CORSAIR
NOVEMBER 18, 2015 | VOLUME 110 ISSUE 08 | SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
MAKING HISTORY
FIRST COPY OF THE CORSAIR IS FREE, EACH COPY AFTER IS 25
CORSAIR FOOTBALL CRUSHES THE SEASON (PG 6)
THE "MILLION" STUDENT MARCH THAT WASN'T (PG. 3)
THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT SMC PRESIDENT CONTINUES (PG. 4)
MARRY THE LAND (PG. 11)
CANDLELIT VIGIL HONORS ONE OF PARIS' FALLEN (PG. 12)
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CONTENT
VOLUME 110 ISSUE 08 • NOVEMBER 18, 2015 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
EDITORIAL STAFF Devin Page ....................................Editor-in-Chief corsair.editorinchief@gmail.com Yasha Hawkins...........................Managing Editor corsair.managing@gmail.com Alissa Nardo ......................................News Editor corsair.news@gmail.com Bailey Peraita ..........................Health & Lifestyle corsair.lifestylepage@gmail.com Jacob Hirsohn ............................... Opinion Editor corsair.opinionpage@gmail.com Josh Shure .........................................Sports Editor corsair.sportspage@gmail.com Nik Lucaj ..............Arts & Entertainment Editor corsair.calendarpage@gmail.com Adam Thomas...................Co-Multimedia Editor corsair.multimediadept@gmail.com
Rhenn Bullen (bottom) bases Tiffany Grove (top) into the "bird" pose during a windy and cold acrobatic yoga photo shoot on Sunday at Santa Monica Beach. (Scott Bixler/The Corsair)
Alexander Melendez .....Co-Multimedia Editor corsair.multimediadept@gmail.com Jose Lopez ...........................................Photo Editor corsairphotoeditor@gmail.com Alexandra Perry ...................................Illustrator corsaircartoon@gmail.com William Miguel ..............................Design Editor corsair.designteam@gmail.com
CORSAIR STAFF Chase Maser, Daniela Barhanna, Carolyn Alfaro, Jeremy Sanders, Kevin Colindres, Alexandra Obiekea, Adam Robert Thomas, Grace Gardner, Oskar Zinneman, Wynn Taylor, Hannah Kovar, Semaj Harbin, Andrew Olender, Frederick Riggs,
Tarah Kelly, Roxana Esquivias, Yesenia Sandoval, Samantha Ruvalcaba, Samuel Huntington, Ariana Kidd, Melina Guelli, Stephanie Irineo, Ryanne Mena, Carlos Espinosa, Ramses Lemus, Daniel J. Bowyer, Dotan Saguy, Tina Eady
FRONT COVER Recent Utah commit, Santa Monica College's quarterback, Troy Williams, poses for a photo prior to practice at
FACULTY ADVISORS
Corsair Field on Monday, November 16th. (Jose Lopez/The Corsair)
Saul Rubin & Gerard Burkhart
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR DEVIN PAGE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Tragedies such as the attacks in Beirut, Kenya, and Paris seem to be happening everyday, and the word never ceases to seem like a cruel existence. There are protests going on across the country such as the Million Student March, as well aa the controversies in Mizzou and Yale. Some events are more publicized than others and it begs the question, what warrants front page news and what gets just a mere mention? What many don't realize is, it is possible to multitask and have feelings towards all of these tragic events. At the Corsair we happened to have an inside to events such as a Paris vigil happening in Long Beach, and the Million Student March, a smaller branch happening right on our campus. In events like this it seems easy to point fingers at the oppressors but often we forget that the victims of these tragedies need support and help. The friends and family of the daughter who had the vigil in Long Beach needed the community around them to be able to grieve. Even though Long Beach isn't exactly in our backyard, Santa Monica had its ferris wheel on the pier light up in French colors during on Sunday night showing their support. Its things like this that may me feel an inch of faith in humanity. At The Million Student March, there were students who gathered fighting for free tuition and other problems that students face when going to college. While it may not be that simple to address these issues at a state level, officials at the college
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are seeking to help students as best they can. We currently have a new presidential search in its final stages where four candidates have expressed their interest in taking over the position of Superintendent/President at SMC. Many of their platforms were based largely on helping students and addressing issues such as student success, and how to better serve students from such a wide demographic. There are international students, out-of-state students and local students who all need the same amount of attention, which one of the candidates specifically addressed. Watching the presidential forums was nothing like watching the Republican or Democratic debates, although you did have figures who resembled some of the candidates running for the President of the U.S. But this doesn't mean that we shouldn't pay attention. Paying attention and voting at a local level is just as important as what is going on at a state or national level.
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CREDITS: The transfer dictionary shows which of your credits will transfer to UMass Lowell. uml.edu/transferdictionary REQUIREMENTS: Find out more at uml.edu/requirementsbymajor CASH: UMass Lowell provided $145 million in financial aid last year and met 91% of demonstrated need. There are merit scholarships available for transfer students, too. uml.edu/scholarships HOUSING & CAMPUS LIFE: You won’t want to miss all that’s happening on campus—Division I athletics, suite-style residences, great food and events. uml.edu/reslife
Become work ready, life ready, world ready at UMass Lowell. CONNECT WITH US! uml.edu/transfer transfer@uml.edu or 978-934-3931 facebook.com/umltransfer
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NEWS
VOLUME 110 ISSUE 08 • NOVEMBER 18, 2015 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
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PROTEST ON CAMPUS The half-dozen student march hits the quad ADAM THOMAS MULTIMEDIA EDITOR At 10:30 a.m. yesterday, seven activists participating in the Million Student March, a nationally organized protest for free college, gathered on the thoroughfare of the Main Campus quad. They came wearing shirts advocating for a $15 an hour minimum wage, carrying signs demanding debt relief for college students and attempted to drum up interest with chants like, “Public space for education – Now to stop these corporations.” Nick Neuville, a 20-year-old leader of the SMC rally and Computer Science major, said of the group’s intent, “The easiest explanation I can give is that millions of students across the United States are sick of being burdened with debt that they cannot pay off and they want to raise awareness about it. They want to say something about it.” Unlike many of the similar protests using the “Million Student March” name across the country, Neuville denied that this protest was in solidarity with the ongoing protests at the University of Missouri and others across the country, saying “I think it’s very important that we stay on the topic of student debt.”
Despite the name and Neuville’s gusto, if the attendance at the SMC branch was anything to go by, then “millions of students” marching in solidarity across the 110 campuses expected to participate in the national event would definitely be an exaggeration. Turnout was quite low at SMC, especially as this was intended to be a student rally and only three of the seven protesters at the SMC were current students, with only two actually attending SMC. Sanders Fabares, a graduate of the Art Institute of California San Diego was there as part of the Debt Collective, an advocacy group spun-off of Occupy Wall Street, while Edgar Mauricio Gonzalez, the primary leader of the group, was there as an organizer from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) local 721. Three of the protesters, Muffy Sunde, Kimberly Alvarado, and Samwell Quintaro, were part of Freedom Socialist Party, a “socialist, feminist, Trotskyist organization that was founded in the 1960’s” according to Sunde. Alvarado, a student from El Camino Community College in Torrance, pitched socialism to SMC students, “[Socialism] can bring balance. The capitalism, patri-
Students protest college debt outside the library on Thursday in Santa Monica College (Photo by Ramses Lemus)
archy, all of that is what’s keeping us dependent. It shouldn’t be that way. We should just be able to work all in one union, not with someone above us.” After an hour attempting to engage with SMC students passing by and finding few takers, the group occupied the steps leading to the library where they stood their ground and began chanting again. Most of the protesters claimed justification based on the belief that California used to have free higher education, which is almost true. California public colleges did not have tuition fees and had very low registration
fees all the way up to 1982, when a budget crisis caused the legislature and then Governor George Deukmejian to begin a slow but steady increase on the fees students must pay to attend state schools. Although there was little traction gained by the group with SMC student body in either location during their protest on campus, they enjoyed their time and remained positive about their message. “I strongly believe that you’re either part of the solution or part of the problem” said Neuville, “Even if this is all it amounts to, at least I tried.”
