Volume 137 Fall 2022 Roundup Issue 9

Victory Bell left unrung ... again Football finishes season 0-10; loses to cross-town rivals

BY JAYNA KUKLIN News & Copy Editor

The Brahmas could not improve upon their performance on the field as they lost to LA Valley College in the rivalry game on Saturday with a final score of 36-8.

The half started off rocky as free safety Sergio Rivas returned only nine yards from a 46 yard kickoff.

The nine yard return wasn’t the only thorn in Pierce’s side as Valley scored a touchdown on a five-yard pass and a two point conversion with 3:53 left to go in the first quarter.

Pierce remained scoreless in the second quarter as Valley scored two more touchdowns and a safety to make the score 18-0.

The Brahmas weren’t without its shining moments either, with wide receiver, free safety and kick returner Alex Vales catching a 14 yard pass from quarterback Matthew Abajian to score their only touchdown and two point conversion in the third quarter, making the score 24-8.

Head coach James Sims said that despite how he felt about the game, the real highlight was that Pierce finished the season compared to last year, when Valley only played six games.

“Last year, they didn’t finish the season. They only played six games, and they forfeited a lot of games. This year, we finished the season. And we competed in all the games,” Sims said. “So you got to take little steps when you’re rebuilding.”

Sims also said that the fighting among players for both Pierce and Valley was also an issue that needed

to be addressed, and he spoke on his strategy in the event a fight happened.

“If a fight breaks out, or if anything happens, everybody stay on the sidelines,” Sims said. “Our kids don’t run out on the sideline

when stuff like that happens.”

Sims said that for the offseason and next year, his biggest plan is recruitment.

“We got a lot of kids coming in January,” Sims said. “So we’re looking forward to getting in

BRIEF: Collision on campus

rrosenberg.roundupnews@gmail.com

Date: Nov. 19

Time: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Place: Equestrian Center

the weight room in January and February with our new players and getting ready for next year.”

Abajian expressed his disappointment in Saturday’s game, but he felt that they fought as hard as they could.

“This is the one game we were supposed to come onto battle. With all our efforts. It was the last game,” Abajian said. “We tried to do everything we can. We came up short, but we played a long, hard game.”

Abajian said that his plans for offseason and next year were to get bigger and stronger as he trains in the weight room.

Linebackers coach Eldridge Salguero said while he saw a lot of effort and communication on the team, their biggest problem is trusting each other.

“I saw a lot of hustle. I saw a lot of effort, a team,” Salguero said. “I saw them communicating. I think the way we could improve would be just trusting each other.”

Salguero echoed Abajian and Sims’s sentiment on his plans for offseason and next year with getting stronger along with recruitment, though he wants to focus on recruiting athletes that are local.

Salguero also stated that despite Pierce’s late start in the season and the staff getting hired late, he won’t let that stop him from recruiting the local kids.

“I think that since we started late, we got hired late,” Salguero said. “I think that definitely set us back for this year, but we’ve been busting our butts off to local kids.”

Pierce College’s rivalry with LA Valley College began back in 1965, after the game in 1951 was canceled due to not having enough players on their roster.

The Victory Bell has since traveled from college to college over the span of 56 years.

With the loss, the Brahmas finish 0-10 for the season and continue their drought of ringing the bell, a feature they have not seen since 2015.

first round.

The other seven teams to have byes are Chaffey, Mt. San Antonio, Long Beach City, Santiago Canyon, Santa Barbara City, Saddleback and Cypress.

Pierce will face the winner of College of the Canyons and Mt. San Jacinto on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

fgamino.roundupnews@gmail.com

For sports updates, visit theroundupnews.com and follow us on social media.

Instagram: @piercesports

Twitter: @roundupsports

Photo by Arwen Dominguez

Charles Yates (4) swiftly dodges an attempted tackle from Dante Johnson (11) at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Nov. 12, 2022.

File photo by David Pashaee

Natalia Puccio maintains possession during the game against Southwestern College at Shepard Stadium in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Sept. 6, 2022.

