Los Angeles Loyolan March 6 2019

W W W. L A LO Y O L A N . C O M

Los Angeles LOYOLAN The

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H ICE UR YO R VO S. W U YO R NE U YO

V O LU M E 9 7 ISSUE 22 s Art e+

The Jonas Brothers are back after a six year hiatus; see what students have to say.

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EST. 1921

MARCH 6, 2019

Social media and social justice collide Prominent activists speak to the LMU community about social media's role in activism.

Grace McCauley News Intern @LALoyolan

Busy Philipps comes back to the bluff LMU alumna Busy Philipps speaks on women in film and television.

Jacob Cornblatt Editor-in-Chief @LALoyolan

Acclaimed actor, influencer, author and talk show host Busy Philipps came to LMU for the second annual Alliance of Women Philanthropists (AWP) Speaker Series on Friday to speak on women's health, being a woman in Hollywood and her time as a student at LMU. The interview, moderated by awardwinning journalist and LMU First Lady Carol Costello, began with a conversation

about being public with emotions. “It’s okay to be moved; it’s okay to feel sad,” Philipps said. “I feel like crying is an act of defiance.”

She said this during a discussion of what it is like being a woman in the film industry — an industry which has been at the center of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. “I used to not be able to cry.

I wanted to be seen as someone strong, someone who could hang with the boys,” she said.

Philipps began working as an actor in the late '90s, during her sophomore year at LMU. She auditioned for over 90 television pilots, crying late at night to her thenboyfriend Colin Hanks (who also attended LMU) that she “need[ed] to be an actress.”

via Autumn De Wilde

Above, Philipps poses for her new book "This Will Only Hurt a Little." In her interview at LMU, Philipps discussed her role as a women in entertainment.

She said, “I started working when I was young — I was an actor-for-hire.” Her first job was on the beloved sitcom “Freaks and Geeks,” created by Judd Apatow. She played the role of Kim Kelly.

“I was lucky that my first job was ‘Freaks and Geeks,'” she said. “[Apatow] encouraged us to do our own things.”

Her hardship as a woman in Hollywood began after “Freaks," Philipps recalled.

“I faced a lot of pressure about my own body as a young woman. I was told to change things that would’ve made me less me,” she said. Philipps said she would often get calls from her agents telling her to lose weight, sometimes bluntly and sometimes in coded messages about wanting her to feel her best.

Through all of this, Philipps said her ideals never faltered. “I thought I was destined to rule the world,” she said.

“I really believe my mission in life is to dismantle the patriarchy.”

During a period where she struggled to find work due to her reluctance to travel in order to take care of her child, she discovered a new area where she could dismantle the patriarchy. “There was a deficit in the late-night space for women,” she said.

She walked through the doors of Tina Fey’s production company, where she had done work in the past, and demanded a late night show according to Philipps.

She told a story about “bro-y” men at the company passively telling her that they would see what they could do, only for her to firmly restate that she would have a show.

The show created is “Busy Tonight,” which airs on E! four nights a week.

See Philipps | Page 3

The Women’s and Gender Studies department hosted three well-known activists for their Social Media for Social Justice event on Thursday, Feb. 1. The event focused on hashtag activism and the conversation surrounding it.

The three activists speaking were Monica Ramirez, founder of Justice for Migrant Women, Myrla Baldonado, organizer of household workers for Latino Union of Chicago and Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter. The event was moderated by Dr. Sarah Jackson, associate professor of communication studies at Northeastern University and expert on how communication influences social change in the United States.

Ramirez spoke about her experience as the daughter and granddaughter of migrant farm workers. She was inspired to begin her activism after her local newspaper had a section welcoming back the fishermen, but “didn’t have a 'welcome back, farmers’ section," she said. She later began to write for her local paper in an effort to report on the migrant farm workers.

Baldonado came to the U.S. from the Philippines as a domestic worker. She spoke of her sexual harassment stories and her fight to make the voices of domestic workers heard.

Cullors spoke of her upbringing at a “social justice" high school. Cullors witnessed over-policing and a lack of infrastructure in her community, which led her to activism.

The role of social media within activism was widely discussed. “When I started writing for the paper, it was because I realized if we weren’t being written about, we were invisible,” said Ramirez.

During her talk, Baldonado emphasized how important it is to stay up to date on technology. “Catch up. It’s the only way,” said Baldonado.

