Campus News Spring 2020 Issue 15

Volume 77, Issue 15 | www.elaccampusnews.com | Wednesday, March 11, 2020 | Single copy free - additional copies 50 cents

VPAM workshop attendees learn alebrije-type art of an alebrije of their choice and then decorate it before glueing it in place.

Before going to the workshop tables there is an open art gallery “Sueño de Familia / Dream of Family” that exemplifies the artistic legacy from the family of Yolanda Gonzalez.

Some of the pieces date back to the late 1870s, made by her great grandfather, Juan Lopez.

The art in the gallery was made in the span of 150 years, by five generations of family members from Mexico to the United States.

The art exhibit is open until March 17.

The workshops are free and aim to expose children to history and art from different cultures from around the world.

The duration of each workshop is usually two hours. Information on upcoming events are posted on the VPAM website. https:// vincentpriceartmuseum.org/events. html

BY MELVIN BUI Staff Writer The Vincent Price Art Museum showcased alebrije art during its monthly community art workshop.

The museum always pairs an exhibit with the art being made, to show people that anyone can be creative with the right materials.

This month’s workshop was on how to make an alebrije, which is brightly colored Mexican folk art that is made to replicate mythical or fantastic beasts.

Alebrije are unique in character because they are not identical to each other. They are made yearround throughout and are not associated with any holidays.

However in the popular Disney film “Coco,” the alebrije are thought to be spirit guides for dead people on Dia De Muertos.

The alebrije being made was inspired by the pre-Columbian exhibit “Form and Function in The Ancient Americas,” located on the third floor.

A ceramic vessel in the exhibit is made to look like an xoloitzcuintli, a sacred Mexican hairless dog that was domesticated by Aztec and Mayan people during prehistoric times.

Pictures of the ceramic vessel were being used to make the alebrije.

The pre-Columbian exhibit has a permanent spot at VPAM and was donated by Vincent Price.

CN/MELVIN BUI

WORKSHOP FUN—The Vincent Price Art Museum’s staff helps families build their art and craft projects for their alebrije workshop.

The alebrije workshop has been one of the most successful family workshops.

The event brought out more people than expected, with families coming out to look at the art and participate in the workshop.

“It’s important for kids to be creative and spend time doing arts and crafts,” said Lizette Carrasco, a staff member at the VPAM. Alebrije originated in Mexico City, Mexico during the early 1930s.

Pedro Linares pioneered this art

culture of constructing mythical beasts when it first came to him in a dream.

Traditionally, they are made of paper mache and cardboard.

However, as time progressed, people switched to wood because

it preserved better.

The workshop used felt to create the art pieces. Participants had different colored felts, decorations and pipe cleaners to choose from to decorate their alebrije with.

They would first cut out a picture

Community-oriented theater professor wins big

BY SAMANTHA INIGUEZ Staff Writer East Los Angeles College adjunct professor James Buglewicz was one of four community college professors awarded the 2019-2020 Hayward Award.

The Academic Senate for California Community College website said, “The Hayward Award for ‘Excellence in Education’ honors community full-time and part-time college faculty who demonstrate the highest level of commitment to their students, college, and profession.”

During his time at ELAC, Buglewicz has developed curriculum for the Theater in The Community Certificate of Achievement and Stagecraft Skills Certificate.

He has also implemented a program with professional partners that provides student, teaching artists and technical interns with hands-on teaching and work experience.

He also founded Touring Children and Inter-Generational Theater, a program where volunteer actors travel and put on performances for

children and older audiences.

Buglewicz found his passion for theatre in high school. An english teacher suggested Buglewicz star in one of the school productions. Since then, Buglewicz has been practicing and making a living through the arts.

“My parents were worried about my career choice, but they let me do what I wanted. It wasn’t until I got a job teaching at a college that my mom was happy, even though she knows I had been successfully supporting myself in the arts for about 20 years,” Buglewicz said.

Buglewicz has made it his mission to bring theater to underserved communities. He started as a performing arts coordinator in Tucson, Arizona and continues to bring the arts to communities to this day as a producing director for the theater at ELAC. Buglewicz said, the Certificate of Achievement in Theater in the Community and the Certificate of Achievement in technical theater creates a bridge that allows high school students to take theater classes and gives them the opportunity to graduate with one

James Buglewicz or two certificates depending on how many classes they take.

