Daily Forty-Niner; December 13, 2021

biweekly digital print edition

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Vol. LXXVII, Issue 38

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Monday, December 13, 2021

2 NEWS

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CHRISTIAN LOPEZ | Daily Forty-Niner

Small crowds of students walk through the CSULB campus.

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In-person attendance increases for 2022

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CSULB expects a high increase for in-person attendance next semester, dropping a number of online classes.

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By Christian Lopez Contributor

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SULB officials expect to see a bigger return to campus next semester as the number of in-person classes increases from 42% to 72%, with all students expected to follow COVID-19 mandates in wake of the new omicron variant entering the United States.

Specific classes switching back to in-person instruction have yet to be confirmed, but CSULB communications specialist and campus spokesperson Lauren Williams said a full list of courses can be viewed online.

“The decision on which courses would be held in-person versus alternate modes of education was based largely on pedagogical need,” she said.

In preparation for their return to campus, students changing their “Not on Campus” status are required to re-submit their COVID-19 Student Vaccine Certification form on SSO before enrolling for in-person instruction.

There was an increase in the number of students in dorm rooms this semester, raising from 2,900 to 3,100 occupants. In regulation with COVID restrictions, students must follow protocols to live safely within the dorms, along with a mask mandate for all shared public spaces. With in-person numbers increasing next semester, parking is expected to become more difficult.

However, with the new omicron variant of COVID-19 officially reaching the United States and California, there is some caution in what the future may look like.

Vice President of Student Affairs Beth Lesen sent an email to all students on Nov. 30 detailing the campus situation concerning the omicron variant. In it, she encouraged students to take the same precautions prior to coming to campus, such as getting fully vaccinated (or the booster shot for those who are already vaccinated), testing as often as possible, quarantine if tested positive and limiting travel plans.

Though research on the omicron variant is ongoing, the United States has classified the new virus as a “variant of concern.”

As of now, COVID-19 restrictions on campus are unlikely to change for the spring semester.

“We have a number of safety measures in place already to ensure the health of our campus community,” Williams said. “We also remain in close contact with the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services which monitors the spread of emerging variants.”

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NEWS 3

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | NEWS@DAILY49ER.COM

Four vaccinated CSULB students express mixed opinions on the COVID-19 booster shot

By Bella Arnold Contributor

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he Center for Disease Control (CDC) a n nounced on Friday, Nov, 19 that adults 18 and older are eligible to receive the COVID-19 booster shot. While most Long Beach State students taking in-person classes are vaccinated, few have received the booster vaccine or plan on getting it soon.

The recent booster shot authorization endorsed by CDC director, Rochelle P. Waleknsky was extended to adults who are fully vaccinated with Moderna or Pfizer “at least six months after their second dose,” according to the CDC. As the risk of COVID-19 increases with age, the CDC recommends older adults ages 50 and older get the booster shot and also those who have an underlying medical condition.

Further, the CDC recommends that Johnson and Johnson vaccine recipients to get their booster shot two months after their first and only dose.

For students with underlying health conditions, like fourth-year public relations major, Sophia Isma, this recommendation was “a sense of relief.”

“I decided to get vaccinated because I’m a type one diabetic, thus making me autoimmune,” she said.

Isma is fully vaccinated against COVID but still plans on getting her booster shot before the end of the year.

All CSULB students with in-person classes are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

On Oct. 29, the Division of Student Affairs reported in an email that 97.7 percent of students have submitted their vaccine certification.

Mia Fleming, a third-year dance major, said returning to in-person classes on campus full of mostly vaccinated individuals was still nerve-wracking.

“It’s scary [because] it’s possible to still get [COVID] even though we’re all wearing masks and are vaccinated,” she said.

While some of Fleming’s classes are still online, her dance technique classes are in-person this semester.

Photo courtesy of Mia Fleming

Mia Fleming, a third-year dance major, plans on getting her booster shot as soon as she’s eligible to do so.

Photo courtesy of Andres Leon

Andres Leon, a fourth-year public relations major, plans on getting his booster shot next year.

It’s been six months since Fleming received her second dose of the Moderna vaccine and said she plans on getting her booster shot, potentially at CSULB, as soon as it’s offered.

She also believes “all those who are eligible should get their booster shot.”

