College charts 2025 plans
Andrew Pilani News Editor
Derrick Telix Staff Writer
With 2024 wrapping up soon, Cerritos College is implementing new opportunities to campus life and student services in 2025.
The Vice President of Student Services Robyn Brammer and Vice President of Business Services Felipe Lopez shared their areas’ plans for the coming year as they seek to fulfill the goal of the Students First Framework –graduating 50% of students in five years or less.
Construction and Renovation
Lopez said renovations to the Health Science building are nearing completion – according to Lopez. It’s planned to be completed in March and should be moved into over the summer semester.
Construction is also progressing on the new Student Services and Administration building, which is set to be completed in December, 2026.
Not long after it’s completed, the new student housing project is estimated to open in spring of 2027, according to Brammer.
Bots and Fraud
The college is continuing its efforts to tackle the ongoing fraud
problem plaguing community colleges in which fake bot students are being used to steal financial aid.
According to Brammer, progress is being made as the college has engaged in a free pilot program with N2N and its LightLeap AI Fraud Detection service for California Community Colleges.
N2N found additional fraud that the college didn’t already find and, after the college has finished investigating this fraud. If it proves to be accurate, the college will likely purchase their services soon.
Financial Aid
Students struggled with receiving financial aid this year, but Brammer clarified that the college had little control over the causes of those issues and that financial aid wouldn’t be impacted by them again this year.
Brammer explained that the first major issue with financial aid aid this year was due to a delay in the application process on the federal side by two months.
to the delays in funding.
The process went smoothly this year so the college shouldn’t be affected by this issue again.
Brammer also explained how issues with version of the college’s PeopleSoft service led students taking less than six units to not be calculated correctly so the college had to do an emergency system update to get it ready on time.
She added that the college has updated the system and will do so again over the winter break so she doesn’t think there’ll be as much of an issue again this coming year.
Immigration and the DOE
Lopez believes that it’s a little early to determine what
levers of Cerritos College’s
This delay rippled throughout the whole system and contributed
President-elect Donald Trump will do regarding education, but doesn’t believe that the Department of Education will be gotten rid of.
Lopez said that during Trump’s first term, he was actually a big supporter of community colleges and hopes that stays the same in his second term.
According to The Atlantic in 2018, Trump dismissed community colleges by saying he didn’t know what purpose they serve.
Brammer released a flyer informing students and faculty on what to do if there are federal immigration officials on campus. It tells people not to panic, ask for identification, and to notify her as she’s the first person that should be contacted by the government in such matters.
It also states that information about student information can’t be released to law enforcement officials without receiving official district permission from Brammer. She did say that they have to abide by federal laws, however, would try to see what they can do in those situations .
The flyer goes on to say that the Cerritos College Campus Police Department will not enforce federal immigration laws and will continue to follow the California Trust Act which doesn’t let minor infractions trigger deportations.
It also states law enforcement officials don’t have complete access to all areas of campus without permission and that there aren’t different rules for international students.
Brammer added that the college is trying to learn more and heard through an advocate in Washington, D.C. that the government is more likely to focus more on prisons than schools.
Cerritos College President Dr.Jose Fierro will meet with undocumented students soon for a town forum to address their concerns.
Student Services
Student Services is releasing a new student education planning platform, HighPoint Degree Planner – it is completely different from the existing ed planner and will have 230 academic plans.
It launched on Dec. 9 to a limited set of students and will start opening up to more students in spring of next year.
The college is also creating a new online catalogue which will integrate into everything the college does and webpages are going to change to point to things in the catalogue.
Additionally, the state is rolling out common course numbering which will increase the number of digits in class names from three to four in an effort to standardize the system between community colleges and ensure that classes with the same title at different colleges will be similar contentwise.
She said that the college will slowly ramp up class number changes.
On the topic of standardization, the college is combining the CSU and UC transfer plans into a single one called CALGETC.
See 2025 on page 2
COURTESY OF CERRITOS COLLEGE
The
Students First Framework.
ANDREW PILANI
The new Cerritos College Student Services and Administration building under construction on Dec. 9, 2024.
ANDREW PILANI
The Health Science building at Cerritos College being renovated on Dec. 9, 2024.
Solar energy coming to college
Derrick Telix Staff Writer
Phase one of Cerritos College’s three-phase plan to build a series of solar panels in parking lots 1 and 10 will begin construction near the end of December.
Cerritos College’s Executive Vice President of Business Services, Felipe Lopez shared how the project will provide a more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly way to power the school as part of the college’s sustainability goals.
Lopez stated that this will save the college around $20 to 30 million over the next 30 years and will offset about 85% of the college’s energy usage.
He explained that the college won’t pay the upfront costs for this project– it negotiated a deal with Forefront Power to build the project and will be receiving energy at a reduced and fixed rate from them as part of a Power Purchase Agreement.
According to the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings initiative, “A PPA is an arrangement in which a thirdparty developer installs, owns and operates an energy system on a customer’s property.
“The customer then purchases the system’s electric output for a
2025
Continued from page 1
As for implementing some of these plans, Brammer mentioned how communication is key concern so she’s working on ideas to improve it.
Enrollment services is going to update People Tools and will replace MyCerritos with a new layout for staff and faculty –testing begins in January, 2025, and will go live on Feb. 21, 2025.
It’s set to debut a new schedule builder in April which plans improve the ability for students to enroll in classes and work with their schedules.
