 60 percent. At that time 57 percent of the budget had already been approved. Cheung admitted their projections of a $72,000 to be “overly optimistic.” When asked where ASDVC was going to come up with the money to cover the deficit and the proposed operations budget, Cheung said “sticker sales.”

“I don’t think so,” Canada replied when asked if it was reasonable for ASDVC to be-

lieve it could make the money from sticker sales alone. “We have to reevaluate the budget and consider cuts.”

Director of Fiscal Services Judy Breza spoke to ASDVC on March 1 about the discrep-ancy. She assured ASDVC of accurate accounting at the district even though provided spreadsheets showed discrep-ancies in multiple accounts.

“I honestly can’t tell you,” Breza responded to a question

about how the district can be certain of the funds, when provided records showed a discrepancy as early as June 1999. “We had to make as-sumptions,” she said in order to try to reconcile accounts.

The budget for next semes-ter was supposed to have been created Feb. 23, but has been delayed by the discrepancy.

FEESfrom Pg. 1

Contact MIKE ALFIERI at malfi-eri@TheInquirerOnline.com

ASDVCfrom Pg. 1

ASDVC activites coordinator Derek Cheang, above, and President Katerina Schreck survey the audience during a Feb. 1 meeting as the discrepancy is discussed.

IZZY BAJALIA / The Inquirer

COUNCILfrom Pg. 1

per year in cost increases due to salary schedule adjustments, employee benefit increases, and increases in district as-sessments due to inflation.

This situation was explained at the College Council meet-ing on Feb. 28.

The college council com-mittee headed by Dennis Franco delivered the follow-ing summary.

The Diablo Valley College

Budget Committee developed a plan last November for the annual budget.

The committee then for-warded its recommended budget plan to the College Council.

The College Council then makes a recommendation to the college president who makes the final resource allo-cation decisions.

The debt is continuing to grow as the state goes through its budget development pro-

cess.But DVC currently only has

a reserve for the current fiscal year at the 2009-‘2010 fiscal year statistics.

DVC is now responsible for the load bank and vacation li-abilities of their employees.

The load banking reserve is a reserve of funds for teach-ers who are taking on extra classes.

While the district has ac-cepted the responsibility for the liabilities as of June 30,

2010, they have very little funds designated to pay these debts.

The total of the reserves is nearly $323,000.

This is much lower than needed now because DVC’s share of these debts was ap-proximately $5 million for the load banking and $1.8 million for the vacation pay.

However, the budget com-mittee still recommends using uncommitted carryover funds to establish a $50,000 reserve

to repair and replace broken equipment and to use more then $624,000 to augment the college’s emergency reserve.

DVC is still projecting for a $2.9 million deficit for the ‘11-‘12 fiscal year.

Assuming that all of the $624,000 in obligated funds would be used to help cover the deficit for the next fiscal

Contact STEPHEN LANGSAM at slangsam@TheInquirerOnline.

com

Features 3The Inquirer - Diablo Valley CollegeThursday, March 3, 2011

Advertisement

It was the sparkle of a glittery purple pair of flats that brought the Diablo Valley College speech team’s most dynamic, award-winning tandem together.

Feeling shy and isolated at her first speech and debate tournament in the fall of 2009, Natalie Meany struck conversation with Lelah Smick by complimenting her flashy shoes.

Now inseparable best friends and in their final semester at DVC, Smick and Meany are nationally ranked speakers and have collectively won 37 awards during their year and a half tenure on the DVC Speech Team.

This April, the standout pair will compete in the American Forensics Associations’ National Tournament in Kearny, Neb.

“Junior colleges never go to AFAs, and for us to get this far we had to work so hard,” Meany said. “I’ve spent so many hours working towards this. No one from DVC has ever gone. This is insane.”

They will join the country’s top speech competitors, mainly from

four-year universities, and will per-form their nationally qualifying inter-pretation speech.

Interpretation speeches persuade and evoke emotion from the audience through the presentation of works of

drama, pieces of literature or poetry.In order for a speech to make it to

nationals, the speech must win three awards, or legs, when presented at previous tournaments.

As Meany and Smick aim to win their third leg for their duo inter-pretation of “Lost” by Mary Louise Walstead, they note the reason for the success of the piece is that it is about two best friends that are very similar to them.

Often called “the wifeys” by coach-

es and fellow teammates, Meany and Smick describe their inseparable friendship as “two puzzles pieces that fit perfectly together.”

“Together they bring out the best in each other,” speech team coach John Hanecak said.

Both have found a love for the art of communication and forensics, or using data to persuade. However, nei-ther anticipated that the DVC speech team would have influenced their life in the way that it has.

