Vol 112 Issue 01

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SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 | VOLUME 112 ISSUE 01 | SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

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THE MOVIES EXPLORING ICONIC CINEMATIC SPOTS AROUND THE CITY(P.10-11)

STUDENTS FORCED TO GET CREATIVE WITH PARKING (P.5) LET'S FIX THE MUSIC ON THE RADIO (P.9) PREVIEWING THE CITY COUNCIL ELECTION (P.4)

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CONTENT

VOLUME 112 ISSUE 01 • SEP 21, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

EDITORIAL STAFF jacob hirsohn

............................ Editor-in-Chief

corsair.editorinchief@gmail.com september dawn bottoms

.......... Digital Editor

corsair.digitaleditor@gmail.com

christian monterrosa

............... Digital Editor

corsair.digitaleditor@gmail.com

josue martinez

.............................. Photo Editor

corsairphotoeditor@gmail.com jose lopez

....................... Assistant Photo Editor

corsairphotoeditor@gmail.com

ramses lemus...................... Social Media Editor

socialmedia.corsair@gmail.com

daniel han.................................... Design Editor

corsair.designteam@gmail.com

CORSAIR STAFF Kianna Anguiano, Andrew Aono, Hank Brehman, Emily Burton, Daniel Bowyer, Oscar Carranza, Andera Canizales, Cliff Cheng, Kevin Colinders, Joanna Esquivias, Emily Flores, Samuel Gerstein, Sam Green, Alex Harris, Marco Heredia, Christina Kelly, Kissindre Kimbrell, Daniel Lee, Brian Lewis, Agustin Martinez, Erendira Martinez, Caroline Marriott, Yulia Morris, Dylan Mulcahy, Leslie Plascencia, Brian Quiroz, Matina Rakar, Jasmin Rogers, Brian Schaefer, Gabriel Schittdiel, Jett Sacker, Rebecca Singleton, Jovante Smith, Marisa Vasquez, Rosangelica Vizcarra

FACULTY ADVISORS saul rubin

............................ Journalism Advisor

gerard burkhart.........................Photo Advisor

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FRONT COVER Photos by Andrew Aono.

Caption: A collage of photos of locations in Santa Monica that were featured in famous movies. On top, Rae's Restaurant, which was featured in "Lords of Dogtown." On the bottom left, the corner of Ocean Park and Main which was featured in "Speed." On the bottom right, The carosuel on the pier which was featured in "The Sting."

Samira Nowpast's installation, Pen on paper, 40 pieces total at Building Bridges Art Exchange (BBAX) during Bergamot Station Fall Open, Santa Monica, Saturday, September 10, 2016. (Yulia Morris)

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR JACOB HIRSOHN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Hello Readers of The Corsair, I understand that you don’t always care about what’s going on at your school. I spend everyday of my life reporting on and writing about — or editing others’ writing about — what’s going on at this school. And sometimes, I still don’t care.

SMC is the fifth school I’ve attended in my life, and it’s the only one that has actually made me care about its everyday goings-on. This is 100 percent due to my involvement with the pieces of paper you’re holding in your hand, The Corsair. Producing the Campus Newspaper was the first class I ever took at SMC, and it is the thing that keeps me coming back to this campus somewhere between four and seven days a week, every week.

I understand that if you don’t have a direct motivation to keep your thumb on the pulse of what is happening here, then you won’t.

I understand that when you walk through a crowded quad filled with tents for another event you didn’t know was happening when all you’re trying to do is get to class after spending an hour looking for parking, you don’t respond with interest, but irritation.

I understand that most days, you just want to punch your metaphorical card, get your work done, and head home.

But I also assure you that you are missing out. Take it from someone who has ghosted his way through four institutions of learning. My decision — or my unexplainable natural inclination — to take interest in the everyday events of SMC has made me wonder if the four schools I hated so much previously were actually fine, and I was just a grump with no interest in anything outside of myself.

While the latter part is definitely true, I also think SMC might just be special. If you take the time to actually dig deeper into SMC’s population of over 30,000 students, you will find there are a lot more interesting stories than you could have imagined.

In my first issue as Editor-in-Chief — oh gosh, look at that. How embarrassing. 300 words into a letter and I haven’t introduced myself.

My name is Jacob Hirsohn and I’m the new Editor-inChief of The Corsair. I’ve been an SMC student for just over a year, and I’ve spent most of it — all of it — working on The Corsair. Last semester I was the Arts & Entertainment Editor. Now they’re letting me run the show — a questionable decision at best, as I’m sure you can already tell.

As I was saying, in my first issue as Editor-in-Chief, we are going to attempt to show you some of the reasons you should take passionate interest in your school, as well as your community.

First things first, we have a double news feature on page

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three from our new Digital Editors, September Dawn Bottoms and Christian Monterrosa. September did an update on a topic she knows well after the excellent feature she wrote in the spring — the Associated Students-funded FLVR program, which is revamped and back in business this semester. Chris wrote about the soon-to-exist Gender Equity Center.

Chris and September dedicated their summer to giving our website, TheCorsairOnline.com, a desperately needed makeover. As I write this, we are 12 hours into production day, and they are sitting ten feet away from me, as always.

They might be mad at me because I keep being mean to them. Anyway, they did a great job with our site, and their stories in our first issue. You should check it all out.

Staff writers Caroline Marriott and Dylan Mulcahy filled out our news section with a strong feature each. Caroline wrote about the ridiculous lengths students go to to find parking here, including paying Foster’s Freeze, borrowing parking permits, and breaking the law. Dylan did a deep dive into the upcoming City Council elections, an important issue I guarantee you know nothing about.