Counseling is going to start the first bachelor’s degree at Cerritos College in dental hygiene in February, 2025.
As for student accessibility needs, the college is going to streamlining the process for ADHD evaluations and do more to support the needs of students with disabilities.
Closing Thoughts
“It’s a lot of change occurring – which is exciting, but also, you know, daunting,” Brammer shared.
Lopez shared that he’s going to work to make sure Business Services plans will meet the needs of the campus.
Talon Marks also reached out to Vice President of Academic Affairs Frank Mixson, but haven’t received a response about his plans for 2025 as of Dec. 8.
predetermined period.
“A PPA allows the customer to receive stable and often low-cost electricity with no upfront cost, while also enabling the owner of the system to take advantage of tax credits and receive income from the sale of electricity.”
Lopez explained that, since the college has fixed the price rate that it buys energy from Forefront Power, it won’t pay as much as it would otherwise from energyprovider Edison as rates tend to go up over time – even if rates don’t go up, the college should still save money.
He also said he wasn’t sure if the excess energy would be sold back to the grid and that Forefront Power would know more about that.
Additionally, he said that there won’t be a battery backup system for the project as projects of this nature don’t usually have them – if the college decided to install one, it would’ve resulted in extra upfront costs.
The solar panels will be directly above the parking spaces and will still be available for people to park there once construction is finished.
During the day, the panels will provide shade to the parking lot and lighting will be installed to keep the parking lot lit during the night.
According to Lopez, the first phase of the project will start furthest away from the PAC and will shift closer to the PAC during phase three – phase two will take
place in Parking Lot 1.
He said that there shouldn’t be much impact on parking as Parking Lot 10 usually isn’t full and there is enough extra space on campus to make up for the temporarily lost parking spots – the loss of parking space could be more impactful as construction reaches the PAC building, though.
Parking Lot 10 is located next to the Performing Arts Center, Campus Police and New Falcon Way – Parking Lot 1 is located On Alondra Boulevard and is next to the gym and stadium.
Phase one is estimated to be from December, 2024 to July, 2025; Phase two is estimated to be from February, 2025 to December, 2025; and phase three is estimated to be from May, 2025 to September, 2025.
Lopez noted that this schedule is subject to change.
Normally, it would be the director of physical plant and construction services in charge of this project, however, due to the former director Anthony Parker leaving the position vacant, Lopez is now the one in charge.
The college is currently recruiting for a replacement director to fill the position.
Santa comes to town at Cerritos College
Alyssa Mejia Contributor
Cerritos College kicked off the holiday season with its annual Santa’s Village event on Dec. 7 for the public to take pictures with Santa and participate in a variety of holiday-themed arts and crafts.
This event was open to both students and the surrounding community.
Attendees could take photos with Santa and enjoy drawing booths, arts and crafts, face painting, sweet treats and hot cocoa, games and food from the Taco Bite food truck.
Dr. Jose Fierro, the president of Cerritos College, attended the village and said that the idea was to have two annual events where the public can participate in campus events – one in the spring and another in the winter.
“We wanted to open the campus to the community,” he said, “so they can see the changes we have made on campus, we couldn’t have made those changes without the help of the community… this is the least that we can do.”
Fierro wanted to thank the surrounding community for their continued support and trust in its services to students as the college has been undergoing renovations and construction, such as the Health Science building and the Student Services Administration building.
Cerritos College notes its values on the website, is to
“Promote respect and trust in all people regardless of background, including students, community members and employees.”
Attendees were greeted by Chelsea Van Doonum, the director of public relations and Toni Grijalva, the community relations coordinator, at an informational booth. They gave out candy and a variety of different brochures to promote the college and its activities.
Van Doonum stated, “One of the goals of the Board of Trustees is to have events like these… we’ve had movie events for families so this is more of an open house type of feeling… we just wanted to invite the community to have fun with us.”
Having Santa’s village was the college’s way of saying thank you to the community.
“We’re having such a good time… my parents came to college here, so did my sister
and husband… it’s so nice to see all the changes and familiar faces,” Maegan Moo, a community member, said as she and her daughter were creating holiday arts and crafts.
The main event of Santa’s village was for the kids to take pictures with Santa inside the college’s Fine Arts building. Santa welcomed plenty of kids with a smile and asked them what they wished for this holiday season.
Avery Moo, Maegan’s daughter, excitedly said she asked Santa for “an Ariel princess castle water slide!”
Another community member, Angelica Zambrano, visited Santa’s Village because her son is a student while her daughter, Claire, simply asked Santa for some candy.
The PAC is holding three free concerts in the Performing arts center auditorium. Band/Orchestra Friday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m.
The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank will distribute food to the community in Cerritos College’s parking lot 1 while supplies last. Wednesday, Dec. 18 9 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Cerritos College campus will be closed for the holidays. Dec. 23, 2024 – Jan. 1, 2025
Final exams begin on Saturday, Dec. 14 and end on Friday, Dec. 20. Jan. 13, 2025
ALYSSA MEJIA
What a car parked under a solar panel could look like.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DERRICK TELIX
Santa posing with a family in the Cerritos College Fine Arts building during the Santa’s Village event on Dec. 7, 2024.
Andrew Pilani News Editor
Young adults criticize Norwalk housing ban
Samantha Rodriguez Contributor
Norwalk residents facing housing insecurities say they’re deeply opposed to the city’s moratorium on emergency and affordable housing options.
They’re concerned the policy will ultimately hurt the city’s most vulnerable – youth and young adults.
