Paige Rodriguez’s hat-trick aided Long Beach City College women’s soccer as it defeated Rio Hondo College 6-2, moving its way into the SCC Championship.
This game had LBCC middle forward Rodriguez’s name written all over it as she had a career day.
“I’m pretty proud of myself, I don’t score hat tricks that often,” Rodriguez said.
The first of her three goals came with a little over 31 minutes left to go in the first half as she boomed her kick from a fairly good distance past Rio Hondo goalkeeper Isabel Maldonado for the first points of the game.
The second goal of the game scored was by LBCC forward Hannah Marshall who was assisted by forward Kiana Moore.
Marshall and Moore both had incredible games as well. Marshall scored two goals and one assist and Moore racked up two assists.
“I think our chemistry is a really important aspect of who we are as a team because we have super strong captains and everyone gets along. We encourage each other on the field and I think that in order to win, we need to keep up that attitude,” said Marshall.
LBCC looked to be on a roll as this goal came only two minutes after Rodriguez’s goal.
Paige Rodriguez keeps the ball in her sight on Tuesday. LBCC defeated Rio Hondo College 6-2 in the South Coast Conference semi-finals, winning the Sec Championship. (Lolita Mojica)
Rio Hondo midfielder Janessa Gallardon answered back with two goals of her own in the span of four minutes.
Gallardo scored two consecutive goals for Rio Hondo as the game became tied 2-2.
As it seemed like it would be a tie ballgame going into halftime, Rodriguez scored her second goal assisted by midfielder Valerie Sandoval with a little over three minutes to go in the half, giving LBCC a 3-2 lead going into halftime.
The rest of the game coming out of halftime was in complete control by LBCC as it started with forward Valerie Solis scoring a goal assisted by both Marshall and Moore right by the goal line.
LBCC only got better from then on, and so Rodriguez as she scored her third goal, completing the hat trick.
Marshall then followed up Rodriguez’s goal for the second time in the game as she scored her second goal before the game ended in a 6-2 win for LBCC.
“Today’s game was a display of how well we can play when we get our foot on the gas pedal and we’re focused and driven,” said LBCC head coach Eduardo Nunes after the game. “As a team, we have a lot of strengths and a lot of girls who can score, and that’s what makes us dangerous, but we need everybody hungry.”
LBCC looks to win the conference championship as they take on Mt. SAC on Friday.
Correction: An initial version of this story contained a misspelling of the name of Candace Dickerson. It has been corrected.
A Filipino treat called Halo-Halo, which is a dessert consisting of crushed ice, evaporated milk or coconut milk was given to students and faculty for an event celebrating Filipino Heritage Month.
The event took place at the LAC at the A building from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Oct. 24.
The event started with people going outside to make their own halo-halo. There were also dark chocolate cookies to enjoy.
While people were enjoying their halo-halo, people could do crafts for Christmas like making ornaments.
“It builds community and you get to learn something new. It’s introducing me to new foods, but it’s very similar to Mexican style foods. We see a lot of similarities through celebrating our differences,” Candace Dickerson, attendee and transfer counselor said.
A lot of people came to this event, most of them coming for the free food, but some came to learn about Filipino culture.
“It’s a good thing to have these events since it teaches people the culture through these kinds of events,” Jay Thom, attendee and LBCC employee said.
The treats at the event smelled fresh and ready for people to enjoy at the event.
Even though the event started with a lot of people, once everyone got their treats people started leaving and only a handful of people stayed for the rest of the event.
It was still great that people came to the event so that they could learn more information on the Filipino culture and how these treats are important to Filipino culture.
Most people felt that this event was very good at interpreting Filipino culture but felt like that the event could have been better.
“There hasn’t been any explanation on what this is and what it represents. Give more information like maybe a sheet that would be helpful to know what they are and what they are used for.” Julie Daniels and Susan Fintland both said.
Everyone enjoyed the Filipino treats and got a piece of Filipino culture
The English department held an open house at LAC on Oct.31 in an effort to boost enrollment for their more niche offerings, geared toward fans of creative writing and literature.
“We’re here to show another facet of English,” professor Anthony Starros said, who was joined by some of his colleagues.
The professors who teach these classes said they hope for larger student enrollment because they find a lot of enjoyment in teaching them.
