Viewpoints issue No. 11 - April 7, 2016

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Si Se Puede! Ceasar Chavez

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ySPORTS

Track defeats Orange Coast

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Miracles from Heaven blesses

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VOL. XCVI, NO. 11

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APRIL 7, 2016

Protesters attend BOT meeting CRYSTAL OLMEDO @RCCviewpoints

Protesters addressed the Riverside Community College District Board of Trustees to speak out against the hiring of a new district compliance officer who is accused of negligently handling a student’s alleged rape at Mt. SAC. Aarefah Mosavi, former Mt. SAC student, and a group of Riverside City College students including Sarah Amro and Jose Venegas attended the meeting to protest the hiring of Lorraine Jones.

Amro and Venegas had filled out requests to speak during the public comments portion of the meeting. They both attempted to give their time to Mosavi, but RCCD Board of Trustees President Virginia Blumenthal informed them that doing so is not a practice of the Board.

Mosavi addressed the Board in the public comments portion of the meeting, explaining her previous interaction with Jones at Mt. SAC. Mosavi said that Jones mishandled her claim that she had been raped by a Mt. SAC student employee.

“I am here today because this administration neglected the fact that Lorraine Jones is being sued by me as part of a federal lawsuit that aims to reclaim my dignity that was stripped from me,” Mosavi said. “Rape is a criminal felony. It is a crime against humanity. It is a form of genocide and it is absolutely sickening to see those in higher positions of authority willfully fail those whose rights have been unjustly stripped from them. The recognition, preservation and protection of our dignity is not an option it is an obligation. It is an inalienable human right.”

Mosavi said that she was sexually assaulted on December 12, 2013 by her Mt. SAC coworker Chester Brown on the campus’ farm.

Mosavi said she told Brown to stop and that she felt “trapped and was frozen the entire time.”She also said that Brown repeatedly asked her to remove her hijab

ANDREW BRADY | VIEWPOINTS

Student supporters of Aarefah Mosavi express their outrage at the board not letting Aarefah finish what she intended to say at the Board of Trustees meeting on April 5th. or head covering that she wears, which she declined to do.

Mosavi said that she reported the incident to her supervisors at Mt. SAC, which directed her to Jones, who was the Title IX coordinator at the time.

“I was never a priority to the Title IX coordinator throughout this investigation,” Mosavi said.

“Other meetings were constantly scheduled before me and in some cases Jones even cancelled important meetings with me, which ultimately resulted in a botched and incomplete investigation.”

Mosavi went on to explain that her alleged attacker was allowed to continue working in the same building she worked in without her knowledge.

Mosavi’s speech was cut short

by Blumenthal after five minutes, as that is the time generally allotted for public comments, according to Administrative Procedure.

According to AP 2345, which cites Robert’s Rules of Order, by consensus, the Board is allowed to extend or limit a speaker’s time. The board was not consulted at the time.

Shouts of protest erupted from the audience in support of

Mosavi being allowed to finish her comments.

“Those policies are here for us,” RCC student Jose Venegas shouted from his seat while holding a sign. “I know they’re here to provide order, but they are also here to represent us (students), our needs. Our needs need to be met why can’t we let her finish?”

After Blumenthal said that five minutes was up and “enough time,” Venegas approached the Board and gave his comments addressing Blumenthal and Burke’s lack of action in the hiring of Jones.

Toward the end of the meeting, a consensus was reached by the board to allow Mosavi 10 additional minutes.

“I am extremely thankful and happy that President Blumenthal revisited her decision and asked the Board to reconsider to extend the time to Aarefah to finish her story,” RCCD Faculty Association President Dariush Haghighat said. “I think that was an extremely noble and right move. I am a father I would go to the end of the world to make sure that my daughter face justice.”

Nidia Perez and Guinevere Negrete, who are senators for

the Associated Students of RCC, were in attendance to show their support for Mosavi and RCCD students at the meeting.

“I’m a feminist and stand

for women’s rights and I think that the main concern here is accountability and transparency,” Perez said. “I represent students and I want her voice to be heard.”

Perez said she felt it was necessary to have students’ involvement in a hiring of a high ranking position that may be controversial.

RCCD Board of Trustees discussed a policy change, in response to concerns of the Academic Senate and Faculty Association in regards to the hiring of a new District Compliance officer, Lorraine Jones without the inclusion of a member of either group.

“I feel like we (students) should have been more involved in this,” Perez said. “Honestly I was not aware about any of this until two days ago. I do feel like I would have liked to know what was going on or who was being hired.”

Haghighat had expressed the Faculty Association’s discontent to RCCD Chancellor Michael Burke about not being involved in the hiring process of Jones. In response, Burke apologized at the March 1 board meeting for not

See PROTESTERS on Page 3

ANDREW BRADY | VIEWPOINTS

Aarefah Mosavi fights back tears as she tells the story of her sexual assault to the RCCD Board of Trustees during its meeting on April 5th.

2 April 7, 2016

News Briefs

News

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#RCCnow on Twitter and Facebook!

Hero Walk for Autism

Riverside City College will be hosting Hero Walk For Autism on April 17 from 12-4 p.m. Registration for the event is $15 for adults and for anyone under 17 or has been diagnosed with autism is free of charge. Parking is free for the event and all proceeds will benefit the local autism community in the Inland Empire.

Possible Community Garden Grant TAVEN STRICKERT | VIEWPOINTS

Riverside City Council meets to discuss possible toxic contamination at Agricultural Park. Residents made signs of protest to the building of housing developments in the area. Barbara A. Lee, Director of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control spoke on behalf of the organization.

City Council talks toxic chemicals Possible ground soil contamination is addressed by state and city officials, testing to continue in area TAVEN STRICKERT @StrickertTaven

The Riverside City Council gathered March 15 to hear from Barbara A. Lee, director of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, about the contamination and possibility of future construction at Riverside’s Agriculture Park.

Governor Jerry Brown appointed Lee to her position in October of 2014. Since Lee’s appointment, Riverside City Council had been seeking an audience with her to discuss the contamination at AG Park.

Lee is working with the State and Federal Environmental Protection Agencies throughout the investigations.

The land was purchased by Chuck Cox, back in 2003. He was ready to break ground on his American Housing Ventures Communities Arroyo Park Homes development project when polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination was found on the site caused by a spill of over 10,000 gallons of now labeled toxins, according to Alicia Robinson of The Press Enterprise in her story on the contamination in the area.

At the City Council meeting, questions were raised as to the thoroughness of the contamination testing, the safety of the residences in the area.

“The lack of communication between your office and ours,” councilman Mike Soubirous said regarding Lee and the council’s relationship.