“Based on what the scientists are saying, I think that it’s important that we all get the

booster,” she said.

Andres Leon, a fourth-year public relations major, plans on getting his booster shot next year.

“If it became a requirement

to receive a booster shot, then I would most likely get vaccinated,” he said. “I’m not opposed, I’m just indifferent.”

Before Leon became fully vaccinated this past May, he worked in the retail industry with unmasked coworkers. He received the Moderna vaccine in order to protect his grandparents, who he lived with at the time.

“I decided to get vaccinated because my grandparents are immunocompromised from diabetes and other health ailments,” he said. “I had been working overnight shifts with my coworkers who did not wear masks, putting me in a tough situation.”

Leon said he is open to the idea of getting his booster, but not until it’s recommended for the average individual.

“Last I heard, the booster shot was for people who are at higher risk,” he said. “I also no longer live with my grandparents, so I don’t carry the guilt of possibly infecting them with the disease.”

The booster shot is meant to decrease the spread within vulnerable communities, which is why Andrew Garcia, a third-year communications major and public relations minor, plans on getting his.

Garcia is following the advice of his sister, who is a registered nurse on the front lines also encouraged their family to get vaccinated.

“We’re all people of science, and we believe in the motto that we would rather have some protection than none at all,” he said. “We know the vaccine doesn’t guarantee 100% protection. However, we still would rather have some protection at least.”

The Student Health Center administers the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. in front of the University Bookstore. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they only offer Pfizer from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“People have been drastically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Fleming said. “I think we all need to do our part and do what we can to protect ourselves.”

To make an appointment for the COVID-19 booster shot, visit myturn.ca.gov.

Spill the Tea on COVID-19 protocols on Page 8

4 NEWS

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ULYSSES VILLA | Daily Forty-Niner

The Nugget Grill & Pub has plans of repoening in spring 2022 for the first time since the temporary closure due to the pandemic.

The Nugget’s reopening is ‘in the works’ for upcoming semester Long Beach State campus plans to reopen eating establishment after a semester with limited food options.

By Ignacio Cervantes Contributor

S

tudents can expect additional dining options, plus new hiring positions, as the University Student Union (USU) anticipates re-opening additional restaurants in the food court, including The Nugget Grill & Pub, next semester.

According to Rosa Hernandez, director of human resources for the 49er Shops, The Nugget Grill & Pub is aiming to return in the spring of 2022.

“We are actively working on that,” Hernandez said, referring to plans of The Nugget and other campus food options re-opening next semester. “We hope to have a final plan by the next two weeks.”

Hernandez said her main concern with re-opening is the hiring process

for the kitchen and staff. Open positions will be posted on the school’s career page soon, according to Hernandez, including resources to apply for student positions.

Since the return to campus this fall, food options at CSULB have been limited. The only dining options open in the student union are Sbarro’s, Carl’s Jr., Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and Robeks, along with the library’s Caffeine Lab. The USU has current plans to re-open the two remaining food court spaces, El Pollo Loco and Subway, next spring.

USU Associate Director Taylor Buehler-Scott said the department expects to announce operating hours for all open dining restaurants in January 2022.

ULYSSES VILLA | Daily Forty-Niner

The Nugget Grill & Pub has plans of repoening in spring 2022 for the first time since the temporary closure due to the pandemic.

NEWS 5

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Not all CSULB students are approved for food assistance programs

By Sofie Parker, Aric Pun, Kayla Ronquillo Contributors

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large number of Long Beach State students continue to rely on food insecurity programs such as Basic Needs to combat hunger, and applications have continued to rapidly increase due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kenneth Kelly, the director of CSULB’s Basic Needs program, said that the program’s applications increased from 700 submissions in 2020 to 2,000 submissions this school year.

Kelly said the program was underutilized before the pandemic and now more students than before are opting for on-campus assistance.

“We had about 800 CalFresh applications filed this past October,” he said. “Our application goal for the entire year is 500.”

Rashida Crutchfield, a social work professor at CSULB conducts research detailing the food insecurity and housing crisis among Cal State University students.

“It’s surprising to us as a society because there are presumptions about people who experience homelessness and what you need for college,” Crutchfield said on the CSULB website. “They think that because you’re in college, you’re doing ok.”

