Vol111 issue04

CORSAIR

MARCH 23, 2016 | VOLUME 111 ISSUE 04 | SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

FIRST COPY OF THE CORSAIR IS FREE, EACH COPY AFTER IS 25

DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN CORSAIR STADIUM NOT UP TO SEISMIC CODE (p.8)

STUDENTS REMEMBER PROFESSOR JIM STRAMEL (p.6) OP-ED DUEL TRUMP EDITION: SUPERHERO OR SUPER VILLAIN? (p.14)

SANTA MONICA LOCAL STABBED AT KKK PROTEST (p.3)

SMC THEATER DEPARTMENT BRINGS OLD HOLLYWOOD TO MAIN STAGE (p.12)

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CONTENT

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 04 • MARCH 23, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

EDITORIAL S,TAFF nik lucaj ........................................... Editor-in-Chief

corsair.editorinchief@gmail.com

bailey peraita............................... Managing Editor

corsair.managing@gmail.com

adam robert thomas ....................... News Editor

corsair.news@gmail.com

alissa nardo .............................. Health & Lifestyle

corsair.lifestylepage@gmail.com

grace gardner .............................. Opinion Editor

corsair.opinionpage@gmail.com

josh shure ...........................................Sports Editor

corsair.sportspage@gmail.com

jacob hirsohn ..........Arts & Entertainment Editor

corsair.calendarpage@gmail.com

alexander melendez ............. Multimedia Editor

corsair.multimediadept@gmail.com

jose lopez .............................................Photo Editor

corsairphotoeditor@gmail.com

josue martinez .................. Assistant Photo Editor

corsairphotoeditor@gmail.com

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

socialmedia.corsair@gmail.com

samantha elms................................ Design Editors Alissa Nardo

corsair.designteam@gmail.com

CORSAIR STAFF Josue Martinez, Daniela Barhanna, Ryanne Mena, Daniel J. Bowyer, Yanessa Alamillo, Princella Armelin, Michelle Ayala, Troy Barnes, Luis Baza, Vendela Bergamoni, Julia Bergstrom, September Bottoms, Elva Castillo, Cliff Chang, Siena Deck, Adriana Delgado, Jessica Dupree, Daniel Han, Jerome Harris, Apostol Kanev, Ashleen Knutsen, Yohei Koyama, Leyla Leiva, Ka Leong, Brian Lewis, Elizabeth Mattingly, Sebastian Mayorga, Chris Monterrosa, Cyril Palma, Manuel Portugal, Monica Ramirez, Joseph Silva, Kyle Toelken, Julia Westman

A young boy plays with a fire truck in the dirt while community members gather for the Latasha Harlins 25th anniversary vigil at Figueroa and 91st in South Central, Los Angeles last Wednesday, March 16, 2016. Latasha Harlins, a 15 year-old girl, was shot in the back of the head after an altercation over orange juice with shopkeeper Soon Ja Du. This was one of the incidents that gave way to the South Central Riots in 1992. (Jose Lopez)

FACULTY ADVISORS FRONT COVER

Saul Rubin & Gerard Burkhart

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A large piece of concrete is missing, exposing rusty rebar on one of the steps leading up the south side of the Corsair Field stadium seats on Sunday, March 13, 2016.

Photo by Kyle Toelken

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR NIK LUCAJ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF To be a good journalist, you have to sacrifice present comfort for higher ideals.

You have to be willing to ask people, for whom you hold no ill will, difficult questions. This is why reporters get a bad rep with the general public. It's not our job to be polite. It’s our job to find out and report the news.

This is not easy. Simply asking strangers questions, even easy ones for fluffy nothing pieces, can get your chest pounding like someone's doing a timpani roll on your breastplate. But we don't have a choice.

We have to ask questions, especially the tough ones. We have to be confrontational when there’s something to be confronted, because if we aren’t, we fail.

Our job is to keep a watchful eye and hold people accountable, especially those in power. In return, we are also held accountable for every declarative statement we make and every mistake we print. And we’re human which makes us inherently susceptible to error.

But nonetheless we must remain diligent and point at the things that we consider important.

In this issue, our eye fixes itself on Corsair Field. While the field itself was fully renovated in 2008, the venerable athletic facility’s stands have been neglected and allowed to deteriorate.

Built in 1948, it has seldom received the attention it deserves and has now become a legitimate danger should an earthquake ever occur during a game or event when the bleachers are filled. The concrete is crumbling, the metal is rusting and the sign that says, “...a premier facility for everyone from students to world class athletes,” has become a delusional exaggeration.

Our Sports Editor Josh Shure digs beneath the surface to find that the school is complicit in the brushing aside of the potential danger that this could pose. He investigates the depth of this procrastination.

Along with the Corsair Field, the entire Athletic Program seems to be crumbling.

Women’s Soccer coach Aaron Benditson

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was recently fired for recruiting violations which also resulted in a one year probation for the team.

Benditson is the fourth SMC athletic coach to either leave or be let go in the past two months. With four coaching vacancies, one team on probation and an athletic facility that’s falling apart, serious questions about the future of the heretofore successful SMC Athletic Program have to be raised.

Also in this issue, our Opinion Editor Grace Gardner gets an interview with Tom Bibiyan, one of the men who was stabbed during the Klu Klux Klan protest in Anaheim in late February. The former SMC student and local Santa Monica resident recounts the hectic day, which for him,​included two stab wounds and a night handcuffed to a hospital bed.

Our A&E Editor Jacob Hirsohn spent two and a half hours of his Saturday night watching the Theatre Department’s latest production “Once in a Lifetime.” The old Hollywood themed story sported some great design and costumes, but Jacob was less than pleased with the play itself. He offers up his conclusions in his usual pithy prose.

The Op­Ed Duel reaches the final rel@THE_CORSAIR •

evant candidate in this year’s presidential race (sorry Kasich, we doubt you’ll make it until our next issue). Our News Editor Adam Thomas returns to the ring, this time offering up some supportive facts for The Donald. His challenger is Staff Writer Troy Barnes who looks to expose Trump for the evil super villain that he is. Jacob Hirsohn throws in his two cents in a Twitter sidebar that makes me question my decision of keeping him on staff.

On a somber note, long time SMC professor Jim Stramel died last Thursday after a short battle with leukemia. He was a well respected and much loved member of the SMC family and will be a missed presence on campus. We dedicated a full spread to kind things that students and faculty had to say about the late philosophy professor.

Alci Rengifo, former Editor-­in­-Chief of The Corsair, recalls a dispute that he and the professor once had and writes a piece that explores how you can maintain respect for someone even through intense conflict.

We’re taking a one week break after this issue so we’ve offered up some extra content to hold you over until the next one. We hope you enjoy it.

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NEWS

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 04 • MARCH 23, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

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SMC ALUMNUS STABBED IN FRAY WITH KKK GRACE GARDNER OPINION EDITOR

An exclusive talk with a stabbing victim from the Anaheim protest

Before Feb. 27, SMC alumnus Tom Bibiyan, 34, was primarily known for his involvement in the Green Party.

“I’m running for city council in the 26th district of Los Angeles,” Bibiyan said. “I will be on the ballot. This has kind of been a speed bump in all that.”

The "speed bump" he referred to? Being stabbed by a Klu Klux Klan member at the recent and short lived KKK rally in Anaheim, where 13 people were arrested after a riotous melee occurred between KKK members and counter-protesters. Video of the fight from major local news outlets and independent citizen journalists featuring Bibiyan bleeding on the sidewalk soon went viral online.

“It's kind of a weird thing to happen to somebody,” Bibiyan said. "I went to private schools growing up. Getting into fights with Klu Klux Klan members is a bit of a stretch."

Bibiyan had been invited to the KKK rally in Anaheim's Pearson Park on Facebook by Green Party members he worked with. While the Green Party never appeared at the rally, members of another group — the "Anti Fascist League Against Nazism and Fascism," otherwise known as ANTIFA — did. The international group that opposes all fascist ideology, groups and individuals had ample warning of the event as the Klan had advertised it on Facebook and Twitter weeks in advance.

According to Bibiyan, a group composed of Hispanics, Native Americans and African Americans as well as members of ANTIFA were waiting for the Klan members at their preset meeting point of Pearson Park in Anaheim.

After arriving in a black SUV to unload signs and encountering the crowd of angry counter-protesters who outnumbered them, most of the Klansmen fled the scene.

