Francisco Munoz spent Thanksgiving 2012 in Afghanistan with his fellow soldiers. Although sharing a holiday dinner with his unit felt like a family gathering, he relished the feeling of having a Thanksgiving meal back home in the United States. On Thursday, Munoz and other veterans who attend Santa Monica College were treated to an early Thanksgiving feast courtesy of the...

Photography as physical endurance and dangerous adventure illuminated The Broad Stage on Thursday night when Paul Nicklen, one of National Geographic's most respected photographers, presented his work, a collection of memories gathered for 14 years in the polar region. Nicklen has traveled to the farthest, coldest regions of the earth and captured through his lens the enrapturing vistas and wildlife....

Cocooned within the intimacy of The Edye Second Space at Santa Monica College’s Broad Stage on Friday night, the audience heard the music of trumpet master Ron Meza and his jazz band Planet Afrobeat. “We’re going to get dangerous,” Meza said, as the band set up and prepared to play a selection of jazz classics and one original composition. Meza,...

Overpopulation, typhoons rendering entire countries to ash and rubble, and scarcity of resources are issues that require humanity's immediate attention. One of the great inescapable truths about human progress is that as we advance technologically, we will need to seriously consider the idea of moving out into space. Space travel for the average reader will no doubt evoke immediate images...

A coyote, thought to be a part of a migrating pack, was seen on Ocean Avenue and 25th Street in Santa Monica last week, several blocks from Santa Monica College. The coyote sighting occurred after several other reports of coyotes near the Santa Monica Municipal Airport and the golf course, said Sgt. Jay Moroso of the Santa Monica Police Department....

Large swathes of the Philippines are in ruins after the historic, devastating Typhoon Haiyan made landfall last Friday with winds reaching up to 195 mph. Cities such as Tacloban have literally been reduced to rubble. In response to this tragedy, Santa Monica College's Filipino community is beginning to mobilize efforts to create awareness and gather aid. The campus' Filipino club,...

Some of Santa Monica College's musical talents graced The Broad Stage on Friday, Nov. 1 for the SMC applied music program's annual benefit concert. Led by SMC jazz professor Keith Fiddmont, the concert offered students a chance to showcase their talents, while raising funds for scholarships that allow transfer music students to attend a university of their choice. This year's...

Ridley Scott, director of "Gladiator" and "Blade Runner," returned to the big screen with "The Counselor," a violent but bland take on the drug trade in the U. S.-Mexico border. Bland, but still relevant, it touches on the theme of the Drug War, which is still costing millions of dollars and thousands of lives while enriching devious figures. Set in...

On a cloudy Monday November morning, students walking by the quad at Santa Monica College were treated to a ninety-minute outdoor performance of Shakespeare's bloody, dark play "Richard III." Performed by the Salty Shakespeare theatre troupe, the play came to life Nov. 4 as actors raged, plotted and wept for all to watch. Salty Shakespeare has been a company for...

Israel is turning into a dystopian society where ethnicity, not citizenship, determines your rank and value, where dissenters are spied on, and a fascistic right wing is gaining power, according to bestselling author and journalist Max Blumenthal. Blumenthal discussed his new, controversial book “Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel” at the Culver-Palms United Methodist Church in Culver City last...