Shoaib Najmuddin Staff writer

More students and fewer classes have caused the district to im-plement reforms to the registration process, as well as eliminate many summer courses.

According to Erika Endrijonas, Oxnard Col-lege executive vice presi-dent, the district is look-ing for solutions to the current financial situa-tion.

“It isn’t as bad as people make it look,” said Endrijonas. “We are working with what we have and we are doing the best we can with it. This semester we lim-ited the waitlist to five students and it allowed

us to better manage our classrooms, as well as help students choose their classes more effec-tively”

According to Moor-park College Executive Vice President Ed Knud-son, the district will make more changes to the registration process in the Fall 2010 semester. Students will be given 10 business days to pay fees after registering before being dropped from their classes. Also, instructors will not be is-sued add-codes the first week of class. Instead, waitlisted students will be enrolled in classes automatically when spaces become available until the second week when add-codes will be

activated.“Students need to know that if they don’t pay their fees or show up to class in the first week, then they run the risk of being dropped,” said Knudson. “This only makes it fair for students on the waitlist to be giv-en a chance.”

According to Ven-tura College Executive Vice President Ramiro Sanchez, the district will be eliminating all four-week summer courses for the 2010 summer ses-sion and there will be a decrease in the amount of six-week courses of-fered.

Enrollment trends throughout the last few semesters have varied amongst all three col-leges, but class cuts have

become a district-wide problem.

According to Direc-tor of Administrative Relations Clare Geisen, all three colleges have experienced a decrease in course sections in classrooms, but an in-crease in sections offered online. Moorpark Col-lege has had 6.9% drop in classroom courses and a 66.7% increase in online courses. Ventura College has had a 0.5% decrease in classroom sections but an 11.1% in-crease in online sections, while Oxnard College has had a 5% decrease in classroom courses and a 6.3% increase in online courses.

Oxnard College has had an increase of

nearly 200 students and a small decrease in of-fered classes compared to a year ago, according to Endrijonas. However, students should still be able attend the classes they want if they register early.

“Take advantage of priority registration if you have it,” said Endri-jonas. “Classrooms are still being managed ap-propriately and I think that this should hold true in the future.”

According to Knud-son, classes at Moorpark filled to capacity earlier this semester than in the spring 2009 semester because students were more aware of issues concerning the budget.See NUMBERS, pg. 2

STUDENT VOICE

Feb. 10 - Feb. 23, 2010 w w w . S t u d e n t V o i c e O n l i n e . c o m FREE Vol. 7 , No. 1

Changes in web portal lead to missed informationAmy ChuMoorpark campus editor

Students came back to campuses this semester to find that their emails were no lon-ger sent to a familiar address causing confusion and missed communications.

The Ventura County Com-munity College District final-ized its district-wide switch from Webstar to MyVCCCD over winter break and, with the switch, came some ups and downs.

“Everything [on MyVCCCD] is really easy to find,” said 19-year-old Wil-liam Cotts, a Criminal Justice

major at Moorpark. “I haven’t had any real problems with it other than the email; I don’t like the email.”

Through the transition, email accounts were automat-ically created on MyVCCCD for students, consequently voiding any account they pre-viously registered with the school.

While many students had already set forwarding emails from their WebStar accounts in the past, they were required to re-forward email from their new MyVCCCD accounts. Otherwise, they wouldn’t re-ceive email from their instruc-tors at all.

The MyVCCCD portal is a single sign-in system that al-lows students and staff of the Ventura County Community College District to access mul-tiple services from one loca-tion.

Students can now navigate through Student Services, the Career Center and Financial Aid, as well as other services, in addition to the normal stan-dard of grades and courses from the past.

In addition to the switch to MyVCCCD, Blackboard, the previous online-course man-agement program, was also converted to Desire to Learn, known as D2L.

According to Krista Wil-bur, the instructional technol-ogy support assistant at Ventu-ra College, D2L is functionally very similar to Blackboard.

But despite all the chang-es, the goal of MyVCCCD is to make student and faculty lives easier, according to Da-vid Fuhrmann, associate vice chancellor of technology for the VCCCD.

The majority of colleges and universities already use a portal system, said Fuhrmann, and the VCCCD followed suit.

Even some instructors, like Computational Instruc-tions Systems Professor Mary

Mills, are optimistic.“I think that if [stu-

dents] do learn how to use [MyVCCCD], it can be a real benefit,” she said.

As far as small glitches go, Instructional Technologist Betsy Wagner of Moorpark College believes it’ll all be worth it in the end:

“Once people find out [MyVCCCD] is there, they’re going to find it’s really easy to use and, I think, somewhat easier than it has been in the past.”

Log-on to MyVCCCD to-day to make sure your email has been forwarded and to check out other new features.

numbers on the move

By the numbers Spring 09 Spring 10

OC 7,755 7,871 VC 14,841 14,242

MC 15,427 16,030

Spring 2010 enrollment numbers are a projection and are not yet final.

Enrollment growth leads to registration reform

VC holds off MC in thriller See pg. 5

Theater group finds home at OC

See pg. 6

Talent show rocks stage at Moorpark

See pg. 4

ASVC to fund classes

Alyssa AvalosStaff writer

The Associated Stu-dents of Ventura College unanimously consented to a motion on Jan. 19 that will fund additional classes for the 2010 six-week summer session at Ventura College.

Classes for the sum-mer session will include English Composition, College Algebra, Plane Trigonometry and Intro-duction to Speech Com-munications.

“These are the classes students need. Those are for students directly af-fected,” said ASVC Sena-tor Raymond Morua.

Morua and ASVC Student Representative Trevor Zeirhut headed the plan for the ASVC’s funding of summer classes. While other num-bers were negotiated, the amount of $20,000 to fund the four extra classes was settled on and endorsed by ASVC’s Budget Com-mittee on Jan. 22.

“It’s exhilarating,” said Zeirhut. “We threw other things aside to take care of this.”

According to Execu-tive Vice President of Stu-dent Learning Ramiro Sanchez, the additional courses were chosen by the Board of Deans based on the classes that were previously cut from the summer session, as well as the needs of the stu-dents. These classes are all general education courses that are required for transferring.

In addition to the $20,000 already contrib-uted by ASVC, Zeirhut and Morua hope to raise an additional $20,000 to $30,000 through fundrais-ing and donations.

News of the contribu-tion and increase in sum-mer classes has resulted in come positive feedback from the student popula-tion.

Morua and Zeirhut plan to visit classes in order to inform students about the additional sum-mer courses that are being offered.

Photo by Jake HendersonPacked house– Students crowd in front of the Library and Learning Resources Building at Ventura College. Enrollment numbers have grown this semester.

Graphic by David Lopez

Continued from pg. 1“I think students

realize that because of the budget fewer class-es meant fewer choices and if they had priority registration, they used it to get the classes they wanted,” he said.

The amount of classes being offered at MC this semester is only slightly less than Spring 2009. MC has had the greatest increase in the number of students en-rolled among the three colleges with approxi-mately 600 more stu-dents, which according to Knudson, is not sub-stantial given that there were a total of about 15,000 students last year.

