January 17, 2013

IT’S GAME TIME.

ESTABLISHED ESTABLISHED 1921 1921 January 27, 17, 2012 2013 September Volume Volume91, 91,Issue Issue23 7

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Wind blows top off palm tree Students LMU officials have no sheltered immediate plans to restore the symmetry of Regents Terrace. during robber y

By Allison Croley Asst. News Editor

The decapitated palm tree on Regents Terrace has caused much curiosity among the LMU community.

According to the Department of Public Safety’s Assistant Chief Patricia Coffelt, the top part of the tree was “clipped off” due to severe winds at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 18.

Brian Holtzapfel, assistant director of Grounds and Fleet Services at LMU, confirmed Coffelt’s comment and told the Loyolan that there are no concrete plans for the repair of Regents Terrace other than the broken tree’s definite removal.

As for what to do with the remaining tree, there are three options being reviewed by Facilities Management. The first is to leave it as is and have only one palm tree on Regents Terrace. The second is to take the remaining tree out so that the two sides of Regents Terrace

are symmetrical. The third is to try and plant a new tree in place of the broken one. However, Holtzapfel noted, “It would be tough to put a new [tree] back in.”

Students have expressed curiosity and humor in response to the fragmented palm tree. Some have even offered ideas about how to restore Regents Terrace’s beauty.

Erick Bozeman, a senior political science major, told the Loyolan that he thinks LMU should “carve it into a totem pole to honor the Tongva along the lines of the memorial.”

Then he added on a more serious note, “I think they should replant a tree from a different side of campus.”

Khayla Golucke, a sophomore dance and English double major, immediately posted a picture of it on the social media site Instagram when arriving back to LMU after winter break. Along with the picture, she stated, “our school is no longer picture perfect” and hash tagged “#RIPpalmtree.”

LMU’s Fr. Richard Robin recalled a picture of the now broken palm tree in LMU’s 1940-41 yearbook. He

Approximately 200 people were held at Rave Cinema during a recent hostage situation at Nordstrom Rack.

By Casey Kidwell and Zaneta Pereira Loyolan Staff

An armed robbery went awry and quickly escalated into a hostage situation at Nordstrom Rack at the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center in Westchester last Thursday. During a news conference the following Monday, NBC reported that Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) Chief Charlie Beck stated that five people were arrested in connection to this robbery and hostage ordeal.

The event began shortly after closing time at Nordstrom Rack. As stated by NBC, an employee at the store called her husband and told him to telephone the police. Upon their arrival, the police saw that one of the suspects was exiting the store with a woman until he locked eyes with the newly arrived policemen. As a result, NBC said that he then reentered the store and that is when the hostage situation officially began.

According to Gawker.com, 200 moviegoers were held in the nearby Rave Cinema by the SWAT team until the situation was cleared.

Tweets infiltrated the web as individuals updated the area on what was happening.

One such tweet posted by an account that appeared to belong to Andrew Dayrit (@ andrewdayrit) said, “Swat team stopped our movie and put the whole mall on lockdown,” and also featured an attached picture of the SWAT team going down the theater’s

See Palm Tree | Page 4

Photo: Liana Bandziulis | Loyolan

See Hostages | Page 4

Philippines AB trip raises serious concerns FIRST-PERSON FEATURE Student shares her reaction to poverty and corruption during an AB trip over winter break.

By Alana Noland Contributor

“Live the good life.” This slogan was one of the first to greet me in the Philippines as I embarked on one of LMU’s Alternative Winter Break trips. As the rest of the group and I walked into Eastwood City Mall in downtown Manila on New Year ’s Eve, we were consumed with anxiety and excitement. The next two weeks held promise for adventure and immersion into a culture unknown.

Sadly, this statement could not have been farther from what we encountered.

We began our journey with Gabriela, an organization named after Gabriela Silang, who was the first Filipino woman to lead a revolt against Spanish influence during the Spanish-American War. Since then, the organization has grown and is

THE BEST OF 2012 What was great about pop culture in 2012? The Loyolan A&E staff call out the best in film, music and fashion.

A&E, Page 8

devoted to strengthening women all around the Philippines in hopes of reevaluating the role of women in a patriarchal society. Diving right into the brutal facts that would soon surround us, we learned that 2.1 million people living in the Philippines are homeless, while a large majority of the population live as “squatters” or in slums. However, this overwhelming figure did little to prepare us for what we were about to see.

Our director led us into several communities where we were welcomed into the locals’ lives and homes, despite our inability to conceal our foreignness with cameras and iPhones in hand. Somewhere between the gas fumes rising from the dump site next door to the government “housing” and the smiling faces surrounding me, I grew furious that these conditions were considered a little above average for those living in poverty.

As we moved onto our second nonprofit, I tried to hold onto hope that we could, in some small way, begin to change these horrific conditions.

However, as soon as we met the

See Philippines | Page 2

Alana Noland

A large water pipe empties in the middle of a housing community in Cubao.

Index Classifieds.............................4 Opinion.........................5 A&E.................................8 Sports.............................12 The next issue of the Loyolan will be printed on Jan. 24, 2013.

THURS

FRI

72˚ - 48˚

71˚ - 50˚

SAT

SUN

76˚ - 50˚

74˚ - 51˚

A FEW GOOD MEN The men’s lacrosse team wins a sportsmanship award for the second straight year.

Sports, Page 12

News

January 17, 2013 Page 2

AB trip enlightens students about economic status Philippines from Page 1

director of Gawad Kalinga, a group that claims on its website to be “building communities to end poverty,” I realized how unlikely this would be. Tita Lulu, as she preferred to be called, put forward an unsettling view of the communities that we explored a during our first three days.

She painted these people as lazy and in need of “conditioning,” but as we contacted families within the Silver Heights district, we continuously heard stories that failed to corroborate what Tita Lulu had said. While this organization may seem credible on the surface, the layers upon layers of deceit build a public image far from what we encountered.

The government of the Philippines has begun to work towards restoring a more aesthetically-pleasing Manila.

This “beautification process” is laced with irony as they destroy families and homes along the way.

In fact, it seems terribly convenient that once the government demolishes these slums, the people who had lived there are referred to Gawad Kalinga.

Partnered with the government along with corporate businesses such as Hyundai and Shell, Gawad Kalinga has established an “enchanted farm,” which we were able to explore. The families living in the housing are required to pay back a “sweat equity,” which lasts 50 to 60 years. With no other income due to their shifts on the farms, it is impossible for these

people to ever achieve freedom.

This farm was the first of 25 that they hope to spread throughout the Philippines. However, the workers, who are the residents as well, do not receive payment unless the business begins to take off. This pyramid scheme is nothing short of modern-day slavery, and the farm seems like nothing more than so many other false promises that are given to the citizens throughout the country.

Determined to get away from the Gawad Kalinga community and armed with all this information we had dug up, we were given no better outlet than airtime on a radio show for one of the oldest radio stations in the Philippines. Our third non-profit, the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific,

invited us to participate in their discussion, which was hopefully able to reach out to those vulnerable families who are caught in this cycle of debt bondage. Our experiences leading up to solidarity with these women helped us relate to them on a level we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.

It was difficult to call the areas “devastated” when the faces of the people living there are far from that and we were able to see how economic status does not always determine happiness. We left Manila with heavy hearts, but not broken spirits. Instead, we left equipped with the knowledge to prepare us to move forward with an awareness of a world beyond our borders.

LMU mourns retired professor and academic vice president Fr. John W. Clark, S. J., passed away in the Regis Infirmary at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, Calif. on Wednesday, Dec. 19. Clark was 87 years old. In 1965, Clark joined Loyola University in the College of Business Administration. Teaching courses on management and business in society, he held this position for three years until he was promoted to academic vice president. Clark served in this role during the time when Loyola University and Marymount College merged in 1973.

