CORSAIR
MARCH 11, 2015 | VOLUME 109 ISSUE 03 SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
FIRST COPY OF THE CORSAIR IS FREE, EACH COPY AFTER IS 25
INSIDE IRAN
FAST TIMES IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC PG. 7 HARRISON FORD CRASH LANDS NEAR SAMO
HOLI FESTIVAL WELCOMES SPRING
NETANYAHU TARGETS IRAN IN D.C.
PROJECT CARMEN: THE NEW MUSIC APP
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PG. 4-5
PG. 6
PG. 6
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CONTENT
VOLUME 109 ISSUE 03 • MARCH 11, 2015 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR EDITORIAL STAFF
ALCI RENGIFO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
CORSAIR STAFF
Alci Rengifo ...............................Editor-in-Chief corsair.editorinchief@gmail.com Jonathan Ramos........................ Managing Editor corsair.newspage@gmail.com Jose Gutierrez .................................... News Editor corsair.newspage@gmail.com Yasha Hawkins ................................... News Editor corsair.newspage@gmail.com
Carlos Espiniosa, Alendy Galindo, Veronica Aviles, Jose Lopez, Josue Martinez, Mark Logarta, Ricardo Hernandez, Raymond Martinez, Michael Downey, Daniel Bowyev, Oskar Zinnemann, Christian Gianni Martin, Sherrie Dickinson, Kimberly Minzlaff, Julianne Oseberg, Bailey Peraita, Chiaki Kudo, Kevin Monterroso, Jocelyne Ruiz, Josh Shure, Stefanie Flores, Nerllyn Eskenassy, Tim Lee, Ryanne Mena, Ethan Singleton, Brian Laffan
Paulina Eriksson .................... Health & Lifestyle corsair.lifestylepage@gmail.com Jonathan Ramos ...........................Opinion Editor corsair.opinionpage@gmail.com James Powel ...................................... Sports Editor corsair.sportspage@gmail.com Claudius West .................... Multimedia Director corsair.multimediadept@gmail.com Devin Page ........... Arts & Entertainment Editor corsair.calendarpage@gmail.com
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Brandon Barsugli ............................. Photo Editor corsairphotoeditor@gmail.com Kira VandenBrande ......................... Photo Editor corsairphotoeditor@gmail.com Juan Lopez ........................................Digital Editor corsair.webeditor@gmail.com Jhosef Hern .............................................Illustrator corsaircartoon@gmail.com
FRONT COVER SMC student Rom Mir sports the traditional look of women in post-Revolution Iran. Mir is a 19-year-old native of the country’s young generation that makes up more than half the population (Kira VandenBrande Corsair)
Our campus is a vast collection of nationalities and international students. In this week's issue an SMC student gives us a small look into student life inside the Islamic Republic of Iran. While most of the world is going through turbulent times, Iran is a particularly important country to know about because of its importance to the Middle East and U.S. interests. The image we have in the U.S. of Iran is mostly defined by the images of its 1979 Revolution which overthrew the U.S.backed Shah or king. I grew up hearing about the Islamic Revolution through my mother. She fled El Salvador as a civil war was beginning to erupt and her country suddenly found itself engulfed in a geopolitical Cold War conflict. Her first friends in the United States were Iranian college students supporting the uprising in their own homeland. I grew up hearing her share their own stories about the Shah's immense, glittering wealth and the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Indeed, the Iranian Revolution is a defining event as important as the Russian, Chinese and Cuban revolutions. More than three decades since the Revolution, a new, young generation of Iranians are making new demands and rebelling in their own ways. In this issue Rom Mir shares her insights and experiences as a student who has only lived in the U.S. for a year. She paints the portrait of a generation without political guidance, seeking leaders and finding rebellion in the indulgences of consumer society. In a globalized world they refuse to be shut in by
the strict rules of a religious theocracy. And yet the story of Iran's youth is very similar to that of the West's own, aimless young. What Americans do openly, Iranians must do in secret, however they are linked in that they feel discontent but have no leaders or revolutionary ideas to channel that discontent. The rest of our issue this week features reports on the Harrison Ford plane crash near Santa Monica. Our reporters immediately made their way to the site of the crash to capture the story. In our Photo Story we feature the fevered color frenzy of the Holi Festival. Spring is arriving and Hindus around the world are celebrating through this ceremony of music and paint. In our Opinion section I discuss Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent speech before the U.S. Congress denouncing negotiations with Iran over its nuclear development program. It is a dangerous position to take because whatever happens in Iran, whether revolution or war, will affect the world. In 1953 the CIA and the British overthrew the elected government of Mohammad Mossadegh, his crime was nationalizing Iran's oil. He was replaced with the Shah who in turn was replaced by the radical, Islamic Republic. Let us not repeat the same mistake of violent intervention in that country's affairs. As the Salvadoran poet Roque Dalton once wrote, "O country of mine you do not exist except as my deformed shadow, a word coined by my enemy."
