2019 Fall Collegian Issue6

Collegian Los Angeles

Wednesday, December 4, 2019 Volume 183 Number 6

STUDENT ISSUES

‘Open Door’ Gives New Start to LACCD Students

Garrett Cries Foul Language See Sports Bin Pg. 10

The Voice of Los Angeles City College Since 1929

Los Angeles Community College District Students Are Not Alone. K-12 Kids Suffer with Homelessness

BY ANDREW L PICKFORD III

I wanted out of being homeless so bad! And when I found this place, I knew exactly what I had to do.”

-Angela Whitehouse Southwest Community College Student

Class schedules, homework, tests and research are part of the hectic pace in the life of a person seeking a college education.

But for a person who has no stable housing, the college experience can become a source of stress.

According to LAist.com, one in five community college students suffers from homelessness.

In a study conducted by researchers at Temple University for hope4college.com, 36 percent of all degree-seeking students are homeless. Homelessness is a social ill in Los Angeles and other large cities, and there is no solution in sight.

What to do About It? A limited number of homeless students who attend Los Angeles Trade Tech, Los Angeles City College and Southwest Community College have become part of a program at the Weingart Center on Skid Row that assists the homeless population.

This Includes housing for 10 college-going students. The program is called Open-Door at the Weingart Center on East Fifth Street and San Pedro. It is a special population here, and the programs are not designed for college students.

“Man, it is hard to help the small segment of college students in our program because they fall into all areas of homelessness,” said Genery Gomez, a case manager for the path housing section at the center. “They come to the programs from prison, addiction of drugs and abuse then decide to go to college.”

Source: L.A. Unified Shool District Illustration by BEATRICE ALCALA

SEE “HOMELESS” PAGE 8

From Bernie to Biden: Rallies highlight split in Trump’s opposition

POLICE WIRE

BY JAMES DUFFY V

COMPILED BY CHISLEY HAYNES Nov. 02, 2019, 9:30 a.m.: Vandalism/petty theft occurred in the Communication Building.

Nov. 03, 2019 - Nov. 04, 2019, Time Unknown: Burglary/ vandalism occurred in the Cesar Chavez Administration Building.

Nov. 7, 2019, 6:30 p.m.: Petty theft occurred in the Life Science Building.

Nov. 8, 2019, 11:30 a.m.

Petty theft occurred in the Child Development Building.

Nov. 8, 2019 - Nov. 12, 2019, Time Unknown: Vandalism occurred in campus parking lot # 4.

Nov. 8, 2019 - Nov. 12, 2019, Time Unknown: Burglary/ vandalism occurred in Da Vinci Hall.

Nov. 8, 2019 - Nov. 12, 2019, Grand theft occurred on campus in parking lot #4.

Nov. 8, 2019 - Nov. 13, 2019, Time Unknown: Vandalism occurred in the Maintenance Operations Building.

Nov. 11, 2019, 1:30 p.m.: Lost property was reported.

Nov. 13, 2019 - Nov. 14, 2019, 1 p.m.: Petty theft occurred in the Martin Luther King Jr. Library.

Nov. 14, 2019 - Nov. 18, 2019, 7 p.m.: Vandalism occurred in the Sci-Tech Building and in Da Vinci Hall.

Photo by BEATRICE ALCALA Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks to a crowd on Nov. 14, 2019 at Los Angeles Trade Technical College.

Photo by JAMES DUFFY V. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks to supporters at a campaign rally on Nov. 16, 2019 in East L.A.

Arts & Entertainment

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BY SORINA SZAKACS

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Campus Life

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Scholarships

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News

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Sports

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SEE “BERNIE TO BIDEN” PAGE 8

Ugly Side of Art Emerges as Workers Try to Unionize

INDEX Opinion & Editorial

L.A.-based band Ozomatli blasted Latin rock at a Sen. Bernie Sanders campaign rally on Nov. 16.

Ozomatli (Nuahtl for monkey) sent the crowd into a dance frenzy. Two days earlier, former Vice President Joe Biden’s crowd grooved to Motown anthems. The pre-speech fanfare was one of many divisions between the two leading presidential candidates.

Their only shared platform is repugnance for President Donald Trump.

“I’m asking for your help to defeat the worst president in American history,” Sanders told his audience at Woodrow Wilson Senior High School East L.A. Two days before, Biden made a similar statement.

“Eight years of Donald Trump will change the very character of who we are as a nation, and we cannot let that happen,” Biden said at L.A. Trade Tech.

Biden and Sanders rallied their supporters in Los Angeles. The two represent divided factions of the nation’s oldest political party.

“I don’t know anyone that supports Joe Biden, so I feel like it is complete B.S.,” said Kate Ross, a Sanders rally attendee. “The media is hyping him up. That’s all I can figure, but at the same time, like, who are those people who want to vote Democrat, but are old that don’t want to vote for Bernie. I don’t know, I guess (Biden’s) who they feel familiar with.”

L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and other powerful California Democrats turned out for Biden. United Teachers Los Angeles vice president Gloria Martinez opened Sanders’ rally.

Black community organizer Phillip Agnew spoke before Sanders along with Pierce Community College student Alex Perez Gaitan.

Picture Courtesy of LYLWYN ESANGGA Employees fired by the Marciano Art Foundation protest in Santa Monica in front of the Guess store on Black Friday, Nov. 28, 2019. Labor Union AFSCME Council 36 organized nationwide protests to inform Guess shoppers about how its owners treat art workers.

ilt frames, imposing bronze sculptures and endless silhouettes of beauty fill the corridors of museums as guests and patrons walk past low-profile curators and attendants at Los Angeles Museums.

Institutions that exhibit artwork valued in the billions of dollars are considered progressive sanctuaries where culture, representations of ethnicity and national identity blend in harmony. But beyond the opulence and behind closed doors, employment practices strip the beauty from gallery walls to reveal empty places where powerful

boards and bosses do not value their work force.

Marciano Art Foundation housed a private collection of over 1,500 art pieces valued at billions of dollars.

Marciano is the same name that built the fashion super-brand Guess. They are one of the richest families in the United States according to Forbes.

At the beginning of November their employees made a bold move. They took steps to form a union to improve working conditions. Four days later, the Marciano Foundation fired them all. Seventy employees received word via email that their services would no longer be required.

SEE “MARCIANO” PAGE 8

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OPINION & EDITORIAL

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 4, 2019

EDITORIAL

Student Journalists Apologize for Reporting President Donald Trump’s former attorney general, Jeff Sessions spoke in a crowded lecture hall at Northwestern University’s campus in Evanston, Ill. recently.

As student protestors pushed their way through the backdoor, they were met by police who tried to block them, unsuccessfully, from entering.

Colin Boyle, student photographer for The Daily Northwestern, photographed the event on and off stage.

One of the student protestors, Ying Dai, was photographed with her body sprawled on the floor. The image posted by Boyle has now been deleted from Twitter.

Ying addressed the photographer directly on the platform, “Colin, please can we stop this trauma

porn,” She tweeted. “I was on the ground being shoved and pushed hard by the police. You don’t have to intervene, but you also don’t have to put a camera in front of me top down.”

After this, editors at The Daily Northwestern issued a statement apologizing for their journalists posting photographs of protestors on social media and for going through the school directory in an attempt to contact students.

This story has spiraled on social media and professional, prominent journalists are weighing in on the matter.

Margaret Sullivan, writer for the Washington Post wrote, “The top editors of the student newspaper did something incomprehensible to many professional journalists,” she

Traveling via Metro

BY CRISTIAN SERPAS L.A.’s Metro’s public transportation service does an outstanding job helping the public travel where they need to go.

Riding the Metro local bus is a convenient way to get around the metropolitan area of Los Angeles.

According to BusinessInsider.com, “the Los Angeles Metro Rail system comprises two subway lines and four light rail lines that cover 93 stations throughout L.A. County.

The system transports 344,000 riders on an average weekday.”

One can easily ride from downtown L.A. to the Santa Monica pier and enjoy the sun and the waves.

There are multiple routes the Metro has to offer in making it affordable and a great way to travel for any Angeleno.

Not only are the Metro local buses economical, but it has more benefits than just being affordable.

For example, while riding the bus, one can relax or rest making it less stressful for the person before arriving at their destination.

Unlike in a car, where the driver needs to be focused and has to deal

with traffic. It can become stressful for the driver.

Not only does using the bus for transportation save a person money, it’s also great for the environment by means of transporting multiple people in one ride. This means one, or several less cars on the road, cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

ConserveEnergyFuture.com states that “multiple occupant vehicles, also referred to as carpools, reduce the number of vehicles on roads, hence, minimizing levels of pollution. Multiple occupant vehicles are very eco-friendly and favorable mode of green transportation.”

