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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2018 | VOL LXXI ISSUE 11 tccclarion.com f/ccclarion T@ccclarion
Record Breaking Now that he is off the bench, J e r e my Smi th i s achieving his goals and leav i n g h i s ma r k o n Citrus College basketba l l h i s to r y PAGE 12
Michael Quintero Clarion
Rocket owls fly to Alabama BY EMILY CRISTLER-HERMOSILLO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
EHERMOSILLO@CCCLARION.COM
The Citrus College Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to allow the Rocket Owls to travel to Huntsville, Alabama, for the NASA student launch competition. The item was added to the Board of Trustees agenda after their initial decision to prevent the Rocket Owls from competing in the final launch on the grounds of AB1887 was met with criticism. The Rocket Owl team members had appealed to the Board of Trustees Jan. 16, but said they thought their chances of being able to go to Alabama were gone. Still they persisted on their project. They conducted test launches and wrote their reports. They received feedback from NASA scientists while thinking they would miss out on meeting the professionals in person and seeing other schools’ rocketry groups, as well as being present at the launch and award ceremony in Huntsville. Homer Hickam, author of the book the movie “October Sky” was based on, and previous NASA engineer tweeted his disapproval of the Board of Trustees’ decision and urged them to allow the Rocket Owls to attend. “I decided to just raise a little hell and hopefully I got their attention,” Hickam said. Hickam lives in Huntsville, Alabama, and has gone to the NASA student launch program a few times in the last five years to meet students. “They are celebrities by the way, this is so elevated in the consciousS E E R OCK ET • PAGE 6
Gun safety not changing despite tragedies BY ERIK ADAMS STAFF REPORTER
EADAMS@CCCLARION.COM
Citrus College gun safety protocol has been effective thus far, but student government and some of the general student body search for ways to improve the safety of the campus. “I think I feel safe just because my personal experiences haven’t involved gun violence,” Jessica Baker, a Citrus College political science major, said. “But I definitely know that it’s a big issue and it’s something that we should worry about just because of everything else going on.” Community colleges around the
area have taken their own initiatives to respond to concerns like these. Mt. San Antonio College recently switched their security to a full police force dedicated to the college’s campus. Some students have shown support for similar actions to be taken at Citrus. “Honestly, that would be amazing,” Angela Brandonisio, a Citrus College Art History major, said in regards to switching campus safety to a full police force. “I think we could always use more safety, you know? Because you never know.” “You would eliminate a lot of threats knowing that the campus is fully
armed,” Yuri Andres, another Citrus student, said. However Vice President of Associated Students of Citrus College Ian Rodrigues says this idea is not something Citrus is ready for just yet. “Mt. SAC I think has like three or four times the number of students that Citrus has,” he said. “So, I think going and creating a full-fledged police department (for Citrus) is a little premature.” Among the college administrators, Favian Fragoso, president of ASCC, said that from his experiences at student government meetings the idea of switching to an armed police force has
not gained much traction. “There has been some slight talks about it, but nothing too (serious),” Fragoso said. “It was mostly in response to Mt. SAC.” Citrus political science professor Glen Ross expressed concern with the idea of expanding Campus Safety to a fully-equipped police force, “I think that’s a little bit premature – being a little bit over-paranoid.” Amid recent school shootings like Parkland, Florida, where 17 people died last month, other incidents have hit within close proximity to Citrus College. On March 7, students and faculty on
Pierce College’s campus in Woodland Hills had an incident involving an individual allegedly threatening to open fire on the school’s campus. Later, the suspect was arrested and taken into custody. Randi Love, editor in chief at Pierce College’s student newspaper The Roundup, said Pierce College saw the incident as an opportunity to grow. “They want to build on what they’re already doing by just maybe doing more training, according to the captain of the community college bureau,” Love said. “They’re very proud of what they’re doing currently.” S E E S AF ET Y • PAGE 6
CAMPUS CATS: TO Bands battle PET OR NOT TO PET? in jazz night Feral cats and the risk of disease. PG. 7
Performances from film make the performance a night of laughter, see the review PG. 8