Volume 138 Spring 2023 Roundup Issue 8

Activism, advocacy and awareness seem to be very important to a lot of college students.

The Multicultural Day keynote presentation gave Pierce College students the opportunity to hear from someone who has been participating in all three for most of his life.

Activist and hip-hop artist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez was the keynote speaker during Multicultural Day on Thursday, where he spoke to students and faculty about his experience as an activist and why it’s so important to him. He shared personal anecdotes

about growing up indigenous and how it connects to his activism today.

Martinez emphasized the importance of bringing awareness to many different social justice issues, from the climate crisis to people of color (POC) solidarity, and urged the students to use their voice and become active participants in bringing awareness to these issues.

“Each of us, in our own way, with our own voice has a very specific and important point to make,” Martinez said. “We’re counting on people around us who share our vision. And everybody who showed up here today, that’s a beautiful first step.”

Before Martinez’s presentation started, chair

of the Diversity Committee Michael Habata briefly spoke to the audience about Multicultural Day and how the events strive to highlight and nurture the diverse Pierce campus. The keynote presentation specifically aimed to encourage students to become advocates themselves.

“I encourage you all to have a sense of curiosity to know who your neighbors are and to embrace the differences that you have,” Habata said.

Habata also stated they wanted Martinez as the keynote speaker because they knew that he was someone who could really connect with the students.

The purpose of the event was

to make students understand that they are capable of making a difference.

“Xiuhtezcatl is someone who’s younger, he’s a hip-hop musician, he’s an activist and we thought that combination would be someone that students could be excited about,” Habata said. “Young people today, especially college students, really care about making a difference and they want to be able to feel like they can.”

Student Alexandra KingSing shared her thoughts on the presentation.

“I found the speech really inspiring,” King-Sing said. “I really liked that he spoke about indigenous activism. I feel like it was really enlightening.”

As a student herself, King-Sing was able to reflect on how the contents of the presentation landed with the students. She shared how hearing the speech could have really impacted the audience.

“I think it’s important that he spoke to college students because in college you’re still learning who you are,” KingSing said. “Maybe somebody who wasn’t sure about who they want to be or what they want to do would have found inspiration in his speech and think that they want to go into activism.”

Photo by Owen Meza Hip-hop artist and environmental activist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez talks as the keynote speaker of Multicultural Day at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on April 20, 2023.

Photo by Ashley Shellmire

Jenny Moses and student performers sing a song from the upcoming play "Rent" during a flash mob in middle of Mall at Pierce College Woodland Hills Calif., on April 19, 2023.

Left: Music professor Garineh Avakian sings at the commemoration of the Armenian genocide hosted at the Multicultural Center at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on April 25, 2023.

Right: Dancers from the Armenian Berd Ensemble Studio Tina Hovhannisyan and Gagik Tadevosyan perform at the Multicultural Center at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on April 25, 2023.

Photos by Daniela Raymundo.

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE SUPER HERO?

EDITORIAL: From the desk of the Roundup

Pierce needs more refilable water stations

Refillable water stations cut down on plastic waste that heads straight to our oceans and landfills. Water refilling stations also provide refreshingly chilled, quality water at no cost to students, staff and faculty at Pierce College.

In the Spring of 2019, six water bottle filling stations were installed around campus, replacing old school water drinking fountains.

At that time, two different types of stations were installed, some for inside and others for out.

“Spiderman,heisjustaregularteenage kid,andheistryingtomakeadifference in the world.”

-AdrianMartinez,Biochemistrymajor

These new stations were added in the Admissions and Records, Business and Performing Arts buildings on campus. Additionally, two drinking fountains in the courtyard area by the LearningLibrary Crossroads and resource center were removed and replaced by these new and efficient water bottle filling stations.

Four years later, school administrators could consider adding more stations. With 426 acres and more than 20,000 students at Pierce College, it may be a good investment to make.

“DannyPhantom.Whenheturns intoaghost,it’slikethere’sanew personalitychange.Whenhe’s inhumanform,he’sjustthisshy 14-year-oldkidthathassome socialissues,butwhenheisDanny Phantom, he’s confident, and knows howtogetitdone.”

-KwameUku,undecidedmajor

Santa Monica College, which sits on 38 acres, has added 17 water filling stations around their campus.