Although the Metro local buses are cheap in prices and great for the environment, it is possible they can be unreliable when it comes to their arrival time.

There can times when one can be waiting for the bus for 30 minutes making them want to give up on public transportation because the process takes longer than driving.

To avoid from being late because of a bus delay, planning ahead and leaving home earlier can avoid being late.

The Metro does an immense job getting thousands of people to their job, school, home and so on, at such an affordable price in this big city.

It is open to any local and for those outside of the city who are curious to explore Los Angeles.

began.

“They abjectly apologized, in writing, for doing some of the most basic jobs of journalism: Documenting a protest – in this case, an appearance by former attorney general Jeff Sessions on campus – and seeking comment by using a campus directory to contact students via text message. And in making that apology, in a published statement, they used some language that played into the idea that today’s students are too sensitive to live in the real world. In the vernacular: “snowflakes.”

Charles Whitaker, dean of Northwestern’s prestigious Medill journalism school recently issued a statement on this debate.

“The Daily had an obligation to capture the event, both for the benefit of its current audience as well as

for posterity,” he wrote.

Mr. Whitaker then defended The Daily, but also criticized the paper’s decision to apologize.

“I have also offered that it is naïve, not to mention wrongheaded, to declare, as many of our student activists have, that The Daily staff and other student journalists had somehow violated the personal space of the protesters by reporting on the proceedings, which were conducted in the open and were designed, ostensibly, to garner attention,” he said.

“We weren’t there to get in the newspaper. We weren’t there to get national attention,” Ying, the student protestor later said. “People still hold dear that their journalistic duty is the most important thing, and that’s not the case.”

Her argument is that she and other activists are trying to challenge journalistic means and create a more sensitive path to reporting that considers the vulnerability of the people whose lives are being portrayed.

According to the New York Times, Robyn Cawley, editor-in-chief of The Daily Cardinal at the University of Wisconsin, reflected on the event.

“I was thinking, like, imagine if this had happened on our campus,” she said. “We would have sent somebody to the protest. We wouldn’t have given it a second thought. You’re out in public, you’re protesting, it’s very likely you’re going to have some sort of media coverage there.”

Robyn is majoring in English and environmental studies and says that she has occasionally felt pressure from fellow classmates who have tried to exert control over the school newspaper’s coverage.

She says that once a former volunteer with the College Democrats urged her to take down an article, because it presented them in an unflattering light.

“I was like, of course you’re not going to like it,” she said. “Good for you. That’s the point of journalism.”

Journalists get pushback. This is not a new concept. A prime example of this is the way President Trump ridicules journalists, avoids answering questions and claims, “fake news.”

According to National Public Radio (NPR), “More than 350 newspapers today published editorials defending the role of journalism in a free society. That role has come under attack frequently from President Trump. He’s calling the press a domestic enemy. And we are fellow countrymen. And our profession is to hold the powerful accountable.”

At Northwestern University, it’s clear that some of the student journalists are unsure of how to move forward in the field of reporting.

“Everybody’s trying to figure out a solution and still be good journalists along the way,” said Olivia Olander, a student video journalist at Northwestern who covered the protest over Sessions’s speech.

The New York Times reported that “others said they found themselves struggling to meet two dueling goals: responding to the changing expectations of the students they cover, particularly from those on the political left, while upholding widely accepted standards of journalism.”

“We don’t go into journalism to be popular,” the late American reporter and author, Helen Thomas said. “It is our job to seek the truth and put constant pressure on our leaders until we get answers.”

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Submit images, ideas or letters to the Collegian for consideration.

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BY JOSE ZUAZUA “Give ‘em enough rope, and they’ll hang themselves,” is a phrase I cite a lot because I think we as humans constantly shoot ourselves in the foot.

This is why I am against self-driving cars. People rely on technology far too much, and technology itself is far from perfect.

In September of 2019, a man was videotaped asleep at the wheel of his self-driving Tesla.

“Our driver-monitoring system repeatedly reminds drivers to remain engaged and prohibits the use of Autopilot when warnings are ignored.

At highway speeds, drivers typically receive warnings every 30 seconds or less if their hands aren’t detected on the wheel,” Tesla said in a statement to USA TODAY. But that’s the way people are already seeing self-driving cars -- as a way to catch up on sleep, or eat, or groom themselves on their way

to work. In March of 2018, a pedestrian in Arizona was run over by a self-driven car that had a person in the driver’s seat.

In an article related to that incident posted by the New York Times, “The Uber car, a Volvo XC90 sport utility vehicle outfitted with the company’s sensing system was in autonomous mode with a human safety driver at the wheel, but carrying no passengers when it struck Elaine Herzberg, a 49-year-old woman, on Sunday around 10 p.m.”

Self-driving cars are seen as “the way of the future,” but will never be as good as human reactions. As it stands, how fast does a human need to react to take over an autonomous car that’s about to make a mistake?

And what if it’s going at a faster speed?

That means the companies are implying that these cars cannot replace humans in terms of safety, but humans aren’t safe drivers as is. How often are drivers already distracted by their phones, a billboard or something else. Now they’re asking us to depend on something that is less perfect than mistake-filled humans.

Great idea. I’ll pass.

Collegian Los Angeles City College Visual & Media Arts Department 855 N. Vermont Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90029 323.953.4000 ext. 2832 losangeles.collegian@gmail.com Editor-in-Chief BEATRICE ALCALA JAILENE TRUJILLO Graphics Editor BEATRICE ALCALA Opinions & Editorial Editor SARAH RAGSDALE Sports Editor RYAN BARMORE Arts & Entertainment Editor DAMIAN HOSEA Copy Editors ANGELA JOHNSON Broadcast, Social Media Producer JASON PISKOPUS Photographers BEATRICE ALCALA CHRIS AHN RYAN BARMORE SARAH RAGSDALE

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NEXT ISSUE: February 18, 2019 EDITORIAL DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 24, 2020

OPINION & EDITORIAL

Compiled by Sarah Ragsdale Photos by Ryan Barmore

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THE REMOTE LOCKING SYSTEMS NOW IN PLACE IN MANY OF THE BUILDINGS ON CAMPUS? DO YOU FEEL THREATENED BY POTENTIAL ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATIONS ON CAMPUS?

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 4, 2019

AUGUSTINE CRUZ Major: Liberal Arts

DALIA ELMANZALAWY Major: Biology

JOSH ALVAREZ Major: Undeclared

“The threat of an active shooter here has definitely crossed my mind. It happens so much and so often and it’s pretty scary. In terms of the security measures, it sounds like a good idea, but I don’t know the details.

I don’t know if it’s just a matter of locking people out of buildings, and not being locked in … that’s troublesome if that’s the case. If you’re in a building and there’s an active shooter, and you’re in the same building as the active shooter…you’re like trapped in there with the shooter! So if that’s not the case and they [LACC Sherrifs] are locking buildings from the outside, like if it’s just a one way situation that’s good.”

“I’ve brought it up before; in my anatomy class last semester the sheriff came and talked about it. Our professor had brought up the problem of homeless men and women going into the women’s restrooms of the SCI building, since its so close to the Metro station.

A lot of girls were worried about their safety, because these men have come in, and they might be on drugs, and they would try to attack these women! There have been some instances where some questionable things have happened for sure.

Since then they usually have a sheriff standing by the science building, but I hope they are taking more security measures. I get that this is an open campus, and I think that’s great. LACC educates the majority of the population of Los Angeles, so of course it would be nice if it could always be open, but with safety.

I’m hoping it’s [an active shooter situation] not a problem here, but it’s not you until its you.”

“If it’s locking us in, that’s a bit scary to think about.

Especially since there was no real announcement of that [new locking system] taking place as a response to any active shootings.

This is my first semester here, so I’m not sure if the school has a history of that. But to hear something like that [for the first time from you and] not from the actual security on campus is kind of unsettling.”

3

OSCAR CRUZ Major: Child Development “I’m originally from Maryland, and there my high school was so ghetto they actually had metal detectors in front of any door; and once you walk in, there were cops all around the school. In the four years I was there, there were four lockdowns; where if anyone was caught in the hallways they get expelled off the bat.

So it’s pretty crazy out there. At certain times safety is an issue here.

Our potential graduates and professors put their money, education and time to get a degree or diploma.

For all of that to go to waste by a shooter, I think that’s crazy.”

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Scorsese Creates His Top Mob Opus

BY JOSE ZUAZUA “The Irishman” is the newest film directed by Martin Scorsese that stars Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. The film is about Frank Sheeran, a mob hitman, and his recollection of his time with Teamster Union President Jimmy Hoffa.

