Viewpoints Fall 2018 issue No. 7 November 29, 2018

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yLIFE

ySPORTS

Men’s basketball seeks momentum going into winter

Local animal rescue encourages fostering animals

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yOPINIONS

Editorial: Law passes to ease academic difficulties

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NOVEMBER 29, 2018

Tigers eliminated from playoffs

Sophomore running back Quincy Wimbish runs for the end zone at Riverside City College’s Wheelock Stadium on Nov. 17 against El Camino College in the closing game of the season.

ANGEL PEÑA | VIEWPOINTS

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News

November 29, 2018

Votes still being counted The race for the Area 4 Board of Trustees seat still too close to call SAMANTHA BARTHOLOMEW NEWS EDITOR

In the hairpin close race for the Riverside Community College District, Jose Alcala maintains his lead after Nov. 27’s update by the Riverside County Registrar’s Office.

Alcala picked up 897 votes on opponent Brian Hawley and now leads with 22,906 with Hawley close behind at 22,274 votes.

Brian Hawley, a local business owner, attended community college and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UC Riverside. Hawley is the founder of Luminex software, a 22-yearold Riverside based technology company that provides data storage products to a broad range of industries.

Alcala, a member of the M o r e n o Va l l e y E d u c a t o r s Association, is the Board member for the California Teachers Association that serves Riverside

Campus closure

and San Bernardino counties.

Alcala has taught history for 14 years at March Mountain High School, an alternative education site in the Moreno Valley Unified School District and has previously taught at two other schools in the district The race to fill the Area 4 Board of Trustees seat has been filled with controversy between the RCCD’s Faculty Association and Hawley over the association’s belief that Hawley misled the voters by claiming that he was an educator.

As of Nov. 28, the Riverside County’s Registrar Office still has to process approximately 10,000 vote-by-mail and 45,000 provisional ballots.

The next update is scheduled for Nov. 30 at 5 p.m.

Visit us at viewpointsonline. org for more updates.

The campus will be closed Dec. 25 to Jan. 1 in observance of Christmas.

EOPS applications EOPS applications will be accepted on a firstcome, first-served basis for the spring 2019 semester beginning Dec. 13. The deadline is Jan. 18, 2019.

In order to receive priority registration you must apply by Jan. 18.

To apply, click on the EOPS Supplemental Application under Supplemental Applications on WebAdvisor.

ASRCC Toy Drive IMAGE COURTESY OF META-CHART

As of Nov. 28, Jose Alcala is winning with 22,906 votes while his opponent Brian Hawley trails behind with 22,274 votes.

Bird scooters migrate to Riverside SAVANNAH ESQUEDA

FREELANCE WRITER

There are birds in Riverside!

No, not the kind that fly.

Bird is an electric scooter company that places scooters on public streets which can be unlocked from a smartphone and ridden.

The company is based in the Los Angeles area but is now dispersing the scooters throughout the nation.

Within the past few months, the electric scooters have made their way into Riverside. It is the only city in the Inland Empire that has them.

They can be seen around the Riverside Plaza, Riverside Auto Center and outside institutions like UC Riverside and California Baptist University.

“I have so much fun on the Birds and I think they add a bit of modernity to the city,” Fey Ramirez, a resident of Riverside, said. “I use them to ride around with my friends and it’s really cool that I don’t have to leave them anywhere specific.”

According to Ramirez, she used a Bird to ride from the bus stop to work and made it just in time. If she had not used the Bird and walked instead, she would have been late.

The scooter rides range in price and begin at $1 to unlock the scooter and 15 cents per minute while it is in use. However, the price per minute can vary depending on the city where the scooter is used. When the rider is finished, all they have to do is disconnect the Bird app on their smartphone.

Riders then leave the sccoters

IMAGE COURTESY OF CHRISTOPHER STEINLINE

According to Bird, Riverside is the only city in the Inland Empire that has the scooters. They are banned elsewhere due to risk of serious injury in the event of falling. right where it is and continue their day.

In addition, if someone is looking for a Bird to ride but does not know where to find one, the Bird application has a GPS feature that locates where the scooters are in the area.

