2020 Fall Los Angeles Collegian

Collegian

PANDEMICRESISTANCE

LOS ANGELES

JOURNALISM PROGRAM

LACC WINS COLUMBIA NATIONAL AWARD Page 5

The Voice of Los Angeles City College Since 1929

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 Volume 185 Number 5

COVID-19 CASES

SILVERORGOLD?

CAMPUS SAFETY

Campus Community Celebrates Life of Kabwe Chanda in Song

REFORMS

DISTRICT SEEKS NEW SECURITY SERVICE FOR 9 COLLEGES

Members of the LACC music faculty dedicated their quarterly concert to the memory of Kabwe Chanda, the campus and District regional IT manager, a music lover and an early victim of COVID-19.

by the end of the year,” Jontae said. “As long as the people who are brought on to protect our campus are well-trained in safety and protection, as well as dealing with college students who might have mental health issues or who have to deal with high levels of stress throughout our studies, that would be fine.”

The search for a new security provider is under way. The new company must be in place by Jan. 1, 2021.

“The LACCD will now seek a temporary safety and security services contract while a formal Request for Proposals (RFP) is developed, and a new contract approved,” said William H. Boyer who is the District’s director of communications.

One student wonders if the District should have named a new company first.

“Maybe they should’ve named this agency before discontinuing their contract, although none of us are on campus,” said theater arts major Valerie Vega. “I think this is great, so long as there is some other form of security for those who are on campus at different hours. It’s very important that those protecting us do not have a gun. If needed, the LASD or LAPD can be called for emergencies.”

The LACCD currently spends more than $25 million a year for the LASD contract that includes 24/7 security at all nine colleges and facilities.

But the terms of the current contract did not represent what the District was paying for safety and security during the pandemic according to President Gallagher.

“The channels of communication between the parties were back and forth about expectations for what the District wants and agreed but, time was running,” Gallagher said. “It’s not that the sheriffs

Whether incremental reform or complete defunding and restructure, the discussion was wide-ranging when Los Angeles City College hosted a discussion about solutions to police violence and accountability on Nov. 12 when the Office of the Chancellor and Los Angeles College Faculty Guild, AFT Local 1521 Social Justice Committee sponsored the webinar “Pursuing Racial Equity in Police Reform” hosted on Zoom.

Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) Chancellor Francisco C. Rodriguez says that dealing with racial inequities in policing requires difficult and honest conversations.

“LACC must lead by example,” Rodriguez said.

Dr. Rashawn Ray who is the executive director of applied social science research at the University of Maryland highlighted opportunities for structural and permanent policy changes in policing.

The demand for police reform has grabbed ahold of the national consciousness in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, MN, last May. “George Floyd left us feeling various ways about the fact that police officers are supposed to protect and serve,” Dr. Ray said. “Instead, we saw something drastically different.”

Dr. Ray presented a slideshow of side-by-side comparisons of photographs of protests that happened decades apart. He shared a 1964 photo of African American civil rights activists surrounded by police alongside the “flower girl” photo of a young African American woman approaching a protest line in 2014, offering peace and surrounded by police.

The side-by-side images evoked powerful imagery of past meeting present; and a reminder of the progress still to be made.

“We have the over-militarization of police looking like they are going to war with full tactical gear and weapons,” Dr. Ray said. “The juxtaposition is when cops display photos of harmony with the black community.”

Social media has played an integral role in capturing the rise of a movement. The rise of Black Lives Matter can be tracked through the use of the #blacklivesmatter. The murder of Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in 2014, and Wilson’s subsequent non-indictment saw a huge rise in the use of #blacklivesmatter. A movement was born.

Dr. Ray emphasizes the outsize

SEE “SHERIFF” PAGE 6

SEE “POLICE” PAGE 6

PHOTO BY LOUIS WHITE The silhouette of a Los Angeles Sheriff’s patrol car dominates the Quad on Nov. 18 in front of the Theatre Academy at L.A. City College. They will all disappear from sight when the LASD vacates all nine campuses at the end of the year.

After 19 years, the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) will break from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to look for a new company to provide security for its nine colleges.

It’s important that officers get training on how to de-escalate a conflict and be able to determine whether something needs an intervention; a more proactive rather than a reactive approach.”

-Dr. Mary Gallagher, President of L.A. City College

BY JUAN MENDOZA Contract negotiations have ended between the LACCD and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, which provides campus security for the nine district colleges.

Talks broke off after the two sides could not reach a new contract agreement. The sheriff department’s current contract on the nine college campuses will end Dec. 31, 2020.

“It is not a question of fault at this point, it’s a question of being able to understand each other,” said L.A. City College President Mary Gallagher.

The LASD will move out of L.A. City College and other colleges and district facilities by the end of the year, but the transition will begin in mid-December.

Deputy Adolfo Pastrano is the supervisor in charge at the sheriff’s station at L.A. City College.

The Collegian caught up with Pastrano on a chilly afternoon before Thanksgiving on Nov. 22.

“I’m like everybody else, I don’t have a lot details, the only thing that I can tell you that I know is that the District and the sheriff’s department were unable to get an agreement with the new contract,” Pastrano said in a reserved tone. “And that’s the reason why we no longer will be serving the LACCD, and someone else will be doing the services starting next year.”

The students employed as cadets will be reassigned to other work-study positions at the college, according to Pastrano. Students may not be on campus during the pandemic, but they are in touch by email and social media.

Anishika Jontae studies at the LACC Theatre Academy.

“I have heard that the sheriffs would be leaving

SEE “KABWE CHANDA” PAGE 6

Voters Say No to Proposition 15

INDEX Opinion & Editorial

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Arts & Entertainment

4

Features

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News 6 Resources 7 Artist Spotlight

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Debate swirls around the quality of policing, and some consider it broken as an institution.

BY MATTHEW RODRIQUEZ

BY ANGELIA COYNE AND ANGELA JOHNSON Kabwe Chanda was the beloved Los Angeles Community College District Regional IT Manager who succumbed to COVID-19 in the spring of 2020 and was the subject of a tribute concert by faculty in the Herb Alpert Music Center last week.

The LACC music faculty presented the concert via YouTube Live on Nov. 25 in honor of Chanda by performing some of his favorite songs ranging from jazz to classical. Some faculty performed at the empty Herb Alpert Concert Hall on LACC’s campus, and others at home studios.

LACC President Dr. Mary Gallagher opened the concert by welcoming hundreds of viewers who attended the virtual concert.

“Tonight, we are bringing this concert to more than our LACC family,” Gallagher said. “Tonight, we are doing this concert in honor of Kabwe Chanda … who affected our lives in so many ways.

Not just his level of excellence at his work and his commitment to making sure that he served the campus well, but his smile is left with us always.”

Professor and music department chair Dr. Christine Park says Chanda loved music.

“And some of his favorite songs will be performed tonight,” Park said. “We will always remember him.”

Since its live broadcast, the concert has been viewed more than 1,000 times on YouTube.

The soft, serene melody of “The Days of Wine and Roses” as performed by professor David Stahl on piano and Michael Mull on saxophone gave one the feeling of Chanda’s calm spirit.

City College Hosts Police Reform Forum

Voters defeated a ballot measure in November that would have delivered millions of funding dollars to the Los Angeles Community College District.

BY CASHIA KIRKSEY Electing the 46th U.S. president was not the only important decision voters faced during November’s General Election.

