Vol. 62 Issue 2

A N AT I O N A L PA C E M A K E R AWA R D N E W S PA P E R

Volume 62, Issue 2

theswcsun.com

Nov. 29, 2018

Controversy surrounds new full-time position

By Jordyn Byrant Assistant News Editor

Southwestern College’s hiring of its first full-time Mexican-American Studies professor came with mixed reviews.

Many community members hailed the arrival of Dr. Gerardo Rios as a win for ethnic inclusion. Others are more critical, specifically the students and faculty of the Mexican-American Studies Scholars, or MAS. In a letter addressed to the editorial board of The Sun, MAS explained why

they opposed Rio’s hiring.

“For us students, having someone who is actively involved with our MAS community is extremely important but feel that unfortunately this was not prioritized in the hiring process,” the letter states. “Seeking a possible positive outcome, we have come across new information that leaves us (the students, and the community) questioning the financial possibility to fund a second MAS position.”

MAS adviser Gregorio Pantoja, who was also up for Rio’s position, has stated that his efforts are not rooted in

any jealousy towards not receiving the position. He said he and other members of MAS would simply like to see the department grow and prosper.

“Just because a doctor got hired doesn’t mean that they can necessarily operate on that part of the body,” Pantoja said.

MAS circulated petitions, presented in Sweetwater School District classrooms and even set up an annual Cinco de Mayo celebration. Pantoja and a colleague also drafted a faculty hiring prioritization application. The document clearly stated that the students and faculty of MAS were in need of a candidate who

specialized in Chicano/Chicana Studies.

“What was a long-awaited victory for our community, and what was meant to be a victorious celebration to witness a member from our very own community pave the way for a long overdue MexicanAmerican Studies department, did not happen,” the letter read.

Although they were against the hiring of Rios, MAS members voted unanimously to support and immerse him into the Mexican-American Studies Committee and their work, Pantoja said. please see MAS pg. A4

Gov. board issues apology

Tenured staff says acting ‘color blind’ is not enough in letter

By Katy Stegall Editor-in-Chief

Women’s soccer won its first PCAC championship and finished the season 12-6-4 (6-0-2 PCAC). SWC finished top 3 in the conference each of the last 5 years.

Story on A12

Human-caused global warming will lead the Earth to doomsday.

programs against discrimination based on sex.

“We all work very closely to support all students,” Flood said. “We want to make sure that the victims are safe and have support. And we want to make sure that we follow due process and that we do a thorough investigation so that the whole campus is safe.”

Flood said the district is committed to supporting victims of sexual assault

SWC alumnus hosts a 5k for people of all abilities.

please see Grant pg. A4

CASPI

SPORTS

VIEWPOINTS

Southwestern College received part of a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to fight sexual violence on local campuses.

This grant will pay for new training and programs to assist victims of sexual assault and harassment, said David Caspi Southwestern College’s employee relations and Title IX special assistant.

“Sexual harassment and sexual assault

has been an issue in the national news and it has also been an issue for many college campuses,” Caspi said. “So there’s a push to reduce the amount of sexual harassment. This one is geared more towards sexual assaults and violence.”

This grant is seen as a support for safety on campus. Dean of Student Services Malia Flood said that will help the campus police department, the administration, and the Title IX director work cohesively to help students.

Title IX protects those in educational

ARTS

By Sabrina Wu Assistant News Editor

CAMPUS

College receives grant to combat sexual violence

Memes have saturated the Internet and the real world.

Fall water sports teams have finished their first season in the Wellness and Aquatic Complex.

please see Apology pg. A4

@THESWCSUN

Jaguars bring home the gold

Alejandro Nuñez/Staff

Faculty members packed the Governing Board’s Oct. 16 town hall meeting to voice their disappointment in the board’s lack of action following a scathing report on the race relations at Southwestern College.

A team led by Dr. Shaun Harper, the executive director of USC’s Race and Equity Center, reported in September that SWC suffers from some of the worst anti-black racism they had ever seen. Employees and students have looked to administration for results and said they have not seen the board take steps to fix racism on campus.

A joint apology was mass-emailed on behalf of the Governing Board on Oct. 24. The statement said Governing Board trustees would seek ways to connect with faculty and employees to find more impactful ways to bring the community together. It also said they want to work to build a more inclusive campus.

“As a college, we are not immune from the prejudice and bias that exist in our nation,” the statement read. “However, we can commit to work together to make this college a place where they are not tolerated.”

The board also said they acknowledge the community’s pain.

“We apologize to all those who have been hurt, discriminated against, bullied and/or made to feel devalued at the college,” the board wrote.

Employees have reacted to the board’s response.

Tenured and tenure-track faculty members from the English, humanities and philosophy departments composed a statement to lend their support to those who have “suffered from the anti-blackness identified in the report.” They also thanked the Governing Board for hosting a town hall and listening to the community’s concerns.

“We feel grateful for the pro-faculty position that the board has worked from, and we know you are often placed in difficult positions,” the faculty reply said.

“We ourselves recognize and experience the challenges involved in dismantling racist systems and attitudes. To profess equityminded practices is hard; it’s harder to live them.”

The faculty members also wrote that it is not enough for institutions to act color-blind. Their fields of study, they said, have been used to strengthen white power structures and they are working to deconstruct this. Transfer-level courses have been inaccessible for years, which resulted in racial inequities. In comments to The Sun, the group said the statement was signed by faculty who are protected by tenure. They also said they want to see administrators continue to work towards a

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Siobhan Eagen, editor

NEWS

Nov. 29, 2018 — Vol. 62, Issue 2

Gurmilan wins San Ysidro seat

By Marla Raudales Staff Writer

Southwestern College instructor Humberto “Beto” Gurmilan won a seat on the San Ysidro School Board. The former Telemundo sports anchor and foundation director will be sworn in Dec. 13 at San Ysidro Middle School, along with Irene Lopez and Rudy Lopez.

Gurmilan officially announced his candidacy for school board in early August. He said his motivation for running was to better the district.

“I know the district has a lot of great students, a lot of great features,” Gurmilan said. “I know there’s been a lot of issues in the past but I think that I can help.

That’s the main reason. I just want to help my community become better.”

Gurmilan grew up in Tijuana and was never a student in the district, but he visited his grandparents in San Ysidro often as a child. With some family members as teachers and friends with children enrolled in the schools, Gurmilan said he is familiar with the best and worst parts of the district.

“I understand really well

Jahaziel Valencia/Staff

BETO WINS — Humberto Gurmilan, a journalism professor at Southwestern College and former sports anchor on Telemundo, was elected into the San Ysidro School Board on November 6. some of the struggles that the community in San Ysidro can go through, but I also understand how great it can be,” he said.

“I think I can provide a little bit of leadership, a little bit of

experience to the board and help the district thrive with success.”

Gurmilan said it took him months to decide if he was able, ready, and qualified to be a candidate. Gurmilan is confident

he can be an effective board member while maintaining his full-time job as an instructor.

“Sometimes people don’t take their job seriously, Gurmilan said. Everything I do is a hundred

percent, so I wouldn’t have committed to running for office if that weren’t something that I would like to do at a hundred percent.”

Alex Montoya, chairman of the Gurmilan Foundation board of directors and intimate friend of Gurmilan, supports his friend’s decision “I have complete confidence Beto will successfully do this because he already handles and balances our foundation, teaching, being an author and running a small business. He is remarkable and he will do remarkable things,” Montoya said.

All three elected candidates were endorsed by San Ysidro teachers. Gurmilan promises to provide an inclusive educational space for students and their families.

“A lot of families in San Ysidro are the type of family where they’re moving from one country from another with different languages. I know the challenges that the border region presents for families and I understand them,” Gurmilan said. “We can take care of those students and show them how they are supposed to be taken care of with good education.”

Nora Vargas serves second consecutive term on SWC governing board

By Ramona Lopez Campus Editor

N o r a Va r g a s ran unopposed for her seat on the Southwestern College Governing Board, but that did not stop her from campaigning and participating in VARGAS the celebrations on election night.

Although some considered it odd that she campaigned, it was a priority to Vargas, who will serve her second consecutive four-year term on the board. She was appointed in 2013 and also ran unopposed in 2014.

“Everybody thinks it’s weird that I’m

going out and meeting with groups and asking for endorsements and support,” Vargas said. “I feel like I have the responsibility to my constituents and the community, of course, to be out there and be accessible. My biggest commitment is to make sure that I’m transparent and have an open door policy for folks.”

Vargas knew she was going to win, but the election night was still eventful for her.

“I think it’s an exciting time,” said Vargas who attended a party hosted by Engage San Diego. “Because of the role I played with Planned Parenthood, it was really important to me that people went out and voted, especially to take back the U.S. House of Representatives.”

Vargas serves as the vice president of

community and government relations for Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest. She also serves as a board member for both Run Women Run and the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) to advocate for women and the Latinx community.

The SWC alumna says she is ready to focus on issues around race relations and bring unity to the board.

“I’m looking forward to the next board working together and doing great things for the campus community,” Vargas said. “To advance our students has always been my priority and continues to be my priority.”

Vargas said she was pleased not only with the House flipping from red to blue, but also with the diversity of candidates.

“The number of people and people

of color who were men and women who ran, I think, is really important and key to the future of the nation,” Vargas said.

The party hosted by Engage San Diego was filled with people enjoying tacos and beer while their eyes were glued to the television screens distributed around the room showing the latest results. Vargas greeted many people with hugs, and took selfies and later opened the event with a brief speech.

She greeted what she called “a group badass progressives” by pointing out what made this election different than the others.

“Because of you we took back the House,” Vargas said. “Yes, there was a blue wave, but I want it to be clear, there was a pink wave also. Women got elected.”

Tel: (619) 482-6368 email: news@theswcsun.com

Tim Nader to serve final governing board term

By Paola Labrada Assistant Arts Editor

Southwestern College Trustee Tim Nader, who ran unopposed in the November election, is serving his third and final term on the board.

This is because voters approved Proposition CC, a ballot measure that sets limits o f t h re e f o u r year terms for governing board members.

Nader opposed the measure, but he said he had already decided NADER he would not run again.

“I was opposed to that philosophically not because of any plans that I had. I can’t imagine I would run for three more terms anyway,” he said. “I don’t subscribe to the idea that this is some sort of position where we take turns being leaders. It should be about what is best for the community.”

Nader has been a trustee since 2010.

He attended Hilltop High School and received a bachelor’s degree in political science from UC Berkeley. He said he’s aware of the past culture of the college and the needs to fix the racial climate.

“The reason why I decided to run for another term was to have the honor and pleasure of taking part in the progress the college is going to be making with Dr. Kindred Murillo,” said Nader, referring to the college’s new president.

As a former Mayor of Chula Vista, Nader recognizes the impact Southwestern College has on the community.

“We want our students to have opportunities that otherwise they would not have if we were not there, that is what this is all about,” he said.

“Opening doors of opportunities for our students in our community, that is was motivated me to run for the College Board eight years ago.”

Pastor says faith is resistance

By Karelly Vidrio Staff Writer

Pa s t o r Jo h n Fa n e s t i l h a s performed communion every Sunday at Friendship Park for more than seven years to support families separated at the border.

People who visit the park often have no other place to see their loved ones.

Fanestil said it was easier to celebrate communion at the border when he first started. Increasingly, stringent immigration and border policies heightened the need for loved ones to convene but also changed the way Fanestil performs the sacraments.

“Back then I was able to give communion through the gate,” Fanestil said. “Border Patrol agents do not let us do that anymore.”

Friendship Park straddles the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego and Tijuana. Visitors come from either side to meet and speak to their love ones through the fence separating the two countries.

Guillermo Navarrete, a pastor from Mexico, joined Fanestil seven years ago to celebrate communion on the other side of the border.

“I’m here because I have obeyed the ordinance of God, and by preaching the word of God with the families here you bring peace to them,” Navarrete said. “The situation does not change, but there is still hope.”

The community solidarity and practice of faith is an act of political resistance, Fanestil said.

“Our goal is to protect the space here,” he said. “By celebrating communion we thought we were Karelly Vidrio/Staff able to bring a little spiritual EL FARO CHURCH - Every Sunday a binational service was held on both sides of the authority and also representation border fence at Friendship Park until the Border Patrol closed the space (above). Pastor of the church that would make John Fanestil, who led these services, said he wants the park reopened (right). it harder for the government to

completely close it down.”

Fanestil has years of experience ministering in Calexico and San Diego and said faith is an integral part of both regions.

“To talk about life along the border without faith is to tear things apart that are not meant to be torn apart,” he said. “Work of solidarity with people along the border has to engage the life of faith, if we are to be honest and authentic.”

The non-profit organization, Friends of Friendship Park is working to make it into a binational park similar to the Peace Arch Park on the U.S. Canada border. The peace Arch Park has entrances in Blaine, Washington and Surrey, British Columbia and visitors are free to explore all areas of the park on both sides of the border.

“The real idea was to have a pier instead of the wall,” Fanestil said. “Imagine people walking in and out. Having to be a federal decision, it would be complicated.

It would have to be a different [U.S] Congress. A lot of things would have to change at the national level before that project can go any further.”

Ma r i a Te re s a Fe r n a n d e z , 65-year-old former SWC student and friend of Fanestil, spent the last 10 years documenting events for Friends of Friendship Park and watched how life along the border has changed.

“I do this for them so that they know that they are not alone and that there are people who care about this situation,” Fernandez said.

Fe r n a n d e z s a i d Fa n e s t i l’s activism inspired her to join Friends of Friendship Park.

“I was an outsider at first.”

Fe r n a n d e z . “ I w o u l d j u s t document (the park) by taking

Karelly Vidrio/Staff

pictures. But I’ve seen John every Sunday and I saw how responsible and committed he is to this. I just got in the organization little by little.”

Fernandez said Fanestil’s work provides a sense of community for families in need.

“Fanestil’s job, aside from having families in the service, is to make them feel supported by the group,” she said. “It is to make sure that they do not feel alone and that there is someone else there behind them, supporting them. That is very admirable of John becasue it makes the families feel like they aren’t just at the hands of Border Patrol.”

