Perspiration drips from her face and the muscles and veins in her arms and legs twitch with each lift and lurch of a training weight. She isn’t slim and slender like a fashion runway model, but Ellie Fanaika doesn’t care because, for the sport she participates in, she can’t have a slender physique.

Fanaika just laughs, smiles a wide, bright grin and continues to pump more than 200 pounds of iron in preparation for the shot put she is going to thrust through the air.

Fanaika, 19, is a thrower for the women’s track and field team. She specializes in throwing the shot put, hammer and discus. Though the sport demands a muscular build, she is still feminine. Lifting weights doesn’t retract from her femininity—it enhances it.

“Athletes come in a lot of different sizes, and I’m proud to be breaking the stereotype that women athletes are thin and slim because I’m far from that—I’m a bigger, thicker version, yet I’m still an athlete,” says Fanaika, an undecided major. “I don’t feel like a buff man when I throw in the track meets.”

According to her cousin Ignatius Smith, a City College psychology major, Fanaika is an inspiration to all…» Read More

When a game of soccer begins to be played indoors, the stadium and all its surroundings cease to exist, and instead, the field turns into the interior of a pinball machine. There are no out of bounds and the soccer ball never stops.

It bounces off people, walls and ceiling rafters and the end of the game is like that of pinball—when the ball ceases to move. “GOOOALLL” is shouted, conflicting emotions echo nonstop—shaking the building of its dust and signaling the end of one match and swift start of the next.

Every Tuesday and Thursday night, this heart-pumping and pulse-throbbing phenomenon is witnessed in City College’s South Gym in soccer coach Jang-Ha Oh’s indoor soccer class, TMACT 300.

According to Oh, indoor soccer has several differences in comparison to its outdoor counterpart. The match is reduced to 12 players, six on each team, because of smaller space. Instead of a field of emerald-tinged grass, the playing surface is a hard, honeywood floor. The soccer ball is converted from a black-and-white checkered pattern into an enlarged tennis ball. Playing time is reduced to five minutes to accommodate 40-plus students. Oh also states that the game can go on, even during…» Read More

Sara Rupnow, a City College student who battled cancer since the age of 16, died Dec. 14, 2009. She was 19.

Rupnow, who received an honorary degree from City College shortly after her death, died at home of complications from the cancer.

While a sophomore in high school, she was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, which affects the joints in the arms and legs causing large swelling and many of the health complications she experienced—including the amputation of her left leg.

Rupnow didn’t let the disease interfere with her life. She said being in school, interacting with others and feeling productive helped her continue pursuing life.

“When I feel like my life is so unfair and it sucks, I’m able to talk to people who are having a worse time than me and come back and feel like my life is not that bad,” said Rupnow in an interview with The Express, recorded six weeks before her death.

“Doing things day by day and focusing on what I want to do is much more productive instead of thinking of the scary things that happened or will happen to me.”

According to her parents, Rupnow became a stronger person due to synovial…» Read More

City College’s Storytime Theatre has a new production, the title of which couldn’t better represent the audience’s reaction for its 30-minute run. The minute “Sleeping Beauty” began, it was as if an enchanted snoozing spell had been cast over audience.

The play is meant to be an adaptation of the Disney animated film, but it was anything but: The children in attendance looked like confused vegetables sitting in front of a television set. The story and performances didn’t squeeze even a chuckle or giggle out of them. The only line that drew a slight laugh was toward the end when the king, portrayed by Robert Born, says, “I had a dream that the Sacramento Kings had a winning season.”

But guess who laughed — adults of at least 40 years of age.

The casting choices were questionable. The queen, portrayed by Stephanie Davis, tried to be funny yet commanding, like Carol Burnett in the film “Annie” but this performance fell flat and was unconvincing. She appeared like an evil stepmother or egotistical actress seeking out the center of attention and the limelight. The magic bird, portrayed by Suzanne Neil, was supposed to be enchanting and lovely gilded bird, according to…» Read More

Those who never had the opportunity to venture into Panto Land with City Theatre’s “Snow White: A British Panto” will get their chance when the sequel, “Peter Pan: A British Panto,” comes to City Theater. The sequel falls into the Hollywood sequel trap, lacking the same freshness, originality and luster as its predecessor.

A panto is a type of theatre comedy genre where gender roles are mixed and the action follows no logical sequence.

“Peter Pan” is still comical and farcical but with vocals being extra pitchy and off-key, they could shatter windows and the chasing sequences are way too long drawn. They would run and run and run in circles throughout most of the first act. There’s even a line from one of songs a pirate sings amidst the tediously lengthy chases and screams.

