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New Congress members prep for Hill • Page 2
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Chinedu brings the laughs in Humble • Page 5
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Wednesday, November 14, 2018 • Vol. 47, No. 4 • HCCEgalitarian.com
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Families mourn as first victims of California fire are named Martha Mendoza & Gillian Flaccus Associated Press
PARADISE, Calif. — Ernest Foss was a musician who gave lessons out of his home when he lived in San Francisco, where an amplifier that ran the length of a wall served as the family’s living room couch. Carl Wiley refurbished tires for Michelin. Jesus Fernandez, known as “Zeus,” was described as a loving father and loyal friend. They were among the first victims identified in the aftermath of the deadliest, most destructive wildfire in California history, an inferno blamed for at least 42 deaths, with authorities ramping up the search Tuesday
for still more souls. The flames all but obliterated the Northern California town of Paradise, population 27,000, and ravaged surrounding areas last Thursday. The exact number of missing was unclear, but many friends and relatives of those living in the fire zone said they hadn’t heard from loved ones. Some went to shelters looking for the missing. Efforts were underway to bring in mobile morgues, cadaver dogs, a rapid DNA analysis system for identifying victims, and an additional 150 search-and-rescue personnel on top of 13 teams already looking for remains — a grim indication that the death toll would almost surely rise.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea’s office has identified four of the victims, publicly naming three. James Wiley said sheriff ’s deputies informed him that his father, Carl, was among the dead, but the younger Wiley hadn’t been able to leave his property in the fire area to see for himself. The elder Wiley, 77, was a tire-recapper, and the family lived in Alaska for many years before moving to Butte County decades ago. James Wiley said his father was a stoic veteran, and the two had not spoken in six years. “Hey, I lost him a long time ago,” the younger man said. Foss, 63, moved to Paradise eight years ago because the high
cost of living pushed him out of the San Francisco Bay Area, according to his daughter, Angela Loo. He had swollen limbs and couldn’t walk. He had also been on oxygen. Loo told KTVU-TV in Oakland that her father taught music out of their home in San Francisco and turned the living room into a studio. “I love that he shared his gift of music with me and so many others during his lifetime,” she said. “He would want to be remembered for being a San Franciscan through and through.” Fernandez, a 48-year-old Concow resident, also died. Myrna Pascua, whose husband was best friends with the man known as “Zeus,” called
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him a “tireless provider, a dependable and loyal friend, a considerate neighbor, and loving father. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.” Five days after the blaze, over 1,000 people were at more than a half-dozen shelters set up for evacuees. At the Neighborhood Church in Chico, counselors, chaplains and nursing students from California State University, Chico, were available to help. Volunteers cooked meals, and there was a large bulletin board with information about missing people. Eddie Lazarom, who fled Paradise on foot before getting a lift from a UPS truck, was among
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Incoming House members prep for do’s and don’ts on the Hill Laurie Kellman Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Don’t hire someone you can’t fire, like the son of a campaign donor or the child of the mayor. No matter what you may have said during the campaign about changing Congress, hire enough Hill veterans to make the office run smoothly. And make sure the person answering the phone sounds like folks from back home. That’s only some of the advice headed for the historic class of House freshmen of both major political parties streaming into Washington this week for orientation on the nuts and bolts underpinning a job like none other. Under tight security, new members and their staffs pulled up in front of a hotel about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Capitol on Tuesday. A bank of cameras and a table marked “luggage drop-off ” awaited their arrivals in the morning chill. “I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on,” said Rep.elect Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., a former member of the state legislature. “I figure that we’re the small fish in a very big pond right now.” They are a younger generation of lawmakers — including a record number of women — arriving flush with victory and optimism. The Democrats are ready to take on President Donald Trump in the biggest and most diverse class of new lawmakers since Watergate. “I hope that we are ushering in a new era,” one of the class stars, Massachusetts Rep.-elect
