COLLEGE LIFE, CONFLICT, AND THE NEW NORMAL

In this episode the student journalist panel talks about some of the top concerns for students as they return to school. Campus protests, Covid-19, and other stressors, pose new challenges to the coming school year. And the panelists talk about some of the stories they look forward to covering the most. The panel for this episode include Kemdi Nwosu from California State University at Fullerton, Nico Sapphire from California Lutheran University, and Erick Trevino from the University of Southern California.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's Steve Gregory. Thank you for joining us for
this episode of Studio six forty on demand. This week's
panel on Studio six forty.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
My name is Eric Deravino. I'm a graduate student at
University of Southern California.

Speaker 3 (00:12):
I'm Nico Saffire from California Lutheran University.

Speaker 4 (00:15):
And I'm Kem d Wosu from California State University.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Fours the only program in Southern California that breaks down
the stories of today through the voices of tomorrow's journalists.
The students come from campuses large and small, public and private.
This is Studio six forty. Welcome to Studio six forty.

(00:42):
I'm Steve Gregory. Thank you for joining us in this episode.
We want to talk about some of the issues facing
the next incoming class of students in colleges and universities
all over Southern California and all over America. Welcoming the
three panelists today to talk about it. They're all college
journalists and we're going to discuss the issues through their lens.

(01:02):
So let's get things started by asking the open question.
All three, open question, what are the biggest concerns facing
students today?

Speaker 5 (01:12):
Well, I think, you know, we had talked about one
of the previous shows, the whole the protest trend, right
that kind of blew up just this last semester, and
you know, for me, like I feel like it's kind
of hard to say where that's going to go. It
was very prominent just this last semester for me at
my school. Luckily it wasn't a problem, but I think
this was incredibly disruptive to a lot of students and

(01:35):
really their their school experiences. And of course, you know,
I had brought up one of the lashes, like the harassment.
There was a lot of that of towards the Jewish
students in particular, and just the vandalization and you know,
a lot of like it got very violent and very aggressive.
And so yeah, I'm hoping, you know, for the for
the sake of the incoming students, that it will it'll

(01:55):
die down and they can just enjoy this upcoming year
and without you know, people showing terrorist flags around their campus.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
So so, Eric, do you think personal safety is probably
on the top of everyone's mind?

Speaker 2 (02:10):
You know, to be honest, from my experience, I didn't
see so much concern about personal safety from the students
that I talked to, but last semester, I mean, I
think US was pretty bad. Ucla was the worse because
it's like a public university, but USC being a private university,
the security was really ramped up. You cannot access the
campus unless it was like from these two specific gates,
and sometimes it would just shut down the university completely

(02:32):
for everybody, even students. So I think it made it
really difficult for me, you know, to just make it
to school. You know. I think it's gonna be a
problem for people who have time management skills. I see
some of that already. You know, they're already telling us
like these two gates will be open compared to all
the gates that were open before the protest. So I
don't know if people are so much concerned about the protest.
I think people are just concerned about, like, this is

(02:53):
this new security that they ramped up. It's going to
cause a lot of workarounds, you know. I think that's
what people are kind of trying to deal with us.
How students jumping the fence. I saw students trying to
bring in their parents to take graduation photos. They were
denied at entry. So it's very I think that's gonna
be the seeing how they handle it this semester, you know,
depending on if the protests come back to the level

(03:16):
that they did. I think that's gonna be what to
watch out for.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Kem Dy in Orange County, they didn't have nearly the
protests that they did up here in La County. Do
you find personal safety and security a big issue down
in Orange County?

Speaker 5 (03:28):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (03:28):
Not really.

Speaker 4 (03:30):
At my campus, there were like palestin In protests over
the whole conflict, but they weren't like anything that major,
Like the school was very relaxed about them, Like I
don't think they particularly wanted the protest in a way
similar to the way USC did, But they weren't like
ordering extra security or like guards or anything like that.

(03:53):
It was really just more of like, we won't kind
of say anything about this. And I think they were
hoping for like a Barbi Streisand effect, where like if
no one did anything about it, it would just kind
of like go away on its own.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
The Barber streis End effect.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Heard that in a while, Yeah, well, I kind of,
I think, And that was one of the issues that
USC had, like students had with like the president Carol
fall Is, like why aren't you say anything. I think
that's really something that they're going to have to be
more vocal this semester if they want students to kind
of like yes, if they want students to sort of
like not be as aggressive as they were last semester,

(04:29):
they're gonna have to be more.

Speaker 3 (04:30):
Vocal, especially if they do come back.

Speaker 5 (04:31):
You know, I had seen on the news apparently I
don't know if you knew this because you go there,
the USC encampments are back.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
I haven't seen it yet, Okay, sure.

Speaker 5 (04:39):
And then yeah, I think at us Lee, I'm not
sure I believe if they were starting that again. But
you know, that was a big issue when that was
going on too. Is that a lot of the administration
of the schools and you know, the President's stuff, and
they weren't condemning the students who were being incredibly aggressive
and harassing students, you know, And and so I think

(05:00):
that is a big thing that they'll have to start
being more vocal about.

Speaker 3 (05:03):
It if that does come back.

Speaker 5 (05:05):
And then as far as the extra you know, like
security precautions too, I had actually felt that with just
my graduation. Again, luckily there wasn't any of that going
on but I did take extra precautions just because of
what was going on at the other schools, and that
was really interesting. And I talked to professors about that too,
because they had all these kind of like you know,
restrictions on what kind of bags to bring in and

(05:26):
they actually, I guess they used to never do like
a bag check for graduation, and so they started doing
that because of what was going on.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
So well, I wonder if now that the president has
been set with respect to protests on campus and how
each of the colleges handled it, I think I'm going
to see more of that from the outside looking in.
I think I'm going to see more protests because they'd
been tolerated. Okay, don't you think that that could be

(05:55):
the case now that most of the university's tolerated it. Yeah,
other than what happened at UCLA when that hit fever pitch,
even USC had some issues at one point. But I
see us, I see us. I'm seeing collectively here, But
I can easily see campuses becoming more active with protests

(06:16):
because they were allowed to happen. Does that make sense? Yeah?
And do you, I mean, do you folks see that
that could be the case? I mean, do you find
yourselves if you back on campus as student journalists, do
you see yourselves covering more protests? Do you do you
project that?

Speaker 2 (06:29):
I personally feel that in USC, you know, there's a
lot of international students, and not to like disregard any
of their efforts, but a lot of rich international students,
and I have talked to a lot of these people,
and their view of the encampments is very different from like,
you know, someone who's like a local, you know student.
I think they don't want to see that at all.

(06:49):
They're not used to it, and they don't want to
see it. And I think in USC they're going to
do everything they can to like make sure it doesn't
happen again.

Speaker 1 (06:55):
But that's just my and in some of those countries
they don't tolerate it, right, they will, Now you don't
even you can't even like Chinese students. Yeah, I'm right, exactly, Yeah,
that government will no. No, that's a big no no.
And so when they see that, I think that's that's
an interesting point, Eric, because when you've got when you've
got those foreign students here, and one of the reasons

(07:17):
they come here is because they don't want to They
don't want to deal with a lot of that. So, yeah,
I understand it. But so uh, so you think that
personal security will be an issue or or do you
think it's just gonna be business as usual on campus?
Kimdy Uh?

Speaker 4 (07:34):
For me on my campus, I think it's just going
to be business as usual. I don't think anything will change.
And I think maybe one of the like the Bear campuses,
I know Chapman had a pretty big encampment at some point.

