Training targets sexual harassment
Government updates prompts direct approach
BY MARK SNOW EDITOR- IN - CHIEF MSNOW @ CCCLARION.COMNote from Editor: This story is a follow-up to Citrus’ actions after the 2017 bookstore sexual harassment lawsuit where seven student employees agreed to settle their yearslong sexual harassment lawsuit earlier this year with Citrus College. Due to the topic’s sensitive nature, the Clarion has chosen to protect sources who spoke from possible retribution by keeping them anonymous.
Citrus is taking a proactive approach regarding sexual harassment training starting this fall.
Robert Sammis, director of Human Resources, said the federal government has recently adopted new Title IX guidelines that restore previous guidelines enacted before the Trump administration, which has prompted training requirements.
“Starting this year, we have a legal requirement to provide training to all of our employees,” Sammis said. “It’s not just because of a legal requirement, but also our desire to do so.”
The legal requirement only requires Citrus to train managers every two years, but Citrus does train managers yearly, Sammis said.
According to the California Chamber of Commerce website, supervisors must receive two hours
of training, every two years and all other employees must receive one hour of training every two years. Despite the new federal regulations, they haven’t trickled down to student employees at Citrus
One student tutor, who said they feared for their job security if they were named, has not seen any changes in their workplace.
“I have been a student employee for almost half a decade and cannot remember receiving any sexual harassment training,” the tutor said. “I am unfamiliar with Title IX, and I have not seen any posters in the breakroom about reporting sexual harassment.”
Title IX is a law passed by the federal government to prohibit sexual discrimination in schools.
The problem is not just in one department, as both student employees and non-student employees report not being aware of the training or cannot recall ever receiving training on sexual harassment.
“I don’t remember taking any online training or being told to take any training,” a full-time professor who has been with the school for almost a decade said. “I have not seen anything posted in the breakrooms with Title IX information.”
This training is now required of full-time faculty and adjuncts as of October.
Sammis said training is primarily available through an online module developed by an insurance and brokerage firm, Keenan & Associates. In-person training would be done through himself
Title IX and labor law posters on campus
California law states posters must be placed in an area that can be easily seen and read by all employees and applicants.
“New posters with updated information started to be posted (in August), and every restroom on campus should have a Title IX poster,” Director of Human Resources Robert Sammis said.
Sammis said 2022 labor law posters, which have information on sexual harassment, are posted in the required areas in each building. He said to notify himself or Title IX coordinator, Brenda Fink if there are any problems with these posters.
A Clarion reporter visited several bathrooms and buildings on campus. The bathroom sexual harassment posters were placed correctly in all visited bathrooms.
The labor law posters were found mostly to be compliant, but many were difficult to access. The buildings visited had:
n The AD and MA buildings had posters correctly placed, however, the breakrooms were locked.
n The CI building had a labor law poster on one floor breakroom, but the other two breakroom floors did not.
n The VA building had a labor law poster in an area shared by students.
n The FH and PE buildings had no labor law posters.
n The PA building had a 2019 (outdated) labor law poster in the scene shop.
and Brenda Fink, the Title IX coordinator.
The Clarion reached out to Fink but was deferred to speak to Sammis only regarding any sexual harassment issue.
All adjunct and full-time faculty have online sexual harassment training and Title IX training available to them, Sammis said. Sammis admitted that since the pandemic, the training has not been enforced, and Citrus is correcting the issue.
An adjunct professor, who has been on campus for a few years, said they heard of the training but have yet to be enforced since starting back up in the fall.
“I’m not sure if it’s different for new professors,” they said. “But I started teaching again after a small hiatus and have not been instructed to do any (sexual harassment) training.”
Sammis said starting this fall, Citrus will implement a deliberate approach with faculty employees to do online training and a couple of live training events.
“We have done some targeted training,” Sammis said. “The athletics department will be receiving sexual harassment training, which is an area that will typically pull out for specific training.”
A member of the athletics
department does recall receiving the training, they said.
“We went through some sexual harassment training with our players and us,” they said, “but it was last semester, and a majority of those players are no longer at Citrus.”
Sammis said Citrus has been responding to all sexual harassment allegations, including ones made in a remote environment.
“We had a couple of issues of potential online sexual harassment that were dealt with,” Sammis said. “We haven’t turned a deaf ear during the pandemic. We have been actively dealing with sexual harassment issues.”
Owls’ perfect season ends in style
Faculty union requests changes
CCFA asks district for better salaries and working conditions
BY HEILY GARCIA STAFF REPORTER HGARCIA @ CCCLARION.COM
The Board of Trustees held a public hearing of the Citrus College Faculty Association’s initial proposal during their meeting on Nov. 15.
