TCCD Collegian spetember 29, 2021

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All flat notes PG. 2

Wednesday, September 29, 2021 – Volume 34 • Issue 6 Entertainment

Opinion

Opinion

Editorial

Feature

HEADSHOTS ONLY Lifeless animated movie needs to be eradicated. PG. 2

BIDEN’S SCAPEGOAT The Biden administration’s made-up barrier PG. 3

GAME OVER The video game industry is on the wrong path. PG. 3

GO GREEN! TCC uses green power, reaps the benefits . PG. 3

CELEBRATING HISPANIC MUSIC Hispanic/Latinx musicians that deserve to be talked about. PG. 4

NORTHEAST

Dance group discovers its own rhythm

Jose Romero/The Collegian

NE touring dance group Movers Unlimited practice a routine in the NHPE building. The Movers’ show “Unwavering” will run Dec. 3-4 at the NFAB theater.

Movers Unlimited covers various dance styles from ballet to hip-hop JOSE ROMERO editor-in-chief

Members of NE Campus’ touring dance company Movers Unlimited rhythmically vibrated the studio as they practiced for upcoming events.

“In 2009, in the spring, I started teaching here at TCC NE Campus, and I just fell in love with my students,” NE dance professor Kihyoung Choi said. “They were just the most hardworking students I have ever taught.”

Choi is now the director for Movers Unlimited. She said the passion and work ethic she experienced from those students was amazing and, after all these years, it’s a sensation she still feels for the current mem-

bers of the team. It’s also a sensation her students get from her as well.

“How Bob Ross says ‘Anybody can paint,’ Kihyoung says ‘Anybody can dance,’” Movers Unlimited member Isabel Soto said.

“It doesn’t matter how much training you have.”

Soto has been on the team for four weeks, and she said Choi always caters her teaching style to different levels of experience. If somebody has less experience, then Choi will approach them differently than somebody who has been dancing for years.

“She really pushes us so we can all grow as one,” Soto said.

Even though she hasn’t been on the team for too long, Soto describes them as a family and a group with which she can share her love for dance.

“I never really understood that concept of having a dance family until I came here and experienced it for myself,” she said.

Having such a strong support system for her personal and dance life has been a positive experience for her, she said.

Movers Unlimited member Gary Clark said his first experience with the team was when he was in high school because they came to his school to perform.

“It was different from any type of dance I’ve ever seen,” Clark said.

He was going to audition for Movers right out of high school, but he didn’t try out until two years later.

Clark was afraid he wasn’t going to make the cut because of the difficulty of the audition and because he’s asthmatic. He has been a part of Movers for three years now.

“I’d give my last breath for these people,” Clark said.

An unforgettable moment for Najwa Seyedmorteza was in the spring of 2013.

“We performed a dance called ‘TAE,’ and something happened on the stage,” Seyedmorteza said. “It happened to all of us at one time. We felt it as a group.”

She said it felt as if the world stopped around them. The only thing that mattered was what was on stage. That sensation is something Seyedmorteza has continued chasing in her performances.

“There was something so beautiful about it,” she said. “That was the most impactful moment that still lingers in me.”

Movers Unlimited is preparing for its show “Unwavering,” which will run in December.

DISTRICT

DISTRICT

Mandates on vaccines, masks spark discussion

Rumors commence for 2022 governor race; students react JUAN SALINAS II

AUSTIN FOLKERTSMA campus editor

Gov. Greg Abbott has sparked conversation these past couple of months with his position on masks and abortion. NE students and faculty weigh in on their opinions of the governor.

“I think the six-week abortion ban is a direct attack on our right to bodily anatomy,” NE student Tori Wilson said. “The fact that he has banned mask mandates because it should be a matter of personal choice and then immediately followed it with this new policy is wildly hypocritical. If you can claim ‘my body, my choice’ regarding a major public health issue, you should be able to make the same choice regarding a personal medical procedure.”

