Gabbing with Dr.Garcia
Michael Combs and Sean Young
So Long, Dr. Chong
Michael Combs and Sean Young
SRJC Steps Towards Sustainability
Dharma Niles
Basketball Victors
Bring Back Golf
Trevor Lee
SRJC
“Gender Queer” Author
Maia Kobabe Fights
Book Bans
Cheap Tricks
From
Top: Getting personal with SRJC’s first woman president and member of the LGBTQIA+ community, Dr. Angélica Garcia, Page 2. Middle: Mauritson Wines winemaker Emma Kudritzki Hall represents the growing number of women in a male-dominated industry, Page 32. Bottom: A refugee from Guangzhou, China who now takes classes at the Southwest Center, Page 46. Cover: After writing the most banned book in America, Maia Kobabe continues to push ahead with new works about exploring gender identity.
Michael Combs
Lucas Cadigan-Carranza
Jaden Burris
Bryan Fructuoso
Peter Morales Garcia
Tony Moeckel
Dharma Niles
Hana Seals
Nicholas Vides
Christian Vieyra
Sean Young
Alex Cambron Padilla
Erina Corl
Sam Guzman
Tom Healy
Stephen Howe
Jaime Jauregui
Chelsea Kurnick
Trevor Lee
Malek Madani
Jessica Morris
Max Mwaniki
Roland Petty
Cameron Romanik
Javi Rosas
Leilany Sosa
Mark Fernquest
Design Contributors
Lauren Spates
Austin Graff
Adviser
Anne Belden
As undescriptive as it may be, the best phrase to describe this semester is “a lot.” The year started out with uneasy optimism, and The Oak Leaf staff hoped for a slow rise in our workload. However, the news doesn’t work that way. Almost mirroring the atmospheric rivers that saturated the first quarter of 2023, it seems everyone in the newsroom endured maelstroms of sadness, madness, spaciness and craziness that pushed us to the brink of burnout. Yet, nearing the end of the semester, we began to feel whole again and worked together to push through with a triumphant sprint through the finish line. Surely, shared tension creates the tightest of bonds.
Despite a last-minute setback where several already designed magazine pages were lost, the resilience of this group of writers, photographers and editors to strive and move forward is truly remarkable. Coming together to work tirelessly, fueled by pizza and energy drinks, this group demonstrated a commitment to truth and excellence.
We chose “The Next Episode” as the theme of this magazine, because we feel it’s time to move on from the turbulent times of the recent past. This isn’t to say the future looks free from strife, with unprecedented levels of bigotry, political polarization and state governments that are attacking individual rights. However, we know we’re the strongest we’ve ever been, and we’re prepared to counter these injustices.
After a year in Garcia Hall, room 106, the newsroom has finally lost that “new car smell” and, as its first editors-in-chiefs, we’re proud to know we set the foundations for the newsroom SRJC students deserve. As a voice of SRJC students, The Oak Leaf will not be ignored.
We feel unbelievably grateful knowing The Oak Leaf has been integral in helping its reporters and editors grow and learn more about what it really means to be themselves. We feel a solemn joy knowing some of us will soon leave the newsroom for bigger colleges and experiences. We feel confident that those who stay will bravely carry on the Oak Leaf’s 96-year tradition of being SRJC’s fourth estate.
From staying creative through fascist book bans, finding peace after fleeing a repressive regime and continuing the fight against climate change, the stories in this issue reflect on the human ability to push ahead amid seemingly impossible challenges. This issue also reflects SRJC’s next episode with a profile on retiring President Dr. Frank Chong and an interview with the upcoming president, Dr. Maria Angélica Garcia.
We can’t thank our adviser, Anne Belden, enough. She taught us to thrive amidst chaos, and remain steady with the burden of truth. Without her, some of us may have never found our true purpose in life. We would also like to thank our new T.A., Mark Fernquest, who is quickly learning to be the backbone that holds up a solid news team. Last, we would like to thank our fellow Oak Leaf editors and reporters who continually kept the news flowing to SRJC students in real time.
To our readers, we hope our stories help give you the strength and knowledge to walk into the future with resolve. We at The Oak Leaf are ready for The Next Episode, and we know SRJC is too.
-Sean Young and Michael Combs
Jetta and Koya Belden
OL: Favorite sport?
Garcia: I just really appreciate athletics and the role it plays for young people. I prefer basketball, but only collegiate ball. I’ve always loved [the] Olympics for swimming. Because my oldest daughter is on a competitive team, I’ve had to learn to be a swim weekend mom.
My youngest is into gymnastics so we are always into gymnastics. And growing up - soccer. I like football, but it makes me cringe because I feel like bones are breaking all the time.
OL: Favorite sports team?
Garcia: I’m kind of drawn to the ’80s-’90s era of collegiate basketball. I really loved the UNLV-Duke showdown [in the 1990 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship]. I really enjoyed when Coach Jerry Tarkanian was at UNLV. I liked his coaching style.
OL: What was your most interesting job before entering college administration?
Giving a nod to her “athletics junkie” sports background, Dr. Maria Angélica Garcia describes her leadership style as building a varied team with complementing strengths.
“Cultivated teams are far better than any one star,” Garcia said.
This is part of the philosophy she hopes to use as Santa Rosa Junior College’s next president to help carry it into its next episode.
Garcia grew up in Fresno in a “can’t even be described as low-income” household, one so bad she now believes her purpose in life is to disrupt generational poverty. A cycle she thinks is tied to historical racism, sexism, homophobia and legislation that favors the status quo.
Leaving the helm of Berkeley City Col-
lege for SRJC, a college with about three times the student population, Garcia will have a “bigger footprint” serving a community that represents all of Sonoma County, beginning July 1.
The Oak Leaf interviewed Dr. Garcia to ask questions about her favorite sports, childhood, story about coming out as a lesbian and hopes for SRJC students.
Editor’s Note: Answers have been edited for length and clarity
The Oak Leaf: Are you a coffee or tea person? How do you take it?
Garcia: Coffee in the morning, and my preference is to use a non-dairy creamer known as Nutpods, my favorite. Then I’m a tea drinker in the afternoon, herbal with honey. My favorite right now is one called Honey Lavender. Apparently, it’s supposed to help with stress.
Garcia: While I was in college I worked in the dining hall, and it was Marriott affiliated. So in the summer when I went back home to Fresno, the company said, “We can place you as a hospitality hostess at the Residence Inn in Fresno.” I met people from all over the world. They were on their way to Yosemite. They were going to do a California tour. And I got to learn a lot about the hotel industry, really getting to connect with the cooks behind the scenes, with the housekeeping, [and] agents in the front.
OL: What was it like growing up in Fresno, and what sort of family life did you have?
Garcia: I was born in Fresno Community Hospital and pretty much lived around that area for most of my life. I’m second generation, born in the U.S., and my family immigrated from Mexico. So my mom is one of a very large family. She grew up [as] one of 16. My parents split up when I was around 12, so my dad wasn’t around much. I say I’m a product of a single-mom household. We were not wealthy. Definitely on government assistance. I still remember [that] food stamps were those little paper booklets. I did have the opportunity to attend Catholic school. My mom took
another job and put me at St. Helen’s [school], and I went there from K-8. It was there that I started playing basketball and volleyball. I would say working, helping out the family and sports became what I did.
OL: During the Q & A section of your presidential candidate forum, you said being a part of the LGBTQIA+ community was a big part of your identity. What is your coming out story?
Garcia: My current wife is the only relationship that I’ve had with a woman. Until then I’ve had plenty of boyfriends, so my coming out was when I was much older. I was already out of college. I grew up in a large Mexican and Catholic family, so it was a bit hard. My mom and I went through about a year [where] the most we could get were conversations about the weather, because that’s what we could handle and still be in communication. With some time, my oldest sister — I’m one of four — sat us down and was like, “All right, we need to hash this out because this isn’t working.”
What I have learned is it’s part of my identity, that it’s not one that I always lead with, but I’m intentional to include it for what it means to others. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had students at community colleges come up to me after a conference and they’re like, “I can’t believe you said you have a wife. Like, how does that happen, you’re Latina?” So I think there’s this sense of “it can get better.” I have a beautiful wife. We’ve been together for 24 years, [and] we have two lovely daughters.
OL: How would you describe your leadership style?
Garcia: I’m a social worker by training, so hard conversations don’t scare me. As a matter of fact, oftentimes you have to go through really tense, uncomfortable moments to get to the other side from a leadership perspective.
I do like to have fun. I will often participate if there is a campus theme party, I’m just terrible at planning them. So I hope someone on my team is the innovative party planner.
be OK with it before we can move on. So that’s something I think Santa Rosa can expect from me.
OL: Who are you inspired by?
Garcia: I feel like the answer is supposed to be like Cesar Chavez or Martin Luther King Jr. and then I think “Oh, my mom.”
[But] I’m inspired by those many moments where we connect with someone, especially with students. You get to see that they are happy and they feel empowered and they’re ready to go to the next point in their life. Just yesterday there was a student who was sharing with me that he got his acceptance letter both for UC Berkeley and UC Davis, and he really thought “I didn’t have a prayer of a chance, and now I have both of these schools to think about, and I can’t believe that I’m here.” So watching him was like “that’s why we do this.”
OL: Any last words for SRJC students?
Garcia: My family and I were up here a couple of weekends ago, and we were just walking around the campus. It was so great because the baseball team was out there, the softball team was out there practicing, there was music playing and we got to go into the museum and see the Pomo artifact exhibit. My [teenage] daughter said, “Mom, this is really cool, because you have sports and there’s music playing and then you have a museum, and it’s a pretty campus.” So this is a kid who’s lived on two college campuses already and has seen me in higher ed, and she goes, “This is my favorite. This is the prettiest campus of all the ones that you have been at.” My family is just super excited.
What I would say to students is, regardless of which campus it’s on, I really hope to connect and create a space where I could get to know students and hear what the experience is like for you and what you hope to get out of the college. So that I can make sure that I do my part to make it happen.
Lastly, I would say in my leadership, my role, and the role we should be asking ourselves, is “How is what we’re about to do or not do going to impact students?” And whatever the answer is, we have to SRJC’s
I really hope to connect and create a space where I could get to know students and hear what the experience is like for you and what you hope to get out of the college.
As SRJC’s first president of color, Dr. Chong feels he came to the right place at the right time, when the community was starting to change. He arrived with plans to make Latino, first-generation, homeless, LGBTQIA+ and veteran students feel indispensible to the college community.
“Don’t stop here. Education is lifelong.” Just keep going.
After 12 years at Santa Rosa Junior College, Dr. Frank Chong jokes, “I’m going to try the occupation of ‘retired.’” He even speculates he might have entered stand-up comedy — “I love that stuff” — if he hadn’t entered the career he was “destined for”: college president.
Through economic instability, multiple catastrophes, and a pandemic, he remains able to light up a room with his quick, dry humor, always delivered with a light smile and a twinkle in his eye.
Chong might describe his role as president as being a “collaborative dictator,” but his mindful approach to leadership through solving problems as they arise, fostering inclusion and having a sense of humor has helped SRJC thrive through difficulties, both seen and unseen, and helped to construct the framework for the college’s next episode.
One could say that Chong was raised to become a leader. Born in New York City’s Chinatown in 1957 to two Chinese immigrant parents, Chong, the youngest of five siblings, grew up in a household centered around hard work.
At age 5, Chong’s family unexpectedly lost their father to an aneurysm, and Chong came to believe that he needed to grow up quickly. “There were opportunities to lead, and I felt because I didn’t have a father to lean on, that I had to grow quicker and assert myself in a certain way,” he said.
Several opportunities to grow presented themselves to Chong, including becoming captain of his neighborhood’s basketball team and president of his class in grade school.
Growing up during the peak of the Civil Rights Era influenced Chong politically; leaders like Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy inspired him. Seeking a career in social work and public policy, he followed his older sister, Joyce, to California for college in 1975.
The same year, Chong entered UC Berkeley, and eventually earned a bachelor’s in social welfare and Asian American studies. Following graduation, he
By Michael Combs and Sean Youngworked as a social worker in Oakland’s Chinatown, providing individuals with mental health services.
Chong worked as a special assistant with former Speaker of the California Assembly Willie Brown and helped create legislation focused on advancing higher education and mental health. “I still call him Speaker Brown,” he said.
Chong became emotional when mentioning how Brown’s leadership influenced him. “He taught me what it’s like to be a leader of color, to be uncompromising and also to understand that everything in life is political,” he said.
A key aspect of Chong’s leadership philosophy, that he credits to Brown, is simply to “get things done” and admit mistakes. As he looks back on his time at SRJC he acknowledges the worst of times, such as the vote of no confidence during the 2018 spring semester after a hasty decision to cut the majority of summer courses to offset a projected $6.5 million budget deficit, or his decisions on how to handle social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A lot of people disagreed with decisions I made and I had to walk back, but that’s all about solving problems, and people want to see a leader who is going to be decisive and not be analysis paralysis,” Chong said. “I think that’s sort of the Buddhist in me … You do your best and you own it. When it’s successful, ‘we’ made it, or when it screws up, ‘I’ made it.”
Following his work with Willie Brown, Chong became the dean of student affairs at San Francisco City College, but he was set on becoming a college president. Six months after receiving his doctorate from Harvard University, he became the president of Mission College in Santa Clara in 2003.
Three years later, after a difficult divorce, he left Mission College and headed to the East Bay to become president of Laney College in Oakland in 2006.
Chong’s career at Laney College was short lived though, because in 2009 he received the offer of a lifetime. Martha Kanter, a fellow administrator from the
Bay Area, was named the U.S. Under Secretary of Education for the Obama administration. She called Chong, who was under the impression she was looking for his recommendation for someone for a position within the education department. She offered him the job instead. Kanter then appointed Chong as the deputy assistant secretary for community colleges in the U.S. Department of Education. Chong began his new duties in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 4, 2010.
“I leave with a sense of accomplishment and an abiding appreciation for the college community,” Chong said in an article he wrote for the East Bay Times. “To have a chance to replicate some of what’s been accomplished at Laney on a national basis is very exciting.”
Chong said no one could ever be prepared to get the call to work for the acting U.S. President’s administration. “Was Brock Purdy ready to get the call to step in as quarterback [of the San Francisco 49ers]?” he asked. Despite having only six years of experience as a college president, he felt his time with Speaker Brown gave him the experience he needed to succeed at the job.
His run in D.C. was challenging, because Obama had just lost his Democrat majority in Congress. However, they were still able to pass the Trade Adjustment Act for Community Colleges and Career Training (TAACCCT), which gave each state funding for each of the four years totaling $1.9 billion — during a recession.
When Chong became president of SRJC in January 2012, his late sister, Joyce, had just retired from running Sonoma State’s Extended Opportunity Program. “So there’s kind of a tradition of Chongs being in Sonoma County,” he said. As SRJC’s first president of color, he feels he came to the right place at the right time, during a moment when the community was starting to change. He arrived at SRJC with plans to make students of color, veterans and first-gen, homeless and LGBTQIA+ students feel as essential to the college as the rest of the community.
“If we’re an institution about inclusion,
then we can’t say we include everybody, but …[t]here’s no ‘but,’ it’s everybody,” Chong said. “There’s always more work to do, but I think we’ve made some great strides in hiring faculty, staff and administrators who are dedicated, hard working and also reflect the diversity of the community.”
He feels Frank and Polly O’Meara Doyle had a powerful vision when they began creating SRJC. “I think they call it the pixie dust,” Chong said, referring to the uniqueness of SRJC. His mantra as president has been to respect SRJC’s 105-year traditions but also understand that the world is changing and institutions need to shift and pivot with it.
“I like to use that analogy that Wayne Gretzky uses. He tries to not be where the puck is, but where the puck is going,” Chong said.
As a “collaborative dictator,” Chong believes decisions needed to be made, but he tried to listen to students, faculty and classified professionals as much as possible. He said that during the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, the SRJC community had a chance to oppose what protesters in communities across the nation were
saying, but instead embraced their message of eradicating white supremacy.
“I think we learned together and tried to be active listeners of what students wanted and what their vision was of the college, and it became a welcoming place,” he said.
When it comes to his legacy, Chong said most people think about his campaign for Measure H, which pushed the redesign of SRJC’s older buildings, but he hopes they also remember him as a fearless and courageous leader when it came to conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion.
“It’s not easy to do these days, when you have so much polarization, and people have such strong feelings about transgender, pro-life and sustainability issues. You have all of these different things coming at you and I think we handled it well,” he said. “And it wasn’t just me. I think a lot of credit goes to my cabinet, my executive leadership team and my administrative team. They all went along and tried to support what we’re doing.”
When he first met Chong in 2012, Robert Ethington, SRJC interim vice-pres-
ident of student affairs, felt Chong’s combination of “an amazing political IQ” and college administrative experience was key in helping SRJC rise from the impacts of the 2008 recession.
