Liberated! Judge Suspends Probation

BY HUBERT HUANG
Editors

NATHAN WEYLAND / GUARDSMAN The courts gave the Rams something they can really cheer about when they ruled them eligible for postseason games.

For the first time this season, the Rams can focus on what they do best: play football.

After months of uncertainty, the Superior Court of California stayed the penalty on City College banning them from postseason play.

“It’s good to have it off our minds so we can just concentrate on playing football,” quarterback Joseph Ayoob said. “Everyone’s kind of remotivated; it [national championship] is the biggest thing we can play for.”

The ruling, delivered on Oct. 15, was a victory for City College, but it does not exonerate the school from allegations filed by the Commission on Athletics (COA) accusing Coach Rush and several former players of illegally recruiting athletes during a trip to American Samoa in summer 2003.

Following a clinic held by the visiting City College football team and local football coaches, City College coaches allegedly presented participants with football cleats. Three of the American Samoa coaches who participated in the event attest that the shoes were actually donated to the Lumina’i Foundation, who in turn distributed the shoes to the American Samoa coaches.

The ruling means that City College will not be forced to adhere to the COA’s procedures when appealing the COA’s penalties against the football program and athletic department. The COA is the ruling body for California community college athletics.

City College also sees the favorable ruling as an indicator of what they have claimed was the impetus behind the entire investigation.

“When you have any kind of organization and you’re clearly superior, you’re gonna get criticized,” said Brad Duggan, athletic director. “I don’t care if you’re Mother Teresa, Allah, Bu-ddha; you’re getting it.”

Though the ruling settles the question of the Rams’ postseason eligibility, it raises other concerns.

For the COA, the decision de-clared their provisions for resolving disputes with member colleges “unconscionable and unenforceable” and lacking “even the basic indicia of due process”. This leaves the status of the commission’s constitution very much in question going forward.

“The COA is like the NCAA and IRS in that they’re not beholden to anyone,” Duggan said. “If you want to file a complaint or grievance, who do you go to?”

Meanwhile, a City College victory opens up the possibility of further legal action against the COA by City College.

“It’s not just the issue of disproving the charges,” Chan-cellor Philip R. Day, Jr. said in an interview before the court’s ruling. “We’re going to challenge them on every front until they’re on their knees; until they give a formal ap-ology.”

While the outcome of the City College versus COA saga remains hazy, what is clear is that the undefeated Rams seem poised for another run at postseason glory.

e-mail: sports@theguardsman.com

Sound Barrier: Deaf teammate Greg Youbara gives men's soccer a boost

BY TRACY HELD
Staff Writer

ANTONELLA FABIANI / GUARDSMAN

Leaving behind his family and the familiar cultural traditions of his home country, men’s soccer player Gregoire Youbara ventured to City College in 2003 for the chance to learn in a supportive environment.

The five-and-a-half-foot tall Youbara is solidly built. He stands with patient, relaxed confidence and smiles frequently. He is also deaf.

“I’ve been playing soccer since I was a little kid in Africa,” Youbara said through an American Sign Language interpreter employed by City College for his soccer practices. “I never stopped. I played on the street, at home,” Youbara gestured widely around him, “Anywhere I could play.”

Soccer is the “sport king” in Africa, he said. “Even for a simple practice session, we have a bunch of people in the stands.”

Youbara was born in Cameroon, a former British-French colony inside the elbow of the western coast of Africa. He grew up speaking French and began learning English in elementary school.

At age eight, he contracted a case of the mumps, which ultimately led to his hearing loss. According to the International Deaf Children’s Society website, about 20,000 deaf children and adults live in Cameroon, where the main causes of deafness are meningitis and measles.

The first thing he had to face were the misconceptions people had regarding deafness.

“I had to prove that being deaf was not a synonym of being dumb or stupid,” he said. “People thought I couldn’t read or write anymore, that I wouldn’t have a future.”

At age 10, Youbara moved 120 miles from home, where he studied with both hearing and deaf pupils through high school. Every Christmas and summer, he returned home, primarily communicating with his family by lip reading and a little bit of sign language.

After graduating from high school, Youbara co-founded the Cameroon National League of Sports for the Deaf, a ruling organization that puts on sports competitions for the deaf community in the capital city of Yaounde. The league is currently a provisional member of the international organization, Deaf-lympics.

“I came [to the United States] to get a good education. Educa-tion here is especially good for deaf people,” Youbara said.

“I was going to college at a university in Africa,” Youbara signed. “All of my classmates were hearing there. There were no interpreters.” At City College, he has an interpreter for every class.

When there are no interpreters around, such as during soccer games, Youbara relies on nonverbal communication: handwritten messages and text messaging with his pager. The pager is passed between Youbara and his teammates, who type messages to each other off the field.

He admits that the communication barrier with hearing people affects his performance. “To be honest, I’ve always had difficulties playing with hearing people. I only do my best,” he said.

To facilitate communication, some teammates are learning to sign the alphabet.

ANTONELLA FABIANI / GUARDSMAN

At City College, he reconnects with his heritage through Joseph, a fellow Cameroonian and soccer player. “Having a teammate like Joseph is like having a brother in the team,” Youbara said. “We share some values that aren’t understood by other teammates, who are almost all Latinos.” He feels a similar connection with Obah, who is from Ghana.