NE student Aris Longino said they worry the way Abbott governs can be dangerous because of the way he downplays a dangerous pandemic, which they said can ultimately hurt a lot of people.

“I don’t like him,” Longino said. “By not enforcing mask mandates and even making the decision to not allow schools to mandate masks at all, he is putting thousands of children’s lives in danger.”

It’s scary how many people think what he’s doing is good and believe COVID isn’t an issue when most people in the ICU today are unvaccinated, they said.

“Yes, masks in Texas’ heat are

unpleasant, but it’s not going to kill anyone to wear a piece of fabric over their mouths for a couple of hours.”

Aris Longino NE student “Yes, masks in Texas’ heat are unpleasant, but it’s not going to kill anyone to wear a piece of fabric over their mouths for a couple of hours,” Longino said. “COVID, on the other hand, has killed thousands in America alone.”

NE student Lauryn Mann said she thinks Abbott is someone who pays attention to polls and adjusts his policies and actions accordingly. Because many people in Texas are anti-abortion and anti-mask, and those are the two big-ticket items he’s tackled recently that have drawn the applause of many conservatives, she said.

“Only judging based on these two things, one might think that Abbott is a hardcore conservative, but his actions don’t always support that,” Mann said. “For example, he first opposed and then supported the only Republican state representative from Texas who was pro-abortion. He flips and flops like a fish out of water. For that reason, I don’t entirely trust him.”

campus editor

Even though the Texas governor’s race is still a year away, students say they are already showing interest.

Several news outlets are reporting that former U.S. Rep. Beto O’ Rourke plans to run. Also rumored to run is famous actor Matthew McConaughey.

Celebrities running for office isn’t new — Kanye West ran for president last year.

But one instructor said being a good candidate means more than just name recognition.

“I think we need people that are experienced working in politics,” NW government instructor Lauren McClain said. “They don’t have to be old or been in politics forever, but I think we need somebody who has experience in public service.”

Thirty-five people voted in an online poll The Collegian conducted, O’Rourke beat Abbott with about 80% of the vote.

“As much as I think fresh ideas are great for Texas, I don’t know if he has a shot because he is so progressive, and Texas still does have a majority of people that identify as more conservative,” McClain said.

NE student Revna Jimenez said O’Rourke has more experience and she agrees with his viewpoints. O’Rourke isn’t as progressive as Bernie Sanders but would be an excellent fit for Texas, she said.

“I feel like he has a lot of experience now since he tried to become president back in 2020, and I think he has a lot of really good viewpoints,” she said about O’Rourke, who dropped out of the 2020 presidential race before the primary due to low support and funding.

She said the state is becoming more of a toss-up, listing Tarrant County voting for O’Rourke in the 2018 Senate race against Ted Cruz as an example.

Republicans still dominate Texas politics, though, and one student said Abbott could even see some pressure in his primary.

“I feel like Abbott has done a good job, but I think it could be greatly improved with someone like Allen West or Mr. [Don] Huffines,” NE student Colin Mccullough said.

West was chairman of the Texas Republican Party but resigned to run against Abbott in next year’s primary. Huffines is a former state senator who served from 2015 to 2019 and has also entered the primary.

“If Texas goes blue, I believe America will really change because Texas is such a big state with so many electoral votes,” Mccullough said.

Mccullough has concerns about O’Rourke’s stance on guns, vaccine mandates and border policy.

“I feel his plan for open borders is a disaster,” Mccullough said. “I already know he is going to put in a vaccine mandate, which is totally unconstitutional.”

ENTERTAINMENT

2 • Wednesday, September 29, 2021 MOVIE REVIEW

‘Dear Evan Hansen’ is hard to get through

Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures

Evan Hansen, played by Ben Platt, gets into a verbal altercation with Connor, played by Colton Ryan, about a note that Connor took from Evan.

JOSE ROMERO editor-in-chief

“Dear Evan Hansen” is proof that sometimes Broadway musicals don’t need film adaptations.

