Volume 78, Issue 10 | www.elaccampusnews.com | Wednesday, November 25, 2020
ELAC awarded Champion of Higher Learning BY MELVIN BUI Staff Writer The Associates Degree for Transfer program at East Los Angeles College has been recognized for its large increase of students transferred from California Community Colleges. It was awarded 2020 Champion of Higher Learning by The Campaign for College Opportunity. The award is given to colleges that exemplify exceptional dedication toward their students' academic endeavors. ELAC has helped hundreds of students successfully transfer to California State Universities and Universities of California in the past four years. The California Master Plan for Education was an initiative passed in the 1960s to help students pursue higher education. However it was not effective,
according to former governor of California Gray Davis. TCCO started as an initiative to reprioritize higher education in California, since the Master Plan for Higher Education was not helping students progress through community college. TCCO President Michele Siqueiros said California by design sends most of their college students directly to community college, over two-thirds of students start in community college. “We need to make sure more of them succeed. After two years we only see 4% of them transfer, and this is really unacceptable,” Siqueiros said. Former California Senator Alex Padilla authored the legislation for Senate Bill 1440, commonly known as ADT to help increase the number of community college students transferring to four-year institutions in September 2010. This is the 10-year anniversary of ADT legislation being passed. There have
been over 280,000 ADT awarded in the past decade, according to TCCO. “There is a strong relationship in ELAC awarding more Associate Degrees for Transfer and the increase in our yearly transfer numbers, specifically when looking at our CSU transfers. “The vision of the Degree with a Guarantee is to remove transferbarriers and align major curriculum between the CA Community College System and the 23 Cal State(Universities). “These ADT degrees help to standardize the major requirements into a single road map, making it easier for students to understand what courses are required when applying to various CSU campuses,” Transfer Center Director and Counselor Kirby Dominguez said. ADT assures acceptance to CSUs and allows students to obtain a bachelor’s degree quicker than usual, since half of their units were completed in community college. It also allows transfer students
“There is a strong relationship in ELAC awarding more Associate Degrees for Transfer and increase in our yearly transfer numbers, specifically when looking at our CSU transfer.”
KIRBY DOMINGUEZ
Transfer Center Director and Counselor
to focus on their upper division courses without having to worry about general education courses. “It’s a community and within that community, professors and other faculty members push students to transfer. “They often share personal stories or successes of other students, and then students envision themselves moving forward to four-year universities. So, it's safe to say that the transfer students are excited to transfer,” said Transfer Center Employee Bianca Izzo. Former Husky Albert Meija obtained an AA-T in anthropology during spring 2020. He took an untraditional route and didn't talk to counselors for transfer advice, however the ADT academic plan that was available online helped give him class recommendations. Meija applied to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona as an archaeology major and was accepted in fall 2020.
He said information on the required courses was easy to find online and made the overall transfer process easier. Dominguez said ELAC is an amazing campus, and that this recognition helps validate what is being done to make it a better place. “Students need to know that when we say ‘Start at ELAC, Go Anywhere’ we mean it,” he said. The Transfer Center is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Counselor appointments are open for booking on Friday at 8 a.m. To book an appointment, visit https://bit.ly/3kUogRy. ELAC currently offers 31 ADT degrees. Students can graduate with an AA-T, AS-T or certificates from a wide range of disciplines. For more information visit https://bit. ly/372pWDw.
DRC panel focuses immigration petitions
List narrowed for president
BY ANNETTE QUIJADA Staff Writer
BY JUAN CALVILLO Staff Writer
The President Search and Interview Committee narrowed down the list to five finalists, with a final decision expected Dec. 16. Los Angeles C o m m u n i t y C o l lege District Chancellor Francisco C. Rodriguez said that the finalists will be introduced during a webinar Dec. 4. Rodriguez said in a statement the candidates include Dr. Juan Avalos, Dr. Cynthia Azari, Dr. Robert Frost, Dr. Alberto Roman and Dr. Chris Villa. The finalists will be interviewed by Rodriguez during the week of Dec. 7. The statement said the LACCD Board of Trustees is expected to make their decision on the president.
