THE UNIONNE

WS

LINE

Finals Madness Students will crunch in their last study sessions (see pg. 2) of the semester as next week’s finals roll in. Library hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday; Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; and Sunday is closed.

Winter Break Friday, Dec. 11 is the last day of the semester. Campus will be completely closed from Thursday, Dec. 24 to Friday, Jan. 1 for the holidays. The campus will reopen again on Jan. 2.

Fee payment deadline The spring fee payment deadline for students who registered be-tween Nov. 17 - Dec. 4 is Dec. 7 and the deadline for student who registered between Dec. 5 - Jan. 8 is Jan. 11.

Spring Semester Returns

Classes kick back into gear on Jan. 16. and registration for the spring semester is now officially open. Last day to register is Wednesday, Jan. 13.

EL C

AM

INO

C

OLL

EGE

eccunion.com

/ElCaminoUnion

/ECCUnion

/ECCUnion

G

/ECCUnion

eccunion@gmail.com

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL KNOCKED OUT OF PLAYOFFS, P. 10

STUDENTS ROCK OUT IN LOCAL ALTERNATIVE BAND, P. 3

FILMMAKER HOPES TO ADD HER OWN VISION TO CINEMA, P. 8

FEATURES ARTS SPORTS

DECEMBER 3,2015 TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA

Legendary football coach retires after 31 years

New president approved at board meeting

After months of searching and interviewing potential candidates, the El Camino board of trustees unanimously voted to employ Dena Maloney as the college’s sixth president at the Nov. 16 board meeting.

Maloney will officially start her new position on Feb. 1 and will meet with current president Tom Fallo a few times before taking over. She will be the first female president in the college’s 68-year history.

“This has been an incredible pro-cess as a candidate,” Maloney said. “You really get to have a sense of place when you come into an or-ganization as a candidate and you start to interact with people and figure out the spirit of the organi-zation.”

Maloney said that she’s planning on living in the area and she and her husband are currently looking for a place in the area.

“I’m looking forward to be part of an institution that is so dynamic and so focused on student suc-cess,” Maloney said. “It’s going to be very exciting to be leading that effort and supporting everyone’s energy towards that.”

John FordianiEditor-in-chief @ECCUnionJohn

Eric RamosStaff Writer @ECCUnion_Eric

Legendary El Camino football coach John Featherstone plans to ride into the Manhattan Beach sun-set after 31 years with the football program. He will retire with an overall record of 214-119-1.

El Camino has enjoyed much success under Featherstone includ-ing one national championship, two state championships, two ad-ditional championship game ap-pearances, 11 conference titles, five consecutive Southern Califor-nia playoff appearances, 19 bowl games and 21 finishes nationally ranked by the highly respected JC-Gridwire, according to the EC website.

The eight-time California State Coach of The Year will retire with the highest winning percentage of any active coach in the Southern Section of California. Featherstone has helped place more than 600 former student athletes into major college programs.

“We’ve always had a strong fam-ily atmosphere at El Camino,” Featherstone said. “I treat all my former players like my sons. It has been a wonderful ride.”

Former EC star wide receiver Russell Shaw II, who played un-der Featherstone in 1994 and 1995, credits the coach for helping him get to the next level.

“He wasn’t just a football coach, he was mentor,” Shaw said. “He taught you about life skills and helped kids get a second chance. He helped me get my scholarship to the University of Michigan.”

Feathestone’s enthusiasm and passion mirrored the football cul-ture he created. He inspired ath-letes to “get after it in the weight room and on the field” as he laid the foundation for a winning pro-gram, former EC linebacker Juan Jimenez said.

“Without coach Feather’s sup-port, I would not have earned JC Gridwire All-American honors and a scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley,” Jimenez said. “He genuinely cares for the well being of his players. It’s be-

cause of men like Feather that play-ers like me were able to leave the inner-city community and gradu-ate from one of the most presti-gious universities in the world.”

As Featherstone plans to retire from coaching, he and his wife will take six months off and “see the world.” However, the coach wants to be at El Camino when the new Murdock Stadium opens next sea-son and hinted at a possible return to the football program in some capacity.

“My wife and I are going to travel after the season and then I’ll make my mind up in March or April,” Featherstone said. “I want to be back and christen the new stadium. I’m really looking forward to that.”

While Featherstone steps into the next chapter of his life, for-mer players are grateful they had a chance to play for an incredible leader.

“Playing football for coach Feath-erstone was truly a rewarding ex-perience,” Jimenez said. “I’d like to thank him for being a remarkable teacher, mentor and coach.”

Featherstone’s Legacy

31 years as football coach 1987 National Championship 11 conference titles Overall record of 214-119-1 19 bowl games 2 state championships

John Fordiani/ UnionFreshmen defensive linemen Joe Taliauli and running back Gabriel Villarrel carry football coach John Featherstone at Featherstone’s last football game of his 31-year coach-ing career on Saturday Nov. 14.

Jorge Villa/ UnionCoach John Featherstone motivates freshman quarteback Blaise Booth during the season game at Mt. San Antonio on Nov. 7.

The Auxiliary Services Board (ASB) sticker provides discounts to theme parks, local theaters, restau-rants, El Camino’s performing arts events and more, according to the ASB Discount Book.

The ASB sticker costs $10 and can be purchased every semester at the Cashier’s Office or Marsee Au-ditorium’s Ticket Office, according to the ASB Discount Book.

Some of the amusement parks and attractions EC students can purchase discounted tickets for are:

• Disneyland• Disneyland California Ad-

venture• Knott’s Berry Farm• Six Flags Magic Mountain• Universal Studios Holly-

wood• Aquarium of the Pacific• Palos Verdes Bowling CenterIn addition, students can receive

“10 percent off on everything” at McDonalds on Crenshaw Bou-levard and “10 percent off a food purchase” at Buffalo Wild Wings in Torrance, according to the ASB Discount Book.

According to a handout received from the ASB office, whenever students use their ASB sticker the funds help support EC’s “student newspaper, athletic teams, per-forming arts programs, student clubs and student activities.”

ASB sticker perks Alba Mejia Staff Writer @eccunionAlba

POLICE BEATBy John Fordiani

Student gets it off his chest

Nov. 18, 3 p.m. A student reported a theft at the police station. According to the report, the student told the officer that he was sitting in his parked car in Lot L with his seat reclined and the windows down. The student had his cell phone on his chest and said that he felt someone reach into his car and grab his phone. The student opened his eyes and saw a man grab his phone and run into a vehicle parked nearby. The student said that the man drove onto Crenshaw Boulevard and drove southbound.

