FEATURES ELAC student attends United Nations conference in Paris. See page 4
Volume 73, Issue 13
ARTS
SPORTS
Star Montana takes viewers back in time with art exhibit.
Basketball advances to third round of playoffs.
See page 5
Single copy free - additional copies 50 cents
Wednesday, march 2, 2016
www.elaccampusnews.com
Convertible controversy
Professor exchanges grades for likes, follows, reviews BY JADE INGLADA Staff Writer Communication Studies adjunct professor R. Steven Johnson uses his students to promote his writing career in exchange for better grades. Johnson has offered students the opportunity for an extra credit book report since last year by having them purchase his self-published book, “Convertible Chocolate,” and write a review of it on Amazon. The book was released December 2013 and is based on Johnson’s personal experiences with love and relationships with various women throughout his life. It contains graphic descriptions of women’s body parts, foul and demeaning language, blatant details of his sexual encounters with women and metaphors that degrade women. In the chapter called “Calling Colleen,” Johnson wrote, “‘What’s happening, Colleen? Are you seeing someone else?’ Her body was positioned somewhere between a recent rape victim and a Catholic schoolgirl busted for looking at a nasty magazine.” Other passages from the book cannot be printed in Campus News R. Steven Johnson due to explicit content. Johnson asked in an email from last year that students read the whole book and write a three to five page book report that covers different themes from the book . The book report also had to demonstrated if communication was proven effective or not. Students also had to post their own independent reviews on Amazon “without mentioning anything about it relating to the class, the assignment or me (Johnson) as your teacher.” “Convertible Chocolate is one of the best books I've ever read, and it is really fascinating how the main character Shawn Johnson learns to overcome traumatic experiences throughout his entire life,” Jose Zagal said in his online review. “It is an effective book because many people can easily relate to Shawn's journey.” “At first, I was skeptical,” Sarahi Briseno said in her review. “Then, as I began to unravel Shawn's journey, I realized something more meaningful than the purpose of reading. “I felt connected to the story, in fact, it couldn't get any more real. This book will take you into a new dimension of understanding the complexities in love, realizing the purpose of existence. There is more to life than falling, there is Shawn's journey to remember how to get up,” Briseno said. Johnsom sells the book to his students for $15 in class and offers the option of purchasing it through Amazon for a hard copy or eBook. “Once your reviews are in, you can get up to 30 points, depending on the quality of the report,” Johnson said in the email. Johnson also offered students the chance to drop any low grades from a pop midterm not mentioned in the
News Briefs
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syllabus from being included in their final grades by promoting his social media accounts and helping him reach a certain number of likes and followers. The assignment’s goal as described in the emails was “to use your communication and persuasive skills to build numbers to Mr. J’s social media sites.” Students were provided links by Johnson to perform research to help with the promotion. If all three of his classes at the time participated and were able to reach the goals set for FaceBook, Twitter and Instagram by midnight on Thanksgiving, their midterm grades would be dropped. Failure to meet those numbers would keep the grades in place. Students who did well on the midterm would keep their grades. “You cannot use any language similar to: ‘I need you to like/subscribe to this page because I need to get my midterm erased,’” Johnson said in an email, as the assignment’s only rule. “Anything else promoting the book or using other parts of my profession to gain a like is perfectly allowed.” He brought up extra assignments through emails to his classes called Week-End Update (WEU). These assignments were not mentioned anywhere in the class syllabus. The textbook Johnson also wrote for his classes, “How to Survive Speech 101,” advertises “Convertible Chocolate” and the book’s related merchandise in the back, as well as t-shirts for students who passed the class can buy. Jim Ewert, general counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association (CNPA), said what Johnson is doing can be defined as self-dealing or using his position as a professor for his benefit or personal gain. Each email to Johnson’s students also contained a disclosure message. “This email communication may contain confidential information which also may be legally privileged and is intended only for the use of the intended recipients identified above. If you are not the intended recipient of this communication, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized review, use, dissemination, distribution, downloading, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient and have received this communication in error, please immediately notify us by reply email, delete the communication and destroy all copies.” The message included at the end of every email to his students is not legally binding. “It’s not something he can enforce,” Ewert said. “While California recognizes legal privilege, the state does not recognize any teacher-student privilege there may be.” Johnson also studied law while attending the University of Minnesota, where he earned his bachelor’s in communication studies. Communication Studies Department Chair Ryan Smith said Johnson has worked at East Los Angeles College for at least 10 years. “I’ve never received a complaint about Stevie (Johnson),” Smith said. “I’ve only been chair for a year, but I would be shocked if anybody has ever complained about him. There might have been in the past, but I would be highly surprised.” Smith was unaware of Johnson’s activities and had no comment on them. Administrators from Academic Affairs were unavailable for comment. Johnson did not return messages to his social media account.
