Volume XXX - Issue 1 February 2, 2012 www.theskylineview.com

The California Community Col-lege system’s Board of Governors voted over the winter break to approve recommendations that will change the way students get through community college.

The vote to implement the recom-mendations was unanimous, with two board members abstaining. The recom-mendations will now go to the Califor-nia Legislature and be voted on to make the recommended policies a reality. Even more changes can be expected here at Skyline, probably within the next few years.

The 76-page report, written by the Student Success Task Force (made up

Skyline ViewTh

e The Voice of Skyline College, San Bruno, California

California Community College Chancellor Jack Scott speaks about the task force at a town hall meeting in Oakland in November.

Image courtesy of CCCCO.edu

Task force policies passedBoard of Governors unanimously accepts recommendationsby Blair HardeeSkyline View online editor

of people from the California Com-munity College Chancellor’s Office), presents ideas that intend to solve the system’s budget issues while help-ing students be more successful at the same time. The plan is to push students quickly through the system in order to help them reach their goals and help the state save money by subsidiz-ing as few units as possible. The task force and Board of Governors argue that students spend too much time at community colleges, accumulating too many units with no goal in mind.

Katelyn Smathers, a senator with the Associated Students of Skyline College, takes an official stance against the recommendations by the Student Success Task Force.

“Our position as the ASSC and my personal position is we are com-pletely, adamantly against the whole thing,” Smathers said.

However, Smathers says the ASSC is reformulating their strategy now that the recommendations have passed through the Board of Gover-nors and are going to the Legislature. Rather than opposing the policies as a whole, the ASSC will attempt to fight against each piece of legislation individually.

President of Skyline College Regina Stanback-Stroud said, along with many school officials, that the recommendations outlined in the task force’s report will not be beneficial

Task force continues on Page 2

District approaches basic aidChanges to revenue policy affect districtby Matt PacelliSkyline View News Editor

The San Mateo County Community College District is on the precipice of entering ba-sic aid status for the 2012-2013 school year, which may cause a reduction in the number of students the campus can serve.

A decrease in funding would lead to basic aid status, which in turn would cause a reduction in the number of students the school could serve. Under cur-rent circumstances, the district will see a projected reduction of its workforce for the 2012-2013 school year.

The projection of the district’s descent into basic aid was given by Executive Vice Chancellor Kathy Blackwood during the January 25, 2012 meeting of the district’s Board of Trustees. During the budget report, Blackwood found the status of basic aid to be un-avoidable for the district.

“Every scenario that I run says that we will continue into basic aid until the next year,” Blackwood said.

Determining if a district requires basic aid status relies primarily on the amount of revenue the college district generates through both property taxes and enrollment fees. These two sources of revenue are deducted from the state calculated revenue limit for the district, and the difference is covered through state

Basic aid continues on Page 2

A contractor’s back hoe rup-tured a gas line on the 500 block of Chestnut Avenue in San Bruno on January 24, 2012.

No injuries were reported.According to San Bruno Fire

Department Battalion Chief Char-lie Barringer, the fire department received a call from a resident complaining about the smell of gas at 1:04 p.m. They arrived on the scene at 1:07 p.m., and by 1:15 p.m. they had evacuated three blocks of Chestnut, Beech, and Oak avenues.

By 2 p.m., PG&E had stopped the leak, and the evacuation order

was lifted. According to PG&E, the gas

service was shut off at 3:13 p.m.Jason King, a spokesperson

with PG&E, explained that a third-party contractor (not work-ing with PG&E) struck the gas line while digging into the street with a back hoe. While digging, the contractors unknowingly severed a half-inch service line connected to a larger, two-inch gas line.

The contractors called the San Bruno Fire Department, who proceeded to evacuate the residents of the blocks surround-

ing the source of the leak. “We take all leaks seriously,”

said Katie Romans, PG&E spokes-person.

San Bruno resident Kathy Peckham was at John Muir El-ementary, where she works as an office manager, when she received the call from her son that they were being evacuated because of the gas leak in front of her home.

Peckham was concerned be-cause of the events that occurred during the 2010 pipeline explo-sion.

“Houses can be replaced, but you can’t replace people,” Peck-ham said.

Gas line ruptured in San Bruno

“With the budget reductions, this [rev-enue limit] has been shrink-ing” Brio-nes said. “What’s happening now is the amount of money we are supposed to get, because of budget reductions, is going down.”Eloisa Briones, Director of businessservices

Residents of three blocks were evacuatedby Marc Arguello, Jay Johnson and Stephen BenoitSkyline View editors at large

PG&e workers work on damaged gasline

Stephen Benoit/The Skyline View

Entertainment Features Sports

Read about up-coming movies

on Page 5 Page 11

community colleges

Read about couples Valentine’s day tips onPage 3

Read aboutTrojans Basketball

Organic meats, beans, cheeses and tortillas, oh my! All this and more can be found at Pacifica’s own Green Enchilada in the Pacific Manor Shopping Center.

Pacific Manor Shopping Center is a quick trip from Skyline and convenient-ly, you can enjoy its close proximity

Green Enchilada is worth the greenIn this case, organic is worth it

to some nice beaches. It’s great for when you have time for lunch, just want to catch your breath for a few minutes, and hit the beach with a good meal.

The Green Enchilada serves traditional and not-so-tradi-tional Mexican food with organic ingredients. So far, I haven’t tried anything from the place that I haven’t liked. The price is slightly higher than other taquerias in Pacifica, but with the freshness, tastiness and safer food, you can’t go wrong.

The staff has been very friendly every time I’ve gone and I’ve never left hungry. The restaurant itself is kind of small, but the seats outside are nice on a temperate day. I, personally, like to take my meal down to the beach and listen to the waves to relax my

body and spirit while I chow down. The Enchilada platter is a great deal and can gener-

ally feed a small family with its six enchiladas,

pint of rice, pint of beans, accoutrements for the enchiladas and decent amount of mixed vegetables. Their chips and salsa are really good as well and are one of my favorite things about eating there.

The Green En-chilada has quickly

become my favorite Mexican eatery in Paci-

fica and will likely remain as such for a long time. If

you go yourself, I’d definitely recommend the nachos as they

are the best I’ve ever had, hands down. If you decide to go with a

burrito, I’d suggest the pork al Pas-tor because it has a great flavor that’s

hard to beat.

Valentine’s Day may be a celebration of ro-mantic love, but that special holiday for that special someone can get expensive! Last year the National Retail Federa-tion released a survey of consumers that reveals Americans spent an aver-age of $116.21 on tradi-tional Valentine’s Day merchandise in 2011.

Being a college stu-dent isn’t easy when times like these come around. Fret not; romance does not have to be put to a stop because of a current mon-ey jam. It’s all about the expression of love, not the expense. You should know h o w t o bud-

Doing Valentine’s Day on a budgetTips that all couples should know

get and where to go when you do your Valentine’s Day shopping.

Being on a budget is not the worst thing in the world. In fact, if anything it broadens your creativity. For instance, let’s begin with the basics of bearing the traditional gifts of a card and a stuffed ani-mal, chocolates or roses. You may think these are clichéd, but get your val-entine one of these three items and you’re golden.

But where do you go to buy these items cheap-ly? And do you really even need these items?

A stuffed animal can run pretty high when

you’re using your gas money for a

4-foot stuffed th ing tha t

will prob-a b l y

never

move from your valen-tine’s corner bedroom. Minimizing the size of the stuff animal would reduce your cost significantly, so consider getting some-thing different. Singing stuffed animals are a good choice, and they range from $7-20 at Walgreens.

A very important ingre-dient to a woman’s heart is chocolate. Chocolate, which originates from the cacao seed, releases endorphins and oxyto-cin, giving the consumer feelings similar to those of being in love. But name-brand chocolate is overpriced; you could be spending a minimum of $17 for a pound. Skip the brand and go with a heart-shaped chocolate box under $10 at any local grocery store.

Cards are what hold the hand-written message you want to convey to your

valentine. You can save a lot by

making a

hand-made crafted card filled with your own flair. This is something person-al; you control the design and tone.

Roses are what can signify your love without even being present, for they convey a message of love in every petal. They may be overrated, but a woman cannot deny her joy once she receives them. Of course for its vital symbolism of love, these are going to be highly priced. Going to a floral shop you’ll spend a minimum of $35 (if you’re lucky) for a decent bouquet. But the most sold on this holiday are red roses with baby’s breath, which can range from $50-150! You can save by simply going to the florist at a nearby Safeway or Lucky’s, where a dozen roses start at $12.99.

