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LONG BEACH STATE UNIVERSITY | VOL. LXX, ISSUE 45 | APRIL 22, 2019
er
all eyes on you The Daily 49er takes a look at some of the smaller members of the Long Beach State community to celebrate Earth Week.
Page 6-7
2 NEWS
MONDAY, APRIL 22, 2019 | DAILY49ER.COM | CITYD49ER@GMAIL.COM
INSIDE
ON THE COVER
THE
NINER
A Jumping Spider nestles in a plant waiting to ambush its prey. AUSTIN BRUMBLAY Daily 49er
LBSU celebrates 33rd Pilipino Cultural Night page 4 Opinion: Binge watching television shows is bad for your health page 10 Men’s volleyball falls short to Hawai’i in Big West Tournament page 12
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TRANSPORTATION
Electric scooters still an obstacle for those with disabilities With the uprise in electric scooters, side walks and driveways have become an obstacle for people who need mobility assistance.
E-scooters limit access to sidewalks, according to Long Beach residents on wheelchairs and mobility scooters.
RYAN GUITARE Daily 49er
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The electric dockless scooter program in Long Beach is in the process of expanding to 4,000 scooters over the next six months, but the presence of e-scooters have become a point of contention for people with impaired mobility trying to access public walkways. Long Beach announced its electric scooter pilot program last summer and voted in February to continue the pilot. The city was one of the first to require scooters to be placed on sidewalk drop zones after being recharged every day. However, residents are concerned about the city’s lack of a parking policy for scooters. Laura Greenwood, a first-year transfer communications major, said electric scooters “zip” around campus. Greenwood uses a mobility scooter to get around campus and has a tough time going around the drop-off zones for the scooters on the sidewalks. “Nobody thinks about it. [Electric scooters] are really dangerous and should be banned,” Greenwood said. “They should just collect them and make [people who use
electric scooters] pay money if they don’t comply.” According to Disability Rights California, two lawsuits were filed this year on behalf of people with disabilities in the U.S. District Court under the Americans with Disabilities Act and state anti-discrimination laws. The lawsuit argued, Long Beach and other cities with e-scooter programs and private scooter companies failed to protect the accessibility of public sidewalks, curb ramps and crosswalks for people with disabilities. In the lawsuit, the group claimed that the electric scooters are using public spaces for private monetary gain. Carmen Valera, director of the Bob Murphy Access Center, discussed the accessibility of electric scooters. “When profit becomes more important than people, we need to begin to ask the important question of who really benefits from this program, policy or law,” Valera said. “If the answer is not the people that it purports to serve, there’s the real problem.” The lawsuit intends to change the way people look at physical accessibility, especially when it comes to public spaces like sidewalks. “It’s not always easy to do the right thing especially when doing the right thing doesn’t translate into dollar signs,” Valera said.
4 ARTS & LIFE
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DANCE
A spiritual journey on Pilipino time The 33rd annual Pilipino Cultural Night shares story of embracing one’s own culture.
RALSTON DACANAY | Daily 49er
Led by Coordinators Zachary Rosales and Allison Edsquid, the Moro Suite performs the Silat Kabkab dance.
By Ralston Dacanay Staff Writer
The powerful beats of the kulintang ensemble and cheerful strums of the bandurrias only added to an electrified, sold out crowd. Around 8 p.m. Saturday evening at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, friends and family of Long Beach State’s Pilipino American Coalition suddenly broke out into Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You” during the 33rd annual Pilipino Cultural Night’s 15-minute intermission period. They were ready for the skit’s second act. They were ready for more traditional Filipino dance. They were ready to celebrate. This was just one of the many spontaneous moments that occurred during the special night meant to honor Filipino culture and the Pilipino American Coalition’s dedication to practice for this night for the past three months. For PCN Coordinator Xaelan Abcede, this year’s cultural night was not only his last, but also a moment to reflect on the road he’s taken since joining PAC. “Going into this organization, not really knowing too many people kind of forced me to go out of my comfort zone,” Abcede said. “I feel like this club has really awakened me as a person and helped me realize what I really want in life and how I can get those goals in life. This really has done so much for me, so I love this show.” Stories of personal growth through PCN involvement such as Abcede’s are what fueled the show’s skit this year. With this year’s theme of “Ang Aming Panahon” (Our Time), the more than 120 PCN cast members practiced tirelessly to present scenes of skit interweaved with traditional Filipino dance performances and original music. Following the death of his grandfather, the main character
RALSTON DACANAY | Daily 49er
The Moro Suite performs the Sua Ku Sua dance.
