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CINCO DE MAYO CELEBRACIÓN
NOV, 16 2016 | VOLUME 112 ISSUE 05 | SANTA MONICA
MATH AND ENGLISH CLASSES CUT (P. 2) VIOLET PAYLEY SPEAKS OUT (P. 6) UNINFORMED YOUTH (P.7)
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VOLUME 115 ISSUE 05 •MAY 9, 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 JENNIFER NYSTROM......Social Media/Digital Editor HELENA SUNG............................ Multimedia Editor
CORSAIR STAFF Zeynep Abes, Yasmine Da Silva, Wilson Gomez, William Wendelman, TheoVerdier, Ryanne Mena, Ruth Iorio, Reed Curtis, Oskar Zinneman, Nicole Washington, Martha Virginia Russel, Kayla Hardy, Isai Palacios, Heather Creamer, Hannae Izumiguchi, Elijah Cuffee, Dylan Cortez, Damaris Lizama, Claudia Vardoni, Ashutosh B Singh, Clyde Bates Jr, Ethan Lauren, Earl Agustines, M. Fernanda Rivera
ADVISORS ASHANTI BLAIZE-HOPKINS
Thane Fernandes / Corsair Photo
...... Journalism Advisor
Headliner and rapper Kid Cudi (Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi) performs "REVOFEV" in front of thousands during his set at the the Stick.E.Vape during The Smokers Club Festival at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California on Sunday, April 29th 2018.
gerard burkhart.........................Photo Advisor
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
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Edward Lee Editor-in-Chief
does not mean those who use unacceptable or inappropriate language will not face consequences from those who disagree with the speaker. However, the posting of his personal information and threats that were made in social media did, in my opinion, go too far. For those who are interested in reading more about this in depth, I would highly recommend to take a look at the piece our staff writer, Nicole Washington, wrote regarding this topic. I believe that beyond what is legally allowed, respecting that freedom should have us respect the other side when it comes to arguments. The panel discussion that I plan to join as a speaker this Thursday, May 8, in HSS 165, is one such opportunity that allows freedom of speech to create a path towards a common solution to issues in our society. But that comes only after we pay close attention to what the other side has to say. For the rest of this letter, I hope to bring up news that we were unable to cover for our print edition. Our school had nonprofit organization Active Minds come to SMC
Dear Readers, Santa Monica College celebrated its first ever First Amendment month last week, the same week when an incident occurred in our performing arts campus. An elderly man used a racial slur against an African-American student, and made comments like “she doesn’t belong here.” I thought this incident provided the opportunity to let everyone understand two that the First Amendment does not mean you can say whatever you want without repercussions. The amendment is officially written as follows: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” The First Amendment only prevents the government from making a law prohibiting people from saying what they want. Although the government cannot prosecute people based on their beliefs, that
FRONT COVER Children perform a traditional Folklorico dance at the Olvera Street Cinco De Mayo celebration on May 5, 2018, in Downtown Los Angeles, California.
Zane Meyer-Thornton/ Corsair Photo
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for its Send Silence Packing Spring 2018 Tour. The traveling exhibition had 1000 bags on display, 400 of which were donated from the parents of people who committed suicide. To see this powerful and sobering visual, you can see our instagram, @corsairnews. SMC is also currently at a budget crisis, with a $12.5 million deficit that appears to be a growing concern that our board of trustees that are running for reelection have as a priority. As the school currently faces stabilization, I hope that students are aware and be a part of finding a solution to this issue, as our staff writer Reed encouraged us students to do. Finally, the Corsair co-hosted the First Amendment Month last week, with two workshops that taught students the value of upholding the First Amendment. I hope that we can continue to show all the students of our school the importance of fully understanding the First Amendment as we continue as reporters to work on revealing the truth fairly and impartially.
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VOLUME 115 ISSUE 05 • MAY 9, 2018 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
A Quicker Way to Transfer On?
