TCCD Collegian September 1, 2021

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Stroke of genius PG. 2

Wednesday, September 1, 2021 – Volume 34 • Issue 2 Entertainment

Opinion

Opinion

Editorial

Feature

HAUNTING OF NIGHT HOUSE A widow uncovers her husband’s dark secrets. PG. 2

SIT BACK AND RELAX The prominence of overworking is toxic to society. PG. 3

STOP ASKING FOR MONEY Game companies need to start releasing finished products. PG. 3

DON’T TAKE COW DRUGS Listen to scientists about COVID protocols. PG. 3

WELCOME BACK Take a look at TCC campuses as students return. PG. 4

DISTRICT

NORTHEAST

Community divided by mandates

RTVF program gets upgrade TONY HARRIS reporter

Recently given the green light to update their equipment and refurbish their studios, the RTVF department is upgrading outdated tech for a new generation of broadcast students.

“The students have been given an opportunity,” said RTVF instructor Brandt Sleeper. “If students come to class prepared, we can hit the ground running.”

Sleeper points to a significant growth in enrollment as the catalyst for district support.

“Over the past two and a half years, our enrollment has almost doubled,” Sleeper said.

He noted that over the past few years, trends in media have started to change. The rise in popularity of digital media like podcasts has shown prospective students a new avenue into the media industry.

“Over the past two and a half years, our enrollment has almost doubled.”

Brandt Sleeper

RTVF instructor

Ian McIntosh/The Collegian

Students, masked and unmaksed, work in the graphics communication classroom in the NCAB building on NE Campus.

Greg Abbott’s orders questioned by students, faculty JOSE ROMERO editor-in-chief

Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order May 18 prohibiting Texas government entities from mandating masks, and that has created a mixed reaction among students and faculty.

Connect Campus student Dan Beavers agrees with Abbott’s decision and said it should be up to an individual to decide whether or not they want to wear a mask.

“The government should not be able to mandate masks,” he said.

“We live in America after all. If people want to wear masks, let them but don’t require them.”

South student David Salumu said he’s indecisive about whether or not masks should be mandated.

He said he’s vaccinated, but with the Delta variant still out there, it doesn’t feel safe to him yet.

“I disagree and agree at the same time about mask mandates,” he said. “Sometimes it needs to be mandated, but at the end of the day, it’s your own responsibility.”

Salumu’s stance is similar to what Abbott wrote on Twitter.

“The path forward relies on personal responsibility — not government mandates,” Abbott wrote.

In response to Abbott’s tweet, NE music professor Hsinyi Wang said banning mask mandates is a government mandate in itself, pointing out the irony in his statement.

“Decisions regarding public health shall be decided and announced by public health experts and those experts only,” she said.

“Same reason as I, a trained musician, shall not supervise my neighbor’s plumbing repair.”

Unlike Wang, NW student Shyanna Wymer doesn’t agree with any kind of mandate. Wymer said society is using the pandemic as an excuse for its craziness, which shifts the focus off of other issues like unemployment and people being unable to pay their rent.

“I think that having to wear a mask is a bit ridiculous,” she said.

“If COVID is going to kill someone, well, then that is what will be. I am not meaning to sound cold-hearted, but at this point, I am tired of hearing that word, ‘COVID.’”

“I have not received it and do not plan to, If I end up with COVID, well, then that is my life story.”

Shyanna Wymer NW student

Abbott tested positive for COVID-19 Aug.17, reactions to his case were also mixed.

Salumu chuckled then said he was speechless when he heard about Abbott’s positive test. Beavers and Wang don’t think Abbott getting COVID will change people’s minds on mandates for masks or vaccinations.

“Abbott’s own COVID positive didn’t even sway his own mind as he put out another executive order banning vaccine mandating,” Wang said.

Wymer said her opinion on the vaccine is that it shouldn’t be mandatory.

“I have not received it and do not plan to,” she said. “If I end up with COVID, well, then that is my

life story. I will either survive or I will die. Just like every other person on this planet is someday going to do.”

Wang said the COVID vaccination should be treated the same as the meningitis shot, which is mandatory for enrollment, according to state law.

Salumu said nobody is supposed to tell people what to do with their bodies, so he disagrees with mandatory COVID vaccinations.

“If you feel like it’s safe for you, take it,” he said. “If you don’t feel like it’s safe for you, don’t take it. Me? I took it because I feel like it’s safe, but I’m not going to make it mandatory for somebody to take the COVID vaccine.”

Salumu said he likes being back on campus. He laughed then said he wasn’t fully understanding things online.

“We’re going to reach a point where life has to go on,” he said.

“It’s been like two years, so we reach a point where we’re like, OK, we have to cope with this situation then move on from it. We don’t have to live like a prisoner.”

