@tccthecollegian • collegian.tccd.edu Lacking rings PG. 4
Wednesday, April 20, 2022 – Volume 35 • Issue 22
Flowing rhythm
DISTRICT
Students mixed on service AUSTIN FOLKERTSMA
senior editor austin.folkertsma@my.tccd.edu
Alex Hoben/The Collegian
Elisa De La Rosa performs during the Merge concert in Fort Worth April 14. She has helped choreograph work for TCC. Page 6
SOUTHEAST
Ukrainians share their strifes JUAN SALINAS II
senior editor juan.salinas465@my.tccd.edu
With the war in Ukraine ongoing, SE Spanish instructor Oksana Nemirovski wanted to focus on how it's been impacting ordinary people. Nemirovski had five Ukrainian guests speak to students about their experiences. It started with Irina Rodriguez. She is a professor of modern languages and comparative literature at the University of Dallas. She is originally from Kharkiv but moved to the U.S. in 1998. She spoke about the history of Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin's reasons behind the invasion. “People started to open their eyes about how vicious his propaganda is,” Rodriguez said. She said that Russia’s talking points for the war are misleading and some even outright false. She said she believed in some of the propaganda until 2014, when Russia annexed parts of Ukraine. “In 2014, that is when I really felt my
identity lies with Ukraine,” Rodriguez said. “[Putin] probably thought he was going to be met with open arms in Ukraine.” She cited that more Ukrainians are nationalists than ever before. They’re ready to push away the invasion for as long as possible. Helen Obidov — a fashion designer based in Dallas — shared her experience in 2014 during the annexation of Ukraine. “Eight years ago, Russian invaders came to my peaceful city in eastern Ukraine,” Obidov said. Obidov said she heard unfamiliar sounds that turned out to be grenade explosions and gunfire. She describes how Russians took over important government buildings, starting with the police building and city hall. “Russian invaders were pointing their machine guns at passing cars, and when the car would stop, they would throw out the driver and take them away,” she said. Obidov said she was threatened during an interview with Russian media. They wanted her to talk about how oppressed she was when Ukraine was in control and how grateful she was for Russia for invading.
“They had the text prepared in advance, and there was a man with a machine gun that had me at gunpoint,” she said. Obidov is still haunted by witnessing a little girl and her mother being killed by a mortar attack and said war isn't a video game. It must be stopped at all costs. It took Olena Partow five days to escape the current invasion of Ukraine on her annual trip to see her parents. “War comes suddenly. No one calls you,” Partow said. “‘Hey Oksana, we’re going to bomb you at 5 p.m.’” While she was escaping Ukraine, she was optimistic because she’s American, so she would get the help she needed. Partow expresses her frustration with Americans' attitude about the situation. “Stop complaining about gas prices,” she said. “Skip a couple of cups of your Starbucks per month, and you will be good.” Partow said people should be grateful to be in a first-world country not dealing with the direct effects of war because the Ukrainian people have lost everything. “Putin is an evil guy and a terrorist,” Partow said.
Alex Hoben/The Collegian
Oksana Nemirovski, Olena Partow, Irina Rodriguez and Liliana Nedzelska getting interviewed by CBS employees.
There is a certain pressure students feel when delivering a letter from Student Accessibility Resources to a faculty member. It can be an intimidating or embarrassing experience for them. Some even worry faculty members won’t adhere to their accommodations. For South student Ethan Huffman, he said the majority of his professors are phenomenal about adhering to his SAR letter and accommodations. “My math teacher, in particular, has been nothing but supportive about it, and has a class structure that is very easily adaptable to my situation,” Huffman said. “He even has a room designated for me in the math lab to take my tests.” NE student Julie Hollingsworth’s experience on NE Campus has been great. “They make me feel at ease, heard and understood,” Hollingsworth said. “All of my professors to this point at TCC have abided by my accommodations, and some have even gone above and beyond.” Hollingsworth said it’s always a little nerve-wracking meeting someone for the first time to talk about her disabilities. “My professors are kind enough to let me come in early or stay late to meet my accommodations,” she said. “They will wait until all students are gone to read a question out loud for me or so I can verbally clarify to them what big science word I’m trying to spell.” NE student Ashley Shaw’s experience with her professors is a bit different. Shaw has bilateral epilepsy — a type of epilepsy that starts in one area of the brain and then spreads to both sides — so she gives hand signals to her professors when she feels an oncoming seizure and needs to leave the classroom. “I can have some teachers be helpful with the accommodations, such as my history teacher Dr. Jack Anderson, but others
“It’s pretty common that the professors will miss the point of the accommodations in some aspects.”
