Student Senate president called out for his campaign speech

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Daniel Wilson

Originally published Nov. 8, 2011 by SacCityExpress.com

Students campaign for roles in the City College student government, now called the Student Associated Council. Former ASG President Leedell Williams is running for president of SAC. Photo by Evan E. Duran.

Newly elected Student Senate President Kevin Kayhanian found himself in the hot seat over comments he made in his speech during the student government forums last month in the Quad.

On Oct. 14 Kayhanian introduced his C.L.A.S.S. initiative — Care, Leisure, Athleticism and Social Synchronization — at the forums. Some students said they had issues with portions of his speech.

“Not everything can get worse, but everything can get better,” said Kayhanian during the ‘C’ part of his candidacy speech. “’C’ is care for students, and the majority of people just come here, manipulate others, manipulate teachers, cheat and go on. That cheats yourself, cheats everybody else. We can easily get along with one another and easily learn.”

Nursing major Savannah Perman was one of the students who disliked the way Kayhanian portrayed City College students. She said she doesn’t think Kayhanian’s comments were appropriate and his arguments were invalid.

“We come here to further our education, not to manipulate people and cheat,” Perman said.

Kayhanian explained the meaning behind his speech at an Oct. 28 ASG meeting, where a few members of the board raised concern over the comments.

“There are classes I have attended where I have seen individuals blatantly cheat,” Kayhanian said. “There are times when teachers turn a blind eye and there are times when students turn a blind eye. I’m not saying this happens on a regular basis, but it happens in general and it needs to be addressed.”

Kayhanian said that he meant well with the comments and were intended as generalizations than they may have come across.

“When I said these comments, I didn’t mean any one student nor did I mean all students,” he said. “There shouldn’t be cheating. If there is no cheating, there will not be problems. If there is cheating, I will address it. I believe that this case may have been taken out of context far more than necessary.”

Concerns by members of SAC were also raised over Kayhanian’s comments in his speech on the explanation of the ‘A’ in C.L.A.S.S, in which he talked about City College students not getting enough exercise.

“’A’ stands for athleticism. Not enough people are moving around like these great cheerleaders over here and everyone else who works out,” Kayhanian said. “It’s very important to get some sun and move around. It makes you healthy.”

Kayhanian said he was merely felt more students should partake in daily cardiovascular exercise and it’s important to be healthy.

City College student Manuel Alvizar, major undecided, said he felt that maybe people were upset with Kayhanian’s comments because they hit too close to home for some students.

“If the shoe fits, wear it,” Alvizar said. “If you’re offended, maybe there’s a reason. If you’re working hard even if you’re getting C’s, it shouldn’t offend you.”

Despite Kayhanian’s comments he was still elected into office during the Oct. 18-19 elections. He said when it comes to student approval of his comments; he would just let the numbers speak for themselves.

“I addressed the members [of the ASG] who felt that my thoughts were incomplete and needed to be clarified. I’m thoroughly under the impression that the issue has been absolved and moved on from.”

Kayhanian said he wants anyone who has concerns over this matter or any issue on campus to feel free to raise those concerns to him directly.

“I am available for students that want to come speak to me personally and raise any concerns they may have,” said Kayhanian. “I encourage that.”

View Kayhanian’s speech here.

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‘Batman Arkham City’ game review

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Daniel Wilson

 Justice will be served

Originally published Oct. 27, 2011 by SacCityExpress.com

Batman: Arkham City

When “Batman: Arkham Asylum” debuted in 2009 most gamers expected another mediocre experience like most Batman games. But “Arkham Asylum” swooped in like a Batarang and captured the hearts of gamers everywhere.

The announcement of a sequel, “Batman: Arkham City,” put high hopes in Rocksteady Studios and Warner Bros. to deliver on the promise of another blockbuster title. “Arkham City” launched on Oct. 18 for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 with a PC release slated for November 18.

The game starts out about a year after the first game and “Arkham Asylum” is gone. A portion of the city has been quarantined and has become a prison dubbed “Arkham City.” The opening shows Bruce Wayne holding a press conference to express his concerns with the new prison and that he plans to shut it down. However, the villains of Gotham City, led by Hugo Strange, foil his plans and he finds himself a prisoner.

