ROUND OUNDUP
Instructor wins Grammy Award
Wednesday, March 4, 2015 | Volume 122 - Issue 1 | Woodland Hills, California | One copy free, each additional copy $1 www.theroundupnews.com
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#PIERCEWIRE Basketball playoffs
The Pierce College men’s basketball season ended after the Brahmas lost in the second round of the playoffs to Saddleback College 78-52 in Mission Viejo, California on Saturday, Feb. 28. “Making it this far was a great accomplishment, especially with all the trials and tribulations we’ve been through,” said Pierce head coach Ed Babayan. “I’m proud of them for getting to this point. I’m just disappointed that it had to end like this.” #Piercebasketball
Farm Walk
Photo essay on page 6 Mohammad Djauhari / Roundup
(From left-right) Dulce Rendon, Rushanda Duquesnay, Daisy Torres Barrera and other members of the Pierce Cheer Competition Team jump during a practice session in the North Gym on Sunday, March 1, 2015. The jump is a part of the routine that will be used duing a competition at USC on March 14. Woodland Hills, Calif.
Cheer competition team prepares for next challange Pierce to compete in Aloha Los Angeles at USC after win at Aloha Central Valley
“LA Woman” art show
HIV/AIDS Awareness Week is back
The four-week exhibition “LA Woman: On her own terms” will open at Pierce College on March 5. It will feature art from Los Angeles artists such as Claudia Bucher, Mary Anna Pomonis and Patricia Mitchell, and a video program of feminist shorts entitled “Haunted.” The exhibition will run from Thursday, March 5, through Wednesday, April 1 in ART 3301, with an opening reception and discussion panel on March 5, from 6 to 8 p.m. #Pierceart
Pierce hosts events to encourage prevention JORDAN WILLIAMS Assistant Sports Editor @JWRoundup The HIV/AIDS Awareness Week will return to Pierce College this month, after insurance and legal constraints forced its cancellation during the fall semester. Each semester, Pierce hosts the week-long campaign as a way to improve public awareness about dangers of the disease and methods of prevention. Events and highlights include guest speakers from Being Alive, an organization made up of HIV/ AIDS positive members and people affected by the disease, in addition to free and confidential HIV-testing provided by non-profit organization BIENESTAR and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. The tests were unavailable last semester because of a lastminute insurance issue. The risk management office at the Los Angeles Community College District required a letter of subrogation from the workers’ compensation provider for BIENESTAR. A letter of subrogation is a legal document that would protect the district and Pierce if a worker were to sustain an injury while working. For example, if a BIENESTAR worker contracted HIV while administering a test, the workers’ comp provider could not sue the LACCD or Pierce. BIENESTAR’s provider made it clear that if they were forced to write the letter of subrogation, BIENESTAR would incur the costs. When faced with the costs of that coverage, BIENESTAR backed out of the event. [See HIV/AIDS, pg. 4]
The Pierce College Agriculture Department will host its annual Farm Walk to raise money for the Pierce farm and to educate and entertain the public. Activities included this year are petting zoos, pony rides, face painting, carnival games and cow milking. The event takes place on April 26 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Entrance to the event can be accessed on Victory and Mason. Children 12 years of age and under get in free while adults pay a $5 donation. Parking is free. #PierceFarmWalk
Town Hall
Cody Calderon / Roundup
Foreman Eric Scheel works on an electrical panel behind a bungalow that will serve as a temporary office to organize construction at Pierce College on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015, in Woodland Hills, Calif.
Construction resumes KATERINA CHRYSSAFIS Reporter @katchryssafis and JULIE LUDERS Reporter @jluders̲roundup
A
tentative start-date for the North-ofMall construction, was announced at the Pierce College Council meeting on Feb. 26. A construction trailer and workers arrived on campus the next day to establish a base-of-operations and begin clearing debris. “North-of-Mall is underway, and construction activities should begin July 31,” said College Project Manager Ed Cadena. According to Cadena, the Shepard Stadium construction has
“North-of-Mall is underway, and construction activities should begin July 31.”
-Ed Cadena
College project manager moved along at a steady pace, with some piping already installed. Meanwhile, trenching and installation of new fiber-optic communication systems in the Village is also in the works, and is set to start in the next two months, according to the technology committee. The sights of construction have become ever-present on campus, specifically in the buildings to the North-of-Mall, where fences have blocked pathways and corridors. There has been concern among students about issues that have
stemmed from construction while classes have been in session. “I am taking very difficult classes this semester,” said Kate Williams, Pierce student. “I need all the focus I can get, and if construction is taking place while I’m trying to focus during a lecture, it could really affect me.” According to the LACCD building program, the trenching and installation of underground utilities throughout the campus will upgrade water, sewer and gas lines, as well as electrical infrastructure and fiber-optic communication
systems. Fiber-optic communication consists of transmitting information from one place to another by sending light through optical fiber, and will greatly increase network speeds in comparison to copper cables that the college has used to this point. The technology committee will oversee the fiber-optic communication system. The committee said its construction will begin in March. However, Wendy Bass, technology committee co-chair, said she was “not in the know regarding the construction.” Paul Nieman, director of college facilities, said information about the fiber-optic installation will be updated as the project moves forward. “To my understanding there will be a weekly communication sent out,” Nieman said.
Pierce College will host an interdisciplinary “Town Hall” based on the nationally recognized California State University, Chico model. The Town Hall will feature discussions on homelessness, climate change, immigration, gender equality, mental health, and disparities in the criminal justice system. The Town Hall event will take place Friday, May 1, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. #PierceTownHall
Construction trailer
Several Pierce College roads were closed in the “early morning hours” of Friday, Feb. 27, to make way for a “large construction trailer” that arrived on-campus that morning. Mason Avenue, Brahma Drive and Avenue of Champions were closed as it passed through campus, but re-opened when it settled at its eventual location in the North-ofMall construction area, across from the pool, before 7 a.m. #Pierceconstruction
Academic renewal
Pierce College might raise the maximum number of Academic Renewal units from 18 to 30 if Board Rule 6700 is passed by the Los Angeles Community College District Curriculum Committee and LACCD Academic Senate. Academic Renewal allows students to remove D and F grades from their GPA, but does not remove the grade from the transcript. #Pierceacademics
College hires more custodians
Food review: Hook Burger
Baseball team gets new coach
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