Accent Issue 6

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May 4, 2009

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Volume 2, Issue 6

Sixth Street violence ends with fatal blow Wanted for the murder of Nikolas Evans

? Suspect is described as A black male Approx. 20 – 25 years old 5’10” – 6’0” tall Medium build Wearing a dark dress shirt with solid white or silver necktie (loosely worn) Homicide Tip Line: (512) 477-3588 Capital Area Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and indictment Crime Stoppers (512) 472-8477

Kevin Forester • Staff Photographer

APD has increased police presence downtown as a result of numerous serious altercations as shown here at the corner of Sixth and Neches. Former ACC student Nikolas Evans was murdered at this corner in the early morning hours of March 27 while trying to break up a fight. Detective David Fugitt warns students to be aware of their surroundings.

Former ACC student Nikolas Evans murdered in downtown Austin Teodora Erbes

Staff Writer Former ACC student Nikolas Evans exited the Moose Knuckle bar on Sixth Street Friday March 27 around 2 a.m. with his friend Hugo Lagunas when the two men were approached by a group of people on Neches Street, officials say. Evans was trying to break up a fight when one of the men

in the group punched Evans in the face, knocking him to the ground, witnesses told police. Evans died from these injuries at the University Medical Center at Brackenridge on April 5. “Nikolas was just at the wrong place at the wrong time and thought he would do the right thing,” said his mother, Marissa Evans. Evans, 21, had been a

student at ACC in 2006 and 2007. He took his prerequisite classes at Riverside before transferring to UT. He was taking film classes through UT and the Austin Film Festival. “He had a interest in writing,” said Marissa Evans. “Nikolas was a writer at a real young age: he always kept a journal, wrote poems.” “He didn’t see color in people. He wanted the whole

world to get along and he thought that he could make that happen through his documentary films.” According to his mother, Evans was not the kind of man to cause trouble. “He was not a big drinker. He had just turned 21, and he was having some fun. But he never got carried away or stupid.” The night of the incident,

Bill could allow handguns in school Senate is debating change to gov. code Chris Smith Staff Writer

A bill that would allow people with a concealed handgun license to bring their gun on campus was discussed in the Senate State Affairs committee on April 27. SB 1164 would amend the Texas government code to give properly licensed individuals the right to have their concealed handguns with them in classrooms, dorm rooms and all other campus buildings. “I don’t want to see Texas students picked off like sitting ducks by some deranged madman as has happened on other campuses,” said Senator Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, at the committee hearing. Wentworth’s Senate bill is meant to mirror House Bill 1893 which Kevin Forester• Staff Photographer made it out of its committee and is waitAll eyes are on the capitol as SB 1164 sits in ing for consideration by the full House. SB committee awaiting House vote. 1164 is still in committee. “We simply want the same option of Texas, the applicant must be over 21, be of self defense as we already do off campus,” sound mind, be qualified to buy a gun and said Michael Guzman the president of must take a 10 to 15 hour course. In Texas, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus people with a concealed handgun license (SCCC) during his testimony before can take their handgun with them to most the Senate committee on April 22. The places such as movie theaters, malls and SCCC is a nationwide organization that other public spaces. Organizations like the is attempting to influence legislation to SCCC would like to add college campuses allow people with concealed handgun to that list. licenses to take their guns with them to “I think it is a terrible idea. I’m not campus. even sure why they are considering “What we want to see done away with [allowing guns on campus],” said John is the government guarantee to criminals Woods, a University of Texas Graduate that we are left defenseless, that we’ll student as he waited for his chance to be unarmed,” said Guzman during his speak before the Senate committee on testimony. April 27. Woods was a student at Virginia To get a concealed handgun license in

Tech during the deadly shooting in 2007, and now feels that allowing people to carry guns on campus would not make colleges safer. “I’ve spoken to survivors and they have all said the same thing, ‘Guns would not have helped. It all happened too quickly,’” said Woods. He feels that when legislators like Wentworth try to find ways to deal with mass shootings like the one at Virginia Tech they should concentrate on prevention and not just reaction. “Mental health I think is a really important component to a safe campus. The shooter at Virginia Tech was actually referred to seek treatment,” said Woods. “He was triaged and sent away. You have to ask if we would be talking about this today if they [counselors] had done their jobs - if they had had the funds to do their job.” Woods would rather legislators spend more time on bills that would make it harder for people with mental health problems to buy guns than simply allowing more people with guns in campus buildings. The ACC administration has already made clear that it is against allowing concealed handguns on campus. In a letter sent to Representative Maldonado, D-Round Rock, Dr. Stephen Kinslow, ACC president, and Nan McRaven, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, urged Maldonado to oppose the House Bill that would allow guns on college campuses. One of the concerns listed in the letter was that ACC campuses often have charter schools, early college high schools, numerous dual credit students and early childhood programs with young children as young as five and six years old. ȩȩ cont. on page 7

Evans was trying to stop an altercation. “He was always the one who thought that maybe by telling a joke or doing a silly dance it might help to diffuse the situation. He used to call it his dorky little white dance. He thought that they’d think it was funny but obviously they didn’t.” Police reported that videotape footage from businesses

in the vicinity of the altercation show a dozen or more witnesses, however, the suspect has not yet been apprehended. “We have received some leads which we are following up now. It is part of an ongoing investigation,” said Detective David Fugitt from the Austin Police Department. The APD homicide Division website contains a description of the suspect, and police are

ȩȩ cont. on page 6

New SGA President elected

Chris Smith Staff Writer

Joshua Michael Bacak was elected the new student body president for ACC. Bacak was a senator for the South Austin Campus before running for President and also organized and led “Black Out,” a student game night, and one of the biggest student led events. “I feel that I have the tools and experience from the five years in the Marine Corps, actually leading people, to Alma Hernandez • Photo/Web Editor excel,” said Bacak of his qualifications for the position as Joshua Bacak, ACC’s new student body president President. “There are big issues I want to focus on,” said Bacak. Those issues include parking, the proper reporting of campus crimes, the creation of designated smoking areas and the Constituency Senators: proper enforcement of smoking Veteran Student Senator rules, tax-free text books for James Sutter students and getting rid of the International Student Senator– six drop rule. Bacak also says Yassiel Caballero he would like ACC and Student Distance Learning Student Senator– Sophia Downing Government to be more involved at the State Capitol. “The capitol is at our front Executive Council: Parliamentarian – Avy’Gonzalez door. I want to see Austin Treasurer – Wendy Holder Community College take a Secretary – Brice Gump more proactive approach for Vice-President – Michael Reid all community colleges,” said President – Joshua Bacak Bacak. “I would love to be able to start going to the capitol Campus Senators: on a regular basis pushing the South Austin – Alex Pugh student’s agenda.” Riverside – Scott Weaver Student Government’s main Rio Grande – Benjamin McWilliams, goal will be to fight for what Ian Steel Northridge – Nicholas Ro students want and need, said Bacak. “You let us know what’s Eastview – Rhea Fluker wrong and we are going to fight Cypress – Monica Jones for you.”

New Student Government Officers

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Accent • May 4, 2009

Forum

Karissa

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Explains it

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Karissa Rodriguez Staff Writer

Lets face it, MySpace is dead. The social networking site is no longer the leader, and more and more users are heading over to Facebook and Twitter whose sites are the latest craze right now. MySpace had 124 million monthly unique visitors last month, a decline of two percent, according to the marketing research company comScore. Facebook, by contrast, racked up 276 million unique visitors, an increase of 16.6 percent. Twitter alone has racked up millions of new users. “U.S. traffic growth has been just as dramatic, with Twitter reaching four million visitors in February, up more than 1,000 percent from a year ago,” comScore reported. I have found myself following the trend and deleted my profile on MySpace just last week. Why? Well, personally I just don’t use MySpace anymore. What’s the point of going out of my way to update a profile I don‘t use? I’m tired of the upkeep MySpace requires. It seems like you constantly have to customize your profile or else you get bombarded with comments about why you haven’t updated your profile in a long time. I’m a busy person. With school, writing and taking pictures for the Accent, and raising my kids, I just don’t have the time to maintain a flashy profile on MySpace. The simplicity of the designs of Twitter and Facebook are why I opted to use their sites over MySpace. Besides, how is MySpace a “social” site anyway? MySpace has very little socializing integrated into their design. The site feels

more like a place to post pictures and share music than being a place to converse with others. Sure you can comment on one another’s profile, but Facebook allows you to chat with one another rather than broadcasting your conversations to everybody. Also, why does MySpace bombard its users with giant advertisements on every page? According to the site’s Help Center, “MySpace is supported solely by advertising.” Despite being the sole source of revenue, I don’t think MySpace should be a place where ads dominate the site over actual people’s profiles. People use social networking sites to connect to other people, and I think Facebook and Twitter are on the right page while MySpace has detached itself from what makes social networking sites so popular. The company is a great place to find bands and learn what big blockbuster movies are coming out, but socializing is definitely on the bottom of the list of reasons to remain a user or join the site. In order to save the site and bring users back, MySpace should overhaul its website and focus more on entertainment. Rather than trying to revamp customization of profiles, they should put all their efforts into music profiles. While there are hundreds of sites that provide information about bands and singers, I love the personalization that comes with visiting a band’s MySpace profile. Users are able to actually converse with the band and listen to their songs at the same time. I think that’s brilliant. Nevertheless, MySpace has lost its wow factor and is on the decline.