Ebony Green, 32, is a resident of Norwalk who is currently challenged with homelessness said she is unhappy with the city of Norwalk banning new homeless shelters and supportive housing.
“I disagree because Norwalk is close to my job,” she said.“I could’ve had a shelter with Norwalk right now, which would’ve been a lot more convenient to my situation.”
The state of California, in full partnership with Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the city of Norwalk on Nov. 4.
The lawsuit claims that the city council of Norwalk performed an unlawful ban against the state’s mandate to construct new homeless shelters and supportive housing projects.
With Norwalk refusing to reverse the ban, some community members believe the decision
represents disregard and carelessness for the community.
Green criticized the Norwalk City Council as racist to minorities after delaying housing services for the next 10 months.
With inflation still hovering above 2%, residents say this is considerably the worst time to pull the plug on homelessness resources.
“If anything, Norwalk is kicking the homeless out and limiting their resources,” she said.
Green believes youth and
young adults will be the ones affected if shelters and housing aren’t established within the community.
“Lots of children’s parents are homeless, impacting our future generations as the child will go through improper access to education and be limited from their basic needs like a shower, food and secure housing, ultimately impacting their success in education and growth.”
Similarly, Alfran Ramirez, 21, a current Wingstop employee,
shared his deep concern for the Norwalk community suffering from the city council’s ban.
Ramirez also disagrees with Norwalk banning expanded housing services.
“Homeless people need help and shelters just like every other individual,” he said, claiming that shelters won’t have a negative tension on communities because they will have employees supervising them.
“Our schools and youth will be affected in a negative way if
housing isn’t provided for the needy to rely on.”
Ramirez explained how youth shouldn’t have to grow up seeing others’ struggle, especially within their community. He believes the city needs a better environment for our future generations.
“Every day a stable person will face homelessness through another person. More people are becoming homeless.”
The city of Norwalk declined an interview citing the ongoing litigation, but forwarded a statement pushing back on the idea that they aren’t committed to the housing needs of residents.
“The City is disappointed with the state’s approach as it was hopeful that it could reach a resolution without litigation,” said Levy Sun, Norwalk’s communications and public affairs director. “The City will nevertheless continue to reach out to state stakeholders in its approach to forge partnerships in line with Attorney General Bonta’s statement supporting collaborative solutions to these important issues.”
Los Angeles County currently offers a Youth Employment Opportunity Program located at 12715 S. Pioneer Blvd. in Norwalk. According to the website, it provides employment services for at-risk adolescents and young adults within LA County.
Pana’s Cafe brings Latino culture to SteelCraft
Alejandra Guerra Staff Writer
Natalie Gonzalez Staff Writer
Locals are excited about the newest Mexican coffee shop, Pana’s Cafe, located just on Bellflower Boulevard inside of SteelCraft.
SteelCraft first opened in 2017, it is an outdoor eatery built into repurposed shipping containers which makes for a unique experience.
Panas Cafe is the newest addition to SteelCraft , which was occupied by Solid Coffee Roasters for a few years.
Panas opened up on Nov. 1 and during its opening weeks, they blew up on TikTok which attracted many customers.
The owner of Pana’s Cafe, Lizbeth Velasquez, said, “The first couple weeks we opened, we were consistent which our worry was, are we going to have enough customers, we’re new to the area, and what not. But it was pretty consistent and we had a lot of regulars starting to come.”
“Then we made a TikTok video on our holiday menu and it just blew up and went viral and we got slammed with people coming in. Which was such a blessing but at the same time, it was a learning curve for us because at that time we were only open for like two and a half weeks and it was a lot for us to take in and learn,”
Velasquez said. She added, “But I think through that process, we were able to adjust and find a flow that really worked for everyone in there. The great part is we have an amazing team who really puts a lot of effort into everything they make and when we see those TikTok videos of people coming in, the girly pops, and all their cute videos and the recommendations, it really does make our day to know that we brightened up someone else’s day.”
Pana’s Cafe is named after Velasquez’s father whose nickname is Pana which means “close friend.” Velasquez said that their father didn’t know about the cafe being named after him until the opening week because they wanted it to be a surprise.
Velasquez shared, “When we were doing the taste testing for this and talking to the landlord about getting the location, our dad was actually very very sick. He was on his deathbed. It just strengthened the idea of, “we’re doing this in his honor and we’re truly sticking to our roots of what Pana’s cafe is.”
“So when we eventually told him, once he got a little better, he was so ecstatic about it. He tells everyone over there in Guadalajara. He’s like, “I have a coffee shop, I’m Panas, Pana Nice is trending and going viral,” Velasquez said.
When the opportunity presented itself to open up their
cafe, Velasquez revealed they had minimal experience in the field.
She said, “This was a dream - ownership came through networking, we knew them and they offered it to us and we said sure, we’ll learn as we go.”
“You’ll never be an expert until you throw yourself into a field so I think that’s truly one of the American dreams. Our parents come here not knowing anything, not even knowing the language, and this is truly a testimony that you can succeed in anything if you truly put a passion and an idea into it,” Velasquez said.
The cafe’s menu includes specialty coffees, teas, noncoffee drinks, espressos and handmade pan dulce. According to Velasquez, the most popular drink on the regular menu is Pana’s latte and horchata latte.
They are currently offering their holiday menu featuring specialty lattes such as cookie butter, S’mores and peppermint mocha, which have been a huge hit for them.
