MARCH 14, 2018 | VOLUME 115 ISSUE 02 | SANTA MONICA COLLEGE FIRST COPY OF THE CORSAIR IS FREE, EACH COPY AFTER IS 25
CELEBRATING INSPIRATIONAL WOMEN
NEW CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT CENTER (P.3) SKID ROW RUNNERS (P. 6) ARE GAMES TO BLAME? (P. 7) THE CORSAIR • THECORSAIRONLINE.COM • 1660 STEWART ST. SANTA MONICA, CA 90404 • (310) 434-4340
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VOLUME 115 ISSUE 02 •MARCH 14, 2018 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
EDITORIAL STAFF EDWARD LEE.................................. Editor-in-Chief
corsair.editorinchief@gmail.com
LAUREN LABEL............................ Managing Editor HARLEY PHILLIPS............................ Design Editor DANIEL FARR..................................... News Editor TREVOR SCHOCK..................... A&E/Culture Editor NICOLAS JOHNSON............................ Sports Editor PYPER WITT....................................Opinion Editor THANE FERNANDES............................ Photo Editor DIANA PARRA GARCIA..........Opinion Photo Editor ZANE MEYER THORNTON.........Sports Photo Editor MATTHEW MARTIN...................News Photo Editor EMELINE MOQUILLON...Social Media/Digital Editor ROY GARZA...................Social Media/Digital Editor HELENA SUNG............................ Multimedia Editor
Matthew Martin/ Corsair Staff
CORSAIR STAFF Zeynep Abes, Yasmine Da Silva, Wilson Gomez, William Wendelman, Theo,Verdier Ryanne Mena, Ruth Iorio, Reed Curtis, Rebecca Valsly, Petia Nicholos, Oskar Zinneman, Nicole Washington, Michael Irwin, Martha Virginia Russel, Kayla Hardy, Juan Gomez, John Roth, Jennifer Nystrom, Isai Palacios, Heather Creamer, Hannae Izumiguchi, Elijah Cuffee, Edrado Cortes, Dylan Cortez, Dorothy Montague, Damaris Lizama, Claudia Vardoni, Carlos Lopez, Ashutosh B Singh, Alejandro Correa, Clyde Bates Jr, Ethan Lauren, Earl Agustines, M. Fernanda Rivera, Justin Han
Santa Monica College Corsair infielder/pitcher Erica Soto #22 leads the line of Corsair players as they congratulate the Bakersfield College Renegades on their victory, and on a a game well played at the Santa Monica College Corsair Field in Santa Monica California, on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. The Corsairs would go on to lose the game to Bakersfield College 0 – 9, making their tally for the season 6 wins and 11 losses.
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FRONT COVER Santa Monica College (SMC) student Rian Decker, a sophomore anthropology and biology major and member of the SMC cheer squad, takes part in the SMC Women’s Day event by gleefully writing about the women in her life that inspire her during the SMC International Women’s Day event that took place on the SMC main campus, in front of the Library Walkway, in Santa Monica California on Thursday, March 8, 2018. The Women’s Day event welcomed all students to share inspirational stories about the inspirational women in their lives, and in the SMC community.
Matthew Martin/ Corsair Staff
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Dear Readers, On March 12, 1987, Congress officially designated March as Women’s History Month after the non-profit National Women’s History Project successfully lobbied for the motion. Over the next 31 years, US presidents have issued proclamations for the nation to spend the month of March commemorating the accomplishments and history of women all over the world. But this March of 2018 has been particularly momentous, with the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements looking to bring political and social transformation to our fundamental institutions and cultural consciousness. The accounts of sexual assault and harassment pervasive across all these industries are sobering. But to finally have these voices that were previously suppressed finally feel more comfortable sharing their stories should also bring a sense of relief. Our photo story, which covers the International Women’s Day held in Santa Monica College, commemorates the women in our lives every day that inspire us. The event also had two brave SMC students who shared their own account of sexual harassment and assault. Due to these remarkable
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individuals, we as a society have finally seen these incidents as part of a deep-rooted issue in our society that we must address. Having all sides finally open to a productive discussion will be the first step to making changes that will shape history.
The Beyond Gun Control: What Can Be Done to Reduce Violence in Our Society workshop I spoke on during the first day of March indicated to me that members of Santa Monica College were ready and eager to be a part of the solution in accelerating this process.