Phillip, a Filipino-American college student, decided to grow closer to his heritage and community by participating in a PCN. Along the way, he developed lasting connections with skit characters Rizelle, Ligaya and Quinton, who also joined for their own reasons. The skit invited students to join cultural clubs, such as PAC, to embrace their own culture and feel comfort away from home. From poking fun at the utmost responsibility that is saing, to calling attention to Filipino parents’ tendencies to misun-
derstand the sexual orientations of their kids, the production’s most standout feature wasn’t the scenes of romance, drama or comedy, but the cast itself. Christopher Lopez, PAC archives coordinator and main skit lead for the character Quinton, said the group came out with no regrets after practicing often late into the night since February. “In the beginning, we didn’t want expectations,” Lopez said. “We just overall, wanted a good show, and I hope we did that.” After the show’s highly anticipated Tinikling dance performance, tears of joy were shed as the entire cast and crew gathered on stage to sing and recognize each of the seven dance suites, four committees, skit extras, skit cast, PCN board and MVPs throughout the production process one last time. Along with Abcede, co-PCN Coordinator Jamie Gianne Caputol received a specialized mixtape of songs that represents the club’s “Sustainaboard” with personalized messages from each of them. The event drew huge support from the crowd, which included class of 2018 human development alumni Sarah Longworth. After attending PCN last year with her former roommate Bailey Nelson, Longworth had to come again to see her perform Spanish dance this time around. “The last song that they had, it feels very much of a reunion of a family,” Longworth said. “It actually makes me cry. I almost cried last year and the fact that I had friends doing it this year and being a part of it this year, it made me want to cry.” Despite attending for her second time, Longworth said she developed a new appreciation for FIlipino culture once again. “Being a human development major, it’s all about studying different cultures,” Longworth said. “Coming here for the second time was a no-brainer. I knew I had to come for so many different reasons, supporting friends and just being interested in different cultures.”
MONDAY, APRIL 22, 2019 | DAILY49ER.COM
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APRIL 22, 2019 | DAILY49ER.COM | CITYD49ER@GMAIL.COM
Beach bugs Photos by Austin Brumblay | Daily 49er
No-spotted Ladybug (Cycloneda sanguinea) Clockwise from left to right. The carnivorous No-spotted Ladybug hunts Aphids on a lower campus plant. A lone Red Paper Wasp defends its nest outside the Softball Complex. A Milkweed Assassin Bug waits to impale an unsuspecting y outside the University Student Union. A Slender Meadow Katydid rests on the bricks near the USU. A Green Bottle Fly takes a brief break to clean its forelegs at the Fine Arts Building.
Green Bottle Fly (Lucilia sericata)
Slender Meadow Katydid (Conocephalus fasciatus)
Milkweed Assassin Bug (Zelus longipes)
Red Paper Wasp (Polistes carolina)
8 ARTS & LIFE
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 | DAILY49ER.COM | ARTSNLIFED49ER@GMAIL.COM
THEATER
An operatic spin on the condemned California Repertory and Long Beach Opera came together to provide a new perspective on prison life. By Rachel Hanna Staff Writer
C
alifornia Repertory Company and the Long Beach Opera are putting on the short story, “In The Penal Colony,” which features the torture and execution of a character called the condemned person. American composer Philip Glass read Franz Kafka’s “In The Penal Colony” and transformed it into an opera. Formerly incarcerated students at Long Beach State have collaborated with staff to perform in this piece.
The fascination with the unempathetic judicial system is one of the main focuses in this opera. Humanity is questioned in this chilling story as the commandant expects the explorer to witness the execution of the condemned man. “In The Penal Colony” involves four main characters: the officer, the explorer, the soldier and the condemned man. As the explorer questions if this cruel, heartless act should even take place, the officer continues to share his infatuation with the apparatus. Director Jeffrey Janisheski conducted interviews with the previously imprisoned students to put their own spin on this opera. “I really wanted to take a larger view and show that America is a type of penal colony
really marginalizing people, not solving problems, but hiding people,” Janisheski said. California Repertory According to Janisheski, the “In the Penal Coloney” is set to premiere on Thursbiggest struggle about putting on day night at 7:30 p.m. this opera is that it is an ambitious piece. He said this show is less about capital punishment, but in“I think it’s a really cool collab between stead about the mark that prisons leave on professors and students and to hear the the prisoners. His hope is for people to see voices of other students in a theatrical and the two stories alongside each other, and the powerful way,” Johnson said. tension between them. Kevin Johnson, director of marketing for The sold-out show premieres April 25 at the Cal Rep performing wing, said that the 7:30 p.m. in the LBSU studio theater and transition for these students from being bewill run until May 5. hind bars to being free is hard due to the way they were treated in prison.
