Collegian LOS ANGELES
The Voice of Los Angeles City College Since 1929
Wednesday, December 15, 2021 Volume 187 Number 6
News Briefs
The numbers of home burglaries and followhome burglaries increase as holiday season unfolds. BY JUAN MENDOZA AND DIANA CAMPBELL
H
ome burglaries in Hollywood spiked during the week of Thanksgiving, according to the Los Angeles Police
Department. Home burglary incidents went up 30 percent compared to incidents last year. Captain Brent McGuyre of the LAPD Hollywood Division says the number is too high and happens when people leave their front door or a window unlocked. Police say locked doors are a simple step to protect personal property. “Please lock your door. [It] is shocking that people still leave their doors unlocked,” Mc Guyre said. “This is a simple and immediate safety tip that residents can put in practice and prevent the thief [from entering] their home.” McGuyre says thieves will walk down an apartment hallway and check doorknobs “for an easy steal.” Los Angeles Chief of Police Michael Moore reported that 161 “follow-home” burglaries occurred last month. LAPD Media Relations Officer Drake Madison provided some tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of the recent increase in these types of burglaries. “In my 25 years as a LAPD patrol officer, before I joined the media relations department, I learned many lessons that might be of help,” Madison said. He says be aware of your surroundings. Don’t look down at your Smartphone, instead remain aware of what’s in your immediate vicinity. Be aware of the demeanor of people who approach you. If they demand your belongings, comply and don’t resist. Call police afterward and give the officers as much of a description as possible. “Don’t assume that criminals only follow home people who have expensive cars, eat in expensive restaurants, or shop in affluent neighborhoods,” Madison said. “Everyone is fair game to someone desperate enough to rob you.”
SEE “MORE NEWS BRIEFS” PAGE 6
INDEX 2-3
A&E
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Community
5
News
6
History Legacies Sports
I did it again!
CONSERVATORSHIP ENDS Page 4
History
Burglaries Claim in Hollywood
Opinion & Editorial
OOPS!
7-8 9 10
Witness to History: Surviving Vets Tell Their Stories 80 years later, the memories of the “day that will live in infamy” are still vivid for Pearl Harbor survivors.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA
PEARL HARBOR
80
YEARS LATER
BY SORINA SZAKACS SEE “PEARL HARBOR” PAGE 6
New Covid NumBers
City College Rises
Columbia Scholastic Press Association named the Collegian Times magazine and the Collegian newspaper finalists for the CSPA Silver or Gold Crown on the community college and college-university level. Awards will be revealed on March 22, 2022 at Columbia University in New York.
https://twitter.com/cspa/status/1470470577114673152?s=21
ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL SITAR
supply CHAiN
L.A. Shoppers Feel Supply Chain Squeeze
The Port of Long Beach is operating around the clock to speed up the backlogged supply chain.
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BY TUPAC ZAPATA
oliday shoppers will feel the effect of supply chain gridlock on a trip to their local IKEA, as an estimated 70 cargo ships wait at sea to dock and unload imported furniture and other goods from Asia. One-fifth of all incoming cargo that enters the United States, enters through the Port of Long Beach. Delays of packages ordered online is another symptom of the slowdown. A series of events that began since the pandemic have contributed to long waits in the delivery of goods from manufacturers to consumers. The pandemic forced interruptions in factories around the globe, which kicked off a chain reaction that has added a myriad of other reasons that increase delivery times.
Mauricio Martinez is a Los Angeles-based truck driver who described factors that contribute to delays. “There is a lack of chassis for trucks, and sometimes it takes over four hours to load up,” he said. Chassis are the metal frames on trucks where shipping containers are mounted for road transport. From cargo ship operators to port workers and others, everyone fingerpoints at those “responsible.” “The guys in the union like to take their time when working, and if you complain, they make you wait even longer,” said Michael Betancourt who has 15 years of experience as a truck driver. Owner-operated truck drivers have been hit the hardest, as they get paid per load and sometimes must wait long hours at the port. High fuel prices have also cut into their profits.The delays in the supply chain affect LACC students like Jose Ocampo.
SEE “CHAIN SUPPLY” PAGE 6
Child Development Department Receives National Honor BY POUPY GAELLE NGUETSOP The Child Development Center earned a national accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the world’s largest organization working on behalf of young children. “NAEYC accredited center is recognized nationally for quality early learning programs, and I am so proud that we achieved this distinguished honor,” the Director of the Child Development Center Gayane Panosyan wrote in a statement. “This accomplishment would not have been possible without the support of our [campus administration] and the hard work of the [faculty and staff] at the [center.]” In the 30 years since NAEYC Accreditation was established, it has become a widely recognized sign of high-quality early childhood education. More than 6,000 programs are currently accredited by NAEYC—less than 10 percent of all childcare centers, preschools, and kindergartens nationally achieve this recognition. “NAEYC-Accredited programs have committed to a process that takes time, energy and dedication to complete,” said Alissa Mwenelupembe, the senior director of early learning program accreditation. “Los Angeles City College, Campus Child Development Center has demonstrated their commitment to young children and their families.”
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OPINION & EDITORIAL
Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Stop the Madness BY THANDISIZWE CHIMURENGA This semester has basically ended. You’ve made it this far. You can make it a little further. And once you do, write a letter, send an email, a text, make a phone call or send a shout-out on Twitter or other social media to your elected representatives. Tell them to get off their collective gluteus maximus about sensible, stringent gun control. Tell them it is their duty to stop the insanity. When four students were killed and seven others wounded on the campus of a Michigan high school on Nov. 30, there was shock, sadness, anger, and “thoughts and prayers.” There was also shock, sadness, anger, and “thoughts and prayers” when 17 people were killed and 17 wounded at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida in 2018; 27 victims killed and two wounded at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012; 32 dead and 17 wounded at Virginia Tech in 2007; and 13 killed and 21 wounded at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999. Back in 1966, there was shock, sadness, anger, and “thoughts and prayers” when former Marine and engineering student Charles Whitman killed 18 people and wounded 31 others at the University of Texas in Austin. Whitman had been complaining of “intense headaches” and “irrational thoughts” before he committed that act - preceded by the murder of his wife and mother - yet nothing was done to provide some type of intervention. And nothing was done afterward. Nothing is ever done afterward. Except for heated debate, a little shock, some sadness, a bit of anger, and lots of “thoughts and prayers.” Lots of “thoughts and prayers.” The dictionary definition of insanity is “extreme foolishness or irrationality.” According to “Psychology Today,” insanity is defined as “mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior.” The popular definition, attributed to Albert Einstein, says “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Despite what you may have heard or would like to believe, mass murder is condoned in the United States of America. It is encouraged, actually. The lack of any traction in the stringent regulation of access to firearms in the U.S., ensures that mass murder - as well as, you know, regular old murder - will continue to occur. Because as a whole, the U.S. is
insane when it comes to guns. Absolutely out of y’all’s minds. In order for me to drive a vehicle in Los Angeles, the state of California, or the United States of America, I need a drivers license. I have to take a test on the safe operation of a vehicle and my knowledge of the rules of the road before I operate a vehicle. This is so I won’t unintentionally cause harm to myself or others. If I want to legally and legitimately sell a hot dog, or a house, fix a roof, remove someone’s spleen, fill in a tooth cavity, defend someone in a court of law, wash, or comb, set and style their hair, I need a license. What if I want to own a gun? “Hey, that depends! Maybe a background check. Maybe a waiting period. Maybe a safety test, maybe not. Probably no mental health diagnosis. And so what if I have children? They can use it too. Maybe I’ll show them how. Maybe they’ll learn on the Internet. Whatever. Point being, don’t worry about all of that, worry about your own house!” I am worried about my own house. I’m worried that once I set foot outside of my house, I’m going to be faced with someone who cares more about their individual right than about the life of their fellow countryman, their fellow human on this floating rock. Someone who thinks the rational way to handle whatever stressor is going on in their life is to use the firearm they had unrestricted access to, and cause needless carnage and suffering. I’m worried that the spaces we’ve designated as centers of learning and inquiry have become hunting grounds via our permission of inaction. I’m worried that not enough children and youth have been murdered in order for universal stringent gun restrictions to be put in place. Whether you have barely entered puberty or whether you have a spouse, children, rent and a job, being enrolled in school is a stressor. Grade point averages, finances, coursework, relationships - not to mention food insecurity and homelessness - affect more students today than at any other time in the history of this country. Stress for students is a really real thing. If you are a student dealing with these and other issues and you need help, ask for it. Yell for it. Demand it. At L.A. City College, the Health and Wellness Center is available - with both campus and community-based resources - to provide and/or refer you to for the behavioral and primary care health services you need. You don’t have to suffer. You don’t have to cause others to suffer. It’s going to be all right. On-campus Student Health Center: (323) 953-4000 ext. 2485 Wesley Health Center/Call Center: (562) 867-7999 Crisis Text Line 741741 Suicide Prevention Hotline 1-800273-8255
Why did masking get politicized? BY DANIEL MARLOS I’m fully vaccinated and I have received a booster, but I’m choosing to continue to wear a mask in public. S h o u l d masking be mandated? I don’t think so. I want the right to wear a mask in public or to not wear a mask depending upon the circumstances. Before COVID healthcare providers wore masks, in the workplace to protect the patients from possible germs spread. Before COVID workers wore masks to protect themselves from airborne health threats including dust and exposure to dangerous chemicals and fumes. Before COVID some individuals wore masks to conceal their face, to
disguise their identity. None of that has changed, but somewhere along the line wearing a mask became a political statement, an outward display of a political affiliation that had a head-on collision with common sense and common decency. As supplies of regulation N95 masks dwindled, the public was encouraged to make masks and what was once utilitarian medical gear became a fashion statement. Politicians and celebrities coordinated their masks to match their outfits, causing many to question the efficacy of fashionable masks. Long before we had a vaccine, we read about political leaders deliberately ignoring guidelines and mandates about the need to wear masks, but things only got worse once greater percentages of the population were fully vaccinated. We read about an American Airlines’ passenger who refused to wear a mask and barked like a dog.