After a brawl or two, Wayne’s faithful butler, Alfred, sends him the famous bat suit. The Dark Knight takes to the streets on a mission to stop Strange from revealing the Bat’s true identity and to stop the mysterious “Protocol 10.” Two-Face, The Joker, Penguin and Mr. Freeze also play major roles in the game, as well as quite a few surprise characters.

With a little help from the unlikely partner of Catwoman, who is usually a foe of the Bat in black armor, Batman ensues on an adventure like no other.

For those who have played “Arkham Asylum,” most of the gameplay will be familiar. The combat is largely the same, aside from the addition of some new moves and gadgets. Perhaps the best new gadget comes courtesy of Mr. Freeze. The freeze blast is especially helpful with some of the harder enemies in the game, as it allows players to freeze enemies before taking them down.

To navigate the open-world prison city, Batman uses his famous grappling hook as well as his ability to glide. The Riddler trophies are back this time around, as well, and are more challenging to collect.

All of the World’s Greatest Detective’s investigation tools are back, including detective mode, though Rocksteady has thrown in some new elements to make enemies a little wiser to Batman’s tricks. Rocksteady did a great job of keeping the player immersed in the experience, so much so that sometimes it can be difficult to remember it’s just a video game.

“Batman: Arkham City” has an amazing story full of twists and turns, tons of action and surprise villains and allies, some of which are in the main story and others in the side missions. The ending is a huge shocker as well and definitely shouldn’t be easily predicted. The main game lasts approximately eight to 10 hours with additional content adding at least another six to eight hours to the game.

“Batman: Arkham City” isn’t without its flaws though. The map can be confusing and frustrating at times, as it can be unclear where the player is supposed to go next. The GPS system doesn’t help much either.

The graphics are stunning for the most part, and like the first game, Batman’s suit becomes worn out throughout the game. The reversal button used for combat can be unresponsive at times as it must be pressed at precisely the right time and players can expect to die a lot during combat because of failed response from the game when countering enemy attacks.

Enemy bullets sometimes feel unbalanced as well. The gliding can be clunky to control and the artificial intelligence is sometimes too smart, but at other times no smarter than the average fifth grader.

Despite its flaws, the game’s pros far outweigh the cons. It would have been nice to see the game play a little more polished though.

In addition to the main single player game, there is a “new game plus” mode which is the single player game, but with harder enemies and no combat reversal prompts. There are a ton of unlockables, challenges, and Rocksteady has a plethora of DLC which will be available for download in the coming months.

All of this will keep players coming back to “Arkham City” for a long time.

In the end, when the sun sets on Gotham City and Batman finally gets to take a nap after a long night of villain-beating mayhem, “Batman: Arkham City” is certainly one of the best games ever made.

Warner Bros. and Rocksteady have created a formula for success and hopefully for gamers and Batman fans alike, this is a series that continues to deliver justice for a long time.

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Artists’ minds, creative hands

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Daniel Wilson

Folsom Lake College students prepare for art show

Originally published Oct. 13, 2011 by SacCityExpress.com

Art show, Sac City College

Photo provided by Folsom Lake College.

The fourth-annual “Students with Disabilities Art Show” will be held Oct. 24 – Oct. 27 at Folsom Lake College, presented by Disabled Students Programs and Services, a group that provides accommodations to students with disabilities.

According to Christy Pimental DSPS assistant coordinator, the show is open to all Los Rios Community College District students with disabilities including those attending City College. On Oct. 27 a free community reception open to the public will run from 5-7:30 p.m. at the Falcon’s Roost on the Folsom Lake campus.

Pimental said art is submitted and displayed digitally on monitors at Folsom Lake College and that awards presented at the community reception include: a $300 scholarship for the student voted “best of show” and two $100 scholarships for honorable mentions.

“It is to show the achievements and success of students with disabilities,” said Pimental. “It’s going to be a big thing this year, I can feel it now.”

Folsom Lake’s DSPS coordinator Tim McHargue created the show at Folsom Lake College when he saw it done at UC Berkeley and thought it would be a good way to showcase students’ abilities.

