Daily Sundial

The real meaning of ghetto

OnTay Johnson • December 15, 2006

Last week I was riding with a friend and his wife and they were talking about Halloween. She was upset because there were not any kids that came to their apartment for candy. Her husband laughed and said that she thinks the neighborhood they live in is ghetto.

Social aspect of being a sports fan

OnTay Johnson • December 14, 2006

Sports reveal a lot about the human personality, character and psyche. A couple of weeks ago, my boss, a UCLA alumnus, gave me tickets to go see a basketball match between UCLA and Long Beach State at Pauley Pavilion in Westwood. Now, I am not the biggest UCLA fan, but they have a pretty good team.

Marriage takes more than feelings, reality kicks in

OnTay Johnson • December 13, 2006

It was around this time last year that I got engaged. I am married now and have been for a few months. I am here to bear witness to the fact that being a young college student and married is hard. Do not get me wrong, I love it. And I am not just saying that to bring equity to my statements.

Christian values come in handy at the voting booth

OnTay Johnson • December 11, 2006

As a Christian I have no problem with anyone choosing a political party to represent their religion. However, with the recent incidents permeating the media involving the Republican party and its Christian associates, I have found reason to illuminate a fallacy that many might not be aware that "red state-Christians" and their "conservative Christianity" is not truly representative of Christianity.

Jay-Z explores age, growing up on new album

OnTay Johnson • November 30, 2006

J-Hova, Hov, Jiggaman, Jigga or just plain old Jay-Z proves with his out of retirement release,"Kingdom Come" why he is considered one of hip-hop's best emcees. "Kingdom Come," which supposedly is titled after Super Man's return to the world in the comic series in 1996 is also conveniently aligned with Jay-Z's continuing infatuation with blasphemous references in his music.

The real meaning of ghetto

OnTay Johnson • November 14, 2006

Last week I was riding with a friend and his wife and they were talking about Halloween. She was upset because there were not any kids that came to their apartment for candy. Her husband laughed and said that she thinks the neighborhood they live in is ghetto.

‘Cocaine Cowboys’ recalls drugs, blood in 1980s Miami

OnTay Johnson • November 2, 2006

Miami, Fla., a city known for its hedonistic lifestyle and its magnetic skyline was not always a city full of citizens and vacationers seeking fun in the sun. But in the late 1970s, Miami experienced an influx of immigrants and drugs that the documentary, "Cocaine Cowboys" argues made Miami the city that it is today.

CSUN arts and media college to be renamed after donor

OnTay Johnson • October 16, 2006

On Nov. 8 a ceremony will be held in which the College of Arts, Media and Communication will be renamed the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media and Communication. The California State University Board of Trustees approved the name change in September. Curb, who was a former student at CSUN when it was known as San Fernando Valley State College in the 1960s, recently pledged to give a $10 million endowment to the university, with most of it going toward CSUN's music program.

Panel tries to inform voters for election

OnTay Johnson • October 3, 2006

On Sept. 28, a panel that included local community leaders and a CSUN professor offered their viewpoints of the upcoming election and ballot in November. Shirley Svorny, a CSUN economics professor, former California Assemblyman Richard Katz, and Scott Harris, an executive director of a non-partisan, non-profit organization, discussed issues such as some of the propositions on the November election ballot and what the people in California need to be thinking when voting.

Half of graduates may not attend commencement

OnTay Johnson • May 26, 2006

Based on 2005 CSUN statistics, the number of students who are able to graduate but do not attend the commencement ceremony could be around 50 percent for the 2006 commencement ceremonies. Christopher Aston, activities coordinator for Student Development and International Programs, said that generally nearly half of graduating students do not attend their own graduation ceremony.

African-Americans make up about 5 percent of faculty

OnTay Johnson • May 19, 2006

Only about 5 percent of CSUN's full-time faculty is African-American, according to a Fall 2005 Institutional Research profile. According to the most recent 2005 profile, CSUN has 42 African-Americans in its full-time faculty, according to the IR profile.

CSUN students, faculty participate in May Day

OnTay Johnson • May 19, 2006

Various CSUN organizations and faculty participated in an immigration march in downtown Los Angeles May 1 in what was known as May Day, or "A day without immigrants," to protest recently proposed tougher immigration legislation. CSUN's Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan, a group that seeks to advance consciousness of Chicano history by education and political action, organized about 550 CSUN students, high school students, local area residents and faculty members to participate in the demonstration in downtown L.