Vol111 issue05

CORSAIR

APRIL 06, 2016 | VOLUME 111 ISSUE 05 | SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

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CHOOSING THE NEW AS PRESIDENT

TERRANCE WARE

STEVE MALDONADO

DAIRA BUSTOS

MEETING THE CANDIDATES THE CORSAIR • THECORSAIRONLINE.COM • 1900 PICO BLVD. SANTA MONICA, CA 90405 • (310) 434-4340

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VOLUME 111 ISSUE 05 • APRIL 06, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

CONTENT

EDITORIAL STAFF 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 aLissa Nardo ..................................Design Editor corsair.designteam@gmail.com

FACULTY ADVISORS sauL ruBiN ............................ Journalism Advisor Gerard Burkhart ......................... Photo Advisor

The sun casts interesting shadows across the statue art that decorates the garden in the art complex at Santa Monica College on Thursday. (Frank Cox)

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

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR NIK LUCAJ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ahhh, elections.

They’ve been the talk of the country ever since Trump declared his candidacy and Sanders started shouting about Wall Street.

I’m at a point where I slowly back away when somebody starts talking about who’s going to be the next U.S. president.

But in this issue of The Corsair, we’re covering a different election. A more innocent election.

One that hasn’t had a chance to be corrupted by corporate interests. One where ideals are still held dear and have yet to be jaded by the cronyism that dominates the postcollege world. One that, while it may not be getting national attention, holds great importance for the students enrolled in SMC starting in the fall.

At stake in this election are the 13 positions on the Associated Students Board of Directors. In the race are 27 students hopefuls with an eye on change and brains full of ideas. By the time this issue hits newsstands, the voting period will be half over, but there will still be plenty of time for student voters to affect the outcome.

Most students underestimate the importance of these positions and the impact they can have. The campaign is only a week long, leaving barely enough time to get to know any of the candidates intimately or for the candidates to do anything more than scratch the surface on the most important issues. Then voting only lasts a week, contributing to voter turnout being around 2,000 out of over 30,000 enrolled students.

Those things don’t indicate that the people being voted on are going to be handling a large amount of student money that is accumulated through the $19.50 AS fee that most students pay without ever realizing that it’s optional.

So while their impact may go largely unacknowledged by the average student, these are important positions and should be treated accordingly.

The Corsair hosted the AS Forum and debate last Thursday for the first time in order to try to sort through the mayhem and allow students to dive a little deeper into the ideas of the candidates. Our photostory this week shows off some of the visuals and gives a brief account of the event, but the full video and story can be found at thecorsaironline.com.

In this issue, you’ll also find profiles of the three presidential candidates: Terrance Ware, Steve Maldonado and Daira Bustos.

Aside from the election, we have plenty of other stories this week.

The Theater Department began showing “Cheatin’,” their second play of the semester, last Friday. Contributing writer Farid Mirzaei had a chance to check it out and FOR EXTENDED COVERAGE VISIT US AT THECORSAIRONLINE.COM •

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comes back with a full report. Also gracing our A&E section is a profile by Grace Gardner of the underground band Walter Etc. She talks with the lead singer about the growth and evolution they’ve gone through from the days when they called themselves Walter Mitty and his Makeshift Orchestra.

In sports, our News Editor Adam Thomas puts on a new hat and covers the 2016 California State Open Table Tennis Tournament, which took place over two days. He documents all the chaotic tabletop action as the battle for the title of Ping Pong champion.

OpEd Duel returns again, this time pitting Grace against Contributing Writer Claudius West as they debate the effectiveness of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Meanwhile, Staff Writer Ashleen Knutsen breaks down the science behind March Madness and explains why being a sports fan can be psychologically beneficial...unless you’re a Nascar fan.

Finally, in news, a large protest was held in front of the 17th Street parking structure prior to Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting. The SMC Classified staff had their pickets sign waving over the board’s reluctance to give them the three percent wage increase they desire. As of this writing, we have yet to receive confirmation about whether the issue had been resolved in the meeting that followed but we talked to some of the picketers to get their take.

I want to wrap up this letter by bringing up an issue that many of the candidates in the election have been bringing up. It started with the Sam Ross profile that we printed last issue. In the article, we quoted Ross as he talked about the gap between students and administration and how some administration members will “take advantage of what they can, do what they can get away with, delay and obfuscate.”

Many think the problem is that students are not treated as equals. I could elaborate on this point, but during the public comments portion of the Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday, AS president Jesse Randel encapsulated the heart of the issue so well, that I’ll let him draw the curtains on this week’s letter. He said: “I’ve heard the word kid said multiple times tonight, and I would just like to remind the Board of Trustees, all the administration, all the faculty, everybody who’s not a student. Students aren’t kids. They’re students. I’m not a high school graduate. I’m a 30 year old military veteran. And when I hear myself being referred to as a kid, it’s irritating. It’s really irritating. And there’s something of the perception around school that students can’t critically think, that we can’t make up our own mind, that we can’t decide to advocate for something just because we agree with it.

And I would just strongly urge all of y'all to think of us as rational, critical thinking adults — and I firmly believe if you treat someone like an adult, they act like an adult.

If you treat them like kids, they’re going to act like kids. So please, if you catch yourself saying kids, I’ve caught myself doing it a couple times, because I'm a little bit older too. We’re not kids. We’re students.” . @THE_CORSAIR •

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VOLUME 111 ISSUE 05 • APRIL 06, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

NEWS

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DE-CLASSIFIED The classified staff protests against administration's wage offer ASHLEEN KNUTSEN STAFF WRITER Prior to last night’s Board of Trustee’s meeting, a group of 25 classified staff employees, that later grew to over 50, picketed on Pico Boulevard outside of the Main Campus' 17th Street parking lot entrance in protest to the board’s refusal to provide them the three percent wage increase they asked for in 2015.

“We are out here because we want to equally share in the success of the college when it comes to compensation,” said Cecil Godbold, who has worked at SMC for the last 31 years.

Classified staff employees, who are members of the California School Employees Association (CSEA) union, have been in negotiations with the board since last June.

“We want a three percent increase for last year’s contract,” said Robert Villanueva, the president of SMC’s CSEA chapter.

The initial offer from the Administration was 0.8 percent. The classified staff countered with 10 percent, hoping to land somewhere in the middle. Currently, the Administration is willing to give a 2.6 percent raise with a $1,000 bonus for each of the 460 classified employees. The classified staff is asking them to forget the bonus and instead give them a three percent raise.

