Viking News March 30, 2023 Vol. 95 Issue 5

VIKING NEWS

CHEAT-GPT

Can

Professors test potential for chatbot generated text to pass their courses

News Page 3

Munoz gives state of college

News Page 2

City parties for Mardi Gras

Lifestyle Page 4

Native woman shares pain, stories during open forum

By Lauren Benson

When circumstances prevented the appearance of a CSULB professor, an LBCC indigenous student stepped up to share her perspective on the missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement last Wednesday at PCC.

The student who led the event, Emma Manetta, is a Yurok Native and the Co-President of the Native American Indigenous Collaborative at LBCC.

Manetta opened the discussion with a traditional introduction in Yurok language and included American sign language. A common saying in the tribe is “to’ ko’moyok’,” which means “I understand you.” Her hope was for attendees to feel seen.

“There is a lot of power in healing and there is a lot of power in that pain because we cry for our ancestors, who weren’t able to cry. We’re healing them from our work now,” said Manetta.

The presentation began with an overview of the MMIW movement, in which indigenous women are stolen and silenced at alarming rates, but miscalculated in the overall data.

“American Indian and Alaskan Native women are two-times more likely to experience violent crimes and 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual violence in their lifetime,” Manetta explained.

When violence occurs to indigenous people in urban areas, the data is not relayed to the tribal nations resulting in the inaccuracies of identifying indigenous people in national data.

“These conservations are important to have and they’re really difficult, but I welcome the vulnerability,” said Manetta.

The discussion portion of the presentation allowed attendees to ask questions regarding MMIW and indigenous communities.

The conversation included disproportionate media portrayals, disseminating information and other ways to champion indigenous people.

LBCC’s Native American Indigenous Collaborative holds peacemaking circles and other meetings by providing a safe space to promote healing for Indigenous students and staff.

The next peacemaking circle will be held on Thursday, April 13 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the lower level of the E Building at LBCC in the Social Justice Intercultural Center.

Munoz talks future of LBCC

By cindy jester

Superintendent-president Mike Munoz shared how Long Beach Community College not only weathered the storm of COVID-19 but continues to make great strides in his State of the College address.

Enrollment for colleges decreased drastically due lockdowns and fear. “Through the pandemic, the colleges and universities across the country experienced record drops in enrollment. Due to innovative real time response, LBCC was among the top 5 of 116 community colleges in minimizing loss and maintaining student enrollment,” said Munoz.

Munoz further stated that this is an accomplishment of the LBCC team.

13 colleagues were honored with the Viking Impact award, which recognizes employees who exemplify high levels of service and dedication.

The transfer rate increase was up for Black and Latinx students according to Munoz. Black/African Americans had a 17% increase in Associate Degree for Transfer and Latinx students had 18% increase. Black/African Americans had 54% increase in University Student Transfer and Latinx students had 23% increase.

“For the fifth time in six years, LBCC was recognized for the campaign for college opportunity for our transfer effort,but for 2022, LBCC was recognized for the Equity Champion of Higher Education Award for accomplishments in supporting Black and Latinx transfer efforts. The transfer efforts have continued to rise despite the pandemic” Munoz said.

Munoz introduced the strategic plan 2022-2026 stating, “It is the script in which we will act upon our mission and live our values.”

The four themes of the plan are Inclusive, Supportive, Innovative and Synergy. Synergy is evidenced by “one of the markers that demonstrates our success: increase job placement into positions that support a living wage, which is now up to 41%.”

In line with the strategic script, other major accomplishments include securing $6.8 million dedicated funds for internships, adding 60 new local industry partners committed to hiring our students and strengthened collaborations with Arizona State University and USC which is aimed at supporting transfer success.

LBCC is also strengthening partnerships with Long Beach Unified School District, City of Long Beach, Port Of Long Beach and CSU Long Beach.

Munoz also spoke of working with equity based non-profits like Raise the Bar, to help single student parents.

“We are currently working with University of Southern California’s (USC) Rossier School of Education. Together LBCC and

USC are collaborating on a new program that promotes and supports higher education for former gang-impacted youth in greater Long Beach over the next three years called the Phoenix Scholars Program,” Munoz said.

