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May 4, 2009 www.theAccent.org 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 inju-
ries 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 writ-
ing,” 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 docu-
mentary 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,
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 video-
tape footage from businesses
in the vicinity of the alterca-
tion show a dozen or more wit-
nesses, however, the suspect
has not yet been apprehended.
“We have received some
leads which we are follow-
ing 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

Bill could allow handguns in school New SGA President elected

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 con-
cealed handguns with them in class-
rooms, 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 com-
mittee hearing. Wentworth’s Senate bill
is meant to mirror House Bill 1893 which
made it out of its committee and is wait-
All 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
self defense as we already do off campus,”
said Michael Guzman the president of
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus
(SCCC) during his testimony before
the Senate committee on April 22. The
SCCC is a nationwide organization that
is attempting to influence legislation to
allow people with concealed handgun
licenses to take their guns with them to
campus.
“What we want to see done away with
is the government guarantee to criminals
that we are left defenseless, that we’ll
be unarmed,” said Guzman during his
testimony.
To get a concealed handgun license in
Kevin Forester• Staff Photographer
Texas, the applicant must be over 21, be of
sound mind, be qualified to buy a gun and
must take a 10 to 15 hour course. In Texas,
people with a concealed handgun license
can take their handgun with them to most
places such as movie theaters, malls and
other public spaces. Organizations like the
SCCC would like to add college campuses
to that list.
“I think it is a terrible idea. I’m not
even sure why they are considering
[allowing guns on campus],” said John
Woods, a University of Texas Graduate
student as he waited for his chance to
speak before the Senate committee on
April 27. Woods was a student at Virginia
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 legisla-
tors 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 allow-
ing 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
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 big-
gest 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 quali-
fications for the position as Joshua Bacak, ACC’s new
President. student body president
“There are big issues I want
to focus on,” said Bacak. Those New Student
issues include parking, the
proper reporting of campus
Government
crimes, the creation of desig- Officers
nated 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–
Government to be more Sophia Downing
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
all community colleges,” said
Vice-President – Michael Reid
Bacak. “I would love to be able
President – Joshua Bacak
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
students want and need, said Northridge – Nicholas Ro
Bacak. “You let us know what’s Eastview – Rhea Fluker
wrong and we are going to fight Cypress – Monica Jones
for you.”
page 2 Accent • May 4, 2009

Forum w w w.the Accent.org

Karissa Our View

Explains it
al l
Staff Editorial
Sarah Neve Editor-in-Chief • David Rodriguez Assistant Editor
Jamie Carpenter Campus Editor • Alma Hernandez Photo/Web Editor
MySpace vs. Jana Lelek Layout Editor • Chris Scott Layout Intern

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 per-
cent, according to the market-
ing research company com-
Score. 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 fol-
lowing the trend and deleted
my profile on MySpace just
last week. Why? Well, person-
ally 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 com-
ments 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
Facebook
more like a place to post Community College should be exempt
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 conversa-
tions 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 network-
ing 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
Staff Artist • Karen Kuhn
user or join the site.
In order to save the site and
bring users back, MySpace Amended bill could save students from six drop rule
should overhaul its website and
focus more on entertainment. In a proposed amendment in HB foot the bill for tuition. family. However, as students are forced
Rather than trying to revamp 3518, community college students would Another problem with the six drop to take on more responsibilities outside
customization of profiles, they no longer be subject to the six course rule is that if community college stu- of school, it will become necessary for
should put all their efforts into drop limit. The ACC Board of Trustees dents are punished for droping classes them to drop classes, not because of
music profiles. came out in support of this and other while at a two year, those drops haunt emergencies, but because the work load
While there are hundreds legislation that helps college students. them at a four year when they transfer. becomes too much to balance with the
of sites that provide informa- It was never reasonable to expect So, if someone drops four classes at ACC rest of their lives.
tion about bands and singers, community college students to stay and transfers to a university where the This new bill was filed on March
I love the personalization that within this limit. This law should be classes are bigger, face-time with your 11, and read and referred to the higher
comes with visiting a band’s amended to exempt students not attend- teacher is harder to get, and the work education committee on March 19, but
MySpace profile. ing a four year college. load is even more overwhelming, they has not moved forward since. Students
Users are able to actu- Students, and especially community will only have two drops left before all should contact their representatives and
college students, are becoming less six of their drops turn to failing grades try to get this bill moving so that it has
ally converse with the band
traditional by the year. Just over half of and their GPA tanks. time to be heard this session. Waiting
and listen to their songs at
the students at ACC are older than 22. There are exceptions in the cur- another year to make these changes
the same time. I think that’s
Almost 75 percent are part time stu- rent version of the six drop rule that could severely damage the records of
brilliant.
dents. We are not all recent high school allow students to apply to avoid being students forced to continue to comply
Nevertheless, MySpace has graduates, living at home, where we can penalized for dropping if they have a with six drop rule.
lost its wow factor and is on focus on school, and have someone else personal emergency like a death in the
the decline.