“Without any police presence, it got violent,” said Bibiyan, who insisted that there were no police at the rally prior to the brawl breaking out.

Daren Wyatt, Anaheim Police Department Public Information Officer, refuted Bibiyan's claim, saying that officers had been there before the violence erupted.

“It may be because it’s a large park people didn't see where they were… that they were focused primarily on the KKK people when they arrived,” Wyatt said. “If we had 30 officers on the north end of the park, and this happened on the south side of the park, we’d be asked why we weren't on the south side. Just a fact of life.”

According to Wyatt, it had been police who initially reported the violence, calling for additional response.

He reported that within 90 seconds, the first of the additional units were on the scene and that six more had arrived within two minutes. Following the initial two minutes, officers continued to arrive. Wyatt said that there was a standard Incident Action Plan — a prepared outline to handle emergencies — in place for the rally.

Watching video footage of the event shot by Brian Levin, a professor from CSU San Bernardino, there is a significant period of delay between when the fighting broke out and when police first arrived to break up the melee. Whether this is due to the police relocating from across the park or being in transit to the scene remains in dispute.

Bibiyan was the last of three people stabbed in the melee and was hit twice before police showed up. Bibiyan said he chased after Charles Donner, the Klansman he says stabbed him, and “literally kicked him in the ass,” backed with photographic proof on his Instagram.

“The officers saw that part. They didn’t see the stabbing part, so [police] tackled me first,” Bibiyan said. “The guy with the knife, Donner, was just walking. Mind boggling right?”

in brief Women's Soccer Put on Probation, Coaching Graveyard Grows The SMC Women's Soccer program was put on probation and Women’s Soccer Coach Aaron Benditson was fired due to a recruiting violation.

The Western State Conference ruled that Benditson broke the California Community College Athletic Association bylaw 2.3.1, which limits the locations that coaches can recruit from.

SMC’s Women’s Soccer will not be able to compete in postseason competition for one year and has

Tom Bibiyan, who was stabbed by a member of the Ku Klux Klan, shows off his scar in Santa Monica, Calif. on Tuesday, March 22, 2016.

(Photo by: Chris Monterrosa)

In the video, Bibiyan is grabbed from behind and pulled back by a police officer onto the ground where he then proceeded to shout profanities at Donner. Another photo on his Instagram shows Donner walking away while an official grabs at Bibiyan's arm. Donner was arrested and put in custody but was not charged. Following the brawl, protesters convened the next day, Feb. 28, at the Anaheim Police Department to accuse the department of being complicit in the violent turn of events.

“The fact that he was so confident about stabbing a bunch of people, like really fearless about it, makes me think that they had some sort of arrangement with the police or the city,” Bibiyan said. “Personally, I feel as though we were kind of lured in a little bit. Thirty people came into a very controversial subject, without a single police officer present, and we get charged. We get put into custody. The Klanspeople, who stabbed people, nearly killed people, weren't charged with anything. It's absurd. It just seems a bit suspect that they didn’t charge him.”

Wyatt called suspicions that police were complicit in the violence "ludicrous." According to him, after police assessed various videos, still photographs and took into account interviews from both sides as well as independent witnesses, they believed there was “clear and convincing evidence” that Donner had acted in self defense, which he was legally allowed to do.

In one of the most gruesome photos from the event, Bibiyan is featured lying on the concrete with his shirt up, covered in blood.

“In the moment, you’re kind of in disbelief. You’re in a little bit of denial. You’re like huh, okay,” Bibiyan said.

“I don’t know, I thought for a second, maybe this is it, this is how I died. Ku Klux Klan member just killed me, actually. I was like, that’s a shitty way to go.”

Despite having just been stabbed, Bibiyan found himself still up for jokes.

had restrictions placed on recruitment.

According to Athletic Director Reggie Ellis, the Athletic Department was originally made aware of the violation in February and Benditson was fired last week.

With the recent departure of Football Coach Gifford Lindheim for El Camino, Cheerleading Coach Jessie Moorehead being suspended from duties without pay, and the Women’s Volleyball Coach Nicole Ryan leaving for Brentwood High School, this latest loss for the athletic program means that there have now been four vacated coaching positions in the Athletic Department within the last two months.

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"I was like, 'That motherfucker.' And they were like, 'Sir, breathe, just breathe.' I was dressed pretty nice that day, and they had to cut off all of my clothes. I was like, 'Are you kidding me?' I was joking around with them, like, “This was a really nice t-shirt you just ruined.”

He even managed to give his girlfriend a hard time.

“I texted my girlfriend that I got stabbed by the Klu Klux Klan, 'lol.' And she was like, 'Why the fuck did you put lol?' And I was like, 'It's kind of funny. The KKK just stabbed me. Nice.'”

That night, Bibiyan remained in custody and was handcuffed to the hospital bed under the supervision of Officer Troy Hill. “[The nurse] was like, ‘You don’t seem like the kind of guy to get stabbed twice. You look like a computer programmer,’” Bibiyan said.

Bibiyan attended Yeshiva University High School, where he learned about fascism in the form of Nazism.

As someone of Jewish heritage, the message of the antifascist protesters resonated with him.

“Our police — our politicians kind of enable this. They say, 'Oh, you can peacefully assemble,'" Bibiyan said.

"They have a right to free speech, but for people of color or of different ethnicities that have been victimized by this particular group over the years, it doesn't sit well.”

However, Wyatt maintains that the police handled the situation to the best of their ability and chose the correct course of action. Wyatt said, “We can't decide that we don't like a certain groups' message and therefore treat them any differently."

Though the tumultuous event may end up raising his political profile for the upcoming election, Bibiyan said if he had known what he knows now, he wouldn't have gone to the event. He said, “I wish it had gone differently, as much as I’ve enjoyed my 15 minutes of fame."

Chief of Police Concerned Over Tardy Crime Reports Speaking to The Corsair, Police Chief Johnnie Adams warned that several recent reports of crimes occurring to students received by the SMCPD had been quite tardy. A bike stolen near the Math Complex on March 16 was reported over a day later, and a case of a student having their tires slashed on March 2, was reported on March 17.

According to Adams, such late reporting of

Adams said, “If [students are] a victim of a crime I'd like them to report it to us. They may think it's minor, but by reporting to us and, if they report it to us in a timely manner, we can look at patterns and maybe change the way that we deploy our personnel so that we can make the campus safer. The more information that we gather and the more information that we have, the better strategies we can use to make the campus safer.”

For more stories go to Thecorsaironline.com

incidents of crime was hampering the SMCPD’s ability to investigate and apprehend potential suspects.

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NEWS

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 04 • MARCH 23, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

ROSS THE REVENUE REFORMER AS Director of Budget Management longs to leave lasting impact ADAM THOMAS NEWS EDITOR It’s 11:15 a.m. in Art complex room 214, and the March 22 forum for the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society has just begun. After a short introduction, arguably the most important student on SMC’s Associated Students Board of Directors takes center stage in front of the gathered crowd of over 100 honor students and begins his speech.

He begins nervously at first, but soon gets into a rhythm, talking about the struggles he’s seen between SMC administrators and student representatives over the past semester.

But this person is not Jesse Randel, AS Student Body President.

It’s the seemingly unassuming and always level-headed Samuel Ross, AS Director of Budget Management.

“Sometimes I see bullying behaviors where people [in administration] will prey on who they perceive as weak and they will take advantage of what they can, do what they can get away with, delay and obfuscate,” says Ross during his speech. “I think it's important to realize that we are liberated of so many constraints. We can always be honest. We can say this is a problem. We don't have to beat around the bush.”

Today, Ross is delivering a speech about the struggles he’s seen with an administration that won’t let “students step up and sit at the big kids table,” as a way to compel the attending honor students to take action and join student government. He does this while still trying to remain fair and remind them that administration isn’t evil, and that the best change is incremental and civil.

It’s another step in a long project. Quietly, week after week, Sam Ross has been slowly and carefully pushing for reform all semester long. And in one of the most important and oft neglected portions of governing AS bylaws — the financial policy.

Ross, a 27 year old Mechanical Engineering Major who says he’s always had a penchant for “nerdy” things like robotics clubs and once interned for Bear Stearns, has more power as the Director of Budget Management than most would think. Because if the AS is anything, it’s a bank. A source of funding for the numerous clubs and departments on campus that have plans for various activities, parties, and events

that draw from one of the largest budgets of any community college in the nation.

And Ross is, essentially, the one who holds the strings of that purse. The one who oversees the budget most directly. The seriously minded money man.