NEWS

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The Southwestern College Sun

F L I P

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Nov. 29, 2018 — Vol. 62, Issue 2

W H O L E

” G O V E R N M E N T GOVERNMENT San Diegans organize march against Kavanaugh confirmation

Victoria Sanchez/Staff

“It’s a perfect representation of how our system handles sexual assault.”

-Natelina Blake

By Mikayla Moore-Bastide Assistant Campus Editor

If there is one thing that the Trump era has accomplished, it is the large number of sexual assault survivors coming forward and voicing their silenced truths.

The latest was Christine Blasey Fo rd w h o s t e p p e d f o r w a rd i n October to accuse now U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault in high school during his confirmation hearings. The revelations gave organizations an opportunity to protest what was happening in Washington D.C. During the confirmarion battle, the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) teamed up with Women Organized to Resist and Defend (WORD) and Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) to orchestrate a protest in Downtown San Diego.

Crowds chanted about bodily autonomy, consent, judicial injustices and pro-choice abortion rights.

PSL organizer Anzy McWha has been a part of the organization for about a year. McWha urged s u p p o r t e r s t o “f l i p t h e w h o l e government upside down” because of how the government has been portraying women and sexual assault.

The crowd boo’d her when she said both parties are corrupt, and need to be shut down.

McWha encouraged other attendees to stand up against the assault.

Jo r d a n M i l l s , a n A N S W E R organizer and Southwestern College professor, spoke and marched along with many survivors and supporters in the streets.

“It feels really good to stand up and defend women’s rights and protest his horrible confirmation to the Supreme Court,” Mills said.

Male allies were present and vocal.

PSL member Jose Cortez said he

wants to stand for women’s rights and end the patriarchy.

“Even though I am less directly affected cause of the power dynamic, it’s important for us to be here and standing out here with our femme comrades and the women in the struggle out here,” Cortez said.

Cortez said the Senate’s vote to confirm Kavanaugh goes against Americans’ best interests. “[The Kavanaugh confirmation] sends a very clear message to our daughters and our sons, that this era of patriarchal violence, specifically against women and femme people, is now open season.” Cortez said.

Judy Kravitz is a survivor of date rape, but in the 70s there was no name for it. Kravitz did not come forward at the time because she could not tell her parents she was dating, let alone dating a man who was not Jewish.

“I’m a survivor and I have to stand up,” Kravitz said. “I want to be among the group of people who would be supportive of me. Revealing my truth, and that’s why I came down.”

Kravitz also said men have to step up and do their part to prevent sexual violence.

“Men have to stand up when they see abusive things happening,” Kravitz said. “They can’t just stand there or go away, they have to stand up and say ‘stop, that’s wrong’ and when that happens, it’ll stop.”

Survivor Natelina Blake wanted to walk in this protest to represent her friends and sisters who are also survivors.

“It’s a perfect representation of how our system handles sexual assault,” Blake said.

Ally Sarah Farber attended the protest with her 21-year-old son.

“I was walking the streets doing what’s he doing right now when I was his age,” Farber said. “I’m almost 50

now and I’ve seen a lot of change, not enough, not nearly enough.”

F a r b e r ’s s o n w a s e v e n questioning why the issue seems to be split on party lines.

PSL announced that the protest will be unifying with a strike regarding better pay for hotel employees.

UNITE HERE orchestrated a strike at the Westin Hotel to coincide with the protest. This strike was nationwide for all Marriott Corporations.

“We’re demanding that Marriott pay the best wages and benefits in San Diego,” said UNITE HERE President B r i d g e t t e Browning. “We think they have plenty of money to do that, and right now this hotel when compared to the other union hotels is very low paid.”

Mills m a d e it to the strike at t h e We s t i n Hotel and was amazed by the unity of PSL, ANSWER, WORD and Unite Here fighting for women’s rights and labor rights simultaneously. “ We b e l i e v e t h a t m o s t people in the world work for a living, and we believe most people in the world are women and all of them are being exploited by the same groups of people,” Mills said.

Victoria Sanchez/Staff

MARCH AGAINST KAVANAUGH — The San Diego branch of Party for Socialism and Liberation organized a march to protest against Kavanaugh on Oct. 7 in Downtown San Diego two days after the U.S. Senate voted 50 to 48 approving his seat in the Supreme Court after facing trial for sexual misconduct allegations.

Victoria Sanchez/Staff

Victoria Sanchez/Staff

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Siobhan Eagen, editor

NEWS

Nov. 29, 2018 — Vol. 62, Issue 2

Tel: (619) 482-6368 email: news@theswcsun.com

District Attorney prosecuting ‘Justice for Earl McNeil’ organizers

By Siobhan Eagen News Editor

Supporters of Aeiramique Blake left the courtroom with their fists held high.

The number of supporters turned the courtroom into standing-room only, but Judge Truc T. Do wanted an “orderly and peaceful process.”

Community members said they have not rested since Earl McNeil’s mysterious death in the custody of the National City Police Department. Four months later, McNeil’s family and the public said they still do not have answers or justice.

Blake is a restorative justice consultant and community activist who has been a leader in the “Justice for Earl McNeil” movement.

“We spent about four months demanding that they release the body-worn footage and any other footage that they have,” Blake said, speaking of police body cameras.

“Even in finding out more details about what happened to Earl McNeil, we have not, still, discovered the complete truth.

Some video tapes were covered up, or blurred out, mute.”

Criminal charges are not being filed against National City police officers.

District Attorney Summer Stephan said there is not sufficient evidence of intent to kill during a Sept. 21 news conference held after McNeil’s autopsy report and police footage were released.

She added that there was not sufficient evidence of criminal negligence for a manslaughter charge.

Blake disagreed.

“She could do so in regards to neglect as he screamed out for help throughout the duration of his ride and was refused that help,” Blake said.

McNeil was detained by NCPD while family and community members said he was thought to be experiencing a schizophrenic delusion. He was also under the influence of amphetamines.

Throughout the police body-worn camera audio he is heard screaming and pleeding for a psychiatric evaluation.

McNeil’s mental health was previously a topic of discussion during a San Diego Police Department investigation of a 2003 liquor shop shooting in which two women were killed.

Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Staff

NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE — Public Defense Attorney Doug Applegate addresses the media with Earl McNeil’s family and friends behind him regarding the video of Earl McNeil’s apprehension leading to his death.

McNeil family attorney Doug Applegate said National City police confirmed that McNeil had worked as a paid informant for that case, but did not disclose the department he worked for.

He said McNeil called NCPD for help.

Officers used a controversial detainment device known as “The Wrap” to subdue McNeil when they responded,.

The Wrap is a restrictive device which binds the subject into a hogtie position.

The subject’s legs are bound together, arms are secured behind the back, and the subject is forced into a seated position with legs flexed in front. The person’s torso is secured to leg constraints.

NCPD also placed a spit sock over McNeil’s head and pulled a shirt over his mouth.

It is not intended for use on persons suspected of drug intoxication. Studies have shown that the hogtie restraint position

and The Wrap have been associated with suffocation.

“He also had respiratory compromise due to his position and the objects over his mouth (and possibly nose) temporarily associated with his change of responsiveness and immediately preceding his cardiorespiratory arrest,” said Dr. Steven Campman of the County of San Diego Medical Examiner’s Department in McNeil’s autopsy report.

McNeil was resuscitated after cardiorespiratory arrest, but lack of oxygen caused brain damage.

The autopsy report said intoxication levels alone could have compromised McNeil. However, the manner of death is homicide, the report said.

Applegate said police footage from patrol car, body, and sally port cameras show McNeil asking for help “for approximately two hours and 20 minutes.”

He said he is concerned with the absence of medical attention provided to McNeil during this time. Camera footage shows that McNeil did not receive medical attention until moments before cardiorespiratory arrest in the central jail’s sally port.

Applegate also said that footage released by the NCPD of McNeil in the sally port is unclear. Audio is missing from a significant portion and the footage is blurred. Officers are not identifiable.

While NCPD officers do not face criminal charges, Stephan is filing against three community members for resisting arrest during a demonstration at a National City Council Meeting.

Community members gathered to demand the release of McNeil’s autopsy report and police footage. All told, 150 riot officers were deployed for a group of – what was reported to be – less than 30 non-

violent demonstrators. Six were arrested.

Two women were allegedly injured by the officers.

Blake said she was pushed in the stomach by an officer before going limp. She faces four charges of resisting arrest and one charge of threatening the officer who injured her.

Blake claims that while in jail she did not receive remedy for the pain caused by an endometriosis flare. She said she was left to vomit on herself in a cell and seperated from Shane Parmely, who was arrested at the same city council meeting.

“We have leadership in positions of power where they’re not holding their offices accountable, so we have the same kind of incidients happening because of neglect,” Blake said. “Because they know they can get away with it. So I always try to bring light to my situation like, I am a person who does sit at the table.”

She went on to say “I’m a restorative justice consultant so I have to sit at the table with the sherrifs, the DA, and everyone else. But I’m not exempt to being hurt, harmed, I’m not exempt to anything and it could easily – if it can happen to me it can happen to anyone.”

Mark Lane and Parmely sat on the floor in protest of officers’ treatment of Blake during the city council meeting. They also face charges of resisting.

Blake said that city officials “claim that San Diego is so far ahead of other people and progressive in our community oriented policing.”

“The death of Earl McNeil is not reflective of that, the charges against me are not reflective of that...so if the leadership is corrupt, of course it is trickeling down the system. So I’m not surprised by any of this,” she said.

Blake said she does not expect Stephan to have a change of mind. Nonetheless, she plans to keep working to let the public know who is in San Diego leadership and change that when “their seats are up for grabs.”

“No one is exempt,” she said. “The only thing you’re doing is adding fuel to the fire.”

Jury trial for Lane, Parmely and Blake begins Jan. 11. Blake says her legal team estimates a trial that will last just over a week. She said she plans to hold a conference on the trial’s first day.

Apology: Tenured staff appreciative, but ask for visible action

Grant: Funds will pay for training to assist victims of sexual assault

Continued from pg. A1

more equitable campus.

“We encourage all groups on campus to call for racial justice and to demonstrate their commitment to a safe, equitable campus community for black and other historically marginalized groups,” they said. “We look forward to working with the board, administration, and other groups on campus to address some of the recommendations made by the Campus Climate Assessment. We know many are already working on these goals and more, and we hope more will join in that effort.”

Numerous employees who attended the Oct. 16 meeting asked what the Governing Board and Murillo are doing specifically to improve the climate.

Murillo told The Sun “she was trying” and that institutional change takes up to seven years, although she is aiming for five. She added that the college is working to improve its hiring committees and diversify its workforce.

She also said she has been working to improve the investigation process by making sure each discrimination or Title IX complaint the college receives is addressed in less than 72 hours. Almost 50 investigations have been filed during her tenure as president.

“This is my midnight to six a.m. project right now,” she said. “I’m serious.

This is hard work.”

Murillo said in Spring 2017, 18,933 students were emailed a student “diverse learning environment” survey. 1,233 responded. The survey asked if students had witnessed discrimination on campus or reported racism on campus. Nearly 90 percent said they had not. Harper’s survey also asked if students could see the administration’s dedication to diversity.

Murillo said she hopes to take part in Harper’s newest survey, the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climate. She also said the faculty survey has moved the college in a positive direction.

“I think it provided some more feedback that further supports the direction we are moving in toward systemic culture change that does not tolerate discrimination and disrespect in any form,” Murillo said. “It was obvious we need some more time and more dialogue.”

Continued from pg. A1

Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Staff

WE WANT MAS — Students and faculty join together in a Governing Board meeting in peaceful protest of their opposition of the new professor hired to teacher Chicano Studies.

MAS: Community asks for second fulltime position Continued from pg. A1

Gerardo Rios was born in the South Bay but raised in the impoverished streets of Tijuana.

“I come from poverty. I grew up in a really rough environment. When people in the U.S. talk about growing up in a rough neighborhood, I think back to my neighborhood and I say ‘this is nothing,’” he said.

He moved back to the U.S. at the age of 12 and went on to receive two Fulbright fellowships. He is an accomplished academic with two masters’ degrees in history and education, and earned a Ph.D in history.

For five semesters Professor Rios says he has made sure his classes are enlightening, yet academically rigorous. Students of Rios are required to comb through primary sources to attain information

needed for research papers. “ T h e y re c re a t e t h e h i s t o r y f o r themselves,” he said. “It’s pretty exciting when I see a paper and at the end it’s citing five primary sources. Their findings are fresh; their findings complicate the established narratives. That’s really important.”

Community involvement is one of the complaints addressed in the letter sent

by MAS. Joel Ojeda, President of MAS, wishes to see the inclusion of various ethnic groups on campus.

“We just want to stand behind our statement and say that we want to make sure that the department [Rios] was hired into thrives,” Ojeda said. “We just want to make sure that we have not just Mexican-American Studies, but all ethnic studies on campus.”

During a governing board meeting held October 9, both sides were provided an opportunity to speak their peace.

Protestors from MAS flooded the normally empty seats of room 214 wielding picket signs that read, “We want MAS”.

Ojeda and his supporters took to the podium and reiterated sentiments addressed in the open letter, which included the fact that a position is only now being offered after nearly thirty years of the department’s existence.

“The fact that the Mexican-American Studies position barely opened up after the program’s thirty year existence, while also being under the category of a Hispanic Serving institution is not only disappointing, but disregards any respect for our culture.”

Despite contention about the hiring process, Rios, Pantoja and MAS all share a similar hope for SWC’s students and campus. They all said that they hope for more ethnic inclusion in SWC curriculum moving forward.

Pantoja said he wants to see it expand beyond Mexican-American studies.

“We want to bring African-American studies, Asian-American studies, and gender studies,” he said. “We want to lead this campaign, but not in an elitist way. What we want to show is that there are a large population of students who are behind this.”

and keeping the campus safe.

This will take the form of victim advocates being trained to help other victims and training for the police department and faculty in sexual assault prevention.

The overall goal will be lowering cases of any type of sexual misconduct on school grounds.

Training for officers and staff will include prevention strategies and service to victims. Specifics regarding the trainings won’t be known until an assessment meeting in December.

There has been a lot of turnover in the Title IX position.

