“A First Year’s Perspective on USAC”

First non-class related thing I’ve sat down and purposely written in quite a while.

I spent a lot of time this year working in USAC, the undergrad student government at UCLA, and this spring I spent a lot of time campaigning for John Joanino (who is now USAC President for ‘13-‘14) and the Let’s Act slate. 

Much of what I’ve learned about the differences between high school and higher education student government is found here. I also identify differences between the two factions that tend to arise as political opponents not only at UCLA, but at all the UC’s and, I presume, most other colleges in the nation. 

Slate politics is a pretty messy system, but it’s the best we’ve got for now. Check out the full read here:

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“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

The tragedy of the Newtown shootings is, above all, a terrible crisis of great suffering, pain, and injustice, especially for the families of the 20 children who have been lost, and the seven adults who gave their lives as they sought to protect those children they had been entrusted with.

But even more terrible than the reality of the situation is the overwhelming possibility that it could have been prevented.

I don’t mean to start a debate on morality or gun control, inflame disagreements already in progress, or use a heart wrenching national crisis to further my personal political positions. I do mean to expose certain assumptions, simplifications, and errors that I feel impede our ability to identify and solve the problems that lead to tragedies such as these. 

“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

- Wayne LaPierre

First:

Mental illness doesn’t make someone “bad.” Think back to the way that the mentally ill were treated in the past. Until the 20th century, mental illness was thought of as a moral transgression, and the mentally ill were treated as inmates and criminals of choice, rather than as patients- as people afflicted with serious mental health conditions. As science and our understanding of cognitive processes increased, people began to pay more attention to the connection between physical and chemical cognitive irregularities and irrational, illogical, and sometimes violent behavior.

Thus, the outpour of Instagram repostings that tell the shooter he should have “thought twice before making this terrible mistake” might be acceptable for young people without an educated understanding of psychiatric disabilities, but not for anyone with even a basic awareness of how mental illnesses work. Such people must realize that most school shooters don’t think twice not because they’re immoral, villainous schemers, but because their reasoning doesn’t follow the same paths that we consider culturally normal. The shooters at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and the University of Texas, arguably the three most publicized school shootings of our time, all showed signs of mental illness.

I don’t mean to downplay the gravity of the situation, nor do I believe that the murders that occurred this morning are purely the result of a cognitive or mental disability. Mental illness doesn’t make someone “bad.” But murdering 27 innocent people is an inexcusable and heartbreaking crime, and certainly one of the worst. And for that very reason, I think that we need to stop referencing this shooter, Adam Lanza, as simply “a bad guy”- not because we should excuse the despicable crimes he committed, but because in recognizing the fact that Adam Lanza was mentally ill, we allow ourselves a way to work toward preventing crimes like these in the future.

Second:

A good guy with a gun is certainly an effective way to stop a bad guy with a gun. Had a SWAT team arrived at Sandy Hook Elementary moments before the shooting had started, this tragedy might have turned out differently. Had a single police officer spotted Adam Lanza on campus with two 9mm handguns, he might’ve been able to stop him.

Unfortunately, the good guys with guns can’t be everywhere at once.

Yes, you could solve the problem by making it easier to put guns everywhere. But along with the obvious danger of the fact that not everyone is a “good guy” (not to mention a trained, capable, or empathetic guy) you also ignore the other option of making the gun inaccessible to the “bad” guy in the first place.

Of course, even if you were able to remove guns from the situation, it doesn’t remove a shooter’s intent. It’s still possible that Adam Lanza would get a hold of a different kind of weapon, and attempt the same atrocities, as was the case today, at a school in Chengping, China, where a man wielding a knife brutally stabbed 22 children and one adult. The difference between the two situations is that there were no fatalities in Chengping, and the man was eventually taken into custody by security guards. The intent for the crime is there, but the lethality of that crime is taken away by eliminating the most lethal variable: the gun. Yes, these are two isolated incidents being compared, not at all a comprehensive examination. But you shouldn’t need this data to tell you that handguns are more fatal than knives. 

