The Corsair Issue 4 by Santa Monica College

CONTENT

News | pg. 3-6 Photo Story | pg. 4-5 Arts & Entertainment | pg. 7 Sports | pg. 8

FACULTY ADVISORS Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins | Journalism Adviser Gerard Burkhart | Photo Adviser Sharyn Obsatz | Social Media Adviser

CONTACT Editor in Chief | corsair.editorinchief@gmail.com

SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram | corsairnews Twitter | the_corsair Facebook | thecorsairnews YouTube | thecorsaironline

WEBSITE www.thecorsaironline.com

FRONT COVER Nour Myra Jeha, a USC student a leads a chant. Students marched to demand action against perpetrators and to support survivors of sexual violence at USC in Los Angeles, Calif. on Monday, October 10, 2021. (Maxim Elramsisy | The Corsair)

Illustration by Ashley Cox

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Before I joined The Corsair, I was just Ashley. No particular job title. No claim to fame, really nothing to sneeze about. During that time I searched deeply for who I was, what I wanted to say, and who I wanted to be. For most of my life my thoughts were chaotic, confusing, and didn’t have a lot of rhyme or reason to them. They got much worse when I turned sixteen and was kidnapped by a family friend for almost a year. It's not a topic that I openly speak about much, and I try not to think about it more often than not. That year was traumatic, violent, and still affects my daily life. If I learned anything from years of therapy and inner searching after that incident, I learned that life happens. There’s no stopping it, and there’s no way of truly controlling what happens to you, or why it happens. It just does. My need for control over all things in my life is strong and untamed sometimes. It gives me anxiety, and I think it makes me look for an exit in rooms a little more than a normal person, but it's also my superpower. Through my own trauma I learned how to help heal others, and lift them up through their own healing from traumatic experiences. Trauma can come in all shapes and forms and it doesn’t discriminate in any way. This issue features a woman on our cover with passion in her eyes, fighting for what she believes is right, and our top story is a USC rally against sexual violence. I can’t even begin to tell you how hard it is for me to edit these sorts of things, and to stomach the fact that people are still fighting to not get assaulted. Even though I’ve dealt with a lot of the things that happened to me, it still affects my emotions in a powerful way. But it's not all bad. Those emotions make me who I am. Someone who is passionate about social justice, art, and life. My favorite movie, Sabrina (1954) has a line in it that I decided to live my life by a long time ago. “I have learned how to live, how to be IN the world and OF the world, and not just to stand aside and watch. And I will never, never again run away from life. Or from love, either.” The line is delivered by Audrey Hepburn as she writes to her father from Paris, and has stuck with me for years now. I think of it everytime I think I’m too afraid to accomplish something, or honestly if I’m feeling plain old cynical. The power that we have as humans to accomplish things we never thought possible, and to push ourselves in times of turmoil as well as fear, is so incredibly vast. Especially when we are surrounded by people who inspire us. (Even if they’re on our TV screen.) Which leads me to this last week. I went out of my comfort zone, and pushed past my fear to interview one of my favorite singers. Who I found at a time when I was down, and in my own head. Their music inspired me to keep going, and to keep pushing myself to be who I wanted to. Their music in a way makes me feel less alone in my head. LP is an artist in charge of their own sexuality, their own being, and uses their creative voice to express feelings of love, heartbreak, excitement, and every emotion in between. When their management returned the email I had sent, and told me that the interview I requested with LP was a GO, I couldn’t believe it. When I interviewed LP, and our conversation felt more like a catch up between old friends I was on cloud nine. We shared conversation about how the other did during quarantine at the height of COVID-19, and discussed our favorite bands. They asked me how I was doing in general, and we even discovered that we have a mutual friend here in Los Angeles. (Bonavega, I’m looking at you.) The fifteen minute “Phoner” (As her management called it) turned into thirty minutes of natural conversation that showed me, anything is possible, and that even if my thoughts get chaotic, I have a team behind me that feel like I do sometimes. This issue is really special to me, and I’m excited to present you Issue 4 of The Corsair. May the 4th, be with you.