“He absolutely is better than me. I have no qualms in saying that. Everything in regards to fiscal budget — Sam is the master,” says Randel about just how invaluable Ross has been in the past year. “Sam keeps the money flowing."

For a long time though, Ross has seen a problem with the way fiscal policy works.

He’s been working diligently each and every week at Wednesday morning finance meetings held in the Cayton Center Board Room to identify numerous problems with the rules regulating the revenue AS takes in each semester through the AS fee most students don’t even realize they don’t have to pay.

“Ultimately it has to be simple. It has to be accessible,” says Ross about how he plans to overhaul the board’s policy on money management.

He details a number of key issues he wants to see addressed and talks excitedly of how he thinks fruitful solutions may be achieved. Stuff like mandated contract stipulations to ensure that no one breaks their word, creating a budget review committee in an effort to pass on important finance knowledge from one year’s board to the next and create a stronger sense institutional memory and drafting incentives for clubs to participate in more interesting activities.

“Maybe it's just being an official for a while, but I get sick of just approving pizza over and over again. There's money here that could be used for exciting and full projects so some sort of mechanism that I think encourages that would be helpful,” says Ross who then laughs.

And as for the actual proposals for funding? “The basic idea is: For big proposals, make it harder. For small proposals, make it easier,” says Ross.

It’s a process that’s taken the whole Spring Semester to research so far, and hopefully it will begin soon. Ross told The Corsair that the first special meeting to, as he says,

AS Director of Budget Managament, Sam Ross, addresses the SMC Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and encourages everyone to apply for the upcoming AS election on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Chris Monterrosa)

“get into the nitty gritty” of fiscal policy is tentatively scheduled for Monday, March 28.

But for today, Ross is trying to ensure that there will be another generation to take up whatever legacy he can leave behind this year with speeches that he admits are confrontational, though he hopes will still

present a fair portrait of SMC administration, knowing that they’re still people too.

Says Ross, “It's a balance to get people a little bit riled up, a little bit angry and to channel that anger into something positive, but not to be counterproductive. It needs to be, ultimately, a constructive process. We can't just be confrontational.”

FERG'S SMC VISIT CANCELLED A$AP Visit from popular rapper declined by administration JACOB HIRSOHN & ADAM THOMAS ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR & NEWS EDITOR SMC was recently approached with the opportunity to host an album preview for rising Harlem rapper A$AP Ferg’s new release “Always Strive and Prosper,” which would include an appearance from the rapper.

It was to be held in a room at the Cayton Center on the afternoon of Monday, March 22. The proposed event would have involved between 50 and 70 students at a time listening through headphones, and would have been free for students.

The event also would have been free for the college, saving the possible cost of police overtime, as Sony was covering the costs of the headphones and any other organizational aspects needed.

As you may have noticed though, this event did not happen.

Despite AS Director of Publicity Kishore Athreya working around the clock along with AS President Jesse Randel, the event was ultimately declined by administration, based largely on concerns about lack of security planning. “We had potential workarounds, we even planned out extra

money to pay for security," said Athreya. "The alumni was willing to sponsor it. We were trying to plan out if we could host it in one of their rooms. Effectively the final word was given by Mike Tuitasi. His reasoning was that we couldn’t plan out security for the event.”

In an email to Athreya, Tuitasi explained his decision: “Due to the nature of the activity, we would need to develop an Ops Plan that included additional security and crowd control. Since the event is scheduled for Monday, it doesn't allow much time for planning.”

SMC police chief Johnnie Adams expressed some concern over being able to bring in extra officers on short notice for overtime, but had not yet been approached for an Ops Plan when the event was shut down.

“There wasn’t an issue with an Ops Plan. It was a decision by the university not to do it on such short notice,” said Adams. “We didn’t even ask anybody to come in. We were just saying it required x amount of bodies. If no one was on vacation and they were able to come in, yes, it would have been possible.”

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Adams also explained that an Ops Plan where overtime is necessary usually requires about a week and a half to two weeks of planning, depending on the nature of the event.

Athreya’s initial email to a Sony representative and SMC administration was sent on March 16, and Tuitasi’s email declining the event was sent March 17. In the day between these emails, Athreya, the representative from Sony, and Dean of Student Life Dr. Nancy Grass had worked out a number of the event details.

Another concern brought up throughout the process was Women’s empowerment Month. “Because of the fact that some of [Ferg’s] music is controversial, and we’re having women’s empowerment month going on currently, and we didn’t want to send a mixed message,” said Athreya.

“In this case there were specific students, not administration, who thought, ‘Aren’t some of his lyrics misogynistic?’” said Randel. In Athreya’s initial email, he voiced this concern. It is ultimately unclear whether this played a role in Tuitasi’s decision. /THECORSAIRNEWS •

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NEWS

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 04 • MARCH 23, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

HOMELESS AGAIN

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Protesters rally against the City Council's decision to remove tiny houses for the homeless JULIA WESTMAN STAFF WRITER

A

group of around 40-50 protesters gathered outside of the Los Angeles City Hall midday on Friday, March 18, rallying against the City Council's decision to confiscate tiny houses built by Elvis Summers, the founder of the tiny houses and a dedicated non-profit activist, from city streets.

Summers has been building and donating the minihomes on wheels to the homeless as an initiative to provide temporary shelter for the city's poorest inhabitants.

“I guess the most heart breaking thing I can say is me and Elvis having to take the houses back from a lot of the people that were living finally comfortably,” Marisol Medina, architect of the tiny houses, said as she spoke up amongst the protesters.

The activists showed their support and alliance with the homeless as they united to protest around noon for almost one and a half hours, demanding that the City Council return the tiny houses.

In June 2015, the City Council and the mayor approved two new ordinances that allow authorities to confiscate encampments and other property belonging to the homeless on a 24-hour notice. The ordinances were implemented as a response to the rising rates of homelessness in Los Angeles and are meant to serve for the safety of the public.

Connie Llanos, spokeswoman for Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, said in a statement that the tiny houses are a safety hazard for the homeless as well as for the neighbors because activities such as drug use and prostitution have been found to occur.

Summers addressed this issue at the rally saying that it's unrealistic to claim that the houses are to blame for the already existing drug and prostitution problem among the homeless.

“That exists and has well before the tiny houses came along. Two separate issues. It's important. It needs to be addressed, but it has nothing to do with shelter,” Summers said.

“I understand some of the concerns from some of the home owners, from some of the local officials, some of the governmental officials. I get it. But our tiny homes is a step up from what it was,” said protester Brian Engelman, who himself has been part of the home owner association for many years.

Engelman said that the idea behind the tiny houses is to take things as they are and try to make them a little bit better until a permanent solution can be achieved.

While the City Council argues that the tiny houses are a poor solution in dealing with the homeless population, Summers and the other activists are not claiming that this is the ultimate solution.

“Tiny houses are not a permanent solution, it is a temporary bridge between the gutter and permanent housing,” Summers said.

“Permanent housing is

Maria Rodriguez (left), a member of LA Street Ministry, holds a sign while fellow member Stephanie Rivera (center) talks to Anthony Dennis (right) during the rally in support of the restoration of the tiny homes for the homeless in Los Angeles, Calif. on March 18, 2016. Dennis is one of the many people who had his tiny home taken away by the city. (Josue Martinez)

what's needed. But it's immoral and wrong for us to allow people to stay on the streets and in the gutters and not help them.”

“How inhuman do you have to be to say, 'I would rather you be actually sleeping on the street than in at least a comfortable little box,'” said Adam Kokesh, an author and activist who came all the way from Arizona to join the rally.

Before the rally began, a press conference was held in the City Hall which ended abruptly before allowing for questions, which stirred anger amongst the protesters.

“I wanted to ask [Councilman Curren D. Price Jr.], 'okay so councilman, you've spent millions and millions

of dollars fighting homelessness, and here comes Elvis Summers to throw pennies compared to what you've spent and he's providing the real solution,'” Kokesh said.

Kokesh also said that the decision made by the City Council to seize the tiny houses is their way of taking control and manipulating the situation.

“These are the desperate actions of a dying system, desperately clinging to the grasp of power it still has over people,” Kokesh said. “ We are here literally in the shadows of the banks that run the world. We are just miles away from Hollywood, the storytellers who tell the illusions that keep us enslaved. The absurd wealth that we are surrounded by in contrast to the poverty on the streets should really tell you something about how the system is set up and how it is designed to keep you down.”

