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Annual Spring evacuation drill set for Feb. 21
BY JUAN CALVILLO & MAYRA SALAZAR News Editor & News Assistant
Long Beach State will hold its annual campus-wide building evacuation drill on Friday, Feb. 21, at 10:30 a.m.
In an email sent to the campus community on behalf of the University Police Department on Feb. 3, the university announced its annual campus-wide building evacuation drill.
Everyone is required to leave campus buildings until about 10:50 a.m. when all alarms have been turned off.
An “All Clear” message will be sent to conclude the drill.
The purpose of the annual spring evacuation drill is to test how quickly the UPD can clear campus buildings and to test the BeachALERT emergency notification and physical fire alarm systems.
the nearest safe exit available and then go to the assembly area once outside to check in with their supervisor or professor, if applicable.”
The UPD has teams throughout campus that report on evacuation times, alarm system status or any issues encountered.
The evacuation drill will proceed as it always has, with the exception of 2021 and 2022, when it was combined with an earthquake drill.
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The evacuation drill is a requirement that UPD must complete at least one time per year.
The evacuation drill starts when the fire alarm systems are manually activated in conjunction with issuing a BeachALERT to the entire campus community.
The BeachALERT emergency alert system is tested each semester.
People inside campus buildings must exit and go to the designated Evacuation Assembly Areas outside until the drill ends.
“The location of an assembly area does not dictate which exit occupants should take when evacuating,” John Brockie, UPD chief of police, said. “In an emergency, occupants should take
land acknowlEdgmEnt
“It can be tricky to have people react realistically when they know it is only a drill, meaning they won’t evacuate as quickly as they would in a real emergency, so the data we get during drills may not always reflect a real-world response,” Allyson Joy, emergency manager for the UPD, said.
The use of audible fire alarms, visible strobes and flashing lights in the evacuation drill is to test out the systems so that both visual and audible alerts are fully operational and can indicate an emergency.
Beach Building Services deploys a tram of fire alarm specialists throughout campus during the drill to ensure the fire alarm systems are working properly and to address any technical issues that arise.
BBS will also run fire alarm testing on individual buildings on a rotating basis to ensure full operationality.
Joy said that it’s important for people to take every opportunity they can to practice their emergency response.
“By practicing evacuating a building they potentially spend a lot of time in, they are establishing what we call ‘muscle memory’ so that even in a high-stress emergency situation, they will be quicker to take action if they have already practiced it before,” she said.
Here at the Long Beach Current 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.
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Senior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis celebrates after a Long Beach State point on Feb. 7 at the Walter Pyramid. Monday, February 10, 2025
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.
Editorials: All opinions expressed in the columns, letters and cartoons in the issue are those of the writers or artists. The opinons of the Long Beach Current 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 Long Beach Current.
lEttEr Policy: All letters and emails must bear the phone number of the writer and must be no more than 300 words. The Long Beach Current reserves the right to edit letters for publication in regard to space.
Aspiring entrepreneurs find mentorship at Long Beach State
Creating a business may seem a frightening idea to many; however, a business creation institute in Long Beach State assists students in developing their ideas, and setting them in the right direction.
BY IGOR COLONNO
SELESTINO Social Media Assistant
Entrepreneurship is gaining interest among college students, and universities are heeding the need for programs that benefit students and foster venturesome dreams.
The Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Long Beach State started in 2017 and offers many resources to students with entrepreneurial ideas.
The IIE provides services such as business plan assistance, weekly networking gatherings, mentorship and statewide and nationwide competitions to help students enter the business world.
Wade Martin, IIE director, said the foundation’s goal is to assist students in developing their business ideas after graduation in order to help them grow their businesses further and prepare for the real world.
“We also try to stress that the skills we’re teaching don’t only apply to those around business. You’re getting skills that will help you if you go to work for a large corporation,” Martin said.
Martin said that skills such as leadership, cooperation and creativity are preeminent in the institute and are taught to prepare students to stand out from others.
“I think that students that are engaged in these types of programs are more likely to get more out of their education,” Martin said. “They start to see things from a different perspective; you get an appreciation for the role creativity plays in your life.”
Christina Lang, a CSULB MBA alum and assistant director of the institute, participated in the Apostle Business Ideation Challenge as a student.
The competition is encourages students to present their business pitches in exchange for a cash prize.
Lang won the competition with her startup, Mindful Performance, an app that provides mental and physical coaching for student-athletes experiencing turbulent times.
The idea and formation of the app was crafted after Lang spoke with a former classmate who was a coach. The coach had issues with one of their players being unable to perform due to struggles with their emotional well-being.
The app is geared towards student-athletes to help them “lock in,” Lang said.
It does so by helping student-athletes focus and retreat from burdening situa-
tions, steering students to redirect their energy toward athletic performance using personalized one-on-one mental life coaching and offering yet-to-be-added workshops.
The app is currently in its beta version. It is free to use, but first access requires a waiting list entry.
Gabriel Schultz is the founder of myEMSpath, a startup aimed at helping EMTs, paramedics and firefighters expedite their careers in a single automated platform. The startup assists in job search and certification management.
Schultz is a recent CSULB alumni as well as a reservist firefighter in the Ma-
rine Corps and a fourth-year EMT. He came up with his idea after conversations with colleagues in emergency services who frequently had issues getting jobs or moving up in the industry.
Though the members of the institute have different startup ideas, Lang said the IIE provides “passive guidance” through team meetings to discuss potential issues, not restricting their various interpretations and freedoms.
