Clarion 5/2/23

Next steps:

Semi-annual Transfer Fair guides students through their education goals in the anxiety-inducing transfer process

BY GWEN RYAN STAFF REPORTER GRYAN @ CCCLARION.COM

Citrus College’s transfer fair was a smashing success for many students.

Citrus College hosted its semiannual transfer fair April 12 at the Campus Center Mall.

The event hosted 38 tables, filled with colleges from all around California, a few out of state colleges and five from Citrus consisting of programs to help students reach their transfer goals.

The tables were filled with representatives from each college, ready to answer any and all questions.

“The idea behind the fair is that we have representatives from the UC system, the CSU system, private universities, and out-of-state universities all here (Wednesday) available to answer students’ questions about transfer admission requirements, programs that they may have available at their

Pro-life club threatens activist

BY ROBERT DAVIS STAFF REPORTER RDAVIS @ CCCLARION.COM

The president of the Citrus Students for Life Club recently apologized for using the club’s Instagram to threaten to send a white supremacist group after an activist.

Citrus Students for Life is an antiabortion club at Citrus College that is part of the bigger organization, Students For Life, which helps establish anti-abortion clubs and trains students to be anti-abortion advocates at college campuses across the nation.

The Citrus Students for Life club is not fully recognized by Citrus College as its approval has not been voted on by the Associated Students of Citrus College, but it was approved by the Citrus College Inter Club Council on April 10.

On April 14, the president of the Citrus College chapter of the club, Kayla Garcia, used the Citrus Students for Life Instagram to send

a DM to a pro-choice activist who does not attend Citrus College, Derek Torstenson that read “Now I know who doxxed me and babies lives matter! You cannot stop us we don’t care about you! Watch your back cause us far right don’t play.

I’ll send the proudboys after U.”

An article by Encyclopedia Britannica says the Proud Boys are an international neo-fascist and white nationalist organization. They are categorized as a terrorist organization by the Canadian government.

Garcia apologized for the direct message in an Instagram story posted to her personal account the next day, writing in part, “I am very sorry to those I affected. I am going through something in my personal life and I will take accountability to say that will never happen! That is not what I am representing.”

The DM was a response to a story Torstenson posted where he reposted a photo that promoted a pro-life protest. Torstenson tagged

a group called Resistance Coalition LA, and added a text box reading, “Hey @resistancecoalitonla heads up. Show up and counter these fascists.”

In an interview with the Clarion, Garcia said she planned to attend this protest and helped organize it, so she said she felt threatened by Torstenson’s post.

“He’s basically sending antifa after us. He’s sending people to be violent,” Garcia said.

The founder and facilitator of Resistance Coalition LA, Abby Thomas, wrote in an Instagram direct message to the Clarion that calling the group violent is “continued propaganda coming from dangerous right wing groups. To hear an anti-abortion club say that our organization is violent when there is no evidence to suggest as such would suggest to me that this individual probably is working directly with the Proud Boys or other far right organization

BY ROBERT DAVIS STAFF REPORTER RDAVIS @ CCCLARION.COM

Enrollment at Citrus College dropped during the pandemic but is now finally recovering.

Dean of Enrollment Gerald Sequeira said enrollment of fulltime equivalent students in spring 2023 is up 8.5%, which is about 774 more students than were enrolled in spring 2022.

institution and campus life,” said Jessica Lopez-Jimenez, the director of student support services.

Fullerton representative Christin Johnson knew what information students would need to succeed.

“I think just making sure they’ve looked into the university, researching what programs that the school offers to make sure that the major that the school offers will align with whatever their career goals are,” she said.

Many students found this information and more at the event.

“The people here, all the representatives, have a lot of information about their colleges,” said student Rosa Gutierrez.

Students were overly pleased about the event, stating they would recommend it for everyone.

“I learned some stuff I didn’t even know,” student Martin Flores said.

Flores explained how he planned to go to USC, but the Academy of Arts University changed his mind.

Enrollment for students who aren’t full time has more than doubled since spring 2022 with a 102.2% increase, which is about 182 more students.