Jackson asked the speakers how powerful they believed social media was for activism. Cullors responded by discussing how instrumental social media has been for Black Lives Matter.

“Social media has been able to amplify the voices of the most marginalized … [It] has become a bullhorn for us,” said Cullors.

Students in attendance reacted to the notion that social media could be unsafe for young activists.

"I could be in a bubble...when I post online I'm in a large group of supporting people," said Bird Cooley, freshmen management major. "[It helps to be in] a group that believes in the same thing as you."

See Social Media | Page 3

NEWS

laloyolan.com Page 2

Professional therapists to speak on campus weekly The University has launched a program to help students gain experience from therapists.

Cristobal Spielmann Opinion Intern @LALoyolan

The LMU psychology department will be hosting Wednesday Night with a Master Therapist from March 6 to May 1. This event is an excellent opportunity for psychology and non-psychology students alike to learn about new developments in various fields from a wide variety of specialists.

The Master Therapist event series was initially created for students enrolled in the Introduction to Clinical Psychology course here at LMU to gain more of an engaged experience with professional therapists in the community —­some from local universities, others from treatment

centers and clinics in the area.

“The first [event] will have Dr. Andrew Christensen, who’s a world-renowned couples’ therapist at UCLA, and I thought, ‘What better way for the students to learn about couples’ therapy than from a really prominent, active couples’ therapist?’” said Dr. Richard Gilbert, professor of psychology at LMU and the organizer of the event.

Having quickly gained traction within the psychology department, the event was later opened to anyone who wanted to attend, regardless of major. Students will be able to ask professional therapists questions about their work. This year, speakers’ topics will include an analysis of obsessive complusive disorder (OCD) and the question of stigmatizing psychological issues as mental illness via a critique of the diagnostic system.

“The last [speaker in the series this year], who I think is really interesting,

is Dr. Brenda Wiederhold,” said Gilbert.

“She’s probably the most well-known therapist who uses virtual reality exposure therapy. So she’ll talk about the use of technology, virtual reality and augmented reality in clinical psychology.”

The event has also been a way for students outside of the psychology department to exercise what they’ve learned in their own majors to help make the event more accessible and open to the University. For instance, Megan Lau, a film and television production major (‘17), will be there to record the sessions and post them to a YouTube channel for public viewing.

It should be noted ahead of time for any students interested in upcoming talks about trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), OCD, etc. that these talks are not going to be direct forms of selfhelp or advice on how to cope with these issues. Rather, the speakers will present their research methods and findings and

take any questions.

Wednesday Night with a Master Therapist is a opportunity open to any LMU student, whether as a study resource for a psychology class, a chance to learn scientific research outside one’s direct field, a way to practice techniques learned in film and television production or just to hear speakers dive into the work they love and share it with a community of engaged students. The first session will be held March 6 in the Psychology Village, U-Hall 4700, from 5:45 p.m. to 7:15 p.m., with Dr. Andrew Christensen, a research professor of psychology at UCLA, discussing couples’ therapy.

Want to read more stories? Visit us online at LALoyolan.com

Activists on social media’s role in social justice Social media from Page 1

Maeve Sullivan | Loyolan

(From left to right) Monica Ramirez, Myria Baldonado and Patrice Cullors discuss how social media interacts with activism and social justice.

Baldonado emphasized how important social media movements have been for domestic workers.

“What Time’s Up created was a momentum for us to be visible,” said Baldonado.

The power of politics in social media was not lost on Ramirez.

She believes that it is social media that has moved many politicians to action.

All three women agreed that social media cannot be fully credited with creating many of these movements.

“It’s critical for people to remember that so much organizing happens before that hashtag,” said Cullors.

Jackson asked about people who are solely activists online, asking if that was “real activism.” She also brought up the issue of surveillance of activists and what safety measures each of them takes.

“I think that if people are engaging in any way … we should be appreciative,” said Ramirez.

Cullors spoke of two raids she experienced by the LAPD after she began her work with Black Lives Matter. She explained how her fellow activists understood they would be surveilled, but not to the extent that they experienced.

“We have done a lot of things to be more protective … specifically through technology,” said Cullors.

Young activists on social media who neglect to protect themselves worry Cullors.

For Baldonado, who lived in the Philippines during the Marcos dictatorship, the issue of safety is serious. “I was tortured and I was [made to] disappear,” said Baldonado.