“You always think it’s easy, but it’s a process, back and forth,” Lang said. “You have to learn to lead yourself and manage yourself, but the institute is always there.”
Photo courtesy of the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Students work on a project for the Apostle Incubator, supported by the John and Helen Apostle Foundation to assist startup ideas.
Moms, midwives owed thousands after sudden closure of Long Beach Birth Center
BY LINSEY TOWLES
Managing Editor
At 9 p.m. on New Year’s Day, Jessica Knight and her husband were lying in bed when they received an email from the Long Beach Birth Center, where she had started receiving care for her pregnancy.
“I grabbed my phone to set an alarm for the next day because I had a prenatal appointment,” Knight said. “I opened the email, and it was about [the center’s] closure. I was just in shock and so confused.”
The email, sent by owner Meredith Bowling, announced the center’s permanent and immediate closure, citing “circumstances entirely beyond our control.”
The email apologized for the “disruption and disappointment” and assured recipients that the center would contact them about reimbursement.
“We tried looking things up, and everything had disappeared. The website, the social media and we had no access to the patient portal,” Knight said.
Birth centers rapidly disappear
Birth center closures have become a common sight in California, where half the state’s birth centers have closed since 2020, according to CalMatters.
California’s expensive and strict parameters for obtaining a license have contributed to closures across the state.
While the shutdown of birth centers in California may not be a surprise, the closure of the Long Beach Birth Center certainly was to clients who paid deposits for services until a week before it closed.
Belmont resident Shaina Berry and her husband were among those clients, having paid a $2,000 deposit on Dec. 20, only 12 days before the center closed.
“It was obviously really disappointing,” Berry said. “I just instantly had a feeling that they had gone out of business and that we’re going to have a hard time getting our money back.”
The fall-out
According to former clients, the birth center’s website and social media pages, including the patient portal containing medical records, were taken down simultaneously with the email on Jan. 1.
According to the Medical Board of California, healthcare providers must give notice, assist patients in obtaining
care from another physician and provide access to medical records when closing.
“None of that was given to us,” Knight, who had paid over $8,000 for services in full, said. “[Bowling] didn’t ensure we were getting care through another provider.”
Left with no response to emails or phone calls, the women took to social media to find others, connecting on Reddit and Yelp.
“Seeing all these other girls, I was like, ‘OK, we’re not dumb,’” Berry said. “Even though it was for a very short amount of time, I just had this vision of having a supportive place to have that birth. That’s the part that’s most disappointing.”
As more clients began to connect and compare experiences, they began to hear from midwives formerly employed at the birth center who were also given no warning.
Weeks of bouncing checks
Nalah Morrow moved her family from Washington, D.C., to Long Beach after accepting a job as a midwife at the birth center in October 2024. Newly pregnant, she also had hopes of delivering at the center.
Morrow recalled hearing from other midwives that their checks were bounced due to insufficient funds.
One of those midwives included Ray Webber, who had worked at the center for two years.
“There was a large part of the business I didn’t see,” Webber said. “I didn’t have the sense that the business was doing awesome because we didn’t have a lot of clients. But we were looking to hire a whole new salaried midwife…I had no idea we would hire somebody we had no way of paying.”
Morrow and Webber, along with the two other midwives employed at the center, wrote a letter on Dec. 22 demanding their paychecks after several unsuccessful attempts at chasing their checks.
On Dec. 27, Bowling laid off both Marrow and Webber, telling them the birth center was closing.
“She said, ‘We’re going to stay open until February. But we have to lay you off, and I can’t pay you today,’ and withheld two of my paychecks,” Webber said.
Photo credit: LINSEY TOWLES/Long Beach Current
The Long Beach Birth Center was formerly located on the corner of Wardlow Avenue and Orange Avenue before shutting down on Jan. 1. The sign of the business still remains.
ASI informs undocumented students of their rights, works to protect them
BY NASAI RIVAS News Assistant
Red cards are being distributed around campus by Associated Students Inc, the Dream Success Center, California Chancellor’s Office and California State Student Association.
One side of the card informs immigrants of their rights and what to do when a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent approaches them. The other side of the card provides responses to those agents.
“I choose to exercise my constitutional rights,” the card reads.
The red cards are an effort across schools in California to inform undocumented students of their rights in case of ICE raids.
Executive Vice President of ASI Matt Melendrez said the red cards help spread knowledge to undocumented students on how to protect their civil rights from immigration officers.
“It’s important that [ASI] get this in-
formation to each and every single person so that they’re protected, because if they can tell that law enforcement officer or whoever is violating their rights, like, clearly, right there, plain and text-like, what their rights are as a person, then hopefully it begins to make a difference,” Melendrez said.
Melendrez said the reason they are doing this is because some undocumented students don’t know their rights.
ASI President Nikki Majidi said the main thing ASI is doing to help students is spreading information and helping students feel secure. The cards are part of ASI’s increase in spreading information for undocumented students at Long Beach State.
“I think that’s the biggest thing on our minds, spreading as many resources as possible, spreading as many red cards,” Majidi said.
Majidi said students who might be targeted by ICE should feel secure and that they belong here like the rest of the student body.
Majidi said nobody should feel afraid to come onto campus.
Majidi also said that the CSULB administration is working to help undocu-
mented students, which includes faculty training.
“What touched my heart was when I went to class last week…our professor sat us down and said, ‘If I hear that there are gonna be these officers coming on campus, class is cancelled and you can leave,’” Majidi said.
Majidi said that that was when she realized how she can use her position to help students feel safe on campus.
“How can I use my voice to empower all students?” Majidi said. “What [ASI] does is in the interest of uplifting students.”