SEE “PROPOSITION 15” PAGE 6

PHOTO COURTESY OF LEXIS-OLIVIER RAY HYPERALLERGIC. COM Mourners leave a colorful offering on the Day of the Dead for Andres Guardado at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Nov. 1, 2020.

New Details Emerge in Shooting Death of City College/Trade Tech Student

BY DIEGO CHAVEZ CADENA T he L.A. County Coroner’s Office began an inquest into the fatal shooting of Andres Guardado, a student

enrolled in two colleges in the Los Angeles Community College District who was shot five times in the back by L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies on June 18 in Gardena.

SEE “GUARDADO” PAGE 6

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OPINION & EDITORIAL

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 2, 2020

PANDEMIC RESISTANCE

EDITORIAL

Trump, the Sore Loser

BY THANDI CHIMURENGA

ILLUSTRATION BY KAREN RUSSO

The “long national nightmare” of the Donald Trump presidency is almost over. Almost. Now that the transition process for President-elect Joe Biden has finally begun, it doesn’t mean that Trumpism will end in late January 2021. Trumpism is a catchy name but the reality is that Trumpism existed long before Donald J. became the 45th president. That’s why it won’t be so easy to root out.

Trumpism mangled the US response to the coronavirus in part because of its distrust of science. That distrust of science denies that climate change is a real threat to life on planet earth.

The hubris of American Exceptionalism also explains Trumpism’s refusal to follow the health and safety protocols of countries like China, South Korea, Cuba and New Zealand, amongst others. These countries have contained the spread of the deadly disease among their citizens while the numbers of new cases and deaths from the virus continue to rise in the U.S. Almost all documented cases of voter fraud have come from registered Republicans or Republican-paid operatives and yet, Trumpism alleged voter fraud every day prior to the presidential election and every hour on the hour since the Nov. 3 election. The fact that Trumpism is actually asking the judiciary, with a straight face, to invalidate the votes of states that narrowly went to President-elect Biden, and the fact that the areas/cities in those states were predominantly African American, is classic Trumpism in action.

The name Trumpism is catchy, short and it fits. At least 70 million Americans that we know of support Trumpism. But the ideas that under-gird Trumpism incubated long before Donald J. became president.

The anti-intellectualism and xenophobia masked as patriotism, the peddling of paranoia in the form of

shadow government-media collusion, and red-whiteand-blue racism is what gave birth to Donald Trump; it wasn’t the other way around.

But perhaps the saddest and most intransigent part of Trumpism that will need to be rooted out is the cult of celebrity. The cult of celebrity that masks the nature of American socio-political and economic reality.

A quote attributed to writer John Steinbeck nicely sums it up: “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”

It is the temporarily embarrassed millionaires amongst those 70 million-plus voters who see themselves represented in this millionaire business mogul /reality TV show star turned president. Donald Trump says to them “I too can aspire to greatness in this great country.”

“Star struck” is the popular term: being overly impressed or fascinated by celebrity. Millions of “star struck” Americans turned a blind eye to Donald Trump’s lack of practical ways of creating jobs and rebuilding the middle class in the U.S. They have turned a blind eye to the policy that tells thousands of people to choose between going to work in a pandemic without safety protocols, or avoid work as you and your family starve and lose your home.

“Star struck” is more than likely the real reason 70 million-plus Americans thought they were voting in their best interest when they went with Trumpism on Nov. 3.

The presidency of Donald J. Trump will officially come to an end on Wednesday, January 20, 2021.

That means two things: 1) we have just under two months to rest up and prepare for his exit, and 2) we have just under two months to rest up and prepare for the years, most likely decades, of work it will take to undue what gave birth to Trumpism in the first place.

Euphoria Gives Way to Post-Election Blues

BY CIARA CHAVARRIA I woke up extra early on Nov. 3 to go to a polling place with my mom to vote for whom we believed should be the new president in America.

I was stressed, not only because it was election day, but because it was the last day to vote. My mom, however, says she always votes on the last day because it makes her feel like a real American. I was shaking when I had to hand them my information, and as I voted.

When I threw away the large swab when I left the building, I felt so happy. I’m a firsttime voter. I was too young during the 2016 election, and I was still too young in 2018.

So, voting for the first time, especially during this election, was a big deal for me.

I went home and took pictures with my “I Voted!” sticker and then, I took a nap. When I say election week was probably the most stressful week of my life, I am not exaggerating. The only channel that was playing in my

house was CNN, and the TV stayed on the same channel until Sunday. I was constantly texting my friends with all of us giving each other updates and offering reassuring words back and forth.

My family, me and my friends all voted blue. The relief I felt when I found out Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won was insane.

I was overjoyed that Donald Trump would finally be out of office, and someone more qualified would take his place.

Well, that joy was short lived. Once my mom called me early in the morning, I texted all my friends and went on Instagram to post something about his win on my story. I then went on Twitter to show my support and happiness and to see how everyone else felt.

I got a direct message from a close friend of mine of a meme about Biden. I was very confused when I saw the meme as it alluded to the fact that Biden plans on bombing the Middle East. Selfishly, I texted her, “Can’t we just be happy for like one second?” She texted me back talking about Biden’s Middle East policy, and she wrote that he and Kamala Harris are pro-Israel.

My stomach immediately dropped. This hit close to home, because she lives in Turkey. Instantly, I felt guilt wash over me, and I

was embarrassed by my complete ignorance.

I apologized and felt even worse when she expressed how scared she was. This was not the first time she’s told me about the problems arising in her country.

She’s also expressed her desire to move to America multiple times, as she’s said, they’re moving closer and closer to a dictatorship government. I felt so much guilt, that I deleted all of my posts celebrating the new president elect, and I’m now taking a social media break.

I felt myself wanting to be seven again and being comfortable with Obama being the president and knowing absolutely nothing about politics. It’s really bad, but I only wish for ignorance when it comes to two things: I don’t want to know what’s in the dark once I turn off my lights and in-depth politics.

It was very hard to see everyone celebrate and be so happy. I was happy too, for about 10 minutes, until reality gave me a massive slap in the face. I felt reluctant to tell those around me how I was feeling, because I didn’t want to be that person, but it still definitely was a big win for America.

Joe Biden is in office for the second time, and we’re going to have our first woman vice president. That’s so amazing! I feel very con-

COLUMN

We Need to Talk Understanding adult survivors of childhood maltreatment provides a potential opportunity to end cyclical abuse.

I understand that this is not an easy conversation, but the only way to overcome is to confront. I used to believe I had beat the odds as an adult survivor of child abuse. Statistically, that seemed inevitable.

I knew the events in my childhood were not my fault, yet somehow, in adulthood, I found my-

self submerged in a decade-long, domestic violence relationship. I questioned why people, including myself, stay in abusive relationships, and I found an answer hidden within patterns that generate what is known as the cycle of abuse.

Intergenerational transmission of abuse and neglect has created a

cycle of violence. We must recognize and articulate the similarities between childhood trauma and adult domestic violence. It could provide us with the tools to develop alternative treatments and resources for adult survivors. Our brains are structured by early life experiences. Maltreatment during

flicted right now. Although I do have really bad anxiety and major guilt, I had to remind myself that I settled for Biden and that he was not my first choice at all.

I remember talking to my co-worker when it was a slow night. We were behind the concession stand of the movie theatre.