File photo by Nicolas Heredia Emily Fisk shows off her 5-year-old Quarter house during the fifth annual Parade of Breeds held at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Nov. 15, 2014.

STREET BEAT

HOW DO YOU OVERCOME LEARNING CHALLENGES?

“Ifeellikeit'simportantknowing thepeoplethatareinthesame majorsasyouorpeopleatleastin yourclassesorpeoplewhohave takenthesameprofessors.IfIever findmyselfkindofhavingdifficulty ineitheraclassorjustclassworkin generalIfeellikeIfindithelpful talkingtopeopleandhowthey doit.”-PaulinaChairez,Equine Science major

“Iwouldsaythatit'sallaboutdiscipline andtimemanagement.Whatusually helpsmeisjustcompletelyturning,like puttingmyphoneonDoNotDisturb.”

-KaylaMapar,Nursingmajor

““Watchingvideos,YouTubevideos andgoingtotutoring."

-MirandaDiaz,Nursingmajor

“Iaskalotofquestions.Even questionsIfindmaybelikethey mightbestupidorannoyingor dumb.Ijustaskedthemanywayif they'reinmyhead."

-ShayanShayesteh,Englishmajor

Add more sports programs on campus

Pierce College is one of five LACCD schools that doesn’t have a men’s soccer program and women’s cross country.

With how successful the Brahmas women’s soccer program is you would think a men’s team would be also. Instead, they plunge money into different programs and more into teams that play poorly.

For example, according to

Column:

BY JAYNA KUKLIN News & Copy Editor

History is repeating itself with a battle against Jews that was fought for centuries and never seems to stop—antisemitism.

Antisemitism is hostility to, prejudice towards or discrimination against Jews.

An example of antisemitism includes expressing prejudiced or stereotypical views of Jews based on religious teachings that explain how Jews were persecuted because they refused to adopt the religion of the locale or ruler and worship the idols of the kingdoms of the Middle East. They also became scapegoats for the Bubonic Plague, Russia’s conflict with the Czars and eventually the Holocaust.

Jewish communities were also attacked by armies of soldiers in Nazi-occupied Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands during the Jewish Resistance.

Le Juif et la France was an anti-

Column:

College Factual, Pierce College spent around $887,000 in expenses and had a revenue of around $925,000. The profit is around $38,000.

But if you look into the sport that the school spends the most on, it doesn’t look pretty.

The Pierce College football program spends about $148,000 in expenses and had around $115,000 in revenue. Those numbers aren’t great considering

Pierce lost about $33,000. Instead of spending so much on one program that hasn’t won since 2019. They should use that money for two new programs.

The women’s soccer team has been consistently in contention for the playoffs for the past few years.

The men’s team would likely be in contention, and there are also more opportunities for money there.

The four LACCD schools that have men’s soccer have a combined record of 18-33-8.

Now that may sound bad, but half of those losses are by two colleges.

But at least they actually have a team, compete and gain revenue.

Four LACCD schools have a women’s cross-country program. There would be a desire for athletes to sign up for Pierce instead of other colleges. This

goes both for male athletes and women athletes looking to enter those two sports. Whether or not you agree on why these sports should be incorporated, having these two sports can open new opportunities for Pierce.

EDITORIAL: From the desk of the Roundup newsroom.roundupnews@gmail.com

Stop antisemitism once and for all

Semitic propaganda exhibition used by Nazi-occupied France from Sept. 5, 1941 to Jan. 15, 1942 during World War II.

The exhibition had large panels, photographs, texts, and sculptures. Its focal point was a sculpture of an old bearded Jew with exaggerated features such as clutching the globe as if it intended to dominate the world.

Le Juif et la France’s intent was to show that the Jews were a threat and if France merged with Nazis to persecute all the Jews that lived there, the country would be free.

Except, this wasn’t what France had hoped for. They only wanted the Jews to go away, and they didn’t anticipate that this would be achieved through genocide.

I was 16 years old when I found out what antisemitism really meant, and I was also given an example.

