In order to review the redistricting efforts in San Mateo County and its cities, as well as to ensure that the new district maps are fair, the Leagues of Women Voters of South, North and Central San Mateo County will hold a joint meeting this coming Saturday, March 25.
It is worth remembering that redistricting, the process of redrawing electoral boundaries, occurs every ten years after the census and ensures that districts have the same population.
However, these lines can affect whether vulnerable communities are represented in local government and whether their interests are prioritized in decision-making.
According to a statement, Helen Hutchison, director of government and former president of the California League of Women Voters, will discuss the outcome and effects of the Fair Maps Act on local redistricting in the 2022 elections and how implementing those requirements will help the upcoming redistricting.
The Fair Maps Act was signed into law in 2019 and is the most significant and comprehensive overhaul of the city and county redistricting process in California history.
For the 2021 cycle, 22 cities and counties used IRCs — Independent Redistricting Commissions — covering 42 percent of the state’s population. This law was passed to ensure that redistricting was taken out of the hands of local legislatures.
The Leagues of Women Voters said that during the meeting, participants will review explicit actions throughout the county that have affected fair redistricting.
"Our Leagues and involved citizens will explore ways to work together to achieve a greater number of Independent Redistricting Commissions," they said.
The meeting, which is free and open to the public, will be held on Saturday, March 25 from 10 a.m. to noon in the Redwood Room at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center, located at 1455 Madison in Redwood City.
For more information, interested parties can send an email to vpprogram@lwvssmc.org.
On April 2, 2023, the production company Disney is expected to release the new version of the film "Peter Pan and Wendy", where Wendy, until now Peter Pan's companion, appears on equal terms in the title.
Actress Ever Anderson Jovovic plays Wendy Darling in Disney's new film "Peter Pan and Wendy"
The final stage of the promotional campaign began with a trailer for the film. The opening of the short film, also set in Edwardian England, features Wendy arriving in Neverland. Tinkerbell, played by African-American actress Yari Shahidi, also appears. Furthermore, it seems that Wendy is the central character of the story, which is reinforced by her mention in the title. The rest of the story does not seem to have changed much from the 1953 animated film.
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On social media, some users expressed their disappointment with the new version.
In this way, many users, as shown by the frequency cloud, satirically expressed what they liked about the trailer precisely what did not appear in it, under the figure of "I just loved the part...".
One Reddit user says, “Fuck this trailer, fuck this movie, fuck the writers, and fuck Disney,” before going on to clarify that he’s upset that Wendy’s role in the film has been altered. He begins by saying, “‒…‒there shouldn’t be any missing girls. That’s not me being sexist, Peter Pan himself says it in the books “Oh no, the girls, since they’re too smart to fall out of their prams,” he then continues, “Secondly, why are they trying to make Wendy into one of those “modern boss girls”? She’s the mother of the group who takes care of the kids and inevitably convinces them to go back home and grow up.”
Finally, he concluded, “I’ve been a Peter Pan fan for as long as I can remember. I was obsessed with it as a kid and to me it’s a classic that’s sacred. This trailer feels like the writers just ripped the heart out of my inner child, spit it out, and then stomped on it.”
A YouTube user claims that Tinkerbell has always been white since the 1950s version. As proof, he claims that she has always been white in all the toys and cartoons where she has appeared.
Some users go further. For example, on Twitter, one user accuses Hollywood of having an agenda to portray white people as evil. On the other hand, we also find expressions from users on social media expressing their enthusiasm for the film's release.
Social media users are unhappy with the portrayal of Tinkerbell in the new film "Peter Pan and Wendy."
Why the controversy? Isn't it just a version of a fiction? To make sense of it, it's worth remembering the historical context in which the first version of Peter Pan was produced - 1953. This was an America before civil rights.
In the children's film, the indigenous North American peoples are unabashedly depicted as "red skin," a situation that is emphasized during a dance in the children's film where they are depicted as a savage people, while in media terms the consolidation of the North American media system continued.