Majidi said the university is pushing out its enforcement actions on campus for students and faculty.
According to the enforcement actions, CSULB does not share information with law enforcement authorities about the immigration status of students and faculty without their permission.
Another part of ASI’s advocacy includes an allocation of $9,000 to the Dream Success Center to help expand its services according to ASI Communications Manager Shannon Couey in an email.
“ASI is committed to supporting all
students, including undocumented students, by ensuring they have access to resources, advocacy and institutional support,” Couey said.
The email states that Melendrez is also working on an ASI senate resolution to support undocumented students.
Another part of ASI’s initiatives to help undocumented students is through the Lobby Corps.
“Within Lobby Corps, we are working on a legislative policy agenda; this is basically a way for us in lobby corp to support [bills of interest] within the state assembly and state senate,” Student Representative at Large for Lobby Corps Lily Gibbs said.
For students on campus who want to help undocumented students, Melendrez advises getting involved in any way.
“Join a student organization. Join a community organization that is fighting for the rights of undocumented immigrants or issues that impact them or their community or their families,” Melendrez said. “Now is not the time to stand by and enforce passivity, because when we are silent, it’s our communities that pay the price.”
Photo credit: NASAI RIVAS/ Long Beach Current
ASI Executive Vice President, Matt Melendrez holds up a red card in his office on the third floor of the Univeristy Student Union. Melendrez said the little red cards are there to inform students of their rights when they are confronted by an immigration officer.
‘A Day Without Immigrants:’ Thousands
BY JORGE HERNANDEZ Contributor
Protests erupted in Downtown Los Angeles on Monday as thousands rallied against President Donald Trump’s executive orders on deportation of undocumented immigrants and closing the United States’ southern border.
What became known as “A Day Without Immigrants” is one of the many protests throughout the U.S. calling for immigrants to skip work and classes to highlight the significance of immigration and how the deportation plans from Trump affect them.
Thousands of protesters gathered and voiced their frustrations as they marched through the city, filling the 101 Freeway and streets near city hall and the
federal courthouse.
Demonstrators, draped with Mexican and other Latin American flags, represented their heritage by dancing to music blasting from instruments or speakers and cheering throughout the streets until nighttime.
LA resident and protester Vanessa, who did not share her last name due to safety concerns, said her displeasure with Trump’s first term causing family separation of children at detention facilities was the reason she showed up.
She also voiced her frustrations about how the government dealt with the lack of immigration support during the previous Biden administration.
“Unfortunately, so many issues are
crashing right now,” Vanessa said. “For the last three weeks, this has been built up.”
Miguel Aledo, who is from Venezuela, protested with his flag and said his parents came with a dream.
Aledo wants to find better ways to bridge the gap between immigrants already in the U.S. and those still planning to go.
“I was kind of inspired by the whole world is behind us,” Aledo said. “I’m scared that this country that we called home is going to fall to a far-right regime, and we don’t want that.”
The LAPD declared the protest an “unlawful assembly” as they were dispatched to disperse the protesters out of
the area.
According to the Central Division’s X account, a dispersal order was issued to clear the blockaded intersection of Temple Street and Main Street at 8:23 p.m.
As the protest lasted through the night, many protesters, including Vanessa, said they were not going anywhere.
For Vanessa, it is a call to end the injustice immigrants face to thrive in the U.S. under Trump’s second term.
“They’re moving to a system that’s not intended for us,” Vanessa said.
Future protests are planned for Sunday, Feb. 9, in LA, along with high school students currently protesting at Los Angeles City Hall.
protest Trump’s immigration crackdown
Clockwise from top: LOS ANGELES, CALIF. Protesters with flags of Mexico and other Latin American countries walked through Los Angeles Avenue during the protest against deportation on Monday night. Protester Miguel Aledo waved his flag of Venezuela accompanied with his friend in protest against Trump’s immigration plans on Monday night. A protester talks with the officers of the LAPD during the protest on day without immigrants on Monday night. Protesters dancing at Los Angeles Avenue on Monday night as they protest against President Trump’s deportation plans.
Photos by JORGE HERNANDEZ
ARTS & LIFE
BY GRACE LAWSON Arts & Life Assistant
What’s black and white and wet all over?
This month’s installment of the Aquarium of the Pacific’s First Wednesdays lecture series focused on a community of Northeast Coast killer whales, including their evolution, social behaviors and current status as an endangered species.
Titled “The Intelligence and Health of the Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales,” the lecture was given by guest speaker expert Deborah Giles, whose work focuses on the titular Southern killer whales.
Southern Resident killer whales are comprised of just 73 members, separated into three orca pods that reside in the North Pacific.
Identified and labeled as groups L, K and J, the pods can appear as far down as Monterey, CA.
“I like to educate people about the plight of the whales in the hope that I will give them information to push them to learn more and get involved, so education in order to help,” Giles said.
Like a marine biologist Madonna, the renowned researcher goes by a singular name: Giles, an homage to her late father who never got to see her become a leading voice in her field.
Having spent the last twenty years of hr life dedicated to killer whales, Giles is one of the very few expert scientists researching the Southern Residents.
She is also the science and research director for Wild Orca, a non-profit dedicated to killer whale research and translating dry academic language into an accessible format to educate the public and present the information to policymakers.
Killer whales, as Giles explained, are highly social animals whose habitats are being threatened by the presence of large cargo ships which can disrupt their echolocation process.
In addition, unsustainable overfishing practices have led to a steep decline in the big fish the orcas eat, specifically the Chinook salmon, lessening the available food supply that is critical for orca populations.
