CSUN On Point

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused closures and postponements for countless performances and productions scheduled throughout the spring and the summer — from Broadway hits to school plays. Among those performances affected, the Cal State Northridge theatre production of Pippin, which came to an abrupt halt about a month before it was scheduled to open.

The CSUN Theater Department had slated its production of the 1972 musical-for a two week run beginning April 3rd. The Spring 2020 production was set to be held at the campus theater in Nordhoff Hall, and it featured a twist to the classic musical that would resonate specifically with CSUN students.

The play’s cast was devastated when they received the news that the production was being cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The cast received the news via the theater department’s Instagram page, @theatrecsun, even before director Garry Lennon was able to tell the cast himself. The cast had already put in 10 weeks of rehearsal at 20 hours a week. 

However, Pippin will be back.

Two weeks into the quarantine, Lennon emailed the cast informing them that the show will be the first show put on by the Department in the Fall 2020 semester. The plan is for rehearsals to resume in August. The graduating seniors in the cast have been invited back, so they will not miss out on their opportunity to take part in the show. 

Excitement had already been building among the cast members eager to put on a show. Ensemble member Angelo Masset spoke with On Point reporter Candice Romero about the amount of work that had gone into rehearsals, and what the cancellation meant to the cast.

Romero also spoke with Cassandra Koukourikos, who was set to play Pippin’s stepmother Fastrada.

Cast member Arden Agos explained what she expects from the fall production, and her excitement moving forward.

Pippin is a Broadway classic, with music and lyrics by composer Stephen Schwartz, and story by Roger Hirson and Bob Fosse. It’s about a prince, named Pippin, who goes to war to get approval from his father.  Later, however, Pippin kills his father, and becomes king. He falls in love, and then finds himself struggling with love, magic and regret.

On Point reporter Preston Mitchell spoke with director Lennon about CSUN’s contemporary adaptation of the musical.

Catherine, played by Rebecca Curci, is Pippin’s love interest, who helps him as he grows into adulthood. Pippin must decide whether he will settle down with his love, or continue to perform magic with a troupe of performers.

Aiden Kastner, who plays Pippin, talked to Mitchell about the lead role, and his thoughts on the modern revisioning of the character.

Director and cast members agreed that although Pippin is set in the Middle Ages, its message holds relevance to today’s audience, especially college students.

The new opening night is scheduled for September 18, 2020.

Moderators: Preston Mitchell and Candice Romero

Producer: Liliana Ramirez

Anchor: Liliana Ramirez

Video Editor: Lilibeth Morales

Reporters: Bea Barros, Manny Luisi, Preston Mitchell, Lilibeth Morales, Liliana Ramirez and Candice Romero

Many college campuses across the nation are ill-equipped to deal with the surge of students seeking help for mental health issues.

According to the California Faculty Association, the ratio of students to counselor should be about 1,000:1. But of the 23 California State University campuses, only three meet this recommendation, with most campuses having more than 2,500 students to one counselor.

“Every place could always use more staff, and we have a desire to support people as best we can,” said Dr. Steve Silver, from CSUN’s University Counseling Services. Silver said CSUN counselors are readily available to students who are in crisis. Still, the average student may have to wait two weeks to book a first appointment.

Depression, anxiety and social anxiety were three of the most common issues reported by college students. They face many of the same problems as their predecessors: exams, new environments, peer pressures. They also face some new issues: uncertainty about the future, job opportunities, and financial burdens on a larger scale, in the wake of the Great Recession and with the increase in student debt nationwide.

Between 2009-2015, the number of college students seeking on-campus counseling rose by 30 percent. Many colleges and universities are struggling to keep up with the demand, meaning many students have to go elsewhere for help.

But those students who do seek treatment off campus often find that the lack of counseling services is not just a college problem. “It can definitely get to a point where it feels there aren’t enough of us,” Associate Marriage and Family Therapist Amani Williams said. “It can definitely get hard [for us] to see everyone at the same time, and try to be effective still.”

Once students find treatment off campus, they still have to pay for it. Therapy sessions can cost upwards of $150, and many students find they just don’t have the funds necessary to pay for them.

