Volume 77, Issue 17 | www.elaccampusnews.com | Wednesday, April 29, 2020 | Single copy free - additional copies 50 cents
Accents impede math students’ comprehension BY JULIE SANTIAGO Staff Writer
Some East Los Angeles College students are having trouble understanding their math professors because of language barriers. In a survey conducted by East Los Angeles College Campus News on the Math Department, 200 students were asked if they had difficulty understanding a math professor due to language barriers. This survey was done prior to classes going online for the spring semester. More than half of students surveyed said they had some difficulty understanding their math professors due to the professor’s accent. Using a scale from one to five, with one being not at all difficult to understand and five being very difficult to understand, more than half of the students indicated some level of difficulty understanding professors. Most students fell into the range of three. The survey also asked students if they felt the professor’s accent affected their grade in any way and if the students had difficulty understanding English. Only 19 students said they had difficulty understanding English while 84 said they had difficulty understanding the professor ’s accent and that it did or might have affected their overall grade. Students anonymously mentioned math professor Michael Cho on the survey as someone that was hard to understand. The professor was informed about the survey results. Cho, who has taught math for about 13 years and is currently teaching at ELAC, Pasadena City College and Santa Monica College said there is no language barrier. He said he is not an English professor, he is a math professor and doesn’t think his accent is a problem. Cho said students are complaining,
not doing homework, not studying or trying and believes this is the reason they are failing. “Sorry to say they are just lazy,” Cho said. Cho said he goes over problems and asks for questions during class and encourages the use of the math lab. Cho also said that professors are passing students, from lower level math classes, that may not be entirely ready or qualified to pass. Students are constantly needing to play catch up in his class and many end up giving up. Sociology major Melissa Santana dropped Cho’s Statistics class at the beginning of Spring semester. Santana said she was disappointed when the professor she had initially enrolled with got switched last minute for Cho, but decided to give Cho a chance anyway. After sitting through Cho’s class Santana realized she had no other option but to drop it. “I could not understand him at all! His accent is very thick and his voice is super low--the A/C was louder than him,” Santana said. Santana said math was never her best subject in high school. Despite math not coming naturally to her, Santana said she would receive decent grades because she would put in extra effort. Santana was upset when she heard Cho said students are lazy. “It is really clear that he doesn’t care that people aren’t able to understand him. To fully understand the subject he is teaching, he needs to be a good communicator. This isn’t a learn-on-your-own course because if we were to teach ourselves we wouldn’t need him,” Santana said. Student workers at the Counseling Department, Leonardo Gonzalez and Catherine Fabian, said they get complaints from students every semester about the professors at the Math Department. “Every semester we get students
CN/JULIE SANTIAGO
DIFFICULT ACCENTS—37% of students surveyed found that accents are sometimes difficult to understand, which impacts school work. who tell us ‘I had enrolled with this professor but then I got this professor and I don’t know what the professor is saying. I don’t know if he’s saying four or seven, I don’t understand. I’m not going to be able to pass,’” Gonzalez said. Gonzalez struggles with how best to advise these students. Gonzalez said he doesn’t personally have issues with professors with accents but empathizes with students. “Some students just want to understand professors better because they are more auditory learners and
some are more visual learners. It just depends on the student. A lot of students in general are auditory and visual so that is a necessary skill to have in their learning process,” Gonzalez said. Professor of Mathematics for 19 years at ELAC, Anne Siswanto was also informed about the survey results. However, despite having an accent Siswanto was one of the few professors that received overall positive feedback on the survey conducted. She also has positive feedback
GRADING— Students surveyed were almost even on if a professors accent affected their grade during a course. on ratemyprofessor.com, a review site which allows college students to rate professors. Siswanto said she is not sure how other professors treat their students but credits her favorable student rating to making sure students know she cares and supports their effort. “If students trust that the objective of a professor is to help them succeed and that they are supported, they will be open to try harder in class,” Siswanto said. She understands that students have other responsibilities outside
school. She also makes sure they feel comfortable asking her any questions during class. “The ability to freely ask questions in class helps them understand me better so that my accent matters less,” Siswanto said. Chairperson of the Math Department, Joe Kazimir, said he did not have any data to comment.
