THROWBACK ARTICLE :Palace Theater Showcase Shatters Dance Stereotypes

By Ariana Johnson

On Friday, Sept. 10, the Palace Theater hosted their eighth-annual dance showcase. The showcase was free to the public and featured nine different dance companies: the Dancing Wheels Company, Dance/Theater Collective, Travesty Dance Corp, Ohio Dance Theater, Morrison Dance, Inlet Dance Theater, Shri Kalaa Mandir and Verb Ballets. According to Linda Jackson, who is in charge of dance education at the Palace Theater, there were 17 dance companies that applied for the performance, then a selection panel narrowed those down to the nine that performed on Friday based on "quality and diversity."

"Diverse" is definitely the word for the performances that night. Each dance company broke the stereotype that all dancers are tall and model-thin. This was evident in the night's very first sequence called "Far East of the Blues." The piece had 1950's-themed music and dancing. There were 11 dancers total, with two dancers in wheel chairs dancing just as gracefully as the others.

Another sequence shown was "The Sight of the Surface." The exact opposite of "Far East of the Blues" with its dark and ominous overtones and Middle Eastern-style of music, "Surface" also had shorter dancers, further going against the stereotype that all dancers must be tall. It was a very dramatic, and yet still, a simple sequence reminiscent of a yoga exercise.

The third sequence of the night entitled " Lachen und Weinen"(German for laughing and crying) seemed to really amuse the audience. It not only broke the stereotype that dance is just for girls, but dance that apparel is only for girls too. While pianist Melissa Fucci accompanied vocalist Rose Maier, two male dancers, Richard Brandon Hall and Sabatino A. Verlezza, performed a beautiful interpretive dance wearing long skirts and leotards.

A sequence called "Snow" proved to be the top performance of the night. "Snow" was very dramatic and featured a modern style of dance in which all six of the dancers where wearing white leotards and covered with what seemed to be white glitter paint. The dance was anything but typical featuring no pirouettes or plies, port de bras, or arabesques. Instead, the dancers seemed to be moving statues that would pause into beautiful and intriguing sculptures of art that truly awed every member of the audience.

There was also a special performance by choreographer Sara Whale entitled "In Retrospect" which was dedicated to the choreographer's late dance teacher Anne Waugh Allen.

The show ended with a dance sequence called "electricity" which was an excerpt from the Tony Award-winning production Billy Elliot. It was performed by 13-year-old dancer Giuseppe Bonsillo who plays the title character in the actual stage production.

The eighth annual dance showcase at the Palace Theater was definitely something that showed what the performing arts community is capable of in Cleveland.

THROWBACK ARTICLE :Oklahoma School Supposedly Punishes Students for Being Gay Others Says Students Playing 'Gay Card'

By Ariana Johnson and Alexes Spencer

From the day that we enter primary school until graduation, we are all told that we can be whatever we want to be by teachers and faculty.

The faculty at an Oklahoma high school tells their students the same thing. That is, unless you're Kasey Hicks, Melissa Mackenzie, or Brittney Macdowell.

Kelsey Hicks, 17, is determined to be a firefighter after she graduates from high school. After trying to attend night school, Hicks decided that it was not for her and tried to transfer back to her regular high school.

The principal would not allow her to return to school. Hicks believes her principal is basing the decision to keep her out of Del High School is not because of her past behavior issues, but because of her sexual orientation. The real reason, according to others, is that because Hicks quit the alternative program, she could not return during that term.

Other students at the school have claimed that Hicks and the other girls, whose stories will follow, are making false allegations. They have called these girls bullies and trouble-makers, and alleged that these students are just making school officials the victims of their latest acts of bullying.

"The principal will say, ‘well, you're gay. You're not going to do anything with your life you might as well drop out now," Hicks told KWTV.

Hicks and her friends who also attend Del City High School have never hidden the fact they were gay at school. Her friends have made the same complaints of homophobia against the school administration.

However, other supposed GLBT students at Del City claimed in comments on various articles concerning the allegations that they too are open about their sexuality at school and have never experienced trouble. They have expressed concern over what Hicks and her friends are doing, some even very upset as they have never felt anything but support from the faculty.

This is especially true in the case of Melissa Mackenzie.

Mackenzie, 18, is a friend of Hicks and a former student at Del City High School who was kicked out in August after the schools administration learned that she was living with her girlfriend.