SMC MATH LAB OFFERS GREAT RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS CHASE MASER STAFF WRITER Whether a student wants to take it or not, a math class is a requirement in order to graduate from college. Students grit their teeth and let out a heavy sigh whenever they walk into their gut-wrenching prealgebra class, spending most of their time sitting in confusion during lecture. Mathematics already comes with a high probability of failure when it comes to students’ interests, but the Math Lab at Santa Monica College is quickly changing that probability from a failure to a success. The Math Lab, located in the Math Complex on the main campus of SMC, is a free resource available to students to help them prepare and hopefully pass their math classes. From tutoring appointments to private workshops for each subject, the Math Lab is creating an environment for students to not only succeed in their core class, but to also have fun while learning. The woman at the forefront of this helpful solution is Judith Mosher. Mosher is the Math Lab Coordinator who eats, sleeps, and breathes math. “I love math. I came to SMC to only take a few courses, but the community here won me over, and I get paid to solve math puzzles.” The stigma for students all across the country is that math equals torture, but Mosher’s mission at SMC is to change that outcome; trying to make math something enjoyable. “Math can be fun,” exclaims Mosher. “And if you have more fun, then you’re going to want to study, and you’re going to get better grades.” The Math Lab has been available to students since the 1970’s, but just this past year the Math Lab has broken itself up into two distinct groups in order to better serve students’ needs. Students now have the option to attend workshops and tutoring services for either intermediate math courses or college-level courses. In each of these options,
Alejandra Casas, 22, radiology major, does homework in the Math Lab at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, CA on November 17, 2015. (Robert Rosmann/The Corsair)
there are three types of services that students can choose from: tutoring appointments, drop-in help, or workshops. Tutoring appointments consist of a one hour one-on-one session with a tutor, and these appointments can be made online by going to SMC.edu; choosing “Math Tutoring” under the “Campus Resources” tab. Students may make up to two appointments a week. Drop-in services are available for anyone who has a quick question about any math problem. These sessions last between fiveten minutes; however, students can sign in multiple times a day for drop-in sessions. Lastly, SMC instructors host workshops every week for one hour. Students are welcome to attend these sessions and ask professors any questions regarding their coursework. SMC student athlete, Kirsten Ortega, who’s enrolled in Math 20, says, “Once a week we come in for study hall for about 2 hours. We just do any homework
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that we need. We all help each other out and we use the books that they have here if we don’t have one with us. I think they have a copy of each book for every subject.” In accordance with her mathematical spirit, Mosher spends each month tracking how many students utilize the Math Lab’s services, and she says, “3569 students came in during the month of September, with the majority of those students being enrolled in college-level classes. I’ve been tracking these stats for 3 years now, and the lowerlevel students come in by far the lowest amount of times.” As helpful and resourceful as the Math Lab may be, based upon Mosher’s findings, it is still something that students aren’t completely aware of as an alternative to their class struggles. This facility remains to be somewhat of an enigma because the Math lab doesn’t have the proper funding to service large proportions of students at one time. Mosher explains that in order @THE_CORSAIR •
to help more students the Math Lab needs more money: “More money equals helping more students, and more funding equals better help and more hours.” Bill Baumert, a long-time tutor for SMC’s Math Lab, says, “People need help, and I think it’s very useful. A lot of people don’t know about the math lab; it’s a great resource; tuition pays for it.” Mosher proudly says, “The culture of thinking for math needs a shift. We have to customize the strategy for students by having more of a variety of learning methods.” It’s important for students and instructors to work together in finding the correct answers in an impactful and enjoyable manner, and that is exactly what the Math Lab is setting out to do. “We need to motivate the students,” Mosher says passionately. “I’m not expecting them to love math, but if they can walk away understanding it, and liking it better than before, I can be happy.”
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NEWS
VOLUME 110 ISSUE 08 • NOVEMBER 18, 2015 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
MEET THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
Tim McGrath, JD, current Vice President of Instruction at San Diego Mesa College, in San Diego, California, poses for a photo at the forum for the finalists in the presidential search on Thursday at SMC. (Jose Lopez/The Corsair)
TIM MCGRATH DEVIN PAGE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Tim McGrath was the first SMC presidential candidate to convey to an audience reasons why he should take over the role as Superintendent/President at noon on Thursday at the Main Stage. While the only college vice president of the group, McGrath brought the same amount of experience, if not more, to the table as the other candidates. He describes himself as community-minded and says he has deep roots at the college. McGrath told the audience that his first priority is the students, as he was once a student at Santa Monica College himself. While he went on to other institutions such
as San Diego Mesa College, he said that when he saw there was a position open as President of Santa Monica College, he was pleasantly surprised at the opportunity. McGrath posed the question, “How many times as an alumni have you had the opportunity to go home?” He believes that SMC is one of the most innovative colleges in the state and he would be able to harness his own creative abilities here. In addition, he compliments SMC’s high transfer rates and states that as one of his reasons for wanting to be here. His highest priorities if he were to achieve the title of President would be, as he said not trying to sound cliche, “My first priority would be to get to know everyone on this campus, and I mean that.” He stressed that he wouldn’t feel right changing policies or changing the organization of anything without knowing who he’s dealing with and what the issues are. “I’m not someone who sits in the office, I’m out in it, doing it, being a part of it…” Secondly he wants to reach out to key partners in the Santa Monica community and maintain those relationships and build on them. McGrath also reiterated the point of getting to know everyone on campus and references the athletic program as a prime example of how a group of people knowing each other equals success. "Athletics is a place where 450 students know each other's names. Our retention, success and persistence in that group should be the highest of any group on campus... it's about being accountable to our instructors, our coaches..."
RACHEL ROSENTHAL ADAM THOMAS MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Rachel Rosenthal was the third of four candidates for Superintendent/President of Santa Monica College to conduct an open house Q&A at noon on Friday at the main stage of the theater arts building. The current president of Folsom Lake College in Folsom, California, Dr. Rosenthal brought a clearheaded and empirical approach to the position, while always striving to keep an open mind on how to solve problems. She stressed her belief in collaboration and consensus building in order to find the best answer for the most people. “We are fundamentally democratic in our approach," said Rosenthal as she explained how she thought she would fit in with SMC’s current approach to decision making. “We are here to hear all of the voices and support those that need our support. I do believe the best decisions are made when all the stakeholders weigh in." Originally a math professor, Rosenthal stated that she would be open to pursue any possible educational model to improve the lagging test scores the SMC student body has been achieving in the math and physical science departments. Rosenthal said, “People should love math, I'm just tellin' ya, you know?” In her prior experience as vice president and superintendent of Sierra College in Rocklin, California, Rosenthal found a higher ratio of full-time faculty to part-time than SMC currently has, and was open to exploring hiring for full time faculty. Rosenthal presented a strong belief in quantitative, evidence based approaches to problem solving. More than willing to admit that she was unfamiliar with a number of issues specific to SMC, Rosenthal more than made up for the lack of local knowledge with a willingness to learn and to involve
KATHRYN JEFFERY ADAM THOMAS MULTIMEDIA EDITOR At five p.m. on Friday the 13th, the final of the four candidates for superintendent/ president of Santa Monica College to present their case at the main stage of the theater arts building was Kathryn Jeffery. She is currently the president of Sacramento City College in the state’s capitol, and has served at a number of other colleges throughout this and other states. “My experience is broad, as well as deep. I've been in higher education for nearly 40 years, but I started very early in life in this work,” said Jeffery about her time spent working her way up the ladder from a assisting at a dorm in student housing all the way to a city college president in the state capitol. “And I have many more years to contribute to the field of higher education and to continue to contribute to building communities and serving the diverse needs of our student populations." Jeffery preferred to let her record speak for itself during the meeting, often referring to other projects she had completed at prior institutions, as well as the sheer number of institutions she had worked at. It was a very long resume indeed, going from being a Counselor at Sacramento City College to Vice President of Colombia City College in Yosemite, to president of a technical college in Minnesota and finally back to Sacramento City College as president. “I have been privileged enough to serve in a variety of different settings,” Jeffery said. “Multi-campus colleges. Multi-college districts. So this has given me a view of higher education from a variety of different vantage points.”