Deadline for graduation registration draws near Friday, Jan. 18 is the last day to apply for graduation in Spring 2013. Submit the application to the Office of the Registrar.

Alana Noland

Children from the Bagong Silangan community in the Philippines play next to a polluted river that runs close to their homes.

Who is the keynote?

?

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He’s nominated for an Oscar.

He’s won two before.

?

He’s not an actor or director.

His work this year has faced a lot of praise and political scrutiny.

Think you know?

Tweet @LALoyolan your guess by Monday, Jan. 21 at noon. The first person to guess correctly will get the chance to meet him after the event.

His name will be released Jan. 21 at 1 p.m. on laloyolan.com.

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News

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January 17, 2013 Page 3

WE’RE WANT TO WORK FOR THE LOYOLAN? HIRING! CONTACT:

MANAGING EDITOR:

KEVIN O’KEEFFE

AT KOKEEFFE@THELOYOLAN.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION

Leslie Irwin | Loyolan

DeAsia Marks, the communications chair of GSLMU, shares the best ways to network oneself in the job market. She advises keeping social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn up to date.

11BURNING QUESTIONS

with the communications chair for GSLMU This issue, News Intern Jenna Abdou talks to DeAsia Marks about GSLMU’s goals and opportunities as well as her advice about networking and job searching.

1. What is Graduate Students of Loyola Marymount University’s (GSLMU) ultimate mission?

Our mission is to bring all of the graduate colleges – such as the school of education, the law school and the business school – together to do networking, ministry and service. Before we started GSLMU a year and a half ago, none of these colleges interacted with each other, so it’s our ultimate goal to bring them together to focus on interdisciplinary work.

2. If you had to describe GSLMU in five words what would they be?

Young, productive, service, fun and spiritual.

3. What has been the highlight of your experience with GSLMU? The highlight has definitely been students’ appreciation for us bringing everyone together to work towards common goals and networking.

4. What are some of the main events that you put on that students should look out for?

We have two socials every semester and one service trip. Last semester we did a service trip with three different locations – an elementary school, a state park and the L.A. Food Bank– and we all met up at a restaurant after to get to know each other and spend time together.

5. What advice would you give first-year grad students as they take their studies to a higher level?

Take your time. Graduate students have a big sense of existential angst about what we are going to do in the next few years, and the most important thing is to stay committed and focused on your goals.

6. What do you think is the best way to network yourself to get the job you really want?

Keep in touch with everyone from your past: every job that you’ve had, every internship, every classmate or professor. Make an effort to stay in contact with them so you can build relationships that will be beneficial in the future. Also, get experience in the field. It’s very important to be an active participant in the field that you are involved in.

details

7. How can social media play a role in all of this?

Social media plays a role in everything today. The best platform for networking is LinkedIn. It’s a very good resource for many reasons.

Employers will always Google you. The first that pops up will probably be Facebook, but the second thing will be LinkedIn. It’s important that your profile on LinkedIn is open and you should do your best to highlight your achievements, your academic background and your work history.

8. How does GSLMU help grad students prepare for the next chapter of their lives?

We are hoping to keep in touch with our alumni and have them serve on a panel as a resource for [other] graduate students. Our main goal is to keep everyone in touch with each other.

9. Your spring service day is coming up on Feb. 16. What can people look forward to seeing there?

It will be very similar to the one that we had during the fall semester.

We are going to have three different locations based on the interests that people have. We are planning them right now and will be sharing them soon.

10. Why would you encourage students to get involved with GSLMU? Do you have any available positions?

I would encourage people to get involved because they can be really influential in the way that their school works. We have an election cycle every spring for our e-board – president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. And then each semester we have elections for senators and committee members.

11. Why would you encourage people to continue their education at LMU? I love the personal connections that professors have with their students; it’s really unlike anything that I have seen. Being at LMU is really great.

To read the extended version of 11 Burning Questions, visit the News section of laloyolan.com.

News

January 17, 2013 Page 4

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Disease is possible reason for palm loss Palm Tree from Page 1 said that at that time palm trees lined Loyola Boulevard.

However, the birds that inhabited the trees spread a deathly disease to them so one by one, each palm tree had to be taken out.

In return, the University planted four new palm trees:

two in Sunken Garden and two in Regents Terrace.

According to Robin, three of those trees are still standing today. However, the broken one was a replacement for the original tree, which was infected with the same disease that killed the ones lining Loyola Boulevard.

Suspects in custody Hostages from Page 1

escalator.

While social media blew up with posts, tweets and pictures from the evening’s events, the exact details of the situation were not immediately made known.

LMU senior business economics major Michael Krell was one of the patrons sheltered in the theater where he had just seen “Zero Dark Thirty.” In the Jan. 11 online Loyolan article “LMU students ‘sheltered’ at Rave Cinema during hostage situation,” Krell said that “none of us knew what was going on,” adding that he felt “helpless.”

Senior electrical engineering major Chase Blokker was with Krell, and said that “there was a lot of confusion” during the time they were held in the theater.

However, he largely attributed this to the fact that their movie got out later than many others.

Krell echoed Blokker’s description, explaining that while “there wasn’t panic … you could tell people were a little bit frantic,” especially when the patrons were suddenly directed to leave without much direction.

“No one was showing us where the exit was,” Krell explained, though he did note that, for those

held in the theater, there was very little danger.

Krell remained relatively unfazed by the incident and stated that he would have no qualms about returning to the Howard Hughes Center or the Rave Cinema. Blokker actually did go back to see another movie shortly afterwards, but said he felt “sketched out” and would probably stay away for a while.

The press conference with Beck on Monday, Jan. 14 revealed a lot of the details that were still in question. NBC reported that, according to Beck, after at least two hours, the officers entered the Nordstrom Rack store where they found 14 hostages. The results of this armed robbery gone amiss were the sexual assault of one female employee and the stabbing of another female employee.

Her neck wound was not lifethreatening, according to Beck.

Four of the five suspects are in custody in Los Angeles, while one is in custody in the Maricopa County Sherriff’s Department in Phoenix, Ariz., according to NBC. The news source revealed that every one of the suspects had a previous record but NBC is still uncertain as to why they targeted this particular store.

University officials suppose that the reason strong winds were able to blow off the top part of the tree is because it was infected with the same disease, thus making it weak. They are now planning on inspecting the three remaining original trees for the disease because if

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infected, the entire tree could fall over, creating a safety threat to those walking by.

Most of the LMU community doesn’t seem too concerned with the broken palm tree.

Nevertheless, repair plans are under review, and soon enough, Regents Terrace may look much different.

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On Campus

LMU ICE HOCKEY moved UP to #8 in the recent rankings!!!!! The Lions look to continue their fall semester success by taking on #4 NAU on FRIDAY, 1/18 at 8:10 pm and SATURDAY, 1/19 vs #7 SJSU at the Skating Edge Ice Arena in Harbor City. Go to www.lmuicehockey.com for more information on the fastest team on campus. GO LIONS NA KOLEA Lu`au is coming up! Ho`okahi hoe, ho`okahi holo, ho`okahi `ohana NA KOLEA Lu`au.

March 16, 2013 in Lawton Plaza.

Save the date!!!!!

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Opinion Student Editorials and Perspectives

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BOARD EDITORIAL

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Board Editorials represent the voice of the Loyolan. They are written in collaboration by the Executive Editorial Board.

Kevin O’Keeffe Managing Editor

Adrien Jarvis Editor in Chief

Dan Raffety Asst. Managing Editor

A

Brigette Scobas Asst. Managing Editor Joseph Demes Opinion Editor

Leave your LMU footprint

fter four weeks of life away from LMU, we are finally back for the second semester. If you were not on campus last semester, welcome to LMU! If you were, welcome back! Although New Year’s resolutions quickly fall by the wayside for most of us, this is still a time for us as students to try new things and cross items off those infamous and ongoing “bucket lists.”

