Outside hitter Erik Hernandez of the Long Beach City College men’s volleyball team was named the player of the year for the Western State Conference.
Hernandez hit 200 kills and more than 70 digs in 20 games, including averaging more than 3 kills per set and 18 service aces in the conference season.
For Hernandez, staying disciplined is what played the biggest factor in being able to consistently perform well all season.
“Something that keeps me motivated to keep going is staying disciplined,” said Hernandez. “You can’t rely on motivation, you gotta rely on discipline because the motivation won’t always be there.”
Hernandez is from Whittier, California and has been playing volleyball since his freshman year at California High School.
According to Hernandez, he nearly did not play this year until he was convinced by a coach from Long Beach Poly to return.
“There’s a Long Beach Poly Coach named Syd Davison, he’s always kind of guided me through volleyball and he’s the one who pushed me to come back and play this year,” Hernandez said.
The men’s volleyball head coach, Jonathan Charette, says that one of the things that makes Hernandez such a valuable member of the team is his ability to take feedback.
“Erik is always looking for feedback, he has no problem with us giving him feedback or pointers where he can improve and grow. He’s very coachable and he’s looking to expand his game,” said Charette.
Charette went on to say, “Erik has a good mentality towards the game, he’s always looking for areas to improve, looking for feedback. Those two things combined make him a pretty good athlete for us.”
When he’s not playing volleyball, Hernandez dedicates time to trying to give back to the community.
“I really like helping people out. I have a non-profit and I’m working on bringing the community closer together and helping out the youth as well,” said Hernandez.
The Vikings finished the season with an overall record of 18-3 and a conference record consisting of just one loss and 11 wins.
After clinching the first seed in the Western State Conference, the Vikings made it to the final of the CCCAA State Championship, where they faced Orange Coast College and fell just short of becoming back-to-back champions.
Roughly 50 people gathered around the flagpole at the LAC on Monday afternoon to watch a Pride flag be raised in honor of Harvey Milk Day, marking the second year the college has done this.
There were several faculty members who came to show their support for the raising of the flag. One of whom was Mike Munoz, the college’s first openly gay superintendent-president.
“As an openly gay man, this day is really personally meaningful for me,” Munoz said. “For me, this is a very powerful and impactful moment for us as a college to be able to recognize the power of raising a Pride flag.”
The flag was raised in honor of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. It will fly throughout the month of June for Pride month.
Also attending the event was Dr. Jerome Hunt, a political science professor and student equity coordinator at LBCC. He spoke openly on the challenges he faced while growing up as a Black, gay man.
In his speech, Hunt emphasized the significance of social equity and how it still seems to be lacking within our society.
Several students and faculty members gathered around the LAC flag pole on Monday to watch a Pride flag be raised. (Photo by Sophia Cobb)
“We must stop treating the LGBTQIA community as if it is a monolith. We need to acknowledge that all issues that impact the community do not affect everyone the same way. We need to embrace the rich intercultural diversity of the community and accept and advocate for all letters of the acronym once and for all,” Hunt said.
Hunt also spoke about the misconceptions surrounding social equity.
“Most importantly, the narrative of, ‘extending equity to one group comes at the expense of others,’ needs to be stopped once and for all, because we all stand to benefit when everyone in our society is truly equal,” Hunt said.
Trustee President Uduak-Joe Ntuk also attended the event and shared his support for the raising of the flag.
“We have to have visual acknowledgment and respectful events like this. We just need to remind everybody that our goal and our mission is that we are a campus for everybody, and when we say ‘all’ we mean all,” Ntuk said.
Giving visual acknowledgement to LGBTQ students is important, but offering the necessary resources is what will truly help them succeed in the long run, which is why the school is working to provide its students with services they may need to overcome obstacles.
“We have an LGBTQ+ resource page on the LBCC website where any of us can find out about various services and supports that exist on campus. There’s also a pronoun guide that’s there more so for faculty and staff to really help ensure that we properly identify and recognize our LGBTQIA+ students,” Hunt said.
LBCC plans to continue to show recognition for its LGBTQ students and faculty by being apart of the Long Beach Pride Parade on July 10.
NFTs are all very popular today, but it has gotten in the way of what’s healthy for society and our environment.
Block chain generation requires a massive amount of computing power energy to do so. Images of warehouses lined with racks of 30 series graphics cards all running at full capacity is a common sight online and has rightfully sparked outrage from many.
Running these cards at maximum capacity constantly creates a great deal of carbon emissions from the power needed. Not only is it environmentally unfriendly but it draws power away from communities of everyday people on top of this, and has caused power outages in the past.