The CCFA held their initial presentation at the Board of Trustees meeting Oct. 18 to share their negotiations on topics concerning the Citrus faculty such as salaries and working conditions.
At the meeting, Director of Human Resources Robert Sammis introduced the agreement. He said under collective bargaining law, it’s required to share their initial proposals before taking part in their negotiations.
“I look forward to this process beginning, there’s a lot for us to talk about,” Sammis told the board. “We’ve always been able to listen to one another in negotiations and make progress. I’m hopeful that these negotiations will continue to demonstrate that.”
Auto tech instructor and CCFA’s Chief Negotiator David Brown said it has felt like a long time to get where they are, although they are four months ahead of schedule.
Brown said he hopes those will be a meaningful four months.
Although there are many items listed in the negotiations, President of the Faculty Association Senya Lubisich and Brown said salaries were the biggest concern.
Lubisich said via email that when the pandemic began faculty had to conform to a new way of teaching over a weekend, which resulted in difficult work that many times would go unseen. Brown said this has left everyone feeling undervalued.
“Our job has gotten bigger and we are looking for salaries that compensate and recognize the scope of work that faculty do,” Lubisich wrote.
Not only did these circumstances intrude in their work, it also had an impact in their personal lives. Brown and Lubisich wrote that inflation has made it difficult for faculty to keep up with prices of food, gas and their monthly bills.
“In my role, I think about my colleagues who are the sole earner for their family. I think about my colleagues who are raising children or caring for dependents. I think about colleagues who are paying off school loans,” Lubisich wrote.
Beyond the faculty students are also impacted by this, Lubisich says students know when faculty are enjoying their job. After the pandemic many faculty feel tired and burned out leading to atmo-
spheres with low morale that is contagious.
Although salaries have top priority, there are other areas the CCFA wishes to resolve.
Brown said the district’s and the Faculty Association’s proposals share common themes. The CCFA has identified mutual areas with the district that could be improved.
“They have to do with the scheduling of classes and how that process ought best to take
Hope for the homeless
BY GRACE GAINES FREELANCE CONTRIBUTOR GGAINES @ CCCLARION.COM
Glendora is fixing its homelessness problem.
With growth of those experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles slowing over two years, Glendora’s unsheltered population has decreased as city governments, nonprofit organizations and individual citizens work to address root causes of homelessness.
“San Gabriel Valley really is doing a lot,” said Debbie Lopez, Glendora’s Human Resources Superintendent. “We have done a beautiful job at housing people on our scale, not an L.A. scale, but in our city.”
City Net conducted a two-day census in November 2021, indicating 113 people are experiencing homelessness. Of the 91 that agreed to participate in a survey for the city, 41% identified as chronically homeless or homeless for more than a year.
City Net said 2022 saw a decrease in homeless populations of 26.6% in Glendora.
Glendora Mayor Karen Davis said this decrease has been a result of intentional collaboration between the Glendora city council, city staff, Los Angeles County, and their nonprofit partners in the past two years.
Davis said she recognizes they must first understand the root causes of homelessness.
“Each case is different.There are folks that suffer from mental illness, substance abuse, people who have been underemployed or lost their job,” Davis said.
Davis said she noted that many citizens are met with the concern of affordable housing.
“We have been looking at possible sights in Glendora that we can build emergency and transitional housing,” Davis said. “The longterm goal is to have more options in terms of affordable housing so that folks can stay housed.”
Lopez said she echoed these sentiments as she witnessed firsthand the efforts made by Glendora.
“We are one of the cities that are actually putting our money where our mouth is,” Lopez said. “Our city council has … applied for grant funding and we have really used our money wisely to house
people.”
shape,” Brown said at the meeting Oct.18. “We have some best practices ideas that we’re looking at.”
Brown also said the CCFA has ideas on online education because it will not go away and will only continue to grow. The CCFA wants to discuss how online evaluation can be improved.
Lubisich agreed with Brown that it has been a long road to get where they are.
“We look forward to your consideration of our proposal, we certainly look forward to the process,” Lubisich told the BOT on Oct. 18. “We look forward to continuing to serve a college that means a terrific amount to so many people.”
Lubisich ended the presentation by saying she wants Citrus to be a place that is meaningful to faculty and their students.
On Nov. 29 the district proposed a raise, which Brown says the CCFA finds very fair.
“The proposal on salary that CCFA received from the District has started good conversation and discussion. For a faculty that is looking to see our value communicated, we are making good progress,” Lubisich said.
by Grace GainesLopez said Glendora citizen’s role in this issue is to advocate.
“As we look at creating some housing we are going to need people to … be advocates.”