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NEWS
VOLUME 109 ISSUE 03 • MARCH 11, 2015 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
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Actor Harrison Ford crashes his vintage single-engine plane into the Penmar Golf Course in Santa Monica on Thursday afternoon. Ford was transported to the hospital in critical condition soon after the incident. (Daniel Bowyer Corsair)
Investigators examine the site at Penmar Golf Course in Santa Monica where Harrison Ford crashed his vintage WWII plane after experiencing engine failure on Thursday. (Brandon Barsugli Corsair)
LAPD officers work with investigators and Los Angeles county fire fighters while investigating the crash site of Harrison Ford's vintage WWII plane. He started having engine problems and had to crash land his plane at Penmar Golf Course after failing to return back to Santa Monica Airport on Thursday. (Brandon Barsugli Corsair)
HARRISON FORD CRASH LANDS NEAR SANTA MONICA ALCI RENGIFO & JUAN LOPEZ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & DIGITAL EDITOR Actor Harrison Ford was injured last Thursday when his single-engine 1942 military trainer crashed into the Penmar Golf Course near the Santa Monica Airport. Ford was aided by nearby golfers, some of whom happened to be doctors. At 2:20 p.m. the Los Angeles Fire Department received a report of the plane crash and immediately responded. Ford was conscious and breathing when the LAFD arrived. The aircraft did not catch on fire after the crash. Ford was outside of the plane when the LAFD arrived. Ford was then transported to a local area hospital in fair and moderate condition. While speaking to the press, LAFD Assistant Fire Chief Patrick Butler confirmed that “it appeared to be a solo occupant in an aircraft.” Local resident Cynthia Madrid was in her home near Venice at the time of the crash and said “we were standing out there
talking, me and my friend Eric, we heard [a] sputter. It did like twice. And then suddenly it just stopped. It was going towards the beach and started gliding towards Santa Monica with the engine off.” Madrid reported that no smoke could be seen. Another local resident, Carlos Gomez, said that “I saw a lot of ambulances and saw a lot of people trying to pull the guy out of the plane.” Gomez added that “I didn’t know it was him [Harrison Ford] in the plane. Thank God he’s alive.” LAPD Chief Beatrice Grimala stated during a press conference following the crash that other entities would arrive on the scene to take over the investigation of the event. On Tuesday the National Transportation Safety Board released a report detailing the flight and crash. However no explanation has been forthcoming on the cause for the engine failure that caused Harrison's plane to go down.
