Additional Pieces!
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Additional Pieces! -
Gen Z Works Towards Building Female Positive Communities on Their College Campus
A look inside female-empowering Organizations on USC’s Campus
By Cierra Morgan
At the University of Southern California, Gen Z women are combatting traditional gender roles by establishing new and revolutionizing old on-campus female-led organizations. The push for a more significant focus on supportive female organizations on campus contributes to today's feminist movement of ending sexism, oppression and achieving gender equality.
"'I've been really amazed by the changes that have been made by Gen Z," said USC Sociology Professor Elaine Bell Kaplan. "I think in this generation there is more freedom in terms of women's ability to be in charge, concerning voicing opinions and persisting against gender inequality and discrimination."
Professor Kaplan has seen Gen Z women reform and create spaces such as the USC Panhellenic community and Women & Youth Supporting Each Other (WYSE) to fight social injustice and discrimination against women.
"I think it has to be something that you address in your class," Kaplan said. "I can imagine it can be addressed in all classes. You can ask the women in your classes what this issue means and what women can do in terms of this particular problem." Kaplan refers to the modern-day difficulty of females having a voice and that women of Gen Z have to take leadership in finding proactive solutions.
Women within the USC community have considered this question by putting their efforts into improving clubs and organizations on campus as new spaces that women can use to gain a strong and supportive female community.
As a feminist organization, WYSE has made it its mission to create a space where female mentors support younger female mentees. WYSE is a group of women and nonbinary individuals at USC who go to charter schools in Los Angeles and teach young female mentees about information concerning sex, education, and race.
"If they have competent mentors, they're going to be able to cultivate confidence within themselves to see a hopeful bright future, but also have the resources, education, and knowledge to be able to take the steps they need to make sure they're living the best lifestyle for themselves," said WYSE Director of Finance Taylor Ryan.
Members of WYSE, like Ryan, say they want to mentor younger females to motivate them from a young age to become women who question and work towards opposing the stigmatized conversation for women concerning sexual and gender identity.
"I decided to join WYSE at USC because I was looking for an educational women's community that would uplift me and empower me, but was also very sex-positive because that was something I wasn't really exposed to at all growing up in Nebraska," said Ryan.
The USC WYSE community and those alike work both ways. Ryan found a female community on her college campus that influenced her outlook on how to be a reformative feminist by helping destigmatize the conversation surrounding female sex education. She can now give that same feeling to younger females through WYSE.
The USC Panhellenic organization contributes to the same goal of establishing a greater feminist-heavy environment. The Panhellenic community is the largest women's organization on USC's campus as it is composed of nine National Panhellenic Conference chapters that female students at USC can join to find a united place of women.
"I decided to rush a sorority because I saw the kind of community that it could create because I've seen a lot of my friends who have already done so," said a new member of the Alpha Delta Pi chapter Mikayla Gesiner.
Gesiner had spent her first freshman semester at USC abroad in Paris, France, and when she came to Los Angeles, she was looking for a way to get involved in a supportive community to make USC feel like home.
While abroad, Gesiner became a victim of sexual assault. Joining a female community like a sorority was important to build a female community that supported and empowered her.
"I was assaulted during my first semester abroad. The Panhellenic community has honestly been really uplifting because there's a lot of survivor support resources within the community," said Gesiner.
Since the Panhellenic community was established, generations of women have worked towards reforming the community to not only be a space for women in college to create supportive female friendships but to work towards providing educational resources to teach young females about self-defense, survivor support, and gender intersectionality as a way of working towards a feminist future.
According to Gesiner, many other opportunities are available within the Panhellenic community, such as body image workshops, philanthropy fundraising events, and Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (JEDI) Workshops that create new and engaging ways to help women find an inclusive educating female-led environment.
WYSE, Panhellenic, and other organizations alike on USC's campus aim to encourage females on their college campus to begin to work against the standards that have been set.
"Women bring new ideas that weren't thought of before, and I guess, you know, it could be something women are able to see in a way that men can't see," said Professor Bell.
