Vol. 61, Issue 1, Feb. 11, 2025

Volume 61, Issue 1

The voice of De Anza since 1967

Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025

New college president discusses goals, hopes

BY YUMENO MATSUO

Omar Torres says he wants De Anza to maintain culture of equity, inclusion

By Ingrid Lu LA VOZ STAFF

De Anza College’s new president, Omar Torres, officially took office on Jan. 3; since then, he has been holding his “100 Days of Listening,” where he meets members of the De Anza community one-on-one to learn more about its campus culture.

“One of the things that drew me to De Anza immediately is the equity imperative of this college and of this district,” Torres said. “De Anza College has done some remarkable work with ensuring that we are providing support for our students and for our community, both inside and outside of the classroom.”

Prior to Torres’ selection as De Anza’s president, he served as chief instructional officer and assistant superintendent at College of the Canyons. He also held the position of president of the California Community Colleges Chief Instructional Officers Association.

Torres said he plans to bring this experience into his new role at De Anza.

“I’ve built those professional relationships and those networks, and knowing the people, knowing the players, knowing how the system works, operationally,” Torres said. “(I’m) bringing that experience to this college as the next permanent fifth president.”

As president, Torres said he

intends to retain De Anza’s culture of equity and student support.

“My role is to learn about that culture, to listen to the people, to learn about where there are new opportunities to engage in dialogue,” Torres said. “With students, with faculty, with staff, with administrators, with the chancellor, with district officials.”

Torres emphasized being more “entrepreneurial” in De Anza’s future.

“I think there is an incredible opportunity for De Anza to continue to emphasize the fact that we are at the top in transfers,” Torres said. “I also think that as the needs of our workforce and our students evolve and change, there’s an even greater opportunity to further develop economic and workforce development.”

Part of this entrepreneurship involves increased investment in career technical education.

“It isn’t solely about transfer,” Torres said. “There are also opportunities through industry-recognized credentials and certification for employees that are already in the workforce that may want to reskill or upskill.”

Torres’ presidency begins at the same time as the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States. However, Torres does not agree with many of the Trump administration’s policies.

“The new administration at the

national level does not necessarily fully support the work that we as a system have been engaged in support of students and in support of equity,” Torres said.

This includes Trump’s policies on undocumented immigrants. Protocol at De Anza states that if Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers appear on campus, the president’s office should be contacted first. Faculty and staff are instructed to encourage undocumented students to stay in their classroom or a private room while ICE officers are escorted to the president’s office.

“I will not disclose any information to ICE agents on any information that I’m not legally required to disclose,” Torres said. “I am committed, as is our district, to (ensuring) that we are protecting our undocumented students and any employees … where they may feel threatened on campus.”

As outgoing interim president Christina Espinosa-Pieb passes the torch to Torres, she is also passing on oversight of the Measure G project. Espinosa-Pieb has been a major advocate for the construction of a new creative arts building, reconvening the Measure G task force in June 2024 to plan and budget the project. Torres will be continuing this work.

“We are absolutely moving forward with the new creative arts building,” Torres said. “I’ve been having conversations with both district officials and campus administration about the Continued on page 3.

PHOTO BY SEANNA HENRY

DASG Vice President Aura Ozturk, 19, computer science major, and Elections Commissioner Wadi Lin Lei, 21, computer science major, propose changing vice president to “Chair of Administration” at the Jan. 22 DASG General Senate meeting in the Student Council Chambers.

Major changes ahead for DASG campaigns, voting

President, vice president no longer run together, among other modifications

By Seanna Henry LA VOZ STAFF

The De Anza Student Government Administration Committee proposed changes to election code at the general senate meeting on Jan. 22, weeks before campaigning is set to begin.

The committee’s proposed amendments include that the president and vice president will campaign independently, as opposed to running together, adding an election committee, and introducing a “15% table.”

To prevent extended elections, an issue faced in last year’s elections, the committee introduced the “15% table,” which streamlined the process by setting a vote threshold for determining winners based on how many candidates run in each race; under the new set of rules, a candidate would have to receive at least 10% of the total ballots cast in races with five or more candidates.

Prior to this, all candidates had to receive at least 15% of votes cast, regardless of the number of candidates running in their respective race, in order to be considered elected in accordance with Article VI, Section 1.A of the DASG Elections Code.

“No candidate will be considered elected as a DASG Senator who receives less than 15% of the total votes cast in the general election,” the code states.

Vice President Aura Ozturk, 19, computer science major and Elections Commissioner Wadi

Lin Lei, 21, computer science major, introduced the changes during the committee meeting.

“These changes came from wanting to make the election process easier, fairer and better for everyone,” Lei said. “We saw that students wanted more flexibility in voting, and candidates needed a system that gave them more independence and fairness.”

Lei went on to highlight frustrations with the old code which led to the creation of the new version. Lei also restated Ozturk’s point of renaming the vice president’s position to the “Chair of Administration.”

“The separation of the president and vice president (Chair of Administration) roles into individual tickets allows candidates to focus on their individual platforms and strengths, giving voters more distinct choices,” Lei said.

Lei highlighted the overwhelming workload of the elections commissioner, suggesting the creation of additional support roles to distribute responsibilities.

“By replacing the elections committee with the administration committee, we now have a more streamlined system,” Lei said. “The administration committee’s responsibilities regarding elections are clearly defined for all students to know and be aware of.”

Lei said that this adjustment would not only ease the burden of the elections commissioner duties but also provide more opportunities

Continued on page 3.

De Anza College President Omar Torres explains what he wants to contribute to the college community at his office in ADM 127 on Jan. 16.

PHOTO

Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief

Ingrid Lu

Managing Editor

Ann Penalosa

News Editor

Wylder Robison

Sports Editor

Allan Galeana

A&E and Feature Editor

Katelyn Yoo

Opinion Editor

Sarah Atito

Multimedia Editor

Frank Mayers

Graphic Art Editor

Brooklyn Coyle

Social Media Editors

Gordon Yang

Xitlaly Martinez

Copy Editors

Vincent Scrivens

Richard Yang

Staff members

Kunishka Mundada

Orly Bryan

Brissa Farias

Monte Sprank

Cindy Rodriguez

Yogita Shuklan

Grace Mercado

Reymond Castañeda

Seanna Henry

Timothe Vachellerie

Diem Tran

Freelancers

Jie Li

Carolyn Zhao

Addison Duran-Heinle

Lexer Danganan

Mitchell Park

Sonny La

Ariel Shalev

Connor Giblin

Grayson Baker

Kevin Zhao

Atharva Salkar

Koi Min Pyae

Yumeno Matsuo

Kyi Sin Win Khant

Veronica Thant

Anna Gonzalez Marquez

Arlette Velasquez Torres

Alice Shen

Cosmo Babaeff

Ashley Kang

Faculty Adviser

Farideh Dada

Office Managers

Xitlaly Martinez

Lauren Hartono

Students deserve free parking Return of additional fees unnecessarily burdens students

By La Voz Editorial Board

Starting this summer quarter, the Foothill-De Anza Police Department plans to reinstate parking fees, requiring a daily, quarterly or annual permit for tuition-paying students who park on campus — but parking should remain free

A daily permit is $3, a quarterly permit is $26.65 and an annual permit ranges from $50 to $90, depending on the time of year. Keeping parking free for students has a low financial impact and significant symbolic importance

De Anza College suspended parking fees during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving students the benefit of free parking ever since

According to the FoothillDe Anza Community College District’s 2024-25 adopted budget, the district plans to cover $1.52 million in total parking expenses with the general purpose fund, which is very manageable within its $235.7 million budget.

Last fiscal year, 2023-24, the college transferred $1.27 million from the general purpose fund to break even. Nearly $1 million in police salary and benefits accounted for 91% of total parking expenses last year.

Meanwhile, police student aides, visible in golf carts and blue polos, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. were paid $86,000 each from 2023 to 2024

The college should boost police student aides’ presence instead of parking police salaries and benefits. The police department can also reduce its overall expenses by not pursuing their multi-million dollar Taser deal

If the college has managed to cover millions in parking expenses over the four years that parking has been free — primarily for police salaries — then reinstating parking fees would serve only to generate extra revenue

The college can still make some money charging non-students for parking, such as visitors using the campus for non-school activities

A system can be implemented that provides students with free placards to display on their vehicles, allowing campus police to identify non-students or unauthorized overnight parkers who aren’t paying, and then issue citations accordingly

The Bay Area, particularly Santa Clara County, has an exceptionally high cost of living. In Cupertino, the cost of living for a single person living alone is 149.6% higher than the national average

Resident De Anza and Foothill College students combined are estimated to pay $16.78 million in tuition for the 2024-25 fiscal year

Based on calculations from the 2024-25 adopted budget and historical enrollment data, De Anza students collectively pay an estimated $26.8 million in tuition annually

On top of paying tuition, on average, a public two-year college student spends $1,520 each year on textbooks and school supplies, according to College Board Based on our past reporting, a majority of students we have talked

to also expressed that parking should remain free

We encourage students who want to oppose the reinstatement of paid parking at De Anza to voice their concerns during public comments at district Board of Trustees meetings and Academic Senate meetings

By advocating for free parking, students not only underscore the financial relief it provides but also highlight the symbolic gesture of equity and support for a student body already burdened with high living and education costs.