“So many times, our students in the school environment are struggling and deal with negative stereotypes and we found that sometimes they have exemplary artistic abilities that don’t often get called into play,” said McHargue.

Pimental said in the first three years DSPS had trouble raising money for the show. She says that isn’t the case this year because DSPS won a $2500 grant from the Los Rios Chancellor’s office.

“That was just amazing,” Pimental said. “This year we were able to focus more on publicity and getting the posters and everything out. It’s a staff of about five of us that run the show so suddenly we don’t have to be struggling for donations now and can focus on how to make the show better.”

Pimental said that Folsom Lake’s DSPS is working to get the art shown at the other Los Rios campuses but currently it is only shown on the Folsom Lake campus. City College students have participated in the show in the past and according to McHargue, have been welcomed to participate this year as well.

“We post the fliers and encourage students to participate,” says City College DSPS coordinator, Gwyneth Tracy.  “I think it encourages students with disabilities to express themselves through art and to be validated in their talents. Certainly we have several students with disabilities at SCC who are talented artists and transfer—sometimes with full scholarships—to the various art schools in California.”

Pimental said that students really enjoy the show because it gives them an outlet to show off their talent.

“It helps take me out of the style I’m doing and see that people with disabilities are capable of creating art work as well as anyone else,” said Richard White, a participant in this year’s show, majoring in art and media at American River College.

According to Pimental, the number of art entries has ranged from approximately 60 – 160 over the last three years and she hopes to see the number of entries surpass 200 this year.

“To give us an opportunity to put [our work] out there is phenomenal,” said White. “It gives people with disabilities a chance to put their work out there. It’s a great thing, and I love being a part of it.”

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Sweet anthropology

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Daniel Wilson

Chocolatier Michael Grofe’s journey to becoming anthropology professor

Originally published Oct. 8, 2011 by SacCityExpress.com

Photo copyright its respective owner.

The ancient Maya are often credited with predicting 2012 as the end  of the world. Some feel that the end of the world is an outrageous idea  while others are scrambling to experience all that they can before the  end of time.

Michael J. Grofe, 41, a Philadelphia, Penn., native, is a City College  anthropology and archaeology professor who went from chocolate  factory owner to Mayan culture expert.

After starting his undergraduate work in marine biology at the  University of Miami and completing it at the James Cook University in Australia, Grofe says he went on to earn his master’s in anthropology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. He decided to get his master’s in anthropology after he became interested in how indigenous cultures perceive nature, says Grofe.

“I had become an apprentice to a chocolatier, my friend’s chocolate company. I actually found myself owning the chocolate business,” Grofe says.

Grofe says he wrote his master’s thesis on the history of chocolate.

“I was very interested in how to make my company successful, but that also led me to the Mayan history because they were very much a part of the domestication of chocolate,” Grofe says.

Grofe’s days as an ultimately unsuccessful chocolate factory owner led him to become further interested in anthropology. After dipping chocolates one day, he realized that they reminded him of Mayan hieroglyphs. He decided to make a box of Mayan-inspired chocolates. His idea developed into incorporating information on each of the hieroglyphs found in one of many Mayan calendars called the Haab calendar, but when he found there wasn’t much known about the hieroglyphs, he gained more interest  in learning about the Maya.

Grofe went on to write a manuscript about the Haab calendar, which he used to apply to the UC Davis doctorate program, where he earned his PhD in Native American studies.

“I’m really interested especially in the ancient Maya and ancient cultures in terms of how they wove together their scientific abilities with their astronomical abilities, religion and their mythologies,” Grofe says. “I feel like I have found exactly what I’m supposed to be doing in this life and that is being an anthropology teacher.”

Students of Grofe say they can definitely see his passion in the way he teaches.

“I think he’s very interesting,” says Omar Gonzalez, a biology major currently enrolled in Grofe’s Anthropology 320 class. “He’s a good professor and he really seems to be into his work.”

In addition to teaching several courses at City College, Grofe works with the Maya Exploration Center, a group that leads trips to ancient and living Maya sites in Central America, as well as to non-Maya sites like Machu Picchu in South America.