Beer buddies bustedNov. 19, 6 p.m. Two students

were cited for drinking in public and for being in possession of vandalism tools after officers responded to a call that the vehicle they were in was leaking an unknown fluid in Lot H. When officers arrived they observed a six pack of beer on the floor board inside the vehicle. The students told the officers that they were drinking because they were waiting to go to a speech presentation on campus. Upon further investigation, officers also located six cans of spray paint inside one of the students backpack. Both of the students admitted to being taggers, but they only tag in San Pedro.

Girl, that’s my man Nov. 24, 12:51 p.m. A

female student went to the police station to report that she was battered outside a classroom on the second floor of the Social Science Building. The victim told the officer that the other female student who confronted her grabbed the her folder and scratched her finger. The confrontation was a result of one of the students sending text messages to the other student’s boyfriend. The victim was not desirous of prosecution.

GardenaNov. 21, 10:39 p.m. A vehicle

in the 15700 block of Western Avenue was burglarized by unknown persons.

Nov. 22, 6:45 p.m. Unknown persons cut a hole into a vehicle in the 15500 block of Atkinson Avenue and stole clothing and wigs.

TorranceNov. 17, 12:15 p.m. An

unknown person damaged a door lock on a vehicle in the 3500

2 EL CAMINO COLLEGE UNION DECEMBER 3, 2015NEWS

Earn Your Bachelor‘s Degree Faster!Get Started with Open University Courses at Cal State Dominguez Hills!

COLLEGE OF EXTENDED AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, DOMINGUEZ HILLS

Through Open University, you can take CSUDH credit classes without being admitted to the university. Later, when you are admitted to a college, you can transfer the units you earned through Open University.

For further information:877-GO-HILLS

Learn@csudh.eduwww.csudh.edu/open

Q&A: First lady of El Camino For the first time in almost 70

years El Camino will have a female president. Dena Maloney, currently the Superintendent/President of Taft College, was selected to take over for President Tom Fallo when he retires in Feburary of 2016.

Q: Describe what it was like when you received the call that you were the next president of El Camino.

“It was an exciting day for sure. I got the call and I was thrilled beyond belief that I was selected by the board. I was just speech-less in many ways when I got the call because I think so highly of El Camino and what it stands for and what it does for students and the community. I was just thrilled.” Q: What are you most excited about?

“I’m excited on a number of lev-els. One of the things I’m most ex-cited about is getting to know the people that have worked at EC for a number of years and who represent what EC is all about.”

Q: Do you have a particular vi-sion for EC right now?

“I think the vision for EC is in stance today and my goal would be to promote that vision and to determine with our entire campus community where we’re going in the future.”

Q: Do you have any ideas or plans for EC’s future?

“I think there’s already a stragetic plan for the college. So, step one is to review those plans and to work with the entire campus community as we understand where we are in our planning process and just start to build from there.” Q: Are you nervous about any-thing?

“Nervous isn’t the right word. Excited and eager are the words I would use. I’m very very excited to relocate to the community and to become part of the community. Nervous isn’t a word I would use.”Q: You said to relocate. Are you planning to move closer to EC?

“Yes, my husband and I will be moving to the South Bay. We’re excited to do that. When we we’re first married, we lived in Hermosa Beach. We’re excited to get back to the South Bay.”Q: Why is student success im-portant to you?

“Well, it’s really at the heart of the community colleges. Students come to colleges for all kinds of reasons. But the college exist be-cause we are there to serve our stu-dents and help them achieve their

dreams. So, student success is kind of at the heart of what we do and who we are and we want to make sure we’re doing everything pos-sible to help our students succeed.”Q: Is there a way you plan to im-prove student success?

“EC already has a very strong student success track record. But you can never assume that we’re doing everything we can, there’s always got to be other options and strategies that we can implement for student success.”Q: What are your thoughts on EC’s athletic programs?

“Athletics are really important at the community college level. Often times students are coming to the community colleges to contiune their athletic interest. We can’t for-get that it’s just as important how

a student does in a classroom as well as they do on the playing field. So, I’m very supportive of athletics because I think athletics provides students the whole education that they’re looking for. I think it’s a critical component.” Q: Fallo has been president at EC for 20 years, how long do you think you’ll stay at EC?

“It’s hard to predict the future. Of course I’m not as young as he was when he started. So I hope to stay at EC a long time. I’m very excited to be part of the insitution and he’s left big shoes to fill and I’m very excited to be following in his foot-steps.”Q: Are there any programs you would like to see put in place here?

“At this point it’s too early for

me to say. Of course I’ve been well prepared in the kind of research I did when I was evaulting the op-portunity and applying but I think it’s too early to specify any particu-lar program that I’m interested in right now because I would like to get there and get the lay of the land before we get to that converstaion.”

Q: Is there anything you would like the student body to know about you?

“What I would like them to know about me is that I’m very dedicated and commited to their success and I’m looking forward to being a part of EC and its family there and to be one of those who help support students in their achievements at the college.”

Sydnie Mills News Editor @eccunionsydnie

The fall semester is coming to an end which means that finals week is right around the corner. The mad dash to finish final proj-ects and pass a class final is underway.

Because every college student is different, they each have their own unique ways to help them study. Each hoping that their meth-od helps them grasp the proper information in order to pass their classes.

For instance, Henry Tran, 19, kinesiology major said that his fa-vorite place to study is next to a pool.

“I enjoy studying by any swimming pool because of the smell of chlorine,” Tran said. “Since I’m a lifeguard in Torrance, after work I hit the books. Acoustic music and being next to a pool is the perfect combination.”

For other students they see their phone as a potential distraction from their studies.

Uriel Cordova, 18, undecided major said that before he starts a study session he puts his phone away.

“Sometimes you study so much that you get frustrated with your-

self and you pull out your phone,” Cordova said. “One hour later you’re still scrolling down on Instagram. I don’t like studying at home because I get hungry all the time. Food stops me from actu-ally focusing on my work.”

On the other hand, some students prefer studying at home be-cause it’s quiet.

“My room is the best because it’s quiet and in my house that’s the only place where no one bothers me,” Annaisa Morales, 19, criminal justice major said. “Music is always turned off, I can’t con-centrate with it on.”

Another student who strives in a quiet and organized workspace is Elizabeth Miranda, 23, animal science major.

“When it’s time for finals, there is absolutely no music playing,” Miranda said. “I usually study in my room or the dining room be-cause I can lay out all of my notes. I like to be organized, it helps me get better grades.”

For others it’s places like Starbucks and Barnes and Noble that does the trick because students like Angelica Acepcion, 18, biology major can get a drink and free Wi-Fi.

“At Starbucks or Barnes and Noble is my favorite place to study because the environment is great,” Acepcion said. “Everyone there is doing work like you. It gives me confidence.”

