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LBCC president Romali is presidential finalist at Minnesota CC

abrielle lopez
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LBCC president Romali is presidential finalist at Minnesota CC

For the second time this week, it has been announced that Superintendent-President of Long Beach City College, Reagan Romali is one of three finalists for a presidential position, this time at North Hennepin Community College, in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, according to CCX Media.

North Hennepin Community College has a population of 9,742 students as of 2018. 

Current president, Barbara McDonald, resigned for a position at the College of St. Scholastica. 

This news came days after an announcement on Feb. 6 that Romali was up for another position at a different “LBCC,” Linn-Benton Community College in Oregon, as reported by the Gazette Times.

She was recently a top contender for a position at Miami Dade College in July 2019, a process that ultimately left her out of contention following a controversy surrounding comments she made during her interview. 

Romali has previously served as President of Harry S. Truman College from 2011 to 2017, as Associate Dean of the Community College of Qatar, a Houston Community College District campus, from 2010 to 2011, and as Vice President of Business Services at Moreno Valley College from 2008 to 2010. 

Superintendent-president Romali is being considered along with Jesse Mason and Rolando Garcia.

Mason is an internal candidate who has served as Provost/Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs at North Hennepin Community College since 2018. 

The third finalist in the race, Rolando García has served at Broward College as President of the Judson A. Samuels South Campus and Vice Provost of Academic Resources since 2015. 

Romali has been Superintendent-President of the Long Beach Community College District since 2017.

A decision could potentially be made by March, with the new president expected to begin their tenure on July 1st, 2020. 

Romali is scheduled to visit the North Hennepin Community College campus on February 18th.

Public relations has not immediately responded for comment.

Romali becomes presidential finalist at another ‘LBCC’

abrielle lopez
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Romali becomes presidential finalist at another ‘LBCC’

Superintendent-President of Long Beach City College, Reagan Romali has become a presidential finalist at another “LBCC,” Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon, according to a recent article in the Gazette Times.

Linn-Benton Community College was established in 1966 as a two-year institution offering a multitude of courses, transfer programs, career technical training and more to students. 

Compared to an average of 28,000 students in attendance at Long Beach City College, Linn-Benton Community College serves an average of 18,000 students annually.

Greg Hamann has been president at Linn-Benton Community College for the past 10 years to date and announced his retirement date for June 30, 2020, with a goal of having a newly elected president to start on July 1, 2020.

Romali is one of three candidates that are being considered for the president position.

Lisa Avery, campus president of Portland Community College, and David Hinds, president of Victoria College in Victoria, Texas, are also in the run for presidential candidacy.

Within the previous year of Romali’s career, she was also one of four presidential finalists for consideration at Miami Dade College, in Miami, Florida.

Romali has held the superintendent-president position at Long Beach City College since May 2017.

She has declined to comment about her candidacy for president at Linn-Benton Community College.

Consoles, cosplay, and creatures creep into Long Beach Comic Expo

abrielle lopez
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Consoles, cosplay, and creatures creep into Long Beach Comic Expo

A variety of panels, screenings, exhibits, gaming franchises, and demos were present at the semiannual Comic Expo at the Long Beach Convention Center on Jan. 11 and 12, with attendees ranging from first-timers and cosplayers who have been consistently attending for years.

The event began with a panel during the ‘Space Expo,’ hosted by volunteers from Cosplay for Science, a nonprofit educational initiative that aims to communicate science through pop culture, cosplay, and outreach, with panels that consisted of paleontologists and anthropologists discussing the role that extinct animals have played in inspiring video game and movie monsters. 

There were also franchises of multiple mediums present and the gaming franchises showcased their products, met with fans, and explained how video games can be used as learning tools. 

Actors Luis and Daniel Moncada pose with an attendee at their booth during Long Beach Comic Expo on Jan. 12, 2020. Luis and Daniel played the roles of cousins Leonel and Maro Salamanca from ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul.’ Photo by Jorge Hernandez.

