NEWS

NEWS BRIEFS

Student Safety Town Hall

RCCD police will hear students’ safety concerns and answer questions in the Bradshaw Hall of Fame Conference Room on March 24 from 12:30-2 p.m.

Our Bodies, Our Minds

This is a two hour workshop that explores the impact of sexual violence on mental health. The workshop touches on how to support loved ones that have survived sexual violence.

It will be held in the Bradshaw Hall of Fame Conference Room on March 23 from 1-3 p.m.

CalFresh and MediCal

Students will be able to apply for CalFresh and MediCal services at the Quad Corner on March 24 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Blood Drive

Life Stream Blood Bank will be on campus collecting blood donations on March 18 and 19 in the Quad Corner area from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Self-Defense Workshop

The Riverside Area Rape Crisis Center will present escape, risk reduction and fghting tips in the Bradshaw Hall of Fame Conference Room on March 18 from 2-3 p.m.

E n ro l l m e n t S e r v i c e s Webinar

A presentation will cover the “fve key steps to make difficult conversations easier” in the Charles A. Kane 202Q Conference Room on March 18 from 11 a.m. to noon.

All of these dates are subject to change due to possible regulations to come involving the containment of the coronavirus.

To stay up-todate on upcoming c a m p u s e v e n t s , visit the Viewpoints calendar listed at viewpointsonline.org.

If you have events happening on campus that you want featured on the calender, send information about the event to viewpoints. news@gmail.com.

JACOB QUEZADA | VIEWPOINTS

A greenhouse will share space with the Outdoor Plant Lab. Virginia White hopes that the greenhouse will be fnished by next year.

GARDEN from page 1

garden/urban farm,” Dean of Instruction Scott Blair stated in an email on Dec. 2. “While support of instruction shall be the priority of the academic space, the ongoing work of the community garden/urban farm, as a secondary use of the property, should be considered under the direction of the discipline experts.”

Three of the garden’s 12 plots are now reserved for academics, according to White. When the four plots surrounding the gazebo free up in the summer, they will likely be open for community use. Availability of plots for community use in the fall term, however, will depend on the academic needs of the courses offered.

“Being tied to classes does not mean that other people can’t use the space,” White said at the ASRCC Senate meeting. “What it means is that the courses are going to determine how much space they need and then how much space we can allot for public use.”

Several current and former members of the RCC Urban Farm and Student Sustainability Collective are unhappy with the transfer of authority and new regulations.

Some even created a petition to make their voices heard. There are concerns that reducing space in the garden will reduce food production for hungry students. There are protests to the emergence of the plastic tool sheds and the imminent greenhouse because the garden would no longer be a model of complete sustainability. Many feel that the community aspect is being taken away from the garden.

“It’s an important space,” said Beverley Eskew, former member of the collective. “It’s crosscultural, it’s cross-disciplinary and there’s not too many spaces like it on campus.”

Sustainability Collective President Stephanie Fowler fears that limiting access to the garden will hinder its original mission. She and several alumni voiced their concerns about the recent changes to the garden at the ASRCC Senate meeting on March 3.

“We don’t have access to that space, we have been left out of any talks of the organization of it or how the space will be used in the future,” Fowler said. “Other than [how] we’ve come to fnd out that they have put restrictive locks on our ways to get into that place . . . There is no connection or communication with the students as far as how we can continue to use that space. It’s just all been done.” White said that her sole supervision of the space is temporary while everyone gets used to the transition.

T h e g r e e n h o u s e w a s originally going to be included in the Math and Science Building. But it was scrapped from the fnal build, according to White.

“Other areas were scouted out and ultimately what made the most sense was putting it in the community garden,” said Mark Sellick, the district’s Academic Senate president. A c c o r d i n g t o W h i t e , designating the garden as an academic space will influence facilities decisions and guarantee its existence for at least 10 more years.

“They have been trying to find a greenhouse space for a long time,” said Micah Carlson, a former RCC student who was part of the initial group that started the community garden. “The garden came up in the conversations multiple times and it got saved multiple times.”

Members from the Student Sustainability Collective will meet with the ASRCC Supreme Court to continue to negotiate for space in the Outdoor Plant Lab. “I feel like we should share a space with the OPL,” said Royce Li. “That sounds reasonable.”

ERIK GALICIA

NEWS EDITOR

Norco College Interim P r e s i d e n t M o n i c a G r e e n emphasized her experience in program development as an 18 year employee of the Riverside Community College District during her forum on Feb. 20.

She described the Summer Advantage Program, which provides early orientation and one year of free tuition to frsttime students, as a successful example of her management style.

“When we started that program in 2012, we recognized that we were squeezing our local high school students out and (that) we had a placement issue,” Green said. “So we worked very closely with our high school

Final applicants’ forums address students and faculty at Norco College

COURTESY OF RCCD partners and developed this program.”