For a high school English assignment in the 11th grade, I was asked by my teacher to read “Night,” a memoir written by Elie Wiesel in 1960 and write a summary for at least one to two chapters per week in a small yellow journal I kept until it

was time for him to grade it.

Wiesel was a man from Sighet, a town in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania, who had been forcibly deported from his home to Auschwitz via cattle car with his family. It is unknown if they were gassed upon arrival at Auschwitz.

As my fingers brushed against the book and turned to the next page, I felt a strong wave of rage wash over me along with a bit of sadness. This was the real definition of antisemitism.

I wanted to stop reading as I couldn’t stand the violence that was being done. But I forced myself to finish because if I didn’t then I was going to fail the assignment.

Seven years later, I feel the same wave of rage and sadness in the fallout of recent events that have taken place.

Kanye West, now known as Ye, was criticized for a tweet he wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

“I will go death con three on Jewish people,” West wrote. “You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”

The tweet was later deleted, and

West is now banned from posting on both Twitter and Instagram.

Some companies such as Adidas and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) have stopped working with West due to his remarks and “jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy,” a documentary film about him that was released on Jan. 23 at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and Feb. 16 on Netflix, was shelved.

While this is a plus, it also isn’t the only reason why Jews need to be concerned for themselves and for their families.

Former president Donald Trump also wrote a tweet on Truth Social on Oct. 16, criticizing American Jews for showing “more loyalty to the United States than to Israel,” calling them ungrateful.

“No President has done more for Israel than I have,” Trump wrote. “Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S.”

Trump went on to say that Jews living in Israel have the “highest approval rating in the world” and that

he could “easily become” the Prime Minister of Israel if he wanted to. If these behaviors aren’t concerning, then I don’t know what is.

Thanks to these tweets, I am terrified that something may happen to my family, or worse, something might happen to me. That I would die the same way Anne Frank and Elie Wiesel’s families did 77 years ago. I wake up every night thinking about what could happen to me and the rest of the Jewish American population if these acts are not condemned.

As you can see, this is a dangerous time for Jewish Americans to be alive.

The last thing Jews need is more discrimination.

I don’t expect people to understand antisemitism, but I expect something to be done before six million more lives are stolen.

Accept us for who we are

BY SAMMY JOHNSON Opinions Editor

Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy is one of the most common forms of treatment used with Autism Spectrum Disorders. But many who undergo the experience claim to have their needs invalidated as they learn to suppress their Autismrelated feelings. Some are even left traumatized.

ABA therapy is a method used to determine the nature of and suppress behaviors deemed socially undesirable while reinforcing those that are seen as normal.

According to Alex S’ InBloom Autism article on the history of ABA, behavior as a study had yet to catch the interest of researchers in the 1920s, as only the thoughts within the mind served as the dominant topic for those

who studied psychology.

That is, until this approach to the study of human behavior was challenged by American psychologist John B. Watson in 1924. He developed the school of thought known as behaviorism.

This new approach advocated that scientific understanding of the mind should be shifted more towards the observable, visible behaviors from without. Watson suggested that this be done because he believed that the best way to learn was through interacting with things and stimulating the human consciousness, which he believed to be synonymous with the soul.

The theory that interaction brings about education was further proven by Ivan Pavlov via his well-known dog-themed experiment, in which he rung a bell when it was feeding time for the dog in question. As time went on, Pavlov’s dog came to associate

the ringing of the bell with food, and started salivating at the bell’s sound. However, the version of ABA therapy that is used on autistic children today is not quite the same as the treatment used on Pavlov’s Dog. To liken that dog’s treatment to that of ABA patients, Pavlov would’ve had to do his experiment a little differently.

As described by articles written on news sites VeryWell Health and Child Mind Institute, ABA therapy, or at least earlier versions of it, were equal parts reliant on punishment and reward. Imagine, for a moment, that the purpose of Pavlov’s experiment was based less on association of the bell with the food, and more so disciplining the dog to not take the food until the bell rang.