ARTS & LIFE 9
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Adrianna Barbosa danced alongside Adam Cruz with her silk veils at this weeks noontime event. SAAD KAZI | Daily 49er
PERFORMANCE
By Saad Kazi Staff Writer
Inspirational hip-hop Adam Cruz shares his music and his message with the students of LBSU.
T
he sounds of hip-hop music blasted through the University Student Union’s Southwest Terrace during Wednesday’s Noontime Event. Long Beach rapper Adam Cruz used his one hour session to perform his debut EP, “Firstborn,” along with about nine other tracks in front of a crowd of students. “Sometimes we think success isn’t for us,” Cruz said. “I believe success is for everybody. We just have to continue to pursue that.” Cruz was Associated Student Inc.’s last Noontime performance for the month of April, following the previous weeks’ Mike Schiavo and the Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration Kickoff. Under the warm sun, students who were studying, eating, or passing by the performance treated themselves with cold mango iced tea as they watched the show. Midway through the set, Adrianna Barbosa, a student who was in attendance, asked Cruz if she could do a display of her own. She then started to twirl her pair of silk veils to the beat of the music. “I was like, ‘oh, someone’s performing, let me just go up there and attract some attention to it,’” Barbosa said. And this was especially pleasing for Cruz, who said that his goal for his music is to inspire. His brand name, “Firstborn,” means something more
than just a label to spread on his merchandise. “I’m really trying to take the brand even bigger than the project,” Cruz said. “I believe that we all, whether you’re the first born in your family or not, are called to make a difference in people’s lives … to be successful in whatever it is you’re trying to do.” Despite having grown in up in Southgate, Long Beach has always been a second home to Cruz. For the past decade, the 26-year-old has serviced a youth group at Revive Church on Seventh Street and Obispo Avenue. His song, “Role Modelz Wanted,” is inspired by some of the kids that he has helped who have absent fathers. “I can tell that they want a role model in their lives,” Cruz said. “They want someone to guide them.” At the age of 16, Cruz started rapping with his twin brother, Justin, a business major at LBSU, as part of a duo called Sage and Reason. Cruz began making music independently three years ago and now records in a professional studio. Cruz raps on beats that are produced by a friend. Though faith is always an underlying message in his songs, he tries to keep his music geared towards every hip-hop fan. “I try to keep it not overly preachy,” Cruz said. “I don’t want people to think that it’s just church music.” Cruz normally performs at church events and conferences. Locally, he has a consistent following, as most of the 5,000 Spotify plays for “Firstborn” has come from the Long Beach area. “It was really exciting to be here,” Cruz said. “Something different.”
10 ARTS & LIFE
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NIKKI NELSEN | Daily 49er
ASI Sustain U member Cindy Tseng teaches students Tuesday about the benefits of composting in support of Earth Week.
ENVIRONMENT
ASI teaches students about the benefits of composting Sustain U helps students sustain the planet at their Composting 101 event. By Nikki Nelsen Staff Writer
To celebrate Earth Week, Associated Students Inc. and Sustain U offered a presentation on the benefits of composting Tuesday. Composting 101 was presented in the University Student Union and taught students about how the campus composts, the benefits of composting and how it can be done at home. At the event, students learned about living a more sustainable life and decreasing their ecological footprint. “Composting is part of being more
sustainable,” said Cindy Tseng, a member of Sustain U. “You’re not only looking at the environment but also the plants growth and the human interest as well.” The presentation also taught LBSU students who do not have access to their own garden how they can compost and decrease their ecological footprint on campus. Sustain U has a variety of compost bins in the university dining hall and in front of the bookstore. All three modules were created with students in mind and could be completed in about 40 minutes with each individual module lasting about 10 to 15 minutes.