According to Green, the program paved the way for the college’s implementation of the Guided Pathways framework and the use of high school performance for placement.

Green has been championing

Guided Pathways for quite some time. She claimed that fully realizing the process, which began in 2015, is one of the dreams she has for Norco College.

The interim president propos ed increas ed dual enrollment, off-campus classes and temporary facilities to alleviate the college’s expected population boom.

Over the past year, students and faculty have raised concerns over the college’s district funding. Green assured faculty that Norco College has built the necessary relationships to ensure equity. At the college level, she proposed the creation of a progress review that would manage funding by assessing and prioritizing needs. Andy Aldasoro, the Norco

College Classifed Staff Union representative, asked Green how she would ensure that input from the “ground troops,” such as receptionists and groundskeepers, will be treated as importantly as input from professors and administrators.

“It’s ensuring that individuals are at the table,” Green said. “When is it not going to be convenient for our classified professionals to leave their areas because it’s a heavy time? Sometimes it’s balancing that with our faculty’s demands.”

According to Green, 40% of Norco College’s $75 million budget consists of “soft dollars,” which includes grants that fund the employment of classified professionals. She explained that the college must better prioritize funding to place some of these jobs on the general fund that makes up 60% of the budget, thus institutionalizing those jobs.

Green emphasized that the surrounding area is in need of an increase in “college-going rates.” According to Green, this requires making the community aware of Norco College.

“We’re lower on the list of being funded for new facilities,” Green said. “We have a service area that continues to grow. If we don’t bring on those resources then we’re not doing our due diligence.”

Green is in her second stint as interim president. She worked as dean and vice president of of Student Services at Norco College from 2009 to 2018.

ERIK GALICIA

NEWS EDITOR

The only Inland Empireraised finalist, Kenneth P. Gonzalez, relayed a message of empathy for students and staff at Norco College on Feb. 25.

Gonzalez is the vice president of student and enrollment services at El Paso Community College in Texas. His writings about the experiences of underrepresented students have been published across several academic journals.

“We’re here to serve students but we also need to make sure that our staff and faculty have access to a livable wage,” he said.

According to Gonzalez, the goal of Guided Pathways should be to put students on the path to a livable wage. He referenced his cousin in San Diego, who is studying to become a certifed nurse assistant, a job he claims does not pay a living wage in that area.

Gonzalez explained that an institution must not only help such a student be a successful CNA, but also encourage that student to achieve the title of registered nurse.

In regard to expanding faculty diversity as president, he expressed that educators of color have the opportunity to promote higher aspirations among students with similar backgrounds.

“So my little cousin, who’s 15 and thinks she only wants to be a CNA, sees a Latina nursing faculty member who’s telling her, ‘You need to get your nurse practitioner degree,’” Gonzalez said. “And she all of sudden thinks, ‘Wow, she looks like me and she came from a similar experience. I can do that too.’” According to Gonzalez, only half of El Paso’s outgoing high school seniors go on to college. For the last three years, he has sought to increase that number to over 60%.

“Our students come to our college an average of seven times before they complete the enrollment process,” he said. “We sent 70 or so people to each high school. And at the end of that day, every senior who wants to come to (El Paso Community College) walked away with a schedule of classes in their hand.”

Gonzalez also argued that advanced planning does not always match reality. He reported that 25% of California community colleges are under a “hold harmless” agreement in the state’s Student Centered Funding Formula, meaning that funding will not be withheld for at least a few years even though graduation rates are lower than expected.

According to Gonzalez, achieving equitable funding in the multi-college district must involve alignment of plans with countless factors, such as governance processes,

COURTESY OF EPCC

enrollment projections and pension obligations.

Gonzalez said that production of strong data would allow him to be a strong advocate when making the case for Norco College’s needs.

ALISON ARREGUIN

STAFF REPORTER

Naydeen Gonzalez-De Jesus, a public diplomacy officer at the U.S. Embassy in Argentina, highlighted her experience helping students of color on Feb. 27.

Prior to working in politics, Gonzalez-De Jesus, was the vice president of student affairs at Bergen Community College in New Jersey.

She claimed that data indicated students of color were falling through the cracks at that college.

“We were able to look at where we lacked as an institution,” Gonzalez-De Jesus said. “Through that experience

COURTESY OF 1812ADA.ORG

we were able to increase retention and also the completion rate to the point that our institution was acknowledged as the number one school in the state of New Jersey.”

According to GonzalezDe Jesus, the administration

at Bergen College bought flip flops at a dollar store for an experiment. Unable to choose what fip fops they would wear, they found that some fit and some did not. The experiment was meant to explain how the education system does not suit some students as well as others. “What is equity,” she asked. “If you need to walk straight, you’re gonna have to have the right flip flops. Therefore I’m gonna have to give you the resources you need.”