Over time Ethington learned how much Chong’s ability to form strong relationships was integral in his effectiveness as a leader.
“I have come to appreciate his huge heart for people and how he is able to share the love to all areas of the college, all employees, students, and the larger community of Sonoma County,” Ethington said.
Despite his ability to show humanity, Ethington said Chong was always able to make difficult presidential decisions on the fly, which kept the college successful during his tenure.
“I will miss him and our friendship… he is a person of integrity and always sought to align his actions with his values, “ Ethington said. “His leadership from the top was critical as we have navigated many crises over the past 5-6 years…because of that, we are stronger and in a good place as we welcome his successor, Dr. Garcia.”
Pedro Avila, who is now president at Gavilan College after serving as SRJC vice president of student services, worked with Chong for six years at SRJC. Avila said Chong was always approachable and had a big heart for students and staff. Out of the seven college presidents Avila worked with, Chong was the strongest at creating relationships with community members, like local politicians and non-profit leaders.
“Everyone knew him. He was like a celebrity in Santa Rosa,” Avila said.
Avila seconds Chong’s notion that he could have been a comedian in another life, because he always inserted comedy into his speeches.
“He’s a very funny person. He makes everyone laugh and feel comfortable,” he said. “If you look at our [SRJC] Foundation, he had a lot of support. A lot of people wanted to donate money to Santa Rosa because of how he made them feel.”
As the first president of color Avila reported to, he felt Chong understood and supported him on a level he hadn’t had before.
“His friendship and mentorship was very special, and I felt very comfortable working with him. I’m never going to forget that and I’ll always be appreciative of that,” Avila said. He still considers Chong a close friend and speaks to him on the phone at least once or twice a month.
Dorothy Battenfeld, president of the SRJC Board of Trustees, said it was an honor and a privilege to work with Chong. Chong always kept his focus on the democratic mission of community colleges and always put students first, Battenfeld said.
Battenfeld attributes much of SRJC’s recent achievements to Chong’s leadership, such as the development of new student housing and improved sustainability projects, Measure O, which increased funding for student mental health services including hiring new therapists.
“It has also been invaluable to have his contacts and standing in the community. SRJC students, faculty and staff have benefited from his local, state and national advocacy on our behalf,” Battenfeld said. “Even in retirement, I look
forward to him staying an energetic and positive force in the community.” Chong feels now is the right time to pass the presidential torch to someone younger with newer ideas.
“I’m thrilled Dr. Garcia is coming in,” he said. “She’s someone I really admire and get along with. She’s the right person for now, I think, as I was 12 years ago. I will support her to make sure she is equally, if not more, successful than me, in what she intends to do.”
He said he’s always been told to leave on his own terms, on the top of his game and not to hang on because of money or prestige. At 66, he sees himself in the “last quarter, if you look at basketball,” and wants to make the most of his retirement.
“I’ve seen a lot of my friends after COVID who, you know, got really sick or have passed on, and it was a real wake up call for me,” Chong said.
His first move will be to catch a plane to New Zealand with his wife and a few buddies. “It’s on the bucket list, so now the bucket is getting emptied. It’s a big bucket,” he said.
Golfing is also at the top of the list, and Chong said one of his goals is to get his handicap down to single digits “before it’s all said and done.”
His favorite golf course is the Half Moon Bay Golf Links Old Course. He also said that Sonoma County is blessed with a lot of great courses, like the Sonoma Golf Club and the Mayacamas Golf Club in Santa Rosa. “And Northwood is a really cool course. I love that course. It’s very spiritual and you feel like you’re in this kind of Zen of golf when you’re amongst the redwoods. It’s hard to beat,” he said.
When it comes to course designers, Chong said he’s partial to Alister MacKenzie, who designed Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz, Sharp Park in Pacifica, Claremont Country Club in Oakland and Northwood Golf Club in Monte Rio.
Chong stressed that his retirement doesn’t mean he’s leaving the college leadership game entirely. He’ll continue to work with the UC Davis School of Education at its Wheelhouse Community College Leadership Institute, where he’ll offer advice and support for incoming college presidents based off of
his years of administrative experience.
“I was one of 10 [college] presidents in California who retired this year, and the year before that there was another 10,” he said. “It’s predicted there’s going to be continued graying out of presidents for the next five to 10 years. So you’re going to have a lot of newbies who don’t have the benefit of experience.”
Dr. Chong also plans to continue his work in promoting National Science Foundation STEM grants for community colleges.
Dr. Chong hopes students feel as fortunate as he has to be at SRJC. “I would put us up with any community college across the nation,” he said. He understands students are facing a nation with escalating gun violence, polarity in politics and climate change. However, he continues to be the eternal optimist because his optimism is based on the growing intelligence of young people.
“My parting words are ‘don’t stop here. Just keep going. Education is lifelong,” Chong said. “We need a well-educated future generation to help unscrew the things that my generation screwed up and fix those problems. Because it’s needed. The planet really is at stake. The future, not just of this country, but the world.”
Temperatures rise, waters rise and now tensions rise, as climate change becomes an increasingly prominent topic in legislation and politics across the world — with 53% of Americans having experienced extreme weather in recent years, according to a CBS News poll.
From fire to floods, Sonoma County is no stranger to the devastations of natural disasters amid a changing climate. As student concern for sustainability surges and the issue’s presence becomes ever-pressing, Santa Rosa Junior College proceeds in an ambitious pursuit of achieving zero energy, zero water, zero waste and carbon neutrality by 2030.
“We have come a long way,” said SRJC Waste Diversion Technician Guy Tillotson regarding SRJC’s sustainability progress and plans over the course of his seven years on campus. “But we have lots of goals.”
SRJC’s Sustainability Committee, composed of students, faculty, classified staff and administrators, outlines how to al-
locate resources — notably $35 million from the Measure H Bond — and plan for an environmentally-friendly college in “Sustainable SRJC Greenprint,” a document President Dr. Frank Chong initially signed in 2015.
New drafts of “Greenprint 2.0” are now in the works, outlining initiatives within eight distinct categories, including transportation, curriculum and education, engagement and culture, resource use and climate, built environment, economics, food, and administration and organization.
“This district tries to put its attention on students and student support more than anything else,” Tillotson said. “So the committee and I are always like, ‘Don’t forget about sustainability; keep working on it a little bit.’”
Throughout the past decade, SRJC pursued several of these developments in the college’s infrastructure and practices — many of which are materializing in physical structures and administrative decisions today.
Achieving zero net energy will require SRJC’s energy consumption to be equivalent to or below its renewable energy production.
“There’s holistic planning around how much energy we’re using and where it’s going,” SRJC Energy and Sustainability Manager David Liebman said.
SRJC’s largest source of renewable energy is photovoltaic arrays and solar panels, placed on buildings and carports. Estimated to save more than $1 million a year, the systems complement each other to provide an estimated 60% of energy needed to run the Santa Rosa campus, 100% at the Petaluma campus, 100% at the Public Safety Training Center and 90% at Shone Farm. They’re also expected to be implemented at the Southwest Center during its ongoing construction process.
“The big change is beginning to see that we are making a sustainable energy infrastructure system,” Liebman said.
“How do we start generating our energy as close to us as possible, how do we store that energy and how do we efficiently use what we’re storing?”
At SRJC, a significant portion of that solar energy is stored in a micro-grid on the Santa Rosa campus. Photovoltaic arrays convert solar energy into electricity that gets stored in batteries, a process that is amplified during peak hours of use. The stored electricity supplements regular energy needs and can be used during power outages.
“These projects work together to create that real sustainable energy infrastructure that we need to reach our goals,” Liebman said.
SRJC’s sustainability managers also oversaw the development of the Geothermal Plant Project, composed of 300 geothermal bores that are 400-feet-long and buried beneath Bailey Field. The groundwater, which has a constant temperature that is warmer than the air in the winter and cooler than the air in the summer, is transferred through small pipes to heat or cool Burbank Auditorium, Garcia Hall, and Analy and Forsyth halls.
“Maintaining the heating and cooling systems of 100-year-old buildings is very difficult,” Tillotson said. “We’ve replaced a lot of the [old] systems.”
Additional energy reduction plans include the installation of LED lights on the Santa Rosa and Petaluma campuses, which will save an estimated $300,000 a year and improve lighting quality.
“We’re producing renewable energy at each site,” Liebman said. “We’ve done significant energy efficiency improvements, and each site has a lot more underway.”
SRJC’s new dormitory at the soon-toopen Polly O’ Meara Doyle hall, is tied to the same energy system as the rest of the campus and will be able to optimize current solar power and heat pumps; Liebman also plans to add solar panels that will offset some of the impact.
“One of the challenges with this building was how to maximize keeping rents low while achieving high sustainability,” Liebman said. “It’s just one of those design entities that we’ll have to keep working through.”
The Greenprint 2.0 calls for using potable water in volumes equal to or less than the amount of rainwater that falls on campus within a year, and non-potable water being used for all irrigation, plumbing and all other non-drinking purposes possible.
One of the larger contributors to this goal is SRJC’s Quinn Central Plant Project, expected to reduce the Santa Rosa campus’ water usage by roughly 20%. Its tank, located near Maggini Hall, holds 50,000 gallons of water, most of which will be used for irrigation, plumbing and cooling towers.
The plant collects water from a natural spring that was discovered in the 1970s, during the initial digging process for the Quinn Swim Center. It’s been long treated as a hazard for basement flooding; for years, SRJC transferred the spring water to the storm drain in a hasty attempt to alleviate the risk.
“It ended up being close to six or seven million gallons of water a year,” Liebman said. “To put that into perspective, the Santa Rosa campus uses about 25 million gallons of water a year — so 25% of all of our water supply, we were just pumping into the storm drain.”
The plant runs on an entirely separate plumbing system to prevent cross-con-
tamination with clean drinking water, subsequently limiting its ability to be implemented in newer buildings. “To do more buildings over time, we’ll really phase into them as those buildings go through renovations,” Liebman said. It’s gone through several trials with completion projected for June 2023.
SRJC’s Petaluma campus also uses reclaimed wastewater for irrigation, optimizing its close proximity to a wastewater plant.
“Recycled water is held to a high standard. It would be better to use that water than fresh drinking water, which is really vital and important for people; it isn’t needed to water our lawns or water our plants,” Liebman said.
“One of the challenges with this building was how to maximize keeping rents low while achieving high sustainability,” Liebman said. “It’s just one of those design entities that we’ll have to keep working through.”
SRJC currently diverts 50% of its waste; Tillotson drafted a goal of 80% by 2030 in Greenprint 2.0. “To me, zero waste means doing everything you possibly can, to reduce the amount of waste you produce and then how much you divert,” he said. “So the procedure would be to identify the kinds of waste you’re producing and come up with strategies to reduce it.”
Students and staff driving to campus is the most significant contributor to SRJC’s carbon footprint. While its “commmuter school” status makes this a challenging number to fix, SRJC’s sustainability team is working with the City of Santa Rosa on solutions.
Tillotson noted a significant decrease in campus landfill waste during his time at SRJC, after the Sustainability Committee advocated for a designated person to focus full-time on waste management and raise awareness about excessive waste on campus.
“I set up a bunch of systems to increase the number of bins and to talk to people,” he said. “The garbage started going down, and the recycling started going up; it was great.”
Tillotson is currently working to pass a single-use plastics resolution, wherein departments would no longer be able use single-use plastics for items such as utensils, bags and food containers.
“You can’t walk into every classroom and talk to every student,” Tillotson said. “Passing laws and passing resolutions to eliminate waste is a lot better than just going around saying, ‘Hey, thanks for using a travel mug.’”
He’s also responsible for so-called “waste installations” seen throughout campus, which highlight common sources of waste from students– primarily coffee cups and plastic water bottles, casually arranged across a lawn. “The district culture allows for that kind of expression,” Tillotson said.
The installations began to appear around 2017 and gradually grew to occu-
Besides structural changes, carbon neutrality also addresses individual habits that contribute to methane, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. It involves optimal reduction of carbon output, in tandem with carbon-offsetting behaviors.
“Carbon neutral operation really focuses on the things that are within the college’s control,” Liebman said. “It’s reducing our emissions to a point where our energy electricity is clean, we’re shifting away from gasoline and diesel for vehicles and generators, and using electricity — as well as natural gas — for heating our buildings or cooking.”
py more space. “People say [the installations] have an effect on them; that’s why I keep doing them,” Tillotson said. “You have to push boundaries a little bit to create discomfort.”
Tillotson also observed a sharp decline in paper waste since COVID-19, as a change to online learning led several departments to reduce paper use indefinitely. “Everyone was relieved,” Tillotson said. “Several people, including myself, were like, ‘It’s time to just leave it online.’”
Tillotson expects SRJC’s new student housing to lead to a significant increase in campus waste initially — however, he also sees the change as an opportunity to promote healthy and sustainable choices in tandem with SRJC’s food vendors. This would prospectively include more plant-based and locally sourced options within students’ meal plans and at campus vending machines.
“A lot of people don’t have cooking experience; they’re going to tend to bring a lot of fast food back to their room and throw it all in the garbage,” Tillotson said of student incoming dormitory residents. “But if we have alternatives available, and some education about a zero-waste lifestyle, then they’re gonna be influenced to live a more sustainable lifestyle.”
Students and staff driving themselves to campus is the largest contributor to SRJC’s greenhouse gas emissions, estimated to comprise 60% of the school’s carbon use.
“We don’t want to say, ‘Everyone needs to take public transportation’; public transportation doesn’t work like that,” Liebman said. “But we acknowledge that driving a single-use vehicle that’s powered by gas is our largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and to a changing climate.”
But SRJC’s “commuter school” nature makes this a challenging number to tighten. Coordinating bus schedules and other sustainable transport options becomes unrealistic with more than 20,000 students attending classes on SRJC’s five campuses.
SRJC’s sustainability team is currently corresponding with the City of Santa Rosa to implement sustainable
transportation that’s more feasible for students, including new public transport from Sonoma to SRJC and a bus schedule that runs more frequently and at later hours.
“[Public transportation] is going to be much more convenient for students and staff the more frequent the transportation is and the more flexible the schedule is,” Tillotson said. “So we’re advocating for those things.”
SRJC students are eligible to receive free Clipper Cards through the Clipper BayPass program, currently set to run through summer 2024. The cards waive students’ transportation costs at any Bay area public transit system that receives Clipper, including the Santa Rosa CityBus, SmartTrain, San Francisco Bay Ferry and BART.
“The BayPass is one program I can really attest to,” said student Jason Loureiro at SRJC’s Climate Action Night April 20. “I use it to commute to my job after the JC, and it’s really saved me a lot of money on gasoline.”
Several sustainability committee members have also called for attention toward the “bikeability” of SRJC’s Santa Rosa campus and surrounding area.
“If you’re on a bicycle, you’re on your own,” said Alexa Forrester, SRJC philosophy instructor and Bikeable Santa Rosa volunteer. “So what you get is bicyclists doing everything like riding against traffic or cutting across lanes; it’s not safe for anybody.”
Bikeable Santa Rosa, a nonprofit organization advocating for safer biking opportunities throughout the city, has additionally directed attention toward improving the roads surrounding SRJC and campaigning for “protected and connected bike lanes into and around campus,” Forrester said.
Most roads immediately surrounding SRJC have no designated biking area, and those that do are highly trafficked and offer minimal space. “It’s just intense fumes and checking over your shoulder,” Tillotson added, referencing the bike lane on Mendocino Avenue.
Forrester also commented on new construction at SRJC’s Southwest Center; she believes the campus’ infrastructure limits opportunities for sustainable transportation.
“If we really want to help our students choose alternatives to cars, making our campus welcoming to bikes and making people on bikes feel like they’re welcome here, that’s going to help change the culture,” Forrester said. “And it would really help our greenhouse goals as a community if we could have more people biking to campus.”
The City of Santa Rosa also recently postponed construction for the bicyclist and pedestrian bridge extending from Elliott to Edwards Avenue after reallocating funding. The original proposed bridge, which offered students on the Santa Rosa campus easy access to Coddingtown Mall rather than having to cross Highway 101, went through ad-
ditional stages of design refinement in December 2022 before getting delayed.
“There is still some money for the bridge, but the city needs to back it,” Sustainability Committee Co-chair Abigail Zoger said. “What I would like to see is SRJC students, SRJC student government, SRJC faculty and SRJC administrators be more active with the City of Santa Rosa in the County of Sonoma, demanding sustainable development that helps our students.”
Because eliminating transportation-related emissions isn’t possible for a large portion of students, given uncoordinated work schedules and other personal circumstances, SRJC is taking other measures to minimize its impact and offset the impact of greenhouse gasses.
“That’s the reality of the world,” Liebman said. “Student responses tell me, ‘Okay, I need to make sure to invest in electric vehicle infrastructure,’ because there are students who might eventually get an electric vehicle.”