edress of R Grievances

Jamie Carpenter Campus Editor

In September of 2008 I attended the fall orientation for the Accent. Although I had been a student at ACC for about six months by then, I had yet to participate in any student activities. When I heard about the opportunity to be able to contribute to a newspaper, I was pretty excited. I had been on my high school’s newspaper and missed being able to write. Fast-forward to nine months later and my column for the Accent, Redress of Grievances, is ending. I took the name of my column from the line in the First Amendment, which is the holy grail to anyone in the newspaper business. We as United States citizens have the right to be able to say what we want, and that is a right that I think is seldom used effectively. Now that I am graduating from ACC, this 12th column will be last. As I became Campus Editor with Accent, I became increasingly more involved and concerned with the issues we as ACC students face. School is not merely just a

Staff Editorial

Sarah Neve Editor-in-Chief • David Rodriguez Assistant Editor Jamie Carpenter Campus Editor • Alma Hernandez Photo/Web Editor Jana Lelek Layout Editor • Chris Scott Layout Intern

MySpace vs.

Facebook

Our View

Community College should be exempt

Staff Artist • Karen Kuhn

Amended bill could save students from six drop rule In a proposed amendment in HB 3518, community college students would no longer be subject to the six course drop limit. The ACC Board of Trustees came out in support of this and other legislation that helps college students. It was never reasonable to expect community college students to stay within this limit. This law should be amended to exempt students not attending a four year college. Students, and especially community college students, are becoming less traditional by the year. Just over half of the students at ACC are older than 22. Almost 75 percent are part time students. We are not all recent high school graduates, living at home, where we can focus on school, and have someone else

foot the bill for tuition. Another problem with the six drop rule is that if community college students are punished for droping classes while at a two year, those drops haunt them at a four year when they transfer. So, if someone drops four classes at ACC and transfers to a university where the classes are bigger, face-time with your teacher is harder to get, and the work load is even more overwhelming, they will only have two drops left before all six of their drops turn to failing grades and their GPA tanks. There are exceptions in the current version of the six drop rule that allow students to apply to avoid being penalized for dropping if they have a personal emergency like a death in the

C o rre c t i o n s

Reporters traditionally put -30- at the end of their work to signify that the story was done. This is not common practice anymore, but as a result the final piece a journalist submits is often called their -30- column

place where classes are held. It is a melting pot of activities, controversy, hopes, disappointments, inspirations and hard work. I am glad that I took the opportunity to get out of my shell and try something that ACC had to offer. In researching this column, it appears that most writers take the time to thank people who have had an impact on their writing at their paper. Who am I to buck tradition? I would first like to thank Matt Connolly, the newspaper adviser here. He has given me a greater regard for the amount of tedious effort that goes into writing (edits, edits, more edits), has never failed to correct me when I did something wrong (passive verbs, then vs. than, check AP style) and is amazingly good at what he does. He keeps his ears open to the suggestions that all the editors make and gives pertinent and practical feedback, and I highly respect his opinions. Sarah Neve, the editor-inchief, I remember from when I wasn’t on staff last semester. She is very well-versed in the most effective ways to write an editorial. As the writer of all the staff editorials (I highly recommend you check them

-30- column out if you haven’t already), she clearly knows her stuff. She cares enough about what writers put in their articles to give honest feedback, and she is never patronizing. This, combined with her incessant need for coffee and great taste in shoes, makes her awesome. Alma Hernandez is my favorite person to mess with here in the office. As the photo editor of the paper, I have no idea what she does, or even if she does anything at all. But I do know that the pictures in the paper always look great, so I guess she must be working when she is in the office giving me the evil eye and putting her earphones in her ear the second I say something. Speaking of having no idea what they do, Jana Lelek and Chris Scott, our layout people, are amazing. I give them an idea of what I want, and, although I speak gibberish with the ideas, they seem to understand gibberish as well as being fabulously talented. As an aside, Chris is definitely the sweetest guy in the place and has the patience of an angel when I tell him there has been a change of plans. And this brings me to David Rodriguez, our entertainment editor. David amazes

family. However, as students are forced to take on more responsibilities outside of school, it will become necessary for them to drop classes, not because of emergencies, but because the work load becomes too much to balance with the rest of their lives. This new bill was filed on March 11, and read and referred to the higher education committee on March 19, but has not moved forward since. Students should contact their representatives and try to get this bill moving so that it has time to be heard this session. Waiting another year to make these changes could severely damage the records of students forced to continue to comply with six drop rule.

me with his ability to write so intelligently and with so much detail consistently in every single issue. He doesn’t speak much, but whenever he talks, I love to listen because he almost always will enlighten me. For the staff writers, photographers, and illustrators, I really appreciate you. We wouldn’t have a paper without you. You are our nuts and bolts. Although I will not mention anyone by name, because the contributors change from issues to issue, we do have a group of y’all that I call “our old reliables” because of your constant devotion to our paper, and you know who you are. Working on the Accent has been more than just merely educational, humorous and a chance to get my writing published. For me, it has become a chance to develop more experience. Although people may not like everything I write, I know that at least I am writing. At least I am giving it a go. I encourage every student to remember that you have a voice and that you deserve to be heard.

~30~

In the article “More food options at new campus…” in the April 20, 2009 issue, a staff writer for The Accent reported that, “The contract will also include some changes to address current issues with Simon’s, including eliminating the minimum amount for credit card purchases, as well as extra charges for forks, napkins, plates, cups, bowls, ice and condiments.” While the new Round Rock food contract does include these stipulations, there was no confirmation that these terms are related to any issues Simon’s Café was having at the time the article was printed. Simon’s president Jae Park said that “It is clearly against (our) company policy to have a minimum amount for a credit card purchase.”

ADVERTISING 512.223.3166

EDITORIAL 512.223.3171

FAX

512.223.3086

OFFICE OF STUDENT LIFE RGC, 1212 Rio Grande St., Room 101.1 Austin TX 78701

Editor-in-Chief.........................................................................................................Sarah Neve Assistant Editor............................................................................................... David Rodriguez Photo/Web Editor...........................................................................................Alma Hernandez Layout Editor..............................................................................................................Jana Lelek Layout Intern............................................................................................................Chris Scott Campus Editor................................................................................................. Jamie Carpenter Copy Editor............................................................................................... Julie Gorkowski-Day Accent Adviser............................................................................................. Matthew Connolly Accent Coordinator................................................................................................Lori Blewett Student Life Director......................................................................................... Cheryl Richard Writers Sarah Vasquez, Karissa Rodriguez, Devon Tincknell, Christopher Smith, Trevor Goodchild, Anny Ibarra, Teodora Erbes, Rusty Tolliver Photographers Teodora Erbes, Kevin Forester, Hanlly Sam, Sarah Vasquez,Chris Smith, Rusty Tolliver, Trevor Goodchild, Sheli Harris, Artists Karen Kuhn ACC President Dr. Steve Kinslow Board of Trustees Ms. Nan McRaven– Chair; Ms. Veronica Rivera—Vice Chair; Dr. James McGuffee—Secretary, Dr. Barbara P. Mink, Allen Kaplan, Mr. Jeffrey Richard, John-Michael Cortez, Tim Mahoney, Raul Alvarez All rights reserved. All content is the property of Accent and may not be reproduced, published or retransmitted in any form without written permission from the Office of Student Life. Accent is the student newspaper of Austin Community College and is printed by the Texas Student Publications. Accent is published biweekly. ACC students may submit articles for publication in Accent to RGC’s Office of Student Life Room 101.1; e-mail articles to [email protected] or fax submissions to 223‑3086. ACC does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, political affiliation or disability. Accent offers ACC’s faculty, staff, students and surrounding community a complete source of information about student life. Accent welcomes your input, as well as information about errors. If you notice any information that warrants a correction please e-mail accent@austincc. edu. Individual views, columns, letters to the editor and other opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of Accent.

