CSUN On Point

The number of farmers markets around the United States has grown in the past few years. CSUN has jumped on board with this new phenomenon, and has extended its contract to continue the weekly farmers market on campus for another year.

“The farmers market here on campus has been so successful with students that I’ve talked to,” Klotz Student Health Center registered dietitian Ellen Bauerfeld said. “They are running over there each Tuesday, and I would say about 90 percent of the students I see shop at the farmers market.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that 8,268 farmers markets were operating in the United States in 2014, up 180 percent since 2006.

“There are … farmers markets all over the United States,” said Marvin Halaby, owner of Upper Loveland Farms. “It’s popular everywhere, and  it’s not going to stop.”

Certain factors have contributed to the growing number of farmers markets in the United States. One is the desire to find a sense of community.

“Nobody wants to go to a store anymore and buy a wax apple,” Halaby said. “They want to be in a farmers market environment with their families on a nice day.”

“What you’re looking at is the return of the ‘agri-culture’, the culture that was wrapped up in this [kind of community], that we left in World War II,” L.A Kitchen founder and president Robert Egger said. “An army, for the first time in the world, came home and didn’t go back to the farm. Their grandchildren are now trying to turn the ship around, and find their way back. It’s a really amazing time.”

Another factor is the desire to support local farmers and businesses.

Sales at farmers markets were slightly over $1 billion annually, according to the USDA National Farmer Market Managers Survey.

“For a lot of consumers, local is what they’re looking for,” Egger said. ”This ties into supporting the local economy and supporting the local farmers.”

Many people have become more conscious of what they eat, but experts say it might not be so easy for everyone to start to eating organic produce.

“As a whole, most people don’t want to change their eating habits,” Bauerfield said. “It takes work and it takes commitment.”

“Salt and sugar is crack,” Egger said, “and we’ve  been literally addicted…I defy you to put those Doritos chips away at eleven o’clock at night. That’s by design; there is an addictive quality. We kind of act like it’s a personal choice, [but] it’s harder than hard; these are like cigarettes and we’ve been raised to eat this way.”

Halaby said farmers markets make healthy food affordable for people from all economic backgrounds. Many vendors accept Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, allowing eligible recipients to use benefits to buy produce.

“It makes it easier for people to come out and use their EBT cards,” he said. “They are able to buy good fruit and vegetables for their families….We try to educate a lot of our customers, and keep them educated, so they can pass [information about nutrition] off to their young ones.”

Bauerfeld said farmers markets have been making a positive impact, especially among younger people, and are here to stay.

“I don’t think it’s a fad,” she said. “I do think it’s a trend, and I think it’s just the beginning of the local food movement. I do see that this population, our students’ population, is craving something different. They’re looking for something different besides fast food, and they are looking for more than just a drive through.”

“More and more, you’re seeing young men and women coming onto campus with a greater palate and a greater expectation of what they want to eat,” Egger said. “Don’t occupy Wall Street; occupy your refrigerator.”

Moderator: AJ Romero

Producer: Rosanna Siracusa

Anchor: Evan Mederos

Reporters: Cyndy Alvarado and Sharon Shin

Social Media Editors: Precious Allen and Kelly Hernandez

In response to worsening drought conditions, California’s State Water Resources Control Board voted this week to impose mandatory reductions in urban residents’ water use. The move is designed to cut cities’ water use by an average of 25 percent in order to meet the goals set by Governor Jerry Brown’s April 1 executive order, and it’s the first time in the state’s history the Board has felt the need to take this step.

Geologists say this certainly isn’t the first time drought has hit the state though, and that this drought wasn’t primarily caused by residents’ use of water.

“We know for the past three years that we have been below average in terms of precipitation in the state, as well as the snowpack in Sierra Nevada,” said Dr. Amalie Orme, a geology professor at Cal State Northridge. “What makes this a little bit different this time, is that it’s impacting an area which has a much larger population than what we’ve experienced in the past.”

“Of course there have been droughts before,” said Dr. Helen Cox, Director of the Institute for Sustainability at CSUN. “But we’re so reliant upon [water] now, in terms of our infrastructure, in terms of our agriculture, in terms of our economy in California, that [drought] has a much much bigger impact now than it might have done in the past.”

Climate change has likely made the drought conditions in California worse. Geologists say droughts are determined by the rate of evaporation compared to the rate of water replenishment.