One such class being offered is English 4: Critical Analysis of Literature, taught by professor Starros and professor Kirsten Moreno.
Moreno said she tailors the course in a way that encourages students to read literature and use it to shape the lense through which they navigate their lives.
“The writers she focuses on are of varied cultural backgrounds to reflect students’ lived experiences,” Moreno said.
The idea is that students will be able to use literature as a tool for navigating the world around them.
“Literature is not just for academics. It also helps us understand the society in which we live,” Starros said.
Students who attended the open house were enthused to learn more about the course offerings available through the open house.
“I’m here because of my love for literature but also because, you know, the food,” said Garbiela Munoz, who is majoring in communications.
Tuesday’s open house marked the second open house the English department held on campus, the first of which did yield a small uptick in enrollment.
Correction: An initial version of this story contained a misspelling of the name of Suzanne Engelhardt. It has since been corrected.
Former LBCC counselor, who was fired after an incident at the 2022 graduation ceremony, choked up as she revealed she finally found full-time employment at Saddleback College after being fired from LBCC in Sept. 2022.
“I applied all across the state. A whole year without income, completing applications, and receiving rejection notifications. Three interviews. The first two were ‘nos.’ The third one was finally ‘yes’,” Kashara Moore said.
Moore mispronounced a graduate’s name at the 2022 graduation ceremony and then nudged her elbow in the direction of the graduate.
The investigative report summary deemed that Moore did mispronounce Carmina Barraza’s name, the nudging motion likely caused contact and the elbow was intentional due to the unnatural position of Moore’s elbow.
This resulted in her termination with the Board of Trustees voting 3-2.
Faculty put together a petition that received over 1000 votes supporting Moore.
Moore took the chance to thank some of the people who helped her get a position at an institution again.
“I’m so grateful to Dr. (Eliott) Stern (president at Saddleback College) for giving me a chance in the community college system again,” said Moore. “I still love LBCC. My heart is in Long Beach. I have a full time job now, but still want to come back.”
Moore showed up to LBCC in support of her former coworkers protesting at the latest Board of Trustee meeting over the lack of a new contract for faculty.
“There was a conflict. Some people have their names said wrong every day. (Moore) didn’t see her. There was nobody on that stage to help both of them,” said Suzanne Engelhardt, LBCC Faculty Association and leader of the protest.
Moore summed up the incident as a misunderstanding and having no hard feelings over the decision.
“If they can do it again, I hope they can make it different. I hold no ill will,” said Moore.
Skeletal face paint, a deep-red dress dotted with flowers and lights, accompanied by a backpiece decorated in flowers, skulls and a sun and moon silhouette were La Catrina performer Amber Orosco’s perception of her mother in the afterlife.
“When my mom died, I felt like I lost a part of me, so my costumes are what I think my mom would look like in the afterlife,” Orosco said.
Orosco’s Catrina is an extravagant creation, her dress, a floor length red ball gown dotted with fabric flowers and small lights is entirely handmade, as is the circular backpiece she wears as la Catrina. The backpiece, studded with skulls, small skeletons, flowers and even a small bird figurine, alongside a sun and moon looms over her figure, creating a silhouette that would be difficult to ignore.
Students, faculty and community members all came together for LBCC’s Day of the Dead celebration on Thursday in the LAC A building quad.
The event was complete with a live band, folkloric dancers and a performance from Orosco as La Calavara Catrina, also known as “the lady of bones” or “the elegant skull” and one of the most recognizable symbols for Day of the Dead.
Orosco, a professional Catrina and dress maker, began making appearances as La Catrina at Day of the Dead events after her grandmother died, seeing no one else taking up the mantle of La Catrina during events, but only decided to pursue it professionally when her mother died.
“My mom was extravagant, larger than life. She would light up the whole room when she walked in, I wanted to show that,” Orosco said.
Orosco also sells her costumes, creating made-to-order versions of her Catrina costume for others interested in bearing the likeness of the iconic figure.
Day of the Dead is meant to be both a celebration of life and death, recognizing death as an important part of the cycle of life while keeping the memory of deceased loved ones alive.