Lei-sea Sky TR Student
aren’t so helpful,” Shaw said. “Some professors don’t show as much understanding and help that I tend to need, such as more time with an assignment or my seizures.” She appreciates that her history professor gives her more understanding and time with assignments when needed. “When my teacher doesn’t give me time for my assignments, I try to ask for more time, but when I’m told ‘no,’ I try to stay strong and keep going the best I can,” Shaw said. TR student Lei-Sea Sky is deaf, and she’s not overly concerned with confidentiality. “It’s pretty obvious that I’m the student the interpreters are there for, so for me personally, it doesn’t bother me if the professors don’t follow [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act] to a T,” Sky said. “It’s pretty common that the professors will miss the point of the accommodations in some aspects,” she said. She relies on a visual aid to communicate. She said by the time she’s looked at what “this” or “that” is, the professor has moved on. “Also, because it’s challenging to take notes while watching the interpreter, one of my accommodations is a note-taker, or [Communication Access Realtime Translation] services,” she said. “Referring to ‘this’ or ‘that’ creates a lot of gaps in the transcripts.”
News
Feature
Entertainment
Opinion
Editorial
BLOOD FEST NW drama puts on horror comedy show. PG. 2
EMBRACING CULTURES NE event aims to culturally educate students. PG. 3
UP TO NO GOOD Prequel franchise needs stronger spells. PG. 4
DEBATE IS DEAD Intelligent arguments have become a thing of the past. PG. 5
BLAZE IT UP Weed should be legalized. PG. 5
NEWS
2 • Wednesday, April 20, 2022 SOUTHEAST
Theater program puts on series of comic acts CAMERON WEBSTER
campus editor cameron.webster@my.tccd.edu cameron.webster @my.tccd.edu
The theater program at SE is putting on its final play of the semester. It will feature a series of comic one-act plays by David Ives titled “All in the Timing.” It will be performed at the Black Box Theater, and opening night is April 20 from 7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and the second show is April 21 at the same time. The performance April 22 is from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., with the final show at 7:30 p.m. that same day. Admission is pay-what-you-can, with all money earned going toward benefitting drama scholarships. The box office will open one hour before each performance, and tickets are walk-ups only. The performance will include “Sure
Thing,” “The Philadelphia,” “Words, Words, Words” and “Variations of the Death of Trotsky.” According to SE drama adjunct and director Brad McEntire, “All in the Timing” has a central theme surrounding the human experience. “We originally planned to do ‘All In The Timing’ back in the spring of 2020 and actually had it cast with one rehearsal under our belts before spring break, but then the pandemic hit, and the project had to be shelved,” McEntire said. “With flexible casting for four short plays packaged together on one bill, it seemed like a good project to do for this spring semester. It is kind of a nice, humorous production to round out the school semester.” The four plays have stories that range from a couple who fall in love to a universe that operates on Murphy’s Law. The stories also feature the many deaths of a murdered Marxist revolutionary and chimpanzees
attempting to emulate Shakespeare. One of the stars of the show is SE student Haleigh Ferguson. Ferguson has been cast as the character Betty in “Sure Thing,” as well as the character Mrs. Trotsky in “Variations of the Death of Trotsky.” Ferguson thinks her performance as Betty in particular will be extremely relatable and will portray feelings everyone can understand. “For ‘Sure Thing,’ it’s a couple that’s on a date, but it’s all of the ways a date can go wrong, and it’s really funny,” she said. ”It is super quick humor, so it’s a little bit hard in that way. It was really challenging in an acting sense, but it’s super-duper fun, and I think everybody kind of understands that humor and has been there with all the awkwardness of a date.” She added that her second character Mrs. Trotsky is essentially the support system for her husband as he slowly dies in
different ways over 24 hours. SE student Marc Aldridge will be portraying the character of Mr. Trotsky. “It’s basically the true story of a semifamous Russian communist who was exiled by Stalin to Mexico,” Aldridge said. “It’s kind of surrealist in a way, where it happens immediately the day after he had already been hit by the ax.” Aldridge will also be portraying Milton, one of the chimpanzees in “Words, Words, Words.” Because this production was delayed a full two years, the theater program is exceptionally excited to finally have this performance be seen by the public. McEntire hopes people who come to see it will, first and foremost, experience a laugh-out-loud moment but also leave the theater with something to think about. “It has been a long time coming for this project, specifically here at TCC SE,” he said. “To the audiences, I say, enjoy.”
