Colle ollegian

EYE IN THE SKY

LACC

WEATHER FORECAST WEDNESDAY

71/57

THURSDAY

73/57

FRIDAY

80/60

SATURDAY

85/62

SUNDAY

88/64

MONDAY

87/62

TUESDAY

87/63

Los Angeles

May "the Drones" be with you in a near future

The Voice of Los Angeles City College Since 1929

Wednesday, May 7, 2014 Volume 172 Number 5

DREAM DEFERRED: Decades Later Dreams Come True

NEWS BRIEFS

Agreement Provides Easier Access to California’s Law Schools Twenty-four California community colleges, including LACC, are part of the “Pathway to Law School Initiative” thanks to an agreement signed by Chancellor Brice W. Harris with six California law schools on May 1. The initiative will provide better opportunities in the legal profession for students, especially minorities, by making sure they complete transferrable courses along with other requirements. The program is sponsored by the State Bar of California’s Council on Access and Fairness.

Mock Interview Sessions Sharpen Job Interview Skills Next week students will have the opportunity to engage in 10-minute question and answer sessions to practice for job interviews. The event prepared by the Career and Job Development Center will be held on May 12, from 5 to 6 p.m. in AD 109. Students will be asked a series of the most popular interview questions and learn how to best answer them.

Communication Studies Student Receives Trophy Marlon Monico earned the second place trophy at the Pacific South Coast Forensics Cool-off Tournament. The prize was for extemporaneous speaking where Monico had to prepare seven-minute speeches in a half hour.

An incident involving a photo and racial insensitivity on the part of an LACC professor took decades to resolve for one student. After a chance meeting, a department chair decided to address the issue at the Academic Senate with the student.

Trae Triplett /COLLEGIAN Henry Walton adresses the LACC Academic Senate in late March.

By Clinton Cameron Daniel Marlos may not want to admit it, but for the past two years, the LACC Media Arts Department Chair has been on a one-man crusade to correct a past wrong. The first step to turning his vision into a reality was introducing a resolution to the Los Angeles City College Academic Senate to award photographer Henry Walton an honorary degree. Walton’s academic journey began at LACC in 1958, but was cut short after he says a photography instructor discouraged him from taking pictures of people with dark skin. “Henry took a photograph of a young black coed and when he turned the work in to his instructor he was told that the work was unacceptable, because film wasn’t designed to photograph dark skin tones,” Marlos told an audience of more than 50 Senate members and guests at the LACC Faculty Staff Center in March.

According to Marlos, Walton stopped attending class and as a result received a non-passing grade. Despite the setback, he continued to practice photography, placing his formal classroom education on hold for many years. During the height of the civil rights struggle, he photographed the everyday lives of people living in Watts. In 2012, Walton’s candid shots of women, children, the Black Panthers and the lesser-known Sons of Watts were on exhibit at Il Tramezzino, a restaurant on UCLA’s campus. This is where he met Daniel Marlos. After hearing his story, the department chair encouraged Walton to retake the photography class and eventually asked him to speak on his own behalf to be recognized for an honorary degree. During the meeting in late March, Walton spoke about how the incident at LACC during the late ’50s affected his views on education. “I saw professors as being, you know, kind of super people,” Walton said. “These were people

2-3 4-5 6 7 8 9 10

SEE DREAM DEFERRED PAGE 6

By Clinton Cameron

A

n invitation to “Cutting up Bigotry” came with a request to bring your own scissors. The Da Vinci Hall classroom was the ideal setting for a collage workshop. Large drawing tables, plenty of walking space and well lit, the room was accessible for students to easily get their hands on hundreds of publications piled up in the classroom. There were barely enough scissors for the more than 40 participants in the workshop hosted by Deborah Lawrence, an adjunct professor at Seattle University. Lawrence has a bachelor’s degree in painting from U.C. Riverside and a master’s of fine art and painting from Claremont Graduate University. More than twodozen residence and 28 solo exhibitions dating back to 1986 are on her resume. Her book, “Dee Dee Does Utopia,” includes 44-pages, most of which present her original collages. The book is the result of her cutting up bigotry and making other political statements. Professor Carol Steinberg teaches Drawing I on Tuesday nights, and for once she welcomed the idea of students cutting up in her class. “I’ve been here for 20 years. This is the first time I’ve ever done this,” Steinberg said. “I just thought, ‘Why not?’ you know, it’s something different.” Bringing Lawrence to L.A. City College’s campus was the brainchild of Laurel Paley, an art and graphic design professor at LACC. The event coincided with LACC’s Book Program theme, “1984.” Paley’s introduction of Lawrence connected her presentation to the larger political discussion at LACC. “Politics is coming back into our discourse at this college. We’ve actually had a lot of political activity among students on campus,” Paley said. “So, it’s a very good time for us to take a look at how we want our art to be speaking not just visually, not just esthetically, but also politically.” During her presentation, Lawrence encouraged the class to use “Cutting up Bigotry” as a springboard for any political ideas that could be cut from magazines. “Basically, what we will be doing is choosing a social or a political theme about which we care very passionately,” Lawrence said. “For some people it might be the environment. It could be very specific.”

Middle school students participated in the Career Technical Education Spring Boot Camp during spring break at LACC. The boot camp helped young students explore career opportunities in the theatre industry. At the end of this program, students prepared a play called "Story of the Stars." To view the behind the scenes video of this program, scan the QR code, or follow the link below. youtu.be/H-CYC4aObG8

Opinion & Editorial Campus Life News Features Scholarships Sports Armenian Genocide

who had that information; that knowledge that I needed, and they were here to dispense it.” Dean of Academic Affairs Allison Jones says she supports Marlos’ efforts. “He deserves to get an honorary A.A. degree,” Jones said. “He seems not to have any bitterness. He really has moved on with his life and turned it into something positive.” The lives and education of Japanese-American students were disrupted during their internment in Manzanar Concentration Camp in World War II. In 2010, they were recognized for their prewar educational efforts. L.A. City College administration conferred honorary degrees upon the formerly detained alumni at the 2010 graduation ceremony. Jones says she sees a connection between the pursuit of an honorary degree for Walton and the degrees conferred upon the Japanese-Americans. “Certainly, this is to me in the same light as that,” Jones said. “I think it’s very fitting. We did it for that group of students, we should be doing it for Mr. Walton as well.” Marlos says he views the moral issue of Walton’s mistreatment as equal to those who were interred. When looking at the connection between the two however, he says there is a difference that presents a challenge for him in his efforts to gain future support. “This is a singular issue,” Marlos said. “There is not a statewide initiative to look at people that were perhaps wronged because of being black in the years immediately surrounding the civil rights activities that were going on. It’s just here at City College.” The timing for Walton’s recognition coincides with the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. “I just thought it was a really nice opportunity to tie Henry’s personal struggles with civil rights and his personal documentation of the Civil Rights Movement as well as to honor him with a degree that he should have earned many years ago,” Marlos said. Librarian Rosalind Goddard represents the Academic Senate for the Martin Luther King Jr. Library. Goddard witnessed many of the struggles faced by African-Americans during the civil rights era. “Mr. Walton’s experience mirrors and matches

Collage Workshop Cuts Into Politics

Middle Schoolers Explore Theatre Careers in Behind the Scenes Video

INDEX

PAGE 4

Honor Student First at City to be Awarded Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship By Krystle Mitchell Three thousand seven hundred and five students nationwide applied for the Jack Kent Cooke scholarship this year and City College’s John Niroula is one of the 85 undergraduate transferring students chosen for the award. College President Reneé Martinez and LACC Foundation Executive Director Robert Schwartz presented the scholarship to Niroula who was unaware that he had been selected for the award. “When [Schwartz] first called me, it didn’t sound anything special,” Niroula said. “It was just like it’s a surprise and it’s a good thing. That’s all he said and that’s all I knew about it. … It’s almost 90K, you know, so that’s great.” Niroula is the first LACC student since the scholarship was established following Jack Cooke’s death in 1987 to receive the award. The scholarship provides up to $30,000 per year for up to three years depending on the financial aid package that is awarded by the school to which the student is transferring. “I was so excited all weekend just thinking about what his reaction would be, because this is truly the best scholarships you can get,” Martinez said. “To know that in two to three years, he could get his bachelor’s, his master’s degree … is something that you dream about that students would get.” Currently, Niroula is a tutor for the STEM Academy, a guidance program for science students. He also presented his research paper “The Spitzer Space Telescope: Groundbreaking Discoveries and Innovative Design” at the Bay Honors Consortium Research Symposium at UC Berkeley on May 3. He says he is planning to double major in math and physics upon transferring. “I’m so happy for him,” said Vin Lee, a math professor at City. “It’s great to see he got some recognition. He was a student of mine also and I know he’s brilliant and very, very hard working and loves mathematics and physics.”

Make Hay While the Sun Shines: Summer Session is a Go By Lorenzo Quintana More than 130 classes in subjects ranging from theater to communications are being offered by the college for this year’s summer session. These are high-demand classes, such as basic skills and transferable classes, and are limited to 40 students each. The condensed courses may benefit new students wanting a head start on units and students attending four-year universities who need one or two classes over the summer at a lower price. Computer science major Dray Collett says he only needs two classes to graduate and rather than wait until fall, he has decided to take the classes this summer.