NFT is an abbreviated term for a non-fungible token that is backed by cryptocurrency and the blockchain.
These NFTs have been trending the past year, with celebrities and athletes following the craze.
The cryptocurrency space on top of this while growing has also fallen in several ways. NFT means non-fungible token, yet the token has already been fungible.
To simplify, fungible currency would be a dollar bill while a non-fungible currency would be a house. In terms of fungibility, two parties would agree that a dollar is a dollar and that it could be exchanged for something determined to be of the same value. However, both parties are unlikely to agree on the value of a home or a used car.
Locally, a restaurant in Long Beach called Bored and Hungry opened on April 9th. The owners of Bored and Hungry used a Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT to brand their restaurant.
According to an interview with Hypebeast, one of the owners of Bored & Hungry, Andy Nyguen, hopes to bridge a gap between the digital and real world.
Nyguen said, “The reason I did this was to make a statement to the public, letting them know that this jpeg could be utilized to turn into a brand and ecosystem for the restaurant world.”
An NFT isn’t necessary to own an image, especially as a company when you can just trademark something made through normal means with far fewer emissions for a much more reasonable and not as explosive price rather than upwards of $75,000.
Another part of NFTs that is simply a practical reason why to not use them is that if the site hosting your NFT goes down, you lose your NFT as it needs to be held on the block chain code online and verified. Or if the currency used to buy the NFT crashes and doesn’t recover, your NFT loses its value whereas a normal image paid with a fungible means would retain its dollar value, sometimes even adjusted for inflation.
At that point, it’s worth is determined by how much that amount of money can get you rather than just how much is this money worth. After all, the USD is the strongest currency in the world alongside the Euro.
While Bored and Hungry found a way around using the NFT by trademarking and making physical prints of their NFT to run it on products for branding, at the same time what prevents someone from making similar branding that doesn’t require so much money, resources, and all the block chain fluff or from their branding losing value just due to the NFT and rather than the company’s value.
In the online space, large companies such as Valve which runs the Steam platform for games recognized the issues NFTs and cryptocurrency present, the main one being volatility.
Earlier in the year Gabe Newell, one of the founders of the platform explained to Dexerto, “Why did I spend $497 one day to buy a game, and the next day I spent 47 cents, what’s going on here? Volatility is a bad thing in a medium of exchange.”
This statement sums up the entire crypto and block chain space accurately and is why NFTs in the grand scheme are not the way forward. The USD is rooted in value from physical objects, availability of physical money, the state of the economy, and so much more. Cryptocurrency doesn’t follow this formula and is the main problem.
Just because we can do something with the tools we have now doesn’t mean that we should.
Writer and director Moises Zamora will be the guest speaker for the commencement ceremony taking place June 9, which was just announced exclusively to the Viking News by Superintendent-president Mike Munoz.
Moises Zamora was the creator, executive Producer and co-showrunner for the Netflix series “Selena: The Series.” Zamora has contributed as a writer in shows such as American Crime and Star.
In 2011, Zamora received an award for best documentary by a Mexican director at the Oaxaca film festival, for his documentary “Jovenes Vivos.”
He was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, immigrating at the age of 11 to California and graduating from Brown university.
Long Beach City College students are now eligible for free rides with LA Metro and Long Beach Transit after the school announced a new partnership with the transportation systems, the Viking News will be posting a different location every week that students can go to using the Metro Go Pass.
Are you looking for unique and fun places to go this summer? The end of the semester is approaching and the LA metropass will still be available for LBCC students at no cost, who are either enrolled in summer or fall courses. One destination, in particular, is considered one of the world’s greatest independent research libraries and holds more than a dozen themed gardens.
The Huntington Library contains 130 acres of botanical gardens, art museums, and a library. It is an independent nonprofit that is funded by grants and gifts, which makes this library an affordable destination. Tickets for students are priced at $21 on a weekday and $24 on weekends (Student I.D. is needed).
Upon entering the grounds of the library you are instantly immersed in an open space layout of a California-themed garden.
In this garden, you will find gift shops, visitor buildings, and various halls. You will also find 1919 Cafe, a coffeehouse that pays tribute to the railroad and real estate businessmen, Henry Edward Huntington, and his wife/aunt Arabella Duval Huntington who founded the Huntington Library.
A visitor observing the pastries the cafe has to offer at the 1916 Cafe in the Huntington Library. (Photo by Eli Orozco).
In the cafe, you will primarily see “red cars,” which reflects the electric railway system Henry Huntington helped consolidate and expand in Southern California. For those reasons, The Huntington Library focuses on bringing enriching history to visitors, through its museum layouts and themed gardens.