Since her appointment, Lee has been overseeing cleanup and testing in AG Park and expressed

that prior testing and cleanup efforts had been insufficient.

“It turns out to have been an incorrect model, clearly there was another area of contamination at the site. At this time, we and the US EPA believe there was another area, probably deeper that had PCB contamination,” Lee said.

This brings up a key issue of the thoroughness of the testing as the developer plans on building homes in the area. Many have asked about the type of testing being conducted.

Lee gave details on the testing process which stated that the DTSC was only testing a foot deep into the soil. On average, a home foundation is about 4 inches to a foot deep, but as assemblyman, John Burnard, who was in attendance, would point out, many of the houses being built would have pools that would extend deeper into the soil and increase the chances of PCB contamination for both the workers and residents.

“One of the concerns the community brings forward is we are only digging down about a foot. We suspect if we dug 2 foot, 3 foot, 4 foot, we would find more issues and are there health issues associated with PCBs this far down?” said Burnard.

Lee described PCB as “sticky and non-volatile” she said.

“Unless very deep digging occurs, we wouldn’t expect them to come in contact with them” said Lee. “The data doesn’t show significant acute risk for humans.

There is limited evidence of acute toxicity at high levels of exposure through ingestion in laboratory rats, but not with noningestion exposure. The risks are

present only when the exposure is over a long period of time and the risks are generally related to cancer,” continued Lee. Lee made this comment amidst hissed “liar” and “I guess living in a home doesn’t count as a long period of time” from the crowded assembly hall. Many residences in there area have had pets and even loved ones die of cancer in the past few years.

“You don’t have medical doctors on your staff and I’m sure you, like us, have heard compelling stories about individuals that have gotten disease and have passed away and the loss of pets and there has been plenty of talk about cancer clusters,” Perry said. “At what point in this process do you look at the need for epidemiologists, the individual that looks at cancer clusters,” Burnard shared interest in Soubirous’s claim on the concerns of the lack of communication and in particular, quality information.

Lee referred them to the DTSC website.

“The community has concerns that the developer pays for the testing. Can DTSC verify that the testing is independent and quality testing has absolutely accurate results? To be a little rude, I guess, as the community has pointed out. The developer is paying for it, how do we know he’s not just buying the results he wants?” said Burnard which was followed by a tumult of applause.

Testing will continue in AG Park as the residences in the area await a conclusion to their health concerns. The DTSC will pursue more tests alongside those of the EPA with the goal of making the area safe for habitation in the coming years.

The RCC Community Garden is competing for one of four $20,000 or one of 20 $10,000 grants from Seeds of Change.

The fifty gardens with the most votes will move into a second round where their essays and applications will be read by judges.

Community voting began March 31 and will continue through April 18, anyone who votes can vote once everyday. For more information contact Tonya Huff at tonya.huff@rcc.edu.

Earth Week Chalk Walk There will be a Chalk Walk competition from April 19 to April 21in honor of Earth Week. Anyone can enter the competition and there will be games and cash prizes. For more information contact event coordinator Will Kim will.kim@rcc.edu.

Corrections In the article, “Campus Conversations” on page 10 of the March 24 issue, the name for fourth photo in the second row should have read Oscar Nunez.

In the photo caption of “Counsel offered at student mixer” on page 2 of the March 24 issue, the name of general counselor and Career Center coordinator should have read Monique Greene.

In the article “Warehouses build I.E.’s future,” on page 10 of the March 24 issue, the name of the economist should have read John Husing.

In the article Warehouses build I.E.’s future, on page 10 of the March 24 issue the name of the illustrator should have read Madison Moore.

The crime brief in the March 24 ssue on page 3 titled “RCC receives fake check,” should have read fake bill.

Centennial Grads get special treat HECTOR M. ZERMENO @Zector_News

Graduation is a rite of passage for college students that marks the beginning of a new stage in their life and for Riverside City College students, the centennial commencement promises to be a memorable occasion.

“This year is all about the centennial,” said Dawn Valencia, dean of enrollment services.

“Our president (Wolde-Ab Isaac) has looked to us to have our commencement that serves as the capstone event to our century celebration.”

Admissions & Records will send out notifications after May 1 to students approved for graduation with information regarding rehearsals and the purchase of academic regalia, which includes the cap and gown.

The graduation ceremony is scheduled to be held in Wheelock

Field at 6 p.m. on June 9.

RCC expects to have at least double or triple the participation from previous years for this commencement, according to Valencia, which will bring the total number of students to approximately 1,400 to 2,100.

The amount of graduating students is estimated to bring around 5,500 people to the ceremony. RCC plans to arrange enough sitting space to accommodate the amount of people in attendance.

RCC plans to have a Jumbotron screen at the ceremony to provide everyone in attendance with a view of the stage. An American Sign Language interpreter will appear in a portion of the screen for the hearing impaired.

“It’s just going to be a special event,” Valencia said. “This is truly a once in a lifetime commencement and I think the Class of 2016 is very fortunate.”

See COMMENCEMENT online at Viewpointsonline.org

News

April 7, 2016

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Activists aim for federal holiday Cesar Chavez Day festivities include informative speeches and the push to expand message TAVEN STRICKERT @RCCviewpoints

Activists in favor of remembrance of the Cesar Chavez holiday gathered on the steps of the Martin Luther King building at Riverside City College on March 29, to wave flags bearing the logo “¡Si Se Puede!” or “yes we can.”

Fa c u l t y m e m b e r s J o s e Diaz and Tony Ortiz ran the event and gave an impassioned speech on the message and memory of the holiday as well as the goal for it to be an American holiday and not

solely a Latino holiday.

“It’s about bringing people together and having a common experience for the future by having a common memory and understanding of the past struggles,” Ortiz said.

Free fruit such as oranges and plums were given away at the event as a reminder of those who picked it.

“It’s important that they are not forgotten, to remember how this food gets to the table and that these people have everything to do with that,” Diaz said.

Students at the event had not heard the stories of the Chavez Chicano Movement. Such as

Melissa Pallares and Kaitlin Gallardo.

“I don’t know much about him but I am excited to learn,” Gallardo said.

Students were attracted to the sights and music of the event as many of the participants were in red and wove flags of red bearing the logo “¡Si Se Puede!.”

“We just saw the flags waving and wanted to see what it was all about,” said Pallares.

RCC students had the opportunity to not only to learn about Chavez but to meet the people whose lives were directly impacted by his movement.

Miguel Arias, RCC grounds keeper and ex-farmworker came to the U.S. in 1976 and directly benefited from movements like that of Chavez, which gave better conditions and pay for the workers.

“We had no bathrooms, no breaks and the pay was poor,” Arias said. “It has gotten much better and I love working for here, but I still have farmworker’s blood in my veins.”

