SEARCH CONTINUES FOR
FORMER PALI STUDENT
SKYLAR BALL, STAFF WRITERA Year In News A Year In News
F
ormer Pali stu-
dent Dane Elkins,
21, remains miss-
ing since his disappearance
on Dec. 21, despite a series
of search efforts launched byfamily and the local commu-
nity over the last six weeks.
Dane made several calls
to 911 on the day of his disap-
pearance about his car that had
broken down in the CastaicLake area, asking for help and
saying that he wasn’t feeling
well, according to a Jan. 20 ar-
ticle in the Santa Clarita Valley
Signal. By the time law en-
forcement arrived at the scene,
Dane was no longer there.
Dane’s car was found with
multiple flat tires, according
to his mother, Deborah El-
kins. She noted that his wal-
let, cellphone and laptop were
all in the car. Without money
or means of communication,
investigators speculate that
he could have hitchhiked
out of Castaic and could
be anywhere in California.
According to Deborah,
Dane’s mental health had
been deteriorating in the
months prior to his disap-
pearance. “He did say beforehe disappeared, ‘I have to
find myself, I want to drive,’”
she explained. “He thought
there were people after him.”
No sustantial leads have
surfaced in the past six weeks,
despite the organization of
several search parties in Kern
County and Los Angeles.
“There has been an outpour-
ing of support from the commu-
nity, from Santa Cruz to Los
Angeles,” Deborah said. “Dane
is everybody’s son... The whole
community is helping search.”
Deborah continues to
hold out hope that Dane
will find his way home.
“When he has a clear mo-
ment, I am just waiting for him
to reach out,” Deborah said.
“And we’ll have his favorite Mex-
ican food. We just miss him.”BSU HONORS BLACK HISTORY
CIARA KENNEY, STAFF WRITERP
ali’s Black Student
Union (BSU) is
celebrating Black
History Month with a full
calendar of virtual offerings
through February spotlighting
Black stories and experiences.
During each week of this
95th Black History Month,
BSU is presenting a selection
of movies, books, articles and
YouTube videos that high-
light achievements of Black
figures in fields related to Pali’s
eight academic departments.
“There are still injustices
in America. We are not even
close to being past that yet,”
BSU co-president Dayzee
Betton said. “Our goal is to
strengthen the Black commu-
nity... we want to encouragestudents and show them that
they have power and influence.”
At BSU’s request, each
department created a five min-
ute video about Black trail-
blazers in its respective field
to post on Schoology. They
also posted a recommended
reading list and offered select-
ed films through Teleparty.
The schedule features a
catalog of YouTube videos
and published articles about
the Black experience, which
are discussed during the week-
ly Ethnic Studies Book Club
meetings Dedicated podcasts
will be part of the program for
the first time, dropping the first
three Fridays of the month.
This is the 60th celebration
of Black History Month sincePali’s opening, one that Mitch-
ell said is especially import-
ant in light of the Black Lives
Matter movement coming to
the forefront in the past year.
“I see it as an amazing
time to reflect back on how
far Black people have come
from where we started in thiscountry,” Mitchell said. “It’s a
festive time to recognize and
celebrate the achievements
Black people have made while
also acknowledging the fact
that there is still work to be
done in order to make it to
where America is both a truly
equal and equitable nation.”Photo Illustration by Phillip VenkovPhoto by Deborah Elkins