Artist performs under bridge Page
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Volume 71, Issue 16
Single copy free - additional copies 50 cents
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
www.elaccampusnews.com
ELAC’s South Gate campus plans move JOSE CAZARES Staff Writer East Los Angeles College has been planning to relocate its South Gate campus since 2003, the new campus is now scheduled to be finished by 2019. A plan to purchase the building was approved in 2003. However, the building was later deemed unsuitable. In 2009, ELAC purchased the 18.5 acre property located across the street from the South Gate campus using Los Angeles Community College District bond funds. ELAC had considered plans were to retrofit the largest building on the property. However, it was determined by the LACCD’s board of trustees that such an undertaking would be too expensive. The facility was intended to accommodate 12,000 students, but
the project was downsized in 2011 and the facility is now expected to accommodate 9,000 students. Instead of retrofitting the larger building, ELAC intends to tear down the building located in the back of the property which faces Santa Fe avenue and replace it with a three or four story building. The project had to undergo a 45-day long public review period before a master plan could be drawn and presented to the LACCD board of trustees for approval. “The 45-day period is either over or nearing its end,” associate Dean of ELAC Ryan Cornner, Ph.D., said. The project has faced several complications, but Cornner and Dean of ELAC’s South Gate campus Al Rios seem confident about the new campus being built by 2019. According to an article published in ELAC Today, a short magazine published by ELAC’s president’s
office, construction is expected to begin by 2016. Emphasis is being put on allowing students to complete degree and transfer requirements without relying on classes on the main campus. The number of classrooms proposed is almost double the amount of rooms at the current campus. The number of classrooms would increase from 17 to 32. Some of the proposed facilities include labs, computer-based classrooms, a large lecture hall and a learning center with a dedicated study area. A parking structure similar to those on the main campus has also been proposed. ELAC decided to go with a design-build firm for this project. This means that the criteria the building needs to meet will be given to a design firm, leaving the design entirely up to them. Aside from the building that
is being torn down, three other buildings are on the property and will be left untouched. Rios said that the largest building has been rented out for filming and other purposes which create revenue for the college. Rios also mentioned the possibility of using the additional buildings to create partnerships with private industry that would make job training available to students. He also said that a lot of focus is being put on the aesthetics of the new campus. He explained that a quad area that incorporates nature to provide contrast from the urban surroundings was proposed. ELAC plans to have an approved master plan by the end of Spring 2014, a design by Fall/Winter 2014, begin construction by Summer/ Fall 2016, complete construction by Spring 2019 and start offering classes by Summer 2019.
Fast Facts
Proposed Timeline
-2003 ELAC plans to relocate South Gate campus -2009 ELAC ourchases 18.5 acre property using LACCD bond funds -2011 project downsized to accomadate 9,000 students
-End of spring 2014 approve master plan -Fall/Winter 2014 building design -Fall 2016 begin construction -Spring 2019 complete construction -Summer 2019 Begin to offer classes at new facilities
LACCD trustees choose new Chancellor JESUS FIGUEROA Staff Writer The Los Angeles Community College District board of trustees have chosen Francisco Rodriguez, Ph.D., superintendent and president of the Mira Costa Community College District, to be the next chancellor. The final vote will take place at next Wednesday’s board of trustees meeting. The board unanimously decided to appoint Rodriguez as the chancellor during a closed session meeting last Wednesday. Rodriguez will take his new position on June 1 after 11 years of being involved with community colleges and a commitment to higher education for almost 30 years. He has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from UC Davis and a Ph.D. in education from Oregon State University. Transfering from being president of a community college district to being chancellor of a district will be a change. Rodriguez said it will just be an issue of scaling the work as well as having an excellent staff and support. Rodriguez said he is excited to work with the LACCD college presidents and to getting to know the student body of each college. The Mira Costa Community College District was struggling with both accreditation and financial problems, which Rodriguez is credited as helping turnaround. Rodriguez said that improving student success is his top priority as well as trying to ensure funding for LACCD for strong academic programs.
Leukemia drive to benefit 2-year old MAEGAN ORTIZ Staff Writer Leukemia patient Sofia Flores, 2 years old, is in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant and tomorrow the East Los Angeles College community can help. There will be a bone marrow drive from noon to 3 p.m. on the south side of ELAC’s E-7 building in the hopes of finding a match for Flores, who has a rare form of leukemia. Family and friends have been reaching out across the Los Angeles area hoping to find the gift of life. “Her mother is white and her dad is Hispanic which makes finding a match difficult,” ELAC professor of kinesiology Marilyn Ladd said. Ladd lives in the same neighborhood as the Flores family. Sofia’s mother is an educator and
News Briefs
according to Ladd, has strong ties to many ELAC alumni. Often the best hopes of a match come from within the family of someone struggling with an illness like Sofia’s. Her father Ignacio donated his marrow in January, but the procedure did not work. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) types, which are used to make matches, are more commonly found in people with the same racial or ethnic background. According to the 2012-2013 ELAC College Profile and Data Book, 76.6 percent of enrolled students are Hispanic or Latino, making the likelihood of finding a match higher. Registering to donate is painless and does not require blood to be drawn. It only takes a swab of saliva to
determine a match. Volunteers must be between 18 and 44 and be willing to help any patient. “We have to help this precious angel,” Ladd said. Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches (A3M) is coordinating the donor recruitment drive. One of the organization’s goals is to increase and diversify the Be The Match Registry. Be the Match is the operator of the world’s largest and most diverse marrow registry operated by the National Marrow Donor Program. A3M conducts over 500 donor recruitment drives each year. To date, more than 400 donors, who registered at an A3M drive, have donated their marrow cells to help save a life. Tomorrow’s drive is hosted by ELAC’s Feminist Majority Club.
Helen Miller Bailey Memorial Scholarship Award 2014
The application packet for the Helen Miller Memorial Scholarship is due next Tuesday by 4 p.m. Packet must be turned in to the Social Science Department office in F7-307. Application found online at elac-foundation.org.
CN/JESUS FIGUEROA
Building a positive future ELAC’s Engeneering Club hosted an “Engineering Bootcamp” for students from the Roybal Learning Center yesterday at the foyer of Ingalls Auditorium. The students were taught fundamentals of the way gears work and then allowed to build a toy car. The project allowed the students to test what they had learned.
Career and Job Services Center workshop Sign-up for the “Job skills 1: Resume” Career and Job Service Center workshop in E1-176. The next workshop will be tomorrow from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more information call (323) 415-4126.
Spring College Fair
East Los Angeles College’s Transfer Center will hold a spring college fair tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. The spring college fair will be held in the walkway between the P3 parking structure and D5 Swim Stadium.