La Voz News has been written and published by De Anza College students since 1967.

Student access to La Voz News is partially funded by the De Anza Student Government. La Voz News is printed by the Folger Graphics Company.

Staff editorials reflect the opinions of the majority of the editorial board and not necessarily the views of the entire La Voz Staff.

Send us letters to the editor lavozdeanza.com lavoz@fhda.edu +1 (408) 864-5626

Students walk in front of parking lot E on Feb. 2.

PHOTO BY WYLDER ROBISON

ILLUSTRATION BY BROOKLYN COYLE

DASG continued from page 1.

for students to get involved in the election process by running for these new roles.

Chair of Finance Aditya Sharma, 18, electrical engineering and computer science major turned the conversation by raising the possibility of a runoff election.

“If someone has been disqualified from the elections, the votes that they have received should not be counted towards the total number of ballots received (for their race) since they are not in the race anymore,” Sharma said.

The majority agreed with Sharma’s concerns; the rule will be changed in the upcoming election.

This adjustment ensures disqualified candidates will no longer impact the overall vote count, adding fairness and accuracy to the election process.

“We believe this new system, with the adjusted percentages based on the number of candidates, offers a more balanced way to tackle the chances of a lengthy runoff election,” Lei said.

President continued from page 1.

importance of ensuring that we are creating an inclusive and engaging space … as we plan for what the instructional spaces are going to look like in the new creative arts building.”

Torres came into his office shortly after leaving a farewell party in honor of Espinosa-Pieb.

“We were just honoring her just a few minutes ago with some gifts, and people had a few words to say,” Torres said. “She is a remarkable educator and a remarkable human being. She has been an incredible mentor. I now call her a friend.”

Other faculty and staff are hopeful about Torres’ leadership.

Business professor and honors coordinator John Francis, who now teaches at De Anza, also worked with Torres at College of the Canyons.

“He was amazing,” Francis said. “He was a great supporter of students, faculty and administration. He was just an amazing person to work with.”

Daryel Hernandez, 21, psychology and political science major and UndocuSTEM event coordinator, said that it was important to support undocumented students on the administrative level.

“I feel like it’s good that we have some policies already in place to try and do our best to protect undocumented students,” Hernandez said. “We want to pursue the possibility of making us (Foothill-De Anza) a sanctuary district and to have stronger enforcement to make sure that there’s no issues with ICE coming into campus.”

High school students walk out, protest Trump administration

Hundreds march in Sunnyvale

By Carolyn Zhao LA VOZ STAFF

On Feb. 5, approximately 200 students at Fremont and Homestead High School in Sunnyvale and Cupertino respectively walked out of class Wednesday at noon in protest of the Trump administration’s policy stances on immigration and the deportation of undocumented people.

Students draped their bodies with flags of various Latin American countries, blared music, and lofted handmade signs with protest slogans ranging from “Don’t deport my family,” “Stand up fight back,” to “My parents fought for my future, now I’m fighting for theirs.”

At Homestead High School, students began congregating at a nearby McDonald’s at around 11:50 a.m., waiting for about 10 minutes for any stragglers before beginning the march.

At Fremont High School, students were seen leaving the school and marching west down West Fremont Avenue at 12:10 p.m.

Students reported that details about the protests began circulating on Instagram around Friday, Jan. 31. This information reached student marchers at different times throughout the week, and even while the protest was already in progress.

Daphne Torres, 14, a freshman at Homestead High School, got information for the protest through shared posts from her friends on Instagram. “I think it was (up) since Friday… and then they barely announced it this week,” Torres said.

Torres said she joined the march to stand in solidarity with the Latino community in response to President Trump’s new policies and executive orders, which threaten Latino immigrants living in the United States.

“I just want to let Hispanics know they’re not alone and to make people know that no one is illegal on stolen land,” Torres said. “We just hope to target the right audience and just let people know that we have a right to be here; I know what you’re (Trump is) doing is not right. Like, being racist.”

Torres emphasized that the nature of the protest was nonviolent and meant only to bring awareness to im-

migrant rights in the U.S.

“It was going to be a friendly protest, nothing to make a mess or anything, just let people know we have rights and we are here to work, study and to make a career. We have a right to be here,” Torres said.

After hearing about the protest plans in class, Ricky Francis, 15, sophomore at Fremont High School, decided to join out of support for his immigrant mother.

“My mom is a good person,” Francis said. “She doesn’t deserve to get deported because some dude in office says that all these people are bad. It’s like it was Hitler saying, ‘Oh, the Jews were bad,’ just because they’re Jewish.”

Francis hopes the protest will show people a different side of the Trump presidency and raise awareness about the impact of his policy actions. He

hopes this march will “(change) people’s minds (and) tell people ‘Hey, just because he was supposedly going to lower gas prices and grocery prices doesn’t mean he’s a good person.’”

Marching north up SunnyvaleSaratoga Road, the converged student groups from both schools passed by Allstate Insurance at the intersection of West Remington Drive, drawing out customer service representatives Rhiannon Pierson, 46, and Suzanne Flores, 65, clapping and cheering.

“I’m so proud of our young protestors,” Pierson said. “I just love it. It’s … our next generation. It’s what we need.”

Flores expressed her support for the students and said she was glad to see them taking action for their beliefs, themselves and their loved ones.

“I wish we could go out there. The students are walking out, from all the

schools, from what I know,” Flores said. “They understand their ancestry now. Before, they didn’t give two s---s, now they do.”

After an afternoon of marching, the remaining group of student protesters headed back to school, as many other students who didn’t participate still showed their support for the demonstration from the sidelines.

“I think I’m fine with it (the protests), I also don’t agree with the new laws happening because I also come from an immigrant family and I feel really bad for all the families that have been deported,” said Jeanne Mae Catubia, 15, student at Fremont High School. “I really hope that at least Trump reconsiders the new laws he has added against the (Hispanic) immigrants.”

Student Health Services distributes Narcan, fentanyl test strips

College responds to national overdose crisis

By Brissa Farias LA VOZ STAFF

With opioid deaths on the rise, De Anza College and other colleges take action by providing naloxone and fentanyl testing strips to protect students and staff.

Fentanyl-related deaths are intensifying the opioid crisis across the United States. The synthetic opioid, 100 times more potent than morphine, has quickly infiltrated the illicit drug market.

The drug’s potency and low cost of production makes it an attractive additive for drug dealers, who often mix it with other substances like heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and counterfeit prescription pills, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

This practice, known as “lacing,” creates a dangerous situation for users, who may be unaware of its presence.

Fentanyl, lethal even in small doses, can cause respiratory depression,

unconsciousness and death, and poses risks to users, law enforcement and first responders through skin absorption or inhalation.

College students are particularly vulnerable to fentanyl due to social pressures and drug availability.

The urgency of implementing intervention strategies is underscored by the National Institute of Health’s

report that “as of Oct. 6, 2023, 31.4% of college student deaths – 286,657 cases – occurred among individuals with at least some college education.”

In response, California lawmakers passed Senate Bill 367, or the Campus Opioid Safety Act. Effective since Jan. 1, 2023, this law allows public colleges and universities to provide students with opioid educa-

tion and access to overdose reversal medication like naloxone.

Naloxone is a nasal spray that can be used to reverse opioid overdoses, including those caused by fentanyl.

Some students weren’t aware that such services were available.

“I didn’t even know that there was a health office. It’d be better if there was a website or flyers,” Enrique Moreno, 19, economics major, said. “I’ve seen in San Francisco that people are on drugs like that. It’s crazy. I wish that the government did more to help.”

Student Health Services can be located on the ground floor of the Hinson Campus Center, and flyers and posters advertising it are located around campus.

“Seminars or forums for educating students” might help raise awareness of the available resources at De Anza, said Angel Garcia, 32, computer programming major.

Gustavo Martinez, a ceramics professor, said he believes the opioid crisis requires a deeper understanding of the underlying issues.

“It goes back to not why they are using, but why they are hurt,” Martinez said. “What is their pain, and why are they turning to this drug?” Martinez pointed to steps De Anza could take to raise awareness about resources for students.

“(De Anza can) have people who are trained in situations where Narcan (naloxone) is needed … and have posters around campus to help students know that they have resources provided by the school that they can use and that many pay for,” Martinez said. “We probably already do.”

