Campus News Fall 2019 Issue 12

VOLUME 77, ISSUE 12 | WWW.ELACCAMPUSNEWS.COM | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2019 | SINGLE COPY FREE - ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS

Presidential candidate visits ELAC Secretary Julian Castro speaks to poli-sci students BY JULIE SANTIAGO Staff Writer On a presidential campaign tour of California, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro visited East Los Angeles College. In an intimate classroom packed with political science students, Elans had an opportunity to ask Castro about his stance on a wide range of issues such as immigration, health, the environment, equal pay and indigenous issues. Castro’s visit to Los Angeles was organized by his staff after he was invited by political science professor and ELAC alum Felipe Agredano-Lozano. Administrative Justice major, mother and full time state department of insurance employee, Elizabeth Conde, wasn’t interested in politics until taking Agredano’s introductory political science class. During the Q & A, Conde asked Secretary Castro about what he would do for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). “I know a lot of people that are not sure what is going to happen with them because they are recipients of DACA,” Conde said. Secretary Castro said he supported a path to citizenship for DACA recipients. Conde said a path to citizenship for her friends and family is important to her and would vote for Secretary Castro if she had the chance. Mario Jaramillo, a Child Development major, said he felt he

It’s only a matter of time before our ELAC students will be the next decision makers that shape the world we live in, just like Julian.” FELIPE AGREDANO-LOZANO

Political Science Professor

got to know Secretary Castro better and appreciated that his visit was not announced to the public. “I was looking at how he carried himself, very down to earth, [and] very calm,” Jaramillo said. J aramillo s aid he and his classmates have talked about Castro because he supports free education. “He is a big competitor between him and Bernie especially since they target free education,” Jaramillo said. Agredano said Castro’s visit was discussed months ago, but became reality only recently. Agredano hopes students are inspired by Castro and see themselves in the future making an impact in our city, state, nation and world. “It’s only a matter of time before our ELAC students will be the

CN/JULIE SANTIAGO

CON LA GENTE—Julian Castro speaks to Elans about how his immigration policies would differ from the current Trump

administration.

next decision makers that shape the world we live in, just like a Julian. I believe our ELAC students are just as resilient and dynamic individuals, when provided with the right opportunities and experiences students will evolve to become transformational individuals who will run our institutions and shape

the next generation,” Agredano said. Agredano met Castro through a mutual friend while they both were attending Harvard. Agredano says he has kept in touch with the Secretary through mutual organizations such as the Young Elected Officials Network (YEO) and the National Association

of Latino Appointed & Elected Officials, (NALEO). Castro advised students to perservere despite how hard the next step in life might seem. “A lot of times in life, when we go to the next level of life we psych ourselves out about how difficult that next level is going to be and

it’s been my experience, at least, that the next level in life is always harder than the one you just came up from, but it’s never so difficult that if you don’t keep doing what made you successful in the first place that you can’t do well or that you can’t succeed,” Castro said.

LACCD hires marketing company

Marketers focus on diversity despite lacking diversity within own ranks BY JUAN CALVILLO Staff Writer A contract worth more than a million dollars, was awarded by the Los Angeles Community College District to an out of state and mostly white firm to market to the district’s surrounding communities. Alfredo Gama Salmeron, student trustee member of the board of trustees, said that his job is to be an advocate for students. He said he does it for students who don’t go to meetings and don’t have the information about what the board of trustees’ jobs entail. The board of trustees is made up of seven members who decide how LACCD funds will be used. In early September, a contract to help with marketing and advertising for the LACCD and its colleges was brought to the board of trustees for approval. The company that won the contract is Interact Communications. William Boyer, director of communications at the LACCD, said it’s important to

understand what the company was tasked to do. “It’s important to get the terminology correct. They’re not doing a project per se. They were awarded a contract from the district for being essentially our agency of record to help us with marketing and advertising,” Boyer said. He said that the contract is a twoyear-long contract, that will focus on LACCD-wide advertising and more local marketing for specific colleges. Salmeron said there has been a drop in African American students and total registrations for incoming students in general. “In 1995, we had 25% African American students. Now, in 2019, we have less than 10% [African American] students,” Salmeron said. Salmeron said before the contract was approved, African American community leaders attended meetings to try to explain how they could help. Salmeron said that for the most

part, the leaders were ignored by Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez. Rodriguez pointed out during the September board of trustees meeting, that there had been an increase in the African Americnan outreach agreement to a total of $250,000. The Chancellor ’s monthly report for November revealed that compared to last year, AB540 student count is 10% lower. These are a few reasons why a marketing and advertising company is currently needed by the district. Interact Communications went to the board of trustees and presented their plan to help the LACCD. Interact Communications, a Wyoming based company, claims on its website that it is a two-year college expert in both marketing and communications. The company is also mostly made up of white or anglo individuals with a few exceptions. After the company’s presentation, the board members talked about the diversity issues the company has.

“There was a healthy discussion in public about using Interact, and at the end of the day, the elected board of trustees voted. You can check to see online,” Boyer said. Members of the board of trustees were concerned with the lack of diversity within the company. During the discussion, Trustee Gabriel Buelna inquired as to the messaging that would accompany Interact Communications contract and how that would translate to student registration. Cheryl Broom from Interact Communications said the company would take three to six months to thoroughly research each college before bringing any kind of proposed campaign. Buelna said that during Broom’s explanation he was looking for specific content. “I was listening to your presentation, and I was really looking to be convinced that we are going to get a message that’s worth all the buying. And I’m a little concerned that the buying came

before the messaging,” Buelna said. “I’m getting that this is a generic model, that is just being plopped on the district when we’re unique.” During the meeting Salmeron also questioned Broom. He asked how exactly Interact Communications would be able to speak to how they would relate to and increase African American enrollment. Scott J. Svonkin is among the members of the board of trustees that had reservations about Interact Communications. He said there were concerns not only about the lack of diversity within Interact Communications, but also about the contract in general. “Initially the contract was not competitively bid, and my philosophy is that all contracts, like this, should be competitively bid. The initial contract was given to them, by the district, without a competitive process,” Svonkin said.

LACCD Continued on page 6

Academic senate discusses new schedule for Fall 2020 BY JUAN CALVILLO Staff Writer East Los Angeles College’s academic senate met Nov. 26 to discuss the hiring of additional faculty and class scheduling. An item addressed was a new program set to standardize class scheduling school-wide. Earlier this year, Dean Michelle Cheang from the South Gate campus said that she was working on a project to help create a more focused class schedule campus-wide. She said that the project would be implemented in the spring, and at the academic senate it was clarified to have a Fall semester proposed start. In the creation of this new scheduling system, there were a couple of important factors that

were kept in mind. The main reason for this update is to “minimize the overlap between patterns (times of classes) so that students can stay on the path of completion,” according to the senate’s agenda packet. “There’s not always consistency for all departments because classes come in all shapes and sizes,” Jeff Hernandez, president of the academic senate, said. He said that there are many types of classes that range from two or three units offered multiple times a week. By addressing the class schedule and creating a more standardized one, one of the goals was to shorten the length of time students need to stay taking classes. Currently there is a possibility that there is a gap in between chosen classes in a student’s schedule. “For some students this holds

them up,” Hernandez said. Sometimes is so bad that students end up not taking a required course until the next semester it is offered. “So the goal is to avoid those conflicts so that students can take the class they need, for the kind of degree or certificate program they are trying to complete,” Hernandez said. This is opposed to adding extra semesters and wasting time taking additional units they don’t really need. This project came in front of the academic senate this Nov. 26 for a vote. The senate voted to table the rollout of a trial for the proposed new schedule until proper tweaking could be made. In addition to this, an addendum was made to include student feedback for the change to the current scheduling system. The Associated Student Union

would also be asked for feedback on the changes that were being proposed. Another item on the agenda for this meeting was the approval of a move by the Nursing Department to hire additional faculty positions. The Nursing Department at ELAC has been running a bit thin on the faculty side for some time. All the faculty including Lurelean Gaines, chair for the Nursing Department, have to teach or work alongside students. “When the state of California visited and they found that so many of us are teaching, like myself and my two assistants, it’s an overload,” Gaines said. Gaines purpose should be acting as the administrator of the department. It was found not to be the case. Gaines said that her list of adjunct faculty has been lacking and that

usually these adjunct members were not vested in the futures of either the program or students. She said that she needed consistent and invested individuals to make up the difference. Gaines said that the hiring committee told her that there was an issue with how the forms for the additional hires was filled out, holding the process up, but once the committee understood that this was a mandate from the state, things changed. “This is a mandate from the state, because we are talking about approval. See, they (the college) use the term accreditation. But the college is accredited. Nursing is approved by the state,” Gaines said.

News Briefs Corrections

In last week’s issue of Campus News, Jonattan Robles was not credited for his photo in “Students use techniques to dance” and Alma Lizarraga’s name was mispelled in the staff box.

Chat with chancellor

C h a n c e l l o r Fr a n c i s c o Ramirez is speaking with students about the district’s goals and future plans today at 10:30 a.m.

ELAC Symphony

The ELAC Symphonic is performing Friday at 8 p.m. in the S2 Recital Hall.