R edress of
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
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
-30- column
place where classes are held. It out if you haven’t already),
is a melting pot of activities, she clearly knows her stuff.
controversy, hopes, disap- She cares enough about what
pointments, inspirations and writers put in their articles
hard work. I am glad that I to give honest feedback, and
took the opportunity to get out she is never patronizing. This,
of my shell and try something combined with her incessant
that ACC had to offer. need for coffee and great taste
In researching this column, in shoes, makes her awesome.
it appears that most writers Alma Hernandez is my
take the time to thank people favorite person to mess with
who have had an impact on here in the office. As the photo
their writing at their paper. editor of the paper, I have no
Who am I to buck tradition? idea what she does, or even if
I would first like to thank she does anything at all. But I
Matt Connolly, the news- do know that the pictures in
paper adviser here. He has the paper always look great, so
given me a greater regard for I guess she must be working
the amount of tedious effort when she is in the office giving
that goes into writing (edits, me the evil eye and putting
edits, more edits), has never her earphones in her ear the
failed to correct me when I second I say something.
did something wrong (passive Speaking of having no idea
verbs, then vs. than, check AP what they do, Jana Lelek and
style) and is amazingly good Chris Scott, our layout people,
at what he does. He keeps his are amazing. I give them
ears open to the suggestions an idea of what I want, and,
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 illustra-
tors, 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 pub-
lished. For me, it has become
C o rre c t i o n s
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, nap-
kins, plates, cups, bowls, ice and condiments.”
While the new Round Rock food contract does include these stip-
ulations, 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

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
that all the editors make and
gives pertinent and practical
feedback, and I highly respect
his opinions.
Sarah Neve, the editor-in-
chief, 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
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 enter-
tainment editor. David amazes
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~
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 accent@austincc.edu 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 page 3
Devon Tincknell
Staff Writer
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 copy-
right 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 com-
munity 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 ver-
dict 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
Forum
Broadband Buccaneers
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
technol-
ogy 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 copy-
right enforcement continue
to champion the legal victory,
the verdict has yet to affect the
w w w.the Accent.org
founders,
Pirate Bay
or the site
in any nega-
tive 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
over-
night, or
score a 9.1
on Pitchfork and have
the top selling album the fol-
lowing week. Neither artists
nor fans need the industry
members to
over 35,000 anymore, and the industry
in just a few knows it.
days. At Aside from invoking com-
the core, mandment number eight
it’s an (Thou Shall Not Steal for those
ideo- who skipped Sunday school),
logical the crux of the MPAA/RIAA’s
battle, campaign has been that if the
and the pirates win, creative artists
iGen- won’t be able to make money,
eration and we’ll be forced to live
currently in a world without music or
coming of movies. Fortunately, that’s not
age has very true at all. They may be right
little qualms in one aspect: if the pirates
about digital win we might end up in a
piracy. world without THEIR movies
The MPAA and the or music. But is that really a
RIAA remains firmly bad thing? Was “Waterworld”
St a
entrenched in the old ways, that much better than Robert
ff A
having hardly made the Rodriguez’s $7,000 student
r t is
film, “El Mariachi”? Is the
t•
slightest effort to change with
Ka
the times. For good reason music Britney Spears makes of
ren
too, both organizations rep- higher quality than the heart-
Ku
h
resent corporations whose felt guitar standards plucked
n
entire business model is out by the destitute bluesmen
non-compatible with of the Mississippi Delta? The
the changing media answer is pretty clear. Since
landscape. For a long the birth of modern media,
time producing records, the creative process has been
distributing films, and stolen away from the every-
hyping it all up with adver- man and locked away like a
tising took a lot of money, and princess in an ivory tower. But
Party, a politi- record labels and film studios now, as we leave behind the
cal party dedicated were the only ones who could consumption of the Industrial
to redesigning Swedish copy- pony up the cash to make it Age in favor of the collabora-
right and intellectual property possible. Now, any idiot with a tion of the Information Age,
laws, membership doubled laptop and a video camera can it appears a pirate has come
in size, swelling from 15,000 become a YouTube celebrity along and set her free.
May 4, 2009 • Accent page 5