editoriAl
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 SORINA SZAKACS Graphics Layout Editor BEATRICE ALCALA Copy Editors ANGELA JOHNSON DANIEL MARLOS JOHN JOHNS Opinions & Editorial Editor JOHN JOHNS ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL SITAR
ExxonMobil Loves and Cares About You BY JOHN JOHNS Republicans, not satisfied with anything less than total control of every government, everywhere, are revving up their attack machine to convince recalcitrant voters that the scourge of inflation needs to be laid on Joe Biden’s pillow. He is after all “Sleepy Joe.” Like everything Republican these days it’s either nutso or just plain wrong. Republicans are claiming that Biden’s monetary policy is causing inflation. They claim, he’s printing money, which is a euphemism for the trillion dollar stimulus that Biden and the Democratic Congress pumped into the economy. In an economy based on oil, you don’t have to look any further than the rise in oil prices. The Wall Street Journal reported, “prices are going up throughout the economy, but not uniformly.” Gasoline prices in October went up nearly 50% from the same month a year ago, putting them at levels last seen in 2014. Gro-
We read about the unmasked Vermont woman who refused to wear a mask in a medical facility and who subsequently spat at a health care provider. In a Dec. 6, 2021 fact check posting, USA Today reports that as of Nov. 30 “nine states still have mask mandates” including California, which requires “unvaccinated people to wear a mask indoors.” I fear the vaccine has now given us a false sense of security. I talked to my personal physician about the efficacy of wearing a mask to prevent getting a disease and it is his opinion that a mask is not an effective deterrent if someone sneezes on you. My physician also believes that we should be administering the antibody test to determine both natural immunity and vaccine enhanced immunity, but this is not happening because health insurance companies do not want to cover the cost of the tests. It seems like the regulations on wearing a mask in public will continue to mutate as much as the virus mutates, but the reasons to wear a mask in public remain unchanged: to protect others, to protect oneself, and/or to hide one’s identity. Gambling with my own health and the health of others is not the arena of politics. Wearing or not wearing a mask should be a matter of common sense and common decency and not a political statement. Nine states still have mask mandates.
cery prices climbed 5.4%, with pork prices up 14.1% from a year ago, the biggest increase since 1990. While rising gasoline prices affected millions of working people in the U.S., the world’s biggest fossil fuel corporations have benefited immensely, raking in a combined $174 billion in profits during the first nine months of this year. The watchdog group Accountable. US released an analysis last Monday which revealed, “Oil corporations are reveling in their massive profits and using that money for their real priorities: stock buybacks and lining shareholders’ pockets.” In the third quarter of 2021 alone, two dozen of the most profitable oil and gas companies—a group that includes Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, and Chevron—recorded $74.9 billion in net income. Now here’s the kicker fellow Cubs. Just because you live in California you pay way higher pump prices, than say in neighboring Arizona. While you are forking over close to $5 a gallon, Arizonans are paying “only” $3.45, the national average. Could it be because Californians have empowered their state government to sue the oil industry for repeated oil spills, dirty oil refiner-
ies and that Californians are more aware of ExxonMobil and Shell’s continuous lying and denials about global warming? Maybe. So what do to? Stop driving. Ok, that’s tough to do in L.A. So drive less−way less. The less you drive, the less gas you buy. The less gas you buy, the less profits for the petro pigs. Although not contributing to inflation, this would improve the household budgets of all you Cubs who have taken out a student loan. Federal student loan payments will resume and interest will begin accruing again on Feb. 1, 2022. An analysis released earlier this week by the Roosevelt Institute warned that “if the Biden administration chooses to resume collection on student loan payments, approximately $7.12 billion a month and $85.48 billion annually will be stripped from 18,125,800 student loan borrowers’ budgets.” So this year for the Christmas holidays, instead of driving to WalMart, on overpriced deadly gas to buy cheap junk imported from China, made by women locked in factories and paid 18 cents an hour, stay home and write a letter to Joe asking him to cancel your student loan debt.
Why We Must Persevere BY CLAIRE HAHM With the ongoing pandemic and the pause that comes with the regular flow of life, we, the student body, face some of the most difficult challenges of our education. It is now, more than ever, that we must continue to face turmoil and persevere through these tough times. We encounter many new challenges with the use of online classrooms and lack of face-to-face interactions that would allow us to ask questions and have debates with our peers. The times have forestalled part of the college experience. Virtual learning seems incomplete. However, we are still able to use the technology-array at our disposal. This helps us complete classroom assignments and continue to have lively discussions with our classmates and professors. The pressure we face is trivial compared to that of the strain that the world is under. Our reaction to our new education system must not be blithe, but eccentric and open-minded. Once we persevere, these challenges will prove that we can surmount any obstacle. This new way of the world is dif-
Arts & Entertainment Editor RACHEL RODRIGUEZ Photo Editor LOUIS WHITE Photographers CHRISTIAN CHAVEZ LOUIS WHITE Illustrators CASSANDRA MUNOZ MICHAEL SITAR Reporters ANALUISA ALVAREZ, MATTHEW RODRIGUEZ, JUAN MENDOZA, DULCE GALVEZ, KAYLA MEEKS, JOHN JOHNS, SORINA SZAKACS, POUPY GAELLE NGUETSOP, MARVIN ANDRADE, DANIEL MARLOS, ANGELA JOHNSON THANDI CHIMURENGA, PAOLA GOMEZ, CLAIRE HAHM, CHRISTIAN CHAVEZ, LOUIS WHITE 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. To advertise in the Collegian, direct all insertion orders and questions to: pr.collegian@gmail.com. Issues of our award-winning newspaper and magazine are instantly available to our readers on issuu.com/ collegianwired.
ferent. We cannot allow fear to dictate what to do or what not to do. We must continue to work hard and remember that college is an enduring part of our education that will send us forward into the job market with considerable expectations and high reward. These obstacles will soon pass. Our student body will see that these new challenges have made us more adept and able to complete classwork in a different environment. We have learned self-control, responsibility and time management. Now, students who are working while attending classes are commended. Continue to work through the challenges. The experiences will serve us well in the future. Our time as college students is limited, and when we look back from the future, we may marvel at how time has so quickly passed. How the world ached and hurt, and how quickly we adapted to the new circumstances to lick our wounds and return to battle. When this time comes, we will be thankful that we got up to fight again. That we took one look at this beast of a challenge and decided that this will not be the trial that tests our strength and wins. Students and professors of the City College community must not cower at the sight of new horizons. Stand tall. Stand your ground. Let us compel each other to move forward.
Next Issue: February 23, 2022 Editorial Deadline: February 20, 2022
OPINION & EDITORIAL
“How do you feel about the UC Regents’ decision to eliminate standardized testing? Would that influence your decision to apply?” PHOTOS AND TEXT COMPILED BY ANALUISA ALVAREZ
Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 15, 2021
ASHLEY ZAVALETA Major: Undecided
ALEXANDER LEMUS IZALES Major: Technical Theater
TERRANCE STEWART Major: Theater Arts
MARIA LOPEZ Major: Political Science
I feel like it would be easier to apply. I feel like it’s less pressure on the kids, too because I feel like there’s this idea that ‘we have to do better in the SAT’ or ‘we need a better score to go to a school that we want’ and I feel like without that, it’s less pressure and more about seeing the academics. It’s [also] about seeing what the kid did in the school instead of just the number. You can learn. It’s sad to say but most schools want a number, like a high number, and some people don’t have opportunities to be in tutoring or to, like, do social clubs sometimes because of family or they need to go to work right away after school. I feel like without the SATs or any type of testing will relieve the student and encourage them to apply [to colleges].