However, a new Title IX Director Gloria Chavez started working in beginning of October. She said she already has plans for the grant and points to the importance of having victim advocates to support other victims of sexual assault. Students should have someone to talk to other than the investigator and the Title IX director, she said.

“One of the things that I have heard that I’m very excited about is that we will be able to bring advocacy to our students,” Chavez said.

The grant will be split among six colleges, with Southwestern College administering it. The other colleges are Point Loma Nazarene University, University of San Diego, San Diego State University, National University a n d Pa l o m a r C o m m u n i t y College. The money will be allocated to each school based on the needs of its students, Caspi said.

“The money gets spent in a variety of ways,” he said. “Each college, as part of the grant indicates what they would need the money for. So for us, the emphasis was on creating victim advocates as well as maybe training our own. Different colleges will have a slightly different mix.”

November 29 , 2018 — Volume 62, Issue 2

VIEWPOINTS

The Southwestern College Sun

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Editorials, Opinions and Letters to the Editor

The mission of the Southwestern College Sun is to serve its campuses and their communities by providing information, insights and stimulating discussions of news, activities and topics relevant to our readers. The staff strives to produce a newspaper that is timely, accurate, fair, interesting, visual and accessible to readers. Though the “Sun” is a student publication, staff members ascribe to the ethical and moral guidelines of professional journalists.

SIOBHAN EAGEN

The dangers of buying cheap sex toys

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Katy Stegall PRODUCTION MANAGER

Alyssa Pajarillo NEWS

Siobhan Eagen, editor Jordyn Bryant, assistant Sabrina Wu, assistant CAMPUS

Ramona Lopez, editor Mikayla Moore-Bastide, assistant VIEWPOINTS

Brin Balboa, editor ARTS

Marty Loftin, editor Paola Labrada, assistant SPORTS

Justin Dottery, editor ONLINE

Brianna Juarez, assistant Jahaziel Valencia, assistant

Victoria Sanchez, editor Brittany Cruz-Fejeran, assistant Marco Figueroa, assistant SENIOR STAFF

JoseLuis Baylon

ramona lopez/staff

editorial

PHOTOGRAPHY

The Issue: Women feel unsafe on campus at night when walking to classes and their cars.

Our Position: Southwestern College needs to create stronger policies to ensure women’s safety.

Jaime Pronoble

STAFF WRITERS

Kateley Boardman

Rosa Noriega

Melissa Cocom

Luis Orantes

Alan Cazares-

Alejo Rosete

Monterrubio

Marla Raudales

Vanessa Gutierrez

Daniel Wieber

Matthew Leksell

PHOTOGRAPHERS

CARTOONISTS

Rodizza Baytan

Marty Loftin

Ailyn Dumas

Siobhan Eagen

Aileen Orozco

Ramona Lopez

Arturo Garcia Alejandro Nunez Jamie Ramirez Aide Valdez Karelly Vidrio ADVISOR

Dr. Max Branscomb

AWARDS/HONORS Student Press Law Center National College Press Freedom Award, 2011 National Newspaper Association National College Newspaper of the Year, 2004-17 Associated Collegiate Press National College Newspaper of the Year National Newspaper Pacemaker Award, 2003-06, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012-2017 General Excellence Awards, 2001-17 Best of Show Awards, 2003-17 Columbia University Scholastic Press Association Gold Medal for Journalism Excellence, 2001-18 California Newspaper Publishers Assoc.

California College Newspaper of the Year, 2013, 2016 Student Newspaper General Excellence, 2002-17 San Diego County Multicultural Heritage Award

Society of Professional Journalists National Mark of Excellence, 2001-17 First Amendment Award, 2002, 2005 San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards 19992017 Directors Award for Defense of Free Speech, 2012 Journalism Association of Community Colleges Pacesetter Award 2001-17 General Excellence Awards, 2000-18 American Scholastic Press Association Community College Newspaper of the Year San Diego County Fair Media Competition Best of Show 2001-03, 20052017

Southwestern College must prioritize women During the day, Southwestern College is full of faculty and students going about their business.

But the college is a different place when the sun sets.

The breezes become threatening whispers. The walkways seem longer and darker . Your defenses from the darkness are faint streetlights and a dull car key wedged between your fingers.

This is the reality women face when leaving the campus at night, especially faculty and students who leave as late as 10 p.m.

Fifty three percent of SWC students are women according to the 2016-2017 fact book -- yet there are no significant policies to help them feel safer on campus.

According to a survey commissioned by the Association of American Universities, 27 percent of female college seniors reported they had experienced unwanted sexual contact – from touching to rape – due to alcohol or drugs or by force.

Almost three-fourths of victims chose not to go to the police because they did not think what happened was serious enough to report. Others were too ashamed to come forward or did not think they would be taken seriously.

Zoe Ridolfi-Starr, deputy director of Know Your IX, a sexual assault awareness organization, talks about the toxic mind-set many campuses have on sexual violence in a New York Times article.

“This survey is significant confirmation of a major problem, and it confirms what we’ve been saying about the mind-set on campus and the reception survivors expect to encounter,” she said.

Many women have vocalized their safety concerns. They ask campus police to walk them to their cars. They demand better lighting in the dark spots on campus. They want more security cameras and police presence at vulnerable spots on campus and maintenance on blue emergency poles to ensure they work when needed. But neither the police nor the administration have taken significant action to show that the concerns are being heard.

The Sun has written numerous articles on this topic since Spring 2015, including two special editions focusing on SWC’s sexual assault epidemic. Maybe we were not as direct as we could have been. So we’ll spell it out for you: prioritize

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women on campus.

There is a narrative ingrained in society telling women their voices do not matter. Do not teach students and faculty the same message at SWC. School should be a safe place for women to focus on education. Students pay to be here. They should get their money’s worth when on campus.

Instead, women have to choose between leaving the library early without any worries or leaving late and not having the safety of a busy crowd to protect them from the shadows.

We understand the campus police department has new leadership, but if there were an inkling of care for women’s safety on campus, this issue would have been one of the first priorities.

The requests we make are not hard to implement.

There needs to be maintenance done on the streetlights on campus and blue emergency poles.

Something as simple as lighting can help someone be more aware of their surroundings. Making sure the surveillance cameras attached to every blue emergency pole are working will also help comfort those walking late at night and scare off potential attackers.

Campus police also need to patrol more than one area. Sticking around the same areas on campus makes it easier for would-be attackers to predict police activity and avoid regularly patrolled areas. This also means they must be more proactive and walk women to their cars.

Campus Police should offer to escort people to their cars rather than waiting for a call requesting for them.

The department needs to make its presence more known. Many people do not know they can call campus police to escort them back to their vehicles. Others do not reach out to campus police because of the recent history of former Chief Michael Cash and his officers abusing their power.

Many people are afraid. They need to see action to be sure that their voices are being heard and are not just going unnoticed.

Campus police should not wait for a victim to come to its office.

The administration needs to be more proactive in keeping its students and faculty, especially women, safe. We must not forget that society constantly marginalizes this group. We need to do our best to ensure they are being heard and take action immediately.

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Most people want to keep their sexual lives private, which makes it easy to fall into the trap of buying a cheaply made sex toy off the internet. Some want to avoid awkward social interactions in at an adult store and others can’t afford namebrand toys.

More than half of all people will use a sex toy in their lifetime, according to a study by UC Berkeley. But most people are not informed on what is or is not safe to use.

Cheap sex toys are not only disappointing in their performance, they also hold significant health risks.

Sex blogger Lilly Delvaux demonstrated the dangers of porous sex toys in a blog post that has been intermittently updated since 2013. In her post, Delavaux cut apart cheap sex toys and sealed them in a glass jar. She updated readers as the toys melted into each other in just three months. They leaked oils and puddled up at the bottom of the jar.

“I didn’t subject the jar to heat or sunlight. It was in my office all summer, my air-conditioned office,” Delvaux wrote.

The sex toy industry is a $15-billiona-year and has few safety standards, according to the Safe Sexual Products Campaign. The same campaign also discovered that retailers and manufacturers resold used products which tested positively for bodily fluids.

There is no current legislation mandating control, regulations or testing of sex toys. Items like children’s toys, for example, must be made of biologically safe materials, as children tend to put toys in their mouths.

Attorney Emily Stabile wrote about the phenomena in the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice.

“The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates thousands of other consumer products for dangers such as toxic chemicals,” the article reads.

“Harmful design flaws, and inaccurate or misleading packaging, sex-toy manufacturers remain free to engage in all three practices.”

Most cheap sex toys are manufactured and sold as “novelty products” and do not have to pass any government safety regulations. The novelty product designation also means manufactures do not assume responsibility for adverse effects.

A harmful chemical family known as phthalates, FDA-acknowledged carcinogen, is used in certain cheap sex toys. A toy made with phthalates can cause reactions including chemical burns, low sperm count, infertility, cancer and infant and genital deformities.

Poorly-made sex toys can still be dangerous without phthalates. Bacteria infiltrates porous materials and it may not ever be safe, even if cleaned thoroughly before and after every use.

There are a few key factors to keep in mind when purchasing a sex toy. If it has a toxic smell, leaves behind oil residue or degrades in heat – do not use it. Some safe materials for toys include high-grade silicone, stainless steel, glass or aluminum.

Sex educators and experts refer to non-harmful products as “body-safe.”

Body-safe sex toys are hypoallergenic, waterproof, latex-free and phthalate-free.

Silicone is typically regarded as the best material – particularly for soft toys. The Minneapolis-based company Smitten Kitten is an award winning adult-store and advocate for consumer safety. It established the website BadVibes.org which is dedicated to testing toys, lube research and supplies a shopping guide to help empower and educate consumers.

Another helpful way to choose a toy is to look for expert testimony or academic support. Sexologist Dr. Jill McDevitt also recommends and sells body-safe toys through her website thesexologist.org.

Always research a toy before buying it, guarantee it is “body safe” and remember that it will be an investment in your health.

Siobhan may be reached at sexandthesun@theswcsun.com

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Nov. 29, 2018 — Vol. 62, Issue 2

?

Thinking Out

Loud

How do you feel about Trump wanting to eliminate birthright citizenship?

“I think that it’s hypocritical.

The United States was founded by immigrants, yet he wants to eliminate our Godgiven right. It’s a fallacy in itself.”

Steven Sylvia, 20, journalism and english

“I think he is changing things solely because he wants to, not because it’s going to benefit anything or anyone.”

Angel sanchez, 19, psychology

Brin Balboa, editor

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Tel: (619) 482-6368 E-mail: viewpoints@theswcsun.com

Gay men do not want to be your best friend

By Matt Leksell A perspective

Gay men do not exist to be called sassy.

The term gay best friend has been thrown around, particularly by straight women, as a label for a platonic relationship between a flamboyant gay man and a straight woman. Teen Vogue even named it a “must-have” item on their blog in 2010.

Naming a gay best friend a “must-have” demeans gay men by turning them into an accessory. It sends a message that gay men are only useful in stereotype.

Perpetrators are most often straight women who see gay men as a relationship coach, a shopping companion or a confidant for juicy gossip.

Social psychologist Eric Russell examined the relationships between straight women and gay men in a series of four studies titled “Why (and When) Straight Women Trust Gay Men: Ulterior Mating Motives and Female Competition.” The first of the four studies showed that compared to the opinions of a straight man or woman, women only trusted the opinion of a gay man when it came to advice on a potential boyfriend.

The other studies followed the common theme of trust due to a gay man’s lack of ulterior motives when befriending a straight woman.

Gay men may also find that befriending a heterosexual woman is easier because of rampant hypermasculinity amongst straight men.

People should not be judged by their sexual orientation when beginning a relationship. It should be about the personal connection one shares with another.

Stereotypes portrayed in the media fuel the fire. In movies and television, the gay best friend characters are usually seen giving a sassy

ramona lopez/staff

one-liner and are almost never given a true storyline to realize them as a fully formed character. Popular tropes include dating one of the main characters before coming out and being unapologetically and stereotypically gay.

The movie “GBF” explores the concept of the gay best friend. Three women characters act out their fantasies using a classmate who was involuntarily outed and attempt to turn him into the walking pride parade he is not. While the main character makes a speech at the end touching on how he felt like he was treated as an object rather than a person, that is as deep as the movie goes as a serious look at the topic.

Another manifestation is the fetishization of gay men. Pornography website Pornhub published that 37 percent of their gay porn viewership came from women. Heterosexual porn is widely believed to only pander to the male gaze, whereas gay porn is seen as more versatile.

Fetishization of gay men goes beyond porn.

Shipping is the act of a viewer wanting two characters or people to be intimately involved. One of the biggest examples of shipping features One Direction bandmates Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. For years, their audience of mainly heterosexual teenage girls watched their friendship and analyzed every move, conspiring that the two were in an intimate relationship. They went even as far as naming them (Larry Stylinson) and suggesting Tomlinson’s son is a cover story. It is similar to heterosexual men’s fetishization of lesbian relationships, but there is rarely pushback for women fetishizing gay men.

Stop perpetuating stereotypes as acceptance. It is not better than nothing. The subjugation proves society has not moved on from its homophobic past.

To break down these walls, more conversations have to start around these relationships.

It is okay to call these friends out. It is not wrong to expect to be treated like a person, not an accessory.

Earth is still D OO MED

By Marty Loftin A perspective

siobhan eagen/staff

“I think it’s wrong in so many ways. This land is supposed to be known as the land of opportunity and freedom. When he does this, he’s erasing hope for those wanting a better life.”

Alex enriquez, 19, fine arts

“It’s unfair because one of the reasons why immigrants come here is to better their kids’ lives. Taking away that opportunity is not just. vanessa estrada, 19, kinesiology

“I think Trump is just trying to make this an all-white nation by getting rid of birthright citizenship.” nicholas beltran, 17, film

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Plants and animals make life worth living. They also help make it possible.

Humanity is in the middle of the Anthropocene extinction in which a trillion different animal and plant species are at risk. Unless climate change is reversed, only the hardiest organisms— such as rats, cockroaches, jellyfish or microscopic life— will survive. Humans might not boast the survivability of some species when faced with extreme environmental pressures, but human intelligence can adapt to changes faster than animals can with natural selection.

