Spartan Daily Vol. 162 No. 42

Women find community in animation

By Nikita Bankar STAFF WRITER

The San José State University’s Women in Animation club is hoping to create a community where individuals can create digital pieces and confide in one another in a safe space.

The organization brings together the global animation community to empower and advocate for people of underrepresented gender identities in the art, technology, production and business of animation, according to its website.

Collaborative events like picnics, bake sales, canvas painting and socials serve as a way for the organization to support advocacy and facilitate professional development, according to the same site.

Annika Magbanua, animation senior and club president, said she wanted to amplify the core values of the Women in Animation and influence the SJSU campus community.

She said most of the people who join the club are not all animation and illustration majors, and that anyone can join.

“I really tried to place an emphasis on community building and taking care of committee members,” Magbanua said. “I think the basis of professional success is making sure you’re looking after yourself as people, and then artists and then as

CAMPUS VOICES

professionals.” She said she went to community college and had an interest in animation in high school despite its lack of resources for the subject.

“I then found myself at San José State, in the animation/illustration program,” Magbanua said. “Women in Animation was a club that was always around, holding events and encouraging community outreach.”

Some specific events the club held included “Pins & Picnic” where students could make personalized pins and enjoy snacks, as well as “Tiny Paint & Sip,” where

students could make mini paintings, according to the WIA Instagram.

Francesca Noguera, animation and illustration junior and club vice president, said she enjoyed participating in the club’s art supply donation, where they gave away supplies that they did not need anymore.

“It was cool because other organizations and students were finding out what Women in Animation stood for and seemed interested in our purpose,” Noguera said.

Noguera said she always knew she wanted to do something related to art and creativity.

She said she found out about the program at San José State, and liked that it had a combination of both illustration and animation.

“Being in the program, I’ve really fallen in love with animation,” Noguera said. “Besides the art aspect, I just love the club members the most.”

Sofia Fonzi, animation and illustration junior and club graphic designer, who uses they/them pronouns, said they initially heard about the Women in Animation Global Community because of an informational interview with a story artist and director at Pixar.

Joshua Umama

“In some fields, you care more about the quality and so in that case, you would pick whoever is most suited to that role based on the quality of their job, not based on anything else. However, I guess you would think that there's other other fields where people have had less opportunities, and that's why they get incentivized to hire maybe minorities or, or women and I think those opportunities are also important because they've been underrepresented in the past.”

Hassina Nejat International business

“The world is made up of people who are different, and I don't think that's a coincidence. I think that's just the way that the world is, but so long as we both have the same opportunities and we both have the same chance to do something then I think there's no problem at all.”

“It was super inspiring for me, and she told me about Women in Animation, which I hadn’t heard of before,” they said. “I joined the global organization and then found out there was a student collective on our campus.”

Only 17% of the 120 top-grossing animated films from 2007 to 2018 had a female lead or co-lead, according to a June 10, 2019 Variety article.

However, today women hold 34% of creative roles according to the Animation Guild – more than a 50% increase since 2015, according to the

Fonzi said they love how much the club highlights all of the different gender identities, as they themselves are nonbinary.

“You have a space to share your voice that you usually might not be able to, especially in an industry that’s so maledominated,” Fonzi said. “I have really been able to make connections that would be daunting if I didn’t have such a strong community.”

Siwen

“It doesn't really matter about the agenda because we share the same abilities and capabilities for any areas. Also (it’s been) scientifically proved that. . . the IQ for both genders are basically the same.”

April Yakab

“When it comes to salary, I know that a lot of men tend to have more salary than women. I don't think that's okay at all. I think it should be equal – equal or not more – I think women can also provide and have a bigger salary than men.”

Women in Animation website.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SJSU WOMEN IN ANIMATION

Members from Women in Animation club at SJSU pose for a picture during the Tiny Paint and Sip event on Tower Lawn in August of 2023.