The panel ‘Pop Paleo: Dinosaurs,’ discussed paleolithic creatures throughout pop culture, referencing movies like Spielburg’s ‘Jurassic Park’ and praising it for his attention to detail on the dinosaurs. 

Spielburg worked with paleontologists on the physiology of the animals and a member of the panel explained, “It’s one of the most accurate portrayals of the T-Rex in pop culture.”

The panel also discussed one of their favorite fictional creatures, a monster from Capcom’s game franchise ‘Monster Hunter,’ called Anjanath, a character based on a T-rex and in the latest installment of the series, there are feathers added to it.

Kiersten K. Formoso, who holds a doctorate degree in Vertebrate Paleobiology, expressed what she enjoys about the animals depicted in recent Monster Hunter World and Red Dead Redemption 2 games. 

“The animals usually don’t attack the player just like they do in real life,” Formoso said. 

Cheech Marin from the comedy duo ‘Cheech and Chong’ cosplayed by Carlos Herrerias at Long Beach Comic Expo on Jan. 12, 2019. “I always love entertainment. I like to be one the funny guys, and Cheech Marin is one of the funniest guys in my life,” Carlos said. Photo by Jorge Hernandez.

In the area of retro gaming, Patrick Ferre, the founder of SKG Retrogaming, displayed a console called the Retro Box- a small computer called a Cherry Pi with some modifications in the form of HD display ports, an outer shell, and USB ports. 

These consoles have emulation software and several hundred retro games and depending on the version of the console, some include games from Atari Genesis, Playstation 1, and Nintendo 64. 

Ferre shared some of his thoughts on the gaming industry’s attitude towards single player games and new consoles. 

“They have been saying single player games are disappearing for 20 years,” Ferre said.

When asked about the place of retro games in the modern market, Ferre said, “Young people are increasingly interested. Many people who visit the booth tend to be college or high school students.” 

Ferre also shared his thoughts on the next generation of Playstation 5’s logo reveal.

“It’s a PS4 logo with a PS5 on it. It’s a risky design. It’s unique for a console, but most people might not have space in their entertainment setup,” Ferre said.

An attendee explores the works of artist Steven E. Gordon who is displaying character art during the Long Beach Comic Expo on Jan. 12, 2020. Gordon is a character designer for X-Men: Evolution, The Swan Princess, and The Ultimate Avengers. Photo by Jorge Hernandez.

Industry veteran and voice actor, Carlos Ferro, was present and he is recognized in the gaming community from high profile roles in games like ‘Gears of Wars,’ as Domininc Santiago, ‘Assassin’s Creed,’ as Leonardo da Vinci, and all the Cuban soldiers in the first ‘Call of Duty Black Ops’ game.

He shared his initial reaction to the PS5 logo reveal, as well. 

“I thought they were going to reveal something big, like a partnership with Nintendo,” Ferro said.

Scorpion from the video game Mortal Kombat cosplayed by Jessie Lulham at Long Beach Comic Expo on Jan. 12, 2020. “He’s one of my favorite character- The Spirit of Vengeance,” Lulham said. Photo by Jorge Hernandez.

In the area of virtual reality, Quentin Zuber, of 2113 Labs V.R. and member of techno-electronica band, Spanking Machine, talked about a project called Permission V.R.

It was developed on Unity Engine, an engine popular with independent creators. 

The demo involved players walking through an apocalyptic city and through a portal that opens to a peaceful meadow, all while Spanking Machine’s music plays.

“It’s a music video you can experience. It’s supposed to represent the transition from dark to light, the music changes over time to represent that,” explained Zuber. 

Long Beach Comic Con, sister event of Long Beach Comic Expo, is set to occur on Sept. 5 and 6, at the Long Beach Convention Center.

Opinion: The repercussions of trigger warnings are not worth it

abel reyes
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Opinion: The repercussions of trigger warnings are not worth it

For students in college who are going into a professional field after their academic career, the use of trigger warnings given during their education is detrimental for themselves when they move on to their profession.

