Thursday, May 12, 2011

How Violent Graffiti Could Turn Out to Be

            What do you feel when you see graffiti tagging on your wall or on a school building? It looks bad, right? “Well, we have to start cleaning up the act of graffiti taggers,” stated Rolando Blanco, a 45-year-old man who lives in the worst area of Pomona, where all the tagging takes place. “It is our responsibility to start programs to help teenagers against tagging and against gangs,” he added. In our community, we now face graffiti (the territorial markings of gangs) and its deeper meaning, but now it is time to work toward the ending of graffiti.
            Graffiti looks ugly on the surface, but it also has a deeper meaning which is even uglier. This deeper meaning is violence. Graffiti is the marking of gangs. When a gang wants to gain more territory they tag more ground, but when they go into another territory, the violence erupts. The gangs enter into actual war for the territory they want and heartless; they kill the innocent and their adversaries. Plus, now more and more gangs are expanding into newer territories, and our neighborhoods are not safe anymore.
            As graffiti continues to expand, we now face it in our own community. In a news article from The Los Angeles Times, it states how a man, trying to stand up to a gang member, was shot for standing up for what he believed in. Two weeks after the incident, the same tagger was back and tagging more and more on the streets of Los Angeles. This also happens in the suburbs of Los Angeles, in our own community, Pomona. I went out to the community of Pomona to ask a few questions to the public about graffiti. A man named Edgar Bautista, 29-year-old man that works at Cardenas stated, “graffiti makes our community look bad and it starts violence among gangs.” This man described the ugly sight of graffiti, how it starts violence and shootings.
            Gangs mark their territory with graffiti. The gangs are like dogs, they mark their territory wherever they want, and that causes many problems. Now, we need to work toward reclaiming what was ours, our streets, our parks, our community in general.
            Graffiti looks horrible in our streets and in our community. It also has a deeper meaning on the inside, and that meaning could kill any innocent person. If a person stands up to a tagger or a gang member, they could get shot just like the man in the news article. This graffiti problem does not only occur in Los Angeles, now the suburbs of L.A. are suffering with the same problem. Let us start building programs to reunite our community and also to get rid of gangs and taggers.

Budget Cuts in Recreation Community Centers

In 2010, 50 staff members were laid off out of the 100 that worked for the City of Pomona at the Recreation Sites. Budget cuts should not affect the youth and teens of the City of Pomona Community centers. Budget cuts are never a positive thing. There would be no programs to participate in.
            Budget cuts affect staff members more than youth and teens of the Community centers because the staff members lose their jobs from the many layoffs. However, budget cuts negatively affect youth and teens as well. Without the staff, there would not be any assistance with the programs and events that the local youth and teens take part in. From the lack of money and participants, to create new programs, and get the motivation and guidance they need either through job applications, resumes, or even college admission packets to have a successful future to seeking into a 4 year university, then majoring in Business Management. I am actually a member of the La Casita Community center and participate in its Team Building workshops, programs, and fun activities. In fact I have been there for about 5 years. I have seen a change in everything we use to do. We no longer are able to attend field trips to historical sites like Palomares AdobePark or museums such as the Hollywood Wax museum. Also we are no longer able to participate in recreation team building activities such as Money Management or practice leadership skills by teaching an etiquette class to small children. Without these programs youth and teens are more likely to be out in the streets breaking the law and committing crimes. In addition they are more vulnerable to becoming affiliated with gangs.
            Instead of being out in the streets committing crimes teens could be learning how to succeed through programs such as the Teen Value Council, Education Preparation, and Road to Knowledge. From these programs youth and teens received the guidance they needed to succeed in society. Through the games and fun, it gave the youth and teens the opportunity to understand how to reach their dreams more effectively. These programs provided the opportunity for participants to express leadership amongst each other and goodwill towards one another. They brought teens together to help each other with homework and volunteer work. Most importantly during these program sessions students could open up to staff and peers about problems they may have had and just be themselves while not being at home. Without these programs many teens are not getting these opportunities.
            I know the mayor has to implement these terrible budget cuts, but he should have come to the center in order to see what benefits the programs of the City of Pomona offered. Instead he only had a tiny glimpse of minor things we did, such as the City ofPomona Beautification project, Holiday at the Plaza Christmas andPomona fair parade, and City of Pomona Recognition. The mayor needs to understand the pains, struggles and hardships students including myself could face for not having enough assistance, guidance, leadership and other great opportunities provided by the Community center. He should also understand the hardships faced by Community center employees. I remember one instance when Anita, one of the staff members, was laid off. When Anita was laid off, they hired a new employee to put in her position and Anita then went to work at the Palomares Senior center. However, they told the staff member to also work at the senior center, forcing Anita to be laid off again. It is important to realize how much responsibility one Community center employee has. I remember one time Anita told me, “When I am gone I am going to leave the center up to you because I was the one everyone trusted and depended on, and to keep everyone in control and to keep encouraging them to come back and to continue to recruit new members to the center.” I doubt that one employee can fulfill these responsibilities while also working at the Senior center.
            From 2010 until now many things have changed at the Community Center. Many staff members are being switched back and forth from position to position. Many of the programs were cut because of the lack of money. The programs where we were allowed to go to the beach and help the little children with after school tutoring at Yorba and San Jose Elementary Schools were cut. Now this year we only went to the beach once or twice, to the bank and other places. Sooner or later the center may be closed down because the economy is in a downfall, and I just hate for it to be like this.