Several clubs and some departments set up their own altars in small tents lined up on the quad, leading up to the main altar set up on the event stage. Each altar was unique in its presentation, but all shared the most important components of a Day of the Dead altar: marigolds, food, and pan de muerto (bread of the dead) surrounding photos of the people the altar was dedicated to.
Some altars held photos of important historical figures, such as Frida Kahlo or Marie Tharp, while others were composed entirely of photos of people’s deceased loved ones.
Oliver Booth, a member of LBCC’s art club (Club D’Art), helped their club set up the altar and placed a photo of their twin sister alongside some of her art.
“She dealt with a lot of demons, she was smart, beautiful and she was just, her,” said Booth.
“When I saw the procession coming, I was really moved. As cheesy as it sounds it was beautiful,” Booth said.
Booth, a member of the Lakota nation, had never participated in Day of the Dead prior, but decided to this year after the death of their sister in May of 2023, who committed suicide after three prior failed attempts.
“It was in May, after powwow. She and my dad ate dinner together, but I went to work. It was after dinner that my dad found her, she had hung herself in the bathroom. When I got back from work, I thought she was still alive, but I saw the police outside and one of them said ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ and I realized she was gone,” Booth said.
An altar for her was something Booth thought would best honor her memory, knowing how much she adored the tradition in life.
“She loved this holiday, she always thought it was beautiful. When she died, we had a memorial for her how we knew she would have wanted it to be; she wouldn’t have wanted a proper Lakota ceremony. We played Iron Maiden and remembered her in life,” Booth said.
Fidel Gomez blows a conch to signify the beginning of the Day of the Dead procession, which began in the LAC P building courtyard and ended in the A building quad on Nov 2. Gomez also lead the procession bringing a long line of participants to the quad. (Cain Carbajal)
Folkloric dancers from the dance troupe “Nadino” perform a traditional dance to LBCC’s Day of the Dead celebration attendants on Nov. 2 in the A building quad. the folkloric group is based out of Los Angeles, and has performed in several different festivals, appeared on “Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento,” a Spanish language American dance competition show. (Cain Carbajal)
Folkloric dancers from the dance troupe “Nadino” perform a traditional dance to LBCC’s Day of the Dead celebration attendants on Nov. 2 in the A building quad. the folkloric group is based out of Los Angeles, and has performed in several different festivals, appeared on “Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento,” a Spanish language American dance competition show. (Cain Carbajal)
Folkloric dancers from the dance troupe “Nadino” perform a traditional dance to LBCC’s Day of the Dead celebration attendants on Nov. 2 in the A building quad. the folkloric group is based out of Los Angeles, and has performed in several different festivals, appeared on “Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento,” a Spanish language American dance competition show. (Cain Carbajal)
Members of the folkloric dance troup “Nadino” walk in the procession for LBCC’s Day of the Dead celebration on Nov. 2. The procession began in the P building courtyard and ended in the A building quad. (Cain Carbajal)
A member of the Dia de Los muertos celebration prepares for the procession by lighting incense and putting out the flames in the LAC P building courtyard on Nov. 2. Incense (also known as “copal”) is used as a ceremonial offering for spirits as well as thought of as a way to guide spirits home, with the smell leading the way. (Cain Carbajal)
An LBCC student who worked closely with the Justice Scholars Program died on Halloween after his truck flipped on the 101 freeway near Humboldt County on his drive back from Oregon.
Irving Alvarez, 28,was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash according to the California Highway Patrol(CHP).
Alvarez was traveling with his dog Pete, whom he’d rescued from a life of neglect, along with a friend and her dog.
The passenger, Ariella Gaughan, survived sustaining major injuries as did her dog, Zeke. Alvarez’s dog was unable to be saved and died.
“It was a long day,” Gaughan said while recounting the events leading up to the accident. “I was asleep and woke up to the sound of a loud bang. Then I felt us rolling.”
Alvarez was traveling southbound when his car swerved, hitting a tree before rolling multiple times, coming to a stop in the northbound lane. CHP reported that neither passenger was wearing a seatbelt.
While no cause has been officially established for the accident, Gaughan thinks Alvarez may have fallen asleep at the wheel.
“It truly was just an accident,” Gaughan said.
Gaughan, who faces up to 6 months of recovery for fractures to her foot, spine, collarbone and femur, considers herself lucky to be alive to tell the world about Irving and his impact.