I told him I wanted Bernie Sanders to be president. He then told me he wanted Biden, and I shared with him some reasons as to why I don’t support Biden. He disagreed and before we could discuss any further, a manager told us to sweep, and that was the end of that conversation.

Sadly, Bernie did not end up on the ballot as he spent all of his campaign money donating and supporting the Black Lives Matter movement earlier this summer. At the end of the day, I settled for Joe Biden.

I’m aware that no politician is completely clean. Politics is dirty. I know Obama, during his presidency was not innocent and has done some things that I don’t believe reflect my values and morals or America’s.

I didn’t even know about the Middle East policy, and I do blame that on my ignorance and my naivete. I really hope some way and somehow, we can protect those in the Middle East and Palestine.

formative years causes the brain to develop unique ways to cope with conflict. These coping mechanisms however, are no longer beneficial to victims in adulthood, and they must be self-aware to unlearn unwanted habits – something extremely difficult to accomplish later in life.

To believe that children simply outgrow the side effects of abuse has caused adult survivors to remain silent. This leaves research with wavering statistics and slows the development of new treatments. Victims’ anger, shame and despair can lead to self-destructive behaviors that include depression, anxiety, substance abuse and can also lead to homelessness.

The problem people do not understand is that these behaviors and mental disorders make day-to-day life challenging.

Therapy for this type of abuse is not available to the people who

need it most, and crisis centers only allow 10 free sessions before they begin to charge. The current system sets victims up for failure—I wonder how survivors are supposed to avoid homelessness if the depression is so severe, they cannot even get out of bed.

This victimization of children makes them vulnerable to perpetuating the cycle of abuse as they mature. Those involved in romantic relationships as adults subconsciously seek out a partner who will abuse them. They may even believe that the abusive behaviors are an act of love. Victims have low self-esteem type beliefs that keep them paralyzed and willing to accept something that is unacceptable.

Abusers reinforce this lack of self-worth by saying that abuse is normal, that they are overreacting, or by gaslighting their SEE “FEARLESS” NEXT PAGE 3

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 ANGELA JOHNSON Graphics Layout Editor BEATRICE ALCALA Copy Editor SERINA HAYNES Opinions & Editorial Editor ANGELA JOHNSON Broadcast, Social Media Producers JAMES DUFFY V, THANDI CHIMURENGA DIEGO CHAVEZ CADENA, SERINA HAYNES, BEATRICE ALCALA Copy Editors ANGELA JOHNSON, VALENTINA YANEZ, THANDI CHIMURENGA Photo Editor BEATRICE ALCALA Photographers LOUIS WHITE, JUAN MENDOZA, CHRIS AHN Illustrators CASSANDRA MUÑOZ, STEPHANIE KO. KAREN RUSSO Reporters CHRIS AHN, CASHIA KIRKSEY, DESIREE ORTIZ, HOLLIANN HARTMAN, GERARDO DE LOS SANTOS, MATTHEW RODRIGUEZ, WILLIAM B. TORRES, JONATHAN MONTES, SERINA HAYNES, ANGELIA COYNE, JAMES DUFFY, CIARA CHAVARRIA, DENNIS DAVIS, JUAN MENDOZA, KEYAN MIAO, THANDI CHIMARENGA Online Editor-in-Chief DIEGO CHAVEZ CADENA Faculty Adviser RHONDA GUESS

For all submissions including letters to the editor and publicity releases, send materials to Collegian offices located in Chemistry Building, Room 207, or email: losangeles.collegian@gmail.com.

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Next Issue: December 16, 2020 Editorial Deadline: December 14, 2020

OPINION & EDITORIAL

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 2, 2020

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PANDEMIC RESISTANCE

INK STYLE

Biden Administration Must Change Immigration Course

AVISUALREPRESENTATIONOFTHEWORLDASWEKNOWIT

BY KEYAN MIAO

ILLUSTRATION BY CASSANDRA MUNOZ

CHECK US ONLINE

Aww Donald, you’re such a fool..

COLLEGIAN. LACC.LIFE

Why can’t I pardom myself? I pardon a turkey every year.

ISSUU.COM/ LOS ANGELES COLLEGIAN

TALKBACKTOTHE EDITORS Weareinterestedinwhat youhavetosay.

Email us at losangeles. collegian@gmail.com

@collegianwired facebook.com/ collegianwired ILLUSTRATION BY STEPHANIE KO

FROM “FEARLESS” PAGE 2

Fearless victims. The combination of low self-esteem, intermittent love and abuse, and escalating threats and violence toward the victims’ attempts to free themselves, is enough to make any human being feel hopeless enough to stay. The abuse continues until the victim finds the courage to leave or is abused to death.

Psychiatric patients who have suffered from childhood abuse or neglect are far more difficult and expensive to treat compared to other patients who were raised in healthy environments. Delinquency and criminality are common outcomes of upbringings filled with abuse, neglect, domestic violence between parental figures and bullying. Think of the potential within our communities if we needed fewer prisons because the issues were

addressed and treated proactively. Think of the benefits of moving one step closer to a society that everyone could experience and enjoy.

We must acknowledge and speak candidly if we ever hope to end this violent cycle. We would have to commit ourselves to improving access to educational programs for children and provide educators with a system and the tools to help their students. We need to educate parents on how to better nurture their children. Children must learn how to bond with others before their destructive behaviors become part of their subconscious. We cannot be silent when faced with society’s rape culture— we need to talk. We must start talking.

It’s OK to Sit Out Holidays

BY DENNIS DAVIS Thanksgiving in the middle of a pandemic, and I stayed home without family. Oh, I could have visited family members in Denver or Boise, or friends back East.

But I am 63 and in a high-risk category, so I am keeping my butt home alone and eating like a vegan pig.

It’s crazy to see all the news about air traffic and people flying home.

The White House is planning all kinds of holiday parties. The G-20 have a summit about Covid-19 and President Trump goes golfing. So, this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for some different things than I was last year.

I am thankful that I can go to school from home online, and l can learn like being in a classroom. I am thankful that the

Biden-Harris ticket will be in the White House soon, and that some of the crazy will go away.

I am thankful that various companies have developed a vaccine that will prevent COVID-19, and that we will have access to it

by Spring 2021. I am thankful that my family members have survived the last six months, and that they aren’t crazy enough to insist that I visit during Thanksgiving week.

I am thankful for Facebook, which is a method of staying in touch with said family members on a daily basis. I have seen pictures of my nephew’s garden and horse this week.

I am thankful for Pell Grants and other government funding for school. I could not have this experience without those funds.

I hope people wear masks and social distance in their holiday gatherings, but I am not expecting many of them will. So, I am thankful for a merciful God who shields children and fools from the effects of their actions.

As Joe Biden prepares to assume the presidency, many wonder how his administration will change immigration policies. As an international student, I am a little relieved, but not entirely optimistic.

With Biden being the president for the next four years, we are reassured that there will be no unreasonable travel bans or tearing families apart at the border. However, the damage that was done to this country’s immigration policies cannot be easily erased.

Right before the start of the fall semester, President Trump announced that all international students had to attend in-person classes or their visas would be terminated. That was in the midst of the pandemic while California suspended all in-person activities. A lot of international students panicked and criticized the inhumanity of the policy.

“I had just got accepted to the graduate program,” said Yuxin Xia, a graduate student from UCLA. “It wasn’t my choice to take online classes. My school didn’t offer any in-person sessions at that time and there was literally nothing I could do to change this situation.”

