The LBCC men’s basketball team have begun preparations for their two tournament games, which are the first two games of the season, on October 31 and November 1.
Last season, the Viking basketball team finished off with an overall record of 20-5, and in their division they were 9-1.
The players are starting to become comfortable and confident about the upcoming season, since last season they made the Sweet 16, which is an NCAA tournament that starts with 64 teams.
Jace Bass, a 6’2 Guard for the LBCC Vikings was being scouted by the head coach of Louisiana Tech, Erik Konkol, on Oct. 2.
Bass didn’t let the attention of Konkol distract him from the Coach’s goal for this season, which was to reach the Final Four and/or win state.
The team feels like they’ve made the appropriate changes for this season, according to guard Aaron Jelks.
Photo by Isaiah Zuniga/Viking Staff. Coach Barry Barnes watching on as his team practiced on Oct. 2.
“We feel more athletic and we’ve begun to work on our defense, which we see as the key to success,” Jelks said.
“If we’re able to tune up our defense, we’ll become unbeatable.”
Bass pointed out another factor that the team has worked on this offseason, “We’ve become more conditioned and we look and feel like we’re in shape.”
With the improvements stated by Aaron Jelks and Jace Bass, Guard Kester Ofoegbu states that, going into this season, “We are the Vikings. We have a chip on our shoulder, so we have a lot to prove.”
Coach Barnes has high expectations for this team, “I think with the team we have, the chemistry we have, we could win state.”
Along with the confidence Barnes has in the team, Barnes added that Bass will be a large factor in their success this season, “I think with a player that’s as great as Jace, we could do even better than 20-5.”
Jelks added to Coach Barnes’ confidence in the team and Jace “It’s simple, we have Jace and our team is amazing, why wouldn’t we be able to win it all this year?”
The LBCC Vikings’ season kicks off on October 31 vs. Santiago Canyon in the Santa Ana Tournament at 7:30 p.m.
The English Majors and Minors Club’s open mic poetry event was scandalized by a student’s stand up comedy of sexually explicit content detailing his first handjob experience, leading to English professor Jason Casem ending his performance.
Listen to student John Dy’s performance, where he discussed his first handjob.
Student John Dy began his stand up comedy act by saying, “The best handjob I had ever received was from a girl who had never given one before.”
“You ever get a handjob from a girl who had never given one before, it’s not pleasant usually.”
Dy then moved onto talking about Yaoi, which features sexual romance between men and is targeted towards women.
English department professor and club adviser for the English Majors and Minors Jason Casem, stopped his performance.
“I spoke with the department heads and creative writing committee – I have no desire to reiterate those opinions again,” Casem told the Viking News about his perspective on the performance at the open mic.
Dy took a seat as the remaining volunteers presented at the open mic, and the event continued with other students and professors volunteering to present their poems and renditions of famous classic literature scenes.
Having heard about the event through his creative writing professor, Dy prepared his comedy act the day before open mic.
“These were the strongest, I made some people laugh with them so I thought they were alright,” Dy said about his comedy act.
Dy also plans on performing at the English Majors and Minors club’s next open mic, where audience members can expect jokes about his brother.
Student Matthew Jacobs took the stage to present three poems written by himself, entitled “Note to Kathryn McMurray,” “In California,” and ended with “Oedipus the Community College Student.”
Listen to student Matthew Jacobs performance.
Jacobs surprised the audience with his reading of “Oedipus the Community College Student,” where he mentions professor Laura Wheeler, an English professor at LBCC.
“My therapist reminded me that I am a sex addict, my therapist reminded me that fucking my professor would not retroactively fix my childhood, my therapist reminded me that fucking my professor would not retroactively make my mother have loved me or wanted me,” Jacobs said in his poem.
“But as I left my therapist’s office I thought to myself, it couldn’t hurt to try. On an unrelated note I should stop by Laura Wheelers office to ask for help in correcting the grammar on this poem or even just to say hi,” Jacobs concluded his performance.
Jacobs’s open mic poetry reading left the audience and fellow volunteers laughing, as they clapped for him.
Professor Laura Wheeler declined to speak on Jacobs’ open mic reading performance and preferred to move past the performance.
Fourth year student Alexis Hozie-Alfardo presented a rough draft of her poem entitled “The Art of Anxiety,” about her personal coping mechanisms in living with and beside anxiety.
“It’s supposed to make sense but also be slightly chaotic as anxiety is, it’s talking about looking back at your worst times and your best times of dealing with it and being able to build on that and become better from it,” Alfardo said.
English Majors and Minors club Vice President, Emily Thompson, presented her poem titled “Autumn Shows Us How Beautiful It Is To Let Things Go,” which is published in the fourth volume of the club’s literary journal, Saga.