As a result, California state legislators recently awarded all CSUs “a recurring $15 million for the Basic Needs Initiative, a component to Graduation Initiative 2025 to help bridge the gap for students,” according to the CSULB website.

CSULB also stated that $1.2 million will be given annually to Beach Pantry, the Basic Needs program, and the Student Emergency Intervention and Wellness program.

ASI President Jesus Gonzalez noticed the issue of food insecurity before his presidency and has since made it his goal to create a more inclusive food program at the Beach for undocumented students and DACA recipients.

As an undocumented student himself, Gonzalez and many others do not qualify for federally-funded food insecurity programs.

“I want to create a program that is

KAYLA RONQUILLO | Daily Forty-Niner

The Pantry recently added a fresh produce section, above, for students to find healthier alternatives to cup noodles or canned vegetables. Beach Pantry is stocked with many canned and long-lasting food options, below, for students. not federal and driven by the university,” he said. “This program would allow undocumented students to receive some type of income to reduce food insecurity, and be the first CSU to have that in the [23-campus] system.”

Before the pandemic, college students presented higher rates of food insecurity compared to non-student households by 34%, according to a 2020 Meta study.

Karla P. Shelnutt, a researcher at the University of Florida extensively studies food insecurity among college students and how the pandemic affected them financially.

“In the meantime, students who have been laid off due to the pandemic are adding to their debts,” she said.

“The cost of tuition keeps going up, so students are having to choose between paying tuition, paying rent or buying food.”

CSULB CalFresh applicants must meet specific requirements in order to receive up to $250 a month for groceries, according to Beach CalFresh outreach.

Clarissa Peña, a first-year political science major was in the foster care system for over 10 years and applied to the CalFresh program at the beginning of the fall semester, but was denied.

Peña said she received a letter from CalFresh regarding her interview date and time after it took place. She then attempted to call CalFresh customer service multiple times, only to be left on hold for hours, and gave up due to receiving no response.

“You can only handle so much elevator music,” she said.

Later on, Peña decided to visit the Beach CalFresh Outreach in person but had no success.

“I stopped by the CalFresh office to see what I should do, but every time I passed by it was always dark in there.

No one’s at the desk,” she said.

Although the CalFresh program

has its limitations, CSULB has taken a strong initiative to help support students struggling with food and housing instability by creating the ASI Beach Pantry in fall 2016.

The 2021 Basic Needs COVID-19 impact report stated that over 38% of CSULB students experienced food insecurity, and the ASI Beach Pantry’s pop-up contactless pantry distribution allowed over 200 students to receive meals, fresh produce and snacks.

Since 2016, however, ASI Beach Pantry has provided 43,211 meals to more than 9,000 students, according to the report.

Christina Limon, the Beach Pantry coordinator, said the pantry is open to all students and does not have any requirements.

Limon said in order to access the Beach Pantry’s resources, students use their ID to sign in through the PantrySoft portal that can be done on their computer upon arrival to keep track of its item inventory.

“The Beach Pantry also provides students with healthy food options such as tuna, chicken, rice, canned vegetables and fruits,” she said.

Besides providing food options, the Beach Pantry also has hygiene items available for students.

“We have a toiletry wall, where people can take deodorant, soaps, shampoo, hygiene products,” Limon said.

“It’s all donation-based and the students can take from there.”

Limon also said students are allowed to use the pantry up to three times per week and can take up to five items per visit.

Alexia Sandoval, a fourth-year student and Beach Pantry employee, has been using the pantry’s resources since her freshman year.

“After having classes on campus all day and not being able to buy food every single day, the Beach Pantry was a nice resource to rely on,” she said.

“I know a lot of other students would probably agree.”

6 ARTS

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How Pigeon’s Roller Skate Shop owner Shayna Meikle fell in love with skating

By Bella Arnold Contributor

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hayna Meikle’s, journey to becoming a business owner started on her 21st birthday, the day she fell in love with roller-skating.

Shayna Meikle has always considered pigeons to be underrated. So, when it came time to choose her nickname for roller derby, she became Pigeon.

As Meikle took her first shots on her 21st birthday, she met a bartender who liked her tattoos. Later that night, that bartender invited Meikle to try out for a roller derby team she was starting in Santa Cruz, where Meikle was attending college.