Trigger warnings are given by professors to students when class texts or images contain content related to racism, sexual violence, or other trauma-related experiences. 

According to a survey done by NPR in 2016, about half of professors in the U.S. use trigger warnings.

What the use of trigger warnings is potentially causing is the subtle repercussions while on the professional field.

Becoming unfocused and having unexpected stress are factors that an individual may have to deal with because of the lack of trigger warnings in the real world, ultimately determining that one can still not be prepared after college

A 2019 study published by Clinical Psychological Science says that trigger warnings have little effect on someones distress and also says that the format of the content makes no difference as well. 

What the study also explains is the long term impact of avoiding conflict and practicing avoidance can help maintain disorders such as PTSD.

According to Harvard Health, college students are already increasingly anxious. Widespread adoption of trigger warnings in syllabi may promote this trend, encouraging students to turn to avoidance, is potentially depriving them of opportunities to learn healthier ways to manage potential distress.

It is also putting an unnecessary hurdle in front of you that you’re going to have to deal with in the future, when it can be easily avoided.

Trigger warnings puts an unnecessary strain on professors on deciding when to give a trigger warning and what is defined as traumatic. Potentially being biased without noticing because of predisposed dispositions.

A op-ed by Harvard University’s psychology professor Richard McNally published in The New York Times, says that if you need a trigger warning, you need P.T.S.D treatment.

McNally’s two key points lost in the debate on whether to use trigger warnings or not, is trauma is common, P.T.S.D is rare.

Opinion: Trigger warning yield respect in the classroom

abel reyes
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In order to create mutual respect and awareness in the classroom, professors should prepare their class for possible trigger warnings in the syllabus or throughout class.

There is a stigma surrounding trigger warnings; you don’t necessarily have to speak of rape, murder or racial topics for something to be triggering.

Long Beach City College has classes such as pilates and yoga which involve physical activity and proper alignment of the body. 

At the beginning of each Pilates 101 class this semester, Professor Stephanie Powell advised the class of this and asked to be informed if anyone didn’t want to be touched. 

During the class, if she was going to adjust a student’s pose, she let them know where she was going to touch them and how.

History 10, the study of early American history involves a lot of violence, some of which may be a wake-up call to students who know only what they are taught from their high school textbooks, most of which include a revisionist history written with kid gloves. 

If the violence that surrounds the subject matter was brought up in the syllabus to warn students, it would give them time to understand they may need to unlearn a lot from their high school classrooms, instead of becoming shocked at new information they were told was something else. 

Some professors may believe that college is meant to prepare students for the real world and this is very true. During discussion, sensitive subjects must be broached upon, some professors may think “You should know what you are getting into,” when it comes to the subject matter of their class.

Despite this belief, there are circumstances where a trigger warning could be presented, such as your communications professor letting you know that your speeches will be video recorded or a music professor warning their students of sexual or explicit lyrics. 

Students in Professor Curtis’ Psych 10 class this semester had the option to watch an abortion video but everyone recieved the lesson through notes prior, allowing for a leveled playing field during class discussions and exams.

As long as there is enough understanding and mutual respect between the instructor and student to understand that particular content during a course topic may elicit negative feelings within some people, then it would be beneficial to take the time to prepare students for tough material.

Not everyone can be protected all the time, but allowing the space for trigger warnings creates an awareness in the classroom that can yield open communication and trust. 

Letter to the Editor: QLess is more time consuming

abel reyes
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Dear Editor,

I completely agree with you.

This is my first year at Long Beach City College and I have used the Qless app several times to see the cashier and to go to the financial aid office. 

The app was supposed to virtually save your spot in line because the school knows that college students are busy and wanted to make it easier to handle business. So I think in theory that the app was a good idea. But I don’t think that it is very accurate.. like at all. 

There has been a multiple times when the app has told me that there are about 27 people in front of me and there is a 67 minute wait time so I’ll leave and then suddenly I’m front in line and it I telling me to “hurry up or [my] spot will be lost.” So now I’m rushing so that I won’t miss this appointment and have to start all over again. And I appreciate the fact that they give you a “more time” but it never seems to work for me I’ll send for more time and it won’t let me get more time. So I have to drop everything to go get in line. 