TRINITY RIVER
Sign courses rise in popularity TREY FRANCIS
reporter collegian.editor@tccd.edu
Joel Solis/The Collegian
Actors Trey Kelly and Sadie rehearse for the opening night of “Slasher” April 12.
NORTHWEST
Production brings comedy to horror formula JUAN SALINAS II
senior editor juan.salinas465@my.tccd.edu
NW theater is putting a twist on the horror genre by adding comedy to the mix with its rendition of the play “Slasher” by Allison Moore. The play opens April 20 and will run until April 23. General admission is $6, but $3 for non-TCC students and seniors. TCC students and faculty get in for free. The performance starts at 7:30 p.m., except for Saturday since it begins at 2 p.m at the NW WTLO. “The play is about a young woman who gets hired to play the ‘last girl’ in a film called ‘Bloodbath,’” actor Trey Kelly said. Sheena, played by actor Madison Hale, thinks it’s the big break she’s been waiting for, but news of the movie angers her feminist mother to the point that she will do anything to stop the movie’s filming. “There is some twist with people’s internal monologues,” actor Hannah Bell said. “You get to see a horror movie being shot, but you also notice little dark things happening in the household.” “Slasher” isn’t tied to any class credit, so the actors use their spare time to practice and prepare for opening night. “For me personally, I really like the
description of the play, ‘a horrifying comedy,’” actor Lillie Galvan said. “I heard there was going to be a lot of blood, and that really intrigued me.” Students from the stagecraft class volunteered to do the blood for the play. Stage manager Casey Nail said the students did a ton of research to figure out the right mixture. Even though the play is a comedy, it deals with mature themes. The NW theater hasn’t done something this real before, Kelly said. “Francis has a bit of a drug problem, and this is one of the most intense roles that I played,” Galvan said. “This one is very real, and it hits close to home, so it’s kinda fun to pull from those experiences.” Kelly said the characters aren’t caricatures. They’re written like real people the audience could relate to. “There are three main scenes that will keep you on the edge of your seat and just pull at your heartstrings,” Bell said. Normally, the audience would be behind the stage, but they will be up close and personal with the actors for this production. “We want you to feel the tension and feel every emotion,” Bell said. Nail said the play is like watching a horror movie that is more funny than scary. “Y’all should come see it,” Bell said. “We put our blood, sweat and tears into this. Well, not our real blood.”
After the movie “CODA” won an Oscar this year, TCC has noticed that interest to become an American Sign Language interpreter has risen. CODA is a term used in the Deaf community, which means “Child of Deaf Adults,” and the movie displays the everyday life of how important an interpreter is for a deaf family. “I think there will be more people wanting to join the interpreting program, and I’m all for it,” TR professor of ASL Cheryl Sohns said. She said this is just the beginning of the effects of the movie on the Deaf community. “Sign language isn’t like other languages,” she said. “It takes a lot of different skills that are learned over several years starting with ASL 1 and working up to ASL 4. Once students join the program, they fall in love with the language and want to learn more about the culture.” Staff in the ASL program have already been informed of class sizes potentially increasing in the fall, Sohns said. TR professor of ASL Randal King stressed the importance of interpreters in the Deaf community and how they make a
bigger difference than most people think. “After seeing the movie, more people will know what it’s like for the Deaf community to be short on interpreters, and it will encourage them to join the program,” King said. “There are a lot of important places that require an interpreter. For example, in the hospital for a deaf individual, if there isn’t an interpreter, then it would create a real challenge.” However, the communication between interpreters and Deaf people can be challenging sometimes due to differently learned signs. Both ASL professors share the sentiment that most of the students who have gone through the program at TCC find success. TR interpreter/practicum coordinator Maureen Denner said going through the program at TCC was great for her, and she hopes many will go through it just like she did. Denner said the lack of interpreters has caused there to only be one interpreter for every 500 deaf individuals, and that one person can’t interpret for all of them at the same time. “Interpreting doesn’t even feel like a job,” Denner said. “To me, I see it as fun. Yes, it takes a few years to learn the skills, but once that’s out of the way, the fun begins.”