Dave Martin /COLLEGIAN

SEE WORKSHOPS PAGE 6

SEE SUMMER SESSION PAGE 6

2

Opinion & Editorial

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Los Angeles COLLEGIAN

Collegian

'Nineteen Eighty-Four'

MEDIA ARTS DEPARTMENT, CHEMISTRY 207

Now Playing in a City Near You George Orwell’s "Nineteen Eighty-Four" made us wonder about an alternate world where constant surveillance, censorship, and class and caste divisions dominate. Published in 1949, the novel projects aspects of a new era we are living in today. There is little debate about the presence of a “Nineteen EightyFour”-type Big Brother. Across many “free” societies including the United States, drones march through the sky, cameras stand watch at every corner and Google knows where you live and what you look like. And though most think of the surveillance state when they think of the novel, the class questions it raises around living wages, exorbitant executive salaries and quality of life for all are unavoidable. Edward Snowden and others have made these happenings, courtesy most recently of the 2001 Patriot Act, more transparent than ever over the last few years. And it’s not the first time Americans have known about it. Back in 1972 under the Nixon administration, similar revelations rocked the country. Division and suspicion have been part of the American consciousness for nearly as long as there has been an America. It is something early immigrants fought to escape in coming to the New World. It is partly how the caste system of slavery

was perpetuated and ultimately undone. It was the calling for soldiers during World War II to prevent the spread of similar sinister practices. These days, that kind of passionate opposition does not seem to register with the masses as it once did. Recently journalist Bill Moyers noted a 1941 speech where President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called on Americans to defend what he called the four essential freedoms, the same ideals currently under fire: freedom from want and fear, and freedom of speech and religion. “There’s no question in my mind that it is time for the country to become fairly radical for a generation,” President Roosevelt said. By radical, perhaps he simply meant active in that defense, to actively call for taskforces to be formed, new laws to be passed, and to hold official public debates on pertinent issues we face as citizens of the world today. America means many things to many people. For some it’s about prosperity, for others it is fearlessness and strength in one’s individuality; for others still, it is the land of dreamers; but for everyone, those visions are possible only because of the freedoms so succinctly stated by Roosevelt. Without them, we are each strangled into silence and made complicit in the undoing of these sacred cornerstones of the nation.

Stop Texting and Walking By Ted Arabian There is a pressing issue among us today, one Los Angeles City College can be an example of for the campus, community and beyond. Ye s . I’m talking about something big… something drastic, yet simple, easy and free. Students, stop texting and walking, please.

I hear the jokes already and I am right there with you. But the problem is real. The walkways (especially around construction zones) are tight enough without students slowing their pace to “text speed” where they wander and drift with stops and starts. And those students texting while climbing stairs is like following an RV pulling a trailer up a steep mountain road. It truly amazes me. I understand the “need” to pop out the cell and check messages, the clock, maybe even see if anyone liked my most recent Facebook status. I feel, as I am certain many readers do, I am capable of walking and checking my phone at the same

Los Angeles City College 855 N. Vermont Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90029

Editor-in-Chief Rocio Flores Huaringa Richard Martinez Graphic-Layout Editor Beatrice Alcala Multimedia Producer Dave Martin Opinion/Editorial Denise Barrett Sports Jake Carlisi Assignments Inae Bloom Graphic Designers Beatrice Alcala Denise Barrett Rocio Flores Huaringa Illustrator Jose Tobar Steffen Williams

Jose Tobar /COLLEGIAN

In a democracy, we could say there is no one to blame but its citizens when something goes awry. We vote or don’t. We protest, or

we don’t. We act as one people at crucial junctures in history, or we don’t. Orwell’s "Nineteen Eighty-Four" showed

time. But I will admit, I cannot text, read and walk. Let me put it this way, I cannot text and read and still walk the way I am capable of and accustomed. I just can’t. My ability to walk indeed suffers. So, I propose that here on campus, we voluntarily institute a “No Texting & Walking” rule. Monitored by any student, faculty or staff member who wishes to enforce the rule would consist of politely approaching the student engrossed with their phone and gesturing to a nearby sign or simply pointing to the edge of the walkway, far out of the way of other pedestrians. Implementation of such a rule, silly as it may seem, accomplishes many things. The traffic that does exist due to texting and walking

would be reduced. And the social benefits are countless; it offers the opportunity to interact with someone instead of something (your phone). Perhaps a new friendship will be born. You never know. There are so many other benefits; many that could eventually make a difference to someone personally. We indeed get gobbled up in our phones – this could be a great social wake-up call. I see implementing this as very simple. A few “official” signs can be posted around the campus and maybe even a grand launch with a BBQ campaign, Think “social.” Hopefully the attention to the subject will enlighten some. If not, the statement is made and change will come.

us one possible future. As we see it come to life all around us, the real question is what do we want to happen next?

This is a campus of learning, a higher education institution with a proud and iconic history. I would be proud to be part of an effort by LACC to create a wake-up call to those students who appear to be overly absorbed with their phone. I can easily envision a platform that is so successful that it is copied and repeated across the nation. This is not a student issue. It is a growing problem that nearly all of us are guilty of; crossing streets and texting, shopping and texting, driving and texting… pushing a child’s stroller and texting. Let LACC’s proud tradition of activism continue with the students of 2014 as we make an effort to lift our heads from our phones. Happy and safe walking!

Photo Editor Luca Loffredo Photographers Denise Barrett Inae Bloom Jessica Brecker Danni Conner Rocio Flores Huaringa Bill Knudson Reporters Fellicia Allen Jessica Brecker Clinton Cameron Gloria K. Lee Krystle Mitchell Rashid Pineda Lorenzo Quintana Byron Umana-Bermudez Advertising Staff Inae Bloom Clinton Cameron Adviser Rhonda Guess Robin Guess

What meaning do historical figures like Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King or Gandhi have for today’s students?

City

Deadline Schedule NEXT ISSUE: May 21, 2014 Editorial deadline: May 17, 2014 For all submissions including letters to the editor and publicity releases send materials to Collegian office: Chemistry 207

VIEWS

losangeles.collegian@gmail.com For all insertion orders and advertising questions. Email: pr.collegian@gmail.com

Compiled by Denise Barrett “It means a lot to me. They fought for a good cause. The main quality of Martin Luther King was [uniting a ] diverse amount of people … Because we are different colors, we don’t have to be separated just because of our culture.”

“Probably not much. I don’t think students today are all that in touch with history or what’s going on around them … They could be an inspiration for them to do better; they can do things on their own.”

“Not much, I don’t think … all the gang banging going on, [there’s] not much peace being thought about. I’d like to see them on the money, actually… more peace and love.”

Lacy Atkins – Undeclared

James Johnson – Political Science

Janell Gibson – Music

“An inspiration, that we could do things that are hard, we just gotta put an effort into what we’re doing… Don’t look at what’s around you, just keep going into what you believe in...People like that motives us, what some people thought couldn’t be done, was done.” George Olinda – Music

The college newspaper is published as a learning experience, offered under the college journalism instructional program. The editorial and advertising materials published herein, including any opinions expressed, are the responsibility of the student newspaper staff. Under appropriate state and federal court decisions, these materials are free from prior restraint by virtue of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Accordingly, materials published herein, including any opinions expressed, should not be interpreted as the position of the Los Angeles Community College District, Los Angeles City College, or any officer or employee thereof. Collegian © 2014. No material may be reprinted without the express written permission of the Collegian.

Opinion & Editorial

Los Angeles COLLEGIAN

Chavez: Sí Se Puede By Felicia Allen Like most students with families, I have had to juggle school and life issues this spring semester. So much so that having a school holiday meant a day off without any regard for who the day was in observance of. I just needed a break. I k n e w President’s Day had come and gone, Memorial Day weekend was a ways off, and I was sure that we did not observe the holiday of the directionally challenged Christopher Columbus, so whom were we celebrating? It was not until I picked my daughter up from school and was greeted with a parent information flyer and a “mommy we don’t go to school on Monday,” did I finally see in bold print, “Cesar Chavez Day

Observed, no school March 31.” As a true California girl, I have to admit feeling a little ashamed that I had to be reminded that Cesar Chavez was indeed a state-observed holiday. I would have never forgotten Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Shame on me. How could I have overlooked someone so influential in the fight for worker’s rights in the United States? I grew up in the ’70s and I vividly remember people talking about this Mexican-American migrant worker who was standing up for equal wages and fair treatment of the field laborers. As a young man, my father admired Chavez. He also believed in fair compensation for farm workers and field hands. When my father was a teenager, he would pick grapes and pecans in the fields of Fresno for extra money to send back to his family in Texas, and was quite familiar with the issues workers faced. I remember him saying you had to shut up and do what you were told or face being labeled

a troublemaker, fired by the end of the day and sent home without pay. In those years, it was common for most farmers or landowners to treat workers with disrespect; making no provisions for them should they become sick or injured at work. The behavior that my father spoke so candidly about is what I imagine prompted Chavez to fight for fair treatment and unionization. Chavez recognized early on that unionizing was the only way farm workers would find protection, so he worked to create the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in 1962. Then in 1966, the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) joined Chavez’s group to form the United Farm Workers Union (UFW). Many people think the struggle for worker’s rights is over, but it is not. Chavez’s movement is especially relevant to college students and low-income families who are just trying to survive in this economy. Twenty-one years have passed since the death of Cesar Chavez.

