CORSAIR
MARCH 09, 2016 | VOLUME 111 ISSUE 02 | SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
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behind the scenes at kcrw (p.6)
CCASA PUSHES FOR FREE RIDE Student splinter group takes action (p.3)
TO BERNIE OR NOT TO BERNIE Editors battle over Bernie Sanders (p.7)
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CONTENT
VOLUME 111 ISSUE 02 • MARCH 09, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
EDITORIAL S,TAFF nik lucaj ........................................... Editor-in-Chief
corsair.editorinchief@gmail.com
bailey peraita............................... Managing Editor
corsair.managing@gmail.com
adam robert thomas ....................... News Editor
corsair.news@gmail.com
alissa nardo .............................. Health & Lifestyle
corsair.lifestylepage@gmail.com
grace gardner .............................. Opinion Editor
corsair.opinionpage@gmail.com
josh shure ...........................................Sports Editor
corsair.sportspage@gmail.com
jacob hirsohn ..........Arts & Entertainment Editor
corsair.calendarpage@gmail.com
alexander melendez ............. Multimedia Editor
corsair.multimediadept@gmail.com
jose lopez .............................................Photo Editor
corsairphotoeditor@gmail.com
josue martinez .................. Assistant Photo Editor
corsairphotoeditor@gmail.com
ramses lemus ......................... Social Media Editor
socialmedia.corsair@gmail.com
A group of enthusiastic supporters wave their signs as they gather at a Bernie Sanders rally at Pasadena City Hall on Saturday, February 27. (Adriana Delgado/The Corsair)
william miguel..................................Design Editor
(Correction for Wild Art March 2, Issue 1: Incorrectly credited to September Bottoms. Photo Credit to Chris Monterrosa)
corsair.designteam@gmail.com
CORSAIR STAFF Josue Martinez, Daniela Barhanna, Ryanne Mena, Daniel J. Bowyer, Yanessa Alamillo, Princella Armelin, Michelle Ayala, Troy Barnes, Luis Baza, Vendela Bergamoni, Julia Bergstrom, September Bottoms, Elva Castillo, Cliff Chang, Siena Deck, Adriana Delgado, Jessica Dupree, Jerome Harris, Apostol Kanev, Ashleen Knutsen, Yohei Koyama, Leyla Leiva, Ka Leong, Brian Lewis, Elizabeth Mattingly, Sebastian Mayorga, Chris Monterrosa, Cyril Palma, Manuel Portugal, Monica Ramirez, Joseph Silva, Kyle Toelken, Julia Westman FACULTY ADVISORS saul rubin ................................. Journalism Advisor gerard burkhart............................ Photo Advisor
AD INQUIRIES: corsair.admanager@gmail.com
FRONT COVER Steve Chiotakis, KCRW afternoon host, goes over the stories for the day on Tuesday in the studio at KCRW on the main campus of Santa Monica College. (Jose Lopez) Photo by Jose Lopez
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR by NIK LUCAJ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
As we dive into the second issue the adrenaline rush from the first week is starting to wear off. We finished issue one after an insane process where, minus a true blue Design Editor, our H&L Editor Alissa Nardo learned the design software from the ground up. We labored from 9 a.m. Tuesday morning until 7 a.m. on Wednesday to get it out. We lost chunks of sanity, retained nothing from our classes the next morning and gave the printing company a reason to hate us but we prevailed and were happy with the final product. This week, the drama was ratcheted down a bit. We were able to anticipate possible hiccups a little better and, out of pity, our old Design Editor William Miguel came out of retirement for one week,
making the process infinitely easier. In bigger news, America’s prevailing topic of conversation this week continued to be the election and Donald Trump. Both he and Clinton continued to rack up states in their unstoppable bids for their party’s nominations. According to delegate count, Cruz is the only one that can still see Trump in front of him in the marathon. Rubio languishes in third and Kasich keeps helping Trump by siphoning delegates from the other two. On the Democratic side, Hillary, along with her huge superdelegate support, has a pretty commanding lead on Sanders. While Sanders’ more optimistic supporters still see the possibility of a comeback, his fate seems all but sealed.