The battle between the activists and the City Council has yet to be settled. Despite the setback, Summers and his fellow activists continue to sign homeless people up for housing and he will, if necessary, file a lawsuit against the city.

Summers said, “We can all work together. There are many many many ways that this can work for everybody.

And it doesn't take years, it just takes people to actually get off their asses and do something.”

A crowd gathers in front of Los Angeles City Hall in support of the restoration of the tiny homes for the homeless in Los Angeles, Calif on March 18, 2016. (Josue Martinez)

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6

REMEMBERING JIM STRAMEL

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 04 • MARCH 23, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

REMEMBERING Jim Stramel died on March 17 at the age of 56 after a battle with leukemia. The professor of philosophy was well loved by the student body and fellow faculty.

Students took to Facebook to pay their respects. The full obituary can be found at TheCorsairOnline.com.

"I had Prof. Stramel for Philosophy 3, Early Philosophers. Prof. Stramel had an incredible ability to make what these old white men [philosophers] said incredibly engaging; I can genuinely say that his class was the one I looked forward to attending the most. He always allowed us to ask questions and work our way through the material logically. Now, he would let you know if and where your logic ran astray; this irritated some students, but I always found it incredibly helpful and he really enabled me to grow and logically understand what a persuasive argument contains. There is no one else I know of who can take dense, hard to read, ancient greek philosophy and make it so fun as well as edifying. He truly enabled his students to grow intellectually.

The most pivotal piece of philosophy I learned from Prof. Stramel is that nothing perfect exists in reality; while we understand what the concept of a perfect triangle is and what it consists of, there is absolutely no physically real example of a truly "perfect" triangle; every single one has imperfections to some degree, even if you have to go to the atomic level. When applied to people and ethics, this same concept has really helped me to understand different opinions, points of view, and people in general; there is no one who will completely agree with me on everything, and when you start delineating the differences it all fades into different shades of grey. There is no reason to treat or love a human different than any other human; the differences may be great, but at the end of the day we are all imperfect forms, just as any physical triangle is an imperfect version of the perfect conceptual form of triangle. The differences become meaningless because they are ever present and impossible to order hierarchically. Prof. Stramel's specialty was ethics, and he helped me to clarify what the good life is for me, and what it means for me to be a good person.

Prof. Stramel was excellent at seeing people for the individuals they are.

He was one of a kind; I am so blessed to have been able to take his last full class, and I will miss him tremendously."

—Jesse Randel via Facebook comment "I have been very fortunate to have been surrounded by educators who were passionate about not only their subject but about their students as well.

Jim Stramel always wanted his students to think critically about how their actions affected others, why doing the right thing was important and how we could become good people. He was an incredible professor and friend. It's sad to think that I will no longer see him sitting in his office, surrounded by his books. But I will remember all the quirky jokes in class, the news paper snippets and the way he demanded that his students provided good arguments for their claims. He helped open my mind, and develop as a person and for that I am forever grateful. Thank you, Professor Stramel. You will be missed."

—Gabriel Davtyan via Facebook comment "I was in Jim Stramel's Philosophy 3 class during the fall of 2014. He had such a kind heart, a brilliant mind and a great sense of humor. I always looked forward to listening to what he had to say about any given subject. He was inspiring, thought-provoking and just overall a remarkable, one of a kind individual. He will be greatly missed and never forgotten."

—Nancy Berry via Facebook comment

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FROM A TEMPORARY AND UNWORTHY OPPONENT

ALCI RENGIFO CONTRIBUTING WRITER The critic Walter Benjamin once wrote, “There are perhaps paths that lead us again and again to people who have one and the same function for us.” He included among these functions the roles of pupil and master. For myself, Santa Monica College philosophy professor James Stramel, who passed away from leukemia on Thursday morning, achieved a kind of dual role. Throughout my time at SMC, the unique situation arose where Professor Stramel became both teacher and intellectual opponent.

During my first semester at SMC, in the spring of 2013, I attended Stramel’s sexual ethics class, Philosophy 5. Many students enrolled for this class based on the course description in the SMC catalogue. It promised inquiries into what is considered deviant sexual behavior or out of the mainstream practices (S&M, etc.). Many students immediately signed up thinking it would be a luridly fun time. However, the first day of class revealed that this wasn’t some course taught by a rebel wanting to get his kicks; it was going to be a serious, profound exploration of the philosophical approach to modern sexual relations.

Stramel was openly and proudly gay. He would make it a point to begin class with newspaper clippings displaying glaringly irrational, sometimes darkly comic stories about right-wing assaults on LGBT rights. The core of his class explored the idea that humans should have the freedom to live as they wish in an environment of mutual respect and understanding. The assigned readings were always a rich collection of various thinkers and texts. Studying was hard work, but as Hannah Arendt pointed out, to not think is a serious crime.

I still believe that in the shifting, over-sexualized world we are living in, where concepts like “hooking up” and “open relationships” are thrown around like candy, Stramel’s class revealed to students how in any cultural moment, the essence of ethics is never lost.

As a student wandering the mazes of a college campus, it was always refreshing to make a last minute visit to Stramel’s office and be welcomed with a warm, open attitude. I never once saw him turn a student away or dismiss any questions. When I joined The Corsair as a staff writer, I would approach him for a quote on a variety of topics and he was always eager to share his thoughts. In a piece I wrote about interracial dating titled “Love In A Time Of Diversity,” Stramel delivered a wonderfully egalitarian view of love saying, “The reality of the experience of love trumps all of these other characteristics or categories that over the years various societies have loaded up with meaning — skin color, national origin, religion.”

I would later cross paths with Stramel in a very different context. In the spring of 2014, I covered an event at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion hosted

by Pole World News, an organization which sought to make pole dancing a recognized Olympic sport.

The event was an awards ceremony featuring several notable pole dancers who shared their stories and backgrounds.

Our editorial staff decided to make the article the cover story for that week’s issue and we tried to find a balance between journalism and good taste. The photos were carefully selected and if anything, had a Cirque de Soleil vibe. It was Women’s Empowerment Month and we felt it had an interesting angle on the out-of-the-mainstream careers some women choose in modern Los Angeles.

The issue was published and that was that.

Two months later we received a letter signed by 50 faculty members condemning the article and The Corsair. This is not the time to go over the

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VOLUME 111 ISSUE 04 • MARCH 23, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

REMEMBERING JIM STRAMEL

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JIM STRAMEL

explicit details — readers can check our online archives for that. The general point, however, was that the piece supposedly promoted the objectification of women. Stramel was one of the signers of the letter and a leader of the group who wrote it.

I responded to the letter with a piece — both of which were published in the same issue — in which I pointed out that in the same way we covered a professional pole dancing event, some right-wing nut could take materials Stramel used in class and accuse him of promoting “deviant” behavior.

Stramel immediately replied with a letter e-mailed to the paper and posted on our website in the comments section under my original response. Ironically, he backed the point I made when I called him out. Stramel confirmed that indeed, in the early 90s, a looney California Assemblyman in Sacramento waved his syllabus as an example of public money being used to “teach homosexuality” at SMC. The original version of his reply to The Corsair included the hint of possibly taking the paper to court for libel reasons. However, tempers cooled and the debate was kept in the arena of ideas. Stramel even included the Corsair issue with the original pole dancing article in his final exam that semester.

As a student learning how the realm of public discussion works, Stramel gave me my first real experience of having to defend your ideas with more than just rhetoric. I don’t say this in opposition to the man. On the contrary, this is exactly the benefit I believe many students received from taking his courses. In teaching sexual ethics and philosophy, Stramel challenged his students to truly analyze the world around them, form arguments and discuss how society works. Even if you were on his side politically or philosophically, he expected you to defend your stance with logic and rationality. Quite often, you can find yourself on a campus with professors who don't know what they're talking about, but with Professor Stramel, there was no doubt that the man knew what he was teaching.

When you run a campus paper, as I did for two semesters, you are confronted on a weekly basis with a lot of irrational ranting, either through hate mail or the occasional accuser who walks through the front door. But Professor Stramel was never irrational or crude, never vapid or ignorant.

Even during our slight duel in the spring of 2014, I never lost respect for him. If anything, his decision to reply strongly and thoroughly to my article proved he walked the talk. He backed his words with action.