Our issue is divided, as usual, by a beautiful photo story.

Yulia Morris did an exploration of the history and culture of the Santa Monica Pier with eye-grabbing photos, quotes from adorable couples both old and young, and a talk with a pier fisherman.

In the back half, Marisa Vasquez profiled functional fashionistas on campus, taking a look at students who use school supplies that look good and work good too.

Christina Kelley came through with our cover story, an exploration of Santa Monica locations that have been featured in iconic movies, and how they have changed over the years.

Also, we let some cranky old man rant about why he doesn’t like the radio anymore. (It was me.)

That’s what the first issue of The Corsair has to offer. I hope it is enough to not just make you pick up issue two, but to inspire you to dig deeper into your school and your community. To open your eyes and ears, and maybe inquire at a couple of the tents out in the quad. They might just be interesting after all.

That might be a lot to ask for from our first issue. But we gave it our best shot.

Sincerely, Jacob Hirsohn Editor-in-Chief P.S. I’m sorry if addressing you and signing the letter is a bit on the corny side, but I have never understood why the Letter From the Editor doesn’t follow a letter format.

I’m in charge now, so now it will. Thanks and enjoy.

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NEWS

VOLUME 112 ISSUE 01 • SEP 21, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

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STUDENT FOOD PROGRAM RETURNS WITH NEW RESTRICTIONS SEPTEMBER DAWN BOTTOMS DIGITAL EDITOR In the Spring of 2016, with a budget of $31,600, the Associated Students board began a pilot program titled Free Lunch Voucher (FLVR), that was aimed at providing food assistance to struggling, homeless students at SMC. By handing out up to 50 daily vouchers good for $5 worth of food each to students on a first come, first serve basis, they hoped to combat the issue of hunger among SMC students.

While in its pilot stages, the program — although seen as an achievement by the AS Board of Directors and recognized statewide as a success — hit a few bumps in the road.

FLVR, a program directed towards student assistance based on need, actually had no way of verifying each student’s needs.

The creator of the program, Director of Student Outreach Johnathon Hughes, strictly wanted to forgo the process of requiring financial proof because he wanted to break the social stigma against poverty.

This semester, The FLVR program has fallen into new hands and the new AS board has taken a different approach by implementing some new requirements for the students utilizing it.

Following in the footsteps of other programs like EOPS and Black Collegians, FLVR now requires students to verify financial need through the financial office.

In addition to financial standards, students will also be held to academic standards in order to participate in the program. There is now a 6 unit, 1.5 GPA minimum requirement, along with the promise that each student using the program will improve each semester. The amount of improvement does not matter as long as some improvement is made.

Students using the FLVR program are also required to meet with a counselor three times a semester. The first session has to be done with an AS-chosen counselor and the remaining two sessions are to be done with any counselor they choose. Each time the student will receive 5 vouchers worth $5 each.

If students do not meet these requirements, there is talk of putting them on some kind of probation, but as of now there is nothing set in stone.

When the changes were announced at the Board of Trustees meeting on September 6, SMC Trustee Margaret Quioñes-Perez said, “If I could just express a concern, i t took a while for us as a college to get the development of the FLVR program. It’s really in its infancy stage, so I hate to see it make hoops that the student population would have to go through if they are homeless.”

Margaret’s concerns were left unaddressed as there were no other Brenda De Angel uses her 5 dollar voucher from the FLVR program at SMC campus in Santa Monica, on opposers.

March 15. (September Dawn Bottoms) New Director of Student Assistance in charge of the program, FLVR could donate as private individuals. According to Jazzmin Sardin, said, “No one was opposed. We all came Sardin, she has not been in contact with the Interim Dean to an agreement that students need the program, but we of Institutional Advancement, Lizzie Moore, who origiwant them to improve… A couple of returning students nally offered to carry out that plan. didn’t meet the GPA requirements and I understand where This semester the FLVR program will be funded through they are coming from, because I was in that situation once AS much like the pilot program was, but Sardin hopes to myself. So those students have been taken into special find funding elsewhere eventually. “We’ve talked about consideration.” handing it [FLVR] off to someone else because AS doesn’t After last semester, a lot of students opted out of the have the manpower to continue to fund it,” she said. program to make room for those who were actually in need.

AS started off the program at the beginning of the Fall During the Board of Trustees meeting, AS president semester with a $20,000 budget.

Terrance Ware said, “This was really significant for us At $5 a voucher, that is a total of 4,000 meals for the because a lot of students last semester, we felt like, didn’t semester. AS is planning on proposing another $30,000 to have the need. So to see students are saying themselves they continue funds through the end of the semester. may or may not need it is exciting.”

As of now, a total of 98 students are enrolled in the FLVR Last semester, the funding for the FLVR program was program. That number is quite a bit lower from last semesleft on shaky ground. ter’s total enrollment of 232 students. That is possibly due The future of funding for the program was undecided, to the fact that it’s so early on in the semester, but could but there was talk of funds coming from a proposed payroll also be due to the new restrictions. deduction so that any staff members who wish to support

GENDER EQUITY CENTER TO OPEN IN FALL 2017 CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA DIGITAL EDITOR Currently, SMC has a center for environmental issues, a Black Collegians program, and the Latino Center. To the public eye, this makes for a very diverse and inclusive school. For one professor, something was missing.

Professor Eileen Rabach from the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences noticed that “there’s nothing for gender.” Feeling empowered to do something about it, Professor Rabach has taken point on a new effort to, according to its mission statement, “provide a safe space” for students to tackle issues of “gender, sexuality, and identity.”