Lopez also said that individuals can dial 2-1-1 if they notice a homeless person and are concerned.
Davis and Lopez said collaboration, especially with surrounding cities, is crucial.
“It’s not just a city by city problem,” Davis said. “We need to talk as a group together and ensure everyone is doing their part.”
Chicken champion finally crowned
be determined solely by myself.
BY ROBERT DAVIS MANAGING EDITOR RDAVIS @ CCCLARION.COMLadies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is the moment you have been waiting for! After six chicken sandwich battles, only Popeyes and Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers remain. At the end of this battle, one warrior will be crowned the Winner Winner Chicken Sandwich Dinner.
To ensure that the final battle is judged fairly and without questions of personal preference, this battle will be judged not only by myself, The Grand Master of Chicken, but also by my carefully appointed comrades who will be known as The Grand Council of Chicken Masters. The Grand Council of Chicken Masters will consist of three chicken masters, Iggy, Beccy and Courtney, who will each be assigned one flavor point to the sandwich they determine to be deserving of the championship.
Of course since I am the one and only Grand Master of Chicken, the flavor scores on all five categories will
In the bun category, both sandwiches did well. The sesame seed accented bun of the Cane’s sandwich was delicious. The bun was evenly toasted, flavorful and structurally sound, earning an 8.
The bun on the Popeyes sandwich was sweet and perfectly encompassed the heaping portion of chicken, however it was not evenly toasted and was slightly stale, earning a 7.5 for its missed potential.
The sauces on both sandwiches shined just as bright as in previous battles. The Cane’s sauce was a star element on a well-rounded sandwich. With chicken as good as Cane’s, the sauce better be just as delicious, and it absolutely was. The Cane’s sauce earns a 9.5.
The Popeyes mayonnaise proved again why it can hang with any sauce in the competition. The mayo is thick and flavorful and doesn’t get lost competing with the Popeyes pickles or chicken. The Popeyes sauce earns an 8.8.
The toppings category was the only place where there was no competition. The Cane’s topping of just lettuce was more disappointing than it was in the semifinals as it was an even smaller piece of lettuce than before.
The poor lettuce quality prompted Chicken Master Iggy to say that “the lettuce isn’t even a necessary component, it just gets lost.”
Chicken Master Beccy echoed Iggy’s statement: “You can’t even taste the lettuce.”
The council and I agreed that the lettuce was only on the sandwich for aesthetic purposes, earning a sad 4. However, the same could not be said for the Popeyes pickles, which took the toppings category by storm. The Popeyes pickles were crispy and remarkably fresh tasting for fast food pickles.
Chicken Master Iggy spoke to this:“I’m not much of pickles fan but the pickles in the Popeyes one is pretty good; it adds to the flavor.”
The Popeyes pickles earn an exceptional 9.
The breading category was basically too close to call as both sandwiches did exceptionally well. After a heated debate in the council, the Cane’s sandwich was determined to have the better breading texturally but the Popeyes breading was more flavorful while still being competitively crispy. The council and I both determined that both breadings deserved a perfect 10.
The chicken category faced the same issue. The chicken on the
Cane’s sandwich was extraordinarily tender, juicy and flavorful. The Popeyes chicken was equally juicy but was less tender and more flavorful. The council and I again determined that this category had to be a draw, with perfect 10 going to both competitors.
With all categories out of the way, each member of the council was given a platform to vote for their favorite sandwich.
For Chicken Master Iggy, it came down to the breading. “In my opinion, the breading on the Popeyes one tops the Cane’s one.” Iggy’s vote brings one additional point to Popeyes
For Chicken Master Beccy, it was the toppings, as for her “the pickles add a lot into it,” giving another flavor point to Popeyes.
For Chicken Master Courtney, it was the overall flavor. “The Cane’s
Local coffee shops bring unique flavor
A barista puts nearby coffee shop drinks to the test
BY GRACE GAINES FREELANCE CONTRIBUTOR GGAINES @ CCCLARION.COM
Coffee shops have become an integral part of student life.
Whether a coffee connoisseur or an overworked student running on four hours of sleep, coffee shops provide a haven for students to catch up on work, chat with friends or simply get their daily dose of caffeine.
To make the quest for students’ favorite coffee spot easier, a Clarion reporter, who’s also a part-time barista, explored four nearby owned coffee shops and rated their atmosphere, drinks and study-ability. For consistency, she went to each shop mid-afternoon and ordered a hot vanilla oat milk latte at each.
Nambah Coffee Co.
