clips new march 2009

8/14/2019 Clips New March 2009

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HENRY A. BARRIOS/ THE CALIFORNIAN

ichael Toms, resident agent-in-charge of the Bakersfield office of U.S. Immigrationd Customs Enforcement, holds a forged Permanent Resident Card. Like many forgedrds, the quality makes the forgery easy to spot if one knows what to look for.

BY IAN HAMILTONCalifornian staff writer

e-mail: [email protected]

Making them only takes acomputer, scanner and a decentprinter. Buying them can costjust $30 or $40.

Fake document mills areeverywhere, with the numberrising in Kern County, and theyare making the business of pro-ducing and acquiring false iden-tification easier by the day,officials say.

Last week, for example, aLamont man was sentenced to15 months in prison for possess-ing and counterfeiting falseidentification documents.Authorities say he was creatingSocial Security and permanentresident cards.

Court filings show it was asimple operation.

All you need is a computerand you can make a thousand ofthese things, said Michael

Toms, resident agent-in-chargefor investigations at the Bakers-

field branch of U.S. Immigrationand Customs Enforcement, orICE.

Statistics describing theextent of false ID-making bothlocally and nationwide are hardto come by because its such anunderground business, said Vir-ginia Kice, an Orange County-based spokeswoman for ICE.

All she could pass along wasthat the number of investiga-tions targeting identity and ben-

efit fraud nationwide rose from2,334 in fiscal year 2004 to 3,591in fiscal year 2005. The mainfocus of the inquiries was onmills, not false document hold-ers.

Theres no question this is apervasive problem, Kice said.We know theres a hugedemand for this documentation.People dont realize the implica-

Getting handson fake IDs

much easier

Please turn to DOCUMENTS / A3

Simplified process allows documentmills to proliferate in Kern, elsewhere


2/16

: Majority are oo ing or wor or resi ence

ions of the counterfeit ID mar-et.The majority of people seeking

alse identification are probably

ooking for work or residency inhe United States, Toms said. Amaller percentage, he said, wanto commit serious crime. Still, itshat smaller group that most con-erns immigration and customsnvestigators.

The card makers dont carehat theyre making the cards for;

hey just want to make money,aid Toms. The majority of it isrobably more work-related, butts the smaller percentage thatou really need to worry about, thenes that really want to create hav-c.The length of investigations

range from acouple ofweeks forsmall -scaleoperations tosix months ora year forlarger ones,depending onthe opera-tions com-plexity, Tomssaid. Theaverage takessix months.

T o m sdeclined to

say howany agents are assigned to the

ask.It used to be that locals had to

et their fake documents in Losngeles, Toms said. But produc-

ion is so easy, he said, mills areroliferating here.Using regular home computers,

oms said, forgers can create justbout any government document,

merican or otherwise: Perma-ent Resident Cards, Employmentuthorization documents, Socialecurity cards, California driversicenses and identification cards,irth certificates and even Mexi-an drivers licenses.Documents range in price up to

200, with the quality of the for-ery usually correlated to therice, Toms said.

A stack of fake identificationards from a small number oflosed cases at the ICE Bakers-eld office show a wide range inuality. It includes Social Securityards obviously made with a type-

writer and high-quality driverslicenses youd have to compare toreal ones to find faults.

Some of the documents are out-standing, some you can tell from ablock away, said Toms.

Most of the fake drivers licens-es that Vaughn Cain, an officerwith the California HighwayPatrol, has seen in his 11 years inBakersfield have been pretty obvi-ous. Hes only seen three or fourfalse IDs during that time, he said.

When asked if that means a lot ofgood forgeries are slipping by, hewouldnt speculate.

Juana Bribiesca of the San

Joaquin Farm Labor ContractorsAssociation said immigrants arewilling to do what it takes to feedtheir families.

If they need an ID or a SocialSecurity card, they know wherethey can buy them, Bribiescasaid. When they need work andthey need to eat, they use tricksand they get the work.

Some of the telltale signs of poor

forgeries, according to Toms,include lines where it is clear aninkjet printer was used to print aphoto, or raised surfaces where aphoto was pasted on rather thanprinted with the rest of the card.

An obvious giveaway that some-times pops up, he said, is a mis-spelling in the small print on theback of a card.

How new a card looks also canbe a tip-off.

Youve got a 50-year-old manwith a brand-new (Social Securitycard). Im 30 and mines alreadytorn up, said Nate Odle, a dis-patcher with Superior TemporaryService, a temp agency specializ-ing in such things as trucking andconstruction.

He photocopies drivers licensesand Social Security cards fromaround 10 applicants a day and has

seen only a few fake cards in histhree years with the company.

Last year, Immigration and Cus-toms along with local law enforce-ment agencies busted six allegedKern County document mills onthe same day. Court documents inone of the cases, involving ManuelQuintino Perez of Lamont, shedlight on how easily these docu-ments are attained.