May 4, 2009 • Accent

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Broadband Buccaneers Devon Tincknell Staff Writer

St a ff A r t is t• Ka ren h Ku n

This spring was a tough time to be a pirate. On April 16, the French Navy captured a Somali pirate mother ship, striking a harsh blow against those scourges of the Adriatic Sea. The following day, a Swedish court found the four men behind the infamous Pirate Bay file sharing web site guilty of contributory copyright infringement, levying a heavy fine and a year in prison against all four. For the Somalians, piracy is soon to be a thing of the past. The international community is sick of having their ships commandeered and their citizens’ lives placed at risk, and so they are cracking down with the vast armada at their disposal. The Somalians don’t stand a chance. The Swedes, well that’s a different matter. Even though the verdict was in their favor, the Motion Picture Association Of America hasn’t won. They can’t win because what they’re fighting isn’t Swedish web site operators, peer to peer users, CD burners, or album leak blogs. What they’re fighting is change, and they’re doing it poorly. Aside from Metallica, the MPAA and the RIAA have

been the biggest opponents to online file sharing since Shawn Fanning’s Napster blew the doors off digital music back in 1999. They have lobbied Congress for stricter copyright laws, litigated against everyone under the sun, and done everything in their power to resist the change technology has wrought, all to little avail. Fighting the spread of information on the Internet is like battling the mythical Hydra. For every web site you shut down, for every file sharer you sue, another dozen spring up in their place. The day Napster died, Limewire, Gnutella, and Kazaa went online to supply the still present demand. By the time the music industry got around to suing Kazaa, file sharing on peer to peer networks was outre and obsolete. BitTorrent had developed a craftier, more efficient means of sharing media and dozens of web sites were hard at work linking torrentors together. Pirate Bay was on it’s way to becoming the most popular torrent site on the net. While proponents of copyright enforcement continue to champion the legal victory, the verdict has yet to affect the

founders, Pirate Bay or the site in any negative way. All four defendants are appealing the verdict and the web site has remained online since the servers were relocated, spread out over four nations, after the 2006 raid on Pirate Bay’s headquarters. Sweden’s Pirate

Party, a political party dedicated to redesigning Swedish copyright and intellectual property laws, membership doubled in size, swelling from 15,000

members to over 35,000 in just a few days. At the core, it’s an ideological battle, and the iGeneration currently coming of age has very little qualms about digital piracy. The MPAA and the RIAA remains firmly entrenched in the old ways, having hardly made the slightest effort to change with the times. For good reason too, both organizations represent corporations whose entire business model is non-compatible with the changing media landscape. For a long time producing records, distributing films, and hyping it all up with advertising took a lot of money, and record labels and film studios were the only ones who could pony up the cash to make it possible. Now, any idiot with a laptop and a video camera can become a YouTube celebrity

overnight, or score a 9.1 on Pitchfork and have the top selling album the following week. Neither artists nor fans need the industry anymore, and the industry knows it. Aside from invoking commandment number eight (Thou Shall Not Steal for those who skipped Sunday school), the crux of the MPAA/RIAA’s campaign has been that if the pirates win, creative artists won’t be able to make money, and we’ll be forced to live in a world without music or movies. Fortunately, that’s not true at all. They may be right in one aspect: if the pirates win we might end up in a world without THEIR movies or music. But is that really a bad thing? Was “Waterworld” that much better than Robert Rodriguez’s $7,000 student film, “El Mariachi”? Is the music Britney Spears makes of higher quality than the heartfelt guitar standards plucked out by the destitute bluesmen of the Mississippi Delta? The answer is pretty clear. Since the birth of modern media, the creative process has been stolen away from the everyman and locked away like a princess in an ivory tower. But now, as we leave behind the consumption of the Industrial Age in favor of the collaboration of the Information Age, it appears a pirate has come along and set her free.

May 4, 2009 • Accent

Campus News w w w.the Accent.org

President’s term ends, he plans for the future

the campaign he was working the front door. Staff Writer “I went up to him after the The halls of the State event and asked him if I could Capital can be hard to naviintern with him,” Burnett said. gate. They twist and turn; they He got the internship and then extend far below ground, and later found out he could get it is easy to wind up lost or credit for it. So now he spends walking through the wrong 16 hours a week at the Capitol door. Brad Burnett, the outgo- while still attending classes at ing student body president has ACC. Burnett is also fulfillbeen rushing up and down ing his duties as student body these halls since January when president, and volunteer with he began interning for Rep. AmeriCorps where he helps Mark Strama. high school students get into Some days Burnett might college. be taking important informa“I was a high school droption to Strama, who might out,” Burnett said. He dropped be on the House floor or in out for an entire semester of a committee, and other days high school and then went he might be picking up the back when he realized that he leftover couldn’t tacos in the even get commita job tee break flipping room or burgers. entering He finconstituent ished high correschool spondence and then into the eventually database applied to “I like ACC. doing “When it all,” I was Burnett in high said. school I Interning never did with the anything Chris Smith • Staff Photographer extracurrepresentative means ricular Burnett is transfering to UT and is keeping doing outside his internship with Rep. Mark Strama. whatever football a needs to little bit. be done around the office. I figured if I was going to be The only thing Burnett does successful in college I had to not like doing is showing up do the exact opposite,” said at 8 a.m., but he does it gladly Burnett. That’s how he got into every Tuesday and Wednesday, Student Government. dressed in suit and tie and Now his time at ACC is bright, black, leather shoes. almost done. A new student “Brad has been really body president has been good about talking to conelected and Burnett has taken stituents that walk in,” said all the courses he can at Mary Throop, Chief of Staff ACC. His next step is attendto Strama. She explained how ing the University of Texas constituents and lobbyists where he will double major often just walk into the office in Government and History looking to talk to someone and minor in Spanish. He also about a certain bill or issue. plans to continue interning Strama’s office in the Capitol with Strama, so he should have is both the district office and a busy schedule next semester. his Capitol office, so it gets lots “I’ll probably end up runof people coming in. The place ning for office. I like camusually stays busy, and it hums paigning. I like politics itself,” with the work of aides and said Burnett as he thought interns. about the distant future. Burnett met Strama last Smiling, Burnett said, “I’ve summer during Strama’s always liked helping people, re-election campaign. He had and I figured this is the best volunteered at different events, way,” and at the last fundraiser of

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s u p m Ca Li f e

Chris Smith

Where To:

Eastview Sarah Vasquez

Shop?

Alamo Thrift Store,

Staff Writer/Photographer

2502 Webberville

With several strip malls filled with familiar names such as Family Dollar, Melrose and Walgreens surrounding the area, this small thrift store stands on its own on Webberville Road. It’s located on the other side of the railroad tracks from Eastview Campus. This store offers a lot of various affordable secondhand items such as children’s and adult clothing, shoes, toys and bedding. One problem, though, are the hours. Listed on the sign, it says they are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., but when I went there at 10 a.m., they had another sign up saying they now open at 2 p.m.. However, there is a phone number listed on the door if you want to make an appointment.

Eat?

El Azteca,

2600 E 7th St.

This Mexican restaurant near 7th street and Pedernales is a great stop for students to have lunch. Between 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., patrons can choose from seven lunch specials that will fill your stomachs, which also include sherbet for dessert. You don’t have to stick to the specials though. El Azteca offers many choices for dinner as well including a whole section for the vegetarians. For those beautiful Austin nights, outside seating is also available.

Millennium Youth Entertainment Hang? Complex (MYEC), 1156 Hargrave St.

Looking at this place on a map, walking to this place doesn’t seem so bad. But once you look at the big hill that you have to hike over to get to Millennium from campus, riding a bike around the hill or taking a car might seem like an easier way, unless you really want or need the exercise. But getting over the hill is worth it because MYEC offers a variety of ways to entertain you without hurting your wallet such as skating, video games, pool tables and bowling. A new event this month is first showing of children’s films in their theatre. MYEC is closed Sunday through Tuesday, but are open on Wednesday through Saturday and stay open later on Friday and Saturday.

