Tccd The Collegian April 19, 2023

TEDx shows ‘Ever Changing World’ at TCC

Change, in its many forms, can cultivate the space for growth and new ideas, which was the theme for the TEDx event April 6 on NE Campus.

Students and faculty could learn about various issues, creating the opportunity for them to engage with new ideas and become active in their communities, according to TEDx’s mission statement.

Presenters from TCC and around North Texas participated in the event held in the Fine Arts Theater. NE psychology professor Jeanell Buck was one of the coordinators organizing the event and provided insight on the theme, “Ever Changing World.”

“We really wanted to talk about change,” she said. “Every person was talking about how knowledge helps us change, and that was part of our process. I think it went well.”

Cheryl North, NE sociology instructor and TEDx team member, said how students and staff can benefit from being included in TED conversations.

“TED is such an institution,” she said. “I think we all have heard them [TED Talks] in classrooms and have learned things that were new. It’s important that TCC be in on that a little bit and to bring that right here at home to our students.”

Jasmine McGowan, a volunteer, has always been interested in astrophysics as a child and even owned a few telescopes. She believed the presentation ‘What color is the Sun?’ by Raymond Benge, A NE associate professor of physics

and astrology, related to her most.

“It shows that even things we assume are facts are not and we should always be open to new knowledge and ideas,” she said.

Raymond Turner, the producer of Sparklefly recording studio at Cook Children’s Medical Center, explained why music is essential in everyone’s life.

With the early passing of his infant daughter, he realized the best way that he could continue her legacy was to see the light in himself. To tell others about her story, ful-

filling his promise to never forget her.

“Music to me is life-blowing,” he said. “Without it, I don’t think much would still exist. It is like air and water, and really, I think there’s so much that’s powered by music that we don’t even realize. I don’t think we can survive without it.”

Despite all of the potential stressors college students may experience, Turner said it’s important for students to prioritize staying connected to what drives them.

“What do I find myself dream-

Proposed legislation aims to aid government in fighting cyberthreats

The newly-introduced “Restrict Act” could potentially change the way companies use technologies going forward.

The “Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act,” commonly referred to as the “Restrict Act” or (S.686), is a bill currently under consideration by Congress. The act was introduced by the U.S. Senate on March 7 and has since been a cause for concern by various people.

According to a summary of the bill on Congress’ website,

“This bill requires federal actions to identify and mitigate foreign threats to information and communications technology (ICT) products and services (e.g., social media applications). It also establishes civil and criminal penalties for violations under the bill.”

Additionally, the bill summary provides further clarification regarding what the Restrict Act is meant to impose, stating the Department of Commerce will need to identify, disrupt, prohibit and investigate ICT products that may pose a threat to the safety of American citizens.

Despite concerns, Rachel Cohen, spokesperson for Senator Mark R. Warner, said in a widespread media statement that

the act is not meant to target average American citizens.

“To be extremely clear, this legislation is aimed squarely at companies like Kaspersky, Huawei and TikTok that create systemic risks to the United States national security – not at individual users,” Cohen said.

If the act is passed and becomes law, the United States government will be able to put bans in place to remove any applications that may pose possible cybersecurity risks.

Using applications like virtual private networks to bypass such restrictive measures could result in cybersecurity breaches.

There have been people who do see merit in the government’s current efforts to shut down social See Restrict, page 2

ing about in those unguarded moments when I’m sitting in class and the professor is going on and on, where does my heart drift to?” he said. “It’s never too early, especially in college, that’s the time to really start to hone in on ‘What is my passion?’”

NE student Amy Ramirez said music allows people to express what they can’t put into words, and that people are “sparkle flies” because everyone experiences hardship.

“Every human being has to

SOUTH

overcome certain difficulties in life, and it’s always great to have the mindset of perseverance,” she said.

Another presenter that experienced hardship is Keidrian Brewster, who discussed the idea of change and the fact that everyone is capable of transformation.

“I want people to know the power of transformation,” he said. “The power of investing in themselves and creating a person they deem fit for themselves as far as who they want to become – I’d tell See TEDx, page 2

VITA program provides help, guidance for those filing taxes

HOPE SMITH managing editor hope.smith393@my.tccd.edu

A team of people from The United Way of Tarrant County and U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey made their way through the Family Empowerment Center on South Campus April 6.