SENATE Continued on page 6

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OPINION

EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE CAMPUS NEWS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2019

College program destroys college experience Most of the students interrupt the class and they never participate. These classes are the only classes I’m taking that are like this. My regular classes are filled with students who are either sophomores or freshmen, teens or even people in their 30s. They feel like college classes where all the students seem like they want to be there, that they want to learn. My College Promise classes, however, do not feel that way. The students don’t care to be there. Most of them just want to leave or joke about dropping out. This is a big problem with the College Promise program; they don’t tell students everything that is required to remain in the program. Students need to take 40 hours of tutoring for any subject, visit

BY JONATHAN BERMUDEZ Staff Writer The College Promise program ruins the college experience that new students should have for themselves. The program gives first-year students two free years of college with other benefits. Its requirements are taking a class in the summer and going to orientation for the school students are applying to within the district of Los Angeles. However, they don’t tell students that they have to take English classes and counseling classes that are part of the program. These classes that I’m taking are part of the program and don’t feel like college classes. They are more like high school classes.

workshops and fill out a grade verification form that all their teachers need to sign. This puts stress on those students. We have the responsibility of passing the classes we are taking and now we have to do things that the College Promise program is forcing us to do or else our free two years are gone. A lot of the counselors say college is not like high school and that no one would be holding out their hand, but the College Promise program does exactly that. They make students join these classes that are supposed to get them comfortable with college, but it just feels too comfortable. I don’t feel the independence that one is supposed to feel in college when I am in the program. I feel like I am back in high school and high school was worse for me.

I do not want to feel like that when I am at college. I want to be free and not miserable like I was in high school. I want to be happy to show up to class, but I don’t. The only good thing about the classes is the professors, but the students and the program are the problem. I feel like I am constantly being lied to by the program. I’m always being told new things about it that I haven’t heard of before, like taking mandatory classes or having to choose one of the benefits that come with the program instead of getting all of them. The students ruin the experience because they trigger flashbacks about how high school was for me, and it sucks. I thought college was going to be a new start for me, but I was wrong.

The program needs to stop lying to students, and they need to stop holding out hands. It’s contradicting to the whole idea of being independent in college and making our own decisions. It keeps us unprepared for what actual college is like and it can become a bigger issue in the future. I want to believe in the program and that the students will get better, but now they are forcing us to take cohorts, so I don’t see that happening anytime soon. It looks like I’m going to be stuck with the same students who just don’t take the class seriously. I can’t wait to transfer so I can get a better experience from another college.

Customers should tip generously BY CHER ANTIDO Staff Writer The United States blends various cultures from different countries, but one custom that it’s known for is tipping etiquette. Diners should give the basic gratuity to their servers as an act of proper dining etiquette. Tipping is not customary in many places in Asia. In Japan, for example, it’s considered rude to tip. To some, the concept of tipping is unheard of. Japanese people believe that their job to serve the customers should not be encouraged through tipping. Americans, however, consider the opposite. Many servers are motivated to do a good job because of tips. In return, the customers will have a good dining experience because of the good service. For some restaurant workers, they make their salary based on tips. Servers don’t get paid as high because employers know the tips make up for it. But some customers don’t tip despite the good service they receive. Gratuity is now a common practice in America, so people shouldn’t ignore it. While it’s understandable for

people who come from a country that doesn’t encourage this act, they should practice American customs while in America. Michael Lynn, a professor at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, gave an interview to PBS NewsHour on why people tip. Publishing more than 50 papers on the subject, Lynn says that there are five reasons people tip: to show off, to help, to receive future service, to avoid being thought badly of and as a sense of duty. “Unless restaurants forbid their

employees from accepting tips, I don’t think you’re going to be able to eliminate it in this country,” Lynn said. Since it’s already a courtesy implemented in the United States, it’s pointless to try and get rid of it by not tipping. Doing so will only disappoint servers and lower their salary. If customers are happy with their service, they should tip at least 20 percent of their bill. Ten percent if they’re not happy and 15 percent if it’s satisfactory.

With tips included, servers can make up to $30 an hour. There have been restaurants that try a no-tipping policy by increasing the servers’ wages, but that plan could have a drawback.

Students shouldn’t socialize inside library BY JULIETT MARIE VILLEGAS Staff Writer

Let’s say it together: Statistics is NOT math, it’s marketing. Statistics teaches you how to manipulate something in order to obtain maximum profit. A professor once told me they haven’t used math in 30 years. AFT needs to step up and stop these corporate-owned politicians from turning campuses into degree mills. Counselors won’t tell you that ELAC gets the maximum $$$ per student if you choose AA-T instead of the regular AA. AB 705 slashed LACCD’s profits by changing from an enrollment to an outcome-based model. Do research and stop letting these counselors lie to you. How can entire classes be failing Math 125 with scientific calculators? Try Mathway or Cymath or Photomath, then tell me you would keep using a scientific calculator that only gives you the answer, but doesn’t show the actual process. USC is not fooled by AB 705. They require completion of english and math before transfer: No legitimate university will accept the AA-T. LACCD has many students like me that took remedial math and English before AB 705 and are now being punished with lower Pell Grant eligibility, while all new students starting in Fall 2019 or later can’t take remedial courses at all. LATTC and ELAC let me take Math 112 and 115 even though AB 705 became state law in early 2018. The LACCD refuses to do the right thing and erase those remedial units from my academic record. The state of CA is being very cheap. Many Intermediate Algebra students within LACCD are failing because AB 705 wiped out remedial classes in the

Richard B. McKenzie, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, conducted a study in 2016 on the effect of a no-tipping policy at restaurants. He wrote that “if tipping were replaced by a fixed hourly rate of pay, service would suffer significantly.” Servers are motivated to give good service because of the tips. If their pay is already fixed, they might find that there’s no reason to go that extra mile to make the customers happy. If restaurants do follow the no-tipping policy and increase their workers’ wages, it would only be $15 an hour, which can be a big reduction for how much they can make with tips. Many servers also make a living based on their tips. While many would rather not tip, as it’s a custom that’s not going away any time soon, tipping will make both the servers and customers happy.

Libraries have lost their silent appeal. The East Los Angeles College library has become a gamble for students trying to find a quiet place to read or study. What kind of atmosphere will a student be walking into? The usual noisy atmosphere where groups of friends meet at a table or sit in an aisle nearby and begin talking in a whisper that gradually turns into a full blown conversation, even with a poster reading “Silent Study Area” is up behind them? Or will it actually be the quiet and suitable place intended for productive study time in a minimally distracting area? Students may think that a resolution to this nuisance would be booking a study room if people plan on working with chatty friends but, somehow, that turns out to be worse. In a study room, students are under a false pretense of sound security. Students may think that the walls and a door stops the volume of their

voices from being projected out into the lawless world of the library, but it doesn’t. Instead, the whole floor will hear the loud and muffled sound of laughter and talk. It’s as though the library has lost its essence. Hardly ever do its occupants turn to look at their surroundings and acknowledge the notices which state that the walls are thin so, “keep the talking to a minimum.” Some students ignore the fact that the library prohibits distracting activities such as talking and laughing, eating crunchy foods or foods that come in loud packaging, listening to loud music, making phone calls and however else people get creative with their exasperating tendencies. There are many places outside of library walls to socialize with friends, especially in the areas surrounding the campus. There should be no reason to come to the library with the intention of sharing gossip, catching up with an old friend or whatever other reason that will include incessant chatter while other students are working hard, studying and trying to maintain focus.

EDITOR IN CHIEF Melody Ortiz MANAGING EDITOR Andrew Ayala ART DIRECTOR Steven Adamo ONLINE EDITOR Adam Robles FRONT EDITORS Luis Castilla

OPINION EDITOR Cher Antido NEWS EDITOR Juan Calvillo FEATURE EDITOR Maria Marroquin Monroy ARTS EDITOR Gustavo Buenrostro SPORTS EDITORS Sonny Tapia

Michael Dominguez CARTOONIST Ivana Amaral COPY EDITORS Ivan Cazares Stephanie Guevara STAFF WRITERS Noe Ortega, Mariana Montoya, Melisa Valenzuela, Miguel Dominguez, Russell Navarette, Jonathan Bermudez, Johanna Rodriguez, Julie Santiago, Alejandro Ambriz ADVERTISING Stefanie Arocha DISTRIBUTION Gustavo Buenrostro Julie Santiago ADVISERS Jean Stapleton Sylvia Rico-Sanchez Campus News encourages letters to the editor relating to campus issues. Letters must be typed and double spaced. Submitted material becomes the property of Campus News and cannot be returned. Letters should be limited to 300 words or less. Campus News reserves the right to edit letters for grammatical errors or libelous content. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Writers must sign submissions and print their names and a phone number where they can be reached. Letters should be addressed to the editor of Campus News. Submissions can be made at the mailroom in building E1 or the Journalism department office in the Technology Center in E7-303. East Los Angeles College Campus News 1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez E7-303 Monterey Park, CA 91754 (323) 265-8819, Ads (323) 265-8821 Fax (323) 415-4910 The East Los Angeles College Campus News is published as a learning experience, offered under the East Los Angeles College Journalism program. The editorial and advertising materials are free from prior restraint by virtue of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The opinions expressed are exclusively those of the writer. Accordingly, materials published herein, including any opinions expressed, should not be interpreted as the position of the Los Angeles Community College District, East Los Angeles College, or any officer or employee thereof.

name of “who cares, just let them go to CSULA.” Counselors lie. Chancellor Oakley pushes profit over education. Math and english faculty waste our money on access codes because Cengage owns this campus. Research...it’s a good thing.

