FEATURES: Pumpkin Carving Contest

This week the Marauder Bookstore held a pumpkin carving contest this week for Halloween.



First place was given to Karla Romero for his pumkin carving skills.



Second place was awarded to Gwendolyn Gilmore for her artistic achievement.



Last but not least was Luis Flores in third for his carving of a classic of gaming.

-Photos and captions by Jason Hemsath

SPORTS: Marauders Attempt A .500 Season

AVC (5-8-3, 2-5-2) went down to Chaffey last Tuesday 1-0. Its offense continues to struggle as they got shutout for the sixth time this year. Once again, its defense showed up while the offense was “MIA.” Most of the productive scorers play either a defensivemen or midfielder. AVC has a shortage in forwards this year, with team leader in goals Beatrice Giles being the only player that has a legitimate chance of putting it in the net.

The only forward that doesn’t play multiple positions is sophomore Monica Parra. She has been ineffective on the offensive end and has been pulled from games due to lack of in-game knowledge. Attempting to put goals on offense has been stressful for coach Stupar. Sophomore Danielle Skidmore, who played as a backup goalkeeper last year, was listed to play goalie this year. She didn’t get the starting goalkeeping spot and wanted to see some action in her final year.

So coach put two-and-two together and Whala!

Skidmore was moved to the winger position. She has been playing this position for over a month now. Depending on the opponents and the in-fame situations Stupar sees, decides on whether she starts or not and how much playing time she gets—either way it’s better than riding the bench.

Consistent players like Carla Hager, Melissa Heredia, Marisol Vite, and Courtney Meza continue to hold it down on the defensive end. Sophomore goalkeeper Breanna Dundes has been improving as of late—she has been taking lessons from last year’s sophomore goalkeeper Thannia Huerta. Huerta was the best goalie in the Foothill Conference last years allowing nine goals all year, while earning 2 shutouts.

There are only three games left in the season. Up next on its schedule are Desert, Victor Valley and Mt. San Jacinto. AVC defeated Mt. San Jacinto earlier this year, and loss to Victor Valley earlier this year. AVC plays at Desert Tomorrow at 3 p.m. Desert was shutout 2-0 in a loss in early October.

-By Donjai Richardson

FEATURES: Mummies of the World

Goblins, monsters, and mummies are things that come to mind when Halloween treks around, although have you ever seen these scary beasts of the night? Well here is your chance to come face-to-face with real mummies.

The largest traveling exhibit of mummies is now at the California Science Center in Los Angeles available to patrons, otherwise known as, Mummies of the World.

According to the California Science Center Web site, Mummies of the World consists of both accidentally and intentionally preserved mummies, which are presented with dignity.

Not only does this exhibit contain mummies, but important artifacts to accompany these mummies.

The mummies and artifacts are from all over the world, such as Asia, Oceania, South America, Europe, and of course, Egypt.

The exhibit also has interactive parts throughout the mummy maze that illustrate how current science tools allow non-invasive examinations of the mummies.

The recommended time-span for viewing the exhibit is 75 minutes. This allows visitors to view and explore everything in a timely manner.

Tickets range differently in price for age groups, although the price for an adult is $19.50, which is without any additional fees.

Purchasing tickets for this event can be done three ways. Firstly, online is the best option, seeing as how these are considered “timid tickets”, which means that the exhibit runs on certain times and dates. Thirdly, they can be purchased at the California Science Center at arrival.

Additionally, there are parking fees, which consist of $8 for vehicles and $10 for buses.

This exhibit is a spooky Halloween treat for the whole family, and it is ending soon. “The exhibit is ending on Thanksgiving, which is Nov. 25,” said a retail manager at the exhibit. Thus, there is not much time left to enjoy this magnificent mummy display.

For more information on ticket prices, purchase options, and parking fees visit the California Science Center Web site, or call (213) 744-2019

-By Kathrine Maritz

NEWS: Wikipedia Asks For Donations

Wikipedia- the source of information for millions of people, is asking for donations to help keep the site running without going commercial. To read the actual appeal and donate money you can either skip over to Wikipedia and click the giant banner at the top of the page or you can simply click here

NEWS: Textbook Rental Program Delayed

To the disappointment of staff and students alike, the textbook rental program at AVC has been delayed until at least the spring semester.

