Robert PondStaff writer

When most people hear the word ballet they think Stravinsky, tutus and “Swan Lake.”

Oxnard College’s Ballet Folklorico Mestizo has none of those.

People of all ages watched as the dancers did tra-ditional Mexican dances to traditional Mexican music at their end of the year perforamnce. There were se-niors, families and students all enjoying the dances.

Oxnard College’s Ballet Folklorico Mestizo cele-brated its 2010 Spring Concert with performances on April 30 and May 1.

The dance troupe, made up of a combination of students, staff and professional dancers, performed in Oxnard’s Forum.

Oxnard’s Ballet Folklorico Mestizo is a premier folklorico group in the area performing at numerous festivals around the county.

See DANCE, pg. 2

Student Voice May 5- May 19 w w w . S t u d e n t V o i c e O n l i n e . c o m FREE Vol. 7 , No. 6

MoorparkOxnardVentura

Surfing to serve the worldThrough surfing, a love for others and acts of ser-

vice, the humanitarian organization Surfing the Na-tions is creating a wave of difference in its commu-

nity and around the world.Local surfer and Moorpark College student,

21-year-old Tyler Bitner, has been a part of STN and shares its goals.

“To give back; to change the world’s perception of surfers and what their cul-

ture consists of by giving back to surf communities around the world and in Oahu where their home base is with food, clothes and friendship,” said Bitner.

The goal of STN is for surfers to give back to their community in Hawaii, and to the world around them. They feed about 3,000 fami-lies equaling around 10,000 people a week on the island of Oahu, Bit-ner shared. STN’s main locations

are in Hawaii, Sri Lanka and Ban-gladesh, Bitner explained.

See SURFING, pg. 8

Beau AkersStaff writer

Robert Pond Staff writer

With the conclusion of the semester fast approaching, Ventura, Oxnard and Moor-park colleges are gearing up for their commencement cer-emonies.

The ceremonies will take place Wednesday and Thurs-day, May 19 and 20 as students from the three Ventura County Community College District campuses will end their time at their respective schools.

“I know for many students it’s important for their family, especially if they’re the first in their family to graduate,” said Susan Bricker, Ventura Col-lege registrar.

“[It’s] a special experience for all students transferring.”

In the district as a whole, 3787 students are eligible to graduate, including 1709 from Moorpark, 1231 from Ventura and 847 from Oxnard.

The commencement cer-emonies will include students transferring in the fall, or who have completed their associ-ate degree or certificate re-quirements during Fall 2009, Spring 2010, or are scheduled to complete the requirements during the Summer 2010 se-mester.

However, of these gradu-ates, less than half are expect-ed to participate, with each school planning for a much smaller number.

Rick Trevino, student activities director at Ventura College, predicts about 500 students will participate in the ceremony.

Although no speakers have been finalized for the commencement ceremony, Trevino says the boards of trustees, Academic Senate President Peter Sezzi, Classi-fied Senate President Barbara Cogert, ASVC President Kea Kenamu and others have been invited to speak.

Oxnard College Assistant Registrar Joel Diaz is expect-ing slightly over 300 students to participate in Oxnard’s commencement, although 537 indicated intent to participate in the ceremony.

Oxnard Student Health Center Coordinator Mary Jones, who assisted in selecting student speaker Jose Delara, said there may also be other speakers including a trustee and OC President Richard Duran.

Moorpark College Stu-dent Activities Director Sha-ron Miller anticipates approxi-mately 350 people or about a quarter of the eligible candi-dates to walk in Moorpark’s ceremony.

Speakers at Moorpark will tentatively include Moor-park Associated Students President Ryan Krebs and Dis-tinguished Faculty of the Year Sharon Manakas.

“[I anticipate] them to

speak from the heart,” Miller said.

Miller believes the com-mencement ceremonies are a good conclusion to student’s time in community college.

“[It helps] students get a sense of accomplishment and achievement for their time here,” said Miller.

“We encourage students to move on with their educa-tional goals.”

Ventura will be holding their commencement cere-mony at 1:30 p.m. on May 19, while Moorpark’s commence-ment ceremony will be at 5:30 p.m. the same day.

Oxnard’s commencement ceremony will take place on May 20 at 5 p.m.

More than 3,700 grads at VC, OC and MC

Folklorico brings fresh take of dance to OC

Students at VC learn protection and self-defense

Angela BrazaVentura campus editor

Through proper self-defense training, students can have the skills and power to take control of any aggres-sive situation. Larry Reynosa’s self-defense/assault prevention class empowers students to lead a safer life through proper self-defense training.

Offered through Ventura College and taught at Reynosa’s Makoto Dojo facility in Ventura, the class en-ables students to get out of their comfort zones and acknowledge the dangers of the world around them.

“I want to show stu-dents what it’s like to be attacked while they’re out and about doing everyday things,” said Reynosa.

“The truth of the matter is statistics in assault are increas-ing. Things are getting worse and they’re not getting better. Students need to heighten their awareness of these dan-gers and prepare them-selves for what’s out there.”

Reynosa’s tech-niques do not focus on an individual’s physi-cal power. Instead, he teaches his students the presence of mind, the idea between having to make a choice and hav-ing to make a decision.

Many of the stu-dents who take his class have had their own ex-periences in assault and

the decision to take ac-tion is based on those reasons in the past, he said.

“I’ve had students who’ve been raped multiple times, beat up multiple times,” he said.

“But these horror stories don’t apply to all my students. A lot of them hear these stories and say, ‘That’s not go-ing to happen to me,’ and an education on self-defense is what I can give them.”

Reynosa has been teaching this class for over 10 of his last 33 years at the college. He currently serves as the Chief Instructor at Makoto Dojo and trav-els frequently to help supervise and manage dojos in South Africa, England, France, Cana-da, Germany, Belgium and Spain, among oth-ers.

“I go to these places every year and I take the same stance for safety and preserva-tion,” he said. “People get turned on to join because they know I’m taking a stand for them, for saving their lives.”

The Makoto Dojo puts a great emphasis on the teachings of Ai-kido, a Japanese form of martial arts that focuses on its four virtues: kindness, compassion, honesty and integrity. According to Reynosa, the Aikido methods closely resemble those of his self-defense class at Ventura.

Photo by Angela Braza Safety firSt– Instructor Larry Reynosa, right, pushes a hand-gun away from his attacker, 22-year-old Mahtab Moradnia, in a class demonstration.

