UPDATE: CSULB Film Students Take First-Place Awards

Connor O'Brien and Cuauhtzin Guiterrez were the winners of the Rosebud Award at the CSU Media Arts Festival for showcasing their music video for Pistol Pistol's "La Policia."
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The Media Arts Festival’s purpose is to help students in the CSU system make a successful transition between producing films, video and interactive media in college to actually working in the industry.

CSULB Film Students Take First-Place Awards - News

Students Compete in European Culture Bowl

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As part of CSULB's International Education Week, on Nov. 15 the Center of European Studies hosted the first annual European Culture Bowl on Nov. 15, which featured undergraduate students competing over general knowledge of the European Union.

Students Compete in European Culture Bowl - News

Gilchrist's Speech Sparks Student Protests

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“Don’t hate me for not trading humanity for patriotism,” one student’s picket sign read out of the dozens more signs that were displayed during the protests on Tuesday, against guest speaker Jim Gilchrist, the president of the Minutemen Project.

The protest was sparked by Gilchrist being allowed to be a guest speaker on the behalf of the Conservative Student Union to express his growing concern regarding the issue of illegal immigrants entering the country.

Gilchrist based most of his speech on the ideal behind the First Amendment and said his goal was "To bring national awareness to the immigration issue."

The Beach Auditorium was where the debate between Gilchrist and the founder of the Border Angels Organization, Enrique Morenos, was going to take place. However, what was supposed to be a rather neutral discussion between the two, turned into a passionate display of student resilience as a majority of the audience who disagreed with Gilchrist walked out with Morenos.

“As I was looking at the students, I knew the students feelings were saying that they don’t want to have Gilchrist here,” said Morenos. “About 80 percent of the people in the auditorium walked out with me.”

In response to the mass student exodus, Gilchrist simply said, “We won!”

Overhearing the negative comments by Gilchrist’s opponents as they left the auditorium, the president of the Conservative Student Union, Jason Aula, retaliated back by yelling, “Liberal scum!”

"They're not liberal scum, they're unknowledgeable,” said Gilchrist after Aula’s outburst. Gilchrist continued with his speech. Under Campus Police authority, no one else was allowed into the auditorium after the student walkout.

Outside the auditorium, protester and Attorney General of the ASI, Christopher Chavez, rallied the crowd by asking them, “Is this not a beautiful day for democracy?” The crowd answered him with cheers as Chavez continued; “I too, am the product of immigrants just like the rest of us in this country.”

Chavez even compared the demonstrators to early American revolutionists stating, “Sometimes we do need to rebel! We need to revolt! We here, are doing the right thing!”

“We need to realize that we all need to recognize that we are all human beings,” said Miguel Guzman, a protestor and social activist who is no stranger to Minutemen protests after being arrested four times at other rallies against the Minutemen Project.

Donned with a piece of white paper reading “Philippines” in black ink, Linda Espana-Maram, a professor of Asian-American studies said, “My father and mother came as immigrants from the Philippines to this country. They came into this country according to a 1965 U.S. legislature. This country needed people like my father and mother for labor.”

“My father created the glue that holds your shoes together!” shouted Espana-Maram to the rally-goers. Many of the protesters applauded Espana-Maram’s example of how this country needs immigrants.

“I am trying to make an example of how immigrants not just from the Philippines, but also from other countries, contribute to this country’s development, from health care to technology, you name it,” continued Espana-Maram.

Amongst the barrage of protests, fellow Minuteman and a representative of the Save Our State Organization, Wes Watson rebutted, “America is our nation. America is our house. In our house, we make our own rules. While, your neighbors have their own houses and make their own rules no matter how right or wrong they are. You can’t just let your neighbors take over the house and make the rules for you in your own house.”

Watson, being a firm Conservative, disapproved with many of President Bush’s illegal immigration tactics stating, “In order to have fair immigration policy, we need to sit down as a country and decide how many immigrants, from how many countries, can enter our country without affecting the country’s dwindling resources. Simply, President Bush is not doing just that. Not at all.”

“The Minutemen are demonstrating to Bush at a one time event, to basically secure our borders and stop illegal immigration,” added Watson.

While pounding on his drum to conjure up some more rally reactions, student, Michael Lozana, a 19-year-old Sociology major stated, “Gilchrist has no respect for others, and I have no respect for him. Without immigrants this country is nothing.”

Jim Gilchrist’s speech at the Beach Auditorium and the student protests all ended at 2 p.m.

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CSULB Art Exhibit Creates "Borders" and Displays "Depravities"

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“‘Borders’ can be used to separate countries, political parties, social groups, and religious sects. But definitively, “borders” can be a great misconception,” said Francine Kola-Bankole, a co-curator at the latest University Art Museum’s exhibition entitled, “Border Myths/Border Realities.”

The exhibition debuted on Nov. 8 with a grand gala and showcased art from such artists as: Rheim Alkadhi, Abdelali Dahrouch, Gronk, Ruben Ortiz-Torres, Eddo Stern, and Whitney Stolich.

These featured artists combined their talents of traditional art with modern technology to create a media-based representation of the complexities between different cultures and how these cultures can also be interrelated.

