Bits 'n' Pieces

City Urges Residents to Get a Flu Shot

The City of Long Beach health officer has confirmed the first two influenza-associated deaths in Long Beach for the 2018-2019 flu season. Both individuals who died had underlying health conditions. Considering this tragic news, the city’s Health and Human Services Department (Health Department) continues to urge the public to get vaccinated against the flu.

To date, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is reporting 119 influenza-associated deaths in California this flu season, based on data collected from death certificates statewide. Surveillance conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that the primary flu strain in most of the United States this season is influenza A (H1N1), which tends to be less severe than the influenza A (H3N2) strain that circulated during the 2017-2018 flu season.

“These deaths are a tragic reminder that flu can cause serious illness,” said Long Beach City Health Officer Anissa Davis, MD, MPH. “It’s not too late in the season to get the flu shot. Getting vaccinated is the safest and most effective way to prevent flu. The flu vaccine can prevent people from getting sick, or may lessen the severity of symptoms for those who become ill.”

The CDC recommends flu vaccine for everyone over six months of age, especially those at greatest risk for complications and those who live with or care for these individuals:

  • Pregnant women.
  • Children younger than five years of age.
  • Adults 65 years and older.
  • People with weakened immune systems.
  • Those with certain medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, or conditions affecting the nervous system.
  • People who are overweight or obese.
  • Those working or living in nursing homes or long-term care facilities.
  • Health care personnel.
  • Child care workers.

Symptoms of the flu include fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, body aches, headaches, and fatigue. In addition to getting the flu vaccine, practicing good hygiene such as washing hands, covering one’s cough, and staying home when sick can prevent others from becoming ill.

The Health Department continues to vaccinate residents during the flu season (Nov. 1 through April 30). For more information, the community can call (562) 570-4315 or visit www.longbeach.gov/flu.

Students Help of Families File Tax Returns

Hundreds of community members flocked to Long Beach State University, Saturday, to receive free help filing taxes. More than 90 business students, who are Internal Revenue Service certified, filed taxes for families who make $54,000 or less, disabled people, the elderly, students, non-residents and individuals with limited English proficiency.

The free service is part of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance clinic (VITA), which is an IRS-sponsored program.

Students will continue to offer this free service through the month of March. Qualified people who want to take advantage of this opportunity do not need to make an appointment. Office hours are Mon.-Thurs. 8 to 8 p.m. and Fridays 9 to 3 p.m. in the College of Business computer lab located on the second floor.

Participants must bring the following original documents. No photocopies/pictures accepted.

  • Government issued photo ID or driver’s license.
  • Original Social Security card or documents of individual taxpayer identification number.
  • All W-2s and 1099s (if any)
  • Other income and expense information
  • Students or parents of students bring total tuition fees and expenses paid (form 1098-T)
  • Parents bring total expenses paid for child’s daycare if any.
  • Day care or dependent care provider’s address, phone and SSN or EIN.
  • Bank account and routing number (voided check) for direct deposit of refund.
  • Last year’s tax return is helpful, but not required.

To file taxes electronically on a married-filing-joint tax return, both spouses must be present to sign the required forms.

Leadership Series Application Now Open

Applications have opened for Leadership Long Beach’s Executive Leadership Series (ELS), a six-week program for new and seasoned executives looking to strengthen, renew and enrich themselves as leaders. Running from April 4 to May 9, the program consists of classes each Thursday, 1-6 p.m., followed by a networking dinner that ends at 8 p.m. Applications are open now until March 25. Interested executives and companies can sign up at www.leadershiplb.org/executive/.

The ELS program aims to build a stronger Long Beach by building strong leaders and helping them build strong organizations through their leadership. For six weeks, the program helps recognize and build upon each participant’s leadership strengths and focuses on utilizing their strengths as assets for their organization. In addition, the program exposes the executives to other leaders, the emerging economies and diversity of the city. Sessions are held at various locations throughout the city as past sessions have taken place at Keesal, Young & Logan, Rancho Los Alamitos, Farmers & Merchants Bank, Museum of Latin American Art and the Terrace Theatre.

