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Volume 78, Issue 1 | www.elaccampusnews.com | Wednesday, February 23, 2021 | Single copy free - additional copies 50 cents
Executive order may give ‘Dreamers’ citizenship BY JUAN CALVILLO Staff Writer President Joseph R. Biden’s day-one executive orders and the proposed U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 provide a path to citizenship for many undocumented students, but the order faces some legal challenges. East Los Angeles College’s Dream Resource Center and the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) held a meeting covering both executive orders and the proposed act on Wednesday. Maria Zavaleta, a law student intern with CARECEN, said there were two batches of executive orders that have come from the Biden administration. The dayone executive orders are meant to strengthen Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). “What that executive order does is that it calls on Congress to enact legislation that provides permanent status and a path to citizenship to all ‘Dreamers.’ So it would basically be providing support and pressure to Congress to pass the proposal (U.S. Citizen Act of 2021),” Zavaleta said. “Dreamers” is used to refer to undocumented young people who, through the Dream Act, are given the chance at a pathway to citizenship. Zavaleta said the executive order also includes protections that were given to DACA recipients. She said, per the order, the Secretary of Homeland Security would take actions to make sure that these protections held. A challenge to this comes from a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas. She said anyone who submitted applications for DACA during the previous administration and was denied status was then referred to immigration to be
removed from the country. Texas’ temporary restraining order allows for people who were denied status to still be deported. Zavaleta said the Texas lawsuit, Texas v. United States, creates a temporary restraining order on a proposed 100-day pause on deportations. The lawsuit challenges DACA, and is led by Texas and supported by an additional eight states. Julie Mitchell, managing attorney at CARECEN, said that the Texas lawsuit against DACA has been ongoing for quite some time. She said that there is a possibility that the case could be heard in the Supreme Court. If the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 passes, it will make changes to immigration policies as well. The act was proposed on day one of the new administration. Mitchell said there are already some people out there who are taking advantage of uninformed undocumented people by telling them that they qualify for this act. “We’ve already seen attorneys out there, or ‘notarios,’ telling people they can apply for this (U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021). That’s just impossible. It is not a law yet. There's already fraud being committed out there,” Mitchell said. She said the bill that passes as a law will look very different from what is being proposed. The act would help fix many of the problems that are currently plaguing the immigration laws in the country. There is the lawful prospective immigrant status (LPI), that will begin the process for a path to becoming a citizen for undocumented people that have been in the US since January 1, 2021. Mitchell said the status would
ELAC only campus offering Wi-Fi in LACCD BY GABRIELA GUTIERREZ Staff Writer East Los Angeles College is allowing students to access the school Wi-Fi on campus as a result of COVID-19. ELAC has opened the ground floor of parking structure number four (P4) for students who need a place to study or access to Wi-Fi, all from the comfort of their vehicle. The structure is open Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, hours of operation are subject to change. According to the announcement posted by the school on students’ LACCD accounts, students who use the parking structure must always remain in their vehicles. Students must check-in and sign out when they leave, take all trash with them and are not allowed to use the restrooms or the water fountains on campus. To access the Wi-Fi, students can sign in with their school ID
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number, beginning with 88 or 90, and use their MyCollege. laccd.edu password. Students are then asked to accept the terms and conditions before being redirected to the campus website, confirming they have received access. According to the LACCD website ELAC is the only school allowing students to use the school Wi-Fi. The parking structure located on the corner of Collegian Avenue and West Floral Drive is mostly quiet aside from the surrounding traffic and is sparse enough for students to practice social distancing safely. There is only one entrance and exit accessible to the parking lot. Several signs have been placed within the structure to indicate where students can park. T h e Wi - F i n e t w o r k i s named LACCDstudents. Since it is a special network created specifically for the parking structure, it was given a different name from the network students would
Cash for College
ELAC Financial Aid will be holding a Cash4college workshop on Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Attend at https://laccd.zoom.us/j/93721218250
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take about five years and the person would become eligible, after fulfilling certain requirements, for a Green Card or visa. She said there are exceptions to this process. She said that immigrant farm workers, temporary protected status holders and “Dreamers” would be considered different. She said knowing how farm workers, “ D r e a m e r s ” a n d Te m p o r a r y Protective Status (TPS) holders will be defined and the restrictions won’t be known until the bill becomes a law. “It’s hard because all we have now is the proposal. So, we don’t know how those terms will be defined. Whether ‘Dreamers’ are going to be people who have DACA, or people who would have been eligible for DACA, or if they are going to define ‘Dreamers’ in another way,” Mitchell said. More of the changes can be seen in the graphic alongside this article.
