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LBCC Valorant loses in NECC regional playoffs finals

Izzy Juarez
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LBCC Valorant loses in NECC regional playoffs finals

Long Beach City College lost 3-0 in the grand finals of the NECC Valorant Pacific Frontier playoffs on Monday against Grand Canyon University despite the 50 kill and six first-blood performance that duelist Kasen “Chea” Herroz managed.

“Going into the match, we treat it like any other match and we prepare more to see what the other team does, since it’s a big match like this,” says Brandon Walker, the in-game leader for the Vikings Valorant team.

On the first map Sunset, LBCC was off to a shaky start, losing four out of its first five rounds due to whiffed shots and key gunfight losses due to GCU’s utility use.

The Vikings would lose six rounds in a row, closing the half down 8-4, needing a massive comeback to keep the game close. 

Matthew Parsons also known by his in-game name “1w6ts” played as the agent“Chamber” and led LBCC in kills on the map with 24.

The LBCC Valorant team playing in the Valorant finals at St. John Bosco High School. The match was held on Monday. The team is focusing hard while playing Valorant, and coordinating with each other during the match. From left to right, Brandon Walker, in game name Thermo. The middle in black is Matthew Parsons, in game name 1w6ts, in the back right corner, Kasen Herroz, in game name Chea. In the bottom right, Elijah Giangualno, in game name Carbon, who is also the coach of the team. (Zuri Minor)

In the second half of Sunset, LBCC would slowly close the gap, winning the first three rounds and making the score 8-7, 

Even though the Vikings were only down by one, they struggled with late-round utility.

Both teams went back and forth to end the game, but LBCC lost Sunset 13-9 after being unable to hold post-plant strategies and losing the numbers advantage earlier in the round.

Map two Ascent was selected by LBCC, thinking that it should be able to win this map since it was one of its strongest of the season.

The game started with both teams alternating round wins, with Parsons getting crucial two-kill rounds to keep the map tied at 5 heading into the final rounds of the half.

LBCC was able to capitalize in the final two rounds with Kasen Herroz, also known as “Chea”.

using his agent’s ultimate ability “Bladestorm” to get the last two finishing kills in the half to give the Vikings a 7-5 lead heading into the second half.

Matthew Parsons, in game name 1w6ts, playing Valorant for the LBCC Vikings esports team. The match was held on Monday. (Zuri Minor)

After the sides were swapped for the second half, LBCC lost the pistol round and anti-eco round, which made the game tied at seven.

Round 15 was a huge swing round for the Vikings, being down in numbers and leaving Brandon Walker, also known as “Thermo” by himself with four other members of the other team still up.

After running time off the clock in the round, Walker was able to line his opponents up, getting two different two-kill sequences.

These sequences helped Walker clutch the one-versus-four situation to give the lead to the Vikings.

Despite Walker’s remarkable round 15, their strategy switch heading into the final rounds wasn’t enough to win as they tried to play fast and force five-versus-five site retakes on the attack side.

LBCC would lose map two 13-9, needing to now reverse-sweep the best-of-five series.

Map three Split was the Vikings’ final chance to come back and keep the series alive.

Brandon Walker, in game name Thermo. He’s playing in the Valorant finals in St John Bosco High School. The match was held on Monday. (Zuri Minor)

Herroz got the one-versus-three clutch in the pistol round to start the game strong for the Vikings and continued his dominance in the anti-eco round, with four kills and another round win.

LBCC would start to struggle once GCU’s economy started to build after a small-round win streak of their own to keep the game close.

Whiffed sniper shots and sprays would be a massive caveat for the Vikings in the first half, but they kept the match close as it was 7-5 heading into the second half of the game.

LBCC would start strong once again as they had a numbers advantage early on in some rounds.

Even with the numbers advantage, utility troubles fell upon LBCC, as much of it would be wasted.

The utility mishaps gave the GCU team easy chances to pick off the Vikings, helping it steal rounds and bring the team closer to winning the finals.

With one final round and one last push for LBCC, it was all in the middle, with a rotation to one site that would finish the match.

“We have a lot to work with the team, every single one of these players, I generally believe that we can with it all, but we never had enough training time,” said Coach Giangualano when asked about what he will take away from this entire season now that it’s over.