Students that attended all three modules were entered into a contest to win their own composting bin. Students also received stainless steel reusable straws and cardboard pens to those who stayed the whole time. While some students were already active recyclers and composters that were interested in learning more, other students were just getting started. “I am trying to learn more. I tried to do composting but my landlord is not okay with it, so I try to save my food waste, egg shells, banana peels and all that stuff and then I would just blend it in the blender to add it to the soil,” Venus Chen said. She brings her own stainless steel drinking straws along
with stainless steel forks and knives in a pouch she sewed herself to school daily. Sustain U was formed by ASI to improve environmental sustainability on campus by raising awareness and adopting the best sustainability practices. One goal of Sustain U is to switch all “back of house” composting that happens on campus and convert it to a “front of house” program that would allow students to compost their waste. “‘Front of house’ composting starts with you guys, just like composting and Sustain U started on campus,” Daniel Pierce USU Sustainability Assistant said.
SPORTS 11
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Touzinsky coached at Long Beach State for two years, but leaves the program weeks before the NCAA tournament.
PAULA KILEY | Daily 49er
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Touzinsky resigns as assistant coach By Bryan Aparicio
Assistant Sports Editor BryanAparicio_
Long Beach State assistant coach Scott Touzinsky announced his departure from the men’s volleyball program Wednesday evening. It was announced Tuesday that Touzinsky was under investigation for sexual misconduct by the U.S. Center for SafeSport and was public on USA Volleyball’s website
since fall 2018, according to the Press Telegram. The probe involved improper communication with an underage female volleyball player in 2013 or 2014 from a volleyball training program in Canada. Hawai’i men’s volleyball coach Charlie Wade is also being investigated by the same organization. In a statement from Long Beach State Athletics, Touzinsky explained his departure from the program amid the ongoing investigation. “I feel that my continued presence on the coaching staff would be a distraction during what is a critical time for the team,” Touzin-
sky said. “I do not make this decision lightly, but I believe this is the best course of action for the benefit of Long Beach State Men’s Volleyball. I am so proud of this team and I am so honored to have been part of this amazing program. This has been a remarkable journey.” Head coach Alan Knipe and the rest of the staff could not be reached for comment on the matter. Touzinsky is a former Long Beach State All-American and a 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist. He made his return to Long Beach in 2017
where he made his presence known on the coaching staff, helping lead the team to a 28-1 record and its second ever national championship. Under Touzinsky, Long Beach produced five All-America selections and six Big West All-Conference accolades, including senior setter Josh Tuaniga, who was named the 2018 AVCA National Player of the Year and NCAA Tournament MVP. According to Long Beach State Athletics, an interim replacement for Touzinsky will be named soon.
didn’t want to go to a place that was snowing or very cold.” Mauritius is known for its uncomfortably warm weather and humidity, aspects that Lennon is happy to get away from. Wiktoria Rutkowska was also happy with the weather change coming from the cold winters of Puszczykowo, Poland. “I wanted to come to California, so I just started looking for schools [here].” Rutkowska said. “I didn’t have many options because I really liked Long Beach.” When Rutkowska was going through the scouting process, Hilt-Costello had serious interest in bringing her to Long Beach. The
fit benefitted both sides, with Rutkowska sitting at the top of a competitive roster that was willing to work with her and improve her game. Adaptation to a new city, let alone a new country has been a process for each international athlete. Santa Clarita native Natalia Munoz has acted as sort of a tour guide for international recruits the last three years, teaching them about American culture and helping them navigate through everyday activities. “They talk a lot of shit about America,” Munoz said laughing. “There’s a lot of culture shock, they love it here and whenever
they have a question they always ask me.” They think it’s cool that I know so much.” Munoz has taken the role of helping the international athletes become comfortable in their situation. But while Munoz helps her teammates off the court, her teammates help her improve her game, teaching her different play styles from each country. “In Europe, they play on a clay surface so Dominique [Meyer] is used to sliding on clay, which makes the game a lot more creative because the ball moves slower,” Munoz said. “Because I’m not as fast as my other teammates, I’ve picked up from skills from them to help me control the game.”