Through the English department, the club’s literary journal is open for student participation and is currently taking submissions for their next issue which allows students a chance to have their writing published.
“It’s mostly poetry along with some fiction and nonfiction, we will be putting out volume five in the spring – and it’s really sweet and really cool,” Thompson said.
Saga is available for purchase through Amazon and the school bookstore. Club members can also purchase their own copy through their meetings where limited quantities are offered.
Open mic ended with an invitation to the club’s weekly meeting, every Thursday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., and their next open mic for the semester on October 31st.
The governor’s office announced today that Uduak-Joe Ntuk, a member of Long Beach Community College District Board of Trustees, has been appointed to serve as the state’s top oil and gas regulator.
Ntuk has been appointed supervisor of the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources at the California Department of Conservation, according to a news release by the governor’s office.
Since 2016, Ntuk has been the petroleum administrator for Los Angeles and is also an adjunct faculty member at Cal’s State Long Beach Chemical Engineering Department since 2015.
Ntuk was petroleum engineering associate for Long Beach from 2011 to 2016 and held several positions at Chevron Corporation from 2006 to 2011.
Ntuk was an academic advisor at the California State University, Long Beach College of Engineering from 2003 to 2005.
Ntuk earned a Master of Science degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Southern California. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $209,940.
Ntuk is the first African-American male elected to serve since LBCC’s founding, and currently represents Uptown Long Beach.
Aries will be taking advantage of the fact that Halloween falls in the middle of the week. What does this mean for the Ram? Not one but TWO Halloween weekends to take advantage of. They’ll be hitting up scary mazes, spooky pumpkin patches and several house parties all in the name of spookmas.
Taurus | Bull (April 20 – May 20)
Taurus is not gonna get caught up in any tomfoolery on this Halloween. The Bull will be in their footiest jammies while handing out Godiva chocolates to trick-or-treaters before they shut the lights off promptly at 10:00pm.
Gemini | Twins (May 21 – June 21)
Gemini is in the attic playing with their moms old Ouija board again.
Cancer | Crab (Jun 22-July 22)
Cancers will be snuggled up with their kitty, S.O. or pillow while watching Disney Channel’s movie marathon and drinking copious amounts of hot cocoa. Don’t forget the ‘mallows!
Leo | Lion (July 23 – August 22)
Leo is hosting an epic (invitation only) backyard bash equipped with a taco truck, life sized Jenga and even creepy clowns.
Virgo | The Virgin (August 23 – September 22)
Virgo has planned out a very elaborate costume. As well as a session with their favorite photographer. They’ll be releasing photos to the ‘gram as soon as the spooky clock strikes midnight.
Libra | Scale (September 23 – October 23)
Libra will be home sulking that it’s not their season anymore and ordering excessive amounts of Thai food on Postmates. Don’t forget to tip your courier!
Scorpio | Scorpion (October 24 – November 21)
Scorpios know the veil is it’s thinnest on All Hallows Eve and they couldn’t be more excited. They’ll be taking advantage of these mysterious energies by holding a séance in the woods.
Sagittarius | The Archer (November 22 – December 21)
Sagittarius and their best pals will head to the live midnight screening of Rocky Horror Picture show. Afterwards, they’ll hit up their favorite local haunts and paint the town dead.
Capricorn | Sea-Goat/Mountain-Goat (December 22 – January 19)
Capricorn’s Halloween decorations went up immediately after Labor Day. The goat already has their costumes planned for several parties they’ll be attending this month. Since they’ll be out celebrating with friends on the evening of Halloween, they’ll leave a huge bowl of assorted candies on their front porch with a sign that says “Take Only One Please!”
Aquarius | Water Bearer (January 20 – February 18)
Aquarius has DIY-ed a costume of their favorite movie character and put the tutorial on all of their social media accounts. Now they’ve just got to decide which costume party is deserving enough of its debut.
Pisces | Fish (February 19 – March 20)
Pisces has an elaborate plan for their entire crew to get dressed up as their favorite 90’s cartoon characters. They’ve even planned a costume party at their unwitting bff’s house.
Police say they’ve arrested a man suspected of shooting and killing former Long Beach City College football player, Guy Alford III, outside a North Long Beach Jack in the Box last year.
Edward Jacobs, a 30-year-old resident of Lynwood, is suspected of gunning down Alford.
“Based on their investigation, detectives believe Jacobs approached Alford with the intent of committing a robbery, which ultimately resulted in Alford being shot by Jacobs,” the Long Beach Police Department said in a news release.
Jacobs was reportedly already taken into custody at a Los Angeles jail, where he was being held on an unrelated incident.
Jacobs was later transported by detectives to the Long Beach City Jail where he was booked for murder and is currently being held on $2,000,000 bail, according to Long Beach Police Department.