It takes women to see the change that needs to happen regarding reforming traditional gender role standards, but it also requires women to take charge and stand up. Gen Z women see things through a revolutionist lens that aims to empower each other. It takes having strong communities of women to enact positive feminist advocacy movements.
"My favorite memory of WYSE maybe my fourth session where we did this thing called question box, where all of our mentees can ask anonymous questions, and we provide answers in front of the mentees so they can get anonymous feedback. I had a girl who wrote something specific about what my sexuality was; when I said I was bisexual in front of the class, the girl lit up, and you could tell she was accepted and excited to have someone to relate to," said Ryan.
"It was definitely a big day when everyone opened up their envelopes and found out which house they would call home. Running to my house and seeing all the girls that had rushed me and being super excited to have joined is a moment I'll never forget," said Gesiner.
Women's advocacy for female empowerment has a long way to go before it is truly in full bloom. Yet moments like Ryan's and Gesiner's show what the female future could be like with women supporting women as these organizations and those alike provide both informational and emotional support.
How the Greater Los Angeles Community is Supporting Women
Organizations supporting women in the greater Los Angeles area offer opportunities to get involved. From female mentoring programs to reproductive support services, and female community living spaces, the Los Angeles area has a lot to offer when it comes to building a stronger female community. Here are a few of my favorites:
Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project Wrap
WRRAP is a non-profit volunteer organization that grants funds to low-income women who need safe and legal abortions. Affiliate members of clinics such as Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Federation, Abortion Care Network, etc., staff the organization. WRRAP provides care solely based on financial need and will not ask for repayment funds.
Volunteer opportunities at WRRAP include running the volunteer hotline to take calls from women needing assistance, assisting with fundraising, get-togethers, and celebratory events. Even simply writing an encouraging message to women who may need inspiration during this time of their life.
Step Up
Step Up is an after-schooling program that offers mentoring programs for high school girls from under-resourced communities. Step Up believes in providing girls with structured support and access to a solid female community to give girls the opportunity to pursue their success.
The first step is signing up to be a Step Up member. Members can sign up to mentor for career connection conferences, women's celebration campus events, and power talks with mentees.
The Samburu Project
The Samburu project values female empowerment. They believe that improving the lives of underprivileged children begins with providing access to clean water. The founders of the project's goal are to build a global community that starts in Los Angeles to connect donors, volunteers, and all supporters to the women of Samburu.
Beginning a partnership with the Samburu Project involves starting a Tribe Club at a university to participate in hand-in-hand collaboration and joining the project team through fall, spring, and summer internships. A hands-off option could be joining the project circle with monthly donations.
Alexandria House
In response to the Los Angeles housing crisis since 2015, The Alexandria House was built to fill the needs of the women and children in the area. The organization provides transitional residences to provide safe and supportive housing for women and children under economic instability. After, Alexandria House residents leave economically stable with secure permanent housing set up.
You can become involved with the Alexandria House through after-school and summer camp programs. To assist the organization with basic household items, organizing donation drives in your school or neighborhood is vital. Taking part in events like the 2023 WomenSpeak Luncheon also helps bring awareness and donations to this organization.
UCLA Rape Treatment Center
The Rape Treatment Center located at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center provides sexual assault victims of all ages with 24 hours a day medical care. Their mission is to comprehensively treat and support victims through short-term and long-term care with the aspiration of a society with zero tolerance for sexual assault. Short-term care includes medical, forensic, and accompaniment services, while long-term care provides ongoing trauma-informed therapy.
The UCLA Rape Treatment Center depends on donations. Donating to the center allows the staff to give comprehensive and change-free care to sexual assault victims.
A Look at a student leader of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Annenberg Media
Member of equity board, Taylor Contarino, discusses her motivation and goals for equity and inclusion in the newsroom
By Cierra Morgan
Telling diverse stories scratches the surface of how to describe student journalist Taylor Marie Contarino.
In August 2022, Contarino began working for the Annenberg Media newsroom’s equity board. The Equity Board is comprised of students and advisors to ensure the Annenberg newsroom is progressing toward a more equitable and inclusive newsroom.
