magnetic lights, james anderson, caleb christopher, kathleen myers, chris sadler, maltreated, one way recording, walking dead, scott pilgrim vs the world, santa, yuletide, paul wilkins, term paper anxiety, advertise here, walter michael
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FREE December 2010 Vol. II, Issue 2 The Sierra Independent Press is an independent newspaper published by the Sierra Independent Newspaper Club and is not affliated in any way with the Siera Joint Community College District or its Board of Trustees. Sierra Joint Community College District does not own or support the messages, information or promotions made herein. The Sierra Joint community College District is not responsible for the contents of any of the articles, advertisements, pro- motions or editorials herein. Hunting at sunset. Photograph by Walter Michael Photo: Nick Stanfield -Mike Stanfield to the left: A Voice for the Voiceless 2 -Proposed Comunity Organic Garden 3 -RedBox Review: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World 5 -Sierra Center: Yuletide Vs. Christmas 6 Courtesy Of: www.thedavidpoeshow.com NOV_DEC_2010_Done:Layout 1 12/11/2010 12:27 PM Page 1
As college students, when we think ofheroes we typically think of sports iconsor professional leaders in our major, oreven occasionally our professors. But nomatter where we are in life, we can alllook back and see one of the greatestinfluences in our life is our parents. Thisis certainly the case for a student atSierra College, Nick Stanfield. Nick’s herois his dad, not only for his father’s victimadvocacy work, nor his harrowing tales ofsurvival that he’s experienced--more thanonce. The real reason is simple. Mike isNick’s hero because he’s his dad, and avery proud one at that.
Twenty three years ago Mike Stanfieldand a female friend he was with at thetime were attacked by an assailant. June4th, 1977 was the day that Mike’s lifechanged forever. He was beaten, shot,and stabbed because he was in thewrong place at the wrong time.
On a casual Saturday, Mike went overto his friend’s apartment to go swimming.A man, who knew Mike’s friend, came upto the apartment while they were eatinglunch. The man pulled out a 22-magnum,walked into the apartment, and fired twoshots at Mike; one in the chin and one inthe jaw bone. A third shot struck hisfriend.
Mike remembers being on theground watching his blood flow down thehill. He lay there nearly dead while hisfriend was still being attacked. Abystander came by and helped Mike asbest he could, but couldn’t stay. The lastthing he remembered before losing con-ciousness was an attacker standing overhim, ready to kill him, when an unknownperson ran to his rescue.
The next time Mike was awake, he wasin the emergency room. He spent sixdays in intensive care.
This near-death experiencecaused Mike to live in intense fear. Helived in his boarded up house for a yearand half. With great courage, he attendedthe trial of his assailants, where he foundout his attacker was a CHP officer. All ofthese experiences left Mike feeling at agreat loss. After his stay in the hospital,recovering from the attack, he had quite ahospital debt. When he sought assistancefor the debt and for the long-term rehabili-tation he would have to go through, hefound there was little support available.He joined with others and a local politi-cian, John Doolittle, to start Victims inTrauma, an organization to advocate forvictims rights and support.
He works toward helping victims inneed. Even though he himself is not eli-gible for more financial assistance for themedical care he still needs, he works withothers in California to ensure financialassistance, emotional or psychologicalhelp, and medical rehabilitation supportfor victims of trauma.
This fight isn’t over for Mike. He is try-ing to work with new local politicians andadvocacy groups to help bolster aVictim’s Compensation Fund. His biggestadversary is the California Department ofCorrections, which controls the funds. Buthe also struggles against a tough econo-my where everyone is looking for money.The advocacy goes on in his life becauseof this personal matter that Mike Stanfieldlives with everyday.
Introducing the idea of an organicgarden, for the Sierra College campus,which would allow students to grow andsell their own organic fruits and vegita-bles. If your interested in contributing tothe cause, contact Mr. Gentry by E-mail.More to be discussed at the next ASSCmeeting on Thursday, February 3rd, 2011at 4:00 P.M, in the Fireside Room.