Not only do the electric scooters provide an alternate option for commuting, they also provide a way for people to make money.

One can sign up to be a

NEWS BRIEFS

“charger” for these Birds which entails bringing home the scooters, charging them and then dispersing them into strategically assigned places, or “nests,” the following morning.

Only needing a smartphone, driver’s license and spare change on their debit card, people can take advantage and ride Birds up and down the streets of Riverside.

However, these scooters have not come without any conflict. Some Los Angeles

neighborhoods including West Hollywood have banned the use of electric scooters.

One of the features of these electric scooters is that they have no designated spot to be returned to once the rider is finished.

Therefore the scooters can be left in the middle of walkways, sidewalks and other busy intersections.

Bird scooters have been spotted in the Riverside Plaza that can sometimes cause a blockage in the walkways.

“I see a lot of younger kids using the scooters and sometimes they will just leave them in the middle of the sidewalk,” Gabrielle Cruz, an employee of El Torito inside the Plaza, said.

“Most people will put them to the side or near the entrance of a store.”

According to Cruz, she has noticed that there has been more business coming through the Plaza due to the scooters being there.

A similar company called Lime has also released its scooters into the Riverside area despite the city not being listed on the Lime website.

“I like both Lime and Bird scooters, but I lean slightly more on Lime because they’re the ones closest to my apartment and plus green is my favorite color,” Serene Rodriguez, a resident of Riverside said.

Whether someone needs to avoid paying the rising price of gas or just wants to have a bit of fun with some friends, this new mode of transportation is making its mark on Riverside.

Whichever way the future goes for these scooters, they have managed to impact the ways residents can travel around the city and go about their daily lives.

Riverside City College will be hosting a toy drive that benefits over 100 children registered with the Salvation Army.

The names of the children will be hung on the holiday tree which is located in the Bradshaw Center.

Participants can select an ornament from the tree which will have the child’s gender, age and name on it. Participants can then purchase a gift for that child.

The deadline to purchase presents is Dec. 10 by 12 p.m.

Nutrition workshop Riverside City College will be hosting a nutrition workshop Nov. 30 in the A.G. Paul Quadrangle, Room 205 from 12:30-1:30 p.m.

The workshop will discuss nutrition, brainbody connection and healthy eating on a budget.

This event is free and open to the public.

Holiday party Riverside City College will be hosting a holiday party Dec. 10 in the cafeteria from 3-5 p.m. and 8-9 p.m.

Attendees can bring travel size toiletries or nonperishable food items to help students in need.

UC/CSU applications The UC application deadline for fall 2019 applicants is Nov. 30.

However, students who have been directly affected by the recent California wildfires may request a deadline extension to Dec. 15.

The CSU application deadline for fall 2019 is Dec. 15.

LIFE Challenging the status quo

November 29, 2018

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“The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”

- Will Farrell, “Elf”

Popular Riverside Arts Walk group talks anarchy, fascism and queerness PATRICK TINDALL LIFE EDITOR

With the rise of fascism and nationalism in America, a grassroots group of individuals came up with their own way to resist.

Cactus Collective is a group of like-minded individuals who create, publish and distribute their own anarchist propaganda zines (or short-form magazine) and stickers to Riverside Arts Walk attendees every month. The zines are free and the stickers are simply “pay what you can.”

The collective agreed to be interviewed only under strict stipulation to remain anonymous, opting to use aliases instead of real names and only agreeing to be photographed if they were able to hide their faces. The three members went by the names Leon Czoglotz, Rusty Shackleford and Kaspar.

The group came together to spread the word that when fascism rises in America, the best form of resistance is to educate and prepare for anarchy.

“Leon started organizing through friends at UC Riverside,” Shackleford said. “It came about pretty naturally.”

The group spreads its message of social awareness and anarchy through the use of self-published zines which they distribute at every Arts Walk.

“The zines came about

MICHELLE LEON | VIEWPOINTS

Popular Riverside Arts Walk group, Cactus Collective, is masked to hide their identities while passing out their anarchist zines. because it’s an old school punk tradition,” Kaspar said. “The whole point is to communicate ideas that aren’t popular or mainstream.”