Their reason — the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.

The United Way funded the VITA project, which has been in operation on South and SE with the goal to give free income tax preparation.

The program relies heavily on the help it gets from IRS-certified volunteers trained to assist during the tax season, and the Family Empowerment Center has volunteers there ready to help.

One of the coordinators, Allison Knott, said she and the people who work at the center partner with community organizations like Catholic Charities of Fort Worth.

“We’re all about community, so everything we do focuses on our students and community,” Knott said.

Veasey came to observe how VITA is working for Tarrant County residents. As a member of Congress, he said he wants to ensure that taxpayer money is being used wisely and believes this program is a way for people to get their taxes done without a fee for a rapid refund.

“A lot of consumers don’t realize that when they go to those places [that offer a rapid refund] that they’re really essentially giving them this loan,” he said. “It’s not really your actual refund check. They’re gonna get your refund check back, and they’re giving you an advance

against your refund check, so it’s not actually your money.”

Leah King, current CEO of United Way Tarrant County, started as a volunteer and moved up through the ranks. She said the current goal for VITA is to reach more families who need the assistance and are receiving the deductions that they could qualify for.

“If we’re going to do 5,000 families this year, we want to do 10,000 next year because that is money that otherwise is not coming back into our community and might be left in Washington because it’s unclaimed,” she said.

People can come here and have confidence that the IRS has endorsed what’s happening.

Households with an income of less than $60,000 are eligible for VITA assistance, and King said she saw VITA benefit the community through the offer of free assistance and complete IRS certification.

“People can come here and have confidence that the IRS has endorsed what’s happening,” she said. “Also, there are opportunities for financial coaching which can help someone on a budget or in debt to really help their overall family.”

KEYLA HOLMES & OLLA MOKHTAR campus editors

NORTHEAST

XAVIER BOATNER campus editor xavier.boatner@my.tccd.edu

KJ Means/The Collegian

Special Agent in Charge Eduardo Chávez presents his Tedx talk “The New F Word - Fentanyl,” which addressed fentanyl avoidance.

Ariel Desantiago/The Collegian NE student employee Victor Lausell uses the NE Campus computer labs in NCAB. The inital TikTok ban affected TCC in February, and talks of cybersecurity have continued since.

Leah King CEO of United Way, Tarrant County

Annual plant sale brings community together

ANALISA GARCIA reporter collegian.editor@tccd.edu

Early in the morning, the walkway was crowded with people —many with flatbed carts full of perennials, annual plants, and herbs. The plants were provided by students from the NW horticulture program.

The horticulture program at NW Campus hosted its annual spring plant sale April 7. The sale is a major learning opportunity and the proceeds are used to fund competitions and workshops for the students.

“The students are in our capstone class for the A.A.S. Horticulture degree,” David Cole Horticulture learning lab manager said. “The semester is spent learning all about the plants we offer at the plant sale and beyond.”

The process began in the fall semester by propagating the woody and herbaceous plants so they could be prepared for the sale, and in the spring semester the planting of the seeds started.

Last year the plant sale produced around $14,000 in profit, which goes directly back to students. The proceeds fund travel to competitions, conferences, workshops and all associated expenses, according to Cole.

“We went to Mississippi State with 12 students,” Cole said. “They did not have to pay for a hotel room, meals, conference attendance or registration. Students don’t have to pay a dime out of their pocket because we want it [horticulture events] to be available to

(continued from page 1)

them to create that.”

Authoring two books, he provided more insight into his life after incarceration named “From the Rec Yard to the Streets” and “From the Streets to the Suits.”

Tigi Vinson, a foster care advocate who has personal experience with the system, said change is necessary and students can be a part of that.

“I think a lot of students would be surprised with how many individuals going to school here have had an experience with foster care,” she said. “So I think it’s worthwhile to look into and discover what you can do to advocate for them [foster kids] as well.”

Eduardo Chávez, special agent in charge, leads the Dallas division of the Drug Enforcement Administration and emphasized the importance of educating people, especially college students, on the dangers of fentanyl.