“The average increase across the country last year was three percent,” said Connie Lemke, vice president of the CSEA chapter.

“We only want what’s fair.”

A main issue is the disparity in raises between classified staff workers and administrative positions.

“They gave 22 administrators and senior managers a $1.5 million raise last year [collectively],” said Lemke.

The current 0.4 percent difference between the two sides will cost just $108,000 a year.

“Administration positions are growing from 82 to 98 over the past 3 years,” said Associated Students president Jesse Randel. “When administration is growing and more and more in money is being

The California School Employees Association took to the streets around SMC to protest the Board of Trustees denial of their proposed three percent pay raise in ongoing negotiations. (Christian Monterrosa)

spent on administration positions and they’re cutting student worker positions by half across the board — tell me where you think this school’s priorities lie.”

As the board meeting opened to the public, the picketers filed into the room and waited their turn to speak during the public comments portion. Five SMC students spoke in support of the classified workers, including Walther Perez, Sharon Nat, Orlando Gonzalez, Jesse Randall and Laura Zwicker.

“We ought to take care of our employees properly,” said Gonzalez, who continued by saying that the counter off of 2.6 percent was an insult.

Several of the classified workers spoke

as well, including Godbold, who became emotional while saying, “Why are we so disconnected?”

According to the classified workers, a main issue with raising their wages is that student enrollment is low. The meeting began with an announcement that $1.7 million of the budgeted earnings for this school year won’t be met.

“We know enrollment is low, but when they were giving administrators anywhere between 9 and 19 percent raises, they were in the same situation,” said Villanueva.

According to Godbold, “The faculty and administration are both within the 80th percentile of compensation in the state while the classified employees are

IN BRIEF

fiscal planning was necessary in order for SMC to

tance of proper terminology when identifying

depend on the new Board of Directors who will

be ready in case the school's projected revenues

immigrants. According to Lopez, the terms “alien”

be elected.”

Deep Cuts to Student Worker Programs on their way?

did not increase. However, he also insisted that if

and “illegal” have been rejected by the undocu-

Initial concerns about whether or not attendance

more revenue was made available, such budget

mented community, who feel the terms are used

of this assembly is beneficial to the board was

planning wouldn't be necessary, and could easily

to humiliate or offend. According to Lopez, ac-

mentioned by Director of Outreach Alexandra

be reversed before implementation in the coming

ceptance of the term “alien” is due to desensitiza-

Brechensbauer. While Randel said he shared her

year.

tion within the community.

concerns, AS ultimately decided to afford the

At the end of the Monday Associated Students (AS) board meeting, Interim Associate Dean of Student Life Dr. Nancy Grass announced that the budget for SMC's student worker program had potentially been cut in half for the upcoming year.

Speaking to the Corsair after the meeting, Grass confirmed the budget cuts, saying that a

Theft on Campus iPad and Car Tags According to Police Chief Johnny Adams, an

iPad was stolen from the math complex on March 21. This is considered petty theft.

proposed plan which would reduce the operating

Adams also reported that there have been

budget for student work programs had been sent

recent cases of students using false registration

to her late in the previous week. Grass stated that

tags.

the proposed cuts would affect all student workers

“People steal the tags off of other peoples cars

employed directly by SMC, though not those on

and then they glue it onto their car,” Adams said.

Federal work study programs.

Normally, this would not be detectable by law

“We do not come from another planet,” Lopez said. “We are just as human as any citizen of the Unites States.”

She encouraged those in attendance to use the terms “undocumented,” “unauthorized,” or “DREAMers.”

She also expressed a need for a resource center or a safe zone at SMC for undocumented students.

within the 50th percentile.”

Throughout the negotiations, the feelings about working at the school remain positive.

“If you would ask anyone that worked here, they love working at this place, it’s a great place to work,” said Villanueva.

Godbold shared similar sentiment, saying, “This campus is woven within the fabric of my life.”

At the time of publication, we have not received confirmation as to whether the issue had been resolved at Tuesday's Board of Trustees meeting. We will continue updating the story at thecorsaironline. com.

board the opportunity to go, to ensure SMC was represented at the assembly.

Director of Student Outreach Candidate Pitches App Rashisul Hague, currently running in the AS

elections for the position of Director of Student Outreach with the New Wave slate, addressed the AS Board on Monday to inform them about his app, Collegebook. The app provides a digital

AS Begrudgingly Goes to General Assembly

space for SMC students to buy and sell books at

said.

an affordable price.

However, Chris Bonvenuto, Chief Director of

enforcement. However, if the car is under any

Business Services for SMC said that the proposed

other violations, running the plates will show the

portunity to attend the Spring General Assembly

budget was not final and that the cuts were a

existence of outdated registration. More often

of Student Senate for California Community Col-

Students must use their SMC email to be able

preliminary preventative measure to deal with a

than not, the violation is poor parking.

leges was approved at the AS Board of Directors

to register to use the app. It is currently available

Regular Meeting this Monday. They were granted

for download on the App Store.

potential revenue shortfall caused by "softening"

Three cases have been reported so far, occur-

Funding to provide AS members with the op-

student enrollment. Bonvenuto pointed out that

ring on March 19, 21 and 24.

$4,298.81, which includes registration fees, per

since the school's number one source of revenue

Student Highlights Significance of Language When Addressing Undocumented Students

diem and hotel accommodations.

is student enrollment, this "softening" would likely lead to a number of cuts to different departments.

Bonvenuto said that his primary goal was to keep the school operating, and that such strict

Maria Lopez, a benefactor of the California

Dream Act, served as a guest speaker for the AS Board meeting on Monday to discuss the impor-

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“We don’t want to spend any unnecessary

“It’s a craigslist, but only for students,” Hague

If they find the app is successful at SMC, he plans to expand the program to other universities.

For more stories go to Thecorsaironline.com

student money sending people to go just for the sake of going,” president Jesse Randel said. “In that interest, the other people who will go will

@THE_CORSAIR •

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VOLUME 111 ISSUE 05 • APRIL 06, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

NEWS

MEET THE AS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES Terrance Ware: Fresh Start Slate

Daira Bustos: Unity Slate

(Chris Monterrosa)

Steve Maldonado: New Wave Slate

(Chris Monterrosa)

(Josue Martinez)

GRACE GARDNER OPINION EDITOR

ALISSA NARDO HEALTH & LIFESTYLE EDITOR

BAILEY PERAITA MANAGING EDITOR

Eighteen-year-old communication studies major and Stanford hopeful Daira Bustos wakes up early in the morning to walk 20 minutes to the bus stop where she proceeds to take four different buses to school. She’s taking 20 units, is on the debate team, is the Treasurer and ICC delegate of the Bernie Club, and has an internship in the immigration department at Public Counsel, the biggest pro-bono law firm in the nation.