Local and national organizations that specialize in addiction prevention and recovery, like Silicon Valley recovery, drug & alcohol centers, and addiction treatment are available for students and anyone struggling with substance use disorders.

Amid the ongoing challenges related to addiction and substance use, universities and colleges are increasingly exploring harm-reduction strategies as a way to protect students and foster a culture of care and responsibility.

Narcan and fentanyl strips on Feb. 2.

PHOTO BY ASHLEY KANG

A student holds a Mexican flag aloft while she chants and marches with other students along the intersection of East Remington Drive and Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road on Feb. 5.

PHOTO BY CAROLYN ZHAO

Board of Governors OKs new community college bachelor’s policy

New policy expands faculty teaching qualifications, streamlines student degree requirements

By Cindy Rodriguez LA VOZ STAFF

The Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges approved a proposal to the California Code of Regulations Title V on Jan. 14, which set new faculty qualifications and updated the policy for California community colleges offering bachelor’s degree programs.

The new proposal sets new qualifications for faculty teaching upper-division coursework, sets new degree, admission and workforce requirements, and adjusts the fees for upper-division courses.

“It’s a big win for students,” Dave Capitolo, department chair of the auto technology department, said. “The same (general education) that students completed for that associate degree years ago is the lower division GE for the bachelor’s degree.”

The proposal also received broad support across the California community colleges.

“These changes will ensure our colleges can address critical workforce demands with clear and consistent guidelines,” the California Community Colleges Bachelor’s Degree Programs said in a letter of support.

Amended sections to Title V include sections 53410 and 53430, which states that the minimum qualifications to serve as faculty are a bachelor’s degree and six years of professional experience, or a master’s degree.

Sections 58501 and 58520 were

amended to include the rules governing bachelor’s degree programs. The new clause states that fees charged for students enrolled in upper-division coursework in a baccalaureate degree program will be a per credit unit rate prescribed by the California legislature.

In addition, all enrollment fees are required to be published in the college catalog and website.

The Pilot Program handbook, section 55009, which included the enrollment and graduation requirements, was repealed to instead include Article 9, which sets guidelines for district policies, new criteria for upper division and GE courses, admissions and degree requirements.

The Secretary of State is expected to approve the board’s decision by Feb. 13.

Prior to the new policy, many community colleges in California offered bachelor’s degrees through the pilot programs of 2014, but in 2021 Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation making baccalaureate degree programs permanent across California colleges.

The program now expands across 38 community colleges in California, offering a variety of bachelor’s degrees.

This includes De Anza, which will begin accepting applications for the first auto tech bachelor’s degree program as early as this spring with classes starting in the fall, Capitolo said.

“What we’re really excited about is students being able to get new jobs, upward mobility and open up new career

paths in management at dealerships and municipalities,” Capitolo said.

Recent high school graduates in the auto technology program also expressed excitement over the new bachelor’s degree program.

“We have one of the best auto tech programs and I am excited that we get to expand on it. Once I complete my (associate’s) I plan to apply to the bachelor’s degree program,” Edwin Garcia, 19, automotive technology major, said.

Other students in the program plan to open shops of their own through the skills earned in the new program.

“I am excited for the bachelor’s program and everything it will offer.

I want to open up my own shop and I know the program will give me the skills necessary to pursue my future goals,” Cesar Valencia, 18, automotive technology major, said.

Students will get to apply for the advanced degree program for only a fraction of the cost compared to the California State University and University of California systems.

“Your investment is about $10,000 not including books and other materials,” Capitolo said.

The bachelor’s degree will also be tailored to working adults, so classes will be offered fully online and asynchronous.

“Many of these students are working adults already in the industry, so that’s why we developed this to be fully online, no Zoom meetings,” Capitolo said.

Although only up to 35 students will be accepted into the program per cohort, students can reapply.

“If there are any students that didn’t get accepted the first goaround, we don’t just forget about them,” Capitolo said. “We give them a developmental plan so they are ready for the next cohort.”

Students interested in applying to De Anza’s new bachelor’s degree program must have an associate degree in automotive technology.

Starbucks implements ‘buy something or leave’ plan

Open-door policy reversed to deter homeless people, improve safety

By Sonny La LA VOZ STAFF

Starbucks has changed their open-door policy and implemented a new rule on Jan. 27 towards its patrons: “buy something or leave.”

In other words, customers must order something from the menu to use the restroom or spend time inside the coffee shop.

According to CNN, Starbucks has implemented a new policy aimed at addressing concerns about store safety and accessibility, with goals to deter homeless people, lure back customers, improve sales, enhance worker relations and manage the use of its restrooms.

William Butler, 22, communications major, may be one of the customers the coffee company is trying to win back. He said he no longer drinks Starbucks because the company is heavily invested in Israel’s economy.

“I know there’s a boycott. It was an effect that wasn’t helping their causes so I understand why they’re doing some of these drastic changes,” Butler said. “With the whole war in the Middle East, I know Starbucks donated to that war (to the Israeli side), and so (it is) something I personally (do) not want to fund or just drink.”

Starbucks created an open-door policy in 2018 after it had two Black men arrested in a Philadelphia location for trying to use the restroom. The men were told its bathrooms were only for paying customers; the incident was caught on camera and caused negative media attention.

Rama Haileselassie, 18, art history major, said she does not agree with the new policy.

“I don’t think it (the new policy) is fair; I just don’t really understand (why),” Haileselassie said. “I don’t think they’re

losing money (on its bathrooms). I think it should be open to people.”

Starbucks’ new code of conduct bans discrimination, harassment, consumption of outside alcohol, smoking, vaping, drug use and panhandling (begging or soliciting). In a statement for CBS News, the chain said the new rules aimed to make its locations more appealing by prioritizing customers.

Robert Gibson, 19, English major, said he has no problem with the policy change.

“I think it’s fair because if you’re just there to take the Wi-Fi, but you’re not supporting the business, then I guess it’s fair for them to have you pay for something,” Gibson said. “They don’t want just like 1,000 people coming in and taking up the Wi-Fi … so it’d be beneficial for them (to make) customers pay.”

At the same time of the implementation of the new policy, Starbucks is also trying to incentivize customers to stay in their café. On Jan. 27, all customers could get one free hot or iced coffee refill served in its ceramic mugs or reusable glasses, a perk previously reserved to members of its loyalty program.

According to the National Association of Convenience Stores, the new policy aims to provide clear guidelines for baristas on handling which individuals can seek refuge in their cafes and for law enforcement responding to calls about disorderly conduct.

“I guess (the reason why Starbucks changed its policy was) to appeal to a certain audience, or to get certain people in the store who didn’t want to deal with non-patrons just being in the store,” Butler said. “Maybe (it) just (wants) to shore up some revenue to make sure every person who came in would buy a drink.”

A modified Mercedes-Benz 190 sits in De Anza College’s Automotive Technology workshop on Jan. 30, where students will be able to earn a bachelor’s degree.

Digital borders or human bridges What the TikTok ban taught us

By Grace Mercado LA VOZ STAFF

President Donald Trump’s decision to grant TikTok a reprieve was met with widespread applause, but the alternative of banning the app would not have led to a dystopian wave of mass censorship or national isolation.

The Senate passed the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act on April 23, forcing ByteDance, a Chinese technology company, to either sell TikTok or face a national ban.

For 14 hours, the app was fully unavailable to United States users on Jan. 18.

Ironically, the ban provided many young Americans the opportunity to bridge connections with Chinese users, resisting the hostile rhetoric that often mires U.S.-China relations.

In an act of rebellion, numerous TikTok users migrated to Chinese social media sites like Xiaohongshu, otherwise known as RedNote.

For some, the ban also allowed Americans to challenge the Cold War-style rhetoric that shaped perceptions of nations like Cuba, Iran and Vietnam in previous decades.

After passing legislation to ban the app, California representative Nancy Pelosi called it an important step to safeguarding “against surveillance and influence operations that are hallmarks of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Unlike TikTok, RedNote is primarily used

by Chinese mainlanders; critics argue that it’s more “heavily censored than posts on TikTok.”

Speculation is rife that Congress may soon move to ban RedNote as well. But to what end?

Every nation prioritizes its own national security, yet endlessly playing Whac-a-Mole with social media apps will likely have little real impact.

Some Americans understandably ask why they should worry about Chinese companies collecting their data when U.S. companies do the same — often in a manner that feel more tangible in their daily lives.

Many critics have raised fair concerns regarding TikTok, RedNote and the Chinese government.

Americans, however, have little reason to trust their government to safeguard their digital privacy and safety internationally when they routinely fail to do so at home.

In 2017 alone, Facebook earned “$40 billion in advertising revenue.” Shouldn’t lawmakers direct an equal level of ire toward them?

Some argue that while Facebook’s conduct is violating, TikTok poses a far greater threat due to its tensions with the U.S.

