Politics, Politics, Politics and Party Tips courtesy of Alex and Adrew W.K.

Politics. John Stewart makes fun of it very well and so does Stephen Colbert. Lou Dobbs lost his job to media politics and here I am discussing the politics of having a meeting with El Camino Public Relations person, Ann Garten (and shortly by the party tips of one Andrew W.K).

The entire semester this I have been hounded, hunted, and wanted to be spoken to by this lady and it finally happened... luckily for me I had my "ready for a meeting button-up" when the time arose. Production day makes for a great day to discuss future issues and business pertaining to the media.

Garten believes to help enable our writers to get better interviews with the right people that we should "filter" between her to set-up meetings and such like they do in the "outer" media sources. She would basically be what Robert Duvall was in the Godfather Part II, or something like that, basically just make sure meetings happen when they are suppose to. She's a smart woman, her rhetoric make sense because if writers need to see the right person, Garten is the person to point us in the right direction so, so far I liked what I was hearing.

I loved the feeling that I was playing politician: we talked, laughed, voiced concerns and we walked out in smile and giggles, it seems even in the middle we have to be politicians sometimes. Kate asked me after the meeting that I seemed so well liked by them and by everyone if I ever feel the pressure to have to be well liked: well to answer that I relate that to Alex introdcuing me to Andrew W.K.'s party tips of the day

Past formalities and politics, Alex Curran, news editor, decided that we needed a party tip from funny man and musician Andrew W.K, unfortuantly Mr. W.K. had no party tip of the day so I leave you with todays tip:

"PARTY TIP: Don't ever worry about being yourself. You can't NOT be yourself. You're always you, no matter what! SO JUST PARTY!"-

I like to think that is what I do already, not NOT be myself because I am just me, Miles the EIC.

He's Just Not That Into Halloween?

Michael Jackson's "This Is It"made $20 million and that is not the scary part, other than the loads of kids out trick or treating and young woman living up to the adage "less is more," I spent my Halloween night hanging out with my news editor Maria and my Features editor Danielle. Other than that my staff gets to celebrate a week off from production before entering our final two weeks of of production.

But back to Halloween. We had all an entire Opinion page dedicated to halloween and if it has become an adult holiday. So just because a girl dresses up in her skimpiest cop outfit or sexy nurse outfit doesn't make it an adult holiday? Ok so it does. As you get older the holiday changes. It goes from wanting candy to wanting eye candy.

So maybe we should consider that Halloween is the one Holiday that adults can let their inner child come out, just replace the candy with booze and its the same type of holiday.

And Now We Take Our Final Curtain.

Old blue eyes himself was chairman of the board, which if your part of the Rat Pack is the coolest position to old, well I may not be Chairman of the board but I am the new editor-in-chief of The "Union," yes that is right, your friendly neighborhood Miles Villalon has been named editor-in-chief. I will give you a second to let the thought process in your head (1,2,3,4,5....) all right enough thinking about it all ready just know that as the semester comes to a close I all ready am anticipating next fall semester and how we can improve. It sounds like such a daunting task to be the main guy of such a prestigious publication, but I take everything in strides.

At more pressing issue is that after 11:45 p.m. many of my colleagues run on the "Union" will end and my new era as EIC with a new ed board and new staff will begin. Plain and simple. It may be the last time I see Suzy, Miyu, jen, and Megan for a while at least. Tomorrow like end of "Saturday Night Live" where everyone gathers on the stage everyone of them will say goodbye to the "Union" and yet 15 minutes later I begin my job as EIC (though Miyu won't officially give me the title until the 12th) and joining me are some brave new souls:

News Editors: Alex Curran and Maria Gonzalez
Sports Editors: John Bradley and Jorge Camarilllo
Arts Editor: Yvonne Lopez
Features editor: Danielle Hutton
Opinion Editor: Roxanna "Roxy" Martinez

All these people seem like dedicated members and I can't wait to see what I have to offer. It is almost befitting to be taking over the staff and following in such gifted precendents: Anna Mavromati, Matt Lopez, Pearl Sheets and Miyu Kataoka. Now I can add my name to that distinguished list. While not as cool it is like watching Conan O'Brien take over for Jay Leno on the "Tonight Show" except where it was the "Union" with Miyu Kataoka, it is now "the Union with Miles Villalon." An order of sucession I am so very proud to follow in the footsteps of.

