CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LONG BEACH
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Men’s volleyball head coach Alan Knipe got a fiveyear contract extension Monday, for the full story see page 8.
VOL. LXVIX, ISSUE 76 | MAY 2, 2018
TECHNOLOGY
Tour the tech floor Human Performance and Robotics Lab showcases robots and simulations. By Jessica Jacobs Staff Writer
Photos by Hunter Lee | Daily 49er
Along with 19 community organizations, residents of Long Beach, joined in support of the May Day March as they made their way to city hall.
MARCH MY WAY By Hunter Lee Photo Editor
“Resist state violence! Rise up for our communities! Reclaim our power!”
T
his chant was shouted by over 200 Long Beach residents, as they filled the streets of downtown Long Beach in support of the International Workers’ Day march. With a coalition of 19 community organizations, the event rallied community members to stand united for issues including workers’ rights, immigrants’ rights and rent control. “Through our hardships we stand here in support of fair treatment,” said George Funmaker, a member of Red Earth Defense, an indigenous-led group which focuses on issues affecting marginalized communities. The march began at Cesar Chavez Park Tuesday and featured a number of community advocates and speakers. For more on May Day, see page 2.
Two young boys hold a sign and megaphone to help with the chants and rally support of community members.
Need a hand? A functioning robotic arm will be one of several devices on display at an on-campus lab for two days next week. The Staff Council of Cal State Long Beach will open up its Human Performance and Robotics lab to the public Monday, May 7 and May 9. Students can visit the lab from 12:10 to 12:50 p.m. in room 115 of the Engineering and Computer Science building. According to the department’s website, the group’s projects range from musculoskeletal modeling to robotic control. There are approximately seven active projects available to view in the lab. However, according to mechanical engineering masters student Joaquin Martinez, only three of them are ready to be showcased. The projects include a lower body exoskeleton simulation, which is controlled with a software called opensim, a virtual reality simulation and a haptic feedback program. The virtual reality project consists of a robotic arm that reflects the motions a user makes in the world modeled in Unity, a game engine. This project’s goal is to show the capabilities of VR technology. It was created by John Abella, a graduate student in mechanical engineering. The lower body exoskeleton simulation was made by Martinez, mechanical engineering graduate student; Ricky Whisman, mechanical engineering major; and Maya Martinez, biomedical engineering student. According to Maya, this model will allow designers to analyze how the lower body exoskeleton affects a person who requires assistance to walk so they may “tailor the device capabilities to their target audience.” The third project will be the haptics simulation, a sensor that applies force through touch communication, created by Elliot Recinos, a graduate student in mechanical engineering. This project creates a source of force-like vibrations. “It allows a user to physically interact with a computer environment and physically feel the environment, dynamic and rigid,” Joaquin said. “You can touch a wall in a computer game and feel the wall in real life through a haptic device.”
2 NEWS
March on May Day The May Day March featured numerous speakers, including Jonaya Chadwick, a resident of Long Beach threatened by increasing rent costs. “My mom and I could [be] losing our home tomorrow,” Chadwick said. “It could be you tomorrow, and eventually it will affect everyone in Long Beach.” As the march began, the large crowd made its way down Magnolia Avenue toward Long Beach City Hall. Event organizers and the Long Beach Police Department kept traffic at bay as the march crowded the streets in front of the Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse. While many attendees were veterans of the May Day march, plenty of new faces came out to stand in solidarity. Andrew Mandujano, a senior business major and member of the Cal State Long Beach chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, was excited to be a part of the event. “It’s great to be able to come out and show support of fair treatment,” Mandujano said. “I’m just following the lead for now and hopefully play a bigger role next year.”
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Members of Bayan USA Southern California, above, get their banner ready as the march begins at Cesar Chavez Park. A young girl and her mother, left, hold signs calling for rent control. People of all ages took to the streets, held signs and chanted during the march. Over 200 people, below, were present for the 2018 May Day March, challenging issues of rent control, immigrant rights and workers’ rights.