In a resolution for the program, the Gender Equity Center (name pending) founders state they will advocate for “those who have historically been marginalized because of their sexual and/or gender identity.” The center would also support men who “are questioning hegemonic masculinity/patriarchy and the social construction of hyper masculinity.”

As a result, Professor Rabach and over 50 staffers, including Dean of Student Services Brenda Benson, have spent the last 3 years and counting pushing for the creation of a Gender Equity center. Preparation for this launch included surveying students and asking for “educated input.” Most students surveyed were surprised to learn a Gender Equity Center didn’t already exist.

Now, the program is finally gaining traction amongst administration and the Associated Student governing body.

AS President Terrance Ware confirmed that “the entire board is for it,” and is excited for “students that are underrepresented” to have a space of their own at SMC. The Associated Students have also created an adhoc committee for the center composed by Director of Community Relations Stephany Triska, Director of Student Assistance Jazzmin Sardin, and Student Trustee Laura Zwicker. President Ware is hoping for a temporary space by Spring with the official opening date being in the Fall of 2017.

With the project mostly green-lit, the equity center faces

only a couple of speed bumps, including final funding and an actual location on campus. The program is also currently looking for a “gender advocate,” or someone with a counseling background who is qualified to handle these issues.

Other clubs who have set out to help underrepresented students, like the Homeboys and Homegirls Club, welcome the new addition. Club President Edgar Gonzalez, said his club, who aims to help students with criminal records, or of color, meets once a week. But he would like “somewhere they can go anytime.”

It could be argued that grouping said individuals into one specific space may paint a target for opposers to find their next victims rather than help those in need.

However, while bouncing that idea around campus, no students presented themselves as being opposed to a gender equity center.

As gender equity centers are still a rarity on college campuses, 19 year old SMC student Alexandra Azuike said that people are “beginning to acknowledge that those issues exist.” She expressed how, “especially in this part of town,” everybody is pretty accepting of each other.

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Graphic by Chirstian Monterrosa

“If we painted a huge rainbow on the door, that would paint a target,” said the AS president. But otherwise, he thinks it shouldn’t be a problem.

With multiple factors to consider when trying to open a center focused on such a sensitive topic like gender equality, SMC student Princess Abrahams, 16, pointed out the most important issue when she said, “Love should be the number one thing.”

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NEWS

VOLUME 112 ISSUE 01 • SEP 21, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS HELP SHAPE FUTURE OF THE CITY

Oscar De La Torre

Mende Smith

Jon Mann

Gleam Davis

Armen Melkonians

(PHOTOS BY SEPTEMBER DAWN BOTTOMS/CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA)

DYLAN MULCAHY STAFF WRITER All parties running for City Council were contacted for the following story. Those quoted were the only ones available for comment.

It’s 8:00 a.m. and the city is bustling with activity. Early riser restaurants and artisanal cafes dot the promenade with hundreds of patrons in line to buy their morning meals.

Buses, trucks, and cars rushing by the boulevards to reach their respective nine-to-fives.

Meanwhile, ladies and gentlemen in navy collared shirts and orange-yellow vests patrol the roads removing the refuse that the yester night has left behind.

The busy drills and hammering of heavy iron frames echo far and wide as buildings are constructed to house the merchants and denizens of this great city. “If the residents of the city knew what was going on, they would recall the entire Santa Monica City Council and replace them with candidates that support the goals of the residents,” said candidate Jon Mann.

Mann is running for council because he believes that the city is no longer accountable to the majority of its citizens and instead has become subordinate to special interest groups.

To address the issue, Mann has advocated for more than a decade the creation of Virtual Town Hall: a web-based forum to help create legislation and stimulate resident civil engagement.

With the City Council elections coming up on November 8, Mann’s words hit hard.

A hard-hitting hyperbole to some, it should be worth noting that the city’s executive powers are vested in seven acting members.

Votes are counted pluralistically as compared to a system of proportional representation.

With four out of seven seats on the ballot this contest, each candidate is running at full pace to win a spot in governing this vastly interconnected city by the sea. Within reason, each council member serving the community could be seen as a medium for the hopes and dreams of the many who imbue them with faith and finances.

Residocracy is one grassroots organization that has been dedicated to informing the public and motivating the resident voters in relation to Santa Monica public policy. Its

founder, Armen Melkonians, said, “I urge students of SMC and young people to really research the issues...Most people care, they’re just unaware. If more people are aware, we’ll have a better turnout in every election to follow.”

Each candidate is representing vital interests as well as essential perspectives of Santa Monica’s inhabitant. If elected to council, they take on definitive roles in refining and reforming the reigning vision that determines the ongoing destiny of more than 92,000 people and growing.

What is the vision and how does it affect the people living in Santa Monica? For the time being, the political climate has made it so that the city council assume roles of appointed delegates. As a result, organizations such as Santa Monica Renters’ Rights (SMRR) have made it so that officials representing their group’s interests get elected and enact policy that benefits their concerns.

On the SMRR website, it shows that councilmen including Kevin McKeown, Tony Vazquez, and Sue Himmelrich are members.

To be precise, six out of the seven council members are SMRR elected officials, as well as all of the members of the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees.

Political action committees too, such as Santa Monicans for Responsible Growth and Santa Monicans United for a Responsible Future, have been known to provide the essential financing and publicity to help ensure a chosen candidate’s election.

Santa Monica’s interest group phenomenon has even extended to its civil servants.

Employee associations like the Santa Monica Police and Fire Department have also consolidated reliable voting blocs and become key players in prioritizing their collective agenda to ensure that the council represent them effectively.