He said he implemented a program with professional and educational partners that provides student teaching artists and technical interns with hands-on teaching and work experience, to help artists gain experience for potential part-

time gigs.

One of the ways he does this is through Touring Childrens and Inter-Generational theater.

The traveling show performs at elementary schools, libraries and retirement homes. Buglewicz either adapts stories for the show or writes original stories like “My life was saved by dolphins’ ‘ by East Los Angeles College Story Theater, for the Children’s show.

Children volunteers were invited to join the cast at the beginning of the production and were placed as ship passengers.

Christopher Magallanez is a ELAC alum in the Theater Department. “Jim once said that the purpose of this project was to take theater into communities where it was needed most,” Magallanez said.

“He said that we were ‘planting the seed of art’ into the hearts and the minds of children. They may grow up being told that a career in the arts is unattainable, but we come to nurture the artist that lives within everyone.”

For the older audience, the East Los Angeles College Story theater

traveling theater performs stories like “Fool Me Once” or “Henrietta’s Horrible Day,” a comedy about a recently widowed elderly woman who gets continuously scammed.

Not only does the traveling show bring theater to audiences outside ELAC, but it also provides an opportunity for ELAC students who have thought about acting but have never explored that interest.

“Most of the actors performing in the shows are volunteers who have never had any traditional training or classes, but they get to explore their interest and get right out there and perform,” Bugelwics said.

“There is something about Jim that is truly inspiring. I’ve worked with him on two theater productions here at ELAC. His calm presence is very comforting, especially during extreme situations, which in theater is inevitable.” Michael Moretta, a student of Buglewicz, said.

For more on this story visit: www.elaccampusnews.com

Transfer Center revives newsletter

Page 4

News Briefs ELAC Foundation speech postponed

Senator Rubio and Stedman Graham’s March 26 speech in F5201 has been post-poned until futher notice.

Health coverage assistance

The Health Center will hold a health coverage info session today and March 26 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in F5 ground level.

BY MELODY ORTIZ Staff Writer

One Zone

ELACs’ One Zone opens with LGBTQ+ and Scholar support, March 17 in F5-209 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

CN/MELODY ORTIZ

The Transfer Center revived its newsletter this month.

The Transfer Tribune is a digital monthly newsletter posted on the Center’s social media pages such as Instagram.

The March newsletter, created by the Transfer Centers Bianca Trevizo, was posted on its Instagram page on March 3, announcing its purpose.

“This newsletter was created to bring you all the recent transfer events on campus, remind you of important deadlines and highlight our hardworking Huskies!” the post said.

The newsletter also has student testimonials and schedules for upcoming workshops and university campus tours.

The Transfer Center asks

Men’s basketball wins quaterfinals

for students who are interested in being featured in its monthly newsletter to send an email to transfer@elac.edu with their name,

major and photo, as well as where they wish to transfer and any information they’d want the center to know.

Production of “Gloria” CN/LUIS CASTILLA

KEEP IT CLEAN—East Los Angeles College has set up

30 hand sanitizing stations aross campus in response to concerns regarding the novel coronavirus. California has declared a state of emergency to help prevent outbreaks in the state. Health officials recommend follow the same sanitary practices associated with the seasonal flu.

ELAC Theater Department presents “Gloria”.

Showings start March 20 at 8 p.m. in P2-205 in the upstairs theater. For more call: 323-415-5333

2

Opinions

EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE CAMPUS NEWS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020

Social media advertises fake news

BY STEVEN ADAMO Staff Writer Silicon Tech magazine reported last month that over 634 million of Facebook’s users have fallen victim to fake news scams.

Many feel that it is a victimless crime, but according to a 2017-2018 statistics report released by the Center for Digital Crime Statistics, misinformation affects 75% of people’s health and 83% of their finances.

Paragraphs, like the previous ones, are filled with falsehoods.

Fake news works because it looks and sounds like real news.

It fits the design of your favorite social media platform (or newspaper), regardless of its origins.

A lot of fake news is spread by trolls who are usually doing it for fun, to harass or to just make easy money.

Trolling is no longer “a art,” it is a big business.

When the Internet Research Agency in Russia sought to create discord in our political environment, the New York Times reported in

2018 that they did so while earning $2,500 a month; which is what a $15-an-hour part-time job plays.

