Clarion 10/19/21

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VOL LXXV • Issue 5 October 19, 2021

Trustee member Edward Ortell dies STAFF REPORT

CONTACT@CCCLARION.COM

CLARION FILE

Citrus College Board of Trustees member Edward Ortell, the longest-serving community college trustee in California, died at 82 over the weekend.

Ortell died Oct. 16 and his cause of death is not listed in the memo sent to staff..

Ortell provided the college with guidance throughout the past 50 years as the student population gradually doubled, Superintendent/President Greg Schulz said in a memo to staff.

“Though I only had the pleasure of working with Dr. Ortell for a few months, I was struck with how gracious he was with his time to help me become acclimated with Citrus College and his trustee area,” Schulz said in the memo.

“He went out of his way to make me feel welcome, and I am grateful to have known him.”

Ortell was elected to the board in 1969 to represent area 3, encompassing Duarte as well as

portions of Arcadia, Monrovia, Azusa, Irwindale and Covina.

“I’ve just enjoyed every minute of it,” Ortell said in 2001 in an interview with the Clarion. “I’m just so proud of Citrus College.

They’re like family.”

During his tenure, Ortell oversaw the expansion of student services at Citrus, an increasing number of students transferring, the passing of Measure G and the construction of multiple buildings, including the Haugh Performing Arts Center.

“He was an advocate for faculty and students and he was very dedicated to being a trustee,” Patricia Rasmussen, board of trustees president, said.

In addition to being a trustee at Citrus, Ortell served on the California Community College Trustees Board, the California Master Plan for Education Task Force, the Los Angeles County School Trustees Association and as the executive director of the Pasadena Education Association, the memo said.

Rasmussen said the California Community College Trustees Association also honored him for his long-term volunteer work with Citrus College.

In his time as a professor emeritus of business and computer technology at Pasadena City College, Ortell was awarded several National Science Foundation grants. He also received the CBS anchor Ralph Story Service Award, the Community College Association We Honor Ours Award and the Duarte Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Civic Service Award.

Ortell is survived in part by two fellow Citrus employees and family members: Brenda Fink, who is the staff diversity officer, and kinesiology faculty Cliff Wurst.

“I know everyone on the board is very saddened by this and we send out our regrets and our sympathies to his family,” Rasmussen said.

His death leaves an opening on the five-member board of trustees that will likely be filled by appointment.

Report shows dip in campus crime

BY SKYLR SCOTT

NEWS EDITOR

SSCOTT@CCCLARION.COM

LUCY ARGAEZ - STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Signs put up in and outside of the Haugh Performing Arts Center theater to direct students to the testing area.

6,846 tests and counting Continued testing of Citrus students and employees has decreased the on-campus exposure rate.

BY AARON DEL CASTILLO GUTIERREZ

STAFF REPORTER

AGUTIERREZ@CCCLARION.COM

As of Sept. 27, 6,846 students and employees have been tested for COVID-19 at Citrus College.

Mandatory COVID-19 testing began on Sept. 13 for students and employees.

Out of the 4,534 students tested, only three students returned positive tests. None of the 2,312 employees had a positive test.

Director of Human Resources Robert Sammis said in an email the three students who tested positive were unvaccinated, and other COVID-19 cases on campus have mostly been among unvaccinated people.

If students have a positive oncampus test, the college nurse meets with them and goes over

next steps, Sammis said.

Testing is free for everyone at Citrus, and mandatory regardless of vaccination status. The cost of one test is about $10, not including the labor cost of the test site, Sammis said.

Citrus College notifies students and employees of any COVID-19 cases on campus via email. People who test positive are given written instructions on what to do next. In addition, students and employees who were in close contact with the COVID-19 case are notified and provided direction on what to do, Sammis said.

Nicole Peterson, a professional expert assigned to the Student Health Center, said if a student tests positive, the student fills out a form for the contact tracing and then the school is notified.

COVID-19 Tracker For detailed information on past exposures on campus visit http://www.ccclarion.com

Students must do a daily prescreening on the CitrusMobile app every day before they come to campus. They will receive a red pass if they fail the test. With a red pass, a student will not be able to go inside a college building or a classroom, Sammis said.

People must quarantine for 10 days if they test positive for Covid-19, Peterson said. Students and employees are encouraged to stay home if they don’t feel well but will be allowed on campus if they test negative.

The 2021 Annual Security Report or ASR, released Oct. 1, shows that crime on campus has continued to decline.

The Clery Act, signed into law in 1990, enforces the transparency of campus crime at colleges and universities.