“The works of art created by these artists opens up an array of discussion of how the public looks at the identity of what it is like to actually cross the border,” said Kola-Bankole.

Another exhibition was focused on Long Beach native and politically inclined artist, Sandow Birk’s collective works of wood carved imaging called, “The Depravities of War.”

“War” has 15 paper-copied images on display; some images show the Twin Towers at the moment the planes hit. Another image had oilrigs that were set ablaze across the barren deserts of the Middle East. The final image depicted the execution of Saddam Hussein.

Birk said, “It’s a showcase of the chronological significance of how the Iraq War was started and the ‘progression’ of the war so far.” He added, “I got most of the images from the front page of the newspaper such as the Los Angeles Times, and then I mimicked them to represent their composition.”

The specialized woodcarvings were hand carved by a team of four using an array of mechanical tools. “We used screwdrivers to create a brick-like texture for the Iraqi buildings. We used a circular saw, as well, for angles,” said Birk as he recreated the steps he took to create one of his images titled, “Desecration.”

What Birk wanted most for students to get from his art is for them to become more “aware about current events and try to understand the natural human concept behind traditional warfare.”

The “Border Myths/Border Realities” and “Sandow Birk: ‘The Depravities of War’” exhibitions will continue through Dec. 16.

Dorianne Laux Kicks Off CSULB's Reading Series

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"I like how the words taste in my mouth," poet Dorianne Laux said at the opener of the Department of English 2007-2008 Reading Series on Tuesday.

"Poetry has saved my life," she added. "It's like having a conversation with another person through the page."

Dorianne Laux Kicks Off CSULB's Reading Series - News

Hate Crimes Grip the Nation's Schools and Universities

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Being situated in “the most diverse city in the nation” according to the 2000 U.S. Census, CSULB is also one of the most diverse universities in the country. In fact, CSULB’s emphasis has always been for preparing students to function effectively in a culturally diverse society. However, in the past year, one high school and a couple of universities faced an increase in racial hate crimes.

The University of Maryland police recently investigated a hate crime when a noose was hanging from a tree near a building that houses several black campus groups.

University of Maryland President C.D. Mote Jr. said in a Sept. 8 statement the act was “particularly abhorrent,” because it “appears intended to bring to mind the horrific crime of lynching, which is such a terrible and tragic part of our nation’s past.”

Five years ago, in 2002, 15 hate crimes were reported on the University of Maryland’s campus. Last year, five were reported, as records show. While in 2002, CSULB had one racial hate crime according to the University Police statistics. There hasn’t been any more hate crimes committed since.

Both the University of Maryland and CSULB provide programs plus a diverse campus population in which more than a third are of an ethnic minority. But with the demographic statistics, some students from both universities still believe that racism is a part of reality.

“We all know how they advertise it,” said Kyle Carson, co-president of the University of Maryland’s inter-cultural advocacy group Community Roots. “Diversity this, diversity that.” But, he said, “if things like this are happening, we know it’s not true.”

Juliette Ribeiro, a CSULB junior creative writing major said, “I think there will always be a portion of society that will dwell on racism but I do believe things will improve with each generation.” Ribeiro continues, “People suck and they always will, but I can only hope that in the future the good will outweigh the bad.”

Nonetheless, in the small town of Jena, Louisiana, the future is turning out to be not so bright.

Last September, three white students from Jena High School hung nooses from an oak tree on campus a day after a black freshman sat under it. The students who hung the nooses were given three days' suspension, and white youths involved in racially charged fights off campus received minimal punishment.

The leniency imposed on the students compiled volatile reactions from many black students that finally accumulated to last December’s incident involving six black students beating up a white student, Justin Barker.

The six black students would later be known as the Jena Six.

The Jena Six were all under the age of 18 and were charged as adults to attempted murder. The story went national 10 months later when Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr. got involved, sparking many protests against how the authorities handled the cases.

CSULB’s director of the Multicultural Center, James Steven Manseau Sauceda mentioned that, “The Jena Six is considered to be just a regional issue but then in fact it’s a nationwide issue that needs to be brought to the attention of people.”

“People have a misguided interpretation of the legal term ‘hate speech’ always thinking if someone says something rather distasteful its immediately hate speech, when truthfully it’s not,” Saucedo adds. “But, people just have this habitual way to jump to negative conclusions.”

Saucedo mentions how people simply artifice tensions but nevertheless are constantly in denial by not “Admitting there is a root system of hurt and anger.” Saucedo then shared a quote from 1965 from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stating, “We artifice racial tensions that are already there…but merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.”

The “hidden tension” was certainly alive and well when another “noose-realted” hate crime occurred at Columbia University on Oct. 9, when a noose was found on the office door of an African-American professor. A rally the following afternoon at the University was held to condone such actions.

Nationally, nearly 14 percent of reported hate crimes occur on college and school campuses, according to FBI crime statistics.

Film Festival Helps Transitioning to Professional World

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Nine projects were accepted in the 17th annual CSU Media Arts Film Festival from Cal State Long Beach film students. The festival also allows media arts students to experience three days of seminars to become more successful professionals in the film industry.

Film Festival Helps Transitioning to Professional World - News