Homeland Security eventually dropped the unreasonable proposal by the Trump administration, yet that was just one of the many scares that he brought to the immigrant community. During the past four years, President Trump has issued over 400 policy changes and regulations on immigration.

This includes his executive order on border security, which expands detentions. He also spent millions of tax dollars on building the wall, an executive order on interior enforcement which increases the number of ICE agents to detain immigrants in the cities, and an executive order on refugees to suspend visas from certain countries. The president signed three executive orders on immigration in just one month to “reform the United States,” and they worked, according to an immigration agent from NYIS Law Firm in New York City. Trump’s attitude has decreased the number of international students in the U.S. by nearly 5% compared to 2018.”

“What’s done is done, and we can’t help but look into Biden’s promises,” said Ms. Yin from NYIS. Biden promised that in his first 100 days, he would “take urgent action to undo Trump’s damage and reclaim America’s value.” Not everyone thinks that is practical. It is not easy to restore immigration policies to the Obama era. The increase in ICE agents will not just go away when Biden is in the office. And the conservatives will suppress Biden’s progressive proposals too, something that was done many times when Obama was the president.

“Well, I am just happy that I don’t have to listen to Trump yelling ‘China virus’ on the news anymore,” says Lily Han, mom of two Chinese boys.

“I was worried that my kids would be bullied because of their ethnicity.”

I have heard so many concerns just like Lily’s from my Asian friends, and my family was worried about my safety for the same reason.

We know that in the next four years, it will take a while to truly embrace immigrants and welcome them back to the United States. But at least this worrisome feeling won’t turn up as often.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 2, 2020

PANDEMIC RESISTANCE

ROCKIN’GRRRL

AUTUMNDAYS HERE ARE

60s 70s &

SONGSTOLISTENTOONACOLDAUTUMNDAY

T

BY VALENTINA YANEZ he leaves are starting to fall off the trees. The weather is cooling down here in Southern California.

The year is coming to an end, which means the holidays are fast approaching.

After such an unpredictable year, everyone deserves to slow down for a moment. Taking a break before the often chaotic holiday season arrives, now combined with a pandemic, is necessary. So, here is a playlist featuring mellow 60s and 70s songs ranging from folk to French pop. It can be used to relax after a stressful day or to accompany a warm holiday drink and a book.

Transport yourself to a different season with songs, like The Doors’ “Indian Summer” or “Paris Summer” by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood . Or to a different time in California with Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California.”

You can find the playlist on Spotify at: shorturl.at/ bfjBW

Generation Zoom Learns Online PHOTO BY WILLIAM BENJAMIN TORRES

Professor Leslie Ferreira uses action figure dolls to teach his “Theater 225: Beginning Direction” students through Zoom.

Instead of directing humans, professor Ferreira’s students direct the dolls where they should place on stage.

A

BY WILLIAM B. TORRES

s the battle against COVID-19 rages, L.A. City College professors adopt a new style of teaching.

America enters its eighth month of lockdown, and it does not seem like it will unlock any time soon.

People in America are adjusting to their work environment by working remotely. Colleges are no exception.

Since the Spring of 2020, most community colleges in California have been teaching remotely.

This is the first semester since quarantine began that Professor Leslie Ferreira has taught students Theater 225: Beginning Direction through Zoom.

“I have been teaching for over 20 years, and I am finding online teaching to be really challenging,” said Professor Ferreira. “I am used to teaching actors in a real stage, not in a video chat.”

Before Covid-19, cell phones presented instructors with their most significant problem during class.

Today, instructors face a new problem: students do not want to show their faces on the Zoom camera.

SOME OF THE SONGS ON THE PLAYLIST:

1. “Dreams” FLEETWOODMAC 2. “PaleBlueEyes” THEVELVETUNDERGROUND 3.“Lamétaphore” JACQUESDUTRONC 4. “SleepyLagoon” THEPLATTERS 5. “WildHorses” THEROLLINGSTONES

“It is hard to know if the student is paying attention in class because their camera is off,” Ferreira said.

“For all we know, the student might be asleep as I’m teaching.”

Like any instructor who works with Zoom, Professor Ferreira had to think outside the box.

“I bought action figure dolls from all races and ages, so my students could get hands-on experience directing through Zoom,” Ferreira said.

Joey Aquino is a second-year student at LACC who trains at the Theatre Academy. He was looking forward to directing students this semester, but now, he just watches Professor Ferreira as he discusses movement using dolls.

“I know we are living in a hard time, but it is weird to direct action figure dolls instead of our peers,” Aquino said. “I guess we have to learn one way or the other during these difficult times.”

Classes are not the only thing going online this year. Student performances went virtual as well.

This semester, Professor Ferreira directed “Virtual Green Room,” an original one-act parody on acting students who learn remotely.

Isiah Noriega also studies at the LACC Theatre Academy and is in his second year. He participated

BACKGROUND IMAGE COURTESY OF UNSPLASH

as an actor in “Virtual Green Room.”

“Although our performance was done through Zoom, we still rehearsed with our partner(s) like it was a performance on stage,” Noriega said. “I’m personally grateful I can perform with an audience, even if it is through Zoom.”

James Douglas received a double dose of remote learning. He graduated from high school last

summer remotely and now attends LACC remotely. He is enrolled in Basic English and math courses.

“I always thought my first year in college was going to be at a campus, surrounded by many of my peers, and learning from different professors,” Douglas said. “Never in a million years I thought I would graduate high school online and continue my higher education online as well.

It feels so surreal.”

While Pfizer has created a vaccine that has a 95% efficacy rate and submitted their application for emergency use authorization to the Food and Drug Administration, according to CNN.com, it won’t be available until 2021.

Until a vaccine is available, Professor Ferreira will continue to use his dolls as a teaching method through Zoom for the entire school year.

FEATURES

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 2, 2020

5

PANDEMIC RESISTANCE

SECOND ANNUAL GRATITUDE DAY WELCOMES STUDENTS TO CAMPUS

PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER AHN

Carem Ahorro hands out a LACC tote bag with a catered meal from Kensington Catering on Nov. 11, 2020. Volunteers were ready to intercepting cars that were going to pick up a meal.

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AssociatedStudent Government event providedThanksgivingMealsonthegotograteful students.

BY CHRISTOPHER AHN

urkey, ham and cornbread filled the tummies of more than 1,000 individuals in the student parking lots on Nov. 10, 2020.

The Associated Student Government (ASG) hosted their second annual gratitude event: “Drive Up, Grab ’N Go.” Students were able to drive up through New Hampshire, cross campus and exit through Heliotrope.

Even though students, faculty members, and volunteers wore masks. This all seemed “normal.” The campus felt lively again.

The DJ played music, students were mingling, and people were smiling.

Marian Kim, an ASG member posted a reminder about the “Drive Up, Grab ’N Go” event on

their Instagram story. She invited the students to swing by campus to get a on the go catered meal.

“We want to show that [ASG] cares for you,” Kim said. “Not only do we want to give food, but we want to make sure know we are there for them.”

Kensington Catering provide a wide variety of thanksgiving-themed dishes in take-out containers, from slow-roasted turkey breast, baked country pit ham, southern style all-American cornbread, old-fashioned country mashed potatoes and roasted fall vegetables, which included zucchini, squash and carrots. The meal also included a free T-shirt and dark chocolate spice cake.

