Facilitated by Student Health Services, the fair was initially started to provide basic health services to students and to educate them about healthy lifestyle choices.

Registered Nurse Robin Perry said that she, along with other Student Health Services nurses, were “checking blood pressure, height and weight, BMI, waist circumference, and answering any questions students may have in regards to overall health and lifestyle choices.”

“Our main goal,” Perry said, “is to promote health awareness, help students identify areas where they might want to focus on for a healthier lifestyle, and to give them an overview of the services we provide in the clinic.”

Perry explained that the new Student Services building opened the doors for more health services that are now available to students.

“Because we’re in the new Student Services building,” she stated, “we have many more resources available now than we did in the past.  We have full counseling, the everyday nurse practitioners, immunizations, flu shots, wellness checks, and blood work.  We try to really get a full picture for the students.”  Many of these services are offered to students at no cost.

Although the main focus of the health fair was to promote healthy lifestyles, the fair also welcomed a diverse assortment of vendors and organizations.  From a rock-climbing wall to spiritual readings, students had no shortage of activities in which to partake.

Mesa student Melissa Corie braved the rock-climbing wall, making it all the way to the top and back again without a problem.  Still jittery from the adrenaline rush, Corie stated that she hadn’t rock climbed since middle school.  “It took more effort than I remembered,” she said, “I’m afraid of heights so it took physical strength and mental strength.”

Corie also took part in a spiritual reading, which drew a long line of other eager participants.  “The reader said that I was blocked in some way,” she said, “and right after he said that, I almost felt it being lifted out of me.”

Volunteers from the non-profit organization Falun Dafa were also in attendance, and provided live demonstrations of their meditation techniques.  The group practices a traditional Chinese method of meditation, which is used to improve physical health and reduce stress and anxiety.  In addition to spreading the word about this ancient healing method, the Falun Dafa group also sought to raise awareness about the persecution of individuals in China who follow this self-cultivation practice.

A volunteer by the name of Yu stated, “This ancient practice is so beneficial, but the Communist regime in China wants to ban it.  Many people have lost their lives or have been persecuted and because of this, it pushes Falun Dafa to the world stage.”  She added that the group “has no membership fees, no dues, and we don’t even accept donations.  There is no church or worshipping; it’s just a practice to improve the mind and body.”

As evidenced by the diverse group of volunteers, students were provided with an array of ways to improve their health, from Western medicine to alternative methods.  Between the food stands, nutritionists, and rock-climbing wall, Mesa’s health fair enjoyed another successful run, as students were seen crowded in front of the LRC well into the afternoon as the fair came to a close.

There are certain factors that bring up the conversation of relocating. Poor attendance is usually where it begins. Fans basically stop showing up because the team does not produce results either at home or away.

Another factor is the ownership wants to move to a bigger better market. With lucrative TV deals just waiting to be signed, owners are looking for ways out of bad situations and relocation is a viable option.

The last reason, and probably the biggest, is the lack of a modern functional stadium or arena. With stadiums now serving as a venue for other things besides sports, cities around the country are upgrading.

The Dallas Cowboys stadium, nicknamed “Jerry World” after their General Manager/Owner Jerry Jones, cost over $1 billion to make and is used for many things besides Cowboys football. Musical acts, prized boxing fights and a Super Bowl have already graced their presence in the stadium.

These factors all contribute heavily to the idea of relocating and are currently being mulled over here in San Diego.

The Chargers for the last few years have been the subject of relocation talks. Los Angeles, being the second biggest market in the country, currently has zero football teams after losing two teams in the 90’s.  The Chargers are the logical choice to move to LA due to the geographical location and it won’t hurt the division alignment.

Hopefully this won’t happen, but there are steps to be made in order for the Bolts to stay super here in San Diego.

It all begins with the stadium. Qualcomm Stadium was built back in 1967 and the main reason why the Chargers are in relocation talks. “The Q,” as it is called, is an older stadium, compared to most of the NFL’s stadiums, and is passed over year after year to host a Super Bowl.