Alex Torres Staff Writer @ECCUnionAlex

Students reveal their perfect study methods for finals

John Fordiani /Union (Left) Student trustee Eman Dalili, trustee Cliff Numark, trustee Mary Combs, new president Dena Maloney, president Tom Fallo, trustee Bill Beverly, trustee John Vargas and trustee Ken Brown pose for a photo at the Nov. 16 board meeting. Maloney will be starting her new job on Feb. 1.

Board of trustees selects first female president in school’s 68-year history

Corrections

In the Nov. 5 issue of The Union, Student Trustee Eman Dalili was misquoted.

The Union regrets the error.

A look at this day in El Camino’s history

• ON THIS DAY IN 1980 Women’s volleyball finsi-hed first in the Metropolitan Conference and were ranked fourth in Southern Califor-nia.

• ON THIS DAY IN 1996 El Camino celebrated the second half of its 50th anni-versary and staff were plan-ning themed events to conti-une the celebration throughout the spring semester.

DECEMBER 3, 2015 EL CAMINO COLLEGE UNION 3FEATURES

Claire Nitchman/ UnionChristopher David, 28, and Matthew Cruz, 22, of the band Real Fiction listen to the replay of their song during the Nov. 23 band practice. Cruz is an El Camino student and one of the original members of the band since its creation in 2012.

Taking their talents to the South BayMaria AlcoserStaff Writer@ECCUnionMaria

The room vibrates with each note played; the light bounces off of the

mirrors on the wall casting light and harsh shadows on the faces of the band members.

Just like a first class act, be-tween four sound-proofed walls decorated with an array of fuzzy pink, leopard and zebra patterns; the rock band Real Fiction makes final adjustments to its three new-est songs: “Otherside,” “Envy” and “Family.”

The atmosphere at the begin-ning of practice was light-hearted, but once the members grabbed their instruments it changed to one of complete professionalism as the band members made subtle changes to “Otherside.”

Real Fiction is a Torrance-based alternative rock band and two of its members are currently enrolled as students of El Camino (Lead guitarist Matthew Cruz, 22, lin-guistics major, and bassist Jack Curan, 25, undecided).

The band recently released a new music video for its single “I Want It” on YouTube Nov. 4 and

the song was made available for purchase through iTunes and will be on Pandora and iHeartRadio soon, Cruz said.

Formed in 2012, the road to find the current lineup has been long.

After losing the drummer and rhythmic guitarist, the band decided to look for members through Bandmix.com, which is a networking platform that helps connect local musicians who are seeking to join a band, Cruz said.

The hardest part about starting off was “finding the right people that are as serious about our music as we are,” Cruz said.

Real Fiction has plans to start touring after February 2016 with the new music it is working on.

The current lineup now consists of five members: Cruz, lead gui-tarist, lead singer Christopher Da-vid, 28, Curan, drummer Esteban Carvajal, 23, and rhythm guitarist Abhinav, 28.

Although Cruz and Curan had previously worked together in a different band of the same name, but the rest of the lineup met through Bandmix.com.

The band played a few shows together before hitting it off and clicking, Curan said.

Since then, Real Fiction has per-

formed at Whisky a Go Go, St. Rocke and was “honored to play at The House of Blues on the Sun-set Strip,” Cruz said.

Each member of the band has different sources of inspiration, from well-known rock names to different music genres and per-sonal experiences.

“A lot of the stuff I write about is not really happy,” David said. “But I write a lot about personal experiences. I wrote the song ‘Family’ about the band.”

Real Fiction practices two to three times a week when schedul-ing allows, they said.

When band practice does be-gin, the joking is non-stop until the members pick up their instru-ments and begin to play.

The dream would be “to go on tour, show our music to the world and rock out,” Curan said.

Although they may very well be on their way to achieving their dreams of rocking out, they re-main humble and level headed by maintaining their day jobs and teaching others how to play music.

“I want to give back to the peo-ple that gave to me,” Cruz said. “(Because) I also come from a family of musicians, (and) they are my real inspiration.”

Real Fiction comes together through the drive and passion for becoming a rock band

(Above) Close up of Matthew Cruz’s guitar and bandmate Esteban Carvajal’s drumset during band practice.

(Right) Matthew Cruz plays his guitar during band practice, while adding in vocals to various songs.

(Left) Real Fiction drummer Esteban Carvajal, 23, blows a bubble with his gum during the band practice on Nov. 23.

PHOTOS BY: Claire Nitchman/ Union

Jo Rankin / UnionShannon Lew, 24, Dance Ma-jor performs variations of acrobatic dancing inside the dance studio where dancer rehearse. She often uses Bal-let Pointe shoes to perform ballet dances. Beginning bal-let classes are offered in the mornings with pre-requisite of Dance 120.

Jorge Villa/ UnionBrandon Cruz, 19, Dance Major dances a mixture of popping, tutting and waving at the back of the South Gym. Cruz preferbly uses Chuck Taylor’s to perform hip-hop dance choreography because he say’s it’s good at gripping while dancing. Hip-Hop dance classes are offered in the evenings to any beginners looking to learn to dance Hip-Hop esque choreography.

EL CAMINO COLLEGE 4 DECEMBER 3, 2015PHOTO ESSAY

Dance to the beat of your soul

Jo Rankin / UnionJade Opal Jerry, 20, Dance major dances a contemporary jazz style. She often uses salsa shoes to perform. Classes of-fered are Jazz Dance in the evenings.

DECEMBER 3, 2015 EL CAMINO COLLEGE 5PHOTO ESSAY

SPORTS ROUNDUP

Jorge Villa/ UnionThe women’s volleyball team finished the season after a defeat at L.A. Pierce in the third round of the regional playoffs. The Warriors finished the season first in the South Coast Conference with a record of 14-0 and an overall record of 26-2.

Jorge Villa/ Union The men’s soccer team finished the regular season with an overall record of 4-10-7 and a conference record of 3-5-6. The Warriors placed sixth out of eight in the South Coast Conference behind the Compton Center (4-4-6) and ahead of L.A. Harbor (4-8-2) and Pasadena (2-9-3).

Jorge Villa/ Union The EC football team finished its season fifth out of seven teams in the National Central conference with a record of 2-4 ahead of Citrus College (1-5) and L.A. Harbor (0-6), as well as an overall record of 3-7. This season was veteran coach John Featherstone’s final season for the team.

Jo Rankin/ Union The women’s soccer team ended the season with a better conference record than the men’s with an overall record of 6-11-4 and a conference record of 5-7-2. women’s team did, however, place the same as the men’s at sixth out of eight in the South Coast conference, placing ahead of LA Harbor (2-9-3) and Compton Center (0-14).

Jorge Villa (left) Jo Rankin/ Union The men’s and women’s water polo teams both had underwhelming 2015 seasons, the men’s team finished the season with an overall record of 0-21 and the women’s ended at 0-19, both coming in last in their respective South Coast Conferences.