Sequeira said although the college is still not above prepandemic enrollment levels, the progress is “a significant improvement.”

Before the pandemic, enrollment at Citrus was already on

a downward trend. Sequeira said citrus enrollment numbers had been decreasing for two to three years before the pandemic hit and said that peak enrollment in recent years was around 2017.

This was due to economic factors, which severely impacted enrollment.

Sequiera said usually, when the economy and job market are doing good, people forgo their education and join the workforce since the motivation for higher education is usually to be used as a gateway to good paying jobs. When the economy is doing well already, people have less reason to go to college. The reverse of this is also

ABIODUN COLLINS - STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Rosa Gutierrez, a criminal justice major, visits the University of La Verne station during the Citrus College transfer fair April 12.

SCREENSHOTS COURTESY OF DEREK TORSTENSON; ILLUSTRATION BY ROBERT DAVIS A direct message was sent from the Citrus Students For Life club Instagram account to activist Derek Torstenson in response to an Instagram story.

Biblical retelling brings a burst of color

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat musical retells the tale of jealousy, anger, hatred and reconciliation

BY ABIODUN COLLINS STAFF REPORTER ACOLLINS @ CCCLARION.COM

The retelling of the biblical story of Joseph came alive in beautiful colors on the stage of the Haugh Performing Arts Center on Sunday.

The stage was lit in radiant colors, and the cast performed in beautiful, bold and bright dresses.

The stage props and the visuals also made the story’s historical setting realistic.

Fifty-five years after its original production, the cast members of Citrus Singers took the adaptation of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” to a new, exciting level.

The production was directed and staged by the dean of Visual and Performing Arts, John Vaughn, musical director, Douglas Austin and Choreographer, Renee Liskey. Narrators Jaleene Serenity, Brooklyn Vizcarra and Molly

Billman opened the play with a prologue alongside a Children’s Ensemble, who performed with the cast in different scenes.

Keeley Millikenis, the founder of Centre Stage Monrovia, a nonprofit organization, directed the Children’s Ensemble.

The narrators sang songs that echoed varying emotions, from energetic to soulful to somber.

The cast wowed the audience with powerful vocals, dances and precise actions. Each special number garnered cheers and applause.

The performance was also witty.

Wearing sunglasses and a golden set of “pajamas,” the character, Pharaoh, played by Christopher Walker, put laughter and smiles on the faces of the audience as he sang “Song of the King.”

The musical rendition of “Those Canaan Days” by Lorenzo Flores,

Sunday May 7 2PM

Tickets: $52 Senior: $47 Citrus Faculty, Students and Staff: $26

played by Simeon, was also amusing, as he and his brothers argued over who gets to eat a bug.

Marcel Almirantearena, who played Joseph, also gave an emotive rendition of “Close Every Door.”

The Haugh was packed. The majority of the audience were seniors.

Sherry Nagle and Sharon Mcgehee have been season ticket holders since 1997. They described the play as “exceptional.”

“We’ve seen this play many times, and I think this is one of the finest performances we’ve seen,” Mcgehee said. “It was very creative. There were lots of different aspects to it that we hadn’t seen before.”

The duo said the graphics were enhanced, which set the show apart from the ones they had seen.

Pro-life from Page 1

and heard the propaganda straight from them.”

Garcia told the Clarion she is not associated with the Proud Boys and, although she has attended rallies where the Proud Boys were present, she had no actual intentions of sending the Proud Boys after Torstenson.

Thomas also mentioned that Anifa is not a centralized group and is actually more of a blanket term for people who oppose fascism as Antifa is a conjunction of Anti-Fascist. Thomas wrote that although Resistance Coalition LA is anti-fascist, they “do not support a ‘violent antifa organization.’”

Garcia said she responded to Torstentson’s story so aggressively because he had previously sent her derogatory text messages about her being pro-life and said he “wished something bad happened to (her) daughter,” Garcia said.

Garcia told the Clarion the DM she sent through the club’s account misrepresents what she tries to advocate for.