Adding more water stations will not only promote sustainability at the school, but it will ensure everyone on campus has access to fresh, clean drinking water every day, and will encourage people to bring refillable water bottles instead of having to purchase a throw-away plastic container. With this upgrade, the Pierce community can help to conserve and preserve

COLUMN: A New Era Means Freedom of Expression

“IalmostexclusivelyreadBatman. AndIjustloveeverystory,every phaseofhim.Andyeah,mycar isactuallynamedBruceWayne. Soyeah,I’mabigBatmanfan.”

-RobertLoy,Communications professor

In past generations, it’s been considered unprofessional to have visible tattoos in a professional workplace setting.

However, new studies show that visible tattoos aren’t preventing professionals from getting a career in their respected field. Millennials have shown in high numbers that tattoos are becoming more accepted as body art, versus poor decision making.

The main reasons that tattoos are becoming widely accepted in various professional industries is that organizations are loosening restrictions for hiring decisions, body art is seen as independent thinking, and that other life decisions have a much larger impact on getting hired compared to tattoos.

It’s no longer about a person’s decision to wear body art, but instead their hard work and dedication put into their career experience.

The ASVAB is a career research center that conducts surveys to learn what different industries base their hiring decisions on.

Volume 138, Issue 7

In the "Huge milestone for Pierce College" story on the front page, the names of LACCD Chancellor

Francisco Rodriguez, Board of Trustees President David Vela and PierceCollegeInterimPresidentAra Aguiarweremispelled

They said that the majority of management firms have loosened up their restrictions.

“91% of senior managers surveyed said that organizations have loosened

up in the past decade. While bad behavior like foul language and displaying political messages is still considered unprofessional, one-third of companies now see no problem with employees donning visible tattoos.” While there are still many companies that show preference to someone without tattoos versus

someone with them, this study shows that companies are loosening formerly strict standards.

Another reason that tattoos are becoming more accepted in the workplace is that they’re now seen as body art, versus poor decision making.

The University of Houston did a research paper on how tattoos are being interpreted,

and how the choice of tattoo may even improve your odds of landing a career.

“But whether that saddles you with negative stigma or grants you a cool, independent-thinker image is more fluid that you might expect,” according to Enrica Ruggs, associate professor at the University of Houston C.T. Bauer College of Business Department of Management

and Leadership.

Demonstrating that you’re an independent thinker through body art can improve your chances of getting hired in your desired working field. Landing an important career should come from your resume, not meaningful body art.

The third reason that tattoos are becoming more accepted in the workplace is

that there are more important factors than body art when it comes to hiring decisions.

The Harvard Business Review wrote an analysis about the importance of tattoos. They said that in a survey conducted, there wasn’t a difference in hiring those with tattoos versus those without.

“Michael T. French of the University of Miami and colleagues surveyed more than 2,000 people in the United States and found that those with tattoos were no less likely to be employed than their uninked counterparts, and that average earnings were the same for both groups. In fact, tattooed men were slightly more likely to have jobs than other men.”

This survey shows that once again, it’s not a person’s body art that affects their job performance, but instead the quality of their work.

While there’s still a long road ahead for those with visible tattoos in certain industries, the trend is slowly showing to equalize hiring opportunities.

If someone already has visible tattoos, don’t give up on your career dream. Instead, focus on providing hard work to your dedicated passion.

Photos by Audrinna Meza.

Copy by Clemente Pasillas.

Photo by Wyatt Sanchez Mortuary Science major Tim Howard on April 20, 2023.

ALEC BENNETT Reporter

Photo illustration by Fabiola Carrizosa

Film major Phatarapong Piyarat uses a water refill station at Pierce College Library Learning Crossroads Building in Woodland Hills, Calif., on April 25, 2023.

Brahmas for hire

An array of job and internship opportunities for Pierce students looking for employment.

JENNIFER TANZIL Reporter

Students looking for internships, part-time or full-time jobs had more than 80 options lined up in booths throughout the Pierce College Mall on Wednesday, at the Career and Transfer Center’s Job and Internship Fair. Jobs ranged from the child care and healthcare fields to law enforcement and even landscaping. The wide variety allowed students seeking employment to find something that fits their interests and schedule, while equipping them with the needed experiences to land career jobs in the future.

The Burbank Police Department, Six Flags Magic

Mountain and Ford Motor Company were among some of the many employers who anticipated student signups for various positions.

Pierce counselor Judy Lam helped oversee the event.

Lam believes in the importance of gaining experiences outside of school, and hoped students would consider getting that enrichment in addition to their studies.