The crimes reported happened on property owned or leased by the college and public property near Citrus.

The ASR said there were 10 incidents reported in 2020, compared to 11 in 2019 and 24 in 2018.

In 2020, the 10 crimes reported were: • 4 liquor law arrests • 1 aggravated assault • 1 burglary • 1 motor vehicle theft • 1 drug arrest • 2 drug law violations There were no hate crimes, murders or forcible sex offenses.

Benjamin Macias, director of

campus safety, said Citrus’ relationship with the community and collective efforts are responsible for the low crime rate.

“These partnerships, along with the professionalism and individual efforts of our staff, are why Citrus College continues to be a safe, secure learning and working environment,” Macias said in an email.

Macias said during the campus closure, campus safety was the only department that remained on campus, with an external company that was hired to assist them if needed.

From Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2020, calls for service significantly increased to 15,714, Macias said, but “Campus Safety remained persistent and as a result...we continued to persevere and keep our statistics low.”

Macias said campus safety is dedicated to serving and protecting everyone on campus.

“If you see something, say something,” he said. “Don’t hesitate to contact us.”

Electric vehicle company gives students jobs

BY SKYLR SCOTT

NEWS EDITOR

SSCOTT@CCCLARION.COM

Citrus College began offering one of the first advanced electric bus assembly line technician training in Oct. 2020. The partnership is between Proterra,

an electric vehicle or EV company that helps cities reach their goals of achieving 100% zero-emission transportation.

The nine-week electric bus manufacturing technology program’s goal is to produce jobs

Read Electric, Page 3

2 Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Opinion

CLARION

Editorial

Underrepresentation plagues higher ed Teachers at community colleges do not represent the diverse student body they serve, and it is hurting higher education for everyone Underrepresentation is not new to education, yet as a whole, K-12 schools, colleges and other institutions are still struggling to fix it.

In fall of 2020, Citrus had 796 employees, 171 of whom were fulltime faculty.

In the same year, they had 11,612 full time students, of which 3.07% were Black, 15.10% were nonHispanic/white and 65.20% were Hispanic.

The students were taught by a 55.56% majority of non-Hispanic/ white teachers.

Neighboring community colleges had a similar makeup.

Chaffey had a 64.18% Hispanic student body being taught by a 59.47% non-Hispanic/white staff and Rio Hondo had an 84.41% Hispanic student body with a 42.86% non-Hispanic/white staff.

If the picture isn’t clear enough, these schools’ teachers don’t reflect the ethnic diversity of their student bodies, and that must change.

Diversity in education enhances curriculum, learning environment and comfortability of the students who are enrolled. Students deserve to be taught by teachers who understand and share their experiences.

The deeper issue is, why aren’t more non-white people wanting to teach?

A prominent reason is the curriculum’s lack of diversity. A black person doesn’t want to teach kids about slavery from a textbook written by white people.

A Hispanic person doesn’t

Tenured Academic Employees at Citrus

want to teach Hispanic students that Ceasar Chavez, a Mexican American, is the only person who represents them, when in reality Hispanic culture is far deeper than textbooks make it seem.

It is not only the lack of representation that is concerning, but the lack of knowledge shared with these students about significant figures of their race/ ethnicity. Students are being taught one side of history, namely the white side.

Appreciation of a topic helps

engage students to want to learn more. If what’s being taught isn’t compelling or representing the demographic of a classroom, it makes it harder for students and teachers to connect with one another and other cultures.

The atmosphere of the classroom, what’s being taught and who’s teaching it is a direct reflection of the overall misrepresentation in many Hispanic and Black populated schools.

Although there have been a few initiatives to include more diverse

Full-Time Equivalent Students at Citrus

books into curriculums like some

by Sandra Cisneros, a Mexican American writer whose stories focus on her culture and women and books about prominent minority figures like Frederick Douglass and Henrietta Lacks, there is still much improvement that needs to be done.

Asking students to read stories about people who represent them and being able to teach someone from personal racial/ ethnic knowledge can only lead to a greater educational experience.

At the end of the day, a teacher’s

race or gender shouldn’t matter if their teachings are thorough and accurate, but for some students, having never had a teacher who looks like them throughout their education can be frustrating.

For students, seeing people who look like them is empowering.

Knowing that someone like them can hold a position as powerful as a teacher is inspiring. Community colleges should do more to foster that kind of inspiration.

This message was approved by at least 75% of the editorial board.