San Diego is the ideal spot for a Super Bowl due to the location and the great weather that is provided year round and those are the ideal traits for cities that host Super Bowls, except for next year when it is in New York, but that’s another matter.

The problem here in San Diego is that there is not enough space to put a stadium. There are options, like build in the parking lot at Qualcomm, put a stadium on a naval base or take down buildings in downtown and build a stadium next to Petco Park.  With those options come difficulties and adversaries.

Tax payers aren’t willing to publicly fund a new stadium and not get immediate results as San Diegans did for Petco Park.  The economy is also not very strong and that would be a turn off to a publicly funded stadium.

For now, it seems as though the Chargers will stay but it only takes one day for an owner to change their mind and they can be gone overnight with the snap of a finger.

The Chargers aren’t the only team in California with relocation drama. The NBA’s Sacramento Kings have been in a relocation drama the last three years.

The owners of the Kings, the Maloof family, have tried unsuccessfully three times in three years to move the team out of the capital to Anaheim and this year to Seattle. The Kings play in a very old arena for NBA standards and have also not been very good in the last 6 years.

This situation is different than that of the Chargers though. The Maloofs are in financial trouble and therefore have not been investing in the team and bringing in good players to compete. They are alienating fans and after a preliminary sell to a group from Seattle looking to move the team there, the Maloofs stopped showing up to games and would insert other teams fans into the luxury seats down on the court.

Fortunately for the NBA and Sacramento, the NBA owners have decided to keep the team in Sacramento as the fans, the city and a group willing to buy the team and keep them in town have all stepped up in their “Here We Stay” campaign.

Relocation hurts the team, the city and especially the fans that show their support both emotionally and financially and should only be a last resort option. Let’s hope the Chargers can get a new stadium so they can win their first Super Bowl here and the city can sing “San Diego Super Chargers” all throughout the night.

The movie starts out a little slow but that’s to be expected because it follows the great American novel so closely. With modern day effects and computer animation, the scenery was absolutely stunning. It’s worth the extra cash to have sprung to see the movie in 3D. The acting, especially from DiCaprio, was spectacular because as in most roles he’s taken on, he actually becomes the character. Maguire was a perfect fit to his role as well because he always seems to accurately depict the awkward but charming character with the films he stars in. See the “Spider-Man” films as reference of that.

However, it may be the soundtrack that catches more attention than the movie itself. It featured all new tracks from modern day musicians such as Jay-Z, Jack White and Gotye and was unexpected considering the movie takes place in the 1920s. Futuristic music and historical inaccuracies can ruin it for fans. One would think that with big name actors and a huge filming budget, the makers of the movie would have done their research better and gotten their information correct. Even though they’re just minor details in the big picture, they can certainly annoy a dedicated viewer.

The party scenes were the best part of the movie. The director spared no expense when it came to showing how extravagant the parties were that Jay Gatsby threw every week. It was definitely the kind of gathering you wish you were at– complete with drinking, music, dancing, and wild performances.

This definitely wasn’t the type of movie you need to run out and see on the first night of its releas. It was more like the kind you see when you’ve seen everything else already and it’s a matinee showing. This movie wasn’t particularly bad but for a remake with all the modern technology and information out there, it was still possible to make the same movie with a new twist much better than this was. Fans of the book would be much more interested in the 2009 adaptation.

Although officially labeled a sequel, “Riptide” is almost a complete copy of its predecessor, as the game features the same characters, gameplay mechanics and unfortunately the same bugs and mistakes from the first.

Players take control over the same heroes from the first game: one-hit-wonder rapper Sam B., hotel receptionist Xian Mei, former football star Logan, ex-cop Purna and soldier John Morgan, another immune survivor and new playable character. Each character has their own special abilities, allowing players to adjust their characters’ skill trees to their liking.

Having escaped the zombie outbreak on Banoi, the survivors find themselves landing aboard a military ship. After the ship is struck by the zombie plague and thus getting sunk amidst the chaos, the survivors find themselves washed ashore on the island of Palanai, which too has fallen victim to the plague. Joined by numerous allies, the survivors look to once again escape the nightmare that is the zombie virus.