NEWS
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Santa Monica College announced that its course sequence will change starting summer 2018. Daniel Farr NEWS EDITOR
Starting summer 2018, the Santa Monica College English and Math departments will be eliminating several prerequisite courses required to take college-level English and Math. English 85, 21A, and 21B are three English classes that will no longer be offered at SMC. These remedial classes were previously offered to students who were unable to test straight into collegelevel English. This change will result in students now having to only take one remedial course, English 20. Although this change can potentially help students transfer sooner by skipping these classes, not all SMC students believe it's the right decision. Risa Shimakura, a business major, said, “I don’t think students can pass English 1 without preparing in English 85, 21A, and 21B.” The removal of remedial classes in community colleges has been a recent trend after the passage of AB 705, a law signed by Governor Jerry Brown that took effect this year. It aims to "maximize the probability that a student will enter and complete transfer-level coursework in English and Math within a one year timeframe." While the English courses change this upcoming summer, the Math sequence will not change until fall 2018. The biggest change in the math department is the creation of a completely new course called Math 1. SMC math professor, Kristin LuiMartinez, spearheaded the new math course sequence. "I created a math course sequence called Math 1, 1B, and 1C. It was just approved by the board of trustees last week, and so right now you can
Illustration By: Andrew Khanian
probably see it in the online course schedule," Lui-Martinez said. "But it's only open for incoming freshman for fall 2018. After that, it'll probably open up for everyone."
Students who enroll in Math 1 will have the opportunity to pass through Math 85, Math 31 and Math 20 in one semester, giving students a quicker route to complete transfer-level math.
Potential $12 Million Budget Change for 2018-2019 Year
Ethan Lauren STAFF WRITER
With a proposed change in the funding formula from the Governor’s office, SMC could see a $12 million drop in revenue The California governor’s office proposed a change to the current funding formula this January for community colleges; and during the May review on Tuesday, May 15, Santa Monica College will see if it will be positively or negatively affected by upwards of a $12 million drop in revenue. Since 2014, the school had used a borrowing strategy when it came to calculating the number of full-time enrolled students (FTES). The state of California provides a certain amount of funding for each FTES, so schools can currently count those enrolled in summer for either the academic year before or after that summer semester. This strategy was implemented as a temporary measure to provide a safety net in the school's revenue. During the 2015-2016 academic year, the state funded the school roughly $4,800 for each of its 21,264 FTES, even though only 20,951 were served. This FOR
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A.S. Approves $20,000 for LiveSafe App Reed Curtis STAFF WRITER
means there were 313 students who were actually enrolled in the summer semester prior to this year who gave the school an additional $1,503,000 in revenue. In the current 2017-2018 year, the difference increased to 2,361 students due to dropping enrollment rates. The school gets funded for 22,257 students, despite there only being 19,897 students in the academic year. For each FTES, the state is paying $5,300. The school currently receives around 90-percent of its funding from student enrollment. Infographic By: Ethan Lauren With the new funding formula, rather than giving money solely for each FTES, the state will now consider how many students the school serves in general, how many receive financial aid, and how many students transfer, complete a degree or recieve a certificate. If the proposal passes, the school will receive less money than it currently does. If the proposal does not pass, the school will potentially see a drop of $12 million unless enrollment increases to match previous numbers.
Santa Monica College Police Chief Johnnie Adams asked the Associated Students board of directors for $20,000 of the $28,000 price for another year's subscription to the security app, LiveSafe, at their Monday meeting on May 7. The school's administration has already provided the remaining $8,000. After nearly an hour of questioning and discussion, the A.S. board unanimously approved the proposal. LiveSafe is a free app that would allow SMC students to register in order to participate in safety programs such as the ability to report suspicious activities they see on campus, call for help in a crisis without making a noise, and share their location in real time so their friends can keep an eye on them as they commute to school. Despite support for the app from all A.S. board members, they requested that the administration, specifically Chief Adams, attempt to find a way to cover more of the cost in the future. Chief Adams responded that going through A.S. bodies is a funding strategy recommended by LiveSafe. Adams said that when he asked how schools usually pay for the app, "What they [LiveSafe representatives] said is [that] they usually go through the student governments - this is a product that's for the students, so that's where they usually get that funding." Though the board did ultimately approve the proposal, some board members, such as Vice President Jorge Sandoval and Secretary Ryan Ang, voiced their concern that A.S. was being asked to pay for this at all. Ang said, "Doesn't it say a lot about the character of the administrators if we have to go to them to convince them that 30 thousand stu-
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These remedial math courses will be pass/no pass, self paced, and based on mastery of the coursework. Students can only pass Math 1 by passing the final.
