The Rhythm Section is a new thriller directed by Reed Morano, released on Jan. 31. The film stars Blake Lively as the lead, Stephanie Patrick. Stephanie is an ordinary woman, middle class, highly educated, and very close to her family.

After a tragic plane accident kills her parents and two siblings, Stephanie dives into a severe state of depression and addiction. She seeks out revenge when she finds out that her that the plane accident was intentional.

Lively is known throughout her career as a very beautiful woman with high status and typically takes on the role of the woman men want, and women want to be. In the opening scene, we see Stephanie ready to shoot a gun at the back of a man’s head. Then the scene jumps to eight months prior, Stephanie is in bed thinking back to moments with her family before they died.

Stephanie is approached by a journalist who tries to prove to her that the incident on the plane was due to a bomber, and he’s on the loose just miles away from her. When Stephanie tries to take on the bomber herself and fails, the journalist ends up murdered. Frustrated with herself, she seeks out the source where all the information is coming from and asks him to mentor her. She wants to kill everyone who was involved with the bombing.

Jude Law plays the secret source known as B, a heavily trained killer hidden in isolation who has intel on the group responsible for the bomb. Law and Lively’s chemistry, their arguments and banter between the two felt believable. Both are very committed through the fistfights, the snarky remarks, and vulnerable moments. The relationship of B and Stephanie is a complicated one, he could be lying to her, but he’s all she has to help her.

Stephanie is alone and continuously has to choose who to trust and who to kill. Although every choice isn’t the best, she becomes less and less afraid to make the next move.

One of the strongest points of the movie was how it takes away the traditional way we see women leads. We only once see Stephanie dressed up seductively, but it’s not portrayed as a characteristic. The fact that she’s pretty doesn’t make her important. There are many shots where Stephanie is scared, nervous, contemplating whether or not she can go through with things. The shots are filled with the sound of breathing and the beating of her heart. She and her struggles are the center of the film. The focus is not on what dress she is wearing.

The image of Blake Lively that is known to the common public is thrown out the window. Her hair is cut short and is dirty. Stephanie’s body is covered in bruises, and the effects of drugs are apparent on her face. She went from scared, to risk-taker, from using cheap remarks to using her fists. She wants one thing only, to kill the ones responsible for the death of her family. But she also doesn’t want to be like the men who she’s encountered, that don’t care who gets hurt along the way.

The film doesn’t contain as many fight scenes as you would expect. There is a classic car chase scene and a bloody scene where Stephanie has to stitch her own wounds. There are bombs and guns, but there’s more. There are many scenes especially in the beginning where no one is even talking. The emphasis is around Stephanie and how she’s feeling. The film allows Stephanie to develop, without rushing it. At the end of the movie, there’s no definite happy ending, but you believe who Stephanie had to become.

Chabot College history professor Rick Moniz organized an educational group trip to Cuba in January 2020. Moniz has led such visits since the 1990s as a program known as the Faces of Cuba. The U.S. Department of State’s website says that tourist visits to Cuba are prohibited and that trips for “certain specific activities” are allowed with restrictions. Moniz explained that educational trips are one of the permitted exceptions.

Moniz has been to Cuba 40 times. The trip in 2019 was going to be his last, but people requested one more. Around fifteen people, the majority unaffiliated with Chabot arrived at Havana’s airport on January 3 for a ten-day stay.

A third of the people on the trip were fluent Spanish speakers, one of whom knew the dialect because he was born and raised in Cuba. On the other hand, the son of a host family was able to speak English.

The group visited several museums around the country: the National Art Museum; the Jose Martí Museum, a history museum dedicated to an early Cuban independence advocate; an Afro-Cuban heritage museum in Havana; and one covering the 1961 national literacy campaign, which resulted in today’s 99.8% literacy rate, according to the CIA World Factbook.

The group visited an organic farm. These farms originated from the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. The loss of a significant trade partner forced Cubans to be more self-sufficient. In addition, the end of Soviet pesticide imports led Cubans to resort to organic farming.

Much of the tour was spent in places where Cubans work today. A Red Cross office building works on monitoring hurricanes, assessing damages, and rebuilding. According to the Red Cross, Cuba experiences hurricanes so often that the people are familiar with how to evacuate and thus have a low fatality rate. A center for climate change monitors how Cuba will be affected by hurricanes in the future.

The group visited a polyclinic, but some members got to experience Cuban health care firsthand a few days earlier when one person was injured in a fall. According to Craig Shira, who was at the hospital with this person, after the wound was cleaned and given a compress to stop the bleeding, the whole process took 90 minutes, including stitches, an X-ray, and receiving medication.

Throughout the trip, the visitors stayed at host family houses, which are government-approved and identified on the outside with a blue anchor. These families hosted two to six guests each.

On the sixth night, however, everyone stayed at a hotel in Havana, which is the capital and largest city in Cuba. The reason for a hotel stay at that point in the trip was to provide a contrast.

