The Mesa Press

The independent student news site of San Diego Mesa College.

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Featured Writers

Hana Woodward

Michelle Armas

I am an aspiring journalist and writer. I love people and sharing their stories, struggles, and triumphs. I want to bring justice to the world as much as I can. …

Rosanne Bangalan

My name is Rosanne Bangalan and I am a student journalist. I am pursuing journalism with an emphasis on political science. When I am finished with my undergrad, I plan …

Ava Moslehi

Ava is a second year student at San Diego Mesa College working towards her journalism degree. This is her first year working for the Mesa Press. When she's not writing, …

Chris Baltierra

Aspiring conflict journalist with a passion for writing that promotes truth, transparency, equality, and fairness.

Alejandro Chousal Sheridan

I am a writer and storyteller at heart. I can write on anything from fashion to entertainment to hard news. Some of my goals are to give a voice to …

Latest Articles

Hungry for more?

College students can often eat the most food out of all age demographics. From instant ramen to the strangest combinations of ingredients made into midnight snacks, students are well known for the lengths they will go to to chase off the pangs of hunger. And they have earned this constant …

By Frankie Mann
19th March 2024 • The Mesa Press

A Taste of “Aloha Aina”

Tucked away within a strip of eateries on Mesa College Drive, Homestyle Hawaiian is a charming little restaurant that pays homage to the culture, beauty, and natural splendor of the Hawaiian islands. Cozy and comfortable, it appears as the dwelling of a Hawaiian local, with the authentic and delicious menu …

By Frankie Mann
19th March 2024 • The Mesa Press

New inspirational podcast details stories of formerly incarcerated students

College is hard enough for recent high school graduates trying to navigate an adult world for the first time; but what about for formerly or currently incarcerated people? From the career and housing barriers to the judgments of strangers, anyone with a criminal record can find it a struggle to …

By Frankie Mann
19th March 2024 • The Mesa Press

The world doesn’t need Hollywood

Walkouts, protest marches, chanted slogans, and picket lines. From May to November of this year, members of the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) spent a combined six months and seven days on strike. The “double strike,” as it came to be known, was sparked by …

By Jacob Repkin
9th December 2023 • The Mesa Press

A beginner’s guide to Jewish people for the American academic

In the early morning of Oct. 7, as the people of Israel woke from the last festivities of the week-long Sukkot holiday, militants of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas crossed the Israeli border in their hundreds, weapons at the ready. By the end of the day, over a thousand people …

By Jacob Repkin
1st November 2023 • The Mesa Press

CA travel ban repeal a step in the right direction

What if America had another civil war? It’s a provocative and radical question, yet it’s become an ever more frequent topic of discussion over the past couple decades. As American politics has grown increasingly polarized, many have wondered if and how this country could break apart once more. After all, …

By Jacob Repkin
26th September 2023 • The Mesa Press

Turnitin is a useful tool, but an imperfect one

For as long as there have been schools, there has been cheating. For centuries, students and their instructors have been locked in silent conflict, each trying to outsmart the other’s methods in a war of innovation. In the past few decades, as the world has become reliant on the internet …

By Jacob Repkin
7th September 2023 • The Mesa Press

The cautionary tale of Jack Teixeira

It was a sunny April afternoon earlier this year when Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira was arrested at his Massachusetts home by FBI agents. In the preceding days, the press had gotten ahold of a series of highly classified Pentagon documents leaked by Teixeira, detailing everything from the progress of …

By Jacob Repkin
25th May 2023 • The Mesa Press

Criminalizing homeless helps no one and hurts everyone

It is no secret that California has a homelessness problem. To simply call it a “problem,” however, understates its magnitude. California has by far the largest homeless population of any state, and the number has sharply increased in the past decade — the most recent estimate puts it at over …

By Jacob Repkin
20th May 2023 • The Mesa Press

Nuclear energy sounds scary — but it’s our best chance

What if there was a method of producing energy that could completely eliminate the need for fossil fuels? What if the technology needed to do this had already been known for decades? And what if, out of irrational fear and self-serving hubris, this technology had been rejected? Well, that method …

By Jacob Repkin
11th May 2023 • The Mesa Press

How oil companies hide from responsibility for climate change

Over the past two decades, the conversation about climate change has always centered around what is causing it — is it the result of greenhouse gas emissions, or is it just a natural process beyond human control? Increasingly, most people seem to agree on the former. As this consensus crystallizes, …

By Jacob Repkin
2nd May 2023 • The Mesa Press

Mesa College commemorates Holocaust Remembrance Day

A yellow badge in the shape of the Star of David, used by the Nazi German regime to identify Jewish people. The text reads: “Whoever wears this symbol is an enemy of our people.” For the first time in recent memory, Mesa College commemorated the systematic murder of six million …

By Jacob Repkin
25th April 2023 • The Mesa Press

The problem with ‘problematic’ media

All art is a product of its time. Whether consciously or not, artists of all varieties are inspired and influenced by the ideas, events, and trends of the time that they live in. As times change, so does culture, and art made in the past is seen through a new …

By Jacob Repkin
18th April 2023 • The Mesa Press

Euphemisms are powerful — and dangerous

Words shape our reality. The way we describe something is often as, or more, important than the thing itself. For example, one person’s part-time prison for children is another person’s daycare center, and one person’s foul-smelling vomit dispensary is another person’s school cafeteria. These and other such creative descriptions are …

By Jacob Repkin
6th April 2023 • The Mesa Press

Hulu’s ‘History of the World, Part II’ fails on every level

What does it look like when everything that can possibly go wrong, does? Hulu’s new comedy series, “History of the World, Part II,” offers some potential answers. The series, named after and supposedly sequel to Mel Brooks’ 1981 film, “History of the World, Part I,” shares almost nothing with it. …