This was the first year that the Oscars were televised. The television series The Lonely Ranger was shown. A brave masked vigilante accompanied by Tonto, the latter represented a member of the Native American peoples, although he did so by portraying him as "backward" or savage.
In social terms, while Peter Pan was being successfully released as Disney's 14th feature film, strict segregation laws still existed in North America. While women were trapped in "traditional roles", African Americans had few job opportunities and suffered severe discrimination. The situation was even more serious in the southern states.
Disney would return to the Edwardian England of Peter Pan ten years later when he filmed Mary Poppins (1965). Unlike Peter Pan, which was only considered a children's film, Mary Poppins (1965), whose central protagonist is a woman, was Disney's first feature film to receive widespread critical acclaim, receiving several Oscar nominations and winning in five categories.
In social terms, a decade later, the fight for civil rights had also made significant progress. A year earlier, in 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed and in 1965 the Voting Rights Act was passed. Both legal documents benefited both women and the African-American population, as they promoted equality within American society regardless of gender, race or religion.
African-American actress Yari Shahidi plays Tinkerbell in the remake of “Peter Pan and Wendy.” Photo: Instagram Yari Shahidi
However, the fight for inequality is not over. The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative She pointed out that the representation of non-white characters or women in leading roles is rare in both television series and films. A situation that is aggravated if we consider that these North American productions - the dominant entertainment industry on a global level - are seen outside of the northern countries, where these stereotypes contribute to perpetuating a colonialism that is still in force.
In recent years, there have been various initiatives to reduce negative representations of non-white people, women, or people outside of traditional practices in American film and television programs.
In this context, Peter and Wendy ‒2023‒ are part of a series of reinterpretations of classic Disney stories. Where the company ‒encouraged by the increase in both the purchasing power and the percentage of the non-white population in the United States, as well as the possibility of generating profits worldwide‒ seeks to achieve products that reflect these multicultural societies.
The Reddit user angrily exposes the risk that Disney's new version represents for his children, although in reality he shows his dissatisfaction with the change of roles that society has experienced over the last decades.
Another user demands that an African-American actress not remain in fixed roles reproducing the separation of races by their social roles, an anger that allows us to observe her rage at the loss of privileges. Is her claim not based on the changes in the role of the female character? Is it not anger at the fall of barriers to social roles by ethnicity or gender? Positions that seek to eternalize Wendy as an eternal companion and never the protagonist of the story. While only white women can represent Tinker Bell ‒tinkerbell‒.
Social media users are unhappy with the portrayal of Tinkerbell in the new film "Peter Pan and Wendy."
Perhaps we can find the answer in Disney films themselves. In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), another Disney animated film, Queen Grimhilde, angry at the response of her magic mirror, orders Snow White to be sacrificed. However, her command is disobeyed. Then, the Queen herself, filled with rage, disguises herself as an old woman and tricks Snow White by offering her a poisoned apple. At the end of the film, the protagonist revives. Grimhilde's efforts, anger and rage were in vain. History was already underway and there was no way she would be able to recover her lost beauty.
This publication was supported in whole or part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.
Counterfeit dollar bills with a caricature of a black man and racist remarks circulated at a Sacramento high school. A 10-year-old girl was called a “slave” by a classmate in Orange County. Bay Area high school students filmed themselves laughing and repeating a racial slur against black people. All this month in California.
They are children who are collateral damage in the culture wars, with Black students more often the targets of racial hostility than any other student group, according to “Educating for a Diverse Democracy in California,” a joint report by the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education and Access and the UC Riverside Civic Engagement Research Group. As part of the study, researchers surveyed 150 California principals about how the political dynamics of their communities have impacted their schools.
Sixty-six percent of principals reported they are aware of racist comments made against black students on their campuses; one-third said such incidents are frequent. These verbal attacks speak to the presence of anti-black racism that undermines young people's ability to learn, said John Rogers, one of the study's authors.