The program’s software, which had been set for release this past June, arrived at the AVC campus on August 6, causing its fall debut to be nearly impossible. According to AVC bookstore manager David Moyer, nearly 85 colleges had been planning on loaning textbooks this fall.

The program, made possible by the Nebraska Book Company (NEBC), offers an alternative to buying textbooks. Students can rent many of the required texts for a considerably lower cost than buying them new or used. While used books are normally marked down 25% of their new retail price, the cost of renting a book will be about 30% to 40% of a book’s new retail price.

Though this can save on out-of-pocket costs, it is not necessarily the cheapest. If, for example, a used book was bought for $75 and was sold back to the bookstore for $50 (1/2 of its retail $100), the net transaction would cost the student $25. If the same book was rented, it may cost the renter $30.

If you find that it would be less expensive to buy the book and sell it back to the bookstore at the end of the semester, please beware: not all textbooks can be returned. Only texts which are the correct edition and have been requested for the following semester will be bought back. About 20% of used texts are not used the following semester, according to Moyer. Thus, an extra $5 or $10 may be worth avoiding a risk which could cost you ten times as much.

Before you begin calculating next semester’s textbook rental costs, be aware that not all required books will be available through this program. Courses that have high total enrollments, such as introductory biology or psychology, will be included, but those with enrollment less than roughly 50 may not be. Since the bookstore gets a lower profit per book through the rental program than through sales, renting books to smaller classes isn’t cost-effective enough to warrant their inclusion.

By implementing this program, the bookstore hopes to compete with online stores and sellers. The benefits of renting, according to Sue Reidman of NEBC, include getting the correct edition of the correct book, having access to customer service and no shipping fees, and the ability to get the book on campus. You can also be assured that you will save a considerable amount on out-of-pocket expenses.

One last drawback to this program is, of course, that books must be returned at the conclusion of each semester. If you might be interested in keeping the course books, it may be advantageous to look for a book source elsewhere: online, corporate bookstores, library book sales, locally owned bookstores that offer book buyback… well, we can hope.
Look for the advent of the textbook rental program next spring.

-By Emma Goldman

NEWS: Sunday's Power Outage

Crews repaired a telephone pole on Sunday broke by a hit and run driver on 15th St. West between avenue J and I. Electric service was interrupted for over 15 hours.

- Photos and caption by Jason Hemsath

SPORTS: AVC Loses Second Straight in Conference Game

Rio Hondo’s Christine Pina in a kill breaking AVC defense

AVC’s volleyball team loses 1-4, making this their second straight loss, this time against conference rival Rio Hondo on Wed. evening. Marauders won the first set 25-19 while looking energized, unfortunate it was not enough. The Lady Roadrunners responded by winning the last three sets 12-25, 19-25, 18-25.

This has been the Marauders’ trend since the beginning of the season, winning the first set and falling apart at the end of the match. “It has become an unfortunate legacy,” said Marauders’ coach Jane Cwayna. “We just have to stay focus for the whole game,”

After losing the second set coach Cwayna took the team out of the gym to try and refocus them. “I wanted to make it seem as if it was a brand new game,” said Marauders’ coach, but was unsuccessful to stop Rio Hondo’s momentum.

Rio Hondo came prepared and with confident. “We are well rounded team as long as we get our head in the game,” said Rio Hondo’s Coach Teddi Esko.

But confidence and being prepare was not the only thing the Lady Roadrunners shared with the Marauders. Sophomore Christine Pina who is ranked first in kill percentage (3.92) according to the Foothill Athletic Conference, took apart the Marauders defense.

“We came committed as a teams,” said Rio Hondo’s Christine Pina “This win helped us build our confidence.”

