TCCD Collegian January 26, 2022

@tccthecollegian • collegian.tccd.edu Home Run PG. 4

Wednesday, January 26, 2022 – Volume 35 • Issue 14 DISTRICT

Mixed opinions on TCC’s COVID protocols

Joel Solis/The Collegian

Students walk down the stairs on TR Campus as they return for in-person classes amid rising COVID cases. TCC does not currently mandate masks or vaccines.

JUAN SALINAS II

campus editor juan.salinas465@my.tccd.edu

While TCC has already started in-person classes for the spring semester, numerous colleges such as the University of Texas at Arlington are delaying in-person classes due to the high numbers of omicron variant cases.

TCC should consider delaying as well because of the omicron outbreak, SE student Beyla Richard-Jackson said. She expressed optimism about the situation, saying that if students continue to maintain social distancing and wear a mask, they can finish this year without going back to virtual learning.

“I have mixed feelings about

online school,” SE student Aurora Snowhill said.

Snowhill has a learning disability and finds virtual learning to be difficult compared to an in-person environment.

“As for my health and the safety of others, it probably would have been a smarter decision to delay classes,” they said.

Tarrant County has 19,370 confirmed cases as of Jan. 8, which has increased 17,481 since December 2021, according to the official Tarrant County website.

“I do think we have to accept that we won't be going back to an age ‘pre-COVID,’” NE student Daisy Pike said. “We just have to accept it as normal but still remain cautious and aware of it.”

The Biden administration an-

nounced Jan. 19 that it is partnering with local pharmacies and community health centers to distribute “highquality masks” around the country free of cost.

“I really think people have experienced mental drain because of all these changes.”

Jerrica Jordan

TR English professor

“I will be wearing a mask,” Pike said. “I wore a mask all of last semester, and I will be wearing it probably for the rest of my school career and beyond.”

TCC currently has no mandates on masks or vaccines.

“We should have the right to choose whether to inject a vaccine into ourselves or wear a mask,” NW student Sammy Jepsen said. “Our nation has been built off of freedom.

Whether there is a virus or not, we should not be subjugated to restrictions and mandates which may or may not provide protection.”

While the omicron variant is spreading faster than other variants, research done by scientists at Case Western Reserve University has shown that it is less severe than delta and previous variants.

“I think that we need to understand that this pandemic is now in its third year, and we need to adapt,” TR English professor Jerrica Jordan said. “I plan to keep listening to sci-

entists and try my best to be mindful of others.”

Jordan brought up the many side effects of the pandemic, including the backup of the global supply chains that are projected to take years to restore and the increased demand for childcare “I really think people have experienced mental drain because of all these changes,” Jordan said. “We need to realize that everyone is dealing with difficult aspects of this pandemic.”

Jordan feels TCC needs to be more transparent with data and its COVID procedures.

“I think data like this is the way to increase knowledge and convince people of the benefits of masks, vaccinations and social distancing,” he said.

NORTHEAST

Students begin preparing for another potential winter storm Last year’s rolling blackouts from Uri, which lasted four days, crippled Texas’ energy infrastructure, causing panic

After one of Texas’ biggest snowstorms last February, there are concerns from the community that Texas will have a repeat of last year.

Students weigh in on what they think might happen and share ways they believe Texas can be better equipped if it were to happen again.

“I have a lot of reason to believe we will have another storm, and I think it could possibly be a little worse,” NE student Raul Garcia said.

He said he would like to see the city cooperate with the people on the grids because, if it happens again, a lot of lives will be lost again.

“Buy some wood, get one of those burners that is used for cookouts and get a propane tank,” Garcia said. “That's what my family did,

and we stocked up on wood when we didn’t have power.”

He said he would like to see people come together and help those that are not fortunate enough to brave snowstorms.

NE student Justin Rohm said he does not think we will have another snowstorm as big as it was last year for a while.

“We can drip our faucets, but we can never change how Texas is built,” he said. “There are no salt trucks. The roads are not built for snow or ice, so if it happens again, we will not be prepared for it.”

NE student Jesus Carreon does think we will have another storm but doesn’t think it will be as severe.

“I’m not prepared at all with this bipolar weather,” Carreon said.

“We never actually know when it’ll actually hit the hardest. I need to do things different from last time, espe-

cially with traffic.”