Summer, Fall courses move to online instruction BY MARIANA MONTOYA Staff Writer
Los Angeles Community College District Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez announced Tuesday, that all summer and fall 2020 courses will move online. Rodriguez said that classes may reutrn, “for a limited number of ‘hard to convert’ courses/programs, if health and safety allow at any point in the semester.” He said that spring semester classes in allied health and sciences, and career education may be extended or modified. This would be done to satisfy course requirements. The East Los Angeles College
Academic Senate unanimously passed summer Kinesiology courses that were still undetermined during the Academic Senate meeting. These classes would go automatically through the DE Addendum blanket request. An email sent out by vice president Rueben Arenas said that classes that do not include labs, or classes that do not involve language learning moved directly to online scheduling. The ones that were not included in the list still had the opportunity to be able to get on the schedule as online courses, as long as they turned in a request, and included an explanation as to how they would move forward
with an online curriculum. One of the most notable kinds of courses discussed during the meeting was the transition of Kinesiology athletic courses. S p e c i f i c a l l y, t h e y f u r t h e r discussed the reasons why Kinesiology athletic courses were flagged, and how there was a lot of scheduling misunderstanding that needed clarification in order for them to be changed online. Representatives from the Kinesiology department explained that professors were capable of keeping students accountable through fitness applications, along with other methods such as weekly videos to keep them active.
Since the Academic Senate approved the methodologies for the Kinesiology courses, they would go under the DE Addendum blanket request (emergency temporary distance education), which would require another senate meeting, along with other submission requests. “The main task of the memo was that the Kinesiology classes would have to submit some sort of demonstration on how the class could be put online and should be addressed,” David Hale First Vice president of the Academic Senate said. In order to make the decision he needed “a rationale that can get
answers to the question.” During the meeting Senators made an emphasis that the situation for the Fall courses was still fluid. “Once the emergency is over then we would expect those courses to go back to the process in order to still have DE regular Addendum,” Jeffrey Hernandez, president of the Academic Senate said. The latest Public Academic Senate meeting answers questions that are critical for students as they look to proceed during the Summer and Fall term, clearly there are multiple decisions that are bound to change as the COVID-19 situation shifts.
ELAC parking lot outfitted as COVID-19 test site BY ALEJANDRO AMBRIZ Staff Writer
Residents of Los Angeles county experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 can get tested for free at the drive-up site at East Los Angeles College. The testing center, located in the parking lot on the west end of the campus, is part of a countywide effort to increase testing availability in East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley. The center opened on April 8, becoming one of more than 30 locations residents can go to get safely tested for COVID-19. Residents who are experiencing symptoms can schedule an appointment at coronavirus.lacity. org/-testing or call 211. Testing is available 9 a.m. to5 p.m. seven days a week and tests are booked for the following day. The site is operated through a partnership with LA county, the Los Angeles Community College District, and the Edward Roybal Comprehensive Health Center in East Los Angeles. “The drive up sites provide individuals in East Los Angeles, Monterey Park, and the surrounding communities with a quick and safe way to get tested in order to
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COVID-19 TESTING—Medical professionals instruct drivers where they go next to get tested.
Testing site is located on the west side parking lot, and tests are by appointment only. slow the spread of the virus”,said county supervisor Hilda Solis in a COVID-19 update April 8. Currently, tests are prioritized for residents with COVID-19 symptoms who are at most risk. The LA county website defines this
as people with the virus’ symptoms who are 65 and older. Also anyone with symptoms and an underlying condition are included in this prioritization. Symptoms of COVID-19 include, but are not limited to fever, shortness
of breath and now loss of taste or smell. Residents who arrive at the testing site will be instructed on how to selfadminister the oral swab testing kit by healthcare staff, which include workers from the Royal Health
Center, the fire department and the lifeguard. Once people complete the test, they drop off the sample in blue bins. At this time, residents may only show up to the appointment by car and only people who have the appointment will be tested. The process is contactless in order to protect healthcare workers from possibly being exposed to COVID-19. Tests take between five and 10 minutes and waiting times vary. Robert Garcia, an ELAC student and resident of Monterey Park, went to get tested recently and said the process was straightforward. He found out about the testing site through an ELAC Facebook group. “They had me cough in my car and then asked me to swab the inside of my cheeks for like 30 seconds... ended up taking about half an hour in total,” Garcia said. The county website instructs people to not eat food prior to showing for an appointment as it can interfere with the results. Solis said the site is capable of treating 250 residents a day, with results being ready in two or three days. If the result is positive, residents will be contacted by phone and emailed if negative.
News Briefs ASU Spring Scholarship extended Scholarship applications have been extended until May 1. Application available online. For questions contact ASU at studentact@elac.edu.
Husky Bowl 2020 online The Associated Student Union will be conducting the Husky Bowl online May 15 from noon to 3 p.m. Only 20 clubs can reserve at: https://tinyurl. com/huskybowl2020
Student Trustee Elections
Elections for Student Trustee start May 11 at 8 a.m. and end May 15 at 11:59 p.m. More information will be emailed to students.