Defense Keys Matadors to 69-63 Win Over San Jose State

Senior Ashley Blake Has Clutch Performance From 3-Point Arc

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The Cal State Northridge women's basketball team (1-7) defeated San Jose State, 69-63, Sunday afternoon, at the Matadome. Senior Ashley Blake led the Matadors in scoring with 15 points and dished out five assists for CSUN in their first victory of the season.

Blake was part of a second half run that put the Matadors up by nine, shooting 4-of-7 from the field, with three of her made baskets from behind the 3-point line. SJSU battled back and cut the deficit to four, but it was not enough as the Matadors made 10 of 13 attempts towards the end of the game to seal the victory.

Blake set a season high with five assists and tied her career-high with six rebounds and three steals. She is now averaging 6.6 points, 3.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game this season.

Forward Analee Viena-Lota had a solid game, scoring 11 points and led her team in rebounds with seven. Senior Tonicia Tademy also scored in double digits, finishing with 10, going 5-of-6 from the charity stripe late in the game to keep the Matadors ahead. Tademy's five free throws set a new career high.

Freshman Jasmine Erving made her presence known, scoring four field goals inside the paint and pulling down six rebounds. The center is coming off her first double-double of the season where she had 21 points and 13 rebounds in a loss to UCLA.

Down by four at the half, 33-29, the Spartans fought back and cut CSUN's lead to one with less than six minutes left in the game, but the Matadors held on to seal the victory.

Shaunna Ridge led SJSU in points with 16.

The Matadors hit the road for their next game to face Fresno State on Tuesday, Dec. 9at 7 p.m. Fans can listen and follow play by play action of the game by visiting GoMatadors.com

Original article at...
http://gomatadors.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/120708aae.html

Let's Go Pacman

It is the calm before the storm.

Months of countless hours of training, blood, sweat, and dedication, all come down to a showdown between two boxing icons fighting in a boxing dream match.

Only days away from what some consider the fight of the year, fans are excited between a much anticipated match between Filipino ring king, Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, and “The Golden Boy,” Mexican Oscar De La Hoya.

The two will enter Saturday night's fight at MGM Grand during significant times in their boxing journeys. De La Hoya is heading into the later years of his boxing career at age of 35 while Pacquiao is said to be entering his prime at the age of 29.

Both fighters took a different approach in preparing for the match. De La Hoya decided to retreat to Big Bear, Calif. and train in a house complete with a gym and ring while Pacquiao spent his days in Hollywood, living in a condo with nearly a dozen of his entourage, a few miles away from trainer Freddie Roach’s gym, Wild Card Boxing Club.

But as De La Hoya chose the seclusion and Rocky Balboa-like training and Pacquiao decided to stay in the Hollywood limelight and train alongside amateurs and champions, many wonder how will the fight pan out?

For the first time since his Las Vegas debut, Pacquiao will be fighting as an underdog with Las Vegas odds makers favoring the bigger and taller De La Hoya.

Pacquiao, the current World Boxing Council lightweight champion, is ready to fight De La Hoya, who once trained with Roach, and defend, not only the Filipino people, but also his other nickname, the “Mexecutioner.”

Pacquiao has defeated some of Mexico’s finest boxers such as Erik Morales, Marco Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, and David Diaz. The speed and combination of punches were no match for the former champions.

Jonathan Lim, a Filipino and boxing trainer at California State University at Northridge, said Pacquiao will come out the victor.

“Manny is going to be way too fast for De La Hoya, he’s too old,” Lim said. “He’s going to attack and attack and his punches are real powerful too, but at the end he’s going to be faster and quicker.”

Pacquiao’s energy and tenacity has made him successful throughout his career ever since he won his first title as a late replacement in a super flyweight fight against then title holder, Lehlohonolo Ledwaba. Pacquiao has moved up in the ranks since then, winning titles in four other weight classes. Only Roy Jones Junior dominated the ranks like that.

Some Mexicans are supporting Pacquiao though because of the first fight that put De La Hoya on the map. De La Hoya defeated legend Julio Caesar Chavez for his WBC light welter weight belt as an underdog, by technical knockout in the third round.

“It’s hard to support Pacquiao but I’m going to because I hate De La Hoya,” Max Parra said, a personal trainer in boxing and mixed martial arts. “Chavez is a legend, and I’m never going to get over that. I’m all for, Manny.”

