El Paisano Newspaper Vol.66 Issue 7

THURSDAY

APRIL 13 2023

VOL.66

ISSUE VII

Rio Hondo College’s Safe Spaces and Recources

Everything You Need to Know About The Hunger Games

Marilin Campos @marrmedia_

On campus, Rio Hondo College is at work trying to find resources and aid for all students in order to make their overall college experience easier but also to help their off campus lifestyle. From job fairs that bring in recruiters hoping to find new and eager employees that could be in a classroom seat, to club fairs that could help someone develop their new hobby they didn’t know they wanted.

April is Sexual Assault Awarness Month (S.A.A.M) and throughout the month of April, Rio Hondo is having several events and workshops that could range in help for anyone. From the Vagina Monologues, an award winning play about women’s sexuality and strength that presents itself with grace and humor. To the SAAM Resource Fair that was held on April 5th in the Learning Resource Center, a safe space

for anyone to visit and be heard.

Diana Madueno, the Activities Student Assistant here on campus wanted to expand the help on campus to something more personal, one of these endeavors was the SAAM Resource Fair, “I wanted to bring awarness to sexual assault and provide resources.”

There were several tables with plenty of organizations and people to speak to and receive information, while a bit empty on the day of, don’t ever lose sight of the silver lining. “I think it was slow but the environment was intimate… students got 30-40 minutes per resource.”

Madueno stated. Walking into the open space was welcoming, it didn’t feel constricted and was easily walkable and information was easily obtainable.

To get a feel for who was tabling and the information being given, we asked Sandra Rodriguez of the Women’s Children’s Crisis Shelter how it felt to be at the event “It’s gratifying to know

we can explain our services, because there are many many people in the community just don’t know who to talk to or where to start.” Rodriguez was very insightful, informative.

Elaborating on the services they offer such as shelter to help anyone in emotional or physical distress, Rodriguez closed her statement by explaining how reflecting might be tough, but it’s a part of the process; “although it’s unfortunate because it's something no one should have to live through, we try to empower them. Empower the survivor.”

While the outcome wasn’t extravagant, this is a really good experience that deserves a better outcome next time. Strong and genuine would be the two words to describe the event, the people tabling seemed to be there to be of genuine help and its workshops like these are always free and welcomed to anyone. And if you do feel any type of way just know, you’re NOT alone.

World Wrestling Entertainment Sold to Endeavour, UFC Owners

The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was officially merged with Endeavor; the company that owns the UFC.

The owner of the WWE Vince McMahon gave 51% stake to Endeavor's owner and good friend Ari Emanuel. For 23 years they’ve been good friends. McMahon said he won't be in the way of creativity anymore and would let Paul “Triple H” Levesque run it.

Emanuel will serve as CEO and McMahon will be the Executive Chair. With that being said the WWE shareholders will have a 49 percent interest. The

new board of directors will be a mixture; six from Endeavor and five from WWE. McMahon can’t go all power hungry without answering to his boss Emanuel. Mcmahon has already messed up with creative this past monday april, 3rd on the Monday Night Raw after wrestlemania was so bad that a hashtag was trending. Fire Vince was and still is trending a week after it happened. Some wrestling fans are not happy about this merger they don’t want mixed martial arts with there pro wrestling and vice versa mma fans don’t want this “pro wrestling” stuff

Following the release of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” a Hunger Games prequel, in May 2020, the Hunger Games audiences have been wondering whether this new novel will continue the movie saga. The questions have finally been answered, as “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” hits theaters on November 17, 2023. Coming back to the Hunger Games saga, Francis Lawrence returns for “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” after directing the previous three Hunger Games films.

This prequel novel focuses on a young President Snow (played by Tom Blyth). Before his malevolent and bloodthirsty regime, we find 18 year-old Coriolanus Snow broke and ambitions. The mighty house of Snow has taken a hard hit after the attempted revolution, and it is up to Snow to earn his name in the Capitol. He is assigned to be the mentor of District 12’s female tribute in the 10th annual hunger games. Determined to mentor a winning tribute, Snow finds that he may care more for his tribute than he should.

