1. No category

M ERCED C OLLEGE
The Blue Devil Report
V OLUME 2, I SSUE 1
F EBRUARY 2012
EVERYBODY WANTS TO KNOW
“WHY WE SING THE BLUES…”
a black history for
black history month
by Victor Smith, Advisor BDR
Ordinarily when Black History Month
comes around we are reintroduced to
black figures such as Fredrick Douglas,
WEB Dubois, George Washington
Carver, Phyllis Wheatly, Langston
Hughes and an in exhaustive list of
brilliant and famous black folks.
Here, I have accumulated an unconventional mix of histological events
intended stir the conscious, provoke a
serious and deliberate look at the legacy of the peoples who, big and small,
over the past couple of centuries have
become African American.
A portion of the opening line of B.B.
King‟s classic Why I Sing the Blues
begins to tell us what African American history is all about.
“… I first got the blues, when I was
brought over on a ship,” King explains.
The ship spoken of by B.B. symbolizes
the thousands of notorious vessels that
crossed the section of the Atlantic
known as the: middle passage to deliver over four million captured Africans into slavery over the continent of
the Americas.
Malcolm X, in his autobiography commented on slave ships that “… sharks
learned that following those ships was
a way to an easy meal.”
Once on the shores of the Americas,
slaves were warehoused in markets.
One such venue was erected on the
docks of New York City in 1709. The
place was named Wall Street for the barrier that was built to obscure the slave
auction which was an eyesore to those
carrying on in the financial district.
June 21, 1788 the new Constitution of
the United States was ratified and goes
into effect. The Preamble to the Constitution declares: “… that all mankind is
created equal and endowed with certain
inalienable rights i.e. life, liberty and the
pursuit to happiness.”
In 1810 there are 1,377,808 black folks
in the US, and not all were slaves. According to Sharon Hartley The Timetable of African American History, there
were 310 slaves in Connecticut at the
time and at the same period there were
210 free black in Mississippi... of all
places!
The point is: the history of blacks in the
Americas runs back to and before the
explorations of Hernando Cortes in
1526. But no event from the Sixteenth
Century until this very day has had the
social, political and economical impact of
the United States Constitution‟s Preamble.
In 1857 the US Supreme Court made
one of the worst rulings against mankind
in the history of our court system when it
ruled in Dred Scott v Sanford that a slave
cannot sue for his freedom because he or
she is the property.
The Emancipation Proclamation is en-
acted January 1, 1863.
All hell would break loose as the American democratic experiment pays an enormous price for the denying of its African
American population life, liberty, and
pursuit of happiness as the bloodiest conflict in this nation‟s history would breakout.
The Civil War would pit father against
son and brother against brother.
1866 the first of a series of Civil Rights
Acts declares blacks to be US citizens.
The 1957 version established a commission to look at the situation.
The 1960 version dealt with the ongoing
obstruction of the right of blacks to vote
by those who were ill.
In 1896 another US Supreme Court
blunder rules in Plessy v Ferguson that
“separate but equal “facilities are constiContinued Page 6
SEE BLACK HISTORY
I NSIDE THIS ISSUE :
P RESIDENT ’ S P AGE
2
C OMMUNITY S PIRIT
3
E XTENDED L IBRARY H OURS
4
H OLOCAUST E XHIBIT
7
A RT A ND M USIC
8
F REEDOM R IDERS
11
P AGE 2
T HE B LUE D EVIL R EPORT
T HE P RESIDENT ‟ S P AGE
Dear Students:
I am pleased to post a draft of the Follow Up Report that will be submitted to the Accrediting Commission of Community and Junior Colleges by March 15, 2012. Until February
23, the document will be circulated for review by the Academic Senate, Associated Students, and will receive a final review by the Board of Trustees on March 7. Last edits to
the document must be made by the evening of February 23. The report can be found
online by accessing the Accreditation link on the Merced College Homepage.
http://www.mccd.edu/about_us/merced_college/accreditation/
I hope that you will take the time to read this important report.
1. This is a living, evolving document and corrections will be made as needed. Because
of the short time line, we decided to post it now so that you will have as much time as
possible to review the document.
2. The posting of evidence is a highly dynamic process. These will be incorporated over
the following seven to ten days.
3. The College is addressing the recommendations made by the visiting team, which may be found in the team report and letter
from the Commission on the Accreditation website.
It is important to receive your comments. In particular, we need to be informed of any factual errors or major omissions. We
will continue to correct typos and formatting. Please feel free to forward them to me and Robin Shepard, our editor.
Finally, you already should have received an invitation to two upcoming Accreditation Forums, both to be held in Lesher 111.
The first was February 16 at noon, and the second is on February 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. This will be an opportunity for
you to ask questions, offer your thoughts, and to learn more about the accreditation process.