Photos by Robin ArataCulture in motion–Maria Martinez dances in the Oxnard College Folklorico performance on April 30. This was the 29th performance of the ballet which combines the Mexican culture with dance and music.

see DEFENSE, pg. 3

in Step– Carina Casillas and Sebastian Pena dance together during their Folklorico performance.

Pirates fall toMt. Sac in playoffs

See full story:www.StudentVoiceOnline.com

Moorpark finishes

second in muggle

quidditch tournament

Full story pg. 4

Photo courtesy of Surfing the Nations

OXNARD COLLEGEPage 2 Student Voice • www.StudentVoiceOnline.com May 5, 2010

Continued from pg. 1

Now celebrating its 29th year, OC students and faculty founded the ballet in 1981, because they were interested in promoting Mexican culture through traditional music and dances.

Assistant Director Vanessa Sanchez Villapando has been dancing with the group since age seven, and after years of performing has moved backstage to help her mother Matilde Sanchez direct.

“[We tried] bringing traditional dances of all the states of Mexico,” said Villapando. “There are very different musical steps throughout the states.”

Jose Navarro was the tech assistant for the concert, and enjoyed it.“We were with them eight years ago,” Navarro said.The performance, which featured seven costume changes, was a surpris-

ing portion of the show, with each costume corresponding to the area where the dances were from.

“It’s a team effort, knowing who needs help,” said Villapando.The event concluded with dancer and OC alum Vanessa Calderon’s boy-

friend Juan-Manuel Garcia coming onto the stage incognito to propose to Calderon.

“You’re the love of my life,” Gracia said as the crowd cheered in approval and Calderon accepted the proposal.

“I wasn’t expecting this at all,” said Calderon.

Continue your education.Begin your dream.

fidm.edu/transfer 800.624.1200

®

DANCE: performance is catalyst for proposal

Ara OrtizStaff writer

Classes for the popular martial art jujitsu have been in high demand at both Oxnard and Ventura colleges.

There are only two jujitsu classes offered and every semester they fill up quickly. Students like Israel Vasquez, a 21-year-old paralegal and theol-ogy major at Oxnard College, appreciate the op-portunity to enroll.

“The class is very fun,” said Vasquez. “As a martial artist, I like to spread my knowledge of martial arts. Here, I get a chance with one of the best jujitsu teachers.”

Graciela Casillas-Tortorelli, Oxnard College physical education professor and jujitsu instructor, has been involved with various forms of martial arts for over 36 years. She believes the class has be-come popular because of its mainstream popular-ity and the advertising of the sport by the Gracies,

a Brazilian family who are recognized with the emergence of the martial art in today’s society.

“Obviously, because of the Gracies promot-ing it, because as people, we like to see contact, we like boxing, we like to see people get beat up,” said Casillas-Tortorelli, when asked about jujitsu’s popularity. “The reality of it is that humans enjoy that.”

Richard Goff, a criminal justice professor at Ventura College, teaches the Monday night jujitsu class. Goff also credits the Gracies and the use of jujitsu in the mainstream media for its success.

“I credit martial arts movies,” said Goff. “Peo-ple like Jet Li and Jackie Chan in particular. “The martial arts are more mainstream in movies, it be-comes more mainstream [and] it gets more popu-lar.”

Casillas-Tortorelli focuses on teaching students how to apply the skills they learn from jujitsu to everyday life.

“My students show up, we warm up thorough-

ly and then we learn different tactics that are really more for the street,” she said. “Many of the tactics I teach are translatable [to competitive jujitsu].”

According to Casillas-Tortorelli, jujitsu is a good thing to learn. Both teachers agree that it helps to build confidence, can help saves lives as it teaches defensive mechanisms and also helps with body movements.

Goff believes jujitsu is beneficial because it is a good work out and it teaches someone how to defend themselves.

Mario Cesar Cardona, a 20-year-old nursing major at OC, is currently taking Casillas-Tortorelli class.

“It’s really fun and it’s a lot of self defense that I can use everyday on the street, because you don’t know who might attack you,” Cardona said. “What we do here is you learn how to defend ourselves in the street. The teacher here [Casillas-Tortorelli] teaches us how to avoid and maneuver through contact.”

Oxnard students aren’t kung-fu fighting

Hannah DaveyEditor

With mariachi mu-sic in full swing, the Oxnard College Associ-ated Students hosted a Cinco de Mayo festival on May 4.

The celebration, which was held in the Student Lounge, in-cluded a mariachi band and the Oxnard College Ballet Folklorico Mesti-zo. The party observed not only the Mexican victory over the French in the 1862 war, but also the Mexican culture.

“Cinco de Mayo- it’s a celebration of freedom against oppression,” said festival coordina-tor and OCAS Senator John Garcia. “To me, it’s a way of celebrating the human spirit saying ‘I’m free and war is not always the solution.’”

On May 5, 1862 dur-

ing the French-Mexican War, the weak Mexi-can army defeated the French’s grand army in “The Battle of Puebla.” The victory came to represent unity in the Mexican people.

The Ballet Folklor-ico group and the ma-riachi band was joined by traditional food and drink provided by the Associated Student Government. Children attending the event also learned of Hispanic cu-luture, play with Mexi-can flags and break a piniata for the candy inside.

Although acknowl-edged as a Mexican holiday, Cinco de Mayo has a much larger pres-ence in the United States than in its coun-try of origin, according to the Mexican consular website.

Students recog-

nized the significance of the day in America, however, including Eu-nice Guillen, as well as the fact that Oxnard College’s Hispanic cul-ture pulls even more weight on Cinco de Mayo.

“Over here, it’s a cultural thing,” said the 19-year-old criminal justice major. “Most of our community is His-panic and when you see the mariachi and the Folklorico, you have a sense of pride for your campus.”

Garcia, a returning student, also coordinat-ed the event just as an end-of-the-year gather-ing.

“I wanted to cel-ebrate my cultural, my heritage and I wanted to just give thanks to Oxnard College as a whole,” said Garcia.

¡Olé Olé Olé! at Oxnard College

Photo by Hannah DaveyMexican hat dance–Jon Sloyan, 19, a graphic design major at Oxnard College, dons a tradi-tional Mexican sombrero during the college’s Cinco de Mayo festivities.

Sociology Club supports life-changing event that celebrates the lives of cancer survivors

Angela BrazaVentura campus editor

Strawberry-flavored cupcakes donning frosted pink ribbons were all the craze as students lined up to buy goodies in support of raising cancer awareness.

Members of the Ventura College Sociology Club hosted a bake sale fundraiser in support of Relay for Life on Wednesday, April 28. The club was set up by the Learning Resource Center from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., bracing windy conditions to sell students a variety of homemade treats.