“It feels great [to open our family-owned latina coffee shop]. I think, more importantly, it’s a staple to the community. And we’re able to bring those flavors and those cultures in and share it with other people who also have those cultures and those who want to experience that, who aren’t part of the Latino culture. So it’s nice to be able to share that within the community and bring that to life,” said Velasquez.
Scan here for Pana’s Cafe Menu
COURTESY OF RUSS ALLISON LOAR
Homeless encampment that is occupying the streets of Los Angeles Skid Row.
ALEJANDRA GUERRA
ALEJANDRA GUERRA
Street view of SteelCraft on Bellflower Boulevard on Dec.6.
Two iced lattes and a hot latte from Pana’s Coffee on Dec.6.
Christina Fernandez: Her story through the lens
Shaniah Campbell A & E Editor
“I always have something to say. I feel like I came out of the womb as an artist with something to say” Christina Fernandez expressed.
With over 30 years of experience in photography and exploring themes of her Mexican American heritage.
Professor Christina Fernandez was highlighted and recognized by ARTnews as one of the 75 Latinx artists who have shaped the art world as we know it today.
This shows how influential her work is to her community while she continues to showcase her experiences of life in several art institutions around the country.
“My parents were influential in my photography career because they were activists. They gave me a point of view that is very apparent in my work.”
“The structure of work, life and gender was something that I was very interested in growing up because of my parents’ activism” said Fernandez.
The inspiration from her parents’ activism led her to pursue higher education by obtaining a bachelor’s degree in studio arts from UCLA and her master’s degree in studio arts with a concentration in photography from CalARTS.
She then went on to become a
photography professor at Cerritos College in 2001.
As an educator, Christina has always been an advocate for helping her students get to the next point in their educational career when transitioning to a four-year university.
“When I recognize talent and see dedication in a student I encourage them to continue with their work at a four-year university.”
“Some of them want to do fashion or even commercial photography, so I always encourage them to transfer to photography programs for a fouryear degree” said Fernandez.
Being an artist comes with its ups and down but not for professor Fernandez.
She has consistently been unapologetic about her work as an artist.
She has constantly broken down barriers by showcasing her powerful experiences through the lens of her personal life, Mexican American heritage, immigration and labor.
One of her most memorable pieces of work “Maria’s Great Expedition” was released in 1995.
Which is homage to her greatgrandmother María González who migrated to the United States from Mexico.
“It’s about the story of her life. I’m posing as her in the photographs and mostly because
we didn’t have any photos of her. I decided to pose as her because I was named after her and I was told I looked like her. “
“The six photographs are displayed with a map of her journey and also bilingual text that talks about her travels and the context of where women and immigrants were at. “ Fernandez expressed.
Maria’s Great Expedition has been collected by numerous museums around the country like the Princeton University Art Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum and The Getty Museum.
“Many major museums have purchased this work because I think they believe it relates to a lot of people’s experience with immigration.”
“ Also, I think I take a lot of pride in being able to use a family story that is so relatable for many people” Professor Fernandez explained.
Fernandez’s work has not been unnoticed with one of her art pieces “BEND” being featured in the new art exhibition Shifting Landscapes at The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.
The art exhibition has been open since Nov. 1, 2024 and is set to open through Jan. 2026.
This year has been full of surprises from Kendrick Lamar ranging from new music to announcing performing at the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show.
Kendrick Lamar surprise released his sixth studio album called “GNX” on Friday, Nov. 22.
The album is a 9.5 out of 10 and really shows the importance of the west coast and how it has its own sound apart from different regions in the country.
From beginning to end, the project sounds like Lamar is paying homage to the west coast and California culture. Many of the songs have very hard hitting beats that remind California natives of what west coast rap embodies.
“GNX” is the real true embodiment of what regional rap exudes and what west coast rap sounds like from the outside looking in.
The 12-track album has features from R&B singer SZA and Compton native Roddy Ricch. GNX also features some up and coming LA rappers like Dody6, Lefty Gunplay, Wallie the Sensei, Azchike and Peysoh.
Featuring LA artists on this album makes the project more authentic and gives listeners a glimpse of the new rappers coming out of LA.
This also gives people a chance to listen to some of the rappers that were featured in the Ken and Friends pop out show in
Inglewood at The Forum in June LA native Mustard produced two tracks on this album, “hey now” and “tv off” which have a similar rhythm and beat to the diss track “Not Like Us” that was released earlier this year.
As the album progresses Kendrick talks about the evolution of himself as an artist and where he is now in his career.
“Heart pt.6” really sets the tone for his reflection on his evolution as an artist and how they inspired him to be a better artist along with his come up with his TDE peers Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, ScHoolboy Q and Dave Free.
The song gives a clear indication of how important these people were to the beginning of his career along with his mentor that he mentions, Anthony Tiffith founder of Top Dawg Entertainment.
“Top, remember all them sessions we would strategize. To hit the streets, then come back, record three records? Ah”
This project is an overall shout out to the west coast and the culture behind the state of California from the bay all the way down to LA.
It shows how diverse the state itself is compared other regions all over the country.
The album “GNX” is the first album to not be released under Top Dawg Entertainment since leaving the label back in 2022.
GNX was released under his record label pgLang which is founded and owned by both Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free.
Shaniah Campbell A & E Editor
COURTESY OF CHRISTINA FERNANDEZ
Christina Fernandez Maria’s Great Expedition which tells the story of her great grandmother María González migrating to the United States from Mexico.