2232 D St. #102, La Verne
Vibe (9/10): Stepping into Nambah Coffee is reminiscent of stepping into a home. Warm light bulbs drape from the ceiling, framed artwork is displayed on each light cream wall, plants decorate every table and shelf and multi-colored pillows enhance Nambah’s several seating options. Nambah Coffee is centrally located in the heart of downtown La Verne with several public parking lots available. While it certainly has a quintessential coffee shop feel, Nambah fosters a unique atmosphere through its intentionally warm architecture and decor.
Study-ability (9/10): Nambah’s environment is perfect for anyone looking to cram for finals, chat with friends or catch up on schoolwork. While it gets crowded as the day progresses, Nambah has ample indoor and outdoor seating options to choose. Power outlets are fairly accessible, free WiFi is speedy and public restrooms can be found in the building to which Nambah connects. Light folk music is played in the background and noise is generally kept to a minimum.
Menu (8/10): Nambah’s menu is fairly standard, offering customers several espresso-based drink options, teas, cold brew and pastries. Nambah’s fan-favorite “charcoal mocha” and “heartthrob latte” are also displayed on their “Specialty Menu.” Drinks are fairly pricey, with the average small latte priced at $5.25.
Coffee (6/10): Coffee does not seem to be Nambah’s strong point. The latte I ordered, while an overall good flavor, was watered down and excessively sweet. Their espresso had a pleasantly nutty tone, but the amount of steamed oat milk washed out the favor.
Summary (8/10): Nambah’s subpar coffee is supplemented by its inviting atmosphere. For any student in search of a place to study that feels like home, Nambah is certainly worth a stop.
Penny Roasters Coffee
905 E. Arrow Hwy, Glendora
Vibe (4/10): Tucked in the eastern corner of the Glendora Marketplace, Penny Roasters is a great location for students looking for a quick caffeine boost. With high-rise ceilings and exposed pipes, the Glendora Marketplace has a rustic, industrial character. While Penny Roasters does not have designated seating for its customers, several tables are available throughout the building, including a quaint outdoor space. The storefront itself has a minimalistically white look, decorated solely with its massive coffee bean roaster and espresso equipment.
Study-ability (4/10): Penny Roasters is not an ideal study spot for students. While seating options abound, WiFi and/or outlets are difficult to find and the marketplace is quite noisy. The best option for studying would be connecting to a hotspot or personal WiFi in the outdoor area.
Menu: (9/10): Penny Roasters’ menu was pleasantly simple, offering basic coffee drinks, tea and kombucha. This simplicity is a breath of fresh air for the indecisive among us who are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of sizes, syrups and drink options at other coffee shops. Five house-made syrups were available, along with the milk alternatives of oat, almond or soy milk. With no different sizes offered, the menu ranged from $3-$6. To me, a simple menu is often indicative of quality in the few drinks that are offered.
Coffee (9/10): My latte at Penny Roasters had evident depth and quality. Their house-made vanilla syrup gave the latte a lightly sweet and flavorful touch and the espresso tasted perfectly done – not over nor under extracted.
I noticed that Penny Roasters roasts their own beans weekly, ensuring a certain freshness that is evident in the coffee.
Summary (7/10): While Penny Roasters is not the best study location, its excellent coffee and simple menu make for a great quick stop.
Pressed+Flower Coffee Boutique
523 N. Azusa Ave, Azusa
Vibe (9/10): Failed a final? Going through a breakup? Pressed+Flower Coffee Boutique is the perfect atmosphere for any dejected student in need of a boost in spirits. This storefront is overwhelmed with motivational signage, a variety of goods from locally owned businesses to browse and even a vast stickynote wall of affirmations. Pressed+Flower was created to accommodate every member of the community as they provide a space for dog owners outside, couches and chairs with board games for friends and families in the front and a quieter bar-style study space for students in the back. While somewhat chaotic stylistically, the coffee shop boutique has fostered an environment where intentional community gathering is welcome.
Study-ability (6/10): While a study space is provided in the back of Pressed+Flower, limited outlets are available for those working on computers. However, free WiFi is available and ample seating options are provided for those who do not need to plug in. Street parking in downtown Azusa is often difficult to find, but public parking lots are a short walk away.
Menu (8/10): Pressed+Flower’s menu offers classic lattes and tea alongside more unique “signature” drinks. These signature drinks include “citrus espresso tonic” and a “lavender bee latte.” Beyond drinks, the coffee boutique also has a “Nom Noms’’ menu that contains various cereals, bagels and quiches to try. A note on its menu also mentions that they plan to expand to more lunch options and pastries in the near future.
Coffee (8/10): The latte I enjoyed at Pressed+Flower was perfectly standard. While it did not have an exceptional flavor or quality, I thoroughly enjoyed each sip. The drink was slightly watered down and lacking in some sweetness, but otherwise the coffee flavor was pleasant and the presentation beautiful.