As supportive as his teammates are, “some make fun of [sign language] and play with it,” Youbara said, noting that not all of the teasing is good-humored. “Sometimes it’s frustrating.”

He believes hearing people sometimes feel sorry for deaf people, because they can’t imagine what it feels like to be deaf. “They have to accept it as it is, and respect the value and dignity of the deaf person,” he said.

“The team has learned a lot from him,” men’s soccer coach Adam Lucarelli said. “He added dimension and awareness about what a deaf person would have to go through to get an education.”

Communication isn’t the only challenge for Youbara.

“I miss my family, African traditional dishes, the social aspect of African life, and my various activities within the deaf community there,” he said.

Youbara maintains contact with his family in Cameroon via e-mails and letters.

He is currently studying linguistics and philosophy. Un-certain about life after college, Youbara is considering returning to Africa to set up a school for the deaf.

“Having him on the team far outweighs any challenges,” Lucarelli said. “He’s a great role model.”

e-mail: theld@theguardsman.com

SCOREBOARD

Soccer

With three road games against teams ranked in the top 15 in Northern California, the Rams knew the last two weeks would present a stern test. However, the Rams, who had been on a roll, had to expect more than a winless fortnight.

After a 3-1 loss to the third-ranked squad from Canada, the Rams dropped consecutive one-goal losses to Chabot and De Anza. Mario Senties and Arsinoe Orihuela both scored their first goals of the season.

For the Rams, the silver lining may be that they still sport a 5-2-2 conference record and have 4 of their last 6 games at their home field. It should give a chance for the team to regroup before the Nor Cal Playoffs. –Hubert Huang


Cross Country

In their final regular season of the meet, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams continue to show improvement. Tara Hillier ran a season’s best at 19:26 and finished third for the second consecutive meet. However, the biggest development was the running of Cathryn Guevarra. Guevarra shaved nearly 90 seconds off her time from two weeks ago to finish 20th.

The men had their best team performance of the season, finishing third out of 13 teams. The Rams’ quintet, lead by Kenny Sparks 11th place finish in 22:32, all finished within 26 seconds of each other.

With an open date on Oct. 23, both the men and women will have an extra week to prepare for the Conference Championships. –Hubert Huang

Volleyball

After disappointing losses to West Valley and Cabrillo, the Rams picked up their intensity level against Ohlone.

Early on, it became evident that the team wouldn’t allow the outcome of their previous games affect their performance that night. With efficient hitting by Jazmin Pratt and Thea Thompson, the team took control of the match. Great jump serves by defensive specialist Najla Barance gave the Rams a big lead in the second match. Despite a defeat in the third match, the Rams won the fourth with a final execution by middle blocker, Sashana Connor.

Heading into the first round of conference play, the team’s record stands at 1-3. –Alvina Cheah

Football

In their first game after the courts ruled them eligible for the postseason, the Rams looked re-focused on football in a 55-7 shellacking of Sacramento. But with the way the team has dominated their competition, it’s difficult to tell.

Quarterback Joseph Ayoob continues to show why the California Golden Bears are so excited to have the signal caller arriving next year, throwing for 308 yards and two touchdowns. Lavelle Hawkins, who is quickly becoming a favorite target of Ayoob, caught five more balls for 105 yards, and returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. Now that Hawkins has returned a kick for a touchdown in two of three games, opposing teams should happily take the procedure penalty and kick the ball out of bounds. –Hubert Huang

INSIDE THE UNIFORM: PART 4

RODGER OCON / GUARDSMAN Desmond Bishop (left) poses with teammate Edorian McCullough before football practice.

As a star football player, when Desmond Bishop meets people for the first time, they automatically assume he spends his time partying till six in the morning and hanging out with his friends.

In reality though, Bishop’s off-field life is relatively quiet and not at all like the stereotypical jock behavior that he is usually associated with.

“I don’t think nobody know me,” Bishop said, adding that he’s often labeled as a cocky, egotistical football player, similar to those seen in popular movies.
Bishop resents the fact that people of-ten assume that all athletes can do is play football.

“I’m a very intelligent person,” Bishop said. “Football is only temporary — education is for life.”

Although football means a lot to Bishop, there are things that are more important to him, such as family values and education. Getting good grades is just as important to him as winning games.

Bishop is proud that he normally earns high grades in his classes, and expects to have a GPA over 3.0 this semester.

With a school day that regularly lasts 10 hours, time for recreation is hard to come by. Even in the short time between his classes letting out and the start of practice, he tries to squeeze a few minutes in with the books.

After practice lets out, Bishop heads home to study and do homework. Sometimes, when he needs a break, he’ll go to a teammate’s house and compare highlight films from high school.

Even on the weekends, Bishop prefers to relax and prepare for the week ahead, rather than staying out late partying. A Friday night at the movies with some of his teammates or just hanging out at home with his aunt are his activities of choice.

“Football and school are it,” Bishop said.

Bishop says he connects well with his teammates because they all have a common goal: “To be successful in life and to win a national championship.”

“He is a good guy; cocky and self-confident, but he backs it up,” said Rams’ running back Dallas Bernstine, who has known Bishop since the beginning of Bishop’s football career.

In the end, Bishop tries not to let other people’s perceptions of him affect his outlook too much.

“We’re all stereotyped,” Bishop said. “There’s nothing you can do about it. Just be you.”

e-mail: mharwell@theguardsman.com