“In a warmer climate you’re going to have more evaporation,” Cox said, “so therefore, there is going to be less water available. The conditions that are occurring now, that are causing this drought, are a persistent high pressure sitting out in the Pacific Ocean.”

That high pressure system, caused by earth’s changing climate conditions, continuously diverts storms and humid weather away from California.

Some, including recently-announced GOP candidate Carly Fiorina, say the drought is partially man-made, in the sense that liberal environmental policies have prevented the state from building the necessary dams and reservoirs.

“In a sense, [that’s] looking at this upside down,” Orme said, “because people do not cause drought. Droughts are meteorological, hydrological and agricultural. In the bigger picture, this a physical phenomenon that we’re experiencing.”

“It would be very difficult to store the kinds of quantities of water that one would need to store to make up for this kind of event,” Cox said. “We’re looking at a snowpack which is six percent of normal.”

Still most do agree that people will have to contribute to the solution, by drastically cutting their water use. One controversy is over who should sacrifice the most, and many urban residents question the amount of water used in agriculture, which reportedly consumes some 80 percent of California’s water.

California researchers report that the amount of water used to grow various crops is tremendous. For example, one often-quoted report suggested that harvesting one single almond takes 1.1 gallons of water. But some farmers have refuted these claims. They claim the way they use water isn’t the problem, it’s the amount they are allowed to use.

“The farmers are not so much fixated in terms of the precipitation that we get,” said Blake Sanden, a farm advisor and irrigation expert with the University of California Cooperative Extension. “They’re looking at an overall water budget.”

Farmers are certainly feeling the pain of the drought. A UC Davis study showed California is directly losing more than $1.5 billion a year from the drought. These costs included water pumps, livestock, and fields that are going unplanted.

“Basically a farmer is going to define drought by looking at the condition of his crops,” Sanden said.

Environmentalists argue that farmers should get rid of flood irrigation methods to properly conserve water. But other methods of getting water to crops, such as micro irrigation and drip-irrigation, may deny crops their nutrients.

“The problem … is that [drip irrigation] ignores salinity management,” Sanden said. “When we irrigate we bring in as much as a ton and a half of salts per-acre-foot.”

Another alternative is the use of so-called grey water. Grey water is water filtered from things such as washing machines, and recycled for agricultural use.

“With grey water, one has to be quite careful about what is going into the ground,” Cox said. “If there’s any kind of chemicals, soaps, or detergents, any of that can ultimately affect your soils.”

The state has been encouraging residents to conserve water, keeping in mind the possible state of emergency that would arrive if California’s supplies are emptied.

“There have been mega-droughts [lasting 25 years] in the past,” Cox said.  “It’s not clear right now exactly how long this will last. It could be a kind of a one-in-a-thousand year drought, if it’s a really really severe drought.”

Moderator: Kelsey Ducklow

Producer: Brenda Garcia

Anchor: Gloria Star

Reporter: Wahid Lodin

Guest Booker: Teresa Arevalo

Social Media Editor: Alexis Wadley

Many in the Class of 2015 are searching for jobs, and as summer approaches, they are worried about how long it will take to find one. Some graduates are even wondering if the last four, five, or six years of college classes were worth it.

“There are great skills that come from just the process of working towards a degree,” said Douglas Marriott, director of the Los Angeles Valley College Cooperative Education Program and Job Resource Center. “Every year there are upwards of five million new jobs.”

Still, the Labor Department reported last month that unemployment for Americans in their 20s who earned a four-year or advanced degree last year, has increased to 12.4 percent. The rate climbed about 1.5 percent since 2013.

“Even though there are increases in jobs, there are more people going after your job,” said Patricia Gaynor, Assistant Director of CSUN’s Career Center.

In order to stand out, some graduates search for ways to make their resumes more competitive, including deciding to get a master’s degree.

“With a graduate degree, you’d have more specific skills to share in the workplace,” Marriott said.

“Degrees and education are never a waste,” Gaynor said. “Sometimes we may use them as a way to sort of sway away from where we want to go right now.”

One problem employers face is finding people with the proper training, even for entry level positions.

“What we are finding right now is that there are more people that just don’t have the skills for the jobs,” Gaynor said.

According to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce,  Medical Technology and Nursing are the two majors with the lowest unemployment rate.

