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“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.” - James Baldwin
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VOL. 99, NO. 12 APRIL 29,
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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Chancellor addresses reopening First of four town halls answers questions districtwide BY LIV PEARSON STAFF REPORTER
The Riverside Community College District’s enrollment struggles, along with progress in handling the pandemic, played a key role in the decision to reopen campuses in the fall. Community College enrollment has declined across the state throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and RCCD is no exception. Wolde-Ab Isaac, RCCD chancellor, said during the first of four reopening town halls April 21
that the district’s enrollment has been steadily declining since the start of the pandemic last spring. The district experienced a 13% enrollment decrease during the fall 2020 semester, which was the largest drop in its history. “Today we find ourselves at a historic low of 20% below our target,” Isaac said during the Zoom call. “For our fall (2020) semester enrollment, this translates to about 9,000 students who have dropped out or failed to return to continue their education.” He attributed the decline to the switch from in-person to virtual
classes. A continuous enrollment decline could have adverse effects on the district’s state funding. The more serious concern focuses on the decline in access to education in the population that the district exists to serve, Isaac said. According to the chancellor, the district’s enrollment decline data indicates that a majority of the students who opted out of continuing their education during the pandemic are from among the socioeconomically disadvantaged population. “There is a real concern that
allowing this trend to continue could place us in a situation that may prove to be very difficult to recover from,” Isaac said. The town hall of over 230 attendees from across the district aimed to answer questions about what the safety of facilities will look like this upcoming fall. The district’s announcement last month that it plans a return to instruction next semester as it was pre-pandemic — 80% inperson and 20% online — stirred up questions from students, staff
See FORUM on page 4
WHAT’S Protest calls for inmate's transfer INSIDE Advocates say mental health episode led to arrest
WHAT’S INSIDE NEWS
3 Riverside City College hosts vaccination clinic
LIFE
8 Local punk scene raises autism awareness
EDITORIAL See DOWNTOWN on page 5 DANIEL HERNANDEZ | VIEWPOINTS
Karrie Schaaf, left center, holds a photo of her son Darik Schaaf at a protest demanding his release in downtown Riverside on April 22.
Police chief presents city crime statistics
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Community questions department's Early Warning System implementation BY JONATHAN RAMIREZ STAFF REPORTER
The Riverside police chief provided an update on city crime statistics to a skeptical public at the City Council meeting April 20. Chief Larry Gonzalez’s report indicated that, while crime in Riverside has declined over the last five years, murder in the city has more than doubled since 2015. There were 21 homicides in the city last year. Gonzalez reported that over 600 firearms were taken off the
street last year. Around 300 firearms have been seized this year alone, 62 of them being homemade “ghost” guns. “Along with those guns on the street comes other bad things that happen, such as homicides and officer-involved shootings, and robberies,” he said. There were 15 reports of hate crime in 2020 with the first report of an anti-Asian hate crime in the past five years. The majority of hate crimes have been anti-Black and related to sexual orientation at a total of 26 and 11, respectively, over the
last five years. Gonzalez said that although the amount of hate crimes is not “a relatively high number,” each case of hate crimes is thoroughly investigated. “We are hoping that people can be patient where we can get all the facts we need without jeopardizing the integrity of those investigations,” he said. Crime hotspots identified in the report include downtown, Eastside and the area surrounding the intersection of Tyler Street and Magnolia Avenue. J o h n M i l l e r, a p u b l i c
commenter from Ward 1, noted most crimes identified in these areas were property crimes. There were a total of 509 trespassing crimes, municipal code violations and warrants served downtown in 2020. “My guess is someone’s calling the police because someone’s trespassing,” he said. “This is basically a way of targeting the unhoused. A lot of these crimes could be avoided if we just had housing. It makes sense to put the budget toward that.”
See POLICE on page 6
Blue wall of silence must stay down after Chauvin trial
INDEX NEWS LIFE VIEWS EDITORIAL SPORTS
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