Kathryn E. Jeffery, PhD, current President of Sacramento City College in Sacramento, California, poses for a photo as a finalist in the presidential search on Saturday at SMC. (Jose Lopez/The Corsair)
Jeffery proved to be honest to the point of bluntness at points during the talk. First, when asked as to why she wanted the position, she simply stated, “I think I'm at a good point in my career to make a transition.” Later, her honesty resurfaced about how she would adapt to the situation at SMC, sparking a laugh among the audience, “You don't really know how to do the job until you're doing the job - so you have to hire me so I can know how to do it.” During the talk, she presented a number of examples of how she had addressed various issue at her time at Sacramento City College. First, on dealing with smoking regulations by creating a series of attractive Designated Smoking Areas to maintain socialization and then how to promote equity in STEM fields by ensuring the link to jobs was made clear in students’ minds. Finally she ended with another moment of pure honesty, “For some reason this position resonates with me. When I read the job description I felt like this was where I was supposed to be. This is the type of position that my career has prepared me to do.”
LARRY BUCKLEY DEVIN PAGE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Rachel Rosenthal, EdD, current President of Folsom Lake College in Folsom, California, poses for a photo as a finalist in the presidential search on Thursday at SMC. (Courtesy of Rachel Rosenthal)
herself with student life. "We need that student voice in governance. There's not a clean feedback mechanism where we understand how we did as an educational institution,“ said Rosenthal. “Having a student's voice and hearing directly from you as to where you see the important issues, needs to have a place." Overall, she made for an upbeat and savvy candidate with a positive mindset ready to tackle the challenges that becoming the Superintendent President of SMC might contain, stressing a belief that this was in a large part due to how she had struggled and achieved throughout life through a combination or resilience and help from others. “To me it's paying it forward - paying it backward, however you look at it - to help students achieve their dreams whatever those are,“ said Rosenthal about why she sought the much desired position. “I had people helping me, and it’s my job to help others."
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It was 5 p.m. Thursday evening, the campus' crowd of students started to dwindle. At the Main Stage there was still another presidential forum for the day. It was Larry Buckley's turn. Larry Buckley presented himself as a more reserved man, careful in his words, with a slightly less hands on approach. In fact, Buckley’s platform was largely based on numbers that worked for him at Cañada College in Redwood City where he currently serves as President. Buckley was less experimental and more focused on doing what has proven to work in the community college system. Part of what Buckley feels is experience that only he holds among the candidates is the working relationships he has with over 60 trustees in the state, in which he's worked alongside them at six different colleges. At the expense of sounding trite, Buckley says, "I think that the experience I've had with my career makes me the best person to take you to the next level." Why he wants to be here, he answers, "The answer is 4 percent... that is the percentage of local high school graduates who are transferring from Santa Monica." While he admits that we have a high transfer rate of students going to UC's, he points out that our 4 percent equity is below the state average. He seeks to change that number. Buckley wants to see through the process of students transferring. "You don't come here to fail, you come here to transfer," he says.
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Larry G. Buckley, PhD, current President of Cañada College in Redwood City, California, poses for a photo at the forum for the finalists in the presidential search on Thursday. (Jose Lopez/The Corsair)
He spent a lot of time talking about his values which include being truthful and honest, and also two words he taught the audience "kuleana" meaning responsibility, and "malama" meaning to serve or to honor. He builds off of these principles in how he lives his everyday life. Very abrupt and probably stemming from his honest nature, Buckley mentioned seeing the word a bit differently now as he has a heart condition, or an artificial heart valve, which gives him a limited time to live—albeit it's a 60 year heart valve which would make it a little less immediately life threatening. And while it was out of the blue, it did bring a certain rawness to what would normally be a contrived speech given the nature of how presidential speeches normally go. He left the audience with this, "The opposite of love isn't hate. The opposite of love is indifference." This is his platform in which he strives to make change.
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HEALTH & LIFESTYLE
VOLUME 110 ISSUE 08 • NOVEMBER 18, 2015 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
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MEET THE ECOSEXUAL CLUB Establishing a relationship with Mother Nature
GRACE GARDNER STAFF WRITER A group of students—a dozen or so sat around in a loose circle on the lawn under the bell tower. None of which were pulling out the grass from underneath them like a child might, a common habit under similar circumstances. “Would I treat my boyfriend or girlfriend how I'm treating nature? We want to have that question in mind,” said Diego Marquez, Ecosexual Club President of Santa Monica College. Ecosexuals want to replace the concept of Mother Nature with that of a party in a mutual relationship. That is because the relationship you have with your mother is often one-sided. You often take from your mother without much appreciation or thought, but unlike your mother you spend a lot of time thinking about your significant other, are genuinely happy when they do something for you, and worry about how they’re doing. By building this kind of relationship with nature, a mutual, loving one rather than a paternal one, you are more likely to consider nature and treat it better. “The whole premise is that we won't save what we don't love so our approach is by focusing on our relationship with nature,” said Marquez. “It's a lot more equal, or at least I would hope it would be.” It's akin to being an activist by saving nature however ecosexuals focus on build-
ing a relationship. While the club does have an end goal of promoting earth friendly practices and encouraging sustainability, the first step is establishing a relationship with nature in order to care about it. “Science definitely has its place, but by its very method of study, it reduces things to study, creating a disembodied form of what nature is," Marquez says. He elaborates, “We need this many parts per billion of carbon in the air. We’re going over that, so we focus less on the empirical data and more on the sensuous aspect of being present in the world, a world where everything is connected and affects each other.” Some of the ways the group remains present and maintains their relationship with nature is by going on camping trips, nature writing, creating eco-art and gardening. It’s important to remember that the group does not actually strive to have sexual relations with the natural world. The point is to build an emotional connection. “We want to claim that our love for nature ought to be just as important as our love for people. It’s another identity, where you have the LGBTQ, and we want to add ‘E’ to that, because it’s just as important to love nature…nothing sexual, which I think is the confusion with the name, its just a play on words.” The misinterpretation of the name ecosexual has been a problem from the beginning. “Initially when we submitted our application they said we can’t have that name,”
MEETING YOUR OBSTACLES SMC Student Stacy Withrow on dealing with cancer STACY WITHROW CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Stacy Withrow, a survivor or breast cancer, poses for a photo on Tuesday at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California. (Jose Lopez/The Corsair)
I was roused this morning at 6 a.m. when my alarm went off. I opened my eyes at 6:15. I finally got up at 6:30. It might be easier to start the day, if the onslaught of mental chatter had a delay, but it doesn’t. It starts at about 6 a.m. Some days are worse than others. I’m a returning student in my fifth semester at SMC and I’ve just recovered from my second surgery after being diagnosed with breast cancer. I work and take classes part time. I have five different doctors to juggle, a relationship to maintain, and 2 cats to take care of. There are dozens of details that becoming a cancer survivor brings into your life, from surgery mishaps to insurance issues and it all has to be handled primarily by me. My family isn’t very present for my “situation” and I find that most people just really can’t handle it. Cancer isolates you in a way from healthy people. Even when they want to be there
for you, they don’t know how. Its something that’s happening to you, and you kind of have to learn to navigate it yourself. After the shock wears off, your wellmeaning friends will go back to their own lives. For them everything is normal but your life is forever altered. Day to day living has several new dimensions: the person in the mirror is unrecognizable; your thoughts are all seen through unpredictable lenses that shift at will, and not always pleasantly. There’s no manual for this and there’s a huge learning curve. In the fall of 2014 I dropped my classes to have a double mastectomy and reconstruction. I had surgery on December 22nd. I went back to work on January 17th, and back to school in February 2015. Most people take six to eight weeks off work after a Mastectomy but I only took three. Almost immediately I was back in the full swing of my life. In the last year I’ve managed to have two
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Ecosexual Club member Jacqueline Proctor, sets up a camera to take a photo during Club Row at Santa Monica College. (Stephanie Irineo/The Corsair)
Marquez said. Because Santa Monica College is a community college, it is technically an extension of the k-12 program. This supposedly prohibits some forms of sexual content. Marquez then defended his group’s name by protesting that “We [SMC] have the Gay Sexuality Alliance (GSA) which has the term ‘sexuality’ in it already, and we’re using it in the same context so it's not like there wasn't a precedent before, but they kind of said ‘No, you should still change the name.'” Marquez did a bit of research and came to the conclusion that there was no basis on which to censor the name. “We were pretty adamant about keeping the name and afterwards they insisted that I speak
to a higher up. This made me understand that they probably didn’t understand the concept of the club so I wanted to explain it to them,” he said. Then the club began to promote their cause and spurred a lot of attention at Club Row, where they had a woman painted green in panties with leaves taped over her breasts. They even had a symbolic wedding, which Marquez performed, between an Ecosexual Club member and this woman personified as nature. Coming up, the club will moderate a symbolic wedding to the beach. While others may be alarmed, Marquez says, “It definitely is far fetched. We do want to create a spectacle.”