"We cannot normalize the fact that these (attacks) have become commonplace in our public schools," he said.
Political polarization and conflicts over racial and gender equity are now commonplace at school board meetings and on school campuses across the state. They are negatively impacting school staff, undermining school governance and increasing anxiety and hostility among students, the report said.
“The ground shifted beneath their feet for a year and a half, and significant political events occurred: the murder of George Floyd, Brianna Taylor, etc., the rise of Black Lives Matter and protests, the responses to protest, the blue line flag, the 2020 election, and January 6,” noted one California student director. “All of these things happened while kids were in spaces that weren’t with us.”
Students, most in distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were unable to discuss these events at school with a diverse community of students. Instead, they either didn't have these conversations or had them around the dinner table, hearing only their family's perspective, the principal said.
“So our kids came back to school with this very narrow perspective,” she said. “It was something we hadn’t necessarily seen in the past. We didn’t necessarily have kids running around with political statements on their hats or T-shirts, but I do think they struggled a little bit to have empathy for groups they didn’t necessarily understand.”
Political polarization grows
Nearly two-thirds of California principals surveyed reported substantial local political conflicts over educational issues in their schools. In many school districts, community members have sought to limit or challenge teaching about race, policies related to LGBTQ students, and access to social-emotional learning or certain books in the library.
Political partisanship began to boil over after COVID school closures. Parents and other activists showed up at school board meetings to demand that schools reopen. They returned to protest mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and other safety requirements. Once COVID-19 protocols were loosened, conservative activists began fighting education policies on gender identity and racial equity.
“It seems like political polarization and conflict continues to grow,” Rogers said. “More recently there seems to be a focus on rolling back LGBTQ rights or anything resembling gender issues, such as the recent protests over a program at an Elk Grove high school where students were wearing gender-based clothing.”
The performance at a multicultural assembly at Pleasant Grove High School on March 3 sparked protests from parents at a district school board meeting, according to SFGate. A similar performance planned at a Roseville high school in Placer County was canceled this month after it sparked anger from parents and local political groups, according to The Sacramento Bee.
Three-quarters of California principals surveyed say LGBTQ students in their schools have been subjected to verbal attacks.
The California analysis follows a national survey released last year. Researchers interviewed principals in blue, red and purple congressional districts during the summer of 2022 to determine how the partisan divide has affected schools. Principals’ names were not included in the report.
Researchers labeled districts blue if fewer than 45 percent of voters voted for Donald Trump for president in 2020, purple if between 45 and 54.9 percent voted for Trump, and red if more than 55 percent of voters chose Trump.
The national study found that uncivil speech and hostile political rhetoric have seeped into the nation’s classrooms, leading to a decline in support for teaching about race and racism and a sharp rise in bullying of LGBTQ youth. Principals in politically divided communities were twice as likely to report multiple instances of conflict in their schools related to LGBTQ topics or learning about race and racism.
Political division affecting student education
"Much of the political dynamic that has played out in conservative grassroots activism is also occurring in many California communities, with serious consequences for education," Rogers said.
At least one California principal has told his teachers to avoid talking about politics, elections and current events.
Students must understand the history of various groups to have respectful, evidence-based dialogue to help build a diverse democracy, the report said.
In California, educators in purple and blue communities were equally likely to support LGBTQ students’ rights compared to the rest of the country. Principals in purple communities were 5 percent more likely than those in blue communities to offer training to teachers and staff to support learning about literature and history by people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds.
“It’s refreshing to hear that while California is experiencing these issues, many educators and school staff are not backing down when it comes to racial and gender equity,” Rogers said. “Unfortunately, certain individuals representing particular segments of the Republican Party believe that highlighting culturally divisive issues and attacking schools for teaching the full history of American society and protecting LGBTQ rights is in their partisan interest.”
You can read the original text by giving clic here.
This publication was supported in whole or part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.