Horrified at the idea of public speaking in Elizabeth Simas’ spring 2009 Speech 120 class, Smick was de-termined to prove to herself that she could face her fear and have relative success.

At the end of the semester, Profes-sor Simas suggested joining the team. Skeptical at first, Smick decided to join the team the following semester.

Smick made a rare accomplishment by winning an award at the Santa Rosa Junior College Tournament, her first competition. She then decided to compete in the next tournament at DVC, where she met Natalie Meany.

Meany’s path to the team was dif-ferent. It started in her Speech 120

class with John Hanecak, who told his students they would receive 80 points of extra credit for joining the team.

Unlike Smick, Meany was not afraid of public speaking and had done mu-sical theater for years.

Three semesters later, Meany emerges as one of the team leaders, with 24 awards for her events and plans to study communications while apart of DVC’s speech pathology program.

“Natalie has one of the most exem-plary levels of energy and passion of any student I have taught at DVC in 23 years,” Hanecak said. “Like Lelah, the two of them are willing to take risks in their education and develop themselves.”

In May, she will graduate with DVC’s new associate’s degree in speech pa-thology. While both plan to transfer to four-year universities, Smick plans to major in elementary education.

“I am very thankful the speech team has given me such a big part of my life,” Meany said. Smick followed with, “Me too.”

Living out

loudSpeech team duo, Lelah Smick and Natalie Meany, head to national competition

LISA DIAZStaff writer

Music at DVC still playing strong

The sounds emanating from the music building almost never stop. It’s difficult to walk through the building without hearing students practicing their music.

The symphonic band is no exception.

To join the symphonic band one must first go through on audition process where the band coordinator evaluates each person’s abilities.

The Symphonic band, lead by conductor and band coor-dinator Monte Bairos, puts on two formal performances a semester, with their first one taking place Friday March 4th at 8 p.m.

“They work very hard, and they all want to put on a great performance,” said Bairos.

The band has 45 members, most of whom are returning players. There are musicians from all different ages and skill levels in the band from inter-mediate to more experienced instrumentalists.

The band’s shows are im-portant to the music program’s success because most of the profit goes towards funding the music program.

DVC Wind Bands in Con-cert will start off with an hour of the wind ensemble, and then followed by an hour of symphonic band.

The wind bands will be per-forming a four-piece set list that was chosen by Bairos. The list includes the works of John Phillip Sousa, David Manslanka and Percy Aldridge Granger.

“The group is strong this year and the music selection suits us well,” saxophone player Casey Strum says, “The upcoming concert should be a good one.”

The symphonic band is per-forming a set list that is made up of four pieces each be-tween five and fifteen minutes long. This is a testament to the hard work that the bands put

toward their performances. The symphonic bands prac-

tice on Thursdays from 7:30 to 10 p.m. while the winds prac-tice Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Despite all the work and commitment these musicians put toward the class, the class still only counts for one unit But in the end it is worth it because all these mu-sicians love to play music.

“I really enjoy symphonic band because of the great experience I get to have by playing with so many talented musicians,” says music student Angelica Lovio. “It’s great to have the opportunity to play so many classic band master-pieces”

GERARDO RECINOSSports editor

Contact GERARDO RECINOS at grecinos

@TheInquirerOnline.com

HEY

HERELOOK DOWN

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ARE YOU INTERESTED IN WRITING, EDITING, PHOTOGRAPHY, LAY-OUT, ART OR DESIGN?

MAYBE YOU SHOULD JOINOR WORK EXPERIENCE OR STUFF TO PUT ON YOUR RESUME OR WHATEVER

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Journalism 126 is an open enrollment class available to join any time during the semester. Meets every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 12:30-2:20 in H-102.

Contact LISA DIAZ at ldiaz@TheInquirerOnline.com

Graphic Illustration by Scott Baba

Lelah Smick

Natalie Meany

Wind band set list1. “American Hymn Tune Sketches”2. “Cathedral Music” 3. “Martyr’s Mirror”4. “Call to Victory”Symphonic Band set list1. “March: Pathfinder of Panama”2. “Give Us This Day”3. “Spoon River”4. “Folk Song”

4 Thursday, March 3, 2011The Inquirer - Diablo Valley College

Sports

Track team starts new season with fresh face

ALEC GRAHAM / The Inquirer

Chazz Griffiths leads Viking runners during a warm up run at the beginning of practice on March 1, 2011.

Contact STEPHEN LANGSAM at slangsam@TheInquirerOnline.

com

STEPHEN LANGSAMStaff Writer

With just days left on the old Collective Bargaining Agreement in the NFL and no deal in sight, the National Football League Players Asso-ciation and the owners are in the midst of a trial. It seems a lockout is almost imminent.