At VC, students are being affected in a dif-ferent way. According to Sanchez, the amount of students enrolled has ac-tually decreased by 598 compared to the Spring 2009 semester. However, there are exactly 50 less class sections being of-

fered and the number of units taken by students is up by approximately 1%. In turn, this has caused the average class size to increase from 24.7 students in the Spring 2009 semester to 31.4 students in the current

Spring 2010 semester.Despite the chang-

ing enrollment trends, administrators through-out the district remain optimistic.

“We are here to serve the students,” said Endrijonas.

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Old Toyota trucks targeted in thefts James WilliamsStaff Writer

Toyota trucks from 1990 to 1999 are among the main targets for thieves going after cata-lytic converters in Ven-tura County.

In the early morning of Wednesday, Feb. 3, a catalytic converter was stolen out of a Toyota Truck at Oxnard College, according to District Chief of Police Richard De La O. Similar thefts occurred three weeks prior.

On Monday, Jan. 11, catalytic converters were stolen out of a 1992 and 1999 Toyota truck. The thefts occurred between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. in the H Lot at Oxnard Col-lege.

“1990 to 1999 seems to be the year they are looking for,” said De La O. “They pick the trucks, typically the 4-Runners because they can slide underneath the truck fairly easily. My understanding is that the system is a five-bolt system. They can climb under and fairly quickly

remove the bolts which drop the catalytic con-verter.”

These incidents co-incide with eight cata-lytic converters stolen between Dec. 31 and Jan. 11 in Ventura. There have been no reports of catalytic converters be-ing stolen at Ventura or Moorpark colleges. The thieves are looking to at-tain platinum in the cat-alytic converters to sell to scrap metal shops.

Oxnard College Campus Police intends to increase foot and bike patrols, according to De La O. They are also moving towards install-ing surveillance systems and warning signs in the parking lots on all three campuses to deter these individuals.

“In the short term we really look to the campus community to be observant,” said De La O. “We should be out there taking care of each other. If you see some-one looking suspicious, going underneath cars, lifting up door handles or looking inside cars, let us know.”

Angela BrazaVentura campus editor

Oxnard College experienced a rough week of meager participation as campus clubs attempted to stir student interest.

The OC Associated Student Government (ASG) hosted the spring semester club rush from Tuesday, Feb. 2 through Thursday, Feb. 4. A handful of clubs set up on campus each day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. but student involvement was quite low, according to ASG Vice President Deserie Mandujano.

“We definitely had weak participation,” said Mandujano. “I don’t know where students were this week, but I expected a greater turnout.”

ASG President Anna VanderStouwe was also displeased with the lack of student interest during club rush.

“It upsets me,” she said. “We’d like them to be more involved. We need them to not be shy.”

Though student participation was low, some clubs successfully attracted new members. The philosophy, culinary, M.E.Ch.A., and belly dancing clubs all witnessed the best turnout, according to Mandujano.

Oxnard College currently boasts over 20 clubs, ranging from the handymen of the automotive club to the dancing queens of the belly dancing club. Since last semester, four new clubs have been established

hoping to attract more members. According to Man-dujano, however, few clubs are considered active.

“In order to become an active club, you need a faculty advisor,” she said. “A lot of these clubs have the right amount of students that are necessary to maintain a club, but some just don’t have advisors.”

Mandujano also credits this problem with for-mer students who previously led campus clubs.

“Many of the former presidents left or trans-ferred without handing down their positions to someone else,” she said. “So no one is stepping up to help run these clubs.”

VanderStouwe also notes that not having a lead-er to recruit new students is among the reasons for poor student participation during club rush.

“It’s really unfortunate because students are missing out on some really amazing clubs,” she said.

Mandujano advises students to come out of their shells and take part in the diverse clubs offered at OC.

“This is the place to help out and start making a difference,” she said. “It’s good when you have something like a club to help you become more in-volved. I used to be just like those students. I never liked school and I would just go to class then go home. Now I realize that being a part of a club can help the student body. It allows me to get my ideas out.”

Club rush attendance low

Benji GuerreroOxnard campus editor

Expect great things now and in the coming years at Oxnard College for the school is heading into a new age; as faculty and staff welcome their new Dean of Student Services Dr. Karen Engelsen.

“I want to be a part of the success that will be Oxnard College.”

Engelsen might be new to cam-pus, but her passion for it does not fall short. She plans to work together with the faculty to better the experience for student at Oxnard College.

The first half of Engelsen’s career took place in human resources for 15 years.

She did her share of helping oth-ers in the community when she real-ized that despite helping others, good people were being limited.

By helping people from the col-lege level, “it creates a strong commu-nity”, said Engelsen.

Engelsen obtained her PhD in

higher education in 2000 and has since worked at several different colleges.

According to En-gelsen, OC will be go-ing back to basics. The focus will be put back into courses, services and more importantly making sure that the student ex-perience is memorable.

“The best student success takes place outside and inside the class-room,” said Engelsen.

Engelsen strongly believes that having a good college experience is a necessity for motivating people to move forward. She and the adminis-tration all share the same idea when it comes to the college; they want it to be the college to be at.

Compared to previous jobs, En-gelsen appreciates the fact that OC has a strong sense of community. Her belief is that a strong community cre-ates for better student learning.

Engelsen said that Oxnard Col-lege has a rich community and is ex-cited to join it.

Photo by J. Carlos ZavalaGettinG involved–Members of the Oxnard College Associated Student Government who helped organize and host the spring semester Club Rush. While attendance was low at Club Rush, ASG Vice President Deserie Mandujano, far right, still stresses the importance of campus clubs and involvement as “the place to help out and start making a difference.”

Karen Engelsen

File Phototheft– Toyota trucks’ catalytic converters have been the target of thieves in the Oxnard College parking lot.

Angela BrazaVentura campus editor

Ventura College’s M.E.Ch.A. kept Haitian relief efforts alive as members attempted to raise funds for the coun-try’s recent devastation.

Set up in the campus quad on Feb. 3 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the mem-bers of M.E.Ch.A. of-fered a variety of home-made goodies, including cookies, cupcakes, muf-fins and brownies.

Subsequently, 20 percent would be do-nated to a non-profit organization that is cur-rently helping those in need in Haiti, according to M.E.Ch.A. president Cindy Pila.

“The people of Haiti are in dire need of help,” said Pila.

“Although the earth-quakes happened a few weeks ago, there are so many people who have basic needs, and we

have the opportunity to help.”

M.E.Ch.A. hopes to motivate others and get more hands involved with Haiti relief.

Though the club has not yet decided to which organization they will donate a portion of their funds, they are consid-ering the American Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders and United Way Worldwide.

All three are among the many organizations that rushed to Haiti’s aid when the country was struck by a mag-nitude 7 earthquake on Jan. 12, as reported by the U.S. Geological Sur-vey Earthquake Hazards Program.

The country has since experienced devas-tating losses, and these charitable organizations are doing their part to pitch in.

M.E.Ch.A. member Rodrigo Mendez, 18,

believes the club is on the right track when it comes to helping others.

“As a club, our goal is to give back to the community,” he said. “We’re always looking to see how and where we can contribute.”

M.E.Ch.A. partici-pates in volunteer work

in and around the com-munity.

