by Timothy Weisberg | Sep 29, 2009 | Student Voice published stories-Fall 2009
Photo by Tony Sintic
Published on September 8, 2009
Juan “Chucky” Durazo was a standout wrestler for Channel Islands High School, despite only wrestling for the varsity team his senior year. He was given the opportunity to wrestle at Moorpark College, in hopes of developing his skills and attracting Division I or Division II schools that could offer him scholarships.
Today, he is at Mt. Sac, a community college in Walnut, CA, on the wrestling team, battling for a starting role on the team, all while struggling to get into classes to stay eligible to wrestle.
Durazo was one of many wrestlers who came to Moorpark College to compete at the two-year college level, only to discover the forty-one year program had been cut. The storied program, which was the only wrestling program offered in the VCCCD, won state championships in 1990, ‘91, ‘97, ‘99 and ‘00 before being suspended indefinitely a week before classes began.
Durazo was shocked that the sport was shelved and that Pam Eddinger, president of Moorpark College, supported the decision to cut the sport.
“Her cutting this program is like cutting a big artery to the wrestling community,” he said. “It is a growing and dying sport.”
According to Durazo, he had met with Eddinger to discuss his future, and this is when she recommended him to try and wrestle at Mt. Sac College. Since the program was cut a week before classes started, there were very few classes available for him to register in to remain eligible to wrestle.
Durazo is one of many student-athletes that were affected by the cuts in not only wrestling, but also in men and women’s golf.
Moorpark College Athletic Director Howard Davis seemed very disheartened by the whole situation.
“Suspending these three sports presented, by far, the most difficult task and few days in my 11 year career as an Athletic Director,” Davis said.
“It was extremely painful and gut wrenching to inform the coaches, and by extension, the student athletes.”
According to Davis, there was some speculation that former alumni and current wrestler were making an effort to raise money to revive the program.
“There has been some advocacy on the part of the alumni to reinstate the program,” he later stated.
However, the program remains indefinitely suspended. This upset many alumni, and wrestlers registered in the class, believing that the program would be revived.
The VCCCD board of trustees meeting was held on Tuesday, Sept. 8, where many alumni spoke, including two former wrestlers, who spoke to the board of trustees to consider reviving the program, because they believed they would have never made it to college without the opportunity to wrestle at Moorpark.
Gary Murphy, 1978 graduate of Moorpark College and wrestling coach for Newbury Park High School, was very animate about the whole situation.
“Here’s the money, here’s the tennis shoes,” he said passionately. “This is how it works. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
For now, student-athletes like Durazo, now have to find other means to continue their athletic careers at the community college level.
While struggling to get into classes and be academically eligible at Mt. Sac, Durazo also faces competition for a prominent role on the team.
“At this point, I am fighting for a spot with another heavyweight,” Durazo said.
“I have to work with what I have.”
Davis believes that athletics was, and still remains a major gateway toward success in academics, as well as athletics.
“In many cases athletic participation is the major impetus to continue and ultimately receive an college education,” Davis stated in an email.
“Without athletics, many of those young people would never have dreamed that they could reach that pinnacle.”
The Student-athletes future still seems very unclear as long as they are still relying on the budget.
“The near future in California’s budget situation is bleak,” Davis concluded.
“I am optimistic though that our state will begin to see the extremely negative impact that funding education at this level will have on our future.”
by Timothy Weisberg | Sep 29, 2009 | Student Voice published stories-Fall 2009
Published on September 10, 2009
If I were to give a letter grade to the California Department of Finance, I would give them an “F” for their failure to do their job, and causing hundreds of thousands of community college students to suffer on their behalf.
Community colleges have always been counted on to provide a post-secondary education to anyone who seeks one. However, in today’s economy, this opportunity is being increasingly jeopardized due to the financial crisis the state of California has put itself in.
The California state budget has hit rock bottom, resulting in major class cuts at Moorpark College and other community colleges. Additionally, a $6.00 per unit increase in tuition was implemented this fall. With a higher demand for a college education combined with the struggling economy, enrollment has skyrocketed, making the whole situation even harsher.
To make matters worse, the budget cuts to classes have dramatically reduced the amount of faculty available to teach, resulting in increased class sizes. For Vail Keck, Director of Choral Activities at Moorpark College, who also teaches Music Appreciation, her whole style of teaching had to change in order to fit the larger class size.