According to club Vice President Kat Okada, a 50-year-old sociology major, all proceeds of the fundraiser will be donated directly to the Relay for Life fund.

“The event itself is a great way to

lift spirits and raise awareness of can-cer,” said Okada.

The Relay for Life is organized by the American Cancer Society and will be hosted at the Buena High School stadium in Ventura from May 15-16.

At each event, teams of people camp out and take turns walking around a particular path or track; each team must have a delegate walking at all times, which is a way of signifying how cancer never sleeps.

Only a couple of students from the VC Sociology Club will be partici-pating at the event, according to club President Kayla Ortiz.

“Unfortunately, we were unable to get a team in time for registration,” said Ortiz, the 19-year-old sociology major, “but that’s why we’re doing this bake sale, to help raise money for a good cause.”

In addition to cookies and cup-cakes, the Sociology Club sold paper stars that students could purchase in memory or support of someone who had or has cancer.

“These stars represent a loved one who has either passed away because of cancer or is struggling with this battle now,” said Ortiz.

Some members of the Sociology Club have personal connections to Relay for Life.

“I’m a breast cancer survivor,” said Okada, “I’ve been on remis-sion for nine months now, went through four months of chemothera-py and I had stage three breast cancer.”

The money raised for and donated to Relay for Life is used to help current cancer patients, according to Okada.

“It helps buy wigs for those who lost or are losing their hair,” she said. “It can also help pay for home health nurses and medication costs. But most importantly, it can provide resources to so many people and them give hope.”

For more information on Relay for Life or how to donate to the cause, visit www.relayforlife.

VENTURA COLLEGEPage 3 Student Voice • www.StudentVoiceOnline.com May 5, 2010

Ara OrtizStaff writer

Student groups looking to official-ly form a campus club no longer have to jump through hoops to get started.

The requirements to start a club have gotten easier at Ventura Col-lege with the help of the Associated Students of Ventura College Vice President Raymond Morua, who led the movement to change the previous club forms.

“The forms were a mess and were outdated. Second, there were many difficult hoops that club founders had to jump through,” he said. “I pro-posed it, drafted the changes and pre-sented it to the board that voted on it and approved it.”

The process to start a club at VC is now simpler than before. Only five ASVC cardholders are needed to start a club. In the past, 15 ASVC cardhold-ers were needed and advisors for a club had to be full-time professors.

Now, faculty advisors can either be part-time or full-time professors. Clubs can now ask ASVC for grants up to $500 when in the past they could only ask for $100.

The changes in club forms are

effective immediately.The inability to get a full-time fac-

ulty member to advise clubs and the lack of money received through ASVC grants were among the problems many clubs had with the previous requirements, according to Morua.

“This was a huge problem for new clubs trying to get recognition status,” he said.

Morua isn’t the only one happy to see the overturn in club form restric-tions. Anthropology Club advisor Gigi Fiumerodo believes both students and faculty will benefit from the change.

“I think the change will be a posi-tive [one],” she said. “I think the more that can be done to encourage student activities on campus, the better, both for students and for faculty interested in experiencing the unique collabora-tion advisors have with club mem-bers”

Morua’s motivation for making changes to the club requirements was simple.

“[These] clubs make Ventura Col-lege. I thought they should have an easier time [getting started],” he said.

For more information on getting a club started on campus, call ASVC at (805) 654-6449.

Starting campus clubs made easier with new rules and requirements

Photo by Angela BrazaCash for CanCer–Kayla Ortiz, 19, left, slices a piece of home-made Fruity Pebbles marshmellow squares while Kat Okada assists a customer during the Sociology Club bake sale.

Baked goods benefit Relay for Life

DEFENSE: Students train wiselyContinued from pg. 1

“The training is very similar in that it allows students to recognize and act in the face of danger,” he said. “It’s all self-defense, but it takes on a more cultural experience.”

Students in Reynosa’s self-de-fense/assault prevention class are given insight into the various forms of danger. Students who join the class are taught the best techniques to avoid being grabbed, choked, punched, kicked, shot, molested, stabbed or physically injured in some way.

Throughout the semester, stu-dents are taught how to divert attacks with blunt weapons such as bottles and baseball bats and bladed weapons such as knives. They are also trained to deal with handgun assaults, giv-en information on the mechanics of various handguns and participate in crisis simulations, including hostage and victim scenarios.

Kathleen Leonard, 35, has taken Reynosa’s class for the past three years and feels as though it has empowered her to be the woman she is today.

“Many people take this class be-cause they feel like they’re weak or that they don’t have a voice,” she said. “At the start of the semester, so many people begin with that sort of mindset and come into the class extremely shy and quiet. By the end of the semester, they have so much strength and pow-er and self-confidence.”

Reynosa also acknowledges the effect that self-defense training has on people.

“I’ve seen girls, little, quiet girls, completely come out of their shells,” he said.

While the self-defense class sees a variety of students who join today, Reynosa says that only one particu-lar group found interest in the class

when he first began teaching through the college.

“They were the Goth kids, dressed in all black from head to toe, the gay kids who were so timid and sat away from everyone,” he said.

“They were basically the out-siders, and that’s when it hit me. Of course these students would take this class! These are the people who are be-ing suppressed in our society. They’re the kids who are being yelled at and made fun of.”

Reynosa’s passion for helping others is evident among his students, who encourage their fellow classmates to join Reynosa’s class.

“Students should take this class if they’re looking for a way to become more self-confident, become physical-ly fit and if they’re looking for a way to defend themselves that’s positive,” said Leonard.

“Students should open their minds and take this class to stand for their own self defense and their own awareness of what is happening in the world. They need to face reality and break down their denial that violence doesn’t happen in Ventura and vio-lence can’t happen to them.”

Those interested in learning Reynosa’s techniques can either join the Makoto Dojo, School of Aikido or sign up to take the class at VC in the fall.

Due to budget cuts, the self-de-fense/assault prevention class will no longer be held at the dojo but on cam-pus in the small gym.

“It’ll be different,” said Reynosa of the switch in facilities, “but as long as I can help students prevent as-sault through proper teaching, we’ll manage. For me, I’d do this for free. I’d train people for free. My greatest moments are when I know I’ve saved a life.”

Photo by Angela Brazaart of self-defense–Natalie Ryan, 19, right, stays calm as she plays the role of the victim dur-ing a disarming exercise. Shoshana Baars, 31, uses a plastic gun in her role as the attacker.