Photos by Hunter Lee Daily 49er
NEWS 3
WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2018 DAILY49ER.COM | CITYD49ER@GMAIL.COM SPEAKER
Show, don’t tell The force behind Project Veritas detailed his method of muckraking journalism to over 100 people. By Miranda Andrade-Ceja Editor in Chief
Journalist James O’Keefe greeted a Beach Auditorium full of students and faculty by quoting Kanye West, thanking the audience for their “dragon energy” Monday night. This term was introduced by West via Twitter on Wednesday, in which he tweeted: “You don’t have to agree with [President Donald] Trump but the mob can’t make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother.” Members of the audience gripped copies of the author’s autobiography “American Pravda” and listened intently while the guerilla journalist elaborated on the topic of his work and his efforts to reveal systemic fraud, waste and hypocrisy by creating a “renaissance of investigative journalism.” Additionally, he shared the work that his website, Project Veritas, a nonprofit launched in 2010. While O’Keefe’s methods of guerilla journalism have been questioned and, at times, scorned by media sources, he retains that the techniques journalists of today find controversial, were commonly used by journalists
throughout the Progressive Era of the 20th century. This was known as “muckraking,” or digging into established institutions of power in order to reveal corruption, falsity and fraud to the public. The event was hosted by Cal State Long Beach’s chapter of Turning Point USA, an organization which advocates for fiscal responsibility and small government on a federal level. The event attracted a turnout of over 100 students. The crowd was amicable and their attention piqued as O’Keefe detailed stories Project Veritas broke in the last couple of years. O’Keefe has targeted mainstream media organizations and sites such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now and Planned Parenthood by producing undercover exposès intended to reveal the “hypocrisy” of the institutions in power. While his method of investigative journalism has come under fire by various popular news outlets, O’Keefe retained that, “sunlight is the best disinfectant.” “We do guerilla journalism because we believe that the press is lying to you,” O’Keefe said. “The only way to expose the truth is to dig deep.” The speaker “digs deep” by disguising himself in a variety of costumes, suiting himself up with lapel microphones and cameras and infiltrating public sectors. He then uploads his findings to social media accounts and the Project Veritas’ website. O’Keefe’s process has been
Hunter Lee | Daily 49er
James O’Keefe speaks to students in the Beach Auditorium Monday night. The event, sponsored by political group Turning Point USA, brought out over 100 students.
criticized for approaching sources while disguising his identity, not disclosing his identity to the source and heavily editing the footage he records before sharing it with his audience. “Citizen journalism is not easy,” O’Keefe said. “You have to overcome obstacles, you have to face powerful institutions. But it’s not just me. We’re out there like germs, penetrating deep-state organizations, media organizations [and] voter fraud.” As a self-described “First Amendment Extremist,” O’Keefe elaborated on the state of university campuses in relation to free speech. During his time at Rutgers University, O’Keefe founded The Centurion, a conservative student-led magazine which served to counteract the perceived liberal slant of the college and its educators.
As Editor in Chief of The Centurion, O’Keefe said his undercover effort to ban Lucky Charms from Bowser Dining Hall put the publication on the map. O’Keefe said he engaged this story in an attempt to point out the ludicrous nature of some freedom of speech codes on university campuses. “I’m Irish American, I’m 6’1... do I look like the little guy on the Lucky Charms box?” O’Keefe said. “As James O’Keefe, can I say [that] you gotta remove Lucky Charms, they’re racist. It offends campus hate speech codes.” O’Keefe met and filmed his interaction with the dining hall dean, where he adopted the role of an Irish student and said that he felt the university should ban Lucky Charms because the leprechaun on the box, Lucky, was a racist caricature of an Irish
person. While O’Keefe went to school, he viewed these hate speech codes as ironic and became troubled over the state of the First Amendment on public university campuses. “Much has happened in the last 12 years,” O’Keefe said. “Nowadays it used to be ironic, but now [suppression of First Amendment rights is] a political reality on campus. It’s gotten so bad, it’s gotten so outrageous, that there are probably some people in this room who feel like people shouldn’t have a First Amendment right.” The journalist encouraged students to dig deep in order to find their own answers, challenging the audience to not accept their reality at face value, but to question the information we know by filming the truth and showing it to the world.
