Daily Forty-Niner; August 28, 2023

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NAOKI GIMA / Daily Forty-Niner

The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team celebrate after scoring a point against the University of Texas at Austin Longhorns inside the Walter Pyramid in the season-opener. The Beach would upset the reigning National Champions 3-1 at home to start their season off strong.

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West Long Beach gets mental health first responders

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BY ANTHONY ORRICO News Assistant

CCR will also be available as an additional resource to police and fire departments.

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West Long Beach becomes the first area in the city to have mental health-related emergency calls responded to by specialists instead of uniformed police officers.

The team is part of the city’s Community Crisis Response (CCR) Team which launched earlier this summer and aims to improve community safety through health-based approaches.

The team will provide various services beyond providing basic need items. This service is in addition to providing transportation for resources like mental health urgent care and housing services.

CCR is a result of the Racial Equity and Reconciliation Initiative which was approved by the Long Beach City Council in June 2020 after the murder of George Floyd.

Funding for the program was included in the Long Beach Recovery Act and includes $3.6 million for CCR, according to the city.

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Letters Policy: All letters and emails must bear the phone number of the writer and must be no more than 300 words. The Daily Forty-Niner reserves the right to edit letters for publication in regard to space.

Editorials: All opinions expressed in the columns, letters and cartoons in the issue are those of the writers or artists. The opinons of the Daily Forty-Niner are expressed only in unsigned editorials and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the journalism department or the views of all staff members. All such editorials are written by the editorial board of the Daily Forty-Niner.

Five mental health specialists will be available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays to respond to non-violent, non-medical calls with focuses on behavioral health and quality of life.

This team’s responsibilities include calls regarding mental health crises, suicidal callers, public intoxication, welfare checks, unwelcome individuals and disturbances.

According to a press release by the city, the team will not respond to calls about an armed person, medical emergencies, a person exhibiting violent behavior or someone threatening to hurt themselves or others.

“You wouldn’t deploy a police officer to put out a fire so now we have an additional team to deploy when it makes sense,” said Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson.

Residents are unable to call these services directly. To access the CCR resources, people are required to call the non-emergency line and will be directed to CCR during operating hours.

Richardson said that he hopes this will relieve some burden on the police department.

“Police have a lot on their plate, they’re responding to crises 24/7 and there are a lot of calls that come in and this allows us to free up police officers to be a bit more proactive and be able to be more responsive on the issues where they’re needed most,” Richardson said.

Richardson added this is all a part of the Long Beach Police Department’s transition to a more community-based model of policing.

CCR can be identified by the bright blue City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services shirts.

Land Acknowledgment

Here at the 49er we acknowledge that the school we report on is located on the sacred site of Puvungna, “the gathering place”. We are on the land of the Tongva/Gabrieleño and the Acjachemen/Juaneño Nations who have lived and continue to live here.

We also acknowledge the Gabrieleño/Tongva (pronounced: GABRIEL-EN-YO/TONG – VAH) and Acjachamen/Juaneño (pronounced: AH-HACH-AH-MEN/JUAN-EN-YO) as the traditional custodians of the Los Angeles region along with the Chumash (pronounced: CHOO-MOSH) to the north and west, and the Tataviam (pronounced: TAH-TAH-VEE-YUM) and Cahuilla (pronounced: KAH-WEE-YAH) Nations to the east.

We respect and value the many ways the Tongva/Acjachemen cultural heritage and beliefs continue to have significance to the living people and remind us about the sacred and spiritual relationship that has always existed here at what we now call California State University Long Beach.

Courtesy of Mayor Richardson’s Office Mayor Richardson meets with members of the CCR at the press conference announcing the program.

Lei Madrigal

CFC to reopen in 2025, leaving faculty without on-campus childcare amid renovations

BY SAM FARFAN Community Engagement Editor

Following the temporary closure of the Child and Family Center (CFC) on campus, program administrators announced its reopening beginning in 2025. However, faculty and staff expressed concern over the lack of alternative on-campus childcare programs for the next year and a half.

Beach Building Services announced the Child and Family Center (CFC) program will resume childcare services in January 2025 following renovations during the 2023-2024 academic school year.

The renovation project titled “Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Child Care Project” aims to “yield a significant increase in the quantity and range of childcare services available for children of students attending college,” according to a Beach Building Services update.