Guns may be fatal, but they can be used for two purposes other than murder: sport and non-lethal self-defense. This raises the issue of legal firearms. The two handguns used in the Newtown shootings were legal and registered to Adam Lanza’s mother. He wouldn’t have been able to purchase them on his own, but he had no need to. Existing laws simply didn’t do enough to prevent those legal firearms from ending up in the shooter’s hands. The discussion on how to make laws more effective in this respect is as complicated as it is varied, and I don’t have the knowledge or the experience to pretend to know the best of the proposed solutions.

But the important thing to grasp is the understanding that we can’t rely on good guys with guns to prevent shootings such as these. No combination of good guys and guns will ever be enough to stop every tragic shooting before it happens. No combination of good guys and guns can change the conditions and environment that enables shooters to obtain and use lethal weapons. That change is brought about by enacting and enforcing effective laws.

God bless the families and friends of those struck by tragedy this morning. My heart goes out to you all.

Good Samaritan; Bad Mouth (Granada Visit Pt. 2)

I was on my way out to the staff parking lot when I heard some laughing and yelling behind me. This group of freshmen bops and bros- well, I guess they’re sophomores now- were standing on the grass in front of the leadership room, and they were yelling at a freshman that was just minding his own business walking home.

“Hey freshie, I like your belt!”
“You really know how to dress!” 
“Nice shirt f*g.” 
“Some swagged out glasses you’ve got on, homie.” 

It was like something straight out of a movie, they were picking on this kid just because he was dressed up in a polo and slacks, and wore glasses. I turned around to tell them to mind their own business, but then an older kid walking behind the little freshman beat me to it. 

“Oh yeah, who are you to talk? It’s like 100 degrees out here and you’re wearing an overpriced, oversized, f*cking generic-*ss Obey box logo hoodie. Shut the f*ck up.”

Can’t condone the cursing, but that kid made my day. You hear a lot of scary talk about bullying in high school, and not enough about kids that try to stop it.

No school is perfect, because people aren’t perfect. But as long as there are kids willing to speak up like that, I know we’ll be all right.

Spilling Thoughts (Granada Visit Pt. 1)

On Friday I dropped by my old high school for a bit with my good friend Matt to visit our friends and some teachers. It was the first time I had been back since graduating, and I was excited to see how things had changed.

Our leadership, ASB, and class offices are composed of some really good people, people that aren’t just creative and energetic and funny and charismatic, but respectful- and that’s what makes all the difference in dealing with different students, teachers, and organizations. Granada’s got some awesome student leaders, and I can’t wait to see the things that they’ll accomplish this year.

Hip Hop Club is in good hands with Justin. It’s weird to know that the last of the OG members graduated with my class. I still can’t believe it was four whole years ago when we came together and started it. We used to mainly practice bboying and tricking, and the focus is more on modern choreo now, but that’s a good move. It makes us more marketable to new members and more entertaining to watch, to most students at least. We’ve got some real hypebeast-looking freshmen that are trying to join, but if anyone can teach them about dancing for personal devotion rather than hype, it’s Justin. I just wish my man Mitchell was still here to teach them how to dress too.

2013’s taken over Senior Bench, of course, and they’re probably feeling the same way we were when we started our last year of high school, with all the humility of Kanye West times Tony Stark. But they’re a good class, and they’ll do good for our school. I’m excited to see what they do with this year’s homecoming theme. (And how they balance that with college apps.) They’ll be fine though. 

It’s so weird to see little siblings of my friends at Granada. They still belong in 5th grade to me. Some kids get lucky and have senior or graduated siblings with a “high school legacy” already in place. We won’t mention any names though. All in all, most things are good.

In Honor of Honors World History

jaimeson:

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I’m basing a scholarship essay off of this, and it got me thinking again. RIP Mr. Frye.