major surgeries and remain gainfully employed and enrolled at SMC. I got engaged, bought a house, I moved, traveled to San Francisco and New York for work and Italy for my best friend's wedding, and juggled weekly doctor's appointments in between all of this, yoga, and writing papers. I felt really good about not letting cancer slow me down and for a while it worked. Keeping busy served as a great distraction from the reality of my diagnosis and what it was doing to my life. I’m glad I did this actually because it gave me some distance from the fear that I had buried deep somewhere in the recesses of my psyche. The reality is that I had cancer in my lymph nodes. If you’re not a biology major, what this means in a nutshell is that I’m at a substantially greater risk of a recurrence, or metastatic disease (which is terminal), than someone who does not have cancer in their lymph nodes. Right now, I do not have any more “visible” cancer in my body but I’m told this can change at any time. Six months, a year, 30 years from now, I can come down with a metastatic diagnosis and if I do, I will eventually die from breast cancer. I had stage 2b¾ estrogen and progesterone positive, Invasive Lobular Carcinoma. This diagnosis is, how can I say, so-so. It means that I could quite possibly be screwed but I might not be screwed and I’m not really ever going to know unless I come down screwed. My future is a big, fat, indefinite, question mark. I still find this to be shocking because I in particular lead quite a healthy lifestyle. I do a lot of yoga. I drink green juice and turmeric shots. I was only 38 and I had, at the time, the lowest alcohol consumption out of all my friends. I meditate. I use organic cleaners. This list is endless actually. I could spend the next two pages telling you all the reasons that this should not have happened to me. But at the end of the day it did happen and I have to find a way to deal with it. This brings me into the present. It’s November of 2015. I’m in the middle of my
semester at school. I’m one year from my diagnosis and currently being initiated by that fear I avoided by staying as busy as possible. Not only that, but I also am dealing with the sadness around loosing my breasts and subsequent sense of femininity. I’m trying to acclimate to the new body I inhabit, while adjusting to the side effects of the Tamoxifen I take every day. My boyfriend and I are struggling to adjust to our new normal and carve out a new way together. I still have work and school. You know, I realized in my ripe old age of 39 that for every person, life will happen. We will all spend our time here facing challenges. Death is inevitable for everyone; potentially having to face it earlier than expected is a challenge but at the end of the day that’s all it is, a challenge. I’m afraid. I cry sometimes. I have temper tantrums too. Occasionally I feel sorry for myself. I get angry. But I still have to be present for my relationships and commitments. What else is your life but the relationships and commitments that you make? I’m not going to say having cancer made me a better person, or that something really positive came out of it because honestly in my own life that remains to be seen and I really think its lame to negate an experience by trying to pretend it doesn’t really suck. Cancer sucks. The place I’m at with it right now sucks too. But it will change, because it always does. I look forward to the change, and I hope in it will be something that makes me feel good. In the meantime I intend to finish school. I’ve had to bring the pace down a notch to something a little more tolerable while I’m dealing with my health related obstacles but I’m not going to quit and I’m not going to run from this, as if I could. I hate this experience I truly do but someone told me once that in every great challenge is the opportunity to free yourself from something. I haven’t received any spiritual “gift” just yet, so I guess I’m still working on it but I’ll keep working on it. Maybe that’s the point.
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VOLUME 110 ISSUE 08 • NOVEMBER 18, 2015 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
The Ferris Wheel at the Santa Monica Pier is lit in blue, white, red, the colors of the French flag, on Sunday. (Amy Gaskin/The Corsair)
A crowd of over 2,000 attend the vigil for slain CSULB student Nohemi Gonzalez. Nohemi Gonzalez, a design student, is the o on the school's campus on Sunday. (Amy Gaskin/The Corsair)
Nohemi's mother Beatriz, second from left mourns at the service with family and friends. Gonzalez, a design student, is the only American identified to date in the terrorist attacks in Paris. Gonzalez was with friends in or near one of the Paris restaurants when the terrorists attacked. The vigil for slain Cal State University Long Beach student Nohemi Gonzalez was held on the school's campus on Sunday. (Amy Gaskin/The Corsair)
Tim Mraz, boyfriend of Nohemi Gonzalez, receives a hug during the service. Gonzalez, a design student, is the only American identified to date in the terrorist attacks in Paris. Gonzalez was with friends in or near one of the Paris restaurants when the terrorists attacked. The vigil for slain Cal State University Long Beach student Nohemi Gonzalez was held on the school's campus on Sunday. (Amy Gaskin/The Corsair)
CSULB design students stand in front of the room next to a photo of their slain classmate. Nohemi Gonzalez, a desig
identified to date in the terrorist attacks in Paris.Gonzalez was with friends in or near one of the Paris restaurants wh
vigil for slain Cal State University Long Beach student Nohemi Gonzalez was held on the school's campus on Sund
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only American identified to date in the terrorist attacks in Paris. Gonzalez was with friends in or near one of the Paris restaurants when the terrorists attacked. The vigil for slain Cal State University Long Beach student Nohemi Gonzalez was held
The Southland Grieves Paris Long Beach State Mourns Death of Nohemi Gonzalez AMY GASKIN PHOTOGRAPHER
gn student, is the only American
hen the terrorists attacked. The
day. (Amy Gaskin/The Corsair)
Southern California is grieving the terrorist attacks this week and honored the victims with tributes and vigils. Cal State University Long Beach senior design student Nohemi Gonzalez was at one of the Paris restaurants with friends when she was killed. Gonzalez was one of 17 CSULB students studying in Paris this semester. Over 2,000 people attended the vigil to honor her. Design professor Michael LaForte said Gonzalez “had a thirst for knowledge and growth and had an extremely bright future ahead of her.” Her boyfriend Tim Mraz described her as the heart of the department saying that she was always the first one in and the last to leave. Her stepfather Jose Hernandez said on behalf of himself and her mother Beatriz, “She was a wonderful kid. If there’s anything bad to say about her, I got nothing... her mom, they were like best friends, they were always together. Mimi is in our hearts. Mimi is not dead. Mimi
is in Beatriz’ heart today, tomorrow, and forever.” Consulate General of France Christophe Lemoine described Gonzalez as “an innocent victim of the abject Paris attacks” and presented to her “family, friends and professors all my condolences in my name and in the name of the French people.” The Santa Monica Pier Ferris wheel was lit in the colors of the French flag. Santa Monica Mayor Kevin McKeown told the Corsair that he visited the French Consulate Saturday night to express his condolences. He will be travelling to Paris on business soon and said he “shall carry with me to Paris warm wishes, sincere sympathy, and unyielding solidarity from the people of Santa Monica.” Outside the French Consulate in Los Angeles, people paid their respects as well. Los Angeles resident Kim Crawford said, “My heart is broken for this beautiful culture and people.”