Individuals and companies interested in joining the 2019 Executive Leadership Series can get more information on its website about the program and session dates. Leadership Long Beach is hosting a happy hour meet-and-greet on Monday, March 4 in downtown Long Beach for anyone interested in learning about all of their principled leadership programs. Visit the Leadership Long Beach website for more details at http://www.leadershiplb.org/executive/

Acura to be Long Beach Grand Prix Title Sponsor

The Grand Prix Association of Long Beach announced that it has reached a multi-year agreement with Acura to become title sponsor of the Grand Prix of Long Beach starting in 2019. The 45th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will take place April 12-14, 2019.

Launched in 1986 as the first Japanese luxury automotive brand, Acura is a leading nameplate that delivers Precision Crafted Performance – a commitment to evocative styling, high performance and innovative engineering, all built on a foundation of quality and reliability. Both Acura and its American Honda parent have their U.S. headquarters in Torrance, California.

Last year, Acura made a successful return to the top level of sports car racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, fielding two entries in the Prototype class with Team Penske. The driver combinations of Juan Pablo Montoya/Dane Cameron and Helio Castroneves/Ricky Taylor finished fifth and seventh overall in the championship, with Montoya recording the first pole for the new Acura ARX-05 at Long Beach. Acura also continues to have entries in the series’ GTD class with the NSX GT3 Evo, and has accomplishments at all levels of sports car racing.

Honda has a long, winning history with Indy cars at Long Beach. Honda-powered drivers have won six of the last 10 Grand Prix – and 13 times in 19 appearances – including last year with Alexander Rossi. Native Californian Jimmy Vasser scored Honda’s first Long Beach victory in 1996, with other Honda-powered winners including Alex Zanardi (1997-98), Michael Andretti (2002), Dario Franchitti (2009), Takuma Sato (2013) and James Hinchcliffe (2017).

“With our U.S. headquarters nearby in Torrance, this is a true ‘home’ event for the Acura brand,” said Jon Ikeda, Acura vice president and general manager. “The Grand Prix of Long Beach is one of North America’s premier motorsports events, and an institution in Southern California. Acura is delighted and proud to be associated with the Grand Prix of Long Beach, and we look forward to a long and successful partnership.”

Featuring a wide variety of on- and off-track activities for the entire family, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be headlined by the NTT IndyCar Series, as well as the BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix, featuring the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In addition, the weekend will feature the Motegi Racing Super Drift Challenge under the lights on Friday and Saturday nights, Robby Gordon’s Stadium SUPER Trucks, the powerful sports cars of the Pirelli GT4 America series and the Historic IMSA GTO Challenge.

Fans can select and pay for their Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach tickets, parking and paddock passes online at gplb.com, or place orders by calling the toll-free ticket hotline, (888) 827-7333. A printed ticket brochure that includes a circuit map, ticket prices, order form and other information is also available.

Fans can also follow the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Facebook at GrandPrixLB, Twitter @GPLongBeach and Instagram at GPLongBeach.

Fish Adaptation to Climate Change Can Depend on Family Genetics

The ability of fish to adapt to ocean acidification as climate change advances may depend on genetics, according to work performed by one Long Beach State University researcher and his student.

To conduct their research, assistant professor Darren Johnson and then-graduate student Alexander Tasoff studied grunions that spawned on the shore of Seal Beach, collecting more than 300 grunion on the beach before releasing them back into the ocean. Because of how grunions spawn, it was easier to track the genetic lineages of fish from particular groups of eggs.

Johnson then tested the different groups of grunion by putting them in water with varying levels of carbon dioxide, effectively mimicking ocean acidification. He found that some families of fish better adapted to ocean acidification.

These findings will give scientists a better understanding of how ocean populations of fish may change as ocean acidification advances with climate change.

“Understanding whether fish populations can adapt over time and become at least somewhat more tolerant of changes in seawater chemistry will help us anticipate more accurately the long-term effects of ocean acidification,” said Darren Johnson, an assistant professor of biological sciences.

Johnson’s paper will be released in the print issue of Evolutionary Applications in March and is online now.

College Promise Competes at Bellwether Awards

Considered as the equivalent to the Academy Award for community colleges nationwide, Long Beach Community College District (LBCCD) placed in the top 10 of more than 1,000 community colleges as a 2019 Bellwether finalist for its Long Beach College Promise 2.0 Program at the Community College Futures Assembly in San Antonio, Texas. Of the 1,000 programs reviewed by Bellwether, this puts LBCCD in the top one percent of all community colleges nationwide.