ARMENIA WARD East Los Angeles College Student

www.ELACCampusNews.com

PRINTING BY NEWS PUBLISHERS PRESS

News

EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE CAMPUS NEWS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2019

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Library community computers downsized after incidents organize a protest to shut down the school if Campus News didn’t disclose the issue, despite its lack of influence over official school policy. “Kenny, the person who talked to you, hasn’t been banned. None of the situations have turned violent, but we know one person has been banned,” Gina Chelstrom, associate dean, said. ELAC is a public campus, but officials have the authority to have people removed from campus if

BY IVAN CAZARES Staff Writer East Los Angeles College’s Helen Miller Bailey library will offer access to fewer community computers starting January than it currently offers. Three computers designated as community computers are primarily for non-students to research classes before enrolling. Choonhee Rhim, library chair, said library staff were lenient with its policy for years, but some nonstudents take advantage of the resource prompting the change in policy. “We aren’t required to offer community computers by the district, but we’ve had them for years and have been very lenient with community users, because we want to expose them to the college and hope they could be prospective students,” Rhim said. “Some people stay all day and come back day after day. We’ve also had some people be very disruptive or refuse to leave when asked to.” Rhim said feedback from students suggests there aren’t enough computers in the library and added that non-students abusing the community computers contributes to these complaints.

CN/IVAN CAZARES

COMPUTER ISSUES—The Helen Miller Bailey library has dozens of computers for students,

but two of the three community computers will vanish in January. Community members could ask to be signed in to one of the community computers and are allotted one hour to use it. Starting in January, the three community computers will be converted to student and staff computers, and a single community computer will be set up by the front desk.

This is meant to discourage abuse of the resource but continue to provide prospective students with access to an internet connection on campus. Campus News learned about the change in policy when Kenny Sakamoto, a non-student, who lives in the community of Monterey Park said he and other non-students have

“I think definitely it should

CAMPUS

be for the community...I think it should be provided. As students we have technology in our phones and in our laptop.” KATELIN TORRES

ARACELY RIVAS

“I think they (ELAC) shouldn’t allow outsiders to use our computers since they’re abusing it.”

been kicked off campus by Sheriff deputies without just cause. Jean Stapleton, Campus News adviser, also received threatening phone calls from Elizabeth Valenzuela, a non-student who has been officially banned from campus, because she refused to leave after being asked to by library staff. Valenzuela said she would

VOICE

SHOULD HELEN MILLER BAILEY LIBRARY LET THE COMMUNITY USE CAMPUS COMPUTERS?

“I think we’re very welcoming to the community, but under law we have the right to kick people off campus if they are being disruptive in any sort of way.” RUEBEN ARENAS

Vice President of Student Services

they pose a threat to the community or disrupt college activities and classes. “I think we’re very welcoming to the community, but under law we have the right to kick people off campus if they are being disruptive in any sort of way,” Ruben Arenas, vice president of student services said. “Under penal code, we can issue a ban either seven or 14 days. Basically we notify the person, we might know their names, we might not, but we explain why they are being asked to leave, and that they may return in seven to 14 days depending on the ban we issue.” “We usually provide guidance, because we want them to be visitors. This is generally a public campus and we don’t like issuing bans, but if they become disruptive, we will,” he said. Sakamoto said there are some non-students that are disruptive, but expressed disappointment with the blanket decision which will affect those who rely on the resource and don’t abuse it. “They’ve called the Sheriff’s on a few of us, and some of them are good, but most don’t try to get to know the community and find out who really should be kicked out,” Sakamoto said.

“I feel like, they’re probably taking advantage of it (computers). Not using it the way that us students would usually use it.” ANGEL POTTS RACHEL LOPEZ

“I think anyone should use them for anything at all, it could be like for research or anything. I think they should use it if they need to, but not for a long period of time.”

Homelessness, domestic violence connection discussed BY STEVEN ADAMO Staff Writer

CN/STEVEN ADAMO

MONEY VS. HUNGER—The East Los Angeles College Foundation members and faculty

along with sponsors stand shoulder to shoulder presenting a new check for the 1000 meal project.

ELAC Foundation, partners fight hunger BY MARIANA MONTOYA Staff Writer The 1000 meal inititative is meant to address food scarcity and student hunger among Elans. On Tuesday, the East Los Angeles College Foundation Transforming Lives Campaign along with representatives of several local food community partners including major franchises like McDonald’s and local businesses like La Azteca Tortillieria launched the start of the 1000 Meals Challenge Initiative at the ELAC Student Center Multipurpose room. Armond Aghakhanian, development officer at the ELAC Foundation, spoke during the 1000 Meal Challenge Initiative. “If it takes our students two hours to get here, and if they get one meal a day and don’t know where to sleep at night, how do we expect them to maintain hygiene?” “How do we expect them to maintain a high GPA to transfer to better and bigger schools?” Aghakhanian said. He said, “This indeed is a challenge that has been haunting me for the last three years.” Aghakhanian said the “Campaign

is a five-year initiative with lots to go and with every dollar that is contributed to the campaign going directly back to the students.” Gabriel Buelna, second Vice President of the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees, who was an inspiration for the creation of the challenge, said, “[as a student at] Cal State Northridge the best hamburgers I ate from the San Fernando Valley were King’s Burger, $2.39 for a hamburger or cheeseburger and a drink.” “So every two days that’s what I would eat and during the other two days I would eat tacos at the San Fernando Valley Mall.” “The point is a lot of students survive by eating at restaurants, and if students eat at restaurants we should make it our goal to be building partnerships with restaurants.” “Literally every dollar goes back to the [donor] like it does to the student. The partnership donations like the money spent at restaurants by students can subsidize students not having to be hungry. A basic concept that the ELAC Foundation has grown.” A few of the 10 partners of the challenge were also present, and were invited to the stage.

They were acknowledged for their contribution in supporting the Initiative by providing funds to make the initiative happen. Liz Carlton, representative from Panda Express said, “We are really pleased to be a part of this program and the community. At Panda we really believe that we are not successful unless our community is successful.” Marissa Castro-Salvti, Los Angeles City Service Commissioner, said, “I was one of those kids trying to figure out food and books so this partnership is tremendous, because just knowing they can get a meal is a big deal for me.” She focused on the student population. “Urging (students) to support all the restaurants who are a part of the Initiative who in turn are demonstrating their support (of the program) by providing the meals.” Castro-Salvti closed the remarks by stating that her office will also be donating 1000 meals. The 1000 meal initiative is designed to support students who have experienced hunger, and show them that the ELAC Foundation is thinking of ways to help them succeed.

State Senator Susan Rubio visited East Los Angeles College Tuesday for a panel discussion on the connections between domestic violence and homelessness. The panel was organized by the ELAC Foundation’s Transforming Lives Campaign. According to Rubio, 60% of women have reported that there’s a direct link between their homelessness and domestic violence. Rubio said victims are often faced with the difficult choice of whether or not to stay in an abusive relationship or be homeless. “Either way, it’s not a healthy situation,” Rubio said. Rubio shared some of her own experiences with domestic violence and how, as a senator, she can help pass laws that tackle the issue directly. In October, Rubio’s SB273 was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, which extends the statute of limitation of domestic abuse from three years to five. Rubio partnered with actors Evan

Rachel Wood and Esmé Bianco on the bill, who are also survivors of domestic abuse. “I never thought that myself… an elected official, a council member… that that could ever happen to me,” Rubio said. “Before you know it, you’re caught in a web of circumstance and the last thing you want to do is judge others when it happens to them.” In September, the governor signed SB316, another one of Rubio’s bills, which mandates every school in California between grades seven and 12 to print a phone number to a domestic violence hotline on the back of every student’s ID card. “Not only do the victims need to know that they have resources, to see the back of the card and know they have a number to call,” Rubio said. “I’d also like the abusers to see that there’s a number that can be called where they can get in trouble.” Barbara Kappos from the East Los Angeles Women’s Center said resources are available at their offices for victims of domestic violence, as well as the student health center. “Every person is entitled to a

life free of violence,” Kappos said. “Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity.” The Women’s Center provides many services including counseling, crisis-intervention, emergency shelter and a transitional house. Kappos shared a conversation she had with some of the struggles women at the transitional house experienced. Some were afraid to report their domestic abuse out of fear of losing their house, their children and other repercussions. Kappos hopes that more effort will go into prevention so that circumstances don’t get worse. “We’ve been on many of these journeys with women who have experienced losing everything, their home, their dignity.” “We start from ground zero and we start to build. It really takes the support from all of us to help those individuals move forward in their lives.” Kappos also discussed ELAC’s weekly Men’s circle. She gave one example where a person shared his experiences with violence. She said he worked to become a better individual and keep his family together.