President’s term ends,

Campus News w w w.the Accent.org

Ca m p u s
Eastview
he plans for the future
Chris Smith
Staff Writer
The halls of the State
the campaign he was working
the front door.
“I went up to him after the
event and asked him if I could
Li f e
Capital can be hard to navi- intern with him,” Burnett said.
Where To: Sarah Vasquez
Staff Writer/Photographer

Shop?
gate. They twist and turn; they He got the internship and then
extend far below ground, and later found out he could get Alamo Thrift Store,
it is easy to wind up lost or credit for it. So now he spends 2502 Webberville
walking through the wrong 16 hours a week at the Capitol With several strip malls filled with familiar names such as Family
Dollar, Melrose and Walgreens surrounding the area, this small thrift store stands
door. Brad Burnett, the outgo- while still attending classes at on its own on Webberville Road. It’s located on the other side of the railroad
ing student body president has ACC. Burnett is also fulfill- tracks from Eastview Campus. This store offers a lot of various affordable second-
been rushing up and down ing his duties as student body hand items such as children’s and adult clothing, shoes, toys and bedding. One
these halls since January when president, and volunteer with 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
he began interning for Rep. AmeriCorps where he helps they now open at 2 p.m.. However, there is a phone number listed on the door if
Mark Strama. high school students get into you want to make an appointment.
Some days Burnett might college.
be taking important informa- “I was a high school drop-
tion to Strama, who might

Eat?
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
El Azteca,
he might be picking up the back when he realized that he
2600 E 7th St.
This Mexican restaurant near 7th street and Pedernales is a great
leftover couldn’t stop for students to have lunch. Between 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.,
tacos in the even get patrons can choose from seven lunch specials that will fill your
commit- a job stomachs, which also include sherbet for dessert. You don’t have
tee break to stick to the specials though. El Azteca offers many choices for
flipping dinner as well including a whole section for the vegetarians. For
room or burgers. those beautiful Austin nights, outside seating is also available.
entering He fin-
constituent ished high

Hang? Complex
corre- school
spondence and then Millennium Youth Entertainment
into the eventually (MYEC),
database applied to 1156 Hargrave St.
“I like ACC. Looking at this place on a map, walking to this place doesn’t seem so bad. But once
doing “When you look at the big hill that you have to hike over to get to Millennium from campus,
it all,” I was 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
Burnett in high offers a variety of ways to entertain you without hurting your wallet such as skat-
said. school I ing, video games, pool tables and bowling. A new event this month is first showing
Interning never did of children’s films in their theatre. MYEC is closed Sunday through Tuesday, but are
with the anything open on Wednesday through Saturday and stay open later on Friday and Saturday.
representa- Chris Smith • Staff Photographer extracur-
tive means ricular
doing Burnett is transfering to UT and is keeping
his internship with Rep. Mark Strama.
outside

