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Punk band Pulse gives in-depth look at their experience in the local music scene

Casper Torres
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Punk band Pulse gives in-depth look at their experience in the local music scene

One group that knows how to get a mosh pit going is the Huntington Beach based band Pulse. The punk band came to LBCC to talk about their band on a special episode of Kitchen Sink. 

Pulse is a five piece band consisting of sisters Alana (20) and Ava Johnson (17), brothers Aidan (19) and Mason Atkinson (17), and friend Michael Jarrah (20). Alana is the frontwoman, Ava is a guitarist, Aidan is the drummer, Mason is the bassist, and Michael is also a guitarist.

Everyone in the band has been playing together for years in various different bands, especially Aidan Atkinson and Alana Johnson, who have been playing together in punk bands since their sophomore year of high school.

The band initially started with three members: Alana Johnson as lead singer, Aidan Atkinson on drums, and Mason Atkinson alternating between guitar and bass.

“I always knew that I wanted to do a punk band, like we were just talking about it so much, how we really just wanted to start a punk band again, how we missed playing. It started with just us three jamming,” said Alana Johnson

The band was getting ready to play at a Halloween house show when Aidan Atkinson ended up asking Jarrah to join their group. 

“Yeah, so I was jamming with him like a week or two prior and then he texted me about the house show and he was just like ‘we need another guitar player or bass player,’” Jarrah said. 

Aidan Atkinson then told Jarrah and his brother that they would both be on guitar and they had to fight it out. 

Mason Atkinson self-admittedly lost, becoming the band’s bassist with Jarrah as their guitarist.

At first Ava Johnson didn’t want to be in the band, but changed her mind when she saw them playing and having a good time. She became the band’s second guitarist.

“Like a week before Alana was like ‘Ava come over and jam, we’re doing a show’ and I was like ‘no, that sounds stupid, I don’t want to’ and then I saw them play and I was like ‘okay,’” said Ava Johnson. 

The members of the band Pulse, (left to right) Ava Johnson, Alana Johnson, Aidan Atkinson, Mason Atkinson, and Michael Jarrah, came to the P building on the LBCC Liberal Arts Campus for an interview about the local Huntington Beach band. (Emily D’Amico)

The first show where all five of them got to play together as a group, was at a Huntington Beach store Vinyl Solution, a record store many in the band grew up visiting.

“It’s like a Huntington Beach local legend spot,” said Alana Johnson

“I think it’s always been sort of an adolescent dream of mine,” said Aidan Atkinson. “Like ‘one day my awesome rock band will play at Vinyl Solution.’”

“It was kind of unimaginable when it happened, I was like ‘what the f—? We’re playing at Vinyl Solution?’” Ava Johnson said. 

A stand out moment of their performance at the record store was their big closer “8686,” which ended with Aidan Atkison on the floor, throwing himself over the drumset. 

“It’s not technically my drumset, it’s my little brother’s drum set. So, I was in charge of keeping it in my care and keeping it nice and clean and not scratched and then I broke his poor little trust because at the end of the set….I was just like, ‘it would be really cool,’” Aidan Atkison said.

Mason Atkinson added some more information on what Vinyl Solution is all about; supporting local artists. 

“Vinyl Solution always supported small bands. You go in there you’ll find like records, cassettes, shirts of all small bands. So it’s nothing out of the ordinary for them to just be down to do that and let people play there,” said Mason Atkinson 

At Vinyl Solution, the band played a full set, including tracks “Spaghetti Western,” “Live Fast” and “8686.” 

 One of their favorite songs to perform live is “Spaghetti Western.” 

Jarrah came up with the riff on the song, the inspiration for it ended up coming from movies.

“A lot of the times if I’m drawing a blank, I just like go around and I’m just like ‘what does this riff make you feel?’ And everyone has to like say something really quick, and I think like three of you guys were like, ‘it makes me feel like I’m in a movie,’” Alana Johnson said.

Meanwhile “8686,” was created by Mason Atkinson, back when he was in a former band of his and Ava Johnson’s. 