When speaking of making history, I can not forget to mention the national school walkout that will happen this Wednesday, March 14 -- coincidentally the time that this issue will be published. Because of this moment coming after we already distribute our papers, the Corsair unfortunately could not have this moment captured in print. However, as a digital-first news source, we will make sure that such a historic day will be captured by our team and posted in our website, available 24/7 on thecorsaironline.com.
Finally, our issue brings up a third group of people making sure their voices are heard. One of our news articles covers DACA and undocumented students and their supporters who made a stand on the Santa Monica College’s main quad. Administrators assured that these students knew that SMC was a safe space for undocumented students who have their support.
The nationwide protest will serve as both a memorial and protest, in which students and teachers plan to raise awareness of gun violence by calling on our leaders to bring actual measures to address it. As mentioned in my previous letter, I remain optimistic that we can come together and work out a solution that may not be immediately ideal, but be that one step our society walks to start on the path of effectively eliminating gun violence.
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These three groups of people have all simultaneously jumped themselves into the national conversation. This domino effect of groups all feeling emboldened to bring up the issues they face are getting the attention they have always deserved. We will not look back this March 2018 as another Women’s History Month with all talk with no actual changes -- history books will show that we are currently present in a living and breathing piece of history that will forever be recognized as a significant development of our society.
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VOLUME 115 ISSUE 02 • MARCH 14, 2018 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
NEWS
DACA Day of Action at SMC
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Helena Sung MULTIMEDIA EDITOR A small group of students, faculty, and staff gathered near the north quad fountain on Santa Monica College’s main campus on Monday, March 5 at 10 a.m. They held banners and placards declaring their support for SMC’s undocumented student community. “Today was the day that DACA would’ve been ending,” said Nick Mata, Director of Special Programs, and one of the organizers of the event. “But a court injunction has stalled DACA from actually ending for now." He stated that this event was not a protest, but a day of continued action. “What we want is for Congress to pass a clean DREAM Act and provide a pathway to citizenship, but not hurt DACA family members or those who are not in education." On Sept. 5, 2017, the Trump Administration announced that the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program would end in six months, unless Congress passed legislation to save the program, which it has failed to do thus far. Given the uncertain future of DACA, the gathering aimed to provide visible support for the undocumented community. Standing among the crowd were Nancy Grass, Associate Dean of Student Life, and Michael Tuitasi, Vice President of Student Affairs. “We came out to show support for our undocumented students and let them know that SMC is a safe place to go to school,” Tuitasi said. Grass agreed, saying, "We’re here to support all of our students, and our DACA students are part of that." From the quad, the group marched to the Business building and gathered in room 111. More than a dozen administrators, faculty, and staff members, along with a handful of students, sat in chairs assembled in a circle. On the walls hung posters bearing handwritten messages of support to undocumented students. “We care about our undocumented students and want to be a proactive community,” said Edna Chavarry, Director of Academic Affairs Initiatives, to the assembled group. "Tell us educators how we can support you.” She also emphasized that they wanted to create a safe space for undocumented students and DACA recipients to
Helena Sung/ Corsair Staff
Santa Monica College students, faculty, and staff march on a DACA Day of Action gathering on Monday, March 5, 2018 at SMC's main campus in Santa Monica, Calif. The day marked the date the DACA program was set to expire; however, the DACA program is still in place due to injunctions issued by federal district courts in recent months.
Throughout the day, representatives from numerous departments, such as the Wellness Center, the SMC President’s office, and the STEM program, spoke to the students. “I went to [SMC’s Undocumented Ally Program] training and it was a very moving experience," said Elaine Polacheck, Interim Executive Vice President of SMC, “your dreams and aspirations are this country’s dreams and aspirations."
be heard. A student who identified himself as a DACA recipient, stood up, and spoke about the dangers he experienced as a small child immigrating to the United States and the difficulties he has faced. “Every day, I have to prove I’m human,“ he said. “My life would be so much easier if I had my papers,” he stated, as several students around him nodded their heads.
Amid the statements of support, SMC student
SMC and City of Santa Monica Breaks Ground on Lab School
Renovation for Historic Sears Building The iconic late - modern architecture gets new lease on life
The lab school will provide SMC students hands-on experience with young students and provide a place for parents to drop off their children.