Now, she’s also running for president in the 2016 Associated Student (AS) elections. “[Most students] feel so trapped in this ‘I don’t have time to go to college,’ but you do,” Bustos said. “And I want to empower these people through my personal vision of what I’m doing myself. They can reflect on me that I also can do it, not just because I’m a Latino woman that’s lowincome. I can do big things.”

Bustos is part of the Unity slate. Upon the creation of the slate, Bustos said what was originally supposed to be a two-hour long meeting turned out to be five hours of strategy and concept development. According to her, it was during this initial meeting that the individuals who came to form the group found that their ideas correlated more than they had first expected.

“We just talked about our platforms,” Bustos said. “Everybody agreed, this is what we need for SMC. We’re not doing this to have it on our transcript. We’re not doing this to be the popular kids in school. We’re doing this for SMC.” Bustos stated that the slate decided on the name “Unity” to reflect the diverse voices in the group, as well as the college.

According to Bustos, the emphasis of the Unity slate is on group effort, with focus on individual performance as a means of reflecting the capability of the school. To express this sentiment, the group created the hashtag #notmeSMC. Bustos initially felt unsure of how she could contribute to SMC, but said her friend, and fellow debate team member, Alfredo Gama proposed that she run for president.

“After I decided to run for Student Trustee, I immediately thought of Daira to be in my slate. There was no other place I could see Daira but as the president of the Associated Students of Santa Monica College,” Gama said through Facebook message.

Bustos said that Gama’s encouragement was what ultimately convinced her to run. There was the initial concern about running against two prominent members of the student body — the president of the Black Collegians Club and the current vice president of AS. “It leaves me an average student, but then again the average student is the one who should be more connected to other students,” Bustos said. “Because I also, like other students, live the same thing. I also take the bus to school.

I also want to take a food voucher… I feel like I, on a personal level, and also on an academic level, understand every average student.”

As the current vice president, former treasurer and ICC representative of the Black Collegians Club (BCC), Terrance Ware Jr., 19, has a track record of being a leader.

“I’ve been a captain for every [sports] team that I’ve ever played for,” Ware said. “I like leadership. I like to be in a position where I can make sure everyone is on the same page… I feel like AS (Associated Students) president is the next step because I feel as though I’ve done a lot for Black Collegians. I feel that there’s more that can be done for, not only Black Collegians, but for our entire student body here.”

Ware is a Los Angeles native from South Central. Coming from a place that he describes as providing little opportunity, Ware wants to make sure students have theirs.

“The real reason for me to run for president this year is the lack of opportunity,” Ware said. “I feel as though a lot of opportunities that we offer here on campus seem to be [spread by] word of mouth, and they seem like only a few people know about them.”

Painting a big picture, Ware said that, if elected, he will prioritize getting efficient parking, cleaner restrooms, peer counseling and free Metro rides for students — platforms that define the “Fresh Start” slate, created and fronted by Ware.

“Everyone comes to community college for a fresh start," said Ware. "So that’s how we came up with the theme. We were like, ‘Wait, it’s a fresh start to a new year. It’s a fresh start to a new lifestyle.’”

Under Fresh Start and Ware’s leadership, he said students can expect more fiscally responsible budgeting. As an accounting major and an intern at Board of Trustees member Barry Snell’s accounting firm, Ware feels ready to take on AS’ budget, which stands as one of the largest in the country for a community college.

He thinks the biggest issue facing SMC institutionally is the lopsided ratio of full-time to adjunct (part-time) faculty.

“A lot of our professors here who are part-time don’t have office hours. Office hours are very critical to our success. I mean, I don’t think that we’re going to be able to stay the number one transfer school if we don’t have office hours,” Ware said. “I think the administration sees the issue. I don’t think they feel the issue. As in, we feel it.

Students on the back end feel these things because they’re things that we have to feel every day.”

Ware’s solution to solving problems is not to fight administration, but to rather have the student body work alongside them.

“A lot of times the two kind of see each other as enemies,” he said. “When you hear people talking about these things, they kind of sound like they’re fighting. ‘Administration wants this and student body government wants that.’ But in the end, we all really want our students’ best success."

Meet Steve Maldonado, a business and communications major, current vice president of the Associated Students (AS) Board of Directors, and one of the three candidates for president in the 2016 AS election.

Maldonado was initially slated as an independent candidate, but that changed when he officially announced the creation of the third and final slate for the 2016 election, the New Wave slate, where he serves as the leading candidate.

“I helped found a non-profit called ‘Generation of the Future’ which had a partnership with John Adams Middle School to do tutoring on Fridays, and we got many members to participate and volunteer, feed the homeless, and have a bunch of events,” Maldonado said.

Following the co-founding of Generation of the Future with Trey Smith, Maldonado moved on to independently start a club named Hierarchy 2015. He said that his club leadership led to his current position on AS, and his experience, along with his focus on communication, makes him an ideal candidate.

Communication is central to Maldonado’s presidential platform, which focuses on an app called Pin Grab. Pin Grab is in development by Maldonado and a business partner.

“With my experience and knowledge already established in the Associated Student government, I can advance it into the next era [with Pin Grab]. Every college will be communicating their latest clubs, their club list, their events, their e-mails, instead of the old fashioned e-mail that doesn’t get read,” said Maldonado about the app.

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Maldonado sees parking as the biggest issue students face because it prevents students from being in class on time, even with planning and proper time management.

He said that he hopes to find more parking lots and map out alternative places where students can park, even if it means parking further away and taking a bus to campus.

Maldonado wants to improve relations between student government and administration by asking that the administration attend AS meetings so both parties can better understand where the other is coming from.

One of the other issues he sees as key is the disproportionate amount of part-time to full-time faculty. Maldonado said, “We want students to be devoted, so we would want the same from our instructors to be devoted. [Being part-time] does not mean they’re not devoted when they’re here, but if they keep scrambling to work at different schools, they can’t be as devoted to students as easily as having one full-time job.”

Maldonado sees leadership and communication as solutions to current problems and he promises, “As president of the AS of SMC, I will implement a new communicative platform to engage students with local businesses and gain student interest.”