Editor-In-Chief Ashley Cox

OCT. 27, 2021

NEWS

USC Rally Against Alleged Sexual Violence Rashno Razmkhah | Social Media Editor Shawnee Lightfoot | Managing Editor

n Oct. 20, the University of Southern California’s (USC) Department of Public Safety (DPS) sent the campus’s population a crime alert sharing the latest reports of alleged sexual assault and drugging at the university’s Sigma Nu fraternity house. These reports indicate a total of six incidents within the past month alone. As of Friday, USC has suspended Sigma Nu and all Greek life activities until further notice. Along with this alert, DPS suggested a few “safety tips” for attending social gatherings. These included travelling in numbers, purchasing and keeping drinks in sight at all times, and walking in populated, “well-lit” paths. The outrage that arose from the news led to multiple organized protests over the weekend, the biggest one held on Monday, Oct. 25. Students took to 28th street, commonly known as “Frat Row”, to express their discontent with the incidents through chants, signs, and open discussions. As a megaphone was made available to all participants in front of the fenced off Sigma Nu house, students shared their thoughts and feelings with the crowd, as well as showed their support for all victims of sexaul assault. Sonni Wang, a USC student who is also part of Greek life herself, shared her reason for attending the march. “It’s been a really hard week for everyone on campus, it is nice to see some positive support,” she said. Some of the students attending, however, were not directly affiliated with Greek life, but rather supporters of complete abolishment of the concept. Most were passionately chanting against Greek life institutions, stating that the system encourages the society’s patriarchal quotas by enforcing classism, sexism, racism, and xenophobia. USC Flow, an intersectional feminist group on campus collaborated alongside organizations such as Women and Youth Supporting Eachother (WYSE), Callisto, and Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment (SAGE) to organize Monday’s march. One of the leaders of USC Flow, Phuong Nguyen, elaborated on the measures that the organization has taken in the light of the reports. “We work with Callisto so we have already been going to frats this semester to educate them about the resources and how to handle cases of sexaul assault,” said Phuong. Out of all houses that Flow contacted, only two were responsive and open to the training. Greek life members at USC currently undergo sexual harassment training every two years. This means, there is

Maxim Elramsisy| The Corsair Marie Cloonan, a USC student, talks about her experience of sexual assault in front of Sigma Nu fraternity house. Members of the fraternity, including the Chapter President, are accused of drugging and raping women at their house on frat row on Monday, October 25, 2021.

Maxim Elramsisy | The Corsair Students marched from USC village to Frat Row to demand action against pepetrators and enablers of sexual violence at University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Calif. on Monday, October 25, 2021.

a possibility that some students may go through their entire college career without ever being educated on sexual assault matters. Phuong’s call-to-action asks the administration to step in and take charge, “I want Carol Folt, as a woman in such a high position in this institution, to say

something and it should not be through a simple email”. Survivors used this platform to share their stories with the public, asking their abusers to be held accountable. There is still an ongoing investigation concerning these allegations and the role of the university’s administration in handling such

incidents effectively. Santa Monica College (SMC) has partnered up with UCLA Health’s Rape Treatment Center to provide free medical and counseling services for sexual assault survivors. Victims may also call Victim Connect at 855-484-2846 for support and resources.

P H OTO S TO R Y

OCT. 27, 2021

Jon Putman | The Corsair SMC students particiapte in the great California Shakeout, a SMC Professor Jo Ann Mendelson (second from left) instructs a theatrical combat class on the main campus on Sept. 2, 2021. Many inst statewide earthquake drill last Thursday.

Campu Back t Maxim Elramsisy | Photo Editor

hough most classes are still being held remotely, some students are being welcomed back to the Santa Monica College (SMC) campus. People are once more rushing to and from class, inhabiting the library, talking, or eating in common areas. Many of the first classes back on campus are those that involve school equipment, instruments, and rely on personal interaction. Film students return to the Center for Media and Design where they are challenged to build elements of a camera rig as a team.

Neil O'Loughlin | The Corsair Santa Monica College students Tiril Norberg and Abhimanyu Singh(L-R), have a socially distanced conversation between classes just outside of the Humanities and Social Science Building on the main campus on September 2, 2021.

