Renegade Rip Issue 1 Feb. 10, 2021

News
Page 3
The Renegade Rip www.therip.com
Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021
Kern County Democratic leaders
call on Kevin McCarthy to resign
By Charr Davenport
Reporter
The Kern County Democratic Central Committee
and the Democratic Women of Kern joined
together, on Jan. 11, to call on local Republican
Congressman and House Minority Leader Kevin
McCarthy to resign due to his influence on the riots
at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“The mayhem that terrorized the Capitol was
incited by the President and his allies, who fed
their supporters a steady diet of misinformation
and dangerous rhetoric. Bakersfield Representative
Kevin McCarthy, in his role as House Minority
Leader, has been among the most vocal and influential
members of Congress to engage in this type
of behavior,” the local groups said in a joint press
release. The release also accused McCarthy of violating
Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to
the Constitution as well as his own Oath of Office.
“We called on his resignation because he does
not represent the people anymore,” said Christian
Romo, Chair for the Kern County Democratic
Central Committee. “He represents Donald
Trump and his billionaire friends.”
According to Romo, the Kern County Democratic
Party has plans to keep the pressure on
McCarthy until he resigns, as well as plans for if
he does not resign. “The only way to remove him
from office would be getting a 2/3 vote from his
colleagues in the House. We want to pursue that
route as well. If he doesn’t resign, we’re going to
ask for his colleagues to take him out.”
Robin Walters, president of the Democratic
Women of Kern, wants McCarthy to take responsibility
for his part in the riots. “I think he [McCarthy]
and his kind are to blame. If you can’t tell
people the truth, if you continue to allow the incitement
of racism and crazy conspiracy theories
and the false notion, absolutely false, that this election
was not secure, you are responsible. I would
say he was responsible because he spoke out about
that.” Despite that, Walters does not think McCarthy
will resign. She is, however, hopeful for the
future of Kern County. “I think there are lots of
people in Kern County, more than you know, that
are Democrats. I also think there are lots of thinking
Republicans. I don’t think the thoughtful Republicans
in this town abide by the Trump lies and
the McCarthy groveling at Trump’s feet. I don’t
think they like people that are just after personal
power and personal gain.”
Agreeing with Walters is Elise Modrovich, who
is currently in the running for Assembly District
26. “He [McCarthy] won’t resign… Right now
he’s trying to work his way back into his power position.
We have an opportunity, but I don’t know
how long we’ll have it. There is a chink in his armor,
so if we can get a strong candidate, we have a
shot at Kevin.”
Not everyone in the Kern County Democratic
Party is happy with the call, however. Julie Solis,
who ran for the 34th District in 2020 and was recently
arrested for trespassing at McCarthy’s office
on Jan. 11, does not think the party is doing
enough. “I think that just releasing a statement
that says ‘Resign,’ although it is appreciated, isn’t
enough. If you really want to make an impact,
then we need to start mobilizing. We need action.”
As of Feb. 4, Kevin McCarthy has not yet made
a response to the calls for him to resign.
BC webinar explores
the power of gaming
Discussing racial and
gender equity at BC
By Jaylene Collins
Reporter
Bakersfield College’s Student
Government Association (BCSGA)
held a webinar via Zoom with the
Southern University of California
(SUC) professor and video-game
executive Gordon Bellamy, last
Tuesday, Feb. 2.
The theme of the webinar was
“The Power of Gaming.” Bellamy
spoke about his career path, education
programs in the gaming industry,
and the importance of gaming.
Throughout the webinar, Bellamy
also answered various questions
from the audience.
Coming from a family of lawyers,
Bellamy spoke of how he was
expected to become one himself.
Thus, Bellamy went to college to
pursue a career as an attorney but
due to lack of interest, his career
path changed.
Having a love for sports and video
games, Bellamy decided he wanted
to work at the video game company,
Electronic Arts (EA) or ESPN.
Eventually, Bellamy landed a job at
EA and worked his way up the ladder.
Most notably, Bellamy worked
as the lead designer twice for the
popular game, “Madden NFL.”
He later left EA and helped to start
Z-Axis, a smaller video game company
that created extreme sports
games. Z-Axis was later bought by
video game publisher, Activision.