Red carpet ceremony honors student involvement Trevor Goodchild Staff Writer

A red carpet rolled out to welcome the 350 to 400 students streaming in to win their award or congratulate friends that attended the Night in the Life, an annual event celebrating student achievements hosted by Student Life (SL) at the Monarch Event Center, on Friday March 24. The front room was a reception area with platters of food and a bar serving mocktails. Through a foyer was the awards room and stage. Cheryl Richard, Director of SL, with help, created this event. “I wanted an opportunity to acknowledge the students’ accomplishments and growth but also give them a stage to celebrate themselves,” Richard said.

The reception at 6 p.m. started with refreshments, followed by the awards ceremony, and after parties until 11 p.m. with live musical performances. “To have people tell us now that they can’t register because it’s full is amazing,” Dot Dearinger, Rio Grande Student Life Assistant said. Dress was formal this year while in the past it was more casual, and for the first time registration was online. “I was real excited when I looked at some of the pictures of the event to see the diversity of the types of students we had there: young, old, black, white, brown, and yellow. I thought that was fabulous. I thought everything was fabulous...I loved it,” Richard said. There are seven Student Life assistants called “The A-Team” who meet regularly

Teodora Erbes • Staff Photographer

Students from ACC’s African Students Association perform at Nite in the Life, an annual student life award ceremony on April 24. Awards were given for outstanding students, organizations and faculty.

to plan annual SL events, and they lobby their coordinator, Toniette Haynes Robinson to be assigned to lead these events. Amy Paul, Cypress Creek SL Assistant, was the 2009 Night in the Life lead. “We are all very different; we all are our own personalities, but we managed to pull it all together,” Paul said. Richard viewed Night in the

Asian Spring Festival celebrated at Riverside Right: Located on the Riverside campus, the annual Asian Spring Festival offers free food, performances, and demonstrations.

Photos by Teodora Erbes • Staff Photographer

Below: Greg Sutter, an ACC journalism graduate and current Art Metals and Welding student, adds a dragon to the artistic drawing of Kyle Stuart, ethnobotany student, at the Asian Spring Festival Thursday April 23 at Riverside campus.

Above: Melissa Vander Heyden, performs a Thai Dance. Left: Jo Birdsong, sensei, performs Aikido with his Aikido of Austin students.

Life as part of why SL continues to be an active part of both staff and student lives. “The students I talk to don’t come in here [to SL] saying ‘aww I don’t know if I can make it.’ They come in here with dreams. Now sometimes they don’t know if they can get to the next place, but it is so neat to be surrounded by that positive energy.”

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Murdered student’s mother wants son’s legacy to continue ȨȨ continued from pg. 1

asking for tips to be made on any of the three direct lines, while Capital Area Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $1,000 reward for information pertaining to the case. According to Fugitt, there is no evidence that Evans knew the killer. After his death Evans mother agreed to have his organs donated, and controversially obtained permission to have a sample of her son’s sperm harvested so that she could have a surrogate mother produce a grandchild in the future. Marissa Evans was aware that her son had not given permission on his driver license for his organs to be donated when she agreed to the procedure. “I just know that he was just that kind of person,” said Evans. “Nikolas was brain dead. If they would have turned off his life support, his organs would have died. I thought that he would have made the decision like I did. He saved five lives with his organs. Oh I know that he would have wanted that.” Evans went on to ask for Nikolas’ sperm to be retrieved during the donation process. “Not only did I feel that I could let him live on with other people with his organs, I should let him live on with a child. I was going to do anything that I could for that,” said Evans. When the hospital officials did not cooperate with her request, Evans turned to Austin attorney Mark Mueller. “I agreed to take the case because she needed immediate help and she was referred by a fellow trial lawyer,” Mueller said. “When a brother or sister warrior for justice calls for help, we all do what we can.” Mueller requested an emergency hearing at which, April 6 at 3 p.m., Travis County Probate Judge Guy Herman signed a mandatory injunction for the medical examiner’s office to maintain the body of Evans and provide access so an expert could take the specimen. “There were no close precedents in Austin, Texas or the USA involving a similar situation,” Mueller said. “I can understand the mother’s desire to see her son live on through a child/grandchild. That’s her personal family decision; it’s a difficult and traumatic time

Accent • May 4, 2009

Photo Brief Kevin Forester • Staff Photographer

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Atticus Rodriguez concentrates as he balances Sarah Wendtlandt to strike the perfect pose. Catch the annual Spring Choreographers’ showcase presented by the Department of Dance at the Rio Grande Campus Mainstage Theater May 8 and 9 at 8 p.m..

To Be Brief Green Busisness course offered

Photo courtesy of Marissa Evans

Marissa Evans hugs her son, former ACC student, Nikolas Evans. Nikolas took classes at ACC in the 2006-2007 school year before transferring to UT.

for her.” Wednesday, Austin urologist Dr. Elizabeth Houser offered to collect the sperm. “The mother was very very grateful,” Houser said. Houser agreed to perform the harvesting because “I know how,” Houser said. “It was a mother’s wish, she was hurting, and I honestly didn’t think that they would find any viable sperm. It is highly unlikely that long after death,” she added. Nikolas had been off lifesupport for about 15 hours at the time of harvest, according to Evans. Experts state that the sperm needs to be collected within 24 hours of death or the body be kept at a temperature no higher than 39.2 degrees. According to Evans, the fertility clinic is confident that enough viable sperm was retrieved. “We’re not going to know until we find a surrogate and we try,” said Evans. “I will definitely try. I don’t know when. Honestly there is a lot of stuff I need to work through to make sure me, my son, my family are doing okay first but we’ll get it done.” The harvested tissue is now at the sperm bank California Cryobank. “The bank has the sperm

for two years but I will probably not wait that long.” Marissa Evans had consulted her family about the organ donation and sperm collection. “I talked to my ex-husband and his wife extensively. They thought that it would be wonderful. We would all provide the baby with an extensive amount of love. Everybody loved Nikolas, so we believe that everybody will love the baby as well.” When asked about the questionable ethics of the request, Houser replied “What I did was not unethical at all. I just harvested some tissue. What the mother does do or not with that may be questioned as unethical, but not what I did.” Commenting on the underlying motive of the mother’s appeal, Houser declared “I don’t think it was a desire to recreate her son as much as just wanting to raise grandchildren.” “Part of it is from grief,” said Evans. “I miss my son. Who wouldn’t be able to hang on to that if they could.” Nikolas was very outgoing. “He was one of the little boys that would always get in trouble with his teachers because he would make the other kids laugh,” said Evans. “Our house

was always the house where we’d have the end of the school year party.” According to Evans, Nikolas was very respectful of women. “He liked hanging out with his mom. We talked on the phone every day. He would call me to tell me he loved me,” Evans said. “He was just gentle, that’s what he was.” He also had other interests like playing the saxophone. “He liked to read old authors, liked old music, old movies,” she added, “kind of an old soul.” He was not very athletic but he loved to run long distances. He was a very good student, according to his mother. “He would tell you he’s not very smart, but he was,” said Evans. “He liked to get into heated conversations about politics, religion, girls, sports, and movies.” Evans said that she will eventually explain to the child how he or she was created, “I will tell the child the truth when it needs to know, and can understand it.” “I don’t know why everybody thinks it’s weird. I was losing my child and wanted my child to carry on his legacy.”

Starting Fall 2009, ACC will begin offering BMGT 1371 Sustainable/Green Business: Principles, Practices, Opportunities. The course will meet at the Rio Grande Campus on Tuesday evenings from 6:00-8:40 p.m. The course examines the reasons why sustainable business practices are necessary and looks at minimizing natural resource utilization and waste generation, reducing energy consumption, and the impact of consumer usage and disposal of products. “It promises to be quite popular because of Austin’s focus on all things green and sustainable,” said Charles Quinn, Dean of Business Studies.

Application deadline for scholarships June 1 The deadline for the Fall 2009 scholarship application is June 1. Austin Community College Foundation offers numerous scholarships organized primarily by programs or departments such as the Applied Science Program, Dental Hygiene Department and Education program. Additional general scholarships are available as well. The Learning Labs will offer free help to students on how to write essays if needed. More information can be found by visiting the Scholarship Foundation’s website www.austincc.edu/foundation as well as contacting Stephanie Dempsey, Executive Director of the Foundation.