With the total cost estimated to be $12 million, the program received a onetime state grant in 2020 to renovate and expand the CFC’s services and facilities.

However, the facility’s closure at the end of June caused concern and frustration among faculty and staff who have relied on the program’s services for years. Several faculty stated that the CFC provided an on-campus convenience that other centers simply do not.

Dr. Lori Baralt, associate professor and department chair of the Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Department, expressed the struggles of finding an alternative childcare center.

“[It’s] very time-consuming, trying to find places that have openings that you would feel are safe for your children and would be a quality childcare place.

Also, in terms of where they are located, having childcare on campus was so convenient.”

Baralt said that her youngest son will face two significant social transitions following the closure of the CFC as he was enrolled in a new daycare center for the summer and will start transitional kindergarten later this month.

“For many of them, that was their first experience in childcare. My second child took a lot longer to warm up because he’d never been outside of our family unit because of COVID. It was such a big adjustment for him to get used to being there and to love his friends and his teachers,” Baralt said.

Faculty were frustrated, stating that there was “poor planning and mismanagement” surrounding the temporary relocation of the program.

Dr. Banafsheh Behzad, associate professor of Information Systems at the College of Business, said, “They told us that the center was going to be open, that they’re just going to move to another location.”

Ultimately, that did not occur. Relocation efforts were made by program administrators to continue childcare operations but were hindered due to strict licensing requirements. The program would have to acquire new licenses, but it could not be obtained in time for the closure and construction timeline.

Provost Karyn Scissum-Gunn shared additional information about the CFC’s closure and the issues with the relocation in an update on the CSULB website.

“In explorations with licensing agencies, it became clear in Fall 2022 that a relocation of the CFC to The Pointe for more than a year would be treated as a new childcare facility requiring a new license,” Scissum-Gunn said. “The temporary suspension of CFC childcare services is disappointing and difficult. This is not where any of us wanted to land.”

Another issue was that the program’s

preschool teachers, who are also lecturers at the university, lost both of their jobs after the closure of the CFC.

“We’re still really concerned about how the [preschool] teachers were treated in all of this,” Baralt said. “A lot of the lead teachers were also lecturers in the department and they all lost their jobs. Not just their teaching jobs, but also their contracts to be lecturers for fall.”

These events caused further frustration among faculty and staff as they viewed the employment changes as an image rebranding technique for the reopening of the new center.

“It kind of looks like the department and the college wanted to get rid of all those teachers and start this new center when it’s ready and running with new staff and new parents,” Behzad said. “For us, no matter how fancy and new the building is, I think that it has lost its heart and soul because really it was the teachers that were doing everything.”

Located in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, the Center previously provided three childcare rooms and two play yards for the 45 children enrolled in the program.

Upon completion, the new changes will include three additional childcare rooms, children’s restrooms, a staff room, a kitchen and a separate laundry room. Other features include innovative reading nooks, enhanced natural light

and renovation of the existing classrooms.

“The improvements will provide increased capacity to the overall program as well as provide equity amongst the existing and new spaces,” Gregory Woods, Director of News Media Services, said. “With these changes, the Center will double the enrollment and serve more families on campus and the surrounding community, welcoming student-parent families for the first time.”

Considering the program did not previously enroll children of student-parents, many faculty members have become increasingly uncertain that they will successfully secure a spot for their children despite the expansion.

“I’m very happy that they are expanding childcare to students because student-parents obviously need childcare too,” Baralt said. “But I am concerned because even before COVID, there weren’t enough spots for faculty children.”

The contractors mobilized the site at the beginning of August 2023 and are now in the beginning stages of construction including installing temporary fencing and performing site surveys around the center.

Construction is scheduled to be completed in early November 2024 before the program reopens in the following months.

SAM FARFAN / Daily Forty-Niner Previously, the Center consisted of three childcare rooms and two play yards. The new Center will include a total of six childcare rooms and three play yards.

For us, no matter how fancy and new the building is, I think that it has lost its heart and soul because really it was the teachers that were doing everything.

Dr. Banafsheh Behzad Associate Professor

”

Rise to the challenge: Skateboarding and rock climbing event for charity

Synergy between a local climbing gym and a skateboard shop allowed for the creation of an action-packed charity skateboarding competition event that was able to give back to Long Beach’s community.