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A CSULB design student holds a candle and flower during the vigil for slain classmate, Nohemi Gonzalez. Gonzalez, a design student, is the only American identified to date in the terrorist attacks in Paris. Gonzalez was with friends in or near one of the Paris restaurants when the terrorists attacked. The vigil for slain Cal State University Long Beach student Nohemi Gonzalez was held on the school's campus on Sunday. (Amy Gaskin/The Corsair)
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OPENING NIGHT AT SYNAPSE Joined together in a bundle of grooves ADAM THOMAS MULTIMEDIA EDITOR The definition of “synapse” is derived from Greek. Literally, it means to “join together”. In terms of human anatomy it’s referring to a gap between one neuron and another. With over 450 students, parents, and local residents attending Synapse’s opening performance, flooding the Broad stage lobby at SMC’s Performing Arts Center, “a place to join together” is the perfect analogy. But the “gap between one mind and another” isn’t bad either, for as the grand hall of the Broad’s lobby fills with attendees — most dressed to the nines in as much finery as they can bring — the buzz of excited chatter as people connect and talk and pass on their thoughts rises to a crescendo before the doors finally open. Everyone quiets down as they take their seats in the beautifully designed wood paneled cavern that is the theater proper. The lights dim and in front of the chocolate velvet curtain hiding the night’s performers, three people walk on stage: Judith Douglas, the chair of the SMC Dance Department, Jae Lee and Mark Tomasic, the directors of the show everyone’s about to see. After the standard salutations and announcements from Ms. Douglas and Lee, Mr. Tomasic makes a bold declaration to the audience, “What you didn’t know is that when you came here tonight, you are taking part in a rebellion — a rebellion called modern dance.” After pressing the audience into the Army of Modern Dance Attendees, Tomasic assures the audience that no matter what they think of any of the 11 pieces they are going to see tonight, they’re absolutely right.
“Guess what? These are all abstract dances,” says Tomasic, “So if you have a different idea about what a dance is about, then you are absolutely correct. Then you become part of our modern dance rebellion.” As the curtains pull away and chanting music swells over the loudspeakers for the piece, “Behind the Wall,” it’s Tomasic's philosophy that informs all that is to follow. This spirit of rebellion is Synapse 2015. “It started as a rebellion against ballet. The ideas of ballet,” says Professor Angela Jordan, one of the faculty choreographers featured during the night’s performance, “It deals with one's philosophy. The subject matter can relate to human emotions, to storytelling, to anything you know.” Professor Jordan’s piece, “No Tears for Goodbye,” is part of a number of pieces that exemplify her words. A number that, set and staged as a gospel funeral procession, the dancers flow with frustrated yet joyous grace that belies a sense of loss and celebration of a life passed. It’s a tribute to Broadway dancer Jeremiah Tatum, who Professor Jordan was profoundly moved by in life saying, “It was still with me this semester, and I just wanted to do something in honor of him.” “No Tears for Goodbye” is one of a number of complex storytelling pieces featured throughout the night, trying to capture more than just a single emotion in its scant seven minutes. Others — like “Give Me Wings”, an amazingly well timed bit of staging showing the feeling of performing on stage choreographed by Laura Karlin — create a humorous tone with its short story. Some, like “Power,” a ponytail whipping love note to Madonna’s “Vogue” and other club hits of the last two decades choreo-
graphed by SMC Student Jayna Goins, feel more like a step squad getting the football team pumped for the big game — no plot to tie it together, just a beat and sharp motion. Says Goins of her piece, “It's basically about girl power and being a woman and not being afraid to show off your curves. Just knowing that you're beautiful.” Goins gets her dancers to perform her high-energy number well and, for the most part, this holds true for most of the cast that get up on stage. There are occasional missteps that show up throughout the performance and the occasional late cue, but only rarely is it noticeable — the Synapse crew is well honed after 9 straight weeks of rehearsal. “I've messed up a myriad of times,” says Charlie Diaz about these kinds of errors, “You have to make it work, you have to be professional enough to not let it show and say 'oh I messed up' through your facial expressions." Diaz holds true to his level of professionalism throughout the night and never cracks an unintentional scowl or grimace. He may claim to hide it well, but the truth is that he’s just that good. Diaz appears in more than half of the pieces of the night as the primary male lead before the night is through. The night goes on and some numbers prove to be more captivating than others. Diaz joins in the pas de quatre (dance for four) of Professor Lee’s “Interrumpere,” a highly technical whirling blur of spins and sharp motion that captures a sense of overly formal sexuality. Others, like Roberta Wolin-Tupas’ “Forces,” come off as simply too abstract to get into — the kinds of pieces that scare people away from modern dance for simply being too out there to connect
with, even if it’s flawlessly executed. The best bits for were saved for last. Goins stars in the final number, “The Bench,” a raucous bit of dancing prop comedy choreographed by members of the LA based dance troupe, DIAVOLO. But it’s “Hither and Yon,” a piece by returning student Rachael Servello that comes across as the best of the show — a completely balanced number that focuses on classical techniques intermixed with excellent pas de duex (dance for two), grounding the poetry in motion it creates amidst the best technical use of lighting on the night. As with Professor Jordan’s piece, Servello says it’s a number inspired partly by loss. “I had someone pass away close to me and that was the first time I had experienced death,” says Sevello,” It left a mark on my life and so I was affected by that. I was also affected by seeing . . . an improv duet — it was so beautiful. Both those things together really inspired me to do this piece." Soon the night’s performances, and the modern rebellion they represents ends. Not all in attendance are impressed with the concept and seem to want the “status quo” that is ballet. Ethan Noh, an SMC student in attendance says, “I think if they focused more on the traditional dancing part and taken out the pop songs. [The pop songs] ruined the mood. I think the show was alright.” So if you’re looking for more technically perfect ballet, perhaps Synapse (and modern dance in general) isn’t for you. That’s an understandable view. But if you show up with an open mind ready to rebel – even (possibly especially) if you don’t know you’re there to rebel – then watching the drove of dancers joined together for Synapse proves to be a great time.