If you really want to skip the cliches and do something romantic and different, here are some creative ideas at a low

cost: 1 . C r e a t e a l o v e

soundtrack by creating a mix cd.

2. Bake goodies; this is always appreciated (double kudos for men baking).

3. Dine in and make your valentine’s favorite dish.

4. Make fun, homemade favor coupons.

5. Send your valentine on a scavenger hunt to find the picnic location you picked out.

6. Create a custom photo book using websites such as shutterfly.com and snapfish.com; be sure to save your money using their ongoing promotional codes.

7. Use an old deck of cards and write 52 reasons why you love your valentine.

8. Fill a small room, clos-et or car with helium bal-loons each tied with a special message.

9. For deal shopper s, w e b -sites

such as Groupon.com and LivingSocial.com are great for saving on everything from movie tickets and museum passes to meals at restau-rants. Groupon is currently promoting Valentine’s Day deals from Swarovski Ele-ments Earrings to lobster din-ner to wineries. For the more adventurous couples, zozi.com offers affordable prices on chocolate- and wine tast-ing, sword fighting and even bread-making workshops. These websites can give budget-minded value to the special day your plan with your valentine.

Presentation is key, but most important is letting your loved one under-

stand how grateful you are for your

relation-ship.

General information:Hours: Mon-Sun 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.Accepts Credit Cards: YesParking: Private LotPrice Range: MediumTakes Reservations: NoDelivery: NoTake-out: YesWi-Fi: NoAlcohol: NoNoise Level: AverageTV: NoWheelchair Accessible: Yes

Diane Thaoskyline view staff writer

Stephen Benoitskyline view EIC

2 February 2, 2012Skyline ViewThe News

to student success. No one on the task force is considered an ex-pert in student learning or instruc-tion, and Stanback-Stroud said the task force was created based on politics rather than education.

“Understand that this commit-tee is formed on a political basis,” Stanback-Stroud said. “In other words, it’s a political response. . . . The participants are there because of their professional and political positions.”

Stanback-Stroud also wor-ried about the kinds of students who will be excluded from the community college system if and when these recommendations are implemented. She said the students who will likely be excluded from the system are economically disad-vantaged or first-generation college students who need the most help mapping out their education.

San Mateo County Community College District Chancellor Ron Galatolo shares Stanback-Stroud’s concern that these recommenda-tions may hurt the students who would benefit the most from community college. For decades, the community college system has acted as a safe haven for those who need more time before going to a four-year college or entering the workforce.

“That’s probably my greatest concern,” Galatolo said. “It just feels to me like it would lock out our most needy students and the students that really see community colleges as . . . the last safety net for allowing them to pursue their dreams of higher learning. To take that away from them, you essen-tially cut out a large portion of who I think are potentially talented students that could provide much more for the community with collegiate-level education.”

Galatolo and Stanback-Stroud both think there are better steps that could be taken to help the problem of student success. Stan-back-Stroud believes that accelera-tion and contextualized learning would be more efficient than a standard placement test, which can put students below their level of understanding and causes them to

become unmotivated in a tedious sequence of basic skills classes.

Contextualized learning, ac-cording to Stroud, would be more effective. Students who learn basic skills like math within the context of their planned major are more likely to succeed because they stay interested.

Galatolo thinks that what students want to learn should be taken into account when design-ing curricula. He also believes that there should be more focus on non-academic issues like financial aid and guidance in matriculating to the community college system.

Although the Board of Gov-ernors has voted to implement the Student Success Task Force’s recommendations, there is still a lot of work to be done before these changes become final. Legislation must be passed and logistics have to be worked on. There are very few positives about the situation in the eyes of district officials, but the raised awareness after these recommendations were made was a good thing in the eyes of Skyline’s president.

“This brings to the surface for the public that they’re literally talking about rationing educa-tion,” Stanback-Stroud said. “The good thing that occurred is that there was such blow back on these recommendations, I think it caught them by surprise, and they did make some changes.”

Essentially, these new policies will require students to have a solid educational plan or else lose registration priority. This would involve requiring students to meet with a counselor to get a plan down on paper, to declare a program of study by the end of their first year, and to not take too many classes unrelated to their set goal. If a student violates any of these condi-tions (or any of many others), they will no longer have priority regis-tration. Another policy replaces the current placement test system with a statewide diagnostic test every incoming student must take.

Task force policiesContinued from Page 1

apportionment funding. However, if a school fills their

revenue limit with enrollment fees and property taxes alone, then the state will not provide appor-tionment funding. This problem is exacerbated by the district’s revenue limit being lowered, due to state cuts.

Skyline’s director of business services Eloisa Briones sum-marized the situation facing the district.

“With the budget reductions, this [revenue limit] has been shrinking” said Briones. “What’s happening now is the amount of money we are supposed to get, because of budget reductions, is going down.”

Briones went on to state that the status of basic aid is not a static title, and that the districts can, in

time, begin receiving state ap-portionment funding again.

“There are districts that go in and out of basic aid” said Briones. “Once you get there, there’s no guarantee that you’ll [remain].”

The possibility of the district moving away from basic aid hinges on an assortment of dif-ferent factors, such as less severe cuts to the district and its revenue limit, or changes in state projec-tions for the revenue generated in the upcoming year.

Currently, there are only three other districts in the state that have entered into basic aid. Brio-nes noted that it is a somewhat uncharted area for the campus.

“This is something new for all of us,” Briones said.

Basic aid status looms over Skyline Continued from Page 1

ASSC supports the oil severance tax

The Staff

Want more news?www.theskylineview.com

Or maybe you have news for us?(650) 738-4377

Want to yell at us?theskylineview@gmail.com

Or use snail mail:The Skyline View

c/o Language ArtsRoom 8-8110

Skyline College3300 College Drive

San Bruno CA 94066

Editor In ChiefStephen Benoit

News EditorMatt Pacelli

Features Editorjj Valdez

Opinions EditorJoe Barrack

Entertainment EditorJay Johnson

Sports EditorRich Estrada

Copy Editor Liz McMahon

Online EditorBlair Hardee

Multimedia EditorWilliam Nacouzi

P.R./Business ManagersTerence Chin

Sarawut Saechang

Staff Writersrenee Abu-Zaghibra

Megan BenvenisteRiley Bright

Lauren ConconPatrick esguerra

Monika JamesKimberly Murti

Diane ThaoCartoonist

JJ ValdezAlyssa Koszis

Facult AdviserNancy Kaplan-Biegel

The Skyline View is a First Amend-ment Publication. The Skyline View

is published bi-weekly during the spring and fall semesters by the jour-

nalism students at Skyline College. The Skyline View is a member of the Journalism Association of Commu-nity Colleges. Opinions expressed

in the paper are those of the writers and should not be interpreted as the views of Skyline College, SMCCCD,

the faculty, administrators or the newspaper adviser. Additionally, the

paper does not endorse any of the products or services advertised.

The Skyline View welcomes Let-ters to the Editors; letters must in-

clude full name, address, and phone number for verification. The Skyline View reserves the right to edit letters

for length, libel, clarity, and taste.

1500 Ralston Avenue, Belmont CA 94002

Notre Dame de Namur University makes transferring simple and gives you access to the classes you need to graduate on time. With smaller class sizes, hands-on advising, financial aid, and a convenient location mid-peninsula, Notre Dame can help get you where you want to be.

Apply now for fall 2012.

To learn more, visit www.ndnu.edu or call (650) 508-3600.

BACHELOR’S

2014“I decided to transfer to Notre Dame because of the personalized attention I got from day one. From the start, Notre Dame made me feel like a person. The whole transfer process was totally stress-free and by the end of it, the admissions office knew me by name.”

GET THERE

Advertisment

The Associated Students of Skyline College has decided to support Proposition 1522, Tax for Oil to Fund Education Initiative, which is a proposal aimed at taxing oil companies with all rev-enues raised going to fund higher education within the state.

“This oil tax is basically . . . funding education through taxation of oil companies who extract oil from California,” Senator Dean Kevin Santos said. “California is the only state that doesn’t tax its oil; Alaska and Texas tax their oil.”

The statewide Student Senate for California Community Col-leges also voted overwhelmingly on November 5 last year to sup-port the bill and the gathering of signatures to place the proposal on the ballot.

According to Rescue Educa-tion California’s website, the proposal will place a 15-percent severance tax on crude oil and natural gas, which will raise $3.5 billion that will provide $1.5 billion for 2.7 million California community college students, $1.48 billion for 6 million K-12 students, $560 million for

400,000 CSU students and $440 million for 200,000 UC students.

