2022 Spring Los Angeles Collegian Issue 1

SALUTING PILLARS OF

MARTIN LUTHER KING 1929–1968

ROSA PARKS 1913–2005

Collegian PAGE 4

MALCOLM X 1925-1965

GUION BLUFORD 1942-PRESENT

DAVINCI HOLDS STORYBOARD ART

LOS ANGELES

Wednesday, February 23, 2022 Volume 188 Number 1

SPECIAL REPORT

MOUNTING COURT COSTS Litigation costs in Payan, Mason v.

LACCD reached $1.5 million in 2021. Court estimates costs could reach $3 million by the end of the lawsuit.

PAGE 8

The Voice of Los Angeles City College Since 1929

COVID-19 GRADE CARD

Final Say on Disabled Lawsuit Could Rest with High Court

Six years after blind students at L.A. City College filed a lawsuit against the district, they could soon face their next day in court, the Supreme Court.

ENROLLMENT

BACK TO CAMPUS:

Administrators, Chancellor Disclose Plans to Grow Enrollment

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BY JUAN MENDOZA

early 900 people joined an online conversation between Los Angeles Community College District Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez and students and faculty on Feb 1, to discuss strategies to increase enrollment and discuss COVID-19 challenges.

Chancellor Rodriguez, the Board of Trustees and the presidents of the nine community colleges made presentations during the forum. They offered ways to improve enrollment

BY SORINA SZAKACS

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lawsuit filed in 2016 by disabled students at L.A. City College could reach the Supreme Court unless the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) and the students reach a settlement before March 3, 2022.

and to bring greater numbers of students to the campuses.

The LACCD follows CDC guidelines for COVID safety on its campuses. “Airborne pathogen killing devices” have been installed in some buildings at district campuses. The district also purchased electrostatic sprayers to disinfect high touch areas.

“We understand the importance of instilling confidence that the teaching learning and work environment is safe, welcoming and accessible,” said Dr. Rueben Smith, chief facilities executive at the LACCD.

ILLUSTRATION BY JOSE TOBAR

SEE “DISTRICT” PAGE 6

SEE “DISTRICT” PAGE 6

ENTERTAINMENT

Different Show Goes On

“Wheelchair Access Sign”

by WELS.net is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

PHOTO COLLEGIAN FILES

DISABLED STUDENTS ORGANIZE

Disabled students from the nine district colleges will protest at the LACCD Board of Trustees meeting on March 2. They plan to gather outside the district office on Wilshire Boulevard.

SEE “HISTORY” PAGE 4

INDEX Opinion & Editorial

2-3

History

4-5

News

6

Resources

7

Sports

8

Los Angeles City College President Mary Gallagher reveals Walt Disney’s “Encanto” wins the Golden Globe for best animated film at the 79th Annual Golden Globes at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 9.

The awards program focused on philanthropy and education during this year’s ceremony.

Golden Globes producers turned the spotlight on themes of equal representation and education at this year’s ceremony amid efforts to build a more inclusive organization.

BY BEATRICE ALCALA

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hose who follow Hollywood movie culture and the celebrity scene look forward to the annual awards season.

For 78 years, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) Golden Globes presented exciting moments and a glitzy awards presentation on national television. But last year, NBC announced it would not air the awards in 2022, after reports that the HFPA lacked racial diversity. The organization vowed it would reinvent itself.

Last month, there was a toneddown show that was not televised

at all. The organization produced a show without celebrities in attendance.

Presenters—LACC President Mary Gallagher among them— announced awards rather than handing them out to the winners.

The HFPA has donated grants to cinema students in Southern California, including L.A. City College and Cal State Northridge.

This year, the organization funded a new grant at LACC to support journalism scholarships and increase diversity in newsrooms among underrepresented groups. Journalism grantees also included students from L.A. Valley College and Cal State Fullerton.

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OPINION & EDITORIAL

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, February 23, 2022

EDITORIAL

Collegian

Let’s Learn From the Past

BY JOHN JOHNS Believe the military pundits on cable TV as they argue for an aggressive and violent posture toward Russia at your country’s peril.

It has been said long and often that truth is the first casualty of war.

Except for World War II, Americans have been hoodwinked into every war since the Spanish-American by a plausible-sounding lie.

It turns out the Maine wasn’t blown up by the Spanish in Havana Harbor, the Huns did not pitchfork Belgian babies, the North Vietnamese did not attack the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin and contrary to what Colin Powell claimed at the U.N., Saddam did not have weapons of mass destruction.

So, should we believe President Biden?

Russian security or insecurity (especially that of the guy in charge) is the root of the Russian psyche as well as the cornerstone of foreign policy-no matter who is running the show in the Kremlin.

Consider the history of the last century. Germany attacked Russia and the ensuing conquest ended in the Russian Revolution which cost Czar Nicholas II his crown, his family and his neck, and the lives of millions of Russians.

Josef Stalin, who was the poster child for paranoia, faced total war with the Nazi invasion of 1941 when three million German soldiers carried out a scorched earth policy that cost 30 million Soviet lives. This of course underscores the reasons behind the Warsaw Pact and Soviet control of Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Romania and the Baltic States. In

short, Russia for obvious reasons completely distrusts Germany.

Given this history, when the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1989, an enlightened American foreign policy could have facilitated Russia’s full political and economic integration into the West. Instead, beginning with the Clinton administration, the United States pursued high-handed policies that ignored Russia’s legitimate fear and ultimately culminated in a new cold war with Moscow that has grown into today’s crisis.

Serious problems began when Clinton’s foreign policy team pushed for the expansion of a U.S.‑dominated NATO eastward toward Russia. Washington successfully campaigned to bring three former Warsaw Pact countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, into the Alliance in 1998.

Worse, that development proved to be just the first stage of NATO’s encroachment into Russia’s security sphere.

Given the lack of financial and military support by our European NATO partners, NATO in effect is almost entirely an American enterprise. Sen. Bernie Sanders, speaking recently in the Senate eloquently framed the crisis.

“Clearly, invasion by Russia is not an answer; neither is intransigence

by NATO,” he said. “It is important to recognize, for example, that Finland, one of the most developed and democratic countries in the world, borders Russia and has chosen not to be a member of NATO. Sweden and Austria are other examples of extremely prosperous and democratic countries that have made the same choice.”

Mr. President, Keep Your Promise!

BY BEATRICE ALCALA All presidential candidates run on a cornerstone campaign of slogans and promises. I am old enough to remember George H. W. Bush Sr. who ran on the slogan, “read my lips, no new taxes.”