“I think overall it affects everybody. It’s in every neighborhood,” he said. “It’s not some-

everybody.”

NW Horticulture student Hannah Weimer said she wants to own a flower farm in the future.

“I’ve learned so much. Not just about

what to do in a business setting, but plants in general,” Weimer said. “Different things about insects, things that grow here better and all sorts of plants.” NW student Jocelyn Paz said the prices

Restrict

body else’s problem. It’s our problem. And because it’s been so prevalent all over the country, it’s something that I think is important.”

Other presentations included ‘Can We be Optimistic About the Future?’, ‘What Color is the Sun?’, ‘Command presence: Learning How to See Gray’, ‘Everyone Needs a Fool in Their Life’ and others, including Movers Unlimited’s “Dancing Without Limits” with their dance performance. These presentations will eventually be made available on YouTube.

NE adjunct mental health instructor Rochelle Turner expressed her admiration for Ted Talks and how she thought they helped people see that people have similar journeys.

“Every journey is not straight, and every journey isn’t supposedly good like we think of ourselves,” she said. “We all make mistakes, and we all can recover from them. Experiences can refine us without defining us, and I think these presenters really showed that.”

FROM STUDY NIGHT TO THE STOCKYARDS FOR

and selection offered at the sale were great. “I want to make a garden and wanted to buy some plants,” she said. “The prices are really great, and all the plants look really good.”

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media platforms, despite having reservations.

“I am very leery of any attempt by the government or any entity to restrict speech, press, personal or business transactions, or access to them,” NW social and behavioral sciences adjunct instructor Joseph Ialenti said. “However, I support most extant restrictions such as those embodied in state and federal libel, slander, espionage and criminal statutes.”

Some still feel the government going to these lengths is unnecessary and think social media platforms should be held accountable for the kind of content on their respective platforms rather than getting rid of the platforms entirely.

“I think cracking down on social media apps and banning them is excessive,” Connect student Saul Estrada said. “I believe that the government

should crack down on the type of content that can be uploaded to certain social media apps.”

Others say targeting social media platforms should require further restrictions to cut back on the impact they may have on users.

“I do believe restrictions on social media is necessary to cut down on cyberbullying, internet scams and fear,” Connect student Miciah Stallworth said. Ialenti added in his response that it’s important for people to try and understand how these technologies could impact the country’s future.

“As a nation, we must be cognizant of the ever-expanding landscape of technological threats and other efforts by our Nation’s enemies to turn our freedoms against us,” Ialenti said. “It’ll impact our Nation’s enemies most.”

Alex Hoben/The Collegian NW Horticulture student Jamie Monego helping sell plants during the NW plant sale. She was in charge of the annual plants.

TEDx

Artistic Visions

Works from students across the district on display at TR.

“Growth,” Adelaide Lovett, oil painting. The artist statement addressed growth in life.

“The Lock o’ Love,” Thien Nguyen, digital photography. This features colorful locks.

“Pueblo Walls” by CJ Ponce. This is a photograph featuring a skull covered in turquoise and printed onto canvas. The exhibit featured around 60 artworks.

“Dali’s Time Warp,” Alejandro Rivera, micron pen. The selections were made by a committee.

“Redemption” by Alejandro Rivera. This is a digital art piece submitted to the exhibit. All TCC students were available to submit.

TCC students submitted their artworks from the 2022-23 school year to a juried art exhibit. The pieces are available to be seen in the TR Campus Gallery and include both 2D and 3D works.

Photos by Alex Hoben/The Collegian Sebastian Navarro’s pieces “Almost Me” (left) and “The End” (right) facing each other in the front of the exhibit space. They are both self-portraits.

Sonic is dead, it is actually pretty cool

April Fool’s, SEGA released free game about hedgehog’s death

XAVIER BOATNER campus editor xavier.boatner@my.tccd.edu

SEGA has decided to do the unthinkable: Murder its iconic, prickly blue mascot in cold blood.