The proposal would prevent companies from passing the cost of the tax onto consumers by way of higher prices for oil, natural gas, diesel and other oil or gas by-products, including propane and heating oil. Any company that is found guilty would be fined, and the money would be equally distributed to each Californian as a rebate check at the end of each year.

“As a student and as a council member I fully support this propo-sition,” Santos said. “This is a way for oil companies to give back for taking the precious finite resources California has. In the fact of bud-get cuts, the students of California should support this bill because their future and the next genera-tion’s future is on the line. All of the revenue from this tax will go to the public education.”

The proposal needs 504,760 signatures by April 15 statewide to be placed on the ballot. Anyone interested in supporting the bill can contact Peter Mathews at (562) 234-3319 or email him at go2mathews@msn.com.

Will NacouziSkyline View Multimedia editor

Feature 3February 2, 2012Skyline ViewThe

Changes to Skyline: What students think of them

Future plans for SkylineWhat some students are hoping to see next

Imagine if you got to decide which new major innovation was brought to Skyline. In the past few years, we’ve seen changes rang-ing from entire new buildings to high-tech trashcans, and with each new change, students find a reason to either love it or hate it. But is it what you would have wanted?

For some students, the question, “What new major change would you like to see come to Skyline?” is a difficult thing to ponder. Some students think that previous changes should themselves be changed, others think that things are fine the way they are, and still others think that additional changes need to be made to our campus and policies.

One such student is Javier Bustos, a third-semester Skyline student who dislikes Skyline’s recent decision to require that tuition payments be paid before the start of each semester.

“I feel like if there were any new changes it should be to fix the payment system ‘cause I feel like it’s unfair for other students who work re-ally hard on their grades and they have to pay in full before we even get to our classes,” Sy said. “Some people don’t have that money yet. Even though there’s payment plans like the Sally May fund, I feel like it’s still difficult for us. . . . I just feel like they should try something else.”

Another major topic that some students strongly feel strongly about is course availabil-ity. For students like Twyla Elhardt, a pre-nurse major, getting a good education is difficult when required courses seem few and far between.

“I think probably the biggest thing would be more science classes,” Elhardt said. “A lot of the lab classes are hard to get into. For example, microbiology: A lot of people are on wait lists and can’t get into that class on time, so I think more of the important classes I would really like to see.”

Some students, such as Krithika Jagadeesan, think that the real issue is classroom size.

New payment system comes to SkylineSome start the semester better off than others

Another year has come and gone. Just like that a new semester begins and, much like the seasons themselves, change is upon us here at Skyline.

This semester brings with it some new changes to our campus, one of which is Sky-line’s new payment plan. The payment plan has already taken effect, and has already impacted many students on campus.

Students were warned about this last se-mester by various teachers, officials, and other students.

Starting over the break, anyone who at-tempted to sign up for classes got a message telling them the ramifications of not paying by a certain point: they would be dropped. And as to be expected, the feedback from the student body varies from person to person. Some feel that this new plan is harmful to low income students, while others feel it’s a good way for the school to get cash flow.

Some students don’t worry about the new system, either because they have pro-gram helping them or are financially secure. Nevertheless,they understand how it can be a problem to others. Students like Sara Colby, a biology major, who feels that this new change isn’t without its flaws.

“I know it’s been difficult for other people, some people may not have the money in time so if they lost their job or something they wouldn’t be able to pay and would get dropped,” Colby said. “A lot of students are here because it’s cheaper and flexible, they’re able to pay with flexibility but now it’s becoming harder, plus the tuitions already rising so it’s hard to pay as it is… to have a deadline on that just makes it more difficult.”

Another student who thinks the new system is unfair is one Jessica Hinojasa, an art major, who despite not having any problems herself knows of others who are struggling this early in the semester.

“I can see the purpose of it, but I think it’s not helping people who are financially

New Coffee shop opens in cafeteriaStudents react favorably

The year of the Clipper card has arrivedThose who use it find it efficient

Latte, chai, macchiato, frappuccino. If you know what these are, you probably go regularly to some type of coffee shop. And if you frequent Skyline’s cafeteria, then you probably noticed our old coffee hut has been replaced.

Skyline College is no stranger to renovations. In the past few years we’ve seen new buildings, renovated structures, a new quad, and even a water fountain and fireplace. And now we have a coffee shop that serves Starbucks coffee.

For the past few years, the space next to the cafeteria has been unused. It was revealed last semester however that there were plans to make a new coffee shop in said location. The start of the spring semester marked its official opening, and it seems that a majority of students welcome its presence.

Skyline student Chase Sandal thinks that its very existence gives the school as a whole a new, better look.

“I actually like it; it looks really nice,” Sandal said. “It looks modern, and it feels different. The atmosphere feels a little more professional, a little more adult. It shows that we’re trying to move forward and not just stay the same.”

Sandal went on to say that although he didn’t know whether this would make a big difference in the long run, he does feel that if the school continued with these kinds of changes it would ultimately be beneficial.

However, some students think that the old cof-fee hut was fine and that Skyline didn’t need to spend money replacing it.

Other students, such as chemistry major Julia Kyaw, like the idea of having this particular coffee shop in the cafeteria because it provides a product

This semester has brought a variety of changes, and while most of them have been campus related, one regional change that oc-curred at the beginning of the year has already impacted students.

At the start of the new year, the Bay Area officially adopted the Clipper card, an electronic smart card that acts like a debit card. Most con-ventional paper passes are no longer being sold. And although it only affects a fraction of students (those who use public transportation), there has already been an impact.

The Clipper card system allows users to put any amount of money on it in order to fit cus-tomers’ individual financial needs. According to the Clipper card website and various pamphlets, the Clipper card can be used for transportation on Muni, BART, AC Transit, VTA, SamTrans, Caltrain, and Golden Gate Transit and Ferry.

In addition, according to Clipper card phone support, the option still exists to purchase a monthly pass for SamTrans on the Clipper card for the same price as the old paper pass.

To some students, the issue of “out with the old, in with the new” is irrelevant in this situation because they would rather pay in cash. People who ride on public transportation are not required to have a Clipper card and can pay with cash.

Some students haven’t yet purchased a Clip-

by JJ Valdez

by JJ Valdez

unstable,” said Hinojasa who went on to give her boyfriend as an example. “[My boyfriend] worked last year and his job contract ended so he started class this semester. He doesn’t have any income now but he still has to pay for his classes so coming up with [money] has been a problem for him.”

As previously stated, some students on campus don’t have to worry about

by JJ Valdez

by JJ Valdez

JJ Valdez/The Skyline ViewThere are a number of ways Skyline students think we can improve our campus

JJ Valdez/The Skyline View

A notice on WebSmart highlighted in red informs students of the new payment policy

JJ Valdez/The Skyline ViewStudents don’t mind waiting in line for Skyline’s new coffee

JJ Valdez/The Skyline View

Instead of purchasing a new card each month. travelers can now just refill their Clipper cards.

“I think some of the classrooms should be bigger,” Jagadeesan said. “Sometimes it be-comes way too crowded, like there’s too many backpacks everywhere. There isn’t enough space to keep our materials. Sometimes the teachers have a lot of their things as well, so for them to arrange it becomes a little bit dif-ficult. So it would be better to have a little more classroom space and also maybe some cubbies or shelves for arrangement purposes.”

Even subtle changes to our campus would be appreciated by some students. For electro-engineering student Phyo Htut, it’s as simple as improving food diversity in the cafeteria for students who want a good meal without the hassle of going off site and wasting time.

“More variety would be better,” Htut said. “Skyline is kind of landlocked. As you can see, we’re on a mountain; if we were to go out and eat it takes about 30 minutes. . . . So I guess more food options would be nice.”

Another area some students think needs improvement is the student store. For Nick Gui-nasso, getting an education is difficult when he has to wait in line outside the store only to find that the book he needs is out of stock.

“A bigger store would be nice,” Guinasso said. “Also early disbursement for financial aid would definitely be better, then you can buy your books earlier and stuff so you’re not swamped early. Students need to be able to get in and get out more quickly so other students can benefit from it as well.”

With Skyline ever growing, future changes are sure to happen. The question is, What will they be and who will they benefit?

If you would like to submit an idea for future changes to Skyline, please share your idea in the comment section below.

paying right away because they have help from a program on campus, usually in the form of paying in increments.