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Our Opinion Editor Grace Gardner takes pleasure in this as she comes back for round two of our op-ed duel, arguing that democrats are making the right choice going against Bernie. This week however, she faces a different challenger as our indefatigable A&E Editor Jacob Hirsohn feels the Bern and thinks that you should too. Our cover story is a profile on KCRW. Many students may not even know that the renowned radio station sits below the Cayton Center, but it’s been a part of Santa Monica College’s campus for over 30 years. Our staff writer Troy Barnes was taken on a tour of their facilities and delved into the history of the station. He explores its impact on SMC students, both past and present, and gets a chance to understand @THE_CORSAIR •
the relationship between the school and the station. News Editor Adam Thomas writes a story about the Community College Association of Student Advocacy, a group of both current and former student government members who are fed up with the way that students governments are being run here at SMC and across the county. Adam attends one of their meetings as they discuss possible methods for invoking change. Finally, March is Women’s Empowerment Month. Our Photostory documents the International Women’s Day March and Rally on March 6th in Los Angeles. While the journey to this second issue wasn’t quite as harrowing as the first, we hope you enjoy it just as much.
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NEWS
VOLUME 111 ISSUE 02 • MARCH 09, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
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STUDENT GOVERNERS TAKE MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS ADAM ROBERT THOMAS NEWS EDITOR It’s the kind of thing that only happens in movies: a clandestine group meets in darkened offices, lit up by hundreds of computer screens, for a backroom meeting with the objective of influencing politics and changing the world. Such a group met on the night of Thursday, March 3 in the offices of Inhance Digital, a multimedia company located in an easily missed corner of West Hollywood. But unlike in the movies, this meeting wasn’t filled with shadowy super villains planning to defeat James Bond, but rather, members of student government associations from across the Los Angeles County Community College system. This is a meeting of the Community College Association for Student Advocacy (CCASA), a brand new voice in the LA County student government scene only recently incorporated on February 1. Their "master plan?" To make public transportation on LA Metro buses free for college students across the county. “We've been [petitioning] for about four days, and we have somewhere around 300 to 350 signatures,” said Filipp Krasovsky, founding member of CCASA and SMC student, to the gathered crowd at the second ever meeting for the group. Krasovsky was updating two dozen CCASA members about the beginning of their efforts to support Move LA, the public transit political organization currently preparing bills for local and state legislatures to make fares for students using the LA Metro system either free or subsidized to the point of negligible cost. Krasovsky continued, “When College students show up to these things, usually Metro caves in because college students almost never vote, never participate, never go to board meetings. So even if we get this group — I'm not talking about 90 people protesting — if WE show up, they'll probably listen.” The attending CCASA members who listened to Krasovsky explain campaign strategy were an all-star team of students from honor societies, debate teams, and Associated Students (AS) boards from community colleges across the county. They came from SMC, East LA College, South
in brief Student Government Eligibility Requirements - Follow Up At the Monday March 8, AS Board meeting, AS President Jesse Randel read a letter from Life Sciences Department Professor Alexandra Tower on behalf of the Student Affairs Committee (SAC). The letter voiced support by SAC for measures Randel brought up after the vacation of posts by the ICC heads on the AS Board, as featured in the Corsair’s last issue. This included potentially lowering the minimum requirement on units for student government representatives and allowing students to “bank” units from summer and winter sessions to carry over into Spring and Fall semesters. Tower stated that SAC felt that action should not be taken until Dean Deyna Hearn returned from personal business that has taken her temporarily away from her post on campus.
