Photo by Jeff Rawlinson

The Express news staff went to downtown’s Cesar Chavez Park this fall to capture the grassroots effort by City College students and staff as they did their part in the greater national Occupy Movement, which began on Wall Street and continues to spread throughout the country.

Express multimedia editor L.T. Clayton produced the video that captured Occupy Sacramento protesters pledging Oct.6 to occupy Cesar Chavez Park for a month as an act of solidarity with the national Occupy movement. A number of City College students participated in the protests.

“Folks are out of work and feel that the government, at the state and national level, aren’t hearing their concerns,” said Mayor Kevin Johnson of the Occupy Sacramento protests. “One of the great things about democracy is that people can come out and voice their frustrations. I certainly respect their ability to show democracy in action.

Johnson was interviewed by Express photographer Kimberly Washington.

Clayton shot City College art major Ben Howe and biology major Stephanie Cervantes, who went to Cesar Chavez Park and made posters at the protest. They admitted that they had trouble coming up with something they wanted to say.

“We both agreed that taking money out of politics was most important so our government can go back to doing things for the people instead of just doing things for whoever has the money,” Cervantes said.

Howe and Cervantes drew a poster that conveyed politicians as stringed marionette puppets. The people that controlled the strings were the 1 percent. A pair of scissors symbolized the occupation.

“It’s time to cut the strings is our message,” Cervantes said.

Education coordinator Sean Laney said he believes the movements could spark change.

“The more we talk about this, the more we realize that we can start to get these things worked out. Democracy can work,” he said.

Siena Kendall, City College communications major, said she felt that her presence at the protests was a powerful experience

“I’m not satisfied with society in general. The only progressive things that happen in our society come from the people. It isn’t initiated by the government…it’s always the people coming together,” she said.

Express photographer Vincent Fernandez interviewed biochemistry major and Associated Student Senator Sean Thompson, 27, who addressed protesters in the crowd through a bullhorn.

“Some people are here because they got foreclosed on. A lot of people are here because of their student loans and they can’t find a job,” said Thompson, hinting at the discontent of Occupy College, a movement that eventually arose from Occupy Wall Street.

Activists came from across the economic spectrum came out in support. A homeless Occupy Sacramento protester who goes by the name FAGGO, said he has been homeless for eight years, and has looked for work for three of those years.

Raphael Rocha, a City College social work major said that he doesn’t know anyone who thinks the country is going in the right direction.

“This is an opportunity to let the politicians know that we need to get this thing straight,” he said.  “My 23-year-old daughter, I don’t know about her generation and the students at Sac City and other colleges. They are going to be loaded with a lot of debt.”

Traveling artist Alisha Fisher said she has been to Occupy protests in Montreal, New York City, Seattle, Portland and found herself in Sacramento.

“The movement is pretty self-explanatory,” Fisher said. “All the issues are interconnected. There is oppression in our society. Mother Earth is being trashed. It’s all for money. You can make money by healing the earth. You don’t have to kill it.”

To see the video, go to: http://saccityexpress.com/2011/12/01/occupy-sacramento/

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Photo by Tony Wallin

Donations of canned foods don’t usually yield tangible returns, but City College’s cosmetology department held its fall semester canned food drive, inviting students, staff and community to donate canned foods in return for a free haircut or manicure.

A multimedia editor for saccityexpress.com, Vincent Fernandez, examined how this act of goodwill benefits the Sacramento homeless community in the video “Food for Beauty.”

The semi-annual canned food drive gives cosmetology students the chance to practice their skills on a variety of hair types, and the interaction between client and cosmetologist is one of the benefits of the food drive. Cosmetology instructors supervise the event.

“I really like coming to the school for them to do my nails,” says resident Mercy Figueroa in the video. “With the can food drive, you’re helping someone out. Plus, at the same time you’re getting a service, which is really great.”

The drive has special meaning for client and early childhood development major Darrell Rogers, a formerly homeless resident.

“When you’re homeless man, everything is hard. It’s hard on the mental aspect of your life, the physical aspect of your life. When I was homeless, I was blessed to have…I went to a shelter,” Rogers told Fernandez, reflecting on the past.

All canned food items from the drive are then collected and donated to the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 in the Oak Park Community.

According to its website, the agency provides free emergency goods and services to 1,500 men, women and children each month.