BY NUELLE OBASEKI Design Assisntant

Long Beach provides a wide variety of heart-racing activities for audiences of all ages to enjoy. Two businesses combined their passions of rock climbing and skateboarding to create an event that gave back to the skate community.

On Aug. 26, climbing gym Long Beach Rising and local skateboard shop Pharmacy Boardshop collaborated and hosted a competition. Professional and amateur skaters joined each other in a best trick competition for a cash prize.

In January, Christian “Slinks” Barnes, manager of Pharmacy Boardshop, walked into Long Beach Rising holding a skateboard. Amidst his interactions with gym owner Grayston Leonard, he gained the inspiration for “Best Trick for Cash.”

Slinks, when visiting Rising, had noticed that the gym has a perfect four block of stairs leading to the outdoor patio, which was eventually covered with a custom ‘hubba’ or ledge that skaters glided down. He claimed that he and Leonard put their minds together and gathered the resources necessary to create a summer event with a great turnout.

Professional skater and owner of Pharmacy Boardshop Boo Johnson had been climbing at Long Beach Rising over the last couple of months. During this time, he contacted friendly local businesses with connections to the skate community to sponsor the event.

Contestants had the chance to earn $20 for any trick that was deemed worthy by sponsor Nicky Diamonds, Boo Johnson the emcee and the audience.

Nicholas Tershay, whose stage surname is Diamonds, is the founder of skateboarding hardware line Diamond Supply Co. Tershay initially met Johnson when he sponsored him to skate

for the streetwear company’s elite team and also contributed as a major sponsor for the fundraiser.

“Usually you don’t get a perfect skate spot inside of a gym like this,” said Johnson. “We were able to give away $3,500 to all the skaters who curated the vibe, had fun and put on a show for the people.”

Sounds of boards grinding against rails, ramps and a ledge made by Keen Ramps filled the room. Noises of climbers falling onto mats and live music performed by local indie-rock band Beachdust accompanied the competition.

Local restaurants and vendors such as The Quesadilla Calling, The Good Bar, Drink Weird, Fog City Farms and Vans had booths set up alongside the indoor halfpipe and upstairs leading out to the street.

Admission to the event cost $5 with free skating available to all and additional fees for those who wanted to free climb.

Each individual received a raffle ticket with paid admission. Extra tickets were given to those who bought a climbing pass for the day. Prizes included New Balance shoes, duffel bags and Vans popsockets, as well as stickers, pins, shirts and hats from other participating vendors.

The decision to connect skateboarding and rock climbing can be attributed to Slinks and Leonard skating

in their early childhoods and developing an interest in climbing later on in life.

“They both have the same sensation of self-accomplishment - from reaching the top of a wall, to landing a trick,” said Slinks.

Groups of all ages skated, climbed and enjoyed the event both before and after the competition. Dogs and their owners could be seen smiling while en -

joying the band, or talking and soaking up sun by the outside patio area.

The event was deemed a success by Leonard, Johnson, Slinks, participating vendors and enthusiastic attendees. The collaborative event is set to be hosted again next summer and could potentially become an event held twice a year, according to Johnson.

“Rock climbing and skateboarding need to collaborate more in this life -

NABEEH SHAMIEH / Daily Forty-Niner Local indie-rock band, Beachdust, performs below a rock climbing wall after the final round of the trick competition at Long Beach Rising.

NUELLE OBASEKI / Daily Forty-Niner

Professional skater and Pharmacy Boardshop owner Boo Johnson, right, received a custom board gifted to him by friend, Christian “Slinks” Barnes, at a charity skateboarding event on Aug. 26.

NABEEH SHAMIEH / Daily Forty-Niner Contestant Hakeem Ducksworth performs a skateboarding trick during “Best Trick for Cash” at Long Beach Rising. The competition gave contestants the opportunity to win $20 for any trick the audience deemed worthy.

Underground community celebrated in multicultural murals at Long Beach Walls

BY JD PRESLICKA Copy Assistant

Beginning in 2021, Art Renzei launched as a multimedia art festival featuring artists from all around the globe. In addition to the sculpture-based artwork on display, Long Beach Walls (previously known as Pow! Wow!) highlights talented mural artists whose work can be found scattered across the city.

The festival was held Aug. 14 to Aug. 19, complete with a movie night, bike tours, pop-up shops, special presentations from featured artists and countless DJs to celebrate.

