Doonan has spent summers digging in Peru and lecturing on diverse topics around the world.  After starting a family and subsequently putting archaeological fieldwork on pause, Doonan published three novels in between raising his two young sons and teaching full time at City College.  His third novel, “American Caliphate,” was released April 10 this year.

“American Caliphate,” which centers around two archaeologists searching the ruins of Peru’s pyramids for a long lost document that would stun the Islamic world, was an idea he had while doing fieldwork in the Peru.

“It never rains there so it’s really arid… so we [read more...]

City College’s new course repeatability rule—also known as the “three-strikes” rule—and a new rule limiting the drop date for courses will debut this summer.

According to Kim Goff, director of Admissions and Records, the new repeatability policy imposes a three-attempt limit to pass a course. Any combination of three “D,” “F” or “W” grades would prohibit students from taking the course again at any Los Rios college, though some physical education courses are exempt.

Goff said the policy is also retroactive, meaning past coursework counts as a strike. “The repeat policy is huge,” Goff said. “Five hundred people have been [read more...]

Things didn’t go as planned for the City College softball team this spring, compiling a record of 11-26-1 after going 6-15 in the Big 8 Conference.

According to the coach, these struggles weren’t because of a lack of effort.

“We don’t have players on the team this year that have played a lot of softball,” head coach Tim Kiernan said.

The Panthers got a very solid freshman campaign from infielder Molly Ryan, who led the team with a .458 batting average to go along with nine home runs and 36 RBI’s in 96 at-bats.

Ryan also was selected to the [read more...]

Like most colleges, at City College, in order to maintain funding, scholarships are mostly dependent upon private donations.

According to Director of Institutional Advancement Tracy Newman, City College alumna Hulda Mae Stone passed away in September 2011, bequeathing half of her estate—$1.375 million in total—to City College’s scholarship and student emergency loan program.

The donation is the largest in City College’s history. Stone attended City College for two years in the 1930s, and according to Newman, she deeply believed in the need for higher education.

The funds should be available to applicants next academic year through City College’s scholarship program, [read more...]

Winners of the Sierra Health Foundation’s Outstanding Essay Contest on the topic of civility include Alysia Iglesias, who was awarded $1,000 for first place; Allison Dycaico, who won $700 for second place; and in a tie for third place, Jason George and Rudy Behrens were awarded $300 each on May 11.

Students were asked to write 800 to 1,500 words on what civility means to them, as well as how they experience it in their everyday lives.

English professor Anne Lewis presented the awards in a small ceremony of over two dozen students and faculty. The awards were distributed to [read more...]

There was anticipation, expectation, waiting, attention, hope and excitement. Four years, five movies, seven stars and a $220 million budget. Unfortunately, Marvel’s “The Avengers” is not as good of a film as you think it is.

It’s better.

Under Joss Whedon’s more than capable direction, “The Avengers” finishes what “Iron Man” started in 2008 with the greatest of flourishes. Its central plot pits the titular heroes (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, for the uninitiated) against the vengeful Norse god with tyrannical aspirations for Earth, Norse god Loki.

Perhaps Whedon’s greatest triumph is that “The [read more...]

I spent the first weekend of May as an AmBASSador on tour with Bassnectar (Lorin Ashton), a dubstep artist who fuses elements of other genres (rock, hip hop and ambient) into his music. His albums and shows sell out across the country.

So, what is an AmBASSador? According to Ashton, it’s an opportunity for “enthusiastic fans to give back to the people around them, to volunteer their time and their passion to contribute creatively to the atmosphere of each event.”

It doesn’t mean we just get to hang around backstage in a big-headed clique being introverted. It is the complete [read more...]

On a wooden stage at Java Lounge, Justin Farren sits and takes a sip of his hot tea, then takes off his shoes and sets them beside him on stage. He wiggles his toes inside his white cotton socks, puts down the tea cup, tunes his guitar and dedicates his first song to his dog.

Farren classifies his music as folk-pop storytime, which is exactly what he delivers.

Every one of his songs is filled with stories about simple everyday life, sung in a laid-back style that floats from groovy jams to calm and sentimental songs.

“My music has evolved [read more...]