CN/STEVEN ADAMO

HOMELESSNESS AND VIOLENCE—State Senator Susan Rubio from the 22nd district shares stories on domestic violence and how it shapes peoples lives. www.ELACCampusNews.com

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Opinion 2

EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE CAMPUS NEWS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2019

Finding self-peace eases seasonal depression condition known as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD.” During the winter, seasonal depression is at its highest. It’’s not a coinidence that there is also a lack of sunlight too. Families start acquiring debt little by little; however, little by little it becomes a crazy amount that leads to the credit card being maxed. According to an article by CNBC “Americans racked up more than $1,000 in holiday debt each, on average, at the end of 2018, according to MagnifyMoney’s annual post-holiday debt survey. “On top of that, 28% of shoppers went into the holiday season still paying off debt from 2017.” Along with debt, the stress and pressure to have everything ready in terms of presents for family or ingredients for that perfect holiday meal, become inevitable. The key to surviving it all, especially seasonal depression,and the stress of having debt, is to maintain a healthy mindset. Maintaining a healthy mindset is not easy, but reminding ourselves of something positive that we contribute to society can make a difference in our day-to-day living. An article in Psychology Today said, “Stopping to give seasonal thanks is a wonderful thing, but what’s even better is practicing gratitude year round. “In fact, studies show that consistent positive interactions,

BY MARIANA MONTOYA Staff Writer

The winter holidays are usually known to be the happiest time of the year. Christmas trees begin to go up, lights everywhere, presents left and right, radio stations begin to blast jolly music, but it is not always extreme happiness for everyone. During that time, many struggle with seasonal depression, anxiety and stress from everything that is going on during the winter season. The holidays can get extremely tense, especially if you have family coming over during each and every festivity. The multiple energies roaming in the room can certainly bring out the worst in each and every person, leading to those ugly family arguments no one wants to remember. People might deal with the annual holiday party that can cause an extreme reaction for the various people inside the room forming of a mental block. Mental health triggers are extremely common. An article by Good Morning America said, “The idea of the ‘winter blues’ is not just something to be dismissed, experts say. “It can be a sign of a real medical

Internet brings comfort to buying gifts BY ADAM ROBLES Staff Writer The concept of Black Friday has always been very pointless and needs a readjustment. With the growth of technology and the whole Black Friday concept in general being extended in length, the shopping day has seemingly lost its spark. After many rough holiday cycles, Black Friday seems to always have the same deals and isn’t much of the spectacle it used to be. Yes, holiday sales of any altitude are always a blessing, but with online shopping available, there is almost no reason to physically shop on Black Friday. During the prime years of physically shopping on Black Friday (pre-2015), there were cases of customers being injured and even killed while rushing into stores or fighting over items with other customers. There are a bunch of videos on YouTube and there have been reports on the news of these instances occurring. The increasing trend of customers switching over to exclusively shopping online is a smart decision. It’s a great redistribution of customers because it makes the shopping day safer for everyone involved. On top of that, this is a smart consumer-decision because it saves both time and, possibly, money.

When physically shopping during Black Friday, consumers must balance all the Thanksgiving dinner preparations and servings with also having to go out afterwards and pick a minimal amount of stores to go to so that the time and gas wasted is as small as possible. After all the holiday struggling, the customer must also wait in an extremely long line that’s similar to waiting in line for a ride at Six Flags, just to spend money on a gift that isn’t a necessity. It also seems to defeat the whole being-thankful ideology of Thanksgiving. Shoppers can be thankful one second, then run out and possibly puts their lives in danger just to get a discount on a new television, game or whatever hot new item is on sale. Shopping online is the best way to go because it allows the customer to browse the sales of various stores from the comfort of their home. This will allow customers to find the best deals for a specific item rather than having to settle for what they find when they’re out and about. Along with all of these positives, the stress of workers being cornered by their bosses into working on holidays decreases because less people are going into stores to do their shopping. There’s also less of a likelihood of people being injured and killed on this day so police and ambulance drivers who would’ve been on-call get to stay home.

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particularly ones that involve gratitude, increase happiness and decrease levels of depression.” Another big tip that can help rise above the pressure is making a list of all the things that matter in order from the most important to the least important. This will help prioritize and be able to have a focal point. We live in a society where it is becoming the new norm to talk about mental health issues. This is very beneficial because it is becoming less of a taboo. This reminds everyone that it is okay to be vocal about their experiences with seasonal depression or even the kinds of things stress can lead you to. It also helps create new communities that have the potential of becoming outlets of expressions. Seasonal depression is very common in college students. It is no secret that finals equal a huge amount of responsibility. Little-to-no sleep causes lots of mental breakdowns. For this reason, it is important to find ways to be able to manage the specific stress of studying until midnight and the uncertainty of whether you passed or failed a class. An article by Harvard Medical S c h o o l s a i d , “ S A D a ff e c t s more than just mood. It is also associated with impaired cognitive function, including problems with concentration and working memory,

like having trouble recalling justlearned information or finding the right words when speaking.” In order to survive seasonal depression and stress as a student, we must be able to have some quality time with ourselves. This can be interpreted in a variety of ways, for some this means quality time with the family. For others it means planning a day of hiking to reconnect with nature, or spending some alone time reading or journaling. In reality there is no right answer. Take the time to reflect and ask, how can I find peace within myself? What does peace look like in my life? Who can help me achieve the peace I am looking for? Do not be afraid to take action once you have responded to your answers. Seasonal depression and stress, specifically as a student, will not go away if you choose to simply live with it. As mentioned, the effects are quite brutal, taking actual tolls in your performance in school. An article in Norman Rosenthal said, “...as vulnerable students begin to experience fall-winter difficulties, their work piles up and they fall increasingly behind, thereby compounding the problem.” The blues can also catch on for more personal reasons. Some claim the season might remind people of their deceased loved ones and the memories associated with the holidays. There can also be a sense of nostalgia in being able to see family after being away for so long or simply not being able to see them because they are in a different country. There are also certain activities carried out during this time of the year, like shopping for our loved ones, which can be something that many, including myself, do not actually look forward to. We all have our individual battles and are unconsciously affected by different degrees of both seasonal depression and stress. On a personal note, this is the time where I get to see all the long lost cousins I forgot I had and reconnect with my siblings that live far away. The holiday season, without my brother seems to be prolonging and almost dreadful. The lights, trees, etc. do not have the same meaning that they did a year ago when I looked forward to the day we would reunite.

Synthesizers offer creative ways of composing music BY STEVEN ADAMO Staff Writer Today’s synthesizers are capable of creating multitudes of sound possibilities, which makes it the best tool for creating unique music. One area in which modern synthesizers particularly excel is in sampling. Sampling is nothing new in music— from Karlheinz Stockhausen to J Dilla, many artists have repurposed sound and presented it in a different context. The process of sampling has never been easy, but with hardware like the popular Akai MPC and the Roland “404,” it has been increasingly easier to incorporate any sound around us into a musical instrument. Now, synthesizer companies, like Make Noise Music in Asheville, North Carolina, have made sampling even easier with Eurorack synthesizer modules, like the “Morphagene.” This module takes samples and cuts them beyond the typical lengths into “sound particles” or “microsounds” that are between one tenth of a second and ten milliseconds in time. Cutting sound into tiny slices renders the original sample completely unrecognizable. By looping these “sound slices,” unpredictable rhythms are formed— forcing the artist to exercise thinking on-the-spot. A computer can do everything a synthesizer can do, plus much, much more—and that’s the problem. For example, opening a music file may bring up a work file or popup and all attention, inspiration is temporarily averted. Synthesizers don’t have popups— unless you program it to do so, which many sound artists do as a way to create a greater distance

between themselves and their phones while staying connected. There’s no input/output jack for school, work or social media in a modular synthesizer. The modular synthesizer is a dumb piece of machinery unless you use patch cables to tell it what to do. Modern computers, on the other hand, are increasingly insistent on telling us what to do. If punk rock has three chords, modular synthesizers have one finger. Some modules have many music scales built into them. Cycling through musical scales in different ways can be as easy as pressing a button. This creates unexpected results, like unique rhythms and unusual tones that would otherwise take many hours to craft if composed on a computer. Many musicians incorporate their traditional instruments with modular synthesizers. Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe began using modular synthesizers along with guitars and percussion, and Band Haffar incorporates her skills obtained from the many years as a touring bass player and classical violinist. Though the high cost of a Eurorack modular synthesizer system is a big turn-off for most reasonable people, modules can be bought in kit-form from retailers all over the world for a fraction of the price. Based in the United Kingdom, Thonk is one of the most popular retailers of “DIY” kits. Each kit comes with all the parts necessary to assemble yourself, usually requiring a fair-level of soldering and sometimes computer programming. Whether an artist prefers composing music on a computer or a piece of hardware is up to the artist so long as they’re making the kind of music they enjoy creating. For those who enjoy experimenting in controlled chaos, a modular synthesizer is the way to go.

In-store shopping grants unique experiences during holidays BY JULIE SANTIAGO Staff Writer Black Friday will always be around because nothing compares to physically shopping in a store. Despite the rise of online shopping and days like Cyber Monday, Black Friday is still popular and evolving with the times. Black Friday unofficially marks the beginning of the holiday season and has become an activity for many families to enjoy after their Thanksgiving dinner.