MOORPARK COLLEGEPage 4 Student Voice • www.StudentVoiceOnline.com May 5, 2010

Courtney CoonisContributing writer

Under a New Mexico night sky, a young girl stands in the glow of the sa-cred fire amongst a crowd of hundreds. Around the fire, women in brightly colored regalia dance to the beat of drums, their “jingle dresses” creating music of their own with each step and swing. The young girl, wishing for her own jingle dress, is impacted for the rest of her life by this traditional pow-wow, an honoring of American Indian culture.

This memorable powwow was just one of many cultural events Professor Vanessa Crispin-Peralta was exposed to as a child. While visiting her grand-parents in New Mexico, she explored historical Native American cliff dwell-ings, and, at home in Southern Califor-nia, she went on a field trip to the San Fernando Mission.

These childhood experiences led Crispin-Peralta to teach History of the American Indian at Moorpark College.

“It’s not something that a lot of people know about,” said Crispin-Per-alta, 35. “It takes a lot of work to find the other side of the story.”

Crispin-Peralta teaches part-time at Moorpark as well as at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, and has pre-viously taught at the University of California Santa Barbara. Other classes she instructs include California His-tory and upper division Colonial His-tory, but she declares her favorite topic is “by far the native history class.”

Students who choose to register for Crispin-Peralta’s History of the American Indian class tend to do so with like-minded intentions: it fulfills a general education requirement. How-ever, at the conclusion of the semester, most students are surprised with both Crispin-Peralta’s teaching methods and the information they glean from her course.

Such methods include a variety of media forms. A textbook, videos, a

short novel and PowerPoints help stu-dents absorb knowledge in a fun way. “Vanessa has a balanced approach to teaching,” said Sean Conrad O’Donnell, a former student of Crisp-in-Peralta. “She is current with trends and how students today learn.”

The professor’s class tends to have a lasting impression on students. Not only do they acquire valuable knowl-edge that they can carry on through-out life, but they also gain the ability to apply this knowledge to things around them.

“In some ways, the Native Ameri-can history class can make connec-tions to popular culture and everyday things that students aren’t aware of,” said Crispin-Peralta.

O‘Donnell, an engineering ma-jor at MC, is just one of many stu-dents deeply impacted by the knowl-edge Crispin-Peralta provides each semester.

“Vanessa’s class strengthened my empathy for the human race,” said O’Donnell, 41. “I am now able to give people the benefit of the doubt.”

A useful tool that students have the opportunity to obtain is the capac-ity to draw parallels between daily life and the knowledge they gain while taking the course. Eric Imhof, a radio-logic technology major at MC, found that the information he learned in His-tory of the American Indian was easily applied to the world around him.

“I see the same overall theme of suppression in modern day times,” said the 21-year-old.

An essential goal of the class is to raise awareness on the topic of the American Indian, as they are “the heart of the American story,” Crispin-Peralta explained.

Graywolf, the curator of the Chu-mash Indian Museum in Thousand Oaks, feels Native Americans are not usually portrayed fairly in education.

“Very few teachers want to tell you the truth,” said 65-year-old Graywolf, who uses one name. “They want to gloss over the abuses that the govern-ment has done to our people… Indig-enous people need to be understood for what we really are, not the Holly-wood stereotypes that are so prevalent today.”

Crispin-Peralta’s history class urges students to look past this typi-cal stereotype. They are encouraged to develop a new perspective on their country’s antecedents.

“We learned about our nation’s hidden history,” said Imhof. “We never really hear about their story anywhere else.”

Robert PondStaff writer

The Moorpark Maraud-ers took second in Muggle Quidditch’s Southwestern Cup, losing to Arizona State in overtime of the champion-ship match.

The tournament was the first of its kind at Moorpark and the schools weren’t fool-ing around.

“I feel like everybody is here to compete,” said South-western Cup organizer and Moorpark Muggle Quidditch President Harrison Homel.

University of California Los Angeles, Occidental Col-lege, Arizona State University and Moorpark College met Saturday, April 24 at Moor-park’s soccer field to compete in a Quidditch tournament.

“[This] models the col-lege’s ambition [of] fostering student life on campus,” said Sharon Miller, advisor of the

Moorpark Associated Stu-dents.

For the Moorpark Ma-rauders, the tournament was the first time they used their new brooms.

“They’re the Quidditch standard broom,” said Scott Gago, a 20-year-old engi-neering major and Moorpark player. “It helps you connect to other players. It makes you feel like you’re a part of some-thing instead of just running around with brooms.”

The visiting teams also felt the difference of playing in a tournament, as opposed to playing for fun.

“It was a little more physi-cal than we’re used to,” said Wesley Rose, a 19-year-old ASU player.

After the preliminary rounds Arizona State looked unstoppable. With a 3-0 re-cord they sat atop the stand-ings, with Moorpark, UCLA and Occidental all at 1-2 going into the playoff.

“ASU is in a league of its own, they’re a machine,” said UCLA captain Tom Marks.

After a third place game where UCLA defeated Occi-

dental to take third, Moorpark and ASU squared off to de-termine who would go home with the Southwestern Cup.

With ASU up 80-50, Moor-park caught the Snitch, creat-ing a tie at 80-80, and send-ing the match into overtime. It was at this point, Europe’s “The Final Countdown” was played. The three minutes of overtime were not needed, however, with ASU getting a quick goal and catching the Snitch defeating the Maraud-ers in overtime 40-0.

“They’re a solid team,” said Gago. “[It’s] a little hard being that close.”

The Monday after the tournament Homel was in-terviewed on KROQ-FM’s morning program “Kevin and Bean,” who took a humorous look at Muggle Quidditch.

“It was exactly what I was anticipating, it’s Kevin and Bean, that’s what they do,” said Homel. “It’s a pow-erful platform for the sport, [and] everyone makes fun of Quidditch.”

YOUR COMMUNITY

COLLEGESTART AT

CALLUTHERAN

FINISH AT

Photo by Courtney CoonisNative americaN teachiNgs–Professor Vanessa Crispin-Peralta keeps in touch with her Native American roots by teaching it to others at Moorpark College. Students find her teaching both relevant and impactful.

Amy ChuMoorpark campus editor

The 2009-2010 Associated Students board of di-rectors was officially out of office as of May 1, and the new board is currently transitioning into their roles.

“I hope next year’s board will continue what we’ve started,” said Ryan Krebs, now the former AS president. “I’ve met with Ebony Taylor and she wants to continue to reach out to students and get them involved, which is great.”

This year’s elections at Moorpark were the most successful in years. Twenty-one candidates vied for 10 positions, and 689 came out to vote on the first day according to Matt Murray, the 2009-2010 Director of Constitution and Standing Rules.