Also as the semester nears I want to say Thank You to many people who helped make not only my page possible but many other pages possible this semester, so here it goes my thank you list:

Thank You NH(new hire) Kate McLaughlin for being there when we needed help and always being willing to stick it out with us.

Thank You all the lovely people in ICC for putting up with me and my questions and helping me when i needed it: Thank you Walter, Michelle, Ana, Chris and Jennifer because without you guys half my stories would not even be published.

Thank You the lovely ladies and gentlemen of ASO (Associated Student Organization) for also giving me the time of day so I can actually write some good stories about you. Thank You Megan McLean, Ivana Poste, Angelina Nader, Josh Casper, John Fornes, Deyja and even Liz for putting up with my constant nagging and hunting for ASO people. I know you are all busy people and when you make it to the top of the political sphere: Make sure you remember me in the White House.

Thank You the many students and faculty of EC who helped participate in any stories I may have written or stories that were on my page especially of a couple of people in one of my other classes who were not afraid to shed light on a dark subject by being sources in my domestic abuse page.

Thank You Harold Tyler for giving me any information I may suddenly need and always taking the time out of your schedule to talk to me.

and Thank you's all around to the Union writers because without them there is no Union, the editors put it together but the writers bring it life and we are appreciative of that. I wish my current editorial board could take a bow for me before heading off into the mystic but instead I will end wit this: Nick, Suzy, Jen, Jeanette, Filip, Tony, Megan and Miyu I think we've Lost that loving feeling:



And on that note another round of applause for a semester well done!

Dear Features Editor

Dear Features Editor, 

For the last week I was struggling to figure out what I wanted to tell you about being features editor and what you were in store for next semester. Should I mention all the stress and all the work that goes in to it, cause a good 45 percent of it is that then I decided that I will just tell you what I learned as features editor and what I hope you can accomplish that I did not have a chance to. I remember in January I sat in the conference room for the first time as Features editor of the EC "Union" and I was asked what I hope to accomplish, I promised to have nine feature issues published since last semester we lost two feature pages. By the end of May I had accomplished that (well except one didn't print because we had a problem with another page but I still feel like I accomplished my goal). I just want to say that yes you will be stressed and there will be many times where you feel like it is too much to handle but in the end it will be well worth the experience. Think about it you are creating something for an entire campus to see, that is HUGE. While some of pages were OK, I feel like I didn't truly understand page design until my last two issues and now I wish I had taken more chances with the page so for your entertainment here is a "Features Editor Guide to Surviving the Features Page": 

1. A director can't make a movie without script, like wise an editor can't create a page with out the story. 

Think of your self as a Hollywood director, You are ready to go out and put out a movie but you can't do that until you have a good script in hand, same is true for editors you can't put out a good page without your stories so always make sure your stories assigned early to prevent delaying creating your page and also keep in contact with your writers, ask them in they need any kind of help or just make sure they update you on what they are doing. 

2. Take Risk and have FUN as Hunter S. Thompson said: "Buy the ticket. Take the ride." 

You are the Features editor and you decided from the beginning hopefully that you wanted to be features editor, don't be afraid to do something CREATIVE, NEW, and INVENTIVE with the features page, some of my best pages come from me trying out a new design. Your page is reflective of your personality, put some of your persona in to it, basically you are a FUN person, have FUN with the page. The worst thing that could happen is that your told it won't work but at least you TRIED, and as Features editor that is all one could ask for. 

3. The Art of Deciding a Feature: Do something relevant. 

One of my biggest regrets as features editor is that I didn't do more SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS topics, sure I covered going green, recycling, death, abuse and social networking but now I look back and wish I had done more intimate feature ideas, but with nine issues who could complain. Just remember when deciding on what you want to do a feature on, make sure it is socially relevant and you have DIFFERENT stories that you could assign. While it is cool to do things like Fashion that are light and fun, consider taking a risk and doing a page on things that you haven't seen or would like to see. 