Sincerely, Anne D. Newins,
Accreditation Liaison Officer, Vice President of Student Personnel
M ERCED C OLLEGE A CCREDITATION : B ACKGROUND AND N EWS
By Melissa Rocha, BDR Advisor
Merced College will be receiving another visit from the Accrediting Commission of Community and Junior Colleges this semester. This follow-up visit comes after their visit last Spring, which resulted in the college being placed on “warning.” Accreditation, as all students should know, is the certification of a college as an educational institution. Regional accreditation is necessary in
order to assure that a college is meeting educational standards for the students and communities that it serves. It is also necessary
to be eligible for federal funding, such as financial aid.
Warning status is the first level of sanction on this college‟s accreditation. It does not mean that the school has lost accreditation; it
means the college is being warned of problem areas that need fixing, in order to continue to keep accreditation. The accreditation
commission, in its initial status report following last spring‟s visit, has given the college notice of areas which need to be examined
and adjusted in order to be removed from warning status. The college, in response, has created its own committee to address the
issues and write a follow-up report for the commission, so that when the commission returns this Spring, they can determine
whether the college had made the proper improvements. After their examination of the follow-up report, and revisit of the college, the commission will decide whether or not to keep Merced College on warning, remove it from warning, or put it on some
other level of sanction.
This process is a long and involved one, but extremely necessary. The changes needed involve thorough examination of our college‟s programs, classes, and services, which will take much time to work into our existing structures; some changes will not be
possible to put into play until Fall. Many of the necessary improvements require intensive assessment and reassessment to maintain
and sustain academic integrity for this institution. The modifications that need to be made to our college will take time to implement, but we are well on our way. Accreditation demands that a college hold itself accountable for the quality of the education it
provides, and this college is working its hardest to provide the proper accountability in order to get off warning and have a strong
accreditation status. Many faculty and staff are devoting their time to assuring the accreditation committee that Merced College is
committed to academic integrity. Students, are the most important part of this college, and need to be aware of what is happening
V OLUME 2, I SSUE 1
P AGE 3
B UILDING S TRONG C OMMUNITY B RINGS P EOPLE T OGETHER
there is the power to do it.” In
our college, we lack that unity
which our future universities
and fellow colleges may have
already mastered. Each of us is
to blame for this self-centered
view of our college, and of the
world. The question we propose
is surely not without answers, as
many colleges have come to a
solution in great satisfaction.
by Nicholas Lozito
As our 2012 school season takes
off, many of our students are
preparing their upcoming May
graduations. We could assume
that their farewell will be full of
joy and excitement, as they are
finally able to take that step
towards their future and away
from this college so many have
attended for years. There will
be many who may never look
back, but there will surely be
those who feel as though they
are leaving behind a family and a
small piece of themselves.
For those of us who will return
in Fall, we can only hope that
our time will be well spent on
our education, friends, and experiences. The journey towards
University can be just as worthy
and fun as our conquests thereafter. For those who look back
at this school with contempt or
feeling as though, “It‟s just a
college,” as so many students
have told me, what could we
have done differently to bring
everyone together to make this
Community College a true community? American author
Marianne Williamson so famously said, “In every community, there is work to be done.
In every nation, there are
wounds to heal. In every heart,
Read any blog, ask any alumni,
or approach a fellow faculty
member or student and you will
find that all of these individuals
have an opinion of our school
and that opinion will differ
based on whether or not they
enjoyed themselves. Those who
are happiest generally attribute
their fondness of Merced College, and any other aspect of
their lives, to one thing: their
involvement! If we want to
build a strong community we
must bring people together. With a multitude of
diversities here on campus, we
could surely find a group to
please nearly every person who
attends, and if we cannot find
such group, we must create
one in order to please ourselves
and be around like-minded individuals. From the CEO Club to
the Psychology Club, Merced
College is not short of opportunities to meet new people and
explore and learn in a vast array
of subjects. It is simple to start a
new club or simply revive an old
one and then start getting the
word out through Facebook,
Blogs, the school bulletins, or
maybe even drop by the Journalism club to see about having
us advertise your meetings.
Your level of involvement with
any area of your life will directly
correlate with your level of
fulfillment and happiness and
these opportunities generally
require strong leaders to take
charge and inspire others to start
in promoting this cohesiveness
that we all desire. We must
encourage our faculty to be the
liaison between the administration and the students and we
must create that environment
where students feel comfortable
to come forward with suggestions or complaints. In order to
feel the true community we
must all take a stand and allow
this common space we share to
become truly intimate and supportive of one another. We
must lead by example and promote this change. Go cheer for
our sports teams or organize a
poetry reading or set up a faculty-student bowling night at
the local lanes. Bring together
the student body to volunteer at
the Food Bank or an elderly
home, or approach your art
directors about doing a monthly
Art Exhibit here on campus.