Isaac Medeiros (right), President of the Community College Association for Student Advocacy, and Filipp Krasovsky (left), Vice President of Finance, host the advocacy committee meeting on Thursday. (Josue Martinez/The Corsair)
West College, LA Valley College, LA City College, Harbor City College and LA Mission College, all to discuss ways to achieve their goal of free public transport for students. That night it included SMC's AS President Jesse Randel and AS Director of Student Assistance Johnathon Hughes. “It's a splinter group because, clearly, I'm not the only one who sees problems,” said Randel after the meeting when asked if CCASA organization represents a break from the officially sanctioned student government organizations he and other attendees already participated in. He said, “SMC is the most represented [at CCASA], but it's spreading. It'll get bigger. My hope is that a little competition might make the SSCCC get their shit together." The SSCCC mentioned by Randel is the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, and one of the main reasons CCASA exists. Most members of CCASA that spoke to The Corsair felt the SSCCC was unwieldy, inefficient, and did a poor job of representing students in LA County specifically. Randel went on to explain perceived inefficiencies that had occurred at the last SSCCC Assembly he had attended. He said, “. . . we had an hour on a Saturday night scheduled to go over resolutions, and that's supposed to be the entirety of what you do there. But they had filled it with guest speak-
ers. They hired former SSCCC members to come back and speak, which is just unethical.” “For [CCASA], for me it's more legit and we're actually getting things done. This is our second meeting and we're already signing up to sponsor bills that have a firsthand effect on actual people," said Alfredo Gama, the SMC student who helped to found the Debate Club in 2014. Gama expressed frustration with student government at SMC saying, “Yeah [AS] hold events in the quad, but they don't go into classes and talk to students. That's something that we're doing, something that should be happening but not happening." CCASA is the brainchild of Isaac Medeiros, the former Inter-Club Council (ICC) Communications Officer who recently vacated his position on the ICC and the SMC AS Board of Directors in January after not being able to meet unit requirements. Medeiros insisted that his formation of CCASA along with three other SMC students — Krasovsky, Yana Demeshko, and Gerson Liahut-Sanchez (who also attends East LA College) — had little to do with his unit requirement troubles, as the idea had been formed two months prior. “I was drunk with buddies," Medeiros said, "and I was like, 'Wait a second, why isn't there a better organization representing LA students?' I saw this kind of void.
Anita Sarkeesian Delivers Short Speech to Packed House
Breeze Bike Share Off to Slow Start
Often controversial internet feminist Anita Sarkeesian delivered her presentation, “I’ll Make a Man out of you: Redefining Strong Female Characters,” to a packed crowd at the Main Stage auditorium on the Main SMC Campus. Security was high for the event, and after a 35 minute presentation, Sarkeesian ended the talk with no follow-up Q&A session for attendees. Sarkeesian held a limited and unannounced Q&A session for three media classes before the talk began. Despite having the location moved at the last minute, one of her detractors managed to crash the event and question her credentials before being removed. After her presentation at the main stage, Sarkeesian attended a private function where Dierdre Weaver and SMC President Kathryn Jefferies honored her as SMC’s distinguished alumnus for the year. The event was attended by select faculty, administration, and board of trustees members, as well as members of the AS Board of Directors.
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Forty-seven students and faculty have begun participating in the Breeze Bike Share program that started last November. Promotion for the program on campus only truly started in the 2016 Spring semester. Feris Kawar from the Center for Environmental & Urban Studies stated that there will be a larger promotional push for the program during “Bike Month” in May.
Election Applications for AS Board Now Open The period for becoming a candidate for the next AS Board is currently open, with the final submission deadline on March 23 – 25. To become a candidate, a student must complete an application form found on the SMC.edu website and submit it to the AS office in room 202 of the Cayton Center by the deadline. Students who want to enter the process must also obtain 50-60 signatures from the student body in order to participate.