The last Hunger Games movie released in 2015, and all the details of the previous films may be forgotten. Here is a little recap of the Hunger Games Trilogy so you know everything you need to know about the dystopian world.

“The Hunger Games” introduces us to Panem, a nation established after a series of catastrophic events ravaged the world. Panem consists of 13 districts and their central government, the

Capitol. Each district provides a specific material or service for the wildly extravagant and wealthy capitol. This uneven relationship caused the first civil war of Panem. The districts’ rebellion failed and district 13 ceased to exist. The annual Hunger Games were born as a form of punishment for the surviving 12 districts. Every year each district must provide a male and female child tribute that must fight to the death until there is one remaining victor.

The first novel brings us to the impoverished district 12 where we meet the protagonists. Katniss Everdeen volunteers as a tribute for the 74th hunger games after her younger sister is chosen. Along with Katniss, Peeta Melark. Together, they were able to cheat the system, becoming victors of the games and lighting the spark of hope amongst the districts.

“Catching Fire” follows Katniss and Peeta as they suffer the repercussions of winning the games. They tour the districts and witness the uprisings happening throughout the nation. In order to suppress the rebellion, President Snow announces that for the 75th games, the tributes will be chosen from the already existing victors. Peeta and Katniss return to the arena. However, this time they have allies. Katniss is rescued from the arena and Peeta is taken by the Capitol.

The final installment, “Mockingjay” follows the full scale rebellion against the Capitol. District 13 reveals itself to be the driving force behind the rebellion and Katniss becomes the symbol of the rebellion.

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mixed with the UFC but at the end of the day both company’s win at the end of the day more eyes on their product and more advertisements.

This year alone WWE & UFC will have global reach on an impressive scale. Both the WWE & UFC merger was predicted to secure $50 Million to $100 million in annual operating synergies.

Integrating WWE into endeavor’s global infrastructure. The transaction is expected to close in the half of 2023 WWE CEO Nick Khan will stay on as president for the pro wrestling business.

Pedro Galvez

Pefro Galvez @pdr.glvz

Manuel Smith @pdr.glvz

Arts & EntErtAinmEnt

Illumination’s Latest Movie Is A Masterpiece

Luis Martinez @luimartineznews

Illumination and Nintendo's highly anticipated film The Super Mario Bros. Movie released on April 5 in theaters worldwide. Many questions surrounded this film like the potential quality of the movie based on Illumination's track record with previous films, Chris Pratt's seemingly odd choice to voice the titular character, and more. While it shows that Nintendo had a decent amount of influence in the production of the film, the movie stands out on its own as a good film. Is it a Star?

Often, movies adapted from video games have a sense of loose structure or feel too forced and unnatural. The pacing of the Mario movie though makes sure to go through its paces one step at a time. It understands that most fans watching it have played a game before and understands it's not supposed to be a storytelling masterpiece.

The Mario movie focuses more on incorporating various elements from previous Mario and Nintendo games to have something for everyone to look out for. From PunchOut references to Mario Kart displays, the movie understands its role and creates an engaging story. It does a lot with a little bit of time having a runtime of an hour and thirty-two minutes.

The Mario movie has amazing visuals. From the reflections in the eyes of the characters to the

construction and destruction of the environment in the film, Illumination's animators made this movie come alive with both the characters and environment looking as crisp as ever. Along with these visuals, the audio follows in the footsteps of the animation by creating an enjoyable experience.

Many were unsure of the casting of many characters in the film like Pratt as Mario or Jack Black as Bowser. If you focus hard on Mario's voice, you can hear Pratt's subtle tones, but that does not affect the viewing experience.