GHS vs LHS

I told myself to stay off of Facebook last night to try and avoid the onslaught of statuses and arguments revolving around the game. I thought it would be safe by this afternoon, but unfortunately that isn’t the case. So, two things:

First, the usual. Yes, Granada is in NCS and Livermore isn’t. But Livermore played better than Granada this time, and the score reflects that. That doesn’t mean that Granada players “suck” or that Livermore players do. And that certainly doesn’t mean that fans should yell about how bad another team’s players are. There’s a reason that our 6th Mans cheer from the bleachers rather than play on the court: the people that sit there aren’t skilled enough to make the team. Of course, fans are always going to question calls, point out fouls, and call attention to dirty playing, and that’s normal. Sometimes, even a bit of moderated humor might add to the fun of a game. But making ignorant claims about the abilities of players on either team is just ridiculous, especially at a game like this when things are already tense.

In every school, there are kids that are quiet and kids that are loud. Of the ones that are loud, a portion are also rude. It’s just too bad that when rude kids get involved in school-related controversies, their sheer volume makes it seem like they’re speaking for the rest of their school. The great majority of students from both Livermore and Granada are being respectful and good-natured about this, and I hate to see such a strain on our schools thanks to a few immature loudmouths.

Second: As always, when a Facebook controversy pops up, some level-headed people try to add some perspective to the scene by pointing out that all this damage is being done for the sake of a mere sports game. And that’s one thing that I have to disagree with this time.

This wasn’t just another cross-town game. Emotions were running incredibly high for our players, for our 6th Man, and for our whole school, following the passing of Cliff Pope. The events leading up to this game and the build-up before it had players and many fans so high strung that to call this “just another game” seems offensive to me, even if offered with good intentions. And the few Livermore students that poke fun at our players as “crybabies” have absolutely no idea how rude and disrespectful they sound, and how emotionally taxing the past few days have been for our team.

All in all, this was just a single loss in one of Granada basketball’s best seasons in years. And if our boys have shown anything in the past few weeks, it’s their strength and ability to push through losses, on the court and off. 

Another Perspective Post

Lately I’ve found myself more easily upset by the things I see on Facebook. I can’t tell if that’s because I’m becoming more mature or I’m just developing a more cynical side. On one hand, I understand that what you say online, whether on Facebook or on a blog, is totally up to you. On the other hand, it seems logical to assume that the more you say, the less of a filter you have, and you therefore have higher chances of making a contradiction, saying something ridiculous, or otherwise embarrassing yourself.

While specific screenshots and examples would undoubtedly add to the effectiveness of this post, I won’t include any because 1) It’s much easier to agree with, and not be offended by, general ideas than specifics and 2) there are too many to choose from.

What gets me the most is the sheer unimportance of most of the things that pop up on my top news. When someone logs into their “social network” and sees post after post of teenage angst and silly complaints, I think it’s entirely likely that those kind of thoughts become more “real” and acceptable. Not by any conscious logical decision, but just because we see so much of it. 

By putting ourselves into a network where the norm is so shallow, I think far too many of us are losing the perspective to sort out the things that truly matter from the things that don’t.

“Don’t sweat the small stuff.” That’s good advice. But when you surround yourself with people nitpicking their little problems, it takes less and less for your own problems to seem big.

I guess maybe it’s time to log out of Facebook for a while.

Besides, tumblr is more fun anyway.

With Respect

A few notes about the recent announcement regarding a Granada teacher and a minor:

• While Livermore Patch is an excellent blog, it is a news source and may contain bias, even unintentionally. 
• What’s said in the official police press release are the only things that can be verified as facts.
• As all Granada families received the same recorded phone call and email, posting and resposting the news article serves only to sensationalize the issue, and provide more opportunities for immature people to make fools of themselves.

Facebook is a public forum and we’ve all got the right to free speech, but for the sake of the minor involved- quite possibly someone that has a Facebook account and is watching it all unfold, please be courteous and don’t joke around about this.

Not to mention the fact that the son of the accused teacher, a sophomore at our school, a member of leadership, and my personal friend, has a Facebook and is able to read every brash comment that some inconsiderate pig throws out. At a time like this, seeing all that negativity is the last thing he needs.

With respect to the accused teacher herself, American legal customs point to the idea of innocent until proven guilty. Unfortunately, American social customs do not. But please at least respect that “alleged” is neither guilty nor innocent. 

No matter your opinion, for the sake of all the families involved, please maintain a level of respect in the way that you discuss this situation in the weeks ahead.

