Students gathered for an opportunity to observe the moon and other planets hosted by the department of physical science on Sept. 14.
According to physics professor Benjamin Jose, witnessing the moon, Saturn, Jupiter, and Venus in one night is a rare opportunity. “It only happens once every few years,” said professor Jose.
Students got to use a 14-inch Schmidt Cassegrain telescope. The department had it set up on a starry night, allowing them to see far into the night sky.
“It’s set on a motorized mount,” said professor Jose. “You aim by pointing at the North Star.”
The telescope also featured a special mount allowing students to place their cell phones and take a picture of the telescopes view.
The event prompted many students to gather including Adrian Lonescu. “We live in a golden age of astronomy,” said Lonescu.
As the night went on the students would line up into a single file, taking their turn to look through the lens.
With the mount moving by itself professor Jose did not even have to adjust the telescope very often.
LBCC student Parker Spranza looked through the telescope to see the moons asteroid covered surface. “Interesting to see it up close,” Pranza said.
According to the students, the highlight of the night was when students got to see Saturn and its many rings. Many of which were not as full or smooth as often portrayed in popular media.
The event lasted for a couple hours which allowed students to socialize with one another and ask questions for the professor.
The department of physical science not only offered students extra credit to those who showed up, but also to learn more about the solar system.
There is a new way to travel and Long Beach City College students aren’t aware about it. In the month of July, The City of Long Beach launched their pilot scooter share program where residents are able to rent scooters for the day.
According to the Press Telegram, Long Beach residents have three free rides with a maximum of 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes they will be charged 15 cents per minute. The city hopes that this program will service as an alternative way of travel.
Scooters are seen on sidewalks practically everywhere and many city officials have said that the scooters can be a hazard to pedestrians. Scooter riders have also ignored safety procedures such as wearing a helmet.
LBCC students travel to school in a variety of different ways but some students are unaware of this new way of traveling. LBCC student Kim Hart, uses the bus to get to school. Hart did not know of the scooter and said, “No I haven’t use the bikes. So I will not use the scooters.”
Long Beach is not the first city to implement the scooter share program. Cities that have already started the program in California such as Santa Monica, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
While this new way of transportation is being introduced into different places making it more convenient for people to travel around the cities have mixed signals of the program.
Some cities have ultimately banned the program all together. According to The Los Angeles Times, cities such as Beverly Hills,West Hollywood and San Francisco banned the scooters all together.
Student Cindy Covarrubias, who drives to school was asked if she was interesting in trying the scooters. Covarrubia said, “I am not willing to try it.”
Although Covarrubias was not open to trying the new way of transportation, other students were more open to the idea.
Nursing major Sarah Chhum, who gets dropped off at school was not aware of the scooters. Chhum was asked if she was open to the scooters. Chhum said, “I did not know of the program but I am willing to give it a try.”
Some cities have ultimately banned the program all together. According to The Los Angeles Times, cities such as Beverly Hills,West Hollywood and San Francisco banned the scooters all together.
The Long Beach scooter program is scheduled to end on October 31. Officials will vote to see if the program will continue.
Long Beach City College’s scholarship applications are available for students who want to apply and gain money while attending educational institutions in the Fall 2019 through Spring 2020.
The LBCC Scholarship Office offers application workshops during the months of September, October and November. The month of September offers four workshops located in the LAC and PCC building. The LAC building is on Thursday, September 20 at 10 a.m., located in A-1098 . The PCC building is on Thursday, September 27 at 3 p.m., located in LL-102.
A Scholarship Office Associate Director, Shyra Compton, quoted, “Our scholarship program has over 700 scholarships. We have online application. The student completes scholarship application, the autobiography, and it has to have two references. The deadline is Thursday, December 6 at 4 p.m. This is the scholarship for 2019-2020. We have already awarded students for 2018 and 2019. We collect the applications online through December. Then the spring semester we use to evaluate the applications, and see what scholarship we have available to give a student. If you’re selected to receive a scholarship, you are invited to our scholarship reception which depends on the year. It’s either late May or early June. It is at that reception that the student learns what scholarship he or she is receiving. With over 700 scholarships, each one is different. That is why we have one application and we match the student so they do not have to fill out an application for each scholarship individually. But typically, a student has to have a 2.0 GPA or higher to be considered.” The scholarship office determines which scholarship a student gets.
