A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION Woodland Hills, California
Volume 136 - Issue 8
Wednesday, May 4, 2022
One copy free, each additional copy $1.00
Annual sexual assault awareness event PAMELA KALIDASAN Features Editor
A
ssociated Student Organization (ASO) set up its Clothesline Project at Rocky Young Park on Wednesday, April 27, for students to decorate and hang T-shirts with each color representing different forms of abuse. It’s an annual custom for Pierce College’s ASO, along with its co-sponsor, Brahmas Responding with Actions and Voices through Empowerment (BRAVE), to recognize Sexual Assault Awareness month. Sophomore David Tucker decorated a green shirt that represents incest and/or sexual abuse. He said that he faced sexual assault when he was about 10 years old by someone he trusted. “I had a respite worker that worked with me, [and] in the beginning things went well until he started showing signs of his weird character, but I was too scared to say anything to my mom. After he stopped working for that company, he would call my mom and ask her permission if we could hang out,” Tucker said. Tucker mentioned that his abuser had groomed him to normalize the sexual abuse he faced as a kid. Now he said he wants other survivors, especially men, to speak up about their trauma and for abusers to be held accountable. “I want to have any hope for any young man who’s been
Photo by Rozie Tadevosyan Hannah Simadibrata hangs the T-shirt she designed to help spread awareness of sexual abuse during the Clothesline Project on Denim Day at Rocky Young Park at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on April 27, 2022.
sexually assaulted, but were too afraid to come forward like me,” Tucker said. “It took me 17 years to come forward about my abuse and it doesn’t matter why someone waits so long to come forward. You’re not alone.” Denim Day was founded after a 1992 court case in Italy, where a judge ruled that the 18-year-
old victim is responsible for provoking her 45-year-old rapist with her tight denim jeans. ASO co-adviser Lara Conrady said that Pierce has done the Clothesline Project (founded by Holly Hagen) since the 1980s. For this year, Conrady said that the Clothesline Project and Denim Day were put together
to make it more symbolic to students on campus. “It’s more powerful when you actually see the shirts that are made,” Conrady said. “And then with the denim, of course it’s more powerful. Wearing denim is an act of solidarity and empowering people what they need to express themselves and that no way leads
to sexual assault.” And this year, the event was brought back to campus, after more than two years of virtually celebrating it with Pierce students. ASO co-adviser Geremy Mason said that during the pandemic students had designed their t-shirts using Canva.
“We’ve been hosting it over Zoom and having people design shirts virtually,” Mason said. “And then we would share them in the Zoom session by having a slideshow where people would share them via chat.” [See DENIM DAY on pg. 7]
Preview:
'American Alien' elevates minority voices
PAMELA KALIDASAN Features Editor
T
he United States preaches about freedom of life and equality for all without going into the depths of what that conversation means for the people living there. Whether or not they are citizens, the conversation isn’t extended to immigrants who are unaware of the system in place that restricts them from owning their American identity. This is one of the reasons why Pierce College director and playwright of “American Alien” Shaheen Vaaz said she wanted to have the production represent that experience, starting with its name. “There’s a lot of personal stories in there,” Vaaz said. “There’s interviews with parents. There’s a cast member’s journey as a refugee [going] through camps in Turkey to America, and the people he encountered there. We interviewed a couple of people who’ve been in for their green card marriage interview. And so we formed this sort of musical theater piece from their
stories.” “American Alien” is opening Friday, May 6 and running two weekends Performing Arts Building Mainstage. Its a theater piece created by Vaaz, Pierce students and the school’s community that explores themes of immigration through real-life examples and improvisation. Vaaz explained how students' input is vital for the production, along with adding real-life events. “The ‘Last Piece’ [from Jamal Kashoggi] is about an Afghan family getting out in the final days of the American withdrawal,” Vaaz said. “So three of our stories were taken from podcasts, one was taken from a New York Times article, and the others are through interviews.” This production also covers issues related to green card approvals, the Afghan airport bombing, asylum officiers heavy interrogation process, honor killings, xenophobia, assimilation, inner-cultural conflict and the rise of antiAsian hate crimes happening in the U.S. Pierce theater actor Topher
Ngo said he’s worked with Vaaz about the music. “I’m singing songs that my dad and my mom grew up with, and I’m singing songs that represent immigrants and refugees,” Ngo said. “I’m also talking about the Asian American experience.” Vaaz said that the play opens with “My People,” by Johnny Cash, “Coming to America,” by Neil Diamond and ends with “This Land is Your Land,” by Woody Guthrie. “It’s so red-blooded American,” Vaaz said. “And to have it in the mouths of immigrants who are putting their own language into it feels incredibly powerful and moving.” With the diversity of narrating different experiences, actor Tomas Ciriaco, who had moved from Argentina 20 years ago, said that doing the research and figuring out how to maintain character are a few of the most difficult challenges he had to go through. “Sometimes, when you’re trying to tell your own story, you don’t want to let your ego get too big,” Ciriaco said. “I had to find a way to negotiate and tell the
Photo by Michael Moreno Roya Row, an actress in the upcoming play "American Alien," rehearses her role on the Performing Arts Building Mainstage at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on April 29, 2022.
story without exaggerating, but also not being scared to tell your own story.” In “American Alien,” some
Supercar Sunday rolls to campus
[see PHOTO ESSAY on pg. 4-5]
actors portray multiple roles, either playing as themselves or other people, to demonstrate how people can connect with
anyone. [See AMERICAN ALIEN on pg. 7]
Opinions..............................2 Features................................3 Photo Essay........................4-6 Campus Life........................7 Sports...................................8