Then, in the 1990 budget, the United States had one of the largest tax increases in history after voters elected Bush president.

Next term, Bill Clinton ran with the slogan “Healthcare Reform,” which meant health care for everyone.” It never happened.

What happened to those pledges?

These are both examples of promises candidates did not keep.

On a cloudy day sometime during November in 2019 at Los Angeles Trade Tech College, everyone there heard candidate Joe Biden’s promise to offer free community college tuition for all. This was a very catchy slogan for anybody who attends community college and pays tuition and other fees. It is a struggle for some who enroll. The college also ads other fees, such as the “health fee.” Where do those fees go?

The California community college student count surpasses the 2 million mark. This is the number of students who seek a better future. For many, Biden’s promise offered hope their lives would improve. His broken promise ended those dreams.

It is clear that community colleges provide a vital pathway to higher education for those who cannot afford education at a four-year university. I am a product of the California community college system.

Since 2007, community college fees have gone up from $11 to the current $46 per unit. Also, we should not forget to add the price of books and other materials required for courses.

In some cases, books require an online component that adds extra costs. This can drive the price of a single course close to $500.

Many industrialized nations offer free tuition. Those nations value education over ignorance. Knowledge means power. The United States should do the same. We are importing doctors, scientists and other skilled workers from nations that embrace the idea of an affordable education.

Joe, where’s the promise you made?

Did you do this to gain the college population vote?

Mr. President, give us what you promised! If not, we cannot promise you our vote for your second term.

Joe Rogan? Leave the Guy Alone!

BY LOUIS WHITE “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast is great, if you like that sort of thing. I am not a Joe Rogan fan.

Leave the guy alone and let him do his dumb show. We are getting painfully close to shutting down free speech

through corporate means. More and more people get their news and information from social media, and sadly, more than from traditional sources of news information. I watched clips from “The Joe Rogan Experience” show when it was on YouTube.

Mostly, it was in the same way you slow down for the aftermath of a car crash. I found the show interesting for a dark chuckle. It usually resulted in an eye roll and a head shake.

I never considered the show a source for anything aside from a

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 SORINA SZAKACS ANGELA JOHNSON DANIEL MARLOS Opinions & Editorial Editor KATHRYN FORD Broadcast BEATRICE ALCALA Photo Editor LOUIS WHITE Photographers CHRISTIAN CHAVEZ DANIEL MARLOS LOUIS WHITE Illustrators MICHAEL SITAR JOSE TOBAR Reporters MATTHEW RODRIGUEZ, JUAN MENDOZA, KELIYAH WILLIAMS, JOHN JOHNS, SORINA SZAKACS, BEATRICE ALCALA, CHRISTIAN CHAVEZ, LOUIS WHITE, POUPY GAELLE NGUESTOP, DIANA CAMPBELL, DULCE GALVEZ, LARA BARNEY Faculty Adviser RHONDA GUESS

Colégio Estadual do Paraná, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

digital sideshow. It is funhouse-level amusement for “bros” and “dudes.”

Personally, I never took Joe or his guests seriously. He is a mixed martial artist and is very involved in the UFC. Full disclosure: I would rather mop the Pacific Ocean than watch a UFC fight.

Joe Rogan is also a stand-up comedian and not a very funny one.

So, why am I saying leave Joe Rogan alone? The virtue signal is he said the “N-word”!

On his past shows, he has spread COVID-19 misinformation. Well, that is all true. Spotify removed over 100 episodes from their platform, apparently to rid the bad-word episodes from their servers. Joe also called model, social media and body positivity activist Tess Holiday a “Beast” when she appeared on the

October 2018 cover of Cosmopolitan magazine. Holiday does not serve the needs of the male gaze that Joe and his audience demands. There was barely a ripple from the insult and no Twitter rage, certainly not at the level to dare say, “cancel Joe Rogan.”

Fat shaming a woman is not yet on the corporate list of worthy virtue signal issues to be outraged. Please, let’s admit that this Joe Rogan outrage is not about the “N-word” as much as it is about momentary rage and corporate pearl clutching.

The same word heard in most popular music is also heard on Spotify and Apple Music. I am personally offended when I am called that epithet.

I have been called that many times in my life. I hear it used on campus by students all of the time with impuni-

ty. So, which is it? Are we offended when we hear the “N-word” or not?

Rogan has said many controversial things on his shows and so have his guests. They have every right to say all of the dumb and stupid things they want. I have every right not to listen or watch. Artists like Neil Young that disassociate from Spotify have the right if their contracts allow to de-platform.

Spotify knew exactly what kind of show they paid to procure. You cannot yell fire in a crowded theater. It does not matter what color you are, it is just wrong to say and do. So, leave the guy alone, stop saying or singing the “N-word”. Stop shaming people who are not that very different from you. Protect all of our rights to free speech, even when you do not agree or like it.

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Deriving Comfort from Peasant Food

BY DANIEL MARLOS To avoid all responsibility one morning, I decided to make a batch of pyrohy.

Pyrohy, pirohi, pirogi, pierogi: How ever one spells or pronounces them, they remain starchy stomach stickers, a staple in many Slavic cultures and a strong childhood memory of mine from the 1960s in a steel town along the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

No Marcel Proust madeleines jog my memory. A plate of steaming pyrohy will always be accompanied by a side of nostalgia for me.

My grandparents had married and begun construction on their home when the stock market crashed in 1929.

My mother was born four days later in a neighbor’s house. Meanwhile, my immigrant grandfather was building a home for his bride on his steel mill salary.

My grandmother, daughter of Slovak immigrants, did not know how to cook.

My grandfather paid a woman from the

Ukrainian church to teach her to cook the food he preferred. Pyrohy was an economical meal for a family of four during The Great Depression. A batch of pyrohy could be made from items in a sensibly stocked pantry and shopping prior to cooking was not required.

I did not need to eat pyrohy several times a week for dinner to conserve money as a baby boomer in the economic prosperity of post-World War II. We ate well, but pyrohy were always a treat for me.

I watched my grandmother cook.

I listened to her talk about her memories of standing for hours in a bread line. She almost never cooked pyrohy at home anymore because twice a week, from September to June, she volunteered at Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church for the weekly pyrohy sale.

The women were spared from working in the basement kitchen in the midsts of pots of boiling water during the heat of summer. Grandma brought several dozen pyrohy home each week, and I would eagerly eat them with butter and onions.

Other Slavic churches in the Mahoning Valley had their own sales with their own uniquely spelled signage. I attended a Polish grade school and the church ladies sold pierogi to the chil-

dren during lunch on Fridays. They were a ridiculous five cents each and after finishing a plate of 10, I would often return for a few more.