By Jacob Repkin
22nd March 2023 • The Mesa Press

No holds are barred in ‘Cocaine Bear’ movie

Universal Pictures’ new film, “Cocaine Bear,” contains elements from many genres, but no label fits it better than that of absurdist comedy. The mere concept of it is inherently ridiculous, and the movie knows this. Going into the movie theater to see “Cocaine Bear,” the audience is given a simple …

By Jacob Repkin
9th March 2023 • The Mesa Press

Why growing almonds in California is nuts

Drought — it’s as Californian as Hollywood, surfing, and avocados. Since the beginning of the 21st century, this state has been in a long continuous drought with barely any respite. The western part of the United States is no stranger to arid conditions, so for many years, most Californians and …

By Jacob Repkin
18th February 2023 • The Mesa Press

The Movie of The Vampire Who Stole Spider-Man’s Girl

Marvel’s latest character release is one of Spider man’s villains Dr. Morbius. Leading actor Jared Leto plays the role of a dying doctor that experiments with the blood from wild bats trying to save his own life and others with his same condition. Something goes wrong with the test that …

By Brandon Aurelio Quintero-Reyes
29th May 2022 • The Mesa Press

Billie Eilish! ladies and gentlemen

Amazing would be an understatement when it comes to Billie Eilish. Her 102 million followers on instagram would also agree she is beyond amazing. She recently won an Oscar for best song ever at the 2022 Oscar’s award ceremony for her song “No time to die”. Which I’m sure will …

By Brandon Aurelio Quintero-Reyes
29th May 2022 • The Mesa Press

Oh My Gawd! GASP! its Iliza Shlesinger!

Iliza Shlesinger is a gorgeous rising comedian from the city of Los Angeles. She is a 39-year-old having fun discovering new parts of her life with her handsome husband Noah Galuten as new parents bringing new life into the world. She is currently working on her 7th Netflix special. Quickly …

By Brandon Aurelio Quintero-Reyes
29th May 2022 • The Mesa Press

EDC! EDC! EDC! EDC!

EDC! Also known as the Electric Daisy Carnival Festival is a weekend-long festival I had the honor of attending at the speedway in Las Vegas Nevada from March 20th through March 23rd. The experience and artwork of the festival are something out of a beautiful dream, It truly is something …

By Brandon Aurelio Quintero-Reyes
29th May 2022 • The Mesa Press

Mesa Softball drops game to Southwestern on Sophomore Day

The San Diego Mesa Olympians recently ranked top-20 in the state stepped onto the diamond for sophomore day with a record of 13-11-1 to face the Southwestern College Jaguars who held a record of 4-27. It was a game that was close for the first few innings until Southwestern College …

By Johnathan Scott
20th May 2022 • The Mesa Press

Mesa Softball drops game to Southwestern on Sophomore Day

The San Diego Mesa Olympians recently ranked top-20 in the state stepped onto the diamond for sophomore day with a record of 13-11-1 to face the Southwestern College Jaguars who held a record of 4-27. It was a game that was close for the first few innings until Southwestern College …

By Johnathan Scott
20th May 2022 • The Mesa Press

What happened to Mesa tennis?

San Diego Mesa offers a variety of sports for men and women ranging from football, baseball, softball, badminton, basketball, volleyball, and many more that give students the opportunity to be a part of a team playing the sport that they love. One sport that seemingly disappeared from the Mesa sports …

By Johnathan Scott
20th May 2022 • The Mesa Press

Spring Sports Roundup

Spring sports are coming to an end at San Diego Mesa College and there have been some great Achievements and other things that did not go teams’ way to end the season. In this roundup, both of these things will be discussed, certain athletes will be mentioned for their achievements, …

By Johnathan Scott
20th May 2022 • The Mesa Press

Get rich quick or get fooled by the ‘Crypto King’?

On March 30th, 2022, Netflix released a new documentary titled “Trust No One: The Hunt for Crypto King,” which instantly shot to the Netflix Top-10 showing that this documentary had sparked some interest. The documentary first dives into the world of Crypto and explains the currency that was big at …

By Johnathan Scott
20th May 2022 • The Mesa Press

Men’s basketball team gets the whistle blown on them

With the season coming close to the end with only 5 games left to play the team has been working harder with the hopes of an even better season-ending story. Wednesday night’s basketball game could have been celebrated in victory by our Olympian players if it had not been for …

By Brandon Aurelio Quintero-Reyes
24th March 2022 • The Mesa Press

Who’s a good movie? ‘Dog’ is a good movie

Actor Channing Tatum starred in the new movie “Dog,” where it recently premiered with 76% approval on “Rotten Tomatoes.” The movie begins like any other military movie, showing you collages of pictures of their tour while Ranger Briggs was on deployment with his team, as if grandma was showing you …

By Brandon Aurelio Quintero-Reyes
24th March 2022 • The Mesa Press

Riddle Me This.. Riddle Me That.. WHO! is Afraid of The Big Bad Bat!?

Thursday night was the premiere of “The Batman” starring Robert Pattinson as the legendary Batman himself, while being directed by Matt Reeves who did a spectacular job. It was a long awaited film by DC & marvel fans across the world after a 5 second preview was released almost 3 …

By Brandon Aurelio Quintero-Reyes
24th March 2022 • The Mesa Press

“Don’t Say Gay” Bill?

“DONT SAY GAY” bill- now I know what you’re thinking,but that is not a comment directed towards a person named Bill. It is also probably not the second thing you’re thinking if you havent been staying informed with whats going on in Florida and apparently a few other neighbor states …

By Brandon Aurelio Quintero-Reyes
24th March 2022 • The Mesa Press