Follow Nikita on Instagram @nikitabankar

AALIYAH ROMAN & ALEXIA FREDERICKSON SPARTAN DAILY

Students create AI anime App

By Alina Ta EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Two students from San José State created an artificial intelligence (AI) app for anime fans to interact with and to enjoy.

Civil engineering junior, Victor Edochie, said he and Zhao are the founders of the app.

Mathematic junior Kai Zhao said Kimi AI is an app that uses AI to give users the opportunity to interact with anime characters on their smartphones

Edochie said he met Zhao during freshman year in Joe West Hall during a game of ping-pong.

He said both of them tried to do some entrepreneurial projects during their beginning college years, but none of those projects went according to plan.

He said they later decided to do a different project during their junior year of college.

“We wanted to make sure we have a good idea that we knew was going to work so we were doing a lot of research about what kind of product we want to build,” he said.

Edochie said after doing some research, he and Zhao decided to combine the use of AI technology with anime to create an app where users could have conversations with the characters.

Zhao said he remembered really enjoying anime when he was a child.

“My big (favorite) anime was One Piece,” Zhao said.

One Piece is a manga series about the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a young man who aspires to become the King of Pirates, according to a Sept. 18, 2023 article from Netflix.

Zhao said his hope for the project was to be able to create an experience where he and other users can talk to their own favorite anime characters.

“So we’re thinking, ‘Okay, how do we combine ChatGPT and anime, and make an immersive chat friend,’ ” Edochie said.

He said the idea required combining voice artificial intelligence with the model of a character to create an immersive anime chat experience.

Voice artificial intelligence is software that is capable of machine learning while applying a voice user interface to accept commands and to give responses, according to a May 29, 2023 article from ReadSpeaker.

Edochie said to make this idea into an app, both he and Zhao had to do a lot of research into how people were using AI.

He said they took multiple courses in machine learning to understand how application programming interfaces work.

An application programming interface is a set of rules or protocols that enables different software applications to exchange data, features and functionality with one another, according to an April 9 article from IBM.

Edochie said the first

version of the app was made and tested in their dorm room, and they sent their app to online forums.

“We tested the app and realized how good it was,” Edochie said. “We got like a couple of hundred people

the app function, he and Edochie hired a group of five to six people to help program and use ChatGPT’s application programming interface to create prompts for each character.

to use it back then . . . so we realized that there was obviously a demand.”

Zhao said to make

“We can write each prompt, so each character can have its own personality,” Zhao said.

Zhao said they also used a service called ElevenLabs to give each character their own voice.

ElevenLabs is an AI service and voice generator that can convert text to speech to create natural AI voices in multiple languages for free, according to its website.

Zhao said they hope to add more features to the app in the future so users can create their own anime character and customize their hair, skin color and other features.

Leo Wang, an angel investor from China who recently moved to the U.S., said he invested $100,000 into Kimi AI before the app was published to the public.

The U.S. Angel Investment Network is an online platform that makes it easy for investors and startups to connect with one another on a global scale, according to its website.

“I thought that (the idea of the app was) interesting, because that’s the time I realized that basically it’s better than the original girlfriend (apps),” he said.

“So I asked him (Zhao) to come to my house and we talked.”

Wang said he thought Kai was unique when he met him at an English class at SJSU.

He said he thinks Zhao is always finding new opportunities to make money or to build something new.

“I think he’s born to be an entrepreneur,”

Wang said. He said he felt comfortable investing in Zhao and Edochie’s app because he sees there is an advantage in taking a chance on students from a state university.

Wang said students from more well-known universities have a disadvantage because they have too many options in their field and are less afraid to fail a business opportunity.

He said some entrepreneurs will choose to close their business if they have the option to go to another company that will give them higher pay.

“I notice that some grassroots are really more persistent,” Wang said. “Maybe this is their only option. They'll finally try their best to make a result.”

Edochie said it took many years of learning before they could develop Kimi AI, but he hopes that they can inspire students at SJSU to reach their goals and dreams.

