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LBCC Trustee had to look up ‘QAnon’ after being accused of supporting conspiracies

Shelby Tiefenthaler
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The board of Trustee member who was recently accused of trafficking in QAnon conspiracies and misinformation, in an email sent to the Long Beach Post by the Trustee President, responds by saying, “I don’t even know what QAnon is.” 

Trustee member, Virginia Baxter, laughed when she said she had to look up what these terms meant in a phone call with The Viking. She followed with, “I didn’t mean to laugh, maybe people are serious about it.”

Baxter’s running opponent, Juan Cepeda-Rizo, said in an email to The Viking that he agrees with Trustee President Uduak-Joe Ntuk’s suggestion that she creates dysfunction on the board. 

Ntuk stated that in his opinion, he believed Baxter to criticize Long Beach CIty College’s ethnic study courses by claiming they are bad for the students. 

Baxter responded to these attacks by saying that she refutes those claims and agrees with LBCC’s ethnic study programs. However, she could not recall the specific board meeting when these discussions took place.

In addition, Ntuk has also failed to provide actual accounts of Baxter fulfilling these accusations and he continues to double down on his claims. 

But, Cepeda-Rizo recalls times when she has offended the Long Beach City College Black Staff and Faculty Association by calling a scholarship that is aimed towards black students “interesting.”

Baxter was also accused of “hispandering” by her challenger, Cepeda-Rizo. Hispandering is used as a modern term to combine ‘pandering’ and ‘Hispanic.’ This term is often used by politicians who feel their constituents pander to the wants of the Hispanic community. 

“She also asked why this scholarship was not offered to Hispanic students,” says Cepeda-Rizo, “and I know that she was trying to pander to the Hispanic community because she was running against me…Sometimes comments like this leak out and show us a glimpse of the real person.”

As Ntuk is not Baxter’s opponent in this election she finds it fascinating that he would take the time to publish these statements regarding her character. When asked if she had an idea as to why he might take this sort of action, she responded to The Viking and said, “I don’t mind-read.”

Cepeda-Rizo states, “I believe President Ntuk is raising questions about Ginny’s judgment and decision making.” Baxter’s opponent shared that Ntuk is the only board member that has offered him policy advice and support and has been supportive of his STEM focused proposals.

Baxter admitted that Ntuk has never made any attacks or threats during previous meetings or in other work settings. However, in regards to the Trustee president making threatening remarks outside of work settings she responded that she was unable to comment. 

The two, Ntuk and Baxter, do not have a relationship outside of work and have not spoken since the initial article was written by the Long Beach Post. She added that Ntuk has always been respectful to her during meetings.

“I’m distressed, but not for myself,” said Baxter, “This is a poor reflection of the college. I’m just focused on helping the students.”

LBCC art gallery reopening for the first time since COVID with new director and curator

Matthew Walker
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LBCC art gallery reopening for the first time since COVID with new director and curator

Since the start of the pandemic, LBCC’s art gallery has been closed with the last art show taking place from February to March 2020. This fall semester, we will be getting our first two art gallery exhibitions since 2020 in a completely revamped art gallery. 

Karla Aguiniga is LBCC’s new full-time art gallery director and curator. Aguiniga is a Latinx artist, curator and educator who has worked for museums, commercial galleries as well as for-profit and nonprofit organizations in the art world.  

When asked how she is settling into her new position Ahuiniga said, “The space has really been neglected for a long time, so I’ve been trying to make improvements and really advocate for the space.”

When asked how has it been to get the art gallery ready, Michol Loeffler, a student working for Aguiniga in the art gallery said, “Right now we’re just doing all the gritty work, like cleaning up and getting the frames and everything ready to have the space ready for the art gallery’s reopening.”

The art gallery is in a somewhat hidden area, located in building K of the LAC with the entrance to the gallery on the inside of the building instead of the doors located along the pathway heading towards the library and the theater. 

Aguiniga said she is working on trying to make the space more inviting with hopes to have the main entrance be on the outside of the building where there is a lot more foot traffic instead of its current location where it’s mostly art students that frequent that side of campus. 

