Daily 49er, October 8, 2018

LONG BEACH STATE | VOL. LXX, ISSUE 11 | OCTOBER 8, 2018

D 49

er

a

KILLER among

us?

By Kat Schuster & Sarah Vehrs Staff Writers

C

armen Taylor, the vice president of Student Affairs, was placed on paid administrative leave on Tuesday. Her employment status is linked to a possible relationship she had with former Associated Students Inc. employee Jamie Williams who was charged with capital murder Oct. 2.

Continued on page 6

2 NEWS

INSIDE

THE

NINER

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018 | DAILY49ER.COM | D49ERNEWS@GMAIL.COM

ON THE COVER

Jamie Williams is currently being held after being charged with the murder of his stepfather and stepsister.

Facebook

Thousands participate in 34th annual Long Beach Marathon page 3 Animation students compete in worldwide 24 hour contest page 8 Longtime LBSU fans go above and beyond for women’s volleyball page 10

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CORRECTION: Our online coverage of the Associated Students Inc. meeting on Oct. 3 reported that the senators broke their bylaws by voting to maintain Senator-at-large Aaron Jordan after he missed multiple Senate meetings. However, the ASI Senate did not break any of their bylaws. It is up to their discretion whether or not to remove a senator, and a proposed removal must go through a two-thirds majority vote of the Senate.

Kat Schuster Editor in Chief eicd49er@gmail.com

Samantha Diaz Managing Editor managingd49er@gmail.com

News Editor James Chow d49ernews@gmail.com City Editor

Carlos Villicana cityd49er@gmail.com

Arts & Life Editor

Faith Petrie

artsnlifed49er@gmail.com Sports Editor

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sportsd49er@gmail.com Enterprise Editor

Sarah Vehrs

d49erinvestigations@gmail.com Opinions Editor

Grant Hermanns

opedd49er@gmail.com Multimedia Managing Editor Alexandra Apatiga multimediamanagerd49er@gmail.com

NEWS BRIEF

Design Editor Photo Editor

After missing four meetings, ASI Senator at-large maintains his position “I do not have any more scheduling conflicts with work this semester, so I am able to be present for the remainder of the academic year, including spring,” Jordan said.

According to ASI Vice President and Chair Leen Almahdi, Jordan received a warning email on Sept. 15 after his third missed meeting. He received another email from Almahdi on Sept. 21 to confirm that he had received the initial email and to attempt to set up a meeting time to discuss the absences.

Jordan responded on Sept. 25 to inform Almahdi of his fourth absence. A meeting was confirmed Sept. 26, 11 days after the initial warning email.

Issues also arose regarding a senator during spring 2018 who missed four meetings and was not held to the same standard as Jordan. The former senator was able to make up office hours, submit late reports and catch up with their responsibilities, senator at-large Melissa Mejia said.

-Emma DiMaggio, Assistant News Editor

Ryan Guitare

Social Media Editor

Lizbeth Galeno

Video Editor

Adam Pacheco

Assistant News Editor

Associated Students Inc. Senators voted 10-6 to keep Senator at-large Aaron Jordan in his position after he missed four Senate meetings, an action which provided grounds for a vote to take place deciding whether he remains in the group.

According to Chapter 2, Article 1, Section 8 of the ASI 2018-2019 Bylaws, “the Senate will declare vacant the office of any Senator who misses no less than three meetings during an academic semester, including summer and winter sessions. The proposed removal of the Senator will be placed on the agenda of a regularly scheduled Senate meeting for deliberation and action. The senator’s removal will be subject to a 2/3 majority vote of the Senate.”

Jordan said that his absences were due to financial insecurities after his financial aid through a Cal Grant was denied.

Jordan missed meetings on Aug. 8, Sept. 5, Sept. 12 and Sept. 26 due to scheduling conflicts with his jobs as a barista and an assistant cross country and track coach. The university policy on absences only includes severe illness, death, injury, religious reasons, government obligations and university-sanctioned activities as excused absences.

