A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION Woodland Hills, California Volume 135 - Issue 10
Thursday, December 2, 2021
One copy free, each additional copy $1.00
Check out who's checking in to campus
QR scanners validate wellness surveys for students, staff and faculty BY PAMELA KALIDASAN Reporter
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tudent Services and the Library at Pierce College have incorporated a new QR scanner to help employees review Cleared4 codes. Library Department Chair Lauren Saslow said that students who regularly visit the library have no difficulty with the checkpoint. But she also said that there are some issues with the COVID check-in system. “There’s a lot of hiccups still,” Saslow said. “A lot of students aren’t aware that they’ve gotten the email or the text about Cleared4, so that’s been hard to help students locate that email and get that all set up.” Saslow said that the system had been mostly working efficiently in tracking which students entered the building, and that had made it much easier for faculty. If people don’t have their QR code on hand at Student Services, they could fill out and submit a physical form of the questionnaire before asking for what they need. But Career Guidance counselor assistant Nasha Avijeh said that the physical forms and students' lack of awareness is an issue where more efficient methods to track students through ID would make things easier and more
“I actually really like it,” Kim said. “I think it’s a smart way to make sure all the students don’t have symptoms and it’s effective.” Student George Estrada said that although he didn’t utilize the library or any of the resources at school, he feels safe knowing that Pierce is taking precautions. “I feel like that definitely makes me, as a student, feel more comfortable coming into school,” Estrada said. “But I do agree with the vaccine mandate, and I feel like just as long as you’re vaccinated you should be fine coming in.” According to Saslow, there are issues with the surveys including how transparent people are when they fill it out daily, how it is being Photo by Pauline Gener enforced on campus and Student Juvenal Lopez scans his Clear Pass QR Code at the Cleared4 computer as part of the newly added COVID whether there are consequences check-ins at the Library at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Nov. 24, 2021. for not completing it. Saslow said that some people comfortable for them. Saslow said. “We find that the the questionnaire are about. are so used to answering no “Certain obstacles would email that you get each day is “We already had to submit to those questions that if they be students coming in and not problematic because when you something saying we are do have an issue, it becomes a doing the survey, and I think click on the link, you’d have to vaccinated, but I wouldn’t have major concern. the way we could take care of copy the URL and paste it.” a problem with having to do the “I even got used to answering that is if we had a system that With the new scanning system survey,” Mendez said. “It just no to all the questions and I would verify through student set in place, some students said seems more of a hassle than have to stop myself,” Saslow ID which could result in a much they feel safer while others said anything.” said. “I know people who have easier system,” Avijeh said. they don’t understand how it’s Some students said that they done that, and even one person Saslow also said that students efficient. appreciated the measures Pierce who had results pending did had encountered difficulty Student Ivan Mendez said has taken to ensure safety on that. They later found out that when it came to accessing their that implementing the vaccine campus. they were positive for COVID.” private link through their email. mandate was the go-to move, Student Jina Kim said that Student Nelson Solares said “We tell people to go into but he doesn’t understand what the check-ins feel like a useful that though he feels the campus the settings and switch it,” the check-in points relating to addition to the campus. is not doing enough to enforce
measures, students should take more initiative to fill in the gaps. “It’s one thing to depend on having people check on others, but I think as students we should check ourselves,” Solares said. “I don’t really see that happening at Pierce.” As for other administrative buildings like the Center for Academic Success building, employees at the front desk are asking students to show their QR code without scanning them. CAS Office Manager Marcos Garcia said that although there are only a few students who occasionally enter into the building, having the scanners will probably benefit the tutoring center once they start expanding in the spring because CAS Tutoring Director Crystal Kiekel plans on adding a few more tutors for in-person services. Avijeh said that the front desk of Student Services would be able to be more helpful if there was “We could help with adjusting,” Avijeh said. “A lot of students who are older have difficulties with technology, and maybe we could have someone designated here to just help with the technological issues. I think that would help a lot with the transition.” pkalidasan.roundupnews@gmail.com
Licorice Pizza served in the Valley
Director Paul Thomas Anderson hosts college press conference for his film BY ANASTASIYA OREL Reporter
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icorice on pizza does not sound like the best combination, just like some people don’t like pineapple and ham. But don’t worry, no one is making up strange combinations. Paul Thomas Anderson hosted a college press conference on Nov. 19 for his upcoming film “Licorice Pizza,” which references a former chain of record shops in Southern California. The coming-of-age movie follows two characters growing up and falling in love in the San Fernando Valley during the early 1970s. Starring actors Cooper Hoffman, Alana Haim, Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper, the movie is being officially released on Dec. 25, 2021. The movie opened in Los Angeles on Nov. 26. The film’s premiere at the Regency Village Theatre also included a film accurate recreation of “Fat Bernies Pinball Parlor” pop-up next to A Licorice Pizza poster outside of the Fox Theatre in Westwood, Calif., on Nov. 28, 2021.
Photo by Pablo Orihuela
Life in the Botanical Gardens [see PHOTO ESSAY on pg. 6]
the theater at 945 Broxton Ave. While reviews have been mostly positive, it has received criticism for a scene involving a stereotypical depiction of an Asian accent by a white character. Anderson said in an interview with NBC News that the film is set in the 1970s and shouldn’t be told through a modern day lens. "I think it would be a mistake to tell a period film through the eyes of 2021. You can’t have a crystal ball, you have to be honest to that time,” Anderson said. “Not that it wouldn’t happen right now, by the way. My mother-in-law’s Japanese and my father-in-law is white, so seeing people speak English to her with a Japanese accent is something that happens all the time. I don’t think they even know they’re doing it." Anderson shoots most of his films in the Valley and said he shares a personal relationship with it. “You’re making a film and you’re asking an audience to care about it, so I care about it and where I come from,” Anderson said. “I want my love for it to be evident on-
screen. It was a combination of great joy and great melancholy that we went looking for locations because many things in the Valley have changed.” Anderson said filming in the Valley has challenged him to explore places he didn’t know about and has become a byproduct of being a filmmaker. “Pierce College is four minutes from where I am now and that resulted in a lot of joy from all of us who live and work here,” Anderson said. “My friend Gary started a waterbed company at a pinball store and pinball was illegal in LA. All these details are specific to the San Fernando Valley, and when it all adds up as a whole, it just feels like, yeah, that happens in the Valley all the time. "They’re very cinematic and very specific to this place more so than anywhere else.”
aorel.roundupnews@gmail.com
Opinions.............................2 News...................................3 Features.............................4 Photo Essay .....................5-6