She also wants to add more features to the art gallery to provide a better experience when visiting. 

“I’m trying to add audio guides for the exhibitions, where you can scan a QR code, put on headphones and learn about the artworks,” Aguiniga said. “From an accessibility standpoint, I think it would also engage visitors and make the experience more immersive.”

It’s not uncommon to visit an art gallery and not fully understand the meaning that the artist is trying to portray so Aguiniga believes that by adding audio guides, visitors will have a better way to absorb the artist’s intended message “instead of just walking through the gallery in two minutes,” Aguiniga said.

Another thing that Aguiniga wants to include in the near future is a projector. 

“With a projector we can show multimedia work to adapt the gallery for the 21st century,” Anguiniga said. “Artists are not just making drawings and paintings anymore. Artists are making VR experiences or films. There’s all kinds of stuff that artists are working with that are way beyond drawings and paintings.”

With a coat of fresh paint and a completely cleaned out art gallery. Aguiniga and her two work study students are getting ready to set up for their first reopening since the start of the pandemic. 

The art gallery is set to have its first exhibition begin on Oct. 27, 2022.

War-zone journalists discuss the importance of their work at LBCC

Shelby Tiefenthaler
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War-zone journalists discuss the importance of their work at LBCC

Former journalists Maurice Roper and Heather Allan spoke to a room full of student journalists on Tuesday to share their emotional experiences of working in war-ravaged countries. 

Allan was first to speak, describing how she had gone from not knowing what to do with her life after college to running news operations in places like Iraq and Saudi Arabia. 

“It was about safety, food, and getting people in and out of dangerous areas,” Allan said. “We would calm the locals—wives whose husbands were off fighting and wouldn’t make it back in time for holidays.” 

Allan had witnessed and lived through many distressful scenarios of war, but she knew her work to inform the public was important.

“It can be very emotional and sad,” Allan said, “but it’s worthwhile when you get a story out that needs to be told… there’s nothing like being there and seeing it, it stays with you and adds layers to your life.”

After Allan concluded her speech, Maurice Roper stood from his chair, holding a script in his hands. Unlike Allan, who told her stories while facing the audience, Roper spoke in a softer tone and mostly looked down at the paper in front of him.

Roper began his story in war-torn cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He had stumbled upon a worn-down building, and through the open doors he saw a lady crouched over a single fire on a cracked wooden floor.  

“I don’t know what possessed me to walk into the room, but I smiled at her, then I saw five girls ages ten to eighteen looking at me,” Roper said. 

Roper and the women in the room did not speak the same language, but they had been able to communicate with one another without words. 

He recalled how the young girls marveled at his white teeth. Theirs had been missing or blackened with decay. Later, he would find out that all of the men in their family had been killed. 

“After my time there, I always wondered what happened to that family,” Roper remarked. “I would come back from these trips exhausted and confused. As my flight approached L.A., I looked down from the plane to see freeways and people moving around like nothing…it was a mind bender for me.” 

For all Roper and Allan had been through, their passion and curiosity for journalism had never dimmed. 

“My career has certainly affected me,” Roper said. “I can’t deal with violence now, but I will always treasure life and the environment because these are important things to me.” 

As journalists Roper and Allan had the duty to inform the public on the wars they covered but in doing so their stories also conveyed the human elements of life.  

Women’s water polo wins their fifth straight conference game

Soderek San
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Women’s water polo wins their fifth straight conference game

Sydney Brouwer scored four goals for the Vikings in their 15-5 home game win against the Cerritos Falcons on Wednesday afternoon which was highlighted by defensive pressure from the Vikings that resulted in seven steals for Daphne Wilder. 

The Vikings set the tone for the game immediately by scoring five points in the opening five minutes of the game with Brouwer scoring two goals and Kaya Barret scoring two of her three goals in this short span, followed up by Carlotta Zandali making the fifth goal. 

