TCC The Collegian August 31, 2022

Dyeing of fun - See students experiment with color and cloth Page 4

Wednesday, August 31, 2022 – Volume 36 • Issue 2

@tccthecollegian • collegian.tccd.edu

DISTRICT

Student employees about to receive raise Trustees approve pay rate increase starting Sept. 1 in an effort to help rising costs ALEX HOBEN

editor-in-chief alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu

Students who work on campus will soon see their pay increase to $15 per hour.

When the board of trustees approved the budget at its Aug. 18 meeting, TCC employees received a 5% pay increase, and the student workers’ pay rate rose as well. This takes effect Sept. 1 and will be reflected in paychecks after that.

Chief operating officer Susan Alanis highlighted this increase in her presentation to the board.

“Starting this fall, we actually increased the minimum rate for students to be hired to $15 as well,” Alanis said. “Hopefully, that will encourage students to get a good positive experience here. I think they fare well in terms of completion by having employment on campus as well.”

TCC sent out a districtwide email a couple of days after letting students know of the new pay rate, encouraging them to apply across the campuses. Alanis explained this rate will help bring in more student employees needed by TCC. “We’re competing with every employer out there that’s hiring at that level,” she said. “So we were having difficulty giving students an experience and filling some of our administrative needs on the campuses well.”

Students before made anywhere from $8.79-$12 an hour. NE Campus career services student worker Sarah Mendoza provided details on how the pay rate proposal was formed.

“The career services departments at all campuses have been

working on the proposal for this pay raise for quite a while,” Mendoza said. “They compared the pay rate at TCC to other universities and community colleges’ pay rate for their students as well as factored in the increase in cost of living over the last few years. It was a very indepth proposal.”

Mendoza also gave additional information on the specifics of the pay rate increase.

“There is no longer a pay scale. All student workers will be paid a flat rate of $15 per hour,” Mendoza said. “It is unclear if there will still be different position types or if we will transition into a general student employment position.”

Mendoza explained how on NE Campus, many positions need to be filled, and any students looking to apply can do so through the TCC student employment application at jobs.tccd.edu.

When she heard about the pay raise, NE student worker and peer leader Ren Maenza-Oliver was excited but confused.

“I wasn’t sure if it was, like, being implemented at our campus,” Maenza-Oliver said. “I just thought it was at other campuses.”

She said she wasn’t sure whether the new pay would be a flat rate across the positions or if there would be a scale like the previous rate. But she said how anything would be an improvement.

“I’m not asking questions.

If you’re telling me I get $15 an hour, I am cool with that,” MaenzaOliver said. “Since I have worked for the school for a few years now, it was kind of getting to the point where I was wanting to ask for a raise, but I haven’t really been in the student activities office long enough to ask.”

Ariel Desantiago/The Collegian

Vanessa Gonzalez and Mia Perez take down students orders at the TR campus Starbucks cafe.

Maenza-Oliver said she has been employed in some fashion at TCC since 2019, and it has helped her feel more like an adult and has boosted her love of TCC and the community within it.

“It’s made me feel more confident,” she said. “So I’ve gotten to learn a lot more about the college and what we do. And it’s just fueled my love for it.”

But some of Maenza-Oliver’s colleagues are disappointed by the news of this pay increase because they were already getting paid near that amount so now the work they’ve put into reaching their senior positions is being negated.

“They’ve been here for, like,

four or five years,” she said. “So I think that it would be nice to have a pay scale that goes by, obviously, performance and then seniority.”

Nonetheless, she believes this pay increase will help out students immensely in this period of financial uncertainty.

“With inflation and the cost of everything going up, it is important to help people meet those requirements,” Maenza-Oliver said. “Our apartments need three times their rent. And I’m sorry, but no one can afford that. No one is doing that.”

Mendoza explained that this pay increase was made with those financial needs in mind.

“We know that many students

face challenges like food, housing and child care access so we hope this wage increase will help support the financial stability and academic success of our student employees,” Mendoza said.