Antionette Summerville, an administrative assistant on the left standing up, and Shyra Compton on the right sitting down, is an Associate Director.
Each scholarship criteria is different. Some are based on needs, major, involvement on campus, and returning students.
A scholarship specialist, Traci Glassock, said, “All students who attend here full time or part time who have a 2.0 or above GPA can apply for the LBCC scholarships and we have over 700 different scholarships just set aside for our students only”
Glassock added, “Scholarship looks great on your resume, other scholarship applications, and transcript applications. It’s an honor to receive a scholarship. It’s an award, it’s a money that’s gifted to you from a generous donor so it matters. It’s money you don’t have to pay back. It is not like taking out student loans.”
A psychology and communication major, Enid Garcia, said “If you apply, the chances of getting scholarships are pretty high, they also have workshops and there’s a lot of them you can apply to. It helps with your fees and books..”
Garcia emphasized, “It’s good to have resources that we have in school instead of taking out loans. Just go the extra mile so go for a scholarship and it will look good on you. The maximum amount is $1000 which they divide in two payments.”
For those students who have little or no care for scholarships, Garcia said, “Students should care and use the resources that they have because when you transfer out, it’s going to be harder. It’s easy to get awarded like a lot here. I see people from different backgrounds who can apply and everybody has a chance.”
More information is available at 562-938-4766, scompton@lbcc.edu or stop by the office at the LAC A-1001.
Correction: Sept 25, 2018 1:46 p.m. A paragraph was omitted due to incorrect reporting.
As a full time student that spends a majority of their time at LAC throughout the week it has become difficult to feed my appetite especially since the cafeteria isn’t the first option that comes to mind.
I’m in class from 9:00 a.m. till 2:00 p.m. giving me a four hour gap to find a meal for my appetite until my night class.
In the midst of the four hour gap, I will wander into the cafeteria to see if they will surprise me, however, the cafeteria is a place that I try to avoid.
As soon as I walk into the building I notice the dim lights, the trash on the floor, stains from dirt on the floor and on chairs or tables. I already don’t feel comfortable to eat in a place that looks unsanitized.
The dimmed lights in the cafeteria makes me feel uncomfortable when eating my food. If the cafeteria was brighter, I would feel better about my eating experience.
The LAC cafeteria allows pizza from the morning to sit and wait for students to pick up.
Once I make the decision to go eat at the cafeteria I walk into the area of the variety selection of snacks, on the go meals and an opening of live cooks to make a selection of burgers, wraps, salads or burritos.
The variety of snacks is a nice option for myself since I am vegan as they have a selective range I can choose from. However, sometimes they do lack options because they will be sold out.
The on-the-go meals are allegedly known to be fresh. I think otherwise. The on-the-go meals lack presentation.
The plastic wrap and styrofoam bottom makes the meal look cheap. I want to feel as if my money is being well spent on a meal that is sustainable for my appetite.
The live cooks that make different varieties of food is a nice touch to the cafeteria. It gives individuals a place to choose what’s best fit for their appetites.
The selection of lettuce and other vegetables doesn’t look fresh. It looks like it has been sitting reminding me of toy vegetables.
Toy vegetables are known to be stiff and have lack of color. It isn’t as vibrant as if you can go to a garden and pick it yourself.
If I’m being told the selection I’m choosing from is fresh, it should match to the ideal version of what is fresh.
Considering other colleges, they have a nice range of options for the students. Sometimes they offer food trucks on campus or food chains.
Depending on the college, other cafeterias look way cleaner compared to LBCC.
As a student that has been attending LBCC for about three years, I know that our school will be renovating our buildings which I can look forward to in the future. However, as a student right now maybe the school can manage the cafeteria a bit better.
I’m sure the majority of the students that attends the college like nice things. Students can enjoy a place where they can admire a job well done.
That’s why the majority of students like the PCC and the newer buildings at the LAC because they are clean, managed, and updated.
The school can enforce people to pick up their trash or wipe down their seats and tables with sanitizing wipes located in the cafeteria.
