NEWS

NEWS BRIEFS

Club Rush at RCC

A l l R C C c l u b s a n d organizations will continue to operate with a few m o d i f i c a t i o n s t o k e e p everyone safe and at home.

Club meet and greets will take place via Zoom at designated times from Sept. 15, 2020 to Sept. 17, 2020.

More information can be found on the college website.

Library

The RCC Digital Library now has outside pickup for library books.

Students are able to request library books to pick up during designated times on campus.

More information about these and other online resources can be found on the RCC Library website.

Campus Reopening

The winter and spring 2021 terms will continue to be held mostly online.

Priority registration for the winter term begins Nov. 2, with classes starting Jan. 4. Priority registration for the spring term begins Nov. 30, with classes starting Feb. 16.

Fall at RCC

In the fall term, RCC will have eight week courses that will run during the second half of the fall semester. They are still open for registration but for a limited time.

Information will be distributed via email but can also be found under the Fall 2020 Open Classes tab on the college website

Norco Grant

The Federal Department of Education awarded three grants totaling $3.99 million to Norco College over the next five years.

The grant will contribute to Student Support Services for low-income, disabled and first generation students, as well as the development of a new STEM program.

Student Support Services at Norco College provide a variety of services and special programs including financial aid, scholarship assistance, career counseling, resume assistance, crisis counseling, university tours and transfer counseling.

Study rooms and computer labs are available when the campus is open.

DIEGO LOMELI | VIEWPOINTS Attorney Rasheed Alexander speaks Sept. 6 on the steps of San Bernardino City Hall regarding his own experiences with racial injustice. March for justice heats up

San Bernardino locals protest racism and police brutality in scorching heat

JENNIPHER VASQUEZ

STAFF REPORTER

Public Attorneys United for Justice, an organized group of public defenders in San Bernardino, rallied their community to protest racism Sept. 6.

Locals gathered in triple digit heat at the San Bernardino Justice Hall to discuss the injustices caused by racism in the U.S. and the ways people can advocate for change.

Speakers shared stories about the effects of racism on their personal and professional lives.

“ C o m p a s s i o n , j u s t i c e , equality,” attorney Rasheed Alexander said. “That is why we are here.”

Alexander discussed his own views on racial injustice and the emotional difficulty of witnessing a cycle of police brutality.

“If you can continue to watch, without compassion, you have no soul,” Alexander said. “This is about our souls, the soul of our country. We are here to heal our souls.”

He and his colleagues also emphasized the need for nonviolent protest.

“We do this peacefully,” Alexander said. “This struggle, this march, is all about bringing peace.”

Protesters chanted the names of victims of state violence as they marched west from the Justice Hall toward City Hall’s statue of Martin Luther King Jr., the most visible leader of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and a proponent of nonviolent resistance..

Speakers identified the significance of the march beginning at the Justice Hall and concluding at the statue.

“We are here fighting for equality, which is why we stand here in the symbolic shadow of MLK.” attorney Thomas Sone, of San Bernardino, said.

Kenneth McKnight, public attorney and organizer, added that as long as protests remain peaceful the people will have a voice. McKnight also argued that police sometimes write bad reports, which district attorneys do not always look at objectively and went on to explain the community’s role in public safety.

“ Yo u h a v e t o g o a n d vote,” McKnight said. “Create organizations within our own communities that can help strengthen us because we have to get better first. You can’t expect someone to treat you right if you don’t treat your own self right.”

McKnight suggested working alongside local groups and churches and addressed how professional athletes are inspiring resistance by boycotting games in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot seven times by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Aug. 23.

“The athletes were the catalyst for me because they took a stand to say, ‘we aren’t playing,’” McKnight said. “If they can do it, then we can do it. You can’t go through this time not

DIEGO LOMELI | VIEWPOINTS Local activists listen to speakers at San Bernardino City Hall. The peaceful protest dispersed before noon to avoid dangerous heat.

doing anything.”

Several allies, such as Robert Hansen, 34, of Burbank, came out in support of racial justice.

“I can appreciate being able to come out and use my voice alongside people of our neighborhood even if it hasn’t affected me personally,” Hansen said.

Some protesters said they marched to be an example to their children, some of whom brought their children along with them to the rally.

“I march and I come out here because I have children that also see what’s going on and we teach them how to use their voice for the right reasons,” Stephanie Marquez, 28, of San Bernardino said. “Even though this isn’t a huge rally like the ones you usually see, people are here for a purpose.”

Public Attorneys United for Justice plans on organizing more rallies with the hope of generating change.

“We need to seek justice rather than a conviction,” said San Bernardino public defender Brianna Ruiz. “Because Black lives matter.”

There was no visible police presence at the march.

AMAIRANI ROMERO | VIEWPOINTS Supporters of law enforcement and President Donald Trump fly “Back the Badge” posters and flags on the 14th Street bridge overlooking the 91 Freeway in Riverside Sept. 12. Opposing demonstrators march on Riverside

Pro-police rally nearly meets Black Lives Matter downtown

ANIELA RUSSO

STAFF REPORTER

A crowd gathered at the steps of the Riverside Historic Courthouse for a pro-police rally Sept. 12.