The salacious zine titles are plenty, some being “To Change Everything: An Anarchist Appeal,” “Rent: an injustice[sic]” and “Anarchist Tactics at Standing Rock.” “ We h a v e o n e s a b o u t bisexuality and gender-queerness, climate change and arming yourselves,” Czoglotz said.

The whole development is largely self-produced. Most members do all jobs entailed like developing art, researching and

assisting in distribution.

“We do everything ourselves,” Shackleford said. “We fundraised enough money to buy our own office-sized printer so we can print (the zines).”

The collective doesn’t believe in leadership or formal titles, in fact they despise it. They think of themselves as similar to the Democratic Socialists of America though less in structure but more in the desire to initiate social change.

“We have a very decentralized organization,” Kaspar said.

“Everyone has a say and if anyone has a problem they bring it up and we talk about it.”

Not only are they a distribution organization, but they are essentially a brotherhood and family.

“We provide emotional support to each other,” Czoglotz said. “As queer people, some of us don’t have the best family lives and have issues at home.”

“It’s a personal environment,” Kaspar said. “We address other things for each other such as material needs.”

Although their main focus is resisting fascism, doing anything you want and preparing for social upheaval, they also stress the importance of acceptance and looking out for each other.

“Our main message is it’s ok to be gay,” Czoglotz said. “In fact our tagline is ‘be gay, do crime.’ We’ll be putting that on merchandise eventually.”

When asked about future zine topics they had a few already in mind.

“We want to dip more into racial inequalities, namely one on how to be an ally to the black community called ‘Accomplices, Not Allies,’” Kaspar said. “Or one specifically focused on connecting to indigenous tribes and giving Native American people a voice.”

For more information on Cactus Collective you can follow them on Twitter @NoNaziRiv or by email at NoNaziRiverside@ protonmail.com or visit their booth at Riverside Arts Walk.

Finding family with FAAR for the holidays

Foster Army Animal Rescue spreads holiday cheer to pets at Christmas ADRIANA LOPEZ STAFF REPORTER

Santa Claus came early this year to help save the animals.

Foster Army Animal Rescue hosted an event Nov. 17 that allowed anyone, even those without pets, to get their pictures taken with Santa Claus to raise money for their organization.

The event took place at their thrift store that also doubles as an adoption center on the weekends. FAAR is a non profit organization based in Riverside that works directly with animal control facilities.

The organization focuses on fostering animals that are at high risk of being euthanized which could range from kittens that have been orphaned and need to be bottle fed to dogs with kidney stones that are in need of surgery.

Due to the cost of providing this often intensive care to animals, FAAR relies heavily on donations, events like their photos with Santa Claus and their thrift store.

“The photographer is Kelly Vela and she takes pictures of

ADRIANA LOPEZ | VIEWPOINTS

From left: Jolina Chavez takes photos with Santa Claus with her two dogs Stevie and Tommy at Foster Army Animal Rescues. sheltered animals for free for they’re wonderful pets. People organizations to post photos on think of them as throw away their website,” Leslie Holzrichter, pets and are not worthy of being manager of the thrift store, said. in homes. They’re just as good “She’s raising funds for her as any other pet. They’re not organization and we’re raising broken, they have spirit and joy,” funds for ours.” she said.

Holzrichter is passionate in T h r o u g h o u t t h e e ve n t , her belief that animals that are FAAR’s thrift store garnishes often seen as too injured or sick good business. With the store are treatable. b ei ng t he m a i n sou r c e of “Once these animals get funding, donations are always passed whatever issue they have, appreciated.

Karen Rohlf, treasurer for FAAR, explained the importance of d o n a t io n s t o ke e p t h e organization functioning.

“I know funds are limited for a lot of people, but if anyone has anything they want to donate to our store that we can resell, that’s very helpful,” she said.

Without a shelter, FAAR relies on volunteers housing pets before they are adopted. This means that the more people that volunteer with the organization, the more animals can be saved.

Kimberlee Powell is the pet care manager for FAAR and she encourages people to volunteer.