Ultimately, and in recent years, Black Friday has more to do with the experience of shopping than the actual deals. Ultimately, and in recent years, Black Friday has more to do with the experience of shopping than the actual deals. Year round and online deals may sometimes have similar or better offers, but nothing compares to actually being among the holiday madness. Accounting professor and former Assistant Controller of the Del Amo Fashion Center Jennifer Alvarado said malls are morphing into places

where people go to have a shared experience. “It might be less about getting the bargain item because those items are available online, but people go to the mall to have the traditional Black Friday shared experience,” said Alvarado. The Christmas music and cheer, rush, late hours and excitement all add to the overall experience. While working at New York and Company at the Cerritos mall, former Elan Francisco Sol got to experience Black Friday shopper madness first-hand. “I’ll never forget it. It was two older ladies looking at the same pile of clothes and I guess they saw a cute blouse. So they started arguing and playing tug of war for that shirt. The funny part was that there was more of that same shirt,” said Sol. Sol said he personally enjoys shopping on Black Friday largely in part due to the experience. When Sol was younger, he said, he liked to tag along with his older brothers shopping. “It was more about being with my brothers and messing around, the memories. The deals [are] usually always better online,” said Sol. In a January 2013 study published via Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, researchers found that while many people prefer shopping on Cyber Monday, due to its convenience, shoppers still enjoyed shopping on Black Friday.

Arts

EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE CAMPUS NEWS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2019

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‘Strange Planet’ shows life worth living BY JUAN CALVILLO Staff Writer Imagine a world where people explain what they are doing, trying to say or thinking-- this is Nathan W. Pyle’s “Strange Planet.” This four chapter graphic novel focuses on life and the things that make it worth living. Pyle delves into childhood, adulthood, friendship and pass times. “Strange Planet” is about a species of alien life forms that experience the same trials and tribulations that the human species deals with on a daily basis. The difference is that they are experiencing things in real time and talk through the process of what is going on. For example, if an alien were to play hide and seek, they would call the process of hiding a “small deception.” This is the odd yet hilariously funny world Pyle has created. The humor comes from the explanation of simple tasks or events in life that most wouldn’t think twice about explaining. Analyzing every action and reaction is where this book truly comes to life. Pyle takes moments that people would otherwise not give importance to and explaining them shows the reader how truly unique every moment in life is. Everything from the simple act of meeting a new pet to celebrating a sunset is given new meaning in this book. Pyle’s book is, for example, like reminiscing about falling in

love for the first time. People will talk about that with nostalgia and give details that mean nothing to most, but make perfect sense to the person explaining it. Pyle uses a perfect blend of humor and sentiment to make every panel of his 144 page book fun and interesting to read. Going into detail of even one of his sets would ruin the entire experience of the book.

“Pyle takes moments that people would otherwise not give importance to and explaining them shows the reader how truly unique every moment in life is.” The four chapters have unique takes on things involved with those main ideas. For example, in the “Young Beings” sections, Pyle dives into the idea of the aliens having children and guiding them into adulthood. He brings his oddball take on everything from the tooth fairy to graduation. In “Friendship” and “Recreation,”

Pyle takes on things that are constants in life. Things like consoling friends and meeting members of a friend’s family and all the emotion that goes with these are present. Yet, Pyle uses overly descriptive word-play to make even the most heartfelt moment laugh-out-loud funny. In “Adulthood,” things as simple as drinking coffee make an appearance in the novel. This simple act is made into an odd yet obvious experience. Coffee drinkers will read the pages and laugh at the obviousness of the situation and description. Of course, Pyle includes some more emotional intense moments in this section, but the wit he uses to describe them makes even intense scenes like that bearable and humorous to read. Pyle’s artwork may seem simple at the onset, but as the novel progresses, its style is perfectly reflective of the story. The artwork strives to show complex things in the most straightforward and simple way. No frills; and the book is better for it. Pyle has created a funny version of people’s everyday life and has succeeded in making aliens more relatable than any version seen in media to date. “Strange Planet” is published by Morrow Gift, an imprint of William Morrow. It is available now in a hardcover version and the Kindle digital version and retails for $14.99 at most bookstores, $8.99 hardcover $10.99 on Kindle at Amazon.

Perfection gets funky with two new releases LUIS CASTILLA Staff Writer Supergroup Perfection dive into the funky side of the Los Angeles music scene with its two new EPs, “Nest Sessions” and “Clean Greed.” The two EPs were released the same day on Nov. 23. Perfection is an amalgamation of local musicians including frontman Patrick Nolan of Meatbodies, Misha Lindes of SadGirl, Zoe Lambert of No Parents and Erik Jimenez of Together Pangea. Nolan and Lindes have joined forces in the past as two thirds of the trio, Walter, along with Ross Chait of Total Heat. The four-track “Nest Sessions” starts off with the bright and glitzy “Congrats,” a catchy tune that is topped perfectly by Nolan’s masterful guitarwork. The band covers ‘60s funk band, Parliament’s psychedelic “Placebo Syndrome” for the EP’s second track. What used to be laid-back funk becomes chaotic and twisted

in the best way possible due to the modern instrumentation “Intimate #4” is a straightforward funk track. It never deviates from the root beat, making the song feel like intermission. It is definitely the weakest song off of “Nest Sessions.” “Anything,” the final track on “Next Sessions,” is a bluesy slow jam that flows like fine wine. Nolan’s guitarmanship is on full display during the track’s climax with a solo that dances up and down a scale. “Find Love” opens the second EP, “Clean Greed.” “Find Love” is a dark and bouncy track. The backing vocals bring out the depth of the instrumentation. The bombastic “Beautiful” feels like it was ripped straight out of the ‘80s. The chorus sounds almost identical to David Bowie and Mick Jagger’s “Dancing In The Street.” The track also features a relatively long keyboard solo that perfectly juxtaposes the rest of the song.

Though simple in its instrumentation,“Nothing” is the band’s most captivating song. At just over three minutes, “Nothing” is a fleshed- out slapper. The band delivers a more glam performance in “I’m Listening.” The vocals and drums are tight and fluid, creating a fast-paced yet still groovy track. “Twice Before” is a Nolan soloacoustic. Gaining an appreciation for a singer’s voice can be difficult until it is isolated like in this track. Unfortunately, Nolan’s conversational tone and lyrics make for a drab and easily forgettable number. After listening to the other funky songs, “Twice Before” comes off as boring. Turning up the funk once more is “What a Nice Time.” The track starts off slow before swelling into a glittery melody that ends the EP on a high note. “Nest Sessions” and “Clean Greed” are available on all major streaming services.

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Charlie’s reboot falls flat CHER ANTIDO Staff Writer The Angels of Townsend Agency make a comeback with Elizabeth Bank’s “Charlie’s Angels,” but it doesn’t live up to the expectations of fans of the original 2000 movie. “Charlie’s Angels” is about three girls working as private investigators for Townsend Agency, led by an anonymous millionaire named Charlie. The 2019 movie is less of a remake than a continuation where Townsend Agency expands and employs various Angels from all over the world. The plot itself isn’t supposed to be good. It’s the average story where the good guys beat the bad guys. If people were to watch the movie, they would watch it for the main cast playing as sexy airheads who can put up a punch. The original 2000 movie featured Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu-- all of which are fairly popular in their own time. The 2019 movie features Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska as the three angels that saves the world. The movie might attract those who’ve seen the 2000 version and teens who are fans of the cast, but they certainly wouldn’t be watching it for the plot. It was disappointing to see the lack of pizzaz from the main cast in the reboot. It’s clear that director Elizabeth Banks was trying to show women empowerment with Stewart’s character Sabina and having every bad character male, but it fails to keep the audience engaged in the story. Scott and Balinska’s acting are nothing more than average. However, it’s to be expected from

up-and-coming actors. Scott plays as the scientist that asks for the help of Angels. Her character is shown to be pure and good, quite the opposite of what the original Angels showed in 2000. Banks’ choice of the cast totally changed the image of the “2000 Charlie’s Angels.” She tries to add a modern-feminist spin to it where women fight with their skills and brains. It would be better to treat it as a separate movie rather than a continuation of the franchise. If there’s one good thing about the 2019 version, it would be Kristen Stewart and how she played her character. From playing the character of Bella from the “Twilight” Saga, Stewart switched out of the “pretty-face” roles and chose to play as characters where she can be comfortable. “It’s not like, ‘We need to empower women.’ It’s actually a story told by an empowered woman, so it’s sort of imbued with that feeling,” Stewart said in an interview with Variety.

2019 Charlie’s Angels opens with Stewart’s character, Sabina, in disguise, wearing a blonde wig, a tight dress and high stilettos as a rich man tries to lecture her about how men should be in charge. “ A t m y j o b , i t ’s a c t u a l l y considered a huge advantage to be a woman,” Sabina says. Then as she ties up the man while he’s still enamored by her, she adds, “it takes men an additional seven seconds to perceive a woman as a threat compared to a man.” That scene is perhaps the only memorable thing from the plot besides the ending. Everything else is subpar fighting scenes, an okay array of music from Ariana Grande and scripting that could’ve been better. Although the 2000 version isn’t all that good either, at least the cast make up for it. Barrymore, Diaz and Liu were all fit to be Angels. It seems that Scott and Balinska could’ve worked more for their roles.

