3Rapper maintains no-holds- barred ap- proch 3SCC men fall short, while wom- en come out on top FEATURES ON 4 SPORTS ON 8 MORE ONLINE AT WWW.SOLANOTEMPEST.NET We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. -- Walt Disney QUOTE OF THE WEEK check online for sports updates, news stories, and more Need to send a valentine message? See page 2 T TEMPEST VOL. 30, NO. 7 JAN. 29, 2014 - FEB. 11, 2014 FAIRFIELD, CA www.solanotempest.net Ben Gogna / Tempest The solar panels installed at Solano Community College don’t just create electricity, but they also provide an added comfort level of security on campus for students with night classes and/or attending the athletics games held on campus. This project began in February of 2013 on the main campus and has since completed. Parking lots reopen on campus... with lighting! Deborah Graham Online editor [email protected]Solano College may be on its way to becom- ing part of an innovative diversity outreach initiative that could help students go to law school. The college has entered the second phase of an application process with the State Bar to offer The Community College Pathway to Law school. If successful, Solano would be one of 20 community colleges to participate in the program. “The program will allow those community colleges that are chosen to put in place a set curriculum of classes,” said Joel Powell, SCC professor. Students upon completion of the program will be guaranteed enrollment or priority admission to undergraduate programs at one of the four participating schools, U.C Davis, Santa Clara University, USC and U.C. Irvine, Powell said. “This will be contingent on them completing the final two years of their degree.” SCC Superintendent-President Jowel Laguerre not only supports the participation in the initiative but also acknowledges it as a great opportunity for the college. “Our students interested in law will be af- forded a chance to receive a high priority into top law schools in California,” Laguerre said in a recent newsletter. “We are essentially embark- ing on a Transfer Agreement Guarantee (TAG) with law schools.” Powell said the college has completed the first step of the application process and is in the second phase. The entire application process should be completed in March, Powell said, at which time the bar will inform the school of their decision following the receipt of all the applications. “We are targeting all students for this program, not just Solano College. It is very broad-based in terms of the outreach we are looking for anyone who is interested in sincere- ly thinking about a legal education or a career in the law,” Powell said. For additional information on this pro- gram, please contact Professor Joel Powell at [email protected] or 707.864.7000, ext. 4303. SCC seeks to offer program for students with law school dreams Ryanne Syblan guards a corner during rugby practice two weeks ago. See page 6 for more information about SCC’s new rugby club and team. Andro Palting/Tempest
Transcript
3Rapper maintains no-holds-barred ap-proch
3SCC men fall short, while wom-en come out on top
FEATURES ON 4 SPORTS ON 8
MORE ONLINE AT WWW.SOLANOTEMPEST.NET We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. -- Walt Disney
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
check online for sports updates, news stories, and more
Need to send a valentine message? See page 2
TTEMPEST
VOL. 30, NO. 7JAN. 29, 2014 - FEB. 11, 2014
FAIRFIELD, CAwww.solanotempest.net
Ben Gogna / Tempest
The solar panels installed at Solano Community College don’t just create electricity, but they also provide an added comfort level of security on campus for students with night classes and/or attending the athletics games held on campus. This project began in February of 2013 on the main campus and has since completed.
Solano College may be on its way to becom-ing part of an innovative diversity outreach initiative that could help students go to law school. The college has entered the second phase of an application process with the State Bar to offer The Community College Pathway to Law school. If successful, Solano would be one of 20 community colleges to participate in the program. “The program will allow those community colleges that are chosen to put in place a set curriculum of classes,” said Joel Powell, SCC professor. Students upon completion of the program will be guaranteed enrollment or priority admission to undergraduate programs at one of the four participating schools, U.C Davis, Santa Clara University, USC and U.C. Irvine, Powell said. “This will be contingent on them completing the final two years of their degree.” SCC Superintendent-President Jowel
Laguerre not only supports the participation in the initiative but also acknowledges it as a great opportunity for the college. “Our students interested in law will be af-forded a chance to receive a high priority into top law schools in California,” Laguerre said in a recent newsletter. “We are essentially embark-ing on a Transfer Agreement Guarantee (TAG) with law schools.” Powell said the college has completed the first step of the application process and is in the second phase. The entire application process should be completed in March, Powell said, at which time the bar will inform the school of their decision following the receipt of all the applications. “We are targeting all students for this program, not just Solano College. It is very broad-based in terms of the outreach we are looking for anyone who is interested in sincere-ly thinking about a legal education or a career in the law,” Powell said. For additional information on this pro-gram, please contact Professor Joel Powell at [email protected] or 707.864.7000, ext. 4303.