The board for the upcoming school year will have a tough act to follow. In addition to having a great turnout for elections, the AS board for 2009-2010 implemented golf-cart giveaways, created a suggestion box and lobbied for lower textbook prices in Washington D.C., among other things. Krebs was even able to speak at the White House, advocating for Pell Grants, student loan reform and textbooks during his presidency.

AS advisor, Sharon Miller, has high hopes for the next board as she addressed some of them at the last meeting on April 29.

“This board is a hard act to follow, but you guys are up for the challenge,” she said. “I welcome the new board-elect and I’m so excited to be working with you guys.”

Making connections between past and present

Photo by Brooke Mueller‘seekiNg’ to score–MC player Steven Vu, second from left, blocks for Sean Ferguson to break away for a goal against UCLA at the Southwestern Cup.

Photo by Brooke MuellerWhat a hoot–The teaching zoo brought owls down to visit the tournament in the spirit of “Harry Potter” on April 24.

Out with the old AS, and in with the new

Marauders take second at MC Muggle Quidditch tournament

SPORTSPage 5 Student Voice • www.StudentVoiceOnline.com May 5, 2010

Photo by Joseph A. Garcia/VC Star StaffChampions–Ventura College men’s swimming and diving coach Larry Baratte, center, holds the California Communty College Athletic Association State Championship trophy and celebrates with the Pirates swim team at Mt. San Antonio College May 1. The women’s swim team finished eighth overall, and the Pirates men’s team won their first state championship since 2005.

Pirates swim team wins first state title since 2005Tim WeisbergSports editor

The Ventura Col-lege men’s swimming team fittingly splashed around in celebration after winning its second state championship May 1 at Mount San Antonio College, taking care of second-place Orange Coast College single-handedly 501.5-374.

According to Pirates swimming coach Larry

Baratte, it was a collec-tive effort in the team’s journey to the state title.

“We are all excited about our successful sea-son,” said Baratte in an e-mail.

“The athletes came together and everyone contributed to the cham-pionship environment by working hard every-day.”

Despite the Pirates only taking one individ-ual title in the 50-yard

freestyle and the 200 and 400 medley relay titles over the course of three days of competition, they wound up with the title.

According to Barat-te, with only one indi-vidual title and two re-lay titles, yet still taking state, this is what made the championship that

much more special.“The team truly won

this together,” he said.

“We needed every-one to contribute and our success was on ev-eryone’s shoulders [and] I couldn’t be happier or prouder.”

The Pirates finally got over the hump for their first state title since 2005, finishing second three times and third last season before finally winning it all this sea-son.

The Pirates had 48 swimmers and all with

something to contribute, according to Baratte.

The championship marked the Pirates’ 11th consecutive top five fin-ish in the state cham-pionship meet, and the sixth consecutive top three finish.

Despite the success over the years, and given the opportunity to be the number one community college swim team in the state, Baratte found his team has learned an

important lesson in the process: that there is no “I” in team.

“I think that this year’s team all learned a great lesson…when you put the good for the team first, your in-dividual contribution is enhanced [and] we have preached that since day one,” he said.

“Ventura College swimming will never be a place for a self-centered athlete.”

Here’s how I see it...

David LopezContributing writer

Tim has been suffer-ing from a severe case of “Transferitis,” and could not make it to the newsroom to write this column.

So, I wrote a column about something that is near and dear to my heart: the World Cup. It is so much more impor-tant than just a game. If you don’t believe me, I’ll prove it to you.

It’s 2006 and the Ivo-ry Coast has been torn apart by a vicious civil war for four years.

The event that could stop the war wasn’t an act of the Peace Corps. It wasn’t even a Sunday morning at church.

It was a game. But not just any

game,a game between Ivory Coast and Argen-tina. The reason it was special is because it was soccer on the largest stage: the World Cup.

Both sides of the war-torn nations agreed to honor a ceasefire dur-

ing this time, so they could both watch their country play.

With the 2010 show-ing of the World Cup coming up, ESPN has set its sights on promot-ing the Cup as the one big event that can truly unify the world.

This year, ESPN is counting on 32 nations of the world to be more like a United Nations of sports.

Bono shared this thought process with ESPN in their most re-cently published ad for the 2010 cup.

The advertisement talks about how it’s not about religion, or poli-tics.

Then the advertise-ment hit’s a beautiful cli-max when all you see is a stadium with fireworks launching out from the top of the bleachers, as U2’s “City of Blind-ing Lights” wails in the background. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of

anticipation. One of my biggest

hopes for the world is that Ivory Coast would just be a microcosm of what soccer can really do for our world.

If that happens, one month of soccer could turn into a spark that saved the world from self-destruction through the grace of a game.

Photo by Jeffrey FarrarChasing the paCk–Moorpark’s Madelyn Stoltze attempts to move into the lead at the beginning of the women’s 5000m race at the Western State Conference Championships at Moorpark on April 30. Stoltze finished in first with a school-record time of 17:41.15.

MC and VC stride toward success at championshipsMichael PrietoStaff writer

The Moorpark Col-lege Raiders and the Ventura College Pirates track and field teams were both able to notch top five finishes at the Western State Confer-ence championships on April 30 in Moorpark.

The Moorpark men’s team finished the season as WSC champions, and the Moorpark women’s team finished fourth, completing a very suc-cessful day for the Raid-ers.

The Raiders finished in first place overall in the 5000m run. Sopho-more Isidore Herrera fin-ished third for the men with a time of 15:30.74 while sophomore Mad-elyn Stoltze finished first for the women with a time of 17:41.15.

The 100m hurdles were also strong for the women as freshman Shara Longbotham fin-ished third for the Raid-ers with a time of 15.72.

The 3000m steeple chase was also an event that gave the Raiders the opportunity to pick up points as freshman Char-lie Petrie finished first with a time of 9:30.91.

Longbotham also finished third in the high jump with a jump of 5’ 1.”

The Raiders really made headway towards their WSC men’s cham-pionship with their per-formance in the throw-ing events.

Shot put was just the tip of the iceberg as the Raiders finished with four out of the top five finishes with sophomore Kenneth Sugishita fin-ishing first overall.

Sugishita was fol-lowed by freshman Josh McClure, sophomores Andrew Durham and Gabriel Acero finishing second, fourth and fifth respectively.

Sophomore Jane Sw-enson helped pitch in for the women in shot put as she finished first throw-ing 44’2”.

Coach Linda Boy-an believed the team stepped up to the chal-lenge despite its youth..

“I think the kids raised their level,” said Boyan. “We got a lot of young people, a lot of freshman on the track so that was good to see.”