When I moved to Los Angeles in the 1980s,I missed my peasant comfort food. So, Grandma sent me her cookbook and her rolling pin, and I struggled for years to make the perfect soft dough from flour, cold water, salt and an egg. For just a few dollars, I could make a hearty meal and still have leftovers.

Knowledge of how to cook good food for a minimal amount of money served me well during my student days when I lived away from family for the first time in my life.

Now, I can afford to have food delivered using an app and a car service with questionable employees, but just the thought of the amount of plastic that will magically appear in the hands of a masked stranger after I interact with my cell phone turns my stomach. I listen to the news about global warming, and I cannot help but think that if more people cooked mindfully at home, the world would be a better place.

I am thankful that in a few hours, I can cook myself a big bowl of nostalgia, served with a healthy dollop of sour cream.

Next Issue: MARCH 9, 2022 Editorial Deadline: MARCH 7, 2022

OPINION & EDITORIAL

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, February 23, 2022

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CITY VIEWS

“What is Your opinion on how the College and LACCD provide access for disabled students?”

COMPILED BY MATTHEW RODRIGUEZ

MIRANDA RIVERA, BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

EDUARDO GUZMAN, UNDECLARED

VICTOR SANCHEZ, UNDECLARED

DENISE CHAVARIA, UNDECLARED

“I think that there should be no reason to be unable to accommodate disabled students.

So many new accommodations were made so fast over the past two years with Zoom and Canvas and after two years of online learning it’s unfortunate that disabled students are still having trouble accessing resources or materials for class.”

“I was surprised to learn that this was going on here at LACC. I don’t know too much about it, but it doesn’t seem like something that should be an issue here because school is for everyone who wants to learn.”

“It sounds like the school is probably doing the best that it can with all of the major changes in how everyone is learning now.

Our school is supposed to be big on inclusion of everyone and problems with access for disabled students were probably unintentional.”

“I have a friend who was unable to take a math class he needed for transfer because he couldn’t get a textbook in Braille or audio.

There’s so many resources here for us and there can’t be so many disabled students that they should have trouble accessing something as important as textbooks.”

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We are interested in what you have to say.

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4

BLACK HISTO

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Students Launch New Effort to Clear Marcus 1. Marcus Garvey sits for a portrait in 1920. He arrived in New York with printing industry skills acquired in his native Jamaica and honed on Fleet Street in London at the Africa Times and Orient Review magazine. He worked as a messenger there until an editor promoted him to a writer. He also spent time reading in the library of the British Museum and enrolled in night classes in law at Birkbeck College in Bloomsbury.

2. Marcus Garvey married his second wife, Amy Jacques Garvey in 1922.

She was a journalist and activist in her own right. Source: Blackpast.org and Wikipedia 3. The S.S. Yarmouth was the first ship of the Black Star Line founded

by Marcus Garvey in 1919. He hoped the 30-year-old ship would form the basis of a global Black economy and carry manufactured goods and African American and Caribbean passengers to Africa. Source: National Archives and Records Administration 4. Thousands of people gather in New York in August 1920 for the United Negro Improvement Association’s (UNIA) first international conference in Harlem. Delegates at the conference declared Garvey to be the provisional president of Africa—something that angered some of the West Africans who were in attendance.

5. A deputy U.S. marshal and U.S. postal inspector escort Marcus Garvey out of his West 129th Street apartment in New York in 1925. Garvey served a two-year sentence at the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta for mail fraud in connection with the sale of stock in his Black Star Line steamship company. Source: UCLA African Studies Center, New York Daily News.

6. Black Star Line Inc., stock certificate. In 1919, the Black Star Line (BSL) shipping corporation had a maximum capitalization of $500,000.

BSL shares were sold at UNIA conventions at $5 per share.

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BY ANGELA JOHNSON

Don’t Run from History Re-examine it Learn More: Marcus Garvey Justice4Garvey.org provides a plethora of history and information about the cultural, social and economic contributions Garvey made to the Pan-African community.

For more information about the worldwide effort to clear the Right Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey’s name, contact http:// justice4garvey.org/signthe-petition.

Directions for the Exonerate Garvey Campaign: The White House Presidential Pardon link: https://bit.ly/ exonerategarvey Choose: “Contact the President” Fill in: Your Contact Information What Would You Like to Say? Type in: “Exonerate Marcus Garvey.”

ighting the wrong committed against the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey was the clarion call activist L.A. City College students issued with their video, which announced a campaign to collect 100,000 signatures demanding exoneration.

This student effort is aligned with a renewed global push for the posthumous presidential pardon of Garvey by his living descendants and devotees, who assert he was wrongfully convicted of mail fraud in 1923, imprisoned for five years and deported to Jamaica.

Worldwide supporters of the exoneration movement say Garvey was targeted by the U.S. government for the Black nationalism work he did to uplift and unite the African race. J. Edgar Hoover dispatched his agents to sabotage and discredit Garvey, which official FBI records document.

Garvey arrived in New York with few resources in 1916, but he began to speak on street corners in Harlem, and he later established the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), all under the watchful eye of the FBI. He also opened a restaurant and started a newspaper. In 1919, he formed the Black Star Line, the first Blackowned shipping company in the U.S., according to the Constitutional Rights Foundation.

The publicity over the Black Star Line caused great excitement among Black Americans, many of whom bought stock in it. Garvey organized huge parades to promote this and other UNIA projects.

He often appeared in a colorful

uniform, wearing a plumed hat.

In 1920, more than 20,000 people attended Garvey’s first UNIA convention in New York. The convention produced a Declaration of Negro Rights, which denounced lynching, segregated public transportation, job discrimination and inferior Black public schools.

The document also demanded “Africa for the Africans.”

Without actually consulting any African people, the convention proclaimed Garvey the “Provisional President of Africa.” The UNIA had six million members worldwide at one point, according to the Marcus Garvey Papers at the UCLA African Studies Center.

Henry Ealy, professor emeritus of LACC’s African American History department says more people should learn about “Garvey’s contributions to our struggles to survive the terror of White America. I support his pardon 100%.”

Aside from the NAACP, Ealy says the UNIA presented other ideas for African Americans at that point in the nation’s history. “ … A viable option for Black people between World War I and World War II. However, we must understand how the FBI worked with Black leaders who opposed Garvey to get him convicted of mail fraud. He was sent to prison in Atlanta and later deported. He never was able to return to the US”A,” Ealy told the Collegian.