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What Your Teachers Never Taught You And You Want Single Payer Health Care? Dr. George A. Kuck (galbertk@aol.com)
We are entering an election season. The left will continue to push for single payer health care. When you hear this, remember the names Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans. These two babies were born with birth defects. How they received medical treatment is a great cautionary tale. Great Britain has a single payer medical system because the government took over all medical treatments. This socialized medical system, like all socialized medical systems, became a totalitarian system that had the power of life and death over Charlie and Alfie. Charlie was removed from life support last year by the order of the British government. This removal happened because the parents were not able to assert their rights to get the best treatment possible for their son. To oversimplify, people offered to pay for an experimental treatment and fly Charlie to the US. The British National Institute of Health refused to let the child fly to New York for experimental treatment and was upheld by the courts. Alfie Evens had a different condition, same circumstances. The Pope offered to take Alfie to Italy to try experimental treatments that could possibly save his life. The courts refused to allow Alfie to leave the hospital to fly to Italy for treatment. Alfie died last week. These tragic deaths possibly could not be avoided. However, it is chilling that the secular system asserted its right to define what lives are worth and then control the parents and children to allow the government’s predetermined outcome. Our Declaration of Independence asserts that we “are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” The socialist medical system has asserted that rights come from the government. Their core tenant is citizens belong to the government. Do you wish to control the destiny of you and your family? Under single payer, you will not be able to. The biggest “single payer” medical system in the US is the military and veterans (VA) medical systems. The stories told by veterans about the rats in the Bronx VA hospital are a legion. Many veterans have died waiting for care under the VA. If you think the treatment of general officers is better than treatment of company grade and enlisted personnel, you have chosen the correct answer. Socialism claims to treat everyone the same but that is just propaganda. The successes of socialized medicine are touted but the failures are hidden and buried. Does our medical system need to be improved? Definitely. Is single payer the way? Definitely not. Vote Democrat for single payer health insurance. Vote Republican for improving health care.
4 ARTS & LIFE
WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2018 DAILY49ER.COM | ARTSNLIFED49ER@GMAIL.COM
PLAY REVIEW
Elvis, Jesus and Hawking as family counselors Cal Rep sparks conversation about family hardships with its latest performance. By Kristi Alarcon Staff Writer
A family separated by trauma slowly knits themselves back together in “End Days,” a bittersweet comedy of four actors who reunite when they realize how desperately they need each other as the Rapture approaches. Cal Rep’s latest performance forces audiences to see the importance of family by showing that the amount of time on Earth is too short to hold grudges. The play, directed by Beth Lopez, portrays controversial themes of religion, depression and family stress and coping. The story takes place in 2001, when the Stein family leaves New York City for the suburbs after the father loses his job at the World Trade Center following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Each family member receives advice from a series of counselors as they gradually learn the importance of family together. Except none of the mentors are certified family counselors — they are deceased people such as Jesus Christ, Elvis Presley and Stephen Hawking. Sylvia Stein, newly converted Christian mother, receives regular advice from Jesus Christ. Dressed in a white robe and sandals, he spends much of his time at Sylvia’s side giving her advice through strenuous situations. He is persistently present in the conscious of the Christian convert but remains unseen by the rest of the family. The husband, Arthur Stein,
“End Days” features an emotionally distant father and a young, but wise Elvis-like neighbor.
appears to be in need of the most help. Arthur faces the trauma of being the sole survivor from his department after 9/11, which left him barely eating or sleeping. He has lost complete
By watching each eccentric character come together in the end, we see the power of family triumph over fear and trauma.
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motivation to do anything as he suffers from survivor’s guilt ever since the traumatic day. The family’s 16-year-old goth atheist daughter, Rachel, holds a pessimistic outlook in life after the attack due to the absence of both parents in the household.
To compensate for this, she supplants friends with cigarettes. Eventually her neighbor and crush, Nelson Steinberg, lends her a copy of a book written by famous physicist, Stephen Hawking. Despite Rachel’s religious mother raising her to hate science, she rebels. Hawking becomes her hero as she realizes that believing in science is easier than believing in Jesus since it’s based off facts. Along with gifting the book to Rachel, he also gives her father hope for a safe recovery from his clinical depression. Steinberg mentions to Arthur that his father committed suicide, and he feels the need to save Arthur from the same fate. Steinberg appears as Elvis to his neighbors as he carries a guitar and wears the same white
vinyl suit everyday since his mother’s funeral. Whether it is battling Satan with Sylvia, helping Arthur find interest in life again or teaching Rachel about science, he is a key element in helping the family build a healthy relationship again. Just when things are starting to look up, Sylvia’s vision of Jesus tells her the Rapture is set for the upcoming Wednesday. The mother then becomes obsessive over whether Rachel and Arthur are good enough to get into heaven. She spends every waking moment of the day urging them to save themselves by repenting and preparing for the final judgment. In the end, she comes to the conclusion that she will have to pick between staying with her family on Earth or going alone into the opening
Courtesy of Keith Ian Polakoff
arms of Jesus. “End Days” teaches you that creating time for family members, communicating effectively and supporting each other are important ways to strengthen and build positive relationships. By watching each eccentric character come together in the end, we see the power of family triumph over fear and trauma.