LBCC scored more in the first period than in any of the other periods and gave up points throughout the rest of the game. The first period ended 5-0 and gave the Vikings a firm advantage for the rest of the game. 

The game was characterized by an aggressive Vikings’ defense led by Zendali and Wilder that continually played in the Falcon’s faces, even if it meant fouling to force Cerritos back.

This strategy was employed to great effect for LBCC even though it resulted in five total ejections for the Vikings compared to one for the Falcons. 

For most of the game the Vikings played a fast pace offense compared to the Falcons who tried to be more methodical, a strategy which didn’t work due to the Vikings’ highly aggressive defense.

During the second period there was an almost three minute window of high stakes aggression from both teams as there was a streak of goals from both teams. 

In these three minutes the Vikings and Falcons both scored three goals, several of them made all within 40 seconds due to quick passes across the pool to open players who hurled the ball into the goal at high speeds each time. 

While the Vikings allowed the Falcons to start scoring in the second period and only made three goals themselves, the second half saw the Vikings score seven goals throughout and hold the Falcons to only one.

The second half was much slower as both teams started showing fatigue and played more defensive. For the Vikings, many of the scores in the second half came from easy open shots rather than fast paced play. 

By the time the game was over the Vikings came out on top with a 15-5 win, bringing their conference record to 5-0 and overall to 12-5.

Coach Chris Oeding seemed happy about the win as he reinforced points of improvement out of the pool to the team. 

“We’ve been trying to apply more pressure, play more inside. We worked on our lanes and our awareness of the ball prior to it moving to the lane,” said Odeing when asked about the overall success of the team. 

The Vikings and Falcons scrambled for the ball when it went loose in the middle of a play during the LBCC versus Cerritos game. (Photo by Nick Eismann)

One player that rose to the occasion during the game was freshman Sharon Vargas.

“She’s been practicing a lot and the coach has really been encouraging her with starters out,” said Hailey Wadlington when asked about Vargas.

“We try to learn their movement and stop drives early,” said Wadlington when asked about their defensive approach.

Wadlington had six saves for the Vikings which kept much needed points for the Falcons off the board. 

“One advantage of our defense is that if our offense just isn’t clicking that day for whatever reason it gives us some room to slack and still win,” said Odeing in response to the Vikings’ defensive style.

“It’s a super short season and we’ve got two weekends with eight games to improve and expose our weaknesses before the championships,” Odeing said before returning to his players.

The Vikings have a big set of games coming up before the conference championships in the form of the LBCC Mini Tournament this weekend.

The Vikings play Riverside and Concordia Friday at Long Beach City College at 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. respectively, followed by two more games Saturday against West Valley and Orange Coast at 8 a.m and 3:30 p.m. respectively. 

These games will be critical for the Vikings in standing and morale as the Vikings lost to each of these teams excluding Concordia earlier in the season.

Viking’s men’s water polo triumphs over Falcons 16-8

Soderek San
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Viking’s men’s water polo triumphs over Falcons 16-8

LBCC’s men’s water polo won Wednesday’s game against the Cerritos Falcons 16-8 as Harry Petersen led in scoring with four goals followed by Michael Minera and Nicolas Fedotov who both scored three. 

The Vikings played a methodical and patient game where they waited for the right moment to strike. When the opportunity arose, they capitalized on it with expediency often to their benefit. 

Despite this approach, the Vikings still made an explosive start by scoring two goals in the opening two minutes and four in total in the first period.

After the game coach Djoko Radunovic really emphasized this strategy.

“Following through and being patient is how we win,” said Radunovic.

Throughout the game the Vikings stayed calm and maintained awareness, a stark contrast to the Falcons who seemed to be struggling with awareness and communication as their coach Joe Abing could be heard yelling constantly throughout the game. 

Cerritos took several timeouts to reorganize but had no luck as several players seemed to be constantly unaware of what was happening much to their teammates’ audible disappointment from the bench.

Radunovic mentioned that The Vikings had their own share of communication issues that allowed several goals to be scored.

