The Union
Los Angeles Sparks film at El Camino
Team returns with new coach, recent draft picks; regular season starts May 16
By Jaylen Morgan
T
he Los Angeles Sparks visited El Camino College to shoot photo and video packages for their social media at the ECC Gym Complex on Monday, May 12.
For the third consecutive year, the team has used ECC’s facilities to practice and prepare
for Women’s National Basketball Association games.
Friday, May 16, marks the start of the regular season for the Sparks as they are set to face off in San Francisco against the Golden State Valkyries, a new and the 13th franchise to join the WNBA.
The Sparks’ record for 202324 was 8-32, representing their highest loss total in their
franchise history.
Several injuries plagued the team last season, including a season-ending torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered by small forward Cameron Brink.
New coach Lynne Roberts, hired post-season in November 2024, will lead the team. Roberts previously coached at the University of Utah.
Recent first-round picks for
More units required for incoming students
UC and CSU to merge general education patterns
By Kaitlyn Gochez
Students starting fall semester 2025 may need to take two additional courses to graduate with an associates, college officals said.
Three units from an ethnic studies course will add to degree unit requirements.
“It’s good that it’s required because [ethnic studies] is such essential information to learn,” El Camino College psychology student Salome Ngo, 19, said.
the Sparks in the WNBA draft included Sarah Ashlee Barker, a guard from Alabama and Sania Feagin, a forward from South Carolina.
Attempts by The Union to interview representatives for the Sparks and the team’s players were denied.
Visit sparks.wnba.com for more information on the Sparks’ schedule and statistics.
Student speakers selected for Commencement
Student trustee, ASO president to give remarks at ceremony in June
By Nikki Yunker
Commencement will return with speakers from the Associated Students Organization for this year at El Camino College.
ASO President Danielle Kabboul, 20, and Student Trustee Wesley Marshall, 20, will speak at the event.
“I didn’t know that they were continuing with the student speaker, so it was exciting to have that announced,” Kabboul, a business administration major, said.
Last year, student and
keynote speakers were removed from the ceremony and selected student speeches were either printed in the event’s program or run online.
The speakers will make “congratulatory remarks,” a part of the program introduced for Commencement in 2024.
Both speakers will only have time to make brief remarks.
“The importance of community college as a whole, specifically El Camino, that’s kind of what I’m going to touch on,” Marshall, a mechanical engineering major, said. Commencement for ECC students graduating spring 2025
will be Friday, June 13, at 4 p.m. on Featherstone Field at Murdock Stadium.
“Hopefully it will be a good,
kind of cultivating, experience for everybody that’s deciding to attend graduation this year,” Kabboul said.
Taking a math course, instead of showing math competency, will also be required.
Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, provides policies and procedures for the college to run efficiently.
In accordance with Title 5, changes made in the local general education pattern will replace math competency with a course.
Math competency was formerly met by completing Algebra 2 or Intermediate Math in high school and other ways, including passing the Math Competency Test.
A new, combined pattern for the University of California and California State University systems called the California General Education Transfer Curriculum, or Cal-GETC, will permit students to follow just one unit pattern when applying for transfer.
Cal-GETC will not require a language other than English. Current students making progress toward IGETC or CSU transfer patterns are grandfathered under the current catalog.
Class schedules for summer and fall 2025 are now available.
Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum gets ready for the preseason photo shoot at the El Camino College Gymnasium on Monday, May 12. The Women’s National Basketball Association’s regular season starts Friday, May 16. Photo by Oriana de Quay
El Camino College Associated Students Organization Student Trustee Wesley Marshall and ASO President Danielle Kabboul are selected to each give brief remarks at the 2025 Commencement on Friday, June 13. Photo by Elsa Rosales
Funding possible for new Music Building, Science Complex
College would need to raise over $93.5 million to match state contribution before securing the funding
By Nick Miller
Funding from the state has been offered to El Camino College to replace certain buildings on campus, but the college must match it to receive it, college officials said during a board of trustees meeting.
The state may provide ECC with $29 million to replace the Music Building and $64.5 million for a Science Complex, totaling $93.5 million which the college must meet by 2026, according to a presentation at the meeting Friday, May 2.
Loïc Audusseau, interim vice president of Administrative Services, said a new bond measure must be passed to match the funding as ECC does not have enough money left in the $350 million Measure E bond passed by voters in 2012.