The students’ video, titled “A Liberated Legacy: Exonerate Marcus Garvey,” was screened at the Racial Equity and Social Justice Diaspora Session No. 1 on Feb. 10. Additionally, the virtual event was a tribute to African Heritage Month. Dr. Julius Garvey and Nzinga Garvey, Marcus Garvey’s

youngest son and granddaughter, and Muhammad Ali’s grandson, Jacon Ali-Wertheimer were the trio of panelists who spoke passionately about why they are pressing President Biden to remove the 100-year-old stain from Garvey’s reputation. They all paid homage to Garvey and educated the audience about the depth and breadth of his legacy.

“Our students have asked us to do something to right the wrong,” said LACC President Mary Gallagher, “to fix this injustice, and do something where you can make a difference.”

An “Exonerate Garvey” link has been set up that goes directly to the White House, Contact Us webpage.

Petition signers are directed to input “Exonerate Marcus Garvey” in the message box. The petition goal is to collect 100,000 signatures to prompt an official action from the Biden-Harris Administration.

Dr. Gallagher signed the petition and received a response directly to her in-box from The Office of Presidential Correspondence. The letter read in part: “Our country faces many challenges, and messages like yours help us better understand how the Biden-Harris Administration can serve American families.”

Alexia Chavez, Kaya Landingin, A. J. Williams and Reuben Boyd are students featured in the video who believe now is particularly important considering “today’s climate, socially, politically and racially,” Boyd said, “and it shows it’s never too late to make right your mistakes.”

The video concludes with a message asking the viewer to “Join us as we petition President Biden to exonerate Marcus Garvey and liberate his legacy.”

ORY MONTH

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, February 23, 2022

5

Garvey’s Name

They said that the Negro had no initiative; that he was not a business man, but a laborer; that he had not the brain to engineer a corporation, to own and run ships; that he had no knowledge of navigation, therefore the proposition was impossible.

Oh! ye of little faith. The Eternal has happened.

—Marcus Garvey, on the launching of the Black Star Line

PHOTO COURTESY HTTPS://ROBROB1.FILES.WORDPRESS.COM/2014/11/IMG011.

Marcus Garvey envisioned an all-Black crew for the voyages of his Black Star Line (BSL), which had three ships. The ships were in poor condition, and one coal transport vessel even sank. But Garvey’s vision and industry inspired people and generated excitement among Black Americans at a time when only limited job opportunities existed for Blacks.

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NEWS

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, February 23, 2022

FROM “DISTRICT” PAGE 1

FROM “ENROLLMENT” PAGE 1

Colleges Share Ways to Bring Students Back to the Nine Campuses

High Court Involvement May Raise Stakes in LACC Lawsuit

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tudents allege in their lawsuit that the college failed to provide textbooks, handouts, syllabi and other classroom materials in Braille or an audio format that blind students could use. The students won their case in 2019, but the LACCD appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The college district lost that appeal as well.

The LACCD argued that what happened at City College was “unintentional discrimination,” and on that basis has resisted providing students with accommodations described in the court ruling. Some worry that taking the case to the Supreme Court could jeopardize the entire American with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to Disability Rights California (DRC), the LACCD’s petition would challenge the very foundation of disability rights.

Supporters Rally Behind Disabled Cause ver 900 participants attended the “Disability Rights are Civil Rights” meeting via Zoom, hosted by the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) on Jan. 31, 2022. Civil rights advocate Paul Grossman told attendees about the problem he says the LACCD created.

“This is the most serious matter in disability law in 20 years,” Grossman said during the meeting. “We are in a crisis.”

Grossman calls the board’s plan “an illegitimate strategy.”

“It must be dropped immediately,” he said. “If L.A. [LACCD] is successful in this matter, the damage it would do, would apply to every aspect of disability life.”

According to Grossman, the district plans to ask the Supreme Court to terminate the ability of any private parties to bring disability discrimination claims under section 504 of the ADA using the disparate theory of liability. According to the DRC, disparate impact discrimination means discrimination that is supposedly unintentional.

Title II of the ADA states that people with disabilities are protected from discrimination in services, programs and activities provided by state and local government.

Elizabeth Preger is an instructional assistant at LACC who lives with a disability. Preger attended the meeting last month. She says the district should have anticipated the need for accessibility because of the proximity of the Braille Institute to the college. She also says everyone knows students have to take general education classes to transfer, and those classes should be accessible by default.

“The fact that the board is considering going to the Supreme Court, it has already caused harm to my community,” Preger said. “They have a chance to stop that harm and try to make amends.”

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Lawsuit is Not Just a ‘Disabled Problem’ tudents from San Diego City College, L.A. Valley College and Palomar College attended a Feb. 17 meeting that was also moderated by Grossman. He told them that every student club and organization has a stake in what happens to disabled students. But students are not the only ones focused on the case. The Supreme Court petition has the attention of state officials. The Collegian contacted the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to ask Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley how this lawsuit could affect the 116 community colleges in California.

“The State Chancellor’s Office is closely monitoring the court case and its potential consequences and urges both parties to work toward a negotiated settlement that avoids

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further litigation,” Vice Chancellor for Communications Paul Feist wrote in an email.

Lieutenant Governor, Judges Criticize District Actions udge Consuelo Maria Callahan of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals used stern words to describe the way the LACCD complies with the ADA during an appeals hearing in February of 2021. She said it is only on paper and based on financial benefits.

“You get money for students with disabilities,” Callahan said. “The district seems to take some sort of position that they don’t really have to do anything until someone comes in and complains and I am pretty sure that the government expects a little more of you than that.”

The government does expect more. California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis warned the board against their current legal course in a letter dated Feb. 17, 2022. She urged the district to reconsider.

“The proposed petition is contrary to our state’s great traditions of civil rights and inclusion for everyone, including people with disabilities,” she wrote in the letter.

Kounalakis wrote that the district’s actions could “open the door for serious unintended consequences and challenge the very foundation of disability rights in the United States.”

For its part the Board of Trustees says it will withdraw the Supreme Court petition the moment the parties reach an agreement. LACCD Board of Trustees President Gabriel Buelna issued a statement in which the board directed the district and its legal counsel to start negotiations and find a “mutually-beneficial resolution” for the case.

According to the statement, the board supports the ADA and welcomes persons of all abilities, regardless of background or ethnicity, to enroll at any of the nine colleges in the district.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that individuals with disabilities could sue over practices that have a discriminatory effect on them even if no discrimination was intended, in an Aug. 24, 2021 hearing. However, judge Kenneth Lee dissented.