“Any kind of technical background is going to be more needed,” Gaynor said, adding that engineering is another area with low unemployment. Gaynor said graduates who keep up with the newest technologies will also have an advantage. “Whether it’s public relations or it’s working in an office, you still need to keep those skills up, and you still need to be aware of what’s going on in the world and what is changing.”

But Marriott said employers are also seeking people with degrees in English or Liberal Arts because of the skills they develop in school. Communication, friendliness, and leadership ability are all examples of so-called soft skills, also called emotional intelligence, skills many employers seek in their recruits.

“I think it’s a matter of the applicant or candidate aligning their transferrable skills to the job that they want,” Marriott said.

Marriott said interacting with potential employers through events such as job fairs can be a good way to establish a relationship.

“There are many jobs that aren’t advertised,” Marriott said, noting many employers may already have someone in mind for a position. “They think of somebody and refer them.”

Plenty of resources are available for soon-to-be-graduates who are looking for work, including help with resumes, cover letters and developing interview skills.

“I would encourage students to stay positive, quantify their experience, and give themselves credit for all the skills they have,” Marriott said.

“Sometimes [getting a job] can take awhile,” Gaynor said. “It’s going to happen. You just can’t give up.”

Moderator: Briseida Holguin

Producer: Cristal Canedo

Anchor: Nancy Moreira

Reporters: Samantha Benitz, Ashley Goosen and Ken Harvey

Social Media Editor: Beau Akers

Carrying the weight of thousands of dollars in student loan debt is the new trend these days.

Increasing college and university tuition rates are resulting in higher debt costs for students who have to take out loans. The Experian Credit Bureau news blog reported that 40 million Americans now have one or more outstanding student loans, with balances increasing each year.

The Economist reported that student loan debt has increased to a record breaking $1.2 trillion, up 84 percent since the recession.

“I think that there just has been such a disconnect between the colleges and the loan systems,” Certified Financial Planner Shannah Game said. “The loan systems are run by the federal government, and there is just quite a disconnect between the price increases of colleges, and the student loan system trying to keep up with that.”

The federal government has changed laws on who can borrow and how much. According to Game, colleges and the government are not working together, causing this to be a much bigger problem than needed.

President Obama has signed an executive order called The Student Aid Bill of Rights, highlighting four main ways for getting students access to a better college experience, without the stress of hefty loan debt.

One of them is having enough information to choose an affordable loan repayment plan.

“When students are ready to pay back these loans, let them know what their options are; don’t just say you got to pay and that’s it,” CSUN Financial Aid Counselor Gregorio Alcantar said. “Let them know that, for example, there’s more than ten repayment plans available, so you can guarantee that you will make your payments.”

Entry-level job salaries are not always enough to compensate for the high monthly payments for each loan, and some students will still be unemployed by the time the first payment is due, making it difficult to pay the loans back.

The biggest question is, are students getting the education they pay for? or borrow for, as the case may be?

According to Pierce College Economics professor Dr. Pamela Brown, Americans are living longer and going to school longer. Students should consider college as a first step towards a career and choose their majors wisely, so that they will be making enough money to pay back their student loans as quickly as possible.

“If you pick Irish macramé of the 1820s as your master’s degree, it’s not going to be as affordable to pay back that loan, ” Brown said. “As I tell all my students, if you’re unemployed after college, it may not be the economy that’s the problem, it might be your major.”

Moderator: Cyndy Alvarado

Producer: Evan Mederos

Anchor: AJ Romero

Reporters: Precious Allen, Sharon Shin and Rosanna Siracusa

Social Media Editors: Kelly Hernandez

Moderator: Sharon Shin

Producer: Rosanna Siracusa

Anchor: Rosanna Siracusa

Reporters: Precious Allen, Kelly Hernandez, Evan Mederos and AJ Romero

Social Media Editor: Cyndy Alvarado

It seems happiness isn’t all that’s contagious at Disneyland in California.

The recent measles outbreak, now spread across 17 states, is being linked to the theme park. More than half of the measles cases reported in the state are associated with initial exposure at Disneyland.

Public health officials recommend that children under 12 months old and people who have not been vaccinated stay away from the park, and they are urging everyone to get immunized. A recent Pew Research Center poll found 83 percent of Americans believe the measles vaccine is safe for children. But another Pew study shows younger adults believe vaccinations should not be a requirement, and that it is up to the parents to make that decision.