A trip down Sunset Strip
Walking into the red illuminated rooms of the Rainbow Bar and Grill in West Hollywood, it almost feels like a transportation to the past.
The restaurant is a historical place for those who romanticize the past.
At first called the “Villa Nova” and hosting the likes of old Hollywood stars such as Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe, it eventually became the Rainbow Bar and Grill
It became the place to be for celebrity hangouts in the ‘70s, from hosting Elton John’s birthday party to serving John Belushi his final meal.
However my personal hyperfixation is on the countless musicians who spent their time in the red leather booths of the iconic location and how the bar scene changed as the music scene on Sunset Strip changed.
The restaurant is located just down the street from historic music venues such as Whisky-ago-go and the Troubadour.
Directly next to the Rainbow Bar and Grill is the Roxy Theatre.
The Roxy Theatre is where The Ramones played their first concert in Los Angeles and where System of a Down played their first concert ever.
On the other side of Rainbow
was Gazzari’s, now known as the nightclub, 1OAK.
Gazzari’s was the venue for many artists in the late ‘60s to early ‘90s including Tina Turner and Van Halen.
These venues often catapulted the career of many artists from the ‘60s to the ‘80s.
Whisky-a-go-go is a discotheque located on the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Clark St. in West Hollywood. It was owned by Elmer Valentines and Lou Adler who also founded the Roxy Theatre and invested in the Rainbow Bar and Grill alongside Mario Maglieri.
In 1966, they hired The Doors to be their house band and opened for Van Morrison at the beginning of his career when he was in the band, Them.
The Doors played at Whiskey nightly until they were eventually fired and signed by Elektra Records.
The venue hosted many more well known artists such as Oasis and Neil Diamond.
Lastly, I’d like to talk about the Troubadour.
The Troubadour is where Elton John performed his first concert in the United States.
The intimate venue also hosted the debut of Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, James Taylor, Billy
Joel, Fiona Apple (U.S. debut) and Harry Styles (U.S. Solo Debut) where he performed with Stevie Nicks as a special guest.
The Troubadour has had countless artists perform there and because it is such a small space, this makes the shows extra special as fans get to experience an intimate show before the chaos of fame takes artists to larger venues.
If you’re a music history enthusiast or just like to immerse yourself in the world of music during the ‘70s, Sunset Strip is the place to go. The history is rich and we are lucky to still have access to these places so definitely check it out.
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A debut pop EP from this artist. It’s only 5 songs long but worth it as each song is a hit. “I lied, I’m Sorry” is reminiscent of Wetleg, so if you like them
Mk.gee Two Star & The Dream Police
His music mixes the use of synths with more indie vocals. He recently made an appearance as the musical guest on SNL
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“Starburster” and “Bug” are my favorite from this album. This is the fourth release from the band and they’re sure to grow in popularity.
boygenius the record
It has come to my attention that there are people who have never heard of boygenius. Their recent album, “the record” is vulnerable and brought to life with their incredible vocals.
Fugees The Score
Lauryn Hill has one of the most recognizable voice of the 90s and is well deserved in her praise. Her work on this album is some of my favorites.
The Doors L.A. Woman
With “L.A .Woman”, “Love Her Madly,” and “Riders on the Storm” the album contains many of the band’s greatest hits.
Reality Bites starring Winona Ryder
A coming to age movie about life after college starring Winona Ryder, Ben Stiller, and Ethan Hawke.
Slow Days, Fast Company by Eve Babitz
A series of stories about Babitz’s life in Los Angeles. The book has ultimately dubbed Babitz’ as an It Girl of the 70s.
Sunset Strip is home to many iconic music venues and nightclubs that were popular during the ‘70s.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION LAURA BERNAL
Clothing does not define a woman
Women have been told to dress a certain way since childhood, we see this being enforced everywhere such as in schools with dress code and conservative households.
We have been told since we were young that our bodies are distracting and that we need to cover up to be professional.
Wearing a short skirt, mini dress or a crop top isn’t an invitation for men to dehumanize and sexualize women for their own enjoyment.
Society enables the ill behavior of men and then projects it onto young women instead of facing the real problem.
The pressure of having to dress a certain way for “respect” is something we carry with us into adulthood.
Women shouldn’t have to conform to these unrealistic ideals when it doesn’t change the fact that men are disrespectful individuals.
An article of clothing shouldn’t change how women are perceived by
people in society.
Once men stop with their perverted activities and control their sexual objectification against women, we can wear whatever we want and feel liberated.
Its gotten to a point that even being polite and having on a cute outfit will make you a target for an incel man.
If we wear a cute outfit and are mean to a man, we are called bitches or sluts. If we are wearing a cute outfit and we are being nice to a man we are going to get called easy.
There is truly no winning making it difficult to feel comfortable in our own skin.
We also see on many college campuses that women have been sexually harassed and assaulted.
Women can’t even get an education without feeling uncomfortable by the men around them.
Why do men get to seek their education, go shopping, pump gas and do normal things without feeling like their clothes are making them a target?
Even when we are covered
head to toe in baggy clothing, we are treated as sexual objects.
Women should not have to feel this way ever but at the very least be able to wear what they like without being sexualized and disrespected.
In a perfect world women wouldn’t have to protect themselves from men because of how they’re dressed or how they look physically. Yet, that’s just not the reality for us and we continuously receive negative feedback for it.
The “she asked for it” rhetoric is complete bullshit and is often pushed by men who are complacent with the normalization of rape culture.