The program was dubbed LBCC Phoenix Scholars and received a million dollars and was the only such grant allocated in the nation by the Department of Education.

A student from this new program, Adrian Burt, spoke of how the program changed his life.

When Blas Villalobos was asked what his favorite part of today’s program was, he said “My student – Adrian”.

Adrian now has a stable life and is a full time student at LBCC as a result of the program.

In December 2022, LBCC announced “Viking Clubhouse” providing after school programs to the children of an estimated 1,000 students.

“This new service is simply a game changer for our student parents because at the end of the day, these are just students who are trying to do what’s best for their kids. They are going to college to better their lives and the lives of their family. We know that education creates a generational impact and so we are so proud of this program.” Munoz said.

To support LBCC’s endeavors, 37 new faculty members have been added.

When asked what she thought of their new Superintendent-President, “I find him approachable and genuine,” said Pamela Brackman, Senior Administrative Assistant, Academic Senate.

From the State of the College address, LBCC is storming into the future to become the best community college in the country.

Rosa Leon

The LBCC Championship Cheer Team opens State of the College with performance.

Rosa Leon Long Beach City College Superintendent-President Mike Muñoz gives 2023 State of College address March 13, 2023.

ChatGPT just ordered its cap and gown

By Dame Cortez

ChatGPT responded to three different LBCC professors prompts and was capable of producing passable submissions for every professor.

The software is an artificial intelligence bot programmed to simulate human conversation through text.

The bot was designed by Open AI, an American artificial intelligence research laboratory, to communicate with users in a natural language format.

The basis of what ChatGPT is used for could be revolutionary for humans, but it has the potential to be used in a different way than intended.

Cheating.

“AI is imitating us! Why are we bowing down to it,” asked Dr. Margaret Shannon, an English professor who graded ChatGPT.

The other professors who graded were Dr. Gilbert Estrada, a history and ethnic studies professor, and Dr. Franklin Perez, an ethnic studies professor.

All of them said the response it gave would be a passable assignment in their respective courses with differing grades.

The bot scored as high as an A on one of Perez’s assignments, but the average was a C or barely passable.

Perez’s prompt included the correct articles to cite from, but it could not pull direct quotes.

Each professor criticized the bot in not being able to properly provide sources for their work, which docked the AI’s grade the most.

The professors pointed out that they use specific sources for their courses which might act as a defense to AI cheating.

Another defense against cheating was the professors assigning a variety of assignments from presentations, essays and tests.

The professors also brought up that one essay from a student that is AI generated out of the 200 students they teach can easily get by and pass for a student written essay.

Though one AI generated might slip through, the professors said if multiple AI generated essays were submitted it would be an obvious red flag.

After inputting multiple assignments, professors realized the essays generated were “template-like.”

The program spit out essentially the same essay using the different language used in the prompt.

Essay structures were almost identical if asked for an argumentative essay or admissions essay.

The advancement of technology comes with the risk of it being exploited and used for personal gain.

Software like ChatGPT is not going unnoticed and counter measures are being developed to mitigate some of the potential issues.

Programs like GPTZero aim to human text from AI generated text.

Professors grade ChatGPT responses to assignments

Margaret Shannon, English Professor Grade: “Courtesy” C / Not Admitted

Shannon was critical of the AI response to an essay prompt she came up with. She plugged in a number of essays, from argumentative essays to admissions essays.

“ChatGPT writes like a mediocre mind,” Shannon said.

“It had some little nuggets buried, if you gave it a more specific prompt. This is a perfect solution for those who don’t value education and wants to leave here unchanged. Why are we trusting this thing for a refined answer when people don’t know how to ask good questions?”

Shannon ultimately gave the AI response a C because it conveyed some sort of deeper thought to the prompts she put it in. She also explained if someone submitted a ChatGPT admissions essay, the user would not get in.

ChatGPT is capable of passing AP exams, the bar exam, writing plays or helping with content creation.

ChatGPT not only is capable of doing these tasks, but it does it well.

The bot scored on the University of Minnesota bar exam within the top 10%.

ChatGPT works by using a text database called a corpus.

The corpus contains millions of words and sentences from literature, web pages, news articles and social media.

