6 Lifestyle
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
Annual All Day ASI goes online The festival gathered a lively, virtual crowd via YouTube live. TAYLOR ARREY Asst. Editor
Like many events being held in the midst of a pandemic, Associated Students’ annual event, All Day ASI, debuted on Sept. 17 to a virtual audience via Youtube Live. Instead of crowding the Becker Amphitheater to enjoy food and music, students gathered virtually for four livestream sessions, each with unique topics and methods of encouraging audience engagement. “In 2020, like so many other things, we’re doing All Day ASI different, but in a safe way,” said Marcus Reveles, the ASI president. Even before the festivities began, ASI took to its Instagram to promote the event with giveaways where students could win prizes such as an Amazon Fire TV Stick and a ROKU Streaming Stick. The series started with a section called “Meet Your ASI CSUF Student Leaders.” The short kickoff included introductions from Reveles, and vice president Skylar Soria as well as other student leaders including Janica Torres, Nicole Gillespie and Lauren Loeb. Khai Hoang, ASI’s chief
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Pink Sweat$ performed originals like “Would You” during the event.
communications officer, spoke about the upcoming semester and the ways that ASI plans to keep students engaged with the organization during virtual instruction. “My team and I are working to make sure that the town halls are still going to be accessible for students despite being in a virtual format. On top of this, we’re also making sure that you are up to date and well in the know of all of our events, meetings and programmings that are going to continue to happen throughout this academic year via our social media channels,” Hoang said. After the first introductions, audience members jumped over
to a second livestream at 4 p.m. entitled “Get to Know the Student Recreation Center.” Students may not have been walking around campus perusing tables, but the SRC staff ensured that they got students moving at home with workout tutorials ranging from barre workouts to zumba and a yoga class. Students were encouraged to follow along with staff as they led multiple workouts throughout the hour-long session. The livestream promoted Titan Recreation’s transition to virtual services while showing students how to gain access to health and fitness programs from the safety of their own home.
“We know this school year looks different, but one thing that hasn’t changed is Titan Recreation’s commitment to your health and wellness. We want to let you all know that we still provide programs and events you can attend from anywhere,” said Aaron Tapper, dDirector of Titan Recreation. Cathy Higa, a master teacher at CSUF’s Children’s Center, kicked off the third session, “Get to Know the Children’s Center,” at 3 p.m. with a ukulele in hand and a song to welcome the audience. The livestream featured sing-alongs and book readings led by many different teachers from the center. Aside from the
fun stories, the session also gave students a look into the Children’s Center. “The Children’s Center really invokes a lot of passion, inspiration and collaboration. Families, children, staff, everybody makes the center come together,” said Sonia Nunez, the center’s assistant director. To top off the event, ASI invited R&B singer-songwriter Pink Sweat$ to perform for a virtual audience. His first single, “Honesty” ranked 23rd on Spotify’s Global Viral Chart after its release in 2018. His soulful ballads and quick rise through the charts led to a profile about him being published on Rolling Stone’s website in 2019 after he released his first EP, “Volume 1” in November 2018. Positive praises poured into the comment section of the livestream as Sweat$ performed with a pianist in the background. He encouraged audiences to take a break and let the music move them. The performance included originals like “Would You” and “Cocaine” which spoke of love and longing. Despite the happy comments, the number of people watching from home remained under 100 throughout the performance. For students who missed the live premieres but still want to learn about the various promoted programs, each session of All Day ASI is posted on CSUF ASI’s Youtube page.
Kickoff: New club will diversify resources CONTINUED FROM
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The association was founded in 1975 among 44 members and has been committed to strengthening ties among Black journalists, expanding job opportunities, encouraging Black students to become journalists and to diversify faculties, according to its website. “My mission was definitely to bring something that could help, you know, Black communication students and, you know, people of color, communication students in general and be another outlet and resource to get internships and develop mentorship programs,” Winston said. The association’s advisers are Torrell Foree, coordinator of the African American Resource Ccenter, and Dr.