Imagine, that when the poor dog goes for the food before the bell rings, he gets a painful electric shock. According to both articles, electric

shocks were a common form of discipline used on children, but were temporarily outlawed by the FDA in 2020. According to the former source, the ban was reversed via federal court appeal one year later.

As if the dog going for the food prompts an electric shock, imagine again, that the dog goes at the forbidden fruits of his meal again and again, not because he is unruly, but because he is hungry. Imagine once more, that the dog crying and going for the food is labeled by trainers as autistic behavior that needs to be eradicated.

Now imagine that this dog is an autistic child who cannot speak.

These instances that ABA patients end up in are not always food related, though. But few of many examples of the therapy invalidating children’s needs have been documented in the NeuroClastic article “ABA horror stories are far too common.”

One specific example involves a teacher at one of the “good” therapy centers that didn’t resort to unnecessary punishment. The teacher in question saw that one of their favorite students had mastered all the new behaviors that he had been taught, but was unable to stop training because the staff present were unable to get him to “produce” those behaviors on demand.

Because of this, his helpers started to resort to punishment, calling his frustration at his inability to cooperate “manipulation,” rather than trying to understand and help him.

That is the main problem with ABA therapy. It fails to work with autism, but instead tries to eliminate it so that the autistic person that “suffers” from the condition can become normal and integrate into society.

Quotes gathered by Rachael Rosenberg

Photos by David Pashaee

Brahmas in the bodega

Associated Students Organization held its first Brahma Bodega of the semester. Students came and grabbed free food and snacks.

ASO co-adviser Geremy Mason said that most of the food was ordered from Costco and the prepared meals were delivered from Everytable.

"The goal here is to get students to come and utilize these resources but also understand that there's no shame," Mason said. "I want students to feel comfortable coming in."

The Brahma Bodega pop-up will return on Nov. 27 and Dec. 7.

Copy by Benjamin Hanson

Photos by Benjamin Hanson and David Pashaee

Prepared meals and snacks for students are available during the Brahma Bodega pop-ups at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Nov. 9, 2022.

Photo by David Pashaee

ASO co-adviser Geremy Mason (right) hands out bags to students during the Brahma Bodega pop-up at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Nov. 9, 2022. Photo by David Pashaee

(L to R) Business Managment student Aquan Singleton and mentor Kaitlyn Hang at the Brahma Bodega pop-up at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Nov. 9, 2022.

Photo by David Pashaee

Snacks and meals line the table at the Brahma Bodega pop-up at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Nov. 9, 2022.

Photo by Benjamin Hanson

Getting a second chance at life

Former incarcerated students get an opportunity at redemption

BY PAMELA KALIDASAN Features Editor

Pierce College’s Academic Affairs extended their Adult Education non-credit program to include previously incarcerated people.

Dean of Academic Affairs and Department head of Rising Scholars Sharon Dalmage, who had been working with formerly incarcerated students for three and a half-years, said that Pierce recognized the need to initiate something like Rising Scholars on campus around two years ago.

“The Adult Education noncredit program at Pierce College saw a need to provide services to individuals who are formerly incarcerated in the San Fernando Valley,” Dalmage said. “So we started to provide them with that career training at no cost. So through that program they’ve been getting training related to obtaining their GED or career training related to various job sectors.”

Rising Scholar student Michael LaCapria, who now works in management at Irish Healing Retreat, spoke about how he took a few classes at Pierce to find his path.

“I just wanted to be enrolled in the college,” LaCapria said. “I didn’t have an objective at the time, and I kept hearing that Pierce has really good classes.”

LaCapria said that he felt instructors cared for his and other

students' success. “It was more personal,” LaCapria said. “It was not just a class where we were just learning.

It felt like instructors genuinely cared about our success.”

Dalmage said that the name “Rising Scholars” came from the Rising Scholars grant that she applied for on July 1, 2021.

“We were awarded $130,000 dollars annually for three years to provide specific services to the formerly incarcerated population in the San Fernando Valley,” Dalmage said. “So through that grant, not only we addressed the career training needs of the formerly incarcerated populations but we also provided

them with other support services to get themselves reacclimated into society.”