I feel like it is a good choice if they did that. For me, it would not affect me to apply, and I feel like they did that based on how they view the city population, especially now, that everyone has their own choice of doing what they want to do. I feel like it wouldn’t stop me at all to apply. It’s very important. It would definitely influence me, especially now. It would really impact my choice of where I would want to go.
I don’t really see a problem with it. You want to be placed in the right level. So you have a fair advantage to learn, you know. Everybody learns at a different level and even if you don’t test in the level of classes, you know. I’ve done it before at a college I previously went to. I didn’t test in the standard classes, I guess you can say, but I had to go right below that and then make my way up. And I was fine, that was my level of knowledgement at that time, you know. So, I don’t see a problem with it. It’s to help the students, right? I wouldn’t place someone like me in a high level geometry class, I don’t know that. I would have to start there and make my way up. But I wouldn’t place myself in Algebra 1 [either] because I already know that. Somewhere in the middle, there’s no problem with it.
I believe the UC’s recent decision to remove standardized testing from their requirements to apply is the right direction to move forward in times where we have a diverse student body who has the abilities to perform at the high and demanding levels of the UC system but are often overlooked due to standardized testing results. More often than not, standardized tests contribute to the culture where students are assessed on a test score rather than their actual skills. These tests were initially created as an assessment tool for institutions to gauge the needs of students and where support needs to be provided to them. But on the contrary, it has served as a direct avenue for students’ failure to apply to highly competitive schools based on fear of not being good enough ... even when the rest of their application is remarkable.
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iNk style
Race Against Corona BY PAOLA GOMEZ
ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL SITAR
HELP WANTED WRITERS, REPORTERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS GRAPHIC & WEB DESIGNERS Interested? Please email us at losangeles.collegian@gmail.com
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Illegal street racing may be thrilling to some but living next to Highway 5 at a large intersection with a family that is in bed by 10 p.m., is less so. Saturday nights might have become a thing of the past, but not for those riding in twin turbo Lamborghini Gallardos, Hellcats and Nissan GTRs -- my 2010 Ford Edge would not stand a chance. Despite the number of coronavirus cases in Los Angeles, young racers still spend their Saturday nights roaring down streets and gunning their engines as they take over intersections and highways and cause massive traffic jams. Sundays are also popular days for street racing. L.A. street racing is common but increasing the number of road shows during a pandemic not only puts the people involved at mortal risk, but also exposes bystanders like Alejandra Estrada and families cooped up at home in peril. Seventeen-year-old Alejandra Estrada was shot and killed in Hollywood on Saturday, July 26, 2020, after an altercation erupted between two men at an illegal street racing show. Police made arrests after a deadly
crash in West Hollywood a month later. Crowds as large as 300 people gather in these confined street shows where it is impossible to keep six feet apart. Street racing in L.A. has caused traffic collisions to spike in 2021, according to the LAPD. According to the L.A. Times, 180 people have died since the year 2000 in Los Angeles alone because of street racing. It is like a kind of by- product of the pandemic—a death-wish for irresponsible motorists and the careless spectators who are not afraid of COVID-19 social spread. Reduced traffic in busy Los Angeles and shelter-at-home orders paved the way for empty streets, an anomaly in Southern California cities. Street racers filled the void and took full advantage of empty highways and streets. It would not be enticing if it were not for the element of danger that comes with speed. In this pandemic, many can be seen wearing masks and gloves, but as dozens of cars make their way off the freeway, they head in the same direction and arrive at their destination. As much as I would appreciate a good night’s sleep, I stay up thinking not just about the immediate deaths that could result from street racing, but how fast coronavirus can spread within this community, and among their families, and friends. And maybe in weeks, it could make its way to my home and family.
Have an opinion? Engage in two-way communication. Talk to the Editors. Send your letters to: Losangeles.collegian@gmail.com
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMEMT
Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 15, 2021
#freedBritNey
Ruben Salazar Brings Change in Media
Ruben Salazar changed the way mainstream media viewed people of color. His story shows the relevance of police brutality and discrimination amongst people of color that continues to this day.
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BY RACHEL RODRIGUEZ
PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA
In Some Communities,
‘FREE BRITNEY’ FEELS PERSONAL
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Britney Spears’ saga is a controversial and ongoing topic that struck a chord with students and fans. BY DULCE GALVEZ
ritney Spears has become a different sort of role model for the autonomy of women and men worldwide since the music superstar first decided to fight her father for control of her body and her life. Jamie Spears, Britney’s father created a temporary conservatorship on Feb. 1, 2008. With it, he controlled his daughter’s money and her business affairs. The singer’s influence is greater than a group of catchy tunes. She became a pioneer in the LGBTQ community for her anti-bullying stance and as an advocate for same-sex marriage. Her music spoke to fans and inspired them. Younger women watched and imitated Britney’s fashion sense and style. L.A. City College art major Amara Olmos watched the pop star lose her independence. “[She] feels uncomfortable as an adult with her parents controlling her with a conservatorship, and she is not considered a child,” she said. Amara agrees that Spears is a cultural icon for her music and style, but says she does not have much free-
dom as an American. In an article in Forbes Magazine, Spears’ manager Larry Rudolph quit last summer because he said the star was set to retire. He said his “services are no longer needed” in a letter addressed to the conservators, her father Jamie Spears and Jodi Montgomery, Britney’s personal conservator. The star tried hard to prevail over her father’s control. In the interim, #FreeBritney chapters around the world staged organized rallies and protests. Some called it a human rights issue, and others said it was a women’s issue. It captured the attention of computer major Ingrid Diaz. “Britney Spears conservatorship [was] uncomfortable to her, as she was neglected by her father Jamie Spears with the decisions that he makes.” Her dad held on to control, but Britney did not release an album after 2016, and there were no live performances after 2018. By 2019, she was on complete hiatus. When a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ended the 13-year conservatorship last month, Spears was grateful to fans of the #FreeBritney movement. She shared a video on Twitter of cheering fans outside the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown L.A. “Good God, I love my fans so much it’s crazy! I think I’m going to cry the rest of the day! Best day ever ... praise the Lord ... Can I get an Amen?” The star tweeted ending with “#FreedBritney.”
uben Salazar was born in Juarez, Mexico and raised in El Paso, Texas. which would eventually lead him to bridge the gap between the Mexican and Anglo cultures in America. California Humanities and Los Angeles City College presented on Nov. 17, “Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle”. The documentary directed by Phillip Rodriguez is part of this semester’s VAMA Lecture Series via Zoom. Rodriguez leaves room for interpretation about the mysterious death of Ruben Salazar. Salazar was the first Mexican American journalist hired by the Los Angeles Times and faced the fact that
the Chicano community was underappreciated during the ‘60s. Newsroom reporters and editors were primarily Americans of Irish and Jewish descent. Salazar’s colleagues had great empathy for the working class and civil rights, which was the foundation for their increased interest in the Mexican-American community. Salazar was assigned to cover Latin America as a bureau chief in Mexico City, Mexico. “Because I wasn’t too dark I was treated better than the darker Mexicans,” Salazar wrote in his personal diary. He was often confused as to his own ethnicity. His mother would often encourage him not to be “a nasty Mexican Indian.” Salazar married Sally Rabcore, a Caucasian woman. Salazar’s wife would often express concerns for
their children growing up in society that discriminated people of color. “Why do I always have to apologize to Americans for Mexicans and to Mexicans for Americans?” Salazar wrote in his diary. Salazar realized that some Chicano leaders were desperados, desperate and reckless criminals, and they only wanted to exploit Chicanos. Salazar’s primary focus was to address issues of concern in regards to Mexican-Americans that had previously gone unreported and he would express these concerns to the wider English speaking audience. Salazar interviewed survivors of a police shooting of two unarmed Mexican nationals in down-town L.A. Officers confronted Salazar regarding his writings. “This information could be dan-
gerous in the minds of barrio people,” police officers said according to Salazar. He told the officers that he was speaking the truth. Ruben Salazar was struck in the head by a tear gas projectile on Aug. 29, 1970 inside the Silver Dollar Bar and Cafe and died instantly. He was buried at the Pacific View Memorial Park in Orange County, California. Deputy Thomas Wilson was never charged with the death of Ruben Salazar as no criminal intent was found. Salazar became a martyr in the Chicano community and brought to light social injustice through mainstream media. “Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle” is available for rent or purchase on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/rubensalazar.