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VOLUME 111 ISSUE 05 • APRIL 06, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

SPORTS

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TOP PLAYERS FIND THEIR PING PONG NICHE ADAM ROBERT THOMAS NEWS EDITOR It was Easter Sunday, and most folks were spending their day with family and friends, or perhaps at church in their Sunday best. Yet at the Santa Monica College Pavilion — more commonly known to SMC students as our gym — “Sunday Best” had a very different meaning.

For the dozens of players who came to compete in the 2016 California State Open Table Tennis Tournament hosted Easter Sunday at the gym, their “Sunday Best” wasn’t what they were wearing, but their competitive spirit. Because the end of the two-day tournament culminated in a fierce series of matches that showed off an amazing spectacle of athleticism that makes one wonder why Ping Pong is ignored, both at SMC and in the U.S. as a whole.

There were twelve different roundrobin events for competitors of all ages and skill levels hosted during the tourney, which saw the gym filled from end to end with Ping Pong tables and bustling with activity.

The tourney was sponsored by the Santa Monica Co-Rec Community Services, SMC’s long lasting community for Table Tennis and Badminton players originally put together by local legend Josephine “Jo” Kidd.

The State Open was officially sanctioned

by USA Table Tennis (USATT), the national association for Table Tennis, with player rankings earned here carrying over to any further league play, potentially allowing for competitors to move onto international competition.

Amanda Malek, a 17 year old junior player from Costa Mesa, who was eliminated in early matches by Thor Truelson, remained in high spirits and spoke about her hopes with events like these. Malek, who loves coming to SMC’s Co-Rec Sundays for the competition, said, “I would like to make the national team, but probably not this year, because I'm just not there yet. But hopefully with lots of training and lots of focus I'll get there."

With most of the events for novices and lower ranked players completed by the end of Saturday, Easter Sunday was left for the main event: The Open Singles Round-Robin Playoff.

This p l ayo f f brought players from across the country and around the world to compete head-tohead for over six hours in some of the fiercest play ever seen at SMC in any sport, let alone one most Americans write off as a mere parlor game. After a series of elimination matches early in the afternoon whittled 23 athletes down to four, the real battles began at 6 p.m. with a series of quarterfinal matches.

Four tables were set up in front of the gathered crowd of fans and friends sitting in the bleachers. Judges came out to check paddles and balls, players stretched and talked with their coaches, and the final competition began.

Four simultaneous one-on-one matches began, creating a dervish of motion, a cacophony of grunts and paddle smacks, and filling the air of the gym with the smell of sweat. After an hour of intense play, four of the players and two tables were eliminated, and it came down to two matches: Xiang Jing Zhang of China faced off against

Mohammadreza Akhlaghpasand of Iran at one table, while Alfred Najem from Lebanon challenged Zaman Molla at the other.

What many unfamiliar with the sport might not realize is just how loud Ping Pong is. There is a constant squeak of sneakers, the loud bounce of the hollow balls, and the stomping of feet when the players serve. The foot-stomp serve wasn’t just due to tradition either, Dr. Tuan Dai Le explained that this foot-stomping was a way for players to intimidate each other, calling it an “additional psychological weapon.”

This noise quieted down during the semifinals as eyes darted between the two matches and the crowd became deathly still, trying to take in every moment.

At the first table, the highly ranked Zhang faced stiff competition from Akhlaghpasand, barely winning the first set 13-12. After a dominant second set for Zhang, Akhlaghpasand made a surprising come back, beating Zhang 11-13, and pushing back against his heavily favored opponent.

Through a series of six games Akhlaghpasand kept pushing back against an increasingly dominant Zhang, but it wasn’t enough. Zhang finished off a visibly exhaustedAkhlaghpasand with a vicious slice, ending the game 11-8.

Akhlaghpasand, a 37 year-old Iranian National team player who once competed in the Olympics, was impressed with Zhang, but chalked his loss up to travel fatigue.

Said Akhlaghpasand, “The match was after 2, 3 days [of travel] for me, because I have jet lag. But yes, good match.”

After watching their future competitors from the second table long enough to be warned by their referee to start their match or be disqualified, Molla and Najem began their duel in earnest while the others continued to battle it out. Both players showed off an extremely acrobatic style of play, leaping into the air to add power to their returns, often striking poses that seemed to be more in line with a Spider-Man comic than a Ping Pong match.

First Molla was ahead, winning the first set, then Najem. The same went with the points in the matches themselves. With the long rallies between them, and both trading first points and then sets back and forth, again and again, the two players drew their

"LEAPING INTO THE AIR TO ADD POWER TO THEIR RETURNS, OFTEN STRIKING POSES THAT SEEMED TO BE MORE IN LINE WITH A SPIDERMAN COMIC THAN A PING PONG MATCH"

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Ross Hashemi plays defense at the 2016 California State Open in SMC's Pavillion (Christian Monterrosa)

match out into an incredibly long battle of attrition. Eventually though, after a desperate rally that featured flashy trick shots and floating returns, the final set ended in a win for Najem as Molla missed the table entirely on a stumbling return.

But this long, drawn out battle had taken its toll. With only a few minutes of a break for officials to remove the last table and set up for the final match, the late completion between Mo l l a and Najem allowed Zhang plenty of time to rest after his much shorter clash w i t h Xiang Jing Zhang wins the 2016 California State Open in Sunday, March 27. Zhang won Akhlaghpasand. the final match 4-0. (Christian Monterrosa) When Zhang met Najem at the tiny table of titans, it was no contest — Zhang Tennis coach with 22 years of experience led Najem from the very beginning with a on the Iranian National team, was a bit swift series of vicious serves against a com- more loquacious. Said Najem, “I just wish petitor barely able to catch his breath.

I could have done two things a little better: In the end, Zhang walked away a cham- playing the semifinal 4-3, I lost a lot of my pion, winning $600 and moving up the energy and [Zhang], his serves are really ranks, likely to compete in further tourna- amazing.” ments across the country. Though he spoke Thus the 2016 California State Open little English, the 23 year old Chinese na- Table Tennis Tournament ended, not with tional said he felt good about the win after the most amazing finish, but a truly drashaking hands with his opponent. matic climax. Or as Jo Kidd said herself, Najem, a 32 year old, semi-retired Table “Quite an event, wasn’t it? Very incredible.” @THE_CORSAIR •

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6

PHOTOSTORY

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 05 • APRIL 06, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

Micca Cao campaigns during the 2016 Associated Students Presidential Debate on Thursday at the clock tower quad by handing out flyers and shaking hands with Auguste Gezalyan.