Claudia Mehranbod

Emma DiMaggio

News Assistant

Suzane Jlelati

Assistant Design Editor

Mia Bradford

Assistant Arts and Life Editor

Cristal Gomez

Assistant Sports Editor

Alex Manfredi

Assistant Sports Editor

Sierra Martinez

Assistant Opinions Editor

Jelina Cortero

Assistant Photo Editor

Jorge Villa

Social Media Assistant

Jhaicelle Laron

Social Media Assistant Multimedia Assistant Design Adviser Content Adviser

Jassareth Alanis-Ponce Paula Kiley Gary Metzker Barbara Kingsley-Wilson

Editorials: All opinions expressed in the columns, letters and cartoons in this issue are those of the writers or artists. The opinions of the Daily 49er are expressed only in unsigned editorials and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the journalism department or the views of all staff members.

All such editorials are written by the editorial board of the Daily 49er.

Letters Policy: All letters and email must bear the phone number of the writer and must be no more than 300 words. The Daily 49er reserves the right to edit letters for publication in regard to space.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018 | DAILY49ER.COM | D49ERNEWS@GMAIL.COM

NEWS 3

RACE

More than 15,000 run in annual Long Beach Marathon

By Jorge Villa

Assistant Photo Editor

Over 15,000 runners united under cool skies on Sunday for the 34th annual Long Beach Marathon, participating in either a half or full marathon.

The race kicked off at 6 a.m. and after two hours, 25 minutes and 43 seconds of running, Christopher Mocko finished first and took home $1,500.

The full marathon was a 26.2 mile route that passed through and around the Long Beach State campus. Both marathons began near Rainbow Lagoon and concluded shortly after Alamitos Beach.

Participants of the half-marathon began their journey at 7:30 a.m. and separated from the longer race at Ocean Boulevard and Termino Avenue, heading down Ocean Boulevard until they reached the finish line.

Full marathon runners turned right at this point and continued along Livingston Drive, finishing 13.1 miles more than those in the half-marathon.

For more photos and coverage of the marathon, visit daily49er.com.

Laura Tongring, 55 , top, reaches out to drink the plant-based drink, nuun, which is stationed throughout the course in Long Beach on Sunday. Beach Pride Events, cheers on bikers. Ryan Cosens, 29, above left, who placed third in the 20-mile marathon run, is given water by Denise Esquivias, 11. Medals, left, sit on a table awaiting accomplished runners.

Photos by Jorge Villa

4 NEWS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018 | DAILY49ER.COM | D49ERNEWS@GMAIL.COM

CRIME

More petty thefts and a domestic violence situation The University Police responded to calls of thefts and a potential fight between a couple.

By Grant Hermanns Opinions Editor grantheftautho

Not so petty

The University Police Department received multiple reports of petty thefts last week.

The first occurred on Sept. 30 when a dorm resident called the UPD from the University Library to report her Macbook Pro valued at about $1,500 had been stolen after she briefly left her belongings to use the bathroom. At this time, there are no suspect

details or leads.

The second occurred on the evening of Oct. 1. A student in the Student Recreation and Wellness Center had her wallet stolen out of her purse. No description of the wallet or its contents were given, but she filed a report.

The first of three bike thefts was reported on Oct. 1 when a dorm resident discovered their bike, which had been secured outside of the pool area at the Beachside dorms, had been stolen sometime between Thursday, Sept. 27 and that day. The bike was described to police as a red and grey Trek mountain bike valued between $300 and $400.

The second bike theft occurred sometime

between Oct. 1 and Sept. 27 when the victim, who had chain locked her bike outside of the Engineering 2 building at 6 p.m., discovered her bike missing. No bike description or value were given to police, and there are no suspect details or leads at this time.

The third theft occurred outside of the University Music Center on the morning of Oct. 1 when a Trek mountain bike was stolen. No description or value on the bike was given to campus police.

Domestic violence

Reports from the east side of campus said that a woman was being shoved into a car by a man. The car, a silver sedan, belonged to

28-year-old Torrance native Raven Leavon, who was arrested after getting into a physical altercation with the woman, a 23-yearold student whose name was withheld. The matter is still under investigation.