The Appeals Court judge explained his decision saying that the district did not discriminate against blind students the way Section 504 defines it. “[Section 504] It prohibits discrimination ‘solely by reason of her or his disability,’” Lee said. “But in choosing to use PeopleSoft program, the district did not discriminate against blind students ‘solely by reason of ’ or ‘because of ’ or ‘due to’ their disability status.

LACCD used PeopleSoft program to operate its website. The program was not compatible with screen-reading software used by blind students.

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Litigation Brings Change, Accommodations ACC took steps to rectify this. Dr. Mary Gallagher was named president at L.A. City College in June 2018, two years after Payan filed suit. Even though the district handles the litigation, Gallagher has been following the case because it occurred at City College.

She says the college is doing everything it can to accommodate each student individually.

“Everyone’s accommodation is different,” Gallagher said. “The challenge is that we don’t know exactly what every accommodation would be on day one. We have to have them meet with us and talk to us about what it is they need to do and then we do what we can do to accommodate. We are highly motivated and we are responsible to provide

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ELENI KOUNALAKIS

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

Thursday, February 17, 2022 Board of Trustees Los Angeles Community College District 7700 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90017

Dear Members of the LACCD Board of Trustees: I am writing to express my concern regarding the Los Angeles Community College District’s (LACCD) plan to petition the U.S. Supreme Court in the Payan v. LACCD litigation, which could open the door for serious unintended consequences and challenge the very foundation of disability rights in the United States.

A potential petition in Payan would force the court to review the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act which prohibits unintentional forms of disability discrimination. Should the Supreme Court agree with LACCD that federal law prohibits only intentional forms of disability discrimination, more than 40 years of hard-fought-for civil rights of disabled people would be undone.

California is the birthplace of the disability rights movement, and our community college system is an essential path to education for Californians with disabilities. Blind students at LACCD are entitled to have meaningful and effective access to classroom materials, textbooks, educational platforms, and websites.

Their lawyers are entitled to reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. If there are technology problems that are difficult or expensive to solve, LACCD can commit to remediate the barriers over a period of time, or can report to the judge that it faces an undue burden or fundamental alteration.

There is no reason for LACCD to take this case to the U.S. Supreme Court and in turn risk irrevocably harming the ADA and Section 504. The proposed petition is contrary to our state’s great traditions of civil rights and inclusion for everyone, including people with disabilities. I urge you to reconsider.

Sincerely,

Ambassador Eleni Kounalakis Lieutenant Governor of California Cc: Dr. Francisco Rodriguez, Chancellor S T AT E C API TO L , R O O M 1 1 1 4 , S AC R AM E N T O , C AL I F O R N I A 9 5 8 1 4 ∙ PH O N E ( 9 1 6) 4 4 5 - 8 9 9 4 W W W .L TG .C A.G O V

accommodations for students.”

Gallagher says several improvements followed the litigation.

“The compliance with the requirements on our websites is really good,” she said.

According to President Gallagher, another benefit that came out of the lawsuit is that the campus hired an expert to assist the Office of Special Services (OSS) with accommodations for disabled students.

“He has certainly helped us tremendously in making sure that we have all of the technology available that will help students as well,” she said. “I think if you compare how things were in 2016 to how things are now, we do have more things in place. We do interact with the faculty more to make sure they understand that students must be accommodated.”

Gallagher says she expects to see positive changes in the math department. She also says the LACC Foundation provides tutors for students who go through the OSS on the first day of school.

Student Recalls Barriers for Disabled he National Federation of the Blind, and the National Federation of the Blind of California are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Roy Payan and Portia Mason are the two student plaintiffs who have since moved on from L.A. City College. However, in an article published on Oct. 12, 2016 in the Collegian, both Payan and Mason talked about the accessibility barriers they faced on campus.

Payan claimed LACC staff failed to provide class materials and software for his math class. Payan spoke about his time at City College, and why he decided to file the lawsuit against the district during a Jan. 13, 2022 podcast for edsource.org.

T

Payan needed math classes like algebra and statistics to transfer to a four-year college. He says the problem was the software provided

by LACC to all blind students to read textbooks and classwork aloud was not compatible with the math materials.

He claims he enrolled in several math classes, but for one reason or another, he was told to drop.

Payan says one math professor told him he could not enroll because he was blind, and he would slow the class down. Another professor told Payan he could not record the class, even though recording is a district-approved accommodation.

In a different class where recording was allowed, the professor did not articulate what he was writing on the board.

One day the student looked for a way to help his professor understand the struggles he faced. Payan asked the professor to sit in his place and face the back wall.

“So he sits down. I get the dry erase marker and I start writing stuff,” Payan said.

Minutes later, he asked the professor if he can tell what Payan wrote on the board.

“He goes, well, no, obviously I can’t. I can’t see it. I said, well, welcome to my world. This is my world every day.”

Payan says when he complained to the chair of the math department, the chair refused to help.

“So I asked him, why not? He said, because there’s not enough of you to warrant change,” Payan said.

“What do you mean there’s not enough? Enough blind people?”

Payan asked the chair.

His response was “Yes.” He says he then went to the dean of the department but received a similar response.

Patricia Barbosa has been Payan’s

lawyer from the beginning. In 2016, she told the Collegian that there was no other solution but a lawsuit.

“We’ve done everything we’re supposed to, “ Barbosa said. “That’s why we’re suing.”

Almost six years later, Barbosa says the district is not fighting the plaintiffs’ requests, but students’ rights to make complaints.

“We filed a motion to dismiss the claim for section 504, but LACCD is not interested.” Barbosa said.

“Their view is that students should have no rights to make complaints unless they can prove intentional discrimination.”

According to Barbosa, intentional discrimination is not easy to prove.

“It means that you must prove actual malice and a desire to deprive someone of a civil right by on purpose, not the neglect and ignorance shown by the OSS office and instructors at LACCD campuses,” she said.

Barbosa added that as of Feb. 18, 2021, the case is still in the same position and that the LACCD still plans to go to the Supreme Court, causing “great potential damage.”

LACCD Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez often spoke out in favor of accessibility and inclusion within the district, but the Collegian could not reach him for an interview.

Meanwhile, the clock is running down on the deadline to withdraw the petition before the Supreme Court.

“The district remains in contact with the plaintiff ’s attorneys and the district continues to seek a settlement that is acceptable to both parties to resolve the matter prior to the U.S. Supreme Court filing date of March 3, 2022,” the LACCD Director of Communications William Boyer wrote in an email to the Collegian.