“Communication is what we need to improve on the most,” said Radunovic on the matter. “We need to use the clock and identify what needs to be done.” 

LBCC saw the most success in the first half where nine of the 16 points were scored and the Falcons were kept to a single goal. 

The Vikings’ win brought their conference record to 3-0 and an overall record of 11-5.

William McKean of the Vikings preparing to pass the ball across the pool after a save in the second period, McKean who starts for the Vikings had four saves to help win the game. (Photo by Craig Roberts)

“Playing our game and not falling into the trap of the other team is big,” said Peterson when asked about the game overall.“For improvement I could talk more, I’m a little too quiet in the water and have left people hanging.”

The Vikings have a crucial set of games coming up this weekend in the LBCC Mini Tournament. 

LBCC is slated to play Riverside and Whittier College on Friday at 9:10 a.m. and 4:10 p.m. respectively. Saturday they play West Valley at 9:10 a.m. and Orange Coast at 4:40 p.m.

The Vikings won against Riverside earlier in the season however lost to West Valley in the first game of the season and have yet to play Whittier College or Orange Coast. 

Ntuk doubles down on QAnon comments while Zia calls his statements preposterous

Shelby Tiefenthaler
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Ntuk doubles down on QAnon comments while Zia calls his statements preposterous

Hours after the Long Beach Post reported that Long Beach City College’s Trustee Uduak-Joe Ntuk said that Trustee Virginia Baxter “traffics in QAnon conspiracies and misinformation,” Trustee Sunny Zia told The Viking the claims against her colleague were “preposterous.”

Meanwhile, Ntuk doubled down on his statement in a call with The Viking Wednesday evening but declined to elaborate and give the claims basis.

Ntuk also told the Long Beach Post in an email that trustee Virgina Baxter  “has contributed to disfunction (sic) on the board.”

“In my opinion, on multiple occasions Virgina Baxter has made comments about QAnon conspiracies, including replacement theory, vaccine skepticism, and our ethic studies/critical race theory courses are bad for LBCC students,” he told the Long Beach Post.

Although Ntuck did not elaborate on his accusation of Baxter being a QAnon supporter he did explain why he believes Baxter has created dysfunction on the board.

“She pushes the idea that ethnic studies classes corrupt students when really they’re quite helpful and should be a graduation requirement. These classes do quite the opposite of what she pushes,” Ntuk told The Viking.

Ethnic studies will soon be a graduation requirement for CSU’s starting in the 2024 academic school year, according to AB1460, which was signed into law in August of 2020. 

“It’s unfortunate that he is fabricating such posterous claims and it’s absolutely false and bereft of veracity,” said Zia in a voicemail sent to The Viking.

The Viking attempted to reach out to Baxter as well as the other trustees Wednesday evening but could only get a hold of Zia and Ntuk at the time of writing.

“I can validate that doctor Baxter has never spread any conspiracies, I don’t even think she knows what Q-Anon is,” said Zia in a voicemail after The Viking reached out for comment.

Zia went on to describe her as, “wonderful and kind” and a person who is also fighting for the students best interest.

“She’s been a great partner and the two of us have been great partners on fighting for student success and that’s what really matters the most,” added Zia

The Viking will be adding updates to the story as they come.

Fighting and acting merge to provide students with credits and fun

Matthew Walker
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Fighting and acting merge to provide students with credits and fun

Long Beach City College offers students a chance to make nonviolent actions look dangerous and real through on-stage combat in TART 5A, an acting course rooted in teaching safe and believable stage fighting.

The course is taught by combat instructor Collin Bressie who has been teaching at LBCC since 2017 and was a student at the college over 20 years ago.

“There is nothing more glorious than great moments of violence that you can create through theater and I hope to pave that forward to my students each class,” said Bressie after being asked what his goal is for the students this semester.

Each student in the class is developing how to process information through whole body movements based on different combat scenarios. 

Every class starts off with Bressie leading his students in stretches to get everyone’s muscles loose to avoid injuries.