Club Fest will be held today during Convo. It is an event that allows students to become more involved in campus life.

All types of student organizations will be out in Sunken Garden with opportunities for students to learn more about what the groups do and how to join.

LMU often prides itself on its community feel; small classroom sizes are a prime example of the close interaction between members of the community. Another common bond for students comes from their involvement in both on-campus and offcampus events. You will very rarely find a student who solely attends class without leaving his or her mark in another area before graduation.

The first semester of freshman year is a time of adjustment, and it can be tough to

commit to one activity before getting a full sense of what LMU has to offer. But now that you likely have a grasp on the ins and outs of surviving as a student at LMU, it’s time to become involved in campus life.

This is an opportunity to become a part of activities you haven’t experienced yet.

Maybe you are a second-semester senior who has never been on a De Colores trip – sign up at Convo. Maybe you are a secondsemester freshman who doesn’t know the difference between Notetorious and the One Night Stanzas – this is the time to find out.

As many of you know, sorority and fraternity recruitment is also coming up in a few weeks. We encourage both freshmen and upperclassmen to go through the recruitment process. This is another option for students to try out, but also know that it is not for everyone. Service organization recruitment follows Greek Life in February and is another way to get involved and find your place at LMU. There is a place for everyone on campus, and we as the Loyolan encourage you to find your niche, leave your mark and make this semester the best semester yet at LMU.

Loyolan Staff

Adrien Jarvis Kevin O’Keeffe Brigette Scobas Dan Raffety Zaneta Pereira Allison Croley Casey Kidwell Jenna Abdou Ali Swenson Joseph Demes Anna Escher Allie Heck Christopher James Chelsea Chenelle Mary Grace Cerni Nathan Dines Sam Borsos Kevin Cacabelos Andrew Moore Michael Busse Katherine Douthit Ryan Johnson Chanel Mucci Lucy Olson KiMi Robinson Audrey Valli Jenny Yu Tyler Barnett Mercedes Pericas Stephanie Schiller Sydney Franz Jackson Turcotte Liana Bandziulis Leslie Irwin Kasey Eggert Joe Crawley Sarabella Muise Michael Rainey Kirsten Dornbush Jennifer Bruner Michael Giuntini Allayah Beamon Melissa Carver Ryanne Haymer Harrison Geron Genesis Contreras Sabrina Budhrani Charles Riley Callie Douthit

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January 17, 2013 Page 5

Loyolan Editorial Policy The Los Angeles Loyolan, a studentrun campus organization, publishes a twice weekly newspaper for the greater LMU community. The first copy is free of charge. Additional copies are $1 each. Paid, mailed subscriptions can be purchased through the Business department.

The Loyolan accepts unsolicited letters from students, faculty, staff and alumni, and press releases from oncampus and off-campus organizations, but cannot guarantee publication.

The Loyolan reserves the right to edit or reject all submissions, including advertisements, articles or other contributions it deems objectionable.

The Loyolan does not print consecutive articles by the same author that repeat/ refute the initial arguments.

Opinions and ideas expressed in the Loyolan are those of individual authors, artists and student editors and are not those of Loyola Marymount University, its Board of Trustees, its student body or of newspaper advertisers. Board Editorials are unsigned and reflect the opinions of the Executive Editorial Board. Guest editorials are by invitation of the Executive Editorial Board and reflect the views of the author.

All advertisements are subject to the current rates and policies in the most recent Advertising Rates and Information materials.

Tom Nelson Director of Student Media

The Los Angeles Loyolan is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press and the California College Media Association.

Planning on stopping by Club Fest today?

Visit the Loyolan’s booth to learn more about working with us and making your voice heard!

The illness of the Sandy Hook tragedy T

he death of a young person is always tragic. The death of a young person due to a violent act is atrocious.

In the aftermath of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012, the nation was faced with the reality of our society: Some children are driven to the point of feeling helpless and are lashing out

By Anthony Pico in ever more violent ways.

Contributor With 20 elementary school students and seven adults now dead, policy makers are scrambling to make legislation in an attempt to put a bandage on the issues that resulted in this violent act. A multifaceted problem facing America’s youth, school-related violence is tough to address in part because of the knee-jerk response to determine it is a gun rights issue.

However, there are people such as myself who believe that there is a massive need for a mental health system overhaul in the wake of this tragedy. Since the incident, dozens of pieces of legislation aimed at gun violence have been introduced across the country, but mental health has been left behind.

A Dec. 7 article by MinnPost outlines the ways in which this tragedy points more towards a break in the mental health system and less to gun violence. In the aftermath of atrocities like this, analysts and mental health experts pore over the warning signs that people should have been noticing, and

Associated Press

A school bus passes a Sandy Hook memorial in Newtown, Conn. Buses transporting students were adorned with uplifting decorations throughout the aftermath of the tragic shooting. eventually it will come to light that the person or people who committed the acts had been making cries for help months, if not years, before he, she or they actually carried out the violence. It is tragic, because in the end, we have become so caught up in making these kinds of atrocities manageable and bitesized in the way we respond as a nation that we often lose sight of the full issue: adequate mental health services, proper training and screening of gun owners and better community responses to the warning signs that experts have been stating for years.

Guns are a touchy subject. They are instruments that require little skill, training or ability to use

but can wreak havoc and murder huge numbers of people in a short amount of time. I find the opinion that guns do nothing but allow evil people to kill innocent people is misinformed. It is much harder to address the core issues of mental health and community response.

For instance, the boys who committed the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 had signs of mental illness and had made repeated cries for help. A ban on guns would not have stopped them from murdering their classmates – as a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office report noted, they made 97 improvised explosive devices (pipe bombs). These young men were determined to kill as many

people as possible, which would have happened even without guns.

If the community had been more involved and informed about the issues that the youth were facing and able to spot the warning signs, proper treatment could have been given to the young men and the massacre might have been averted.

The cause of these tragedies is not video games, guns being available or a lack of armed security personnel on campuses. These tragedies come from a community whose members have turned their backs on each other and thrown away personal interactions and care for one another in pursuit of individual gains – disconnected

individualists who subscribe to the idea that if it doesn’t affect them directly, it isn’t their fault.

The discussion should have nothing to do with gun rights; rather, it should instead be focused on what we do as a community to address the problems of these troubled young people. An improvement in the ways we flag youth who have signs of distress, often associated with a poor home life or persistent bullying, is necessary, but only when accompanied with more comprehensive support structures.

Some students across the nation are facing extremely tough issues and don’t know where to turn.

However, we must remember the main pillar of LMU: being men and women for and with others.

We are being groomed to be the leaders of tomorrow, both in our own families and in the community. It is our impetus to bring mental health to the forefront of these discussions and learn more about what we as individuals can do to prevent tragedies like this from happening in the future.

Individually, we should inform ourselves on the effects of bullying, warning signs of people who might commit these acts, be vigilant and fight for proper funding and programs to address mental health in our communities. It will be our children who will have to learn from our mistakes. The question is whether we want a legacy of gun control laws or one of creating and maintaining an atmosphere where mental health is a priority and related stigmas removed.

This is the opinion of Anthony Pico, a junior philosophy major from San Francisco, Calif. Please send comments to jdemes@theloyolan.com.

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January 17, 2013 Page 6

Opinion

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Paying for parking to fund an LMU legacy

T

his semester, as most semesters for me, required an early movein to my on-campus apartment. As a result, I had no problem snagging a parking space in U - H a l l ’s underground parking – and a good one at that, one right by the elevator that takes you straight to the secA Short Story ond floor. I

By Joseph Demes can imagine Opinion Editor the odds of that happening now being slim to none.

Because of that, it’s not hard by any stretch of the imagination to predict that tensions will be higher when it comes to parking in general, especially since anyone with a permit is now paying the $335 fee that the LMU Parking and Transportation website lists for a semester-long pass for students.