L.A. CELEBRATES INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY YASHA HAWKINS NEWS EDITOR Cihuatl Ce performs feminist rap while people find friends, take photos, and mingle outside City Hall. A man named Alex Shabbot hands out women’s liberation zines below its steps. It is his way of ensuring “liberation not only for our sisters but also for the world.” People in the crowd wear purple berets and carry signs referencing feminist literature and icons. One sign in particular reads ‘The Place of A Woman is in the Struggle.’ “We will unite, we will resist, we will defeat the imperialists!” In the heart of Downtown Los Angeles this Sunday, this was one of the calls to city officials from those who participated in the International Womyn’s Day March organized by AF3IRM and Ovarian Psycho Cycles. Ironically, city offices were closed on Sunday, the day International Women’s Day happened to fall on, so city officials were not actually around to hear participants' dissatisfaction with the status quo. However, with news crews there to document the events, and police there to block traffic, the message the crowd of 2,000 intended to send got out to some of those who wield power. This march was part of an effort to “demand to end the violence against women,” as Mona Navarro of AF3IRM puts it, a violence that is not limited to sexual or physical violence or abuse.
“Majority of women are in poverty. When they’re in poverty they have lower access to healthcare . It seems subtle, it’s not overt, but it’s damaging to womankind,” says Navarro. AF3IRM is a transnationalist, feminist, anti-imperialist organization which has worked to combat trafficking and militarism through direct action, advocacy, and education for 25 years. What members of the organization like Navarro call “the genocide of womankind” also includes the criminalization of miscarriages in El Salvador, the low wages of fast food and minimum wage workers, the incarceration of largely black and brown youth, and the constant policing of low-income neighborhoods within and outside the states, among other issues. None of which are prominent in mainstream feminism, much less mainstream media. “With liberal feminism the issues they’re raising, like sex positivism, seems to be the only issue, when really there’s so many issues [that], especially women of color are facing, which white women may not be facing as much,” says Navarro. This comes before world leaders took a pledge at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women to achieve gender equality by 2030.“A lot of people in our society maybe think that everything is fine , everything is good, that women have as many rights as men, “ says Navarro. The march and rally started at City Hall
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International Women’s Day supporters march past the men’s central jail to protest the incarceration of immigrants who crossed illegally into the United States, on Sunday in downtown Los Angeles. Activists also protested the oppression of women around the world. (Scott Bixler Corsair)
and ended at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights, stopping at Los Angeles Police Department Headquarters, the Federal Building, and Central Prison along the way. Along the route women spoke on “the different ways in which institutions perpetuate violence against women,” in Navarro’s words, in relation to the location of the march. Each stop, and speaker, had its significance, be it the general power they wield over the public, as was the case for the city and law enforcement buildings, or their history as a gathering place for marginalized groups, as was the case for La Placita or @THE_CORSAIR •
Mariachi Plaza. Among the speakers were Mayda del Valle of #Raisethewage, Povi Tamu-Bryant of #BlackLivesMatter, Mari Carmen Farfen of Fight for $15, Celine Qussiny, who spoke out against Israel’s treatment of Palestinian women, AF3iRM National Chair Jollene Levid, and author Thandisizwe Chimurenga, who called forth the names of women killed by police in a libation outside LAPD Headquarters. “We recognize and are critical of our environment and society and are wanting to make change by being organized,” said Navarro.