Employees of the Russian troll farm, Internet Research Agency, were paid to write untrue articles— riddled with falsehoods and overexaggerations— in order to promote a specific agenda.

What is the opposite side of the truth, fake news?

Are journalists required to report falsehoods just because people in power repeat them?

Newspapers and news companies are being purchased by large corporations and less money is being allocated to covering local news.

For example, many of the newspapers close to this area used to be in two groups: Los Angeles News Group and San Gabriel Valley News Group, which included multiple newspapers including the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and the Los Angeles Daily News.

Today, both groups have merged into the “Southern California News Group” and are now owned by Digital First Media, which is the business name of MNG Enterprises,

Inc, owned by Alden Global Capital. Broadcast news seems to be even more confusing.

When big business buys a bunch of smaller newspapers, most jobs are consolidated into a centralized location—editing and creating graphics in-house and sending out the finished product to affiliates all across the country.

When communities across the United States differ dramatically, one size doesn’t fit all.

With so much money being put into news companies and little money going to pay journalists (and other related fields) to do the work, this has created a vacuum for trolls and liars to thrive on the internet.

With more people getting their news from sites like Facebook— even legitimate news outlets will only show up on your timeline based on an algorithm tailored to your reading habits.

Wouldn’t you want to see the whole story without influence?

When we get angry at articles designed to make us feel that way, we’re reassuring this industry that demand is there.

EDITOR IN CHIEF Luis Castilla MANAGING EDITOR Melody Ortiz ONLINE EDITOR Alex Handy FRONT EDITOR Juan Calvillo OPINION EDITOR Jonathan Bermudez NEWS EDITOR Melvin Bui FEATURE EDITOR Juliett Marie Villegas

Big Media speaks on our behalf, but rarely has our best interest in mind.

With fake news, you get all the sensations of reading a news article

without any of the nutrients.

When people educate themselves about misinformation, they are less vulnerable to “fake news.”

New voting machines split the community New machines offer convience for voters

BY IVAN CAZARES Staff Writer The “Voting Solutions for All People” system, which was used for the first time during the California primary, is a more convenient and efficient way of voting than the system it replaced.

Before the primary election, Los Angeles County voters and voters in the 14 other counties in which the Voter’s Choice Act went into effect had to vote at designated polling stations if they didn’t mail in their official ballot.

On top of allowing voters to cast ballots at any polling station, the stations were open from Feb. 29 to March 2, not just on Super Tuesday.

Not only is the new system more efficient, it’s not even mandatory for voters to use it to cast their votes.

Voters in California had the option of voting early by mailing in their ballots like they’ve been able to for years.

Voting early might result in many voters casting votes for candidates who’ve dropped out before the end of the contest, but it provides another option for those who can’t make it to a polling station.

Voters submitting ballots at East Los Angeles College waited up to two hours to cast their votes.

This wasn’t because of any faults in the new system but rather due to procrastination on the part of voters, volunteers adjusting to the new system and ELAC’s position as a cultural hub in the community.

To put it simply, everyone and their mom wanted to cast their votes on campus despite some stations with much shorter times being less than a mile away.

“I was just helping a friend through the voting process. There wasn’t a line when I voted. I got to school around 10 a.m,” Jeffrey Serrano, a marine biology sophomore at ELAC, said on Super Tuesday.

“I was just helping a friend through the voting process.

There wasn’t a line when I voted.

I got to school around 10.am” JEFFERY SERANO

Marine Biology Sophomore

There are a few things voters could do to expedite the process.

The first thing voters could do is not wait for the last minute to cast their ballots.

Voters could also fill out a sample ballot if they received one in the mail so that filling out the official ballot is easier.

Most voters know who they want to vote for in the primary,

but many don’t look into other elected officials on the ballot such as judges or measures like Measure R, which was a ballot measure voted on regarding the Sheriff’s Civilian Oversight Commission.

Such oversights slow the process down because many people look these things up on the spot.

Voters could even fill out a sample ballot online using the new system that can be scanned at the polling station to eliminate one of the most time consuming parts of the voting process.

The line at ELAC shouldn’t have been as long as it was.

There were plenty of machines which remained empty because not enough voters knew how the new system works.

The one major drawback to the new system is the reliance on the machines which could fail during an election and did fail during the primary election.

Media outlets reported wait times as long as four hours largely due to technical difficulties.

Some voting stations including ELAC were forced to extend voting hours to accommodate voters who’d been waiting in line for hours.