ECC has $40 million in funds remaining to withdraw from the 2012 bond, according to an expenditures report dated March 31.
“There is a certain amount of state funding for each project that is secure; that we know we will receive. As long as we can, at the very least, match that amount,” Audusseau said.
ECC plans to hire and rely on consultants to get expertise on the situation and to determine
Police Beat
By Eleni Klostrakis
The Union publishes police beats online with each newspaper release.
Visit eccunion.com to read more.
Wednesday, April 23, 3:16 p.m.
A battery occurred at 2:24 p.m. in the Student Services Plaza. The case is open.
Saturday, April 26, 12:27 p.m.
Reckless driving in Lot L was reported. The case is closed.
Tuesday, April 29, 9:51 a.m.
Vandalism on the water main valve in Lot L was reported. The case is open.
Friday, May 2, 6:39 a.m.
Vandalism on a window in the ECC Bookstore was reported. The case is open.
Friday, May 2, 2:34 p.m.
Vandalism on a car in Lot L was reported. The case is open.
Friday, May 2, 4:36 p.m.
Vandalism on a window in the Communications Building was reported. The case is open.
Wednesday, May 7, 1:59 p.m.
An intoxicated driver near Crenshaw and Redondo Beach Boulevard was turned over to an outside agency.
Loïc Audusseau, interim vice president of Administrative Services, presents updates on bond-funded facilities projects at the El Camino Community College District Board of Trustees meeting Monday, April 28. About $40 million remains from the $350 million 2012 Measure E bond.
whether it would be more beneficial for a new bond measure be on the 2026 ballot or the 2028 ballot.
There is no guarantee that the money from the state will still be there for ECC’s future projects in 2028.
Audusseau said the cost of each project is only going up and ECC needs contributions from the district to match what the state has provided.
A slide presented to the Board of Trustees said ECC would need a minimum of $100 million from local contributors to make the replacement of the Music Building possible.
ECC would need another $125 million in contributions for the Science Complex.
Current buildings have aging infrastructure, health and safety risks and do not meet modern instruction needs for STEM,
Hyflex and interdisciplinary learning, according to Audusseau’s presentation.
Audusseau emphasized the need to commit to these two projects specifically.
“The Music Building project is a project that is way overdue, they might get tired of us,” Audusseau said.
Vice President of Academic Affairs Carlos Lopez said the order of which the buildings are
College president addresses free speech policy
Faculty voice concerns at Academic Senate about revised rules
By Isaac Ramirez
Faculty concerns about revisions to El Camino College’s time, place and manner policy—which balances protecting freedom of speech with maintaining campus security—were voiced at the Academic Senate meeting Tuesday, May 6.
At the senate’s last meeting, a committee was formed to write a letter containing the faculty’s objections on the policy revisions to be sent to college President Brenda Thames.
Thames spoke during the May meeting and denied there is an alleged “nefarious attempt” to prevent ECC faculty from posting flyers in office spaces on campus.
In the letter drafted by the Academic Senate Subcommittee on Board Policy 3900, faculty highlighted a lack of clarity in the proposed policy’s terms and insufficient collegial consultation, or communication, with college employees about the revision.
“[There’s] a lack of clarity, so potential nefarious actions can occur,” Erica Brenes, Academic Senate vice president of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; and associate English professor, said during the meeting. “[It’s]
unclear what the policy will look like and it’s scary.”
The letter draft scrutinizes the “content-neutral” approach of the proposed policy and states that exposure to challenging and thought-provoking ideas is essential in an academic environment.
The proposed policy reclassifies public and private spaces, increases administrative control over expression, and places a burden on the Student Development Office to review postings, according to the letter.
Polly Parks, biology professor and Guided Pathways Steering Committee chair, said the circumstances are unfair.
“[It] feels like the campus doesn’t care about me,” Parks said.
Talks during the meeting brought up that if a postingapproval process is necessary, a faculty and staff peer-review system could be implemented to monitor what faculty can display on campus.
A peer-review system is also mentioned in the subcommittee’s letter, although it states that such monitoring may violate free speech rights.
Thames discussed the concerns the senate had toward the policy, addressing those who feel that the policy is unconstitutional.
replaced matters.
“The Music Building has to go first, because if we don’t do the [that], then we won’t clear space for the science center. It’s what is called a phasing problem when you do academic buildings,” Lopez said.