RIP David

I woke up this morning to a text from my friend Kris Noceda, the editor of Livermore Patch.

17 yr old died last night in a crash. probably local student. if u hear anything let me know. sad news. be safe this holiday weekend

He was speeding down Murrieta at about 11, came to the T intersection at Portola where you’re forced to turn left or right, and he didn’t turn. Police said alcohol may have been involved. 

I knew that there was a party last night, and I knew people were trying to find safe rides. I texted my friends to see if anyone drove themselves home. Turns out that David Goddard, a senior at Livermore, showed up to the party at 10:30. A few minutes later, he tried to leave. People tried taking his keys from him, but he got away.

I hope this is a reminder to everyone: have a safe and sober ride secured before you drink. It’s terrible that it takes something as tragic as this to make people realize that no one’s invincible. I had taken pride before in the fact that the older students in our city were responsible, stopping people from driving, taking keys if necessary, and designating sober drivers before a night of drinking even started. But this shows that we’re not doing enough.

The most inspiring thing in all of this has been the outpouring of facebook statuses remembering David. Nearly every person that’s offered their condolences has also said that if anyone ever needed a safe ride home, all they have to do is call. And it’s true, we’re a fairly small city, and people are caring enough to drop what they’re doing and help someone in need, especially if it could save a life.

And if none of your friends are able to give you a ride, there’s a great nonprofit organization called Tri-Valley Safe Rides, composed mostly of student volunteers that give rides every Friday and Saturday night from 9:30 til 1:30. Safe Rides’ hotline is (925) 416-6810.

Rest in Peace David, my prayers go out to you and my condolences to your family. I hope that your passing inspires everyone in Livermore to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.

Full news report from Livermore Patch here.

The Blacklist (Internet Censorship)

STOP THE LAW THAT WILL CENSOR THE INTERNET

Well if that doesn’t get your attention I don’t know what will. Internet censorship has a nasty ring to it, especially for tumblr users. Here’s what it’s about.

The Protect IP Act (PIPA) is a U.S. Senate bill introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy. Along with its counterpart in the House of Representatives, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the bills were written to provide the government and copyright holders with powers to block access to “rogue websites dedicated to infringing or counterfeit goods,” especially those registered outside the United States.

Supporters say that our government needs new tools to fight websites that sell fake products. Counterfeit music, movies, and clothing costs the US economy billions of dollars a year, while some fakes, like counterfeit medicine, are serious health concerns. Senator Leahy says that the bill is the best way to enable the US government to protect American citizens from dangerous products, and is no different than a modern-day quality-control system, except extended to digital property.

But as any one logged into tumblr today can see, the bill’s been met by heavy opposition from many websites and blogging communities, including our own. The question is: will the government really only use this added power to protect Americans from foreign fakes, or will it be used to charge and prosecute internet users for peer-to-peer sharing, video streaming, and other content posting? Another argument is that online rights protected under the first amendment of free speech would be taken away by the PIPA, leaving internet users at the mercy of corporations to decide whether their usage of the internet is legal or not. Also, the government would be able to control ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and block certain sites from appearing on search engines. (Something that many say is based on the censorship policies of Iran and China.)

Hearings for both the PIPA and SOPA began today, November 16th. 

Now, everything I’ve written here has been my own opinions, from my own perspective. I personally believe that the bill is dangerous and shouldn’t be passed. But don’t take my word for it. Don’t click that link at the top of your dashboard, and blindly take tumblr’s word for it. But don’t just sit and accept it either.

The best thing to do is research it on your own and come to your own conclusion. Before last week, I had no idea that this was even an issue. For most people reading this, it’ll most likely be your first time to hear about it. So please, get informed about this before you make any decisions.

Google PIPA and SOPA, and read up on both sides of the argument.

Because who knows? If you google it in a few years, you might only find one side.

Superficial Observations Post 2011/ Jaimeson’s Style Guide

I started out thinking about how weird it is to notice guys at school dressing the way that my dashboard looked two years ago, and ended up writing a lot more than I meant to.