The volunteers were overwhelmed by the huge turnout of voters on campus.

The next election that uses the system will benefit from volunteers who gained experience during the primary election and voters remembering that hot spots like ELAC will have longer than average wait times.

Voting machines disrupt voters with errors on ballots

BY RAYMOND NAVA Staff Writer In 2019, Los Angeles County introduced new voting centers and machines which would replace the traditional polling places and voting system that had been used in past elections.

H o w e v e r, t h e n e w v o t i n g machines are not better than the old method of voting.

Unlike in previous elections, voters are no longer restricted to just their neighborhood polling place, but can now vote at any of the 1,000 new voting centers in the county.

In addition to the new voting centers, the way voters filled out their ballots was also new.

Voters now use a touch screen machine to select candidates in www.ELACCampusNews.com

races and the machine will fill in the ballot based on their selections. In some ways they are worse.

One downside to the new voting machines is that with races with five or more candidates, a voter’s first choice candidate may not be in the first list of candidates.

Voters would have to select the “more” button to see more candidates.

Elected officials such as California Representative Ted Lieu tweeted on election day that his name did not appear in the top four on the list for voters in the southern portion of his district.

Though the interface was adjusted following these concerns, it still can be a problem for voters who don’t keep up-to-date with races.

Another problem with using these new voting machines is that

if a number of them don’t work, it hours, that’s a sign these machines can have a negative effect for many are not what voters should be using voters, as was seen last Tuesday. to mark their ballots.

The LA Times In the run reports that many up to February voting machines When a set of machines election day, were down at an NBC article being down is causeing reported on this voting centers.

There were still same flaw. backed up lnes for many long lines of It also people who were hours, that’s a sign these mentioned that going to vote, with machines are not what studies show wait times of up that voters to three or four voter should be using to don’t take time hours. mark their ballots. to inspect their Some polling ballots. stations extended A new way of voting hours voting should because of the not add an extra long wait time unnecessary including ELAC. step for the voter.

When a set of machines being That same NBC article also down is causing backed up lines for reported that during testing, the

machines were found to jam at five times the allowable rate California allows.

The jams were found to have destroyed ballots, which would then require the voter to go through the process again.

Though officials say the issue has been fixed and there aren’t any reports so far of this happening last Tuesday.

T h a t s t i l l d o e s n ’t i n s t i l l confidence that these machines are better for voters than the previous methods.

With issues this dire, voters would be much better off with being allowed to mark their own ballot by hand.

Giving direct control to machines and having to to rely on them would be worse.

ARTS EDITORS Gabriela Gutierrez Johanna Perez SPORTS EDITOR Erica Cortes Michael Dominguez COPY EDITOR Ivan Cazares CARTOONIST Zasha Hayes STAFF WRITERS Alejandro Ambriz Jeremy Arias Andrew Ayala Johanna Calderon Miguel Dominguez Samantha Iniguez Maria Marroquin Monroy Raymond Nava Russell Navarrette Noe Ortega Vanessa A. Ramos Julie Santiago Sonny Tapia Melisa Valenzuela Hector Gomez ADVERTISING Stefanie Arocha DISTRIBUTION Gustavo Buenrostro ADVISERS Jean Stapleton Sylvia Rico-Sanchez Campus News encourages letters to the editor relating to campus issues. Letters must be typed and double spaced.

Submitted material becomes the property of Campus News and cannot be returned. Letters should be limited to 300 words or less.

Campus News reserves the right to edit letters for grammatical errors or libelous content.

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East Los Angeles College Campus News 1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez E7-303 Monterey Park, CA 91754 (323) 265-8819, Ads (323) 265-8821 Fax (323) 415-4910 The East Los Angeles College Campus News is published as a learning experience, offered under the East Los Angeles College Journalism program. The editorial and advertising materials are free from prior restraint by virtue of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The opinions expressed are exclusively those of the writer.

Accordingly, materials published herein, including any opinions expressed, should not be interpreted as the position of the Los Angeles Community College District, East Los Angeles College, or any officer or employee thereof.

PRINTING BY NEWS PUBLISHERS PRESS

Arts

EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE CAMPUS NEWS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020

3

Affleck’s new movie resonates with his off-screen life

BY MAYRA PEREYRA Staff Writer

The “Way Back” is a movie about a former high school basketball sensation, struggling with alcoholism, who’s offered a coaching job at his alma mater.