The new dormitory is also expected to help reduce SRJC’s transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions, potentially bleeding into its overall carbon footprint. “Having on-campus residence halls is an excellent idea for sustainability,” Tillotson said of the new construction. “So I’m hoping we build a second, even a third, residential tower.”
Shone Farm’s acreage also provides SRJC “carbon credit” that shrinks the district’s total carbon footprint. Crop
photosynthesis sequesters carbon in the soil, which is subsequently subtracted from final emissions calculations.
SRJC Energy and Sustainability Manager David Liebman urged students to reach out to college leaders and administrators with suggestions that the college should take regarding climate-related resolutions.
“As we get to every younger generation, their future is becoming more and more impacted by the changing climate,” he said. “Students have a voice; it’s all based around power and what students want to see.”
Sustainability Committee Co-chair Abigail Zoger also emphasized the importance of student advocacy for larger scales of change.
“I think individuals can do lots, but I’d like to see students get involved with city and county politics,” Zoger said. “The truth is that we have to make systemic change.”
Tillotson also noted that sustainable choices can be more economical for students; they often involve minimizing consumerism and purchasing fewer high-waste products.
“Sometimes it’s just habits, not buying a huge pack of water bottles and refilling at home,” Tillotson said. “Who wouldn’t want to save four, five, six hundred dollars for just a little habit?”
Liebman added that students have opportunities to get involved in sustainability-related clubs as additional ways to support campus initiatives.
“Whether it’s about biodiversity, landscapes or learning about renewable energy and wanting to see it on your campus, students getting together with a passion for sustainability provides so much power in expanding the culture of sustainability,” he said.
To quantify and compare its environmental performance, SRJC became the
first California community college to implement the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS), by submitting to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education extensive data detailing the college’s emissions, waste and energy usage.
SRJC’s bronze ranking expired in 2022, but a reevaluation is expected within the next year and a half.
“We’re hoping that by then we’ll achieve a silver ranking,” Liebman said. “We might be able to push it to a gold.”
As SRJC proceeds to expand resources for students, climate advocates push for the administration to implement sustainability-related infrastructure and practices that support the 2030 goals set by Greenprint 2.0.
“By this time next year, we’ll probably be around halfway there,” Liebman said of the college’s 2030 goals. “But even with all the amazing work that we’re doing, being halfway there still means we have a long way to go.”
“We need to just really continually bring awareness to the student body, and keep this topic at the top of mind.” – Chris
Riezenman“I’d like to see more students walk places when it’s easily accessible. And for schools to adopt compost programs, and just provide opportunities for students that are more climate-friendly.” –
Kate Ditzinger“I think getting involved in your community legislation is most important; a lot of students think that they can’t do a lot other than vote, but that’s not true. Getting involved in your community and in your state legislature, you can make a huge change for millions of people.” – Amando
Doel-Agarwal“I think if SRJC has more vegan-friendly options in the cafeteria, that would be nice– people would be a lot more eager to eat here. Also, having a more bikeable infrastructure would be really influential.” – Mari Sow
“I think knowing what goes into recycling, and what can be composted and recycled, is huge. And I would like to see my fellow students understand that better.” – Jocelyn
Magner“Students can make a difference by educating themselves, by starting at the very beginning. Go ask questions; go ask the people who are in this field. By knowing what’s going on, you’ll learn how to sustainably make changes — start with yourself first, then you’re able to spread the word.” –
Esmeralda Gaitan“I think just letting consumers and politicians know about this, because not everyone is very educated — even the politicians themselves.” – Blanca
Ruiz
In 2013, a year after Marvel’s “The Avengers” became one of the highest grossing movies of all time and the conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” trilogy, a new Superman film was made to begin the brand new cinematic universe based on the DC comics. A decade later, in 2023, a year after the beginning of a new “The Batman Universe” helmed by Matt Reeves, a new Superman film will be released to kickstart a new superhero universe. The only difference now is that Marvel is not nearly as successful as it used to be. What changed? And what does it mean for superhero movies as a whole?
Since the release of “Avengers Endgame,” the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been slowly waning the interest of public opinion. The films have received worse critical reception, with “The Eternals’’ seeing the series’ first rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes. Two years later, “Ant Man and The Wasp: Quantumania,” earned the same rotten rating. Marvel has started to suffer at the box office, with “Ant Man” grossly underperforming at $600 million in total box office revenue. This number is low compared to previous movies and what we expect from big-named MCU releases, especially one designed to start the next major phase of the cinematic universe.
Things may look dire for Marvel, but it is still able to turn a profit. While Disney found success in the box office, its rival company in the superhero business, Warner Bros., has seen its flagship DC comics superhero franchise underperform for years.
Although Warner Bros. has been able to find success in films set in its own standalone universes like “The Batman” and “Joker,” out of 10 years, the only mainline continuity film to breach a billion has been 2018’s “Aquaman.” The most recent film, “Shazam: Fury of the Gods” only managed to earn $127 million worldwide in its box office run, with a budget of $110 million.
The current decline in interest has a couple of explanations. The current blockbuster movie landscape shows a bigger period of diversity when it comes to what to watch in movie theaters. Last
By Erina Corlyear we saw major hits, such as Joseph Kosinski’s “Top Gun Maverick,” James Cameron’s “Avatar: Way of The Water” and most recently Chad Stahelski’s “John Wick: Chapter 4.” While these films are sequels, most have come at a far slower release time than that of the MCU, and they require knowledge of only one to three previous films. Compare that to the MCU; a new person wishing to catch up and fully comprehend the newest release needs to watch 30 movies and eight series on Disney+.
er positive returns, the Marvel Cinematic Universe feels like an ever growing house of cards doomed to topple. That is, if a house of cards required billions of dollars to keep up.
The only series losing money at the moment is DC, and Warner Brothers —clearly aware the current plan is not working as intended — has been planning a rebooted universe led by James Gunn for about a year now.
It hopefully marks the return of something the DC universe had needed for quite a while: a clear and uninterrupted vision led by a filmmaker who knows how to make successful superhero movies, emphasis on uninterrupted.
This is not to say the superhero movie genre is in the dumps. A Marvel movie has yet to actually lose money, and Marvel is still the biggest tentpole franchise in pop culture.
However, due to a common feeling of burnout for the series known as “superhero fatigue,” an increasing number of hoops to jump through to be caught up and a visual effects team that is being worked to the bone with fewer and few-
This is not to say a roadmap is the key to the future of superhero movies. In fact, some would likely prefer more standalone films and series over something as exhaustive and difficult to manage as a cinematic universe. But the future of the genre, at the moment, feels entirely unpredictable.
The only thing we know for certain is there will always be fun and exciting movies for people to watch in the theater, and a new Batman film will likely debut every few years.
“The Marvel Cinematic Universe feels like an ever growing house of cards doomed to topple.”Clockwise from top left: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, Blue Beetle, The Marvels and The Flash are among this year’s superhero blockbusters, but with a decline in both box office and critical reception, the future looks uncertain for both the Marvel and DC’s Cinematic Universes. courtesy digital spy , imdb , marvel studios and polygon
With a remarkable 29-3 season, the Santa Rosa Junior College women’s basketball team cemented itself in the Bear Cubs’ history books as one of the best teams in the program’s history.
“You never know at the beginning of the season what the year will look like,” head coach Lacey Campbell said. “You hope that you have a group that will come together, improve and be connected on the floor. All of those things happened this year.”
Back in October, Campbell didn’t know what laid ahead for her team, and the players were also unsure how the season would fare out.
“The beginning of the season was rough because we had several changes in the roster,” forward Sheriene Arikat said. “I really don’t think anyone was expecting to have the season we did.”
Behind the performance of Big Eight Conference MVP, forward Ashleigh Barr, three All-State honors and four All-Conference honors, the Bear Cubs made it to the Final Four of the California Community College Athletic Association women’s basketball tournament.
Before their Final Four game between Orange Coast College, the Bear Cubs knocked off three playoff-caliber teams
in the opening tournament rounds with ease. First, an 81-39 blowout over Napa Valley College proved the team was for real and alleviated any doubt the team could make a deep run in the playoffs.
After another blowout win over Laney College, Santa Rosa advanced to championship weekend at West Hills College in Lemoore, California.
On March 10, the Bear Cubs dismantled Mt. San Antonio College 65-48 in the quarterfinals of the CCCAA tournament. After Santa Rosa took down Mt. San Antonio, the matchup against powerhouse and undefeated Orange Coast college was set in the Final Four.
In the fourth quarter against Orange Coast, the game bounced back and forth with each team possessing the lead for short periods of time. With 37 seconds left, Santa Rosa was up by one, but a free throw from Orange Coast forward Megan Mcintyre tied the game at 70 points a piece.
Both Santa Rosa and Orange Coast missed numerous opportunities to take the lead and win the game in the final seconds, however no team capitalized and the game headed to overtime.
Halfway through overtime, Orange Coast took an early 76-71 lead. The fivepoint lead was too much for the Bear
Cubs to overcome, and their historic season came to an end, one game short of the championship match.
“Everyone was extremely upset; after the buzzer went off, we all did a group hug, crying together,” guard Taylor Iacopi said. “We all care about each other so we knew that the loss was unfortunate, but the season was unforgettable.”
A month out from the game and the players haven’t fully recovered from the gut-wrenching loss.
“It still hurts, to be honest, I’ve rewatched that game so many times I’ve started remembering the play-by-play of the game, who scored, who turned it over and who fouled,” Arikat said.
Although the Bear Cubs’ historic season ended just short of the championship game and the state title, the ‘22-‘23 SRJC women’s basketball team went where only four other SRJC women’s basketball teams have gone before. Two past teams, 1988 and 2011, made it to the CCCAA championship game, while two past teams, 2010 and 2013, fell where the ‘23 Bear Cubs did in the Final Four of the CCCAA tournament.
The improbable Final Four tournament playoff run is even more unimaginable when flashing back to the very beginning of the season.
Santa Rosa forward Rose Nevin drives to the basket and scores in a 81-39 victory over Napa Valley in the first round of the CCCAA playoffs on Saturday, Feb. 25 in Santa Rosa. tony moeckel“At the start we really never thought this season was going to be this successful. Many of us thought that we were going to be worse than last year,” Iacopi said. “There was never a thought about even going to the tournament or even making it to the playoffs.”
Despite a 29-3 record, the Bear Cubs had to overcome numerous hurdles to get there. Their first obstacle came in their only home loss against San Joaquin Delta. Multiple players were sidelined in the 62-53 loss with sickness and other injuries.
Twenty-seven days later, the Bear Cubs sported an opportunity for revenge. “We focused on that game as an important part of the season,” Campbell said. “Delta was a very talented team, and we had to play well to beat them.”
On San Joaquin Delta’s home floor, Santa Rosa battled a heartfelt four quarters and got exactly what they were looking for: revenge. A hard-fought 54-45 win gave the team a large boost of morale.
“There were a lot of emotions during
and after that game. So to pull out a win and to prove that we were the dominant team meant the world to us,” Arikat said. “It just shows how despite a frustrating loss at home we were able to stay together and go right back at them on their home court.”
When the ball dropped at midnight and the year changed to 2023, a switch was flipped and the Bear Cubs stopped messing around.
From the start of 2023 to March 10, the Bear Cubs went unbeaten and rattled off 16 wins in a row. During the two-anda-half month period, victory was imminent as the Bear Cubs pummeled their opponents by an average of 30.2 points per game. Their defense stifled opponents through the stretch as they out rebounded their opponents and didn’t allow more than 62 points in a game.
“I feel like our team was so together and genuinely cared about each other,” Iacopi said. “When it came to game time, we really all would lock in everytime and went into every game with confidence.”
Across the 16-game stretch, the highlight win came against Sacramento City College. Santa Rosa trounced Sacramento City 101-41, the most points the Bear Cubs scored in a single game this season. Sacramento City scored 16 points in the first quarter, before being clamped down the final three quarters. Santa Rosa couldn’t be stopped from the field and shot 44% on the game, while holding Sacramento City to only 20% from the field.
Forward Rose Nevin had her breakout performance against Sacramento City with a season-high 15 points and a season-high 17 rebounds.
“It was a goal to hit 100, and it was super exciting to reach that,” Nevin said. “When we work together, we are hard to beat. We have top-tier team chemistry.”
Despite winning by large margins left and right, the Bear Cubs never let up in practice. “Practices stayed extremely difficult, and we really focused on the things we needed to work on even if we beat a team by over 20 points,” Iacopi said. “We never stayed comfortable with where we were.”
It would’ve been the easy way out to take things light in practice, but that was against coach Campbell’s mentality and the mentality she wanted to instill into her team.
“We started holding each other accountable and it became clear that no matter how much we won by, we were going to work and use everyday in practice as if we had never won a game,” Arikat said.
Once it hit the second half of the season, you would think the team would start to ramp down practices and take things easier going into games, but it was the complete opposite.
“Sunday practices were brutal because we would go up and down for almost the full practice and then go out and lift,” Arikat said. “It was a good brutal though because we learned how to play through fatigue while continuing to pick each other up.”
Resilience and family are two words that describe the 2022-23 SRJC women’s basketball team.
“This team really put a mark on the pro
gram and created a strong message that you can win by playing together and being a family,” Campbell said. “They are great people who came together and bonded. This goes beyond basketball. They have created a bond for life.”
Nevin added, “We had great skill, but we had fun and loved being with each other. It for sure was the most memorable season of our lives.”
From zero expectations with no playoff dream in mind at the beginning of the season, to cementing themselves as one of the best teams in program history, the Bear Cubs had a season to remember and left an unforgettable legacy.
“She [Campbell] had said many times that she never had a team this close,” Iacopi said. “It really showed throughout the season and our team is genuinely a family. Of course we all wish the outcome was different, but we would never change anything that happened.”
This group set a precedent for the future of the program and what a team can and should be.
“We have proven despite our size, our program’s history and all our roster changes you can be successful if you have the right coaches pushing you and a family to fight for,” Arikat said. Campbell hopes the success of this
year’s team influences players to join the program and repeat their historic season. “We are always wanting the best kids to come to the program. Hopefully, players see our success and they are inspired to join us,” Campbell said.
The Bear Cubs are on the right track to bring in new players. Maya Salas, a sharp-shooting guard from Analy is the first high school player to commit to Santa Rosa Junior College to play basketball next season for the Bear Cubs.
For the Big Eight Conference MVP and first team All-State recipient, Ashleigh Barr, her future is bright as she will play basketball at Chico State next year.
“Hopefully, players see our success and they are inspired to join us.”Guard Lucca Lowenburg and Forward Meredith Gilbertson celebrate as time expires in SRJC Women’s Basketball team 71-46 victory over Laney College Saturday, March 4 in Santa Rosa. That game sent the Bear Cubs to the state championship tournament at West Hills College in Lemoore, California.
Santa Rosa Junior College has revamped sporting fields and added an Olympic-sized swimming pool, but the athletics program is missing out on an increasingly popular sport: golf.
Golf has surged in popularity in recent years, both at the national and local level, especially since the pandemic. With its serene landscapes, the sport has become an ideal way to unwind and get some exercise, a reason why more and more people are taking up the sport.
At the national level, golf has seen a resurgence in popularity due to the success of players like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm who have attracted a new generation of fans. With the birth of new and exciting ways to watch golf, such as “The Match” and “TGL,” the sport has become more accessible to people of all ages.
According to the National Golf Foundation, 2020 saw an increase of 500,000 new golfers, a 2% uptick from 2019. Golfers played an estimated 502 million rounds in 2020, compared to 441 million rounds in 2019.
The increases have continued post pandemic. Sales of golf clubs, golf balls and apparel have also seen a dramatic increase since the beginning of the pandemic. The PGA Tour Superstore, for example, saw a 70% increase in business during 2020 and 2021.
In Sonoma County, golf has similary rose in popularity, especially among high school students. Many high schools have golf teams, so students can learn the sport and compete against other schools. This has helped create a new generation of young golfers who are passionate about the sport and want to continue playing beyond high school.
SRJC discontinued its golf program in 2019. This decision has left a gap in the local golf community. Students who wish to continue playing the sport at the collegiate level must bypass SRJC and go to Sonoma State or another four-year college.
“I played golf in high school and was pretty bummed I couldn’t continue
By Trevor Leeplaying competitively at SRJC,” said Colin Roth, a third year SRJC student.
In the spring of 2019, budget reductions forced the athletic department to cut three teams from its program, according to Matt Markovich, dean of kinesiology, athletics and dance. “We reduced it with men’s and women’s water polo and the men’s golf team because they were our smallest teams. In fact, everybody was doing some reductions across the district, and that was kind of what we had to do,” he said.
enrollment for 2022/23 is approximately 13,100 full-time equivalent students, a 5% increase over 2021/22. This is a positive sign that enrollment is trending in the right direction.