AS Approves “Stress Free Zone” The AS Board approved funding for the Stress
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You know how an entrepreneur comes in and he sees a need for something that doesn't exist? That's what I saw. So I just picked people that I thought were passionate. I picked people that I loved and thought would be great for this organization at first, and then I opened it up to other people that were interested.” Medeiros admitted that CCASA has no funding, but said that they did have a lot of passion and the ability to mobilize students from all across the county thanks to their collective influence on so many campuses. He also admitted that their mission to assist Move LA in making public transportation free for college students was going to be difficult, but that it was important considering the often low incomes of many community college students. If successful, such a measure would have a major impact on SMC, especially the AS Board of Directors, which spends roughly $700,000 of its yearly budget on subsidizing the Big Blue Bus to provide free service to SMC students. Finally, when asked about the seemingly shadowy setting of their meeting, Medeiros laughed and explained it as simple convenience: the building was owned by his stepfather who provided it for CCASA’s use. Madeiros said, “It's a back room meeting, yes, but we're all just passionate people who want to make a difference.”
Free Zone during their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, March 7. The Stress Free Zone will be located in the Cayton Center Lounge Director of Community Relations Aicha Conde encourages students to relax and de-stress in this zone. TheZone will feature battery-powered candles, bean bag chairs, journals, stress buster desktop punching balls, and a coloring book. Students will also have access to self-help books and other literature designed to help students cope with various forms of stress.
Uber to Create Scholarship for Student Drivers AS Director of Sustainability Heather Haro announced a scholarship to be provided by ride sharing service Uber for SMC students at the Monday, March 8 AS Meeting. The “Uber Pool Environmental Studies” scholarship program will provide $10,000 for the SMC foundation to distribute to students through scholarship opportunities based on participation by SMC students who are drivers for Uber.
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PHOTOSTORY
VOLUME 111 ISSUE 02 • MARCH 09, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
Jollene Levid, the national chairperson at AF3IRM and a member of Los Angeles chapter, speaks to the people who came out to the rally for International Women’s Day held on Sunday in Downtown Los Angles. (Jose Lopez)
Hundreds of people marched through Downtown Los Angeles to mark International Women's Day. (Josue Martinez)
A woman holds her sign during the opening
A woman throws her fist in the air as she marches through the streets of Downtown Los Angeles. (Daniel Bowyer))
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VOLUME 111 ISSUE 02 • MARCH 09, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
PHOTOSTORY
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SMC student Tekoah Flory marches with demonstrators who came out to honor women. (Jose Lopez)
WOMEN OF THE WORLD UNITE Celebrating International Women's Day GRACE GARDNER OPINION EDITOR
rally for the celebration. (Jose Lopez)
The second annual International Women’s Day March and Rally was held Sunday in Los Angeles drawing a crowd of over 1,500 people composed of every age, ethnicity, gender and sexuality. “Last year we had probably over 1000 people. This year, we had more than that,” said Jollene Levid, a national chairperson of AF3IRM. AF3IRM is a transnational organization dedicated to feminism and anti-imperialist activism. The march’s starting point was located in front of the Los Angeles Police Department. Multiple speakers and several musicians addressed the crowd, which was littered with purple berets symbolic of AF3IRM. When it came time to begin, Levid called on the mothers to lead the march, resulting in a front line full of children in strollers and their female caretakers pushing them along the designated path. People watched from the sidelines as the marchers
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went by Olvera Street and continued down Cesar Chavez Avenue, waving signs with messages like “My pussy, my choice” and “Keep your laws out of my vagina.” Angel Garcia from Cypress College was one of these individuals. In her red lipstick and backwards hat, she held a sign above her head that stated, “It’s not feminism if it’s not intersectional.” Such was the spirit of the march. “Women from different cultures and backgrounds, we all stood in solidarity and recognized that we all have our struggles,” Garcia said. “But in general, where we meet with common ground is being women, and that we are being oppressed.” It was her first time marching with an IDWM firm. “As an organizer for the firm, we always want more people involved,” Levid said. “Even just one more woman would make the world of a difference. We could always be bigger. Always.”