Reed Curtis STAFF WRITER The California Coastal Commission, which is in charge of conducting environmental and public interest oversight of construction and zoning within the coastal region, met in their Port Hueneme conference room on Thursday, March 8. The commission discussed a wide range issues, but foremost was their agenda on what to do with the old Sears Building in Downtown Santa Monica.
Ethan Lauren STAFF WRITER Santa Monica College and the City of Santa Monica will break ground for the new Santa Monica Early Childhood Lab School this Tuesday, March 13 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the parking lot on the corner of 4th Street and Civic Center Drive. The Childhood Lab School is Santa Monica College’s latest attempt at innovating their educational approach, but this project has been in the works since 1989. This project was established through a partnership between the city of Santa Monica, the RAND Corporation and the Growing Place, a non-profit that is already involved with the Early Childhood/Education (ECE) program on campus. The department on campus works closely with its students enrolled to prepare them for the field. Santa Monica College students will be able to use this lab school to gain handson experience in working with children. Students who are taking part in SMC's ECE pathway are currently required to do these activities off-campus. The lab school will serve as a place for parents to drop off their children between the ages of 12 weeks and five years while they work. The center will be open for 110 children and is available for everyone, but 30-percent of those spots will be reserved for residents of Santa Monica, and an additional 15-percent minimum for low-income families.
Courtesy of Carde Ten Architects
Constructed in 1947, the classic art deco architecture of the building beckons remnants of an older Santa Monica and is a designated historical landmark alongside City Hall and the Gregorian Hotel. And ever since the Sears store occupying the historic building went out of business last April, it's now also prime real estate.
Growing Place will be responsible for operating the school, whereas other schools who have had lab schools typically operate them in-house. Gary Huff, a full-time faculty for the ECE department, says that this model will be watched closely as other lab schools in the state have been closing due to budgetary reasons.
The current owner of the property is the Seritage Holding Group, a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) that acquired 266 Sears properties in 2015. This REIT was formed because many of Sears' stores, such as the 302 Colorado Street location, are more valuable as pieces of property than as operating franchises. As one of their "crown jewel" properties, the Sears Main building is currently under a $50 million renovation.
Construction will begin in April, but the building is not planned to be completed until the fall of 2020, and will not be available to students until the spring of that year. Laura Manson, the department chair of the ECE program, has worked alongside the rest of the department to get things prepared.
The planned project is extensive. Proposals include converting the basement and first floor into a mixed food-service and retail area, the second and third floor into office spaces, and expanding the third floor by 7450 ft. The company is also planning to implement a new roof, with extensive open spaces to provide natural light. The building will additionally be brought up to date with current seismic safety codes.
“It’s exciting that [we] are going to be able to have our students be able to have this great field experience in a school that is well-known nationwide for the quality and care that they provide for children,” Manson said. “It’s really exciting because as a community college, we’re actually working with the community.”
In spite of these extensive modifications, the project will not alter the architectural or structural integrity of the current building in any way. Exterior improvements have been limited to windows and repainting, and the footprint of the proposed renovated structure is exactly the same. A digital mock-up of the
One unique facet of the lab school is that the Santa Monica local non-profit FOR
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Andrea Ramos, voiced her frustrations. “I’m undocumented and I don’t have DACA, so I need to know about those resources,” Ramos said, “SMC needs to step it up a lot. You need to create one resource center where everyone can be directed." Ramos also described how she found important resources in piecemeal fashion asking one person or another for help. “I’m just getting by, and I’m tired of just getting by."
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Courtesy of City of Santa Monica
renovations shows that from the outside, exterior changes are almost unnoticeable. Though the project was given the go-ahead, the Commission did place four special conditions that must be met. The first condition stipulated that, due to the parking lot being 47 spaces too small for peak summer weekday traffic, Seritage must maintain a parking attendant to "stack" cars when the lot reaches 90% capacity. The second condition required the building's landscaping be populated with local droughtresistant, non-invasive plants. This condition further required that no herbicides or pesticides be used. The third condition required all construction materials and equipment be handled, stored, and disposed of in a manner that is not harmful to the local environment. Provisions were instated to prevent any debris or runoff from entering the water table, or flowing out to sea, as well as to protect local wildlife from the process and effects of construction. The final condition that was approved required that any future developments of the site be independently approved by the Commission, unless the Executive Director determines that no new permit is legally necessary.
