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April 15, 2015
Easter Egg Redeem
One of the found lost eggs
By Nick Kawano
On April 7, 2015, Taft College held an Easter Egg Redeem. It was located in the quad of the campus.
Members that ran the Easter Egg Redeem would hide plastic eggs all around campus. They had about fifty eggs hidden around campus. The rules were simple, if you found an egg, you turned it in and you would receive a prize. It was a fun activity to do with your friends and win some prizes.
Some eggs were hidden in very tough places, and others were hidden in really easy spots. There were students that were actually trying to find eggs, and some where a student just so happened to find one in an obvious place.
All in all, it was a very successful event that took place on Tuesday.
Prizes for the Redeem
April 9, 2015
James Dean’s Last Stop!
Memorial to James Dean “Too fast to live, too young to die, bye bye.” Eagles
Inside of present day diner
By Brenda Magana
A general store located at Blackwell’s Corner by the intersection of State Highways 33 and 46 was where famous 50’s movie star James Dean made his last stop before his fatal car accident a few miles further down the road. James Dean was driving his Porsche 550 Spyder, which he named “Little Bastard,” to Salinas, California, to attend a car race.
The last things Dean was able to enjoy before his unfortunate death was an apple, a Coca-Cola and the fresh country air. After his death, the general store changed its name to “James Dean’s Last Stop!” in memory of the famous actor. Remodeled in 2010, the store added a “Forever Young Restaurant” and “East of Eden Fudge Factory” to keep James Dean’s memory alive.
The restaurant offers classic food such as cheeseburgers and fries, patty melts, Frito boats, club sandwiches, milkshakes, floats, and other classic 50’s diner fare. The fudge factory offers 30 delicious and creative flavors to choose from. Maple nut, peanut butter chocolate, cookies n’ cream, chewy praline, red velvet, rocky road, you name it, they have it! The factory also sells homemade bark and “Ashers” delicious chocolates. The store also sales locally grown pistachios, almonds, cashews, walnuts, and pecans. The pistachios and almonds are offered in a variety of flavors as well. They sell hickory, BBQ, habanero, chili lemon, garlic onion, roasted, salted, and more. Last but not least, they also carry some of Paso Robles finest wines such as Sunset Red III, Robles Rojos, Muscat Blanc, Chardonnay, and Cameo.
If you happen to be passing by, make sure to check out this amazing and memorable store; trust me you won’t regret it.
Photo of store where James Dean made his last stop.
Fudge for sale
April 9, 2015
Cougars’ Baseball Still Hanging in There
By Michael Clites
Since their season began in January, the Taft College Baseball Team has been looking well-rounded and determined. The Cougars began their season with ten wins and only two losses. Last season, Coach Maiocco’s Cougars weren’t off to as good as a start, so for those who can recall, this seasons beginning could have been somewhat therapeutic.
But everyone knows that a team’s season isn’t determined by their beginning but how well they finish. If the Cougars have been anything this season, it would be consistent. With a winning record of 14-7, the Cougars have maintained a steady pace in the race to the playoffs.
Although TC is coming off of a three-game losing streak to their league rivals College of the Sequoias, the Cougars are more motivated than ever to earn their spot at the top of the leaderboard in league games. And they have plenty of time to do so. With fifteen games left in the regular season, the Cougars shouldn’t have a problem with racking up a series of wins in order to achieve greatness.
But this isn’t the only good news for the Cougars’ schedule. Out of the next fifteen games, seven of them are home. This is good news because the Cougars shine the brightest at home where they have only four losses and ten wins. Hopefully, the Cougars can put even more belief into their fans as well as excitement over the next couple of weeks in order to gain support from them in time for the first round of playoffs beginning April 26th.
So throw on your black and gold attire and get out to the fields and show your support for the TC Cougars this Tuesday, March 24th at Taft College as they face league rival Fresno City College.
April 6, 2015
Professor Profile: Steve Lytle
Lytle with the big trees on a field trip.
By Josiah Birkbeck
Professor Lytle is originally from Indiana and can now be found working with students in the STEM building teaching zoology; he also teaches environmental science and biology. Professor Lytle does have a Ph.d., but he prefers the title “Professor.”
Lytle started off his career in life sciences cleaning up poop in a veterinary hospital, eventually becoming a veterinary assistant. When he was young, he would receive magazine subscriptions labeled “Dr. Steve Lytle,” and there was expectancy on his part that he would continue in this field. Early on he was not the best student, flunking a biology class in high school. “It was the girl’s fault that I had to partner with; she was too pretty.” Despite this early failure and discouragement, Lytle buckled down and disciplined himself to study properly. “I just knew that ‘I want to do this.’ There was a point where I was going to give up because I was not doing good enough.” Thankfully though he did not give up and is able to teach at Taft College today.
Lytle currently holds a bachelor’s in biology, a master’s in entomology, and a doctorate in botany. Because of that attitude of commitment to his studies, Lytle enjoys teaching at community college as opposed to larger universities. For Lytle, community college offers a chance to make a meaningful impact with students that just does not exist at a university level “because teaching is about relationships with your students, so it’s a different kind of discussion rather than, you know, talking about genetics.” To students, Lytle has this advice to offer: “I think it comes down to getting experience in the field . . . somehow getting a job that connects you to what you want to do . . . you have to take whatever you can get; I cleaned poop.”
Lytle in class
April 6, 2015
Mac & Cheese Fest Returns to Bakersfield
The greatest comfort food of all time?
By Lisa Ybarra
American General Media is hosting the 2nd annual Macaroni and Cheese Festival Saturday April 18. The event will be held at Cal State Bakersfield from 2- 6 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the CSUB Roadrunner Scholarship Fund. Musical guest is Monty Byrom. Tickets are $45 and include unlimited samples of Mac & Cheese and beer, wine and liquor samples. Guests will also be able to vote for their favorite chef and Mac & Cheese. Guests must be 21 and over to attend. For tickets and more information visit themacandcheesefest.com.
April 6, 2015
Mardi Gras Fun
Mardi Gras drawing winter. Photo by Mahea Maui
By Josiah Birkbeck
On Thursday the 19th, students may have missed a little bit of New Orleans that visited Taft College at the Mardi Gras dance. TIL students had fun and enjoyed the musical stylings of DJ Dutch and light show from 9pm-10pm at which point the party started for everyone else.
The event went late, finishing around 1am. Adam Hightower, ASB trustee, had this to say about the dance, “We had a Halloween dance last October, and everyone wanted another so we decided to throw this masquerade.” Events at the dance included a photo wall, dancing, and raffle.
ASB communicates through posters so if you would like to keep up to date with events keep your eyes peeled for what could be coming up.
Mardi Gras Revelers