Ben Platt reprises his role from the musical as the titular character, Evan Hansen. That was the first red sign. He’s a 28-year-old guy portraying a high school teenager. Instead of getting a younger actor, Platt is caked with makeup, making his face way too pale for comfort. It would be easy to ignore of Evan was a likable character but he’s absolutely awful, irredeemable even.

Evan’s terrible actions begin when a classmate, Connor, that used to bully him commits suicide. Connor stole a note from Evan before he killed himself, a note Connor’s parents find. The note was written by Evan, but since it began with “Dear Evan Hansen,” it made it seem as if Connor wrote it for Evan. Instead, Evan wrote it because his therapist

told him to for an assignment. That’s when Evan’s villainy begins.

Evan lies to Connor’s parents, making up stories about the time they spent together when in reality, the only interactions they had were when Connor was yelling at Evan.

At first, it kind of makes sense that Evan continued the facade.

He’s put in a precarious position, not wanting to tell Connor’s parents that they weren’t friends at all. The first time he lies, it can be forgiven, but he continues throughout the movie. His lies get larger and larger, gaslighting Connor’s whole family. It becomes hard to continue caring about someone so vile. The movie tries to redeem him but fails.

It’s hard to watch a movie where it wants the viewer to like the main character, but he’s just so awful that it’s hard to feel sympathy. There’s a disconnect between the movie and the audience. When the movie tried to be melancholy, it makes people feel awkward with closeups to characters’ faces as they hold a very long vibrato. A very,

very long vibrato.

The music isn’t awful, but it just feels completely out of place.

Characters will burst into song at random intervals. The transition from Broadway to a movie wasn’t smooth whatsoever. Everything about this movie feels awkward.

Evan is meant to feel awkward, but all the surrounding characters shouldn’t. It’s so hard to root for anyone.

“Dear Evan Hansen” is a Tony award-winning musical. This movie does it a disservice.

Rough topics like suicide and mental illness are downplayed, sometimes making it into a punchline at times. I was uncomfortable throughout a huge majority of the movie and almost walked out. But, unfortunately, I stayed. Hoping to find something I liked, to no avail.

“In The Heights” this year proved that movie adaptations of musicals can work tremendously. It had dynamic, vibrant scenes filled with outstanding choreography.

“Dear Evan Hansen” had none of

Evan Hansen and his friend fabricate emails to Connor’s family. that. It was dull, static and lifeless.

If this is a person’s first experience with the musical, the last thing they would assume is the number of accolades the source material was bestowed.

Ben Platt is a great singer, but

that couldn’t save this movie. The music tried to carry the film, but it broke its back within the first ten minutes.

MOVIE REVIEW

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Animation

“Night of the Animated Dead” takes John Romero’s classic film and remakes it. Many elements are kept the same from the classic film, so just watch the original.

Animated movie eats brains just like zombies MICHAEL FOSTER-SANDERS senior producer

George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” might be the most influential horror of all time. In 1968 the film broke boundaries with race by having a Black man as the lead role, and the main hero of the group.

Its visceral assault with violence and special effects are also noteworthy.

But, it’s a tragic story due to this movie's success.

The distribution company that initially brought the film to theaters

under the original title “Night of the Living Flesh Eaters” forgot to put a copyright on the title of the film, and it became public domain. Meaning anyone could bring out the movie without paying royalties to Romero and costing him millions of dollars until the time of his death in 2017.

It was only a matter of time before someone had the bright idea of creating an animated version of the movie. “Night of the Animated Dead” does just that.

Let me say this off the top.

The animated version of this classic tale is straight-up dumpster truck juice and not just any dump-

ster truck juice. Dumpster truck juice that’s at a daycare-for-newborns-ona-hot-Texas-summer-day-kind-ofnasty.

Let’s start with the art style that was used to animate the movie. For those of you who remember Microsoft Paint ‘95 know exactly what is going on with this production. Flat, unimaginative and cheap looking.