 In class students perform a number of combat practices that include cross-swings, jabs, upper-cuts, hooks, breathing techniques, quick reactions, moving in tight spaces and much more.

LBCC students Dave Sargent (left) and Brandon Silva (right) in the middle of practicing their on-stage combat sequences. TART 5A courses are offered at LBCC’s Liberal Arts Campus. (Photo by Paul Jimenez)

Although class activities may look dangerous, one of the biggest goals in class is to keep a safe environment at all times which includes the use of face masks as well.

The class is made up of about half experienced students and half completely new students but expectations are high for everyone since they use so much class time on repetition and hands-on training.

Students have developed a chemistry between one another that allows everyone to work with anyone where they each expect full effort from their peers since the practice they get in class depends on everyone’s participation.

“I love figuring out how to create something that feels so real to the audience when in reality we’re not hurting each other at all,” said student Mara Stanford after class.

Not all of the students taking this course are theater majors but they all enjoy the time they spend in class developing their technique with one another.

“It started off a while ago as a course I never expected to take, but I fell in love with it and now here I am still today,” said Miguel Bohol, a student at Cal State Long Beach, who attends LBCC for this course alone since it isn’t available at CSULB.

Art history professor dies at 56

Shelby Tiefenthaler
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Art history professor dies at 56

Correction: Christine Koenig was orginally described as partner in an earlier version of the story but she is actually Wendy Koenigs’ wife

Wendy Koenig, an influential art history professor and curriculum chair at Long Beach City College, died yesterday at 56.  

After an eight-month long battle with colon cancer, Koenig left behind her wife, Christine Badowski Koenig, and her colleagues who shared her passion of teaching and education. 

Koenig was tight lipped about her illness and many of her friends and faculty were shocked by her death, as they stated that she had reported things looking up for her in her last days.

Koenig did not let her illness deter her from her passion and dedication to the students. She kept up with a robust worklife and led as an exemplary professor to the teachers around her.

During the time she served as the school’s curriculum chair, Koenig created academic guides for various programs at the college and fine-tuned existing educational plans. 

She was also the head of the LGBTQIA task force where she educated faculty on proper pronouns to use with students and advocated for gender neutral restrooms.

“Nothing was ever punitive for her; it was always to educate and help somebody be better,” said Seija Rohkea, a visual and media arts instructor. “She was my boss…you have fear of your boss but she was never like that,” Rohkea said. 

In her last days, Koenig even aided in getting Open Educational Resources for art history classes so students could have access to free textbooks and curriculum materials.

Eli Daughdrill, the head of the visual and media arts department, remembers his colleague in an undeniably positive light saying, “I remember her as a tireless worker who put the college first… (she) represented everything that’s good about the community college.”

When she was diagnosed in February of this year, Koenig used both her health insurance provided by the college and a Gofundme account to fund her chemotherapy and medical expenses. 

“For a while, the numbers were looking good. There was a chance that she could beat this thing. It’s just a reminder of how awful cancer is,” said art professor Karen Roberts.

Roberts highlighted the flaws she sees within the American healthcare system. “It’s so crazy to think about what they went through. I mean it’s a broken healthcare system. We’re all going to have to deal with it sooner or later. Nobody gets out of here alive,” she said.

“[Koenig] was full-time, she had insurance. One insurance policy is not enough,” Roberts said in addition.

Funeral services are unknown at the time of writing but The Viking will release updates as they come.

LBCC celebrates homecoming with pregame “Midnight Masquerade” tailgate

Matthew Walker
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LBCC celebrates homecoming with pregame “Midnight Masquerade” tailgate

LBCC hosted its Homecoming pregame tailgate on the first of October, with the theme being “Midnight Masquerade,” both volunteers and attendees alike were encouraged to dress up and join in on the masquerade fun. Pirates, princesses, and even Spider-man could be seen getting in on the homecoming activities.

The event took place right in the Veterans Memorial Stadium’s parking lot, decorations, white tents, tables, and activities set up for fans and family of the Viking’s football team. Free food, from snow cones to burgers and hot dogs, were available for anyone in attendance.