The small classroom setting Keck was used to is now gone, replaced by large classrooms comparable to those at a four-year college. According to Keck, her class size has doubled within the year.
“My Music Appreciation class enrollment was increased from 40 to 80 students in the spring [2009] semester,” said Keck. “The community college experience of small classroom discussions is virtually impossible to maintain.”
Not only is instruction impacted, students are having more trouble enrolling into the classes they need. Taylor Cote, 20, found this out the hard way. Despite registering in early May, she was still waitlisted.
“I signed up right after the spring semester, and was waitlisted in all four classes,” said Cote.
Another issue is the fact that instructors have to adhere more strictly to regulations limiting how many students they can add to their classes, with each room having a maximum capacity. Now, even with seats available in classrooms, students are often still not able to get into the class. Mikaila Loft,19, needed to take a class or her insurance would not be covered, but did not understand why she could not be added when seating room was available.
“I feel frustrated because if seats in class are open, we should be allowed into the class,” Loft said.
Why are teachers so hesitant to add students into their class? Moorpark College Executive Vice President Ed Knudson explained that students could not be added in some classes even with seats available.
“We are not being fully funded for all of our students, but class size is a combination of room capacity, room availability, and what is pedagogically the most sound for that particular discipline and course,” said Knudson. “Some courses lend themselves to large lecture type instruction, and others require smaller classes sizes to effectively provide the instruction.”
According to Knudson, enrollment increased by 5 percent on the Moorpark College campus this fall.
“It is true that the district is not being funded for nearly 3000 full-time equivalent students from the state,” said Knudson. “This has occurred because the state is not funding growth, and has reduced what is known as the enrollment cap [funding level base] for all colleges due to the state budget deficits.”
And this is supposed to be our problem?
That’s 500 additional registered students, which makes it even more difficult for all students to attend an institution of higher learning. It appears as if there is no easy solution until we recover from our massive debt and restructure our spending at the state level.
The class cuts have decreased the amount of classes offered and even large class sizes do not help account for the 5 percent increase in enrollment. Professors are restricted to who they can add to their classes, leaving students like Loft in dire straits. With all the problems resulting from increased enrollment, budget cuts, class cuts, strict policies on waitlisted students and instructional changes in classroom settings, what’s a student to do?
“Early registration is the best solution to students entering the classes they need,” Knudson concluded.
“Early registration also assists the college in determining where we might be able to focus resources to better meet the student needs.”
by Timothy Weisberg | Sep 29, 2009 | Student Voice published stories-Fall 2009
Published on September 8, 2009
The Oxnard College men’s soccer team pulled a rabbit out of the hat, scoring two goals in the final three minutes to tie the Rio Hondo Roadrunners 4-4 in Friday’s match.
Oxnard College head coach Russ Greaney seemed confident that they could comeback from their late-game deficit.
“We have talented players,” Greaney said.
“I was always sure we could score.”
Rio Hondo was quick to strike first, taking a 1-0 lead in the first ten minutes of the game. Forward Nathan Lytle tied the game up at 1 from a beautiful pass by Midfielder Sam Nellis, who squeezed a pass between two Rio Hondo defenders, giving Lytle a one-on-one match-up with the Roadrunners’ goalie.
The Roadrunners dominated on the offensive end, with crisp passing and great forward play. The Condors had trouble defending the Rio Hondo forwards, which had many shots on goal.
However, after the Roadrunners were up 3-1 in the second half, things started to turn around. Oxnard got on the offensive, due to some great passing by Nellis. Lytle scored an unassisted goal to cut the lead to 3-2, his second of the game. The Condors had many opportunities to tie the game, but could not capitalize, and Rio Hondo was able to score once more to what appeared to be the goal that sealed the deal.
Down 4-2, the Condors got another goal from Lytle, on another great pass from Nellis, and less than a minute after, Forward Gerardo Ponce headed in a strike in the corner of the net to tie the game up, and complete the improbable comeback.
Midfielder Johnny Martinez believed that his team should never give up, especially on its own turf.
“We just keep fighting,” Martinez said.
“We’re not just going to give up on our home field.”
Lytle completed the hat trick, scoring three goals for the Condors (0-2-1).
The Condors will see if they have any more tricks up their sleeves, when they host Pasadena College next Friday, Sept. 11 at 2 p.m.
A team that never quits, and is willing to fight to the end shows the major talent this team possesses.