Maenza-Oliver is excited to see more students apply and get the opportunity to learn and grow in a student employee position like she did, now with a higher wage.

“We’re all different ages, all different types of people,” she said.

“So it’s nice to know that whether you’re 18 or 54, you can have a job at TCC and make a decent amount of money.”

NORTHEAST

Students kick off beginning of fall semester at Welcome Week event enjoyed being able to see everyone gathering and having the opportunity to see more of what the campus has to offer.

NE Campus kicked off their first week of classes with a plethora of Welcome Week events, one of which was well received by students.

On Thursday, Aug. 25th, the student activities center held a party on the plaza outside the NSTU. There was free pizza from Jet’s Pizza as well as a buffet set up from Genuine Foods with mini-pizzas and baked goods.

Along with the food stations, the entire center corner was scattered with tables from all sorts of clubs and organizations on campus for students to be able to interact with. From stickers to stress balls the student center was filled with booths waiting to give away prizes and bring in student interest. However, it wasn’t just TCC staff running these booths.

Many of the organizations on campus are student-led and this was their first opportunity of the semester to shine. One such participant was NE student Mallory Sanders, who is a member of the dance club and part of the team representing their booth at the

event.

“People don’t usually go online to check out the events, but here we’re right in people’s face.

Like you have to walk by us to get to your classes, so it’s a good opportunity to show what all we offer,” Sanders said.

She also spoke about how the event was an opportunity for her on a personal level to overcome her shyness and come out of her shell.

“I overcame my social anxiety and talked to someone about the dance club that I’m a part of, so it’s a nice start to the year,” she said.

Along with the students working the event, it seemed that the attendees were also enjoying themselves. NE student Lillyah Snipes was excited to get a jumpstart on the fall semester with Welcome Week.

“I thought it was pretty cool and amazing to do these types of events and see all the different clubs and organizations,” Snipes said.

Much like Snipes fellow NE student Andrea Rodgers also had a similar outlook on the event.

Rodgers was particularly excited because most of her classes were on the far side of campus, so she

Never Have I Ever Season three leaves us wanting more Page 2

Americans can be conceited US has a serious self-absorption problem Page 3

Monkeypox, polio are back Viruses make a comeback in the American sphere Page 3

RABBIA MOLAI

managing editor rabbia.molai@my.tccd.edu

Rabbia Molai/The Collegian

NE students Isabel Soto, Mallory Sanders, Hyun Jung Chang and Elida Saucedo perform a kickline at Welcome Week.

Joel Solis/The Collegian

NE students Tammy Vajakasiwola and Daequan Jones speak to students at the event.

I thought it was pretty cool and amazing to do these types of events and see all the different clubs and organizations.

Lillyah Snipes NE Student

“It’s actually really cool to see what they do on the college campuses,” Rodgers said. “I feel like you can actually get to know people better and you can make more friends.”

According to Sanders, students used this Welcome Week event as a way to not only kickoff a new semester and see what NE Campus has to offer but more importantly as a way to get out of their shells and try something new.

2 • Wednesday, August 31, 2022 SHOW REVIEW

“Never Have I Ever” watched season 3?

Photo courtesy of Netflix

Devi Vishwakumar and Paxton Hall-Yoshida walk down the hallway in their relationship debut during season 3 of “Never Have I Ever.”

RABBIA MOLAI

managing editor rabbia.molai@my.tccd.edu

Netflix released season three of its hit series “Never Have I Ever” on Aug. 12th, this latest addition to the series definitely had some interesting twists and turns.

For the past two seasons, we’ve watched Devi and her friends try and navigate the world of grief, drama and dating. Up until season two, Devi’s character development consisted of cheating on her boyfriend, breaking up and somehow getting back together all within the span of four episodes.

The beginning of season three looked to be the same as the other two, however, this season had some interesting surprises. For one, Devi seemed to finally be picking up life lessons and making fewer of the same mistakes. Within the first couple of episodes, we saw her get more comfortable with her decisions. Even as she faced the pain of her breakup with Paxton, she worked through her feelings rather than resorting directly to rage as she’d done in the past.