Soon after the controversy, I would sometimes see Stramel walking down the quad area with his lunch. I often pondered walking over and burying the hatchet. It never happened. In the rush of life, we seldom stop to ponder how fleeting our time can be. But even as someone who was once caught in a disagreement with Stramel, I can say that his was a valuable presence at SMC, and in these darkening times, the glow of his intellectual lamp will be missed.

"I took Dr. Stramel Spring 2013 for Philosophy 2: Ethics. Out of pure curiosity, I was attracted to the class. He made sure every student understood the major theories surrounding ethics and morality, deepening my understanding of the moral and ethical points of life.

My favorite assignment of the class was the paper we wrote during the length of the semester, where we researched some topic that was meaningful to each of us. We compared our idea of morality pertaining to our topic to the different theories we learned. I learned much about how each culture, religion, and group of people look at moral problems differently and learned to look at situations with a wider understanding towards other individuals.

He changed the way I understand problems and situations. He taught not only to be an ethical and moral being, but to logically be understanding and diversify one's scope of the world.

I found his class to be the most meaningful out all my years at SMC, and I will truly miss him. His class was a turning point in my life and I was truly blessed to have had him as a professor."

—Kimmy Avocado via Facebook comment

"Professor James Stramel passed away. It is the most saddest moment in my academic life. I am grateful for what he had taught me, not only what is in the book, but also, most importantly, the life lessons of "How ought we to live?" He taught me how to live a moral life, a good life... a life that I would be willing to repeat over and over. He will always live in my heart."

—Letian Wang via Facebook comment "He was a great man! And an even better professor."

—Brittany Riley via Facebook comment "Stramel was a phenomenal professor that impacted students majorly but my experience with him happened after I left the classroom. He would discuss articles I wrote for The Corsair in his classes. I remember having friends, who were in his class text me his feedback, which was mostly praise. This happened very young in my journalism career and he’s a gigantic reason why I’m at the newspaper today and why I’ve always tried to live in the best way for others and myself. Stramel mentioned in class that he lived his dreams— he went to Greece and because he did, he could “die happy.” You did it, Stramel. You lived a life you were proud of and others are proud of you. Rest in Virtue."

—Bailey Peraita, Managing Editor "Dr. Stramel was the first professor I had and I wasn't sure if I'd stick with school but his class was so inspiring and challenging that he made me want to keep going. He was a great teacher, I'll really miss him."

—Tyler Young via Facebook comment "[Dr. Stramel was] Such a great guy and a pillar of our community. I'm saddened to hear of his passing... he has left such a legacy at SMC. We are all wiser, smarter and more ethical because of his teachings and the knowledge he left us with."

—Jeff Gordon via Facebook comment

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Photo provided by Amber Katherine

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COVER STORY

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 04 • MARCH 23, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

FIRST STRUCTURE, LAST PRIORITY Lack of renovation at Corsair Stadium is cause for concern

A large piece of concrete is missing exposing rusty rebar on one of the steps leading up the south side of the Corsair Field stadium at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California on Friday, March 19, 2016. (Kyle Toelken)

JOSH SHURE SPORTS EDITOR According to a 2006 study conducted by John A. Martin & Associates, the Corsair Stadium has numerous structural flaws that leave the stands vulnerable to serious earthquake damage.

Two years later in 2008, SMC was granted the funding for renovations or replacement of the deteriorating stands through the passage of Bond Measure AA by voters for the Santa Monica Community College District. However, since being issued these funds, SMC has yet to repair any of the deficiencies facing the structure and has spent the allotted money on other facilities.

The study listed multiple non-compliant items that needed to be addressed if the stadium was to be repaired or renovated.

The deficiencies laid out in the study show an increased risk of serious damage if an earthquake were to occur during an event where people were sitting in the stands, such as a football game or during graduation ceremonies.

Construction attorney Mark Stapke of Stapke Law LLC said, “The consequence is obviously that people in the stadium are at risk if an earthquake hits.”

According to the preliminary version of the Measure AA budget, the initial projected cost of completing the stadium project, when the college sought funds in 2008, was $11 million. With the passage of the bond measure, these funds were granted to SMC later that year.

However a bond project summary published on Jan. 20, 2016, states that so far only $35,299 has been spent on “renovation of Corsair Stadium” to date. As to why so little

The stadium seats at Santa Monica College’s Corsair Field glow empty in Santa Monica, California on Friday, March 19, 2016. (Photo by Kyle Toelken)

of the money has been used, Director of Facilities Planning at SMC Greg Brown said, “There weren’t any renovations done, that was probably just for some architectural planning.”

SMC received many comments from the public in response to the 2010 publication of the Draft Environmental Impact Report

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for the Corsair Stadium demolition and replacement project. The local Santa Monica community voiced displeasure in replacing the stadium, yet heavily favored repairing and renovating.

After this reaction to the stadium project, the SMC Board of Trustees issued this response: “SMC has investigated the option @THE_CORSAIR •

to repair, restore and upgrade Corsair Stadium and has found this option to be infeasible from both an economic and technical basis.“ “I find the fact that the bond issue specifically called for replacement of the stadium, and SMC – after getting the money it had asked for – made a decision not to

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COVER STORY

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Local resident Sarah Tamor (Left) jogs down the steps of the Santa Monica College Corsair Field stadium in Santa Monica, California on Friday, March 19, 2016. Often using the steps for exercise and to watch the occasional sunset, Sarah feels unsafe near the edges of the stadium. “My husband Alex Ward did a feasibility study for replacement of the grandstand about 5 years ago. It was for the SMC facilities group to review with neighborhood residents. The project didn't go anywhere probably because funding was not available at the time.” (Kyle Toelken)

spend the money that way, to be striking,” Stapke said.

With the Board of Trustees deciding to not “repair, restore or upgrade Corsair Stadium” with funds preliminarily allotted to the Corsair Stadium project, they were then free to use it for other projects that, as Brown said, “Meet the current priorities.”

“The first priorities are usually for any of the projects that deal with the academic programs,” said Brown. “General things like stadiums, playing fields and parking garages and things like that, have a lower overall priority.”

With the previously conducted study showing that Corsair Stadium is not up to seismic code, SMC has a potential health and safety issue that has been ignored. Even with knowledge of the 2006 seismic evalu-

ation, Brown explained that the college is in no hurry to “rush the project because there is no immediate hazard that we know of with the building.”

However, Stapke disagrees. He said, “This is obviously unacceptable given the fact hundreds of people could be sitting there during an earthquake and plunge to likely injury if the supports were to fail.”

The US Geological Survey issued a press release on March 10 , 2015 which said, “The estimate for the likelihood that California will experience a magnitude 8 or larger earthquake in the next 30 years has increased from about 4.7% for UCERF2 to about 7.0% for UCERF3.” This indicates that there was 50 percent increase from 2008 to 2015 in the chance of a catastrophic earthquake occurring in the near future.

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Since constructing Corsair Stadium in 1948, the college has built, renovated, and rebuilt numerous buildings and structures.

However, over that 68-year span, the stadium, which was the first permanent structure built on the Main Campus, has barely been touched. After the Los Angeles area was hit by its largest ever recorded earthquake — the 1994 Northridge earthquake — the stadium was damaged and repaired. According to Brown, “[The stadium] was brought up to the standards at the time of the repair.”

Even though the 2006 study by Martin & Associates highlights sections of Corsair Stadium that do not meet seismic life requirements, SMC does not necessarily have to do anything. “I am relatively certain that retrofitting would be required only if they

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did work requiring a permit,” Stapke said.

SMC might not be required to address the structural flaws of the stadium, but they may be walking a tight rope on student safety. At the same time, choosing the option to neither repair nor replace the current structure has allowed SMC the financial flexibility to spend the bond funds as they choose.

During the “Great Shake-Out” Earthquake Preparedness drill held last semester on Oct. 14, 2015, Bruce Wyban, Director of Facilities Management, said, “I’m not sure students have natural disasters on their radar.”

Neither, apparently, does the administration at SMC.

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PHOTOSTORY

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 04 • MARCH 23, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

Local resident Jenna and her 5-year-old son Jackson "babysit" a street performer's snakes on Venice Beach on February 19, 2016.

Snake

Pit

PHOTOS AND STORY BY DOTAN SAGUY

V

enice Beach was founded in 1905 by tobacco tycoon Abbott Kinney as a seaside resort. Five years later, Venice Beach had become a huge attraction, with a Scenic Railway, Aquarium, Virginia Reel, Whip, Racing Derby, and other rides and game booths. While the original booths no longer remain and the city has gone through its own rollercoaster of ups and downs, street performers have become the silver lining of the tourist destination that now is Venice Beach.