Pacquiao has seven wins in eight matches in Las Vegas. He has showed progress as a boxer, changing from a brawler to a technical and sound fighter, but also as a person, donating money and food, by hand, in the Philippines, and building schools, clinics, and churches.

“The People’s Champ” is adored by millions of Filipinos and boxing fans have grown to love his lively and aggressive style. De La Hoya should be no match for Ring Magazine’s top rated pound for pound boxer.

“Pacman” will come out the winner, beating another Mexican champion, and should be in shape to face, European slugger, Ricky Hatton.



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Healthcare Preview

Election '08: CSUN students look to President-Elect Obama

First African-American President! Check out this blog to see what Cal State Northridge students said about President Obama!

http://m00m0000.blogspot.com/

Be cool and leave a comment.
Nice story! I liked the quotes and all the different opinions! There were so many factors to consider in this year's election. Good stuff.

Apple or Vista Guide

Hey doing some Holiday shopping for a new computer, check out the article on this blog.

http://pacificislanderguide.blogspot.com/

Post a comment, I did!
Nice article Patrick! I know its hard to choose because I like the two click or right click option on PCs but Apples never get viruses! Good work. Thanks.

Soccer Fantasy Sports

Check out this article on how to start up a fantasy league for soccer.

http://travisopinions.blogspot.com/

I left a comment...
Great story! I love fantasy sports. I liked it how you did a story on soccer/football fantasy sports and not basketball or american footbal. Maybe I'll try it next year. Well written and informative. Thanks.

Shopping at Target

Cool towel idea

Election '08: New Voters

Reading a copy of the day’s newspaper, the young man waits in anticipation. The nervousness of voting for the first time is overwhelming him as he looks for any last minute information on the presidential election and propositions in California. He has been in line for over an hour, but he has been waiting years to vote. Taking a few steps forward, Sergio Ingco moves closer to the polling station.

After missing the previous presidential election, millions are expected to join Ingco and vote for the first time. Feeling compelled to vote because of the economic crisis and numerous issues in the ballot, Ingco knew he was ready.

“I didn’t vote before because I really didn’t care,” Ingco said, a student at California State University, Northridge. “I was old enough but now I feel like I need to be more responsible. Especially with everything going on, I think everyone wants a change and the best way to do that is vote.”

According to Los Angeles county registrar-recorder Dean Logan, registration reached an all-time high in October at 4.3 million in the nation’s largest single voting district. About 3.9 million were registered to vote in the 2002 presidential election, with 79.1% voting. More than eighty percent of the county is expected to vote in this year’s election.

Logan added voters already broke a record with a 14% turnout in early ballots. Mail-in ballots and early in-person voting set records at the Norwalk Registrar’s Offices and at a drive-thru voting location set up at the Santa Ana Registrar Office.

“Personally, I would rather vote by mail than stand in line for hours,” Damon Houston said, a singer from Northridge, Calif. “There are so many people voting now too because of all the heated issues, I think I’ll save my time, especially when so many people are eager to speak their views.”

According to the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, more than 40% of registered voters are expected to vote by mail. Although, people’s passion for certain propositions may be one of the key reasons there has been an increase in registered voters. California’s ballot has various controversial issues affecting people from all walks of life. Many came to polling stations early with chairs and other supplies, ready to vote, and express their mind with fellow voters.

For Houston though, his reason to vote was for Proposition 8 and the presidential election. He felt close to the issue of same-sex marriage so there was no doubt he had to register to vote for the first time.

“I really believe marriage should be between two individuals who love and care for each other,” Houston said. “Why should it be based on the Bible or whatever outdated tradition carried on by people who can’t think differently?”

Proposition 8, among others, have brought much attention to California. Other propositions receiving interest deal with energy, crime, children, and even, farm animals. But after a court ruling allowed for people of the same sex marriage to marry in California, many people felt their rights were violated.

“I don’t understand how you can give someone the ability to marry, make it a legal union, and then, only a few months later, take it away,” Easel Vallamay said, a nurse from Reseda and first time voter. “It’s dumb, places just aren’t ready for change…hopefully they’ll be ready for a new president.”

Strong feelings for the issues and presidential candidates have caused heated debates between family members to complete strangers. But that may be a sign for things to come.