“All that is needed is love and compassion for animals and patience. When people foster (animals) we do provide all the medical care and all of the food, the foster just needs to provide a loving environment,” she said.

Along with being able to save animals, Powell is also proud of the community that has been created within FAAR. “The comradery of all the volunteers getting together is rewarding. We’re all working together for the same common

LIFE BRIEFS Riverside Festival of Lights The holiday tradition continues for the 26th annual Festival of Lights at the Mission Inn located in downtown Riverside. Through Jan. 6. the festival includes one of the largest displays of lights in the city, perfect family photo opportunities, live music, winter activities and much more.

Visit missioninn.com for more information.

RCC Holiday Extravaganza Get into the holiday spirit with musical performances

by Riverside City College’s Chamber Singers, Concert Choir, Jazz and Marching Band ensembles and many more on Dec. 8 at 6 p.m. at the Coil School for the Arts. General admission is $25 includes a night of holiday music, festivities and a silent auction. VIP admission is $50 and includes an hors d’oeuvres and wine reception on the coil rooftop terrace. Tickets available now at landispac.com RCC Honor Choir Festival with Deke Sharon Acca-mazing! RCC’s Honor Choir Festival featuring Deke Sharon (music producer for “Pitch Perfect”) performing at Coil School for the Arts. Tickets will be available at the door Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. for $20. For more information visit RCC Chamber Singers Facebook page.

SoCal Etsy Guild Market Find creative and unique gifts for your loved ones. The SoCal Etsy Guild Market will be held Dec. 19-23 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Galleria at Tyler. Vendors will have their personalized, handmade and unique gifts for sale. From beard oils to backpacks, customers will have interesting gift options at their fingertips. More information visit socaletsyguild.com

goal,” she said.

As well as raising funds for the organization, the event gave people the opportunity to treat their pets to a day of glamour.

Jolina Chavez, an event goer, took her Labrador mix and pit bull mix to get their photos taken with Santa Claus and truly believes in the shelter’s cause. “ W he n you donat e you actually see where the money is going. You can come by and see the rescues and you have the opportunity to get involved,” she said.

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November 29, 2018

SPORTS “Every champion was once a contender who never gave up.”

- Rocky Balboa

ANGEL PEÑA | VIEWPOINTS

Quarterback Stone Smartt rushes for a red zone touchdown at Wheelock Stadium on Nov 17. The Riverside City College Tigers came out on top eliminating El Camino College 63-24 and advancing to the second round of the CCCAA playoffs.

Tigers conclude their season RCC loses to Ventura in postseason shootout MIA MAGAÑA SPORTS EDITOR

Another spectacular Riverside City College football season has come to an end.

RCC battled against Ventura College on Nov. 24 and suffered their first official loss of the season, 31-21.

Despite an early lead, the Tigers allowed Ventura to score 21 points in the second quarter to hold a lead that they would keep, thus concluding the Tigers football season.

The Tigers struggled to maintain their winning streak.

They concluded the season on a high note with hopes of aspirations for next season.

The Tigers’ head coach, Tom Craft, has led the team for eight years. He has successfully brought the team to the playoffs nine-consecutive seasons and to the California Community College Athletic Association Southern Regional playoffs six consecutive seasons.

Coach Craft was unavailable to comment but with the ferocity displayed in the recent game provides a possible rest for the

team so they may return stronger and hungrier next season.

As RCC played against Costa Mesa College on Nov. 3, Fullerton College team was cited which resulted from the breach in agreement with the CCCAA which stated that college football teams are prohibited from allowing “subsidizing, inducements and special privileges” to the players of the team.

This would result in Fullerton’s disqualification from the CCCAA postseason, the forfeiture of their 2017 state and conference championships, as well as their nine wins in the 2018 season.

This also applied to a Sept. 8 victory over the Tigers where the initial result was a 34-33 victory for Fullerton.

The Tigers attained their win from Costa Mesa’s breach in agreement with the CCCAA that earned them the title of undefeated and held the streak of 11-0.

With RCC continuing against Ventura on a technicality, the teams battled out on a cold night with only one team advancing to the championship.

