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PCC lockdown is still on student minds one week later

cassandra reichelt
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PCC lockdown is still on student minds one week later

Even though last week’s active shooter scare turned out to be a false alarm, some LBCC students were scared and anxious, regardless of what campus they were on.

“An officer with a shotgun came out and told everybody to get out of the cafeteria and go outside,” LBCC student Rubyn Bryant said.

Bryant was in the cafeteria at PCC during the time that the active shooter warning went out explains the frightening scenario.

According to Bryant, he hadn’t received the warning text from LBCC yet.

Student Ana Rivera, was in class at LAC when she received the warning text and was very impressed with the school’s constant updates.

“It was cool that they were doing it, you know? Updates and stuff, I wasn’t left wondering for an hour what happened, it was constant updates, I liked it,” Rivera said.

Initially, Rivera was alarmed when she read the text that contained the word ‘shooter’ but soon eased up a little once she realized it was happening at PCC.

Student Skyler Reynoso, read the warning text from home, as he had no classes that day.

“I was kind of sad but I wasn’t really surprised, I was like ‘Oh again?’,” Reynoso said.

“It was just a mistake, a simple mistake, these days you kind of have to be on edge about stuff like that, so I don’t blame the reaction, but it couldn’t be helped.”

Christina Soto, explains that although she was at LAC during the time the warning texts went out, she was still very worried for all of the people that she knows who were attending classes at PCC at that time.

“I was caught off guard because as soon as I got the text, I started thinking about what had happened in North Carolina the day before, I reacted out of wanting to know where all of my people were, I texted my friends and family who attend LBCC to double check that they were okay,” Soto said.

In the situation of an active shooter attack, Soto believes that college professors should be given the option to have a gun in their classroom.

“They should be armed, but armed with constant training, like a training every month or some type of annual certification,” added Soto.

The following day, Student Health Services put together a Healing Circle for students to express their feelings and emotions on the incident, only seven students attended and no faculty or staff.

Due to PCC lockdown, safety protocol improvements have been presented to LBCC

cassandra reichelt
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Due to PCC lockdown, safety protocol improvements have been presented to LBCC

Correction: Details on a source were changed to reflect the circumstances of the interview.

LBCC has now had a first run with a lockdown at PCC, LBCC now has the opportunity to fix the wrongs of the protocol in place.

Superintendent-President of LBCC, Reagan Romali, was happy with the response time of the Long Beach Police Department but expressed the constant need for improvement.

“We did not have any lapses in protocol that we are aware of … however that does not mean we can’t always make things tighter and tighter,” Romali said.

Romali, as well as other students, called 911 once they were aware of the situation at the PCC.

LBPD responded quickly to the 911 call and officers were out on the campus as soon as they could be.

“I think the police response from Long Beach Police Department was absolutely phenomenal … within seconds they were on sight, in force, there were dozens of police officers there, they were fully trained, and they were out there protecting us,” Romali said.

With the situation being resolved quickly, Lt. Omar Martinez gave insight to, how the police responded to the phone call.

“Originally the call went out as a person with a gun walking on campus … the difference between that and somebody on campus shooting would be a different response … When you see somebody on campus walking around with a gun, your response is going be a little more methodical, trying to find somebody, it might take a little bit more time,” Martinez said.

“Where as you get somebody who’s shooting, usually you’re going to identify where that is based on the gunfire so that you’re probably gonna know immediately where to go and nobody is gonna have to tell you.”

Martinez agreed with Romali that the officers that were dispatched to PCC did what they were trained to do.

“I’ve heard many positive comments about the response as far as a police point of view and a campus safety point of view that officers did what they were trained to do. They responded to the type of call that it was … In that sense they did an excellent job in resolving the situation from the onsite of the call,” Martinez said.

The majority of students and faculty got the emergency texts and emails that notified them of the lockdown, and about 40 minutes later got the same alert clearing them of the situation.

Special Agent Fred Simon with FBI community outreach sheds light on how to create a safer environment.

“Creating a mindset of safety or culture of safety, among the people there is important, this is my personal opinion … at least being more aware and alert while they are walking around. Not only to notice people who are potential attackers but just to know your surroundings, so you know if something were to happen right now, I could run over there or I could hide over there,” Simon said.

With the positive feedback from faculty and students, there were still a few people that shared doubts on how it could have been handled differently.

Cathy Doles is a faculty member and is part of the PCC enrollment services Admissions & Records Tech and shares what could be done differently.