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Reed Curtis/ Corsair Photo
Santa Monica College Police Chief Johnie Adams demonstrates the features of the LIVE SAFE incident reporting app. Chief Adams appeared in front of the the SMC Associated Students' board at their Cayton Center Board room in Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, California, to request twenty thousand dollars to fund another year's subscription to the app, which allows students to report suspicious activity they see on campus, as well as other safety features on Monday, May 7, 2018.
dents need to be protected? I'm sorry but that does not make sense at all." Chief Adams took exception to the idea that the administration was not committed to student safety. "If you look at security and safety as layers, this is just one layer, the district has done quite a bit in safety," he said. "Millions of dollars that were spent on the electronic locks - over 800 cameras - they've spent a lot of money on those kind of things." For the rest of this article, please visit the thecorsaironline.com
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NEWS PHOTOSTORY
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VOLUME 115 ISSUE 05 •MAY 9, 2018 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
Matthew Martin/ Corsair Photo
Jonathan Brown watches the dancers and singers performing while biting down on a cigarillo during the annual Olvera Street Cinco De Mayo celebration in Downtown Los Angeles.
Olvera Street Celebrates Cinco de Mayo
Daniel Farr NEWS EDITOR
With temperatures reaching above 90-degrees, Los Angeles residents celebrated Cinco de Mayo in downtown Los Angeles at the historic Plaza Kiosko on Saturday, May 5, from 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. As many attendees pointed out, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day. Mexico gained its independence on Sept. 16 in a surprise victory over French forces in 1862. In the United States, Cinco de Mayo celebrates the contributions of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans to American culture. Kimberly Coates, an attendee and Los Angeles-based photographer, said, “I grew up in L.A., and Cinco de Mayo is a big celebration every year, so I always try to come to Olvera street. An event like this allows people to celebrate and be happy.” Traditional Mexican music, exhibitor booths, cultural dancing and Mexican food were featured along with multiple tables with various activities,
such as arts and crafts, during the celebration. Many of the performances were put on by children, which gave the afternoon a jovial and light-hearted feeling. Ten-year-old dancer Juan Gonzalez said, “My group IDDM [Inspiraciones de Danza Mexicana] qualified to perform here for Cinco de Mayo, so we can have a good time and so people could enjoy us.” When asked what his favorite part of the day was, Gonzalez said, “The machetes dancing. It’s actually very entertaining and it’s even a good workout because you use your legs and arms.” Many attendees said that this event reminded them how beautiful other cultures in our country are and seeing diversity can only teach people new things. “These events are very important to keep the culture alive," said Kelli Hope, another attendee of the celebration. "I myself, I'm Irish - look around. It’s a diverse group here and look at us, we came with white, Mexican, and black; like here we are, we’re loving it, we need this in our culture, especially for the youth.”
Matthew Martin/ Corsair Photor
Manuel Garcia chews on a toothpick with the Mexican flag attached to the end of it during the annual Olvera Street Cinco De Mayo celebration in Downtown Los Angeles.
Children perform a traditional Folklorico dance at Olvera S Downtown Los Angeles, California.
Zane Meyer-Thornton/ Corsair Photo
Berta Gomez helps a customer at her refreshment shop on Olvera Street during the Cinco De Mayo celebrations. Gomez stated that Olvera Street used to have a week long celebration of Cinco De Mayo which brought in many tourists and school trips. The festivities have been constrained to only a single day which hurts her and many others business. Furthermore, she said that Olvera Street used to be the only big celebration in the city before other places adopted the idea of celebrating the traditional hispanic holiday.