“A lot of students are so focused on just school that they forget to gain experiences and so you have to build your resume while you’re still in school,” Lam said. “You want to always make sure you’re gaining experience because it helps you make a decision about what you want to do. Taking classes doesn’t necessarily give you a good sense

of what careers might look like.”

Lam saw the event as a great way to engage with students who are pondering about their career choices.

“Today’s job and internship fair is to help students be more plugged in, more engaged, gain experience so that we can help them decide on their careers and majors,” Lam said.

Pierce has been dedicated to helping students succeed in career endeavors outside of school, as seen by the services provided by the Career and Transfer Center.

“Last week, we actually had a resume review prep event,” Lam said. “We had students come in then we had industry professionals look over student resumes so that they can be prepared for today.”

The Southern California

Golf Association (SCGA), based in Studio City, was one of many employers who offered job opportunities for students.

Lauren Fesler, assistant director at SCGA’s San Fernando Valley division, encouraged those who are interested in coaching junior golfers to see if the job is right for them. For those not too keen on golfing, SCGA had administrative roles available.

“There's a wide variety of options open,” Fesler said. “Even some of our coaches that don’t play golf still serve as mentors and role models for the kids in our community. I think somebody would get a fun and positive work environment here.”

The Sierra Canyon Day Camp also looked to recruit students, especially those who are good at working with

Incident Report

Carrizosa

-Compiled by Fabiola

04/14/2023 : (Traffic Collison) School bus and passenger car minor accident. No injuries

04/17/2023: (Petty theft) reported unknown person(s) stole softball base plugs from softball field

04/17/2023 (Grand theft) reported unknown person(s) stole a catalytic convertor from a vehicle in Lot 1

if you see something say something. The Sheriff Department is here 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

children or are working towards a degree in the education field.

Counselor-in-training (CIT) manager Arianna Romero said that besides the age requirement of 18 years old, there aren’t any other specific requirements to work as a camp counselor.

“This can potentially be a good work experience for your resume, especially if you’re in the education field,” Romero said. “We have several of our alumni who started working here and are now teachers.”

Meanwhile, journalism major Diana Garret eyed an internship in the healthcare field to assist in her nursing minor. She found an internship that would allow her to work in a hospital–something right up her alley.

“I am a caregiver, so I was looking for an internship at one

of the booths where I can work in a hospital,” Garret said. “I think I’ll be entering that because I’ll be working at a hospital which I’ve never done. So I’m going beyond where I’m at and this (job fair) has given everyone an opportunity to do that.”

Garret said that going to the many different booths gave her a good understanding of what job she would be interested in.

“This has given me an opportunity to step beyond what I’m doing now,” Garret said. “It’s given me more information so I can do more things that I’m trying to accomplish.”

[For the full story, visit theroudupnews.com]

White House rep to visit campus next month

Director for the Department of Science and Technology will visit the Center for the Sciences

SOPHIA CANO Reporter

Interim President Ara

Aguiar announced during the Academic Senate meeting on Monday that an important member of the Biden administration will soon be visiting the Pierce College campus.

Director for the Department of Science and Technology at the White House Arati Prabhakar will be visiting the Center for Science and Earth Science buildings at Pierce College on May 2 to tour the lab and engage

with students.

Pierce was chosen as one of 30 institutions for Prabhakar to visit.

The requirements for this decision were based largely on the use of government funds to support the school, and Aguiar regarded Pierce in a positive light while discussing the decision process.

“The criteria is, how have the federal funds supported the college, what have we done with it. And our team does an amazing job,” Aguiar said. “How we have applied those funds to support our students. All of those things contributed to the decision.They want to see their dollar being utilized effectively, and I think

we've demonstrated that and that's why we were selected.”

The Academic Senate also discussed other important events coming up at Pierce, including UCLA and CSUN Day as well as the Transfer Celebration, which are both scheduled to be held on the mall on May 3. Transfer Center Director Sunday Salter discussed the importance of having these events take place at the same time.

“The reason we have them on the same day is because the majority of our students, as you know, have a goal to transfer to UCLA or CSUN, or are transferring to UCLA or CSUN,” Salter said. “The students who are

transferring can meet their new advisor and talk to someone who is at the campus they're going to.”

Students can meet admission representatives at the event from both UCLA and CSUN, and can learn more about financial aid, clubs, student services and housing.