It uses deep learning to analyze and recognize speech patterns to formulate its own

Gilbert Estrada: History and Ethnic Studies Professor

Grade: Not passing / Passable

Estrada was confident his methods of using specific prompts and sources can counter the power of ChatGPT. He input ed an Aztec informational essay and the AI gathered information he does not cover in class which was a giveaway.

“I have specific sources so if I were to be turned in, it’s not what I’m looking for,” Estrada said. “[It’s] decent writing, it can easily fool me if there were some data points. I still think I can catch it, but again, ask me in a year or two and my confidence will waiver.”

The second essay Estrada inputed was a simple information gathering essay about Tenochtitlan. Most of the information was accurate to Estrada’s course, but some facts stood out that he doesn’t cover. Overall, he stated the second essay would have received a passing grade.

ideas.

Deep learning is a method of artificial intelligence that teaches computers to process data in the way a human does.

The developers of ChatGPT are constantly improving the AI so that it can better assist humans.

GPT-4 is the newest version of ChatGPT and this version is now able to read images.

This means if a person uploaded a picture of eggs, flour, butter and milk and asked the AI: “What can I make with this?”, the AI would be able to; “read” your image, realize the things in the picture and give the

Franklin Perez: Ethnic Studies Professor Grade: A / C

Perez was shocked to see the AI was able to link concepts to each other in his input of an essay on race. ChatGPT was able to link race, racialization and colorism and provide examples to support its thesis. The second essay was an argumentative essay asking the AI to cite a film and take a stance whether the war on drugs is a slow motion holocaust. The AI was not able to cite the film and sources provided, but still could pass with a C.

“I have no way of saying a student or ChatGPT did this, but there’s no clear indication that the AI watched the film,” Perez said. “People used to cheat by getting access to standardized tests before they were given and it started a movement towards essays. If SLOs dictate the effectiveness of the professor, but people can effectively cheat, what do we do now?”

user options on what can possibly be made out of the ingredients provided.

ChatGPT has decent knowledge on how the world works already and with time we can only imagine what it will continue to learn.

There’s no way of predicting the future capabilities of AI.

Perhaps it will completely replace humans or force them out of even the safest jobs.

Is AI capable of that? No…

Not yet.

Craiyon

Craiyon, an artificial intelligence image generator, was tasked to create a painting of a computer humanoid in a cap and gown.

Mardi Gras comes to Long Beach

By Cindy Jester

The city of Long Beach held a Mardi Gras festival at the Shoreline Village on Saturday, March 18. Although the Mardi Gras was rescheduled, it did not hinder the festivities that went on.

The Mardi Gras parade was led by the king and queen of the event, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson and Andrea Marisol Sulsona.

There were beignets to bring in the New Orleans vibe as well as Samba dancers dancing to the DJ music in the first pavilion.

The band Zydeco Mudbugs rocked one of the pavilions with a Louisiana flare of music, unique to the band was the washboard player.

Steve Guillory, a guitar player who has played with the likes of Ray Charles and Barry White in the past, “had a great time” at the event.

Smokey Miles, the accordion player of

the band, provided upbeat music to all who stopped to enjoy.

Several couples danced, swinging their partners and giving the crowd a show. Many in the crowd joined in.

Many children participated in the free face painting and free balloon twisting provided.

The parade was filled with participants dressed in bright colors and colorful masks, while some were throwing colorful coins and beads for the occasion.

Other participants in the parade included

an ambassador for Louisiana, jugglers, hula hoop dancers and the Long Beach Royal Syncopated Regiment brought up the rear.

The Long Beach Royal Syncopated Regiment Drum Corps is a drum-only corps consisting of approximately 25 members playing the drums in syncopation. At the end of the parade, the drum corps serenaded the king and queen of the event in the larger pavilion. There was a line at Louisiana Charlie’s, which features authentic Louisiana Cajun food including frog legs and alligator legs.

VGB Designed (Victoria Gibson-Bullard)

LBCC celebrates womanhood, culture

By MiChelle Cardenas

Long Beach City College celebrated the beginning of Women’s History Month in the LAC T building on March 3rd 2023 sharing women’s stories with speeches, food and other resources.

Upon entering the event, students were welcomed into the T building where chairs and tables were set up to enjoy the food and speeches organized by the school’s faculty.