Shaun Blaylock, managing partner from ALMA Strategies, a consulting company which is contracted by ECC for the Music Building, said the process will take a team effort.
“We are now doing a scope change with the committee of instructors and administrators, and so forth. We are going through that process right now of what will this building look like,” Blaylock said.
Blaylock and the rest of the team plan on sending in a visual of the future building by July 1. Once the state approves the preplanning, the replanning will start relatively soon.
Blaylock said that nothing is a sure thing and there are many factors to making the plan work.
“It depends on whether or not the state will accept the scope change, … whether the district will have its matching funds and whether or not, can the state and everyone get their act together and be able to do that,” Blaylock said.
“There is no nefarious attempt to harm anyone. The policy needs to be revisited,” Thames said.
Thames expressed that the policy itself is outdated and needs revision.
However, faculty and senate members perceive the new additions to the policy to be damaging and unfair.
Faculty were confused as to the reasoning behind why only certain departments on campus were notified of the new policy.
Brenes said she is worried about how the situation is being dealt with and that the order of events leading to the enforcement of the policy are concerning.
At the end of the discussion, Thames spoke from the podium and addressed a student reporter from The Union sitting in the audience.
The college president urged the student reporter to report on the story in a respectful manner and not have the Academic Senate represented in a negative way.
No vote was taken at the meeting, which platformed discussions related to the letter, which will soon be sent out to the college president.
The next meeting is Tuesday, May 20 from 1-2:30 p.m. in Distance Education Room 166.
LBGTQIA+ Pride Center to host grad celebration
Free rainbow tassels and sashes to be provided at event
By Seph Peters
LGBTQ students and allies are invited to attend a graduation celebration and receive free embellished sashes and rainbow tassels at 6 p.m. Monday, May 19, in the East Dining Room.
The Lavender Celebration will be hosted by the LGBTQIA+ Pride Center and is designed to honor students who are part of the LGBTQ community.
Celebrating a lavender graduation event has been an annual event at El Camino College since 1995.
Students who are graduating with a certificate an associates degree in June 2025 or transferring to fouryear universities are eligible to register for the celebration. Family, friends, and supporters are also welcome to attend.
The center will host events each day starting Monday, May 19, for ECC Pride Week.
Photo by Nikki Yunker
Don’t destroy the campus
By Union Editorial Board
Plans for a new bond measure, increasing local taxes to pay for campus construction and demolitions, are being posed to El Camino College’s board of trustees for approval in an election as soon as 2026.
We understand that the college intends to provide students with improved facilities, but demolishing buildings that do not have any major issues and replacing them with inferior replacements harms all the communities this district serves.
Instead of demolishing its history for inferior replacements, the college should invest in projects that will benefit students, faculty and the community, not developers.
Buildings on the demolition chopping block under the bond proposals include the Music Building, Campus Theatre, the Schauerman Library, the Bookstore and Marsee Auditorium –depending on whether the trustees approve a $300 million, a $480 million, or a $710 million bond.
Many of the original buildings on campus were built without bonded indebtedness using a special, local tax where funds went directly to the district, according to a 1963 Warrior Life article.
Local communities will be indebted over a billion dollars if a new bond passes, as they are currently about $745 million in debt until, at least, 2052.
Significantly, the hundreds of millions collected under these bonds are restricted to facilities’ usage only and cannot fund educational programs, student services or faculty and staff pay.
New construction is also very costly. By law, trustees must select the lowest responsible bidder to complete projects–which today results in cheaper, prefabricated solutions such as the Lot L-adjacent Modular Village project, which has an impermanent, trailer-park appearance.
That project has cost $15 million so far out of an authorized $28 million, and will house an odd mix of programs, including the Basic Needs Center–currently in the Bookstore building–a student wellness center and the college’s dance program.
Despite all this funding for facilities, and even before any of the bonds have been repaid, recently constructed buildings on campus already have expensive problems.
The Humanities Building, built in 2008 for at least $30.9 million—$46 million in 2025 dollars, is currently an eyesore covered in plastic because of its defective, leaky facade. The building frequently undergoes repairs, disrupting classroom availability and instruction.
Repairing just the facade is expected to cost either $5 million or $10 million, according to the Citizen Bond Oversight Committee’s meeting minutes.