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FEATURE

EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE CAMPUS NEWS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2019

Transfer Center helps students prepare for university BY RUSSELL NAVARRETTE Staff Writer The East Los Angeles College Transfer Center provides counseling, workshops and university trips to help prepare students for the transition into universities. University trips typically happen in the fall and spring semesters. There are five to seven trips that are planned throughout the semester on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s first come first serve. They ask students to leave a $5 deposit two weeks before the date, which they get back the day of the trip. Trips are posted on the Transfer C e n t e r ’s I n s t a g r a m p a g e @ elactransfercenter and printed flyers that are posted around the campus. There is also a new workshop called “transfer shock,” which helps students deal with stress or feelings of being an outsider in a new school. Dulce Garcia, career guidance counselor assistant, said that a lot of students feel the overwhelming

change coming from a community college and into a four-year university. She said that one tip they offer the students is to visit and explore the campus a week before school starts to familiarize themselves with the campus. This way they are not late on the first day or confused and stressed trying to figure out where everything is. This can also help in finding and being part of a community in the campus. They also recommend little exercises like going for a walk or going to the gym, something to get their mind off the stresses of school. Karla Garcia, a sophomore at ELAC, visited and applied midOctober and came back to update her application in early November. Students who completed the application have one more application date in January to update recent classes, credits and grades. “I didn’t know how to start...they (the staff) were very friendly, very helpful towards all my questions,”

“I didn’t know how to start... they (the staff) were very friendly, very helpful towards all my questions.” KARLA GARCIA

East Los Angeles College student

said Garcia about the Transfer Center. She had to spend four hours to complete everything to apply. For students, that amount of time might not be typical. However, Garcia had to gather her transcripts from all the schools she went to. There is a fee waiver students can apply for that allows them to apply to multiple schools without having to pay $75 per application, depending on the household income. The next time period for new applicants to apply is in spring.

NEWS Nursing Department asks for additional hiring Department to host annual toy drive

CN/STEVEN ADAMO

SENATE Cont. from page 1

BY NOE ORTEGA Staff Writer With Christmas just around the corner, the East Los Angeles College Administration of Justice Department will host the 20th annual Christmas Toy Drive next Wednesday at F9-107. The toy’s given to the AJ department will be donated to foster children of all ages in the Los Angeles area. The AJ department is teaming up with the Children’s Law Center of California for this event. The drive accepts toys, clothes, money and they said that they don’t mind accepting any item over another. Wayne Posner, AJ vice chair , said that the department is very big on doing events that give back

to the community. “Last year we had around 1,250 toys. We’re hoping to get as much this year. Student’s bring in toys, students donate money, faculty kick in money and we take the toys to the children’s law center,” said Posner. Posner started the toy drive with AJ professor Patrick Hauser, who was the chair of the department at the time. “We started this drive 20 years ago. I was the head of the department and then I hired him (Posner) and now we’re the Godfathers of this event,” said Hauser. Posner said that all the full time and some of the adjunct professors in the department donate either money or toys every year. The AJ department also hosts an annual Thanksgiving food

drive that has also been going for the past 20 years. “This year we were able to feed 195 families a complete Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, everything that goes with it,” said Posner. Posner said that they also donate blood to Huntington hospital two or three times a year as well as participating in bone marrow drives in the past years. “I was a police officer for the Los Angeles Police Department for a long time. I retired as a sergeant and I always believed in giving back to the community and service to the community. We’re trying to get across to our students to (give) service to our community (because) that’s the careers that they’re getting themselves into,” said Posner.

Contract fails to please trustee, creates tension LACCD Cont. from page 1 Svonkin said this creates a situation that when the contract does go through a competitive process, those checking would have knowledge that it was originally given to a competing company by the chancellor, thus, influencing their decision. Boyer said the trustee was incorrect, and that saying the contract was simply given to Interact Communications was, “False.” Svonkin said that there are board rules for discretion as it comes to contracts. In chapter seven article one of the board’s rules, it outlines who and when these types of situations merit approval by the board and when they don’t. One of the people who can give out contracts for services, for example, is the chancellor of the LACCD, which currently is Rodriguez. Valencia Martin-Moffet, director of business services, and James B. Watson, from contracts and purchasing, said, when a contract is brought forth, it usually has a sponsor. Boyer and Rodriguez were among the sponsors for this particular contract. Dr. Robert Miller, vice chancellor of finance and business services, said he believed that Boyer was the executive sponsor and Boyer confirmed. Watson said sponsors are deemed to be the experts for the contract they are sponsoring. In general, if the total amount of the contract exceeds $90,000, the contract has to be advertised for fulfillment. During this process, the contract and any competing companies are deliberately checked and compared to find the best to fulfill the contract. Watson said that when taking into account which company the district will choose, it falls to both the most fiscally affordable and/or the most appropriate.

If there was any discussion about the companies in the bidding process for this contract, Miller said it wouldn’t be possible to share that information. “The specifics of what was discussed should not be shared due to the sensitive nature of the procurement process including elements of the law,” Miller said. Svonkin said that another reason for his concern came from the lack of deliverables that come from the contract. He said he was also concerned with the amount of money that went to the company’s overhead.

“Not enough of the contract went for communicating with the public to recruit students. So a large part of the contract went to the firm’s pocket, versus the work of communicating with the public,” Svonkin said. He said there are hundreds of local and diverse firms that could have been approached, if the process had been done in a more open and transparent way. Svonkin said there was no good reason for the decision to be made the way it was. “It was troubling from the beginning. When people award contracts to people they know and have worked with, without a competitive process, that is problematic, when you are talking about tens of thousands of dollars that leads to million dollar contracts with public funds,” Svonkin said.

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Boyer said that the competitive process was done and that various companies were involved. “Interact and all of the companies that responded to the publicly posted Request for Proposals were put through a rigorous screening and interview process. The responding companies were judged in part on their prior work and accomplishments as well as concept proposals for helping the District achieve its goals,” Boyer said. Salmeron and Svonkin said that Rodriguez backed Interact Communications. Rodriguez said it had plans to address its diversity issues. After the discussion, the board of trustees unanimously approved the contract choosing Interact Communications in early September. Boyer said Interact Communications would work closely with the district and schools to make sure the tone is correct. By October the contract was paid and had gone into effect. During the October 2 meeting of the board of trustees, the board authorized a contract for no more than $520,000 to Sensis. This was district-wide website redesign services. Salmeron said the company showed the Cal State Los Angeles college website as proof of its abilities. He said that the website is more in line with advertising the college and its resources. He said that it was not an educational website. Salmeron said that this was another example of how the board was not keeping the students in mind. At the time of writing, the chancellor and multiple members of the board of trustees did not respond to inquiries into the situation, and all communications were directed to Boyer. Interact Communications referred questions about their intentions and contract to Boyer.

S h e s a i d t h a t c u r r e n t l y, she is working alongside the administration to hire one additional faculty member for the spring semester, as well as bring someone in to work at the learning lab. “With the change in presidents, people lose history. I didn’t lose it,” Gaines said. The learning lab position had been cleared years ago but as time went on the administrations seemed to forget this detail. She said that even a former chancellor told her, “No one told me, so it doesn’t exist.” Four years ago, Gaines asked for four positions, and two were

approved. These two positions came in as limited and were then hired on, with one leaving just recently in July. Gaines said that the hiring process sped up after consultants for the Board of Registered Nurses came to ELAC and spoke to students and faculty on campus. The board listened to the students and told the administration to fill at least one position immediately. “So now with this president, it’s going to be filled. There’s a list I am waiting for now, I asked for it last week, but I guess people were off on vacation. So I am still waiting for a response, which means I have to email, call, this is a B shift person that takes care of it. But I have a committee ready to role for

Wednesday,” Gaines said. She said that this is imperative because she has a report that she has to send to the nursing board on Dec. 20. She said after getting this additional person, there are still two spots left to fill, and that the academic senate had recommended the move. Gaines said that the positions are looking to be filled by the fall semester. She said that there was one thing that she wanted to stress about hiring these new faculty. “We don’t need retirees on the job. We need people who are actively engaged and willing to be a part of making a difference in a community that has major need,” Gaines said.