Speaker 1 (07:44):
So but it never turned violent though, No, I never
know violent. And then but how did the and I
don't want to go on to that because we did
discuss it in a previous show, but I don't want
to go too far down that. But how did the
administration handle that encampment? Uh? Did they let them kind
of do their thing or what?

Speaker 4 (08:02):
I think they just let them do their thing. I
think they were hoping for just like a peaceful resolution.
They didn't want to repeat of what happened at USC.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
Did they have a peaceful resolution that you recall? I think?
So I never heard of anything turning violent. Yeah it
must have been. Okay then yeah, okay, we'll continue the conversation,
but first let's take a quick break. Welcome back to
the studio six forty. I'm Steve Gregory. Thank you for
joining us. We are talking with three college journalists who

(08:32):
are weighing in on sort of what the school year
looks like and what they're looking forward to covering some
of the kind of some of the issues that are
facing today's students. And before the break, we've been talking
about personal security. I just keep imagining and Kimdy, you
mentioned that you had a camp, one of those protest
camps on your campus, but it kind of in fact,

(08:57):
you said, you don't even remember what the resolution was,
so it must not have been a big blow up
at the end like it was on other campuses. Don't
you think that personal security is still a concern on
your campus though, regardless of coming off the heels of
all those protests. But don't you think that there is
still a concern with some personal security and safety?

Speaker 4 (09:19):
I guess, but like not really related to protests or
anything like that. I just think it's due to yeah,
just in general, do that other reasons, just because things
that are transpired on my campus previously, like what well,
the day I think that week I moved in, when
a professor was murdered and then.

Speaker 1 (09:40):
A dead body was.

Speaker 4 (09:41):
Found in the car garage I think the last fall,
and I'd never heard any information about that. Further, just
like they found him decaying in one of the cars
and they couldn't tell because like all the windows were
tinted basically, so was it.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
A student or a staffer?

Speaker 4 (09:58):
It was like a six year old man, I think,
So we're not sure like why he was there.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
Oh, he had no relation to the school. Wow, So
that kind of freaks people out. Yeah, now that now
that it makes it to me, it makes it even
more intense than all the stuff that was going on
at USC and U c l A. Yeah, how does
that How does something like that impact the student body? Well,
when you when you've got you know, dead people on

(10:23):
your campus.

Speaker 4 (10:25):
It's something that like everyone talks about because like it like,
for example, we heard about the murder because they like, basically,
we have this alert system at our school that'll send
us notifications. And I was just moved into my dorm
and then I get a notification just like don't go
outside or there's a assault at College Park basically, and

(10:47):
then they give us further details later on stuff like that.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
What a welcome.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
Yeah. Do you are you comfortable and confident in your
student administ in your school administration that they're your alerts,
are they're act, they're timely. Do you do you feel
safe there?

Speaker 4 (11:04):
I would must say most of the time, but then
you get surprised by like other things that have happened
on campus, and for example, the body that was found,
and you're just thinking, oh, well, you know that's that
just doesn't make me sure all the time anymore.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
That's crazy. So Nico, California Lutheran or Calou as it's
affectionately known as as the insiders call it. So you
you graduated earlier in the year, but during your time there,
you're a little more isolated your private Yeah. So were

(11:40):
those same security concerns an issue there than what I'm
talking about.

Speaker 5 (11:43):
With these guys not as much, certainly nothing like Kennedy's
experience here. But you know, also what I was thinking about,
I commuted, so I lived at home, right, and so
I do think it was a different experience compared to
students who lived on campus. The most, you know, the
things that I would hear would be like sometimes they
would have electricity problems, like the power going out. You know,

(12:05):
and then students that were living on campus kind of
had to deal with that.

Speaker 3 (12:07):
There actually was.

Speaker 5 (12:08):
Now that i'm thinking of it, when the it was
really heavy rains.

Speaker 3 (12:12):
I think just in the spring. I forgot when it was,
but earlier this.

Speaker 5 (12:15):
Year and there was a huge flood in the parking
lot kind of like right when you enter the campus.
And there was one girl in the newspaper had reported
on this. Her car got totally messed up. It kind
of like it flooded all the way to half way
of her car, and so that that was really messy.
But so things like that, I think it was kind
of the the most extreme so far what I've heard.

(12:37):
There's been every now and then, like kind of random instances,
you know, somebody like it's stolen a car, like weird
things like that.

Speaker 3 (12:44):
But I think they're pretty good.

Speaker 5 (12:46):
You know, we have a campus safety and they're usually
always driving around and at night too kind of they
have I think services that you can call like if
you're feeling unsafe. I remember somebody telling me that that
works there. You know, you can get like escorted. I
think things like that. You know, so they do have.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
Did that campus have its own police department?

Speaker 3 (13:07):
I don't recall they did have.

Speaker 5 (13:10):
I think it was just like they had a campus
safety and then the Thousand Oaks Police Department was nearby,
but I'm not sure if they were like directly involved or.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
Had a substation on campus. Maybe no. No, Yeah, So
Kimdy over on your campus, con State Fullerton, does it
have its own police department? They do? Yeah, yeah, And
so do they have a big presence on campus?

Speaker 4 (13:31):
I wouldn't say so, to be honest, Like I see
them occasionally, like they'll be giving because I'm not there
at night as much anymore, but I'll be seeing them
like give rides to people across campus that are kind
of scared to like go there themselves, like little shuttles
right to like the dorms and stuff like that. And
then of course they'll always be there like giving tickets

(13:53):
to people.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
Do you live on campus? I used to not used to. Yeah,
did you feel safe when you lived on campus?

Speaker 4 (14:01):
I would say so, Like I generally didn't think I
knew it was like a public campus, so anyone could
just come in, but like you know, we had key
cards and stuff like that, and nobody could just like
come in the building without like just like authorization stuff
like that.

Speaker 1 (14:16):
So that was always what frightened me is that it's
an open campus. Yeah, that always frightened me for some reason.
And I went to a public university as well, so
eric USC, I know, it has its own police department,
and it's a very robust police department on campus off campus.

Speaker 2 (14:32):
So I think they kind of stretch out a little bit.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
I don't know, do you live on campus.

Speaker 2 (14:35):
I live off campus, but I live like walking distance
within USC in South La. So I think for USC
students there is kind of like we get crime alerts,
we get the text and emails, but they're always late,
so people don't trust them. I talked to some people
last semester. I interviewed them for our college radio, and
they said that somebody had broken into their apartment and

(14:55):
they live in student housing and the police said, well,
we can't do anything unless they come back. And I
think just the general sentiment is they don't trust campus police.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
Interesting.

Speaker 2 (15:05):
I think also because USC is around South Aday, we
also get a lot of alerts, crime alerts for things
that just happen in South.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
La from through LAPD usually Yeah, and we.

Speaker 2 (15:15):
Get those crime alerts to our student emails. So I think,
for the most part, people who don't generally feel safe,
if I have to be honest.

Speaker 1 (15:21):
Okay, we're going to come back and we'll continue the conversation.
We're talking with three journalists college journalists and about safety
and about coming back to school and some of the
issues that students are facing. Welcome back to Studio six forty.
I'm Steve Gregory. Thanks for joining us. Before the break,

(15:42):
we were talking about campuses and their security protocols and
how students are feeling, especially coming off of the tail
end of a school year that was besieged with protests
and uncertainty and Jewish students being bullied and harassed. And
now how are students viewing their personal safety and security

(16:03):
as they come back to campus. But I wanted to
segue now into something else, and we're talking about the
sort of the negative on the personal security and the
kind of the frightening side on the positive side. What
are the students in your view looking most forward to
doing when they come back to campus, Kim.