4. I Get By with a Little Bit of Help From My FRIENDS. 

When it all comes down to it, if you are having a page problem or need help you have at least five other editors to turn to who can help you. Your relationship with the other editors is very important so don't be afraid to reach out and get their input from them. Eventually you will realize these editors are not just colleagues but also FRIENDS who are here for the same reason you are here: To put out a paper that the entire campus will appreciate. 

Not much more I can say but I wish you good luck as you begin your journey as Features Editor, HAVE FUN and remember: In the long run it will be all WORTH it. 

Sincerely, 

MILES VILLALON  

No flashy title to insert here as we near the end....

"ER" just ended its run on television after 15 remarkable years and a plethora of revolving door cast members, as i watched Noah Wyle as Dr. John Carter make one last visit to the hospital that made him famous I began to reflect on the "Union" and how after three semesters on the paper, things are about to change as about all of the editorial staff is leaving the paper next semester. In the series finale of "ER" there is a scene where Dr. Carter (Noah Wyle) is sitting at a bar with some of the old cast members and he sort of sits back and looks left to right at the old staff, and smiles and you begin to sense a feeling of familiarity.

This reminds me of my time here on the "Union." I look to the right of me at the corner desk that is operated by Nick Ingram, sports editor, and I remember my first semester Matt "Guns and Roses" Lopez sat there as my editor-in-chief my first semester on staff. I look to the left and where Megan sits is where Robert Doss and Christian Vasquez owned the sports page. I look at the photo computers and see the computer that John Maiorelli occupied as Photo editor my first semester. Thinking about the time I have spent and I what I have seen, learned, from going through my own "ER-esque" revolving door of characters.

Sure old staff make special appearances every so often, Lopez coming to hang out, Maiorelli visiting just to get some photos off the server, I've even met people from before I was on staff like Anna Mavromati, the old editor in chief, who stopped by to visit Lori and I had the pleasure to show her around the Union's new newsroom. But it is this current staff of editors and writers I feel akin too just as my first semester on staff was. I have began to realize that everyone around me is leaving and though my decision to stay on the "Union" is still up in the air, I realize the people I consider to be like my brothers and sisters are leaving the staff and continuing forward which means a whole new era of Union editors is about to take place, with fresh faces filling in the holes left open by the departing. 

The "Union" has taught me much about dedication and hard work, its made me a better social person (C'mon it is a good feeling to walk outside and around campus and everyone knows your name because of what you do).  So if this is my last semester on staff there is no better time than now to say that this is one of the best experiences I have had and that I encourage all the writers from this semester to come back and do it again next semester. I also want to extend a congratulations to my   departing staff members: 

Nick (Sports Editor): I would hope you could come back as our E-I-C as I believe you would be the best one for the job but if you land that internship, Go for it, there is so much I have learned from watching you as a editor especially in the core values of leadership

Megan (News Editor): When in SFSU remember to swing on the swing in BART, also thank you for page editing some of my stories because I know you are the one who knows it just that much better than most people. 

Jen (Arts Editor): Your first semester on staff and you all ready leaving like David Caruso's only season on "NYPD Blue" for Sacramento State... but you made an impact on the Arts page with your interesting cut-outs for Rising Star and your passion for the page... Also thanks for making fun of me for being "the worst filipino in the world." 

Miyu (EIC): Well Miyu it has been a tough semester for not only us but you as you headed both magazine and newspaper but you did both very well. Thanks for always supporting me on my pages and never displaying too much concern on what I was doing as long I did it. Good Luck in Sacramento State, I am sure you will do a "hella" job there.   

 Filip (The Photo Editor): You always came through for us, Daddy ( a nickname for him because he always seems like a fatherly type), when not scolding me for stretching photos or squashing them because I tended to sometimes not hold shift, but you were the guy who knew both photos and In-Design which proved valuable to us. Also thanks for the last minute things you would do for me like make a photo illustration. Well done sir. 

