Cerritos College Dynamic Dance Club

CERRITOS, California – The Dynamic Dance Club cancelled their semi-annual Dance Showcase on Tuesday due to over booking of the Student Center.

Vanessa Acosta, president of Dynamic Dance Club says, “The cancellation of the showcase was a sad moment because everyone worked so hard on their dance pieces.”

Acosta says that was is also a good side to the event being cancelled, this allows the club members to be able to work harder and publicize the event a little longer for the event to hopefully happen this summer.

The club has been having different fundraisers like bake sales and nacho sales that were leading up to their main event which was the Dance Showcase. They have also hosted different workshops during club meetings to encourage members to participate in the upcoming showcase.

According to Judy Yip, president of the KPop club, the two clubs had their events cancelled this week due to over booking of the Student Center, but they have both spoken together and are planning on having the events together during the summer.

Yip says, “This would help us both in having our clubs work together and also let our club members perform.”

This is the Dynamic Dance Clubs third year being active at Cerritos College and each semester the club has hosted the Dance Showcase with this being the first cancellation in the three years.

In past years the clubs have had different variety of dance genres during the showcase, have given away different prizes including Starbucks gift cards and have hosted bake sales during the Showcase to raise money for future events.

The Dynamic Dance Clubs meets on every Monday in the Student Center and Acosta says the club is open to any students who wish to learn how to dance.

Student appreciation for the Director of Athletics

CERRITOS, California – Currently the ASCC Student Government has been discussing future funding for the Athletics program with the largest contributor being Dan Clauss Director of Athletics.

Janet Parga business major says, “Dan Clauss does so much for the campus not only for the Athletics department, but also for the ASCC especially for the clubs.”

Parga says because of Clauss the campus has been put on the map by publicizing the campus with Gym Class Heroes and also with hosting numerous events.

Dan Clauss brought Gym Class Heroes and Got Your 6 to Cerritos College Fall 2013 to a football game which gave recognition to the military branches hosted at the Cerritos football stadium.

Clauss also brought an MMA match to Cerritos College with special guest Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson.

Beatrice Caballero athletic training major and last year’s Athletics Commissioner says Clauss helped her with her leadership skills in providing her with resources she needed last year.

Caballero says, “Athletics should be funded because they give recognition to our school all year round.”

The Student Senate is currently discussing the budget cut of over $34,000 which may or may not be approved by the Senate.

ASCC Administration Micromanagement of Student Government

Student Senate speaks about next year’s ASCC budget. Photo by Aldemar Sanchez.

The Associated Students of Cerritos College Student Senate was presented the new 2015-2016 Budget on Wednesday by the Budget Committee introducing new line items and also cuts to the new budget.

Two request items within the proposed budget were items discussed during the ASCC Senate meeting. The Administrative Secretary II salary and the Presidential and Vice Presidential stipends are items that are seen by Senators as Administrative micromanagement.

According to Dr. Gilbert Contreras Dean of Student Services, he spoke with the Cerritos College District to add the Administrative Secretary II with the agreement that the Associated Students would fund half of the salary for that employee.

According to the ASCC Financial Code section 4.58 ASCC Employment, all contracts of employment must be presented to the Executive Cabinet in advance before any employment is done which is funded through the Associated Students. This ASCC By-Law was not properly followed by Contreras and was agreed between himself and the District without the approval of the Associated Students.

During the Senate meeting on Wednesday Senators asked questions to the Commissioner of Budget and Finance Dalia Jimenez about the Presidential and Vice Presidential Stipends and why they were being funded in the new budget. Jimenez could not answer these questions which were immediately referred to Contreras for answers. Contreras stated that these were the jobs the Senate was presented weeks back which were funded from the Equity Fund.

Senator Victor Villalobos addressed the Senate that these jobs were presented by Contreras and President Miles Aiello as jobs that were to be implemented through the Equity Fund and now are trying to be funded by the students. Villalobos says that the students should not pay for these stipends and should be paid through the funds originally brought forward by Contreras.

The Senate will have a special meeting on Friday at 2 p.m. to address the 2015-2016 Budget.

Cerritos College Math Club host annual Su Casa fundraiser

Cerritos College students purchasing books from Su Casa fundraiser. Photo by Erik Moreno.

CERRITOS, California – The Cerritos College Math Club hosted its annual Su Casa fundraiser this week in front of the Library.

Club member Grace Melendeze said, “Su Casa Fundraiser is to help women who have been in domestic violence and we are trying to raise money to help them.”

According to Su Casa’s website this is currently their 35th anniversary protecting women and children from domestic violence.

Club member Olivia Hinton said, “As long as I have been in the club, which has been two years, we have hosted the Su Casa fundraiser and it has been growing since.”

Last academic year the club fundraised $763 which was presented to the Dean of Counseling Dr. Renee Chomiak who is also the Executive Director of Su Casa.

Club President Ruben Alvarez says this year the club aimed to beat last years amount by publicizing the event more than the previous years. Alvarez said, “We contacted Su Casa that we were having the fundraiser and they posted the event on their Facebook page.”

Cerritos College also took the initiative to post the Su Casa fundraiser on their Facebook page to help promote the event.

Club member Joseph Frausto says the clubs goal was to fundraise $1,000 and the club fundaraised this week a little over $1,500.