LBCC esports will resume with more tryouts and potentially more titles to be played in the spring semester with updates from the esports department to come soon.

LBCC celebrates the holidays with second annual toy drive 

Matthew Gregory
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LBCC celebrates the holidays with second annual toy drive 

LBCC is conducting its second annual toy drive to help student-parents in need during the holiday season, taking donations up to Dec. 14.

The Care and Basic Needs programs work with Calworks to set up donation boxes on both PCC and LAC.

With the holidays coming up, some students struggle to survive economically in these hard financial times.

“The toy drive helps our less fortunate who are too proud to ask for help,” Christina Darrios, assistant director for Calworks stated.

Some people find it in their heart to donate whatever toys they can bring to help with the less fortunate.

The toy drive started in November to help start the festivities of the holiday season.

This is the second year that Calworks works with LBCC to put on a toy drive.

Even though the holidays are a stressful time for some, some people take the time to donate toys that will be going to a good cause.

“Calworks is dedicated to helping everyone in need, that’s why we do these events, to make a difference,”  Adriana Gomez, an employee at Calworks stated.

The donation boxes in the Basic Needs Office in the E Building and in the FYE Center that is downstairs in the E Building were overfilled from the donations and had to be emptied.

The other donation box at LAC is located in the Human Resource office in the T Building.

At PCC, one of the boxes is located in the Student Union in the EE Building and the other in the Calworks office in the GG Building.

Donations will be taken until Dec. 14. 

Holiday concert by the Viking Singers and Choral consists of some Latin and French songs

Matthew Gregory
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Holiday concert by the Viking Singers and Choral consists of some Latin and French songs

The Viking Singers and the Viking Choral were challenged to learn to sing in Latin and French in only two months for a five carol song in the upcoming Holiday Choir Concert on Saturday.

The concert’s “A Joyous Holiday In Song” program will consist of thirteen songs, one of the songs being “A Winter’s Night” by Cecilia McDowall.

“Our music is always new, I have performed Cecilia’s works in the past, but it’s been a few years. I do have favorites that I like to bring back but nothing where my students would sing the same thing twice,” Skye Angulo, the vocal studies director, said. “Our large work, that’s what we’re really focusing on, is ‘A Winter’s Night’ by Cecilia McDowall it’s about a 25 minute work. We’re going to be singing in different languages.”

‘A Winter’s Night’ will consist of five carols that will be sung in Latin, French and English.

The Viking Singers and the Viking Choral had to learn the meaning of the wording and how to pronounce the words of these two languages in only a short amount of time.

“It’s been maybe like a month or two- no more than two months (since we started learning these languages),” Stephanie Ramirez, a Viking singer and soloist for one of the songs, said. “I’m still struggling now. The French piece especially moves pretty quickly and we have to get the vowel placements right while also making it sound good.”

Ramirez will have a solo of ‘Once Upon A December’ from the movie “Anastasia” in the program.

Ronin Del Castillo, the organ and piano player for the concert, said he has been playing the piano for around 18 years ever since he was in second grade, but has only played the organ twice. The second time being during the rehearsal that happened Tuesday night. 

“I play for both (the Viking singers and the Viking chorals) rehearsals and concerts,” Castillo said.

Castillo stated that he was learning on his own how to play the organ as no one was teaching him. During rehearsals, Castillo struggled with adjusting the organ’s volume.

“It’s a completely different instrument. My main struggles were that I didn’t know how to work with the volume,” Castillo said.

Before the rehearsal had begun, Kendra Vuk, the instructor for the Viking chorale and the other director of the concert, helped the Viking Singers and the Viking Choral warm up both their bodies and their vocals.

“The body is our whole instrument so the voice is just a part of our body so we have to make sure our body is free of tension and stretching helps achieve that,” Vuk said. “We worked a little bit on breath control and holding air for a length of time we did some vocal easies that are called lip trolls where we allow the air to just flow.”

Vuk would help Angulo by finding errors with the balance between the singer’s diction and the bass’ volume, giving advice making sure the trumpets and organ wouldn’t drown out the voices of the singers.

Towards the end of the rehearsal, both Angulo and Vuk praised the singer’s and spoke to them reminding them when the next practice would be and what they should do to prepare.