“I’m not a violent person,” Garcia said. “I’m actually very open to

Bouncing from Page 1

true if the economy is doing bad, more people decide to study and pursue higher education so that they can access better jobs and make more money.

The pandemic uniquely affected enrollment because it did not follow these trends. During the pandemic, the economy stagnated but enrollment decreased.

Sequirea said this was due to a multitude of factors, some of which were that many high school graduates decided to take gap years in 2020 and 2021 and that some high school students were apprehensive about transitioning to higher education after taking online classes during the pandemic.

Citrus College Executive Director of Communications Melissa Utsuki wrote in an email that enrollment also decreased because students had health concerns and since many schools transitioned to being fully online, parents could not enroll in classes since they needed to be home with their children.

The recent increase in enrollment can also be attributed to many different factors, mainly that the pandemic affects students’

Sarah Fisher, a Citrus College music major, gushed about her dad, John Fisher, for playing Jacob and Potiphar in the play.

Sarah said her dad had always wanted to perform but never did a musical. She was proud of him for putting himself out there.

The play was divided into two acts, each 40 minutes long.

It was a brilliant production

everybody on campus whether they’re pro choice, pro life, LGBTQ, I’m not gonna sit here and judge but at the end of the day, don’t go at me and my club and expect me to just not respond.”

Garcia also said someone told her a left-wing group called Bamn posted Garcia’s full name and major on Instagram and spread her phone number, address and Social Security number on a Telegram group chat.

The Clarion confirmed that a post on Bamn’s Instagram post does contain Garcia’s full name and major. However, that information is publicly available by requesting a third-party enrollment verification from Citrus College.

The Clarion reached out to Bamn about doxxing Garcia’s other personal information but has not received a response.

In the threatening DM, Garcia accused Torstenson of being a part of that information leak. But Torstenson said he did not doxx Garcia and does not work with any group in California as he lives out of state. Torstenson said he only knows about Resistance Coalition LA because of its chapter in Washington, D.C.

daily lives less and less the more time passes. Students having health concerns are less common, parents have time to come to class and high school graduates feel more prepared to go to college after having their senior years in person.

Sequeira said that part of the reason enrollment numbers are increasing is just that they decreased so much during the pandemic.

But the pandemic ending is not the only reason enrollment has gone up. Citrus deans, directors and faculty have worked through the pandemic to make education more accessible.

Utsuki wrote that Citrus has worked to make classes more flexible by shortening term lengths and increasing the options of in person, hybrid and online classes.

By making classes more flexible, students can join the workforce while they also go to school.

Additionally, Utsuki said the Citrus students services team has made their support and counseling scheduling more streamlined and flexible so students have access to help when they need it.

filled with effortless singing. “10 out of 10,” an audience member said as she exited the building.

The play ended with a “megamix” of some of the musical numbers and was greeted with a standing ovation from the audience.

It was nothing short of a masterpiece.

For Torstenson, the threat was “disturbing,” especially considering that he had been physically attacked by who he said were Proud Boys at a protest in Washington, D.C. The event was caught on video which shows Torstenson being grabbed from behind and then shoved to the ground by two men. Despite this, Torstenson maintained that he “will never back down from the far right.”

The Citrus College Standards of Conduct say that “threatening to cause physical injury to another person” is cause for “discipline, including but not limited to the removal, suspension, or expulsion of a student.” But with the threat not being completely direct, it is not clear whether disciplinary action will be taken against Garcia or the Citrus Students for Life club.

The Clarion is produced by journalism students and is distributed every third Tuesday during the semester. Ads are not endorsed by the Clarion. Published opinion is that of the writer. Views expressed do not represent those of the adviser, faculty, administration, Associated Students of Citrus College and/or CCCBOT.

Staff Reporters

Abiodun Collins acollins @ccclarion.com

Blake Hall bhall@ccclarion.com

Gwen Ryan gryan@ccclarion.com

Robert Davis rdavis@ccclarion.com

Kalin Greene kgreene@ccclarion.com

Zac Quintanilla zquintanilla@ccclarioncom

Designer

Heily Garcia hgarcia@ccclarion.com

Clarion Adviser

Patrick Schmiedt pschmiedt@ccclarion.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF KRISTEN CAMPBELL

The Citrus Singers perform the final scene of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at the Haugh Performing Arts Center on April 16.