(September Bottoms)

"One by one they stepped to the podium and spoke, spilling their guts and their passion throughout the SMC clocktower quad."

Students hang out while the AS debate takes place on the other side of the clock tower last Thursday. (Adriana Delgado)

Edgar Gonzalez, president of the Homeboys and Homegirls Club, shows enthus Daira Bustos challenges candidate Steve Maldonado. (Luis Baza)

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VOLUME 111 ISSUE 05 • APRIL 06, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

PHOTOSTORY

7

Student Trustee candidates Alfredo Gama and Laura Zicker debate why they are the best fit for the position.

(Sergio Gutierrez)

Edgar Gonzalez (right), Homeboys and Homegirls Club president, applauds alongside club members at the ending of a heated presidential debate.

(Luis Baza)

New Tradition

First Corsair-hosted debate sets tone for the AS Board election NIK LUCAJ EDITOR-IN CHIEF

A

siasm while presidential candidate

s the sun beat down on the Santa Monica College clocktower, 25 nervous candidates stood in anticipation of their 90 seconds in the spotlight. Ninety seconds to introduce themselves. Ninety seconds to tell 200 strangers who they were and why those strangers should put them in charge of the student government of one of the most revered community colleges in the country.

One by one they stepped to the podium and spoke, spilling their guts and their passion throughout the SMC clocktower quad. They squeezed everything they have ever learned about persuasion and public speaking into this small window of time which represented just one small stepping stone in their quest to the Associated Students Board of Directors.

Last Thursday marked the AS Forum and Debates, hosted for the first time ever by The Corsair. Candidates running for the 13 available positions in AS addressed the student body, while the candidates for Student Trustee, vice president and president were given more time to expand on their platforms when they engaged in debates moderated by Corsair News EditorAdam Thomas and Community College Association for Student Advocacy (CCASA) CFO Filipp Krasovsky.

With the campaign period spanning a miniscule one week, opportunities for student voters to really get to know candidates can be scarce, so those who were interested utilized the occasion to gather around and hear what the candidates had to say.

“I want to hear what they’re going to say because I don’t want to base my vote off of their posters,” said attendee and president of the Programming Club Ian Sikes.

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Even candidates running unopposed, such as Director of Activities candidate Jeannie Joo and Director of Student Outreach candidate Rashisul Haque, took the chance to introduce themselves to the voters.

After the series of speeches, the debates began. The aspiring student governors were forced to put their ideas to the test when they were faced with difficult questions from the moderators. This led to some chippiness, especially between the presidential candidates, which bothered some of the attendees.

“The presidential debate got pretty heated,” Sikes said. “I wish that they were more talking about their own ideas and their own platforms.”

Biology major Maggie Skoryna, who was unhappy with the candidates’ emphasis on race, said, “I felt like it wasn’t as productive as it should have been... I thought it could’ve brought people together and it seemed like it was creating a little more segregation.”

Aside from the minor verbal skirmishes, students appreciated the messages that were being delivered by the candidates.

President of the Homeboys and Homegirls Club Edgar Gonzalez, when asked what stuck out to him, said, “The unity of the people, even though they were debating different things, everyone has one main point and that’s to represent the students and make change.”

The students will now be able to take a little more information with them to the voting areas at the Main Campus library and cafeteria, or online on Corsair Connect where they will be able to choose their favorite candidates until voting closes Thursday, April 7 at 4 p.m.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 05 • APRIL 06, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

Christina Cangarlu (right) and Dustin Staff (left), in the roles of Ovella Parson-Wilks and Bo Bob Jasper in last rehearsal of Cheatin' at the main stage at Santa Monica College. (Saundra Kibby)

IN THE END, CHEATERS NEVER PROSPER

FARID MIRZAEI CONTRIBUTING WRITER

On April 1, I went to see a play called "Cheatin’" by Del Shores. I went in with the intention of liking this play. After all, the SMC theater department was generous enough to let me get in for free just for a measly review. The staff at the theatre was very kind to me, one of them even showed me the direction to the bathroom five minutes before the play began. I thanked the man and returned to my seat, eager to watch the play. The clock hit 8 and the play didn’t begin. I frowned. Maybe their clocks were a bit off. It hit 8:05 before it began.

Maybe that’s how plays function — they start five minutes later to allow for people who lost track of time.

Regardless, the play started and we were introduced to Sid Cranford, the narrator of the play.

He introduced the audience to the setting and gave exposition. In hindsight I should have seen this as a red flag, because an exposition-heavy beginning is the telltale sign of a weak narrative. But Cranford was so charming, funny, and frankly, well-acted, that I didn’t pay it any mind.

But then we were introduced to two more characters, Bo Bob Jasper and Clarence Hopkins. The narrator assured us that these two were best friends, but this was hard to believe right off the bat. Clar-

ence constantly belittled Bo Bob and called him dumb, retarded, and various other cruel things. He would defend his actions by saying it was a joke, but like Bo Bob said, it wasn’t very funny. So a question formed in my mind: how did these two characters become friends? Would this play answer that question or frustrate it?

Consistently, it frustrated it.

Now don’t get me wrong, this was a competently put together play. Every single actor present played their characters well. The strongest was Justin Gubersky, who played Cranford.

Gubersky added weight and nuance to the character, both in his spoken lines and his silent actions. If he was being sarcastic, I believed him. If he was being genuine, I believed him.

But strong acting isn't always enough for a strong show.

Any goodwill built up by quality acting was torn down by the ending, and the fate of Sara Lee Turnover. Her characterization had set her up as a self-confident (if not selfabsorbed) hair-dresser who had a heart of gold that took flack from no one. I loved her character — here was a self-assured woman who supported her friends. Sure she could be overbearing and arrogant, but her intentions were good. She constantly gave dating advice to her perpetually unlucky-with-relationships friend

"ANY GOODWILL BUILT UP BY QUALITY ACTING WAS TORN DOWN

BY THE ENDING"

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Sivan Aviv (right), in the role of Maybelline Cartwright, points at Christina Cangarlu (left), in the role of Ovella Parsons-Wilks, while Justin Gubersky (center), in the role of Sid Cranford, observes the scene during the last rehearsal performance at the second stage at Santa Monica College. (Deysi Cobena)

Maybelline. When Sara Lee faces similar bad luck in her love-life, she makes a confident decision that fits in with the woman we had known her to be.