Jasmine Smith in Wednesday game against the Rio Hondo

“We knew they had a good middle,” said coach Cwayna. “She had a good game,” added Marauders sophomore Jasmine Smith who had 7 kills, 3 blocks and 10 points for the Marauders.

Another undisputable detail in the Marauders season so far is losing to teams with losing records. On Wed. Sept. 29 Oxnard then 0-3 defeated AVC and now Rio Hondo 0-3 while capturing their first victory in conference this season. “If I had the answer I’ll write a book,” said coach Cwayna.
Looking ahead the Marauders have get to work. The Marauders (2-9 and 1-2 in conference) travels to Chaffey (7-5 and 2-1 in conference) on Fri. Oct. 15. “We have to work on our consistency and win,” said Coach Cwayna.

-Photos and story by Avi Ithier

NEWS: Board Meeting Oct. 11

The monthly board meeting kicked off yesterday with news of Apple products being sold at the student store, new desserts and coffee at the cafeteria and payment plans for students.

Right off the bat there was something different in the air when I walked in; there was a more celebratory vibe. This left me shocked because of the ongoing budget battle was affecting the school drastically.

I took my seat and there were some awesome “bribe goodies” which were from the auxiliary services coordinators. I must say the pastries they provided were tasty. For those of you who do not know what auxiliary services is in charge of, they do the cafeteria affairs and they announced some of the new foods and drinks that would be available in the cafeteria. They also announced that the student store would now be selling Apple products and is now an official “Apple retailer”.

I must say, even though I am not a fan of Apple or Apple products this was pretty exciting news. This will hopefully boost sales because presently it looks like the bookstore is losing money.

Another thing announced was a new line of clothes to be sold at the Student Store; the modeling they did of the clothes was high spirited and very entertaining.

After this presentation Tanya Thorsen who is the Nelnet Business Solutions Senior
Vice President presented what is a student payment plan that will aid with paying for classes. What this system basically does is allow a student to pay their classes in separate intervals rather than pay them as one big purchase. This will cost the school nothing and will only cost students 20 $ to use. There is not interest it is just the flat 20 $ rate. This system is said to be up by next fall.

On the subject of payments, the cafeteria is also rolling out a plan to pre pay for food. So a student can pre pay a card and pay for their food in that manner. An updated online menu is also said to be in the works and there is a build your own salad option coming as well.

One of the non-agenda item introduced was “Octoberfest” this will happen on Saturday Oct. 23 in the school cafeteria. Tickets are for sale at 15 $ regular or12 $ for students, seniors will also get a discounted price. Tickets are available for sale in the student store.

There is also an engineering program in the works and will be in partnership with California State University Long Beach. This will provide seamless transfer for students who are interested in engineering and already taken lower level engineering courses.

So it looks like a lot of things are set to change over the year, check back on our blog for follow ups on some of these changes.

-By Antonio De La O

EVENT

Click for full sized image.

NEWS: Keep an Eye On Your Valuables Warns Campus Sheriff

Cell phones, wallets and backpacks have been stolen at an alarming rate on campus recently. In the last three weeks students have reported their property being snatched while their backs are turned or they’re distracted.

“There’s no one place it happens. A person was in the library and got up to make a copy so they left their backpack in the study carrel-when they get back it’s gone. A student puts her cell phone down while standing waiting in line in the administration building, when she turns around it’s gone. Backpacks and wallets have been taken from unlocked cars.” Said Deputy Ruiz of the Campus Sheriff’s office.
Most of these thefts seem to be crimes of impulse, the thief sees something valuable and while you’re distracted they take it. The good news? These crimes are preventable!

Deputy Ruiz had these tips for not being the latest victim:

1. Be aware of your surroundings at all times. Thieves love distracted people

2. Take your things with you to the restroom or when you make copies. If you have to leave your belongings ask someone to watch them for you.

3. Before you leave an area make sure you have everything with you-did you leave your cell phone or wallet behind?

4. Lock your car at all times.

5. Consider getting an App for your cell phone or computer that will help

locate it in the event that it’s stolen.