“END DAYS” • When: Now through May 12 • Where: Players Theater • Tickets: $15 for Students $20 for General Public
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6 OPINIONS
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POLITICS
Real outrage at fake issues Let’s stop pretending that Michelle Wolf’s jokes were the worst part of the White House Correspondent’s Dinner. By Daniel Green Opinions Editor
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n Saturday, the political world had a negative reaction to comedian Michelle Wolf ’s speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner as she lambasted President Donald Trump, his administration and pretty much everyone in the room. While some found Wolf funny, others thought she went too far with her humor. Despite the negative reactions, she was exactly what we needed. In an era where comedians are mocking Trump nightly, her aggressive comedy had just enough of an edge to stand out from her peers. Other comedians, such as late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon or Stephen Colbert, have to worry about things like swearing on television. Wolf had the luxury of not having to worry about censoring herself. Those who say she was too mean miss both the point of comedy and why Wolf was invited in the first place. The Correspondent’s dinner has always been a place where those in power get roasted. Colbert famously mocked George W. Bush and his failure to stabilize Iraq after his invasion, and last year Hasan Minhaj directly criticized Trump. So why is this the year where comedy went too far? It seems that it has more to do with the fact that she
This seems to the real issue that her critics have with her. Wolf’s jokes are not too mean, they just have too much truth to them. Whether you agree with her or not, can anyone say that she’s wrong?
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dropped any hints of politeness and called out everyone. Wolf even chastised Trump for his absence from the dinner. “Of course, Trump isn’t here, if you haven’t noticed, he’s not here,” Wolf said, “And I know, I know, I would drag him here myself, but it turns out the President of the United States is the one pussy you’re not allowed to grab.” Wolf also went after White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders for lying to the press. “I actually really like Sarah,” Wolf said, “I think she’s very resourceful. She burns facts, and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smoky eye. Like maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s lies. It’s probably lies.” For some reason, many critics rather shoot the messenger than acknowledge that she has a point. New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman criticized this line as an insult of Huckabee-Sanders’ looks. For some reason, critics would rather portray Wolf as a bully than admit she has a point. Let’s not forget that this is the
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Art Garcia | Sipa USA
Michelle Wolf arrives at Seth Rogen’s Hilarity For Charity event held at Hollywood Palladium on March 24 in Los Angeles.
same president who has constantly attacked his opponents, stretching back to the start of his presidential campaign. This is the president who made fun of a disabled reporter. The president who said that it was OK to “grab her by the pussy.” As Wolf said in her speech, “it’s funny how values can waver.” This seems to the real issue that her critics have with her. Wolf ’s jokes are not too mean, they just have too much truth to them. Whether you agree with her or not, can anyone say that she’s wrong? Even the arguments that she was unfair to the administration fall flat, considering the
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fact she went after targets on the left. Wolf mocked the Democrats, Hillary Clinton and the liberal media. She went after CNN in her speech: “Welcome, guys, it’s great to have you. You guys love breaking news, and you did it. You broke it. Good work.” Wolf even makes herself the butt of a couple jokes by bringing up her annoying voice. If Wolf can walk out on a stage in front of live cameras and make fun of herself, why can’t these politicians on top of the food chain sit for five minutes while a comedian cracks a few jokes? It seems especially stupid to get offended over Wolf ’s speech
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considering Trump was at a rally where he asked if there were any Hispanics in the crowd, before demanding funding for his border wall. Sadly, even the White House Correspondents’ Association, the organization behind the dinner, came out and threw her under the bus in a statement that declared “the entertainer’s monologue was not in the spirit of the mission.” Instead of blaming Wolf for acting like a comedian, the association should be more picky about their hosts. If organizers are so desperate to have entertainment that doesn’t speak out of turn, then maybe they should hire a mime.