A confidential informant work-ing with investigators approachedPerez, 43, in August 2005 seekingto purchase forged documents, thefilings say.

Perez said a white U.S. Per-

manent Resident Card, which isnewer and generally harder tofake, was $100. A pink or rosi-ta card, the older version, wasonly $50. The informant handed

over two photographs and was toldthe cards would be ready in twodays, according to the documents.

The informant returned, paidthe $100 for the white card, andreceived a U.S. Permanent Resi-dent Card and Social Securitycard, which are traditionally soldas a set. The informant got twomore sets of cards the same way,the filings say.

Perez was charged with produc-ing, possessing and transferringfalse identification documents andselling counterfeit Social Securitycards. During the Sept. 29 bust,officials seized computers, mediastorage devices and counterfeitdocuments from alleged documentmills at six Kern County homes.

At Perezs residence, investiga-tors found a scanner, printer, heatseal, typewriter, cutting imple-ments, stamp pad, printing paperand a Polaroid camera used to cre-ate false IDs, court documents say.In a plea deal, Perez was sen-tenced to 15 months in prison andthree years of supervised release.

People running document-mak-ing rings can get pretty creative.

In 1997, a federal programallowed immigrants to get tempo-rary protected status in the United

States that could lead to perma-nent residency. In 2001, immigra-tion agents arrested a man whoseLamont business created aNicaraguan history for someonewho was not from there, accordingto Bernardo Madrid, interimgroup supervisor for BakersfieldICE.

The man got delayed birth cer-tificate applications from

Nicaragua and filed the paperworkwith the U.S. Immigration andNaturalization Service the realINS Madrid said.

Another man, from Nicaragua,helped out by using a map on hisrefrigerator to teach people basicfacts about the country so theycould answer questions from animmigration agent, Madrid said.The two men and 237 others trying

to benefit from a false Nicaraguanbirth were arrested.

Most ended up being deported.From time to time, Madrid said,

more people involved in the ploypop up.

ontinued from A1

How to spot afake ID card

Edges of the photographare harsh, where it was cutout and pasted onto thecard. It should not be felt

at all, instead, the photoshould be part of the restof the card. This is true formost identification cards.

Blue Departmentof Justice seal doesnot overlap thephoto area.

Detail in Department ofJustice seal should be aclean image; every arrowshould be distinguishable,

the printing easily readableand the overall look shouldbe crisp.

Edges of the card should besmooth, not feel like they'vebeen cut out with scissors.

THE CALIFORNIANSource: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

All you need

is a computer

and you can

make a

thousand of

these

things.Michael Toms,

U.S. Immigrationand CustomsEnforcement


3/16

THE DRIVE FOR BETTER GAS MILEAGE

Getting a gallonto go farther

TOM FOX/Staff Photographer

When Chuck Thomas eyes arent on the road, theyre checking out his gas gauge. Hes a hypermiler and does all he

can to save fuel. The Lewisville drivers techniques are working; he can get more than 90 mpg out of his hybrid.

INTHEKNOW B il


4/16

dine

2for $41-pt. Blueberries

Ready-to-serve goodness

991-lb. Taylor Farms Garden Salad

Reg. 1.59

2for $814-oz. Goldn PlumpBoneless SkinlessChicken Breast TendersReg. 6.29

for less

Fanatic is what the lazycall the dedicated, notes Mr.Thomas at the bottom of hisposts at CleanMPG.com, a Website devoted to the hypermiling

community and its fuel-effi-cient techniques.

Hypermilers cite severalreasons for maximizing mile-age, including protecting theenvironment, saving money,having fun, and even decreas-ing American dependence onforeign oil.

Hypermiling is a little ad-dictive, said Reid Stewart, anattorney from Irving who start-ed when he bought a BMW

with a gas mileage gauge. It be-comes a competition with your-self to see how well you can do.

The mpg gauge is built intovirtually every hybrid car and inmany newer gas-powered vehi-cles. Most vehicles can have agauge installed for about $150.The gauge reveals immediatelyhow conditions, driving habitsand even vehicle modificationsaffect gas mileage.

The most dedicated hyper-milers are relatively few, andmost were early to adopt hybrid vehicles.Hybrids, which arepart electric and part gasoline,benefit most from hypermilingtechniques.

Depending on the vehicle,the highway speed that opti-mizes fuel consumption isabout 47 to 53 mph, accordingto hypermiler Wayne Gerdes ofIllinois.

For Mr. Stewart, the revela-tion came during a businesstrip. He was not in a rush, so in-stead of speeding along at 75 or80 mph, he drove around 60mph. He boosted gas mileageby 20 percent.

Then I really started payingattention to the gauge, Mr.Stewart said.