The transfer event recognizes students for their accomplishment in transferring or who are applying for transfer. Games, free churros and prizes will be provided for both transfer students and transfer applicants to enjoy. During the celebration, transfer students will be awarded with a platinum chord for graduation.

Historic win for adjunct faculty

Health benefits parity achieved for part-time instructors in LACCD

BY LINDSEY WHITTAKER Reporter

After months of negotiations, the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) has agreed to offer adjunct faculty the same health care benefits as full-time faculty.

According to a press announcement released by LACCD on April 12, the benefits option will be available to all adjunct faculty employed at a 0.33 full-time equivalent. The benefits also extend to eligible dependents and will take effect after the part-time health care measure from COVID expires later this summer.

AFT 1521 Chapter President Angela Belden said the change has been a long time coming.

“Part-time faculty are essential to the mission of

community colleges and essential to the mission of higher education,” Belden said. “We absolutely cannot educate students without them.”

Formal negotiations have been ongoing since last fall, but for Belden and her colleagues, the seed was planted about one year ago.

It was not until Governor Gavin Newsom earmarked $200 million in a state budget proposal in January 2022, that the discussion started gaining traction. Belden said she went to Sacramento herself to lobby for this bill.

“I was up there with my colleagues, knocking on doors, shaking hands and pleading with legislators to please keep this $200 million in the budget and to allow us to provide health care for part-time faculty,” Belden said.

Pierce College alone has

over 600 adjunct faculty, and even though they will have the right to opt-in to the benefits, it is unclear how many of them will benefit from the health care options offered.

Adjunct Professor of Anthropology Angela Kirwin said it would be helpful for herself and her family.

“The adjunct health insurance benefit was a wonderful surprise for me,” Kirwin said.

“It will make my life much easier as it will save me a lot of money each month that I am currently paying out of pocket for my husband's insurance.”

Assistant Professor of Cinema, Screenwriting & Media Arts Daniel J. Nyiri has been an adjunct professor at LACCD for about eight years. He said if the benefits offered are affordable he will take advantage.

“If the Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) is honored, then I will probably switch to an insurance plan comparable to the one I have now,” Nyiri said. “Which will greatly improve my life, give me better access to health care, and save me a lot of money.”

While some faculty are celebrating the MOU, others feel there is still much work to do to create true parity between full and part-time faculty.

“Every victory is a step in the right direction,” Belden said. “But until we have 100% parity for our part-time faculty, there's still work to be done.”

To be eligible for benefits, adjunct faculty must maintain 33% of the required annual course load and each discipline has its own requirements.

For example, psychology and statistics are 30 units per year or 15 units a semester. For other

The Academic Senate meeting also covered several grants that were recently awarded or are in the works for Pierce, one of which was announced by Faculty Professional Development Coordinator Brian Moe.

The Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Practices “Best Practice Initiative” Grants were awarded to Pierce as well as 58 other schools. The goal of this $300,000 grant is to bridge the gap between performances of different demographics in schools and allow schools to better serve the students. The grant will be distributed to Pierce over the next 3 years with $150,000 issued for 2024 and 2025.

Pierce applied with a focus on the EDIT program - which is the equity, diversity, and inclusivity team developed by the English department. The goal of this grant is to provide services to lessen the equity gaps within the school.

“This is a way to expand that,” Moe said. “By putting some funding behind it, we get more programs involving different disciplines throughout the campus. It will better support our students and help us speak to a wide range of backgrounds.”

The next Academic Senate meeting will be held at the Faculty and Staff Center Monday, May 8, at 2:15 p.m..

disciplines, it is less but it can also go up to 24 credits per semester.

However, it can be hard to get that many classes when fulltime faculty get the first pick of what to teach. Since getting a class may be difficult at their home college, adjuncts often look to additional opportunities at other community colleges within LACCD or even outside the district.

Belden noted that many adjunct faculty teach part-time, but they do it full-time across a handful of schools which can be logistically difficult.

“Let's say you were going to teach a 9:35 a.m. class at Pierce on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then you got offered a class that started at 11:30 a.m. at Valley or Mission,” Belden said. “You probably wouldn't be able to take that class because it takes 30 minutes or longer to drive

between the two campuses.”

Nyiri notes that even if he works 12 teaching hours a week that works out to almost a full 40-hour week with all the work that goes on outside of class time.

“I have about 70 students currently in the district, and I figure that works out to about one hour per student per week if I do my job well,” Nyiri said.

Belden said having affordable health care through LACCD is one less thing for adjunct faculty to have to worry about.