J u l i s a Ve r o n , t h e granddaughter of Miguel Arias, sang a song called “Deportees” at the event that tells the story about a plane that crashed on its way back to Mexico.

The casualty list bore the names of the pilots and guards but for the Mexican farmworkers aboard the only name to be seen was that of “deportee.”

Many Latin Americans are deported to their homelands every year once their labor contracts expire, which was the inspiration for the song.

“It taught me to be grateful for the food that I eat because they pick it in the hot fields,” Veron said in admiration of the struggles of her grandfather and the many others who had to, and still continue to, endure similar hardships today.

March 22 Hit and run in parking structure y

A hit and run occurred at 10:45 a.m. in the parking structure.

No injuries were reported and there are no suspects at this time. y

March 23 Stolen hubcaps

Hubcaps were stolen off of a vehicle parked on the third floor of the parking structure at 2 p.m. There are no suspects at this time.

March 24 S tu d e n t m ay f a c e c h a r g e s o f embezzlement y

GIOVANNI CARDENAS | VIEWPOINTS

Riverside City College Grounds person Miguel Arias and his granddaughter Julisa Veron celebrate the 31st anniversary of Cesar Chavez Day in front of the MLK Building on March 29.

Board of Trustees confronted Students take a stand in support of Aarefah Mosavi BOARD from Page 1 upholding a “past practice,” which according to Haghighat, was a “gentleman’s agreement” between the association and the chancellor to include them in the hiring of a compliance officer due to issues with that position that had occurred in the past..

Burke also agreed to amend board policy to include all stakeholders that would be affected by a hiring of such positions as district compliance officer.

“I think the policy that I would talk to Chancellor Burke about reviewing would be 7120a, in terms of what the Faculty Association and the Academic Senates need to work with the administration to come up with the sort of broad principles for hiring high level administrators who have oversight regarding academic policy, compliance,

etc.,” said Mark Sellick, president of RCC Academic Senate.

“I think it was a really striking and very moving presentation from the students this evening about student safety and issues with women’s rights,” RCC Art Instructor Rhonda Taube said. “On my way here today, I was personally harassed by someone in the street and I think that just being a female just makes you a target at times and it’s just disappointing.”

Alexis Naucler contributed to this report.

Female student refused to return an RCC issued computer to the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services office located in the Bradshaw building. This incident is still under investigation.

According to Riverside Community College District Police Sgt. Robert Kleveno, the student may be facing charges of embezzlement. y

March 28 Theft of an iPhone

An iPhone was stolen from the Cesar E. Chavez building at 12:30 p.m. There are no suspects at this time. y

March 29 RCCD police car vandalized

An RCCD police car was vandalized at 6 p.m. A window was broken out while the police car sat parked at the corner of Market Street and University Avenue. There are no suspects at this time.

y

March 30 Nursing building vandalized

The School of Nursing building was vandalized at 2 a.m. A window on the west side of the building facing Market Street was broken. There are no suspects at this time.

ANDREW BRADY | VIEWPOINTS

Activist Aarefah Mosavi listens on as her supporters express their anger at the Riverside Community College District Board of Trustees after hearing her out during their April 5 meeting.

Hit and run in Lot E A Dodge Caravan was involved in a hit and run in Lot E at 12:55 p.m. No injuries were reported and there are no suspects at this time.

&E A Led Zepagain reanimates past 4 April 7, 2016

“If you are born an artist, you have no choice but to fight to stay an artist.”

CONCERT REVIEW TREVA FLORES

@RCCViewpoints

Traveling back in time to over 30 years before my birth, when rock stars had long curly hair, flower print jackets and flared pants defining their image, this night was a bit of a culture shock.

Led Zepagain and The Ultimate Rolling Stones proved that it doesn’t matter who’s playing at a concert, as long as the atmosphere is light-hearted everyone can have a good time.

The two tribute bands for Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones took over the Riverside Municipal Auditorium for a night of rock’n’roll March 25.

Considering I was probably one of the youngest members of the crowd by at least 20 years, the concert was still a night to remember.

These bands truly admired the music they were playing as well as the image they were portraying for two of the most iconic bands that formed in the 1960s. This concert wasn’t just a gig for them, it was a lifestyle that they fully embraced.

For tribute bands there are only three real requirements: they need to sound like the band musically, they have to match the bands’ image and they must capture the bands’ personality.

Without these components the night would be easily forgotten,

but The Ultimate Stones as well as Led Zepagain captured the true spirits of the band members they were portraying in each of their performances.

When The Ultimate Stones entered the stage I had no idea what to expect. These full grown men were wearing pink scarves and had feathered haircuts, not something that could easily be taken seriously, but from the second they started playing they captured my immediate attention.

With an over the top Jim Becker leading the stage as Mick Jagger, there was no stopping as the band played their hearts out.

Julz Harris who both portrayed Lisa Fischer and Merry Clayton stole the show with her powerful vocals carrying through each solo. She was more than just a backup singer and was cheered for eagerly after each note.

After an hourlong set featuring songs such as “Gimme Shelter,” “Satisfaction” and “Sympathy for the Devil,” the eight-piece tribute band left the stage for Led Zepagain to take over.

With Swan Montgomery performing as Robert Plant, the band was able to take the night by storm with various high and low notes. Montgomery sounded just like Plant and was fun to watch as he danced around stage, swinging his microphone stand around.

Jimmy Sakurai performed an amazing set as Jimmy Page, switching out his guitars for various songs and playing a double neck guitar with incredible

- Lana Del Rey

TREVA FLORES | VIEWPOINTS

From left, Led Zepagain members Jim Wooten, Swan Montgomery and Jimmy Sakurai perform March 25 at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium. ease. He even played the guitar behind his head and in the air for some of their songs.

Jim Wooten played the role of John Paul Jones on bass and keyboard, switching instruments throughout the set. He was dressed the part nonetheless and seemed to enjoy what he was doing.

Derek Smith performed on drums as John Bonham. Although he seemed to be the youngest member he was one of the most talented with many solos sprinkled into their performance.

They performed like a real team and put on a crazy show with awesome solos showcasing their talented members.

No Zeppelin tribute show would be complete, however, without a rendition of “Stairway to Heaven.” Led Zepagain nailed it and the crowd sang along to the famous song from 1971.

Near the end of the show, the tribute band welcomed 14-yearold drummer Adrian Manuel to play a song. Manuel and Smith had met on Instagram, “and not in a creepy way” said Smith as he introduced the young musician to the stage.

Manuel then proceeded to play a song with the rest of Led Zepagain and clearly having the time of his life while doing it.

The talent Manuel had was clear and it was amazing to see

how supportive the tribute band was toward him.

