A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION Woodland Hills, California Volume 137 - Issue 5
One copy free, each additional copy $1.00
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
Putting in steps for a good cause
Community gathers at school event to raise awareness
BY PAMELA KALIDASAN Features Editor
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t the crack of the golden hour, volunteers and Girls Scout troops helped set up nearly two dozen booths for sponsors and event organizers to register people and distribute symbolic pinwheel flowers—ranging in orange, yellow, blue and purple—to plant within the fenced “promise garden” where it also contains “END ALZ." And just behind the garden lies a select group of foldable white chairs, where posters containing sponsors' brand names are ready with the DJ playing upbeat music. “We got involved in this because we have a grad whose mom works for Alzheimer’s and her grandmother passed away from Alzheimer’s not too long ago,” Girl Scout troop co-leader Sharon Hager said. “It’s something near and dear to them, so they reached out and here we are.” The event taking place at Rocky Young Park on Sunday, Oct. 16, drew in 314 registered participants and 52 teams who managed to reach 73 percent or nearly $77,000 of Alzheimer’s Association’s overall campaign goal, where they plan to raise $105,000 by the end of December. Fern Kaufman, a resident from Sunrise Senior Living, said that she
Photo by Dillon Sattler
Members of Girl Scout troop 4056 Woodland Hills service unit cheer as participants walk in support at the "Walk to End Alzheimer's" event on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022 at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif.
thinks the event is beautiful. “I was somewhat famous when I was young,” said retired Los Angeles County deputy district attorney Clarita Karlin. “I was
a singer—and we’ll be singing again.” Karlin and Kaufman along with the seniors with Alzheimer's and dementia from Sunrise Senior
Living sang Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America,” Jack Norworth’s and Albert von Tilzer’s “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and Francis Scott Key’s “The Star-Spangled
Banner.” After their performance, speakers such as film director Susie Singer Carter stated that the Alzheimer’s Association has
raised money to fund more global research and about treatment that significantly decreases the progress of the condition. "Alzheimer's has destroyed our families, our finances and our future, and it’s time to end it,” Carter said. “Currently the (Alzheimer’s) Association is investing $300 million dollars to more than 920 projects in 45 countries on six continents. This week topline results were shared from a phase three trial of a new treatment, lecanemab, the data shows a 27 percent reduction in cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer’s disease.” After Carter, 2022 San Fernando Valley walk event chair Jeff Friedman said that the Walk To End Alzheimer’s started three decades back “We started walking to end Alzheimers with something called a memory walk,” Friedman said. “And I cannot believe that 30 years later we’re still doing this. I appreciate everybody who took the time to come out here today to show support.” The walk started around 9:15 a.m. where participants circled around campus, passing by Lot 1 to the Avenue of Champions and through Olympic Drive.
Former media arts student returns
pkalidasan.roundupnews@gmail.com
Pulitzer Prize winner Julio Cortez speaks to future pros BY BENJAMIN HANSON Managing Editor
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Pierce College journalism student watched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII 4821 on Jan. 26, 2003, when he turned to his father and said, "Someday I'm going to be on the field taking pictures of the Super Bowl." Associated Press (AP) photographer Julio Cortez has since covered four Super Bowls, four Olympic games, the 2014 FIFA World Cup and shared the 2021 Breaking News Pulitzer Prize for his lead photo in AP's coverage of the riots following George Floyd's death. Cortez returned to Pierce and spoke to photography students about his journey from an undocumented immigrant to AP photographer and his award winning photograph on Oct. 17. Cortez was photographing a burning liquor store and powerline. He took a moment to take a sip of water when he noticed a protester walking by while holding the American flag upside down. Cortez recognized the upside down flag as a signal of distress. He followed the man and kept taking
photos until the flag was wholly illuminated by the fire in the window. "It just felt like wow I can't believe this happened to me," Cortez said. "Normally you don't see Mexicanos or Latinos exposed like this." In a video posted to his Instagram, Cortez, alongside his wife Emily and two sons, immediately burst into tears upon seeing his photo announced as the winner of the 2021 Breaking News Photo Pulitzer Prize. "I relate it to winning the Super Bowl or winning the World Cup," Cortez said. "Like when Juilo Urias threw that last strike to win the World Series in 2020." Cortez strives for diversity in newsrooms and shared that the 2021 AP staff photo directory page featured only men. "While I don't get involved in the conversation of it, I'm aware that we need to change that," Cortez said. "Luckily, we had two Latinos on there, which is great. But I want to get more, I want to get Latinos on there, and black women and more Asian people." Cortez's father, Julian, had earned his U.S. residency during the Reagan administration and snuck his family into the country. "When I was 10 years old, I migrated to the US," Cortez said. "I crawled through a hole in the chain
link fence in San Ysidro." But it would take Cortez 13 years before he became a citizen. Cortez decided to attend LA Valley College and Pierce until he became a citizen to avoid paying outof-state tuition at CSUN. Cortez was working as a sports reporter stringer for the LA Daily News while attending Pierce. His path to becoming a sportswriter diverged into photojournalism on Sept. 11, 2001. That morning, Cortez left his political science class early and headed to the LA Daily News office in Woodland Hills to help with anything the editors needed. In order to get to his desk, Cortez had to walk through the photo department. He couldn't ignore the sea of photos from the wire services of what was happening in New York City. It was there that Cortez was enamored by AP photographer Suzanne Plunkett's photo of people running from the collapsing Twin Towers. "I saw the images of what happened in New York and I saw how important they were," Cortez said. "I thought 'Man, these images are our future.' They're gonna be talked about forever. I want to do that. I want to be right in the middle of all the important
Photo by Benjamin Hanson
Claudia Yi (left) and Natalie Yechzkia (right) listen to Julio Cortez explain the technical details of getting certain shots at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Oct. 17, 2022.
stuff." Cortez stressed how important it is to network and meet the people who are currently working in the field. "Whenever you get those cards from the pros, hold on to them, they're your golden ticket," Cortez said. "Nobody's gonna walk into this business, especially the way this
Football drops conference opener [see SPORTS on pg. 6]
industry is now." Photography student Genesis Medrano said Cortez's photos resonated with her and that she was glad he gave hard-to-find advice. "There's not that much information that's given about how to really get into the industry," Medrano said. "And he told us."
Cortez said that when he was a student, established professionals coming by to share their experiences didn't happen often. "You have the same chance as long as you work really hard and put in the effort," Cortez said. bhanson.roundupnews@gmail.com
Opinions...................................2 News..........................................3 LA Life......................................4 Photo Essay..............................5 Sports........................................6