Adding to that confusion is that California is still operating public charge under the definition set by the previous administration. Public charge pertains to immigrants who may become a dependent or unlikely to earn a living in the United States. Mitchell said that immigration and public charge have always been linked. She said it will take more doing by the Biden administaion to affect the previous President's changes to public charge rules. Mitchell said that currently there are many DACA applications being made through CARECEN, and that many attorneys are pushing undocumented people to apply for DACA. She said that if there is a negative outcome in the Texas lawsuit, it would affect all those who have yet to apply. This application can be costly for many undocumented people. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service website has
the information on the fees for consideration of DACA. According to the USCIS website, “The fee to request consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals, including employment authorization and biometric services, is $495, and cannot be waived.” Mitchell said that the state of California had helped with this fee through the California Department of Social Services. “They haven’t had funds now for–probably around the summer of last year. They are the number one provider of filing fee assistance. And they don't have any funds,” Mitchell said. Mitchell said the Mexican Consulate also helps with filing fees. She said this process was more specific in cases and that up until December of 2020 it had helped. She said that currently they are not providing funds for fees. Mitchell
said that schools have also helped pay the filing fee. Currently that is not the case at ELAC. Elizandro Umana, DRC coordinator, said the role the DRC plays is more on the academic side of things. He said that when it comes to DACA and information concerning it, the DRC relies heavily on the connection they have with CARECEN. With attorneys from CARECEN going to court to represent students. The DRC can not help when it comes to the legalities of DACA when it concerns students. Umana said it comes to the question of what else the DRC and the school can do for the many students at ELAC in this type of legal situation. He said that it would take having a real conversation with the administration at ELAC. Umana said there are things that can be done that other schools might already be doing. “To be quite frank, one of the things that us as the DRC are not necessarily doing here at ELAC, is providing direct aid to undocumented students,” Umana said. He said any emergency money that is being provided to students is done through financial aid. A lot of undocumented students are worried about being able to pay the DACA application or renewal. Umana said the total of applying can end up costing students upwards of $600. He said money aid was just one thing that could be done, and that DACA was only one piece of the larger immigration pie. Umana said that being reactionary is not enough, and that undocumented students should look at the community like ELAC and find those who want to do more than just react. He said that coming together and organizing for immigration change is important at this time.
$18 million additional funds go to student housing Board member cautious in use of COVID relief funds BY JONATHAN BERMUDEZ Staff Writer
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normally use while on campus. Prior to dealing with Covid19 the Wi-Fi would not reach most parking lots on campus. Students had to be on the campus’s main grounds to have reliable Wi-Fi connection. As said in the school’s announcement, the Wi-Fi parking has been established because ELAC is committed to supporting to complete educational goals. Students are not allowed to use the school Wi-Fi for anything other than schoolrelated work. Students can make an appointment to save a parking spot by going to https:// w w w. s i g n u p g e n i u s . c o m / tabs/13577de0faecbefc0ae7laccdparking. For added convenience, the website to sign in also shares how many slots have been occupied out of a total of 100. However, there is the option to drive to the parking structure without an appointment, as spaces are also granted on a first-come-first-serve basis.
The LACCD board of trustees held a meeting to discuss student housing and money that is being lent by the government for the COVID pandemic. Senior Policy Adviser for the law firm Holland and Knight Leslie Pollner, was the first to speak in the meeting. She gave a federal update on President Joe Biden’s rescue plan. She said next week the House Budget Committee will put a care package together and by February 26 the committee will bring it to the floor. Pollner said “The bill includes $40 billion for higher education institutions in addition to funding for K through 12 and the $40 billion for higher education.” “They’re going to distribute it using the same formula that they used in December, which is 50% headcount and 50% FTE (full time employees), which is really great for LACCD.” Pollner believes this is the last covid relief package that they are going to receive, and she wants to use the money cautiously. Dale Shimasaki with Strategic Educational Services, was the next person to talk during the meeting. He went over hearing dates for bills and explained that there would be limits to committees for these hearings due to COVID-19. He went over bills with the committee that were sent by members from lobby day visits last month so the committee
Black History Month HBCU Scholar Panel at ELAC ELAC will host a seminar with the HBCU Scholar Panel on “How Black Creativity Influences Social Transformation” tomorrow from 12:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. Register at: https://tinyurl.com/ ELACBlackHistoryMonth
can consider them. These bills include AB 102, which is the removal of sunset date of dual enrollment programs so the program can operate indefinitely and don’t have to come back every two or three years to reauthorize the legislation. Another is AB 295, which provides working groups on public higher education free tuition. The working group tries to find a way to provide tuition free of charge to needy and disadvantaged students. More legislation was added by Trustee Andra Hoffman for AB 396, which is a CalFresh bill. This bill is to certify that they have employment in training programs so that students can apply to CalFresh. Trustee David Vela gave the motion to be moved and was second by Trustee Hoffman. The rest of the meeting centered around updates on funding for school, affordable housing and how they plan to provide more money for students in need. Mark Mcdonald, member of the committee, said that there will be $20 million dollars for outreach and retention. Two million dollars will go to the state chancellor and $18 million to the colleges in the district. He also said that there is $100 million dollars for food and housing that will go through the regular budget process and this will be discussed through June. He said that the Department of Finance proposed that this money would all go to the state chancellor for statewide outreach, but they suggested that
part of that money goes to the community colleges. “ T h e r e ’s n o s p e c i f i c distribution methodology for this. That hasn’t been determined yet. It will go through the Chancellor’s Office. It looks like now it will go out as grants to the district, but that can change.” Trustee Vela said in response in Mcdonald’s presentation. “There’s a lot of misconception that we have cheap housing. The (San Francisco) Bay Area thinks that of us and it’s not the truth actually. We are slowly and steadily climbing as to one of the most expensive cities to live in the United States next to New York and San Francisco,” said Vela. Housing is an important issue to him because he doesn’t want students living in horrible conditions. “We should be ashamed of not really understanding the more economic perspective of our communities and how they are living instead were pushed by a more progressive affluent community who is telling us what to do when it comes to how we should house our students.” That is the biggest concern and how they can remove these barriers to giving money to the community. Mcdonald clarified that the financial plan for the housing money distribution methodology is advantageous to the district. They are going to get more money then if they would have done the formula of distribution differently.
