But first,

BY JENNIFER TANZIL Reporter

The West Valley Disaster Preparedness Fair was held at Pierce College on Saturday, educating the community on what to do in the event of emergencies.

The West Valley-Warner Center Chamber of Commerce and Councilmember Bob Blumenfield’s office were among the sponsors of the free event that drew a crowd of families, adults and children.

CPR lessons and fire safety awareness were some of the many informational presentations given to educate the public on what steps to take when emergencies such as wildfires, house fires and earthquakes occur.

Woodland Hills Neighborhood Council Representative Chris Waddy thanked Pierce College for hosting an event that allowed for the community to familiarize themselves with their local government.

“I think everyone here today can see that if we come together and we work together as a community, we can be safer,” Waddy said.

“Being able to work together as one community, one voice and standing behind each other in solidarity is one of the greatest things.”

As one of the event exhibitors, Waddy and fellow council members handed out disaster preparedness kits, flashlights and hand wipes at their information booth.

“So many things were passed out to individuals today that maybe they needed, from hand wipes to water, to support,” Waddy said. “We were able to serve so many people today not just from our booth, but from every booth, so we can let everyone know that they’re not alone and we’re stronger together.”

Pierce College has long served as an evacuation hub for neighboring communities during wildfire season, which Winnetka Neighborhood Council President David Uebersax is grateful for.

“I grew up in Agoura Hills and we have lots of horses up there,” Uebersax said. “When the fires come through, the horse owners all come down to Pierce with their trailers. This is one of the areas not only for humans to come to, but animals too.”

At a nearby booth, MySafe:LA, a non-profit education and outreach partner of the LA City Fire Department, set up a demonstration to teach attendees how to properly perform hands-only CPR.

Captain and public information officer of MySafe:LA Chris Nevil hoped to educate more people on CPR safety.

“There’s a propensity in certain age groups for more heart issues, but sudden cardiac arrest can happen for all kinds of reasons, such as sports events, car accidents, drowningsthings that can affect all ages,” Nevil said.

Nevil called the ability to perform CPR a “toolkit”.

“It won’t always work, but it’s empowering to know that you can do something if you find someone who is unresponsive,” Nevil said.

Nevil also shared that MySafe:LA offers free services for the community, including teaching wildfire and earthquake safety to school children and installing smoke detectors in residential homes for free.

Director of Operations at The Preparedness Network Jeffrey Weiss spoke about the importance of planning ahead with co-workers in the event of a disaster striking while in the workplace.

“If you’re a business, organization, church, or anything else, you have a responsibility not only to yourself but to the members of your organization,” Weiss said. “Businesses have to develop a training program so they can respond to their employees and co-workers when a natural disaster happens.”

Weiss stressed that people shouldn’t automatically wait for first responders to arrive. The moments before they arrive are crucial when dealing with emergencies and no time should be wasted.

“It doesn’t matter how big or strong you are, you can succumb to a natural disaster by falling apathetic to it,” Weiss said.

Representatives from SoCalGas tested the knowledge of attendees by quizzing them on general gas knowledge, including how to recognize a gas leak and what to do in the event of encountering one.

Reseda resident Maria Gonzales came to the event with her mother. They took turns practicing CPR on a mannequin.

“I wanted to know where to go and who to call in those emergencies,” Gonzales said. “As a Valley resident, it’s really important to get connected with my community and to know what to do when a natural disaster happens.”

West Valley-Warner Center Chamber of Commerce board memberSusan Tenzer encouraged the community to get familiar with the services in the area.

“All of the services here are available to the public to make use of them,” Tenzer said. “We are available for any questions on disaster preparedness, to help you and your family. Just call the West Valley-Warner Center Chamber and we can be of assistance.”

BY NATHALIE MIRANDA REPORTER

The story of Darja and her tough life trying to make it in America was told with amazing acting, writing and special effects.

Pierce College’s latest theater production, Ironbound, directed by Christian Barillas, opened Friday night and told a beautiful story with a memorable performance by the cast.