These are crimes of opportunity. If you pay attention to your belongings, you can deny these thieves that chance to steal from you. And remind your friends to be careful so we can stop making so easier for dishonest people to steal from us.

-By Tricia Tighe

OPINION: Bring Back the Tap

Bottled water in my opinion is immoral; the manner in which we depend on soda companies such as Pepsi Cola and Coca Cola to provide us with clean, safe bottled drinking water is not only an environmental waste but an immoral step to a dependence on filtered lies.

“The Story of Stuff Project” is an Internet source geared toward educating the public about the gritty truths big time corporations don’t want you, the consumer, to know. These companies influence the use of bottled water to the consumers by pitching ads that draw us toward the luxuries of having a pure, fresh ration of bottled water, rather than the dirty, grungy water that comes from the tap.

Some of these companies stretch their lies by using advertising logos of gaping mountainsides with ice caps releasing fresh filtered water down their river faces, while hiding the fact that they use their own water tap as their water source.

Through campaigns, such as these cleverly schemed ads they convince the masses that tap water is polluted, impure and harmful, when in the use of a Brita or Pur water filter container can actually provide a quality of water as good or of better quality than any bottling company would deem safe.

With this knowledge it is better to use one’s hard earned money toward a filtration system that will last them many months out of the year, with nothing but a simple replacement of a filter. It costs twice as much money, along with the use of natural resources like oil and water, to provide one bottle of water than to provide the same amount of filtered tap water.

After speaking with David Shibley, an Environmental Science Major at Humboldt State University, it was brought to my attention that there is currently a land mass of plastic bottles the size of Texas off the North West Pacific Coast comprised of the remains of many failed attempts to ship bottles and other plastic waste over-seas.
Shibley elaborated on a fact that most bottled water users who do recycle are mislead when they see green arrows forming a recycling pattern. The plastic bottles that do reach India are broken down into second grade plastics. Which are ashy and carry healthy many health risks. This reprocessing of our waste plastics further increases pollution and waste materials and eventually leaves foreign countries with the remains of our waste. Our trash becomes their burden.

It is apparent that the production of such wasteful means has become a system of crisis. Recycling alone has proven to be a wasteful endeavor because of the fuels needed to send cargo ships overseas, the air and ocean pollution from the ships and the residue from reprocessing plastics. The only way to minimize a carbon footprint, which is a measure of the greenhouse gases that are produced by activities that involve burning fossil fuels, is to use canteens and water resources that are publicly available.

-By Wesley Horowitz

FEATURES: The Phantom is Here, Inside your Mind

The ever haunting musical, Phantom of the Opera, is now showing at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood for its last go around.

The biggest thing on Hollywood Boulevard right now, is the Phantom’s farewell. This musical originated from a French book by Gaston Leroux. After the publication made its debut many variations of the book have sprung up everywhere, such as the popular 2004 movie featuring Emmy Rossum, and of course, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera musical.

According to The Baltimore Sun, Webber’s production has served over 80 million people since 1986. This number is still growing, and will continue until Oct. 31 of this year.

The ticket prices for this showing range differently from site to site, although according to the Broadway L.A. Web site, they range from $29-$125.

There is a showing everyday from now to Oct. 31, and the times different on each day, which are typically at 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 6:30 p.m., and 8 a.m., although for specific times and dates visit the Broadway L.A. site. The running time of the show is 2 hours and 30 minutes.

If attending the musical production, there is parking directly across from the Pantages Theater, called Sunshine Parking, which is convenient and easily accessible. However, there are many other parking lots located near the Pantages, but make sure to bring cash for parking, because in L.A. parking prices can vary. Parking arrangements can be made in advance for those attending the show, and can be done so by contacting the Pantages Theater at 323-468-1770.

There are restaurants that are within walking distance to the Pantages that could serve well to your evening, such as Kung Pao Kitty, Ivan Kane’s Cafe Was, Dillon’s Irish Pubb & Grill, Blue Palms Brewhouse, The Fabiolus Café, Katsuya, Citizen Smith, and EAST.