Myths and Truths about the COVID vaccine
ELAC Emergency Preparedness Committee & Student Health Center will be holding a seminar with the Department of Public Health tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. Register at https://tinyurl.com/EMP-Vaccine
Opinion Biden abandons initial stimulus check plan 2
EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE CAMPUS NEWS WEDNESDAY, February 24, 2021
BY RAYMOND NAVA Staff Writer President Joe Biden’s walk back on the $2,000 stimulus checks is a grave mistake. This could be seen as a betrayal to voters who supported him and his party. Biden and congressional Democrats are set to pass a Covid-19 relief bill that includes a stimulus check of $1,400, despite a campaign promise of $2,000 checks. In the run-up to the January 6 Georgia runoffs, Democratic senate candidates, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, campaigned on $2000 checks. They promised voters if they were elected to the senate, and therefore giving democrats control of congress, they’d pass the legislation for extra stimulus money. Joe Biden also adopted this promise when he campaigned for both Warnock and Ossoff. Both ended up winning their
races, handing democrats control of the senate. When Biden finally released all the details of his Covid-19 relief bill, the bill called for $1,400 checks instead of the promised $2,000. The administration defended this stating that the plan was always to add on to the $600 congress passed in December. Biden, nor Ossoff or Warnock, ever mentioned anything about the stimulus checks merely being just added onto the $600, nor was the number “$1,400” mentioned in any of the campaign events or ads from all three democrats. In fact, on January 1, Raphael Warnock posted a campaign ad on Twitter that not only mentioned a promise of passing a $2,000 check if he’s elected, but he also included a picture of a check with the amount of $2,000 on it. It was only after democrats won control of the senate, Biden
released his stimulus plan that explicitly said $1,400. Biden’s flip flop on the amount of the stimulus check amount is at best poor messaging and at worst a clear bait and switch.
When Biden finally released all the details of his Covid19 relief bill, the bill called for $1,400 checks instead of the promised $2,000. Putting aside the debate about whether $2,000 in general would be enough, the core issue is that this is a broken promise, and it’s a pretty big one. To make the situation worse, in the days following the release
of the plan, there was talk about how Biden was open to lowering the income threshold for the stimulus checks. On February 3, White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that the Biden administration was looking into limiting the eligibility of who got the checks. “Further targeting means not the size of the check, it means the income level of people who receive the check. That’s something that is under discussion,” said Psaki. On February 8, Jeff Stein of The Washington Post reported that while all the details weren’t finalized, Democrats were very much looking into lowering the $75,000 income threshold to $50,000. This even further breaks Biden’s promise as if this were to happen, even if the logic of the $1,400 is added to the $600, less people would get the extra stimulus meaning they would get the $2,000 the administration says it’s giving.
On February 11 however, it was reported that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was in agreement with house democrats that the income threshold should stay the same, and that Biden was also in agreement, signaling that the administration would not move forward with lowering it. While it’s good that the Biden administration is backing down from its openness to changing the threshold, it’s still frustrating they’d said they were open to it in the first place. Why they would set themselves up for selfsabotage is mind boggling. Biden has already broken his campaign promise when he lowered the original amount that was promised. He’d only further break that promise if they go through with the idea of lowering the stimulus. While the final bill won’t be passed for another few weeks, Biden should stop setting his administration up for failure and just stick to his original plan.
Theater students call for more representation BY LEONARDO CERVANTES Staff Writer The ELAC theater department coming together and accepting the criticism that students had about their lack of diversity in a majority of their plays is worth commending. It was a much-needed change of course, since the demographic of ELAC students contains a large number of people of color. Instead of only focusing on European-centric plays, the department should continue to branch out. Acting and showing diverse plays exposes students to various cultures and social groups they might not be aware of. The increased exposure to cross-cultural groups increases students’, faculty’s and staff’s understanding of said groups. After faculty were called out by their students, they decided to get more involved with the Black Lives Matter movement and attended anti-racism seminars offered at ELAC. Ann C. James is the founder of Intimacy Coordinators and Directors of Color. James had previously worked with the Theater Department on the production of The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. The theater faculty and staff began attending Ann C. James’ workshop about studying antiracism vocabulary. James and Faculty and staff went over an extensive list of anti-racism definitions. An Anti-Racism example was given that students will understand and evaluate racism, ethnocentrism, and other aspects of privilege and power in the
Staff Writer With California reaching over a million COVID-19 cases, Governor Newsom’s decision to reopen outdoor dining is a disaster. Hospitalizations and Covid deaths have increased since the second closure in November, reopening will only add to these numbers. The rush of reopening widely comes from the conservative agenda that the economy is taking a big hit. And although this is true, the economy can be rebuilt with time. Lives lost cannot be regained. Only 13.1% of Californians have received the vaccine. This small amount is not enough to let people fill malls and restuarants. Many will use the vaccine as an excuse to no longer wear a mask or follow social distancing safety procedures; this will not sit well with health care workers. Reopening would have been more appropriate if California would’ve reached over 50% of citizens vaccinated. Even once everyone receives the vaccine, it does not confirm that a person would be immune to the virus. A mask is still highly recommended to wear, as vaccination doesn’t mean one should not follow the COVID guidelines. www.ELACCampusNews.com
MANAGING EDITOR Juan Calvillo ONLINE EDITORS Tatianna Velazquez Cynthia Solis FRONT EDITOR Cassidy Reyna OPINION EDITORS Brenda De La Cruz Zasha Hayes NEWS EDITORS Annette Quijada Jonathan Bermudez FEATURE EDITORS Paul Medina Alma Lizarraga ARTS EDITORS Gabriela Gutierrez Grace Rodriguez SOCIAL MEDIA Daniella Molina Breanna Fierro COPY EDITORS Luis Castilla Ivan Cazares Deigo Linares STAFF WRITERS Raymond Nava Leonardo Cervantes Annette M. Leasure Mariah Martinez CARTOONIST Ivana Amaral GRAPHICS Andrea Cerna
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content of this course. Another topic they covered was Anti-Racism Assessment by isolating and discussing micro-aggressions in an existing historical play. The assessment also described the theatrical content that could be viewed as a stereotype. The Anti-Racism example that was also covered was how to recognize and articulate culturally based assumptions and unconscious biases. They engaged in critical thinking to challenge dominant frameworks and strategize anti-racist actions.