SCC seeks to offer program for students with law school dreams
Ryanne Syblan guards a corner during rugby practice two weeks ago. See page 6 for more information about SCC’s new rugby club and team.
Feb. 12Themed Basketball:“Coaches vs. Cancer” Solano vs. MarinWomen at 5:30Men at 7:30
“How to Study Smart” workshop1:30-2:30 p.m.room 301
Feb. 13Last day to file pass/no pass option
“How to Study Smart” workshop12:30-1:30 p.m. Vallejo campus, room 129
Feb. 14Valentine’s Day
President’s Day-No Classes
Feb. 17President’s Holiday-No Classes
Feb. 18Faculty Day-No Classes
March 20Last day to petition for degree or certificateSubmit petitions to office of admissions and recordsInfo: [email protected]
OOPINION
campus calender
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Let that special someone know how you feel or give your friend a shout out in your schools newspaper
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According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, less than five percent of completed or attempted rapes against college women are reported to law enforcement. That’s 95 percent of sexual violence going unnoticed and therefore, unpunished.
California Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles, hopes to change that by proposing an assembly bill (AB 1433) that would require colleges to report violent crimes (forcible rape, willful homicide, robbery or aggravated assault) and hate crimes to local law enforcement for investigation unless the victim requests otherwise, according to a press release from Gatto’s office.
Originally, Gatto’s proposed bill required campus police to report these crimes to local law enforcement regardless of the victim’s wishes, but after speaking to sexual assault survivor and UC Berkley Junior, Sofie Karasek, he amended the bill. Karasek told Gatto that if she knew that by reporting the crime to
campus police the case would be transferred to local law enforcement, she never would have come forth to report it in the first place, according to an article in Newsweek.
A lot of the time, sexual assault survivors choose not to report the crime because they’re afraid of not being believed, fear reprisal, or simply don’t want to go through the long, tedious process of trial. It can be detrimental to the victims to have to relive details of the attack and most don’t feel comfortable opening up to prosecutors about their experience because it seems too personal to share, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
However, if the crimes aren’t passed on to the police department, often times the victims don’t see justice and the assaulters are able to victimize
others. If this bill were passed, it would prevent future occurrences by not allowing the criminals to walk away without punishment and would dissuade other potential assaulters from committing the same crime.
According to Gatto’s website, a number of colleges in California were found to be allegedly discouraging victims from reporting their assaults in order to protect the reputation of the school. Now, multiple organizations and policymakers have taken notice and are stepping up to the plate in order to change things. This includes, not only Mike Gatto, but President Obama as well.
On Jan. 22, 2014, Obama signed a presidential memorandum creating a task force to protect students from
sexual assault.
“To help them come up with better ways to protect and respond to sexual assault on their campuses, and then we’ll help them put those ideas into practice,” President Obama said in a press briefing at the Whitehouse, according to media reports. The assembly bill Mike Gatto is proposing is only the beginning in a slew of action finally being enforced upon college campuses that fail to take these incursions seriously. Although we still have a long way to go in combating sexual assault, AB 1433 seems to be taking a step in the right direction.
New bill offers hope to assault victims on college campuses
By Addi SimmonsStaff Writerasimmons@
solanotempest.net
If this bill were passed, it would
prevent future occurrences by not allowing
the criminals to walk away without
punishment and would dissuade other
potential assaulters from committing the
same crime.
2
Sudoku
OPINION 3THE TEMPEST n JAN. 29 - FEB. 11, 2014
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What do you think about AB-1433?
AB-1433 is an assembly billproposed in
California that requires colleges to report violent crimes and hate
crimes to local law
enforcement for investigation
I think it’s a good thing. We have a lot of students, who every year are applying to dif-ferent campuses, and that’s an important thing to consider. If they don’t report it, how will we students know about that. I wouldn’t want to go to a school like that.
“We don’t do that in the first place? I think it’s kind of stupid that we need to pass a bill to re-quire that. It should be common sense. That is just really sad.”
“I just don’t understand why it’s not like that already. I don’t un-derstand why people aren’t say-ing anything, I mean it could be a courageous act.”
“I think it’s a good idea. Mainly because we don’t have a lot of peo-ple within our schools, who are experienced in that – security wise and police wise. It will be really a good resource for people dealing with that, so they can get the help they need.”