It has been 13 years since Scorsese last directed a movie about gangs doing “gang-things.” Other than “The Departed” (2006) for which he won his first and only “Best Director” Academy Award so far, Scorsese’s most famous films have always involved gangs, especially the Italian-American mob.

Over the course of his expansive career, Scorsese has branched out as an artist, creating family-friendly movies like “Hugo” in 2011 and musicals like “New York, New York” in 1977.

But people still want to see Scorsese tackle the thugs -- the guys lurking in the back of the restaurant, the guys waiting in the car with automatic gunpower ready to shoot. “The Irishman” feels like all those previous gangster movies wrapped into one.

Only this time, things are a little

different.

Whereas those previous movies had a lot of zip and swagger and were more glamorous time capsules of a people’s lives, this movie, “The Irishman,” is a more insightful piece. It is less about the excess and more about retrospection, possibly regret. It has a style to it, as Scorsese movies typically do, but it is more subdued.

Both DeNiro and Pesci play to that gentler tone. There’s one scene where DeNiro’s Frank Sheeran must make a tough phone call, and I didn’t feel like he was acting. Like there was no “performance.”

Pesci does a wonderful job with that subdued ideology. In this film, his somber face but meaningful eyes do wonders. His will be a favorite acting performance of the year.

The movie does run 3 1⁄2 hours, so try not to drink too much or you’ll miss a lot. But with that said, if Martin Scorsese were to end his career with “The Irishman,” it would be a formidable capstone to a stellar career. The lengthy story is engaging, and both DeNiro and Pesci slam-dunk their roles. It is worth watching a second time when it hits Netflix on Nov. 27, 2019.

Art historians are rethinking Balthazar, one of the three kings (far right) depicted in “The Adoration of the Magi” on exhibit at the Getty Museum through February 2020. It is said the three kings represented the known continents of the world: Asia, Europe and Africa.

BALTHAZAR UNMASKED: BLACK AFRICAN KING COMES TO GETTY The Getty Museum gives lovers of art and history a closeup look at a wellknown, but whitewashed black African King from medieval and Renaissance Art.

S

BY DAMIEN HOSEA tep right up and meet Balthazar, a black African King.

The Getty Center Museum in Los Angeles has opened an art exhibit that will explore the depiction of the historical figure through art and artifacts.

During early medieval times, written reports state that three kings paid homage to the Christ Child in Bethlehem.

European writers assigned names to these Kings: Caspar, Melchoir and Balthazar. It was also said that the three kings represented the well-known continents of the world: Europe, Asia and Africa.

Getty Center Museum Director Timothy Potts says the exhibition delves into manuscripts and paintings within the Getty Center collection that tell the story of the youngest Magi king, Balthazar.

“By exploring how [Balthazar’s] representation coincided with and was furthered by the rise of the slave trade, we can begin to understand the works of art in our collection, and the broader historical and cultural phenomena they reflect, in new ways,” Potts stated in a Getty Center press release.

For centuries, European artists have represented these kings as three identical white men. Despite written descriptions of Balthazar, the Magi, being of African descent, his depiction in history had caused a racial misrepresentation

that resulted in an inaccurate identification of this king’s racial background. People today know little of his existence.

The teachings of Christ’s birth never spoke of the number of Magi. Magi or Magos is Greek for “Persian priest-astrologer or dream interpreter,” and they were revered as wise men.

During the third century, writers later described magi, as “three kings based on the three types of gifts they brought to the infant: gold, frankincense and myrrh.”

This exhibit will feature paintings and artifacts along with medieval and Renaissance manuscripts further explaining the material trade between Africans and Europeans. It is a visual representation of lost history.

“There is so much that cannot

now be known about the countless Africans who inspired works such as those on view in the gallery,” Potts stated. “Although many of their names have been lost to time, we are hoping, through case studies, that this exhibition will pull back the veil on the long history of Africans in pre-modern Europe.”

In the late 1400s, the African trade of slaves flourished, industrializing the business which caused millions of enslaved Africans to be brought to Europe and America. This slave trade changed the world and continues to impact individuals today.

“Balthazar: A Black African King in Medieval and Renaissance Art” will show from Nov. 19, 2019 through Feb. 17, 2020 at The Getty Center Museum in Los Angeles.

Players Embrace New Age: Cloud Gaming

BY BERNARDO GARCIA

G

one will be the days of playing on consoles such as the Xbox and PlayStation.

Cloud gaming is prophesied to be the future of gaming.

Gamers will no longer have to go out and buy a piece of hardware. In the same way the movie, television and music industry left the DVD and CD players behind, the gaming industry will do the same.

Nowadays we use Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Apple Music and now Disney+. In the near future, consumers will see the same for games.

Gaming will evolve into a streaming based service.

Currently, the means of accessing these kinds of game streaming services are not available to everyone. Most people do not have a stable enough internet connection. Also, streaming games requires high amounts of data usage and many ISPs or internet providers have data caps. This means their Wi-Fi services are limited to a set number of gigs per month. The internet infrastructure is currently incapable of handling such high demands. Fortunately, technologies that hope to remedy this are on the rise such as 5G, which is the successor to the now more common 4G. Art major Norman Morales is all for it.

“Gaming on the go sounds hella fun, no need to download anything and it’s all done with a simple snap,” Morales said. “I think it’s basically something cool for those hardcore gamers. Maybe with a few more upgrades here and there those issues can be fixed. It’s still new so obviously

it has a few problems.”

The 5G infrastructure will not materialize overnight. It is said that full 5G capabilities will not happen for several more years. Many companies such as the big-name phone carriers like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are working toward this goal. The technology poses many issues that still need to be resolved.

Despite the technical limitations of today’s internet, several companies have begun to provide streaming capabilities. One of these companies is Sony for the PlayStation. They have a service known as PlayStation Now where you can either download or stream nearly any game from a collection of over 700 different titles. Before, the service was not exactly worth its asking price, but times have changed, and it has improved. The possibilities are intriguing for students with an interest in the technology like English major Leo Young.

“I think it is good because it would allow people who can’t pay full price for a console to game, but personally I would rather have the hardware in my room,” he said. “The reason why is because there [are] a lot of things that can happen like the servers could go down from a DDoS attack and I like having the ability to play offline.”

Microsoft is another company that also has its eyes set on cloud-gaming as the future. They are currently working on their vision of allowing gamers to play anywhere on anything. The service is known as Project xCloud.

Another late contender is Google, which had been working on their cloud service for a long time now.

Known as Google Stadia, it launched on Nov. 19, 2019. The way it works is

instead of you having to buy a game console, you just buy a bundle that comes with Google’s Stadia controller and a Chromecast Ultra that connects to your TV. You can also access the games via the chrome browser on laptops and the Stadia app on select phones and tablets. From there, you can purchase any game from Stadia’s library.

The service has garnered mixed reviews. This is partly because of the way it is priced and the delivery of some of its features. For example, although you can connect your controller to your mobile device, the connection is not wireless. Another issue is that since the game is being streamed, there are at times a notable difference between the quality and the latency as compared to gaming played on local hardware. Many people have mentioned that the service feels incomplete and that it’s more of an early access than anything. Students had this to say: One of the major problems with Stadia is that, unlike xCloud, it doesn’t want to be a companion service with your already existing console. It aims to completely replace your console as the norm, but again, the world isn’t ready for a gaming experience completely powered by the cloud.

In fact, many people are still in favor of having their own physical hardware in their homes where they can see it.

Google has stated that they do plan on updating Stadia with new features and game titles, many of which will be arriving by early 2020, such as the ability to stream in 1080p. Whether or not Google Stadia is going to succeed is not known at this point. Only time will tell.

Illustration By BERNARDO GARCIA

CAMPUS LIFE

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Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 4, 2019

‘The Citadel’ Celebrates Launch of Newest Publication

BY SARAH RAGSDALE Prose, poetry, music and party fare marked the launch of the L.A. City College English/ESL department celebration for the launch of “The Citadel” 2019 magazine on Nov. 7.

The Student Union’s third-floor outdoor patio created a fitting setting for the publication kick-off. Attendees listened to music and poetry readings as the sun set and created a beautiful atmosphere.

“The Citadel” celebration was also an opportunity for published students to share their work and showcase students from City’s storied music department.

The first “Citadel” was published in 1967; and every year since then, it has highlighted students’ writing in fiction, non-fiction and poetry. For more than five decades, “The Citadel” has been the place for students and the community to share their experiences and their voices.

During the Kick-Off, the publication’s editorial board members asked authors featured in this year’s literary collection to read their work.