Carreon will be stocking up on things in preparation for a potential storm.

“I think it would be really difficult avoiding this without help from

the state,” he said. “For example, they need to be prepared on salting the roads ahead of time.”

NE student Graham Spencer also thinks another winter storm may occur.

“The local government and electrical companies should have bolstered their systems since last year,” he said. “I am going to prepare for the next snowstorm to happen by buying extra food and canned goods.”

NE student Daniel D’Amore is on the opposite end. He doesn’t think a storm like last year will happen because he said it was an anomaly in Texas’ history.

“Last time we had snow and temperatures like that, other than last year, was in 1989, so it is unlikely because of the way the climate is changing,” he said. “If we do have one, we must be prepared with copious amounts of water jugs, space heaters and new water pipes in houses.”

Campus editors Austin Folkertsma and Meghan Schilling contributed to this story

News

Entertainment

Opinion

Opinion

Editorial

TRAVEL WOES Difficulties for cross-campus students. PG. 2

KILLER FILM “Scream” sequel is worth watching. PG. 4

OPIOID CRISIS COVID resparked addiction. PG. 5

IT’S ABOUT CLASS Liberals need to back away from race rhetoric. PG. 5

GHOST AISLE Supply chain shortage seems preventable. PG. 5

COLLEGIAN STAFF

Joel Solis/The Collegian

South students walk around campus in large jackets during low temperatures.

NEWS

2 • Wednesday, January 26, 2022 DISTRICT

Cross-campus students are frustrated ALEX HOBEN

photo editor alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu

Students with specialized degree plans want there to be more accessibility in the aspects of cross-campus life.

Across TCC’s five in-person locations, there are many pathways available. But, sometimes, a student chooses to pursue one that isn't offered at their home campus. This forces them to look into options at areas that could be across the county, and they can’t always make the trip.

According to NW academic adviser Elizabeth Bradley, when considering taking classes at other campuses, students need to be aware of what the program entails. Especially when it comes to the commute and the requirement for transportation. She said it’s her job to inform students of their choices.

“Try to educate them on, ‘This is where they’re going to go, and this is what you need,’” Bradley said. “It’s all about educating about where it is, what you can do online and what you can’t.”

When Bradley is presented with a student who needs to use public transportation options, she offers the bus routes connected to the district because of the convenience of cost.

Through an ID, students have free access to the Trinity Metro, but Bradley cautions the students about using it.

“The bus services aren’t a user-friendly system,” she said.

NW student Elizabeth Chi was more vocal about her disappointment in the public

Alex Hoben/The Collegian

A Trinity Metro bus stop on NE Campus that connects to Richland Hills. transport system offered. She explained that when she researched a route she could use, there were no buses connected to NW Campus by where she lives. She also said there’s a disconnect between campuses because of this lack of transportation.

“There’s a lot of classes that I would have liked to have taken,” Chi said.” “But they were at South Campus or at TR and I don’t want to drive over there. I know the bus mainly goes to more of the south campuses than the campuses up here, and there’s no connect between the north and the south, so it’s kind of dumb.”

While students are expressing support for TCC sponsored public transportation options, Bradley isn’t too sure it’s worth it. She said only one of 10 students she sees considers programs at different campuses.

“I don’t know if they would use it, I really don’t,” Bradley said. “I think that’s something that they would have to research on surveys.”

NW student Zachary McTaggart, who in

one day travels from TR, NW and NE, said that while the bus routes are available, they aren’t preferable to driving because of the time it requires.

“Free means you have to wait,” McTaggart said.

Even for those students driving, there is still worry about commuting time and how it can affect their course structure. A typical drive between SE and NW — campuses in opposite directions — is 35 minutes. But according to Chi, traveling between campuses during rush hour can take much longer.

“There’s horrible traffic when I have to go,” she said. “It takes like 45 minutes to an hour from NW to NE.” Currently, each campus has at least two specialized programs that are only available at that location. These programs focus on work experience and hands-on learning, according to Bradley. As well as a plethora of unique courses. Through the school’s website, stu-

dents can research the classes available, but McTaggart doesn’t feel that they’re upfront with the campus’ availability.

“If you see TCC offers sailing classes, it’s kind of misleading if you can’t travel here,” McTaggart said, referring to NW KINE-1117.

“I don’t think they offer as much information as they could.”