The Dream Resource Center teamed up with the Central American Resource Center to discuss family based immigration petitions. This panel focused on giving insight regarding essential information to family members or spouses, who must know if they are looking into immigration petitions. The panel was led by DRC Coordinator Elizandro Umaña, alongside a few others of the DRC staff. Umaña introduced Managing Attorney Julie Mitchell, who’s provided legal services for 15 years at CARECEN in Los Angeles to help the immigrant community. Mitchell’s currently overseeing immigration services at 16 colleges and universities, which includes ELAC. In Mitchell’s presentation, she explained family based immigration petitions, which are for a family member to be able to receive a green card or citizenship. It’s important to note that these petitions don’t guarantee that the family member will obtain legal status, Mitchell says. “People that can file petitions are citizens and green card holders. Citizens can petition their parents, spouse, siblings, children under 21, and children over 21.
green card then they’re looking at a 3-5 year wait to apply for citizenship,” she said. Although the process seems pretty simple, Mitchell believes that the biggest obstacle is the amount of time the process actually takes. “Most petitions are submitted, and then waiting a few years and in cases of really long categorizes 20-25 years. It’s a terrible and very slow system. Family based immigration laws is a series of laws that they come up with through the years that build on top of each other that don’t really interact well with each other. And they prevent a lot of people from moving forward with their cases,” Mitchell said. Mitchell said that it’s important for people to consult with an attorney instead of taking cases on their own because having a family member petition for them is not enough. The process comes with many challenges and new requirements appear all the time. Those who have any questions regarding personal cases revolving around immigration can schedule an appointment at https://carecenla.simplybook.me
Green card holders can petition spouses and their children.” She also said that the petitioner citizen must be over 21 years of age, another vital part of petitions is the process. Mitchell said that the process depends on 3 things: the petitioners status (resident or citizen), the relationship of the petitioner and family member and what country the applicant is from. She suggests that those waiting take a look at Visa bulletins. She said, “A Visa bulletin comes over every month and it basically lets people know where in the line they’re at with their family petition.” It’ll give those waiting a time frame in which they should expect to hear something back about their applications. These bulletins can be found on travel.state.gov. Mitchell then moves on to talking about what to expect once a petition is put into the system. “(The petitioner) must prove that they themselves either have a green card or are a citizen. And that they have a qualifying relationship with the family member. (Once accepted) the next part is using the petition for residency.The vast majority have to go abroad to complete the residency process. Part three is the interview of the family member to go through all of their eligibility. After assuming they were able to get their residency
Local Judge voices for day of tolerance BY STEVEN ADAMO Staff Writer Superior Court of Los Angeles Judge Lucy Armendariz spoke virtually Monday for International Day for Tolerance, emphasizing the importance of education and mentors. Armendariz was invited to speak by Chicano Studies Professor Felipe Agredano and Political Science Professor Kenneth Chaiprasert, who hosted the event on Zoom. At an early age, Armendariz’ mother was sentenced to life in prison, which put her in the foster
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care system, moving from houseto-house frequently. She said she remembers being terrified and everything being chaotic. She received stable housing at the age of 18, which provided the stability that facilitated her pursuit of a college education. Armendariz said that she knew if she wanted to survive, she had to go to college. Armendariz shared her experiences growing up in Boyle Heights, from foster care, University California, Los Angeles graduate, to superior court judge. “We are all dealt a deck of cards at birth,” Armendariz said. “Some of us draw a crappy hand… no
Friendsgiving
matter what hand you’re dealt, everyone has the capacity for greatness.” As an alum, she volunteers at Roosevelt High School Law and Service Magnet in their Teen Court Program. “This program offers opportunities for first-time juvenile offenders to be heard by a jury of their peers,” Armendariz said. While at UCLA, Armendariz joined organizations like La Raza and dedicated her career to public service, motivated by her experiences as a foster child and a long history of involvement in her community. “We need more lawyers. We need more judges. We need more legal
EOPS, CARE and NEXT-UP are hosting a virtual Friendsgiving Nov. 25 from noon to 1:30 p.m. Zoom ID is 996 8667 6684. Password is: 057740
“This program offers opportunitues for firsttime juvenile ofenders to be heard by a jury of their peers.” LUCY ARMENDARIZ
Superior Court Judge of Los Angeles
advocates who will be there to be the guardians of our community,” said ELAC professor Kenneth Chaiprasert, coordinator of the
Transfer Workshop
Transfer Center will have a virtual computer lab where you can work on your UC/CSU transfer application. You can Zoom on Nov. 25 and 30 from noon to 7 p.m. To register visit tinyurl.com/ ZoomTransferSupport
Pathway to Law School Program. Armendariz mentors students at the Pathway to Law School Program at ELAC. She believes strongly in students to make use of resources provided to them. Now, with her signature big hair, hoop earrings and red lipstick — she wants others in the courtroom to know that Latinos can be successful too. “As you are climbing up the ladder of success, do not forget to look down and lend your hand to those climbing up with you,” Armndariz said. Contributing to this story were: Josie Beltran, Natalie Sanchez, Jesus Zesati
Town Hall Meeting
LUCY ARMENDARIZ
Superior Court Judge of Los Angeles
Co-hosted by ASU President Yuxuan Bai and Interim President of ELAC Dr. Alberto J. Roman. Students can ask questions and express concerns on Dec. 3 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.