Detectives anticipate presenting their case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office next week for filing consideration.
Alford played for the Vikings football team for 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons as a safety and was a graduate from Bishop Alemany High School.
The night of the shooting, Alford was with at least three other people in the car who all got out and ran from the scene after the shot was fired.
He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics with a gunshot wound to his upper torso.
The Viking will update this story as more information becomes available.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill making college athletes in California able to earn a profit off their name and likeness, a step in the right direction but missing a key element with not allowing community college athletes to profit.
Community colleges are not included in the Fair Pay to Play act that passed at the end of September after Newsom signed a bill making it a law.
Being a college student can be very complex, full of deadlines, lots of studying and much more. Yet, for a college athlete, most of those are hours are used to practice their sport.
College athletes have practices at least 4-5 times a week, lasting around two hours minimum, and that doesn’t change whether you are an athlete in community college or at a university.
It’s clear that the NCAA and California’s Division one sports make much more money than your average community college does.
Although, that shouldn’t be a factor because the money the athletes would make from this law doesn’t come from the college’s pocket.
Being a student can be expensive, but being a student athlete is even more expensive. Those hours dedicated to sports could be used for working a part time job and getting school work done.
That is a big part in why community college student athletes should be able to earn some sort of profit even if it is on a much smaller scale than D-1 California college sports.
Any athlete at Long Beach City College would be able to make money off giving lessons in their particular sport like basketball or swimming for example, or even do promotional ads with a local business of Long Beach.
Community college athletes could use this law to their benefit and help the community out at the same time.
Players on the football team could collectively hold a camp for the local youth and regardless of if they make $100 or $500, it would still help them more than they are being helped now.
This does not only go for the football teams though, this goes for the entire college athletic department.
The swim team could even give swim lessons to kids in the summer along with the football team having their camp and it could be a whole LBCC summer sports camp.
These are just a few things, among many, that student athletes at LBCC could benefit from if the new law included community colleges.
Outside hitter Tiara Moseby led the Long Beach City College women’s Volleyball team with 14 kills and two assists for a win against Cerritos College 25-14, 25-18, 25-17 on Friday Oct. 4 at LBCC.
The Vikings played strong the whole game, not allowing Cerritos to win a single set.
The Vikings now hold an overall record of 9-5, and remain undefeated in the South Coast Conference holding a record of 4-0.
Cairon Fido also ended with double digits in kills having 12 and Callissa Candalot ending with a total of 10 kills.
Although they struggled at the start of season, Assistant Coach Devon Taylor ensured confidence within the team.
“We tend not to focus on the wins and loses although we all love wins, we just have to be confident and can’t let the previous games affect our future games,” Taylor said.
“We came with confidence this game and we left with our win.”
Alana Shields (1) attempts a Kill with Kennedy Freeman (30) looking on while Cerritos’ Brooke Winquist (12) defends and Mirka Granoble (2) looks on. The Long Beach City College Vikings def. the Cerritos College Falcons 25-14, 25-18, 25-17 at Long Beach City College Q building gym, Friday Oct. 4th, 2019.
During the first set, Vikings had a blistering start having viscous kills at the net, the Viking laid the Falcons relentlessly as the set came to and end of 25-14.
“We came in ready, those practices are challenging but it all pays off during our games,” Vikings Outside Hitter Alana Shields said.
“The end of the day we all have one goal and we’re going to continue to grow and be committed as a team.”
Off to a slower start for set two, the Vikings serve up some faults at the net and allow the Falcons to keep it close but still left with the set win with a score of 25-18.
“We tend to relax when we’re in the lead, although it’s good to be in the lead we have to learn not to drop that mentality,” Vikings Outside Hitter Celestial Ropati.
With the third set on the line, Cerritos did their best to make the third set as tough as possible for the Vikings, holding the lead for most of the set and putting an end to the game and having a score of 25-17.
The Vikings remains undefeated in the South Coast Conference holding a record of 4-0.
The Vikings will take on next game at East Los Angeles on Oct. 9 at 5p.m
A2Mend, or African-American Male Education Network & Development, is one of the few clubs on campus that appeals to the needs and interests of black students.
According to their website, their mission is to create an affirming academic and professional environment for African Americans within the community college system.
“Ultimately I’d like every brother to know one another and be able to depend on each other for most anything,” said club president Albert Stemage.
Photo by David Lewis. Advisor of A2Mend Brandon Crouch, informs members of Umoja and A2Mend on specific duties of each cabinet member.
As newly appointed club president, Stemage is looking to expand the club’s reach as he replaces A2Mend’s first Long Beach City College chapter president Lawrence Darrington.
Darrington relinquished his role to Stemage as he transferred out of LBCC.
During A2Mend’s meeting they discussed ways to raise club funding, give back to the community and talked about electing cabinet members where A2Mend’s members could apply.