He said he typically only hears students doing innovative projects at Ivy League schools like Harvard or Stanford.

“We want to be the change,” he said. “We want to see that you can be from a state school and still work on technology that can possibly change the world.”

SCREENSHOT BY ALINA TA

Follow Alina on Instagram @mniatailmp

Water dance makes a splash at SJSU

3

#1: Crew members set up lighting and sound around the pool at the Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center.

#2: Interdisciplinary artist Michael Laundry performs a contemporary dance project titled “Hollywood to Liquid Sword” on Tuesday.

#3: The peformer and another dancer perform a contemporary piece in the pool.

#4: Michael Laundry gets on his knees while dancing a 25-minute contemporary piece.

#5: The interdisciplinary artist engages with the audience after the show finishes and the audience applauds.

#6: Laundry plays the role of a psychiatrist, delivering a monologue as he reads an email from the laptop in his hands. He breaks the 4th wall asking the lighting to be changed saying it is too bright. 5 4 6 1 2

PHOTOS BY ETHAN LI

Situationships can be

I’m going to get a shirt made that reads, “I survived a three month situationship where we cuddled skin to skin and said I love you.”

Unless you are someone who has strong communication skills, knows what they want and has healthy boundaries, I would avoid situationships at all cost.

A situationship is a relationship without commitment, where daters do the intimate things that partners would do if they were committed, according to a March 25 article by Psychology Today.

My last situationship began as a casual friends with benefits.

He was a handsome, softspoken tall bearded Latino with partially hooded eyes, a

septum piercing and an affinity for animals.

As a clumsy, awkward giant in three inch platform

Doc Martens, I instantly found him endearing.

At our first meet up, we both agreed we were looking for something casual, but quickly our actions said otherwise.

One aspect of a situationship to be hyper aware of is that they are riddled with the potential for mixed signals, according to a Mind Help webpage.

Somewhere between him asking me to be his Valentine and spending way too much money to win me a plushie from a claw machine, I began to romanticize him and the possibility of having something more.

This was my red flag.

I should’ve communicated to him that I was starting to want more.

According to a blog post by the gay dating app Grindr, it

is unwise to surprise your situationship with over-the-top romantic gestures unless you want to scare them away. Not me though.

I saw the red heartshaped chocolate box not as a red flag but as a sign he

We hung out six days of the week and spent all day sending each other unhinged cat memes.

Then we began discussing what our relationship dynamic could look like.

About a month in, as he was getting out

might have wanted something more. Instead of having a conversation about how that gesture may have broken a cardinal rule of situational dating, I matched his energy. I got him a toothbrush and a pair of dainty size 13 slippers for when he spent the night.

I knew something was wrong.

of my car, he let a “Bye, love you” slip out as he slammed the door closed. I should’ve thought twice about how unhealthy this was, but in the heat of the moment it felt right. Everything was going great until one day he became distant and told me it would be a good idea for me to have some space.

This was his way of saying he needed space.

While situationships can offer romantic intimacy, I found it to be fleeting, turbulent and prone to inconsistency issues.

This indirect way of asking for space, paired with his sudden detachment, confused me and left me questioning my worth.

A situationship can interfere with the sense of equilibrium and create imbalance in the relationship, triggering feelings of rejection, abandonment and mistrust, according to a March 27 Psychology Today article.

A week later, he came back apologetically and I foolishly let him in.

Things went back to how they were, the cat memes were flowing again.

I even began spending nights at his house.

But in the blink of an eye, he distanced himself again and text me that he wasn’t ready for a

relationship and that he felt like he had nothing to offer me. I was devastated. At first it was really to wrap my head around how someone could show me such love just to pull away, but in hindsight it’s clear he was just unsure of what he wanted and so was I.

When your thoughts and feelings don't match your behaviors, this is known as incongruence, according to a Explore Psychology webpage.

When experiencing incongruence, people begin to experience neurotic symptoms and will often take steps to reach a better mental state, states the same article.

