Volume 78, Issue 22 | www.elaccampusnews.com | Wednesday, May 12, 2021 | Single copy free - additional copies 50 cents
Memorial service held at ELAC for deceased faculty member BY PAUL MEDINA Staff Writer Students, colleagues, family and friends gathered in the quad outside the Theater Arts Department for a memorial ceremony of esteemed Theater Arts faculty James Johnson. Johnson taught at East Los Angeles College Theater Arts Department for nearly 20 years. His roles included being a staff member, a performing arts technician, an adjunct faculty member, stagecraft and a set & lighting designer. He died on October 13 after a short battle with cancer. The service took place May 4 on what would have been Johnson’s 62nd birthday. Johnson impacted the lives of many students and colleagues during his time at ELAC. Theater Arts faculty member Rodney Scott recalled Johnson’s work and how he went above and
beyond in his duties while assisting him in past play productions. “No one had done so much for any of my productions, and he did it all himself. He stage-trained managers on how to call shows, showed me what to look for, how to spot what I like and how to voice what I wanted,” Scott said. “Here was a man who built all our sets, did all the lights, trained all these stage managers. He knew so much more about the craft of acting than anybody I knew,” Scott said. According to the ELAC Theatre Arts Instagram page, Johnson was a native of Colorado. He did theater arts work in San Diego, before settling in Los Angeles in the mid1990s. In 2001, he began working at ELAC. Aside from experience with technical and stage work, Johnson directed and acted in some ELAC plays Performance East Club President Timothy Reyes said Johnson, “was
Associated Student Union welcomes new clubs BY GUADALUPE BARRIGA Staff Writer
Jim Johnson
Theater Department Instructor
loved by many and inspired those around him through his actions and personality.” Reyes said that, “Above all, Jim was a teacher and mentor to everyone and anyone who sought him out. I remember him as a man of relatively few words. The ones he spoke were filled with kindness, wisdom and humor. I’m sure that many students have similar or deeper experiences that would allow his memory to live on.” During the memorial program, a band composed of ELAC Theater Arts and faculty members played songs that Johnson enjoyed listening to. Johnson’s wife Julianne Foster spoke at the tribute with touching words about her late husband. “He was creative and passionate. He loved me and our cat Jackson as well as Legos and Star Wars,” said Foster. She would go on to talk about the gentle inner child in him and the love for the trains and
toys he had. “He was only 61 years old and was just taken from us too soon. I loved him more than anything else,” Foster said. She also thanked the crowd for sharing memories of him and for being in attendance. According to Reyes, student members in Performance East are working with the department to dedicate a plaque in his name and hope that it will be placed outside his former office, known as the Black Box control booth. “Thank you God for blessing this department with Jim’s presence. He will definitely be missed,” Scott said. A poignant short story written by Johnson in 2016 about a ‘theater ghost’ is available on YouTube via https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=oMY-nKbKs4I Johnson is survived by his wife Julianne, his mother and three siblings.
Associate Student Union chartered two new clubs and approved new funds during a meeting on Friday. The meeting was hosted by President Yuxuan Bai and overseen by Adviser Sonia Lopez. One of the new clubs, Students Against Substance Abuse (SASA) will help students overcome their drug abuse. SASA’s representative Diana Landeros said the club provides outreach opportunities and motivational speakers for students. The club meets every Tuesday from 6:30-6:45 p.m., and it is also known for having taco Tuesday every week. PSI Beta Honors Club is a psychology-based club that was also chattered on Friday. The club’s President Karen Mendoza said the club focuses on the research aspect of psychology. Their meetings take place every second and third Thursday of the month from 12:15-1:45 p.m. The club often has guest speakers from universities to encourage students to further their research at a four year university. All students who have a passion for psychology are welcome to join the club regardless of their major. ASU discussed, voted and approved new funds for the month. Dominguez introduced a funding of $4,000 for Omni gift cards giveaway that will be given to South Gate students. The gift cards will be from local restaurants, ASU will promote the gift cards giveaway through South Gate campus’ social media. Vice President of Advocacy Alondra Pacheco said the Food Pantry is requesting an additional $15,000 fund since the number of applicants
has increased. As of May 7 there were currently 171 plus applicants. Pacheco made an amendment to the proposal for all gift cards to be purchased from Omni cards, the proposal and amendment were both approved. Executive Vice President Rosa Mendoza introduced a $23,000 fund to purchase additional sashes for graduating students. An amendment was added to the proposal to only provide sashes for students who RSVP. Students’ events were also discussed in the meeting as the Event Planning Committee announced the Husky Bowl deadline has been extended to Friday because only one club has registered to participate. The event could possibly get cancelled if no other club registers by the deadline. The committee has sent encouraging emails to the rest of the clubs in hope they will register for the Husky Bowl. The Student Activities Committee is hosting their final Husky Academy today at 2 p.m. where students are welcome to join. Bai announced the Election Committee will be reviewing the ASU elections by May 21 and the; election results will be revealed on May 28. The results will be posted on ELAC’s website. The return to in person classes was also discussed by Lopez. For now, ELAC does not have an exact date for faculty and students to return. ASU will continue to have their meetings via Zoom. Students can register through ELAC ASU’s linktree https:// linktr.ee/elacasu to be part of the meetings. ASU’s next meeting will be on May 28 at 2 p.m.