They also covered other topics like systemic racism, white fragility, microaggressions, micromending, microaffirmations, restorative justice, and transformative justice. Black, Indigenous, and people of color plays that will take place are “House on Mango Street,” “Mojada,” “Gospel at Colonus,” “Neva,” “The Juniors,” “In the Blood,” “El Paso Blues,” “The African Company presents Richard III,” “Beauty of the Father,” “Fairview,” “Is God Is,” “Corridos,” “Sonia Flew,” “Someday,” “The America Play,” “Barbe-
cue,” “Zoot Suit,” “An Octoroon,” and “To the Bone.” When people are more educated and embrace diversity, they learn to make judgments based on a person’s actions and words and not by their appearance. Understanding another person’s culture and background can help better understand them as a person. The theater workshop with James will do wonders for the faculty and staff, as now they can have a better understanding of Black, Latin and Indigenous students.
The goal of theAnti-Racism Assessment is to offer courses, assignments, and productions that value your unique backgrounds, and inclusive of gender identity, ability, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, race, nationality, religion, and culture. The Theater Department was challenged by their students and they responded by better educating themselves on diversity and by helping to reach out to people of color in the community.
Too early to reopen outdoor dining BY ANNETTE QUIJADA
EDITOR IN CHIEF Erica Cortes
Former East Los Angeles College Student, Janay Covarrubias, who works retail in the popular location, the Glendale Galleria Mall, said “As a retail worker I feel very uncomfortable with the reopening of dining because of the lack of enforcement of safety precautions and face masks not used even when
people aren’t dining. “I’m risking my own health as well as the health of others in my low-income community every time I come home.” Just like Covarrubias, a lot of young people are retail and restaurant workers who are at risk to bring the virus to their homes and
communities. Reopening outdoor dining is not ideal, and the people should not be sacrificed for the rise of the economy. The United States has managed to come back from recessions multiple times. It’ll be able to manage it after the pandemic has improved.
Newsom’s sudden decision could also be politically motivated, due to the results of “Rescue California,” a recall campaign aimed at Newsom. According to their website, rescuecalifornia.org, they currently have over the 1.5 million signatures that were required by a judge for them to have by March 17. The pressure from not wanting to lose his office influenced his actions. It’s also come to light that investigators at Cedars-Sinai discovered a new strain of COVID labeled “CAL.20C,” which made its first appearance in California in October 2020. In a video uploaded on cedarssinai.org, Dr. Eric Vail said, “Over the last two months, November and December, (the new strain) coincided right with the big spike in cases that we saw in Los Angeles and Southern California.” With the rise of cases and not enough knowledge of the infection spread by the strain, this should’ve been taken into account when deciding the reopening. California’s government has failed to protect its people from the virus and the new strain. Newsom’s living in fear of being recalled has caused him to make reckless decisions and will result in more COVID-related cases.
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EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE CAMPUS NEWS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2021
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Academic Senate honors native land, original inhabitants BY PAUL MEDINA Staff Writer East Los Angeles College Academic Senate unanimously approved a motion to create an ad-hoc committee, to acknowledge the first native inhabitants that resided on ELAC’s present site. The committee will develop a native land acknowledgement statement to honor the native land on which ELAC is presently located. Founded in 1945 on the campus of Garfield High School, ELAC relocated to its present-day 82-acre location on Avenida Cesar Chavez in February 1948. When ELAC moved to its current site, it consisted primarily of old military bungalows which were brought from Santa Ana. The campus location was purchased for $392,000. The approval of the historic action took place Feb 8 at the first biweekly Academic Senate meeting of the semester which took place on Zoom. Academic Senate President J e ff r e y H e r n a n d e z s a i d t h e purpose of these statements is acknowledging the native lands and its first inhabitants.