Another student who is getting help from a program is Cortez Hester, a first-time biologi-cal science student who is getting through the semester by payment plans.

“I’m able to use the Sally May program to basically help me do a payment plan within the time frames,” said Hester. “So that I won’t be dropped from any of my classes.”

In addition to getting help from school programs, both Hester and Hinojasa believe that this new system will bring with it a new demographic to Skyline geared toward the more serious and better off.

“It’s going to definitely change the de-mographics with the new influx of student s who come in,” said Hinojasa. “It’s going to be very specific to social economic status, [this] will limit education for certain people but [the school] will get an influx of money so it’s a give and take.”

Hinojasa went on to say that in the long run, she is unsure if the new system will ultimately be good or bad. Hester however felt that, in addition to the schools population changing, the new system will ultimately be good with enrolling students being more on the serious side about education.

“I can see why they’re implementing it due to the fact that its actually putting more class availability for other students that are trying to get in,” Said Hester. “And those who are actually concentrating and willing to excel in the classes, they’re the ones getting the ball rolling and getting stuff taken care of before they actually get into the class it shows that they’re serious about being enrolled at Skyline.”

Whether you favor the new system or not, the one thing that is for certain is it will bring major change in the long run, for better or for worse. Will the new system make college life better for students, or will this be a case of “don’t fix what isn’t broken”?

they desire.“I like it because before they didn’t have

Starbucks in Skyline College,” Kyaw said. “San Mateo had it when I went there.”

One of the main reasons that students look upon the new coffee shop favorably is its new location, due to the fact that there are now high tables in the space the old coffee hut used to occupy.

“The new place is better because more people can sit in the cafeteria,” said Kyaw, who believes that the ability to study, use a laptop, and eat in one location is an invaluable asset. “Before it was a waste of space.”

“Right now it’s more convenient,” Kyaw continued. “We can study in the cafeteria and eat, which you can’t do in the learning center.”

Even students newer to Skyline feel that the cafeteria’s newest addition is beneficial and useful. First-semester Skyline student Julian Andrews, a business major, thinks that its loca-tion combined with its product is something that will help the school.

“It’s good for the school because it will make [students] want to spend their money; a lot of [students] drink coffee,” Andrews said. “[It’s] very beneficial because it’s right next to the [cafeteria]. It’s pretty much a win-win situation. Whatever brings in profit; Starbucks coffee always brings in profit.”

With the new coffee shop officially open, students can more easily get coffee and find a place to sit during lunch. Whether this change is worth its cost has yet to be seen, but for now, some Skyline students feel that it’s exactly what the students needed.

per card because they either find it confus-ing or don’t know enough about it. Skyline student Leslie Castillo, a business major, finds the Clipper card to be difficult to use at times despite already owning one.

“I kind of liked the monthly pass be-cause it’s kind of easier,” Castillo said. “With the Clipper card, you just keep add-ing in money, which I find difficult to (do).”

Castillo went on to say that her mother had yet to get herself a Clipper card because she doesn’t know how to use it.

However, other students feel that the new Clipper card system is not only effi-cient, but also less wasteful than the paper pass system.

“I find it a lot more useful and more ef-ficient than the paper pass,” said Min Tan, a Skyline student majoring in economics.

“I see that’s its less wasteful of paper and that it actually has more uses than just a regular paper pass. I can use it for BART, Caltrain, Muni and others besides SamTrans.”

Tan also liked the sleek new design of the card, commenting on how it could potentially last someone 10+ years and how its design and purpose could change the way we use public transportation.One reason some stu-dents have yet to go Clipper, confusion and ignorance aside, is that they thought the new payment method was implemented so quickly that it felt forced.

One such student was Masio Surmaj, a biotechnololgy student who was used to the older system and at first had issues with it but eventually warmed up to it.

“It’s pretty confusing at first, especially when it comes to going on BART,” Surmaj said. “It’s like having a credit card: It’s coming out of my own pocket. It is more convenient, but I was used to the old method. But if it’s now all in one, then by all means, it’s great.”

It appears that the Clipper card system is going to stay for a while. Some might call it confusing while others call it innovative, but for now it’s a new way for people to take pub-lic transportation. How this will ultimately affect student life has yet to be fully seen.

4 February 2, 2012`Skyline ViewThe Feature Feature 5February 2, 2012Skyline ViewThe

6 February 2, 2012Skyline ViewThe Opinions

“If we let students have Chinese New Year off, then other cultures will want days off too. Like I’m Rus-sian, and we have Russian New Year. But I don’t think that Chi-nese students should be penalized for leav-ing class to celebrate.”

Ekaterina Maysov

“For the Chinese, this holiday is really important. They have to celebrate Indepen-dence Day and Presi-dents Day even though it’s not their indepen-dence or their presi-dents. They should be entitled to their own as well; it’s like we’re ignoring their culture.”

Gavin Ong

“The school sys-tem needs to be more fair; if other schools had that day off, then we should too. Some students should have been given a chance on whether or not to come in.”

Candy Winters

“It just depends on the person, like if you really celebrate or not. I skipped class so I could do religious stuff with my family. . . . Some of my professors were OK with me skipping their lecture to celebrate.”

Jessica Hoe

“It’s more of a heal because we get the opportunity to attend school, and you know, not everyone is Chi-nese. I’m Chinese and I celebrated the day before.”

Michael Lee

“They don’t have the day off to celebrate. Some students like to go out and do some-thing to celebrate their culture. It would help them sentimentally if those students could spend that time away with friends and family.”

Adan Sarmiento

HURT & HEAL by JJ Valdez

Skyline open on Chinese New Year

HEAL: Teachers let me leave

HURT: Chinese students HEAL: Equality HEAL: Attendance HURT: Choice HURT: Chinese students

Yet another semester rolls around at Skyline, but the times, they are a-changing. This semester is the first semester with the new payment system in place, and frankly I’m a little infuriated by it. What’s that? I didn’t pay for my classes the day I signed up for them so I was dropped from all of them?

Well, shoot. I was hoping we’d at least have a little leeway with the new system, but it really doesn’t seem like that’s going to be the case. The strict law of the land seems to be set in stone. I understand the problems that the school may be having with out-standing payments, but honestly

if there’s a problem and my credit card payment doesn’t go through because Chase thinks it’s suspicious, why should I be penalized for it? The administra-tion should be working harder to help students, not striking them where it hurts most. I’ve been at Skyline for a long while now, and I’ve seen

it change, but this is probably the most frustrating change I’ve seen so far. Frankly I’ll be glad when I’m out of here, despite how much I’ll miss all the great teachers I’ve had and the many friends of mine who will likely go separate ways. Despite this, I’m glad to say that my experience on the paper has been one I’ll always remember fondly. It’s very hard to believe this will be my last View From Here as I act as the interim Editor in Chief for the first issue of this semester’s paper. There have been good times and hard times, but I wouldn’t trade the experi-ence for a thing. Being on this paper has been one of the best things that’s ever happened in

my life, and some of the people I’ve met have been the best thing that’s ever happened to my life. I’ll still be writing as a free-lancer, but it’s time to let fresh faces take on more responsibili-ties. This semester’s staff is full of gung-ho writers and students just itching to contribute to The View. We’ve added many new able bodies and are lucky to have sea-soned veterans that can impart their infinite knowledge and pass the proverbial torch of college journalism. Thanks for reading our paper this past semester; our readers are precious to us. We hope to provide you with fresh content pertaining to the latest and great-est on our campus!

Back in 1998, State Senator Tom Hayden formed a law, known as the Hayden Law, to protect innocent animals from getting euthanized sooner than four to six days after being brought into an animal shelter. Also according to the Hayden Law, the animal shelters would have to be open during weekends and some nights so that people who work would be able to come in to find their lost animals. The bill also wrote that “public and private shelters and humane organizations share a common purpose in saving animals’ lives, preventing animal suffering, and eliminating animal abandonment.” Now, with an economic crisis going on and the government losing money, Gov. Jerry Brown is doing what he can to make the deficit smaller. Unfortunately, this means cutting $23 million from these shelters and repealing the Hayden Law to make the protected stay for ani-mals a mere three days. Many people, including me, are outraged by this. I don’t think that it’s fair for the animals or their families that lost pets

would only be given three days of shelter before they’re euthanized. Our only recourse is to sign the online petition that would prevent the repeal of the Hayden Law, and I urge you to join me in doing so. If Brown’s proposed policy is imple-mented, will the shelters still be required to stay open some nights and weekends for those who work? That policy should remain in place because if Brown is going to cut back the amount of days that the animals can be in those shelters then he

shouldn’t cut back hours for the shelters, because the point of the Hayden Law was to protect animals from getting put down too early and that would make it harder for people to try get their animals back. I know Brown is trying to cut spending, but this is not the way to do it. If pet owners are only given three days to find their lost animals, then micro-chipping should be made cheaper and more ac-cessible in different areas in California. This would cut back the time it takes for employees of the shelters to determine to whom the lost pets in their care belong. Also I think they should set an age limit for the dogs and cats that you can bring in to the shelters. This way they wouldn’t have so many older pets to try to fit in shelters. If you have an older animal, you shouldn’t be allowed to bring them in because most people aren’t going to want to adopt an older cat or dog. This could save the state enough money to keep the Hayden Law in place.Please go to http://change.org/petitions/the-governor-of-ca-do-not-repeal-any-provisions-of-the-hayden-law and sign the petition that will keep lost pets alive.

