■л0ОАШаёШ>
LOYOLAN
EST. 1921
The Loyolan remembers Rnd out howthe men's and
Michael Peters words. women's basketball team
stack up numbers-wise.
Page 7 Page 18
VOLUME 95 I ISSUE 18
“Free My Grandpa” after nine hours
An LMU student’s grandfather
was detained due to Trumps
executive order on immigration.
Bri Ortiz
News Editor
@LALoyolan
Kamand ‘Kamryn’ Taghizadeh, a
freshman undeclared major, waited
three and a half hours for her grandfather
to be released from the Los Angeles
International Airport (LAX) on Saturday
after President Donald Trump signed an
executive order on immigration.
Taghizadeh is Iranian -American, and
her parents are both immigrants from
Iran. Her 78-year-old grandfather Reza
Taghizadeh lives in Isfahan, Iran and
was coming to LAX with a green card to
visit her and her family, who live in San
Diego. According to Taghizadeh, they
detained him for almost nine and a half
hours. During that time, he only ate a
“ramen noodle,” and although there
was a vending machine he could not use
it because he did not have the proper
currency and no means of contacting
Taghizadeh or anyone else.
Trump signed an executive order called
“Protecting the Nation from Foreign
Terrorist Entry into the United States”
on Jan. 27 that barred Syrian refugees
from coming into the United States,
postponed refugee admissions for 120
days and blocked some citizens from
entering the U.S. for 90 days, specifically
Kamryn Taghizadeh's grandpa was detained for more than nine hours at LAX on Saturday. Protesters were heard chanting "Free her grandpa".
from these Muslim-majority countries:
Libya, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Syria
and Yemen. According to CNN, the
Trump Organization has done business
with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and
the United Arab Emirates — all of which
are Muslim-majority countries — and
are not on the list of banned countries.
“Once he landed, he was bombarded
by officials. [...] He was so confused
because Trump signed the official papers
while he was in the air, on the plane. So
they kept interrogating him for like nine
hours. He doesn’t speak any EngUsh so
he wasn’t able to answer [or understand].
He was exhausted,” Taghizadeh said. He
had traveled for 22 hours to get from his
See Free My Grandpa | Page 4
Michael Peters continues to inspire many
In loving memory of Michael
Peters, whose humor and
genuinity will live on.
Bri Ortiz
News Editor
@LALoyolan
Michael Peters, a dear friend, writer,
classmate and inspiration for many, died
of health complications while waiting for
two organ transplants at the age of 20 on
Thursday Jan. 26 in his hometown of Omaha,
Nebraska.
Peters was known for making his friends,
family and strangers laugh due to his witty
comments and sense of humor. On top
of this sense of humor, Peters was always
considerate and thoughtful of others.
“He would always put others first,” Liz
Peters, Michael’s sister, said. “Even when he
was feeling more ill, he would never want to
talk about himself and would only want to
hear every detail of my day and what I was
going through.”
As well as being a hardworking
screenwriting major, Peters was involved in
several clubs and organizations on campus,
including the theatre department and the
Loyolan. Peters started working at the
Loyolan his freshman year during the spring
of 2015 as a digital intern.
“[When he interviewed for the position of
digitalintem] he showed up ina crisp blue dress
shirt and slacks, a standout outfit considering
that people often interview for the Loyolan
wearing sweatpants and t-shirts,” former
Editor-in-Chief of the Loyolan, Ali Swenson,
said. “He embodied that professionalism in all
he did at the Loyolan.”
Eventually, Peters worked his way up
to become an assistant digital editor his
sophomore year.
“At first glance, he was really quiet [...] not
shy since he’d voice out his opinions freely
when asked [ . . . ] and basically only talked when
he had something important to say [...],” Janine
Leano, a senior theatre arts major and digital
director for the Loyolan, said. “You needed
a lifetime with [him] because it was only
through time that you got to uncover just how
funny, opinionated, creative and incredibly
passionate he was.”
Besides the Loyolan, Peters loved theatre
(hence his involvement with screenwriting)
and was also actively involved in the theatre
department at LMU. He went on to become
an actor for the “Last Days of Judas Iscariot”
and “Stages of AIDS” productions on campus.
Michael also had a variety of other interests,
including movies, comics, books, trivia and
music. He enjoyed listening to Kanye West,
Kendrick Lamar and ‘80’s pop, and every year,
Michael and his family would go to the San
Diego Comic Con.
“Almost every weekend we would see at least
one movie and it always amazed me how he was
able to see something and immediately break
down every piece of what worked and what
did not,” Madison Quinton, junior sociology
and Spanish double major, said. “Last year we
saw ‘The Revenant’ and accidentally ended up
just standing in the middle of the lobby of the
theater for hours just taking apart each and
every piece.”
Peters was known as loyal, devoted friend
by both his family and peers. “He had a gift of
making everyone feel like his best friend,” Liz
Peters said. “He cared so much for his friends
and would do anything for them. They meant
the world to him.”
“ Oneof my most cherishedmemories of him
was when we first became friends freshman
year when we lived on the fourth floor of
McKay together,” Isabella Anais Dermis, junior
political science and Chicana/o studies double
said. “One nfaht after we fathered in
the lounge to watch ‘Saturday Night Live] he
and I stayed downstairs and started talking. We
talked about high school, past relationships,
our families, and we were enthralled with each
other’s stories. He was an amazing storyteller."
via Liz Peters
Michael Peters was known for his quick-wit humor and dedication to the Loyolan and theatre.