“Those last days were so beautiful,” Gaughan said.
On Oct. 28, Guaghan and Alvarez ventured up North to meet with members of the Chickasaw Nation to speak to them about plans for outreach programs.
“We decided to make a trip of the whole thing. We ventured to Oregon. We drove along the coast. The dogs got to run around and play. It was so special,” said Gaughan.
While her time with Alvarez was brief, they’d only met in May of this year, Gaughan is grateful for the time they spent together as partners in advocacy and community outreach.
“In a way, I feel like he and Pete were two underappreciated souls that found each other and now, people will know just how great they were,” Gaughan said.
Advocacy and community outreach was an important aspect of Alvarez’s life.
Alvarez assisted with the Justice Scholars Program at LBCC, a program that supports formerly incarcerated and system-impacted students.
As a re-entry navigator, his role within the program was to provide guidance to students re-entering society after incarceration.
“He was a leader and made such a great impact in such a short amount of time,” Sara Rodriguez, of the Justice Scholars program said.
For students in the program, Alvarez’s death came as a shocking blow.
“They’re out of that lifestyle and trying to better their lives so things like this aren’t supposed to happen, you know,” Rodriguez said.
The program reserves Mondays for a talk entitled, “Recovery Matters,” during which students are able to speak on their struggles and triumphs while navigating their new lives.
This monday, the conversation was geared toward gratitude and students were given space to speak on how Alvarez’s passing affected them.
Originally a Georgia native, Alvarez always possessed the qualities of a leader. His family, who still live in Athens, are proud of the outreach work he’s done in California.
His younger sister Lynsey Alvarez recalled fond memories of being nurtured and cared for by her brother while their parents worked long hours to support them.
“He was just good like that,” Lynsey Alvarez said.
In contemplating the life of her brother, she spoke of his involvement with the street life that would lead to a series of incarcerations for him throughout his teens.
“He was diagnosed with cancer at 13,” Lynsey Alvarez said. “He saw so many other people with cancer die so when he didn’t I guess that made him feel invincible.”
Due in part to the environment they grew up in and his desire to seem tough and in control after a diagnosis that once made him feel helpless, Alvarez became entrenched in a rough crowd.
At 19, Alvarez came to visit family in California where he fell into trouble, leading to an arrest, and spending five years in prison.
In prison, Alvarez developed what he would later express to his sister as “both soft and hard skills.”
He learned to value his education while navigating the harsh world of prison.
After his release, he kept his focus on education and rehabilitation.
In 2018, Alvarez enrolled in the YouthBuild Charter School of California and graduated last fall.
He went on to pursue an education at LBCC and involved himself with nonprofits such as Brothers Sons Selves who advocate for young men of color and Sunflower Foster Youth Investment who provide assistance to former and current foster care youth.
At Sunflower, Alvarez was an executive director, working closely with founder Jaci Cortez.
“He brought an element that not many people think about when dealing with foster youth,” Cortez said. “He thought about those who were touched by the criminal justice system.”
Cortez has been in close contact with Alvarez’s family following his death and has plans to establish a scholarship in his name with the help of his sister, Lynsey.
“All I can do now is continue to try and be the leader he saw in me,” Cortez said.
Alvarez’s family arrived in Los Angeles on Nov. 7 for a final viewing before he was cremated.
“There are so many people who want to pay their respects so there will be a couple of ceremonies,” said Lynsey Alvarez. “We figured this would be the easiest way to make sure that he’ll be with us for all of it.”
Lynsey Alvarez is touched by the outpouring of love she and her family have received from those who worked closely with her brother.
“What happened was sad and devastating but I have grown to appreciate his work. He did so much in such a short amount of time,” she said. “In a way, he kind of lives in all of us.”
When designing a tattoo, people put their trust in a skilled artist or trusted friend. Not everyone would put their trust in a group of first year college students.
That is exactly what assistant psychology professor Edward Chen did during his first year as a professor, collaborating with his students to create a piece of art that will forever be memorialized in skin and ink.
“It was my first semester as an adjunct professor at (Orange Coast College), and one girl in my class came up to me on the first day and asked ‘hey, can you be the adviser for our club?’” Chen said when beginning his story behind the tattoo.