Fires, From Page 1 those staying at the church. He said he had yet to hear from his three grandchildren, ages 22, 24 and 28. “I am really worried about them. They have common sense, I’m sure, but I’d hate to find out later that they burned up,” he said. Greg Gibson came to the shelter for information about his neighbors. He doesn’t know if they tried to leave or not but says the fire exploded so quickly that if they hesitated, they would have had trouble. “It happened so fast. I would have been such an easy decision to stay, but it was the wrong choice,” Gibson said. The search for the dead was
Ayanna Pressley, said Monday. Perhaps the most famous member of the freshman class, Democratic Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, jumped into the fray on Tuesday, joining about 200 climate-change activists as they staged a protest at the office of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. Ocasio-Cortez, 29, who is set to become the youngest member of Congress in January, addressed the group briefly before arrests were made. Pelosi said in a statement that she welcomes the activists. She has pledged to reinstate a special committee on climate change after Democrats take control of the House. Among the new Democrats, there’s an uncomfortable vote looming on whether Pelosi, former speaker of the House, should lead them. Rep.-elect Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., on Monday became the latest House Democrat newcomer to say she won’t vote for Pelosi because she wants “new leadership.” Pelosi has said she expects to become speaker again. Pressley and several of her classmates made their Washington debut on Monday in a packed news conference whose setting suggested as much about the new majority’s intentions as the agenda they described. Gathered in the atrium of the AFL-CIO down the street from the White House, they appeared as the newest members of the ascendant House Progressive Caucus, dedicated to universal health care and new climate policy. The incoming majority, including a gain of at least 32 seats, will be fighting
a Republican-led Senate and a president with a history of tweeting trouble for people who displease him. And the newly elected Republicans are on the same side as Trump, at least in theory. But for both parties of newcomers, those big questions are for later. The first votes on Pelosi, for example, won’t unfold until after Thanksgiving. And the new Congress, the 116th session, doesn’t convene until Jan. 3. Now, for many newcomers, it’s a scramble to stand up offices in the warren of Capitol Hill and back home in House districts that each represent more than 700,000 people. Every office has a budget. And every freshman who doesn’t already have a home in pricey Washington will have to figure out how
to rent an apartment, or maybe just keep a rollaway bed in the office, on a $174,000 salary. “We focus on getting them to appreciate that there are certain activities that they have to do in the next 90 days,” said Bradford Fitch, president and CEO of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Congressional Management Foundation, which is among those briefing new members. The new crop of lawmakers includes a lot of firsts. For the first time, two Native American women are headed to the House, in addition to two Muslim congresswomen-elect. Massachusetts and Connecticut also will send black women to Congress as firsts for their states. But not every freshman is new to Washington. Rep.-elect Donna Shalala of
Florida was health and human services secretary to President Bill Clinton. Former NFL linebacker Colin Allred of Texas is a civil rights lawyer who worked in President Barack Obama’s housing department. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, is an Obama administration alumnus who served as a civilian adviser in Iraq. Whatever their background, every newly elected member is heading for a job as one of 435 colleagues in Washington juggling what can sometimes be a seven-day-a-week job of votes, constituent requests and committee meetings. All the while, those who intend to return are already thinking about — and soon will be fundraising for — their 2020 re-election campaigns.