“I wrote that riff back in like 7th or 8th grade and I’ve just been kicking it around for years just trying find something to work with it, and it was one of our old bands, it was done for a little bit, and it didn’t have a name for longest time it was just called ‘untitled’ and we couldn’t think of anything but the time structure at the time went like eight bars, six bars, eight bars, six bars,”  said Mason Atkinson

“I would always introduce the song for some reason as ‘this is a song Mason wrote,’ and everyone would always be like ‘I can’t believe Mason wrote those lyrics,” Alana Johnson said.

The band went on to discuss how people often compare them to other female fronted groups, despite not sounding anything like them. These comparisons seem to be based only on gender alone. 

“The spectacle of seeing us should have nothing to do with the fact that there are girls in it,” said Alana Johnson.

“That’s another running theme in the band is that we always kinda resent a little bit, like ‘oh you sound like –’, you know – insert one of five female fronted bands like, ‘you sound like Bikini Kill,’” said Aidan Atkison.

“We’re not a girl punk band, we’re just a punk band, who you know, there happens to be girls making the music and being a part of it. And I just think that’s the big thing, like we’re just people, it’s not about necessarily what gender we are.” 

An artist they feel very strongly for and are inspired by is the female fronted rock band, Amyl and The Sniffers. That influence can be heard on many of their tracks, especially “Live Fast,” one of their first songs. 

“Our first practices were literally us just covering like five Amyl and The Sniffers songs in a row,” Alana Johnson said.

They are one of the bands that she idolizes, seeing them 6 times within the last year.  

“The thing that was always so cool about them was like even though she’s literally wearing only underwear and a bra, somehow she’s not just like putting her sexuality out there just as like a draw, it’s just like she is completely half masculine and half feminine at the same time. She literally just demands your attention,” Alana Johnson said.

This is something that can clearly be seen being applied in Pulse with how both Alana Johnson and the rest of the band demands people’s attention, keeping their crowd engaged.

Pulse plans to record their songs. The specifics are unknown at the moment, but fans have something to look forward to.

The band also teased a major show coming up on August 5th that, according to Alana, could be described as a ‘punk rock Woodstock.’ It will start at 7 p.m. going to 7 a.m. the following day and is set to feature 20 bands. The event will take place in Palm Desert.

End of year celebration honors mentorship students and African Liberation Day

Cain Carbajal
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End of year celebration honors mentorship students and African Liberation Day

Located at the lower level floor of the E building inside the Nordic Lounge was a colorful and vibrant lively party filled with staff and faculty members as well as Umoja student club members. 

In honor of African Liberation Month, Financial Aid Advisor Angela Fowlkes hosted an academy mentorship end of the year SAGE celebration for the African American students and staff members’ hard work and diligence throughout the LBCC community on May 25.

May 25 is celebrated as African Liberation Day by several countries internationally, recognizing the foundation of the Organisation of African Unity, now known as the African Union, on the same day in 1963.

SAGE stands for Sankofa Adjustments with Great Expectations. Sankofa is a word from the Twi language of Ghana which translates to “to retrieve” in English. Fowlkes chose the acronym for her mentorship and described it as an honorable and beautifully fit title for her program.

Political science professor Jerome Hunt happily speaks to LBCC student Monaliese Davis at the SAGE end of the year celebration. (Grace Jones)

The celebration event had reminiscent themes of Ghanaian traditional colors as well as decorations and balloons. A table of beverages and snacks were present along with traditional southern style soul food that consisted of chicken, mac and cheese, green beans, and potatoes. 

Angela Fowlkes described her mentorship program as a means for young African American students to thrive not only as respectable human beings but scholars in academic settings. 

“When I wrote for the student equity grant I wanted to improve students’ success rates in math and English to close the achievement gap and equity gap. I want to assist in improving the student success rate in our disproportionately African American scholars at LBCC,” Fowlkes said.