Speaker 4 (16:17):
Dy, I would say the new materials, facilities that are
always available to them, interacting with new people, especially just
like people within their majors that around their same age
that have similar interest to them, any opportunities out there
that they can get through college, and then of course
networking with other people.

Speaker 1 (16:37):
Do you find that issues that have happened in the summer,
like let's say this ongoing conflict is rarely in God's
of conflict. Does that impact what people talk about when
they come back to campus. Think big world events like that?

Speaker 4 (16:55):
I think at times, But I feel like because we
live in like this twenty four hour news cycle, that
like the big events like they'll stay relevant for a while,
but like you know, something else comes along to eventually
just kind of like get in front of that other thing.

Speaker 1 (17:10):
Eric at USC you live off campus now, so I
don't do you interact with a lot of students or
will be on a daily basis?

Speaker 2 (17:19):
Oh yeah, I mean I'm still going to be seeing
them in school the next semester. I think because tensions
were so high last semester, I kind of I'm hoping
that the football season will be like a saving grace.
Football season will be like everyone's in the school spirit,
We're all, yeah, everyone wants a party. I'm hoping that
that would kind of like ease attentions a little bit.
I'm really hoping and looking forward to that.

Speaker 5 (17:41):
I think there usually always is, like at the very beginning,
at the beginning of the fall semester, there's always a
lot of excitement because you got like a whole new
year coming in.

Speaker 3 (17:47):
That's always what I noticed, right.

Speaker 1 (17:49):
Yeah, Yeah, there's something about the fall season. Yeah, there's
something like refreshing about it for some weird reasons, like
kind of like spring for me. Well, I think also.

Speaker 5 (17:57):
People have a long summer break because I always remember,
you know, inter break is a lot shorter, right, and
so I always felt more refreshed after the summer break
coming back, and people are more energized and kind of
ready to get things going again.

Speaker 1 (18:08):
Well, now through the lens of a student journalist for
Unico Again, you graduated earlier in the year, you know,
are you a little melancholy about the new school you're
starting and you're not a part of that?

Speaker 3 (18:19):
Absolutely not.

Speaker 5 (18:20):
No, No, Okay, I have really been.

Speaker 3 (18:22):
I've been.

Speaker 5 (18:23):
I've been loving this, you know, new seasons so far,
because I think I was always I mean, I think
any student can can relate. Whenever August would roll around
like that was always I would always associate that was like, okay,
here we go get you know, like that was the
month that school started, and so I've really been noticing
I've been loving just kind of not having you know,
that anticipation kind of pressure coming up that it's it's

(18:44):
going to start again.

Speaker 1 (18:45):
Well, that said, and where I was headed with it
is any stories now that you're not attached to, you know,
like a daily basis, there is there a story or
a topic that you wish you had covered that you didn't.

Speaker 5 (18:56):
You know, So when I was doing when I was
on the newspaper, I have focused a lot on like features,
which I had a lot of fun with, and kind
of you know, highlighting like different programs and clubs on school.
I wonder, you know, maybe maybe tackling more like serious
kind of stuff because I feel like the newspaper of
my school, you know, they would stay pretty neutral for

(19:16):
the most part and kind of focus on campus news.
You remember this one I tried to I was writing
an op ed on what was going on in the
Middle East, but it did not get published. And so yeah,
I think because they do try and stay a bit
more neutral. But I am actually I'm planning on even
though I graduate, I can still go and use the

(19:37):
radio station, which is going to be cool. Yes, I'm
planning on going back that one I do with a
buddy of mine and we call host on that and
so we're planning on doing some more of that, and
so we'll see and maybe intertwine more more news on them.

Speaker 1 (19:49):
Okay, we'll talk a little bit more about that, and
before we move on to our next topic, Eric, I
want to give everyone a chance to learn who you
are and a little bit about what your goals are.
So tell us about going to school at USC, what's
you're majoring in, and what you're hoping to get out
of it.

Speaker 2 (20:03):
Yeah. So I really went into USC trying to cover
like business and tech. That was my focus. But over
the summer I was in Phoenix over the summer covering
the Hispanic population and I did a lot more politics.
So now I have a newfound love for politics, and
I think I want to get more into that. But
I've always like focused on print and radio. I've produced
at my college radio for two semesters now going to

(20:25):
do it for a third time as an executive producer.
So just wanted to do more radio, and I really
do want to cover the stories that affect or look
at it. How do they affect students? You know, how
does this national news affect people at USC?

Speaker 1 (20:39):
Excellent, Kim Dy. I know that you are focusing more
on film, which is fascinating, but you know you've also
kind of got this interest in storytelling and you've kind
of equated it into the journalism space. So tell us
about a little bit your future goals and what do
you want to do well this upcoming may. I really
want to graduate. I really want to give the commencement

(21:01):
speech of my school. Oh cool, well from it because
they kind of split into different departments, of course, and
I would love to give the one for the Cinema
Television Arts department. Have you already written your speech? I've
have a couple of drafts.

Speaker 4 (21:15):
Like I've thought about some things, but I was thinking
just like as soon as the school year starts, I'd
go into the career center and kind of like have
them help me write it out, and then when the
time comes, I'll like start just like pitching it and
emailing it to whoever I need to email it to.

Speaker 1 (21:32):
And I know that you've been sort of you're pretty
well read. So when we've had you on the show before,
you've always been able to weigh in on all our
topics even though you're sort of a film major. But
storytelling is that something that comes to you pretty naturally?

Speaker 4 (21:45):
I would say, so, my roommates would say, I have
a nac for just like storytelling and just like kind
of like creating like something out of nothing. I had
this knack for like telling stories, for like the plots
of movies and make it seem as if it was
my own life. And they actually got really mad at
me for doing that because I'll just like give the

(22:06):
plot of a movie and then they're like, oh my gosh,
that really happened to you, and I say, no, that's
the plot of She's All that or something like that.

Speaker 1 (22:13):
But it's great. So in other words, you'd be a
great con man. Yes, yeah, exactly. Nico Sapphire a recent
graduate of cal Lutheran. And I know that you've been
doing a lot of work with your college there, even
you just said post graduation. So tell us a little
bit about what you want to do.

Speaker 3 (22:29):
Yeah, oh my gosh.

Speaker 5 (22:30):
Well, you know, so I came in as CALM and
I was studying that and I was focused on more
pr and advertising in the beginning, and then kind of later,
you know, my college years, I got really involved in
like the production classes and the radio program. So I
started my own podcast there, Sapphire Sessions, and then also
the radio program as well, and so you know, it's

(22:50):
fun having the kind of two different shows. The podcast
is more whatever I'm interested in, more interview style, and
the radio show is a bit more entertainment based. But
it's been a lot of fun and that's definitely want
to continue that. And of course the politics now too.
I'm always keeping up with what's going on so that
I can intertwine more in my podcast and I'd love
to do that be you know, on air personality or

(23:12):
like a talk show host someday.

Speaker 3 (23:13):
So that's it's the goal.