Despite all that, I’d really, really like it if we could just please not talk about parking anymore. Ever again.

I will be the first to admit that my situation with respect to this whole controversy is more ideal than others: It’s my last semester, so I will only ever have to pay that one-time fee, and my lack of commute means my car tends

to stay in one place for long periods of time. So no, I have no right to be upset about parking like, say, a freshman with a car might (or any members of the class of 2017 come next fall). Even so, people who are only going to have to pay the annual rate once are entitled to at least an iota of irritation.

As junior business major Michael O’Neill put it in his Dec. 6, 2012 Loyolan article, “Parking fees: consent apparently not required,” all of us are essentially paying “for parking spaces that don’t exist,” since the number of available spots will only support an estimated 73 percent of permit holders. Of course, O’Neill isn’t the only one saying this. His words are, however, the most visible since they were printed in this very section, so I’ll use a couple of his arguments to illustrate my point. In any case, despite the caveats of my current situation, I’m still of the mindset that anyone who currently attends LMU has it better than most, and we ought to make sure those who will attend in the future have it as good, or even better.

The long and the short of it is that parking fees are here to stay, until those 609 new spots that O’Neill mentioned are finally put in place “20 years from now.” So please, no

more talk about the injustice of it all. Bear those moments where you keep circling the garages with stoicism. Or, shout to yourself in the car – with your windows rolled up, please – about said injustice and then leave it in the car.

Because, yes, while we’re not going to see any immediate benefits from this plan, it’s selfish of us to whine as if we should be seeing them.

Not to put O’Neill in a tough

a system from which they are not guaranteed to benefit.”

But someone will have to. If we’re going to be pragmatic here, it would seem only fair to place the burden on those students who will actively use the facilities. We may already have fees for utilities, such as the gym, implemented in our tuition, but those are different because their capacities fluctuate and can be used by anyone. Not so with the garages and students who don’t own cars.

Not all investments consistently return, to paraphrase O’Neill.

Any time I walk into the William H. Hannon Library, I quickly think of the tuition hikes and the students – now alumni – who may never visit the building they helped fund. That $55 million didn’t come solely from donors, though the LMU Giving page does slate it at number six on its “Top Alumni Designations (by donors)” list.

At some point, student dollars had to have gone into that project (though, more likely than not, indirectly).

Maybe there was less complaining, because, well, have you seen the place? It’s too cool to be real. Then again, maybe some people were disgruntled that they’d never get to use it as long as other students, or even at all. But that collective pooling of funds for one massive investment

“We, in the here and now, ought to consider that our dollars will go . . . towards leaving a concrete legacy behind. ” spot, because I agree with much of what he says and didn’t want to have to resort to parking puns, but I honestly don’t think any alternative plans would satisfy more people than the current one. I don’t mean to be apathetic in saying that, but merely realistic. What if we were to funnel these costs into the total student tuition package? People without cars would then be carrying some of that extra weight, sure, but they certainly wouldn’t be happy about it.

To quote O’Neill, “It doesn’t seem like sound logic that the student body should bear the burden of paying to implement

showed, as the LMU Giving page says, “your commitment, your connection to classmates and your dedication to the students of today and tomorrow.”

It can’t always be about what’s in it for us and how we can make a profit. We are already privileged enough to attend this university, even though it is not always a perfect place. But if all these fees add up to making LMU a more accommodating campus to future students, then it’s not such a terrible sacrifice for us to make in the long run. And yes, maybe it’s selfish of me to say that since I will pay considerably less.

But that’s just the timing of it.

That’s what it all comes down to. Those future students, 20 years from now, will have the benefit of timing to be able to have the ease of not worrying so much about parking.

We, in the here and now, ought to consider that our dollars will go, in a very visible but not necessarily as elegant way as Hannon Library, towards leaving a concrete legacy behind. The betterment of our environment for the sake of others cannot always accommodate those paving the way, but we can at least take pride in knowing that our money will be doing such a thing.

This is the opinion of Joseph Demes, a senior English and philosophy double major from Clayton, Calif. Please send comments to jdemes@theloyolan.com.

www.laloyolan.com

Opinion

January 17, 2013 Page 7

Stepping away from the fiscal cliff’s edge T

hanks to Congress having come to an agreement to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff” shortly after the New Year, most of us can stop worrying about increased federal tax rates anytime soon. The only people who will experience increased rates are individuals making over $400,000 a year and households making over $450,000, according to

By Daniel the Dec. 31 Steingold CBS article, Contributor “It’s over: Deal reached on ‘fiscal cliff.’” Not going over the cliff will have a major impact on LMU students, though the deal was far from perfect thanks to the bumps, potholes and ditches along the road. But at least we didn’t fall off of the proverbial precipice.

The positive impact was that tax rates for college students – and many of our families – will remain at Bush-era tax cut levels. Another big benefit of not going over the fiscal cliff is that student loans will not undergo a significant cut. Prior to the resolution, it was thought that student loans might experience at least an 8 percent decrease in funding. This, combined with the fact that loan amounts are not keeping up with inflation and rising tuition costs, would have been an unwelcome change. A last, often overlooked benefit of avoiding the cliff lies in the fact that college tuition tax credits were extended

for the next five years. A possible downside for lower wage employees, such as students, is that tax paid on wages for Social Security will increase back to 6.2 percent after what was deemed a payroll tax “holiday” at a 4.2 percent rate.

For more detailed information, you can refer to the graphic alongside this article.

While I am extremely glad that both sides came to a deal, as a strong believer that we have to cut spending, I do not like that the budget issues were not addressed at all. Speaker of the House John Boehner seemed very adamant about cutting one dollar in spending for every dollar spent, but ultimately decided to hold off on sequestration talks for two months until the federal government is forced to raise the debt ceiling. This is the real issue, and as with nearly any modern legislation, there were way too many subsidies and tax breaks.

For example, NASCAR track owners received $100 million in tax breaks, while film and television producers received $430 million in write-offs over just the next two years, according to the Jan. 11 Daily Beast article “Craziest Tax Breaks in Fiscal-Cliff Bill: Asparagus Growers, NASCAR Owners, and More.” If we had gotten rid of the numerous tax breaks that we gave out, taxes wouldn’t have had to rise much for anyone – or at least would have raised only on those somewhere closer to a $1 million income, as Boehner was proposing with his “Plan B.” This brings me to my second item of discontent: As a fiscal con-

servative, I feel as if Democrats bullied their way into basically getting everything they wanted in this bill, which is not really their fault as much as the fault of the Republican base being disorganized. I feel as if it is almost pointless to have a majority in either the House – where Republicans do have a majority – or the Senate to provide a check on the other party, if the party cannot even agree upon the proposals that its leader makes.

(The aforementioned “Plan B” didn’t come to a vote on the House floor since there wasn’t enough support from Republicans, according to the Dec. 21 CNN report, “Boehner’s Plan B fiscal cliff bill pulled amid dissension in GOP caucus.”)

In order for there to be a strong democracy, there should be at least one other alternative to choose from, and I don’t feel as if Republicans are giving the American people a great reason to support them. Politics are all about compromise, and due to their stubbornness, Republicans not only ended up getting much less than they could have, but got absolutely bullied. They did the right thing in finally agreeing to a resolution, but they could have had so much more.

All in all, the fiscal cliff is no longer a cliff, and we don’t have to worry about increased federal income taxes anytime soon. Now what remains to be seen is whether having some extra income in your pockets affects how you, your friends or your family spends.

This is the opinion of Daniel Steingold, a junior entrepeneurship major from Los Angeles, Calif. Please send comments to jdemes@theloyolan.com.

END OF THE

1

2 3

CLIFF

STUDENT LOANS

will not undergo a significant cut

Dispels 8 percent funding decrease rumor

COLLEGE TUITION

tax credits extended for the next five years Students can deduct college expenses up to $2,500 from their tax bill.