The mission of Long Beach Walls is to use contemporary art to engage with the local community, employing artists to create pieces based on the given year’s theme. The art is colorful and technical, some with whimsical feelings, while others offer a more in-depth tone. Each featured artist has their own unique style, creating beautiful pieces that bring life into seemingly ignored spaces.

“The theme for this year emphasized the importance of our connection to

ourselves and the world around us, recognizing that these connections serve as the driving force behind our passion and joy,” Associate Vice President Jared Meade said.

Each district of Long Beach features a mural by various artists, with the intent of urging the next generation of creatives to pursue their goals while re-

flecting on community identity. The importance of culture is emphasized in this year’s art. Each piece takes the artist’s personal perspective on community collaboration. It’s reflected in the surrounding environment.

“This year more than 600 artists applied to be one of the 18 featured festival artists,” Meade said. “The Long Beach

Walls worldwide committee reviewed each application and selected a diverse group of local, national and international artists.”

The artist featured on the wall is Lauren YS, a Chinese American artist whose inspiration behind the mural was the character Jobu Tupaki, from the movie “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Long Beach Walls hosted an event starring YS where she shared her challenges, artistic process and motivations behind her work.

Graffiti artist Royyal Dog created a piece for Long Beach Murals which encapsulated the value of sharing culture. His piece is located in a downtown Long Beach parking garage. The image shows three women in a traditional Korean dress called a Hanbok.

In an interview with LBTV’s Nadia Gil, Dog talks about the meaning behind the work, “I want to show people that it is beautiful when we are together. I want to talk about my culture too.”

Although the event has already taken place, the murals will be available for viewing for the foreseeable future. On Art Rezei’s website, there is a map with the address of all artwork presented this year.

JD PRESLICKA / Daily Forty-Niner

A mural by Lauren YS, located outside of Good Time in Long Beach, Calif., features Jobu Tupaki from the movie “Everything Everywhere All at Once” as part of the Long Beach Walls event, allowing mural artists to display their work around the city.

JD PRESLICKA / Daily Forty-Niner Mural by Lauren YS outside of Good Time in Long Beach, Calif.

Long Beach State doesn’t need football to thrive

BY MAYA-CLAIRE GLENN Opinions Assistant

Long Beach State has seen success in the past with sports like baseball, basketball and volleyball, pushing the school into the public eye during playoff runs.

But one of the United States’ most popular sports, football, CSULB no longer hosts.

From 1955 to 1991, CSULB had a football team. The university used the Veterans Memorial Stadium of Long Beach City College to play most of its games, as well as Angel Stadium from 1977 to 1982.

Throughout its existence though, the 49ers only won their conference three times. In their lone bowl, the 1970 Pasadena Bowl against the Louisville Cardinals, they ended in a tie.

Some students and alumni may ask if 49er football could ever return, but it’s best that it doesn’t.

While CSULB does have a club rugby team, the school doesn’t have many athletes that would be able to play col-

lege football. Recruiting would be difficult for a new program with little success in its history.

In the past few months, many colleges and universities have announced upgrades to their facilities that cost several hundreds of millions of dollars, and that doesn’t include maintenance costs, let alone the cost to build facilities in compliance with NCAA regulations.

If Long Beach were to reinstate the football program, it would have to compete against large schools in Southern California like UCLA and USC, a task that CSULB is not equipped to undertake.

Even if they were, there is no guarantee that the program would gain any traction.

It could wind up being a waste of money, money that could be better spent on other on-campus improvements. These might include upgrading the chargers on campus for electric cars, providing more affordable and accessible student housing and parking or implementing air conditioning into all of the campus buildings.

Football might be one of the most popular sports in the US, but it has no place at Long Beach State.

Courtesy of Long Beach State Athletics

Cal State University Long Beach used to have a football team from 1955 until 1991, pictured here in 1988. In their final season, the Long Beach State 49ers suffered nine losses and only won two games.

Despite being one of the most profitable and beloved sports in the country, the school is better off not having its own program.

LBSU women’s volleyball corrals national champion Longhorns

BY MATTHEW GOMEZ Staff Writer

Feeling the support of a packed Walter Pyramid and Sandpit for the home opener, the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team silenced No. 1 Texas, beating the Longhorns 3-1 Friday night.

It’s a victory that not only shocks the women’s volleyball world but sees The Beach pass its first test, as the team looks to continue to build and improve before the inaugural Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship at the end of the season.