This campus separation and specialization is even reaching the early college high schools.

Arlington Collegiate student Aurora Barragan is currently on track to earn her high school diploma as well as her associate of arts, but that’s not her passion.

“I want to be a film major,” she said.

“I’ve looked for the NE TCC Campus. That’s where I’ve been able to find more classes related to that.”

Barragan is graduating in May then will look at options at TCC. But in her initial search for the classes she would want to take, she realized it would be at a campus she’s never been to.

“Even for me here at SE, it was hard for me to adjust,” Barragan said.

Though she has doubts about the change, she said it would be best for her to be in person than on the Connect Campus.

“I feel like it’d be better hands-on than online,” she said. “Especially for when they’re talking about equipment.”

McTaggart also said how there wasn't a lot of connection between campuses with specialized events. Primarily because the way information is distributed varies by campus.

“If you’re only going to one campus, you don’t know what’s happening at the other ones,” he said.

DISTRICT

South, SE environmental efforts recognized by U.S. Green Building Council GABRIELA MARCANO

reporter collegian.editor@tccd.edu

TCC offers recycling and environmental programs for students interested in wanting to preserve the earth and encourage people to commit to sustainability.

Recently, South and SE campuses qualified for the national distinction by the U.S. Green Building Council, which focuses on designing buildings that help improve the environment and quality of life.

Lead architect of the Center of Excel-

lence for Energy Technology Allen McRee said CEET specializes in technologies and concepts that maximize energy conservation to help out the environment.

“Critical to the buildings’ success as a state-of-the-art learning environment for energy-related programs is the goal of having a highly sustainable design,” McRee said. “It demonstrates high-energy efficiency through active and passive systems with the application of renewable resources.”

TCC’s other main focus is reducing its impact on landfills by creating recycling programs to divert that waste into something useful while helping reduce its negative impact on

the environment.

According to NE director of facilities operations Michael Tankersley, even scrap metal can be repurposed and used by the staff and students. For instance, using scrap cars as props in fire service training scenarios helps give students a more realistic experience.

“The first major decision we had to make was to determine what type of recycling system would be the most effective for the students and the environment,” Tankersley said.

“That’s when we decided to simplify the process by dividing the waste into two bins — brown for waste and blue for recycling.”

On all campuses, TCC’s involvement in

sustainability and creating committees to further drive environmental change has made an impact on some of the students who attend.

NW student Sebastian Mendoza said it’s refreshing to see TCC put a lot of effort into providing recycling programs for students and encouraging them to take action to improve the environment.

“I didn’t even know TCC had recycling programs and committees involving sustainability,” Mendoza said. “It definitely opened my eyes to the world around me, and I think I’m going to participate in these programs to help out the environment as much as I can.”

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FEATURE

Wednesday, January 26, 2022 • 3

TORO talks

Healing through conversation on South campus and beyond LOGAN EVANS

campus editor logan.evans@my.tccd.edu logan .evans@my.tccd.edu

South Intercultural Network coordinator Michael Russ sat in a virtual meeting room with civil rights activist Marc Lamont Hill on the afternoon of April 20, 2021. The men were set to speak as part of TOROTalks, a South Campus initiative aimed at healing the community through conversation and the arts.

The topics of the day were policing and protest in the wake of COVID-19, an issue that had boiled over the previous year with the killing of George Floyd.

Then — just before the start of the interview — a slew of comments stormed the live viewer chat: Derek Chauvin had just been found guilty of murder.

“We couldn’t have scripted that if we tried,” said Russ, who is a TOROTalks coordinator. “As a Black man, it was a moment for me to take in and process what happened.”

Cathartic moments like this are the driving force behind TOROTalks. While Russ said he could never have predicted the serendipity of that April 20 session, he works with co-coordinator Jeffrey Herr to build programming that feels relevant to the issues of a given semester. Billed as “Healing Through Conversation and The Arts,” TOROTalks is a forum where students can engage with the issues facing their community.

Most recently, TOROTalks put on the October 2021 event “Don’t Cop Out: Bridging the Gap Between PoliceCommunity Interaction.” Local members of law enforcement — primarily officers of color — met with students for an open discussion. During the event, the students in attendance learned that many of the present officers grew up around the Forest Hills area near South Campus and shared a similar upbringing with themselves.

Herr said this led to an informed dialogue and each party left the event with a better mutual understanding.