The mythical sankofa bird has been an important symbol in the African American and African diaspora communities. It is a bird typically depicted with its feet forward, head turned back and a golden egg in its beak, signifying the need for reflecting and learning from the past to look onward and build a fortunate future.

Financial aid specialist Erica Rodriguez highlighted the informational aspect of the program, congratulating Fowlkes for her work as a mentor for successful students..

“This event is honoring Black excellence. She has a cohort of I believe, 30 students and the students have done amazing things throughout the school. This is just to celebrate them and their accomplishments for the term,” Rodriguez said.

Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Lee Douglas gave high praise and encouragement towards Fowlkes concerning the sage metorship’s purpose for students involved. 

“This is an opportunity to celebrate the students that have completed this year’s SAGE mentoring program, and the design is to help our students be successful and accomplish their goals and by connecting them with like minded students that have been successful,” Douglas said.

“The idea is through their ability to connect with one another to share experiences and share resources, that those students will be able to support one another toward accomplishing their goals. It’s really a matter of community and community building, and helping to lift each other as they strive for greatness.”

Student Affairs Vice President Lee Douglas greets audience member at the SAGE mentorship end of the year celebration. (Grace Jones)

SAGE is a program designed to prepare students for the real world and thrive as successful adults by allowing them to network with like minded people. 

Newly admitted Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson made a surprise guest appearance at the event. He explained what his plans were concerning Long Beach such as rebuilding and updating certain streets in the city and identifying gentrification and speaking on the history of redlining in marginalized communities and low income neighborhoods. 

Opinion: College students should consider the benefits of the military as a career

Cain Carbajal
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Opinion: College students should consider the benefits of the military as a career

Some students scoff at military recruiters that come on campus, but they should keep an open mind. The military provides an abundance of career and financial benefits that most are unaware of. 

Allowing recruiters to come on campus is a good way to provide students with the opportunity to ask questions on neutral ground and find viable options for their future.

Benefits like 401k (military version is Thrift Savings Plan or TSP), paid education, paid rent, paid healthcare, generous time off and early retirement; which most of us don’t plan for and end up working too many years making up for it. 

The military is a job and most military jobs are not at risk of going into combat. 90% of the military that serve never go to war. It is a good employment option and not as bad as the media makes it out to be. 

There are many jobs required to support bases in our nation and worldwide.

The average pay with an associates degree is $43 thousand. The military average pay after two years of service is $65 thousand. After eight years of service, most enlisted military members pass $100 thousand. 

The military also offers Officer Training School (OTS) for eligible individuals desiring to be in management. This is schooling to become an officer and part of the management team.  

The average one bedroom rent in Southern California is $2 thousand. Today’s job market doesn’t pay monthly housing and food allowance. According to Militarypay.defense.gov, the military provides a Base Housing Allowance (BAH) of $2.5 thousand monthly and more if you have a family. 

Also provided is $452 monthly for Base Subsistence Allowance for food (BAS).  This is in addition to your base pay.

Neither BAH or BAS are taxed and in addition, commissary prices are reported to be 30% cheaper than their competition. Active duty and retirees are able to shop at the tax free commissary and base exchange.  

In today’s job market, 41% of companies offer 401k retirement plans matching 50 cents to every dollar you contribute, up to 5% which translates to 2.5% from the employer. The military’s version, TSP, is a retirement plan that matches dollar for dollar up to 5%.

Nowadays, it is extremely unlikely to have a pension once you retire. The military, however, has a pension plan for those who retire after 20 years. This is in addition to paying into social security and building toward the future retirement of their veterans.

The average job’s annual time off consists of 11 vacation days, 8 holidays and 7.6 days sick time.  The military annual time off consists of 30 vacation days, 11 holidays and you are not docked for sick time.

The military provides more than double the time off than the average job. For those who like to travel, most bases have a hotel that veterans are allowed to utilize at a tax free, reduced rate compared to local hotels.

Health insurance will cost a single employee an annual average of $8 thousand in addition to copayments which are capped at $1.7 thousand, rarely does a company foot the bill.