Red carpet ceremony honors student involvement

whatever
needs to
be done around the office.
The only thing Burnett does
not like doing is showing up
at 8 a.m., but he does it gladly
every Tuesday and Wednesday, Student Government.
dressed in suit and tie and
bright, black, leather shoes.
“Brad has been really
good about talking to con-
stituents that walk in,” said
Mary Throop, Chief of Staff
to Strama. She explained how
constituents and lobbyists
often just walk into the office
looking to talk to someone
about a certain bill or issue.
Strama’s office in the Capitol
is both the district office and
his Capitol office, so it gets lots
of people coming in. The place ning for office. I like cam-
usually stays busy, and it hums paigning. I like politics itself,”
with the work of aides and
interns.
Burnett met Strama last
summer during Strama’s
re-election campaign. He had
volunteered at different events, way,”
and at the last fundraiser of
football a
little bit.
I figured if I was going to be
successful in college I had to
do the exact opposite,” said
Burnett. That’s how he got into
Now his time at ACC is
almost done. A new student
body president has been
elected and Burnett has taken
all the courses he can at
ACC. His next step is attend-
ing the University of Texas
where he will double major
in Government and History
and minor in Spanish. He also
plans to continue interning
with Strama, so he should have
a busy schedule next semester.
“I’ll probably end up run-
said Burnett as he thought
about the distant future.
Smiling, Burnett said, “I’ve
always liked helping people,
and I figured this is the best
Trevor Goodchild
Staff Writer
A red carpet rolled out to
welcome the 350 to 400 stu-
dents streaming in to win their
award or congratulate friends
that attended the Night in the
Life, an annual event celebrat-
ing 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 mock-
tails. 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 Teodora Erbes • Staff Photographer
while in the past it was more 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
casual, and for the first time for outstanding students, organizations and faculty.
registration was online.
“I was real excited when I to plan annual SL events, and Life as part of why SL contin-
looked at some of the pictures they lobby their coordinator, ues to be an active part of both
of the event to see the diversity Toniette Haynes Robinson staff and student lives.
of the types of students we had to be assigned to lead these “The students I talk to don’t
there: young, old, black, white, events. Amy Paul, Cypress come in here [to SL] saying
brown, and yellow. I thought Creek SL Assistant, was the ‘aww I don’t know if I can
that was fabulous. I thought 2009 Night in the Life lead. make it.’ They come in here
everything was fabulous...I “We are all very different; with dreams. Now sometimes
loved it,” Richard said. we all are our own personali- they don’t know if they can get
There are seven Student ties, but we managed to pull it to the next place, but it is so
Life assistants called “The all together,” Paul said. neat to be surrounded by that
A-Team” who meet regularly Richard viewed Night in the positive energy.”

Asian Spring Festival celebrated at Riverside

Right: Located on the Riv-
erside 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, ethnobot-
any student, at the Asian Spring Festival
Thursday April 23 at Riverside campus.

Above: Melissa Vander Hey-

den, performs a Thai Dance.
Left: Jo Birdsong, sensei, per-
forms Aikido with his Aikido
of Austin students.