On Black Friday, a congressionally mandated climate report was released that projects severe economic harm to the United States economy should climate change continue unabated. The Fourth National Climate Assessment Volume 2 projects that millions of lives will be at risk and will cost the economy billions of dollars by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced significantly.

This report also found, like many others before it, that humans are the main cause of global warming. If people do not take responsibility for the damage that has been done to the planet, there is not going to be much planet left to fight for.

Earth’s biosphere is like a spinning top and each living thing helps keep it spinning by maintaining ecological balance. Every species that goes extinct and every environment that is irreversibly damaged causes the top to destabilize. When the top stops spinning almost everything will die. If current global greenhouse emissions are not reversed, parts of south Asia will become uninhabitable in the summers. It is not difficult to imagine Earth becoming so hostile to life that people can only survive in artificial habitats.

In November 2017, over 15,000 scientists signed in agreement that climate change must be addressed. The eight authors of “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice,” asserted that “We have unleashed a mass extinction event, the sixth in roughly 540 million years, wherein many current life forms could be annihilated or at least committed to extinction by the end of this century.”

They recommend limiting population growth and drastically reducing consumption of fossil fuels, meat and other resources.

A few things are powerful enough to upset the balance, such as catastrophic climate change from volcanic activity, asteroid impact or the evolution of new organisms that completely changed their environment, such as cyanobacteria or humans beings.

According to “Periodicity of extinctions in the geologic past,” a landmark paper published in 1982 by Jack Sepkoski and David M. Raup, Earth has experienced five major extinction events with minor extinction events occurring unevenly throughout. Life had always managed to find a way to survive these apocalypses through a few hardy organisms whose success is passed onto their decedents.

Mammals currently dominate the planet thanks to a tenacious shrew-like creature that survived the extinction of (most) dinosaurs.

This time though even the shrews are screwed.

If humans continue to upset the balance, the biodiversity of the life will be greatly diminished. When it comes to an ecosystem, the more species the better.

A report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has found that population sizes of wildlife decreased by 60 percent globally between 1970 and 2014. If the human race is going to live in an environmentally stable planet, people will have to protect animals as well.

One day, zoos might be one of the only places to see live exotic animals. If things get worse, a lot more species might soon be considered exotic.

All plants and animals have roles in their environment and ecosystems tend to have multiple species whose purpose overlaps. If one goes the way of the dodo, another can hopefully fill the void. Extinction of a species reduces the overall health of an environment and it becomes more vulnerable to complete collapse.

Southern California has suffered an ecological collapse of its under-water kelp forests before. With proper conservation of marine life, their range can continue to expand along the coast. Sea otters are incredibly important for maintaining the health of kelp forests by preying on anemones and other creatures that graze on kelp.

Humans overhunted sea otters all along the California coast in the 1800s, which caused a population boom of all the creatures that eat kelp. Combined with pollution from storm drains, overfishing of important organisms and sediments from human development, the huge kelp forests that once supported 800 different species have been reduced by 80% in the past 100 years.

This event is not isolated to the California coast.

Humans have ousted the local apex predators again and again. These predators are at the top of the food chain and they keep the environment healthy by managing the populations of other animals. In the aftermath of an ecological coup all the species will be affected by overpopulation, disease and eventually starvation when their food runs out.

Though they may be a danger to us at times, large predators are some of the most important members in an ecosystem. When deer populations boom, human hunters try to cull their numbers, but what the environment needs is more wolves and cougars.

Even though some species fall under “least concern” when it comes to their conservation, once the cascading extinction event enters the home stretch, even the most stable populations will be decimated.

We have been eating away at the ocean’s population of fish for millennia, but it has been recently shown that the population of all marine vertebrates has been cut in half since the 1970s, according to a 2015 report by the WWF, which found previously ignored species like sea cucumbers are now being overfished due to lack of other species.

Without an active effort to protect species and regions from humans, the pests will dominate the world.

Although life on the planet has bounced back from mass extinctions before (over the course of millions of years), humans are a game changer. There might be no limit to how thoroughly human industrialization can damage the world. Humans, and other survivalists like cockroaches, may withstand the environmental catastrophe. But things might get so bad that they may never improve.

A runaway greenhouse effect could boil the oceans and cause clouds to block out the sun. There must be a concerted effort to focus on combating all the various causes of climate change before it is too late.

Responsibility for climate change is often pushed off onto the individual. Those in power to enact change instead tell people to recycle more, take shorter showers and carpool. But it is the various industrial giants that are the culprits. The world’s biggest polluters, like the coal, oil, agriculture and other industries, should be held responsible for the effects of climate change.

Like the “Giving Tree,” the environment has given humanity the tools and resources to industrialize and globalize. Now it is up to people to create a civilization capable of restoring the environment. Humans have long struggled with shortsightedness, but the complete destruction of the biosphere of Earth is not something that can be procrastinated on any longer.

A UN climate report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts an increase in environmental-based disasters, food scarcity and war if global continues to increase. According to the report, there are only 12 years left to prevent the temperature from rising beyond 1.5 C above preindustrial levels.

Unless civilization can mobilize itself and wage a war on climate change during the next decade, a climate crisis unlike any other will bring unprecedented horror to the human race as the planet slowly dies.

It is far too late to squabble about whether to respond or not. Billions of people are at risk, including every species of plant and animals.

Failing to address climate change now is the same as suicide.

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Black is beauti ful White-washing causes identity crises

By Mikayla Moore-Bastide A perspective

Oreos are absolutely delicious. The chocolate cookie and the white cream on the inside is a beautiful match made in heaven. Unfortunately, there are two meanings to “an oreo” and this discussion is not about milk’s best friend.

An oreo is someone who is black on the outside and white on the inside. It carries the connotation of not being black enough or being whitewashed. It is a phrase that segregates black people from their culture. Being called an oreo may seem like a little kid thing, but it can make individuals question their own identity. The name calling and labeling is impertinent and very offensive.

White washing originally meant covering up something with white paint.

Stanley James, a Southwestern College African-American history professor said, “whitewashing is generally meant to cover up your mistakes.”

Today, black people who stray too far from their racial stereotype are considered whitewashed. To a certain extent, whitewashing is unavoidable.

Black people do it everyday, when they switch roles. They use different dialects at work and at school than they do with friends and family.

Doing this too often, and maybe even too well, can feed into being called an oreo.

By definition, code switching is alternating between two or more languages or varieties of language during a conversation. Mastering the proper way to speak English, using correct grammar and sentence structure, and even losing one’s accent are ways black people codeswitch to gain respect.

While black individuals are constantly switching between dialects, society will often assume these people are leaving their culture behind and evolving into a Caucasian.

These assumptions are prejudiced and ignorant.

Just because a person does n o t match society’s stereotype does not mean that they are any less of their race or ethnicity.

Dr. Andre J. Branch, president of the NAACP, had many words for this type of mindset. Branch said it comes from those who “lack the experience that these other folks have with other people of color who are both intelligent and successful.”

Branch stated his interpretation of whitewashing.

“It’s an insult hurled at others … and accuse them of forgetting their culture and background,” Branch said.

Branch explained that when a black person decides to act like him or herself, they get made fun of by their own people.

Ra Henderson, an open mic host, international poet and San Diego public figure, said “being whitewashed comes with many stereotypes.”

Henderson said he grew up in a home without many financial struggles. He attended what would be considered a charter school in middle school then attended a boarding school in high school.

“I was one out of maybe five black kids there,” Henderson said. “Although I was never told that I didn’t act black, I got that vibe from my surrounding. It was self-imposed.”

Something that was not self-imposed was being compared to Carlton Banks, the nerdy preppy black kid at an allwhite private school from the hit 90’s sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. “I was often told that I looked like Carlton, not necessarily acted like him,” Henderson said.

Carlton Banks is an iconic character.

He is the only son of a wealthy black family who attended a prestigious private school. He was known as someone who didn’t act being black enough because of his upbringing. In the episode, “Blood Is Thicker than Mud,” a member of the Phi Beta Gamma fraternity called Carlton a sellout because of where he grew up and how he dressed.

“Being black isn’t what I’m trying to

be, it’s what I am,” Banks said. “I’m running the same race you are and jumping the same hurdles you are. You said we need to stick together, but you don’t even know what that means. If you ask me, you’re the real sellout.”

Whether it is being told that you look like Carlton Banks, or being reminded of Carlton Banks, you are still seen as the token black friend who doesn’t act black.

Henderson went out of his way to study how to be a “black person” the whole summer before going to Hampton University. Once he arrived on campus and started to mingle, however, he realized those Friday movie

marathons and spades lessons were unnecessary. He didn’t have to change the way he spoke or use a different vocabulary to fit in because everyone there was like Henderson growing up.

Code switching goes beyond language. Chandra Arthur was featured in an article called POCIT, People Of Color In Tech where she discusses the backlash of code switching.

She is the founder and chief friending officer of an app called Friendish.

“Code-switching is what happens when people reflexively or subtly change the way they express themselves,” Arthur said.

Black individuals often have to portray different versions of themselves.

In some cases this can actually relate to life or death situations, such as a police encounter. Worst-case scenario, a black person and their inability to codeswitch could result in a deadly assault over what could have been a minor misunderstanding.

Code switching for black people is aligning themselves to be culturally compatible with important people, explained Arthur. Yet no one else is aligning themselves to be culturally compatible with black people.

Black individuals must cater to the proper way of speaking American English, a language founded by European colonists who invaded and forcibly taught the current owners, and soon to be slaves, the language.

In short, black people are just expected to code-switch.

This expectation threatens diversity.

Code switching can lead to being labeled as a white person trapped in a black person’s body. It’s a lose-lose situation. If someone were to act black, they would not be respected. But if someone were to act white, they would be labeled as an oreo.

It’s a never-ending cycle.

“People of color need to have a strong sense of self,” Branch said.

Growing up, the name-calling can cause a major identity crisis because people do not know who they are or what they look like to other people.

Being called an oreo or whitewashed is offensive because not only does it label an individual, it implies only Caucasians can have those characteristics. It is the 21st Century and this generation is frustrated that other minorities are straying away from their cultural characteristics, accusing them of turning “white.” This can cause an identity crisis.

“Never apologize for you being you,” Henderson said.

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Nov. 29, 2018 — Vol. 62, Issue 2

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Letter to the Editor

SWC English Department wants to see more cultural change on campus To the Southwestern College Governing Board: We are faculty members in the English, Humanities, and Philosophy departments, and we reach out to you today after reading the post-town hall letter you sent last Tuesday. First of all, we thank you for holding the town hall and for sending the letter in response to what you heard.

In addition, we support the individuals on campus who have suffered from the anti-blackness identified in the racial climate report and commend the courage of the individuals who spoke on this issue at the town hall. We know the challenges identified in the report are complex and not limited to the black community.

We also know that not everyone’s story was included in either the report or heard in the town hall. We want to express to those individuals and groups who were left out that we recognize you and your stories as well as the need for more spaces for listening and healing.

Our letter is in direct response to the conversations and experiences around a culture and attitude of antiblackness highlighted at the meeting.

We feel grateful for the pro-faculty position that you, the board has always worked from, and we know you are often placed in difficult positions in working with various campus contingents. We ourselves recognize and experience the challenges involved in dismantling racist systems and attitudes. To profess equity-minded practices is hard. It’s harder to live them.

We know this is true because we are engaged in this process ourselves. Because we recognize that the hurt of institutionalized anti-black racism, our departments have begun a period of self-education and re-examination around equity. We have sent faculty to conferences for the Center of Urban Education, which asks us to consider the often-invisible ways that racism informs institutional, classroom, and interpersonal practices.

We learned that color-blind practices are not enough.

The English department has redesigned its placement processes and course sequence to ensure more students than ever before have access to the transfer courses to address systemic racial inequities. At the center of all these endeavors is equity. We do so because we recognize that English, Humanities, and Philosophy departments are rooted in and have been used to confer privilege

to white power structures. As professors, we dedicate ourselves to extricating our practices from structural inequities even as we recognize how our disciplines are implicated in those structures.

As the Governing Board, you are in a unique position to support and advance the collective efforts of everyone at Southwestern College to create a new, more equitable structure. We invite you to continue dialog and to implement actions that further manifest your desire to promote equity and to see and dismantle structural racism. We believe the town hall was a necessary step and appreciate the letter sent Tuesday in response.

Elements of town hall meeting and your follow-up letter suggest next steps [the board might take]: • Consider explicitly and directly apologizing to the individuals and groups who have been harmed.

• Name the cause of the “hurt” you refer to in your letter: anti-black discrimination.

• Make visible and transparent the actionable steps outlined in the letter. Make yourselves and your concern visible to the black community and the entire campus.

We start by naming the racial inequity embedded in the higher education system. Action follows, and we ask you to join us in this endeavor.

With sincerity, Henry Aronson, English Freddie Ball, English/Reading Peter Bolland, Philosophy Luke Cuddy, Philosophy Heather Eudy, English Dagmar Fields, English Sharai Forbes, English Elisa Hedrick, English Alejandra Lucero-Canaán, English Noreen Maddox, English Elizabeth Merton, English Katie Ness Santana, English Alejandro Orozco, Philosophy Diane Palmer, Humanities Jessica Posey, English John Rieder, English Tracy Schaelen, English Michael Wickert, English Leslie Yoder, English

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Nov. 29, 2018 – Volume 62, Issue 2

The Southwestern College Sun

CAMPUS

JoseLuis Baylon

Close the book on bad memories

There was something simple that saddened me when I listened to a song. It made me miss somebody for the whole week. It led to maladaptive daydreaming, where I could not focus on work or even get sleep.

Uncontrolled, it felt like a movie theater projector was left on in my head and rolls of film were constantly being fed in. This experience is typical for human beings, yet there is not enough public knowledge about how to manage maladaptive thoughts. It must be understood that negative, reoccurring thoughts will hurt more in the long run.

If Sigmund Freud sat next to me, he would say I miss someone because I am attached to a story. Nothing more and nothing less, just a story about someone. Imagining this conversation with Sigmund, the story behind what made me sad was simple. I dreamt of a future that I had believed I could not live without.

Though memories can bring us joy, they have an entire sideline of mysteries that contribute to mental illness.