Every day, millions of doctors are faced with people suffering from diseases caused by one or more bacteria. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to eradicate them from the body due to the resistance they display, a fact that is certainly already worrying the scientific and medical community, but which should be of concern to everyone.
According to the World Health Organization According to the WHO, by 2050 there will be more deaths related to superbugs than cancer, and they will be the main cause of death on the planet.
The study was published in 2017, three years before the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and at the time scientists had no idea that this disease would lead to excessive and incorrect use of antibiotics.
The bacteria Helicobacter pylori, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Salmonella spp are some of the microorganisms that have recently shown higher levels of resistance to various generations of antibiotics and that put the health of the population at risk.
A list that, unfortunately, is growing ever longer and makes antimicrobial resistance a public health problem today, classified in 2020 by the WHO within the list of "urgent health problems of global dimension".
The causes, says the WHO, are due to "a myriad of factors that have combined to create a terrifying cocktail, such as the unregulated prescription and use of antibiotics; lack of access to quality medicines at affordable prices; lack of clean water and sanitation services; and lack of infection prevention and control."
However, although the situation is more critical in marginalized and poor regions, with health crises, lack of water and inadequate hygiene and habits, worrying levels of resistance to some bacterial infections have been found in low-, middle- and high-income countries; in men and women, regardless of age, race or social status, so this is a global problem.
An example of this is that a study led by experts from the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS), supported by the WHO, revealed the widespread presence of antibiotic resistance in samples from 500,000 people from 22 countries, in whom bacterial infections were suspected, with a wide variation from 0 to 82 percent in at least one of the most commonly used antibiotics.
Another study, by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), speaks of "a worrying phenomenon of expansion, which could cost the economies of its member countries 3.5 billion dollars annually."
The WHO's list of priority pathogens included how fatal the infections they cause are; whether or not treatment requires prolonged hospitalization; how often they are resistant to existing antibiotics; how easily they are transmitted between animals, from animals to people, and between people; whether or not the infections they cause can be prevented – for example, through good hygiene and vaccination; how many therapeutic options remain; and whether new antibiotics are being researched and developed to treat the infections they cause.
The critical priority list includes multidrug-resistant bacteria that are especially dangerous in hospitals, long-term care homes and among patients who need to be cared for with invasive devices such as ventilators and intravenous catheters.
High and medium priority levels include bacteria whose drug resistance is increasing and which are related, in many cases, to community-acquired diseases, such as gonorrhea or Salmonella food poisoning.
But what are superbacteria and how do they manage to resist antibiotics?
Superbugs are strains of bacteria that have become resistant to known antibiotics, often including the most modern ones, and they try to survive external attacks and have an added advantage because they are highly capable of mutating and reproducing.
Under the right conditions, hundreds of millions of them can appear within a few hours. This allows their mutations in DNA to occur relatively quickly, and if these modifications prove useful and survive, this mutation can be further refined.
Superbugs occur due to the overuse of antibiotics, as when they are used too much or incorrectly, the bacteria that have caused the disease in question become overexposed and produce mutations in an attempt to survive.
The above is known as "genetic capitalism"; a resistant bacteria has an evolutionary advantage, meaning that it not only tends to persist, but is also more likely to continue acquiring resistance mechanisms.
In addition, no matter how modern or sophisticated antibiotics are, bacteria will continue to perfect their mutations and the more they are abused, the more bacteria will evolve to resist them. This is a problem that can no longer be reversed.
The WHO established three groups of multi-resistant bacteria, depending on their priority.
Priority 1 or critical, where all are resistant to carbapenems, the so-called broad-spectrum antibiotics, are Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, some enterobacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli and several species of the genera Serratia and Proteus.
In the case of Klebsiella, cases have already been found in which no antibiotic is effective anymore.
Priority 2 or high. This level includes Enterococcus faecium, which is resistant to vancomycin; Staphylococcus aureus, which is resistant to methicillin and vancomycin; Helicobacter pylori, which is immune to clarithromycin; Campylobacter spp and Salmonella, both resistant to fluoroquinolones; and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which is resistant to cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones.