Budget reform cuts animals’ lives short Jerry Brown proposes to cut time before euthanizationby Megan BenvenisteSkyline View staff writer

The View FromwithStephen Benoit

Here

California Governor Jerry BrownPublic Domain Image

Opinions 7February 2, 2012Skyline ViewThe

What’s next after SOPA editorial On Congress’ Internet protection act

SOPA may be shelved, but the U.S. Congress doesn’t seem keen on giving up the fight to censor the internet. Nor should we give up the fight to protect free speech. The idea of censoring the internet is one

that frightens us, particularly bills like SOPA that take it to an obscene level. We’re not opposed to fighting piracy; piracy is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.

But censoring the internet and shutting down websites for the reasons listed in SOPA sets a bad precedent and needs to be stopped. SOPA allows one website to shut down another if it even has links to a website with potential copyright infringement. Think about it: Do you think Facebook would continue to allow you to post links to outside websites with this kind of law in place? Do you think YouTube could stay in business with people post-ing material that violates copy-

right law faster than YouTube can take them down? Websites that we’ve grown accustomed to would either be taken down or changed so drasti-cally that they wouldn’t be the site you’ve grown accustomed to and grown to love. If you know a website that hosts user-created content, they’re all at risk. This includes art websites, music websites and countless other types of websites. The worst part about the bill is that to save time and money, many websites could be

shut down without even check-ing to see if the claim is valid first. The reason I say the websites could be shut down without the validity of the claim being checked is that it says as much in the summary of the bill archived from the Library of Congress: Sets forth an additional two-step process that allows an intellectual property-right holder harmed by a U.S.-directed site dedicated to infringement, or a site promoted or used for infringement under certain circumstances, to first provide a writ-

ten notification identifying the site to related payment network provid-ers and Internet advertising services requiring such entities to forward the notification and suspend their ser-vices to such an identified site unless the site’s owner, operator, or domain name registrant, upon receiving the forwarded notification, provides a counter notification explaining that it is not dedicated to engaging in speci-fied violations. In laymen’s terms, this means if I want your website shut down, in accordance with this law I could call the domain provider and say that you violate my copyrights and have your website taken down by your internet service provider without any investigation. Sure, you could provide a counter argument, but who do you think your internet service provider is more likely to believe or want to cooperate with--the multi-billion dollar corporation that’s trying to shut you down, or you, who’s being accused of copyright violation? As journalists, we find this proposed legislation scary. If we write a negative review of a product, the company that sells it could claim we’re violating their copyright and have our website shutdown. Then we’d have to wait for an appeal and for the site to be reviewed. There are just too many bad precedents set by SOPA to allow it to pass, and we need to fight against it. Both California senators are co-sponsors of the bill, so we would like to ask you to write to not only Barbara Boxer and Di-anne Feinstein about not support-ing this bill, but also your local congressperson. If you’re in the 12th congres-sional district, your congressper-son is Jackie Speier. Otherwise, you can go to http://govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd and enter your zip code to determine who your congressperson is.

Obama outlines his plan for coming yearCongress must learn to get along if any progress is to be made

Obama gave his State of the Union speech last night, paying due

attention to education and making many suggestions for dealing with the problems at hand. Of course, all of his recommendations are contingent on Congress ending the gridlock they’ve been in for so long that has kept them from addressing key issues. This is a problem that affects all of us, and the trend needs to change.

One of the biggest problems with our education system, as many of you are aware, is the cost of a college degree. The President proposed several acts that would make educational more affordable for all of us.

Obama suggested, of course, increasing student aid in order to help people make it through col-lege. He did recognize, however, that it would be foolish to think the government could continu-ously subsidize tuition that just keeps going higher. To address this problem, Obama requested two things: for the states to make

higher education a higher priority in the state budget, and for schools to keep their costs down. If they aren’t able to, Obama vowed any school that can’t keep tuition down will get less money from the taxpayers. “Higher education can’t be a luxury -- it’s an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.

Another undeniable problem Obama addressed is the issue of citizenship for so many students. He called for immediate immigra-tion reform, so people who are educated here can legally stay here and work here. He asks that, even

if Congress can’t come up with a cohesive plan, they should at least “agree to stop expelling responsi-ble young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses, and defend this country.” He went on to say that if Congress sends him a law that will help these people earn their citizenship, he will sign it right away.

This leads to the inevitable question: Will Congress follow through with anything Obama asked of them? Cooperation has not been Congress’ strong suit recently, especially when it comes to things the President asks them to do. It can be argued that legislation is being blocked simply to spite the President, or ensure he’s unable to make any major changes before the 2012 elections. This, of course, is childish and counterproductive.

Obama addressed this in the very beginning of his speech, after he talked about the withdrawal of the final troops from Iraq and recognized the great things our Armed Forces have accomplished since the beginning of the war.

He discussed the breaking of al Quaeda, for which our troops are responsible. Obama called these accomplishments “a testament to the courage, selflessness, and team-work of America’s Armed Forces.”

The President encouraged Con-gress to take note of this. “Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example,” Obama said. It leads one to think, “why can’t we?” This is an issue bigger than a recessed economy, bigger than tax increases and bigger than health care. If Congress can’t learn to get along, the economy won’t recover, employment won’t go up and no advances will be made towards a better tomorrow.

The President laid out a plan to make America the country it once was, from offering tax breaks to American companies who don’t outsource, to the education reforms mentioned above. His recommen-dations are reasonable, and would certainly help improve the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of Americans. Congress just has to act.

blair hardee

Skyline’s new payment policy, known as Plan Ahead - Pay Ahead, is a painful but necessary

change that is needed to ensure that colleges don’t sink deeper into a sea of debt. California has come up with some initiatives to help fund community colleges. For exam-ple, proposition 1522 (Tax Oil to Fund Education Initiative) would give money to schools. Addition-ally, Skyline plans to raise the cost per unit to $46, and it has al-ready implemented its new Plan Ahead, Pay Ahead system. But the fate of the former lies in the future, and the new Plan Ahead - Pay Ahead policy is currently the more pressing matter. It’s true that classes have already started, but the policy change still concerns students because if you are still adding classes, you are required to pay your school fees immediately after adding a class. Students who signed up for classes for this semester had to pay by Jan. 4 or they were dropped from all their classes. Of course, students who were not able to pay by the deadline had options such as enrolling in a payment plan, completing an electronic FAFSA application by a set date, or hav-ing a third party contract to pay for their classes. Is it fair for the college to impose this policy upon its students? It all depends on your view because when you consider it, the Plan Ahead - Pay Ahead plan is meant to ensure that students don’t end up in debt to the college, and in turn the col-lege gets it money so that it can pay its own bills at the end of the month. The state’s financial situation has forced Skyline to enact this plan, but we should be thankful that at least students have other options besides simply being cast out into the cold if they can’t make the deadline. In the end, it’s a change that has been forced on both students and the college, but it is one of necessity and we must endure it if the community college system is to remain a resource for the people of San Mateo County.

Plan Ahead - Pay Ahead a necessityfor Skyline Will Nacouzi

“The Vow” Feb 10 Every girl loves a good chick flick, and secretly so does every guy. Ever since the trailer was shown last year, every girl I know has been anticipating watching the collaboration

between Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams. The plot is told in the trailer itself: A young newlywed couple is involved in a car accident that leads the wife (McAdams) to severe memory loss. Now the husband (Tatum) must make her fall in love with him all over again.