In addition to bake sales, the club has hosted a number of toy drives, clothing drives and other charitable events that have been for the betterment of those less fortunate.

While M.E.Ch.A.

witnessed droves of students and staff par-ticipate in the bake sale, many others chose to overlook the table of treats.

According to Men-dez, many students had other cares and worries and opted to spend their money elsewhere.

“Many students are aware of the situation in Haiti but probably don’t think of how much even a few pennies could help,” he said.

“These events could someday happen to us, and I know we’d want others to be there for us when that day comes.”

Angela BrazaVentura campus editor

The students of the Ventura College Pre-Med Society and Math-ematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) will get a taste of the professional medi-cal world at an upcom-ing conference.

Both organizations will attend the 19th Annual Stanford Uni-versity Minority Medi-cal Alliance (SUMMA) Conference on Saturday, Feb. 13, according to MESA Director Marcos Lupian.

“The students at-tending this conference will be able to take their dreams of becoming a scientist or doctor and figure out how they’ll fit in the medical field,” he said. “It’s going to be a great experience.”

According to Lupi-an, the SUMMA confer-ence is one of the best on this side of the country.

The Pre-Med Soci-ety and MESA are no strangers to the annual conference, but with 24 students signed up to go, this year boasts the larg-est amount of students ever attending from Ven-

tura College.The SUMMA con-

ference is the largest minority pre-med con-ference on the West Coast, according to the official Stanford Univer-sity School of Medicine website.

“The majority of people attending will be Latino-Americans, Mexican-Americans , African-Americans and women of different back-grounds,” said Lupian.

According to the of-ficial SUMMA website, the event typically draws between 400-600 attend-ees from all over Califor-nia and even representa-tives from Mexico.

This year’s event has been completely sold out.

The SUMMA con-ference will provide a number of services and workshops for those attending.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn about the various careers in medicine and the proper paths they should take in order to fulfill their goals.

According to Daniel Teran, president of the Pre-Med Society, hun-dreds of medical and sci-

entific professionals will also be in attendance.

“Students will have the opportunity to par-ticipate in mock inter-views that will give them an idea of what to expect when it’s time to really apply for a job, which is exciting,” he said.

While the SUMMA conference is open to groups other than minor-ities, Lupian expresses the importance of having minorities represented in the medical field.

“It’s critically im-portant for students to see minorities working in these professions,” he said.

“When students see them with these kinds of careers, the message they send out is, ‘If I can make it, you can too.’”

VENTURA COLLEGEPage 3 Student Voice • www.StudentVoiceOnline.com Feb.10, 2010

M.E.Ch.A. joins efforts to help Haiti

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Upcoming show displays faculty artBrett Arve Angela BrazaStaff Writers

The artwork of Ventura Col-lege’s many talented faculty and staff will be on display at the Ven-tura College Art Department’s Faculty Exhibition.

The month-long event takes place every spring semester. The exhibition will begin on Thurs-day, Feb. 25 and is set to run until March 26th.

Twenty-eight faculty and staff members will display their art and photography in two art galleries, Gallery 2 and the New Media Gal-lery, according to gallery director Kate Martin.

“Attendees can expect a di-versity of work from professional faculty,” said Bob Moskowitz, Chair of the Ventura College Art Department.

“Most of the faculty practice

outside of the classroom and will show of their creative talents at the exhibit.”

Both galleries will be open to the public Monday through Fri-day from noon to 4 p.m. A recep-tion for the artists will be held on the opening day from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

A wide variety of style, art and media will be displayed, in-cluding works in ceramics, pho-tography, drawing, oil painting and sculpting.

Cera Martinez, a 27-year-old literature major, attended last spring’s exhibition.

“It’s so fascinating to see the work of people who spend their days molding the minds of future artists,” said Martinez. “Through this showcase, you get a feel of what goes on in their minds in-stead.”

Last year, the event hosted the work of over 20 professors.

Among the talented artists who will take part in this year’s exhibit is Professor Julie Dahl-Nicolle. Nicolle, who teaches Drawing and Composition I, was eager and energetic when announcing she will be in the show yet again.

Last year Nicolle entered a beautiful painting, which is now displayed in the department’s ex-hibit brochure.

Another student excited for the exhibit is 19-year-old fashion major, Kelsie Mazziotti. Mazzi-otti has taken classes with Nicolle and can’t wait to see her art out on display.

“You spend all this time listen-ing to these professors and kind of forget that this is an art that they enjoy doing themselves,” Mazzi-otti explains.

For further information, contact gallery director Kate Martin at (805) 648-8974.

Pre-Med, MESA head to Stanford for minority medical conference

Daniel Teran

Photo by Angela BrazaHelp for Haiti–Francisco Aguilar, 18, a pre-med major, right, donates $1 to M.E.Ch.A.’s bake sale in support of Haitian relief.

Photo courtesy of Robert LamarcheCreative Minds–Carlisle Cooper’s colorful piece was among the many works of art displayed at last year’s exhibition.

VC awarded green grantJames WilliamsStaff Writer

Students looking into Green Job Educa-tion are getting a boost, thanks to the application efforts of the Ventura College Foundation of-fice and Southern Cali-fornia Edison.Southern California Edison (SCE)

is in the process of giv-ing $1 million to the de-velopment of Green Job education and training at community colleges.

“The Green Jobs Ed-ucation Initiative holds the triple crown in our philanthropic portfolio,” said SCE President John R. Fielder in a press re-lease statement made

on the official Ventura College website. “It will support education programs for college students, encourage en-vironmental sustainabil-ity efforts and prepare skilled employees for the growing green jobs workforce. For more in-formation see www.Stu-dentVoiceOnline.com

MOORPARK COLLEGEPage 4 Student Voice • www.StudentVoiceOnline.com Feb.10, 2010

Brennan WhitmoreContributing writer

Moorpark College showed off its talent at the 12th annual Talent Show on Jan. 29, with a Viking drummer walk-ing away with the first place spot and cash prize.

Presented by the Moorpark College As-sociated Students, music major Donna Meichtry nabbed the first place prize of $300 with a drum solo.

“I was surprised to see so many differ-ent students at Moor-

park having different b a c k g r o u n d s , ” s a i d Dance Club president, and one of the judges for the Talent Show, Ryan Schultze.

Exotic Animal Train-ing and Management major Samantha Levitt came in second, winning $200, with a performance of the song “Girl in 14G” by Jeanine Tesori, and Ryan Langton earned the third place spot and $100 with a routine where he juggled and rode a uni-cycle to “Art of War” by Vanessa Mae.

Meichtry, who has long performed in other

bands such as JDKz and Baby Alive, came up with the idea of a Viking drummer to help deal with her own anxiety of performing by herself.

“I’ve always been nervous about just doing a drum solo, so I thought this would be an easier way to bring myself into the drum solo,” she said.

The show itself fea-tured acts from students that included dance rou-tines, vocal performanc-es and student-written poetry. After the last act, the judges convened to vote on the winners while the Los Angeles

band The Quiet gave a special performance.

Walking away with the first place trophy and decked out in war paint, Meichtry says the Viking character can take on a life of its own.