Nominations for Faculty ofthe Year are now openthrough April 8th, 2011.Visit the Campus Lifeonline atwww.sierracollege.edu/assc
Upcoming Events
Spring Club Days February 8th & 9th 2011
Campus Clean UpMarch 12th 2011
Club OlympicsMarch 28th-31st 2011
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The first song begins, and withone stroke of a guitar, limbs flail and fansstart kicking inches from each other. Thisstyle of dancing called “moshing” is farfrom sock hop and salsa dancing. Itinvolves head banging, fists punching theair, and ramming into your neighbor.Many people would find this type of danc-ing too dangerous, but what may soundfrightening to some, is a second home toothers.
So what caused this group ofmostly sober young men to go from laidback and calm, to full out party mode?Maltreated was formed in January of2010. In high school this group of friendsdecided to form a band because of theirshared passion for music. After manyname changes they decided onMaltreated after a song called“Maltreatment” by Martidome.
Their music is mostly about deathand destruction and as Fluery jokes, alsofriendship and unity. “Valley of Kings” and“Demise of Generation” are most com-monly played when they perform.Maltreated has played Club Retro,Orangeville, Studio21, Roseville, and TheBoardwalk,Orangevale.
Arnoldexplained theultimate direc-tion for theirband is “Justdoing what wewere doing,having fun,and hopefullygetting noticedalong the way.”
Sober fists fly for Maltreated
Kathleen Myers
Dylan Fluery (Guitar), Taylor Webe,
(Drums), Phillip Bacchi (Guitar), Brandon
Arnold (Bass), and Phil Kelada (vocals).
The world hasbeen overrun bythe undead, and agroup of survivorsmust carry on withlittle more than theshirts on theirbacks. TheWalking Dead is
an adaptation of acomic book of the
same name. The series is coming up onits 80th issue, and has spawned a world-wide fan base. While both of these thingsmay turn some off to the idea, TheWalking Dead is also far and away thebest new show of the year.
Officer Rick Grimes(AndrewLincoln) is injured in the line of duty, andwakes up in the hospital to find the worldhe knew gone forever. He sets off insearch of his wife and son. Even in thisopening, second only to “trapped in amall” in the zombie cliché hierarchy, TheWalking Dead proves it is something spe-cial.
Over the course of the pilot hisfear fades to stark denial, subdued horror,and begrudging acceptance in a stun-ningly believable way.
Showrunner Frank Darabont wasthe director of The ShawshankRedemption and The Green Mile, andproducer Gale Anne Hurd has had ahand in such films as Æon Flux, TheIncredible Hulk, and Terminator 2:Judgment Day. Both are tremendous fansof the source material, and it’s hard toimagine better hands for the show to bein moving forward.
The Walking Dead is, ultimately, ashow about who we are when everythingwe knew is stripped from us, when all wehave left is each other. And it’s well worthyour time.
http://www.myspace.com/maltreatedmanifest916
http://www.myspace.com/onewayrecordsdistro
Chris Sadler
What do you get when you cross avocalist that has extreme vocal/musicaldynamics with, a salsa arrangement,rock, and big banging club beats?Shakira’s latest album Sale el Sol! AfterEspaña claimed the world championshipat the Cupa de Mundo 2010, Shakira wasleft riding the crest of her world wide hit,Waka Waka (esto es Ãfrica), as shereentered the studio to finish her latestoffering Sale el Sol(Released: October19th 2010).
The album boasts the many sidesof Shakira, musically and vocally. Hercurrent single Loca (Feat. El Cata) issteaming up the dance floors world wide.Her versatility that shines on the song,“Lo que más,” should surely silencemany critics, who may believe her to be aone-trick-pony, by producing just clubsmashers; the song is comprised of fourelements, the piano, strings, her voice,and your ears!
Even for those who are not wellversed in the Spanish language, thisalbum is a must for those who lovesgreat dance music, as well as the downtempo ballads.