“Having affordable health care that they can count on from LACCD is absolutely essential,” Belden said. “When our faculty are healthy, they're better at serving our students. They miss fewer classes, they're more attentive and they're able to just be human. That is so important.”

Photo by Jay Abril

Deputy Probation Officer Chad McMillan hosts a job internship booth at Pierce College in Woodland Hills Calif., on April 19, 2023.

Photo by Jay Abril Pierce College students attend the Job and Internship Fair at Pierce College in Woodland Hills Calif., on April 19, 2023.

Having the chance to perform on a big bright stage, in front of an unfamiliar audience, is an opportunity that many artists crave.

Pierce College’s Music, Theatre, and Dance departments held a diverse performing arts showcase during Multicultural Day Thursday afternoon.

Percussion Instructor Kevin Good organized the program to include various music students along with having the theater department present a selection from their upcoming musical production of “Rent” by Jonathon Larson.

Performances featured music from the Pierce samba club, performance workshop class, and studio jazz band.

“Every performance opportunity the students get is incredible,” Good said. “One of the great and challenging things about performance workshop is everyone is coming from different backgrounds and different styles of music. That to me is what's going to really help build their artistry.” There were many different

instruments played throughout the performance workshop and studio jazz band showcase. From the cello and the piano, all the way to bass, drums, saxophone, trumpet and guitar.

Music Professor Wendy Mazon reached out to Good and other music instructors, theater and dance departments to create a performing arts showcase that gave students the opportunity to perform in front of an audience.

“We have a course in the music school called ‘performance workshop,’ which is open to anyone,” Good said. “You don't have to be a music major, but we have music majors. That class is basically a safe and open space for people to practice performing in front of others.”

Pierce student and jazz musician Adrian Clark spoke of the importance of being comfortable on stage as an artist and musician.

“I feel like I've gotten pretty comfortable at performing in front of people at this point, especially as a jazz musician,” Clark said. “The trickiest part is just trying to be comfortable on stage because I feel like that's when you put out your best sound.”

Pierce’s musical production of “Rent” performed “La Vie

Boheme” to give the public a snippet of their upcoming show. Musical Director and Collaborative Pianist Ryan Espinosa’s dual role in this production involves working with the actors and their vocals, along with playing piano during the show rehearsals.

“This is one of, I want to say, 27 or so numbers in the show,” Espinosa said. “We've been spending about six hours, maybe a little more each week to prepare

them for the show overall.” Espinosa shared how much time and effort everybody put into this production, in addition to preparing for their performance today.

“We began our processes in early February, right when the semester starts,” Espinosa said. “The actors learn their lines, and then I work with them on the music. Shaheen VaazChamarbagwala, our director, works with them on their acting

skills and it's really a labor of love with everybody. Everyone puts in the effort and what the students put in is what they get out of it.”

Although every production is different, Espinosa expressed the outstanding cast they have put together throughout this process.

“With this particular production, we were very fortunate to have cast a really stellar cast,” Espinosa said. “But even with a stellar cast, you still need to prepare and everyone

worked hard, especially for today's performance. It's all about their skill level and what they bring to the table. Working with their strengths and helping them with their weaknesses to build a well-rounded actor, musician, vocalist and dancer.”

The opening night of “Rent” is Friday, May 5 at 8 p.m., and will continue until May 14.

An evening under the stars at the STEM after dark and telescope event proved to be a thrill for anyone wanting to see the stars and sky through a state-of-the-art $2,000 telescope.

Guests who attended the event were able to walk away with new knowledge about stars and planets that they saw.

Chair of the Physical Science department and astronomer Dale Fields shared that the motive of this event was to enlighten people about our galaxy.

“We really just want to get people to know that things happen around us all the time,” Fields said. “Many people look up in the night sky and think what’s over in the west is a bright star and not realize that it’s actually the planet Venus. Let’s let people know what’s going on out there. That’s the real purpose of doing these kinds of events.”

Fields also expressed that the quantity of people showing up to the event has been higher than the pre-pandemic numbers.

“It makes me so happy to see so many people out here, and the incredible amount of energy,” Fields said. “I get off on the fact that people have the same love and passion for what I believe in.”

Fields explained what inspired them to pursue a career in astrology, as the science field was something they were always interested in since adolescence.