But then the ending happened. It was such a forced happy ending that the narrator went as far as to ask the audience if they wanted a happy ending. Fourth-wall broken and a growing headache within me, an ending unfolded that betrayed the nature of the characters the play had established, as well as the agency of Sara Lee Turnover, all for the sake of a conveniently neat ending.

Once the play was over, I stuck around to ask the playwright Del Shores a question.

I asked him about characterization because that was the most glaring flaw in my eyes.

I brought up Sara Lee and how she did a complete 180 in terms of characterization @THE_CORSAIR •

— he agreed with me. He also said that he’s grown as a writer and he asked me to watch his other plays because "Cheatin’" was written when he didn’t have much experience with writing. I’ll take him up on his offer one day, and I genuinely hope that the plays he's written since show vast improvements in narrative quality.

Should you watch the play? Up to you really. I’ve laid out few of the reasons I didn’t enjoy it, but maybe you’ll find something that I didn’t notice. The audience enjoyed the play more than I, that’s for sure. But if you’re like me and you pay attention to characterization, this play is not for you. Though if you like watching reprehensible characters suffer, more than you like consistency, it just might be. It is, after all, a comedy about some of the worst people.

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VOLUME 111 ISSUE 05 • APRIL 06, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

9

WALTER ETC: A REVOLVING DOOR OF MUSIC

Fans hover and cheer around Walter Etc. an alternative folk-rock band at an intimate show in the band's favorite venue, VLHS in Pomona on Februay 19. (Grace Gardner)

GRACE GARDNER OPINION EDITOR Under a ceiling filled with gold stars, disco balls, colorful metallic spirals, streams of paper cutouts and Christmas lights, a group of overheated millennials enjoyed the magically validating experience of watching, or rather participating in, a performance by up and coming west coast band Walter Etc. As the band shifts from its former identity Walter Mitty and his Makeshift Orchestra to its new one in Walter Etc., Dustin Hayes, lead singer and guitarist, is the string holding these eras together, charged with the responsibility of continuing the beloved sound that they have produced since 2009.

“There’s kind of like 'oh shit' now that people are watching us, I don’t want to fuck up,” Hayes said. “Back when it started, we didn’t give a fuck. And now we don’t want to let people down, which kind of sucks. But I try not to think about it like that. We try to keep our heads down and just do what we want to do.”

Although the band started recording in 2009, Hayes' first musical collaboration was a Green Day inspired band in the 6th grade with friends Chris and Jake. They continued playing together through high school, until Hayes decided he wanted to do more with it.

"At the end of high school we started to play less, and I really wanted to still be in a band. I didn't have a drum set at my house, so just by mistake, I basically recorded the acoustic guitar and had to use a tambourine, because that was all I had.”

Thus the Walter sound was born. Hayes described the progression of the tone of his albums as him starting out not really caring, followed by a lot of cliche angst, which lead into more experimentation with sounds like tambourines. Their last album was a real shot at trying to come together as "real musicians" and make a "real record."

"I feel like we're not real musicians," Hayes said. "We're kind of just friends jamming."

The band was originally supposed to have a “revolving door of friends” which at first, consisted of a group of high school friends. “[We] couldn’t even play music, but we just tried,” Hayes said.

Eventually, that core group of friends solidified into regular positions. The band had become so consistent

that there was no longer a need to swap out players, and the revolving door stopped moving. Now most of the members are attending graduate school, so the door started spinning again. The recent change in band members prompted the creation of Walter Etc. “It’s kind of come full circle to how it started with friends going in and out," Hayes said. "It's really cool because it really is the same group of friends from when we were kids, and people we've met along the way."

VLHS, a warehouse in Pomona, is the band's favorite venue.

"The quintessential Walter show is at VLHS," Hayes said. "This is definitely our go-to venue. It’s always fun.

You always see all the friends.”

While the crowd was more than happy with the previous bands, the mood shifted as Walter Etc. set up to play.

It was the kind of show where you really stood out if you didn’t know the words.

“I just try to write honest songs,” Hayes said.

For the young person today, Mitty’s lyrics have an innate relatability to them. The world that Hayes describes is one that looks a lot like our own. What's more is that they’re written plainly and concisely, with references to specific places and people. For example, the reference to ex-girlfriend Shelby Jacobson, who is mentioned in "Otterpops in the Icebox," or the reference to PCH in “Community College”.

“I do like to name specific things in songs, because it's fun to remember. I like to try to make them a little bit autobiographical so I can document phases of my life,” Hayes said. "Some very specific lyrics sound kind of a little young to me, and I kind of laugh at them. But as a whole, I'm actually surprised that I still get into it. I really still do feel those old feelings.”

The lyrics are raw, but not in an exaggerated, in-yourface kind of way. They’re raw in the sense that they represent life as a millennial in the 21st century without the hyperbolic, glamorized image that permeates the popmusic scene today. His songs accurately depict our dialogue, our relationships, and modern world anxieties.

Few mention the details that decorate our lives, like watching season three, spending an hour on the 55, and eating milk and cookies quite like Mitty does. However,

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the greater themes that tie together the millennial life are not forgotten. The songs embody the stress of entering adulthood as a young person, finding direction, and defying “cliche definitions of success.”

The most intriguing prospect of this young group is that the music they release is reliably quality stuff. The songs are unusually short, averaging two minutes a song, and the lyrics are tight and to the point. Consequently, everything you hear is pithy, comical or downright lovely.

The same individual who comes up with “I don’t need no metaphors to say I feel like shit” also wrote “God thinks it's me who doesn’t actually exist.”

“It's like, every single song that has been recorded and put out, I thought it was the greatest song at one point," Hayes said. "Every new song I write I'm like, ‘Fuck yeah, this is my best one.’”

As the members have grown older and gained more experience, the content of the songs has evolved.

"The global scale lyrics were definitely influenced by learning shit in college, and that intellectual fire you have when you're in college. I still hope I have that fire,” Hayes said. "I thought about it after I graduated from college a couple years ago, I was like, 'Am I still going to try to be writing these songs?'"

Probably the band's most unique feature is the juxtaposition of cynical lyrics and the cheery sound behind them, including the acoustic guitar, tambourines and a kazoo — the combination of which form the essence of the Walter sound.

According to Hayes, the band has gone through times where they've specifically wanted to produce songs that avoided confinement to the formal verse-chorus-versechorus style. For the sake of being different, many of his songs are freeform, without any hook.

