The Great California Shake Out

By Joshua Rivera

If an earthquake were to happen right now, most people would know to stay indoors until the shaking stops, drop down to the floor and find cover, cover their heads and necks to protect themselves from any debris, and hold onto their cover so they can move with the earthquake until the shaking stops.

To remind students of the proper procedures, Taft College participated in The Great California Shake Out. The Shake Out was held on October 20^th, 2016, at 10:20 AM. Students and staff indoors were told by a phone call or email when the Shake Out would start and what to do.

The Shake Out lasted for a few minutes, and students and staff received another phone call or email telling them that the Shake Out was over.

In California, over ten million people in school’s state wide participated in the Shake Out, and over fifty million people participated in a Shake Out nationwide

Students under desks

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It was important for Taft College to be involved in the Shake Out because California has a higher risk for experiencing an earthquake than any other state in the country.

The Shake Out is an annual event that allows people to practice procedure while also informing others that are not familiar with what to do in an earthquake, so they can avoid serious injury.

The Shake Out will be held again next year, and hopefully, even more schools will participate in this event that keeps people safe.

Water Conservation Obstacle Course

Group tries course

By Joshua Rivera

The average Californian uses 181 gallons of water a day. With a population of over 30 million, California uses over five billion gallons of water each day. Bakersfield alone uses over 83 million gallons of water a day. This amount of water that California uses has been slowly declining since 1980, but California has still found itself in a severe drought.

California mostly gets its water supply from surface water, but gets a small percentage of water from groundwater. Since California has been in a drought for five years, we have seen the use of groundwater increase exponentially.

Kern County has done a great deal to conserve water by putting restrictions on what Kern County residents can and cannot do when it comes to water. The Kern River has seen improvement because of this, but it’s still not enough.

Taft College decided to start raising awareness on the issue and held a Water Conservation Event on October 19, 2016, to raise awareness to students on campus and the Kern County community.

An obstacle course was set up at the school’s quad where groups of three would try and complete the course without popping a water balloon. Student participants as well as spectators at the event thought this was a fun way to inform students of the need to conserve water while also getting them involved.

Taft College hopes to host more events that raise awareness on the issue of water conservation and hopes that students will spread the word as well.

Group tries course

ASB Halloween Costume Contest

By Bailey Vega

The Taft College Associated Student Body hosted a costume contest in the quad on Halloween.

Students, faculty, and children who were dressed up lined the steps of the amphitheater for a chance to win a $10 Starbucks gift card or a gift basket.

An ASB officer asked each participant to introduce themselves and identify their costumes, which included an array of iconic characters and creative renderings. The ensembles included Disney, movie, and comic book characters; storybook protagonists; creatures ranging from mystical to eerie; creatively portrayed objects; and even specific body parts.

Minions

The contest was judged by the audience members, who voted by show of cheering and applause. The costumes that received the loudest ovations were kept in the running until, after several rounds of voting and elimination, just four groups of contestants were left: a pair of minions from the animated film Despicable Me (one malevolent and purple, the other goofy and yellow), two ornately dressed gypsies, a pair of breasts, and a group that included a baby Cinderella and her fairy godmother accompanied by a child dressed as a blue hot air-balloon.

A baby Cinderella, her fairy godmother, and a hot air balloon child.

Gypsies

Since these costumes were all equally appreciated by the crowd, the ASB members decided to have the participants engage in a dance-off to “The Monster Mash.” The options were narrowed down to Cinderella and company and the gypsies, and the crowd’s final consensus determined the two gypsies to be the winners.

4th Annual Halloween Baseball Game

By Mark O’Connor

The whole cast

The typical sporting event consists of athletes wearing identical uniforms and referees that are true and honest to both teams. That was not the case on Friday at Taft College’s baseball field.

The 4th Annual Taft College Halloween game featured characters like Captain Underpants, Princess Peach, and even both major 2016 presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Princess Peach (Tyson Canfield)

Captain Underpants (Seth Sorensen)

“It’s a fun event that is good for the chemistry of the team,” said Nick Kawano, third year sophomore.