However, the zombie virus isn’t the only nightmare that infects this game. Armed with many of the same bugs and glitches from its predecessor- including rendering problems, inconsistent gameplay mechanics and lazy character animations- “Riptide” is literally a chip of the chip off the old block. Storyline syncing issues between co-op players online and the game occasionally freezing are just a few of these issues.

Despite the multitude of problems the game has, “Riptide” is most similar to its predecessor in the way that it’s unbelievably fun. With an open world complete with all-new areas to discover, players are subject to hours upon hours of gameplay, giving the game serious replay value- as if its $50 dollar price tag didn’t save you enough money. Players have a vast arsenal for zombie-extermination- from bats and crowbars to sniper rifles and rocket launchers, zombies have never been in such a world of hurt.

Like the installment before it, “Riptide” has 99 problems… but amazingly enough, these issues hardly take anything away from how addictively fun the game is. The storyline isn’t great, the gameplay can be choppy and clunky at times and you’re pretty much paying $50 for a copy of its predecessor, but one thing proves to be true: going ham on zombies is fun but it’s even more fun with friends.

Rating: 3/5

“The Heist” paints Macklemore and Ryan Lewis as the ultimate machine. Even though it was originally released in 2010, the album didn’t seem to pick up speed in mainstream until this year following the video release of “Thrift Shop”.

Their collaborative efforts challenges the Drake and Noah “40” Shebib duo as the best Rapper-Engineer combination in the world of music. That may place a hefty burden on the shoulders of the two but the praise is well deserved.

Their fist album, “The Heist” infuses hip-hop, soft rock, pop, and even a little country. Macklemore uses his history of drug addiction, reckless behavior and former relationships to elucidate his beliefs and thoughts.

Thanks to the ever-popular single, “Thrift Ship”, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis have taken the world by storm. “Thrift Shop” illustrated the duos eclectic nature and their overall self-awareness.

The one word to describe this album is “unexpected”. The two have changed the game of rap for years come. This album isn’t the greatest of all time but it personifies the meaning of integrity and social responsibility.

It puts the rap game on notice because it calls for rappers to be responsible for the words the say.

The same track that sold over 2 million singles actually makes it cool for people to wear hand-me downs and beat up vintage clothing. It helps those less fortunate create a public persona with only a few bucks.

Macklemore kept true to his lyrics by being seen wearing sweaters that even Bill Cosby wouldn’t be caught dead in.

The first track starts out with a simple melody to help introduce the pair as a duo.

The weirdest song would probably be “Cowboy Boots”. The song starts out with a country-like feel but then progresses into a banjo-filled hoedown instrumental chant.  What’s unique is that it never keeps that same tone for the verses, but only the hook and chorus.

The song “Jimmy Iovine” is the most creative and story-like track of the deluxe album. It features Ab-Soul on the chorus and Macklemore in an almost ballad-like rap.

The song is about Macklemore pretending to be a janitor/painter in order to get to the top floor of the Interscope building. He ultimately commits a “heist” by attempting to force A&R reps to give him a contract. It almost contradicts the message the duo portrays when they publicly turn down numerous contract offers in order to maintain their self-respect. This is true until the second verse begins.

Macklemore is actually presented a contract but it only guarantees a small percentage of his overall earnings. In some not so kind words, Macklemore refutes the contract offer and rather chooses to be a starving musician than a gutless pushover.

What is most likely the best conscious single of the year thus far, “Same Love” is also the most culturally inspiring song of the multifarious collection. Featuring Mary Lambert, it begins with a piano arrangement and lyrically begins with Macklemore saying, “When I was in the third grade, I thought that I was gay, Cause I could draw, my uncle was, and I kept my room straight.”

As a child, he considered drawing a feminine activity because that’s what people taught little boys.

He goes on to challenge predispositions and the hypocrisy of American politics as a whole. The chorus explains the meaning of the song in only a few words: “I can’t change, Even if I tried, Even if I wanted to, I can’t change”.