Suzy (Arts Editor): Well Suzy, we are coming to the end of our journey, that you and I both began in J1 (along with Miyu and Megan) but I do remember you mostly when I wasn't flirting with another girl in class you may remember, but that is besides the point. From the first semester one we became pretty good friends, your someone I could usually turn to, but now London is calling you to a far away land and who knows I would love to make a guest appearance in London.  You have a lot going for you right now, and your on DAY 11 of not smoking so way to go Suzy. 

What is left to say about the departing group of editors: Well we could go out like the Sopranos and I could just abruptly end it.............................................

Or I could end it like "ER" with another day at the office because just as Dr. Carter looked at a young doctor and said are "You coming," I sit here and Suzy is working right across from me and she smiles and I think: One more issue, for old times sake! 

Oh wait, that is right, there is one more issue. 

The "Union" in "The Great Sacramento Escape"

This is the true story, of 16 aspiring journalist, who get out of the newsroom at EC and start being, real journalist, this is the great Sacramento Escape.....

- Miyu (editor_in_Chief)
-nick ( Sports_editor)
- Suzy (Opinion_editor)
- meagan (News_editor)
-Jen (Arts_editor)
- miles (Features_editor)
-Tony (Photo_editor)
- Filip (Photo_editor)
- Anna (writer/ Sacramento ice cream explorer)
- Roxy (writer/ purple trend_setter)
- Jessica (writer/ airplane Sudoku_ champion)
- Danny (writer/ card trick psychic
-Rosie (writer/ Just a really cool gal)
- P.J. (writer/ fitness_guru)
- Maria (writer/ potential cartoon_specialist)
-Aaron (JACC Vice_prez)

and featuring

-Lori (Commander_in_chief)
-Kate (I taught her how to throw up "L.A.")






Nick's palms are heavy, his head hs down, he felt nervous, but Nick wouldn't forget what he wrote down as the J.A.C.C announced our very own Sports editor Nicholas Ingram (pictured above in all his glory) as the First Place winner in Sports Feature writing. the elation seen in his face was something to be cherished because it was one of many wins in the California conference that celebrates aspiring Community College journalist from around CA. Suzy Brown, arts editor (pictured below in the middle with Rosie and Maria) walked away with first in best feature writing, the "Union" took home the Pacesetter Award meaning that we are one of the top student community college newspapers in CA. It was a great end to a great weekend in Sacramento. But like every great end, there is always a great beginning and a great middle, kind of like the "Godfather" trilogy only all three are really good and we don't have Sofia Coppola doing some bad acting, but what we do have is great work done by a great group of individuals I am proud to call my friends and colleagues.



Like an old episode of "Melrose Place" or " 90210" plenty of interesting episodes happened in Sacramento and it all began with a flight from the city of angels at LAX Airport, once we arrived in Sacramento it was like being a tourist....for some we had no clue what to expect. I had no clue what to expect after being on staff for three semesters and now finally deciding to go to JACC. What I found was a rewarding experience that I will go in to more detail about later. Just know when the EC "Union" won so many awards, it put a renew faith in me for the future of journalism and made me want to be a better journalist. But most importantly I got to know wonderful writers on my staff who contribute to my page and create some memorable experiences which include but are not limited to the following quotes:

- "His name is Fidel Castro, really, really?"
- random groosmen: " you know you only ge to get married once"
me: "sometimes twice."
- "Faaaannttttassssy Club where all your fantasies come true"
- "I just like purple"
- "yeah his last name is castro, so?"
- Good Luck finishing it (written on to a magazine by one of our writers)
- "First place, Nicholas Ingram, EC"

We really got to know each other and though there were times where we wanted to figuratively kill each other, we made it through and I am looking forward to more people and some of the same to atten the Southern CA J.A.C.C. convention. So we can continue our legacy of greatness.

Union Episode 3: Let me take you down to the Union Fields Forever

Issue three is winding down, my features page on health that got cut last week is now running this week and it looks good, and Pearl likes it so it makes me feel even better. Besides still being semi-sick today's production day went very smoothly. 