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NEWS PHOTOSTORY
VOLUME 115 ISSUE 02 •MARCH 14, 2018 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
SMC International Women's Day Celebration encouraged to speak and share a story about the Wearing purple to sym- inspirational women in bolize International their life. Women's Day 2018, students, faculty, and mem- When asked what this bers of the Santa Moni- day meant to her, student ca College Cheer Squad and Cheer Squad memgathered in front of the ber Rubie Amaya-Yanez main campus library on said, "Equality for all Thursday, March 8. Mu- women, the beauty withsic playing from loud in everyone, and finally speakers created a fes- having that recognition tive atmosphere, attract- that we're all beautiful, ing a crowd of enthusias- strong, intelligent, and tic supporters. capable." Corsair Staff
"I want this event to celebrate who we are as an international and local community at SMC. We're focusing on inspiring each other with this International Women's Day," said Ana Laura Paiva, Director of Student Assistance and organizer of the SMC International Women's Day event. Students and people on campus were
Matthew Martin / Corsair Staff
An attendee of the Santa Monica College International Women’s Day event takes part in the festivities by writing about the women in their life that inspire on purple paper, a universal color that represents all women, during the SMC International Women’s Day event that took place on the SMC main campus, in front of the Library Walkway, in Santa Monica California on Thursday, March 8, 2018. The Women’s Day event welcomed all students to share inspirational stories about the inspirational women in their lives, and in the SMC community.
Nancy Grass, faculty advisor for the Associated Students, said that throughout her life, the treatment of women has improved, but she still strongly believes, “We still aren’t there yet.” To her, International Women's Day is about reflecting on women who have inspired or made a difference in their lives.
"There are many women who have inspired me," said SMC President Dr. Kathryn Jeffery while listening to speakers of the Women's Day event. "My mother has
always been a motivator to me. She used to call me her wisdom child, even though i was the youngest, and it made me feel smart...I had a grandmother who was an entrepreneur...I have a number of people around me that inspire me on a daily basis who are women, and men who support women. And I just think it's important for me to be here today to support the students gathering in honor of Women's history month." Students also stopped to write messages on a roll of purple paper to women who have inspired them, from Ke$ha to their aunts. SMC student Samuel Gomez stopped to write a note saying, "My grandma and mom inspire me to push forward and to never look back. We only get one."
Matthew Martin/ Corsair Staff
Members of the Santa Monica College cheer squad put on their purple bows with pride during the Santa Monica College International Women’s Day event that took place on the SMC main campus, in front of the Library Walkway, in Santa Monica California on Thursday, March 8, 2018. Internationally, the color purple that the women are wearing signifies dignity and justice and is a color that is universal in representing all women.
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EVOLUME 115 ISSUE 02 • MARCH 14, 2018 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
PHOTOSTORY NEWS
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Matthew Martin / Corsair Staff
Santa Monica College (SMC) student and SMC Women’s Day volunteer Brooke Harrington speaks on the experience of being a women during the Santa Monica College International Women’s Day event that took place on the SMC main campus, in front of the Library Walkway, in Santa Monica California on Thursday, March 8, 2018. The Women’s Day event welcomed all students to share inspirational stories about the inspirational women in their lives, and to celebrate the women in the SMC community.
Matthew Martin / Corsair Staff
Attendees of the Santa Monica College (SMC) International Women’s Day listen to Director of Student Assistance, SMC Women’s Day organizer, and key speaker Ana Laura Paiva (cq) during Santa Monica College International Women’s Day event that took place on the SMC main campus, in front of the Library Walkway, in Santa Monica California on Thursday, March 8, 2018. Paiva welcomed all the attendees of the Women’s Day event to come up and share inspirational stories about the inspirational women in their lives and to celebrate the women in the SMC community.
Matthew Martin / Corsair Staff
Santa Monica College (SMC) student Klara Gadd listens as a peer of hers speaks during the during the Santa Monica College International Women’s Day event that took place on the SMC main campus, in front of the Library Walkway, in Santa Monica California on Thursday, March 8, 2018. Gadd would go on to give a tearful speech herself describing the influential women in her life and “the impact a women’s voice has once it is heard loud and clear.”