Speaker 1 (23:14):
Very good. Well, it's great to have you all here.
Appreciate it very much. Welcome back to Studio six forty.
I'm Steve Gregory, Thanks for joining us. When we were
talking with our panel, Kem, d Nico and Eric were
all the issues from personal security and safety to the

(23:35):
things that students are looking forward to the most when
they get back on campus. Some of the things that
I think that people don't understand is the stress that
today's students are facing, and there's been a lot going on,
whether it's just world conflict, whether it's the you know,
the climbing and prices for gas or something as simple
as that. But give me a sense and give the

(23:56):
audience a sense of some of the things that are
really stressing out the students.

Speaker 2 (23:59):
To Eric, I mean for me personally, I don't know
if I'm paranoid, but COVID is still fresh in my mind.
I'm sure COVID is still fresh in everybody's mind. So
the news about monkey pox has really got me worried.

Speaker 1 (24:11):
About to stay freaked out. Yeah, you about to stay
freaked out?

Speaker 2 (24:14):
Yeah, you know. I saw an article that it had
reached the Bay, which is pretty close to l So
I'm pretty concerned about that. We were just talking about
football season, how it's like prime for events, it's prime
for like everybody coming together. So I really hope this
monkey pox thing isn't like a COVID two point zero
and things have to get canceled. Because this is my

(24:34):
last semester. I really want to enjoy it. Yes, I
put off my graduate program for closet to four years
because I did not want to do online school and
that I like as soon as I saw the news,
I thought, okay, I can't do online school. I'm not
going to do that. So I really hope that goes away.

Speaker 5 (24:48):
Yeah, I completely understand that fear, you know, And I
think that was for a while for me too, even
even kind of when you know, restrictions.

Speaker 3 (24:57):
Started to get lifted, but I was paranoid, like is
this going to come back?

Speaker 5 (25:00):
But I think a lot of schools since then have learned,
you know, how to go about it, and I think
a lot of the restrictions that were put in place.

Speaker 3 (25:09):
I think a lot of them were unnecessary.

Speaker 5 (25:11):
And I think because for me, I started school twenty
twenty like full.

Speaker 3 (25:15):
On pandemic time, okay, and so it's full online. I
mean it was terrible.

Speaker 5 (25:18):
It sucked, you know, and so I can could completely
understand that. Hopefully I don't think it would go back
to that.

Speaker 1 (25:26):
But well, I don't know. The COVID nineteen strain right
now that we're experiencing is spiking higher than any strains
have before that it's rapidly growing, it's it's spiked faster
and higher than any than any time since twenty twenty.

Speaker 2 (25:40):
I didn't even know that.

Speaker 1 (25:42):
I didn't mean anymore. I didn't mean you anymore, but
that's true. But the IMPOC saying the monkey pops saying
that freaked you out.

Speaker 2 (25:51):
Yeah, but I don't know if I'm just paranoid. I
don't know how other people feel.

Speaker 1 (25:54):
Yeah, have you read up on monkey pocks?

Speaker 2 (25:56):
I try not to because I would.

Speaker 1 (26:00):
I was going to say, do you know how it's transmitted?

Speaker 2 (26:02):
It's airborne?

Speaker 1 (26:03):
Now, yeah, okay, that's what. Okay, to make sure you knew.
Originally what they were worried about the transmission was it
was sexually transmitted first. Yeah, yeah, and now now it's airborne.
That's why before people get complacent if they think it's
only well, I don't have to worry about it because
I'm with a partner or made or whatever. But now
with it being airborne, that's the problem is when it

(26:23):
mutates and goes to the next level. This is like
with COVID. Now, the impacts and effects of COVID aren't
nearly as bad, but it spreads faster, and.

Speaker 2 (26:33):
You're saying monkey puck spread faster.

Speaker 1 (26:34):
No, no, no, covid, COVID. Yeah, And then COVID, even though
it's the symptoms are milder, it spreads faster, and it's
more contagious. That's what that's what bizarre about it. So
kim Dy, it's you know you've been saying here listening
to just talking about diseases and fears. What are some
of the stressors you see with students.

Speaker 4 (26:52):
I feel like the two most consistent ones I've seen
throughout my ears in college would probably be financial instability
and then falling behind. M I've gone through both myself,
just like being a college student, like, uh, just your schedule,
just how everything's always all over the place. It makes
it hard to have a consistent work schedule too, so

(27:12):
you're not always working all the time, and you know
that can lead to just like not having enough money
all the time, which you're always stressing out about, especially
paying rent something that you didn't have to do like
four or five years ago when you were in high school.
And then falling behind of course, like I usually, like
I I start this every semester really strong, and I

(27:33):
tried to like like finish it really strong. But somewhere
in between, like there are times where like every now
and then, like I'll just like I'll miss an assignment here,
or I'll forget like I struggled a lot last semester,
and it took like everything in me to just like
finish out strong and like not like mess up or

(27:56):
fall behind. And I can't really do that with my
classes because it if you fail, like any class, like,
you can't retake it the next semester.

Speaker 1 (28:04):
You have to wait till the next school year. So
when you're talking to other kids and whether it's for
a story or just you know, having conversations or at
a party or anything like that, do all of those
kids share the same stressors? Is that usually the most
common stuff? The financial the falling behind, the fear of illness?
Does that all seem to be a common thet.

Speaker 5 (28:27):
Comments right, It seems like, you know, there's a lot
of overlaps, and I think a big thing is just
burnout in general.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
That was going to be where I was headed next.
If burnout still exists. I was going to ask if
still exists, and where where in the school year does
it usually hit?

Speaker 5 (28:43):
Maybe midway through yeah, I would say probably, yeah, because I.

Speaker 2 (28:47):
Would say it's a good way to connect with people
complaining about finances stress school, Like, it's a good way
to connect with those.

Speaker 5 (28:54):
Students so you feel less alone, you know, it can
kind of relate to everybody.

Speaker 1 (28:58):
Can wallow in your misery together.

Speaker 4 (29:00):
Yeah, I feel like you also have these phases where
you have like first burnout and second burnout, Like it
gets like increasingly worse. Like it goes like, oh, Okay,
I think I'm having a good day now, and then
you wake up the next day and then you have
like all this stuff to do and then oh okay,
I'm going to burnout again.

Speaker 2 (29:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:15):
Well, the I think the thought of burnout, it's funny
because I would think with your generation now, everything's focused
on wellness and self care. That's why I was asking
that question, because isn't your generation a lot more worried
about or a lot more interested in taking more breaks
and doing meditation, in drinking more ice coffee or whatever

(29:40):
it is you do. Yeah, but I mean, is that
not an issue or is there not a lot of
effort or emphasis on self care and wellness?

Speaker 5 (29:47):
You know, I had actually found my school they started
doing like wellness or kind of encouraging wellness practices, and
they had like little events sometimes in the park, you know,
and tried to offer ways to I guess for lack
and try and distress so there was like newer programs
like that to encourage students to do that so they
you know, maybe wouldn't get as burnt out or to

(30:09):
try and balance things and things like that.

Speaker 2 (30:11):
So I do think that people my generation are more
concerned about wellness. Yeah, but I think that goes all
out the window, like once people are in school, like
towards finals, us see what texts like make sure you're
getting seven to eight hours of sleep, and everyone just
grows because no one's getting that amount of time.

Speaker 5 (30:27):
It's hard to then incorporate the wellness when you're just
so busy and on the go.