The Pirates men’s and women’s teams fin-ished fifth overall, with some strong performanc-es in the track events.

Freshman Rachel Ormsby would make her presence felt again in the

400m hurdle finishing first by a full three sec-onds, but the spectacular performance came in the men’s high jump.

Freshman James In-nis drew several cheers and suspense from the crowd as he continued to jump higher and higher eventually finishing at 6’11”.

Coach Tim Gutierrez believes that his team showed the ability to compete at a high level during the WSC champi-onships.

“A couple weeks ago we had a team meeting that talked about com-peting and intensity,” said Guitierrez.

“Today they have proven to me that they can come out here and compete and they can be intense, based they are showing in their events.”

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTPage 6 Student Voice • www.StudentVoiceOnline.com May 5, 2010

OC says goodbye to ‘How are You?’

McNish hosts art competition

PhotosCourtesyofMitchellWuWind Chimes–On April 29, volunteers, participamts, and ceramic students gathered to finalize and remove the ‘How are you?’ pubilc art exhibit which was hung from the trees around the library. From top, liberal arts dean Robert Taylor cut the first tablet down. Center, faculty and students alike gathered to help with the project. Bottom, Jenchi Wu, the instructor and moving force behind the project removes a tablet from a branch.

Ara OritzStaff writer

Ten students who had their art displayed at the McNish Gallery received awards. The awards include a first, second, and third place and also honorable men-tions in painting/draw-ing and 3D/ceramics.

Christine Morla, the art department chair at Oxnard College, was proud of the art stu-dents whose art was dis-played at the gallery, es-pecially since the gallery displayed works from artists with vast experi-ence levels.

“All the art in there

are from different lev-els, beginner, interme-diate, and advanced,” Morla said. “It really shows how much the students have grown in techniques. They’ve grown to come up with concepts for their art and how to tell a story through visual art.”

The exhibit and awards only happen once a year during the spring semester. Ac-cording to Morla, it is held in the spring so art students can have two semesters of experience. It would allow them to gain more experience and hopefully enter one of their works of art.

A judge came in to review the art, giving out two of the following: a first, second and third place and honorable mentions in the each category.

About 70 to 80 peo-ple came and viewed the art including artists whose art was on dis-play, according to Mor-la.

Ernesto Orellana, a 25-year-old computer science major and fellow artist, was impressed with the displayed art. Many of his classmates and friends had their art displayed.

“Its great,” he said. “You can see the best of

PhotobyRobinArrataexploring artWork–Blossom Candelaria, a 22-year-old, art major (left), Christina Kajitori, a 16-year-old undecided major (right), and Christina’s mother Diana (center) looking at some of the competition’s award-winning art.

MC orchestra offers springtime showcaseShelby HebertStaff writer

Moorpark College’s Spring Musical Show-case will offer a wide variety of different music styles and genres as performed by MC’s wind and chamber ensemble classes . “Everyone in the classes will be

showcasing what they have been working on all semester,” said the showcases’ music direc-tor James Song.

The semester will boil down to this one evening for these stu-dents, displaying their musical abilities to the attendees.

The Spring Music

Showcase will perform Friday, May 7 at 8 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center’s Main Stage.

“I think people should know that we have a very vibrant and eclectic music program here and that their fel-low students are work-ing so hard to bring mu-sic to this college,” Song

said. “They should be proud of them.”

Tickets are available for $8.

For tickets or more information about the showcase contact the PAC box office at (805) 378-1485 or visit their website online now at www.moorparkcollege.edu/PAC.

the best the school has to offer.”

In the end, Morla was very proud of the work these art students did.

PhotobyRobinArratasuCCess–Ana Moralas, a 20-year-old art major, won 3rd place in the 2D category for her artwork.

OPINIONPage 7 Student Voice • www.StudentVoiceOnline.com May 5, 2010

Brennan WhitmoreStaff writer

Two teams of col-leges square off against each other, trying to throw a deflated volley-ball through three verti-cal hoops.

On offense they throw dodge balls at each other, all while using one arm to keep a broom be-tween their legs. Even if you are familiar with Harry Potter, the Muggle Quidditch Tournament on April 24 is a lot to take in. Muggle Quidditch is definitely an act of geek culture, which is evident from the fake magical brooms to the slogans printed on the back of the players uniforms,

some lifted straight from the book. There is one other activity that is almost eerily close to Muggle Quidditch. Live Action Role Playing, or LARPING, is essentially a version of Dungeon and Dragons acted out in public. Cambria Wells, secretary for the Muggle Quidditch club, says that Muggle Quidditch dif-fers in the sense that it’s meant to taken as more of a sport.

“I think there’s a serious side to Muggle Quidditch that Live Ac-tion Role Playing doesn’t always have, because there is real competition and there is real injury,” said Wells.

For now though, Wells and other players can keep playing a sport that still lets its players have fun.

“Right now it’s kind of the golden age of Mug-gle Quidditch because it’s organized, but it’s not ridiculously serious like other team sports,” said Wells. “That’s why I play it.”

Geek Culture

What do you do to de-stress?

Kerrish Lewis, 18 Nursing

Michael Peralta, 23 Journalism

Jono Standsfer, 18Undeclared

“Well, I’m stressed when I’m in school, so once I’m out I’ll be fine.”

“I like to write and paint, that’s what I do to de-stress.”

“Listen to music, hang out with my girls or paint my nails.”

Editor Hannah Davey

Online editor Michael Galasso

Opinion editor Hannah Coyle

MC Campus editor Amy Chu

OC Campus editor Benji Guererro

VC Campus editor Angela Braza

Sports editor Tim Weisberg

A&E editor Mallory Martin

Photo editor Jake Henderson

Student Life editor Hayley Skene

Copy editor Robert Pond

Producer David Lopez

Staff writers:Beau AkersBrett Arve Dustin Brewer Shelby HebertMichael LemerandKen McWaidAra Ortiz

Shoaib NajmuddinMichael PrietoKenny Redublo Aaron Simon James Williams Brennan WhitmoreJ. Carlos Zavala

The Student Voice

7075 Campus Rd. Moorpark, Calif. 93021 Phone: (805) 378-1552 Fax: (805) 378-1438 Email: StudentVoice@vcccd.edu

A blogger should be held to the same standards as a traditional journalistKenny RedubloStaff writer

Convergence has

helped progress our soci-ety through many aspects; communication, entertainment and creative expression. With the ease and power of the Internet, society can stay connected at all times. Through these connections and quick communication, getting published is as easy as voicing an opinion, but does this take away from the hard work of traditional-ists?