Round 4 of Chicken Nugget Wars is here

Carl’s Jr. Star Nuggets and Tyson Dino Nuggets go head-to-head

BY ROBERT DAVIS STAFF REPORTER RDAVIS @ CCCLARION.COM

Some conflicts run so deep that they last generations. But this conflict is so significant, it involves the extinction of entire species and has affected life on Earth for more than a millennium.

Sixty six million years ago, the dinosaurs were wiped out by an asteroid impact, so it’s only fitting that the final battle in the first round of the Chicken Nugget Wars will be between the Carl’s Jr. Chicken Stars and the Tyson Dinosaur-Shaped Fun Nuggets.

Since the official name “Dinosaur-Shaped Fun Nuggets” is way too long for a 5-years-old to remember. I will be calling these nuggets by the name lovingly gifted to them by 5-year-olds across America, Dino Nuggies.

And now, the moment has come to find out if the dinos will be able to survive another asteroid or if the shooting stars will prevail once more.

In the crispness category, the Dino Nuggies did not fare well. If there’s one thing microwaves are not good for, it’s making something crunchy. The dino nuggets are microwaved from frozen, and as a result they come out much soggi-

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3 Nugget King

while the stars earned a 7.5.

Both nuggets performed terribly in the sauce category. The Dino Nuggies don’t come with sauce but somehow, the stars performed even worse. The cashier at Carl’s Jr. told me the nuggets would come with ketchup but to my surprise when I looked in the bag, there was no ketchup to be found. I wanted sauce, I was given lies.

As a result, Dino Nuggies earned a 1 in the sauce category and the Chicken Stars earned a 0.

In addition to forgetting my sauce, Carl’s Jr. also shorted me two nuggets out of the 6 I was supposed to receive. Losing 33% of a nugget meal and 100% of any form of dipping sauce might as well be a forfeit in this competition, but just to be nice, I’ll stick to just docking the Chicken Stars two points because accidents happen.

er than you remember from your childhood. Despite this, the breading on the nuggies did still maintain more of a crunch than I expected, so the dinos earn a 5.

The Chicken Stars were much more comparable to any other fast food nugget and had a significantly better crust than the dinos. The crust was present but not exceptional, so the stars earned an 8.

If there’s one thing that a microwave is good for, it’s keeping something juicy, and the Dino Nuggies were just that, juicy. Don’t get me

wrong, these were not on the same level as Chick-fil-A or the Habit, but they were definitely juicy, so they earned another 8.

The same cannot be said about the juiciness of the Carl’s Jr. nuggets, as those by comparison were a mouth full of sand. The stars earned a 6.

One thing that was highlighted in the flavor and tenderness categories was how similar these nuggets were. Both had nearly identical textures, and I have no doubt those textures would be even more

similar if the Dino Nuggies were air fried or baked instead of microwaved. Both nuggets earned a 7 in the texture category because they were both passable but nothing special.

The flavor category was more of the same. The nuggets tasted almost identical. The flavor of the chicken and the saltiness of the breading weren’t bad but there was little seasoning. The Carls’s Jr. Chicken Stars were slightly saltier which elevated the flavor slightly, so the Dino Nuggies earned a 7

Owls make waves as season ends

Aquatics swim team finishes strong at conference championship

BY ABIODUN COLLINS STAFF REPORTER ACOLLINS @ CCCLARION.COM

Eight men and 12 women from the Citrus aquatics swim team represented the college in the Western State Conference championship at Los Angeles Valley College.

The event was from April 20-22.

The Owls competed against nine men’s and 10 women’s teams in the conference.

Competitors who finished in the top eight were awarded medals.

On the men’s side, outstanding finishes from the competition included Jullian Nichols, who clinched second in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 47.87 seconds.