film review
‘The French Dispatch’
Wes Anderson’s new film is a playful take on journalism world. BY CHRISTIAN CHAVEZ “The French Dispatch” is set in a world where journalists are the heroes of the narrative. They become a part of the story by inadvertently placing themselves in the story. This is Wes Anderson as his most creatively quirky self. He has a style designed to resemble dioramas with colorful palettes, positioned in either a hate it or love it category. Luckily this critic is enamored with that creative decision. The movie is set in the fictional publishing house of “The French Dispatch,” a playful take on The New Yorker, located in a small French town called Ennui-sur-Blasé, filmed in Liberty, Kansas. Editor Arthur Howitzer Jr., played by Bill Murray, employs a star-studded cast with an incredible range, from Tilda Swinton −in a delightful and fashionable role as a Ted Talk speaker−to recent Academy Award winner for Best Actress in “Nomadland,” Francis McDormand, and a charming Jeffrey Wright sporting multiple well fitted suits. Each character in turn is the voice of their own story from an incredible supporting cast that includes Benicio Del Toro,
Timothée Chalamate, Adrien Brody, Léa Seydoux and Edward Norton. The film is broken into segments created with certain cinematic styles in mind. Tilda Swinton’s tale of deranged but gifted artist Moses Rosenthaler is shot entirely in black and white. Photographed almost entirely in a one-dimensional perspective, the film’s setting of a prison cell turned art studio adds to the character’s absurd psychosis. Francis McDormand’s segment on moody revolutionary Zeffirelli is an homage to French new wave cinema director Jean-Luc Godard. The final segment is Jeffrey Wright’s. It begins as a television broadcast about a prison culinary chef that turns into a madcap tale of child abduction. This particular segment is able to break standard filmmaking by splitting the cuts from color, black and white and eventually animation. The final result of the film is an absurdist take on the newsroom, writers having quirky but witty methods of storytelling. The colors are magnificent and every frame is brilliantly designed with intention. “The French Dispatch” is a cinematic delight with funny and endearing stories that provide a great time for future journalists.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA
COMMUNITY fiNAl exAms
‘Tis the Season for Stress, Finals for Students City College students prepare for their last week of the semester, but the holidays make it hard to concentrate on school.
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BY MARVIN ANDRADE
tress comes with the holiday season, and it may weigh heavier on students. It is the time of year when students worry about school, work and the holidays. The pressure can overwhelm many because of shopping and planning, combined with final exams. Maria Bernal is a LACC sophomore who says she went shopping for her sister and other members of her family. Bernal completed her Christmas chores and even decorated her tree ahead of finals. “I have started my holiday shopping, and I’ve been extremely stressed,” Bernal said. She says she is overwhelmed by what she must buy. She balances her time with school, work and her personal life. “I have personal things to worry about and have to take care of, while school becomes more and more stressful,” Bernal said. Her situation highlights the additional stress students experience during the final weeks of the fall semester. This time of the year also serves as crunch time for students.
Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 15, 2021
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AsG speAks Christian Gudiel studies psychology and social work at LACC. He has a lot on his plate as a husband and father. “The holiday season is by far the busiest season for me since December has many birthdays within my family,” Gudiel said. “[With] school and work, things start getting so fast paced.” BMJ Open is a research journal that publishes medical research. A recent study found that one in three first-year college students experiences serious cases of anxiety and depression. Data from 5,245 firstyear students attending a public university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada –showed a link between mental health issues and major exams. The data was collected prior to the pandemic and did not include other factors that may now contribute to the stress students experience today. Gudiel plans to transfer to Cal State L.A. by next fall. The end of this semester is the start of his final push to transfer. “Finals week is definitely causing some stress, especially when you are a full-time student, a full-time worker and a father,” he said. “[On] the bright side, [we’re] almost done. So, I know I’ll definitely enjoy my break.” If juggling through finals was not enough, this December is also dif-
ferent for students who must work around their exams. Undergraduates like Bernal, a political science major, face a shortage of items they might like to buy. “I haven’t found what I’ve been wanting because it’s so hard to find it in stores,” Bernal said. Students are also feeling sticker shock. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices are now up 6.2% from a year earlier, a potential unwanted early Christmas surprise. Although the holiday season is a time for joy and happiness, it comes at a cost to many who feel stressed, pressured and overwhelmed. However, there are options for students to ease or even eliminate the pressure. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) suggests planning beforehand: make a list, set a budget and search for deals. BBB warns some prices may seem like a deal, but it may turn out the original price could have been inflated to make it look more attractive. For Gudiel, shopping is a distraction from school and work. “Shopping is more of a stress reliever ... and it makes me feel happy that I’m getting my loved ones something,” he said. “I’m dealing with it by staying positive. I just need to avoid procrastination, and take everything day by day.”
Sipping Coffee with ASG’s President Stefanie Stone talks about the impact Associated Student Government has on City’s student body. BY KAYLA MEEKS Q: How does ASG approach student life since the pandemic has separated students from the campus? A: We are focused on uncertainty, on the health crisis, and trying to serve students’ needs, including homelessness. We are accepting donations like toys, books, and food. Q: How can ASG help students and the community to restart campus life? A: We are planning events as much as possible and value as many resources to help students on campus to create a welcoming environment. Q: I am giving you the megaphone. What is your message to LACC students? A: We will get through this together. We have been going through a health crisis for a couple of years. We welcome anyone with any kind of needs. Q: How many positions are available within the ASG and how do they plan to fill them up?
A: Information is found through the website. The senator of clubs is vacant. Q: Do you guys have enough funds? A: The funds that we use to host events and make purchases come from students. At this time the fees are not paid because the students are not on campus. The administration says to move forward and not to hold back anymore. Q: Do you guys have enough personnel? A: We did just have a new student adviser. It’s an ASG employee. She will start her new position within the next week or so. Q: Who can attend meetings? A: Everybody can attend. We encourage everyone to ask questions during our Zoom meetings. Q: For new students who don’t know the role of the ASG, can you explain it? A: We do not represent ourselves. Some people don’t speak out as much as they should. Being part of the ASG is an opportunity to speak for all students.
Caregivers Bring Home Support, Compassion Caregivers drive down busy streets like Vermont in East Hollywood to drop off clients who attend classes at L.A. City College. Duties for in-home caregivers may also include heavy lifting that requires enough leg strength to carry clients a short distance and place them into a wheelchair.
Liliana Baires is a caregiver. She says that “no two days are likely to be the same” despite having a structured schedule. It varies with the personality of the client, their disability or their overall mood. Baires has been a caregiver for nearly 20 years. She loves the field of in-home care. She devotes seven to eight hours a day, seven days a week in providing the best care each day. “For me, being part of assisting clients is joyful, not only [do] I get to fill their day, make them happy, at the end of the day it’s priceless,” Baires said. Baires tries to make every day as pleasant as possible regardless of what challenges her clients face. Challenges could be as simple as coloring. For one of her clients, Baires steers their hand onto a yellow sheet of construction paper while painting. It quickly turns into a match of tug
of war. Despite the muscle rigidity that causes the client’s hand to launch back, it does not stop Baires and her client from painting.The end result is a rose-like flower with more thorns than intended. “If you can make a difference no matter if you get paid or not, but if you’re able to make a difference in someone’s life, I think the best pay overall is the joy that you feel by helping someone who is in need,” Baires said. Caregivers like Baires are passionate about the support of their clients. However, not every caregiver in the field has the same perspective. In Santa Monica, 52-year-old Norma Beltran has assisted with in-home care services for five years. Beltran is a caregiver to a 98-year-old woman who suffers from mild dementia. She strays from the present and lives in the past.
P.R. is Back! Learn the Principles of Public Relations this Summer
Beltran recounts listening to the 98-year-old calling out for her father who died more than 20 years ago but cannot recall the names of her grandchildren today. “If someone doesn’t have a lot of patience, that person won’t handle a job like this for too long because it requires patience, and not so much for the money,” Beltran said. “They can pay you $40 an hour, but if there isn’t patience or understanding for the person [because of their disability], you won’t be able to handle it.” Beltran does not want to discourage people from providing in-home care services. Her intentions are to bring awareness that comes with the job. Although Baires and Beltran have different experiences, they both agree that every person is an individual, and it is important to acknowledge that difference to help the caregiver and the client.
PHOTO COURTESY OF FLICKR
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Journal 220-1 and Journal 220-2
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COLLEGIAN TIMES 2021 SPRING-SUMMER
ROBERT WILLIAMS, LACC ALUMNUS ‘MR. BITCHIN’ JUXTAPOSES LOWBROW, FINE ART
MAY BE?