Let‟s organize a movie night
here on campus or create traditions that bring students and
teachers together. At the very
least, stop by our department or
write us an email with any suggestions that we can pass on. All
of these are simple and greatly
rewarding, but they take
leaders to step forward and
make that change for the benefit
of their fellow classmates and
the many students to come.
There must be a voice for the
unrepresented and we have a
great opportunity at this school
to create and greatly improve
our quality of life with just a
little effort. In speaking with
students, they are waiting for
the initiative of their fellow
classmates and teachers. Many
instructors are curious and open
to such initiative, as many of
them have been on campuses
where the spirit of the school is
its‟ bloodline. Inspiring and
enlightened talks of this topic
can bring forth a tremendous
amount of wisdom and suggestions. In speaking with Dr.
Brent Saich, he explained how
important leaders can be and
how key it is to have a vibrant
energy run throughout the participants. “When you refer to
building community you are
actually suggesting a need to
energize an environment so that
it evolves into community which
is essentially the art of developing authentic relationships between people, specifically people who share Merced College
in common.” We mustn‟t wait
for all the pieces to line up in
order to make that change. Dr.
Saich said it perfectly, “It is an
„art form‟ because in the absence of some disaster or tragedy, communities are relatively
inert, lacking significant positive
motion.” As we look in the
newspapers and flip through the
channels, we see millions of
fellow Americans taking that
initiative and standing in the
“Occupy” movement. While the
participants are brought together in this stand, America
embraces one another in our
vast differences yet common
interests. Allow us that same
vigor in the stand for ourselves
and for our school community.
Lets put the Community back
into Community College and
find a new reason to enjoy the
school that many of us spend a
great amount of our time.
As the graduates move on, the
school stays still and braces for
another round of eager students
hoping that Merced College will
be a right fit for them. Let‟s all
stand up and take the initiative
to improve our time here at this
wonderful campus and, ultimately, to improve our greater
community.
T HE B LUE D EVIL R EPORT
P AGE 4
MC L IBRARY E XTENDS H OURS F RIDAYS & S ATURDAYS !!!
Plus the research resources
and the dedicated staff who
are there to help students
with their library needs.
by Leo Farias
ASMC Representative
Senator
Consider its orange- peach
color, its large lightly
tinted windows that line its
two stories, its large size
and the huge metallic letters running down its middle spelling out "Library."
Merced College has a large
and spacious library; its size
corresponds to the vast
resources students can access once inside. There are
computers, instruction
rooms, personal desks,
group tables, conference
rooms and study rooms.
More importantly, though,
the library provides a place
where students can do their
homework and put into practice the lessons learned in
class. It's where students
come to do their research and
where they can always rely on
finding a quiet place to read.
If you spend time in the library it's probably because
you need one of its many assets.
As last semester came to a
close, one of the most important decisions affecting student success for this semester
took place. The Student Success Committee voted unanimously to use existing funds
to provide money necessary
for extending library hours,
and so extending access to all
that it already gives to students. Before this, the library
closed at noon Fridays; now it
will be open until 2 p.m., as
well as being open most Sat-
urdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Though it might sound as if it
were a simple solution to a
student need, the whole process took a lot of discussion,
petitioning and perseverance.
It all started with a murmur
among the student body.
Some students simply couldn't understand why the library
closed at noon on Fridays
when there were still classes
going on past noon. Other
students complained that they
needed the library on weekends because that was the
only time they could use it.
Inquiries stemming from the
request for more hours were
brought up to administrators
and also at some of the committees. Everyone agreed that
having more hours was important, but in a time of cutbacks, how could funds be
found without hurting other
areas? That's when the Student Success Committee
came in and said that it would
use money from its basic skills
fund to provide the money to
have the library hours ex-
tended. That money, a total
of $23,700, would cover the
costs of extending the hours
for one semester. Though
only enough to pay for one
semester, it was still nonetheless one semester with more
library time.
Furthermore, because only
one semester was able to be
funded, it also would serve as
a measure to see if students
would actually use the extra
hours. If they do, then perhaps in the future funding for
these hours could come from
the general fund, making the
longer hours permanent.
Only after this semester ends
will we be able to tell if the
extra hours were used and
whether this is actually a student need that should be addressed long term.
But for now students -- along
with faculty, staff and administrators -- should be happy
that through good communication and a common goal for
student success, the road was
found to meet students needs.
AT TENTION STUDENTS!!!
P RIORITY R EGISTRATION
C HANGES M AY A FFECT Y OU !!!