Speaker 1 (30:31):
Then yeah, yeah, it's great. They tell you to get
seventy eight hours of sleep, but they don't tell you
how to study and cram I know, ye yes, right, yeah, right, listen,
we'll continue the conversation. We've been talking with Kem d
Willsue Nico Sapphire, and Eric Travigno, and they are student
panelists for this edition of Studio six forty. Welcome back

(30:55):
to to Studio six forty. I'm Steve Gregory. We're talking
with three of our college student journal lists and before
the break, we were looking at some of the stressors
that today's college kids are facing, and it looks like
a round the gamut. I didn't expect the illness part, Eric,
I didn't think the disease part would come up. And
that's a that's a legitimate stressor, especially in southern California

(31:15):
where it's a lot of international travel, a lot of
things are coming from other countries, COVID, you know, there's
a lot of stuff going on, and so I think
it's a it's a legitimate fear to have. So I
want to move on to the next topic, though, And
I'm interested as you look at the school year, what

(31:35):
are some of the stories that you're most interested in covering?
And and and also tell me what is the process
for you to get to cover a story. Do you
get to come up with the ideas or are they
assigned to you like we are in our world where
you know, we have an assignment editor says this is
what you need to cover. So kem Dy, what kind
of things are you looking forward to covering yourself?

Speaker 4 (31:56):
I would say politics for sure. My my schools TV
station has kind of a debate show that we do,
like a news debate show, So we report the news
and then we kind of discuss it afterwards. And I
just really like hearing everyone's different like points of view,
because like we don't all think the same. And that's
kind of how we like cast the show basically to
make sure they are like different points of view on
there so we can get those like different like ideas

(32:18):
out there, and like we don't really like shut each
other down either, and it's it's really more of just
like a I want to hear your points. I may
disagree with you, but that's okay.

Speaker 3 (32:27):
Ye, that's how it should be.

Speaker 5 (32:28):
Yeah, you know, yeah, my newspapers is a little different.
I think I was saying earlier. They tend to focus
on campus news. I mean with the radio, that's totally different.
That's a lot of fun because you can any student
can have their own show and do whatever they.

Speaker 1 (32:40):
Want, right.

Speaker 5 (32:42):
And then I was also ahead of our women's magazine
as well, which is kind of a bit more free flowing,
but you know, did focus more on like women's issues.
But as far as the newspaper goes, I think that
would have been fun too, to kind of do more politics.
I'm with you on that, and just things that you know,
are kind of outside of the campus but still can
have an impact on how students are feeling, right, And

(33:02):
I did try mentioned earlier to I did write an
op ed on what was going on in the Middle East,
but the one of the former editor in chiefs you know,
was disagreeing with my opinions, so you know, didn't never
ended up getting published. And so I think that because
you were just saying kemedy, you know, which I think
is great and how you can just kind of to

(33:24):
be able to hear everybody's opinions. And I think that's
what like the opinions section is for, at least in
a newspaper. So you know, it'd be great to kind
of get that a bit more free flowing, I think,
But but you know, it depends who who's in charge,
I guess.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
So were you discouraged when your editor said no to
your op ed on the Middle East? Yeah?

Speaker 5 (33:45):
I was because it did feel it felt personal a
little bit, and it you know, it felt kind of
aggressive because they were disagreeing with all my opinions, and
I was like, this is kind of what you know,
and it has my name on it, so like it
wasn't and right, that's what it's for, you know, doesn't
necessarily have to associate with what the paper itself is,
like their opinions, right, And I think you know, it

(34:11):
was difficult because the professor, I mean, who was great
about that situation because the former editor in chief wasn't
comfortable publishing it. But I also wasn't comfortable changing my article, right,
So it did get graded and everything for the class, right,
but it just didn't get published. And so yeah, it
was kind of you know, a bit discruction about that.

Speaker 1 (34:29):
What I'm curious about people listening, kind of curious about
the process. What were the reasons given for not publishing it?

Speaker 3 (34:37):
Were not publishing it? The editor in chief from what
I remember, did not agree with my.

Speaker 1 (34:43):
So simply just didn't agree. So they did get published.

Speaker 5 (34:45):
Yeah, that's as far as I Yeah, that's what it
was interesting.

Speaker 1 (34:48):
Ye, there were no inaccuracies or any inflammatory comments.

Speaker 5 (34:51):
In it were no, I mean because you know, of
course I provided a bunch of you know, credible sites
like to back up my claims and stuff, right, so
I had credit sources and very interesting.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
Yeah, did you ever feel like or did you want
to call out saying like, just because it doesn't align
with what you think, you can't in a way they're
kind of silencing you. Did you feel that way? Did
you say anything?

Speaker 5 (35:12):
Well, you know, I mean it was difficult. I didn't
want to you know, get into I didn't want there
to be conflct or anything. So that's what I went
to the professor directly of the class. She was like
the like the advisor of the paper, right because it
was kind of set up as a class too.

Speaker 3 (35:25):
But yeah, so I.

Speaker 5 (35:26):
Went to her directly, you know, and she was kind
of acting as as a bit of a middle ground there,
and and like I said, you know, and because they
weren't comfortable publishing, but I also didn't want to change
my article at all.

Speaker 3 (35:37):
So we just kind of came to that.

Speaker 5 (35:40):
And then because I I wasn't going to like I said,
wasn't going to be comfortable changing what what my opinions
and my views and stuff, so you know, I felt
some kind of uh like pride and kind of standing
by ground with that.

Speaker 3 (35:55):
But yeah, it was just you know, a bit of drama.

Speaker 5 (35:58):
But I didn't want to, like escal so it wasn't
really much interaction as far as that goes.

Speaker 1 (36:04):
Eric, what are you looking forward to covering or addressing
when you get back to school? Full time.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
Well, of course, like the elect Sorry, we can't talk
about the election.

Speaker 1 (36:14):
Now, now we can. I got to edit that out too, Okay,
that's okay, just say you know, just yeah say politics.

Speaker 2 (36:22):
Yeah, of course, like politics is always like very important,
especially like the shifting attitudes as news comes out. But
I'm not you know, at our radio, we're not USC's
PR team. But USC did win like fifteen medals and
we have three current like Olympians, and I really want
to focus like especially for our sports tests, like you know,
who are these like Olympians that really represent USC and

(36:46):
how do they train? All those things. I think I'd
be really interested looking into that. And I think even
though it's like four years until LA twenty twenty eight,
I you know, already taking place in South LA, there's
been a lot of changes, especially since Karen Bass promised
to no build US and car free Olympics. You know,
there's already been so much construction happening in how it

(37:07):
displaces people in South LA and it could impact like
student housing, it could impact you know, residents there. I
think that's something that we can all look forward to
because in a way it's going to really affect students
a lot of students commute to school, so this increase
in the La Metro system is going to have positive impact.
So I think, you know, I think we can already
start seeing that in the coming year.

Speaker 1 (37:28):
Anything that I think that's fascinating, You're right, anything Olympics
is going to be. It's going to be a very
very fertile ground. You know, there's gonna be a lot
there to talk about. What do you think are some
of the stories that you might not be looking forward
to covering that you might have to cover.

Speaker 2 (37:49):
I think, well, along with those lines, it's going to
be difficult because.

Speaker 1 (37:54):
Okay, hold that thought, because we're gonna have to take
a break. We'll pick that up. Eric, Welcome back to
Studio six forty. I'm Steve Gregory. Thank you for joining
us talking with Kem Duosu, Nico Sapphire or Eric Travinho
about some issues on campus. They are student journalists and

(38:14):
kind of looking at how things are going to map
out for the school year for their colleagues and for
their classmates. And before the break, Eric, we were talking
about I asked you what are some of the stories
you weren't looking forward to covering? You were talking about
how you're looking forward to doing a lot of Olympic
stuff and being at USC You're going to be down
there kind of in the epicenter of a lot of
that activity. But I cut you off before the break.