According to Goodwin, a witness reported seeing Leavon push the woman into his vehicle and make a stabbing motion towards her as he threw her inside, though no knife was seen in his hands or found in the area.

Witnesses also saw the two arguing prior to the altercation and throwing clothes at each other.

Leavon was taken to the Long Beach jail and the student filed a report with UPD.

ARTS & LIFE 5

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REVIEW

‘Venom’ poisons its own plot The Sony standalone is a lackluster effort that wastes Tom Hardy’s talent.

By Grant Hermanns Opinions Editor grantheftautho

S

ony has released its latest attempt to get back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the release of “Venom,” a standalone story based around the titular character, and much like the 2007 attempt to bring him to life, it’s a disaster.

While investigating the Life Corporation and its shady practices, journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy,) discovers experiments regarding alien symbiotes, one of which bonds with Brock and gives him superpowers, helping him become Venom.

The Marvel anti-hero was last seen on the big screen in his cinematic debut, 2007’s “Spider-Man 3,” which is widely regard-

ed as being the death of the Sam Raimi’s web-slinging trilogy, but Sony continued to work on a solo film surrounding the character.

Despite over a decade of work and the hiring of talented writers Jeff Pinker and Scott Rosenberg and Kelly Marcel, the final project feels like one that was hurriedly put together to get to the big screen and capitalize on the current comic book movie trend.

The plot felt as though it both rushed to get audiences to the action while simultaneously back-peddling to develop the characters and universe it’s attempting to build.

Due to this, the story resulted in a new but dull origin story that’s sole accomplishment was bringing Venom and Brock together.

The one thing the film did get right, however, was the relationship between Brock and Venom, which helped contribute a lot of comedy that kept things interesting for

audiences as the story threatened to put them to sleep.

Part of the reason their “chemistry” works is thanks to Hardy’s gonzo performance, which sees him embrace the craziness required from a man hearing a voice in his head and confused by the evolving situation.

One of the best moments in the film is when Brock gets his first look at Venom in his bathroom mirror, with Hardy’s shrieking reaction and throwing back into his own shower creating a legitimately laughable moment.

The banter that so often appears between Brock and Venom is also a true highlight of the film, thanks to the little ticks and decent dialogue written for the two’s interactions.

Overall, “Venom’”s story and often lackluster action is neither a thrill to watch nor cringe-worthy enough to be uninten-

IMDB

Despite mixed reviews, “Venom” has international success in the box office after its Oct. 5 release.

tionally hilarious, resulting in a bland entry in the comic book genre that wastes a talented actor, writers and director on a dull effort.

Or perhaps, Venom said it best: “Like a turd. In the wind.”

Stars: 2/5

6 NEWS

NEWS 7

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018 | DAILY49ER.COM | D49ERNEWS@GMAIL.COM

CRIME

VP of Student Affairs remains on leave pending investigation Carmen Taylor may have been romantically involved with former ASI employee who was charged with capital murder.

A

fter Jamie Williams spent more than a decade in prison, he got a job with Associated Students Inc. On Sept.

28, he was arrested for capital murder in a Compton shooting that left his stepfather and stepsister dead.

This happened just hours before Williams was seen on campus, exhibiting suspicious behavior, according to University Police. UPD also confirmed that Carmen Taylor, the vice president of Student Affairs, was the first person to inform them that Williams had been arrested. Two days later, Taylor was placed on paid administrative leave.

Jamie Williams on campus:

Williams was a fitness equipment technician for the Student Recreation and Wellness Center until he quit in March of 2018. This was the same month that President Jane Close Conoley questioned Taylor about whether the two were in a relationship, according to university spokeswoman, Terri Carbaugh.

Carbaugh said Conoley received a complaint in March that Taylor was having an affair with another employee. But when Conoley questioned Taylor, she denied the allegation.

The university’s policy prohibits employees from “entering into a consensual relationship with any employee whom they exercise direct or otherwise significant academic, administrative, supervisory, evaluative, counseling or extracurricular authority.” “[President Conoley] did not have any reason not to trust her,” Carbaugh said.