He researched techniquesand began to hypermile in theBMW. But he realized he wasnt

using the sports car the way itwas intended and traded it for aHonda Insight. Now he averag-es about 100 mpg, double thecars rated fuel economy. Hesaves substantially on gas andno longer drives aggressively.

What I notice is that Im ar-riving at work a lot more re-laxed, he said.

Not everyone thinks hyper-miling is a great idea. Criticssuggest its rude, dangerous and

a hindrance to normal traffic.Lt. Charles Epperson with

the Dallas Police Departmentstraffic division said driving farbelow the speed limit is poten-tially hazardous.

Id rather see a car goingdown the road at the postedspeed limit than going 15 to 20miles under the limit. It couldcause a pretty massive bottle-

k Lt E id

ing a Honda Insight whosedriver was hypermiling. Afterpicking up speed going down ahill, the driver used the momen-tum to carry the car uphill,slowing with gravity on the wayup. The driver maintained a

slow speed as the two cars ap-proached an intersection. TheInsight missed the green butcoasted through the red lightanyway.

You cant be driving forsport, whether its street racingor trying to get the best gas mile-age, Mr. Fisher said. Only avery small minority of them aretaking [the techniques] to anextreme.

Drafting, which is drivingbehind another vehicle to takeadvantage of decreased windresistance, is another way to in-crease gas mileage.

In 2007, Discovery Chan-nels Mythbusters demonstrat-ed that driving 50 feet behind abig rig at 55 mph improved gasmileage by about 20 percent.The practice, widely discussedon hypermiler forums, is gener-

ally dismissed as overly danger-ous. The hosts of the show drewthe same conclusion.

Texas Department of PublicSafety Trooper Lonny Haschel

said vehicles should drive withat least two seconds of stoppingtime between them.

Youre trying to save gas, but youre going to maybe end uppaying that money back in hos-pital bills, Trooper Haschel

said.Certainly, hypermilers dosacrifice travel time for the sakeof gas mileage. In a televisedevent, Mr. Gerdes and a report-

er each drove from Chicago toNew York in Toyota Prius, a hy-brid. According to Mr. Gerdes,the reporter made it in 13 hoursat 39 mpg. Mr. Gerdes needed1512 hours, but he did it on onetank of gas at 71 mpg.

Theres a thousand reasonsto choose to be a hypermiler,Mr. Gerdes said. Theres onlyone reason not to, and thats:Ive got to be there first.

Hypermilers aim to keep their gas gauges away from EContinued from Page 1A


5/16

Beijing 2008

Nastia

nails the

landing

More Olympics, Section C

Nastia Liukin basked in the glow of Thursdays North

Texas reception with former training partner and

2004 Olympic champion Carly Patterson.


6/16

gate the Chinese gymnasts age, whichhas been under scrutiny. Chinese offi-

cials have said the girl is 16, but evi-dence has emerged that she may be

from Allen. Ms. Patterson also trainedat WOGA. The group wore shirts thatspelled out Nastia across the frontand Liukin across the back.

Its nice to come here with oneOlympic champion, waiting for an-other Olympic champion, said Chris-ta Tanella, 17, of Allen.

Miss Liukins flight landed shortlyafter 4 p.m., but she didnt meet herscreaming fans until nearly 4:30, asshe took time to greet about 150 U.S.soldiers who were boarding a charterflight headed back to Iraq and Af-ghanistan, according to airportspokesman Ken Capps.

In addition to the prestigious all-around gold, Miss Liukin also won silver medals for individual competi-tions on the uneven bars and the bal-ance beam and another silver as partof the U.S. womens team. She alsoearned a bronze for her floor exercise.

With five medals, Miss Liukin

joins the ranks of Mary Lou Rettonand Shannon Miller as the most deco-rated U.S. gymnasts in a single Olym-pics, and she beats the 1988 medalcount of her coach and father, ValeriLiukin.

Between the two of us, we havenine Olympic medals, Miss Liukinsaid at a news conference. Thatspretty amazing.

Shes said shes not sure whereshell keep her medals.

Im going to probably keep them

in my purse for now, she said.Mr. Liukin collected two gold med-

als in the 1988 Olympics. His daugh-ter was denied a second gold in theuneven bars earning the same scoreas Chinas He Kexin. Miss Liukin wasawarded the silver because of a little-known tie-breaking rule.

The International Olympic Com-

mittee confirmed today that it hasasked gymnastics officials to investi-

14, which would make her ineligibleto compete in the Olympics.

We dont know exactly what theirages are. They say theyre the right age and theyre able to compete andthats fine, Miss Liukin said. We canonly control our performances and

what we do out there on the floor.Miss Liukin will be honored at a

private WOGA celebration tonight, as well as at a public parade in herhometown. The Parker parade, origi-nally planned for Saturday morning,has been postponed because of recentflooding that would have made park-ing impossible.

It has been rescheduled for 9 a.m.Aug. 30.