Students who have attempted more than 110 units of course work
(including W, P, NP, & letter grades) prior to Spring 2012 will no longer
have a Group A or Group B registration assignment and will move to the
Group G registration assignment.
Near the end of March 2012 you will receive an email in your student
email account to inform you of your assigned registration group and time
to register for Summer and Fall 2012 classes.
This increase is effective for
SUMMER 2012 REGISTRATION
N EWSLETTER T ITLE
P AGE 5
L.E.D.—L EADERSHIP , E DUCATION & D ISCUSSION
by Hannah Glenn
ASMC Representative
Senator for Los Banos
Leaders are rarely born, but
are made through hard work,
mentorship, education and
possibilities to grow. That is
why leadership conferences
such as those attended annually by ASMC student government members are such an
important opportunity offered
through Merced College. After attending one
such CCCSAA conference in
San Jose last semester, Advisor Raul Alcala questioned
whether student government
officials could bring some of
the material they learned back
B LUE D EVIL R EPORT ‟ S
“M AN O N T HE S TREET ”
„T HUNDER V OICE ‟
D ISCOVERS P ASSIONATE
G UITARIST O N C AMPUS
Jovani Ramirez, a guitarist, was born in Redwood City San
Mateo County and moved to Merced at the age of 3. He found
his love for music by way of the guitar through his older brothers. He always tells himself to keep an open mind as he perfects his musical talents. He aspires to play all around the
world starting with Merced and building momentum gradually.
Jovani continues to further his musical education here at
Merced College because he wants to be a great musician and
one day would like to sell out arenas. For Jovani, playing the
guitar relaxes him mentally, even though as a child he was told
to stop making noise. This motivated him to perfect his instrument and play the kind of music that touches people with every
chord strummed. For those that would like to know more
about what Jovani is currently doing you can find him jamming
at the forte, from time to time with his band SKNK, at local
open mics and venues.
He has aspirations of traveling the world in the future. He is
also sharing his passion for playing the guitar as an instructor at
the Mitchell Senior Middle School in Atwater. So look out Blue
Devils!!! This is an artist that is on campus who is ready to play
just for you, before and after class!!!!
to the Merced College campus, and whether other students might be interested in
presenting. As a result, the
idea of hosting student-led
workshops with a conferencelike atmosphere of leadership
learning to the Merced College campus emerged.
education and discussion), and
will be hosted by a variety of
students and possibly several
professors. If all goes as
planned, several of the workshops will be featured not
only at the main campus of
Merced College, but at the
Los Banos campus as well. It
is hoped that students will
The event will hopefully take
take advantage of this unique
place next month in midopportunity to gain some of
March, and exact dates and
the skills and encouragement
times will be released as the
that can help make them betevent draws closer. The
ter leaders and more effective
workshops have been dubbed
in their clubs, college, and the
Student L.E.D. (leadership,
community.
AGE 6
T HE B LUE D EVIL RPEPORT
P AGE 6
continued a steady and meAmadou Diallo who in1991
thodical marched towards the was shot multiple times by
tutional. In 1954 the US Su- prize.
New York police. A wallet
preme Court gets one right
In 1964 Reverend Martin Lu- held out in the hand of Diallo
when it rules in Brown v Board ther King Jr. was awarded the was thought to be a gun by the
of Education of Topeka that seg- Nobel Prize for Peace in Oslo police officers involved.
regated schools are “… inher- Norway and, controversy
As in the Rodney King verdict
ently unequal.”
returns to the US Supreme
four police officers were acBLACK HISTORY
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Guess what happens to Plessy v Court in 1978. In decision
Ferguson?
that the dismantled affirmative
The most recent Civil Rights action programs in education
and in the work place the
Act was enacted in 1964
where the Attorney General High Court ruled that the
University of California Davis
was given power to protect
“citizens” against discrimina- engaged in reverse discrimination in public places, establish tion when Allan Bakke was
denied admission to the UC
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, elimi- Davis Medical School. Bakke
nated discrimination in feder- was disturbed that a black
women was admitted through
ally assisted programs and
a program aimed at giving
authorized the US Office of
people of color a chance.
Education to aid in desegregating US schools.
The adverse affects of the aboNow there is a lot of volatile lition of affirmative action in
and difficult stuff here to look education and the work place
at; feeling and emotions come are still being felt today.
up, but the purpose is not to The inflated numbers of unfan flame of anger vindictive- employment in our nation is
ness.
at crisis level as evidenced by
This history is about building protests and numerous occupy
bridges and getting over them. movements.
We do well to comb this history in search of common
ground.
