EL CAMINO COLLEGE
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MARCH 1, 2018 Follow us at /ECCUnion
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Warrior Food Pantry receives 500 lb. donation Eighth graders donate items to help prevent food insecurity among Emma DiMaggio
Editor-in-chief @ECCUnionEmma
Photo courtesy of Torrance Police Department Tyler Walters, Lynn Johnson, and Gabriella Semana, who are being charged with crimes related to the drive-by paintball shooting of a Torrance man. Walters (left) is a former EC student. Semana (right) is not a current or former EC student.
$1 million bail set in drive-by paintball shooting
Former EC student and accomplices accused of blinding Torrance man Emma DiMaggio
Editor-in-chief @ECCUnionEmma
Two former El Camino students are involved in the case of a driveby paintball shooting that left a 50-year-old Torrance man blind in his right eye. Tyler Walters, the man who allegedly shot the gun, was an EC student of automotive tech in the fall of 2016, according to Emmanuel Tindall, 20, business management major and longtime friend of Walters. One of his accomplices, Lynn Johnson, lists El Camino College on his Facebook page, and his major as American sign language
and deaf studies. The other accomplice, Gabriella Semana, has never attended EC. The three are accused of involvement in a drive-by paintball shooting that took place on Sunday, Feb. 4, Walters’ defense attorney Rayford Fountain said. According to Michael Fejes’s son, Michael Fejes Jr., his father has undergone an initial exploratory surgery but has not yet regained
sight in his right eye. He is expected to undergo multiple surgeries in the future, and it is not yet known whether he will ever regain sight in his eye, Fejes Jr. said. Fountain expressed concern about continued misunderstanding of the severity of assault with a paintball gun, which is considered a deadly weapon in this case. “I’ve had other paintball cases and these guys, they just don’t
realize how dangerous the paintball guns are,” Fountain said. “They don’t really anticipate (that) they’re going to do any severe harm or damage, but you can really hurt somebody, as this case points out.” Walters is currently being accused of mayhem, aggravated mayhem, and assault with a deadly weapon, Fountain said. Due to the fee schedule that relates crimes to bail amounts, Walters currently has
“I’ve had other paintball cases and these guys, they just don’t realize how dangerous the paintball guns are. You can really hurt somebody, as this case points out” —Rayford Fountain, Tyler Walters’ defense attorney, said.
a bail set at $1 million. Fountain’s request for a bail reduction was refused last week. A photo of Feje’s eye injury, taken right after the incident, was shared on Facebook over 5,000 times. Despite community involvement in this case, Fountain hopes that he will be able to reduce Walters’ charges. “He never intended to strike anybody in the face,” Fountain said. “My hope is for sure that we get rid of the aggravated mayhem and then negotiate some kind of incarceration that’s reasonable under the circumstances.” Fejes Jr. said he hopes that the Walters, Johnson, and Semana learn from the experience.
The Warrior Food Pantry received a donation of over 500 pounds of food and toiletries from El Segundo Middle School on Wednesday, Feb. 27. The Warrior Food Pantry debuted last October as a resource for students facing food insecurity. “Having this kind of food helps a lot. We never thought we’d have this many resources,” Andrew Leon, Student Equity Advisor Council co-chair and student worker for the Warrior Food Pantry, said. “It’s going to affect a lot of students as well as a lot of families, because a lot of students feed their families with the food in here.” The girls that organized the donation were eighth grade students Herason Wang, Giselle Chasez, and Olivia Jamner, who all attend El Segundo Middle School. “Food insecurity, or not knowing where your next meal is going to come from, is often associated with the homeless or the very poor,” Chasez said. “We were surprised to know that students at the college level are often affected by hunger.” All El Segundo Middle School students are tasked with an eighth grade community service project, led by a mentor. “It went from something small to Harrison’s whole kitchen and whole living room being full of all these supplies,” Melissa Gooden, principal of El Segundo Middle School and mentor to the students, said. “We’re really proud.” The goal of the project, which began last October, was to collect 500 pounds of non-perishables and toiletries. —Story continued on Page 2
Flashing lights installed after coyote sighting near Communications Building Facilities Department still in the process of acquisition and installation for students with night classes Emma DiMaggio
Editor-in-chief @ECCUnionEmma
Three coyotes were sighted on campus on the night of Tuesday, Jan. 30 by campus police officers. Michael Trevis, a sergeant with the campus police department, said the police received a call late at night from a custodian who saw a coyote. Once the officer arrived at the construction technical area, he saw the coyote and followed it to
Murdock Stadium, where it was joined by two more coyotes, Trevis said. All three coyotes were seen running towards Alondra Park, he added, which is adjacent to the El Camino campus. A campus advisory notice went out the next day on Wednesday, Jan. 31 detailing the incident. Marc Stevens, director of public information and government relations, confirmed that the coyote was first seen near the Communications Building.
There are varying explanations for why the coyotes roamed near campus. “They’re after the cats on campus,” Dick McGreevy, founder of the Vegan Club on campus, said. “As far as I’m concerned, they live here, but people have pets and coyotes will go after the pets.” As for a solution, answers vary. “I don’t know if there’s a solution for it, McGreevy said. “They could trap them, but they’re pretty smart. They don’t trap easily.” Since the sighting, the Facilities
and Planning Services Division have begun the acquisition and installation of solar powered flashing lights meant to deter coyotes from wandering onto campus, Debbie Turano, who works in the Facilities Planning and Services Division, said. The lights, which are made by Nite Guard, will be installed around the perimeter of campus, Turano said, “They have a flashing red light that will keep the coyotes off campus.” Installation has not yet begun.
Emma DiMaggio/ Union “They’re after the cats,” Dick McGreevy, founder of the Vegan Club, said in regards to the recent coyote sighting on campus. This cat is one of many found wandering near Marsee Auditorium at night.
NEWS LINE
Cedars-Sinai to Lockdown drill EC wins Community Literary magazine Club Rush boosts visit for blood drive dates announced Education Award submissions open involvement The Inter-Club Council will be hosting its annual blood drive from Tuesday, March 13 to Thursday, March 15 in the Student Activities Center. All donors will receive a T-shirt or coupon for a pint of Baskin-Robbins ice cream upon donation. Donors must bring a photo ID, be in good health, and weigh 110 lbs to be considered for donation.
The lockdown shelter-in-place drill will take place on Thursday, March 15. The drill will occur once from 9:40 to 9:50 a.m. and then again at 7:10 to 7:20 p.m. Last semester’s lockdown shelterin-place drill took place for 15 minutes during each session. The administration hopes to reduce the time in order to quicken the response rate of students.
The El Camino College Community Education Department received the 2018 Association of Community and Continuing Education (ACCE) Excellence in Community Education Program Award. The award recognizes the “Art of Science/ Science of Art” event series, which includes last year’s Frankenstein 2000 celebration.
Student submissions are now open for the campus literary magazine, The Myriad. Students can submit one creative nonfiction story no longer than 5000 words, three pieces of artwork, one short story up to 5000 words, three poems, and one scene in script format no longer than ten pages. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, April 11.
Club Rush took place from Monday, Feb. 26 to Thursday, March 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Library Lawn. Despite bouts of rain and hail on Tuesday, Feb. 27, clubs continued to hand out flyers and sign up new members. There are approximately 70 active clubs on campus, many of whom participated in the event.