VERNON BRYANT/Staff Photographer

Gold medalist Nastia Liukin isnt sure where shell keep her hardware from the Beijing Games. But for now, she says, her purse will do. Shes not

the only Liukin with medals. The teens father and coach, Valeri (right), earned four 20 years ago. Between the two of us, we have nine, she said.

Thats pretty amazing. The athletes mother, Anna, was also a world-class gymnast.

Nastiagets heroswelcome

Continued from Page 1A

WATCH THE WELCOME

Nastia Liukin received upon

her arrival at D/FW Airport.

dallasnews.com/video


7/16

PLANO A lot of Dallas-areagymnasts were flipping out Friday.

The girls who train with Nastia Li-ukin at the World Olympic Gymnas-tics Academy in Plano could hardlycontain themselves hours after they watched her become an Olympicchampion.

Some were going on three hours ofsleep or less.

Its just hitting us. Were still so ex-cited, said 15-year-old Shayne LeeFox.

She and three other training part-ners of the gold-medal winner gath-ered around a 36-inch flat-screen television to watch Thursday nightsall-around competition in Beijing.

You cant imagine that four girlscan make as much noise as 40 girls,said Mike Ellsworth, father of one ofthe young gymnasts.

Oh, but they can. They cried. Theyscreamed. They screamed some more.

Im pretty sure she heard us in Bei-jing, said Christa Tanella, 17, of Allen.

And when they finally got Liukinon the phone Friday morning, they alltalked to her at the same time.

Because so many of the gymnastsfrom WOGA stayed up late watchingthe Parker residents triumph, train-ing sessions at the academy started 90

minutes late Friday morning.Not everyone got to see Liukins

performance live. It was past bedtimefor 10-year-old Charle Dembo.

I was really excited. I couldnt goto sleep, I was so excited, she said.When she got up Friday, she asked hermom how Liukin had done. Told ofthe victory, the 10-year-old stillwatched a recording of it.

I was still excited to watch, shesaid.

Having known and trained withLiukin for years, gymnasts, parentsand coaches from WOGA were nail-biting nervous as they watched her gothrough the four exercises that makeup the all-around competition: thevault, uneven bars, balance beam and,

finally, the floor exercise.Right at the end of her floor rou-

tine we knew, said Mary Matusik,whose daughter Katie trains with Liu-kin.

To watch the event, they popped abowl of popcorn, pulled up the blan-

kets, and held hands. She said theyboth burst into tears when she hit herlanding.

It was just perfect, she said.Friends say that Anna Liukinnever

watches her daughters competitions because shes worried that her ner-vousness will send her daughter badvibes.

Carly Patterson can understand.The Allen native said she was more

nervous watching Liukin than she waswhen she won her own gold medal inAthens four years ago.

When youre doing it youre incontrol, but watching you dont knowhow that feels for them, she said.

Youre just hoping to send Nastiagood vibes through the TV.

North Texas girls share in Liukins accomplishmentMany stayed up late atgymnastics center to see

their training partner win

By IAN HAMILTONStaff Writer

[email protected]

VERNON BRYANT/Staff Photographer

Carly Meek, 6, of McKinney watched Nastia Liukin perform on the

uneven bars during an Olympics party Tuesday at WOGA in Frisco.

l l


8/16

Real People

Heart, home always openBY IAN HAMILTON

Californian staff writer


Walking around the homelessshelter and rehab center shecreated, Bennie Jacobs takes a

call from a man she knows well.He had stormed out of the program a

month earlier and Jacobs hadnt heardfrom him since.

As the 40-something man begins tosob, Jacobs does what she often does.

You just pack and come back, shetells him.She hadnt rented out his room.I knew hed be coming back, Jacobs

said.Jacobs, a mother of five, grandmother

of 10 and great-grandmother of four, isalso a mother figure to hundreds of peo-ple who end up in Tabithas House, a

Most of the time in my mind I callher mommy, said 44-year-old Tina

Ocampo, a recovering meth addict andresident at the sober living facility ofTabithas House at the corner of 19thand R streets. Shes been here for melike a mom.

From ministering to female prisonersin the late 1980s to tirelessly runningTabithas since 1993, Jacobs has a 20-year legacy of helping people. She has

JOHN HARTE/ THE CALIFORNIAN

Bennie Jacobs created Tabithas House in 1993. I have big dreams, I just hope the Lord lets me live to see them all, she says.

Ms. Bennie pours her money and empathy into the rehab center she created

S


9/16

need and other social servicesorganizations. She is the one tocall when a person needs help.

When theres a problem, theydont hesitate to wake her up,Tabithas House administrator GilGarcia said. No matter the hour,they know shell respond.

An ordained minister, Jacobswas helping women in Lerdo Jailwhen she saw people repeating

crimes and returning to custodyevery few months.It hurt my heart so bad, she

said. Thats when Jacobs felt thecalling to start a home.