The men’s and women’s water polo teams both had underwhelming 2015 seasons, the men’s team finished the season with an overall record of 0-21 and the women’s ended at 0-19, both coming in last in their respective South Coast Conferences. Photo courtesy of coach Dean Lofgren.

The board of trustees are elected officials and there should be an easy way of getting in contact with them.

It seems to be a clear standard practice for government agencies to have contact information available for elected representatives. El Camino doesn’t make it easy for you to contact the board of trustees or an individual board member.

If you go to EC’s website, there’s a page dedi-cated to the board of trustees. What’s on that page? A list of the scheduled board meetings with links to the meeting agendas. Another list of the board members with their name, what area they repre-sent and when their term expires. But one thing is missing. How do you contact these people?

Other community colleges in the area such as Cerritos, Long Beach and Santa Monica College’s have similar webpages with contact information and phone numbers readily available to commu-nity members.

EC should do the same.If you want to contact a board member you either have to Google

them and hope you find their right contact information or you have to go search for the president’s office phone number and ask the presidents secretary for contact information.

Board President Bill Beverly said he was surprised to see that there wasn’t any contact information for him on the school website. Trustees John Vargas, Cliff Numark and Ken Brown didn’t seem to have a issue that there was no contact information for them.

It’s even easier to find contact information for Alex Vargas, a Hawthorne mayor and Trustee Var-gas’ brother.

Trustees Vargas and Numark did say they would look into why there isn’t any contact info for them.

Trustee Mary Combs never responded to an email sent to her elcamino.edu address.

Trustee Brown was fine with the fact that there wasn’t any contact information for him on the col-lege’s website. The board members also said that there isn’t a reason why there isn’t any information posted.

The board of trustees represents the people who live within the community college district. The board

members say that people from within the community have no problem getting in contact with them.

The bottom line is that the college and the board should make them-selves more accessible to the public since they are elected officials. Posting contact information on the board webpage would solve that problem.

Editors’ Points of View

Vol. 69, No. 11December 3, 2015

E-mail: eccunion@gmail.comNewsroom: (310) 660-3328Advertising: (310) 660-3329

Associated Collegiate Press Regional Pacemaker Award1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2012

California Newspaper Publishers Association General Excellence Award1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005

Journalism Association of Community Colleges General Excellence Award1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015

The Union is published Thursdays by Journalism 11 and Journalism 14 students at El Camino College, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance, CA 90506, and is free to the student body and staff.

Unsigned editorials and cartoons are the opinion of the editorial board and do not reflect the views of the student body, staff or administration. Letters to the edi-tor must be signed and must be received one week prior to publication in the Union office, Humanities Building Room 113.

Letters are subject to editing for space, libel, ob-scenity and disruption of the educational process. Sin-gle copies of the Union are free; multiple copies can be requested through the Union.

Editor-in-Chief .......................................................................... John FordianiManaging Editor...............................................................................Rocky RiveraNews Editor .................................................................................Sydnie MillsFeatures Editor ................................................................................Phil SidavongOpinion Editor ...............................................................................Jed FernandezArts Editor.........................................................................................Jerome CasioSports Editor ......................................................................... Grant HermannsPhoto Editor ....................................................................................Jorge VillaCopy Editor....................................................................................Brenda SorianoAdvertising Manager ................................................................... Jack MulkeyAdviser .................................................................................Kate McLaughlinAdviser ....................................................................................... Stefanie FrithPhoto Adviser...................................................................................Gary Kohatsu

How you gonna call?Eugene Chang/ Union

THE UNION

6 EL CAMINO COLLEGE UNION DECEMBER 3, 2015EDITORIAL

Sydnie MillsNews Editor

@ECCUnionSydnie

Be classy, not trashy

The Union POV

OK ladies let’s talk.This semester, I walked into the

women’s restroom to the sight of unflushed toilets, used tampons on the floor, pee on seats and trash ev-erywhere.

For the first time, I was embar-rassed to be a woman.

At first I thought it was a busy day in the women’s restroom and that it wouldn’t look like that again. However, to my surprise it has over and over again throughout the se-mester.

It wasn’t one restroom on campus in particular that was beyond dis-gusting, it was multiple.

That’s when I knew it was prob-lem.

After being exposed to the hor-rors of the women’s restrooms on campus, I would like to know what happened to common decency.

When did it become OK to not flush a toilet or feel the need to pick up after yourself?

Think about it. If you don’t want to pick up after your own mess, what makes you think someone else does.

It’s called restroom etiquette and it’s time to get back to the basics.

The solution to this problem is simple, just start by flushing the toilet.

Sure, sometimes a toilet can mal-function but let’s do our best to try, try again.

As women we should take pride in who we are and the places pro-vided for us. We should strive to be the best we can be and encourage one another because if we don’t, no one else will.

Respect is the big issue here.

We’ve come too far to fail at the little things.

We need to do better.We need to want better.We need to respect each other.And more than anything we need

to care.Which is exactly why I’m writing

this. I believe that women should always be classy and hold them-selves and others to high standards.

A classy woman isn’t just some-one who is sophisticated and stands up straight. A classy woman has re-spect for herself and others.

Respect is the big issue here.When someone doesn’t clean up

after themselves it shows a lack of respect. Respect for themselves, the person who has to use the stall after them and the person who has the unfortunate task of cleaning up the mess someone else has left.

How many times have you checked the stalls before you used them? Let’s be honest you probably don’t always get to use the first one you see.

Restrooms are already gross so there’s no need to add to it.

Cleanliness should be a standard we all hold high and after being exposed to sights in the women’s restrooms that are permanently burned in my soul, it’s concerning that cleanliness is not a high stan-dard for some.

It’s time to get back to the basics, so flush the toilet, dispose of tam-pons properly, wipe tinkle off the seats and throw your trash away.

Ladies, let’s make a change.

Board of trustees’ contact info not available for public

The issue:The board of trustees’ contact info isn’t readily available for

the publicOur stand:

The board of trustees should have contact info on the school

website

We like that the Associated Student Organization posted their contact info for leaders and senators of ASO af-ter asked by “The Union” to provide emails on the school website.

We like football coach John Feather-stone who after 31 years of service, he is retiring with an overall record of 214-119-1.

We dislike that the library is not open until 8 a.m. because it makes it a hassle for students who have earlier classes who may need a Scantron or need to print.

We dislike that elevators on campus keep breaking down and that the majority of the elevators’ permits are expired.

Illustrations by Eugene Chang

THE UNIONFor more from The Union, visit eccunion.com.

Do you have story ideas for the newspaper? Send us an email at eccunion@gmail.com.