Students and staff all lined up for the different food options between the chicken and jasmine rice to the fried plantains and grilled vegetables.

Many people gathered around to listen to the empowering speeches from poet Angela Aguirre and filmmaker Jessica Law, as well as LBCC staff, Vanessa Crispin Peralta and Board of Trustees President, Herlinda Chico. Chico is also the first Mexican American woman to be elected in her role at LBCC.

Aguirre spoke powerfully over the celebration of women and the importance of sharing their stories. She presented to attendees some of her poems such as “Dear Angela” and “Chingona.”

“In my world, being empowering and raw is a defense to protect the softer side,” Aguirre said, introducing a vulnerable

side of herself to the audience while reading “Dear Angela.”

“Something I said could make them feel empowered to stay here another day. That is why I like to do the Dear Angela poem because I know what people think of me, they look at me and the way I dress and must think I’m powerful all the time and that is so far from the truth,” said Aguirre.

Students and staff were engaged with the speakers, their faces illuminated during every speech clapping after every speaker.

Law spoke of her immigrant ethnic background and the importance it has played in her life, as well as the generations of women in her family who have also motivated her.

Students were also able to further engage with Law with a Q-and-A held during her speech where students asked questions about women empowerment.

“I think being a woman is such a unique experience because we are so powerful but I think culturally and socially we were told to be smaller, so it’s cool to see female and women voices rising,” Law said.

This was just the beginning to the celebrations, as Long Beach City College hosted other events to commemorate Women’s History Month.

had a booth featuring natural stones, jewelry and one-of-a-kind designs. The jewelry was reasonably priced and really showcased her wearable art. Some of the stones in her many designs were jasper, quartz, fluorite, jade and turquoise.

“My customers tell me what color they want, and I create,” Bullard said. Her Instagram account is VGB Designed.

All who attended seemed to really enjoy the event, despite the delayed date of the event.

Listen to the Kitchen Sink concert series

Hey Vikings. The Kitchen Sink Concert series is a new video series, interviewing up and coming musicians in the Long Beach area. Scan the QR code or go to the link below to check out the series: https://tinyurl.com/kitchens-ink

AndreA LAwrence

Californian juggler Flotep juggles three clubs at Mardi Gras festival held at Shorline Village in Long Beach.

L.A. county offers art interships

By AndreA LAwrence

An informative meeting was held from the K building on Zoom Tuesday, March 22 about paid art internship opportunities being offered and hosted by the L.A. County Department of Arts and Culture.

A slideshow presentation was organized by Martin Hernandez, senior program associate at the L.A. County Department of Arts and Culture, accompanied by his colleague Sam Avita, a program associate at LA County Department of Arts and Culture.

172 organizations applied to the program and requested 303 different positions. Of those 303 positions, the L.A. County Department of Arts and Culture were able to fund 228 internship positions and 157 organizations.

Art depicts migrants, homeless

By AndreA LAwrence

It’s not everyday that teachers get to display their artwork, however, at an LBCC art gallery, that’s exactly what they did.

The gallery featured works from three different artists, all of which happen to be teachers at the school.

The exhibit was titled, ‘In Transit: Faculty Sabbatical Exhibition.’ There was a focus on subjects such as migration, displacement and resettlement.

The teachers were all on a sabbatical, which ultimately led to them taking part in the gallery and displaying their works.

One of the three artists was Stas Orlovski, whose work is abstract and reminiscent of Picasso’s. Within his work, there is a lot of images of people and faces.

“I was doing a lot of images of heads, I wanted to get a face back into my drawings,” said Orlovski.

He had three of the Picasso-inspired paintings on display, each representing something different. One depicted being stuck, another drowning and lastly a collapsed head in the forest.

Scale and size plays a part in Orlovski’s work. The size of the paintings were larger than usual. Some of his other paintings are wall-sized. They were deemed too big to bring in.

Orlovski mentioned that scale can depend. Sometimes it’s intentional, other times he just “feels like they need to be big.”

In one of his collections he incorporates Russian children’s books into his work. These are called ‘found objects.’

In another collection, where he also uses found objects, he projects animations onto the pieces. The projections on the objects create a unique visual.

Christoper Chinn was another artist among the school’s staff whose art was featured.