"My principal told me if I move back home with my mom I can return back to school." Mackenzie claimed that this was due to her choice to live an openly gay lifestyle. As she is 18, and therefore more than allowed to leave home, this seemed to many like a logical conclusion.

However, Mackenzie's girlfriend lives out of district. The fact that she had to move back home was due to this, not her sexual preference.

Mackenzie was not only kicked out of school, but the softball team as well. The coach was supposedly open about homophobia. "The other students told us he didn't like that we were gay," said Hicks.

Again, this appears to be a lie. Mackenzie did not meet state eligibility requirements.

Brittney Macdowell, a 19 year-old graduate of Del City High School also experienced the same problems when she was a student due to her orientation, but Macdowell was able to graduate from Del City because her mother "refused to give up."

We supposedly live in a country where all people are created equal, a country that was founded on equality, freedom and justice for all mankind.

In all actuality, the freedoms and equality that the forefathers of this country fought for and placed in the Constitution were never given to us as planned.

Women had to fight for their rights to vote in the 1920s. Immigrants also had to struggle to find their identity in this country, and there has been a constant struggle in this country for minorities for centuries.

In all of these cases, those fighting for their freedoms were greatly opposed by those who would not see them achieve equality.

Now we are becoming a country once more split in a civil rights battle between the GLBT community and their allies and relentless gay-bashers.

And yet, we have three girls in Oklahoma who are using this war to achieve their own selfish means.

We have girls who according to some were "miserable students" starting a "witch hunt" because they see no other way to right theirs wrongs.

But as they say, two wrongs don't make a right. And playing the gay card when it isn't applicable doesn't win a civil rights war for equality.

No, the school doesn't have "sexual orientation" in their anti-discrimination policy. However, according to everyone except for these three girls, the school would never discriminate against students, and now officials are receiving death threats from those who were fed inaccurate information from bullies using a hard-fought war for rights to achieve their own selfish ends regardless of who gets caught in the crossfire. Way to go, ladies. 

THROWBACK ARTICLE :RTA Crack Down Tabled Over Racial Concerns

By Ariana Johnson

In 1955 in Montgomery, Ala., a young minister named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., joined other black residents, boycotted the local bus company for equal rights after a seamstress named Rosa Parks decided that she would not give up her seat to a white man on the bus.

Fifty-five years later, we are still fighting for equal rights.

The Regional Transit Authority or the RTA as it is known in Cleveland jargon has just recently brought a policy to its board table.

The proposal is to crackdown on youths who are not paying bus fare. Fortunately the policy was shunned by other members of the RTA board.

It seems that the board members thought that the new policy would only affect young black males who use the RTA as their key means of transportation on the daily basis.

George Dixon, the chairman of the Greater Cleveland Transit Authority Board, said he and at least two other members of the RTA's board (who are coincidentally all black men) had concerns that this decision would fall too heavily on young black men and minorities.

It seems that Cleveland leaders who specialize in minority rights have fought for the rights of young black "fare jumpers" for awhile now.

These groups fear that young black men would be sent to judicial court if they did not show bus passes or present bus fare. They argue that this so-called crack down allegedly goes on within minority groups.

Groups were also concerned that this would push kids into court.

Despite concerns, RTA general manager Joe Calabrese insists that the young men would not be sent through the judicial process if they did not pay the fine, but would have to do community service, most likely at RTA facilities under the juvenile courts diversion program.

Dixon disagreed with Calabrese's policy and said they would still be in the Juvenile court system.

It seems coincidental to me that almost every demographic uses the bus system, but young black men seem to be the ones pointed out as victims.

I think that if RTA created a poll to find out how many fare jumpers there really are from every ethnic group, they would be surprised.

I find it very disappointing that we have come so far as Americans.

A black man serves as the leader of our nation, and yet we still have to concern ourselves with the potential racial profiling of young black men over a measly $2.25.

THROWBACK ARTICLE :Hispanic Awareness Month Kicks Off

By Ariana Johnson

The office of diversity and multicultural affairs kicked off Hispanic awareness month on Sept. 3 at Cleveland State.

Hispanic awareness week began in 1968 under the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson and officially expanded to a month in 1988 under the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Cleveland State University did not observe the week until 1979.