Matthew Martin / Corsair Staff
Santa Monica College (SMC) student Winnie Marcelin (center), a freshman communication studies major and a member of the SMC cheer squad, takes part in the SMC Women’s Day event by being focused while writing about the women in her life that inspire her during the SMC International Women’s Day event that took place on the SMC main campus, in front of the Library Walkway, in Santa Monica California on Thursday, March 8, 2018. The Women’s Day event welcomed all students to share inspirational stories about the inspirational women in their lives, and to celebrate the women in the SMC community.
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NEWS CULTURE
VOLUME 115 ISSUE 02 •MARCH 14, 2018 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
Annihilation Dives into the Unknown A tense sci-fi mystery that will leave you with more questions than answers. Wilson Gomez STAFF WRITER Annihilation can mainly be summed up by one word -- weird. It is the second film directed by Alex Garland (Ex Machina), and is based on the book from the Southern Reach trilogy. Coming into the movie having seen only a handful of trailers and nothing else, I was surprised by how different the movie was from what the trailers portrayed it as. Many have likely came in thinking it was just another action movie. The movie centers around the mystery of a meteorite that crashes on Earth, and how it is changing the environment around it. This mysterious location has been nicknamed “The Shimmer”, and is where most of the movie takes place. Natalie Portman plays Lena, a biologist and former soldier whose husband Kane (Oscar Issac), a soldier, went missing after being deployed into the Shimmer and mysteriously reappears a year later in a comatose state. They are both kidnapped by the government, which leads to Lena discovering why her husband originally went missing. Lena then volunteers to go on the next expedition into the Shimmer. From there, things go horribly wrong. The story of Annihilation is actually told as three interwoven storylines taking place at different periods of time. The first of these storylines is how the movie starts; with Lena being inter rogated af ter escaping the Shimmer, while the second storyline is her recounting what happened inside the Shimmer. The last storyline is sprinkled throughout the movie and
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
shows why Lena feels so much guilt throughout the film.
The movie’s score and sound design work well, and helps ratchet up the tension, with the stand-out moment being a scene where the characters must be still while a mutant bear walks between them.
The acting is for the most part welldone, although the initial introduction between Lena and the leader of the expedition Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh) feels a bit wooden. Tessa Thompson plays the shy Josie Radek, who played only a minor role in the film. But Gina Rodriguez’s Anya Thorensen steals the show when she begins to unravel. With the exception of an exposition dump near the beginning of the film where Cass Sheppard (Tuva Novotny) explains how everyone there is “damaged," the writing is solid.
The visuals in the movie range from passable CGI to beautiful landscapes. The animals are the worst offenders, as the CGI is noticeable enough to pull you out of the movie, but the final scene with the mutant bear Is done well enough that you can partially forgive the film for that. Similarly, inside the lighthouse, the CGI used for the final scenes is almost distracting; however, what is
Documenting the Skid Row Running Club
Ethan Lauren STAFF WRITER With over 3,500 international students from all around the world, SMC has the second largest international student population of any community college in the nation, second only to Houston Community College. The Language and Culture Exchange program shared this fact for their orientation last Thursday, March 8, emphasizing their focus on bringing cultures around the world together.
The documentary, which took four and a half years to make, tells the story of Judge Mitchell, a criminal court judge who starts a running club with residents from a homeless shelter on Skid Row, leading to the unlikely group to run marathons around the world. The film follows them on early-morning training runs around LA, and marathons in Accra, Ghana and Rome, Italy.
The Language and Culture Exchange program is an online resource operated through the online Canvas network, which will remain active during the Fall and Spring semesters. The program started around six years ago, and was originally created to give international students, along with the Modern Language department on campus, a way to practice new languages with native speakers. It focused on languages at first, but over the years, it has emphasized the importance of cultures as well.
It also focuses on four Skid Row runners: David Askew, an aspiring artist who was homeless for ten years; Ben Shirley, a professional musician whose career and life derailed due to drugs and alcohol; Rafael Cabrera, who was formerly imprisoned for murder); and Rebecca Hayes, a mother who was homeless with an infant son.