“We not only have students, but we also have community members who are in this edition,” said professor Flavia Tamayo the magazine editor-in-chief and poetry editor. “The collection of voices within the journal are from students, faculty, established writers and students learning English as a second language. In-

mates from the California state prison have also shared their voices here.”

“The Citadel” is a showcase for visual art as well as literary art.

“We have also selected artwork from our very own LACC students,” professor Tamayo said. “Although our contributors come from many walks of life, their stories, poetry and artwork speak to the human condition. It was my great pleasure to read and re-read their stories.”

“The Citadel” is edited by the English/ESL Department. The five-member editorial board consists of Professor Tamayo; Daniel Ruiz, prose co-editor; Danielle Muller, Nadia Elahi, and Jeffrey Nishimura.

“The Citadel” is routinely carried by the LACC Cub Store. Joeven Diche who is the bookstore buyer has worked with “The Citadel” team for the past couple years “It’s pretty cool that we have something like this at LACC,” Diche said. “And every year “The Citadel” will have a different theme that they want to do. Every year, they mix it up.”

As stated within “The Citadel” pages, the rich, diverse fabric of the LACC community is strong and resilient.

“This strength in diversity is reflected in the stories, poetry and art that our students and community offer you within the pages of this journal . . . We hope it is an outlet that you will support and find worthwhile.”

Photo by CHRIS AHN Dana Johnson, the author of “Elsewhere, California,” reads a couple of pages from her book at the Lani Alpert Recital Hall on Nov. 20, 2019. She shares her experience as an African American woman living in a predominantly white neighborhood.

Author Empowers Students to Write

BY JAILENE TRUJILLO

D

ana Johnson took the stage at the Herb & Lani Alpert Recital Hall after a fanfare of an introduction from her personal friend LACC professor Danielle Mueller on Nov.

20, 2019.

She held a copy of her book “Elsewhere, California,” from which she would read chapters to the audience.

Johnson began the workshop “Becoming a Writer in Los Angeles” by introducing herself and telling the audience about her history in Los Angeles. She read excerpts of her book “Elsewhere, California” a fictional account of her move from DTLA to West Covina and her journey with identity as a young African American girl in a mostly white neighborhood.

Johnson’s dream to become a writer was born from her love of reading. Johnson says she loved

reading and loved books so much she wanted to figure out “how to write books, how to make books, how to write stories.”

“Through books I could be somewhere else,” Johnson said. “I got to see how other people lived.

I got to see how other people thought. I got to hear about this place I never knew existed, New York.”

However, the more that Johnson read, the more a few things stood out to her. She loved reading and she read many books, but struggled with identifying with the content she read.

“And I just thought the more I read, like this is weird. I don’t really see myself,” Johnson said.

“Is there a story of a little kid that grew up on 80th and Vermont? Or a little kid that grew up in West Covina?”

Not seeing herself in the literature she read brought about the desire to tell her story. Johnson says she knew she had something to say and that her stories were not yet

out in the world. She spoke about her love of books, but seeing that she never saw anything similar to her life, her people, or her family, she would write them herself.

“It’s a cliché, but writers always say write what you know,” Johnson said. “And that’s what I do, I write what I know.”

As for tips on becoming a writer, Johnson said one must always read and to start off with what you know. A writer cannot be a writer unless they read. She advised aspiring writers to take a look at the work of others and attempt to mimic them. Johnson told those in attendance to read stories and dissect them.

“Try to emulate what you see in the page. Just like figuring out how they do dialogue, how do they do setting? Um, why do I have this emotional reaction? How did they make me have that feeling,” Johnson said. “Just start like, it’s sort of like an operation where you’re opening up this story and taking pieces.”

Workshops Teach Confidence

BY JENNIFER LOPEZ

Every Tuesday and Wednesday, LACC offers a wide range of workshops on many different subjects at the Student Union in the second-floor conference room.

It is a part of the Life Skills Center mental health services on campus. The workshops are a great opportunity for students to learn how to deal with challenges such as a lack of confidence.

L.A. City College hosted the first workshop of the semester on how to build confidence on Oct. 9.

“I’m happy with the turnout, this is our first workshop students have attended due to an

evacuation in the building the week prior,’’ said Kelsey Berganza, the workshops mediator and a Life Skills intern who is currently working on her Master of Arts in counseling.

Berganza kicked off the workshop by introducing herself and asking the students to come together at a roundtable where everyone got the opportunity to introduce themselves. Students expressed their reasons for joining.

Surprisingly, more than half of the students all related to the fact that they spoke English as a second language.

“I want to be more talkative, but I lack the confidence to start the

conversation,” said a student who wanted to be identified simply as “Ericel.”

Berganza says whenever she is feeling low, whether it be in a one-on-one conversation or a more professional setting, she would allow herself to feel uneasy emotions. She says she would take comfort in her ability to overcome them.

Berganza gave everyone a safe space to voice their opinion and speak about their grievances that stem from a lack of confidence.

The workshops this semester range from subjects on, “How to Develop Healthy Relationships” to “How to Prepare for a Final.”

Photo by CHRIS AHN Students line up for a buffet in the South Gym for a “Day of Gratitude” on Nov. 14, 2019. Kensington Catering offers roasted Shelton turkey, baked country ham, nuevo mac n’ cheese with three cheese truffle infusion and olive oil-roasted winter vegetables.

Turkey Day Comes Early in South Gym

BY STEVEN CLEMENTS AND CHRISTOPHER AHN

T

urkey, ham, stuffing and bread rolls filled the stomachs of more than 750 individuals in the Kinesiology South Gym on Nov. 14, 2019.

Los Angeles City College invited faculty, staff and students to share the “Day of Gratitude: Free Buffet.”

The LACC Foundation, Associated Student Government and United Way sponsored “Day of Gratitude” by setting up a sumptuous Thanksgiving spread.

Students seemed excited about receiving the free meal. Volunteers welcomed students into the gym and directed them to their tables in groups of 10. Many students learned about the event through ASG emails and Instagram posts.

Jemere Calhoun, who is ASG president, said this day of gratitude was designed for students and faculty to share a meal and be grateful for the little things, together.

“We have a chance today to cast away some of our concerns, to live and love in the moment,” Calhoun said. “We cast away our concerns of Chapter 9 of our statistics class.”

Kensington Catering provided an array of Thanksgiving-themed dishes, from roasted Shelton turkey to nuevo mac ’n cheese with threecheese truffle infusion and toasted breadcrumbs. The buffet also included desserts such as pumpkin spice bread pudding with dark chocolate chips and decadent chocolate melts with orange essence and cranberries.

The students appeared to be enjoying the bounty of comfort food and sweet treats. Volunteers ran back and forth between the tables, serving up seconds and thirds.

Calhoun pointed out that although life is not perfect, the pursuit of happiness is what makes you feel alive.

“The chance to chase our dreams [and] to believe that we can achieve and succeed while making the world a better place makes us special,” Calhoun said.

Maria Arista is a student who enjoyed the “Day of Gratitude” event because it brought the campus community together.

“I moved from Nicaragua last year,” Arista said. “This is my first semester and I am grateful to have the opportunity to study here. I am grateful for my family moving here with me.”

The “Day of Gratitude” offered the Los Angeles City College family the opportunity to come together and give thanks for the good in each other. Many students may not otherwise be able to enjoy such a gathering this holiday season.

There can be cultural differences where Thanksgiving is not celebrated as much, if at all, or they just cannot afford the meal. Stefan Kindarly is a student who sat next to a gentleman whose primary language is Spanish.

“I think it is great that we are having a Thanksgiving meal together as a college. Not everyone has a chance to celebrate,” Kindarly said.

“Having different cultures mingling is pretty awesome.”

This event seemed to be a perfect way for getting in the giving spirit of the holiday season, which is already here. Armineh Dereghishian who is the student service specialist in the Office of Student Life explained how the “Day of Gratitude: Free Buffet” came about.

“This year we partnered up with The Foundation office and the(y) were very generous,” Dereghishian said. “We collaborated and made the event bigger because there are more opportunities when we collaborate.”

6

CAMPUS LIFE

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Collegian

in the sky

WANT TO BE AN EYE IN THE SKY? CH-1 (Cooper’s hawk 1) hovers over the North end of campus under the control of “Journalism 101” students and the watchful eye of L.A. City College Visual and Media Arts professor Eugene Ahn. He will cover drone basics in “Photojournalism 20,” a spring 2020 photography course.

Photo by CHRIS AHN SHAC Pantry Box prototype in the Chemistry Building on Nov. 25, 2019.The SHAC Pantry Box prototype does not look like much now, but will soon be transformed into an inviting repository of toiletries and other basic creature comforts for students in need.

SHAC Takes Creative Approach to Help Homeless Students

M

BY ANGELA JOHNSON

ichael Duggan was a homeless student who lived in his car and on the street for three years.