The Tempest is published by Solano College students. Opinions expressed in the paper are those of the indi-vidual writers and artists, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the college’s governing board, the admin-istration, the faculty and staff, or the Associated Students of Solano College. Readers may take up to five copies of The Tempest free. Additional copies may be purchased for 25 cents.
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Christine Butlereditor-in-chief
staff writers: Naama Angulo Rios
Ben GognaJustin JohnsonLeslie Rivera
Addi Simmons
copy editor:John Glidden
news editor: Dagmar Kuta
opinion editor: Ruben Rangel
sports editor: Carlo Marzan
features editor: Mitchel Bobo
online editor: Deborah Graham
photo editor: Dagmar Kuta
staff photographers:
Naama Angulo RiosAndro Palting
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faculty adviser: Samanda Dorger
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THE TEMPEST n JAN. 29 - FEB. 11, 2014
Film reviews
Some dreams can really set the tone of your life. I applaud Ben Stiller for not playing Walter Mitty’s character as the 1939 book version by James Thurber’s 1939 or the 1947 musical adaption played by Danny Kaye, but modernizing it as a man who through all his faults finds this amazing self-discovery. The joy of this movie comes from Stiller’s character overcoming his often detrimental daydreams and finding that courage within.
The story is based on Walter Mitty, (Stiller) who daydreams his way through life. Mitty works at Life Magazine as a photo processor. The company is moving away from print operations to become online-only. Mitty daydreams, seeing himself doing heroic deeds, such as saving residents from burning buildings and fighting bad guys as a super hero. The reality is he is the company joke. His new boss, Ted Hedrick (Adam Scott) bullies and ridicules him. The plot finds him turning 42, doing internet dating and unable to complete the “been there, done that” part of the online application. The fact is he has never been any-where and has no known accomplishments in life.
The movie starts slow but picks up when peripatetic photographer Sean O’ Connell (Sean Penn) sends Mitty some photos for the magazines final edition. There is one special photograph , negative 25 that is supposed to capture the “Quintessence” of Life. This is the photo for the magazine’s final edition. Mitty can’t find it. Mitty then goes on a quest to track down O’Connell with the support of co-worker Cheryl Melhoff (Kristen Wigg), who he has a secret crush on.
What makes this a must-see film is the cinematography. As Mitty treks through throughout Greenland, Iceland and the Himalayas on his adventure the breathtaking scenery will have photography students and professionals in orgasmic bliss. Life magazine has been known for decades for amazing photography and the film captures this.
Shirley MacLaine, who plays Mitty’s doting mother, also does an amazing job bringing the film back to a sensitive level with emotional interactions with her son.
If you are looking for a movie with split-your-gut, crack-your-sides open humor, then “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is not for you. It does however make you feel that sometimes the underdog can win. A defi-nite buy for me when it comes to DVD.
Matthew McConaughey gives his best performance to date, as Ron Woodroof, a man fighting to stay alive after being diagnosed with HIV. He forms a bond with a transgendered woman named Rayon, played by Jared Leto. The movie surrounds Woodroof’s ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ – a club which sells remedies to improve the health of HIV/AIDS patients.
At first, Woodroof, an electrician and rodeo cowboy, engages in un-protected sex with several women, concocts a gambling scheme and is a habitual drug user. He sur-rounds himself with like-minded individuals who excessively use the slur “faggot” to describe homosexual individuals and/or persons who have AIDS. Wood-
roof’s bias against homosexuals is not sugarcoated – the viewer can see and hear his disdain for these individuals.
Yet, Woodroof’s excessive hostil-ity toward homosexuals is the strength of the film, as we watch him forge an unlikely alliance with Rayon. McConaughey and Leto play off of each other well and viewers are treated to a rare friendship; akin to the male friendship between Andy Du-fresne and Ellis “Red” Redding in the Shawshank Redemption.
Hands down, the best scene of the movie is when Woodroof and Rayon encounter an old friend of Woodroof’s. The friend, not knowing Woodroof and Rayon are friends, makes a comment to
Woodroof about the transgen-dered Rayon. Woodroof defends
Rayon which elicits a smile from Rayon, much to the chagrin of Woodroof.
The film goes beyond an improb-able friendship and AIDS. It’s about dying with dignity. Mc-Conaughey and Leto portray this impeccably as they refuse to settle for their respective death sentenc-es. The film reminded me of my mom who died in 2010. Suffering from diabetes and heart-related health issues, she was fortunate to be transferred to Brun’s House, part of the Hospice of the East Bay. My mother died with dignity, as the staff and doctors made sure that she be comfortable during the end-of-life stage.