"PURPOSE" STRUGGLES TO SATISFY Don't call it a comeback for Bieber
JACOB HIRSOHN OPINION EDITOR Justin Bieber’s return to prominence in 2015 has been as engaging as it has been genuinely surprising. With any great fall in popular culture, there must be a rise to follow; but for Bieber to spend 2014 constantly in the headlines for everything but his music, just to turn it around and become a more prominent figure in music than ever in 2015 could not have been predicted. Bieber’s turnaround started with “Where Are U Now,” his cameo on “Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack U.” It was certainly not the first good song Bieber had put out, but it was the first that had been universally accepted as so. It Trojan-horsed Bieber back onto the radio and allowed people to save face by accepting the troubled Canadian into their hearts while pretending just to like Skrillex and Diplo. The lineage of “Where Are U Now” can be traced all throughout Bieber’s fourth studio album, “Purpose,” and it’s a better album for it. The album starts off on an unsustainably strong run: after album opener “Mark My Words” — more of a mission statement than a full-blown song — “Purpose” first burns through the four singles released previous to the album, including the biggest song of Bieber’s career, “What Do You Mean?," and arguably the best song of the year, the Skrillex-produced “Sorry.” These are expectedly two of the best songs on the album. “What Do You Mean?” and “Sorry” are both great songs but exist within boundaries that it’s unsurprising to hear Bieber
succeeding in. They are both descendants of “Where Are U Now” in different but obvious ways: “What Do You Mean?” finds its roots in the subtleties of Skrillex and Diplo’s track, where as “Sorry” indulges in its explosiveness. “What Do You Mean?” is an adult pop-ballad with forward propulsion; “Sorry” is an unabashed banger. The final single, “Love Yourself,” released just a day before the album, succeeds in a way I never expected from Bieber. In the past, Bieber thrived when he was goofy and innocent (“Baby”), sensual/imitating Justin Timberlake (“Boyfriend”) or braggadocious (“Confident”). He had never found fertile ground in being serious, until he and Ed Sheeran co-penned “Love Yourself.” It makes sense, as the song is built around the most resonant line Bieber has crooned in his career: “My momma don’t like you and she likes everyone/ and I don’t like to admit that I was wrong.” Bieber drives home the emotion with his strongest vocal performance on the album. “Purpose” follows up its excellent run of singles with another strong track, R&B banger “Company.” After that is where “Purpose” begins to stumble. “No Pressure” features a mediocre melody and vocals and highlights one of the major weaknesses of the album: its guest list. Any redeemable elements of “No Pressure” are overshadowed by an absolutely atrocious cameo from Detroit person and alleged rapper Big Sean. “I know you don’t wanna talk right/We’ve been on and off like
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crosslights/You heard I’m playin’ with them hoes like I golf, right?/When I touch you I get frostbite/Girl you’re so cold, so cold, so cold” are the real, actual first bars of Sean’s verse. The only other rapper who appears on the album is Travis Scott, a hot name who is out of place on the album and underperforms on “No Sense.” After Bieber’s great 2013 mixtape, “Journals,” featured excellent turns from Chance the Rapper, Lil Wayne, and Future, I expected better. Really, the only positive of the back half of “Purpose” — besides a surprise cameo from “Where Are U Now” — is the Halseyfeaturing “The Feeling.” The most unique song on the record and the only album cut that can truly hang with the singles. Other than that, we get “Life Is Worth Living,” a ballad which is equal parts silly and boring. Album closer “Purpose” suffers from the same over-sentimentality, even before it transitions from song into an emotional and confusing speech from Bieber. “Children” is abysmal lyrically and lacking an interesting melody but is redeemed by a hell-of-a beat from Skrillex. @THE_CORSAIR •
It’s a disappointing development for the most anticipated pop record since Taylor Swift’s “1989.” It really speaks to the game of setting expectations in pop music. If “What Do You Mean?” had been the only song released previous to the album, it’s likely it would inspire a much stronger reaction. But the audience’s relationship to the album is bound to be different when they have already heard 5 of the 6 best songs on the album. Instead of being disappointed though, return to late last year, when Bieber’s stock was at an all-time-low. He had just released “Home To Mama,” a song which made no waves whatsoever. Back then, there was no reason to think Bieber could release a record as fun, charming, and versatile as “Purpose” mostly is. Maybe he and Scooter Braun did a poor job managing expectations by releasing all of the best music before the album dropped. But maybe it’s our fault; maybe we should have looked at that absolutely horrendous album cover and thought, “Well, there’s a chance Bieber has some growing left to do yet.”
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"Show them that I'm looking at hot guys instagrams backstage, I want them to know what I'm doing!" ChuChi Janes, a performer in Synapse Dance Theater. (September Dawn Bottoms/The Corsair)
Derrick Paris and Drew Deason quickly do a costume change before the curtain drop. "I don't want to try and bow in this thing!" Says Mrs. Deason. (September Dawn Bottoms/The Corsair)
Barbara Rain completes some last minute touches on Kozue Kasahara's costume in preparation for Synapse's
The excitement backstage on Synapse's opening night is bubbling as Dancers prepare for the opening act Behind
opening night on November 6th 2015 at SMC's performing arts campus in Santa Monica. (September Dawn
The Wall choreographed by Karen McDonald. Yu Sagisaka, Janessa Serate and Isabella Pruna are just a few of
Bottoms/The Corsair)
the eight dancers in the opening number. (September Dawn Bottoms/The Corsair)
BACKSTAGE AT SYNAPSE
Barbara Rain, the costume designer, is in the hallway just outside of the dressing room making last minute touches to a few of the costumes, ”The dancers here are just really professional," she says. "I'm really astounded by their togetherness. Usually they all huddle together before a show and talk about how they are a team and in this together. They're great.” Performers traipse up the stairs, past the television displaying a live feed of the performance and gather in the left wing to wait for the cue to enter stage. The mood becomes frantically quixotic. Small pockets of dancers clutter off to the side to rehearse one last time and confirm the choreography. The
rest embrace each other in an uplifting, encouraging huddle. As the night progresses on stage, so does the vibe backstage. The performers flow almost as one entity, constantly keeping one another in check. What starts out as a buzzing electricity is slowly churned into exhausted pride. The exhaustion comes partly from the performance itself and partly from the spastic scurry into yet another costume change. The pride sets in when they exit the stage and the cheers from the audience reverberate backstage. The spirit is as alive and real as the camaraderie. This is their night and they're in it together.
by resigning. They had used a combination of activism tactics including a hunger strike, an occupation of the campus quad, and a sympathy strike from the football team to achieve this goal. It turns out Wolfe had only committed one crime: not being god. He was not able to have the ability to will other people – most who weren’t students under his charge or on his campus, at least one of whom was drunk – to not be angry and say mean words and racial slurs at minority students. Nor did he resign in exactly the way they wanted, as Wolfe’s plea to, "...use this resignation to heal, not to hate, as we move forward”, fell on deaf ears because he hadn’t met their demand to, “acknowledge his white male privilege, [and] recognize that systems of
oppression exist.” Despite “winning,” the students refused to stop occupying the university’s public quad. This led to a confrontation between Concerned Student 1950 activists and the media, involving Mizzou students and faculty using aggressive tactics (that include assault) to shove two student journalists out of the section of the quad they had annexed as a “media safe space." After video of the incident went viral, the commentariat flung their Op-Eds – as well as another viral video of a Yale student screaming at a professor – from both the left and right side of the spectrum. It’s the right that had the easy victory here. Every piece by folks on the left that
SEPTEMBER BOTTOMS PHOTOGRAPHER Perfectly made-up faces and tightly wrapped hair buns. Classically cluttered dressing tables and clothing racks lined with costumes under shiny plastic covers. Limber students sprawled out on the floor stretching. Dancing, giggling. The latest pop tunes blare and echo throughout the dingy underground room below the stage, feeding the electricity in the air and radiating off of the perform-
ers backstage of Synapse. It's opening night. Some exhale a heavy, nervous sigh while gazing into the mirror at their makeup one last time to make sure it’s perfect. Others like Jayna Goins seem perfectly at ease and ready to give it all they’ve got. “Oh I don’t get nervous," she says, "the only thing that makes me nervous is driving in traffic.”