“Space, the final frontier.”That’s what many people spent their childhood

watching as Captain James Tiberius Kirk and his second-in-command, Commander Spock, travelled throughout various parts of space and coming across different alien species.

However, this was not how I spent my childhood, instead with big, bold yellow letters running down my screen, giving me a summary of the stories passed and what’s to come.

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...”Rather than watch the crew of the USS Enterprise

deal with their weekly issues, I enjoyed watching the Skywalkers and the crew of the Millennium Falcon face the greatest enemy in the universe, the Sith.

The “Star Wars” franchise is one of the largest and most iconic in history, spanning across nine films, three television shows and an almost infinite number of video games from the first film in 1977 to the present.

The original trilogy was one of the most innovative film franchises of its time thanks to its original and unique storyline of an evil organization moving to conquer all of the planets and rule the galaxy (very European colonization style).

But the original franchise films delivered one of the biggest and most notorious twists in cinematic history and is referenced numerous times throughout other movies and TV shows today.

Thanks to a revitalization in the mid ‘90s of the original trilogy due to Dark Horse’s comic books based on the movies, George Lucas (the creator of Star Wars) saw that audiences were still in love with the movies and decided to give the world the prequel trilogy, according to an interview Lucas had with Michael Kaminski.

Now granted, the prequel trilogy does not live up to the original films, but they serve an alternative purpose that is just as nice: it gives the newer generation their own “Star Wars” storyline.

The third prequel, “Revenge of the Sith,” gave the generation a “Star Wars” film with some stunning special effects and great character development, making it the “Empire Strikes Back” of the prequels.

The films and cartoon shows were fun to watch and this generation can now rest easy knowing we have our own franchise.

Even the younger generation can look forward to getting their own trilogy, as “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” opens in December and will be followed by two more films in 2017 and 2019.

The “Star Wars” franchise as a whole is a bigger and more important one than “Star Trek,” because not only has it had a bigger impact on the film audience as a whole, but because they’ve also had new entries into the universe for each generation.

Granted, “Star Trek” does currently have a rebooted film franchise at the moment, however it came after my generation’s childhood, acting as a new franchise that the current young generation will remember from when they were kids.

The tagline for the new film is even “Every Generation Has a Story,” reaffirming the point that there will always be new stories to tell in the years coming for future generations.

UP FOR DEBATE

Rocio Najera, 19, film

“Star Trek series has been my favorite ever since I was in

high school. Spock is my favorite character because he is respected by everyone. I will watch a Star

Trek film over Star Wars any day.”

Ashley Mercado, 21, sports medicine

“I like the Star Wars franchise more because it’s more entertain-

ing. Star Trek is something my parents would watch.”

CAMPUS VIEWPOINTS

Jose Martinez, 17, engineering

“My friend introduced me to Star Wars when I was 9. Ever since, I have been a huge fan. Darth Vader is my favorite be-

cause he’s the leader. I can’t wait for the next movie to come out

soon.”

Make it so, Star Trek Number One

By: Alex Torres@ECCUnionAlex

Jed FernandezOpinion Editor

@ECCUnionJed

Star Wars versus Star Trek

What’s better: Star Wars or Star Trek?

Photos By: Jo Rankin@ECCUnionJo

John Burton, 19, graphic design“I have been a fan of red light sabers since I was 5. Obi Wan

Kenobi is my favorite character because he is wise and he cares

about his students. I have the same personality as Kenobi. Star Wars

over anything.”

The USS Enterprise is no match for the Millennium Falcon

DECEMBER 3, 2015 EL CAMINO COLLEGE UNION 7OPINION

Mia Rios, 18, undecided“Star Trek because of Spock, he’s strict and funny. Darth

Vader to me is boring.”

Illustration by Eugene Chang/ Union

Grant HermannsSports Editor

@ECCUnion_GrantH

“To boldly go where no man has gone before....”That is the final line in the opening to the introduction

of Star Trek.The USS Enterprise is one of the most famous ships

in the history of science fiction in my opinion. Helmed by brave Captain James Tiberius Kirk accompanied by his equally courageous crew, the USS Enterprise embarks on its 5-year mission, “To explore strange new worlds, To seek out new life and new civilizations.”

Given that, I’d take Captain Kirk over Luke Skywalker (the main protagonist in Star Wars) any day of the week. Star Trek has touched the hearts of millions of fans and started a phenomena that dates back to before Star Wars even existed.

Star Trek has spanned over five TV series and over twelve movies and that pace is still going strong as another series is in the making, set to be released in 2017 along with the current movie franchise.

Eleven years before “The Force” entered the common jargon of moviegoers everywhere, Star Trek had already achieved great success as a franchise, garnering a large and devoted fanbase. It was a TV show ahead of its time that inspired many real inventions that we continue to use today.

For example cell phones, more specifically flip-phones, were inspired by the communicators used in Star Trek by the Enterprise crew. Motorola’s Martin Cooper who has been dubbed the inventor of the cell phone acknowledged that these communicators were the inspiration for the cell phone according to The Daily Beast.

Another innovation we still use because of Star Trek is the sliding doors. When Captain Kirk would enter the bridge of the Enterprise he would go through sliding doors in a time when people still had elevator operators to open doors.

The show didn’t just inspire technological advancement but also advancement and progression in the then current social status quo.

The show used Spock, Captain Kirk’s second in command, as a character that explored his humanity because he was half human and half Vulcan (an alien race). Star Trek explored the humanity of each individual character and advocated interracial relationships in a time when it was not the norm.

Star Trek covered very touchy subjects during its time like racism and prejudice. Spock dated Commander Nyota Uhura, a black woman, which sparked major controversy at the time but later kept it in the original canon. The Enterprise crew was very diverse covering races from Russian to Japanese, to showcase Earth as a whole people, rather than separate nations. This allowed for the show to be accessible and relatable to a myriad of different people.

Going into statistics between the movie franchises, the newest Star Trek movie has the higher Rotten Tomatoes score with 87 percent compared to the newest Star Wars movie, Revenge of the Sith with a score of 79 percent.

Star Trek brings in billions of dollars from conventions to its merchandise. The fans also known as “trekkies” have been around a lot longer and are more devoted than Star Wars fans.

It all started with a show that blew away my mind as a child. Anyone can pickup Star Wars but it takes true fandom to follow Star Trek. The show started a movement that will last generations to come with a hope that we may all “live long and prosper.”

8 EL CAMINO COLLEGE UNION DECEMBER 3, 2015ARTS

Lauren LiddleSpecial to The Union@ECCUnionLuren

In her “Jaws” t-shirt, she sits at the round table, express-ing her desire to influence

the world around her through films that convey meaningful messages for the world to see.