Many schools, libraries, streets and even some babies have been named in his honor, but do we really understand the sacrifice of his fight? It is so easy to disassociate ourselves from the people who produce the products that we consume every day. When we shop for produce from the local market or swing by a drive-thru window for a quick bite, we should consider the workers that have prepared these things and the price they pay to do the job they do. While we are eating well, can they support their families? Are they silent members of a society that seems uncaring for their struggle? President Barack Obama and other community leaders understand the need for legislation that supports America’s labor force, and this is why they are fighting for a higher minimum wage. If we begin to think beyond ourselves and refuse to forget the struggle for equality and fairness is far from over, then, yes, it can be done. Sí se Puede.

Steffen Williams /COLLEGIAN

Fix FAFSA, Students Need Books Now By Brian Flores Education is expensive, even with grants, loans and federal financial aid known as the Free Application for Student

Aid (FAFSA). It takes too long to process and activate the FAFSA and it needs to be available at a faster rate. One reason FAFSA needs to be quicker is because the need for the supplies and books are necessary for succeeding in class. People apply for federal aid mainly because they make or have little income to help them pay for their college life. That’s why some people need this aid as soon as pos-

sible in order to begin their academic endeavors. People also need faster access to aid in order to pay for home and food costs. Many students eat very few meals to help conserve whatever funds they may have in order to pay for college. Often part-time jobs are necessary to help pay for their education. Another reason is that some students are from out of state and

need help paying for the higher tuition. Being one myself it brings me comfort to receive aid as soon as possible knowing that I will have help paying the costs off. Some people may say that students should know the length of time the FAFSA takes to take effect. New students may not even think that it could take a long time. Students need their books and money now, not at the end of the semester.

3 CHRONICLES OF A NOBODY Wednesday, May 7, 2014

#PublicPrivacy

Jose Tobar /COLLEGIAN

By Byron Umana Bermudez Our generation lives in the public eye. From Instagram to Facebook, many of us are constantly updating our status so that our friends and followers can know every intimate moment. We sometimes forget that by sharing every detail we are sacrificing something bigger. Just a few weeks ago on our campus Erwin Chemerinsky, the school of law dean at University of California, Irvine, gave a speech at the Camino Theatre. His speech reflected mostly on the idea of privacy. Chemerinsky brought up a good point when he said we as Americans give our privacy away. Just look at Facebook. It is appalling how many people post every single detail of their lives. Facebook has even made it easier for people to locate other people. Simply type in the name of a person you know to find out their interests and the places they’ve been, and you get a clear idea of that person’s life with just one click. Chemerinsky spun his theory around George Orwell’s “1984.” The book gives detailed accounts of a government that has become the Big Brother overlooking everything a person does in their daily life. Did George Orwell travel through time to our country and then travel back to give an account of what he saw? After 9/11, we were all in fear and because of that fear, we allowed that government to take away a lot of our privacy. And yes, everyone gives away privacy every day. From the minute we sign into Facebook, search things on Google or even purchase a cellphone, we are giving private information to the world. Have you ever noticed the questions you answer when you set up a Facebook account? It may not seem like much, but the fact that Facebook asks you about your religion, political party and even your general interests can be very invasive. Yet most people on Facebook give this information freely. In some countries being part of an unpopular religion, the wrong political party or even having an in-

terest in the same sex can cause violent beatings and death. Yet here we somehow feel free to let the world know these little facts about our lives. It is also hilarious how people do not think enough about privacy when they update their status. Not only do give people give account of private activities regarding school, family matters and sex, but you can also give away the location of where the matters occur. It basically lets complete strangers know where you are 24/7. One can even go the extra mile and say that you can found by nearly anyone at any time. Cell phones are another way we lose privacy. Smart phones have built in GPS systems, meaning anyone could know that you were in a certain place at a certain time and perhaps make assumptions about your character. Tracing calls may seem like something out of the movies, but it is done. Although it may help catch criminals, it can also put innocent people in jeopardy. Even our Google searches are open books. Chrome carries a feature that no matter where you are, you can automatically see a list of your past searches. Anyone who has access to your computer, phone, or anywhere you have used Google Chrome can see what you have searched. We need to be protected, but at what cost? This is where things can get confusing. We do not want ourselves or our love ones to get hurt, but by giving away our privacy we are in fact putting people in harm’s way. Giving people access to our private lives allows them to make assumptions. Time and again, America has experienced the impact assumptions can have, from the Salem witch trials, to the Japanese concentration camps, and even the most recent happenings in Guantanamo Bay. Though we live in an age where it can be an anomaly, it is important that we protect our privacy. If not, we could put ourselves in the midst of an Orwellian world, one where who and what we are becomes the property of someone else.

Pet Peeve, Racism Finds Life in America

Have an Opinion? Write a Letter to the Editor CONTACT INFO

losangeles.collegian@gmail.com Letters may be edited for brevity.

(323) 953-4000, ext. 2831

By Shehu Usuman Whether we would like to admit it or not, everyone has a pet peeve, one of those little things that just annoys us to no end, but not so detrimental that it causes friction in our daily lives. Ladies and gentlemen, this is my pet peeve and my personal opinion, not the opinion of my race, my friends, my family or any of my associates. I have a problem when

people tell me President Obama is the first black President. I hear it everywhere, in the student lounge, book store, and rotunda, whatever you call that place that’s a designated smoking area. See, I have no problem with people being blunt with me, as a matter of fact, I love it. What I don’t like is for someone to urinate on my head and tell me it’s raining. See when African Americans talk about Obama being the first black President, I think indoctrination. When I hear Asians, Latinos, and Middle Easterners say it, I think ignorance. And then, when I hear white people say it, I think racism. I’ve done my fair share of travel-

ing and in Europe, and it’s not hidden that they are blatant with their racism, at least the segment of people that are bigots are. In America, it’s a different story. They are subtle in their attacks in order to not look obvious. If you go to Brazil, there’s a segment of the population that are very prevalent. They are called mulattos. In other parts of Europe, they are called half-cast, the latter is how I knew them as growing up. A mulatto is basically a mixed race, as in black mixed with any Caucasian race. Only when I came to America did I hear these people were black. You know what that tells me, that the white race in America feels so repulsed and insulted that a black

man’s seed or a black woman’s eggs can be mixed with something so pure as the white DNA. So now we have been indoctrinated to think that once there is 1 percent black in you then you are black, the white man is not going to accept you as half white once you’ve been saturated with something so impure as the black DNA. In conclusion, please when you want to appease me and tell me racism is abolished by giving me a black President, don’t urinate on my head and tell me it’s raining by giving me a mulatto, give me a real brother, preferably one that’s as dark as Idi Amin. Then, I’ll believe it. But thanks for Michelle though, she is the first black First Lady.

4

Campus Life

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Los Angeles COLLEGIAN

Cubs Pause to Celebrate Diver-City Students and Faculty Congregate for Foreign Language Event By Byron Umana-Bermudez The Foreign Language Department hosted their annual Foreign Language Day event on Mon, April 18 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event took place in the Student Union Third Floor Multipurpose Room ABC and was organized by French professor Francine Rozenkopf helped by student volunteers from the different language classes. Spanish, Italian, Chinese and even American Sign Language were just some of the languages that where showcased. Each language class made a presentation to highlight

the history, the culture and the techniques to the language they are learning. Students from all walks of life gathered in seats and some even stood to see these presentations. Not only were there presentation in the Multipurpose Room, but just outside the room some people passed out raffle tickets, sold food from different cultures and even calligraphy was made for students to enjoy. The event showcases many cultures and gives the Foreign Language Department a moment to show the different languages here at LACC.

Photos by Danni Conner Top: "French 4" students prepared scene nine from the play "La Cantratice Chauve" by Eugene Ionesco (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) Prof. Liao creates Chinese inscriptions of student’s names, to raise money for the Chinese Club. Professor Hong's Korean students dance to K-pop for their presentation in Foreign Language Day. Josh Sanders and Darwin Olivar students serenared City students.

Book Program Upcoming Events Wed., May 7, Heidi Boghosian, author and executive director of National Lawyers Guild, “Spying on Democracy: Government Surveillance, Corporate Power, and Public Resistance.” 12:30 p.m. at the Student Union Third Floor.

Wed., May 22, Robert Scheer, journalist, EIC, “Big Brother and the Whistleblowers,” 12:30 p.m. location TBA.

Saving the Planet Gives Extra-Credit Photos by Rocio Flores Huaringa

Left: Hang Nguyen, agricultural science major, presents a poster on Over Population. Biology professor Sean Phommasaysy awarded extracredit to his students for participation in the Earth Day activities. Right: (From left to right) Kimberly Thomas, Elvis Diaz, and Tasmia Khan give a plant to biology major Nozima Niyozova. Honors Club members gave plants for students who signed up for their club.

Office of Student Life Recognized Victims of Sexual Assault Denim Day photos by Byron Umana-Bermudez

Candlelight Vigil photos by Rocio Flores Huaringa

The Office of Student Life hosted a Denim Day Concert on April 23 from noon to 5 p.m. in the Student Union first Floor where many students were able to design jeans in recognition of those victimized by sexual assault.