“For a period, nobody was interested in audio at all,” Sleeper said “But now people realize that you can make a living doing that sort of thing.”

Before COVID-19 closed campuses in spring of 2020, the audio recording room was furnished with recording booths, all with a microphone and PC computer. RTVF student Travis Rackley found that some of it needed updating.

“Honestly this is a bit of a nitpick, but the computers used in the recording booths on campus are all Macs, while almost all the computers in the lab are PCs,” he said. “This often results in issues to newer students being unable to work on their files in the PC lab. Newer equipment could give students an edge by knowing professional equipment used in the industry.”

The audio recording studios on the NE Campus have been updated with new technology over the pandemic break. Sleeper said the recording booths now feature large condenser studio microphones along with new workstations.

S l e e p e r ’s p l a n s f o r curriculum in the fall semester involve collaboration with other departments, such as the music department.

“We actually have the microphones to start doing some high-end recording, so we can really advance the Audio II class as well,” he said. “We can bridge the music department with our department.”

RTVF student Ashton Norris said that a lot of students must rely on the school for their handson experience, lacking the gear at their homes.

“If the studios on campus can get as close to a full functioning professional studio as possible, I think that will help and prepare students beyond measure,” Norris said.

Sleeper said as classes resume this fall semester, RTVF students will be able to return to an updated studio full of the tools needed to learn the techniques to ensure career opportunities in the future.

ENTERTAINMENT

2 • Wednesday, September 1, 2021 MOVIE REVIEW

GAME REVIEW

Secrets lurk close to home in chilling film

Heartwarming game makes for unforgettable experience JOSE ROMERO editor-in-chief

Despite its short length, “Behind The Frame: The Finest Scenery” manages to tell a compelling story that surpasses equivalent products in gaming.

The title is an indie game made by a team of eight people, and the passion from each individual is tangible as the game tells a beautiful love story about an artist’s muse.

Its narrative is mysterious at first but is meticulously unveiled as the story progresses.

Everything about the story is well thought out, answering each question players may have during their experience.

The game is presented and played at a 360-degree panorama camera angle, akin to sitting still in a chair and spinning in it.

Even with its seemingly limited playfield, the environment is brimming with detail thanks to the outstanding hand-drawn art style. The cutscenes are absolute eye candy because of the gorgeous animation that brings the characters to life.

The dialogue is told through text boxes that can make character development difficult, but Behind The Frame has no issues creating the main character into a charming artist that lives a pretty normal day-to-day life. The game makes an everyday task like writing an email into a crucial character moment.

The title’s short duration may seem like

a fault, but it uses every minute to develop its characters and its world, never failing to keep the player engaged with its gameplay.

The gameplay revolves around puzzles that don’t ask for too much but also aren’t overly simplistic. Near the final act, the puzzles require more thought from the player, but it’s never frustrating. For people that don’t play video games, this is the perfect entry point. The game has only two button commands, meaning a beginner can pick up this game with ease.

And one should do so for the music alone. The soundtrack blankets players with soft, melodic jazz as they go about their day.

It’s like a gentle hug from a loved one. It comforts players, ensuring them that they’re in a safe place where they can de-stress and reflect on the smaller details of life.

Far too often, game developers think the only way to draw in customers is with loud, violent displays of ludicrous action, but Behind The Frame disagrees with that.

It’s gentle with its approach, allowing players to do tasks at whatever pace they like.

No timers or large setpieces are pushing you to progress. The game sits back and lets you do what you’re going to do. If you want to pop a tape into the cassette player in the game, you can do that. The only thing that matters at that time is living in the moment.

Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

Beth, played by Rebecca Hall, cowers in fear as she unravels the truth behind her husband’s unexpected death. “The Night House” released in theaters Aug. 20.

LOGAN EVANS

managing editor

"The Night House" is a ghost story, but in the tradition of "The Shining," physical apparitions take a backseat to a strangeness that haunts the makeup of the film itself.

Rebecca Hall stars as Beth, a woman reeling in the aftermath of her husband Owen’s unexpected suicide. We sit with her through hard moments of emptiness as she tries to live alone for the first time in her house by the lake — a house that was built

by Owen.

Seeking closure, Beth decides to go through Owen’s computer, only to find dozens of pictures of unfamiliar women, all taken from odd, discrete angles. Even more troubling — each woman looks almost identical to Beth. What begins as an investigation into Owen’s potential infidelity quickly spirals into something far more sinister. Cursed figurines, occult books and a parallel house in the woods that Owen was secretly building all expand the mystery of who he really was, and what he was really doing the night he killed himself.