To purchase a ticket you can search ‘LBCC Holiday Choir Concert’ and click the link that’s labeled ‘Holiday Choir Concert Fall 2023’ then click the ‘purchase tickets’ button.

Free tickets are available to students with an ASB card, and LBCC season pass holders. The price for general admission is $15 while students, staff and faculty pay $10.

Students, Faculty and Community Members Unwind with Yoga on the Lawn

Matthew Gregory
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Students, Faculty and Community Members Unwind with Yoga on the Lawn

Soothing music filled the air and colorful mats laid sprawled across the grass as participants partook in an afternoon of twisting poses and positions by attending Yoga on the Lawn in front of the LAC A Building on Dec. 6.

Attendees were encouraged to unfold their mats and unwind in an hour-long yoga lesson led by Rick Anderson, an LBCC kinesiology teacher who instructs CPR, first aid and yoga.

Anderson guided participants through several breathing exercises and variations of the warrior pose which involves standing in a wide stance with outstretched arms, all while including witty commentary about balancing a Christmas cookie.

“Yoga creates a moment of the here and now with no distractions, worries or anxieties,” said Anderson. “It’s being in the here and now with the community and yourself when you’re practicing. It’s more of a self-love where you come in and be with yourself.”

The event was open to all students, community members and employees such as Donna Mendoza, an LBCC senior administrative assistant.

“This was my first time ever participating in yoga,” said Mendoza. “I’m stuck in the office a lot of the time so actually being outside and enjoying the outdoors was nice. I plan to attend more of the sessions and even look into doing it on my own.”

The idea behind Yoga on the Lawn began with Carl Kemp, the executive director of public affairs and marketing, who was inspired by his drive along Ocean Blvd.  

“I’ve been in Long Beach for a long time and I’ve been driving up and down Ocean where I’ll see yoga on the bluff. It’s a great community and opportunity for wellness and health,” said Kemp. “Being relatively new here, I saw it as an opportunity for us to engage our campus community as well as our external community for folks who may not be able to make it to the bluff.”

LBCC hopes to extend this event to the PCC campus in the future. 

“We’ll work the kinks out here and see what we can offer over there as well,” said Kemp. “We definitely want to engage PCC. The goal for us is to make folks aware of the beauty that’s there at PCC.”

Anderson described practicing yoga as a personal experience that benefits one’s wellness.

“It’s not a competition,” Anderson said. “It’s self-growth and discipline. Make it fun for your wellness and mindfulness.”

Anderson said he hopes to continue instructing Yoga on the Lawn after the holidays in mid-January.

Gamers come to Comic Con to celebrate gaming culture 

Matthew Gregory
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Gamers come to Comic Con to celebrate gaming culture 

Los Angeles Comic Con was in full force after showcasing various artists and actors from notable shows and movies, and also brought the gaming community together with tournaments, cosplay, and other local gaming companies to show off their products.

The entire West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center was dedicated to bringing together all corners of the gaming community to be immersed with more activities and activities to do during the convention weekend.

One of the main features of the weekend included various open esport tournaments from games such as Street Fighter 6 and Mortal Kombat 1.

Participants included Sargent Andreius Harding, a member of the United States Army Esports Team, also known as Pharaol_Beast.

Harding has been on the team since 2020 before the pandemic and has a love of the Street Fighter series. 

“This is my first Comic Con that I’ve attended, and when I saw that they were hosting a tournament, I had to jump on it,” Harding said.

Harding went on to win first place in the tournament beating his opponent in the grand finals 3-0. 

Famous fighting game community player Victor “Punk” Woodley also challenged players to singles matches during certain time slots.

Woodley has been known in the Street Fighter esports scene and is considered by many to be one of the top players in the world. 

Besides the tournaments, other gaming studios and hardware companies came to advertise their products.

German gaming computer company be quiet! focuses on building unique computer components that are quality, but also quieter so as to not disrupt office spaces that can be compact.

“Difference in design, focusing on high performance with less acoustic sound because of how loud fans get when cooling down computers,”  Richard Ashim, one of the representatives of the company, said.

Famous fighting game community player Victor “Punk” Woodley also challenged players to singles matches during certain time slots.

Los Angeles Comic Con will be moved up to Oct. 4 to Oct. 6 next year with announcements of appearances and more to come in the future.

