EL CAMINO COLLEGE NOV. 15, 2018 Follow us at @ECCUnion
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Remedial classes will be effected by statewide law
AB 705 requires community colleges to speed up process of entering transfer-level English and Math courses Omar Rashad Special to The Union @ECCUnionOmar
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tudents huddle outside a classroom on the second floor of the Humanities Building minutes before their English 82 course is about to start. Nervously chatting with each other about the upcoming exam,
their professor arrives on time and greets her students as she opens the door. It is a normal day, but simply one of many in a year that has been “a little scary” for part-time professor Nancilyn Burruss, she said. Despite being a part-time instructor at El Camino College for almost 15 years, she will not have a job teaching lower-level English courses in fall 2019; by then, her students will also not have the
option to take other lower-level English classes. In October of 2017, California State Legislature passed AB 705, which requires community colleges to allow students in fall 2019 to take transfer-level English and math courses, which begin at English 1A and Mathematics 110, depending on high school coursework and GPA. Furthermore, “a community college district or college shall
not require students to enroll in remedial English or mathematics coursework that lengthens their time to complete a degree,” according to AB 705. California Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin, who authored AB 705, said the bill was first considered when she was approached by Campaign for College Opportunity, a nonprofit policy and research organization, that presented areas in which community colleges
could be improved. When she first saw the bill, Irwin said she “thought that this could be really a game changer.” “What they saw with a couple of pilot programs that were being run, if students get placed in higher level courses with support, the outcomes are much better,” Irwin said. See Remedial classes on page 5.
Jose Tobar/ Union Sebastian Alejandro Araque Vera,19, Chemistry major, left, and Isaiah Robinson, 20, Computer Science major,right, and assistant at the Warrior Food Pantry, thankful a the day before Thanksgiving.
13 percent of EC students are homeless
42 percent of community college students have food insecurities Jose Tobar Special to The Union @ECCUnionTobar
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t’s 7 in the morning. Semajae Brown has got to be in class by 8. She takes three buses and a train ride from Watts to El Camino College. Once again, she’s left home without breakfast. Monday through Friday, Brown, 20, cosmetology major, can be found in class ready to learn the trade she hopes will become more than just a means to an end for her, she’d like to open up her own beauty salon one day. Most days with little food at home and just a few bucks in her purse, she manages to get through an eight-hour day in school, without starving by ordering a meal from the dollar menu at the McDonald’s near campus, when she can afford it. Once seated in cosmetology class, the lecture started, she can’t focus. A nagging thought won’t leave her alone. She’s worried, that she may come up short the $200 her mother is counting on for the rent. Brown lives with her 55-year-old mother who lost her job driving a bus for the MTA, after being involved
in a serious traffic accident on the job; the injuries she sustained prevented her from ever returning to work. To make things worse, the landlord recently slapped her family with a $400 rent hike that skyrocketed their previous rate from $1,200 to $1,600 for a twobedroom apartment in Four additional family members live there too; two nephews, Angel, 3, Jordan, 5, a niece, Jamya, 17, and a 27-year-old female cousin, for whom the Brown residence serves as a safe haven from the abuses they suffered in their own homes. One thing Brown understands is this; that her experiences as a student at EC are not unique, but reflect the realities that community college students in California and other states live, as the food and housing insecure. Brown herself, would like to make enough money to ‘get away from it all,’ but more important than that, she would like to inspire students like herself who strive through school facing material hardships, to never give up. See “Homeless and food” on page 4.
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA
Professors lose their home in Woosley Fire, relief fund created Alexa Kinoshita Staff Writer
@ECCUnionAlexa As fires continued to surge across California, many people grew anxious about the safety concerning their lives. The Woolsey fire, formed on Nov. 8, has officially been contained as of Sunday, Nov. 25. However, many people are still missing and many homes and acres of land have been destroyed by the deadly fire that has already killed at least 85 people. The fire’s persistence has caused El Camino faculty and staff to evacuate and even lose their own homes to the rising flames. Currently, two faculty members have lost their homes and one is still red-tagged, Executive Director of the Foundation, Andrea Sala, said. Psychology professor, Renee Galbavy, and her husband who teaches in the Fine Arts Department, Joe Kabriel, have lost everything to the fire and has had to start over. “My father built that house from scratch in the 70’s. It was such a beautiful old place,” Galbavy said in an email that was sent to the EC faculty, staff, and administration by Sala. “It has not sunk in yet.” Sala also sent that email to The Union. To help, The Foundation has created an El Camino Fire Relief Fund to donate money for the faculty, staff, or students that have been affected by the fire. “There’s a lot of devastation out there and there’s so much need, but I think being able to give to someone who you work with, and you feel close to you, when you have that relationship with someone,” Sala said. “I think that’s why people have been so generous.” So far, over $5,300 has been donated to the fund. All donations will be given to any El Camino individual whose homes have been compromised by the fires and anyone can still donate money online, under the ECC Fire Relief Fund. The Foundation encourages all El Camino students, staff, and faculty to contact them if their homes have been destroyed. “Any amount is not too small,” Sala said. To donate, visit the link listed here. h t t p s : // w w w. e l c a m i n o . e d u / foundation/warrior-fire-relief.aspx
See Editorial on page 2 and see Opinion columns on page 3
Also in issue...
this
Information on about ECPD. See News on Page 6.
Comparing College’s Financial
Aid
Allocations
See Page 7 Holidays around the World Crossword Puzzle
See Features on Page 10 Grace Hoffman cross country runner
See Sports on Page 13