Stephen Bowles has served 24 years on the Seal Beach Police Department, and during those years he has served as a police officer, sergeant, detective, internal affairs, public information, and training.
In July, Bowles received a call from President Reagan Romali about his hall of fame introduction and was very honored.
“Absolutely humbled by even the consideration, and even more humbled by the nomination let alone the induction,” Bowles said.
Bowles is an alumni of LBCC and obtained his Associates degree in liberal studies in 1988.
Bowles credits his time at LBCC as a helpful one for his transition from high school to college.
“I attribute all my success personal and successful life to my time at Long Beach City College,” Bowles said.
Bowles played an important role in the 2009 Salon Meritage mass shooting as he was one of the first responders on the scene.
Once Bowles figured out which victims were wounded and which ones were deceased he assumed the role as the public information officer.
“I handled all the media, all the interviews, and all the city representation as the remainder of that day and the next following weeks,” Bowles said.
As a result of his heroic act Bowles was the recipient of the Medal of Merit. Back in 2003, Bowles was diagnosed with stage II melanoma, which is a form of cancer.
As soon as Bowles was done with his treatment, him and a few other retired Long Beach police officers who were also former cancers survivors, formed the National Law Enforcement Cancer Support Foundation.
“When someone in the law enforcement profession gets diagnosed we match them with a mentor or cancer survivor that walks them through their cancer journey,” Bowles said.
Bowles also has obtained his bachelor’s degree from Cal State Long Beach in sociology and obtained his master’s degree in counseling from the University of La Verne.
Bowles along with three other inductees will have their hall of induction account at The Grand Event Center in Long Beach today at 5:30 p.m.
John Fylpaa is one of the 2018 inductees in the LBCC Alumni Association and Foundation Hall of Fame after a lifetime of dedication to improving the lives of LBCC students.
Fylpaa served as the ASB adviser, Dean of Athletics, and also the Dean of Student Affairs.
It was during his time as the Dean of Athletics that he helped create the Student Athlete Success Center at LBCC with his colleagues Connie Sears and Larry Reisbig, which is dedicated to improving experience for the athletes at LBCC with a focus on academic success and career planning.
For Fylpaa, one of the secrets to his success isn’t really a secret to many people, but can be difficult to attain by most.
“My motto is, ‘Treat everyone with dignity and respect’,” Fylppa said.
It was that motto that served him well as the Dean of Student Affairs at LBCC, which in other words is the person who students go to for disciplinary reasons.
Some of his former colleagues also remember his time at that position as good examples of having his motto come into play.
Yolanda Fernandez administrative assistant to both the English and Foreign Language departments, remembers that “he was very good with students and he would straighten them out, but he treated them with respect.”
Another former colleague, Dr. Velvet Peterson also remembered Fylpaa’s time as the Dean of Student Affairs as an example of how he treated his students.
“He was so respectful even when a student was being disruptive,” Peterson said. “His goal was to get the student back into the classroom and acting appropriate.”
According to Fylpaa, he took that approach because for his position he felt he “needed to be a good role model.”
Now that he is officially retired from LBCC, Fylpaa has plenty of time to spend with his eleven grandchildren, but he still has time for LBCC.
He still plays a role mentoring students through the John Fylpaa Leadership Institute to help build civic leaders with community projects and a seven session program designed to build confidence and communication skills.
For Fylpaa, it is simply a matter of paying it forward. “It’s an honor to give back to the community that I grew up in that gave so much to me,” Fylpaa said.
Fylpaa will be inducted to the Hall of Fame on Oct. 17 at the Grand Event Center in Long Beach at 5:30 p.m.
From an All-American athlete to District six councilman, a former LBCC student is now being inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame.
With the usual standard being eight years, Dee Andrews has been a councilman for 11 years.
“I started in 2007 and went through the eight years. Two years ago I did a write in and it was the first time ever a person won as a write-in without having a runoff,” Andrews said. “Usually as a write-in you gotta get 50.1% of the votes and I am the only one that has ever done that so far.”
Long Beach has a total of nine districts and Andrews is the council member for District six which covers central Long Beach and parts of Rigely.
