California State University, Bakersfield
November 4, 2020
2020 elections: No winner yet By Paige Atkison Editor-in-Chief With millions of ballots cast and counted, the winner of the presidential election remains unclear as of early morning, Nov. 4. As Americans waited for the results in key swing states such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to flip red or blue, Biden held his ground in the all-but-guaranteed state of California. With 64% reporting, Biden is in the lead in California with 65.2% of the vote. The Associated Press called the state of California in the late evening on Nov. 3. The presidential race has yet to be called in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina,
Georgia, and Nevada as of 6 a.m. on Nov. 4. As of early morning on Nov. 4, Biden has a narrow lead in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Nevada, according to reporting from the AP. However, this uncertainty did not stop President Trump from taking to Twitter to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election. “Last night I was leading, often solidly, in many key States, in almost all instances Democrat run & controlled. Then, one by one, they started to magically disappear as surprise ballot dumps were counted. VERY STRANGE, and the “pollsters” got it completely & historically wrong!” wrote Trump on Twitter. In response, Twitter issued
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Kern Republican incumbents lead the races By Jacqueline Gutierrez Assistant Opinions Editor Republican candidates running for election include Vince Fong, Todd Cotta, Kevin McCarthy, Devon Mathis, Tom Lackey, and David Valadao. Most of the candidates, such as Fong, McCarthy, Mathis, and Lackey are incumbents. As of 11 p.m. on Nov. 3, the incumbents led the races against their opponents. Fong served as a California State Assembly Member for District 34 and the committees he participated in included the Budget Committee, Transportation Committee, and Appropriations Committee, according to the Ballotpedia website. “I am certainly honored and humbled. I will not take this duty lightly,” Fong said. If Fong is reelected as an assembly member the first items on his agenda are to limit the spread of COVID-19 while
reopening safely, and freezing taxes and fees to assist small businesses. Cotta is a California State Assembly Member candidate who ran against the Democratic incumbent for District 32. Cotta is originally from Hanford and if he were to be elected one of the first items on his agenda is to reopen the state and small businesses. As of 11 p.m., Cotta is behind his opponent with a 26.97%, according to the Kern County elections website. McCarthy served as a member of the House and Minority Leader for Congressional District 23. Recently McCarthy has not been a part of any committees, according to Ballotpedia. McCarthy is leading the race against his opponent with 54.7%, according to the Secretary of State website. Mathis served as a California State Assembly Member for District 26 and the committees he participated in includ-
ed the Veterans Affairs Committee, Budget Committee, Natural Resources Committee, and Agricultural Committee, according to Ballotpedia. Mathis is leading the race against his opponent with 57.80%. Lackey served as a California State Assembly Member for District 36 and the committees he was assigned to include the Public Safety Committee (where he serves as the Vice Chair), Budget Committee, and the Government Organization Committee, according to Ballotpedia. Lackey is leading the race against his opponent with 58.90%. David Valadao ran against the democratic incumbent for District 21 in the House of Representatives. Valadao is trailing behind his opponent with 37.02%. All results are current as of 11 p.m. Nov. 3. Continue to follow The Runner’s website for updates on the elections.
Photo by Maria Lopez/The Runner An inside look at a poll station in Kern, located inside Almondale Elementary School.
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a warning on the tweet that reads “Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process.” While the presidential race is yet to be complete, many local election results are in. Congressman and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy won 58.94% of the vote with all precincts reporting. In the 21st ongressional district, Congressman TJ Cox is leading the race with 61.74% of the vote as of 2:18 a.m., according to the Kern County Elections Division website. For more updates and in-depth election coverage, visit The Runner’s website.