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PHOTOSTORY
VOLUME 109 ISSUE 03 • MARCH 11, 2015 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
German student Sussan Lehmann throws powdered colors in the air at the third annual Holi Festival of Colors at Excelsior High School in the city of Norwalk on Saturday. The celebration is derived from the Hindu festival Spring, in which attendees throw powdered colors at each other to honor love, renewal, and victory of good over evil. (Carlos Espinosa Corsair) Yoga dance instructor, Lokah Bhakti, directs a yoga lesson at the third annual Holi Festival of Colors at Excelsior High School in the city of Norwalk on Saturday. (Carlos Espinosa Corsair)
Powdered paint settles in the air as guest dance to musical group Larisa Stow and the Shakti Tribe during the Holi Festival of Colors Los Angeles on Saturday in Norwalk. (Kira VandenBrande Corsair)
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COLORS OF NIRVANA ALCI RENGIFO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
On Saturday Norwalk became a feverish sight of color and music as hundreds gathered to participate in the annual Holi Festival Of Colors. The event is part of a worldwide celebration of the Hindu faith's welcoming of spring. Participants gather, dance and smear paint dust on each other in a fun ritual symbolizing the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness. In a large, barren field the crowds set up tents and a stage where bands performed rock, pop and hip hop music which were all linked through their reverence for the Hindu deity Krishna. Bands performed intense, tribal music with a primeval feel as singers onstage pronounced celebrations of love, unity and spiritual peace. Anne and Jason, a couple awash in paint looked ecstatic. "We're here to have fun and color everyone up. It's crazy, I want to bring everybody," said Anne. Everything was awash in a hot spring day as hands raised in the air, filling all in view with a cloud of colors at the stroke of each hour. Through out the day participants would casually approach you and gently stroke your cheek with paint, or give you a @THE_CORSAIR •
friendly pat on the back, leaving a colored handprint on your t-shirt. "In this time of the year in India, the season changes, it is considered the best. The best part of the festival is the colors. It's surprising how many people know about it," Salman Singh, an attendee from India, said during the celebration. The Festival Of Colors was both a link to an ancient faith and Southern California's famous 1960s culture of Asian mysticism mixed with hippie culture. Even visitors in their 20s looked like exiles from the Age of Aquarius. Chris Sinjar, another attendee said, "I love chanting, I love colors, this is a beautiful picture of both. I think as the time goes by, there's a time for re-charging and spring is the season for it. The plants get new leaves, flowers appear on the plants and trees. It's a beautiful time to celebrate with colors." For the non-devout, the event was still an engaging outdoor concert experience, leaving little doubt that a change of seasons had taken place. Spring had arrived, fierce and full of life.
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VOLUME 109 ISSUE 03 • MARCH 11, 2015 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
PHOTOSTORY
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“If a thousand suns were to rise and stand in the noon sky, blazing, such brilliance would be like the fierce brilliance of that mighty self.” - Bhagavad Gita
ndu festival marking the beginning of
Festival goers throw colored powder during the 3rd annual Holi festival held at the Excelsior High School grounds in the city of Norwalk on Saturday. Holi is a ancient hindu religious spring festival, also known as the festival of love or the festival of colors, becoming increasingly popular with non-Hindus. (Ricardo Hernandez Corsair)
Festival goers hold hands during a guided meditation during the third annual Holi festival held in Norwalk on Saturday. Holi is an ancient Hindu religious festival celebrating love and the arrival of spring. (Ricardo Hernandez Corsair) A guest brushes powdered paint from her hair during the third annual Holi Festival of Colors Los Angeles on Saturday in Norwalk. The celebration derives from the Hindu festival marking the beginning of Spring, in which attendees throw powdered colors at each other to honor color, love, renewal, and victory of good over evil. (Kira VandenBrande Corsair)
A dancer performs with musical group Larisa Stow and the Shakti Tribe at the Holi Festival on Saturday in Norwalk. The music is a “blend of mantra-infused rock” and served as the headlining act at the festival. (Kira VandenBrande Corsair)
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OPINION
VOLUME 109 ISSUE 03 • MARCH 11, 2015 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