One particular aspect of Devi’s character development was her surge in empathy towards her friends. In the past, she had a tendency to forget about Eleanor and Fabiola’s feelings and only consider her own, but now she seemed to genuinely care about their lives and wanted them to be happy even if she necessarily wasn’t.

One of the biggest new additions to the show was the entrance of an Indian male romantic lead in the form of Des. Although their first meeting was unbearably awkward the relationship between Devi and Des was actually quite refreshing to see in the show. Des seemed to really feel like an equal to Devi, he was able to understand the difficulties she was facing in her life as well as match her intellectual energy.

Although Devi’s past prospects had their pros, they always seemed to lack somewhere for her. In her own words “Ben gets my super-brainy side, Paxton gets my megahorny side.” It seemed like Des managed to check all the boxes for our brainy and hormonal lead character. Although the Des and Devi breakup was really unfortunate it did show the comfort that Devi had in herself, as well as the love and strength she gained with her mom.

Speaking of her mom, Nalini’s new friendship with Rhyah, though rocky, was a nice start to gaining an insight into her personal life. Along with the new additions, the continuation of flashbacks with Devi’s dad Mohan was a nice touch and gave a lot of context as to why Nalini had many of her rules in place for Devi.

This s eas on als o gave us more understanding into the lives of Devi’s friend group as well. Eleanor and Trent’s relationship was an unexpected yet adorable addition as they seemed to balance each other out well. On the other hand, Fabiola

Photo courtesy of Netflix

Eleanor Wong, Fabiola Torres and Aneesa Qureshi help Devi Vishwakumar get ready for her big romantic night with Nirdesh or Des as he’s known. and Aneesa getting together for an episode seemed pretty unnecessary and was kind of overkill.

If you’re looking for a light-hearted feelgood show, season three of “Never Have I Ever” is definitely worth a watch. The show has a decently well-balanced outlook on the

new-age South Asian American experience and seems to be going in an interesting direction.

MUSIC REVIEW

Demi Lovato’s latest album takes no prisoners ALEX HOBEN

editor-in-chief alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu

Demi Lovato’s “FVCK YOU” album released Aug. 19 is a raw, painful score lifting the curtain on the conflict the singer went through being a child star and the repercussions after breaking free.

The tracks in this collection are like if you took someone’s journey through their depression and drug-addled downward spiral, then went with them through recovery and introspection and then smacked that onto a typical early 2000s rock format.

The composition and the instrumentals in these songs brought me back to rocking out to Linkin Park, Evanescence and Papa Roach. Lovato’s power through their voice is impressive and the emotion can be clearly heard in the way they scream out the lyrics they want to get across. The heartbreak they felt was not just from the emotional release of singing the song, but the inspiration for the lyrics is obvious from the delivery.

As good as Lovato’s voice is, the lyrics at times do get confusing, especially in their relation to the rhythm of the song itself.

Some lyrics or lines repeat multiple times even though it breaks the flow of the song, now this might be intentional but it just sounded disjointed and out of place.

The stand-out song overall isn’t actually the namesake of the album but instead “29”, this song is a wild ride from the very first acoustic lyric to the disjointed sudden end and it is fantastic. The song addresses the relationship Lovato had with Wilmer Valderrama when they were 17 and he was 29, the revelations they had of how messed up that was of him and how they know better now. The lyrics are pointed and accusatory, the way Lovato slowly loses composure in their voice the longer the song goes is moving, if there is only one song to listen to on this album, it’s this one.

Photo courtesy of YouTube

Demi Lovato performs in their music video of “29” on Youtube. The video released prior to the albums debut.

What’s interesting about this album is normally when you’re dealing with such painful memories and topics through music it will evolve into a story where each song leads to the other, like Lil Nas X’s Montero album, but in this case it feels like each song is it’s own journey instead and we just see the barest snapshot of what Lovato went through when writing it.