Bloggers are a conflicted bunch. Anyone can be a blogger.

Ideas clash, views clash, beliefs clash, but it provides an open fo-rum for discussion.

However, since blogging is such an open outlet, there is no filter for quality. Spelling errors, style errors and improper citing can plague most blogs.

Among the masses of blog posts, there can be some dia-monds in the rough and those writers can be discovered by the

larger publications. So how can that affect writers with previous experience?

It shouldn’t. What these outlets pro-vide is a window to potential. With the pressure from profes-sional publications, these unexperienced bloggers can get mo-tivated to refine their style, voice or tech-nique. The traditional freelancers shouldn’t

see these bloggers as a threat, but as students

and apprentices.Putting legitimacy aside,

what matters most is talent. A blogger can have awful writing, but their vision can be innovative and original. Likewise, a freelanc-er can have years of experience, but has fallen out of touch with what is relevant and develop stale ideas. Learning from each side of the pen is the biggest goal.

Bloggers versus journalists; learning from both sides of the pen

Photo Illustration by Kenny Redublo Face-oFF–Talent and experience is what matters with writers.

Ventura oxnard Moorpark

The Obama administration is taking a stance against nuclear warfare

The nuclear winds have shifted, in America and for America.

By expressing the most definitive stance on American nuclear policy since Harry S. Truman, President Obama has cemented his place in martial history even as conservatives lambaste his policies at home.

The Department of

Defense’s new policy, mandated personally by Obama, deliberately re-moves most of the ambi-guity in America’s exist-ing nuclear procedures.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT, encompasses 189 parties.

Known as the Nu-clear Posture Review, the policy pledges that the United States will not use nuclear weapons on non-nuclear countries that are in compliance with the established Nu-clear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

By clearing up the circumstances that would lead the United States to make use of nuclear weapons, Obama is pre-senting a strong counter-point to the increasingly raving claims of some of the more militant, nucle-

ar-minded countries like Iran and North Korea. By refuting these dog-matic claims, America can see its international relationships strengthen in the face of shifting po-litical aspirations.

According to the New York Times, the United States is concen-trating on enticing Mid-dle Eastern countries and those seeking nucle-ar power to partner with an established nuclear power to both obtain and dispose of their fis-sile material.

This way, militant countries won’t have ac-cess to spent nuclear ma-terial to use as a stockpile for weapons.

In an interview with the New York Times, Obama clarified his goals.

“All countries—

whether they’re nuclear weapons states, non-nuclear [sic] weapons states or aspiring nuclear weapons states—I think they should be very clear about what our ap-proach and strategy is,” said Obama.

America’s approach is to fight fire with fire, but not blindly.

The new policies will strengthen the re-solve of opponents to nuclear proliferation, not encourage the increased development of rogue weapons programs.

It’s the right deci-sion, in America and for America.

-Michael Galasso

Online editor

No more nuclear war from the U.S.–Editorial–>

An editorial is the opinion of the editorial staff of the Student Voice.

Illustration by Beau Akersaction–The United States is taking the lead to giving us a nuclear war free world, hopefully more countries will follow.

Hannah CoyleOpinion editor

It’s just downright scary how fast this se-mester went by.

It’s also scary how much life has changed in

the past few months for me.

Looking back, I’ve made a lot of mistakes, had a bunch of fun and gone on some adven-tures, but throughout the good times and the bad, I think the thing I’ve done most, is learned.

I’ve learned so much this semester; I wish I could get a degree in “life.”

The highlights of what I’ve learned are re-ally quite simple.

First off, when some-thing is not working out, be real enough to just ad-mit you made the wrong choice and let it go.

If it’s not worth fighting for, sometimes the better thing to do is just end it. Then move on, figure out what is worth your time and energy; that’s what life is all about, or at least it should be. Find some-thing that you love, that you’re excited about.

Something that you

wake up in the morning and can’t wait to do.

Whether it’s a class, a job, an art form or re-lationships with people even.

No matter what you believe in, if you live for something that inspires and excites you-your life will be a good one.

So find that, find the thing that makes you come alive and gives you purpose in life and once you find it, don’t ever let it go.

Hannah’s Take on the end of the semester

Photo by Brooke MuellerMuggles- Players at the Quidditch tournament play to win.

STUDENT LIFEPage 8 Student Voice • www.StudentVoiceOnline.com May 5, 2010

Dustin BrewerStaff writer

On June 27, the 16th annual Vans Warped Tour will make its yearly stop at Seaside Park in Ventura.

The Warped Tour has had a date in Ventura every year since its inception back in 1995.

The tour is one of the premier tours of the summer season, due to its mul-tiple stages and vast lineups.

The lineups feature some of the most well-known bands in punk rock today, as well as up-and-coming art-ists looking to make a name for them-selves.

This year, the main stage will fea-ture 30-minute sets from the likes of The All-American Rejects, Alkaline Trio, Bring Me The Horizon, The Dill-inger Escape Plan and Sum 41.

While these big name acts on the main stage are sure to draw a crowd, Missy McCarty, an 18-year-old Moor-park student, is excited to see some of

her favorite bands.“This will be my third time going

to Warped, I’m really excited to see Enter Shikari, Set Your Goals, Motion City Soundtrack and a few others this

year,” McCarty said.Another thing that makes Warped

Tour unique compared to other festival style tours is the meet-and-greets that are offered.

Various merchants will set up tents in-between and during sets to allow fans to meet many different artists fea-tured on the tour.

Justin LaTorre, a 20-year-old Moor-park student, attended Warped Tour last summer.

“There are always favorite artists and new artists to discover at Warped Tour. It is rare that there would be nothing to see; you only know by go-ing,” LaTorre said. LaTorre is looking forward to seeing newer bands for the first time.

“I just got into VersaEmerge so I’m interested to see how they are live, also Hey Monday, the Rocket Summer and Enter Shikari,” said LaTorre.

Known for its wide variety of acts and genres all performing on the same tour, the Vans Warped Tour is guaran-teed to have something for everyone to enjoy. Tickets are available now. To pur-chase tickets or to view the complete list of artists and stages for this year’s tour, visit www.warpedtour.com.

Dustin BrewerStaff writer

As part of the re-surgence in vinyl over recent years, the third annual Record Store Day was celebrated on April 17 throughout independent record stores across the United States.

One participating record store was Sal-zer’s in Ventura. The largest independent record store in Ventura County, Salzer’s offers a wide collection of used and new vinyl as well as CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray.

As a part of Record Store Day, many bands released exclusive new music only available at participating record stores.