Ariel Desantiago/The Collegian
TR students Kayela Denison and Asher Kunz practice sign language in class.
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FEATURE
Wednesday, April 20, 2022 • 3
Photos by Alex Hoben/The Collegian
NE dance company Movers Unlimited break dance to hip-hop music outside of the NCAB building during the International Festival April 13.
Around the World NE International Festival highlights multiple cultures
RABBIA MOLAI
campus editor rabbia.molai@my.tccd.edu
For the first time since 2019, NE Campus hosted the International Festival, a three-day event celebrating varied cultures from around the world. The event was held from April 11 to April 13 and had a plethora of events for students to partake in. On the first day, there were keynote speakers and a film showing. On the second day of the festival, Grammy Award-winning band Brave Combo came and played a mix of different cultural tunes, which students could listen to while eating an array of Mexican cuisine. Spanish instructor Humberto Rodríguez was one of the organizers of this year’s festival. He was incredibly excited to showcase so many different cultures to students. “It’s good for cultural awareness and just exposing students to different cultures, different music and different forms of thinking,” Rodríguez said. This sentiment seemed to be shared by many students as well. NE student Carimar Vargas was incredibly happy with the events, expressing how she was pleasantly surprised by how interactive and fun it was. “I was expecting it to just be little stalls outside, but I loved the tables, the food, the band, it was all so much fun,” Vargas said. Vargas also spoke about how happy
she was that TCC was embracing the amount of cultural diversity present on its campuses by hosting these events. “I feel like it builds a sense of community here at the college by celebrating the diversity that’s obviously here,” Vargas said. The third day of events brought out a swarm of students. There were live performances from Bandan Koro African Drum and Dance Ensemble, Movers Unlimited dance team, NE Latin Jazz Orchestra and United Dance Academy Samba Troupe featuring Mr. Rodríguez. The performers invited students to come and learn the different art forms of their cultures. Bandan Koro taught students how to do traditional African dances, while United Dance Academy taught students the different ways to samba. Many students jumped at the opportunity to try something new and gain a better appreciation for another culture. “I didn’t think today I would wake up and try Afro-Brazilian dancing, but it was actually pretty interesting, and I’m leaving with a deeper appreciation for different cultures,” NE student Mikel Serpe said. Along with the performances, there were also free tacos and nachos, as well as tons of booths from different clubs, businesses and organizations for the students to experience. Two of the most popular booths were a free henna station and the Boys and Girls Club of America game van. Students were also excited to see
NE student Mikel Serpe visits the T-shirt table at the event April 13
Henna artist Nadiya Ratnani gives NE student Erin Hinton a henna tattoo during the International Festival April 13.
how many different resources they have available on campus. From free tutoring to 3D printing, there seemed to be a booth for anything a student could need to improve their experience. “It’s so fun seeing all the clubs and organizations out and seeing how many
resources really are on campus,” NE student Esmeralda Nava said. Nava commented on how refreshing it was to see so many students all together enjoying the festival rather than just solely being concerned with their classes.
NE student Jasmine Mcgown dances to the “Cupid Shuffle” during the event.
ENTERTAINMENT
4 • Wednesday, April 20, 2022
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Jacob Kowalski, Eulalie Hicks, Newt Schamander and Theseus Scamander stare at a briefcase they’re hiding from the antagonist Gellert Grindelwald.