FEDERAL TAX BRACKETS

Single individuals:

Those making under $8,925/year: 10 percent (think: current students)

Those making $36,250-$87,850/year: 25 percent (think: recent alumni) Taxes paid on wages for Social Security: increase to 6.2 percent from 4.2 percent Info compiled from CBS, CNN, MSNBC, The Daily Beast, Taxfoundation. org and WTSP News.

Tyler Barnett | Loyolan

Arts & Entertainment Film, Literature, Music, Restaurants and Theatre

January 17, 2013 Page 8

www.laloyolan.com

A Few Of Our Favorite Things 2012 in Review

Diverse range of voices elevate past year of film T

he year 2012 will not be looked at as the punchline of a schlocky Roland Emmerich disaster pic, but rather as a year where truly entertaining and inventive cinema ran abundant.

The recent Oscar nominations brought us nine amazing Best Picture nominees that, gasp, all have their fantastic merits and are unique Chris Culture compared to

By Christopher one another.

There was James quite a crop of A&E Editor films to choose from.

The year 2012 might be the best year of this millennium in terms of films thus far, as there were so many joyous surprises and no shortage of thrills from every genre under the sun. Here are my choices for the top 5 films of the year.

1.“Django Unchained” Quentin Tarantino’s slavery epic

manages to combine the classic Tarantino style with the conventions of the spaghetti western to create a wholly exhilarating and original piece that is even more divisive and challenging than some of his famous previous films.

“Django” is unapolagetically messy, but I never quite knew which direction I was going to be led down next. Each member of the cast was exceptional. Christoph Waltz gave new depths to his familiar character, Leonardo DiCaprio played against type to gleefully splendid results and Samuel L. Jackson created a one-of-a-kind character as a scheming house slave.

2.“Silver Linings Playbook” Director David O. Russell has always had a unique voice and a penchant for examining the messy lives of unhinged individuals. This film showcases the budding chemistry of Pat (Bradley Cooper), a previously undiagnosed bipolar man just released from a mental hospital, and Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a similarly unhinged woman struggling after the sudden death of her husband. Both stars are utter revelations, creating a

real pair of characters that will be on my mind for years to come.

The writing is crisp, the directing is vivid and the acting triumphant.

3.“Argo” The most exhilarating action sequence didn’t belong in any summer blockbuster, but in a tense silent showdown at an airport at the climax in “Argo.” The film is a quick-witted account of the 1981 Iran Hostage Crisis that is intense, funny and, at its core, immensely entertaining. Ben Affleck has finally found his stride as a director and makes every scene crackle with pure kinetic energy. This is pure moviemaking at its finest.

4.“Lincoln” Never a diehard Spielberg fan, I went in skeptical and came out amazed. The film, which deals solely with passing the 13th Amendment banning slavery, has one of the strongest scripts in recent memory as writer Tony Kushner turns what could have been a droll history exercise into a humorous, smart, twisty and engrossing political puzzle. Behind the puzzle is the true master of the project, Daniel Day-Lewis, who once again

Music took an alternative turn

S

ome of today’s greatest talent made their debuts and comebacks over 2012, the year that the world did not end.

1. Frank Ocean,“channel ORANGE” Frank Ocean has truly redefined R&B with the emotional ballads and soulful tunes that have formed 2012’s most beautiful album.

With songs like “Forrest Gump” and “Thinkin Bout You,” Ocean down Sound Check knocked the heteronorBy Mary Grace mative walls Cerni of hip hop and emerged as A&E Intern one of modern hip hop’s most influential artists.

2. Grizzly Bear,“Shields” The strength of Grizzly Bear’s newest album was certainly not overshadowed by the success of 2009’s “Veckatimist.” “Shields” showed us a newer, darker and more compositionally mature side of Grizzly Bear. If you are new to the alter-

Def Jam

Frank Ocean’s 2012 album “channel ORANGE” topped Mary Grace Cerni’s favorite albums of theyear. native/indie music realm, the interesting musical detail of “Shields” is an amazing base for the progressive turn rock music is taking.

3. Kendrick Lamar,“good kid, m.A.A.d city” It wouldn’t be too bold to say that Lamar is a modern-day legend in the making. Lamar’s sophomore studio album provides a daring and raw look into what it means to grow up in Compton, without falling into the typical “rapper from the streets” schema. The beats cut deep, and the lyrics even deeper. Watch out for hip hop’s newest contender.

4. Purity Ring,“Shrines” An ethereal mixture of progres-

sive electro and witchcraft is the only way to describe the sound of Purity Ring. It takes a few listens to really sink in, but “Shrines” is an amazing album. The fearless indie duo’s execution of each track is captivating and nearly flawless.

5.Tame Impala,“Lonerism” The psychadelic Beatles-esque band Tame Impala has dodged the sophomore slump with its stellar new album. “Lonerism” received high praise from Spin, Pitchfork and Paste Magazine and was a favorite of music bloggers everywhere. The album is a reflection of a true retro rock‘n’roll spirit, something that tends to be lacking in the alternative rock of today.

What to look forward to in 2013: Local Natives,“Hummingbird” Mark your calendars: The album will be released on Jan. 29. If the rest of the tunes on the LP are anything like the recently released single, “Breakers,” this album is sure to blow music lovers away.

This is the opinion of Mary Grace Cerni, a sophomore communications studies major from West Covina, Calif. Please send comments to mcerni@theloyolan.com.

Stars shine in top 2012 looks

A

nyone who watched the her elegant look with a loose bun, 2012 GRAMMYs can at- dangling earrings and a sparkly test to the fact that Rihanna black clutch. wore one of the hottest dresses of Emma Stone is a force to be reckthe evening. The front of the Giorgio oned with in Hollywood. Stone hit Armani gown featured a bold plung- the red carpet of the UK premiere ing neckline with an above-the-knee of “The Amazing Spider Man” in a slit to show off black Elie Saab jumpsuit from the the singer’s designer’s Fall 2012 collection. This perfectly toned fresh-off-the-runway jumpsuit fealegs and Chris- tured an embroidered long-sleeved tian Louboutin top, wide-leg pant and a black leathpumps. Just in er belt with a gold buckle to tie the case the front look together.

Associated Press view wasn’t Solange Knowles brought de- Rihanna’s dress at the 2012 jaw dropping signer Rachel Roy’s artistic vision to GRAMMYs was one of many enough, the life in a custom-made canary yellow back of the gown at the Met Gala. The strapless memorable looks this past year.

Nothing But gown showed peplum top hugged tight at the bust was paired with a white collared a revealing low and cinched in at the waist, while shirt and a polka dot skinny tie by ‘Nett

By Tyler Barnett plunge that leading into the flowing bottom that Burberry Prorsum. Levitt continflowed into hugged Solange’s curves and draped ued his stylish presence at the New Designer an elegantly into a short train. With her signature York City premiere in a sleek grey draped train. fro, bold eye and nude lip to complete Balenciaga two-button suit. This suit Country superstar Carrie Un- her look, Solange made her 2012 Met was coupled with a white collared derwood showed off a little bit of Gala red carpet presence one that shirt and a red and black diagonally striped red tie. skin and a whole lot of shimmer on would never be forgotten.

All in all, 2012 was a very expresthe 2012 GRAMMY Awards red Joseph Gordon-Levitt pulled out carpet. Underwood wore a white his best fashion during his tour of sive year in fashion. long-sleeved Gomez-Garcia gown “The Dark Knight Rises” premieres. that was draped in dazzling silver At the movie’s European premiere, This is the opinion of Tyler Barnett, a sequins. The gown featured a high Levitt wore a navy three-piece suit sophomore art history major from Raneckline that was contrasted by a with a faint plaid pattern. This cho Cucamonga, Calif. Please send comlow-cut back. The singer topped of Burberry London-designed suit ments to tbarnett@theloyolan.com.