The club was for those with an interest in developing user interface and user experience (shortened to UI/UX) aspects of websites and applications and interested in learning about design outside of a UX design class.
“I was surprised they wanted me to be their adviser, but I said yes obviously. So I became their adviser while I was co-advising another club for honors psychology students,” Chen said.
Ann Tran, the club president during the 2022 fall and 2023 spring semesters, was the one to ask Chen to be their new adviser.
“I had emailed all the computer science professors to be our adviser, but they either were too busy or already advising another club. So I asked all my professors and the first one to say yes was professor Chen,” Tran said.
Tran and another club member, Andrea Santos, began work on a project for their college’s annual student project and research symposium with Chen as their project adviser.
“He helped us a lot. We were also in his research class so we got the chance to practice our presentation before the actual symposium,” Tran said.
Combining their knowledge of user interface and design as well as Tran’s experience as a psychology student and Santos’ interest in graphic design, the pair designed an app meant to help students regulate and maintain a study schedule that works best for them.
The project was a proposal for the design and layout of the application called StudySesh, using methods they learned in their club activities as well as psychology and population research methods encouraged by Chen.
“Our project was based on helping students manage their studying habits and I guess just like the psychology of learning, he was a very hands-on adviser, we would meet every two weeks and talk about what we needed for the project and he helped us with our research” Santos said.
“I also enjoyed his class because he would take the time to go over special topics that weren’t covered in the textbook, like ADHD, which I really appreciated since I have ADHD,” Santos said.
When the pair presented their project at the 2023 symposium in April, they received second place in the oral presentation category and a $200 check.
Proud of his students’ work, Chen asked Tran, Santos, and some members of the club board if they would like to design a tattoo to commemorate his time with them at OCC, knowing he would be leaving for his new job at LBCC come the 2023 fall semester.
“I was really surprised that he wanted to get a tattoo to remember us. It was really sweet when he asked,” Santos – who designed the final version of the tattoo Chen would get, said. “We all got together to brainstorm ideas for his tattoo, we were all hanging out one day after a club meeting at this STEM center event they had on campus.”
Chen and his students eventually decided on a tattoo of Snoopy, a character from the
“Peanuts” comic and show.
“He has this catchphrase he said at the end of every class that was ‘do good science, be good people’ and I thought it would be a good idea to incorporate that in the tattoo design. I thought of my best friend too, who designs really sick tattoos and has done a bunch of Snoopy and Charlie Brown tattoos for people before,” Santos said.
Santos’ friend, Alex Purcer (cruncheycore on Instagram), was the one who ultimately tattooed Santos’ design on Chen.
“I love Snoopy and I think he’s super cute, so I thought it would be a really cute idea to have Snoopy with a bunch of books and glass to represent (Chen),with him saying ‘do good science, be good people’ in a little bubble,” Santos said.
Professor Edward Chen in costume for Halloween. Here he is flexing his arm while showing off the tattoo that got designed by his students (Zuri Minor)
The final design of the tattoo was tweaked from the speech bubble design to have the phrase written under a bespectacled Snoopy reading a book, with a pile of three more books next to him.
“When I tell students to ‘do good science’ and ‘be good people’ I just want to remind them to care about ethics and science and people,” Chen said.
“To make sure they’re treating their subjects with respect and kindness. I want them to do (research) correctly, because that research could be done in a fashion that does not accurately assess the issue and can lead to misinformation,” said Chen.
Chen was unsure of why his students all agreed to the design, but was happy to have found a design both he and his students thought was representative of his time as their professor and adviser.
“I think it was because I always wore this one Snoopy hoodie, with the words ‘majored in cool’ underneath it and it was something that stuck with them as something that was me,” Chen said.
“Maybe because I liked to read and they said, ‘I’m a huge nerd,’ it fit,” Chen said.
The books are also intentionally colored to represent the UI/UX club Chen advised and OCC, a blue and orange book to match the college’s spirit colors, purple to match the club’s logo and a green book in the same shade as the green used for Tran and Santos’ project logo.
At the beginning of his graduate program, Chen already knew he wanted to be a teacher. His only issue was he hadn’t decided what education level he wanted to teach.
It was only during his time in his graduate program at UCI, where he taught some classes to undergraduate students, that he realized he wanted to become a college professor.