“21 Jump Street” March 16 Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum tag-team in the revised 1980s TV series that launched Johnny Depp into stardom. Hill and Tatum play undercover cops sent to a high school to

crack down on the drug issue among the students.“Casa de mi Padre” March 16 Have you ever imagined Will Ferrell speaking Spanish? Ferrell returns with another comedy that is sure to top the box office charts. This time it’s a parody of the Western

melodramatic telenovela (Spanish soap opera).“The Hunger Game” March 23 In a world which North America consists of a single country known as Panem, the capital holds an annual event similar to the Olympics. However, the chosen boy and girl from

each of the 12 districts must compete in a televised competition in which only one is to survive.“The Avengers” May 4 Earth is under attack by the villain Loki. Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Captain America, Hulk and Hawkeye form the alliance known as the Avengers to fight Loki and prevent

him from gaining power. “Men in Black III” May 25 Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are once again in black suits fighting aliens. The complication is that Agent J (Smith) must travel back in time to prevent his partner Agent K

(Lee) from being murdered by an alien and changing the course of history.“Prometheus” June 8 A team known as Prometheus is formed to discover the beginning of the history of mankind, but they soon discover a civilization of extraterrestrials that could end their mission.“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” June 22 A secret about America’s 16th president is going to shock and intrigue audiences across the nation. Abraham Lincoln was a vampire hunter--according to the storyline, at least.

The film is based on the president’s “secret diaries,” which narrate the twisted story created by Henry Sturges. The book has already won many hearts with its gruesome humor.“Brave” June 22 The new Pixar movie depicts a story revolving around an abnormal princess who wants to defy her culture’s tradition. She is a hard-headed princess ready to create her own

destiny, which unleashes chaos. “The Amazing Spider-Man” July 3 Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) begins to discover his parents’ past, ultimately leading him to become the superhero Spider-Man. This reboot series does not include his notori-

ous love interest Mary Jane, but his college interest in the comics, Gwen Stacy, is added onto the plot. This film has been highly anticipated; audiences want to see how this version of the story of the amazing Spider-Man unravels.

“The Dark Knight Rises” July 20 The biggest summer movie, and the most anticipated movie of 2012, is the finale of the Batman trilogy. The last two films enjoyed pure success with their superb storyline and

glorious action. “The Dark Knight Rises” chronicles the return of Batman after eight years, when the city of Gotham is under vicious attacks from super-villains Bane and Catwoman. “The Expendables 2” Aug 17 The gang reunites in another testosterone-filled, action-packed film this summer. The expendables are called to accomplish an easy mission that ends one of their brothers’ lives.

The movie revolves around the themes of vengeance and violence.“SkyFall” Nov 9 The James Bond series starring Daniel Craig returns in a more intense action-packed film. While 007’s commanding officer M’s past is creating tension that challenges his loyalty

to her, MI6 turns to Bond for help determining who is responsible for a recent attack.“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” Dec 14 Director Peter Jackson brings the world of the Shire and Middle Earth to the big screen once again with a prequel to his award-winning trilogy “Lord of the Rings.” The film

will be split into two parts. The classic story begins at Bag End with our protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, who is encountered by the infamous wizard Gandalf. The two set off on a journey that changes Bilbo in a way unimaginable to the folks of the Shire.

“The Great Gatsby” Dec 25 This classic American tale is once again being produced into a feature film. The cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. Nick Carraway (Maguire) moves to Long

Island and is captivated by the life of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby (DiCaprio). He witnesses the upcoming world of “new money” and the age of the roaring ’20s.

Upcoming movies of 2012Diane Thaoskyline view staff writer

Individual posters provided by their respective publishersVarious posters for upcoming movies in 2012

Indie innovation: “Towns,” a fantasy-style “Sim City”

I have a soft spot in my heart for indie games, especially ones that go off the beaten path and pursue what-ever vision they have in mind. One such game that I recently discovered is called “Towns.”

If you’ve read our paper in pre-vious years, you may have read a review about a game called “Dwarf Fortress.” It’s an insanely complex game that can be incredibly addic-tive despite non-existent graph-ics and a considerable amount of convolution. In fact, I’ve heard the learning curve described as a brick wall you have to run into and grind

your face against until your bloody stump of a skull makes it through.

The reason I bring up “Dwarf Fortress” is that “Towns” is a graphi-cal but, at the moment, far more shallow similar game. In both games you have no direct control over characters, you issue commands, and your citizens carry them out to the best of their abilities. I’d have to describe both games as a fantasy version of “Sim-City” in which you don’t actually control the people, you just designate where they build and they do as you command.

This style of game is not to be confused with a real-time strategy

game; you cannot directly control people to do specific things at specific times. Sure, in “Dwarf For-tress” you can set jobs, but they will take care of their own necessities first. In “Towns” you don’t have that luxury yet, and I’ve lost the game a few times because my people were so busy with other jobs that they couldn’t be bothered to make enough food to survive.

Both games have a very simple goal: to survive as long as possible. But it looks like “Towns” is going to be making some changes that may change that. “Towns” is planning on incorporating heroes who come to

your town to slay monsters and ex-plore the dungeon. In a way it’s like you’re the leader of a town a great hero would come and visit in a role-playing game. It’s like you’re on the other side of a role-playing game!

It’s a fun little time waster, but because it’s still early in develop-ment, there are aspects about it that are frustrating, such as the afore-mentioned lack of prioritization or having to assign a worker to specific jobs and only those jobs.

Heroes haven’t been added to the game yet, so I haven’t been able to explore very far in the dungeon yet, mainly because the soldiers I create

are starting to get obliterated as I go deeper into the dungeon, even with great equipment I find on the way down.

Overall, it’s a game with great potential and some unique ideas. There are some problems, and with the lack of heroes, I feel like I’ve become trapped at an early stage of the game. I’m going to give it a few weeks and then give the game a chance. In the meantime, you can give the “Towns” demo a spin at http://townsgame.com/.

STephen BenoiT/The Skyline View

The citizens of my first successful town scramble about doing several important chores to keep themselves alive.

Stephen Benoitskyline view EIC

Ever wanted to just go out and get off land? Explore beyond the grains of sand and with the wildlife of the seas? There are many activities that you can choose from to fulfill your need in venturing into the big blue ocean. You could kayak alone or with another with no previous experience.

If you’re feeling adventurous, the drive south to Monterey Bay from San Bruno about an hour and half. The easiest and fastest route is taking Highway 101 South straight into the city. In Monterey Bay there is a cute, quaint beach known as Lover’s Point.

If you’re not familiar with this beach, it is one of the more re-nowned sites for tourist, and is there-fore crowded during summer. This doesn’t interfere with the rentals for kayaks or the experience of explor-ing the wonders of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Adventures by the Sea offers sit-on-top kayak rentals for $30 per per-son all day with a life jacket, dry bag and (upon request) wet suit. This is

actually very inexpensive compared to most kayak rentals, which usually start at $45 with the equipment for only an hour. The dry bag given is large enough to fit a regular-size novel. It’s designed to hold your personal belongings such as wallets, watch, keys and most importantly your camera! This is probably the most valuable item in the package, so make sure you bring your camera to capture every moment.

Even during gloomy seasons such as the one we are currently in, you can see a lot of wildlife. If any-thing, you tend to witness more on days when the ocean is less occupied by people. Witness sea otters, seals and jelly fishes throughout your voyage around the coastline with every paddle.

And if you’re thinking you have no prior experience, and how you are even going to maneuver your kayak, the instructor will be more than will-ing to teach you the basic knowledge of how to correctly stroke and how to maneuver your kayak. The sit-on-top kayak stroking techniques takes less than 10 minutes to be explained to a newbie.

Once out on the waters, definitely make sure you practice your paddle strokes before venturing too far from the coastline. You don’t want to make the mistake of heading be-yond the point of return and have the tides take control of you. This could result in your kayak being slammed against boulders along the coast and ultimately flipping into the sea. Being in the icy cold ocean watch-ing your belongings drift away will definitely raise your blood pressure and stress level.

A better way to increase your adrenalin rather than taking a dip in the ocean unprepared is actually getting closer to the wildlife. Get-ting close to the animals may be considered dangerous depending on what you happen to approach. The sea otters were quite the calm and attention-seeking creatures. From a comfortable distance they continue to lounge on rocks, and if you get any closer they dive in the opposite direction. You can get within about 15 feet otters.

Aside from the experience of witnessing the wildlife, the physical demands make for a great abdominal

workout. Your arms are the instru-ments you use to paddle the kayak, but if done correctly, your abdomen and entire core are what create a strong stroke. The whole upper body, from lower back to upper shoulders, are exercised with each paddle.