As an educator, Bellamy now
teaches at USC. He is a faculty
member for USC Games, a program
that helps students who want
a career in the gaming industry.
“You cannot wait for the world to
act on you,” Bellamy stated. “If you
want to get into the game industry,
then you have to act on the world
and start making games.”
At USC Games, there is a video
game design track and video game
engineering tack undergrad and
masters students are able to take,
as well as extracurriculars such as
a course on how gaming streaming
services work and esports teams students
can join.
Bellamy said his favorite part of
his job was being able to watch his
students grow.
“The people who I’ve mentored
who have gone on to do and create
things that I couldn’t even imagine.
That’s my favorite thing, to see
them thrive and grow is super fulfilling.
Seeing people be their own best
selves,” Bellamy said.
Bellamy then spoke about the importance
video games played in his
life. Besides the fact Bellamy worked
as a video game executive, he said
games were always important to
him.
“Games matter to me so much
because games have rules that we
all share,” Bellamy explained. “For
me, games were always a default
space where I could simply be and
be as good as I was and share an
experience with people who are all
navigating the same set of rules. We
look for default set spaces where we
could be who we are as unique individuals.”
Then he spoke of how important
it was for people to be able to find
that unique set space for themselves
in video games.
The webinar then came to a close
after Bellamy answered a few questions.
The full webinar is available to
watch on the BCSGA Facebook.
By Brisa Flores
Reporter
A webinar with three academic
senate leaders was held to discuss
their views about their racial and gender
equity perspectives in the public
higher education, on Jan. 29.
In this four-part conversation series,
Lark Park, director of the California
Education Learning Lab, was joined
with Academic Senate leaders Dr.
Dolores Davison, Dr. Robert Keith
Collins, and Dr. Mary Gauvain.
The California Education Learning
Lab was passed as a bill in 2018
to close gaps between equity and
achievements in students who specifically
want a STEM career.
Dr. Davison is the President of the
Academic Senate for the California
Community Colleges and a Professor
of History and Women’s Studies
at Foothill College. Dr. Robert Keith
Collins is the Chair of the Academic
Senate of the California State
University, an Associate Professor of
American Indian Studies at San Francisco
State University, and a four-field
trained anthropologist. Dr. Gauvain,
is the Chair of the Academic Senate
of the University of California and a
Professor of Psychology for the University
of California Riverside.
The three guests answered a series
of questions about the topic of racial
and gender equity.
One of Park’s first opening questions
to the senate leaders was when
talking about race and gender equity
about students, what they really talked
about, and faculty talking about
the same thing.
“Equity is really about providing
students with the opportunity and
support that they can succeed,” stated
by Dr. Gauvain.
Gauvain then went on to say that
students should be able to succeed
and do what they want to do and not
be tied restrained by society,”Equity
really just is a fundamental core value,”
she added.
Dr. Collins explained how it is important
for faculty to use their voices
to bring up the issues about “fairness
and impartiality.”
“Faculty are really using the classroom
to engage these issues not only
in terms of research that helps to
grow fields but also so that they turn
into pedagogical resources,” Dr. Collins
said. He explained this will help
students know what fairness really is
and how the lack thereof can cause
more inequality and impartiality in
an environment like school.
Dr. Davinson gave her perspective
as the President of the community
colleges, “I would argue that at any
of our 115 degree-granting institutions
and 116th which is a fully online
college you will see faculty making
significant changes throughout the
institutions to ensure that equity is a
central focus of everything they do in
and out of the classroom, the athletic
field, the counseling office, the lab,
wherever they are.”
The panelists continue to answer
questions from their perspectives
from the campuses they work at and
how their campuses implement the
idea or topic of race and gender equity
to be talked about or minimize
the gaps caused by and h0w similar
the ideas of these campuses are even
if they are from different campuses.
Dr. Davinson brought up how faculty
should be involved in this discussion
and the student services professionals
because they are the ones that students
usually see and communicate
with more to be able to minimize this
gap with race and gender.
They also discussed what keeps
them inspired during quarantine and
what they admire about their comrades.