Not every student drove though. The “Drive Up, and Grab ’N Go” event had a walkup option.

Students could enter campus and walk out with their meal.

Kryzia Monroy is a student who has one more semester at LACC. She could not imagine that this was her last semester.

“Spring is my last semester before I transfer,” Monroy said. “I cannot believe that this is how [my last] semester is going to end.”

Monroy took the Metro Redline to campus because she did not have a car. She was relieved that the campus was lively and close-knit.

“It took me 10 to 15 minutes to get to campus,” Monroy said. “I was curious how the campus would be, but It feels nice to be on campus with the live music.”

Shirin Jorayeza has been an international student for two years, and she says it took two years to get comfortable.

“I barely got comfortable with the school and then it shut down,” Jorayeza said. “I want to come back to campus. I can vividly remember how campus was before I left all the buildings and stuff.”

Jorayeza does not celebrate Thanksgiving, but she said that this meal can help a lot of people who cannot get a meal.

VAMALecturer Takes Students Inside the Writer’s Room

M

BY DENNIS DAVIS

PRODUCER DIRECTOR AND WRITER LATOYA MORGAN

If you really want to be a writer, follow your dream.”

-Theresa Adams to her daughter LaToya

ore than 40 students signed on for the last lecture of the Visual and Media Arts Lecture Series via Zoom on Nov. 21, to hear what it takes to write television scripts in Hollywood, and how that could lead to opportunities to produce and direct.

“After writing for ‘Into the Badlands,’ I would work on ‘TURN: Washington’s Spies,’ then I got to work on ‘The Walking Dead,’” said LaToya Morgan who also worked on “Parenthood.” “[It] was a lot like Shameless, but with a lot less cursing.”

LaToya Morgan shares a connection with L.A. City College. Her mother changed her career path when she studied journalism at LACC before she transferred to the University of California at Berkeley in 2009. Morgan, meanwhile, spent two years earning an M.F.A. in screenwriting from the American Film Institute Conservatory.

The tools and skills she learned in school helped Morgan to distinguish herself in the writer’s room.

“I was usually the only Black person, and the only woman in the room,” Morgan said. “The other writers had a kind of shorthand with each other, because they had worked with each other on previous shows. It was a challenge. I would call my mom and ask, ‘How can I deal with this situation better?’”

Morgan touched on the importance of finding a way to work through difficult situations. She also stressed that the school

a student graduates from is not a guarantee or a barrier to work.

“When my deal was up with AMC, I went to a bunch of different studios, like Netflix and Amazon and talked to them.

J.J. Abrams met me at HBO, after he had just finished a meeting about ‘Star Wars,’” Morgan said. “It was kind of like jazz; he would pitch me something and I would react to it.”

It was a productive Hollywood lunch that led to Morgan’s current position at Warner Brothers, which is the lot where she first started her career.

J.J. Abrams tapped Morgan to co-create and executive produce the upcoming HBO Max series “Duster,” which has received a series production green light.

One student asked Morgan how she got her foot in the door with TV shows?

Morgan says she attended UC Irvine as an undergraduate and at that time was more interested in ideas of equality and social justice.

“I was in college studying to be a lawyer, and I talked to my mom,” Morgan said. “‘If you really want to be a writer, follow your dream,’ my mom said. I finally listened to my mom and applied to film school.”

Morgan says the mentors she met at AFI Conservatory are still an inspiration.

Some whom she speaks with daily. In the meantime, she is blazing new trails with her own production company. She wants to ensure that writers’ rooms look more like America in the future. Her new company is called Tinker Toy Productions, and she is already looking for new content.

“I am so grateful and thankful to get an education here in the United States,” Jorayeza said.”It’s hard to stay at home right now, but I try to walk 15 minutes a day to get a breath of fresh air.”

The event was more than a drive-through, it was a glimpse of “normal.” The campus was loud and filled with students.

Arshdeep Gaqman, a student volunteer, seemed excited to hand out meals to students in their cars.

He gave each meal with a smile.

“We’ve been apart for so long and this helps bring a smile to our faces,” Gaqman said. “In our religion, Sikhism, we believe that if one opportunity closes, another one will open up. That is what we are trying to do.”

Gaqman also hoped that the event reassured students that [ASG] still cares for them, even though campus has gone virtual. He is a public health major, and he recognizes the importance of mental health.

CollegianStaffWinsEliteScholasticPressAward

BY COLLEGIAN STAFF Every year, a panel of judges assembles at Columbia University in New York to evaluate all entrants in newspaper, magazines, online media and yearbooks.

Crown Awards are the highest recognition given by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) to a student print or digital medium for overall excellence. This is the first time in recent memory that L.A. City College has won staff recognition for the Collegian newspaper.

This is not a nomination. This will result in either a Gold Crown Award or Silver Crown in March 2021 when announcements are made in New York.

L.A. City College also won five Gold Circle Awards for the individual work of Beatrice Alcala in design and Ande Richards in photography. Alcala won second place for news design and third place for single-page spread magazine layout. She also won two certificates of merit for table of contents, and one for multi-page spread inside the Collegian Times Magazine.

“It feels great to receive such high awards and honor at the national level,” Alcala said.

Richards won first place for best feature photo for her work inside the Collegian Times Magazine. Richards is a first-time CSPA winner.

“I am especially honored to receive this award from a photo of Morgan Freeman engaging with a student on campus with our president looking on,” Richards said by phone. “I thought it encapsulated the spirit of Los Angeles City College.”

L.A. City College students also won 16 publication awards from the SoCal Regional Journalism Association of Community Colleges Competition for work completed in fall 2019 to spring 2020. Awards included General Excellence for web, (Collegian.lacc.life), the Collegian and the Collegian Times magazine.

VAMA student, Nancy Valencia won an Honorable Mention for her searing visual portrayal of immigration challenges in the Collegian Times Magazine.

Tupac Zapata won an Honorable Mention for a column about the valuable tool that exists in AB 540.

Culture reporter, William Torres won second place in profile writing for a story about a guide and a surprising historical tour through South L.A. Judges also recognized the work of this reporter, Angela Johnson in “Surfing in the Name of the Lord,” for a feature story about online churches in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

Judges also gave a nod to the work of VAMA student Stephanie Ko who experienced a breakthrough-year in illustration and design. Ko won second place for best magazine cover with Beatrice Alcala. Ko also won national recognition for the same work from the Associated Collegiate Press.

6

NEWS

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 2, 2020

PANDEMIC RESISTANCE

FROM “KABWE CHANDA” PAGE 1

FROM “POLICE” PAGE 1

House Democrats passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act

I Remember His Warmth, His Smile, and His Joy Photos that showed happy, joyous moments of Chanda’s family life faded in and out during Stahl and Mull’s heartfelt performance.

The whimsical and light-hearted “Sonata for Clarinet and Piano” performed by Dr. Virginia Figueiredo on clarinet and Lorenzo Sanchez on piano was a melodic delight.

The positive energy that Chanda shared with everyone he met is magnified by the up tempo group performance of ” Remember Me,” with professor Erinn Horton on vocals, Karl Kerfoot on guitar and vocals, and Kassandra Kocoshis on percussion and vocals.

“I remember his warmth, his smile, and his joy,” Los Angeles Southwest College President Seher Awan said in a statement after he died in April. “Kabwe’s personality, as well as positivity and passion for his work, will not be forgotten.”