P H OTO S TO R Y

OCT. 27, 2021

Neil O'Loughlin | The Corsair Maxim Elramsisy | The Corsair

tructors are holding classes outdoors when possible to promote social distancing.

Film students assemble a track for a camera dolly on at the Center for Media and Design in Santa Monica, Calif. last Thursday.

us Life, to Life Even some new classes are being offered that can fit social distancing rules such as, stage combat instructed by Jo Ann Mendelson. The class is taught outdoors and on grass where student spectators can observe and potentially develop an interest in the class. As students are welcomed back, an invaluable part of the student experience, campus life, also picked up where it left off. Athletes are back on campus as well, and spectators are back in the stands, just masked and vaxed now. Some normal activities like the annual statewide earthquake drill, The Great California Shakeout, got an all-new look, while some familiar sights are seemingly unchanged.

Neil O'Loughlin | The Corsair Students level track for a camera dolly at the Center for Media and Design in Santa Monica, Calif. last Thursday.

NEWS

OCT. 27, 2021

Set Workers for Safety Zipporah Pruitt | Staff Writer Marlene Herrera| Staff Writer

Path” when a prop weapon injured a crew member. Conclusive results have yet to be released by police on the incident which would suggest fault or negligence on behalf of Halls. The case is still open.

embers of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) labor union announced on Oct. 4, 2021, plans to hold a strike against the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP). Demands included safer conditions, living wages and an end to lengthy working hours.

The Basic Agreement and Videotape agreements struck between Hollywood IATSE locals now must be ratified by members in two separate votes. According to a survey among IATSE members on the @ia_members Instagram page, 70 percent of 480 respondents said they would vote no to ratify the tentative agreements presented by IATSE. The survey asked for member ID information alongside the survey questions. No date has been announced for these votes. IATSE members can reach out to report safety concerns on set via an anonymous hotline, at 844-422-9273. In addition to the hotline, members can report any issues via the IATSE Safety Info app.

Studios temporarily averted the IATSE strike on Oct. 16, 2021 after they reached negotiations and proposed a tentative three-year agreement with the union. Approximately 40,000 film and television members ratified the Basic and Videotape Agreements. The contract highlights crucial issues such as comfortable rest periods, meal breaks, and a three percent increase in compensation for workers of new-media streaming companies. Santa Monica College film student Madison Piker worked as an intern on a student film set as a personal assistant. She said, “it was a 12 hour set, and to me that’s total abuse.” After Piker read about the three percent wage increase, she said, “if this is going to continue being like that, I feel like the future of Hollywood is going to see fewer filmmakers.” On Oct. 21, a crew member on the set of the film “Rust,” Halyna Hutchins, Director of Photography, tragically lost her life when actor Alec Baldwin fired a loaded prop pistol, striking her in the chest. Hutchins was a member of IATSE, Cinematographer’s Guild, Local 600. The

Illustration by Gavin Quinton

same incident also injured the film’s director, Joel Souza. Since the accident, work on the film has been halted and no indication has been given as to whether production will resume. Reports from crew members regarding negligence on sets are circulating social media feeds, aiding the talk to decline the current agreed upon demands. For example, the IASTE unofficial Instagram page @ia_members shared a message

on Oct. 22, 2021, from an alleged anonymous member of the “Rust” crew. The post alleged that the movie’s camera crew walked off set prior to the incident, because of poor working conditions. It further specified that the work environment included poor gun safety. “Rust” Assistant Director David Halls, who handed the loaded prop gun to Baldwin before the incident, had recently been fired from the 2019 set of “Freedom’s

A R TS & E N T E R TA I N M E N T

OCT. 27, 2021

LP Shoots for Authenticity Ashley Cox | Editor in Chief

grateful for this. You know, serious scary places.” In more than 69 countries across the globe, engaging in any consensual activity between same sex couples is considered a criminal act. Punishments vary from jail time, public flogging, and in some cases, death. “There has been people wanting me to really speak out — hardcore sometimes in some of these places and I'm like, I'm not trying to die,” they said. “Just that I’m allowed to play in these places is something.” Being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community has always defined LP’s identity, and their status as a role model for other LGBTQIA+ identifying individuals makes them feel more empowered. “I think you could do worse than having me as a slight role model,” they said. “I made it through this without losing my soul.” In their downtime, the singer said they enjoy good food and wine with friends, and taking a drive out to the desert whenever possible to ground themself. “It depends on what I'm in the mood for, you know?” LP rescheduled their new album, Churches, to release on Dec. 3, 2021.