“Money should never be a barrier to getting help, or to getting any mental health treatment,” Clinical Director of ACT Health and Wellness Dr. Megan McDonald said. “There are so many resources for those people who don’t have insurance, or those who don’t have a lot of money.” Many practices don’t charge a co-pay, and others offer patients the opportunity to pay on a sliding scale, where the cost is dictated by the patient’s ability to pay. McDonald said there are resources out there, if students know where to look.

One silver-lining, as more students flock to campus counseling services, is the de-stigmatization of therapy. “I think people are seeing therapy more for what it is, which is the ability to get support from a caring individual who is trained to help support people,” Silver said. “People are experiencing therapy as a more grounded thing, instead of a mysterious thing that happens behind closed doors.”

This is a growing trend not just among college students, but in the larger population as well, as more Americans feel comfortable talking about their mental health with family, friends and on social media.

CSUN students may have to wait a little longer for the situation to improve in the CSU. But if they are in need of help, they can find resources for group therapy sessions, workshops and individual services at Bayramian Hall.

Moderator: Manny Luissi

Producer: Manny Luissi

Anchor: Liliana Ramirez

Social Media Editor: Lilibeth Mireles

Reporters: Bea Barros, Manny Luissi, Lilibeth Mireles, Preston Mitchell, Liliana Ramirez and Candice Romero

After sharp criticism, the California State University Board of Trustees has pushed back until 2022 its vote on a proposal requiring a fourth year of quantitative reasoning for incoming high school students. Implementation would now occur in 2027.

In his justification for the plan, Timothy White, outgoing CSU Chancellor, said, “the nature of work in the future will require more quantitive reasoning. We want underserved students to be competitive in the future of work.” However, the proposal drew push back from such groups as the Campaign for College Opportunity, The Education True — West, the Los Angeles Unified School District as well as Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis.

“There was no data, and there was not a study done on how this proposal might impact our students,” said Sasha Renée Pérez, Student Engagement Manager for the Campaign for College Opportunity. To better understand how these changes would affect graduating seniors, the Campaign for College Opportunity conducted its own research by examining data from the class of 2018. “The results indicated to us what we expected,” Perez said. “[The plan] affected low-income students, black students and Latinx students the most.”

Loren Dittmar, a high school academic counselor in Simi Valley, said high schools would need time to prepare in order to add a mandatory fourth year of mathematics to their curriculum. Dittmar previously worked as a high school counselor in Georgia, where four years of math is already mandatory to get into college. “I think that once you’ve implemented the structure to make it work, it could be a good thing, because you’re raising the standard,” he said. “But without having the support to make sure students are prepared, then, well, we don’t want to lose people along the way.”

The current requirement for CSU eligibility is three years of mathematics that includes Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. Proponents of the new plan cite CSU enrollment statistics suggesting that 93 percent of admitted students have already taken a fourth year, but critics suggest that requiring a fourth year will make it even more difficult for students to obtain a university degree, particularly those in districts receiving less funding.

CSUN Mathematics Professor Katherine Stevenson was co-chair of the CSU Quantitative Reasoning Task Force. She said her team’s report was a broader examination of quantitative reasoning in the California education sphere, and included representation not just from CSU and UC campuses, but also industry and government professionals. The task force made four suggestions to the trustees, one of which was chosen.

“It’s important to point out that there were some differences in what the task force was recommending, and what ultimately the CSU proposed,” Stevenson said. “Where we differed was that we said ‘if it takes you four years to get through your existing math requirement, that’s ok with us.’ The CSU required an additional year.”

In the end, most critics agreed that the proposal was an incomplete, and, in some sense discriminatory fix to a larger problem of funds and educational support. For now, the CSU is back at the drawing board as it attempts to address issues of low graduation rates and employment opportunities for its graduates.

Moderator: Liliana Ramirez

Producer: Lilibeth Mireles

Anchor: Bea Barros

Social Media Editor: Emmanuel Luissi

Reporters: Bea Barros, Emmanuel Luissi, Lilibeth Mireles, Preston Mitchell, Liliana Ramirez, and Candice Romero