Lovato doesn’t sugarcoat anything, they are upfront with everything they went through clearly stating it in the lyrics. iIt’s refreshing to see an album not try to beautify or make someone’s suffering artistic. This

album is pure catharsis for them and the listener is just getting a glimpse of what all that pressure and those expectations of being a child star can do to someone.

The nostaglic feel from the music implies that Lovato wanted to make this kind of music when they were younger but couldn’t because of all the boxes they had to fit in as a Disney child star.

The freedom that can be felt screaming the lyrics to “FREAK” down the highway or crying because of the message in “HAPPY ENDING” are all the things Lovato couldn’t do when they were made to conform into

ideals that are explained in “EAT ME”.

This album is a testament to the horrors of the image-based entertainment industry and what trying to rebel against yourself can do to your psyche. but there’s still somehow hope, the last track “4 EVER 4 ME”, is a love song looking forward to the future with the one they’ve chosen to be with and that is exactly the sort of soother needed after such a wild ride of emotions serating the soul.

Wednesday, August 31, 2022 • 3 EDITORIAL

Viruses are back. Have we learned nothing?

The outbreaks of monkeypox and polio in the U.S. feel like some sickening kind of deja vu.

In the past six months, these two diseases have reappeared in the American sphere. It is almost insulting to have to deal with these new potential ways to get sick as well as COVID-19, which is still a problem. If these diseases are handled in the same way as COVID, that spells bad news.

Currently, there are almost 17,000 cases of monkeypox in the U.S., and that number is steadily increasing from its initial discovery in America during May. Texas alone has over 1,000 cases. Despite that, we still don’t have a clear view of what we should look out for because governmental forums haven’t addressed it as an outbreak prominently. Polio was just recently detected through sewage in New York, evidence of a local spreading of the virus.

The information about these new diseases isn’t being dispersed and advertised properly. Because of that, it’s hard to know exactly what to be careful of. The most generally known details about monkeypox are how it’s spread through close contact and that it causes rashes. With polio, all that’s generally known is how it can cause paralysis. Some may not even know it’s contagious. This is incredibly dangerous because it’s exactly this kind of murky information that led to COVID getting as bad as it did in such a short period of time.

This feels oddly familiar to the beginning of the pandemic when all the public knew was that COVID

was spread through coughing and it could take away a person’s sense of smell and taste. The country is still going through the pandemic, and the government is supposed to know better now. But the slow, lackluster responses to these new viruses show that nothing has changed and now the list of potential risks just keeps climbing.

America handled COVID poorly, let’s not mince words. The government was slow to react to the initial onset of the spreading disease, and then the public made a spectacle of politicizing the most basic precautions.People took to the streets to complain about their rights while people were dying in beds because precautions weren’t taken

Tj Favela/The Collegian

seriously. Many lives were lost, and now it seems we’re going to be right back into the flames with these new outbreaks.

These illnesses, specifically polio, were thought to have been already eradicated in the U.S., and it’s angering to see that they are coming back, especially after we’ve been put through the constant

shadow of COVID for the past two years. Now we have to deal with the knowledge that every time you step out outside, it’s not just one major disease out there — there’s three.

With Dr. Fauci slated to step down at the end of the year, it begs the question: Where do we go from here? He was treated by the government as a figurehead who could combat the pandemic himself.

But he’s just one man, a man beaten down by the expectations of the public as well as a sudden pandemic that left health officials understaffed and stretched thin. And now, he’s heading out of office. America will be left without a public figure giving us the information we need in such uncertain times.

Plenty of capable people could replace him, of course, and what’s most important is prioritizing the health of Americans. But with new viruses cropping up, that’s a difficult task for anyone. What needs focus are the vaccines and the cures for these viruses so that we can get healthy as quickly as possible.

As it stands now, another lockdown doesn’t seem necessary.