“You do see everyone getting involved and having an opinion and voice,” Vallamay said. “Even though people may not all be voting the same way, people are actually thinking and working toward improving the future.”

How to Play Beer Pong

Holding the white table tennis ball, the young lady stares at the red Dixie cups. The effects of alcohol are affecting her aim, making it difficult for her to throw the little ball in such a little space. She regains her composure, and launches the ball in the air where it lands softly into the cup of beer. The yells from spectators in the backyard fall and her opponent reluctantly takes the ball out and drinks the cup of beer.

A normal night of beer pong at Patrick Rezzo’s fraternity house he thought.

“Everyone comes by, sometimes in the afternoon, and we start playing,” Rezzo said. “It’s a lot of fun, everyone drinks, everyone plays, and we have a good time.”

Beer pong has stormed college parties and fraternity houses across the nation. With no official rules, beer pong, has become a popular way to have fun and drink alcohol. Known as Beirut among some circles, beer pong leagues have been set up in several cities and a World Series event is even held in Las Vegas, NV.

According to the World Series of Beer Pong, the regulation size of the playing surface is eight feet by two feet, but any flat surface will do. The game is normally played by two teams of two people with one or two table tennis balls and Dixie cups filled with beer a third to half the way. Games are played with six or ten cups for each team which are formed into a triangle at each end of the table, similar to how bowling pins are set up. An additional cup of water for each team is typically used to dip the ball before throwing it.

“Make sure the cup of water is used, no one wants to drink a dirty beer,” Rezzo said. “Especially when you use a regular piece of wood like we us.”

To choose which team goes first, players stare at each other while taking turns throwing the ball. The first to sink one wins. Teams then take turns trying to throw the tennis table balls into the cups. Each member has one chance to throw per turn. The ball can be lobbed and bounced in, depending on the rules. If the ball is lobbed in, one cup of beer is drunk. If it is bounced in, two cups are drunk. A rule some follow is if the throwing team is trying to bounce one in, the opposing team has the chance to swat it away.

When a ball falls in a cup, the team who owns the cup must drink it. The remaining cups can stay in place or be rearranged to form a smaller diamond, triangle, or line. Two changes are generally allowed. The team that drinks all of their cups first loses and has to drink the opponent teams’ cups too.

“If you find yourself drinking a lot you might want to work on your technique,” Charles Keeranan said, a college student who plays beer pong often. “Make sure you choose the right throwing side and remember to be gentle with the ball, the target is only a few feet away.”

Immigration from the Filipino Nation

Peering through the microscope’s lens, the middle-aged woman barely blinks as the quiet hum of ceiling lights and bells and whistles of laboratory equipment fill the room. Hardly moving at all, she scribbles away taking notes of the blood sample under the lens.

Surrounded by shelves of medical manuals and records, refrigerators storing pouches of blood, and pictures of co-workers’ families as well as her own, this was a typical scene on another typical night at Judy Soriano's work.

Adjusting the long white lab coat she is required to wear, Soriano continues her duties focused on not making any mistakes. This was her routine for hours, a routine she loves, and takes pride in doing.

“I love my job,” Soriano said. “It is fun and I get to relax, for some of the time.”

Most people couldn’t do Soriano's job’ working as a medical technician, but for her, this was another day in her 25-year career. She works more than forty hours a week studying blood samples, but still finds time to read, cook, do yoga, and spend time with her family.

A native of the Philippines, Judy Soriano immigrated to the United States, with her brother, Jessie, in 1983. A graduate of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Soriano earned a degree in Biology hoping she will be able to move to southern California one day. After earning her credential and saving enough money for the trip, Soriano and her brother set their sights on the United States.

“I really wanted to come to California so I could be close to Disneyland,” Soriano said. “L.A. was the place to be so I wanted to be there.”

Soriano was not the only person who wanted to come to the United States. Thousands of Filipinos, mainly working professionals, began seeking work outside the Philippines in other countries, not just the U.S. According to Christine Labjo, a social worker and graduate of Asian American Studies from California State University, at Northridge, numerous problems were making life in the Philippines very difficult. Dictator Ferdinand Marcos was causing political unrest by declaring martial law and unemployment was on the rise along with poverty.