Over the years, Venice beach has had a pioneering influence on both the fitness movement, with Muscle Beach, and modern skateboarding, with Dogtown, home of the Z-Boys.

The abnormal and unusual have become the norm at Venice Beach, so as I ventured down the boardwalk, something very “Venice” was happening. A young, local woman wearing a bikini was lying inches from two snakes quietly observing them in a sand pit behind the Muscle Beach gym. The street performer, to whom the snakes belonged, had entrusted Jenna, the young woman, and her 5-year-old son Jackson with his snakes as he was

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taking a break from the bustle of the boardwalk. Jenna mentioned that she was acquainted and comfortable with the snakes, although she had never “babysat them” before.

In the two hours that followed, the atmosphere was a bit surreal.

The street performer was coming in and out of the scene to check on his snakes, occasionally positioning them on gym equipment to keep them out of the sand. Oblivious to the snakes, the muscle flexing, fitness enthusiasts of Muscle Beach never missed a beat, exercising like nothing was out of the norm. All the while, 5-yearold Jackson pet the slithering snakes perched on the exercise bars.

Fearless, with his long blond hair trailing in the wind, young Jackson personified what makes Venice Beach what it is today.

Looking at him, I couldn’t help thinking about Venice Beach icon and skateboarding legend Jay Adams, a man who embodied the culture and lifestyle of Dogtown. As tourists lined the boardwalk in awe of the street entertainment, Muscle Beach and skaters reminiscent of the Z-Boys, what to many is a world famous attraction is just another day in Venice Beach.

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A street performer lets his snake hang off of the exercise rings to keep it off the sand.

A local bodybuilder poses for pictures with a street performer's snake in front of his friends.

"The abnormal and unusual have become the norm at Venice Beach, so as I ventured down the boardwalk, something very 'Venice' was happening."

Fearless 5-year-old Jackson pets an unattended street performer's snake in Venice Beach.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 04 • MARCH 23, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

"ONCE IN A LIFETIME?" LET'S HOPE SO A review of the SMC Theatre Department's latest production

Michael Martin (left), as George Lewis, and Bob Rodriguez (right), as Herman Glogauer, perform their last dress rehearsal in the theatre production of "Once In A Lifetime" on Wednesday, March 16th, 2016 at the Main Stage of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California. (Rachel O'Brien)

JACOB HIRSOHN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

T

he world of old Hollywood has become an endless source of fascination for modern storytelling. From recent best picture winner “The Artist,” to 2015’s “Trumbo,” artists have found themselves looking back to the beginning of America’s most profitable art form.

The trend makes complete sense. The birth of Hollywood was a glamorous and absurd time, filled with incompetence.

Santa Monica College’s 2016 production of “Once in a Lifetime” — the play by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman — captures the glamour of this era beautifully, but struggles to weave the absurdity and incompetence into a consistently engaging narrative.

“Once in a Lifetime” tells the story of vaudeville duo May Daniels and Dr. George Lewis, and their manager Jerry Hyland.

When Hyland sees the debut of the first movie with sound — or talkie — 1927’s “The Jazz Singer,” he sells the duo’s vaudeville act and insists that they move to Hollywood.

Daniels cracks a scheme to open a school focused on training silent film actors how to speak, and the next day, they’re off.

The opening scenes are a slog: the material is heavy on exposition and light on jokes. Any jokes that are there, for the most part, fall flat. It was clear early on that Hart and Kaufman’s material may need to be elevated by better performances than the ones offered here in order to truly shine.

Even the boisterous film critic Helen Hobart — played by Jo Ellen Docherty, a game performer giving it her all — fails to pick up any comedic momentum.

Life is not truly breathed into the play until the opening of the first Hollywood

scene. Opening in The Gold Room of the Hotel Stilton, the gorgeous set is occupied by new characters. The beginning of this scene serves as a lively introduction to the world of old Hollywood. An eccentric cast of characters prances around the stage, manifesting and commenting on a variety of classic “Hollywo o d type” people. This is where the production succeeds best as satire and entertainment. It is a hilarious sequence filled with entertaining — if unhinged — ensemble performances.

It is simply hard for a story to keep up any momentum when the characters at its heart are the most boring ones present by such a wide margin.

Daniels, Lewis, and Hyland are all largely unengaging characters. This can definitely be attributed partially to the script.

If these characters were meant to inspire laughter, the jokes were lost in translation.

They don’t have very interesting personalities and the story of their rise and fall is handled with too much brevity to ever inspire investment. Most major plot developments happen in between scenes, limiting the audience’s opportunity to engage

with the main characters’ growth.

The performances certainly catch some of the blame here as well though. Jordan Symone Barksdale and James Scognamillo — playing May Daniels and Jerry Hyland, respectively — both bring a great deal of energy to their role. Unfortunately, Barksdale essentially delivers every line the same way.

It gives the impression of a lack of understanding of the material on the part of the actor — an adm i t t e d l y common staple of college theater, usually the fault of the director. If anything, Scognamillo brings too much energy to his portrayal of Hyland. Michael Deven Martin’s turn as Hollywood’s luckiest dumb guy Dr. George Lewis is cute at times. But a one-note character is not helped by a one-note performance: Martin makes the same facial expression after almost every line delivery.

The margins are filled with lively and exciting characters that command attention and laughter when on stage. Paul Gabriel’s turn as infuriated playwright Lawrence Vail is a standout, along with Bob Rodriguez’s towering Hollywood god Glogauer

"IT IS SIMPLY HARD FOR A STORY TO KEEP UP ANY MOMENTUM WHEN THE CHARACTERS AT ITS HEART ARE THE MOST BORING ONES PRESENT BY SUCH A WIDE MARGIN."

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— even if his material is decidedly one note. Seeing these strong performances makes it all the more unfortunate that the main trio can’t find the same success.

The only truly entertaining parts of the play are when the main characters are cast aside and the focus is turned more to the pure insanity of Hollywood. I found that as the show went on, the more characters present on stage, the more laughs earned from the audience. These higher energy scenes bumped up the pace and added a higher volume of jokes, both very welcome changes. “Once in a Lifetime” found its strength in its ensemble, but at a running time of two and a half hours, a fair share of the ensemble work still dragged or flopped.

The production’s only consistent redeeming factors were the beautiful costume and makeup work, and the downright professional sets. Costuming a cast of old Hollywood characters makes for an expensive and complicated task, but the crew here really nailed it. The sets were intricate and impressive, clearly made with a real craft and attention to detail. The set of the reception room at the Glogauer studio was especially impressive, except, of course, when the projected movie posters momentarily turned into the Microsoft logo (oops!).

“Once in a Lifetime” provides some memorable comedic moments, especially in its climactic ending. The sets and the costumes are expensive, detailed, and beautiful. But it’s too long, the performances are inconsistent, and the material just doesn’t seem to be that good. Hey, maybe it’s a better representation of old Hollywood than I thought!

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VOLUME 111 ISSUE 04 • MARCH 23, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

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FOOD CLOSET SEEKS TO FEED THE NEEDY AS continues efforts to help financially struggling students.

Food that was donated by Santa Monica College students in conjunction with the Westside Food bank sits neatly organized on two cabinet shelves located in the SMC EOPS/CARE offices in Santa Monica, Calif. on March 17, 2016.

(Juan Lopez)

ASHLEEN KNUTSEN STAFF WRITER

Tucked away in a back office in the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) facility is a small food closet consisting of two bookcases filled with cans and boxes of food. The EOPS provides these boxes of food to students who are in need and enrolled in their programs.

“It has been a lifesaver for many of our students,” Debra Joseph-Locke, EOPS and CARE Supervisor said. She shares her office with the food closet and sees students coming by daily to get food. “We have maybe 20 or 30 students that come by periodically.”

The Associated Students (AS) has been working to expand EOPS’s efforts by creating a food closet that will serve the entire campus.

“Food closets are becoming the norm on community colleges and universities alike in addressing food insecurity for students,” Johnathon Hughes, AS Director of Student Assistance said. “If we do not start one soon we are going to be the exception to the rule.”

In the past year they have determined a location, where to get affordable food, and decided on who can run its daily operations. “It’s been a six to eight month process to get to this point,” Hughes said.

According to FASFA, in 2013 there were over 58,000 homeless students enrolled in U.S. colleges. A recent study released by California State University found that while 12 percent of their system’s students suffer “housing displacement” such as homelessness, 24 percent could be going hungry.