A 2013 Los Angeles Times article about the judge caught the filmmakers' interest. “We thought maybe we can make a difference by telling their stories and getting the film out there for other people to get inspired or maybe to get involved,” Hayes says. FOR
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Despite being based off a trilogy of books, Garland has said that he has no plans to make a sequel. Annihilation has the courage to not give any answers or explanations. In a time when every movie gives some exposition dump to try and explain everything to the audience, it was rather refreshing to walk away from a movie with more questions than answers.
Uniting Students Through Language and Culture
Helena Sung MULTIMEDIA EDITOR “One horrendous act does not define a person in his or her entirety,” says Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Craig Mitchell in the t railer for the documentary, Skid Row Marathon.
Gabriele Hayes, who produced the documentary with her husband and director of documentary, Mark Hayes, has never seen homelessness before moving to Los Angeles in 1998. “I’m from a communist country – former East Germany – and I never saw homelessness or crime,” explains Hayes in a telephone interview. She was shocked at what she saw in her downtown LA neighborhood. “I couldn’t believe that in such a rich country, a rich city, just seven miles from Rodeo Drive [in Beverly Hills] you have people desperately sitting in the streets and having nothing and living in tents and boxes,” she says.
inside the lighthouse is so alien that it’s not distracting enough to pull you out of the film.
Through Canvas, students can write a short biography on themselves, including the languages they speak and languages they are interested in. They can then see everybody who has posted and then message each other to meet up and talk with each other.
Courtesy of Mark Hayes and Gabriele Hayes.
Judge Mitchell agreed to be filmed, but cautioned the filmmakers. “It’s Skid Row and these people are at the lowest point in their lives, so you have to be careful,” Hayes remembers the judge telling them. The filmmakers gained the trust of the Skid Row runners by running with them for the first six weeks without the presence of film cameras.
Matthew Stivener, who helped to start the program on campus, works as the program's coordinator. He enjoys seeing students that have not only used the service, but have also made friends through it. The program's freeform structure means that he can make things run smoothly, but leaves it up to the students to engage with each other.
“The homeless situation seems so hopeless, but here’s one man making a difference in a small, effective way, so that really inspired us, and changed us as well,” Hayes says.
“We really want it to be up to the students. If they want to be really involved, they can be,” Stivener said. “It’s just a way for them to connect. It’s not that we don’t want to be involved, but I think it’s more successful when the students choose who they want to interact with.”
Judge Mitchell, 15 Skid Row runners, and Hayes will be running in the LA Marathon this Sunday, March 18. A special screening of Skid Row Marathon is on Friday, March 16, at 7:00 pm at the Regal LA LIVE Stadium 14 theater. Tickets are $10 on Eventbrite. US
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Lizbeth Koenig, a faculty member in the ESL department, has assisted the program along with Stivener. She helps with the orientation that is held at the beginning of •
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Ethan Lauren/ Corsair Staff
Two students at Santa Monica College, Bianca Austria (left), who speaks English and Tagalog talks with Yoori Kwak (right), who speaks Korean greet each other during an orientation for the Language and Culture Exchange program in Santa Monica, California on Thursday, March 8, 2018. The program allows students wishing to practice speaking different languages to match up with others and is free for students and is operated through Canvas.
each semester for those who would like to learn about in person. “There’s just a special kind of student, the kind who is curious about other languages and other cultures, and for that kind of student, this is amazing,” Koenig said. While a student can join at any time during the semester, these orientations are held as an introductory meeting when students can get started right away with meeting somebody. Yuki Sakurai is a student at SMC who wants to learn English and speaks Japanese and Chinese. He attended the orientation earlier in the semester. “It’s pretty good, it’s very helpful and maybe I’m going to find some language partners. I’m very glad to join this group,” Sakurai said. For anybody wishing to join the program, email stivener_matthew@smc.edu for instructions on joining through Corsair Connect. The program is zero units and after the completion of the semester, it will be removed from your transcript entirely, so it will not affect your grades.