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VOLUME 115 ISSUE 05 • MAY 9, 2018 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
PHOTOSTORY NEWS
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Zane Meyer-Thornton/ Corsair Photo
Street Cinco De Mayo celebration on May 5, 2018 in
William Wedelman/ Corsair Photo
Mariachi music was performed on stage during Cinco De Mayo celebrations in Downtown Los Angeles, California.
Ashutosh Bikram Singh/ Corsair Photo
There were multiple shops set up and filled with traditional Mexican products on sale for the people celebrating Cinco De Mayo at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument on Olvera Street.
Matthew Martin / Corsair Photo
A hand appears out of one of the many stalls to give a receipt to a customer during the annual Olvera Street Cinco De Mayo celebration in Downtown Los Angeles, California.
Zane Meyer-Thornton/ Corsair Photo
One of the many street vendors on Olvera Street for Cinco De Mayo pours a glass of Agua De Pina for an event attendee.
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NEWS CULTURE
VOLUME 115 ISSUE 05 •MAY 9, 2018 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
Taiko Performance on Campus
the Taiko Center for about ten years, and liked being able to come out and share the fact that this art form can be expressed easily. “Compared to another drumming, ours is pretty athletic and also based upon martial arts,” Wu said. “It’s almost like drumming and dancing at the same time, which a lot of other drumming is not emphasized the same way as it is with Taiko.” The three performers that came to the college have been practicing Taiko for several years as a hobby, but have performed at locations such as the Hollywood Bowl. Friedrich learned about Taiko about 30 years ago from following the sound of drums and has been involved since then. “Most people, when they hear about drumming, they think about the kit drummer in a rock band or something,” Friedrich said. “We don’t have a kit Ethan Lauren/ Corsair Photo of four, five, six drums around us, the Lili Miura, a member of the Taiko Center of Los Angeles came to Santa Monica College to perform on Thursday, May 3, 2018 tonality comes from the individual in Santa Monica, California. Performing alongside Rob Friedrich and Shih-Wei Wu (not pictured), Miura has been playing Taiko, meaning “large drum” in Japanese, for several years now and came to SMC by the Japanese Student Association on members playing individual drums campus. that meld together.” Students such as Nick Mancini got Ethan Lauren Amzallag, having visited Japan up in front and learned to play Taiko. “I several times, wanted to bring Taiko STAFF WRITER didn’t know anything about it, so them back to campus after watching the Taiko Performers from the Taiko Center of coming out and sharing a little bit about Center play in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Los Angeles visited Santa Monica their culture was really nice, it was very “I thought it’s a good way to bring a College at its Corsair Field on Thursday, beautiful,” Mancini said. May 3 to play a form of Japanese type of Japanese culture that people don’t Yutaka Akiyama, an international normally know about, because they drumming. The event was organized by student from Japan, came up and played normally know about samurai, ninja, the Japanese Student Association on one of the drums. “I love the sound of sushi, things like that,” Amzallag said. campus, and their president, Cassandra Taiko, we always hear these when we’re The drums are made out of natural Amzallag. young and so I could recall my memory materials, such as wood and cowhide, Taiko, which means “large drum” in of being a child,” Akiyama said. “It was and the songs draw influence from nature. Japanese, started out in Buddhist temples. interesting to see non-Japanese people After playing several songs, they stopped Rob Friedrich, one of three performers playing Taiko and it’s a great cultural that came, explained to the audience that to allow audience members to get behind the drumming started out as a way to one of several differently sized drums exchange.” keep time, but became an activity in and and taught the students how to play. The With over 30 students coming out to of itself over the years. After its popularity melodies are simple; for Taiko musicians, watch, students like Mancini were able exploded in the 1970s, it has led to roughly the songs do not follow written sheet to learn a little bit more of the culture music but are performed based on 3000 Taiko groups in the United States, within Japan, which was what the club memorization of the beats. with about 300 around Los Angeles. Shih-Wei Wu has been playing with had set out to do.