Even the new Arts Complex, a gray concrete building which cost over $43 million and opened in fall 2023, has innumerable and extensive problems.
Adrian Amjadi, Fine Arts technical specialist, said the complex has many issues counter to health, safety and disability access which either didn’t exist in the old Art and Behavioral Sciences building or are worse.
“I feel like we were given a really pretty car with no wheels and no engine, and yes, we’re getting really good at pushing this car, but it’s tiring, it takes up too much of our time,” he said.
Although $1 million was earmarked to address posisble building defects in the Arts Complex, it has not been distributed--and would be insufficient to correct all the issues.
“It’s not aging well,“ Amjadi said.
The Los Angeles Community College District constructed faulty buildings with bond funds, which the LA Times investigated in 2011–finding financial waste, mismanagement and nepotism and resulting in an executive facilities director being discharged.
The old Art Building, which the college has planned to destroy, is still functional and architecturally notable with distinctive, mid-century style. Demolishing well-built facilities on campus removes the ability for future students to experience the college’s history.
One building also to be demolished, the Child Development Center, was closed in 2010 and allowed to go to waste after an evident lack of maintenance. The center used to offer free childcare but now is set to be paved for a parking lot.
Demolishing and then constructing with new materials causes an immeasurable amount of waste as demolished buildings end up in landfills. While the college created a sustainability plan in 2019, it hasn’t acted upon it.
Construction efforts on campus aren’t also just a costly, legthy inconvenience–they attract crime. As of this semester, The Union has reported several burglary and vandalism incidents occurring near the Modular Village’s site.
Building renovations at ECC have occurred in the past at similar or cheaper costs than rebuilding.
Renovation costs include the Bookstore–$9.1 million in 2010, the Social Sciences Building–$5.6 million in 2011 and the Industry Technology Education Center–$38.5 million in 2015. Renovation and good building maintenance preserves the college’s unique history and ensures a durable future for the campus and its students.
SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1946
79, No. 9 May 15, 2025
OPINION EDITOR
Nikki Yunker
SPORTS EDITOR Jaylen Morgan
ASSISTANT EDITOR
EDITORS STAFF
Elsa Rosales Savannah Anderson
Senior Staff Writers
Nick Miller
Staff Writers
Drex Carratala
Sydney Sakamoto
Kaitlyn Gochez Tina Talley
Seph Peters Jamila Zaki
Isaac Ramirez
Photographers
Katie Gronenthal
Eddy Cermeno Mario Trejos
Ada Axenti
Osvin Suazo
Erica Lee
Illustrators
Kim McGill Drex Carratala
Yufu Suen
Catherine “Koi” Yugay
Moon Khalfani
Mia Gutierrez Ivan E Mendez De Leon
Frances Que
Interns
Vincent Lombardo Daimel Garcia
Erica Kusaba
Eleni Klostrakis
Abigail Morey
Bret Fast
Oriana de Quay
Nicolas Tomsio
Keandra Lee Bridget Colbert
Alyson Kilduff
Daimel Garcia
Melissa Palmer
Taheem Lewis
Erica Kusaba
Nicolas Tomsio
Special to The Union
Elise Fauni
Rosemarie Turay
Bailey Meacham
Greg Fontanilla Angel Pasillas
ADVISERS
STUDENT MEDIA ADVISER Stefanie Frith sfrith@elcamino.edu
PHOTO ADVISER Nguyet Thomas nthomas@elcamino.edu
ADVERTISING MANAGER Jack Mulkey elcounionads000@yahoo.com
Gerard Burkhart
INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANTS jdifazio@elcamino.edu
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF gburkhart@elcamino.edu
Joseph Difazio
Jessica Martinez
jemartinez@elcamino.edu
JOURNALISM PROFESSOR
Kate McLaughlin kmclauglhlin@elcamino.edu
CORRECTION POLICY: The Union takes corrections and clarifications seriously. Send direct requests for corrections and inquiries on stories to eccunion@ gmail.com.
EDITORIALS: Editorials represent the views of the The Union’s editorial board. Columns represent the views of the writer. Neither are necessarily representations of what the newspaper staff, other students, our advisers, faculty or the administration think.