drawing on portable devices that can identify someone’s genetic material in a couple of hours, rather than days or weeks. “In many circumstances, without rapid DNA technology, it’s just such a lengthy process,” says Frank DePaolo, a deputy commissioner of the New York City medical examiners’ office, which has been at the forefront of the science of identifying human remains since 9/11 and is exploring how it might use a rapid DNA device. Still, experts said Tuesday that authorities may first try more traditional methods of identification such as examining dental records. That’s in part because victims might have undergone dental X-rays but not personal DNA profiles. Medical records
of bone fractures, prosthetics or implants can also be helpful. Before the Paradise tragedy, the deadliest single fire on record in California was a 1933 blaze in Griffith Park in Los Angeles that killed 29. At the other end of the state, firefighters made progress against a massive blaze that has killed two people in star-studded Malibu and destroyed well over 400 structures in Southern California . The flames roared to life again in a mountainous wilderness area Tuesday, sending up a huge plume of smoke near the community of Lake Sherwood. Still, firefighters made gains. The number of people evacuated was down by about half from the day before, to around 100,000, authorities said, and
the fire was partially contained. “We’re getting the upper hand here. We’re feeling better,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said. Gov. Jerry Brown said California is “pretty well maxed out” from fighting several deadly wildfires, and he expressed gratitude for help from surrounding states and the federal government. He said the state is doing everything possible to prevent fires, but “some things only God can do.” Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he canceled a trip to Asia and will visit the fire zones Wednesday and Thursday. The fire in Northern California charred at least 195 square miles (505 square kilometers), but officials said crews were able to keep it from advancing
toward Oroville, a town of about 19,000 people. The state recently completed a $1.1 billion reconstruction project at the Oroville Dam — the nation’s tallest at 770 feet (235 meters) — and officials worried about damage if flames came through. Spillways at the dam crumbled during heavy rains in 2017, prompting thousands to flee for fear of a catastrophic release of water. The cause of the fires remained under investigation, but they broke out around the time and place two utilities reported equipment trouble. Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, who takes office in January, sidestepped questions about what action should be taken against utilities if their power lines are found to be responsible.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY., arrives for orientation for new members of Congress, Tuesday in Washington.
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4 ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ goes much deeper Wednesday November 14, 2018
Ana Gonzalez
AGonzalez@hccegalitarian.com I usually tend to follow reviews when it comes to hit movies. But for “Bohemian Rhapsody?” I question myself this: are you really a Queen fan? Bohemian Rhapsody is a biopic that tells the story of classic rock band Queen, led by frontman Freddie Mercury, whose real name was Farrokh Bulsara. It became one of the most anticipated movies of 2018, especially for those who are longtime Queen fans. Their famous six-minute song of the same title, as described by Mercury himself, was “a work of poetry”. Many critics who reviewed the movie tend to take the title as a story behind the six-minute song when, in all honesty, it is a story about the rise of Mercury’s fame, and demise. Others also critiqued about how Mercury’s sexuality was “plastered” all over the movie. It may be a movie version of Queen’s Wikipedia article, but it explains so much more than that. There is more behindthe-scenes on how the band members come up with the
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songs they make, as well as how Mercury dealt with his period of demise, and his AIDS diagnosis. Not only the title of the movie was about the song itself, but it tells the story of how Queen shot to worldwide fame thanks to Mercury’s gift: his voice. Comparing to other biopics such as “Selena,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” did not start off with Mercury’s childhood. I wanted to ask why the writers wanted to go that route instead of telling a brief explanation of how Mercury got his name as well as how he ended up in England with his family for the majority of his life. Mercury had no plans on what to do with his life. Before the band was formed, he was working as a baggage handler at London’s Heathrow Airport, and also held a job selling second-hand clothing with his lifelong friend Mary Austin, whom he briefly dated. But, I do applaud the writers for applying the theme of “finding one’s self”. There were elements of conflict that involved Mercury and his way of getting to know himself through his music, as well as finding his
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Alex Bailey/Twentieth Century Fox via AP This image from Twentieth Century Fox shows Gwilym Lee, from left, Rami Malek and Joe Mazello in a scene from “Bohemian Rhapsody.” place in the world. I do also applaud the actor’s work of Rami Malek, who previously starred in movies such as “Papillon;” and TV shows such as “Mr. Robot.” Malek portrayed a better Freddie Mercury than others who would have been, and I’m sure his work would win him at least one award. I would leave that tissue box at home unless biopics make you shed a few tears or so. You will be moved by the music, as well as Mercury’s rise and fall. You can expect to laugh at almost half of the movie. Mercury had established a wonderful relationship with his bandmates (Brian May, John Deacon, and
Roger Taylor), where they all collaborated with their songwriting, especially during the recording of Bohemian Rhapsody (the song). From throwing coffee makers at each other to yelling “how many more Galileo’s do you want?” for the six-minute single. You can expect many hits to be played during the movie, such as “Another One Bites The Dust,” “Under Pressure,” “Killer Queen,” “We Are the Champions” and many others. I certainly enjoyed the final halfhour of the movie, which will be a special treat for those longtime Queen fans who followed through their final years in the
music industry. So do me a favor and don’t read any other reviews that give this movie just one or two stars, or a less-than-50% of a rating. You will enjoy it if you have been a Queen fan for a long time. For those who want to learn more about the history of Queen will definitely learn more in a visual sense. Some of you may also relate to what Mercury had gone through, especially when it comes to finding yourself in this world. 8.5 stars for me. There are flaws, but overall the music will take you away. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is now in theatres.