DR. STRANGELOVE COMES TO WASHINGTON ALCI RENGIFO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Like a mad seer, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pretended to predict the apocalypse in front of the U.S. Congress last week. Negotiations with Iran are worthless according to him, they're the greatest threat to the planet and a year away from getting the bomb, he even went so far as to describe Iran as "spreading its tentacles of terror around the globe." If only a few days ago we were going mad over "The Dress," Netanyahu, or "Bibi" as his fans lovingly call him, wanted us to cower in fear after "The Speech." The speech had already been controversial because Netanyahu had been invited by the Republicans without bothering to tell President Obama.The fact that he was invited should surprise no one, Netanyahu is in perfect sync with the radicals of the right. Imagine if Dick Cheney had been president of the United States instead of George W. Bush and you get a sense of who rules Israel at the moment. I know it is a heartbreaking reality to admit for supporters of Israel, both Jewish and non-Jew, who identify as progressive and have to face the fact that an extreme, war-hungry clique runs the country. It's like a love affair or crush gone sour, when the image one has of a beloved is shattered when disturbing or unsavory truths are exposed. It was quite disconcerting to watch our elected officials rise and howl like wolves ready for war everytime Netanyahu made some grand pronouncement painting Israel as some kind of Sparta readying itself to face the Persian hordes. It was a speech that had little connection to reality. For over a decade, Israel and subsequent U.S. admin-
istrations have been screaming every year that Iran is near having a nuclear weapon. But there has never been any definitive proof. Even the George W. Bush administration was blocked from making any military moves towards Iran in 2007 when a National Intelligence Estimate revealed Iran stopped even pondering the making of a nuclear weapon in 2003. The situation with Iran is similar to the long history of mistrust and aggression the U.S. has had with Cuba. Since the 1979 Revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah, Iran has been an enemy state because it is nationalist, independent and espouses a radical form of government that challenges our interests in the region. Is it a nice form of government? Of course not. But we're happily in league with Saudi Arabia, a much more extreme, repressive theocratic monarchy that supports U.S. interests in the Middle East. But Netanyahu knows America loves fantasy and he delivered a rather bland one. The Israeli press, which is less forgiving than its American peers, mercilessly mocked Netanyahu's visit and claims. With Israel heading to the polls next week, it was seen in Israel as nothing more than Netanyahu using the U.S. Congress as an election campaign stop. "Vote for me, I'll protect you from evil Iran," is the gist of his image. The day after the speech, the Jerusalem Post reported that Meir Dagan, the former chief of Israel's top spy agency the Mossad, called Netanyahu's speech "bullshit" and mocked the Prime Minister's claim that Iran was less than a year away from acquiring the capability to make a nuke. At an anti-Netanyahu rally attended by thousands in Tel Aviv on Saturday, Dagan went on to say "our leadership scares me more than
our enemies." Interestingly enough, Netanyahu never mentions in any of his grand public proclamations that Israel already has quite the well-stocked nuclear weapons arsenal. It is no joke to say that Israel could render Iran to dust in 10 minutes. The idea that a sanctioned state, surrounded by U.S. military bases in nearly all of its neighbors poses an immediate threat to the mightiest military power in the Middle East goes against any rational thought. Iran hasn't even invaded anyone since the fun days of the Persian Empire. The Republican Party however, has forgotten this as well. On Monday 47 Senators decided to pour gasoline on the fire by signing an open letter to Iran essentially saying that any deal struck between Tehran and the Obama administration will be discarded after Obama leaves office. Even that rabble rouser of so-called libertarianism Rand Paul caved and signed. "It has come to our attention while observing your nuclear negotiations with our government that you may not fully understand our constitutional system. Anything not approved by Congress is a mere executive agreement,” says the quite pompous, condescending letter. And that master of eloquence, Texas governor Rick Perry, has decided to cast himself as some sort of expert on foreign policy and released a video also denouncing the talks. These are your elected officials pushing us towards catastrophe out of sheer, cynical political interests. Democratic Senator from New Jersey Robert Menendez has been another right-wing harpee attacking the notion of dialogue with the Iranians (and Cuba for that matter). Not surprisingly, he now faces serious corruption charges.