“Most of the staff have attended an active shooter training or one of those, so we kind of know what to do in an emergency but … the steps that we have to follow as staff, so we know exactly what to do for example, after the all clear, we didn’t know whether to open the doors … we hesitated for a few minutes because we didn’t have any protocol set in place for what to do after, what do we do?” Doles said.

“Regardless if it was a fake gun or a real active shooter, you are still going through those same emotions and those same feelings.”

Romali also mentioned that even though training; is available for the staff, it is not mandatory for them to attend, however, making attendance mandatory for staff is something that is being discussed.

Man arrested after traffic collision near LBCC bookstore

abel reyes
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Man arrested after traffic collision near LBCC bookstore

A man was arrested today after failing a field sobriety test during a traffic investigation of a collision that occurred just off campus on the corner of Faculty Ave. and Harvey Way.

The rear end collision occurred around 4:45 p.m. and there were no injuries reported.

The two vehicles involved were a Mitsubishi Lancer, which collided with the vehicle waiting at a stop sign, a Porsche Cayenne.

The owner of the Cayenne, Jane Douglass who works at the campus bookstore, believed the other driver was impaired and didn’t want to let him leave the scene.

“I’m glad everyone is alright. I told him (other driver), ‘I’m alright, but you’re not. You’ve been drinking, you need to stay here,’” Douglass said.

The damage to the Cayenne was minimal, but the Lancer showed a little damage on the front end with damage to the licence plate frame.

Opinion: Assessment tests better prepares students for university level classes

fernando pacheco
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Opinion: Assessment tests better prepares students for university level classes

In compliance with legislation AB-705 California community colleges aren’t requiring newly enrolled students to take an assessment test, which measured a student’s level in math, english, and reading before registering.

This legislation was passed to increase the rate of students taking transfer-level classes which would ultimately increase transfer rates.

In the past, the assessment test was used as a placement marker to tell the student what classes they should take based on their performance on it.

LBCC now uses a guided placement tool, which is a survey that asks new students questions about their previous educational history.

It is great that the college is taking steps to increase transfer rates however, using a guided placement tool in place of the assessment test isn’t the best solution since it’s not an accurate way to determine what level of classes a student needs to take.

Students can easily believe that they are ready to take transfer level classes when in all reality they aren’t.

With the guided pathways in place, students are being put on a faster pathway to graduate from the school, however, if they aren’t properly prepared for university level classes; the classes they are taking here may not benefit them to the fullest extent in the long run.

Students that are placed in transfer level classes but aren’t prepared to take them, takes space away from students who are ready for transfer level classes, making it a longer process from them to transfer.

With the assessment test, students are being accurately tested and are being placed into classes they need.

If a student is placed in a remedial course, it may be a longer process for them to ultimately transfer out of LBCC, but rushing them through classes won’t make them prepared for classes at the university level.

Students and administrations at LBCC should contact state representatives to express the possible downside of this bill.

Students can check to see if they would receive alerts of future incidents on campus

cassandra reichelt
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Students can check to see if they would receive alerts of future incidents on campus

Students and faculty received notifications via text messages and email during last week’s lockdown, however, there were students and faculty who did not receive any notifications.

According to Stacey Toda, the notification system used for LBCC is called Regroup Mass Notification System and it allows a user to send out text notifications and emails to large groups of people at the same time.

A report provided by Toda, the Regroup system indicated that 101,643 emails were delivered successfully that day, as well as 46,561 text messages, all of which went to students and staff.

If students or staff didn’t receive notifications that day but would like to in the future, then they need to make sure their information is accurate in the school system.

Students need to log into the Viking Student System and make sure their information is accurate there, and faculty should update their information in the PeopleSoft system.

LBCC is teaching students money management

abel reyes
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LBCC is teaching students money management

Money management, and financial stability, were some of the many things instructional specialist Grecia Iniguez discussed during a financial management workshop held on April 23.  

The three-part workshop took place at LAC, and offered three different areas in which students can gain more knowledge on saving and budgeting, credit cards, credit and loans, and dumping debt.

One of the main goals for these workshops is to increase awareness to those who need to improve their financial literacy skills.  

“My goal with this is to have everyone become more financial literate with it, so basically that just means being able to set goals and better manage their money and have better life skills to improve quality of life,” Iniguez said.

Some of the benefits students and other participants can attain from attending these types of workshops is better money management skills.

People were able to learn how to manage money in a more smart and adequate way, as well as tips on how to save your money and ways to maximize it.

Students like Jesslen Lopez, who attended the program, wasn’t aware that LBCC offered this type of workshop until one of her professors recommended her to go.