Business week shows how to find products to sell BY JUAN CALVILLO Staff Writer Finding the best in products and accessible channels of engagement are cornerstones to any new online business. Chris Snyder, senior community manager at Shopify Spaces, said merchandising and fulfillment are also important facets to a business starting up online. Snyder said there are multiple ways of finding products for a business. He said it was about what the small business was looking to use as products. One type of product is self-made products. He said a product like this is for someone who wants to maintain control of the product sold. A drawback to this is that oftentimes,the creator is so busy making the product, there is no time left for business growth. Snyder said manufacturing products is more complex. This is usually done when there is confidence that the product will sell. Manufacturing a product is the greatest upfront cost for businesses. He said it comes with the biggest risk and investment. Snyder said picking a wholesaler or using dropshipping is also a way to get products. Frank Aguirre, professor in the Business Administration department said dropshipping is a low-cost manner of creating a business start-up. This involves a manufacturer storing merchandise for a small business. When a piece of merchandise is
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sold, the entrepreneur electronically sites, Facebook is still an amazing lets the manufacturer know of outlet for businesses. Having a purchase. He said from there, thriving business is very hard if the manufacturer prepares the social media is not a part of the merchandise and ships it to the business’s plan. Snyder said choosing which social customer. “It’s really a great way for media outlets to use was important someone with little money, or no to getting a business online. One money, to start selling, because you of the more important things when creating content is don’t actually have to make sure to use to hold any of the hashtags. Looking product,” Aguirre said. “It’s not up hashtags that Snyder said finding necessarily the connect with a the right sales channels business’s target helps small businesses site’s fault. You market was key. greatly. got to find the Snyder said “You (have) got to be online growth where your customers right niche, the should be are,” Snyder said. right method to incremental. Once A business’s online store is like a hub. sell it. You’re not a small business has a good process The idea is the main quite there yet.” o f p o s t i n g t o hub or center, is the Instagram and business’s main site. Facebook down, From there things get FRANK AGUIRRE it’s time to move connected as spokes Professor in the Business and the end product Administration Department on and choose to incorporate another can be seen as a wagon social media wheel. “ W h e n t a l k i n g a b o u t a n avenue. When it comes to selling, omnichannel business model, the social media is a great place for hub and spoke image is helpful. The point of sale of products. Snyder said a small business spokes represent ways that you can engage with your customers and be should have a good site that is wherever they are. Whether they are attractive to customers. Product on IG (Instagram), Tik Tok or at a pages should inform customers craft fair. It also represents ways that and if possible, include reviews. you can sell,” Snyder said. Customers rely heavily on posted Social media sites like Facebook reviews. Aguirre said websites are and Instagram are great ways for getting connections to customers. important as long as there is potential While most posting is done on other for online sales. The only caveat is
Associated Student Union election results
ASU holds a meeting for live election results May 21 at noon. Zoom link: https://laccd.zoom.us/j/94664219422
if the business is not prepared to do a large number of sales. Investing time and money into a website when only selling a handful of merchandise is not a good idea. He said if only a couple of products are being sold, then looking into eBay or a smaller online sales site might make more sense. Starting an online store with Amazon, Shopify or creating a business’s own website might be overreaching for some entrepreneurs. Failing in those venues can lead some businesses to wonder why the sites failed them. “It’s not necessarily the site’s fault. You got to find the right niche, the right method to sell it. You’re not quite there yet,” Aguirre said. Snyder said when an online business starts up sales, shipping may be done simply by the entrepreneur. He said as the business grows that shipping modes would change and the strategies for shipping costs would as well. Strategies could range from free shipping to carrier calculated shipping. Packaging is another detail that small businesses need to take into account. Snyder said an entrepreneur can never be sure if the product sold will be a part of an unboxing video. Having a product in a video start off in a ugly or unprotected box was not great. A business can never be sure how a delivered box can affect the business. Snyder said the pandemic has changed business across the board. Businesses need to adapt to changes in customer habits to stay viable.
Shopify.com created this and other workshops for National Small Business week. “Shopify always tries to work with business and community organizations as well as schools and universities to provide the
educational, inspirational and valuable resources that anyone who has a small business or is interested in starting their own entrepreneurship journey may need to succeed,” Snyder said.
Dream Resource Center to hold celebration for graduates
Student Health Center introduces peer-to-peer connection
Undocumented students and those who are part of DACA are invited to contact the Dream Resource Center to comfirm graduation by Friday. Register here: HTTP://BIT.LY/DRC-GRADUATE
join the peer navigation meeting on Monday.
Contact (213) 793-8986, (424) 244-9609 or (213) 290-2624 to