“Our seniors are the treasure, our youth need a future, and all of us residents here need to be a priority to all matters concerned,” said candidate Terence Later. A local entertainment consultant with popularity amongst the arts community and Santa Monica residents alike, he supported the Prop T initiative in 2008 with council members Kevin

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McKeown and Ted Winterer. The measure would have limited commercial development to 75,000 square feet a year for 15 years and allowed voters to have more of a say in large development projects. Terence Later also advocated increased government accountability through the Oaks Initiative, a bill formed in 2000 with the purpose of prohibiting public officials from receiving personal benefits from persons or entities in exchange for goods, services, and land use approvals that benefited them.

“We’ve had city council members that were getting money from developers and then voting for their projects. After voting for their projects, the developers were turning around and relieving their campaign debt,” said candidate Oscar De La Torre. A board member of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and proponent of equal opportunity, De La Torre has worked extensively in community outreach programs for youth; working to reduce violence in Santa Monica residential neighborhoods and increase student achievement. Recently, the Santa Monica Transparency Project has accused former mayor and acting councilmember Pam O’Connor of repeatedly accepting batched campaign contributions.

Barriers of entry are inherent within the process of competitive bidding for city projects or student achievement in schools. For the individual and for collective groups to garner preferential treatment over others, it may carry a trade off that leads to disenfranchisement and misrepresentation of everyday residents throughout the city. While Santa Monica’s interest groups have actively engaged with the council to help enact city policy and development instrumental to Santa Monica’s overall prosperity and longevity, it can run the risk of circumventing the city’s standard of democracy.

“People have to be engaged and have to be civic-minded…to have a community based idea and know who their neighbors are...

Our voters have to understand that you can’t just vote for one guy, you’ve got to vote for four in order to prevent having more of the same business as usual,” said candidate Mende Smith. An internationally acclaimed @THE_CORSAIR •

writer and journal editor that has worked with the Green Party, Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, Smith has advocated residents to adopt local policies that could aid in implementing investment in education, limited-equity housing co-ops, and police demilitarization.

Community has indeed become important in this election. In order to alter the course of this city’s history, the residents of Santa Monica must actively campaign with unified goals to make lasting positive change beyond the election process. For the elected candidates to bypass the platform of particular interest groups that support them and comprehensively address the ever changing needs of its diverse citizenry, it will require greater efforts on behalf of both the civil servants and civilians.

“It’s important to have voices on the city council who listen to everyone, that can build bridges between the various groups within the city,” said Gleam Davis, one of the council members running for reelection. Davis has advocated the Living Wage Ordinance to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020 and to support the building of more affordable housing to fight increasing gentrification. She also has called for the approval of Measure V to update SMC facilities. “Santa Monica College is a tremendous asset to our community. The fact that more than fifty percent of the people who live in Santa Monica take advantage of the wonderful programs offered by the college, I think is a testament to the vital role it plays in our community,”

As it shows, many of the candidates agree that the city of Santa Monica benefits when more residents are well informed and when its council members are willing and able to respond to them. When a properly educated populace increases their civic engagement, city hall will better address the community’s expressed interests and the interests themselves will better fit the citizens.

As for now, the future of Santa Monica is still unclear, but it will be more certain once the voters decide November 8.

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NEWS

VOLUME 112 ISSUE 01 • SEP 21, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

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PASSING ON CAMPUS PARKING Overcrowded Garages Force Students to Get Creative CAROLINE MARRIOTT STAFF WRITER

Every semester, students spend hours circulating the parking structures at SMC trying to find an available spot. The years roll by and nothing seems to change.

“If you get to school anytime after 7:30 a.m., the parking structure is way too crowded and it starts to get difficult to find a spot,“ said Ian Sikes, Computer Science major.

“The longest I’ve had to drive around for is two hours and 15 minutes.”

The two parking structures at the main campus always seem to be completely full by 8:00 a.m., so any students arriving after this time either have to drive around like a headless chicken, waiting and hoping for a spot to open and risk being late to their class, or look for parking elsewhere.

Many students decided to stop using the parking structure on the main campus, as in previous semesters they had paid for parking permits and were never able to find a space when they needed it. That is $85 a semester wasted.

Those who decided to arrive early in order to find a parking space on the main campus often just studied for an hour or so before their class to pass the time.

As parking at SMC only seems to waste time and create stress, students have decided to find alternative methods for parking.

While the school has come up with some alternatives for frustrated drivers, some students have turned to mroe unconventional methods.

“Foster's Freeze sells parking spots to students,” said Jose Cruz, Social Psychology major. “I have parked there about twice so far. It’s about $10 per day and it’s cash in hand. They just make you write down the model and plate number of your car.”

Although possibly not convenient for long-term, this could be an option for students running late to class or unable to find any other parking.

One student discussed the alternative

Briana Allan, Fashion major, inserts a coin into the coin meter off of Pico Blvd in front of Foster’s Freeze in Santa Monica on Tuesday, September 20. (Rosangelica Viscarra)

method of renting a local resident’s parking spot for either a lot cheaper than the SMC permit or, if you know someone, borrowing it for free. Many local residents’ parking spots are left empty.

Sean Tasi, Film Studies major at SMC, said “my friend lived on 18th street so he got the [residential parking] permit. But because he didn’t have a car, I borrowed the permit from him and parked in his space for free.”

Some students have gotten so fed up with the parking situation at SMC that they have turned to illegal alternative methods. More than one student has placed a blue badge for disabled parking in the windscreen of their car. The students aren’t disabled themselves and the badges are often obtained from a relative. This allows the students to

park for free in selected areas. Also, some students take advantage of the free parking for guests at the public library near school.

Some even leave their car there all day and have not yet been caught.

People have been able to find success pursuing the alternative parking methods promoted by the school though.