It would benefit the students health as well. The students won’t fear into catching germs and getting sick.
I know that the college likes students getting involved and helping around the school. The college can offer students volunteer opportunities in helping the cafeteria to upkeep the atmosphere.
Students can paint, scout affordable tables and chairs and making the environment a more pleasing place to enjoy.
Long Beach City College’s bus shuttles are not perfect. Even though they are a great benefit to students who have classes on both campuses throughout the day, the shuttle program has its areas where improvement is needed.
There are only two buses to accommodate a campus of more than 24,000 students and on top of that students have to wait 30 minutes for each bus to arrive.
The bus shuttles, also known as the Viking Voyager, operate daily to bring students from the LAC to the PCC and vice versa.
The shuttles also operate between Veterans Memorial Stadium and the northside of LAC.
The buses are small and can get filled up pretty quickly making the commute irritating for students traveling between campuses.
Imagine getting out of class at PCC and rushing to the shuttle stop for your next class at LAC but you cannot get on the bus because it is full.
But capacity is not the only issue students have with the bus shuttle program, there is also the waiting period.
It should not take 30 minutes for the shuttle to arrive when they are only going to the other campus and back.
The waiting period alone puts students in jeopardy of being late to the class.
The best way to fix this problem would be to get more buses to make the waiting period shorter.
Long waiting periods and crowded buses don’t make for a happy LBCC student. Having to deal with these hassles everyday are frustrating and discourages the students from using this service which is paid for with our student fees.
The Student Union funds the bus shuttle program, so when funds are low there is little they can do.
Either drivers get low paychecks and we, the students, get more buses for more student capacity and shorter waits or the bus program stays as how it is leaving unhappy students paying for something they don’t want to use.
The Student Union should make it a priority to have more funds available for the bus shuttle program.
Once those funds are available, the bus shuttle program operators should really invest it into fixing the problems at hand.
Having the program is a good asset to the school but with so many problems needing to be fixed students won’t see the use of using while paying for the shuttles in their student fees.
While instead students will look for more efficient and possibly more expensive ways to get to either campus on time.
Officers from the LBPD city college division took it upon themselves at the tail end of the spring 2018 semester to post memos around both LAC and PCC to inform students on how to prevent and discourage bike theft, as well as what to do if you have become a victim of this string of crime.
These semester tensions are high as students take extra precautions to ensure that their property is safe while they are in class for hours at a time.
Math major Jake Harry, said his last bike was stolen while he was in class at PCC and that it affected his way of life the rest of the semester because “having to drive every day put a strain on his financial stability.”
Because of those events, this semester he was forced to double-up his locks and change the way he secures his bike to the racks on either campus.
Danelle Balaoro, an early childhood development major mentions the fact that the campus is too open for this kind of behavior not to occur.
When asked about safety, in general, she said she feels a bit nervous walking back to her car after an afternoon class.
The trend now becoming more popular with cyclists around campus is locking up your bicycle with multiple locks to ensure that your bike stays put while you are in class.
Many students who ride their bike to class often pick and choose specific spots on campus in which to lock up their bike.
For instance, the bike racks in front of the T building on Carson street are always full, as opposed to the racks between the under-construction P building and the N building that are in a hidden area and always empty.
Some students on campus have also suggested new procedures on how to protect themselves from theft, including dismantling their bike to make it easier to lock up.
Other students have taken it upon themselves to remove the front wheel from their bike completely to ensure that any thief has a difficult time attempting to take their transportation away from them.
Some cyclists like LBCC student Matt Rosales believes that the danger is always there and that there is already enough being done by campus security to prevent and deter these crimes from happening.
“Maybe they don’t have another choice,” Rosales said. “They might need fast cash and the only way to do that is to steal.”
Unfortunately, the danger is always there for students looking to save a bit of money on gas and a parking pass, or who do not have a vehicle at all and a bicycle is their only mode of transportation.
Resident LBPD officer Lieutenant Omar Martinez has said that they will be stepping up awareness for this type of crime by trying their best to inform students of bike theft to the class about the danger they face while leaving their bike unattended out in the public eye. When asked how they intend to do this, the Lieutenant said his unit is working on creating pamphlets as well as an informational video available to students detailing their protocol on bike theft and what to do if you are victimized.