In the military, all medical and dental are fully covered for the veteran and their family.

Education for veterans is also a major benefit that comes with having served. If recruits come in with education debt, they can utilize Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), to erase part of their student loan debt. 

On average, only 47% of employers offer education assistance, covering up to $5 thousand. 

While in the military, the majority of a veteran’s education is paid for by the government. Any additional expenses can be covered by grants that an educational counselor can help veterans apply for.

Once enlistment is over, veterans are provided job search and resume assistance as well as the opportunity for a fully paid education with ample food and housing allowance via the GI Bill while in school. 

While some branches may offer recruitment bonuses, be careful, as this may be coming out of your future education benefits.

According to Staff Sgt. Flores, a career counselor at the Lakewood Marine Corps recruiting office, once Marines are nearing their enlistment ending they are required to attend a Transition Readiness Seminar (TRS). This seminar prepares veterans with resume building, internship information and knowledge about the GI Bill to help them fully understand the benefits they are entitled to.

The Marine Corps’ Credentialing Opportunities On-Line (COOL) website shows additional training that the U.S. Marine Corps will pay for, as well as what a military job will translate into in civilian life.

In many instances, jobs do not open up paths to American citizenship, but for military personnel, the path to citizenship is expedited for veterans and their families through the Parole in Place provision. This program allows undocumented immigrants to apply for citizenship while remaining within the country.

There are many other perks: active duty military can catch a military plane anywhere for free, most bases have gyms and cafeterias, veterans are able to buy a house with no money down and pay less in closing costs and many places offer veteran discounts.

To be in the military is a job with far better benefits than you will find in the job market today that start after a minimum enlistment. If you decide to take a job the military offers you, you will be a part of the few and the proud that defend our country.

Mongolia takes gold at US Sumo Open in Long Beach

Veronica Towers
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Mongolia takes gold at US Sumo Open in Long Beach

This year’s U.S. Sumo Open held over 100 matches with six different weight classes and two divisions.

Mongolia dominated again this year, with five out of the seven medals given out going to Mongolian wrestlers. 

In the women’s division, the undefeated heavyweight champion was 33-year-old Enkhzaya Selenge at 190 pounds. She then fell to silver in the open weight class to 35-year-old Munkhtsetsteg Otgon, at 200 pounds, who won gold. 

Both women’s division champions are originally from Mongolia. The top U.S. finisher was 29-year-old Kellyann Ball, at 310 pounds, who received bronze in both the heavyweight and open weight classes. 

Yama, the guest judge for the event, is one of the largest sumo wrestlers in the world, weighing nearly 634 pounds.

Sumo fans cheered on Yama, as he went head-to-head with two of his younger students from Yamamoto Dojo. 14-year-old Aiden at 270 pounds and 10-year-old Iki at 99 pounds. The exhibition match ended in a predictable win for both students.

Enkhzaya Selenge from Mongolia competing against Christina Jones from California, US in the women’s open weight matches. (Sam Huff)

In the men’s division, the lightweight champion was 21-year-old Edobor Konyeha at 87 pounds from Hungary and the middleweight champion was 32-year-old Usukhbayar Ochirkhuu at 220 pounds, also from Mongolia. 

The light heavyweight champion was 26-year-old Fathy Mohamed at 233 pounds from Egypt and the undefeated heavyweight, with a now 27-0 undefeated record, 25-year-old Mendsaikhan “Mendee” Tsogt-Erdene at 320 pounds from Mongolia.

One open weight match pitted 57-year-old father Kelly Gneiting at 475 pounds against his 18-year-old son Elias Gneiting at 175 pounds against each other. Elias Gneiting won the match.

The event was held in Walter Pyramid at the California State University of Long Beach on May 20.