“One day, I decided to check out the Bundy campus and it was only half full,” said Sikes. “I would go there around noon and there was plenty of spots. At that same time the main campus would be packed.”

Sikes continued, “I found out that you could get a satellite parking pass and park at both the Bundy and Performing Arts campuses for free. Then you just get the free shuttle to the main campus, which only takes about ten minutes or so. If going from

Bundy, you can also take the Big Blue Bus number 44.”

Another common alternative is to park for free on local residential streets and then walk, bus, or Uber to school. Many students also take their bikes in their car and then cycle the remaining distance to campus. It appears common among students, especially females who had night-time classes, to then Uber between school and the free street parking.

Gwen Skolnick, Computer Science and Engineering major at SMC, commuted from the valley and never purchased any form of parking permit.

“The easiest and cheapest way to park near SMC is to just park on Ocean Park Boulevard,” said Skolnick. “The block from 17th to 25th is free game for parking. If you park as far as 25th, the most you’ll walk to school is 15 minutes, [but] if you don’t want to walk, you can hop on the 8 or 44 at every corner of Ocean Park."

"Parking on Ocean Park just entails that you read the signs for street cleaning. I don’t find it necessary to spend so much money on a permit where people not only often don’t find spaces but people park horribly there and it’s just a lose-lose situation in most cases,” said Skolnick.

Skolnick also said, “Bob’s market area is fine if you just drive up 17th and look at the residential areas and find [free] two hour parking.”

Other common areas for free start parking are near the bridge crossing the 10 freeway on 17th St. and around Woodland Cemetery Park.

For many students, the time spent looking for an available spot in SMC's parking structures is actually more than the time spent sitting in class. The aforementioned alternative methods of parking appear to be the way forward for the majority of students. These options are considered less expensive, less stressful, and less time consuming.

In order to find accessible parking, some students have turned to the Foster's Freeze on 16th St. and Pico Blvd.

(Marisa Vasquez)

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PHOTOSTORY

VOLUME 112 ISSUE 01 • SEP 21, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

People riding "Pacific Plunge" and "Pacific Wheel" on Saturday, September 17.

People screaming on the Pacific Park roller coaster, on Saturday.

Jesus Zavala, 43 cuts a fish to make a baited hook on Thursday, September 15.

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PHOTOSTORY

VOLUME 112 ISSUE 01 • SEP 21, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

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Santa Monica resident Ryan Winn, 28 (left) and his friend Dan Fleishaker,28 (right) play a racing game at Playland Arcade, on Friday September 16.

PIER LIFE

An exploration of the culture and the history of the Santa Monica Pier PHOTOS AND STORY BY YULIA MORRIS Rina Tsuboi, 23 (center left) and Shiori Asano, 23 (center right), pose in front of the Santa Monica Pier sign. .

T

he Santa Monica Pier, standing at 1600 feet long, is the only amusement pier left in Southern California.

As one of the most recognizable landmarks in the Los Angeles area, it has played a role in many iconic TV shows, movies, and books.

Located on the water near the Third Street Promenade, it is Santa Monica’s most important cultural icon, and a popular tourist attraction to this day.

“Seven million people came to the pier last year,” said Santa Monica Pier tour guide Marty Schatz.

Tom Deghionno, a visitor from San Luis Obispo County, was taking pictures on the Pier while his wife Audrey waited for him, looking around the historic premises.

Tom was born in Santa Monica in 1938 and moved to San Fernando Valley when he was 18. “Everybody moved to the valley as it was cheaper. No one can afford living here,” he said. “I missed Santa Monica.” He used to work at Douglas Aircraft, back when they were building planes and producing missiles.

Tom came back with his wife for his Santa Monica High School reunion. “I’ve seen this Pier changed about five times, and this is the most beautiful I’ve ever seen it. I’ve not seen it for probably 25 years,” he said. His wife asked him if it was always like this, as it was her first time seeing the pier. “Right after the war, World War II, it was a simple pier: a lot of sailors, and there was the ferris wheel, a roller

coaster, and games of skill, they called it; bingo, penny Santa Monica High School junior Natha Tsuboi after finisharcade. Lots of hamburgers and french fries, and the orders ing playing an air hockey with his girlfriend Dominique were terrific. It was unbelievable here, as a kid.”

Vereza. “Santa Monica Pier holds a lot of value to people When a large section of the pier was damaged by two who live here,” he said. Vereza said that their first date was major El Nino storms in 1983, it took seven years to com- a movie date on the Pier last October.

While many use the pier for entertainplete reconstruction. To keep people interested in coming to the pier during ment and romance, others use it for more construction, they started the Twilight practical purposes.

Concert Series in 1984, which continues Jesus Zavala said he comes from Downto draw crowds to the pier every Thurstown to fish at the pier every weekend. day during the summer.

While we spoke, he caught a fish and then In 2008 Santa Monica sold its oldest threw it away. Meanwhile, Rosemead and most iconic feature — the ferris resident Rowell Hughes said that he keeps the fish and actually eats them. wheel — and rebuilt an identical one "I come here once per week. It’s good. which runs on solar power, which features 160,000 energy-efficient LED lights. At Rosemead resident Rowell Hughes, 61 You don't need to have a license to fish on night, these lights light up the sky for a shows a fish he just caught on the Santa the pier," he said, holding up his just caught fish. Among his most common catches are fabulous laser light show.

Monica Pier on Thursday. mackerel, perch, white croaker, queenfish, The Playland Arcade is the oldest continually operating business on the pier. You can find both sting rays and leopard shark.

The Santa Monica Pier is also the end of Historic Route modern video games and nostalgic arcade games. It has been open since 1950 and is a family business in its fourth 66, which used to be a major highway starting in Chicago, generation. The arcade is regularly packed with people of Illinois. According to Schatz, the pier tour guide, Marilyn Monroe used to come and stare at the old carousel on the all ages.