“I think that was a really crystallizing moment of healing,” he said.

The foundation of TOROTalks rests on that idea of reaching understanding. The inspiration for the initiative came from a 2019 interaction between a group of South students and an on-campus officer. During an otherwise mundane encounter, the students noticed the officer resting his hand on the grip of his firearm. A student expressed their discomfort to the officer, who explained that he rested his hand that way out of comfort — that it had never occurred to him that the gesture might be intimidating to others.

This led to the creation of a 2019 Unity Summit, during which local community leaders met with students for an open dialogue on campus safety. The summit was wellreceived and Stephanie Hill — former South vice president of student development — put together a committee to extend its ideas to future events.

TOROTalks officially debuted February 2020 with an on-campus gathering. That first meeting was productive, Herr said, but it came just weeks before COVID-19 hit. TCC went virtual, and there were no immediate plans to carry TOROTalks over — then came the killing of George Floyd that summer. The issue of civil rights and police brutality were again thrust into the national spotlight. Instead of waiting until fall to build programming, the TOROTalks coordinators launched a twopart series that summer titled “The Urgency of Now,” and continued meeting virtually through the online semesters.

“We were very intentional when we went viral,” Herr said. “We wanted to make sure that we had events that were going to be central to the mindset of what was going on.”

To keep a finger on the pulse of their community, the TOROTalks coordinators survey students on what issues they feel are the most pressing. Herr and Russ look for guest speakers who can relate to the South Campus population, while also using their own identities and perspectives to guide them. Both Herr and Russ come from different backgrounds, but share the same goal.

“I’m a person who realizes my privilege, but would really love to give away more of it,” Herr said. “This is maybe just a little fraction of me doing TOROTalks that attempts to do that.”

Russ said that while the work he does is important to him, he’s never sought it out — it’s just a part of him.

“Every day, I’m a Black man,” Russ said. “While I’m for all people, I’m for my people. I want to see my people have these opportunities from an education standpoint, from an upward social mobility standpoint. So I’m just naturally drawn to the work.”

Herr and Russ are both aware that the subject matter of TOROTalks events might cause controversy among students or faculty, but to them, a little controversy can be a good thing. Bringing in a speaker who can address relevant issues is the priority, but someone who might also stir things up and bring attention to the program — like Marc Lamont Hill last April — doesn’t hurt. In fact, Russ believes it brings a more realistic view of what their line of work entails.

“We can’t try to portray a picture of this being a sweet, clean, pretty story,” Russ said.

“It’s work that’s messy. It’s work that’s bloody.

It’s work people have died for. We can’t run away from these conversations.”

Russ cites the words of the late John Lewis: “Get in good trouble.” He said he hopes students take the new perspectives gleaned from TOROTalks events and use them to organize toward real-world change.

T h e T O R O Ta l k s c o m m i t t e e i s currently building a large-scale event, set for April. With this event and beyond, the TOROTalks coordinators plan to continue using conversation as a road to healing, understanding, and digging deeper into the heart of the South Campus population.

“We like to think that we’re getting into good trouble,” Russ said.

Illustration by Amber Davis/The Collegian

ENTERTAINMENT

4 • Wednesday, January 26, 2022 SPOILER-FREE MOVIE REVIEW

Spider-Man thwips through unmasked life

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

Peter Parker, played by Tom Holland, holds onto his girlfriend MJ, played by Zendaya, after he was just revealed to be Spider-Man by Mysterio.

‘No Way Home’ smashes expectations with amazing fan service AUSTIN FOLKERTSMA

campus editor austin.folkertsma@my.tccd.edu

Doctor Strange did not make me forget to write a review of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”

Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures brought us the last movie of Tom Holland’s initial Spider-Man trilogy, and it did not disappoint.

After Spider-Man’s identity had been kept secret for so long, it was finally revealed

by Mysterio at the end of the previous installment. As we enter this movie, not only does Peter Parker face the challenges of graduating high school and getting into college, but now also has to face the unwanted fame and publicity he is receiving for being Spider-Man. When a spell cast by Doctor Strange that

would make everyone forget Peter Parker is Spider-Man goes wrong, some unwanted visitors start showing up from different universes, such as Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin, Sandman, Electro and Lizard.