The LBPD will also be releasing up to date reports on this crime in particular in order to further inform students and make sure they fully understand what is happening around campus.
The Long Beach antique market takes place every third Sunday of the month at the Long Beach Veterans Stadium.
According to the homepage of the Long Beach antique market, the flea market has about 800 sellers.
Each vendor has their own booth setup with unique antiques such as clothes, plants, cameras, furniture and home goods.
Rachel Vrbka and her booth were she sells different mediums of clothes, colors, and fabrics.
Rachel Vrbka started as a shopper at the Long Beach antique market, and now has her own booth selling men and women’s vintage clothes.
“I do a pop-up here and at the Rose Bowl,” Vrbka said. “ I like it here (long beach), everyone here is very friendly, laid back, chilling mode. I love it. There is more appreciative of vintage down here too.”
Jessica Gomez has been shopping at the flea market at Long Beach for about seven years and has her own booth.
Local shopper Jessica Gomez’s dog Noodles is taking a rest after staying at their booth and walking around the antique market.
On the days she does not have her booth set up, she brings her dog and shops around on Sundays.
“We’ve been shopping here for about seven years and we try to come every time its open,” Gomez said.
Hong Yao has had her booth at the antique market for about six to seven years. She sells air plants that do not require any soil to live. “Everyone sells antiques and a lot of customers also likes plants, so they buy plants while they look for antiques.”
General admission is $7.00 and children under the age of twelve is free of charge and parking is free at the LBCC parking structure.
Early admission allows shoppers to get first pick at 5:30 A.M. – 6:30 A.M. and prices are $12.00.
There will be a special sale next Sunday on Sept. 30 presenting hundreds of different sellers. Visit the longbeachantiquemarket.com for an admission discount coupon.
Last year ASB conducted several surveys to see how many students at LBCC are smokers and to decide whether they should remove or relocate the smoking sections on campus.
The results of the survey revealed that few students on campus smoke and that the majority would rather relocate the smoking areas than to remove them altogether.
This past summer, California governor Jerry Brown vetoed a proposed ban on smoking cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and other tobacco products at community college and Cal State campuses.
Long time smoker Brian Schwartz, would not mind the relocation of the smoking area in certain situations.
“I guess I wouldn’t mind a relocation,” Schwartz said. “It kind of depends how far it is because I’ve been at another campus where they didn’t have smoking at all and it was kind of vexing to have to go walk out to the parking lot or having to walk across campus to do it (smoke) is also really annoying.”
The relocation of the smoking areas not only is inconvenient to Schwartz but also has the potential to disrupt his daily routine and community since he spends about an hour a day at the smoking area according to Schwartz.
LBCC student Brian Schwartz smokes a cigarette at the smoking area outside the D building. Photo by Alyssa Vega
“I’ve been making friends out here too so I end up just hanging out in the shade waiting for class to start,” Schwartz said.
Some smokers understand the inconvenience and disturbance the smoking area has on non-smokers. Aerospace engineering major Avein Ortiz can resonate.
“Say if I’m not a smoker and I have to walk through this (smoking area) like it’s the easiest way, I would feel that’s kind of annoying because people are smoking and I’m over here walking through all their smoke, that would be annoying to someone who doesn’t smoke I feel,” Ortiz said.
There are six designated smoking areas at LAC that are located on the outskirts of buildings except for the one outside the D building.
Representative of student health and wellness Jocelyn Reyes has been working on a resolution to the complaints of the smoking area outside the D building.
According to Reyes, the majority of the smoking areas are on the outskirts of campus but the one outside the D building is the one she is focused on removing or relocating.
“Its 90% complete, we are going to bring it up to ASB and if it passes through ASB it goes to our board of trustees and then from there they would decide what they would do about that smoking section,” said Reyes.
Reyes expects the resolution to make it to ASB by Oct. and getting to the board of trustees by Nov. of this year.
“It’s definitely going to happen this semester for sure considering the fact that I am almost done with the resolution,” said Reyes.