“We’re gonna be tested a lot, and so this is just another test,” Long Beach State head coach Tyler Hildebrand said.

After opening the game slow and trailing 8-3 in set one, Hildebrand called a timeout and that shifted the momentum as the team pulled back to within two before tying the game at 10, and trading points to 12.

From there The Beach took authority and got the score to 20-15, forcing Texas to call a timeout of its own. The decision was futile since The Beach would close out the set by winning 25-22, despite Texas’s best efforts at a comeback.

“We just felt like so loose and freed

up,” redshirt sophomore setter Zayna Meyer said, “I think the crowd really helped with that.”

Set two was all about Texas as the Longhorns dictated the scoring early and never let The Beach find a way back in, winning 25-18.

That set was the last time the Longhorns had control as Long Beach showed poise and grit playing into the student section’s chants of ‘overrated’ and winning set three by the night’s largest margin of 25-16.

The Beach closed out a back-andforth set four that saw the score become tied 14 times before finishing 25-22.

“I was pretty speechless plus the girls threw the Gatorade on me,” Hildebrand said about the game’s conclusion.

Offensively, The Beach was out-attacked at the end of the night by a .29 margin in the score column, something that could be overlooked by the end result. Throughout every other team column, it was Long Beach playing the better game statistically.

“Texas is the number one team in the country. And I have a lot of respect for them and their coaching staff,” Hildebrand said.

“We felt like we were out playing them, you know, it didn’t feel like they just played really, really bad and we got lucky.”

Though Texas out-attacked The

Beach, a team effort put together by LBSU saw redshirt junior Utah transfer Abby Karich, graduate student Hanna Lesiak and junior Maura Hayes finish with 10 kills each.

Digs were a key area of the game that The Beach led in as junior libero Savana Chacon compiled a game-leading 14.

For Texas, the team’s game wasn’t clean enough as the Longhorns’ 17 service errors curbed any momentum it

could build.

The Beach came into the season predicted to finish third in The Big West Preseason Coaches’ Poll, after a (19-9) season in 2022 that saw the team go (146) in Big West contests.

Texas on the other hand concluded its 2022 as National Champions losing just a single game en route. The Longhorns were riding a 15-game winning streak that dated back to Oct. 19, 2022.

NAOKI GIMA / Daily Forty-Niner

The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team celebrates their season-opener victory against No. 1 University of Texas at Austin inside the Walter Pyramid.

NAOKI GIMA / Daily Forty-Niner Long Beach State women’s volleyball junior middle-blocker, Kameron Bacon (white #6), gets up for the kill against University of Texas at Austin Longhorns’ player, Bella Bergmark (orange #5).

First-ever Team Combat League Mega Brawl is a total knockout

BY NAOKI GIMA Photo Editor

The league consists of six teams from six different cities across the US, the two teams to make it to the final of the championship tournament were the NYC Attitude and the Atlanta Attack. This clash would take place at Thunder Studios in Long Beach.

The league was co-founded by Ahmed Sheikh who attended the event to watch his promotion conclude its first season ever. Sheikh was very pleased with the event and is beyond happy with how the season went from start to finish.

“We came up with the idea. It had never been done before because boxing never really had any teams or anything,” said Sheikh. “I can’t even believe it, Mega Brawl One is over. I’m looking forward to season two now.”

Each team has fighters from six weight classes: female featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. They compete in 18 three-minute rounds and the team with the higher score on the judges’ scorecard wins.

The event started off with the AllStar Showdown. Where two teams consisting of the best fighters from both coasts went head-to-head. The two teams fought in 18 three-minute rounds to crown the superior all-star team with the East Coast All-Stars coming out on top with a score of 171-170.

The main event saw the two best teams in the league battle it out for the title of champion. The NYC Attitude had beaten the DC Destroyers to get to the final and the Atlanta Attack came out victorious over the Las Vegas Hustle in the semi-final.

After 18 hard-fought rounds, the NYC Attitude came out as the first-ever Mega Brawl champions with a score of 172-165.

To some fighters, this promotion became an opportunity to make a name for themselves to see if they can get signed to bigger promotions. Lightweight fighter Jonibek Khotamov expressed his gratitude for the promotion for the opportunity to compete in the league.

“I really appreciate this thing,” said Khotamov. “Team Combat League has given us the opportunity to compete under the bright lights and for promoters to come to see us and to hand-pick us.”