But considering these viruses are also caused by contact with others, a lockdown almost seems inevitable if they aren’t gotten under control.

As unfair as it feels, it’s imperative to stay vigilant and informed. Wash your hands, cover your mouth and keep your distance from sick people. If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s exactly what was being said before the whole world was locked in for a year. Here’s hoping we learned our lesson.

VIEWPOINTS

Too many options have made choosing an impossible task

ALEX HOBEN

editor-in-chief

alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu

After a long day of school and work, all that’s on my agenda is to go home and relax by watching videos on the internet. At least that’s how it should be, but for some reason, I can’t pick anything to put on so my brain can turn off.

There’s just way too much to sort through that I’m more likely to be paralyzed with indecision rather than giving my brain the break it deserves. This dance of doom with the scroller of titles on streaming services has just become the norm.

More time is spent looking through every genre on Netflix or Hulu, occasionally saying, “Oh, that looks interesting.” But there’s never an actual decision made. Then, when snapped back into reality, all the snacks are gone, the end of the webpage is reached no closer to knowing what to watch.

This isn’t just a problem on streaming platforms. It’s across the online space.

Everywhere you go, every website you visit and every link you click brings more content shoveled into your brain. It’s absolutely insane.

When the social aspects of the internet began, it was simple forums and online catalogs that barely filled up a thimble in terms of memory space. Now in 2022, it is an ocean of data ready to drag you in. The viewer flails under streams of trends and

Why do some Americans think they’re better than everyone?

advertisements, trying to tread water in the realm of entertainment with YouTube and Netflix just to have a wave of internet trolling wash over from Twitter.

The online world now is just too loud.

It has so many possibilities when you log on, and everyone wants you to check out their latest project. It’s now akin to walking through an outdoor market — with barkers yelling out their prices and all you know is that you’re hungry and don’t have a preference.

All these possibilities have turned us incapable of settling for something. This is incredibly dangerous because now we’re seeing how this constant output of ideas will affect us in the real world. I can’t decide which posts I want to see, or where I want to watch my shows, and now I’m even having difficulties deciding who I am listening to in a crowded environment even if someone is talking to me directly.

The abundance of content, especially short-form videos like on TikTok or Instagram reels, has made it so the brain is constantly switching gears without settling on an answer.

I know it’s hit me pretty hard, especially after the pandemic sent me to my phone for my contact with the outside world. I can’t even watch a movie within a set time period now, especially if I’m the one with the remote, I’m always having to pause so I can get food or check a message. Then, it’s an hour later, and I never pressed play again even though I really wanted to watch the movie.

There are just so many possibilities when it comes to how I can spend my time now, but at this point I think it’d be easier to just stare at the wall rather than have to wage an internal war every time I just want to relax.

RABBIA MOLAI

managing editor

rabbia.molai@my.tccd.edu

America. We’re like that club that everyone wants to be a part of. At least, that’s what we’d like to think.

With Hollywood, Disneyland and the Big Apple, we really think we have it all. But what does it truly mean to be an exceptional country? We have plenty of potential to be great, but there is one problem that we just can’t seem to get past — ourselves.

As a whole, America has a serious selfabsorption problem, much of it stemming from the fact that the majority of our mass media outlets only feed us local information.

Just take our news outlets, for example.

You can barely get information on other cities, let alone other countries. What’s strange is that we’re one of the only major countries in the free world that has its media set up this way. England or New Zealand, for example, have current events from all over the world as part of their regular nightly news.

In the 21st century, there isn’t an excuse for not being well-informed on topics outside of oneself. Being alive in the age of smartphones and high-speed internet means the gateway to information is always open.

So why is no one using it?

No country is perfect, but one must acknowledge the issues present and be

willing to fix them. When you’ve already made up your mind to believe that you can do no wrong, trying to create change is like trying to break a brick with a toothpick.