Hinton says the books sold during the fundraiser were donated by different departments on campus, students, professors, friends and some family members.

Alvarez does not know how many books they sold throughout the week, but says they would sell at times a single book or would sell four to five books ranging from $1 to $40 a book.

Melendez said, “I feel really happy to be a part of this, being part of my community and being able to help out.”

Alavarez also added, “It’s great to have this event, especially in April which is a month to be able to pay tribute to these women. This shows that the students actually care and are paying homage to those who have gone through these unnecessary circumstances.”

The new leaders of the student body

Results for the 2015 student elections. Victor Villalobos won for Student Trustee and Eduardo De La Rosa and his running mate Ivan Oyarzabal won student body president and vice president. Photo by Aldemar Sanchez .

CERRITOS, California – The Associated Students of Cerritos College have elected their new student body President, Vice-President and Student Trustee for the 2015-2016 academic year on Thursday.

The results of the election were announced Thursday night at 9:48 p.m. at the Student Activities office. Eduardo De La Rosa and Ivan Oyarzabal won the Presidential and Vice-Presidential election with 397 votes and Victor Villalobos won the Student Trustee election with 504 votes.

Villalobos says, “It was my first time participating in an election. I really enjoyed letting people know what I was about and what I wanted to contribute.”

Throughout the election week there were many students who were either campaigning or were asking questions to the campaigners. Oyarzabal says, “I thought the elections were an insight into the capabilities of student engagement. The true victory was watching hundreds of professionals in the making participate in local government.”

During the election week there was some controversy between candidates, campaigners and some Court Justices. Some of the controversies were between the Presidential candidates where it was said that some of the candidates had stolen the other candidate’s campaign statements and where others were speaking slander towards the other candidate. Usually these are grounds for fines from the Court Justices, but when brought to attention of the Justices they did not give any warnings and said that slander is a grey area and was allowed during campaigning.

Villalobos says, “Controversy, yes. Suleyma’s campaigners were upset that we would talk to the students she had just finished talking to.”

Villalobos also states, “It was quite interesting to say the least. Not to mention the actions and ruling of certain court members. One in particular was bias and unjust. It was upsetting to see that a student who was there to maintain the democratic process within the elections wasn’t doing it.”

Villalobos says he will address the issue to the court and senate and will be working with the students involved now and in the future to get the elections in a better direction.

Presidential and Trustee forum

CERRITOS, CALIFORNIA – Associated Student Vice President caused confusion for students on Monday at the amphitheater during the Presidential and Trustee forum.

During the forum the Associated Student Vice President Joe Nino said, “I see a lot of the candidates are wearing red squares which is identified with the Social Equality Club. How can the students be sure that your interest lie with the entire students population and not a specific student group?”

Students such as Aljen Medallo, business major, was in attendance during the forum and says students who knew about the red squares knew the statement was false.

Medallo says, “I felt relieved once Trustee candidate Villalobos explained the entirety of what the red squares represented.”

Tristan Feria, microbiology major, was also in attendance for the forum and states that the question asked by Nino did not affect his stance on voting.

Feria says he feels indifferent about the situation, but felt that the Presidential and Trustee forum helped him know who the candidates are and how the candidates who answered the questions were able to respond.

Medallo says, “The question Joe said decreased my belief in voting for the candidates wearing the red squares because they are using something for sympathy as a way of buying votes.”

Medallo feels questionable when going to the voting polls next week and unsure of who he will be voting for.

Proper training for the Board of Trustees

The majority of the Cerritos College Board of Trustees have been serving the campus for two or more years and have yet to learn proper parliamentary procedure or Robert’s Rule of Order when it comes to having an efficient meeting.

Last academic year, 2013-2014, there was an agenda item where the new Board of Trustee officers were to be elected by nominations by a majority vote.

For the positions there was only one nomination done for president and Bob Arthur, trustee member, who wished to make another nomination and was not allowed to do so.

According to Robert’s Rule of Order, nominations are closed once and do not open for further nominations to come forward. This was a question asked to the legal council, Reuben Smith, serving on the board, who did answer the question, but did not answer the question correctly.

A violation that occurs every board meeting, which is mostly seen done by John Paul Drayer, trustee member, is when speaking or addressing a presenter. Members of the board must first be addressed by the chair of the board before speaking and must also address the chair while speaking.

Carmen Avalos, board president, allows these violations to occur and makes it seem as though our Board of Trustees are not trained and don’t know how to run an efficient meeting.

Aldemar Sanchez

Hello everyone,

My name is Aldemar Sanchez, current student at Cerritos College and reporter for The Falcon Weekly.

I am involved at Cerritos College, I am currently the Student Senate Pro-Tempore, Chair of the Special Events and Activities, Student Representative for the Safe Zone Committee, President of the Queer Straight Alliance Club, Vice President of Phi Beta Lambda Club, Social Ambassador for the Anime Club, Treasurer and Event Coordinator for the Veterans Club, the International Quidditch Association Chair for the Order of the Falcon, and a member of the Abilities Empowered Club, Chinese Club, and the International Students Association. Last academic year I served as the Associated Students of Cerritos College Vice President with the many responsibilities that came with the position.

I currently work at Cerritos College in School Relations as a Student Ambassador and my hobbies include playing indoor and beach volleyball, surfing, skating, and traveling.