“Yes, we want golf. Yes, we want to add more teams back,” Markovich said. “But at this point in time, we’re waiting to see how our enrollment goes and see what our budget looks like.”
Considering golf’s rising popularity, the college should prioritize bringing back its golf program because it would allow student athletes to develop their skills and compete against other colleges. The golf program could promote a sense of healthy competition and camaraderie.
COVID and the resulting decline in enrollment further challenged the budget. “But I firmly believe that athletics is a student success program, and I firmly believe that creating space for more teams is something that I want to do,” Markovich said. “It’s just going to have to wait until we have the ability to grow our budget a little bit, and hopefully with us getting out of the COVID situation, we will see more students coming back to campus.”
According to the District’s Strategic Enrollment Management report, projected
An SRJC golf team would attract high school golfers who want to continue playing competitively at the community college level.
SRJC would also provide a valuable resource to the local golf community and help support the growth of this increasingly popular sport.
“Yes, we want golf. Yes, we want to add more teams back.”mischa lopiano illustration by sean young
Go pro or take his talents to a Division I college? That was the decision Santa Rosa Junior College player Austin Ehrlicher had to make last summer.
On July 19, 2022 the top-ranked Boston Red Sox drafted Ehrlicher in the 18th round as a pitcher. Not too long after, Arizona State University’s baseball recruiters offered him a full-ride scholarship for the same position.
Most athletes wouldn’t hesitate to sign with a major league team, but for Ehrlicher, it wasn’t a clearcut decision.
Born and raised in Santa Rosa, Ehrlicher was on track to live out his childhood dreams. Ehrlicher has always had a love for sports and played baseball at a competitive level.
“Getting to play Little League growing up allowed me to really enjoy playing the game with a lot of my best friends,” Ehrlicher said. “Some of my favorite memories growing up came from baseball tournaments, whether it was on the field or messing with my friends.”
Many kids lose the love and focus required to reach their full potential. However, the memories Ehrlicher made throughout childhood helped keep his love for the game alive. “I want to make sure I keep the same enjoyment of the game that I had as a kid. Obviously, there’s a certain focus that you have to bring to the field, but if you let go of one of your ‘why’s’, then it’ll be hard to succeed,” Ehrlicher said.
The closer Ehrlicher got to his goal of being on an MLB roster, the more fire he added. But MLB wasn’t always the end goal. Because the pandemic started during his junior year at Maria Carrillo High School, he wasn’t sure he would ever play baseball again.
“I came back after COVID not knowing if I was going to play baseball my senior year but ended up having a really good year at the plate and started to develop some good velocity on the mound,” Ehrlicher said.
Baseball wasn’t the only thing he excelled at; he was a multi-sport athlete split between baseball and basketball. “I always took basketball more seriously than baseball. It wasn’t until after my senior year of high school baseball ended that I knew I wanted to play in the MLB
one day,” Ehrlicher said. “So many people now just focus on one sport their whole life, which I think limits them to some of the intangible things that I’ve gained from playing basketball.”
Ehrlicher played both sports his freshman year at SRJC. His hard work in basketball eventually paid off as he transferred the athletic ability he gained from the court to use on the mound. In his first year, Ehrlicher put up 43 strikeouts, 10.18 strikeouts per nine innings, allowed 32 hits and 20 runs with an ERA of 4.26. Ehrlicher’s batting stats consisted of nine hits, five runs and three home runs with five RBIs and a batting average of .321. His stats were impressive enough that several college recruiters began reaching out to him last summer.
On day three of the MLB draft, with the 549th pick, the Boston Red Sox selected Ehrlicher for its pitching pool.
“It was a pretty cool feeling, honestly, to see that a team drafted me was a special moment,” Ehrlicher said. The draft came as a surprise for Ehrlicher, who knew it was a longshot and wasn’t expecting himself, a community college freshman, to go straight to the Major Leagues. “It was a reminder to keep doing what I’m doing,” Ehrlicher said. “I had put in so much work over the course of a year to try and put myself in a position where something like that could happen, so to see it pay off was awesome.”
Although honored by the selection, Ehrlicher didn’t leap at the MLB oppor tunity. He turned it down. He wanted to improve his work on the mound as much as possible before making the jump to the big leagues. “After I got drafted, I didn’t know where I was going to commit to college. I didn’t sign because I thought that I could create a better situation for myself in this year’s draft if I came back to [the] junior college for a year,” Ehrlicher said.
He decided to keep his options open. Of the several colleges trying to recruit him, one stood out. Arizona State University’s Division 1 baseball coaches called him after seeing what he could bring to the table. He visited there, and in late October, ASU sent him an official offer: A full-ride scholarship that covers tuition, housing and expenses. He accepted in early November.
“I had most of my other visits planned out, but after we did that [visit], I just realized that ASU was a place that I could see myself at,” Ehrlicher said. “It just felt like the right place for me, so I committed.”
Though he opted to finish college, getting drafted by the MLB motivated him to make another difficult decision — to drop basketball during his sophomore year and focus solely on baseball, and especially his pitching career.
The focus paid off. Ehrlicher’s stats at the mound this season were equally impressive. He pitched 65 strikeouts,
with 10.26 strikeouts per nine innings, allowed 44 hits and 26 runs with an ERA of 3.95. Ehrlicher’s batting stats stand at 16 hits, 10 runs, one home run and 13 RBI’s with a .205 batting average.
“His style of play is very calm,” SRJC baseball coach Damon Neidlinger said. “Austin never points fingers or takes his adversities out on anyone else.”
Ehrlicher’s end goal has not changed. He will continue his collegiate career to make sure he puts himself in the best scenario possible. He will train beyond what is necessary for when he decidesthe MLB is right for him.
When classes begin next fall, the Santa Rosa Junior College campus will feel different; 351 SRJC students will call Polly O’Meara Doyle Hall, the new dormitory at the corner of Elliot Avenue and Armory Drive, home. At an estimated cost of $64 million, it’s the first dorm on campus since Kent Hall was demolished in 2003 at the site of Analy Village.
“It’s going to be a home away from home,” said Director of Residence Life Jermaine Whyte. “It’s going to allow students to feel comfortable, to feel seen, to feel heard. They start one day as strangers and then at the end of that year they become family.”
The Polly O’Meara Doyle Hall is slated to open on Aug. 11, and the building is expected to be 100% filled by this summer semester.
Students can choose from five floor plans, from traditional single and dou-
By Christian Vieyrable units with community bathrooms to deluxe semi-suites with private bathrooms and six-bed units that have a combination of single and double-occupancy bedrooms with private bathrooms and a shared living room.
Each room is furnished with a bed, dresser, desk, chair, closet space and an HVAC unit equipped with heating and cooling. Utilities include hot water, free laundry, mailing-and-packaging services and 24-hour maintenance.
The dorms will contain spaces for students to relax, study, entertain and build community. Students will have access to the multiple community kitchens and study lounges on each floor, a game room and the Kaiser Great Room, a multipurpose room with lecture and study options that is named on behalf of a donation from Kaiser Permanente.
“They have their own space where they can be the best that they can be. Going to school from home in a junior
college setting is sometimes challenging because you’re bouncing between going to school and work,” Whyte said. “The students are the source of energy on campus. They are why we’re here. They are very passionate about the future.”
A dedicated bike storage will be located outside of the building. There will also be a courtyard equipped with grills to be used for weekly events and programs or simply as a space to get fresh air and enjoy the Santa Rosa community.
The Residence Life program coordinators will work alongside various department representatives to host events like game nights, hall competitions, workshops and even self-care events.
Dorm residents will have their own place to create a podcast, make lesson plans and work on projects.
“They’ll be able to create their own connections, they’ll build the type of thing that they’re looking for,” Whyte said. “It
will bring life to campus; I think that’s what we’re looking for.”
With good academic standing, six unit credits and a $35 fee, students can apply through the online application. Applicants under the age of 18 require a guarantor. All charges and payments are made in the SRJC accounting office, and all charges are per semester.
Up to this point, the housing options available to international students have been limited to a homestay provider or finding housing on their own. “The homestay provider is the only semi-guaranteed housing choice currently offered,” said Teresa Tope, International Student Program outreach coordinator since 2013.
“Beyond that, [international students] are on their own, so they have been looking for housing within walking distance,” Tope said. “That’s the most desirable, but there’s limited space in
the apartment complexes that are right next to campus, so it’s sometimes a struggle for them.”
International Student Program staff and students are excited about the upcoming dorms, Tope said. “It’s just an amazing opportunity for our students. It’s imperative that they have a nice, quiet, safe place to come and feel like they’re welcome and have a home when they land here.”
Tope explained how international students must adjust to social, cultural and economic differences they will encounter in the United States.
“So if they don’t have a place to sleep at night and call home, they get off to a rough start,” she said. “We’re thrilled that the college is opening dormitories and welcoming our international students into on-campus housing that really makes this school a lot more desirable internationally.”
However, Tope is left with concerns about the dorms filling up, saying, “We’ll be back into a similar situation where international students are struggling to find housing that’s affordable when they first get here.”
Housing challenges are especially problematic for the new international students. “Continuing students, they make friends, they figure out the system, they open bank accounts, they get the references and have the different requirements that they need in order to find housing,” Tope said. “But the new students don’t have that setup yet. They would come here, imagining that it would be easier than it actually is and possibly more affordable than it actually is. We’re hoping that will be alleviated now.”
Tope said the most frequently asked questions for international students are related to housing. “That’s the biggest hurdle when I’m out there doing recruitment for international students, is where they get to live,” she said. “That’s a big issue, not just with Santa Rosa Junior College but community colleges in general. Most of them don’t have housing [on campus]. So it’s going to make SRJC a lot more desirable for international students, knowing that they have housing.”
On Dec. 13, 2022 the Sonoma County Junior College District Board of Trustees approved the naming of the SRJC student housing project as the Polly O’Meara Doyle Hall, in correlation with the SRJC Scholarship Committee’s approval of the creation of a $400,000 annual Doyle Housing Scholarship for students who will live in the dorms. The scholarship will provide up to $1,200 per student per year.
Polly O’Meara Doyle was one of 14 women with the Federated Home and School Association who came together in 1917 and recommended the formation of a junior college in Santa Rosa.
“It is an honor to recognize Polly O’Meara Doyle’s contributions to this college,” said SRJC President Dr. Frank Chong at the Board of Trustees Meeting after the name was announced. “The entire Doyle family has a longstanding legacy at SRJC, including the Doyle Trust, which has provided scholarships to thousands of SRJC students since its inception. I am deeply appreciative that the SRJC Scholarship Committee supported the creation of a new scholarship
that will help make this housing even more affordable for our students.” SRJC’s campus has been home to students before. In 1965, Kent Hall opened its doors as an all-men’s dorm until 1973 when the building became co-ed for a one-year trial period, remaining co-ed
until it was demolished in 2003. In 1997, the future of Kent Hall was in limbo. The college had plans to phase out the building and convert the space into faculty offices. Students rallied in protest, wanting SRJC to build a bigger dorm instead of the planned
new Health Sciences facility that took funding from Kent Hall. “I think this dorm is serving a necessary purpose on campus,” Kent Hall resident Joan Acquistapace told The Oak Leaf newspaper at the time. “Without the dorms I wouldn’t be able to attend school.”
Write. Edit. Podcast. Take photos. Shoot videos. Design a magazine. Manage a website. Create social media campaigns. Gain experience, make friends and be part of an award-winning team. Join the Oak Leaf by enrolling in Journalism 52A this fall.
Journalism Classes at SRJC
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Production Class
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Journalism
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Contact: Anne Belden
Spring 2024
Journalism 1/1L: Intro to Journalism & lab
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With recent advancements in artificial intelligence, what was once thought to be science fiction is quickly becoming reality. The rise of ChatGPT and improving deepfake technologies is making AI’s role in our culture a daily conversation piece. However, overreliance on AI in media and entertainment could lead to a stagnation in ideas that progress society and perpetuate harmful biases and stigmas.
ChatGPT is a communication application that uses artificial intelligence software. Users can ask a general question like “What is a brief summary of the fall of Rome?” and it will generate a response that mimics human writing.
Like other forms of AI software, ChatGPT draws upon data given to it from books, articles and websites. According to Lex Pulos, Santa Rosa Junior College communications studies instructor, the continued use of ChatGPT has the potential to be perpetually damaging to artists and creative jobs.
Media companies can hire writers to start a TV series for a season and then use AI to generate material for subsequent seasons based on the original writing. This will also be true with other media related jobs, like acting.
“ChatGPT is just plagiarism. It’s a company of people who have stolen material from artists, who are never going to receive proceeds from stolen material,” Pulos said.
In the show “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” on Disney+, Darth Vader’s voice is entirely AI generated with a program called Respeecher. Previously, Jones himself or an impressionist would have been used. “You undermine voice acting as a community,” Pulos said.
In upcoming movies, including “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and “Here,” studios are de-aging the lead actors using AI. “What impact will this have on new actors?” Pulos asked. “If we just de-age the actors we’re already
familiar with, are we limiting new actors or their potential?”
Pulos speculates that this type of AI technology overuse will trap media in a creative limbo. We won’t see anything new or significant come out of Hollywood or video games because everything will be the same. Pulos said that AI has the potential to perpetuate societal biases.
“Algorithms are a biased medium, just like everything else,” Pulos said. “You’re coding in classic examples.”
One classic example is automatic hand dryers, Pulos said. The majority of hand dryers are produced in China, Japan and Korea, and tested with people who have lighter-skinned hands.
“So the algorithm that is supposed to detect hands moving is embedded with biased coding of what reflects enough color to turn on a hand dryer,” Pulos said. “There are numerous cases of Black populations who can’t dry their hands with automatic hand dryers.”
AI systems used in entertainment rely on large datasets to make decisions. If those datasets contain information that are biased or discriminatory, or are being handled by someone with biases, the AI’s output will frequently reflect those biases.
“If we start leaning on that without any understanding of black box data material or the training of helping us
understand how to use AI, we start mass producing or relying on stuff without any real cognition or skill set to it,” Pulos said.
Pop culture, especially movies and games, is highly influential on society. If we rely too much on AI-generated media, then we’ll get stuck in a loop of recycled content. Instead of new concepts, we’ll get never-ending remixed versions of the familiar.
“I think the general idea is that we will kind of create content for the lowest common denominator,” Pulos said.
Continued creative dependence on AI also perpetuates dangerous stereotypes. In a time when racial tension has led to unprecedented violence and politicians are passing laws that trample on LGBTQIA+ rights, bias in media-based algorithms will only lead to further division among Americans.
“The interesting thing about the arts, film, cinema and video games is that they challenge us to deal with some of this,” Pulos said. “If we just produce stuff as fast as possible, we might miss some of the more humanitarian, philosophical, theoretical elements that make art compelling.”
AI is here to stay, for better or worse. Still in its infancy, we can only speculate on how it will affect media and change the world. With regulation and thoughtful implementation, in time we will begin to look at AI with less suspicion.
Fake news is as old as spoken language and the written word. It’s as old as rumors and gossip.
People have always said things to stir up trouble, but rumors can spawn violence, as they did in Nazi Germany and the Tulsa Race Massacre. As our methods of communication progressed, so did fake news. Tabloids and gossip magazines, with their questionable claims of alien babies and celebrity affairs, became mediums for misinformation.
Sites like Reddit, Twitter and Facebook have seen fabricated articles with false claims of people dying or cultural icons engaging in scandalous actions. Nowadays with the introduction of AI and deepfakes, it’s increasing difficult to distinguish between real and fake news.
To show how easy it can be to spread fake news, take these two article headlines, courtesy of The Guardian’s “Fake or real headlines quiz”:
Climate activist Greta Thunberg told people in China to stop using chopsticks to save trees
Raccoons break into Californian bank
At first glance, one’s initial impulse is to deem the raccoon story fake. Breaking into a bank? What is this, a fuzzy “Ocean’s Eleven”?
But–surprise!–the raccoon story is real. A quick Google search shows several news outlets, including CNN, ABC7 and The Sacramento Bee picked it up. According to the story, two raccoons broke into a Redwood City bank and were spotted by a man at an ATM.
On the other hand, a minute of research shows that several sites actually looked into the Greta Thunberg story, revealing that it was fake, originally part of a social media post that went viral.
Fake news can get more problematic, especially when politics are involved. In a 2021 report by the Election Integrity Partnership, researchers found many incidents leading up to and after the 2020 election were caused by “misleading photos or decontextualized video clips of crumpled mail allegedly found in dumpsters or abandoned trucks.”
Researchers cited social media movements such as #Sharpiegate and #StopTheSteal, both of which were founded on misinformation.
“Narratives claimed hundreds of thousands of deceased citizens cast Democratic votes; others suggested Trump was one lawsuit away from victory,” the report stated.
All of it would culminate into #CivilWar, and the January 6 violent attack on
the Capitol that led to five deaths and more than 100 injured police officers.