Around 50 people were at the roller derby tryouts. Despite having zero formal training, Meikle was one of five people who made the team in 2007.

During tryouts, Meikle would fall and get back up with a smile on her face, she says. To this day, she thinks that’s what set her apart.

“I was really young and immature in this group of like, really serious women,” Meikle said. “I felt like they didn’t take me serious enough for what I knew I could do. They just brushed me off.”

She grew up in Harbor City and would get from place to place by skateboarding. Feeling the uneven pavement skip beneath her wheels was part of the experience, she said, her hands moving in a wavelike motion, as she described how her wheels would fly across the sidewalks in her neighborhood.

When she started college and moved to Santa Cruz, she got a car and drove as a primary mode of transportation.

“Growing up and going from here to there was on the sidewalk,” Meikle said. “Seeing people’s front yards and smelling the smells was really sensory, I guess. When I became an adult, I realized ‘Holy shit, I missed that a lot.’ I was feeling that hole in me.”

According to Meikle, roller derby combined the competition and community that she yearned for in college.

Meikle said using skates meant for roller derby in an outdoor space is extremely taboo. Derby skaters fear that exposing their skates to outdoor elements, like uneven pavement, could mess up the alignment or integrity of the skates.

But that didn’t stop Meikle. She returned to the outdoors to skate as she had done in her youth in Harbor City.

“That was a really big deal,” Meikle said.

Her act of defiance caught the attention of Michelle Steilen, the creator of Moxi Roller Skates.

Steilen offered Meikle a Moxi sponsorship for pushing the envelope and skating outdoors.

Years later, in 2013, Meikle bought the Moxi Skate Shop in Long Beach on Retro Row, which is now known as Pigeon’s Roller Skate Shop.

However, before Meikle became a business owner and fully devoted herself to the skating community, she was a science teacher. After graduating from the Univerisity of California, Santa Cruz where she studied ecology, she moved back to Southern

Photo courtesy of Rachel Heimerman

Meikle grew up skating in Harbor City. She loved the way uneven pavement felt beneath her wheels.

California, moved into her mom’s garage and taught science to seventh graders in South East Los Angeles.

While she was still teaching, she started her own derby league, which she cites as her first business.

Her days consisted of teaching, but her nights were filled with roller derby management.

Initially, she refused offers to take over the Moxi Skate Shop because she was a teacher, but a year of managing the roller derby team made it clear to Meikle that this was her passion.

“I left teaching, took all my money and bought this dying shop,” Meikle said. “I made no money for years. I was so passionate about it that I didn’t even care. I loved Top Ramen. I loved living in an apartment with six other homies. It wasn’t a big deal.”

Eventually, Meikle transitioned the shop to become Pigeon’s Roller Skate Shop. The storefront, on Fourth Street in Long Beach, is a bold pink with the shop’s name adorned on the front in shades of purple and teal.

Meikle says that she feels lucky to be a female business owner in Long Beach, specifically on Retro Row. She’s part of a Facebook group called “female business owners of Long Beach.” However, she admits that being a woman in the business world has been challenging, but empowering.

“I feel like one of my passions is rubbing people the wrong way,” Meikle said. “So, I feel very at home

Photo courtesy of Jay Mungia

Shayna Mekikle was invited to try out for a roller derby team in Santa Cruz on her 21st birthday.

in the place that I am. I don’t feel like an imposter and I don’t feel bothered at all by people’s discrimination.”

Due to the pandemic, Meikle made the decision to keep all sales online for longer than most businesses in Long Beach. Though they’ve reopened their store, she shared that the skating world is still feeling the effects of the pandemic. Though the derby league is in a “weird place” because of COVID, she hopes that they will be competing again in summer 2022.

Because roller derby is such a high contact sport, being able to practice is nearly impossible. Rinks are closed and the roller derby association has strict rules about who can practice.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Meikle recalls cities removing basketball hoops from courts in an effort to discourage contact. This was a great opportunity for roller skaters to monopolize the space to skate.

However, when the economy started opening again, the hoops were put back and skaters were displaced. Meikle says that she remembers hearing about skaters using parking lots and someone from the community getting hit by a car while skating.