McConaughey’s look and demeanor is mesmeric as he trans-forms into Ron Woodroof. He is Woodroof. Do yourself a favor and see this movie.
With only four full-length feature films to his name, Spike Jonze has definitely put his mark on the film world with just a few films. Since his debut in 1999 with the film “Being John Malkovich,” Jonze has again and again shown us the world through his perspective. Each film he has made, (“Adaptation” in 2002 and “Where the Wild Things Are” in 2009) has made some satirical comment on the way we live and the people that we are. Jonze’s latest, “Her,” says perhaps the deepest comment on us.
“Her” follows Theodore, a lonely letter writer, whose job is to pretend to be other people and write letters to their families. He avoids signing his divorce papers and lives a boring, humdrum life with his phone as his main way of communicating with people. In the futuristic world he lives in, the phones are the most important part of the person’s self. These phones and the way the people use them are the satirical comment on our culture. The people in this future all have these “Operating Systems” or OS phones and everyone walks around talking to the phone in their ear. It’s only when an updated OS which has artificial intelligence becomes available, does the film really start and the emotional rollercoaster begins.
Theodore’s OS is funny and smart and wants to see the world and know everything about Theodore. She gives herself a name, Samantha, and makes Theodore laugh with inappropriate jokes and drawings. She makes music, original pieces, that help Theodore relax. And it’s not long until she becomes infatuated with Theodore and him with her. They begin “dating” and we see their relationship go through the same trial and tribulations as a real relationship yet at the same time we know and understand that it isn’t like a real relationship, but the characters don’t seem to realize that and it makes the film almost tragic, to see something we can’t fully understand trying to work, it’s what kept me interested in the film. And for a little bit the relationship does. They even get physical, though their physical relationship is more one sided than most real physical relationships.
The world that they live in, a not-too-distant future, is incredibly lonely. All the characters interact with their technology and there are tiny changes in the way they live. Theodore plays a video game that’s interactive with his bodily movements and the clothes that all the characters wear are slightly different than what we are expected. Everyone wears buttoned down shirts and ties with the men wearing pants that are tightly fit around their belly buttons, a tad too high for some
people I think. And the colors in their world are very warm colors. There are a lot of reds and khaki and it makes for an oddly happy, yet almost controlling world and environment.
Joaquin Phoenix is amazing to watch as Theodore. After the 2010 documentary about him, “I’m Still Here,” I was curious if he could bounce back. But with the two films he’s put out since then, 2012’s “The Master,”, and “Her,” Phoenix has become a powerful actor to watch on screen. It’s interesting how different the two roles are from each other, and yet how mesmerizing it is to watch both performances. It seems that Phoenix just seeps into the role in both movies and gives 100 percent. He’s able to portray compelling and real emotions in both films– a rough, powerful man in “The Master” and a scared, sensitive man in “Her.” As one character says to him in “Her,” he’s “part man and part woman. Like there’s an inner part that’s woman.” Phoenix delivers a fantastic performance of a deeply sad character.
I can’t say anything bad about this film. This is my favorite Spike Jonze film so far. It’s a sad film, the person I saw it with ended up shedding a tear, but it’s so engrossing that you’ll forget it’s a silly idea and hopefully you’ll get as sucked in as I did. It was a beautiful, futuristic sci-fi romance and it deserves all the recognition it gets.
Life is beautiful through “Her” eyes
Matthew McCo-naughey gives his best performance to date in “Dallas Buyers Club”
“Mitty” is a visual mosaic
Ben Stiller playes a unaccomplished daydreamer named Walter Mitty who tries to overcome his daydreaming and live in the real world.
Alex Fraknoi AKA Frak, is an up and coming rapper on the Bay Area scene. A 19- year-old Jewish kid, born and raised in the Westport region of San Francisco, Frak molds tunes which mirror the unique nature of his upbringing.
A first-generation American, his parents being natives of Peru and Hungary, Frak is quick to proclaim his love for the city by the Bay. “It’s the dopest city in the world, there’s so much diversity. Diversity of attitudes, and styles, and humors. Each neighborhood has its own definitive vibe. It’s an awesome place to grow up because you get to see so much of life... and the food is dank, “ Fraknoi said.
The rapper - a product of a city brimming with eclecticism - has a likewise approach in his lyrical stylings. The subject matter of Frak’s songs traverse a dizzying amount of turf. One song may have the rapper likening his MC skills to the on-field capabilities of 49er’s quarterback Colin Kaepernick, while another positions Cuban leader, Fidel Castro - in The Castro district.