Gonzalez-De Jesus said flexibility and availability of options are essential in balancing career and technical education and general education. No matter the path, colleges should provide the resources necessary for students to achieve their goals,

according to Gonzalez-De Jesus. G o n z a l e z - D e J e s u s argued that transparency and communication are required to attain the necessary funding in a multi-college district. She proposed sending out a newsletter every two weeks to inform people about funding priorities and requests.

Anisha Salhotra, a second year student, raised concern over the future of supplemental instruction and other tutorial services at Norco College.

“We are facing a lack of funding for supplemental instruction and tutoring on our campus,” Salhotra said. “Next semester we will not have any type of supplemental instruction at all.”

Gonzalez-De Jesus described

partnerships as key to meeting the resource needs of Norco College. As a public diplomacy offcer, she has partnered with Delta Airlines to aid students studying abroad in Argentina.

“They were able to go to Argentina and come back free of charge,” Gonzalez-De Jesus said. “I partnered with AT&T so that students coming to Argentina from the United States could have cell phones.”

Gonzalez-De Jesus proposed rearranging available space in order to accomodate Norco College’s expected population boom even when voters do not approve bond measures.

“We have the space,” Gonzalez-De Jesus said. “Together we can make it happen.”

IMAGE COURTESY OF RCCD

Members of Riverside City College’s Elohist Club out by the old Admissions and Records Building. The club is established in over 50 colleges worldwide.

Elohist club receives threats

Members aim to clear social media misconceptions

ERIK GALICIA

NEWS EDITOR

Social media has proven itself time and time again to be an effcient means for the spread of false and harmful information. Members of Riverside City College’s Elohist Club, which focuses on preaching the World Mission Society Church of God’s version of Christianity, claim to have learned this through personal experience.

What sets their doctrine apart from other Christian ideologies is their preachings about “God the Mother,” which teaches that God exists in both male and female form. Several social media posts in the last few years have made accusations that “God the Mother” preachers on college campuses are connected to sex traffcking.

According to RCC Elohist Club members, these social media accusations have resulted in stigma and harassment.

Stacy Rangel, vice president of the club, was preaching to a student across the street from RCC last September when she claims another student interrupted the encounter.

“She starts pulling her and she’s like, ‘Come on girl, you don’t even know what they’re involved in,’” Rangel said.

Rangel also reported an incident the week before the start of the Spring 2020 semester on Terracina Drive, which runs through the middle of the college off Magnolia Avenue. Rangel claims a student she approached reacted suspiciously and then went behind some bushes and started taking pictures of club members. When the club confronted the student, Rangel says the student was worried about the sex trafficking allegations she had heard. The club then invited the student to speak to an RCC police offcer who happened to be nearby if she felt the problem was severe enough to warrant taking photos of the interaction.

“I’m a mother,” Rangel said. “If you were to do something with this picture and somehow the cops come to my house, the frst thing that’s gonna come to my head is my child. What are they gonna do to my child? They’re probably gonna take her. You don’t know what kind of legal problems you can get me into.”

The club provided Viewpoints with Facebook comments on “God the Mother” posts that threaten violence against missionaries.

“Kill them,” some comments read. “”Throat punch the little b-- ----.”

According to Stacy’s Husband and club President Joe Rangel, the allegations against Elohist clubs began in 2017 at the University of Tennessee.

“I was there,” Joe said. “The police got involved in trying to arrest one of the missionaries that was with us. We ended up clearing up the (misunderstanding.) But from there it got spread out through mass media.”

Several law enforcement investigations across the country have found no evidence that Elohist clubs and the World Mission Society Church of God are connected to sex traffcking.

According to Lt. Jayson Wood of the Riverside Police Department, there are no indications in the agency’s system that “Elohist Club” and “World Mission Society Church of God” have ever been mentioned in a sex trafficking investigation conducted by the RPD.

“The ones that are being victimized here (are) actually us,” said Valerie Dewong, club secretary and treasurer. “It’s unfair and unjustifable that we are receiving this kind of backlash, especially with no proof.”

Dewong said she would like to trust that RCC will support the club’s freedom of expression and ensure the safety of its members. She argued that the stress caused by the attacks could end up affecting the academic performance of club members.

“We’ve had a lot of members think about coming to this campus,” Dewong said. “But if this kind of thing is gonna happen to them, obviously they would have to go to school somewhere else.”

RCC’s Elohist Club prides itself in its volunteer service, which includes blood drives and environmental cleanups. It’s affliated church has also received a Volunteer Service Award from both President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump, as well as the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in the United Kingdom, which requires government audits to ensure legitimacy.

“We’re just trying to be students and also share our beliefs and what we’re passionate about,” Dewong said.