College administrators in the LACCD are focused on declining enrollment as the pandemic approaches its third year. The chancellor told attendees that enrollment at the colleges dropped 19 percent last year. It is a 50-year low in the history of the district.

The district is working on best enrollment practices and strategies to increase the number of students who enroll. The Los Angeles Unified School District has partnered with the nine campuses to recruit high school seniors.

“We need to create a system where we can capture a lot of the high school seniors that we’re not capturing and give them the opportunity to look at the nine colleges as potential viable options, said James Limbaugh, president of West Los Angeles College.

The number of African American students decreased at the nine campuses over the last two decades. The LACCD analyzed data going back to 1995.

“In 1995, about 18,000 of our students in our district identified as [Black] or African Americans in the fall of 2020,” said Ryan M. Cornner, vice chancellor of educational and institutional effectiveness. “That number had reduced to a little over 10,000.”

To increase enrollment, the district is engaging in new strategies and using marketing tools never used before to outreach to communities of color.

A report by the Education Data Initiative states postsecondary attendance among Black or African American students was on the rise until 2010. It has been in decline ever since.

Dr. Armida Ornelas leads the non-credit department at the LACCD. She imagines ways to rebrand the program, so it is attractive to the adult working community and to students.

“This segment of the student population is severely underrepresented and underserved,” Dr. Ornelas told attendees.

“For example, the department offers citizenship and ESL courses.

How do we take that a step further so that our colleges can become resources and spaces for advocacy for immigrant populations?”

Support services for faculty and students were a key component of the presentation. Many services for students are already in place with financial aid, counseling and library services. For students who need funds to buy their textbooks, the district provides support for school supplies.

“Our students have been burdened by spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on textbooks,” Rodriguez said. “We are providing textbooks at an affordable rate and using the online educational resources and technology tools.”

Technology is a key component of the students’ future. It includes efforts to hire and retrain faculty and staff about the needs of students.

Other plans include a centralized call center, which will be similar to the LACC model. Enrolled students who lack transportation will find benefits like a transit pass for the Metro. The latest content will be added to the website by the technology team around October of this year. The enrollment team has identified ways to streamline the application process for incoming students.

“We want to build on everything that we’ve been doing as a district,” the chancellor said. “This is a call to action for all of us because it’s going to take our village to bring us students back to re-engage them.”

RESOURCES

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, February 23, 2022

maintain a 3.0 GPA or above.

Amount: $5,000 Apply now at: https://scholarships.uncf.org by March 7, 2022

Applicants may apply for up to three scholarships or graduate awards.

Minimum 3.0 GPA Apply at aiaa.org before January 31, 2023

CVS Health Foundation Health Care Careers Scholarship The CVS Health Foundation Scholarship awards renewable scholarships to qualified African American or Latinx students for their junior year beginning Fall of 2022 with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above who are interested in pursuing a career in the health care sector.

Amount: up to $20,000 Apply now at: https://scholarships.uncf.org by April 28, 2022

John D. Graham Scholarship The John D. Graham Scholarship offers three scholarships- one first place and two runner-ups- to journalism and public relations students. Applicants must be in a journalism program, public relations studies or courses preparing for a career in public relations, and entering their senior year of undergraduate students in the fall after the application to apply for the scholarship.

The first-place winner will receive $3,000 and the runner-up will receive $1,000 each.

Minimum 3.0 GPA Apply at prsafoundation.org before May 31, 2022

Comerica Charitable Foundation Scholarship The Comerica Charitable Foundation Scholarship is awarded by Comerica Bank aimed at improving the communities it serves. Qualified applicants possess a minimum 3.0 GPA and enrolled full-time with a major in Accounting, Business, Finance, or other related disciplines.

Amount: up to $2,640 Apply now at: https://scholarships.uncf.org by March 7, 2022

SCHOLARSHIPS COMPILED BY DULCE GALVEZ AND MATTHEW RODRIGUEZ Ebell/Flint Scholarship The Ebell/Flint Scholarship Fund is awarded by the Ebell of Los Angeles for undergraduates of any major who have completed their first year of studies with a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher. Scholarships continue for a maximum of three years while the student is enrolled and maintain Ebell eligibility requirements.

Amount: $3,000 Apply at: https://ebellofla.com/club/philanthropy/scholarship/ by April 4, 2022 Elizabeth Carter Scholarship in Archeology The Elizabeth Carter Scholarship is awarded by the National Council of Jewish Women Los Angeles for female students of all religions with a chosen profession in archaeology.

Amount: $1,000 Apply at: https://www.ncjwla.org/what-we-do/scholarship/ by April 15, 2022 Chevron Filipino Employee Network Scholarship The Chevron Filipino Employee Network Scholarship is awarded by the Asian Pacific Fund for full-time students of Asian and/or Pacific Islander ethnicity majoring in Engineering, Computer, Physical or Environmental Sciences who maintain a minimum 2.80 GPA. Amount: $1,000 Apply at: https://www.tfaforms.com/4950039 by March 5, 2022 Dodell Women’s Empowerment Scholarship The Dodell Women’s Empowerment Scholarship is awarded by the National Council of Jewish Women Los Angeles for female students 25 years of age or older who are continuing or entering school.

Amount: $1,000 Apply at: https://www.ncjwla.org/what-we-do/scholarship/ by April 15, 2022 Inger Lawrence – M.R. Bauer Foundation Nursing Studies Scholarship The Inger Lawrence – M.R Bauer scholarship is awarded by the National Council of Jewish Women Los Angeles for students enrolled in a degree program in nursing in the Greater Los Angeles area.

Amount: $2,000 Apply at: https://www.ncjwla.org/what-we-do/scholarship/ by April 15, 2022 Richard V. Hotson, Jr. & Stephen L. Teller Scholarship for LGBTQ+ Students This scholarship is awarded by the National Council of Jewish Women Los Angeles for students who identify as LGBTQ+ in the Greater Los Angeles area.

Amount: $1,000 Apply at: https://www.ncjwla.org/what-we-do/scholarship/ by April 15, 2022 Stephen L. Teller & Richard Hotson TV, Cinema, and Theater Scholarship This scholarship is awarded by the National Council of Jewish Women Los Angeles for community college students in a Film/Television/Cinema/Theater program and preparing for a career in film, television, or theater production (not acting) who have completed 12 units in their respective programs.

Amount: $1,000 Apply at: https://www.ncjwla.org/what-we-do/scholarship/ by April 15, 2022 Susan Schulman Begley Memorial Scholarship The Susan Schulman Begley Memorial Scholarship is awarded by the National Council of Jewish Women Los Angeles for female students who are establishing themselves as head of household after ending an abusive/traumatic relationship.