Macklemore also accuses hip-hop as being homophobic and challenges the popular genre to make a change.

“The Heist” is one of the most diverse collections of songs that will ever be heard. If there is a critique, it’s the seemingly monotonic tone the Macklemore voices through the album. The tone is synonymous with his signature style but some may find it too repetitive. This may also be a reason why the group chooses to remain independent. They don’t want to change what made them unique.

Nevertheless, this album will change the way many think, and ultimately change some lives. This is more than just an album. It is a musically engineered confessional. It is a message. Dare to be different and be brave enough to embrace yourself first before looking for validation in others.

The renovation of student services will drastically alter the educational routes of current and potential students attending community colleges. This is due to the enactment of the s the Student Success Act of 2012.

On September 28, 2012, “California Governor Jerry Brown signed the Student Success Act of 2012, or Senate Bill 1456, into law”.

The Student Success Act requires California community colleges to adopt a new funding formula.

According to the CCCCO (California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office), this new formula includes, but isn’t limited to, three specific elements: “the students to be served; students who received orientation, assessment, counseling/advising, and student education planning services; and a match requirement.”

The Student Success Task Force (SSTF) initially presented this bill to the Board of Governors.

This Task Force was created through the ratification of Senate Bill 1143. It is affectionately known as the “Liu Bill” since Democratic politician and former member of the State Assembly of California, Carol Liu, presented it.

Originally the Liu bill was marked by controversy when it suggested the idea of performance based funding.

“It was a controversial bill because the regular community college funding formula would be changed into performance based funding,” said Vice President of Student Services Julianna Barnes. “So instead of being funded by who is coming in, we would be funded by who is coming out.”

The Liu Bill also “required the Board of Governors to adopt a plan for promoting and improving student success and establish a Student Success Task Force,” the CCCCO reports.

The goal of the Task Force was to examine “best practices” promoting and advocating for the overall success of students.

They were also responsible for presenting a list of “recommendations” after analyzing specific methods of success. Some of these recommendations were simply suggested while others became law.

The list provided by the SSTF included 22 recommendations with 8 of them considered “focus areas”.

Mesa College is primarily focusing on three elements of these recommendations.

“There are three core areas that we are looking to implement,” said Barnes. “Participation in assessment testing, participation in orientation, and participation in educational planning” are the primary focus of Mesa at this time.

Barnes and other members involved have come up with a way to reward students who participate in these programs.

“The way we’re incentivizing this is by giving priority registration to the students who participate in these programs,” Barnes said. “Some colleges are even blocking enrollment until students participate in these services.”

After these services are fully implemented, students who choose not to participate won’t qualify for enrollment priority and will be hard pressed to find classes that fit their schedules if they find any available classes at all.

The Student Success Act of 2012 has been raved and acclaimed in most scholastic circles. The concept of the bill tackles an education system that has been marred by under-development and a lack of direction.

Susan Topham, Dean of Student Development, agrees with the overall concept of this measure.

“I soundly believe that the purpose of the bill is to help student with achieving their goals,” Topham says. “I think it is a refocusing and a repurposing of what we are currently doing.”

An underlying focus of the bill is to decrease the number of “career” college students and to increase the number of graduates and transfers. This enactment focuses on potential career goals as well educational desires.

“The overall purpose of the bill is about student success and that ties into increasing the number of degrees that we’re awarding, increasing the number of certificates, and increasing the number of transfer rates, ” said Topham.

Similar to Topham’s beliefs, Barnes suggests that students who accumulate many units and hours on campus are effectively falling short of the overall goal.

“If students spend a lot of time here, they don’t necessarily get to the finish line,” she says.

Scott Shouse, ASG senator, acknowledges the need for educational planning and assessment testing. His personal experiences helped him to appreciate the advantages of these services.

“I was without an Ed Plan and counseling for the first year and a half that I went to community college and I took a bunch of classes I didn’t need for my major,” Shouse said. “A lot of college students come in unprepared and unaware so I think they should focus on making sure students know what classes they should and shouldn’t take.”