To Meikle, the lack of sanctuary for skaters was an emergency.

“People skating need a safer place,” Meikle said.

“So, that’s when I started putting in some legwork to find a venue [for a rink] and realized it’s impossible.

It was just dead end after dead end.”

Finally, she got into contact with a special events coordinator at 2nd and PCH. In September, Pigeon’s Roller Rink pop-up opened and is slated to remain until Dec. 31. The pop-up is host to special events, such ‘80s themed nights, emo skate nights and skating classes.

Though the pop-up is temporary, Meikle’s desire to remain a role model is unwavering.

“I grew up not having any role models,” Meikle said. “I think I’m really relatable. I’m female, I’m not Type A, I’m plus-sized and I’m fucking obnoxious sometimes. So, I like being in a position that people can be like, ‘Oh shit, I can be myself?’ [That’s] my favorite part.”

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | OPINIONS@DAILY49ER.COM

CHRISTINA MERINO | Daily Forty-Niner

Shoppers are seeing major retailers close for the holidays.

By Sebastian Perez Contributor

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one are the days of tents outside of Best Buy and snatching bargains from the hands of children. Recently, many large retail stores have been closed on Thanksgiving Day. And consumers should show solidarity with fellow workers rather than complain about the closures.

This is especially true since these closures aren’t the result of employees wanting to spend the holidays at home. They are the sign of a suffering economy.

Some shoppers may be frustrated, but in-person retail is struggling to recover from pandemic lows while e-commerce continues to surge. From 2016 to 2020 e-commerce sales doubled, going from $297 billion in 2016 to $795 billion in 2020.

“The proliferation of online shopping, combined with retailers’ desire to avoid the bad press that inevitably followed clips of brawling customers tussling over TVs, had led to a dilution of the extreme-sports nature of the day,” wrote Journalist Martha C.

OPINIONS 7

Some businesses can afford to be open on holidays, others can’t

White in an article for NBC business news.

The beginning of the pandemic in early 2020 caused increased suffering for the retail industry. Sales at clothing stores, furniture and home stores, and general merchandise stores tanked from February to April.

Additionally, retailers began to offer holiday deals as early as September and will be open the days following Thanksgiving Day. As a result, most consumers have already started their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving according to a poll by Satista.

Therefore, in the latter half of 2020, some retailers chose not to open on Thanksgiving Day or Black Friday knowing that many shoppers would be staying home.

With online shopping and the pandemic straining stores, it is no surprise that many are keeping their doors closed.

This decision is not the result of benevolent employers wanting to give their workers a day off, but low foot traffic and a higher labor cost.

Plus, not all employees want to spend the holidays at home. Some don’t observe Thanksgiving, while others benefit from augmented holiday wages.

Emanuel Ceja, who works in the kitchen at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia, California, chose to spend the day at work. He distributed food to hungry families in addition to his regular duty of feeding patients.

Ceja was “excited to give people food” even though he himself does not celebrate Thanksgiving.

“Since I work in a hospital, I don’t expect the needs of patients to subside for a specific day,” Ceja said. “Being an essential worker doesn’t get its name for nothing.”

8 OPINIONS

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Spill the Tea

Long Beach State University’s COVID-19 protocols Students express mixed opinions on how CSULB has handled COVID-19 protocols so far, and how the school should proceed next semester as more students are welcomed back to campus.

By Bella Arnold

An Dinh | Business Administration While Dinh is happy with the school’s efforts overall, she feels that more improvements can be made.

“It does make things a lot easier given that students are abiding by the mask requirements,” she said.

“However, I feel as though the daily COVID-19 all student prescreen can be very tedious and may not be as accurate as the school might hope.”

Dinh works for the College of Business’s academic advising office, and says that students must be screened for check marks on their health survey before they can be helped.

“A majority of them either forget to fill out the form or don’t even know what the form is,” Dinh said.

Though she hopes COVID is eradicated by next semester, it’s unlikely, she says. She worries about the rise of the omicron variant and hopes students will get their booster shots to combat the potential spread of this relatively unknown variant.

“Schools can implement temperature checks before entering classrooms since students can easily lie about their symptoms on the daily survey,” she added.