It is up to Peter Parker, played by Tom Holland, Michelle “MJ” Jones, played by Zendaya and Ned Leeds, played by Jacob Batalon, to take them back to wherever they came from.

Even though this movie is roughly two and a half hours long, it did not feel like it. If I’m being honest, if it was longer, I would not have noticed, and coming from someone that cannot sit still or even pay attention for that long, that means something. There was just so much action going on, and there was never a dull moment.

Like most Marvel films, “No Way Home” manages to set up future installments in the cinematic universe pretty well since the

next film to release will be “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which connects directly to Spider-Man. This movie definitely lived up to its hype and certainly exceeded my expectations. Throughout the movie, Peter Parker is wrestling with what Spider-Man really represents and what the phrase, “With great power, comes great responsibility,” means.

I enjoyed watching throughout the movie how Peter Parker’s insight on life and maturity advances as the film progresses. I also enjoyed watching how Tom Holland portrayed this character just like the awkward, quirky teenager that Peter Parker is.

The camera work and VFX needs a standing ovation for how amazing it looks.

Also, whoever was in charge of casting needs a raise because Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina reprised their roles from the Sam Raimi films.

The ending did hit some heartstrings and made me tear up, but I won’t spoil it. Definitely bring some tissues if you watch it because trust me, you are going to need all of them. However, the movie did end on a cliffhanger, but you expect that from Marvel.

Do not, I repeat, do not leave the theater when the end credits are rolling because you are going to miss a very good end credit scene if you do. Of course, if you have watched any Marvel movie, you already know not to skip out on the credits.

This movie had it all. Nostalgia, drama and action. Marvel really outdid itself when combining humor and action to please all ages.

MOVIE REVIEW

Ghostface is back with unrelenting vengeance MICHAEL FOSTER-SANDERS

senior producer michael.foster-sanders@my.tccd.edu

In 2022 the horror franchise “Scream” celebrates its 25th anniversary with the fifth installment in the series simply labeled “Scream.”

It’s a requel — remake and sequel — which is quite prominent in this day and age.

But, considering the stigma behind horror movies just being cash grabs and not quality cinema, it’s a blessing that the franchise still exists.

By 1996 the slasher subgenre in horror movies was dead in the water compared to its heyday in the 1980s. Slasher icons that once rivaled the Universal monster lineup were looking flabby and sick with their new movies that longed to capture their glory years. Wes Craven’s “A New Nightmare” was too ahead of its time with Freddy Krueger becoming meta.

“Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers’’ was an abysmal mess muddled with studio interference by The Weinstein Company. Last, but not least, “Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday” had Jason in the movie for around 6 minutes.

Director Wes Craven licked his wounds from the failure that his return to the Freddy Krueger franchise was, ready to leave the “horror genre ghetto” until he read a script from Kevin Williamson, and the rest is history.

The iconic Ghostface was born from the popularity of “Scream” (1996), and the film

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

The fictional movie in the “Scream” universe “Stab 8” rubs fans the wrong way to the point of toxicity, which causes someone to bring back Ghostface in real life. was meta before meta became cool with its pop culture and horror movie references of the real world. “Scream 2” created a movie within a movie with the “Stab” franchise, which retells the previous films for the people in the “Scream” universe.

“Scream” (2022) tells the tale of toxic

fandom with its charm of being meta. Horror fans around the world hate that “Stab 8” is disregarding things that made the movie franchise great. Horror fans are pissed that it’s going the way of the new wave of elevated horror that A24 movies tend to be.

Someone decides to get the franchise

back on track to its slasher horror roots and realizes real-world material is needed, so Ghostface recreates the first movie murders by bringing the gang back to Woodsboro to manifest the reboot of the franchise.

No one is safe in this film, from the legacy characters to the new generation. Unlike other recent horror movies, “Scream” (2022) will make the viewer feel real dread and hopelessness against Ghostface’s hopeful future “Stab” film manifestation.

Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett show their love for the franchise by sticking to late director Wes Craven’s style for the film, and with Williamson being the executive producer of the fifth entry, it stays true to its roots of being a slasher movie with comedy elements.

The visceral kills are to die for in this entry with Ghostface being as ruthless as ever.

Multiple stab wounds, disembowelment and fire are some of his modes of disposal to the victims.

The only issue that some viewers might have is the gimmick of the visions that one of the characters has with a legacy character, but this could work for future installments adding that “elevated horror” feel to the “Scream” universe.