Isabella Dorosieva, 21, film ma-jor, has lived in America for a year now after signing up for El Cami-no’s international program.

Ever since she was a child, Do-rosieva had a desire to go to Amer-ica, and when it was time to apply for college finally had her chance and got accepted to EC.

Not only did she have a desire to go to America, but ever since she was young she’s always had a pas-sion for film as well.

“I’ve always been a creative kind of kid,” she said. “Ever since I was in kindergarten, I’d be doing some-thing with art.”

Once she has all of her credits done, Dorosieva wants to trans-fer to California State University Long Beach because of their film program.

“(She is) one of the most re-sourceful students I have met,” Laura Almo, film professor, said.

Through all of her hard work, she gives credit to her dad, explain-ing that her dad is her biggest mo-tivation.

Her family also supported her decision to travel to America, al-though they were skeptical of her journey.

They never once told her she couldn’t go.

Dorosieva is also a very hard-working student with a very strong will to achieve her goals no matter what life throws at her, a few of her colleagues said.

“For me, I’ve always viewed any work that I do — and I got this from my dad — that if you do something, you need to be able to put yourself in a position (and) you work with (it),” she said.

She doesn’t act anymore, but has acted and directed in high school and still has an admiration for it.

Dorosieva has acted and direct-ed in high school but no longer acts although she does enjoy it.

When asked which she would choose between acting, directing or writing, Dorosieva said it was a tough question but knows it’s a decision she’ll have to make at some point.

“Writing has just so much more power,” Dorosieva said. “Because a book is just so much more powerful than a movie.”

In her films, she aims for meaningful messages for people to be aware of what she’s trying to portray.

“I also want to have a hid-den message,” Dorosieva said. “A movie about drugs, people recovering from that and sui-cides.”

“Something with a deeper meaning and brings awareness,” she added.

Something that Dorosieva has worked on before traveling to visit her family in Bulgaria was a documentary on traveling from one country to another and

the experience of it all.“Just to kind of be a guide for

what people can expect when they come to the States,” Dorosieva said

about her documentary.“When it comes to working on

things with (Dorosieva), I’m pretty sure she can bring out the best in

just about anyone with her person-ality,” Laurence Kelly, 21, film ma-jor, one of her classmates, said.

“I like to help people in any way that I can,” she says.

Dorosieva helped out an orphan-age in Bulgaria where she would go and play with the kids and give them toys.

When she’s not behind the cam-era, Dorosieva does as much as she can to give back to the community she loves.

After coming to the States, Do-rosieva was part of El Camino’s “Adopt-A-Family” for Christmas last year. Out of a list of children she had to choose from, she chose a child who asked for a tricycle.

She was touched by the child’s request, because she also grew up owning a tricycle she loved.

Dorosieva is also helping out the White Point Natural Preserve in San Pedro, where she will be helping the Preserve out by filming

and advertising for their website to encourage more volunteers to help out in the city.

For now, however, Dorosieva is working on editing a project in class and enjoying life as a young adult.

She just wants to have enough influence to where she can push the charities and what she believes in forward, she added.

Dorosieva is a fun and down-to-earth film major wanting nothing more than to convey to the world her passions and hopes to one day, not just impact, but also bring awareness to her audiences one project at a time, her colleagues said.

Dorosieva has never been a fan of fame or being recognized so highly.

“For me, I don’t care if my proj-ects are seen by three people or three million people,” she said. “If they play in one theater or in 33 countries.”

Alex TorresStaff Writer@ECCUnionAlex

El Camino College’s music de-partment will be hosting the Holi-day Chorale Extravaganza featur-ing performances by students and professionals Sunday at 7 p.m. in the Campus Theatre.

Attendees can expect song per-formances from the Renaissance to the modern era.

“The three choirs will play large pieces of music,” Director of Cho-rale Activites Joanna Medawar Nachef said. “Each group will play their own music from classical to holiday classics. The crowd can expect music that will uplift their mood.”

The professional performers in-clude the Percussion Ensemble and Brass. About 80 EC students make

up for the rest of the cast. Most of the latter are not music majors, Nachef said.

The cast consists from all levels and majors, Nachef said.

Sophomore singer Katie Kern, biology major, said that the arts department doesn’t get recognized enough.

“(EC arts) don’t get the recogni-tion like sports does,” Kern said. “Our program is really good. Stu-dents need to come check us out. When we perform all together, it’s simply beautiful.”

The music program has per-formed at different colleges like the University of Southern Cali-fornia.

The Chorale program will fea-ture composers like Victoria, Mo-zart, Brahms, Bassler, Aquilanti, and Powell and Hogan, Nachef said. The Mixed Chorus and Con-

cert Choir will also perform sea-sonal and holiday favorites.

The length of the concert is ap-proximately 90 minutes with inter-missions.

“Many hours were put in to make this event possible,” Nachef said. “This show takes you into the joy of the holiday season.

“It’s a unique event. Definitely worth the 10 bucks,” Nachef add-ed. “You can’t even go to the mov-ies for that price.”

The Concert Choir and Mixed Chorus concert was originally on Saturday but was rescheduled and will be performed along with Cho-rale on Sunday, according to the fine arts division flyer.

Tickets are $10 and are available at the Center for the Arts’ official website, at the Ticket Office and by calling (310) 329-5345.

EC music department’s ‘Holiday Chorale Extravaganza’ coming to Marsee Auditorium

Jorge Villa/UnionIsabella Dorosieva, 21, film major double-checks the functionality on a Panasonic Pro, a camera EC students often use.

Jo Rankin/UnionIsabella Dorosieva, 21, film major wants to influence the world through the making of meaningful films. Dorosieva is an international student from Bulgaria who also likes to act and write.

Bulgarian filmmaker takes on EC to fulfill her dreams

On The

Scene

Movies out in December: ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Krampus’ and Oscar hopefuls

Jerome CasioArts Editor@ECCUnionJerome

As the year comes to a close, Hollywood’s biggest and most an-ticipated films prepare to flood the box office.

Ranging from a sequel fans have been anticipating for years, a se-quel no one asked for and Oscar hopefuls, December is chock-full of options for families, cinephiles and fanboys alike.

- Krampus (Dec. 4)

- Macbeth (Dec. 4)

- In the Heart of the Sea (Dec. 11)

- The Big Short (Dec. 11)

- Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force

Awakens (Dec. 18)

- Alvin and the Chipmunks: The

Road (Dec. 18)

- Sisters (Dec. 18)

- Joy (Dec. 25)

- The Hateful Eight (Dec. 25)

- Point Break (Dec. 25)

- Daddy’s Home (Dec. 25)

- The Revenant (Dec. 25)

Art Gallery Faculty Show

The Art Gallery’s current exhibition, consisting of an assortment of artworks made up of various mediums, will be on display until Dec. 9. The Art Gallery is open Mondays and Tuesdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Wednesdays and Thursdays noon to 8 p.m.