Although Carbaugh could only say that the university is looking into the connection Williams had with the school, UPD Detective Christopher Brown confirmed Friday that her employment status will not be determined until the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has finished its investigation.

Williams is facing charges for the murder his stepfather, 65-yearold Eddie Talley Jr. and 13-year-old stepsister, Brittany Malone.

Talley’s wife was also shot and was still in critical condition as of Oct. 5.

The former LBSU employee was formally charged with two counts of murder with a special circumstance of multiple murders, and one count of attempted murder, to which he plead not guilty.

A date for a preliminary hearing will be set on Oct. 24, Williams’ next court date. If his case goes to trial and he is convicted, he could face the death penalty or life in prison.

Williams’ movements on campus Friday, Sept. 28 8:30 a.m.

Williams has a scheduled meeting with Facilities Management

9:05 a.m.

Williams arrives at Facilities Management

10-10:15 a.m.

Williams enters the University Police Department

10:20 a.m.

Williams enters the Student Recreation and Wellness Center

11:05 a.m.

Williams contacts an employee outside the USU and walks with her into the building

11:25 a.m.-12 p.m.

Williams enters Brotman Hall and visits the President’s suite, Student Affairs office and Title IX office

12:35 p.m.

First phone call reporting a suspicious person is relayed to UPD

8:30 p.m.

VP Carmen Taylor informs a UPD officer working an event off campus that Williams has been arrested

12:43 p.m.

UPD officers are dispatched and canvas campus for Williams, who is not found

midnight UPD confirms Williams has been arrested by Los Angeles County Sheriffs for homicide

The day of the murders, Williams had a meeting scheduled with Facilities Management to follow up with tips about a job interview. However, he arrived in the office over a half-hour late. After he left Facilities, he began a near four-hour tour of the campus, stopping at various offices to air his grievances, according to UPD. According to several sources who wished to remain anonymous, Williams disclosed details of a romantic affair he had shared with Taylor that she had recently ended.

While Williams was on campus, he stopped by the SRWC, where he used to work and spoke to an individual at length, according to Brown.

Several sources have also said that after Taylor ended her relationship with Williams, she began another relationship with another employee from the SRWC. Brown confirmed that this same employee from the SRWC was interviewed by police. But he was unable to confirm if this is the same employee that Williams spoke to at length after leaving the UPD the morning before the murders.

Several hours later, UPD received a report of a suspicious person on campus who was “anxious” and visiting several offices to “tell his story.” The police identified the man as Williams, but never found him on campus. Brown said that about 10 officers searched for Williams.

According to Brown, Taylor was aware that Williams was on campus earlier that day, but she was not in her office when he stopped by to visit. Brown also confirmed that Taylor was concerned about the information Williams was sharing, but that she didn’t feel it was a public safety concern.

Around 8:30 p.m., Taylor was working an off-campus event with a University Police Officer and told him she had just been informed that Williams had been arrested.

Brown said campus members expressed “shock and a little bit of disbelief, as well as concern that he had been on campus.”

A neighbor’s account:

Brandy Riley Fletcher, a longtime family friend and Compton resident, said Williams may have been high on PVP, or “bath salts,” when he was arrested.

According to Fletcher, Williams was seen running out of his stepfather’s house naked Sept. 28 with blood on his face and told Fletcher’s brother to call the police. She added that Williams told her brother, who was standing

outside, that he just shot everyone in the house.

Fletcher’s mother lives two doors down from the Talley family, and Fletcher gave her account of what happened that night.

She works with campus security at Compton High School and said that the 600 block of West Palmer Street, where the shooting occurred, is a tight-knit community.

“I’ve known them my whole life,” Fletcher said of the Talley family. “My mom’s been living here 50-some years and the Talley’s been here for over 50 years.”

According to Fletcher, Williams arrived at his stepfather’s house that evening under the influence of PVP. This stimulant is in the “bath salts” family, often called “sherm” or “flakka.” The drug is known to cause aggressive and uncontrollable behavior.