  • Kamal Basira from Egypt competing against Angel De La Torre from California, US in the heavyweight matches in this years Sumo Open. (Sam Huff)
  • Fans watching a replay while judges go over previous call from referee during the heavyweight matches. (Sam Huff)
  • Judge Yama going head to head with one of his students originally from Japan. (Sam Huff)
  • Jared Faulk from North Carolina competes against Daniel Ramirez from California in the middleweight match at Walter Pyramid at CSU Long Beach. (Sam Huff)
  • Kamal Basira from Egypt celebrates his victory against Hayden Southall from Texas, United States in their heavyweight match. (Sam Huff)
  • Kamal Basira from Egypt showing sumo sportsmanship with winner Abdelrahman Obald also from Egypt in their heavyweight match. (Sam Huff)
  • Munkhtsetsteg Otgon from Mongolia competing against Christina Jones from California, US in the women heavyweight matches. (Sam Huff)
  • Edobor Konyeha from Hungary competing against Takeshi Amitani from Japan in one of their openweight matches. (Sam Huff)
  • Undefeated Mendsaikhan Tsogt-Erdene from Mongolia competing against Hayden Southall from Texas, US in the open weight match. (Sam Huff)
  • Enkhzaya Selenge, Kellyann Ball and Munkhtsetsteg Otgon receiving their awards. (Sam Huff)

Los Angeles Racing Dragons comes to recruit at LAC

Veronica Towers
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Los Angeles Racing Dragons comes to recruit at LAC

A demonstration of paddling on a rowing machine, a presentation on rowing, the origin story of dragon boat racing and how its history is tied to Chinese traditional history took over the LAC Nordic Lounge on Wednesday, May 24.

As part of events held for Asian Pacific Islander Desi Heritage Month, five members of the Los Angeles Racing Dragons (LARD) visited Long Beach City College to host a recruitment event.

The Los Angeles Racing Dragons are an organization that has participated in dragon boat races internationally but had its debut race in Long Beach at the first Long Beach dragon boat competition held in 1996.

“I started paddling ten years ago and I did as a new mom and I had just had a baby. I wanted to do a recreational sport so I could lose the baby weight,” board president of the Racing Dragons and rower Ligaya Jakmakjian said. 

Jakmakjian explained that paddling is a very accessible activity in that anyone could participate in.

“You can start at any level. All the teams are accepting and this is a sport you can do from very, very young and athletic to very, very old. I know some people that are cancer survivors in their seventies that still paddle competitively,” Jakmakjian said.

LARD not only promotes dragon boat racing but also an active lifestyle for all its members, filled with community, exercise and teamwork.

“Whatever you want out of this, you can get out of it. At the time I wanted to just have a place to go to exercise. That grew into me having comradery and getting leadership opportunities within the team and now I try to paddle as much as I can competitively,” Jakmakjian said.

“The best part about paddling is that you get the family, the team, the work you put in and you get to focus on your health and your form.” 

A rowing machine was present and members of the LARD team showed audience members the paddling techniques on the machine and talked of the joys and adrenaline highs rowing can provide.

LBCC student Lucy Martin holds a paddle board while on the rowing machine and taking direction from Los Angeles Racing Dragon team member Elle Law at the LAC campus inside the Nordic Lounge. (Grace Jones)

Two other members gave a demonstration of what the paddle board is used for as well as the correct form and technique used when rowing in a boat with 19 other members. 

LARD rower and land coach Tyler Satow spoke on the benefits and process of recruiting students for boat racing. He described the sport as welcoming, only hard work and determination are needed to truly experience its advantages.

“It creates a sense of community. It is such an open sport, you don’t have to be the strongest, you don’t have to be the most physically active. As long as you put in the work and the effort and you show up, it builds a lot of character that will definitely take students much further,” Satow said.

A short story from Chinese folklore that explains the origin of dragon boat racing was told as part of the demonstration.

In the story, Qu Yuan, a Chinese poet and politician suffered from great despair and distress after discovering his precious country, the Chu State, had been defeated by the Qin State in 278 B.C.

According to the legend, Yuan decided to end his life by holding a rock and drowning himself in the Miluo River. Worried villagers heard of the tragedy and decided to get into boats and row out to the river in search of Yuan’s body but unfortunately failed to find it.