Monterey Park sits on what was once the land of the Shoshone Indians, who were later renamed the Gabrielino Indians. In 1771, there were more than 4,000 Gabrielino Indians living in Monterey Park. Thirty years later, the area became part of Mission San Gabriel de Archangel, and later, it would become part of Rancho San Antonio, per City of Monterey Park’s official website. G a b r i e l i n o - To n g v a Tr i b e Councilman Vincent Holguin had positive praise after hearing the news of the acknowledgement statement. “That would be fantastic. Acknowledgement is always great, understanding that nothing has changed too much from the conditions, but it’s some progress” Chicano Studies Professor Mary Romo said the statement is a way of “acknowledging the genocide that we have never talked about or acknowledged, and this is some way to bring equity and honor, the suffering and elimination of groups that experienced racism and oppression.” The U.S. Department of Arts and Culture states that among tribal lands, “it is commonplace, even policy, to open events and gatherings by acknowledging the traditional Indigenous inhabitants
of that land.” “What usually is done is, whenever a session starts or there’s a website, it’s honoring their past. Honoring their presence, honoring their recovering of their history, to be part of breaking down racism and honoring equity,” Romo said. The practice of campuses acknowledging the land on which they’re built is gaining widespread practice nationwide. Last year, all three of Iowa’s public universities took significant steps in making land acknowledgement statements. Other items discussed at the Academic Senate meeting were the approval of the updated educational planning subcommittee bylaws, report on transforming ELAC into an Equity-Driven System, and election procedures for faculty interested in joining the Academic Senate. The Academic Senate consists of member representation from departments throughout all of campus and “is the voice of the faculty in academic and professional matters,” according to its description on ELAC’s website. The Academic Senate meets bi-weekly on the second and fourth Tuesday at 12:10 p.m. via Zoom, and the meeting welcomes visitors.
LACCD to focus on higher education of DACA students BY BREANNA FIERRO Staff Writer Los Angeles Community College District Board President Steve Veres said students and DACA are LACCDs main focus for growth at the DACA/Immigration Task Force Meeting via Zoom. “The pandemic has had a devastating impact and disproportion on communities of color, and particularly, black and brown communities,” said chancellor Francisco Rodriguez, Thursday “It is up to all of us in the respective positions that we hold and the responsibilities that we have to ensure that we provide a clear, consistent and ethical handoff to our students who have been left behind and to our communities that continue to suffer from intergenerational poverty and intergenerational health disparities,” Rodriguez said. Rodriguez met with United States Representative member Tony Cardenas, ELAC’s Dream Resource Center and staff from the other eight colleges within the LACCD. Drop-out rates have risen among LACCD colleges during the pandemic, but mostly within those of low income and those of color. The initial goal is how to support students and get them to return, according to Rodriguez. During the student voices segment, Elias Geronimo an undocumented student trustee from ELAC, questioned his foreseeable future. He talked about what the United States has in store for him and others who are undocumented after obtaining a degree. Even before completing any amount of college education, the student trustee said, what troubles him is the thought of what is to happen after he is to obtain his bachelor’s degree.
“I discovered that once you start advancing in education, more doors open. That’s because we have many people working to help students, but it’s not sufficient, we need more representation of those communities,” said Geronimo. State Advocate Dale Shimasaki discussed the updated legislature calendar and process so far with about 800 bills introduced in the assembly and 3-400 bills in the senate. The bill introduction process is taking place as usual, but because of the COVID-19
“ninety six percent of dreamers are gainfully employed full-time, full-time students and or both. If every American-born child had that kind of effort and that lifestyle, our country would be so much better off, but for people to vilify our dreamers is just another example of something that is just hearbreaking.”
TONY CARDENAS
United States Representative
pandemic, they are condensing a lot of the calendar. On the assembly side for the higher education committee, there will only be two policy hearings for this session in April. Meaning even though there is a normal flow of legislation coming through, not all bills that go to the higher education committee will be heard due to the limited number of hearings that will be held, Shimasaki said. “Even though the senate will have more hearings it is still possible
that there will be fewer bills in the higher education flowing through. The senate hasn’t established a limit as of yet,” said Shimasaki. United States Representative member Tony Cardenas talked about the false information Fox News has been feeding the American people, teaching them to fear immigrants when the truth is the immigrants who are here in this country are hard working. “ninety six percent of dreamers are gainfully employed full-time, full-time students and or both. If every American-born child had that kind of effort and that lifestyle, our country would be so much better off, but for people to vilify our dreamers is just another example of something that is just heartbreaking,” said Cardenas. Immigration legislation and dreamers among the Community College District was discussed with Representative Cardenas, in making sure everyone is treated with both dignity and is given the opportunity in retrieving a higher education. Representative Cardenas discussed Biden, wanting to see comprehensive immigration legislation and the woman in charge of the House of Representatives Linda Sanchez and Menendez. “The Hispanic caucus is now in charge of running points on the immigration bills. For those who have never experienced watching legislation, that is a big deal to have a Latino and a Latina in both houses of the legislature in Washington. Meaning any changes to the bill, will have to go through them,” Cardenas said. LACCD is looking forward to being able to provide the tools needed to help DACA students continue to succeed, especially during a pandemic. It is of the utmost importance to them to stay committed to the ethnic groups, the process and how to implement growth.