SMC Alum Violet Paley speaks on backlash against assault allegations Ruth Iorio STAFF WRITER
the FBI after someone posted my mom's address on social When former SMC media, and there's been, student Violet Paley saw like, men’s rights activJames Franco wearing a ists that claim I'm a #timesup pin on TV at child rapist.” the Golden Globes Paley explains that Awards on January 7, the power dynamics 2018, she typed out an between her and Franco acerbic tweet and hit send. were undeniably Twitter was blowing up skewed. “What were with women sharing their the consequences of experiences of sexual saying no?” Paley said. abuse using the #timesup “My whole career was and #metoo hashtags, and going to be over… Like Paley thought she’d he was going to hate maybe get a few likes and me and never talk to shares when she shared me again like he did to her experience of Franco my other friend.” allegedly forcing her to Paley's alleged experform oral sex. She perience with Franco turned her phone off happened before the shortly afterwards, and #metoo and #timesup hopped on a plane to movements made it Israel. When she arrived, more socially acceptshe turned her phone on able for women to start - and realized that “every sharing their experinews station ever had ences of assault and contacted me." abuse on a broader Paley is thin and level, not just in relation fragile looking, with frail to Hollywood power limbs and blunt-cut, structures and the hiHelena Sung/ Corsair Photo white-blonde hair framing Violet Paley, a former Santa Monica College student, being interviewed by a reporter in her apartment in erarchies of the casting her blue eyes. She's just Los Angeles, California on April 26, 2018. Paley, who dated the actor James Franco, accused the actor of couch. finished her first book, sexual misconduct. "There's so many "Frozen Oranges," a people who were she feels compelled to speak out on: that coerced by [Harvey Weinstein], not raped stream-of-consciousness quasi-memoir that she is self-publishing assault, consent, and coercion are not - and they were victims too,” Paley says. black and white issues. “You can be She's using her platform, which she says on Amazon. The book doesn't explicitly go into raped by your boyfriend," Paley says. she never wanted, to promote this message what happened with Franco, but the "You can marry your rapist.” despite criticism against her. Violet clearly wasn’t expecting the lessons she's learned from the experience For the rest of this article, please visit of publicly sharing her experiences have media onslaught that her tweet provoked. thecorsaironline.com fed into her prose and the larger message “I've gotten death threats and had to call FOR
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Indigenous Peoples Celebrate 33rd Annual UCLA Pow Wow
Zane Meyer-Thornton/ Corsair Photo
Members of Indigenous tribes all across North America gathered at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) practice soccer field on Sunday, May 6, 2018 for the thirty third annual UCLA Pow Wow.
Daniel Farr NEWS EDITOR
Colors swirl, feathers sway, and drums beat to a steady rhythm, as Indigenous peoples give thanks to their Creator. The performers danced at UCLA's North Athletic Field for the 33rd Annual UCLA Pow Wow this Sunday, May 6. People of all ages performed multiple indigenous dances, vendors set up tents with Indigenous merchandise, and speakers came to commemorate the occasion. Larry Brown, who comes from the Apache tribe and resides in San Carlos, Arizona, was one of those who shared his appreciation for the annual event. "Every year we look forward to this Pow Wow, and a lot of us Indian people, we live in the urban area and you can't go home all the time to practice your tradition," Brown said. "We want to go home to practice our tradition but we can't, but the Indian students here have this every year." A Pow Wow is a North American Indian ceremony involving feasting, singing, and dancing. The event had all of the above after organizers planned and made preparations many days in advance. The UCLA American Indian Student Association organized the event, with UCLA student Tekpatl Kuauhtzin being the head coordinator for the 33rd Annual Pow Wow. "As coordinator, I have to coordinate with the head staff. The head are all the people we sort of vote on and agree to bring out to the Pow Wow." Kuauhtzin said. "As students, we can't do it alone. This requires a lot of professional help, these are people who have been doing it for years, the elders." Although the message of this event was clear - to save and witness Indigenous culture - there was a laid-back atmosphere that made all attendees feel at ease. UCLA student Riya Patel was seen shopping around the numerous tents set up and said, "These events are important. You see another person's culture. it's important to admire diversity." Patel also highlighted what she liked about the celebration. "I really like the different booths and also how they separated the shopping from the actual event where they have like music and dancing." The event wrapped up prior to 6 p.m., and while participants expressed enjoyment of the festivities, this event's purpose served to show indigenous people's existence in Los Angeles. "For us, it's just about our culture, here at UCLA our native population is only 0.04-percent, were not even a full percentage and we host the second largest event on campus," Kuauhtzinhe said. "A lot of our people are being erased right now [and] a lot of people don't even know Native American people still exist. That's a question that we get asked a lot here at Pow Wow - Are you guys real Indians? Are you guys actually native people? Do Native people actually exist still? Because a lot of people think that we have been wiped out, but I think Pow Wow is an example of our resiliency and how we managed to survive."