They could have paid a ninth grader who makes YouTube intros on Fiverr and gotten better results than this. The motions of the characters are janky and stiff like it’s suffering from rigor mortise.

Next up is the story.

Now, with having the liberty to change the story, why didn’t they hire someone to spice up the tale and throw some surprises in for the viewers who know what to expect out of this tale? The 1990 version of “Night of the Living Dead” did this and arguably became the best version of the story. This waste of celluloid only changes the way some of the deaths happened in the original story, and not for the best either.

Viewers will see this and be like, “They died because of what?”

Just poor execution all around.

Last, but not least is the voice acting. Out of respect for the ac-

tors, there will not be a listing of the names of this atrocity, but just know they could’ve spent a fraction of the money on a high school drama class and got the same results. The voice work just came off as flat and dull like they recorded their parts on a lunch break on an iPhone voice memo app.

“Night of the Animated Dead” deserves a headshot to the brain to make sure it will never rise again.

OPINION

Wednesday, September 29, 2021 • 3

EDITORIAL

TCC ranks No. 2 in Texas for being green The Environmental Protection Agency recently ranked TCC as No. 2 in the state and 25th best nationally in terms of green power usage on a college campus. This is a significant accomplishment and a step toward a future built on renewable energy.

The EPA defines green power as energy generated that produces no greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and reduces air pollution. Because of this, green power is instrumental in combating climate change. Because green power comes from renewable sources, it is not in danger of being exhausted like fossil fuels. Common sources of green power include wind, solar and geothermal.

TCC is an EPA Green Power Partner, meaning it has joined with the agency and other schools across the country to increase the use of green power and renewable energy.

The combined total of power used by the EPA’s top 30 college and university partners equals over 3.7 kilowatt-hours of green power — the equivalent of 345,000 American households.

To become a Green Power Partner, an organization or community must report its use of green power to the agency annually. TCC uses enough energy generated from wind and solar to power 100% of its needs across six campuses, according to the EPA. In total, this comes out to about 57 million kilowatt-hours of green power used at the college each year. Most of this power comes from the wind.

The subject of green power has been in the spotlight in recent

years, and is not without controversy. In 2019, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spearheaded The Green New Deal, an attempt to get legislation passed that would drastically reframe how we produce and use energy. The goal, Ocasio-Cortez said, was to get to 100% renewable energy in 10 years. The alternative was a doomsday scenario, she said.

This Green New Deal was shot

down by many on both sides of the political aisle, but many of its supporters still advocate its potential benefits. Still, others continue to denounce it.

During the mass power outages caused by the failure of the Texas power grid during the winter storm earlier this year, the subject of green power came front and center yet again. Gov. Greg Abbot

Amber Davis/The Collegian

blamed the failures on the shortcomings of green power sources like wind turbines.

But it’s important to remember — Texas runs on fossil fuels. Any failure that led to the catastrophe in February was a result of the old way of doing things.

There are undeniable benefits to a switch to green power. Green

power can not run out, meaning a transition to it would benefit future generations. Maintenance requirements on renewable energy technology are lower overall than with traditional fuel sources. Using it creates a much smaller carbon footprint, meaning it directly combats climate change.

Many critics of renewable energy argue that the dissolution of the fossil fuel industry would instantly wipe millions of jobs.

They also believe that wiping out fossil fuels will get rid of the only reliable source of energy available to us.

There is truth in these ideas, but on the whole, they miss the point. These arguments would certainly be valid if all energy at once was switched from fossil fuel to green power with the flick of a switch, but that idea would never be feasible, even if all parties agreed that there were no downsides to green power.

The answer is in a gradual transition — one that TCC has admirably decided to take part in and has rightfully been recognized for. A gradual transition means the creation of more jobs and greater knowledge of how to produce green power more efficiently and reliably on a larger-scale level.