Conference of Health Professions The Healthcare Training Success conference, sponsored by ACC’s Health Professions Institute, will be held July 8-10 at the Radisson Hotel North. Deadline for registrations is June 29. and the cost is $399. The conference will focus on the community college’s role in healthcare. Specific topics addressed will include state/regulatory requirements, program delivery needs and successful healthcare training programs.

Online Installment plan begins this fall Students will have the option for the first time, starting fall 2009, to pay tuition online. According to Diana Lillard, cashier at the Rio Grande Campus, students should be able to set up their installment plan by the end of May. The first payment (25 percent of the total) is due when the payment is set up. The following three payments will be due Sept. 18, Oct. 16, and Nov. 13. Students will be able to pay with credit cards and checks. Also, students have the option to enroll themselves in automatic payments and receive email reminders.

Former foster child, ACC student fights for the rights of Foster children the position that Lifeworks takes and the FCAA takes, they are separate. Different youth become interested in different things. I believe essentially that by participating in the democratic process in relation to foster youth now going to college, these young adults are increasing their individual chances of success,” said Director of Lifeworks Duncan Cormie. Lifeworks is Trevor Goodchild • Staff Photographer another group that advocates for youth Ashley Gallardo entered foster care at 11. rights. She’s now a paralegal major at ACC. Ashley Gallardo, Trevor Goodchild a Paralegal major at Staff Writer ACC, who aged out of foster care, is the current secretary for the FCAA. Legislation that affects the “I hate speaking in front of rights of foster children is legislators because I am nerbeing considered this sesvous, but someone has to do it sion. The Foster Care Alumni because I don’t want to let the of America (FCAA) has youth down, they can’t always come out for or against these speak for themselves. This is Bills. FCAA facilitates youth my chance to be their voice,” involvement in the legislation. Gallardo said. “I think it is important to She is 21 years old and draw the distinction between

entered foster care at age 11 due to abusive biological parents. She said she has gone through a lot to go to Austin Community College and create a stable living situation. Gallardo, and the FCAA, support SB 1052, which is a senate bill authored by Senator Carlos Uresti. This bill would make the implied rights of foster children into law. Currently it is in the Health and Human Services Committee. The rights include the ability to visit siblings, keep belongings with foster children, and require foster parents to give foster kids an allowance. The FCAA is an organization of foster children who have aged out of foster care, and some now attend ACC with assistance of a tuition waiver awarded by the Texas Department of Family Protective Services (DFPS). In the Calendar Committee, House bill 1912, sponsored by Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, is a step away from being voted on in the House. The vote in the House is the only move for the bill before it goes on to the Senate. The bill will allow Preparation for

Adult Living (PAL) services to start at age 14. FCAA’s treasurer, Scott O’Brien outlined a reason the group supported the bill. “It allows foster children who age out and want to return to their families to retain their after care services, whereas before, if they returned, these services would be cut,” O’Brien said. Foster parents would be required to teach tasks like writing checks, balancing a check book and doing laundry. These aren’t taught much now because foster homes are hesitant because of liability, according to O’Brien. If this bill passes, all foster children before turning 18 and aging out would be equipped with a birth certificate, a Texas ID and a Social Security Card. FCAA also supports HB 2245 by representatives Turner and Sylvester which is now sitting in the Corrections Committee. The bill enables juvenile records, except felony cases, sealed at age 19. It would still be searchable by the law enforcement officials but not appear on background checks by potential employers. O’Brien makes a point of why

he thinks it is important for this bill to pass. “If you’re in a family and you get in a fight with your brother, and you beat him, the family deals with it. But if you’re in foster care, often the police are called. People come in here saying they tried to apply for jobs but are denied due to this record. Say a youth is in jail they’ll tell us that they were told to sign something to be released and what they’re signing is an admission of guilt without ever knowing it, or their legal rights,” O’Brien said. Not all bills are being supported by the FCAA according to Ryan C. Dollinger (co-founder and president of the Texas FCAA chapter). The FCAA oppose Senate Bill 861. This bill is in the Senate’s Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee and provides for open record information on foster children. This includes wether or not they had been convicted of a crime, or if they were neglected or abused. This bill suggests that all history on foster kids would be shared with caseworkers, principals, doctors, therapist and teachers.

“We feel this would be a disgrace ... When that bill goes through they are no longer given consent forms,” Dollinger said. “I don’t understand why school officials would need to know I grew up in an abusive home. Or why they need to know my dating history, they’re not my parents. It’s kind of awkward going to school the first day when they know every little detail about you and you know nothing about them,” Gallardo said. Gallardo expresses hope for the foster children turned young adults attending ACC that are still concerned with changing the foster care system that she views as sometimes just as bad as an abusive home life. “My brother is an example,” Gallardo Said. “He doesn’t like talking about what happened [in their childhood]. I don’t either. I pushed it farther back, but when I hear other’s stories, I realize there has to be something done about it. And with more voices, we [the foster care alumni] can be a bigger difference with CPS, the legislature, foster parents and whoever our voices reach.”

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Taste the Waste Reunion

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Metro visits ACC

Sheli Harris • Staff Photographer

Every day by 5 p.m. Austin’s Waste Management Landfill uses dump trucks to cover the 2,000 tons of garbage received daily.

Field trip raises awareness on environmental issues in Austin Jamie Carpenter Campus Editor

Students from Amy Cunningham’s Issues in Environmental Science class and members of the Students for Environmental Outreach Club visited Zilker Park, Barton Springs, Café de Luz, North Austin’s Waste Management Site and Waste Management’s Landfill on April 24 for the Taste the Waste Reunion Tour. The first stop was at Zilker Botanical Garden. “The limestone here [at Hartman Prehistoric Garden] is 110 million years old. Eight years ago, the rock was flat. You used to be able to see dinosaur tracks. It is important for the Environmental Science Class to have a sense of time. Species go extinct,” said faculty adviser Amy Cunningham. Green Garden, a garden that focuses on the importance of having native plants, was also a stop in the Botanical Garden. “Planting something that comes from somewhere else, invasive planting, is not good for the environment. It doesn’t support native wildlife. Invasive species is a huge problem in the global world,” said Cunningham. “I really enjoyed the Botanical Gardens. I had been wanting to go, but I hadn’t. I was pretty impressed,” Jason Mathis, graphic design major, said. Next on the agenda was a stop at Barton Springs. The plight of the springs was addressed. For lunch, students stopped at Café de Luz, a vegan and macrobiotic restaurant. Located on an old meatpacking site of the

seventies, the restaurant emphasizes a return to healthy food and balance. “This place has been here for 18 years. There is a huge science experiment going on with GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organisms) right now. There is so much going on. Anything that is basically unhealthy we refrain from. With natural biotic, it’s all about balance. The best place to get food is from [the] local farmers’ market,” John Schwarzschild, board member of the restaurant, said. “That we came here is awesome because this is the first time I have been to [Casa de Luz], and I have always wanted to,” Scott Pietert, Environmental Science major, said. After eating, students visited the Waste Management site where they were given a tour by Paul George, the operations and management supervisor. Despite being a water treatment waste management site, pains are taken to insure that the odor of feces is not obvious by building a large areas of the facilities underground. “This is probably recycling and reuse in it’s purest form. We need to really realize what our waste stream is. It’s pretty high per individual,” George said. “I thought it was pretty nasty [all the waste]. I thought it was pretty interesting how they divided the river from north to south. I found it interesting how many condoms were in the initial filtration. People have this idea that they should do that [flush condoms down the toilet],” Ray Montez, environmental science major, said. The last stop of the Taste the Waste trip was Austin’s Waste Management Landfill. In Central Texas, the per person capita amount of garbage is nine pounds per day. The landfill receives about 2,000 tons of garbage a day.