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Pet Peeve

I hate it when someone disrespects another person because of his or her accent. Granted, it might be a bit difficult for you to understand what that person’s saying, but that doesn’t give you any excuse to mock that person behind their back.

So what if they don’t speak with the exact same inflection and tone that you do. So what if their vocabulary isn’t as extensive as yours. The quality of their speech has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of their thought. They’ve already done their best to learn English; it’s not their fault that they still have a hint of their first language. When did it become okay to ridicule someone for a part of themselves that they have no control over.

And are you really foolish enough to assume that, just because you don’t have an accent, you’re more intelligent than people who do?

An accent doesn’t mean you’re unintelligent, it means that you’re fluent in more than one language. 

Family Time

I’m the baby in the family. I have one first cousin on my mom’s side of the family and two on my dad’s side- all of them college grads.

Steven was born in the Philippines and raised in Belgium. After high school, he took two years to travel around the world and work with various nonprofits. He volunteered in the Philippines, Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. The fact that he speaks English, Spanish, Belgian, German, and Italian probably helped. He went back to school and now works in Brussels, managing the operations of a new nonprofit that works with disaster victims.

Chiara and Ygnacio (Iggy) were born and raised in Rome. They grew up speaking Tagalog, English, and Italian, and later learned Latin and French. Chiara attended Stanford on a choir scholarship, got her teaching credentials, and moved back to Rome to teach English to low income children. She also joined a band and records music. The family’s a bit confused by the fact that she attended Stanford to be a teacher, but she’s making enough money to live and making music she loves.

Iggy was accepted to Stanford when he applied, but opted for Columbia instead, because the professor he wanted to study under transferred there. By the time he was a sophomore in high school, he knew he wanted to be an art major at Columbia. He also became editor of the school newspaper and art magazine. By the time he graduated, he had made enough connections to warrant a full scholarship to study for his master’s degree in art. Now he’s at the University of Pennsylvania getting his doctorate in art philosophy. He’s already got museums calling, asking him to be a curator or critic when he’s done with school.

These past few weeks that my uncle and aunt have been in town, we’ve had dinner with them a few times a week. And every night, I’ve been reminded of my cousins and their careers. I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. It’s a mix of admiration, healthy ambition, and- as reluctant as I am to admit it- a bit of jealousy.

But one thing I am sure of: it motivates me. And that’s what’s going to count.

The Thing With Rappers, Pt. 2

Anyway, that’s what I tell myself 99% of the time. And today I think I realized why the other 1% exists.

With all the other hobbies/ activities I can think of, you have to “make it” before you can brag. You’ve got to win a tournament before you can take home a trophy, you have to be accepted to a prestigious school before you can wear all your new college gear (or, you should).

With rapping, it’s almost the opposite. You have to brag in order to “make it.” Or at least, that’s the way many new artists think. Somehow, they’ve concluded that rapping about how much money they’ve accumulated and how quickly they rose to the top of the industry will cause them to accumulate money and rise to the top of the industry.

Maybe its because all the role models in popular rap these days do nothing but brag. But what people fail to realize is that Lil Wayne and Drake can brag about all their money and record sales because they actually have money and record sales. An up and coming small-town rapper, on the other hand, sounds more like a clown when he tries to rap about the success… that he doesn’t have yet.

Anyone can rhyme. I’d like to see wittier metaphors, more lyricism, quality production, and unique flow styles from up and coming rappers. Because you shouldn’t have to rap about how good your rapping is if you’re actually a good rapper. At least, that’s my opinion.

The Thing With Rappers, Pt. 1

So many people are critical of high schoolers that try to pursue music careers as rappers.

While I don’t particularly care for most of their music, I do try to refrain from any negative heckling or teasing. I mean, after all, they’re just pursuing a passion and doing what they can to “make it.”

And I get especially peeved when I hear people say they don’t like a young artist’s music solely because that music happens to be hip hop.

I mean, you can hate da game but don’t hate da player, knawmsayin? No but really, you wouldn’t tell a classical singer to stop auditioning for stuff just because you don’t like opera. You don’t have to be a fan of whatever someone’s pursuing in order to support that person. You just encourage them to do what they love.