There were needs from Rising Scholars students that differed in comparison to traditional college students or even adult students who enroll into college later for higher education purposes.

“It’s very different. The

roadblocks that they encounter because they were incarcerated are vastly different than a mom or dad who had to take a break from school because they helped raise their children. So for example, someone who was formerly incarcerated they’re going to have technology gaps depending on how long the person served in person,” Dalmage said.

“I have students who served 30 years, seven years–but whatever the number of years is–technology changes so quickly that they don’t even know how to use a cellphone,” Dalmage said. “They don’t know how to use a laptop or the Internet to a certain extent. So having that digital gap is going to affect their encouragement, their confidence and they feel embarrassed to let people know that they have these gaps.”

Dalmage further discussed other hurdles Rising Scholars students faced such as lack of access to food, housing, income, opportunities, transportation and a support network. She said that Rising Scholars is currently working to create more partnerships with organizations on and off campus such as the Brahma Pantry and the Los Angeles public defenders who as of last August helped students expunge their records.

Athletic Counselor Joseph Roberson said that he is in favor of having Rising Scholars as a plan of action in reducing recidivism.

“I am in favor of anything that helps humans and especially since

I’ve been formerly incarcerated I know that the first thing you have to find is hope. And the first thing that you need to know is that someone cares, and that there is a concern or pathway that you can follow in order to find your way into being a productive and constructive member of society.”

Dalmage mentioned that the program is focused on creating outreach for its students, such as forming a club so that they can find a support network and a sense of belonging on campus without being afraid of being ostracized because of their prior convictions.

“We are working with a couple of the Rising Scholars to create a Rising Scholars Club on campus and I think that will help with one of our goals which is to make the program more known on campus,” Dalmage said. “Because I think that there are a lot of formerly incarcerated students on campus and they keep that as a secret because they don’t want people to know and so they don’t know that we have this resource where they can get additional support.”

Roberson agrees and he said that the least society can do is understand and give individuals like Rising Scholars students a chance.

“No one can really atone for their sins, but it leaves to try and pay it forward and help other people,” Roberson said.

pkalidasan.roundupnews@gmail.com

Experienced TV writer runs the show Brian Behar speaks of career to those in attendance

BY CHRISTIAN CASTELLANOS Reporter

With his booming baritone voice, TV writer and showrunner Bryan

Behar took command of the Pierce College Great Hall on Wednesday.

With 30 years of experience working on shows such as “Andy Richter Controls the Universe,” “Wilfred” and “Fuller House,” Behar, an Emmy-nominated producer, shared his history with the audience and offered some advice for success.

“You just gotta be ready because you never know when the opportunity is gonna come,” Behar said during the presentation.

Initially afraid of low turnout, Behar was glad to see seats filled up and recalled an old saying in comedy. “You don’t want to tell jokes to an empty room. That’s what my fear was,” Behar said. “The more people you have, the more people who might laugh at something you’re going to say, and it’s a little harder if there’s a lot of empty seats.”

Behar’s presentation titled “Bryan Behar: From Valley Boy to Hollywood Producer” illustrated

his life, starting with his childhood and Jewish upbringings in the San Fernando Valley in the 1960s, to his first job as an advertiser and ultimately writing for TV. It also featured advice with such titles as “Write, Write, Write. But Definitely Finish,” and the two parter “Develop Your Own Voice,” followed by “Then Be Ready to Mimic Someone Else’s Voice.”

Behar, who is currently a professor in television writing at Chapman University, hopes students gain a better understanding of what a professional writer does and how to start out, keep the first job and sustain a lengthy career.

“I just wanted to give some insight [with] stories that reflect a lot of things they might be feeling: Fear, fear of rejection, writer’s block,” Behar said. “[They] are all normal and par for the course and things that can be overcome.”

Cinema professor Ken Windrum said it is good for students in general to hear from working professionals and Behar was no exception.