MAEBE A. GIRL WILL WIN A SEAT IN CONGRESS
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CORONAVIRUS ROARS INTO 2020
Collegian
TIMES
2020 SPRING
CULTURED L.A.
HOLLYWOOD GAY BARS, SKATEBOARDERS AND HOT CARS
Remembering Max Fine alumnus Max Fine became the press secretary for the Secretary General of the United Nations in the 1960s, He became a member of JFK’s Medicare Task Force. Public Relations 001: Prin/Pub Class Number: 12162 - Instructor: Allison Mannos PUB RELRelations 001: Prin/Pub Relations Location: Online - Class Meets: 10 hours and 30 minutes per week Class Number: 14426Class LEC -Starts: Instructor: Ahn, Eugene Won- Location: ONLINE - Class 1/4/2022 - Class Ends: 2/6/2022
Meets: MTWTh from 9:a.m. - 11:30 a.m. - Class Starts: 6/14/2021 Class Ends: 7/18/2021
Join the winners of the A.C.P. National Pacemaker Award three years in a row: 2019, 2020 and 2021. Calling all storytellers, Illustrators, Reporters, Photojournalists, Copy Editors and Videographers. It’s time to contribute to the award-winning feature magazine of L.A. City College, the Collegian Times. Bring your winning ideas.
Meet online on Wednesdays from 4 - 9:35 p.m. This is the place where it all comes together, via Zoom.
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NEWS
Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Student Government Launches Podcast
FROM “PEARL HARBOR” PAGE 1
BY POUPY GAELLE NGUETSOP Associated Student Government (ASG) has started a bi-weekly podcast to reach students at L.A. City College. ‘’We’re All Here Together,” podcast live streams twice a month on Zoom to entertain and inform students, faculty and staff. The show airs on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. The broadcast is for an hour from 2 to 3 p.m. Joe Exnowski, the Life Skills Center coordinator and ASG members officially launched the podcast on Dec. 1. ASG President Stefanie
Stone was the special guest for the first. ‘’We want to be a source of support for the student body and the faculty,” Stone said. “We’re all in this together. It’s a collective moment of mental health need and mental crisis in my opinion.” Stone says the ASG is accepting food, books, clothes and toy donations. Students in need can go to the ASG office and request assistance. “You can take them home to your family and your children,” she said. “It makes you feel good to have those things and have a place to go for those things.”
PEARL HARBOR 12-7-1941
PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA
Survivors Recall Oahu Bombed by Japanese Planes
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ec. 7, 2021, marks eight decades since Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor. The numbers of soldiers considered the “Greatest Generation” are dwindling. Their stories should not. Jack Jones was one month shy of turning 18 when the attack happened. He boarded the USS Tennessee in August 1941 as a machinist. On the morning of the attack, he was mass cooking “because I have been a smart ass the night before.” A little before 8 a.m. he was putting “the kitchen gear up.” It was Sunday morning, and he was mad he had to work. When he looked toward Fort Island, he saw a plane dropping a bomb. “That’s all I saw of the battle,” Jones said. “Our ship was protected, in the back by Arizona, the front by Oklahoma, and tied-up against West Virginia.” He says that the attack was a surprise. At 5 p.m., when he finally went up on the deck, he saw the aftermath of the attack. “What a sight it was! Smoke was everywhere! It was awful!” He remembers that his next task was to take care of the dead, recover the bodies from the water and take them back to Oahu. “My job killed me and I have never gotten over it. Never,” Jones said. He went back to Pearl Harbor in 2016 for the 75th anniversary, for
the first time since the attack. He left the Navy in 1947 and refused to talk about the war until a few years ago. “I kept saying: It’s over! I have nephews who didn’t know I was at Pearl Harbor,” Jones said. The proportions of the attack and the aftermath were traumatizing. The lost lives and the horrific image of the Hawaiian paradise transformed in just a few hours, covered in black smoke and gasoline smell, were enough evidence for the American sailors to refuse to talk about what they experienced at Pearl Harbor. The attack influenced their life at a level so high that some took over 70 years to admit they were on Oahu that day. Jack Holder is one of soldiers who suffered for years and kept every aspect of the war to himself. Holder never mentioned the war to anyone until he met his fiancé Rose. She convinced him to write a book about his war experience. “Until I met Ruth, I never even told anyone I was a World War II veteran,” Holder said. “I think that’s common after people have served in difficult conflicts. I have many wonderful memories of my friends in the service and the experiences we had, but of course, there are as many or more difficult memories, things I didn’t care to think on much, and that I never talked about.” Holder said he returned home from the war “mostly intact” mentally and emotionally. “I know plenty of men who were
plagued their whole lives by the horrors they have experienced,” said Holder during a phone call. “Ruth convinced me to become involved with other World War II veterans and tell my story.” Holder celebrated his 100 birthday on Monday, Dec. 13. He joined the Navy three months after he turned 18. His father was a WW I veteran. Pearl Harbor was his first assignment after boot camp in San Diego. He arrived in Hawaii on Dec. 12, 1940 almost one year before the attack. “Pearl before the attack was a beautiful paradise with not too many worries,” Holder said. “I didn’t even think that the U.S. would ever be in a war, or much less attacked by the Japanese as we were in the processes of peace negotiations. But of course I was the Navy and we trained everyday just in case the peace processes failed. As a member of the PBY crew, we would fly around the Hawaiian islands to search and patrol for any trouble.” On Dec. 7, 1941 his section was on duty. That day he was in his hangar #54 in the middle of roll call when the first bomb to hit Pearl Harbor landed, hit and destroyed the neighboring hangar VP-21. “I still remember the day of the attack just like it was yesterday, “ Holder said. “I was up out of my bunk at 5 a.m. and went to the chow hall and I ate scrambled eggs, ham, grapefruit and some toast. By the time I finished eating the sun was coming up. I returned to my barracks and cleaned up
and headed to my hangar, and while walking the 1/4 mile to my hangar I thought to my myself: another day in paradise.” At 7:55 a.m. the Japanese began the attack on the USA at Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor. Being there was for him the saddest most unbelievable event of his young life. “I can’t really describe all of the feelings that I was overcome with, but at the moment of the attack we all did what we could to survive and to fight back,” Holder said. During the attack, the U.S. Navy lost 16 ships and thousands of men. One of the ships never recovered from the bottom of the ocean is Battleship Arizona. Veterans and Japanese tourists alike visit its memorial every year. The USS Arizona Memorial is built over the sunken wreckage of the USS Arizona. It is the final resting place for many of the 1,177 crewmen killed on Dec. 7, 1941. The memorial is part of World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument. “The Japanese bloodied our nose, and by the end of the war, we put them in the hospital on a ventilator,” Holder said. “America, as others have learned to their woe, can shrug off an injury and come back stronger every time. There’s an expression about how dangerous a corner[ed] rat is. I served on Navy ships with rats, and I can tell you that’s no lie. When America is attacked, we become the corner rat, something the Japanese discovered before too long.”
Chancellor: District Must Reverse Course on Enrollment BY MATTHEW RODRIGUEZ Los Angeles City College District Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez warns colleges to find a solution for the steep enrollment decline caused by the pandemic. Student enrollment at U.S colleges and universities are seeing historic drops that began with the start of the coronavirus pandemic and show no signs of stopping unless concrete measures are taken. The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) had a 25% decline in enrollment in the last two years since the pandemic began. During a Nov. 15 virtual Town Hall, Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez spoke about measures to curb the trend.
“There is a sense of urgency here, not panic,” Rodriguez said. “We are fully capable of moving through this with the support and diligence of this group called LACCD.” The measures include a twoyear contract with marketing and advertising agency Elder Tree to polish the LACCD brand overall and to reposition the colleges’ service within their communities with college specific campaigns to attract students. To attract more students, the district plans to completely redesign each campus’ website. The new sites will feature modern design with a student-centric user experience tailored to their status of enrollment as credit, non credit, and international, or high school
graduate students. Around 18,000 incoming firsttime students (FTS) typically enroll in the LACCD system each fall. Enrollment in Fall 2020, however, decreased 32% (12,000 students) and only mildly increased in Fall 2021 by 14% (14,000 students). According to LACCD Chief Financial Officer Jeanette Gordon, the district has three years to curb enrollment decline before school funding begins to be impacted. “By 2025, we need to be ready to accept whatever level of funding that we’re being supported with and be able to supplement that with something, unfortunately,” Gordon said. Lower enrollment leads to cancellation of remote, hybrid and
face-to-face courses, which can delay students’ education plans. According to Chancellor Rodriguez, it is crucial for the district to get students back on campus and getting access to services as soon as possible to cultivate interest for prospective students. “Speaking from experience and data, the more we stay away from on-campus support services and classes, the longer it will take to restore this trend,” Councilor Rodriguez said. “I believe that enrollment growth will be commensurate with on-campus classes and support. The truth is that we’ve lost 25% of student enrollments in the last two years. That hurts, and if it continues, we’re going to see what it translates to fiscally.”