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
VOLUME 111 ISSUE 02 • MARCH 09, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
Kajon Cermak, board operator and traffic expert for NPR, works in the studio of KCRW on Thursday at the Main Campus of Santa Monica College. (Adriana Delgado)
KCRW: SMC'S BURRIED TREASURE TROY BARNES STAFF WRITER If your radio dial in your car is set to 89.9FM, you are probably familiar with an interesting mix of news, culture, and music known as KCRW. Whether it’s the unconventional playlists of music in the morning and evening, the voice of Kajon Cermak trying to soothe the traffic afflicted soul, or the reporting of Steve Chiotakis giving you a rundown of the day’s affairs. KCRW is rooted in the things many Santa Monica College students care about, but many are unaware that the iconic radio station is a part of the SMC family. The basement of SMC's Cayton Center may seem like a very odd home for one of the iconic radio stations of southern California, but College Radio Workshop FM has thrived in this unconventional setup for the last 30 years, and within that history, the school and the station have both been driven by the same vision. First founded in 1945 by veterans returning from service in World War II as an aid to help train them in the new technology of FM radio and to acclimate them back to civilian life, KCRW grew from humble and honorable beginnings. It was a charter member in NPR’s incorporation on February 26, 1970 while operating out of John Adams Middle School across the street from SMC. In 1979, KCRW moved into their current home in the basement of the Cayton Center in an effort to gain more studio space and develop the station. SMC gained ownership of the station in return for KCRW's use of the basement and became the second community college in the country to own a public radio station. “KCRW is a blend of all things culture, and that has been our core vision throughout our history,” said Danny Sway, the Director of Volunteer Services for the station. Inside their studio, you can get a feel for what he means.
As you enter, a huge portrait of Wayne Coyne, lead singer of The Flaming Lips, stares back at you through the narrow hallway with a warm grin. On another wall, next to the door to their live session room, a huge collage of Polaroid photos showing the guests that have appeared on their morning music variety show, "Morning Becomes Eclectic." The amount and variety of musicians, comedians, artists, and writers on the wall is impressive and gives a sense of the prestige associated with the station. Throughout their history, many of KCRW’s staff started as volunteers or interns. Music Director Jason Bentley and current KCRW President Jennifer Ferrero both started as volunteers and, through their dedication, moved up to full-time positions with the station. Within this internship program, there are only 40 spots available, but 10 are allocated specifically for SMC students as a class worth no credit or one unit. This was achieved by a push from the student body and the Associated Students to have more access and opportunities at the station. Sean Dellorco was an SMC Film major in the Fall semester of 2015 when he landed his internship for the station as a video tech. He has now been added to the staff as a video production assistant. “I’m living proof it works. Having gone to SMC and being able to intern here gave me an opportunity I wouldn’t have had otherwise. It was awesome and empowering,” Dellorco said about his experience at KCRW. When asked if interning helped her land
A pair of headphones hang over an equalizer in the KCRW concert room on Thursday under the Cayton Center. (Adriana Delgado)
a dream job, Blake Veit, the producer of “The Treatment” on KCRW, said, “In one word, yes!" Veit had transferred from Cal State Fullerton to SMC and spent two semesters as an intern at the station before being added to the staff. Cynthia Munoz, a broadcasting major, and Isabel Castillo, a communications major who is also running for school commissioner, are two current SMC students enrolled in the internship program. “It was a wonderful feeling after being accepted into the program. It’s so competitive,” said Munoz. Castillo said, “You have to go through their whole process and then fill out the application and wait. When I heard back it was amazing, being that it’s such a prestigious place.” The influence of the college atmosphere on the station can't be underestimated either. “College students in general are tastemakers for music," said Eric Lawrence, the Music Librarian for the station. "That carries a huge influence for not just KCRW, but commercial and public radio stations as a whole.”