‘Boy Erased’: Raw, Relatable and Unerasable Sarah Al-Shaikh
sal-haikh@hccegalitarian.com Currently, in the United States of America, there are 36 states still permitting conversion therapy; the practice of attempting to change an individual’s sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual via psychological or spiritual interventions. “Boy Erased” brought viewers inside a conversion therapy program, giving a raw look into the practices and negative impacts this type of therapy has on one’s psyche. It shed light on the malpractices of conversion therapy while portraying a coming-of-age story with a strong focus on self-acceptance. The plot of this movie is centered around James Eamons (played by Lucas Hedges), the son of a Baptist minister. James’ life is turned upside down during his first year in college when he was outed as gay to his parents. Upon learning this news, his parents immediately feel conflicted between the love for their son and their religious values. When faced with the possibility of losing his family, James is ultimately left with no choice but to enroll in a conversion therapy program where we see the appalling, ungodly practices that caused trauma for those attending. Every minute of “Boy Erased” felt so raw and genuine; from the story that was unfolding to how honestly
Focus Features via AP This image released by Focus Features shows Theodore Pellerin, left, and Lucas Hedges in a sence from “Boy Erased.” the actors portrayed the characters. Perhaps the reason this story felt so raw and genuine was because it actually was, being that this movie is actually an adaption of the memoir by Garrard Conley. James’ life and time in conversion therapy is a direct reflection of Garrard’s real-life experiences and the impacts they had on him. “Boy Erased” was not shy about addressing somewhat taboo themes like masculinity, gender norms, and mental health. Along with these themes,
throughout the movie we saw the three main characters struggle with relatable emotions like fear and acceptance. The main character, James Eamons, went through a self-metamorphosis of sorts. This movie was not solely centered on his experience in conversion therapy, but his overall battle with self-acceptance; something we can all relate to at some point in our lives. In that sense, James’ struggle is relatable. Along with James’ relatability, his mother Nancy (played by Nicole Kid-
man) is a relatable character as well. Acting as the submissive housewife to her religiously devout husband, she stayed quiet when her husband suggested James go to conversion therapy. It is clear at the end that she did not completely agree with that decision, but admits she was complacent because she felt the need to follow her husband’s lead. Nancy’s struggle was centered around finding her voice and the strength to use it; another relatable struggle. And lastly, James’ father, Baptist minister Marshall (Russell Crowe) is also an unexpectedly relatable character. Throughout the movie, he stays stubborn about his rejection of James’ sexual orientation. It was the deep wedge dividing him and his son that persisted throughout the movie. Some viewers can relate to that struggle as well. There can be times when one does not necessarily agree with a friend or family member’s life choice, and yet our love for them guides us towards acceptance. Which is exactly what happened for the minister in the end. Each character, James, Nancy and Marshall experienced a self-evolution and turned their fears into acceptance. I enjoyed watching these characters develop, and connected with each character on a certain level. “Boy Erased” is raw, relatable, and unerasable; a movie that should be seen by all.