In celebration of April Fool’s Day, the official Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter account simultaneously announced and released a free, Steam-exclusive visual novel game simply titled “The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog.” Despite supposedly being a quick April Fool joke, the game is multiple hours long and is surprisingly high-quality. It’s honestly a million times better than it needs to be.

It’s a creative, silly little side project on behalf of SEGA, and it has garnered tons of positive reception since its release. The game currently has well over a million downloads on Steam and is currently the highest-rated Sonic game on the site and one of the highestrated games in the entire series in general. A game about Sonic’s murder is the highest-rated Sonic game. Make of that what you will I suppose. The story sees the titular rodent and his friends partaking in a murder mystery party aboard a highly-advanced bullet train known as the Mirage Express. However, the party quickly goes south, and it becomes unclear whether Sonic’s untimely death is a party trick or an actual side effect of unadulterated hedgehog homicide.

So what can a player expect to be doing?

Well, since it’s a visual novel game, the gameplay amounts to mainly chatting it up with the wide array of Sonic cast members as a little self-insert Quokka character who the player can do whatever they want for the most part. Some names aren’t allowed like “Phoenix Wright” and “Among Us” though, so tough luck.

The player travels to and from the various train cars of the Mirage Express, searching for

special items and clues that could help figure out who killed the blue boy. One of these special items is a little device known as the “DreamGear,” a handheld gaming system that the player character will pull out to help them think through the mystery.

When the “DreamGear” is out, the player will need to complete a small obstacle course, similar to “Temple Run” for the sake of comparison, as a virtual Sonic to help progress the story. It’s a fun, harmless detour to help break up the murderous antics of the main story.

The meat of a visual novel, however, isn’t the mini-games, it’s the writing. How does the writing hold up? Is it an intense mystery

thriller? Is there some deep meaning to it all? Does the rat actually kick the bucket? The answer to all of these questions is unfortunately a cold, hard no. But, the game is still incredibly charming. As someone who grew up with these characters, it’s definitely a treat to see them filling these goofy, light-hearted roles. It’s a refreshing change of pace compared to whatever has been going on in the main Sonic games. It’s nice to have a Sonic game that isn’t about nuking the White House, suffering through the horrors of war, or having to stop god monsters from eating innocent baby animals in order to tear a hole through dimensions. It knows what

MOVIE REVIEW CROSSWORD

‘A Good Person’ explores addiction after loss, grief

editor hope.smith393@my.tccd.edu

It’s possible that grief and pain can change a person. Even the best of them, even the good ones.

“A Good Person” explores what pain does to change a person.

This movie is not light-hearted and deals with the topic of addiction, but the message is important and does well to not sugar coat anything.

One of the main characters, Allison, had a life set out for her with a loving fiance named Nathan, friends and a wedding on the way before surviving a fatal crash that killed her soon-to-be sister-in-law and husband.

Allison was on her phone while driving the car causing the accident.

Since then, what transpires in the movie is a woman grieving. She looks for the solution to her pain in prescription medication but realizes later on that her hurt comes from the pain of guilt and loss.

Florence Pugh was given Allison’s role, which is a choice so well done. In other movies, Pugh has been able to feed viewers the characters she acts with raw authenticity like any skilled actress could.

The viewer gets to watch Allison go through the motions of acceptance following a year after the accident, which is shown with an honest and vulnerable Allison asking for help after turning to the town dealers for OxyContin.

She does not easily accept her addiction, but when she finally realizes she’s drowning she sticks her hand out for help.

Allison’s journey is not perfect. After she comes to terms with her addiction, it’s up to her to learn to live again.

Her help came in the form of her ex-fiance’s father who ends up being in the same

support group she decides to join.

Daniel, played by Morgan Freeman, takes on the role of caring for the granddaughter of his now deceased daughter. Watchers find that in the movie he also severely struggled with addiction in the form of alcoholism.

He is a sweet old man, stern and caring for his granddaughter Ryan who is trying to cope with the loss of her parents after the accident.

Along with that, it is revealed that his relationship with his son is severely strained due to Daniel’s years of addiction.

These people in the movie each have a story of hurt and are, without a doubt, perfect examples of normal, everyday people going through grief and living the best that they can with it.