Men themselves don’t look at women as human beings but only sexual objects that they
can use for their own needs and enjoyment. This issue is common with girls and women with curvier bodies which can result in these young girls and women being sexualized early in their adolescent years going into adulthood. This occurrence is also prominent in the media, clothing stores and even in women’s own families.
According to UVM ScholarWorks “In the United States, girls are exposed to both implicit and explicit messages from parents, role models, peers, and the media that promote an image of women limited to her sexual attractiveness.”
It’s time we have the talk
Is sex something that we should be hiding from our teenagers nowadays, or is it something we should be making them aware of?
Nowadays, parents seem terrified of the idea of their teenagers taking big steps in their relationships
However. we should be teaching them and letting them know it isn’t something that should be hidden.
As many artists have started up world tours, there have been a couple big names that advocated strongly for women’s rights.
Within these conversations comes the access to contraceptives, which led to another talking about how it is inappropriate to promote these types of things.
Parents believe that these conversations regarding sex will lead to a negative impact on teenagers, thinking it will push the wrong agenda.
Understandably so, it is very important to be aware of the way these conversations are handled.
However, we are not seeing artists promoting sex, rather promoting the idea of ways to be safe and prepared.
According to Planned Parenthood, these conversations
allow teenagers to have improved social/emotional learning.
It also allows for teenagers to avoid unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.
You can’t just sit and talk with your child and tell them not to have sex because it’s bad.
That just leaves so many unanswered questions running through their mind.
Especially when the internet is such a wild crazy space and it could lead them to find things parents would be terrified of.
The content their children may be consuming online could harm them more than safely educate them on safe sex.
“The permeating messages to girls and women in mainstream media “is they should always be sexually available [to men], always have sex on their minds, be willing to be dominated and even sexually aggressed against, and they will be gazed on as sexual objects.”
The harassment and abuse that women experience can result in their self esteem plummeting which can result in other complications like mental health issues.
Women should be able to wear whatever they want and feel liberated without men having to comment or feel the urge to be off putting towards women being affected by harassment.
As for the men reading this, learn some self control, educate yourself and call out your shitty friends who think treating women like objects is okay.
“My top artist of the year is Los Ángeles Azules because I was listening a lot to “Perdonarte ¿Para Que?” and “Amor De Mi Vida.”
with
EDITORIAL CARTOON BY DERRICK TELIX
Compiled by: Natalie Gonzalez & Alejandra Guerra
“My top artist was Lana Del Rey and my top song was, “How to disappear” by Lana Del Rey.”
Rebecca Cantu (She/Her)
Omar Diaz (He/Him)
“My top artist is Bad Bunny and my top song is “Que Te Vaya Bien” by Julión Álvarez y su Norteño Banda.”
Rebeka Beltran (She/Her)
“My top artist was Green Day and my top song was “Why Do You Want Him?” by Green Day.”
Gael Marmolejo (He/Him)
Melanie Salguero Opinion Editor
We need to keep our children educated and have these hard conversations.
COURTERSY OF FLICKR
Red card costs Falcons against rivals in final
Duran Ventura Staff Writer
The Cerritos College Falcons were defeated by The Long Beach City College Vikings in the finals of the Southern California Regional tournament Nov. 30.
The Falcons who had won their last two home playoffs, headed on the road to face a very familiar Vikings squad.
The winner of the Southern California Regional Final head's to the State Championship in Sacramento to play for an opportunity at the National Championship.
The environment in the stands was hostile, Vikings fans were chanting , blowing horns and at a point the fans were on the touchline of the field yelling to players.
On the field the Falcons were on the attack, pressuring quickly while the Vikings passed back to the goalkeeper Abraham Ramirez and slow down to play the long ball to catch the Falcons on the counter.
In the 20th min Edgar Ausencio came down the wing before playing a cross into the box. Keeper Abraham Ramirez jumps to claim the cross, Willam Blanco collides with him and the ball comes out. Sophomore Donovan Perez pounces on the
rebound and scores to make it 1-0.
After the goal the Falcons were looking for more taking the game to the Vikings. Perez kept creating chances and putting good efforts on goal.
Ulises Grado passes to Jose Mariscal and beats Griffin Welch glove on the right side to level it 1-1 going into half time.
In the 24 min of the second half Grado kick a long ball to Mariscal he beat one Falcons
defender and blasted it by Welch on the top left corner of the net to make it 2-1.
Cesar Solarzano Garcia had a
corner and played the ball into the box which found Perez. His effort clattered off the crossbar before being cleared hastily by the Long Beach defense.
With 10 min to go the Falcons were pressing Allan Gonzalez come in and side tackled Edwin Rodriguez for the ball, but the ref call it a foul. Gonzalez foul prove to be disastrous as the ref give him a red card putting the Falcons down to 10 man.
Spring Sports –What's Next?
Peyton Oliveira Co-Sports Editor
With the end of the winter semester fast approaching that means Cerritos college athletics is gearing up for the Spring sports schedule.
Though the semester doesn’t begin until Jan. 13th one sport is already underway, basketball which has seen the men’s team start with a 6-3 record while the women’s record sits at 3-6.
Coach Russ Mayes Men’s team is sporting three players averaging over 10 points per game, Sophomores Darron Henry, Spencer Ezewiro, and Andrew
Mata.
Their production has allowed the Falcons to recover from their opening game loss to achieve a 6-3 record.