And the time on the app is completely off. Sometimes it will say “you’ve reached the front of the line!” and then I get inside and for some reason I still have to wait in line. 

I also hate that they don’t have like a quick one question option. Online it will ask you why you’re visiting today and then it’ll say like financial aid, cashier’s office etc. But I just want to ask one question: “when do I get my financial aid?” and in two clicks the lady at the window can tell me that my financial aid is coming on the 29th– but I waited over an hour for her to do just that. 

I guess it should be considered that this is only the second time LBCC has done this so they have not worked out all the kinks. But in the spring I hope that they work on this. 

Sincerely, 

Chantera Walton

Opinion: Journalism department needs help, LBCC should step in

Marissa Lopez
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Opinion: Journalism department needs help, LBCC should step in

The Viking news is a student run website contained with events and stories that relate to student life, yet you don’t ever see the school website feature the Viking News, or link to the Viking News website on the home page. The Long Beach City College homepage needs to promote the student-run paper since the Viking’s sole purpose is to report and write stories for students on topics and events students would be interested in.

There are currently over 24,000 students attending LBCC, on the LAC Campus there are several computer labs with free access that give students hundreds of computers, most of these computers either default load to the main LBCC website, or have easy access to the LBCC website.

Even potential students that are thinking about attending LBCC either out of high school or just looking to come back to school, have to go through the LBCC website at some point.

It’s almost undeniable that most students have to go through the school website at some point or another, which means that the site gets a ton of traffic, intentional or not. 

Then when looking at what sort of content is on their front page, you see that it’s mainly towards either student related events and activities or student created content, but you see nothing about the Viking News.

If the LBCC website promoted its own school newspaper along with their own public relations reports of events and stories, not only would this provide a big boost to the amount of exposure the Viking in terms of web traffic, but it would also potentially expose a lot more students to the journalism department and what sort of work journalism students do on a day-to-day basis.

Some might say, “Well the school has no obligation to feature the Viking News on the website.”

It’s a valid point, the school is not obligated to post anything that they post. It’s curated content that is chosen by the web designers or whoever decides what content is going to go up.

Even getting to the Viking website is fairly un-intuitive as you have really two ways of getting there through the LBCC website itself. 

First, being through the search function, which if you don’t know the correct keywords to use it could be hard to find. Even upon finding the page for it it looks awfully bland and has little to no information on how the paper is made, what classes they are or how it helps an aspiring journalism major.

Second, is going through the “Explore Our Programs” tab and with that you have to go through the following clicks:

Explore Our Programs > Communications > Journalism > ?

So really there is only one way, because once you navigate to this page there is no way to get to the Viking website from here.

How about the more technical side of things? How realistic would it be to incorporate some sort of feature on the website and whose shoulders would it fall on?

It’s difficult to know for sure the skill and experience of whoever the school gets to do their web design, but upon examination of the website’s source code it appears to be written in the “HTML” web language, which is basically the type of code web designers use in order to design websites. 

Though, LBCC.edu is relatively easy to navigate, finding the information you need can be a bit nuanced sometimes but it works for the most part and it has an appealing design.

In contrast with the Viking’s web design which is much more robust, simple and has a very “information first” approach which is to be expected from a journalism website.

Jordan Ambra, an online programmer, explained that web languages are harder to code than more typical languages, he says the brain is accustomed to visual-cues opposed to visual software language like HTML/CSS.

Despite the workload, LBCC should consider promoting the Viking News more extensively. I don’t think it would be a good look to cancel the Journalism program due to lack of exposure.

The Journalism program at LBCC is seemingly always having to cut corners every semester in-order to keep enrollment up and the school should be making an effort to keep the program afloat.