As the night came to a close Led Zepagain welcomed their younger fans to dance with them onstage during the final song. The children played their air guitars and bowed down to Sakurai as he played his final solo.

Although this was a tribute concert for fans of “dad rock,” it was still worth spending a Friday night in the company of middle-aged adults. The night proved that no matter what age, fans could still rock out to their favorite songs.

‘Big River’ floods stage with tremendous talent Performance Riverside presents the musical adaption of the famous Mark Twain novel PLAY REVIEW MARY VALTERRIA @RCCViewpoints

The Landis Performing Arts Center is the current home to Performance Riverside’s production of “Big River, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

The musical, taken from the book by William Hauptman and adapted from the novel by Mark Twain, follows an adventurous young boy by the name of Huckleberry Finn who escapes an abusive father by faking his own death and eventually helps lead a slave named Jim to freedom.

The April 1 opening night show of “Big River” opened its doors to a minimal sized audience; only about half of the theater’s seats were filled. The mostly mature crowd of patrons filtered into to the auditorium from the slightly chilly exterior and found their seats with assistance from helpful and accommodating ushers.

The theater lights dimmed at

precisely 7 p.m when the show commenced and the audience found themselves in pre-Civil War Missouri. The actors were energetic and lively, and the first few musical numbers were entertaining and fruitfully executed.

Riverside City College students weighed in on the first act.

Gerardo Sanchez said that the cast and set were good overall.

“I enjoyed the music,” said Sanchez. “The band was professional.”

Catherine Cabag said that though she had a decent impression of the cast, it was difficult to understand Juan Caballer, who portrayed Huck Finn, possibly because of a speech impediment.

Caballer was spirited and enthusiastic. His stage presence was fair and he reasonably convinced spectators that he was a boy in search of mischief.

Caballer, however, soon began to stumble over his lines and his errors in delivery were at a count of 10 by the end of the show. His musical renditions fell flat in

some areas, despite his animated exhibitions.

Although Cabag wasn’t entirely impressed with Caballer, she did express appreciation for the actor who played Huck’s father.

“He was surprisingly (passionate) while in song,” said Cabag.

Ryan Addison Coon took on the role of Pap. Coon’s short time onstage depicting Huck’s father was frightfully convincing, skillfully carried out and positively memorable. It was one of the highlights of the entire show.

Coon went on to portray other characters such as a townsman and a doctor, but his shining moment was as the “Guv’ment” hating drunk who resented his son.

The true champion of the stage was Edred Utomi, who brought to life the character of Jim – the runaway slave that Huck traveled down the Mississippi River with in search of freedom and independence.

Utomi captured the attention of playgoers with his impeccable

musical numbers and his powerful conveyance of a man in captivity, whose only objective was to be reunited with his family.

“Things picked up in the second half,” said Gerardo Sanchez. “(Utomi) had a good, strong singing voice.” “(Utomi) was somber and soulful,” added Cabag. “He was appropriate for the character.”

The performance given

by Utomi brought viewers onboard the raft as Jim found an everlasting friendship in Huck.

While they floated down the big river, the two experienced a variety of emotions and found themselves in some uncomfortable situations. They passed a boat full of runaway slaves who were being returned to their masters, saw a dead body floating down the river and eventually allowed two commandeering crooks to ride along with them, almost jeopardizing their budding friendship.

The climax of the show came when Jim was on the verge of being taken back into captivity, but instead was given the news that

he had been freed in his previous owner’s will. Through Utomi’s artfully crafted performance, audience members felt relief and hope right alongside Jim. Each of the grave experiences that Jim and Huck faced came with a great deal of consequence, but through the eyes of a child, Huck viewed the encounters as adventures.

For Jim, the voyage was a matter of life or death. For Utomi, the voyage was a breakout performance, triumphing over the rest of the cast and succeeding expectations of those in attendance.

His presence was clearly celebrated at the close of the show as Utomi received an overwhelming amount of applause from the audience members, some of whom gave him a standing ovation.

Utomi, Coon and the rest of the cast will be reprising their roles in “Big River, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” through April 10.

April 7, 2016

A&E

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‘Miracles’ renews viewer’s faith ‘Miracles from Heaven’ tells the story of a young girl’s declining health and her family’s faith MOVIE REVIEW KAT WEAVER

@RCCViewpoints

Experience “Miracles from Heaven” for yourself. This intriguing and inspiring small town family shares its true-life story to the masses on the big screen.

Jennifer Garner gives an outstanding performance by portraying the real life events of the Beam family.

Christy Beam (Garner) is a loving wife and mother who suddenly comes face to face with the incurable intestinal disease that will soon take the life of her 10-year-old daughter, Anna (Kylie Rogers.)

The family from Burleson, Texas had more than their faith tested as they began encountering many sleepless nights and emergency room visits.

All of the doctors’ reports proved there was no cure in sight for Anna. As a result, her family

IMAGE COURTESY OF SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT

From left, Christy (Jennifer Garner), Kevin (Martin Henderson) and Anna Beam (Kylie Rodgers) discuss what happened to Anna in the cottonwood tree at their home. would be healed from her disease, was pushed into the brink of Beam (Martin Henderson) and that she would return to her hopelessness. takes on two jobs to manage the family to tell others that God and Anna’s parents, enlightened overwhelming medical financial heaven are real. by the possibility that Dr. Nurko hardships, Christy takes Anna Miraculously, she came back (Eugenio Derbez) could help their to Boston for medical treatment. to life and was cured of her frail daughter, soon agonized with Anna ultimately had a lifedisease. yet another unexpected family changing event in the front yard “Miracles from Heaven” is hardship. They were placed on a of her family home. She had a a Christian faith based movie. nine monthlong waiting list. near death experience and went Viewers could sense that the While Anna’s father Kevin to heaven where she was told she

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‘The Walking Dead’ ends in cliffhanger, reveals villain TV REVIEW

ALYSSA RUIZ

@RCCViewpoints

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Beam family had a strong Christian faith but by feeling powerless, their faith lapsed.

It was inspiring to see a family’s faith restored through this young child and how Anna’s story impacted a small community, a church, her doctors and eventually her parents.

I recommend watching this movie because viewers may resonate with this family’s story like I did as a parent Garner’s commitment and portrayal of a loving mother struck a chord. People can easily become overwhelmed in seeking healing and restoration for their once healthy child.

Overall, there is some sadness that is an integral part of the story.

Some may not find it enjoyable, as sadness is a part of life that most of us do not want to see.

In the end however, the story is heart warming.

“The Walking Dead” aired its season six finale April 3 on AMC where the long awaited arrival of vicious villain Negan, leader of the Saviors, was introduced.