The student success act has many advantages but the enactment suffers some drawbacks and fails to financially support full implementation.

The major problem this act suffers is lack of funding. As it currently stands, there are proposals shifting through legislation but many colleges haven’t discovered any new money respectively.

“At this point we don’t see any new money and it’s unclear if we’re going to get any money behind the new success act, but we’re hopeful because of the support behind it,” Barnes states.

In order for this success act to ultimately succeed, more counselors and service employees have to be hired.

Mesa College currently has 17 contract counselors to consult and guide almost 34,000 students. This means that the counselor-to-student ratio is about one counselor for every 2,000 students.

“We need more money,” said Barnes. “Even though there is a lot of advocacy behind this, it remains to be seen whether or not there is going to be enough dollars to support these new regulations.”

Without funding this student act will fall short of expectations and ultimately defuse every positive aspect of this legislation.

Some provisions of the new funding formula punish students who fall short of academic expectations.

According to the CCCCO, “A student may lose enrollment priority or their BOG Fee Waiver for poor academic performance.”

The student success act also requires each campus to post a “score card”.

“Each campus score card will highlight a select number of metrics that show student progress in meeting goals. The score card will also be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, and gender,” according to the CCCCO.

What the score card fails to include are any socioeconomic factors of the students on each respective campus.

Additionally, this new piece of legislation lacks conspicuous and purposeful advertisement.

Legislatures and faculty members have discussed it for years but the people primarily affected are largely unaware of these new recommendations and services.

“I barely know it and I would assume most students don’t either,” said ASG Senator Shouse. “I would advocate for better advertisement and awareness of how this legislation impacts the students.”

There is a listed timeline posted on the Chancellors Office’s website which indicates how specific regulations and recommendations will gradually be implemented throughout the next few years.

“This year and next year are what we consider the planning phases,” Barnes said. “The full implementation has to take place by the 2015-2016 school year even though some elements will be in effect before then.”

“Imagine you’re in the oven, baking. Some of us know and accept our sexuality right away and some need more time to cook. I should know — I baked for 33 years.”

Jason Collins, 34-year-old NBA free agent, stated this in the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated (SI) magazine. It was in reference to the level of preparation that closeted gays needed in order to publicly reveal their sexual orientation.

Collins recently became the first openly gay active player on a major U.S. sports team.

He has stated many reasons why he decided to publicly acknowledge his sexual orientation. The majority of his reasons were highly honorable, but one of his reasons strings an emotional chord that many gay men and women have to bare.

“In a way, my coming out is preemptive,” Collins said to SI. “I shouldn’t have to live under the threat of being outed. The announcement should be mine to make.”

Some people within the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) community seem to be indifferent to the unprepared and their psychological turmoil.

A perfect example involves the current situation of free agent NFL safety Kerry Rhodes.

Rhodes was assumed to be heterosexual until some conflicting reports were revealed. Allegedly his former boyfriend, Russell “Hollywood” Simpson, outed Rhodes by leaking pictures of the two embracing each other and also releasing text messages between the pair.

Rhodes has since publicly denied the two were a couple even though seemingly insurmountable evidence disagrees with him.

The issue is not about Rhodes’ sexual orientation or preferences. The problem with this dilemma involves the depravity and downright disrespect Simpson portrayed in all of this.

In many interviews over the past few weeks, Simpson has illustrated how bitter and scorned he was because of Rhodes. Since he was emotionally distressed he took it upon himself to “out” the NFL safety.

Simpson even states that people, especially women, should be happy that he outed Rhodes.

The trend of former partners outing celebrities has become very popular over the past year. These partners believe that by outing these players they’re either performing a utilitarian deed or getting back at their former flames for the heartache they may have caused.

They may think they’re doing a public service, but in reality they are doing more harm than most right-wing conservatives. It’s villainous because they abuse their position by taking private information and purposefully revealing it to the public without consent.