Contarino is a junior studying journalism and the music industry at USC. While working on the equity board, Contarino can be found reviewing stories and other social media content to cross-check that the newsroom follows equitable guidelines regarding diversity, fairness, and overall respect in the media they produce.
Contarino would get suggestions from the equity board on her work for Annenberg Media's newsroom. Contarino admired the feedback from the equity board which prioritized improving inclusivity by editing language to use more respectful terminology and checking on the diversity of sources in a piece. Contarino was inspired to work for the board because of the feedback she was given.
“To me, ethics is the most important thing in the world,” Contarino said. “Being a good person comes before anything else.”
Last year, Annenberg Media students created the equity board to establish more thoughtful reporting in the newsroom. Contarino expressed her appreciation for Annenberg Media’s dedication to equitable and ethical reporting.
“I'm a transfer student, and my old school did not have something like this. And you know, even though it only started last year, I think it really says something about how much we actually care,” said Contarino, who transferred from Syracuse University.
Contarino is constantly learning from her day-to-day job on the Equity Board about what actions need to be taken to create an equitable future for newsrooms. One of her proudest accomplishments during her time on the board has been expanding the board’s impact on the newsroom by setting up events such as Equity Fest.
“The most beautiful memory I have from the Equity Board is the equity fest,” she said.
Contarino and others on the Equity Board invited diverse journalists from the L.A. area, such as Billboard and Knock LA reporters, editors, and writers, to provide insight on how the Annenberg newsroom can strengthen their work to support the goal of creating a more equitable future.
Those that work with Contarino have said that her biggest asset is her ideas.
“It's really fun Taylor’s always there, she's always involved, she's always coming up with new ideas for projects and always reaching out to cool people for us to talk to,” said Vani Sanganeria, a junior on the Equity Board studying journalism.
Sanganeria describes Contarino as invested in anything she does, as she always radiates inviting energy to every meeting and event. Contarino is invested as she hopes the work of the equity board will continue.
“I don't want this just to be something that we create, use now, and then abandon later,” Contarino said. “I want this to be something that lasts forever.”
Contarino strives to uphold the mission that the creators of the Equity Board sought to accomplish: to help set up and update guidelines regarding the diversity of newsroom media coverage.
“It keeps the newsroom up-to-date on the latest changes to language and issues when it comes to equity and inclusion regarding coverage within the newsroom,” said Laura Castañeda, a journalism professor at USC and an advisor of the equity board.
Castañeda works closely with the students on the equity board and Taylor specifically since she has become a part-time advisor.
“They're all outstanding, just as individuals, but also as students, they’re very knowledgeable and passionate about equity and access and diversity issues,” Castañeda said. “Taylor, in particular, I have her in class now, and she's just a ball of energy, you know, and she's just very easy to work with and really passionate, so I think she's a really good person to have on the equity board.”
“There's not that many newsrooms that are doing what we're doing when it comes to trying to promote equity and progressiveness within journalism and media,” Contarino said. “So it just felt really special to me, and it felt like something that I wanted to make sure I was a part of so that I could maintain the legacy and continue it.”
Contarino wants to maintain the legacy that the equity board is establishing h in the Annenberg Media newsroom and future newsrooms she strives to be a part of after her time at USC.
As she puts it, “If you don’t stand for anything, you’ll fall for everything.”
Madrid vs. Barcelona: A Tale of Two Cities
Exploring the Distinct Charm and Diverse Attractions of Spain’s Premier Cities
By: Cierra Morgan
Let’s close our eyes and picture this: tan sand beaches off the northeastern coast of Spain. There's a blend of stunning low-rise architecture occupied with people enjoying a leisurely lifestyle, savoring long meals in one of the many quaint cafes along the street. Now, imagine a place with high-rise buildings, some of the tallest in Europe. People are everywhere, hustling and bustling along busy streets, radiating a cosmopolitan energy as the social scene amps up as the sun goes down. Now, choose one.
That decision was made between Barcelona and Madrid, two of the highest-travel destinations in Spain. Europeans know the differences between the two, but Americans tend to be oblivious to the stark contrast until they arrive—especially USC students studying abroad.
