Thursday November 29, 2018
Volume 104 Issue 39
The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton
Record number of women elected GOP club invites speaker
The U.S. House of Representatives gained 102 women. SOMMER CLARK Staff Writer
A record number of racially diverse women have been elected in the midterm elections, in what some have termed, the “Year of the Democratic Woman.” “I don’t know if you can directly link it to Trump’s election, but certainly from what I read, that was a major contributing factor to why women became interested in running for office,” said Natalie Fousekis, the director of Lawrence de Graaf Center for Oral and Public History and a professor of history. Twenty-four women were elected to the U.S. Senate, and 102 women were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, which is a record high, according to the Associated Press. Eighty-nine Democratic women were elected to the House and 17 have so far won seats in the Senate. On the Republican side, 13 women filled spots in the House and seven in the Senate. “This incoming group definitely looks different than previous groups of women,” Fousekis said. There are 23 people of color new to Congress who will be representing mostly white districts. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat, and Deb Haaland, a New Mexico Democrat, were elected as the first Native American women to serve in Congress. Davids was also the first LGBTQ member from Kansas to
CSUF Republicans announced that Dave Rubin is set to speak on campus. CAITLIN BARTUSICK Manging Editor
SOPHIA ACEVEDO Asst. Opinion Editor
KAYLA ALCARAZ / DAILY TITAN
win a seat. Michelle Lujan Grisham representing New Mexico became the first Democratic Latina governor. Democrats Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan are the first two Muslim women to be elected to Congress. “If we can have women in elected roles having a say in our laws and regulations, then we will have laws and regulations that will reflect the need of 50 percent of society. Right now,
we’re missing that,” said Christina Barbieri, adjunct professor of American studies. To Fousekis, women’s different approach and perspective on issues would help form comprehensive policies. “Women just bring a different perspective. They just have a different experience from men, they have babies; men don’t have babies. They just sometimes focus on different issues. I think women are more willing to negotiate and work together,” Fousekis
said, adding that there is an opportunity to fight for equality in the workforce and affordable child care. The number of women in office have led some to draw comparisons to the 1992 “Year of the Women,” when a record number of women candidates ran and won. Following that year, legislation was introduced addressing issues like family and medical leave, and women’s health. SEE ELECTIONS
2
Cal State Fullerton students in the College Republicans club erupted in cheers on Tuesday when President Brooke Paz announced that speaker Dave Rubin is set to speak on Jan. 29, 2019 in the Titan Student Union Pavilion for a Q&A event. The contract with Rubin has been signed, Paz said. “The CSUF Republicans have a reputation for fostering intellectual diversity and civil discourse,” Paz said in a press release. “We intend to continue that legacy with our speaker next semester, and Dave Rubin is the perfect person to represent those values.” The announcement comes a little more than a year after speaker Milo Yiannopoulos was invited by the College Republicans. The event led to protestors clashing with police in riot gear and resulting in a security cost of approximately $90,000. SEE POLITICS
2
Freshman musician creates indie beats Lentebloom is a CSUF student who produces music out of his dorm. KRISTINA GARCIA Copy Editor
Two years ago, this lo-fi, indie bedroom musician played with Cuco, Los Angeles’ heartthrob Chicano artist, at a backyard show. Now, this Cal State Fullerton freshman ends his own concerts with a signature, “Thank you, Coachella!” In his classes he’s known as Noah Lee, but to his growing fan base he goes by Lentebloom. Lentebloom was born in Hawaii and lived there until he reached the age of three. His family then moved to El Monte, California, and later lived in several places around the Pomona area. Now he’s living in Fullerton and dorms at CSUF for his first year of college. But unlike other students, Lentebloom’s academic path as a cinema and television arts major is just a backup plan in case his music doesn’t go in the direction he wants it to. “I know Noah is gonna make it with music, cause I can tell he’s really passionate about it,” said Ethan Johnson-May, long-time friend and founder of production/clothing company Flowr. “I remember he used to tell me, ‘When I’m older, if you ever find me working an office job, give me an intervention or something.’” Lentebloom has always been very musically-inclined ever since he first started piano lessons at age seven. From his first lessons to his final ones at around age 12, he continued his musical path into church. In high school, Lentebloom played in two bands, the first being a pop-punk band called
KRISTINA GARCIA / DAILY TITAN
Noah Lee, also known as Lentebloom, plays the guitar, piano, cello and sings.
Unemployment Project. After they disbanded, he began to play with Loose Ends, which also had its share of complications and eventually broke up as well. “It’s really hard to collaborate with other artists that don’t have the same vision as you or the same taste, cause I’m personally a perfectionist and if I don’t like something 100 percent, I won’t release it,” Lentebloom said. After the crumble of Loose Ends, Lentebloom decided to take a six-month hiatus. Although both bands were unsuccessful, Lentebloom saw this as an opportunity to start making his own music. He began writing his own songs last summer, and now continues to write and produce in his dorm. But with the start of his solo
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @THEDAILYTITAN
career came the search for a new name, one that would be unique to him. Like any tech-savvy teen, Lentebloom turned to the world of Reddit forums to find inspiration. He was searching for the prettiest sounding words when he came across “lentebloem,” a Dutch word meaning “spring flower.” He then changed the spelling to make the word exclusive to him. Although he’s had a rocky cretive connection with his high school bands, it didn’t stop Lentebloom from collaborating with Tino Denti, a friend he miraculously reunited with at Viva! Pomona, an indie music festival, after losing connection for years after first grade. The two picked their friendship
up where they left off and eventually created “Ultraviolet Waterslide” under Denti’s solo project Tomorrow’s Tessellations. “That feature of his is probably my favorite moment on the entire album, and it definitely is one of my all-time favorite moments of anything that I’ve ever created or collaborated on with anyone,” Denti said, describing it as otherworldly. “When I heard that (drum) loop, I thought, ‘I need Noah on here.’ I can’t recreate the sound Noah has, only he can do that.” Denti writes all his own melodies and lyrics for Tomorrow’s Tessellations, with the exception of Lentebloom, who he gave full creative control over the drum loop. In a span of two hours, Lentebloom wrote his feature
complete with lyrics, harmonies, layers of synth, piano and cello. “Tomorrow’s Tessellations is like a family, and since Noah is a part of that in his own way by doing his thing as Lentebloom and playing with us as we do our live shows, it’s like yeah, there is a real brotherly bond there. I can never support that dude enough,” Denti said. Although Tomorrow’s Tessellations is a solo project, Lentebloom plays keyboard in the live band. “I take inspiration from things that I like and I make them my own idea,” Lentebloom said. He draws inspiration from Frank Ocean, Rex Orange County, Stevie Wonder, Current Joys’ Nick Rattigan and Tyler, The Creator. Each musician has been incredibly influential to him, whether it was Tyler, The Creator’s music who introduced Lentebloom’s interest in chords and melodies, or Wonder’s “He’s Misstra Know-ItAll” that inspired the chords for Lentebloom’s single “Develop.” “Develop” is about having photos with people, and although you may no longer speak to them anymore, “it was cool to have that memory at the time,” he said. The line “27 seconds in time” representing the 27 exposures on a disposable camera, each photo being a second in time. Lentebloom will be releasing his first album “Departure” on Nov. 30, as well as performing with Tomorrow’s Tessellations at the Fox Theater in Pomona at 7:45 p.m. with tickets at $10. “I know there’s a lot of artists out there that are really scared to release their ideas to the world … I say just do it whenever you feel it’s right,” Lentebloom said. “When you get that idea you’ll know, and once you feel that, just show the world and have the world appreciate it.” VISIT US AT: DAILYTITAN.COM