PHOTO BY DANIEL MARLOS The facade of the College Mini Market is decorated with products for sale on Nov. 18, 2021.The market is open seven days a week and is located close to campus on the corner of Vermont Avenue and Normal Street.
College Mini Market Waits for Students’ Return BY DANIEL MARLOS The College Mini Market opened for business at the beginning of the spring 2020 semester just as LACC shut down and switched to online instruction at the start of the global pandemic. “Hello. Welcome” the automatic greeting announces when an entering customer trips the sensor at the door of the College Mini Market. The shelves are well stocked with snacks, drinks and household sundries. “We opened a year ago,” says proprietor Rakib Abdur Chowdhury, “on the day the shutdown started.” A limited number of face-toface courses including sections in cinema, art and theater returned
to LACC beginning Fall semester 2021, yet visible gatherings of students are noticeably absent on the campus and at neighboring businesses. Chowdhury did not know that there were already some classes at the college across Vermont Avenue. “I like the name,” Chowdhury says. Proximity to campus helped him choose the name of his convenience store. The “college is closed,” Chowdhury says pointing to the gated entrance. “Regular classes” at the namesake college “will bring returning students into his store for needed items and he is ready for them.” The College Mini Market on Normal Street near the corner of Vermont Avenue opens at 8:30 a.m. every day.
FROM “SUPPLY CHAIN” PAGE 1
Backlog Delays Christmas Gifts “It has affected my dad, who works as a property manager and who now has to wait longer for goods in order to do his job,” Ocampo said. Port delays and challenges for truckers affect students who experience delays for several weeks of online purchases. Joseph Goldenberger is one of them. “I’m waiting for a pair of Bose earphones I ordered off Alibaba,” said Goldenberger. “I’m assuming it’s on a container ship from China,
but I have no idea.” The latest infrastructure bill will invest $17 billion in port infrastructure which will help deal with the delays in the supply chain although it may take months to catch up with the backlog. APM Maersk works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to keep up with the rising demand. Shipping companies at the port will be working nonstop during the holiday season. Experts predict that the delays will continue late into 2022.
Outage Interrupts Canvas System BY DANIEL MARLOS Online education stopped for students and faculty who use Canvas in the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) and beyond on Tuesday, Dec. 7. The glitch is believed to be related to an outage at Amazon Web Services, according to The Daily at the University of Washington. L.A. City College students received notification through their district email accounts at 2:17 p.m. The email stated that “a Can-
vas LMS outage ... is affecting access for all students and faculty.” Department chairs, the college president and the vice president of academic affairs were meeting at the time of the system failure and worried about the impact on students, according to a reporter on the scene. Canvas is the online course delivery system used by the LACCD. The district notified students at 4:25 p.m. that service was back online.
Reginaldo Francisco del Valle is a native son of Los Angeles who established higher education in Southern California. Portrait of Reginaldo Francisco del Valle; Reginaldo F. del Valle Portraits, 1880-1920, California Historical Society.
Early Leader Secures Site for Future UCLA, L.A. City College UCLA and LACC fortunes intersect because of one man’s efforts, Reginaldo Francisco Del Valle whose name is on a U.S. Post Office, but whose legacy is even greater.
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BY ANGELA JOHNSON
It helps lift up a figure who not only pretty much established UCLA with his skill as a legislator, but just did so much for his community
e served as a state assembly member from Los Angeles, a state senator and president pro tempore of the California State Senate all before the age of 30. This Los Angeles native son has a United States Post Office named after him, but Reginaldo Francisco del Valle remains the forgotten forefather of higher education in Southern California. That is, until now. Without del Valle’s legislative prowess and expertise, University of California at Los Angeles and L.A. City College would not exist as they do today. All of this is according to Dr. David E. Hayes-Bautista, director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. The university’s Latino Alumni Association (ULAA) and Town & Gown Affiliates collaborated for the first time ever to sponsor Dr. HayesBautista’s second public presentation of his in-depth research findings. “Reginaldo Del Valle, Before It Became UCLA” was broadcast live Nov. 9 via Zoom Video Webinars. Carlos Collard, a member of ULAA and Town & Gown Affiliates says the online seminar shares essential knowledge for everyone. “It helps lift up a figure who not only pretty much established UCLA with his skill as a legislator, but just did so much for his community,” Collard said. Dr. Hayes-Bautista is currently a distinguished professor of medicine at UCLA and has been listed among the top 101 leaders of the Latino community by Latino Leaders Magazine. Before diving into the del Valle legacy in academia that he uncovered, Dr. Hayes-Bautista
said this presentation is part of a larger work on Latino leadership in American society that dates to 1776. UCLA is the successor institution to the Los Angeles State Normal School. It had been open for 38 years (1880) before a serious accident occurred. Elementary school teachers were prepared for the classroom within its walls. Dr. Hayes-Bautista discussed California history, the backstory of the del Valle family, and the cultural and societal environment in which Reginaldo Francisco del Valle was born and flourished. Reginaldo’s mother’s family, the Varela clan, arrived in the state in 1775 at the same time as another old California family, the Bautista de Anza. “If you go up the 101 (Freeway) you will see the signs that mark the historic route of Juan Bautista de Anza,” said Dr. Hayes-Bautista. Ygnacio del Valle, Reginaldo’s father, arrived from Jalisco, Mexico, in 1825. California was still part of Mexico at the time. When Mexico declared independence from Spain on Sept. 16, 1810, Dr. Hayes-Bautista points out, “As part of that declaration, Father Hidalgo declared abolition of slavery.” Father Miguel Hidalgo was a parish priest from the town of Dolores. He called upon his fellow countrymen to rise up against Spanish tyranny with his “Cry of Dolores,” which effectively launched the war for Mexican independence. Slavery had been practiced for 300 years in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The slave owners were given 10 days to comply with the new law of the land. Dr. Hayes-Bautista says that “nearly every single” Latin American country that declared independence from Spain also abolished slavery. “Father Hidalgo was emphatic,” Dr. Hayes-Bautista said. “’How can we be a modern republic, a modern
democracy, and still hold other human beings in chains?’ And he was serious. He gave slave holders 10 days to free their slaves, or he was putting the owners in jail.” The constitutional values of California were the same as Mexico’s until 1848. The United States took California from Mexico in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), and that changed everything. In addition to that, just before Mexico ceded the state, gold had been discovered in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. “The United States Constitution was very different from the Mexican Constitution,” Dr. Hayes- Bautista said. “The United States Constitution actually protected slavery. It was based on the notion of white supremacy, that non-whites could not be voting citizens. And when a woman married, she suffered what was called legal death, she had no legal standing . . . she legally did not exist.” This is the world into which Reginaldo Francisco del Valle was born in Los Angeles on Dec. 15, 1854. The del Valle family compound was located about where present-day Union Station is located in Downtown Los Angeles. Dr. Hayes-Bautista said California had been a state for only four years when Reginaldo was born. For almost 30 years, California had been part of independent Mexico. As a consequence, del Valle grew up both bicultural and bilingual. Dr. Hayes-Bautista says del Valle was home- schooled during his early education and spoke fluent French, which he learned from his teacher. He attended Colegio de San Vicente in Los Angeles, which back in 1867, Dr. Hayes-Bautista said, was “kind of a high school” that later “grew up” to become Loyal Marymount University. LMU’s own website states it is the successor to St. Vincent’s College for boys that was founded in 1865 by Vincentian Fathers in Los
Angeles. In 1873, Del Valle graduated with honors from Colegio de Santa Clara (Santa Clara University). He went on to study law, passed the state bar, and became an attorney in California in 1877. At age 26, del Valle ran and won his first term in the California state assembly in 1880. His first act was a law to try and continue the bilingual provisions of California. Even though he lost that fight, Dr. Hayes-Bautista said, “He made it clear there was a new lion in the house.” An event happened while the state assembly session of 1880 was just beginning. “The San Jose State Normal School burned down and needed to be rebuilt,” Dr. Hayes-Bautista said. “So, there was a request out for bills to rebuild the school.” Besides the fact the school needed rebuilding, the state’s rapid population growth by that time necessitated a second normal school anyway. The million-dollar question, though, was where? Assembly members from Shasta County, Redding, Nevada City, Sarita Rosa, Marysville, San Andreas, San Jose and Fresno all wanted the new school to be built in their district. While the counties and cities were competing with each other up North, Dr. Hayes-Bautista said, “Reginaldo raised his hand and said, ‘How about Southern California?’” Even though the cards were stacked against him, the advantage del Valle had was he knew law, especially parliamentary law. He put together a coalition so strong that even though 90% of the power of the state was in the North, del Valle was able to get a branch of the State Normal School at San Jose built in Los Angeles. Del Valle was proud that the very first state establishment in Southern California was an institution of higher education.