So how do we go about checking whether something’s legit or not? What about stories that can’t be verified using a quick Google search?
Fortunately, with the development of fake news came the ability of sniffing out truth from lies. Fact-checking has come a long way, and here are five ways to check if your news is real.
One way to check for legitimacy is to check the source itself. Some examples of questions to ask are, why would someone write about this? Is the source reputable and/or from an official site?
Check the website’s mission statement or their “About us” page to learn more about what it stands for and what its motivations are. If you’re tired of hitting paywalls, consider downloading a reputable news aggregator like Google News or Newsbreak or paying monthly for legitimate news. A $9.99 a month subscription to Apple News, for example, gives you access to more than 300 newspapers and magazines.
2 Look: Watch for unusual grammar
Because of how impactful news can be, journalists have standards when it comes to writing articles. That means writing clearly, concisely and accurately. Take note of how the article is written.
Does it contain grammatical errors, or poor punctuation? Taking it a step further, look at the words they use. Are sentences “loaded,” meaning that the sentence is clearly written to incite a specific reaction? Does the headline or body text use exclamation marks? Real news rarely does.
3 Review: Check for the outlet’s biases
In an ideal situation, news is unbiased, giving only the facts of what happened with wording that leaves no room for misinterpretation. But news sites on the far left and right can have political agendas, and even individual reporters may have subtle biases that sneak into their stories.
And it’s not just the wording itself. What reporters choose to publish or omit in an article may reveal beliefs. Bias by omission or placement can cause people to form misconceptions about a story’s importance, and thus lead to incorrect assumptions. The website AllSides.com evaluates major news sites and shows whether they’re neutral, liberal or conservative.
It also allows people to agree or disagree with the assessment. Mediabiasfactcheck.com assesses news media organizations for their biases, reliability and credibility and fair.org reports on news and issues that are getting not enough, too much, or questionable coverage.
4 Ask: Did other sources report the same story?
Legitimate news stories can be found on several news outlets, so do a “lateral search” to check other sites.
On social media, you can usually narrow things down through either the hashtag or by using keywords from the story. Fact-checking sites like Snopes. com can also help dispel fake stories that circulate online. One recent example of this was when Snopes debunked
rumors about actor William Shatner dying around March of this year. Specifically, a Youtube video was circulating in which “The ‘news’ of Shatner’s death was conveyed in nonsensical, ungrammatical captions over a montage of photos of the actor,” according to the Snopes article.
5 Investigate: Use reverse image search
In this era, it’s easier than ever to check images for their legitimacy. Sites like TinEye and Google Images allow you to upload pictures to see if they exist anywhere else on the Internet. TinEye even provides links to the other locations where the image can be found. This can be useful to verify dating profiles, unusual disaster photos and other difficult-to-believe images.
For example, a fake image of a shark swimming on a freeway has circulated after each major hurricane since Hurricane Irene in 2011. Videos are not exempt from this. There was a fake video about a Parkland shooting survivor allegedly ripping apart the U.S. Constitution that went viral on social media. According to an article on PBS NewsHour, “The doctored animation, and news stories about it, were shared nearly 70,000 times on social media.”
6 Research: Dig deeper
This last point encapsulates every point covered so far, but is the most important. Not only can people and sites be biased, but the content we view online can affect what is shown to us. Social media apps are especially contrived, as their algorithms change our feed every time we look up specific topics.
By controlling what information we receive, they can show us limited or biased aspects of a story. As evidenced by political divisions in this country, people who only get news from social media may get trapped in news silos that only show news from a liberal or conservative angle.
SRJC librarian Canon Crawford, who teaches Introduction to Information Literacy classes, puts it best:
“News comes at us in social media sometimes as a result of our friends, family, and bots who are generating stories for our feeds.”
Note: Maia Kobabe’s pronouns are e/em/eir.
Maia Kobabe, author-illustrator of “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” sits atop a picnic table at Ragle Ranch Regional Park, eir legs perched on the bench. Kobabe (pronounced koh-BABE) pauses to point out birds during our conversation and to appreciate the laughter of kids at the nearby playground.
E has one long earring that catches the dappled sunlight while we talk. Kobabe’s outfit — yellow pants, a black sweatshirt with the brand name FILA colorfully embroidered across the chest, the long earring — is familiar to me because e illustrated the look in a recent Instagram post showing off what
Kobabe and eir friends wore to K-pop concerts last year.
K-pop and Sonoma County’s natural beauty are two things bringing Kobabe joy at a time that’s also caused em fear and fatigue. According to the American Library Association (ALA), “Gender Queer” is the most-banned book in America.
When it came out in 2019, “Gender Queer” was hailed as a powerful story, great resource and queer-comics classic. The first run of 5,000 copies sold out within a week.
Kobabe’s first book, “Gender Queer” is an illustrated coming-of-age autobiogra-
phy about eir journey of self-discovery as a nonbinary and asexual person. The story chronicles Kobabe’s upbringing in rural Sonoma County and eir social experiences in grade school through grad school. E attended San Francisco’s California College of the Arts, where eir professor Melanie Gillman was the first openly nonbinary person e met.
Kobabe, now 34, depicts decades of dissonance between eir self-conception and society’s gendered expectations of em. During Kobabe’s childhood, eir parents never enforced gender roles on themselves or their children. E frequently felt like kids at school had access to information e lacked about things like shaving and using deodor-
Maia Kobabe’s first book “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” published in 2019, is already hailed as a queer comics classic. It is also the most-banned book in the country. The controversy and the accolades both catapulted Kobabe into the public eye, leading to a second book deal and an invite to speak at the Library of Congress.ant. Kobabe also struggled academically until e learned to read at age 11. This launched a lifelong love of books; from then on, e devoured fantasy books and later, queer stories.
“Gender Queer” palpably conveys Kobabe’s experience of gender dysphoria. Yet, what’s more striking is how well it also conveys instances of gender euphoria — profoundly positive experiences when Kobabe feels harmony between eir nonbinary identity and gender expression. Kobabe feels euphoria when e begins to use the pronouns e/em/eir and when e buys clothes that feel “queer and magical.”
Alongside eir exploration of gender, the book also documents Kobabe’s path of sexual discovery, from teenage crushes to masturbation to first times with a partner. Kobabe determines that e has a lower libido than most people e knows and that what arouses em in fantasy isn’t always enjoyable to do with a partner. Ultimately, Kobabe comes to identify as asexual.
“‘Gender Queer’ is the only time I’ve ever seen anything even remotely close to my identities,” says Alex Brown, a high school librarian, author and award-winning book critic who is genderqueer, asexual and aromantic.
“I came to [the book] long after I’d already come out, so it had no effect on my journey of queer discovery. But unless you’ve never seen yourself represented in media before, you don’t know how impactful representation can be. Maia and I dealt with so many of the same questions and concerns about relationships — both with others and with our own bodies — that I wish I’d had this book as a teen,” Brown says.
Stuart Wilkinson, a gay man who works as a teen-services librarian in Guerneville, calls “Gender Queer” a lifesaving work of art for LGBTQIA+ teenagers and adults.
“When you’re able to see yourself in a nonfiction book like this, especially a beautiful book to look at, I really do
think this has a profound impact on mental health,” he says.
In 2020, “Gender Queer” won two major awards from the ALA — a Stonewall Honor in Non-fiction and an Alex Award, which recognizes “books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18.”
Then the challenges began.
As libraries and bookstores all over the country bought and displayed Kobabe’s celebrated work, conservative groups took notice, launching efforts to ban “Gender Queer” among a slate of other titles, mostly about LGBTQIA+ charac ters and characters of color.
Beginning in 2021, the ALA documented a massive surge in calls to ban or censor books in schools and public libraries. For nearly two decades, it tracked cen sorship efforts on fewer than 300 book titles each year; in 2021, more than 1,800 titles were under attack and by 2022 the number rose to more than 2,500.
In 2016, Maia Kobabe began creating black-and-white mini-zines called “Genderqueer.” Gradually, e realized e was working on a book manuscript. Many pages from those zines evolved into “Gender Queer: A Memoir. Kobabe’s sibling, Phoebe, colored the book.
Kobabe’s illustrated memoir was at the epicenter.
Kobabe says “Gender Queer” was especially susceptible to book challenges for several reasons — it was readily available in most libraries because of the awards it won, its title comes up immediately when one searches the words ‘gender’ or ‘queer’ and it’s a comic.
“Many of the biggest award-winning names in comics — ‘Perspeolis,’ ‘Maus,’ ‘Fun Home’ — are solidly books for adults, but there are people who see anything with pictures and think it’s a children’s book,” Kobabe says.
E also says books with pictures are vulnerable to misinterpretations that easily go viral on social media. Calls to censor comics are common enough that there is even a nonprofit organization, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, dedicated to protecting the First Amendment rights of the comics art form and its community. The organization issued a statement of support for “Gender Queer” when the challenges began.
“This nuanced memoir examines nonbinary gender identity in a way that benefits both those who identify as nonbinary and those who wish to better understand nonbinary identity,”
the organization said. “In the case of ‘Gender Queer,’ challengers have taken a scant handful of out-of-context images to falsely assert that the graphic novel is pornographic and obscene.”
Ironically, having a banned book has come with some silver linings.
“Not every book that’s challenged sees sales increase, but mine did,” e says.
Articles about Kobabe appear in Time Magazine, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, among other prominent publications. E has written opinion pieces for NPR and The Washington Post E also has more speaking opportunities than ever before. In April, Kobabe traveled to Washington, D.C. to speak to librarians at the Library of Congress and to members of the Gay, Lesbian, and Allies Senate Staff Caucus.
“It’s given me a platform and a voice I didn’t have before. I’m trying to use that to the best of my ability,” Kobabe says.
Despite the personal successes the attention has brought, Kobabe wouldn’t choose to be in eir position.
“I’m seeing all of these communities just completely tearing themselves apart over queer books and queer voices and, basically, whether or not they believe that queer and trans people are appropriate in the public sphere,” e says. “All of the personal benefits are pretty much outweighed by my fears over the rise of censorship, the defunding of libraries and all of the anti-trans legislation that’s being passed — limiting health care, bathroom access, sports team access and the teaching of history and pedagogy.”
E continues, “The wave of book challenges that started in 2021 was fueled by a very organized and inten-
tional conservative push to make trans rights the new hot-topic talking point along with things like abortion and immigration,” Kobabe says.
E isn’t alone in characterizing book bans as part of a broader push against trans visibility and rights in the U.S.
In 2022, Randall Balmer, a Dartmouth professor of religion who researches evangelism in America, told The 19th* that the rise in anti-trans legislation is an effort to keep the religious right voting Republican.
“They have an interest in keeping the base riled up about one thing or another, and when one issue fades, as with same-sex relationships and same-sex marriage, they’ve got to find something else. It’s almost frantic,” Balmer said.
After same-gender marriage in the U.S. became legal in 2015, opposition to marriage equality quickly dwindled. Trans rights became the next issue to galvanize white evangelical voters, Balmer said.
The website “Trans Legislation Tracker” counts 528 anti-trans bills introduced across 49 states in the first four months of 2023. This is an exponential surge since 2015-2019, when each year saw fewer than 60 anti-trans bills introduced nationwide.
A March 2023 PBS NewsHour/NPR/ Marist poll found a majority of Americans oppose anti-trans legislation, but as more bills are introduced, opposition to them is shrinking. For example, in April 2021, 65% of people were opposed to legislation that would criminalize providing gender-affirming care to minors, as compared to 54% in 2023.
“[Book bans] are able to ease in people who may feel confused by terms and identities that are new to them by making it sound like they’re just focused on books. But it’s never been about the books,” Brown says. “It’s about wanting to deny people options … forcing everyone into a cis-allo-heteronormative white supremacist box.”
While the most numerous and most successful efforts to ban books have been in Texas, Florida and other majority-Republican states, local schools and libraries also face challenges. Last June, a national group called CatholicVote launched a campaign called “Hide
chelsea kurnick According to Trans Legislation Tracker, 528 anti-trans bills were introduced in the first four months of 2023. In 2015, the year the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, states introduced 19 anti-trans bills.the Pride” which instructed parents to check out all books from LGBTQIA+ Pride displays at libraries, then announce to the library that they won’t return the books unless the library agrees to remove “the inappropriate content from the shelves.”
The campaign made waves locally when the group targeted the Rohnert Park-Cotati public library, sharing photos on the CatholicVote website of an empty bookshelf. The library called it a censorship effort against their values.
Kobabe regards book bans as one effort among many to erode public services and human rights e says have long been taken for granted. “Book challenges were step one,” e says. “The ability of trans students to be safe in schools is step two. Completely eradicating trans healthcare — including for adults — is step three.”
Steps four and five, which e fears are forthcoming, would be the eradication of public libraries and public education.
In April, the Missouri House of Representatives voted to completely defund the state’s public libraries. Their decision was a retaliatory reaction to the Missouri Library Association and ACLU suing the state over a recent law that bans hundreds of books from school libraries and criminalizes school officials who don’t comply with the law.
Kobabe worked in an academic library for ten years and is passionate about the resources libraries offer people.
“Beyond access to books, libraries are one of very few places where you can get free WiFi, use free restrooms, even sit in the shade,” e says, adding that many libraries provide after-school care to kids and help adults with taxes and job applications.
“Not having a library really impoverishes a community,” Kobabe says.
This January, Kobabe announced eir forthcoming second book “Saachi’s Stories.” Written for a younger audience than “Gender Queer,” the new book is a graphic novel written in collaboration with nonbinary comics author-illustrator Lucky Srikumar. Scholastic Books’ Graphix imprint bought the rights to “Saachi’s Stories,” which is slated for release in 2025.
Between accolades and attacks, the continued spotlight on “Gender Queer” spurred a lot of interest in eir next book.
“We showed the book pitch to six publishers and ended up getting offers from four of them,” e says.
Kobabe began a draft of what became “Saachi’s Stories” before the backlash
to eir memoir started. After eir first book came out, Kobabe heard from many parents of queer and gender-expansive kids who asked if e would ever release a children’s version of the book. E wanted to respond to these requests, but re-working “Gender Queer” didn’t appeal to em.
“It felt weird to abridge my real, lived experiences, and I didn’t want to redo a book I had literally just finished,” Kobabe says.
Instead, e decided to write a new, fictional story geared toward a younger audience. Like “Gender Queer,” the new story is about gender, sexuality and exploring one’s identity. Kobabe first hired Srikumar to consult on writing the main character’s best friend as a first-generation Indian-American. After reading an early draft of the script, Srikumar instead suggested the story’s main character could be Indian-American. Kobabe loved their idea and asked if Srikumar would co-author the book.
“At this point, we’ve both worked on it so much, I couldn’t tell you who wrote many of the scenes. It’s been a very interwoven, collaborative process,” e says.
Kobabe is also working on a 32-page zine for transmasculine people about the physical and mental health effects of chest-binding. That project, written in collaboration with a researcher from
University of Michigan, took about a year to create. E is nearly finished and beginning to pitch it to publishers.
“And then in the gaps when I’m waiting for editorial feedback on ‘Saachi,’ I have started writing the really rough outline of a third book. It’s a fantasy story that also has queer and nonbinary characters,” e says.
Backlash to “Gender Queer” has consumed a lot of Kobabe’s time and energy, but it hasn’t slowed em down ideologically. “If anything, it made me more determined to keep writing extremely queer stories for the rest of my life,” e says.
Kobabe urges other writers not to let book bans scare them away from telling authentic stories about their own minority experiences, whether that has to do with gender, race, disability, immigration status, neurodiversity or other aspects of intersectional identity.
“The publishers I’ve spoken to have made very firm statements about how they will not be censoring or refusing to buy these books out of fear of being
challenged,” e says. “Don’t let fear silence you, because that is one of the goals of censorship — to cause people to censor themselves.”
To Kobabe’s allies, e advises, “Don’t fall into despair; we can’t afford despair. We need action.”
ernment officials to voice opposition to the recently-introduced California bill AB-1314, which would require schools to notify parents when a student socially transitions gender at school.
Despite the challenges, Kobabe feels supported and embraced in the Bay Area, especially within San Francisco’s large queer-comics community. Locally, e credits the Charles Schulz Museum with fostering a cartoonist hub. When a Virginia politician attempted to sue Barnes & Noble for selling “Gender Queer” and another book he called obscene, Kobabe says Barnes & Noble in Santa Rosa reached out almost immediately to invite em to do a book signing.
“It was a lovely gesture of support,” Kobabe says.
Kobabe excels at finding respites from the stressors in eir life. Kobabe recently celebrated 20 years of reading at least 100 books per year.
And then there’s K-pop — popular music from South Korea that has amassed international fans and inspired reality TV shows, collectible pop star memorabilia, fan fiction, choreographed dance videos and more. “I’ve made more new friends recently through a shared love of K-pop than I have through any other venue since grad school,” e wrote in an Instagram post.