More than that, it shows even when the grief and guilt of the past eats you up and makes you feel isolated, you can find connection and camaraderie in it.

Daniel and Allison relapse during the movie, Allison a little more than once, but there’s an unspoken understanding between them even after falling out. They both just want to be free of their past.

This movie is heartbreaking and thoughtful. It’s not often people get to see the perspective from a prescription drug addict with the pain of guilt weighing her down. I cannot recommend this movie enough if someone were looking to define a good person.

Across

it is and knows how to make people laugh. It’s a good time.

“The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog” is definitely an A+ Sonic game, as weird as it may seem. It’s got plenty of charm. It’s got fun mini-games. It’s got a silly, yet admittedly engaging premise. And it’s also free of charge. If the death of a blue cartoon mouse sounds mildly amusing, then consider giving the game a go.

6. Alter or modify.

7. A deep fake is an image or recording that has been convincingly _____ and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said.

9. “A person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy.”

11. The name of the recording studio at Cook Children’s Medical Center.

12. According to the city of Irving’s Fire Department, the fee for basic life support in an __________ ride starts at $650.

16. Abstaining from all or certain types of food or drink.

17. Something covered in spines.

20. Households with an income of less than $60,000 are _____ for VITA assistance.

22. “...said how students and staff can benefit from being included in ___ conversations.”

23. The VITA program has volunteers who are ______ by the IRS.

24. Provides equal access to opportunities and resources for those who are marginalized.

25. “…A highly-advanced bullet train known as the Mirage ______.”

26. Florence Pugh was given the part for _____ in the movie, “A Good Person.”

27. AI stands for ______ intelligence.

29. “Allison’s journey is not perfect. After she comes to terms with her addiction, it’s up to her to learn to ____ again.”

Down

1. Even the most basic plans in Texas, called _______ plans, can cost $306 per month in 2022.

2. The character Allison from “A Good Person” works to recover from an ______ to a prescription narcotic.

3. “I think cracking down on social ___ apps and banning them is excessive,” Connect student Saul Estrada said.

4. “Using applications like ______ private networks to bypass such restrictive measures could result in cyber security breaches.”

5. “As funny as it is to watch the presidents fight, that’s a near identical ____ copy to real people with a lot of influence and listeners.”

8. A party or special event at which you celebrate something such as a birthday or a religious holiday.

10. The ninth month in the Islamic calendar where Muslims fast from the rise to the sun to sunset.

13. “It’s a ______, silly little side project on behalf of SEGA, and it has garnered tons of positive reception since its release.”

14. “We’re all about ______, so everything we do focuses on our students and community,” Knott said.

15. Practice of protecting online systems and information.

16. Something strange and unfamiliar.

17. Someone who communicates information to the public.

18. The holiday of April 1st, _____ Fool’s Day

19. “In theaters, people could see Carrie Fisher’s young face completely ______ in CGI on a stunt double for Star Wars’

“Rogue One” spin-off.”

21. The character ______ is played by Morgan Freeman in the movie, “A Good Person.”

28. VITA stands for Volunteer _____ Tax Assistance.

Photo courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

son.

Photo courtesy SEGA

The titular hedgehog Sonic lies lifelessly on the cold, hard ground after being fatally wounded in the game.

HOPE SMITH managing

Health care in America is an insane mess

The American health care system is an incredibly expensive and even more confusing mess that leaves many college students having to take chances with their health because they can’t afford anything else.

As it is, the continued health and prosperity of a large number of Americans is at stake with the current way the system is being handled. The perils of the so-called “land of the free” has an incredibly expensive health insurance landscape that is well known across the globe.

Many people are too afraid to take an ambulance even if they’re in need of serious and immediate help – just because of the cost. According to the city of Irving’s Fire Department, the fee for basic life support in an ambulance ride starts at $650. That’s before any extra fees regarding any additional care needed and how many miles the patient will have to ride. This is with insurance.

College students, especially younger ones, barely have the funds to fill up their tank to get to school, much less have to pay for their own life by the mile.

The actual world of health insurance itself is a scary place as well, and many are already having to contend with the twists and turns it takes to be able to afford to live.

