Vol. 88 ∙ No. 12

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Heptathlete Cecilia Hickman’s story

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An undocumented student’s struggle

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Sports, Page 11

Features, Page 4

The Renegade Rip Vol. 88 ∙ No. 12

Bakersfield College

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Districts respond to $19m fraud Liability argued among KCCD, KCSOS and Treasurer-Tax Collector By Morgan Park Editor-in-Chief

SAMUEL MORENO / THE RIP

From left to right: Emm West, Naomi Valladares, Richard Tovar and Elexus Thurman examine the mock murder scene on March 23.

Mock murder tests student skills By Mario Saldaña

Digital Content Editor

A fake crime scene was set up at the Bakersfield College gymnasium for a criminal justice class learning about forensic evidence. Teachers Patricia Smith and Harlan Hunter set up the crime scene for their class to get a better understanding of how a real crime scene would go through investigation. The crime scene was located under the BC gym near the racquetball courts. Students would go into the room and try to solve the crime with little knowledge of the scene. Patricia Smith, a BC criminal justice professor, explained the reason for these hands-on activities and how it will better prepare a student for a reallife situation when they are out in the field.

She said in this mock scenario, that individuals were working out, and a drug deal ensued and went bad. “Someone owed someone money to the other, and they got in a fight and one got shot,” she said. “Before this activity, we were talking about the evidence commonly found at crime scenes, so we’ve been around blood, spatter, and blood patterns, ballistics and all different types of evidence, and finger prints. “In class, we also have a chapter on just crime scenes, and we have had officers come to our class and talk about police work,” she said. The students can’t do real lab work because, Smith said, “we don’t have a lab, but we just talk about a criminal justice type of approach and how to handle a crime scene and how to protect a crime scene.

“So now they’re trying to put everything together we learned in class and figuring it all out by analyzing the crime scene, and what took place [in the crime scene]. Of course, this is not a real crime scene, this is a mock crime scene, they’re learning how to write a report, because I taught them that in order to convict and prosecute they have to go through the crime scene very thoroughly,” said Smith. The eight individual teams that went into the crime scene March 21 and March 23 had no idea, when they first went in, what they were looking at, just the bit of information they were provided about the crime scene. The eight teams had individual tasks: a report writer also known as the lead investigator, a photographer, an evidence collector and a sketcher. As Please see CRIME SCENE, Page 9

New bill could allow more B.A.’s at BC

‘Real Boy’ Q&A talks LGBTQ struggles

By Zach Sullivan Reporter

By Ambria King Reporter

The Bakersfield College Sexual and Gender Acceptance club, or SAGA, and California Humanities screened the awardwinning documentary, “Real Boy,” on March 16 in Forum 101 East. One would have been hardpressed to find an open seat as the audience was filled with more than 100 faculty members, members of the LGBTQ community, and allies who came out to show their support and watch the film, which chronicled a young transgender man named Bennett Wallace over a period of four years. Immediately following the film was a panel discussion with the film’s director Shaleece Haas, senior program officer at California Humanities John Lightfoot, and SAGA member Jack Backover, who is also transgender.

The Kern Community College District and Kern County Superintendent of Schools have issued a joint letter in response to the disappearance of a combined $19 million from both institutions’ Wells Fargo accounts. The theft, which, according to Kern County Treasurer-Tax Collector Jordan Kaufman in a report by the Bakersfield Californian, occurred over two or three years, primarily targeted the KCCD, from which $16.4 million was taken. The KCSOS has suffered a loss of $2.6 million. So far, efforts have “recovered almost 80 percent of the funds,” said Kaufman on March 27. The letter, signed by KCCD chancellor Tom Burke and superintendent of schools Mary Barlow and dated March 21, goes through the order of events in discovering the fraudulent activity beginning in January and assures readers that they are “working together with the County’s Treasurer-Tax Collector and its bank, Wells Fargo, along with the AuditorController, the District Attorney’s office and the F.B.I. to identify those responsible for the theft and recover the funds that have been stolen.” The letter also claims comments to the media have led to confusion in the public. “Unfortunately, since the discovery of this fraud, the County Treasurer and Auditor-Controller have made statements and/or released copies of documents to the media without consulting with us. This has led to confusion and misinformation to the general public and our partner agencies.” The large majority of the theft occurred from the agencies’ payroll clearing accounts, which were “established exclusively for payroll payments to school district employees,” Please see FRAUD, Page 9

JESSE NAJERA / THE RIP

Director Shaleece Haas and SAGA advocate Jack Backover conduct “Real Boy” Q&A. While the film highlighted the physical and emotional difficulties Wallace faced during his transition, it also explored the complexities of family relationships, the struggles of addiction, and the importance of having a support system through difficult times. The film showcased the difficulties that coming to terms with gender identity can have, not only on the one who is transitioning, but on the family as well. In the beginning of the film, there is tension between Wallace and his mother, Suzy Reinke, as she struggles to come to terms with her child’s transition and learn to

accept Wallace’s gender identity. The film also highlights the deep bonds that Wallace has built with those outside of his family who are more supportive of his transition. Joe Stevens, a guitarist and vocalist in the band Coyote Grace, who is also transgender, becomes Wallace’s mentor and confidant. The relationship between Wallace and Stevens was one of the main focal points of the film. “I was just really moved by the relationship and the friendship between Joe and Bennett. In LGBT communities, there’s a long tradition of chosen family, whether our families support

us or don’t,” said Haas. “I was struck and moved by the way Joe and Ben were showing up for each other. ... I met Bennett’s mom, Suzy, and things expanded and I realized there was a story about both given and chosen family, and those intersections.” By the end of the film, Wallace, Reinke and Stevens all embarked on their own unique journeys, worked through many different struggles, and came out stronger in the end. Wallace and his mother are able to rebuild their relationship, and both learn to love and accept each other, even when they don’t fully unPlease see REAL BOY, Page 9

Bakersfield College is one of 13 community colleges in California that offer a bachelor’s degree to students, and if Senate Bill 769, which was proposed to the California Senate last month, is approved, it would allow BC to offer bachelor’s degrees in multiple fields, said Matthew Garrett, a history professor at BC. According to Garrett, the requirements for the pilot programs currently in place are that schools create original degrees that do not duplicate existing degrees offered at any CSU or UC school, and that the degrees must have workforce needs. Bakersfield College currently offers a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Automation, which according to the California Community Colleges Chancellors Office, “responds to today’s industry needs for

engineering teams involved in developing new products or systems.” Garrett explained that if the bill is approved, it will amend the state education code to expand the existing four-year degree pilot program from 13 to 30 schools, eliminate the pilot program restriction of one bachelor program per school as well as lessen the nonduplication requirement from statewide to just 100 miles and extend the existing and future bachelor pilot programs indefinitely. Garrett believes enabling community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees will help solve the issue of affordable education. “Besides it being just very cool that BC will likely get to offer degrees, there is an equity and access issue at the heart of the discussion,” he said. “Many students cannot afford UC or CSUs. And if a student does Please see B.A.’s, Page 9


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