“I have a 5-year-old child and I don’t think the work I do … should put his life at risk,” said Ramirez.

NEWS

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AWP hosts Busy Phillips Philipps from Page 1

BURNING QUESTIONS

This week, Asst.

News Editor Austin Woods sat down with Katerina Zacharia, a professor of classics and archaeology, who won two awards for her documentary, ‘Blessings and Vows.’

What was your goal in making this documentary?

1

The [goal] is to disseminate information about the church of Hagioi Theodoroi and to raise funds from all over the world to pursue this cause of restoring the church. Given her unfortunate and sudden passing, it’s also about honoring the memory of Metaxia Anaplioti.

2

“When I created my own show, I worked to make sure there was diversity,” she said. “Creatively, I believe we are 99 percent female.

This was important to me — these decisions were made strategically.”

This is not commonplace in Hollywood, according to Philipps.

“I still work [on set] with 100 percent white men,” she said.

“It [is] shocking to me … I’[ve] never had a female showrunner.”

“For me, I feel the difference in the writer’s room,” she said.

This event was put on by the AWP, a group that has donated over 100 thousand dollars to scholarships and programing at LMU. The co-chair of the alliance,

Karen Knott, said the AWP is “a community of influencers making an impact in this community.”

Dean Bryant Keith Alexander of the College of Communications and Fine Arts said, “I think that the AWP does phenomenal work about women activating society.

They engage in social political activism that benefits students.”

At a reception prior to the event, Alexander emphasized how proud he is of Philipps.

Philipps entered LMU in 1997, but never graduated. “It’s crazy being back,” she said. “There are parts of this campus that look exactly the same and parts that are brand new.” Phillips commented on not even knowing

the building the event was held in — the Life Sciences Building.

While at LMU, Philipps and Colin Hanks filmed a segment for “Busy Tonight,” which will air at some point in the future.

The overarching theme of the AWP event was disruption. “Part of what motivates me is that I want to disrupt. I am doing things like talking about women’s health in casual ways,” she said. “I’m trying to normalize being a woman.”

On her show, Phillips discusses her period, abortion and other women’s health topics. “Being a woman is political,” she said.

The night ended with Costello and Philipps pointing at the audience and saying one word: “disrupt.”

Rainbow Week celebrated

What inspired you to cover this woman’s story?

A very well known Byzantine art historian at UCLA, professor Sharon Gerstel, approached me to collaborate. She mentioned to me that she visited this area of Greece, and she told me the story of [the woman]. She knew that I have been involved in Greek cinema for over twenty years, and I’m also the director of education for the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival.

Have you wanted to make a documentary before this opportunity?

3

Through my work in Greek cinema and my involvement with the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, I’ve read scripts and written scripts and consulted documentaries, feature films and short films. It’s been my intention to work with film as a creator for a number of years. I have collaborated on short films and consulted.

Were there any challenges you faced as a first-time director?

4

For all the filming we did, we only had one camera. The sound was difficult because we were filming outside, so there were cicada noises and wind. With limited financial means, it’s difficult to capture the natural environment and have the sound and color that you need.

I would have to set up interviews, transcribe them and then decide what needs to go in and create the narrative. I had to evaluate these things constantly during post-production. The post-production took us quite some time.

What was your reaction upon learning about the awards you won?

5

I was excited because I had just submitted the film to the festivals, and I received the awards two or threwe weeks later. I wasn’t expecting it to happen so quickly. It’s always wonderful to have people who have watched so many films appreciate this effort.

However, it is the message that is most important. It’s about how these awards can help promote the message of the film more.

What is your favorite documentary and why?

I’m not sure. I’ve seen numerous documentaries. In general, I’m interested in documentaries that focus on human stories. I like the narratives that help people in unfortunate situations find support, and [narratives] that change the world one step at at time. Documentaries that showcase humanitarian causes are of interest to me and I also have an interest in Greek filmmakers that tell stories about the people of Greece.

6

What is a personal goal of yours in regards to your involvement in film?

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Having had this experience and seeing the great possibilities for the dissemination of information and the impact this information can have, I want to pursue more. One of my goals is to create a program in Greece where I can have American students come and shoot short documentaries for two weeks, then come back to the states for post-production.

Want to read even more questions with Katerina Zacharia?