Somehow, during that time he found a way to function as a “highaccomplishing” honor student at

Los Angeles is home to museums that house priceless works of art worth billions, but employees receive limited compensation. The powers that be in the world of art want it to stay that way, and they are firing employees to make sure that happens. It is difficult to guess who is behind it all at one L.A. Museum.

L.A. City College.

Duggan was the one in five community college students who are homeless or housing-insecure in the state, as reported in the California Community College’s #RealCollege Survey last March.

Once he secured a roof over his own head sometime this past spring, Duggan wanted to help other homeless students. As president of the Student Housing Action Coalition (SHAC) Duggan

and Allie Rehm Kashaska, SHAC vice president, are on a mission to provide tangible resources and some simple human comforts for students in need on campus.

Kashaska who is an international relations major has never experienced homelessness herself, but she was born in poverty in rural Ethiopia and adopted at age 7.

“I am deeply empathetic toward people who suffer from

homelessness and poverty,” Kashaska said. “I want SHAC to be a support group and resource center for our homeless student population.”

The Collegian reported the launch of SHAC last semester at the end of March. The overarching theme of action then was to dispel the stigma of homelessness and assist students who struggle with housing insecurity.

Alexandra Wiesenfeld, associate professor of art who teaches painting, drawing and art appreciation is the club’s co-adviser along with Professor Eugene Ahn who teaches web design. Together they are empowering their students with new skills to find creative solutions to address at least some rudimentary needs of homeless and housing-insecure students.

And they put a creative spin on it.

The SHAC Pantry Box could be painted to compliment the area and beautify the campus by its presence.

“You know how those library boxes are all over L.A.,” Wiesenfeld said. “It’s one of those few things that are free. And people take care of it, they have a stake in it, it’s for the community. So maybe these boxes can have a design something like that. So that it is inviting.”

A handful of Wiesenfeld’s and Ahn’s students come and work in the sculpture studio in the Chemistry Building during their free time between classes to learn how to design and build a box incorporating Arduino technology.

The idea is that a simple barebones box could be transformed into the SHAC Pantry Box, which would hold basic supplies and use Arduino technology to make sure only LACC students can access its contents.

Ahn transports his personal tools back and forth for students to use and he recovers and reuses discarded materials found around the city.

“He is teaching the students how to design and build the box,” Wiesenfeld said. “And all the materials he brings in are scavenged. He saves the materials from construction sites, so they can live on in some form.”

A prototype of the SHAC Pantry Box was displayed at Fall 2019 Club Rush. Metal brackets affixed to the box allow it to be securely mounted in the hallway of any building where students can easily find it. The box will be stocked with toiletries, snacks and creature comforts like toothpaste/ toothbrush, soap, wash cloth, socks, underwear, sanitary napkins, brush/comb, granola/protein bars, blankets or even a coat.

What’s inside can only be accessed by swiping a student I.D. card through a cradle scanner attached to the box. The most immediate solution provided by the pantry box is rooted in the little things.

“If students need something they can find it in the (pantry) box without going through a lot of trouble or red-tape, or drawing attention to themselves,” Wiesenfeld said. “It’s a small thing, but it is a direct thing. If you need a toothbrush, you take a toothbrush. If you need something, it is there for you and you don’t have to go through any trouble to find it.”

The SHAC Pantry Box is a tangible answer to the question Wiesenfeld said the coalition wrestled with: How do creative people find immediate solutions to help homeless students on campus?

And she said they also realized they need more helping hands to achieve their mission.

“We want people to join SHAC who are allies,” Wiesenfeld said.

“Anybody from campus is welcome to join. Last semester, we realized that students who are homeless need help . . .they shouldn’t be the ones creating solutions for others.

We need allies and people who used to be homeless to come and help.”

SHAC stands for Student Housing Action Coalition. Initially, the ’H’ stood for homeless and ‘C’ was for club. However, an active coalition working toward a goal became more important than a campus club. Participants changed the name to reflect the shift in SHAC’s mission.

“The word ‘coalition’ means: an alliance for combined action,” Duggan said. “We found it extremely difficult to find enough homeless individuals who were able to dedicate the time and energy to be in our club. What we found instead were a number of housed students who wanted to help.”

Having the other colleges in the Los Angeles Community College District form coalitions like SHAC that support students who struggle with food and housing insecurity is something that Kashaska wants to see happen.

“We want other colleges to adopt our mission and work in alliance with other schools by creating solutions and programs to address these issues,” Kashaska said.

Housing-insecure or homeless students can find helpful resources on the SHAC website at http:// www.shac.space/. Also contact SHAC via email: shac.lacc@lacc. com

FROM “MARCIANO” PAGE 8 way, we ask for things to make our job easier in serving our guests. For example, we asked for more benches in the galleries, because you want people to sit and look at the art,” Arzante said. “We had a lot of older guests who would come up to us and say that they want to stay more, but their feet hurt and kept asking us where the benches are. After 2.5 years of asking, not a single one was added to the space.”

He says that nothing the employees suggested was taken into consideration, and that small details could have improved the guests’ experience and the employee work environment.

“We did the math and it would take a part-time employee, on a minimum wage, 900 years to afford an art piece by Christopher Wool,” Arzante added. Wool is an American artist famous for his word paintings. The painting Arzante

and his coworkers used in the estimate, “And If You,” was last sold for $13,605 million.

E

mily Daura worked at the Marciano for more than one and a half years, after leaving a job at LACMA. She says that the two organizations are very different, with LACMA being much bigger and much more structured, . She says LACMA offers more opportunities with a much more relaxed work environment.

“Marciano was much more strained, with extreme power difference. They copy the Broad model, and [it] is very rigid while LACMA is more practical,” Duran said.

She joined the other former employees not only to demand their jobs. They also wanted to bring awareness to the community, to the public who had purchased tickets

and did not receive a cancellation, about Marciano’s practices.

On Black Friday, the union has planned a protest at Guess stores in Santa Monica Mall and on Rodeo Drive, to bring awareness about the practices of those who own the company.

“We want people to know who owns Guess, how much money they make and let people know about their practices, not allowing people to unionize or improve their work environment,” Duran said.

She added that her job at Marciano was more stressful and demanding, compared to the one at LACMA. At Marciano, everyone was not only supposed to perform guest service duties, but also to protect the art.

“LACMA had their own security, but at Marciano we were supposed to protect art that is valued at billions of dollars. This makes me

think about the Ford Foundation case of 2007, when black people protested for not being able to get promoted in the art world,” Duran said. “I do think this is part of that narrative because there is a firewall, and workers cannot make it up in the industry.”

AFSCME Council 36 filed an unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on the workers’ behalf, alleging MAF “has illegally discriminated against its employees by laying off employees en masse and/or closing its facility because employees” were “engaged in union and other concerted activities.

Lylwyn Esangga, the organizing director of AFSCME Council 36, said that MAF engaged in anti-union activity and they are in violation of both state and federal law.

“An employer needs to give a 60-day-notice for mass firing and

Marciano fired 70 people after four days which is illegal,” Esangga said.

“For their contributions and their passion for making their community stronger and better, these workers deserve respect and dignity on the job.”

She added the “Black Friday Protests” at Guess stores is a national effort to educate the store’s patrons of the practices of Marciano brothers.

“They are stock holders and still have the power of decision in Guess.

We want to educate people of how they are treating their employees. We are not boycotting the Guess store; we just want to bring awareness,” Esangga said. “This is a national effort initiated by the Union because most of Marciano’s employees have masters, and double majors, and they deserve better working conditions, not one water fountain for three floors, when they are not allowed to leave their areas.”

