The Brahmas take a knee

President Trump's NFL comment fires up political movement

ARIELLE ZOLEZZI

Reporter

@ArielleZolezzi

President Donald Trump’s attack on NFL players who took the knee didn’t stop them from protesting. Nor did it stop the Brahmas during their Sept. 30 home game against San Diego Costa Mesa College.

Trump said Friday that NFL owners who see players “disrespecting the flag” should say “get that SOB off the field right now, he’s fired.”

The president also took to twitter and said, “If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL, or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem. If not, YOU'RE FIRED. Find something else to do!”

Many NFL players have taken after Colin Kaepernick, former 49ers quarterback, who started the movement back in August 2016.

Since then, athletes from most of the NFL teams as well as high school athletes, college athletes and athletes of other professional sports have joined in on the protest by kneeling during the national anthem.

The movement has also made its way to Pierce. The football team had a group of players kneel during the national anthem during their home game.

Wide receiver Keith Marshall was one of the players who took a knee during Saturday’s game.

“I don’xat really like Trump’s comments. If you want to take a knee during the national anthem, then you should be able to do that,” Marshall said. “I took a knee today, not necessarily because of the tweet, but because I when funds become available.

The Farm Center’s five-year lease ended in 2010, and owner and director Robert McBroom was given a year to vacate the property, the Daily News reported. After refusing to leave the property, the district and McBroom came to a settlement, which stipulated that the center would close indefinitely to the public the day after Christmas 2014, and the area would be vacated by April 15 the following year.

According to Berger, the college didn't renew the lease because the primary goal is to educate students, and using that land and bringing it into the Pierce agricultural instructional program would provide more benefits and help complete that mission.

Vice President of Administrative Services Rolf Schleicher added that the Farm Center was great for the community and provided K-12 educational services, but conflicted with the institution’s focus to provide optimal postsecondary education.

“Until we changed what we were doing, we would never get the educational programs to move forward fast enough to give students what they need,” Schleicher said. “Across the state, there was a need for education in agricultural and plant sciences; there was a high demand for students, and our program was not fulfilling that demand. So, we made an assessment and decided to go in this direction.”

The Farm Center was gone by the end of 2015, and with it left the Halloween and Christmas festivals. The area remained vacant for about two years, and Woodland Hills residents became concerned that Pierce would get rid of the farm completely.

John Walker, executive vice president of WHHO, said that for decades, there have been movements of people trying to acquire pieces of the land for commercial use.

“The developers that drive past there everyday, their mouths water, and they just can’t believe that property doesn’t have something on it. That it doesn’t have 15-story buildings, ” Walker said.

[see farm on pg. 8]

“We have a lot of mutual aid arrangements in place,” Kraus said. “But to deal with an environment that is happening so quickly, what we also need to do is get a camera system in so that you can see where the issues are, and to what extent, and know what you’re walking into.”

Schleicher said that the school has dedicated more than $150,000 to equipment for emergency response. Kraus said the teams constantly meet for training sessions and to make sure all equipment is up to date.

There are three types of communication in place; mass text, the phone system and 2-way radios.

According to the annual security report for 2017, in the event of a campus emergency, where it is necessary to notify students and staff of impending danger or critical information, Pierce has established a communication protocol to engage as many students and staff as possible, in the shortest amount of time.

It is important that all current technology and communication modes be used to widely distribute the information as quickly as possible, but prior to that, Schleicher said, we have to look for things on campus that may be suspicious.

“So the first thing is to try to get information, like if we hear anything that happened in a classroom or if we hear anything on the campus, is it related to a student or someone from the public,” Schleicher said.

Shae Hammond / Roundup don’t think the world is in the best place right now, and it shouldn’t be a big deal if we want to show that it matters.”

This subject has been a touchy topic. Some have taken the stance that the protest is disrespectful to the men and women who have served and died for this country.

On the other hand, supporters of the cause say the protest is not about disrespecting the flag, but bring up the cause.

Interim ead coach James Sims said he is on both sides of the coin because he is a disabled veteran. He said that the president’s comments are disrespectful.

“These are some terrible comments,” Sims said. “I fought for our country, but I was defending the constitution, and that goes along with freedom of speech and protest. I’m personally not going to kneel, but I don’t have a problem with people kneeling.

It isn’t about the song or the flag, it’s about the constitution.”

Many veterans have taken to social media to support the protest with pictures of them in uniforms and kneeling. Some family members of veterans who died in battled kneeled with their folded flags.

[For the full story visit theroundupnews.com]

Kraus said it’s an ongoing process where the safety teams meet and keep up with things going on both on and off campus and also make sure equipment is working properly and not dated.

“We have training sessions with the team, and they’re constantly getting new equipment and supplies. They’re testing their backpacks and the flashlights,” Kraus said. “So, all the time, we’re always checking and rechecking to make sure we have the most up-to-date first aid and survival quick kits to help students and staff.”

[see campus safety on pg. 7]

Death struck Las Vegas Sunday evening as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock took to the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and rained bullets down on the crowd across the street at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival.

When active shooter incidents happen, there is typically mass panic because people are trying to get to safety and aren’t sure of where to go or what to do.

Pierce has measures in place to help assure the safety of students, faculty and staff. (See page 1 for more information.)

In the event of an active shooter on campus or other emergencies, the first things that needs to go out are mass texts, emails or phone calls using our emergency notification system.

The problem is that people don’t update their information with current phone numbers and email addresses. It should be required that students, faculty and staff keep this up-to-date every semester.

Test messages should be sent out at least twice a semester to make sure the method is working properly.