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VOLUME 115 ISSUE 05 • MAY 9, 2018 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
OPINION/SPORTS NEWS
How “Free” is our Freedom of Speech?
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We are not "free" to speak, or write, everything
Nicole Washington STAFF WRITER
Seventeen-year-old Michelle Carter was infamously convicted in Massachusetts of involuntary manslaughter for sending a series of text messages that encouraged her boyfriend to commit suicide. Carter was convicted in June of 2017 in the case Commonwealth vs. Carter. While the morality of her actions can be discussed, the question is, what legal actions can be taken for what you speak or write? Matthew Segel, legal director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, wrote in a statement about the case, “Mr. Roy’s death is a terrible tragedy, but it is not a reason to stretch the boundaries of our criminal laws or abandon the protections of our constitution.” The First Amendment protects several of our rights including freedom of speech. Due to the fact that the First Amendment was written in 1789, it has had several revisions, the last being in 1992. While freedom of speech is protected in the Constitution, it has exceptions and is left up to interpretation to an extent by the Supreme Court. Supreme Court cases set precedent on how future cases will be handled. As cyber bullying becomes a growing issue, the question of how much freedom of speech people have, or should have, when it comes to bullying and hate speech has become more relevant. Another form of speech often brought into question is hate speech. This may hit close to home for some Santa Monica students with the recent racially-motivated incident that took place at our Performing Arts Campus. Many students questioned whether there should be con-
Illustration By: Diana Parra Garcia
sequences for the man who, during an argument, repeatedly called an AfricanAmerican woman the N-word. According to the Supreme Court’s responses to cases tried in 2017, hate speech, while possibly morally questionable, is nevertheless protected by the First Amendment. The Supreme Court continues to make decisions and set new precedents as they
decide on cases regarding the rights protected in our First Amendment, with several cases already before the Supreme Court this year. Many of us grew up hearing “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." That, however, may not be true and the limits to our freedom of speech are in place because saying certain things have consequenc-
es. We are free to speak our minds in the US, but some words become so powerful that some of that “freedom” to say anything to anyone is limited. I encourage you to think about the power of words, or a word, and think about how much you think people should be allowed to say before they are held responsible. For the rest of this article, please visit the thecorsaironline.com.