Characters were presented in a way that had a viewing experience reminiscent of the original voice actors. This is done without having the characters' voices annoy the viewer. Black may have stolen the show. You will forget he is even voicing the antagonist of the film. Black's portrayal of the villain's voice is fitting for the character. Bowser has a few musical moments throughout the movie which make the movie all that more hilarious.

The Final Verdict

The Mario Bros. Movie stands out from most if not all Illumination movies. Throughout the entire film, the movie has a quality not seen since the original Despicable Me. Nintendo oversaw the production of the film but was not too overbearing in doing so. Characters were mostly similar to their video game counterparts but were able to shine in entertaining ways.

“Air” Movie Review

Robert Jimenez @jimenez__robert

Ben Affleck’s new movie

Air was definitely entertaining though it was about shoes. Nike wanted to sign National Basketball Association (NBA) rookie Michael Jordan so bad that they created a custom shoe just for him. Jordan was known for being an Adidas guy but Nike did win him over and get him to sign and create the shoes we all know and love today.

The movie follows Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) as he has his heart on changing Nike’s basketball department forever. The story starts when Vaccaro and other colleagues are going over NBA draft picks to sign.

Nike is on one of the smallest budgets so they’re looking to sign lower draft picks. Vaccaro knows if they wanna keep their basketball department alive they either have to go big or go home.

He suggested they should spend their whole budget of 250k on one high draft player. Sonny’s gift for scouting landed

him on Michael Jordan. It seemed impossible due to Jordan being known for only wearing Adidas; he knew if there’s a will there’s a way.

The movie goes on following Sonny showing the risk he takes to win over the Jordan family, especially his Mother Deloris Jordan.

Though the movie is based on the past and we already know the outcome. The roles were played perfectly and kept you on the edge of your seat. The movie also had a comedic undertone with some very funny scenes that had the whole theater laughing. After the movie many turned down interviews about the movie.

Spectator Jazmin V. Said “I came to watch the movie with my boyfriend thinking it was gonna be boring. But half the time I was either laughing or intrigued by the drama going on and it kept me on the edge of my seat especially during the end.” So if you ever have free time go see the “Air” Movie it’s definitely a great watch.

El Paisano Staff

Editor-in-Chief

Broadcast Director Copy Editor Advisors

Assistant Director

Rio Round Up Host

Online Editor-in-Chief

Mia Alvarez

Luis Martínez

Jeffrey Barragan

Wendy Carrera

Robert Jimenez Brandon Garcia

Pedro Galvez

Leslie Tovar Manuel Smith Aarón Martínez

Christopher Villaseñor

Layout Editors Staff

Christopher Araujo

Marilin Campos

Blake Rodriguez Matthew Medina

LAUSD Breaks Their Silence and Works Together Against Superintendent Carvalho

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is the second largest school district in the nation. As rain pummeled the sidewalks and wind bent back umbrellas LAUSD held a three-day strike that closed schools throughout Los Angeles from Tuesday, March 21 to Thursday, March 23.

The union, SEIU Local 99, conincluding bus drivers, cafeteria workers,custodial workers, special ed assistants, regular assistants and campus aids. United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), the union representing teachers in the district, participated in the strike to show solidarity.

Romero Romo, Building and Grounds Worker at Heliotrope Elementary School, states “My message is to get better benefits for everybody from the top to the bottom and from the bottom to the top because we need to have respect from the big chief.”

Esteban Flores, Building and Ground Worker at Heliotrope Elementary School, says “I hope to achieve from this strike is to have more positions open so we can actually not be overworked by the district and have a higher pay with all this inflation. People can really afford the higher prices so it is

only reasonable for us to have a little increase in our wage.”

LAUSD Superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, stated “1,2,3…Circus = a predictable performance with a known outcome, desiring of nothing more than an applause, a coin, and a promise of a next show. Let’s do right, for once, without circus, for kids, for community, for decency.”

This is one of the quotes that Carvalho stated that ignited the fire among the SEIU Local 99 workers.