SPORTS 7 Men’s basketball upsets Santa Monica on the road EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE CAMPUS NEWS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2019

BY NOE ORTEGA Staff Writer

Men’s basketball avenged its elimination from last season. It made a 13 point comeback on the road to defeat Santa Monica College 87-82 last Wednesday. ELAC and Santa Monica had even stats throughout the game. Santa Monica shot a field goal percentage of 50.8 going 30 for 59, while ELAC shot a field goal percentage of 50.9 going 28-55. Both teams finished with 29 rebounds, but Santa Monica had five more turnovers than the Huskies. Their next game will be another away game against Mount San Jacinto at the Riverside Community College tournament at 3 p.m. The Huskies are ranked 10th in the state while Santa Monica are ranked third in the state. ELAC was down for most of the first half, and suffered the loss of its starter point guard sophomore Levelle Ziegler, but with strong performances from sophomore Malik Muhammed and freshman Kealen Allen, ELAC improved their record to 6-1. Allen finished the game with 20 points, six rebounds and three steals, one of which sealed the game for the Huskies in the final seconds of the game. “I felt really great. Overall, it was a good team effort. My teammates

really had my back and found me in the right spots,” Allen said. While Muhammed was a nightmare for Santa Monica in the paint. He finished with 15 points, five rebounds and three blocks, and made six out of eight shots in the paint. “The rankings never mean anything. Both of these teams are top five teams. (Both teams have) some of the more talented players in the state,” ELAC assistant coach Kenneth Hunter said. “We knew coming into this that regardless of what happened last year in the playoffs, that this was going to be a dog fight.”

assists. “We’re not based on just one guy. We’re a team. So if one guy falls down, we’ve got to pick up the load,” Regans said. “We wanted the challenge. We took a tough loss two weeks ago to Copper Mountain. We were really down about that and I’m glad we came out and got the win, because Santa Monica has some good players,” Regan said.

“We knew coming into this that regardless of what happened last year in the playoffs, that this was going to be a dog fight.” KENNETH HUNTER

ELAC assistant basketball coach

ELAC sophomore guard Deshaun Highler finished the game with 16 points and four assists. The Huskies biggest threat was Santa Monica sophomore shooting guard Mekhi Kimble who shot four for five behind the

Ziegler played 14 minutes after suffering a thigh injury in the first half, but finished with three assists, three rebounds and a steal before exiting the game. ELAC freshman guard Taj Regans came in to replace Ziegler after his injury, and finished the game with six points and four

three-point line and finished with 16 points, two assists and two steals. ELAC sophomore forward Joseph Hampton came off the bench and went three for four behind the three-point line and finished with 15 points, three rebounds and one block. Husky sophomore Mark Boland also had a strong performance coming off the bench. He scored 10 points, five rebounds, two assists

and a steal. “Our whole team played hard. They played the right way. They understand what we want from them as coaches and how we want them to compete at every possession. And you get the results when everyone is working as a team,” Hunter said.

Sports Opinion:

Athletics program needs new methods BY SONNY TAPIA Staff Writer

CN/IVAN CAZARES

TORPEDO INBOUND—Maggie Gutierrez and the rest of the East Los Angeles College water polo team practice swimming on Tuesday. The team’s season ended, but the players are required to participate in swim and dive.

Water polo continues to rebuild with a 6-14 season BY STEPHANIE GUEVARA Staff Writer The East Los Angeles College water polo team had a bounce back season, finishing fifth place in the South Coast Conference. Water polo finished its season with an overall record of 6-14 and 5-5 in conference. This was the team’s first season back at the Swim Stadium. Previously, the team had been practicing at the Belvedere Park pool and played away games the whole 2018 season. Water polo head coach Diana Romero said that the main reason why the team finished in fifth place was because they were back at the Swim Stadium. “Being back at ELAC was a definite game changer because if it weren’t for us coming back, I don’t know where we would’ve been at Belvedere,” Romero said. In the 2018 season, water polo finished with an overall record of 1-10 and 1-8 in conference. With this record, the team finished in seventh place. “It wasn’t the most pleasant season, but coming in this year, we are like night and day,” Romero said. The 2018 season was Romero’s first year coaching the water polo team. Romero had nine players for the team at the start of her first www.ELACCampusNews.com

season. Romero said that the 2018 season was a learning experience for everyone. “Last season we had no team. No one came back from the previous season. We had to start from scratch. When I got hired, I had no team and no pool,” Romero said. Romero was born and raised in Commerce and attended Montebello High School.

“We had to start from scratch. When I got hired, I had no team and no pool.”

DIANA ROMERO

Water polo Head Coach

This season the water polo team had 22 players at the start of the season. The team finished in fifth place of their conference and won most of their games at home. Romero said that playing at home made a difference because the team had support from their community. One of the team’s biggest wins was against Rio Hondo College on Oct. 30. The team was losing

by four points and they tied the game, forcing it to overtime. During overtime, ELAC won the game 15-14. Romero said that the team had been playing bad and they suddenly awoke before the end. “We were down by three or four against Rio Hondo. I was like ‘Oh my Gosh. You have got to be kidding me.’ We had spoke about what we had to do to stop them. “For some reason or somehow they snapped and decided to start implementing what we worked on, what they were good at,” Romero said. “We ended up going to overtime and we won.” Romero said her plans for next season are to build a team around the returning players. The water polo team had some notable players, such as freshman Julyeth Mutuc who lead the team in goals, scoring seven in the season. Mutuc ended in fourth place in conference for most goals scored. She had a 63.3 shooting percentage during the season. Romero said that the player are required to join the swim and dive team during the season to stay in condition for the next water polo season. “You start losing your muscle mass like in a week or two weeks. If you don’t keep up with your condition, there goes all that hard work,” Romero said.

Creating a successful athletic program in college takes more than just good players and coaches. In order to be considered a good athletic school, the program must possess the funding and notoriety of a top tier program. The funding for programs such as the University of Alabama, Duke University, the University of Kentucky and the University of Oregon comes mostly through Nike. The University of Kentucky publically renewed its contract with the brand for another eight years and $30.6 million towards its sports programs. With high school stars on the rise in any sport, more and more high schools continue to receive sponsorship from a titan in the industry. These schools are granted sponsorship from other brands such as Adidas, Under Armor and Reebok because they show promise in their athletic ability. Most of the schools represented by these brands have had a wide range of publicity from newspaper articles to viral videos of players making professional style catches and dunks. These schools continue to make the playoffs or even high ranks after the end of their seasons. Showing popularity and prosperity gains schools at any level sponsorships. Making waves in social media has been one of the key elements in recent years for any school to be seen by a representative from one of the brands.

Another way a school becomes an athletic staple is through good scouting. Scouts working for colleges take notice of all the best talents that have been on social media or in their respective neighborhoods. If a school has poor scouting, then the team will fail to climb the ladder of good athletic programs because there will not be any talent for other college scouts or even professional scouts to see. The last player from East Los Angeles College to enter the professional sports arena was Atlanta Falcons’ running back Lynn Cain from 1979 to 1985. Since then ELAC has produced D-1 athletes such as defensive end Ben Key and Ceejhay French-Love along with some basketball talent also entering D-1 schools. None of these athletes have made it professionally since the rise of Cain and his quick feet behind the line of scrimmage. Only one question can be asked, why? ELAC scouts have clearly not seen real talent and potential in any players. The athletes found in high schools and other colleges that have come to ELAC have produced little to no success outside of community college sports. If ELAC would like to establish a good name for itself athletic administrator Robert Godinez should look into hiring better scouts. With basketball looking for a state championship this year ELAC needs to consider if the team is good enough to even make the playoffs this year. In addition to good scouting a

school must possess an active fan base that truly believes in its sports programs. It has been too long since the ELAC teams have sold out its sports complexes. Around campus there are no flyers or banners supporting Husky sports. Most of the students do not even consider showing up to support their teams. Lastly, players must show initiative to win. On ELAC football, some of the players enjoy having conversations of their own while the team is being dominated by underwhelming schools. Basketball is slow to even stand when its teammate makes a wild or difficult basket. Most stay seated and uninvolved during the games. The Husky baseball team shows emotion but at the wrong times and in the wrong ways. The players would rather throw tantrums about one missed call than take a commanding lead on the field or court. There is a lack of discipline within ELAC sports that needs to change if it wants to be a successful sports program that players willingly want to enter. Both men’s and women’s soccer show promise in the beginning of their seasons, but in the end they crumble like a landslide. “The score does not reflect the way we play” is the common response from coaches who have not seen a winning record in years. The element of being a part of a team is not instilled strong enough into the players. The ELAC Huskies sports program is lackluster to say the least and it will stay that way until changes are made in a big way.

New look modernizes Athletic Department BY MIGUEL DOMINGUEZ Staff Writer East Los Angeles College Athletics has begun to show off its new logo with the basketball team being the first to display it. All ELAC athletics will have the same logo and same format. The only difference is that each sport name will appear below the ELAC lettering, head of sports information Cerwin D. Haynes said. Before President Marvin Martinez left, he spoke to the Athletic Department and said their logo needed to change to a more modern look. Haynes said that the Athletic Department came to an agreement of choosing the new logo for the department a few months ago. Kevin Jimenez, public information officer ,“Understood our concerns,”

Haynes said after disagreeing with the first logos they were shown a few months ago. “We decided that a silhouette look will look pretty cool and Jimenez and Katherine Coert came up with the logo,” athletic director Robert Godinez said. ELAC graphic designer Katherine Coert was the one who came up with the logo.

Men’s basketball is the first team to be displaying the logo on their jumpsuits and gear. “The logo has a little bit more of an identity. It’s little more personal, like in your face kind of,” sophomore guard Mark Boland said. “If you stare at it long enough, it looks intimidating,” assistant Basketball coach Robert Robinson said. “Your logo is part of our identity,” Haynes said. He said every athletic team was informed of the new logo and will be able to display the it anyway they like on the uniforms. The logo will be presented to all media, sports conference, league members and before the end of the year. The rest of the ELAC teams will be showing off the new logo at the start of 2020.