Long Beach residents vote for mayor but district council members vote for who should be vice mayor.
The vice-mayor candidates are the current district council members and by his peers, Andrews was elected.
“The vice-mayor means that you do what the mayor doesn’t want to do,” said Andrews. “If something happened to the mayor I would automatically become mayor. Everywhere the mayor doesn’t go I have to pick up the slack.”
Being a politician is not something Andrews initially wanted to be but decided to get involved later on in his life.
“I saw such a need. That was back in the time when black wasn’t culture,” said Andrews. “After the sixties, it got really really tough with Angela Davis, Black Power and all of that and never did I get involved with that.”
A statue of Martin Luther King Jr. at a park that was named after him in Long Beach. “What really inspired me about more than anything was Dr. Martin Luther King,” said Andrews. “Everything he did had to be political because he was talking about justice. That’s what I looked at when I got into politics. Justice for one should be justice for all.”
As vice-mayor, Andrews has gotten involved with mental help organizations, particularly dealing with children with autism.
“I deal with the autistic kids and the mental health and all of it,” Andrews said. “Going over there every morning and looking at my little kids we just love each other. I don’t care how bad my night or day was when I see them it gives me all that spirit and hope that God has been so good to me.”
Another issue he focuses on is homelessness. He puts on an event around Thanksgiving called, “Eating with the Thankful Heart” and gives free meals out to those in need.
“Thousands of people I feed. It’s been going on for seven years and all the big time hotels like The Maya, Hilton, The Westin all of them they furnish all the food. I don’t turn nobody away. They give you 5-star like you will be eating at their hotel,” said Andrews.
Born in a small town in East Texas, Andrews has lived in Long Beach for the majority of his life with his parents’ motivation for moving was to give their children a better life than what they had.
Now at the age of 77, Andrews has built his life in this city. He was considered an All-American athlete at Long Beach Polytechnic High School and continued his studies at LBCC, CSULB, and UCLA.
Andrews majored in social studies which lead him into the teaching field.
He graduated from Long Beach Poly in 1959, LBCC in 1961, and graduated from CSULB in 1964.
Andrews loves this city, considering it home after living here for 75 years.
“I like the diversity because where I lived it was mostly blacks and whites. In Long Beach, you really have an opportunity. It’s a big small city,” said Andrews.
His staff expressed how dedicated and passionate Andrews is about his work.
Former campaign treasurer and now special advisor, Lou Baglietto was a student at Wilson High School when Andrews was a teacher there.
“He is enthusiastic and dedicated to the district,” Baglietto said. “Vice-mayor is a new role for him but he is enjoying his time and carrying out his love for Long Beach.”
His chief of staff Isabel Arvea, also expressed how dedicated Andrews is to the city. She has worked with Andrews for three years.
“He (Andrews) is passionate,” Avera said. “When he was elected vice mayor he told me hey just remember this is a title. I still represent the 6th district.”
This year Andrews along with other notable LBCC alumni are being inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame on Oct. 17 at 5:30 p.m. at The Grand Long Beach Events Center.
After facing her own learning disabilities, she went on to become a co-founder and co-executive director of a law firm in Los Angeles. Now this former LBCC student is being inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame.
Janeen Steel is the co-founder and co-executive director of the Learning Right Law Center located in Downtown Los Angeles, which launched in 2005 and was founded by Steel while she attended law school.
Steel works as an attorney who represents cases involving students with disabilities. “We decided that there was a need for a nonprofit that was dedicated to education,” said Steel.
Steel did not always picture education being a part of her future.
“Part of my story is that I did not think I was going to be educated,” said Steel. “I kinda drop out of high school. I got an adult school diploma. I went to beauty school and I did not think I was gonna go to college.”
During her secondary education, Steel never felt entirely connected with the school and for most of her life and did not know why.
“I knew something was going on because I felt like there was this part of me that was pretty bright but another part of me that was not. I just couldn’t figure it out,” said Steel. “A teacher at Long Beach City College called me in. He said, ‘I think you have some form of a learning disability. You should go get tested.’”
From there, Steel went to the office of student disabilities and that is when they officially diagnosed her with having a writing disorder. During her time as an undergrad, Steel also found out she had a reading disorder.