The goal for Roberto Chavez, the coordinator of multicultural programs at CSU, is to improve the Hispanic education department at CSU, not just from September to October, but all year-round

 "There's always room for improvement. We have Latin courses, there's a black studies department and a Slovenian studies department, but there is no Latin department," said Chavez.

Even though CSU does not yet have a Latin department, there are a couple of student organizations that represent the Hispanic culture.

According to Chavez, Latinos Unidos participates not only at CSU, but in the community doing community service, hosting a yearly event called International Day and entering in local dance contests.

A second Hispanic student organization on campus is called La Mesa, which is a modern language group that allows students to practice conversations in Spanish.

The celebration for Hispanic awareness month will last until Oct. 15. The month will include events such as a Hispanic dance workshop on Sept. 21, the Latino student welcome reception on Sept. 22 and a film and discussion session for the movie "Dias de Santiago" on Oct. 5.

Enrique Morones, the president and founder of a volunteer group called Border Angels, will present a lecture on Oct. 6 about his organization. Border Angels was established in 1986 to stop the violent deaths throughout the Imperial Valley Desert and the San Diego areas due to weather problems and racially motivated crimes. Morones is recognized as one of the 100 most influential Latinos in the U.S.

"Traveling through Peru in Search of Art" is a highly anticipated event presented by Café Belles Artes. The art exhibition will give the audience a bilingual perspective of Peruvian art by local artist Paloma Pilar Grasso, owner of Galeria Quetzal. The exhibition opens Oct. 8 at the CSU Art Gallery and is free to the public.

The awareness month will conclude with the Latino awards luncheon on Oct. 14 and Fiesta Latina and dance lessons on Oct. 15.

The month of events is designed to increase awareness of Hispanic culture on campus and create more opportunities for students in the future. "There is no class dedicated to Latinos," said Chavez. "That's part of the reason why we have Hispanic Awareness Month and Café Bellas Artes."

THROWBACK ARTICLE :Examining African-American Roles in Film

By Ariana Johnson

Last Thursday afternoon, the black studies department at Cleveland State University hosted an afternoon discussion about the Blacksploitation film movement throughout the 1970s.

During the 1960s, the nation, as well as the world, was on the verge of a racial breakthrough with leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Student organizations, such as the NAACP and SNCC, decided to fight for civil rights and used phrases like, "Say it loud I'm black and I'm proud," to promote their cause.

And even though the racial change was evident in music, clothing and other outlets of media, at the time movies typically starred all-white casts. There were neither black films nor notable black actors and actresses in Hollywood.

 But all of that was about to change with the Blacksploitation movement.

According to CSU professor Eric Siler, the decade featured black actors and actresses as modern superheroes of their day. They made their own rules and fought against the tyranny of law enforcement. Films during this period included "Shaft" and "Cleopatra Jones."

Even though these films featured black actors and actresses, the perception of African-Americans in these movies was nothing short of stereotypical. The actors played pimps, whores, number-runners, crooked cops or women detectives that used their bodies to solve a case.

These movies helped save Hollywood, at a time when the theater business was in trouble.

Many people in the black community found these roles degrading. The NAACP fought to stop the production of black movies that did not shine the best light on African-Americans

However, these films opened the door for black filmmakers such as Spike Lee, John Singleton, and Tyler Perry.

Many modern movies were patterned after Blacksploitation films. For example, Singleton's movie "Boyz N the Hood" was modeled after the film "Cooley High."

The film industry has come a long way since the 1970s and will continue to evolve. It is clear that the Blacksploitation movement indelibly made its mark in cinematic history. 

Summer in the city internship program is in full swing

By Ariana Johnson

July 12, 2012

In June, the Maxine Good Levin College Of Urban Affairs kicked off their 2nd annual “Summer In The City “ internship program.

“Summer In The City” is a 9-week internship program that provides college students with a $1700 stipend to work for non-profit or urban organizations. Students who participate in the program attends weekly seminars along with their actual internships
“It has a combined mission one is to give assistance to non-profit organizations in Cleveland by having additional staffing for the organization to do projects they might not otherwise do and then the mission also introduce students to potential careers in neighborhood and urban developments,” said Phillip D. Star, cooperative internship coordinator for the program.