Chanda deeply touched everyone he worked with in the District with his commitment to service and excellence.

“Kabwe left an indelible mark during his time at Valley College, and was a beloved member of our Monarch family,” L.A. Valley

College President Barry Gribbons said in a statement on April 17.

Mayor Eric Garcetti recognized Chanda on June 8 during an official COVID-19 update.

“Kabwe wasn’t born in Los Angeles. He moved here from across the globe, where we have a sister city in the African nation of Zambia,” Garcetti said. “Anyone that knew Kabwe would never forget his warm smile, his easy laugh, the kindness and positive energy he brought into any room.”

Chanda whose career with the District spanned more than 25 years had just been named regional manager of Information Technology, which included oversight of IT operations at L.A. City College, L.A. Southwest and West L.A. College. Throughout his career, Chanda worked as an adjunct professor at West L.A. College and senior computer and network specialist at LACC, L.A. Valley and L.A. Southwest College.

After he contracted COVID-19 in late March, Chanda died of complications from the deadly virus on April 8. He was 47.

Chanda is survived by his wife, Pamela, and son Noah.

POLICEWIRE

Six-Month Summary

Property Crimes

Crimes per 10,000 people

229 Violent

705

119.4

The L.A. County Sheriffs Department reports there is no crime on campus from the previous two-week period.

Source: LAPD Crime Mapping*

importance of social media algorithms.

“When people share memes illustrating disparities in police using force and killings, it provides a counter narrative against police making false statements,” he said.

Dr. Ray says social media is a powerful tool that can be a gift or a curse.

“While highlighting displays of activism, there is also a lack of objective information due to echo chamber-creating algorithms,” Dr. Ray said. “ … Do not use social media as the only type of source you get your news from.”

According to Dr. Ray, the rise of social media is correlated with a massive shift in attitudes toward police brutality and racial inequality. Collecting research over time using Twitter data, he is confident that such a shift is enough to create a policy window in which public sentiment is at its peak.

“It’s like a match that’s been lit,” Dr. Ray said.

“The wick goes all the way down and we are trying not to get burned to create change before the match goes out. We’ve seen it before, with slavery, to New Deal policies, to marriage equality.

We have a unique policy window where a solution can be attempted with public support.”

The policy window created by worldwide protests against police brutality in May this year has resulted in the most transformative legislation to date when House Democrats passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. However, the legislation is currently under congressional gridlock pending a Georgia Senate runoff in January resulting in a Democratic Senate majority.

If approved, the legislation would ban chokeholds, give the Justice Department greater interventional power in use-of-force cases, create a national registry for police conduct complaints and restructure lines of military equipment to

local police departments. It does not defund the police.

Police officers are rarely ever charged in instances of excessive use of force. Dr. Ray says 90% of the cases go uncharged. The remaining 10% of officers receive charges, and 95% of them are found not guilty.

Over the last five years, U.S. police agencies paid out $2 billion in civilian payouts for officer misconduct. Taxpayers paid the bill.

In the case of Breonna Taylor, the officers were not charged for her murder, however her family received $12 million in the wrongful death settlement against Louisville, KY. Dr. Ray says essentially Breonna Taylor’s tax dollars were used to pay her family for her wrongful death.

Please go to https://collegian.lacc.life for the complete version of this story.

FROM “SHERIFF” PAGE 1

LACCD Board of Trustees Will Meet Before the End of the Month are doing something that we don’t like or we’re doing something that the sheriffs don’t like, it’s a contract negotiation and contracts are complicated, and it takes longer than usual.”

The LASD sent a formal letter to the District after both sides could not agree on the new contract.

LACCD Chancellor Francisco C. Rodriguez says he met with the sheriffs’ representatives to formally acknowledge the end of the public safety contract.

“We have spent about five months in discussions and negotiations with LASD representatives to address the needs of the District and its colleges,” said Chancellor Rodriguez in a written statement.

“But ultimately we were unable to reach mutually agreeable terms for either a short (six-month) or longer-term contract, in light of the current COVID-19 environment.”

Leadership at the District and the campus seem aware of the social justice questions that came up

after the killing of George Floyd, and the protests that followed in the summer.

“The negotiations for the new terms for the new contract took a different direction in June after the situation that happened with George Floyd,” the president said during a Zoom conference with the Collegian. “This incident brought to surface some serious considerations with regard to how policing is done and what we would want at the District to have our security.”

The push for social justice caused the District to rethink campus security needs at all of the colleges and so did the pandemic.

“College campuses are empty, there are no students, no faculty, so the District began to reorganize the terms for the new contract, so it wasn’t costing us much money,” Gallagher said.

The LACCD Board of Trustees will meet before the end of the month to approve the new safety and security contract.

FROM “PROPOSITION 15” PAGE 1

Proposition 15 Has Its Pros and Cons Billions of dollars were at stake for community colleges, K-12 schools and local communities in California.

A little more than half of California voters (52%; 8,757,120) rejected Proposition 15, while 48% (8,082,115) of voters favored it, which resulted in the proposition’s failure. Proposition 15 would have provided the Los Angeles Community College District with an estimated $48,585,486 in funding, according to the California Teachers Association’s estimated funding calculator.

Without proper funding, it is difficult to ensure students will get an equitable and quality education. The California Federation of Teachers published an article on their website entitled “Yes on 15! Fix commercial tax system to help fund schools and colleges,” on Sept. 24.

CFT leadership believes voting yes on Proposition 15 would have been the solution to fixing California’s school funding challenges.

“Today California ranks near the bottom in spending per pupil and staffing ratios for teachers,

guidance counselors, librarians and administrators,” according to the article. California schools need an increase in funding and could have benefited from the passage of Proposition 15.

“The California Schools & Local Communities Funding Act would raise up to an estimated $12 billion every year for schools and local communities by ending the unfair system that allows a fraction of the wealthiest commercial and industrial property owners to avoid paying their fair share in taxes,” according to the CFT article.

Proposition 15 has its pros and cons. The failure of Proposition 15 means no additional tax increase on commercial and industrial properties. If the proposition had been successful, it would have changed how California property is taxed, but also provided schools an opportunity to receive needed funding for educational resources.

The LACCD’s Board of Trustees President Andra Hoffman supported Proposition 15. In an email to the Collegian, Hoffman stated Proposition 15 would have

had a significant impact if it had passed. The money collected from those taxes would have gone directly to schools and communities.

“It would charge a higher rate for large commercial businesses and commercial properties,” Hoffman said.

She noted that property owners feel uneasy about the proposition and feared their residential taxes would have gone up.

“I think it’s property assessed at more than $3 million,” Hoffman said. “But not houses, not personal private residences. Just commercial property.”

About 40% of that would go to community colleges or community-based organizations, according to Hoffman.

“We actually really need it now, post COVID, it’s kind of critical,” she said.

It is not yet clear how the gap in funding will be filled, but something will have to be done to ensure the students of LACC along with other community colleges and K-12 schools in California have the funding needed to provide a quality education.

Some voters say the details and presentation of Proposition 15 and 16 seemed confusing and could have possibly discouraged voters’ support. Ronisha Doucette who is a 2020 paralegal graduate from City College says the language and wording used to represent Proposition 15 was not understandable to the average voter.

“The 2020 election ballot included proposition measures 15 and 16 that presented to voters a proposed selection in our interest,” Doucette said. “However, the language as usual was not comprehensive to a lay person, which means that the majority of uneducated inner-city voters would be confused and possibly make the wrong selection, opposite of his or her intentions.”