Left: Mariella Serrano, dental major, and Jahayra Garcia, sociology major, light candles in recognizition of sexual assault victims. The candles put together say "Empowerement."

Officers from the Office of Student Life went around passing out pins for people to wear for Denim Day.

Right: Overcoming Violence Together Coordinator at City Ronisse Simmonds introduces a representative of Peace Over Violence after showing videos created to promote awareness of sexual assault.

Collegian Wins Regional Award From left to Right: Clinton Cameron, Rocio Flores and Richard Martinez were presented with the Western Publishing Association’s Maggie award last week for the 2013 Virtuosity issue of the Collegian Times. The staff was also given a certificate and $1,000 for the journalism program at LACC.

Campus Life

Los Angeles COLLEGIAN

Zombies Get Married in 'Wedding Party from Hell' By Krystle Mitchell Actors, makeup artists and film students came together on April 26 to create a scene of zombies and gore. “Wedding Party from Hell” is a 15-minute short film directed by cinema major Charles Campbell about two young women who are thrust in the middle of a zombie wedding on campus and must fight to survive. “We’re making a zombie movie,” Campbell said. “It’s a story I’ve written and I’m directing and it’s called “Wedding Party from Hell.” Campbell collaborated with 25 LACC film students and a team of make-up artists from the EI, School of Professional Makeup in Holly-

wood. “Today we are making a lot of zombies and also two ladies [who] will destroy the zombies and lots of zombie juice all over the floors and walls,” said Joelle Duvernois, department head makeup artist. Campbell wrote the film for a cinema production class, and says he will turn the short-film into a feature, webisode, or television series, and hopes to “scare the hell out of people.” “I’m really excited,” said Ashley Biggs, an actor on set. “It’s really cold [and] we had to get up really early, but it’s all worth it in the end, so I’m really excited.” “Wedding Party from Hell” will be released to the public May 22 and screened in the Student Union shortly after.

To view the behind the scenes of "Wedding Party from Hell," scan the QR code below, or follow te link youtu.be/vXzsInT4iSw Subscribe to CollegianWired on YouTube.

Photos by Bill Knudson Top: Joell Duvernois, head makeup artist, works on a priest Zombie on the set of “Wedding Party from Hell.” Bottom Left: Zombies cause havoc as they escape the boiler room. Bottom Right: Something Old – Zombie bride poses for the camera on her big day.

Winner’s Circle: El Roi Contest Awards Four Singers By Gloria K. Lee LACC’s Kerygma Bible Study club hosted their sixth annual El Roi Singing Contest in the Multipurpose Room in the Student Union Building last week. The El Roi Singing Contest aims at providing singers with an opportunity to showcase their skills in front of a live audience while competing for cash prizes. Club officers said that 22-25 individuals submitted an audition tape to be considered for the contest. Ultimately, 10 contestants competed for prizes. “Well, this was an incredibly difficult decision,” said voice and music theory professor Christine Gengaro. “All of the contestants were incredibly talented, and we had a very hard time choosing, but in the end we had to come to a decision, and we all agreed that Tamika gave the best overall performance.”

Tamika Wilson won first place and received a $700 cash prize for her rendition of “Running Back to You,” by Leandria Johnson. “To God be the glory, I owe it all to Him,” Wilson said. “That’s why I came here, hoping that someone would get a word and be inspired by what I was singing about, because it was my personal testimony. It’s a gospel song and I sing it just about every day of my life … I sing it and it gets me through.” Second place winner JC Villafan received a $500 cash prize for performing an original song titled “When We Try,” which he says is about two young people trying to make a longdistance relationship work. Villafan said he wrote the song to “inspire people who are going through something similar to pursue a relationship for the sake of love as opposed to convenience.” Maritza Ruiz won third prize and

$300 for her performance of “Hurt” by Christina Aguilera. “I really enjoyed watching all of the other performers and I felt like there was a lot of really good talent out there,” Ruiz said. “So, I was really happy for everybody and I’m glad that there were people there to support us.” Joshua Moon won the Audience Choice Award for singing “All of Me” by John Legend. “It looks like a really great turn out this year,” said last year’s winner, Grace Yoo. “Just seeing its growth over the years is just awesome to see, so much talent and so many people from the community, not just the campus supporting this event, participating in the contest.” Yoo performed “Blessings” by Laura Story during the judges’ deliberation as a tribute to the people who died in the South Korean ferry accident near Jindo Island.

Police Wire Compiled by Lorenzo Quintana April 15, 2014, 12:45 p.m.: Student requested written document of an incident regarding the student and a fellow classmate in Chemistry Building Room 204. April 16, 2014, 10:20 a.m.: Staff member advised student to leave class since she was not enrolled in Women’s Gym. Report taken.

April 21, 2014, 1:20 p.m.: Student disturbance in class in Sci-Tech Building Room 112. Students were dismissed without further incident. April 21, 2014, 2:30 p.m.: Student wanted to report an incident that occurred approximately three years ago at LACC Library Computer Room.

April 16, 2014, 3 p.m.: Verbal argument between student and student worker at Administration Building. Report taken.

April 21, 2014, 2:55 p.m.: Student was feeling dizzy in Kinesiology Building. Paramedics responded and transported the student to Hollywood Presbyterian.

April 18, 2014, 8:45 a.m.: Student lost iPad in her classroom in Administration Building. Report taken.

April 21, 2014, 5 p.m.: Student reported suspicious activity in Franklin Hall men’s restroom. Report taken of incident.

April 21, 2014, 12 p.m.: Student lost her purse in Franklin Hall Basement.

April 21, 2014, 5:10 p.m.: Student was having chest pains at Student Health Center. Paramedics re-

sponded and transported the student to Hollywood Presbyterian. April 23, 2014, 9 a.m.: Staff member had back pain in Jefferson Hall room 114. Paramedics responded and transported the employee to Kaiser Permanente. April 24, 2014, 2 p.m.: Student reported incident involving an employee at the Learning Skills Center. Report taken. April 25, 2014, 11 a.m.: Student was having thoughts of self-harm at the Administration Building room 220 A. Sheriff’s mental evaluator responded and transported the student to Exodus Medical Center for further evaluation. April 25, 2014, 3:45 p.m.: Staff wanted to document an injury at Kinesiology Building women’s locker room.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

5

Star Sightings on Campus

Stars Shower in Hollywood, NASA Drops Medal on ‘Captain Kirk’ By Jessica Brecker Hollywood has seen its share of shooting stars. One second, everyone is watching their every move, then they are gone without a trace. From April 16 to 25, the Lyrids meteors showered across the night skies. The highest concentrations occurred a few hours before dawn, peaking April 22, on Earth Day. According to experts, the brightness of Earth’s third quarter moon created natural light pollution, which took the spotlight off the Lyrids a bit. Still, some Lyrids were visible since they are extremely bright meteors with long bright tails. Lyrids are pieces of debris from comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, and at the age of 2,600, they have had a longer career than most Hollywood stars dream of. Earth ran into the stream of the debris, and then the show began. Unfortunately the Lyrid show ended its run April 25. One star with a career almost as long as the Lyrids, William Shatner, aka “Star Trek’s Captain Kirk,” has gone where no Starfleet member has gone before. NASA honored Shatner with its Distinguished Public Service medal Saturday evening, April 26, during his annual Hollywood Charity Horse Show in Los Angeles. Shatner’s annual event raises money for various children’s charities. The citation for the medal read: “For outstanding generosity and dedication to inspiring new generations of explorers around the world, and for unwavering support for NASA and its missions of discovery.” “William Shatner has been so generous with his time and energy in encouraging students to study science and math, and for inspiring generations of explorers, including many of the astronauts and engineers who are part of NASA today,” said David Weaver, NASA’s associate administrator for the Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. The medal is the highest award bestowed by NASA on “non-government” personnel. Other recipients of this medal include Robert Heinlein, author of “Starship Troupers” and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey” on Fox TV. Tonight, May 7, the sun will set at about 7:30 p.m. Saturn will appear as a moderately bright star to the east. The planet Mars, which is still in opposition and quite bright, will appear to the southeast as a bright, pinkish glowing ball of light. 2014 has been a great year for Mars, which was brighter this month than it has been in seven years. This is because of the earth’s position between the sun and Mars. The first quarter moon will be overhead in the zodiac sign Leo, and half visible. Jupiter will be overhead and slightly to the west. It is a huge bright white point of light. Its moons can be easily viewed through an inexpensive telescope. On either side of Jupiter are bright stars Procyon and Capella. More information about the location of celestial bodies is available at stellarium.org

6

News

Wednesday May 7, 2014

Los Angeles COLLEGIAN

FROM SUMMER SESSION PAGE 1

SUMMER SESSION REGISTRATION BEGINS TOMORROW “It’s perfect, it’s short, and I can focus on the classes,” Collett said. “If you’re going to pursue your education, that’s the best way to do it; pursue it continuously.” Regardless of whether summer session is helpful to students in the long run, many say they cannot participate due to work, internships and other conflicting activities. “I would take classes in the summer if I hadn’t just gotten out of the spring semester,” said Samuel Gray, music major. “A lot of younger students feel like they need that time to go out and not worry about class for a while.” Cinema major David Mitchell says attending both summer and winter sessions is worth the effort for students seeking to graduate as soon as possible. “If you want to aggressively get to where you want to go, [the] summer and winter sessions [are] how you cut through a lot of the red tape,” Mitchell said. “Take ad-

vantage of it. It really helps.” According to Dan Walden, vice president of academic affairs, Proposition 30 made summer session at LACC possible since it provides funding to schools that host summer and winter sessions. “Summer session last year was extremely successful,” Walden said. “We’re paid by the amount of students that are in a class and it came in at a much better rate than our primary sessions, which are fall and spring. Per class, the college made more revenue than it normally makes.” Registration for the 2014 summer session began on April 14 for priority students and April 17 for continuing students. Registration for new students begins tomorrow. May 8, and on May 22 for high school students. The session will last 6 weeks, beginning June 17 through July 27. More information is available on the college website.