The lecture’s main topic also included substantial research collected
Using feces to conserve the Southern Residents Killer Whales population
through an unconventional method, namely, fact-finding through feces.
Collected samples of orca scat are analyzed and help determine their traits and conditions, like sex, reproductive status, stress hormone levels, nutritional status, toxicant levels and parasites.
Although the Southern Residents do not occupy the waters this far south, Giles emphasizes her point that all killer whales, no matter where they swim, are critical for the ocean ecosystems.
“I like the idea of being able to enable people in California to give talks like this, to let people know these are not just Washington’s whales, or not just Oregon’s whales or B.C. Canada’s whales, they’re California’s whales too,” Giles said.
As Giles explained the phenomenon of Orca intelligence to an audience, a picture of Eba the Whale Dog appeared on the projection screen.
Eba is Giles’ real-life dog, who was also present at the talk, sleeping soundly at her feet despite frequent applause from the audience.
Giles explained how a dog’s natural abilities can be used to better source orca samples.
“We have our conservation research where we utilize the scent detection powers of Eba,” Giles said. “She allows us to non-invasively collect scat samples from killer whales and we don’t have to get anywhere near them.”
Eba is trained to stand at the helm of the boat as Giles observes the change of body language in the dog, which helps direct the scientist to orca scat samples that are then collected and used in research.
“These are not just Washington’s whales, or not just Oregon’s whales or B.C. Canada’s whales, they’re California’s whales too.”
Deborah Giles Killer whale expert
Through this method, Giles and other scientists are able to utilize the practice of dog scent recognition to learn from orca research samples without disrupting the populations being studied.
As her lecture concluded, she urged the community to stay educated on orcas and take political action, as well as supporting the efforts of non-profits like Wild Orca, that are dedicated to the conservation of the species.
“Hopefully, people will again fall in love with them and want to get involved,” Giles said.
The next First Wednesdays lecture series will be on March 5, and is titled “Exploring California Wildlife: From Gray Whales to Garibaldi.”
Tickets and more information can be found on the Aquarium of the Pacific’s website.
Photo credit: GRACE LAWSON/Long Beach Current Southern Killer Whale Expert, Dr. Deborah Giles speaks to the audience about the Orca L87, named Onyx on Feb. 5.
Aquarium of the Pacific new species report makes local sea life accessible
Upper left: Educational tours were provided to the press on Feb. 6 to engage attendees with hands on activities that explored marine species habitats such as sea anemones. Educators at the Aquarium of the Pacific, like Staci Wong, provided information about their marine species and the efforts being done to help animals such as sea otters.
BY ELIZABETH CARROLL & SKYLAR STOCK
Contributor & Video Assistant
Over 30 different species showcasing the variety of local aquatic life in Long Beach are now available through the Aquarium of the Pacific’s new Marine Species Report Card, released on Feb. 6.
The vision of the 12-year-long project, according to the aquarium’s President and CEO Peter Kareiva, is to simplify any confusion the public holds on local biodiversity.
“The way people experience biodiversity locally is through their local species,” Kareiva said. “That’s why you have to talk about the species.”
Starting up the project in 2013, The
way they look for them now is often unmanned ROV robotic vehicles.”
Previously, southern sea otters were once hunted to extinction for their fur. Now, their population has grown from 35 to around 3,000, according to Brett Long, the aquarium’s vice president of animal care.
With Long’s help, the aquarium partnered with Monterey Bay Aquarium in 2020 for a sea otter surrogacy program. Since the species are habitual learners and need around-the-clock care, adult female otters foster otter pups in Monterey Bay before being released back into the wild.
Aquarium of the Pacific’s team of aquarium contributors and external experts embarked on a journey to introduce Californians to the wildlife just outside their back door.
According to Jennie Dean, the vice president of education and conservation, the report card presents population information using data as far back as 1999.
“The idea is that it will activate stewardship,” Dean said. “When the average person reads about how bull kelp are doing, or gray whales, that they will then inherently care a little more about these animals and plants around them and activate change.”
The report includes essential species, from popular marine mammals like sea otters to the crucial ecosystem underdog, kelp. All of them contribute in a different way to the functioning of the
environment.
Also home to other various sea life with different roles, kelp earns its spot on the report card through its vital role in California’s oceans.
Growing between 25 to 30 meters deep with a seven-year lifespan, kelp not only helps the wildlife it homes, but it “plays a significant role in mitigating climate change,” according to the report card. The report, according to Kareiva, hopes to highlight the need to monitor species for proper intervention, like the plant-eating marine snails, white abalone.
White abalones are currently being watched due to their declining population. Abalones are often eaten by the endangered southern sea otters, causing an impact on their population.
“They’ve gotten so rare that it’s even hard to get data,” Kareiva said. “The
“My nephews were born very early: twins,” Long said, speaking about his family. “When I went in to help my sister take care of them I was like, ‘Boy, this feels, this is familiar.’”
Through the help and care of both aquariums, six otter pups have been released back into the wild, properly equipped to care for themselves and teach following generations.
Part of what makes conservation efforts succeed is community efforts, according to Staci Wong, who has been working as an interpretation manager at the aquarium for 17 years.
Her role is to educate attendees on the ocean and inspire curiosity.
“I think one of the most important things when you talk about conservation and caring for the public is you want to make sure that it’s accessible,” Wong said.
The Aquarium of the Pacific’s Marine Species Report Card project seeks to utilize education to spark public attention to wildlife conservation throughout Long Beach and the West Coast.