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VOLUME 115 ISSUE 02 • MARCH 14, 2018 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
OPINION/ SPORTS NEWS
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Video Game Violence & Gun Control
An argument from the 90s brought back for a gun control issue stricter gun control, and the other side that believes in arming everyone. Clearly, this debate has a lot President Trump met with various of gray to it. video game representatives and members of Congress from Florida, One side of the argument states Missouri, and Alabama on, Oct. that the US needs to make it harder 9, 2017. The meeting focused on for people to obtain guns to stop violence in video games and how most of the violence. Politicians they impact children. should take some inspiration from countries like Japan, which has an Video game violence has always immense amount of laws citizens been a hotly-contested debate in need to follow to purchase a gun, America. Even more so in 2018, and more laws pertaining to hanvideo games have become one of dling a gun. As a result, the amount the biggest forms of entertainment. of gun deaths in Japan rarely goes above 10. To put that in perspecA 2015 study by Western Michigan tive, 17 students died in the ParkUniversity and the Kercher Center land shooting alone. for Social Research found that violent video games have little to Let's compare another country, no effect on children compared to like Australia. After a mass shootother variables like parental inter- ing in 1996 resulted in 35 people action. Additionally, York Uni- dead and 23 injured, the Australian versity conducted a similar study government decided to buckle this January, and like all the others, down on gun control, making found no such evidence of video similar laws to Japan concerning games making people violent. If to obtaining one and owning one. anything, these studies state that They even went as far as to ban the only effect games have on us rifles and shotguns, creating a is pissing us off when they are mandatory buyback program to difficult. take these guns off the hands of gun owners who possessed them This is not what the country should prior to the ban. be focusing on. It's merely a diversion to pull away from the real It worked. Gun-related homicides issue: gun control. The US needs went down by a significant margin, to refocus on gun control and find up to a 50% drop, and gun-related solutions to stop events like the suicides by 74%. This action saved Parkland shooting, otherwise this lives, and if the U.S. at least made is going to happen again until these the attempt to try and emulate these tragic events are going to feel laws, we'd see similar numbers. normal. Maybe not immediately, but in the long run, we'd start seeing less Right now, there are two sides to mass shootings. this debate. One side that wants
Earl Augustines STAFF WRITER
Illustration By: Andrew Khanian
The other side of the argument are the people who believe in arming as many people as possible and protecting their rights as gun owners. Granted, people are defensive about gun control, since the right to own a gun is in the American Constitution, but those on this side need to think about the people who don't own guns and feel unsafe surrounded by them.
These two sides are not going to come to a solution by constantly blaming each other and acting as if the other side can't understand. There needs to be new sets of rules restricting what to sell and who to sell to, or the US could just keep seeing stories of people shooting each other and barking at each other while innocent Americans die.
LA Marathon Profile: Giovanni Policarpo SMC student, Giovanni Policarpo, set to run his third LA Marathon in as many years. Wilson Gomez STAFF WRITER
Twenty-year old SMC student Giovanni Policarpo is not what you would expect from someone getting ready to run their third marathon in as many years. He doesn’t have a strict diet that he adheres to. He doesn’t stress out about how much protein he needs to consume, or how many calories his meals contain, in fact, the last thing he plans on eating before the big day is a cup of instant noodles. But make no mistake, he is young, athletic and as competitive as they come. Policarpo’s love of running began in his senior year at Ánimo Venice Charter High School, when he joined the crosscountry team and his teacher/coach mentioned to him that he should join Student’s Run LA (SRLA), an organization that “provides a free schoolbased mentoring and physical fitness program for at-risk middle and high school students in the greater Los Angeles area.” Policarpo said he joined cross-country in his final year of high school because “It’s my last year of high school and I just wanted to join a sport before I leave high school.” He decided on joining cross-country because he loves to compete. "That’s what got my attention, because I always like to compete with other people, ever since when I was young… and I thought that cross country was the best sport to compete with people from other high schools,” Policarpo said. He preferred cross-country over team sports because he prefers to compete on an individual level. That competitiveness is a large part of what motivated him. “It’s been in me since a long time. I don’t want to show it
Helena Sung/ Corsair Staff
Santa Monica College student Giovanni Policarpo poses on the track on SMC main campus on March 9, 2018. Policarpo will be running in his third LA Marathon on March 18, 2018 and hopes to achieve a personal best finish time of under three hours.