FROM MIZZOU TO PARIS, FEAR WON LAST WEEK ADAM THOMAS MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Fear dominates conversation around turmoil Three things became crystal clear over the last week. First, you can usually tell which political side is losing an argument by how much extraneous justification shows up in Op-Eds online. The side that has to spend more time explaining why what they’re defending is good before they can attack their
opposition is likely losing the public’s confidence. This was exemplified by the events at University of Missouri, and the subsequent protests that erupted at a number of colleges. At the University of Missouri, a large protest from a student activist group calling themselves “Concerned Student 1950” – a reference to when the school became desegregated – gained national headlines once they had convinced Tim Wolfe, the University’s President, to satisfy their demands
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has supported the student activists has tried to justify the fascistic tendency of these students to shut down opinions they don’t agree with. They also had to equivocate about why the 1st amendment isn’t important; a rather tough job for journalists whose entire job depends on this amendment. The right simply has had to point out facts the left won’t. A claim that Wolfe had hit Jonathan Butler, the hunger striking activist, with his car evaporated when looking at the tape: Butler is clearly jumping in front of a barely moving vehicle. Another claim by Mizzou AS president Payton Head that the KKK had been sighted on campus was later retracted as, in Head’s own words, “misinformation.” Many also pointed out that it is more than a little ludicrous for the same student body that elected Head, who is both black and gay, to now be deemed a bastion of intolerance and bigotry. Still, these students fought on in the media spotlight while protests across the country began erupting over similar issues. But then the world stopped paying attention to the screeching of proto-fascist students who want to force their George Wallace-like “Segregation Now, Safe-Space Forever” politics upon often obsequious faculty. Not because anyone realized that perhaps letting primarily upper class students speak as if they’re oppressed because they can’t handle
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reality is a bad idea, but because Paris became the latest victim to the recurring tragedy of Islamic extremist terrorism. There were the usual op-eds from the media of course, and much could be predicted well in advance. The right calls for strict border controls and swift and bloody revenge; the left for open borders and staying our hand. But there’s an additional and unexpected factor at play on social media that’s nudging a large degree of sentiment. While few noticed it at first, another viral video began making the rounds at about the same time things were heating up at Mizzou. It’s called “With Open Gates: The forced collective suicide of European nations.” It’s a slickly edited together anti-Syrian Refugee/ Muslim Immigrant propaganda piece made by the “/pol/”, a sub-forum of the website 8chan – otherwise known as one of the homes of internet right-wing nationalism. The 20 minute video cuts together a number of clips of Syrian and North African migrants entering Europe in massive numbers with those of crimes caused by the situation. The obvious intent is to prey on fears that Europe is being invaded by an Islamic horde that they must resist. Despite the video being very blatant propaganda pushed by people who think Hitler was fine, thanks, the very real attack on Paris happening so shortly afterwards – along with reports from Greece that at least one of the attackers was hiding among
migrants – allowed this cinematic call-toarms for a European vs. Muslim race-war to quickly sky-rocket to over six-million views online over a number of sites. That’s probably not good unless you’re itching for endless war for the next generation or two. Which leads us to the second observation of last week: nuance doesn’t just die on the internet, people murder it for advantage. Activists on the far left are pushing, ultimately, to give up one of our most important rights for the sake of feelings and a version of equality that strikes most older observers as very Maoist. The commentary you’ll find online will label you as the worst racist that ever lived if you don’t agree that everyone’s a victim of something. Activists on the far right are pushing to return to authoritarianism in order to save humanity from "barbarism and chaos," trending toward fascist methods. The commentary on the right side of the social media landscape will label you a cowardly traitor if you want to find a solution that isn’t a prelude to world war three. Both are using racial tensions as a cudgel. Both are seeking to strike the flames of hatred. Both are stemming from and feeding fear, often from each other. That’s the verdict on last week: fear won. But not because of terrorists. It was already there and waiting before Friday’s horrible tragedy. We were pushing
it online for all the world to see, no matter what side we were on. All you had to do was look at social media and follow a hashtag to an op-ed or a video. It’s this final observation that’s the most disturbing of all - that when we use our fears to drive us toward our goal, it makes these same fears easy to access by those who know how to do so. Not just by terrorists, but by whoever our opponents are this week, or the next week, or the one after that. But all is not lost. These deep fears we have of each other can be combated. Find someone you disagree with – ideally adamantly so – and have a conversation with them. In person. Whether you’re from the right or the left or the center or from outside the box, one of the biggest reasons we’re losing our ability to empathize is that we’re no longer talking to each other face to face when we discuss politics. We avoid this as often as possible. Here’s the most important part of it all – listen to them. Actually try to do this. They won’t change your mind and you can’t change theirs: that’s not the point. The point is to remember something far more important. The people you’re blaming for all the problems in the world, whether they’re the loony liberal or the cruel conservative: they’re still people. Looking at the flood of fear that’s come out of the online sphere in the last week – that’s the most important thing we’re all forgetting.
DIVISIVE RHETORIC IS RUINING POLITICS How party fueding has brought forth Donald Trump and Ben Carson JACOB HIRSOHN OPINION EDITOR The race for the Republican presidential nomination has been a media phenomenon for many reasons, most of which you already know. It has received an inordinate amount of attention to the Democratic side, which, if it weren’t for Bernie Sander’s rise, could have gone unreported altogether. The Republican race has been so bizarre, even liberal media outlets don’t seem concerned with Clinton or Sanders. They seem to be under the impression that if they keep shouting “Carson is a liar!” or “Trump is racist!” a la Larry David, eventually people will hear it and somehow change their mind and their vote. But all it has done is fuel the fire. The ever-growing divide between liberals and conservatives has fostered the environment for Trump’s so-far-successful campaign. People who have spent the last seven years blaming President Obama for every problem they can perceive flock to a man who represents Obama’s opposite in so many ways. Enough with diversity, tolerance, progress; let’s Make America Great Again. While I disagree with these ideas, they make sense to me on a surface level. What has been much further beneath the surface is Carson’s appeal to voters. He’s not a traditional legitimate candidate at all. He doesn’t seem particularly well-versed in policy, beyond the obvious platforms of the party he belongs to. While Carson has made some comments about Muslim people that could easily and accurately be described as racist, that is where the similarities to Trump stop for the most part. Carson is not exactly Trump’s opposite either though. While people are attracted to Trump because of his contrast to Obama, Carson doesn’t seem to have an opposite. Carson doesn’t seem to be… anything. At all times, he has the presence of a relatively smart person who has stumbled into a presidential election and is trying to make himself look as competent as possible. He
lacks the passion, charisma, or ideas that made Sanders and Trump so popular. All he has really done are outrageous things that make Democrats upset. And after watching months of Trump, it’s easy to think that might be as valuable an asset as any for a Republican presidential candidate in 2015. How many times has Trump said something that would have killed any other candidate’s campaign? He started his campaign off by calling Mexican people rapists; but through all the outrage, he came out on top of the polls. There seems to be a cycle: candidate makes mistake, opposition criticizes, candidate’s poll numbers improve. This is the nature of political discourse during the 2016 election. Affairs between the two parties and their respective followers have become so divided that the “opposing” party’s anger reads as encouragement, regardless of its inspiration. It doesn’t matter what Trump did to make Democrats mad; if you’re pissing off the bad guys, you’re a good guy. Political discussion, especially on the internet, has come to resemble the way we talk about sports. People treat their favorite political party the way they treat their local basketball team. It’s not about analyzing what they do, criticizing or considering. They are the best, and everyone else stinks. Every time someone calls Obama a socialist, or talks broadly in non-specifics about conservatives “ruining the country,” it’s no different than booing the visiting team or a Lakers fan tweeting “RINNNNGGGZZZ.” Politics aren’t meant to be consumed the same way sports are. The fun of having a favorite sports team is that you can invest yourself in it highly, and say whatever you want, all while knowing the stakes are fairly low. The stakes are high when it comes to
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Illustration by AJ Parry
politics, and words matter. The origin of this type of rhetoric and thinking is, of course, the political parties themselves. It could be seen during George W. Bush’s presidency. Democrats crafted the conversation about whether W was the worst president of all time. He became a running joke among the liberal community, and was demonized to no end during the 2008 election. It has only escalated during Obama’s time in office, along with the rise of 24 hour news networks. It’s been truly astounding to watch Fox News leave their “how dare you criticize the president” attitude in the past when talking about Obama. While the media’s manipulation of political rhetoric is damaging, it is understandable. Their job is to attract viewers and make money, and the easiest way to do that is to create teams: Team Conservative and Team Liberal. Once you figure out what team you root for, you know which network to watch, and that network will tell you what you want to hear. You’ll feel like you’re being educated, while you’re really being pandered to. It creates a stubbornness that can only come from having your views validated by some sort of higher power. @THE_CORSAIR •
The intentions of networks like Fox News or MSNBC are obvious, but they are also appropriate. The same can not be said about politicians feeding the same type of rhetoric. While the intentions of politicians creating a narrative where the opposing party is the enemy are obvious as well, it is ruining any chance the government has at making change, and bringing reasonable political discourse to a screeching halt. Given that Democrats have had the sitting president for the last 7 years, Republicans have been the party more guilty of this. Their willingness to blame all of the country’s problems on Obamacare, and regularly threaten — or even enact — government shutdowns to prevent Obama from accomplishing anything has fostered the culture that created Carson and Trump’s campaigns. They have been looking 4 years ahead since the moment Obama was sworn in. They thought they could win in 2012, but they couldn’t. So during Obama’s second term, they doubled down. In return, they’ve gotten this massive field of misfit toy candidates. It seems they’re currently trying to will Marco Rubio into being the frontrunner. But in the current landscape of their party, Rubio may be too good a candidate to get any attention.
