The sun sets in Joshua Tree National Park in February. Yucca

Los Angeles Collegianollegian

Wednesday, April 1, 2020 Volume 184 Number 3

PANDEMIC RESISTANCE ISSUE See Resources Pg.5 RESISTANCE

The Voice of Los Angeles City College Since 1929

COVID-19 CASES

PANDEMIC PATROL

Monday, March 23, 2020 - 9:50 a.m.

East Los Angeles College con rmed a student was diagnosed with COVID-19.  e student was quarantined and was recovering according to the latest report. It is possible the student came in contact with the virus while visiting UCLA on March 8.

College administration provides instructors with guidelines on what to do should a student notify them they may have COVID-19.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020 - 7:07 p.m.

LACC President Mary Gallagher reports three uncon rmed cases of COVID-19.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020 - 7:56 p.m.

President Gallagher says a library employee visited their doctor and was “probably” infected because of community spread.  e employee is not in a high-risk group and was not tested by their healthcare provider.  e employee, who was last seen on campus on March 19, was reportedly in self-quarantine.

Two students may have been exposed to the novel coronavirus while in a patient’s room at a Kaiser facility.  e two students have been in self-quarantine since March 10.

Friday, March 27, 2020 - 3:55 p.m.

City College received con rmation that a student tested positive for COVID-19.  e student was last on campus on March 12. Since then, the student has traveled to Florida, and it remains unclear where the student was exposed to the virus.  e students and faculty who were in class with the student were noti ed.  e 14-day incubation period passed without any other reports of infection.

City College received con rmation that a student tested positive for COVID-19.  e student was last on campus on March 12. Since then, the student has traveled to Florida, and it remains unclear where the student was exposed to the virus.  e students and faculty who were in class with the student were noti ed.  e 14-day incubation period passed without any other reports of infection.

As of March 12, all buildings on the north side of campus have been disinfected and sanitized. City College administration expects campus-wide sanitation to be complete by the end of next week.

INDEX

Opinion & Editorial 2-3 Resources 4-5 Photo Focus 6 News 7 Sports 8

COMMUNITY

Photo by BEATRICE ALCALA

The United States Navy Ship (USNS) Mercy sits at the port of Los Angeles, the cruise ship terminal in San Pedro, Calif., on March 29, 2020. The hospital ship has more than 800 Navy medical staff that have begun to accept non-coronavirus patients. The Federal Emergency Managment Agency (FEMA) deployed the ship from San Diego last week, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.

An activist prepares a sign in El Sereno in front of a “reclaimed” house on March 14, 2020. Activists say it is inhumane to leave abandoned houses empty while people in L.A. are homeless. Photo by PAUL KEITH

Virus Fuels Efforts to Reclaim Abandoned Caltrans Houses

By Paul Keith

Neither rain, pandemic, nor pressure from police have stopped a group of activists who reclaimed an abandoned home for a pair of housing insecure families in the East L.A. Neighborhood of El Sereno on March 14.  e coalition of volunteers from Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, United Caltrans Tenants, Los Angeles Center for Community Law and Action, L.A. Tenants Union, and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), have worked in shi s to monitor the home, 24 hours a day. Forty-twoyear-old Marta Escudero is one of the two mothers whose family now has shelter thanks to the reclamation.

“ e  rst few days, especially the  rst day, I was really nervous, scared,” Escudero said. “ ere was a lot of police presence, and I didn’t

SEE “HOME RECOVERY” PAGE 7

AROUND CAMPUS NEW YORK CAMPUS SURVIVAL Deserted Campus Attracts ‘Digital Orphans’ CAMPUS SURVIVAL

Most L.A. City College students are away from campus now, but some come to school to “connect.”

By Diego Andres Chavez

College campuses all over the nation canceled classes amid COVID-19 concerns, but while many students maintain social distancing, others study in their bedrooms or elsewhere away from campus.

But there is another group. On a Wednesday a ernoon, students sit on benches shaded by umbrellas in the community garden next to the Chemistry Building.  ey are digital orphans—students who come to campus to study because they do not have Wi-Fi

One student stands outside of the Martin Luther King Jr. Library, which is closed.

“I don’t have anywhere to go when I am not a student,” said Scott Oliver, a 19-year-old psychology major.

Students like Oliver and Chereya

SEE “ORPHANS” PAGE 7

Photo by REBBECA GRAZIER

Cleaning to Prevent COVID-19 Spread Clouds move over the L.A. City College Quad after sanitation efforts end on March 17, 2020. Administrators say every building on the 175-acre campus will be disinfected while classes continue remotely. Insert Swish Pressure Wash - Courtesy CrativeCommons

By Rebecca Grazier and Cindy Aguilera

Facilities management at L.A. City College dispatched 35 employees to sanitize LACC’s 175- acre campus.  e Los Angeles Community College District will clean and disinfect the grounds and facilities at all nine colleges to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Custodial sta began to disinfect “high-touch” areas at LACC including restrooms and classrooms.

“ ey showed up in full force this morning to start the sanitization process for the entire campus,” President Mary Gallagher said in an email to the Collegian last week. “So that when we resume operations on campus, we’re ready to do that in a very sanitary way.”

In an email to the Collegian, William Boyer, director of communications & external relations said the college was looking at doing signi cant sanitization at all of the colleges during spring break.

Facilities Manager Khalil Harrington says custodial sta are using a no-touch cleaning system, which combines an indoor pressure washer to disinfect  xtures and  oors.  e product blasts soiled areas of the  oor with a high-pressure water spray.

“We are utilizing Swish for desks, tables and chairs, computers, keyboards and door handles,” Harrington said. “ e Swish product is also being used for carpeted areas as well as vacuuming with a HEPA  lter vacuum to prevent any airborne contaminants. We are using the Eco E62 as an overall to all of our touchable areas and the powdered detergent disinfectant for hard surface  oors.”

Collegian Editors, Ande Richards and Richard Martinez stand with students who attended their, “So, You’re an EIC: How to Manage, Organize, Survive and Win” session at the CMA convention in New York on March 13, 2020. Students from around the country attended the Collegian editors’ workshops despite concerns about the coronavirus.

Collegian Editors Lead the Way in New York

SEE RELATED STORY ON PAGE B2-B3 “REPORTERS NOTEBOOK”

I came to LACC without any real goals or direction. Joining the ranks of the Collegian set me on a trajectory toward something meaningful and gave me the skills to make an impact

By Beatrice Alcala E very year before Saint Patrick’s Day, College Media Association (CMA) in New York attracts students from all over the country, and as far away as Canada for its annual convention.

Two L.A. City College students were among the presenters for the second year in a row. CMA selected Collegian editors, Ande Richards and Richard Martinez, to present two workshop sessions for the March 2020 conference.

Students from the sta of the L.A. City College Collegian have attended the national conference many times, but Richards and Martinez raised the bar when they headed the sta that won the Apple Award, for “Best TwoYear College Newspaper,” two years in a row at the conference in 2016 and 2017.