However, this is a small part of what the museum has to offer, and visitors are encouraged to reserve a good amount of time to the Huntington Library if they hope to explore all the library has to offer.
An older man plays a flute for visitors to enjoy at the Chinese garden in the Huntington Library. (Photo by Eli Orozco).
Some of the most beautiful gardens the library has to offer are the Japanese and Chinese gardens. These Asian gardens were designed to be as immersive and authentic as the gardens you would find in their respective countries.
For example, Liu Fang Yuan’s garden, which translates to the Garden of Flowing Fragrance, is designed in the traditional style that you would find in a scholar garden in Suzhou, China.
The garden is one of the largest classical-style Chinese gardens in the world, the 15-acre garden features a tea house, waterfalls, pavilions, and a large lake. One thing that will stand out is a man in traditional Chinese attire playing the flute in the pavilion, while visitors sit and enjoy the sounds of birds and music.
The ceremonial teahouse in the Japanese gardens was designed to be authentic to the traditional-style of Japanese scholar gardens. Visitors are not allowed to enter this teahouse in the Huntington Library. (Photo by Eli Orozco).
The Japanese garden is next to the Chinese garden, but you will quickly feel the difference in cultures. This garden, in particular, holds a moon bridge, zen garden, and Seifu-an, a ceremonial teahouse, and garden.
Although there are about 10 more gardens, a visitor can enjoy the library has more to offer.
The art museum holds one of the world’s most discussed paintings of the 18th century, The Blue Boy, which was created by Thomas Gainsborough. The painting is currently in the National Gallery in London to mark 100 years since the painting left London.
The Blue Boy is expected to return on June 11 to the Huntington Library.
In a press release, the Huntington President Karen R. Lawrence said, “We imagine this to be the one and only time the painting will travel, given its iconic status at The Huntington.”
Japanese Koi fish coming out for some food at the lily pods garden, located on the grounds of the Huntington Library. (Photo by Eli Orozco).
The Huntington Library welcomes about 800,000 guests every year. Visitor Angel Tornez said, “Love it here. It’s beautiful. I enjoy the garden with the koi fish the most.”
From the parking lot to the 270 acres of the property, the experience is as enriching as a museum. Yet, it is bright and colorful like a nature hike, so bring comfortable shoes.
This trip takes less than a 2-hour ride on the metro, or a 46-min drive via car. To figure out what routes are best to take on the metro, visit https://www.metro.net/riding/trip-planner/ .
LBCC’s Extended Opportunity Program and Services hosted their annual student success conference with various workshops to help empower students in their personal and academic lives. This year’s conference theme was “Lift Every Voice”.
“This year’s theme was about speaking your voice, how to be your own advocate, and how to develop your own leadership skills through these platforms,” said Edward Henderson, Director of EOPS.
The EOPS program provides students with social, economic, educational, or language disadvantages.
Through the Whova app, where the conference was hosted, there was chat zoom, a list of attendees, and a community room where students and staff can plan meet-ups to help the community.
There were multiple workshops and speakers available at the conference.
“This program does curate to Cal State and UC levels, I tell students all the time if lucky they can go with (EOP), and be with them, their whole academic career so it’s a really good program there’s a lot of perks and services we get out, bags, our conference, banquets we do, priority registration is some of the perks we have,“ said Steve Navarro, an EOPS staff.
EOPS gave their students packages filled with tools to help them through the conference.
This conference package consisted of an EOPS blanket, a notebook, pen, a water cup and snacks.
One of the workshops was called “Nourish to Flourish”, which focused on enhancing and prioritizing self-care and self-love, hosted by Brianna Reyes, a Mental Health Clinician.
Some self-care tips they gave were ways to improve our physical and mental health in order to keep surviving everyday challenges.
They also talked about the way stress can affect us. They described how it is a natural way for our bodies to let us know that something is wrong and how we can change that negative tone towards stress and the relationship we have with it.
Some of the other workshops that were offered were as follows:
SAY GAY! Supporting Queer and Trans Folks in the Current Climate
What are Microaggressions?
Uplifting Student Advocacy in Voting
Undocumented Hustle
Fostering Care Positive Self-Esteem for Children and Youth
There was also a workshop where students and staff could drop in to talk to counselors if they had any questions or concerns.
“We are a club in a sense but we are backed up by financial aid so we get a lot of support in the funding so we are able to give back”, said Navarro.
There were over 170 attendees that took part in the conference and at the end of the conference, there was a photo contest where the top liked photo would win gift cards.
The conference is open to EOPS students only, and it is encouraged for students to join the program in order to get their services and be part of next year’s conference.