The two teams, the Ghouls and the Goblins, fought it out in a short exhibition game mostly for bragging rights. In this game the pitchers were not TC’s everyday pitchers, instead they were the position players. The regular pitchers were given their one chance to swing the bats and flash the leather on the field.

As expected, the game was not played as intensely as a normal game would. The umpire, “Crooked Hillary,” made a handful of poor calls and was showered by boos from both dugouts. However, there was still a fair share of nice fielding plays and a 3-run home run off the bat of Richard Ortiz, who dress up as a monk.

Crooked Hillary (Coach DeFreece)

The game was meant for nothing more than a few laughs and a good time. Those who sat in the stands on that cloudy afternoon got just that.

Donald Trumps (Kyler Shifflet, Coach Maiocco)

Roller Derby

Fall Craft Fair

New Women’s Softball Coach

TIL Program Open House

Vicky Waugh presents info on the TIL Program

Taft College Transition to Independent Living Program representatives offered tours of their facilities on Friday, October 24. The tours started with general information given to the attendees in one of the classrooms by Susan Wells and John Dodson who explained the components of the program and details such as eligibility and procedures to apply.

John Dodson

The TIL Program is for adults that have developmental or intellectual disabilities. The students receive instruction in many areas including functional, social, and career skills they will need to live on their own. The program’s freshmen live in the dorms on campus and then transition to off campus housing their sophomore year.

After completing the program, students are helped to find their own living accommodations and employment to be as self-supporting as possible. Some may be fully self-supporting while others may need more help. The students have classes that cover everything from how to manage finances to how to cook to how to take public transportation with the goal being lifelong independence.

Participants in the tour included educational professionals who attended to understand if some of their students or clients might be a good fit in the TC program. Vicky Waugh took the participants on a tour of the TIL facilities that included a visit to a typical dorm room, the laundry room, day room, and cooking area all the while answering questions from the attendees.

Ricardo Cornejo, Vicky Waugh, Mark Schweer, and Michelle Mills on the tour

Two attendees, Michelle Mills, program specialist, and Mark Schweer, psychologist, both from Stockdale High, were very impressed with the facility. Schweer stated, “I could live in this dorm room,” commenting on the livability of the housing.

San Andreas Regional Center Service Coordinator Ricardo Cornejo said, “This might be the right next step for some of my clients.” Cornejo was also pleasantly surprised with winning one of the welcome raffle prizes.

Ricardo Cornejo accepting his prize from Vicky Waugh

Anyone interested in finding out more information on the program, can find it online on the TC website or simply contact TIL.

Taft College Clery Act Training

Pretty in Pink

By Mark O’Connor

Usually runway shows are accompanied by your tall, slim, pretty, young ladies in high heels. But Taft College was not hosting the typical runway show; this was a runway show with a twist.

The models were males athletes disguised in women’s clothing and makeup. The purpose behind the six models strutting up and down the courtyard last Wednesday was to promote breast cancer awareness. The whole week was dedicated to helping spread awareness about breast cancer.

Despite losing their dignity and opening themselves up for blackmail and harassment from their peers, the six brave men did a great job spreading the message. While doing the catwalk, the boys carried signs that displayed facts about breast cancer. The purpose was not to humiliate them but to spread the word about a potentially life threatening disease that has taking so many lives across the globe.

Even though there were a lot of laughs, the models were still being judged by a panel of runway experts. The models went through three tests to become the “Miss Taft College.” First they were judged on their runway skills, then they participated in a choreographed dance, and finally were quizzed on their knowledge about breast cancer.

In the end the judges could not decide on one true winner because, of course, the competition was that great. There was a two way tie between Christina and Abigail. The tie breaker was a 15 second dance off that resulted in a landslide win for Christina.

Christina “Miss Taft College 2016”

Adriana trying to win over the judges with a smile

Abigail seductively tying her shoes?

Madeline trying to provoke the crowd

Tyra blowing kisses hoping to get the judges hearts

The crowd getting their laughs in and ready to blackmail their friends