page 6 Accent • May 4, 2009
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 informa-
tion 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 contro-
versially 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 offi-
cials 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 emer-
gency 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
Former foster child, ACC student fights for the rights of Foster children
Trevor Goodchild • Staff Photographer another group that
Ashley Gallardo entered foster care at 11.
She’s now a paralegal major at ACC.
Trevor Goodchild
Staff Writer
Legislation that affects the
rights of foster children is
being considered this ses-
sion. The Foster Care Alumni
of America (FCAA) has
come out for or against these
Bills. FCAA facilitates youth
involvement in the legislation.
“I think it is important to
draw the distinction between
news
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 urolo-
gist 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 life-
support for about 15 hours at
the time of harvest, accord-
ing 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 surro-
gate 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
the position that
Lifeworks takes and
the FCAA takes,
they are separate.
Different youth
become interested
in different things.
I believe essentially
that by participat-
ing in the demo-
cratic process in
relation to foster
youth now going to
college, these young
adults are increas-
ing their individual
chances of success,”
said Director of
Lifeworks Duncan
Cormie.
Lifeworks is
advocates for youth
rights.
Ashley Gallardo,
a Paralegal major at
ACC, who aged out of
foster care, is the cur-
rent secretary for the FCAA.
“I hate speaking in front of
legislators because I am ner-
vous, but someone has to do it
because I don’t want to let the
youth down, they can’t always
speak for themselves. This is
my chance to be their voice,”
Gallardo said.
She is 21 years old and
w w w.the Accent.org
for two years but I will prob-
ably not wait that long.”
Marissa Evans had con-
sulted 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 ques-
tioned 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 trou-
ble with his teachers because
he would make the other kids
laugh,” said Evans. “Our house
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 chil-
dren, and require foster
parents to give foster kids an
allowance.
The FCAA is an orga-
nization 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
Photo courtesy of Marissa Evans
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 every-
body thinks it’s weird. I was
losing my child and wanted
my child to carry on his
legacy.”
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 ser-
vices, 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
Photo Brief
Kevin Forester • Staff Photographer
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
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 eve-
nings from 6:00-8:40 p.m. The course examines the reasons why
sustainable business practices are necessary and looks at mini-
mizing natural resource utilization and waste generation, reduc-
ing 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 numer-
ous scholarships organized primarily by programs or depart-
ments such as the Applied Science Program, Dental Hygiene
Department and Education program. Additional general scholar-
ships 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 suc-
cessful 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 fol-
lowing 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 pay-
ments and receive email reminders.
he thinks it is important for “We feel this would be a
this bill to pass. disgrace ... When that bill
“If you’re in a family and goes through they are no
you get in a fight with your longer given consent forms,”
brother, and you beat him, Dollinger said.
the family deals with it. But “I don’t understand why
if you’re in foster care, often school officials would need to
the police are called. People know I grew up in an abusive
come in here saying they tried home. Or why they need
to apply for jobs but are denied to know my dating history,
due to this record. Say a youth they’re not my parents. It’s
is in jail they’ll tell us that they kind of awkward going to
were told to sign something to school the first day when they
be released and what they’re know every little detail about
signing is an admission of you and you know nothing
guilt without ever knowing it, about them,” Gallardo said.
or their legal rights,” O’Brien Gallardo expresses hope
said. for the foster children turned
Not all bills are being sup- young adults attending ACC
ported by the FCAA accord- that are still concerned with
ing to Ryan C. Dollinger changing the foster care
(co-founder and president of system that she views as some-
the Texas FCAA chapter). The times just as bad as an abusive
FCAA oppose Senate Bill 861. home life.
This bill is in the “My brother is an example,”
Senate’s Judiciary and Civil Gallardo Said. “He doesn’t like
Jurisprudence Committee and talking about what happened
provides for open record infor- [in their childhood]. I don’t
mation on foster children. This either. I pushed it farther back,
includes wether or not they but when I hear other’s stories,
had been convicted of a crime, I realize there has to be some-
or if they were neglected or thing done about it. And with
abused. more voices, we [the foster care
This bill suggests that all alumni] can be a bigger differ-
history on foster kids would ence with CPS, the legislature,
be shared with caseworkers, foster parents and whoever our
principals, doctors, therapist voices reach.”
and teachers.
 news
May 4, 2009 • Accent page 7

w w w.the Accent.org

Taste the Waste Reunion 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 seventies, the restaurant emphasizes a return to healthy food and
balance. Trevor Goodchild • Staff Photographer

environmental issues in Austin “This place has been here for 18 years. There is a huge sci-
ence experiment going on with GMO’s (Genetically Modified
Cap Metro Board Member John-Michael Cortez, visits ACC to discuss
new routes and new kinds of services that would benefit students.