Amount; $1,000 Apply today at: https://www.ncjwla.org/what-we-do/scholarship/ by April 15, 2022 Rooted In Science Scholarship Program The Rooted in Science Scholarship is awarded by Proctor & Gamble in partnership with CVS Health and the United Negro College Fund for African-American students pursuing a degree in STEM-related disciplines who

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Arthur L. Littleworth & Krieger Diversity Scholarship The Arthur L. Littleworth & Krieger Diversity Scholarship is awarded by the Association of California Water Agencies to full-time students in their freshman or sophomore years who are pursuing a degree related to law, water law, water policy, or public administration.

Amount: $10,000 over a 4 year period Apply now at: https://www.acwa.com/about/scholarships/littleworth-bbk-diversity-scholarship/ by March 15, 2022 AWSCPA Scholarship Award The AWSCPA Scholarship Award provides financial assistance to outstanding female students majoring in accountants or accounting-related fields. Eligible applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Applicants can either be undergraduates or graduate students who have completed at least 30 semester hours. Enrolled in a business and/or accounting program that is regionally, nationally or internationally accredited for the 2022-23 academic year. The first four recipients will receive $5,000.

Minimum GPA 3.0 Apply at thiswaytocpa.com before March 15, 2022 Media Fellows Scholarship The Washington Media Scholars Foundation provides the following for college students to gain firsthand knowledge of the public policy advertising through scholarship and networking opportunities. The Media Fellows program is the Foundation’s essay-based scholarship program, striving to provide financial assistance to undergraduate college students with interests at the intersection of advertising and public policy. Successful Media Fellows Scholarship submissions include an essay that includes the student’s personal financial need statement as well as a description of their academic achievements and career aspirations. The Media Fellows Scholarship requires a letter from a professor, advisor, or other home university official. The recipients will receive $3,000.

Minimum GPA 3.0 Apply at mediascholars.org before July 15, 2022 EPP Scholarship Program The EPP/MSI Undergraduate Scholarship provides funds for two years of undergraduate study majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) discipline related to NOAA’s programs and mission.

Participants conduct research at a NOAA facility during two paid summer internships. Applicants must be U.S. citizen or U.S. national who is either currently enrolled or accepted as full-time student who is in their second year of a four-year academic program or transferring from a two-year to a four-year institution. Applicants will receive $45,000 in total awards.

Minimum 3.2 GPA Apply at noaa.gov before September 1, 2022 MWISM Foundation Scholarship Minority Women in Sports Medicine foundation Scholarship is committed to providing minority women entering the field of sports medicine with higher education financial assistance. Applicants to the Minority Women in Sports Medicine Scholarship Fund must be currently enrolled in a full-time undergraduate program for the entire year. The recipient will receive a $1,000 reward.

Minimum 3.0 GPA Apply at mwinsportsmed.org before August 1, 2022

Early Childhood Educators Scholarship Program The Early Childhood Educators Scholarship Program is designed to provide financial assistance for currently employed early childhood and out of school time educators and providers who enroll in an associate’s, bachelor’s or master’s doctorate program in Early Childhood Education. Applicants must be enrolled full-time and be U.S. citizen student. The recipient will receive $9,000.

Minimum 3.0 GPA Apply at mass.edu before July 1, 2022 Creative Biolabs Scholarship Program Creative Biolabs is happy to support young and ambitious talents in our field. With an effort to further support their research and higher education in the medical and science-related fields, Creative Biolabs is proud to announce the Scholarship Program for awarding $1,000 to an outstanding college student. To be eligible to receive a scholarship, you must be enrolled as a freshman, undergraduate, graduate, or Ph.D. student at an accredited college or university and major in a science-related field such as Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Molecular Biology.

Minimum 3.0 GPA Apply at creative-biolabs.com before September 30, 2022 AIAA Scholarships The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) provides scholarships to its members who are undergraduate as well as graduate students each year, recipients can apply to renew their scholarship annually until they reach graduation. Eligible applicants must be full-time undergraduate, Master’s, or Ph.D. students have transcripts showing a 3.3 GPA or higher.

The Quell Foundation Bridge the Gap Scholarship The Quell Foundation Bridge the Gap Scholarship is awarded to juniors and seniors in college and graduate students. The recipients of this scholarship are pursuing a degree in psychology, social work, or other fields of study related to the provision of mental health services. The applicants are required an unofficial academic transcript and a personal statement. The recipient will receive $2,000 scholarship.

Minimum 3.4 GPA Apply at thequellfoundation.org before February 15, 2023 Apprentice Ecologist Scholarship The Apprentice Ecologist Scholarship initiative awards three scholarships (totaling $1,750) to the authors of the best Apprentice Ecologist essays. Applicants should embody the spirit of the Apprentice Ecologist Initiative by demonstrating leadership, initiative, and environmental stewardship in their project. Winning essays should be 750 to 1,500 words long.

Minimum 3.0 GPA Apply at wildernessproject.org before December 31, 2022 Augustina College Fruxell Scholarship The Augustina College Fruxell Scholarship is offered to incoming freshmen, with preference given to those with an interest in studying English and/ or journalism. This is a $1,000 scholarship awarded annually for up to four years and has declared a major in humanities.

Minimum 3.0 GPA Apply at angie.edu before February 15, 2023 Jose Rivera-Alers Scholarship The Jose Rivera-Alers Scholarship will work to help Hispanic students who are pursuing a degree in business fund their college career. With this help, students can open themselves to pursuing career-oriented goals instead of trying to make ends meet to invest in their future. Scholarship requirements are you must be of Hispanic descent and a Business major, and be a sophomore student completed 30 units. The recipient will receive $2,500 and be dedicated to helping the Latino community.

Minimum 3.0 GPA Apply at hispanicfederation.org before December 2, 2022 Daniel K.Shipp Scholarship The Scholarship is presented by the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) to recognize the contribution that Daniel K Shipp made to ISEA and the safety and health of American workers during his 25 years as President of ISEA. The annual scholarship amount of $2,500 is open to college undergraduate students enrolled in majors geared toward a Safety and Health career, students who share our vision to protect others. Applicant must be an undergraduate student enrolled in majors geared toward a Safety and Health career such as Environmental Science, Health Physics, Industrial Hygiene, and Occupational Health. Applicant must complete the application form, transcript of grades for the last years of education, and an essay of 500 words.