“I don’t know what I’ve been told but chasing Peter Pan is getting kind of old,” sings Sarah Rowland, as the character of Assistant Captain Crunch, toward the end of the first act.

And what happened to the title character? The play is titled “Peter Pan” but he was practically missing from the whole production. When Amelia Van Brunt, who portrays Peter Pan, does appear…» Read More

Kelli Worthey, nutrition I’m thankful that I have a good life, since everybody else is having troubles. Kelley Voss, marine biology For turkey bacon, because sometimes you don’t want to be eating pig. Nick Rutledge, family consumer I’m thankful for Obama being the first African-American president. Mary Reardon, English That I finally got acceptance letters, Starbucks, money and sex. Daniel Lashchuk, business For everything that I have and that I’m living. Web extra:

Listen to other responses in this podcast

What are you grateful for? by saccityexpress

…» Read More

As an invocation to the dead spirits is chanted toward the four cardinal points of the compass, smoke emits from an abalone shell burning with a mini cow skull, frankincense and straw. There’s an alter displaying a myriad of items from Mexican culture such as pre-Columbian clay statues, Virgin of Guadalupe, candy skulls and Mexican pastries. The altar was set up to honor those who have died and remember there presence and that they have physically died but their memory lingers.

The Cultural Awareness Center hosted a celebration for Día de los Muertos Nov. 2 where approximately 45 students and faculty learned about the customs surrounding Day of the Dead and how it differs in different parts of the world.

The speakers and organizers of the event were City College counselor David Rasul, community organizer and local artist Juanishi V. Orosco and social activist and community filmmaker Sam Quiñones.

“In different parts of the world, even as far as L.A. and Fresno, the celebrations of Day of the Dead are different,” Quiñones says. “But yet again we accept the idea the same and carry on the tradition of honoring the dead.”

During the presentation, a video produced by Quiñones was…» Read More

Sara Rupnow wants to be an average college student. She wants to have a boyfriend, have a job and get high grades in all her classes — average ambitions for any young adult in this world. But there’s something that sets apart the 19-year-old art major from the typical young adult and catches the attention of everyone she meets: her metal leg. Three years ago, while Rupnow was in high school, her left leg needed to be amputated to control a disease. Her prosthetic titanium and plastic leg has since been used as a substitute, so she may be able to carry out daily functions, such as walking. Although initially disliking the idea of having an artificial limb, she’s grateful now because of the benefits it provides. “After the surgery, it took me a while to walk with my prosthetic because I was channeling all my frustration toward my leg and the fact that it wasn’t there anymore,” Rupnow says. “But having my leg gives me so many advantages in terms of being able to get around at school and other places where things haven’t been accommodated for people in wheelchairs.” But her prosthetic leg is only a small portion…» Read More

The Express and saccityexpress.com, the paper’s online counterpart, were presented with 15 awards Nov. 7 at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges NorCal regional conference in San Jose.

Saccityexpress.com garnered a general excellence award, the highest standard for community college Web newspapers. Awards were given to designers, photographers and writers alike.

“It’s good to know we’re going in the right direction with our new online focus this fall,” Express editor in chief Chris Geanakos said. “We strive to ensure that our coverage is relevant to our campus.”

JACC gives recognition to the California and Arizona community colleges that excel in journalism.

The awards were based on mail-in entries of articles, photographs and designed pages published in the Express and online in fall 2008 and spring 2009.

JACC is an association designed to provide extended educational opportunities for journalism students and instructors.

…» Read More

The lights dimmed in the back of the City College Auditorium 6 and suddenly a barren tree silhouette is shone through a light projector against the scarlet velvet curtain, but the City College jazz band’s Oct. 15 performance under the direction of Rob Knable was anything but spare.

The audience was taken through the musical scales to discover a whole new world where The musical variety enveloped and caressed the audience into a sweet-like yet festive dreamlike world where time ceased and jazz ruled.

The professionalism of the band as evidenced by their posture, formal wear, and the unity of the band as a whole reminded me of a PBS special spotlighting a philharmonic orchestra or band at some famous concert hall.

The performance’s opening piece, “So What” composed and written by Miles Davis and arranged by Mark Taylor was a classic example of swing jazz.

It was silky smooth and featured an arsenal of trumpets and the bombastic beating of drums and crashing cymbals. It was a cohesive, oxymoronic mix that worked effectively because the soft bellowing from the bass, xylophone and piano kept the chaotic flurry of other notes rolling at a steady pace.

The next piece…» Read More