The Union Vol. 78, No. 3

Page 1

The Union

EL CAMINO COLLEGE

SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1946

@ECCUNION

Oct. 26, 2023

ECCUNION.COM

board Community tensions rise over war College greenlights

While the Israel-Hamas war ramps up, the conflict hits close for many residents By Angela Osorio and Maddie Selack With daily updates on the Israel-Hamas war, El Camino College students, employees and community members are feeling the weight of the conflict.

While no vigils or protests have taken place at El Camino, students like biochemistry major Lily Nemzer said several students in her classes are troubled by the war. “I know there was one student who is a mother and her husband is Israeli and her kids

were really upset about what was going on,” Nemzer said. Following the Oct. 7 attack from Hamas, Israel declared w ar re s u lt i ng i n m a s s destruction and thousands of deaths on both sides. The conflict has sparked national protests across college

campuses and has raised tensions between Palestinian and Israeli Americans, as reported by the L.A. Times. Locally, an Israeli vigil was held in Manhattan Beach on Oct. 11 and a pro-Palestinian protest occurred in downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 21. SEE WAR PAGE 5 →

Next tennis season up in the air Without enough players, both tennis teams might struggle to compete next semester

Sergiu Boerica and the El Camino women’s tennis pool of players huddle after practice at the ECC Tennis Courts on Wednesday, Sept. 27. Both the men’s and women’s teams are in danger of not having enough players for another season. Photo by Monroe Morrow

faculty union contract

By Maddie Selack Following over a year of negotiating, the Board of Trustees ratified the 2022-2025 tentative contract agreement between the El Camino College Federation of Teachers and the district in their Oct. 16 meeting. Prior to the approval of this new contract, the El Camino faculty had been working under an expired contract since December 2022. The new contract entails 12 sabbaticals per year instead of eight. Additionally, unpaid personal leave was extended from seven to nine days, severance pay was increased, and first year faculty salaries were increased by 9% along with many other changes. Communications Professor and Federation member Larry Leach explained the previous contract was approved in preparation for the COVID-19 pandemic. “ The district basically anticipated all of these fiscal challenges but it was discovered that those fiscal challenges that they anticipated weren’t the case,” Leach said. Although the new contract was ratified, there are certain sections that will be reopened at a l ater d ate. Par t-t ime healthcare is one of those sections. SEE FED PAGE 4 →

By Ma. Gisela Ordenes individual players to play singles and doubles matches on both teams. Due to the current lack of players, those who play singles will also play doubles. “We will compete but [it] doesn’t mean that we will be successful and have the same record [as previous seasons],” Boerica said. “The results will be affected by the freshness of the new team.” Since all the men’s players from last spring’s season left and the women’s

Rabbits as Pets

World of Music Festival

See Page 4

NEWS

Board of Trustees Acting President Trisha Murakawa talks about the union contract during a board meeting on Monday, Oct. 16. Photo by Khoury Williams

SEE TENNIS PAGE 8→

QR Code Scams

See Page 3

OPINION

team was discontinued earlier this year, the players on both teams are new to the program. The Union reported back in February on the El Camino women’s tennis season cancellation one year after winning the state championship because the college couldn’t find a new coach in time, resulting in a delay in player recruitment.

See Page 6

SCAN ME

here are currently not enough players to fill a roster for the El Camino College men’s and women’s tennis teams next season. At the time of publication, there are only six students on the men’s team and eight on the women’s team. El Camino tennis coach Sergiu Boerica is preparing both teams for the next season, set to begin in the spring 2024 semester. Boerica is supposed to choose six

ARTS

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