Monique J. Talley, the niece of Williams’ stepfather, also confirmed that he was under the influence of PVP. “The one thing that I know is that my uncle is dead and [Williams] was on PVP at the time of his crime,” Monique said through Facebook He wanted to messenger.

Moments beuse his father’s fore the shooting, truck and they Fletcher said Wiltold him no, and he shot all liams had asked to borrow his stepfathree of them. ther’s car.

“They [told Brandy Riley Fletcher him] he was on drugs, he was on sherm,” Fletcher said. “He wanted to use his father’s truck and they told him no, and he shot all three of them.”

Fletcher said that she saw and spoke to Williams often over the past couple years. Before that, he hadn’t been around the neighborhood for over a decade, since he was convicted of aggravated assault in 2001.

In regard to the possible relationship between Taylor and Williams, Fletcher said that she wasn’t sure. She was aware, however, that Williams was in a relationship with a woman in her 50s.

Fletcher emphasized that she always found Williams to be a kind, intelligent man and that he “knew the Bible inside and out.” She said that his stepfather was just like a father to him and Williams stayed at his house on a regular basis. She also said that it was unlike him to use drugs.

“He needs to be punished for what he did because whatever the situation was with his father, he didn’t have to take that baby’s life,” Fletcher said, referring to the 13-year-old girl who died.

Campus police and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies are still investigating.

“

8 ARTS & LIFE

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COMPETITION

Ready, set, animate Students relinquish sleep during international 24 Hours Animation Contest for Students competition.

EMMA DIMAGGIO | Daily 49er

Senior animation major Trilina Mai works on a Wacom Cintiq tablet in the animation lab. Her team’s animation is about a penguin who wants to fly and the pelicans who don’t believe in him.

By Emma DiMaggio

Assistant News Editor ekdimaggio

W

ith drinking fountains turned off, sprinklers oscillating and escalator stagnant, the only sights or sounds that came from the Long Beach State campus at 2 a.m. on Friday were clicking keyboards and crunching candy wrappers from students in the 24 Hours Animation Contest for Students competition.

The annual competition challenges students internationally to create a 30-second animation from scratch in 24 hours. The theme of this year’s event, “empathy,” was released to students around the world at 4 p.m., when the countdown began.

“It takes the longest time, but [the animating] is the easiest part,” senior animation major Trilina Mai said. “The hardest part is developing and locking down your idea.”

First created by the Director of School of Art Aubry Mintz, the 16th annual iteration of the event now involves 49 different campuses.

The competition was open medium, meaning they can use any program they want, and competing teams of five used animation programs spanning from TV Paint to Adobe Animate. At least one team opted for experimental animation, and created a stop-motion film with felted puppets that took six hours to create.

The third-floor classroom in the fine arts

building was covered in textured ribbons, Their animation “Little by Little” is about polyfill stuffing, fabric and paint from the the endangerment of bees. Following the stop-motion team. Tables that weren’t covtheme of “empathy,” teams created concepts ered in art supplies were covered in hallowthat ranged from environmental awareness een candy and snacks. to embracing individuality.

“We tried to something that would save “It’s exhausting — physically, mentally, us time, but would also read well with the spiritually,” junior microbiology major Palaudience,” selas Lim said. nior studio art Most teams major Daniele followed the Reyes-Neyra same schemas said. “It’ll be when it came to 180 frames, so animating. The two frames per video concept, second.

It’s character design not that bad and storyboardactually.” ing were finished Animators long before anmust create imating began. all aspects Many teams inof their films cluded members EMMA DIMAGGIO | Daily 49er from start to with diverse skill Kim DeLeon and Daniele Reyes-Neyra adjust finish during sets. the felted puppets for their stop-motion animathe duration of “We have tion “Little by Little.” the competisomeone doing tion. Students background right cannot leave now. All of us, campus until the competition is over. No we’re doing roughs. Two of us will do clean pre-designed characters, puppets or backup afterwards,” Mai said. “[Animation magrounds are allowed. jors] are more common, but we do have “We have polyfill [stuffing] that we dyed some scattered illustrators who enjoy aniwith acrylic. It was difficult to make actually, mation but just like the drawing aspect.” because the paint was not sticking and it got Students worked at a fast pace to create everywhere,” senior animation major Kim keyframes and backgrounds as they occaDeLeon said. “We’re using it as smoke.” sionally break concentration to laugh and

hug huge cartoonish pillows. Yawns were heard across the room and one student laid in a sleeping bag on top of a table. The resilience of student artists under the pressure of a strict deadline was apparent in the studio rooms of Fine Arts 4.