Cowboy hats, leather boots, andnot a person in sight without a beer intheir hand. The energy level was high asfans filled Sleeptrain Ampitheater. TheAmerican country music band, RascalFlatts sure knows how to draw a crowd.
Their music is very organic andthey sing about enjoying life, the south,and love. Any fan would be pleased withthe concert itself, but what made
Scott Pilgrim Vs the World is the single best movie I have ever seen. That’s really all this review should have to say. It’s amazing,go buy a copy, end of story. Unfortunately, we live in a world where one of the best movies of the year was passed up in theaters forderivative, self indulgent crap like Eat Pray Love and the Expendables, two terrible movies that made many, many times moremoney than the excellent Scott Pilgrim did. This is basically a tragedy. Luckily, the movie is out now on Blu-Ray and DVD, givingeveryone who missed out the first time another chance to make sure that people keep making great movies like this instead ofchurning out remakes and sequels ad nauseam.
Scott Pilgrim Vs the World is the story of one Canadian twenty two year old’s struggle to grow up and be with the girl of hisdreams. It’s completely average in every way, other than the fact he lives in a hyperactive videogame and comic book influencedworld where over the top fight scenes break out constantly in the same way song and dance routines tend to in a musical, peopleexplode into coins when they die, and the fourth wall is merely a suggestion.
Twenty-two year old Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) has a little bit of a problem. He’s dating a seventeen year old high schooler.This is not the problem. Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has just skated her way through his mind (literally) and into hislife, and he’s a little bit obsessed. This is also not his problem. The problem is, in order to date her, he’s going to have to win herheart, fight her seven evil exes in mortal combat, and break up with his fake high school girlfriend. So, the usual stuff everyone hasto go through.
The plot itself is about as basic as an old school videogame- fight the bad guys, get the girl. What makes this movie so great isits presentation, acting, and writing. All the actors are cast perfectly, as if they were ripped right out of the comic. Cera, suprisinglyenough, changes up his usual character just enough to play the sometimes self centered, always hilarious, semi dorky, complete jerkthat Scott Pilgrim is. Kieran Culkan, however, steals every scene as Wallace, Scott’s gay roommate. Sarcastic doesn’t even begin tocover it. The writing is pulled almost straight from the comic, with a few deviations. There are a few twists, and a whole lot of con-flicts, not only between Scott and the seven exes who are trying to kill him, but between him and pretty much every other character.The star of the show, however, is the presentation. The visuals are fantastic, a mashup of comic book action, videogame graphics,and pure sugary lightshow awesomeness. It’s almost impossible to describe how it looks without just watching the movie.
Speaking of which, that’s exactly what you should be doing. This movie is amazing. It’s funny, it’s exciting, it’s got literally explo-sive music. It’s safe to say you should probably have stopped reading this already in order to go get this movie.
Kathleen MyersRascal Flats concert takes fans for a ride
Scott Pilgrim Vs the World DVD Review: Why haven’t you alreadygone out and seen this movie?Caleb Christopher
Sierra Independent Press 5
Courtesy of:http://www.iamfan.com
it memorable was their use of stageeffects. Being that it was a country con-cert, they kept the focus more on themusic than making an outrageous stageproduction. Their subtle utilization of light-ing and background video enhanced theemotion of each song.
The opening song, “Movin’ On,”was about dealing with ghosts from yourpast and moving forward. They kept avery simple stage of shimmering blue,purple and red stars on the large screensand they had blue backlights because itwas a semi-slow paced song. The starswould change color as the tempo did,which emphasized the slowest andfastest parts of the song.
Next they played “These Days”which is about not being able to get overa girl. They had blue backlights and rain-drops on the screens to keep the focuson the intensity of the hurt in the song.“Mayberry” was a switch to a moreupbeat song. Being that it is about remi-niscing on their relaxed hometown, theyhad many pictures of a country home,front porch, and old cars.