Several Tigers this season displayed top tier talent.

Sophomore quarterback Stone Smartt totaled 2,759 yards and 31 touchdowns with only two interceptions.

Sophomore running back Malik Walker rushed for a total of 950 yards with nine touchdowns, while wide receivers, sophomore

Tyrone Marshall caught for 707 yards with seven touchdowns and freshman Jammal Houston would follow close behind with 637 yards and eight touchdowns.

On the defensive side, sophomore linebacker Vic Viramontes led the team in total tackles with 37.

Sophomore defensive

lineman Nick Figueroa registered 11.5 sacks total, the seventh most in the entire state.

As for the end of the season of 2018, the Tigers will show their drive in next season’s trek to the championship where the ultimate goal of winning the CCCAA State championship trophy still holds high.

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Sports

November 29, 2018

SPORTS BRIEFS Women’s basketball Riverside City College’s women’s basketball team most recently placed third in the Palomar Invitational Tournament on Nov. 16. They went 2-1 inside the tournament beating both West Hills College Lemoore, 72-61, and Grossmont College, 77-49, while dropping a game to East Los Angeles College in the second round of the tournament, 79-71. This brings their record to 3-4 overall. The team will next take on San Joaquin Delta College on Nov. 29.

Women’s cross country T h e w o m e n ’s c r o s s country team finished seventh overall at the CCCAA State championships. Sophomore Sujey Esteva finished first for the Tigers with a time of 19:15.01. to land just outside the top 20 at 21st overall. Freshman Aily Camacho placed 48th overall with a time of 19:55.4. Freshman Savannah Dinco followed with a time of 20:08.6 to place 58th overall.

Volleyball RCC’s volleyball season has concluded with the team going 15-10 overall and capping off their season with a 3-0 victory over Santiago Canyon College at home. The team finished fifth overall in the Orange Empire Conference with a conference record of 8-7 and completed their 25 games with an impressive 10.7 points scored per game.

Vashti Elias-Romero finished as the top scorer for the team with 221 kills.

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The hunt for momentum Men’s basketball preps for tournament NICK PERALTA SPORTS REPORTER

The Riverside City College’s m e n ’s b a s k e t b a l l t e a m i s struggling to keep up momentum following a successful start to the 2018 season.

After going on a 3-0 run to start the season that saw the Tigers win the We Play Hard Tournament at the beginning of November, the Tigers have since gone 1-2 in their last three games.

“Well we got a young team that’s still improving,” head coach Philip Mathews said. “The two games we lost were pretty close. We actually could be 6-0.

But you know, that’s basketball.

We made some costly mistakes in those games and didn’t come away with the victory.

In 2017, the team acquired a moderate 16-11 record that saw them make it all the way to second round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs where they would lose in triple overtime in one of the closest and longest contested postseason games in the state’s postseason history according to RCC Athletics.

In 2016, RCC had a more favorable record of 23-9 and made it to the Southern California Regional Finals.

This season, the goals are set to see the Tigers make it farther than previous seasons under the experienced leadership of Mathews, who is now under his sixth year at the position.

A native of Riverside, Mathews arrived at RCC in June 2013 after spending three years as an assistant coach at UCLA where he worked alongside head

JEROME WONG | VIEWPOINTS

Freshmen guard Tyree Winborn leads the team in free throws made and in accuracy having shot 10-11 for a 90.9 percent free throw accuracy. coach Ben Howland.

In the last three games, the Tigers have lost to Long Beach City College and Citrus College while blowing out San Diego Mesa College.

In both games, the Tigers lost closely contested games losing to Long Beach 75-70 and against Citrus, 84-80.

This shows that the team will not be one that is so easy to dispatch this season.

Leading the team overall as a player to watch out for is sophomore point guard CJ Clark who leads the team in free throw shooting accuracy at 70 percent as well as 82 points total throughout their starting six games. Clark is also fifth in

rebounds and second in assists while also having shot the most three pointers with 17 to start the year with a 70 percent shooting accuracy.