Andres De Dios | Liberal Studies “I honestly feel safe in my classes and outside,” de Dios said. “I know that this semester you had to be vaxxed to be on campus and that gave me more peace of mind.”

His in-person classes also have smaller class sizes and are in rooms meant for larger groups, which he feels comforted by.

He admits that he’s worried, to an extent, about the omicron variant but feels that his best course of action is continuing to wear his mask and get his booster shot.

“There’s only so much you can do,” de Dios said. “I wear my mask and double up. But, I’m trying not to think about it a lot. I’m trying to just get through the holidays and then figure it out.”

Emily Tsuji | Film Tsuji believes that, compared to other universities, LBSU has handled COVID protocols well.

“I appreciate the enforcement of masks and the implementation of COVID tracing if someone I had contact with were to test positive,” Tsuji said. “Living in housing, I have seen a lot of COVID protocols implemented including mask enforcement, monthly testing and designated quarantine rooms ready to go.”

Next semester, she hopes that the current protocols remain implemented. The access to free COVID testing has been another thing that offered Tsuji peace of mind, she says.

SPORTS 9

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TIN HUYNH | Daily Forty-Niner

Outside hitter Kattie Kennedy going for a kill against UCLA.

Volleyball ends season on hot streak under interim head coach

By Matthew Brown Sports Assistant

A

fter getting off to a 3-7 start in conference play and relieving head coach Joy McKienzie-Fuerbringer of her duties two months into the season, Long Beach State’s women’s volleyball was in a state of distress, and it was fair to question if it would affect the team’s ten remaining games.

Just before the month of November began, Sabrina Hernandez would make the switch from assistant coach to interim head coach for The Beach.

Instead of putting up the white flag and calling this year a lost season, the team turned its season around and ended the schedule on a six-game winning streak. It was the longest winning streak since 2015 when the team won seven in a row.

The team would finish the 2021 season with an overall record of 16-15 and would finish 10-10 in conference play.

The Beach started to find itself from sitting near the bottom of the Big West at the end of October to finish tied for fifth place at the end of November.

“The biggest challenge was getting the team to keep fighting and competing and not giving up with the circumstances that occurred midway through the season,” Hernandez said. “Another challenge was for them and myself emphasizing to stick together, it’s the 22 of us and my coaching staff.”

Hernandez made sure to instill a

After a turbulent beginning to the women’s volleyball season, interim head coach Sabrina Hernandez turned the team’s performance around in dramatic fashion.

sense of team effort during practices and post-game meetings. She and the coaching staff emphasized the positives of every match and practice.

Hernandez made sure everyone was cheering each other on from the court and from the bench. The team rallied around each other during the team’s hot streak.

“There wasn’t just one particular person or player that carried us,” Hernandez said. “It was everybody for the entire time for the last five weeks.”

Hernandez has no concrete reason for why the team’s play looked drasti-

“

There wasn’t just one particular person or player that carried us, It was everybody for the entire time for the last five weeks.

Sabrina Hernandez Interim Head Coach

cally different at the end of the season compared to the beginning of the year.

Hernandez said that she believes her coaching style is not too far from McKienzie-Fuerbringer’s. Coach Hernandez has been an assistant coach since 2018 so the coaching change was not much of a difference.

“I knew we always had the talent and I knew the belief was there and they just needed to trust the process a little bit more,” Hernandez said. “I was proud of the resiliency they showed, and how they responded and bounced back when they could have given up.”

Athletic director Andy Fee was impressed by how resilient the team was despite the changes that happened mid-season.

“A lot of times when you make a change mid-year it can go either way, it can improve or it can stay in that negative place potentially,” Fee said.

“I think [Hernandez] did a great job of getting the athletes to focus on what was essentially a 10-game-season and obviously did a tremendous job down the stretch. I’m proud of Sabrina and the athletes for focusing on what they can control which is their effort and attitude.”

Hernandez made no comment on if she is interested in returning as head coach next year or what her role will be, but Fee said he has encouraged her to apply for the job.

Fee said the job was officially posted two weeks ago and there are already people calling with interest. Fee didn’t give out any specific names but said there is a lot of interest in the position from Power Five conference coaches and assistant coaches.

“We want to move quickly but we also want to do it the right way,” Fee said. “I think we’ll get a really great diverse applicant pool and I think we can get a great coach to lead the program.”