A team presented “Promise 2.0: Partnerships Championing a Decade of Student Success” to a panel of judges on Feb. 4. This was an in-depth examination of the ground-breaking partnership between: Long Beach Unified School District; LBCCD; California State University, Long Beach; the City of Long Beach; and the Port of Long Beach.

Promise 2.0 offers a wide range of benefits. By attending LBCCD, students have access to the Port of Long Beach, other industry partners, and their vast employment network. Long Beach Unified School District seniors who attend LBCCD the fall semester immediately following their spring 2019 graduation will also receive two years of free tuition at LBCCD (students should demonstrate successful progress towards a certificate, degree, or transfer each term).

For LBUSD seniors who enroll at LBCCD and are interested in transferring to CSULB, Promise 2.0 also offers the following benefits:

  • Dual advising under a “cohort” model from both LBCCD Counselors and CSULB Academic Advisors.
  • Access to special events and a student ID card for both LBCCD and CSULB.
  • Career exploration activities with both LBCCD and CSULB.

The Bellwether College Consortium is a group of colleges charged with addressing issues facing community colleges and recognizing excellence and innovation in one of three categories: instructional programs and services; workforce development; and planning, governance, and finance.

New African American Cultural Center

On Jan. 29 the City of Long Beach and Eighth District Councilmember Al Austin kicked off a city-wide effort to create an operating vision for an African American Cultural Center, to serve as a community hub for African American arts, culture, and history. Over 80 residents and community leaders attended to provide input, ask questions and hear presentations from Councilmember Austin, Deputy City Manager Kevin Jackson and the consultants, Lord Cultural Resources and Environ Architecture, Inc.

Over the next three months, residents can participate in the community engagement process through community roundtables, focus groups, internet surveys, and more. This outreach will be led by Tasha W. Hunter, president of the 2018-2019 Board of Directors of the Arts Council for Long Beach and Alan Burks, president and director of Architecture with Environ Architecture, Inc. During that time, Lord Cultural Resources, a premier national organization experienced in creating cultural centers and museums, will work with a Community Advisory Committee to explore best practices. The first committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 26, 2019. These monthly committee meetings will be open to the public.

The community can stay up-to-date and learn more at http://www.longbeach.gov/iteam/priorities/african-american-cultural-center-visioning-process/.

“The community visioning kickoff is just the beginning,” said Councilmember Al Austin. “As we progress into making this vision for the cultural center a reality, we will dive into deeper conversations to build an organization and a financing structure that will require a greater commitment from us all. Let’s get to work!”

On Feb. 20, 2018, Councilman Austin introduced, and the City Council approved, an item requesting the city manager to work with community stakeholders to identify potential city-owned sites in Long Beach for an African American Cultural Center. After sites were identified, city staff recommended that further engagement of stakeholders and subject matter experts be conducted, contingent on the identification of a funding source. On Sept. 4, 2018, while adopting the 2019 Budget, the City Council allocated funds to support planning and outreach efforts for the African American Cultural Center.

CSULB Highest in Awarding Women Physics Degrees

Beach State University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy received recognition for awarding the most bachelor’s degrees per year in the nation, and for awarding the most bachelor’s degrees per year to women in an analysis from the American Physical Society.

“The redesign of our graduate program and the care the faculty brings to students’ academic and personal well-being has attracted a growing number of students to the program,” said department Chair Andreas Bill. “This has greatly affected graduation rates.”

In five years, the Department of Physics and Astronomy has grown its student body from 40 students to 150 undergraduates. During that same time frame, the department doubled the number of students working toward a master’s degree from about 30 to 60 students.

In its study, the American Physical Society compared all 56 institutions in the nation that grant master’s degrees in physics. The group found that Long Beach State University ranked among the highest universities in the nation in awarding degrees to minority students and women, and it graduated the most students with bachelor’s degrees in the nation with an average of 40 degrees granted between 2015 and 2017. Women make up 27 percent of those who graduate from the program, with 32 undergraduate degrees awarded to women between 2015 and 2017.

CSULB also ranked second highest in the number of bachelor’s and master’s degrees awarded to underrepresented minority students.

Category:

Add new comment

Beachcomber

Copyright 2024 Beeler & Associates.

All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced or transmitted – by any means – without publisher's written permission.