I handed out my stories for the next two issues and now we look forward to our so called "rest" week where I plan to continue and start on the page that we work on after we return from JACC. That page was suppose to run this week, and is a page I am looking forward to, its on life and death and all my stories are in and I am editing them, I would like to stay a week ahead of the game, like Nicolas Cage in "Next" or the good looking teens in "Final Destinaton." 

The key to this business is to stay ahead, and that is what issue 3 has presented me: a chance to stay ahead and keep it that way. The features page should always be ahead of the game because my stories are not timely and can be assigned early. We try to think next week is a break week but its not, it is a week for us to get ahead and also next week is JACC week, so as long as I can stick to my guns, edit my stories early, and layout my page first thing next week, I should be done before my Wednesday deadline again. 

What doesn't help is being sort of sick,  you cant afford to be sick in the journalism business  because its so up to the minute and changing, you have to keep up and going. So as we continue down this long road, let me take you down to where I am going, down to Union fields where we, the editors of the Union reside.  

Miles Per Featuring All Along the Stage Tower...

EC like many schools has its many peer groups, the drama people hang out near the music and theater building, the jocks line the walkway between the deli and the P.E. Gym, but one of the most noticeable groups on EC's campus is the stage people. Across the library lawn, a top the stage on the Student Services building is an eclectic group of students, some might consider social outcasts, eccentric in demeanor and dress, each unique in their own way.

For a struggling student journalist like myself, having a group like the stage group is helpful because any of them seems to have a story to tell or a relation to a certain story at the time. On March 12 I found a stage member separated from the rest of his group across campus having a picnic with his girlfriend. I was stopped by my friend Flor, one of the stage students, who I had gotten to know over a couple of classes, Flor along with Sean Fine and his girlfriend invited me to enjoy their picnic with them, I accepted because I thought it would be interesting material for my blog, since I am features editor I should feature people and things going on around EC.

I inquired to Sean as to why he was not at the stage which had gained some new blood, mostly people I have never seen, considering I have been to the stage many times and met many of the people from the stage.

"We have started our own refugee camp," Fine said in a jokingly way.

Fine began explaining to me that his girlfriend and he had decided to take a self imposed exile from the stage because basically as he put it: idiots and dumb asses had taken over the stage. Some of the people are cool he pointed out but a lot of them are just there, they just hang around. Sean pointed out a couple people such as a plump gentlemen who he calls a "moocher" because he always ask for something from money to a ride, to even mooching off your sandwhich. Some of them have done things that have gotten them removed from the stage before.

Fine attributed a lot of what happens on the stage to the fact that a few of the people on the stage may not even go to school there or that many of the people I saw on the stage that day are new kids, old friends from high school looking for a safe haven, a place to be accepted and like high school its the stage they gravitate to.

"The elder stage people can remove them and we have," Fine said.

This is an interesting concept that the stage is so structured that there are "elder stagemen" who can remove people from the stage. It's happened before and it can happen again. Even more interesting is that apparently my friend and photo editor Tony is one of these sort of elders who can do so. Fine insists its not cause Tony is a elder it is that he is so big and scary that he could.

I noticed Flor, Fine, and his girlfriend looking over to the stage and trying to see who would come over to them from the stage. Pickles, as the stage group call him isa a lenghty, almost sweet-natured African American keeps jumping between the stage and Fine's "refugee camp." At this point a non stage person has joined the group and I see Finn, another person from the stage walking over.

He sits and joins in on the picnic, the blanket covered with snacks of cheez-its, cotton candy, and Hawaiian chocolates. We discuss the so called idiots on the stage. The non-stage person inquires that he wish he was part of that stage group.

"Yes all the non ass we are getting is great," Finn said.

(More Coming Soon including the difference between the stage people and the "vampires" or people of the inside of the stage.)