“It made sense,” said Steel. “It was a lot of work because I literally had to start from scratch. I had to learn how to learn again.”
Steel is diagnosed with a learning disability in the area of reading and writing which is similar to dyslexia.
“When I would listen to tapes my scores would be really high; when I would listen to the questions and answer them but when I visually do it, it was really low,” said Steel.
Steel graduated from LBCC in 1990, San Francisco State University in 1993, and went on to UCLA Law School graduating in 1999.
With having a disability, Steel has a personal connection to the work she does.
“For families that have children that have disabilities or education access issues, school-related civil rights issues, there wasn’t any place out there for them,” said Steel. “The work we do is working with students that have disabilities or not accessing the right programs that they are entitled to.”
Steel has also taught at USC Law School, UCLA Law School, Loyola Marymount University, and Claremont Graduate University. Teaching a variety of law courses like ethics, special education law, and special ed law portion of an autistic program.
Her teachings lead her to become involved with embedding a special education curriculum for principles trying to obtain an administrative credential.
Co-founder and co-executive director Ines Kuperschmit shared her opinion on Steel.
“She is a tedious, hardworking, competent and creative lawyer,” said Kuperschmit. “She has a gifted memory.”
Development manager Azra Variscic has worked with Steel for four and a half years and describes her as being a passionate lawyer.
“She inspires all of us to be better and make our communities better for our children. She will do anything for children and to avenge justice,” said Variscic.
Steel along with other LBCC alumni will be inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame on Oct. 17, at 5:30 p.m. at the Grand Long Beach Events Center.
Midfielder Oskar Raymundo scored the first goal to lead the Vikings over Pasadena City College with a 2-0 win on Friday.
LBCC increased their record to 8-2-2, as Pasadena City College becomes 4-6-1.
Vikings Head Coach Cameron Beaulac was confident with the mens team, “I had full confidence in them, they played good especially towards the end,” said Beaulac.
The Lancers had disputes during the game with the referee as they believed the referee was calling the fouls incorrectly.
The Lancers had more control over the ball in the beginning but after the Vikings scored their first goal, the Vikings stayed in control.
Communication was key for the Vikings as they stayed calm and confident throughout the game, while the Lancers became frustrated as they couldn’t seem to finish.
Vikings defender Miles Hodgson kicks the ball in hope that he will score against Pasadena on Friday.
One yellow card was called for the Vikings defender Adrian Martinez and another for defender Javier Gonzalez.
Head coach Beaulac also had disputed with the referee as he thought that more yellow cards should’ve been called against Pasadena.
Top scorer for the Vikings, Sergio Flores was confident after the game, “I knew I could score, so I did. But I think my teammates did good today and we’re ready for the next game,” Flores said.
Near the end of the game, the Lancers frustrations showed as Lancers forward Eduardo Gonzalez received a red card for picking up and slamming one of the Vikings.
Vikings goalkeeper Mario DeLaTorre didn’t have to work much having only 2 saves, “Today I felt good, I wasn’t that active but next game I think my team will do good,” said DeLaTorre.
LBCC prepares to host East Los Angeles today at 4 p.m.
Forward Brittany Caudillo scored two goals in the first and second half of the game to secure the win for Long Beach City College to defeat visitor Pasadena City College 3-0.
Vikings forward Brittany Caudillo fights off Lancers Forward Erica Perez for the ball.
The Vikings increased their record to 6-4-1, while the Lancers become 0-7-3, as they still have not won a game this season.
Vikings Head Coach Eduardo Nunes went into the game with a positive attitude.
“We feel good coming off our win from West L.A., we had to be focused from Cerritos College beating us up,”said Nunes.
Both teams began with a slow start, however after forward Allison Casillas scored the first goal, the Vikings were in control of the ball.
Two yellow cards were called for the Vikings forward Caudillo and on midfielder Suhei Castillo.
No severe injuries happened during the game, other than a head-butt between Vikings defender Alyssa Pyle and Lancers midfielder Yulissa Macias.
A lack of communication was the downfall for Pasadena City College as they could not get control of the ball.