These realizations have led to a growth in concern about food insecurity among college students causing campus officials to take action.

The UC Global Food Initiative, launched in July 2014 by current president of the University of California Janet Napolitano, aims to combat world hunger while also working to ensure that UC students have food security. UC colleges were allotted $75,000 per campus to pay for short-term relief and to find long-term solutions.

In January 2015, the campus leaders of the Initiative’s Food Access and Security Subcommittee hosted the first California Higher Education Food Summit (CHEFS) to facilitate the conversation about food access and equity

among college community members. This past January, Bruce Rankin, Executive Director of the Westside Food Bank in Santa Monica, attended the second annual meeting at UC Irvine.

“What struck me was the minimizing of students that are food insecure,” Rankin said. “[In the past] there was a romantic idea of being a starving student. You didn’t have to make a lot of sacrifices because everything was so cheap.”

Today it is a different story.

In California, the high costs of living and increase in college tuition and fees leave many students struggling to afford healthy food.

“The reality that, just as we pay attention to elementary and high school students needing to be well nourished with reduced anxiety and better capability of functions in school, there ought to be something that’s just as much in the forefront for college students,” Rankin said. “Only now our legislation has been realizing there’s a real crisis at college campuses.”

At SMC, finding space for the five-foot tall, three-foot wide cabinet that would serve as a food closet was the biggest hurdle that Hughes faced.

Luckily, the SMC Foundation offered to let them house the closet in their facility. The Westside Food Bank, which provides food for food pantries and college food closets in the area, will sell them non-perishable items for just two cents per pound. For just $100 each semester, Hughes projects that they will be able to help

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approximately 660 students.

In terms of how to distribute food, they plan on granting access to different groups. “Instead of the AS determining who gets food, we let the departments that help students have a day,” Hughes said. “So that way we’re not necessarily micromanaging who gets what to eat. It’s more up to the departments to figure out what’s best for them.” With this, each organization has a specific day and time to access the closet and give food to their students in need.

Another important aspect is trying to maximize use by determining how much aid to distribute to a single individual.

Their recently launched food voucher program, called the FLVR Program, currently has about 160 students and is getting new applicants every day.

“I’m almost afraid to say that one cabinet is not going to be enough — that we’re probably going to have to expand this program next semester,” Hughes said.

Still needing approval to purchase the cabinet and sign a contract with the Westside Food Bank, the program isn’t expected to start until the end of the year.

“During finals week we should be able to have students walking out with bags of food,” Hughes said. “Which would be really great for the AS because we would have gone from having no food programs, to having two fully functioning food programs within the time span of one year.”

"JUST AS WE PAY ATTENTION TO ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS NEEDING TO BE WELL NOURISHED... THERE OUGHT TO BE SOMETHING THAT’S JUST AS MUCH IN THE FOREFRONT FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS."

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OPINION

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 04 • MARCH 23, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

OP-ED

Illustration by Andrew Khanian

TRUMP: THE SUPER VILLAIN THAT AMERICA NEVER SAW COMING TROY BARNES

DONALD TRUMP: THE GREATEST TWITTER USER

STAFF WRITER “It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.” – Benito Mussolini (tweeted by Donald Trump at 3:31 a.m. on Feb. 28) When I turn on CNN now, I prepare myself to cringe. Since the summer of 2016, the media has been addicted to one word that permeates every program and fuels every argument. Bright statistics splay out across your television screen on days news sources abandon their newsreel in favor of over-covering primary elections. They are addicted to the hottest, most talked about word that has taken the media by storm: Trump.

With every surreal thing Trump has said and done since announcing his candidacy, many wonder if any of his antics are even serious or genuine. Keep in mind, Trump attended an Ivy League school, inherited a real estate empire from his father which he expanded to the point of being a household name, hosted a widely successful reality TV show and has amounted a net worth of $4 billion. Success and stupidity don’t coincide very well. There has to be something more to Trump — something calculated and shrewd. Somewhere out there, Trump is smiling and rubbing his hands together while staring out over America in a penthouse, thinking about his master plan.

Trump’s unexpected rise as the front runner of the Republican nomination is an inescapable reality for the world in 2016, leaving us to contemplate who these people are that support him, and how he found himself in this position anyway.

According to a poll and analysis by Civis Analytics, the classic demographic for a Trump supporter is middle-aged, working class, Christian white men, who either didn’t graduate high school or haven't gone further than high school. The most important quality this group holds is that they feel politically marginalized.

This group was hit hard by the Great Recession and struggle to reconcile their anger with the government. Throughout Obama’s presidency, they have directed their anger at his administration and its policies because they felt their livelihoods

OF ALL TIME were being affected by policies such as Obamacare and immigration amnesty. They feel marooned and alone because of the liberal goals of the current administration and from what has been fed to them by right wing media outlets ranting on about corruption. Trump has recognized this yearning feeling of marginalization and seized upon that vulnerability by nitpicking the things that have caused his supporters to feel this anger in the first place.

But if you look closely, Trumps strengths reveal themselves to be major flaws.

Trump’s economic promises of eliminating income tax for certain income brackets, reforming trade deals with China, and creating a business friendly economy in the U.S. are appealing to any voter. However, considering Trump's skill for fiery, confusing rhetoric, all of these promises should be taken with a generous portion of salt.

Because Trump is self-funding his campaign, the only person who really knows the kinds of policies Trump will try to enact is Trump himself. His wealth gives him the ability to set his own political agenda — and that is an intimidating thought. No one can be sure who he would pick for his cabinet and the impacts they would leave on the country.

He often plays up his ability to "make deals." Let's not forget that to be a good negotiator, you have to be a good manipulator, and the greatest way to manipulate people is to divide them. But with every outlandish, offensive, and controversial statement Trump has made, the final line in the moral sand that we as responsible citizens need to draw is violence. Sadly, that line has been crossed as, these days, Trump rallies consistently explode with violence.

When the video surfaced of a Trump supporter throwing an elbow at a black protester in North Carolina, people were outraged. Two days later in St. Louis, a protester was assaulted by a Trump supporter and then arrested; his bloodied face was featured on the cover of the New York Daily News the next morning with the headline “BLOOD ON DON’S HANDS.” The next day in Chicago, more violence

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broke out as protesters entered the venue Trump rented for his rally and the violence that followed led to Trump canceling the event. Last weekend in Tucson, AZ, more clashes erupted as protesters blocked traffic on a highway leading to a Trump event for two hours and a man was violently assaulted by a Trump supporter while being escorted out of the event by police.

All the while, Trump sits back with his hands on the marionette strings, refusing to condemn the violence, instead blaming it solely on the protesters who he describes as “Bernie Sanders supporters.” But as things heat up, things are getting more real — or surreal depending on your point of view.

Even though "The Donald" is not out there himself slugging it out with protesters, despite how badly he says he wishes to, his haphazard condonation of this violence is vindicating it in the minds of his supporters.

A president needs to extol compassion, reason, leadership and a vision of peace.

The wool has been pulled from our eyes and we are recognizing how divided we are in America. Unity is the only thing that can mend America's misery right now. Trump is the absolute antithesis to this by being as divisive, mean and fear-mongering as it takes to rile enough people up to stand behind him for a nomination. Trump doesn't want to make America great again, he wants to make himself even greater.

No matter your policies, if your presence, opinions and charisma are enough to incite violence, then you should not be qualified to become president of a nation that is built upon principals of unity, reason and democracy. We as Americans have felt the pain of a dividing nation, and uniting behind someone who is the pinnacle of demagoguery would only further open that wound.

Trump is so rich and powerful that the only thing left to accomplish for him is attaining the most powerful job in the world. He's a super villain with the goal of world domination — he’s Lex Luthor with a real estate empire and horrible hair without the robot suit. We as Americans need to refuse to fulfill Donald Trump’s ego. @THE_CORSAIR •

JACOB HIRSOHN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR I don’t follow @RealDonaldTrump on Twitter because he is an awful, xenophobic racist and I feel no need to add to the seven million followers he already has.

I also read pretty much every single thing Trump ever tweets because no one in history has ever written better tweets, and no one in the future ever will.

Trump has absolutely mastered Twitter.

His format of “The Republican Party has done this thing I don’t like with Ted Cruz, and it had this effect. Sad!” is unimpeachable. There is even an argument that the worst thing about Trump’s presidential campaign is not that it is literally tearing the country apart, but that it has toned Trump’s tweets down.