Rocio Flores Huaringa /COLLEGIAN Supervisor of the Engineering Fabrication Laboratory Diego Santillan works on the wheels of an earth rover he is building with the members of the Electronics Club. Santillan also president of the club works on this project on Thursdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Members of the STEM Academy are encouraged to participate in STEM clubs like this.

STEM Academy Prepares Science Students for Success By Rocio Flores Huaringa More than 100 students enrolled in the STEM Academy program this spring semester with the goal of preparing for a successful transfer. The program ‘s objective is to support STEM majors who want to transfer to a four-year institution in a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) field that includes calculus as part of preparation for transfer. Department Chair of Physics and Engineering Jayesh Bhakta along with the professors from his department started working on the idea for this project five years ago. However, actual work started two years ago. The STEM Academy was originally based on a widespread program in California, the Math, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program. “We needed a full-time professor to have a MESA program,” Baktha said. “And we couldn’t afford that for a long time, so we tried various things, and we started applying for grants through the [LACC] Foundation.” The college rejected the funding request.. And because this program could not be funded by the state, it took a new name: the STEM Academy. Some students who have heard about the program and heard the bad news took the initiative to go to the Foundation and give a presentation

of why it was important. The Executive Director of the LACC Foundation, Robert Schwartz was impressed by the presentation and identified some grant opportunities for it. JPMorgan Chase and Co. accepted the STEM Academy proposal and gave them the funding necessary to start it. “We are very grateful to JP Morgan Chase and Co. for funding our initial year of the LACC STEM Academy,” Bhakta said. “We hope that we do a good job and be successful in supporting students, retaining students and transferring them and we can get continuous funding or get funding from other sources.” Exclusive workshops, counseling and tutoring are just a small list of the benefits of joining the STEM Academy. “We are planning an LACC science conference that is going to take place in fall around the time of club rush,” said Jocelyn Graf, director of the STEM Academy. “It is going to be an opportunity for each of the different science clubs to compete with each other on science research … the best research will win prizes including the opportunity to present in a UC lab or a local science conference.” The requirements to be accepted in the Academy, besides being a transfer STEM major, are having a 2.5 GPA, being enrolled in “Math 125” or above, agreeing to attend

three workshops and participating in a STEM student club. The purpose of participating in a STEM club is having students participating in projects where they can apply some of the skills they have acquired. Diego Santillan, supervisor of the Engineering Fabrication lab and Electronics Club president, feels that working in the lab has prepared him for the engineering working world. Through his club, he has started building an earth rover. “We are machining parts,” Santillan said. “We are engineering a little car. When you actually get hands on, and you are actually doing things, you can see how it applies. You can try it and prove it.” Graf claims that the students seem to be enthusiastic about the program, because the STEM Academy can offer solutions to any barriers to success. Rose Rum, biology major and honor student looks forward to what the program has to offer. “The professors are very smart and I feel like I’m getting to know them well,” Rum said. “I like [the program] a lot because I feel like I’m surrounded with a lot of people who are interested in similar things I’m interested in. The workshops give me the opportunity to understand my major more outside of the classroom.” There is a STEM Academy Student Center located in Franklin Hall, Room 304 for students who

need tutoring in math, physics, chemistry or biology. Arthur Pyuskulyan wants to be a science major, but he is still undecided on which major to choose. He thinks that most likely it will be geology, but this doesn’t stop him from taking advantage of the STEM program. “I am probably [at the tutoring center] about three times a week,” he said. “The science courses can get a bit challenging; therefore, it is great that I can have someone tutor me. What is great is that the tutor will spend a lot of time with me if I need it.” Some tutors are also part of the program. Logan Rudd, president of the Physics club and tutor, says he would have liked to have this opportunity some years ago. “I think the program is very important to the success of students in STEM fields at LACC,” Rudd said. “And it gives the school a whole lot more potential and opens up the doors to a higher education to many students who would have otherwise felt at a disadvantage.” The STEM Academy is still receiving applications this semester. However, students won’t be able to officially enroll in the program until next semester. Students are welcome to visit the STEM Academy Student Center located in Franklin Hall, Room 304 for questions. The application and more information for this program can be found at stem.lacitycollege.edu.

ACADEMIC SENATE HEARS WALTONFROM DREAM DEFERRED PAGE 1 other students’ experiences at that particular time,” Goddard said. “I didn’t see Mr. Walton’s experience to be unusual at all. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way some instructors may have viewed black students.” Walton appeared patient as he sat through five meeting agenda items. His demeanor revealed little in terms of emotion, but his personal history provides more insight. “My grandmother was a slave on my mother’s side,” he said. “My mother and father felt that the only way to achieve true freedom was through education and I saw this as an opportunity that was just—I can’t explain.” Minutes after Walton and Marlos presented their comments, the senate voted 35 to 1 in favor of the resolution. “LACC is still a very special place to me,” Walton said. “One, because it was the first place I came to, another, because there was a streetcar that used to end right here.” After the vote, Walton stood no more than 50 feet from that same train stop, which he described as

a bridge connecting Watts to Los Angeles City College. He said he was pleased with the outcome of the vote and felt validated by the senate’s understanding that there was something wrong. He responded to the one dissenting vote with a calm sense of humility. “I almost welcome the idea that there was at least one [person] voting on the other side,” Walton said. “Actually, I think that kind of makes it more real. It was not really something they were not thinking about.” An honorary degree from Los Angeles City College could soon join Walton’s bachelor and master’s degrees from Springfield College. The senate’s approval has been forwarded to President Renée Martinez for approval and further review. Walton continues to uses his black and white photography to connect with the roots of the Los Angeles civil rights struggle of the ’60s. The bridge between his early experience at City College more than 50 years ago and the present is on the verge of being repaired.

SPEECH, SPEECH

FROM WORKSHOPS PAGE 1

CUT AND PASTE POLITICS: COLLAGE SELF PORTRAITS EXPLORE SOCIAL THEMES A personal political grievance concerning coal, fracking and the resulting pollution it has caused in the Northwest where she resides is one of the examples Lawrence gives to the class. She also speaks of her passionate commitment to feminism and how every magazine has something to sell to a woman. Her example of cutting up bigotry materializes most in a particular piece featured in her book. She references it midway through her slideshow presentation. It recaptures her biographical experience of witnessing racism using collages created on dinner trays. Noise level in the classroom decreases as Lawrence tells her story. She recollects being 14 or 15 years old when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. “I don’t know if you know that he was hated,” said Lawrence to the classroom. “There were a lot of people who rabidly disliked the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., so when he was assassinated, it wasn’t as if the entire country was mourning.” Shortly after the news broke of King’s assassination, a friend of Lawrence shared her feelings about the slain civil rights leader. She was a passenger in the backseat of Lawrence’s family vehicle.

“ ‘Well, I don’t see anything wrong with that. He was just a ni#@!!’ ” Lawrence said. Her father responded immediately to her young friend’s remarks. “My dad stomped on the breaks, stopped the car, turned around, and got right in her face and said, ‘Little girl someday you’ll know how important Martin Luther King was,’ ” Lawrence said. Her anecdotal experiences, lecture, and slideshow set the tone for the expected outcome of the collages. She described the goal envisioned for each individual piece. “You’re trying to make a self portrait,” Lawrence said. “I want you to come up with seven different body parts from seven different sources and we’re trying to create a composite figure.” Some students who claimed their space early had a head start browsing for images and began to cut, tear and paste them on paper. One of the participants is a fine art major at City College who goes by the name, Vibe. Through her collage, she explores cutting up negative stereotypes of African-American women. “I don’t know how political it is. It’s more about how like this new generation of young Black kids

think it’s cool to be like hos. I’m just like totally against that,” said Vibe as she described her workin progress. “I feel like educated young Black people are needed and scarce, especially how everyone is like stupid with an iPhone.” She cut up images of Egyptians and hieroglyphics for the body’s center. For the head, she used an image of a crow. “I just really like the eyes,” said Vibe referring to her choice of the bird image. “They’re piercing, kind [of] like they’re watching over.” Themes in some of the collages focused on personal challenges. For photography major Jorge Gallegos, spending money in order to maintain a decent social life presents a challenge. His self-portrait is about cutting up materialism. “I’m blinded by my lust for material things so I can impress girls pretty much,” Gallegos said. “Just so a girl will even notice me really, and it sucks ‘cause [you] know I don’t [want to] be. I’m not materialistic. It doesn’t go with my ideas.” At the top of his collage, he used an image of a blindfolded face to represent the head. “I kind of sell out pretty much just to get some love,” he said.