Fee said the department will soon begin in-person interviews with those who are interested. His dream timeline is to have a new coach picked out by the end of December, but knows the holiday season might affect it.

Whoever gets the job will be taking on a program with a lot of promise and talent according to Hernandez.

“With the resilience that they showed, the sky’s the limit for these girls,” Hernandez said. “They’re going to be a team to be reckoned with.”

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A deep dive into Long Beac Analyzing how LBSU has been operating at a deficit in recent years, how COVID-19 worsened the situation and the program’s optimism for 2022-23.

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By Sanjesh Singh Contributor

ong Beach State Athletics has been grappling with financial deficits near $1 million for several years, and the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the situation to $3 million, prompting another down year for the 2021-22 season.

Andy Fee, athletic director at LBSU, explained the program’s position since the pandemic started.

“It’s been a challenge. We’ve had COVID, we’ve had a lot of things pop up as we’ve kind of moved from 2017 when I took over to where we are today,” Fee said. “COVID kind of crushed us, and I think a lot of athletic departments out there as well, in terms of fundraising, corporate partnership dollars, ticket sales. It’s a lot of revenue that we lost out on.”

According to USA TODAY’s financial database of major NCAA programs (paid subscription) and interviews with LBSU administrators, the program has been operating at or near a negative net income dating back to 2005, which is where the database stops.

In the last six years — 2017 and 2018 were combined due to profit — LBSU has not fared well with net income. The program took massive hits in 2015 and 2016 and managed to rebound scarcely in the coming years before the pandemic escalated the problem Fee said LBSU’s status as a mid-major program is a factor because of the sports it can offer compared to the nation’s larger conferences.

“We’re a school that doesn’t have football, so the revenue we can produce is critical,” Fee said. “And the margin between being successful and unsuccessful, basically, is COVID for us because we don’t have huge media rights dollars that the Pac-12 does, Big Ten, SEC, they have these huge media rights dollars.”

To compensate for the lost money in 2020, Tiffany Edlin, assistant athletic director, business manager, said the program received $1.7 million in lost revenue from the school as COVID-19 relief money. The department submitted a request in the range of $4-5 million.

LBSU also requested money for COVID-19-specific items, such as test kits and thermometers, and received about $1.1-1.2 million through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. This was in addition to the $1.7 million.

Another hit the program took came from camps. LBSU usually hosted summer camps on campus for youth groups that generated around $1 million.

However, the program hasn’t hosted one in two years. LBSU hopes to bring back camps in the summer of 2022 and will host smaller clinics until then.

Despite the deficits, Fee said LBSU has had no discussions or inclinations of cuts to the 19 sports. He added that President Jane Close Conoley is a “strong supporter” of all the sports.

As COVID-19 affects the logistics of the program for the foreseeable future, these areas of revenue and expenses shape the yearly outlook.

Ticket Sales

Edlin said the budget is largely dependent on one-time generated revenue, like ticket sales and philanthropic contributions.

LBSU’s ticket sales peaked in 2017 and slightly dipped in 2018 and 2019 before plummeting to $536,423 in 2020, the lowest number since 2011.

Fee said many variables affect sales: the quality of LBSU’s teams, big names coming in, opponents traveling to the city and hosting tournaments.

The 2017 number soared because of the NCAA baseball regional — the first in Long Beach since 2008 — and Super Regional the school hosted.

“The goal is for that number to go back north,” said Fee about the downfall in 2020.

Lena Silano earned first-team Big West Conference honors after a breakout 202

or simply donate. It peaked in 2015 at over $2.8 million but has since declined.

In 2020, because of COVID-19, donors didn’t have opportunities to attend games, dinners and other fundraising events, like golf tournaments, causing the fall. The amount in 2020 was the lowest dating back to 2005.

But Edlin said the dip that happened after 2015 could be attributed to a change in an IRS tax law.

“Often a donor would donate and it would be related to their ticket. They’d buy a courtside ticket to basketball and a portion of that would be a tax-deductible gift. The laws changed surrounding that, and we had to separate that,” Edlin said.