His art piece ‘One Los Angeles Residence,’ was well liked by some of the young art connoisseurs present the event.

The piece depicts L.A. homelessness on a grand scale canvas, putting it into the faces of the audience and getting them to think.

According to gallery goer Briyana Verdugo, the piece “really

stood out” to her.

She described the event as being, “very well put together” and an “unexpected, hole-in-the-wall event.”

Both Verdugo and her friend, Gabe Pech, were drawn in by all the art techniques that they saw being used.

Carolyn Castaño was one of the other artists whose work was featured in the exhibit. Topics such as ecofeminism, colonialism, and migration are what her work is based on.

Something that both Castaño and Orlovski have in common is similar themes of memories and family histories.

The art gallery manager, Karla Aguíñiga, said that one of the goals of the exhibit was for “students to be able to connect to the teachers’ works.”

Student, Ashley Loyola, said this on the teachers’ works, “if an image makes you stand and look, that’s a good piece of art.”

The 400 hour arts administration internships range from marketing, arts education, production, administration, audience services, city engagement and development, fundraising, event planning, graphic design and research and evaluation.

“All interns will be paid a total of $6,760 at a rate of $16.90 an hour with a total of 400 hours,” Avita announced. Payroll taxes will apply to that $16.90 wage which will ultimately be deducted from the $6,760 total.

Students must be a currently enrolled undergraduate at either a fouryear university or community college and must reside in or attend school in the L.A. county in order to apply.

For DACA recipients and international students, work authorization will be required before applying to any of the positions.

“There are opportunities to have an internship at the government level in the arts, which is a really, really unique and a really, really exciting opportunity,” Harnandez said. A majority of these internships will be launched to the website of the LA County Department of Arts and culture on April 3, 2023. You can find their website at www.lacountyarts. org/internships.

The website is not where you will be applying, but simply a job board to help you find new opportunities.

When you begin your applications, you will look for the “how to apply” section to guide you through each organization’s application process.

“As long as you come with a good attitude and are ready to learn new skills, you’re going to be successful in this program,” Avita said.

Photos by AndreA LAwrence

Frencis Macias looks at artwork at the opening of “In Transit,” an art exhibit. It features the work of professors Carolyn Castano, Christopher Chin and Stas Orlovski, who all went on a sabbatical, a period of time where they traveled and studied.

Artist Stas Orlovski at the opening of “In Transit” stands next to his artwork.

Vikings sweep Harbor

By GaBriel Medina

The Vikings capitalized on explosive fourth and eighth innings in their 11-8 come from behind victory over LA Harbor.

Starting pitcher sophomore Evan Vasquez threw four innings, striking out three while giving up seven runs on ten hits.

The Vikings got off to a slow start early as they fell into a 7-1 deficit going into their half of the fourth.

The Vikings would immediately respond as they would score six runs in the fourth highlighted by a two run triple hit by sophomore third baseman Justin Santoyo.

In the sixth inning the Vikings had four hits, but really took advantage of LA Harbor’s mistakes, including multiple errors, walks, and hit batters.

Santoyo has been hot at the plate and when asked about what the keys to his recent success are he responded, “I got new contacts. I couldn’t really see before so yeah the contacts.”

LA Harbor would score one run in the fifth on a home run and take an 8-7 lead.

The Vikings would stay quiet until their half of the eighth inning where they would rally scoring four runs with the game win-

ning run coming by the way of a fielder’s choice off the bat of freshmen second baseman Davis Grawey.

Going into the ninth with the lead, sophomore reliever Luke Pollard was able to shutout down LA Harbor to secure the 11-8 win for the Vikings.

Pollard came in to relief in the sixth inning and would get the win pitching four

scoreless innings.

“It feels good. Evan kind of struggled today, so it felt good to pick him up and get the win. It was really the slider and throwing it for strikes. I kind of struggled with fastball location, but I really made up for it with my slider,” said Pollard.

With this win the Vikings completed the series sweep against LA Harbor and

improve their conference record to 9-3. Their next game will be against Compton College on Saturday, April 1 at 12:00 p.m.

With the conference season winding down, the Vikings currently sit in fist place in their conference with some big games on the horizon in the coming weeks.