“Scream” shows just because a film is dumped in the movie hell of January, that doesn’t mean it isn’t going to be successful.

OPINION

Wednesday, January 26, 2022 • 5

EDITORIAL

America proved once again, it’s not prepared Walking into a grocery store nowadays paints a frightening image of empty shelves gathering dust from the lack of product sitting atop it.

The supply chain shortage has impacted electronics, food and many other items people are used to simply walking into a store and grabbing.

But, even when an item is in stock, it doesn’t help that sometimes its price has gone up because of inflation.

For almost the past two years, COVID’s wake has brought with it many tides that have drowned America. When it seems the water is subsiding, there is always something new that slaps everyone in the face.

Out of all the major events to happen since 2020, this one seems to have been one the U.S. should’ve been more prepared for.

A factor that contributes to the shortage is workers. There is a lack of truck drivers because of multiple factors, with the primary one being work conditions. Some drivers spend weeks on the road, away from family and friends. It’s a difficult career to manage, and the pay doesn’t help. Seemingly, one major solution could be to pay truckers more, no?

In a report done by the senior writer for CNN Business Chris Isidore, he wrote that pay hikes are causing the opposite effect employers anticipated. Since drivers are getting paid more, they don’t have to be on the road as much, so they tend to stay home longer instead of doing shipment after shipment.

Reports such as this are all over media outlets. There is a gigantic

Amber Davis/The Collegian

human factor to these shortages that many seem to forget. Supplies don’t drive nor deliver themselves.

At least not yet. It’s not just truckers, too. Warehouse employees have been treated with a similar disregard.

Remember last year when they were touted as essential employees? The word “essential” was actually used in place of “sacrificial” because it

sounds better.

America was unprepared for everything that went down.

Initially, there was a lack of demand for masks because, at the start of the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention didn’t stress its importance too much.

Similarly, former President Donald Trump also downplayed the impact

COVID would have on the U.S. So when everything went to hell, masks were demanded like crazy at a rate that the supply chain still doesn’t seem to have caught up to. Finding a functional mask in a store is like looking for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. The Biden administration has taken slight action by giving away 400 million free N95 masks

and four at-home test kits. Only took about two years.

It’s best not to look to the future and hope things will get better because experts have predicted the shortage is going to stay for a while like a pestering fly near earlobes.

On the electronic end of things, it doesn’t seem like things will be fully in stock until 2023 or 2024. Going without a smart fridge is fine, but those same chips go into medical devices, which are also experiencing shortages.

Hospitals have been facing staff shortages and full-capacity issues for a minute now. Adding a lack of medical supplies to that stressor is going to lead to even more medical professionals leaving their jobs. On the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s website, there is a full list of medical devices that are short. It’s a pretty horrifying list to look at. Personal protective equipment, test kits and ventilators are just a few on this long list.

People really needed the government to step up, but it spat in everyone’s face. Protecting others became a partisan issue, and now look at where America stands in the world. No universal healthcare, no free college and low on supplies.

What a joke.

Throughout the entirety of the pandemic, the CDC and presidential administrations have done more harm than good with their policies.

Each time a good decision is made, there is always one shortly after that halts any accrued momentum.

VIEWPOINTS

Liberals need to stop hiding behind identity politics now

JUAN SALINAS II

campus editor campus juan.salinas465@my.tccd.edu juan.salinas465 @my.tccd.edu

The concept of white liberals shielding people of color from “big evil conservatives” is irksome.

Back in November 2021, after the Virginia gubernatorial election was won by Republican Glenn Youngkin, a Democratic firm held a focus group to figure out what went wrong in the state. The result was interesting, to say the least. The participants of color — and their white counterparts — felt that Democrats had the better economic policies, but voted Republican due to the party’s cultural values falling closer to their own. Before you just throw out those participants as “MAGA lovers,” the firm only surveyed people who voted for Joe Biden.

There is a significant disconnect between the working class, the majority of which are people of color and the upper-class, which, you guessed it, is primarily white.

I dislike reducing this conversation down to just race because I believe that identity politics — the concept of forming a political alliance based on your identity — can be harmful to improving the lives of the working class. Improving the lives of these individuals requires a broad coalition that focuses on populist ideas, but sadly this ideology is the

Rise in opioid addiction has been stirred by COVID-19

minority.