(38:36):
What is it you're not looking forward to covering?

Speaker 2 (38:40):
I mean, just along those lines, you know, I was
listening to a podcast called Say to Play Summer Games,
and they were talking to residents about how already there's
you know, efforts to kick people out, to build student housing,
to build hotels for the game that's happening four years
from now. And that's going to be difficult because at one,
like on one and you want to highlight the struggles

(39:02):
that these residents are going to who I've been living
here for years, but also you need to focus on
your audience are students and they need student housing, and
student housing is expensive and that could really like just
add more availability. So I think that's going to cause
a lot of challenges, like how do we cover in
a way where we see both sides?

Speaker 1 (39:19):
I think, Keim Bey, you are on the radio station,
and please refresh my memory? Are you Is it more
of a talk show format? When you're on radio, you
can really.

Speaker 4 (39:29):
Choose whatever show kind of show you want to do.
So it can be like a fully music show. I
know people that don't even talk on the radio, they
just play music for like an entire hour. I do
like a talk show, but mine's more of like a
like a history show really and.

Speaker 1 (39:45):
History of what whatever I want? Really? Oh really yeah.

Speaker 4 (39:48):
It's called rent free History. So it's about just like
moments in history most mostly just like pop culture stuff
that just lives rent free in my head.

Speaker 1 (39:55):
Give us an example.

Speaker 4 (39:57):
So the first episode is about MTV and how that
kind of just wasn't going to last like forever as
just like a channel that just played music videos. They
had to evolve, but at some point they turned away
from music and that's where the channel kind of fell apart.
They tried to bring it back, and by that point
nobody cared.

Speaker 1 (40:16):
Yeah, it's a really good one. First video on MTV.

Speaker 4 (40:20):
Video Killed the Radio Star by the Bugles Buggles Buggles.

Speaker 1 (40:25):
So close. Keyboardist Hans Zimmer, famous composer, really wow wow.

Speaker 4 (40:31):
Do you know he also made the whopper song for Birdcan.

Speaker 1 (40:34):
Yes, I do. Wow. I've interviewed him four times. Really
yeah wow. We just interviewed his protege Lauren balf recently.
Wow yeah, And then I sat in on the Bad
Boys scoring session. Interesting yeah on a Fox slot. Yeah.
I'm a big, big movie music guy, big so. But
the Buggles I always remember because I remember seeing the
first day of MTV going in the air. That's how

(40:54):
far I go back and wow, wow, But I remember
the first day of MTV and I remember the astronaut
with the flag coming up first thing and the video
killed the radio star. And little did I know then
that I would be interviewing the guy that was playing
keyboards and help write the song. It was pretty weird.

(41:17):
It was mind boggling for me. But now that's cool.
I like that. I like the little history stuff on there.
What are some of the things that you can see
coming down the pike that might be a negative story
for you or something that might not bode well for
your college.

Speaker 4 (41:35):
I would say just any disaster kind of tragedy, just
like whether it be like a shooting or like a
major like natural disaster like an earthquake or anything like
that that just displaces people, destroys homes, kind of ruins lives.

Speaker 1 (41:49):
Have you ever witnessed a disaster like that? And the
reason I'm asking is you as a storyteller, When you
see that, have you ever thought about how you would
cover that? Well?

Speaker 4 (42:00):
Well, it's kind of difficult because I feel like I'm
always trying to like entertain people, and there's no really,
there's no real way.

Speaker 1 (42:06):
To like entertain people.

Speaker 4 (42:07):
It's kind of just like get the news out and
then I guess just talk about it a little bit.

Speaker 3 (42:13):
Yeah, we can still be entertaining. Yeah, you know what
the news right on the talk shows.

Speaker 1 (42:17):
But I would applaud anyone who can make a disaster
entertaining right now.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
That's a good point.

Speaker 1 (42:21):
Yeah, right, So, Nico, when you're looking forward to, you know,
getting out into the I don't want to say the
real world, but but when you're getting out of that
professional world where you're being paid for your thoughts and
views and and whatnot, do you find that it's been
difficult to find a job in your field?

Speaker 5 (42:40):
Oh gosh, I mean, you know, I'm just starting right
and and so this is a great start here.

Speaker 1 (42:45):
Did you start looking before you got out of school.

Speaker 3 (42:48):
A little bit?

Speaker 5 (42:48):
Yeah, mainly here at iHeart, right, So I was kind
of looking at at some gigs here and I yeah,
I think, you know, and again, this is great what
we're doing here, and this is really kind of a
I feel like, getting me on track for what I
would love to do something very similar in the future.
And you know, both the shows that I do are
a little bit different, right Again, the podcast that I'm

(43:09):
doing is kind of, you know, whatever I want to
talk about too, and more interview style.

Speaker 3 (43:14):
I think, more like a talk show.

Speaker 5 (43:16):
The radio show it is a bit more like music
and entertainment based, you know, but that's really fun too,
and I feel like that would also be fun, you know,
cause that's more kind of like an on air personality,
and we play our playlists and then we have sometimes
like the artists they'll call in and we interview them,
and then you know, kind of little talk segments and
usually on that we're talking about what's going on like

(43:37):
in the entertainment world, right, but also being super invested
in politics too. I kind of, you know, maybe trying
to try to see how I can combine everything. And yeah,
so you know, I know, coming out of college too
and sort of at least generally in my.

Speaker 3 (43:53):
Age, like it's hard to start there.

Speaker 5 (43:55):
I feel like that's the top, right to like have
your own show at a at a company, right, you
know to I want to continue doing my shows and
just kind of keep getting better.

Speaker 1 (44:03):
And you know, you guys actually have it better today
than I did when I was getting into this business,
because you have the ability to do a podcast, you
have the ability to do a YouTube channel, you have
the ability to go ahead and hone your skills away
from school and create your own following then go to
the company and say, hey, hire me. By the way,
I have, you know, one hundred thousand followers, and so

(44:26):
I think it's great. I would be fascinated to know
how I would have treated it when I was your age,
if I would have taken advantage of it or not,
because I you know, we had to struggle the old
ways to get any kind of a gig in radio.
And I think it's fascinating that everyone wants to do
a talk show. Yeah, why is that?

Speaker 2 (44:46):
Because we love to talk.

Speaker 1 (44:48):
Self absorbed? Okay, well there's that, you know, That's there's
a lot of that around here in this building. I
think it kind of evolves.

Speaker 4 (44:56):
I like to think of like it's kind of like
with comedians in a way where comedians they're big thing
everyone's big thing in like the eighties and nineties was
getting their own show, because well before that, it was
you know, getting on the Tonight Show and getting like
five minutes with Carson, and then it evolved to getting
your own show or and then from there getting your
own show turned into getting your own special or something

(45:19):
like that, and now it's getting your own podcasts because
as it becomes more and more accessible, more people can
do it. And if you're going to do it, why
wouldn't you because maybe you could pop off and you know,
become the next like Joe Rogan or like any of
those people that just like those people that just have podcasts.

Speaker 1 (45:39):
This is Studio six forty. I'm Steve Gregory. Thank you
for joining us. We've been talking with three college journalists
about issues of concern, topics, things that interest people in
that demographic on all the different college campuses. We've got
Kim d Wosu from cal State Fullerton, Nico Sapphire from
cal Luther, and Eric Travino from USC. One of the

(46:04):
things we were talking about, Kim dy you said that
everyone wanted to because I was talking about how technology
has helped everyone not achieve their goal but get to
their goal faster because technology allows you to have your
own podcast where you can control all the content and
you don't even have to worry about cuss words or anything.

