2019 Fall Collegian Issue 1

Page 1

Collegian Los Angeles

SEPT.15 THROUGH OCT.15 MARKS NATIONAL HISPANIC HERITAGE

The Voice of Los Angeles City College Since 1929

Wednesday, September 18, 2019 Volume 183 Number 1

AROUND CAMPUS

NEWS BRIEFS

TRANSPORTATION

Safe Parking Pilot Program Set for Next Spring

Plight of Homeless intersects with campus concerns

BY MELISSA CRUMBY

BY XENIA HAMILTON

Congressman Brings Plan for Food Insecure to Campus BY JAILENE TRUJILLO California Congressman Adam Schiff from Burbank hosted a press conference and roundtable at the Student Union Building at L.A. City College on Sept. 5, 2019. Schiff explained the Food for Thought Act, which would provide grants to community colleges, so institutions can provide free meals to food insecure students. Schiff and Congressman other lawmakers ADAM SCHIFF sponsored the bill, which is similar to the free lunch programs available at high schools across the country. It aims to expand the program further than its current grade levels of kindergarten through 12. The bill has endorsements from Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Glendale Community Colleges, as well as the endorsement of the Community College League of California, the American Association of Community Colleges, Swipe Out Hunger, and the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice.

Watergate Journalist to Speak at Nick Beck Lecture Series Carl Bernstein, one of the investigative journalists to cover the Watergate scandal that precipitated the impeachment of Richard Nixon, will speak at L.A. City College on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019. The Bernstein lecture will mark the inaugural Nick Beck InvestiPHOTO COURTESY gative Journalism WIKIMEDIA.ORG Series, which is organized by the L.A. City College Foundation. The program begins at 4 p.m.on the third floor of the Student Union in the Multipurpose Room and ends at 5:30 p.m. Students who are currently enrolled may attend for free. Contact cookh@lacitycollege.edu.

INDEX Opinion & Editorial

2-3

Reporter’s Notebook

4

Arts & Entertainment

5

News

6

Campus Life

7

Sports

8

I’m sympathetic to the plight of homeless. For the college, we have to try to keep homeless individuals from staying here overnight and things of that nature.” -Mary Gallagher, President, Los Angeles City College An L.A. County Sheriffs Deputy waits to confront a student who was showering in the Kinesiology Building on the evening of Aug. 29, 2019.

SEE “HOMELESS” PAGE 6

Summer Brings Spike in Campus Crime

C

BY CHISLEY HAYNES

Incidents of burglary, petty theft, arson and vandalism plagued the campus during the summer months. However, a district plan is on the way, and some improvements have already made their debut.

ampus administration ordered increased patrols on campus after two separate incidents in August. Los Angeles Fire Department personnel responded to fires set in trash cans in Sci Tech and in front of the Life Sciences Buildings on Aug. 05. A break-in occurred, on July 26, in the Life Sciences Building, and there were also signs of vandalism in the men’s restroom on the first floor. In another incident, a student’s bicycle was stolen right in front of the Cesar Chavez Administration Building on July 30. The bicycle was parked right outside of the Sheriff ’s Department. Someone also broke into the into the construction site at Da Vinci Hall and stole a tool box on Aug. 08. All of the incidents happened over the summer, and some were outside of the range of surveillance cameras that work. Cameras do not work in undetermined areas of the campus. Sheriffs have not shared that data, but LACC and other district colleges will receive new surveillance equipment over the coming months. “The new project will upgrade all of our existing cameras to HD, which means that we will be able to get reliable information from the cameras,” said LACC President Mary Gallagher. “The system will provide better images, zoom, proper rotation, those kinds of things.” SEE “CAMPUS CRIME” PAGE 6

The California State Assembly has passed a bill that allows colleges to open up their parking lots to homeless students. Students who live out of their cars and attend community college may benefit from California Assembly Bill 302 (AB 302). Assembly members Marc Berman and co-author Lorena Gonzales created the bill, which passed on Aug. 30, 2019. The bill was created to provide relief to home-insecure students who attend campus. A monitored parking lot may help students feel safer and more protected than parking on a public street. The pilot program could start as early as April 2020. LACC Director of Special Projects and Academic Support, Daren Lynne hopes the program will help the many homeless students who struggle because of California’s housing crisis. “We’ve done all kinds of work,” said Lynne as she points to her desk full of binders. “As you can see by these three binders over there, we are ready and have a very comprehensive program that has required a lot of funding around it.” The bill states that a community college campus that has parking facilities must grant overnight access to these facilities, on or before July 1, 2021, to any homeless student who is enrolled in coursework, has paid any enrollment fees that have not been waived, and is in good standing with the community college, for the purpose of sleeping in the student’s vehicle overnight, according to the California Legislative Information website. “Therefore, I have decided to make AB 302 a two-year bill. I plan to spend this fall working with the governor’s office to identify ways to more urgently alleviate the struggles that our community college students are facing every day, in a way that treats them with dignity and the respect they deserve,” Berman wrote on his website. SEE “PILOT” PAGE 7

DRILL INSTRUCTION

Lockdown: Sheriffs Prepare Campus for Active Shooter

“There is a thing that the sheriff ’s department trains people on. It’s called run, hide, fight ... ”

BY CHISLEY HAYNES

-Deputy Ryan Rouzan L.A. County Sheriffs Department PHOTO BY CHISLEY HAYNES

L.A. County Sheriffs personnel moved nearly100 students and faculty members through the steps of a lockdown last week in a drill at the Faculty and Staff Center on Sept. 12, 2019. The hands-on training prepared attendees with information on how to react in case of an active shooter situation at L.A. City College. The participants were quiet as they filed into a line. The Sheriffs instructed the students to keep quiet as they looked for a place to hunker down. Students searched for the least visible classroom in which to hide, and they made sure their cell phones were on silent. “It goes back to when we were small [kids], and we played hide and seek. You don’t want to say anything or you don’t want to have sounds coming, so that the person looking for you can’t locate where you are,” said L.A. County Deputy Ryan Rouzan. This all happened within 10 minutes. Students heard a knock at the door and a loud voice outside of the classroom. There were four classrooms and five sheriff ’s personnel. “It’s the sheriff ’s department,” a deputy said. “You guys can come out now.”

The purpose of the early-morning lockdown drill was to help students and faculty learn how they should respond in a real active shooter emergency. In 2018, gun violence claimed the lives of 35 people at schools in the United States according to Education Week. Deputy Rouzan says in the case of an active shooter it is important to ensure your own safety and to know where the shooter is located. “There is a thing that the sheriff ’s department trains people on. It’s called run, hide, fight,” Rouzan said. “Those will be three things after ensuring your own safety and learning where [the shooting] is coming from.” Experts say administrators must ensure students and staff are clear about how to respond to an active shooter situation. They also say realistic drills improve school safety, according to district administration.com “You want to run away if it’s possible from where the shooter is,” Rouzan said. “If you are unable to run away you want to hide, such as what we did this morning with the lockdown drill, and worst case scenario is, if the shooter is in your immediate vicinity and does specifically come after you, you want to fight for your life.”


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