ith over six million streams on YouTube, five solo albums, and 10 years in the industry, LP is authentic to their own sexuality, persona, and audience. “I have no apologies,” the singer said. “I don't need anyone's approval or disapproval about my romantic relationship[s].” Singer-songwriter LP aims to create a safe concert space for LGBTQIA+ fans all over the globe, while understanding their own place in the community. “I’m kind of transitioning over to the they/them [pronoun] thing — it's more my kind of vibe,” they said. “But I’m cool with She/Her, if you can’t remember.” LP wrote songs for artists such as Cher, Beyonce, and Rihanna before launching their own career. While working as a songwriter in 2009 and feeling burned out by the music industry, LP discovered their love for ukulele. “I was in this music store that I always wanted to go to. I just went in there and bought this $60 ukulele, I just thought they were cool,” said the singer. They learned to play the instrument using The Beatles songs, and eventually ended up writing Rihanna’s ‘(Cheers) I’ll Drink to That’ on the ukulele. Learning to play renewed LP’s love of music and launched them into their own solo career. “When I started playing it, [the ukulele] just kind of brought back some joy that I was missing.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, LP found themself working on a new album

Illustration by Ashley Cox

to keep busy. They began plotting a new era of music alongside a new tour across the globe. “I think [my music] gives people hope, I hope,” they said. “[Identifying as LGBTQIA+] is possible and normal. Sometimes you have to have twice the tenacity and, whatever, to do it, but it's possible.”

The singer is no stranger to touring in countries with strict laws against LGBTQIA+ identifying individuals. “I'm happy that people can see myself and other people that look like us, and are like us, and then we feel, ‘Oh! Alright, well, thank God,’” they said. “[Even] in some serious countries, I’ve been accepted and I'm so

Phoebe Bridgers performs at Greek Theatre

Sarah Nachimson | The Corsair Charlie Hickey peforms an opening set for Phoebe Bridgers at the Greek Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. on Oct. 21, 2021.

Sarah Nachimson | Arts & Entertainment Editor In the middle of her Oct. 21 show at Hollywood’s Greek Theatre, Phoebe Bridgers took a pause and said “my mom is here tonight.” Looking out at the soldout venue, Bridgers reminisced about her own childhood in Silver Lake, CA, and

memories she had of driving to the theatre for concerts. On that same stage of those concerts Bridgers watched as a teen, the four-time Grammy-nominated singer, who emerged with her EP “Stranger In The Alps” (2018) and catapulted over the COVID-19 lockdown to stardom with album “Punisher” (2019), performed for an audience of her own. Bridgers earned a following for her lyrically poignant music’s relatability. Her discography, reflecting on painful pasts or overcoming hardship, accompanies thousands of videos from fans on social media platform TikTok. Bridger’s mid-autumn show was one of the first for many since COVID-19 pandemic measures began. Out of caution, Bridgers decided to perform all shows outdoors and require proof of vaccination or negative test for entry. Iris Lynch, a freshman at Santa Monica College (SMC), who attended the Oct. 21 concert, said, “ I’m still pretty anxious about COVID, so I wore a mask the full time, but I did feel safe because they had to check everyone’s vaccine [status] or negative test.”