Boredom brings out troublemakers The pandemic has caused an increase in violence and harassment fueled by quarantine boredom

BY SKYLR SCOTT

STAFF REPORTER

SSCOT T@CCCLARION.COM

My mom always used to say, “Don’t say your bored, people do dumb stuff when they’re bored.” As I have grown up, I have realized how true that statement is.

As a young woman, I was naive to the world around me and expected everyone to be a good person. Graduating high school, learning how to drive, getting a job and experiencing a global pandemic has opened my eyes to seeing how flawed my thinking was.

High school for me was nothing like “High School Musical.” In a period of four years, friendships came and went, social media took its toll on me, and self discovery were things I was not prepared for.

Never though, did I feel unsafe.

Not until I drove by myself for the first time did I get my first

taste of fear. After putting gas in my car, a man followed me home, where I would be by myself.

Once I realized what was happening, everything my mom told me about being cautious flooded my brain. I made it to a main street where the police department was and eventually lost the man who was following me.

Although he could have had many reasons for following me, it was ultimately boredom that motivated him to cause trouble, and its effect hasn’t left me since.

I now watch any and every car that has followed me for more than two turns. I am cautious when I put my turn signal on in fear of someone following me.

I make minimal eye contact with people to ensure I am not welcoming them. I pay more attention every time I am out alone.

COVID-19 has only increased the amount of aggression caused

by boredom. These acts have no motive, just harmful results. This reality has made me weary about starting my job at a bowling alley during such a chaotic time.

Having to leave a place full of drunk men and rowdy teenagers at 1 a.m. inspired me to buy a pocket knife. During the day, a bowling alley is a fun place for kids and family events, but once it’s closed, the parking lot is a breeding ground for bored people to harass employees when all they want to do is go home.

At the end of every shift, I clutch my stuff close to my side with my hot pink knife in my dominant hand waiting for a bored person to approach me.

Has it happened yet? No, but the very true possibility of it happening isn’t so unlikely.

Understanding the high possibility of being attacked is the first step in keeping myself safe.

Although some of the boredom

in the last year is understandable, many psychologists believe financial stress and a lack of social engagement has contributed to many suicides in 2020 and counting.

On a less understanding note, quarantines, social distancing and unquelled urges, have caused a flurry of violent acts like riots, robberies, domestic abuse and public harassment.

Many of these occurrences are happening because people do not have an outlet for their boredom due to pandemic restrictions. This is not an excuse to do unethical things.

We need to educate our fellow people that there are many other outlets that don’t include putting someone in harm’s way or damage reputations.

We need to establish that being bored does not hold up as a reasonable explanation in court.

Someone else’s boredom should not affect our safety.

CITRUS COLLEGE

CLARION

Staff Reporters: Aaron Del Castillo-Gutierrez Ashlee Tulk Jesse Rivera Anthony Rossi Christopher Jaregui Mina Hunley Miranda Palmas

Lucy Argaez Editor-In-Chief Justin George Managing Editor Skylr Scott News Editor Emily Beltran Circulation Manager

Advisers: Patrick Schmiedt Stacy K. Long

ILLUSTRATION BY LUCY ARGAEZ

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News

Tuesday October 19, 2021 3

CLARION

Dream Resource Center Undocumented Student Action Week returns

BY STAFF REPORT

CONTACT@CCCLARION.COM

The Dream Resource Center is hosting a series of virtual activities during Undocumented Student Action Week from Oct. 18 to Oct. 22 to raise awareness and provide support for Citrus’ undocumented students.

A two-part UndocuAlly training took place at 1:20 p.m. Oct. 18 and will be at 1:20 p.m. Oct. 20 over Zoom. The training will cover laws and policies affecting undocumented students and resources to help them navigate the challenges of higher education.

Financial aid staff will present an overview of the California Dream Act application and other financial aid resources for undocumented students at 2 p.m. on Oct. 19 at this.

The Dream Resource Center will host a virtual open house to

introduce students to staff and the resources they offer at 3 p.m. Oct. 19. Students will have a chance to win a swag bag at this event.

Monarch Hour, a private event for undocumented students only, will be at 4 p.m. Oct. 20.

At 2:30 to 3:15 pm on Oct. 21 there will be a presentation on successfully applying to the various scholarships and fellowship opportunities for undocumented students.

For information on community college legal services and recent immigration updates, including DACA assistance, students can watch a previous recorded Zoom event.

For more information, contact the Dream Resource Center’s UndocuLiaison Amayrani Ochoa Almeida via email at aochoaalmeida@citruscollege. edu.