SCHOLARSHIPS

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 4, 2019

7

Finals Calendar Class Start Time Class Start Time 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 9:35 AM 9:35 AM 9:35 AM 9:35 AM 9:35 AM 9:35 AM 9:35 AM 9:35 AM 9:35 AM 11:10 AM 11:10 AM 11:10 AM 11:10 AM 11:10 AM 11:10 AM 11:10 AM 11:10 AM 11:10 AM 12:45 PM 12:45 PM 12:45 PM 12:45 PM 12:45 PM 12:45 PM 12:45 PM 12:45 PM 12:45 PM 2:20 PM 2:20 PM 2:20 PM 2:20 PM 2:20 PM 2:20 PM 2:20 PM 2:20 PM 2:20 PM 4:00 PM 4:00 PM 4:00 PM 4:00 PM 4:00 PM 4:00 PM 4:40 PM 4:40 PM 4:40 PM 4:40 PM

Class Meeting Day(s) Class Meeting Day(s)

Final Exam Date Final Exam Date

Final Exam Time Final Exam Time

5:15 PM

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Monday, December 9

8:00 am - 10:00 am

5:15 PM

MTWR

Monday, December 9

8:00 am - 10:00 am

6:00 PM

8:00 am - 10:00 am

6:00 PM

8:00 am - 10:00 am

6:00 PM

Thursday, December 12

8:00 am - 10:00 am

6:50 PM

Saturday, December 14

8:00 am - 10:00 am

6:50 PM

10:15 am - 12:15 pm

6:50 PM

10:15 am - 12:15 pm

6:50 PM

MW

MTW MWF TR

TRF W R F S

M

MW

MTWR T

TR W R F S

M

MW

MTWR T

TR W R F S

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MW

MTWR T

TR W R F S

M

MW

MWR

MTWR T

TR W R S

MW T

TR W R F

M T

W R

8:00 am - 10:00 am

6:00 PM

8:00 am - 10:00 am

6:00 PM

8:00 am - 10:00 am

6:00 PM

Wednesday, December 11 8:00 am - 10:00 am

6:00 PM

Friday, December 13

8:00 am - 10:00 am

6:50 PM

10:15 am - 12:15 pm

6:50 PM

10:15 am - 12:15 pm

6:50 PM

Monday, December 9 Monday, December 9 Monday, December 9

Tuesday, December 10 Tuesday, December 10

Monday, December 9 Monday, December 9 Monday, December 9

Tuesday, December 10 Tuesday, December 10

10:15 am – 12:15 pm

MW

Monday, December 9

5:30 pm - 7:30 pm

M

Monday, December 9

5:30 pm - 7:30 pm

TR

MW

MTW T

TR W R

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MW T

TR W R F

Wednesday, December 11 10:15 am - 12:15 pm Thursday, December 12

10:15 am - 12:15 pm

Saturday, December 14

10:15 am - 12:15 pm

Friday, December 13

Monday, December 9

10:15 am - 12:15 pm 10:15 am - 12:15 pm

Wednesday, December 11 10:15 am - 12:15 pm Wednesday, December 11 10:15 am - 12:15 pm Tuesday, December 10

Thursday, December 12

10:15 am - 12:15 pm 10:15 am - 12:15 pm

Wednesday, December 11 10:15 am - 12:15 pm Thursday, December 12

10:15 am - 12:15 pm

Saturday, December 14

10:15 am - 12:15 pm

Monday, December 9

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Friday, December 13

Monday, December 9 Monday, December 9

Tuesday, December 10 Tuesday, December 10

10:15 am - 12:15 pm

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Wednesday, December 11 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Thursday, December 12

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Saturday, December 14

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Friday, December 13

Monday, December 9

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Wednesday, December 11 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Wednesday, December 11 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Wednesday, December 11 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Tuesday, December 10

Thursday, December 12

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Wednesday, December 11 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Thursday, December 12

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Monday, December 9

3:15 pm - 5:15 pm

Saturday, December 14 Tuesday, December 10 Tuesday, December 10

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm 3:15 pm - 5:15 pm 3:15 pm - 5:15 pm

Wednesday, December 11 3:15 pm - 5:15 pm Thursday, December 12

3:15 pm - 5:15 pm

Monday, December 9

3:15 pm - 5:15 pm

Friday, December 13

Tuesday, December 10

3:15 pm - 5:15 pm 3:15 pm - 5:15 pm

Wednesday, December 11 3:15 pm - 5:15 pm Thursday, December 12

3:15 pm - 5:15 pm

Advertise in the Collegian Do you want to increase sales?

Do you want to reach the student population at L.A. City College?

Advertise in the Collegian!

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Tuesday, December 10 Monday, December 9 Monday, December 9

Tuesday, December 10 Tuesday, December 10

5:30 pm - 7:30 pm 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm

Wednesday, December 11 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm Thursday, December 12

5:30 pm - 7:30 pm

Monday, December 9

7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Monday, December 9

Tuesday, December 10 Tuesday, December 10

7:30 pm - 9:30 pm 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Wednesday, December 11 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm Thursday, December 12 Friday, December 13

7:30 pm - 9:30 pm 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

SCHOLARSHIPS COMPILED BY ANGELA JOHNSON Earnest Scholarship Deadline: 12/31/2019 Award Amount: $5,000 Eligibility: College Freshmen through Graduate Students The Earnest Scholarship is available only to full-time students. To be eligible, you must submit an 800 to 1,000-word essay on one of the following two topics: “How will your college education help you achieve your goals?” or “How has your education contributed to who you are today?”

For more information on the Earnest Scholarship visit: https://www.earnest.com/student-loans/scholarship Discover Student Loans Scholarship Award Deadline: 1/31/2020 Award Amount: $5,000 Eligibility: High School Seniors through College Seniors Students and parents can enter to win a $5,000 scholarship from Discover Student Loans to help pay for college. No essay or lengthy application required. One winner is chosen at random every month.

For more information on Discover Student Loans Scholarship Award visit: https://www.discover.com/student-loans/college-planning/scholarships/award The College Monk Short Essay Scholarship Deadline: 1/31/2020 Award Amount: $1,500 Eligibility: High School Seniors through Graduate Students The College Monk $1,500 short essay scholarship is an essay-required scholarship with no GPA requirements. The purpose of the scholarship is to provide financial assistance to high school graduating students or college students who are going to attend an accredited institution in the US. The scholarship is awarded once each year and is available to all eligible students regardless of ethnicity, national origin, or immigration status. The scholarship recipient will be selected based on the essay submission.

For more information on The College Monk Short Essay Story visit: https://www.thecollegemonk.com/scholarships/apply-for-college-monk-short-essay-scholarship Emerson ASCO Engineering Scholarship Deadline: 4/23/2020 Award Amount: $5,000 This scholarship rewards students who have potential to become leaders in and make significant contributions to the engineering profession. The program awards two $5,000 scholarships to U.S. engineering students, provides $1,000 grants to their colleges’ engineering departments, and hosts the students at “The Amazing Packaging Race” at PACK EXPO International.

For more information on Emerson ASCO Engineering Scholarship visit: https://go.emersonautomation.com/asco-engineering-scholarship.

Environmental Engineering and Science Foundation Scholarship Deadline: 3/31/2020 Award Amount: $5,000 Two scholarships in the amount of $2,500 each are offered to students completing programs at community colleges who will be entering four-year institutions to complete an undergraduate degree. One scholarship is offered for completion of a degree in Environmental Engineering or related field of engineering. A second is offered in Environmental Science. These scholarships are based on academic performance and need.

For more information on Environmental Engineering and Science Foundation Scholarship visit: scholarship@eesfoundation.org College JumpStart Scholarship Amount: $1,000 Deadline: 4/15/2020 Eligibility: High school sophomores, juniors, and seniors; and current college students and non-traditional students.

The College JumpStart Scholarship is an annual, merit-based competition. The main requirement is that you are committed to going to school and can express your goals for achieving a higher education. The first-place prize is a $1,000 scholarship to help cover educational expenses. This award can be used at any college or university in the United States.

For more information on College JumpStart Scholarship visit: http://www.jumpstart-scholarship.net/ Active Life Scholarship for Financial Literacy Deadline: 12/21/2019 Amount: $1,000 Eligibility: Undergraduate or graduate student or adult learners.

This scholarship is designed to encourage students to increase their financial literacy skills and adopt positive habits for managing their personal finances both in college and beyond. You must submit a short statement on financial literacy to be considered for this award. This scholarship may be used at any college to study any major.

For more information on Active Life Scholarship for Financial Literacy visit: http://www.getupgetactive.org/ Mensa Foundation U.S. Scholarship Deadline: 1/15/2020 Amount: $2,000+ Eligibility: Students currently enrolled in a degree program at an accredited U.S. institution.

The Mensa Foundation Scholarship Program awards more than $140,000 in assistance every year to college-bound students around the globe. Scholarships are awarded based solely on 550-word essays expressing applicants’ academic and professional goals and how their personal experiences will help them to accomplish those goals.

For more information on Mensa Foundation U.S. Scholarship visit: https://www.mensafoundation.org/

8

NEWS

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 4, 2019 FROM “BIDEN, SANDERS” PAGE 1

FROM “HOMELESS” PAGE 1

“I am not homeless anymore,” Whitehouse said proudly.

“I got transitional housing and have a bankroll.”

It is a gamble for the small percentage of students who come to the Weingart Center for help. The program requires them to change the direction of their life. In return, they provide this small percentage of the homeless community with a better chance to succeed.

“Once the decision is made to get help here, they have to follow our rules for continuing the program,” Gomez said. “If they go to college, it strengthens their position now and in the future.”