According to an American Community Survey brief, in 2019 15.6% of young adults ages 19 to 34 were uninsured, with 26-yearolds having the highest uninsured rate. Coincidentally, 26 is when most

children are kicked off their parents insurance and then have to go find their own plans which is also tough.

When trying to go out and look for an insurance plan that would cover even the bare minimum, the

Markus Meneses/The Collegian

supposed to have their whole lives in front of them. How can they see the possibility of their future when they’re weighed down by the realization that the care they need to get there will be incredibly expensive. There are some government health care programs such as Medicaid, which provides health care coverage with low income, but many college students can fall into what’s called the “Medicaid Gap” where you are still poor but not poor enough for the government to actually care to help.

These people are more likely to go without coverage and even go out of their way to avoid getting treatment and taking care of themselves. This gap shows just how insane it is trying to just live a normal life in America can be. Some would rather die than have to face the medical bills that would come with living.

The bottom line is that life is incredibly hard for college students and young adults as it is, why should health insurance be another rock added to the already sinking ship?

premiums are still often times too much for a college student with bills to be able to afford. Even the most basic plans in Texas, called bronze plans, can cost $306 per month in 2022. That’s almost half of some

people’s rent. How can college students be expected to care for themselves under these circumstances? This system is incredibly broken, and the ones who are getting run over are the young adults who are

The American health care system is a joke at the expense of lower income brackets who might have to choose between being able to pay for a lifesaving medical procedure, or being able to afford putting food on the table.

The next time you hear an ambulance siren racing down the highway, just think about the medical bill that will come from it and hope it’s not you next.

She’s the “it girl.” She’s worked in 200 different careers, has the perfect boyfriend, and she’s never had a bad hair day — because it’s molded to her head. Who is she? Well, it’s “Barbie” of course.

Barbara Millicent Roberts, also known as Barbie, has been an icon to children and adults alike across the globe. Since her conception in 1959, Barbie has popularized dolls and become a pop culture staple.

Even if you’re partial to a “Monster High” or “Bratz” doll, you cannot deny the iconic nature of Barbie. She has her own trademarked shade of pink for god sake.

Barbie is the definition of an “it girl.” Although the term typically refers to nonplastic human people, I would argue that an “it girl” doesn’t have to be a human girl. But I digress.

Like the “it girls” of current and past generations, Barbie has had her fair share of highs and lows. And the lows were admittedly, quite low. Dolls with scales set to 110 pounds or a Barbie’s collaboration doll with Oreo being a Black woman.

She has been subject to debates on whether she is a productive role model for children due to her exaggerated body or the initial lack of representation of various races

and ethnicities.

However in the year 2023, Barbie has made large strides towards diversity and inclusion — all while sporting a pair of pink pumps. Dolls of all sizes, colors and abilities line the shelves of stores.

To the Gen Z kids, I am sure Barbie has been there some way or another. Perhaps you owned some dolls and ate a glittery stiletto or learned in depth choreography to a Babrie movie. I can proudly and confidently say, I have done both.

And don’t even get me started on the BCU, or the Barbie Cinematic Universe. My explanations have fallen on the deaf ears of my poor mother, but I promise the lore is as — if not more — compelling than Marvel movies. I could make a strong case for why her films should be alongside the works of Kubrick and Tarantino.

She has been a mermaid, a fairy, a fairy mermaid, the list is endless for what Barbie has accomplished. What parent wouldn’t want a role model to encourage their kid to create a lengthy resume?

She may have had her fair share of controversy, but I believe Barbie has done the work to repair the harmful ideas she perpetuated and created a legacy in showing children they can be anything they want.

I may hate girlboss culture. But the usage of SheEO, a portmanteau of she and CEO, for Barbie feels more than appropriate.

Now with the Barbie movie trailer out and a lovely new meme format, I am excited to watch alongside lifetime Barbie enjoyers and amateur Barbie ethusiasts. Everyone has a little Barbie girl in them.

At some point, we as a society need to acknowledge how weird it is that we can just fabricate fake things about real things with the help of technology.

How do we even explain watching current President Joe Biden and former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump absolutely tearing into each other over Minecraft?