“One of my favorite things to do is use my green laser and go out at night and look at the stars as ancient people looked at them,” says Grofe. “We’re starting to understand how building alignments and hieroglyphic texts incorporate all this astronomy.”

Grofe says that the Mayan calendars were set up as time cycles within larger time cycles, similar to our decades, centuries and millennial, and that the 2012 prediction is actually the ending of a cycle.

“I think what they’re saying is that time is infinite,” Grofe says. “I think it’s a way to relate humanity to time and to really allow us to reflect on what this is all about, what it means to live within our short lifetimes that are situated within that infinite amount of time.”

Grofe, who recently published a chapter in a Cambridge University Press book about 2012 and other Maya astronomical calculations into the distant past and future, says that it’s important to take ancient texts as they are and to be careful how we interpret their meanings.

“We often take things very literally in our culture,” Grofe says. “I think it’s really dangerous to think in those literal terms. Instead, if we can think symbolically as kind of a suggestion of how to live in a balanced way, that’s a really powerful way to interpret various religious stories from around the world.

The emphasis is not to be afraid that the world is going to end but to reflect on what these mythological stories mean in order to maintain balance.”

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Until Tuesday

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Daniel Wilson

Veteran’s heartfelt book chronicles how dog saved his life

Originally published Oct. 4, 2011 by SacCityExpress.com

Carlos Luis Montalvan gives his speech with his dog, Tuesday by his side. Photo by Shalisha Jones.

The relationship between a man and his dog is unique, but for a disabled  person with a service dog, that bond can mean a world of difference.

Luis Carlos Montalván, 38, a 17-year Army veteran from Manhattan, has  such a relationship with his dog, Tuesday.

Montalván, who retired from the military after his second tour of Iraq in  2007, brought Tuesday to City College Sept. 28 to talk about his physical  and mental disabilities and their long journey chronicled in his book,  “Until Tuesday.”

The event was presented by the Voices of Hope club, a group dedicated to  empowering students with disabilities to advocate for themselves.

Montalván’s book tells the story of Montalván’s struggle with Post  Traumatic Stress Disorder and how he went through a period of substance  abuse until he was partnered with Tuesday, a 2-year-old Golden Retriever,  in  2008 by a non-profit organization called Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities.

Montalván says during the time he was away from active military duty, he isolated himself from his family and friends and turned to alcohol to help mask his issues.

“I fought for a while the thought that I was wounded both physically and mentally,” Montalván says. “Over the course of several years, my health deteriorated. I realized it was more symptomatic of PTSD and found that finally I had to get out of the military.”

After leaving the Army in 2007, Montalván says he continued to drink during that dark time.

A little over a year later, Montalván hit his turning point when his father told him that he felt his son had hit rock bottom and that the younger Montalván was in a bad place. Montalvan says he felt he lost the respect of his parents and knew it was time to make a change.

Montalván made that change in 2008 when he was partnered with Tuesday. In addition to helping Montalván with physical issues like back problems and vertigo, Montalván says Tuesday makes him laugh hundreds of times a day.

“Tuesday changed my life in ways I never could have imagined,” Montalván says, who at one point in the speech asked Tuesday to sit and then thanked him and told him he loved him.

“We literally go everywhere together, except for maybe the bathroom. He sleeps with me— every minute of every day, we are together.”

According to Montalván, “Until Tuesday” is slated to be released as a major motion-picture sometime next year.

The main focus of Montalván’s mission is to inform people about the importance of having a strong support system of friends, family and community members and for mentors, teachers, communities and government officials to better recognize those with mental disabilities.

Montalván says that these people often have a harder time in life because so many others don’t seem to understand hidden disabilities.

“I think that there will be a day, maybe within the next 15 years—we’re living longer with advancements in medicine and technology—that there may be more people living with disabilities than not,” Montalván says. “By virtue of that we’ll have a society that’s more compassionate and more understanding of people with our similarities and differences and our strengths and weaknesses.”

Lincoln Scott, vice president of the Voices of Hope club, says the speech really helped get a strong message across.