Language a common barrier for ESOL students Teodora Erbes Staff Writer

Students of English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL) say that the language barrier is what makes it the hardest for foreigners to integrate and adapt to the USA. “The language difference makes me feel like I don’t know anything,” said Jie Luo, a medical doctor from China. Jie moved to the USA with her husband 18 months ago and is taking ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes to learn English and to eventually obtain her medical license in America. Lourdes (Lulu) Pyron, ESOL department administrative assistant cited that 2310 students registered in ESOL classes at ACC during the 2009 spring semester, this is as 300 student increase from last semester. A state-mandated rule orders these non-native students to take the ESL placement test if they fail to pass the TOEFL or the TCOM exams. Lulu explained that the ESL test “is a location test to see how much knowledge they have and what the need is. They are placed in class levels accordingly.” According to most students, ESOL classes help them with communication and with

getting a job. They state that these classes even help them with everyday things such as getting around in the stores. Student Yvrance Volcy said, “ESOL classes are very good. I learn so much. I was scared to open my heart because I would think that my grammar would be so bad. Now I feel [I can talk] freely. I feel comfortable.” Yvrance was 22 when she left Haiti in 1980 to join her husband who had come to study in America. “It was very hard for me to learn English because my husband was very controlling,” said Yvrance. “He did not want me to go to school so I learned English on TV with soap operas.” Student Jony Saha moved to the US from Bangladesh when he was 17 and eventually opened his own business. He suggested that “working with customers helps [a person] learn English more than TV.” For some students, the problem of communication goes beyond just inhibiting their social life. Some of them expressed difficulties in securing jobs. “It is a problem at interviews,” said student Casimir Leumalieu, referring to his accent. According to Leumalieu, who emigrated from the French-speaking region of

Teodora Erbes • Staff Photographer

Students work on a written assignment in the learning lab as part of their ESOL Intermediate Writing and Grammar class at SAC, April 22.

Cameroon with his family three years ago, when you have somebody to help you out in the first steps, such as a sponsor for renting an apartment, there is no problem in being a foreigner in this country. The difficulty is being able to communicate with people, especially over the phone. “Sometimes people talk too fast,” said Luo Student Trish Rivera, who came from Columbia with her one-year-old daughter when she was 16, had a different kind of experience. “I had many episodes in school,” said Trish. Initially, she had thought that her peers were being nice to her but she later discovered that they were actually making fun of her. Student Alfonso Sifuentes, who came from Mexico in

1996 said, “You lose the fear of being embarrassed. When I maybe say a word wrong, I don’t care anymore.” Student Salvador Venegas, who came from Mexico five years ago said “ESOL classes help me express myself, to communicate with people that speak English, not necessarily Americans but people from other countries.” Luo concluded that once she had learned the customs and the culture, she felt more comfortable living here in America. Although student Nora Tinajero, 25, who came with her family from Mexico in 2002, feels well-integrated in the USA, she said, “I feel that I always need to put in a bit more effort than the natives because of the language.”

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“A law which allows handguns will be in direct conflict with the laws which govern operation of the charter schools, early college high schools and other high school environments on our campuses,” said the letter. The letter also quotes the stance of the Texas Association of College and University Police Administrators, which is

that “the proposed changes to existing statutes … would further dilute the efforts of campus law enforcement to provide for the safety and security of the communities we have sworn to protect.” A number of organizations have come out against the handgun bills including a number of student government organizations, most notably at the University of Texas. The ACC Student

Government has not yet taken up the issue of allowing handguns on campus, but it probably will at its next meeting, said Joshua Bacak the new Student Body President. Bacak says that, speaking as a student with a concealed handgun license, he believes it is a serious issue that should be considered carefully. “It would cause more harm than good to be able to carry a weapon on campus,” said

Bacak when expressing his personal opinion. “Even if I was allowed to bring it on campus, I probably wouldn’t.” “Instead of having [concealed handguns] allowed on campus I would like to see … better trained enforcement or more police enforcement on campus,” said Bacak. “We shouldn’t have a problem with guns on campus if we have enough police officers to properly handle the situations.”

Trevor Goodchild • Staff Photographer

Cap Metro Board Member John-Michael Cortez, visits ACC to discuss new routes and new kinds of services that would benefit students.

Student questions left unanswered

Trevor Goodchild Staff Writer

Capital Metro’s forum hosted by the Student Government Association (SGA) took place at the Rio Grande lounge on Thursday April 23. At this event representatives from Capital Metro discussed new bus routes and spending plans with students. By next fall Capital Metro Board Member John-Michael Cortez plans for the $10 parking fee to make ACC’s relationship with Capital Metro more environmentally sustainable by using it to pay for a semester bus pass and more amenities for bicyclists. “Maybe lets get a bike shower built in so faculty or someone who is here all day can ride in, take a shower and not be that stinky person in class,” Cortez said. Cortez and Metro’s Transportation Planner Meredith Highsmith discussed the different emerging bus routes and new kinds of service as well as the fare increase for college students from $5 to $18 for a monthly pass. The use of ACC’s $10 parking fee for student bus passes would be optional for students and definitely on the table according to Cortez. The only thing uncertain is a timeline. One of the concerns brought by students was that buses only have spaces for two bikes on the bike racks. Director of SGA Communications, Petra Barraza commented on this concern. “For buses with a large bike load, maybe Metro can use the express buses for those routes, because I understand they have the space for the bikes underneath,” Barraza said. She was corrected by Highsmith who said those places for bikes were reserved only for certain passengers of the express bus routes. Barraza voiced other concerns after the meeting. “I think other students were a little annoyed that Capital Metro hasn’t got any immediate solutions to address the concerns of ACC students such as lack of student fares for ACC students, lack of frequent bus routes to ACC campuses, and removal of the Dillo from Rio Grande Campus,” Barraza said. Cortez emphasized the intricacy of changing anything within Capital Metro. “Unfortunately nothing happens immediately. Things need to be discussed. This would be a partnership between the college

and Capital Metro. These things don’t happen overnight. We’d all like things to move quicker,” Cortez said. Petra Barraza wasn’t alone in her view of how the forum was conducted. SGA Senator Benjamin McWilliams, in an aside, regretted advertising the event so heavily to fellow students. “Well, the first 45 minutes was just John Michael Cortez talking about what they were going to do. It didn’t feel like it was a forum, and I was concerned when students were leaving because of how long Cortez was talking,” McWilliams said. The forum lasted about an hour with about 11 students fluctuating in attendance. On the topic of students’ discontent with the forum, Cortez later replied in a phone interview. “Bottom line is we were invited to participate by SGA and to talk for 15-20 minutes. If students want us to come back and speak more in-depth about a particular route or service we’d love that. We are always looking for input from our users,” Cortez said. During the event, Cortez often pointed to a map he had of the many different kinds of Metro transportation that are currently or will be going into effect. Although questions were asked by different students throughout his speech, he did not answer them until after the whole presentation ended, saying: “While you want to focus on every cause that is important, the end goal is more important … and for us it’s going to be in 20 years,” referring to the 20 year Go-plan that includes all the expanded services Metro is undertaking. Without prompting from students, Cortez volunteered a rebuttal to recent calls for an audit of Capital Metro by Mayoral candidates and others. “You may have read some rather unfortunate ridiculous news articles in the paper about where Cap Metro’s money is going? It’s going to implement that [20-year Go] plan; we have to build all that stuff. That’s where we’re spending the money,” Cortez said. Student reactions to the forum were mixed. McWilliams said, “Even though I do appreciate Metro sending people here, I wish they were more open to actually discussing the issues instead of making a public service announcement.”

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Accent • May 4, 2009

Life& Arts entertainment

Carvajal commends Cine Las Americas

Free hugs from Quiet Company Sarah Vasquez Staff Writer

Anny Ibarra Staff Writer

In Austin last month (April 22 through 30), the International Film Festival Cine Las Americas hosted over 100 films shot in South, Central, and North America, and included the participation of several cinematographers from all over the world. Many of the films were based on true stories. Topics ranged from drug trafficking, poverty, immigration, sexual education to family issues, which are the main social and criminal issues in many South American and Latin American countries. The festival opened with All Inclusive by Rodrigo Ortúzar Lynch, a comedy about how all the members of a MexicanChilean family of five deals with personal issues and how their decisions affect their relationships with one another. Some of the notable documentaries were The Other Side of Immigration directed by Roy Germano, a tale about rural communities that migrate to the US and The Threat, by Luca Bellino, Silvia Luzi and Rodrigo Espina about the dictatorial path Venezuela’s government is heading towards. Sex With Love, a Chilean comedy about sexual education was a favorite. Many creative films such as Postcards from Leningrad, a feature film that mixed real life stories of the guerrilla with special effects and animation, as well as the animated short Voodoo Bayou were also enjoyable.

Hanlly Sam • Staff Photographer

Sergio Carbajal and Travis Benn directors of “The Eyes of Javier”, an eight minute comedy film screened during Cine Las Americas Festival.