She started with short-lived Isa-iahs House, changing the name toTabithas House in 1993 to reflectthe focus she puts on helpingwomen and women with children.The name comes from the resur-rection of Tabitha in Acts 9:36 ofthe Bible.

I feel when theyre goingthrough the home, thats whathappens to them, Jacobs said.

Her endeavor has since

expanded to include treatment forthe whole family. Some people arereferred by social services, butanyone can come in for help. Thefacility mission is to break thegenerational cycle of substanceabuse and turn those in need intoself-reliant members of the com-

munity.Shes carrying the burden of

this agency on her shoulders,Garcia said.

As of last week, there were 27active clients for outpatient sub-stance abuse counseling, 59 resi-dents in the homeless shelter and22 in the sober living facility. Sheisnt stopping at that and has plansto include furniture-building andwoodworking classes at TabithasHouse.

I have big dreams, I just hopethe Lord lets me live to see themall, Jacobs said.

Th i f f di

At 74, Jacobs Ms. Bennie,as most fondly call her stillmoves with vigor and rarely rests.Sleep is her only vacation, her

only time off.And I do sleep good, Jacobs

said.She is typically at Tabithas by

7:30 a.m. and returns homearound 10:30 p.m., said T.L.Jacobs, her husband of 55 years.

Shes doing it from the kind-

ness of her heart; shes not mak-ing a lot of money off it. Shes adedicated woman, he said. Sheputs in a tremendous amount ofhours.

He does his part by providingtransportation for the clients.

Ms. Bennie sometimes drawsup her own paycheck, Garcia said,and then signs it right back over toTabithas House to ensure there isenough money.

He sees Jacobs contribution asmuch more than time, money andmotherly support, though. Shealso has the experience to helppeople in every imaginable legal

situation, he said.Whether the problem is crimi-

nal charges, emotional or mentalissues, or a child taken by ChildProtective Services, Jacobs hasinformed advice on how to help.Kids can stay with their parents at

both the sober living facility andhomeless shelter.

Many of her clients wereabused or molested in their youth.

She can relate.When Jacobs was 3 years old,

she said, her parents left her withher grandmother in Oklahoma.She thought it was because shewas ugly.

Her grandmother didnt treather much better, Jacobs said,

beating her because shed gottensick and thrown up in her bed.It was when I found out what

rejection is all about. When othersare rejected, I can feel their rejec-tion, she said.

But because Jacobs believesGod can forgive a person for any-thing, she doesnt feel a personsmistakes can ever permanentlycondemn them.

I dont believe anyone on thisEarth cannot be helped, she said.

There are lots of regular Joesand Janes out there doing per-

fectly extraordinary things withtheir lives but never make the

headlines. Know of anyone likethat? Think theyd make a greatstory? Call us at 395-7384 or e-mail us at [email protected] say you have a submission fora Real People story.

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10/16

TIM KUPSICK / THE CALIFORNIAN

Kern County firefighters hike up toward Los Padres National Forest where more than 500 acres have been con-sumed near Scott Russell Road. The fire was sparked by a lighting strike early Sunday afternoon.

BY IAN HAMILTON



FRAZIER PARK AndreaKnutson went to work despite the600-acre fire burning near herhome.

She wasnt taking any chances,however. She spent half of Monday

morning choosing the items to stuffin her car in case the worst hap-pened.

Firefighters worked through

Monday night on the Scott fireburning north of Frazier Park. Itsnamed after Scott Russell Road,located near the lightning strikethat started the fire on TecuyaRidge Sunday afternoon.

The fire was listed as No. 2 on thestates priority list of nine seriousfires Monday, behind a 6,600-acrefire in San Diego County, according

to Brian Marshall, deputy fire chiefwith the Kern County Fire Depart-ment.

While helicopters flew to over

Please turn to FIRE / A3

Residents ready to run

Frazier Par aze


11/16

dump water onto the Scott fire, StanMyers watched television and hisgrandson played in the yard. Myerslives less than a mile from the trig-

ger point, a spot where, if reachedby the fire, would spark a voluntaryevacuation of Frazier Park and itsapproximately 800 homes and busi-nesses.

While watching TV, Myers alsolistened to fire crew activity on ascanner. His important documentsand meaningful pictures wereloaded in the car nearby. Im wor-ried a little bit, but not too much,

said Matt Verdon, whose home is inthe northwest corner of FrazierPark near the trigger point. Somepeople may think three-quarters ofa mile is pretty close but not withthese (firefighters).

A fire line was created Mondaymorning about half a mile north ofthe trigger point to halt the advanceof the blaze any farther south. Windblew away from the homes and the

south end of the fire is now less-threatening.

The line at the south of the endof the fire is holding, which is onestep toward containment, saidEngineer Tony Diffenbaugh withthe Kern County Fire Department.