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but I just want to prove myself, that I can beat other people, which I can,” Policarpo said. He ran his first marathon in his senior year of high school. He looks back on that first attempt and laughs. “The first marathon that I did, it didn’t go so good as I wanted it to be, cause my goal was to finish in like five hours at least because it was my first one," he said. "The thing that messed me up is that I kept getting Ice cream from each stop and it messed up my stomach.” Despite having an upset stomach, he still completed the marathon, with a finish time of six hours and forty-four minutes. His second marathon went much better, as he finished in three hours and fifty minutes, though he believes there is still room for improvement. As for this marathon, Policarpo said, “My goal is to finish in two hours and fifty minutes. I will try, I don’t know if it’s possible for me.” He also said that this may be his last marathon because “it’s really hard. It’s really, really hard. That’s all I can say. You have to train a lot just to keep up and finish.” So, what motivates him to run the marathon? “What makes me do it is that it’s going to stay with me until I get older, and I’m just going to think about what I accomplished when I was younger. That’s something that I really want to think about.”
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VOLUME 115 ISSUE 02 •MARCH 14, 2018 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
Introducing Santa Monica's Dolphins Local rugby club attempts to gain recognition from city of Santa Monica. Jennifer Nystrom STAFF WRITER
Dark clouds swarm over Dodson Middle School's grass field, where Santa Monica’s rugby team, the Dolphins, played their fourth game of the season on Saturday, March 10 at 1:00 in the afternoon. They travel from Santa Monica all the way to Palos Verdes, California, to play -- an hour long drive. The crowd mostly consists of family members coming to watch the game. “We’ve been here for for 45 years, we’re Santa Monica Rugby Club you know, that name represents the city, and we deserve to have a little more support from the city,” says head coach Riaz Fredericks. Founded in 1972, The Dolphins are still struggling to get a footprint in the community. “We just don't get enough numbers I guess at the gate, people watching,” Fredericks says. The team have been kicked off of various fields, and due to not having their own field to play at, they have to travel as far as San Diego and San Francisco to play. “We got kicked off a field that we’ve been playing on for four to five years, and we got kicked off it because soccer has a better connection to the principal who decided we’re not gonna play here anymore,” says Fredericks and continued, “We are pretty much bootstrapping this sport in the U.S.” The team has players coming in from
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all around the world to play. “I´ve come over from England just to play some rugby here," says Conor Clancy, a member of Santa Monica's rugby team. Rugby is originally from England, but the sport has been around in the United States since 1874. Even though it has similarities to American football, they are two very different sports. Rugby is a continuous game that runs for two halves of 40 minutes each. “It’s a contact sport, it’s about the only real connection,” Fredericks says. A game is set up with two teams, each consisting of 15 players -- eight forward players and seven backwards.
Jennifer Nystrom/ Corsair Staff
The Santa Monica Dolphins rugby team form a scrum with their Belmont Shore opponents due to a minor infringement in Palos Verdes California on Saturday, March 10, 2018. The Santa Monica Dolphins would go on to lose the game 3-19 against Belmont Shore.
To compete for the ball, the players tackle and run through their opponents to score in the opponent's ingoal, similar to the end zone in football. The ball can never be passed forward, only backwards. For a score to count, the ball must touch the ground of the in-goal by the attacking team, known as the try, which is similar to a touchdown in football. They can then attempt a two-point conversion, with a player kicking the ball over the crossbar and between the goal posts, similar to a field goal in football.
anywhere above them. In open play, the players on defense form a straight line across the field, while the opposite team passes the ball down, trying to find a gap in the defense. If the offense cannot find a gap, the player carrying the ball can run straight into the defense line to break them up, which is called a line break. Each game lasts for 80 minutes and the team with most points win.
Players are allowed to tackle their opponents anywhere below the shoulders, using their arms to get them to the ground. It is not allowed in rugby to use shoulders or tackling
“I meet people every week that are Santa Monica locals, they have been in the community for their whole life and, they have never heard of the Santa Monica Rugby club. They
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Even with the sport growing rapidly, not many people know about Santa Monica’s own rugby team.
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don't even know we have a rugby club," Fredericks says. Fredericks has been in e-mail contact with the Santa Monica mayor about getting their own field to practice on, but has not yet received a response. The Dolphins will play their next game this Saturday, March 17 at 3 p.m. in Old Mission Beach Athletic Club in San Diego, California. “It's exciting you know, and to back that up, it's free. You can come and watch games for free and be entertained," Fredericks says.
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