“I thought it was very insightful and very inspirational,” Scott says. “I could relate to what he was saying because my dad fought in Vietnam.”

According to Montalván, anyone who is called into combat in the military will return home as a changed person.

“Eighteen veterans commit suicide, and another 1,000 attempt it every day,” Montalván says. “It’s sad to say, but there are plenty [of veterans] that will party hard, become alcoholics or substance abusers, and I encourage them to get help.”

Montalván stressed that not only can it be difficult to find help from military, medical and community organizations, it can be even harder for people to admit to themselves that they have a disability.

“A lot of veterans don’t identify with being disabled,” Montalván says. “There is still a machismo with getting help—that only women go to therapists—but 2.2 million men and women served in Iraq. A little less than 1,900 are amputees so the vast majority [of veterans] are dealing with invisible disabilities.”

Janet Lee, faculty adviser for the Voices of Hope club, says she enjoyed seeing Tuesday run around the room to greet everyone after Montalván finished his speech.

“He spoke with passion,” Lee says. “I thought in terms of advocacy of these issues, that his speech really touched home on the disabled community with both hidden and physical disabilities. It exceeded my expectations and to have a writer come and be able to be so poignant was an amazing experience.”

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Psoriasis is only skin deep

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Daniel Wilson

Facing the struggle of public judgment

Originally published Sept. 28, 2011 by SacCityExpress.com

Daniel Wilson at Sacramento City College. Photo by Kate Paloy.

I’ve done it. You’ve done it. We’ve all done it. You see that person across the room that clearly has a physical or mental disability or condition and you can’t help but stare.

If you’re like me, you tend to wonder about the best approach to feeding your curiosity. The wonderful diversity at City College and in the world as a whole leads to seeing people of many different shapes, colors, forms, and backgrounds, but there are also those of us with conditions outside our control that can be embarrassing and frustrating to handle.

One such disorder is a skin condition called psoriasis. I was diagnosed with psoriasis in middle school and have dealt with it ever since.

According to www.webmd.com, “Psoriasis is a long-term chronic skin problem that causes skin cells to grow too quickly, resulting in thick, white or red patches of skin.”

Basically, psoriasis occurs as a result of the immune system overacting and causing skin cells to multiply at over double the normal rate. This causes skin to build up, flake off, and leave behind red, dry sores. Treatments include creams and ointments, ultra-violet ray exposure, and steroidal medications. These all carry their own risks, and many of them can have worse side effects than just living with psoriasis.

Web MD also explains that many factors contribute to psoriasis breakouts. Experts believe that it is a genetic disorder, but that hasn’t been confirmed. Stress, weather changes, use of alcohol or cigarettes, and in some people diet can also be factors in causing the condition to worsen.

My psoriasis started out on my head when I was in seventh grade, but it flared up in 2006 and now covers over half of my body, including my arms, hands, head, legs, chest, and back.

I use medicine to treat it and have learned a lot over the years about how to keep it from flaring up, but it’s a daily struggle that never gets any easier. On a daily basis I have to deal with intense itching to the point where sometimes I break down and cry.

I also deal with dryness, bleeding and for about a year, I had to wear half a box of bandages on my hands every day just to be able to function. I have extreme difficulty bending up and down due to dryness on my knees, and I have to deal with so much dandruff that it appears to be snowing on my t-shirts.

These are just a few of the frustrations I have to endure.

However, none of this is as hard to deal with as the frustrating, but understandable ignorance of the general public. I have worked in retail for seven years and have come across many people who want to know about the sores on my head and arms. There are some who ask nicely, I tell them it is psoriasis, and we leave it at that. Those people aren’t the problem.

It’s the ones who ask me anything from, “Did you get burned?” to “Was your skin ripped off by a bear?” Okay, so maybe that last one was a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point.

Web MD also states, “Psoriasis is not contagious. It cannot be spread by touch from person to person.” This is another problem I’ve encountered at my job. One customer refuses to let me help her. She swears that my condition is contagious, even though I have told her that if I were contagious, I wouldn’t be working with the public.

It isn’t just the sores and the ignorance of the public that make living with psoriasis difficult.