ADVERTISEMENT AARON DEL CASTILLO-GUTIERREZ - STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Owls attacker Jullian Nichols prepares to score a goal against Los Angeles Valley College Monarchs on Oct. 13 at the Citrus College Aquatics Center.

Regaining the lead

Men’s water polo is turning their season around after eight losses and 11 wins.

BY AARON DEL CASTILLO GUTIERREZ

STAFF REPORTER

AGUTIERREZ@CCCLARION.COM

The Citrus College Men’s water polo team started their season with 11 wins and eight losses.

Citrus College Men’s Water polo won against Fullerton College at home on Oct. 8, winning 19-6 ending a five-game losing streak.

After losing to Cuesta College on the road on Oct. 9, 20-14 they regained victory at home on the same day against Santa Monica College. The Men’s Water Polo team then won against Santa Monica College at home on the same day Oct. 9, 15-12.

They then lost to LA Valley College at home on Oct. 13, scoring 15-13.

Owls Water Polo Head Coach

Electric from Page 1

in the EV workforce.

The first cohort had 15 students and was held at Proterra’s manufacturing facility in the City of Industry. The certificate program is designed to prepare students in the field of Clean Energy and Vehicle Electrification.

Other professions the certificate prepares students for include: gaseous fuels technician in automotive light duty and medium-heavy trucks, including transit buses and heavy equipment, hybrid technician and electric vehicle technician.

Of the 15 students, six were hired, project coordinator Mariano Rubio said. Three of those students remain employed by Proterra today.

The diverse group was made up of two women, one non-binary person, and12 men, all of which came from many backgrounds.

“Some trainees were displaced workers looking to improve their skills and re-enter the workforce,”

Jennifer Spalding said the athletes are staying healthy and COVID-19 has not affected the team at all.

The Owls only won one game in their 2019 season. This season is a big turnaround.

During the lockdown in 2020, the Owls had to do dryland workouts Via Zoom every morning at 7 a.m.

Keeping the Owls engaged on Zoom was hard for the team but they were able to do it, Spalding said.

“The players do a PCR test every week and then each time we have a game, we then do a rapid COVID-19 test and they also have to do their daily pre-scanning on the Citrus Mobile App as well,” Spalding said.

The Owls did a rapid COVID-19 test this week and none of

the players tested positive for COVID-19.

Ian Tauer is one of the top scores for the Owls and looks forward to returning a winning streak for his team.

“If we get the momentum for the conference championship it would be really huge,” Tauer said.

Tauer said he has been playing water polo for seven years since high school. He is one of the three sophomores on the team.

Spalding said Tauer has done a wonderful job leading the team.

“He does a fantastic job with his knowledge of the game,” Spalding said. “He is an outstanding player and we are proud to have him on the team because he is a transfer from Mt. SAC.”

Rubio said. “Other trainees were seeking to learn a skill that could help launch them into a stable career.”

Many of the trainees were directed into the training program by the American Job Centers of California, Rubio said.

Rubio said the first 9-week course ended in January and the second course with 12 people that started in July graduated Oct. 15.

Five students out of this graduating cohort were also offered positions and four of them were hired.

Rubio said the cooperation between the Citrus faculty and the engineering and assembly line staff at Proterra has made it easier for faculty to help students find their roles on the factory floor.

Rubio has seen a drastic change in the hired trainees’ attitude along with “a renewed sense of self-worth which gives them a boost in their self-esteem.”

Rubio passed on the coordinator position to Bryce Neighbors.

Neighbors said there has been “an increase in Proterra and JobCorps support this year due to less covid restrictions,” and the “curriculum is always improving as the instructors teach the courses multiple times.”

Neighbors said this course is focused more on the advanced manufacturing side of the transportation industry while other Citrus College courses focus more on the technical side of transportation.

Protera is one of the few companies “trying to establish electric vehicles as the primary type of rapid transit vehicles,” Rubio said.

He said that they are also securing its future as a leader in EV transportation by partnering with institutions like Citrus.

“Electrified vehicles and transportation have seen a positive shift due to increasing government regulations, fuel prices and overall public demand for clean vehicles,” Neighbors said.

SUMMER 2022

KYOTO, JAPAN JUNE 24 – JULY 23, 2022

Enroll in 3-6 CSU/UC transferable credits next summer!

STUDY ABROAD WORK TOWARD YOUR DEGREE OVERSEAS! Visit www.citruscollege.edu/studyabroad for up-to-date program information and meeting dates.

FALL 2022

LONDON, ENGLAND SEPT. 8 – DEC. 2, 2022

Enroll in 12 or more units of CSU/UC transferable credits next fall!