ʻKCRW is a blend of all things culture, and that has been our core vision throughout our historyʼ – Danny Sway
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The afternoon anchor Steve Chiotakis said, “The crux of public radio is that the majority of it is hosted by colleges, and with that influence we focus on catering to intellect without bias. Our roots are SMC but our sensibilities are LA.” President Jennifer Ferro detailed how SMC and KCRW are tied together in more ways than just a landlord/tenant agreement. “KCRW and SMC are intrinsically tied together," she said. "KCRW was able to grow into a global public media outlet because SMC had the vision to see that lifelong learning could happen with a radio signal. We have a great partnership that aligns really well with such a forward-thinking institution as Santa Monica College.” The history between the two has given each party opportunities and prestige they wouldn’t have had otherwise. With their new studio being built on the new campus for Media and Design — scheduled to be completed this fall — they will soon depart from their long held home in the basement. So if you’re curious, peek down the stairwell behind the vending machines on the ground floor of Cayton and catch a glimpse of SMC and public radio history, before it’s gone.
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OPINION
VOLUME 111 ISSUE 02 • MARCH 09, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
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JACOB HIRSOHN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Due to his status as a political underdog running against one of the most famous politicians in the country, it is almost impossible to debate Senator Bernie Sanders’ legitimacy as a presidential candidate without comparing him to Hillary Clinton. This is ultimately to Sanders’ disservice, because he is not just an exciting alternative to an obviously flawed candidate, he is an exciting candidate in his own right. Opponents have only been able to muster two main criticisms of Sanders: he won’t be able to execute his ideas and he won’t get elected. While there is tangible evidence pointing to the contrary on the latter point — Bernie thrashes all Republican candidates in general election polls — the former point seems to be more contentious. I’ve personally grown tired of hearing Sanders’ plan for affordable college described as unrealistic or poorly thoughtout. The Senator has laid out an incredibly practical path to affordable higher education in America. Nowhere in this proposal is there a suggestion to raise taxes on the American public. Sanders plans to make Wall Street pay for America’s college students. As he says on his website, “If the taxpayers of this country could bailout Wall Street in 2008, we can make public colleges and universities tuition free and debt free throughout the country.” This is both practical and fair. Obama was criticized as an overly idealistic socialist, and his presidency went
reasonably well. In retrospect, nothing about his platform was particularly radical — especially in comparison with Bernie. But Bernie shouldn’t lose points because he has fresh ideas that are going to take some time and major adjustments to execute. His acknowledgment of this is evident in his frequent use of the word “revolution.” Proposing a revolution doesn’t suggest this transition will happen immediately and with ease. It’s going to be a struggle, and a lot is going to have to change. Luckily, Sanders has the advantage of not inheriting the country at its lowest point in 80 years. Now that the country is in sustainable condition instead of teetering on the edge of apocalypse, it is time to actually rework the system that caused the disaster in the first place. That’s why Sanders has appealed to the youngest generation of voters as much as he has. Not due to entitlement, even though I do feel entitled to a healthy economy, medicine, and a system that isn’t rigged against the lower class. And it’s not because we’re worried that we won’t have it as good as our parents either. That’s already our reality. We’re worried our kids will have it even worse. We’re worried that if a traditional candidate in the pocket of Wall Street comes to power, the rich will continue to get richer and the poor will keep getting poorer. That’s why we’re rallying behind a candidate who is repeatedly on the right side of history. Bernie continues to offer radical solutions to the problems that really matter. Instead of using the vague political buzzwords and circling non-
Illustration by Andrew Khanian
...AND WHY I DON'T
GRACE GARDENER OPINION EDITOR Bernie Sanders is the presidential wet dream of every individual stuck in the quicksand of the 21st century's entitled, idealistic, entertainment-seeking mindset. There's a reason he has the youth vote. This audience is composed of individuals with skepticism that they’ll never end up as rich as their parents or the people they see on Instagram, who want some kind of insurance that they’ll be able to keep buying iPhones and brand name sneakers, even
at entry level jobs. People disguise this sentiment with phrases like, “leveling the playing field” and reducing the income gap. Really, they want to be able to maintain the lifestyle of a doctor while being a high school teacher. It’s no coincidence that this sense of entitlement is surging in the midst of an increasingly materialistic society. Keeping up with life is getting a lot more expensive. It also doesn’t help that becoming extremely wealthy doesn’t just happen to middleaged people anymore. Now our generation has Youtube stars and the Jenner family to
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Illustration by Andrew Khanian
WHY I WANT BERNIE...