Miya Williams Fayne, an assistant communications professor. The roles of each advisor vary since they have different backgrounds, but there are no formalized duties set in place. “Being one of the co-advisors, I am not as familiar with the journalism world, communications world, but my role is not to help in that, but in terms of the leadership development, that’s more my expertise,” Foree said. Williams Fayne said she has been helping the organization get connected with the communications department by making sure it is listed on the department’s page for clubs and is interacting with other clubs. She also keeps members
informed about internships and other opportunities on and off campus, Williams Fayne said. Since CSUF went virtual, clubs and organizations have had to adjust their approach to community outreach. “I think that they definitely have a big task ahead of them, right, and kind of establishing a new chapter in this virtual environment. But, it’s great that everybody is excited about it and really on board and committed to making this a really great and strong organization,” Williams Fayne said. One idea to establish the organization is to start up a Black publication in the form of a free blog for Black communication majors to
contribute to, Winston said. The goal is that if someone wants to write about sports, gaming, album reviews or produce podcasts, there is a place for their ideas, Winston said. Aside from the publication project, the association did have more outreach efforts planned, but virtual instruction made those events difficult. However, it plans to have four workshops this semester including one on cover letters, resumes, internships, marketing, public relations and one on how to make a business from a podcast workshop, Winston said. While the association chapters have not been implemented at many CSUs, those involved with the CSUF chapter said they
believe it is a step in the right direction. “I think, being one of the few is special in that we already have a strong communications college, right? So, I think this is another piece to a well-established college in that being able to attract more communications students, presumably Black journalists, in a field that is sometimes difficult to get into,” Foree said. The association is free this semester, due to the current pandemic, but will cost $40 for future semesters to become a member. The fee is to get all the opportunities the organization has to offer such as conferences and exclusive networking opportunities. But, the events planned are still free and open to the public.
Tech: Internet addiction explained CONTINUED FROM 1 Having published articles about Silicon Valley platforms and written about it for his dissertation, professor Frank Russell Ph.D., at Cal State Fullerton’s Department of Communications, can confirm the culture of Silicon Valley’s companies that Harris references. “These companies believe that they are in a position to change the world and I think initially, they came to it from the perspective that they thought they could change the world for the better,” Russell said. With the spread of “misinformation”, Russell’s term for fake news, it has become harder and harder to recognize what is real and what is false. But, there are two sides VISIT US AT: DAILYTITAN.COM
to the coin. “I completely see the positives, because I have seen how various social protests around the world are able to organize because of social media. I’ve seen petitions being signed, people are joining these different causes that they couldn’t easily do without social media, they were able to do crowdsourcing, fundraising this and that through social media,” said Tara Suwinyattichaiporn Ph.D., a human communication studies professor. Though people are able to do more than ever through social media, Suwinyattichaiporn said the dangers, such as social comparison, can lead to anxiety, depression and cyberbullying, especially when there is no
accountability through complete anonymity. Brent Foster Ph.D., of CSUF’s Department of Communications, recognized that platforms such as Facebook should have a responsibility to establish ethical rules and regulations within their companies. However, if a private company such as Facebook managed to implement ethical responsibility, whoever is in charge may be biased and it could affect the type of content that would be approved and denied. “Even if we have ethical standards created by these media, social media giants, the question is, who sets the standards?” Foster said. The First Amendment protects our rights to freedom of
speech and of the press, but it’s up to the consumers to be responsible, Russell said. The younger the consumers are, the harder it is for them to be responsible, said Jonathan Haidt Ph.D., a social psychologist from the documentary. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there has been a significant increase in self harm and suicide among teenage girls since the rise of social media around 2011. Since 2009, non-fatal self harm in preteen girls is up 189% and suicide in preteen girls is up 151%, which directly correlates with the rise of social media. Now, with the coronavirus pandemic, “The Social Dilemma” illustrates how misinformation can spread to
exponential levels. “What we’re seeing with COVID is just an extreme version of what’s happening across our information ecosystem,” Harris said. “Social media amplifies exponential gossip and exponential hearsay to the point that we don’t know what’s true, no matter what issue we care about.” The Department of Human Communications offers a class called Digital Media Literacy which is designed to teach students how to efficiently and ethically consume information online; something that Suwinyattichaiporn encourages everyone to take. “We can’t escape it now,” Suwinyattichaiporn said. “Technology is going to be in our lives more and more and more.”
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