As the team starts to win, he becomes motivated to overcome his addiction.

Affleck plays an alcoholic and can relate to his character since he has been dealing with addiction for quite some time.

Affleck has said he has dealt with depression throughout his life due to childhood traumas-, which included a long family history of alcohol abuse.

Jack Cunningham, the lead role played by Affleck, an addict who received a full scholarship to the University of Kansans to play basketball but lets that opportunity go and lets himself drift away from his responsibilities.

He gets a chance to reconnect with his love for the game.

He is offered a job at his alma mater to coach the basketball team, which is not doing so well, but he accepts in hopes of keeping himself off alcohol.

Cunningham realizes that he has made many bad decisions and has spent much of his time hurting himself.

This character resonated with Affleck,especially after finally admitting he was battling his reallife addiction.

He posted on twitter back in October 2019, “battling addiction

is a life long and difficult struggle. and lays on his couch to watch a It is a full-time commitment, and basketball game.

I am fighting for my family and The director, from the beginning, myself.” makes it clear that Cunningham has Affleck admits that while filming, a drinking problem. he found himself reconnecting with He lives alone, visits a bar after acting through the cast and finds work almost every night and drinks himself loving it again. until he can’t stand anymore, but The storyline feels familiar, Jack isn’t the one limiting his similar to the movies “Coach consumption of alcohol.

Carter” starring Samuel L. Jackson A friend at the bar, an older black and “Finding man, helps him. This man Forrester” starring turns out to be his father’s Sean Connery. friend.

Jackson plays a Affleck admits While walking coach who returns Cunningham up the stairs, that while to his old high this friend talks about filming he school to get the Cunningham’s dad and how basketball team found himself at least he doesn’t have to into shape and set reconnecting carry him into the house as the players on a he did with his dad. with acting winning-streak That week Cunningham and Connery through the receives a call from a priest, plays a literature Divine, who is the cast and finds Father teacher who helps head of the high school Jack a student confront himself loving attended in the 1990s. his past.

Father Divine calls him it again.

This seems over to Bishop High School to somewhat of a see if he would be interested similar plot, but in possibly coaching the the movie “The varsity basketball team.

Way Back” isn’t just about the Cunningham looks around the basketball team and helping them rectory and sees a jersey with his win. last name and a trophy that says The movie “The Way Back” is CIF Championship 1993 and 1994. not based on a true story but the Cunningham was Bishop’s high director did select an actor that can school star basketball player. relate to the character in some ways.

Jack decides to take Father Divine T h e m o v i e b e g i n s w i t h up on his offer and coaches the Cunningham, working as an team, and at first, they lose a few ironworker. games, but Jack finds there strengths After his shift, he walks to his and gives them direction to better truck, where he pops open a can of the team. beer, starts up his Chevy Blazer and They began winning, and this drives off. becomes a distraction for Jack. It He gets to his house, opens his seemed that he had gained control refrigerator, pops open another beer of his drinking, then the story takes

HIGH SCHOOL SENSATION—Jack Cunningham, played by Ben Affleck, rallies his team a during a hard-fought game. Affleck plays a former star player who returns to the court as a coach struggling with alcoholism. a turn.

He gets a call from his ex-wife, Angela, but she sounds worried.

He rushes to a pediatric cancer hospital where he meets Angela.

They both witness a doctor informing their friends that their son has cancer.

Cunningham can’t bear to see how devastated his friends are and practically runs out of the hospital and straight back to the bar.

The movie looks like somewhat of a low budget production, but the story is captivating.

It seems as it is going to be a typical “Coach Carter” type of movie where the team struggles but wins a championship, but the

basketball team isn’t the main focus of the movie.

This movie is about Cunningham, who could have had it all but threw it away.

He grew up with an alcoholic father who didn’t take an interest in his son until he realized he was great at something, basketball.

Cunningham decided to his opportunity away to hurt his father for being abusive, not knowing he would be hurting himself as well.

Like in “Finding Forrester”, Cunningham is slowly forcing himself to overcome his past with the help of his ex-wife and this high school team.

He is angry because his son was

taken from him.

His father did not seem to care, and toward the end, he admits he was not a good husband .

He speaks about how high school was the last time he picked up a basketball.

The director ends the movie with Cunningham admitting himself into rehab.