The location of the Pantages Theater is at 6233 Hollywood Blvd, between Vine and Argyle Streets. From the Hollywood (101) Freeway, exit at Hollywood Boulevard and proceed west four blocks. The theatre is on your right, on the north side of Hollywood Boulevard just past Argyle. The Pantages Theatre is also easily accessible by Metro Red Line by exiting at the Hollywood/Vine station, located directly across the street from the Pantages Theatre. (Put within a box.)

If you are a fan of the Phantom, or appreciate love stories with opera, this is the musical for you. For more information contact the Pantages Theater at 323-468-1770.

-By Katherine Maritz

NEWS: Lancaster Offers $5,000 Reward in Peatry’s Murder

She had a gorgeous smile and loved to sing and dance. She was attending a friend’s birthday party when her family had warned her not to go because they can be dangerous. But she went anyway. It was late but she was safe-after all she was surrounded by her friends.
If we stop the story here it can be the story of any of us- we are young and ready for adventure. Only rarely do these stories end tragically. And when you’re 14, you think bad things only happen to other people. But this time the bad thing happened to her.
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris joined with the Lancaster sheriff’s department and the Peatry family in announcing a $5,000 reward for information about the teen’s slaying. Dominique Peatry was killed on September 5, 2010 while she was attending a friend’s birthday party. A fight broke out and someone fired into the crowd, killing Peatry and wounding six others.
“She was 14 years-old and a beautiful child. We need to find out who did this and hold them accountable.” Said Parris.
The sheriff’s department estimates that there were 25-30 people attending the party in the 44600 block of 6th Street East and that there are dozens of witnesses to the shooting. At least two different handguns were fired into the crowd. Although it has been a month since the shooting, the lack of cooperation from the partygoers has stalled the investigation.
“Dominique was our baby and they took her life, I don’t understand it-but I’m asking anyone who was at the party, please call the detectives or call the tip line and let them know what you know. I do know the people at the party-they know who these cowards are. Please help us..please, we miss her so much!” Jacqueline Peatry, the victim’s grandmother tearfully explained.
“This was a tragic event on 6th St. East and we at the Sheriff’s station are deeply saddened by the loss of a beautiful 14-year old girl. But I am shocked at the community’s lack of cooperation. There were, in fact witnesses at that party. They need to do the right thing and come forward.“ said Captain Axel Anderson of the Lancaster sheriff’s station .
Anderson also noted that the sheriff’s department had recently attended community meetings to hear the African- American community’s complaints about their treatment by the sheriff’s department and are working to heal the rift. “Our African-American residents need to send a loud and clear message-we will no longer tolerate the gangbanging, the violence and the drug use that so negatively impacts our youth.”
“You don’t have to give your name, but please- make that phone call, help us out. We’re not going to rest until her killers are behind bars. Let someone know because if you keep quiet I guarantee you that one day it might be you or one of your children. We have to stop this! There are too many of our children dying- constantly.” Jacqueline Peatry said.
Dominique Peatry was always the peacemaker in her family. She never wanted the fun to end so she always made peace between people so they make up and could continue having fun. When the fight at the party broke out, the young woman tried to stop the argument and it lead to her death. Dominique Peatry loved animals especially her tiny Chihuahua, Domino. She wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up, was an accomplished dancer and even won cheerleading competitions with her former cheerleading squad.
Her plans did not include being murdered at a friend’s birthday party.
“This is not just happening to individuals, this is happening to all of us. I can understand being young and having a sense of misguided loyalty. But these kids have to understand- they can defend Dominique who was 14 years-old or they can defend these people who think it’s OK to shoot into a party. That’s the choice they have. It could have been anyone’s child killed at that party.” Parris said.
If you have any information on Dominique Peatry’s murder than call Crime stoppers (800) 222-TIPS (8477) or text TIPLA plus your tip to 274637. A $5,000 reward is being offered.

- Story and photo by Tricia Tighe

To Celebrate 1k Hits

So the counter said we've gotten over a thousand hits since we started the web content and I was like





And then after I checked it out I was all




After which Nixon was like








Thanks for keeping up with the site everyone.