Head swim coach Jennifer Spalding said Nichols started swimming last year. She described his performance as incredible, especially in the time he finished.

After finishing, Nichols said he looked at the clock and stood in shock as his teammates screamed in joy.

“I am still trying to wrap my head around swimming that fast,” he said.

Nichols also finished fourth in the 200– and 50-meter freestyle events.

Nichols said he hasn’t been swimming his whole life and that swimming a 100-meter freestyle in 47 seconds is a big deal and a good achievement.

In last year’s conference championship, Nichols placed ninth in the 100 freestyle preliminaries and didn’t make it to the finals.

He credits Spalding, his coach, for helping him improve his tech-

niques and for motivating and guiding him toward his achievement and goals.

The Owls men’s relay team (Rolan Solis, Gavin Tanner, Matteo Velasquez and Nichols) also placed eight in the 200-yard free event, finishing in 1 minute, 38.71 seconds.

On the women’s side, Andrea Hayler clinched fourth in the 100 and 200 breaststroke.

Other notable finishes are Charly Figueroa, who finished sixth and 10th in the 200 and 400 individual medley. She also finished seventh in the 200 breaststroke.

Delaney Latham finished eight in

the 100 freestyle.

The women’s 200-yard free relay team (Sierra Beltran, Andrea Hayler, Delaney Latham and Genesis Moradel) also placed sixth with a time of 1 minute, 49.03 seconds.

Spalding said the athletes were tested and did a “fantastic” and “amazing job.”

“They worked hard this swim season, and it showed ‘cause they all dropped massive time,” she said. “All their hard work paid off the entire season.”

Spalding said that all of her athletes except for one are dual athletes. She said her athletes swim in

the spring and play water polo in the fall.

She said this says a lot about who they are and their strength.

However, despite great performances, the Owls missed out on qualifying for the state championship.

Nichols, who placed top 20, was close to making it into the top 18 needed for the state championship. However, fell short by 0.67 seconds.

The Western State Conference championship marks the end of the season for the swimming Owls. They resume in January.

The Dino Nuggies earned a price point for being about the same price as a six piece of Chicken Stars despite coming in a bag of 32, making them more than five times cheaper than the Chicken Stars.

This brings the overall totals to 26 for the Carl’s Jr. Chicken Stars and 28 for the Tyson Dino Nuggies, meaning the dinosaurs finally get their revenge and can finally rest at peace.

Make sure to catch the next edition of the Clarion to see who will win in the first battle of round 2 between nugget powerhouse McDonald’s and the defending Chicken Wars Champion, Popeyes.

Former trustee dies

BY ZACHARIAS QUINTANILLA STAFF REPORTER ZQUINTANILLA @ CCCLARION.COM

Michael J. Bevilacqua, a former trustee of Citrus College, died on March 26. He was 90.

In 1987, Bevilacqua was elected into the board of trustees for the Citrus Community College District, serving as a representative for Glendora. Until his retirement in 2007, Bevilacqua served in every officer-related capacity. Bevilacqua worked with three superintendents/ presidents.

Bevilacqua himself called Glendora home. Until his retirement, he worked as the physical therapy department’s director at Foothill Presbyterian Hospital and had a Glendora private practice.

BEVILACQUA

In addition to being a president of the Foothill Presbyterian Hospital Men’s Club, the Glendora Rotary Club, and the University of Southern California Physical Therapy School of Alumni Association, Bevilacqua was a member of other civic and professional groups.

Bevilacqua is survived by his 65-year-old wife Ginny, three children, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

He was born in Los Angeles on Oct. 1, 1932, and died in Glendora while being surrounded by family.

The Bevilacqua family had a private service to honor his life.

From 1 to 3 p.m. June 15, a public service at the Glendora Country Club will be held. For additional information, contact Marc Bevilacqua at marcbevilacqua33@gmail.com.

ROBERT DAVIS - CLARION

PHOTO COURTESY OF CITRUS AQUATICS

Rolan Solis swims the 50-meter butterfly stroke at Western State conference at LA Valley College from April 20-22.