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OPINION
VOLUME 110 ISSUE 08 • NOVEMBER 18, 2015 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
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10-0: SMC FOOTBALL CRUSHES THIS SEASON
Recent Utah commit, Santa Monica College's quarterback, Troy Williams, crushes the football to represent the strongest Corsair football season since 1980. (Jose Lopez/The Corsair)
JOSH SHURE SPORTS EDITOR Looking up at the scoreboard at the south end of Corsair Field as a loud siren echoes throughout the field, the Santa Monica College football beat LA Pierce College 63-0 successfully conclude the regular season undefeated. Ten games, ten victories. From the first game of the season, an away game in Palm Desert on September 5th until the last game of the season, a 63 point shutout at home against LA Pierce, the SMC football team has had one of the best seasons in school history. Coach Lindheim has coached the Corsair football team since 2009, have now won his 5th consecutive conference championship. "From a statistical standpoint, the '15 team has been the most dominant," said Lindheim. Lindheim is correct, statistically this year's team is beyond dominant; the numbers never lie. The SMC Corsairs are first in the state in points per game (49.8), yards per game (517.7), passing yards per attempt (9.5) and third down conversion rate (47%). Furthermore, they are second in state in both total rushing touchdowns (34) and defensive interceptions (20). The numbers only paint half of the picture of how good the Corsairs
have been this season. On both sides of the ball, offense and defense, the Corsairs have numerous standout players that have shown themselves to have the potential to continue their collegiate football careers to the next levels of the sport. The star player for Santa Monica has been starting quarterback Troy Williams. The former two-time City Section player of the year while at Narbonne High School was a "bounce-back" transfer prior to this season after leaving University of Washington. In search for another chance to reach the upper echelons of collegiate football, Williams has consistently performed as one of the best junior college football players in not just the state, but in the country. In the most recent junior college recruiting rankings, 247sports.com has ranked Troy Williams as the #14 best junior college football player in the nation. In nine games for the Corsairs (miss one game due to illness), Williams has thrown 2,367 yards and 24 touchdowns, while also adding 7 touchdowns on the ground. His phenomenal performances have earned him an athletic scholarship offer from currently NCAA Division I-FCS top 25 ranked program,
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the University of Utah, where Williams has committed to playing at next season. On offense, the Corsairs have not been one dimensional, they have beating teams through both the air as well as through the ground. So far this season, the running backs for Santa Monica have tallied a total of 2,179 yards and found the end zone 34 times. The leading rusher for the Corsairs has been sophomore running back, Roger Jones. After leading the team in rushing yards last year, Jones repeated this season by rumbling for a 908 yards on the season. However, the most eye-popping The Santa Monica College Corsair men's football team sophmore stat for Roger has been his ability defensive back, Aaron Corbin (4), makes a big tackle to stop a first to find the end zone. Jones has down conversion against The Los Angeles Pierce College Brahma rushed for a whopping 15 touchBulls sophmore tight end, Trevor Kanteman (9), for the final game of downs. the regular season. Corsairs win 63-0 at home in Santa Monica. On the other side of the ball, (Daniel Bowyer/The Corsai) the Corsairs defense has had numerous players show that they have game changing, playmaking in pass coverage as evident by his two inabilities. Sophomore linebacker Marquis terceptions, one of which was returned Lomax has lead the Corsairs in tackles 98-yards for a pick-six in the last game (46), but has also shown that he can perform against LA Pierce. (Continue Next Page)
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SPORTS
VOLUME 110 ISSUE 08 • NOVEMBER 18, 2015 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
The Santa Monica College Corsair men's football team sophmore runningback, Damon
The Santa Monica College Corsair men's football team freshman defensive lineman, Daniel Pedroarias (97), is in jubilation after a huge win against The Los Angeles Pierce College
Riggins (5), makes a reception for a first down against The Los Angeles Pierce College
Brahma Bulls for the final game of the regular season. Corsairs win 63-0 at home in Santa Monica, Calif. on Saturday. (Daniel Bowyer/The Corsair)
Brahma Bulls freshman defensive back, Ahmauree Hastings (12), for the final game of the regular season. Corsairs win 63-0 at home in Santa Monica. (Daniel Bowyer/The Corsair)
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The other team standout playmakers on the defense, Max Lyons and Birdel Hodge, both played together at Crenshaw High School and continue to showcase their talents. The defensive back of the Crenshaw Connection, Max Lyons, is second on the team in tackles (41), has a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, three interceptions and had a 100-yard kick off return against LA Pierce. Linebacker Birdel Hodge has
been laying it on opposing quarterbacks all season. Hodge has registered an astonishing ten sacks this season. Even with all the talent that Santa Monica possesses, the Corsairs will have their hands full when they square up against a Victor Valley College Rams team that has won 9 of their 10 games this season. "I feel good about our team this year and our chances, even though we're facing a program that has won 20 of their last 21 games," said coach Lindheim in anticipation for this upcoming Saturday's game.
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The Corsairs and Rams are facing off for the SCFA American Division Championship Bowl this Saturday, November 21st at 6 p.m. If the Corsairs can pull through with a victory this weekend, it will be the first undefeated season for the Corsairs since 1980. Back in 1980, the coach was Pat Young, who was previously the quarterback for the Corsairs in the 1958 Junior Rose Bowl victory that gave SMC their only junior college championship in school history. Sans Pat Young, this Corsair team might
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arguably be the best team fielded by SMC in history. The Corsairs have a chance to etch their names into the school's history books after what has been an unbelievable season. There is no better way to put it than coach Gifford Lindheim phrased it himself, "I'm excited to see how the story ends..."
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/THECORSAIRONLINE 11/9/2015 4:32:21 PM