Though the women’s team has gotten out to a 3-6 start they were able to put together a three-game winning streak against the likes of Taft, Santa Monica, Southwestern.
Since then head coach Trisha Kozlowski’s team has dropped four straight but two of those games came in tournament play, and the team is hoping to find consistency after a streaky start.
Baseball will look to make a strong return this season after
their impressive 38-10 record saw them go 19-5 in conference before losing 2-1 in the Southern California Regional finals to Saddleback College.
The season will begin for head coach Nate Fernly with scrimmage games against Glendale and Cypress before their first series begins with a two-game series at Mt. San Jacinto.
Softball is coming back from a 2-1 defeat in the second round of the Southern California Regional to Fullerton.
Kodee Murrary will return for her 23rd year coaching at Cerritos coming off of back-to-back 30 win seasons including 33 wins last year.
Of those 33 wins 14 were in the conference good enough for a fourth place finish in the conference.
Cerritos College Track and Field will make a return this Spring led by Head Coach Chris Richardson who was The United States world athletics U20 world championships men’s coach.
Women’s Track and Field finished 2nd place at the Southern California championships including 11 finishes in medal positions. Cerritos placed first in four of their 11 medal positions
Elena Mack finished first in the 400m, Dimitra Vitogiannis came 1st in discus, Milika Burdett
Aritaga on the red card to his team. "Of course it cost us, right? It keeps you a man down when we were right on top of them. And the bullshit is that he called it on with two tackles where the kid clearly won the ball. So if the referee got his agenda, whatever, what he wanted, it's hard to play against the referee, too.”
In added time Mariscal come in on Welch one on one. He juked Welch on the right side to make it 3-1 to complete his hat trick and seal the game.
Mariscal on going to State. "It feels great. I'm one of the team captains. It's a great feeling because all my family was here. Overall, I can't ask for more."
Head Coach Benny Artiaga on his team performance: “The game plan was perfect, bro. We had them. We were the better team. We had them. We outplayed them. We had the more clear chances. It's hard to win when you got the referee one against you, and two, when you yourself don't put away your chances, man.”
Artiaga on his team for this season. “I'm super proud of them, man. Super proud. Our boys played well. We had to finish the season on a high note, and, you know, Cerritos will keep going, man.”
Cerritos finished the season 15-3-5.
came first in hammer, and finally Andrea Villalta finished first in the javelin toss.
Cerritos also finished second place in state last year with more impressive finishes in the 200m, 400m, 4x100m, high jump, discus, javelin, and heptathlon.
The men’s track and field team placed seventh place at the Southern California Championships last year finishing in medal position in two events.
The men’s 110m HH saw Juan Ward bring home second place while runners Jordan Crowdus, Caleb Dunomes, Konnor Handy, and Elijah Jones placed third in the 4×400 meter relay.
At state the team finished 16th only competing in three events however Ward placed second in hurdles once again.
Womens wrestling are defending back-to-back State Champions looking to uphold their status at the top led by Head Coach Dustin Kirk.
The program has dominated for the better part of the last two years including producing three state champions last year.
Rebekah Jimenez in 102 pounds, Natalie Resendiz at 148 pounds and Nile Jernigan at 180 pounds but to go with the state championships cerritos also pulled in five second place finishes.
Beach Volleyball finished with an 8-12 record last year and a 2-8 conference record which they will look to build upon.
Head Coach Kari Hemmerling will lead the team fresh off of the indoor volleyball season.
Head Coach Benny Artiaga Cerritos will keep going, man.
DURAN VENTURA
The Falcons in pregame huddle before their game against the Long Beach Vikings in the Southern California Regonial Finals Nov. 30 2024.
DILLON LAURER/TM ARCHIVES
Guard Miles Ceballos going for a lay up against El Camino during their matchup Jan. 24, 2024
JOEL CARPIO/TM ARCHIVES
Infielder Anthony Bassett signaling the safe sign as he makes it into first base safely March 21, 2024.
Its time to stop defending athletes horrible actions
Jonathan Diaz Co-Sports Editor
Conor McGregor does not deserve any respect and especially doesn’t deserve sympathy from the MMA fan base.
Recently in November 20, 2024 Conor McGregor was found liable of rape and ordered to pay $247,000 to the victim, Nikita Hand.
Hand said on Dec. 9, 2018, Conor McGregor assaulted her after a night of partying and left her heavily bruised and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
She stated that McGregor choked her out three times before the assault took place.
Two paramedics arrived to attend Hand on Dec. 10, 2018 around 8:41 am in which one of the paramedics said that she had never seen someone as bruised in a long time.
One of the paramedics who showed up to the scene, Neil Dempsey, told the court that he found Hand very distressed and had physical marks on her.
She said she had been sexually assaulted and was concerned about a tampon she had inside her which had been there for some time.
The tampon was so difficult to remove that she required surgery to remove it completely.
This is still an ongoing case as McGregor is attempting to appeal the verdict of the case. He said everything was consensual and is still trying to claim his innocence.
However with all this information and the court finding McGregor liable of rape in civil court, there are still fans who want to ignore everything and blindly support McGregor.
Many fans are still arguing the typical argument fans would make when a high profile athlete is accused of sexual assault.
They are accusing Hand of lying and only suing McGregor for money because according to fans, you’re only in court after six years later because of money.
His fans are choosing to ignore the fact that it’s quite common for sexual assault victims to try to avoid reporting as many women are scared of the consequences of
coming forward or they simply wants to forget it ever happened and many victims often blame themselves.