Student questions
Organisms) right now. There is so much going on. Anything that
Jamie Carpenter is basically unhealthy we refrain from. With natural biotic, it’s
Campus Editor
all about balance. The best place to get food is from [the] local
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
farmers’ market,” John Schwarzschild, board member of the
restaurant, said.
“That we came here is awesome because this is the first time I
left unanswered
Trevor Goodchild and Capital Metro. These things
de Luz, North Austin’s Waste Management Site and Waste have been to [Casa de Luz], and I have always wanted to,” Scott Staff Writer
Management’s Landfill on April 24 for the Taste the Waste Pietert, Environmental Science major, said. don’t happen overnight. We’d
all like things to move quicker,”
Reunion Tour. After eating, students visited the Waste Management site Capital Metro’s forum hosted Cortez said.
The first stop was at Zilker Botanical Garden. where they were given a tour by Paul George, the operations by the Student Government Petra Barraza wasn’t alone
“The limestone here [at Hartman Prehistoric Garden] is and management supervisor. Despite being a water treatment Association (SGA) took place in her view of how the forum
110 million years old. Eight years ago, the rock was flat. You waste management site, pains are taken to insure that the odor at the Rio Grande lounge on was conducted. SGA Senator
used to be able to see dinosaur tracks. It is important for the of feces is not obvious by building a large areas of the facilities Thursday April 23. At this event Benjamin McWilliams, in an
Environmental Science Class to have a sense of time. Species go underground. representatives from Capital aside, regretted advertising
extinct,” said faculty adviser Amy Cunningham. “This is probably recycling and reuse in it’s purest form. We Metro discussed new bus routes the event so heavily to fellow
Green Garden, a garden that focuses on the importance of need to really realize what our waste stream is. It’s pretty high and spending plans with stu- students.
dents. By next fall Capital Metro “Well, the first 45 minutes
having native plants, was also a stop in the Botanical Garden. per individual,” George said. Board Member John-Michael was just John Michael Cortez
“Planting something that comes from somewhere else, inva- “I thought it was pretty nasty [all the waste]. I thought it Cortez plans for the $10 parking talking about what they were
sive planting, is not good for the environment. It doesn’t support was pretty interesting how they divided the river from north to fee to make ACC’s relation- going to do. It didn’t feel like it
native wildlife. Invasive species is a huge problem in the global south. I found it interesting how many condoms were in the ini- ship with Capital Metro more was a forum, and I was con-
world,” said Cunningham. tial filtration. People have this idea that they should do that [flush environmentally sustainable cerned when students were leav-
“I really enjoyed the Botanical Gardens. I had been wanting to condoms down the toilet],” Ray Montez, environmental science by using it to pay for a semester ing because of how long Cortez
go, but I hadn’t. I was pretty impressed,” Jason Mathis, graphic major, said. bus pass and more amenities for was talking,” McWilliams said.
design major, said. The last stop of the Taste the Waste trip was Austin’s Waste bicyclists. The forum lasted about an
Management Landfill. In Central Texas, the per person capita “Maybe lets get a bike shower hour with about 11 students
Next on the agenda was a stop at Barton Springs. The plight of
built in so faculty or someone fluctuating in attendance. On
the springs was addressed. amount of garbage is nine pounds per day. who is here all day can ride in, the topic of students’ discontent
For lunch, students stopped at Café de Luz, a vegan and mac- The landfill receives about 2,000 tons of garbage a day. take a shower and not be that with the forum, Cortez later
robiotic restaurant. Located on an old meatpacking site of the stinky person in class,” Cortez replied in a phone interview.
said. “Bottom line is we were

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 inte-
grate 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 administra-
tive 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 place-
ment 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 secur-
ing jobs.
“It is a problem at inter-
views,” said student Casimir
Leumalieu, referring to his
accent.
According to Leumalieu,
who emigrated from the
French-speaking region of
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 spon-
sor for renting an apartment,
there is no problem in being a
foreigner in this country. The
difficulty is being able to com-
municate with people, espe-
cially 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 actu-
ally making fun of her.
Student Alfonso Sifuentes,
who came from Mexico in
Teodora Erbes • Staff Photographer
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.”
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 accord-
ing 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 under-
neath,” 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 immedi-
ate 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 hap-
pens immediately. Things need
to be discussed. This would be a
partnership between the college
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 differ-
ent kinds of Metro transporta-
tion that are currently or will
be going into effect. Although
questions were asked by dif-
ferent students throughout his
speech, he did not answer them
until after the whole presenta-
tion 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 imple-
ment 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.”

