CITY COLLEGE STUDENT HANGS UP GOLDEN GLOVES
BY JOSE GUTIERREZ
EDITOR

Elizabeth "Lizzy" Cole wears her sparring partner's blood after a vigorous training session. COURTESY OF ELIZABETH COLE

If you saw City College student Elizabeth “Lizzy” Cole on campus, you wouldn’t know she is a brown belt in karate. Moreover, you wouldn’t know she is a former Golden Gloves champion.

At 15, she trained at Karate One for three years under former Golden Gloves champion Jack Shanas.While she trained there she discovered she had a strong chance to win the upcoming Golden Gloves tournament if she developed her jab.

At 18 she headed to the 3rd Street Gym and trained under another former Golden Gloves champion, Simon Redmond. Seven weeks later, she won the Northern California Golden Gloves championship.

“I was the underdog, so it felt really good to win,” Cole said.

Her father was ecstatic to see her in the ring. However, her mother disliked boxing — until Cole won.

Cole went on to fight in the 2005 Diamond Belt and held her own against Ana Julaton who is ranked fifth in the nation. She also placed third in the 2006 Women’s National Golden Gloves in Florida in the 125 pound division.

For her last six fights, Cole switched trainers to another former Golden Gloves champion, Paul Wade, who co-founded the Third Street Gym with Redmond.

“I knew her and liked her as a person, but didn’t want to get into the ring with her,” Cole said. “The girl is scary.”

Cole trains before her Golden Gloves fight. LESLIE HICKS / GUARDSMAN

During the fight both boxers got into a slugfest. After the bell sounded to end the second round, the fighters continued to exchange blows and the referee had to pry them apart. Cole bloodied Talmadge and the fight was close.

“I was trying to destroy her and she was trying to destroy me,” Cole said.

Cole lost by one point. The crowd had mixed feelings.

“I fought her hard and gained a lot of respect,” Cole said. “It felt great. Dozens of people believe I had won the fight.”

After the fight, Cole walked away from the sport. Boxing was consuming too much of her life and taking a toll on her physically and mentally. During her boxing career she suffered fractures in her feet, a pulled tendon in her hip, a pulled shoulder and pulled ligaments in her hands and wrists.

“I felt like I didn’t need to prove anything anymore,” Cole said. “I wasn’t passionate about it anymore.”

Cole still runs five days a week and lifts weights at the YMCA to stay in shape. She is excited about being able to go to City College full-time to pursue a degree in psychology.

“Psychology is a very diverse field,” Cole said. “You can do a lot with a psychology degree. I want to work with the SFPD or in an oncology ward as a counselor.”

Cole won her fights with speed and heart. LESLIE HICKS / GUARDSMAN

When she was 11, Cole’s 9-year-old brother Jack was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He overcame the cancer with two years of chemotherapy.

“No one was there to explain the psychological effects,” Cole said.

With more free time, Cole can do what she enjoys, like spending more time with her family, photography and watching movies.

“My ultimate goal would be to get my masters in psychology and work in the medical field as a counselor or researcher,” Cole said. “I also want to get married by 33 and have two children by 35. I want to successfully raise two human beings and make them valuable contributors to society and be a good wife. If I could accomplish these things I would die happy.”

e-mail: sports@theguardsman.com

RAMS HAVE MEMORABLE SEASON DESPITE FORFEITING FINAL GAME DUE TO INJURY
BY ANNYSE ACEVEDO
STAFF WRITER

This season's Rams had three first team all-conference players and three on the second team. MICHAEL MORGAN / GUARDSMAN

In 1994 Senators Dianne Feinstein and Byron Dorgan introduced legislation for a “zero-tolerance” policy to keep America’s schools gun free. The idea was to create a safer environment for students.

Since then, three events have marked America. The Colum-bine High School shooting in 1999, the Amish school-house shooting in 2006 and the latest, the Virginia Tech massacre.

The Gun Free Schools Act, signed into law in 1994 was meant to protect students from gun violence by banning guns from schools. Despite the best intentions and the best use of legislation, school shootings have continued.

The pros and cons of having schools gun free are complicated. The idea of keeping guns out of schools is to give a sense of control and security. And to a degree it keeps students and teachers safer. Not having guns keeps the danger away in situations that could get out of hand and develop into tragedy.

It is a general belief that police officers are trained and have deeper awareness about the use of guns. So shall we differentiate between police and the rest of the campus population when it comes to guns?

It is not easy to come up with the right answer. It depends on how each of us views the pros and cons of allowing guns at schools. We all want to be safe and live in peace. Certainly the world would be better free of guns and other destructive weapons. But we unfortunate mortals have not achieved the mind-set to overcome our flaws yet.

To keep guns away from schools still seems the civilized option. But after the recent tragedies perhaps campus police should be allowed to carry guns providing we trust their judgment.

Peace and non-violence shall always be the first choice, but until the day we are truly developed in a deeper intellectual and spiritual way we might have to continue with our barbaric ways to defend ourselves.

e-mail:aacevedo@theguardsman.com