Priority 3 or medium. They include Streptococcus pneumoniae, which are no longer sensitive to penicillin; Haemophilus influenzae, resistant to ampicillin; and Shigella spp. immune to fluoroquinolones.
Since the problem cannot be reversed, the problem can be slowed down by avoiding self-medication and allowing antibiotics to be prescribed by a doctor. In addition, they should be avoided for diseases that have a viral origin, such as the flu.
It is important to understand that the antibiotic treatment must be completed and not stopped as soon as the symptoms disappear, since if the treatment is stopped early, the bacterial infection may not be completely eliminated, causing it to adapt to the antibiotic and become resistant to it.
Lithium Valley is on track to become one of the world's largest sources of lithium, an essential material for electric vehicle batteries, officials say, positioning California as the global hub for battery production as it looks to become a leader in clean energy.
Thus, the governor Gavin Newsom visited the Imperial Valley on Monday to see the progress being made in transforming the Salton Sea region into a global hub for battery production.
California's Imperial Valley contains some of the largest lithium deposits in the world, specifically underground near the Salton Sea, a region also known as Lithium Valley.
Experts believe Lithium Valley could provide enough lithium to meet all future U.S. demand and more than a third of global demand, powering the transition to zero-emission vehicles that the state has been focusing on.
During his visit, the Governor toured Controlled Thermal Resources in Imperial for a demonstration of safe lithium extraction and battery production. He also met with local elected officials, community groups and other stakeholders to discuss ways the state is prioritizing the needs of local Imperial Valley communities.
Photo: California Governor's Office
In the morning, Newsom visited a project being implemented as part of the Salton Sea Management Program aimed at improving wetland habitat, public health and environmental conditions in the area.
“We are building a hub for global innovation while ensuring this transformation benefits communities right here in Imperial Valley. California is on the cusp of becoming the world’s largest source of batteries, and it couldn’t come at a more crucial time in our efforts to move away from fossil fuels. The future happens here first, and Lithium Valley is accelerating the world’s clean energy future,” he said.
In her turn, Silvia Paz, president of the Lithium Valley Commission, highlighted that there is unlimited potential within the Salton Sea region, both in terms of its role as a leading source of battery components for the production of clean energy, as well as in the local benefits in terms of employment and development.
“Lithium Valley is poised to be a key player as California leads a global transformation toward greener technology,” he said.
In 2022, Newsom signed legislation allocating $5 million to Imperial County to support Lithium Valley and created the Lithium Extraction Tax Act, which ensures that Imperial Valley communities benefit from lithium extraction and are an important part of the growing industry.
Photo: California Governor's Office
The Blue Ribbon Commission on Lithium Extraction in California submitted its findings and recommendations to the state Legislature last December, recommending expediting transmission planning, improving permitting, and securing funding for infrastructure investments and economic development incentives to support industry growth and job training.
Police have arrested a 23-year-old ex-convict suspected of supplying weapons to a 16-year-old San Jose student who allegedly brought a loaded firearm onto the campus of a local high school.
Both Eric Diaz-Ramirez and the teen were arrested on March 15, San Jose police said Monday.
During simultaneous search warrants at the suspects' homes, police seized four weapons, three of them semi-automatic pistols, ammunition and about 44 grams of cocaine, authorities said.
The teen allegedly brought a loaded, concealed gun to Independence High School in East San Jose during school hours, police said.
Detectives obtained arrest warrants for both suspects as well as search warrants for their residences, who face various firearms-related charges.
Diaz-Ramirez is a convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.
The Republican wing of the US Congress has made it clear that it intends to reject the 2024 Budget Plan proposal presented by President Joseph Biden on March 9, which will face a difficult process for its acceptance.