The Vikings had many scoring opportunities but could not finish on most.
“We’re going to focus on finishing more for the next game and work on definitely corner kicks,” Casillas said.
The Vikings goalkeeper did not have to block many goals, having only five saves against Pasadena City College.
Nunes was confident with meeting Pasadena City College again, as last season’s game resulted in a 1-1 tie against the Lancers.
Freshman defender Madilyn Engel was confident before and after the game.
“I felt good, I wasn’t worried, I had confidence in my team,” said Engel.
LBCC prepares to host East Los Angeles college for their 13th game of the season today at 2 p.m. at LBCC.
PCC transformed its quad into a race track for the Academic Success Event, in which students had the opportunity to get advice from counselors on Oct. 9.
The event was innovative, with the quad transformed into a race track, with signals and other various props to represent students’ track on academics.
Three booths were arranged, one at the start of the track, at the middle and one at the end, all with counselors and academic advisers to assist students.
“We will help all students who come to our booths, we will guide them through every single step, because we are here to help,” said counselor Tami Hom.
Debra Peterson, counselor and coordinator of the Academic Success Center, was the head of this event along with ASB staff.
“We (the organizing team) are very satisfied about what we’ve done today. It is so creative and I’m pretty sure we’re going to have a lot students coming here to make sure they’re on track with their studies,” said Peterson.
The PCC quad transformed into a race track as a metaphor for students’ academic track, organized with booths with academic advisers for the Academic Success Event on Oct. 9.
Peterson shared how the team made sure their event was as creative as possible, even bringing a luxurious BMW sports car to attract students’ attention.
ASB and Academic Success Center came up with the idea of putting a scooter at the start of the race track, a bicycle at the middle and the luxurious automobile at the end to represent students’ goals and what they can achieve.
For instance, former LBCC student Jerome Jackson, owner of the sports car at the event, was invited to demonstrate to students how to be successful in their academics.
“I was at this college back in the 80’s. I’ve been to El Camino College, but LBCC made me accomplish my dreams, dreams I’m still making true,” said Jackson.
Former LBCC student Jaren Leary, who is now vice-president of ASB, was part of the organizing team.
“LBCC gives you a lot of opportunities of advancements, you won’t get stuck in your classes, LBCC is there for you,” said Leary.
Leary also shared how proud he feels to be a LBCC graduate, resulting in him getting a work position at school’s student association.
Irenne Hernandez, undecided major, attended the event in seek of advice for her academics.
“I got help deciding my major in this very fun event. It is really cool how you experience college advising here and it is so helpful,” said Hernandez.
The event was a major success, according to Academic Success Center, they have “managed to help out all kinds of students and making sure they’re on track with their classes and that they will stay that way.”
English majors and professors gather for a poetry open mic outside the P building at LAC on Oct. 4 at noon.
The English department usually meet up every Thursday once a month at noon, so students have the opportunity to share their poetry.
They usually meet inside the P building but the English department’s room is being renovated so the open mic was set outside to attract more students.
Students used their poetry to express their thoughts, emotions, things they’re passionate about, to bring awareness.
English professor Jason Casem knew he wanted to instruct an English class shortly after attending LBCC.
Casem likes to write his poems based off his experiences in his younger days at the beach in Hawaii.
Casem’s philosophy of poetry is “if there is no change, there is no story,” he explains that the audience should leave the open mic being influenced in whatever his or her poem was about.
Damon Moore is the president of the English major and minors club. Moore writes to show people how it is to be into others peoples shoes, to take them out their own reality and put in it into someone else’s.
“Escapism for myself and the reader, to bring other people’s reality into someone else’s shoes,” said Moore to escape from whatever situation they are in instead of resorting to negative things.
Rebekah Wressler was the host at the open mic; she used one of her poems for her political opinions on judge Brett Kavanagah. She explained that every poet has a different goal or different story to tell.
Wressler’s philosophy on poetry is to write with expression. “Everyone has a different focus,” Wressler said.
One of two Tim Potter’s book, Potter spoke at the open mic at LAC on Oct. 4 2018. Potter recited poems from his previous book, “Take A Shot At The Monster”
Poet Tim Potter wrote a piece that brought awareness of World War 2 which was called, “Coventry 6596.”