“CJ is a Riverside native,” Mathews said. “He sat out last year, so he’s a more mature player. This improvement was to be expected of him. He’s taken on the challenge and he’s come through so far for this team.”

Other players that have impressed this season include sophomore guard Rico Tate who leads the team in assists with 22.

Maurice Tutt ranks in the top five of the team with 52 points scored as well as leading the team in overall rebounds with 29 alongside Frankie McQuay.

The Tigers will look to bring in some momentum as they take on College of the Canyans next on Nov. 29 and Mt. San Jacinto College the following day all before the annual Riverside Holiday Classic which will begin Dec. 5 and take place acorss the remainder of the month.

“Our goal is always to try and win championships, Mathews said. “We want to win championships in the Orange Empire league and then advance to the state tournament. This team has a chance to win the state tournament. That’s always our goal. But we got a young team. We’ve improved where we needed in order to compete with everyone else.”

Tigers run for fifth in cross country state title race NICK PERALTA SPORTS REPORTER

The Riverside City College men’s cross country team performed well at the California Community College Athletic Association State Championships on Nov. 17, placing fifth overall.

Weeks after securing the Orange Empire Conference Championship at the end of October, the Tigers performed adequate enough at the Southern California Championship Regionals, placing eighth overall, to merit a ranking at the CCCAA State championships this year.

The competition took place at the Woodward Park in Fresno.

“Coming into this race we were ranked eighth in southern California and 10th in the state, so to finish fifth in the state championships was very satisfying,” coach Jim McCarron said. “When you’re ranked as low as we were and then to finish where we did, it’s pretty amazing.

I thought that we could finish in third or fourth, but that was always an outside chance. We said as a team that if we could finish in the top five that we could walk away happy with the result.

The team did what they said they would do.”

The team saw two of their best march within top 30 in a race with 168 total participants with sophomore Austin Dai placing the highest among his team. Dai landed in 22nd with a total time of 20:57.9.

Sophomore standout Enrique Villa, who was recently named the Orange Empire Conference Runner of the Year, placed 29th with a clip reading 21:07.5.

“I was pretty surprised to set the fastest time for our team,” Dai said. “Mostly because our usual guy for the team, he’s usually able to get ahead of me. Maybe he had a bad race, but I was able to catch up to him in the race and passed him and yeah I was surprised. There’s a little bit of pride there. But whether or not I

got first on my team, our team in general still got fifth. I wanted us to get first, definitely.”

Dai recently surged in the later half of the 2018 campaign moving his overall rank from fourth to first on the entire team by the time RCC would reach the postseason. Along with this, he improved his overall best time from 20:55:00 to 20:14:00 between his time as a freshman to sophomore.

“I like that I finished the season first on the team,” Dai said. “There is certainly nothing bad about that. I am excited for my new position on the team. It gives me a little bit of confidence when it comes to performing in races.”

Villa, who has remained a standout athlete since he first arrived at RCC, has also shown athletic excellence this season.

Along with numerous first place rankings in the multiple races in both the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Villa has also garnered a various number of awards

and accolades singularly such as the 2017 OEC Singular championship, 2017 AllConference honors as well as the aforementioned 2017 and 2018 OEC Runner of the Year award.

“This race was more tactical, how we attacked the race,” Villa said. “We needed more speed. We could’ve done better.

I definitely could’ve done better.

But watching Austin Dai pass me during the race, I was happy for him and to see all of his hard work pay off here in the final race of the season. The coaching was pretty good. The week before the state title race, coach McCarron prepared us for that day. We were all ready to give it our all, knowing it was the last race of the season.

Along with the team closing out their season with a stellar record, McCarron was also honored with the OEC Male Coach of the Year for the fourth straight season and the eighth time in the last 11 years.

McCarron has coached the

RCC Tigers for the last 12 years, having started all the way back in 2006.

“When I first got the job, I got it five days before the season started in 2006,” McCaron said.

“We finished 28 in the state that year. Ever since then, we’ve always finished a top three team.

We have won state seven times in 13 years (across both track and cross country). It’s attributed to a lot of different things. For instance it’s a program that I believed in, and that the coaching staff buys into. I have a great coaching staff that really puts a lot of work in and that helps guides the students to success.