MOVIE REVIEW
Not-so-magical world of Harry Potter AUSTIN FOLKERTSMA
senior editor austin.folkertsma@my.tccd.edu
The third installment of the “Fantastic Beasts” series was a beastly deuce in the toilet. Half of the male characters looked like they were constipated. Probably because of this movie, and I wouldn’t blame them for it. Credence Barebone, played by Ezra Miller, looked like they had a really punchable face. I loved the concept of “the wand chooses the wizard” in Harry Potter, but instead, in “Fantastic Beast,” a wand is just handed to a muggle/human, and all of the wands look the same. No more Dragon heartstring or Phoenix feather. The prop designers looked really lazy when making the wands because
instead of making each one unique, they just mass-produced a lot of the same wand. Gellert Grindelwald, played by Mads Mikkelson, is plotting to take over the Wizarding World and start a war between the wizards and the muggles, so it’s up to Albus Dumbledore to stop him. However, he can’t do it alone, given the past between Grindelwald and Dumbledore, played by Jude Law, so he recruits trusted friends from Hogwarts to help defeat him. The only two parts that saved this movie for me were the symbolism behind the pendant and a comedic crab-like creature’s dance scene, but I’ll get back to the second thing later on. The pendant held blood from Dumbledore and Grindelwald. It was a blood pact they had made to not destroy each other. Dumbledore was always seen in hiding because he wasn’t able to participate in this war until the pendant shattered, allowing
him to finally participate, but Grindelwald retreated into hiding before Dumbledore could do anything. Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne, ventures into a cave to save his brother Theseus Scamander, played by Callum Turner, and he stumbles upon the crab-like creatures. At first, they appear to be tiny and harmless but then turn into giant scorpions with multiple stingers. Scamander finds a way to get around these creatures by doing some old ritual imitation dance and along with it came “Macarena-like” music, which was pretty funny. The classic “Harry Potter” music was also great, and some other instrumental music throughout the movie added to it. Another grievance I have with this film is there are hardly any duels happening, and the ones that do happen looked fantastic, but overdone. It’s a 2 and a half hour movie, they could’ve
incorporated some fantastic duels in there. The overall film just seemed very low budget, and the plot itself was just woeful. The first movie was great, but the “Fantastic Beast” series just plunged from there. The series is scheduled to have two more movies, but how much worse can they really get from this film? Whatever grievances people have in the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard case, leave it at the door. Depp did fantastic in the first two films as Grindelwald, and it saddens me that he isn’t in this film. Mikkelsen’s version of Grindelwald was average at best. Depp not being in this movie wasn’t all bad because this is the kind of film to single-handedly destroy someone’s career, and I don’t want that for him.
MOVIE REVIEW
‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’ is enjoyably subpar JOSÉ ROMERO
editor-in-chief collegian.editor@tccd.edu
“Sonic the Hedgehog 2” is like a glass of milk on a hot summer day. It’s not exactly what you want, but it gets the job done. Much like the first film, “Sonic 2” is filled with subpar humor, mediocre human characters and a plot that can be predicted with your eyes closed. The excuse that it’s a film targeted toward children is not valid when films such as “Spider-Man: Into the SpiderVerse” exist. It’s lazily written and has emotional beats that rarely manage to tug on heartstrings, no matter how hard it tries. But, even with all of its flaws, it’s a fun film, as long as you turn your brain off for 2 hours. The story picks up a short time after where the first one ends. The antagonist Dr. Eggman is stuck on another planet, and Sonic is living his best life with his adoptive family. Life is good but not perfect. Sonic is itching to use his superspeed to help others, resulting in him causing more harm than good. Generic human father figure gives Sonic the “with great power comes great responsibility” speech, Eggman comes back and yada yada. The plot really doesn’t matter in this kind of film. It’s all about the fanservice and set pieces, which is this film’s best characteristic. Fan-favorite characters Knuckles and Tails make their way onto the big screen, and they look great. There was a pretty big controversy surrounding Sonic’s original design when the trailer for the first movie was released. His realistic features and proportions made him break right through the uncanny valley. Fortunately, it was changed for a more favorable cartoony approach. The design of all the CG anthropomorphic animals is quite faithful to the source material. The artists/ modelers did a great job. Jim Carrey’s Eggman looks good as well, even if he’s missing his stomach.
Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures Studios
Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwartz, and Tails, voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessey, fly in a biplane to escape danger.