While that may be true, lawmakers must present the argument in a way that young Americans actually believe. Like it or not, the reality remains that many simply don’t view China as a significant personal threat.

Until lawmakers shift young Americans’

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Meta bows to MAGA Facebook aligns itself with

X to unshackle disinformation, hate speech

By Frank Mayers

LA VOZ STAFF

Front row at President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration were Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, owners of X and Meta respectively. The pair have followed a pattern of aligning with the president, carving out protections for his extremist MAGA base on their social media platforms in a likely attempt to curry favor with the administration.

With sweeping changes coming to Facebook’s content moderation, the longstanding platform may be going the way of Twitter, now X, opening the doors for extremism and hate speech.

Meta founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced that Facebook would be making significant alterations to their policies covering misinformation and hate speech on Jan. 7.

In the announcement, Zuckerberg revealed that Facebook would be ending third-party fact checking, moving instead to a community notesdriven system similar to that of X. Facebook also announced they would be easing restrictions on speech around gender and sexual identity.

“We’re gonna simplify our content policies and get rid of a bunch of restrictions on topics like immigration and gender,” Zuckerberg said. “What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to shut down opinions and shut out people with different ideas.”

While posed under the guise of free speech and free expression, in effect this means Facebook is taking a hands-off approach when it comes to discrimination, bigotry and misinformation hosted on the platform.

This opens the floodgates to misinformation and hate speech on Facebook, continuing a dangerous trend of bending to the values of Trump and his supporters, making users less safe.

Opinions that individuals should have freedom of gender expression, and calls for the all-out extermination of trans people will now be treated equally so long as there is no specific threat of violence targeted toward an individual.

This all bears an eerie similarity to moves made by X owner Elon Musk, who not only met with then-president-elect Trump, but made numerous appearances on the campaign trail.

X’s hands-off moderation style has allowed the platform to become a nexus for hate speech, misinformation and white nationalist sentiment, some of which have been echoed by Musk himself, even giving an alleged Nazi

salute during Trump’s inauguration.

As billionaire social media owners continue to bow at the altar of Trump and MAGA, they are actively making online spaces more hostile, if not outright dangerous, to members of protected groups such as the LGBTQ community, racial and ethnic minorities and other historically marginalized groups.

X’s moves, from unbanning the founder of the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website and newspaper, to a doubling in antisemitism on the platform between 2022-23 while banning the term “cis” as a slur, makes it clear what kind of speech Musk wants more of on his website.

Additionally, as reported by the Anti-Defamation League, X has become a haven for any and all conspiracies and forms of misinformation, ranging from those as benign as poorly informed claims the moon landing was faked to all-out Holocaust denial, which is itself another significant tenet of neo-Nazism and white supremacy.

Facebook’s content moderation moves mirror those made by Musk on X, including many of the same dogwhistles Musk made during the lead-up to these changes, such as bold claims about free speech and condemning what he calls a bias of the legacy media against Trump.

This brings us face-to-face with the paradox of tolerance; that is, that any sufficiently open and tolerant society should have intolerance solely for the intolerant and hateful. When we see neo-Nazis we shouldn’t just smile and wave, or handle the topic with kid gloves, it should be clear that Nazism is unwelcome in a free and open society.

White nationalism remains the most violent and deadliest U.S. terrorism threat; it needs to be treated as such. The moves Musk has made on X have created an online enclave for this ideology in broad daylight, Facebook must change course before it becomes something similar.

With just over 194 million active U.S. users on Facebook, these changes are set to have a catastrophic effect on national public discourse.

The increase in hate speech and disinformation, coupled with an increase in pushing political content on users’ home feeds, risks creating a mass pipeline for white nationalist radicalization and bolstering domestic terrorism, which flourished under the previous Trump administration.

The path forward needs to be twofold. We, as social media users, need to call for greater oversight to reduce hateful content targeting historically marginalized groups. We also need to push social media platforms to take a more active role in dealing with white nationalism on their platforms.

demonstrating

U.S. government

working

favor

against it, they will continue to revolt against the restrictions placed in front of them.

“I really wish, when I first left high school ... I joined this club, that would have probably helped me a lot.”

-- Saba Naqvi

Fresh snow from the day before sits on a river bank near the entrance of Yosemite National Park on Jan. 30.

Carolyn Zhao takes a photo of a mountain face near the base of Yosemite Falls on Feb. 1.

Energizer Bunny decorated with Outdoor Club name on Feb. 2. View of Yosemite falls as seen from Cook’s Meadow on Feb. 2.

Two snowmen stand in between trees at the Upper Pines Campground on Jan 31. Outdoor club members pose infront of a rock formation on Mirror Lake Trail on Jan. 31

Falling for the Trees

Outdoor club takes its annual weekend trip to Yosemite

By Sarah Atito La Voz Staff

For over 30 years, the Outdoor Club has hosted its annual winter trip to Yosemite National Park. This year venturing 170 miles from campus. The club is lead by part time faculty advisor Mary Donahue.

De Anza College students, both club members and non-members, were invited to participate for a $30 fee. The trip offered a long weekend in Yosemite’s landscape for students of all experience levels.

Participants prepared for the excursion by studying the Outdoor Club website and passing a preparatory test. Campers were also required to attend mandatory meetings and bring camping supplies, like rain jackets.

Trip participants traveled to Yosemite on Jan. 30 and 31, with many carpooling. Some students decided to camp at the Upper Pines Campground, while others stayed at the Ahwahnee Hotel in the Presidential Suite. On Jan. 31, a small group of students hiked the approximately three-hour Mirror Lake Trail to view the seasonal lake.

The Outdoor Club is currently preparing for their summer trip to the Grand Teton National Park and will be accepting sign-ups soon. More information can be found on the club’s page at deanza.edu, which links to Donahue’s website.

Carolyn Zhao, 20, liberal arts major, takes a photo of Mirror Lake while sitting on a fallen tree on Jan. 31.

Children’s Art and craft located inside the Yosemite Valley Welcome Center on Feb. 1.

Outdoor Club students gather around a table eating lunch on Jan. 31.

(From left) Majid Khan, 36, returning student, and Thuy Tien Nguyen, 30, returning student and Saba Naqvi, 27, computer science major on Jan. 31. Meadow in Yosemite Valley during active rain on Feb. 1.

PHOTOS BY SARAH ATITO

Cold, clogged and called out

Students call for change in face of poor showering conditions

By Carolyn Zhao

Tap-cold showers in the middle of winter. Flooding on the floor, showers that don’t turn on, loose shower handles that have a mind of their own.

In the women’s and men’s locker rooms next to De Anza’s pool, used by student-athletes, P.E. classes, faculty and extra-curricular programs, the degraded shower facilities have plagued far corners of the De Anza community for years.

Users of the shower facilities describe a Russian roulette-like ritual for their shower experience.

De Anza women’s swim team member Darlena Trinh, 21, nursing major, described the women’s locker room, “It’s like a gamble or a gotcha of if the shower is going to work … if the water pressure is good, or if there’s going to be cold water that day.”

Joyce Weisman, a returning student enrolled in fitness classes at De Anza recounted, “The biggest thing is the water temperature … It’s not consistent from day to day or even from moment to moment. You’d be staying there having a hot shower and suddenly it goes cold, and that also changes from shower head to shower head.”

In addition to the unreliable temperatures, some showers do not drain because of clogged grates and pipes, as well as uneven paving that easily creates pockets of stagnant water.

This results in frequent flooding and subsequent health concerns. Flimsy shower shoes used by shower-goers often are insufficiently thick enough

to elevate feet above the water, so they end up submerged in shower water — in an unsavory blend from previous users, as well as one’s own.

“Sometimes you’re standing in maybe an inch. Sometimes as deep as ankle-deep in water, and so with flip-flops on, it’s not really sanitary,” Weisman said.

Inconsistent water temperatures and poor drainage are among some of the main issues that shower users have had to cope with in a long series of relentless discomforts that have affected the locker rooms for years.

Weisman recalls these issues beginning as early as 2016 or 2017, and while maintenance performed some

repairs to re-grout the shower floor in summer 2024, other complaints and underlying flooding problems remain unresolved.

“They made grouting a priority over the unlevel surfaces in which water pools and remains in the center of each community shower area … so there is a constant and continuing standing water, which will again be a cause for grout problems in the future. So it’s a continuous ‘catch-22,’” Weisman said.

“The other thing … is the entire women’s locker room can be freezing,” Weisman said. “It doesn’t matter what time of day, and you think like the doors are open and the wind is blowing in because it can be so cold

in there. So even if you have a hot shower, you still feel chilled because the air is so cold, and it’s just very frustrating.”

In previous years, spells of other problems included cold showers as well.

“I think … there (were) maybe two quarters … (in) 2017 or 2018 where the entire corridor was cold showers. There was never any hot water. It was painful to take showers,” Weisman said.