The north end of the fire hasreceived less attention and there isno word yet on when it is expectedto be contained. As of 3 p.m. Mon-day, fire crews had achieved 15percent containment. There is lessdanger to life or structures to thenorth of the fire, however, withmiles of the Los Padres NationalForest in that direction.

About 280 firefighters have bat-

tled the Scott fire, some workingmore than 24 hours straight,according to Diffenbaugh.

There have been no injuries orstructural damage.

In the past week, the Kern Coun-ty Fire Department has responded

to several hundred fires caused bylightning strikes. Fire crews per-formed some sort of suppression on75 percent of these, Marshall said.

Some lightning strikes can be putout by heavy rain and light rain canusually hold one in check. Marshallsaid the weather responsible forthese fires may continue throughthe weekend.

Three other lightning fires are

burning in the Los Padres NationalForest. Three of the four fires andany additional lightning strike firesin the immediate area will be han-dled from a command post insideFrazier Mountain High School.

Personnel from the county fire

department, U.S. Forest Service,Ventura County Fire Department,California Highway Patrol andKern County Sheriffs Departmentwere helping.

FIRE: Blaze is ranked No. 2 on states priority listContinued from A1

Lebec

Mil PotreroHwy.

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THE CALIFORNIAN

2 mi.

5

BakersfieldKern

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Area enlarged

FrazierMt. ParkRd.

Frazier Park

Scott fireburn area

Source: U.S. Forest Service

138

TIMKUPSICK/ AP

A Kern County Fire Departmenthelicopter hovers over a fire thathas burned more than 500 acres.

b k b k d


12/16

Get back to being a kid

BY IAN HAMILTONCalifornian staff writer


Its Thursday morning and DamonDavis is doing front flips on a water

trampoline. Some of his siblingsrow around in canoes and try to stayafloat as crazy camp counselors try totip them over.

Its the first time weve done a lot ofstuff, Davis had said before diving in.

Davis, 18, and nine of his siblings are

at the Optimal Hospice Foundation KidsCamp this week with 17 other teens whohave had a loved one die in the past 18months. The camp is meant to bringtogether youngsters who share thatunfortunate fact and help them deal

with it.Davis brother, Wendale, died almostfour months ago. The kids arent forcedto talk about such sad topics it comesout naturally.

It comes out when theyre in therooms at night sharing with one anoth-

er, said Ann Smart, hospice foundationdirector. They just bring it up withfriends or they share with the staff. Itsvery informal the way we handle it andwe think that is the best way for this set-ting.

Camp director Scott Haner organizedthe weeks activities at Gergen SkiRanch, north of Hart Park. He has alsoheld traditional summer camps and theactivities he picked for these kidswerent anything out of the ordinary.

Please turn to CAMP / B3

Youths have fun, share feelings over lost loved ones at camp

HENRY A. BARRIOS/ THE CALIFORNIAN

Damon Davis, foreground, and Veronica Vasquez take a plunge as they tip over their canoe at Gergen Ski Ranch during a campfor children who have lost a family member. The camp, which gives young people an opportunity to have fun and also sharetheir experience with others, is put on by Optimal Hospice Foundation.


13/16

CAMP: Youths open up to others

Each of the more than 50campers had the opportunity tohike, canoe, golf, shoot a bow andarrow, play dodgeball and basket-ball and participate in a collection

of other typical summer campactivities.Lets get back to being a kid,

lets get back to having a goodtime, Haner said.

While clawing up a rock-climb-

ing wall seemed to be one of themost popular activities, ChristinaRamos, 12, made a case for thecanoeing. Christina lost her dadabout a year ago.

Youve got to learn how to steer

the boat and sometimes you fallin, which is part of the fun, shesaid.

It didnt take long for StephanieSchnitker and her friend, BreanaNolen, both 16, to prove her right.They were floating in the waterwithin minutes of jumping intotheir canoe, joking about whocaused the boat to overturn.

Schnitker insists it was Nolen.

Similarly, a Davis sibling was row-ing by a floating basketball hoopwhen he got his oar caught in thenet. This made their canoe easyprey, giving counselor MeganHolmes time to achieve ramming

ing the damage to their boat, which

was half-filled with water.The teens arrived Wednesday

evening and, as is usually the case,stayed up late even though lightsgo out around 10 p.m. The kids

found themselves up for breakfastbefore 7 a.m. Thursday and thoughthey were tired, they seemed to begoing strong in the afternoon asthey laughed, screamed, played,swam, climbed, slid and jumped

their way around the ranch.Thursday night, Haner and

Smart planned to cook popcorn andshow The Sandlot to wind thekids down before bed.

When they finally get into bed

the second night is when they real-ly open up, she said, becausetheyve gotten to know each otherso well.

The event, in its 13th year, isentirely funded by donations to thehospice foundation, so families paynothing for their kids to partici-pate.