Lawrence prioritized the remaining time for student feedback. Although the artist remained sociable throughout the evening, there was still a sense of focus. Gallegos put together the remnants of his work after receiving feedback from Professor Lawrence. He described his experience. “I think it was impressive. I learned a lot. I learned a couple of tricks here and there,” Gallegos said. “There’s really no limit to art as long as you have a message and you want to express that message, I think you can kind of choose your own medium.” After two hours of working on collages, most participants remained in the room until the request to clean up was announced. Lawrence made the connection between politics and art during her lecture. She says the collage art form is a unique medium due to its accessibility to people with little or no formal training. “You don’t really have to paint and you don’t have to draw,” Lawrence said. “So that brings in a whole new population of people. The people who can’t draw get to make art too. I think that’s a powerful idea. It’s for everybody.”

Jessica Brecker /COLLEGIAN

Forensics student Charles Dodds speaks of “samurai and orchestras of hummingbirds,” as he performs the speech that won first place in poetry interpretation at the 2014 Pacific Southwest Collegiate Spring Championship at Moorpark College in February. To hear Dodds’ speech, scan the code or go to http://youtu.be/8kc3G3Q0_5Q

Features

Los Angeles COLLEGIAN

Wednesday May 7, 2014

7

Jessica Brecker/COLLEGIAN Supported by the LACC Foundation, Da Vinci Gallery opened on April 23 with a Student Scholarship Show presenting the work of awardees in studio arts, graphic design and architecture . Gallery hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday from noon to 4 p.m. and Wednesday from noon to 3 p.m. The show runs through May 16.

ARTWORK OF SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS SHOWCASED AT DA VINCI Artwork created by student scholarship winners will be on display for another week at the Da Vinci Gallery. By Felicia Allen Jerzy Poglodzinski shows off his Cross of Freedom and Solidarity, which he recieved last week from former Minister of Defense Janusz Onyszkiewicz, representative of Poland, during a ceremony in Beverly Hills, CA.

JERZY POGLODZINSKI: POOL MAN WITH A PAST

One year after Jerzy Poglodzinski’s 1948 birth, George Orwell published “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” but from Poglodzinski’s viewpoint, 1948 might as well have been 1984.

By Jessica Brecker Like the lead character “Winston Smith,” in Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” Poglodzinski, having been beaten to a point of incomprehension, was about to rat out his friends. But heroes are not rats and neither is Poglodzinski. Behind a friendly smile and blue eyes as glimmering as the pool he kept clean for 25 years, is a history no book could ever tell. “Blood was coming out my ears. I was about to name names of my friends. I don’t know why [the guard] stopped, but he did,” Poglodzinski said. “The guard said, ‘Ah forget it, this guy is never going to talk, enough with him’, I was lucky.” He left Poland in 1984. Poglodzinski retired from City College last January, but today, in suspenders and brown cadet cap, he sits in a booth at McDonald’s on Melrose and Vermont, slowly nursing his coffee. He is not here to talk campus politics. He seems surprised at the notion that he must tell his story. “It was very long time ago when I was born,” Poglodzinski said. He was born 65 years ago in the small town of Govin, Poland, a region he describes as multiethnic, housing numerous Poles, Germans, Greeks and Russians. “We used to say, the [Russians] came in and forgot to leave,” Poglodzinski said. After World War II, Poland became a satellite state of the Soviet Union, and the country was governed by Communist rule from late 1944 to 1989. He recalls a somewhat uneventful childhood in which he went to school and obeyed his parents. When it came time for secondary school, he attended a “Technikum,” a Polish technical trade school. “It was designing construction machines,” Poglodzinski said.

College kept him from being drafted into the army at age 19. However, he was drafted into the military soon after his graduation. He says everyone had to go and the experience left him less than impressed. “Everybody was drafted. You could do two years in the army or seven years in prison,” Poglodzinski said calling his time in the military boring. “I didn’t like to be a soldier. I didn’t want to be a policeman or something like that. I do not like tight supervision; I resent it. I don’t want to be told what to do, [or] how to do [it]. I hate it.” He says his time designing construction machinery was satisfactory, if mundane, but it was during this time that he found friends and fun outside of work. “We had a good time, we had parties,” Poglodzinski said. “Young people don’t care about presidents; what they think, [or] what they do.” However, by 1976, oppression had reached new heights and as food was becoming harder to come by, it became too much for him to ignore. “Somehow I got access to printed material … and got into politics,” Poglodzinski said. He says he was advocating for “justice, for openness, for the right to speak out, for the right to not be trampled by the boots, [and] for the right not to be spit on.” He does not want to talk about the details of his operations, but he does say there were underground meetings and his friends were being arrested. “I got some guys following me; secret police,” Poglodzinski said. “At that time I’d say I was basically getting ready to be a leader.” In 1980, when food prices increased once again, Labor Activist

Lech Walesa set out on a crusade to change the world. In September 1980, he led Solidarity, the first independent, self-governing trade union in Poland. In only 15 months, membership numbers soared to 9 million people, a quarter of the population of Poland at the time. Poglodzinski was one of those members. However, progress was slow, and according to Poglodzinski, the situation took a turn for the worse. In December 1981, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, first secretary of the Polish Communist Party imposed martial law. Solidarity leaders were arrested and the organization was driven underground, where it remained until 1989. “I’m always trying to stay free, that is all. It is not always easy,” Poglodzinski said. “The KGB killed a lot of people, anyone with potential to be anti-communism.” The KGB, or Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti, served as internal security, intelligence bureau, and secret police for the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. Poglodzinski says he was captured and imprisoned from Dec. 13, 1982 to Dec. 3, 1983. He also claims to have been subjected to torture in an effort to get him to surrender the names of fellow activists. When these tactics failed to get Jerzy to talk, he was released, but he did not feel free. “My friends were disappearing,” Poglodzinski said. “I had two choices; it was very clear to me. Stay and live in fear and probably be killed, or go to a new country where I didn’t know anyone or how it worked there or much of the language.” Poglodzinski said that he decided the American Embassy was his best chance. Two weeks later, he was given a green card and a plane ticket to Los Angeles, paid for by Amnesty International. When he arrived at LAX, Amnesty International was not there to meet him, nor was anyone else. With no money or prospects, he found a Polish Catholic church at Wilton and Adams in Los Angeles. The church gave him $400 to get him started. To pay them back, he said, he became a loyal member and went to church almost every Sunday. “I was happy nobody’s following me,” said Poglodzinski of that time. “I wouldn’t disappear…and that

will make someone very happy!” Fortunately for City College, he was just unhappy enough with his career to enroll as a student, earning an associate of arts degree in 1989, the same year Communist rule was finally struck down in his home country. After earning his degree, he decided he liked LACC so much that he wanted to work there. One job he did not find boring was the one he held for 25 years, keeping City College’s pool clean for the students to enjoy. “My English was shaky, but they asked me if I knew anything about cleaning swimming pools,” Poglodzinski said. “ I said no, but in three months I will be an expert!” And he was, transforming a green swamp like body of water into a sparkling clean blue inviting one. He claims he would sometimes arrive as early as 3 a.m. just to make sure the water was warmed to a comfortable temperature. “There have not been any swim class cancellations due to equipment failure or pool water conditions this school year,” said swim instructor Gail Frankes Sides in a 1992 letter to Vice President of Administration Nick Tan. “It has been sometime since someone as competent and reliable as Mr. Poglodzinski has held the [pool man] position.” Poglodzinski does not consider himself a hero. However, the medal he received from his home country four years ago says otherwise. “I am ashamed,” he says of the award. “It looks interesting, but I don’t really care.” There is one award Poglodzinski cares about though. He is proud of the New Visions Award for Outstanding and Dedicated Service that City College awarded him on May 10, 1994. He is also very proud of the multiple letters of recommendation and thanks he has received throughout the years from many professors as well as the Team Leader Deputy Richard Pfeiffer, and Kinesiology Department Chairman Daniel P. Cowgill. “Jerzy is a quiet, self-assured person, who strives for personal excellence as well as wholeness,” wrote Kinesiology Department Chairman Daniel P. Cowgill on Poglodzinski’s retirement last December. “He sets a wonderful example for young people to emulate.”