The crowd of concert-goers, returning after shows paused because of lockdown, seemed to also surprise performers. Charlie Hickey, the opening act who, at 13, covered one of Bridger’s songs and impressed her, remarked on unfamiliarity after performing “Two Haunted Houses” from his EP “Count the Stars.” “Some of you need to leave,” he said on stage. “There’s too many people.” Any nerves from performers, however, did not affect the crowd’s excitement. Audience members cheered when Katie Gavin from the band MUNA emerged for a slow, haunting rendition of Hickey’s song “Seeing Things.” Even louder applause accompanied Bridgers’s entrance, an hour before her headlining set, to sing “Ten Feet Tall,” a track featuring her on Hickey’s EP. During her performance, Bridgers and her entire band donned the artist’s iconic skeletal body design. Bridgers built a stage presence that felt unusually hypnotizing, personal and intimate, even amid a large audience. A pop-up digital tableau behind them with song-specific visuals

added to the emotional transformation. To introduce songs, she remarked on the lyrical inspirations ranging from alcoholism to ex-boyfriends to Halloween. “This is a song for anyone who ever had to lie to CPS,” Bridgers said before the upbeat, euphoric trumpet-accompanied “Kyoto.” Her discography also touched a bit on politics and activism. During “Smoke Signals,” the entire crowd belted “f *** the cops.” “Garden Song,” accompanied by a tableau 2D digital display of a bridge and garden behind the performers, was based on a former crush of the artist “who live[d] next to a nazi and used to joke about just killing him and burying him in the garden,” she wrote in a tweet on Nov. 10, 2020. The concert’s finale, after Bridgers sang her own song “I Know The End,” was a cover of another Gen-Z celebrity’s work: comedian Bo Burnham’s “That Funny Feeling” from his special “Inside” on Netflix.

S P O R TS

OCT. 27, 2021

SMC Alumni Nominated for Hall Of Fame Celso Robles | Sports Editor

ormer National Football League (NFL) wide receiver Steve Smith Sr., w ho is also an alumni of Santa Monica College (SMC), is eligible to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame (PFHOF) as soon as 2022. Smith Sr., who played football at SMC from 1997 to 1999 before transferring to the University of Utah, was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the third round of the 2001 NFL draft. He was a Panther for 13 years and set many team records, including most all-time receiving yards with 12,197, receiving touchdowns with 67, and total touchdowns with 75. Smith Sr. retired from the NFL on Jan. 2, 2017, and is entering his first year of PFHOF eligibility. He is included in the 122 nominees that the NFL has announced for the 2022 class of the PFHOF. Retired players connected to pro football can be nominated by fans who write to the PFHOF, but a nominee must be retired for at least 5 years before they can be considered for selection. A selection committee will reduce the list of nominees to 25 semifinalists in November and then 15 finalists in January. During the time of next year's Super Bowl game, which is scheduled for Sunday Feb. 13, four to eight finalists will be selected to the 2022 class of the PFHOF to be ceremonially inducted in August.

Sophomore wide receiver Tariq Brown, who moved from Des Moines, Iowa in 2019 to play football for SMC, reflected on Smith Sr.'s NFL career and how SMC played a part in that. "It's very inspirational and motivational...he sat in the same classrooms we're sitting in and played on the same field we're playing on," said Brown. "I grew up watching him, he's a dog." Some takeaways from Smith Sr. 's play style that Brown has observed and tried to replicate include playing fearlessly and passionately while always competing at the highest level when stepping on the football field. "He's talked about very highly around campus," said Brown. "[He's] one of the best receivers of all time...top ten in my book." Smith Sr. is knocking on the door of football immortality, but he wouldn't be the first SMC alum to be inducted into the PFHOF. Retired wide receiver Issac Bruce, who is fifth all time in NFL receiving yards with 15,208, is also an SMC alum and was part of the 2020 class inducted into the PFHOF. Smith Sr. played 16 total seasons in the NFL and hauled in 1,031 catches for 14,731 yards, while scoring 89 total touchdowns in his career. He is currently number 8 all-time in total career receiving yards and is regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers to ever play in the NFL. Smith Sr. is guaranteed to be elected into the PFHOF, but knowing how soon is the question that remains.

Jon Putman | The Corsair Santa Monica College Corsairs sophomore wide-receiver Tariq Brown (5) makes a catch from while warming-up before a game against Antelope Valley College.

Jon Putman | The Corsair

Santa Monica College Corsairs sophomore wide-receiver Tariq Brown (5) flips over Antelope Valley defenders after trying to leap over them last Saturday.

Santa Monica College Corsairs sophomore wide-receiver Tariq Brown (5) secures the ball for a touchdown from a pass from the quarterback Sam Vaulton (14).