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OCTOBER 12, 2011
Former board candidates sue college district
VOLUME 56, NO. 06
October sheds light on a cure
Brandon Rodriguez
Pete Moye’
Sports Editor
Editor-in-Chief
Stephanie Cobian
La Rena Wietrick
Managing & Multimedia Editor managing@talonmarks.com
Arts Editor news@talonmarks.com
Claims of racially polarizing Latino voters led to a lawsuit against the Cerritos Community College District by a former trustee and a former trustee candidate on Sept. 28. According to Cerritos College President Linda Lacy, the lawsuit can impact students directly. “Now we have to pay for attorneys and every time the district has to pay attorney fees, it comes right out of classroom-money for our students,” Lacy said. With former trustee Carmen Avalos and board candidate Tom Chavez, district voter Leonard Zuniga joined the “Latino Voters Challenge,” against the district. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs claimed that the board was in violation of the California Voting Rights Act of 2001, in which prohibits “at-large,” elections for governing board members. The lawsuit claims that since 2003 there has not been more than a single Latino board member at a time and that the district is made up of 50% Latinos. Chavez claims that in the 50 square miles of the district, three board members live within two miles of each other. “The city of Cerritos has been dictating who gets elected on to the board even though there are many other cities involved,” Chavez said. Board of Trustee Vice President Bob Arthur was in attendance at Wednesday’s board meeting in which the agenda was revised because of the lawsuit. “I’m extremely disappointed in the three plaintiffs. I know each of those individuals personally,” Arthur said. “This lawsuit has the potential to cost the district thousands of dollars, maybe even hundreds of thousands or more.” Zuniga feels the “at-large” system is unfair to voters of the Latino race who live in cities outside of the city of Cerritos, but within district lines. “Out of the 12 cities [in the district], only two or three [are] being represented,” Zuniga said. “We would like to see it [the district] being broken up into two districts.” According to the lawsuit filed by the firm of Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian, the plaintiffs and lawyers claim that
For many people of Cerritos College, October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a chance to stand up and shed light on the naked truth of an illness that is expected to take more than 39,000 lives this year, according to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure website. But for sociology major Melissa Alfaro, it is a reminder of the struggle that she faces everyday. Alfaro, a survivor of Rhabdomysarcoma, a disease that affects about one in a thousand people, believes the awareness that breast cancer receives helps victims of all types of cancer. “Breast Cancer is more common, so I’m really glad that a lot of awareness to it. But, at the same time, there are a lot of different cancers that people don’t usually hear about,” she said. While victims who suffer from the same condition as Alfaro don’t have their own awareness month, some may feed off of the attention that October brings.
Think pink Everywhere from the White House to the NFL, the color pink is displayed to provide support to the men and women continuing to fight Breast Cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, one in every eight women will be diagnosed with Breast Cancer while one in every thousand men will be. The Cerritos College volleyball team first began supporting the cause in 2009 and after skipping the past season, its salute to the awareness has returned. Prior to the team’s match-up against Long Beach City College on Wednesday, the Falcons joined forces with the Side-Out Foundation and hosted its “Volley for the Cure” campaign. The team sported white warm-up t-shirts before breaking out pink game jerseys. It also sold jerseys that said, “Volley for the Cure” and “Fight Like a Girl”. Volleyball head coach Teresa VelasquezOrtega said, “I began doing the event in 2009 because I had friends who had Breast Cancer,” she said, “they became survivors so this is a good way to fundraise money for the cause.” She added, “I think it’s important because we’re women and people need to understand when they turn 30-years-old,
they need to get checked. Volleyball setter Gloria Chang said a member of her family suffered from Breast Cancer. She said, “It was scary because [my family] was unsure because cancer can go either way. It can either go really well or really bad but we were just hopeful. We prayed a lot and we just tried to support her as much as we could.”
Fighting for her mother Chelsea Rae Rufo, West Coast University nursing major, has been involved in the fight against Breast Cancer for nine years. “When my mom was sick, I wanted her to know I supported her by doing walks under her name, even though she was too ill to join,” she said. After surviving the battle for six years, Rufo lost her mother Zara in July 2008, leading to her increased participation. “After she died, I wanted to continue making donations because they are more women out there that can survive Breast Cancer. Last month, she was recognized by the ACS for being a volunteer for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. “[Being recognized] meant a lot to me because I don’t do what I do to be recognized. I was never expecting an award so it was really amazing.” Alfaro strongly advises to not be afraid to get checked. “Don’t be afraid of any results. Don’t wait until things get worse. It’s very important to get checked. If you don’t get the answer you want, you can always get a second opinion,” she said. Volleyball middle blocker Jessica Dorado said she really appreciates people who make an effort to support the cause. She said, “I’m going to donate my hair to help out in a couple months because I’ve always want to cut it for a good cause that helps people.”
Breast Cancer Statistics • 12% of American women will be diagnosed with Breast Cancer in their lifetime. • 39,000 people are expected to die from the disease this year. • One out of one thousand men will die
Source: American Cancer Society
Photo Illustration by Pete Moye’, La Rena Wietrick, and Yurixhi Gutierrez/TM
The naked truth: October has been Breast Cancer Awareness Month for 27 years. More than 39,000 people are projected to die from it this year.
See Lawsuit Page 2
Approval of California Dream Act set to benefit undocumented college students Victor Diaz Production Manager production@talonmarks.com
Karla, a former Cerritos College student who asked for her full name not to be disclosed for fear of deportation, has had her fair share of experiences and struggles being an undocumented student. Even after graduating from Cerritos, she discovered certain economic issues while at the university level. “I couldn’t really afford to join certain organizations or honor societies because of my financial situation. I always found myself strug-
gling to have the resources that I needed like when I needed to buy textbooks or sometimes even having to purchase food,” she said. However, students like Karla will soon not have to worry about struggles such as these. Gov. Jerry Brown has signed AB 131, the second part of the California Dream Act, into law on Saturday, completing the approval of the legislation. This legislation, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2013, will allow undocumented students attending California colleges and universities to apply for and receive financial
aid, including Cal Grants. In a statement released on Saturday, Brown said, “The Dream Act benefits us all by giving top students a chance to improve their lives and the lives of all of us.” In order for undocumented students to qualify for the new law, they must first qualify for bill AB 540, which gives lowered tuition costs for undocumented students. According to Dean of Student Support Services Kim Westby, the Board of Governors Fee Waiver will also be a service that will be available to AB 540 students. Westby also mentioned that the
new law can serve as a tool to motivate undocumented students to continue their education. She said, “These students will now be encouraged to go to college because there is some funding available for them. “In the past, if they weren’t able to go to college because they couldn’t afford it, now there’s an opportunity for them to come.” Karla also mentioned that one issue she encountered was being ineligible for certain privileges as a student. “One concern that I had was if I was qualified for cer-
tain programs or be able to be paid for certain research that I did.” The approval of AB 131 comes off the heels of the approval of AB 130, a complementing measure which will allow undocumented students to receive privately-funded scholarships after qualifying for AB 540 status. According to the California Student Aid Commission, there is an estimated annual amount of 10,000 students who will apply for financial aid; 9,200 of those students would receive financial aid award offers See DREAM Act Page 2
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