Psoriasis makes even non-affected skin brittle, rough and easily susceptible to wounds, so certain tasks in my daily life and at work are almost impossible to complete without injuring myself. It’s difficult to explain to co-workers that I just cannot do certain things, and it can be just as difficult to get a doctor to issue a note explaining what, to them, is not an issue.

The medication I use is similar to Vaseline, so it’s a very thick, greasy ointment. It works wonders to keep the dry skin from building up and cracking, and over time it helps to even get rid of redness.

However, it can take hours to soak into the sores, and often I have to go to bed with it on my body. Not only is this a problem because it makes it difficult to sleep, but it also means I must bathe early enough to allow it time to at least partially sink into my skin before climbing into bed.

When I’m not working, this isn’t so much of an issue, but often I work back-to-back shifts, which pretty much requires me to go to bed as soon as I get home. On those nights, I have to deprive myself of sleep to allow myself enough time to use my medicine.

Sometimes people will ask me what I have, and after I answer, proceed to tell me that four or five people in their family have it. They always follow that sentence by telling me some home-remedy solution. This makes me wonder why they had to ask me what I have if they are so familiar with the condition.

The remedies are always entertaining though. I’ve heard anything from aloe plants, to tea tree oil, to rubbing lemon juice or alcoholic beverages on my skin. One person even suggested rubbing paint thinner on my sores. I just nodded and said, “OK,” while thinking to myself, “Yeah, I’ll get back to you after I burn off half my arm.”

It’s not a matter of sympathy that I seek, and I’m sure that those with disabilities, skin conditions or any other physical differences would agree. I’m not even hoping for people to keep their thoughts to themselves. I just want the general public to understand that if they’re curious about someone’s physical difference, ask him or her in a polite way and don’t try to offer him or her advice, unless they ask for it.

I can tell you from first-hand experience that it’s more embarrassing and frustrating to answer uninformed questions, especially from those that ask them rudely, than to just live with the condition I unfortunately have to live with for the rest of my life.

All I really want for myself and other people with physical differences is to be treated as if we’re just like everyone else. Equality is all we’re really after.

This article was awarded second place in the opinion category by the Journalism Association of Community Colleges 2011 state competition.

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Experimental math class debuts

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Daniel Wilson

Class combines math 100 and 120 for more credits

Originally published in the Sept. 13, 2011 print edition of the Sac City Express

Renee Medina. Photo by Jason Van Sandt.

It’s no secret that required prerequisite classes—such as math, history, and English—are difficult to complete because of a high demand for enrollment, but a new class offered at City College may just be the formula to solve the problem.

City College mathematics and statistics professor Renee Medina instructs an experimental mathematics course called  Math 299. This eight-unit course was created by the math division dean Anne Licciardi and combines elementary and intermediate algebra. The class meets Monday through Friday from 8:40-10:10 a.m. The plan is to offer it as a trial class for two semesters and if successful, it will become a permanent class, Medina said.

“The hope is to move students through algebra more quickly,” said Medina. “They won’t have time to forget, going from [Math] 100 to 120, and so far, it’s been a good class; [the students] are working hard.”

Medina feels that the demographic is pretty typical and she says that currently the class enrollment is approximately 40 students.

“I have never taught a class with this kind of range of backgrounds,” said Medina. “Right now I try to teach some stuff that’s really basic, and then I also show the stuff that’s harder.”

For those students who prefer a slower pace, Math 100 and 120 are still offered separately, and according to Medina, will likely be offered that way forever.

“There [are] different levels of students in there, and the pacing is pretty well spaced out,” said Robert Serrano, a student currently enrolled in the class. “There are students that don’t need help as much. There’s more time for the students that do need help.”

Medina also feels that the structure of the class not only allows for more one-on-one time with students, but that it allows for a more streamlined learning experience.

“Technically it’s less work than doing [Math] 100 and 120 separately because in 100 and 120, we do a lot of review, so all that review is gone,” said Medina. “So it’s a little less work—however, it’s much more intense.”

Overall, Medina said she feels the class will be successful and that she hopes to see it become permanent.

“I think the students who will be most successful will be the students who are very dedicated and really willing to put in the time and focus to get through this amount of material,” said Medina.