All the pictures were in sepia toenhance the feeling of the old countrywhich complimented the song nicely.“Feels Like Today” was another songabout moving on from the past. Thissong was a little more upbeat so theyused bright orange and yellow star-bursts on the screens and used brightwhite backlights to show the epiphanyof finally moving on.
Next, “Broken Road” was aslow serenade to the love of his lifeand thanking everything in his past forleading him to her.
They ended with the song “Lifeis a Highway.” This song, being themost upbeat had tons of flashingbacklights and the screen showed aneon computer animated city view.When the chorus began, the citybecame a neon highway to show thatlife should be a fun trip and youshould enjoy every moment. At theend of the song, a neon sign said, “Toour great fans, thanks for the ride.”
In Argentina, even though theweather is warm during the Christmasseason, preparations for Christmas beginearly. The decorate their houses with col-orful lights and flowers. Instead of redand green, red and white garlands areplaced about the house and on the door.The celebration for Argentinians beginson Christmas Eve, when they go tochurch with their families. Adults gettogether to celebrate, while kids usuallygo out to see fireworks. By midnight, fire-works can be heard all over and the pres-ents under the tree are opened. The nextmorning, the 25th, most people greeteach other by saying “Feliz Navidad,”
meaning merry Christmas.In Germany, December
6th is St. Nicholas Day, orNikolaustag.” The night before,children put their shoe or bootoutside the door as St. Nicholasgoes to every child’s home with a‘book of sins’ of who has beengood or not. Those that were niceget candy in their shoe. Those
that weren’t get sticks. TheChristmas tree originated inGermany. Unlike America, in
Germany kids don’t help decorate thetree.The tree is decorated on Christmaseve as a surprise for the children, andwhen it’s finished being decorated a bellis rung and the children can come andsee the tree where all the presents arekept as well.
Being in the southern hemisphere,Australians are feeling the summer heatduring the Christmas season. All over, butespecially in Melbourne, tens of thou-sands of people gather to sing Christmassongs in a tradition known as Carols byCandlelight. Instead of a Christmas tree,Australians have a Christmas bush, anative plant which has little red floweredleaves. Christmas shopping is often donein shorts and t-shirts. And at many placesaround Australia, Santa Claus arrives notby sliegh, but by surfboard.
Around Christmas time everyyear people decorate trees,give each other gifts, singChristmas carols door todoor, eat a big meal togetherand some people even eatYule logs, which are choco-late jelly rolls with whipcream filling and chocolatefrosting. But most nevertake the time to considerthe origin of these cus-toms. Yule is in fact the Pagan midwintercelebration, roughly equivalent to theChristian Christmas or the JewishHanukkah.
Celebrated on December 21st. It’sthe most prominent Pagan celebration ofthe winter solstice, and the Germanicsuccessor to the Roman feast ofSaturnalia. The word itself is said to beScandinavian for feast or possibly wheel.The specifics of the words origin and howold it is are in dispute. Yule is not only thepredecessor of Christmas but alsoremains an important holiday to modernday Pagans.
Winter solstice is the shortest dayand the longest night of the year. Paganscelebrate winter solstice in general andYule in particular as the rebirth of the sunand whatever sun god corresponds totheir specific beliefs. Most academicsbelieve it is this symbolic rebirth thatprompted Roman Christians to celebratethe birth of Jesus Christ on December25th despite all biblical evidence pointingto an autumn birth. In the Celtic tradi-tions, Yule is celebrated as the Oak Kingslaying the Holly King and ruling until theSummer Solstice.