For only appearing in the tail end of the episode, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) already gave fans a reason to envy his character.

As he stepped out of the RV, making his grand entrance with his beloved barbed-wire-covered bat, Lucille, in hand, the intensity and anxiety rose between viewers and the characters. I don’t think we’ve seen Rick (Andrew Lincoln) that scared since he woke up from his coma in the very first episode.

Negan was seeking revenge

from Rick and the group for killing his men, and he was going to get it.

Claiming them as his own now, Negan still desired to take out his aggression on one person from the group with the help of Lucille.

Did he beat someone to death? Well, we don’t know. Nor do we know who the victim is.

Like all season finales, this one ended with the biggest cliffhanger of all.

After playing a sick and twisted game of eeny, meeny, miny, moe, where his grip on Lucille tightened, to decide who the ill-fated victim will be, viewers were left with a bloody screen and an unknown doom for one of the characters.

Making for arguably the most intense episode in “The Walking Dead” history, writers Scott Gimple and Matt Negrete gave

viewers a 90-minute, nail-biting, post-apocalyptic experience where “walkers” were the least of the characters’ worries.

With impressive emotional acting, it was hard to avoid getting caught up in this fictional TV show.

Once the episode was over, viewers took to Twitter to release their frustrations, making #TWDFinale trend No. 1 worldwide.

Many argue that the fallen victim is Glenn (Steven Yeun) because according to the comics the show is based off, that is his fate. After already going through one “almost-death,” hasn’t he been through enough this season?

However, our questions won’t be answered until the show’s seventh season airs this fall.

Events Calendar “Big River” Landis Performing Arts Center April 1-10 2 p.m. & 7 p.m.

RCC Muse Open Mic Downtown Public Library April 7 6:30 p.m.

Slow Art Day Riverside Art Museum April 9 11 a.m.

Salsa Sunday Riverside Women’s Club April 10 6 p.m.

Tamale Festival White Park April 16 11 a.m.

Bern Fest 2 Back to the Grind April 16 5 p.m.

March Field Airfest March Air Reserve Base April 16-17 8 a.m.

AlunaGeorge Santa Ana Observatory April 18 8 p.m.

Green Festival RCC Quad and Garden April 23 9 a.m.

6

SPORTS

April 7, 2016

“You owe it to yourself to be the best you can possibly be,”

- Pete Rose

STACY SORIANO | VIEWPOINTS

Riverside City College poll vaulter, Madison McPeak clears nine feet plus 11 inches of height on March 25. RCC’ women’s track and field team defeated Orange Coast College 110 -42.

The Riverside City College track and field program continues to elevate its athletes to new heights DYLAN KING

@RCCviewpoints

Riverside City College secured a decisive win against Orange Coast College in an Orange Empire Conference track and field meet, March 25, winning 110-42. The men also won in convincing fashion, 107-50.

As the teams hit their midseason stride, strong relationships have fostered winning results.

Freshman Anthony John Soriano delivered one of his best overall performances yet again, taking first place in the long jump with a distance of 7.02 meters.

He also won the triple jump (14.20m) and high jump (1.95m).

Soriano’s ascent to state recognition is buffered by organic team chemistry created through mutual competitive desire and effort. This formula has translated a caucus of individual personalities into a collectively well oiled machine that has performed above expectations so far this season, as evidenced by

the Tigers’ winning 17 of 18 possible events against Orange Coast.

“Our jump squad has an opportunity to do big things at state (championships),” Soriano said of his teammates. “We have four triple jumpers in the top 10 for state (rankings), all (jumps) over 14 meters, and two high jumpers in the top five. Everything looks good for us, I think our season has turned out better than we expected it to be.”

See TRACK on Page 7

Baseball team wins nonconference games NICK ESCALERA @RCCviewpoints

The Riverside City College baseball team was able to come away with two nonconference wins over Santa Barbara City C o l l e g e a n d Ta f t C o l l e g e following a five game losing streak to start conference play.

Taking a break from play in the Orange Empire Conference, RCC pulled out a 5-3 win over Santa Barbara on March 23 and a 10-7 win over Taft on March 24 thanks to performances by Sean Smith and Garrison Cole.

It was also a valiant effort from the bullpen as well with 10 different Tigers being called upon

to secure a victory in both games going 18 innings, striking out 13, and only giving up nine runs.

Smith went 4 for 9 in those two games coming up with clutch at bats against Santa Barbara and Taft driving in a pair of runs.

“We had our confidence back and we knew who we were, playing as ourselves how we can and we finally put some at bat bats together,” Smith said.

Cole didn’t see much action in the Santa Barbara game but also had two hits against Taft driving in a pair of his own with a RBI single in the fourth and an RBI double in the eighth-inning.

“Try not to do too much and stay within yourself,” Cole said.

“Hitting is contagious, every

guy sees the guy in front of them having success and they know they can do the same thing.”

It was also a Johnny Wholestaff kind of week in which both starters Brandt Baker and Angel Delgado saw limited innings giving way to eight different pitchers including Cole Young who recorded his second save of the season against Santa Barbara.

“It’s always good to get the (win), which was the whole objective, the goal going into the week,” Coach Arguelles said.

“We had set that up, it was limited innings for three guys Delgado and Ramirez and it happened to work out exactly how we wanted it.”

ANDREW BRADY | VIEWPOINTS Riverside City College pitcher Angel Delgado runs into some trouble in the first inning, but is able to finish the inning without giving up a run against the visiting Santa Barbara City College on March 23.

Sports

7

April 7, 2016

Beach Volleyball continues success

PRISTINE TOMPKIN @pristinetompkin

TRACK from Page 6 Sophomore Christopher Brown won his two individual events in the discus and hammer throw (44.96 and 51.55m), while sophomore Ashley Santos took first place in the women’s hammer throw (41.57m).

Freshmen Natalie Vaughn (19 minutes,43.46 seconds) and Michael Simpson (15:53.46) had victories in their respective 5000-meter run. Simpson bested second place finisher Austin Chavez (16:24.52) by more than 30 seconds.

The Tigers were firing on all cylinders in March, notching victories against Division I opponents like Pepperdine and UC Riverside in nonconference action, while placing second overall in the UCI Spring Break Invitational.

Experienced veteran leadership is a characteristic that vividly describes the nucleus of the RCC track program this season, with freshmen displaying tenacious exertion and strategic execution in the process, something that sophomore Aaliyah Goshen said brings the

team together.

“I think we’re pretty close as a team,” Goshen said. “The chemistry is pretty good, (because) we don’t have a lot of separation of groups. We have a smaller team than we did last year and previous years, so I think that helps bring us closer.”