The president’s budget plan includes repealing tax cuts for the “richest” and raising the corporate tax rate — reversing cuts made by former President Donald Trump in 2017 — for those making more than $400,000 a year, with the goal of funding programs and services like Medicare, which provides government-funded health insurance for people 65 and older, and Medicaid, which helps low-income people.
The proposal also includes an investment to guarantee free preschool education and alleviate the cost of child care.
"My budget is a milestone to rebuild America in a fiscally responsible way without leaving anyone behind," Biden explained when presenting the budget plan, but the final decision is up to Congress.
Chad Stone, an economist and head of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, explained at a press conference organized by Ethnic Media Services in which experts met to discuss President Joe Biden's proposal for the 2024 budget plan, which is very difficult to know what will happen with the decision of Congress since the Republicans have already declared that they reject the proposal.
"The president is going to have to be flexible in his positions to move things forward," Stone said.
Elizabeth Lower-Basch, deputy executive director of policy at the Center for Law and Social Policy, noted that the proposal seeks to make significant investments in families, children, workers, and low-income people, in addition to returning the Child Tax Credit, which was part of the Economic Rescue Plan initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic and which provided around $3,600 per child to families when filing their tax returns.
"This is the largest investment we've ever seen in a proposal," he said, noting that there will be many struggles to get it approved by Congress.
Finally, Andrew Eschtruth, associate director of external relations at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, said that although the president did not provide details about the budget in relation to Social Security, he did assure that there would be no reduction in benefits and that he would work with Congress to strengthen it.
The president's proposal will no doubt face some struggles, as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, has rejected the plan.
The United States Geological Survey reported that an earthquake near San Jose, in Santa Clara County, California, with a preliminary magnitude of 3.0 was recorded on the morning of Monday, March 20.
The earthquake occurred at 8:09 a.m. local time, at a depth of 5.8 kilometers, with an epicenter 9.9 miles east of Seven Trees, 10.7 miles north of Morgan Hill and 10.7 miles east southeast of Alum Rock.
The California Integrated Seismic Network ‒CISN, for its acronym in English‒, detailed that more than a hundred people have reported having felt the earthquake this morning.
The authority noted that this earthquake is part of the Calaveras Fault, which is divided into three segments, where the northern end of the central segment of the Calaveras fault last produced an earthquake in October 2007, magnitude 5.4, in Alum Rock.
Although historically, the southern part of the central segment of the Calaveras Fault has been the most seismically active, producing the magnitude 6.2 Morgan Hill earthquake in 1984 and a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in 1911.
Because its slip rate nearly matches the total slip rate of the fault, this segment is not believed to be capable of producing an earthquake of much larger magnitude than the 1984 Morgan Hill earthquake.
The 2003 California Earthquake Probability Task Force assigned a 11% probability that the Calaveras Fault will produce an earthquake of magnitude 6.7 or greater within the next 30 years.
El Distrito de Tránsito del Condado de San Mateo está buscando información de los pasajeros sobre sus experiencias con las paradas de autobús de SamTrans.
El distrito lanzará una encuesta en línea del 20 de marzo al 30 de abril y organizará una reunión virtual en abril para tomar nota de los comentarios.
La encuesta hará preguntas sobre los servicios de las paradas de autobús, como asientos, refugios, información sobre la llegada del autobús y botes de basura. Los resultados de la encuesta ayudarán a SamTrans a diseñar su Plan de mejora de paradas de autobús, que establece una hoja de ruta para invertir en las renovaciones que más importan a los pasajeros en sus mil 800 paradas de autobús en múltiples jurisdicciones.
Programado para completarse a fines de este año, el plan de mejora incluirá un inventario actualizado de paradas de autobús, pautas de diseño y criterios para realizar mejoras en las paradas de autobús junto con los gobiernos locales.
Se invita a los miembros de la comunidad a opinar sobre el plan en una reunión comunitaria, programada para el 20 de abril de 5:30 a 6:30 p. 822 8623 4287.