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SPORTS 7
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TREND
International athletes are part of LBSU’s success
Long Beach has taken to recruiting players from all around the world to improve its programs. By Luke Ramirez and Samantha Diaz Staff Writers
A recent trend among some of the successful sports teams at Long Beach State is the recruitment of international athletes. These student-athletes travel thousands of miles to devote multiple years of work to a program, while putting trust in a coaching staff they’ve never met in-person. The presence of foreign-born players has become impactful for many 49er teams this academic year. Long Beach has teams on both sides of the spectrum, from the California-centered style of recruiting exhibited by baseball to Long Beach’s women’s tennis roster being comprised of athletes born outside of the U.S. A team’s need for talent from specific types of student-athletes has played a role in several Long Beach State programs going international to fill those requirements for certain sports. While some teams have a mixed bag of state-born and foreign-born athletes, women’s tennis is especially known for a tendency to travel abroad for its talent. All seven of the team’s players this season were scouted internationally, hailing from countries such as Spain, India, France and Brazil. Head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello said although her team is foreign-born, this was not intentional on her part, or the athletics program. “As a coach, my philosophy is to recruit the best available player that wants to be here, and that includes American and international,” Hilt-Costello said. “We just happen to have more [international players] on our team because it works out that way; it’s not that they’re more appealing.” While she said there’s not a preference for international players, the team has only recruited four women from the U.S. since 2009, which is as far back the team’s archived roster goes. This may seem like a difficult process of recruiting players, but for a team that has won 14 conference titles in the last 16 years, it’s unlikely Hilt-Costello will change her methods any time soon. Although the tennis program is a strong selling point for international players, what often draws students to Long Beach State is the chance to play ten-
Photo Illustration by Christian Gonzales
Long Beach State’s presence of recruiting international players has become impactful for many 49er teams this academic year.
I’ve really liked their attitudes, [They are] hungry to do anything they can to be a good teammate and not so worried about themselves as some of the American kids can be.”
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Dan Monson nis while getting an education, which is rare in most overseas programs. “The interesting thing is international tennis students don’t have this opportunity in other countries, of getting their education paid for and playing,” Hilt-Costello said. “The biggest thing is ability to play while getting their degree when you talk to these student athletes on why they want to play here.” Since recruiting internationally has become more popular, many networks have opened up to keep track of players and schools, then matching them up with each other when needed. Hilt-Costello uses these networks, sometimes contacting them when the team has an open spot available. Once the school expresses interest in a player, that student travels to the campus for a tour and works out in front of the coaching staff. If
the athlete isn’t able to make it to Long Beach, they choose the school based off pictures of the city and verbal communication, making the choice of who to invite to the team more difficult for Hilt-Costello. “The ones that don’t visit, we don’t get to see them play in person so that’s a little difficult,” Hilt-Costello said. “It makes it harder to get to know them and their play technique.” Despite these small disadvantages, Hilt-Costello has seen success through her team of international players during her tenure. It wouldn’t be surprising to see more teams follow the trend of recruiting international as the men’s basketball team is beginning to recruit non local student-athletes. The departure of transfers last year played a big role in the men’s basketball program recruiting overseas this past season. With positions needing to be filled, head coach Dan Monson needed to find an alternative. “Well, that was a need-[based] situation where we had to go late in recruiting in April last year,” Monson said. “Players locally and from around the state [had] already prominently made decisions.” Two players Monson recruited to play in Long Beach this season were freshman guard Edon Maxhuni from Finland and forward
Milos Apic from Serbia. Both were spotted by Monson and his staff after playing at Sandy Springs Friends School in Maryland. “I’ve really liked their attitudes,” Monson said. “[They are] hungry to do anything they can to be a good teammate and not so worried about themselves as some of the American kids can be.” Maxhuni played a big role in Long Beach’s season, contributing 6.2 points per game and starting 15 games. Apic sat out as a redshirt this year, but will stay on the roster next season. “It’s been refreshing having them,” Monson said. “We are not on the radar to do that every year, but I would do it again because it has been successful recruiting those two guys.” Not every squad from Long Beach extends its scope of recruiting outside U.S. borders. The Dirtbags’ coaching staff has made it a point to take care of their backyard due to monetary benefits and the rich local talent. Their 2018 roster shows all 32 players hailing from California. “We’re able to get more seasoned players [in California] that are used to playing in a much bigger environment, where the speed of the game is similar to that at the college level,” baseball head coach Troy Buckley said. “These players have more metal
and can adapt to the atmosphere much more quickly and easily.” Because of California’s yearround sunshine, prospective players are able to get in a whole 12 months of training. This is unlike other parts of the country and the world, where ball players are forced into a winter offseason and the best they can do is practice indoors. The baseball program is alloted 11.2 scholarships per season based on the in-state tuition rate. This factor further dissuades teams with over 30 players from recruiting outside the U.S. “The cost of out-of-state tuition is certainly a factor,” Buckley said. “We can fundraise based on what we want to do and who to recruit, but there are ramifications.” The structure of scholarship availability along with the large pool of above-average talent gives no incentive for baseball to explore international, or out-ofstate, options. “We are very fortunate to live in a state that is fertile with quality players,” Buckley said. “We don’t have to go out-of-state a lot to get what we are looking for.” The tennis team started the recruiting of international student-athletes, but with men’s basketball being the one of the wellknown sports on campus, going out of the states can be the domino effect for other programs.