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Chinedu brings the laughs Ana Gonzalez
AGonzalez@hccegalitarian.com You may have come across one of his videos on Facebook, and you probably have seen him on KHOU 11 a few times. Chinedu Ogu is touring all over the Houston area, making thousands of people laugh with his hometown comedy. The Saturday comedy show was held at the Rising Sun Sushi & Fusion Restaurant in Humble. It was a sold-out crowd, and Ogu could not be any happier. Born and raised in Houston, Ogu knew every single acre of the city; from growing up in southeast Houston where he was influenced by the Hispanic culture, to spending his summers in the northwest side, southwest side, and Missouri City with his father, who is the source of most of his jokes for the night. Justin Thomas, Ogu’s traveling comedian buddy, opened the night. The purpose of hosting Ogu’s shows was for the audience to
get to know him a little more, outside of his Facebook and YouTube videos. “If you have family coming from other parts of the country than the United States, education is extremely important to them, and they expect you to achieve as much as they did,” he said during his comedy show. Being full-blooded Nigerian, Ogu showed his audience how it felt like to grow up with a Nigerian father, who was strict and boasted about getting an education. He graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in business, but his father wasn’t too impressed. “My father would do a toast [for me] to congratulate me, but he always ask me this question: “where is your masters [degree]?” he said. At the end of the night, he recorded a 30-second video of himself with the whole audience, saying that he was stoked to have a sold-out crowd. He also thanked the owner of the restaurant for allowing him to do his show, although the only thing he was missing was a stage.
His appreciation for his fans was shown after the show, as he agreed to take a picture with each of his fans who were exiting the event, thanking them for showing up. Ogu’s video that highlights the best in Houston, called “I’m from Houston, Where…”, which generated at least 1 million views. Today, he has generated over 1 million views with each video released two to three times a week. Currently, he is doing videos on YouTube, as well as doing postgame commentary for the Houston Texans, Houston Astros and the Houston Rockets. Chinedu’s next shows will be in Katy at the Courtyard by Marriot in Katy Mills, where he will be doing two shows (one is sold out). Next, he will be in Lake Jackson (also sold out), and up north in Killeen. He started touring in January of 2017 touring outside Texas, starting in Los Angeles and New Orleans. He confirmed during the show that he will start touring outside Texas starting next year.
Photo by Ana Gonzalez/The Egalitarain Comedian Chinedu Ogu entertains the audience at the Rising Sun Sushi and Fusion Restaurant in Humble. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, and you can catch him
Monday mornings on KHOU 11’s #HTownRush and Sunday nights for Texans review.
A universe of flawed heroes: Stan Lee was ahead of his time Ted Anthony
AP National Writer It became easy, in recent years, to dismiss him as the wisecracking grandpa of the American comic book, a past-hisprime gimmick who cameoed alongside Earth’s angstiest superheroes in the high-grossing Marvel blockbusters of the past decade. But Stan Lee, who died Monday, was far more than that. It’s no stretch to say that he helped redraw the world of American fiction. And he certainly made sure everyone knew it. From the ashes of pulp magazines and the radioactive raw material of postwar uncertainty about science and power, he summoned — not singlehandedly, but certainly without parallel or peer — a textured, self-sustaining universe of imperfect heroes. While Updike and Cheever were doing it in literature, while Kubrick and Lumet and Penn were doing it at the movies, the father of Marvel presented comic-book America — which meant, at the time, mostly adolescent boys — with a pantheon of deeply flawed protagonists who, despite their presence in so many tales to astonish, were in many ways just like you and me. These outcasts and misfits rose to the alarm clock’s buzzing and slogged to work each morning to get the job done, not in a fanciful Metropolis or Gotham but on the actual streets of New York City and in the imperfect America beyond it. For them, the struggle was the thing — no matter whether the task was saving the world, paying the rent or trying to make ends meet as a freelance photographer or a blind lawyer or an itinerant stunt motorcyclist. Unlike DC Comics’ iconic heroes, many of whom had been destined for greatness as the last sons of doomed
Reed Saxon/AP File Photo In this April 16, 2002, file photo, Stan Lee, creator of comic-book franchises such as “Spider-Man,” “The Incredible Hulk” and “X-Men,” smiles during a photo session in his office in Santa Monica, Calif. Comic book genius Lee, the architect of the contemporary comic book, has died. He was 95. planets, Amazon royalty or rightful kings of the sea, the likes of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the Ghost Rider and the Incredible Hulk composed a catalog of human frailties — schmoes who inadvertently, or negligently, wandered into the traffic of destiny. Some moneyed, some working-class, all neurotic, they had powers thrust upon them by misfortune or questionable choices. Their abilities were just as often bane as boon. And sometimes it was hard to tell the heroes and the villains apart. Sort of like real life. This was in no small measure due to Lee, who as Marvel’s editor-in-chief wrote many of the books himself during comics’ “Silver Age” years of the early 1960s. With seemingly boundless energy and a staggering variety of voices, he breathed personality, ambiguity and a