Filipinos and Americans know the migration as the “Brain Drain of the Philippines.”

Skilled workers began leaving the Philippines for various reasons often resulting in a loss of quality to their respective industry. Filipinos figured working in another country like the United States would be smarter economically because they can make enough money for themselves and for family still living in the Philippines.

“People still move here today for the money,” Soriano said. “Even though the dollar is dropping, it can still get you at least 40 pesos.”

The largest group to leave the Philippines was professionals in the medical industry. In a study done by the International Labour Office in the Philippines, more than 36,000 workers left the Philippines in 1975. The number rose to over 200,000 five years later. Many of them were mid-level professionals like nurses and medical technicians. They offered exceptional experience and skill because they were trained as doctors.

“Anyone who works in the medical industry knows most of the nurses are Filipinos,” Frances Prado said, a former co-worker of Soriano. “They are all smart and trained though.”

Federico Macaranas, executive director of the Policy Center at the Asian Institute of Management in Manila, said in a lecture Western nations are taking talent from countries like the Philippines because they have demonstrated enough talent and an understanding of the English language. Macaranas added the Philippines are the number one supplier of nurses for the United States with about 100,000 leaving each year.

Soriano explained the lure of money is too hard to ignore for Filipinos who would make only a few pesos a day if working in the Philippines. Wages are kept low because employers choose not to invest in employees who may leave for a foreign country. Hospitals in the Philippines are usually low in quality and normally understaffed. Macaranas said 200 hospitals were closed in the past five years.

“It’s even harder now because there are still people coming to the US from PI (Philippines),” Soriano said. “They’re all looking for jobs but they are all gone now. It’s so hard to find a good job these days.”

Soriano continued saying having job security is a relief she loves to have and a why she came to the country. She explained with a good job in the United States, a person could do anything they want. Her road to success was anything but easy though.

First hired in 1983 by Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, CA, as a lab assistant for under five dollars an hour, Soriano moved into a nearby studio apartment on Venice Boulevard. She met a nearby market owner, probably another immigrant she explained, because he too was foreign and could not speak English well. He gave her groceries when she had no money, often saving her on a daily basis.

“I can still remember making a can of sardines last for days,” Soriano said.

She eventually worked her way up to blood bank supervisor. It was difficult for her co-workers to see a small, short, Asian woman in a management position, but Soriano said she deserved the position.

“I was a very hard-worker,” Soriano said. “And I spoke great English.”
She would later work for other medical facilities like Daniel Freeman Hospital and Santa Monica Hospital. She currently works for a private laboratory in Santa Monica, CA.

After an hour or so of studying several slides of blood samples, she turns off the microscope, rubs her eyes, and makes her way to a nearby break room. She sits down and sighs, reaching for her purse to go over mail and call her family.

These were the difficult times for Soriano. This was her downtime at work. She despised these moments because all she could do is worry about her family. Clocking in more than forty hours a week was normal for Soriano, but it has taken a toll on her loved ones. She needed to be at work though, like thousands of other immigrants in the U.S., struggling every day to make a living. The time away has developed communication problems with her kids, most notably her daughter, Jasmine.

“Both of my brothers are ‘momma’s’ boys, but my mom and I have our days,” Jasmine said. “Something I noticed and brought up is that we are both culturally different, I am American, and she is Filipino. That is why we can not agree on anything. I don’t even speak any Tagalog, at all.”

Soriano tried to teach her children the most common language spoken in the Philippines, but the task of learning the language was overwhelming for them. Her children do know some Filipino culture and history, but have not made it a priority to learn.

“I think we (Soriano and husband) might have been too easy on our children, but it’s too late now,” Soriano said. “I can’t complain though because they love it here. I’m guilty too because I also love being American.”

When asked if Soriano would ever move back to the Philippines, Soriano responded with a smile and said, “that’s the dream.”

Soriano wants to retire once her youngest son graduates from college, which is only a few years ahead. She plans to open a free medical clinic in her hometown, Bicol, and return to school to earn a master’s degree. She is not saying goodbye completely to ‘the States,’ a reference to the United States said by many Filipinos.

“I think my husband and I want to live six months here, and then maybe six months in the Philippines,” Soriano said. “We’re not too sure yet because we want to take an RV and go all over America one day. Or, I can just go back to Disneyland!”