“There are not many arcades in Santa Monica. Having pier. When you are here, you stand upon a hundred years this here is a great little nook to go out and have fun,” said of Santa Monica’s history.

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CULTURE

VOLUME 112 ISSUE 01 • SEP 21, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

FUNCTIONAL FASHIONISTAS SMC Students Succeeding In Fashion MARISA VASQUEZ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Here at SMC, there is a wide variety of styles that each student possesses. As students, individuality tends to spill out onto our lives and add a certain flair not just to our wardrobe, but to how we function within our education as well. Whether it is pens, bags, laptops, or even binders and notebooks, students always know how to get their creative juices flowing while functioning as daily materials to keep them organized and on task for all the classes they may take on.

With the new fall semester in full swing, students are already taking their styles to the level of functionality and convenience. Here are some ways SMC students have been rocking their looks while hitting the books.

Clear Functionality On days when class is only a pen and pencil kind of day, some students don’t need the weight of their backpacks bringing them down. Fashion Merchandising major Ulala Shirahana enjoys taking her small clear bag she bought from American Apparel to her classes that don’t require her to carry too many materials.

“When I’m taking my notebook and text book (to class) I cannot use it because it is too small,” said Shirahana. Because her backpack is see through, it goes with almost everything, easing the burden of having to match colors. A small clear backpack is perfect for the student who appreciates the little things in life.

Fashion merchanicing major, Ulala Shirahana, showing off her clear American Apperal bag at Santa Monica College, on Thurs. Sept. 15. (Marisa Vasquez)

The Swap Meet Find Second hand stores and swap meets alike are where the average hipster goes to hunt down unique and one of a kind clothing, but English major Shane Coney found more than just next season’s trend when he went shopping at the Applegate Market during his vacation to London this year. He found an original piece that he uses, not only in his daily life, but for school as well.

Coney’s vintage satchel compliments his slick vintage style while it holds all of his belongings for his classes. “Satchels are not very common,” explains Coney, “and I prefer it to a backpack because it’s less bulky.”

Though taking a trip to London for the sole purpose of vintage shopping isn't ideal, there are plenty of thrift stores and swaps meets around Los Angeles to satisfy our bargain hunting needs.

Shane Cooney putting away his laptop into his vintage satchel while relaxing, on Thurs.

(Marisa Vasquez)

Stick with Your Style We do it to our cars, walls, binders, and on the rare occasion even our own clothes. The decorative statement that excited students as children still gives us joy to this day. Stickers. Stickers everywhere. Nursing major Karen Martinez exemplifies how students today get creative with adhesive decorations that are easily slapped onto the backs of laptops.

“It’s nice to know that my laptop looks nice… the whole design overall is interesting,” said Martinez.

The intricately designed sticker that takes up most of the top part of her laptop gives Martinez a break from her usual minimalistic vibe. Stickers function more as creative expressions for students who yearn for a creative outlet.

Karen Martinez working off of her decorated laptop on Wednesday, September 31.

(Marisa Vasquez)

Accidentally Convenient Rebecca Marino, a Psychology major, ordered a Canvas Life laptop bag off of Amazon because she thought it was “cute and fashionable,” not realizing that she had ordered the bag a size too big.

“I actually like it because I can put my laptop in it and my notebooks and planners," said Marino. "It’s too big but it holds more stuff.”

Even though Marino ordered the wrong size, it turned out that having an oversized laptop bag almost doubles as a backpack, making it convenient to carry around all of her belongings at school.

Rebecca Morino holding her flower patterened Canvaslife laptop bag Wednesday.

(Marisa Vasquez)

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OPINION

VOLUME 112 ISSUE 01 • SEP 21, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

9

RADIO BLAH-BLAH Saving The Radio One Frank Ocean Song at a Time

Graphic by Michael Traore

The radio has no comparison for live TV. Radio broadcasts of sporting events are novelty at best, and I have to imagine a radio broadcast of an awards show would The death of the radio is a pretty combe quite dull. So the only other option is monly accepted as a fact at this point. It’s for the radio to produce a high quality declining as an industry — though much product. like its friends print journalism and broadI still like to listen to the radio, for reasons cast television, it keeps chugging along I don’t always understand. But if you spend — but any cultural relevancy it once had time listening to the radio, you probably is long in the past. understand why it is irrelevant in the same The attitude seems to be that this is an way I do: the people who decide what music inevitable part of the advancement of techto play on the radio are stupid. nology. Listening to the radio is no longer Okay, so I know “the radio plays bad the most convenient way to listen to music music” is not an earth-shattering revelation. in your car or in your office. Most people But I’m not anti-pop or anti-rap. We’re in have their own eclectic personal music taste a golden age of pop music right now and and can only really be satisfied by their own the radio will sometimes manage to stumble playlists. Want to discover music you haven’t into playing some of this great pop music heard before but will probably like? Spotify despite itself. The radio’s utter inability to Discover Weekly is going to work a lot get out of its own way and play great music better than the radio. has contributed to its cultural downfall more Broadcast television is an equally outthan Spotify or the iPhone. dated medium, but it has managed to stay Pop and hip-hop more relevant than the radio stations insist radio for two reasons: live on playing the same television still holds 10-15 songs they "But if you spend time value, and the companies know their audience that produce broadcast listening to the radio, you will respond to television continue to do probably understand why instead of trying to great work. It’s the golden actually influence it is irrelevant in the same era of television — “Peak the culture and inTV” people seem to call way I do: the people who troduce listeners to it now. And even if a lot decide what music to play something new. It’s of the great stuff we consafe business — but on the radio are stupid." sider “TV” right now is it has killed the being produced for the radio. internet or consumed on This summer has the internet, the broadcast been as good of an example as any. It was companies still produce a large amount of an amazing season for pop music, but that the content. was impossible to tell by listening to the

JACOB HIRSOHN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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radio.