LBCC might be underestimating the benefits of having a booming journalism program on campus. Things like the paper being a legitimate news source for student and faculty alike being able to promote on-campus events, informing students about important resources, reminding of upcoming deadlines, and more.

The Viking News offers a unique benefit of being extremely student relatable as it is 100% student run and student focused. Something the regular LBCC website could use to it’s advantage by working with the Viking in order to shed light on important topics and get students the information they need.

There are several different approaches to it, at least in terms of web design.

First, and probably the most technically intensive task, is to create a sort of custom widget for the front page about the Viking. It could have “The Viking’s Top Stories” or constantly cycle out different stories from the week or just highlight what’s big in the newspaper right now.

Another could be to feature Viking news articles on the homepage periodically when something important gets published. A bit simpler, but the periodical promotion could go a long way.

Finally and possibly the least impactful, but including some sort of link on the homepage saying something along the lines of, “Want to keep up with student events on and off campus? Visit the Viking News [Insert Link]” just something that isn’t buried beneath several layers of links, searches, and an uninteresting webpage.

The Journalism department shouldn’t have as low as enrollment numbers as it has currently when it has been such an important part of the school’s history and could be a bigger part of it’s legacy.

President Ambassador gets ready for transfer while raising three children

Anyssa Staine
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President Ambassador gets ready for transfer while raising three children

Student and mother of three Jennifer Baker opened up about her experience as a single parent while pursuing her academic goals.

During Baker’s third pregnancy, she attended counseling at the Women’s Shelter of Long Beach on two separate occasions.

Baker received therapeutic help from a clinical psychologist who influenced her to become a therapist herself and work toward her Phd or Sci.D in psychology.

Baker said the reason for restarting her education is so she can become a therapist because she said she enjoys talking and helping people.

“Me going back to school was to help people. Me going back to school and being with these groups with these women that  are all types of different socioeconomic backgrounds that have, you see people with these different mindsets and I wanted to go back to school because I was never encouraged in school. I didn’t graduate. This was a really big deal for me to graduate because I didn’t graduate,” Baker explained.

Before coming to LBCC, Baker worked as a hairdresser after giving birth to her first son. She chose to go to beauty school after her first attempt at LBCC when she was a young adult.

Due to a neck injury from a yoga accident, Baker was not able to be a hair consultant anymore.

With the support of her family, Baker decided to take a second chance to earn her degree during her third pregnancy.

“I feel like mom going back to school is good because she would tell me a lot about how she screwed up while she had me. I stopped her from going down any darker and deeper. I feel like this is her redemption,” said Noah Baker, the eldest son.

When Baker returned to her studies in Spring 2017, she had a hard time adjusting to academic life and said she was skeptical about whether she would make it through the first semester.

“I felt like I couldn’t do it. I had to start over in pre algebra and remedial english and my son who has autism had like…I could remember being in class and the school calling me, telling me that he’s suicidal. A lot of the abuse that happened, my oldest son experienced, his autism and the trauma overlapped and so, can I be in this class? I can remember taking my first final and my son had just gotten in trouble or something had happened and it’s just like, how am I going to do this?” Baker shared.

Baker’s three sons are her eldest Noah, her second child Herman and her youngest, Andrew.

Not long ago, the family found out that Baker’s eldest son is diagnosed with Apsergers. She does help her eldest son, Noah, work with his autism by having him attend therapy.

“Sometimes I want to cry and scream because it’s just something super overwhelming at times because his school, he has a lot of school issues when they call me and tell me what’s going on, it makes me upset. Sometimes at him, sometimes at that school, sometimes at his autism. It’s terrible. It’s very challenging to balance that, “ Jennifer Baker explained.

President Ambassador Jennifer Baker looking off while sat on a bench at Rosie the Riveter park in Long Beach. Photo by Tyana Sallis.

Going back to college has allowed Baker to grow as an individual and become a better parent to her children.

Baker spreads out enough time to spend with her children individually so that none of them feel alone.

Despite finding it difficult to make time, Baker works through it all because she said she knows she cannot afford to leave school because she wants a better financial stability for her family.