According to Moniz, tourism is an essential industry in Cuba because the American embargo holds back other business sectors. However, outsiders who stay isolated to hotels and typical tourist sites learn nothing about the Cuban people.

Chabot economics professor Ken Williams took the opportunity to speak with locals about money. Williams says, “Cubans pay one twenty-fourth of [the prices that outsiders pay],” due to Cuba having dual currency to protect its economy from outside influence. Cubans use pesos in everyday life; outsiders must use the “convertible peso,” which is also called the cuc (pronounced “kook”) or Cuban dollar.

The group exchanged money at the official rate when they first arrived at the airport. Williams was also interested to hear about the existence of hundreds of paladares, private restaurants allowed by the communist government.

The day before the hotel, the group had visited the site of the United States’ unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. Later that day, the visitors went east and met a community defense group. Moniz compares them to a neighborhood watch.

Originally created to stop counter-revolutionaries, today such groups function as community organizers. The visitors gave hygiene supplies to the group, who then distributed them to the community based on need.

The arts were not forgotten. The visitors went to an art show featuring local artist Lester Campa. Later that week was a dance company that combined Spanish and African influences and related to the Santeria religion.

A fortress in Havana has hosted a cannon ceremony every night at 9 p.m. for the last 200 years. The ritual originally signified that the port gates were closed for the night, but is now done for tradition.

The group was also able to attend the national semifinal baseball game, Havana’s Industriales, against Camagüey’s Toros.

On Jan. 3, 2020, an American drone sent a missile toward the Baghdad Airport, killing Iranian Major General Quassem Soleimani, thus creating more tension in an already strained relationship. Our overthrowing of Pahlavi was a more quiet issue. But, President Donald Trump was extremely vocal about the killing of Soleimani.

Long seen as a terrorist by the United States (sanctioned under both former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama), Soleimani was divisive for Iranian citizens, said an unnamed student (who we will call Leyla) the first generation daughter of an Iranian immigrant family in an interview.

“It’s honestly a complicated picture,” said Leyla, “ … and even Iranian expatriates and Iranian-Americans can’t fully understand it. Some Iranians (the same ones who are loyal to the regime and support the more conservative version of Islam) saw him as a hero. They say Soleimani fought ISIS and Israel. Other Iranians see him as a terrorist himself. As for Iranian-Americans/expatriates, they almost universally hated him before and hate him now, just as they do the Islamic regime as a whole.”

Furthermore, after Soleimani’s death, thousands of his supporters flooded the streets to grieve their “martyr,” as Leyla described (although there is a belief among critics of Soleimani that these mourners were paid by the government). Leyla sees hope for U.S. — Iranian relations, however: “It seems that both the U.S. and Iran are interested in de-escalation, which is a surprise for me considering both of these governments are stubborn and confrontational.”

Should war actually occur, Iranian citizens will be hurt most, said Leyla. “Just like how it was Iraqi civilians who paid the price for America’s war in their country. At a minimum, I foresee even more sanctions by the U.S. against Iran. These sanctions prevent the Iranian people from acquiring necessary medications and raise prices of all goods to a point where the masses can’t afford them. Warfare by economic sanctions doesn’t hurt the Ayatollah and his followers. It hurts the people of Iran.”

Looking into the history of the two nations, Chabot history Professor Rick Moniz gave us some more insight. In 2015, the Obama administration, along with multiple countries, agreed with Iran that periodical check-ins would occur after the discovery that Iran was developing nuclear weapons. In return, sanctions would be lifted, thus returning some economic power. This deal, however, was abandoned by President Donald Trump in 2018.

Professor Moniz made it clear that the diplomacy of previous administrations should be considered when interacting with other nations stating that “we had a policy in place that was seeking to begin to if not normalize relations with Iran, at least try to prevent them as best as possible from developing nuclear weapons. And by all accounts, that was seemingly working. Independent observers were monitoring. The question in my mind is, every time we get a new administration, is that open season on policy? And in my thinking, no, it can’t be open season. You’ve got to have consistency in policy.”

Professor Moniz also elaborated on the dangerous patriotism in both America and Iran. “I don’t think that there’s any intention by the administration to do anything to ratchet up the pressure that’s already in place with its sanctions … and [Iran]’s bellicose jingoistic policy … And we don’t learn anything … this isn’t the first time we’ve engaged in this kind of behavior with other nations. With similar, poorer results. If the desired result is regime change, it’s not oftentimes what happens.”

Just as Leyla stated earlier, Professor Moniz reminds us that the American people are not invincible; that the citizenry will suffer first. “It’s in the President’s hands, and that’s a lot of power we give to one individual … So if Congress isn’t going to put a leash on the President, and he can just go stumble into any conflict he wants, then we the American people are left with what the consequences are.” Professor Moniz said as he shifted in his chair, considering the outcome of further aggression.