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UCLA MOVES, SO L.A. CITY COLLEGE CAN BEGIN
Jim Crow finally had arrived. And the land that a nonwhite person owned suddenly he could no longer walk on it.
Historical figures are important, especially ones that are lost.
he fact that Senator del Valle secured a branch of the State Normal School in Los Angeles in 1881 was a huge deal because all the other state facilities were up north: courts, jails, insane asylums, hospitals, libraries and schools. “Because of the Gold Rush 30 years earlier, 90% of California (residents) lived up north,” Dr. Hayes-Bautista said. Del Valle faced a formidable challenge in the wake of his major win. Southern California was 30 years behind development of the “Gold Country,” San Francisco and Sacramento. “He knew how to use the levers of politics to get things done,” Dr. Hayes-Bautista said. The southern branch of the California State Normal School opened in the summer of 1882 on what is now the site of the Los Angeles Central Library in downtown. The facility included an elementary school where teachers-in-training could practice their technique. Del Valle finessed a legislative move that changed the status of the school from a branch of the San Jose institution to a fully independent one. “The State Normal School at Los Angeles as the institute for higher education, and the only public one . . . stood for nearly 50 years,” Dr. Hayes-Bautista said. In 1919, the University of California Regents wanted to establish a presence in Southern California. They had already created UC (University of California) Berkeley by absorbing the assets of the Methodist College of California in 1868. “The buildings, the land, the grounds, the students, the faculty, the horses,” Dr. Hayes-Bautista said, “were all taken over and became the foundation from which UC Berkeley was erected.” He says the Regents looked at a lot of potential locations for the SoCal expansion, including the Throop Institute in Pasadena. “We could have been called UC Pasadena,” he said. The UC Board of Regents opted to absorb the assets of the Los Angeles State Normal School to create the University of California at Los Angeles or UCLA. For them to do that though, first they needed approval from Reginaldo Francisco del Valle. “Del Valle had to agree to have his original legislation undone, so the assets could be transferred,” Dr. Hayes-Bautista said. The legislation read in part, “In the place and stead and on the site of the Los Angeles State Normal School, the Regents of the University of California shall . . . conduct as Los Angeles a branch of the University of California.” The Los Angeles State Normal School was overcrowded and growing exponentially just like the city’s population. Dr. HayesBautista says the school moved to larger facilities by 1919 and was still overcrowded. “UCLA wanted to expand. So they looked at land. The building they were occupying in 1919 is now Los Angeles City College,” Dr. HayesBautista said. There are three building phases that connect the lineage of UCLA and L.A. City College. “The first was the original State Normal School that was too small by 1910,” Dr. Hayes-Bautista said. “So, they moved to the new one; the new site that is now L. A. City College. The site for the original school is now where the L. A. Public Library is.” He said that for a while, LACC was the home of UCLA. Then it was called the southern branch
of the university. Later it became a campus in its own right. Once UCLA moved west, that location became the physical site for Los Angeles Junior College in 1929. When the Regents wanted to expand west, they took notice of the picturesque Rancho San Jose de los Buenos Ayres that had previously been owned by Marcos Alanis, a man of obvious indigenous and African descent. The area is now known as Bel Air. The tract of land was owned by the Janss brothers in 1919 who had built subdivisions all around the West Side. Janss Investment Co. is known for using racial covenants to ban non-white people from owning residential or business real estate in the Westwood area. These property contracts read, “No part of said real property shall ever be leased, rented, sold or conveyed to any person who is not of the white or Caucasian race, nor be used or occupied by any person who is not of the white or the Caucasian race whether grantee hereunder or any other person.” (1925 California Supreme Court case, Janss Investment Co. v. Walden) “That was very common here in Southern California,” Dr. Hayes-Bautista said. “Jim Crow finally had arrived. And the land that a non-white person owned suddenly he could no longer walk on it.” The Regents purchased the land, built the Westwood campus and held a big two-day dedication celebration to christen the institution in 1930. Amid all the pomp and circumstance, Dr. Hayes-Bautista said, “They omitted to recognize the one without whom the institution would not be standing where it is.” Not only did Reginaldo Francisco del Valle get the legislative approval for the State Normal School in Los Angeles, “he got the budget to get it constructed, he got the budget every year for it to operate, he got it independent governance,” Dr. Hayes-Bautista said. “And the powers that be prior to 1919 recognized him as a key figure in the State Normal School,”
Reginaldo Francisco del Valle and his siblings in a family portrait (from left to right) Josefa R. (del Valle) Forster, Ignacio del Valle, Jr., Ysabel (de Valle) Cram, Reginaldo F. del Valle, and Ulpiano F. del Valle. California Historical Society Collection: Portraits from the Reginaldo F. del Valle papers. Photographer: Schumacher, Frank G. Date: circa 1884-1887
he said. But at that two-day founder’s celebration, del Valle was not thanked or mentioned by any orator. He was not even on the guest list. Dr. Hayes-Bautista says the predecessor institution was mentioned only once throughout the entire roster of speeches and events. There is a movement underway to have del Valle receive the long overdue recognition for all he did to establish UCLA and LACC, and higher education in the region. Del Valle was recognized by a concurrent resolution of the California State Senate and Assembly in 2019 says Dr. HayesBautista. Bautista says the L.A. County Board of Supervisors recognized Del Valle’s contributions, and so did the city of Los Angeles. “Historical figures are important, especially ones that are lost,” said Carlos R. Guerrero, who is professor of Chicana/o/x Studies at LACC. He created the legislation to bring the first institution of higher education to L.A. He was a Mexican-American Assembly person who was native born and made a change. That history needs to be remembered, period.” Del Valle went into public life after he retired from the State Senate and continued to serve his community. He became president of the Water and Power Commission. Dr. Hayes-Bautista says he was William Mulholland’s boss. “Everyone always talks about Mulholland, he just dug the ground,” Dr. Hayes-Bautista said. “Del Valle figured where to dig it. He set up the Metropolitan Water District to bring water from the Colorado River. So every time you turn the faucet on, you can thank Reginaldo Francisco del Valle.” When the Owens Valley Water Wars erupted in 1927 with farmers and ranchers--infuriated by political maneuvers to steal the water -- blew up the aqueduct, del Valle was the only one who could negotiate a peaceful agreement. Dr. Hayes-Bautista said he got “all the sides to agree so that water could flow again to Los Angeles. He got the water flowing to everyone’s satisfaction.”
LEGACIES
Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 15, 2021
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oBituAries
From WindowShopping to Big Deal USA Today Names Former Student Managing Editor
City Mourns Loss of Art Professor Phyllis S. Muldavin, professor emeritus of painting and life drawing at Los Angeles City College, died on Nov. 17 in Thousand Oaks, California. She was 86. Muldavin was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Nov. 3, 1935, one of the nine children of Edna and Guernsey Smirle. She moved to Southern California and received her art training here, in Mexico and in Greece. She received her B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees in drawing and painting at Otis Art Institute. Muldavin previously taught at Santa Monica College, Otis, and various community art centers, before teaching full time at LACC for 35 years. She retired in 2008. Muldavin’s art is in numerous individual and corporate art collections “[She was] vibrant and joyful throughout her life, she maintained close, loving relationships with family, colleagues from LACC and the art world, and the community of participants in Landmark Education programs,” said LACC art professor Laurel Paley. “Phyllis kept active and engaged throughout her retirement. At various L.A. art openings I would run into Phyllis, with another dear retired colleague in tow, Olga Seem Kooyman.” Artist Mindy Alper studied with
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BY SORINA SZAKACS
e is now the managing editor of deals at “Reviewed”, part of the USA Today network. His Twitter handle, “The (tired) King of Deals,” speaks volumes about the career he built after graduation. Bufete grew up in Koreatown. He did a lot of window-shopping in his younger years. “When you don’t have money you look around at things,” Bufete says. At that point in his life, it seemed unlikely that he would merge journalism with the humble shopping trips, to become the “King of Deals.” His family could not always afford new things, so the swap meet on Vermont and Melrose became a regular shopping destination for the Bufetes. “We would negotiate the price,” he says. “That’s when I learned to not take things at face value.” Those price negotiations became not only a passion but also a foundation on which Bufete now built a career. He learned to stay within the budget and that way of life landed him the position he has today. He loves finding deals so much that for him work is “a lot of fun.” He is still looking for better deals, so his readers can save money, but he says the “biggest deal” he found was attending L.A. City College. “When I look back on my time on campus, I know LACC was the greatest deal of my life,” Bufete says. “The best one I got so far was to study there and then move to a university.” He graduated from L.A. City College in 2011 and transferred to California State University Chico. He received his B.A. in Journalism in 2013. His journalistic journey started at City, in the Collegian newsroom. A decade later, Bufete still talks about his experience. He says it was “the greatest thing that happened” to him. “Professor Rhonda Guess paved the way for me,” Bufete says. “She has the knack for finding and cultivating talent, she knows how to pick them.” His time at L.A. City College “truly impacted” his life and his professors “demanded excellence.”