So if the athletes don’t buy into the program, it doesn’t work. The number one thing that we do is we help transfer young men to universities. We’ve won seven state titles. We’re definitely one of the top programs for cross country and track in the nation for community colleges and that’s because of our program that works well.”

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November 29, 2018

Removal of the remidial

Views

Editorial

California approves new legislature to remove remidial classes from curriculum

IMAGE COURTESY OF PIXBAY

California’s community colleges provide an alternative academic route to students who aim to obtain a graduate’s degree at a four year university.

Over an estimated two year period, students are given the opportunity to complete their general requirements prior to enrolling into a university as a junior. During this two year period, certain students were required to enroll in remedial classes based on their placement exam scores, which often increases the estimated time of two years at a community college to three or more, not to mention the increase in tuition costs and fees.

There’s no universal community college placement exam, which means that every college has its own unique method of enrolling students into the classes that it determines necessary for them to take.

It’s clear that removing remedial classes will benefit community college students greatly, in more ways than what remedial classes were initially intended to do.

As of October 2017, the California Acceleration law would make it easier and faster for community college students to graduate with an associates

degree. The legislature was designed to make community colleges determine a student’s academic path based on their high school grade point average rather than their placement exam results.

According to the bill, “a community college district or college shall not require students to enroll in remedial English or mathematics coursework that lengthens their time to complete a degree unless placement research that includes consideration of high school grade point average and coursework shows that those students are highly unlikely to succeed in transfer-level coursework in English and mathematics.”

The bill will also provide an emphasis on underprepared students, which focuses on placing them in college level courses with tutoring and various other methods of support rather than placing them behind in remedial classes.

There have been various instances where students have been caught up in failing and retaking classes they shouldn’t be enrolled in, and it is possible that certain students may find the removal of remedial classes more burdening than helpful,

regardless of the tutoring services mentioned in the bill.

Based on statistics gathered in 2016, the overall graduation rate at Cosumnes River College of full-time students who began college in 2013 was 25 percent. The transfer rate for graduates was 8 percent. It was concluded that the amount of time it took to earn an associate’s degree added to the various opportunities that led to students either dropping out of college or choosing not to transfer and continue with their education.

An excessive catalog of requirements and processes are what ultimately intervene between a community college student and a higher education beyond an associate’s.

Often enough, these kinds of situations discourage students into advancing past an associate’s degree, as they gradually develop a negative perception of higher education expectations and the work that goes into fulfilling them, they find themselves in search of justifications for dropping out of college. California Acceleration will hopefully aid in reducing that possibility.

Viewpoints’ editorials represent the majority opinion of and are written by the Viewpoints’ student editorial board.

LETTERS

STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Dominique Redfearn (951) 222-8495 viewpoints@rcc.edu MANAGING EDITOR Samantha Bartholomew viewpoints.managing@gmail.com ADVERTISING MANAGER viewpoints.advertising@gmail.com JOURNALISM SPECIALIST Matt Schoenmann matthew.schoenmann@rcc.edu FACULTY ADVISERS Allan Lovelace Matt Schoenmann

TO THE

NEWS EDITOR Samantha Bartholomew viewpoints.news@gmail.com

OPINIONS EDITOR Diego Lomeli viewpoints.opinions@gmail.com

SPORTS EDITOR Mia Magana viewpoints.sports@gmail.com

LIFE EDITOR Patrick Tindall viewpoints.artsentertainment@gmail.com

PHOTO EDITOR Mia Magana viewpoints.photo@gmail.com

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Keanu Wallace viewpoints.online@gmail.com

REPORTERS Seth Barlow Chelsea Buchanan Rigo Cardenas Clarissa Corral Benjamin DeLeon Eileen Gonzalez Robert Johnson Dee King

Kevin Knox Adriana Lopez Kenia Marrufo Madison Moore Angel Peña Nick Peralta Imari Rede Jerome Wong

Journalism Association of Community Colleges

Copy deadline:

January

30

Photo deadline:

January

30

Ad deadline:

January

30

Next issue:

February

7

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