“I always knew Barcelona was a more coastal beach town and Madrid was more of a city center, but I never really understood how different the two were until I began studying abroad in Madrid and then went on a weekend trip to Barcelona,” said USC student Naomi Beyene.
When visiting both Barcelona and Madrid firsthand, it's easy to see how the cities differ from each other.
When landing in Barcelona and peering out the airplane window, there was an instant beam of sunlight highlighting the low-rise Spanish architectural buildings showcasing the unique history of Barcelona with a modern avant-garde, innovative twist. The city's architecture is a defining point in its personality, exhibiting a Gothic Quarter
style of medieval streets, charming squares, and Gothic-style buildings. The city's must-see historical landmarks were inspired by the work of architect Antoni Gaudí, who has now created the monumentally famous must-see tourist spots of La Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, and Casa Batlló.
“I adored Barcelona, although it wasn’t quite as warm as I hoped it would be when I visited. The food, specifically the paellas, were to die for, and I personally love a slower-paced city, which I felt like Barcelona in comparison to Madrid,” said USC student Leah Zeledon, who is studying abroad in Madrid, Spain.
Zeledon had a point about the slower-paced lifestyle. The city tended to be active during the mornings, with people getting their day started at local cafes and taking a trip down to the beach, but life died down around the early evening. It’s all about siesta culture in the early evening. But after the evening naps, the city starts popping. It’s about late dinners in all the different nightlife options.
Overall, the experience in Barcelona was riveting. The city’s laid back lifestyle. The paellas— which are best at the restaurants right near the ocean. There are also challenges. You have to watch out for pickpockets!
Before leaving the city of Barcelona to head over to the contrasting city of Madrid, it was nice to get a perspective on the two cities from a local barista in Eixample, “You know, I’ve been working at this cafe for over ten years now, and I have to say, as much as I love getting to know my customers and walking to the beach after I close it up I do miss the life I used to live when I was young and in love in Madrid but I know that lifetime has passed for me,” said Adrián Serrano.
Serrano advises tourists to enjoy the restful and relaxed atmosphere in Barcelona because they will need to conserve their energy for madrid.
He was right.
Suddenly, the slow-paced life of Barcelona faded and was replaced by high-rise buildings followed by hundreds of people all pursuing their own daily agenda.
“Madrid reminds me of New York City, except everyone speaks Spanish, of course, but you know the same buzz in the air of busy people going about their busy lives,” said USC student Samira Iqbal, who is studying abroad in Madrid, Spain.
The central district of Madrid and the city center were filled with restaurants on every corner specializing in Spain's tradition of tapas. Although there is a place for about any cuisine in Madrid—revolving sushi restaurants were a popular place to grab lunch—there were a lot of other options as well. Italian at Bel Mondo, jazz bars at Amazancio, and even more sushi at Le Club Sushita. There are also a multitude of historical and popularized landmarks such as the Royal Palace, Prado Museum, the Gran Vía, and Rietro Park. The city is laid out in a similar way to Manhattan, where there are tall, towering buildings with multiple park green spaces scattered throughout.
However, the biggest contrast, especially for young people, is the nightlife scene in Madrid.
“I thought I partied hard at USC, but in comparison, Madrid blows nightlife out of the water. There is always a bar or club open, and it's packed no matter the day of the week,” said Beyene.
Many Spaniards, like Serrano, however, already knew what the American students were just learning about the nightlife culture.
“If you ask me, the two cities are very different. I’ve lived in both, and it amazes me how foreigners think that they share any similarities other than being in Spain and maybe the walkability, but that goes for all of Europe,” said a Spaniard, Flora Medina.
Medina was just one of the lively souls who crowded the streets of the packed city. Her show-stopping smile, contagious laugh, and need to play cupid to singles at a bar gave insight into how people lived in the heart of Spain.
After staying in both cities, experiencing their way of life, and speaking to natives and visitors it's obvious that the oblivious Americans had it all wrong. Barcelona and Madrid are two completely different cities with their own beautiful culture. Whether you’re looking for a slow day at the beach or a busy night out on the town, the two cities are only a 2 hour train ride away from one another so why choose?