common narrative into soon-to-be-beloved characters. “One of the things we try to demonstrate in our yarns is that nobody is all good, or all bad,” Lee wrote in a column for Marvel’s March 1969 issues. “Even a shoddy super-villain can have a redeeming trait, just as any howlin’ hero might have his nutty hang-ups.” It’s hard to overestimate how groundbreaking this philosophy was in a nation that, with a tone set by production-code Hollywood since the early 1930s, had spent three decades positioning largely unambiguous heroes at the center of its rising mass culture. Add government efforts in the 1950s to demonize comics as the mind-decayers of America’s youth, and to push publishers back toward pablum, and you’ll have some idea what Lee accomplished at the beginning of
the 1960s. Suddenly here was Tony Stark, a genius inventor with daddy issues (and, we would eventually learn, an alcoholic narcissist) who fixed his literally broken heart by turning himself into Iron Man. Here was Peter Parker, a meek high-school nerd who had no clue how to handle the creepy abilities and hormonal changes bestowed upon him by the bite of a radioactive spider on a class field trip. Talk about playing to your target audience. Here was Bruce Banner, a military scientist who tried to save someone from one of his test blasts and ended up locked in a battle with his own angry, destructive id — hardly an incidental narrative in an era when psychotherapy and self-help were sharply on the rise. And here was Matt Murdock, blinded in a horrible accident by irradiated waste, proving every night with precision radar powers, as Daredevil, that disability isn’t necessarily destiny. And here were the X-Men, mutants and perpetual outsiders whose struggle to find a place in the mainstream on Earth has been variously framed as a parable for race relations, anti-Semitism and the Red Scare. Even Steve Rogers, whose Captain America was the most Superman-like of the bunch, had demons. He was the skinny kid rejected by his World War II draft board who wanted so badly to fight that he volunteered to be a guinea pig for a “supersoldier serum” that would turn him into the ultimate fighting machine. Captain America debuted during the war years when Marvel was still called Timely Comics, but Lee and his team updated the story for the 1960s by giving Rogers even more ghosts: He lay frozen in ice for nearly two decades after falling into the sea, and awakened out of time in a fast-changing, morally murky world he barely recognized or could navigate.
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Crenshaw’s SNL appearance shows Americans are linked Egal•i•tar•i•an (adjective) aiming for equal wealth, status, etc., for all people 3517 Austin; 303 Fine Arts Center; Houston TX 77004 Phone: 713.718.6016; Fax: 713.718.6601 Adviser: Fredrick Batiste
FALL 2018 EGALITARIAN STAFF Editor-in-Chief........................................... John Cañamar News Editor............................................. Sarah Al-Shaikh Sports Editor.................................................Ana Ramirez Culture Editor..............................................Ana Gonzalez Photo Editor............................................................... TBA Social Media Mgr....................................................... TBA Staff Writer................................................. Wendy Cortez Staff Writer................................................. Marquis Wiley Staff Writer................................................................. TBA Staff Writer................................................................. TBA Staff Writer................................................................. TBA Staff Photographer..................................................... TBA ——— The Egalitarian has been the official student newspaper of the Houston Community College System since September 1974. The Egalitarian is published bi-monthly, every other Wednesday except during holiday breaks. Print circulation is 8,000 copies per issue and distributed to selected HCC campuses in the Houston, Spring Branch, Alief, Katy, North Forest and Fort Bend areas. Comments and contributions are always welcome. Deadlines for contributions and advertisements are one week before the issue print date. The Egalitarian is written and edited by students of Houston Community College. This publication does not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, interests, attitudes and tastes of the Board of Trustees, HCC administration, faculty, staff or students. Opinions and editorial content of The Egalitarian that are unsigned do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Egalitarian staff or adviser. The Egalitarian reserves the right to edit any submitted material for grammatical errors, offensive language, libelous materials and space constraints. It may also refuse any advertising that does not adhere to the HCC mission.