Summary (9/10): Fairly new to the area and a mere 1.6 miles from Citrus, Pressed+Flower is bound to be a treasured spot for students and community members alike.
has a good ratio but the Popeyes one just has more flavor.” This brought a third additional point to Popeyes.
The Popeyes chicken sandwich also earns a point for its price tag at $3.99, being far cheaper than Cane’s price of $5.98.
This brings the overall final flavor scores to a 41.5 for Raising Cane’s and a record setting championship winning score of 49.3 for Popeyes. This monumental score crowns Popeyes as the chicken sandwich champion eternally. Popeyes will reign until a new hope rises and in a galaxy far far away, a Frankenstein of a sandwich seeks to challenge the might of Popeyes and the state of Louisiana.
Be on the lookout for the new hope Frankenstein sandwich on the Clarion website to see if anything can top the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich.
Ventana Coffee
589 N. Azusa Ave., Covina Vibe (7/10): With airy white walls and bluegreen tile accents, Ventana Coffee pulls off an effortlessly minimalist and clean-cut look. A variety of plants adorn nearly every shelf and light wooden countertop, contributing to a simple, yet trendy atmosphere. Numerous blends of Ventana’s fair-trade sourced coffee beans, merchandise, alternative milks and plants are displayed for sale. While Ventana may not exude the homey or comfort ambiance of a more traditional coffee shop, it certainly appeals to the modern aesthetic. Study-ability (1/10): As a result of its current COVID-19 policies, Ventana does not provide tables, WiFi or public restrooms for customers. While a bench is provided to sit at while waiting for an order, this is not an ideal study spot for students. When Ventana’s seating options are re-opened, it will become a more functional space for those spending prolonged periods of time.
Menu (8/10): Ventana has a somewhat wide menu with a variety of hot, iced and blended teas and coffees, as well as light lunch and breakfast options. Its “Specialty Drinks” menu is particularly intriguing, complete with unique drink options such as the “sea salt cream dark brown sugar latte” and a “strawberry latte.” However, Ventana only serves its “Morning Brew” until 11a.m., meaning that traditional brewed coffee is not available later in the day. The menu prices are certainly higher than the average coffee shop, with lattes ranging from $5-$8. Yet, this price seems reasonable considering that the quality and sustainability of Ventana’s coffee is above average.
Coffee (10/10): My hot vanilla oat milk latte was a perfectly smooth blend of an everso-sweet oat milk and steamy espresso. While the latte’s sweetness was a bit heavy for my liking, the evident quality and richness of Ventana’s espresso was a perfect supplement. I was pleasantly surprised by the multi-layered latte art that topped my drink. As many coffee shops abandon latte art for efficiency, this small yet special touch contributed to the professionalism Ventana exudes.
Summary (6/10): Around a 15-minute drive from Citrus, Ventana is worth the drive for those in search of a quality coffee experience. However, Ventana’s COVID-19 policies prohibit it from being an ideal study spot. Until its seating options are re-opened, students should stick to more local studying options.
McBurney retiring next year after 30 years at Citrus
BY ROBERT DAVIS MANAGING EDITOR RDAVIS @ CCCLARION.COMThe current longest serving counselor on campus, Robin McBurney, is set to officially retire in June 2023, but in her 30 years of work at Citrus, she’s been more than a great counselor.
McBurney wears many hats including a professor, mentor, philanthropist and even an artist.
McBurney is a professor popular with students. Her Rate My Professors page is filled with glowing reviews – reviews that don’t say her class was an easy A, but that she taught skills that made students lives in other classes easier.
“She’s an amazing counselor and professor, honestly all that she teaches is very informing,” said one user. “She does make you work but it’s for your own good.”
“A lot of the things she teaches I use now everyday throughout different classes,” wrote another user.
McBurney credits her success in the classroom to creating an environment where students felt like a community.
“In the classroom my goal was not only to teach the skills on how to be a master student, like professional students, but also I created this sense of unity in the classroom and it (was) like a workshop where people get close and they really get to know each other they become friends,” McBurney said.
One last sign
McBurney also credited her success in the classroom to her students for keeping each other on task.
“People fell in love, people made best friends and so if someone wasn’t coming to class, I would say, ‘Where’s so-and-so?” McBurney said. “Then a bunch of people would text them and sort of peer pressure them into coming to class.”
Fellow counselor and professor Claudia Castillo said McBurney would also teach outside of the classroom.
“I started teaching classes and right away, she said, ‘Here, I’ll train you,’ and (she) shared all her information with me without even me asking,” Castillo said. “... She was just so open right away in mentoring me and guiding me.”