(46:25):
There's no FCC on a podcast. That's that's brilliant when
it comes to, you know, doing your own thing. YouTube
allows you to do your own sort of television show
if you want it, or your own movie. And there's
a lot of great platforms out there. But you know,
whether you get paid for that, that's a different story.
That's something you really look into. But what I wanted
to ask you is again, I know kim Dy you

(46:48):
wanted to you want to be a filmmaker, Nico you
you really just want your own show. And it sounds
like you don't really care where and how, you just
want your own show, right, yeah, virtually? And Eric, what
is it exactly you want to do? You want to
be a writer? Do you want to be on air?

Speaker 2 (47:04):
I think I'm gonna be honest, like self absorbed a
little bit, you know, I do want like my own brand,
you know, to be my voice to be you know,
And I think that's kind of like I've always been
saying since I started my graduate program that the future
of journalism is going to focus a lot more on
individual journalists, almost to the sense that they're going to

(47:25):
be like content creators, you know. I think that's why
it's important to like have your voice be known, you know,
have your face be known. I think I think maybe
that's kind of why there's like a trend within like
journalists to like do a podcast, because it's, you know,
in a way, putting your brand and identity out there.

Speaker 1 (47:41):
Yeah. I think the brand is That's what they keep
pushing on all of us, is that we got to
really push the brand. It's like, okay, so then what okay,
so you're pushing your brand, but what exactly are you
doing in your brand or doing within your brand? So
as a journalist, what is it you want to do?

Speaker 2 (47:57):
I think you need to establish, for one, like credibility
first and foremost in yourself.

Speaker 1 (48:02):
And how do you do that?

Speaker 2 (48:04):
I personally, the way I handled it is I try
to make sure that everything I'm reporting, I always look
at it in the lens that it's going to be scrutinized.
Over the summer I had I got hate emails for
the first time over stuff that I was reporting, and
I made sure that like everything that I got I
took into consideration. I was like, Okay, if they see
a problem with this, I need to next time I
write something, I need to make sure I take this

(48:24):
into account so they don't, you know, I don't fall
into the same scrutiny. I don't know. I think, for one,
just kind of like listening to feedback and taking like
what you should because not everything you should be taking
salt absolutely, And I think you can build credibly off
of that. But also I think you have to build
your character, you know, like are you more like stoic

(48:46):
and like a little bit more blunt or are you
like Bubba ly and you know, things like that, and
I think that attracts people who who like that personality,
you know.

Speaker 1 (48:55):
Okay, so we got to know the hate mail. What
was the story and what was the hate mail?

Speaker 2 (48:59):
I was covering Biden's recent immigration. He opened up the borders,
you know, he kind of well, he tied in the
borders and then he kind of like allowed more DECA
recipients to become like citizens, right, And I got an
email and it was I don't know who it was
from because they used like hide my email that iCloud allows,

(49:20):
so I don't know who it was from, but there
was pretty much telling me that like, black Americans are
the real Americans, not white people, and that Hispanic people
were stealing jobs from black people, which is a kind
of like an argument that Trump has been making in
recent like in his recent stuff. So that one was
kind of like, Okay, this I'm going to take with

(49:42):
a lot of grain of salt because this is something
you heard.

Speaker 1 (49:45):
I'll tell you right now. Someone who gets hate mail
a lot, not not as much as I used to.
But if it doesn't have a legitimate email or phone number,
I deleted. Yeah, I don't even look at it.

Speaker 2 (49:57):
So you're saying, for future reference, don't even bother.

Speaker 1 (49:59):
No, okay, perfect, no, And let me tell you something.
Out of all the great stuff you might do, you'll
get all these great emails and all these great compliments,
and you get one bad one and it really ruins
your day for some reason. It ruins your day. And
it took me a long time to realize it doesn't
really matter. It really doesn't matter.

Speaker 2 (50:15):
If I'm being honest, you know, working for a college
paper and then working during the summer for a real paper,
I hate email. I was like elated because it meant
that somebody was reading my stuff.

Speaker 1 (50:25):
You know, yeah, I kind of like that. Yeah, that's
another way to look at it too. But don't ever
take the hate mail personal unless unless there's something in
there that they identify specifically what you did, and they
counter with whatever facts they want to present. If it's
a if it's a constructive dialogue, that's one thing. But
if it's just hateful and personal, it's not even worth

(50:47):
your time. Not even worth your time. No, I listen,
I've gotten got some crazy stuff I really have. I
want to talk a little bit more about branding. Is
that's something that's really big on your campus, because I
think everyone your age wants to be the next big
Internet sensation, right, So I want to talk let's touch
on that a little bit because and it just got

(51:08):
me thinking about some of those opportunities you have because
of technology that I didn't have, and you have more
chances now to be a star than I would have had.
So Eric, speaking of branding, you know you were talking
about branding and you know that you wanted to really
increase your brand. That is a big thing with your generation,
isn't it. Everyone wants to create a brand because I

(51:31):
think they see influencers making a ton of money doing
nothing but trying a restaurant or trying on clothes or
traveling somewhere, and all of a sudden, they get all
these followers. Now they're making a living. I mean, they're
making more money than I am. I mean, is that
is could that be a direction that people like you

(51:51):
as student journalists is could you find yourselves going that direction?

Speaker 2 (51:56):
I think there's like a spectrum, right because Hasanab he
does twitch streams where he talks about politics all day.
I don't think he'd be considered a journalist. I think
you still kind of have to hone in some of
the traditional like legacy like newspaper stuff. You know, maybe
still be tied to a newspaper because you have to
build credibility, and I think people for the most part

(52:19):
still trust you know, big newspapers. That's my opinion.

Speaker 1 (52:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (52:22):
Over like a social media in faser.

Speaker 2 (52:24):
Type that talks about politics.

Speaker 5 (52:26):
Yeah, you know, because I think we see so many
right and so many things and people that have gone viral,
and I think a lot of people our age, you know,
we're like, yeah, I can do that too. You know.
It is I think sometimes trigger than you think, because
of course the algorithms and all that stuff. But yeah,
and I think it does take consistency too. You know

(52:46):
what I see a lot like I see accounts, you know,
on TikTok whatever it is that seems like it seemed
like they just blew up. But some of them, not
all of them, right, have been publishing content for their
niches for quite a while. Right, But then you do
get kind of the random instances where somebody and it
really could be anything. It's like not something that they

(53:08):
planned out thoroughly either, like just a random video and
then it just happened to get a bunch of likes and.

Speaker 3 (53:13):
Views and stuff.

Speaker 5 (53:14):
So it kind of depends because then you're talking about
credibility too. Sure somebody like a random instance like that,
you know, and then they can because if they might
have grown a following because of that, but you know,
not necessarily trust what they think about like news stuff.

Speaker 1 (53:29):
Right, So we're going to take a break, we'll come back,
we'll pick up that conversation. Welcome back to the studio
six forty. I'm Steve Gregory. We're talking with three college
journalists about their views of how the school year is
going to happen sort of their projections or prognostications. Before
the break, we're talking about branding, because that's kind of
a new way of storytelling. It's also a new way

(53:51):
of making money. If if you don't end up getting
hired by a legacy media company or any kind of
a media company, screw it. Go start your own new
YouTube channel and create your own newscast and get paid
that way. I think that's I think that's what I
love about technology. It really it doesn't matter your background,
your socioeconomic status. Anyone can create a show. And I

(54:14):
think it's kind of cool. So before the break, Eric,
you were just about to make a thought and it
looked like it was going to be the best, most
most intense thought ever, and then I stopped you.