South Bay Children’s Choir at Marsee

The South Bay Children’s Choir will present “Memories and Visions,” a concert composed of a mix of traditional and contemporary music. The concert will be hosted at the Marsee Auditorium Sunday at 4 p.m. Tickets are $13.

Maharlika Club Presents Talent Show

The EC Maharlika Club will be hosting a talent show Dec. 11. After being delayed from Nov. 13, the Talent Show will take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the East Lounge of the Student Activity Center. Admission is $5 but free for students.

Lo Tech, No Tech Dance Concerts

With choreography created by EC instructors, students will perform their final showings this semester in the “Lo Tech, No Tech” dance concerts Monday and Tuesday in the Marsee Auditorium. Genres including ballet, modern, jazz, African, ballroom, and hip-hop will be included in their performances.

South Bay Ballet at Marsee Auditorium

Coming back to the Marsee Auditorium is South Bay Ballet’s wintertime performance of “The Nutcracker.” With the direction of Diane Lauridsen and choreography by Charles Maple, South Bay Ballet intends to bring its art and skill front and center Dec. 19 and 20.

For movies reviews by The Union, visit eccunion.com. (Photo Courtesy of Universal Pictures)

DECEMBER 3, 2015 EL CAMINO COLLEGE 9SPORTS

The bright, gym lights reflected off the player’s green eyes, which are focused and glaring down the opposing player getting ready to serve.

A 19-year-old woman’s 5-foot-5-inch frame stands on the court and her hands wait to receive.

The serve goes up; then flies her way.

It lands dead center on her arms - nothing but excitement - her pass goes toward the setter and is tossed to the outside hitter.

The attack hits the floor for a kill and the crowd goes wild as the team gathers in the middle of the court; point for El Camino.

“When everyone makes a good play I get the chills,” Brooke Rus-sell said, knowing she did a good job and her team finished the play strong. “It makes me feel good when the hitters get a good kill.”

The South High graduate and starting libero finished the season leading the team with 330 digs, which placed her at No. 1 in the conference and No. 34 in the state for overall digs.

Russell also grabbed the No. 2 spot in the conference and No. 33 in the state for overall digs per set, with 4.23.

The love for the game all started at the age of 10 for Russell when she played outside with her broth-ers, her father Shaun Russell said.

“Her brothers used to (hit) the ball to her,” he said. “It made her not afraid of the ball at a young age.”

Her father was not surprised at how well she has been doing on the team because of how athletic she is and because of the coaching she’s received.

“When she was younger, she played soccer,” he said. “It was quite apparent that she was quick and agile; and the coaching staff from EC (really gave) her the con-

fidence in the athleticism she had, it’s easy to see how she’s doing well.”

Women’s volleyball coach Le Valley Pattison said that Russell has really grown as a libero and-developed as a mentally-strong player.

“It took a little while to get there,” Pattison said. “She’s (be-

ginning) to understand and see that (as a leader) she can change the en-ergy of the team. It’s not only when she has a good day that she needs to be a leader.”

Pattison added that Russell has become an established leader on the court for the team.

But Russell’s life isn’t all about what happens on the court; she

is studying as a liberal arts major in school and her social life and friendships are a big part of what makes her unique.

“I like taking classes (for liberal arts),” she said. “It makes school a lot more enjoyable and I like all (of) the classes I (have).”

Sophomore middle blocker Nia Masui, who has lived close to Rus-

sell for a long time, is one of her best friends and said that Russell is an awesome friend off of the court as well as a great teammate on it.

“(Russell) is encouraging, ener-getic and a lot of fun (as a team-mate),” Masui said. “(But off the court) she’s caring, considerate, outgoing and just makes you want to be a better person. I have a lot of

Libero plays guardian for women’s volleyballPhil SidavongFeatures Editor@ECCUnionPhil

favorite moments with her.”So whether she’s out and about

with her friends, being the heart of the defense on a top-ranked wom-en’s volleyball team or studying in class as a liberal arts major; you’ll find Russell thoroughly enjoying life.

Sophomore libero Brooke Russell poses in the South Gym before her game against Mt. San Antonio College on Nov. 10. Russell ended the season with 330 total digs, which placed her at No. 1 in the South Coast Conference and No. 34 in the state.

John Fordiani/Union

The women’s cross-country team pose for a final time after the State Championship. The Warriors ranked 13th to finish the season. Photo courtesy of coach Dean Lofgren.

Cross country finishes season at StateRoy GarzaStaff Writer@eccunionroy

The four-hour drive from Tor-rance to Fresno Saturday morning had something different from the multiple trips cross-country coach Dean Lofgren has taken to the State Championship: a message to his team.

“I’m not one for motivational speeches, but I told them on the way up that there were going to be 3-4 teams right within one or two points of us and that we wanted to be in front of those teams,” Lof-gren said.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, they didn’t catch the breaks needed at the CCCAA State Champion-ships Saturday morning and wound up finishing 16th and 21st in the men’s and women’s divisions re-spectively, according to results from Lofgren.

The Warriors came into the race

ranked 13th in Southern California and with the North factored in at State, Lofgren felt they had placed right around their ranking.

“Although we didn’t pull off any great upsets, the guys moved up a spot or two with only three Nor-Cal teams in front of us,” Lofgren said.

Lofgren wasn’t the only one to speak out, he also heard freshman Chance Weston tell his teammates to give everything they had for this final race.

The team didn’t win the state title, but there were still good per-formances, such as freshman Solo-mon Kanehailua finishing 34th overall with a 21:20 time.

He was followed by freshmen Michael Moody (97th; 22:10), Weston (111th; 22:15), Jacob Helfgott (130th; 22:29) and David Hodges (160th; 22:57), according to Lofgren’s results.

The women’s team gave it all they had, as sophomores Hannah

Griffie, Judith Torres, Jackie Ro-driguez, and Courtney Smith ran their last cross-country race as Warriors.

Griffie was first for EC finishing 68th overall with a 20:06 time, she was followed by Torres (109th; 20:42), freshman Xiomara Perkins (118th; 20:52), Rodriguez (157th; 21:39) and freshman Jennifer Vil-larreal (170th; 21:59), according to Lofgren’s results.

“Hannah and Judith ran well,” Lofgren said. “But we needed ev-eryone to be tighter to be competi-tive as a team.”

With the cross-country season finished, most runners will move on to track in spring, and Lofgren hopes to see his freshmen return to the program in 2016.

“On the way home they were al-ready talking about training over the summer and getting ready for next season,” Lofgren said.