One of the young rapper’s most contemplative tracks, “A Dream Deferred,” offers an insightful examination of the American dream, bolstered by a luscious Al Green sample. The song begins with a reading of the Langston Hughes poem from which its name is borrowed, which seems fitting considering Frak’s view on the relationship between rap and poetry.
“It’s important to see rap as poetry, like trying to tell stories and weaving yourself into it, and saying something that is important to you. You need an open attitude to take advantage of the words which most suit you,” Fraknoi said. And his individuality is evident – not just in his music – but in his life as well.
The product of a Hebrew school education, Frak found little solace in the religious teachings of his school, even bucking the school’s kosher cafeteria menu. “I was dealing ham and cold cuts,” says Fraknoi.
High school was a more liberating experience, where he discovered his passion for rap music, eventually forming his first group - Real Talk - with two friends.
Fraknoi states the group had a grandiose vision, as they addressed big issues with their music, but now his main focus is to speak from experience. “Since then I’ve really adapted my style to try and not speak for other people and their stories, and to speak more personally and out of that will grow the deeper message, rather than addressing the message with these broad strokes of things that I may not completely understand,” Fraknoi said.
This past summer, Frak gained a considerable amount of notoriety by winning the most recent contest of the Bay Area MC Olympics - in only his second year of competition. “It was an awesome competition, there were a lot of talented rappers who I met and exchanged information with,” Fraknoi said.
One dilemma he had to overcome was a rap battle against a female contestant, something he had never done before, but true to his style Frak found a means of
bringing some originality to the challenge. “Instead of battling her I gave her a compliment battle, where I just complimented her.”
The young rapper has received a stamp of approval from some of the Bay Area’s most notable acts, such as Zion I and Big
Rich. The latter who focuses on aiding the community – most recently through a project run out of the Fillmore known as Project Level, which aims to aid youth interested in the medium of rap, has proven to be a fruitful connection, setting the young MC up with producers and multiple opportunities. This includes the recent filming of his most professional music video to date, for Frak’s latest single “Hyperdrive.”
Frak has no shortage of supporters, the most notable being Kendrick Lamar - one of the most popular and skilled rap artists of today, who’s even nominated for several awards in the upcoming Grammys.
Journalism is also an interest of Frak’s, and he was hand-picked along with a select few to be a part of an online video interview with Lamar, where he was able to pose two questions to the acclaimed artist.
Having forgotten his second question, the young rapper made a bold move as he asked for the opportunity to freestyle for one of the world’s most renowned rappers. To which Lamar replied, “Give me 16 bars.” Following the flexing of his skills, Lamar said, “Keep goin’ man,” which Frak has every intention of doing.
Frak siphons the eclecticism of his native San Francisco
Rapper sets himself apart with no-holds-barred approach
Mitchel Bobo/ Tempest
Alex Fraknoi AKA Frak is a first-generation American whose parents are from Peru and Hungary.
Sherie Labedis can remember the exact moment when her life changed. During high school, Labedis’ English teacher asked his class a simple question: “What are you willing to die for?” “It was my call to arms,” said Labedis, a full 50 years after the question was origi-nally asked. “I was looking for answers.” During the summer of 1965, Labedis headed to the Deep South to help register African-American voters in Pineville, South Carolina, a project spearheaded by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Before arriving in Pineville, Labedis received training in Atlanta, where she met Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, and Andrew Young, a moment she remem-bers fondly. “Meeting him (Martin Luther King Jr.) was the most influential event of my life,” Labedis said.
Labedis said that many citizens did not want her group assisting the African-Amer-icans in the community, along with several leading church ministers. “The ministers were seen as the most pow-erful members of the community and they didn’t trust us,” Labedis said. Yet the group Labedis was assigned with did have support from local citizens. “There was a corn field near the fam-ily we stayed with and there was a person stationed in the field with a rifle 24 hours a day, watching out for us,” Labedis said. Despite all the danger, Labedis said that her life changed again when she met a woman with a sore on her leg. “There was no medical care back then, the church might send out someone but you were basically on your own,” Labedis said. Labedis and her group went door-to-door looking for volunteers to assist with their mission. They came across a woman living in a dwelling with a single bed, a chair and no windows. “Her leg was rotting off from an open
wound,” Labedis said. “We could smell it a block away, she was dying.” As a part of her group, Labedis helped to register 580 voters. To help educate others about her experiences, Labedis recently wrote a book, ‘You Came Here to Die, Didn’t You: True tales of burnings, ballots, beliefs, and a blond from Berkeley.’ Labedis used journal entries from that summer to write her book. Even with all the primary source material, Labedis had trouble getting her book published. “I remember a publisher telling me that the civil rights movement was over,” Labedis recalled. “It gave me more passion to tell my story.” Currently, Labedis speaks about her experiences that year, saying “I like to pay back the debt that I owe.” Labedis participated in this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Ceremony at Solano Community College, as a civil rights movement veteran.