In an attempt to keep evil spirits and fish away, the local villagers splashed the water with paddles and beat on drums. This began a tradition of dragon boat rowing as a staple in Chinese festivals, which later transitioned into a sport in modern times.

 LBCC hosts Asian Pacific Islander & Desi Graduation Ceremony for class of 2023

Casper Torres
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 LBCC hosts Asian Pacific Islander & Desi Graduation Ceremony for class of 2023

The 3rd annual Asian Pacific Islander Desi Cultural Transfer and Graduation ceremony was held, with a full audience at LBCC on Saturday May 20, 2023 at the E building, in the Nordic Lounge.

Student graduates, family, friends, faculty and alumni were in attendance to celebrate the accomplishment that was achieved by the APID students at LBCC.

A former first generation student himself, keynote speaker Loy Nashua JD, Vice President of the Human Resource Department, encouraged the room to push for success in their careers and future studies, acknowledging the hard work and struggles that many APID minority communities face.

“Keep pushing forward, get the support system that you need,” Nashua said. 

He mentioned the pandemic had racially discriminated against his community.

The racial barriers and remarks that have caused the community to feel unease did not stop students from continuing their studies at LBCC.

Community college has given students an opportunity to thrive and to push for their goals in their careers and studies. They smiled and cheered one another in the rows to the front of the stage.

The APID club was mentioned for their recognition on campus, voted the best club on campus in 2023.

Student speaker, Shafi Shahriar, proudly spoke about his Bangladeshi roots, his involvement at LBCC and his love for the APID club. 

To end the presentation, a figure that was covered in oil, barefoot, with candy wrap, and money was thrown to represent the many forms of celebration in the APID community. 

Dancer poses, with a hand-crafted dress and design in front of the LAC E building after the 3rd annual Asian Pacific Islander Desi Cultural Graduation Celebration at LBCC on Saturday May 20, 2023. (Lesly Gonzalez)

After the ceremony, attendee Jacob Parson mentioned that he found his passion in the many areas of Asia.

Parson hopes to take his studies in art history and studio history and meet artists and work with museums.

“I want to work with more asian art, it’s not talked about enough,” Parsons said.

Adding to more transfers, Nicolas Cervantes received his degree in Architecture design. He plans to transfer to a four year university as well.

“This is my first degree, I will be working on more,” Cervantes said.

Graduates were thanked and sent off with encouragement to the next chapter of their lives.

LBCC celebrates 2023 Black Cultural Graduation with dance performances

Casper Torres
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LBCC celebrates 2023 Black Cultural Graduation with dance performances

Long Beach City College 2023 Graduate Adronni Willis took the breath of everyone in the room with her solo dance at the African American cultural graduation ceremony.

Honoring over 50 Black graduates, the ceremony happened on May 20 at the LAC Nordic lounge, between two other cultural celebrations.

Graduate Isaiah Hester shared his accomplishment with a smile as he received his associate degree for transfer in film studies and is set to transfer to California State University of Dominguez Hills.

Softball player Marcellus Henry was excited and relieved to have successfully played at LBCC.  Henry plans to complete an associates degree to transfer with a sports scholarship and move to a four year, to a school in which he is currently undecided. 

Amber Mayfield, a nursing student graduate, had her young son cheer her on as she walked across the stage.  Her next educational step is at Charles Drew school of medicine.

“I am happy and proud to be finished,” said Mayfield. 

LBCC Softball Player Marcellus Henry, poses with his mother in celebration of his success on Friday May 20, at the 2023 Black Cultural Graduation Ceremony. (Lesly Gonzalez)

Superintendent-President Mike Munoz took the stage to congratulate the students and to remind them that their success is only the beginning, and that attending community college will serve many benefits in their future. 

“It takes a village to make a movement change,” said Munoz. “As the world outside is not all welcoming we need to do better.”

In communities with many social, economic and educational barriers the opportunity to reach for higher levels of education is not easy.