Cheryl Meadows, UTLA Chapter Chair for Heliotrope Elementary School, said “We feel that Local 99 has been mistreated so that is why we are not going to cross the picket lines because we are showing support to them because they deserve to get a raise and better working conditions and health benefits.”

Erica Sanchez, Special Education teacher for Heliotrope Elementary School explains how striking in the rain is beneficial and how it gave her flashbacks from the SEIU Local 99 strike in 2019.

“It actually rained every single day so I got flashbacks from then but I actually think that being in the rain and actually huddling together forces you to make new friends, learn something new about someone

that you didn't know about on your campus and you end up being more unified at the end.”

During the three-day strike, workers will strike outside of their own school sites in the morning and in the afternoon they will go to a different location. On the first day of the strike, the location was at LAUSD headquarters in Downtown Los Angeles. The second day was at the Local District East Office. The third day was at LA Historic Park because the representatives of SEIU didn't expect so many people to come out and support so they needed a big enough space to accommodate all the workers.

SEIU Local 99 demanded a 30% wage increase + $2/hour equity wage adjustment for all, more full-time hours, respect, cashing out vacation pay, and eliminating unassigned days. LAUSD wanted to give an increase of 3.7% per year and still have the ability to cut hours at any time, and to continue unpaid furlough days.

On Friday, March 24 LAUSD obtained a history making agreement between SEIU. They agreed on a 30% wage increase, 7 hours of work guaranteed for Special Education Assistants, and a $1000 bonus for all working in 2020-21.

sports

Roadrunners

Dry Out in the Desert

Christopher Araujo

@chris_jrnlsm

The Rio Hondo women’s tennis team was defeated by College of Desert 8-1. The meet took place on April 4, 2023 at RHC tennis courts.

RHC showed fight to Desert despite what the scoreboard said. Down to the wire, Andrea Rodriguez won in her singles game against Desert’s Ayano Tsuchiya in a super tie breaker.

Doubles

Nicole Lule and Daisy Haro lost 0-8 to Hana Moss and Emunah Daffon

Andrea Rodriguez and Abigail Madrigal 2-8 to Abigaile Corado and Ayano Tsuchiya

Singles

Nicole Lule lost

0-6, 0-6 to Hana Moss

Daisy Haro lost 0-6, 0-6 Emunah Daffon

Lana Young lost

1-6, 0-6 to Maryn Patek

Abigail Madrigal lost

0-6, 1-6 Abigaile Corado

Andrea Rodriguez defeated

Ayana Tsuchiya in a super tiebreaker with the scores being 0-6, 6-3, and for the super tiebreaker win the score was 10-7 with Rodriguez winning it all. RHC showed a lot of fight in their sets. In their singles the girls held their own but fell to Desert in a dominant win for the away team. Andrea Rodriguez ended up winning in a super tie breaker.

The match was an intense back and forth match. Spectacular comeback from Rodriguez as she lost her first set 0-6.

After that lost set it was all up for Rodriguez as she won her second 6-3. Rodriguez ended up winning the super tie breaker 10-7 as she brought the roadrunners a win.

“She said she was trying

all kinds of stuff. Sometimes it works, sometimes it didn’t. You know what do I got to lose, let me just experiment. She did and it worked,” Coach Karen Unger spoke about Andrea Rodriguez winning in the super tie breaker.

Desert came in as one of the best teams in the conference and state. Coach Karen liked the way the girls played despite the

loss. “I think we played better than last time even though the score does not indicate that. You wouldn’t know it by the score because a lot of them we lost 0-6 and 1-6 but the points were intense and we did not go down easy,” Coach Karen spoke about the fight the lady roadrunners put up against Desert.

Christopher Araujo

Christopher Araujo

Daisy Haro for Rio Hondo in her match against College of Desert on Tuesday April 4. Haro shwoing fight in her singles game.

Christopher Araujo