Not to mention the assault took place in 2018 when McGregor was still one of the biggest athletes in the world at the time after boxing Floyd Mayweather and came back to UFC in 2018 fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov, breaking the record for the most pay per view buy with 2.4 million buys.
It’s reasonable for her not to speak up back in 2018 because of how much influence McGregor had back then. So the idea that she’s only taking him to court just now because of money is a ridiculous claim to make.
However that’s not the only claim that fans will say about Hand suing him six years later because but more insensitive are the comments fans were making towards Hands.
Fans took to her social media comments, calling her a whale and even saying that Hands is too ugly and out of McGregor’s league to be assaulted.
I wish I could say I was surprised by all these comments
but I’m not, this is the same fanbase that had defended Jon Jones who beat his wife and a man who ran from the scene after an aa pregnant woman in because “an outside the cage issue shouldn’t matter because that doesn’t affect anything in the cage.”
But when Jon Jones took steroids, something that does affect someone in the cage, the same fans don’t want to hold him accountable.
So it doesn’t surprise me that fans will make excuses for their favorite athlete no matter what
their actions are.
But the sad part about all this is that this behavior from fans is quite common in every sports fandom with them excusing the horrible action some athletes have done.
It’s time to hold these athletes’ actions such as those of Conor McGregor a lot more accountable because this is getting embarrassing. We should not show them any leniency just because of their status or just because they entertain us as fans.
The rise of South Gate's UFC fighter Victor Henry
Jonathan Diaz Co-Sports Editor
“I remember thinking to myself,” Victor Henry said, “‘I could listen to [my mom] and be exactly where she’s at or I can go do my own thing and find out where it takes me.’” But what exactly drove the soon-to-be UFC bantamweight to this point before the South Gate native got his chance to fight in the world’s biggest fighting organization in the world?
Henry, known as “La Mangosta” in the cage, was born on May 4, 1987 in Southeast LA County, where he also grew up.
“I grew up in South Gate in the early 90’s. I was there during the LA riots,” Henry said.
He explained growing up in that era was different than it is now, recalling a story where he was mistaken as a rival gang member.
“We had this burger joint up the street called Freeday’s. They were selling drugs out of there. Me and Eric [his friend] and my friend Robert. We were caught in a drive-by one time and they were shooting at us because they thought we were rivals gang members,” Henry said.
While living in South Gate, fighting came into his life in a lot of ways, but his mother warned him not to go down that road.
“My mom told me ‘never get
in fights, you’ll get in trouble,’” he said. “[But] all of a sudden I’d get in a fight because this kid threw my skateboard onto the street and I was all amped up. But at the same time, that was kinda exciting,” Henry said.
So exciting that he even used to fight his friend regularly.
Victor started training in martial arts at 13-years-old because the school he was going to attend didn’t have many sports to choose from.
“I wanted to play football, but they didn’t have football so my mom said to me ‘you need to do something because you’re not going to do nothing,’” he said. “So I looked into the paper and I saw
taekwondo. I saw someone get kicked in the face and I wanted to join this,” Henry said.
However, he didn’t take his first MMA fight until after he graduated high school.
“My coach at the time [said] ‘you’re here all the time anyways why don’t you take a fight’ and I was like ‘cool’ so we tried it and I knocked the guy out in 20 something seconds,” Henry said.
Henry continued his MMA career through the pros, having over 30 professional fights with many mixed martial art organizations including many fights in Japan.
“I was 6-1 at that point and my coach, Josh Barnett, he goes ‘hey
there’s this opportunity to fight in Japan and they want a 135er.
Henry explained after learning about the opportunity, he told his mom that he had a chance to fight in Japan but was met with discouragement as his mom said that fighting in Japan wasn’t a good idea.
Nonetheless, Victor Henry went on to win his fight in Japan and continues to fight overseas against the best fighters Japan has to offer, earning the nickname “The Japanese Killer.”
Henry said fighting in Japan opened doors to fighting in more countries with the goal being fighting around the world and seeing where that will take him.
This mindset led him to fighting in the UFC.
Before getting the call to fight in the UFC, Henry fought in the local promotion, Lights Out Extreme, also known as LXF, as the main event for LXF 6.
“After that fight, the UFC gave a call,” he said. “No one called me directly, they called Josh Barnett first to set up this fight. I was eating at a Korean BBQ place stuffing my face and Josh called me asking if I want to fight Raoni Barcelos in two weeks and I was like ‘yeah lets go,’” Henry said with a laugh.
However, his fight against Raoni Barcelos set for Dec. 18, 2021 got cancelled due to COVID-19.
“I tested false positive and now I’m over here thinking they’re gonna cut me out, they’re not gonna mess with me anymore. I didn’t work out and now I’m gone,” he said after his fight got cancelled.
However, in January 2022, he got a chance to fight Raoni Barcelos for UFC 270 N’Gannou vs. Gane, winning by decision.
“I had a one week training camp and the next week I was cutting weight and had one of the biggest fights in my life.”
Henry later fought five more times in the UFC after his debut having a UFC record of 3 wins, 2 losses, and an overall MMA record of 24-7.
Conor Mcgregor press conference ahead of his fight aganist Jose Aldo in Dec 12, 2015
Victor Henry at DEEP 85 Impact on Aug. 26, 2018 in which he fought and defeated Takafumi Otsuka
Courtesy of MAZA Fight Gallery
FEATURE
ANDRIUS PETRUCENIA