“I’m not good at budgeting at all, my savings account is horrible,” said Lopez.

Iniguez also discussed the importance on why you should be investing your money, instead of saving it because it can help you out in the long-run, instead of just now.   

LBCC student, Lee Reese attended the workshop in order to find better ways to manage his money for his future.

“The future is uncertain and I want to have saved for emergencies or anything so I can prepare myself,” Reese said.

According to Reese, the workshop introduced him to new tactics that will help him better manage his money.

“It gave me some stuff that I did not realize before that I’m going to start doing now, like talking to my bank about interests rates and all of that.”  

These financial management workshops have limited seating, so people of interest must sign up ahead of time in order to attend.

5K run takes place at a stadium far, far away

steven matthews
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5K run takes place at a stadium far, far away

Star Wars day at Long Beach City College was not spent by watching the movies, but by students and faculty lining up for a 5K run and walk, to support a fundraiser for the Viking Closet.

The John Fylpaa Leadership Institute presented the fundraiser that was held at Veterans Stadium, to help students at LBCC who are experiencing resource insecurity.

When the leadership institute was established, it was to promote civic engagement and foster the development of leaders who want to create change in their community.

John Fylpaa attended LBCC in 1965-1967, but then returned to become a dean and the ASB cabinet advisor.

According to Fylpaa, he saw and knew a lot of students who were experiencing some type of insecurity in school.

“It’s all about establishing a sense of community here, and unfortunately when I worked here, I saw a lot of students who had insecurities, and they needed help,” Fylpaa said.

“The students who put this on were willing to step up and help out, it’s a concept for development and the results should be beneficial for everyone.”

Before the 5K started, Fylpaa gave a check of $500 to the Closet, to help them get up and started.

John Fylpaa gives a check to the organizers to fund raise the LBCC’s Viking Closet before the start of the JFLI 5K Run & Walk. (Jorge Hernandez)

People who participated in the event had to pay $5-$10, but all proceeds went to the Viking Closet.

According to ASB president Jan Paolo Canteras, the 5K run is helping out other bigger projects that are going to be put on by other clubs.

“Hopefully todays turn out showed other clubs at LBCC that well-organized events like this can be successful,” Canteras said.

PNK president Andrea Rodriguez participated in the 5K, and also was the participant who finished first in the 5K.

“I think this is pretty cool, and that a piece of PNK was here,” Rodriguez said.

“Fundraisers like these is something we’re doing to help those in need.”

To see future events or fundraisers for the Viking Closet, people can sign up at the LBCC NordicSync at https://orgsync.com/login/long-beach-city-college.

Counter-protesters take over Bluff park as white nationalist rally never show up

abel reyes
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Counter-protesters take over Bluff park as white nationalist rally never show up

“Up, up, up with the people, down, down, down with the racists,” is one of many chants that could be heard by residents if they drove passed Bluff or Bixby park during an organized rally put on by an left leaning activist coalition.

The activist rally was organized as a response to a far-right rally that was set to take place the same morning.

The counter rally, which took place at 10 a.m on April 28, was organized by a coalition called the Long Beach United Anti-Racist Neighborhood Front, which was comprised of several groups, most notably the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), and the Long Beach chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

The coalition organized as soon as they found out that a far-right group, the United Patriot Nationalist Front, had planned a rally for Bluff Park in Long Beach for April 28.

After the counter rally was announced, the UPNF made changes to its social media pages to indicate that they may have cancelled the event, which left many of the anti-racist coalition to wonder if the far-right would even show up.

That proved to be the case, because when Sunday morning rolled around, the only people to show up was the activist coalition, which effectively turned their counter rally into the only rally.

The activist rally was split up into two parts, with the DSA and other groups marching in Bluff Park, and the PSL marching on the southern edge of Bixby Park.

Combined, both rallies had approximately between 200 and 250 people in attendance.

A counter protester speaking to a crowd and shows supports to the crowd before they began marching during the No White Nationalism in Long Beach rally at Bluff Park. (Jorge Hernandez)

Most people at the rallies expressed jubilance that the far-right rally didn’t show up, including Kevin Joerger, a member of the Long Beach DSA, who took it as a sign that Long Beach was not a favorable place for the far-right to stage a rally.

“It’s great. It’s a good sign and it’s the safest possible outcome, and it shows that there’s power in Long Beach and I don’t think that the white supremacists are gonna try organizing a rally here again because they see that this is what happens if you try this here,” Joerger said.