Reading his recent tweets, including gems like, “Wow, @CNN ratings are up 75% because it's 'all Trump, all the time.' The networks are making a fortune off of me!

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” you would think it's impossible for this to be the toned-down version of anything.

But if you go back a few years in the archives, you will find tweets that are not just absurd for a presidential front-runner to post, but the best tweets in the history of the medium.

Exhibit A: “Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest —and you all know it! Please don't feel so stupid or insecure,it's not your fault” Exhibit B: “It was just announced that @MacMiller’s song “DonaldTrump” went platinum—tell Mac Miller to kiss my ass!”

Exhibit C: “If Obama resigns from office NOW, thereby doing a great service to the country—I will give him free lifetime golf at any one of my courses!”

Exhibit D: “Amazing how the haters & losers keep tweeting the name 'F**kface Von Clownstick' like they are so original & like no one else is doing it…”

F**kface Von Clownstick.

I rest my case.

/THECORSAIRNEWS •

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OPINION

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 04 • MARCH 23, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

15

OP-ED DUELS

Illustration by Andrew Khanian

TRUMP ISN’T THE HERO WE DESERVE, BUT THE ONE WE HAVE RIGHT NOW

ADAM THOMAS NEWS EDITOR Here at The Corsair, we’ve been hosting a series of back and forth debates on the current presidential candidates battling it out in this presidential primary season of 2016. We’ve been going through the list of the main contenders, and the time has come for the inevitable. It’s time to talk Trump.

Donald J. Trump is generally hated on college campuses. The former real estate mogul, reality TV star and current presidential candidate is often denigrated in most of the classes I’ve taken over the last semester by both students and faculty. The fear of him is palpable.

However, if you take a moment to stop listening to the media narrative that Trump is the next incarnation of the super-devil and actually read what he hopes to accomplish through his stated policy platforms, you’ll find that he’s advocating for changes that are completely sane — even reasonable.

The message is conservative, for sure, but focuses on improving the lives of the poor and working class Americans. These policy pronouncements are what reveal a Trump that has more in common with Sanders than you might think. It’s a shame that most people who hate Trump probably haven’t taken the time to actually read them.

If you’re for Sanders, “The Donald” is probably the candidate that’s going to best represent your interests once we all stop feeling the Bern because the DNC machine rips away that possibility with super-delegate chicanery.

Like Sanders, Trump isn’t beholden to corporate interests. As a multi-billionaire already, who can afford to buy him off? His whole campaign strategy thus far has demonstrated that he’s primarily self-funding his campaign. Usually, the presidential campaign process requires candidates to buddy up to Wall Street and corporate donors in order to fund their run. It’s becoming increasingly apparent as he toned down his rhetoric and his nomination becomes increasingly secure that Trump’s previously extreme rhetoric has likely been a way to draw in both hardcore conservatives and media attention, saving money which would otherwise have been spent on advertising. Most people seem to think Trump is crazy, but with him getting massive media coverage for a conspicuously low amount of money, he might just be crazy like a fox.

Trump wants to reform the Veteran

Affairs to eliminate its well-known inefficiency as well as redesign the healthcare system to essentially make it an enhanced form of Medicaid while allowing the importation of lower cost medication across borders, both of which Sanders supports.

Trump’s proposed tax code is (like Sanders’) still a progressive system – when citizens and businesses earn more, they pay more. It’s just a more business friendly spin on the same idea, limiting the top brackets and cutting the corporate rate to 15 percent.

The idea is to spur the growth of business in the U.S., and with notable companies like Phizer leaving the U.S. for the far lower tax rates of Ireland in 2015, incentives like these may be necessary to stop the U.S. from losing billions in tax revenue entirely.

This plan would also allow individuals who makes less than $25,000 a year and married couples who make less than $50,000 to not pay any income tax at all. Currently, people in this range pay anywhere from 10-15 percent of their incomes in taxes, but under Trump’s plan, you’d only hit those rates if you were making $100,000 or more. This would be “YUGE” tax relief for lower and middle class families.

Aside from the tax cuts to make America more attractive to businesses and provide relief for families, he also wants to fight China on the trade deficit and their wellknown currency manipulation cited by politicians on both the right and the left.

According to a report from the Peterson Group of International Economics, the U.S. lost one to five million jobs to China and other foreign currency manipulators in 2013 alone. The U.S. Department of Treasury stated in a 2012 report to Congress that China was purposefully devaluing the Yuan, which allows their exports to be worth more than their imports. This continued in 2015, and it was Democratic Senator Chuck Shumer who told the New York Times, “Rather than changing their ways, the Chinese government seems to be doubling down.”

This is another area where Sanders and Trump align. Both recognize that China is a big problem for American industry and that the government needs to fight back with protectionist policies if labor jobs are to have any chance of surviving in the U.S. The only people who resist the notion seem to think like the National Review’s Kevin Williamson, who wrote on March 17 that

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poorer working class Americans are unworthy of saving. He wrote, “The truth about these dysfunctional, downscale communities is that they deserve to die.”

Despite much of what’s said about him, Trump’s proposed plans would provide far more benefits to minorities than they would harm them. Their primary focuses are on bringing back manufacturing and labor sector work to the U.S. Historically, this sector of the job market has had the highest minority participation for both black and Hispanic Americans.

As for the wall? Even if such a measure gets past the numerous checks against it, Trump’s all about making deals. So make him a better offer. There's a lot of work to do, and according to Pew Research data, at least 15 percent of unauthorized immigrants work in the construction sector (with some estimates as high as 25 percent). I’m guessing Trump would go for a deal where workers could take reduced salaries but gain amnesty in order to cut down on costs, which would turn a pretty large percentage of the current illegal population very quickly into a legal population. Trump gets his wall, a big chunk of people get to stop worrying about deportation, and everyone else gets a massive job creation program (a concept Sanders also supports by the way — job programs, not "the wall").

Which leads to the elephant in the room: Trump’s supposed racism and misogyny.

The thing is, his record simply doesn’t show any of it.

In 1980 he hired Barbara Res and put her in charge of building Trump Tower, making her the first female to ever be in charge of constructing a skyscraper in a construction industry where women are vastly underrepresented. He was featured in a 1989 cover story for “Savvy Woman” magazine that highlighted his hiring of women for top positions, almost all of whom have been fiercely loyal to the man. In 1997, Trump fought against racism in Palm Beach, Florida when he took the town to court, which resulted in the overturning of their prior ban on both black and Jewish membership in private clubs. In an interview with "The Advocate" in 2000, he came out in support of amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation.

He also dated black supermodel Kara @THE_CORSAIR •

Young back in early 2001 (he was between wives at the time) and fully supported his daughter converting to Judaism when she married Jared Kushner in 2009. Interracial dating and Jewish family members don’t make for a KKK grand wizard, last time I checked.

I could go on, but the list of philanthropy, support, and especially employment Trump has provided for minorities of all stripes is practically endless if you do even a little bit of research into his past. Most of it isn’t in speech either, but deeds.

The fact is, the best evidence against claims of racism is that the man has been in the public spotlight for over 30 years and it’s only now that he’s running for president against Democrats that people start calling him racist, misogynistic, homophobic, etc.

That’s a crazy coincidence.

Sanders fans suffer similar accusations.

They recently received attacks for “Bernie Bros,” mostly by outlets that openly support Clinton, despite polling data showing this to be false. That's probably just a big coincidence too.

Donald Trump may be many things.

He’s an egomaniac most certainly, but he’s definitely campaigning with a focus on nativist values and on improving the lives of American citizens, and is willing to exclude foreign interests to do it. With his name on buildings across the U.S., a deep knowledge of how to use theatrics to deceive opponents, and the hatred of a press that paints him as a shadowy threat, he's the closest thing to a real Bruce Wayne that America has ever seen.

But racist? Not likely. That’s just what you get labeled as when you run against the DNC. Now I don’t really know if Donald Trump will be able to “Make America Great Again,” but I think he’s going to try. He’s flip flopped on a lot of things, but if nothing else, he has been consistent in his earnestness to try to improve this nation.

And if you’re for Sanders, it’s in all likelihood because you’re against the establishment politics of the last few decades. But like it or not, it’s Trump — not Sanders — who is the only anti-establishment candidate that can actually win the election at this point. He might not be the candidate you want, but he might be the only way to fight against politics you know don’t work.

/THECORSAIRNEWS •

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16

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