April 4, 1991 riots broke out
across California after four
police officers who while on
video tape brutally beating
On one hand we see intelligent, well educated and spiri- motorist Rodney King and
were later acquitted by an all
tual people enslaving, oppressing and exploiting vari- white jury in a Simi Valley.
ous ethnic and racial groups. Fifty-eight persons died in the
On the other hand we see the aftermath.
emergence of people with a
It‟s the practice of racial promoral conscious exuding the filing and its core prejudicial
gifts of forgiveness, reconcilia- attitudes that inherently motition and restoration.
vate the kind of police brutality that was acted out by the
The thing to keep in mind is
perpetrators in the Rodney
that despite the Jim Crow
Laws and ordinances and the King beating.
unjust court decisions black
people in the Americas have
The same psyche was demonstrated in the murder of
that the CIA was linked Nicaraguan who had smuggled
cocaine into the U.S. which
was then distributed as crack
cocaine into Los Angeles and
funneled profits to the Contras. The large shipments of
drugs into U.S. cities where
large black communities exquitted of all charges against
isted enabled The War on
them.
Drugs on peoples whom had
Twenty three year old Oscar drugs poured into their comGrant during the early hours munities and the implementof New Year‟s Day 2009 was ing of mandatory sentencing
shot and killed by police in
laws as Three Strikes which
Oakland while he lay face
are systematically destroying
down with hands cuffed benear whole black communihind him.
ties. According to Racial Divide: An Examination of the
Even as this piece is being
Impact of California's Three
written a controversy rages
New York City over the kill- Strikes Law on African
ing of unarmed Ramarley Gra- Americans and Latinos,
“African Americans and Latiham. The eighteen-year-old
killed by police in the home of nos are penalized at every
his parents February 6, 2012. stage of the criminal justice
system at rates disproportionRamarley was shot at close
ate to their share of the genrange in the apartment‟s bath- eral population.”
room after he had been chased
“The makeup of Three
into the house by narcotics
Strikes
defendants, African
detectives.
Americans are given life senNews accounts indicated that tences under Three Strikes at
over five hundred protestors nearly 13 times the rate of
have gathered and are criticiz- Whites; and, the Latinos are
ing police not only for the
incarcerated under Three
killing but as mentioned
Strikes a staggering 82 percent
above; a stop-and-frisk prac- more than Whites” the report
tice and policy of which critics concludes.
claim disproportionately tarSo what is the meaning of all
gets people of color.
of this? The meaning is an
At the rally, protesters conoffering of a history and the
demned the police actions of a black experience that might
systematic pattern of practice serve as a model, blueprint or
and treatment of black youth. paradigm for peoples of all
“It is not about capturing
colors, race, social rating and
criminals this is the hunting
ethnicity. The meaning is to
down and killing of black
aid those suffering and sufferyouths,” said one protestor.
ing unnecessarily.
In a series of 1996 articles in
San Jose Mercury News Garry
Webb published allegations
V OLUME 2, I SSUE 1
P AGE 7
“C OURAGE T O R EMEMBER ” E XHIBIT C OMMERATES H OLOCAUST
The Holocaust from the
African American Perspective
by Victor Smith, Advisor BDR
Of the joys in celebrating
Black History Month is the
discovery of lost treasures,
stories that aren‟t widely
known or ordinarily told.
There are a few programs
throughout the year The
History Channel, Discovery, and PBS, February and
Black History Month affords the opportunity to
enter into a deeper and
more profound realm. I
recently attended the
Courage to Remember
Exhibit commemorating
the Holocaust at Modesto‟s Vintage Mall.
I felt this being the middle
of Black History Month it
was the perfect opportunity
to connect the two tragic
and catastrophic event suffered by two peoples and
cultures often disconnected
and misunderstood by each
other. I wanted to explore
the idea of the holocaust
from an African American
perspective. The event was
appropriately named,
“Courage to Remember”
because on the invitation it
was mentioned that along
with the Jews throughout
Europe aged people, disabled, children, Russians,
and Roma Sinta were all
persecuted. I believe the
Modesto Mayor was there.
I know Stanislaus County
Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill O‟Brien was
there; he exhorted the audience: “… we must re-
main eternally vigilant against
the evil of prejudice, racism
and indifference.” It was
those kids that touched my
emotions; seeing those kids
sitting, legs crossed, taking it
all in brought tears to my
eyes. It would be their burden to purvey the value and
“There very well may have
been some African Americans
there,” I replied. “One thing
we know for sure is that there
were peoples there of African
descent, and it‟s there story
that is rarely included in contemporary accounts. Africans
were and always have been
spread
throughout
Europe,” I
answered.