What many of these “outers” fail to recognize is the readiness of some closeted gay individuals. Just because some may be courageous enough to face ridicule and condemnation doesn’t mean everyone else is ready to follow suit.

As Jason Collins well knows, coming out to one person is already a process. Coming out publicly is one of the most arduous things a gay person will do in their lifetime. Your solution should not be their problem. If they did not give you the right to speak on a personal topic then you don’t have that right, period. It is not your responsibility to make them a sacrificial lamb for the cause.

In the battle of gay rights, it is pertinent to not forget the people you’re fighting for. Part of this battle is to ensure that gays, openly and closeted, are able to fully embrace who they are as individuals. This is a mentally rigorous process that is not to be taken lightly.

Some may never be able to admit who they really are but that is their problem. They will have to deal with that for the rest of their lives.

It is morally despicable for someone to “out” another person without his or her permission. Closeted gays are not sitting ducks isolated for critical target practice. Forcing people to come out is blatant victimization.

If they’re not brave enough to publicly claim who they really are, it is not up to “vigilantes” to do it for them.

Some people desperately want a hero and some just simply aren’t ready to be rescued.

About four hours after the race began; two explosions went off at the finish line. They were located about 50 yards apart and were set off about 12 seconds apart.

Three fatalities and over 170 injured were the result of this tragic event.

Sports are often perceived as a possible place for an act of terror because of the amount of people in one place and the amount of damage one can do when given the chance. An event like the Boston Marathon is different than that of a sport that plays in an arena or stadium.

The marathon is a public place where seemingly anyone can walk up at any point of the route because of how big it is, security can only do so much. But what happens now?

America has endured serious tragedies that dominate the media’s attention and leaves citizens across the country in disbelief that it has happened on American soil. One thing many people turn to is sports.

Sports can offer a getaway from that 9-5 job, it can be stress relieving from that final exam as well as being the centerpiece of a social gathering.

Although, no one ever forgets the tragic events that have occurred throughout history, many can associate a sporting event with a tragedy like adding a face to a name.

With the Boston Marathon being the most recent, it has already seen its fair share of acknowledgement from the sports community even from unlikely sources. A popular tradition at Boston Red Sox games involves the playing of Neil Diamond’s hit song, “Sweet Caroline.” Several Major League Baseball stadiums across the country showed tribute to their Boston brethren by playing the song at their baseball games. Even the Red Sox’s rival, the New York Yankees, played the song as a dedication to the event and the city of Boston.

Some baseball players wore black arm bands and an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, Ben Revere, taped the message, “Pray for Boston” to his glove.

There have been other events throughout history where sports have been the temporary distraction to a much larger ordeal.

The terrorist attacks on 9/11 in New York City are widely considered as the worst in the history of the United States. The whole country watched in disbelief as two skyscrapers fell to the ground leaving many dead and millions shocked about the magnitude of what happened.

Sports, as well as basically everything, were shut off for a few weeks.  When the baseball season returned to somewhat normalcy, the New York Yankees found their way into the World Series. New Yorkers rallied around the team and were provided a distraction that although only lasting for seven days, it was much needed.

The Yankees ended up losing the series but it seemed as if New York was going to rebound from the attacks as it marked the beginning of the rebuilding and recovering process.

There have been other tragic events where sports have provided a distraction that was not of the terrorist variety.

The 1980 “Miracle on Ice” hockey game pitted the young college kids that made up Team USA against the heavily favored Russians in the semifinals of the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY.  The two countries were at odds during the Cold War and this game became a major event.

The Americans pulled off the shocking upset and then later won the gold medal against all odds. This sporting event is widely considered the greatest sporting event in US history.

Watching sporting events while going through a tragic ordeal can be a good way to get one’s mind off the nature of the tragedy. Although no one will ever forget what has happened throughout the years in our country, the United States will keep on keeping on and will grow stronger with each setback that the country endures.

When asked the iconic words by 1980’s Team USA hockey coach Herb Brooks, “Who do you play for?”  The response of the country will be, “the United States of America.”