Cine Las Americas showcased several talented filmmakers such as former ACC student Sergio Carvajal. Carvajal took several classes at ACC and he then graduated from The University of Texas at Austin. Carvajal participated in the Hecho en Tejas Film Competition at this year’s festival with his short The Eyes of Javier. “I was invited to apply to the festival by Jean Lauer who is the Associate Producer of Cine Las Americas. She is actually a very amazing lady who loves films and wants to really push emerging talent,” said Carvajal. The festival is a bridge for local and international filmmakers to expose their work, and for filmmakers like Carvajal this was a portal to opportunities. Carvajal stated that “if you know what you want, you can make the best out of it. If you just don’t have a clue, and you’re expecting for a film festival to make you famous, then, maybe Cine Las Americas is not your best bet ... maybe filmmaking is not what you need to be doing

either.” Carvajal’s latest project, Cal Express, was selected to participate in this year’s Tribeca Film Festival which is a big break for any filmmaker. None of these opportunities would have been possible if it wasn’t for the enriching skills he learned when he began his career as a filmmaker at ACC. “I can honestly tell you that meeting Geoffrey Schulman [Professor of Commercial Music Management], Tim Dittmar [Audio Engineering Instructor], Dan Childers [Audio Engineering Instructor], Robert Skiles [Commercial Music Instructor and] Joy Opp [Administrative Assistant] was one of the best things that happened to me.” The festival not only entertains, it opens vistas of opportunities for cinematographers and students, and educates our community. “I truly enjoyed my years at ACC. I was able to start student organizations, put shows together and attend various classes that were priceless for my career development. I definitely didn’t just think of ACC as merely the bridge from high school to a big university.”

Lone Star State Jam

Rusty Tolliver • Staff Photographer

Aaron Watson performs at Waterloo Park on April 25 at the Lone Star State Jam. The festival was presented by Young Texans Against Cancer.

Rusty Tolliver Staff Writer

The second annual Lone Star State Jam invaded Waterloo Park on Saturday, April 25. The festival was presented by Young Texans Against Cancer and brought by 415 Productions. Thousands of concert goers came out to take on the heat for the country music, which featured some of the best artists from around the state. There was cold beer, hot women and cool country music to be had by all. Nine bands were able to be viewed on two stages for one day of music and fun. The festival couldn’t have coincided with better weather. The overcast skies soon faded and let the sun shine its light down on all who were present. The line-up was just as good as last years, if not better. It included Bleu Edmondson, Ryan James, Django Walker, Aaron Watson, Wade Bowen, The Eli Young Band, Roger Creager, Cory Morrow and the Randy Rogers Band. The day was sure to be a long and hot one with more than a handful of live acts.

I was glad to see that Cory Morrow was back on the bill for the second year in a row. He’s a true musician that has been playing and writing for years and has just put out a new record, Vagrants & Kings, with some of his best stuff to date. Catching up with the newlywed on his bus he allowed his brain to be picked for a little while. The conversation found its way to some of the newer albums to hit the shelves in the past couple of months from the Texas Red Dirt scene. In aggreement, the scene has produced some of the best music as of late. Such as releases from Wade Bowen, Roger Creager, Randy Rogers Band and Jason Boland. What’s great to see is how many of these songs are actually written by the artists themselves. Cory just turned 37 this past week and he showed no signs of slowing down. He is newly married and will be moving back to Austin, establishing residency shortly. He said that there’s no point of living up in Houstn, his home town, when he’s always here in

Austin and loves the place so much. It’s a pleasure to have Morrow back in town. After the interview Cory headed to the stage to join friend Roger Creager for a rendition of Creager’s tune “Everclear.” The duet are always a treat to see and the crowd didn’t have to wait long to see them perform again. Following Creager’s set he accompianed Morrow on his tune “21 Days On The Road.” All the acts put on a great show and gave the crowd their monies worth. Aaron Watson made the ladies tear up with his love songs, and then Wade Bowen put on a mellow feel good show the audience enjoyed. The day soon turned in to night and the festival was eventually brought to a close with headliners Randy Rogers Band playing a full set. They rocked the festival in only the way that they could . The band found recent success in Nashville and has been on a non-stop tour since their self titled release hit stores in late September of last year. The album is on the rise, and for good reason, it’s amazing. Randy rogers Band has had notable appearences on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman. They were a good choice to close the evening’s festivities and will be back in town on May 15 performing at LaZona Rosa. The Lone Star State Jam was definitely worth attending, so those unable to make it this year make sure to put a little cash away for next year’s go around.

For more about Young Texans Against Cancer:

www.ytac.org

If you haven’t heard of Quiet Company, you soon will. Vocalist and main songwriter Taylor Muse has the ability to write a great hook. Using his personal experiences and issues, audiences will immediately become connected to their catchy power pop. Released in early March, the guys held CD release shows for their most recent album “Everyone You Love Will be Happy Soon” in Austin and another in San Antonio where they shared the stage with The Toadies. “It was just mind blowing,” said Muse. “It was one of the best experiences ever. We were really nervous about it. We’re not a heavy band.” Luckily, the crowd seemed to have an open mind. “We sold some CDs just from sound check,” said Muse. “And so we started thinking this might not be so bad.” When most bands selfrecord an album with no label support, it usually takes more than a month to record. However, this band recorded their album in an impressive 13 days. “They were long days,” said Muse. “The mixing took forever. Charlie [Vela, producer] lives in south Texas and he was mixing the whole record. So we were having to mix through e-mail. That was just a horrible way to make a record and we ended up just having to drive there and in a few hours, we fixed everything.” During this year’s South by Southwest Music Festival, attendees saw members of

Photo courtesy of Quiet Company

Quiet Company will be playing an all ages show at Antone’s with Alpha Rev and Deadbeat, May 30 at 8 p.m..

Quiet Company walking along Sixth Street wearing handmade cardboard signs on their bodies that said “Free Hugs from Quiet Company.” Using this tactic, they hugged willing and not so willing participates from various parts of the world. In return, those fans were introduced to the album personally through the earphones of the mp3 players the guys were carrying. “This idea originally seemed like the dumbest thing possible … to promote ourselves,” said Tommy Blank, multi-instrumentalist. “But turned out to be really awesome.” “We got so much more attention from that than we did from playing any actual show[s],” said Muse. “When we played our show at Vintage Lounge at the end of the week, I said ‘How many people here did we hug this week?’ About

half the crowd raised their hand. We were featured on a lot of blogs and [the] L.A. Times and Houston Press. It got us some attention, and we’re really happy with it.” “My only regret is that I only have two arms,” said Blank. Other projects in the works for Quiet Company are a new album, which will most likely be a short EP, and a musical. Instead of being like “Les Miserable” or another Broadway production, the format will be more like “Dr. Horrible Sing-Along Blog” with short mini-sodes that feature two or three songs centered on a pet store. “I’ve been working at a pet store for 5 years,” said Muse. “Yeah it’s going to be good. We’ll have to get actors that can sing and that’ll be weird. I’ve never had any experience with people doing my [music].”

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May 4, 2009 • Accent

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Brett Easton Ellis’ The Informers, vapid and vicous David Rodriguez Assistant Editor

Gratuitous cocaine use, ambivalent sex, and the perpetual party have aggrandized, transformed and bled unobtrusively into this decade from the eighties and nineties. Unsurprisingly, Brett Easton Ellis’ and Gregor Jordan’s The Informers, a fictional mingling of fates in the world of 1984 Los Angeles portrayed in an adaptation splayed on the white screen, felt eerily pertinent. Social commentary aside; The Informers was beautiful, in that narcissistic, chiseled abdominal muscles and beautiful breasts way that only Ellis has captured unflinchingly in the past quarter decade. Ellis has immortalized, satirized and exposed American culture with what he hasn’t said in his novels since his debut Less Than Zero (1985), which was turned into a sterilized, but nonetheless disturbing, Hollywood rendition. Director Gregor Jordan

captained Buffalo Soldiers, a quaint but uncomplicated film about non-combative drug dealing US troops in West Germany at the cusp of the fall of the Berlin Wall, starring Joaquin Phoenix (To Die For). The cast of Ellis’ anticipated adaptation was canary diamond studded with Kim Basinger (Cool World), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) and Billy Bob Thornton (The Man Who Wasn’t There) to name a few. All gave stellar performances with a limited screen time. Rourke and Basinger were especially engaging capturing Ellis’ underlying ennui, savagery and frustration unnervingly. Ellis even co-wrote the screenplay with relative newcomer Nicholas Jarecki, something he has yet to accomplish (negotiate) or take credit for from any of his previous novel to film adaptations. The film could have been executed with more attention to emotion or the lack there of. Drugs weren’t used that much or were they in 1984, and why