Vol. 46, No. 6
News
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The Runner
November 4, 2020
Salas and Cotta go head-to-head By Chase Anderson Reporter Assemblyman Rudy Salas and his opponent for office, Todd Cotta, joined the CSU Bakersfield’s Associated Students Inc. Lobby Corps for a forum to discuss issues facing their communities on Friday, Oct. 26. Salas, a Democrat, first elected in 2012, represents the 32nd Assembly District that includes many cities of Kern County and the Central Valley. Cotta, a Republican, was a deputy sheriff for 21 years, a water district supervisor, and is currently the owner of the Hanford Gun Center Indoor Range. Led by Ignacio Castillo, ASI Vice President of Legislative Affairs, Salas and Cotta were asked a series of student-submitted questions that delved into the candidates’ stances on issues such as education, re-opening procedures, the environment, and the issue of food insecurity at CSUB. In his introductory statements, Salas spoke on his
work bringing money into the district for fighting valley fever, public safety, and making sure that Kern Medical Center stayed open. Cotta expressed his desire to run is due to California’s need for “a fighter.” The first question opening the chat came from Castillo inquiring on what should be the appropriate re-opening system for all schools, including higher education. “We need to let our public health directors and the science guide us in that… we have to make sure that the data supports that everything we are doing to reopen keeps everyone safe,” Salas said. Cotta stressed the importance of personal responsibility when discussing reopening. “The governor can only do so much to keep people safe and personal responsibility is a big part of that…every kid that goes into kindergarten or first grade ends up getting sick because all the other kids bring in bacteria and their viruses and it builds up
their immunity level,” Cotta said. Cotta stressed that schools need to be opened and to let the virus run its course. When asked to describe why they are running for office, Salas and Cotta presented two very different outlooks on political office. Cotta addressed his concerns with Sacramento and his belief that Democrats are continuing to destroy California by running out business, raising crime limits, and creating an environment that breeds homelessness. Salas described his desire to improve his local community. “Trying to do some good for the area, trying to make life better for people…going and trying to build off of what we’ve already been doing…making more opportunities for students…to fight for people and our community,” Salas said. ASI Director Ilaria Pesco asked the student-submitted questions that dealt with the environment. CSUB student Erick
Orellana showed concerns about the air quality in Kern County and asked what each candidate’s vision is for transitions from an oil-based economy to a more sustainable model. “The oil industry must start thinking for the future…we will be moving towards hydrogen-based and electric-based vehicle and the oil industry must realize that changes are coming and position themselves,” Cotta said. Salas pointed to a program that could reduce the amount of pollution in Kern County. “One of the things we do is support the Tune-InTune-Up program, getting those old clunkers and those kinds of cars that are polluting the most off the road,” Salas said. Salas said that the oil industry is becoming more aware of the change and mentioned that Aera Energy is building the second-largest solar plant in the world in Kern County. When asked about the main issues each candidate would like to focus on, Salas stressed that
first and foremost issue is creating an economic relief package. Dealing with the impacts COVID-19, schools, jobs, and getting water into the Central Valley are among the other major concerns mentioned by Salas. Cotta expressed the same concerns with jobs and reopening being of the utmost importance for the state and Kern County. Cotta also emphasized the issues of getting the state to recognize water as a renewable energy source, making more water available to the Central Valley, and making taxes and regulations more affordable. Castillo addressed the issue of food insecurity facing many students and asked how this issue would be addressed if each candidate were elected. “It’s ridiculous for me… part of the college experience is going through those trials. Budgeting yourself, not overspending…part of college is the grind and we must remember those days to become better adults,” Cotta said. Cotta claimed that per-
sonal responsibility is a major factor and deemed food insecurity as something that is “laughable.” Salas addressed food insecurity as a real concern and praised the food pantry program at CSUB and stated that $300,000,000 has gone into food programs in the city. In their closing statements, Salas addressed the importance to vote not only just for the city but all aspects of this year’s election. “I’m going to keep doing everything I can to support our students and support our community, whether it’s bringing resources back in, making sure that we’re providing opportunities for students and others,” Salas said. Cotta’s closing statement noted his business’s engagement in blood donation and emphasized his belief in personal responsibility. “Get out of our way and let us figure out how we can all prosper, not tax and spend us to death like they have been doing over the past many years,” Cotta said.