The point
is: the
relationship between
African
Americans
and Jews
tradition: “… Never Again.” needs more cultivation; it is
The crowd was too big, and
often assessed by negative
so much going on I nearly
images projected by powerful
gave up on my motive; it ap- extremist media figures and
peared I wouldn‟t get into
politicians. We don‟t see the
any dialog or conversation on two ethnicities working tothe Holocaust from an African gether and in search for the
American perspective. That is common ground between the
until one of my former stutwo peoples with such close
dents at Merced College and
historical and social parallels
her husband showed up. And when we examine the three
I want to give a shout out to
Abrahamic Religions of the
the other Merced College
Book, Judaism, Christianity,
students and professors in the and Islam we find three faiths
crowd too. “What are you
that await one who would
doing here?” I was asked. “… come to a chaotic earth and
I am here to support the
restore humanity and our
memory and cause today
cosmos to a state of paradise.
from an African American
In America millions and milperspective,” I replied. An
lions of African Americans
African American fellow
share with Jews a common
named Tyrone who was
faith and conviction in the
standing close expanded the
same God: the god of Abraconversation.
ham Isaac and Jacob.
“You mean to tell me there
Being of the Abrahamic faith
were African Americans in
African Americans believe
the Holocaust?” He asked.
that it was the same force that
delivered them from the
clutches of the vicious AnteBellum Slave System, Jim
Crow, and the Civil Rights
Struggles that delivered the
suffering Jews from total destruction out of hands of
Adolf Hitler. African Americans have long recognized the
concentration camp model
implemented by Josef Mengle
and Hermann Goring that had
been handed down to the
younger goring by his Father
who had designed first known
concentration camps at the
turn of the twentieth century
during the colonization of
South Africa where diamonds
had been discovered. Despite
the Manichean mellow dramatic hype we read about and
see on the screen that dramatizes anti-Semitism attitudes
towards Jews and hatred by
Jews towards African Americans on the ground that is just
not the case. Jews were on
the front rows of the civil
rights battles between blacks
and the likes of Bull Conner
the racist Alabama Governor
that turned water hoses on
and set dogs on the peaceful
protestors. A check of predominately black colleges
like: Alcorn, Southern,
Grambling, and Hampton,
Fisk , Howard and many others you‟ll find that many of
the Jewish intellectual exiles
found sanctuary among the
black institutions of higher
learning. So my hope here is
that we began a conversation
on the Holocaust from an
African American Perspective
that we might continue during Black History Months in
the future.
T HE B LUE D EVIL R EPORT
P AGE 8
A RT G ALLERY P RESENTS S TUDENT E XHIBIT “O SCAR T ORRES ”
by Montserrat Reyes
Oscar Torres displays his art in his first solo exhibition
to date in the Merced College art gallery. The coowner of popular restaurant J&R Tacos says he started
creating art at a very young age, recalling visiting museums in Mexico and admiring the works of legendary
artists like Salvador Dali and El Greco. Torres says his
work is autobiographical; employing a wide range of
mediums (like charcoal, pencil, acrylic and oil paints)
to tell stories from his past.
Torres plans to complete his AA degree in fine arts
this year and transfer to a four-year university to obtain his Bachelors degree.
C OMING S OON : E NTERTAINMENT S CHEDULE M ARCH 2012
Merced College Theater
Tartuffe by Moliere
Translation by Richard Wilbur
Directed by Carin Heidelbach
March 9, 10, 15, 16, 17
@ 7:30 pm
March 18 @ 2:00 pm
$10 regular admission,
$8 students & faculty
*special $5 student price on
Thursday, March 15 only
Merced College Fine Arts
Faculty Exhibition
Merced College Art Gallery
March 7 - March 29
Reception: March 7, 6:00-7:30 pm
Merced College
Concert Band
Merced College Theater
Guest Conductor: Sandra Stocking
March 23 @ 7:30 pm
$8 regular admission, $5 students &
seniors
Tickets can be purchased at the
Merced College Bookstore and the
Theater Box Office
For more information on
Merced College
Arts Events,
including ticket
purchase
information, please contact the Art Office
209.386.6644
or the
Theater Box Office 209.384.6284.
www.mccd.edu/theArts
V OLUME 2, I SSUE 1
P AGE 9
B LUE D EVIL B ASEBALL I S B ACK !!!
