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“The young intellectuals are all chanting “‘revolution, revolution.’ But I say the revolution will have to start in our homes by achieving equal rights for women.” -Qiu Jin
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VOL. 99, NO. 11 APRIL 8,
2021
An Associated Collegiate Press two-time national Pacemaker award-winning newspaper, serving as the voice of the students since 1922. VISIT OUR WEBSITE VIEWPOINTSONLINE.ORG
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Faculty Association, HR settle dispute Both parties come to agreement of faculty investigations BY ERIK GALICIA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Te n s i o n s b e t w e e n t h e Riverside Community College District Faculty Association and Human Resources Department eased as both sides came to an agreement over investigations of instructors. Union board members went public with their grievances at recent Board of Trustees and
Academic Senate meetings. While declaring full support for faculty investigations that root out any sort of discrimination, they said they believed HR had gotten out of control in its handling of said investigations. Chancellor Wolde-Ab Isaac was in New York at the time that union board members publicly addressed the issues they were having with HR. While he was gone, the dispute reached
the point where the Faculty Association called for a complete audit of HR and a public hearing on the department. According to Rhonda Taube, Faculty Association president, HR had “gone crazy with what is the latitude of what constitutes an investigation.” “They really seem to be working outside of the bounds of the law,” she said in an interview April 1.
Ta u b e a n d D a r i u s h Haghighat, Riverside City College vice president of the Faculty Association, claimed HR has questioned instructors about “who sits next to who at committee meetings” and “who says hello to who in the morning.” The HR Department is responsible for maintaining a climate that is free of unlawful discrimination, harassment and
retaliation. The department is tasked with overseeing investigations of possible violations of Title V and IX, laws that prohibit discrimination based on ethnicity, nationality, r a c e , g e n d e r, s e x , s e x u a l orientation and other protected characteristics. Lorraine Jones, district Title IX and compliance officer,
See HR on page 5
Student forum addresses reopening BY ERIK GALICIA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Administrators reiterated details of the Riverside Community College District’s campus reopening plans during an open forum with over 70 students April 6. The district recently announced plans to return to inperson instruction during the fall 2021 semester in a pre-pandemic manner: 80% in-person and 20% online. Chip West, Riverside City College vice president of Business Services, said the 80-20 plan assumes Riverside County will be in a largely non-restrictive tier in August. That plan does not include social distancing requirements or pandemic-related class capacity limits. If the county remains in a more restrictive tier by fall, the corresponding safety measures will remain in effect on campus. “We will follow those to the letter,” West said via Zoom. He added that RCC is fixing air filters in all facilities to meet state safety mandates and is installing personal protective equipment and hand sanitizing stations. Gregory Anderson, RCC president, said vaccinations are strongly encouraged but not
See FORUM on page 3
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DANIEL HERNANDEZ | VIEWPOINTS
A fruit vendor prepares food for customers at his stand on Tyler Street near the Tyler Galleria Mall in Riverside on April 3.
Communities rally for street vendors BY JENNIPHER VASQUEZ STAFF REPORTER
Communities across California have joined forces to safeguard street vendors in the wake of a recent homicide. Lorenzo Perez, 45, worked as a street vendor in Fresno, California. He was approached by an 18-year-old male and shot in the head March 21. The 18-year-old pretended he was going to buy something from Perez before murdering him. The incident led to a united
effort by community members and street vendor advocates statewide to provide security, tasers, pepper spray and other forms of protection. Edin Enamorado, 33, of Cudahy, California, is one of many across the state who advocate for street vendors. He provides aid to those who have been attacked or fear for their safety. Enamorado worked with the Bernie Sanders campaign as the regional field director, overseeing five counties between Oxnard and Salinas. He is currently a research
coordinator for USC, which collaborates with the National Institute of Health. Street vendor Gerardo Ivan Olmeda Del Pilar, 22, was brutally attacked while selling fruit in Long Beach on Jan. 16. Enamorado said this attack sparked the movement in support of street vendors. He traveled to Long Beach with his team to help fundraise for the victim and found ways to help others in the community who are at risk of being attacked. “We got several social media comments saying we should give
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them tasers, so that’s what we started doing.” Enamorado said. “But then as we started talking to self-defense experts, they said that pepper spray was better.” He said two other attacks against street vendors occured in Long Beach while he was there, prompting him to begin hiring teams of armed security to accompany the vendors while they work. Enamorado funded these resources out of his own pocket in the beginning. Once attention
See VENDOR on page 4
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