He is seen walking into a storage room to look for a basketball, he finds one, and is last seen bouncing the basketball and shooting a few baskets.

Not that he’s starting over, but that he’s finally healing.

Netflix’s ‘Castlevaina’ creates hopeless ambience

BY LUIS CASTILLA Staff Writer Season three of Netflix’s anime adaptation of the long-running video game franchise “Castlevania” sees its three main characters abandon all hope.

Having vanquished Dracula at the end of season two, his son, the half-vampire-half-human Alucard is now living in his father’s abandoned castle, the titular Castlevania.

Clearly depressed and lonely, Alucard fashions dolls of Trevor Belmont, the last of the legendary monster-hunting Belmont clan and Speaker-magician Sypha Belnades, the two who helped him kill his father.

Trevor and Sypha are now romantically involved and are investigating a group of secretive monks in the small village of Lindenfeld.

In his solitude, Alucard finds

comfort in training Taka and Sumi, twins who seek the skills necessary to kill vampires so that they can defend themselves and their people.

Having been alone for so long, Alucard unconsciously tries to make them stay as long as possible.

The direction the writers are taking with Alucard opens the door for a future where Alucard might be the villain of the series.

This season is all about possibilities.

Trevor and Sypha fail to protect Lindenfeld from the monks and realize that their fun adventures are over.

Now they must deal with the reality that the heroes don’t win all the time.

Side characters are also dealing with their own hardships.

Hector, one of two human forgemasters and formerly of Dracula’s council, is imprisoned by four vampire women who are only keeping alive because of his ability to create night-creatures, demons

who can be used as soldiers.

Isaac, the other forgemaster, is on a quest for revenge and seeks to continue the work of Dracula and exterminate the human race.

Through his interactions with others on his journey, Isaac realizes that not all humans are rude and worthless.

He spares three people on his journey: a merchant, a sailor and an old forgemaster.

Each of which proved to have positive human traits deeming them worthy to Isaac.

The stories of Hector and Isaac are sort of opposites to each other.

Isaac is learning to see the good in people, while Hector is continuing to be betrayed by those close to him.

At the end of the season, everyone’s life is altered drastically.

Everything is in shambles right now. The story needs resolving and everything is in place for a climactic season four.

“Castlevania” season three is available for streaming on Netflix.

COURTESY OF NETFLIX

A FIERCE BATTLE—Trevor Belmont, Count Saint Germain and Sypha Belnades brace themselves before the final battle with the night creatures summoned by the monks.

Final Fantasy VII demo hypes up fans for revamped version

BY LUIS CASTILLA Staff Writer

COURTESY OF SQUARE ENIX

EX-SOLDIER—Cloud Strife, the main character of “Final Fantasy VII Remake” has been brought to the modern era after the initial release of “Final Fantasy VII” in 1997.

“Final Fantasy VII” is one of the most influential video games of all time and with its remake just around the corner, the demo is raising hype to new levels.

When “Final Fantasy VII” was originally released in 1997, it revolutionized the video game industry.

The Final Fantasy franchise innovated the role-playing game (RPG) genre, but “Final Fantasy VII” was the largest, most complex game to date.

For many, “Final Fantasy VII” was their introduction to RPGs. Today, there is not an aspect of the game that is not revered by fans.

From its characters to its storytelling to its music, “Final Fantasy VII” is one of the most beloved games ever.

The demo, released March 2, drops players in the opening

bombing mission from the original game.

Seeing a game from the original PlayStation era be revamped with the latest technology is truly a magical experience.

Being able to freely swing the main character, Cloud’s massive Buster Sword feels awesome.

There is weight to each swing, which makes sense with a sword that large.

Fans have known for some time that the remake would do away with the traditional turn-based battle system of the original.

Instead, the remake combines an active-time-battle (ATB) system with straightforward hacking and slashing.

By combining these two mechanics, players are required to have both skill and perception to defeat enemies quickly.

Aside from gameplay, the game itself looks incredible.

The demo starts off in the city of Midgar.

Seeing Midgar fully rendered in

all its glory is a bit overwhelming.

This was a very linear part of the demo, so knowing that players will have free rein of the city in the full game is an exciting aspect to look forward to.

The game’s music is also set to be redone with modern technology.

It will have a lot to live up to as the original soundtrack is beloved by many fans and is one of the reasons the game has remained so relevant.