To learn more about the local marine community, and check out the full report card, check out the aquarium’s interactive website.
Photos by JUSTIN ENRIQUEZ/Long Beach Current
ARTS & LIFE
Local barber cuts through doubt to succeed
BY GIOVANNI GARCIA Contributor
The buzz of the Thursday morning Long Beach traffic blends with the sound of Juan Arceo’s clippers as he works precisely on yet another client’s haircut.
Upon entry to The Local Barbers Barber Shop, visitors are are greeted with mellow background music and posters of rappers, from Nipsey Hussle to Tupac Shakur. A large sofa and two leisure chairs - all matte black - provide seating as they await their cut.
For four years, 22-year-old Arceo has worked at the shop, providing his craft for Long Beach’s public and his own trusted clientele.
His journey to barber-hood began when he was just 16 and a Jordan High School sophomore. Unable to find a job, Arceo began giving haircuts to his friends in his garage for $5.
This path, Arceo said, was full of challenges as not a lot of people saw his potential in the beginning.
Despite this, Arceo continued to work towards his long-term goal of helping his mother retire. He credits his mother as the inspiration behind his work ethic and ambition to improve himself.
“My mom man, she’s not getting any younger, so I got to get to it,” Arceo said. “The world is spinning regardless if I’m working or not.”
Arceo’s mother works long overnight shifts to support the family of five. As long as he could remember, Arceo said that she has done everything for them.
Eventually, Arceo plans to buy a house for him and his mother to live in. After helping her retire, he would like to stay by her side.
“I wouldn’t leave her alone and I don’t see it as a burden– I see it more as a blessing, ” Arceo said. “I’ll always keep her by my side.”
When asked to elaborate on his mother’s struggles, Arceo refused.
“It’s a Latino thing,” he said. “We don’t really grow up expressing our feelings, you either get through it or you don’t.”
Arceo’s work ethic and growth was witnessed not only by his family, but by his friend Benny Jimenez.
Jimenez, 23, grew up on the north side of Long Beach where he attended Jordan High School and met a sophomore Arceo at the age of 16. Jimenez was one of Arceo’s original clients, stopping by Arceo’s garage where it all began for $5 haircuts.
He recalls how Arceo didn’t have a lot of clients at first, but said he didn’t let the negative feedback hold him back. He thinks Arceo has grown a lot since then as a barber.
“I seen him jump around from different shops,” Jimenez said. “Now he’s here at Local Barbers and it’s going well for him.”
Jimenez said he always admired Arceo for how quickly he became responsible when his household needed him, crediting Arceo as a hard worker.
Jimenez noted that Arceo also “goes out of his way to make sure his people are good,”– a quality that translates to his barber business.
Arceo refers to Local Barbers as the “OG shop” because its been around since before the COVID-19 pandemic and has grown a respected reputation in the local eastside Long Beach neighborhood.
“People come in here and they’re expecting a fresh cut,” Arceo said. “This is that shop in the hood.”
The shop’s gray exterior hosts a sign that features its name in bold scripture, and tinted windows decorated with intricate graphics and bold inscriptions.
Since the shop is a “hole in the wall,” as Arceo describes, he said the location can be difficult for people to spot.
While the shop is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Arceo said he begins his work day at the shop at eight in the morning, ready to continue his journey.
“Everything happens for a reason, just keep pushing, everything will fall into place,” Arceo said.
The Local Barbers shop is located at 815 East Pacific Coast Highway around the corner from Poly High School, between Olive and Myrtle Avenue.
Photos by GIOVANNI GARCIA/Long Beach Current
Juan Arceo poses outside the Local Barbers shop in Eastside Long Beach on Jan. 27.
Juan Arceo takes his time as he works on a client’s hair cut at his workplace, The Local Barbers Barber Shop, which has been dubbed the “OG shop.”
Lack of waste disposal options due to sustainability program
BY JOSHUA FLORES
Contributor
Long Beach State’s waste reduction and diversion program, Waste Not, implemented a policy of changing the trash can options in classrooms to encourage students and staff to use the new Zero Waste Stations in and around campus buildings.
Zero waste is a goal or strategy to eliminate waste generated by having resources reused, returned or recycled. According to the CSULB sustainability webpage, the university’s goal with the Waste Not program is to achieve a zero-waste campus by 2030, with a rate of 90% waste diversion.
The Zero Waste Stations include separate trash cans for mixed recycling and landfill waste. Visit the waste reduction bins website to learn more about the change to mini-bins and how to sustainably dispose of waste on campus.
With only a mini-bin and no fullsized landfill bins in classrooms, there are not many options for students and faculty who want to throw away their garbage without leaving class or keeping it on their person.
“I realized that there was a lot of trash left in front of the classroom on the tables we have, and there was nowhere to throw them [away],” part-time Lecturer and Project Rebound Data and Budget Coordinator Anais Lopez said.
While the school has implemented new Waste Reduction Bins, their distribution on upper and lower campus varies, with sparse availability on lower campus. In the upper campus area surrounding the College of Liberal Arts and Hall of Science, the Waste Reduction Bins are readily available outside classes and buildings.
“Being up there, especially for Week of Welcome, the trash was accessible, but over here, not so much,” Lopez said. “I
A large bin of trash that has been left at the Social Sciences and Public Affairs building since early January according to Project Rebound staff.
mean, right outside of the [Social Science/Public Affairs] building, we have the trash cans because of the Outpost, but I think if the Outpost wasn’t there, I don’t know.”
Lopez and other Project Rebound members said there is a full bin of trash at SSPA building that has yet to be disposed of despite it being there since the beginning of January.