“I had to pay for someone to watch the baby so I could do and an hours worth of homework. I have to take him to doctors appointments and therapists. I have to go to a meeting for all my kids or for [Noah and Herman] at the school,” Baker said.

Most of the time, Baker receives support from her mother Linda Baker when she needs somebody to assist her with her sons.

“It’s very challenging. [Andrew’s] quite a handful. I try to redirect him or move him around an we walk the dogs 2-3 times a day. I try to do my best and let her do her homework and stuff,” Linda Baker expressed.

Baker is as an LBCC president ambassador. She applied for the ambassador position five weeks after she returned to and she gave birth to her third child, Andrew.

“There’ll be school events and we get to go volunteer. I get to have a voice in things that I feel that are important for the college students like it gives me a bigger platform to help students out or my fellow peers by telling them the events that the school puts on/ There’s a lot of special resources that the school has. I think that people are really shy or embarrassed or don’t know. So I’m able to help in the leadership role. I get to be able to meet the Long Beach Foundation, the people that create scholarships,” Baker explained.

One of the opportunities the ambassador position offers is the 4th grade tours program that LBCC arranges on each Friday.

Baker talks with the children and provides them with information about the College Promise 2.0, how they can utilize the college promise and learn the process of working through the college semester.

Mindful Vikings Episode 4 – with Mike Munoz

abel reyes
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Mindful Vikings Episode 4 – with Mike Munoz

In this episode of Mindful Vikings, reporter Abrielle Lopez sits down with Mike Munoz, Long Beach City College’s Vice President of Student Services.

The two discuss the social climate surrounding mental health in men. Masculinity, gender roles, socio normative ideologies, and mindfulness. 

We hope you enjoy this episode of Mindful Vikings. Please like, subscribe, and share our content if you feel called to. 

As we approach the end of the Fall 2019 semester, Mindful Vikings would like to thank you for tuning in to our content. See you in the Spring! 

Opinion: Big trucks need to be mindful when parking on campus

Marissa Lopez
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Opinion: Big trucks need to be mindful when parking on campus

No one likes an obnoxious parker, especially when a huge truck tries to squeeze into a compact parking spot, to avoid this common issue,  LBCC should enforce new rules for the LAC parking structure specified for drivers of non-compact cars. 

The main problem is that big SUVs and large trucks tend to park themselves on the opposite ends of a row, blocking the corner view, making it impossible to see what’s on the other side.

When a big car is parked at the end of the row, it becomes a visual obstacle for drivers who are turning opposite of each other. 

The white lines on parking spaces exist for a reason, it’s basically a guideline on how drivers should be parking within the lines by length and width. 

Many truck drivers don’t consider the fact that a majority of the parking spots are more suited  for compact cars, rather than much larger vehicles anyways.

Stacey Toda, Associate Director of Communications and Community Engagement, said that most students tend to not follow the rules, but they are finding ways on how to fix the issue.

As LBCC exploring new ways to fix the problem, the department can consider changes such as, designating a specific parking spot based on the size of the car, like the opposite to a compact spot, but only this time it would be a mandatory rule that is punishable with a ticket. 

That way, it would be essential for students to park in their appointed spaces giving students no other choice, but to respect such rule. 

If students’ don’t follow the guidelines they would have to pay the consequences of not doing so.

It may seem unfair, but this issue can easily prevent an accident from occurring and make parking in the structure a lot easier.

Of course, not all the cars that are compacted are the same size, but that doesn’t give truck drivers the right to make themselves fit in a parking spot, where they clearly don’t fit. 

The Wall Street Journal mentioned that taller trucks and SUVs often block views, park at weird angles and make it difficult to get in and out.

Not saying that having a bigger car is a bad thing, but drivers need to be wise and considerate when deciding where to park their vehicle.

The level of safety within the structure could potentially increase now that cars will be more aware of what’s coming towards them.

This change will not only benefit compact drivers, but can also benefit truck drivers as well by avoiding getting their vehicles hit.

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