  • Competitors Pharaoh_Beast (left) and Yasukauchiha (right) play in the grand finals of the Street Fighter 6 open tournament held on Sunday, Dec. 3. Los Angeles Comic Con was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Dec. 1 to Dec. 3. (Ian Salazar)
  • Cosplayer Ari Avetisian holds a replica of the Vandal gun at the gaming hall while dressed as Viper from the video game Valorant. LA Comic Con was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from Dec. 1 to Dec 3. (Ian Salazar)
  • Gaming PC company bequiet! display a Toyota Tacoma with an IBUYPOWER wrap displayed at the Gaming Hall. Los Angeles Comic Con was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from Dec. 1 to Dec. 3. (Ian Salazar)
  • Vendors at the Gaming Hall displays replicas of famous video game items including the Ray Gun from the Call of Duty series. Los Angeles Comic Con was held from Dec. 1 to Dec. 3. (Ian Salazar)

Non-profit shines light on LGBTQIA+ comics at LA Comic Con

Matthew Gregory
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Non-profit shines light on LGBTQIA+ comics at LA Comic Con

A queer non-profit organization dedicates itself to bringing awareness to LGBTQIA comic creators, characters, and comics in a field lacking sufficient representation for the LGBTQIA community.

There were very few queer artists and representatives at LA Comic Con last weekend, but Prism Comics is one booth that shined light on the queer community in comics. 

Starting in 2003, Prism Comics is a non-profit organization that prides itself on helping queer creators promote their work when most other publishers and places wouldn’t. 

“We make it possible for creators to have a presence,” said Tara Avery, board member of Prism Comics and comic book creator herself.

When the organization started 20 years ago, Prism mainly worked with gay and lesbian comic creators who created works that varied in all different types of genres from superhero to erotica. Now the company focuses a lot more on trans and nonbinary creators in their work.

When Prism Comics started it was just a traveling booth at multiple conventions. Prism Comic went to different conventions to help queer creators get their work out and reach fans.

Now, after 20 years, the organization has hosted their own convention for the past two years in West Hollywood named Q-Con where artists and creators can showcase their own work.

One creator that was showcasing their work with Prism Comics during LA Comic Con was the comic creator and illustrator, A.C. Esguerra.

A.C. started to professionally create comics in 2015 with their first novel “80 Days”. They were mostly self-publishing until meeting Prism Comics at WonderCon around the same year. 

Prism Comics brought an assortment of books from artitsts and creators that work with the organization at LA Comic Con. LA Comic Con 2023 went from Friday December 1st to Sunday December 3rd. (Marty Triplett)

A year later they were one of the recipients of the organizations 2016 queer press grants, which is a grant for queer writers to help them continue their work.

“I try to get involved with Prism whenever I can,” said Esguerra.

Queer representation is seen a lot more in comics and media nowadays than it was just a few years ago, but that doesn’t mean that the representation is well thought out. The lack of diversity in writers and creators can cause queer representation to be shallow or stereotypical.

For instance, in 2003 one of. D.C.’s spin-off comics featured an issue of Superman becoming attracted to men when he is around pink kryptonite. This was seen as something comedic for DC fans to laugh at- many did not see this as a problem.

Queer representation by queer people is important and when trying to find queer representation, especially in comics, there are very few.

Thanks to the work of Prism Comics, Esguerra and many other creators like them have been able to get their work off the ground and build an audience in a time where queer representation is needed in the media.

Native American Speaker faced imposter syndrome: Insights from ‘Keeping it 100’ panel

Matthew Gregory
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Native American Speaker faced imposter syndrome: Insights from ‘Keeping it 100’ panel

A descendant of Pala Band of Mission Indians Valentine Contreras expressed “feelings of imposter syndrome,” during a panel where Native Americans spoke of similar experiences of feeling left out in both their culture and American culture, not knowing where they fit in.

Contreras was one of three speakers for the Keeping it 100 panel, held by the Native American Indigenous Collaborative, who spoke on his experiences on finding his native roots as an Indigenous Native living in an American society.

Rio Medina, a community liaison, and Steph Viera, an associate producer, also spoke on their experiences and current Native activities at LBCC.

“Showing up for indigenous students at LBCC namely ones who are looking to grow and expand and use their indigenous identity to support them in their work journey is the goal for this panel,” Viera said.