We should also have lockdown drills and evacuation drills at least once a semester that help students, faculty and staff understand what to do in case of an emergency.

Lockdown drills mean do not leave your classroom or office, and if outside, find somewhere safe where a door can be closed and locked.

Evacuation drills are for exiting a building and getting to safety. Instructors should make sure to keep a roster for each class. Should a situation occur in which immediate exit is necessary, the campus will have something to keep track of all personnel and students.

Some jobs require watching a video during orientation that explains what to do in the event of an active shooter. We should require the same of Pierce students, providing the information during the first day of class or campus orientation.

This should also be a requirement for instructors, similar

Volume 127, Issue

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Dehbozorgi's to the sexual harassment or Title IX training already implemented. Brahmas responding with actions and voices through empowerment (BRAVE) is an initiative on campus that promotes “see something, say something,” which encourages bystander awareness and encourages people to intervene. (See more information on page 8.)

Each classroom and office should have posters or signs that show where to go in the aftermath

“Someone fell off a chair that wasactuallybrokeninthe smokingarea.”

Professors can speak however they want to. They are in charge of the classroom and the students.

Professors set the rules, and students are aware of this from day one. If students do not like to hear foul language, they can drop the class, or take it with another professor at a different time.

Students take classes to fulfill their academic requirements. Students' focus should be on passing the class, and not so much on the professor's way of speaking. Professors are hired to teach the subject, not to instruct on morality. Moral lessons are taught at home.

Each professor has a different approach to teaching, and it should be respected. Some teachers can be more calm, and of few words, while others can be more expressive. Foul language is a form of expression. It can express strong emotions that are required to get a point across during a lecture. Professors choose this certain way of speaking because they want to express themselves more verbally. This manner of speaking is used to communicate more effectively with students.

Professors deal with college students, not children. They teach classes filled with adults, and not kindergarteners. They shouldn't have to worry about choosing their words before speaking. Professors are free to be themselves, and should not feel like they need to portray someone else while they are lecturing. smatzaganian.roundupnews@gmail.com of an event or in case of an evacuation. The information on the sign or poster should include your current location and your nearest safe zone.

Students should be aware of the real world. We live in a world where every human being is different. We all have different ideas and different ways of thinking. We have our own opinions, and we all have our own way to communicate.

Professors are not breaking school rules by using foul language. They are using their freedom of speech. College is a place where the majority of students are adults. Most students are older than 18. They've heard foul language before, either at home, on television or on the streets.

Professors should be allowed to use foul language because they are not harming the students in any way. They sometimes use this method to grab students’ attention and make the class less boring. Some professors use foul language to bond with their students. Using foul language makes the teachers more approachable. It makes them seem more down to earth. Students feel more comfortable with their teachers, and therefore they reach out to them more. They ask questions in class and become involved in the lecture, rather than falling asleep.

These measures cannot assure that a dangerous situation won’t

MICKIE SHAW Reporter @mickieshaw77

Professors are to be respected, treated with courtesy, and definitely not cursed at. It's rude and disrespectful. It could get you tossed out of school. There are clear expectations of student’s behaviors. However, should professors be held to the same standards, or be allowed to be disrespectful, curse and potentially offend?

If a teacher doesn’t practice decorum then why should students?

Professors might use bad words to make a point, or when reading from a book, such as historical works.

But professors cursing in the classroom is unprofessional and disrespectful toward their students. Pupils often admire and view their professors as role models.

Walking through the Pierce campus, it’s clear that using foul language is commonplace. Students don't need to have their already crude habits reenforced by a highly educated, supposedly sophisticated, professor who is occupying a privileged and prestigious position.

“Therewasanoldladyon rollerskatesfeedingpigeons bread,whilerandomly singingtothem.”

-ParsaYousefi,17,Computer Science happen, but it shouldn’t take a national tragedy for people to start thinking about prevention and procedures. but also be an example of how to use words to communicate effectively, and not just to offend or shock people.

Deciding to swear in a classroom can also open a pandora's box of expletives which are weighted very differently on the dirty word scale. What scale of measurement determines the line where a curse word goes from harmless to unacceptable? Are there dirty words that are guaranteed not to offend anyone? Probably not.

Some people don't curse. Occasionally, it's surprising to learn who swears and who doesn't. One could assume that cursing would put a particular person at ease, when in fact it makes them uncomfortable. However, it is rare that a person feels offended by someone using clean language.

Curse words are not appropriate in a professional setting, and are not polite when speaking publicly. Foul language in the workplace can even get you fired. The classroom should not be an exception to real world standards of behavior.

“Isawaguyonahoverboard wearingaonesieonhisway to class.”

-SydneyPapp,18,Architecture

Higher education should hold higher standards for students and teachers. Professors should not just teach their expertise,

-RandyRamos,34,Information Technology Cartoonist:

When professors use profanity it doesn’t make them more approachable, or benefit the students. It only normalizes vulgar speech. *For advertising call Matt at (818) 710-2960 mshaw.roundupnews@gmail.com to be a letter.

The deadline is 11:59 p.m. the Sunday prior to the issue date. Editorial Policy: The Pierce College Roundup position is presented only in the editorials.

Cartoons and photos, unless run under the editorial masthead, and columns are the opinions of the creators and not necessarily that of the Roundup.

The college newspaper is published as a learning experience under the college journalism instructional program. The editorial and advertising materials published herein, including any opinions expressed, are the responsibility of the student newspaper staff. Under appropriate state and federal court decisions, these materials are free from prior restraint by the virtue of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. Accordingly, materials published herein, including any opinions expressed, should not be interpreted as the position of the L.A. Community College District, the college or any officer or employee thereof.