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The Egalitarian staff consists of HCC students who must complete all tasks required to produce the newspaper, which serves all campuses of the HCC System. We want all students from all majors to contribute. However, we must follow our submissions policy in order to operate under our limitations of time, energy and staff. All staff and contributing writers must be currently enrolled students at Houston Community College. The Egalitarian interacts with contributing writers via e-mail and telephone. Visiting The Egalitarian will not help contributors get published, only quality work will. Publication priority is given to staff members and assigned articles, and verbal commitments for assignments will not be accepted or recognized. Press releases, story ideas, news tips and suggestions are always welcomed. Any student interested in joining The Egalitarian staff may request more detailed information regarding story length, topics, style, etc., by e-mailing The Egalitarian Faculty Adviser Fredrick Batiste at adviser@hccegalitarian.com.
The Dallas Morning News Wearing a crisp suit adorned with the pin of a Navy Seal and a black patch over his right eye, U.S. Rep.-elect Dan Crenshaw, who will represent Texas’ 2nd District, went a long way Saturday night toward offering all of us some things we desperately need in our current political culture: a sense of humor, a sense of forgiveness and a sense of magnanimity that no matter what our differences, we are all in this together as Americans. Over the weekend, Crenshaw appeared on “Saturday Night Live,” where a week earlier, cast member Pete Davidson mocked his appearance because of that eye patch. Davidson failed to mention that Crenshaw wears the patch because he lost his right eye in 2012 following the detonation of an IED while serving in Afghanistan. Crenshaw could easily have
been a jerk in return. He wasn’t. He made a simple and transparently true statement that the wounds of our veterans should never be held up for mockery or sport. Then he did one better. He showed up on SNL next to Davidson and gave us some real laughs, as well as a lesson we can all remember. In a political era when people love nothing more than to be offended and insist on apologies for said offenses, we were thrilled to see someone step up as the adult. And we were glad SNL gave Crenshaw the platform it did. It was heartening to see a display of grace, humor and humility play out live on national television. We hope others will watch this and learn from it, recognizing that despite our political differences, we’re real people and not cardboard cutouts. In a final word, Crenshaw
talked about the importance of the phrase “never forget” and what it means to the relationship between civilians and members of the armed forces. “And never forget those we lost on 9/11, heroes like Pete’s father,” Crenshaw said. “So I’ll just say, Pete, never forget.” Pete’s dad, Scott Davidson, was a New York City firefighter who lost his life on 9/11. Scott Davidson was last seen doing what heroes do: running toward danger and not away from it. In this case, running up the stairs of the Marriott World Trade Center shortly before it collapsed. Crenshaw served in Afghanistan, fighting al-Qaeda and the Taliban in response to the vicious attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. What we saw on SNL was a reminder that, as Americans, our lives are inextricably linked. In this age of terror and division, we are stronger when we realize we are one people.