Thanks to voice cloning technology, that entire sentence is possible.

In theaters, people could see Carrie Fisher’s young face completely fabricated in CGI on a stunt double for Star Wars’ “Rogue One” spin-off.

Even more, a series of images started to circle social media recently of Trump getting arrested in what looks like a renaissance era painting of him unsuccessfully fleeing from officials.

That was also courtesy of AI.

While it’s unlikely society is going to have a Terminator turn of events with this odd advancement, who’s to say how easy or hard it is to make the jump between entertainment and damaging actions?

As funny as it is to watch the presidents fight, that’s a near identical

vocal copy to real people with a lot of influence and listeners.

It is worrisome that if someone on TikTok can make these videos, slap it on a Minecraft parkour split screen clip and send it off, anyone can.

Anyone can make whatever message they want and it’s up to the viewer to have the discernment to decide if what the government official said online was really them or a fabricated message. And it could worsen if instead of minecraft it was somewhere more realistic.

It would be a different case if there were clear indicators that something was AI generated. But the voice clones are almost too good. The deep fakes are almost too realistic. And the essays are believable, the art is complex and it’s telling Washington Post reporters it “can feel or think things.”

But right now AI is only almost something else. It sits on the edge between reality and artificially generated actions.

Most of this is the product of humans, which is something both comforting as AI isn’t developing a mind of its own with sinister intentions and important to acknowledge because the person behind the AI actions are to blame if something goes wrong.

Right now it seems that it’s all up in the air, the consequences aren’t quite there if we never know who did it.

At the end of the day, responsibly using AI is the most reasonable solution that most people want. No one wants a Terminator scenario.

“It” girl is not human. She is plastic. It’s fantastic. AI has ethical, moral issues that should be addressed

NMuslim

OLLA MOKHTAR campus editor olla.mokhtar@my.tccd.edu

“Allahu Akbar, Allahu akbar” marks the beginning of the call to prayer for many Muslims to break their fast during Ramadan.

The ninth and holiest month in the Islamic calendar began on March 22 for approximately 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide and from sunrise to sunset for 29 to 30 days, Muslims fast anywhere from 12 to 18 hours.

Ramadan is a period of fasting and spiritual growth when able-bodied Muslims fast from food, water, sexual intimacy, gossiping and more. It is also seen as an act of selfrestraint and spiritual cleansing.

NE student Arafa Dirar said that the holy month, for her, is a time to reflect and to look at herself as a Muslim, to see where she can improve on her faith to establish habits for the rest of the year. During this specific month is when the question ‘Not even water?’ arises the most.

“I think every Muslim has been asked that,” she said. “For non-Muslims, I think that they look at it from an intermediate fasting point of view. When I’m explaining it, I bring it back to the fact that it’s more than not eating and being hungry.”

Along with fasting, she believed that lack of inclusivity is the reason behind that question.

“I think they don’t know how to incorporate things for Muslims while fasting,” she said. “For instance, when I have to excuse myself from class to go pray or break my fast, I’m missing a portion of my class and information from that. There needs to be an establishment for other celebrations

like Christmas and Easter. If we can get two weeks off for Christmas and a week off for Thanksgiving, America can shift hours for Muslims while fasting.”

SE student Suzana Karim said that she would refrain from eating in front of people who are fasting out of respect. Karim’s experience with Ramadan in the U.S. was described by her as a positive one and had high hopes for Muslims and non-Muslims coexisting with one another.

If we can get two weeks off for Christmas and a week off for Thanksgiving, America can shift hours for Muslims while fasting.

Arafa Dirar NE Student

“My parents and I celebrate Ramadan and Eid together,” she said. “I feel like nonMuslims want to learn our traditions and learn more about Ramadan and I will do the same.”

Dirar described every Muslim’s relationship with Ramadan and Islam to be different and saw positive change about it, especially on social media.

“If there are things you struggle with, you’re honest about it,” she said. “With Ramadan, I’m seeing more Muslims being honest with themselves, like, ‘This is where I am right now and I struggle with this, but I will use this month to improve myself.’”

students on what Ramadan means to them, and how America can be more inclusive during this holy month