Past experiences create episodic memory. In order for humans to create an imagined future event, such as daydreaming, the brain has to draw in episodic memory in a process in known as constructive-episodicsimulation. This allows humans to propel themselves forward or backwards in subjective time.

Memories are a collection of experiences. Learn to treat memories like stories, but be careful not to ruminate uncontrollably. Rumination is a term in psychology that applies to a repetitive habit of recycling the same message inside your mind. If a negative thought is being ruminated all day, it can lead to stress, anxiety or anger.

Reoccurring thoughts, be it memories, scribbles or songs can be a warning sign of depression. The song deprived me of joy as something crossed my mind and broke my character.

Countless humans throughout time have felt the same. By being attached to a story, a person can begin to dwell.

Dwelling on the past is cruel.

If those memories turn into stories moving into the future, then we must accept they are not part of reality. It is important to look into ourselves when moments like these happen. We need to be real with ourselves. Why sacrifice joy for an unwanted thought? Harboring maladaptive thoughts can make people believe they are real. A person might even act out on distorted reflections of the situation and accept them as true.

I had to ask myself what that person I missed really meant to me. In the end, it was a list of events that were all based in the future. It was a story and none of it was real. I was attached to the idea and I alone made myself sad.

Changing a perspective inside your mind is known as cognitive reappraisal.

Healthy individuals succeed in reappraisal because they can recognize their emotions. A study in Frontiers in Psychology Emotion Science suggested that when we reappraise a situation, we focus on the tendencies that evoked our negative thoughts and interpret the situation differently. We have to modify our actions by regulating negative emotion, one’s feelings and understand them in a passable way. Only then, by putting negative distractions aside, we can become aware of our emotional experience.

Do not get stuck in a bad thought.

No one needs that. Take time to think things through.

In the end, it’s just a story.

JoseLuis may be reached at plutotoplato@theswcsun.com

TAKE FIVE — Community Through Hope volunteer Jean Spafford helps SWC student Penni Neely pick a jacket outside Mayan Hall.

Arturo Garcia/Staff

H.O.P.E. comes to Southwestern College

Clothes, food and services provided for Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week

By Matthew Leksell Staff Writer

Some Southwestern College students live with the harsh reality that their next meal, or even a roof over their head, is never secured.

As a part of Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week, the college held the Outreach and Awareness Campus Fair and Living Out of Your Car event this month at Mayan Hall.

“What we want to do is create awareness, but we also want an opportunity for our students to see that we’re here, to reach out,” said Director of Child Development Patricia Bartow. “To not be afraid and know that there are resources here and programs to help.”

Bartow, who organized this event l a s t ye a r, w o n t h e b e s t Hu n g e r

and Homelessness Awareness Week Organizer award over cohorts at other universities like Yale and UC Berkeley.

The event had booths circling the area, including Jag Kitchen, campus police and Community Through Hope.

Community Through Hope is an organization that sets up clothing donation centers, a farmers market for those facing food insecurity and community resources.

Signs that said “take 5” were taped across a tent that had tables of clothes organized by size. Two racks held shoes donated to Community Through Hope, and two volunteers greeted everyone that would pass by.

Donations coordinator Penni Neely and volunteer Jean Spafford made sure that students were able to pick

out what they needed.

“What I love about this organization is that it’s not a handout, it’s a hand up,” Neely said. “I know you’ve heard that before, but it’s the truth because we offer opportunities [for people] to get out of their current situation.”

Martha Jimenez, a child development major, was among those impressed by the kindness of the volunteers giving out clothes.

“I usually stay all day and at night when I leave it’s so cold,” Jimenez said. “When it’s so cold, a lot of people would need jackets so it’s so nice for them to come and get them here.”

A study presented at a governing board meeting on Oct. 23 highlighted the urgent need students have for housing. It stated that food and

housing instability is a key factor in college dropout rates. Community college students in California are especially impacted by the high housing costs. The study, “Struggling to Survive - Starving to Succeed,” by San Diego State University professors J. Luke Wood, Frank Harris III, and Nexi R. Delgado, showed that 33 percent of all community college students in California, and 44 percent of black students, struggle with housing costs.

The ASO set up a car that displayed what a student living out of their car would experience. Clothes hung around it, a laptop was on the seat and, of course, it had blankets to keep warm. On the sides of the car they gave information on where to park overnight and where to get free wifi.

Equity Week shows unfair treatment to adjuncts

By Melissa Caal Staff Writer

One-quarter of Southwestern College instructors are full time, with threequarters part timers. Adjunct English instructor Geoffery Johnson says it should be the other way around.

Johnson organizes Campus Equity Week on SWC’s main campus each year to inform teachers and students about academic and social justice issues. He said he has had many struggles as an adjunct and has seen colleagues being treated unfairly.

Campus Equity week was held this year at the end of October. Among the activities was one in which attendees made a timeline of a day in an adjunct’s shoes. Johnson said they have to travel a lot to other campuses for classes, fight rush hour and often face gridlock in campus parking lots.

“I would work here at Southwestern, Cuyamaca, at Mesa College, UCSD and Central Texas based in Coronado,” said SWC English instructor Jessica Posey.

“At the end of my career I was driving 100 miles a day and my first class was at seven in the morning and my last was at nine at night.”

On Oct. 24, Johnson brought five panelist, three adjuncts, including Posey, and two student workers, to share their concerns of unfairness with adjunct faculty. The top concerns are lack of office space, health benefits and job security.

The part-times have no specific designated office space, said Johnson.

They share a room with three computers and 70 other colleagues.

This affects both instructors and

students. Students have difficulties contacting instructors because they do not have office hours or because the shared space is chaotic.

“If we can’t create an environment where teachers can do their best, that’s a challenge,” said Johnson.

Johnson has colleagues who are living in their cars.

“Up until last year, if you’re an adjunct and you go on maternity leave or after your sick leave, you’d get nothing,” Johnson said.

Posey shared that prior to earning her doctorate she was unsure whether she would have a job to support her three boys as a single mom. Despite working many hours, Posey said her income was low enough to qualify for Medi-Cal and food stamps.

Full-time English and education professor Michel Wickert says he too senses the inequalities between full and part-time faculty.

“I personally know of amazing adjunct professors who would undoubtedly have a greater positive impact on SWC students if they were able to focus on our students here instead of needing to travel between multiple campuses to teach a high-class load just to survive,” Wickert said. “We are able to do great things when we have a sense and it is unfortunate that so many of our colleagues do not.”

Johnson encourages people to make a change in what they see and speak about what is going on with their friends, colleagues, and faculty. He hopes that Campus Equity Week will get everyone to come together and make a change to their environment.

Arturo Garcia/Staff

ADJUNCTS ADVOCATING — English instructor Geoffrey Johnson explains an adjunct’s schedule and the stress it involves. He shares that the lack of attention adjunct instructors receive prevent them from giving students adequate attention.

Ramona Lopez, editor

CAMPUS

Nov. 29, 2018 – Volume 62, Issue 2

Tel: (619) 482-6368 email: campus@theswcsun.com

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Día de los Muertos at SWC integrates different cultures for

Inclusivity

By Karelly Vidrio Staff Writer

Live Folklorico and Polynesian dance performances graced the night as Southwestern College celebrated Día de los Muertos at the beginning of November. Mole, rice and coffee were good company for the cold night.

“Día de los Muertos is a huge tradition that we wanted to share from a student perspective, a unique perspective not just held by Mexicans but also other traditions like the Polynesian community,” said Dr. Guadalupe Corona, SWC’s director of equity, diversity & inclusion during the Nov. 1 event held in front of the Student Union Cafeteria by the Associated Student Union (ASO).

“We live so close to the border, [it] is a beautiful tradition everyone should know about.”

Corona introduced the event with a short summary of the history of Día de los Muertos tradition and the significance of altars. Día de los Muertos is a holiday rooted in Hispanic culture that happens Oct. 31 – Nov. 2 with the intention of remembering loved ones who passed away. It is a time for prayers, flowers and colorful decorations for the deceased.

Marco Figueroa/Staff

SPLASH OF POLYNESIAN FLAIR— A performer shares Polynesian culture by dancing at SWC’s main campus on Dí a de los Muertos.

Mariela Salinas, 25-year-old social vice president of ASO, shared her inspiration of organizing the event and meeting with the program Improving Dreams, Equity, Access and Success (IDEAS) and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion.

“I was at the Puente program last year and one of the activities we had to do was going to cultural events,” Salinas said. “We went to Chicano Park and I saw they had the Aztec dances, altars, and I said that I wanted to do something like this in school too.”

Gabriela Gonzalez, who is the ASO vice president of president of club affairs, also expressed her sentiments of her collaboration for the event.

“A year ago I moved from Veracruz, Mexico and I also thought it was a good idea to portray our culture and traditions,” said the 19-year-old Gonzalez.

Salinas said she wanted to host this event to encourage students to remember their heritage.

“We live in another country, but that does not mean we are not proud of our roots,” Salinas said. “I thought it would be a good idea to portray our culture for people to see.”

.................

Marco Figueroa/Staff

TRADITIONAL FOLKLORICO — Andrea Benitez shows off her heritage with a flolklorico dance in traditional apparel.

ASO plans big for Walk & Roll spreads disability awareness the fall semester

By Marla Raudales Staff Writer

By Vanessa Gutierrez Staff Writer

The Southwestern College ASO is thinking big this year – working on a number of projects, including: a push to set the Student Center remodeled, establishing a study abroad program, reduced prices for bus passes and free printing.

The new student center layout would include a cafeteria and bookstore on the first floor, a multicultural center on the second and club conference rooms on the third.

“We know [a multicultural center] would help increase retention and help students feel a sense of community and belonging at the college,” said ASO President Jose Ivan Ortiz. The ASO and Tim Flood, vice president of financial and business affairs, have discussed the details of the master plan on Nov. 29.

General education and language courses would be offered to immerse students in history and culture during semesters abroad. Another goal is to start the International Study ORTIZ Abroad Program. Regarding the study abroad program, the ASO has met with the vice president of academic affairs, vice president of student affairs and dean of student services in hopes of putting the program into effect next fall.

The plan for unlimited bus passes for students is on hold ASO due to insufficient funding. Southwestern College would have to pay the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) $3 million which would require the ASO to ask every student to pay $150 each semester rather than the current $8 student services fee.

“Bumping that [fee] from $8 to $158 is ridiculous just because it isn’t feasible,” Ortiz said. “Less than four percent of our students actually buy our bus passes at the college, so it wouldn’t make sense to give MTS $3 million for something that most students don’t even use.”

Only 867 students out of 19,788 students utilized bus passes last year.

Instead, Ortiz said the ASO executive branch is planning to pay MTS around $60,000 to reduce the cost of student bus passes from $168 to $120.

The ASO anticipates reducing the cost of bus passes would not only be beneficial for the students already dependent on public transportation but also act as an incentive for students to take the bus and alleviate the parking crunch on campus.

Free printing for students on campus, with limitations, is also in the works for next fall. SWC currently makes about $50,000 from printing fees. Student Trustee Rudolph Villegas said the district would need to be okay with losing that revenue.

“Either [the revenue] is subsidized by ASO or provided at cheaper cost by the district as is to not allow ASO to take over,” Villegas said.

The ASO is working with Dean of Instructional Support Services Mia McClellan, who oversees the library, to implement this program. The ASO would need to buy industrial printers and develop a new protocol for students to pay for extra pages using card machines. Limitations for how many pages students can print for free are still being determined. Once the ASO comes to a consensus on how to go about the budgetary implications, the free printing program is anticipated to start off in the student center, then in the library and eventually the Academic Success Center.

Arturo Garcia/Staff

A RACE FOR ALL — Humberto “Beto” Gurmilan welcomes all to his organization’s Walk &Roll 5k before the start of the race.

With a stunning early morning view of Marina View Park in Chula Vista, people with disabilities experienced the joy of their abilities during the Walk & Roll Abilities Festival.

Humberto “Beto” Gurmilan, founder of the Gurmilan Foundation, created the event in 2017 as a way to raise funds for the organization’s programs and awareness of the challenges facing people with disabilities.

“It’s a very inclusive 5K walk because you have people of all ages, of all abilities participating and we definitely see people in wheelchairs,” Gurmilan said of the event that was held Oct. 14. “You can run it, you can crawl it, you can do whatever you want, but it’s all to just create awareness about disabilities and inclusion.”

All profits from the walk went to fund the foundation’s scholarship program.

Alessandro Fernandez, one of the people in charge of the Sharp Health First booth and a friend of Gurmilan, commented on

how much the event has grown.

“The first year that we did it there was, I don’t know, about 30 people?” Fernandez said. “We didn’t have any booths, so it’s definitely grown since then. Hopefully it keeps on growing.”

Alex Montoya, chairman of the Gurmilan Foundation, thanked everyone who showed up to support.

“The Gurmilan Foundation is all about possibilities,” Montoya said. “It’s all about being able to re-enforce what is possible.

What people are doing by participating in this event directly is making those possibilities possible for someone to be able to get a wider aid of services, including scholarships.”

Preparations are already underway for next year’s festival. Gurmilan hopes that it continues to grow and become wellknown throughout the South Bay. “We’re hoping that this becomes a huge event where there’s hundreds and hundreds of people just having a great time, families spending time together all for this great cause,” Gurmilan said.

“That’s our hope and I think we’re heading in the right direction.”

Revamping English curriculum

By Marla Raudales Staff Writer

Brad Flis has no problem making a dry subject juicy. His socially-aware English classes encourage students to be perceptive of the world around them.

Intense and highly debatable issues like the Colin Kaepernick and Nike controversy, the #MeToo movement and the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh are some recent real-life events Flis explored during his lessons.

“What I then like to do with my textbooks is try to find ways of addressing issues of gender or race, racism and sexism through these longer historical lenses,” Flis said. “If we just turn our attention to the past and think about a longer history of such issues, I feel people are more interested in them and don’t feel the need to take an immediate side. We are simply just studying the past.”

Flis has taught at Southwestern College for five years and said he did not plan on becoming a teacher but gradually grew to love the job. He realized it allowed people to connect and learn about themselves and the world around them.