Doucette says the wording used to describe the measures was ambiguous by design.

“It is my belief that they constructed these measures purposely to confuse the uniformed voters,” she said. “So, it will only suit their benefit or interest and not for the benefit of the oppressed Black and Brown communities.”

FROM “GUARDADO” PAGE 1

Deputy Invokes the Fifth Amendment at Guardado Inquest Sheriffs say the 18-year-old had a gun when they shot him outside an auto body shop where he worked. LATimes.com reported retired Judge Candace Cooper presided over the coroner’s inquest, to determine the specific cause and manner of Guardado’s death.

The coroner’s office already concluded that Guardado’s death was a homicide. The official autopsy report released in July stated that all five gunshot wounds were fatal.

Deputies assert Guardado reached for a gun and opened fire as they gave chase, but an eyewit-

ness told L.A. Collegian’s City News that Guardado was “ …

Scared and wanted to get the manager from the back … and there is a wall in the back, where was he going to go to?”

For the first time in 30 years, the coroner’s office questioned witnesses and showed documentation from the autopsy.

“This inquest is designed to ensure the transparent review of all the evidence,” said the hearing officer, retired Judge Candace Cooper.

During the coroner’s inquest, clerks reviewed the case files. The Guardado family confirmed he

was working as a security guard at an auto body shop in Gardena.

While he did not have a license to carry a gun legally as the state requires, the last person Andres spoke to moments before the shooting said he did not have a weapon when he pivoted away from the conversation to get his boss. Witnesses say with Black Lives Matter protests happening, Guardado was scared.

Inside the courthouse, during the inquest session, they played a video of a press conference where the county sheriffs explained why they opened fire on Guardado.

“Mr. Guardado was not wearing security guard clothing, nor was he wearing a belt, nor any other identifiable uniform. He was not yet 21 years old; therefore, he was unable to be legally employed as an armed security guard,” said a public information officer during a press conference.

Others are having a hard time accepting this reasoning. They criticize the sheriff’s department and insist the shooting is not justified.

“The footage obtained does not confirm any of this alleged evidence of the student being armed,”

said Elsa Camillo, a 27-year-old paralegal student at LACC. The deputy who shot Guardado did not attend the inquest and was “not available.” Deputies who did attend the proceedings did not have much to say.

“On the advice of my counsel, I am choosing to exercise my Constitutional right under the state and federal constitutions to respond to any questions,” said Deputy Mike Davis.

The Guardado family has filed a civil suit against L.A. County for use of excessive force in Andres Guardado’s death.

Andres Guardao

RESOURCES

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 2, 2020

7

PANDEMIC RESISTANCE

NEWS CONTINUATION

FREEEDUCATIONALRESOURCESFORKIDS Learning Resources 123 Homeschool 4 Me offers free worksheets and coloring pages for young students 3P Learning is offering 4 weeks free for teachers who would like to teach their students from home (ages K-16) 2Simple offers a free learning program called Purple Mash to help teach students English and math skills All Kids Network is offering free worksheets and crafts for students Ascend Math is offering a free trial for teachers until the end of April so they can teach math skills from home Food Pantry Locations LOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK 1734 East 41st Street Los Angeles, CA 90058 Phone: 323.234.3030 Central City Neighborhood Partners 501 S. Bixel Street 90017 Los Angeles CA Phone: 213-482-8618 Hours: Thursday 9:00 AM-1:00 PM Filipino Christian Church 301 N. Union Avenue 90026 Los Angeles CA

LOSANGELESCOUNTYDEPARTMENTOFMENTAL HEALTHINFORMATION The LA Department of Mental Health has a list of materials to address mental health & wellbeing needs and concerns and a 24/7 access line for resources and support systems.

Star View Community Services - Los Angeles 1625 West Olympic Blvd.

Suite 600 Los Angeles, CA 90015 M-F; 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

24-hour Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255 or text 838255 24-hour Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233 or click Chat Now The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is changing life for all of us.

You may feel anxious, stressed, worried, sad, bored, depressed, lonely or frustrated in these circumstances.

You’re not alone.

There are strategies for managing stress such as: Be mindful of your intake of information from news sources about the virus, and consider taking breaks from it.

Maintain social contact with supportive relationships like friends, family or others, by phone, text, or internet.

Treat your body kindly: eat healthy foods, avoid excessive alcohol, and exercise as you are able.

Call your health care provider if your anxiety interferes with your daily activities.

Learn about additional strategies to manage your stress for health.

TESTING For more information about preventing the spread of COVID-19, visit covid19.ca.gov.

Help with eviction Get help with eviction defense. The Emergency Financial Assistance program is designed to empower clients so they can achieve and maintain a positive quality of life by providing need-based short-term financial assistance. Get help with housing assistance to prevent eviction. For more information call one of the following numbers.

Call 323-656-1107: For the West Hollywood location, please call for more information.

Call 562-294-5500: For the Long Beach location, please call for more information.

Call 323-344-4888: For the Los Angeles location, please call for more information.

BIGSUNDAYFOOTTHEBILL! We’re making quick grants of up to $100 each to nice, hardworking people who are having trouble paying their bills during this tough economic time. We’ll pay all or part of any kind of bill: electric, cable, phone, car, medical, rent, mortgage up to $100. You name it, we’ll consider it.

The payments will go directly to the company where the money is owed. If the bill is less than $100, the recipient will have a choice of a couple of charitable causes to give to.

This fund is completely supported by donations. Funds are limited, so we can’t help everyone. But everyone will have a chance to make their case and let us know why they need help.

We hope that by doing this project – nice people looking after nice people – it can remove some financial stress for folks during a very stressful time, and hopefully make their lives a bit easier. Write to info@ bigsunday.org for more information.

FACEBOOKSMALLBUSINESSGRANT PROGRAM We know that your business may be experiencing disruptions resulting from the global outbreak of COVID-19. We’ve heard that a little financial support can go a long way, so we are offering a $4000 grant for the recipients in the US ($2500 cash, $1500 in optional ads credits) to help during this challenging time. To be eligible to apply, you must: Be a for-profit company Have between 2 and 50 employees Have been in business for over a year Have experienced challenges from COVID-19 Be in or near a location where Facebook operates For more information and to access the application, go to https://apply.facebook.ureeka.biz/ prog/facebook_smb_3/Terms and Conditions Should you have any questions, please contact facebook at fbgrants@ureeka.biz.

COVID-19RESOURCESTOFEED CHILDRENANDFAMILIES Grab-and-go meals are available for Los Angeles Unified School District students.