Of the first year athletes, Tiarah McDaniel has risen to the top in her field, increasing her skill and capacity as a runner by taking first place in all three of her events. She won the women’s 100-meter dash in 12.26, the 200 in 24.93, and the 4x100 meter relay with sophomores Sharidan Sharpe, K a y l a Wilson, and Aaliyah Goshen with a time of 48.08.

It was -- Antony McDaniel’s first clean sweep of the season in her events. “(Friday) was my first time (winning all three), it was

STACY SORIANO |

“

amazing,” McDaniel said.

Wo m e n ’s h e a d c o a c h Damien Smith has championed McDaniel’s prowess as an intense athlete and competitor.

“Tiarah is really special because she is involved in (both) sand volleyball and track and John Sorianof i e l d , ” S m i t h said. “I have to be really careful with some of the workouts that I give her when she comes from volleyball practice. I have to give her enough (practice)

“Our jump squad has an opportunity to do big things at state.”

VIEWPOINTS (Top) Riverside City College Track and field runner Tiarah McDaniel sprints after getting the baton handed to her during a relay race vs Orange Coast March 25.(Left) Distance runner Cristian Malloy runs next to Orange Coast runner Cruz Adolfo, RCC’s men’s track team won the overall conference meet with a final score of 107-50.

to make her better, but not enough to wear her out.”

While the coaches emphasize high energy and effort on the field, men’s head coach Jim McCarron also stresses equal importance of academics and class activity.

“The expectations are always high for them to be great studentathletes, to focus in the classroom, and do well on the track and on the field,” McCarron said. “When I say do well, I mean (for them) to (perform) to the best of their ability and compete every time they come out for a track meet.”

McCarron said his goal is to have athletes do their best in and outside the track program.

Riverside City College’s success with beach volleyball continues to prove why its addition was a good choice. They have been improving throughout the season, which explains their 7-3 overall record.

RCC defeated Rio Hondo 5-0 despite losing 3-2 to Santa Ana College in the second match March 30.

The Tigers won six sweeps and seven pairs matches out of ten.

Sophomore Amanda Barker, who helped her partner Bethany Walsh defeat the Knights in their match, also said that although their schedule is getting more difficult she believes they can pull through.

“The next couple teams we play are tough schools and will be pretty challenging,” she said.

“But if we all focus on what we do best and play the way I have seen us play before, I know we can end the day with an overall win.”

The pairs team of Sabrina Gonzaga and Marissa Vialpando have not lost a single match this season.

A LOOK AHEAD HOME

AWAY

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Prelims Finals 10 a.m.

10 a.m.

Baseball FRI 4/8 Golden West 2 p.m.

TUES THUR SAT 4/12 4/14 4/16 Fullerton @Fullerton Fullerton 2 p.m.

College College 2 p.m.

12 p.m.

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Views

April 7, 2016

Trans-phobic law passes Tell

us what you think, in a letter to the editor, in an email, or use #RCCnow.

North Carolina legalizes discrimination under guise of security

JAKOB WOOD

@RCCviewpoints

Being an American ensures an inalienable right to freedom, justice and equality, unless you’re a transgender citizen living in North Carolina.

Instead of using last year’s ruling on marriage equality as a stepping stone and making further progress in civil rights, Nor t h Ca roli na’s Gov. Pat McCrory passed a new bill March 22 titled the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act. The title alone is cruel, giving the impression that transgender people are terrorists, threatening the safety of innocent, vulnerable citizens.

The bill forces trans citizens to use the bathroom matching their biological sex instead of the gender they identify with.

Bot h t he gove r nor a nd members of the state’s House of Representatives such as Tim Moore claimed that this was an issue of privacy even though

this whole affair revolves around public bathrooms.

Jokes and irony aside, the problem is that they don’t recognize trans men and women as “real” men and women. They also seem to have forgotten about the existence of bathroom stalls.

People use restrooms to relieve themselves of bodily waste; that’s what bathrooms are for. These representatives are making inappropriate and discriminator y assumptions about the intentions of trans people without providing any statistical evidence. That level of ignorance has no place in lawmaking. But the bias doesn’t stop there.

ABC News reported that the Republican leaders were so eager to pass the bill that they spent $42,000 to schedule a special session before the passing of an anti-discrimination ordinance in Charlotte on April 1.

In no way can this bill be seen as non-transphobic when legislation rushed to prevent citizens from attaining equal rights that already existed in other cities of the state.

Howe ve r, t he bi l l a l s o addressed locker rooms, facilities in which trans folks would be more easily recognizable and potentially unsettling to others.

While this is true, legislatures are more concerned with the comfort of the majority than the safety of the minority. That is

straight up discrimination.

Trans people are likely to stand out regardless of which gender-specific facility they use.

Forcing transgender people to use facilities according to the sex on their birth certificate doesn’t help their situation. In fact, it will probably cause more problems. Many trans people already don’t fit in, yet the government is only making it harder for t hese citizens to live normal, equal lives.

2 015 m a r k e d ILLUSTRATION BY t h e MADISON MOORE highest murder rate of trans individuals, at least 21 in the first 10 months, according to Law Street Media.

Now the gover n ment is willing to just strip people of their rights. What does that say to the public? Trans people aren’t important enough for the government to protect.

C h r i s Sg r o , e xe c u t i ve director of Equality NC, is calling this bill the “worst antiLGBT legislation in the nation.”

Unfortunately, this isn’t a biased, melodramatic statement.

On top of asserting specific bathroom use for trans citizens,

it also negates all previous Nor th Carolina ordinances protecting minorities against

Texas, the Lone Star State, allows guns at their public universities.

Guns are allowed on campus through Texas’ extension of their open carry laws. Actually, they have been allowed on public universities’ campuses (just not in buildings) since 1995.

According to the National C o n fe r e n c e of St at e Legislat ures, during the 2015 legislative session, Texas passed a bill allowi ng c onc e a le d handguns throughout campus, and will take effect in August 2016.

Although it’s not a new l aw, s t u d e nt s and facult y are still fighting against it. Many students and faculty members at the University of Texas at Austin have petitioned, written letters and emails and organized to ban guns from the campus, but unfortunately the law is the law

and remains firm.

Gregory L. Fenves, president of UT Austin, has made it clea r t hat he d o e s not s u p p o r t guns on campus, but as

that Texas law generally bans them from as well such as polling places on campus, spor ting events, patient-care areas, and animal research/care facilities.

The state law itself does have a few restrictions. It does not allow open carry on campus, it must be concealed, and the person carrying it must be 21 or older and needs a license to carry a concealed handgun on campus.

E v e n so, with

discrimination.

McCrory defended the bill by claiming, “We have not taken away any rights that have currently existed in any city in North Carolina.” The thing is, that’s exactly what he did.