“I see live music and I also spend a lot of time with friends talking about album releases and music video releases and upcoming concerts,” e says.
Even during the COVID-19 lockdown, the K-pop industry couldn’t be deterred. Kobabe says, “I saw, like, 30 concerts from my laptop in my bed. And it was great. It really gave me something to look forward to.”
When Kobabe shares information to loved ones about anti-trans legislation or hate acts that make the news, e tries to pair the information with a suggested action they can take. Right now, for example, e suggests supporting the ACLU, which is fighting censorship efforts. Kobabe also asks people to write to gov-
In short comics Kobabe shares on Instagram, e writes about eir love of K-Pop and other fandoms. Whether writing about eir hobbies or the toughest experiences in eir life, Kobabe’s effervescence and authenticity are always apparent.
“I’ve realized how powerful it is to write your deepest truth — to say, ‘I did this,’ or ‘I felt this,’” Kobabe says. “People can argue against it, but they can’t refute it because it’s your truth and you’re saying it from the core of yourself.
“If anything, it made me more determined to keep writing extremely queer stories for the rest of my life.”
Sleep. School. Work. Cry. Repeat. Janet Rivera, a second-year Santa Rosa Junior College student, takes five classes, all in person, and then heads to work evenings and weekends.
The constancy of work and school left Rivera, 20, in a perpetual cycle of burnout, lacking motivation to do simple tasks and even the energy to hold conversations with friends.
“I think when you’re burned out, you just want to sleep in, and everything’s 100 times harder than it has to be, even from the little task of just getting up and getting ready,” she said.
After graduating high school during the COVID-19 shutdown in the spring of 2020, Rivera enrolled at SRJC the following fall but found herself confused as to why she couldn’t understand the material in her online Zoom class. Although she loved interacting with each of her professors, she suffered from panic attacks every time she had to hit the unmute button.
It wasn’t the college experience she had dreamed of, so Rivera did what many students felt was the only choice they had during the pandemic: she quit. Instead, she worked two jobs, logging 60-hour-plus workweeks. She returned to SRJC, keeping both jobs — at first.
“I believe that’s when I was at my lowest and felt the most burnout,” Rivera said.
Student burnout can be described as a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It’s no secret that these last years have been trying for most, as students learn to readjust to life outside of the pandemic bubble while also seeking ways to return to in-person school.
According to an April 2020 survey from UNESCO published on research.com, one in five college students in the U.S. reported a significant decline in their
mental health during the pandemic. Over three quarters of households with high school or college students had educational disruptions due to COVID as well, and 80% of students suffered increased stress due to these disruptions.
For many students, returning to in-person instruction has brought its own unique set of challenges. “It gave me a lot of anxiety being back around other people,” Rivera said.
“We all have a container in which we continue to put stress and all these responsibilities that we have in life like work, school, family, kids,” said SRJC therapist Brijida “Brijit” Alemán. “We expect everything to be OK by putting a lid on the container, but it fills to a point where we can no longer add to it.”
Alemán noted that students are still coming to her feeling overwhelmed with symptoms of anxiety and depression. She offers them methods to manage their stress so that they can find a balance between work, school and life. “We all have to know what our best support system works for us is, whether it’s talking to family or hanging out with friends,” she said.
Rivera knew she couldn’t maintain the status quo and she was determined to finally end her burnout cycle. She quit one of her jobs and used that time to focus on self-care. That meant she could sleep, exercise and enjoy time with friends. Ironically, taking time for herself made her more efficient at everything she did.
“Being productive gets me in the rhythm of things,” Rivera said. “You can go to the gym, you can take care of yourself, you can go with friends and go on a hike or something like that. I really now try to make sure I take time from work and prioritize school and myself.”
Reporter Jaime Jauregui contributed to this article.
Bert Epstein, manager of SRJC’s Student Health Services and Mental Health Programs, discussed ways in which students can overcome burnout.
TAKE BREAKS: Break up study time and project time into different segments. Do something different in between, maybe even something fun. Go outside, take a walk, find something to do for a short period of time to break up a task.
SLEEP: Getting the right amount of sleep is essential. Starting the day early after a good night’s rest can help keep the brain focused. Good nutrition and moderating one’s consumption of energy drinks and coffee help with sleep, too. “Sleep has everything to do with how we are able to process the next day,” Aleman said.
KEEP GOOD COMPANY: Keep people in your life; don’t stay solitary. Reach out to people who are positive and who you enjoy spending time with. Even if you just send a short text message, stay in touch.
STAY MINDFUL: Using apps like Calm and adding in some mindfulness exercises can help relieve stress and act as a good way to reset if needed. These exercises can help you maintain the balance between school and life. Take somebreaths or try meditation.
GET HELP: SRJC’s Student Health Services offer a range of healthcare, mental health services, reproductive health, support groups and wellness resources. Students experiencing a mental health crisis can drop-in and get immediate support from mental health professionals. Individual, group and couples therapy is available.
By Nicholas Vides
In 1832 Padre Jose Altimira planted several thousand grapevines at Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma. For nearly 200 years, monks, priests and then laymen tended the vines, harvested the grapes and — most importantly — blended and blessed the wine. Every major role was filled by a man.
But due in large part to Santa Rosa Junior College’s viticulture and enology programs, the women of Sonoma County have started to break that glass-bottled ceiling.
Local winemakers Jennifer Higgins of Lambert Bridge Winery, Lisa Amaroli of Benziger Winery and Emma Kudritzki Hall of Mauritson Winery all have roots at SRJC. Higgins and Amaroli both attended the JC before transferring and earning biochemistry degrees. Kudritzki Hall was an SRJC viticulture student and later became an instructor in the college’s enology program.
These three women are part of a growing trend. According to industry trade group Women Winemakers, “Of the 4,200+ wineries in California, approximately 14% of them reported a woman as their lead winemaker in our 2020 study.” Twenty-five years earlier, in 1994, that number was less than 10%.
A first-generation college student, Higgins attended SRJC then transferred to UC Davis, earning a degree in biochemistry. After a few years abroad in Italy, Higgins made her way back to California in search of a job, working first as a tasting room attendant at Simi Winery. Since then, she has been mentored by some of the most iconic women in the wine industry.
Among them are Jill Davis, who held the winemaker role at Lambert Bridge Winery before Higgins herself, and industry icon Zelma Long, who in the early 1970s was one of the first women to graduate with a masters from UC Davis’ viticulture and enology program then later founded and became the first president of the non-profit American Viticulture Foundation.
Throughout her career, Higgins managed to make valuable connections, but she also often found herself in situations that were far less than inclusive.
In a winery, “If I asked a question, because I was pretty inquisitive, and the response was, ‘Why do you need to know that?’ that’s when I knew that wasn’t the right place for me to work,” Higgins said.
It still happens sometimes at trade shows. “It is always surprising when I’m at an event with fellow winemakers, and there’s two women in the room and I’m thinking, ‘Where are all the women?’” she said. “Some people have walked up and asked me if the winemaker is here while looking for the guy behind me. That kind of stuff happens all the time.”
After a series of leaps from Simi Winery to Lancaster Winery and others, Higgins landed at Lambert Bridge Winery in February 2010 and has been the lead winemaker ever since. She is particularly proud of her assistant winemaker, Lisa Bruich, another woman forging a path in the wine world. Higgins oversees production of more than 8,000 cases annually for Lambert Bridge.
Being a woman in winemaking has not been a struggle for Higgins, although there was one bump in the road —managing both winemaking and mothering. “When I first started [in the business] I was looking at all the women winemakers, and very few had children,” Higgins said. “I think the idea in that first wave [of women winemakers] was to be very career focused. I remember somebody saying, ‘Yeah, you can have one — or the other.’”
That idea didn’t sit well with Higgins, who decided she could handle both. “I think my kids are stronger because they got to see and have a mom that loves what she does,” she said.
Lisa Amaroli followed a similar path into winemaking as Higgins. After attending SRJC, the west county native lived in Europe for five years before returning to Sonoma County. Amaroli then attended Sonoma State, earning a degree in biology and chemistry. “And then I had to decide what to do with it,” she said, “Do I go into genetics? Do I go into meteorology?” Amaroli eventually landed on winemaking and “just didn’t look back, quite honestly.”
Unlike Higgins, Amaroli could only see the family-vs-job dichotomy. “I was under immense pressure from myself to always be at work. I had these thoughts of, ‘Oh, maybe we shouldn’t take that trip’ or ‘Oh, I need to be there for bottling.’ You don’t get to see your significant other a lot during that time so they need to be 100% bought into this career,” she said.
After 16 years of marriage, she and her husband parted ways, childless.
Her laser focus on work paid off. Amaroli is now the top winemaker at Benziger, a formerly family-owned winery now owned by The Wine Group. Amaroli oversees the production of more
All three winemakers have relied on good advice as they’ve grown up and developed their careers. Here they offer words of wisdom to the next generation of SRJC winemakers.
You are in a great spot [at the JC]. You’re studying hard and learning things that are going to put you in a great career full of people that could do anything in the world but they choose [to make] wine. It takes a lot of different types of people to make a winery successful, it’s all right here in Sonoma County.
Hard work speaks for itself, but do try to balance your work and life with friends and family. Yes there will be harvest weeks where you are working seven days a week, but find a way to balance it with whatever you need to. Give yourself a pat on the back from now and then, and cherish your victories in the winemaking process.
Don’t ever limit yourself and continue to sharpen those skills, regardless if you’ve been in the industry for six months or 20-plus years. Don’t be intimidated, and continue to ask questions.
than 12,000 cases a year of certified organic and biodynamic, direct-to-consumer wine that you can only buy in the tasting room at Benziger Estate.
In addition, Benziger produces and ships 150,000 cases of certified sustainable wine to grocery stores and other commercial outlets.
When Amaroli started in 1999 as a lab tech, men held all the top roles. “I don’t know if [the Benziger Family] ever imagined that they would have a woman running the show for their commercial brand,” she said, looking back at when she first started with them. “They were really welcoming in the lab,” and one of their winemakers took her “under his wing.”
By 2006, Amaroli was pushing for another promotion, telling her bosses, “Hey, you know, I’m not an assistant winemaker anymore. I should be a winemaker.”
Mike and Joey Benziger ultimately agreed, and Amaroli took the top spot. “The trust and the freedom they gave me was incredible.”
It is a big job. “They basically leave the whole management of the high-end wines facility to me, and the making of the commercial lines,” she said. “I was proud of that. A male-dominated industry, a male-dominated winery — they totally trusted me to get the job done.”
Marin County native Emma Kudritzki Hall got her start as an intern for a boutique winery in the Mayacamas Mountains. From there, she jumped between a series of wineries, some as far away as New Zealand, before landing in Healdsburg at Mauritson Wines in 2011. She became lead winemaker in 2019. Under her leadership, Mauritson Wines makes on average 12,000 cases a year, while also producing more than 12,000 cases of custom crush per year.
Kudritzki Hall is the middle child of five siblings and was raised by a single mom. “My mother set the standard from day one: you can do anything,” Kudritzki Hall said. “There’s no set limitations.”
It’s a mantra Kudritzki Hall has lived by. In addition to being winemaker at Mauritson, she and her husband own and operate Seawolf Wines in Yorkville. Kudritzki Hall was also an instructor at SRJC’s Shone Farm for several years, where she taught spring vineyard practices. On top of all of that, she also has a 7-year-old daughter.
“A lot of women [students] came up to me, regardless of age, and were impressed that I taught, was a mom and was a winemaker and had a career,” she said. “I think I encouraged or inspired them to realize that you can pretty much do whatever you want. But it doesn’t come without its challenges.”
By Jessica Morris
ine: our region is soaked in the stuff. Head to any dog park and you’re likely to be swarmed by Vinos, Rosies and Champs. Talk to a doctor and it’s practically prescribed. Fly out of the Charles Schulz airport and you’re encouraged to ship a case for free. Whether you partake or not, wine is on everyone’s lips in Sonoma County.
The ambient buzz is inescapable for good reason. A full 60,000 acres of local agricultural land is dedicated to wine grapes, with more than 425 wineries generating over $14 billion in wine retail sales alone, according to the Sonoma County Economic Forecast. This requires employing some 54,000 industry workers, or a quarter of the employable county workforce. Faced with numbers like these, it’s easy to imagine a winery on every corner, a bottle on every table and a purplish stain on every tooth.
And yet, unless you’re an enology scholar, professional or connoisseur, the world of wine can be alienating, especially on a student budget. And living locally doesn’t make the finest regional wines any more affordable.
So, what about the world of cheap wine?
This spring and summer, whether you’re getting festive at home or headed to a BYOB barbecue, keep the following tips and tricks in mind and have no fear reaching for a bottle of the cheap stuff to rejoice in the region’s bounty. Who knows, you might even impress a wine snob or two.
In a restaurant it’s poured by the glass, often called “House Wine.” It’s sold in grocery stores at a massive scale. But that which draws in the novice wine drinker also raises suspicion. Sometimes you only know when you taste it. Too sweet, too tannic, just bad — is cheap wine worth the risk?
In short, yes. Admittedly, if everyone’s finances were infinite, there would be no bottom shelf. A high price tag connotes certain qualities that typically result in a higher quality drinking experience. Fortunately, the qualities of “cheap” and “expensive” wine are not distilled to simply “bad” and “good.”
chelsea kurnickMaybe you’re the type of person to grab a bottle of wine based on label design and vibes alone, or maybe you just don’t have a taste for it. “Why bother?” you mutter as you drive past the fifth vineyard on your commute.
Most people in the region have basic wine knowledge, but it can be vague. They know there are whites, reds and sparklings. If you’ve ever been to a tasting, you know you’re supposed to swirl it around and sniff it before you sip. Then someone starts talking about
oak barrels versus stainless steel and perhaps you nod your head and feign understanding.
With that in mind and not much else, The Oak Leaf assembled a crack team of wine tasters to “scientifically” assess some of the area’s more affordable, accessible wines from a novice perspective. These are “grocery store” wines — meaning that they’re easily found in locations like Safeway or Costco — and their prices range from about $7 up to $22, with one exception.
What you need
• 2+ bottles of wine, any variety
• Cups or wine glasses
• Pens and paper
• A bucket to spit into. “Tasting” isn’t “drinking,” and even high end wineries have places to discreetly spit a mouthful of wine to avoid overindulging. Taste enough to evaluate but don’t be afraid to pour out any not to your liking.
• Water and snacks. Mixing affordable wines on an empty stomach doesn’t sound like a good idea.
Taste for these notes
Sweetness Sugars remaining from the fermentation process make a wine taste sweeter. Is it pleasant or cloying?
Acidity Acidity comes across as tartness or crispness in wine. Younger grapes are more acidic than sugary, mature grapes. Which profile do you prefer?
Tannin Tannins cause that dry-mouth feeling, more prominent in reds. Does it add an interesting layer or detract from the flavor?
Though the panel rated wines on a scale of 1-5 to see how they stacked up, the ultimate question of drinkability required more discussion. We wanted to try local varieties that pair with flavors of the warm months ahead: grilled foods, fruity desserts and fresh produce.
In Short: Do the pricier bottles in our range always taste better? No.
Would we drink them again or serve them to guests? Generally, yes. But maybe dressed up a little.
Alcohol Alcohol adds “body” to wines, and can make a wine feel “hot” in high quantities, especially when you exhale. How detectable is the alcohol compound? Does it add or detract from experiencing other flavors?
Remember Taste is subjective. Get creative with your descriptions; don’t be shy about using the spittoon/bucket, and rinse your glass between wines if you’d like.
The difference between an expensive bottle of wine and a cheap one may not be as damning as you imagine. Here’s how price is determined:
Cheap wines are more typically made from grapes that are grown in large quantities while expensive wines are made from grapes that are more carefully cultivated; sometimes the variety of grape itself is more prized.
Step into the season with refreshed confidence in whatever bottle you’re carrying, with some recipes bound to turn any bottle into a showstopper. Follow your budget and the guidelines below for a summer to remember — or not. Drink responsibly.
Perfect for hot days and long nights, spritzers keep things light and polite with far less alcohol than the typical cocktail. Best to make it glass by glass.
• Pour three parts white or rosé wine and one part club soda over ice
• Add a little simple syrup, a lime wedge, mint sprigs or berries
Perhaps the most unapologetic way to enjoy red wine, Spaniards invented it as a way to consume inferior reds and keep the party going. You might see “elevated” versions on menus around California, but it’s still sure to horrify wine purists.
• Pour one part red wine and one part cola over a tall glass of ice
• Add lemon wedges or mint
• For a group batch, you can premix one liter of cola with a little less than one bottle of red. Don’t forget ice and lemons
Method of production Cheap wines are processed using large-scale industrial methods, whereas expensive wines can be processed using traditional or advanced methods.