In the men’s locker room, the same issues persist with an additional layer — they are missing showerheads.

“There’s like four showerheads and the rest are … faucet-heads basically,” said men’s swim team member

Jeremy Pietila, 22, computer science major.

The water temperatures do appear to be more consistent than in the women’s locker room.

“I wouldn’t say they get cold all the time, they get warm, but they’re just not great … It’s just the water pressure mostly,” said Pietila.

Though many cope with taking shorter showers, many students complain of a generally miserable experience. Those who regularly use the showers include the elderly and young children in extracurricular programs.

The quality of the showers often force some students to make a difficult choice.

“I have to pick, (to) not take (a shower here) and go home, or to suck it in and take (the) cold shower,” said Matilda Benkual, 69, a returning student taking De Anza P.E. classes for the past eight years.

Over the years, students have raised their complaints to faculty and staff, but their voices and efforts have largely fallen flat.

“I have talked to Casey (lead swim instructor for Adapted Aerobic Swimming) but I don’t know what he can do,” Benkual said.

Weisman has repeatedly raised these problems to the Division Administrative Assistant of the Physical Education and Athletics Department Susan Ho.

Though Weisman has been met with positive support on her visits, the root problems remain untouched.

“Whenever I would come to her with my comments or complaints about the locker room or the shower, whatever was going on, she always was receptive and put in requests to facilities and to address the specific issues that I communicated,” Weisman said. “But this is an ongoing problem, and it needs to be just taken care of.”

A bittersweet farewell to Judy Cuff-Alvarado

Longtime beloved biology professor will retire in June

By Grayson Baker

Judy Cuff-Alvarado said she always liked human biology. “I thought it was for me,” she said.

Cuff-Alvarado completed graduate school and worked in clinical physical therapy for about 15 years. After having her first child, she entered De Anza College’s physical therapy assistant program in 1996 until the program ended in 2005.

The college then moved her to the biology department, where she established a legacy as a beloved and impactful professor for 20 years.

While Cuff-Alvarado said her college days were “successful” and stressless, she said she noticed how academics affected other students and that. Partly because of that experience, empathy is instrumental to her teaching style.

“I witnessed other kids who were marginalized, and that always felt like injustice,” Cuff-Alvarado said.

Cuff-Alvarado said this experience heavily influences her teaching approach. She appreciates the smaller size of community colleges because she believes it makes it easier for students to connect with her.

“She’s just always there when the student needs them,” Kassem Lim, 19, statistics and data science major, said. He took Cuff-Alvarado’s introductory biology class fall 2024.

Cuff-Alvarado said she enjoys supporting students and learning about their lives.

“I do love it when I have a couple of students latch on, a conversation starts and a relationship starts,” CuffAlvarado said. “We have a communal laugh … that’s quite rewarding.”

The bond Cuff-Alvarado creates with her students allows deeper and more personal connections.

“A lot of (students) come to me with really sad stories about sort of educational traumas in the system,” Cuff-Alvarado said. She additionally said the K-12 system can break many people, but community college is “a good place to heal.”

Cuff-Alvarado said even struggling students, often those who have experienced injustices in their lives, can be helped throughout the quarter.

She approaches them with empathy, knowing they are putting trust in her.

“My students have to courageously trust the professor in their classroom to take care of them,” Cuff-Alvarado said. “I can use different words. I can speak slower, or I can repeat things more. I just sort of evaluate, ‘What can I do?’”

Eventually, she said, they will turn around. “Invariably, I crack them. Invariably they come in and they start feeling better,” Cuff-Alvarado said.

Cuff-Alvarado is a mentor to students and other professors alike. One in particular formed a 15-year long companionship with her.

Jason Bram is a De Anza biology instructor, who had Cuff-Alvarado on his hiring committee. Bram said he was overwhelmed and confused

by De Anza compared to his previous, smaller college. Cuff-Alvarado helped him get started, and their friendship grew from there.

“We have been friends ever since I got here in 2010,” Bram said. “She taught me the ropes about De Anza. She’s amazingly wise.”

Bram said much of their friendship was about sharing wisdom. They developed the introductory biology course together, and Bram values Cuff-Alvarado’s life advice.

“We (Bram and I) work very well together,” Cuff-Alvarado said. “There’s lots of laughing, lots of lightheartedness. He has my back. I have his back.”

The two discussed retirement for years before this summer.

Cuff-Alvarado said that while she has become more fatigued, her career isn’t fully over for her. She values the social connections with her students and Bram through her position.

“It’s kind of this phase in life where I think it’s good for my health to work less,” Cuff-Alvarado said. “(But) I loved this job. I think I found the job that really matched me.”

Cuff-Alvarado plans to return as a part-time faculty, teaching “maybe one or two classes a year after I retire.”

Cuff-Alvarado is remembered fondly by her community.

Lim said he enjoyed Cuff-Alvarado’s group projects, interactive experiments and teaching style. He described her as a jokester with a nurturing attitude toward her students.

BY

“It’s not the traditional way of just pen and paper and looking at the whiteboard,” Lim said. “Her personality is what makes her class so much fun.”

Bram said Cuff-Alvarado’s legacy extends beyond her students and him, as she also mentored other biology department faculty.

“She’s kind of the glue that holds the department together. Everyone likes her and she instigates social events,” Bram said. “I will miss every aspect of her, but I also know that she’s going to be in my life … we’re

going to be friends forever.”

“I have nothing but gratitude,” Cuff-Alvarado said. “I consider myself really, really lucky to have had this job.”

Cuff-Alvarado said her love and support for her students is timeless, and she has many high hopes for them.

“I hope that my students leave here believing that science is not just for some people,” Cuff-Alvarado said.

“Biology is for everyone; you are biology. What makes you beautiful is your biology.”

LA VOZ STAFF

PHOTO BY KOI MIN PYAE

A row of shower heads in the men’s shower room on Jan. 16.

Judy Cuff-Alvarado, biology instructor, points out vocabulary written on the whiteboard while lecturing to her Introductory Biology class in S52 on Jan. 30.

LA VOZ STAFF

PHOTO

BROOKLYN COYLE

ART & ENTERTAINMENT

You

can’t ignore Bob Dylan,

‘original

Complete Unknown”: the incomplete memoir of a man you will never know

vagabond’ “A

By Sarah Atito LA VOZ STAFF

Driving back home after watching a great movie often feels like the start of a new chapter, the future an infinite expanse of opportunity. “A Complete Unknown” redefines this feeling, leaving me in a daze walking out of the theater as if I just left behind the full life I lived through the immersive picture. Staring out at the road, I settled back into my life with a pleasant feeling in my heart as I said goodbye to the characters and places I loved in the picture.

In an era of high-budget biopics like “Elvis,” “Back to Black” and “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” it is easy to dismiss this film as just another one with large names attached. However, “A Complete Unknown” is the first biopic that was compelling enough to bring me to the movie theater.

Director James Mangold announced in January of 2020 that Timothée Chalamet would play Bob Dylan, the singer-songwriter who rose to prominence in the 1960s and defined the folk genre, in the biopic based on Elijah Wald’s book “Dylan Goes Electric!”

Going into the film, I was worried it would be geared towards pretentious film obsessives, becoming another hipster film people add to their top four Letterboxd favorites to seem cooler, but lacked any relatability to a general audience. But the movie feels like an experience no one can miss; it is about living in the moment without thinking about the future.

Dylan’s character says you have to be a freak or really good looking to attract attention and the film chose to embody the former in every sense; the character and the film itself are strange, reflecting the man who inspired them.

The opening scenes follow Chalamet as Dylan before he became a

household name, visiting his musical idol, Woody Guthrie, in a hospital after learning of Guthrie’s illness through a newspaper article. Though the scenes are painted in shades of browns, grays and dark blues, as if coated in a thick layer of dust, they still feel oddly colorful, rich and saturated with Dylan’s radiating passion for the music.

The opening scenes follow Chalamet as Dylan before he became a

household name, visiting his musical idol, Woody Guthrie, in a hospital after learning of Guthrie’s illness through a newspaper article. Though the scenes are painted in shades of browns, grays and dark blues, as if coated in a thick layer of dust, they still feel oddly colorful, rich and saturated with Dylan’s radiating passion for the music.

The movie only covers the first four years of Dylan’s early career,

‘Squid Game’ season two hits fast, hard from start to finish

Netflix smash hit delivers on all levels, gets close to the greatness of season one

By Daniel Ramirez GUEST WRITER

Season one of the Korean thriller “Squid Game” hooked the world when it premiered on Netflix in 2021. With more than two years since the first season, expectations were high for how writer and producer Hwang Donghyuk would further the story of Seong Gi-hun, played by Lee Jung-jae. From the moment the first episode picks up where season one ended, it was clear that this season would not disappoint.