On the removal of full-sized trash cans, many students and faculty on upper campus said they were either new to campus and unaware of the change or felt indifferent about their removal, as
the new Waste Reduction Bins were easily accessible.
First-year student Jared Apusen said he doesn’t utilize trash cans often but still recognizes the issue of not having accessible trash cans.
“I think it’s helpful to implement trash cans outside around if there wasn’t any before, but yeah, I think it’s helpful to just eliminate waste on campus, again, if they didn’t have a system prior to now,” Apusen said.
Replacing full-sized trash cans with mini-bins is not a topic that is up for debate, as the practice is part of multiple
mandated policies and commitments made by the university, with the only exceptions being made to accommodate those with mobility issues.
“If it doesn’t raise outrage and it does enough good, then it’s probably necessary,” fourth-year student Jose Frusto said. “I think it’s a good sentiment, and I don’t know if this is going to necessarily accomplish that, but we will see.”
If full-sized trash cans stay out of classrooms, the university should ensure Waste Reduction Bins are evenly distributed across the entire campus, not just the upper section.
Photo credit: JOSHUA FLORES / Long Beach Current
In 2020, when Tyler, the Creator won his first Grammy for 2019’s IGOR for Best Rap Album, the artist stated in the Grammy Awards Press Room that whenever people that look like him put out anything genre-bending, it gets put in an “urban” category.
“I don’t like that ‘urban’ word. That’s just a politically correct way to say the n-word to me,” he said immediately following his win.
Five years later, we have a Black woman taking home the award for Best Rap Album despite also making a genre-bending piece of work.
Doechii is now the third woman to ever win the category since its introduction to the ceremony in 1995, which is a huge milestone considering that Alligator Bites Never Heal was described as a mixtape, where Doechii explores various sounds that are not just limited to rap.
The difference is this time, the body of work that took the category, calls out
this hypocrisy in one of its lead singles.
In BOOM BAP by Doechii, she challenges those at her label questioning whether or not her sound is hip-hop.
“Say it’s real and it’s rap. And it boom and it bap. And it bounce and it clap. And it’s house and it’s trap. It’s everything!” she exclaims on the track.
On my first listen, this song was a clear standout on the album because it encapsulates a pattern that I’ve been witnessing in pop culture in recent years, which is artists reclaiming genres that originated from Black culture, but Black artists are now excluded from.
When Beyoncé released Cowboy Carter, she made it clear that her heritage as a Southern woman has always made her “country enough” despite her being a Black woman who has made pop, dance and R&B for a majority of her career. The roots of her country upbringing were always present regardless of what genres she was experimenting
How the 2025 Grammys proved Black musicians were never tied down to a specific genre
BY JAZMYN DE JESUS Social Media Editor
with in the past.
She also used this album as an opportunity to highlight Black country artists like Linda Martell and Tanner Adell, who were often overlooked in conversations about the genre.
The music industry in the United States has a long history of profiting off of Black culture while simultaneously boxing artists into categories that are kept separate from their white and nonblack counterparts.
Throughout the 1920’s and 1940’s, rock, jazz, blues, soul and funk records made by Black artists were sold as “race records” and only played on stations with a predominantly Black listenership. When these records gained enough popularity to reach white audiences, record labels would re-record the tracks with white performers as a means to avoid white and Black audiences intermixing.
This led to countless musicians receiving no royalties and no way to be
compensated or credited for their music.
Attempts to keep music made for and by Black people at this time were made, with the founding of Black Swan Records, the first Black-owned record company to sell popular music and exceptions like George W. Johnson, whose recordings were broadcasted to all audiences.
These early examples prove that Black musicians have been recording everything from classical, to vaudeville, to jazz, to country for over a century, contributing to what the general public recognizes as pop music today.
This emphasizes why Beyoncé’s Country Album and Album of the Year wins are not only long overdue, but a sign that the mainstream is finally willing to except that Black culture’s stamp on music as a whole exists in nearly every genre and we can make any and every type of art we desire beyond the boundaries of genres.
Graphic by EL NICKLIN/Long Beach Current
TikTok is rapidly becoming a place where journalists build their skills and engage in real-time conversations.
TikTok, the next big thing for journalists or a lost cause?
BY ALEJANDRO IBARRRA Contributor
TikTok poses a positive impact to journalists’ careers by expanding their reach and showcasing growth and opportunities.
According to Pew Research Center, 52% of adults in the United States have used TikTok for news in the past two years.
Among U.S. adult Tik Tok users with five or more followed accounts, 14% follow media outlets, 53% follow political accounts, and 41% follow news sources.
Four in 10 adults under the age of 30 get news from TikTok, compared to news influencers on social media by a 2% margin (39% to 37%).
As American viewership shifts, journalists can serve the public by adapting
to new platforms.
Many news outlets have adapted, creating short, fast and informative videos for their audiences.
This is why users get hooked on short videos from favorite accounts as they cover small stories piece-by-piece instead of being overwhelmed with information.
Students need an app that shares news of the rapid world they live in and TikTok offers quick updates that are easy to digest.
Andrea Maldonado, a kinesiology major at Long Beach State, shared that she gets her news from TikTok.
“I think TikTok can help journalists, especially when it comes to discovering new topics that may be of interest to them,” Maldonado said. “Through TikTok’s algorithm, journalists can explore topics they want to learn and subjects they know nothing about but interest them.”
Like many apps, TikTok is prone to misinformation.
One way to prevent this is by checking the account’s verification status and reviewing its followers and following. There, users can see if they follow or are being followed by other fake accounts who are spreading misinformation.