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The world as a textbook

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Daniel Wilson

From Down Under to Cali, geography prof. settles in

Originally published in the May 10, 2011 print edition of the Sac City Express

City College professor Richard Neil is a valuable member of the geography department. Neil’s unconventional approach includes using YouTube videos and his personal rock collection to teach students about the wonders of geography. Photo by Kate Paloy.

It is 7:30 a.m.

You walk into your class on the first day of the semester. You’re ready to learn. The professor walks in, blurts out the entire roll call in the most boring, unenthusiastic voice and announces an insane work load.

It’s going to be a long semester. The next day, however, is Saturday and though you’re not thrilled to be at school on the weekend, you are met with a pleasant surprise: geography professor Richard Raymond Neil.

Neil teaches a physical geography class at City College on Saturdays. He says his teaching method differs from others because he doesn’t just teach his subject, but makes the textbook come to life.

“I’m bringing the world to the classroom,” says Neil, who moved from Los Angeles to Australia at age 5 and lived there for 12 years. “When you share a planet with other people that don’t look like you, don’t think like you, and don’t talk like you, it’s even more important to know what’s out there. That’s part of what I try to bring to the classroom.”

Neil says teaching geography isn’t just about science, but about environment and culture. Along with geographical pictures and videos, he uses his personal rock collection and YouTube as tools.

“YouTube brings awareness that, believe it or not, not everybody is watching ‘Jersey Shore’ on MTV,” says Neil, 44. “There are other shows in other countries, such as Ireland or Australia, that people watch and enjoy. As Americans we’re missing out on these cultural opportunities.”

William Norton, a student in Neil’s geography class, says: “I really enjoy his class. He goes over conventional teaching of course, but he goes into alternate ways of teaching. He does make an attempt to make it real using pop culture references. One morning he showed a YouTube video of a late ’70s Australian pop band, and it made it a little bit more fun.”

Neil’s passion shines most when he is talking about Australia.

“I have seen kangaroos the size of bunny rabbits,” Neil says enthusiastically. “When people think of kangaroos, they think of these big giant things. They come in all shapes and sizes.”

Neil’s family moved to Australia when his father accepted a high school teaching job in the 1970s. “I have walked through rain forests where not another human being has ever walked through,” Neil says.

At the age of 18, Neil moved back to the United States to attend college. He received his master’s degree in geography from California State University, Northridge, a bachelor’s degree in geography from Sonoma State University, two teaching credentials in social studies from California State University, Los Angeles,
and an associate’s in liberal arts from Santa Monica Community College.

He is clearly respected by colleagues, as evidenced by the trouble he has on campus in going from point A to point B because he gets stopped by so many people who want to have conversations.

“He’s a valued member of our faculty,” says Craig Davis, City College geography professor. “He does a good job of communicating a subject that most haven’t had. I’ve always found Rick to be easy going, nice to talk to; he has interesting stories with living in Australia. He does a great job using his experiences to try to pique student interest and get some perspective from outside the classroom or even outside of Sacramento.”

Neil has also traveled to Mexico, Arizona, Hawaii, and through most of California. He says he hopes to one day have the time and financial stability to see more of the world.

A part-time professor for the Los Rios Community College District since 2004, Neil also maintains a full-time job for the state of California as a senior education specialist at CalPERS. But, Neil says, his true passion is teaching.

“Every time I present a unit, it’s different,” Neil says. “Every semester I get a different bunch of students so it’s almost like teaching for the first time all over again. As long as I stick to the subject and objectives, I’m free to present it in any way that I want. I have so much freedom of expression.”

This article was chosen as one of nine guest writer articles from an introduction to newswriting and reporting class to appear in the Express.

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The future of news media: Far in the distance or right here and now?

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Daniel Wilson

Note: This is an unedited analysis of a State of the Media article that was posted as a project for an introduction to newswriting and reporting class at Sac City College in 2011. It does not represent my current work as a journalist.