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EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE CAMPUS NEWS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2019

CN/LUIS CASTILLA

SINGING THE NIGHT AWAY—Anthony Lupica conducts the East Los Angeles College Chamber Chorale during its performance of “Ding Dong! Merrily on High” arranged by Charles Wood on Monday evening in the S2 Recital Hall.

ELAC recital night showcases student’s talents BY LUIS CASTILLA Staff Writer Cutting through the cold, the East Los Angeles College Music Department showcased new student talent during its Student Piano Recital and Winter Choir Concert Monday. Dr. Anthony Lupica conducted the students of the ELAC Chamber Chorale, accompanied by Dr. Melissa Sky-Eagle. T h e c h o i r, c o m p o s e d o f soprano, tenor, alto and bass singers. Elizabeth Arroyo, Reilly Loayza, Valerie Meulenberg, Alicia Prieto, Zhaotong Tang, Valerie Valdez and Lu Yu were sopranos. Ruben Alvarado, Harry Faustino

and Marco Solis sang as tenors. Thalia Cardoza, Sandra Del Real, Rosamaria Garcia, Kana Kohiyama, Emily Luevano and Amanda Reyes were altos, and Ronald Allen, Peter Kirkpatrick, Eugene Lopez, Christian Martinez and Bruab Sarabia sang as basses. The choir performance was separated into two parts, religious songs and Christmas carols. The choir performed “Exultate Deo” by Alessandro Scarlatti, “Lullaby” and “Ballade to the Moon” by Daniel Elder and “Requiem, Op. 48” by Gabriel Faure for its first half. “Requiem Op. 48” had three solos, two performed by Eugene Lopez and one by Rosamaria Garcia.

Lopez’s deep bassy voice bellowed throughout the theater, echoing the stimulating performance. G a r c i a ’s s o l o w a s a l s o memorable, providing the audience with the gentler tones only an alto can. The Christmas carol section of the concert comprised four songs, “Ding Dong! Merrily on High” arranged by Charles Wood, “O Come, All Ye Faithful” arranged by Sir David Willcocks, “Once in Royal David’s City” by Henry John Gauntlett, arranged by Willcocks and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” by Frederic Mendelssohn, arranged by Willcocks. The final four Christmas carols

were more upbeat than the rest of the performance. “As comforting as the concert has been so far, we would not send you out into the cold night without some songs of celebration to keep you warm,” Dr. Graham Raulerson said in his program note. The ELAC Music Department also held a student recital on Wednesday. Students of Dr. Lucy Nargizyan’s piano classes performed solo pieces at noon. Danny Valdovinos opened the show with Johann Sebastian “Bach’s Minuet in G Minor.” This was Valdovinos’ first time opening a recital. He said he felt a bit nervous at first, but was happy with his performance.

Reilly Loayza performed the soothing “Page d’Album” by Claude Debussy in an emotional performance. The baroque composer was featured frequently among the students’ pieces as seven of the 20 student performers chose to play Johann Sebastian Bach. Nargizyan said that the students ranged from different classes and experience levels. She said that the more experienced pianists performed later in the show. “The intermediary students have about five years experience,” Nargizyan said. Hong Sa Ta performed “Waltz in A Minor” by Frederic Chopin. Although she struggled to get her piece started, hiding her face

in her hands after playing a couple incorrect notes, she delivered a flawless performance. One of the other standout performers was Kevin Angel. Throughout his performance, his face expressed the intense emotion of Maurice Ravel’s Sonatine Modere. Peter Kirkpatrick closed the show with another piece by Johann Sebastian Bach, “Fugue in A Minor,” Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis 889. As a closing piece, Kirkpatrick delivered an exceptional finish to the afternoon performance. For more information on upcoming performances, visit @elacmusicdept on Instagram.

‘Knives Out:’fun time at movies BY GUSTAVO BUENROSTRO Staff Writer

COURTESY OF NETFLIX

EXPLOSIVE EXIT—Callum, Zym and Rayla narrowly escape a fireball on their quest for Xaolia. The trio travels together for most of season three, growing closer as a team.

‘The Dragon Prince’ further develops characters BY JUAN CALVILLO Staff Writer Season three of Netflix’s “The Dragon Prince” is a roaring adventure that rivals the deep story and exciting action set pieces of any other fantasy genre fare. Set moments after crossing into the magical land of Xadia the story for the new season combines political maneuvering, epic army battles and some interesting character progression. The end of season two was a bit bleak. The trio of Princes Callum and Ezran and Moonshadow elf Rayla broke into two groups. Callum and Rayla were tasked with transporting the tiny dragon, Zym, back to his home in Xadia. Ezran and his protector Corvus made their way back to the human kingdom, where the young Ezran is to take over as king. Throughout the season, each of the three main characters truly come into their own. Each of them being challenged in ways they weren’t in previous seasons. It’s odd to be watching a show for young adults and children and constantly comparing some of the story beats to “Game of Thrones.”

The mixture of politics in one scene, and then magic and dragons in the next almost makes it seem that this is Netflix’s kid friendly version of the Home Box Office hit series. This immersive storytelling is focused through the growth and changes the show’s characters go through. Ezran becomes much more confident and sure of who he is and what he is capable of doing. His character becomes much more mature as the story progresses. He is constantly trying to make good decisions in situations that even adult kings would find troubling. There’s a point in a later episode where Corvus remarks that he is truly impressed with the young king. Rayla and Callum each become more confident through the episodes. More of Rayla’s backstory and history is shown this season as well. The story goes deeper into Rayla’s past, showing more of what Rayla thinks of her parents and what really happened to them. One of the more interesting moments has Rayla finally confronting her emotions, something that in past seasons she was reluctant to try and do. Rayla manages to confront her

feelings thanks to the deepening connection and friendship she shares with Callum. Callum began his change into a confident magic user at the end of last season, and this season he is entirely sure of himself. There are moments when he tries to run before he can walk, but because of his talented nature in magic it isn’t long before he shows what he is truly capable of when it comes to using his abilities. Callum’s confidence is interesting to watch because of his lack of it in the earlier stories. All through season three, Callum shows time and again that he is there for his friends and for his family. He continues to show that he is the noble hero archetype, always willing to put the welfare of others before his own. The supporting characters are also quite interesting to watch this time around. Lord Viren, the high mage of the kingdom of Katolis, remains an intriguing bad guy. His motivations from the beginning of season one remain somewhat the same. Viren has always wanted to protect humanity and in his view that means war with Xadia is inevitable.

In the third season he continues on this path, despite allowing his ambition to get the better of him. Out of all the secondary characters that shined this season Viren’s son, Soren, was the most surprising to watch grow and change. Soren had always been a character that was funny to watch figure things out, since for the most part the show makes him out to be a dunce. The show continues this trend through the new episodes, but there is also a drastic change to his core values this season. As the story unfolds, the audience sees Soren go from a bootlicking son who is constantly looking for his father's approval into a character that is truly worthy of being a knight and protector of the king of Katolis. “The Dragon Prince” continues to be a beautiful show to watch. The animation is pleasant and the world of Xadia and the kingdoms of humans are vibrant and alive. “The Dragon Prince” season three a total of nine episodes, is available to stream now on Netflix and is rated TV-Y7. For a different version of the story, go to elaccampusnews.com

Rian Johnson is somehow able subvert expectations while still paying homage to whodunit films in the humourous “Knives Out.” “Knives Out” is about Harlan Thrombey, a successful mystery writer, who is found dead in his room on the night of his 85th birthday party. His entire family and friends were invited and all become suspects once private investigator Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig, starts looking into Harlan’s death. Craig’s character is the crux of the humor in the film. His introduction in the film is funny as it is jarring. He is also the first example of Johnson’s expectation subversion in the film. The rest of the cast is funny as well. Chris Evans character of the spoiled Ransom Thrombey is probably the second funniest in the film as he is more mean-spirited than Blanc. Some actors are interesting choices for certain characters. Michael Shannon is known for playing more intense characters, but in this film he plays Walter Thrombey, a timid person with a lot of repressed emotions. The stand out in the cast is Ana de Armas, who plays Marta Cabrera, Harlan’s nurse as well as his friend.

She is perhaps the most sympathetic character in the film, but even she has moments where it’s unclear if she is playing the role or actually being herself. The film makes it easy to root for certain characters, especially Marta because she has a lot of her background explained. The film is a clear homage to other whodunit films such as “Clue” or “The Usual Suspects.” What is interesting about the film is that half way through it, the audience finds out who was the person who committed the crime and the rest of it of the film turns into more of a suspense film with that character trying not to get caught. With that change, the humor is still retained with some of the best jokes being from the latter half of the film. The music works well in the film, not really drawing attention to much, but showing up in moments where it is needed like in the reveal of who the killer is. One thing about the film is that it can be a bit cliched and cheesy at some parts, but it seems like that may have been intentional by Johnson, since many of the films that it is paying homage to are also very cheesy and cliched. “Knives Out” is fun and has heart, which is surprising since it's not really expected in films like this. It is definitely a good time at the theater and worth checking out.

COURTESY OF LIONSGATE

I SPY WITH MY EYE—Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig, looking for clues on the murder of Harlan Thrombey. www.ELACCampusNews.com