Roundup Los Angeles Pierce College
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Woodland Hills, California Volume 127 - Issue 3
A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION
Wednesday, September 27 2017
One copy free, each additional copy $1.00
Brahmas run wild
State law pushes OER initiative
Football evens out record with big win at Shepard Stadium Academic Senate ARIELLE ZOLEZZI Reporter @ArielleZolezzi
discusses issues with online courses
he Brahmas (2-2) returned home for an emotional win against Mt. San Jacinto College (2-1), knocking off the Eagles 49-21 in the first home game for interim head coach James Sims. The Brahmas came out quick on offense, taking the ball 89yard in two minutes on their first drive of the game, ending with an 8-yard touchdown run from running back Marquise Mickens. The Eagles responded quickly, scoring on the first play of their next possession on a 90-yard pass play down the sideline. Mt. San Jacinto followed that drive up with another scoring drive that started at the Pierce 40-yard line, taking a 14-7 lead. The Brahmas answered right back, driving 80-yards down the field, capping it off with a 1-yard touchdown run by Mickens. “It was very exciting with the coaching and the plays being called. We just looked like a well-oiled machine,” Mickens said. “We kept our foot on the pedal, and we kept it driving, finishing really strong. As a freshman coming in and scoring, it’s an exciting thing; it’s beautiful.” Pierce took control of the game in the second quarter, scoring three times and never looking back. Sterling Salguero scored early in the quarter on a 2-yard run. Special teams contributed with a blocked punt by Erick Mateo that was recovered at midfield, which led to a touchdown run by Keyshawn Richards. With 36 seconds left in the
ARIELLE ZOLEZZI Reporter @ArielleZolezzi
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the ball to Damaris August for another 16-yard touchdown pass, taking the score to 42-14. The Eagles answered back with three minutes left in the third quarter, scoring on a 4-yard pass, bringing the score to 42-21 before the fourth. That was the last glimmer from the Eagles offense, turning the ball over the next three possessions with a fumble, interception and once on downs.
A state law will go into effect in January 2018 that will give students the opportunity to choose classes based on open educational resources (OER), a free textbook initiative. The Academic Senate discussed the cost and benefits of the new OER courses in Monday's meeting as well as concerns that would affect students and faculty. Sections in the class schedule catalogs of all LACCD schools will now have a symbol that will let students know if the class requires the purchase of more expensive tools, or if it is a part of OER. “Ideally, it’s what is best for the students. It works for the faculty as well,” Technology Librarian Clay Gediman said. “We are creating a process for understanding, in which faculty members are using OER within the departments. Right now, it is a little vague.” Instructors voiced their concerns about the signup rate for classes that require costly materials. They were concerned that certain classes might be cancelled if most students registered for those that do not require purchasing materials. Another concern was if an instructor, for whatever reason, can’t teach a course anymore and another teacher takes on the course instead, will the instructor have to teach with the OER materials that the previous instructor was originally going to use, or could they require the materials that they would prefer to use.
[see Football on pg. 9]
[see OER courses on pg. 3]
Shae Hammond/ Roundup
Damaris August pushes past Mt. San Jancinto's Henry Banks for a win of 49-21 at Pierce College in Woodland Hills Calf. on Sept. 23, 2017. first half, Brahmas quarterback Jhakari Harrison narrowly escaped a sack and connected on a 16-yard touchdown pass to Amari Smith, giving the Brahmas a comfortable 35-14 lead going into halftime. “First half, defensively, we gave up some cheap touchdowns; it should have been 35-0,” defensive coordinator Dylan Flannery said. “The defense that we were running all game, we just installed this week. When you put that into
context, I’m very proud of the way they played. There are just some easy fixes to be made. It
team, that is something we need to work on.” As the game rolled into the
“It was very exciting with the coaching and the plays being called. We just looked like a well-oiled machine.” -Marquise Mickens running back takes them a little bit to wake up in the second half, so as a
third, quarterback Jonathon Saavedra escaped a sack, getting
String theory Artists use talent to inspire others
RANDI LOVE Photo Editor @Randi_Love29 Sounds of string instruments floated through the music recital hall as students and enthusiasts filled the room to capacity and listened to the quartet play a myriad of classical and modern songs. The Kadima String Quartet has led an outreach program for five years funded by grants. They go to elementary, middle and high schools, as well as colleges and other facilities, to perform and teach. They first introduced themselves through song. Beth Elliott, the group’s viola player, led the discussion among the audience, making both groups engage on and off stage. “We speak in our teaching, and we are passing it on. We also speak in playing,” Elliott said. “That's actually our motto: we play and we pass it on. That’s what we are here to do.”
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The quartet played classical pieces by composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Sebastian Bach, but also played modern music from television shows and movies like “The Muppets,” “Star Wars” and “Harry Potter.” The quartet wanted to keep the audience engaged during its performance. To get everyone involved, they allowed the students to choose a song to be performed. The quartet would also perform a song and have the audience figure out what it was. They also played a song that included a motif, a musical phrase or idea that was played several times, and they had the audience guess how many times each musician played the succession of notes. Garineh Avakian-Akkus, assistant professor in voice and choral music, is teaching MUS 111, music appreciation, and is organizing the ASO concerts this semester. “I love doing things like this. I
do this kind of stuff outside of my Pierce position,” Avakian-Akkus said. “This is my first time taking over the ASO concerts.” Avakian-Akkus hopes to have the concerts in different locations
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Randi Love / Roundup Brian Benning, a professional violinist, preformed with his string quartet for Pierce College in Woodland Hills Calf. on Sept. 21, 2017.
on campus, such as in the Great Hall, the Performing Arts Theatre and the MUS 3400 recital hall, to accommodate the community and students that may want to attend. The next concert is a student
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recital on Oct. 5. The location is not yet confirmed. “Communication is key, especially when playing in a group,” Elliott said. “If you aren’t in sync, even with music, the performance
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will be all over the place.” [see Photo Essay on pg. 6] rlove.roundupnews@gmail.com
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