Attorney General Becerra on CA's "footprint on nation's capital", LA voters to chose Community College Board Trustees, class revives Aztec language, Nahuatl.
Human Voter Guide: Here's how to get ready for Election Day
They're up for your vote: LA Community College District Board of Trustees
This Tuesday, March 7th, voters in L.A. will be choosing candidates to fill the Los Angeles Community College District’s board of trustees.
The board oversees 9 colleges which serve more than 230,000 students, annually.
But, what do the trustees do and how long do they serve? And what are the top issues they’re facing today?
First, let's get to know the candidates:
Member, Board of Trustees, Seat 2
Member, Board of Trustees, Seat 4
- Dallas Denise Fowler
- Ernest Moreno (Incumbent)
Member, Board of Trustees, Seat 6
- Gabriel Buelna
- Nancy Pearlman (Incumbent)
For more on the Los Angeles Community College District’s board of trustees., Take Two's A Martinez spoke with Cecilia Rios-Aguilar, Director for the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA.
Interview Highlights
"Their primary responsibility is to ensure the viability and the sustainability of the college," said Rios-Aguilar of the role that trustees play. "This means that they monitor accreditation standards, make sure the colleges align their policies to meet those standards and goals, and they are really the direct connection between the community and the college."
The trustees will face many important issues in the coming year, including improving the success of a growing and diverse student body.
"We have the nation's largest district and completion and transfer rates are still pretty low," said Rios-Aguilar. "So the board is going to have to make some decisions and some resolutions as to how they're going to tackle this problem."
They could also look at issues related to construction bids, employment contracts, hiring of top administrative officials and policies that affect undocumented students, said Rios-Aguilar.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue Media Player above.
There's a new travel ban in town, but this one has key differences from the first
There's a new travel ban in town. President Trump signed a new executive order that will bar travelers from six Muslim majority countries.
Iraq was left off the new list. That was a big point of dispute last time around due to the hundreds of Iraqi interpreters left in limbo:
"It honestly means the difference between life and death. They are at risk of death, injury, torture...not only them but their wives and children."
That was Mac McEachin. He's a national security policy associate at the International refugee assistance project.
His group helps Iraqis and those from other countries apply for visas.
A Martinez spoke to him back in January following news of the first travel ban and asked him to return this morning.
To hear the full segment, click the blue play button above.
Subsidized housing for teachers in California is easier proposed than done
There's already a teacher shortage in the state, and the high cost of housing in many of our cities does not make it any easier to bring in potential educators.
One solution is to let school districts be the landlord and to provide subsidized housing for employees. A new law clears the way for this, but success is mixed thus far.
Reporter Ben Christopher wrote about this for Cal Matters and spoke to A Martinez.
Click on the blue bar above to listen to the entire interview.
One man's mission to keep Aztecs' ancient language alive
So many cultures, and so many languages here in Southern California.
The census bureau rates the 40 most common languages spoken by Americans and 39 of them are spoken here in L.A.
And at a church in Santa Ana, you'll hear sounds that have resonated for thousands of years. Each Saturday morning people gather to speak and learn the ancient language of the Aztecs: Nahuatl.
Five centuries after the Aztec culture was crushed by Spanish conquistadors, the language survives, still spoken by estimated 1.5 million people mostly in central Mexico.
The man on a mission
For about 26 years, David Vazquez has been teaching the ancient language and culture of the Aztecs, Nahuatl.
"One class usually goes over history, customs and traditions and words the students aren’t familiar with," said Vazquez, " The goal is to continue, with our students, to try to rescue our official language.”
The classroom at Messiah Episcopal church in Santa Ana holds about 30 students as they all play close attention to Vazquez's lesson. Among the students, was Vazquez's own granddaughter, Citlali Jimenez.
"Learning this language that my grandfather teaches is important to me," Jimenez said, "because seeing him teaching other people...it's inspiring that other people are trying to learn this language too."
Also attending was Jose Vega, who cited his reasons for attending class to an interest in tracing his roots:
"I've been coming to these classes close to four months now. I just had to get a better understanding of what the past was. Now we're living and we don't know who we are or where we come from. Some of us don't bother to look back and see who our people used to be or the way the used to live."
Ulises de Los Cobos grew up in San Diego and had heard of David's work from 200 miles away, "I had heard his slogan 'Mexica Tiahui.' Mexica which is also known as the Aztecs and Tiahui means forward, so Mexica Tiahui is Mexica forward. To me, it means we are moving forward. It's the next step."
Inspiring students to get in touch with their roots and also creating new Nahuatl teachers is David's main goal. He keeps his classroom doors open to all, "We welcome anyone as long as they feel the love, care and respect to learn this language. Our purpose is to be inclusive. Whoever speaks English, Spanish or just wants to improve their Nahuatl we’re all happy to support them that way we can have new teachers.”
To hear the full segment, click the blue play button above.
For more information on David's free Nahuatl classes, click here.