“We have seen a dramatic increase in vaccine mistrust and the idea that they link to certain diseases,” said Assistant Professor of Health Science at CSUN, Kaitlin O’Keefe. “This is not entirely accurate.”

In 1998 Dr. Andrew Wakefield sparked the discussion of vaccines being associated with autism in children, with his study published in the Lancet. Wakefield focused on the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine in a very small study. He said he had found a possible link to autism in children from the vaccine. His claim has since been discredited; he has lost his license to practice medicine in England, and the Lancet published a full retraction. However his claim still led to a decline in vaccines all over the world.

Health experts say physicians need to ask parents more questions in order to understand why they have chosen not to vaccinate, and then offer parents more information about vaccines, to answer their concerns.

“A vaccine takes a germ and exposes it to the patient’s immune system in a safe way, such that the patient is not going to become ill, but it stimulates an immune response,” said Dr. Mikhaela Cielo, a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist.

Some parents express concern about the number of vaccines children are required to get at a young age.

“Our immune system is constantly reacting to things around us,” Cielo said. “Kids are sick more often because their bodies are developing this repertoire of antibodies to fight off disease…We know their bodies, in the natural world, are able to respond very well to multiple different antigens at the same time, and they’ve definitely shown, through a big body of research, that children do just fine with multiple vaccinations in one visit. Their bodies will mount a great immune response, and there’s no harm that comes to the child.”

The percentage of elementary school children who have not been vaccinated has doubled in California, according to the CDC. Many parents use the state’s personal belief exemption to explain their decision.

Communities must be immunized at a high rate to fight widespread infectious disease. For diseases like the measles and whooping cough at least 92 percent of the children must be immune. This is a concept known as herd immunity.

“One of the best things about vaccination is enough people have immunity to a disease through vaccination,” O’Keefe said, “and they can protect another member of the community [who can’t be immunized for legitimate health reasons] who might be susceptible to the disease.”

There are no federal vaccination laws, but many public schools and colleges require students to be vaccinated upon entering, and many states allow exemptions from immunizations only for religious reasons.

“Requiring someone to vaccinate in some ways will do more harm than good,” O’Keefe said. “The best way to push towards higher vaccine rates is to educate…get the word out on actual information like scientific studies, evidence towards the safety and efficacy of the vaccines out there.”

Moderator: Teresa Arevalo

Anchor: Wahid Loden

Producer: Kelsey Ducklow

Reporters: Teresa Arevalo, Brenda Garcia, Wahid Lodin and Alexis Wadley

Social Media Editors: Gloria Star and Brenda Garcia

It has been more than 15 years since a shooting at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills left one man dead and five people, including three children, wounded.

Buford O. Furrow Jr. later admitted he had come up with the plan to harm Jews and ethnic minorities, and had driven from Washington State to Southern California in a van full of guns in order to do it. Furrow had been treated for mental illness in the months before the shootings.

Less than a year ago, a 22-year-old shooter killed six people and injured thirteen people in Isla Vista before committing suicide. The man’s parents, believing their son might be mentally ill, had gone to Santa Barbara authorities seeking help, but officers said after visiting him that the son didn’t exhibit any characteristics that were out of the ordinary.

A new California law tries to prevent violent shooting acts like these from occurring by allowing family members and friends to request a court order, a gun violence restraining order, if there is probable cause that gun owners might have mental health issues.

“I wouldn’t say there is so much [looking for] someone to blame as the fact that people might see weird types of behaviors and really didn’t know that they needed to see a therapist,” JCC shooting survivor Scott Engler said.

The new law, California Assembly Bill No. 1014, says if it can be proven a gun owner presents an immediate and present danger of causing personal injury to himself, herself or others, the court may remove guns from the owner’s possession for up to 21 days, until a court hearing can be held to determine whether the gun owner can own or possess a firearm.

“I’m concerned more than anything about the fact that you could have a situation where you can lose your constitutional protective right to bear arms for 21 days before you get a hearing from a judge… 21 days is a long time for a constitutional right to be taken away,” said Cal State Northridge Political Science professor Craig Renetzky.

The Small Arms Survey reported in 2007 that there are more guns in the hands of citizens in the United States than any other country. On average the survey found about 89 guns per 100 people in the U.S., compared to about 55 per 100 residents in Yemen, and about 46 per 100 in Switzerland.

“Here we are in a country where we have more guns than any other nation per 100 people and yet we still have the highest death rate from gun violence each year,” said JCC shooting survivor Josh Stepakoff.

