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What is ‘freckling’? A relationship expert from CSUSB delves into the signs of summer loveMyDomaineAug. 3. 2018 Of all the seasons, summer might be the best one to fall in love. The days are longer, so it seems like there's more time to spend together. And those sunny hours can be filled with activities that are only around this time of year—like baseball games, outdoor concerts, and movies in the park. 'When summer rolls around, people are often ready to get out, enjoy the weather, be adventurous, and have some fun,' says Kelly Campbell, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and human development at California State University, San Bernardino. It can be a Danny and Sandy–esque whirlwind, which is to say that it could be an instance of a new dating term called 'freckling.' 'Freckling is another word for a summer romance or fling,' Campbell adds. 'It's when you find a great partner for enjoying the summer, even though this person is probably not who you'd want to settle down with.' Read the complete article at “What is ‘freckling’? A relationship expert delves into the signs of summer love.’”
CSUSB expert on hate crimes interviewed for article on alt-right groupThe Orange County Register/Southern California News GroupAug. 3, 2018 The newspaper took a look at the Proud Boys, the national far-right men-only group with a strong Southern California presence, which had planned a rally in Portland, Ore., and interviewed Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino. The group, the newspaper reported, labels itself as being pro “‘life, West, gun, gay, Israel, Trump, law enforcement and First Amendment,’ and that he is anti ‘Nazi, Antifa, Alt-Right and Femnist.’ The group also claims to have a number of members who are non-white. “However, experts on hate and extremism who follow the group and study its activities, say they are most definitely a part of the alt-right. “‘I’d say they are more Alt-Light,” said Levin. “They have this muddled message. They use all these code words for white supremacy like ‘western chauvinism.’ But when they start to feel the heat, they distance themselves. They are like a duck that wants to be a platypus.” Read the complete article at “Proud Boys: Who they are, and why experts who study hate and extremism find them interesting.”
Rallies by alt-right fewer in 2018, but that could change, CSUSB professor saysThe (San Jose) Mercury News/Bay Area News GroupAug. 3, 2018 In an article about a planned rally by an alt-right group, the newspaper reported that the far right in California has splintered and held fewer events this year than in 2016, and quoted Brian Levin, a Cal State San Bernardino professor who studies hate groups. But the relative calm could change, he said. “Warm weather, mainstream political battles and a more fragmented assortment of extremists makes it quite possible that politically motivated aggression will escalate,” Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, wrote in an email. Clashes “could increase as politics heat up.” Before the planned Aug. 5 rally, the newspaper reported: The alt-right is planning an afternoon rally in Berkeley on Sunday and anti-fascist groups are organizing to meet them, but it was unclear Friday just how big the event will be. “Calling the rally ‘No to Marxism in Berkeley,’ its organizer, Contra Costa County resident Amber Cummings, posted on Facebook that it will go on even as some far right groups have pulled out it recent days. No permit had been granted for the rally as of Friday.” Read the complete article at “Berkeley: Alt right planning ‘anti communist’ rally for Sunday, city braces for counter protest.'
CSUSB study on hate crimes against Muslims cited in articleStamford (Conn.) Advocate/Hearst NewspapersAug. 3, 2018 The newspaper published an opinion piece from PolitiFact in Texas that cited the work of Brian Levin and the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino that analyzed hate crimes against Muslims. A Texas member of a Muslim congregation said after a man was convicted of setting its mosque on fire that the United States isn’t what it used to be. Muslims can’t afford to lower their guards, Omar Rachid, a board member at the Victoria Islamic Center, told the San Antonio Express-News for a July 2018 news story stating that Marq Vincent Perez, just convicted of burning the mosque, faces up to 40 years in prison when he is sentenced in October 2018. Levin’s article, covering every year since 9/11, says that from 2002 to 2014, the FBI’s counts of anti-Muslim crimes receded to a range of 105 to 160 though the 257 tally for 2015 was the highest since 2001 and, the article says, the second-highest total of anti-Muslim hate crimes since the agency began eliciting reports of hate crimes from police agencies in 1992. Not only did anti-Muslim crime cases rise numerically, the article says, they grew as a percentage of all hate crimes, accounting in 2015 for 4.4 percent of all reported hate crimes even though Muslims are estimated to be only 1 percent of the population, the article says. Read the complete article at “Texan says U.S. Muslims lately subject to more attacks, hate crimes than ever.”
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