Frank Ocean, Rae Sremmurd, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Young Thug all put out great projects with great, accessible songs on them. If you turned on 97.1 AMP Radio or REAL 92.3, you could hear “Panda,” the abysmal breakout single by Desiigner, or the same three Drake songs over and over again (only one of which was that great).

If you turned on POWER 106, you could experience your one millionth listen of “Might Not,” that song by The Weeknd and two rappers who I have never heard of and will never hear of again.

I’m not asking KISS FM to play James Blake, or for Death Grips to start blaring when my car stereo starts up. Logically, why doesn’t Frank Ocean play on the radio?

“Blonde” was a number one album, and there are a handful of songs from it that could and should be hits in their own right.

Rae Sremmurd and Carly Rae Jepsen have both had huge radio hits in the past, and their new work is better than anything they have done before.

This isn’t just me complaining that the radio doesn’t play songs that I like. The radio is supposed to be a communal music experience; something that everyone experiences in the same way. This type of thing is extremely rare in modern pop culture.

So when we have a chance to have it, I want that chance to be honored.

Sure, there are radio alternatives like satellite radio, and more independent stations like the one we have here, KCRW. But these don’t really contribute to the communal music opportunities of the radio. Independent radio stations are niche by nature; it’s the very reason they exist. And satellite radio consists of hundreds of channels, each @THE_CORSAIR •

catering to a different niche audience.

A big thing in music publications over the last few years has been identifying the song of the summer. They do posts predicting the song of the summer, checking in with the progress of the song of the summer, and eventually determining what it was once the season ends. The factors that play into this are usually fan consensus, critical consensus, and, yes, radio play.

This year, most of my favorite music publications threw their hands in the air.

They gave up on determining a song of the summer. Some reluctantly named “One Dance” or, even more reluctantly, “Panda.”

But those songs only really fit into one of the categories: radio play. I don’t know many people who genuinely still like either of those songs, and I haven’t read anything on many publications indicating they like either of those songs. They just got played on the radio a lot.

Having a song of the summer is one of the great joys of music. A song that comes on at a party where literally every person present feels the same excitement. We can have this again, and the path there is lit by a better radio.

Radio stations making interesting, bold, or just generally smart music choices is the easiest way to make the enthusiasm about pop match the high quality of pop music being released. If we can find a way to save the radio — or convince the radio stations to save themselves — it will mean better conversation, better parties, and most importantly, better music.

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CULTURE

10

VOLUME 112 ISSUE 01 • SEP 21, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

SANTA MONICA It's easy to forget when walking around the unassuming streets of Santa Monica what a historic and iconic city it truly is.

The city is short on skyscrapers and landmarks, save the pier. But it was the city where Whitey Bulger was finally arrested.

The city that has been the subject of countless songs and novels.

CHRISTINA KELLEY STAFF WRITER

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A great way to track our beach city's place in pop culture history is to look at the many movies which have been shot here.

By visiting the places these famous movies were filmed, you can get a sense of what the outside world has seen of our city -- as well as how the city has changed over the years.

Santa Monica Pier Carousel

In the Academy Award winning film "The Sting," film legends Paul Newman and Robert Redford play Chicago con men who engineer a horse-racing scam on a murderous mob boss played by Robert Shaw. It won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. While the film is set in 1930s Chicago, part of it was filmed on location, here at the Santa Monica Pier at the carousel.

Now, there’s a 1930s themed ice cream parlor in the building with the carousel.

A uniformed soda jerk, complete with a pointed paper hat serves a variety of cones, floats, malts, soda pops, sundaes, rickeys and phosphates named after iconic Southern California movies and stars, including The Sting, a sundae made with a shot of espresso. This is where Paul Newman’s

character lives in the movie, and its where Newman and Redford’s characters first meet.

The carousel has been on the south side of the pier since 1947. Beautifully restored and resplendent in its colors and lights, it still has lots of appeal to locals and tourists alike.

“It’s the lights, it’s the spinning around, it’s the music, and all the mirrors and just everything’s moving around, just excitement around you,” says ride operator Vanessa Roth.

“You get lots of people coming around, but mostly it’s the couples that enjoy it, and the adults that are still that kid inside.

And kids with disabilities, physical or mental handicaps, those children seem to really latch onto this ride," says Roth.

A girl looks through wooden bars towards the carousel at Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, on Friday.

Sept 16, 2016. (Andrew Aono)

Two surfers walk past a bus stop on the corner of Main Street and Ocean in Santa Monica, on Friday.

A man enjoys wine while watching a helicopter land at Santa Monica Airport in Santa Monica, on Friday.

(Andrew Aono)

(Andrew Aono)

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Santa Monica Airport

Corner of Main St. and Ocean Park Blvd.

Three blocks from the beach, at this corner, Big Blue Bus number eight stops on a route that begins in downtown Santa Monica and ends at UCLA. Right next to an expansive surfboard shop that also sells GoPro cameras, skateboards, and Von Zipper sunglasses, and across the street from a grey, rundown car wash. This bus stop was immortalized in the blockbuster movie "Speed," starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. This stop is where Bullock’s character, Annie, runs up a hill to board the bus that she’ll soon be forced to keep above 50 miles per hour to keep the passengers alive, as part of a sadistic saboteur’s twisted ransom plan.