“I think the problem we are facing is much larger,” Renetzky said. “I think it’s a problem with mental health. I think people are committing crimes with guns that they would perhaps be committing with a knife or a hand grenade … I think we need to look at the underlying cause of the violence not the tool that’s being used to carry out that violence.”

In Texas a new law has been proposed to allow a teacher to use deadly force on a student in defense of himself or herself or of other students in the classroom.

“I don’t think parents need to drop their kids off at school thinking there is the potential for their kid to be killed,” Stepakoff said. “I don’t think there is a place for guns in schools and I don’t think there is a place for violence in schools.”

Stepakoff was a camper at the North Valley Jewish Community Center when the 1999 shooting occurred, and he was one of the children wounded in the shooting.

“There is no closure,” Stepakoff said. “This has continued to be a main factor and part of my life for the past fifteen years. The mental health system needs to be worked on and a universal background check could absolutely be helpful … We would have a better idea of who is actually purchasing a firearm.”

Moderator: Ken Harvey

Anchor: Cristal Canedo

Producer: Samantha Benitz

Reporters: Nancy Moreira, Beau Akers and Ashley Goosen

Social Media Editor: Briseda Holguin

On Dec. 7, an Argentinian forensics group confirmed the discovery of bone fragments belonging to 19-year-old Mexican college student named Alexander Mora Venacio, and searchers near Iguala continue to find remains of bodies, which may or may not belong to other missing students.

Venacio was one of 43 male college students from the Raul Isidro Burgos Rural Teachers’ College of Ayotzinapa. The students went missing in late September while on their way to a protest in Mexico City, after they were stopped and apparently kidnapped by local police in Iguala, Guerrero.

On Nov. 4, authorities arrested the former mayor of Iguala, José Luis Abarca Velázquez,  and his wife, María de los Ángeles Pineda Villa, for the murder of the 43 students, but some in Mexico believe federal authorities may have known about or been involved in the students’ disappearance and alleged murder.

“What this points to is the longtime collusion between the politicans at the municipal, state, and federal level with various groups of organized crime in Mexico,” said Dr. Jorge Garcia, Professor of Chicana/o Studies at CSUN. “It points to the lack of clarity, the lack of transparency, the lack of accountability, which leads to people not accepting at face value what is being said. We can not have any reasonable confidence or faith in what we’re being told.”

Many parents of the missing students say they also do not believe the official accounts of what happened. The Mexican Government reported in November that a group of drug cartel members had admitted to murdering the students and incinerating their bodies, and had been arrested.

“There are a lot of questions around this,” journalist and author Eileen Truax said, ” and I think the main problem is the lack of trust in the Mexican authorities and in any version they can give us regarding this issue.”

Truax said the Mexican government has a long history of corruption, and the association with the drug cartels by past and current administrations in Mexico is well documented. Many believe that the government is failing its people on multiple levels.

“This speaks to the complete and utter failure of the government in Mexico,” said Armando Gudiño, Policy Manager for the Drug Policy Alliance. “It speaks to the responsibility in what is without a doubt a failed system, that has not only failed these students, the parents, and all the people working very hard to find answers, but ultimately has failed the country as a whole. It has exposed the government for what it is, which is a total failure.”

The school attended by the 43 missing students is known to have political views that differ from those of the current government. That disagreement is cited as a possible reason as to why these specific students were targeted.

Moderator: Laura Camelo

Producers: Laura Camelo and Robert Zamora

Anchor: Strongman Osom

Reporters: Andrea Bautista and Roy Azoulay

Social Media Editors: Calsey Cole and Courtney Wallace

For further discussion and analysis of the crisis in Spanish: Crisis En México

Greek life at CSUN has come under fire following the death of Armando Villa, a pledge of Zeta Mu. Villa died of dehydration and hyperthermia in July, during an initiation hiking trip with fellow fraternity members and pledges.

Nationwide, more than 60 people have died in fraternity-related incidents since 2005, according to  Bloomberg News. Researchers also suggest fraternity members are more likely to commit sexual assault, and sorority members are more likely to be victims of it.

Villa’s death, and the reports of fraternity-related fatalities and sexual violence across the country, have had an impact on the Greek life and its members on CSUN’s campus.