CG characters can be tricky. If the voice actor doesn’t give a solid performance, then the animator is stuck with the grunt work of making the character likable. Fortunately, Ben Schwartz of “Parks and Recreation” fame oozes charisma. Even if his jokes don’t always land, he keeps the energy going, making the Blue Blur the most tolerable he’s been in a while. Miles “Tails” Prower is voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessey, which was a great choice since she’s been voicing him in video games and cartoons since 2014. That focus on authenticity benefits the movie heavily. Because of her experience as a voice actor, she conveys everything the audience needs to know about tails. He’s timid but intelligent and
desperately wants to be like Sonic. Last but not least, People Magazine’s 2018 “Sexiest Man Alive” Idris Elba voices Knuckles, an echidna that takes everything at face value. His portrayal is similar to the way Dave Bautista plays Drax in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films. He has a hard time understanding colloquialisms and is overly stoic. It was an odd casting choice that paid off in full. There are other characters besides the trio, but practically all of them bring down the movie. It’s jarring that the filmmakers think the human characters are interesting enough to be the sole focus for more than five minutes. If the movie had no human characters at all, it would benefit from it. But, there is one
exception. Carrey’s Eggman exudes Ace Ventura and Mask energy. Even at 60 years old, Carrey carries himself with unmatched energy. He’s flying all over the place, giving Nicholas Cage a run for his money. The inevitable sequel has a couple of lessons to learn. The human characters are boring, fart jokes aren’t funny and people are watching the movie for the CG characters. “Sonic 2” teeter-totters between a fun movie and one that thinks it should stop focusing on a super-fast hedgehog for a wedding subplot.
OPINION
Wednesday, April 20, 2022 • 5
EDITORIAL
Government must step up to legalize weed The war on drugs has been going on for about 50 years now, and it’s time to admit it didn’t work. The U.S. has overwhelmingly punished people of color for the use of marijuana, a substance that has more positive effects than alcohol or cigarettes. A Black person is 3.64 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person, even though Black and white people use marijuana at similar rates, according to an American Civil Liberties Union press release. The federal government must be the one to legalize marijuana since conservative states such as Texas are unlikely to become progressive on this issue. It would also need to clean up the massive mess of millions of people in prison for marijuana charges. April 1, the House passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act. This would decriminalize cannabis, removing it from the federal list of controlled substances. This is unlikely to pass the Senate, and President Joe Biden’s hesitancy to legalize marijuana on a federal level doesn’t help, seeing that he once called it a “gateway drug” on the campaign trail. It’s a great first step for legalization to become a reality. This is one issue that’s overwhelmingly supported by the American people. Overall, 91% of American adults say marijuana should be legal for recreational or medical use, according to Pew Research Center. This could potentially be a great advantage to whoever can drag their party out of the Stone Age and to the
Tj Favela/The Collegian 21st century and push for the legalization of weed. This issue could swing an election. While it’s most likely the Democrats will achieve this, you can never underestimate their ability to miss the political moment and let the Grand Old Party steal an easy layup. At this point, It’s a matter of
when weed will be legalized at the federal level. Once it is, federal and state governments must be willing to clean millions of records. These people’s lives are forever ruined due to having this blemish. They can’t get financial aid for higher education, travel abroad, get a house or a job, and most importantly, vote. Why are these people being held
VIEWPOINTS
in a facility with people who have committed more severe crimes? It’s due to the privatization of prisons. Private companies run prisons for both the federal government and 29 states. Private companies hold about 8% of inmates around the U.S., according to The Sentencing Project. According to World Population Review, the U.S. ranked first in the
incarceration rate. Once again, it is evident the federal government sold out the majority of the population to benefit a small portion of people, using the funds to lobby in Washington D.C. The Trump administration reversed an Obama administration policy regarding the Justice Department’s reliance on private prisons. The Biden administration has reversed Trump’s awful decision, to give credit where credit is due. But there needs to be a whole restructuring of the prison system to ensure that it doesn’t disenfranchise millions of minorities and actually rehabilitate them. While marijuana is overall more beneficial than other substances, it still needs to be highly regulated and taxed. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, using marijuana before age 18 may affect how the brain builds connections for functions like attention, memory and learning. The brain doesn’t fully develop until the age of 25. Therefore, the minimum age should be at least 21 to consume it and there should be laws that prohibit driving under the influence of marijuana. The taxation of it will greatly affect the federal deficit. The state of Oregon generated $60.2 million in tax revenue from recreational marijuana in 2016. It was originally estimated marijuana sales would produce $44 million during the year. The federal government must step up and take this one step closer to ending this war on drugs that disproportionately targets minorities.