The latest food distribution drive held Oct. 18 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church brought hundreds from the community. Residents attending for the first time were asked to sign in, and were given a slip of paper with a number on it.

According to Kelly Siefkin, communications director at the Sacramento Food Bank, a canned food represents roughly a pound of food per person. Fresh fruits, vegetables, bread and meat make up the bulk of food distributed. Volunteers assist throughout, helping to make the experience both friendly and educational.

To watch “Food for Beauty”, go to http://vimeo.com/32530190

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Photo by Richard Hanna

Head football coach, Dannie Walker, talks to the Express about football athletes in early season after Friday’s scrimmage.

Walker said the football players are working on strengthening the fundamentals of football during fall camp.

“We got a lot of young guys out here that are extremely talented, but at the same time, we have to continue to focus on the fundamentals like throwing the football, tackling, blocking, running (and) catching,” Walker said.

“A specific position grouping would be our defensive line. There are a lot of talented young men on that line, that are looking forward to go on after here to the four-year level,” Walker said.

“Our offensive line is very talented, as well as being mature and having a lot of college playing experience, which is valuable at the offensive (and) defensive line,’’ Walker said.

Photo by Richard Hanna

Walker said he looked forward to the everyday growth he sees in the athletes, “in terms of the disciplines of life and comparing that with the disciplines of football, that in itself, is enjoyable to see when they start to grow.”

Photo by Richard Hanna

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Morgan Webb, co-host of G4 Television’s “X-Play” and host of “G4 underground,” came to
City College on Thursday, Nov. 11 to speak with students about her experiences in the fields of
technology and video games.

Webb spoke at length on the topic of video game design, the job climate in the game industry,
and engaged students in a discussion on what makes a good video game. City College students
enjoyed the talk and had a chance to receive an autograph and have their photo taken with the
television host.

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City College student and artist Hannah De La Rosa shows her work. Photo by Libby Parenti

Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, Frida Kahlo: these are just a few of the artists who would enshrine the surrealism movement of the early 20th century into the annals of art history. Their bold investigations into the symbolism of the subconscious influenced countless artists to pick up the brush and paint something more real than still life or portraiture could afford. Nineteen-year-old, City College student Hannah De La Rosa is one of these artists.

De La Rosa, an art major who’s been attending City College since the fall semester of 2008, says that her interest in art became apparent at a very young age.

“There’s a picture of me, 2 years old, in a Raiders shirt drawing on a plate,” De La Rosa says. “It was a paper plate and I was drawing on it with a big old crayon.”

Despite her young inclinations toward art, it wasn’t until she was older that she decided to truly become an artist. According to De La Rosa, an introduction to surrealism was the catalyst for her new found aspiration.

“I started really getting into Frida Kahlo and Salvidor Dali around the age of 9 and 10, and I just decided I wanted to be an artist,” De La Rosa says. “Ever since then I’ve been painting, drawing, doing whatever I could with my hands.”

De La Rosa says that when she first saw the works of Dali, she understood that art could be much more than mere depictions of real objects. Ever since then, her work has worked to
reflect her inside out.

De La Rosa’s room, which also doubles as a cramped studio she shares with her younger sister, is strewn with innumerable canvasses, stacked, stored or lined up along the wall. Upon the canvasses, bright colors, symbolic and personal figures, relevant to De La Rosa, make up the bulk of her compositions.

“It makes you think more than if it was a picture of a cup or a person, you already know what it is, but if it’s something that came up from inside of them, then its something you have to think harder about,” De La Rosa says describing her style.

Nineteen-year-old City College student and boyfriend of De La Rosa,Zane Singleton says that it is surprising how good her artwork is, despite her lack of formal training.
“She hasn’t really had schooling that much— she just had a couple of classes,” says Singleton. “She just has a lot of raw talent.”

Though De La Rosa says she’s not a fan of art classes, which she believes turns art into a chore, her current instructor Eric Wood has helped reinforce her enthusiasm to create. She says that unlike other courses, his class has made working on art an even more fun endeavor

“She always dives into the assignment really well and she has a really, really nice clean rendering style,” Wood says. “I feel like I’m pushing her to be a little bit better and I’m kind of curious about seeing what she has going on in her show,” says Wood. De La Rosa will be displaying her art work downtown at 1819 K S/1treet on April 10 at Second

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