What to see and do in Barcelona
Places
Park Güell , Parc del Laberint d’Horta, La Sagrada Família, La Boqueria , Casa Batlló, Barceloneta, Mercat de Sant Antoni, Picasso Muesum, Montjïc, La Rambla
Food
Sartoria Panatieri, Berbena, Funky Barkers Eatery, Mikan, Batea, Tiberi Bar, Martínez, Maleducat, Bar Cañete, El Xampanyet
Nightlife
Shoko, Pacha, Sutton Club, Apolo Club, Jamboree
What to see and do in Madrid
Places
Gran Vía, Museo del Prado, Palacio Real, El Retiro Park, El Rastro Market, Mercado de San Miguel, Malasaña, Barrìo de La Latina, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor
Food
Bel Mondo, Sushita, Casa Pei, Formaje, Bar Trafalgar, Alma Nomad Bakery, Cuenllas Salesas, Kuoco 360 food, Chuka Ramen Bar, Casa Revuelta
Nightlife
Club Kapital, El Tupperware, iStar, Dubliners, Teatro Barceló
Navigating Artistic Meaning: Unveiling Coherence in the Scene Shift Exhibit
An Analysis of USC Fisher Museum of Art’s Exploration of Post-Pandemic Realities through Student Works
By: Cierra Morgan
Contemporary art takes a new form in the USC Fisher Museum of Art Scene Shift Exhibit. Curators Maureen Weiss and Sibyl Wickersheimer put together featured work from USC student designers who were inspired by the book Scene Shift: US Set Designers in Conversation to create work that reflected how society began to question their professions' meanings during the global shutdown of 2020-2021.
The questions the artists worked off of were: will the present state of things become the past before our very eyes? Will our occupation continue to exist? Are we just a stack of ideas that become things that then become other things until they are destroyed and become waste? Are we still part of the conversation, or has the conversation been shifted?
These questions are deep, thoughtful, and full of room for an insightful discussion; however, the art displayed in the Scene Shift Exhibit answers some of the questions but not all, and in an incoherent way.
As someone who tends to need clarification on art in art exhibits at first glance, this one definitely took a substantial amount of time to figure out. The exhibit presents writing on the floor surrounding the phrase "tear the wall down," plastic bottles hanging from the ceiling over pool floats, multiple paintings of dancers at their shows, a show with an abandoned birthday party, and can't forget a very startling video of a clown running around with red heart balloons.
Some of the artwork took me a while to understand, such as deciphering the meaning of "tear the wall down," to be code for breaking societal boundaries after the global pandemic, which has taught us that nothing is permanent. Others came quicker as the abandoned birthday party and the images of people working at their professions were obvious to the exhibit's theme. Still, the hanging plastic bottles and clown video caused confusion even when the visit to the exhibit came to a close.
I felt some pieces matched the overall theme, and some did not. However, what I found interesting was the placement of each piece. The more confusing pieces were placed towards the front of the museum, and the clearer ones were tucked away and hidden throughout the exhibit and towards the end. The curators could have used this technique to get visitors thinking about the meaning before figuring it out with the more clear pieces, but I found this frustrating rather than thought-provoking.
The most clarifying piece, The Cancer Series, was left towards the exhibit's end. This series of pieces showcasing what breast cancer does to a person put into focus the meaning the exhibit was trying to get across, which is that nothing is permanent and life can turn on a dime. These pieces should have been portrayed in the beginning along with the other obvious creations to create a sense of understanding of the exhibit among the visitors so the later complex pieces could be better understood.
What would you rather see obvious or confusing pieces first?
USC Professor Kit Myers Champions Healthcare Equity Amidst Personal Health Struggles and Systemic Challenges
From battling chronic illnesses since birth to advocating for transgender healthcare rights, Kit Myers leads the charge for a more inclusive and accessible US healthcare system.