TikTok struggles with tackling misinformation, but users can help by reporting these accounts. The algorithm may show fake news if users prioritize such accounts, allowing harmful content to persist.
Credibility is scarce in today’s world of misinformation, but credible users on the app easily debunk the false claims.
Journalism has many trustworthy voices across all platforms. If users doubt an account, they should research its authenticity.
Websites like Snopes can verify any skeptical news presented on the app. If users fill their algorithm with verified accounts that have many followers and a good reputation, the bad actors on the app will eventually disappear.
Additionally, The School of Journalism provided a list of well-known users on the app.
Being aware of the recent circumstance that TikTok is unavailable for some, there are still ways to access the app by using the web.
Web-based TikTok still shares many functions as the app version and cannot limit the use of the app for journalists. Journalists can adapt to any environment and TikTok is no different. Be critical with the news you see on TikTok, but everyone, regardless of news source, should do their best to be informed on the world around them.
Class of 2025 inducted into Long Beach State Hall of Fame
BY MATTHEW COLEMAN Sports Assistant
Five athletes and three staples of the Long Beach community were inducted into the Long Beach State Hall of Fame on Wednesday, Feb. 5, as part of a celebratory night at the Long Beach Marriot.
Every student who attends LBSU knows the name “Walter” as it is displayed outside the main entrance of the Walter Pyramid, a landmark that has stood for the university and the city of Long Beach for 30 years.
The name on the Pyramid is etched even further into Long Beach history as Mike Walter enters the LBSU Hall of Fame.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for us and the university to get together and reconnect,” Walter said. “We all know each other; it’s great to get together with all the supporters and coaches and celebrate their achievements on and off the field.”
Walter and his wife, Alrine, came to Long Beach in 1993, when Walter started as Dean of the College of Business.
They have since been a staple in the institution’s growth, none bigger than their donation, which was instrumental in building one of the most unique and recognizable venues in college sports. Headlining the class of 2025 was former men’s volleyball star TJ DeFalco. His college career was among the best in the university’s history and collegiate volleyball history.
DeFalco was a two-time AVCA National Player of the Year and a four-time first-team All-American. He capped off his LBSU career with back-to-back national championship victories in 2018 and 2019.
Most recently, DeFalco was a member of the last two U.S. Olympic men’s volleyball teams, taking home a bronze medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Former Dirtbag Kyle Abbott was inducted into the Hall of Fame for the second time. The first was when the entire 1989 team, the team that coined the name “Dirtbags,” was enshrined.
Abbott was named a first-team All-American during his one season at LBSU, going 15-3 while striking out 140
batters and leading the Dirtbags to their first-ever College World Series appearance.
“It was a magical season; it was a season no one could have predicted,” Abbott said.
Abbott’s performance on the mound made him the ninth overall selection by the California Angels in the 1989 Major League Baseball draft. Marilyn Bohl, a prominent member of the LBSU community, who may better be known for the “Bohl Diamond at Blair Field,” was celebrated for her contributions to the athletic department.
“I came here in 2001 and actually got introduced to the Dirtbags when Jered Weaver was pitching on Friday nights, and we were gonna win,” Bohl said. “Blair Field was the place to be.”
Her donations transformed the iconic baseball facility, which members of the Long Beach community flock to each spring, including herself, where she av -
idly keeps notes and scouting reports of all the players.
Prolific and clutch are just some ways to describe LBSU Hall of Fame inductee Ashley Gonzales, who led LBSU soccer during the 2010s.
As a four-time All-Region and All-Big West selection, Gonzales led The Beach to three NCAA tournament appearances and holds the program record for goals (36) and game-winning goals (15).
Shayna Kimbrough, a LBSU softball alum, defines what it means to be a twoway player.
Kimbrough displayed excellence on the field and at the plate during her tenure with The Beach, becoming one of two players in Big West history to win Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year.
The four-time All-Big West selection, who hit .353 in her time at LBSU, which is good for second-best in the university’s history, was a catalyst in success for The Beach with two Big West titles and two
runner-up finishes in her tenure.
Caitlin Ledoux has a case for two separate hall-of-fame careers in two different sports, competing in beach and indoor volleyball.
Ledoux led The Beach to four NCAA Tournament appearances and three Big West titles inside the Pyramid.
As an inaugural beach volleyball team member in 2012, LBSU quickly rose to the top. The following season, they defeated a heavily favored Pepperdine team to win the national championship. She and her teammates celebrated by jumping in the ocean, her favorite memory.
“In this day and age of the transfer portal and NIL, the community is even more critical, and so events like tonight are even more important to celebrate and remember the impact Beach Athletics and the Long Beach community have on one another,” Executive Director of Athletics Bobby Smitheran said.
Photo credit: JUSTIN ENRIQUEZ/ Long Beach Current
Long Beach State Athletics inducts former LBSU shortstop Shayna Kimbrough to the Hall of Fame.
LBSU junior guard TJ Wainwright in disbelief after being issued an offensive foul in an overtime loss to UC Davis 73-65 on Thursday night at the
The Beach suffer another overtime loss, fall to UC Davis
BY MATTHEW COLEMAN Sports Assistant
For the second consecutive game at the Walter Pyramid, Long Beach State men’s basketball fell to a Big West conference opponent, this time at the hands of the UC Davis Aggies 73-65.
The loss is The Beach’s seventh straight loss and ninth in their last 10 contests.
UC Davis senior guard TY Johnson entered Thursday’s game averaging 21.2 points per game and delivered a masterful performance to lift the Aggies to a road victory.