Jhosef Hern
Maybe Netanyahu is one big showman using fear to retain power. That is one assessment by the wise Israeli commentator Uri Avnery, who suspects that Bibi still doesn't have the cojones to bomb anything in Iran without U.S. consent. In a recent article Avnery cites the grave economic consequences of such a war. For starters, Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz through which 80 percent of the world's oil supply transits. But politicians have a long history of being irrational, and if the Republicans continue on their mad course, and if Netanyahu squeezes another electoral victory out of the Israeli electorate, they will moving us closer to a nightmare where we will be counting bodies like sheep to the rhythm of the war drums.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
FREE MUSIC DOWNLOAD APP ARRIVES AT SMC JUAN LOPEZ DIGITAL EDITOR Project Carmen: Free music download app arrives at SMC Juan Lopez (Web Editor) From the yesteryear of Napster to today’s torrent sites, YouTube rips, and streaming services, music lovers are always on the lookout for a free fix of their favorite artists, finding ways around paying for music downloads. According to the latest Nielsen ratings on music sales, digital downloads are the primary source for music sales, but the numbers are declining due to the rise of on-demand streaming services. With the music industry in a state of limbo, everyone, from big labels to indie artists, is searching for the best ways to see a return on their investments on artists’ product. It is with this in mind that M&M Media, a Glendale based start-up, is bringing beta testing for a new free music downloading app to SMC students. Tentatively named Project Carmen, the app lets users earn coins, the app's virtual currency, by sitting through ads, interacting with others through the app, and even checking in at local businesses. The coins, in turn, can be used to purchase music downloads. Project Carmen has already seen beta testing in Ohio State University, UCLA, University of Alabama, Cal State Fullerton, and Cal State Long Beach. The company gained support from at least two major record labels, allowing users access to over 15 million songs, including those unavailable on other streaming music
apps (such as Taylor Swift’s album “1989” and the new Rihanna single “Towards the Sun”). Chief of Product at M&M Media Corey Jones said the company chose to bring their pilot program to SMC because “compared to a lot of community colleges, it has a larger feel.” Jones says the company plans on emphasizing the social aspect of the app in their testing. You can friend and follow fellow students signed up for the service, share playlists to discover new music, and soon the app will employ leaderboards and the ability to share coins with friends. “If you have nine songs worth of coins, but a playlist with 10 songs and you want to be able to [download] all of them,” said Jones, “you can buy [enough] coins for a buck, as opposed to paying a $1.29 per song.” In addition to coin funded downloads, the app also includes free offline listening with no data costs. For those not keen on following a new micro-economy in another app, Project Carmen allows users to opt out of ads for free, but those users will be unable to earn coins or purchase music downloads with accumulated coins. If users also don’t feel like sharing all of their listening habits with anyone on campus, the app also provides privacy settings to remain private to nonfriended users. Gary Mekikian, CEO & founder of M&M Media, said in a phone interview, “the same way you do something in one app should be the same way you do it in all other apps,” referencing Project Carmen's social network,
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pointing out that users will intuitively find ways to both follow and add friends. M&M Media worked with creatives from RED Interactive to refine the design of the app. “You have to put something in the hands of the user they have to use it. Then the user will tell you how they want to change it,” said Mekikian about the app development process. “Video game companies have proven beta testing time and time again.” With SMC’s pending approval of an Interaction Design BA program, Mekikian advised three main things in developing good user experience; understanding current user psychology and behavior, prototyping and enhancing, and seamless integration with a user’s life. “There is a significant need for [user experience Screenshot of Project Carmen. Courtesy of M&M Media. design]”, said Mekikian. “You can go to some of the best colleges on mobile apps to live.” and universities in the country and only a The Project Carmen website will start handful of them have programs in user allowing SMC students to enroll in the beta experience design, which is crazy if you testing this week at smc.projectcarmen.com think about how people increasingly rely @THE_CORSAIR •
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HEALTH & LIFESTYLE
VOLUME 109 ISSUE 03 • MARCH 11, 2015 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
7
CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION: LIFE INSIDE THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Santa Monica College student Rom Mir looks out over the campus from the Humanities & Social Sciences Building. She cannot show her face because of the delicate situation she would face when she goes back home for the holidays to a country with a complicated political climate. Born and raised in Iran, Mir is apart of the young and restless generation seeking change and opportunities in a time of conservative politics. (Kira VandenBrande Corsair)
ALCI RENGIFO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Santa Monica College student Rom Mir describes secret parties, the delicate task of illegally drinking alcohol, constant hook ups, and dancing to the latest pop hits. But Mir is not describing student life in Los Angeles, she is describing life in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Mir belongs to the generation of Iranians growing up in a fast changing, technologically linked world, yet still under the shadow of the revolution experienced by her parents. For outsiders Iran evokes images of the 1979 Islamic Revolution which overthrew the U.S.backed Shah and shook the Middle East, the Embassy Hostage Crisis, the fierce Iran-Iraq war, the chanting, revolutionary crowds, the hijab over Persian eyes, marching Revolutionary Guards. Iran has also been a major focus of U.S. and Israeli interests in the Middle East. Just last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a bellicose speech before the U.S. Congress, denouncing negotiations with Iran over its nuclear development program and leaving few options on the table aside from war. Such an ancient land, such a great role in history. And yet as their very system of government holds the world's attention, Iran's youth rebel by doing in secret what so many young Americans do openly. Mir, an international student studying Physics, discusses her country with an eagerness to inform on what it's like to live in one of the world's few, official theocracies. Mir is a native of Isfahan, a city in Iran near the famous nuclear reactors Israel is obsessing over. "After the Revolution, people thought it was going to be a free country," explained Mir, "but because of the regime right now it can't
be that way." Mir described how Iran's laws are based on a unique form of religious code, while not as extreme as a Sunni state like Saudi Arabia, the laws expect women to cover their heads with the famous, scarf-like hijab. "The media is with the regime. They don't want you to know a lot about the world beyond Iran," said Mir when explaining the almost Orwellian control of information inside the Islamic Republic. "If you see all the public channels, it's like they say 'heaven is right here in Iran.'" Furious times returned to Iran in 2009 when mass protests erupted over what many believed was a presidential election stolen by then controversial president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The protests were mostly led by young Iranians, especially students. Now 19, Mir was very young when the protests reached her hometown and she remembers being forced to stay indoors to avoid the unrest outside. "They wanted something to go for, but they didn't have a leader," said Mir. "Many young people my age, they talked about many things. They are on Facebook, they are on Twitter. We get illegal satellite channels. They hear the news, they watch movies and TV shows. They want to change something, but there was no leader." Denied clear political changes, Iran's youth now bask in the most cosmetic aspects of modern, capitalist culture. It is literally a young country. According to the CIA, more than half of Iran's population is under the age of 35. This means that more than half are too young to remember when the Ayatollah Khomeini took control of the 1979 Revolution and established a unique, first of its kind Islamic government. Yet the Ayatollah is long dead, and while his successors keep the veneer of an "Islamic
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Republic"astheofficialgovernment,underneath the new generation is rebelling by adopting trends and behavior common in all consumer societies. "It's supposed to be an 'Islamic Republic,' youhave to cover up, butthe peopleunderneath have nail polish, and they have relationships that mean nothing. Everybody is with everybody," said Mir when describing how under the image of the hijab, Iranian women wear high fashions and partake in the 'hook up' culture. Mir agreed that in the case of Iran, it is the social restrictions of the government that provoke greater risky behavior. In the Islamic Republic, the shallow indulgences common in the West are a crime. "When something is illegal, people want to have it," she said. "Because they don't have that much freedom, they want to be like that. It's like saying 'I have to have the hijab, but I will have it this way.'" Iranfunctionslikeasocietybasedonmirages. Extramarital sex and the consumption of alcohol are illegal, yet the authorities simply look away, especially in cases when culprits openly support the government in public. In a society where virginity is highly prized when the time for marriage arrives, and families vet a prospective wife or husband, the woman will simply lie and claim a chastity that is not real. Secret parties are held in homes where alcohol is smuggled in. "At the night parties, if you know someone in the government, you're ok," said Mir. "If everything became free, they will go crazy," said Mir. It's all about having the right connections and friends, Mir even compares the system to the "mafia.""My mom is a doctor, but she has tons of problems because she's not with the @THE_CORSAIR •