Investing in programs that would benefit vulnerable students and keep creating revenue for years is part of the plan that Long Beach City College is doing with the $30 million gift it received by McKenzie Scott last year.
Mackenzie Scott, who is the ex wife of amazon founder Jeff Bezos and got most of her fortune after their divorce which left her with $38 billion, gifted LBCC $30 million in June of 2021 in an effort to donate half of her fortune to schools across the country.
The LBCCD board of trustees worked with people both inside and outside of the school to create funding priorities and recommendations for the best use of the money.
Composed of students, faculty and community members from the district, the advisory committee took two months to create three different ways in which the money would be distributed.
“Creating or starting new programs that would benefit the vulnerable students, provide race consciousness and equity minded practices,” said Ennette Morton, community member of the advisory group.
The advisory committee took 179 suggestions, through forms from students, employees, community members and alumni to help set up a plan for the money. With some of those suggestions including basic needs support, like housing or campus programs and services.
One of the priorities would be scholarships for disproportionately impacted students such as foster youth, low-income students, veterans, Native American, African American, Hispanic, Pacific Islander or students that are part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Part of the recommendations made from the committee were to use $5 million for the promise program, which allows students to have two years of free tuition and scholarships for students who need it the most. This recommendation would benefit students who are from local high schools who enroll in at least 12 units at LBCC per semester.
Another $5 million was recommended for strategic investments, which included Equity Innovation Grants and Institutional Priorities.
Each year up to $600,000 would be available for grants within a five year span.
The Student Equity Subcommittee is currently looking into an annual process to award mini grants of up to $5,000 a year through an application process.
A subgroup of this subcommittee would be responsible for developing the grant application process with institutional support in Spring 2022. By Fall 2022, applications would be available.
A memorandum, which is a written message in business, is what the district did to make sure that the money is spent as planned.
Other things that the gift would go towards are long term investment that would create revenue for many years.
“About $20 million a year, we should be able to average somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million a year in interest that’s made on that gift,” said Mike Munoz, superintendent president of LBCC.
Munoz believed that up until now, the decision making on how the money is being spent has been correct and will be beneficial towards the school.
“Our approach collects the collective wisdom of many people on campus both students, internal faculty and staff and both community members,” Munoz said. “What I appreciate about our process is we had a very transparent process and we had a process that engaged multiple stakeholders.”
Long Beach City College students are now eligible for free rides with LA Metro and Long Beach Transit after the school announced a new partnership with the transportation systems, the Viking News will be posting a different location every week that students can go to using the pass.
Dorothy’s iconic ruby slippers, 17th-century pre-cinema technology, and Bruce Lee’s nunchaku all under one roof.
Now that all Long Beach City College students have access to the Metro system for free via the Metro Gopass, there are countless attractions within reach that weren’t accessible before.
This includes the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures which just recently had its grand opening in September of last year.
“The Art of Moviemaking” is an exhibit dedicated to Spike Lee and is filled with items from Lee’s personal collection as well as items that were donated. (Photo by Eduardo Gomez)
The ultra-modern looking building is located at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and South Fairfax Avenue, across the street from a trifecta of automobile museums.
In order to get there, go to the Clark and Carson stop and board the Long Beach Transit 112 bus Northbound to South St. via Lakewood. Ride the bus for 8 stops then exit at Candlewood and Lakewood. Walk about 3 minutes to the Lakewood and Candlewood stop and then board the Metro Local 266 bus Northbound to Sierra Madre Villa Station. Ride this bus for 31 stops and exit at Lakewood and Telegraph.
After exiting the bus walk, 200 ft to the Telegraph and Rosemead stop, board the Metro Local 62 bus West/Northbound to Downtown LA. bus West/Northbound to Downtown LA. Ride this bus for 31 stops and then exit as Central and 6th. Board the Metro Rapid 720 bus and then exit after riding for 12 stops at Wilshire and Crescent Heights. From here you will travel for 0.2 miles, or about 6 minutes to arrive at the destination.
Although the ride itself takes longer compared to driving a personal vehicle, there are several benefits to using the metro to get there instead.
Cher’s infamous oscar dress she wore on the red carpet in 1986 for her nomination in the film Moonstruck (photo by Eduardo Gomez)
For starters, gas prices have skyrocketed in the last few weeks and they don’t seem to be going back down anytime soon. Another reason is that Los Angeles is notorious for difficult parking situations and taking the metro means not having to worry about finding parking or perhaps having to pay for valet.
With four floors filled with attractions, the Academy Museum is enjoyable for both movie buffs and casual fans alike.
Jocey Katz, a charter member of the museum, says she prefers to start from the top and work her way to the bottom.