Check them out at laloyolan.com.

via Jenica Garcia

The first event of LGBT Student Services’ Rainbow Week was queer zine making, hosted in Malone 201. Art supplies and paper were provided so students could “create their own personal zines about their queer identities and personal journeys,” according to the event page on OrgSync.

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Manna Zelealem talks diversity in service organizations The president of Belles discusses the importance of diversity.

Raven Yamamoto

Asst. Social Justice Editor @LALoyolan

Manna Zelealem is a junior journalism major and the 20192020 president of Belles Service Organization.

Raven Yamamoto (RY): What are your social justice passions?

Manna Zelealem (MZ): As far as social justice goes, what I’m really passionate about is just making sure that all people always feel accepted, valued, included and uplifted. It’s very easy for us to always celebrate and encourage one kind of person or someone that fits one specific mold, but I think it’s really important that we value what’s different in people. I enjoy the differences about people.

RY: One of Belles’ core values is solidarity. I was wondering if you could expand on exactly what that means in relation to Belles and their mission.

MZ: Our focus is domestic violence awareness and there’s a statistic that 20 people are affected by intimate partner violence every minute. So, I think in terms of solidarity, what’s most important is recognizing that even though you may have never had an experience, you can still empathize with people who have and can still stand with

them and stand for them if they can’t stand for themselves.

I think that Belles has this reputation of being the most social justice driven [organization] in some senses and definitely has become the most diverse in the past few years. I think that part of the reason solidarity is so important to us is that we have so many different kinds of Belles. Being that there’s so many different kinds of people, there are so many different lessons to learn about each of us and our experiences and what is important to us. So, I think that’s where solidarity steps in, it’s just standing for our Belles even if we don’t necessarily understand the things that affect them or why they affect them.

RY: Why is diversity in a service organization important?

MZ: It’s important to me because we serve communities of color.

Being that LMU is an institution that’s very driven toward social justice and being people for others, I think that it’s important that we have diversity in service [organizations]. If we’re serving communities of color and everyone that goes to serve these people are white, cisgender and straight, it doesn’t really match up to these values that LMU claims to have.

If [service organizations] are not reflecting the student body, then I don’t think it’s right.

When we’re serving communities of color, and it’s all white people that are going to serve from an affluent, four-year university, it sends a message to the kids that we’re serving, like “the

people that are going to save you are always going to be white” or “the people that you need to look up to are always going be white.”

Whereas if we have our students of color going to serve communities that reflect them, I think it sends a stronger message to those communities [saying] “there’s no one way to be a person of color.”

RY: Do you feel that you, as a black woman, are represented in the Service Organization Community (SOC) currently?

How can SOC be more inclusive?

MZ: Not really. I see myself represented in Belles but in terms of all of SOC, no. I don’t think I really felt like I was a part of SOC until I became president of Belles.

Even now, it’s still definitely hard to take up space, but I try to.

I think it’s not as difficult [of] an issue [as] people make it seem or it’s not as difficult of a solution. I think that the first step is just admitting more black people, admitting more people of color, admitting more queer people, like people who don’t fit the norm of what a service [organization] member usually looks like because there’s no way to make your SOC members of color feel included aside from admitting more people that look like them.

That’s how you make them more comfortable. I know that my first year in Belles, I was a bit uneasy.

But then, the second year, when there was a lot more diversity, it felt better to see more people that looked like me because it was like "Oh, wow, this is a space for me."

via Manna Zelealem

Manna Zelealem is the president of the Belles Service Organization.

Social media for social justice: the role of celebrities

YOU’RE INVITED!

Robyn De Leon | Loyolan

n Feb. 28 at the Playa Vista Campus, Sarah O Jackson, co-editor of “#HashtagActivism: Race and Gender in America’s Networked Counterpublics,” moderated a panel discussion with Patrisse Cullors of #BlackLivesMatter and Mónica Ramírez and Myrla Baldonado of #TimesUp. During the Q&A, an attendee asked, What are your feelings on that matter?" Cullors revealed her strong emotions concerning the subject, stating that “the U.S. is obsessed with celebrity.” She discussed her opinions about famous individuals bringing light to certain issues. She said, “The work we do is not about being trendy, the work we do is about changing lives and changing the material conditions for those [who are] vulnerable. As soon as something becomes trendy, it can also become untrendy.”

To find out what the other panelists said, visit laloyolan.com

For more on this event, see page 1.