“Going to the south was a calling,” Labe-dis said.
Civil Rights movement veteran speaks to SCC during Martin Luther King Jr. event
Solano Community College participated in the first So-lano County resource fair Jan. 25, hosted by Assemblyman Jim Frazier, D-Oakley, the Community Housing Opportu-nities Corporation (CHOC), and #Solano Connects. Thomas Bailey stopped by the SCC booth and was excited to get information regarding late registration at the college from admissions and records representative Tonya Kent. “As a recently retired veteran I am looking for new job and educational opportunities and was happy to see all the financial and educational information at the fair,” Bailey said. The free conference provided information and work-shops on housing, health, budgeting, credit, and finance and education resources for Solano County residents. This is the first year for the conference and Maurilio León, chief operating officer of CHOC, hopes it is just the beginning of things to come. “Our goal is to focus on Solano County in a collabora-tive effort to find out what the community needs,” León said. “A grant received from FIRST5 SOLANO helped us to partner with Assemblyman Frazier’s office to get this fair going.” A representative for senior care was there to add more outreach opportunities to the senior community. Paula Campbell, branch manager for ResCare HomeCare, said she hoped fairs like this would help assist people who had a hard time finding information about senior resources in the community. “The turnout is a little slow,” Campbell said. “But we are here because we feel that so many people in the com-munity are not aware of all the resources that are out there for our senior community. We are here to make sure these individuals reach their highest level of independence,” she added. Frazier said although the fair did not generate the numbers he wanted to see he was happy to provide the resources the community needed.
Rugby is one of the sports that not a lot of people know about. It is one of the most well known sports all over the world. Yet, in America, rugby is non-existent to most of them. There are a few people that know about the sport and some of the students here wanted to make a club to showcase the sport. Thus the rugby club was born. The rugby team/club came to life last October. The club itself was a way to introduce people to the sport, despite that it is a hard sport to learn. In the beginning, 50 students were interested, both men and women. How-ever, over the past few practices the number shrank down dramatically. “It has been rough,” said rugby club member Chris Rico. “We have a short amount of people,” Rico said, but he said it’s getting better. Rico has been playing rugby since his sophomore year at Dixon High School, about four years ago. At first he said it was weird and complicated to learn. However, after learning about it more and more, it was easy enough to get it going, Rico said.
The club has two coaches. One of the coaches, Rick Flynn, has been playing and coaching rugby since 1978. The start of the practices has been rough. Many of the members of the club are first timers in the rugby team while others are well known to the sport itself. “They are learning rugby the way I first was taught,” Flynn said. According to Flynn, the biggest concern for these players is patience, because new players tend to be les patient than the veterans. “We have to go slow in order to teach them the sport since it is a formal sport.” The club has been split up into two teams, men and women. Ryanne Sablan is one of the women in the Rugby Sevens. The team is not official because there are not enough members, Sablan said. Sablan has been playing rugby for five years, playing with the adult men’s team. “I was like, ‘holy crap’ because it was full contact and no padding,” Sablan said. Sablan said she came over here to look for a rugby team since there were none in Southern California. Their practices have taken place at the Memorial Hall Park in Dixon, for now. The team will move back to So-lano Community College this week to practice. The first official game for Solano will be Feb. 1 in Vallejo against Cal Maritime.Thomas Bailey discusses late registration with
Tonya Kent.