“Professor Guess dragged me to competitions and pushed me,” he says. “We were from a small school competing against the big ones. She demanded a lot, but gave a lot back.” From City, Bufete transferred to Chico where he was part of The Orion staff until his graduation. Even though he spent his university years writing for Chico’s newspaper, Bufete credits his LACC education for opening the journalistic path for him. He says he “feels so much pride” he followed the community college path and did not invest “too much money” in his education. “I am free of student loans, and that is the biggest deal for me,” Bufete says. “And I know deals − that’s my job.” Money is not the only reason Bufete considers his education at L.A. City College “the greatest deal.” For his managing editor job he competed with candidates who had famous universities on their resumes, but he won. “ I beat the others,” he says. “ We can hang with the big boys. I am proud to have LACC on my resume.” During his years at City, Bufete entered journalistic competitions and won several awards. He says the awards are a way to earn
more scholarships, “a brick in the foundation.” When he was a college student he wanted to win “all the awards” but they are no longer important. “Now I just want to help people,” Bufete says. “ I want readers to find something cheaper, to save money and use that to put food on the table.” Five years ago, his journey took him from sunny California to the city that never sleeps. He now lives in Brooklyn, hates cars and even though he comes back to L.A. every year, he says New York is “not better, but different.” “ I love it here,” Bufete says. “ Nothing predicted I will end up here and I aimed for less. My life is better than I was planning.” He is passionate about saving money and believes that helping readers make smarter shopping decisions is a form of service journalism. Bufete believes that passion and work go hand-in-hand. “Find something you care about. Really, really care about,” he says. “Journalism shouldn’t be the only major. Choose a second one, or a minor. Find your passion for something and become an expert at it. It was my passion for deals that pushed me through.”
Visits to the City College parking lot swap meet inspired him to search deals and buy things for less. He works in New York now, and he still shops for deals.
Muldavin and says she was one of her best college instructors. “She was a wonderful teacher, very fun and encouraging,” Alper says. “She even came to one of my shows in 2013. It was lovely to see her. I haven’t had many art teachers, but I’ve had some great ones, and Phyllis was one of my favorites.” Numerous friends and colleagues, five of her siblings, and 19 nieces and nephews survive her. Sandra Smirle, Muldavin’s niece, created a studio art scholarship fund in Muldavin’s memory, through the LACC Foundation. The scholarship is intended to encourage and reward a student that embodies the spirit of Phyllis S. Muldavin, a devoted educator who encouraged her students to constantly push the boundaries of their imagination, ideas and artistic expression. The award recognizes Phyllis’ dedication in encouraging her students to always be curious, creative and committed. “Phyllis was deeply motivated to provide promising artists the help and support required to achieve their artistic goals,” Smirle said. “We want to continue her legacy, honor her spirit and carry forward her vision, by incentivizing visual art students financially to continue developing their skills and practices.”
Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Fans Revel Amid Luster of Classic British Cars
Britweek Aims to Become Premier L.A. Auto Event
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BY LOUIS WHITE
ar collectors, auto enthusiasts, and gawkers mingled under L. A.’s cyan skies, among handmade and luxury automobiles. Britweek revved its engines on Nov. 14 on the top level of the Petersen Museum on the southeast corner of Fairfax and Wilshire in Los Angeles. The air smelled of breakfast sausage, and a mix of gasoline, tea and coffee. British ex-patriot Magnus Walker, fashion designer turned automobile collector, Porsche car specialist, auto show presenter and allaround car guy was one of the organizers. Britweek organization has strong connections to business, the arts, and philanthropic causes. Their partners include the likes of partners like Richard Mille, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and the Petersen Museum. Walker created a spectacular auto show. From rare cars to copies, from small or quirky to grand, all the automobiles had something in common: the classic British look and feel. The chrome and woodwork, the aristocratic grilles, the leather, or the famed British racing green paint, are all details that made heads turn in awe. The Rolls Royce is the dictionary
Team Works on Mental Health
The Cubs focused on mental health as well as athletics performance in the soccer inaugural season.
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definition of what automobile luxury at its finest was and still is, although the modern Rolls Royce is now a subsidiary of the BMW group. There were many classic marquees on hand including Land Rover and Bentley. Jay Leno paraded his amazing 1929 Bentley speed 6. One of the headlining cars of the day was Steve McQueen’s British Racing green, 1956 Jaguar XKSS. There was also a gorgeous replica that accompanied it on the day. If you love cars and especially if you are a British sports car enthusiast, it was a jaw-drop moment to see the storied Steve McQueen XKSS. To hear it, to see it move. To drive it would be the one treat better. Also on display was one of only two 1947 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith Inskip’s, handmade to client order. Lotus, Triumph, MG, Mini, Morgan, McLaren and of course, Aston Martin marques were all on display. At 10 a.m., the rally portion of the event finally got under way. It was time for these fantastic auto machines to start their engines. Time to roar down the palm tree-lined streets of Los Angeles into Beverly Hills. OK, they did not roar into Beverly Hills. They cruised into the well-heeled luxury enclave with a police escort. It was not as much a traditional rally as it was a parade of beautiful cars. Well-heeled residents piloted many of the shiny machines to Beverly Hills City Hall and to the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts where the autos sat in “closed park” for display.
PHOTOS BY LOUIS WHITE
One of two handmade 1947 Rolls Royce Silver Wraiths by the coach builder J.S. Inskip features the kneeling version of the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament in Beverly Hills, CA., Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021
A very thoughtful replica of a 1956 Jaguar Type-DXKSS in the famed British racing green leaves the Petersen Museum. The replica would be joined by the original Steve McQueen Jaquar Type-D XKSS on the streets of Los Angeles to the Beverly Hills City Hall, Los Angeles, CA. Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021
BY LOUIS WHITE
oach Henry Flores helped the men’s soccer team to keep a strong mental focus throughout the season. Flores attended National University where he earned a bachelors and masters degree in sports and performance psychology. He defines what he does as “mental performance coaching”. Flores is the only mental fitness coach in the South Coast Conference (S.C.C.) in which LACC competes. He says City is developing a new culture and building a new future of soccer. “The future is bright at LACC,” Flores says. “I could not have asked for a better opportunity. I am interning unpaid, my reward is seeing these gentlemen grow into men.” Flores stood on the sideline of the pitch at every game offering calm spirited encouragement. Luis Villegas, one of the Cubs players says that he first did not think he needed mental coaching, but later he changed his mind. “For me it was pretty helpful. He was always there to help us mentally, to prepare ourselves for games,” Villegas said. “At the beginning, I thought, I really don’t need it. [Then] throughout the whole season, that’s when, I was like okay, I get what his work is about.” The city’s athletics department, coaches and staff offered student athletes not only the physical and technical training, but also ferocious soccer game play, intelligence, and good character building on and off the pitch. Their bear-like tenacity on the field combined with focus and mental performance helped the Cubs throughout the season. Athletes are the beacons of the fit lifestyle. They can inspire sport fans to have a more active and healthier lifestyles. It takes more than good fitness and expert training to excel. It takes mental discipline to find that grit, to be bold, to have that tenacity. Four times Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka bowed out of the French open to protect her mental health, in May. Simone Biles “chose herself ” at the Tokyo Olympic Games by withdrawing from the competition. These athletes were not suffering from the familiar physical sports injuries as the torn ACL or lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow). At that competition level, mental performance is paramount. Biles and Osaka prove that it is the holistic approach that contributes to their amazing focus. Many world-class athletes and sporting programs have added a new kind of coach to the team: the mental or team performance coach. Universities and individual athletes focus their minds as well as their bodies. Better mental health for the student athlete is a growing trend and LACC is ahead.
PHOTO BY LOUIS WHITE
Los Angeles City College mental performance coach Henry Flores pauses after the Rio Hondo College match. The Southern Coast Conference match ended in a tie. Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, Whittier, CA.