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Woodland Hills, California

A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION Volume 119 - Issue 3

INSIDE

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FARM CENTER SPECIAL . . . PAGE 4 & 5

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Farm Center throws festival

Genna Gold Roundup Reporter

Nelger Carrera / Roundup

Halloween Harvest Festival open now through Nov. 3rd General Admission

W $5

Children under 3 enter free

Hours of operation Festival Hours Sun - Thurs 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. Fri - Sat 10 a.m. - midnight Corn Maze Hours Sun - Thurs 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. Fri - Sat 10 a.m. - midnight For additional pricing and ticket information: Visit

alking into the Pierce College Far m Center with the sound of count r y music in the air, the sights and aromas t ranspor t visitors f rom the urban setting to dust-covered far mland for the 9th an nual Halloween Har vest Festival. The Far m Center is open to the public bet ween Sept. 27 and Nov. 3, f rom 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. Kidf riendly att ractions include pony rides and ar ts and craf ts, but when the sun goes down the center is t ransfor med into a Fright Fest that has th rillseekers holding each other a little closer. Han nah Sweiss, 29, and her daughter San nah Sweiss, 3, have made the Har vest Festival an an nual t radition for the last th ree years. “We’ve been waiting for it to open, so that’s why we came on the ver y f irst day,” Han nah Sweiss said. She said they took advantage of the ar ts and craf ts tent to paint pirate and Fran kenstein masks for Halloween and plan to be back numerous times th roughout the season. San nah Sweiss was all smiles as she rode the Magical Carousel with her mother by her side. Af ter the carousel, g uests can ride “Paint,” one of the eight ponies that will be accom modating riders seven days a week. Wendi Spielman is one of the handlers that works with the ponies. She grooms Paint to get all the dust off and picks his hooves to make sure there are no rocks in them before he gives his f irst ride. Paint was selected to give rides because of his calm nat ure. “He’s one of our most reliable ponies, real calm and collected,” Spielman said. “He’s one of the f irst one’s we go to.” Spielman had her f irst encounter with a horse at a young age, and it was then that her love of horses began. “I got into it because on my f irst bir thday

-Wendi Spielman

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P I E R C E

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Pierce College Council met for its monthly meeting discussing the status of the school’s finances and updates on the progress of campus projects and activities on Thursday, Sept. 26 in the College Services Building conference room. Like other Los Angeles Community College District campuses, deliberations regarding the campus bookstore spending more money to maintain its operations than it took in last year has become a major concern, according to Don Sparks, a Pierce physics instructor who spoke in regard to the budget committee report. “The bookstore did dip into their reserves,” said Bruce Rosky, associate vice president of Pierce. Ongoing discussions regarding restructuring the store’s business models to boost yearly revenue included restricting book sales to just the first few weeks of each semester and maintaining a larger variety of other items on the shelves. “One of the main problems is students are running to get their books online on Amazon, or not at all,” Sparks said. Another subject of concern was the new food court and how it continues to remain unused and empty. “We’re all anxious about the food court,” Pierce Associate Vice President Larry Kraus said. “There have been some recent developments at the board to make the move, or it possibly already has been done, to take the necessary steps and void the [request for proposal].” Administration was having issues earlier in the year with

regard to the district-wide food vendor, making the decision to look at alternative companies to provide the school with services based on a one-year contract, according to Kraus. Poor enrollment numbers are another cause for anxiety, which the Enrollment Management Committee has linked to challenges with the campus phone system, lack of space in classes, CSUN admitting their largest freshman class, and Prop. 30 opening more classes state-wide allowing students to go elsewhere, according to Barbara Anderson, dean of academic affairs. Even though the enrollment percentage was not raised from last fall as much as had been hoped, Pierce has confirmed there will be about 80 courses available for the winter intersession beginning Jan. 6 – Feb. 2, according to Anderson. With the amount of confusion regarding mandatory usage of the new LACCD emails, the Information Technology Committee is strongly encouraging students and faculty to attend their brand new IT open houses on the fourth Thursday of every month, according to Wendy Bass, Pierce’s distance education coordinator. “It is not a gripe session,” Bass said. “It’s an opportunity to find out what’s going on with the IT department and to get some questions answered.“ The IT department has also been tackling the issue of the slow internet speed on campus. Plans to add more Wi-Fi towers, one going to the Auto Tech area, as well as the reinstitution of a campus-wide Wi-Fi password are just a few of the ideas being discussed, according to Bass. “We have a finite amount of WiFi,” Bass said. “Anyone right now can access it.”

Fright Fair // Online Slideshow

Monica Salazar / Roundup

halloweenharvestfestival.com

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I went on a pony ride,” Spielman said. “So whenever I have a kid that comes and it’s their f irst pony ride, and they’re super excited about it, that makes me feel special to give them their f irst ride.” The plan is to have each of the ponies give rides no more than four hours a day in order to not over work the animals, according to Spielman. Palmdale resident Harley Roque, 20, goes to College of the Canyons and works at the Har vest Festival. His favorite par t of the day is being able to tell kids jokes, while they mine for gems and fossils in the sand at his station. “W hat does the far mer plant?” Roque asked, t r ying to keep a st raight face. “Beets me.” He smiled as a little boy and his family came up to mine for the t reasures hidden in the sand. Af ter the he pours the sand in the st rainer, the miners get to keep all the gems and fossils they f ind, according to Roque. He also provides them Pony Handler with an infor mation card so the experience is educational. It is also all about the interaction with the children for t win sisters Marie and Marisa Flores, 18, who were hired to work at the A r ts and Craf ts tent. The t wins, both Pierce College st udents whose majors are undecided, help children paint masks and create small ar t projects. “I’m excited to watch the different way that they paint the mask, and how some people are creative,” Marisa Flores said. The t wins are looking for ward to taking advantage of other activities available for g uests. “The bungee jumping, it’s f un,” Marie Flores said. “Or any of the jumpers are cool too.” Unlike her sister, Marisa Flores is looking to be f rightened by the Fright Fest att ractions. “I’m excited for the scar y cor n maze,” she said. “ I hear there are chainsaws chasing people, so I’m ner vous and excited for that.” All of the Fright Fest att ractions including the Creat ures of the Cor n maze are open af ter 7 p.m.

“I got into it because on my first birthday I went on a pony ride.”

ONLINE: See photos from the first day of the Harvest Fest

@roundupnews

Council discusses updates on projects

College advisory group plans on fixing Wi-Fi, cafeteria and classes

FARMERS: Brandon Collins, 19, tosses a pumpkin to David Vihasana at the Pierce College Farm Center on Friday Sept. 28.

Monica Velasquez Features Editor

One copy free, each additional copy $1.00

The Pierce College Weather Station has provided meteorological data to national agencies since 1949.

PAGE 5: See the Student Spotlight featuring Josh Stevens

Jake Koﬀam, 16, goofs oﬀ in his makeup for the Halloween Haunted House at the Pierce College Farm Center on Sept. 28, 2013.

W E A T H E R

R E P O R T

Wednesday Oct. 2 High: 80° Low: 57°

Thursday Oct. 3

Friday Oct. 4

Saturday Oct. 5

Sunday Oct. 6

Monday Oct. 7

Tuesday Oct. 8

Wednesday Oct. 9

High: 80° Low: 57°

High: 90° Low: 63°

High: 93° Low: 60°

High:92° Low: 59°

High: 88° Low: 57°

High: 84° Low: 56°

High: 81° Low: 55°

Sunny