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We stand with teachers on strike accross the nation

T

he movement of teacher walkouts spread to over five states in 2018 and continues into 2019. The Loyolan is in solidarity with teachers fighting for better pay, smaller class sizes and more support staff at schools across the nation.

States where strikes have occurred include Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia and California with the Los Angeles United School District (LAUSD) strike. More recently, the Oakland Unified School District walked out, coming to an agreement after a seven-day strike, according to CNN. Over 30,000 Los Angeles public school teachers walked out in protest in January for the first time in 30 years, as previously reported by the Loyolan.

This wave of walkouts impacted the LMU community as well, with faculty and staff members who have children enrolled in the LAUSD having to make the choice of whether or not to send their children to school during the strike.

Some professors brought their children to campus with them, as they waited out negotiations between United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) and LAUSD. The University’s mission statement promises to serve “public and private education by fostering excellence inspired by the Marymount and Jesuit traditions of Catholic education.” As a Jesuit university, our values stand for the encouragement of learning and education of the whole person, which can most successfully occur in an academic environment that respects and supports hardworking and passionate educators.

Almost 80 percent of Los Angeles County residents voiced their support for LAUSD teachers who chose to go on strike, as reported by a survey by the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey

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LOYOLAN EDITORIAL POLICY The Los Angeles Loyolan, a student-run campus organization, publishes a 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.

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Board Editorial Jacob Cornblatt Editor-in-Chief

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Managing Editor

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

Cohen confirms worst fears about Trump Speck and Spielmann Cristobal Spielmann Opinion Intern @LALoyolan

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Center for the Study of Los Angeles at LMU. Teachers are earning less than people with a similar education level, NPR reported. Additionally, teachers are often tasked with buying supplies for their classrooms and materials for students. With a majority of teachers working multiple jobs to support themselves and their classrooms, the time they have available to dedicate to their classes is dwindling. Students will be the most effected if we don’t make changes that support the people in these high-intensity jobs who dedicate their lives to educating young minds.

Many teachers in the Los Angeles area are also unable to afford housing due to high rent prices.

Educators are extremely valuable members of society and should be treated with the respect they deserve.

The walkout in Los Angeles resulted in an agreement between UTLA and LAUSD that included a salary increase of six percent, a reduction in class size over the next three school years and full-time nurses, librarians and counselors being hired, as laid out on the UTLA’s website. We hope to see these promises actually implemented sooner rather than later.

The Loyolan is aware of the struggles faced by public school teachers and supports several of the reasons behind the nationwide walkouts. While some might argue that the issue of picketing teachers is a partisan one, we see teachers’ strikes as an education issue that goes beyond party lines.

We believe states should be held accountable for their commitment to their young citizens and their teachers. In the encouragement of education of the whole person at LMU, we believe we have a duty to support educators in creating a future generation of informed and well-rounded human beings.

“Educators are extremely valuable members of society and should be treated with the respect they deserve.”

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L

ast Wednesday, President Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen testified in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, where he memorably called the president “a racist,” “a con man” and “a cheat.” This testimony, while most likely is not the defining moment of controversy from the Trump administration, it is certainly a powerful image indicative of the atmosphere for upcoming investigations and indictments.

The largest of these accusations were about the Trump Tower meeting.

According to Cohen’s testimony, “I remember being in the room with Mr. Trump, probably in early June 2016 … I recalled Don Jr. leaning over to his father and speaking in a low voice, which I could clearly hear, and saying: ‘The meeting is all set.’ I remember Mr. Trump saying, ‘Ok good, let me know.’” The Trump Tower meeting has been a point of contention for a while, as it could implicate high level Trump associates in conspiracy with the Russian government.

Cohen also reaffirmed claims about Trump’s history of racism, repeating language heard before about the president in previous accusations — most notably, Trump calling countries run by black people “shitholes.”

And, of course, Cohen revealed the more bizarre episodes he had in his journeys with the president, from threatening

Trump’s schools not to release his grades, to inflating Trump’s assets in order to strike a loan to buy the Buffalo Bills.

“If we believe Cohen’s testimony, then the president lied repeatedly, both while seeking the nation’s highest office as a candidate and while occupying it — in particular, about his Russian business connections and about his involvement in the Stormy Daniels payoff,” said Dr. John Parrish, a professor of political science at LMU. “In one sense that is perhaps not ‘news’ in the strictest sense, given the president’s track record with accuracy and honesty, but in any other context it should be a dismaying if not disqualifying revelation about a president.”