Historically many different coun-
tries had many different Winter Solstice
or Yule traditions. Most of them revolved
around a feast of some kind and igniting
a log called the Yule log, which was dec-
orated and then lit with the remains of the
prior year’s Yule log. Though the log itself
had to be
cut from ones own land orgiven as a gift, it was neverto be bought. The log wouldburn for twelve days. Gifts offruit, vegetables and flourwere given to children.Mistletoe, ivy and holly deco-rated the outside and inside
of dwellings.The older celebration
of Saturnalia was a muchbaser holiday. Like many
Roman celebrations it was technically afeast in honor of a God, in this caseSaturn, the God of agriculture. It wasactually an excuse for excess anddebauchery. Saturnalia did howeverestablish many traditions thatcontinue today though Yuleand Christmas, including gift-giving and feasting.
Though Yule and otherPagan Winter Solstice cele-brations are the origin ofmany modern day Christmaspractices, Yule is still celebrat-ed by millions of self-identifiedPagans practicing in theUnited States. Yule today is afeast celebrated with certain rituals andpublic singing (Christmas caroling wasoriginally called Yule singing). Additionallymany Pagans also celebrate Christmasas a secular holiday.
siErraSierra Independent Press
December 2010
CenterYuletide CheerPaul Wilkins
Who’s your santa?!?!Andrew Nelson
With Christmas less than a montha way, many people begin to feel a warm-ing of cheer when they walk through amall on a cold day and see kids waiting inline to sit on Santa’s lap. The rushing ofthe shoppers trying to find the gifts theirloved ones have asked for, annouces tomany Americans that Christmas is here.But other countries celebrate Christmasin very different ways than Americans do.
Courtesy of
http://howtocookachristmasturkey.com
Courtesy of:
http://www.santaclauspost.co.uk
The Sierra Center is our focus topic for the month, this Dec. is
Letters should be no more than 500 words, typed.SIP reserves the right to edit due to space and
content
Mission StatementTo inform readers of events happening on cam-pus and locally, to provide intelligent views oncurrent events, and to welcome the opinions, writing, and involvement of all students and
community members.
Advisor
Kent Pollock
Opinions Editor
Kathleen Meyer
Staff Reporters
Chris SadlerCaitlin Cox
Dorothy McCartyHaley de Genova
From work, school, the bus stop,even while ordering drinks at the localcoffee shop. Is reading what’s on yourelementary school friend’s mind a drainon your time, or worth while because itkeeps you involved in his life? Criticsargue that maintaining a social networkhas both negative and positive effects onits users.
Finding an old friend on Facebookis as easy as typing in a name in thesearch box. Add them as a friend andinstantly become a part of their life again,and vice versa. You can see pictures ofthe times you have missed out on, wherethey go to school and work, and see whatthey’re interested in. It’s just like the olddays in elementary school again; you justgrew up a little.
Maintaining a social networkingpage helps people stay in touch.Not just old buddies but peopleyou just haven’t had time to catchup with because life can just getin the way. Facebook is a greattool to make sure that thosefriends aren’t lost.
Social networking can, like somecritics say, be a waste of time. From post-ing pictures of themselves to lookingthrough friend’s photo albums, peoplespend so much time on social networkingsites.
Some people go on toFacebook multiple times a day,get their newsfeed straight to theirphone or don’t ever actuallylogout of their account.
One of the negative effectscaused by using a social networking siteis the lack and loss of knowledge. Teensuse lingo made for online and it becomesthe way they write. Shortened versions ofwords like “please” and “thank you” creepin to essays, notes, and class work.Because teens use this language sooften and with such ease, they tend to
forget how to spell simplewords like “tomorrow” and don’tremember when to use “your”and “you’re.”The everyday useof the English language is dete-riorating into MySpace speakand Facebook lingo.
Last, but certainly not least iscyber bullying. Fellow peers who dislike aparticular student can post hurtful thingsinstantly to all of their friends. This caus-es teasing, embarrassment, physicalabuse and often times ends in the suicide
of the victim. Cyber bullying is avery serious issue for teens espe-cially, but no one is unaffected bythis issue.
There is a pro to every conand vice versa. Reading status
updates is both positive, because it keepsyou involved in friend’s lives, and nega-tive, because it drains your time. Criticscan argue but in the end, it is up to you todecide; Social Networking: a time wasteror friendship saver?