It is immediately apparent that Dong-hyuk is not simply rehashing the first season, but building upon it. The first two episodes take an unexpected route, showing us how Gi-hun is not the same person he was in season one.

Gi-hun is no longer the gambling addict who entered the games hoping to win ₩45.6 billion (approximately $40 million) to pay off his debts. He is now hardened and committed to ending the games once and for all. As he tracks the Salesman and, eventually, the Front Man, viewers anxiously anticipate his return to the games.

The season further explores themes of wealth inequality and capitalism. A striking scene shows the Salesman (Gong Yoo), a sociopath who recruits indebted individuals for the games, confronting a group of homeless people. He offers them a choice: bread or a lottery ticket. Most choose the ticket, hoping for a big win, but none are successful. After

visiting everyone, the Salesman proceeds to stomp on the bread, blaming the homeless for their choice.

This scene highlights the wealth gap prevalent in South Korea and many other nations, including the United States. The Salesman does not have any sympathy or respect for those in less fortunate circumstances and uses his wealth, privilege and position as the Salesman of the games to humiliate those in debt and the homeless. This reminds one of the many wealthy influencers in the world who often seek to show off their wealth and believe that those who struggle financially are at fault for their poor situation.

Except for the first game, each of the games are entirely new, creating suspense as we follow Gi-hun and the many new supporting characters in this season. While experiencing the new games doesn’t surprise the audience as much as in season one, it is still gripping to watch Gi-hun navigate them instead of redoing the original ones.

Even with the new games, the focus this season is more on what happens between the games when the players have an opportunity to talk and vote on whether to continue the games or not.

It is here where we get to know the many new characters that are introduced. These are some of the best moments of the show, as they help to build connections with the viewer and add to the build-up to the next game, where there is a real fear of who will

make it out.

The prize money is now promised to be given equally if the players vote to leave. But for those in extreme debt, many individuals are looking to win as much as they can. Because players are now being labeled with patches that show how they voted, it creates a tribalist conflict as all the players become split between those who want to end the games and those who seek to continue them.

This forced division is extremely similar to how wealthy individuals use their wealth to control the news and create us-vs-them narratives that seek to divide the people, making them forget who is actually responsible for their suffering.

These new games, as well as the new structure of the game system, connect well with the many new characters introduced.Each new character is unique and recognizable, with distinct personality traits.

There are multiple breakout characters from this season whom viewers will love or, in some cases, love to hate.

There is Cho Hyun-Ju, a transgender woman and former special forces soldier played by Park Sung-hoon, who proves to be a strong step forward in transgender representation. Near the beginning, she faces discrimination from many of the other players but shows her skills as a tough and admirable woman and wins over some of the players.

Then we have the rapper Choi Subong, who goes by the name “Thanos”,

constructed voiceovers to provide background information. This narrative device is the only way to correctly tell the story of Dylan who remains an enigmatic public figure and is the definition of acting with his heart rather than his brain, offering no glimpse into his inner thoughts.

Chalamet, on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” Dylan as “one of these names like Paul McCartney … (that are) in the pop culture sphere … (but) he’s remained a mystery somehow decades later, so this movie doesn’t demystify him.”

I agree, the movie feels like an extension of the man himself, although with some fictional elements. Even with my limited prior knowledge of Dylan, I could still pick out the parts of his story that were altered or omitted, yet each choice feels intentional and contributes to a stronger narrative rather than glamorizing the story.

There’s a saying, “Do not speak ill of the dead,” but this biopic, made while Dylan is still living, benefits from brutal honesty, because this movie needs no heroes.

The film’s passionate team clearly focused on the music, not the personalities of the characters. While audiences may not leave as fans of Dylan as a man, they are likely to become fans of his music, or that of other musicians who make cameos in this retelling of a rich period of musical history. Personally, I left a bigger fan of Johnny Cash and Woody Guthrie.

as he rises to fame. By excluding his adolescence, the audience does not get a clear picture of what drives the man who has released 40 studio albums to date and defined the folk genre, other than his inherent passion.

For the lack of character depth, some might call the script half-baked and superficial, however, to me it is a refreshing contrast to storytelling in recent years that often relies on lazily

With one of the greatest strengths of this movie lying in its musical scores, this film needs to be enjoyed in a theater, where you can lose yourself in the sounds of the band.

If you want to watch a movie with plenty of music, a dash of political history and a sprinkling of fiction, I highly recommend visiting your local cinema to watch “A Complete Unknown.”

Rating: ★★★★☆

played by South Korean rapper T.O.P, who gives an incredibly entertaining performance despite being incredibly obnoxious throughout the show. Thanos will randomly spout out sentences and words in English and act out erratically toward the other players due to his ketamine addiction. Along with the many new characters are several returning characters, which serve as a surprise.

The most significant one is the Front Man from season one, played by Lee Byung-hun, who gives a very unnerving and intense performance while also showing more of his character. However, with the number of characters throughout the season, it can be hard to follow them all at times, with some characters not feeling as developed as others.

Season two is also shorter than season one, with only seven episodes compared to nine. Each episode also

ends in a way that is likely to make the viewer binge-watch all seven, making it a thrilling but quick experience. With the season ending in a cliffhanger, people will be anxiously waiting for the next season. Thankfully, season three has already been filmed and is expected to come out this July.

The season’s few drawbacks, such as a large cast of characters that can be difficult to follow at times and a few minor plot holes, are made up for with incredible performances, strong characters, and an excellent story that builds on the first season. This season will have you laughing, crying, wincing, and on the edge of your seat as you wonder who will survive, both throughout the games and in anticipation of the next season.

Rating: ★★★★☆

ILLUSTRATION BY ALICE SHEN

Daniel Ramirez, 23, history major, is a guest contributor for La Voz.

11, 2025

New interim head coach for track and field Sean Gwi brings fresh mindset

By Gordon Yang LA VOZ STAFF

“The only way you can grow and develop is that you have to be willing to be uncomfortable and push yourself,” said Sean Gwi, De Anza College’s newly appointed interim head coach of the track and field team.

With a career spanning almost two decades across high school, collegiate and club levels, Gwi brings a unique power-and-speed-focused approach that could reshape the training and performance of the Mountain Lions.

Gwi’s love for sports began in high school and college.

“I ran track when I was in high school,” Gwi said, “then I went to the City College of San Francisco and started to compete there.”

Due to academic challenges, Gwi took longer to transfer, which affected his athletic eligibility. Even so, his passion for sports was not diminished. After attending San Francisco State University, he began coaching track and field.

Over the years, Gwi has built an impressive résumé. He coached at institutions such as Laney College, where he advanced from assistant to head coach, Chabot College, the University of Hawaii, San Jose State University and Dartmouth College.

“After my child was born, I realized that Division I coaching was too demanding for my family,” Gwi said.

To reduce the family burden, Gwi decided to move back to San Jose, where he continued coaching at Harker School and a professional sports club before joining De Anza as an assistant coach. Following the departure of former head track and field coach Nick Mattis, Gwi stepped into the role of interim head coach.

Contrasting with traditional methods that often emphasize endurance and high-volume workouts for both sprinters and distance runners, Gwi emphasizes building explosive power and speed from the outset in his training.

“For me, I do a lot of speed and power first, then move to the more specific works,” Gwi said. “Instead of starting

with high-volume, endurance-based training, I believe that laying a foundation of strength and explosiveness could have more benefits to every track and field athlete.”

Beyond the physical training, Gwi views track and field as a microcosm of life. The sport teaches athletes discipline, punctuality and resilience.

“Track and field is like a life lesson,” Gwi said. “It teaches you how to manage adversity, balance multiple aspects of your life, and deal with the fear of failure — like when you’re jumping over hurdles and risk a fall. The ability to push through discomfort builds the strength to face challenges in real life.

Gwi also specified how participating in sports can favorably influence a person’s daily life.

“In terms of personal development ... you will form habits like showing up on time, eating at the correct time, etc. So, most likely, when you go to your work, you’ll remember your laptop, your notebooks, and you’ll go fast,” Gwi said.

The shift in Gwi’s training philosophy has resonated with his students.

Aryamaan Choudhury, 19, aerospace engineering major, expressed optimism about the upcoming season.

“I just want to get better than I was last year,” Choudhury said. “The previous coach focused heavily on endurance training, which didn’t always suit short sprinters. Coach Gwi’s emphasis on explosive power seems to fit the team better.”

Sprinter Borgie Bueno, 20, data science major, shared a similarly positive view, especially as he works to overcome past injuries.

“I’m coming off a lumbar strain, and Coach Gwi has been incredible in helping me get back to health,” Bueno said. “He takes everything seriously and is always pushing me to progress, both in strength and speed. I’m really optimistic about my final season.”