Naturally, these accusations have provoked an immediate backlash from Republican lawmakers to invalidate Cohen’s testimony.

Congressman Mark Green, the Republican representative from my home district, Tennessee’s 7th district, even called Cohen a fake witness. This isn’t a completely unjust line of reasoning, as Cohen had already plead guilty to lying to Congress in the past.

However, if Cohen tried to lie in front of Congress again, it’s an odd conclusion to make. Cohen has already been sentenced to prison for lying under oath and Cohen seems to understand the severity of his sentence.

See Cohen | Page 6

Jacob Johanson | Loyolan

Cohen, who has already plead guilty to lying to Congress, was under immense scrutiny.

Page 6

Cohen exposes the president

Cohen from Page 5

“While Cohen is going to jail for lying under oath, and one should take his word with caution, if he perjures himself again, he will go to jail for another 20 years,” said Dr. Michael A. Genovese, president of the Global Policy Institute at LMU. Even if Cohen did lie, that still wouldn’t excuse all the corroborating evidence piling up against Trump independent of Cohen’s testimony. Outside of confirming that Trump knew about the Trump Tower meeting, Cohen’s testimony was surprisingly light on Russia, a major point of the Mueller Investigation and any potential House investigations. Michael Cohen himself said, “Questions have been raised about whether I know of direct evidence that Mr. Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia. I do not.”

No one can state with certainty that Cohen is telling the truth here, but when Republican lawmakers like Jim Jordan say, “Every once in a while, you get some truth from some people,” it seems as though the backlash isn’t against the evidence in question but rather the suspect in question.

Republican lawmakers know their counterargument is a paradox: Cohen told the truth only when it benefited the president’s case, but Cohen’s entire history of making the president look good was a lie.

How could you trust a person that most likely lied before about the Moscow Tower project? Yet, it seems as though the president did engage in business deals in Russia.

So, what can we expect now?

We shouldn’t hold our breath for impeachment any time soon. This isn’t because some of Cohen’s accusations don’t make Trump impeachable; they most certainly do. The problem is that both politicians and citizens have become so deeply polarized that any nuance or criticism of one’s own side is seen as weak, or worse, treasonous. A Republican Senate majority would never even entertain the idea of impeachment because of these harsh party lines.

Overall, the best we can look forward to is that the Cohen testimony is a step out of the chaos engulfing this administration, and by extension, the country. We cannot just accept that the ruler of the free world casually engages in fraud, deems citizens lesser for the color of their skin and directs his lawyer to threaten and silence people before stabbing him in the back when he follows the law.

As Chairman Elijah Cummings said during the final moments of the hearing, just before a call for normalcy, “Hopefully this part of your destiny will lead to a better Michael Cohen, a better Donald Trump, a better United States of America and a better world.”

We can only hope.

This is the opinion of Cristobal Spielmann, a freshman environmental science major from Brentwood, Tennessee. Tweet comment @LALoyolan or email editor@theloyolan.com.

OPINION Question of the week:

D HEATO D HEA

The upcoming Ben Shapiro event is raising questions about political opinions inside the classroom on college campuses. Should professors express their political opinions to their students during class?

STEVEN

Sally

Political debates in the classroom are perfectly fine, but it is not a professor's place to express their own subjective political views in the classroom. College is a time for students to figure out who they are and what they believe and professors should assist students in this effort. As a result, professors should do their best to facilitate discussions on controversial topics, like politics. But I do not believe it is a professor’s place to insert their own opinions in these discussions. Just like it would be inappropriate for a moderator in a debate to agree or disagree with a political candidate, it would be inappropriate for a professor to interject their own personal opinion in a class discussion. It would only take away from a student’s intrinsic personal growth and self-discovery.

Professors should be free to make their own choice on whether or not they want to share their political beliefs, but honesty is the best policy. Professors who are clear from the beginning on their beliefs allow for a transparent, clear discussion that otherwise would not exist. Attempting to keep classroom learning impartial is impossible and can be detrimental to student growth and discovery. True impartiality isn’t achievable because everyone has biases based on where they grew up, their ethnicity, gender and more, and to ignore predispositions is futile.