“I mean you can’t help but feel disgusted that these kind of activities are going on,” said incoming Interfraternity Council President Josh Stepakoff. “It obviously goes against every value that we preach in being part of the Greek system.”

Diane Harrison, President of Cal State Northridge, has suspended pledging for the Spring 2015 semester. Stepakoff said he was surprised she decided to let Greek life continue at CSUN.

“She made it very clear during her announcement she could’ve just suspended the Greek system completely,” he said. “She would be ridiculed no matter what she did, and she probably took the most ridicule just by keeping us around, and by cutting pledging this semester, cutting it next semester, and giving us the opportunity to regain the administration’s trust.”

While people hear many negative things about sororities and fraternities, members say there are many positives to the Greek System. The brotherhood and sisterhood the members form in a fraternity or sorority is the main one.

“I mostly joined for networking,” said Katrina Brkic, former vice-president of CSUN’s Panhellenic Council. “I never had sisters — I always had a brother — so I wanted an older sister…. I’ve gotten most of my internships through our alum, through sisters who’ve worked at different places.”

Andres Rodriguez is the former recruitment chair for the Interfraternity Council. He said fraternity and sororities also come together to do positive things like philanthropic work.

“One of the collective philanthropy events we did this past semester through IFC was the Walk a Mile in their shoes, which was to bring awareness to sexual assault and domestic violence,” Rodriquez said. “That was pretty cool because it brought members from every fraternity together for a common cause.”

CSUN’s Greek system leaders agree the fraternities and sororities must work to make improvements in their reputation, and to make sure no more tragedies occur. Students who want to rush will have to take an online prep course before they are allowed to attend a rush event. Rodriquez said the Greeks would keep promoting the good things they have done, and the importance of their values, so that the new potential members won’t be pushed away by the negative stereotypes in the media.

Moderator: Alex Vejar

Producers: Carly Bagingito and Alex Vejar

Anchor: Dean Perez

Social Media Editor: Lauren Llanos

Reporters: Katie Fauskee and Zulay Saldana

Trans Awareness Week at CSUN begins on November 13 and continues through November 20. The goal is to inform and educate the community, because the word transgender and the group of people it represents are often misunderstood.

“Trans could be an umbrella term for anybody whose sex assigned at birth doesn’t match the gender identity of how they see themselves,” said Sarina Loeb, CSUN’s Pride Center coordinator.

Although there are various identities that fall under the term, some trans people are most comfortable not labeling themselves at all.

“When we’re thinking of gender we usually think of men or women, and I do not identify as either of those,” said Orion Block, Trans Awareness Week coordinator. “I’m not a big label person so I feel that I’m transcending gender by not buying into any of that.”

Explaining the different transgender sub groups, such as non-binary and gender-queer, is just one of the challenges the transgender community faces. How the community’s members want the world to identify them, and what pronouns to use when referring to them, are aspects of trans culture that are also misunderstood. While some trans individuals use pronouns such as “they” and “them” to refer to themselves in their daily lives, others use more complex pronouns.

“I use something a little different,” Block said. “I use ‘Zee’, which is actually Hebrew for referring to a non-binary person, and ‘Hir’, which is a combination of his and hers. There is ‘they’, and ‘them’, but some people just prefer to be called by their own names.”

Although it is important to have others identify a trans person appropriately, Loeb said it’s more important how someone self-identifies.

“It started getting easier in college when I found out more about the trans community,” said Mar Pascual, CSUN student and transgender person. “Self-identifying was really stressed by so many people, and I thought that was really incredible: the ability to decide who you want to be instead of being forced in boxes that have been spelled out by so many people. That freedom was really great for me.”

Although the LGBTQ community has been unrepresented or misrepresented in the media, recent portrayals of the transgender community have been fairer. The transgender community has received increased exposure recently; most notably, “Orange is the New Black” has starred transgender actress Laverne Cox.

“There have been representations of trans people,” Pascual said, “but they’ve been mostly demeaning representations. They’ve mocked the community or used really derogatory terms that perpetuate the idea that trans folks are unworthy of being respected, and it’s ultimately really harmful to the community. It’s really refreshing to see shows like ‘Orange is the New Black’ and ‘Transparent’ kind of give a more accurate portrayal of trans people.”

Moderator: Andrea Bautista

Producer: Robert Zamora

Anchor: Roy Azoulay

Reporters: Courtney Wallace and Strongman Osom

Social Media Editors: Laura Camelo and Calsey Cole