“Studies have shown that people with degrees live longer, are five times more likely to get a job, and obtain more benefits from their employers.” said Munoz

“It is also recognized that students who obtain their AA degrees in community college are six times more likely to receive a bachelor’s degree.”

The opening ceremony was presented by assistant professor of political science and ethnic studies department chair Jerome Hunt who is also student equity coordinator on campus. 

Hunt specializes in American government and political behavior of Black Americans as well as  LGBTQ+ politics. 

After his introduction, he announced the start of the black national anthem titled “Lift Every Voice & Sing” sung by student graduate Soraya Leonard. 

Dr. Alisia Kirkwood, dean of student affairs since 2018, led the crowd in a harmonic chant only containing the word “Ase” which is pronounced “as-hay.”

She explained it was to water the ancestral roots, a reminder to  the community of their past loved ones, and a peaceful way to protest resistance and solidarity.

“Ase” is a phrase used to honor one’s ancestors. As she asked everyone in the room to remind themselves of loved ones they have lost, and community members that have lived unlawfully or been targeted by the system such as George Floyd. 

She asked the audience to call out the names of their lost loved ones, followed by a moment of silence, as a form of remembrance. 

To lift the mood in the room, a performance from the LBCC dance department and some graduates performed a piece called “Move and Radiate.”

 Latino graduates celebrate their roots and accomplishments at RAICES graduation ceremony

Casper Torres
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 Latino graduates celebrate their roots and accomplishments at RAICES graduation ceremony

As part of the collective cultural graduation ceremonies being hosted at LBCC, RAICES students were celebrated along with their fellow graduates and families on Saturday, May 20.

Land acknowledgement of the various indigenous lands that the institution lays on such as the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples were given a moment of silence and round of applause.

The graduation ceremony contributed to many cultural celebrations. One was named “The Blessing”, or in Spanish, “La bendición.” It is a well-known celebration in the community. 

The Xipe Totec Danzantes Aztecas is another form of cultural celebration where the dancer’s hand-crafted designs with feathers, cloth, led by the sounds of the music. Each performer is unique, representing their identities and their culture. A tribal dance for one of the many communities in RAICES. 

A series of speakers were present to deliver keynote addresses. Such as those from Dr. Bill Vega and Jose Gutierrez who said their remarks in great humor. 

Academically Esteemed Guest speaker Bill Vega, delivers his address to Long Beach City College graduating class at the RAICES cultural graduation ceremony held on May 20, 2023. Vega gave graduates 5 pieces of advice he believed made a good leader that he also gave to Superintendent-President Mike Munoz during Munoz’ graduate program. (Cain Carbajal)

A certificate of achievement was distributed to mark the time and push towards student graduates at LBCC and to congratulate the continuation of many students and scholars in person and online. As many have put in the time and effort to continue despite the disparities that have kept from succeeding. 

Elizabeth Cruz, who was in the crowd as a nursing student, received her certificate of achievement and her associates degree, but is  unsure of her next step in education.

Cruz also graduated with honors.

“My goal is to get into the nursing program in Long Beach,” Cruz said.

Anahi Corte who is 33 years old, as well as mother to a 3 year old, earned her associates degree for transfer in sociology and will be transferring to California State University of Long Beach.

 “My baby has pushed me,” Corte said.

The closing and congratulations ended with big cheers and applause for the students, faculty and staff that have worked hard to keep public institutions running.

Afterwards, a photo booth was opened to take pictures, as well as a Mexican-Guatemalan food truck and music where students, their families and more gathered to look at their success at LBCC.

LBCC hires professional name readers for 2023 commencement 

Veronica Towers
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LBCC hires professional name readers for 2023 commencement 

The LBCC commencement ceremony may look different this year, with professional name readers and symbolic, silent protests in support of terminated LBCC counselor Kashara Moore.

When the part-time employee was fired by the board of trustees last year for mispronouncing graduates’ names and allegedly elbowing a student onstage during commencement, many faculty and staff showed their support for their colleague and their disappointment in the board’s decision. 