Considering the great price and the benefits of exercise and experi-

ence, this is quite the deal. Adven-tures by the Sea will remain open for rentals throughout the year. Also, if you mention their Facebook page while requesting an appointment, you will be given a 10% discount. This is a wonderful idea for a dis-covering a new hobby.

Out and about: kayaking at Lovers’ PointDiane Thaoskyline view writer

diane Thao/The Skyline View

A seal lounges on a rock near the coastline of Lover’s Point.

8 February 2, 2012Skyline ViewThe Entertainment

Entertainment 9February 2, 2012Skyline ViewThe

Many who played the original “Final Fantasy XIII,” including myself, found it to be an en-

During a time when rock ‘n’ roll was gaining popularity throughout the world, the British government wanted to stop all broadcasting of rock ‘n’ roll. So a group of friends gathered together on a ship off the coast of Great Britain to be free of the government and play music their way. The 2009 movie “Pirate Radio” chronicles these friends’ adventures.

I really enjoyed this movie. It was definitely entertaining and hilarious. It definitely seemed more like an indie film to me. I thought it made it feel like it was set in the time period that it was supposed to be and gave it a more relaxed feel to the movie.

I liked the fact that it wasn’t like the normal Hollywood mov-ies that have been produced lately. The whole indie theme really made this movie entertaining with all the little quirks that the cast gave to their performance. The clothes definitely added to that indie feel-ing. They never looked all done up or anything; it looked like most of them had rolled out of bed and gotten dressed.

I loved the cast. I think every-one that was cast in the movie did a great job acting the part that they had. While watching, I never thought that someone else should

have been playing one of their parts. They all fit in so well together. They were all so funny, and made me laugh the whole movie.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman was hilarious in this movie. Hoffman played the main DJ on the ship. When a caller sent in that they would like to hear the “F” word on the radio, the Count (Hoffman) was down for the dare, but the captain of the ship (Bill Nighy) was not going to have that type of language broadcasted. Then a funny exchange of words between the two, in which

they utter the “F” word count-less times, is accidentally

broadcasted on the radio. I loved the story-line. I really en-

joyed the fact that they

t i e d

everything together in such a unique way. I love how they used the ‘60s music to tie in the love story between the new kid, Carl (Tom Sturridge), whose mother the captain had once been in a relationship with, and the captain’s god-daughter. No matter what was going on in the movie, there was always a point where they could use what they were putting out on the radio to relate to what was actually going on in the ship and in the characters’ own lives.

The one thing that I wish they had done in the movie was use real-life people who had actually start-ed the Pirate Radio ships. I t h ink tha t would

have made the movie a little better. I mean if these were real things that were happening in the 1960s, then I would have liked to see who the real people were who made it possible for so many people to listen to this music and be exposed to something new. I think having it based off of their actions would have made the storyline more about what really happened instead of just taking an idea and the music from the 1960s and making a storyline of what the producers wanted it to be about.

Whatever the storyline was, it was still a very funny

movie, and I would recommend this to

anyone. You will without a doubt

enjoy watching it to the very

end.

Rocking Around the Sea Megan Benveniste skyline view writer

“Final Fantasy” developers have heard critics

tirely underwhelming and disappointing experience.

Sure, the game is easily one of the best-looking games ever to grace the PlayStation 3. Style and artistic direc-tion is certainly never an issue in games developed by Square-Enix.

The issue that most plagued “Final Fantasy III” was the super-strict rigid-ity with which the game’s story—and consequently much of its action—pro-gressed.

The game’s extreme linearity kept me feeling trapped, claustrophobic and unable to freely explore the beautifully rendered world surrounding me.

The progression of the game offered no respite from the action, with

no towns to speak o f .

And for God’s sake, the player didn’t even have the option of engaging in conversation with the non-playable characters, resulting in a fan-base reaction that was mixed at best.

This is where “Final Fantasy XIII-2” comes in.

Apparently, the developers heard the cry of the gamers clamoring for a title worthy of the Final Fantasy moni-ker, and the chief purpose in creating “Final Fantasy XIII-2” is to remedy the shortcomings of the original.

Therefore, it’s probably best to think of “Final Fantasy XIII-2” as “Final Fantasy XIII-Take 2.”

The premise of “Final Fantasy XIII-2” revolves around the mechan-ics of time travel—which already seems like a much more liberating concept for a game’s story—resulting in a narrative in which the player can choose one of any number of diverg-

ing paths at any given point.But time

travel can also be danger-ous, and stories that involve constant temporal shifts can easily become confus-ing and convoluted. Any-one who has played Final Fantasy game knows that the series is already pre-disposed to storylines that barely make sense when all is said and done.

So the developers of “Final Fantasy XIII-2” are tasked with walking the

very fine line between creativity and chaos.

Now that I’ve addressed the things that could go wrong in “Final Fantasy XIII-2,” let’s talk about what has gone right.

After playing the “Final Fan-tasy XIII-2” demo available for download on the PlayStation Net-work, I was intrigued. I found that it had persuaded me to devote my time to this new adventure, if not for the narrative, then definitely for the gameplay.

At the beginning of the demo, the gameplay modifications that the developers have made are immediately apparent.

The player begins in an open-area excavation site called the Bresha Ruins, which acts as a town of sorts—something the original “Final Fantasy XIII” never had. And the excavation site is inhabited by non-playable characters to whom the player can actually walk up and start a conversation with using the “X” button.

Not only can the player talk to non-playable characters, but some of them even have optional fetch quests that you can choose to accept.

For the next shocker, if you open up the area map from the main menu, you can see that the restrictive corridor-like areas from the original “Final Fantasy

XIII” are a thing of the past. In-stead you’re presented with a much more traditional, much less restrictive map that allows you to explore—exploration also being something that the original “Final Fantasy XIII” never had.

If I had a single complaint about the “Final Fantasy XIII-2” demo, it would be that there does appear to be a slight downgrade in visual quality. Some of the non-playable characters definitely suffer from a less-than-awesome polygon count, and textures in general are not as detailed as in the original.

But the freedom to explore an environment that is still quite beautifully rendered was well worth the slight visual tradeoff.

While it’s impossible to gauge the quality of the final product, I am very pleased with the changes I have seen so far. Square-Enix gets top marks for taking a game with obvious shortcomings and re-tooling them.

What Square-Enix developers have done is something new and quite commendable. They have actually taken player reaction into account when developing this “Final Fantasy XIII” sequel and attempted to make a game that the fans want.

It’s just a shame they couldn’t have done it the first time around.

Joe Barrackskyline view Opinions Editor

proVided By Square enix Lightning is trapped in Valhalla in “Final Fantasy XIII-2.”

FocuS FeaTureS/The Skyline View

Actors let loose on the deck of a ship.

10 February 2, 2012Skyline ViewThe Entertainment

Sports 11February 2, 2012Skyline ViewThe

The Trojans were looking for their third win in the Coast Confer-ence North on Friday, Jan. 27 at Skyline, but couldn’t seem to find it in a 79-66 loss to the Las Positas Hawks (3-4).

But after all was said and done on Friday night, it appeared that both teams still had a bit of fight left in them, which manifested itself in the form of a physical altercation after the final buzzer.

Skyline wing Nate Gartrell got into an ugly scrum with a couple of Las Positas players during the post-game handshake. The players continued to hurl insults back and forth as the coaches and other team-mates attempted to break up the fight before it escalated any further.

The chaos lasted only a minute before being quelled by the coaches, after which the Trojans withdrew to the locker room.

But the battle before the final buzzer was just as big of a spectacle.

Las Positas jumped out to a quick start against the Trojans, easily outplaying Skyline for most of the first half and leading with a score of 35-15 at one point.

There were a number of factors that lead to Las Positas’ first half

dominance, chief among them being turnovers committed by Skyline.

Las Positas’ stifling defense also gave the Trojans some trouble. The Hawks defense succeeded in keep-

Skyline fights hard till the bitter end Trojans fall short of second-half comeback

ing the ball mostly near the top of the arc, not allowing the Skyline forwards to dribble their way into the paint for the more promising scoring opportunities.

What made matters worse was that the Trojans were having trouble hitting their long-range jump shots in the early going, compounded by their lack of rebounds at both ends

by Joe Barrackskyline view Opinions Editor

Agustin Arroyo’s energy off the bench kept Skyline close throughout the game.

I’m going to say this straight out: It isn’t fair to blame the 49ers’ loss in the NFC championship game all on one player, Kyle Williams.