Moniz continues saying that the consequences “could be another war, where we send men and women to fight. What’s Iran in the scheme of things? There’s a hell of a lot of oil there. Our policy is often predicated on what are the resources that a nation has that we want?’ … we support the Saudis. One could argue that they don’t make for a very good ally. But they have a lot of oil. Are we being manipulated? Are we going to go to war with Israel over Iran? The American people need to say wait a minute, is that in our best interest? And your conclusion would probably be not.”

As with previous interactions with world leaders, President Donald Trump was quick to speak on the power of the U.S. only three days after the death of Soleimani.

The President stated, “Our great American forces are prepared for anything. Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world.”

In response to Trump’s statement, the Chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned on state television “to withdraw from this field,” and that if the withdrawal does not occur, the U.S. “will definitely regret it.”

The tension is still ever-present, but it seems that both countries have laid down arms at this point. Given the American role in the Iranian Revolution, it’s important to remember that Iran has a right to be angry with America.

We overthrew the democratically elected Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and replaced him with the dictator Khomeini. There is, without a doubt, fault on both sides. What must be considered, however, is who will suffer from these faults.

With the addition of Gabe Kalper as the new manager, the SF Giants also hired the first female coach in Major League Baseball, Alyssa Nakken.

According to KRON 4, Nakken, a former softball player for Sacramento State University, has now become the first full-time female coach on a major league staff.

In 2014 she began working as an intern with the Giants in Baseball operations.

In an interview with KRON 4, Kapler said: “Alyssa and Mark are highly respected members of the organization, and I’m delighted that they will now focus their talents on helping to build a winning culture in the clubhouse.”

Mark Hallberg was also hired on as an Assistant Coach with Nakken.

While she is the first female coach in the MLB, another Bay Area team, the San Francisco 49ers made it to the Super Bowl with the first female coach in the NFL, assistant offensive line coach, Katie Sowers.

The Bay Area teams have some strong female representation in their coaching staff, and it is continuing to grow.

“Exploring transfer opportunities?” says a campuswide email sent by Chabot College to students. For those who haven’t got the message, the Transfer Center is organizing Tuesday workshops this semester to help students transfer to their university of choice on Feb. 11, Feb. 18, March 17, March 31, April 14, and April 21. All workshops are from 12-1 p.m. in room 758.

Topics being covered will include the basics of transferring, funding your transfer education, transfer admission guarantees, and applying to schools like CSUs, UCs, and private schools. Representatives from universities will also be present to talk with students looking for specific school-related information. Students will be asked to bring copies of transcripts from all colleges and universities attended, high school transcripts, and any Advanced Placement (AP) scores and/or International Baccalaureate (IB) scores.

Sponsored by the Chabot College Transfer Center located on the second floor of Building 700, the Center provides services and resources to support students through the transfer process. The Center hosts workshops every year, and this semester is the first time all workshops will be part of a titled series.

Frances Fon, a counselor who’s been working with the Transfer Center for ten years, is organizing the series of events. She came up with the idea of the series through looking at the most common topics brought up by students she’s seen. “I’m finding that if we put it together as a series, students can learn and obtain more information that they want and digest information that they need. They can then partner with their counselor to take the implications from what they learned and develop their plan for transfer.”

To expand outreach, Chabot College sent out a campuswide email to students on January 30. Transferring student Lydia Vasquez heard of Transfer Tuesdays, but does not intend to go. However, she “feels as though for students who don’t know a lot of these things, this would be really helpful. Especially when there are other students going through the same thing as you there, and you get to have small group discussions to figure things out.”

Fon hopes that through attending, “students will not only have more clarity in their own transfer direction, but I hope they can walk away with their personal next steps. That’s my goal, to make students feel they know where they’re at in the transfer process, and then the next step can be to go see a counselor, or to go talk to a college representative.”

Chabot College held this semesters Gladiator Days on Tuesday, Jan. 28, and Wednesday, Jan. 29. The event ran in the cafeteria in building 2300, from noon to 1 p.m. both days.

“I think it’s a great day to become aware of other clubs and programs on this campus and a great day to connect and socialize with your fellow classmates and teachers,” said Gustavo Y., a Chabot student who went to the event.

Numerous clubs had tables. Some have been at the college for many years, and a few are new this semester. Some new clubs in attendance include the Animation Club, CATE Club (Chabot Association of Teacher Education), Chabot Cheer Team, and Computer Hardware Club.

The Student Senate gave a free lunch to those who filled out a bingo card with stamps from the tables.

Chabot also had tables to promote its various services, programs, and academic departments. These included: APIEA (Asian Pacific Islander Education Association), CalWORKS, Chabot Library, Disabled Students’ Programs & Services, El Centro, EOPS/CARE, Financial Aid Office, FRESH Food Pantry, Learning Connection, MESA (Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement), PACE (Program for Adult College Education), Pathway Program, RISE (Restorative Integrated Self-Education), Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center, TRiO, and Veterans Resource Center.

A handful of outside groups even showed up: Census 2020, Friends of Chabot College, and League of Women Voters.

There are some clubs and Chabot programs that were not present at the event. A complete list of clubs can be found at the Chabot College website.