The non-profits and community development organizations that hire students for Summer In The City vary from Union Miles Development, Glenville Development Corporation, Amicus Foundation, and the American Red Cross of Greater Cleveland.
Interns in “Summer In The City” do more than the stereotypical tasks such as filing documents, buying lunch, and fetching coffee.

Students and the organizations draw up a “learning contract,” which is an agreement between the students and employer stipulating the projects they will be working on and the activities they will be doing on the project. The student also writes down the concepts that he or she wants to learn throughout their internship.

The students receive a well-rounded experience as an employee in a community development organization during their internship they meet the entire staff and are given real responsibilities.

Even though a smaller an organization the possibility still remains that a student will have to do some filing but they are treated as fellow employees and not just errand runners.
This year 50 students applied for the program and 22 were accepted. Out of the 22 interns 10 were not students at Cleveland State. Last year a student who participated in the program was hired at the St. Clair Superior Development Corporation after her graduation.

There is no GPA requirement, however, a student must exude interest in urban studies, they must also have some volunteer experience, and they must write a letter explaining why do they want to be apart of the program and what do they want to gain from the program.

All majors are welcome to apply. If a student in the urban studies major is not interested or is just too busy to be an intern in the “Summer In The City” program, they are able to take the undergraduate non-profit internship course, which is also a paid internship during the fall and spring semester.

The program administrators think that “Summer In The City” seems to be a great internship program that allows students to develop their business skills, it allows students to network, and it also gives students the incentive to help develop their communities.

“For the students I think it’s a great opportunity to get some hands on experience if you have thought about a career in this area to actually go in and see what an organization does, to decide, if this is the type of work I want to do, if this is the type of organization I’m interested in, so it is a really good way to test it out,” Star said.

For more information on the summer in the city program go to http:// urban .csuohio.edu/academics/ust 490

C-M Law decreases entering fall class by thirty percent The new plan is to focus on more on law clinics and experiential learning in the city

By Ariana Johnson

July 12, 2012

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law has decreased the intake of students for 2012 from 200 to 140 and has revamped its curriculum. The program will now have more opportunities for experiential learning in law clinics. 

In recent years the field of law has become a popular option for graduating college students. The competitiveness, analytical, and cognitive skills that are needed to become an attorney has attracted students from a variety of majors such as Education, Economics, Engineering Urban Studies and even performing arts.

This has increased vastly the number of law school graduates, whereas, unfortunately the available job opportunities in the field of law have not kept up.

“We really needed to get down to 140 to make it small enough to continue to sort of hold the line in terms of our entering LSAT and undergraduate GPA scores,” said Craig Boise, dean of C-M Law.

The “140 plan” was created last July and will go into effect this fall. The plan is supposed to sustain the quality of the C-M law graduate instead of graduating a large quantity of C-M Law graduates.

“We want to make sure that they can pass the bar,” Boise said.
In May 180 students graduated from C-M Law and according to the school website 92 percent of them passed the bar examination.

“The bar exam is offered twice a year in February and July, most students take it in July after they graduate in May you start studying for the bar in July,” said Boise. “Some students take it February, [although] a smaller number.”

In spring 23 out of 25 students who took the bar exam passed. This was highest in the state of Ohio.

From 2008- 2010 45,000 jobs in law were lost due to lay –offs. In 2011 3, 000 more jobs were lost and 1300 jobs have been lost this year. Whereas, every year law schools in the U.S. graduate 45,000 law students. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics from 2012 – 2018 there will be only 25, 000 jobs a year in the field of law.

According to Boise, in Ohio law schools graduate twice as many law students than there are jobs available for these students. The 140 plan will make sure that the graduates from C-M Law will be well- qualified and equipped to find a job in the law field, specifically in the Cleveland job market.

“We also want to be conscious that we’ re not just cranking out people who are not going to be able to find employment, that’s pretty critical, I don’t feel good about collecting tuition for 3 years and people have to come out and there’s no jobs,” Boise said
The 140 plan will also revamp and extend the curriculum at C-M law. Core courses like contracts and property will only be one semester, also there will be an expansion of law clinics, which means that law students will receive more practical and hands on experience in law by working on projects with law school faculty and working with local Attorneys.

The 140 plan if successful will produce skillful prosecutors, defensive attorneys, judges, magistrates and just skillful employees in the field of law.

For more information on the “ 140 plan” and its future endeavors go to www. law.csuohio.edu