Despite balancing family life, club responsibilities and the rigorous travel schedule for competitions in cities like

San Francisco, Gwi remains focused on creating a supportive, growth-oriented environment for his athletes.

“My expectation for the team is to keep everyone healthy and happy, both physically and mentally,” Gwi said. “In the first two weeks, I could kind of see where everybody’s at so that we could make more effective adjustments later.”

The challenges of stepping into the head coach role are not lost on him.

“It is tough to become a head coach here, especially with everything else going on in my life,” Gwi said.

However, support from the administration and the team’s willingness to adapt have made the transition smoother.

“I’m very grateful for the support from everyone. It makes a huge difference when you’re having multiple responsibilities,” Gwi said. “Whether it’s multiple years or just one year here, it’s a very rewarding experience. I look forward to the next few months and (seeing) how things are going.”

Baseball beats Reedley 18-6 at historic home opener

Seven-run first inning catapults Mountain Lions to landslide victory

By Reymond Castañeda LA VOZ STAFF

The De Anza Mountain Lions took on the visiting Reedley College Tigers on Jan. 25. This is the second game in a row where they played against Reedley, as they faced off with Reedley the previous day and won 11-5.

“Make sure to let them know that this is the first home win in five years on opening day,” head coach Don Watkins said.

Jack Harper (De Anza No. 18), 19, graphic design major, took the mound for the Mountain Lions and started the game getting a ground ball out to shortstop Drew Paxton (De Anza No. 2), but then walked the second batter and hit the third batter.

Another ground ball was hit to shortstop Paxton but was misplayed, leading to Reedley getting the bases loaded in the first inning.

Harper came back to strike out the next batter looking and then got a Reedley batter to hit a ground ball to shortstop Paxton to get the force out at second base, getting out of the inning.

The Lions came out hot in the first inning with leadoff batter right fielder Evan McRae (De Anza No. 19) working out a walk when he started with 2 strikes, following up with another walk to second baseman Luca Calderone (De Anza No. 1).

First baseman Myles Potter (De Anza No. 26) followed up with a single to center field, loading the bases.

Logan Vieira, the designated hitter, (De Anza No. 24) hit the ball up the middle but Reedley’s shortstop

Mark-Anthony Carroll (Reedley No. 4) knocked it down, but the ball got away from the shortstop, leading to two runs scoring for De Anza.

Mason Manglicmot (De Anza No. 6) bunted the ball back to the pitcher, but third baseman Jonathan Callison (Reedley No. 14) dropped the ball as the bases were once again loaded.

Third baseman Alec Ortiz (De Anza No. 16) stepped up to the plate, hitting a ball to a diving Callison. Callison threw home, but the throw led catcher Tyler Tuckness (Reedley No. 5) off the plate, scoring another run for the Mountain Lions as they went up 3-0.

By the end of the game, both Manglicmot and Ortiz had three runs batted in.

Catcher Gabriel Salazar-Mata (De Anza No. 13), hit the ball hard into left center as they extended the lead to 4-0. That hit knocked Reedley’s starting pitcher Case Anker (Reedley No. 26) out of the game, as he didn’t record an out.

The first two pitches from new Reedley pitcher Nolan Keene (Reedley No. 22) were wild pitches, leading to De Anza scoring two runs as De Anza kept the inning going with a 6-0 lead. Paxton was able to get the bunt down, scoring the runner that was on third base and even being safe at first.

The Mountain Lions extended their lead to 11-0, after a four-run bottom of the third inning, highlighted by Potter’s two-run double.

The top of the fourth inning had similarities to the first inning as Harper gave up his first hit, walking a batter and even hitting another batter

as the bases were loaded again.

Harper was able to get a strikeout looking before loading the bases.

Harper gave up another walk to give Reedley their first run of the game. Harper was able to come back, striking out and getting a Reedley hitter to flyout to the right fielder McRae.

Harper was able to get out of another bases loaded jam although giving up just the one run as De Anza leads 11-1.

Potter came through for the Mountain Lions, as the bases were loaded, Potter hit it in between the first and the second baseman bringing in two runs as De Anza extended their lead to 13-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The fifth inning was the last inning

of work for Harper as he got through the fifth inning with getting a 6-4-3 double play, and then getting Reedley to hit a line drive right at the right fielder McRae, ending Harper’s day on the mound.

De Anza went on to score five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Ortiz, Paxton, McRae and Calderone with base hits bringing in five runs to score to make the lead 18-1.

After Harper’s exit in the fifth inning, relief pitcher Kaleb Dela Cuesta Sato (De Anza No.7) took over for three innings, giving up two runs, followed by Jay Hernandez (De Anza No. 33), giving up one run over one inning.

“I felt pretty good, felt easy with

my guys in the offense backing me up,” Harper said. “I felt really confident up there.”

Harper had an impressive five innings of one-run baseball, giving up two hits and hit strikeouts.

Javier Alvarado (De Anza No. 31), the final relief pitcher for the Mountain Lions, came into the ninth inning to close out the game for De Anza.

After giving up four walks, Alvarado gave up two runs in the ninth, but was able to close the game out 18-6 with a strikeout under his belt.

“Good team effort,” Alvarado said. “We all did a good job.”

McRae, Potter and Mata led the team with three hits in the game.

PHOTO BY ALLAN GALEANA

Men’s baseball team practices at the baseball field on Feb 6.

PHOTO BY ALLAN GALEANA

Interim track and field head coach Sean Gwi runs with his son Nathan Gwi during warm ups on Jan. 30th at the De Anza College Football Stadium.

(From left to right) Coach Sean Gwi and coach Jeremiah Duong on Jan. 30 at the De Anza College Football Stadium.

PHOTO BY ALLAN GALEANA

Skyline outlasts men’s basketball, clutches 82-71

Despite late surge, Mountain Lions lose rematch

By Orly Bryan LA VOZ STAFF

The De Anza men’s basketball team played Skyline College for the second time on Friday, Jan. 31, at home and lost 82-71. On Jan. 8 the Mountain Lions lost to the Trojans 89-74 and had hopes of avenging themselves. The team was able to pull together a strong second-half comeback effort, but it wasn’t enough for a win.

Guard A.J. Richards (De Anza No. 5), 19, a business major, said that while they learned some lessons in their first matchup, the Mountain Lions fell into the same pitfalls as last time.

“Our goal was to out-work them,” Richards said. “When we played them the first time, we let them get a lot of shots, and they killed us with that three-point line ... they did it again.”

Richards also addressed the team’s mentality shift in the second half.

“The first half was a little lackluster; we were making mistakes, but in the second half we came in and we knew what we wanted to get done,” Richards said. “Honestly, that’s what we are – a second half kind of team ... you could tell if you watch the film, there’s a big difference (between the halves).”

De Anza’s assistant coach Patrick Gallmann called the game “a tale of two halves,” attributing their slow start and early offensive struggles to stagnant play and poor shot selection.

“First half, we didn’t do anything,” Gallmann said. “We only scored 23 points, so our offense was pretty stagnant, and we were settling too much.”

Guard Justice Owens, (De Anza No. 4), 21, business administration major, was a key player in the second half push with eight rebounds and 16 points.

“We came into the second half knowing we have nothing to lose,” Owens said. “We just gotta come back, play and give it our all.”

After trailing 37-23 at halftime, followed by another Skyline burst putting De Anza down 46-26, the Mountain Lions closed the gap midway through the second half, making it 63-61 with seven minutes left in the game.

An Owens three pointer kickstarted De Anza’s 35-17 run. Owens also credited his improved individual performance to playing like himself and trusting his shot.

“In the second half I performed way better,” Owens said. “I was able to get my shots, I was shooting confidently.”

Theo McDowell led the Mountain Lions in the second half with 22 points scored in the second half alone.

However, point guard Achilles Woodson (Skyline No. 3) inevitably took control with five minutes and 37

seconds in the game, putting a stop to De Anza’s 35-17 run, with back to back drives to the paint and 15 second-half points of his own, sealing the Trojans’ victory.

Defensively, the Mountain Lions had a clear scouting report on Woodson but struggled at times to execute it properly.

“We weren’t supposed to let him get down low,” Richards said. “He’s a quick guy and he’s a small guy.”

On top of dealing with defensive issues, the team has had recurring problems with the referees since their first game against Skyline, garnering 17 fouls throughout the game.

“We let the referees bug us (during the first game). We were very immature,” Gallmann said. “Tonight we had pride, and we got back after them in the second half, but when No. 3 (Woodson) decided, ‘Well, give me the ball and I’ll get it done,’ we didn’t have an answer for that.”

“Our coach tells us not to react, so that’s the best thing you can do,”

Richards said. “It’s super hard not to react, because on the court there’s passion, there’s energy–but, I mean,

the best thing you can do is just ignore it honestly, because you can’t change the call by complaining.”

