Shannon Berry / Roundup
Pierce College students were protesting yesterday on Victory Boulevard and Mason Avenue in an effort to bring awareness to the farmhouses on campus being demolished for the relocation of Swinerton and Consulting, a construction company.
Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) and pre-veterinary students held colorful signs reading, “Save Our Farm” to passersby on Victory Boulevard.
Onlookers honked their car horns as a way of showing the student protestors support.
“I woke up at 4:00 o’clock in the morning,” said RVT and pre-veterinary student Carina Alicon, who rode the metro bus to Pierce from Los Angeles.
They started protesting at 7:30 a.m.
“Our purpose is to open up our channels of communication. We want them to hear our voice,” said Jeanne Thompson, pre-veterinary student.
Thompson said that the administration has been repeatedly ensuring the students that the relocation of Swinerton construction is temporary.
Thompson, however, wants to remind them that although the relocation may be temporary, “they’re permanently removing the caretakers’ houses.”
The protestors feel that replacing the land with new offices and a parking lot is irresponsible.
“There’s (already) ample parking,” said Joe Carrott, pre-veterinary student, while motioning at parking lot eight.
The students agreed that even on the busiest of school days, parking lot eight has yet to be at least halfway occupied.
The protestors were also not pleased with news of the relocation of the agriculture classes to the new Center for the Sciences building, because the students will be further away from the farm.
“[The farm] is our lab,” added Thompson.
According to the students, being located further away from the farm and the animals does not seem to be in the agricultural students’ best interest.
“Slowly but surely they’re [getting rid of] the farm. They’re not preserving [it]. Once the land is destroyed they won’t be able to farm on it anymore,” said John Lindsay, RVT student.
Lindsay feels that the administration is lying to the students about the reasoning behind the demolition.
“Most of the faculty is going along with it because they’re getting paid,” said Lindsay.
He feels that some faculty members of other departments are either, uninformed, scared to counteract the administration, or plainly ignoring the current agriculture changes taking place at Pierce.
“First, it’s going to be the agriculture department (that gets cut). Next time it’s financially feasible, it’ll be another department,” said Lindsay.
The farmhouses on El Rancho Drive, across from the farm on campus, are set to be demolished sometime in the coming weeks.
The houses were home to the farm’s animal caretakers for approximately 30 years up until earlier this year.
“They’re lying to students who don’t know agriculture,” said Thompson.
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A group of protesters walk around Pierce College in attempt to save the farm, Oct. 23, 2009. (Victor Stephen Kamont / Roundup)