Speaker 2 (54:23):
Well, I think especially like more and more recently. Okay,
I think independent journalism is amazing, and I think there's
a lot of benefits from independent journalism. However, I think
an editor is super important, and I think an editor
can make or break you, and they can catch holes
in your stories that you wouldn't be able to do
by yourself, and catch eras. So I think I do
like this this push of like just citizen journalism and

(54:45):
this push to be your own, like be your own
news organization. But I still think you need an editor.
You work with an editor, right, always, I've always worked
with someone.

Speaker 1 (54:56):
Do you have conflicts with you with your editor?

Speaker 2 (54:59):
So that's another thing. I think a good editor can
make your job amazing. Yeah, a bad editor can make
you want to quit.

Speaker 1 (55:05):
So wait until you get into the real world. I know. Yeah, Wait,
that's I.

Speaker 5 (55:10):
Think the difference with the shows and the podcast, right,
technically your your own boss, right, so it's different. But yeah,
of course, if you're trying to do more stick to
some of the traditional journalism and reporting then yeah.

Speaker 1 (55:22):
And that brings me to our final topic of the show,
and it's AI, artificial intelligence, and Kim Dy, I know
AI is big already in the film industry, and it's
becoming a huge, huge part of the film industry from
who appears on the screen, to editing to to you know, production.
AI is a big thing. But let's talk about how

(55:43):
it might apply not only in journalism, but how it
might apply in learning on campus. Anybody have a thought
on where AI is at on college campuses?

Speaker 5 (55:52):
Yeah, so you know, I've had several different conversations with
a lot of different professors, and they've all kind of
had different opinions, you know, whether or not to incorporate
it in the classroom and in teaching and learning. And
you know, this is kind of specifically referring to students
using a programs to kind of like help with assignments
and like write papers and stuff, which I've never done,

(56:14):
but yeah, and they've all kind of they all have
different perspectives on that. So some that I've talked to,
some don't and from personal experience to in classes, some
don't want students to use it.

Speaker 3 (56:25):
Some do.

Speaker 5 (56:26):
They say you can use it, but to like add
a disclaimer that you've used it in an assignment, and
some want to actually like teach students kind of how
to use it in the benefits right, because it is
at a certain point you can't really avoid it, right
with the new technology.

Speaker 3 (56:40):
I do think it's.

Speaker 5 (56:41):
Better to kind of teach students how to use it,
right because I think if professors aren't going to allow
students to like, they're probably gonna do it anyways. But
I think it's, yeah, it's good I think for them
to like encourage them obviously not to cheat, but maybe
to show them how to use it as a guide
for an assignment or something like that.

Speaker 1 (57:00):
What do you guys think?

Speaker 4 (57:01):
I think that in college, you're paying to be there
most of the time unless you get some kind of
scholarship or something. So if you really don't want to
put in the effort to do the work yourself, then
that's on you. And you know, I do think it's
imp Like, I guess you could get away with using AI,
but like if you're going to nursing or like a

(57:23):
serious career like that, I really don't think that it's
a good idea to use AI to like cheat on
a test or do your homework. You should be doing
the homework yourself or else you're going to be in
trouble when the actual time comes to use what you've
learned in like practicum or whatever.

Speaker 1 (57:40):
So are you seeing it all eric college professors on
your campus or have you heard about AI being implemented
somehow in the learning space?

Speaker 2 (57:50):
Yeah, pretty much. Most of my professors are pretty open
to using AI as a starting point, and they always
clarify as a starting point to get ideas. I personally
am like a bit more of a purist and kind
of like had this idea where if I get all
my ideas from AI, well, then I won't be able
to conjure up any of my own, and I'm limited
to this, so I try to avoid as much as
I can. If I'm having like some sort of like
mental block, then I will ask AI to give me ideas.

(58:13):
But that's personally how I use it.

Speaker 1 (58:15):
And which AI platform do you use?

Speaker 2 (58:17):
Chat? GVT?

Speaker 1 (58:17):
Really? Yeah? Anybody else sense thing?

Speaker 5 (58:19):
Yeah, what I've done before, and this is kind of
the only thing you know where I found It's really
helped me. Like, for example, for one of my voice classes,
we had to write our own commercial and it had
to be in like the fifty five to sixty second window, right,
And so for me, usually what I would struggle with
with assignments like that is kind of having too much info,
you know, too many words, right, And so I felt

(58:40):
that really helped me to condense it and kind of
take out little bits that were maybe not as necessary.
So I would like put my whole thing that I
wrote in there, and I was like condensed this, and
it was helpful to kind of help me see and
point out right the things that I didn't really need
and to kind of get that in that minute window.

Speaker 2 (58:58):
So now might I started using I start using that
because I write too long?

Speaker 3 (59:02):
So right, Yeah, that's a good idea.

Speaker 1 (59:03):
Yeah yeah, yeah, and see, and that's cool when you
use something like that to help you with the template,
because I didn't have chat GPT and I had to
learn how to write for thirty seconds.

Speaker 2 (59:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (59:12):
In the radio space, we have thirty to thirty two
seconds to tell the same story that TV has ninety
seconds to two minutes to tell. Okay, So and this
economy of words is the talent if you can write
an economy of words. How about AI in journalism? Are
you watching that at all? Is it? Like? How do
you see AI taking jobs from journalists?

Speaker 2 (59:33):
I see AI taking like the monotonous jobs. Like if
a company reaches a press release and you want to
make a story out of it. The paper that I
interned for, they would just have AI write for press releases.
And I feel like that's a good point, because that's
a good place to do it because no one wants
to do that. No journalist really wants to spend time,
you know, rewriting a press release.

Speaker 1 (59:53):
What paper did you internet?

Speaker 2 (59:55):
The Arizona Republic oh sure, and they'll say like written
by Arizona staff, but really it was a robot.

Speaker 1 (01:00:01):
Oh my gosh, Okay, that's interesting. Yeah. Yeah, and what
did you do there with that's azy central? Right?

Speaker 2 (01:00:08):
Yeah. I worked at Levos, which focuses on Hispanic people.
Oh sure, and I did more like features and like politics,
so I never had a chance to work with AI.
But honestly, I don't want to do it anyways.

Speaker 1 (01:00:20):
So did you have to write in Spanish?

Speaker 2 (01:00:22):
Yeah? Sometimes, Well I prefer to write in English, but
I would do a lot of my interviews in Spanish
and then just translate them, translate quotes, got it, and
then write in English.

Speaker 1 (01:00:30):
So the paper is is it Spanish though? Loos Levos?

Speaker 2 (01:00:34):
It writes both in English and Spanish.

Speaker 1 (01:00:36):
Got it? Okay? Perfect? But with that, folks were at
the end of another episode. So thank you all for
being here again. It's great to have you. Thanks, thank you.
Studio six forties a production of the KFI News Department
for iHeartMedia, Los Angeles. The show's executive producers are Steve
Gregory and Jacob Gonzalez. The line producer is Richie Kintaro.

(01:00:59):
The opinion is expressed on this program are those of
the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of
KFI iHeartMedia or its affiliates.