Forward Sean Crowley (De Anza No. 32), 20, business administration major, leaps for the jump ball at the beginning of the game in the De Anza gymnasium on Jan. 31.

Guard Justice Owens (De Anza No. 4), 21, business administration major, dribbles around the Trojans’ defense towards the basket in the De Anza gymnasium on Jan. 31.

Problems with modern relationships

The blame game won’t bring back romance, accountability will

By Katelyn Yoo LA VOZ STAFF

There is an old saying that goes, “Be careful when you point one finger at someone because three fingers might point back at you.”

In today’s world, it seems many have forgotten this wisdom and believed themselves blameless in their relationships, leading to many toxic relationships or, worse, a complete absence of one.

While many crave intimacy, we also fear vulnerability. While we long for companionship, many fear commitment. We are a culture of perpetual loneliness and despair.

According to the Pew Research Center, “In 2023, 42% of adults were unpartnered … (and) the share of adults cohabiting with an unmarried partner … (are) 7%.”

While it states that the share of adults who were married increased from 50% to 51% from 2019 to 2023, there are still almost half of adults with no partners.

This marks a significant shift from decades past. For instance, in 1960, only 28% of adults were unmarried, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This shows that there is a notable increase in the number of unpartnered adults in modern society.

With a culture that places so much emphasis on love and community, why do many feel angry

and alone? Why are so many TikTok videos and Instagram Reels of women and men hating each other — calling each other “cheaters” and “liars” — flooding the Internet? That quote is the answer to this question; “three fingers are pointing back at you.”

About two months ago, I was at a friend’s gathering when I overheard a girl complaining about the lack of “real men” in today’s society. “I am so sick of these nonchalant men,” she cried. “Bring back men who yearn.”

Later that night, I overheard her laughing with her friend about a guy on her phone calling him “so annoying” because he kept texting her “Good morning” and “How was your day?,” making him seem “desperate and needy.”

I sat there with my eyebrows raised and my forehead scrunched. I thought, “Isn’t that yearning? Isn’t that the type of man you were just begging to have a few moments ago?”

It was at this moment when I discovered the root of our culture’s issue with modern relationships — accountability.

Her binary thinking blinded her to her own faults and from the truth. She did not want a healthy, emotionally available guy, she wanted someone who reflected her own insecurities. In Stephen Chbosky’s ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’

a character said, “We accept the love we think we deserve,” and I know deep down this girl believes she deserves none.

Instead of taking the accountability to fix her own emotional unavailability and self-hatred through therapy, she points the fingers at men blaming them for her poor self-worth. This need to be in a constant haven of victimhood is a coping mechanism to prevent herself from ever feeling that she’s wrong — something that is very difficult for anyone to admit.

By avoiding the hard work of self-discovery and learning from past mistakes, one can prolong meeting “the one.” A friend confessed to me that he used to live by the saying, “While waiting for the right one, have fun with the wrong ones.”

This passive and careless approach attracted other women who were also more focused on personal amusement rather than genuine connection and mutual respect. Men often complain that many women are untrustworthy and spend every weekend at the club. As they vent to me about their frustrations with dealing with emotionally unavailable women who cheat and lie, they take a swig at their Corona with their backwards baseball caps sitting high above their head as they get ready to go to the club.

Cupid on campus: romantic advice

Advice by Xitlaly Martinez

We invite students to submit their romantic qualms for advice from a love correspondent.

Insecurities, parent disapproval

“Is it worth it to date someone whose trust issues get in the way of the relationship, won’t seek help, set double standards and my parents don’t like them?

How do you even deal with the feeling of letting go of someone you’ve given yourself completely to? I have no idea what to do and I just am flabbergasted by the lack of emotional maturity and the way they completely switched up after a couple months of dating.”

Dear reader, never date someone who sets double standards. Do not entertain someone who is immature, illogical and hypocritical. Unless your parents are terrible people, listen to them when they say they do not like your partner.

Take time to refill the energy you’ve lost while you fell for this mismatch, I can say confidently: you will love again.

Undesired courtship

“I always get approached by people who are much older than me (1020 years older). When I’m out with my friends, they’ll try to start a conversation or ask for my number. I think some of these people don’t have any bad intentions and they just didn’t realize how much older than me they were (I was 15-17 in some of these situations). One time this old man with not much white hair started following me around the mall when I was with my mom. He kept asking me where I went to school and telling me that I should go to SCU, even when I tried to get out of this conversation. How do I prevent this from happening to me again?”

set a wall between us, I make it known I have a father at home. An older man will either appreciate the protection and security your father provides, or be jealous of it.

Love triangle

“I’m talking to this guy right now, let’s call him Kevin … Last weekend, I went to his college for a football game with my best friend … We were going to grab dinner (after), but since neither my friend nor I are 21 (yet), he invited us back to his apartment instead. His roommates were there, so he introduced us.

One of his roommates, let’s call him Michael, was napping when we arrived. Kevin had told me … that he and Michael have known each other since kindergarten and have been close ever since. Anyway, while Kevin and I were cooking dinner, Michael woke up and came into the kitchen … and oh my goodness — Michael is my type to a T. He’s tall, white, blonde, has great style, and HE’S SINGLE.

Now, even though Kevin and I have been seeing each other (and I know he likes me — he’s been proactive about asking me on dates, introducing me to his friends, and making time for me), the thing is, he’s terrible at texting. Like, he doesn’t check in with me about things like ‘How was your day?’ or ‘What’s up?’ and I’m the kind of person who likes constant, consistent communication. It really bothers me, to be honest.

So, here’s the dilemma — Michael seems like a better match for me, at least in terms of my type and he seems slightly more outgoing (which I like). Is there a way I can do a homie switch? Lol. Any advice on how I can stop talking to Kevin and start talking to his roommate/friend, Michael? Or is it even a good idea or not? Lol.”

This begs the question: if you’re frustrated with women who constantly party, why do you do the same? Perhaps the emotionally available, healthy women you’re looking for aren’t interested in someone who embodies the very behavior you dislike.

Accountability is life’s greatest gift and pain. It is not easy to acknowledge that you are not exempt from making mistakes or having flaws.

Dear reader, I want you to know this is not your fault. I can unfortunately tell you older men’s attempts at flirting are very common. A high school cheerleader I knew growing up would wear makeup to appear older in effort to avoid older men’s interest, and she said it worked …

At times, it’s hard to guess a stranger’s intentions when they approach you, but to

Kevin’s unwillingness to communicate through text everyday is not a flaw, and you mentioned he has other qualities that work well with you. I don’t think you like Kevin, and you likely only find Michael attractive due to proximity, and that’s okay!

In the name of good sportsmanship, you should make a strategic retreat from this friend group. I promise you, there are more cute, tall, blonde boys. Also, if Michael likes his best friend’s love interest (you), it’s a huge red flag.

It is difficult to accept that there are always two sides to every story, and in someone else’s eyes you have wronged them as much as they wronged you.

To find your dream woman, make a list of all the qualities you want in a significant other and become those qualities instead of exuding double standards and being a hypocrite. Despite the discomfort, accountability is the only way to escape the endless cycle of isolation and hopelessness that is plaguing our modern society. So, the next time you point the finger at someone, look at all the ones pointed at yourself first.

Love Voz Crossword Puzzle

Down

1. Investigative journalists may _____ shady activity OR a good friend may _____ someone for cheating.

2. Editors question reporters _____ if their work appears biased OR situationships cause stress when you don’t understand the other person’s _____.

4. Caused when a journalist uncovers something unethical OR a celebrity may be involved in a dating _____.

6. Principles journalists follow for good practice OR someones ___ may be so high they can’t find anyone :(

7. An edition of a newspaper OR couples that have ___ need to break up.

8. Journalists have a _____ for their job OR a relationship will fail without this feeling. Also in a fruits name.

11. A _____ article is an addition to a previously written article OR you may do this to keep in touch with someone.

12. A source may do this to give you information OR an admirer may do this to tell you how they feel.

14. You can send a _____ to the editor OR you may receive a _____ from an admirer.

17. One of The Five Ws OR something you go on with someone you like.

Across

3. A story that no one else has reported on OR when you decide to only see one person.

5. Journalists must stick to their ___ OR you may want to share these with your partner to avoid conflict.

9. Reporters should build ___ with their sources to get information OR when someone cheats they will lose their partners ____.

10. The first paragraph of an article OR you can ___ someone on by pretending to like them.

12. ___ of an event OR when you meet your partner’s parents you should wear something full-_____.

13. This will ruin the reputation of a news organization OR people who catfish spread this.

15. Journalists have to be used to this feeling and not take it personally OR ____ from someone you like would be devastating.

16. Opinions are the only articles with this OR this may influence how you see someone you like.

18. A source may request to be ____ OR someone may receive a ___ love letter.

LA VOZ STAFF