Umoja is another club who strives to support black students at LBCC.
While looking for a home to host their Thursday meetings, the club was welcomed by Stemage to join A2Mend.
Umoja club president Elijah Harris suggested meals on wheels as a way to volunteer their time properly.
“I want to get to the point where the mayor knows who we are,” Harris referenced to the kind of notoriety that could be possible from their prospective work within Long Beach.
Stemage spoke on the idea of spending time volunteering at the Long Beach mission as another way to make giving back possible, whether it be time or donations.
Members brainstormed ways to raise funds for the club, such as singing carols for the upcoming holiday season and hosting a car wash.
For topics related to future meetings, A2Mend member Clyde Jackson II suggested speaking on the need for financial literacy and how that need can be met.
“I’m a forex trader and almost nobody knows what that even is, but there’s potential to make money pretty easily,” said Jackson II.
Forex trading involves the act of buying and selling foreign currencies in an effort to make a profit.
A2Mend is looking to increase their membership numbers by improving their presence on campus via club events, fundraisers and free lunch meetings.
Stemage encouraged everyone to take apart of the free meeting luncheon and also invited students from the hallway to join the lunch and learn more about the club.
A2Mend meets every Tuesday in T-2311 and is focused on bringing young black men together in an effort to create a harmonious and supportive environment.
Long Beach City College’s Child Development Club provides hands-on opportunities for students looking to network with professionals, connect with educators and attend workshops devoted to self-care.
The club provides a great number of interactions between professional panels in the field to network, connect and bond with.
The club specializes in child development and educational studies and also hosts self-care workshops for people looking to better their mental health.
Student and Child Development Club President Erica Brannon advocates that the club is beneficial for students looking to pursue careers in the field.
“When they go to apply for a job they say, ‘you need at least two years of experience working with kids and families,’ and they are like, ‘well where do you get that,’ and if you’re already a student here, this is the perfect place to get that hands-on experience at one of the top-rated preschool programs in Long Beach,” said Brannon.
Brannon went on to explain the enhancement of hands-on job opportunities that the club provides at the Child Development Center on the LAC campus.
“I work at the child development center on campus… A lot of students who are looking for work-study and to stay in that same realm work there,” Brannon said.
The club welcomes a variety of individuals such as parents, students, nannies, or people working in the psychology field.
The club also educates individuals about early lifetime development that may benefit people in most ways that they are not aware of.
Student and secretary of the Child Development Club Ariana Garcia voices her opinion about the many benefits that she has acquired since joining the club, last spring.
“Ever since Child Development club I find it super important that I share facts to family and parents and children. There’s so many stages of life that people are unaware of. I hope more people join so that more people will know about child development,” Garcia said.
Professor of child development and educational studies Kathleen Vokoun describes the club as a way to connect with the community while bettering learning skills.
“Our club is a community and a family and we have room for everyone who would like to connect,” Vokoun said.
The organization will meet this Fall 2019 on the first and third Wednesday of the month from 6:15 p.m. to 7:17 p.m.. at the Liberal Arts Campus Child Development Center.
The LBCC Office of Student Affairs & Healthy Vikings hosted the first in a series of workshops focusing on sexual violence prevention and education on Wednesday, September 18 in T-1046 at LAC.
Interval House is a comprehensive domestic violence agency located in Long Beach who presented the bystander training workshop.
“Given Interval House’s specific history with dealing with so many people with so many different backgrounds, we wanted to develop a similar curriculum that matched the audience,” said staff member of Interval House, Brian To.
Founded in 1979, Interval House has worked passionately to develop and provide programs and services to victims of domestic violence.
Programs and services provided by Interval House include crisis shelters, hotlines, counseling, legal assistance, community service centers, community outreach education, and specialized cultural programs.
“The really cool thing about Interval House is that we are offering our services in over 70 different languages, which is really unheard of,” said Lorena Ponce another staff member of Interval House.
Ponce has been involved with Interval House since the age of 5 due to domestic violence in her home.
She credits Interval House for providing her with the tools to remove herself from an unhealthy relationship as a teen.
Ponce added that she considers herself fortunate for the assistance she received from Interval House and views those that helped her as role models.
Ponce is just one of the 98% of Interval House’s employees that has been personally affected by domestic violence.
Courtney Taylor, Thibo Martine, Jodi Eddington, and Lydia Henderson are also Interval House employees who presented the bystander training workshop.
Like Ponce and To, they have also been personally affected by domestic violence and have their own stories to tell.
In closing, Lydia Henderson wanted people to know that there is value in being a bystander.
“Always remember a helpful bystander can save a life,” Henderson said.
Interval house hotlines are available 24 hours per day, anyone in need of assistance should call (562) 594-4555.
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