But why does this mindset of “America can do no wrong” exist? More than likely, it’s because a majority of people think there really is nothing outside these 50 states that could truly be of any substance. For some, however, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

One of the things about the U.S. that truly makes it great is that people from all over the world immigrate here to try and better their lives. When meeting someone whose family immigrated here, compared with someone whose entire life and family have been spent in the States, it’s jarring to see the differences in their view of the world.

It’s unfortunate that despite what America has in terms of monetary opportunities, it lacks in global awareness and willingness to improve. While the rest of the world is constantly evolving and changing for the better, America is still stuck in the same place arguing the same stupid politics 40 years later and still not coming to a consensus.

The country as a whole has some serious growing up to do. News flash, the same people who have made decisions since the ‘60s shouldn’t be making them now.

Modern problems require modern solutions.

Considering some of the archaic government officials currently in office can’t grasp the concept of the internet, they most certainly shouldn’t be making political decisions.

What America needs more than anything else is to wake the hell up. The world is changing. New ideas are being formed every single day. And if the U.S. doesn’t keep up, it might just fade away into oblivion.

Letter Policy The Collegian is a weekly student publication serving the Tarrant County College District. Editorial statements and advertisements do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the TCC administration.

Letters to the paper should be 150 words or less, free from libel and poor taste and include the writer’s Colleague ID or telephone number (the numbers will not be published). Letters may be brought to The Collegian of-

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@tccthecollegian • collegian.tccd.edu TCC is an equal opportunity institution that provides educational and employment opportunities on the basis of merit and without discrimination because of race, color,

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Staff

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Alex Hoben

MANAGING EDITOR Rabbia Molai

ILLUSTRATORS Tj Favela

PHOTOGRAPHERS Ariel Desantiago

LEAD DESIGNER Hannah Seese

DESIGN & WEBSITE Shelby Gatewood

PHOTO EDITOR Joel Solis

ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Nathan Hailu

Professional Staff ADVISER Chris Whitley PRODUCTION MANAGER Stacy Luecker

4 • Wednesday, August 31, 2022

South students tie dye their way through Welcome Week

RABBIA MOLAI

managing editor rabbia.molai@my.tccd.edu

On Aug. 24, TCC’s South Campus student activities center had a very creative event as a part of their welcome week.

The center chose to kick-start the fall semester with a tie-dye party. The event was held outside on their patio area and was complete with snacks, music and tie-dye kits for all the attendees.

Coordinator of student activities Ana Contreras was very excited to see the turnout for the event.

“I think it builds community, you know,” Contreras said. “It gets students involved and to do something in between class, something outside of the classroom that’s fun and engaging.”

She also mentioned the importance of events like these giving students the opportunity to see what resources they have on campus.

“They get to learn about our office and what we do and what we offer,” said Contreras.

One of the main things that Contreras was excited about was the fact that the event was primarily student-led and organized. She said

she felt that getting student workers to come up with both the ideas and execution for the event not only boosted student involvement but also made the events more relatable.

South Campus student Haley Brant is a peer mentor for the student activities center and was one of the students a part of the team who planned and worked the event.

She explained how the preparations for the event began during the summer so seeing the final product meant a lot to her.

“We’re getting a lot of people coming through here so I’m glad we went through with it,” Brant said.

Brant was also excited for students to see their peers as the ones leading the event, stating that having a familiar face to look up to was the best way to bring in more students and increase their involvement.

Along with Brant, fellow peer mentor Jacob Nunez was thrilled to be able to see their hard work pay off and looked forward to continuing to make these events as special for the students as possible.

“I wasn’t expecting this many people to show up, but we’re all interacting, having fun and making memories,” Nunez said.

Photos by Joel Solis/The Collegian

Tie dye bottles that were prepared beforehand to be used at the event.

Enice Acquah prepares his shirt for tie dye at South campus.

South students Samara Palacios and Alyssa Aguilar dye their shirts.

South student Zully Anumada colors her shirt at the tie dye event.

South student Paula Morales grabs supplies needed to make a tie dye shirt at the event. Students were able to choose the colors they wanted for their shirts.