For five more top movies, albums and looks from 2012 chosen by the Loyolan staff as well as Asst. A&E Editor Chelsea Chenelle’s top ten TV shows of 2012, visit laloyolan.com.

redefines the art of acting. Beyond him is an ensemble brimming with great performances, led by a firecracker Tommy Lee Jones and a dramatic Sally Field.

5.“Smashed” This little-seen gem chronicles a first grade teacher’s path to sobriety and the strain it puts on her marriage. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is dangerously endearing, emotionally volatile and painfully relatable as Kate, the central protagonist of the piece. The strength of the piece that separates it from other lesser depictions of alcoholism (“Flight”) is that it is free from judgment. Things are not black and white as one tries to pursue happiness. Kate’s struggle to become clean comes with the realization that sobriety isn’t as easy or even as positive as she expected it to be.

What to look forward to in 2013: “The Great Gatsby” As for 2013, I am on the edge of my seat waiting for “The Great Gatsby.” Ever since Baz Luhrmann showed the world what a goddess Nicole Kidman was in “Moulin Rouge!” he has earned my lifelong

The Weinstein Company

Christoph Waltz (left) and Jamie Foxx (right) star in “Django Unchained,” Chris James’favorite film of the year. patronage. However, his attempt to film the “un-filmable novel” seems to be filled to the brim with aweinspiring visual delights, to-die-for casting and an eye for the complexities and imagery that had made the book an enduring classic and staple of high school English classes.

This is the opinion of Christopher James, a junior screenwriting and marketing double major from Lodi, Calif. Please send comments to cjames@theloyolan.com.

www.laloyolan.com

Arts & Entertainment

January 17, 2013 Page 9

Students document issue of clean water in film Student Spotlight

By Jenny Yu Copy Editor

C

lean water is not an abundant resource in many areas of the world, but what can we do about it? It’s easy to brush off this unfortunate truth because so many simply don’t know how to help.

Last summer, a small group of LMU engineering students took matters into their own hands.

They flew to the small village of Malingunde in Malawi, Africa and built a water filtration and conveyance system from scratch. Along with the engineering students was film production major Sam Queen (‘12), whose documentary, “Thirst,” tracks the construction of the water filtration system.

The Loyolan sat down with Queen and senior engineering major Michaela Lentz to discuss the documentary and the work they did in Malingunde.

Jenny Yu (JY): How did this project come about?

Michaela Lentz (ML): Three years ago, our professor, Dr. Jeremy Pal, and three students who have graduated went on a surveying trip [to] Malawi to scout it out. They were there for a week. And then in 2011, two seniors, Hannah Thames and Kelly McEnerney, asked their professor about the project, so it picked

back up again. We got a grant from World Water Forum, and part of the grant was awareness of the project.

We interpreted that as a potential documentary, so then comes Sam, who we knew from Creare, and Hannah asked him if he would be interested. So Sam knew about it, but it wasn’t until a week before we left that we knew we had enough funding. We called Sam, and the week before, he got all his shots and passports and all his equipment.

JY: For those who have yet to see the documentary, can you tell us what you did in Malawi?

ML: We went there to build a water filtration and conveyance system. So what that means is, from scratch, we were pulling water from the nearby river and treating it to kill 99 percent of the pathogens so that it’s clean drinking water that won’t make the people sick. They have wells that aren’t always wellinstalled, so it could pull in other forms of contamination, and the river itself can get really dirty, especially during the rainy season, so this system helped with that. The water went to a health center, a church and a school, and within the school, there’s this school for the blind.

Through the church, they distributed the water to the general public.

JY: Sam, why does your documentary matter?

What should people get from it?

Sam Queen (SQ): As is with most

films, I think it’s good for people to take away their own thing, but I would love it if people who watch this movie tap into the very last two quotes of the film, like the reverend saying that they had been helped and they were going to do their best to help other people in any way they could, which I found very powerful for him to say, because people often compare their own acts against other people’s which is many times unrealistic. You just need to do what is in your capacity to do and do it well, and I thought that is what the reverend captured. ... The third thing I would want people to take away is the overall theme of the documentary, that there are people without access to clean water, and people should be aware of that. It’s hard to make a huge impact, but like the reverend said, just do what you can within your own life. Yes, maybe taking a shorter shower won’t be giving clean water to someone who needs it, but it contributes to a shared awareness of our extreme fortune to be able to access that water.

JY: Are there any future projects in motion?

ML: We’re working on doing another similar system in another place as long as Malawi is being sustained. ... There is a lot that can be done, which is more of a pitch for the engineering side to help out globally.

JY: What do you like about the documentary?

Tyler Barnett | Loyolan

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Sam Queen

Sam Queen’s documentary,“Thirst,” explores access to clean water in Malawi, Africa. The film follows LMU students as they install a water filtration system.

SQ: It’s so hard to describe something to someone when you know they’re going to swirl stuff that they’ve experienced. So it’s nice to be able to show someone: Look, that’s where we were, what we had to deal with. One really important aspect of what we experienced was that I really didn’t want the film to have this feeling of, “Oh, the white people helping the Africans,” which, even when people

try to avoid it, it still comes through.

But that’s just not at all what the experience was like. There was a mutual feeling of appreciation.

It was so funny. It was like we were looking at each other with equal amounts of curiosity and respect.

ML: And admiration! We admired them, and they admired us, and not either way for any particular reason but just for the experience as a whole.

To see the documentary “Thirst,” visit laloyolan.com.

January 17, 2013 Page 10

Sports

www.laloyolan.com

Sacramento’s NBA future in limbo A Seattle native’s sympathetic plea to keep the Kings in Sacramento.

S

acramento, I hope the Kings stay put. I hope your owners, the Maloof brothers, sell the team to a local buyer. I also hope your city builds itself a brand new arena, ensuring the team’s security in the city for years to come.

Kings fans, my hopes and wishes are genuine. The uncertainty, the rumors and the helplessness you are feeling KC at the Bat right now?

By Kevin Cacabelos I have been there before.

Asst. Sports Editor Along with the rest of Seattle, I have been missing the NBA since 2008. While the majority of this country’s sports fans are apathetic about Seattle’s situations, here’s a recap for those who are interested: 1) Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, sells the NBA team to a rich man from Oklahoma; 2) Rich man says his preference is to keep the team in Seattle; 3) Rich man lies and NBA approves a move to Oklahoma; 4) Kevin Durant and the Thunder are in the finals and 5) No one cares about the Sonics.

It sucks. I don’t want this to ever happen to another city. I hate the Oklahoma City Thunder and its owners. I do not want Sacramento to hate Seattle and its people. I do not want another team’s fan base to suffer like the city of Seattle has suffered for the past four years.

Unfortunately, the odds are stacked against you. At the end of

Associated Press

Sacramento Kings fans are unsure of their team’s future as the team’s owners are rumored to be in negotiations to sell the team to a Seattle ownership group. the day, the Maloofs are businessmen and want to flip a profit. The Seattle-based group, led by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, have a $525 million offer on the table, according to several reports by Yahoo! Sports. If the transaction goes through, it would be the most anybody has ever paid for an NBA franchise.

Since the news broke last week, Sacramento’s mayor and former NBA player Kevin Johnson has responded swiftly. Johnson immediately went to work luring potential local ownership groups to make counteroffers to the Maloofs.

There are currently three different Sacramento groups in the running to make a potential pitch to the Maloofs, but will their attempts end

up being fruitless? Probably.

The founder of 24 Hour Fitness, Mark Mastrov, is interested. Mastrov failed to buy the Golden State Warriors in 2010 after his $350 million offer was outbid. Ron Burkle, a supermarket maven, along with Sacramento lobbyist Darius Anderson, tried to buy the Kings in 2011, but the Maloofs were not selling at that point in time.