8 SPORTS
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COMMENTARY
49ers get snubbed Despite a great year, beach volleyball was not selected for the NCAA tournament. By Samantha Diaz Arts & Life Editor
Christian Gonzales | Daily 49er
Long Beach State head coach Alan Knipe talks to freshman setter Carlos Rivera in Tuesday’s practice at the Walter Pyramid.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
It’s Knipe time for Long Beach Head coach Alan Knipe receives five-year contract extension. By Kevin Colindres Assistant Sports Editor
The No. 1 Long Beach State men’s volleyball head coach Alan Knipe will continue to coach the 49ers after signing a contract extension through the 2023 season. It was announced Monday by Athletic Director Andy Fee. “It’s always nice for the people you work for to validate your work and what you’re doing with the program by wanting you to be around,” Knipe said. Knipe’s previous contract earned him $140,004 a year. This year he was named the 2018 USMC/AVCA Divi-
sion I-II Men’s National Coach of the Year and the Big West coach of the year after going 26-1 in the regular season, so it was no surprise that the extension came at a time of major success. “Both President [Jane Close] Conoley and I think that Alan has done an unbelievable job,” Fee told LBSU Athletics. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to keep him here at Long Beach State. I know that he’ll continue to lead our men’s volleyball program to even more success, and most importantly, do so in the right way.” In Knipe’s 15-year career at Long Beach, he has coached four National Players of the Year, one AVCA Newcomer of the Year, 47 All-America selections, 58 All-MPSF selections and six All-Big West selections. He has also led the 49ers to 13 MPSF Tournaments, one Big West Tournament and five
NCAA Final Four appearances. “I think [Andy] has a pretty good idea of my passion for this program, so I don’t think it was the most difficult negotiation he has ever been through and that’s a great problem,” Knipe said. In the last year, attendance has doubled at games in large part to the team’s 12-0 record at home. “I’m excited about this season and the end of it,” Knipe said. “What we can do next year and what new course we take after some of these guys graduate is exciting.” Long Beach is due to face Ohio St. in the NCAA Final Four Thursday 8 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion.
Zackery Handy contributed to this story.
Rachel Nieto wiped her tears and Emma Kirst composed herself before the pair went back out onto the court to face Hawaii. They had to finish their game with the news that the team would not move on to the NCAA Championship. Hawaii celebrated on the other side as Long Beach’s beach volleyball team’s season came to an end. For a team that never dropped below the seventh spot in the nation, it was baffling that it did not advance to the tournament. Long Beach finished the season 26-8, with its only losses coming from top five ranked teams, most being close losses. The team proved themselves worthy of playing among the best in the sport, beating No. 4 Cal Poly twice in the Big West Tournament. The main point of contention was that out of the eight spots filled up, a team that never dropped lower than the seventh spot in the nation was not in one of those slots — with three other lower ranked teams chosen instead. Out of the eight slots, three were chosen from the east, three from the west and another two at-large bids. The bid that Long Beach lost went to Louisiana State University, which was ranked eighth at the end of the season. There were two things Long Beach could have done going into the Big West Tournament to make an argument for the postseason: win the tournament or upset a higher ranked team. Long Beach did one of those things, it defeated Cal Poly 3-2, 4-1. The NCAA doesn’t have a concrete process for how teams are chosen at the end of the season. There are four criterias that the committee considers for at-large bids: head-to-head competition, results versus common components, strength of schedule and overall record. Long Beach checked all the criterias; it played top ranked teams in the nation and made a name for itself, yet its season ended before the team could get a chance to make a run in the championship. For now, the damage has been done and Long Beach will have to wait another year before getting the chance to make a run for a championship. Let’s hope the NCAA can make the right decision next season.
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