During the panel, the speakers started off by speaking a little about themselves and then answered questions asked by attendees and then spoke as a group together about issues related to Native Americans at LBCC.

“It’s an opportunity to be able to bring important representation in the professional field,” Medina continued, “Keeping it 100 means to me that I will be able to be really honest and be really truthful about conversations as professionals that we don’t really get to have.”

Medina spoke of Natives having to prove their identity through a blood test called a blood quantum.

“The idea of a blood quantum test is that someone has their blood tested to see how much Indian they have in their blood,” Contreras said.

“Feeling like I was not native enough because I was not raised in the traditional customs and culture of the Pala Band mission Indians. I always had those internal questions of ‘am I doing the right thing? I say I’m native but I don’t have long hair or I don’t wear traditional clothing,’” Contreras stated. “It wasn’t until I got into my college career that I really started to become more proud of that fact that I’m Native American. Going back to the reservation, talking to my aunts and uncles, trying to reconnect with the culture and learn (the) ways, the frame of mind that a Native person is.”

Contreras stated that as a youth he would DJ and after being asked to play Native music and him having no song to play led to him going on a deep dive into his heritage.

“I remember that instance when I was out DJing at a club in LA someone asking do you have any tribal music or any native songs and I didn’t have anything in my library or my vinyl collection and at that point it made me realize oh man that something that I can do promote the Native musicians Native artists,” Contreras stated.

Contraras stated he joined a Native Journalist program where they wrote about Native American issues and events where he realized he could do many more things watching the others at work.

“It prompted me to go and search for indigenous artists (and) Indigenous musicians and now on my platform I have the ability to promote these artists and bring more awareness to the music that we make,” Contreras stated.

Deer grass tested to ensure cleanliness for Tongva baskets

Camila Vargas
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Deer grass tested to ensure cleanliness for Tongva baskets

The Native American Indigenous Collaborative is conducting lab testing in Oregon to supply clean and sustainable deer grass for the Tongva Basketry Collective, a generational cohort of basket weavers.

LBCC and the NAIC received a request from the Tongva, the native land stewards of the Los Angeles Basin, to cease the use of pesticides on campus deergrass.

“The institution and we, as the collaborative, didn’t even know what we were growing until one of our Tongva leaders said that it was deergrass and that they needed it,” said Rio Medina, co-founder and community liaison of the NAIC. 

The patches of deer grass that the Tongva can pick is located outside the LAC T Building. (Kassie Sainz)

This perennial bunchgrass spans from the T building to the campus parking structure, it’s currently being profiled to be harvested in December or January.

“They put it in their mouths and with their saliva they create moisture for the baskets. It’s a ceremonial and traditional practice. If they put it in their mouths and ingest it with pesticides, they could get sick,” said Medina.

In August, the NAIC began their search for soil labs that would ensure no pesticides on the deer grass. 

Many California labs declined due to a lawsuit with the pesticide Roundup, which had increased the risk for liability.

Oregon’s connection with their local native communities contributed to their involvement in the project.

“(The staff at the lab are) very familiar with why they need to test it and why it’s important. Even though there’s a high level of cost and liability, when it comes to being culturally relevant and supporting your local native community, Oregon has gone above and beyond,” said Medina. 

The testing process is still ongoing and the results of the deer grass have yet to be sent back.

As of now, Medina and the NAIC are doing walk-throughs with Tongva leaders to check the development and growth of the deer grass. 

“LBCC is engaged in discussions with representatives of the Tongva people regarding the cultivation of deer grass at the Liberal Arts Campus for use in their traditional basket weaving. LBCC does not actively or regularly use pesticides on the deer grass,” said Stacey Ann Fong Toda, LBCC public relations representative. “LBCC has agreed to have the plants tested to ensure they are free of contaminants that would make them unsafe for human contact.”

The NAIC is working on an agreement that will confirm the Tongva’s harvesting and reserve spaces on campus where they can gather deer grass.

“I’m hoping that we can be the data point that supports other community colleges and universities,” said Medina. “There’s always a risk in doing this type of agreement, but the amount of benefits that come, not only for the cultural native community but for the larger community, I wouldn’t see why campuses wouldn’t want to do this work.”