Even in the demo, characters are already being fleshed out more than they were in the original game.

When a remake of the game was announced in 2015, it was a moment of shock, joy and doubt.

Many doubted that the game would ever actually be released.

Fans had been asking for a remake for years and the idea of it actually happening became synonymous with hell freezing over.

“Final Fantasy VII Remake” is set to be released April 10 for PlayStation 4. It will be available for PC and Xbox One a year later. www.ELACCampusNews.com

4

Sports

EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE CAMPUS NEWS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020

Men’s basketball scrapes, claws their way into final eight

BY ANDREW AYALA Staff Writer East Los Angeles College men’s basketball continues its win streak into the elite eight after a nail-biting 68-65 victory over Allan Hancock College on Saturday at the men’s gym.

The eight teams left in the California Community College Athletic Association championship are: ELAC, Santa Rosa Junior College, Riverside City College, City College of San Francisco, College of the Sequoias, Santiago Canyon College, Los Angeles Valley College and Fresno City College.

The Huskies will face Santa Rosa Junior College at West Hills Lemoore College gym at 1 p.m. on Friday.

ELAC is ranked number two in the state.

If they win, the Huskies will advance to the semi-final on Saturday and have a chance at playing the championship on Sunday.

Both ELAC and Allan Hancock played with the intensity and aggression of raging bulls, only allowing the largest lead to be eight points.

The Huskies, however, managed to stay level-headed and struck like a synchronized pack of wolves on the hunt.

A dominant second half kept ELAC in the.0 game and the crowd on its feet.

ELAC sophomore forward Joseph Hampton even came onto the hardwood with a fresh pair of shoes after halftime and said he changes them when he isn’t performing properly.

“We just had to come together. We had to put our hearts together. We work hard and no one works harder than us,” said Deshaun Highler, sophomore guard for ELAC. “Times like this, there’s really no execution or no Xs and Os that you can draw up, and we were ready for that tonight,” Highler said.

The Huskies had 16 steals and 42 points in the paint.

Freshman guard/forward Keenan Allen led the team with 13 rebounds, 20 points and made some game-changing plays, including a monstrous dunk in the second half.

Sophomore guard Levelle Zeigler, freshman guard Kristopher Smith and Highler each had four steals. Zeigler and Highler also led the team in assists with four each.

The energy that the team brought was reciprocated by the crowd and could be heard throughout the gym as thunderous chants.

Highler said that if the team keeps the same energy and plays with their hearts, they can do anything.

He said that everyone was stepping up.He said getting dirty and gathering their grit allowed

CN/MICHAEL DOMINGUEZ

VICTORY— East Los Angeles College sophomore center Malik Muhammed (33) and freshman guard Dezmond Washington(22) celebrate their playoff victory over Allan Hancock on Saturday night.

CN/MICHAEL DOMINGUEZ

THAT’S MINE---- East Los Angeles College freshman guard

Kealen Allen reaches over Allen Hancock’s freshman guard Xavier Cooper to grab a rebound in Saturday’s playoff game.

them to win this one. fastbreak points and 26 points off of ELAC was able to apply pressure turnovers proved that they can strike when necessary and make smart with the swiftness of a snake while plays that resulted in points. under pressure.

Both teams had low shooting Highler said the team will go percentages with the Huskies through its regular routine to making 47.2% of their field goals prepare for the next game, which and 0% of their three-pointers. consists of practice and watching As a result, ELAC had to film before their trip to West Hills dominate the paint L e m o o r e and reevaluate its College. gameplan.

“We kept our The team had a “We had to pick up our composure. We 51.3% free throw pace. It was physical; didn’t get too percentage and rattled or too they were trying to made 18 of their sped up you slow us down. They out know. We were 35 attempts.

Hampton said in control of rebounded us in the the Huskies are the game when making it to the first half and we evened it came down free throw line to it,” said it up in the second and they need to Hampton. half.” take advantage “We didn’t and execute every get out of JOHN MOSLEY opportunity they character or Mens Basketball’s Head Coach have for points. anything like “We had to pick that… and up our pace. It was that’s how we physical, they were trying to slow got out and took the win. If we stay us down. They out rebounded us in within ourselves and within the the first half and we evened it up in game plan, I feel we can win the the second half,” said John Mosley, whole thing.”

ELAC’s head coach.