is everyone so healthy looking through all this hedonistic debauchery? All considerable questions, but Ellis’ novels, before this point, as adapted were heavily sterilized, but The Informers was allowed to almost go blow for blow with its printed counterpart. The film is not verbatim, of course, but viscerally it is the closest of Ellis‘ collaborations with Hollywood to date. The adaptation of Less Than Zero missed the whole voyeuristic and disinterested ultimate conclusion. Rules of Attraction was heavily entertaining but seemed to not warrant any serious credibility in the film world, and American Psycho was the most successful of Ellis’ adaptations with the fascinating and frightening performance of Christian Bale (The Machinist), but was overlooked as a misogynistic horror thriller as opposed to a scathing social condemnation. Ellis will be looked back upon as a scholar of Americans’ selfish ways,

bacchanalian whims and detachment. Nobody in an escapist atmosphere, as our country falls into a recession caused by these dogmas, wants to be entertained by such base and phantasm-realistic cinema, but reality is tragicomic. This film is for readers of his work, and no it is not completely well executed and lays stagnant at times, but for fans of the obscure collection of short stories it mirrors and their contrary creator, it will be a fresh bite of something ridiculously plated, pompous and numbing. Brett Easton Ellis; “… and I take the sunglasses off and she tells me to put them back on and I put them back on and it stings when I come and then I guess she comes too. Bowie’s on the stereo and she gets up, flushed, and turns the stereo off and turns on MTV [an excerpt from the novel Less Than Zero].”

Graphic courtesy of Senator Entertainment

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Hawkes elevates Americana sound with polished sophomore release Sarah Vasquez Staff Writer

“Because I Feel That Way Too” is the newest sophomore release from Chris Hawkes. Released on April 22, 2009 Hawkes performed his songs at the CD release show at The Parish. For someone who normally reviews indie pop albums, watching this Americana singer was a welcome change. Normally a solo act, Hawkes was joined with three other musicians: Douglas Jay Boyd, Michael Christmas and Benjamin Smith. Imagine my surprise when Hawkes informed me that this lineup had only been together for three shows, because the songs were tightly executed and the harmonies were nailed each time. It was clarified later that they actually play in other bands with each other, which Chris Hawkes performs at The Parish on April 22 for the CD release show of his sophomore album.

Telepathe inches toward fruition with Dance Mother

Devon Tincknell Staff Writer

With “Dance Mother”, Telepathe pulled a 180 in accessibility, while simultaneously retaining the haunting echoes of their noisier work. Telepathe’s first full length release “Dance Mother” shows a band who have grown drastically. I mean real drastically, like when Spock went through puberty super fast in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Telepathe’s 2007 “12” single, “Sinister Militia,” was an eerie mix of drones, delay, and ambient drumming, the kind of thing casual music listeners generally don’t get down with. Normally, when a band goes from avant-electronic to something vaguely danceable (dancing to this would probably be more like a rhythmic shuffle) the fan base feels betrayed and cries of ‘sell out’ follow shortly after. But Telepathe keeps it just weird enough to work, and as the album plays out the synthesized notes bleeding out over the vocals, the layers of echoes pile up, and the swirling sound-scape realizes much of Telepathe’s earlier appeal. “Dance Mother” doesn’t trade underground credibility for vain hopes of mainstream success; it pulls together “Sinister Militia’s” scattered, amateur experimentalism into a sleeker, more cohesive package.

Telepathe isn’t the first of its ilk to step in this direction either. The last few years have seen many members of Brooklyn’s lysergic-loop station noise scene approach what could be generally recognizable as music. Gang Gang Dance’s last album veered away from neon gypsy freak out of “God’s Money,” at times sounding like something from the UK dubstep scene. Black Dice, whose twisted techno sounds like an operating system crashing on Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), have come a long way from their early punch-you-inthe-face Providence hardcore. Animal Collective traded in their sparse, dissonant drum circle jams in order to become one of the biggest names in indie-rock. Though Telepathe has yet to reach a broader level of appeal and acclaim, “Dance Mother” sees them moving in the right direction. The soft feminine vocals hover above the shimmering synthesizers and jagged, pulsing drum beats, keep everything orderly

explains why they play so well together. Hawkes and Boyd play in “Douglas Jay Boyd” together, and Smith and Christmas play in “James Kinney” with each other. “Michael is pretty new, but Michael also plays with Ben in another band,” explained Hawkes. “And he plays with Doug and me in another band.” “I really think it’s familiarity with the material,” said Boyd. “We’re comfortable with the material. We know where it’s going.” “And each other’s as well,” continued Hawkes. The actual recording “Because I Feel That Way Too” is a more polished version of Hawkes’ music. Since Hawkes is also a producer during the day, the songs don’t sound over-tweaked. The last song “House Jam” is my personal favorite. The track wraps up the album in a celebratory manner and it consists of some of the musicians who contributed during the recording process.

“House Jam” captivated the comradery and laidback vibe and really allowed the listener, vicariously, to be present in the room for the friendly gathering. “It’s literally 12 people that just came over to the house to sort of celebrate the culmination of the record and met each other,” said Hawkes. “We just hung out, jammed a few tunes, and put them on the end of the disc.”

Catch Chris Hawkes @ Headhunters May 16th and Douglas Jay Boyd Band @ Saxon Pub May 11th.

Notable, New and Live in Austin David Rodriguez • Assistant Editor “American Radical; The Life and Times of I.F. Stone” is a biography of the prolific investigative reporter, columnist, and college dropout who challenged McCarthyism unwaveringly. Written by The Nations London correspondent D.D. Guttenplan and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, American radical will be available on May 26. Pygmy is cult hit author Chuck Palahniuk’s newest project, a follow up to “Snuff”. “Pygmy,” according to Palahniuk’s web site is “a dark comedy about terrorism and racism.” “Pygmy” is published by Doubleday and will be available May 5. “How To Sell” is a coming of age fiction novel about the diamond-and-watch trade as a reflection of the human soul. Written by Clancy Martin, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux and to be made available May 12.

Photo courtesy of IAMSOUND records

and in line. When a band starts off as far into the fringe as Telepathe did, a softening of the edges is more indicative of growth than it is a yearning for commercial viability. “Dance Mother” finds Telepathe poised on the precipice, blushing giddily after a successful flirtation with song structure and melody. They’ve matured quite a bit, but it’s going to take a third album to reach maximum ripeness.

Hit maker J.J. Abrams directed Star Trek (2009) and Simon Peg (Shaun of the Dead) will be beaming up members of the Enterprise as Scotty. The sure to be instant cult classic and world phenomenon will be opening May 8 in parallel universes everywhere. Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is back in Angels and Demons battling the Illuminati and solving riddles. The DaVinci Code was highly entertaining as I suspect this will follow suit. Opening May 15 @ most theatres around the nation. May is the kickoff for blockbusters, as “Terminator Salvation” hits theatres May 21 in practically every movie house imaginable. While James Cameron is not involved with this one, Christian Bale is (American Psycho) and I imagine his rants are kept within the confines of battling robots. The Texas Rockabilly Revival is featuring The Reverned Horton Heat as the headliners along with 10 other dapper bands and it will be held @ The Nutty Brown Cafe May 8-9 (one day passes are $35 and weekend passes are $55). Punk legends The Meatmen will be spreading filth and degradation performing @ Emo’s inside May 27 (doors open at 8 p.m. and the show starts at 9:30 p.m.). Local soundsystem electronic dance party L.A.X. will be performing with Glass Candy @ The Mohawk on May 9 (show starts at 10 p.m.). Stay high horror rap and Memphis mainstays, a party anywhere they go, 3 6 Mafia will be performing @ The Austin Music Hall on May 9 (tix range from $37-$92, doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m.). The raucous Chaos In Tejas Festival kicks off this month with the likes of the Cro-Mags, Cock Sparrer, Pierced Arrows (basically Dead Moon), crusty veterans Amoebics, Yakuza hardcore Judgement, semi-locals Severed Heads of State, and Joy Divisionish locals Mannequin. The festival will be held @ Emo’s May 21-23 (check their website for lineups, prices and times).