regime," said Mir. "They are so afraid of people who are popular and are not with them." Because of the delicate situation, Mira is only using part of her name to identify herself. If the government has genuine supporters to mostly remain the rural poor and workers who received social benefits from the Revolution such as access to schools. But Iranians are still keenly aware of their place in the world. With tensions rising with Israel, Mir acknowledged that even the young still pay attention. "They talk more about the news than people here," she said. "In Iran everybody says their opinions about the world. When the Revolution happened a lot of Jews from Iran went to Israel. We actually talk a lot more about the United States, not Israel." If war were to break out, whether involving the U.S., Israel, or both, Mir made it clear that Iranians would still defend their homeland, despite their disenchantment with the government. "There is a difference between defending your country, and defending the government," she emphasized. According to Mir, the image of the United States projected through media gives it a special allure that makes Iranians want to leave their country. "They think it's heaven here. I am now here and there are good things here, and bad things. Most young people think in the United States they can have everything. A lot of our geniuses come here. But for the rest, if you don'tworkhereyouhavenothing,"sheexplained. YettheimageofIranmostAmericansreceive is also a mirage. "Americans should see the people inside Iran," said Mir. Her brother has already received an acceptance letter from Harvard, ensuring that a silent exchange of cultures continues, even as rumors of war persist.
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SPORTS
VOLUME 109 ISSUE 03 • MARCH 11, 2015 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
A TURBULENT WEEK FOR WOMEN'S TENNIS
You have a world of ideas. Let’s hear them.
This week will go a long way in deciding WSC ETHAN SINGLETON STAFF WRITER The Santa Monica College women's tennis team began a pivotal week in the 2015 season by falling to Western State Conference rival Santa Barbara City College 5-4 on Tuesday. The loss dropped the lady Corsairs out of a a three-way-tie for first place, against both Santa Barbara--their opponent for Tuesday--and Glendale, whom they will be seeing Thursday. The Lady Corsairs, came into the week having won four of their last five team matches, including a shut out of the Antelope Valley Maruauders. The blue and white are 4-3 overall and are 4-2 in the conference. The Santa Barbara Vaqueros came into Tuesday's match on a five-game winning streak and found revenge on the Corsairs, who had previously defeated the Vaqs when they came to Santa Monica last month. Both sophomore Izabel Nazdracheva and freshman Mayra Jovich of the Corsairs are so far, as of print, undefeated against the Vaqueros, winning extremely competitive matches in women’s singles and doubles back on February 17th. Glendale Community College, the Corsair’s opponent on Thursday-- whose mascot is also the Vaqueros--were the last team to defeat the Corsairs before Tuesday's defeat, ending the blue and white's 21-game winning streak on February 19.
Since their last meeting, Glendale are 5-1, including shut outs against Ventura College and Antelope Valley College. However, the sole loss in that period came against the Santa Barbara Vaqueros. The Vaqueros are 10-2 overall this season as of 9:00 p.m. Tuesday evening and have won four of their last five team matches by large margins. When asked asked about how prepared the women feel coming into the big week, Richard Goldenson, head coach of the Corsairs said, “They know they are in control of their destiny and they're working hard to make it happen." Goldenson also took a moment to praise his team's self-motivation. "As a coach I couldn't ask for more, but then I didn't have to ask," said Goldenson. "They want it.” This week will help clear the picture in WSC women's tennis as the Corsairs will face the two teams with whom they shared the lead at the start of the week. After this two game road trip, the Corsairs will have back to back home rematches against Bakersfield College and Ventura College. SMC defeated the teams on the road 9-0 and 7-2 respectively. However the Corsairs must first get past the Vaqueros when they meet Thursday on East Mountain St. at 2 p.m.
At CSU Dominguez Hills, our students represent many cultures. And share multiple perspectives. With one of the nation’s most diverse campuses, including a thriving international community, we encourage our students to embrace their individuality. While preparing them to collaborate in a global workforce.
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