Free HIV Testing The Health Center is offering free HIV test for ELAC students. The testing will take place at the free speech area on Tuesday from 10:30 a.m.- 4 p.m. No appointments are needed.
Accreditation team to visit campus BY IVAN CAZARES Staff Writer Representatives of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) will visit East Los Angeles College on Tuesday to make sure ELAC provides students with the services and resources it outlines in its self-evaluation summary. “It’s a peer review,” Faculty Accreditation Chair Barbara Dunsheath said, meaning the team consists of educators from different community colleges. The team will visit different departments, the library and might even sit in on classes. The purpose of accreditation is to ensure that institutions of higher education provide students with an education that meets acceptable levels of quality, according to the United States Department of Education. The visit on Tuesday is the final step in a six-year long process which started in 2010, when the school was fully accredited after receiving a warning in 2009. All nine of the colleges in the Los Angeles Community College
District are being evaluated within weeks of each other. It is the first time ACCJC is doing things this way. Community colleges are currently accredited by private educational associations like ACCJC. Associations must apply through the Department of Education and must be reviewed. ACCJC has been criticized by people such as Los Angeles College Faculty Guild President Joanne Waddell. Its critics are calling for a more effective accreditation process. A school that is not accredited might not provide students with a quality education. Student Learning Outcomes are one of the ways ACCJC ensures the colleges it accredits provide students with a quality education. The SLO process is meant to increase student success through the improvement of basic skills, general education and transfer programs. ELAC has been steadily improving its SLO process since 2009. Course Learning Outcomes are part of the SLO process, and 98.6 percent of full-time staff participated in a CLO assessment in spring of 2015.
ELAC memorializes counselor psychology, sociology or trying to become a social worker will be awarded $500 for spring and fall semesters,” Sherman said. The scholarship requires The East Los Angeles College that students have a 2.5 GPA. community is celebrating the They must also complete an legacy of counselor Lydia Associate of Arts degree, Rudametkin, who died on Jan.18, major in social work, psychology with a scholarship opportunity. or become eligible to transfer. The Ms. Lydia Rudametkin Applicants will also be required Memorial Scholarship is designed to express financial need to to help students finish school and who have struggled submit an essay about through domestic and their educational and Ladd said emotional abuse. career goals. Rudametkin was an Rudamekin was “The consensus advocate for students of the academic helpful and when she worked senate, counseling supportive in department and faculty at East Los Angeles College in a variety of raising awareness collaborated on this,” departments over the Sherman said, “that of services, course of her 37 yearis how it is being long career. support and the funded and I’m hoping Rudametkin worked prevention of it will become an a variety of jobs endowment.” abuse. including her position Rudametkin retired as the Director of the in the spring of 2015 ELAC Women's and on June 30 because Men’s Support Center. she was diagnosis with “Lydia mainly started the terminal cancer. first women’s support center,” Ladd said Rudametkin was Kinesiology Professor Marilyn helpful and supportive in raising Ladd said, who worked alongside awareness of services, support and Rudametkin as a part of the Sexual the prevention of abuse. Assault Awareness Violence “She contributed to a lot of Education Team committee. SAAVE team events,” Ladd said. ELAC Disabled Student “She had a plethora of information Programs and Services we needed to know about.” counselor Bonnie Sherman Sherman also explained that the says she hopes that the ELAC faculty and staff collectively recipients of the scholarship gathered close to $3,000 in will continue her legacy by donations since she death. helping others at ELAC because Students have until March 5 to of Rudametkin’s dedication to her submit their applications through students. the ELAC Foundation website “I’m hoping that students where scholarship applications for who are majoring in the spring semester are located.
BY MEGAN G. RAZZETTI Staff Writer
Women’s Swim/Dive
Library workshops
The women’s swim/dive team will have a met on Friday at 12:30 p.m. They will face Long Beach City College at Pasadena City College.
Students are offered library workshops throughout the semester at both campuses. Students are required to sign up in advance through library.elac. edu/enroll. The next workshop is today at 7 p.m.