The controversial actions of NFL players kneeling during the national anthem lead into the NFL not showing the national anthem on live television. Players in the NFL kneeling during the anthem has not only angered and divided the fans, but the controversy has spread to college sports.
Colin Kaepernick used his stardom and the big platform of the NFL in 2016 and kneeled during the national anthem to bring awareness to police brutality, it started a very controversial conflict between the players and the fans.
Long Beach City College football players views on kneeling during the national anthem run the spectrum.
Milshon Lathan, a psychology major at LBCC and starting wide receiver believes that it is morally wrong that the NFL is trying to keep the players quiet.
“In a business aspect of the situation I think it was smart because it doesn’t divide the fans and the players by keeping article together,” Lathan said.
Chris Brown a business management major and tight end believes that it was a smart move on the NFL’s part “It’s a smart move by the NFL, because on the business side they’re trying to keep their viewers happy,” Brown said.
Brown believes that at the level of football he’s at taking a knee won’t make a big change, it will only cause diversity in the LBCC football program. “There isn’t the same amount of exposure like the PAC-12 or the NFL.”
There are football players at LBCC who disagree with kneeling during the national anthem as they feel that it is out of respect for the veterans who served their time in our military.
A kinesiology major, Chris Marcopoulos and center for offensive line believes that everyone should stand for the national anthem out of respect for the veterans who fought for the country.
“I think everyone should stand; but they do have the right to kneel,” Marcopoulos also added that the NFL not streaming the national anthem is good and bad. Good because their focus is more on football, but it is bad because it will just upset more people such as veterans and patriotic people.
The Athletic Director Randy Totorps had mixed thoughts on the NFL not showing the national anthem on TV as he said, “It’s a tricky situation with the NFL, because there are many opinions.”
According to Totorp there are no policies for the football players at LBCC not being able to take a knee during the national anthem.
“At the level of LBCC being at in football there has not been any players willing to take a knee during the national anthem because it’s not a big platform to get their voice heard,” said Totorp.
The Vikings played host to their third regular season game having a blowout win with a score of 54-24 against LA Valley College on Sept. 15.
Vikings high powered offense showed up again with a quick touchdown score from freshman running back Teshawn White on the Vikings second drive of the game.
The Vikings offense took a 24-7 lead at half time, but the Monarchs came out looking to spoil the Vikings home outing with a score then a field goal stalling the Viking lead to 24-17.
Sophomore wide receiver Milshon Lathan reaches out for a touchdown. Photo by Victoria Rowe
The Vikings were able to maintain control of the game with balanced scoring, with there being 5 touchdown scores in the second half.
Freshman running back Teshawn White and freshman quarterback Drake Peabody both had big games for the Vikings, Teshawn white rushed for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns while Drake Peabody threw for 207 passing yards for 2 touchdown scores while also rushing for 58 yards and scoring a rushing touchdown for himself as well.
Freshman wide receiver Victor Bates attempting to catch a pass. Photo by Malik Reeves
Peabody spoke about how a dominating win like this will help the team going forward, “It boosts the team confidence, we know we got a tough game next game so we’re just going to prepare and get ready for next week.” Peabody said.
The Vikings would go on to play their back up freshman Jonathan Murphy who would continue the scoring trend who rushed for a touchdown.
Defense came up big too with freshman defensive back Jack Genova coming up with 7 solo tackles, while freshman defensive back Justin Almond assisted on 4 tackles.
The Vikings only allowed 2 rushing first downs from the Monarchs compared to the Vikings 16 first down pick ups.
Even in a blowout win Coach Brett Peabody still thinks his team could improve on a lot of things with an important game coming up next week, “ Penalties, we blew some coverage and our punt unit was really bad again it killed us against Mt.Sac and our kick off coverage were terrible so we have to clean those things up.” Peabody said.
Coach Brett Peabody addresses team after win. Photo by Malik Reeves
Coach Brett Peabody confronted his team after the game stating that they couldn’t make the same mental and silly mistakes they made against the Monarchs against a much tougher opponent next week in Riverside City College.
The Vikings will be at back at home once again on Saturday against Riverside City College at Veterans Memorial Stadium at 5 p.m.
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