answers we are so used to hearing, he speaks literally and bluntly. Sometimes he goes too far. Sometimes he is too radical or unrealistic. But at this point in our country, I would rather elect a candidate bursting with good ideas who will face a bit of a reality check upon arrival in the oval office than another establishment candidate who will take half-measures and continue to reinforce the traditions that culminated in the economic crisis of 2008. The core of people’s opposition to Sanders must be a feeling that everything
is working perfectly fine in America. It isn’t. The disaster currently unfolding in Flint, Michigan wouldn’t happen in a healthy, transparent system. Other candidates may have a better handle on the traditional political maneuvers used to “solve” this crisis, but Sanders offers an alternative. He’s not interested in preserving his political connections while solving the massive crisis in Flint. And he’s not exclusively interested in fixing it in the short term. He’s interested in fixing the system that led us here in the first place.
compare themselves to. They don’t want to work 30 hours a week to spend it on things like healthcare and school. They want those things taken care of, preferably by someone else. Sanders often throws around phrases such as “free college” and “free healthcare,” which seem appealing but it's important to recognize that nothing is actually free. If the money isn’t coming out of your pocket, it’s coming out of someone else's. The government doesn’t just magically pay for these programs. The only way to pay for these programs is to raise taxes, particularly taxes on the one percent and upper middle class, which Sanders has explicitly said he plans to do. A lot of people, particularly young people, think this is freaking sweet but then again, we’re inclined to see only the receiving end of this deal. Now it’s absolutely true that tuition prices are out of control and we pay heavily for healthcare. However, that doesn't mean that we should just stop paying for it altogether. The lack of accountability for our own welfare is a total cop-out. This is capitalist America, not socialist Denmark. We have the unique feature of being a melting pot nation. This country operates on an entirely different and diverse set of values. We can’t come together as a nation and say, “we want everyone to go to college” because that's not necessarily an accurate depiction of our population. We have a lot of people who really don’t want to go to college or take on some sort of apprenticeship. As far as healthcare goes, individuals need to take at least some personal responsibility for their health. Granted, the government should absolutely ensure that healthcare is affordable for people but we've already done that with the Affordable Care Act. Sanders presenting the possibility of this American utopia where we get free education and healthcare limits the discussion
to a gut reaction, whether or not we want to help people. Now, no one wants to see fellow Americans without healthcare or with limited opportunities but we need to have thoughtful discussions about whether "free" is the best way to go about addressing these issues. Sanders plays on the "stick-it-to-the-man" attitude that encompasses our youth to promote this revolution of free stuff. His battle cries that demand the dismantling of corporate dragons echo our generation's incessant obsession with the Illuminati and “the system." It's a compelling story — the youth rises up and defeats the evil One Percenters. However, it's important to assess our reality for what it is and not blindly accept a sensationalized storyline. Income inequality is real. The rich are no doubt getting richer. But most people aren't just born rich. Even if they are, it takes a lot of work to keep it that way. The top earners already pay a disproportionate amount of income tax, which largely goes to programs that do not benefit them. It's important to at least attempt to distribute some of the wealth that pools toward the top, but the wealthy shouldn't hold the burden of paying for the entirety of the population's welfare, including education. This is America, not Nicaragua. We already have unemployment benefits, EBT and now we have affordable national healthcare. For all the millennials out there swept up in the ideas Bernie Sanders and conspiracy documentaries have sold you that America is some poorly working machine because it’s not giving things out for free, think again. There is no reason for us to think that we're entitled to higher education or healthcare. It's not as romantic of a notion as a political revolution, but in the end, this is still 2016 America. We are a capitalist nation and if that doesn't work for you, move to Sweden.
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VOLUME 111 ISSUE 02 • MARCH 09, 2016 • SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
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Santa Monica College’s Global Council and the Communication & Media Studies Department proudly announce…
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