Potter has been writing off and on since the 1960’s and has published his first novel in 2008 “Take a Shot at the Monster.”
Potter said that he writes for release of emotion and a way to cope with different situations.
The English majors and minors club is open for anyone who is interested in poetry, they meet up every Thursday from 12 p.m.-1 p.m.
The new art exhibition, “Complement” is being held in the K building and is open until Oct. 25.
This art exhibition is completely constructed by adjunct faculty members. Adjunct faculty members are part time professors that work in multiple colleges. The show is organized under the direction of Trevor Norris.
“This art exhibition is for everyone, students on campus, local artist, and the public,” director Norris said.
The art show got its name when Norris was looking for a synonym for compliment and then found complement.
The art show is breaking the biennial year cycle of holding an art exhibition. Last year the ‘LBCC 2017 Annual Student Art Exhibition’ held many student art pieces.
“The art exhibition was great and I loved seeing all the pieces people had, it really inspired me,” art major Susan Gomez said.
There will also be performances from LBCC jazz band and poetry reading at the gallery.
“Students can not only see some of our staff’s pieces here but they can also see some at the Long Beach Museum of Art Exchange,” Norris said.
Students who are interested can find the artist’s work at another exhibition, ‘Practice & Pedagogy.’
This art exhibition is going on now until Oct. 28 at the Long Beach Museum of Art Exchange. One example is Adam Teradoka who has a piece in ‘Complement’, his piece consist of a combination of satire in industrial companies and art in a whole. His piece is a gray box of two cow’s ears being compared side by side.
“My products are sort of art work and sort of a commentary of art, that’s kind of like the idea of my work.” artist Adam Teradoka said. “My art piece is sort of like this paper towel holds this much and this paper holds this much and it’s way more absorbent.”
Any students interested can look up any additional information on hours or days at www.lbma.org or on the Long Beach Museum of Art Exchange website.
Long Beach City College will remove six trees at LAC due to bad health and potential safety hazards on Friday and Saturday.
LBCC brought in a certified arborist to review the trees and decided that they should be removed.
Horticulture professor Jorge Ochoa disagrees with the decision.
With the renovation of the P building at LAC the six trees will be cut down.
The Deputy Director of Facilities Rentals & Grounds, Sean Rivell, at LBCC says that the trees will be replaced within six months.
In specifics, two Italian Stone Pine trees near the bus stop, three Carob trees south of the P building, and one European Olive tree north of the P building will be removed.
One Brazilian Peppertree in front of the entrance of the P building will be kept which is also a memoriam to Beverly O’Neill.
LBCC wants to add more trees on both campuses.
“Diversity in trees is what’s important. There are many different trees which you could add to benefit PCC,” said Ochoa.
Sean Rivell inspects the trees every couple months, and his number one concern with the trees is safety. “My number one priority with the trees is safety. I am a tree lover but if the trees have any potential safety hazards, it’s my job to deal with it,” said Rivell.
Two Italian Stone Pine trees were removed due to safety hazards surrounding a busy sidewalk. Long Beach City College removed six trees.
A certified arborist, Dillon Reynolds, wrote a report on the trees that he believed what was wrong with the trees.
Reynolds spoke about the three Carob trees.
“From visual examination of the tree and its current status, it appears that the tree has suffered a stem failure,” said Reynolds.
The three Carob trees that are scheduled to be removed, “Shouldn’t be removed!” said Ochoa.
Ochoa believes that the three Carob Trees shouldn’t be removed because they are still in good condition. He also believes that the Brazilian Peppertree that is being kept is the tree that should be removed.
Reynolds had no comment when asked what he thinks about Ochoa’s disagreement on the trees.
With the new Magnolia trees which were planted for the renovation of the P building, about 24 have to be planted to match the same amount of benefits that 1 Carob tree does.
Other damage has been done to the trees such as the implementation of new sidewalks. At PCC, multiple trees had to be cut down for renovations.
Trees that are being removed will be chipped down and reused for LAC.
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
_gac_
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