LETTERS AND GUEST COLUMN POLICY: No more than two guest columns from the same person will be considered for publication or online use in the same semester, and 60 days must elapse before a second column is published. Guest columns should generally run 300-450 words. Letters to the editor should generally run no longer than 200 words. All columns and letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and style. They must be free of libel and in good taste. Publication or rejection of any column is at the sole discretion of the editorial board.
Photo illustration by Nikki Yunker
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Camila Jimenez
Relief from the weight of the world
How nature has grounded me through my chaotic life
By Sydney Sakamoto
Whenlife gets overwhelming, deadlines are piling up, and I can feel stress physically weighing on my shoulders, there’s always one place that helps me reset: the outdoors.
There’s something almost magical about nature and how it can make everything feel a little less intense.
A walk through a quiet trail, a hike up a hill, or even just sitting under a tree for 10 minutes — it’s like my entire nervous system sighs in relief.
The noise in my head quiets. My thoughts slow down. The weight I’ve been carrying all day starts to feel a little lighter.
It wasn’t always this way.
Like most people, I thought the solution to stress was pushing through — grinding harder, staying up later and finishing that assignment.
However, I’ve learned that sometimes, the best way to move forward is to step away. That’s where nature comes in.
Hiking, in particular, has become my go to reset button.
When I hit a trail, I’m not thinking about the email I forgot to send or the assignment that’s due.
I’m thinking about the path ahead of me, the way the light filters through the trees, the feeling of my legs moving and lungs filling with fresh air.
Nature doesn’t demand productivity. It invites presence,
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and in that presence, stress starts to melt away.
There’s a lightness that comes from being surrounded by trees, mountains and open skies.
Maybe it’s because nature reminds me that I’m just one small part of a much bigger world.
Or maybe it’s because I finally get to stop performing, producing and perfecting and just be. No pressure and no
Letters to the editor OTSUJI SUMINO ENGL 1C CLASS
expectations. Just me and the earth beneath my feet.
Studies show that spending time outdoors can reduce cortisol levels, lower blood pressure and increase relaxation in an individual.
But honestly, I don’t need the research to tell me what I already feel: that being outside, away from screens and schedules, helps me breathe easier and think more clearly.
And the best part? You don’t have to drive hours into the wilderness to feel this. A local park, a walk around the block or even sitting in the sun for a few minutes can do wonders.
It’s not about escaping life, it’s about recharging so you can return to your duties stronger, calmer and more grounded.
So when life starts to feel heavy, I lace up my shoes, head for the nearest trail, and let the
wind carry some of the weight for me.
Every step forward feels like a small exhale. A small reminder that I’m still here. Still standing. And that peace is always just a few breaths of fresh air away.
Letters to the editor: Students respond to Union articles
The power of music and how registration can be simpler for students
The power of music:
By Anthony Rivera, Ryan Gonzalez and Marcus Higgs
Dear, Editor-In-Chief, Nikki Yunker
This letter is in response to the article “The Soundtrack of My Life,” by Rosemarie Turay, in which we really resonated. Music is a driving motivation for students across the nation, an incentive for working better and achieving better work ethic.
According to the National Association for Music Education, “Listening to pleasant music also stimulates the release of neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin, which can help to regulate mood and elicit feelings such as joy and relaxation short term and over time”.
We resonate with including music into our everyday life because it’s seen as an escape
for many students. The intersecting parts of our lives can become so overwhelming that we eventually need something to turn to for solace.
Stated within the same article, music also has the power to improve attentiveness, which is crucial for engagement and sharpness.
More often than not, music creates a better educational environment and allows students to work in ways that feel most comfortable to them. While leaving space for their work ethic to grow, music can improve things like attention span and neuroplasticity.
By Tina Marie Uskilith, Sandra Gutierrez and Daniel Uko
Dear, Editor-In-Chief, Nikki Yunker
I agree with the article that music is definitely an escape for many individuals. Music can
make the simplest tasks more exciting and enjoyable, a bright smile on your face while doing chores, or absolutely nothing.
What many love about music is how the lyrics and emotions express how a person can feel. It can be very inspirational.
While doing school work, I put on afrobeats, indie alternative music or rap — anything that lightens the mood and makes my imagination run wild so ideas can flow.
Music also expresses creativity, which influences your identity and thoughts that might crowd your mind. When it comes to stress, music can keep you calm from the neverending chaos of the day.