“As social scientists, our goal is to improve the human condition. We want to help people, and teaching was how I realized I could help people,” Chen said.
Prior to starting as an adjunct professor at Orange Coast College, Chen already had three tattoos, both of which he got to commemorate milestones in his life, and wanted to include his students in this tradition by having them design a tattoo.
“I’ve actually been thinking of continuing the tradition now that I’m (at LBCC). But I might have to reserve it to just one semester per year, otherwise I’d have a lot of tattoos,” Chen said.
Chen’s passion for teaching stems outside of just wanting his students to learn and succeed. He stressed the importance of getting his students to think critically about the material they learn and challenging their own preconceptions of the sciences.
“When it comes to social science, (research findings) can be a little more murky. Whenever I tell students about scientific findings I tell them that it’s “as far as we know,” because it could turn out to be disproven or become outdated. Even the textbooks we use at times can be outdated,” Chen said.
In particular, Chen was passionate about the inconclusive evidence behind the ideas of learning styles and its application in educational settings.
“There is a lot of talk about learning styles and teaching different styles to optimize student learning. But the research behind it is mostly anecdotal, it lacks the empirical evidence to prove that different learning styles exist or that students succeed by studying using techniques meant for their learning style,” Chen said.
“Learning styles imply there’s only one method that each student learns best through. Which isn’t the case. A lot of the time it depends on the content and sometimes students have different interpretations of their learning style than others.”
“Think of it like this. How would you teach someone a dance? It would probably be visual, because even if someone is an auditory learner, listening to someone explain a dance is more difficult than watching them perform it,” said Chen.
Chen has talked at length to his students about the questionable research behind learning styles, but noted that some of his students have continued to apply the language of learning styles to themselves.
“It can be hard teaching nuance to people who are just starting out as scientists. If you believe something wholeheartedly, then it’s difficult to change your mind, even when faced with opposing evidence,” Chen said.
Sophomore Riki Moscoso’s time of 21:42 in the 4 mile run helped LBCC secure 16th place for the team to qualify for the State Championship, narrowly clinching the final spot.
In this run, the top 16 teams qualified for state, and LBCC secured the number 16 spot in the rankings, edging out Santa Monica College by 14 points.
“Early on, we were never ranked in the top 16 in SoCals, so we knew we had to upset some teams today,” LBCC head coach Julio Jimenez stated.
Moscoso’s 21:42 time helped him finish with the best time for LBCC in the race.
“Since I got injured early in the season, my whole goal since then was to qualify for state either individually or as a team, and I feel like that was a big achievement since it was a hard time when the doctors told me I wasn’t gonna be able to compete for the season,” Moscoso stated in regards to what was going through his mind before and after the race.
LBCC ran better as a team this time around as freshman Joshua Jung finished the race three seconds after Moscoso.
Shortly after Jung crossed the finish line, sophomore Leonardo Acevedo came across with the time of 21:54.
For completion of the run, LBCC’s runners averaged 22:21 and the runners’ times added all together was 1:51:45.
Compared to the SoCal Regional Preview that took place earlier in the season the times added up all together were three minutes faster in Friday’s Championship.
The improvements and mentality by LBCC’s top three runners, Moscoso, Jung and Acevedo caught the eye of Jimenez, as this was a key factor in his team qualifying for the State Championship.
“We had Leonardo Acevedo improving throughout the season, Riki Moscoso battling with an injury, and then Joshua (Jung) getting used to the new distance, so we had a spectrum of challenges within our top three. But they worked together today and they were passing people together and pack running,” Jimenez stated.
LBCC looks to take home the gold when they head to Fresno on Nov. 18 to compete in the 3C2A State Championship at Woodward Park.
Nico Nance finishes strong in the SoCal Regionals meet held at El Dorado Park in Long Beach, on Friday, November 3, 2023. The Vikings men’s team placed 16th out of 27 schools at the meet. (Kassie Sainz)
Franklyn Taylor finishes strong in the SoCal Regionals meet held at El Dorado Park in Long Beach, on Friday, November 3, 2023. The Vikings men’s team placed 16th out of 27 schools at the meet. (Kassie Sainz)
Leonardo Acevedo finishes strong in the SoCal Regionals meet held at El Dorado Park in Long Beach, on Friday, November 3, 2023. The Vikings men’s team placed 16th out of 27 schools at the meet. (Kassie Sainz)
In honor of Filipino American Heritage Month, LBCC held a panel about Filipino community struggles and highlighted what the community has dealt with for the past 100 years.