Struggles of growing up stuck between two different worlds
Shift in purpose of arguments has been detrimental to debate
walk outside, you are faced with the harsh reality that, to your peers, in a sense, you will never be fully American enough. Maybe it will be because of religious differences or challenges, or maybe it will simply be because of cultural norms you just can’t seem to escape. It will seem like almost half your life has been spent explaining to your friends that it doesn’t matter how old you are, you still have to ask your parents for permission. The other half is explaining to your parents that going to prom doesn’t mean you will give up on your life goals and become a hermit. You’ll somehow be labeled a goodytwo-shoes by the American standard while simultaneously being the wild child by the South Asian standard. Yeah, confusion overload. At some point, you will begin to wonder when you should stop thinking about how to please everyone else’s expectations and finally begin to form your own. There will always be a standard you won’t be able to meet. Whether that be living life to the fullest standard of American society or the traditional family values of South Asian society. The truth of the matter is both communities will always resonate with you in one way or another, but it’s up to you how you choose to let the two sides influence the way you live your life. You shouldn’t have to choose between the culture you were born into and the country you grew up in. As cliche as it sounds, at the end of the day, both sides go hand in hand, hence the term Asian American. At the end of the day, you have two choices: you can either waste your life caring what other people think about you, or you can choose to live.
hoarse trying to be heard over one another. When someone believes they are attacked in an argument, they won’t hear any of the words said after the strike, instead, because of what arguments have become, they will bristle and immediately lash back. How can you expect them to listen and understand if the conversation is started with an air of hostility? The ability to learn and grow from disagreement has become a rarity in popular culture. Our social media platforms create extreme material to garner extreme reactions for better ad revenue. Any time you look on Twitter for more than five minutes, there are threads of people screaming at each other over a minor disagreement. Now, this on its own, if it’s restricted to the online space, would be fine, but now we’re seeing the same thing happening in public spaces. Arguments have become hot flashes of half-baked statements that would fit the Twitter count without the depth needed for constructive conversation. Instead of a consensus we are now only believing that you can either have a right or wrong opinion, so we’ve damned ourselves. How can you hope to reach common ground if you’ve already dug yourself into a ditch for your pride? How can I have a meaningful argument with a wall of stone? That’s the state we find ourselves in as a society. We would rather avoid confrontation altogether. Debating has lost its purpose, the meeting of separate opinions presented and then analyzed all for the sake of helping the other side gain a better understanding of how to make a stronger argument. Confrontation has taken precedence over comprehension in the public, and I believe through our obstinance, we will contribute to the downfall of public discourse.
RABBIA MOLAI campus editor
rabbia.molai@my.tccd.edu
Growing up as a second-generation South Asian American can often feel like being stuck between two different worlds and somehow not being fully accepted in either. Living in an immigrant household comes with many pros, but the con is it can often feel like stepping into a different universe for a kid growing up in one. Inside your home, you will feel like the most cultured version of yourself you can muster. Your parents will tell you they have expectations, and it’s your job to fulfill them, so you try your best, but somehow it’ll always seem like it’s not enough for someone somewhere. In the eyes of those in your community, you will always be too Westernized. Your opinions will be too liberal, your expectations of life will be too wild, and most of all, you will somehow never amount to as much in life as your cousin. That’s the interesting part of the South Asian community. As much as there is a deep-rooted sense of respect and value for the elders of your family, along with it comes the inevitable onslaught of opinions from every “aunty” and “uncle” in the tristate area. It’s OK, though, right? Because you can just chill and be the real you when you leave the house? Nope, the minute you
ALEX HOBEN photo ph oto editor
alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu alexandra.hoben @my.tccd.edu
Arguing to win rather than to understand has become the norm, and this will be detrimental to our society going forward. Debate is an irreplaceable pillar of a functional society. It’s a multipurpose tool that can bring light to facets of the public sphere that can be changed for the better. However, in the past 15 years, it seems the most important aspect of an argument isn’t the pride in being able to educate, but instead, the vindication in being able to classify the argument as a “win.” This victory-oriented mindset is poison to a productive argument. When you approach a debate with the same amount of mental armor you’d use to go into actual combat, you’ve already lost. How can any understanding or even a counter-argument get past that impenetrable barrier of your own stubbornness? When two swords cross, there’s no give, just the clashing of rigid principles with sparks flying around, ready to ignite a flame. This inflexible reaction to hearing constructive criticism is ridiculous because it’s through evaluation that we can grow and better ourselves. We need to keep these disputes in the realm where we can listen to each other, or else we will scream ourselves
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FEATURE
6 • Wednesday, April 20, 2022
Photo by Alex Hoben/The Collegian
SE associate professor of dance Brandy Niccolai-Belfi performs during Merge April 14.
