2020 has been one strange year. We are currently in a pandemic, the United States has elected a new president, and we witnessed people in America fight alongside the Black Lives Matter movement. Black Live Matter has become a global movement against racism and police brutality. Thousands of people from multiple different countries gathered to protest racism and police brutality after the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police. The Black Lives Matter movement began to rise in July of 2013, 17 months after the death of Trayvon Martin. However, the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter did not become nationally recognized until 2014, when Michael Brown died by police hands. This … [Read more...] about Opinion: Reflecting on 2020 as a year of change
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Approaching the finish line
By Saeed Villanueva |Staff Writer| As Barack Obama's presidency winds down, Americans' take a look back at his time in office over the past eight years. Obama made history by becoming the first African-American ever to be elected president of the U.S., which came with a lot of pressure. Obama currently has a approval rating of 57 percent, the highest in four years, according to the most recent poll from Gallup. His list of accomplishments have included bringing the country out of a bad recession by signing the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009 which led to economic growth for the country. In 2011, he ordered a special force team to raid a secret … [Read more...] about Approaching the finish line
Keshad Adeniyi at Upland
By Misty Williams |Staff Writer| Popular spoken word artist Ife Nira, also known as Keshad Adeniyi, was featured at a poetry event through Lion like Mind state in Upland, Calif. May 18. The crowd was filled with fans anxiously waiting to hear his piercing metaphors. Adeniyi grew up in Watts, Calif. and is now a spoken word artist and advocate for social justice. He has performed all over the world, including our very own campus. Adeniyi performed four poems: “Colors Got a Home,” “Still I Rise,” “Born on a Slave Ship” and “Keep Climbing.” The crowd was moved with lines like “Where I’m from little boys and girls see privilege and dreaming... Dreams have become more like glass … [Read more...] about Keshad Adeniyi at Upland
Who should win the election? The battle between candidates
By Destiny Guzman |Staff Writer| Altering decisions, wavering assurances and childish play characterize the presidential campaigns for 2016. Who will win in the midst of all this chaotic disorder? The answer is Senator Bernie Sanders! "I’m for Bernie Sanders because he is for me; he is for all of us," said student Julissa Gallegos. Sanders supports tuition-free public colleges and universities, and it resonates with me as a student because of my fellow students’ experience with crippling debt. "Mr. Sanders has inspired candidates pushing policies like tuition-free public colleges and universal health care, initiatives that were once regarded as radical but that now have the support of … [Read more...] about Who should win the election? The battle between candidates
No More, I say
By Shirleena Baggett |Staff Writer| Students across the campus are in an uproar over the requirement to take the “End Sexual Violence” training. Ninety-nine percent of the 40 classmates I conversed with about this topic would have preferred to spend their time studying or eating than taking the course. The program was designed to be interactive in hopes to bring knowledge to the participants, preventing sexual assault and domestic violence on college campuses. It also meets the Campus Save Act and Title IX mandates for federally funded schools, according to not-anymore.com. “We have enough to do, especially as graduate students,” said student Richard Contreras. CSUSB … [Read more...] about No More, I say
New year, new me make new goals not resolutions
By Marie Fernandes |Staff Writer| Making New Year’s resolutions is a waste of time. We should focus on making goals to make ourselves happier and our lives better. Change has to be spontaneous instead of planned. “I feel like making a New Year’s resolution is pointless because no one sticks to the ones that they make,” said Alexis Lopez, a CSUSB student. We are setting ourselves up for disappointment and leaving ourselves vulnerable to our own insecurities if we make on definitive resolution at the start of each year. Simply labeling our goal as a New Year’s resolution puts a tremendous amount of pressure on ourselves right from the beginning. Most people feel as though … [Read more...] about New year, new me make new goals not resolutions
Boy Scout Policies changing but it’s too little too late
By Brenda Servin |Staff Writer| For over 20 years the Boy Scouts of America’s policy has prohibited openly homosexual scouts from gaining membership into their organization. At the annual Boy Scouts of America meeting in Grapevine, Texas, 1,400 Nation Council members voted on the policy that would allow openly homosexual boys into the scouts. The policy change won with 61 percent of the vote to allow openly gay youths to join. The new policy for the Boy Scouts of America states, “no youth may be denied membership in Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone,” it will take into affect January 1, 2014. The new policy change was a bittersweet … [Read more...] about Boy Scout Policies changing but it’s too little too late
CSU Chancellor ready to make change
By Luz Hernandez |Staff Writer| In a recent press conference held Feb. 6 in Long Beach, the California State University system introduced incoming Chancellor Timothy P. White as he discussed issues and proposed solutions that affect the CSU community. At the conference, White revealed how he intends to use proposed budget money on new technology that will lead students effectively through problematic courses across all 23 CSU campuses. The budget money was proposed by Governor Jerry Brown after Californians voted yes on Proposition 30. White said he plans to use the million dollar investment on online education which will help get rid of what he called “bottleneck” courses. His … [Read more...] about CSU Chancellor ready to make change
College student starts petition against Sallie Mae
By Tom Stillwagon |Staff Writer| A growing online petition has student loan giant Sallie Mae re-examining the $50 forbearance fee it charges private borrowers. On Tuesday, Feb. 7 college student Stef Gray held a press conference on starting a petition against Sallie Mae on a website called change.org. The petition has grown to more than 110,000 names in the last two weeks. Gray is in opposition to a $50 forbearance fee charged to borrowers, a fee Sallie Mae charges to postpone repayment until the borrower can afford to resume. The monies collected were referred to by Sallie Mae as “good faith deposits” even though none of the money was refundable or being applied to borrower's … [Read more...] about College student starts petition against Sallie Mae