While Mastrov and Burkle are strapped with cash, I couldn’t see them outbidding the Seattle group, especially with Ballmer and the Nordstrom brothers involved in the ownership group. Plus, these guys want a team in Seattle badly – so badly that they are basically paying for more than half of the entire new hypothetical NBA arena once the group purchases an NBA team – an

unprecedented amount of private money pledged towards the building of a major sports arena.

Unlike the Seattle group, these Sacramento groups do not have set in stone agreements to build a new arena in Sacramento. AEG, the arena operator who agreed to a now defunct arena plan in 2011, said this past week they’d still be interested in building an arena in the area. AEG President Tim Leiweke told Sacramento’s CBS news-affiliate that AEG has been in discussion with several potential ownership groups.

Seattle has an arena plan in place that has been approved by the city and likely already vetted by the NBA. It took approximately 10 months for Seattle and King County to give the green light to the plan and allow Hansen and his group to begin shopping for a team. While it took Hansen and company 10 months to get their plan approved and packaged, Sacramento has until March 1, less than three months away. March 1 is the NBA deadline

for a team to file for relocation.

Unfortunately, Sacramento does not even have an ownership group chosen to make a bid, nor does that ownership group have a set plan with AEG. There are too many questions right now and too few answers for Sacramento Kings fans. Would the Maloofs even listen to other offers? Would those offers be enough to scare away the Seattle ownership group? Will NBA commissioner David Stern force the Maloofs to sell to a Sacramento ownership group if a viable arena plan is in place?

According to Yahoo! Sports NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, sources told him the deal was “first and goal at the 1.”

From a Seattle sports fan, I sincerely hope for a goal-line stand.

Good luck Sacramento, keep on ringing those cowbells.

This is the opinion of Kevin Cacabelos, a junior history major from Seattle, Wash. Please send all comments to ndines@theloyolan.com.

www.laloyolan.com

Sports

January 17, 2013 Page 11

Despite record, Lions positioned for turnaround W. Bball from Page 12 our foundation, but we have to execute.”

Elliott expanded on where she thought her team needed to improve most for the next half of the season.

“The execution is about free throw blockouts. The execution is about setting a great screen.

The execution is about making layups. It’s not one thing I can say, but rather a couple of little things where if we could take care of it in the middle of the game, we wouldn’t put ourselves in the situation where we have to come from eight, 10 points down,” Elliott said.

Despite the losing streak, the club’s morale is high under Elliott, and they look to win the

Lions’ eighth game of the season tonight, which would match their win total for all of last season.

“We still love coming to practice every day. There is a lot of energy. There is a lot of talking, excitement, smiles. We are still working,” said Elliott. “Everybody here realizes how close we are, and that is very exciting.

We are competing, and that’s fun. They see the progress we’ve made. They see how far we have come in the last month and that gives us all a lot of confidence and hope of where we will be at tournament time.”

This version of the women’s basketball team is a mix of upperclassman leadership with young freshman and sophomore talent.

“The freshmen play hard,” said junior forward MacKenzie Kerins. “They understand what we expect of them at this point in the season and they have played much more aggressive basketball as of late.”

The Lions will be in action today against the University of San Francisco at 7 p.m. in Gersten Pavilion. The Lions are 6-2 at home this season.

“We are back home and we have to focus on taking care of our home court. I could not be prouder with our effort, the competitiveness we are playing with, the determination, the heart and how much effort it takes to compete,” said Elliott. “I think we have crossed that bridge and now we have to cross the next bridge of closing out games.”

Defense needs improvement

LMU Archives

Redshirt senior forward Alex Cowling (3) leads the team,averaging 16 points per game this season. The Lions, however, are 1-4 in their last five games.

M. Bball from Page 12 Hamilton claimed that he believed the Lions were still “serious” about being a conference contender. Ireland recognized that they heard what the coaches wanted them to do during the game against Portland, but for whatever reason, the team just didn’t execute.

Those statements seem a little contradictory to me when looked at side by side. If they are serious about winning and being contenders, how can they blatantly not do – or even try to do – what their coaches are asking? They were told before the game against Portland that rebounding was key. Yet, the Lions grabbed just 19 rebounds in 40 minutes.

It comes down to something I wrote about at the start of the season: discipline – self and collective. The Lions have absolutely none of it on the court.

Even if they disagree with every word their coaching staff says, there comes a time when you just have to go with it. If there’s a disconnect on the bench, there will be a disconnect on the court – that much is certain.

When you see BYU, Gonzaga and even Santa Clara (whom LMU beat), there’s a different air to their flair.

They are composed in pressure-cooker situations: They look for the easy score rather than the easy shot, meaning, they look for a shot that has a higher percentage of going in as opposed to the first open look available – even if it’s from 30 feet away. For rebounding the ball, it comes down to effort and how badly they want the ball back.

Are they willing to take the extra step that will allow them to be in the right position to box their opponents out?

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL USF

WHEN?

WHERE?

TONIGHT 7PM

GERSTEN PAVILION

LMU

VS.

Lacrosse honored Lacrosse from Page 12

LMU Archives

LMU Head Coach Max Good hopes his squad can recuperate after a rough start in conference play. The Lions are now 1-4 against WCC opponents.

The WCC season is less than half over, so the optimist in me believes there is time to turn this ship around. But it’s going to take selfsacrifice. It’s going to require this team to care about the defensive end and controlling the glass. It’s going to require this team to pick its shooting spots carefully, while trying to get as

many of its points in transition and within the offense as possible.

Your start need not dictate your finish.

This is the opinion of Michael Goldsholl, a senior English major from Santa Barbara, Calif. Please send comments to ndines@theloyolan.com.

One of the bigest aspects of the Lions’ impact on the community is the team’s involvement in coaching youth at the Lions Lacrosse Club in Westchester Park. Members of the LMU team helped start the league, which has now become one of the elite programs in the Los Angeles area. While LMU student-athletes help teach kids lacrosse, they have a greater connection to the lacrosse community outside of the school, and many of the kids attend home games.

“On game day you’ll see all the little kids from Westchester running around wearing little Lions lacrosse jerseys and you see your own number on some little kid,” Mendelson said. “They look up to us like we’re heroes or professional athletes and it’s an incredible feeling. It just adds to the fact that we’re doing right in the community and have the right kind of people in our community.”

Not only does this award represent the LMU team’s sportsmanship, but winning it two years consecutively also shows the consistency of its recognized behavior.

The press release also reported that District 10 Governor Frank Lanser

said, “Winning consecutive sportsmanship awards is, in my opinion, more difficult than repeating as league champion.”

Coach Hochstadt, who will not continue coaching this season, led the team in the only two seasons that it received the prestigious award.

“When he handed me the award my second time, the head of the referees said, ‘This award has never been repeated and it never will be,’” Hochstadt said. “I was very surprised that we won, but it just reaffirms the things that we like to think that LMU values and what we try to instill in the players.”

With two Ace Adams Awards on its shelf, the lacrosse team looks forward to future years of continued practice of sportsmanship and respect for its opponents and the game of lacrosse. Though many teams mainly aspire to win championships, MVP awards or national titles, the Lions have a broader perspective in the sports spectrum.

“I would take two Ace Adams Awards over some big wins or some championships,” Hochstadt said.

“To have left on this note is a bittersweet feeling, but it’s more sweet than bitter.”

Lion Sports IT’S GAME TIME.

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January 17, 2013 Page 12

Lacrosse earns Ace Adams Award Lions lack

discipline to succeed

The 2012 men’s lacrosse team is the only team in District 10 history to win the award twice.

By Sam Borsos Asst. Sports Editor

2013 may be a fresh start for many athletes, but the 2012 LMU men’s lacrosse team still has greatness to reflect upon from last year.

