EL CAMINO COLLEGE
THE UNION
No.1
MARCH 23, 2017
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Alexa Mancila
Intern @ECCUnionAlexa
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l Camino’s Forensic and Debate top-ranked pair placed 8th in the nation at the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence on Wednesday night, a member of the team said. The entire team is currently ranked No. 1 among U.S community colleges, and No. 4 among universities in the nation
and will begin competition at the National Parliamentary Debate Association today. The 17-year-old political science major-duo of Zara Andrabi and Curtis Wang are the team’s current top performers. “We’re the top community college pair in the nation and ranked 9th overall and we’ve been doing really well so might rank higher,” Andrabi said before Wednesday night’s award show. She adds that Wang is a great partner to have at her side.
“I love being partners with Curtis, we’re really good friends and work very well together so it’s a lot of fun,” Andrabi said/ Most ranked debate pairs are juniors and seniors attending universities and the duo are Top 10 in the nation as sophomores at a community college. Wang said that he and Andrabi would be the only ones competing at the NPTE. In order for teams to qualify for the NPTE, potential teams must earn at least 18 points. Andrabi and Wang have a total of 31 earned points, Wang said. Wang said that preparation for tournaments varies, depending on the caliber or time constraint of the competition. “For instance, NPTE is a topic area tournament which means they release the topics are released a month in advance and (Andrabi) and I have to write files for all (15 topics total),” Wang said. ECs debate team has seen their fair share of success this season and the sophomores will be leading the Warriors during the competition at the National Parliamentary Debate Association. EC was placed at second overall in the majority of attended
Stress, anxiety and depression all have one thing in common. They are signs that can potentially lead to suicide or suicidal thoughts. Feeling helpless with one’s situation and not being able to move forward from a problem make suicide the second-leading cause of death among college students nationally, according to a study from Emory University. Alison Brown, coordinator of The Center of Wellness and Wellbeing at Santa Monica College has been a college level psychologist for 13 years and have been visited by students each semester about their suicidal thoughts. “There are different levels of suicide,” Brown said in a phone interview, “It’s more common for people to have suicidal thoughts than to act on it.” At El Camino, there has been a total of four known reports of students feeling suicidal on campus in the last two semesters. On Feb. 17 a male student reported to a health center staff member that he was feeling suicidal, according to the police logs.
One in 10 college students have made a plan to commit suicide, according to Emory University, students between the ages of 18 to 25 have a higher chance of making plans, having suicidal thoughts, and having a suicidal attempt. Last semester, there were a total three suicide attempts, according to the police logs. There were two fatalities in two attempts since 2015. In the fall of that year, former student Porchua Vang, 22-year-old of Torrance, died by suicide after jumping off of Lot H hours before his birthday. In fall 2016, former student Jonney Tran, 20-year-old of Hawthorne and respiratory care major, was found dead in his car after missing for two weeks, as first reported on eccunion.com. “If I was a faculty member (at El Camino) I (would) talk with the student who is feeling suicidal and try to figure out if its more of a thought or if they are really feeling suicidal,” Brown said. Brown added that there are other ways faculty can help students. “Walk the student to the health office or call to make sure they made it,” Brown said. Thirty-three percent of students
said they either know someone who has or have felt suicidal. “If you are feeling down, talk to someone,” Michael Trevis, chief of
police said in a phone interview. “If you aren’t able to speak to someone go talk to Jan Schaeffer, the clinical psychologist we have.”
tournaments, beating top teams across the nation, just this semester. They will also be joining the rest of their teammates competing at the National Parliamentary Debate Association, NPDA, today. “For NPDA we have to do the research in the 20 minutes before the round, so we focus more on drills for speaking, speed, new arguments and efficient use of prep time,” Wang said. Wang added that he and Andrabi have advanced the furthest any EC pair has gone in a national tournament and any community college team has gotten since 2004. They’ve also advanced far enough this weekend that they have secured a place in the Top 10. Another member of the team, Damon Mitchell, a 19-year-old sign language interpretation/ deaf studies, communications, and psychology major, said that preparation for tournaments vastly ranges, depending on the type of competition. Mitchell said that staying wellversed in politics, memorization, and being prepared for anything is vital in a debate competition. “The results can determined based on what happens in the context of that round,” he said.
For more updates on what happens at the National Tournament, head to eccunion. com or keep up on Twitter: @ECCUnion.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students Assistant News Editor @ECCUnionKeith
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No debate here: Forensics team takes top spot in the nation for community colleges
(Left) Forensics and Debate Team coach Joseph Evans, debate team member Curtis Wang, 17, political science major, debate team member Zara Andrabi, 17, political science major, and Brandon James Fletcher attended the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence. Andrabi and Wang placed No. 8 in the nation at the awards ceremony on Tuesday, March 21. Photo courtesy of Zara Andrabi
Keith Francis
TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA
Renee Galbavy, psychology instructor, and Schaeffer both declined to be interviewed due to the topic being “too sensitive.”
Student allegedly sends threatening texts to ex-girlfriend Keith Francis
Assistant News Editor @ECCUnionKeith
An 18-year-old male was arrested on March 18 after allegedly sending a series of threatening text messages to his ex-girlfriend, according to the police log. Los Angeles resident Kevin Valdovino, 18, was arrested after texting Jessel Perez, 18, a picture of a handgun and mentioning a body bag in another text, according to the police log. All of the threatening text messages were sent the night before Perez reported the incident to an EC Officer, according to the police log, the same day the incident was reported, EC police went over to Valdovino’s residence in Los Angeles. After officers conducted an interview he was arrested by EC police and transported to Torrance PD for booking, according to the police log.
Illustration by Phil Sidavong A total of 400 students were asked whether they have ever felt suicidal or know someone who has. Three-hundred and fifty students said they have never felt suicidal and 150 students they know someone who has or have felt suicidal themselves.
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