Getting home to unwind, looking forward to putting my earbuds in, helps my long day immediately become calm. Listening to music often leads to dancing and laughing, which releases happy endorphins.
Music has the power to
influence your feelings. It can bring out a more endearing side of you, amplifying your emotions.
More efficient registration:
By Gabriel Gutierrez, Daniel Ramirez and Erwen Navarrete
Dear Editor-In-Chief, Nikki Yunker, After reading the article, “Guest column: Course Registration should be simpler,” by Victor L. Corpora, we found that we agreed with many of the points made, but also found that more examples can be added for audience relatability. An example of this is to include the fact that the second factor authentication, for most people, is on their phone. When people don’t have their phones on them, it can contribute to procrastination when students have to drop everything and get
their phones.
In addition, if they procrastinate enough, then the class they are looking for can end up becoming full, and they would have to find another class if it’s available.
Besides this, we think that registration could be far simpler if the entire process was able to be completed fully on our phones. It can save people a lot of time and stress.
In the end, we appreciate the article and how it brought light to this issue.
The Union welcomes guest contributors to submit columns and letters to the editor.
Reach out to eccunion@gmail. com for inquires and work submission.
Illustration by Frances Que
Leaving behind a legacy in the music program
Faculty and staff retiring after several decades of teaching and performing
By Oriana de Quay
The worn hallways of the El Camino College Music Building echo with squeaky clean floors and thin walls, but the department’s soul comes from within.
The music program will lose two faculty members this semester as two colleagues wrap up decades of work.
Joanna Nachef, fine arts professor, has worked alongside Kenner Bailey, ECC
“Life
is not a rehearsal, but a performance,”
-
Joanna Nachef, chorale professor
piano accompanist—also known as a collaborative pianist—for more than 20 years.
“It is not easy to walk away,” Nachef said.
Nachef began working at ECC part-time in 1989, and full time in 1996. Her journey started long before that as a 16-year-old immigrant from war-torn Lebanon who came to the United States in the 1970s.
“She embodies the American Dream,” Bailey said.
El Camino College’s former chorale director, Jane Hardester, discovered Nachef when she was an 18-year-old ECC student.
Hardester recognized Nachef’s talent and encouraged her.
The two shared a deeper
get more now. It also benefits the school, they’re going to save money—or at least that’s their perspective of it,” Bailey said.
After the departure of the previous orchestra professor, Dane Teter, Nachef filled the full-time position.
“You need full-timers to run this job who have the drive that [Nachef] has. She was really hungry to make this program really grow into something big,” Hernandez-Picazo said.
She brought the chorale and orchestra class, in addition to her professional singing group, the Joanna Medawar Nachef Singers, to Carnegie Hall in New York City last spring semester.
“I don’t only invest my time,
arts institution, while Nachef will focus more on JMNS and also have time to rest.
The future is uncertain for ECC’s music program, but their legacies leave the program on a high note with all its achievements.
“Life is not a rehearsal, but a performance,” Nachef said.
connection. When Nachef went back to Lebanon, Hardester contacted her.
Nachef would eventually return to teach at ECC and sits at the same desk Hardester occupied during her 28 year career.
“She [Hardester] is from the old school,” Bailey said. “A lot of people were taught that [tyrannical] way in the 60s and 70s. Joanna is the opposite. She gets people to respect her through her caring.”
Former ECC student Erick Hernandez-Picazo met Nachef in her choral class. After graduating, a friend introduced him to the Joanna Medawar Nachef Singers, and when a position became available, he reacquainted with Nachef.
“I had just graduated, so I was looking for a job. And I was like, well, that would be perfect, you know? It still
involves music and I didn’t want to find a job where it didn’t incorporate music in a way,” Hernandez-Picazo said.
After Nachef and Bailey leave, the administration will fill their positions with parttime employees.
Current ECC music major Josias Canul-Marchand said that replacing Nachef and Bailey with part-time faculty will impact the program.
“I just feel like it won’t be as cohesive without Joanna. Joanna has been an influential part of my career here. I’m returning next semester and I am a little nervous,” CanulMarchand said.
If it were up to Bailey, he would stay for another four or five more years, but the college offered him a Supplemental Retirement Program incentive.
“I’m a team player. I realize if I take this, it’ll benefit me. I’ll
“I just feel like it won’t be as cohesive without Joanna,” - Josias CanulMarchand, music major
my teaching, and my effort, I invest my finances, too, so I can see everybody receive the same amount of support, especially when I take a huge group to Carnegie Hall— that’s hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Nachef said.