Campus budget gives priority to student aid BY ANNETTE M. LESURE Staff Writer
East Los Angeles College will receive a refund from the district and has set student needs as its priority for the 2021 Spring semester budget. Critical matters being managed for students as distance learning continues into 2021 range from food, cash aid, Wi-Fi, hotspots, ChromeBooks, and laptops. If a student is in need, all they may do is contact Student Services for instructions on how to apply. ELAC President Alberto Román said students were the main focus for the administration “...Learning environments have presented challenges, as well as managing jobs, schools, and families. But this is why we call it the ‘ELAC family.’ We are in this together,” said Román. He said students should attend budget meetings to inform themselves and participate in surveys so that students’ needs can continue to be met. The $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill, known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES ACT), signed into law on March 27, 2020, authorized The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). HEERF was allotted 22 billion dollars, of which 27 million was awarded to ELAC. This fund has provided more than five million dollars in direct aid to ELAC students to date. The ELAC Budget Committee will vote on the best ways to use the funds. In addition to CARES ACT, two other sources assisting with food vouchers and cards are Second Harvest Food Bank and Cal-Fresh. Additionally, future money will come from the District Budget Committee (DBC), which is preparing to issue a refund to ELAC’s General Fund of nearly two million dollars. While staff opinions vary on how ELAC should allocate this money, expenditures will be decided on an as-needed basis,
prioritized by greatest necessity. Contrary to the idea that this money is an award, these funds are a “refund,” meaning that the DBC will give ELAC back the money that the school previously paid to them for assessments. Pending other sources reimbursing ELAC for emergency expenses, the staff holds on to hope that the funds will eventually be reissued to the departments and staff that took the hits. E L A C Vi c e P r e s i d e n t o f Administrative Services Myeshia Armstrong said that the General Fund balance carries over to the next fiscal year. When discussing future plans for the refund, Armstrong said, “It is part of our existing operating budget, and we hope to have a decent ending fund balance in anticipation of the coming back for the restoration of courses on campus and the whole operation. Right now, what we are hearing is still the Fall of 2021. Of course, with the vaccine rollout and the slowdown of that, it could be more like Spring of 2022; at this point, it is still up in the air, but we want to make sure that we have plenty of reserve depending on a lot of variables.” Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is another source that is expected to refund some of ELAC’s COVID-19 emergency expenses. Despite the time of distribution to ELAC the money FEMA is scheduled to send,would further allow for the DBC’s refund to replenish previous cutbacks, said Armstrong. The ELAC Foundation offers an additional 50 laptops that students can apply for and have already given ELAC 100 hotspots to distribute. It also provides information on scholarships, assistance, and volunteerism inquiries for those wanting to pay it forward. For information contact the ELAC Foundation at (323) 260-8197. ELAC currently also supports students during distance learning by providing academic counseling 24/7 so that students feel they have access to help at any time in their schedules. All Huskies are
encouraged to take advantage of this outlet, as it provides tools for proven success. The ELAC will also now provide one hundred Wi-Fi parking spots, this will be another tool Huskies can take advantage of. These are the preliminary stages of being near the campus. Many plans are underway to prepare for health and safety measures following district guideless. Because the rush was to provide Wi-Fi for students in need, there will be no access to bathrooms or charging outlets for devices at this time, until safety measures are in place. Students must stay in their vehicles at all times. Román recommended that they charge all batteries and reduce the unnecessary use of apps in order to reserve phones for backup. “There are businesses nearby with bathrooms and charging ports that may be open. Students may leave and return to the lot as needed,” said Román. As a reminder to all students, maintaining positive Husky morale by using the honor system should be considered when deciding to stay on or off-camera while on Zoom. While being on-camera is not mandatory due to some students not having the ability, it would boost teachers’ and students’ respect levels to remain on-camera whenever possible. Professors are working diligently, putting their hearts and souls into making this happen; a reciprocation of a smiling face on Zoom would go a long way to show gratitude. The Budget Committee is saving ELAC’s money for the rainy days ahead as the campus transitions and prepares for a safe return and all that it will entail doing so. For more information or support on applying for extra assistance, contact:ELAC Student Services at https://www.elac.edu/StudentServices. Or visit the ELAC Mental Health Department at https://www.elac. edu/Student-Services/StudentResources/Student-Health-Center/ Mental-Healthcan, for the vast support groups available to students.
Biden administration working to change the meaning of public charge BY JUAN CALVILLO Staff Writer Companion Article to Immigration DRC event - Public Charge Info Changes are proposed to both current immigration laws in the form of the United States Citizenship Act of 2021, and Public Charge rules. Julie Mitchell, managing attorney at the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), said the Trump administration made Public Charge much more confusing by
changing the definition. “There are lawsuits challenging the change in definition of Public Charge. And those lawsuits are still pending,” Mitchell said. She said the Biden administration is moving forward with an attempt to undo what the previous administration did to the definition of Public Charge. She said currently that despite these efforts the Public Charge definition remains the way the Trump administration had defined it. Courtney Powers, assistant
professor of law in the Business Department at East Los Angeles College, said that Public Charge is hugely impactful to the community during the COVID-19 era. She said that when looking at Public Charge it was important to first understand the rules do not apply to all immigrants. These rules apply to undocumented immigrants who are trying to change or adjust their status in the US. When that happens their applications are reviewed for use of Public Charge.
“The government must review whether that person is likely to become a “public charge.” In other words, are they likely to become dependent on certain government benefits in the future,” Powers said. She said during the Trump administration the rule was changed to include additional programs that were now under the umbrella of what it meant to be part of Public Charge. Powers said that certain programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Cal-Fresh) and Medicaid.
“This had not been the case prior to the new rule. In effect, this rule broadens the government’s ability to deny applications based on “public charge” determinations,” Powers said. She said a concern with the rule is that immigrants may hear about the situation and not want to take a chance of accepting any benefits in California. The fear being that it would make things difficult for them in the future. Powers said that there are ways to get health related help during
this COVID-19 time. She said ELAC has the Student Health Center that is working hand in hand with Via Care. “There is a health center for ELAC students. Although our campus is closed, students can access services at other locations in the community,” Powers said. To access the Student Health Center use the following link. http://www.elac.edu/StudentServices/Student-Resources/ Student-Health-Center
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Arts
EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE CAMPUS NEWS
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24 2021
‘WandaVision’ captivates sitcom fans BY CASSIDY REYNA Staff Writer D i s n e y + ’s n e w s h o w “WandaVision'' is a breath of fresh air when it comes to the Marvel franchise. “WandaVision'' takes place after the events of “Avengers: Endgame,” when half of the population comes back after being “blipped” out of existence for five years. The show follows storylines inspired by sitcoms through various decades, starting with the ‘50s. This is showcased throughout the series with theme songs and different references. In episode six, the ‘90s and early 2000s intertwine, and it’s shown through the theme song that is reminiscent of the show “Malcolm in the Middle.” In the most recent episode, the theme song sounds very similar to “The Office” theme song which excited many fans of both Marvel and “The Office.” Fans go into each episode confused as to what is going on and how it is all happening. However, at the end of each episode fans get a glimpse of what is really going on.