Returning a punt in the NFL is never easy. You need to have a clear vision of the defenders com-ing ready to hit you while main-taining your focus on the football and remaining ready to catch.

After the game, some angry 49er fans showed absolutely no class or respect for Williams as a football player, or even a human being.

A trip to the Super Bowl this Sunday would have been nice, but death threats are completely inappropriate and have no place in football, on or off the field.

Williams deserves respect for owning up to his mistakes and not ducking the media or any questions the media asked after the 49ers’ loss in the NFC cham-pionship game.

It isn’t fair for angry fans to

Saturdays, 12:30 pm – 4:30 pm Feb 4 – Mar 31, 2012

Skyline College Bldg 8, Room 8209 (Closed Feb 18)

FREE Tax Preparation Service If your 2011 income was less than $50,000

Call today for an appointment 650-738-7035 Have your taxes prepared by an IRS Certified Tax Preparer

of the court.Las Positas was leading by a

score of 39-27 at the half, as a some-what dejected-looking Skyline team headed for the locker room.

But the Trojans emerged, seem-ingly with new confidence, and played a much more convincing second half.

Skyline played much more ag-gressively, forcing turnovers that led to the occasional breakaway chance, coming down with more rebounds, and most importantly hitting more of their shots.

The Trojans very nearly pulled off a second-half comeback, thanks in large part to sophomore point man Kyle Wong, who had a 19-point game, and freshman guard Agustin Arroyo, who had 14 points.

Both, it seemed, were three-point machines. Wong sank a couple of shots from 3-point range on back-to-back plays, and Arroyo racked up a few himself before the night was over.

With their help, the Trojans were able to pull within six points late in the game, but Las Positas was able to hold off Skyline and widen their lead in the game’s dying minutes.

Skyline’s next home game is against Ohlone College on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m.

Daniel Chee/The Skyline View

Advertisement

take it all out on Williams and to point fingers, especially after a poor offensive performance.

Did you know the 49ers were 1 for 13 in third-down conversions? That won’t win you many football games. Having Vernon Davis as your only offensive weapon off the ball won’t win you many ball games either.

Also, having your top wide receiver Michael Crabtree failing to get open for more than a five-yard pass made it seem like he was nowhere to be found throughout the game.

With this said, people should look into blaming the entire of-fense as well for failing to score with the game tied in the fourth quarter.

If the 49ers scored on just one of those opportunities, perhaps we wouldn’t have played in overtime. The 49ers lost this game together, as a team. They certainly had their chances.

Don’t hate the player; hate the gameT e r e n c e Chin

SportsSkyline

Upcoming Games

2/03 @ Chabot College 5 p.m. 2/08 VS Mission College 5 p.m. 2/15 @ College of San Mateo 5:30 p.m. 2/17 VS City College of SF 5 p.m.

Women’s Basketball 2/03 @ Chabot College 7 p.m. 2/08 VS Ohlone College 7 p.m. 2/15 @ Cañada College 7 p.m. 2/17 VS City College of SF 7 p.m.

Men’s Basketball

Skyline beats LPC twice this seasonHosley finds playing time for every player

Baseball Badminton 2/07 @ San Joaquin Delta 2 p.m. 2/09 @ Consumns River 2 p.m. 2/11 VS Consumnes River 1 p.m. 2/14 VS San Joaquin Delta 2 p.m.

3/17 Coast Conference Tour 12 p.m. 3/20 @ Mission College 3 p.m. 3/27 @Fresno City College 3 p.m. 4/10 VS De Anza College 3 p.m.

by Rich Estradaskyline view Sports Editor

The Skyline women’s basketball team hosted visiting Las Positas Col-lege on Jan. 27 at 7 p.m., marking the two teams’ second face off of the season. In their previous meeting this year, Skyline won convincingly in Livermore with a final score of 75-51.

However, with the Lady Trojans coming off losses to arch-rivals City College of San Francisco and College of San Mateo, the bigger Las Positas team looked prepared to avenge their loss and give Skyline their first three-game losing streak of the season.

The Hawks had not played since Jan. 20, and they appeared ready to try to steal a win against a Trojan team playing their third game in one week. Both teams came into the con-test with identical 10-11 records, al-though the Hawks have yet to notch a division win this season, ranking last in the Coast Conference: North.

Skyline was first on the score-board after claiming the opening tip, and they did not relinquish that lead for the rest of the game. Head Coach Trisha Hosley utilized a small lineup throughout the majority of the game, taking advantage of the speed mismatch led by Freshman Cierra Peel on her way to a game high of 15 points.

Skyline’s backcourt performed superbly, defensively forcing several turnovers, which became fast-break opportunities on the opposite end of the floor.

On a night every player had an opportunity to contribute, Skyline had Las Positas’ defense disoriented as they tried to adjust to the tempo the Trojans established early. Skyline

freshman Stephanie del Bianco’s relentless pressure on defense was key in adding to the Trojan lead as she led the Skyline bench with eight points of her own.

Las Positas couldn’t match Sky-line’s perimeter shooting, and Sky-line’s score ballooned up to 23 points. Six different Trojan players converted from beyond the arc.

The game got ugly in the second half when a Hawks player lost her composure and tackled freshman Brittney Kelly to the floor on a play that ultimately led to a technical foul given to Las Positas. The Hawks

player was ejected from the game. Las Positas continued to crumble,

eventually losing the tie-breaker game 67-44. In the two games against Las Positas College this sea-son, Skyline has outscored the Lady Hawks by a combined 47 points, the most against any team this season.

When asked about her team’s three-point shooting, Peel said, “It’s a part of our game that we work on in practice. Sometimes we go against bigger teams and need to be able to make shots.” She added, “Coach puts us through a three-point shoot-ing drill at practices. It gave us an

Megan Benveniste/The Skyline ViewChelsea Bandebel leads a fast break in one of Skyline’s many offensive attacks, leading to a 23 point Trojan lead.

Trojans Basketball

We’ve all seen the movies with the jock wearing letterman jacket teasing the nerd in the halls. Deep down, we sympathize with the nerd, knowing he’ll grow up to change the world while the jock amounts to nothing. The media has done a great job supplying the ammunition for the arsenal against the student athlete. However, upon inspection, it was easy for me to see that Skyline’s student athletes defy this negative stereotype.

Talk to any of Skyline’s coach-es and their focus for their players begins in the classroom. Skyline’s coaches all share a philosophy that is measured off the field, empha-sizing the importance of excelling in the classroom, reminding them that they offer more than just a winning record.

As Sports Editor of The Skyline View, I had the pleasure of getting to know a number of Skyline’s ath-letes and coaches. Amazingly, I’ve never had to suffer a swirly at the big, burly hands of a jock, remi-niscent of scenes in 1980s teen dramas. Instead, I’ve met class-act players who thanked me for attending games, proud coaches who shared the accomplishments of their players, and a dean of athletics willing to do anything he can to help his Trojans and The Skyline View. Skyline College has an athletics staff that approaches collegiate sports the right way.

Every team on campus is made up of students who thanks to their coaches see the big picture. A baseball team that averages 18 units per player and consistently sends its entire squad on to four-year universities only comple-ments the State Scholar Award received by the basketball team this past season. Every coach on campus has their students’ suc-cess stories posted on their office doors. For this, I applaud Skyline Athletics for their dedication to their players and to the athletes who choose to be students first.

Skyline Athletics’ winning philosophy

edge tonight.”Kelly Huey dictated the offen-

sive pace, creating opportunities for her teammates on the wing.

“We try to out-quick bigger teams because it’s one of our strengths and most likely not theirs,” Huey said. “We trust each other and know that people will be at the right spots on the floor.”

When asked about her deep lineup, Coach Hosley shared that it boosts morale and overall team performance when her players know they’ll see some playing time.

“Everyone’s been coming to practice,” Hosley said. “They all work hard, and they’re committed. I like to find playing time for all of them.”

Hosley also addressed the de-fensive effort she saw and hopes it carries over to their next stretch of games.

“We face Mission and Foothill next, and they’re high scoring teams,” Hosley said. “Tonight our defense helped out our offense, and that’s what we have to do moving forward.”

The Trojans have evened their season at 11-11. Skyline will host their final two home games on Feb. 8 against Mission College and on Feb. 17 in a rematch against City College of San Francisco.

Sherine Johnson dominated the lane despite being undersized.

Joe Barrack/The Skyline View

Rich Estrada

Coach Hosley Post-GameInterview!