The bottom line is that there is no downside to choosing green power within a community. While the ramifications of a total switch on a national or worldwide level are still being weighed, considered and argued, each person can choose to cut down carbon emissions on a personal or communal level.

VIEWPOINTS

Another video game crash is Parliamentarian is Biden’s sad imminent, but let’s prevent it excuse to not take any action

MICHAEL FOSTER-SANDERS senior producer

The video game industry might be heading for another historic crash like in 1983.

Honestly, in my opinion, it’s needed.

There is no originality anymore. It’s monkey see monkey do these days, and the consumers are lemmings to the garbage being force-fed to the market.

When the first video game crash happened, it was a no hold bars open market in the industry. For every “Space Invader,” there was a gazillion other companies putting out trash like “Alien Invaders.” Blatant rip-offs with nothing more to offer than to fool parents and cash in on the craze that a certain game has garnered by bringing something new to the table.

Then it was shovelware due to there not being any regulation by the companies to make games for their system. Literally, anyone could make a game, and as long as they had the money to get it manufactured it was fair game. A bunch of trash flooded the market and soured the taste of gaming for consumers.

Here’s looking at you, E. T. The nail in the coffin was the hardware, which no innovation was being made on that front. The Atari 2600 was not the first game system whose honor goes to the Fairchild

Channel F, but it pretty much set the standard of what a video game system should be.

Atari tried to milk this system for six years, even handicapping its new system, the Atari 5200, since it had no backward compatibility and garbage controllers which were prone to breaking.

The industry could hold up much after that and crashed and burned. But a phoenix named Nintendo arose from the ashes in 1985 and corrected most of the sins of its forefathers, and the industry was back and healthy.

Back to the future, and the sins of the grandfathers showing up again in their greatgrandchildren. A company named Rockstar set the bar of the sandbox-style game, with its title Grand Theft Auto III, and damn near every company is following this formulaic style of gameplay. Which is becoming a chore and a bore. Rockstar also is cannibalizing itself by letting this game live online for the past eight years through three console generations.

I get it’s a money maker, but at what price? Do you really want to become an Activision-like company and become a shell of yourself for the almighty dollar?

Before I end this rant I would like to ask Sony and Microsoft what was the point of bringing out your new generation of gaming systems when you’re crippling the systems by releasing games that can’t take full advantage of the hardware? I get the fact that everyone can’t find or afford these new games systems, but you’re punishing your loyal supporters for things that are in your control, and that can be fixed.

Gaming companies know the past so you won’t be doomed to repeat it, but at this point are you ignorant to the signs of history repeating itself and welcoming another dark age of gaming?

JUAN SALINAS II campus editor

The Senate parliamentarian suggested that Democrats’ decision to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants through the 3.5 trillion budget bill can not be done.

I choose my words wisely because other news media will use terms as “ruled” or “blocked,” but in reality, the Senate parliamentarian has no actual power in determining what the Senate can do.

Elizabeth MacDonough is the Senate parliamentarian. She has held the position since 2012. She is not an elected official. The Senate Majority Leader appoints the position, which was Harry Reid at the time.

The Senate parliamentarian is an official adviser that gives opinions on what the Senate can or can’t do with the reconciliation process. The vice president rarely dismisses the parliamentarian opinion, but Kamala Halmas has the utmost power as president of the Senate to do so.

Progressive Democrats have pushed the Biden administration to ignore the parliamentarian.

“This ruling by the parliamentarian is only a recommendation,” Rep. Ilhan Omar tweeted Sept. 19.“@SenSchumer ( Majority Leader Chuck Schumer) and the @WhiteHouse can and should ignore it. We can’t

miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to do the right thing.”

This isn’t the first time the parliamentarian has “stopped” Democrats’ effort to propose progressive policies. In February, the parliamentarian had suggested or “ruled” that the Democrats couldn’t include a federal minimum wage increase to $15 in the bill because it didn’t fit the criteria to be in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill.