Faculty Association reaches tentative deal after 5 months

Camila Vargas
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Faculty Association reaches tentative deal after 5 months

A tentative agreement over a new contract for the Long Beach City College Faculty Association (LBCCFA) has been reached after five months of working on the old contract according to the negotiating team.

Veronica Alvarez, a negotiating team member, confirmed through an email sent by Jeffery Sabol, another negotiating team member, the details that were agreed upon.

“This is a really good beginning and we are pretty happy,” Alvarez said. “Feedback (from the faculty) is appreciative.”

The salary agreement was a raise which is equal to the cost of living adjustment (COLA) for all three years of the length of the contract.

COLA is a number that accounts for inflation for living a certain standard of living.

The college receives the amount of money that COLA accounts for, which has raised to 8.22% according to the California Department of Education, but does not need to use the money for faculty salaries.

Other significant details that were agreed to were increased stipends for department heads and lab hours will be compensated 100%. 

As of now, professors are paid 90% of the money they make for their lab hours under the current contract.

Department heads will receive more money on top of their salary because of the extra responsibilities they take on as department heads. 

This new contract has been one of the more contentious contract negotiations in recent years. 

From June 9 until Sept. 22, negotiations had been paused.

On Oct. 18, the LBCCFA protested at a Board of Trustee meeting over the lack of a contract. The union showed up in red shirts and signs saying “110 days without a contract.”

On Sept. 22, Alvarez shared an email to faculty stating that “positive progress has been made since negotiations resumed.”

The union did not protest after that at the next Board of Trustees meeting held on Nov. 8.

Most of the speakers for the union gave up their time to talk at the meeting to other speakers.

Alvarez explained the faculty will get to vote on whether or not the faculty accepts the terms of the new contract in the coming weeks.

The new names being suggested for PCC need more work

Matthew Gregory
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The new names being suggested for PCC need more work

The suggested names for the renaming of the PCC does not connect to students and the surrounding community in any way.

As the 75th year of the opening of LBCC’s Pacific Coast Campus approaches, LBCC’s associate vice president Alicia Kirkwood shares her plan to change the PCC identifier from the Pacific Coast Campus.

The three different options that are up for consideration are: Community Learning and Trade Campus, Careers and Community Learning Campus, and Community Learning and Technology Campus.

Although these names do represent the classes that are available at the Pacific Coast Campus, the names should also encourage students and the surrounding community to attend. The names shouldn’t just be mechanical company-like identifiers, they should also be fun and unique. 

The need to rename the way people identify PCC is understandable. LAC is the Liberal Arts Campus mainly because the classes on campus deal with arts and humanities. Most of the degrees that students receive at LAC are only the beginning of their college career.

The classes that are mainly available at the Pacific Coast Campus are trades such as welding technology, automotive technology and metal fabrication technology. PCC also offers English learning classes, and other classes to help community members strengthen their skills.

Kirkwood’s hope is that by changing the campus identifier from PCC to something else, the community around the campus will know what is offered at the campus.

This should not be the only concern when renaming the identifier. LBCC should also want the name and identifier to make potential students see themselves in the identifier.

The school wants community members and students alike to know that PCC is a campus thriving with different options for people, but that’s not enough for everyone.

Some want to know that their college cares about them and the community that they come from.

LBCC’s Board of Trustees, president and associate vice president have the opportunity to change the campus’s identifier into something unique, but instead are choosing a name that only shows a glimpse of what classes are available at the campus. 

Kirkwood stated that they made sure to get the opinions of staff members, students and faculty alike for this name change.

This process began with surveys being sent out asking students, faculty and the Board of Trustees what words and phrases they thought of when thinking of the PCC campus. After that, focus groups were held to dissect and find names that would match what people answered to the survey.

Renaming the PCC to something so bland will not connect to all students.

Renaming the campus as something that does not capture the community can become unappealing to people in the area and defeats the purpose of the reidentification.

The new name options could reinforce that the PCC is nothing more than just a campus offering learning trades and classes that don’t require you to transfer to a four-year university. It could solidify the “us versus them” stigma that some students and people have because PCC is in a lower income neighborhood.

If one of the new names is chosen to be the new identifier of the Pacific Coast Campus, the effect it’ll have will be the opposite of what Kirkwood is trying to accomplish.

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