TENNIS
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surrounded by the salty waters of the Indian Ocean whose most well-known neighbor is Madagascar. Her home country’s lack of competition led her to move to America, where she competed in tournaments and found the exposure she desired. Two years later, she decided to move back to Mauritius to prepare for her next move. It was at this point that she made contact with Hilt-Costello and LBSU, having been pitched on the same ideas that Devarakonda found so life changing. “The first thing I wanted was the sun, and that’s why I came here,” Lennon said. “I
12 SPORTS
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TENNIS
Long Beach heads to Big West tournament By Manuel Valladares Staff Writer
PAULA KILEY | Daily 49er
Freshman Ryley Fick races in the women’s 800 meter run at Jack Rose Track Saturday for the 25th annual Beach Invitational.
TRACK AND FIELD
49ers travel to last regular season meet The Steve Scott Invitational is last opportunity to qualify for Big West Conference. By Max Perez Staff Writer
The Long Beach State track and field athletes will have their last opportunity to qualify for the Big West Championship this weekend at the UC Irvine Steve Scott Invitational. Going into the weekend, the 49ers have qualified 30 men and 29 women for the conference event. Each program is limited to compete 32 men and women athletes each. If the team were to qualify more than that, they would have to make the decision about who to bring to compete. “If we do qualify more than 32, which I would expect that we would, then we have to make some tough decisions on readiness and preparation,” head coach Andy Sythe said To qualify for the conference, players must meet the qualifying mark issued by the conference for each event. This event has appeared on the team’s
schedule every year and works as a tune-up for the Big West championships. “It’s just the right place to go to prepare our team for the conference championship,” Sythe said. “The level of competition is solid [and] we’re trying to tune-up and get everything sharp.” One area the team will be focusing on is the relay teams. So far this season, both the men and women’s relay teams have had different lineups for each event. “We’re just trying to find that right fit and that right person,” Sythe said. “And frankly we’ve found those people, but injuries and things have kind of changed things. The nice part is we’ve run pretty consistent with everybody.” Despite the order and athletes changing from each event, the men hold second place in the conference in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, while the women are first in 4x100m and second in the 4x400m. In the 4x100m the women lead the conference with a time of 44.94, making it the only sub 45 second mark in the conference. “Our women’s team leads the conference
by .71 seconds,” Sythe said. “That’s nearly a second, so we definitely have the strongest team.” The men are close second in the 4x100m relay with a time of 40.35, just .02 seconds out of first place. The men and women hold second in the 4x400m with times of 3:11.72 and 3:45.47, respectively. “It’s not always the fastest person that’s the best for the relay,” Sythe said. “The ability to move that baton around that track quickly and have the handoffs be accurate are the things I know the coaches are trying to find to get the right balance.” Some athletes are working to claim regional marks in order to qualify for the NCAA regionals, while others will just be fine tuning their events. “It’s a little different for each person individually...where they stand and what they are trying to do,” Sythe said. “The approach of the meet is to try and meet the specific needs of each individual.” The UC Irvine Steve Scott Invitational takes place Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27 at Anteater Stadium.
Long Beach State women’s tennis begin their journey in the Big West Conference tournament against Cal Poly, a favorable matchup that can add plenty of momentum to a potential run this weekend. Long Beach (14-5, 6-2 Big West) got the best of Cal Poly (7-11, 3-5 Big West) in their previous meeting, with the 49ers coming away with a 6-1 victory over the Mustangs. The game was no fluke as the 49ers showcased their overwhelming talent, something they’ll need to repeat this weekend. “We think we’re the better team,” head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello said. “[With that in mind] we need to take Cal Poly seriously.” Despite a noticeable talent discrepancy, the Mustangs can still win if they’re able to get in the heads of their opponents. This was a tactic they used against the 49ers last meeting, with players being overtly loud in each of their matches. The tactic definitely bothered Long Beach at the start of the game, with the team losing the doubles point after two close matches. This could’ve easily hurt the 49ers further in singles but that was not the case. The loud celebrating by Cal Poly was getting under the skin of Long Beach players, but the 49ers responded well by winning five of their singles matches. Two players whose performances will be most crucial are freshmen Wiktoria Rutkowska and Emma Bardet. The players sit at the top of the team’s roster and will be entering their first Big West Conference tournament. Rutkowska and Bardet have been in a slump as of late, holding sub.500 singles records in their last 10 games. The players also have a tendency of allowing minor mistakes to hurt their performances. Fortunately for them, they now have an entire regular season under their belt, with many previous performances they can pick apart and improve upon. The 49ers have had a week to prepare for the tournament, giving them plenty of time to clean up prior mistakes. The 49ers will be participating in the Big West Conference tournament at Indian Wells, California April 26-28.