Live music was also at the event, playing covers of classics like “Play That Funky Music White Boy” and “California Knows How to Party” that got attendees cheering and smiling throughout their festivities.

Several booths were set up in the spirit of Halloween, with many handing out candy and attendees encouraged to dress up in costumes.

One unique booth even contained multiple life-size clown statues.

Some of the homecoming court nominees could also be seen walking around, chatting with friends and running booths. 

One such nominee, Joustin Rodriguez representing the junior college fraternity, Order of TONG, gave his comment on his competition for homecoming court royalty.

“It feels like a hard competition, everyone has their skills that make them standout.” Rodriguez said, “So it’s pretty intimidating.”

“I don’t mind [not winning],” he said “I already have the sash!”

All seven of the selected homecoming court nominees were given red sashes emblazoned with “Homecoming Court,” though only a few nominees could be seen in the celebration.

Another nominee, Maria Ortiz Lechuga, working the Little Sisters of Tong booth, expressed her excitement at being nominated as well. 

She felt “nervous, but overall excited” about getting the opportunity to run for the crown. Her decision to even apply to be a nominee was last minute, she said. “Since it’s my last year I thought, ‘why not?’” 

As the tailgate came to a close, organizers announced the winners for best group costume and best booth. 

Best costume was given to the Tong Little Sisters, with their Dia de los Muertos inspired costumes. And for best booth, the Viking Vitals club took the crown, thanks to their pirate themed ring toss game.

Free childcare for student parents

Shelby Tiefenthaler
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Free childcare for student parents

Free childcare will be offered to student parents, courtesy of Long Beach City College’s new partnership with the Boys and Girls Club starting Oct. 17.

The program is set to run Monday through Thursday, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the T building at the Liberal Arts Campus. 

Parents will also have the option to enroll their children at the Boys and Girls Club site, which is adjacent to the Pacific Coast Campus. This site operates Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

LBCC does have other childcare services that were offered prior to this, but those services are focused on providing care for children ages two to five or children whose parents face housing insecurities.  

The only eligibility requirement for this new program is that a parent be enrolled as a part-time or full-time student at the college. 

“A lot of our students have school-aged children and they have limited care options for them if they want to continue to go to school,” president Mike Munoz said on the program. 

This program aims to alleviate the stress of students who struggle to find the time for their academic work because of their parental responsibilities. 

Bibiana Chatman is the mother of two boys ages 12 and 14, who is obtaining her nursing degree at LBCC while also working full time to support her family. 

Her ambitious attitude drives her to finish her education at a quicker rate, and this childcare program is one big step in helping her achieve that. 

“I want to be a full-time student so I can finish a little bit faster but I don’t have the flexibility because of my kids and work schedule,” Chatman said. “With this childcare program, my schedule would be open and I could take more classes and have more study time.” 

Joann Weston, another student parent, is interested in the program for a different reason. Her daughter is homeschooled and hopes that the program will engage her daughter in afterschool activities. `

“When I saw that they had this program available with the Boys and Girls Club, I signed up right away.” Weston said. “My daughter doesn’t have any activities and I want her to have some. But activities cost money, and as a single parent it is a lot harder to pay for those things.”  

Students like Chatman and Weston will be able to use this program to fit their individual needs. Each parent faces unique challenges, and this program will be able to reduce some of the stress levels and difficulties they face. 

This childcare service also intends to implement new features as the program runs along to continue to have a wider variety of options for children and parents. 

President Munoz mentioned plans to partner with the Long Beach Unified School District to set up a transportation system that would escort children to the care sites if parents are not able to.  

He also mentioned that the program would like for students who are studying child development to be involved.

Students studying childcare would be hired by the school and supplement their learning under the supervision of the licensed caretakers of the Boys and Girls Club.

From free childcare to supplemental learning, this program intends to provide multiple levels of support. This service is another yet another step in the direction of ensuring all students have the resources they need to succeed. 

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