La depresión es uno de los problemas más comunes entre los universitarios, pero poco se habla de ello. Sin embargo, para los californianos existe el programa College Corps que ayuda a los universitarios no solo económica sino también emocionalmente.
Factores como las deudas universitarias, el estrés laboral, el deseo por conseguir empleo y mantener un buen nivel académico son algunas de las razones por las que los estudiantes universitarios sufren depresión.
Currently, the College Corps program, promoted by the governor of the state of California, Gavin Newsom, has resulted in a change in the lives of students and their communities.
El programa College Corps, proporciona trabajo significativo a los estudiantes universitarios a cambio de servir a la comunidad, ayudando así a que se gradúen a tiempo y con menos deudas universitarias, al recibir hasta 10 mil dólares.
Y es que el trabajo que deben hacer los estudiantes les permite generar experiencia laboral, aprender y desarrollar habilidades, así lo señaló Emilio Ruiz, estudiante y embajador del programa College Corps de la Universidad de California de Long Beach —CSULB, por sus siglas en inglés—.
«College Corps es una experiencia emocionante y transformativa, realmente puede ayudar a hacer conexiones», contó.
Asimismo, señaló que el programa no solo lo ha inspirado a contribuir en la educación de los niños sino también ha mejorado su autoestima, pues se dio cuenta que gracias a College Corps desarrolló habilidades que le permiten desenvolverse de manera óptima en el mundo laboral, cosas que no hubiera logrado de no haber sido beneficiario del programa.
Por su parte, Ishmael Pruitt, CEO de Project Optimism, señaló que desafortunadamente los procesos para que los estudiantes se gradúen, son tan complicados que les generan estrés y preocupación por conseguir empleo, por lo que programas como College Corps son un gran apoyo para ellos.
Y es que, el estrés, preocupación y depresión provocan que los jóvenes abandonen sus estudios, especialmente los de las comunidades de color, que no solamente llegan a sufrir problemas económicos sino también de discriminación y violencia, por lo que programas como estos buscan crear oportunidades para el desarrollo personal y profesional de ellos.
En su oportunidad, Beth Manke, profesora de Desarrollo Humano y directora de Programa de CSULB College Corps, señaló que el programa ofrece «experiencias transformadoras», para los estudiantes a través de las prácticas que realizan como parte del programa.
«Sabemos lo importante que esto es para los estudiantes que se van a graduar», dijo Manke e hizo énfasis en la importancia de que el programa permita que los jóvenes desarrollen habilidades para ingresar al mundo laboral.
De igual manera, señaló qué hay estudios que indican que hasta un 60 por ciento de estudiantes universitarios han reportado síntomas de ansiedad y depresión, por lo que el programa College Corps busca combatir estos problemas de salud mental a través del acompañamiento y el sentido de pertenencia.
Allison Briscoe-Smith, psicóloga clínica, destacó que la ansiedad y la depresión son las dos principales barreras para los estudiantes universitarios y es que a pesar de que el problema ya existía años atrás, con el inicio de la pandemia por COVID-19, se agravó aumentando el número de jóvenes que padece un problema de salud mental.
«Los estudiantes se sienten desesperados y aislados, están contribuyendo a que los jóvenes no sepan a donde pertenecen», señaló al tiempo que recalcó que el programa les permite conectarse, eliminar el aislamiento y sentir que pertenecen a algo importante.
Josh Frydey, jefe de Servicio de California dentro del gabinete del Gobernador Gavin Newsom para dirigir los esfuerzos de servicio, voluntariado y compromiso cívico en toda California, señaló que el programa College Corps, busca «crear esperanza», un plan, una acción y un camino al cambio para los jóvenes que luchan día a día por terminar sus estudios universitarios.
«Cuando veo estudiantes luchando y trabajando se que nos han demostrado la valentía para hacer los cambios que necesitamos y por eso con College Corps todos ganan, les pagamos la escuela para que no tengan que pedir préstamos, ayudamos a la comunidad y contribuimos a que los jóvenes trabajen juntos», finalizó.