“The industry is like that, you have crunch deadlines,” senior animation major and lab technician Molly McGrane said. “You have to hit that deadline. This teaches students how to finish a film and meet requirements.

You have to work with a team.”

According to Mai, 218 teams in total participated in the competition, a total of 1,090 members. Of those teams, 12 are from LBSU. Students from as far as Germany and Australia animated in unison with LBSU teams.

“People start to slow down, I’ve noticed, around 4 a.m.,” senior animation major and lab technician Debbie Bounnoy said. “Once the sun rises, when people walk around and go outside, people will be rejuvenated, and then it’s crunch time.”

Awards for the competition winners change each year depending on the sponsors. According to Bounnoy, past prizes have included black bags full of art supplies and tickets to the CTN Animation Expo.

The top three Long Beach State teams will also receive in-house awards, which will be presented around 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 10.

Submissions usually take about half a week to be judged, Mai said, and the winners of the competition in whole are estimated to be announced that same day.

OPINIONS 9

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FRED SCHILLING| Sipa USA/TNS

Retired Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, administers the Judicial Oath to Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh in the Justice’s Conference Room at the Supreme Court Building on Oct. 6, 2018 in Washington, DC,. Mrs. Ashley Kavanaugh holds the Bible.

POLITICS

The Supreme Court needs term limits

By Stephen L. Carter Bloomberg News

Term limits are popular. Some 61 percent of Americans support them. Whether categorized by party, income, race, gender or religion, in no demographic group does a majority oppose them. Over the last decade or so, many legal scholars have embraced the idea of discarding life tenure in favor of a mandatory retirement age or a specified number of years on the high bench – usually 18 or 15.

There’s no question that the court is graying. The justices nowadays retire at an average age of about 83 – a full decade later than they did half a century ago. They are also staying on the Supreme Court longer than ever before. Historically, justices have served an average of 16 years. The most recent 10 justices to leave the court averaged 25 years each. The first 10 averaged about seven.

Still, it’s not quite correct to suggest that term limits would bring the Supreme Court closer to the institution the founding generation imagined, when life tenure did not equate to life service. It’s true that justices served shorter terms. But few of them stepped down to pursue other careers. Even in the early republic, most served until death or until illness forced them to step down. Their terms were shorter because people didn’t live as long.

Nevertheless, there are multiple problems with life tenure.

For one thing, justices may engage in “strategic” retirement, timing their decisions to coincide with the administration of a president they like. Then there’s the much-discussed question of what longer tenure does to the justices themselves.

The estimable David Garrow contends, with entire seriousness, that the aging of the court causes problems of “mental decrepitude” among its members. In addition, as my friend Gregg Easterbrook has recently warned, lengthy service might give the justices an inflated sense of their own importance. In short, as the law professors Steven J. Calabresi and James Lindgren have argued, the system of life tenure “is essentially a relic of pre-democratic times.”

But the biggest problem with life tenure, especially in our polarized age, is that it makes a seat on the bench far too valuable. Political parties, whether in or out of power, invest considerable capital in securing seats for their own side, or denying them to the other, because the seats themselves are so scarce a resource.

What drives all this is that vacancies occur so rarely. Their scarcity drives up the political price each side is willing to pay in order to get one. If vacancies were more common, the value of the seats would fall, and there would be less incentive to contest each one so vehemently.

Consider that even before the allegations of sexual assault became public, opponents of Brett Kavanaugh were arguing that if confirmed, he would be a major influence on the development of constitutional law over the next three or four decades. That’s become a standard lament about the other party’s justices – but it’s also the reason that President Donald Trump, like President Barack Obama before him, is choosing them young. Seats are valuable, and each side wants to hold onto them for as long as possible.