“When I put the hel-met on, it’s like I turn into a different person,” said Meichtry. “It gives me the strength to per-form.”

DVDs for the Talent Show are available for purchase through the Associated Students of-fice.

For full story: www.StudentVoiceOnline.com

Viking claims glory at talent show

Showing off their talentS-Left, student William Grubb performs a dance number in tribute to the late Mi-chael Jackson at the 12th annual Moorpark College Talent Show presented by the Associated Students. Right, “Viking Drummer” Donna Meichtry concentrates on her performance at the talent show. Meichtry walked away with the first place prize of $300 for her performance.

Prestige “I know my school’s outstanding reputa tion willspeak volumes on my resume.”

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Amy ChuHannah DaveyStaff writers

Students will find themselves walking to new innovative and bright-ly lit classrooms when the Academic Center opens in the fall.

The building is scheduled to be completed by mid-April, according to John Sinutko, director of facilites, maintenance and operations. Not only will it house additional classrooms for the Math, English and Natural Sci-ences departments, among others but it will supply students with the latest advances in teaching tools as well.

“I’m excited about the additional classrooms with state of the art tech-nology and the forethought for the de-sign,” said History Professor Ranford Hopkins.

A seven-year idea in the making, the new Academic Center will feature strategically-designed rooms with westward-facing windows to allow a maximum amount of natural light. Other environmentally friendly ele-ments include hand dryers, tile carpet-ing and high-efficiency lighting.

The addition of 33 new classrooms will alleviate some pressure of schedul-ing classes in the portable classrooms, and the location of the Academic Cen-ter will also connect the upper campus to the lower campus, allowing a com-plete pathway from Parking Lot A to the Gym.

“The walkways allow the class-rooms to be accessible,” said Hopkins. “It’s just a hop, skip and a jump to these classes.”

The funding for the Academic Center was made possible by Bond

Measure S, a measure approved by the citizens of Ventura County in March of 2002. The measure allows for construc-tion and renovation of buildings across the Ventura County Community Col-lege District.

Professors, like Hopkins, are ex-cited for the promise of the new build-ing.

“Just from an aesthetic standpoint, students will like the fact they have a new building,” said Hopkins.

By Kenny RedubloStaff writer

The Associated Stu-dents’ Raiders’ Cove project encountered a slight delay in its plans, but is now back on track again.

Though the Associ-ated Students would ide-ally like to present Raid-ers’ Cove to its students by Multicultural Day on April 13, the projected date for completing their plans is set for gradua-tion on May 19.

According to AS Ad-visor Sharon Miller, mis-communication was the key problem.

“What happened was we presented the project [to the Board of Trustees] as something that was already happen-ing, not as a concept,” said Miller. “The whole thing just blew up.”

After taking a step back and re-looking at their plans, the Associ-ated Students is again ready to move forward with the new student center.

Raiders’ Cove is planned to be a place where people can meet, with plenty of couches and seating arrange-ments to accommodate students.

There will also be a 55-inch LED television to keep students up to date with the news and other current events.

President of the As-sociated Students Ryan Krebs wants Raiders’ Cove to rid the “come and go” stigma of com-munity college.

“What we want to

do with the AS is to fos-ter a more community atmosphere,” said Krebs. “And to have a place for students to hangout, not just in the library or in the cafeteria, where you can watch a game, check the news, watch a movie, or meet new friends.”

Previous AS boards have tried to push the idea of renovating the “dead space” of the AS Office, but other ma-jor renovations around campus were of higher priority to the adminis-tration in the past.

In coordination with maintenance, the AS Of-fice has already been cleaned out to make way for the Raiders’ Cove project and, in order to keep production local in the college, the Associ-ated Students enlisted interior design student Joanna Forbes to rede-sign the office with the use of “green” sensibili-ties, like couches made from soy material and carpet made with non-toxic adhesives.

The idea has been

in development since the end of October 2009 and is being funded by $1.9 million of the AS account gathered from the $1 Student Services Fee students pay each semester.

Vice President of the AS Michael Fields hopes to have Raiders’ Cove worth what the students pay for it.

“It helps a lot that it’s our money, the students’ money, we’ve been pay-ing into,” said Fields. “We’ve been paying [student fees] for awhile and haven’t seen a dollar into anything.”

Now, in collabora-tion with the mainte-nance staff, the project is in the stages of being fi-nalized. Once the main-tenance staff approves of the Raiders’ Cove plans, materials can be ordered and renovations can start.

At the end of the day, students should be able to look forward to Raid-ers’ Cove as a sanctuary away from their classes in the near future.

Raiders’ Cove back on track

Photo by Hannah Daveyin the workS- Joanna Forbes’ Raiders’ Cove design includes couches, tables and a TV for students to use between classes.

Photo by Amy ChuConStruCtion ConverSation- Director of Facilities, Maintenance and Operations, John Sinutko, explains the Academic Center’s “green” qualities to English Professor Sydney Sims dur-ing a guided tour of the facility.

New classrooms to open in fall

Photo by Terry McConnell Photo by Terry McConnell

Despite a small snag in plans, the AS is now ready to move forward with the new student center

Tim WeisbergSports editor

Bourbon Street is rocking.

I n f a c t , t h e entire-

French Quar-ter is ready to par-ty like it’s Mardi Gras.

The New Orleans Saints have pulled off the improbable, stun-ning the Indianapolis Colts in this year’s Super Bowl 31-17.

In the annual cham-pionship game for the year 2010 (which is be-coming more and more increasingly difficult to decipher what Su-per Bowl year it is with all the letters instead of numbers-XLIV, or the 44th), the Saints could

not have won their first world championship in f r a n -

chise his-tory at a better time.

People seem to forget the horrible aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a hurricane that virtually destroyed a symbolic American city in the late summer of 2005.

The Saints’ home, the Louisiana Superdo-me, served as a refuge to thousands who were stranded in the murky waters of what had been a flourishing city.

The victory from the Saints is just another step closer to blurring

out a graphic image that haunted the city for

years af-

ter Hurri-cane Katrina.

The Saints have given the people of New Orleans a restored sense of hope and pride that has been strongly absent over recent years.

Led by quarterback Drew Brees and running back Reggie Bush, the Saints are now a team to be respected as one of the best in the NFL.

A refutable his-tory of, ironically, Colts

quarterback Peyton Manning’s father, Archie Manning, leading a team that struggled to win, Brees and Bush have revamped a losing fran-chise back to the top.

H e a d c o a c h S e a n P a y -ton has

b e e n t h e g u r u

behind a talented

Saints’ squad that has restored

the values and traditions of New

Orleans culture with the victory over the Colts.

I congratulate the New Orleans Saints on their victory, another un-derdog climbing to the top.

Although I’m not a die-hard fan, I can say with pride that I was one of the few who truly be-lieved the Saints would be able to overpower Peyton Manning’s Colts.

Party hard New Or-leans. The prelude to Mardi Gras has begun.

SPORTSPage 5 Student Voice • www.StudentVoiceOnline.com Feb.10, 2010

Driving in-Ventura College’s Amanda Padilla drives to the basket while Reyneisha Mays (No. 34) of Moorpark College defends. The Pirates won the game 72-63, their 58th win in 60 games, dating back to the start of the 2008-2009 regular season.

