2 OPINION
Quotes from the Quad
By Evelyn Tijero PHOTOGRAPHER
What does Black History Month mean to you?
“
“
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2017
THE PIONEER EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Louis LaVenture louis.laventure@csueastbay.edu
MANAGING EDITOR
Kali Persall
kali.persall@csueastbay.edu
COPY EDITOR
Wendy Medina wendy.medina@csueastbay.edu
ONLINE AND SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
Casey Peuser
casey.peuser@csueastbay.edu
STAFF WRITERS
“It means a lot of things, back in the day one wouldn’t have thought this would be an important month there was just so much going on. It means representation of a race that are still unrepresented in today’s society.” - Shanovi Bass, 19 Anthropology, Sophomore
“I see Black history month as a way to remember and reflect on the adversities and successes of blacks in the U.S. We can learn a lot from the history and struggles of other groups of people.” - Eric Yip, 21 Sociology, Senior
“Our nation has gone through a significant culture change throughout U.S. History and is a time to appreciate and honor past African American’s who have strived for freedom and equality.” - Osvaldo Ramirez, 23 History, Senior
Marissa Marshall marissa.marshall@csueastbay.edu
Tishauna Carrell tishauna.carrell@csueastbay.edu
ILLUSTRATOR
Dina Arakcheyeva dina.arakcheyeva@csueastbay.edu
PHOTOGRAPHER
Kedar Dutt kedar.dutt@csueastbay.edu
Evelyn Tijero evelyn.tijero@csueastbay.edu
EDITORIAL PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Marina Swanson marina.swanson@csueastbay.edu
FACULTY ADVISOR
“It reminds me of what equality should be.”
Gary Moskowitz gary.moskowitz@csueastbay.edu
- Marco Matos, 28 Psychology, Senior
FACULTY COORDINATOR
Dr. Katherine Bell kate.bell@csueastbay.edu
“Black history month means to me that they gave us the shortest month of the year.” - Tim Sanders, 22 Criminal Justice, Senior
“What black history month means to me is signifying and acknowledges the success of my ancestors and the people who came before me. Black history is all year not just a month, but the month highlights the struggles and accomplishments of my people who’ve been pushed or held down for so long. It’s a reminder that our fight is not over and we still have to overcome.” - Carmen Cummings, 21 Health Science, Senior
MANAGING EDITOR
It’s been less than a month since President Donald J. Trump took office and talk of “Calexit,” a movement where the state would secede from the rest of the country, is already picking up steam. Ballot measure campaign committee Yes California started the the Calexit campaign in November after Trump was officially elected president, according to The Sacramento Bee. The campaign was founded by Louis J. Marinelli, an English language teacher who has taught English as a Second Language in the U.S. and Russia for the past decade, according to Yes California. Some have pointed out that other states have attempted to exit the Unit-
PRODUCTION STAFF FACULTY PRODUCTION MANAGER
Eric Ronning Susi Larsen Veronica Hall
ADVERTISING STAFF
California to become a country? By Kali Persall
pioneernewspaper@csueastbay.edu
LAYOUT DESIGNER
NEWS
With enough votes, state could break from U.S.
Questions? Comments? Contact us! t. 510.885.3175 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd. CSUEB - MI 1076 Hayward, CA 94542
ed States without success. Following former president Barack Obama’s reelection in 2012, Texas attempted to secede from the U.S. under the “Texit” initiative, in the same fashion as The United Kingdom’s “Brexit” vote that withdrew the nation from the European Union, according to The Guardian. During the election, Hillary Clinton received all 55 of the state’s electoral votes and 8,753,788 popular votes, reports the New York Times. Trump won none of California’s electoral votes and 4,483,810 popular votes. Since his election, protests have rocked the country and Californians who oppose Trump have not shied from expressing their dissent. Fourteen California cities held their own peaceful protests in support of the Women’s March on Washington on Jan. 21, according to the movement’s website. Despite California’s vocal opposition, the state has managed to fly under Trump’s radar until last week, when he threatened to cut federal funding to the state in light of legislation that would make the state a sanctuary state for im-
migrants, according to NBC Bay Area news. If passed, the legislation would also exempt local law enforcement from complying with federal immigration laws. The initiative follows Trump’s executive order to ban all Syrian refugees indefinitely as well as Muslims from seven different “terror-prone” countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days, according to CNN. Last week, Trump also threatened to defund UC Berkeley after campus protests against Milo Yiannoupoulis, a controversial provocateur and the senior editor at Breitbart, a right-wing news, opinion and commentary website, resulted in vandalism on Feb. 1. Proponents of Calexit believe that California, with the sixth-largest economy in the world, according to the Sacramento Bee, can sustain itself without the help of the federal government. The Bee reports that Californians pay $370 billion annually to the federal government in taxes, while the government spends only $334 billion in the state. Yes California insists that Calexit
symbolizes California taking it’s place in the world and standing as an equal among nations. The group believes that California has a positive influence on the rest of the world and that California would be more progressive as an independent country than as a state. Yes California is working to collect the necessary 585,407 signatures of registered voters needed by July 25 to push the initiative all the way to the 2018 November ballot, according to the Yes California website. If Calexit receives enough signatures in time, Yes California would again ask California voters how they feel about secession through an independence plebiscite, a direct vote through which citizens of a country express feedback on a political proposal, on Mar. 5, 2019. One in three Californians favor the secession initiative, according to a Reuters Poll published earlier this month. Yes California directs people to pledge their support through online petitions, volunteer opportunities, events and a donation portal.
SALES EXECUTIVES
Daniel Aziz Jocelyn Manfut Grace Martinez Yesica Ibarra GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Ridhisac Bartholomeo Ny ADVERTISING COORDINATOR
Itzamar Llamas Advertising Contact t. 510.885.3526 f. 510.885.2584 pioneer.advertising@csueastbay.edu Funding for The Pioneer comes, in part, from the Academic Access, Enhancement and Excellence (A2E2) Fee.
#PIONEERNEWS /thepioneernewspaper @thepioneeronline @newspioneer
THEPIONEERONLINE.COM