A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION Woodland Hills, California Volume 135 - Issue 1
Thursday, September 23, 2021
One copy free, each additional copy $1.00
Interim president cultivates students Testing a must for Valley local and gardening enthusiast welcomes new Brahmas BY TRISHA ANAS Editor-in-Chief
all faculty
BY ALANA KING News Editor
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t’s a warm and sunny afternoon as Interim President Aracely ‘Ara’ Aguiar sits at her desk. In between meetings, this Valley local barely has enough time to sit down for lunch. Aguiar said she's worked with the Los Angeles Community College District for 34 years, but she has been in the Valley since she was 9 years old. She attended three LACCD schools--Valley, City and West. “My education has been local, so I know the schools, and the compassionate community has helped me connect,” Aguiar said. “I know the institution, I know its history and what it represents in the community. Photo by David Pashaee Everything that I had in my Aracely Aguiar, interim president, talks on the phone at her office at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Sept 20, 2021. mind about Pierce is true. It’s a strong institution.” Appointed in July, Aguiar for all of us coming back to president and a valley local are said her main focus while at campus. It’s been busy, but she’s not the only things interesting Pierce is the transition to being handling it beautifully.” about Aguiar. She’s also got a back on campus while also A month after being green thumb. catering to students who might appointed, Aguiar and Koani “I love gardening because want to remain online. had set up a ‘Lemonade with it gives me time to just relax “I would say that my number the President’ event in August my brain and breathe,” Aguiar one priority has been coming at the college’s Botanical said. “I was raised by my uncle, back to campus so that we can Garden which gave students the and he loves gardening. When serve our students in different opportunity to meet the new I lived in North Hollywood, I modalities, and so that we can interim president. would go there every weekend become a much more flexible Student Tehilla Siboni said and help him with the plants institution during this time that though she was unaware and roses. I grew up with it and while keeping everyone safe,” of Aguiar’s appointment and grew a love for it.” Aguiar said. attended the event out of Aguiar’s term is going to end Malina Koani, executive curiosity, she was all for it. on June 30, 2022, so for the time assistant to the president, said “I think with any new being, everyone will have to see that Aguiar has had a lot on opportunity, especially a new how she’ll blossom while she’s her plate since taking over as position like [interim president], here. interim president, but has been she could use as much support handling it well so far. as she can get,” Siboni said. tanas.roundupnews@gmail.com “She’s really hit the ground But being the new interim running,” Koani said. “There Photo by Raquel Frohlich was a lot of work to do, Malina Koani, executive assistant to the president, works at the Lemonade especially with the transition in the Garden with the College president event at Pierce College, Woodland Hills, Calif., on Aug. 25, 2021. More photos of the event are on page 6.
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nterim President Ara Aguiar has announced that all full time and adjunct faculty at LACCD must be COVID-19 tested by Oct. 8 at any of the approved testing locations. LACCD has partnered with the company Biocept to provide on-campus testing for employees and students on a rotating basis at the nine colleges and District facilities. During her president's report, Aguiar said that Biocept is requiring all employees to take a "baseline" test. “It’s a protocol that this company has because this is now a condition of employment,” Aguiar said. “All employees, whether on campus or off campus, need a baseline, regardless of vaccination status.” Both Los Angeles TradeTech College and East Los Angeles College will have testing available on Sept. 16 for LACCD employees from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Faculty will need to create an account with Biocept (also called Clear4) prior to scheduling the first COVID-19 test. Beginning next week, regular testing will be available twice a week at Pierce from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays and 10 a.m to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. Testing will also be available at the other LACCD campuses. Aside from the COVID-19 updates, the board also discussed the termination of the program Proctorio by the end of December. Proctorio allowed professors to conduct exams
while ensuring that no students were cheating. Media Arts professor Jill Connelly shared her concerns about losing the Proctorio application by December. “We’re doing a lot of Hyflex classes in our department, and it seems like if some students are in person and the teachers are watching them [while they’re testing] and then the ones online aren’t being watched just doesn’t seem right,” Connelly said. “There's some issues to still think about in that area, and I was hoping we could look into some alternatives.” Clay Gediman from the Distance Education and Instructional Technologies Committee said that there is a proctoring consortium that’s being offered as an alternative to Proctorio. “There are compliance issues with [Proctorio], and that’s why the District is not interested in supporting it,” Gediman said. “Students can go to any community college campus that’s part of the consortium, and they’re going to be proctored there. It’s not a great alternative, and we understand that, but it’s what’s being offered right now.” The Senate also discussed the new OWL devices being used for some of the hyflex classes and fake bots filling up registrations. The next Senate meeting is scheduled for Sept. 27 at 2:15 p.m.
aking.roundupnews@gmail.com
Is it a bird? A plane? It's a Meeting Owl!
Hybrid classes accommodate students with the help of new technology BY AJ WERNER Reporter
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hile some students might be hesitant to return to in-person classes, Pierce College now is offering a new online accommodation. The Meeting Owl is a camera that follows the teacher around the classroom so that students who are attending class via Zoom can still see and hear their professor at all times, along with students in the room. The high-tech camera isn’t available in every hybrid class, but cinema professor Ken Windrum already had some experience teaching
with the Owl. Windrum, who has been teaching since 1998, said that the Owl has been a great addition to his lectures. “If you have a live class, you don’t want to be sitting just looking into your monitor,” Windrum said. “You want to be able to walk around. You want to be able to look at the students.” The Owl has a simple design and works discreetly. It’s voice-activated so as long as the professor is talking, the camera will know to follow. Windrum explained that the camera allows for more flexibility during his Zoom meetings. “It seems to be a great solution so that students can
choose to be in the room Collins-Smith has been at his or to be on Zoom, and you side to make sure things go can accommodate both,” smoothly. Collins-Smith has had hands-on experience with the “We as teachers Owl, he’s gotten to see how it all works and has some should be adapting high praise for the high-tech camera. ourselves to the needs “It makes it a super efficient way to teach people of our students.” who are in the classroom and people who are not in the - Erin Hayes classroom simultaneously,” Anthropology Professor Collins-Smith said. With any new piece of technology, there can be a Windrum said. learning curve. Professor Windrum has But with some due used this device for only a diligence and playing around, handful of meetings. So while Collins-Smith found the he’s still learning exactly how classroom tool to be fairly to operate the device, Sean easy to operate.
Football player shortage [see FOOTBALL on pg. 8]
“It’s not difficult to operate,” Collins-Smith said. “As long as you train with it and learn how to use it properly, it’s fine, it’s perfectly simple to use.” There are only two Owl cameras currently being used on campus. Professor Erin Hayes, who has also been using the camera for her lectures, said that the flexibility has already proven to be valuable. “I have one student who was in a situation where they weren’t sure if they were going to be able to continue with the class,” said Hayes in a Zoom interview. “When that student found out that they were going to be able to continue the class, even
if they had to move or do something different, because they could do it remotely, they were so happy.” Hayes recommends that this gadget be used in more classes around Pierce. “I think it works very well for lecture classes,” Hayes said. “It’s important for our students and that’s what we should be doing. We as teachers should be adapting ourselves to the needs of our students.”
awerner.roundupnews@gmail.com
Opinions .................2 News..........................3 Features......................4 Campus Life..............5 Photo Essay .................6-7 Sports..........................8