The Uninformed Generation Millenials don't care about local politics, is that a problem? Reed Curtis STAFF WRITER
As a 21-year-old freelance journalist, I mostly cover local political developments. Whether I am attending the latest meeting of the Santa Monica City Council, or covering our very own Associated Student board, I am frequently struck both by how important the issues that appear in front of these bodies are, and by the alarming lack of public participation and oversight present at their deliberations. These bodies pass ordinances and approve spending that directly impacts the lives of their constituencies, and yet when members of the public are given a chance to speak, they rarely take that opportunity. Invariably, when someone does decide to take it upon themselves to address a governing body, that person is often older than 30. Protests such as the recent March for our Lives demonstrate that younger millennials are positively engaged in public discourse, so why don't today's politically active youth take that activist spirit to local government, where, due to its more responsive nature, their voice has a much larger impact? As I attempted to talk with people in my age group about this issue, I believe I chanced upon the answer: they are simply ignorant of the role that local government plays, and the impact that it has. Setting out to prove my theory, I conducted an informal survey of students here at SMC. I posed a series of questions to 45 students who said they lived in Santa Monica, questions like: Who is the Mayor of Los Angeles? Do you know your representative in the California State FOR
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edge of local government, I asked participants whether they felt like they should know more. To my surprise, the response was mostly apathetic. One student, a communications major who wished to remain anonymous, said, "I think just that there's bigger issues going on right now - I don't really think [this] local stuff has too much impact on my life." The prevailing attitude towards local government from the majority of students I spoke to was apathy and disinterest, though when I spoke to them about some of the responsibilities and powers of said government, they agreed that they were important. One such issue important to many SMC students, that is controlled by the City of Los Angeles, is rent control. A history major who also did not wish to be named told me, "If you're saying the city [handles] rent control, I didn't know we even had rent control here - I'll definitely look more into this because I feel like people really need [rent control]." After I made that student aware of the practical impact of other responsibilities of city councils, such as building codes and zoning, he said that he would make an effort to stay more informed regarding their activities. If the students I spoke to are representative of their age group, the implications are both negative, and positive. NegInfographic By: Pyper Witt ative because they are very ignorant of their local representatives, but a single student could name a recent positive because they are willing to learn ordinance passed by either the Santa once they learn how important their local Monica or Los Angeles City Council. No students were capable of naming a governments are. member of the SMC board of trustees, or answering any of my other questions. After quizzing them on their knowl-
Assembly? Can you name a member of the SMC Board of Trustees? The results were not inspiring. Of 45 students, only 17 knew that Eric Garcetti was the mayor of Los Angeles, only two could name a Santa Monica City Council member, and just US
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NEWS ADS/SPORTS
Six Students from SMC's Karate class Prepare for Annual Convention
VOLUME 115 ISSUE 05 •MAY 9, 2018 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
Wilson Gomez/ Corsair Photo
Santa Monica College Professor Baghdasarian and student Henry de Leon show the class proper technique as other students look on, on Thursday, April 18, 2018 in Santa Monica, California. From 3:45 to 5:05, the second floor room of the Core Performance Center on the main campus of Santa Monica College becomes a dojo where students learn the Shorinji-Ryu style of Okinawa Karate.
Wilson Gomez STAFF WRITER
An SMC biology professor who teaches karate will take his students to the Zentokukai Annual Karate Gathering in Arizona. At the far side of the room, floor-toceiling windows let in natural light that reflects off the mirrors that line the walls. Students stare at their reflection, full of concentration, as the class begins with a bow before jumping right into warmups to get ready for the day's training. From 3:45-5:05 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, room 218 of the Core Performance Center (CPC) on Santa Monica College's main campus becomes a dojo - a Japanese term for a place for immersive learning - where Biology Professor Garen Baghdasarian teaches the Shorinji-Ryu style of Okinawa karate. From this class, six talented students: Harold Parker, Henry de Leon, Sergio Orea, Ida Burkland, Brenda Anthony,
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and Andrey Gaydukov, have been selected by Baghdasarian to participate in the Zentokukai Annual Karate Gathering, a karate convention that will be held in Arizona from May 17-20. In addition to the funding they received from the Associated Students board, two of the students and Baghdasarian have put up around $400 of their own money in order to make the trip possible. For Baghdasarian, the main priority is getting students to the convention, where they will learn from other Karate masters before it moves to the East Coast in 2019, which will make it cost-prohibitive. The group seemed to revel in having the opportunity to attend this year. “Anytime you’re training with a lot of masters, the energy is different,” student Harold Parker said. "It makes you want to learn the details… you want to be where they are.” For the rest of this article, please visit thecorsaironline.com
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