Minimum 3.0 GPA Apply at safetyequpment.org before September 17, 2022 East Rock Films Scholarship East Rock Films is an educational organization that seeks to inform and inspire viewers by bringing to life famous writers, artists, and their works.

The recipient will write a 500-1000 word essay that answers the questions who inspires you with a 3-minute video essay. The participant must be an accredited U.S. community college student or graduate student. The participant must have fields of study in Arts or Humanities. The recipient will receive $500 receiving the scholarship.

Minimum 3.0 GPA Apply at waltwhitmanfilm.com before December 1, 2022

POLICE WIRE

POLICE WIRE COMPILED BY SORINA SZAKACS Jan. 2, 2022 – Two vandalism incidents- Graffiti in Student Union Jan. 23, 2022- Trash can fire near the Administration Building Jan 26, 2022- Trash bin fire in Parking Lot 3

8

SPORTS

Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Fight Night Bashes onto Vermont

Independent Wrestling brings its high-flying moves to East Hollywood and lands across the street from Los Angeles City College where they bring on the pain.

BY CHRISTIAN CHAVEZ

Lewd language, beer on the floor, and chicken tenders fill the auditorium of The Vermont Hollywood across the street from Los Angeles City College on Feb. 17th. While this is not a family event, people still bring their kids to watch the spectacular theatrics of wrestling, the deranged grandchild of gladiator matches.

However, these performers are far more concerned with showing their skills than telling a story, and that is their advantage.

New Japan Strong is an independent wrestling company far removed from the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), a niche company that is more concerned with providing a hardcore experience than their juggernaut counterpart.

These performers are more concerned with showing blood, sweat, and tears than the storytelling aspect of wrestling. It’s still fake obviously. At certain angles you could tell when a punch or kick is executed to look like it is causing an impact.

To their credit, they trust each other in achieving these impacts. They constantly slap each other in the chest, a signature

move is telling the audience to quiet down so the sound of the backhanded slap can reach the outside of the auditorium.

Former WWE star Buddy Matthews has become a part of the New Japan Pro Wrestling team, a sign that even professional wrestlers see the small company as a worthy rival.

Inside the Vermont Hollywood is a small room with approximately less than one hundred plastic chairs. More than half of the audience is standing and cheering in the brightly lit auditorium. Lights would come down as soon as Wrestlers would do their introductory walks.

Jake Palacio is a second-grade schoolteacher from San Diego. He traveled 3 hours to Los Angeles with the hope of checking out the wrestlers in East Hollywood for seventy dollars a seat. He learned about the event from friends who had introduced him into the world of wrestling.

“When I first started, I thought probably what a lot of people think ‘oh it’s just fake’ but the outcomes might be fake, but the physicality is real.” Palacio said.

“There’s a lot of theater aspect to it, public speaking, talking to a crowd, selling the story is something kids could learn from.”

PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN CHAVEZ New Japan Pro Wrestler Jonah jumps off the turnbuckle to slam on top of Brogan Finlay at the Vermont Hollywood on Feb. 17.

When I first started, I thought probably what a lot of people think ‘oh it’s just fake’ but the outcomes might be fake, but the physicality is real.

VAMA

VAMA Exhibit Celebrates Art of Storyboarding Da Vinci Hall hosted the celebration to enchant students with the art behind their favorite pieces of entertainment on Feb. 17.

BY CHRISTIAN CHAVEZ Spider-Man roams the gallery alongside the “Men in Black” and the “Martian.” The smell of pizza lingers in the air while students and faculty mingle. President Mary Gallagher joins in on the fun to celebrate the works of art provided by veterans of the entertainment industry. All of this happens in person and not through Zoom.

The Visual and Media Arts Department (VAMA) hosted the “Bringing Imagination into View” gallery exhibition to the delight of many art students at Los Angeles City College. The event celebrated the wonder of storyboarding art for emerging young artists.

Storyboarding is a phase in movies, television shows or even video games that details how a scene will look before production begins. For a massive blockbuster like “Spider-Man No Way Home” or a television show like “The Mandalorian,” storyboarding is a key part of its lifecycle.

Without it, animators or production teams could get lost in communication about how this piece of visual media would exist.

The event started small but gained momentum as students wandering the campus came by to see what the commotion was all about. Even professors stopped by to check out the work and have a rare moment to connect with students one-on-one.

Los Angeles City College president Mary Gallagher came by to speak on behalf of the exhibition.

“It’s a testament of what two dynamic organizations can accomplish for the good of students and our community,” she said. “This is professional work that is exhibited to give our students the opportunity to visualize what is possible.”

The president praised the partnership with the art director’s guild as a unique opportunity that is real and inspiring to students.

Adrian Landa is a field representative for California State Assembly member Anthony Rendon who attended the program.

“I always like when teachers, administrators and students come together to build opportunities and communities and expand on their mission to empower students to reach their full potential,” Landa said. “After seeing the exhibit, the whole idea that more students could [do] that excites me.” Speaking for IATSE and the Art Directors Guild is dooner, a well-dressed mononymous artist who enthusiastically spoke to everyone who came within walking distance. He spent ample time explaining his love and craft of storyboarding in sharp detail.

As the Associate National Executive Director of the Art Directors Guild IATSE Local 800, dooner represents art directors, production designers, storyboard artists, illustrators, set designers, graphic designers, matte artists and scenic artists. It includes everyone who is positioned on the design stages of movie and television shows.

“You get to see the process in the design, the expression and creation of it,” dooner said. “To us it is important to provide that background knowledge and hope we can create a spark in people. To seek out the training effort here at LACC, to give them the skills necessary to pursue good middle-class careers doing this work.”

As the pandemic keeps many students in online classes, few have been able to come to campus.

Students like Bella Cordero, currently undeclared in her major, learned of the event through the VAMA Instagram.

“It’s an advantage to be able to connect through social media,” Cordero said. “I would love to see more events like these, I think it’s cool to get together with other artists to see and talk about each other’s work.”

Jake Palacio, Feb. 17,2022 New Japan Pro Wrestling

Kratos steps into the ring for Team Filthy at New Japan Pro Wrestling at the Vermont Hollywood on Feb. 17.

Kevin Knight (left) in mid air after jumping off the turnbuckle to land a blow onto Hikuleo (Right) at New Japan Pro Wreslting on Feb. 17 at the Vermont Hollywood.

PHOTO BY CHRISTIAN CHAVEZ Student attendee takes in the art of the storyboards presented at Da Vinci Hall on Feb. 17, 2022. This was the first VAMA exhibition for the spring semester.