So why are the owners and NFLPA still up in the air about terms for the new CBA?

The greed of the owners?The self-

ishness of the players?

The fans wanting more exciting play?

I think it is all of the above.

The NFL-PA wants to keep the same amount of games in the regu-lar season, while the owners would like to add two more regular sea-son games and take away two of the pre season games. This is one of the main points of disagreement between the two parties.

The fans want more play, so the owners are trying to give them that, but without the consent of the players.

So you might wonder, are the players being selfish?

No, the NFLPA is trying to preserve the structure of the current NFL.

This might seem like a weak platform to stand on, but if you want to keep the Hall of Fame players happy, and keep the current and previous stats of the decades intact, this is the platform you want to stand on.

So now it comes to the owners, they want more mon-ey and to get more money you need to have more fans.

To get more fans you need to have more games, or a better product.

To the own-ers, adding more games to the regular season and decreasing the amount pre-season games is the answer.

They’re hop-ing to put out

a better product, the regular season games over the pre-season, in hopes of getting more fans to the game, which in turn makes revenue.

“The Replacements,” a movie starring Keanu Reeves, comes to mind, I hope that’s not the case with the upcom-ing NFL season. The fans, owners and players all lose out.

“DVC track Is back,” yelled Shelly Pierson, the new track coach. She hasn’t always been this excited though.

In April 2010, the track and field pro-gram at DVC was cut due to budget cuts and low numbers. This was a sad day for all running lovers including Pierson.

A few months later, it was reinstated. However, the team was unorganized and without a coach.

DVC Athletic Director Christine Worsley found Shelly Pierson, a cur-rent employee with coaching experience, who was a perfect fit for the job. She was extremely excited to hear the news and to have the opportunity to get back into coaching.

“As coaches, our goal is to instill a positive sense of self-efficacy in all our athletes while providing a path towards moving on to the next level in both aca-demic and athletic abilities,” says Pierson on her goals as a coach.

She wants to help the program in a significant way. She already led the Cross Country team to state for the first time in five years, and says that, “I do foresee huge potential for a few school records

to be broken this season for both the men’s and women’s teams.”

There are 50 students on the Track and Field team, which is “the highest num-ber in years,” according to Pierson and it looks to be a very promising season. Many of the athletes on the Cross Coun-try team are also on the Track team.

Her excitement to be back coaching couldn’t be higher. She spends time dur-

ing the week and even a few weekends fixing the track equipment, so her ath-letes can have the best chance to suc-ceed.

It hasn’t been all good times for Pier-

son since she took over though. “Every-thing is very unorganized, and records need to be tracked,” Pierson said. “I have to do all the paperwork on top of my coaching duties.”

She isn’t complaining though, just excited to be coaching, again saying, “There is a lot to accomplish and we will move towards doing that one task at a time.”

In 2001, Shelly Pierson stopped coach-ing to spend more time with her family and newborn child. She couldn’t stay away from her love of running though and in 2005 she opened a private coach-ing fitness company.

Pierson has worked at DVC for 12 years focusing on the personal fitness side of the sports medicine program. She became a full-time employee two years ago.

“As a team our goal is to stay cohesive and work hard as a team to do our best.” Says Pierson

Pierson has a lot of work ahead of her, but she thinks she is up to it. “I am blessed to have a team of fabulous ath-letes, and I look forward to working with them everyday.”

SCOTT ANNISStaff Writer

Contact SCOTT ANNIS at sannis@TheIn-quirerOnline.com

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Advertisement

Stephen LangsamOut of Bounds

Owners in turmoil with NFLPA, NFL, CBA, too many acronyms not enough money

Track coach Shelly Pearson

‘Out of Bounds’ is written by Sports editor Gerardo Recinos as well as staff writers Scott Annis and Stephen Langsam. It is updated on The Inquirer Online.

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Opinions 5The Inquirer - Diablo Valley CollegeThursday, March 3, 2011

• Phone: 925.685.1230 ext. 2313 • Fax: 925.681.3045 • Email: inquirer@dvc.edu • Website: www.TheInquirerOnline.com • Printed Every Two Weeks •

How does divorce affect people?

EditorialBuzzTh

e

Interviewer: Brittney GriffinPhotographer: Mariana Ramos

“I have had friends whose parents got divorced, and it sucks for the child. They don’t get [both] male and female influences. They

only get one side.”

NIRVESH SIKNAD, 19Political Science

“Yeah, of course, it is a change of lifestyle. It

makes you grow up faster when it happens to you at

a young age.”