I know now that the actions of my situational lover had nothing to do with me, but everything to do with him.

Don’t be reckless with your heart. Your heart does not know that you’re in a situationship.

Joaquin De La Torre COPY EDITOR

Anxious or avoidant attachment?

I think anxious and avoidant attachment styles are valid responses to emotional moments, but truth be told I’ll never understand the need to be avoidant.

Melany Gutierrez MANAGING EDITOR

It’s nice to be with someone who makes you feel like there is an invisible string attached to both your bodies, binding you to them forever.

The rosy hue on your life when you are in love is amazing, until you confront the sad reality that the person you are with can not be there for you in the times that you need them most.

How will I ever trust this person if we were to stand at the altar saying “in good times and in bad,” when every time things go bad they need to walk away?

In recent years, society started to dive deep into talking about relationships with more transparency.

Just scrolling through social media, you will encounter videos of people sharing personal insight about love languages, attachment styles and so on.

An attachment style is the way a person behaves in a romantic relationship based on the emotional connections they had growing up with their parental figures, according to a HelpGuide.org webpage.

I personally have an anxious attachment style which I have come to understand was established by having one physically absent parent and one who was emotionally absent but still provided.

Anxious attachment style is someone who has a deep-seated fear of abandonment and rejection, usually it's someone who feels unworthy of love, according to a The Attachment Project webpage.

My parents never really took the chance to form a relationship with me until I was a teenager.

My household never felt stable or

I’m unable to empathize with avoidants when they seem so careless and unwilling to be vulnerable with the person they’re supposed to love most.

Anxious and avoidant can't easily give each other what they want without sacrificing their own needs when it comes to fights or rough patches.

I would never want to force reassurance out of anyone, but how could I just let myself drown in fear and sadness without it?

An anxious-avoidant relationship will include a lot of hurt feelings and things taken personally.

It’s something an anxious person has to make peace with or gain the strength to walk away from.

Based on my own experience as someone with an anxious attachment style, my love is strong and unconditional and there’s little to nothing a person can do to break that.

I want to love the person strongly and I would never want them to fall short of feeling loved.

I think you can love someone even if you hurt each other, even if you are polar opposites but we need to understand that chasing someone is not good, love has to be requited.

I’m still growing to understand my own attachment style and I want healthy love with myself and my partner, even though it’ll require a lot of work.

Sometimes, I hate how strong my feelings are because you can hear pain in my voice and see it in my eyes. But I love how strong my feelings are because you can see it in my smile and hear it in my laugh. I never want to feel like I have to apologize for my emotions.

Reassurance can come from an avoidant partner if they are willing to compromise, but it can also come from within.

If I could recover all the hours I have spent crying, riddled with anxiety

secure and I never felt worthy of my parent’s attention unless I tried to draw commotion to myself using big emotions.

They loved me but they didn’t know how to love me.

Because that kind of love feels so familiar to me, I tend to chase after a person now in romantic relationships.

If you are anxious like me, and have an avoidant partner, there is nothing wrong with that and the relationship is not doomed from the start.

I did not ask to be an overthinker or the kind of person who is clingy and constantly needs reassurance, because I fear abandonment.

But when conflict arises, while the avoidant is in the calm after the storm, I’m still in the eye of the tornado wondering what I can do to stop it.

I'm envious of avoidants who seem so aloof, unbothered, and are able to compartmentalize, while going about their day without exploding.

It makes me feel like a lonely little volcano ready to erupt and ruin everything.

I think in order for this kind of dynamic to work, people need to be willing to make compromises and meet each other halfway when it comes to communication.

thinking that I’m going to be abandoned even when I wasn’t, I would take care of myself in the moments in which I didn't feel worthy of care.

Then, I’d have hours upon hours of time to do anything I like.