‘Queen’ Signs Up, Starts Over The building that houses the Weingart Center is a light tan stucco high rise that was once the historic El Rey Hotel.

“When I got out of prison a year ago, I knew I had to change my life especially financially,” Queen said. “[I] couldn’t go home, so I was placed here and I’m glad I get three meals a day, don’t have to worry about food or clothing they provide that. I just concentrate on studying.”

Students like Queen who are homeless must adjust and stay fo-

cused while on campus. There are rules for the residents. It has been a long journey figuratively for Rodney Johnson. He’s a serious student now, and he has come a long way from drug addiction to the college campus.

“I have been here at the Weingart, and it was hard for the first three months, but I stayed the course,” he said. “Going back on the streets scares me to death. I don’t worry about finding a place to stay, I have one. I get straight A‘s and will graduate in 2021.”

‘I am Strong and Happy to be a Student’ The homeless travel a harder road to graduation than many other students. But once they find and keep a support system, they can flourish.

The Weingart Center website states 80 percent of the homeless helped by one of the programs find housing.

And there are other benefits.

Students tell the Collegian they save 75 percent of their income while they participate in the program. This helps them develop the

skill to save money.

Melissa Whitehouse is a student at Southwest Community College, and she has been an “Open Door” participant for three months. She says she loves college.

“I am not homeless anymore,” Whitehouse said proudly. “I got transitional housing and have a bankroll.”

Whitehouse says college was always a part of her plan. The “Open Door” program changed everything for her. She is one of the success stories.

“Couldn’t do it if I was living in one of those,” she said as she points to a sea of tents and tarps that serve as makeshift shelter for the homeless on San Pedro Street.

Escape from the streets is the goal and the plan of many homeless students. There is hope for those who find support or a program like “Open Door.” Whitehouse sounds grateful.

“All of this I learned here,” she said. “Now I’m in college and I love it.”

FROM “MARCIANO” PAGE 1

Unionizing Efforts Spark Concerns, National Protests The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles announced on Nov. 22 that they filed for unionization with the same group, AFSCME Council 36, as the fired Marciano employees. According to Esangga, their success could be a step forward in the unionizing efforts of the art world, and it could create a precedent that would help this sector of elite jobs to be compensated fairly.

Meanwhile, across the street at LACMA, visitors were enjoying what’s left on view.

LACMA is going through an extensive remodeling and construction project. At the time of this story only two galleries in the museum were open to the public. Most of the artwork is in storage and some travels the country to be exhibited in other museums.

Guests and patrons still pay the full price of $25 for a day at LACMA, even with less than half of the museum’s collection on display.

Daisy Villegas is a former Los Angeles City College student who has worked in the education department at LACMA for more than a year.

When she heard what happened at MAF, she worried about her job at LACMA. The majority of the employees in the education department are students. Even though they share Villegas’ concerns, they are not willing to make their opinions and demands public.

Because of the extensive renovations, the education department at LACMA lost its permanent place and employees are now giving popup workshops to children inside the two galleries that are still open during visit hours.

Villegas sent a letter to her supervisors in which she expressed her concerns and disappointment for the “one-way-street communica-

tion” from LACMA and the education department. She was troubled by the changes to employees’ schedules, lack of transparency about the renovation phases and progress. She also complained about work outside her job description for the same pay.

“The recent changes to programming and closures have caused a disarray of emotions and inconveniences for the employees of the Boone Children’s Gallery and art classes,” Villegas wrote in a letter sent on Nov. 13, 2019. “I am appalled by the lack of transparency and communication. As a department that prides itself in creating an environment where employees feel safe and heard, it is failing to do so at this time. Communication is indispensable in this moment of change.

Information about new closures and changes in programming is emailed out. However, a few days later, that information quickly changes. Despite all of the updates, I have many questions but no answers.”

S

he was called into a meeting with her supervisor and the head of LACMA Human Resources on Thursday, Nov. 21, and she received the news that LACMA was going to retroactively pay her for the extra labor.

“They seemed receptive to the suggestions I made in my letter and said that it was a lapse in judgment that they did not announce the changes the department was about to go through,” Villegas said.

She added that even though it was a positive meeting, she believes that there was no concrete solution and that the department decided to meet with each employee individually, rather than in a group.

“Nothing specific came out of it, but who knows if they will actually do something,” Villegas said.

Joey Vasquez is one of the lucky ones. Before getting fired from MFA, he had two part-time jobs. Now, he only works for LACMA, one of the few people who still has a job after Marciano closed its doors.

“I’ve always had a completely different experience with LACMA, but in one year at Marciano, I can say that the administration had no respect for us,” Vasquez said. “I remember they offered me a raise, but I later found out that it was around the time when the minimum wage was raised, so the only reason I got more money was because they were forced by the law.”

Marciano employees filed for union status on Nov. 1. They started the process in December of last year and almost 11 months later they were finally ready to present their statement to management.

Four days after the Marciano Art Foundation (MAF) employees filed for union status, the management fired approximately 70 people via an email that was sent around 6 p.m. Across the street, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) was still buzzing with visitors and patrons.

The founders of MAF, Maurice and Paul Marciano built a fashion empire before turning to collecting art. In popular culture the Marciano brothers are better known for their jeans culture, with their multi-billion dollar Guess label.

“On Friday afternoon, around 40 of us went to our supervisor’s office and read her our statement for unionizing. We were off the clock and the interaction was not confrontational as they are saying,” says Izzy Johnson, a docent of MAF and one of the members who helped organize the union. “She asked what our terms were and we told her that once she presents our statement to her higher-up, we will start the negotiations.”

According to Johnson, the next two days were normal working days.

The foundation is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

“On Tuesday evening around 6 p.m. we all received an email that stated that due to low attendance rate, they are closing the foundation and we all are being laid off,” Johnson said. “That was four days after we announced our intentions to unionize. The attendance has been lower than usual for the last four months, but we were still working on two upcoming shows, and the management did not mention at any point before this email their intentions to close the foundation.”

Marciano Art Foundation is currently closed to the public as the announcement on their website states.

The Marciano Foundation did not return two calls from the Collegian.

Raul Arzante worked for the MAF for two and a half years. It was his first job in the art industry and he says he was very lucky to get it, because “the art world is usually closed to people without an extended art resume.”

A

rzante says Marciano had two workplace environments. Located in a former Masonic Temple on Wilshire Boulevard, there are three levels. The Foundation was divided into two distinct parts: the management and the employees.

“One included my coworkers. It was such an amazing team, they were always uplifting, and we made an effort to know each other outside work,” Arzante said. “The other was

Photo by JAMES DUFFY V. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders fist bumps a supporter at a campaign rally on Nov. 16, 2019 in East L.A.

Presidential Candidates Stir Crowds in Southland Gaitan told the crowd Sanders gained more student votes in the 2016 Democratic Party Presidential Primary than any candidate in the general election. Sanders promises free college-tuition at all public colleges.

At his rally at L.A. Trade Tech’s campus, Biden pledged to make community college free for the 5.8 million community college students who attend in the United States. To pay the tuition, Biden said he would close a tax loophole, “stepped-up basis,” to earn the federal government $6 billion in revenue.

Democratic candidates descended on Los Angeles. Except for Senator Elizabeth Warren, leading presidential candidates popped up in Southern California to court the support of state Democratic Party leaders.

Over 5,000 democrats from across the state traveled for their nominating convention in Long Beach. Convention organizers asked each candidate about issues that face the Latino community.

Three candidates currently lead the Democratic pack in national polls: former Vice President Joe Biden, and Senators Bernie Sanders and Warren. Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg recently led polls in Iowa, the first state to cast ballots in the primary.

Though both Sanders and Biden are septuagenarians with decades of political experience, they have divergent visions for the future of the country.

The biggest difference between the two rallies was attendance. About

the management, top-heavy environment in which all our suggestions for improvement were shut down.”

He says Maurice Marciano, one of the brothers who own the foundation had a say in everything about the running of the foundation from an extra microwave to the placement of the artwork, to the employees’ hours.

“We knew that every time he came a negative change was about to happen. It was something about how he managed the foundation. We were not part of his vision, we were just in it,” Arzante said.

The Friday after they got fired, they all went to the foundation to demand their jobs back. They marched on the sidewalk in front of the foundation with signs that read “honk to support worker’s rights,” “support union,” or “art work is labor.”

“What happened is that everybody came together even stronger,” Arzante said. We just wanted to work and being there with everyone made me want to fight more.”

The employees say when the foundation first opened in 2017, the management did not “iron out” a plan. The water in the fountains was not working so the employees did not have access to water for an entire month until plumbing was repaired.