“We got a good team with good talent,” stated Lytle.
“We have a lot of heart.”
by Timothy Weisberg | Sep 29, 2009 | Student Voice published stories-Fall 2009
Published on September 10, 2009
It was Lelani Howard’s kill soaring out of bounds that capped off a night where nothing seemed to go right, as the Ventura College Pirates dropped their first match of the season in four sets (18-25, 25-21, 20-25, 10-25) to the Bakersfield Renegades.
Outside hitter Chelsea O’Mara led the team with 13 kills, while sophomore leader Justine O’Connor had 31 assists, in a night filled with sloppy play and a constant battle to fight back from early deficits.
The Renegades were consistent from the beginning, gaining a 6-3 lead in the first match, pulling it to 10-4 on great digs and stellar kills from sophomore outside hitter Sally Ceja. The Renegades led by as much as 8 points, and the Pirates were only able to cut the lead to 21-17 before losing the match 25-18.
The Pirates seemed to play better in the second match, and were the first to score. They took the lead for the first time 10-9, and the rest of the match was a back-and-forth battle. Tied at 21-21, the Pirates sealed the deal when Corissa Alvarez had a service fault, and the Pirates eventually won the match 25-21.
In the third set, the Pirates jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but completely lost their composure after that. The Renegades went on a 9-0 run to take the match away from the Pirates, taking an 11-7 lead before taking the match 25-20.
The momentum completely swung over to favor the Renegades, and after that big run in the fourth set, the Pirates folded like La-Z-Boys. The Renegades took advantage of some sloppy play, taking a 2-0 lead to start the fourth set, and eventually pushing that lead to 20-9, taking the set and match decisively 25-10.
Pirates head coach Mandy Rodriguez felt that the youth of this team, which only features one returning player, contributed to their inconsistent play.
“It’s a momentum thing,” she stated.
“They [Pirates] struggle with that.”
With the loss, the Pirates fall to 2-1 on the season, and hope to bounce back when they travel to El Camino College to participate in a tourney Friday, Sept. 11.
Rodriguez also feels that her team needs to work on relying on one another when they are struggling on the court. When they build this strong team cohesion, she feels the team can only get better.
“It’s a trust issue,” she said.
“It just takes time to build that with each other.”
by Timothy Weisberg | Sep 29, 2009 | Student Voice published stories-Fall 2009
Photo by Tony Sintic
Published on September 2, 2009
When Owls’ middle blocker Danica Lawrence’s kill sailed helplessly out of bounds, the Pirates knew they had succeeded in a stellar comeback to down the Citrus College Owls in five matches (25-19, 14-25, 17-25, 25-18, 15-10) in the season opener at the Ventura Athletic Center.
Sophomore captain Justine O’Connor lead the Pirates (1-0) to a comeback victory, with 33 assists, many of which were to freshman middle blocker Kayla Phipps, who led the team with 11 kills, along with two blocks and a couple aces.
The Pirates showed how prepared they were for the season opener, taking a 13-12 lead in the first game, and pulled away with a 10-0 run, eventually winning the match 25-19.
Citrus College dominated the next two matches, with great performances by freshman outside hitter Lindsay Mitchell and freshman middle blocker Danica Lawrence. Mitchell had 12 kills and four blocks, while Lawrence added 11 blocks and six kills for the Owls (0-1).
Citrus jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second game and the Pirates could only cut the lead to seven points before Citrus won the second match in convincing fashion, 25-14. The Owls kept knocking the struggling Pirates down with kills from Mitchell and great defense by Lawrence, jumping to a 23-13 lead before eventually winning the match 25-17.
Games four and five saw a different Pirates team. Unfazed by the two consecutive match losses, the Pirates climbed back into the game, forcing a fifth with the Owls. Ventura capped off the miraculous comeback in a back-and-forth game five and made the season opener one to remember.
Pirates coach Mandy Arnold-Rodriguez believed that this game showed a young team, which features two sophomores, much more than their team’s strong cohesiveness.
“[The] biggest thing it showed them was to not give up,” Arnold-Rodriguez said. “We just have a lot of players that play at a high level with a lot of heart.”
Freshman middle blocker Kayla Phipps had a simple answer for her team’s ability to play with a lot of heart.
“We came together [as a team],” she said. “We focused on getting everything together.”
The Pirates hope to play like champions once again when they face Western State Conference rival Long Beach City College at home Sept. 4.