The event started with the assistant professor of ethnic studies and host Stef Lira asking what it meant to be a Filipino and a Filipino American.
A lot of people had many different answers like karaoke and workers movements.
Lira talked about the U.S methods of benevolent colonization such as the Pensionado Act. Under this act, the U.S gave scholarships to Filipinos so they can go to school in the states. This was the U.S way of recivilizing Filipinos.
“It is very important for people to understand the struggles the Filipino culture has had to deal with for a long time,” Alex Liong, director of the FYE said.
Lira moved on to talking about Filipino forced migration. The Filipinos were forced to do labor overseas.
Despite trying to fight back, the Filipinos unfortunately had to accept that they were being forced to leave their home for work.
Over 6,000 Fillipinos leave the country everyday with 17% of them being either refugees or indoctrinated.
“When we think about the message I want to get across in this talk is to talk to each other, to other communities and start an organization because it can help the people out a lot,” Lira said.
After discussing migration and colonization, Dr. Lira asked “how do Filipino people reconnect with their roots after many years living in the U.S?”
A lot of people came up with many different answers like eating at Filipino establishments, learning and teaching about Filipino culture, continuing cultural practices and prioritizing their culture.
Before the panel was over Lira led a Filipino chant that is very significant to the Filipino community.
LBCC women’s cross country did not qualify for the State Championship as they finished 21 out of 32 in the rankings in the 5k mile run.
Although this was the same park and route as they had earlier on in the season at the SoCal Regional Preview, LBCC finished 15. The placement was six spots below the place they finished in the preview.
A major blow to LBCC had to cope with was star sophomore runner Katlyn Morataya not being able to compete in the race.
LBCC did have their other star sophomore runner Lorena Galaviz though, as she led the way for the Vikings in this race as she finished with a time of 22:05.1.
Even though that was the best time out of the LBCC runners for the race, she finished near the same time she had in the preview, and Glaviz hinted how physical health could have played a factor.
“I’ve been having a lot of bumps in the road physically. I went into it to give it my best effort. I was constantly reminding myself ‘just stay calm, control what you can control, and take it step by step’,” Galaviz said.
LBCC sophomore runner Lorena Galaviz crosses the finish line. Galaviz placed 87th with a time of 22:05:01. The SoCal Regional Championship took place on Friday at El Dorado East Regional Park. (Izzy Juarez)
LBCC sophomore runner Mel Moreno overcomes the only hill at the SoCal Regional Championships. The women’s team did not qualify for the State race as they placed 21st with a score of 534 on Friday at El Dorado East Regional Park. (Izzy Juarez)
LBCC sophomore runner Frida Hernandez crosses the finish line. Hernandez placed 111th with a time of 23:56:0 The SoCal Regional Championship took place on Friday at El Dorado East Regional Park. (Izzy Juarez)
LBCC freshman Morgan Venable takes a rest after crossing the finish line. Venable placed 136th with a time of 25:32.1. The SoCal Regional Championship took place on Friday at El Dorado East Regional Park. (Izzy Juarez)
Even though LBCC wasn’t able to qualify for the state championship, fellow sophomore runner Melanie Moreno had a personal day to remember.
The hard work she’s put in the whole season paid off as she finished this race with a time of 24.53.3.
Moreno’s time was a full minute faster than the time she had in the SoCal Regional Preview.
“I was hitting the same times that I was hitting at practice, so I wasn’t sure to go faster or keep it the same pace. But I kept it the same pace because I didn’t want to die out in the third mile,” Moreno said about what was going through her mind during the run.
As one season ends for women’s running teams, another one begins, as head coach Karen Vigilant is getting ready to prepare for the track season coming up ahead.
“My goal is to make sure they’re ready for track. These girls won’t have a next (cross-country) season since a lot of them are sophomores. The goal is to stay in shape and get mentally tough so that we can make it far in track. So our goal is to make it to state in track since we didn’t do it in cross country,” said Vigilant.
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
_gac_
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