“...after the events of “The Avenger’s Endgame,” when half of the population comes back after being “blipped” out of existence for five years.” In “WandaVision,” Wanda Maximoff creates an alternate reality in the town of Westview, where life is like a sitcom. Agents from Sentient World Observation and Response Department (S.W.O.R.D) are on the scene throughout each episode trying to figure out Wanda’s motive for doing this. Most viewers are familiar with the Avengers films and what has happened in each film, transpiring to these events. Fans will also recognize some of
their favorite characters like FBI agent Jimmy Woo from “Antman'' and “Antman and the Wasp,” Darcy Lewis from “Thor'' and “Thor: The Dark World” and Monica Rambeau from “Captain Marvel,” who are
Chetwynd’s comic of everyday romance BY JUAN CALVILLO Staff Writer “In Love & Pajamas'' author and artist Catana Chetwynd uses cute comic strip drawings and funny situations to showcase the theme of loving others. The book is 50% of Chetwynd’s Instagram comics which chronicles her relationship with her fiancé. The other half is entirely new drawings that follow the theme of loving someone, despite their quirks. She uses common, everyday scenes, to illustrate the different ways love affects relationships. While the book may rely on Chetwynd’s relationship for effect, it’s not hard to see how these situations can translate into most other relationships. One such strip shows Chetwynd’s character searching for her snacks only to come to the realization her fiancé has already taken them. I n t o d a y ’s C O V I D - 1 9 environment of living, it seems inevitable for this to happen, especially with family and siblings. Yet the truth remains that despite the transgression, families
still care and love each other. Taking a family member's snacks is not really all that bad. It’s moments like these that put people's flaws on display. This is when love of others allows people to look past a situation and still love their family or partner. This is not to say that the book’s panels all translate into familial situations. Some of the scenes Chetwynd has included in her novel are the epitome of relationship situations. Most of these comics come from moments that are uniquely from a pair in love. Scenes showing this best are usually devoid of speech bubbles or any writing at all. They consist of Chetwynd’s character hugging or marveling at her fiancé while he is doing physical activities. It’s the sense that admiring a partner, or needing a partners touch is essential to having a good day. C h e t w y n d ’s b o o k a s k s people to simply go with it and appreciate love in all its forms. This message of loving partners and people despite their flaws springs off of every beautifully drawn page. Chetwynd has an effective
and expressive style of art. Clean and precise characters show happiness and anger in an almost animated cartoon style. The art style makes flipping page after page fun, with a constant happy surprise at how much can be conveyed with such a clean style. Scenes focusing on distance between the characters is always a laugh. Readers will assume the pair is far away but, as the panels show, they reveal that it becomes a hysterical observation on COVID-19 living arrangements. At 126 pages of an average four panel comic, “In Love & Pajamas” is short but entertaining. With such an important and insightful message, this book is a must read for those who may not be as appreciative of their current situations. The author explains her message perfectly in her introduction. “Being yourself with your partner, and embracing your partner's quirks, is such an important part of a relationship and is the very foundation for all the moments,” Chetwynd said. In today’s climate, this feel can easily include all relationships that people create and maintain.
also on the scene with S.W.O.R.D. What makes this show amazing is the story and its execution. Viewers automatically start hypothesizing what is going to happen next at the end of every
episode as it ends in cliffhangers. Elizabeth Olsen does a brilliant job in her role as Wanda, especially the new path that her character is going on. Most viewers know that Wanda’s
past is tragic and this just adds onto it immensely. Fans at home are left wondering whether Wanda is the good or bad guy, which makes the show a mustwatch for the events that transpire after “Avengers: Endgame.” Along with that, Paul Bettany does a great job continuing his role as Vision. Due to the events of “Avengers: Endgame,” seeing Vision adds to the confusion and hypotheses fans create. The show will connect upcoming Marvel films. To be specific, “WandaVision'' will be connected to “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'' in 2022 and the new Spiderman film that is currently being filmed. With only seven of 9 episodes out for the series, it has a huge following and lives up to the excitement that comes with it. Most Marvel fans know that Marvel always hits the mark when it comes to their films. Overall, “WandaVision” sets the stage for the Marvel films that are yet to come. Viewers can now watch up to episode seven on Disney+, and new episodes come out every Friday.