10 EL CAMINO COLLEGE UNION DECEMBER 3, 2015SPORTS

Monica Bender 20, a member of the El Camino 2015 Conference Champion women’s swim team and an accomplished long distance swimmer. Monica achieved a personal goal of swimming the English Channel in 13 hrs and 41 mins.

Jackie Romano/Union

Swimmer conquers 21-mile trip across the English ChannelEric RamosStaff Writer@ECCUnion_Eric

It’s 8 a.m. in Dover, England with the choppy Atlantic Ocean at a cool 58 degrees.

She covers her body with a white substance to avoid chaffing when swimming, jumps into the open water off the vessel “Louise Jane” and begins her 21-mile swim across the English Channel.

Challenged with drastic condi-tions, Monica Bender, 20, didn’t know if the unpredictable cur-rents would allow her to make it to France. As she swam up and over waves, Bender said it was difficult to get into a rhythm.

“It’s the most mentally frustrat-ing thing I’ve ever been through,”

Bender said. “I was three hours from the French coast but the cur-rents were so strong, it felt as if I was swimming in one place.”

Bender said the swim started out smoothly until the water became choppy and she encountered hun-dreds of jellyfish. At the halfway point, she wanted to quit.

“I got stung on my hand and it hurt real bad,” Bender said. “I swam with the pain for four hours. You can be the strongest swimmer but if you hit that current wrong, you’re never going to make it. I thought of all the people and the all the work that I’ve done; I just couldn’t give up.”

In September, although she was stung by jellyfish and strong cur-rents kept her from reaching France for three hours, Bender completed

the swim in 13 hours and 41 min-utes.

Furthermore, only three out of 12 swimmers completed the swim, with Bender finishing first.

“It honestly didn’t hit me when I finished,” Bender said. “My body was completely shut down. The next day I could barely walk.”

In order for swimmers to attempt the English Channel swim, they must be registered with the Chan-nel Swimming Association, which was founded to authenticate swim-mers claims to have swum the Eng-lish Channel and to verify crossing times, according to the CSA web-site.

The Channel Swimming Asso-ciation gives accreditation only to swimmers whose attempts have been observed by CSA officials

and who are escorted by pilots us-ing vessels registered with the as-sociation, according to the CSA website.

Observer and pilot of the ves-sel that followed Bender, Andrew King said she made the swim look easy despite rough conditions.

“We had stiff northeast winds but her track was good,” King said. “Watching her swim that day was a great experience.”

The San Pedro native is an avid swimmer who fell in love with the sport when she was in high school, at Mary Star of the Sea. Bender said she joined her first swim team when she was 4 years old.

“It was a love hate relation-ship with swimming up until high school,” Bender said. “I especially fell in love with distance swim-

ming. I started competing in the 500 and 200, those are the longest events.”

In addition, Bender is a member of EC’s 2015 Conference Cham-pion women’s swimming team and a member of a school record in the 800 Free relay in 2014, according to the EC website.

While Bender trained and im-proved at EC, swimming coach Corey Stanbury has watched her grow into a strong distance swim-mer.

“I’m so proud of her,” Stanbury said. “Swimming the English Channel is a big deal. She’s a great swimmer and a hard worker.”

With a penchant for open wa-ter swimming, Bender decided to swim the English Channel after the swimming season because she felt

in the best shape.“Corey got me in shape for dis-

tance during the season and I continued the training during the summer,” Bender said. “I want to complete the Triple Crown of Open Water swimming.”

Membership in the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming requires the authenticated completion of three famous marathon swims around the world: 21 miles across the English Channel between Eng-land and France, 21 miles across the Catalina Channel in Southern California and 28.5 miles around the Manhattan Island in New York, according to openwaterswimming.com.

WARRIORS SCHEDULE

MEN’S BASKETBALL:Tuesday, Dec. 8 at

Southwestern CollegeTBD

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL:Thursday at

Compton Center5 p.m.

WARRIORS SCOREBOARD

MEN’S BASKETBALL:Warriors 52 (1-6),

Allan Hancock College 75

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL:Warriors 81 (4-2),

College of the Desert 59

Women’s volleyball falls short of State Championships in sweep by Pierce

Brahmas outside hitter Tamia Files goes for the spike against Warriors freshman opposite hitter Taylor Brydon and sophomore middle blocker Jewel Yandall in round three of the playoffs on Tuesday. The Warriors were swept by L.A. Pierce on the road in three sets, ending their playoff run.

Jo Rankin/Union

Phil SidavongFeatures Editor@ECCUnionPhil

The first set was close; it could have gone either way but the home team edged out the visitors, 25-23.

The visiting Warriors women’s volleyball team came out looking to strike back and put two-straight points in the second set.

But the home team Brahmas’ Chelsea Lawrence proved she was unstoppable in the match.

Kill, kill and then another kill; Lawrence put the home squad up 3-2, and the Warriors could do nothing. Next thing the crowd knew, the score was 10-2 and the Brahmas were on a 10-0 run.

The No. 3 El Camino women’s volleyball team (26-3 overall, 14-0 in the South Coast Conference) never grasped the momentum of the game and fell in straight sets (23-25, 20-25, 18-25) to the No. 2 L.A. Pierce College Brahmas (29-1 overall, 11-1 in the Western State Conference) on Tuesday.

“(It was) a tough match,” EC head coach Le Valley Pattison said. “The passing struggled, we could have been a little better. Jewel (Yandall, sophomore middle block-er) played great, but we couldn’t get into rhythm.”

Nine service aces on the night for the Brahmas and tough serving made it difficult for the Warriors to get the offense going.

“They served a good, fast and flat ball,” Pattison said. “It was chal-lenging.”

There was a lot of things Yandall thought the team could have done better, and although sophomore outside hitter Kezia Boyer strug-

gled and was eventually subbed out, it was a team loss.

“They were competitive,” she said. “The most competitive team we played (all season and) they made us struggle, (but) we could have put up a better block. It’s a team effort, we could have fixed

(the mental mistakes).”Sophomore libero and co-captain

Brooke Russell was “pretty upset” over the struggles of the team and the tough loss.

“I thought we could have passed better,” she said. “(We needed) to have more energy, (but) everyone

worked really hard this season.”Russell was named to the All-So-

Cal Region team after the match, according to the California Com-munity College Athletic Associa-tion.

However, freshman setter Nina Wyer said that the team is fine go-

ing forward and will get back into the swing of things next season.

“We got worked up,” she said. “(A little) overwhelmed, but it’s been a great season.”

Yandall, who did not play for EC last year, said that the team had a good season and that she had the

best time with the team.“I wouldn’t have ended my vol-

leyball career anywhere than at EC,” she said.

Sophomore outside hitter Nick-eisha Williams was named to the All-American State Second team, according to the CCCAA website.