From a technical standpoint, the direction of the film is masterful. David Bruckner, known for “The Ritual” and “VHS’, moves the camera through the narrative with a deliberate ease, which adds to the sense that this is a handcrafted story. The film uses optical illusion — the odd shape of a pile of clothes, the curved edge of a doorway— in a way that is original and unsettling. There’s a sense of

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open space as horror. We have all sat in an empty house alone and felt that we weren’t.

There’s plenty of striking imagery and original set pieces that will stick with the viewer long after watching. Notably, the film makes brilliant use of jump scares — something usually considered cheap in horror, but done here in a way that serves the story and is genuinely unnerving.

As technically sound as the film is, it would feel empty without the strength of Hall’s performance to fill it. She plays Beth as incredibly guarded, and much of the tension in the film comes from watching that guard fall away as she starts to demand answers. The film hits a stride as Beth delves further and further chaos, which Hall reflects in her performance.

The ending is a problem. For a story that feels so finely constructed, the way things conclude feels much too loose. There are enough hints and suggestions along the way to piece together what’s really happening on a plot level, but Beth is shorted a satisfying conclusion to her arc. There’s a vagueness throughout that lends the film some of its power, and loose ends serve ghost stories well, but this is a case where some tying up could have delivered a stronger impact.

More than just the story of a peculiar kind of haunting, “The Night House” is a heartbreaking exploration of grief, loss and the secrets we keep when we die.

Courtesy of Akupara Games

The game’s main character sits down to focus on a piece of art she’s preparing to submit. It’s available on Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android.

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OPINION

Wednesday, September 1, 2021 • 3

EDITORIAL

Please listen to health officials about COVID The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted full approval of the Pfizer vaccine for people aged 16 and up last week. Now, health officials are begging antivaxxers to stop ingesting cattle dewormers as an alternative.

This isn’t anything new.

From the first signs of a pandemic breaching the country early last year, there’s been a wide rift between the scientific community and a large part of the nation who believe they know better.

Early on, when little was known about the virus and its treatment, it made sense that so many Americans were unsure of what they believed could be rushed data.

But now, after a year and a half of the best minds in science at work, something needs to be made clear.

There’s a difference between hesitancy and ignorance.

The use of ivermectin — the drug intended to treat parasites in livestock — to fight COVID-19 picked up traction after being touted by leading conservative pundits including Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. It has since spread rapidly across social media, prompting a warning from the FDA. “You are not a horse,” the agency tweeted Aug. 21. “You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”.

In addition to the FDA, countless health care workers across the country have spoken out against the use of the drug in humans.

In Mississippi, where reports of hospitalization after taking ivermectin have emerged, the state health department issued an emergency alert claiming that 70% of recent calls have been related to the

drug. Like the FDA, the state urged citizens against using any substance not intended for human consumption.

At this point, though, what good will that do?

Leading conservative pundits have managed to convince a large portion of their audience that the study of science is corrupt. This isn’t new — conservatives have

been doubting the principles of science for a long time — but the spread of COVID-19 misinformation goes beyond the belief that dinosaur bones were planted in the earth by Satan to trick wavering Christians.

Lives are at stake.

Of all the conservatives talking heads who have touted the use of dangerous alternatives to an ap-

Amber Davis/The Collegian

proved vaccine, how many have taken these treatments themselves?

How many remain unvaccinated?

Fox News, the organization platforming many of these figures, enforces a strict COVID protocol with its hosts and crew. So while Tucker Carlson rails against masks and compares asking someone’s vaccination status to asking about

their sex life, he is being required to mask up in small spaces and to upload his vaccination status to an internal database at Fox. When Sean Hannity speaks out against mask mandates from behind a desk, he’s in a room filled with a fully masked production team.

So why this discrepancy?

The truth is that Fox News, like most others spreading vaccine misinformation, is too far gone. It’s built a contrarian culture within its audience that feeds into itself. Any facts are doubted, discarded and replaced with conspiracy.

The Pfizer vaccine isn’t FDA approved? Don’t take it. It’s not safe.

The Pfizer vaccine is approved? Don’t take it. The FDA must be corrupt.

This line of thinking on the right is much deeper than just blindly following the views of pundits and politicians. Last week, Donald Trump was booed at his own rally for recommending vaccination.

It’s fair to ask questions. A person should always try to be as familiar with all of the facts available before making a medical decision.

That’s exactly why public health agencies like the FDA exist — to help educate and advise the public with the latest information, backed by science.

When political institutions build a following by doubting the scientific resources put in place to help us, we get deliberate misinformation.

We get people taking cow dewormer to fight a virus that has a free, approved vaccine available to protect against it.

VIEWPOINTS

Minor updates bleed players Overworking is overrated, adopt healthy work habits for longevity from their hard-earned loot repetitive game design. Capcom believed in the motto “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” and released meager updates to the title which added new characters to the game, spoonfeeding players to keep them hooked.

