By Popular Demand....

Or maybe just one person who wants to read my story on BEAT, it'll be here at the end of this little rant.

Long day, filled with last minute article work as well as a visit to a place called "Dick's" in downtown where the service was awesome, simply because it was a "who gives a shit" sort of environment. People would toss napkins all over the place, the waiters were sarcastic as fuck and bitchy to the point where you'd really think they were actually bitchy :0. Tossing napkins at people is a fun activity which should be promoted in every restaurant-such as the Olive Garden, except I'd throw their food because it's becoming a steaming pile of italian crap.

Afterward we went to a Padres game against the Braves...missed the majority of anything interesting, although Latos (pitcher for the Pads) is an interesting fellow who I see great things in the future for.

On a sad note, I did not manage to snare a foul ball but my Uncle managed to bare-hand one toward the end of the game...it was his FIRST fucking game.

Can you believe that? His first game and he snatches a foul ball out of the air bare-handed, meanwhile I've been to 20+ games and haven't gotten so much as a souvenir. Fuckin gloves are curses.

Anyway, I wanted to take a quick break from studying for my final on thursday (and my mind, because the Shock Doctrine is pretty fucked up), but I shall post the article later....okay, now :). Night all.(No headline, btw, but it's coming up RIGHT NOW):

Lurking around the corners of San Diego City College is an organization called Bringing Education and Activism Together (BEAT); a group aimed at providing a public forum for students.

Despite the organization having only started at the end of the spring semester, BEAT President Crystal Browning, Vice-President Jose Rodriguez, and BEAT member Anthony Ortiz, alongside faculty advisor Larissa Dorman, have planned a series of events for City College designed to spread the word on the purpose of BEAT.

This movement has been ignited by the organization’s current venture around the campus for their documentary–which will serve to inform the students as to what BEAT is, while asking the questions that may lead people to “question their own beliefs.”

During one of their bi-monthly meeting sessions, Dorman said the documentary is also meant to “gauge the climate of the students’ understanding of politics and how it influences our lives.”

During the test-runs for the documentary , which started early in the month, Rodriguez said that “Most of the students that we have interviewed so far have said that they would like to join a club like BEAT,” explaining that because of the diversity at City College, the interviews for the documentary can potentially offer different perspectives on issues such as Barack Obama’s presidency or campus-related items such as tuition costs.

The organization is also hosting a seven day event taking place in September at the Saville theater, which will begin on the seventeenth, called Constitution Week that will have an array of presentations, such as several speeches from historical figures as depicted by BEAT members–such as Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass, and Cesar Chavez–some political art pieces, and the idea of having bands with political music is up in the air as well.

“I guess what I am mostly afraid of,” Dorman explained, “is that the bands we
sign on to perform for our event will back down at the last minute.” Another option which Dorman made available to the members of BEAT was to show videos based on politics.

However, another conflict which BEAT members have noticed is that the number of inactive members appear to be greater than the number of active members. Ortiz has addressed this issue when asked how he would go about recruiting members by stating he “would bring up any sort of conflict within our society today and attempt to tie it in with their personal life to at least stir up some questioning within that individual.”

Rodriguez agreed with Oritz’s statement, also adding that participation in BEAT’s public demonstrations is also key to being an active member, alongside attending meetings regularly.

BEAT members are also pushing to provide a weekly public forum for open discussion on campus; thus giving the option for students present on that particular day to speak freely about any political or social issue without fear of immediate judgement from other students that are participating.

As stated on its web-site, the purpose of BEAT is to form a public forum to educate and raise awareness regarding issues related to “global citizenship” and responsibility to the City College. For more information on BEAT related activities, please contact Crystal Browning using email at obcrystal@gmail.com or Jose Rodriguez at jrodwolverine@hotmail.com.

(ENDNOTE: I thought it sucked...I really don't seem to do the organization justice. They're all a great group of kids but yeah. Fear of failure...anyway good night again).