As someone with a long career in writing for TV, Behar ended it as showrunner of the Netflix show “Fuller House” for two seasons “which is a pretty big deal,” according to Windrum.

“He has a lot of experience

to offer to our students who are hopefully–many of them–trying to work in the media industry,” Windrum said.

Behar’s presentation marks the second in a series of events hosted this semester by the Media Arts Department in which professionals in the media and entertainment industries talk to students about their work. It was also sponsored by the Associated Student Organization (ASO).

For film student Mariah Chavez, it was inspiring to hear from someone who inhabited the same space.

“It's always really nice to see someone who grows up in the same area that you did and seeing just how someone in the same neighborhood, the same kind of background and same family can basically fulfill their dreams and then come back and give back to the community,” Chavez said.

Biology and film major Heaven Trusty said Behar’s presentation was very informative.

“It gave me a lot of insight on where he was at the time and I learned a lot of stuff that’s probably going to benefit me throughout this career,” Trusty said. “I really respected it and found it to be an amazing opportunity.”

Behar offered one last piece of advice titled “If You Can Do Anything Else, Do That!” As he put it, “it sounds harsh and punitive. I swear it's not meant to be.”

He described a career in television as a need that has to be fulfilled and if someone finds happiness elsewhere, then they should do that instead.

“It's a hard career, but if you love it and have to do it, then you gotta do it,” Behar said. “If you think I'm not gonna be happy unless I'm a writer and I have stories to tell and I have an authentic voice that needs to be heard and I'm not gonna be satisfied with my life choices unless I’ve given it a try, then you have to do it.”

Behar concluded his presentation by saying there are no shortcuts with a career in TV and having success on the first try is really rare.

“The far more common path is to work hard, learn your craft and hone it.” Behar said. “With a little luck and a little talent, it's something I think all of you can do.”

Behar said he reached a point when the writing opportunities weren’t as fruitful as they were in the past, referring to an old Hollywood cliche of being “retired for seven years before you realize it” before becoming a teacher.

In Behar’s case, three years had already passed since his last job in the entertainment industry.

“The opportunities weren’t necessarily coming and it was an intentional decision to, rather than continuing to feel bad not being able to pursue what I wanted to do in writing, to start feeling good about doing something else and giving back,” Behar said. “So why

not sort of make it official and pivot into something that was going to give me joy.”

For Behar, teaching has given him a tremendous amount of joy.

“In fact, arguably a lot more than the writing,” Behar said.

School receives grant as preparations begin for the spring Senate celebrates accomplishment; wants more pupils to enroll

BY OLIVIA ESPINOZA Reporter

Following Interim President

Ara Aguiar’s announcement of the Mathematics, Engineering, Science, Achievment (MESA) program grant and potential seed grant, new student opportunities on campus

for the last stretch of the fall semester were discussed during the Academic Senate meeting on Monday.

“We received a grant for a total of approximately $1.5 million to implement a MESA program here,” Aguiar said. “So that's another big accomplishment for us.”

The MESA program provides students who are seeking degrees in

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) academic help.

Aguiar announced another grant still in the process of being received.

“Pierce has received or will receive a $90,000 seed grant to inform foster youth in the twelfth grade, in terms and providing them workshops on how they can transition to Pierce,” Aguiar said.

Following the grant announcements, upcoming opportunities for students were discussed.

Vice President of Student Services, Jason Cifra announced during the meeting that Pierce is looking to incentivize current students to be proactive in applying early for their spring classes with a raffle. “So we are going to be drawing

10 names from all of the students to register early up to Dec. 13, and will be announcing 10 students to win either a $500 gift card or a laptop on Instagram Live Dec. 14,” Cifra said.

The drawing is also intended to bring focus to current students to sign up for classes, since new students are less likely to apply during the spring semester.

ccastellanos.roundupnews@gmail.com [For the

Photo by Rachael Rosenberg

Rising Scholars student Michael LaCapria at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Nov. 14, 2022.

Photo by Christian Castellanos Producer Bryan Behar recounts his life in The Great Hall at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Nov. 9, 2022.