McBurney didn’t just teach Castillo, though. Counseling secretary Susan Gonzales said McBurney is
responsible for training about 75 to 100 counselors in the teaching program.
McBurney used her position as a counselor as well as a professor to make sure her students were taken care of even once they left her class.
“One of the assignments was they had to have a student education plan with me, so I got to know every single student and their name and what they wanted to do,” McBurnery said. “We would do follow-ups and a lot of those students would come back to me year after year until they transferred, and I still get emails from them about what they’re doing.”
In addition to this, McBurney designed and implemented an Early Alert retention program that is still in place and helps students stay in college instead of dropping out.
“One of my passions is helping people figure out how to stay in college, because statistics show that if you leave, it’s hard to get back,” McBurney said. “ … I’ve talked to tens of thousands of students over the years and hopefully have helped a lot stay in school.”
McBurney’s efforts to help people are not limited to Citrus College. McBurney said she owns a home in Guatemala where she’s built a close relationship with some Guatemalan families and said she helps in a number of charitable efforts.
McBurney said she put four people from Guatemala through college and isn’t stopping as she plans
to take on funding the education of another soon.
McBurney said she took it upon herself to help fund the building of a new house for her longtime friend and housekeeper in Guatemala whose previous house was destroyed in the aftermath of a volcano eruption.
“I did a GoFundMe where all the people who rented my house in Guatemala donated,” she said.
“We got about $20,000 and were able to build her a little two-story house with two bedrooms and a bathroom.”
McBurney said she partially funded the house with money she earned after putting on a yard sale in association with the Citrus College Honors Program.
In addition to all this, McBurney said she organizes a shoe drive for her families in Guatemala.
McBurney said her charitable efforts are motivated by the idea that her helping one person can help an entire family.
“I find if you help one person, then other people in the family want to do something,” McBurney said. ”They see what can happen if you improve your education.”
Gonzales said she believes it is just who McBurney is.
“She’s a very giving person,” Gonzales said.
McBurney’s acts of kindness are also expressed through her linoleum prints, which can be seen proudly displayed on the outsides
improvements Fellows made in his department. Enterprise Services Manager Eric Magallon wrote about his pleasure in working with Fellows.
of many offices in the counseling department.
McBurney said she makes prints for all her friends on campus for Christmas, Valentine’s Day and other special occasions.
“I usually make a couple hundred,” McBurney said.
McBurney’s colleagues love the holiday prints.
“She does them all herself one by one, paints them and writes a little something nice on it, gives them to everybody here in the department and everyones got a collection,” Gonzales said.
It’s no doubt that McBurney will be missed in the counseling department, Castillo said.
“She’s one of the pillars of our counseling faculty so just to think about her retiring, we’re happy for her but it’s like the end of an era,” Castillo said.
But Castillo is confident that McBurney won’t be going anywhere far.
“I know we’re going to be lifelong friends for sure because that’s just how it’s been,” she said.
The thing McBurney said she will miss the most about working at Citrus will be her peers.
“I’ll miss my colleagues,” McBurney said. “I really like who I work with and I really like working at Citrus. The people are great and I think it’s just been a great environment. I’ve met a lot of different people. They do a lot of different things here, it’s just fascinating (here).”
BY ROBERT DAVIS MANAGING EDITOR RDAVIS @ CCCLARION.COMKern Fellows has been a pillar at Citrus for nearly 24 years. After years of hard work and satisfied coworkers, Fellows plans to retire.
Fellows is the head of the reprographics department and mailroom supervisor on campus, but his experience in the printing world lasted much longer than that.
Fellows started a print shop 48 years ago in his garage that eventually moved to a storefront. After 16 years of running his own business, Fellows decided he wanted to explore his options. Fellows came to Citrus College.
“I thought, ‘You know what? I really haven’t gotten a degree or anything,” Fellows said. “I just sort of learned this by trade. … While I was (at Citrus), I thought, ‘Let me keep an eye on the print shop.”
Fellows said while working on his degree, a part-time job opened up at the print shop, which worked appropriately for him.
“It was perfect. I could go to school here and work for hours and still be connected to the printing business,” Fellows said.
Fellows said he rose through the ranks and became the head of the reprographics department, where he used his position to go above and beyond in helping students, staff and faculty on campus. His good work ethic and customer service is greatly appreciated on campus.
Administrative assistant in the Citrus College Foundation, Briceyda Torres, said Fellows’ way of getting the job done isn’t just dependable,
but is a good overall experience thanks to Fellows.
“There’s getting the job done, but there’s getting the job done gracefully, which he always manages to do,” she said. “He’s just so pleasant all the time.”