The Social Network: Time Waster or Friendship Saver?Caitlin Cox
lot more effective than trying to "get at"someone. Most girls would rather betreated like humans than a goal a guy isjust trying to win. Also, don’t go out hunt-ing for a girlfriend, you just need to trustthat the best things always happen whenyou least expect it. Instead of hunting,just start out with a casual conversation.Remember, starting a conversation with astranger always has an awkward feelingto it on both sides so while you may beself conscious, the other person is mostlikely feeling the same way.
If they are worth your time theywill respond back and then who knowswhat could happen from there. If theydon't want to talk then it's really not bigdeal, there’s plenty of fish in the sea. Ifsomething isn‘t meant to be, you should-n’t try and force it. Don't let it mess withyour confidence, just move on.
Lost Lover,Being apart from your significant
other for long periods of time reallysucks, and it’s understandable to developfeelings for other people,especially if yousee them more frequently. It’s a harddecision but you need to figure out whatyour heart wants. Who makes you smilewith the little things they do and who doyou want just because they are there?
The best things in life are thethings you need to work for, and if youlove your girlfriend like you say you dothen you should realize that. If you reallycan’t get the other girl out of your headthan you must not love your girlfriend asmuch as you want to think so, and youcan’t mess with her emotions like that. Itsucks to break someone’s heart but itsucks even more to only have half ofyour heart in a relationship.
The only thing that determined hisdestination was his own interest. He wasfree to go wherever he wanted, wheneverhe wanted. I found this young man to beparticularly inspiring.
I realize that I so often just goabout my day as if there is no adventurein the world. Sometimes it seems that alllife has to offer me is cooking and clean-ing and work. The thing this brave youngman made me realize is that’s a choiceI’ve made for myself. That isn’t true.
The world has so much more tooffer me. There are so many adventuresleft to be had. There are so many placesI've never been, types of food I've nevertried, and activities I've never participatedin. I also realized that I don't have to waitto be rich, or retired, or for more time.
I am fully capable of having anadventure every day. I can choose to findsomething new to experience. I don’thave to wait until my kids are grown. Ican introduce my family to new placesand new things. I’ve been blessedenough to have a family that I can sharenew experiences with.
We make the memories we wantand live the life that we desire to live. It’sup to us to seek out new voyages for our-selves. I'm not sure what I will do orwhere I will go. I want to rediscover mysense of adventure and also introducemy children to the world. Kids are alwaysso excited for life.
I found that sense of excitement inthis young man. That's something that Ifeel like I can use more of in my life. It’ssomething that we should all seek out forour lives.
I may not be able to travel aroundthe country or travel around the world,but there are lots of new places to go andthings to see. I'm excited to start thisadventure I call life. I’ve put it off for toolong. It’s time to begin living.
Got heart ache? Askour resident Dr. ofLove Elizabeth! Sendyour questions toElizabeth at [email protected] the subject AskEli.Inquiries must be less than 150 words. Allsubmissions become property of SierraIndependent Press.
Dear Elizabeth,
So I have a girlfriend who I love
but because of her parents I only get to
see her once every few months, but my
friend who I like a lot, I get to see her
every day. I’m torn,what’s your opinion?
-Lost Lover
While working atStarbucks, I am fortu-nate enough, and some-times unfortunate (I’mtalking about you ventinonfat latte) enough, tomeet all sorts of inter-esting people. The othernight a young manwalked into my store.He was average inmost every way. What I didn’t know when Ifirst saw him is that he was someone spe-cial.This young man asked me and my coworker Debbie if we knew of any interestingplaces in the area. After we gave somesuggestions, we asked where he was from.He said he was from New York.
After talking to him, we found outthat he up and left New York out of bore-dom. He was no longer content in NewYork and decided to pick up and go.He hadbeen traveling around the country for thelast two months. He has more or less beengoing wherever he feels like going. Hewould hear about somewhere interesting,and go.
