The global conflicts of 2014 will reverberate for years to come. It is a year of politics, war and race stirring together and, in some cases, erupting in a furious crescendo. From shattered borders of the Middle East and in the streets of the 'land of the free', these dark clouds gathering on the horizon are a sign of what...

Police brutality isn’t going to change until we do. As the college students and young adults who are supposed to be leading the way for future generations, for our future, how can we possibly even begin to reform laws when we are all so busy battling each others likes on Instagram and trying to afford the rising cost of a...

There was absolutely no time to talk. Dancers were running in and out of rooms, changing into different outfits constantly, essentially becoming new characters every few minutes. Backstage at Global Motion Dance Company’s “Dance in American Culture” performance, spirits were high and performers were hustling to get ready. At the Broad Stage on Saturday, Global Motion Dance Company performed yet...

This year's candidates for best picture truly pale in comparison to the last few years of nominated films that have rolled on through. This year, the academy will be pulling from a rather impressive pile of repeats, poor rhetoric, and massive ego trips the size of traffic on 405 at 6 p.m. 1. Boyhood At the top of the list...

On Friday night, stage manager Cinderella Cortas walked between two dressing rooms in the cavernous underground of The Broad Stage. "Five minutes!" she shouted with drill sergeant precision. Cortas, in a black dress proper for a fashionable dinner, was alerting male and female cast members that it was almost time to initiate "Operatastic," a showcase of SMC's best vocal talent...

Endless parties, never-ending smiles, young couples in love, and generally the proverbial “best hits” of life all in a few photos. This is generally what you tend to see on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, but the biggest offender of those tendencies today is the popular online application Instagram. The app has garnered over 200 million active users...

Say you have to present a project to a class, a project that you've spent weeks on and gave your all. Your notes are prepared, you know every aspect of what you're about to talk about, and yet your palms are sweaty, or you can feel a tingle down your spine, or your hands are shaking. The feeling only makes...

It is difficult to believe a debate as passionate and historical as the one over the use of Native American mascots has a singular starting point. Yet, this argument has one flashpoint. After the fall of 1914, the Miracle Boston Braves, originally named for the foot soldiers of the Tammany Hall political machine, came back from last place on the...

Political Science professor Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein is a man with little free time on hand while stage managing for Global Motion at the Broad Stage. This holds especially true now that Tahvildaran-Jesswein was voted as a Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board member after the November local elections. The night of the election, he stood fourth place in the polls, just...

After months of heavy drought, this weekend brought rain to California. All over metropolitan Los Angeles and the surrounding counties, the rain and strong winds continued from 8 a.m. until late in the evening. Flash flood and mudslide warnings were issued throughout the hillside cities, including the Hollywood Hills and the L. A. County Mountains. Buildings and cars all over...