Torres was not the only administrator to voice her satisfaction with Fellows’ work. The director of the Citrus College Foundation, Christina Garcia, said she had many positive interactions with Fellows.
“I would definitely say he always got the job done,” Garcia said. “It’s in the nature of the job that things are last minute, but he would always get the job done and get it done very well.”
Even during the pandemic, Fellows said he kept things moving when everything seemed to be at a stop. Fellows noticed important items piling up in the mailroom.
“After we had shut down for a couple of months, mail was stacking up,” Fellows said. “I was noticing that there were some things that needed to be delivered.”
Fellows was tasked with coming up with a solution, so he did. Fellows organized a mail pick-up service where people could drive through the E6 parking lot and have their
mail given to them. Drivers didn’t even have to get out of their cars.
“We started distributing mail once a week and it was safe,” Fellows said. “We had all the COVID regulations in place.”
Fellows printed all the signage for the mail pick-up system himself, giving staff and faculty the materials they needed to continue to work even in the strangest of circumstances. Of course his efforts were not ignored by the people he helped.
“During the pandemic, we had an unusually difficult working environment anyway, but he was right alongside everyone who was rolling their sleeves up and working,” Garcia said.
Fellows proudly made and continues to make improvements in the reprographics department. From redesigning the print shop’s layout to bringing in new technology, Fellows brings innovation to the reprographics department.
“We’re now able to produce products that we couldn’t do before to save the college a lot of money,” Fellows said. “... Pretty soon we’ll be getting new presses to update the technology, so we’ll continue offering new products quicker and just to do things that we couldn’t do before.”
Fellows’ colleagues recognize the
“As the Reprographics/Mailroom Supervisor, Kern has done an amazing job reorganizing reprographics and the mailroom including introducing new wide-format services, improved mail service, reorganized the layout of the print shop, expanded web ordering, and has created so many wonderful projects on campus,” Magallon wrote.
Garcia and the Citrus College Foundation also shared this appreciation.
“The Foundation is a high volume user of the reprographics services,” Garcia said. “He printed everything from flyers to invitations to specialized envelopes to some real unique gift items with the specialized printers they have.”
Fellows recently used some of his new specialized equipment in a task that he said would push the equipment to its limit. The task was to print a massive piece of new signage for the LED display on the western side of campus. It was a task he completed successfully, although the signage was so big it barely fit inside the print shop.
Fellows said he credits his success and popularity among staff and faculty on campus to his unique way of treating those he works with.
“We treat everybody with respect,” Fellows said. “We try to make it fun and happy. … People come in with their problems and they’re very stressed, but we try to relieve that stress, that’s my philosophy.”
To treat his customers with respect, Fellows said he sees the timely working conditions professors sometimes have to work with and does his best to be accommodating.
“I understand the stress and the timelines that teachers have, sometimes they don’t have a choice,”Fellows said. “Sometimes they give me a printing job in the morning and they need it in an hour.”
But Fellows doesn’t blame professors for their timely needs as “it’s just
the way things happen,” Fellows said. Fellows’ experiences as a student at Citrus inspired him to be kind and accommodating to his coworkers when they needed him.
“I can give (professors) the tools they need to promote learning, and for that it’s been satisfying to me because when I was a student at Citrus College and I did some things that were a little bit out of the box, the teachers asked me ‘How can we help you?’” Fellows said. “They never told me no or I couldn’t do it. They always asked me how we can help you be successful, and that’s the same attitude I have carried through all my work ethics here.”
Fellows also attributes his success to those who allowed him to do things out of the box - Coworkers like Magallon, Director of Fiscal Services Wade Ellis and Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services Claudette Dain.
“We’re working smarter, not harder, and that has to do with Eric and with Wade and with Claudette and with everyone in the administration team backing us and believing in us that we can do it,” Fellows said.
Fellows also attributes his popularity to his good relationship with his staff who he insists on giving the best customer service they can to the community.
“I treat my employees with respect and kindness,” Fellows said “I don’t micromanage them. I give them the tools that they need and the instruction that they need, and I expect high performance. … That’s what they give me and they have not disappointed me. And they treat the customers extremely nice. I insist on that.”
Now that Fellows plans on finally retiring, he says the thing he wants to do first is just to read a good book.
“I’m so tired of reading manuals and paperwork and emails and stuff like that, by the time I get to any pleasure reading, I just don’t even want to do it, so I’d like to do a little pleasure reading,” Fellows said.