Deborah Graham/Tempest
Rugby club packs punch as new sport for SCC
THE TEMPEST6
Players stand guard with pads as coach Rick Flynn directs the play. Andro Palting/Tempest
SPORTS 7THE TEMPEST n JAN 29 - FEB 11, 2014
Wed. Jan. 29, 20146 p.m. - Women’s Basketball @ Laney College7 p.m. - Men’s Basketball @ College of Alemeda
Thurs. Jan. 30, 20142 p.m. - Baseball @ Diablo Valley College
Fri. Jan. 31, 20145:30 p.m. - Women’s Basketball vs Napa Valley College7:30 p.m. - Men’s Basketball vs Napa Valley College
Sat. Feb. 1, 20141 p.m. - Baseball vs Diablo Valley College
Tue. Feb. 4, 20143 p.m. - Softball vs San Mateo Col-lege
Wed. Feb. 5, 20145:30 p.m. - Women’s Basketball vs College of San mateo7:30 p.m. - Men’s Basketball vs Mendocino College
Thurs. Feb. 6, 20142 p.m. - Baseball @ College of San mateo
Fri. Feb. 7, 20145:30 p.m. - Women’s Basketball @ Los Medanos College7:30 p.m. - Men’s Basketball @ Los Medanos College
Wed. Feb. 12, 20145:30 p.m. - Women’s Basketball vs Marin College7:30 p.m. - Men’s Basketball vs Marin College
Sat. Feb. 8, 20141 p.m. - Baseball vs College of San Mateo1 p.m. - Softball vs Consumnes River College
SPORTS CALENDAR
Solano wins by 46 points over Merritt CollegeBen GognaStaff [email protected]
The Solano women’s basketball team came a few points short of beating their all-time high of 108 points in a single game. They don’t mind. The Falcons easily dispatched Merritt College, 94 – 48, Thursday at Solano Community College. The game was a display of dominating defense. “Defense is our offense,” SCC guard Taylor Hamilton said after the game. “The way we play our defense, it helps us create our offense.” The Falcons dominated the entire game, holding Merritt scoreless during the first 3:43 minutes of the first half. With 10:22 left in the first half, Solano led 22 – 5. “We definitely executed the way we wanted to,” Hamilton said. Hamilton lead the Falcons with 18 points, seven assists and six steals. Hamil-ton also secured two rebounds.
Solano only allowed Merritt to score 20
points in the first half and with time run-
ning slowly off the clock, Merritt applied
pressure on the Falcons, but it wasn’t
enough. The Falcons held Merritt to just
28 points in the second half.
The Falcons also looked to keep Merritt
College’s leading scorer, guard Kurtona
Milum, in check. Milum is averaging 24
points per game.
“(Kurtona Milum) is a really good player
and we contained her,” SCC head coach
Matt Borchert said.”
“We contained them,” Borchert said.
“Our goal was to keep them under 50,”
Borchert said.
Solano scored 94 points, 14 shy of the
all-time record and eight shy of the game
against College of Marin played Jan. 14.
With the win, the Falcons improved to
16-4 overall and 7-0 in Bay Valley Confer-
ence play.
Solano’s guard/forward, Justice Robinson, gets down and dirty as she fights to take control of the loose ball, keeping Solano in the lead against Merritt Col-lege Jan. 16, 2014 at Solano Community College.
Naama Angulo Rios/ Tempest
13 years of softball coming to an end for Stefanie ChainuruxAddi Simmons
Stefanie Chainurux is a 20-year-old junior at Solano Community College. She plays second base and is also the team captain for SCC’s softball team. Already, the team is off to a great start under Chainurux’s leadership. “It’s going to be a surprise to everyone,” Chainurux said. “A lot of people give a lot to the team and a lot of people don’t know about the kids because a lot of them are from out of the area, so I feel like it’s going to be a shock to everyone. No one’s expecting us to come out as good as I think we’ll be.” Chainurux isn’t new to accomplishment. In high school, she got honorable mention, all -league and all -city. Last year, she made the Dean’s list and second team all conference for second base. Chainurux has been playing softball since the age of seven. She originally got into the sport because of her older sister. “She played and she just randomly decided she wanted to try softball. So from there, looking up to my big sister, I followed her.,” Chainurux said. When she’s not playing softball, Chainurux likes to spend time with her family and go camping in the summer. Chainurux plans to focus more on school in the future. She’s majoring in Liberal Studies and hopes
to become an elementary school teacher. “After Solano I plan on transferring to Sacramento State and not do softball anymore. I think I’m done after this year. I’m just going to get my degree and get a job.” Chainurux said. Britney Taglieri, Chainurux’s friend and teammate, have been playing softball together since they were nine. “She’s responsible, honest, determined, and pas-sionate. She’s a great friend and a great leader. She’s definitely the type of person you want in your life.,” Taglieri said. “She is always looking out for the team and willing to do what is needed to better the team, she’s very selfless.” Taglieri enjoys playing on the same softball team as Chainurux because she’s a great athlete and fun to be around. “I know I can always count on her. When we play together on defense it’s like we can read each other’s thoughts. We always seem to be on the same page.,” Taglieri said. Chainurux knows that softball, like any sport, takes a lot of time, determination and practice. “Softball is a game of failure. Whether you’re on defense or you’re up to bat, there’s always going to be something you can’t succeed at,” Chainurux said. “I think the biggest task in softball is having to play through it. If you have a bad at -bat, you go right on defense. If you’re having a bad day the ball will find you. You have to be mentally able to move past all your failures.” Dagmar Kuta/ Tempest
Stefanie Chainurux is ready to play her last year of softball.