ELAC next opponent Santa Rosa “Not a great execution and not College was also in a nip-and-tuck great shooting. It was just a win game themselves as they only and we played hard,” Mosley said. beat Columbia College by a total The team understood that missing of four points on Saturday. The shots, free throws and rebounds game between ELAC and Santa impacted the game and caused it to Rosa will be streaming live on be neck-and-neck. The Huskies’ 16 www.cccaasports.org.

Softball wins fifth game in a row

BY GABRIELA GUTIERREZ Staff Writer East Los Angeles College’s softball team won its fifth game in a row, after defeating Long Beach City College 3 – 1 at Mayfair Park on Thursday.

ELAC has won two out of the three games in conference against LBCC. They will try for a season sweep of LBCC on April 2.

Irene Dorado, freshman infielder, started the game with a strike out and was followed by freshman pitcher, Lauren Tate.

The first to get a hit was sophomore catcher Melanie Torres, who made it to first base.

Sophomore first baseman Puatausaga Johnson hit the ball and Torres advanced to second base, but the top of the first inning ended with zero runs.

LBCC was up and its freshman outfielder Deandra Vasquez made it to third base, but LBCC followed Huskies with zero runs to end the bottom of the first inning.

The Huskies began the top of the second inning with a bunt by freshman short-stop Eliza Flores.

Long Beach quickly brought the Huskies to a halt and powered through the bottom of the second inning as sophomore pitcher Joetta Vega singled out to the short-stop.

Tate threw a wild pitch and allowed Vega to advance to second

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base.

Sophomore utility player Alora Murray advanced to first base after an error was made by freshman third baseman Irene Huizar.

The error allowed Vega to advance to third base. In the process, Murray stole second base.

Sophomore outfielder Yazmin Zendejas intentionally walked, which left the bases loaded.

Vasquez took first base after Tate threw four balls. Vega, who was ready to take home-base, advanced to home plate.

Long Beach led 1 – 0 to end the bottom of the second inning.

The Huskies began the top of the third inning with freshman Irene Huizar, who fouled out to first base.

She was followed by Dorado, who grounded out to second base, which left the Huskies with one more run.

Tate didn’t miss her shot and walked to first base after a passed ball. Right after Tate, Torres went up to bat.

Torres’s teammates instantly chanted her name with the theme song from the “Eye of the Tiger”

by Survivor.

Torres hit the ball straight through first and second base and Tate got her opening to advance to second base.

Torres ran to first base.

Johnson went up to bat next and followed her teammate, Torres, to first base.

Torres ran to third base and

Tate made a run for home-base, which led her team to tie with LBCC 1 –1.

The Huskies, with still only two outs, brought out its short-stop Eliza Flores.

Flores singled to left field and made it to first base allowing Johnson to make it to second base.

Torres, who was on third base, to advance to home plate and score the second run of the game for ELAC. Johnson, still at second base, was switched out for her teammate, sophomore infielder, Amber Cortez.

Next to bat was sophomore infielder Priscilla Ortega, who got a hit over left field.

The ball was caught by the opposing team, bringing the Huskies to its third out.

The bottom of the third inning ended quickly with only one hit and zero runs by LBCC, which left the Huskies at the lead 2 – 1.

Taylor Fig, freshman first baseman, began the top of the fourth inning and was caught by lining out.

Huskies’ outfielder Valerie Contrares hit the ball toward the left side of the field, but it was a fair ball and she got a double.

Huizar bunted the ball next but grounded to third base to leave the Huskies with two outs.

Contrares managed to get to third base.

Dorado hit the ball to left field and Contrares made it to home plate, scoring the final run of the game.

Women’s Badmintion

Baseball

Softball

The women’s badminton team gained a victory against Compton College on Friday, with a win of 20-1. Badminton now has a record of 2-2. The upcoming game is on March 20 at 2 p.m. at El Camino College.

The baseball team lost against El Camino College on Tuesday. With a loss of 4-3, the team now has a record of 4-16. Only three homeruns have happen within the 20 games this season. Next upcoming game that was supposed to be played today, is now on Thursday due to weather conditions. The game is against El Camino College at 2:30p.m.

The softball team’s game against Cerritos was postponed on Tuesday due to weather conditions. The game was reschedule to April 15.

Huskies have a record of 12-6, with a five game wining streak. The upcoming game is on Thursday against Rio Hondo at 3 p.m.