Feb 23
Taft
Taft
2:00 pm
Feb 25
Taft
MERCED
1:00 pm
Feb 28
Sequoias
MERCED
2:00 pm
Mar 1
Sequoias
Visalia
2:00 pm
Mar 3
Sequoias
MERCED
1:00 pm
Mar 8
Feather River
TBA
2:00 pm
Mar 13
Porterville
Porterville
2:00 pm
Mar 15
Porterville
MERCED
2:00 pm
Mar 17
Porterville
Porterville
1:00 pm
Mar 20
West Hills
Coalinga
2:00 pm
Mar 22
West Hills
MERCED
2:00 pm
Mar 24
*West Hills
Coalinga
1:00 pm
Mar 27
Fresno
Fresno
7:00 pm
Mar 29
Fresno
MERCED
7:00 pm
Mar 31
Fresno
Fresno
1:00 pm
Photo by Pat Kelly
Home Games Listed in Bold
S PORTS R OUNDUP
Feb 23
Delta
4:00 pm
Feb 26
Lassen
TBA
Mar 1
Taft
2:00pm
Mar 3-4
Fresno Bash @ Fresno
TBA
Mar 6
Reedley @ Reedley
1:00pm/3:00 pm
Mar 8
Porterville
2:00pm/4:00 am
Mar 08
Reedley @ MERCED
1:00/3:00pm
Mar 10-11
Ohlone Tourney @ Fremont
TBA
Mar 13
Fresno
2:00pm/4:00pm
Mar 15
West Hills @ Coalinga
2:00pm
Mar 20
Sequoias @ Visalia
2:00pm
Mar 24
Feather River
12:00pm/2:00pm
Mar 27
Taft @ Taft
2:00pm/4:00pm
Mar 29
*Reedley
2:00pm
By Monserrat Reyes
The Lady Devil Basketball team‟s season is
still going strong as they enter Regional‟s
on February 22nd with a 10-15 overall record and a 4-5 conference record.
The Blue Devil softball team opened their
season with two solid wins against Butte
College in early February, leaving them
with a 2-1 overall record.
Our Men‟s Basketball team is wrapping up
a season of tough losses with a 1-21 overall
record. Nor-Cal play-offs begin February
22nd. On a brighter note, our baseball
team started their season off with four
consecutive wins, giving them a 5-2 overall record.
Be sure also look out for Track & Field as
well as Men and Women‟s Swimming and
Diving this semester! Go Blue Devils!
P
10
P AGE
AGE 10
EWSLETTER
T ITLE
T HE BNLUE
D EVIL R EPORT
P HI T HETA K APPA I NVITES G RADUATES F OR M EMBERSHIP
Phi Theta Kappa is the international honor society that serves
Merced College. Our main purpose is to recognize and encourage academic excellence among community college students as well as promoting our dedication to the four hallmarks that drive our organization: scholarship, leadership,
service, and fellowship. We have the distinction of being a “by
invitation only” honor society, but we encourage eligible students to contact us as there are many privileges to becoming a
member. To be accepted into Phi Theta Kappa, a student
must: Have completed at least 12 units of course work at
Merced College; Have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher;
Complete and submit a membership profile form; Pay a onetime membership fee at the time of application.
PTK holds weekly meetings in Student Union 137 at 4:00pm
so please feel free to join us. This semester we have a full load
ahead of us as we will be launching our PTK4Kids program in
conjunction with Ada Givens Elementary School. We will also
be hosting a Biological Sciences seminar in cooperation with
the Pre-Med Club, funding our trip to the Winchester Mys-
tery House in April by selling World‟s Finest Chocolates and
holding a flapjack fundraiser, participating in Blue Devil Day,
and promoting Professor of the Year during Diversity Week
on top of holding various fellowship events throughout the
semester.
It is very important to note that our annual Induction Ceremony will be held on Saturday, March 31, 2012 and any new
member being inducted must contact Phi Theta Kappa and
pay their dues by Friday, March 16th in order to be recognized
as an official Phi Theta Kappa member.
If you have any questions or for further information please
contact: President Claudia Gonzalez at:
claudia.gonzalez@campus.mccd.edu or
VP of Membership Eri Nagase at: stareri@hotmail.com
If you are graduating this semester, please contact your Phi
Theta Kappa President. Remember that to graduate with honors and receive your stole, you must be a member for at least
45 days prior to graduation.
T AHER D INING S ERVES H AWAIIAN F ARE A T L UAU L UNCH
Photos by Thunder Voice
Congratulations to Leo Farias, Guiyermina Patino, Bob Davies, Melissa Middleton, Don Hoornaert, Rayce Henri, Jennifer
Edrington, Laurie Goodwin, Toni McCall and Ed Bush all winners of the $5.00 Taher gift card at the Hawaiian Luau Drawing!
C RIMINAL J USTICE C LUB W ANTS Y OU !
Are you a Criminal Justice or Corrections Major? Or do you have an interest in the Criminal Justice field? If so, then join the
Criminal Justice Club! Our organization has the honor of being the Club of the Year for 2010-2011 school year due to the
dedication we have to our members and our hard work. We are committed to giving back to our community and engage in
various diverse projects on campus and throughout the county.
This semester the Criminology club will be holding a toy drive to benefit the Children‟s Hospital, Central California, we will
be cleaning up graffiti with the California Highway Patrol, fundraising for our annual trip to Great America, and holding our
2nd annual Jail & Bail Fundraiser during Diversity Week in May. So don‟t hesitate to join us! Come make new friends, network, and gain valuable experience!