Although the team’s season ended in April when LMU fell to the University of Arizona in the first round of Southwestern Lacrosse Conference (SLC) playoffs last season, it was recently recognized for its sportsmanship and respect.

The LMU men’s lacrosse team has been honored with the District 10 Ace Adams Award for 2012, marking it not only the first time a team in District 10 has won the award in consecutive years, but also the first for any team to ever win it twice at all.

“It means more than a number of wins or what the most winning season in school history means to me as a coach,” Craig Hochstadt, head coach of the 2011 and 2012 teams, said.

“I don’t know if the players would think of that, but they might understand what this award means down the road when they’re older and graduated and they’re in the real world and have kids. If they start coaching, they might understand how much this award means to win once in their careers, let alone twice.”

Often, sports focus on statistics and quantitative measurements: who scored the most, what team has the most championships, which players in a league are the tallest and fastest. However, the LMU men’s lacrosse team aspires to look beyond those qualities and focus more on its sport’s community, while still keeping the more obvious goals of winning in mind. Junior team captain Kyle Mendelson attributes the team’s outlook on sportsmanship to the coaches, who recruit the types of players that make up the team.

Max Good’s squad is struggling, but the men’s basketball team still has time to turn the season around.

T

“The fact that we have the right people starts with them,” Mendelson said. “They could’ve gone for kids who maybe had more goals in high school or how they looked on paper, but the way that they recruit is that they see the full picture. They see the fact that you bring the right kids and you put them together, you’re going to get a team that wants to win.”

Every year, the District 10 Collegiate Officials Committee – which includes officials from California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii – comes together to vote which school has coaches, players, fans and administrators who have the best sportsmanship and respect for

the game of lacrosse, according to the men’s lacrosse team press release. LMU Assistant Coach Colin Tempelis said he feels that the award goes beyond representing simply the lacrosse team.

“It goes to show the type of kid that LMU draws,” Tempelis said. “LMU has great kids who have great hearts. LMU kids just kind of know what’s right and how to carry themselves. Yeah, it’s a reflection on the players, coaches and administration, but it’s also a reflection of the LMU students and community as a whole.”

of something special.

“I don’t think our record indicated what we have accomplished over this break,” said Head Coach Charity Elliott. “We have had some heartbreaking losses, some tough places to play. It’s so much bigger than the wins and losses in my mind, what we’ve accomplished.”

The Lions hit the road for four games over the holiday break including stops at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and the University of Wyoming. The Lions also traveled up to the Bay Area to take on Santa Clara University, but lost by four points before heading down south to the University of San Diego for a matchup against the Toreros, in which the Lions forced overtime but lost 88-78. The Lions were 0-4 in those games.

The Lions did open conference play with a win over rival Pepperdine University at home on Jan. 3, beating the Southern California rivals 65-47.

“You wish that some of those were wins,

but you have to go through the process and to me, that’s what we’ve been doing,” Elliott said.

“We are so close to being 4-0 in conference and we’re not. That’s a reality.”

The Lions struggled in conference play last season, only winning three games, but under a new coaching staff with a new energy, the Lions look to turn their conference woes around.

“Every game matters and you want to try and win every game, but conference games matter for conference seeding,” redshirt senior forward Alex Cowling said.

Cowling leads the team with scoring an average of 16 points per game this season, but says that the team’s execution as a whole needs to improve.

“Our effort will keep us in the games, but it’s our execution that will win us the games.

We are playing hard and we will be in every game that we play because playing hard is in

he men’s basketball team couldn’t have started its conference schedule any worse than it did. They took the trip to Provo, Utah for a Thursday evening matchup with Brigham Young University (BYU) on Jan. 3 and got their socks rocked off by 41 points.

0-1.

To cap their weekend road trip to the north, the Lions headed to Moraga, Calif. on Saturday, Jan. 5 to battle reigning West Coast Conference (WCC) Player of the Year, senior guard Matthew Dellavedova, Two Plus the Foul and the St. Mary’s College Gaels. They fought

By Michael Goldsholl the Gaels closely down Staff Writer the stretch, eventually losing by 13 points.

Matching their road record against WCC foes from last season (7-1) was now impossible.

0-2.

It took the Lions 13 days to get their first win of the new year. Twenty-nine points from the nation’s 12th leading scorer and LMU junior point guard Anthony Ireland crusaded the Lions to a come-from-behind victory over the Santa Clara University (SCU) Broncos, a team that had won 11 of its 14 non-conference games.

1-2.

But it took less than 48 hours for the Lions to fall back into losing, while also quickly slipping down the standings of the WCC. Head Coach Max Good, Associate Head Coach Myke Scholl and Ireland all said, “This win [over Santa Clara] will mean nothing if we can’t beat [the University of] Portland” on Saturday.

They didn’t. 1-3.

And yet again, the Lions traveled on the road, this time taking a lead of eight and turning it into an eight point loss.

1-4.

So why are the Lions’ struggles so mighty?

Of the Lions’ first four WCC opponents, only one school (SCU) has recruited a player with a four star or better rank (via ESPN.com) since 2007. That player, sophomore forward Yannick Atanga, doesn’t even start and has eclipsed double-digit scoring figures just once in nearly two years at SCU. To say the Lions have been playing up against superior talent is false.

There is an obvious disconnect between what the players believe they can accomplish and what they are actually doing on the court.

Following the Lions’ loss to Portland this past Saturday, redshirt senior forward Ashley

See W. Bball | Page 11

See M. Bball | Page 11

LMU Lacrosse

LMU men’s lacrosse junior goalie Connor DeVane attempts a stop in a game last season.

DeVane was on the 2011 and 2012 teams, both of which received the Ace Adams Award.

See Lacrosse | Page 11

Lions’ effort needs execution With a 1-3 WCC record, the women’s basketball focus turns to fundamentals.

By Dan Raffety Asst. Managing Editor

How does a team measure progress?

In a traditional sports perspective, it’s very simple. Are there more wins this week, month, season than the last? But, in the case of this season’s women’s basketball team, that may not be the case.

The Lions are 1-3 in conference play, currently in the midst of a three-game losing streak to West Coast Conference (WCC) opponents. Typically, that record would call for a change of some sort, but this team is different, and they know that they are on the cusp

MEN’S BASKETBALL UPDATE LMU IN SAN DIEGO

Despite jumping out to an early eight-point lead, the men’s basketball team was unable to prevail on Wednesday night. Led by sophomore point guard Chris Anderson and sophomore guard Johnny Dee, the University of San Diego (USD) Toreros extended a five-point halftime lead to double digits, ultimately cruising to a 78-70 decision. The win kept USD (11-8, 4-0) undefeated in conference play, and hit the Lions with their fourth loss in five games, sending them to an 8-10 overall record on the season.

The Toreros opened up the second half on an 18-5 run, putting the early

kibosh on an LMU comeback attempt.

Redshirt senior forward Ashley Hamilton led the Lions’ charge in the first half, as the 6-foot-7-inch forward scored 10 points (4-5 FG) and grabbed six rebounds in the first 20 minutes of action.

Junior point guard Anthony Ireland, who entered the game as the NCAA’s 12th-leading scorer (20.8 PPG), struggled with his shot, missing nine of his 16 attempts from the field but finished with 19 points.

As a team, the Lions misfired offensively, shooting 42 percent from the field, while missing 12 of their 17 attempts from beyond the arc.

After pulling down just 19 rebounds as a team in their last game, the Lions were slightly more effective on the glass, grabbing 33 boards, but were still bested by the Toreros, who pulled down 35 rebounds of their own.

San Diego leading scorer (15.0 PPG) Dee finished with his season average.

The Lions next matchup will be on the road again, when they travel to the Bay Area to face off with the University of San Francisco (USF) Dons on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 1:30 p.m. PST. – Compiled by Michael Goldsholl and Dan Raffety, Loyolan staff Graphic: Stephanie Schiller | Loyolan

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