9-onilne-the-web-surpasses-newspapersOn “The State of the News Media” website there are several articles discussing the current state of the media based on numbers, statistics, and other findings from 2010. One of the articles discusses the state of online media. The article summarizes several pieces of data about online media. Some of the areas the article discussed were ad spending trends, subscription model and user fees, audience and digital economics. Perhaps the most interesting part of the article was the section about audience.

The article showed the line chart pictured above, and discussed the generational changes in how people in America receive and follow their news. The chart lists several outlets such as radio, online, and television. According to the data, from 1991 to 2010 trends in TV, radio and newspapers declined steadily but online inclined at certain intervals. As you can tell from the chart, TV saw a drop between 2000 and 2002 and then jumped through 2004. After that it saw a steady decline until it recently tapered off. Online shows the most significance of a jump in 2006 as it jumps quite largely. In fact, from 2008 to 2010 the numbers jumped 29% for online news viewing.

The data in the article says that though TV remains in the lead, online is quickly catching up and has already surpassed TV with younger crowds. This means that publications which publish physical forms of their newspapers or magazines are not only losing readers but also revenue. The increase is significant; however, classic publications shouldn’t be alarmed as most of the online news was obtained from those same publications’ online formats.

The one thing that is clear is that television and online news media definitely seem to have gained the most ground and seem as if they are the future. A quote from the article states, “The web now trails only television (which includes both broadcast and cable) in popularity as a news source. The number of people who watched television news in some form “yesterday” was actually up slightly in 2010 to 58%.”

For me, I definitely see the future in online media; not only with news but with everything. Television itself is becoming more and more web-based and eventually the lines between online news media and television news media will blur. I think it’ll take a little more time and the changing of generations from the baby-boomers to modern generations before physical media will die out. This goes not only for written news media but for music, movies, video games and even books. The only question left to answer is whether this future is really all that futuristic or whether the future is now.

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Solving the job market woes; education may no longer be the only answer

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Daniel Wilson

Note: This is an unedited analysis of a Remapping Debate article that was posted as a project for an introduction to newswriting and reporting class at Sac City College in 2011. It does not represent my current work as a journalist.  

An article published on www.remappingdebate.org on Feb. 9 by Greg Marx, discussed why such a high number of college graduates who have earned Associate’s or Bachelor’s degrees have not been able to find jobs in their desired field in recent years.

The author’s main point was that in today’s economy in America, degrees are no longer guaranteed to help someone earn to their full potential. Because of rising costs, more women in the workplace, and cutbacks of middle class skill-based jobs – it is harder to find jobs that fit one’s degree specialization than it was in past decades. Still, those with bachelor’s degrees are maintaining higher wages than those that simply have high school diplomas. The issue lies more in the fact that these same degree holders aren’t able to work in their field.

The new way of the middle class job market has seen an increased need for post-secondary education and in many cases, special-skill training. The recessions in recent years have led to fewer jobs in the college labor job market. In other words, it is no longer a guarantee that a college degree will get you into a college level career.

One of the people interviewed in the article summed up the basic issue quite well. “There’s nothing that guarantees that supply [of college graduates] creates its own demand,” said Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. “You’ve got to have more demand growth.”

According to the article there are many views for why this is happening. One view is that a lack of innovation is leading to fewer new jobs being created. Others say technology is at fault because as companies make better use of technology they no longer need as many employees. On the other hand there are those that feel education isn’t everything and that earning potential is reliant on one’s own abilities and skills.

Then there are those that oppose education as the answer to the problem and feel we should focus more on the on-the-job training aspect. They feel that the government should slowly raise minimum wage. Along with that, they say middle class jobs will become those that no longer need degrees, but still pay the amounts of money that degree holders have the potential to earn.

While I agree that there is definitely an issue here, I feel the solution lies in a mixture of a couple of ideas. Educating our population on not only job-related subjects and skills, but on the essential subjects such as history, science, and math among others is just as important. I don’t see why we can’t develop a system where education is about the general education but about on-the-job training just as much. Internships could earn you credits and take the place of formal classes. I also like the idea of having middle class jobs pay more but not need degrees. For example, why is a degree required for a management position at a retail store when it is such a skill-based occupation?

Source Article: http://www.remappingdebate.org/article/college-important-not-magic-bullet

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