Bill sparks debate on if guns should be on campus

ȨȨ continued from page 1
“A law which allows hand-
guns 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 cam-
puses,” 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 organiza-
tions 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 allow-
ing 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 [con-
cealed 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 prop-
erly handle the situations.”
page 8 Accent • May 4, 2009

Life& Arts entertainment

Carvajal commends Cine Las Americas Free hugs from Quiet Company
Sarah Vasquez
Staff Writer

Anny Ibarra If you haven’t heard of

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 Mexican-
Chilean 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 educa-
tion was a favorite. Many cre-
ative 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.
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 show-
cased several talented film-
makers 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
Hanlly Sam • Staff Photographer
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 enter-
tains, it opens vistas of oppor-
tunities for cinematographers
and students, and educates our
community.
“I truly enjoyed my years at
ACC. I was able to start stu-
dent organizations, put shows
together and attend various
classes that were priceless for
my career development. I defi-
nitely didn’t just think of ACC
as merely the bridge from high
school to a big university.”
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 imme-
diately 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 self-
record 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 for-
ever. 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
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 hand-
made 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 intro-
duced 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
Photo courtesy of Quiet Company
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].”

Lone Star State Jam

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 coin-
cided 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.
Rusty Tolliver • Staff Photographer
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 new-
lywed 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 pro-
duced 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 suc-
cess 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

May 4, 2009 • Accent page 9
Brett Easton Ellis’ The Informers, vapid and vicous
David Rodriguez
Assistant Editor
Gratuitous cocaine use,
ambivalent sex, and the
perpetual party have aggran-
dized, transformed and bled
unobtrusively into this decade
from the eighties and nineties.
Unsurprisingly, Brett Easton
Ellis’ and Gregor Jordan’s The
Informers, a fictional min-
gling 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 beau-
tiful breasts way that only Ellis
has captured unflinchingly in
the past quarter decade.
Ellis has immortalized, sat-
irized 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 steril-
ized, but nonetheless disturb-
ing, Hollywood rendition.
Director Gregor Jordan
Hawkes elevates Americana sound with polished sophomore release
Telepathe inches toward
fruition with Dance Mother
Devon Tincknell
Staff Writer
With “Dance Mother”,
Telepathe pulled a 180 in
accessibility, while simultane-
ously retaining the haunting
echoes of their noisier work.
Telepathe’s first full length
release “Dance Mother” shows
a band who have grown drasti-
cally. 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 prob-
ably 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 swirl-
ing 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.
Life&Arts
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’ antici-
pated 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 perfor-
mances with a limited screen
time. Rourke and Basinger
were especially engaging
capturing Ellis’ underlying
ennui, savagery and frustra-
tion unnervingly.
Ellis even co-wrote the
screenplay with relative new-
comer Nicholas Jarecki, some-
thing 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
Telepathe
isn’t the first of
its ilk to step
in this direc-
tion 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 sound-
ing like something from the
UK dubstep scene. Black Dice,
whose twisted techno sounds
like an operating system crash-
ing on Dimethyltryptamine
(DMT), have come a long way
from their early punch-you-in-
the-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 synthesiz-
ers and jagged, pulsing drum
beats, keep everything orderly
w w w.the Accent.org
mov ie re v iew
is everyone so healthy look-
ing 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,
m u sic re v iews
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.
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 com-
mercial viability. “Dance
Mother” finds Telepathe
poised on the precipice, blush-
ing 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.
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
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 familiar-
ity with the material,” said
Boyd. “We’re comfortable with
the material. We know where
it’s going.”
“And each other’s as well,” “House Jam” captivated the
continued Hawkes. comradery and laidback vibe
The actual recording and really allowed the listener,
“Because I Feel That Way Too” vicariously, to be present in
is a more polished version of the room for the friendly
Hawkes’ music. Since Hawkes gathering.
is also a producer during the “It’s literally 12 people that
day, the songs don’t sound just came over to the house to
over-tweaked. sort of celebrate the culmina-
Catch Chris Hawkes @
The last song “House Jam” tion of the record and met Headhunters
is my personal favorite. The each other,” said Hawkes. “We May 16th
track wraps up the album in just hung out, jammed a few and
a celebratory manner and tunes, and put them on the Douglas Jay Boyd Band @
it consists of some of the end of the disc.”
Saxon Pub
musicians who contributed May 11th.
during the recording process.
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 pro-
lific 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.
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 bat-
tling 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 head-
liners 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).