This harmful way of thinking seen by politicians and talking heads on Twitter trying to earn “woke points” has oozed down to the younger generation.

A prime example of this would be the debate surrounding the word “Latinx.” Yes, the origin of the word indeed stems from Latin American protests, according to David Bowles, Mexican-American author and professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, but most people that use this term are white people that want to be outraged for us with no regard to how we, the Latino community, actually feel about the subject.

White liberals use these activist terms and hide behind identity politics to shield them from valid criticism. As a result, people who raise these criticisms are often bombarded with idiotic rebuttals that boil down to the belief that having representatives who look similar to you is more important than the actual policies they run on.

I think white liberals would help us more by focusing on tangible policies.

A survey shows that 55% of voters support Medicare for All, as of April 2021, according to the research company Morning Consult. However, it would be a pipe dream to think the administration would change course on this issue since President Joe Biden ran on a public option instead of universal health care.

But, he did run on raising the minimum wage. It has been months since his first attempt. Imagine if the energy we disperse into identity politics was used toward pressuring the administration to keep its promises instead.

We should focus more on class issues rather than race. Then, this country wouldn’t be such a dystopian hellhole.

MEGHAN SCHILLING

campus editor meghan.schilling@my.tccd.edu meghan.schilling@my.tccd.edu

The opioid epidemic didn’t garner traction until 1999 and has claimed countless lives with nearly 841,000 deaths from drug overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of 2019, over 70% of people have died from drug-related overdoses involving some type of opioid. The reason this epidemic started was that in 1999, medical officials reassured Americans that pain killers were not addictive, and medical personnel started prescribing them at a higher rate.

Addictive opioids include prescription, fentanyl and heroin. It’s used to help reduce a person’s pain, but sometimes can cause them to become over-reliant on it.

Since the surge of COVID-19, many clinics are not able to help those pursuing treatment, so numbers are rising on the opioid mortality rate, according to The Commonwealth Fund.

It doesn’t help that these drugs have been shown all over TV shows, video games, music videos and movies. The hit show “Euphoria” follows around a bunch of high school students who go to crazy parties that lead them to do some type of drugs and oc-

casionally show them using it.

This is the prime example of the media showing audiences that doing drugs is cool, and the characters are only dealt with minor consequences, opposed to the reality of the situation. I understand the show is enticing for viewers to watch since they can see a side of the teenage party scene, but usually, this is not how parties go down.

The price for treatment is also outrageous for those trying to help fight their addiction. Detox ranges from $1,000 to $1,500 and inpatient rehab can cost anywhere from $6,000 to $20,000 for a month’s worth.

Those wanting a long program may have to pay anywhere from $12,000 to $60,000.

However, that is just for treatment. Medication can cost up to $4,700.

Nationwide, we want to promote stopping the usage of drugs, but many people cannot get treatment because prices are astronomical. Access to treatment also depends on if the person has insurance to cover some of the cost.

People facing addiction should not have to pay big amounts of money for reaching out to get help and face their addictions. There should be more affordable treatment options for people who cannot afford high-end plans.

Even though the surge of the opioid epidemic is still rising, the CDC says it’s doing all it can to help slow down the crisis.

It’s collecting data, responding to the rise in the opioid epidemic and providing care for those who are highly affected in certain areas.

However, if this were the case and it was responding to the epidemic, wouldn’t numbers start to plummet?

Wouldn’t it be crucial to act faster for these cities in desperate need of help?

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FEATURE

6 • Wednesday, January 26, 2022

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NE student Ailene Aiken enjoys a roasted marshmallow by the chessboard on NE Campus Jan. 19 during the campus’ Welcome Week festivities.

Students welcomed back to campuses Toro stands tall during opening week festivities

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Toro, TCC’s mascot, hands out shirts and lanyards during NE Campus’ Toro Tuesday.

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NE Campus president Kenya Ayers-Palmore observes a table full of TCC swag.

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NE student Brianna Handy receives a shirt from a table handing them out.

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NE student Gail Crutchfield spins a wheel for prizes during Welcome Week.

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South student Cristian Villegas gets a caricature drawn of him by artist Bob O’brien during Welcome Week.

Alex HobenThe Collegian

NE student Alyssa Sullins roasts a marshmallow on NE Campus.