With the new Walter Etc. identity, Hayes wants to begin to experiment with the genre and instruments. He might even add a little electric guitar.

"I think going forward it'll start to have a couple different sounds," he said. "There'll be a distinct Walter Mitty sound, and kind of have a foot in the door of that old sound... I'm really stoked and proud that we're able to maintain it and keep going. We haven't made it or anything, but we can keep the ball rolling." /THECORSAIRNEWS •

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VOLUME 111 ISSUE 05 • APRIL 06, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

SCIENCE OF MARCH MADNESS The physical and mental effects of being a fan

Illustration by Samantha Elms

ASHLEEN KNUTSEN STAFF WRITER Thousands of screaming fans with painted faces and chests, elaborate costumes and homemade signs are just normal sights in sport stadiums around the world. According to the National Sporting Goods Association, Americans spend over $8 million on sports logo apparel yearly.

But why? What is it that drives this deep obsession of sports fandom?

Dr. Marco Iacoboni, director of the Neuromodulation Lab at UCLA’s Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, studies an aspect of the brain that may provide an answer.

“I’ve studied for many years the system in the brain which is called the mirror neuron system,” Iacoboni said.

Mirror neurons were discovered accidentally by scientists working with macaque monkeys in the early 1990s.

While measuring their brain function, the scientists found that individual neurons fired both when the monkeys grabbed an object and while they watched someone else grab the same object.

Later, these results were reproduced in human subjects.

“These cells were active when the person was completely still, not moving at all, and watching someone else making the same action,” Iacoboni said.

At UCLA, Iacoboni studies how mirror neurons are involved in imitation and empathy, which are a large aspect of human behavior. Throughout our day, we often unconsciously mimic the behaviors and mannerisms of others, a phenomenon known as the “chameleon effect” by psychologists. Similarly, we experience emotional contagions from other people’s joy or sadness.

“When it comes to sports fandom, it explains why

we’re suckers for watching sports, because it’s almost as if we’re playing the game ourselves. Internally, in our minds, we’re making the moves of the athletes,” Iacoboni said. “When you’re doing that with other people there is a double-whammy here because there is also the fact that when you move… you also find yourself kind of mimicking what the athletes are doing. And you’re not the only one. If you’re watching the same sport with someone else, that person will do the same. And now we’re in the situation in which we’re not only mimicking the athlete on the screen, but also the person in the living room.”

He is applying his research to mental health applications like schizophrenia. Doctors are typically able to treat the symptoms of this disorder, but patients often have difficulty functioning well in their community due to a lack of social cognition. After finding the region of the brain that activates and controls certain mirror neurons, Iacoboni plans to stimulate them to create empathy.

Iacoboni’s research is just one of many biological facets relating to sports fandom being studied. Scientists have

shown that testosterone levels rise or lower depending on if your team wins or loses. Psychologists have found that self esteem is also effected by your team’s performance and suggest that a strong identification with a team can provide a sense of community and belonging. Other studies have evaluated the effect of being a sports fan on language skills, driving safety and suicide rates.

They found indications for an increase in language capacity, reckless driving in racing fans, and higher rates of suicide following the relocation of a team.

These passionate communities that sports create are far from new. “If you think about it, in ancient civilizations we used to have… religious rituals in which we do things together,” Iacoboni said. “The closest thing to one of these religious rituals… is going to the stadium and cheering for your team and doing that with people.”

He is not the first to make the connection between sports fandom and religion. An article in "Psychology Today" discussed this very topic, stating, “If ritual may be entertaining, then entertainment, as experienced in a sports stadium, may be ritualistic.”

"[STUDIES ON THE EFFECTS OF SPORTS FANDOM] FOUND INDICATIONS FOR...

RECKLESS DRIVING IN RACING FANS, AND HIGHER RATES OF SUICIDE FOLLOWING THE RELOCATION OF A TEAM."

THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE

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VOLUME 111 ISSUE 05 • APRIL 06, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

WHY BLACK LIVES MATTER IS EFFECTIVE

CLAUDIUS WEST CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Last week a defective part on the washer in my unit broke, flooding my bathroom, the downstairs neighbor's unit and her garage. The good folks at Samsung were kind enough to fix the manufacturer's defect, as well as cut a check for all damages that resulted from said flood. Pretty much everyone can agree that this was the right thing for Samsung to do and that it would have been a dick move for Samsung to have instead said, "We fixed the part — stop complaining and clean up the mess."

What happens when a nation's defective policies result in catastrophic damage to a community? In the case of America, the answer is the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. The nation refuses to fully correct the issue of police brutality and discrimination against people of color. It is indignant towards people pointing out the ripples in the pond created by the rock that is racism, rather than recognizing that things begin and end with the pebble.

Black Lives Matter is necessary and effective for many of the same reasons that some think that Black Lives Matter is ultimately doomed to fail.

Change in America comes through

political influence. Political influence is gained by two means: money and noise (Sorry, Obama). Black lives may not matter, but the black vote does. Because of this, BLM is forcing politicians to propose real plans to address racial injustice in America as opposed to the usual mindless and insincere pandering done at rallies and NAACP events.

The group is becoming notorious for hijacking political rallies, replacing the expected crowd of cheerleaders with those who ask real questions and expect real answers. In a somewhat recent example of bold power plays, two BLM activists took over the stage at a Bernie Sanders rally in Seattle.

Sanders later characterized their actions as “unfortunate,” going on to say that he had planned on addressing the issues of Black Lives but was denied the opportunity. When this was pointed out to Marissa Johnson, one of the two protesters, during an MSNBC interview, Johnson said she did not regret the stage takeover.

“Bernie Sanders had several weeks to address Black Lives Matter,” Johnson said, and went on to also say that she wasn't interested in talk

WHY BLACK LIVES MATTER IS INEFFECTIVE

GRACE GARDNER OPINION EDITOR

Black lives matter. However, that, as an isolated statement, hasn't proven to be very effective in getting Americans on board with addressing problems that black people face in regards to violence against black people and racial discrimination in the criminal justice system.

In fact, it doesn’t even seem effective within the black community. A Rasmussen Report revealed that only 31 percent of black voters would agree with the sentiment “black lives matter” with 78 percent preferring instead to say “all lives matter.”

It’s absolutely true that people of color are discriminated against by the police.