Photo by David Lopez

VC Pirates escape bad loss at hands of RaidersTim WeisbergSports editor

The Ventura Col-lege women’s basketball team has now learned that the Moorpark Col-lege Raiders are a team to be reckoned with.

The annual Barbeque Fundraiser game fea-tured a mediocre Raiders team turn into a team fighting Western State Conference supremacy, before the Pirates were able to survive another scare in a 72-63 victory Saturday night at the Ventura Athletic Center.

Dating back to last season, the Pirates have won 58 out of their past 60 games.

The Raiders kept up with the Pirates’ up-tempo offense, playing

a match-up zone to try and slow down the Pi-rates’ attack.

Although under-sized, the Raiders domi-nated the boards, with the advantage of having quick wing players that proved to be faster than the Pirates’ front line.

The game was a close one from the start, as the Pirates did not gain the lead until Amanda Padilla’s three-pointer gave the Pirates a 14-12 advantage early on.

Padilla had 20 points for the night, including 15 in the first half. The Pirates’ guard Chanelle Brennan led the team with 24 points for the night.

A 12-2 run over a span of five minutes gave the Pirates (25-1,

8-0 WSC) a 26-19 ad-vantage with just under seven minutes to play in the first half.

Down by as many as 13, the Raiders (12-12, 5-4) cut the lead to single digits before going into halftime down 37-27.

Despite quickly jumping out to a 43-29 lead in the second half, the Raiders did not quit and proved they could contain the Pirates’ fast-paced offense.

A Raiders lay-up cut the Pirates lead to one point at 63-62 with un-der three minutes left, the closest the Raiders would ever get.

Kris King’s layup put the Pirates ahead 66-62. However, a costly traveling violation by Raiders guard Nanice

Kollee with a minute left proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Padilla, who had 5 of her 15 points in the sec-ond half, believed more team involvement on the scoring end was key for the Pirates’ victory Sat-urday night.

“I don’t like to score all the time, and if I am open I will shoot it,” she said.

”So getting my team involved in the second half was good.”

The Pirates were given all they could han-dle in the WSC rivalry, but Padilla believed that they are comfortable in pressure situations.

“We know what pressure’s like and we can handle it,” she said.

MC softball coach plans to develop championsTim WeisbergSports editor

Coach Will Thurston has concocted a secret recipe for winning: a pinch of accountability, a spoonful of dedication and a dash of unselfish playing style.

Mix it with some hard working players w h o have the ability to learn and a d j u s t to new s t r a t e -gies and you have a w i n -n i n g team.

This p o t e n t r e c i p e has gar-n e r e d Thurston with a winning reputation and the abil-ity to build the very best athletic programs as he enters his 32nd consecu-tive year coaching sports at Moorpark College.

During his long and prolific tenure, he has coached football, soft-ball, men’s and women’s golf and is now ready to rebuild his recipe for success in his second stint as the Raiders’ soft-ball coach.

During his first ten-year stint with the club (1984-1993), Thurston posted a 115-12 (.905) record, winning nine Western State Confer-ence championships.

The Raiders finished third in the state in 1989 and fifth in the state in 1990.

Thurston recently coached men’s and women’s golf, helping guide the men’s team to a Southern California Championship in 2008, before the program was indefinitely suspended following the 2008 sea-son.

To put it simply, his credentials are off the charts, he knows what it takes to win and he has found a philosophy that works unlike any other.

To add more fuel to the fire, he is ready to build yet another suc-cessful athletic program.

Thurston is hoping the Raiders can remain optimistic in their ability to further develop the program.

The Raiders won the WSC regular sea-son crown last season, posting a 31-12 record before a first-round

playoff exit.With six return-

ing players, Thurston believes his team can achieve their ultimate goal: reaching the state tournament.

“I honestly got a little on the excited side,” Thurston said. “It was just another chal-lenge to encounter in my

career.”T h u r -

ston previ-ously left s o f t b a l l with fond memories but now re-turns to set the stage for new be-ginnings.

“I left softball and it was great

in 1993,” he said.“The program was

at the top ten percent in the state of California. I had just great memories being a part of the pro-gram.”

A Moorpark College graduate himself, Thur-ston has been associated with the college even before he started coach-ing, playing football at Moorpark in 1975 and 1976 and all while earn-ing All-Conference and Most Valuable Player team honors.

Thurston also played football at Cal State Northridge before he be-gan coaching football at Moorpark in 1979.

A big part of his recipe for success comes from the players.

Brittany Alfino, the Raiders’ starting second baseman and current team captain, has the utmost respect for Thur-ston.

“He pushes you and really makes you work hard,” she said. “He’s a

great coach.”With support from

his players, as well as from the Raiders’ cur-rent athletic director, Howard Davis, Thur-ston is ready to revamp his coaching career and winning ways.

“While our softball program has been strong recently , evidenced by a WSC championship last year, Coach Thurston’s re-taking over the pro-gram really sets the stage for Moorpark to be an elite state power in softball for years to come,” Davis said in a statement.

Will Thurston

Condors split double-header at home against Cerro CosoTim WeisbergSports editor

Opening Day for the Oxnard College Condors’ baseball team turned out to be a slug-fest.

The Condors de-feated Cerro Coso Col-lege 17-6 in game one of the double-header, with the teams combining for seven home runs.

The Condors (1-1) hammered 14 hits, pounding pitching for seventeen runs in the process.

Bryan Wilson, who had the win in game one, and Zack McDonell hit home runs in the first game, while Jake Ma-han, Blake Adame and Santos Reyes went yard in game two.

The Condors played well in the second game but a disastrous fifth in-ning, in which the Con-dors allowed five runs, put them behind 6-5.

The game was short-ened to seven innings, and this proved to hurt

the Condors, as they blew a four-run lead to lose game two 6-5.

Condors head coach Jon Larson believed his team played well in the double-header, but the fifth inning in game two proved costly for the Condors.

“We played well,” he said. “Unfortunately [Cerro Coso] had one big inning. It was kind of a bad break for us out there.”

Despite the disap-pointing loss in the sec-ond frame, Larson feels confident his team will be able to pull it togeth-er.

“We played solid defense,” he said. “We should be fine.”

The Condors hope to perform well on the field in non-conference play before Western State Conference play begins next month.

The Raiders open WSC play at Santa Bar-bara City College Tues-day, March 9. The first pitch is set for 2 p.m.

And the Saints come marching in...SUPER BOWL ANALYSIS

Dustin BrewerStaff writer

Daniel Tosh is seeing the kind of success some comedians only dream of, Comedy Central has ordered 25 season two episodes of his show, “Tosh.0,” and a deal that will see the release of a CD/DVD of new mate-rial and a nationwide stand-up tour.

“Tosh.0,” is a show-case for all things viral on the internet. Each show features a new “Web Redemption,” which allows infamous video stars like “Ninten-do 64 Kid” and “David after Dentist” to try and redeem themselves from the embarrassment they have suffered through the internet.

Speaking with Tosh, it’s easy to see his irrev-erent and witty charac-ter is not just an act. He’s the first to acknowledge what people watching will get out of the show.