ESPN+

Beyond ticket sales and contributions, paths towards revenue are scarce. The Big West recently agreed to a new multi-year deal with ESPN to have certain games streamed on ESPN+, but that’s not a major stream of revenue for LBSU. Fee said the deal for LBSU is more about the exposure than revenue. LBSU doesn’t have to pay thousands of dollars for a 30-second commercial; instead, moments like Lena Solano of women’s soccer coming in at No. 2 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays of the night through ESPN+ is the exposure that helps the program, Fee said.

Fee added that the deal is closer to half a million dollars and is split up among the 11 schools in the conference.

“What you would pay for exposure is really the benefit...a little bit of money, a lot of exposure,” Fee said. “It’s value added to our budget, but it’s not significant.”

For expenses, LBSU spends the most in two areas: scholarships and salaries of coaches and staff.

Contributions

Contributions from donors, Edlin said, are a key driver in the revenue generated. Donors have the autonomy to give to facility upgrades, create scholarships

Continued on Page 12

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ch State’s athletics budget

GISELE ROBINETT | Daily Forty-Niner

Scholarships distributed by LBSU have consistently remained in the millions

21 season.

IGNACIO CERVANTES | Daily Forty-Niner

“

COVID kind of crushed us, and I think a lot of athletic departments out there as well, in terms of fundraising, corporate partnership dollars, ticket sales. It’s a lot of revenue that we lost out on.

Andy Fee

Junior guard, Joel Murray, scores a layup.

TYLER SAKATANI | Daily Forty-Niner

LBSU Athletic Director

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Dan Monson, men’s basketball head coach, had a total pay of $398,818 in 2019.

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Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics

Continued from Pages 11-12

Scholarships

Since 2005, the program has typically seen a year-to-year increase in scholarship money distributed to student-athletes. Though, as seen from 2016 to 2018, there are some fluctuations.

But the school distributed over $3 million in scholarships in 2020, the year of the pandemic.

Fee said the amount the program can give largely varies on the students. Out-of-state and international scholarships can increase the amount. Of the 19 sports, there are 149 scholarships available, and LBSU can fund 124.

Edlin added that LBSU could give more to student-athletes, but the funding caps the program.

“What we’ve been capable of awarding versus what we’ve actually awarded, historically, has been very low due to funding,” Edlin said.

This year the amount is likely going to be lower than 2020, but Edlin said there is hope there would be more funding in 2022-23.

Coaching/staff salaries

Salaries paid to coaches and staff are the biggest expense. Besides a $300,000 decrease in 2010 due to system-wide furloughs after the pandemic wrecked university budgets, the amount paid has risen every year, peaking in 2020 with $10.8 million.

The main reason is because of benefits. Based on an employee’s classification — faculty, management personnel plan (MPP), support staff — an employee gets benefits on top of their salary, which is usually estimated around 42%, per Edlin; so, theoretically, an employee making $100,000 would have a total pay plus benefits of $142,000.

Men’s basketball head coach Dan Monson, for example, had in 2019 a total pay of $290,210 with an additional $108,608 in benefits; Monson made $398,818 that year, per Transparent California. Men’s volleyball head coach Alan Knipe had in 2019 a total pay of $170,039 plus $75,721 in benefits, taking his total pay with benefits to $245,761.

Future outlook

Though LBSU hopes to bounce back soon, the expectation is 2021-22 will be another down year. LBSU is projecting a revenue loss of $2 million this year, though that isn’t guaranteed.

“It’s a guessing game right now because there are so many variables,” Fee said. “I’d love to sit here and say, ‘Everyone’s going to come out to Blair Field for the Dirtbags,’ but we have to be a little more cautious because we know some people are still a little nervous to go out and be in crowds.

Some are excited, some are nervous, so it’s very tough.”

Fee added LBSU needs to see how the basketball, baseball, softball and men’s volleyball seasons this year play out because, if conditions improve, the program is optimistic about rebounding in 2022-23.

“Our budget takes a village,” Fee said. “It’s complicated, it’s been challenging, but we’re excited for the future because we believe we’ll be back towards where we used to be and growing what we can offer to our student-athletes.”

GISELE ROBINETT | Daily Forty-Niner

How much LBSU pays its coaches with benefits on top of the salary (above).

How much LBSU has received in philanthropical donations from donors and alumni, among others, from 2015 to 2020 (below).