“All these exhibits can stand alone, but they tell a story in order,” said Katz. “I always start at the top and work my way down. The Hayao Miyazaki exhibit is only here for a short time so I want to make sure I get to see it.”
The Hayao Miyazaki exhibit is dedicated entirely to the beloved Japanese producer/animator and is the first of its kind in North America. The exhibit will be at the museum until the end of May, at which point it will be switched out for another exhibit that is yet to be announced.
On the second floor, there is a room with multiple TVs showing acceptance speeches from the past, and in the center of the room is a platform with mannequins wearing dresses that were once worn by celebrities who participated in the award show.
Quinn Salazar, an employee at the museum, talked about how the museum also holds daily screenings of classic and modern films in the David Geffen Theater and the Ted Mann Theater.
“The screenings are usually pretty cheap and some days they’ll even have $5 matinees,” said Salazar. “We usually have two showings a day and you can look online to see what movies they’re showing on certain days.”
“Most of the showings I’ve been to have been for movies I had previously seen but I had never seen them on the big screen. So that was pretty cool,” said Salazar.
When it comes to food, there is no shortage of options for visitors of the museum. This includes both a food court and also Fanny’s Restaurant and Cafe which is located inside the museum. The food court serves cheeseburgers, french fries, snacks, and several other delicious options.
The sit-down restaurant is named after the late Fanny Brice, the movie and radio star that was portrayed by Barbara Streisand in “Funny Girl”, and serves food Monday-Sunday from 10 AM to 4 PM. Their menu includes breakfast burritos, chicken clubs, and smoked salmon among more than 2 dozen other dishes.
For a meal that’s a little lighter, Acai Republic is also located just down Wilshire Blvd towards South Crescent Heights Blvd and there you can get either a tasty smoothie or a refreshing acai bowl.
Performing a playlist in English, Spanish and Portuguese and aiming to provide students with more than just a way to inspire students on their musical journey, Pianist and composer, Brian Kehlenbach, and vocalist, Melody Versoza, performed a set sung in front of the library.
This concert served purely as a way to expose culturally diverse music and help inspire the musician in each student passing by.
Concluding the show with a Q&A, which was held to offer students an opportunity to openly ask questions to help answer any curiosities they might have regarding the world of musicians.
The Melody and Brian concert was the third out of the four concerts that have and will take place on campus.
Pianist, Brian Kehlenbach, saxophone player Pat Sheng, and vocalists Melody Versoza and Maria Hu, clapped to the beat of the song they performed. This free concert consisted of a set of music sung in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. (Photo by Shelby Tiefenthaler)
Following this act will be a Native American flute player on May 31. Pat Sheng, one of the members who helped produce this event, revealed that the flutist will be bringing a Native American flute he made himself to give to one lucky person in the crowd.
Pat Sheng and Marie Hu worked to pull together the production that took place on campus this Tuesday.
Hu applied for a small equity grant in 2020 to start putting on these concerts, and although they did receive the grant, set dates for concerts were put on hold until campus could open up again.
Sheng teaches in the music department at LBCC and Hu worked as his intern for two years before the COVID pandemic.
Both Sheng and Hu were not hesitant to use the grant money they received in order to spread what they both enjoy.
“When’s there’s an opportunity to spend grant money to get musicians here on campus, yes of course! That only benefits, number one, our music students, but number two, everyone on campus. It’s also sort of my way to give back to the music community,” Sheng said.
These concerts expand music further beyond traditional pop, classical, jazz, etc. It brings diversity to the table that is often overlooked in the industry.
“We try to bring diverse artists, for example, the Sri Lanken pianist, Mexican tuba player, Filipino vocalist, and native American flute player. This is so good because we don’t have native American classes or classes centered around traditional jazz or anything like that… This helps expose people to something they may not have heard before,” Sheng said.
Kehlenbach and Versoza have been working together at Santa Ana College for around 30 years now. They have also had the privilege of performing together many times. Versoza reveals that in the past they have sung jazz together an umpteen number of times at Santa Ana College.
These two admit that they have grown to be friends over the years of performing together and will never miss a chance to collaborate.
“She has performed a lot of my music and this is not something to take for granted. When a musician wants to collaborate with you then you tend to work together well and tend to appreciate each other,” Sheng said.
Kehlenbach’s music has been performed all over the nation. One of Kehlenbach’s pieces even succeeded all the way to Carnegie Hall.
Although this event brought only a small amount of attendees, opening up the diverse culture of music to one student’s world is enough to motivate this program to continue to perform.
“My expectations are low, I don’t really have a goal other than to bring music and culture onto campus, otherwise we are just sitting here and there’s nothing happening,” Sheng said.
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