Hester’s complete game leads Vikings to 5-1 win over SBDVC

By GaBriel Medina

Sophomore starting pitcher Ashley Hester’s complete game leads the Vikings to a 5-1 victory over San Bernardino Valley.

Hester went seven innings while striking out six batters and giving up one run on three hits.

When asked about what was successful on the mound Hester responded, “We were trying to not throw my changeup until we were around the lineup one time, so I think the element of surprise was good and all my pitches were working. I was just excited to be able to get out here and throw good.”

The Vikings struck for two in the third giving them a 2-0 lead.

San Bernardino Valley’s scored one in the fourth inning, but the Vikings immediately responded in the bottom half with a single hit by sophomore center fielder Alia Marquez.

The rally was started off with a double hit by freshman right fielder Natalie Wilson.

Wilson would be scored on a double hit by sophomore catcher Racine Ruacho, and Ruacho then scored on a triple hit by freshman outfielder Alynna Gonzalez.

After giving up a run in the fourth, Hester would face and retire the last nine batters to end the game and lead the Vikings to a 5-1 victory.

Not counting the forfeit victory vs Compton this has been the Vikings’ tenth consecutive home game since their last away game.

The Vikings are 8-2 in those 10 games and will end the season with only four of their 17 remaining games in the season being at LBCC.

“We’re excited, we have each other, and we feel like home so we are excited to take on the adventure,” said Martinez.

Freshman

victory over SBDVC that extended their win streak to six games on March 24 at Long Beach City College.

The Vikings would continue to score in the fifth as they scored two runs on three consecutive hits.

The Vikings’ next game is Friday, March 31 at home against Cerritos and it is the first time they have met this year.

Tyler Bermundo Freshman infielders Olin Snakenborg (right) and Davis Grawey (left) high five after coming back from six runs down and tying the ball game and making the score 7-7. The Vikings beat LA Harbor 11-8 on March 25 at Long Beach City College.

Tyler Bermundo

infielder Giselle Cobian loads up to hit in a 5-1

Winter sports wrap up

By Davis Ramage

After successful seasons from the Vikings’ men’s and women’s basketball teams, they would both lose in their first game of the playoffs.

Women’s basketball finished first in their conference with an undefeated conference record of 9-0 and an overall record of 21-7.

They improved over last year’s 22-8 performance where they won 73.3% of their games and upped that impressive win percentage to 75%.

Sophomore guard Jaden Sanderson finished up the season as their leading scorer with 16.4 points per game.

Fellow sophomore guard Amanda Lopez right behind her at 15.1 points per game.

Before the emotional playoff loss, they finished the season on a 13-game winning streak that will hopefully build up confidence and momentum for next year’s team.

Men’s basketball finished third in their conference with a conference record of 4-6 and an overall record of 1613. They did not end up improving on last year’s record of 18-12.

Besides the regression, they finished the season on an impressive run winning ten of their last eleven games before the playoff loss.

Sophomore guard Bonard Johnson Jr. was their leading scorer at 16.6 points per game.

His partner in the backcourt sophomore Lorenzo Marsh finished right behind him at 15.2 points per game.

Despite early playoff losses, both teams look ready to come out strong next year and improve on their 20222023 seasons.

From skater to trainer

By veRonica ToweRs

At five years of age, regional champion ice-skater CoCo Dobard achieved the famous figure skating axel jump on the ice and her dream of becoming a professional figure skater was set in motion.

Watching Sasha Cohen in the 2003 World Championships drove three-yearold Dobard to beg her mother to enroll her in ice skating lessons, opening the door to a life of competitive figure skating, Olympic aspirations, and countless hours spent in an ice rink.

From the ages of six to ten, Dobard committed herself to heavy competition, making a name for herself in the figure skating community and building her award repertoire.

Only a few years into this rigorous lifestyle, exhaustion crept into the routine. “I literally would have a competition every weekend. It was a lot. I actually got really sick, I got mono when I was seven. It was from exhaustion,” said Dobard.

The dream of reaching Olympic status started to feel out of reach for Dobard then, but her love for the sport remained, so she continued to compete and train herself, and those around her.

The pressures of being a great skater created toxic habits in her daily life. “I formed an eating disorder, binge eating, but I didn’t notice it because of the other toxic habit of overworking out. I was trying to keep up with this really intense culture. It turned into winning for a few years there. I wasn’t skating for myself anymore,” Dobard said.