The best way to create more seats is to limit the justices’ terms. But even 15 years now seems too long to quiet the battles. In my book “The Confirmation Mess” – the title was as

apt then as it is now – I suggested 8 or 12 years, but now I think the right figure is 9. Yes, nine – a vacancy every single year. Presumably you’re now recoiling in horror. Every year? Wouldn’t an annual vacancy just make things worse?

Certainly there are prominent senators who seem to think so.

But maybe they’re wrong. After all, an open seat isn’t nearly as valuable to either side if both know there’s another guaranteed vacancy next year. No president will be tempted to create a judicial legacy by choosing nominees who will serve for decades; no opponent will see the confirmation of the wrong nominee as a lost opportunity that will not present itself again for a long time. And every president will have exactly the same opportunity to select exactly the same number of justices per term.

What are the objections to this system? The first, of course, is that a constitutional amendment would be required. But suppose we could surmount that admittedly high barrier.

Surely the biggest problem is what a retired justice would do next. My answer in the past has been that the former justice can go back to being a life-tenured judge on another court.

The trouble is that many wouldn’t want to – not after nine years at the very summit of the profession. Yet federal judges who have stepped down to practice law have often been accompanied by charges of conflict of interest, leading some scholars to argue that former justices should be prohibited from practicing law entirely. I’m uneasy with going quite that far – but the difficulty is a real one.

Nevertheless, I adhere to the view that the justification for life tenure, if one ever existed, expired long ago. If we want to cut down on the carnage, let’s try something new: supply and demand.

10 SPORTS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018 | DAILY49ER.COM | SPORTSD49ER@GMAIL.COM

JORGE VILLA | Daily 49er

Donna Schultze raises her arms in disappointment after Long Beach State women’s volleyball drops a set against Uc Irvine Friday. Schultze has been attending games since 1997.

PROFILE

LBSU’s undisputed biggest fans

By Robert Hollar Staff Writer

I

f you walked into the back of Rascals, a teriyaki grill on Bellflower, you’d see a wall lined with Long Beach State sports memorabilia, mostly representing women’s sports.

The items in the black and yellow shrine were donated by retired Long Beach residents Donna Schultze and Bill King, a couple who have been the biggest fans of LBSU women’s sports for over two decades.

After seeing men’s sports represented in Rascals, Schultze spoke with the manager who told her he didn’t have any posters of women’s sports to put on the walls.

“I’ll get you the posters,” Schultze said.

Although the couple contributes support to multiple teams on campus, they are most committed to women’s volleyball, and have attended every game, even on the road, and most practices for the past several years.

They also run a newsletter called Spikernews. They publish multiple stories every week and includes a recap of that week’s games, scouting reports, rosters, an upcoming schedule and player profiles.

“We write a profile every week until we cover all the players,” King said.

They started the newsletter in 2008 after becoming

season ticket holders in the late ‘90s. Their motivation came from creating a better fan experience.

“We just felt like there was something missing.” King said.

Although Schultze offered various explanations as to why they devote so much of their time to the team, their motivation stems from an intense love for the sport.

“I try to arrange everything around volleyball,” Schultze said.

Shultze was a star multi-sport athlete at Cerritos College in the late ‘70s. She won player of the year twice and averaged 20 points a game for the basketball team in 1976 when she also batted .500 as a shortstop for the softball team en route to a state championship.

“I had a twin brother, so I was always playing with the boys,” Schultze said.

After Cerritos, Schultze attended LBSU, but was told she was too small to play basketball.

She never attended a volleyball game while she was a student at LBSU. King’s adult involvement with sports began when he had two sons in little league and he decided to start coaching. Before long, he rose to top-level softball coaching.

After competing and coaching, they became die-hard volleyball fans because of one day in 1997. King kept reading about how good the team was that year, urging Schultze to go to a game.

“I played volleyball in high school and I just wasn’t that into it,” Schultze said.

When she found out that Debbie Green, widely regarded as the greatest setter in USA Volleyball history, coached the team, she agreed to go see a match.