“There is just a lot of pleasure in talking to people in a classroom,” Flis said. “I love the classroom as a space to think about writing, the world, talk about each other.”

Flis has taught at SWC since 2012, when he moved to San Diego from Detroit. He said students are more likely to speak, learn and be more involved in the classroom when they can relate to the weekly news.

“It didn’t take too long to realize that English is kind of a dry subject if it is just like ‘let’s pick up a textbook about grammar or rhetoric,’” Flis said. “It’s interesting, but

also it feels too formal and dry.”

For Flis, the subject matter is less important than teaching students to think about themselves in the world and utilize elements of writing and argument to further their understanding and articulation of themselves.

Andrea Rodriguez, a psychology major, said Flis’s class is different.

“He definitely challenges our perception of gender and feminism, other cultures, our interaction with one another,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez also said she was appreciative of how Flis includes social and political issues that affect her and the people around her.

Gracie Camacho, a physical therapy major, said she was not expecting Flis to be so open and comfortable with his teaching when she first took the class. As a 29 year-old veteran, Camacho found it interesting to learn about social issues.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been involved with like ‘normal news,” Camacho said.

“I was in the military so my news is very different then from what civilians get. It was very cool being in his class and seeing what the majority of the people around here had opinions about the current issues going on.”

Flis said he does not consider his class unique or special.

“Other than it being a source of interest, I think that as a teacher you got a responsibility to educate your students about the world that their entering as young adults beginning a career,” he said. “For me, trying to address these larger structural problems that we face everyday like racism or sexism, income inequality and homophobia, things like this, we’re aware that they exist and they should be talked about.”

Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Staff

TOO WOKE TO SNOOZE— English instructor Brad Flis uses his curriculum to educate students on modern issues facing society.

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CAMPUS

Nov. 29, 2018 – Volume 62, Issue 2

The Southwestern College Sun

Community November Project San Diego

By Ramona Lopez Campus Editor

Ramona Lopez/Staff

SWEATY HUGS AND COMMUNITY — NPSD member Gretchen Walker runs a loop after winning a round of “cowboy, ninja, bear.”

To prevent routinely hitting the snooze button and rocking “dad bods” after graduating from Northeastern University, Brogan Graham and Bojan Mandaric made a pact.

The college crew teammates met every weekday morning in November at 6:30 a.m. to do some sort of workout, no matter what. Winter in Boston did not stop them from running stairs at Harvard Stadium weekly that month.

Accountability was key.

By the end of the month, about 30 people consistently joined them and November Project was born. It is now a year-round worldwide free grassroots fitness movement in 49 cities throughout North America, Asia, and Europe, including San Diego.

One hundred fifty to 200 people now follow the slogan “just show up” to work up a sweat with November Project San Diego every Monday and Wednesday morning at 6:29 a.m.

It took a while, however, to get such a big group.

Five years ago, Ashleigh Voychick, Lauren Padula and Jessica MacDonald graduated from Northeastern’s physical therapy program, moved to San Diego and decided to start up November Project in their new home.

“We texted every person we knew, put out a million Facebook things, left flyers on cars and we show up and there’s three of us leaders and

two participants,” Vochick said. “One which was Jess’s boyfriend and the other one was one of our good guy friends.”

The ladies did not let low attendance discourage them and kept promoting until they officially became a November Project tribe.

“Growth for every tribe back then was steady and slow because nobody knew what November Project was,” Padula said. “You really were getting people based on the people who were already coming and word of mouth.”

Some of NPSD’s first members still attend, including Tom Dorio who joined in February 2014.

“It’s like adult recess with tons of people and it lasts an hour,” Dorio said. “You get to work and you glow. No one looks like you when you get to work because they just woke up and rolled into work.”

NPSD member Gezell Custodio said the group is about more than just staying fit.

“Working out is just a fraction of the overall goals of November Project,” Custodio said.

“What matters is having fun, making connections with other tribe members and being plain silly.”

Typically followed by giving out hugs, current co-leaders Eugene Kim and Shira Klane start every workout with a pre-workout bounce where the group yells “Be happy. Be Strong. Be bright.

NPSD.” “There’s something about being outside your comfort zone that kind of disarms you and allows you to open up to new connections to meeting

new people and see something new within yourself,” Kim said. “That’s where we can really change lives.”

Another original NPSD attendee, Tina Soebbing, said she joined in 2013 to find friends after moving to San Diego from Germany.

“I didn’t know if everyone was going to be more fit than me or if I would fit in,” Soebbing said.

“Lauren saw me, walked towards me and hugged me. Ashleigh and Jessica did the same thing. I was taken back I have to admit, but everyone introduced themselves with so much kindness and enthusiasm, I was sucked in.”

People of all ages and backgrounds push each other to work as hard as they can and have fun doing it. Shelsea Hodge even brings her son and pushes him in a stroller while working out. She said she brought him at first because she did not have childcare, but then saw how it impacted him.

“He started getting out of the stroller, climbing stairs and trying to do push-ups with everyone else,” Hodge said. “The way they’ve taken my son and me in like family is incredible. It’s really become a big, happy, badass family.”

Joining this family costs absolutely nothing and requires nothing. All you have to do is show up and be ready to put in some work.

NPSD rotates locations Mondays and announces their whereabouts on their Facebook page and Instagram @novemberprojectsd.

Wednesday mornings they are always at the heart of San Diego, Bea Evenson fountain at Balboa Park at 6:29 a.m. Just show up!

Urban Sketchers

By Sydney Stanley Staff Writer

Urban Sketchers has reached the hearts of many across the globe, including those here in San Diego with the mission of “show the world, one drawing at a time.”

Urban sketching has recently caught the attention of thousands, who meet in their local communities and create art of their surrounding their goal to share the experience and share their art with the world.

“We see every walk of life in Urban Sk et c he rs ,” s aid Lyd ia Vela rd e, organizer of the San Diego Urban Sk e t c h e r s . “ It’s w o n d e r f u l t h a t something like this can bring so many together. We wouldn’t have met without it.”

Velarde has been a resident of North County San Diego for over 20 years and shows her love for the community and her love for art through urban sketching. Velarde was contacted by correspondents of Urban Sketchers to be in their book featuring artists from around the world. Velarde started to organize local Urban Sketchers meetings five years ago. The group has grown from three to 20 members who visit regularly, along with several others who pop in on occasion.

Urban Sketchers events are available for artists of every skill level. The group is always accepting new members through their Facebook group “San Diego Urban Sketchers.”

“You learn from whoever is sitting next to you,” said member Alicia Peterson. “It’s the best part.”

Members spoke highly of each other’s skills and personalities, all acting as a family brought together by watercolors and graphite.

“The people that come are super friendly, very inviting,” said Rhonda Blys, a two-year member. “I’m still a very new sketcher and the people are fabulous.”

At meetings, sketchers greet then scatter for inspiration. They are separate but also together, sharing the same goal of recreating their surroundings.

After two hours of creating their pieces, the crowd gathers to display their artwork with their nametag. The artists set down their still-wet paintings and shaded graphite sketches, and admire the individuality of each one.

Sketcher Hillary Ann said she uses this group to explore her artistic creativity.

“You get to get out and see different things,” Ann said. “You get to be a tourist in your own city.”

Ailyn Dumas/Staff

FROM 3-D TO 2-D — Members of San Diego Urban Sketchers gather at Coronado Ferry Landing to sketch the view.

Farmer’s Market

By Brin Balboa Viewpoints Editor

Rodizza Baytan/Staff

FARM TO NEIGHBORHOOD MALL— Shoppers browse local produce, flowers and cuisine at Otay Ranch Farmer’s Market.

Although it is instituted at an outdoor mall in the middle of suburbia, the Otay Ranch Farmer’s Market is a hotspot of culture, diversity and knowledge.

The stalls vary with locally grown fruits and vegetables, intricate jewelry and Japanese food that brings the country’s flavors to life. Each booth is unique and has a story to tell.

However, one thing these businesses agree on is the market needs more representation and promotion in the community.

“I think more people need to know about the farmers markets,” Dante Johnson, who works at the organic smoothie shop Greenfix, said. “I know some people who live in Chula Vista who have never even heard of a farmers market before.”

Tekera Massengale started selling authentic Kenyan jewelry and accessories at the farmer’s market recently, proudly spreading her culture to all who visit her booth.

“It brings the community to experience different cultures and different aspects of food and varieties of different jewelry pieces,” Massengale said. “I see a lot families that are so happy and it brings togetherness.”

Many of the booths have regular customers because of how well they take care of them.

“These markets are a good place to find a sense of community in a big city like San Diego,” said

farmers market visitor Camilla West. “A lot of businesses are closing because they can’t compete with Amazon or Walmart, so it’s always good to step out of the house and just kinda enjoy the neighborhood.”

Wei Tan Holt, owner of El Captain Farm made it clear that vendors have to meet stringent federal requirements in order to sell at the market, including setting licenses from the Department of Agriculture and registering as an organic farm.

“It’s a very strict process, they actually came to my farm and checked everything and sent my fruit to the lab to test. They have to test that there’s no chemicals in my produce. We don’t use any pesticides, chemicals, or synthetic fertilizers.

Everything here is natural.”

Holt said farmers markets often intimidate people because they are under the misconception that it is much pricier to buy produce there compared to Walmart or Vons.

“I always try to price at the level that’s below the supermarkets so it’s not only fresh and nutritious, they’re also more affordable,” Holt said.

Tina Vilar, a regular farmers market visitor, said some benefits of being face-to-face with the seller is bargaining for discounts.

“There’s not much of a price difference between here and a storefront,” Vilar said. “Only except you can ask for a lower price and ask questions about the products.”

The Farmers market runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. every Tuesday at Otay Ranch Town Center.

Nov. 29, 2018 – Volume 62, Issue 2

The Southwestern College Sun

SPORTS

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Injuries in Football Benefits of the gridiron Justin Dottery Sports Editor

A

s a former football player I’ve had my fair share of injuries. But even after hurting my knee, shoulder and head, I would still encourage my son to play.

While I know first hand how dangerous football is, I believe the benefits are worth the risks.

Football is a physically, mentally and emotionally demanding sport that brings out the best in players, both on and off the field.

For some it can be an escape or place of tranquility. For others, it represents a way to possibly provide for their family by earning a free education thanks to their physical gifts.

Athletic ability landed me on the Grambling State University football team. Being alone away from my family in a different part of the country, I had to grow up from the spoiled kid I was to a man who had to learn to do things for myself. Though those times were challenging, I am glad I endured them. Those struggles forced me to mature faster than I might have without the experience.

For me, playing football meant personal growth.

In high school, football helped me develop leadership qualities. Being a quarterback meant holding myself to a higher standard than others, as well as learning to put others ahead of myself for the betterment of my team.

I sprained my shoulder during the final game of my high school career. I ran off the field in pain and almost unable to throw a ball.

After a few plays, my head coach, Duane “Lou” Horn, called a timeout, brought the offense to the sideline and called me over in front of them. He then asked me a question that put all attention on me.

“Can you get back out there?” Horn said. “Or do we need to get someone else out there?”

As I looked my teammates in the eyes, I realized that as their leader, I could not abandon them.

Though it was not easy, I finished the game with a passing and rushing touchdown. At times I wanted to give up, but I learned to fight through pain and not quit when things get hard.

I first stepped onto a football field in the ninth grade. I was the youngest child of three and not used to having to work for the things I wanted.

That part of me quickly went away as I learned that giving the minimal effort would not get me very far.

I realized the only way to get ahead of the competition was to do extra work that not everyone was willing to do. That persistence led me from being a player who struggled mightily and throwing only one touchdown in my freshman year, to my senior year, when I threw 25 touchdowns, won player of the year and earned all-conference honors.

That dedication and maturation transferred over to my academic and personal life. I went from not meeting GPA requirements to walk the stage with my middle school class to having a 3.2 GPA and honor roll/dean’s list awards in high school.

I want my future son to go through the same maturation process I went through and learn values that can only be learned through experience. While I understand that there is a chance for injury, I want my son to understand that a bit of pain and discomfort can leave a person stronger than they were before.

Youth football participation has dipped in recent years due to growing concerns of brain damage. Some states, including California, have introduced bills requiring children to be at least 12 before they can play tackle football. While some people think football is too dangerous for children, others see it as a great tool for them to grow.

50 Half of all football injuries are lower limb injuries according to an NCAA study

28 28 percent of football players ages 5-14 were injured while playing.

87 Boston University researchers examined the brains of 202 deceased football players from different levels of competition. The study found CTE in 87 percent of the players’ brains.

16 A 2017 study by Journal of Athletic Training shows that football players are 16 times more likely to suffer a concussion than baseball players and four times more likely than basketball players.

Fears of the family Kateley Boardman Staff Writer

I

fear the day my five-year-old son asks me permission to play football.

He has been involved in soccer, taekwondo, swimming and now basketball. Of course these activities come with their own risks, but I am comfortable allowing him to participate.

However, I have not, and do not, plan to ever propose the idea of playing football.

I have never been the type of mother to hold my son back. I would allow him to play while making sure he is aware of the dangers of the sport. I would also make sure he has the proper equipment to be safe while playing. I am a firm believer that any sport or extra-curricular activity builds character, structure and paves the way for future opportunities. But those benefits do not outweigh the risk of brain damage, ligament tears and broken bones.

My goal is to keep an open mind, to an extent.

My father, Christopher Boardman Sr., was the assistant football coach at my high school. He once told me a story about one of his players suffering from temporary memory loss from a hard hit.

The player was hit in the head during an intense play right before half-time. When the team gathered together in a huddle, he began laughing out of control while repeatedly talking about how angry his girlfriend was going to be with him.

“I was very concerned. He looked fine, he did not lose consciousness but he could not remember anything he was saying and kept repeating himself,” my father said. “I asked him if he knew where he was and he told me somewhere completely different.”

The player was monitored on the sidelines for the rest of the game and was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion.

He could not remember what team we were playing against or what day it was. He thought it was a Saturday afternoon…it was a Friday night.”

Concussions can have a significant impact on someone’s life whether it is short or longterm damage. A person who has experienced a concussion can become affected by memory loss, short attention span, difficulty performing daily tasks and trouble processing a lot of information. Many former football players now suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease caused by to the head trauma, that can cause mood swings, impulsive behavior, depression, substance abuse and suicidal thoughts.