University Police Chief reassures campus By Ray Dean Reporter “Rest assured, the campus is still safe,” Martin Williamson, CSU Bakersfield chief of university police said at the Associated Students Inc. board meeting Friday Oct. 30. On Monday Oct. 25 an emergency Clery notification email was issued to CSU Bakersfield email accounts warning of three confirmed cases of COVID-19. Williamson said, “Not to scare anybody, but we got to the point where the health department would call this a cluster of cases; however, they were very limited. Unplanned emergencies have initial elements of hectic activity and chaos. Williamson told the board that CSUB had a proactive plan of action that kicked in once they were notified of the cases. “Ours was fairly controlled and easily managed, so by about three hours into all of this information
flowing into us we had a plan in place and we were carrying it out and everything became manageable even though we couldn’t control everything,” Williamson said. Working in contact with Kern County Public Health the university moved quickly to respond to situation. Action was taken to notify everyone that was exposed or may have been exposed. Williams thanked his team members and the administration for the quick response and work to secure the campus, but also recognized that this is no time to sit back and relax. “I am never happy with the status quo, so we are doing some additional planning in case we have a large outbreak that we have the ability to do some campus testing primarily for our students. So we will have testing resources available to be able to test up to 100 people within hours and minutes,” Williamson said. Chief Williamson also
said emergency management has taken up a lot of time recently, but policing is still being conducted on campus. “Luckily we haven’t had a lot of police activity on campus, so that’s a blessing during this time, but our officers are still there.” The University Police Advisory Council had its first meeting. The council is looking for feedback and discussion on ways to improve the services of the university police. Williams said that himself, four students, two faculty, two staff members, Claudia Catota representing the university president’s office, a community member, and a rotating university police officer sit on the council. ASI executive director Ilaria Pesco said during her report that starting Mon, Nov 2 all refunds, including financial aid, will be processed through BankMobile. Pesco asked that the board help to pass the word along to students. “I know this has been
confusing, we have answered lots of questions on Instragram about it. Basically, students need to understand that irregardless of whether they’ve given their bank information to CSUB, all of that is being deleted. CSUB is literally hiring this company to take over all refunds. This includes, especially, financial aid starting for spring,” Pesco said. Pesco said students have three options. They can have BankMobile direct deposit the funds into another outside account, they can receive a paper check that is mailed or they can open a BankMobile account and have the funds placed there. But students must log onto BankMobile and make their choice. “If we can please get the word out on social media to students, because we have not seen many students sign up for it. And it is going to be harmful to students in the spring, when potentially their financial aid is delayed,” Pesco said.
Opinons
The Runner
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November 4, 2020
“Tales from the Vault of Fear” delivers a true Halloween treat By Jacqueline Gutierrez Assistant Opinions Editor For Halloween weekend the CSU Bakersfield Theater Program premiered its first ever radio show “Tales from the Vault of Fear.” The show was divided into three separate segments, entitled “Zero Hour,” “Voice on the Wire,” and “The Shadow People.” The radio show was available on YouTube for free from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1. In the beginning of each segment, the show seemed amateur, but as the segments progressed, the incorporation of voice fluctuations, voice modifications, music, and sound effects made the radio show better and all the more entertaining. In the show program and
YouTube video descriptions, the theater program recommended the audience members to close their eyes and visualize cast members acting out the scenes. With the cast member’s voice fluctuations and vocal cues, it is incredibly easy to imagine the acting. But since audience members are not able to see the actors, it would have been nice if the show program included a photo of each actor and the role that they played. The first segment, “Zero Hour,” featured cast members Abbie Duncan (Mink), Yasmin Marcelo (Anna), and Charolette Smith (Mary Morris) and others, according to the show program. In “Zero Hour,” the char-
acter Mink and many other children across the United States play a game called “Invasion.” At first Mary Morris, Mink’s mother, believes it is just a game, but soon she learns that it is more than just a game and that aliens are going to invade Earth at a time called “zero hour.” In “Zero Hour,” the best feature is the sound effects. When a character is supposed to be on the phone, the sound effects used make them sound as if they are truly on the phone and if a character was speaking in the background, their voice sounded as if it was actually in the background. The use of sound effects really come through throughout the entire show. Although this segment is
not too creepy, it does emit a “Twilight Zone” vibe. The segment “Voice on the Wire” featured cast members Maya Blackstone (Geraldine), John Hunter (Harvey), and Desiree Lorelli (Laura). In “Voice on the Wire,” a mysterious murderer is terrorizing the character Geraldine by calling her and telling her how much longer she has to live. This segment maintains its mysterious tone because throughout the show, Geraldine does not know who to trust and who is her future murderer. But in the end, there was a dramatic plot twist: no one was terrorizing Geraldine and she confessed to murdering her husband. The third segment, “The Shadow People,” was
probably the creepiest segment of all of them. Featuring cast members Yasmin Marcelo (Elaine), Jan Tugab (David), and Evan Alvarado (Brian), “The Shadow People” will send chills up your spine. In “The Shadow People,” the character Elaine can see shadow people and hear voices, and because of that, someone must accompany her all throughout the night. What makes this segment so unsettling is the use of the actor’s voices paired with various sound effects. In one part of the segment, a doctor is reading a section in a book about the shadow people, and her voice slowly transitions into a deep robotic voice. Throughout the segment, the audience members
heard the same deep robotic voice laugh. This was a great and seasonal show for the CSUB Theater Program to put on during Halloween weekend. With all the imagery details and personified sound effects it was easy to imagine the actors playing the roles in scenes. However, it would have been nice to see a photo of the cast members while they were acting in the radio show, just to give the audience a more personal touch.. Even though this was not a live show, the material portrayed was not impacted negatively. One day it would be nice to see the theater program perform it live- costumes, makeup, audience and all.