On a recent afternoon, a woman waits for the bus while eating a fudgesicle and carrying two large, lemon yellow canvas bags filled with clothes and groceries.

An elderly man sits at its bench holding a cane and waiting for the Big Blue to roll up. Across the street, another man waits for his bus to arrive. Wearing a mustache, a collared short-sleeve shirt, wraparound sunglasses, and clothes that are too clean and crisp for this beachy area. He looks like a cop, the same profession Reeves had in the movie. What’s the most interesting thing that’s happened to him while riding a bus?

“It would take too long to tell,” he says just before his bus rolls up and he hops on board.

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Recently, the Santa Monica City Council voted to close the airport which has been operating since 1919.

When it’s gone, it will take the locations of scenes in "Point Break"and "The Big Lebowski" with it. The Dude’s fantasy dance sequence in "Lebowski" was shot in a hangar there, and the shootout scene in the original surfer-bank robber blockbuster "Point Break" was filmed around the parked planes and open spaces of this airport.

Before it’s gone, a fully functioning flight simulator and an interactive Boeing 727 cockpit are available for film fans and everyone who wants to play and learn about flight at the airport’s flight museum. Also on the grounds: a soccer field, a playground, the Spitfire Grill, a busy off-leash dog park, and a satellite campus of SMC.

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CULTURE

VOLUME 112 ISSUE 01 • SEP 21, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

11

IN THE MOVIES Rae’s Restaurant 2901 Pico Boulevard A few minutes away from SMC’s main campus, on a corner with a tiny parking lot on Pico Boulevard, sits Rae’s Restaurant. It’s an old-fashioned diner that’s been serving up chicken-fried steak, tapioca pudding, buttermilk biscuits with gravy, and corn flakes since 1958. Rae’s is a location used over the years in 13 movies including: "Lords of Dogtown," "True Romance," and "Starsky and Hutch."

Stepping through its doors is like stepping back into 1966. The restaurant is clean and spotless but doesn’t hide its age. There’s an old fashioned cash register at the end of the green tiled lunch counter lined with blue vinyl stools. White globe lights are suspended from the ceiling. Wide, lipstick-red upholstered booths with simulated wood-grain tables offer the luxury of space in their seating for customers. It looks like the kind of place Don Draper would drop into for a quick bite during one of his down-low excursions into the city. In real life those who drop

in include neighborhood locals and some of the most recognizable stars in the world.

“I remember when Harrison Ford came in. He sat at the first booth, and he had the California breakfast with an English muffin, salsa and orange marmalade,” says Sarah Alvarez, a pleasant cashier who has worked at Rae’s for 22 years. She remembers Ford’s visit like it was yesterday. But he isn’t the only one everyone would recognize . “Kiefer Sutherland used to come in two or three times a week,” says Alvarez. “But we here in the restaurant, we don’t bother the movie stars. We don’t go over there and say ‘give me an autograph, blah blah blah.’

No.” A poster with a photo collage of all the films shot at Rae’s hangs on a back wall near the entrance. But it will soon need an update. Alvarez says, “We’re shooting on Tuesday.”

Rae's Restaurant, as seen from Pico Blvd in Santa Monica, on Friday.

(Andrew Aono)

Ketchup and mustard bottles populate the Steak 'n' Shake restaurant of Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, on Friday. (Andrew Aono) A man heads for Rae's Restaurant in Santa Monica, on Friday. (Andrew Aono)

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1457 Broadway, Santa Monica As you start to reach the end of the Third Street Promenade, just down the street from Santa Monica Place, where two time traveling killer robots confronted each other in "Terminator II: Judgement Day," you find a Lululemon -- a popular fitness clothing store -- and fast food joint Steak and Shake. But not too long ago, a popular restaurant here named Broadway Deli fed thousands of hungry guests all day and late into the night. Before it served its last plate of cheese blintzs, that deli entered the realm of hit-movie location history.

“Heat,” a hit, gritty, crime-drama about bank robbers and the cops who pursue them around dark Los Angeles filmed here. Directed by Michael Mann and starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, “Heat” was shot at 65 locations around Los Angeles, according to IMDB. But, the film wasn’t all guns and chases. The director of Heat used the Broadway Deli’s long lunch counter for a scene which featured De Niro’s character’s first meeting with his love interest in the film, Amy Brenneman. The area where the counter once stood is now part of the west coast’s flagship Lululemon location.

Gleaming circular racks holding high-end fitness apparel sit where waiters once carried plates of French Toast and Pastrami Sandwiches to waiting customers.

Now, plush purple banded sports bras and moisture-wicking wrap coats are on display in the expansive space, brightly lit by abundant rays of golden sunlight.

Energetic, but sophisticated rock music pumps through the air. It could make anyone feel guilty about eating butter.

“I feel the spirit of De Niro every day, in my everyday life,” says Will Haraldson, a smiling Lululemon employee and huge fan of the actor who remarks that the film’s 20th anniversary is quickly approaching. Standing just inside the open street-side doors of the store, Haraldson is a pleasant evangelist for the Lululemon brand who is unaware that an actor he reveres filmed a scene in this location.

Haraldson asks if the scene from Heat which featured De Niro and Pacino sitting in a restaurant together was possibly filmed here. It wasn’t. That was at now closed Kate Mantelini in Beverly Hills.

Still, Haraldson seems very pleased to learn that he’s working in a space with De Niro history. Does anyone ever wander in and ask about the film? Not really.

But, Haraldson says, “We getv a lot of confused tourists who are looking for stuff that pops up on Google here… a lot of folks who visited Santa Monica back in the day are still looking for that deli.”

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VOLUME 112 ISSUE 01 • SEP 21, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

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