Through these toxic behaviors, fractured bones, and pure exhaustion, Dobard

continued to exert herself to the fullest extent to avoid feeling “left behind.”

“You’re kind of thrown into this lifestyle. Like eat, sleep, breathe skating. That’s the general mindset. Especially to be an elite athlete, you have to make sure that you comply to this intense schedule,” she added.

To keep up with the demanding training required when pursuing competitive figure skating, Dobard attended and graduated from an online high school in 2019 prior to enrolling in Long Beach City College in the fall.

Along with the physical tolls endured during this journey, there was also a mental factor that came into play with competing in individual sports, according to Dobard.

“I loved it, but skating is also very isolating. You don’t really form a lot of strong

relationships early on, because you’re always competing with each other,” she said.

Today, however, Dobard is sharing the love of the sport with others, training new skaters from the ages of 4 to 43.

According to Brandon Rabbitt, manager of Artesia ice rink East West Ice Palace where Dobard trains, Dobard has had a total of 852 sessions with them since 2017 and commended her talent on the ice.

“She’s graceful on the ice and has an elegant presence, but watch out she’ll sting you like a bee,” said Rabbitt.

Throughout the troubles and successes of her life as a skater, Dobard has not lost sight of the joy this sport has brought her, saying, “I don’t think now I can see myself leaving skating entirely. It’s always going to be a part of me. If not to compete or do shows, for myself.”

Lauren Benson

CoCo Dobard at the East West Ice Palace in Artesia. This rink is where she trains hundreds of skaters of all ages every year.

Lauren Benson CoCo Dobard holds her leg as she glides across the ice at East West Ice Palace in Artesia.

Davis ramage

Leading scorer Jaden Sanderson shoots a three pointer. Her 30% from three was good for second on the team.

Athletes such as Davis Grawey celebrate achievements on the field. Raising GPA standards would shift focus to achievments in

Low GPA standards limit athletes

By Tyler Bermundo

Less than 2% of junior college athletes end up going pro. For the other 98%, community college needs to make academics more of a priority.

LBCC should raise the GPA requirement to 2.5. Setting a higher standard would help motivate students who are earning lower grades.

LBCC hasn’t produced an NBA player in 45 years, an MLB player in 15 years, and only 2 NFL players since 2005.

Athletes need to get rid of this notion that they will go pro and focus on their academic careers.

Non-athletes come to college to earn a degree, athletes need to have the same mentality.

There is a life after college sports. While a 2.0 is passing, students will be put at a disadvantage when entering the workforce after college. They will also have wasted money, time, and effort just to play their sport.

Athletics should be a privilege, not a lastchance athletic career opportunity.

Junior college athletic GPA requirements are already lower than many four-year institutions.

Many universities have an athletic requirement of a 2.5. Those universities also have higher average grades for student-athletes.

Assistant football coach, Neo Aoga, talked about how this would affect some of his players.

He said that some players live without parents, commute and work jobs to support themselves and their dependents.

“Division one athletes can get away with

a higher GPA requirement because of the help. Junior college athletes have a lot on their plate already. It would put an emphasis on school work, but it is hard for junior college players,” Aoga said.

The goal of a policy like this is not to make athletes ineligible, but to set them up for the future.

LBCC has a vast amount of student-athlete resources.

Students who are deemed ineligible due to grades should be required to sacrifice class time in order to go to study hall or work with a tutor so they can improve their grades and get back on the field.

If students really want to play their sport, they will find a way to meet this higher expectation for grades.

When former students look back at their junior college experience, they should remember their teammates, big games and playoff runs.

They also need to remember how the effort in the classroom gave them a degree that helped them find work.

The 2.0 GPA will handcuff athletes, giving them a minimal backup plan. For 98% of athletes, academics are extremely important. A 2.5 requirement is the first step in improving academic performance.

College should not be a place to just continue an athletic journey. It should be a place that sets athletes up for the rest of their lives.

Editor-in-chief: Veronica Towers

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Sam Huff

Sam Huff

Athletes such as Justin Stembridge spend time focusing on their sport. Raising GPA standards would push athletes to focus on the future.