Bands such as the Monsters of Folk, Wee-zer, Against Me! and over 20 more all had rare CDs or vinyl re-leases for music enthu-siasts throughout the county.

One Salzer’s em-ployee, who requested to remain anonymous,

worried that some op-portunists may take advantage of the event.

“We got this new exclusive ‘Hold Steady’ album, and we only got one and it’s already on ebay for over $200,” he said.

“There are some people who will come in and buy three of something just so they can sell two of them to take advantage of peo-ple.”

But if the crowds of music fans present on Saturday were any in-dication, scams weren’t on the minds of the attendees. The line was at least three customers long throughout the afternoon, with tons of people crowding the vinyl and exclusive re-lease sections.

One customer, Gar-ret Clark, a 19-year-

old Moorpark College student, visits Salzer’s regularly and he is par-ticularly supportive of independent stores.

“With a lot of the big chain stores not car-rying vinyl, it’s nice to have a place where ev-eryone loves music,” Clark said.

Record Store Day was first held in 2008 throughout all inde-pendent record stores as a way to draw atten-tion to the dangers of being closed down by bigger chain stores.

This year’s Record Store Day has already been called the most successful one to date as far as the exclu-sive content offered and bands that had participated.

For more informa-tion on Salzer’s, visit www.salzers.com.

Warped Tour returns to Seaside Park

Photo courtesy of Salzer’s Standing out– Reaching two stories tall, Salzer’s is the largest independent record store in Ventura County.Fashion View

From these locations mem-bers give back to the commu-nities and countries around them.

The organization began with Tom and Cindy Bauer and their desire “to do more with the sport of surfing,” as explained on STN’s website.

They founded Surfing The Nations in 1997 near Honolu-lu. The Bauers’ goals were to use surfing to give back and help change the youth in their community.

STN established two pro-grams in 1998 that set it apart. The first is Feeding the Hungry program, which feeds about 3,500 homeless a week.

The second is its interna-tional trips to Bali, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Egypt and Israel.

Leading the international trips is STN’s Trip Director, 26-year-old Chris Rehrer.

“A lot of kids out there, myself included, want to do things,” said Rehrer. “So we give them a platform to do it. To get people out there and

provide an experience serving and getting great waves, it’s a multicultural experience.”

The trips help expose westerners to new cultures, teaching them how to surf and serve the communities they visit.

“We want people to know what love is, and what value is, through surfing,” said Reh-rer.

Serving the less fortunate with STN was one of Bitner’s favorite experiences.

“Giving clothes to a fish-ing village in Indonesia and seeing how people reacted, how stoked they were and talking to people we hung out with and gave food to was an experience I will never forget,” said Bitner.

Currently there is a man from Bangladesh whom STN has radically helped.

“A guy right now, here [in Hawaii] from Bangladesh, Ja-far Alam,” said Rehrer.

“When we met this guy there was no surfing in Ban-gladesh,” said Rehrer.

The 28-year-old surfer from Bangladesh recalled his

start in surfing and how STN assisted him and his commu-nity. In 2001 the founder of STN, Tom Bauer, discovered Alam while taking pictures at Bangladesh’s longest beach.

“He saw me, and he saw that my surfboard had no leash and no wax. It’s hard with no wax,” said Alam.

“I was surfing by myself for seven years. Then he spon-sored me in 2003, he fed me, everything, a place to stay. Yeah, he changed my life,” said Alam.

“When we met this guy there was no surfing in Ban-gladesh,” said Rehrer.

“We don’t have surf shops, wax, or leashes. STN brings that stuff when they go

to [Bangladesh] every year,” said Alam.

“We’ve equipped him to entirely change the place where he lives. He’s trying super hard to impact the kids and people around him in his community,” said Rehrer.

“He’s using the principles that we are teaching him to help his community. It’s not because of us, but because our consistency,” said Rehrer.

“This is a guy whose life has been radically changed by STN,” said Rehrer.

Local surfer and Moor-park College student 20-year-old Chris Homokay wants to get involved and summed up the goal of STN by stating their motto.

“It’s about surfers giving back,” said Homokay.

Giving back has been the aim of Moorpark’s campus through the lecture series, the Year of Service co-chaired by Kathryn Adams and John Gray.

“The most wonderful thing about the Year of Service was not a single event, it was the whole year. It was taking time to really look around and see what’s going on in the world, what actions people are taking and seeing so much love and care on this campus,” said Adams.

“The single most impor-tant thing is that they can make a difference for other people,” said Gray.

SURFING: surfers travel worldwide to give back

Benji GuerreroOxnard campus editor

Making a statement with your wardrobe never fails. If you are ready to take your everyday look and turn it into a fash-ion statement with your wardrobe, wearing black, incorporating prints, and having a common theme can help boost the look as a whole.

First, you can make a statement in black. Black clothes are always classy but overdoing it can be-come at times goth or punk.

Your outfit should focus on shapes and de-tails that you can use with black. Adding chunky jewelry and accessories such as gold and pearls

keep it classy while still making a statement.

For men, wearing black is a good way to look slick. Mix fabric textures to give your look dimen-sion and accessories with watches, metallic ties and readers.

For women, look for bold prints with vibrant colors and garments that are typically not printed such as tights, shorts, pants and shoes.

For men, the best way to incorporate prints is with accessories.

Hat, ties, scarves and socks are great options. When it comes to mixing prints try to keep them within the same color sto-ry. This helps to give your look cohesion.

Statements can also

be easily made when you theme your outfits. Using current trends is a fashion forwards way to create a look.

One example is to use the army trend that is cur-rently in style. You can wear military jackets and army boots with army green hues. The idea is to make your outfit literal to create a theme based statement.

With these ideas in mind, you will be well on your way to becoming a fashionista. Making a statement with your ward-robe is for people who want to get noticed.

Be brave and explore outside your comfort zone. Fashion has no limit nor any shame and neither shall you.

Making your own statement

Continued from pg. 1

Photo courtesy of Surfing the NationsReaching out– “To get people out there and provide an experience serving, and getting great waves, it’s a multicul-tural experience,” said Chris Rehrer, left, with fellow Surfing the Nations Trip Director Robert McDaniel.

Collage by Benji GuerreroStanding out– Models make a statement using thematic outfits, bold black garments and prints.

Record Store Dayrocks

Fashion View

“The single most important thing is that they can make a difference for other people.”

-Moorpark Professor John Gray

Photo by Justin LaTorreJoining the cRowd– Aiden singer Wil Francis reaches out to fans at Warped Tour 2009.