The work of more than 30 accomplished student artists adorns the walls of the Da Vinci Gallery following the Student Scholarship Show on April 23. Every piece on display through May 16, represents a scholarship that has been awarded to an L.A. City College student artist. On the day of the show, art students waited in anticipation before the prestigious art scholarships from various donors, organizations and foundations were handed out. Many of the students aspire to become accomplished artists, and they were eager to have their work displayed. “They were all standing outside the gallery as the work was going up to see if they had won,” said Alexandra Wiesenfeld, professor of Art and Architecture at City College. Judges evaluated the art of first and second-year students on the body of work presented for consideration. Students had to submit eight pieces from prior class projects completed this year. Judges considered students’ technique, expression and interpretation, or thinking outside of the box in their artwork. “We met in secret over a series of two days,” said Gail Partlow, chair of the department of art and architecture. In order to make the contest fair to all students, faculty implemented strict rules that the student artists had to follow. One of the most important rules was that all work submitted by the artists had to be created during the current year. This prevented anyone who may have created artwork in years past, or sea-

soned artists, from receiving an unfair advantage. Judges used a more forgiving scale to evaluate first-year students. “By the time artists reach their second year, we should start seeing a style develop from their work,” Wiesenfeld said. “This is what makes them artists, having their own style.” Students used various mediums to produce their work. Staff members considered student artist Josefina Cruz’s painting to be provocative, but relevant. She painted the upper body as a coke bottle to show the curvaceousness of a woman’s figure and added long feminine legs to her piece. Ladies Rock Foundation awarded Josephina with a scholarship for her efforts. Francisco Ramos is a second year student who received a double scholarship. “I started off with just wanting to be a good tattoo artist,” he said. Initially, he did not want to major in fine arts, but he says he received encouragement from his mentor, Alexandra Wiesenfeld. He changed his mind, and in the fall he will enroll at UCLA as a fine arts major. Staff members agreed that the most difficult part of the Scholarship Show was choosing which of the artists’ work to display. They said that the aesthetics of the space and having the paintings and sculptures all flow in unison with each other was a challenge. A considerable amount of work goes into the gallery display. Working with less than $200 and no budget, staff members purchased Kraft products for the reception that followed the awards ceremony for the winners and other attendees.

FROM BASKET BALL PAGE 8

CHALKING IT UP TO MATH Analytics are used alongside some of the more traditional ways of analyzing sports to help teams make better personnel decisions, and to give fans a greater understanding of how the sport is played. Of course, not everything can be explained through numbers and equations. There are dozens if not hundreds of aspects in every sport that can never be quantified like that. Take a game like basketball. Like all games, there is an objective, which in this case is to outscore your opponent. Like any game, basketball involves strategy, and the approach taken to defeat an opponent is going to evolve. We have seen this evolution in the way we train our athletes, but the approach we take to the games themselves seems to be on a slower path. Unfortunately, at this point not believing in advanced statistics

is the equivalent of not believing in evolution. There should be no debate as to whether or not advanced stats exist or if they can be used effectively – they do and they can be. The mission should be to continue to try to understand the game as much as possible and to try to teach people how these numbers can work. People may be intimidated by the thought of advanced statistics, but in reality we are dealing primarily with simple arithmetic that the vast majority of people could understand. There is a reason that use of analytics has been accepted by virtually every NBA front office. There is a reason why the more successful teams also have management with a greater understanding of how to implement stats. These metrics work and are here to stay. The sooner everyone understands why they work, even on the most fundamental level, the better it is for the game as a whole.

8

Sports

Wednesday May 7, 2014

Los Angeles COLLEGIAN

Basketball by the Numbers Many in the basketball community refuse to accept that statistical analysis is an integral part of the sport; not only is this wrong, it is also preventing the sport from evolving. By Jake Carlisi Using advanced statistics in sports dates all the way back to the 1970s when Baseball Analysts and Historian Bill James began publishing statistical work to try and better understand baseball. The rise of these theories took a while, but they did eventually become an accepted part of baseball. (If you have not already watched “Moneyball,” do so for a more detailed history.) However, an inordinate number of people do not accept that these same concepts have become a part of basketball as well. NBA Hall of Famer and TNT analyst Charles Barkley has become somewhat of a poster boy for the anti-analytics movement.

Jose Tobar /COLLEGIAN

CLIPPERS OWNER SWARMED IN RACIAL CONTROVERSY

Los Angeles Clipper’s Owner Donald Sterling has been banned from the NBA and could be forced to sell his team following the release of a recording of him making racist remarks. Many on campus say his current troubles are well deserved. By Jake Carlisi

R

elease of a racially insensitive audiotape, allegedly of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, sent the NBA and the city of Los Angeles reeling. The audio recording is of a male voice, believed to be Sterling, chastising his girlfriend Vanessa Stiviano over posting photos of herself with African-Americans on her Instagram account. The man thought to be sterling said in the recording, “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people.” The 31-yearold Stiviano is half African-American and half Latina herself. The source of the tribulation between the couple appears to be because of a photo Stiviano posted of her with NBA Hall of Famer Erving “Magic” Johnson. The recording, originally published by TMZ, hears the alleged owner tell his girlfriend, “You could do whatever you want. You can sleep with (African-Americans), you can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask is that you don’t promote it…and not to bring them to my games.” Earvin “Magic” Johnson appeared on ESPN’s NBA Countdown program to give his thoughts on the controversial quotes. “You can’t understand how hurt I was,” said Johnson of the remarks. “I was hurt for all African Americans and all minorities. For him to make these alleged comments about myself as well as other African Americans and minorities … there’s no place in our society for it, there’s no place in our league [for it].” Faculty and students alike were struck by the news that has domi-

nated the recent headlines. “With the NBA being mostly minority players, to have Sterling to be the one who is the owner, with his views on society, it’s very archaic,” said Ray Garcia, CalWORKs employee currently working at City College. While most agree that what was said was wrong, one student believes there is another issue that isn’t being given enough attention. “I think that what he said is despicable,” said Caleb Duncan, English Literature major. “But at the same time, I think people are ignoring another question. Whoever recorded him saying whatever he said, went against California State law by recording him without his permission.” It is not yet known how these tapes were released, though TMZ reports that Stiviano is believed to be in possession of over 100 hours of recording, a lot of which is presumed to be even more damaging to Sterling’s already crippled reputation. This is not the first time Sterling has been caught up in similar controversy. In August 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Sterling for housing discrimination. He was charged with using race as a factor to prevent people from renting his apartment buildings. The suit charged that Sterling refused to rent to non-Koreans in the Koreatown neighborhood and to African Americans in Beverly Hills. In February 2009, Sterling was sued by former Clippers executive Elgin Baylor for employment discrimination on the basis of age and race. The lawsuit alleged that Sterling told Baylor that he wanted to fill his team with “poor black boys from the South and a white head coach”.

Several of the Clippers’ highest paying sponsors have already pulled out after the controversy. Chumash Casino, Virgin America and CarMax were among those sponsors that have already abandoned ship. After an investigation by the NBA determined that the voice on the recordings was indeed Sterling, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver came down with a ruling on Tuesday April 29 that surprised much of the NBA world. He banned Donald Sterling for life from any and all NBA events and programs, including Clippers games. In a nationally broadcast press conference, Silver said, “I will urge the board of Governors to exercise its authority to force a sale of the team, and will do everything in my power to make sure that happens.” Sterling will be forced to sell the franchise should three-quarters of the remaining 29 owners agree that Sterling should be removed from the NBA family. Sterling was also fined $2.5 million, the maximum amount allowed under the NBA constitution. “I’m glad they didn’t go easy on him,” said City College student Moises Martinez. “I don’t think we should have any tolerance for that in modern society. We’re so easy to let people operate with impunity just because they’re in high places and because they’re in circles with important people. That’s not going to protect them and their ideals, there is no place for that in this country.” Commissioner Silver ended his press conference by saying, “This has been a painful moment for all members of the NBA family…we stand together in condemning Mr. Sterling’s views, they simply have no place in the NBA”

“Listen, you know I don’t believe in that analytical crap,” he said during a radio interview for CBS Philadelphia. “If LeBron James couldn’t spell ‘cat,’ I want him on my team. I always tell people, give me a dumb guy that can really play. Don’t give me no smart guy. The guy [Philadelphia 76r’s General Manager Sam Hinkie] came from Houston. When did Houston get good? When they went out and paid James Harden all that money and [Omer] Asik, and now, they went out and got Dwight Howard. That’s got nothing to do with analytics, that’s got to do with paying really good players to come to town.” Advanced stats have nothing to do with how intelligent LeBron James is; they deal in better understanding

how productive he is as a basketball player. There is a perception among many athletes and fans of an older generation that these numbers must be completely unrelated from what happens on the court, because qualities such as “heart” and “passion” cannot be quantified. To people like Barkley, advanced stats represent a new way of thinking, and like so many others, they see it as an attempt to turn the game they love into a giant math equation beyond their understanding. In reality, these stats are simply there to record and quantify what happens in the game, because no one is capable of remembering every possession in every game. SEE BASKET BALL PAGE 6

Scholarships

Los Angeles COLLEGIAN

Scholarships Information Compiled by Rocio Flores Huaringa For more information on how to apply to these scholarships, visit their websites. Conestoga Bank “Future Banking” Scholarship Award: $1,000 Eligibility: Applicants must be college freshmen Applicants must submit a 500-word essay on a topic related to the future of banking. Deadline: May 15 Visit conestogabank.com/promotions KODAK Student Scholarship Award Award: $1,000-$4,000 Eligibility: Applicants must be full-time college students of cinematography at the undergraduate or graduate levels in a degree or diploma program. Applicants must be nominated by their school department. They must submit a work that should best demonstrate skills in general filmmaking with an emphasis on cinematography Deadline: May 16 Visit motion.kodak.com/motion/ hub/Scholarships/Cinematography Ray Greenly Scholarship Award: $10,000-$25,000 Eligibility: Applicants must be enrolled full-time in October 2014 and be a U.S. citizen or legal U.S. resident. They must have a 3.0 GPA or higher. Applicants must submit two essays, a letter of recommendation and a case study project. Deadline: May 16 Visit nrffoundation.com/ray-greenly Go Overseas Study Abroad Scholarship Award: $500 Eligibility: Applicants must be current university students that are applying to a study abroad program. Deadline: May 19 Visit gooverseas.com/go-overseasstudy-abroad-scholarship

