Volume 78, Issue 22 | www.elaccampusnews.com | Wednesday, May 11, 2022 | Single copy free - additional copies 50 cents
Student falls five stories on campus BY JUAN CALVILLO Staff Writer
The Los Angeles County Sheriff Crime Lab walked to the fifth floor accompanied by the lead detective on the case Sheriff Detective Wang. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Román said ELAC and the Los Angeles Community College District have the health and safety of all students as highest priority. He said to help with the aftermath of the events of Tuesday that the following mental health options are being made available: There will be therapists this week in the Student Health Center at F5-302 from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Students can also call a counselor directly at 323-255-8651. ELAC employees can get help through the Life Works Assistance Program for employees, who can be reached at 800-581-1485. For Life Work Counselors on campus, ELAC employees can contact An Do in Student Services at 323-265-8728. Students with any further information on the event can contact the Sheriff’s Community College Bureau Office at 323-265-8800.
CN/STEVEN ADAMO
DO NOT CROSS—Sheriff’s tape blocks the investigation of a student fall. FROM CAMPUS NEWS ARCHIVE
An East Los Angeles College Asian female student, 19, fell in what sheriffs have called a possible suicide attempt from the fifth floor south west corner balcony of the Ernest H. Moreno E3 building Tuesday. The fall was between the ELAC Student Services E1 building and the E3 building. Alberto Román, ELAC President, released a statement Tuesday night. “I am very saddened to share that in the early afternoon today one of our students fell from Building E3 on our campus. The student is at the hospital in critical condition. I ask that we keep the student in our thoughts as we process this difficult situation,” Román said. Deputy Jesus Morales said the student is being treated for her injuries. He did not know which hospital she was taken to. He said a fifth floor fall would leave serious injuries to the victim.
An ELAC administrator said the student had emergency surgery this afternoon. Morales said the victim is in the intensive care unit of the hospital as of Tuesday afternoon. The area of ELAC is serviced medically by the Adventist Health White Memorial hospital when it comes to emergencies of this nature and is within four miles from the ELAC campus. The hospital is also one of the hospitals where ELAC Nursing Department students complete their nursing rounds. Morales said the sheriff’s office received a call that was placed at 2:20 p.m. reporting the incident. He said a witness spoke with them about what happened. He said the victim was alone and there was no suicide note. “A witness saw her pacing back and forth, up on the fifth [floor]. That’s it. There was nobody else with her up there,” Morales said. The E3 building’s fifth floor is completely accessible to students who have classes there and the fall was not from the roof.
Decades later, campus trees still not replaced BY STEVEN ADAMO Staff Writer Last month, Campus News reported an assignment given by Geology Professor Tiffany Seeley to her students, mapping the trees removed from campus due to the new construction. The completed map showed that 360 trees were affected and that there were not enough trees to replace the ones removed. Students who attended East Los Angeles College prior to the 2000s may remember a different campus. In a September 2011 Letter to the Editor, Shirley Tonoian from the Counseling Department described the trees on campus as “magnificently towering nearly 60 feet in height.” Tonoian complimented the original campus architects in 1948 for “clearly capturing the surrounding rolling hills landscape, embraced by majestic pine trees exemplifying the campus park setting.” The trees grew large and plentiful throughout the decades, but the landscape began to change in the late 1970s. In November 1979, a Campus News staff writer reported the removal of two 35-year old ash trees located behind Ingalls Auditorium. After the roots entangled the main waterline, ELAC’s senior plumber Bill Taylor said both trees had to be
cut down. “If we cut the roots of the tree, we would have made it unsafe since it would’ve weakened the tree and it would’ve been a hazard to passersby,” Taylor said. A week prior to the trees’ removal in 1979, a weak limb split off and nearly hit a student. “I heard a crack, turned and saw the limb fall to the ground,” said
custodian Frank Gonzalez. “When it was falling, the limb nearly hit a student climbing the stairs to the cafeteria.” This was also around the same time that concrete began to appear more on campus. According to the reporter, “the grass-covered mall was a favorite gathering place of students eager
to find a respite from the confines of classrooms.” When the new library was built in 1979, the grass area was covered in concrete. “There’s still a need for a large grassy area on campus where students may relax between classes,” the reporter said. “This effort to improve the aesthetic of the campus and provide a refuge of greenery in a sea of cement should be encouraged.” Ten years after the 1984 Olympic committee donated funds for a student park on campus, the park was finally finished in 1994; years after the funds had vanished. In a 1994 Campus News article written by Randy Rodarte, the park included 56 new trees. Rodarte predicted that the park will “enhance our campus with age.” In October of 2010, student Gregorio Inez had an idea to bring more trees back to ELAC while also combatting lack of nutritional food options on campus: plant apple or orange trees on campus for students. “You don’t know where the food comes from, how processed it is or how fresh the food is,” Inez said. Inez got as far as speaking to Plant Facilities as well as Jacobs, the engineering company hired at the time for the school’s construction projects. However, because of the potential expense and liability issues, it never came to fruition.
Understanding disabilities important for support BY ALMA LIZARRAGA Staff Writer
California State University, Los Angeles students and East Los Angeles College alum Dilia Martinez hosted a workshop talking about the struggles college students with disabilities face The workshop called “College Student in Higher Education with Disabilities” was held on Zoom and advocated for better disability centers and more understanding of the disabled community. Martinez brought awareness to obstacles disabled students face in college, which can come directly from their disabilities and indirectly from lack of support. She said disabled people have to work harder to achieve their goals and have to be specific about their needs to be accommodated properly. They are usually in a position where they’re pressured to function at the “normal” expectancy. Martinez said this is why having good disability services is crucial for disabled students. These services are somewhat unpolished, and a lot of students don’t reach out to them due to lack of trust. Disability centers are vital to a disabled student being able to further their education. “When you have a bout of depression or super high anxiety and you can’t focus on your homework or you have to turn a paper in and you can’t think, then a peer group will talk to a professor for you,” said Karen Kachler-Glynne, mother of a disabled student. “You can’t even find words, but there are people you can trust and they will relay that you are struggling.” A lot of students have faced issues when being accommodated. Whether it’s having to prove their disability, not knowing what to ask for or failure of having an educated disability center. There have also been issues when applying for disability. Faculty tend to miss mental illness when accounting for modifications due to lack of knowledge of the illness. Martinez talked about her own experiences as a person with an invisible disability, meaning her disability is not easily apparent. This means she’s had to be more vocal about help, due to her disability not being visually apparent. Students expressed the stigma
when talking about their disabilities, as they tend to sometimes receive little understanding. Many students are underestimated and patronized. Martinez said that in spite of having to be accommodated, many disabled people are capable of being successful and fully functional in society and lack of understanding adds to hostile environments. “Why is it that you’re sticking the stigma to students when we’re already going through a lot as it is?” she said. Aside from what’s expected from school services, Martinez said it’s important to build support systems and communities to help each other. Though disabled students tend to struggle more than able bodied students, she said through disabled centers, they can come into contact with each other and help each other study. She’s held events that have built awareness of disabilities and through them has had students come to her personally for help. “I had a student come and she said she didn’t feel supported in her community college and I said ‘wait, why not sit here and talk about that for a minute,’” Martinez said.
News Briefs Psycology Department
Open House will be held in building F5 Multipurpose Room, second floor, tomorrow from 5-8 p.m.
Town Hall Series
“Cold TOFU” the first Asian American comedy-improv group is presenting tomorrow at 10 a.m. Register at the link https://bit.ly/ townhall051222
Track & Field
Men’s and women’s CCCAA State Championships Southern California finals are this Friday.