“That people are willing to change their Sunday plans and turn up to be a part of a larger movement.”

The PSL, which had originally advertised their rally at Bluff Park, held their rally instead in Bixby Park, but that didn’t stop them from making sure that their voices were heard.

Kameron Hurt, a member of PSL and one of the people manning the bull horn and leading chants, believes that the rallies are a necessary response to the resurgence of white nationalism in the U.S. over the last few years.

“The reason that so many of us are out here is because only the unified working people can actually defend ourselves from the racists because, if we only appeal to the wealthy to protect us or the police to defend us, it’s not going to happen that way when you look at American history,” Hurt said.

Both parts of the rally ended around noon without incident.

Thomas Jones skipped work to attend the No White Nationalism counter rally in Bluff Park to show his support for DSA. The rally was filled up with counter protesters, as white nationalist never showed up for their rally. (Abel Reyes)

Opinion: LBCC needs to prepare students in times of an active shooter

abel reyes
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Opinion: LBCC needs to prepare students in times of an active shooter

Correction – A correction has been made to this article to fix some minor errors and to give a better description of the run, hide, fight technique used during active shooter situations.

A film professor was openly carrying a prop gun at PCC today, and with the speed of the Long Beach Police Department, they were able to ascertain that the professor with the prop gun wasn’t a threat to campus safety.

However, this calls into question how effective the protocol is that is set in place for situations like suspected shooters on campus.

LBCC and all faculty members should be more inclusive in teaching their students what to do when an active shooter may appear.

The active shooter plan for the school is optional to learn for faculty during their professional development days.

Campus safety has been trained specifically for shooter situations and followed precautions for the incident.

Students however, don’t have the option for themselves to learn what to do in a dangerous situation, all they receive is alerts and emails when the situation is occurring.

Also, few students either got their alerts late or did not get any text alerts at all, and it was up to the faculty to inform students to stay indoors and keep them safe.

However, there were many tweets and notifications about the incident so a student could have learned of the emergency via the internet.

In the event that a student doesn’t know the best way to be safe, with proper education they would know the run, hide, fight scenario.

Run, hide and fight is a type of training that is given to people for use in an active shooter situation.

Simply put, the training dictates that you should run from a shooter if it’s an option, hide if you can’t safely run away, and fight if no other options are available.

It doesn’t have to be a dedicated training day with police on hand, it can be in flyers, or giving out little pocket cards in what to do in these situations, or even an informational event that introduces the concept of run, hide, and fight to students.

There is only so much the school can do to keep students safe, but teaching students as much as they can about what to do in these situations is more beneficial than unnecessary.

Now that LBCC has had an incident, they should be taking a closer look at how they can improve the protocol that is already in place.

A giant scare for everyone at PCC today

abel reyes
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A giant scare for everyone at PCC today

This morning, Long Beach City College had an incident at the Pacific Coast Campus involving a film professor with a prop gun.

A text message alert was sent to faculty and students alerting to take shelter to the nearest room and to lock all doors immediately.

Many students at PCC were shocked and confused to hear about there being a possible shooter on campus.

Brooke Davidoff, a student who was at PCC during the incident, described her reaction when the lockdown began.

“It was interesting, I’ve never had armed police officers walk into a classroom and tell us to shut the door before,” Davidoff said.

“We got text messages in our class not to leave, we got emails in our class not to leave and we were very happy to have a classroom without windows.”

Katie Zeoli, an anthropology professor at PCC, was very distressed about the scare on campus.

“I’m on edge. My nerves are wrecked. It feels like we just went through something traumatic … and it was a toy gun and it scared the crap out of me because I didn’t know how to protect them,” Zeoli said.

Sara Gerstman, who was also at PCC, was one of many students who felt shocked to hear that the possible suspect with a gun was on the same campus as she was.

“I was kind of shocked cause I hear stuff like that happening but I never really pictured it happening at my school,” Gerstman said.

“Then I was kind of calm because you now there are procedures to this and I was in a really small classroom so it would of been even harder for him to get in.”

Enrique Victor, who was in class during the lockdown and later heard about the incident expressed frustration at the idea that the situation was caused by someone not following procedure.

“I feel like at least if they’re going to be working on stuff like that they should at least let the whole campus know, they should at least put something out saying ‘Hey our class is going to be working on this, there’s going to be props and stuff like that,’” Victor said.

The professor was carrying the prop gun for his film class, and had forgotten about it while walking around campus.

Viking staff contributed: Nehemiah Balaoro, and Steven Matthews

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