“I assume nothing,” said Tosh.“I just want to make them laugh.”

This combination of internet videos, famil-iar faces and Tosh’s one

of a kind sense of hu-mor has made the show a huge success. When it premiered last year, “Tosh.0” was the second most watched show in Comedy Central history, behind only “Chappelle’s Show.” It hasn’t always been this smooth of a ride for Tosh. “Tosh.0” was only picked up after pitching over a dozen pi-

lots to various networks over the last decade in Los Angeles.

“Tosh.0” picks the videos that will be aired with the help of two re-searchers who pool the internet looking for vid-eos. Then, three of the four writers, Tosh being the fourth, watch what the researchers have se-lected and then narrow that selection down even more. After all is said and done, Tosh has final say on what goes on the air and what stays in cy-berspace obscurity.

“Being on Comedy Central has definitely got its perks,” says Tosh. “We’ll do the videos that ‘Funniest Videos’ would never think of.” For more, visit www.stu-dentvoiceonline.com

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTPage 6 Student Voice • www.StudentVoiceOnline.com Feb.10, 2010

SUMMER 2010at CSU Channel IslandsRegular CI courses2 sessions: May 24-July 26 (9 wks) & June 21-August 2 (6 wks)Regular Year Fees • Financial Aid AvailabilityVisit website http://www.csuci.edu/exed/summer.htm or call (805) 437-2748 for further information

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1/2PG AD 2/4/10 12:07 PM Page 1

PhotobyJ.CarlosZavalabarber’s tale- Sweeney Todd, played by Moorpark College’s Andrew Metzger, a 19-year-old Film major, gives fellow lead Amanda Gonzalez, 17, a very close shave in CCYT’s poduction.

Demon barber finds home at Oxnard

PhotocourtesyofComedyCentral the laugh man- Daniel Tosh, the star of Tosh.0, is looking forward to the start of his second season.

Tosh.0returnsformoreviralverdicts MC theater opens ‘Pandora’s Box’

J. Carlos ZavalaStaff writer

After a falling out with its former theater home, the cast of “Swee-ney Todd,” the popular Steven Sondheim musi-cal, found a new home at Oxnard College.

The show will be performed by communi-ty theater group Curtain Call Youth Theatre, un-der the direction of Jeff Wallach, with musical direction by Lisa Graf-ton and Joseph Cisneros. Oxnard College agreed to provide a venue on campus after talking to several representatives from the college.

“‘Sweeney Todd’ is indeed going to be on campus,” said Gwendo-lyn Lewis-Huddleston, dean of Liberal Arts at Oxnard College.

CCYT draws their actors from the sur-rounding community, high schools and junior colleges.

The age range for their current production is 14-19-years-old.

The 80-seat lecture forum at Oxnard College is a new venue for CCYT. Despite the challenges of moving to a smaller ven-ue from their previous several-hundred-seat theatre, Wallach remains positive.

“We can’t have the big and grand sets for the show, but that’s okay,” said Wallach.

“It is really about the acting anyway.”

The blood and vio-lence in “Sweeney Todd” is unusual for a youth production, but CCYT is making adjustments.

“Actually, the kids

pick the show,” said Wallach. “They also have their parents’ approval.”

Wallach hopes to hold future shows at Ox-nard College and looks forward to completion of the Performing Arts Building on campus. But, for right now, he can’t wait to impress his audiences.

“I tell people that they will really be sur-prised,” Wallach said.

“The actors are very talented and capable of doing these productions.

“Sweeney Todd” runs Feb. 5-21 in LA6.

Admission is $13 for adults and $8 for chil-dren, seniors and stu-dents.

Shows are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm.

Contact curtaincall@aol.com for reservations.

Shelby HerbertStaff writer

In mythology Pan-dora’s Box is full of ills and toils, but Moor-park’s show is just the opposite.

“Pandora’s Box” is a series of short plays, monologues, poems, songs and dances writ-ten, produced, created and acted by MC’s the-atre arts students and faculty.

“I am just impressed by the creativity of my students, and I think the audience will be too,” said Lewis. “The things that they are doing are just so courageous.”

The show will be

filled with many differ-ent forms of entertain-ment, icluding mono-logues and poems on topics like overcoming the trauma of physical abuse, the challenges of living by your own rules, the experience of facing death and surviv-ing, murder and a string of pearls.

Three comedic plays will be performed along with songs and dances and a video called “Bob Ferber,” about Bob’s joy in a life of service.

“Pandora’s Box” runs Feb 17 through 20 at 7:30pm in the Black Box Theater. Tickets are $8. Feb 17, will also have a free matinee at 1:30pm.

OPINIONPage 7 Student Voice • www.StudentVoiceOnline.com Feb.10, 2010

Kenny RedubloStaff writer

I’ve been a fan of

Conan O’Brien since his days on “Late Night” back in New York. When I heard that he would be taking the “Tonight Show” position, I had nothing but the highest hopes for the show.

Each skit, joke or mix-up was all a brain-child from the whole crew and never from just O’Brien. When the news about the “Tonight Show” time shift came and the burden thrown onto O’Brien’s lap, it was like telling his family that he had to get a divorce.

Though emotions could flare up in this situation, O’Brien really tried to understand and consider every option with maturity, even as a comedian.

O’Brien felt he had to do what’s right by walk-ing away. Like a captain going down with his ship, it was a moment of glory, not remorse.

To O’Brien, hosting the “Tonight Show” was his dream job and now that he had it, hosting it to the end was his sole

duty, no matter what the circumstances. And host he did.

The last week of the “Tonight Show” with Conan O’Brien was the best week of late night programming I have ever seen.From having presti-gious guests such as Mar-tin Scorsese, Tom Hanks, and the program’s first and last guest, Will Fer-rell, to the signature ab-surd sketches and jokes like buying a Bugatti Veyron, dressing it up as a mouse while listening to the original studio re-cording of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones (which costs a hefty amount in licensing fees), and hav-ing NBC pay the bill.

O’Brien had ridicu-

lous fun on television. There are many

ways to look at the situ-ation in a bad light, but keeping hopeful is the best choice.

O’Brien reflected and reassures hope with his final “Tonight Show” statement: “Please do not be cynical.

“I hate cynicism. For the record, it’s my least favorite quality, it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get.

“But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. I’m telling you, amazing things will happen.”

We’re with you, Coco.

Editor Hannah Davey

Online editor Michael Galasso

ProducerDavid Lopez

OC Campus editor Benji Guerrero

VC Campus editor Angela Braza

MC Campus editor Amy Chu

Opinion editor Hannah Coyle

Sports editor Tim Weisberg

A&E editor Mallory Martin

Student Life editorHaley Skene

Photo editorJake Henderson

Copy editorRobert Pond

Staff writers Beau AkersBrett AvreAlyssa AvalosDustin BrewerShelby HebertMichael LemerandKen McWaid

Advisor Joanna Miller

Kenny RedubloAaron SimonJames WilliamsCarlos ZavalaShoaib NajmuddinAra OrtizMichael Prieto

The Student Voice

7075 Campus Rd. Moorpark, Calif. 931021 Phone: (805) 378-1552 Fax: (805) 378-1438 Email: StudentVoice@vcccd.edu

Despite not hearing about Swine Flu as much in the news media, it is still a prevalent health risk when it is flu season, making us susceptible to the dreaded H1N1 virus and preventative mea-sures need to be taken to stay healthy.