“We ask for things not in a selfish SEE “MARCIANO” PAGE 6

3,000 people attend Sanders’ rally in East L.A., whereas 300 attended Biden’s rally at L.A. Trade Tech.

Both played loud music. Both coordinated signs and photo opportunities for the press.

But Sanders’ crowd mixed young and old, and was larger, as well as more ethnically diverse.

Biden’s crowd was smaller and attendees tended to be older. Biden’s policy prescriptions are less aggressive — he says he only promises reforms he can pay for. Sanders said he wants to transform the fossil fuel and pharmaceutical industries, as well as the military industrial complex.

Biden has repeatedly identified his career with President Barack Obama’s leadership.

Biden claims his presidency will return civility to the White House and the nation in a post-Trump era.

VICE news and Vox reported Sanders supporters are younger and more ethnically diverse than any other Democrats in the field. Biden spent more time denouncing the president than making policy promises, as Sanders and Warren do.

“You know the one generation that has the greatest sense of anxiety in America, the so-called Generation Z,” Biden said. “…Their greatest concern is that they’ll be shot in school.”

In his 25-minute speech, Biden did not mention another existential threat to Generation Z, the climate crisis.

Despite heckles from members of the Sunrise Movement in the audience. Biden gave no suggestions about climate policy. The group is a

youth-led climate crisis social movement. The Sunrise movement was made famous when its child members confronted California Sen. Dianne Feinstein in February.

Millennials, who will make up the largest generation of eligible voters in the next election, don’t generally support centrist candidates in the mainstream of the Democratic Party.

This includes its current front-runner, Joe Biden.

Audience members shouted “Uncle Joe” at Biden as he left the stage.

Having a household name may not sustain the former vice president’s campaign. Biden dipped below Warren in recent national polls, as well as in key primary states. So far, Biden’s poll numbers and support from party leaders remains stable.

Martina Albertazzi, a freelance reporter for Bloomberg and Italy’s La Republica said she doubts Biden will remain the leader.

“What I think is like the polls are going to change in the next two weeks a lot,” Albertazzi said. “The past few months, Biden was the safest choice for Democrats in terms of, ‘let’s see what other candidates are going to offer.’”

State party leader Rusty Hicks criticized Biden and Warren for their decision to skip California’s nominating convention in a tweet on Nov. 5.

“I respect your work/candidacy, BUT... you should reconsider your misguided decision to publicly snub California’s Democrats & Latino Voters across the nation,” Hicks wrote.

10

SPORTS

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 4, 2019

‘Smashing Shuttles’ Court New Players

BY SARAH RAGSDALE

O

Photo by SARAH RAGSDALE

ne of the most popular “participation” sports in the world has a club at L.A. City College.

It’s badminton. Yes, badminton.

The BBC says that only football is more popular. Players use racquets to hit a small coneshaped rubber and plastic cork with feathers known as a shuttlecock across a net. Larger teams can play, but the most common forms of the game are “singles” with one player per side and “doubles” with two players per side.

This sport is often played as an outdoor activity in a yard or on a beach while formal games are played on a rectangular indoor court. Players can score points when they strike the shuttlecock with the racquet, and it lands in the opposing player’s half of the court.

The forum goes on to say that badminton was also included as an official Olympic sport in Barcelona in 1992, and 1.1 billion viewers watched the tournament on television.

By day, Emil Mubarakshin works in the L.A. City College Office of Institutional Effectiveness as a research analyst. He calculates the trends and numeric values reflected by changes in student attendance, achievement or by the number of students who complete courses. But he also makes time for sports. Last spring, he founded the badminton club and named it “Smashing Shuttles.”

“I started playing 20 years ago and got hooked,” Mubarakshin said. “I’ve been active for 10 – 12 years and officiate during tournaments. When I came to the states 14 – 15 years ago, I took a class at Los Angeles City College and

at that time, the class was held through community services.”

Mubarakshin has also participated in the U.S. Open Badminton Championship umpires regularly, and he has been involved with the Special Olympics.

In 2005, the United States won the world championships in Anaheim and received a gold medal.

Mubarakshin has been training and says he hopes to become a badminton participant in the upcoming Olympics.

There are several clubs at various colleges that participate in badminton, especially on the East side, but at LACC, “Smashing Shuttles” is the first of its kind.

“I recently went to a junior competition in Pomona where there were hundreds of players and the age range was from five to six, to 15,” Mubarakshin said. “People who are much older than 60 years old also play badminton. It’s a lot of fun and it’s super exciting. Badminton is a sport that’s open for everybody.”

Badminton is also known to be much more intense than tennis, according to the OlympicChannel. com. Players need to react quickly to return the shuttlecock in this fast-paced game. The site went on to say that shuttlecocks can reach speeds of up to 200 mph, and that makes badminton the fastest racket sport in the world.

Mubarakshin wants new members to join “Smashing Shuttles.”

He would like to create more of a badminton community on campus that could lead to intramural sports.

The club is open to all students and no experience is necessary.

Anyone who is interested in playing can find out more by contacting Mubarakshin by email at MUBARAE@lacitycollege.edu

INTRAMURALS TIME OUT INTRAMURAL SOCCER TUE. 1-3 P.M., FRI. 12-3 P.M. SOCCER FIELD

SWIM CLUB MON. WED. 12:30-2 P.M. KIN NORTH POOL

VOLLEYBALL CLUB “KISS MY ACE” MON. 1-4 P.M. KIN NORTH GYM

BASKETBALL CLUB TUE. 1-3 P.M., FRI. 12-3 P.M. KIN SOUTH GYM

BADMINTON CLUB FRI. 12-1 P.M. KIN SOUTH

bin How do you feel about the lack of intercollegiate sports on campus?

SOURCE HTTPS://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/EDROST88/49094097867 AUTHOR ERIK DROST ON FLICKR, CC 2.0 Mason Rudolph (left) of the Pittsburgh Steelers reacts immediately after Myles Garrett (right) of the Cleveland Browns hits him in the head with his own helmet on Nov. 14, 2019.

Myles Garrett’s Indefinite Suspension Upheld

BY JOSH WADE

C

leveland Browns defensive end Miles Garrett’s appeal for leniency failed last Wednesday, when Commissioner Roger Goodell upheld the NFL’s decision to suspend Garrett indefinitely.

The Player’s Association, that fought in Garrett’s defense, claimed the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph initiated last week’s confrontation with a racial slur directed at Garrett. The

situation devolved on the field, culminating with Garrett removing Rudolph’s helmet and striking him in the head with it. Yet none of the players on either team could back up Garrett’s claims. CNN Sports HQ anchor David Samson comments, “If you’re going to play the race card, you better have evidence to back it up.”

Rudolph’s attorney immediately put out a statement stating explicitly, “This is a lie.”

Garrett maintains his indefinite suspension is too hefty a penalty.

Rudolph, who walked away from the fight with nothing but a minor headache claims he is “okay” with Myles Garrett going forward and says, “I should have done a better job keeping my composure in the

situation.”

The NFL has dealt with its fair share of bad press already this year regarding violence and scandal.

Perhaps the league wishes to make an example of Garrett and demonstrate a no-tolerance policy for this type of behavior.

Nevertheless, Garrett’s actions clearly qualify as unsportsmanlike behavior. For the game to remain civilized, the league must uphold professional standards of conduct.

Fortunately for Miles Garrett and the Cleveland Browns, the term indefinitely suspended is not as definitive as it sounds. Garrett cannot play the final six weeks of the season, but is eligible to apply to the NFL next season for reinstatement.

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T. J. BAGUNU Major: Nursing “I transferred here from Mount San Antonio College for the nursing program here. I was on the golf team there until they took away their golf program.

Football players, golfers,cheerleaders, etc. come here and there’s none of that. So it takes away a huge aspect of what we’ve known college to be about. Education is important, but it is also important to have leisure time, and a lot of people and that in sports.”

ANDY RAMIREZ Major: Undeclared “I guess it’s a little disappointing because a lot of colleges or universities have rivalries; it’s part of the school’s pride and spirit, and adds a lot to the college experience.

I know not everyone likes sports, but for those who do, sports are a good distraction from stress and work. So it’s disappointing. It’s one thing that could be done to improve LACC I guess.”

ANDY RAMIREZ Major: Undeclared “It was a huge scandal. It kind of hurts the school as a community, but from what happened it’s understandable.

From my understanding the scandal was that people who worked at the school were selling products, or had a way of selling products without paying the school.

They were using the school’s email system to do it, and I think the rule says that they weren’t allowed to. It was wild.

ANDY RAMIREZ Major: Undeclared “I don’t play sports, and I don’t know what happened. But if they start playing (intercollegiate sports) again that’s good I guess!”