“From a young age I knew that I wanted to do science, but wasn’t sure what science,” Fields said. “As a kid, at one point I wanted to be a dinosaur expert, but for me the big thing was my dad who got me into reading science fiction books. When I read these books, I soon realized that the truth was cooler than fiction, and that is what pulled me towards the astronomy side of science,” Fields said.

Member of the LA Astronomical Society and special guest at the event Phillip Taylor previously worked at Aerospace for 45 years.

Taylor mentioned his family history with astronomy and explained the inspiration behind his decision to go into the astronomy field.

“My family has been into astronomy for about 300 years,”

Taylor said. “So I was born into it. As soon as I was aware of what was going on, I would attend planetarium lectures at the Griffith Observatory.”

Taylor said the more you know about astronomy, the more you can appreciate it.

“It takes a lot of knowledge, and the interest that you build grows on you over time. It still grows on me after 67 years,” Taylor said. “I feel like I just barely scratched the surface and won’t live long enough to learn more. There’s only so much you can learn as you’re only around for so long.”

Professor of Biology

Shannon De Veiny was present for the STEM event.

“I love nature. I love just the way that life works. I find it endlessly fascinating,” De Veiny said “Right now I have a bat detector here so we can look for bats and some of the other animals that are here on campus as it gets dark.”

In addition, De Veiny explained why she enjoys the teaching side of her profession, as opposed to just the biology part of what she does.

“I really love teaching, and teaching at Pierce in particular,” De Veiny said. “It’s

just inspiring everyday because I think the students at Pierce are the most amazing. I have taught at other institutions and the students at Pierce are my favorite students of anywhere.”

De Veiny then added why she believes teaching at Pierce college is a special experience.

“It’s just amazing to see so many bright people who are really driven and want to make the world a better place,” De Veiny said.

De Veiny then went into detail about the importance of figures that inspired her to progress toward reaching her goals.

“I personally feel that I was lucky to have had a lot of great teachers along the way from elementary school and up through college,” De Veiny said. “I was lucky to have that, and now that’s something I want to pass on to others, and help the next generation to feel encouraged and empowered to pursue what really fascinates them.”

The next telescope night will take place at the Center for the Sciences on May 25.

The French Film Festival closed off its series of movie screenings with the film “Gagarine” on Thursday at the Multicultural Center.

“Gagarine” is about a red brick housing project called Cite Gagarine on the outskirts of Paris on the verge of being demolished— the main character Youri, a 16-year-old, dreams of becoming an astronaut. When he learns of the plans for the community home about to be destroyed, he embarks on a mission along with his friends Diana and Houssam to save Gagarine, transforming the estate into his own “starship” before it disappears into space forever.

Humanities and Speech

Professor Denis Pra introduced attendees to Art Architecture Professor Patricio Gallegos to answer questions. He explained facts about the film, and talked about the current state of the former site of the Cite Gagarine, which is now demolished. Demolition started in 2019 and took 16 months.

Pra explained why this movie was picked as the last of the festival.

“The reason we picked this one is because it is Multicultural Day today, and the movie is really talking about this community with people coming from many places in the world, so it made sense to show this movie today,” Pra said.

Festival attendee Louis Barbato shared her thoughts on the film.

“It was very emotional without a doubt,” Barbato said. “Even though this is Paris, it corresponds very well to people all over the world who are in exile, who find a place or are being displaced, and it’s very sad. ”

Barbato also explained her favorite part of the film involved a dog.

“The dog is just so lonely and by itself and yet giving comfort, it was just a little detail,” Barbato said.

Festival attendee Nicole Bolster shared her thoughts on a character in the film named Youri.

“I enjoyed how Youri kept a close eye on his community,” Bolster said. “And then ultimately, at the end, when he thought he was all alone, the community came back to rescue him and make sure that he knew that he was a part of the family or part of the community that was there.”

REUBEN SANTOS Reporter

CLEMENTE PASILLAS Reporter

Photo by Owen Meza Architecture professor Patricio Gallegos listens as French professor Denis Pra speaks after the screening of "Gagarine" at the Multicultural Center in Woodland Hills, Calif., on April 20, 2023.

Photo by Hunter Hammerot

Photo by Rachael Rosenberg

Multicultural Day

Students and faculty attended the various lectures and events held as part of Multicultural Day on April 20, 2023. The events culminated in a keynote presentation by hip-hop artist and environmental activist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, and the day ended with a screening of the film "Gagarine," which marked the end of the French Film Fesival.