Union Episode 2.1: Stuck Inside the Union Bus with the Journalism Blues Again

I had a dilemma, one of my stories for my page were not up to par, and the one to fill up its vacant space was too short, what is a features editor to do? Revert back to the good old days of being a writer and go out and write the damn thing. I would have had my writer do it since she wrote it but she was out of town, it was time to take it into my own hands. I readjusted my page, first getting rid of the unused story then by resizing the story I had as my 2nd story and making it long enough to where I only needed to fill a small gap and leaving a big enough gap on the right side to fit a big photo. I told Miyu my plan, she gave me her blessings and I was off in to the trenches of El Camino College. I headed straight for the weight room to see if I could catch some EC athletes.

One of the first people I came across was Charlie Wolfgramm, who coincidentally I had went to high school with and he was willing to let me interview him for the story. In between the interview I made small talk with him about his little child at home, how my sister was doing, and that kind of nonsense. After his interview was over I walked directly back in to the weight room which was bumping some hard core rap music, it was like walking into a Ice Cube video, testosterone was all over the place, many of the players lifting weights and screaming.

I got a couple more interviews just as the coach called for the team to go watch the films. I returned from the trenches, entered my text and all was pretty good, it filled up the space and I waited for the photos to come. It felt good to finally get back out there and meet people even if it was for a brief 20 minutes. God I miss my writing days!

Union Episode 2: Fellowship of the editors

I think one of the hardest things as a editor to deal with besides stories that are short or poorly written is having to deal with your page being cut. Not so much that I spent hours working on this page, which I was really proud of, it is that my writers won't get to see their work printed after doing so much work for me, that is what bothers me next to losing a page. Today we had to cut my features page on health because a photo essay on "Sweeney Todd" fell through. I guess now I know how previous directors who tried to get the "Watchmen" made into a movie feel, that we pour ourselves into our work to watch it be taken away from us. I am not bitter about it because it was what was collectively best for the group, someone had to take the hit , and timely stuff like news and sports are worth more than my features page, so as long as the paper comes out as fantastic as it has always been, then I can deal with that, next week I am right back to work on my features page in fact I believe my health one is running next week so it wasn't a total lost but it would have been nice for my writers to see their work run this week like it was suppose to.

Overall I felt really good about how this page was coming out maybe because designing it all of sudden kind of clicked to me and I was able to create solutions to problems a lot faster. Sylvia, my favorite page helper, helped me again make my page the way I wanted it. At some point I am going to have to be able to do this without her but I am very sure I am still going to be enlisting her help with page design ideas. That or we will twitter about how the good the flag bids for the 2012 Olympics look.

On another note I realized today that i need to be more organized on how I do things, I need to edit my stories before laying it out and I need to be more stern with my writers. I think I should follow Nick's approach, "harsh but fair."

Union Episode 1: The issue 1 Menance

I woke up feeling like the weight of the whole world was on my back on Wednesday. The previous day I had also woken up with a feeling of " how am I going to do it," "how am I going to create a page on my own and not mess it up." This is probably the most pressured I have felt in a long time because if I fail, its not only a failure for me but it disrupts everyone else and this is something I don't want to have happen. I spent about eight to nine hours in the newsroom working on my page, which probably could have been done a lot faster. I may be a seasoned veteran on the "Union" but as a editor i am a rookie who needs to step it up if I am to make it any further as a editor. I walked into the room with a feeling of excitement but also with a feeling of a nervousness. 

Nick pulled me aside to discuss with me what was expected, which I greatly appreciated because he gave me a heart to heart and we found common ground in knowing that we both were just "sick to our stomachs" about production, it feels as if Nick is taking me under his wing since he was in my position a previous semester before. Up to this point I had felt good about what I was going to produce but then an anxiety fell over me that began to consume me that maybe I am not going to be very good at it and everyone is going to recognize my faults.  Then I realized I just put too much pressure on myself and that I just need to adjust, do what I need to do, eventually all the pieces of the puzzle will fall in to place. Pearl is stressed enough with worrying about the writers and how our people will turn out to have to worry about every single editor, I need to be better at making her job easier by being more on top of things because I do really care about this paper and want the features page to be fantastic this semester but it will take time and will be a hard road for me to walk this semester. Who knows what in store for the upcoming issues, but i can only take it in strides.