CRISTYN MONTERROZA, 18

Undeclared

“My parents got divorced when I was 14, and the

break up was traumatic for the whole family. My par-ents got along better after, so it was for the better.”

FRANK RUNNINGHORSE, 56

Political Science

“I’m going through a divorce and it takes around two years. Being young it makes you look bad with future jobs, money, and

things like that.”

RAELENE PORTILLO, 19Business

“It made me a bad person. I did not have a father

figure in my life.”

NIGEL HAIKINS, 18Communications

OpinionsAccording to the state of

California Education Code, physical education courses are considered recreational and not general education.

Helen Benjamin, Contra Costa Community College District chancellor, mentioned this dec-laration as a justifica-tion for cutting P.E. courses at DVC at the recent budget forum meeting.

After all, Peralta Community College District states on their website that PE courses for students “do not accelerate their academic or vocational careers.”

The district’s priority is

preserving general education courses and other courses that are critical for transfer-ring or obtaining degrees since they are in the highest demand during this budget crisis.

Jack Scott, California Com-munity College chancellor, stated on his website that if 2 percent more of Californians earned associate degrees and 1 percent more earned

bachelor’s degrees, our state’s economy would grow by $20 billion.

Even though PE courses generally are not required for transfer, studies have shown, including one in the Journal

of Exercise Physiol-ogy, that people who regularly exercise while taking classes have a much better ability to perform academically.

For instance, I am taking courses in

aquatic fitness and cardio kickboxing. I could not be more confident about tack-ling my classes since they help me expunge stress and gain energy.

That’s because, according to a Mayo Clinic study, exer-cise increases the production of “feel-good” transmitters, called endorphins, and regu-lar exercise increases self-confidence and lowers the symptoms associated with mild depression and anxiety.

Wouldn’t you think that

the positive effects of exer-cise would help with students who are struggling with their classes and therefore help in-crease transfer rates?

To me, the state is implying that the well-being of their 3.2 million community col-lege students is not its con-cern.

Physical preparation is just as important as mental preparation when it comes to education. After all, it’s called: “Physical Education” not Physical Recreation.

BRIAN DONOVANSenior staff writer“After all, it’s called: ‘Physical

Education’ not Physical Recreation.”

Physical necessity in education

As a frightened, young child I spent countless nights scared and alone.

The world around me was in complete chaos, and I was timid and defenseless against it all.

Eighteen years and four marriages later, I am petrified with anxiety that constant-ly impedes me from moving forward with my life.

Divorce is what brings all of this on.

In the grand scheme of it all divorce is not an awful thing, but unfortunately the aftermath is.

In fact, children of divorce are more likely to experience psychological issues such as depression, anxiety, and an-ger.

It is an extremely difficult concept to grasp at such a

young age, and it seems to produce much uncertainty due to the lack of stability in the home.

So, do we really have a say in the matter? No. The suf-fering is almost inevitable.

As children we have to quietly observe the dissipa-tion of a former love with no power to halt it.

So, the question still remains: how will this affect our ability to embark on the journey of love and marriage?

Will we be more ap-prehensive about po-tentially spending the rest of our lives with

someone, will we prefer to be alone, or will we simply ac-cept the fact that divorce is natural and let our inhibitions

guide us?Many of us are in the same

boat, and the 40-50 percent of us that are children of di-vorce must break down these barriers.

We must remind people that marriage and the con-ceiving of a child are subjects

to take under great consider-ation.

Even if divorce occurs we must remind ourselves how our reactions will affect the children involved.

We must think before we act. They can either grow to hate and resent us or respect the decisions we made.

If we do not personally handle these issues with more care, who will?

There is hope for our fu-ture generation, but all the power lies within our grasp.

BRITTNEY GRIFFINStaff writer

“Eighteen years and four mar-riages later, I am petrified with anxiety that constantly impedes me from moving forward with

my life.”

Divorce: a painful opportunity

Contact BRIAN DONOVAN at bdonovan@TheInquirerOnline.

com

Contact BRITTNEY GRIFFIN at bgriffin@TheInquirerOnline.com

Modesto College sacrifices media students to save $8 million

With our state embattled by a deficit that seems out of control, the idea of budget cuts and penny pinching is a reality we, as Californians, all have to face. Unfortunately, the hammer of financial ruin now looms over the Commu-nity College system as DVC has to face its budget prob-lems with a 3 percent cut, which means cut classes and diminished programs.

While it’s expected that schools will see cuts and fee increases to combat the eco-nomic shortfall, the situation being proposed at Modesto Junior College seems like the extreme end of the spec-trum.