Architecture professor Patricio Martinez speaks after the screening of "Gagarine" in the Multicultural Center at Pierce College in Woodland Hills Calif., on April 20, 2023. This is the last screening of the French Film Festival. Photo by Owen Meza.

Hip-hop artist and environmental activist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez is the keynote speaker in the 600 building at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on April 20, 2023. The presentation was held as part of Multicultural Day.

Photo by Owen Meza.

History professor Sheryl Nomelli speaks about the Equal Rights Amendment in her Multicultural Day lecture in the Elm building in Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on April 20, 2023. Photo by Owen Meza.

Architecture professor Patricio Martinez and French professor Denis Pra watch English professor Donna Accardo speak after the screening of "Gagarine" in the Multicultural Center at Pierce College in Woodland Hills Calif., on April 20, 2023. Photo by Owen Meza.

Hip-hop artist and environmental activist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez speaks at a keynote presentation in the 600 building at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif. on April 20, 2023.

Photo by Owen Meza.

A path toward wellness

Student Health Center holds first Health Fair in three years

access to Plan B and Narcan on campus at Pierce, as well as counseling sessions.

Health Center Assistant

Many students struggle to know their resources on campus, but those resources were highlighted with fun games and community at Pierce College’s Health Fair.

Held on Thursday, the event highlighted the resources that are available to Pierce students both on campus and in the community.

The fair took approximately five months to plan and consisted of 12 different tables for school resources, such as kinesiology, nutrition, mental health, and blood pressure tests. Many of them were interactive, some where students could learn about their BMIs and how to perform CPR.

The fair highlighted the resources available in the health center. Anyone who’s enrolled at Pierce College has

Loralyn Frederick ran the Health Center booth, where students signed in and were provided information about the center.

Frederick shared her thoughts on why students should take advantage of these programs.

“Fortunately, students focus on their academics, but they need to know that there are campus resources to help them and support them while they're coming to school,”

Frederick said. “We're trying to connect the students to what we have available here at Pierce College.”

This health fair marks the first time it’s returned to campus since the pandemic shut down schools in 2020.

“'I'm glad that we had our first event post COVID,”

Frederick said. “I hope that students are more informed

and utilize our services. They’re welcome to any of these special resources that we have here on campus. It's always our pleasure to help them in any way to help them succeed.”

Pierce College Clinical Psychologist Dr. Roxana Rabadi shared her thoughts on the importance of events like the health fair.

“I think it brings awareness,” Rabadi said.

“A lot of students may not know the services that are afforded to them, or they can have access to. It brings more education and awareness to that, if they're struggling or want additional support to find more information that we're here and we are available to them.”

Aside from school resources, there were 12 different booths and interactive events available to the community, ranging from resource booths to interactive experiences such as a petting

STEM Week: Cellular Respiration

PowerPoint lecture about Cellular Respiration in-person and on Zoom at the Tutoring Center for biology students.

farm, yoga and massages.

To peak student interest, the fair also had a $100 amazon gift card raffle available to any students interacting at the booths. Many of the tables also had free candy, prize wheels, or stress balls for students to take home.

Civil Engineering major Elijah Kazanjian attended the event and noted the things he learned at the fair.

“I'm learning more about the application studies, such as the CPR,” Kazanjian said. “And about what the campus offers too. It's nice to see all these different professions and seeing how they're bringing it together.”

All the resources from the fair can be accessed through the student health center, located in the student services building on the second floor.

but it’s not that kind of the visual map that they showed, which was so easy to learn, and it was really engaging.”

presentation simplified the topic to make it more digestible for students.

Ever wondered where energy in all life comes from? The answer is

Cellular Respiration.

Topics such as these were addressed at the STEM Week Biology 003 Workshop: Cellular Respiration to students on Thursday.

Biochemistry major Joshua Ovsovich and liberal studies major Isabelle Marin presented a

Ovsovich began the lecture with learning objectives and goals and asked attendees what they knew and what they wanted to learn about cellular respiration.

Animal Science Major Jennifer Kim said that she enjoyed the workshop.

“I think it was better than I expected,” Kim said. “I thought there would be a lot of words and only kind of scientific facts,

CSUN Liberal Studies transfer Isabelle Marin thought the workshop was successful.

“We’ve done the same workshop about a week ago, and the turnout wasn’t good,” said Marin. “I think that the fact that this is STEM Week helped a lot, so I was glad to have a lot of people here.”