Region of production Some of the less expensive wines in the Sonoma County region come from grapes grown in less well-known areas like the Alexander or Dry Creek valleys or from a blend of grapes from multiple regions.
Results From a flavor perspective, cheap wines are often described as having a simple or one-dimensional profile, while expensive wines are known for their complex, more nuanced flavors.
Taste is relative and so is affordability. Whether your budget is $20 a bottle or $7, you can take any class of wine as seriously as you please. Knowing you can find favorites among any group, the next step is learning how to identify them.
Use ice, use a straw, drink from a mug. Bend the “rules” and make the wine work for you!
Invest in a glass wine decanter (a big, pretty vessel that improves the flavor of wine by aerating it).
Champagne punch — and it’s sister, the Champagne cocktail — can go in any number of delightful directions. If you love to host, a punch bowl will always dazzle and you can find them for less than $20.
For a simple brunch punch combine the following over ice in a bowl or split between a couple of pitchers:
• 1 bottle sparkling wine
• 1 quart orange juice
• 2 cups club soda
• ⅓ cup liquor (triple sec or cointreau work great, but vodka will do)
• 1½ tablespoons lime juice
• Lots of ice, citrus, berries and mint for garnish
• Bonus: For under $30 not only does decanting make cheap wine better, you can also hide the telltale bottle itself.
• Serve the best stuff first — once you’ve had a little wine, you’re less likely to notice if the next bottle isn’t as good.
Another Spanish contribution, sangria takes a little extra time but pays off with a ton of flavor. Easy to drink and packing a punch, it’s best served with barbecue or other substantial foods. The wine-soaked apples don’t count.
• 2 bottles dry red wine (rioja is the Spanish classic)
• ½ cup brandy
• ½ cup orange juice
• 1 orange, diced
• 1 green apple, diced
• 1 lemon, diced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Simple syrup or agave syrup to taste
• Lemon-lime soda, ginger ale or sparkling water, to taste
• Add fruit and cinnamon stick to the bottom of a large pitcher. Pour brandy, then OJ, then red wine. Stir well. Refrigerate overnight or for a few hours.
chelsea kurnickWith prices on the rise due to inflation, it is becoming essential to know what is worth spending hard-earned money on. In 2023, there are more than 200 different streaming services for customers to choose from. Before streaming bundles, we had to deal with expensive cable packages that limited which channels were available and sometimes didn’t offer what we wanted to watch. Each of these streaming services covers a variety of shows and movies, so the many choices can be difficult for customers to navigate.
By Javi RosasNetflix, released in 2010, was the first successful streaming service. Lately, it has fallen behind other streaming services, but Netflix has the uncanny ability to put out a show or movie that draws mass attention, like it did with “Squid Game” in 2021 and “Glass Onion” in 2022. This series now sits at the No.1 spot on Netflix’s Most Popular list, clocking in 1.6 billion hours viewed. While it lacks many of the blockbuster movies other services have, people can still find original content like “Bird Box” and “Stranger Things.” The pricing has three tiers with Basic, Standard and Premium at $9.99 with ads, $15.49 and $19.99 ad free, respectively.
HBO is a good option because it has a variety of shows and films from all genres and time periods. It recently saw an increase in popularity with the release of “The Last of Us” TV series, with 40.2 million active viewers within the first six episodes. At the moment, it also boasts the second most-watched show “Succession.” A downside to this service is that films and TV shows are constantly coming and leaving the platform. However, this allows for a constant stream of new shows for customers to watch. This service is definitely on the more expensive side if you want to watch shows and movies uninterrupted. It is currently undergoing some changes with the recent merger of HBO Max and Discovery Plus, which will result in the two combining their content. The pricing seems to remain the same as before the merger with Discovery Plus at $9.99 a month with ads, or $15.99 ad free, a 62% price increase.
Hulu, around since 2008, has long-running shows like “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Prey,” a great return to the Predator films. Hulu also offers a student discount plan that costs $1.99 a month with ads. Customers can also add things to their subscription, such as the Entertainment package or Hulu+Live TV, which gives access to ESPN and Disney Plus for $69.99 a month along with 75 live channels. While this sounds attractive, the costs can add up quickly. You also need to upgrade your plan if you want to be able to watch your shows on more than two screens.
Disney+, released in 2019, is a relative newcomer to the streaming market, but that doesn’t mean it offers viewers limited choices. Disney fans can find the majority of their favorite movies here, and Disney has created a significant amount of new content in the last two years. This includes new films such as “Turning Red” and series based on the Star Wars and Marvel franchises. Customers can purchase the basic service at $7.99 a month, which includes ads, or upgrade to either $10.99 a month or $109.99 yearly ad-free. Disney+ can also be included in an ad-supported base package with Hulu. The downside to the Disney+ streaming service is it releases one new show in a series weekly as opposed to other services that release an entire series all at once. This means customers can’t binge-watch a series; they have to wait for months to see the conclusion.
Amazon Prime stands out because besides offering streaming services with films and TV shows, it also offers discounts and other benefits on the Amazon online store with 200 million subscribers worldwide. The streaming service has new releases you can rent, or you can wait until they become free with Prime. However, it does usually take about a year before new releases become free. Customers can also add other channels such as Cinemax and Starz, which each have their own exclusive content. Warning: subscriptions to other channels do start to add up. Currently you can buy just the Prime Video for $8.99 a month or get all the Amazon Prime benefits, including free shipping and Amazon Music, for $14.99 a month or $139 per year. Amazon also offers a student discount with lower subscription prices and exclusive offers on textbooks you rent or buy on Amazon. The pricing for this is $7.49 for Prime Video or $69 per year.
Each year music takes strides into uncharted territory, finding ways to expand genres and create new styles and sounds. As an art form, music is forever changing and every new sub-genre or movement has a jumping-off point, a point of inspiration and influence. In today’s music scene, it is becoming more and more difficult to figure out who was the inspiration behind what and who is influenced by whom.
It’s important to recognize the artists and the specific albums that provided the spark for modern musical innovation, especially when those albums are lesser known. Often the inspiration is never quite as big as the mainstream projects built off its back. These three albums and the artists behind them are three of the most influential of our current generation as well as being the gold standard of the sub-genre they claimed as their own.
Bursting onto the underground electronic scene in the early 2010s, Scottish-born producer Sophie started making connections and laying the groundwork for the world of music and creativity called hyperpop that she had no idea she’d be creating.
Sophie’s unique sounds put her on the map almost immediately. She was crafting effects and noises that people just hadn’t made with production software and equipment before. The bubbly and sugary textures, coupled with abrasive metallic sounds in dance-style song structure, made for a unique type of electronic music that drew in ears.
In her debut, “Product,” Sophie put all her talents on display. She included her best dance singles, which ended up getting some mainstream recognition and appeal. Her song “Lemonade,” for example, found its way into a McDonald’s commercial. The project also featured some of her most experimental songs, such as “Elle” and “Hard.” Each song is more addictive and energizing than the last. The project was short, sweet and to the point; Sophie showed what she
By Cameron Romanikcould do with a laptop and production software, and the world took notice.
as a sub-genre, but without Sophie they would never have gotten anywhere. In 2018 Sophie followed up her eighttrack project “Product” with “Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides,” truly a tour de force in avant-garde pop that sent shock waves through the industry, specifically among Sophie’s peers. What was just a teaser in “Product” could not have prepared fans and critics for the triumph in experimental pop that “Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides” was.
Shortly after releasing “Product,” Sophie lined up a collaboration with Charli XCX, one of the biggest up-andcoming names in pop music at the time. She ended up producing an entire EP for Charli as well as one of her biggest singles ever, “Vroom Vroom.”
Sophie’s trademark sounds and style became the hottest commodity in electronic pop music. There was even a rumored Lady Gaga collaboration album that Sophie herself teased on Twitter. She also worked closely with PC Music, founded by A. G. Cook, a label largely credited with the creation of hyperpop
Sophie had broken through and inspired a generation with her 2015 project but this album set her apart from the rest; the creativity and innovation on display is the kind not often seen. The vocals were more clear and real while the sounds and production were taken to a whole new level. It was clear that she set the benchmark for hyperpop artists to strive for decades to come.
Eight years after Sophie got the ball rolling, there is still more and more innovation in hyperpop. Artists like Umru, Arca and an artist also featured on this list, 100 Gecs, are all pushing the boundaries of pop music and artistic
Many artists can use hyperpop as a jumping-off point, using this “island of misfit” trends to create their very own unique combination of genres and sounds.
expression. Sophie’s technique and sounds can be found all over hyperpop and electronic songs.
More popular artists, like Flume and Skrillex, have also used sounds Sophie created, opening up a new frontier for electronic music to explore. She was both the gatekeeper for the upper echelon of hyperpop as well as the guide trying to bring as many artists as possible along with her.
The truly special part about the space in music Sophie created is the fact that it is almost entirely made up of queer artists making specifically queer music. The LGBTQIA+ community hasn’t had such a large and popular space in the music industry before, and has not let that opportunity go to waste.
Sophie, a transgender woman, paved the way for so many young queer artists to create art and garner success and attention while doing so. During her Grammy-award acceptance speech, Kim Petras credited Sophie with inspiring her and making her career possible. Underground names that have mentioned Sophie as an inspiration include Backxwash, Let’s Eat Grandma, 100 Gecs, Umru, Danny L Harle and more.
In 2021, Sophie died at the age of 34, but it’s clear her legacy lives on in hyperpop, and her memory will be cherished by queer artists for decades to come.
Using some of the sounds and styles that Sophie created, producers Dylan Brady and Laura Les brought back some pop-punk tropes from the early 2000s and combined it with hyperpop style production and overly distorted emo vocals. The result received critical acclaim and mainstream recognition. Journalist and pop-music critic Jon Caramanica of The New York Times chose “1000 Gecs” as his No. 1 album of the year in 2019.
At times the album can barely be described as music, with the death metal and noise-filled outro on “800db Cloud” and the nonsensical randomness of “I Need Help Immediately,” but somehow it works and always has you coming back for more. “Stupid Horse” is a thrilling ska song with 100 Gecs’ patented high-pitched vocals that can only make you smile and laugh. The angsty and often emo lyrics help them connect to their overwhelmingly young queer audience while also lending themselves
nicely to the infectious and enticing production on their songs. Laura Les, a transgender woman, does the vocals for the group and specifically cited voice dysphoria as one of the reasons for their trademark high-pitched vocals.
Dylan Brady found his own production style and a signature sound, his bass drum. Following the release of “1000 Gecs,” Brady became quite popular with artists in need of production help. He began collaborating with big artists such as Skrillex, Charli XCX, Injury Reserve, Kim Petras, Kenny Beats and Rico Nasty, who all enlisted his services. 100 Gecs was able to find a pop music niche never before explored on this scale. A widespread appetite for this music was born with this very album.
Lady Gaga took a stab at the sillier side of pop music with “Artpop” back in 2013 but never leaned into it quite like today’s artists. To her credit, she released a remix album of her most recent release, “Chromatica,” which featured a who’s who of the biggest names in hyperpop remixing and reworking some of the biggest hits on Gaga’s 2020 album.
“1000 Gecs” set the tone for a new wave of absurdist hyperpop in 2019. Artists
like Dorian Electra, Alice Longyu Gao, CAKE POP, Aaron Cartier, Fraxiom, Brooke Candy and Gupi all released music either directly collaborating with Dylan Brady or greatly influenced by what 100 Gecs was doing around 2019–2020. This style of pop had finally been built up from the underground scene and gained enough notoriety and traction to inspire so many more artists to also create this style.
Of course, many artists were making similar music before “1000 Gecs,” but none were able to get the attention of the wider music community. The success of 100 Gecs put a lot of these older projects on the map.
Dorian Electra and other similar artists that were around before 100 Gecs benefited greatly from the attention on the sub-genre. Dorian’s 2020 albums “Flamboyant” and “My Agenda” took what 100 Gecs was doing and put even more of a queer twist on it to great success. Even Rebecca Black started her own solo music career on the 100 Gecs side of the hyperpop world in the last year. She did a remix of her infamous “Friday” song featuring hyperpop collaborators Dorian Electra and Big Freedia, as well as electronic duo 3OH!3.
Building on what Sophie started in experimental pop music, 100 Gecs carved out roads for artists to go down with “1000 Gecs.”
Many artists can use hyperpop as a jumping-off point, using this “island of misfit” trend to create their own unique combination of genres and sounds.
Possibly the best project from the past decade’s most influential rapper, “Jeffery” is the bar that every rapper is trying to reach. The freshness of the production and the quality-over-quantity approach on this project is what makes it so special in a world where song streams are key and just about every rapper in the space elects to go with 20-plus songs on albums, oversaturating what they do and making it stale in the name of earning money.
While Young Thug has run up a track list on an album or two during his career, he kept “Jeffery” to a tight nine songs, naming every song except one after an idol of his. The respect he has for his idols is evident on each track.
The singing Young Thug does over this mixtape is some of his best ever. His flow on “Wyclef Jean” is so clearly a blueprint for popular rap today, even seven years after its release. This project is ahead of its time, and it’s a no-brainer why so many artists today have taken influence from it.
Artists including Gunna, Lil Baby, Juice Wrld, Playboi Carti and Yeat, among others, have all publicly acknowledged Young Thug as their primary influence and inspiration. Each of those artists has directly copied or built on Young Thug’s style of vocal delivery, and they haven’t been exactly shy about wearing their influences on their sleeves.
“Jeffery” was the clearest and highest-quality example of Young Thug’s abilities front to back, but it’s more his ability to effortlessly make No. 1 hits that so many of these young, up-and-coming rappers are trying to replicate.
The bonus track, “Pick Up the Phone,” was a bonafide No. 1 hit that could have gone No. 1 regardless of the year it was released. Almost every big hip-hop hit since has tried to replicate the bounciness and stickiness of its production.
Despite not being Young Thug’s most commercially successful release, his 2016 project is certainly his most influential. Young Thug titles each song after an idol of his out of respect and love.
The demand for the style of rap music “Jeffery” sparked was followed by a large supply of that kind of rap into the streaming ether. Those same artists who acknowledged Young Thug’s influence were soon thrust into the mainstream, with some faring better than others.
Lil Uzi Vert has been a megastar since his emergence, while Young Thug’s close friend Gunna has gone up and down in terms of his relevancy and the demand for his music.
Few of these artists have been able to recapture the quality Young Thug found with “Jeffery,” but even fewer have been able to do it as consistently as Young Thug has in subsequent years.
What Young Thug likely didn’t anticipate was being the catalyst for some of the more “out there” rap music that is released nowadays.
It’s difficult to draw direct connections but it would be even more difficult to imagine Young Thug not being a huge influence on what Playboi Carti has done in recent years with the somewhat experimental albums “Die Lit”
and “Whole Lotta Red.” While Playboi Carti found his style by expanding on what Young Thug did, Yeat, Gunna and others have just tried to recreate Young Thug’s vocal sound, failing to find their own ground.
Unlike hyperpop, rap is an extremely saturated genre, and it’s almost impossible to find unique and new sounds.
Artists are bound to copy what others have done before them, intentionally or not. However thanks to Young Thug and “Jeffery,” rap music is thriving and expanding every year.
Trends can rise and reach No. 1 on the charts, then go away for decades, but innovation is forever, and those artists on the frontlines of innovation and inspiration deserve credit.
While it’s easier for artists to get lost in the shuffle in a streaming and algorithm-driven music industry, it’s just as easy to find progressive artists making their own style and creating roads for other artists to pave and travel down long after they are gone.
“Jeffery” Young Thug (2016)
Whether you’re going out for a lunch date, a family gathering or a late night bite with your best friends, Mitote Food Park offers a sanctuary for those who enjoy authentic Mexican cuisine and community charm.
By Roland Petty and Jaden Burris
Mitote, Northern California’s only Mexican food park, officially established itself as an addition to Sonoma County’s culinary attractions in 2022. The colorful culinary venue is open daily from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and offers a convenient, hassle-free parking lot at 635 Sebastopol Road in Roseland. The food park, a 10-minute drive from Santa Rosa Junior College, benefits students on break with quick service and take-out options.
Mitote is home to various rotating food trucks, a permanent liquor stand and other amenities including LaChurroteka, a dessert truck that specializes in churros. The liquor stand, popular among the evening crowd, serves affordable regional draft beer and $11 mezcal or tequila cocktails.
The culinary venue is fenced off and private security is present to assist both vendors and patrons. The premises and bathroom stalls are clean, and the tables under the white tent are sanitized. Sharing a table and a meal with strangers on
a busy weekday or weekend afternoon offers the opportunity to converse with tourists or Roseland residents. Private areas are also available. Live bands and animated crowds on weekends make for a vibrant atmosphere and offer insight
into the Roseland community. But Mitote is more than a tourist novelty; its foundation is built on consistent-quality dishes. Patrons can choose between familiar dishes or opt to wander and explore the many different flavors of Mexico presented here.