Film puts love to test BY ALMA LIZARRAGA Staff Writer ‘Malcolm & Marie’ is a film directed and written by Sam Levinson starring John David Washington and Zendaya as the titular couple. They struggle through their relationship the night of Malcolm's movie premiere. The film takes place in the entirety of that night at the couple’s home as Marie (Zendaya) confronts Malcolm (Washington) over forgetting to thank her on the night of the premiere. As her confrontations unravel to an on-again-off-again argument between the two, Levinson attempts to portray the psychology of the characters through the nuance of Malcolm’s film. The characters bash and accuse each other in an effort to over intellectualize the other’s arguments. Malcolm and Marie’s intentions are already bleak enough for them to come off egotistical. As they continue to come back to the fight with newer insight on how to hurt the other, the characters become unlikeable and even stagnate into their usual reactions. Malcolm’s rants are overbearing to watchers and Marie’s quiet glare she resorts into before annoyingly reigniting arguments. Levinson and Zendaya had previously collaberated on HBO’s hit show Euphoria; a gripping teen drama exploring similar themes of relationships and identity in it’s cast. The show won Zendaya an Emmy, and Levinson’s direction took center stage. While Euphoria took it’s time to develop it’s characters through plot, “Malcolm and Marie” fell
flat in its dialogue-dependent story which couldn’t advance nor find a plot. Similar to Euphoria, Zendaya explores a young woman with a past using drugs who accuses her director boyfriend of using her as the main inspiration of the film. Her character is the more likeable of the leads, as she is the rational voice of the relationship, and manages to dispute Malcolm’s rants in a few sentences. Zendaya’s character becomes repetitive and hollow, however, as she goes through various mood swings, repeatedly changing her temperament as she becomes the rising action of the plot. Malcolm, on the other hand, comes off pretentious most of the time, and his escalated rants are hard to listen to. He seems to be used as the rushed voice of Levinson as a director, as he tends to go on tangents that only show the frustrations of a filmmaker, and though they may be justified, it is a hard perspective for a regular audience to sympathize with and only makes Malcolm more unsympathetic. A lot of the themes are unclear, as the characters' words vomit and seem to be in competition over who comes off as more of a faux intellectual. Their arguments don’t sound like a couple trying to communicate or even vent their frustration but as shallow representations of Hollywood caricatures. It seems that Levinson strives to present the challenges and complexities of the life of an artist and director, and how that affects the people around them as they struggle with their artistic lenses. This theme
falls short for many reasons, as it comes off as egotistical and shallow. Zendaya and Washington’s chemistry in the movie is great, and in a small exchange between the two, when Malcolm’s review comes out and he rushes to get past a paywall, the characters seem fun and play off each other well. Their chemistry comes out in the more subtle moments as well, like when Malcolm attempts to seduce Marie at the beginning of the film. Unfortunately, the script leads to their relationship coming off as draining rather than complex, which gives them very few moments to charm the audience as a couple. Washington and Zendaya use their individual and collaborative efforts to show the strength of the character’s monologues, and succeed at delivering at the level of intensity Levinson strives for. H o w e v e r, a s t h e c o n s t a n t arguments and reconciliations make up the span of the almost two hour film this will tire the audience out, as it almost feels undeserved. The tension is however, impressively present throughout the whole movie, which makes one wonder how Marie and Malcolm’s voices don’t hurt. Overall ‘Malcolm and Marie’ is a film with wonderful actors and cinematography, but the film overloads the audiences with lack of focus and constant dialogue. The script is a bit hard to follow and the characters’ monologues sound like pretentious essays rather than actual dialogue, but the film does contain powerful moments and the movie is well directed.
Hero tangles with villaneous opposite BY BRENDA DE LA CRUZ Staff Writer An old-school, Hollywood-like, detective vibe is what greets viewers in writer and producer John Lee Hancock’s film “The Little Things.” The movie is based in Los Angeles during the ‘90s. It follows Kern County Deputy Sheriff Joe Deacon, played by Denzel Washington, as he returns to the city of angels for a brief visit, but ultimately stays to crack a murder case. Los Angeles has a serial killer on the loose and Deacon teams up with Los Angeles Sheriff’s detective Jim Baxter, played by Rami Malek, to try and solve the case. The pair, although complete opposites, begin to narrow down their suspicion onto one suspect, Albert Sparma, played by Jared Leto, and they all become entangled in a web of mystery. The film sets a nostalgic mood through the music choices, accompanied by images of the surrounding businesses and www.ELACCampusNews.com
landmarks. The intro scene for the film takes the audience back to the days of colorful scrunchies and ‘80s pop music. The movie’s soundtrack is full of gems that range from The B-52’s and Aaron Neville, to Etta James and Mary Wells among many more greats. This soundtrack will be sure to have music enthusiasts reminiscing about great music. Washington, the Oscar winner, gives a witty and remarkable performance as a seasoned Deputy and does not shy away from telling others how he feels. Washington is known best for his roles in “Training Day,” “Malcom X.” Fences,” and many more. Leto, known for his role in “Requiem for a Dream,” “Suicide Squad,” “Urban Legend,” and his band, “Thirty Seconds to Mars,” plays his role of a suspected murderer very well as seen through his creepy vibe and behavior. Leto was nominated for both a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for best performance by an actor in a supporting role for this
film. Lastly, Malek, best known for his role in “Mr. Robot,” but even more so for his lead role as Freddy Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” complimented Washington’s character finely by butting heads and eventually working together. There are many reasons why this movie can sit well with its audience. It is not your typical gun-slinging, who-has-more-cojones-than-each -other type of film. This film goes beyond that and shows its audience behind-the-scenes detective work. The storyline and characters bring forth a look into how tedious and frustrating solving a murder case can become. Hancock captivates the true sense of what it must feel like to be a detective and allows viewers to walk in the character's shoes. “The Little Things” has a running time of 2 hours and 8 minutes and is rated R for violent and disturbing images, language, and full nudity. It can be viewed in two drive-ins near Riverside and Montclair, as well as on HBO Max.