No mother wants to think any of these things could happen to their child, but is it a greater harm to my child if I shelter and deny him something that interests him? Will he resent me?

Will he learn to refrain from things because they hold small risks?

I want my son to have the courage to take risks, but I do not want him to be reckless.

While football may provide valuable life lessons, those lessons are wasted if my son is unable to remember them later in life. The possible repercussions far outweigh the benefits and I do not intend to put my son in position to find out the hard way.

Would Southwestern students allow their children to play football?

Hector Prado, 21, Computer Science

Zaid Flores, 20, Psychology

Sebastian Ortiz, 19, Business Administration

Adrian Mendoza 18, Psychology

Samantha Lim, 20, Kinesiology

“I probably wouldn’t let him play because I’ve played football.

I’ve been with friends who have had some bad injuries, which is also why I quit playing football.”

“I would probably let them try it out, but I would prefer if they didn’t. But I don’t know if I could stop them if that’s what they like.”

“I would let my son play football, but I would try to make him understand that there’s a risk of head injuries and it can potentially ruin his life. But if that’s something that he’s trying to do, I’m not going to try to stop him from doing whatever he likes.”

“I’d take precautions, such as when they begin maybe start with flag. It is pretty nerve-wracking as a parent to have your kid play and go through those circumstances, but I think injuries come with every sport so it’s just part of the game.”

“If they were younger, I think I’d let them do that. But as they get older and it gets more aggressive, I wouldn’t allow them.”

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Justin Dottery, editor

SPORTS

Nov. 29, 2018 – Volume 62, Issue 2

Tel: (619) 482-6368 email: sports@theswcsun.com

Fumbled away Late SWC turnover sets up goahead touchdown for Golden West Justin Dottery Sports Editor

Alejandro Nunez/Staff

MAKE HER DANCE — Freshman forward Daisy Gonzalez dribbles around a defender to score in a 3-2 win over Grossmont College at DeVore Stadium, Friday, Sept. 14, 2018

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS Women’s soccer team wins first conference championship

Alan Cazares Staff Writer

H

istory was made this season, when Southwestern College won the first Pacific Coast Athletic Conference women’s soccer championship in school history.

Throughout the season, head coach Carolina Soto issued a challenge to her team.

“What do you want to leave behind?” Soto asked her players.

“What do you want your legacy to be?”

With a 12-6-4 (6-0-2 PCAC) record and an overpowering offensive attack, the 2018 Jaguars finally got over the hump after finishing in the top three of the PCAC each of the past five years.

Soto said early season losses took the pressure of going undefeated off the team.

“We had this pressure last year, keep winning, keep winning. Because we kept winning,” Soto said. “We lost

early and I am able to find out and say ‘Hey, let’s work on this.’”

Sophomore midfielder Damaris Aguila said developing a good chemistry has also been a big part of their success.

“We did not have chemistry at the beginning,” Aguila said. “Now that we have been practicing and playing games, we have been developing that chemistry.”

Sophomore defender Makayla Saenz said playing a tougher schedule this season motivated the team to improve.

“It humbled us in a way,” she said. “Going out of the city, it’s very humbling. That makes us come back to practice and know we have to work harder.”

Saenz said the feeling of making history is exciting.

“It’s insane to go down in history,” she said “we’ll be the first that won a conference title.”

Saenz added that Soto’s tenacity is a huge factor in the team’s success.

“The effort she put in is crazy and is inspiring,” Saenz said.

“Her practices are intense but that’s what is needed when you’re playing teams at the level we are playing.”

Soto said that she felt proud for her team to represent Chula Vista.

“To be able to represent our community, to be on top, and to prove a lot of people wrong is great,” Soto said. “We’re excited, I think the most important things for us is that we are representing Southwestern College. Not only the athletic department, but the women’s side of the sport.”

Aguila won the MVP award for her 12 goals and nine assists.

She said winning MVP is the fruit of her labor during the offseason.

“It shows the effort I put in this summer,” she said.

The Jaguars’ hard work paid off. Their effort made them the first women’s soccer team in Southwestern College history to end as champions.

Southwestern’s late game rally November 3 against Golden West at Devore Stadium fell just short in heartbreaking fashion.

A fumbled snap squirted between the legs of Jaguars sophomore quarterback Marcus Hernandez to give Golden West prime field position at the Jags 22-yard line with just over a minute left in the game.

Golden West sophomore quarterback Beau Kalbacher took full advantage of the fumble with an18-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Jonathan Earl to clinch the 24-20 win for the Rustlers and erase the Jaguars’ 14 point comeback.

SWC head coach Ed Carberry said the loss will sit with his players for a long time.

“They will be 40 years old at a red light somewhere thinking about that game,” Carberry said.

The Jags offense struggled for most of the game, only scoring six points in the first three quarters.

Injuries and inexperience on the offensive line took a toll as the Jags were forced to use their third-string center after the starter suffered a knee injury. Carberry said shuffling players to new positions began the offensive tumble. Hernandez underscored Carberry’s point in his description of what went wrong.

“Two of our starting offensive linemen got hurt early and I did not have a lot of time to throw the ball,” Hernandez said. “We also had two running backs playing receiver, so we had to adjust.”

With the offense sputtering, the defense kept the Jaguars competitive by intercepting three passes and forcing a fumble.

Defensive coordinator Dionicio Monarrez said the defense set the tone early.

“I thought the defense came out and played really well,” Monarrez said. “We kind of took them out of their game, got some three and outs, and got a few turnovers to put our offense in great field position.”

The Rustlers led 7-6 at halftime and regained momentum in the second half, converting a third-and-long with a 43-yard pass from Kalbacher to sophomore receiver Ben Ratzlaff that put them at the SWC 21-yard line. But, Golden West could not capitalize on their field position, only coming away with a field goal that increased their lead to 10-6.

Freshman running back Deandre Daniels provided a late spark for the Jaguars, rushing for 57 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. He did not record a carry until late in the third quarter. Hernandez said Daniels’ impact was felt almost immediately when he entered the game.

“Deandre makes a huge impact on every game, and it was rough not having him,” said Hernandez. “You just know what he can do to the defense. When he finally came in, it was great, he just took a weight off everyone’s shoulders.”

Daniels accounted for 83 of the Jags’ 148 fourth-quarter yards.

Though Southwestern did not win their final regular season home game, they defeated Palomar for a 28-24 victory in the Beach Bowl in Devore Stadium on November 17.

Alejandro Nunez/Staff

ON THE BUBBLE — Sophomore quarterback Marcus Hernandez-Torrez throws a quick pass to freshman wide receiver DeAngelo Howard in a 2420 loss to Golden West Saturday Nov. 3, 2018. The loss put the Jags’ playoff hopes in jeopardy.

Water sports back on campus after two years at Las Palmas Pool Danny Wieber Staff Writer

Alejandro Nunez/Staff

SHOOT YOUR SHOT — Freshman Mark Estrada scores in a 14-12 loss to San Diego Miramar Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018.

Training for sports can be difficult, especially with a full-time course load. Having to travel to train makes it all the more difficult said men’s water polo head coach Jorge Ortega.

“Players have jobs, homework, and school work,” Ortega said. “To add water polo, at an off-campus site takes a toll on you.”

This year marks the first time since the spring of 2016 that SWC will have its water sports athletes play and train at home. In 2008, voters approved Proposition R which alloted $389 million to SWC for the construction and renovations of facilities. Included among the projects is the new 75,000 square foot Wellness and Aquatics Center, which boasts multiple pools one of which is an Olympic size pool, where our athletes train and play.

Women’s water polo head coach Alissa Mashburn said the aquatics sports teams have been given a gift, but it does come with a price.

“We are blessed to be able to play here, it is really amazing” Mashburn said. However having this new complex comes with a responsibility.

I feel like having this complex and this much water that I really strive to live up to its potential. I want the South Bay, and especially Southwestern College, to be a powerhouse when it comes to water polo and aquatics.”

Men’s water polo player Alex O’Hara said he thinks the new complex was done very well.

“There is nothing flashy about it, but you look at it and still think wow.” he said Aquatics Center lifeguard Elise Borbon said the new facilities help more students take classes that would quickly fill up before.

“It’s a beautiful facility that offers so much more than before,” Borbon said. “Although its much nicer, it’s also larger which requires a lot more out of us.” There are so many classes that are offered here that we are constantly busy.”

But with the good comes some bad. Although Borbon was extremely happy with the new aquatic complex, she said she was upset by the decision to designate parking spots for the complex. She and other aquatic center workers are not allowed to use staff parking which sometime forces them to park away from campus. Borbon stated she had issues with this due to sexual violence that has occured on and near campus.

“There’s no available parking, and when you work the evening shift you do not get off until around 10 p.m.”

Borbon said. “You are forced to walk to your car alone at night.”

The Southwestern College Sun

ARTS

Nov. 29, 2018 — Volume 62, Issue 2

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Sex farce is serious fun

Photos Courtesy of Darren Scott

British comedy “Noises Off ” turns Mayan Hall into a mad house > REVIEW

beleaguered director Lloyd, but is quite villainous as well. His introduction into the play itself was surprising as Warren was sitting in the

By Marty Loftin Arts Editor audience and only joined when Dotty (Dagmar Fields) misses her mark.

Without naming names, “Noises Off” reads For a moment, it is like the voice of God the theater community like a book. booming down to yell at the mortals for not This play, written by Michael Frayn in 1982, listening to Him. Later, Lloyd further plays is as much about goofy accents, dirty jokes and up the God-connection when things go wrong slapstick humor as it is a callout of the culture during the dress rehearsal before opening. behind the curtains. He came up with the idea “I’m starting to know what God felt like when while watching another one of his plays from he sat out there in the darkness creating the the wings and thought the pandemonium world,” said Lloyd as he took a pill. backstage was funnier than the plot.

“What did he feel like, Lloyd, my love?” asked Between acts, the set is rotated to reveal Belinda (Sabrina Boudreaux). how the audience perceives the production of “Very pleased he’d taken his Valium,” Lloyd “Nothing On,” the name of the fictional play, said. and the hidden version happening backstage.

“Noises Off” at times hits hard at actors’ bad The play’s plot is less important than the habits, including forgetting lines, missing marks way its cohesion evaporates. In the single and violent rage. When Fredrick questions his act that is explored three times, “Nothing motive for carrying his bag around the set, Lloyd On” disintegrates into pure chaos as the shoots him down. relationships between actors begin to fray.

“Freddie, love, I’m telling you — I don’t know.

Beneath the silliness is a nuanced perspective I don’t think the author knows. I don’t know of the very real issues that everyone in the why the author came into this industry in the theater industry likely experiences. first place. I don’t know why any of us came into It is worth paying attention to, especially it.” for the many lines that set up later jokes Act 2 of “Noises Off” is the midway point and foreshadow the plot. In the first act, of the “Nothing On” production during a director Lloyd (Brenton James Warren) tells morning matinee, and the quality of the play has the assistant manager and understudy Tim already deteriorated much like the relationships (Silvester Guadarrama) to order two extra between the actors, director and stage managers. burglar costumes in case they both need to Brooke threatens to walk out, Poppy reveals she fill in. Poppy (Rebecca Bryson) is sickened to is pregnant with Lloyd’s child and the actors learn of Lloyd’s relationship with Brooke (Erica actively sabotage each other over romantic Mejos) and the crew’s anxiety about Selsdon rivalries.

(Angel Perez) and his alcoholism eventually In Act 3 of “Noises Off,” the fictional play pays off. has become a mess. Dotty is barely in character Many plays feature the play-within-a-play and lamenting how her career has led her to this as a storytelling device. “Hamlet” is one of play. the most well known examples for the scene Selsdon found some liquor and disappeared. featuring “The Murder of Gonzago,” which Both Tim and Lloyd prepare themselves to cover Hamlet uses to witness his uncle’s guilt. for Selsdon, but in the fray three burglars end “Noises Off” is not so much a scathing up on stage. critique of the most odious habits of actors, directors and managers, but a loving roast playfully teasing those creative folk who love the theater.

Frayn exaggerates certain stereotypes in the same way actors exaggerate the accents of their role while on stage. If the acting is too subtle, it will be difficult for the audience to figure out.

Theater people are known to be over-the-top, so characterizing actors in a play means their quirks are going to become more extreme.

For the Southwestern College production directed by Ruff Yeager, the manic energy of putting on a performance is channelled through the actors.

Warren is very entertaining as the

Fields, an English professor at SWC, said she had been in many other British plays before but “Noises Off” was one of the most difficult.

“This one is amazingly complicated,” Fields said. “It’s British farce, so it’s very specific. A lot of pants being dropped, door slamming, mistaken identity, just a million things.”

This complicated play requires the actors to hit specifically timed marks. Fields said that the audience would wake up and realize the ridiculousness of the spectacle they are witnessing should the timing is off.

“The thing that is really cool about comedy is it’s like playing volleyball with a PingPong ball,” said Fields. “It has to effectively bounce from person to person. If someone is particularly ‘on,’ you’re going to be on, too.”

Fields said that the Lamb’s Players Theatre had two weeks to rehearse, just like the characters of “Noises Off” had to prepare for “Nothing On.” The Coronado-based theater group’s run of the play lasted a month, but even professionals have accidents.

“The Lamb’s Players cast had four injuries that I know of,” Fields said. “Their Garry fell down the stairs (every night) and somehow gashed his upper arm and wasn’t sure until he felt blood running down his arm. Their Belinda broke two fingers, you’re never sure how that is going to happen.”

Fields said there were some injuries on the SWC production, and in a way “Noises Off”

is lightly cursed in a similar way to The Scottish Play.

Luckily, nobody died or was murdered on stage.

“Noises Off ” is a play for all those people dedicated to putting on a show despite the world falling down around them.

NOTHING ON ­— This British play-within-a-play features actors and actresses at each others throats (top), jealousy and misunderstanding (above), bedroom humor (left) and head injuries (far left).