Name reading at commencement was previously a voluntary job that Moore signed up for during the 2022 commencement. During the celebration, Moore mispronounced student Carmina Barazza’s name. When Barazza suggested she say her own name into the microphone, Moore put out her arm to block the student, leading to what trustee members called an elbowing. 

A wave of anger and disappointment was seen and felt within the union after the decision to terminate Moore was made.

This year’s graduates received emails from LBCC notifying them of their partnership with NameCoach. 

NameCoach is a website where students can audio record their names on their site to ensure proper pronunciations of all names.

When asked if the school decided to pursue this route because of last year’s incident, Superintendent-President Mike Munoz stated, “I can’t really speak specifically to anything that could potentially involve her case. All I can say is as we were planning for this year’s commencement there were a variety of factors that were taken into consideration and we felt that after reviewing all of the different factors it made the most sense to hire.”

This route was not welcomed by all.

“This is the most embarrassing thing for this administration to have to hire a professional reader as a solution to what they did last year… If that is their reaction as a solution to what they did, I mean, shame on them,” Annahita Mahdavi West, friend and former colleague of Moore, said. 

The support and solidarity of Moore will manifest in other ways during this year’s commencement ceremony. 

“It (commencement) will be less attended…Some faculty may choose to use their leave and not attend. There will be symbolic messages,” PCC union representative and architectural professor Leslie Forehand said. 

Those who decide to use a discretionary or sick day for commencement will not be reprimanded. 

“If you call in sick, we don’t ask for a doctor’s note, we take your word at it. You can use one of your leaves.. Historically, we have not tried to verify those things and we’re not going to start this year,” Munoz said.

LBCC men’s volleyball coach steps down after 12 seasons be a present father

Damien Cortez
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LBCC men’s volleyball coach steps down after 12 seasons be a present father

Correction: An initial version of this story contained a misspelling of the name of Randy Totorp. It has been corrected.

Realizing the importance of male figures in his student athlete’s lives, Jonathan Charette is stepping down as the LBCC men’s volleyball coach to become a present father and husband for his family.

“I always longed for that father figure in my life. I really wanted to create that story of a father and son relationship because I don’t have one to reflect on,” Charette said. 

Prior to the start of the season, Charette and his wife made the decision that 2023 would most likely be his last season as head coach.

“I could see it here, at this level, how important a stable, consistent male figure is to the men I was coaching and it just inspired me to take that and put that into my own son,” Charette said.

Stepping down as head coach was not only a decision for Charette to be a present father, but a present husband as well.

“I want to be a great example to my son of what it’s like to be a loving, respectful husband. I want him to see what a healthy relationship is by modeling that with the interactions with my wife,” Charette said.

LBCC dean of kinesiology and Charette’s former coach Randy Totorp holds Charette in high regards, not only as a successful coach, but as a person.

“This is a big loss to the team and the department. He’s a person of great character and is still growing as a man. He’s staying to help find someone best suited to continue the level of excellence he’s provided,” Totorp said. 

Charette realized that the time he puts into coaching volleyball would be a distraction from the formative years of his son.

While he was coach, he committed himself to producing results and developing his student athlete’s personalities and lives outside of the sport.

“We want to maintain a level of competitive excellence, but we’re really invested in developing the (athletes). I made the commitment that that is what my focus would be and volleyball would be second. Taking on that commitment requires a lot of time, effort, and mental bandwidth. It gets very invasive in your personal life,” Charette said. 

The decision to step down as head coach was not influenced by the result of the state final where LBCC lost to Orange Coast College.

Totorp mentioned in the coming weeks there should be an announcement that LBCC is looking for someone to fulfill the role of head coach for the men’s volleyball team.

Charette’s overall record as head coach at LBCC was 159-30, winning three state championships, and appearing in the finals one other time.

“Maybe in a year I’ll hate not coaching and want to come back. Maybe in a year I’ll realize this was the best decision for my family. So, we’ll see,” Charette said. 

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