Author Nisha Elliot teaches young women about confdence and self-esteem during the Empowering Young Women’s Conference at Riverside City College on March 7. JONATHAN RAMIREZ | VIEWPOINTS

Conference empowers women

Young women learn self-love through different workshops at RCC

ROSSANA MARTINEZ

STAFF REPORTER

At a young age women are given the message that they are weak and vulnerable. Selflove and self-empowerment change those misconceptions when women unite to make a difference.

Young women gathered for the Empowering Young Wo m e n ’s C o n f e r e n c e a t Riverside City College on March 7 to learn more about self-worth, love and power. Each girl was greeted with a warm smile, a folder, notepad and pen.

Wanda Scruggs, chair of the conference, encouraged young women to start with themselves in order to make changes to the world.

“If we can teach them that they can start in their own little sphere of influence, changing their world, then they can enlarge that and keep enlarging it until soon they’ve changed so many lives for the better,” Scruggs said.

T h e d a y c o n s i s t e d o f workshops and events focused on dream achievement, selfdefense, human trafficking, career education, selfesteem, personal health, and so much more.

“Girls Can Fight Too,”a favored workshop, taught a self-defense system designed for young ladies. Author Nisha Elliott, who created Transformation Tuesday, an online confidence-building video series, taught the girls how to use their voices to protect themselves.

“ T h e f o c u s i s f o r t h e girls to know that they’re amazing enough to protect

The focus is for the girls to know that they’re amazing enough to protect themselves.

-- Nisha Elliot, creator of Tranformation Tuesday

themselves,” Elliott said. “Hopefully they learn that you are amazing and should be protected and that your v o i c e b r i n g s p o w e r. I f they just learn to use their voice and it translates into everything that they do, then they’ve learned a million more things that I can even imagine.”

A presentation by The Latte Ladies , a g roup of w o m e n d e d i c a t e d t o p r o m o t i n g a n e c o n o m i c legacy for their children, taught simple tools to help live a financially sound life. Frita Travis, member of The Latte Ladies, explained that the workshop was based on the myths of saving money and the differences between the will and the living trust. “More so or less, it’s the simplicities of life,” Travis said. “Leaving the legacy f o r o u r c h i l d r e n a n d o u r children’s children.”

The conference continued with a fashion show, poetry, karaoke and a career panel discussion. The girls shared their talents with one another and asked questions about their future plans and careers. W h i l e s o m e s h a r e d t h e i r talents, others cheered them on with encouraging and empowering words.

The conference offered a place where the girls could be themselves completely and at no cost of judgment.

For Vanessa Orozco, Miss Riverside City’s Outstanding T e e n , t h e c o n f e r e n c e provided an opportunity to find strengths needed to pave the way to help other girls in need.

“I feel that girls these d a y s n e e d t o k n o w w h a t their strengths are so that we can use them and become someone in life,” Orozco said.

Contreras addresses concerns of the campus

JENNIFER ROSALES

STAFF REPORTER

The Associated Students of Riverside City College President Angel Contreras discussed possible parking reform during the State of Students forum held in the Charles A. Kane Building on Feb. 27.

According to Contreras, surveys conducted at the beginning of last semester determined that lack of parking was negatively impacting students.

“I’ve noticed that after a certain time there is a lot of staff parking open,” Contreras said. “But there (are) still a lot of students trying to fnd parking.” The student president reported that the Student District Consultation Council, which is made up of the the district’s student trustee and the presidents of all three colleges, is working on a district-wide resolution that would allow students to park in staff parking at certain times. The times have not yet been determined.

M e m b e r s o f R C C ’ s Transitioning Minds Club raised concern over the college providing EBT but not accepting it as a form of payment.

“Since it is being promoted at school, why not accept it,” asked Rosana Gomez, president of Transitioning Minds. “Leaving campus can be a burden. Especially with the parking situation.”

Contreras said he would be willing to discuss the matter with the cafeteria director.

I n t e r n a t i o n a l s t u d e n t s raised a concern about twoterm registration, which allows students to register for two terms instead of its original one term enrollment. It was put into effect in November 2018.

International students can be categorized as either fulltime or part-time students. Their admission requirements are a high school diploma or equivalent and proof of english language proficiency. They also have to go through several steps for application, which includes completing the online application, sending copies of important documents to the international center and paying a non-refundable application fee. As a result of two-term registration, international students have had a difficult time enrolling in classes they need. They end up taking classes not needed in order to fulfll the full-time unit requirement, which causes some of these students a longer stay at RCC.

Contreras said he would d i s c u s s t h e i s s u e w i t h administration and see if it is possible to go back to the original registration enrollment process or give international students the opportunity to have priority registration before any other groups on campus.

The final issue discussed at the forum was improving pedestrian safety in parking lots. Contreras wants to see if larger pedestrian crossing and speed limit signs can be put into place for drivers to be more cautious.