Mami’s Panuchos serves food from the Yucatan region, and we strongly recommend their fun spin on empanadas. The empanadas — hand pies made of corn masa stuffed with shredded chicken, peas, tomato sauce and topped with cheese — are juicy and complemented with a unique and zesty hot sauce and tangy salsa.
What were we looking for? (Out of 5)
For a messy but robust and tasty meal we suggest the Birria Queso Taco at Gio Y Los Magos. Long-stewed beef, called birria, is served in a double-layered tortilla with melted cheese and garnished with jalapeño, mild salsa and radish slices. The pan-fried tortilla is crispy, with melted cheese complementing the juicy beef. The tender birria falls apart in your mouth, revealing rich-smoky and savory flavors. The tacos are filled to the brim and the tasty garnishes add to the messy experience. We recommend an additional order of a cup of caldo, broth from the beef stew. You can drink the caldo as a warm soup or use it to dip your tacos in.
Pezcow specializes in seafood and is sure to satisfy those feeling in a fishy mood. The fried fish is well seasoned and crispy on the outside, delicate and moist on the inside and melts in your mouth. Sauce, lime and garnishes add zest and spice to taste.
Another favorite was Pezcow’s calamari served with fries. The calamari is barely greasy, has a satisfying crunch and is tender on the inside. Its distinct sweetness is complemented by the cocktail sauce. The fries are well seasoned with cilantro and lemon juice and are worth the guilty conscience that comes with ordering fries at a food park.
It has been almost 10 months since I moved to California from the little old village of Clondalkin in Dublin, Ireland. For scale, there are about 280,000 people in South County Dublin, and nearly 40 million people in California. That means that you could fit the entire population of Ireland, times five, into the state of California.
I have met a ton of amazing people and had experiences I will never forget in Sonoma County. There are things that take time to adjust to though. Things that people from abroad might not expect and be surprised by upon arrival.
Here are a few “American” things that internationals have to adapt to when coming here.
By Tom Healy
One thing I instantly noticed is that tax is added onto products at the register instead of being included in the price displayed on the tag. It is trivial but annoying to have to pay $2.30 for a bottle of coke that I thought was going to cost $2. It is an inconvenience that people back in Ireland and almost 170 different countries around the world don’t tolerate.
Most countries have a system called value added tax (VAT). This is when the sales tax is included on the price that is displayed on the shelf or tag. America should consider this.
Another thing that shocked me is the attitude and culture surrounding healthcare in the United States. Most Americans have a private health insurance plan that provides more or less coverage depending on what you can pay for, instead of having healthcare available for free, which is the case across Europe and most of the industrialized world. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans don’t even recognize the absurdity of their system. Americans reading this might find it crazy that people in the rest of the world can pay a grand total of zero dollars after a trip to the hospital. What I find crazy is that the average cost of childbirth is about
$10,000, an ambulance callout can set you back $2,500 and two EpiPens total more than $650. Overall, I noticed healthcare is treated as a business here rather than what it is: healthcare. I can’t watch TV for five minutes without seeing a company push its new weight loss pill or allergy medicine. In a similar way to McDonald’s marketing a new burger, pharmaceutical companies ask you to try their new drug. This culture may be contributing to the stunning fact that more than 500,000 Americans go bankrupt annually because of medical bills.
It came as a shock to me when I was handed an iPad asking for a tip after simply placing my order at a drive-thru or at the cash register. Don’t get me wrong, it is always good to tip your wait staff and those providing you a service, but is taking an order really worth 15 or 20 percent? The guilt was heightened when I learned that in a lot of jobs in the food or service industry in America, the majority of the worker’s earnings are made up from these tips. The common misconception is that the tip is a bonus on top of what the worker earns. Bosses here, however, have taken advantage of this and decided to make the tip a part of the wage. This is something to think about before getting annoyed by someone asking for a tip.
The sheer number of homeless people I’ve seen here is truly upsetting. Homelessness is not unique to America. At home in Ireland, there is currently a housing crisis that is being shambolically tackled by our government. However, the numbers pale in comparison. As of 2022, California had about 316,000 recorded homeless people, with nearly 3,000 in Sonoma County alone.
The United States is often labeled the land of opportunity, and for some people it is. However, the U.S. can also lay claim to the worst wealth inequality in the world. When looking at cities across the country, but particularly in California, one can find practically nowhere where you can afford to rent an apartment working a minimum wage job. But rent will continue going up and up. The sad reality is that with the system in place, the rich will keep getting richer.
It was not long after stepping off the plane onto American soil that I was lured in by a taco truck. There is virtually no Mexican food in Ireland, so coming to California was like jumping in at the deep end. Without warning, I soon fell victim to those addictive, plastic plates that they sling out of that tiny window at rapid speed 24/7. Once
I sunk my teeth into a jam-packed burrito, I was hooked. For those traveling from overseas, don’t be fooled by your Taco Bells. You don’t have this food at home. Don’t get cocky and think you, too, aren’t susceptible. Don’t think that just because you enjoy a cheesy gordita crunch every once in a while that you will be able to control yourself after upending a plate of tacos. Those little vans will soon have you coming back in droves, like moths to the flame.
By Sam Guzman
She doesn’t want to use her real name, because she’s afraid ‘they’ll’ find her.
She’s not being paranoid; “Zen” still gets threatening phone calls to this day.
When she answers, a man’s voice says, “Don’t come back” or “I can catch you.”
Zen is a refugee from China who hasn’t seen her family in seven years. The Santa Rosa Junior College student fled her home country after her landlord extorted her business and then threatened to kill her or her family if she continued to fight for it.
Zen grew up in Guangzhou, China, where she owned a coffee shop. Smoke from cigarettes would fill her shop as customers sipped on their hot noodles, drank coffee and ate Russian tiramisu and homemade cheesecakes.
Zen and her brother invested all of their money into the shop for a five-year contract with the landlord. Only six months
in, however, an employee arrived at the shop to find her key didn’t work.
The employee called Zen, asking her to come check the lock. The coffee shop was far from Zen’s house, but she hailed a taxi and met her coworker. Posted on the front door was a piece of paper from her landlord: “If you have any questions, call me.”
Zen called him, and he said he would no longer let her lease the store.
“Why do you kick me out? I pay money for you. That’s not fair,” she said.
He replied she was free to call the police, so she did. The officer told her, “This is between you and your landlord’s stories. I cannot fix that.”
Zen tried to take her landlord to court, but the judge agreed with police. Then, on an early winter morning in 2017 while Zen was living with her brother, he heard banging at the door. Zen was asleep, but the banging woke her. It was so loud that neighbors poked their heads out to see the commotion.
Three men stood at the door carrying long sticks. They shouted, “Let us in! And bring your sister here!” They continued for almost 10 minutes, until Zen opened the door. The men yelled, “If you go to court again, we will kill you!”
The Chinese Communist Party has long controlled the lives and rights of its citizens. It is heavy on censorship and suppressing freedom, including social media, journalism and political criticism. All media should reflect “absolute loyalty,” President Xi Jinping said.
That expectation extends to every Chinese citizen.
For example, more than 1 million Uyghurs, a mostly Muslim population, have been forced into re-education camps since 2014. There, they are forced to learn Mandarin and convert to the Communist Party beliefs. They are put to work in factories, toiling in abusive conditions with no breaks and little money. They can’t leave and are offered minimal contact with family.
Zen managed to leave her native Guangzhou March 18, 2017. She first moved to Los Angeles, where she stayed with her cousin until a month later when she headed north to Sonoma County.
She rented a room from a friend until she moved to a neighboring town. Zen continues to work part time babysitting, dog-sitting and house-sitting.
She didn’t have a license, so she called an Uber every morning to get to work. The same driver frequently picked her up. As it turned out, the two were neighbors. He eventually offered her free rides, and the two bonded. Her driver later became her husband.
In spring 2022, Zen started attending SRJC, taking ESL classes at Santa Rosa Junior College’s Southwest Center among other documented and undocumented immigrants learning English.
The director of daily operations, Hector Delgado, says it’s a goal to create a place where students of all cultures have the opportunity to feel safe and learn in a supportive environment.
“It makes me proud to know we have a district where we can help students feel welcome,” he said.
Zen said her teachers have been kind and understanding and the students have been helpful.
One of her instructors, Daniela Kingwill, said it’s her job to be aware that students attending the Southwest Center may have suffered trauma, and to be mindful and accommodating of them.
“A student may not always remember what you taught them, but they will always remember that you cared,” Kingwill said.
Zen hopes to improve her English so she can find a job in nursing. “This country gave me a lot,” she said. “I want to give just a tiny bit of service for this country’s people.”
In her free time, Zen trains to run marathons. Next month, she will compete in a 10k. She also has been learning photography, practicing with a digital camera from her husband. She and her husband love to go to Bodega Bay, walk around the Windsor Town Green and go on hikes together.
While Zen adjusted to her life in California, Chinese citizens were struggling under the country’s strict zero-COVID policies. Residents weren’t allowed to leave their homes, and food shortages were common.
On Nov. 24, 2022, a fire broke out on the 15th floor of a flat, killing 10 people in Urumqi, China. Locals blamed the fire on oppressive COVID-19 restrictions, and even more protests erupted. Shanghai police detained and beat a BBC reporter covering one of the events. Authorities confiscated phones and cameras from protesters, deleting all relevant videos and photos
In contrast, the U.S. has given Zen a first-time sense of freedom — and “the air smells wonderful here.”
The people of Sonoma County have also been nothing but gracious toward her. “People I don’t know still smile for me,” she said. “It’s great.”
Since she left China, Zen keeps up with the news and is active on social media, advocating against the Chinese Communist Party.
In her native country, Zen had her business taken away from her, forcibly and without explanation, while police and courts refused to help. She is determined to speak out against the Chinese Communist Party by telling her story and educating her American peers.
In the meantime, if she sees a call coming from her native country, she no longer answers her phone.
The men yelled, “If you go to court again, we will kill you!”
By Jaden Burris
room to make sure she was OK. When I couldn’t see her body moving, I began trying to lightly wake her up, but she wouldn’t budge.
Not wanting to think the worst, I left her alone but checked on her every 15 minutes. At 10:45 a.m. I finally confirmed she was still alive and well. But I was not. I was nervous and shaking all morning, and my own breath was unsteady for the rest of the day. It felt like I was about to lose her, and I wasn’t ready for that. That night, I decided I would check on her every morning to make sure she is breathing — and to calm my fears.
changed. My mom had moved two hours away, so I couldn’t rely on her. And I was dealing with a lot of stress that I didn’t know how to navigate.
Adult grandchild and grandparent relationships are slowly becoming more common, according to The Gerontologist, a journal for The Gerontological Society of America that publishes research and analysis on social issues related to human aging. In its June 2014 article “Solidarity in the Grandparent–Adult Grandchild Relationship and Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms,” Sara M. Moorman and Jeffrey E. Stokes studied grandparents and grandchildren to see if being around each other more often eased depression. They concluded that healthy connections between grandchildren and their grandparents can decrease depressive symptoms in both groups, and strong grandparent-grandchild relationships also could mean the family has strong family ties.
For five years my weekday morning routine has always been the same. But when I moved in with my great-grandmother, Nana, I had to add a new step.
Typically, I wake up and lounge around before I get up and make my bed. Then I lay my clothes out, brush my teeth and do my hair. I get dressed, eat breakfast and head out for the day. I do all this before 9:30 a.m., and my routine has never failed me.
But since October, I’ve had one new responsibility: Check on Nana to ensure she’s still breathing.
Nana usually gets up between 8:30 and 9 a.m. One morning at 10 a.m., I got scared when she hadn’t come out of her room yet. I slowly walked into her bed-
I never told her I made that decision. She would’ve laughed and said it wasn’t necessary. And it probably wasn’t. I was probably overthinking it, but I felt compelled to add checking on Nana to my daily routine.
I never thought I would be examining her daily for signs of life. I never thought I would be living with her again. And I certainly never thought that living with Nana would bring us closer, not as family, but as friends.
Judine Mayfield is many things, but primarily she is independent, through and through. When I first brought up the idea of moving in with her so I could attend Santa Rosa Junior College, she said OK but warned me she was independent and liked it that way. I didn’t understand what she meant.
I had recently graduated from high school, and everything in my life had
Yet it is uncommon for young adults to live with their grandparents. Most of my friends at SRJC still live with their parents who financially take care of them
while they continue their education. Because I grew up in a single-parent household, I always had strong ties with Nana. She often helped babysit me and my siblings and offered financial support. I actually lived with Nana for three years from age 7-10, and she took care of me in all facets of life.
I wasn’t the first grandchild to move back in with Nana, but I am the first who didn’t bring a child of her own. When her other children or grandchildren moved back home, Nana also had to take care of their families. She was fine helping them, but anyone could see the situation added considerable stress.
Nana has always been the self-sufficient one in our family. Born and raised in Texas during The Great Depression, she worked at AT&T for 36 years and at Kaiser Permanente for nine. She had four children, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
In the months leading up to moving in with her, I worried that our relationship would change. She had been there for me my whole life, caring for me as a parent would, and I thought she was going to hate living with me. I also worried she might try to parent me and set strict boundaries at a time when I wanted to become independent myself, without her treating me like I was still 10. We never really talked about any of this.
I moved in with her in the last week of August 2022. I thought living with her was going to be a huge challenge. I was wrong. The boundaries that she set when she took care of me and my siblings as children all but disappeared now that I was 19 years old.
We both cherished our independence, but one incident in September made me question Nana’s. One morning I asked Nana about her plans for the day, and she let me know she had a doctor’s appointment. She had one appointment later in the week, and when I asked if it was the same appointment, she said no. I was confused, and when I pressed her about it, she admitted that two days earlier she had passed out in the hallway for about 15 minutes.
I was immediately upset because, at her age, anything can lead to a downward spiral in health. Why didn’t she call me to let me know what happened or tell me the minute I got home?
Since she takes church seriously, she would scold us for stepping out of line.
She dismissed my concern by saying she had already made an appointment with her doctor; she wanted to deal with the situation on her own and didn’t want me hovering. This was one of the only times her independence truly bothered me. I was there to help, and she didn’t want it. Over time, I learned to accept it. She had taken care of herself before I moved in, and she wasn’t going to change that now.
she enjoys became too popular. And then there’s our neighborhood drama that she always seems to be in the middle of, like when Nana’s yard worker got into an argument with her neighbor over a yard bin. Or when the police showed up and we dramatically peered outside to figure out what was going on. Or when we gossip about the neighbor who calls himself the Berrybrook Court Committee so he feels important. I’m entertained by hearing it all.
On weekdays, I normally don’t see Nana until after my classes, and when I do I make sure to ask about her day. Her life is routine so her days are similar, but I love hearing about them. She tells me extravagant stories about the sales at Safeway, how she had to purchase another brand of bread because the one
Keeping up with Nana has always been easy. Not so with the other elders in my family. I’ve always believed they will always be there and that I’ll talk to them later, but in reality I rarely do. Nana has taught me that line of thinking is unwise. Listening to her multiple stories has shown me that anyone can go at any age. She talks about her sister, Imojean, who died when she was only 14 and about her daughter, Judy — my grandmother — who died at the age of 26. Anyone can die at any moment, so I’ve learned it’s important to reach out to those older family members.
Showing appreciation to someone like
As children, my siblings and I were never a fan of church and on Easter 2014, we were on our worst behavior with Nana.
“I thought living with her was going to be a huge challenge. I was wrong.”courtesy judine mayfield
Nana is very challenging. I can’t cook her dinner because I get home late and she eats early. I’ve tried buying her things, but I’m a broke college student trying to save money.
Ultimately, I’ve realized that I don’t need to buy her things or cook for her to make her feel appreciated. I can simply listen and help her out — but only when she asks.
If I notice she looks like she’s heading out, I’ll try to move my car before she asks. I watch television with her and complain about the plot alongside her. I go with her to church on special occasions, which takes a lot of effort because I don’t like church. Me being there is a show of appreciation.
Nana also helped me change how I deal with stress. I’m calmer now. I don’t always tell her what’s going on with me, but she still helps me cope. She was the soothing presence I needed this year; just watching a show with her or talking about the news together was enough. I would go through my stages of depression, and she would treat me like normal, even make me laugh, not look at me with sympathy.
I’ve learned plenty of things while living with Nana. I’ve learned how to help her without taking away her independence. I’ve learned she will always be there to help me in any situation, even if it’s simply listening to me rant about my day. I’ve learned to value her for everything she has ever done for me.
Over the past nine months, Judine Mayfield has become one of my best friends, and I know that she will always be there for me. She is my rock and always has been, and that will never change no matter where I live.
“Ultimately, I’ve realized that I don’t need to buy her things or cook for her to make her feel appreciated. I can simply listen and help her out — but only when she asks.”