Leroy F. Aarons and the Kay Longcope Scholarship Award: $3,000 Eligibility: Undergraduate students who will attend a U.S. community college or four year university fulltime for two consecutive terms during the 2014-2015 term. Applicants must submit a resume and five work samples. They must also write and publish an LGBT news story to Tumblr of words and multimedia. Deadline: May 23 Visit nlgja.site-ym.com/?scholarships Margarian Scholarship Award: $1,000 Eligibility: Applicants must be college or university students. Selection will be based on GPA, economic hardship and commitment to heritage, community and society. Deadline: May 25 Visit margarianlaw.com/scholarship/ Odebrecht Award for Sustainable Development Award: $5,000-$20,000 Eligibility: Applicants must be undergraduate students from accredited universities across the United States. Applicants must be pursuing a degree in engineering, architecture, building and construction management, or chemistry. Students must be enrolled full-time for the academic term in which the competition takes place. To apply, applicants must write and submit a paper on contributions to sustainability. Projects may be undertaken individually or in a group of no more than 3 students under the supervision of an Advising Professor. Deadline: May 31 Visit odebrechtaward.com/award. php Krylon Clear Choice Art Scholarship Award: $1,000 Eligibility: Applicants must be majoring in the visual arts. Applicants must submit a portfolio of their art. Applicants must also submit a let-

ter of recommendation, a personal statement and a copy of their official transcripts Deadline: May 31 Visit krylon.com/pdf/2014-krylonscholarship-application.pdf ExceptionalNurse.com College Scholarships Award: $250-$500 Eligibility: Applicants must be nursing majors with a documented disability. They also need to submit three letters of recommendation and a Medical Verification of Disability form. Deadline: June 1 Visit http://exceptionalnurse.com/ scholarship.php Goodwin & Scieszka Innovation Scholarship Award: $500-$1,000 Eligibility: Applicant must be an accredited undergraduate university planning to attend law school. Applicants must have a minimum 2.8 GPA and submit a copy of their transcript. They must also submit an essay on the application given prompts. Deadline: Visit 1888goodwin.com/innovation-scholarship/ CEO Of Tomorrow Scholarship Award: $2,500 Eligibility: Applicants must be legal residents in the U.S. and 18 years of age or older. They need to be enrolled in an accredited college or university by August 1, 2014. They need to complete a short survey and submit an 600-word essay. Deadline: June 1 Visit ceo.com/ceo-of-tomorrowscholarship-apply/ CBC Spouses Education Scholarship Award: Varies Eligibility: Applicants must be full-time undergraduate students at an accredited community college. They must have a 2.5 GPA or higher. They must also exhibit leadership ability and participate

in community service activities. Applicants must submit two letters of recommendation, an essay, a FAFSA report, a resume and a photograph. Deadline: June 5 Visit cbcfinc.org/cbcs-education Collegiate Inventors Competition Award: $5,000-$15,000 Eligibility: Working in a team, applicants must submit an idea for an original invention. They must also submit an essay including a brief description or abstract of the invention,; information on the invention faculty advisor and a letter of recommendation from the faculty advisor. Deadline: June 15 Visit collegiateinventors.org/ Delete Cyberbullying Scholarship Award Award: $1,250 Eligibility: Applicant must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. They must be attending or planning to attend an accredited U.S. college or university for undergraduate studies. They must write a 500word essay answering the question "Why is it important to work to delete cyberbullying?" or "How has cyberbullying personally affected you?" Deadline: June 30 Visit deletecyberbullying.org/scholarship/

Did you win a scholarship? Do you have a scholarship to share? Tell us about it! Write to losangeles. collegian@gmail.com

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

9

Revamped Site Links Students to Financial Aid

By Byron Umana Bermudez

Stressing over money seems to be a prerequisite to being a college student and many report feeling hopeless at the prospect of having to acquire funds to cover housing, transportation, food and classes while in school. In an effort to increase the number of students logging on to icanafforcollege.com, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) re-launched the site now featuring a variety of new informational tools. “The ‘I Can Afford College’ campaign has been providing students at our 112 community colleges the critical information they need so that they can begin their higher education journey,” California Community Colleges Chancellor Brice W. Harris said in a press release. “With today's launch it will be easier, faster and more convenient for students to find out about the types of aid for which they are eligible and how to apply so they can make their higher education dreams a reality." The revamped website features easy access to a Salary Surfer tool that lists the estimated earnings degree and certificate holders in a variety of fields may receive; as well as the Student Success Scorecard which tracks and reports how well colleges are doing in remedial instruction, job training programs, retention of students and graduation and completion rates by gender, age and ethnicity at all 112 colleges in the state; and to the A Degree with a Guarantee website created to help students transfer to four-year universities. "I like that it's easy to use,” said Chris Ayala, business administration major. “All the info people would need is right there.” While the site may be of great in making sure that new college students know all about the types

of financial aid available, some say they wish it went a step further. “It was a bit misleading,” said Raisa Ortega, business major. “I thought there would be some sort of quoting. [For example] if I entered information it would tell me if I qualified, or I thought it would be an easier interface to apply for FAFSA, but it wasn’t any of that. It’s helpful for someone who doesn’t know about college but not so much for someone who does.” As someone who did need to find information, Norma Arevalo, business major, said the site was a great resource for low-income families and that she found the site “motivational.” “For low-income families, it is perfect motivation and it is very informative,” Arevalo said. According to a March 19, 2014 press release from the CCCO, the U.S. Department of Education reports that almost half of all 12th graders in the nation do not file the FAFSA. Many of these students could have been eligible for Pell Grants and Cal Grants, and the Board of Governor’s Fee Waiver. “Unfortunately, too many Californians do not apply for assistance, because they wrongly think they can't afford college,” Harris said. “They believe it will take too long to complete the forms, or they are mystified by the process.” According to Harris, students should not be put off by the thought of a long application process, since the federal government recently cut down the filing time for FAFSA applications to less than 30 minutes. “We want every student thinking about going to community college to complete the FAFSA,” Harris said. “Isn’t it worth 30 minutes to potentially get thousands of dollars in aid to pay for your education?” For more information, students can email the “I Can Afford Campaign” at ican@cccco.edu or call the toll-free number (800)987-4226.

10

Wednesday May 7, 2014

Armenian Genocide

Los Angeles COLLEGIAN

MARCHING FOR JUSTICE:

East Hollywood Observes

ARMENIAN

GENOCIDE Krystle Mitchell

T

housands of people congregated in Little Armenia on April 24, and marched down Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards to honor the 1.5 million people who lost their lives during the Armenian Genocide in

1915. Unified Young Armenians, a non-profit youth organization organized the march along with several other organizations. Protestors carried signs, flags and banners to bring awareness to the community as they marched along the streets of Hollywood. “No matter tradition and culture, we are all one,” said Jared Smith, a representative from one of the many non-profit organizations. After 99 years of denouncing the Turkish government, the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered his condolences to descendants of the massacre, days prior to the anniversary march. Marchers say it is still not enough for the Armenians to accept what happened to their ancestors who were deported, tortured and murdered, since the American and Turkish governments refuse to describe the massacre as a genocide. “We are also gathered here to show that we stand against human rights violations, including modernday genocides – for example – the Rwandan Genocide,” said Minas Michikyan, a psychology professor at Cal State L.A. “I believe that Dr. Martin Luther King’s statement best captures the sentiment that is felt by most, if not all, here today; that is, ‘our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Many genocides have taken place since 1915, and they are not recognized as genocides to many governments and countries across the globe. The Armenians who marched in East Hollywood to commemorate the 1915 Genocide, not only recognize the massacres that their ancestors faced, but the massacres faced by other cultures and ethnicities around the world who are not able to speak out. “I am delighted to see individuals from many different ethnic/racial groups here today,” Michikyan said. “Showing their respects, and support, as well as to add their voices to this human rights issue.” The remembrance march closed in prayers, Armenian songs and frustration and anger at the position of President Obama, who will not recognize the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide. Some, however, offered hope and uplifting words about progress and change, saying it takes time and their voices are being heard. From Left to Right: In honor for the 99th anniversary of the 1915 Genocide, thousands of Armenians gathered in East Hollywood on April 24, to urge the U.S. government to recognize the massacre of more than 1.5 million Armenians. Armenian Orthodox priests were among those who marched at the intersections of Hobart and Sunset boulevards. Members of the Unified Young Armenians, a non-profit youth organization, carried signs and banners in an effort to build awareness of the Genocide. Thousands marched shoulder-to-shoulder carrying pictures of Genocide victims and wearing T-shirts and holding posters that read, “We will never forget.” The Armenian flag is the focal point for marchers during a remembrance march in 2012 in East Hollywood. Organizers welcomed individuals from different racial and ethnic groups as the march moved through East Hollywood, saying they acknowledged massacres faced by other cultures. Obama on the hot seat: Armenians remain dissatisfied with President Obama’s failure to keep his 2008 promise to formally acknowledge the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

Courtesy of the Collegian Archives

Photos courtesy of Unified Young Armenians and Hamlet Productions