Biochemistry major Joshua Ovsovich thought like this

Baseball: Strength doesn't secure win

Sweat, dives and cries plagued the baseball field Saturday as the Pierce College Brahmas faced off against the Moorpark College Raiders at Joe Kelly Field.

Brahma pride was on display as the team came out hot with a 7-run lead, leaving Moorpark scoreless after 3 innings. However, this seemingly secure play came into question as the Raiders began to steadily climb the ladder.

Brahmas Pitcher

Brent Chavez spoke about the team's shift in pace and how the Raiders comeback led to their eventual loss.

“We had a great start,

came out hot on the bat, pitching was good, everything was good,” Chavez said. “I think somewhere in the middle of the game they just started finding holes on the offense, luckily we came back, but later in the game we couldn't shut it off when we needed to.”

The 7 run lead eventually became another loss against Moorpark, whom Pierce played against for the fourth time this season with a final score of 1513.

Head Coach Bill Picketts praised the team for their continued effort and attitude that was maintained throughout the entire game.

“Being up seven to nothing is always a nice way to start the game,

obviously the finish isn't what we wanted, but like I've said all year, they come to play hard every time,” Picketts said. “They compete, sometimes we don't end up on the right side of the score, but I like the way they go about it.”

Brahma players

Dante Zamudio and Ivan Castillo both led the charge with 4 hits each, and a 20 hit total, Pierce made sure their loss was not in vain.

“I mean we had 20 hits, usually you're not gonna lose too many games when you have that much offense,” Picketts said.

“Offensively I think we were just fine, we just couldn't pitch when we needed to pitch.”

The pitchers the Brahmas used were

Raul Reyes, Jorge Romero and Dante Zamudio.

Catcher Esteban

Perez shared his thoughts on the team's performance today and what they can improve upon going forward.

“It started pretty good, we had a lot of runs in the beginning,” Perez said. “We had the lead but they came out on top, that's just the way baseball is sometimes. I feel like we can improve on getting the important outs.”

The Pierce College Brahmas will face off against the Cuesta College Cougars on April 25.

“We wanted to basically map out the process of cellular respiration,” said Ovsovich. “So, to see what products go in, what products go out, it’s just more of a means of conceptualizing a really long, complicated pathway and breaking it down into simpler, more digestible parts.”

BRIEF: Former Brahma pursues NFL Dream

Sims said Colon was one of his favorite players.

Former Brahma and now Lake Erie College’s linebacker Jayme Vicente-Colon is looking to hear his name get called in this year's NFL Draft, which starts Thursday.

Colon played for Pierce during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He led the team with 7.8 tackles per game during the 2018 season, which was fourth-best in the American Pacific Conference.

Colon played under Jason Sabolic (who was fired due to alleged decorum violations), then-interim head coach James Sims, as well as Carlos Woods.

In a 2019 Roundup article, “Storming into a new adventure” Colon said Sims was a good coach.

“He was a really good coach when he stepped in. Helped us improve in every aspect of our game,” Colon said.

Sims is now the head coach of Brahmas football and is heading onto his second season with the team.

“Jayme was one of the best I have ever coached. He is a hard worker at everything he sets out to do. He is like a son to me and six years later we still talk all the time,” Sims said.

Sims coached Colon for a short time but that didn’t stop Sims from noticing Colon.

Sims said he’s proud of Colon for his on-field achievements and off-field achievements.

“So proud he stuck with not only football but school. He will be graduating with his bachelor's degree. He went to college in my home state of Ohio and I was able to go visit him.

Vicente-Colon transferred to Lake Erie Lake Erie in 2019, which is a Division II program in Painesville, Ohio.

At Lake Erie, Vicente-Colon racked up 101 tackles, eight tackles-for-loss, a sack and two interceptions.

The 2023 NFL Draft will take place in Kansas City.

File photo of Jayme VicenteColon by Joshua Manes

Photo by Jay Abril

Veteranary Science Club student Emily Turovsky hangs with the animals at the petting zoo at Pierce College in Woodland Hills Calif., on April 19, 2023.

SOPHIA CANO Reporter

Photo by Audrinna Meza

Pierce College Student Health Center assistant Loralyn Fredrick testes students on how well their vision is in Woodland Hills, Calif., on April 19, 2023.

Photo by Audrinna Meza Pierce College Medical Director and Physician Mitchell Nishimoto checks students' blood pressure levels to make sure they're on a healthy path, in Woodland Hills, Calif., on April 19, 2023.