By: Cierra Morgan
Exploring LA’s urban staircases, rock climbing, and enjoying visual art encapsulates the off days for Kit Myers, a University of Southern California Professor. However, Myers rarely has days off. Being a healthcare researcher and USC professor, Myers has their hands full not to mention having to navigate being diagnosed as chronically ill from birth in a country where the healthcare system possesses endless unacceptable services.
"I have been chronically ill ever since I was born. I had a number of chronic illnesses as an infant, which gruesomely turned into becoming chronically ill for life," said Myers.
Being chronically ill from a young age into adulthood, Myers has seen every side of the US healthcare system, with the majority of the system being disheartening when it comes to providing the bare minimum necessities of adequate care.
"The amount of time I spend on the phone, trying to schedule appointments, trying to, you know, refill a prescription, I'm trying to get an explanation from insurance why they've refused to cover something my doctor deemed medically necessary," said Professor Myers.
Throughout Myers' life, they have faced a variety of autoimmune diseases in combination with their transgender identity. Since birth, the Myers family and themselves have been fighting to receive the correct care to combat their auto immune dieases while receiving gender affirming care for their transgender needs.
The system however takes a highly educated mind and determined figure to get anything done. This poses an major flaw in the US healthcare system. If the system is difficult to navigate and inattentive to minorities the people who fall into this minority category are being targeted.
"I do a lot of biomedical research for myself, and that's particularly true as a trans person that you really can't count on those doctors to be informed about trans health. And so it's been my experience that I had to do the research and things like hormones, and essentially present my own case for my own legal management to my doctors, based on my own research, and sort of have them approve," said Myers.
Myers has to constantly fight for their right to receive medical care, especially as a transgender person, because the medical system is unfair to trans patients as a majority of the physicians are uneducated on the needs of transgender patients or not willing to provide gender affirming care.
Sociology professor Karen Sternheimer has studied the inequalities in healthcare as the system particularly targets the minority population.
“This is where we look at our sort of standard literature on social determinants of health, health inequalities and we very quickly see that essentially, a lot of the same, intersectionalities, that shape, so many other inequalities in life also show up in the health sphere,” said Sternheimer.
Inequalities towards minority populations such as the transgender community bleed into the health system as the norms in everyday life get sucked into being practiced when providing medical care. The biases society holds for minority populations are reflected in healthcare as it is another way to keep minorities a minority.
Myers took this matter into his own hands by striving to become a researcher and professor who could not only educate students on the importance of advocating for themselves medically but also give them a platform to continue speaking out about their own experiences and how the system could change the narrative and revamp their care.
"By the time I got to college, I was really interested in medicine, from the social perspective, not from the scientific perspective of good medicine, bad medicine, but like how medicine operates as a social arena. That has always really informed my research and my studies, and it's a big part of why I really care about doing medical sociology education, and why I hope to be able to continue to do this."
Myers' approach to helping fix the US healthcare system aligns with the straightforward answer of what should be done to help with healthcare disparities, “I think, in some ways, the answer is very straightforward. But the straightforward answer would be very hard to accomplish, which is essentially our medical education and our medical field needs to be more diverse with people to do better,” said Vice President of Patient and Family Services at the National Children’s Cancer Society, Jessica Cook.
Cook has worked to advocate for proper healthcare services for childhood cancer patients, specifically those coming from a minority population. Through her time speaking with hospitals, doctors, and patient families, she has gathered that to see a change in how the healthcare system treats underrepresented groups, there has to be doctors who can see where the patient is coming from by understanding their experience in their community.
Cook was asked how we would get there. “The answer is that we need universal free education and universal free health care,” said Cook.
If the US enacted universal free education, there would be less of an entrance barrier for individuals who want to enter the medical profession, causing an influx of diverse doctors. The next step would be to provide universal free healthcare to patients, so anyone regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or illness would get treated adequately.
All of this is easier said than done. However, people like Myers, who embodies the personal connection to reworking the system, can help move forward with enacting even a small amount of change. Myers hopes that their previous research and current teachings to students studying healthcare will help other patients become informed about how to navigate and enact changes to the US medical system to be a place where all underrepresented communities can be heard and treated.