Barak Bess, who hosts The DAZN

Boxing Show, was at the event giving live analysis and expressed his gratitude for the promotion, what it can do for fighters trying to make it as professionals and how the team dynamic makes it greater than boxing.

“It gives them an opportunity to get scouted and they’re getting paid,” said Bess. “It’s fun to see those kids get in that ring at the end and win that championship. And everybody got a belt, even guys who were injured who didn’t fight tonight. That was amazing.”

Beach men’s water polo: 2023 season preview

BY DAVIS RAMAGE Sports Editor

The Beach are coming off a season where they accumulated a record of 21-9, which was good enough to finish eighth in the season rankings.

The preseason polls have The Beach listed at ninth, but with a stacked in-state

schedule that includes eight of the top 11 teams in the 2023 Collegiate Water Polo Association preseason polls, The Beach will have plenty of opportunities to move up in the rankings. With Cal State Fullerton’s addition of a Men’s Water Polo team, the Big West was finally able to field enough teams, six, to have a conference for water polo. LBSU’s conference foes include UC Davis, UC Santa Barabra, UC Irvine, UC San Diego and Cal State Fullerton, who

are all ranked in the top 11 of the preseason polls except for Fullerton.

Last year, in eight games against opponents that are now part of the Big West Conference, CSULB was 7-1 with three wins against UCSB and two wins against UCI.

The Beach open up their season at the Triton Invitational in La Jolla, CA where their first game of the year will be against Concordia University Irvine, on Sept. 2 at 8:00 a.m. PST.

NAOKI GIMA / Daily Forty-Niner

NYC Attitude middleweight fighter Christian Cangelosi throws a straight right during his bout against Atlanta Attack middleweight fighter Khalid Johnson at the inaugural Team Combat League Mega Brawl.

SONNY TAPIA / Daily Forty-Niner

LBSU player Rafael Real Vergara (right) scores against the Pacific Tigers during the 2022 season. The men’s water polo team aims to improve on their performance from the previous year.

The team looks to improve its 2022 season and compete for the inaugural Big West Men’s Water Polo Championship.

Remembering Pat West: A staple in Beach athletics

BY MATTHEW COLEMAN Sports Assistant

Earlier this month, the Long Beach State Athletic Department suffered a significant loss. The loss of a friend and true supporter, Pat West, who died at the age of 96.

Roger Kirk, Associate Athletics Director of Communications and Broadcast, was kind enough to give some further insight into the lasting impact West left on the athletic department, who first began getting involved with the athletic program nearly 40 years ago.

“She started out as the administrative assistant for our development office and worked there for nearly 20 years. Then even through her retirement would continue to support the teams and come to games,” Kirk said.

West’s impact was felt through school athletics and in the community as well. “She would serve the benediction, and work with a lot of dinner-type events,” Kirk said.

Her character went far from unnoticed during her time working for the school and on campus, touching countless lives. Kirk described her as, “a constant supportive presence.”

Teams on social media offered their thoughts and condolences after her passing.

During her forty-year tenure with the school, she was able to form special connections and bonds with some of the coaches who have been on staff for more than a decade-plus, coaches such as Kim Sowder (softball), Dan Monson (men’s basketball) and Mauricio Ingrassia (women’s soccer).

“Her attitude of always wanting to know how you were doing, as well as how teams, players, and coaches were doing always spoke volumes to how invested she was in getting familiar with athletics,” Kirk said.

Her presence was undeniable and when asked what exactly would be missed the most about her, Kirk said, “She was just a genuinely kind person, which is really rare to find someone who is that selfless. Pat was extremely competent at her job while she was working here, but it was more her attitude that was so special.”

Pat West exemplified how anyone would want to be remembered, and it is shown through how colleagues speak of her. She was someone the Long Beach State athletic family was thankful for the opportunity to get to work with and be around for almost four decades. She left a long-lasting legacy as someone who touched numerous lives and will not be forgotten anytime soon for her various contributions and upstanding character in the community, she will be deeply missed.

Courtesy of Long Beach State Athletics

Pat West, right, a regular supporter of Long Beach State athletics over the last forty years, died at the age of 96. West regularly attended several events, always helping out and being fun to be around.

She was just a genuinely kind person, which is really rare to find someone who is that selfless.

”