Fall 2014, Issue 8

Page 1

SPECIAL Chicana/o Studies Department brings Dia de los Muertos to ELAC See Page 4

Volume 72, Issue 8

Single copy free - additional copies 50 cents

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

www.elaccampusnews.com

Political club hosts mayoral gathering BY sergio berrueta Staff Writer

BY jesus figueroa Staff Writer CN/julianne obregon

disability awareness—Students learned about disabilities and the programs that are offered on campus and in the community at the Disabled Student Program and Services’ first Disability Awareness Day in the free speech and walkway area last Wednesday.

Disability

East Los Angeles College Students for Political Awareness (ESPA) Club gave the opportunity for the public to hear and speak to local mayors in the area this past Thursday. The “Local Elected City Leaders” event was created by club leader Joseph Nunez who wanted to bring politics to new generations of those who are bored with politics. “The aim of this event is to hopefully inspire students at ELAC to go and be engaged in their local politics. That’s why we reached out to the mayors of Maywood and Cudahy to try and represent the students that come here,” Nunez said. Nunez and his friend Christopher Cruz started ESPA after attending a city council meeting and being surprised how young the Mayor of Cudahy Chris Garcia was. Garcia was elected after the city of Cudahy faced the same problems of corruption that Bell began facing. Garcia was on the city council and heard

about how the city council’s problems from rigged elections to harassment of citizens. “That’s why I never got into local politics. All this happened in national news on CNN and all over Facebook,” Garcia said. “I took this as a sign to start getting involved in the community.” Garcia started to run for office as he saw the citizens of Cudahy up-in-arms in frustration over the issues that started to come to light. Garcia started off in community college and went on to transfer to University of California, Los Angeles and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. “There were camera crews, media and I was just sitting in the back of the room just analyzing. After the meeting, I saw citizens who were angrysaid ‘let’s talk’ and pulled them aside. That’s when I started the community organization,” Garcia said. For more on the story visit elaccampusnews.com

DSPS brings awareness to disabilities BY JESUS FIGUEROA

A

Staff Writer

ctivities and information booths centered around disabilities were set up at the walkway between the Swim Stadium and the parking structure of the East Los Angeles College’s main campus by the Disabled Student Program and Services (DSPS) office last Wednesday for the first Disability Awareness Day. DSPS brought awareness to the many different types of disabilities, which affect a large number of students, all throughout the month of October. “We wanted to make things more festive, like bringing in games to simulate some of the disabilities that the students go through,” DSPS director Grace Hernandez said. Last Wednesday DSPS was joined by many different organizations from around Southern California for the event. “We started the idea (for the Disability Awareness Day) back in late July. We actually began formatting the event with our program director Grace Hernandez. Now, two months later, we actually have 22 tabling vendors, 22 organizations that have come down, that are all disability related,” career guidance counseling assistant Carilla Clements said. “Most of these organizations are non-profit, government or student services that service our community.” The activities that were centered on demonstrating what those with disability go through got the most attention. Those who participated in the event got to

News Briefs

experience through the use of mittens, goggles and mirrors what it’s like to have certain disabilities and were rewarded with prizes for their participation. “The games are really to create more awareness for disabilities,” Clements said. “There’s a game with goggles, the goggles are foggy, that’s to show what a person with a vision impairment would conduct themselves.” The games were effective as more and more people became aware of the many difficulties that people with disabilities go through every day. “A lot of great agencies are here supporting this event, making students aware and more conscious of the different disabilities that we serve here on campus,” Hernandez said. She hopes that if there are students that don’t know if they have a learning disability they see all the resources DSPS has to offer and to research more through the office. “This is the biggest project that DSPS has had, I think to date. We had a turnout of between 200 to 300 students,” Clements said. Hernandez said the event was sponsored by the Associate Student Union which donated $500 to offer food for the students in attendance. Hot dogs were given to students who visited different booths and collected stamps from the organizations. For more information visit the DSPS at their office E1-160 and schedule an appointment to talk with a counselor. To be part of the DSPS program, students need to present a verified disability documented by a doctor or from their high school. “We really want to make sure people understand that, hey, even if you have a disability, it should never stop you,” Clements said.

fast facts •Department of Rehabilitation (main federal organization) assists adults over the age of 21 with disabilities to continue on to college and university by either paying for college or university or helping anyone who is disabled get a career. •Some of the organizations that attended event: Regional Center, Aids Project Los Angeles, Project Choice, EOP&S, Veterans organization, Southern California Independent Living Centers and East Los Angeles Mental Health Services.

CN/julianne obregon

Ready to move Spectators were given the opportunity to dance to “Thriller” with some of the students enrolled in Professor Rick Crawford’s dance classes on Oct. 29 in the Performing and Fine Arts Courtyard. Dressed in costumes, the students from Crawford’s classes began to dance and invited anyone who knew the steps to join them. After the song ended, Crawford asked that anyone who was interested in learning the steps to join him and his students to go through the dance step-by-step. Once they went through the steps, the song was played again to give new participants the opportunity to dance in sync with the song being played.

First Friday Jazz Series

‘Buried Child’

Keep track of Campus News

The Billy Childs Quartet will be performing for the “First Friday Jazz Series” this Friday at the S2 Recital Hall at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 for student pre-sale, $6 for students with valid I.D. and $12 for general admission. For more information call (323) 265-8894.

Award winning play “Buried Child” by Sam Sheperd will be at the P2 Proscenium Theatre next Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $8 with ASU discount at P2-101B, $10 for pre-sale and $12 at the door.

For the latest news coming out of ELAC, “Like” facebook.com/CampusNews, follow on Twitter and Instagram @Elaccampusnews. For more stories go to Elaccampusnews.com.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.