Even though the hype of swine flu may be down, it is still a danger and many people are still contracting H1N1. Just because it is not covered much in the news me-dia does not necessarily mean that it is over and we are not at risk.

Mary Jones, health center coordinator for Oxnard College said that Swine Flu is still danger-ous and that although it may not be as bad as predicted it is still some-thing to be cautious of.

“H1N1 is still a rel-evant health issue,” said Jones. “In the United States we are now en-tering our seasonal flu season, this lasts usually until April.

The H1N1 strain is

still in the general popu-lation also. The pandem-ic is not as bad as was predicted, but is still vis-ible on the campuses.”

The Center for Dis-ease Control (CDC) is still advising people to get vaccinated against H1N1 as well as to main-tain a healthy lifestyle to prevent the swine flu and other viruses.

The CDC has re-leased a statement in re-gards to the H1N1 virus: “CDC is encouraging ev-eryone to get vaccinated against 2009 H1N1, in-cluding people 65 years and older. While less common than with sea-sonal flu, severe illness-es and deaths from 2009 H1N1 have occurred in every age group…”

The 2009 H1N1 vi-rus was first observed in the US in April 2009.

On June 11, 2009 the World Health Organiza-tion (WHO) announced that the H1N1 virus was turning into a pandemic. By July 1, according to WHO, H1N1 had been

confirmed in 120 coun-tries and territories.

“As the pandem-ic evolved, clinicians identified a very severe form of primary viral pneumonia, which was rapidly progressive and frequently fatal, that is not part of the disease pattern seen during sea-sonal influenza.

While these cases were relatively rare, they

imposed a heavy burden on intensive care units,” the WHO reported.

The CDC reports that the following are symptoms of the swine flu: fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and cough-ing. Some people with swine flu have also re-ported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Flu-like symptoms

often improve, but then return with fever and worse cough later on.

According to Sharon Manakas, coordinator of Student Health Services of Moorpark College, if you think you may have swine flu, you are ad-vised to stay home for at least 24 hours after you no longer have a fever or signs of one and to contact your personal

healthcare provider or call the health center at your campus to request a consultation with the nurse.

For more informa-tion on H1N1 or vac-cinations, contact your school health center at www.moorparkcollege.edu/health, www.ox-nardcollege.edu/health or www.venturacollege.edu/health.

Swine Flu is still a danger to us all

Brennan WhitmoreContributing writer

Apple finally lifted the veil on their tab-let computer, a device which had reached al-most mythical levels of fanboy-hype through

rumor alone.This wasn’t just a de-

vice that would change the face of personal com-puters, the Apple cults chanted, it would fly in the face of mortal gods and punch them in their pompous kidneys. It had to be, it was Apple and Steve “Messiah” Jobs.

And...it turned out to be the iPad. Which is a giant iPod Touch. That isn’t a joke. Or an insult. It’s exactly what it is.

So let’s just say you are a college student who needs something to

take notes on with a de-cent keyboard, and you just love Apple. But you need guidance. You need alternatives.

You need...a Geek Culture Expert. That’s where I come in. I’m not here to tell you not to buy an iPad, I’m just here to let you know what your (cheaper) options are. The most obvious one would be a laptop, and you can get a de-cent Macbook for about $1,000 with a 13 inch dis-play without extras. The most expensive iPad will

run you $829 with 64GB and $30 a month for 3G from AT&T.

That’s also exclud-ing the keyboard dock, which you’re going to need if you want to type without your hands fall-ing off from the touch screen. So add another $70 to the iPad’s price.

Granted the iPad is still cheaper by a hair, but also keep in mind it can’t run Flash in the web browser or run mul-tiple Apps at once. If you want to be even remotely productive as a student,

you need a device that can do those two things.

Go to someplace like Best Buy and you can get a good non-Apple lappy for under $500, which will have enough hard-ware for all your student needs. If you’re still dead set on the tablet, you can also go with the cheapest option and get an iPad without 3G and 16GB for $499. Really, though, you might as well get a Netbook if you’re will-ing to sacrifice that much functionality.

You can get an Asus

Eee PC Netbook for $300 from Best Buy again, and that’s not even the cheapest option. If all you want to do is browse the web and use word, a Netbook is perfect. I’m not against the iPad. I just think the smart thing to do is wait and see if Apple can update it and implement features that are desperately needed, such as multitasking or a camera.

It’s name also sounds like a Maxi pad. Either add wings or change the name Jobsy!

ViewpointDo you think the H1N1 virus is still a threat?

Moorpark

Kylie Knight, 20, Undecided

Moorpark

Curtis Bourles, 21, Business

oxnard

Joseph Morales, 18, Business

oxnard

Debbie Manalo, 20, Psychology

Ventura

Cameron Kolkey, 17, Psychology

Ventura

Mathew Mcgrath, 18, Psychology

“No. I never really both-ered to worry about it in the first place.”

“No, swine flu has a less death count than regular flu.”

“Yes I still think it’s a threat, that’s why people are still getting their shots.”

“I still think it’s a potential threat but you just have to keep watching what you do”

“No. I never really thought it was. I was never really concerned.”

“I don’t think it’s a threat to people who know the symptoms.”

Late night woes with Coco

Geek Culture: iPad just an overly-hyped super-sized iPod touch

People are advised to continue to take the H1N1 virus seriously because it is still the flu season

Photo Illustration by Jake Henderson Vaccine- People are still encoraged to go and get vaccinated for the swine flu because it’s still a psssible threat during flu season.

Illustration by Hannah Daveycoco-Conan O’Brien says a sad goodbye to the tonight show.

STUDENT LIFEPage 8 Student Voice • www.StudentVoiceOnline.com Feb.10, 2010

Polluted ocean water poses health risks for Ventura County residents

Beau AkersStaff writer

Surfers and beach-goers of Ventura County are advised to stay out of the water as of Feb. 5, as predicted storms will bring contamination to the coun-ty’s shorelines.

Jamie Meier, a representative for the National Weather Service for Los Angeles and Oxnard, expects high-surf warnings to be posted by noon of the day following any storm.

According to Meier, high-surf advi-sories are posted when the surf reaches heights of seven feet or higher.

High surf is not only dangerous be-cause of the rough water currents, but also because it contributes to water pol-lution.

“When you have a high surf, it will stir up the contamination that has set-tled and bring it up to where people are swimming,” said Meier.

Pollutants from the ocean’s floor are just one of the contributors that put human health at risk as a result of stormy weather.

According to the U.S. Environmen-tal Protection Agency (EPA), storm wa-ter runoff has the potential to carry dis-ease-causing bacteria to the ocean and onto the beaches.

Contact with ocean water contain-ing storm-water runoff will result in increased risk to human health. Many

illnesses are obtained by bacteria, vi-ruses, poisons and pathogens includ-ing gastroenteritis, ear, eye, nose, and throat infections, headaches, fevers, dysentery, hepatitis, cholera, and ty-phoid fever, so beach-goers are ad-vised to stay out of the water, accord-ing to the U.S. EPA.