Ironbound is a story about Darja (Olia Panasenko), who is a Polish immigrant who moves to New Jersey with her first husband Maks (Itzhak Matos). The roughly 90-minute play follows her years after moving and the men who have come into her life. Tommy (Kris Hernandez) is one of the love interests and Vic (Joshua Gould) is a man who helped her in a moment of need.

The play is equal parts funny and dramatic and the actors were to blend the two extremes together.

The play opened with Darja and Tommy having an argument because he’s been sleeping with other women and Darja confronts him about it. It’s a very heated argument but there are some comedic lines that were delivered perfectly. Even through a very emotionally draining argument, Tommy’s dry delivery made the scene funny and enjoyable to get through.

From the very first scene, Panasenko’s skill as an actress shined. Her voice gave emotion and desperation during the scenes where she was yelling that it sounded like she was on the verge of tears. Her facial expressions seemed so natural that multiple times throughout the show, it didn’t even feel like there were actors performing on stage, they were just real people. There were also moments that showed Darja leaning into a crazy side of her and Panasenko seemed to take that on. She had a manic look in her eyes and her voice was borderline hysterical. Her performance did the character justice.

Matos’ performance was short but impactful. His first scene with Darja was a flashback that was moving, funny and sad in the end. Matos did a great job expressing the emotions that Maks was feeling with his facial expressions and lively attitude.

Vic was the most comedic character and Gould portrayed that well.

Vic’s scene with Darja encapsulated what the whole show was like. It was hard to watch Darja go through all the challenges she was facing, but it was made easier to swallow with each comedic line throughout the scene.

The special effects also added so much to the show. The lights that were made to look like car headlights were particularly helpful in setting the scene, as well as adding a cool effect to the actors on stage. There was also a timeline being projected onto the back wall in between each scene that was helpful in following the story.

But by far the best use of special effects was toward the end. The back wall lit up with lights and a moon to portray a night sky. The music that played and the lights hitting Darja made the emotional scene particularly beautiful. The show had a few obvious errors, like a candle not lighting or a jacket not zipping up but nothing so drastic that it made the show impossible to get through. The few errors that happened were quickly made up for by the performance of the actors and the stage crew.

The play was beautiful in all aspects and didn’t leave room for disappointment. The actors gave a wonderful performance in telling a story of love, heartbreak and dreams.

Street Beat

SHOULD WE CHANGE THE DRINKING AGE FROM 21 TO 18?

EDITORIAL: From the desk of the Roundup

Biking at Pierce College? Tricky business. With 426 acres, more than 2,000 trees, thousands of roses, small herds and flocks of livestock, Pierce is begging to be explored.

It would make sense to get around with a bicycle. Try walking from the Village to Earth Sciences. Pierce is a huge campus.

So why isn’t there a dedicated bike path on campus?

“Ifeelthatitshouldstayat21becauseof accidentsthatI’veseenfromsocialmedia, umthere’salotofunderragedrinkingand goingbehindthewheelthathascauseda lotofaccidents.”-AshleyMendez,STEM

Currently, no bicycle riding is permitted on sidewalks and walkways. Also not permitted, is riding on sidewalks adjacent to classrooms, library, gyms, gardens, grass areas, or in any other college facilities.

The time a bike path would save on a student's already taxing schedule is a big plus. With a dedicated lane, students would have more time to eat, study and get to class.

And wouldn’t that add to Pierce’s enrichment of its community? Consider one of its goals to “increase opportunities for student access, readiness, retention and success.”

“Idon’treallyagreewithit.It’s alreadybadasitis.Peoplearestill youngandwillmakemistakes.It wouldcausealotofproblemsifit went into effect. More car accidents, justalotofproblems.Peoplemyage are f--- dumb.” Marvin Caballeros, History Major.

A bike path would certainly increase those opportunities. With concerns about global warming, it does not help that Pierce College is a commuter school, which no doubt brings up issues of its implications of greenhouse gas emissions. A bike path on campus will continue the “eco-friendly campus” that Pierce has aimed to be since 2003, when it launched the largest community college solar-powered system in the country. So what would this bike path look like? It would run through