Moving forward, both Bailey and Nachef will continue to work.
Bailey will migrate his work to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, a private
Above: (L-R) El Camino College collaborative pianist Kenner Bailey and chorale and orchestra professor Joanna Nachef gather during their chorale class on April 2. Bailey and Nachef are set to retire at the end of the spring 2025 semester. Combined, they have worked at ECC for over five decades.
Center: El Camino College music student Dune Palmer, 22, sings during ECC chorale and orchestra professor Joanna Nachef’s midday chorale class on Wednesday, April 2. Photos by Oriana de Quay
Music major Cole Moore sings in Joanna Nachef’s chorale class on Wednesday, April 2. Nachef is set to retire after nearly 30 years at the end of the spring 2025 semester.
Softball heads to state championship
Catcher Anahi Pintado hits walk off single to seal victory
By Jaylen Morgan
W arriors catcher Anahi Pintado hit a walk-off single in extra innings, sending the team to the 3C2A State Championship.
The match didn’t end until the bottom of the eighth inning after a back-and-forth Game 2
in Round 2 of the 3C2A SoCal Regional Playoffs.
Pintado’s first and only hit came in the bottom of the eighth for the Warriors, but it was the hit that won the game.
The Warriors won by a score of 4-3 against the Long Beach City College Vikings Saturday, May 10 at Long Beach City College.
Vikings pitcher Hailey Harris and Warriors pitcher Lexi Ramirez pitched in two crucial back-to-back games for their teams.
Warriors coach Jessica Rapoza said their strategy was the same as in Game 1 on Friday.
“Our team and Long Beach’s team are very similar, really
Badminton duo win consolation title at state
By Jaylen Morgan
El Camino College Warriors
badminton duo Anya Gore and Montila Winyaworapon competed in doubles at a state championship Saturday, May 10 at the City of College of San Francisco. Gore and Winyaworapon won the consolation title at the 3C2A State Championships. The duo defeated City College of San Francisco Rams duo Jessica Ho and Maria Yau Zhang in a three set series (2022, 21-18, 21-13) to move on to
the consolation final round. In the final round, Gore and Winyaworapon defeated Christina Nguyen and Thien Nguyen of the San Diego Mesa Olympians in competitive two sets, winning the consolation championship. Gore also competed in
singles but came up short in the consolation semifinal to Olympians Mylene Keophaseut (21-8, 21-13).
To see the full bracket of the badminton state championship for singles and doubles competition visit the 3C2A website.
athletic kids, great pitchers and great practices. I feel like we just had to stick to what we needed to do,” Rapoza said.
The Warriors (37-7) next game will be Thursday,May 15 on the road at West Valley College against the Vikings (41-3) at 5 p.m.
Warrior Scores
Men’s Volleyball
El Camino 2, LA Pierce 3 (April 2)
El Camino 0, Fullerton 3 (April 4)
El Camino 2, Santa Monica 3 (April 9)
El Camino 0, Long Beach 3 (April 11)
Baseball
El Camino 8, Cerritos 5 (Super Regionals, May 8)
El Camino 8, Glendale 7 (3C2A SoCal Super Regionals , May 9)
El Camino 6, Glendale 17 (3C2A Super Regionals, May 10)
Softball
El Camino 5, San Diego Mesa 0 (3C2A SoCal Regionals First Round, Game 2 May 3)
El Camino 3, Long Beach 2 (3C2A SoCal Regionals Second Round, Game 1)
El Camino 4, Long Beach 3 (3C2A SoCal Regionals Second Round, Game 2 May 10)
El Camino (37-7) vs West Valley (41-3) Thursday, May 15 @ 5 p.m. (3C2A
. El Camino College badminton player Montila Winyaworapon holds up the two rackets she used during the match against San Diego City College on Wednesday, March 23 Photo by Erica Lee
El Camino College Warriors Softball coach Jessica Rapoza, gets a gatorade bath after win Saturday, May 10. Photo by Bret Fast
El Camino College Warriors pitcher Lexi Ramirez jogs back to her dugout after scoring a run for her team on Saturday, May 10. The Warriors defeated the Long Beach City College Vikings, 4-3. Photo by Bret Fast