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El Vaquero Newspaper
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March 8, 2017
Volume 109 | Number 1
Town Hall Meeting Draws Large Crowd Topics: Travel Ban & Refugees By Alex LaFosta
O
n a chilly Friday night a throng of shivering Angelenos armed with passion, picket signs and now-familiar pink “pussy hats” filled the sidewalks of Verdugo Road leading to the town hall meeting with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank). The auditorium, which seats 400 people, proved to be too small, and about 800 more attendees had to watch the Feb. 24 meeting about the travel ban and refugee crisis via a live feed projected in the “overflow room” located in the gymnasium. Representatives from the Muslim Public Affairs Council, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, International Rescue Committee and Catholic Charities joined Schiff on the discussion panel. As the Democraic congressman hit the stage, the crowd greeted him with a standing ovation. “I feel like walking out and coming back in again,” Schiff said. After the roarous applause died down, Schiff expressed his gratitude for the crowd while throwing a subtle jab at his opponents in the White House. “As I was driving up and seeing all of you lining up to come in this evening, I thought ‘That doesn’t look like AstroTurf to me,’” said Schiff, referring to the comments by presidential Press Secretary Sean Spicer about the Inaugration crowd size. Schiff discussed the status of the U.S. refugee program after the executive order President Trump signed Jan. 27, and later revised, that suspended the State Department’s Refugee Assistance Program and
Photo by Ken Allard
FULL HOUSE: Rep Adam Schiff takes questions from the overflow crowd in the Verdugo Gym on Feb. 24. Schiff came to campus to discuss refugees.
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visa entry from now six predominantly Muslim countries. He went on to implore the crowd to continue to show up and protest against controversial decisions by the current administration.: “Each and every time we need to speak out… to say, ‘This is not all right. This is not going to be accepted. This is not
Parking Struggles Put to Rest Check out our latest interview with Superindendant/President David Viar about parking on campus at:
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[See Schiff, page 3]
Sierra Vista Still Behind By Mark Nassim and Elena Jacobson
A
Photo by Ken Allard
NOT OPENING SOON: Construction of the Sierra Vista Building went from 95 percent complete to 75 percent after internal problems withe the HVAC systems were discovered. The newest projected completion date is December, 2017.
fter multiple delays of the Sierra Vista building construction, the expected occupancy date remains set for spring 2018. Sierra Vista has been under construction since 2013 and was initially expected to be completed Dec. 10, 2015. The completion dates have since been pushed numerous times. It’s 2017, and the construction hasn’t gone smoothly. Constant delays of the multimillion-dollar project led to the replacement of Mallcraft Inc. with another contractor. The change was due to alleged damages to the building by the previous workers at Mallcraft Inc., including problems with the insulation, heating ventilation and air conditioning, (HVAC), and fire dampers.
These hurdles have forced different departments and classes that were going to occupy the building to move around, some to portable classrooms. But school officials are determined to make sure things are done right next time and still hopeful in getting the building done. The college is about to have more constructions and repairs funded by the newly approved Measure GC. “As we move forward with the $325 million bond, it will be making sure that we are assembling a team that does fulfill all of its responsibilities,” said David Viar, superintendent/president of the college. “Whether it is the architect, the engineer, the construction management organization we bring in place, that we do follow through and make sure [See Sierra, page 3]