The cuts that will be pro-posed to the Yosemite Com-munity College District Board on March 9 will eliminate culinary arts, anthropology, German, French, Italian, and gallery management as well as the entire Mass Commu-nication department, which includes journalism, film, television, radio, and record-ing arts.

While something of a necessary evil in our current

economic environment, this proposal seems noth-ing more than a scorched earth policy on the academic level.

What becomes of the stu-dents who want to go into radio, broadcasting, film, or journalism? The answer: they will simply be the sacri-ficial lambs in order to keep the rest of the school afloat.

While the administration is seeking to find alternate courses to fill in the require-ments for continuing stu-dents to transfer, these sorts of bandages may do more harm than good.

Should a student look-ing to be a sound technician be able to transfer without taking all the pre-requisite classes?

Apparently that is an ac-ceptable reality to the admin-istration at MJC.

The potential effects of these cuts could range from an inconvenience to some to potentially crippling to oth-ers who may be left unable to complete their degrees or complete the prerequisites for transfer.

One of the more disturb-ing parts of this story is the justification given for the elimination. The rationale released by the college sums it up by saying, “Simply put, 20th century delivery mecha-nisms such as broadcasting and print media have lost much of their cultural rel-evance and employment po-

tential in this modern era.”This can really be said

about many programs be-ing offered by colleges today. Are the employment oppor-tunities any more robust for a theater major?

This comes off as nothing more than using the issue of unemployment to offer ratio-nale for the discontinuation

of not only a few classes, but an entire division, in an effort stem off financial Armaged-don.

The reality of the situation is cuts are going to have to be made, but leaving a wide swath of your student body out in the cold isn’t the way it should be done.

SCOTT BABA / The Inquirer

SENIOR STAFF WRITERS Brian Donovan, Taliah MirmalekSTAFF WRITERS Scott Annis, Pablo Caballero, Colby Carter, Lisa Diaz, Brittney Griffin Stephen LangsamPHOTOGRAPHERS Izzy Bajalia, Stevie Chow, Mari-ana RamosDESIGNERS Yaeko Takada

INSTRUCTIONAL LAB COORDINATOR Ann StenmarkADVISER Mary Mazzocco

EDITOR IN CHIEF Julius ReaMANAGING EDITOR Troy PattonNEWS EDITOR Favio DelgadilloFEATURES EDITOR Scott BabaOPINIONS EDITOR Sean WilkeySPORTS EDITOR Gerardo RecinosPHOTO CHIEF Alec GrahamCOPY EDITOR Mike Alfieri Kevin Hayes

Editorial Board Staff THE INQUIRER

Diablo Valley College321 Golf Club Road, H-102

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The Inquirer is published Thursday mornings during the school year by the journalism students of Diablo Valley College. All unsigned articles appearing on the opinions page are editorials and reflect a two-thirds majority opinion of the editorial staff. All signed columns and cartoons are the opinions of the writer or artists and not necessarily those of The Inquirer, Diablo Valley College or Contra Costa Community College District

6 Thursday, March 3, 2011The Inquirer - Diablo Valley College

Jazz,

Rock

& Beatles

The Performing Arts Center was filled with the sounds of the golden age of rock ‘n’ roll Feb. 24 as DVC played host to a concert featuring the music of the Beatles, as

well as other hit acts from the 60’s and 70’s. Among the acts fea-tured alongside the Night Jazz Band and Jazz Ensemble were pop-ular local groups such as The Pranksters, Ejector Seats, and Last Minute. Featuring jazzed up arrangements of Beatles songs, along with covers of songs like James Brown’s “I Feel Good,” the Jazz, Rock, Rhythm & Blues concert provided an audible blast from the past that was the perfect end to a “Hard Day’s Night.”

Entertainment

The Night Band provided opening music for the evening, performing several ar-rangements of popular Beatles tunes.

Bassist Clyde Bird of Last Minute keeps the rhythm steady during one of the group’s R&B influenced covers.

Night Band Saxophonists Devin Dominguez, Austin Chanu, and Christian Ortiz switch to their flutes for one of their final songs of the evening.

The Pranksters contributed jazz standard Cha-meleon, as well as Bruce Springsteen’s Pink Cadillac to the list of chart topping covers performed this evening.

Jatossha Davis, vocalist for the 60’s rock ensemble Last Minute, belts out a high note during the group’s final number.

Alto Saxophonist Kyle Clark solos during the DVC Jazz En-semble’s performance of Penthouse Dawn.

The congo, played by Percussionist Chris

Haman, provided lation accents during one of

the Jazz Ensemble’s numbers.

Photos and text by ALEC GRAHAM