The week started on Sunday forthe 8- to 12-year-olds and on

Wednesday for the teens, each sec-tion enjoying two nights at thecamp. The teens finish up thisafternoon at about 4:30, spending afew more hours swimming in thelake flying down the waterslide

Continued from B1


14/16

BY IAN HAMILTON



Napoleon Marquez movesquickly up a set ofstairs, keeping his eyesintently fixed on a spot

across the battlefield.The enemy is there.

He loads a fresh clip into hisgun and clears another set ofstairs in a single leap. Heimmediately tosses one, two,then three grenades on eitherside of the enemys location.

But he has already moved.Ed Flores, 18, has Marquez,

16, in his crosshairs andwastes no time depositing

round after round into his bodyarmor. In less than a second,half of Marquezs energy isgone. He tries to return fire butis forced to drop behind a walland regroup. He loads a freshclip and moves apprehensivelyforward into a pale gray build-ing.

Flores is ready. Bam! Anoth-er quarter of Marquezs life is

gone. When he peeks out frombehind the wall again, a roundfrom Flores ends the fight.Marquezs screen goes bloodred.

In a moment, hischaracter returns andthey are back at it,throwing comput-

er-generated gunfire as theyfuriously thumb their game

controllers.The firefight between Mar-quezs and Flores characters

was just a practice session, alull while the other

attendees scarfed

BY IAN HAMILTON



She doesnt mind it when aguy on her headset jokes thatshe should be cooking orcleaning, or more crudely,says she must be fat or ugly tobe playing video games.

Rebekah Schmitt just letsthem talk and plays. They

change their tune when shewins.Then they just want to be

my friend, she said. Or theydont say anything and quit.

Schmitt, a 16-year-old fromBakersfield, is a serious and

The players of Major League Gaming dont sweat dur-ing their competitions, but they feel the skill required towin as a team puts video games on par with other sports.

While virtually unknown to the general public, MajorLeague Gaming has found an audience and roster ofintense gamers ready to battle it out competitively.

Some gamers dispute that (video games are like othersports) because of the fact that were only using ourthumbs, but playing games has the ability to be competi-tive like any other sport, said 18-year-old Dominic

Competing for bucks, bragging rightsYoure ugly:Girl gamertakes abuse

Please turn to GAMERS / E2

Please turn toLAN / E2

Please turn toGIRL / E2

Team Evolution from left, DominicCamacho, 18;George Murr, 15;Bryan Werner, 18;and Aaron Gonza-les, 18 recaps

what happenedduring a game ofcapture the flag onHalo 2 during aLAN party onThursday. TeamEvolution will becompeting in aHalo tournamentheld in Anaheim,which will bring

gamers fromacross the country.

TIM KUPSICK/THE CALIFORNIAN

Get your gameonYouths compete, socialize at console-based parties

LAN T lki f l l h I l l


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Camacho, a player from Delanowho has been to several leagueevents.

In the three years since its incep-tion, Major League Gaming hasgrown significantly from its firsttournament of fewer than 20 four-player teams to 144 teams, at atournament in Anaheim in lateJune. The game of choice is Halo2, the most popular game of theMicrosoft Xbox and one of two onthe Major League Gaming circuit.More than 1,000 players, some onteams, others in one-on-one com-petitions, battled in Halo 2 inAnaheim.

Were already maxing out everyevent, said Adam Apicella, vice

a.m. before the competition in Ana-heim.

In Delano, 18-year-old ReggieVisico was up until just before mid-night practicing with his teamagainst 18-year-old Aaron Gonza-les crew. In all, at least four localteams attended the event.

The entry fee isnt necessarilycheap for a teenager; it costs $50

per person to enter the team com-petitions.

Sponsorships from companiessuch as Boost Mobile andGameStop, along with revenuefrom subscriptions to their onlineVideo-on-Demand, which providesfootage of major league matches,helps provide funding for the ven-ues, equipment and prize money.

ber of gamers are making a livingat it. The top 16 league teams getprofessional status, which getsthem free entry and VIP treatmentat events. In addition, the betterteams get some of their travelexpenses paid for by the leagueand a few get paid contracts. Thewinning Halo 2 team at Ana-heim, Final Boss, got $12,000 in

prize money.However, the money is peanuts

next to the teams three-year, $1million contract with MajorLeague Gaming to do appearancesand play at all the tournaments.Thats about $80,000 a year perperson.

I really just do this for fun,said Ken Hoang, a 20-year-old stu-

LAN: Talking to faceless people over the Internet gets lonely

down spaghetti at 18-year-oldAaron Gonzales LAN party inDelano. When the eight gamers atthis party get back to it, they willrejoin their four-player teams and

battle deep into the night, thesound of gunfire ringing loudenough to hear but low enough toallow Gonzales mom to sleep.

While computer LAN, or localarea network, parties have beenaround for years, television con-soles are gaining in popularitybecause of greater simplicity andfewer troubleshooting headaches.