Nowadays, Capcom has continued using the same business strategy to ensure its profits from each title as much as it can.

It obviously works for the company because no matter how much controversy follows its games, people will continue buying them.

Unfortunately, it isn’t the only company in the market that uses such a greedy practice.

Some could argue that it’s an industry standard.

Sports games are criminal when it comes to this type of nickel and diming.

Electronic Arts are the king of sports games, and their reign began when the John Madden series was ported to the Sega Genesis. Year after year, the company charged full price for its football simulator, basically just updating the roster, something gamers could have done manually with a trade option and battery backup.

Graphics were not updated until a new generation of systems came out, and usually, the first game would be trash on the new platform.

It’s up to us consumers to fight back and stop buying these products and giving in to the hype of a new feature. Activision’s “Call of Duty” series should at least have a two-year gap between its titles because it doesn’t make any sense to take a great game like the Modern Warfare remake from 2019 and kill the player base by releasing the trash Black Ops, which regressed rather than improved.

MICHAEL FOSTER-SANDERS senior producer

Triple-A game companies need to hear this. Stop milking gamers yearly for your mediocre franchise titles. Specifically speaking to Electronic Arts, Ubisoft and Activision.

I fully understand running a business requires profit to be made so the company can stay afloat, but when you nickel and dime the consumer for minor tweaks that could be software updates, you’re souring the fanbase for said gaming franchise.

This is not a new practice in the gaming industry.

In the 90s, Japanese juggernaut gaming publisher Capcom found a hit in the arcade with a little game called “Street Fighter 2.”

Its predecessor was abysmal, so this sequel was an apology for that. It had a secret sauce that made it magical, and most importantly, profitable.

Arcade owners made tons of money off the cabinet, and that success brought with it

JOSE ROMERO editor-in-chief

The way society romanticizes a 100hour workweek is crazy, right?

One hundred hours of non-stop, rigorously draining activity. One week only has 168 hours in it which means the majority of the week has gone toward doing work instead of taking time for yourself. A time that could’ve been spent with a favorite hobby or just relaxing.

It’s far too often that the perception of the new generation is “lazy” because they don’t aspire to work until their eyes fall out of their sockets. It’s a damaging mentality to believe self-worth is tied to the number of hours put into work. I’ve mainly experienced it from men who think it’s the only way you can truly reach pure masculinity.

As if being a man has a strict set of guidelines.

I grew up in an environment with a lot

of toxic masculinity, meaning pretty much every adult I knew had that work till you die mentality. It’s unfortunate how prominent it is in Hispanic culture. Creative endeavors or time off are seen as a waste and could be better spent working. I don’t think there’s anything to criticize about somebody just wanting to lay on the couch for a day to destress.

There are two sides of a coin to this argument, though.

Some are required to work that much to support themselves or their family, which is understandable. Unfortunately, people are put into that predicament in the first place, but that’s just how things are. Maybe if the minimum wage was a living wage then people wouldn’t have to work three jobs just to support a family.

Something I’ve seen lately on social media are posts talking about grinding, not sleeping and waking up at 5 a.m. to be successful. What people fail to mention is how unhealthy it is to just work without resting.

Without getting a sufficient amount of sleep, your immune system can be affected, meaning you’re more prone to illness, according to Healthline. It’s up to personal philosophies to determine whether or not sickness is worth it, but that becomes selfharm at some point.

I don’t mean to shame anybody that genuinely enjoys their job. It’s a great thing to enjoy your work. Just remember to set limits.

However, it’s difficult to set a limit when the only thing keeping a person from work is a two-step walk.

C o r r e c t i o n : O n t h e A u g. 2 5 i s s u e i n t h e s t o r y t i t l e d “ Fa c u l t y r e fl e c t s o n r e t u r n i n g t o c a m p u s a f t e r s h u t d ow n,” a q u o t e wa s m i s a t t r i b u t e d t o Ja y A d k i n s w h e n i t should’ve been attributed to Greg Dewhirst. Please email us if you notice any other mistakes.

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4 • Wednesday, September 1, 2021

FEATURE

Photos by Ian McIntoshThe Collegian

The TCC dance crew presents a series of moves during the Party on the Patio Aug. 26. The event included a meet and greet with campus president Kenya Ayers-Palmore.

TCC campuses were closed for 17 months. But now, students have returned in full force, bringing life to previously empty hallways.

Flash the service dog patiently sits in front of a booth during the Party on the Patio.

Students work in associate photography professor Ting Huang’s class.

A student studies on the couches of the J. Ardis Bell library.

Angela Pena, coordinator for career and employment services, gives students directions.