I could wipe the tears from my eyes, put on a dress and curl my hair, take back my hours, go pick some flowers and maybe then I would avoid all the hurt that is caused, when two people are confused and don’t know how to love

Anxious attachments are always more likely to be infantilized or enabled, even though they can be jealous, obsessive, clingy and just as toxic. They may lack boundaries, need constant reassurance and want to control you.

Julia Chie PRODUCTION EDITOR

Your mental health is not your fault, but it is your responsibility.

Those with an avoidant attachment style are often more emotionally detached and have a hard time trusting others and prefer to remain keep to themselves.

If the world was based on logic, avoidants would reign supreme. If a building caught on fire, logical people wouldn’t stay to talk things out.

All I want is some time to myself to cool off after an argument, but all the anxious want is to find an answer no matter the emotional toll.

I have been forced to talk about seemingly relationship-shattering things when I feel small, not ready or simply can’t process something. It makes me feel weak to be so vulnerable in such an uncomfortable setting.

Avoidant attachment is thought to occur when an infant’s caretaker shows

Why is killing yourself for your partner’s attention the ideal and not just mutual love and respect?

As a woman, I’ve been scared of being targeted for not reciprocating affection or physical touch when I don’t want to. People may see us as more cold or selfish before they know why we’re like this in the first place.

I’m also extremely indebted to the anxious for knowing how to show unconditional love and express their feelings immediately. It’s admirable that they are there for their people no matter what, and hold others’ opinions to a very high regard.

I don’t think I have known love as deeply as I do now, and I wouldn’t know how important it was to search for peace with my attachment style.

Hopefully, they can also see an avoidant’s strengths in regulating emotional situations, putting ourselves first, and having less dependence on others.

Each and every person has been avoidant when they procrastinate making a phone call to their landlord

that their feelings were not important or worth engaging with, or when a caretaker can’t respond to basic needs like food and shelter, according to an article by Health.

Growing up, my family thought things were better left unsaid, not creating drama or expecting apologies. I was conditioned to be more emotionally unavailable and independent whenever my internal building would catch on fire.

Avoidants are terrified of conflict, and in turn, vulnerability. It is not that we don't care, we’re just scared of escalating an argument because we never learned how to deal with our feelings.

Trust me, we don’t want to hurt our partners. I just don’t have as much space to deal with someone else's emotions because I often don’t even have space for my own.

We also fear emotional rejection from others and hold back sharing vulnerable parts of ourselves. Sometimes, all I have the energy for is dissociating because that’s what I did when I was a 5-year-old.

It is hard not experiencing relationships the same way my friends do. The first few months of a relationship feel like purgatory to me.

I can be fearful of losing myself or losing control. Giving my building fire to another person is risky when I’ve spent a lot of time trying to tame it and find peace with myself.

What an anxious person does not understand is if you fix your anxious tendencies, or even just put them on pause until we’re ready to talk, our avoidance also starts to go away.

The reality is that both anxious and avoidant attachment styles are unhealthy. It’s based on personal experiences which you prefer, but at their core they are just different ways of processing trauma.

No one chose to have an insecure attachment style, but avoidants are constantly harshly demonized or seen at the same level as narcissists and sociopaths.

and anxious when practicing for a public speech over and over.

When the styles come into conflict, both parties just need to meet halfway.

The avoidant or anxious should not have a goal to make the other person more like them, but to find a solution. Not every anxious needs to be nonchalant, and not every avoidant needs to be obsessed. The goal should be security, whatever that means to you and your partner.

The important thing to remember is that styles are not objective or permanent, and anyone can try to approach relationships with healthier lenses. The only real way to heal is to put yourself in a situation and choose to react differently than your old, unhealthy ways.

Fear of putting down my walls, trusting or getting hurt, can prohibit me from experiencing life to the fullest, but working towards healthy love is something that’s much more important for me.

The bottom line is that avoidants aren’t just cold-hearted, and every attachment needs their even opposite to

GRAPHICS BY MELANY GUTIERREZ

GRAPHICS BY MAYA BENMOKHTAR