With console-based parties, you

just plug into the network andplay, said Bryan Tebow, a localnetwork administrator and avidgamer who sets up computer-based LAN parties about once amonth.

Even with the advent of powerfullaptops, some devoted computergamers still lug high-poweredcomputer towers, keyboards, miceand even bulky monitors to agarage or house somewhere to play

all night long.Most Xbox games, such as Halo

2, top out at 16 players, but com-puter games can sometimes sup-port two to three times as many.The drawback, though, is that witha computer per person, space canbe an issue as well as the drain onelectricity. And theres a greaterneed for technical expertise to con-nect computers with different soft-

ware and hardware.Usually the first few hours turn

into a PC troubleshooting party,Tebow said of PC-based parties.

Console lanning (gamers use

LAN as a verb) is different. WhenReggie Visico, 18, and his friendsarrived at Gonzales house, theybrought in an Xbox and a televisionfrom the car to set up on a table inthe den.

The configuration consisted ofone Xbox and two players per

screen, all interconnected by one$50 router. Once Visico and hisfriends were inside, they wereready to go in less than 10 minutes.

Playing on the Internet alsodoesnt measure up to a LAN party.Gamers with a broadband connec-tion can log on and play againstpeople around the world and voice-chatting allows them to communi-cate with teammates or taunt

opponents. But it suffers becausepeople can cheat by altering acharacter to do something theyotherwise couldnt do such aswalk through a wall. Even worse,

the network lags.You see glitches and people

doing things that the game doesntintend for them to do, Gonzalessaid. With lanning theres none ofthat.

The problem with playing onlinefor Marquez is the lack of interac-

tion.You play for five or six hours,

then you have to talk to someone,and I dont mean online, Marquezsaid.

Justin McNeillie, 16, has LANparties with his friends every fewweeks in Bakersfield and prefersthem to other ways of playingbecause even the breaks are fun.He gets to eat dinner with friends

and hang out. Otherwise, hes justdrinking soda and sitting in front ofa screen for hours talking to face-less players over a headset.

We always think of lanning as a

social activity. When were notplaying were hanging out just likeanybody else would do, Gonzalessaid of his parties.

Console lanning is even gainingpopularity as a sport. Major

League Gaming, like its computer-based counterparts, holds huge,highly competitive LAN-basedtournaments each year. Thousandsof players from teams across thecountry come, thumbs at the ready,to battle it out.

This is what they are preparingfor at Gonzales house. Once fin-ished with dinner, they resumetheir focus on the screens; four in

one room, four in another.When playing seriously they sitin a tightly packed line on one sideof a table and play the gameaccording to the same rules theywill see at a Major League Gamingtournament.

This time, however, in additionto the sound of gunfire there is alsothe code. The moment Visico orone of his teammates spots a player

from Gonzales team they beginyelling P1 red or P2 blue. Thecode is a quick and accurate sys-tem practiced by both sides to noti-fy teammates of enemy location.

But it doesnt always help.When the code fails and panic

sets in, players might start pointingto the enemy on a teammatesscreen out of frustration, in hopethat an extended finger is going to

help destroy them.It rarely works.Im being shot, Im being shot,

Visico yells before succumbing tohis wounds.

Continued from E1

GAMERS:Being a top-tier team is lucrativeContinued from E1

Games: You need a copy of the samegame for every system, for example,Halo 2. Check the maximum num-ber of players for the game you want

to play, games typically support amaximum of eight to 16 players.Halo 2 can support up to 16.

Systems: You need at least twoXboxes to play. You need to balancehow many systems you have accessto with how many people you wantper screen.

Televisions: Eight players and twoXboxes equals four players per TV.Eight players and four Xboxes equals

two players per TV. An Xbox per per-

son means everyone gets their ownscreen.

Router: A four-port router will cost

around $40 to $60 from Comp USA

while an eight-port is around $100 to

$120. You need one ethernet cable

per system; each should be long

enough to connect a system from

where you want to play it to the

router.

Getting going: Allow some time to

make sure everything is plugged in

correctly and the router is working.

Turn on your systems and access the

online portion of the game.

HOW TO THROW AN XBOX LAN PARTY

Started: In late 2003.

Professionals: There are morethan 150 signed professionalgamers. The top 16 Halo 2teams get professional status andfree entry to all tournaments.

Games: There are two games onthe circuit, Halo 2 and SuperSmash Bros. Melee.

Size: Around 1,000-1,500ama-teur gamers attend each tourna-ment.

Events: Six circuit events in 2006plus the invitation-only nationalchampionship in Las Vegas.

Upcoming: Orlando from Aug. 25to 27, New York from Oct. 13 to 15and the Las Vegas National Cham-pionships in November.

Web site: www.mlgpro.com

MAJOR LEAGUE GAMING


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