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A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION Volume 119 - Issue 11
INSIDE
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Photo Essay: Brahma Life Flashback . . . PAGE 4 & 5
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Archer aims to aid deaf
One copy free, each additional copy $1.00
Budget won’t cover hiring needs
Pierce sign language interpreter helps students reach educational goals Boo Reyes Special to the Roundup The archers take grip of their bows, select their arrows and focus on their targets 50 yards away. The Queen’s Championship is at stake as 30 participants approach the line and take aim, pulling back on their bows’ strings. A drop of sweat rolls down Nikolaos Phaistos’s cheek, and the wind sways his body as he holds 30 pounds of tension on his 17th century-style bow. “Fire!” the master archer yelled. Arrows whistle off their bows and fly through the air, raining on their targets. After all the arrows have been fired, Phaistos saw that he had been defeated by a fraction of an inch and was out of contention to be the Queen’s Champion in archery. Instead of dwelling on his defeat, however, Phaistos turned to his competitors and congratulated them on their success. “Hezzah!” Phaistos shouted in celebration of his fellow patrons. While Phaistos is out of a medieval archery tournament, Nick Sumandra can blend in with any 21st century crowd. During the week, 40-year-old Sumandra is a sign language interpreter at Pierce College, aiding deaf or hearing-impaired students in accomplishing their educational goals. But, during his free time and weekends, he assumes his 17th century persona, Phaistos. “Nikolaos Phaistos is a mercenary archer
from the Greek island of Crete,” Sumandra said of his alternate persona. “He was hired by the Medici family to find their lost daughter, Cecilia.” He proceeded to tell the story of finding Cecilia in Persia, but instead of returning her to her family, he joined her clan and her quest to make right in the world. “That’s the fun part,” Sumandra said. “You can make your own history in a true historical context even though it’s not real history.” Sumandra is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to research and re-creation of medieval and renaissance culture, according to organization officials. “The SCA holds archery tournaments, fencing competitions, heavy armor battles, which all lead to larger battles between kingdoms around the world in our international gatherings,” Sumandra said. As a teen, Sumandra’s uncle taught him to shoot bows and arrows in his backyard. “I loved archery but knew that nothing would come of it in life,” he said. Sumandra put archery aside and, in his early 20s, began taking American Sign Language classes, which led to his current career as an interpreter at Pierce. Then, a friend of Sumandra’s told him about the SCA, and that there were archery tournaments and medieval recreation events every weekend.
[See ARCHER, pg. 8]
Kate Noah Copy Editor
Boo Reyes / Special to the Roundup
AIM: Nick Sumandra, an interpreter at Pierce College, draws his bow during a tournament.
Looking forward on It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play campus construction
LAPC Theatre presents
Development readies for 2018 completion Todd Rosenblatt Roundup Reporter
Nelger Carrera / Roundup
REHEARSAL: Michele Selin, Mark Hein and Matti Lenora Werber rehearse on Monday Dec. 2, for “Itʼs a Wonderful life: A Live Radio Play” by Jooe Landay at the Pierce College Performing Art Complex, At Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif.
Dec. 6 – 15
$15
ral G e n e on ssi Admi
Performing Arts Complex For tickets call: (818) 719-6488 LAPCTheatre.brownpapertickets.com [See page 6 for full story | Slideshow online]
Students and staff at Pierce College can look beyond the chain link fences around campus construction to see what the future holds for the campus. There are 14 construction projects in progress, with eight additional projects in moratorium. Once the construction project is completed, Pierce will have more than a dozen new or renovated buildings, according to the September 2013 Los Angeles Community College District Building Program Monthly Progress Report. The Library/Learning Crossroads and Student Services buildings are two examples of what the future holds for the campus, according to Pierce President Kathleen Burke. “[The campus] should have a unified look,” Burke said. However it may take a while for this unified look to take shape, as 11 of the buildings under construction are part of the North of Mall project and currently have completion dates of around 2015. In 2002, these projects were expected to be completed by 2006,
according to the Addendum to the Los Angeles Pierce College 2010 Master Plan Update of the 2002 Master Plan. When the report was published in July 2010 the project completion dates were pushed back to 2012. Currently, these buildings are slated to be in use as early as 2015, according to the September Progress Report. Although some projects, like the Digital Arts and Media building, are not expected to be in use until 2018, construction has already improved some parts of campus, according to Paula Paggi, chair of the Library Department. Paggi is a fan of the new Library/ Learning Crossroads building, which is one of the 24 completed projects at Pierce. “It’s just grand compared to the old building. The students find it very inviting,” she said. Paggi has hope for the future of the campus and believes that once the remaining construction projects are completed, Pierce will have a unique look. “It’s going to be really a fantastic place because we’re going to have a really good core with up-to-date smart classrooms and functioning areas,” Paggi said.
[See CONSTRUCTION, pg. 3]
Despite the need to fill 48 vacant positions, Pierce College may only hire five new professors according to senators at the Academic Senate meeting on Monday, Dec. 2. While nobody knows for sure, as the choice is up to the college president, Kathleen Burke, senators Kathy Oborn and Lyn Clark, who are also both on the Faculty Position Priority Committee, were told at a meeting with Burke that there would be five new incoming staffers. The definition of five new hires is unclear, as 18 people retired last year and Burke did not clarify whether those retirees would be replaced. “I don’t know if it is five over the 18. It is never an automatic replacement, because some departments may have enough other full-timers, some may not have any full-timers,” Oborn said. “There is never a ‘let’s always do this.’ It is not a one size fits all.” Senator Cindy Herbst, who attended the FPPC meeting to advocate for a position within the American Sign Language department, was unhappy that her department was near the bottom of the list at number 39 of 48 positions. “Would it be appropriate if we had a letter we wanted to send to Kathleen to add to the suggestive list she is gonna get from this committee, or is that not appropriate,” Herbst said. Senator Constance Kocs, who is president of the FPPC, said that the agreement made with last year’s Senate president that was signed by Burke says that when the FPPC has created a prioritized list, that list will be forwarded to the president of Pierce College. “That agreement almost excludes the Senate’s involvement,” Kocs said. “In response to that, I do not know if Kathleen would entertain recommendations or opinions coming from faculty. I cannot say that she would not.” Traditionally, the Senate as a body determined whether or not it endorsed the list that comes from FPPC, and then it could send opinions or wishes to deviate from the list to the president according to Kocs. “As a body, we should still try to have our hand in it,” Kocs said. By default, cinema and history are the first two positions to be filled. Oborn said that according to an agreement years ago, if someone lost their new hires within their first year, they automatically get to replace them. If Burke decides to hire five new faculty members, the other positions that will be filled according to the list compiled by the FPPC are theater, geology 1 and English.
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