Masks were few and far between as everyone bowed their heads in prayer for law enforcement officers.

Demonstrators marched around downtown Riverside, eventually making it to the 14th Street bridge over the 91 freeway, and then returned to the courthouse as Riverside Police Department officers cruised by and expressed appreciation..

Back at the courthouse, M i k e H e s t r i n , R i v e r s i d e C o u n t y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y, spoke in favor of Proposition 20, which is on the California ballot this year. If passed, Proposition 20 would restrict p a r o l e f o r n o n - v i o l e n t o f f e n d e r s a n d a u t h o r i z e felony charges for some theft crimes currently charged as misdemeanors.

“ I t f i x e s t h e p r o b l e m of what is and what is not violent crime in California,” Hestrin said.

H e a rg u e d t h a t i n t h e present, human trafficking a n d a b d u c t i o n o f m i n o r s f o r p r o s t i t u t i o n a r e n o t considered violent crimes in the state.

Hestrin also took a shot at Proposition 47, arguing it hurt small businesses by allowing career criminals to continue to rob them. The proposition, p a s s e d i n 2 0 1 4 , a l l o w e d certain crimes previously charged as felonies to become chargeable as misdemeanors.

The district attorney also urged students to get involved and educate themselves.

“Don’t just accept what y o u ’ r e g e t t i n g o n s o c i a l media,” Hestrin said. “It’s a time for us to appreciate. We are lucky to have the democracy that we have. So, I urge students to get involved civically.”

B l a c k L i v e s M a t t e r I . E . d e m o n s t r a t o r s w e r e protesting nearby in memory of Massai Cole, an 18-yearold Black man who was killed in Moreno Valley in February. Cole was shot at a party by a 19-year-old white man named Darren Zesk in what jurors have ruled was a hate crime. Zesk and his nephew Jared have both been charged with murder.

Avery Garvey, a Black Lives Matter I.E. representative, s a i d t h e i r d e m o n s t r a t i o n was not initially meant to counterprotest the pro-police rally, but that they decided to march towards the event when they heard Hestrin was speaking. Police dressed in riot gear blocked them off at City Hall.

Cole’s stepfather Marcus Brooks, 45, of Pasadena, stood behind the crowd with his mother.

“We love and miss him dearly,” an emotional Brooks said about Cole. “He was a wonderful young kid and man. We want justice for him.”

G a r v e y s a i d H e s t r i n initially intended to let the Zesks take a plea deal that would have allowed them to walk in five years or less.

“Justice for Massai means his murderers will not be freed in five or 10 years,” Avery said. “We want his family to be able to rest knowing his murderers are behind bars.”

Ali Mazarei, a Republican who is running for State Assembly for District 61 a g a i n s t i n c u m b e n t J o s e Medina, attended the Blue Lives Matter rally.

“The best thing you can see and acknowledge is that there are no democrats here,” Mazarei said. “Support the blue.”

Sonia Perez, a candidate for Temecula city council, also attended in support of police.

“I’m here for freedom,” Perez said. “We are here to fight for the constitutional rights that have been taken from us. I’m here representing 1776 and to hear what the speakers have to say.”

Both protests remained p e a c e f u l a n d d i s p e r s e d without any visible incidents.

Tara Jones, left, National Military Women Veterans Association cofounder speaks as Iraq War combat veteran Amy Serpa, middle, is presented the Woman Veteran of the Year award by Jessica Rogue, right.

Mia Dwyer is a U.S. Marines veteran. She shared her passion for helping women while they are transitioning out of military service.

Women veterans speak out

Jessica Rogue, Iraq War combat veteran and executive director of the National Military Women Veterans Association, calls for transparency in the treatment of women in the military and sexual assault investigations.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOYCE NUGENT

STAFF REPORTER

The death of Vanessa Guillen, U.S. Army specialist, has sparked conversations of sexual assault in the military.

This prompted the National Military Women Veterans Association of America to host a protest in Temecula on Sept. 5 to demand justice.

T h e c a m p a i g n , Women Veterans: One Voice, began at Fort Hood and has gone nationwide in just a few months. The U.S. Department of Defense reported an estimated 14,900 military personnel were sexually assaulted in 2016, of whom 6,172 made an official complaint.

A c c o r d i n g t o a Medscape article, up to 80% of women in the military have been sexually harassed and 25% have experienced a sexual assault.

Women Veterans: O n e Vo i c e c a l l s for transparency in investigations of sexual harassment and assault and legislation that will better protect women in the military.

T h e y a rg u e t h a t although progress has been made, current events and the stories shared by women veterans have shown that more work is required.

Dusty Napier, US Navy veteran and Veteran of Foreign Wars state sr. vice commander, explains that she was deployed to be a morale booster for the men rather than the trained radio operator she had become.