However, 70 percent of voters believe it’s more a matter of inner city crime rather than discrimination against minorities, proving that the majority of people really don’t understand or sympathize with discrimination minorities face. The reason for this miscommunication stems from invisible leadership and the absence of specific, attainable goals that Americans can get behind.

The largest factor that contributed to the unfortunate lack of success by the movement is the lack of clear goals. With so many voices shouting so many things, it’s been hard for the rest of the country to see not only what changes need to be made, but how we can realistically make them. Blacklivesmatter.com tries to refute this by listing several changes that should theoretically fix the system.

These include: “swift and transparent legal investigation of all police shootings of black people; official governmental tracking of the number of citizens killed by police, disaggregated by race; the de-

militarization of local police forces; and community accountability mechanisms for rogue police officers.”

However, they also want the country to "affirm the value of black life in practical and pragmatic ways, including addressing an increasing racial wealth gap, fixing public schools that are failing, combating issues of housing inequality and gentrification that continue to push people of color out of communities they have lived in for generations, and dismantling the prison industrial complex.”

But that’s not all. To complicate matters more, there are 13 other guiding principles of Black Lives Matter, which are listed under “What We Believe” on the homepage. To name a few: the commitment to the celebration of differences and commonalities; creating a space for black women “free from sexism, misogyny, and male‐centeredness;” creating an uplifting space for trans people of color to lead and work; being “unapologetically black;” awareness of different privileges or levels of impact black people face internationally; being inclusive to all “regardless of actual or perceived sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, economic status, ability, disability, religious beliefs or disbeliefs, immigration status or location;" building black villages that reject the nuclear family; “dismantling the patriarchal practice that requires mothers to work 'double shifts' that require them to mother in private even as they participate in justice work;” freeing people of heteronormativity; and “fostering an intergenerational and communal network free from ageism."

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OPINION

11

as much as she was in “concrete platforms, concrete policies.”

This act angered many, including those that support BLM. I paused at the notion myself. However, Johnson had a point that probably would not have been heard nor addressed had BLM not stormed that stage.

Bernie Sanders said in his post-rally interview that he wants to address BLM but “there are other things to talk about.” I feel the Bern, but that is a serious cop out.

According to MSNBC, he went on to release the racial justice platform. Again, unapologetic boldness gets results.

Black Lives has managed to hijack the nation's media and politicians and force Americans to have unpleasant but necessary conversations about race. A search of BLM on google will get you 65 million hits, 14 million if you only search "news." BLM is becoming a media juggernaut and yet with all of this attention, it is the movement and not its founders or any one figurehead who come to mind when you think of the BLM. This is a huge strength.

These methods have put questionable law enforcement practices under more scrutiny than ever. Black Lives has been instrumental in putting America's policing of the black community under the microscope of media and forcing law enforcement to consider sweeping changes, holding poorly preforming officers accountable where they had not been before.

Alabama police officer Aaron Smith was arrested and charged with murder in connection with the death of 58-year-old Gregory Gunn last February. At the time of his death, Gunn was walking to his own home, had committed no crime and was unarmed.

This past February, former NYPD officer Peter Liang was convicted of manslaugh-

ter after a trial in which his own partner testified against him. Liang shot and killed a man during a routine patrol in which the victim, Akai Gurley, was simply walking down the stairs. The officer involved with the arrest of Sandra Bland was also fired.

All of this screams pressure and there is no question that BLM is applying it.

What's better is that the pressure is collective, and not asserted by one particular dominant figure. Leaders make for good targets. A scandal can easily take them down and thus weaken the movement. It's even possible that a leader could get the 1960s civil rights extermination treatment.

It is said that if you remove a head, you kill the body. With no one person to go after, one has no easy means by which to end this movement.

BLM is not a group of people but an idea that resonates. The reason that BLM has staying power with so many across all cultures despite the appearance of a nonexistent leadership and lack of clear vision is that the most important part of the struggle — the end goal in fact — lies in the title, "Black Lives Matter".

Black America appreciates the reforms gained thus far. It understands that not everybody has personally caused harm but the actions of some present have caused damage that goes beyond defective policy and requires a collective effort to address fully. But if Black America doesn't stand up for itself, then no one else will. If it isn't loud and bold in its pursuit of racial equality and justice, then black lives in America will never matter. So, until America gets over its confusion about who should pay for the damage caused by America's defective polices, I hope and believe that Black Lives Matter will stay around to stir the pot.

I used almost 300 words of this article just trying to cover the various issues this movement is trying to tackle. Compare that to the civil rights movement, which you could basically sum up in under five words: “we want equal rights." The goal of the movement was clear to the American people, which allowed it to more easily gather support. In Black Lives Matter's attempt to be the most inclusive, progressive group, they have diluted the message.

Without a strong, central message, people don't understand what the fuss is all about.

In one corner of the internet, you have people talking about judicial discrimination, and in the other, about equality for women of color.

This likely would not have been an issue had a leader come forward. Despite the fact that many of its members deny it, proper leadership was and continues to be an issue for the BLM movement.

T h e i r website cites a desire to stray from having an older, cis-gendered male leading the group. They would prefer to have no leader than a leader who doesn't represent all kinds of people of color viewed as underrepresented, like women, the gender queer, or gays. By not having those people in leadership roles, they supposedly fail to recognize those people as valid, contributing members of the movement. The group chooses instead to have a “leaderful” movement in order to

limit vulnerability and represent all groups.

In this regard, the movement has failed greatly. By trying to be the most inclusive group within the black community that they can possibly be, they have sacrificed one of the most important aspects of a social progress movement: leadership.

One of the reasons the civil rights movement was so hugely successful and made such significant progress was because they had an identifiable, educated leader that was able to speak on behalf of their people, giving them the ability to communicate more effectively with political leaders who could help their cause. It's exponentially easier to understand a concept when communicating with one person rather than with a group of 10,000 frustrated people in the streets.

Under proper leadership, it's possible that what appeared to be riots, could have transformed into well orchestrated, peaceful protests that would have persuaded the rest of the country rather than turning the country off from the idea and the phrase completely.

I’m not disputing the need for a black lives matter movement. We as a country need to fundamentally change the way we treat people of color in terms of our policing and criminal justice system, as well as ensuring general equality. However, real social progress can only be effectively implemented with a strong combination of centralized, concrete goals and compelling leadership. For progress’ sake, I hope these changes can be made.

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Illustrations by Andrew Khanian

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VOLUME 111 ISSUE 05 • APRIL 06, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

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