East Texas rivers and lakes face environmental peril Longview News-Journal To the outsider, East Texas looks like a pristine forest, unspoiled in many ways — especially compared to the urban areas just west of here. Those from the city will take a deep breath of our fresh air, thinking it far less polluted than that they breathe at home. That probably isn’t true. While the large cities have millions of vehicles, East Texas is where utility companies have built the power plants that provide electricity to the cities. The result has been a higher amount of air pollution than one might expect. Our area also is blessed with the tremendous natural resource of plentiful water in streams, rivers and reservoirs. Most look beautiful from the surface and East Texas offers some of the best fishing in our state. But the lakes and rivers are facing their own dangers. The Environmental Integrity Project — a Washington, D.C.based environmental watchdog group — has issued a report highlighting some of those dangers, most notably effluent from East Texas chicken farms
and processing plants. It should be noted that the Environmental Integrity Project is a nonprofit group with an agenda to strengthen clean air and water laws. But the data cited in its report come directly from the Environmental Protection Agency and were collected during the administration of President Donald Trump. The evidence is not fake. Among the findings was that Pilgrim’s Pride plants in Mount Pleasant were dumping 1,755 pounds of nitrogen a day into the tributaries that feed Lake O’ the Pines, which is one source of Longview’s drinking water. That makes it one of the biggest water polluters in the state, and many times worse than most meatpacking operations across the nation. What that nitrogen does — along with phosphorus also released by Pilgrim’s — is deplete oxygen from the water, which in turn makes the lake more hazardous for fish and other animal life. Lake O’ the Pines had already been identified as having lower than optimum levels of dissolved oxygen. None of this is to say water from the lake isn’t safe to drink
or that the fish there are about to die. What it means is that we must find a way to solve this problem. One solution would be to require Pilgrim’s Pride to install its own water treatment plant to reduce the dangerous effects of the effluent. Yes, that would cost the company millions and could impact the price of your chicken dinner. Other processing plants, such as Tyson Farms, already do this, so it is not unreasonable. Unfortunately, Tyson’s plant in Center also was cited by the report because its treatment system is not working as well as it should. But the negative effluent from the Tyson plant is still only about one-third that from the Mount Pleasant plant. There could be other solutions we don’t know about, some even revolutionary, given the pace of science progress today. But one must be found, because this situation is not sustainable over the long run. If allowed to continue, conditions at Lake ‘O the Pines and other waterways will seriously deteriorate. Will that be in 10, 25 or 50 years? We do not know.
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Wednesday November 14, 2018
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HCC cosmetology offerings “best-kept secret” HCC cosmo department offering free beauty services through November Ana Gonzalez
agonzalez@hccegalitarian.com Need a new hairstyle to end 2018 with a bang? Well, it’s your lucky day. Thanks to Houston Community College’s cosmetology department, you can get a haircut, an up-do, a facial, or even highlights, absolutely free! Cosmetology students in their junior and senior levels are now applying the theories and practices they have learned during their time in the program. You do not need an appointment to get services. However, due to student availability, they do recommend an appointment. Facials require advance appointments, and you can schedule them either in the morning or eveninag. “This is not just exclusive to students, the public is welcome to stop by and take advantage of the services the department is offering,” says Michele Snelson, program coordinator and professor of cosmetology at HCC Southeast. “It’s HCC’s best-kept secret.” Snelson also says that the purpose of the department offering these free services is to promote HCC and its Cosme-
Ana Gonzalez/The Egalitarian HCC cosmetology student Miesha Laurent performs a flat iron blowout to her client at HCC Southeast. The cosmetology department is offering free beauty services to the public during the month of November. tology department to the public and to showcase her graduating students and the contributions they have done so far. The department will also be opening their Barber program in the upcoming Spring semester. Her goal for each student is to get them prepared for the workforce and for real clients, and student Miesha Laurent agrees. A senior cosmetology student who will be graduating next month with her certificate, Laurent does her best to make sure her clients are getting the best service possible. She already has
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a job as a natural hair stylist at Zayd’s Naturally Natural, and her long-term goal is to build up her own shop. “My favorite is blow-outs,” she says. “They are the quickest and fastest way to do hair. Some people prefer to get in the salon and get out in as little time as possible.” Freshman students are also taking advantage of learning from their junior and senior classmates. Instead of head mannequins, Snelson says that using real hair from real live people are a better way to get hands-on training and apply those skills to the workforce. It is
also an opportunity to allow students to build up their portfolio. The program runs until Nov. 30, and walk-ins are accepted from 9 a.m to 12:30 p.m. Two HCC locations will be offering these free hair services: Katy (1550 Foxlake Dr., Katy) and Eastside (6815 Rustic St., Houston; in the Workforce Building). Services include facials, haircuts, highlights, sets, shampoo, braiding, and up-dos. Men’s styles and haircuts are also offered. To schedule an appointment, you may call (713) 718-7527.
You can be like eddie brock you probably will not bond with an alien symbiote but you can learn skills eddie uses to get things done
come get a taste of us join the staff For more info; email fredrick.batiste@hccs.edu