“Anything that ends up on our streets ends up in the ocean,” said Craig Campbell, a marine biology pro-fessor at Moorpark College.

“So, it’s a mixture of pesticides and herbicides, as well as animal waste; even runoff from septic tanks.”

Once rainfall has ceased, it takes about 72 hours for the ocean to cleanse itself from pollutants.

“After a storm, you want to wait the two or three days,” Campbell said.

“Beaches such as harbors should be avoided because it takes longer for natural cleaning to occur, because there are not enough currents bringing bac-teria out and replenishing fresh water back into the area.”

If a person does come into contact with polluted ocean water, there are simple ways to keep from being sick.

Richard Hauge, program coordi-nator for the Ventura County Water Quality Monitoring Program, provid-ed some health tips.

“Wash thoroughly with soap and water,” said Hauge. “Generally 0.2 inches of rain may be enough to create significant runoff conditions.”

There is a 72-hour period after the rains, which is approximately how long Ventura County Beaches take to be safe for beach goers to return to the water.

For full story, visit www.student-voiceonline.com/studentlife.

Beaches contaminated after rainfall

Band stays together to fulfill the dream of their late founding memberMichael LemerandStaff writer

Basses sigh tirelessly in haunting correspondence with modest drum composition. A gracefully haunting tune that invokes more feeling then most contemporary rock anthems plastered on radios today. This is the composition of Moorpark drone locals, FIELDS.

FIELDS is unique in the sense that they are Ventura County’s only experi-mental drone band, and rightly so, a creation of a mind that is, and was, incomprehensi-bly unique and captivat-ing.

Daniel Kraus, a long time Moorpark local and avid participant in audio and visual arts, was the originator of FIELDS, as he was many of his other musical projects.

I say was, unfortu-nately, because Kraus passed away in Febru-ary of 2009 due to cystic fibrosis, a monumental event that resonates in the band’s members, their sound, and the lives of countless others.

FIELDS started in the summer of 2008 when the late Daniel Kraus con-ceived the idea for an experimental/drone band in the vein of early genre enthusiasts like Earth and the Mel-vins.

Responding to his interest in starting a drone outfit were his friends and fel-low musicians, Chris-topher Darabi, and, upon Darabi’s sug-gestion, local drum-mer Garrett Randall.

Before officially deciding on the name FIELDS, Kraus had considered the title the group “Aum Shinrikyo” (literally: supreme truth) named after a Japanese cult who had planned to place gigan-tic speakers at certain locations to send impulses forming cracks in the earth and consequently ending the world. It was not long before Kraus had a change of heart about the band entirely.

“Daniel approached me about changing the name and ideology. He wanted to name ourselves after a Khanate song titled ‘Fields’ which was about a guy traveling out into the vast

empty fields and burying a body in the group, said Darabi.

He felt the name and style of music better represented his vision of our band and wanted our music to express feel-ings of being alone in the remote open fields of noth-ingness.”

Not only did the entire attitude of the band’s sound change, but they also recruited Brandon Gillichbauer to also play bass in the band, and Kraus switched from playing guitar to doing vocals. Thusly, FIELDS was born con-sisting of Kraus on vocals, Darabi and Gillichbauer on bass, and Randall on drums.

After having only one song writ-ten, Daniel Kraus passed away due to Cystic Fibrosis in February of 2009, not only an extreme loss for his friends and peers in FIELDS, but also for his family, friends and the music scene as

a whole. The local Moor-park music scene reacted by having a benefit show in commemoration of Kraus’s contributions to the local music scene and in celebration of the ac-complished life he led.

The tragedy acted as a handicap and a catalyst for FIELDS; handicap-ping them of the motiva-tion to continue without their close friend, but de-manding that they rise to the task of creating some-thing that Kraus would

be proud of. “After the show we decided to do

Daniel justice and write songs that ex-pressed out low emotions at the time,” said Darabi, “all the talk about creating a sound that was remote and desperate before became a reality that naturally came out in the songs”.

With the memories of a lost friend bearing down on them, FIELDS completed a still un-titled record consist-ing of three songs, and clocking in at 65 min-utes, and recorded by their mutual friend, Brian Etheridge, bass-

ist from semi-local rock band Snakes Alive.

Their labors came realized with the completion of their untitled debut, exuding and demonstrating an under-standing for the raw emotion that can be captured and channeled with hum-ble, but powerful instrumentation.

FIELDS’ debut record still remains unreleased, with the band sporadically playing live shows around the South-ern California area.

To listen to and find out more about the band, visit http://www.myspace.com/fieldsdrone.

Benji GuerreroOxnard campus editor

In the fashion world, a new year means that fall has come to an end, and spring fashion is on the horizon.

Get ready for the military look to translate into Army-influenced hues and details and bold, nautical stripes with sailor embellish-ments to set the trend. Get ready for Spring 2010.

Although it is still cold and rainy outside, retailers are already plac-ing their sweaters, coats and warm accessories on sale.

These mark-downs are being done to make room for spring fashion.

Lucky for us, the weather still requires a bit of bundling-up.

However, it is hard to go into a store and not take a peek at the items that will be on trend for the spring.

The Army and Navy trends that seems to be overtaking stores for this spring are great because

they are universal to both genders.

Last fall, when the King of Pop tragically died, strangely enough the icon himself turned into a trend.

For spring, the same use of military details often worn by Michael Jackson is being carried on, but it is more strong-ly influenced by the U.S. Army.

Key colors include earth tones, cadet-green colored and khaki-tan.

As for the details, look for either green or tan military-inspired wo-ven tops and pair them with alternating colored pants.

The idea is to create the two-tone signature color combo of green and tan, which can be trans-lated using both tops or bottoms.

Key details to look for include military but-tons, lace combat boots, cargo jackets and cadet hats.

The nautical trend seems to be one that re-surfaces every once and a while around spring-

time. It is one that can be played around with the most as far as interpreta-tion.

The colors are a bit more liberal for this trend because the state-ment comes mostly from its details.

With that said, try to mix pops of color with stripes to set the look, such as cobalt blue, and reds for the bright, and any form of thick or thin stripe.

Key details include Anchor embellishments, horizontal stripes, boat shoes, rope details and flat, strappy sandals.

These two trends in particular are ones that will echo a lot through-out my wardrobe this spring.

These are some of the leading trends for this season.

Although there will be more to come, try taking a shot at incorpo-rating these trends into your wardrobe.

Look for what you already have, and add what you might need to create the perfect look.

Army and Navy influences march onto the fashion scene

Local band FIELDS drones on

Pollution builduP– Top, drain-water runoff heading toward the ocean. Middle, trash left behind by beach-goers. Bottom, water gathers excess filth as it filters through polluted drains.

Daniel Kraus

Photos courtesy of FIELDS

Photos by Beau Akers

Fashion arsenal– Nautical and military pieces will complete any outfit this season. Right, Oxnard College biology major Mariana Tejada, 20, uses pop-color in her school attire.

Collage courtesy of polyvore.com, Photo by Benji Guerrero