This new bill makes it illegal for any North Carolina city to provide nondiscrimination ordinances that don’t exist at the state level, according to Thinkprogress.

This ultimately rules out most LGBT protections, negatively impacting people based on their sexual orientation as well as their

gender identity.

The LGBT community is not the only marginalized group at risk. The discrimination permitted by this legislation could potentially extend to people simply because of their race, age, religion or disabilities.

The bill states that a trans person can only use the bathroom of their choice if their “physical condition of being male or fe male, wh ich is stated on a person’s birth certificate,” matches the designated sex of the facility.

This is an outrageous expectation considering the extensive and expensive surgical procedures to f ix the r e p r o d u c t ive s ch e m e t h a t matches their identity.

CNN reported that these procedu res can cost about $100,000 out of pocket.

The whole process depends on factors such as hormone treatment, hospital stay, therapy, and of course the number of procedures needed to fulfill the transition.

North Carolina legislatures expect t rans people to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket just so they can go to the bathroom comfortably. Let that sink in.

Guns permitted on Texas college campuses

NICOLE TAMBUNAN @RCCviewpoints

We all d read coming to school for a good amount of reasons, like having two back-toback finals, leaving your nest of a bed for an 8 a.m. class, or the worst – oral presentations.

Now add one more item to that list: someone at your school might be carrying a gun. A public speaking class just became a lot more attractive.

Not only might someone be carrying a gun, but it turns out he or she is actually allowed to have it on them. It seems made up, because who would actually allow guns on campus?

Think quick fire pistols, cowboy hats and a long drawl,.

president m u s t u p h old t h e l aw.

There is no way to adopt a policy that excludes handguns from campus.

President Fenves has taken initiative to help the students and faculty at UT Austin feel as safe as possible, however. As of February 2016, UT Austin has drawn up a Campus Carry Policies and Implementation Strategies.

There are 25 policies, many of them banning guns in areas

ILLUSTRATION BY MADISON MOORE

all the events t h a t have transpired the past couple of years, no amount of restrictions can make the Texas public universities safe enough for students if there is still wiggle room to allow a student to bring a gun.

It’s a terrible feeling to come to school and have that thought in

the back of your mind that maybe something might happen.

How are students expected to be able to study, eat their lunch, concentrate in lecture, or enjoy a sporting event if they have to wonder if the person sitting next to them is carrying?

Students already have enough to worry about already, and now they need t o wor r y about the safet y of their lives at a college campus?

As much as we would like to think that the world is a generally ca r i ng and safe place, it’s not realistic and chances can’t be taken.

Hopefully Texas will change the law, for the sake of their students, before it ends the way many school shootings have happened before.

April 7, 2016

Views

11

Networking or cronyism?

Editorial

Ethical issue presented at RCCD after controversial hiring Favoritism, cronyism and nepotism. These concepts are all too well known in today’s workforce.

People need networking to expand their careers and opportunities but networking should be limited in any institution, organization or corporation.

And networking should never turn into cronyism; which is when a person with enough authority openly displays favor to a friend or family member.

While networking can be the foundation to a successful career, a person should not rely solely on friendship to establish their career, they should have the skills that are required to fulfill a desired position.

“When someone is granted a position because of connections rather than because he or she has the best credentials and experience, the service that person renders to the public may be inferior,” according to Judy Nadler and Miriam Schulman, co-authors of the scholarly article “Favoritism, Cronyism, and Nepotism” for Santa Clara University.

Clearly, cronyism and other types of favoritism are an ethical issue, but why are these practices kept alive?

Cronyism provides benefit to those involved in the circle of colleagues. It’s a safety net, people watch each other’s back. But what is beneficial to some might be harmful to others.

The same authority that is watching out for someone in turn creates a work environment that others can perceive as hostile.

Cronyism is at its worse when a person is not properly qualified for the position. The candidate might have the best intentions to succeed at the job, but good intentions do not make up for a lack of skills.

It is similarly harmful when selecting a candidate whose reputation is not the best, as is the case with the current Riverside Community College District Compliance Officer, Lorraine Jones.

Mt. San Antonio College previously employed Jones as the director of equal opportunity employment and diversity and as the Title IX coordinator.

We feel that because Jones is involved in a lawsuit, where she is accused of covering up an oncampus rape of a Mt. SAC student, that her hiring is a blatant example of cronyism and its negative effects right here at our very own college.

Aarefah Mosavi, former Mt. SAC student and alleged rape victim in the spotlighted case, spoke to the students at Riverside City College about the hiring of Jones.

“I am here today because this administration has insolently chosen to hire a woman who is responsible from trying to cover up the fact that I was raped,”

Mosavi said.

According to Terri L. Hampton, RCCD vice chancellor of human resources and employee relations was adamant that Jones had the best qualifications out of a pool of 14 applicants and therefore was offered the position of compliance officer.

To Hampton it was appropriate to interview and hire someone involved with this kind of scandal.

Hampton said “respondents (of a lawsuit) have the right to be treated fairly, as well.”

“To condemn anyone without a fair and equitable process is inconsistent with the foundation principles upon which this country was founded,” Hampton said via email to Viewpoints.

Hampton, who coincidentally was also previously acquainted with Jones from working at Mt. SAC in the past explained she was aware of the trouble she could run into if she was involved in the hiring for this position.

“Upon realizing Ms. Jones had applied, I specifically communicated this information to the (hiring) committee, as I was keenly aware of the sensitivity that any action on my part might be perceived as undue influence and/ or cronyism,” Hampton said.

Although Hampton tried to remove any perception of cronyism by communicating the relationship she had with Jones to the committee, we she could have gone further to remove all doubt H e r job as the vice chancellor o f human resources does require her to perform interviews in the hiring process, but Administrative Procedure 7120a, Section 4e does not specify a specific position within the human resources department.

Any “representative” from human resources could have done it.

In an effort to remain ethical and completely impartial, Hampton should have removed herself from the decision making process to hire the new compliance officer.

If cronyism was not at play, then why was the entire hiring so secretive if it really wasn’t a conflict of interest? If they knew it was going to be perceived as cronyism, wouldn’t it have been better to have a

forum with the Faculty Association to answer any questions about the new hire?

The hiring has sparked controversy and the secrecy surrounding the ordeal has not made it any easier for that controversy to settle.

From the actions taken, it appears to have been a collaborative effort to keep everything under wraps from the public. Why the evasiveness to meet faceto-face for an interview?

Hampton has agreed to only conduct interviews via email. RCCD Chancellor Michael Burke declined to speak to Viewpoints and directed us to Peggy Cartwright, the assistant vice chancellor of strategic communications and institutional advancement for RCCD. Cartwright said she was not aware of the allegations against Jones, so she was not sure how those allegations will affect Jones’ performance.