“We went to one game and we just fell in love with the sport,” Schultze said.

LBSU, led by Misty May-Treanor, won the national championship that year. Both of them bought their first set of season tickets in 1998 and have renewed ever since.

“It’s a very underappreciated sport in this country,” King said.

In 2005 they started going to the road games and Schultze now live-tweets every game the team plays, wherever it may be in the country. Head coach, Joy McKienzie-Fuerbringer said she appreciates the support Spikernews offers.

“They come and support the girls by traveling with us and there are a few others who do that and we need that.

It’s hard to play on the road and it’s nice to know that we have a fan base when we’re on the road too,” McKienzie-Fuerbringer said.

Schultze and King were brought together through their involvement in sports. More than 40 years later, they are still as committed to each other as they are to LBSU volleyball.

That makes it easy to understand why, to them, sports represents something much bigger than just a game.

SPORTS 11

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018 | DAILY49ER.COM | SPORTSD49ER@GMAIL.COM

Weekend in sports

STANDINGS

Women’s Volleyball Long Beach (11-8, 3-3 Big West) made little progress for its Big West standings over the weekend, dropping its first game against UC Irvine but defeating UC Davis. The games were highlighted by senior outside hitter Tyler Spriggs’ career high 23 kills, the last of which lifted the 49ers over the Aggies Saturday night in their 25-21, 18-25, 25-21, 25-19 win. Spriggs’ performance also included seven digs, five blocks and two aces for an all around impressive night. The performance was in part a response to the disappointing efforts put on by the team the night before, where they lost 25-19, 17-25, 22-25, 22-25 to the Anteaters.

- Samantha Diaz Men’s Waterpolo Long Beach (6-5, 0-1 GCC) kicked off conference play looking to end a threegame losing streak, but fell short to No.11 Pepperdine (9-6, 1-0 GCC) 10-8.

The Waves quickly put four on the board, but the 49ers responded with two goals before the end of the first. The sec-

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL BIG WEST

OVERALL

W

L

6

0

16-1

5

1

9-6

UC Irvine

4

1

10-7

UC Santa Barbara

4

3

12-7

3

3

11-8

2

4

6-12

1

4

6-10

1

5

9-9

0

5

6-12

Cal Poly Hawaii

Long Beach State

CSU Northridge UC Riverside

UC Davis

Cal State Fullerton

MEN’S WATER POLO WOMEN’S SOCCER GCC

OVERALL

BIG WEST

OVERALL

W

L

UC Santa Barbara 1

0

13-5

UC Irvine

2 0 0

6-5-1

Pepperdine

1

0

9-6

UC Riverside

1 0 1

10-0-2

Pacific

1

0

6-5

Long Beach State 1 0 1

6-4-2

Long Beach State 0

1

6-5

Cal Poly

1 1 1

1-9-4

San Jose State

0

1

4-5

UC Santa Barbara 1 1 0

8-5-0

UC Irvine

1

1

5-7

Hawaii

1 2 0

6-5-1

UC Davis

1 1 0

4-6-2

Cal State Fullerton 0 1 1

3-8-2

CSU Northridge

4-5-1

W L

T

0 2 0

ond quarter for Long Beach was met with more success as the team put a trio of goals up and took the lead. As tensions grew in the crowd halfway through the third quarter, the 49ers lost their momentum and went down 6-7. In the final quarter, the 49ers were depleted and allowed three more goals to ultimately lose the game.

- Rebecca Radtke Women’s Soccer Long Beach (6-4-2, 1-0-1 Big West) gave up an early goal, but recovered to defeat Hawaii 3-2 in its second conference match of the season. The game had a slow start, with Hawaii finding the net amongst defensive traffic in the 23rd minute. Katie Pingel evened out the score by sliding the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs off of a throw-in by Sarah Pilster. Taylor Bistline put the 49ers in the lead with an assist by Rola Badawiya. In the Sarah Maher tapped the ball in and earned an insurance goal.

Hawaii responded with a goal off a penalty kick, but it was not enough to earn them the win.

- Sierra Martinez

12

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018

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