Johnson put up a game-high 33 points in 39 minutes of action, going 9-17 from the field, 4-8 from deep and 11-14 at the free-throw line.
Johnson was borderline unstoppable down the stretch, scoring 14 of the Aggies’ last 16 points in the second half and overtime.
The Beach had no answer as he outscored LBSU 12-6 alone in the extra period. With every shot, the groans of the home crowd grew louder until the end.
“TY Johnson took over in OT; I give Dev and Austin [Johnson] a lot of credit because he had to hit over a contested hand possession after possession,” LBSU head coach Chris Acker said.
Defensively, The Beach put themselves in a position to snap their losing skid.
LBSU won the turnover battle, forcing 28 UCD turnovers. UC Davis lacked an offensive rhythm for most of the game until Johnson caught fire, causing a slow beginning to the early scoring.
The Aggies matched the defensive intensity on the other end as neither team seemed to find the bottom of the
net with any consistency.
The Beach led by one point at halftime, up 30-29 following a deep triple from senior guard Devin Askew.
Senior guard/forward Cam Denson was a key component for The Beach on both sides of the ball in one of his best showings of the year. Denson, along with Askew, were the only LBSU players to reach double-figures in scoring.
Denson had 10 points on the night including a big three late that was banked in from the corner while fading away lit up the arena to get LBSU within one point with a few minutes remaining in regulation.
“Cam is an amazing player, especially when his motor’s going and he’s running,” Askew said. “I think if we can get Cam going like this a lot more, he can be a big factor for our team.”
Askew’s team-high 17 points were seemingly the only supplement of offense The Beach got late in this game
including four clutch one-and-one free throws in the final minute.
UCD had possession of the ball for the final play of regulation with the opportunity to win it. With five seconds remaining, they went the length of the floor and got the ball to Johnson for a contested three-point shot, missing short as the buzzer sounded. It was his last miss of the game.
Five unanswered UCD points opened up overtime as it was all-Aggies from the tipoff of the extra minutes, taking the game 73-65 and improving to 7-5 in conference play and 13-10 overall.
It was an improvement for LBSU from the 31-point loss suffered at UC Santa Barbara last Saturday, but it fell short yet again against another quality team at home in overtime.
The Beach return to the Pyramid this Saturday against Cal State Northridge, looking to end their losing streak.
Photo credit: MARK SIQUIG/Long Beach Current
Walter Pyramid.
4's down: Welcome back to the 'Mid
BY ALYSSA DE LA CRUZ Sports Asssitant
In a highly anticipated matchup, No. 1 Long Beach State men’s volleyball avenged last season’s NCAA Championship loss to No. 3 UCLA, securing a four-set victory in front of a record-breaking crowd at the Walter Pyramid on Friday night.
A historic showing of over 1,000 students packed the stands, the largest student turnout in Walter Pyramid history, contributing to the fourth-largest overall attendance in the venue’s men’s volleyball history.
The Beach came in with something to prove, and they did just that, flipping the script on the Bruins with a dominant performance. With the victory, LBSU remains undefeated and improve to a 9-0 record, while the Bruins fall to 6-2.
“To our student section, for the last couple of years, they’ve been awesome. They’ve been our seventh, you know, our seventh fan all year long,” head coach Alan Knipe said. “When you get the gym rocking like that, and students are involved in it, you know, that’s part of the college experience.”
The Beach set the tone from the very first serve, with the student section making their presence known, attempting to rattle UCLA’s servers.
Freshman setter Moni Nikolov started the match with back-to-back aces, sending the crowd into a frenzy as LBSU jumped out to a 7-3 lead.
Nikolov ended the night with five kills, seven service aces and two digs.
“I believe coach, one thing I really appreciate about him is he’s giving me the freedom to choose and to not kind
Photo credit: SAMUEL CHACKO/Long Beach Current
Redshirt junior opposite hitter Skyler Varga (center) jumps up to slam the ball back to UCLA's side of the court on Feb. 7. Varga's team high 12 kills pushed Long Beach State towards the 3-1 victory against UCLA at the Walter Pyramid.
of put me in a box in terms of what to do and when,” Nikolov said.
However, UCLA attempted to mount a late comeback, going on a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to 24-20. A service error from junior setter Andrew Rowan handed LBSU the set, 25-21.
The second set began and The Beach fought to keep the set close, but the Bruins’ consistency at the net allowed them to maintain control.
A kill from junior outside hitter Zach Rama sealed the set for UCLA, 25-20, leveling the match at 1-1.
The third set followed a familiar pattern, with both teams battling point for
point. Despite UCLA’s success in generating kills, the Bruins continued to struggle with service errors.
They finished the night with 26 service errors and LBSU had 20.
Redshirt junior opposite hitter Skyler Varga delivered another clutch kill, giving The Beach an 15-11 lead and motioned for the fans to get louder.
LBSU secured the 25-16 victory with an attack error by Rama, putting them up 2-1.
Varga had a productive night with 12 kills, three digs and one block.
“Moni is an impressive player, a great player to have on your team. I’d hate to
see him across the net,” Varga said. “I think having a setter that’s as creative as him makes everything so much easier.”
In the fourth set, the Bruins attempted to fight back, but The Beach had the momentum with an 18-14 lead.
With the student section roaring, UCLA committed another costly service error, sealing the set 25-22 and giving Long Beach State the 3-1 victory.
The Beach’s next game is on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. against the Bruins once again, shifting venues to the Pauley Pavilion.
Editor’s note: This story was corrected at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8 to correct LBSU’s record.