Furthermore although every district employee is listed in a directory on the RCCD website, Jones is not, despite being with the district since Feb. 16.

Although she is relatively a n e w employee, almost two months have p a s s e d since she was officially appointed by the Board of Trustees to the position.

Ample time to update the directory to reflect her current position with the district.

All hiring process within the district needs to be more transparent to faculty, staff and students.

No matter how high up.

A position as important as ILLUSTRATION

BY MADISON the district compliance officer, MOORE which affects every person within the district is surely significant enough to warrant complete and utter transparency.

Favoritism may be tolerated in a family businesses, but when it comes to a state funded educational institution like RCCD, they should be limited because they interfere with the goal of a community college.

To foster not only the best learning environment but an environment of free opportunity for the students, staff and community.

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

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April 7, 2016

Views

Bias seeps in superdelegates

Democratic National Committee marks Clinton for the win, Sanders supporters outraged

DAVID ROMAN

@RCCviewpoints

It’s strange to think that a committee named for the Democratic processes that entitles every citizen to have a vote, a voice for how things are decided is so keen on doing the exact opposite to its members.

But that’s exactly what the Democratic National Committee, or the formal governing body for the United States’ Democratic Party is doing.

Being an out and proud liberal democrat, I admit being critical of the D.N.C. feels off, as if I’m criticizing my abuela’s tortillas or calling a professor an idiot to their face, but I wouldn’t be doing my civic duty to my country or my party if I kept quite.

The 2016 presidential campaign is set to be one of the most important political races seen in the country for some time. With the country fully recovered from the recession and the economy only getting

stronger, whoever ends up in the Oval Office on Jan. 20, 2017 will undoubtedly be signing off (or not signing off) on pieces of legislation that determine the direction the U.S. takes in a rapidly evolving world.

Legislation from anywhere between foreign problems like security in the middle east, trade with Asia or domestic social issues such as attacks on planned parenthood or the future of governmental assistance programs.

Perhaps it is this election’s underscored importance why the party committees have been holding the elections with a vice-grip. Characterized in the Grand Old Party by strong views on Donald Trump, those RNC members supporting him generally only are to back a winner and those against him fighting tooth and nail to keep him out of power.

But these controlling attitudes are also being displayed within the DNC and democrats are not pleased.

At the time of writing the two contenders for the democratic party’s vote are neck-and-neck in pledged delegates with Hillary Clinton leading with 1,280 and Bernie Sanders closely behind with 1,061.

If anyone is looking at this race it’d be impossible to tell who’ll reach the revered 2,383 delegates needed to win the

majority vote.

It’s when someone takes into account superdelegates that things become far more skewed.

Superdelegates are unique to the democratic party and include all democratic members of the house and senate, all sitting democratic governors and the sketchiest of all, distinguished party leaders.

Essentially super delegates can vote for whichever candidate they want, and if they so please they can change their vote.

Superdelegates are a way to let the country’s most important (rich and influential) democrats have an even more important and influential voice in who the party chooses to represent them in the presidential race.

While some think it’s only natural to let the acting politicians in the party have a bigger voice in political matters than the average democrat, the whole process is undemocratic by nature not to mention the superdelegate vote is disproportionately more valuable than an average vote.

There are 712 superdelegates this year out of the total 4,051 delegates available. Which means the remaining 3,339 delegates are meant to represent the millions of democrats within the U.S. while each of the 712 V.I.P’s of the party get a voice that is much louder than the average voter.

While some are in support of this, it’s when we see the superdelegates all voting together

ILLUSTRA TION BY M

ADISON M

OORE

for one candidate inspite of the popular choice of the state they represent.

Like is the case this year.

Even though Clinton is only 250 pledged delegates ahead of Sanders, she currently holds 469 superdelegates compared to Sanders’ meager 31. Yes, you read that right. 31.

If all of this feels like the D.N.C. is ganging up together to elect a candidate despite of public opinion, that’s because they are.

Sure these superdelegates are under any obligation to vote any way but doesn’t it seem natural for party representatives vote in the same direction as the district

which elected them into power in the first place?

I don’t hold malice for the insanely rich, big business supporting and panderous (see ‘Clinton is not my abuela’) Hilary. In truth I’d rather see her in office than Tr u m p . B u t a s a democrat she should not suffocate the voice of her party.

Furthermore, the D.N.C. Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is only making it easier for Clinton to silence the people they represent, with her being quoted as saying, “unpledged delegates exist really to make sure that party leaders and elected officials don’t have to be in a position where they are running against grassroots activists.”

If all of this feels too undemocratic, then rest assured.

If you, like nearly half the democratic party are ‘feeling the Bern’ then call your local chosen superdelegates and ask them to vote for Sanders.

They don’t have to listen to you, at least not under the D.N.C. Charter, but maybe with enough calls we can annoy them into properly representing their constituents.

Campus Conversations

Campus Question: How do you feel about the minimum wage increasing to $15?

Campus Views is an open forum for Riverside City College students to voice their own opinions, views and ideas.

Interviews by Nicole Tambuman

Photos courtesy of Henry Jaime

“I think it’s kind of point“I think they definitely should raise the minimum wage less. The standard cost of because it would increase the living is going to exponennumber of people looking for tially rise and it’s just going jobs. It would entice them..”

- Casal McCleskey

to be harder on everyone.”

- Giancarlo Domicolo

“I think it’s pointless to raise the minimum wage... the cost of living will go up and the vast majority of people who actually are going to get more money really shouldn’t be. They don’t have the skillset that warrants that kind of pay.”

“As long as it’s financially feasible for the businesses to raise the minimum wage that much I support it completely, but if they can’t afford to have the minimum wage that high then something’s wrong.”

“It’s a good thing, although I do feel that due to the fact that the minimum wage will be raised so will cost of living, so it might just equal out and balance out to what it is right now. Hopefully it doesn’t, but we’ll see!”

“I think it’s necessary for a 15 dollar wage... I think people who are working minimum wage, like adults working on minimum wage can’t live off $10 an hour. It’s very important to raise it. The only thing I will say is that it sucks for the business people because they have to pay more.”

- Michael Rivera

“I think it’s kind of necessary. Prices are going up, everything’s going up so that (minimum wage) should go up too. How are they going to make ends meet? I think it’s really good.”

- Angelica Moya

“If they raise the minimum wage that means the cost of living will go up. I also feel like it has the ability to take away ambition, because if you can make $15 an hour flipping burgers that might not make you want to go to school to aspire to do more.”

- Jazmonai Taylor

- Nikki Barrientos

- Adam

Oakden

- Blas Morales