Our meetings our held every other Tuesday at 5pm in VOC-11 beginning January 31st.
For more information contact: President Claudia Gonzalez at: claudia.gonzalez@campus.mccd.edu
V OLUME 2, I SSUE 1
P AGE 11
A RTISTS AND P OETS T URN O UT A T M ERCED C OLLEGE T HEATER
T O C OMMEMORATE B LACK H ISTORY M ONTH
The Black History Month Celebration Honoring "The Freedom Riders" was hosted by SOUL Student Organization Unified
Leadership on February 19,2012 was held in the Merced College Theater where an audience of nearly a hundred people including community leaders, religious congregations, and students from as low as grade- school, middle, high school, and colleges including Modesto Jr. College, Stanislaus and Merced College were entertained by various poets, gospel, hip hop, dance
R&B, and jazz.
Rounding Out Black History Month:
The writer Cecil Brown will be on the UC Merced campus 7 pm Feb.
23. He will give a lecture titled, "My Midnight in Paris with James
Baldwin," as part of our African American Literature and Culture
series.
The lecture will be held in Classroom Office Building (COB) 120 as
part of the UCM African American Literature and Culture Series. His
talk is titled, “Midnight in Paris with James Baldwin.” Open and free
to the public. The event is sponsored by the UCM Center for Research in the Humanities & Arts, and the UCM Merritt Writing Program. For more information contact Nigel Hatton, nhatton@ucmerced.edu. Cecil Brown holds a PhD in African-American
Literature, Folklore, and Theory of Narrative from the University of
California, Berkeley, a master‟s degree from the University of Chicago, and a bachelor‟s degree from Columbia University. He has published a number of novels, short stories, screenplays, and journal articles relating to African-American literature and life, and has taught
classes in literature and popular culture at UC Berkeley, Stanford University, UC Santa Barbara, the University of San Francisco, and other
universities throughout California.
The Blue Devil Report
STUDENT NEWS
MERCED COLLEGE
Students for Social Justice will be holding a Planned Parenthood HIV Awareness presentation on February 23rd in Lesher-111. S4SJ wants to raise awareness, educate
students, and help eradicate the myths regarding the HIV virus and the stigma and
stereotypes attached to it. Please join us for this educational event and assist us
in spreading this valuable information. Also, on March 1st, S4SJ will be hosting a
presentation in association with LINK (Liberty in North Korea) to discuss the current
state of North Korea. This event will be held at Merced College in Lesher-111 and
we invite all students to attend and support this cause.
JOURNALISM CLUB
3600 M STREET, RM. ART 3
MERCED, CA 95354
PHONE: 209-386-6655
EMAIL: report@mccd.edu
Club Members:
Cynthia Blackmore, Editor
Hannah Glenn, Journalist
Leo Farias, Journalist
Nicholas Ozito, Journalist
Thunder Voice, Photo-Journalist
Montserrat Reyes, Journalist
Marina Holmes, Journalist
Claudia Gonzalez, Journalist
Jasmine Draz, Journalist
Itatis Campos, Journalist
Dominque Navarette, Journalist
Rodney Mathews, Journalist
Miki Akiyama, International Journalist
Yee Xiong, International Journalist
Steven Sanchez, Photo-Journalist
Co-Advisors:
Victor Smith & Melissa Rocha
English Adjunct Faculty
The Native American Student Club is a mentor/ support group for tutoring Native
American Students as they further their education. Many people believe that all Native Americans get money from there tribes but in many cases that is not true. This
group is to help Native Students pursue their dreams of becoming whatever they
want to be. This group‟s main focus is to support the Native American community.
Besides helping Native American Students with school this group also plans to inform
people about the Native American culture. We plan to work with the Indian Education program in the Mariposa Community and various other events. The Native
American culture is much more than what you learn in a history class, where you
only learn about the destruction of the tribes but being Native American is a way of
life. This is the furthest this campus has gotten with a Native American Students Club
and we hope we can make the best of it. Whether you are Native or not you can join
this club. For more information contact Emily Dayhoff at
emily.dayhoff@campus.mccd.edu or Isabel Cambridge at cambridge.i@mccd.edu.
MERCED COLLEGE CLASS OF 2012
Student Commencement Speaker and Graduation Idol Wanted!
Want to motivate, empower and inspire our 2012 Graduates?
Application deadline is Friday, March 9, 2012
Auditions will be scheduled with the Graduation Committee in April.
For more information contact: Diane Spork spork.d@mccd.edu
CEO CLUB & SAFE CLUB SELL SWEET GIFTS IN THE QUAD!