Opinions
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November 4, 2020
The Runner
There is a new “Marshal” in town By Chris Burdick Podcast Editor Back in November 2019, in what now feels like eons ago, Disney sent us to a galaxy far, far away and introduced us to two of the most popular new characters in Star Wars lore with their hit spin-off series “The Mandalorian.” The series follows a bounty hunter known as the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal), AKA Mando, who after a job gone wrong and a change of heart finds himself honor-bound by his clan to assist the most adorable force user in the universe “the Child,” or baby Yoda as he has been named by the fanbase, and return it “to its own kind.” The only problem is, nobody, including the biggest “Star Wars” fans watching at home, have any idea where the child came from. And with the Jedi now mostly dead and seen as a myth, Mando must find someone from his clan that may have some idea where to begin looking. “The Mandalorian” season one received mostly positive reviews from fans and critics but was criticized at times for being slow paced and some episodes were generally better received than others. It seemed to take on a dif-
ferent mission every week. Which works out for the most part but can steer off casual viewers at times if there wasn’t something a new and exciting to bring to the table. But in his typical fashion, director Jon Favreau has answered these criticisms by packing the debut full of action, old western cinematography, and plenty easter eggs for longtime “Star Wars” fans to enjoy and geek out over. The plot and cinematic styles of this season premier named “The Marshal” mimic that of old western movies. The darker and grittier scenes, flashbacks of sentimental stories while riding through the vast wastelands, and the classic western movie plot twist of a Native American tribe and Cowboy team-up all help give the episode the perfect John Wayne western movie feeling. Pairing those cinematic styles with the incredible practical and special effects gives the series the ability to steer away from traditional ‘Star Wars’ storytelling while still staying inside it’s continuity. From the start you feel the old west inspirations that have made this series so popular. The clink of spurs with ever step Man-
do takes while walking through the dark depths of the galactic underworld with the child by his side makes you feel like you’re watching John Wayne headed for a standoff. The setting for the episode is a perfect complement the overall mood of the show as well as they send viewers back to the desert planet of Tatooine in search for the long-forgot-
Illustration by David Hernandez/The Runner ten mining settlement of hunter Boba Fett from the Mos Pelgo. original “Star Wars” trilIt’s here we are introogy. duced to a new characOnly issue here is that ter played by actor TimoVanth is no Mandalorithy Olyphant named Cobb an, and it does not sit well Vanth, the marshal of Mos with our hero that he is usPelgo. The name of the ing armor made for his character maybe new to people. Mando demands most but his appearance Vanth return the armor can be immediately recwhich does not go well, ognized by most fans, bebut the standoff is ulticause he is wearing the armately stopped by a much mor of fan favorite bounty larger and more menacing
issue a subterranean behemoth known as a Krayt Dragon. So the two strike up a deal, Mando helps kill the monster that is terrorizing their town and the armor is his to take. As simple as this plan may seem, it’ll take more than just Mando and Vanth to take this creature down. So they have no other choice but to join together with the natives of the land, the Tuskan Raiders, and must convince the townspeople put their differences with the raiders aside and participate as well so they can finally draw the beast out and in return a peace treaty is created between the two sides. Overall, the episode is an exciting and entertaining start in what could be an eventful journey for Mando and ‘The Child’. And if this episode is any indication of what is to come in this season, then Favreau and company are headed down the right direction and Star Wars fans know “this is the way.” If you want to hear more about this series and what to expect in season two, check out our podcast The Runner on Air; Where we breakdown the season 2 preview trailer and all the information that was leaked before the season’s release.