Two meals daily; 7 a.m. – 11 a.m. Monday to Friday Virgil Middle School 152 N. Vermont Ave. Los Angeles 90004 Barack Obama Preparation Academy 1700 W. 46th St. Los Angeles 90062 Berendo Middle School 1157 S. Berendo St., Los Angeles 90006 Burbank Middle School 6460 N. Figueroa St. Los Angeles 90042 Eagle Rock High School 1750 Yosemite Drive Los Angeles 90041 Liechty Middle School 650 S. Union Ave. Los Angeles 90017 Los Angeles Academy Middle School 644 56th St. Los Angeles, CA 90011 Manual Arts High School 4131 S. Vermont Ave. Los Angeles 90037 RFK/UCLA Community School 700 S. Mariposa Ave. Los Angeles 90005 Santee High School 1921 Maple Ave. Los Angeles 90011 Sotomayor Arts/Sciences Magnet 2050 N. San Fernando Road Los Angeles 90065 Garfield Senior High School 5101 E. 6th St. Los Angeles 90022 Hollenbeck Middle School 2510 E. 6th St. Los Angeles 90023 Bernstein Senior High School 1309 N. Wilton Place Hollywood 90028 Cochran Middle School 4066 W. Johnnie Cochran Vista Los Angeles 90019 Dorsey Senior High School 3537 Farmdale Ave. Los Angeles 90016 Fairfax Senior High School 7850 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles 90046

Reports Show Child Abuse Decrease in LAUSD Since Pandemic Caseworkers Have Less Access to Students During COVID-19.

Lower numbers of reported incidents could be cause for concern.

BY ANGELIA COYNE AND ANGELA JOHNSON Allegations of child abuse appear to be 50 percent lower over the last five to six months, according to data from the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).

The coronavirus pandemic has interfered with teachers’ ability to detect child abuse when children arrive in their classrooms. The DCFS no longer has the same oversight as when children were in school.

COVID-19 has hindered the system protections and safeguards that were common when dealing with child abuse and neglect.

According to DCFS officials, mandated reporters such as teachers, healthcare providers, counselors and educational psychologists are no longer able to monitor children during remote learning.

Underage children who cannot defend themselves from sexual predators and familial abuse are currently in uncharted territory. Now, children need someone to be their voice and to protect them from possible abuse during distance learning.

Before COVID-19, the YMCA’s after-school programs and the Boys and Girls Clubs were buffers and safe havens for children who are abused at home. Enrollment in those programs has been extremely restricted or temporarily closed in compliance with state safety precautions and guidelines in response to the pandemic.

It has forced some children to be shut-in with their abuser for longer periods of time with no way to escape.

Camille Cooper who is the vice president of public policy for RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network, says sexual abuse has risen among children under age 18. While half of the victims are minors, 67 percent are abused by a family member she said.

“A lot of the kids that were coming to the hotline were feeling pretty vulnerable and traumatized,” Cooper said. “And it was a direct result of COVID-19, because they were quarantined with their abuser. The abuser was now abusing them on a daily basis.”

Cooper said her organization has partnered with Congress on a high-tech solution to keep children safe.

“We are now currently working directly with the leadership in Congress to get all of the online learning platforms that children are interacting with to have a reporting function on that platform in plain sight for children,” Cooper said.

Earlier this year, the California Department of Education sponsored a webinar titled “Safeguarding Children Through Distance Learning” in partnership with the California Department of Social Services, California State PTA and the California Teachers Association.

The goal of the webinar was to discuss how to implement guidelines for teachers, caregivers and healthcare professionals to continue to be mandated reporters during COVID-19.

Participants at the webinar discussed how the Los Angeles Unified School Dis-

trict is providing resources to teachers and educators to help support parents, families and caregivers.

Among the resources available to parents are school mental health clinics and school sites that provide virtual parenting classes and services, LAUSD officials told the Collegian in a recent email.

Through these efforts LAUSD is making an attempt to address the social, emotional and mental health needs of families during the pandemic.

The Los Angeles County Office of Education has implemented virtual training sessions to the 80 school districts in the County to raise awareness and develop interventions for prevention of child abuse.

“We partnered with the Los Angeles County Office of Education to enhance the child safety net for homebound families,” said Amara Suarez, DCFS’ Public Affairs representative. “Virtual training for Maltreatment Prevention and Intervention during remote learning will be on the DCFS and LACOE websites using the Child Abuse Electronic Reporting System.”

Roger Remmen is the president of Richstone Family Center, a non-profit dedicated to preventing child abuse in California.

‘This year’s statistics do not represent a decline in violence. The fact is, domestic violence has increased at Richstone,” Remmen said. “And we’re seeing an increase big time. Without complete access to children, accurate information is not possible at this time.”

Remmen says his organization has seen a 20 percent rise in the number of people the centers support in cases of domestic violence.

Angela Ponivas works in Sacramento for the California Department of Social Services. She is the Bureau Chief of the Office of Child Abuse Prevention.

“California counties are reporting atypical reductions in the number of child protection services referrals to be around 50 percent,” Ponivas said. “At the same time, we really have to understand that risks increase, stress often leads to greater opportunity for abuse and neglect.”

Collaborative efforts are being made by child safety agencies in L.A. County. They work together to create a point of intervention for prevention of child abuse and neglect for children and their families.

DCFS has been working closely with LAUSD to develop new ways to inform families in the community about preventive measures for child abuse. L.A. County extended the outreach efforts to 10 million residents.

Typically, spring and summer months have a low call volume of reports of child abuse and neglect, according to DCFS statistics.

“In early April, we actively engaged in a robust public information campaign calling on residents to join us in making an investment in the welfare of families in our communities,” said Suarez. “Our goal with this collaboration is to make it easy for parents to seek help before their challenges become unmanageable and we are called to be of service.”

8

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 2, 2020

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT PANDEMIC RESISTANCE

F

MURALIST ‘BACPAC’

SPRAYSBEAUTY,POLITICSACROSSCITYWALLS

BY JAMES DUFFY

ormer rocker turned muralist Jeremie Bacpac insists on only using a spray can when she paints and she doesn’t like to be called a feminist, although her former bandmates do—instead she asks to be called Bacpac, the nickname she got from the large motorcycle jackets she wears.

The artist is unmissable in the Phoenix, Ariz, suburb where she works. Clad in jean jackets, bandanas and tattoos, she dresses for work as if she were back on the stage with her post-punk band.

Bacpac started by spraying cars for a local demolition derby, and now she lives off her art commissions.

Topics in Bacpac’s pieces range from popular garden fruits, cherimoya, mango, and loquats—a commission from a garden center—to oil derricks, lowriders in outer

space, to children whose applications to the U.S. for asylum were rejected.

“I don’t care about what people think about me,” Bacpac said. “But if I get inspired by you, I’ll show you cool things to do with a spray can.”

Bacpac insists her work is not fine art, but she brings a level of professionalism rare in the street art community she describes as “a narrow clique.”

She does not often get invited for crew work because Bacpac likes to show up to work at dawn before all the other artists do.

She is also one of few women in the field.

Bacpac’s paintings have been shown at the online Saguaro Gallery for emerging artists and {9} The Gallery located in Phoenix, Ariz.

Still, Bacpac recognizes that street art can be destroyed by taggers or real estate developers on a whim.

“You don’t want to have any ownership of your work,” she said. “Your work is public.”

Top. Bacpac poses with an airbrush in her hand in front of her paintings of an oil rig and mining equipment on April 1, 2019 in her studio.

Middle-left. A mural-sized portrait of a girl deported

by Immigration and Customs Enforcement framed by a post office logo on December 18, 2019. The artist, Bacpac, titled the work “I.C.E. BEBITA ‘¿A dónde llevas a mi madre?’” The portrait is one of 16 works in her “DENIED” series of mural portraits of asylum seekers denied entry to the U.S. Middle-right. Bacpac poses in front of her newly finished mural of potted flowers on Sept. 30.

Bottom. Bacpac in front of her award-winning mural of a student in the crosshairs of a gun on March 18. The mural won the Oak Street Alley Mural Festival held annually in Phoenix.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BACPAC