Various campuses represented at Merge dance concert in Fort Worth CAMERON WEBSTER
campus editor cameron.webster@my.tccd.edu
Sundance Square Plaza in downtown Fort Worth was alive with dance April 14 as TCC held the 12th annual “Merge: Tarrant County College District Faculty & Guest Artist Dance Concert.” NW associate professor of dance Amy Jennings is the creator behind Merge and has been the event’s organizer since its inception in 2008. “This concert came about so that faculty can share their professional artistry and so that our TCC dance students had the opportunity to learn the craft of technical production,” Jennings said. “In 2015, when Sundance Square was rebirthed with a plaza stage, I had decided what a wonderful opportunity to bring dance to the heart of Fort Worth. There is something unique in dance that we have the ability to craft our work in various venues.” The event featured perfor mances from numerous faculty members as well as outside dance professionals and organizations. Special invites for this year’s event were the University of North Texas Dance Ensemble and the University of Texas in Arlington Maverick Dance Company. “This season, we opened the invitation to our four-year colleagues to expose our TCC dance students to further dance in higher education, as well as the professional world of dance DFW offers,” Jennings said. Guests were treated to 90 minutes of dancing with different styles on display. These styles included modern and post-moder n dance, moder n hip-hop fusion, contemporary ballet and ballet folklórico. The performances were a combination of solo, duet and ensemble dance works. SE associate professor of dance Brandy Niccolai-Belfi performed a t M e rg e a n d s p o k e a b o u t how important the concert is to students at TCC.
“TCC has thriving dance programs on four campuses (NW, NE, S, SE),” Niccolai-Belfi said. “Our classes are accessible to all students with experience levels ranging from beginner to advanced. Students can enroll in our movementbased courses either for credit or non-credit… Then, maybe one day, we will see them on stage with us in Merge achieving their goals and pursuing their passion of dance.” C u r re n t T C C d a n c e students are used every year as the infrastructure of the concert. They are put into support roles to make sure the event goes off without a hitch. Jennings said the exposure they receive to the professional dance world is a huge benefit if they plan to continue into higher education in dance. “ T h e s t u d e n t s a re t h e production and technical crew for this event and always have been,” Jennings said. “Students are stage managers, assistant stage managers, greeters to the audience, emcees for the concert and our student ambassadors take care of the guest artists’ needs prior, during and postperformance. This is part of the learning outreach and allows our students to have the experience of t ech n i ca l a s p e ct s r u n n i n g a s h o w, a s well as threading into the fabric of our vibrant dance community.” Niccolai-Belfi hopes attendees gained an understanding of how important dance can be. “The concert is a one-stopshop to experience the thriving dance community in and around Ta r r a n t C o u n t y, ” s h e s a i d . “We hope that it educates the audience about the importance of, not only dance, but also art in our lives and our students’ lives.”
Photo by Joel Solis/The Collegian
Associate professor of dance Amy L. Jennings performs her piece “Adoration” during the Merge dance concert.
Photo by Joel Solis/The Collegian
SE adjunct instructor of dance Ginny Wheeler during the Merge concert.
Photo by Joel Solis/The Collegian
NE adjunct professor of dance Najwa Seyedmorteza during Merge.
Photo by Alex Hoben/The Collegian
Assistant professor of dance at Texas Woman’s University Elisa De La Rosa performs “Fronteras” during the Merge dance concert April 14.