The Biden administration used this suggestion as an excuse for why the $15 minimum wage couldn’t be included in the relief bill, but in reality, it was to cover for the moderate Democrats, which was exposed when Sen. Bernie Sanders offered an amendment to keep the provision in the bill, which failed when eight Democrats voted against it.

This is the first time I am hearing about the senate parliamentarian. Democrats using someone’s opinion as a barrier to what they want to achieve is a bit ridiculous as we just witnessed the last five years of the Trump administration bully their unpopular policies into law.

Democrats don’t have the luxury of having the illusion of being powerless with the surprise win in the Georgia Senate runoff election. That victory gave Democrats control of the Senate during the mist of the 2020 presidential election.

The Biden administration hasn’t achieved most of its campaign promises because it keeps preaching bipartisanship and not pressuring moderate Democrats to fall in line.

Looking at this in a bigger picture, failing to change the status quo for the workingclass will repeat the failures of the Obama administration and end with another Trump -like figure taking office.

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Meet EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jose Romero

CAMPUS EDITORS Juan Salinas II Austin Folkertsma

the

Staff

ILLUSTRATOR/DESIGNER Amber Davis

MANAGING EDITOR Logan Evans

PHOTO EDITOR Ian McIntosh

LEAD DESIGNER Abbas Ghor

WEB COORDINATOR/DESIGNER Kristal Blankinship

SENIOR PRODUCER Michael Foster-Sanders

ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Camille Compton

Professional Staff PRODUCTION MANAGER Stacy Luecker

ADVISERS Chris Whitley • Jocelyn Tatum

FEATURE

4 • Wednesday, September 29, 2021

MUSICIANS Que diga ¡presente!

Music is an important part of Hispanic culeditor-in-chief ture. It’s sometimes used to express hardships, discussing the plight of being a Hispanic in America or being a Hispanic in general. Or, it can be used to just have a good time, playing catchy tunes that can be sung in unison at a party. Latin American genres like bachata, cumbia and reggaeton have exploded in popularity in the U.S., allowing more Latinx musicians to become popular. But, pop isn’t the only genre in which Hispanics excel. When it comes to musicians like Gustavo Santaolalla — who you can read more about to the right — is an Academy Award-winning composer, showing how varied each artist can be. Each musician highlighted are some of the best in their respective genres and deserve attention.

JOSE ROMERO

Pitbull is a Hispanic rapper known worldwide, hence his nickname — Mr.Worldwide.

He’s from Miami which has continuously inspired his flow and songwriting. On YouTube, his music has gained over 15 billion views, and he has won 35 Billboard Latin Music Awards. He has used his fame and wealth to open a middle and high school in Little Havana, the neighborhood he grew up in.

Luna Santa is a newer Mexican band that hasn’t been around for too long.

They have a total of six songs released so far, with more on the way. They aren’t as prominent or influential as other artists amore Mexican pop music. As of right now, “Bruja” is their most popular song with about 2.5 million views on YouTube.

Gloria Estefan’s career began in

Miami. She’s a Cuban-American artist that made it big in 1985.

Her influence on Hispanic/Latinx music culture is so big that she is one of the reasons Billboard created the category for top Latin artists. Not only that, but she’s one of the highest-selling female singers of all time. Her impact was rewarded in 2015 with a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Bad Bunny is a well-known Puerto Rican

artist that focuses primarily on the music genre reggaeton. He initially got his start on SoundCloud, a music-sharing app, where he uploaded music until he got noticed by big artists like Cardi B and Drake in 2016. In 2020, he became the first non-English artist to be Spotify’s most-streamed of the year. He was also in Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people on the world list.

Gustavo Santaolalla is a musician from Argentina.

His work can be heard in multiple types of mediums like movies, shows and video games. Some of his most famous work has come from the series “Narcos: Mexico” and the video games “The Last of Us.” His work has been so impactful that in 2015 he was inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Illustration by Amber Davis/The Collegian