Aside from pleasure reading, Fellows said it’s time to travel the country, which he looks forward to doing
CLARION
Editor-in-Chief Mark Snow msnow@ccclarion.com
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Two new classes coming in 2023
Coming in winter of 2023 and fall of 2023, Citrus College will see two new classes on the horizon. Thanks to the approval by the Board of Trustees, Citrus Salon (COS 231) and Introduction to Poetry (ENG 202) will be new class options for students. The class justification for Citrus Salon says the Citrus Salon “reviews all practical areas of cosmetology learned in the foundation classes, as well as state board requirements for licensing. Students will conduct consultations, perform client services, and fill out service record cards. business options.” The coordinator of Citrus Salon, Maria Fischer, said “the goal is to get this class going as soon as possible.”
“COVID had messed up a lot for the students in terms of coming onto campus and being able to interact and work on the fundamentals for saloning.” Fischer said. “Communication is something that will play a tremendous role in the class.”
Fischer said a big element of this class is for students to actually work on people opposed to how doll heads were used, so students get more experience.
Read more at ccclarion.com
LAL division hires new dean
Citrus has a new dean.
Interim Dean of Language Arts and Library Nickawanna Shaw has been offered and accepted the position, Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dana Hester said in an e-memo. Shaw has worked for Citrus since 2006 in kinesiology and athletics.
Shaw provided key leadership as academic senate president, curriculum chair, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force co-lead, Hester said. Shaw currently serves as Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges commissioner.
Pending Board of Trustees approval, Shaw will start in the spring as dean.
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Every man remembered
Pilgrimage connects professor to grandfather
BY MARK SNOW EDITOR- IN - CHIEF MSNOW @ CCCLARION.COMTo understand his grandfather’s past, one Citrus College professor found himself on an exciting but somber journey halfway across the world.
“I wouldn’t call it a vacation,” Citrus College mathematics professor Paul Swatzel said. “It was more like a pilgrimage.”
Swatzel’s grandfather, Pvt. Walter McGarrigle, was in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. He was a prisoner of war, captured during the Dieppe raid in northern France.
The Dieppe raid happened on Aug. 19, 1942, and was the first allied-led attack against German
forces in France. In the first 10 hours, 3,623 of the 6,086 men had been killed, wounded or became a prisoner of war. McGarrigle was one of those captured.
Swatzel said his grandfather died in 1987 of leukemia. He started looking deeper into his grandfather’s war history about 10 years ago.
“I was always interested in the war,” Swatzel said. “ ... As a kid I remember my grandfather watching war clips to see if he could spot himself in any.
“I remember messing around on Facebook. I found this group called ‘Blue Beach, every man remembered.’ I knew my grandfather landed on Blue Beach.”
The Facebook group organized a 21 person, two-week trip to retrace footsteps of men who fought on Blue Beach. Swatzel went to help understand his grandfather’s life
during the war.
Historian David O’Keefe, who was on the trip, said most on the trip had relatives in the war.
“We were crossing the fair to Dieppe, and it was a misty day,” he said. “The mist lifted as we got 2 miles off the coast. It was like a curtain had lifted. Here was the fear that was Dieppe. It was amazing to watch the faces. These are the stories they had been hearing their whole life.”
Linnie Brown, who was retracing her father’s own past, said she enjoyed the two-week trip traveling through France, Poland and Germany, but coming back home is where she processed the events of her father, Pvt. George Proctor, Royal Regiment of Canada, went through.
“My father died in 1975,” Brown said. “… We knew my father was in the war, we knew he was a prisoner
of war, but he never spoke about it. I took my son with me, who never met his grandfather. …He always had a fascination with him. Being there, really sensing it… seeing what he went through… it’s remarkable what these men endured.”
Swatzel said during the war, the Nazi’s started marching prisoners hundreds of kilometers toward Germany in an effort to retain the prisoners of war.
McGariggle, Swatzel’s grandfather, had somehow broken his ankle during what came to be known as the “Death Marches.” Proctor, Brown’s father, had carried the injured McGarrigle for months to avoid him being shot. They were both severely dehydrated, malnourished and tortured.
Swatzel said during the trip, the group revisited sites his grandfather was held at, as well as other historic World War II sites. The sites
include Dieppe, the prison camp he was marched from in Poland, and Auschwitz.
“Auschwitz was very emotional,” he said. “I completely broke down at one point.”
Swatzel said he had dreams two or three weeks after his trip, and that it was hard for him to sleep.
Swatzel said after visiting one of the memorials in France where 20 Canadian soldiers were executed by Nazis, he felt like something had drawn him back into the area after his party had left.
“I walked in there by myself, in the one area where the men were,” he said. “I had this strange feeling come over me, and I had to get out of that courtyard. I just lost it in front of the whole group.”
Swatzel said everyone in the group had broken down at some point during the emotional twoweek journey through the past.