Tagging, a Problem of All

Tagging is a problem in society but more importantly it has become a common occurrence. The fact of the matter is that tagging has developed throughout the school system and society. “It was just something we did, we weren’t hurting anyone, at least that’s what we thought,” said David Martinez now 25-year old law student but self described former criminal. The crime he was guilty of was vandalism, in particular tagging.

Tagging, or as supporters like to call it graffiti art, is common in the schools, buildings, and street alleys of Pomona. The question is why and what is the point? David said it was just something they did but that “just something” is leading to problems. The streets in Pomona have cracks but the city does not have the money to fix those damages. Instead the city has to be constantly paying to fix tagging on alleys and streets. Small businesses or homes that have been tagged have to take money out of their own pockets to fix tagging as well. The financial problem is not only in the city streets and buildings but also within the school system. The school has to pay to get rid of the tagging when the students are in desperate need of better resources for their education. “The school does not have he money to pay for supplies we need such as paper but I see the painters come to fix the tagging on the walls,” said Maricarmen Rendon, a student in Pomona High.

“Every day I walk home and have to see tagging on the walls and on the side walk. To make matters worst I get home to do my homework and open the book to find I can’t see the page because it says SGT2B or LIF,” said Maricarmen of her city and school. She said these words as if she was ashamed, ashamed that she lived in a city where tagging was tolerated and went to school were kids were advocates of vandalism.

David said “There is not much being done partially because it’s too difficult to know who was responsible and also Pomona PD argues there are much worse crimes that need looking into other than vandalism.” But is it not important when tagging is leading to gang fights? How about when teens are being introduced into a life of crime? Yes, it is true that in some cases that may not always be true but, tagging still occurs. Tagging is not always gang related but it is still a crime and it promotes gang violence. When these forms of endorsements appear in unnecessary places like school books, a barrier is created. A barrier in the sense that students are blocked and deprived from learning because of the distraction the tagging creates for both advocates of the vandalism or the observers.

When I asked David what kept him from tagging beyond his teenage years he said “Actually, I got caught and had to go to court.” As emphasized before when addressing gang affiliation with tagging, the same outcomes can not always be expect but, when we as a community have it in our power to prevent some crime even if it seems as insignificant as tagging, should we not take the opportunity? David said “When I was caught around that time of my teenage year’s vandalism, was seen as a more serious issue because of the gang affiliation so they put me into classes to learn of the negative effects, that is partially why it has reduced so much but that does not mean it is not a problem anymore.” When given attention, tagging has shown it can decrease as it did about 25% in Pomona but despite the decrease it is still frequently seen. As insignificant as it may seem to some by the inference of law enforcement and the creation of programs that keep teens from having a reason to tag there can be reduction in vandalism. The first step is to accept that tagging is a problem and only then can we unite a community, fix streets, and give students the concentration and resources they need. Tagging although a problem that has been reduced it still exists in Pomona schools, buildings, and streets and it is important to know of its presence inPomona in order to stop it.

By: Abigail Cuevas

Hopes, Dreams, Honor


The atmosphere at Pomona High School is changing. Pomona High School has evolved over time becoming a safer, more college-bound atmosphere and thriving towards success. According to a recent post on Pomona High School website, written by Monica Rodriguez, Pomona High School recently became a certified AVID Demonstration School. AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a program preparing students to go to college and have great global success. The certification AVID Demo is only awarded to 110 Schools out of the 4,500 AVID Schools in the country. So what does this mean? Pomona High serves as model for schools attempting to start or improve the AVID program. Granger Ward, the executive Vice President of the AVID center, made a note of several things including the school’s strong college-ready culture; visionary leadership at every level; high parent participation; and tutors who have ties to the school and community. While interviewing PomonaHigh School’s Principal Roger Fasting, he was asked about the AVID program and he said it was “awesome.” Mr. Fasting believes that the high expectation and rigorous academics push students for success. He feels that the AVID program has triggered other amazing programs to follow similar rigorous structure in learning like Medical Academy, Engineering Academy, and Band. Statistics show that PHS graduating rates are rapidly increasing and that more and more students are taking and passing AP exams. So how does that show that our culture is changing? In my interview with PHS Cindy Lopez (AP/CP student) she stated, “Our school is improving, before AP classes had 15 students or less and now there are a lot of people (a class of at least 22)”. Cindy believes that PHS students get informed more on college through announcements, posters, and teachers. She told me that she also sees a social change. Cindy stated, “I was scared when I came here.” She believed the stereotypes about it being a bad school but she soon noticed it was a fun, safe school. We need to extend more positive energy down to our CP classes and have this school be known for what it really is. CP classes are improving but there needs to be an equilibrium making our school stronger. The rigor should be enforced more on the CP classes so that we can improve as a whole. When it comes down to the facts, Pomona High School is changing both academically and socially. So do not believe what you hear and come take a look at our amazing school!

Giselle Nuñez