Solano Community College women’s basketball showed dominance in their game on Fri-day, Jan. 24 against Yuba College, putting the Falcons on a 10 game win streak with a record of 9-0 for their conference. Keeping their opponents under 60 points is Solano’s usual game plan. Doing so gives them a comfortable lead and allows little
chance of a comeback from their opponents. The Falcons’ defense put pressure on both sides of the court. Applying full court press allowed for various steals for the Falcons and turnovers on the part of the 49ers, leaving the score 59-15 in the first half. “We set a goal every game to keep the team under 60, but depend-ing on the team, we either lower or higher it depending on the team,” said guard Denisha Lundy. “Our pressure was really good; we rotated really well, had great
execution and got some great steals,” said head coach Matt Borchert. Big 3-point shots were made by guard Nikki Andaya along with Lundy who led points with 13. Such crucial shots paired with the fast breaks from the likes of Justice Robinson gave Solano the comfortable lead they wanted, thus have the Falcons stop their full court pressure in the second half. “It had nothing to do with their team, we were just running,”
Robinson said. “We rotated really well and we understood our new defense that was put in yesterday.” “We were up by so much” Borchert said. “It gets to a point where you have to be ethical. You can’t press like that the whole game.” Though Yuba College didn’t let up and scored a significant amount of 3-pointers in the second half, the lead Solano had established in the first half proved too great for Yuba to overcome, giving Solano women’s basketball
team their tenth straight win in a row with a score of 94-37. “We didn’t just go out and just win the game, we actually played really well and got the win,” Borchert. “This is a really good group of people. They’re close, they really love each other, truly. This is a pretty special team.” The next home game for So-lano women’s basketball is on Wednesday, Feb. 5 against Men-docino at 5:30 p.m.
An unfamiliar sound came from Solano’s gym as a pep band was in the bleach-ers ready to cheer on the Falcon’s men’s basketball team in an effort to hype the crowd and encourage school spirit. “This is our first outing and we’re really excited about it,” said band coordinator Vincent Pitzulo. “We’re just trying to generate some excitement and interest for the basketball program and work with the music depart-ment to get something fun happening.”With the debut of Solano’s pep band behind their back, Solano Community College men’s basketball team put on an exciting match against the Yuba Col-lege 49ers, but ultimately lost to Yuba, 70-80 on Friday, Jan. 24.Though the pep band did their best to get the team pumped, Solano started the
first half of the game with a rough start. With Yuba’s full court press strategy and double-team defense, the Solano Falcons struggled to get the ball down the court. Yuba capitalized on this, stealing the ball and getting away with free points on the fast break. Solano kept the game close, leaving the first half 25-43 Yuba. “I felt really glad when they took it off,” head coach John Nagle commented about Yuba’s full court press. “We had a really hard time against their pressure. We had three turnovers to start off the game. Luckily for us they backed off. Not sure why, but I’m glad they did.” In the second half, the Solano Falcons began catching up. Guard Ryan Sondhi was able to score crucial 3-pointers to keep the game close. However, in such a heated game, both teams were fouling each other left and right, leading to free throws on both sides. While the 49ers were
able to make a majority of their free throws, Solano struggled with theirs, thus missing out on essentially free point opportunities.“I think it comes down to making shots. We missed I think 10 free throws in the second half,” Nagle said. Solano didn’t give up and hustled until the very end. However, Yuba was able to slow down their mo-mentum and hold the ball for the last seconds of the gaming, giving Yuba the win 70-80. “We need to come out stronger. We came out slow today. We just got to finish the points in the paint,” said forward Kyle Oster-stock. “Yuba is really talented. They’re number four in state and undefeated in conference, so I’m glad we were able to fight until the end,” Nagle said. Solano men’s basketball team’s next home game will be on Wednesday, Feb. 5 against Mendocino at 7:30 p.m.
Solano peps up against Yuba College
Andro Palting/ Tempest Kristina Kountouris trips while getting possession of the ball during the game against Yuba College at Solano Community College on January 24, 2014.