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Nov. 29, 2018 — Volume 62, Issue 2

Marty Loftin, editor

ARTS

Tel: (619) 482-6368 email: arts@theswcsun.com

What the heck are memes? Maybe art

By Brianna Juarez Staff Writer

There’s more to memes than meets the eye.

Memes can paint multiple types of pictures, both artistically and politically, though they are usually associated with humor.

Richard Dawkins, an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author, wrote the 1976 book “The Selfish Gene,” which explained how cultural information spreads. He first coined the word “mimeme” which is ancient greek for “imitated thing.”

“Mimeme” was later shortened to “meme.”

According to the Oxford dictionary, memes are “an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation.”

To most, memes are funny pictures and videos with some sort of text above, next to, or below them.

Now memes are everywhere. They can be about anything and can reference everything, but in general they are supposed to be funny.

Southwestern College Arts Club president and studio arts major Jorge Mendez, 20, said memes are more than just jokes.

“I think it affects the society in a way where it almost reveals people’s true colors,” Mendez said. “Society isn’t so black and white between bigoted and woke, because there are instances you see in their true colors.”

Memes have become ubiquitous for the generation raised on smartphones and social media.

“The majority of memes make a please see Memes pg. A15

Victoria Sanchez/Staff

IMPROVISE. ADAPT. OVERCOME — Memes are as diverse as they are widespread in contemporary culture. Memes can be found around SWC in the form of club advertisements.

Cherry blossom season comes to Southwestern College Silk Wind Trio treats campus to intimate recital of traditional Japanese music > REVIEW

By Ramona Lopez Campus Editor

Traditional Japanese music is designed to evoke an image of nature in the listener’s mind, like cherry blossoms flowing through a river and down a waterfall.

With the right technique, plucking the string of a koto creates visible waves. Skilled hands gliding up and down from one pitch to another, known as glissandos, emulates waterfalls.

Silk Wind Trio recently performed traditional Japanese music at Southwestern College in an educational and interactive performance. Trio members Reiko Obata, Masazumi Mizuno and Jonathan Crick showcased their skills with five arrangements, incorporating the unique tones of Japanese woodwind shakuhachi and string instruments koto and sangen.

These instruments date back as far as the seventh century. Mizuno and Crick started playing them in the 1970s, when Mizuno formed San Diego’s first koto ensemble.

They continue to perform to this day. Crick studied in Japan with music educator Shinichi Suzuki in the 1970s. Obata is a California native and studied koto in the U.S. and Japan.

Dressed in ornate kimonos, Obata and Mizuno opened the show by playing a koto duet called “Hana Ikada.” The koto is a large hollow thirteen-stringed instrument commonly called a Japanese zither.

Listening to the music was intriguing, but watching how the musicians played the instrument made the experience more enjoyable. The large size of the koto required a lot of motion from the performers, who sit adjacent to the instrument and place bridges on it prior to each song. The manual placement of the bridges allowed the musicians to adjust the pitch as they played. They

Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Staff

MUSIC FROM EDO — Silk Wind Trio consists of Reiko Obata on the koto, Masazumi Mizuno (above) on the sangen and koto and Jonathan Crick on shakuhachi. Together the three performers take listeners back in time, before Japan was exposed to Western culture.

reached around to the left side of the bridge and pushed down the string to create more tension and increase the pitch.

Crick played a shakuhachi solo called “Shika no Tone,” which depicted two deer calling to each other in a meadow. It was different, but hard to follow because there was a lack of beat, rhythm and melody. Crick played the Japanese bamboo flute using a method of shaking his head left and right while blowing air to create vibrato.

Its deep inhales were at first distracting. An occasional intense breath caused a sharp squeak of the instrument that resembled someone learning how to play the recorder. But as the piece continued, it improved.

The shakuhachi blended nicely with the kotos in the remaining songs. The trio played a medley of four Japanese songs called “Shiki Nihon.” It is a combination of an iconic Japanese song about cherry blossoms, a song about fireflies typically sung by children while playing, a song celebrating of the full moon, and a New Year’s celebration song.

Although pleasing to the ear, it was difficult for the uninitiated to distinguish when one song transitioned to the next.

Mizuno played and sang during the fourth song of the night. Singing added variety to the show and again displayed a difference in the cultures of western and eastern music. She sang offbeat, which gave contrast.

Her singing style was heterophonic, meaning there was variation of melody with embellishments.

The final arrangement of the night was a medley of three songs. The threestringed sangen, a Japanese guitar, was also introduced to the audience. The pick used to play it was huge in comparison to a guitar pick.

Silk Wind Trio’s showcase was a show that was not only entertaining, but informational about Japanese culture.

The Southwestern College Sun

ARTS

Nov. 29, 2018 — Volume 62, Issue 2

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Memes: Internet culture and the real world intersect Continued from pg. A14

Aileen Orozco/Staff

Jazz Café continues tradition of honoring Cole Porter > REVIEW

By Jahaziel Valencia Staff Writer

Southwestern College’s Jazz Café was not an ordinary performance.

Mayan Hall’s stage set the theme of a 1930s bar. Tables on the right side of the stage adorned with roses in glass vases were illuminated by dim candlelight. Performers completed the scene with formal attire.

The Jazz Club paid homage to the work of Cole Porter. Porter composed music and lyrics for Broadway shows and many movies of the 1920s.

In 1956, famous jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald released “The Cole Porter Songbook,” a collection of famous Porter pieces that was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000.

Solo performances and duets were entertaining and engaging.

“Too Darn Hot,” performed by Richard Amezola, Vasti Hinojo and Pablo Gimono, turned up the temperature with the introductory bass line and harmonious vocalizations of the three artists.

Amezola stopped and began singing lyrics while the other two continued harmonizing. While the harmonies were a little spotty, the rise and fall of the singers’ voices added a captivating dynamic.

The singers periodically took short pauses, which would be filled by either a smooth bass line or a short piano section. These small, voiceless spaces felt appropriate for the song as it allowed it to keep its upbeat nature and fit the theme of a 1930s bar.

“Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye,” a duet performed

by Dana Ramirez-Olivares and Diego Castro, was the standout piece of the show. The song created an image of two lovers who would be seeing each other for the very last time, and the performers brought it to life. It felt more like a scene of a play than one song from a jazz performance.

Olivares and Castro gazed into each other’s eyes

to give the illusion of being in love. They even stepped away from the microphones and danced in a close embrace, stepping in rhythm with the pianos fluid chords.

“Easy to Love,” performed by Kaya CollinsHill and Soraya Shams, was almost a blend of the previous songs. Its tempo gave the impression of the singer longing to be with someone but being too far to reach them. Suddenly, the tempo increased as if the two individuals came together to dance.

Unlike Fitzgerald’s version of “Easy to Love,” the Jazz Club’s performance takes a complete tonal shift in the last verse with a piano solo. The improvization fit so perfectly into the song that it seemed like it was there from the start.

The Jazz Cafe began with a few hiccups, but became an immersive experience. Ranging from solos to an entire ensemble of vocalists, the performance was a worthy tribute to one of the most influential musical figures of the modern era.

Aileen Orozco/Staff

EASY TO LOVE — Southwestern College’s Jazz Vocal Ensemble perform classics from “The Cole Porter Songbook.” Diego Castro and Dana Ramirez-Olivarez perform a duet titled “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” (top). The entire Jazz Esemble takes the stage for a final performance of the evening (above).

really bold social commentary in such a funny compact way, but it’s almost like political cartoons in a sense,” Mendez said.

Art Club designer and 3D art generalist major Christian Gutierrez, 21, said he uses memes to communicate.

“They are a different form of expressing parts of ourselves that we feel kind of uncomfortable with saying out loud, so it’s like an avenue that we can share it with,” Gutierrez said. “They are a part of my life in a way that I communicate with my friends on the internet, and for right now they are just a way to express something that I haven’t been able to fully put into words.”

Paris Gonzalez, a 19-year-old graphic design and studio arts major, said memes are an emotional outlet for humanity.

“We are in a serious time right now with everything being so ‘this person is bad because they said this, this thing is bad because it’s doing this,’” said Gonzalez. “Everything is so harsh and dark and sometimes we just need to laugh and I feel that is what it’s there for. It’s a moment to detach from the harsh realities and kind of just have a moment of peace.”

However, not all memes contribute to the greater good.

Some memes are co-opted by groups the images’ creators do not support.

One example is Matt Furie’s Pepe The Frog from the comic “Boy’s Club.” Furie told The Washington Post that his character was intended for what was the embodiment of “feels good, man.” However, white nationalists and trolls added racist imagery.

Pepe became a hate symbol. Furie told The Washington Post that it was a “nightmare” and ended up killing Pepe.

Southwestern College arts professor Nicholas Mueller, 41, said he has concerns about how memes impact culture.

“There is a lot of toxic society online, and I don’t necessarily think memes being related to that directly, but I wonder how they might relate to the kind of culture to calling people out online,” Muller said, “Which could be positive, but could also be really aggressive and bullying.”

Gonzales said there is a distinct line between funny memes and ones clearly being abusive.

“There is no point in bullying,” Gonzalez said. It can take a time from being funny and lighthearted to that’s a little racist, sexist, stereotypical, and it’s not that tasteful.”

Gonzales said revolting memes have a negative impact on younger generations.

“It’s almost teaching them to be sexist and that it’s okay to be racist if it’s funny,” Gonzales said. “It’s not okay to do any of those things, but some of those memes teach that it is okay.”

Gonzales said memes have been a part of her life from an early age.

Mueller meanwhile, said he is familiar with memes, just not to the same extent as his students.

“I think of it as something that is a coded language of my students that I don’t always pick up on, and I have had a number of times where student projects will reflect memes and I’m totally not aware of,” Muller said.

Mendez said he believes memes are a form of modern-day Dadaism, referencing an art movement of producing work that was nonsense and incongruity.

“I think they are a form of art because it’s the same way stand-up comedy is a form of art,” Mendez said. “It’s trying to relate to certain groups of people or trying to be niche enough to make people laugh.”

Gonzales said not all memes are forms of art. She gives an example of the meme bongo cat being “innocent” and “something so refreshing” could be considered art.

But vulgar memes and those that are unpolished should not be considered art.

“Some of them kind of have a lightheartedness to it that I think we kind of need,” said Gonzales.

“Everything is so harsh and cut and dried. So I guess there is a kind of art to it depending on the subject.”

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Nov. 29, 2018 — Volume 62, Issue 2

Design by Marty Loftin

BACKPAGE

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Faces of Día de los Muertos

Karelly Vidrio/Staff

By Karelly Vidrio, Aide Valdez and Brianna Juarez Staff Writers

A quarter moon dimly illuminated the kiosko of Chicano Park as the Día de los Muertos festivities began, but it was the thousands of candles across the county that lit the way for the return of the dead.

Día de los Muertos is more than a Chicano Park tradition, attendees of the Nov. 1 event said. It is a celebration to honor the trip the deceased make to visit the land of the living. The steps of the kiosko, or the park’s central gazebo, were transformed into a makeshift altar as praises and music filled the crisp night air. Community members gathered around the altars to dance and eat with residents of Barrio Logan as they awaited the return of their lost loved ones.

Some folks were invited from Mexico by the Chicano Park Steering Committee to celebrate. Eva Garcia traveled from Michoacán, Mexico for the event. She said showing unity to preserve their culture is vital.

“If we did not celebrate, we would lose all the culture from our ancestors,” Garcia said. “We need to take over our culture again.”

Participant’s praises intermingled with the scent of burned sage in the air as they gave reverence to the four cardinal directions and elements. They said the herbs were ignited in the smudging bowl to ask permission from God and the universe to let in the spirits. The ritual was led by a Saumadora, whose job it is to cleanse the atmosphere to assure the dead arrive without harm and is considered the director of the evening.

Margarita Contreras, 65, said being a Saumadora is a role she does not take lightly.

“Not everyone can be a Saumadora,” Contreras said.

“This [bowl] is used for lighting up their way with the help of the fire element. Fire purifies and cleans. We can help them get here safe.”

This ceremony, Contreras said, is also to cleanse the energy of those around the event.

Organizers of the event said they aimed to preserve culture

and to provide a sacred space for their loved ones’ return. Carlos Pelayo, Chicano Park Steering Committee’s director and SWC alumnus, brought 70 people from Mexico, including Garcia, for the Dia de los Muertos celebration.

“Our project is to promote, protect, preserve and practice our spiritual traditions,” Pelayo said.

Celebrations took place across the county. In the South Bay, families gathered to celebrate and visit with those who are not present in body, but alive in their hearts.

La Vista Memorial Park in National City held their annual Día de los Muertos ceremony beginning Oct. 20. Attendees were invited to participate in an altar creation competition.

Women of all ages painted their faces to pay tribute to La Calavera Catrina, the dame of death, who is most commonly associated with the celebration.

Community members also celebrated Día de los Muertos in North Park on Oct. 27. The “Day of the Dead Festival” was held in the “Heart of North Park,” according to a spokesperson for the hosting retail store Artelexia. Food and art vendors were scattered across the busy blocks and shots of tequila were shared amongst those elaborately painted up for the occasion.

It was more than a lively celebration for some attendees.

Artist and local entrepreneur Annette Armas said she honors her son’s life. He was 12 when he died 16 years ago. Her family’s business, CJ’s Angels, is centered on Día de los Muertos culture and is inspired the complicated feelings surrounding Carlos Jose’s death.

Armas said they keep an altar for her son throughout the year.

Día de los Muertos is celebrated for the living just as much as the dead, she said, and loved ones should be used to share the grief.

A candle will remain lit for Carlos in the coming years, but it his mother’s love that will guide his return to the side of the living each year.

“Don’t shut people out,” Armas said. “Speak what you feel. It’s okay to be alone, but don’t shut yourself away just because it’s easy to stay there.”

Karelly Vidrio/Staff

REMEMBER THE DEAD — At Chicano Park, the kiosko is flush with offerings and photographs for remembering those who are gone (top). Día de los Muertos is popular across San Diego communities, including North Park (below) and National City (bottom, l). Many people enjoy dressing up as skeletal catrinas (above). Animated films featuring the holiday, like “The Book of Life” (left) and “Coco,” have become part of the celebrations.

Brianna Juarez/Staff

Aide Valdez/Staff

Brianna Juarez/Staff