Transparency of political beliefs creates a safe space for students to learn and be comfortable sharing their opinions, ultimately beginning a dialogue for all sides. Different ideas and beliefs are what makes the United States a truly unique and free state and holding onto to that is important.

This the opinion of Steven Nassif, a junior entrepreneurship major from Santa Clarita, California. Tweet comments @LALoyolan, or email editor@theloyolan.com.

This the opinion of Sally Dean, a freshman political science major from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Tweet comments @LALoyolan, or email editor@theloyolan.com.

Graphic: Michaela Galeski | Loyolan

GRAND PRIZE: $1000 HONORABLE MENTIONS: $450

Show us how you make expert or creative use of library collections, services, and resources to produce scholarly or creative work. For more information and to apply go to digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ulra DUE APRIL 12 2019

The Undergraduate Library Research Award is generously supported by Thomas Peter Campora ‘66.

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THE UNDECLAREDS

By Abby Pollak, Staff Cartoonist

CHARACTERS WITH CHARACTER

By Gabrielle Ouellette, Staff Cartoonist

ONE_OFF

By Jacob Johanson, Cartoon

GALLOWS

By Harrison Klein, Cartoon

Check out more Loyolan cartoons online now!

Visit LALoyolan.com/cartoons and catch up on your favorites!

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Left-handed citizens want upper hand In the new world order those who are ambidexterous will reign supreme.

Andrew Dazé

Smudges His Ink A new social justice movement has erupted across America: a call to unify left-handed Americans under the motto “We’re not all right” has gained massive traction over the past week. Violence has ensued in many medium-sized cities such as Louisville, Portland and Houston, causing large metropolitan cities to grow uneasy as they wonder when their lefty population will rise.

“We demand representation. The days of ‘the right hand man’ and ‘left handed compliment’ are over,” said Robert Wright, PR representative for the Left Over Right movement. “We’re an eclectic group. Race, education and socioeconomic background don’t make a difference to us. Which hand you wear your watch on does.”

These raging lefties have a signature violent act. They catch unsuspecting individuals on the street and make them

perform tasks like picking up their phone or writing their name with both hands. If it is deemed that they are right-handed, their right hand is chopped off.

The lefties have a set of demands they expect to be met if protests and violence are due to halt. Wright warns, “You cannot distinguish who we are — we look just like you. We are every race, gender and age. We know who we are, though.

We want left handed scissors to be sold in stores, we want better healthcare because we are more likely to die doing things made for right-handed people.

We are forced to live in a world not made for us.”

Left-handed people make up a mere 10 percent of the population, but a whopping 20 percent of United States presidents have been left handed. Wright concluded with, “Just like Thanos in the Avengers said, there must balance. Lefties are the yang to righties’ ying. Oppressing one side will cause the pendulum to swing.

Consider us swinging.”

Lefties have declared that unless their quotas are met, each week 100 righties will have their dominant arm forcefully removed to help place the lefty to righty population at a natural one to one ratio.

We can’t all be right. Only the good will be left.

Time for some deliciously crafted celebrity roasts Avert your eyes if you’re a big-time Kim K. fan. If not, read on.

Jackson Walker Flamethrower

Do you have a celebrity you look up to? Do you admire the way they go about their life, with everything they touch turning to gold? Do you keep up with the latest E! Hollywood episodes and read every single issue of People magazine? If you answered yes to any of these questions, I suggest turning the page because what comes next may not be very pleasing to you and may include slightly unflattering

words regarding your favorite celebrities. Without further ado, here we go: Kim Kardashian has the physical build of a worker ant.

Jennifer Garner is too damn pleasant. Even when she’s mad in a movie she never ceases to use her calm whisper to get her point across. If Jennifer Gardner were a tulip, she would probably be the guidance counselor of all the tulips.

Shia LaBeouf. Man, I love this dude, I really do. It just seems like he’s always going full tilt 24/7 when maybe sometimes he should chill out. He’s the type of guy that would give a motivational speech at a funeral.

Emma Stone sounds like a diesel engine.

I have met metamorphic rocks

I wanted to roast Kim, but I didn’t think it would go this far.

Harrison Klein | Loyolan Jordan Boaz | Working Hard

dating back to the formation of the Earth that show more emotion and acting know-how than Kristen Stewart.

Brad Pitt is a grade-A jerk for making straight men doubt their sexuality for decades.

If a toad and Ms. Frizzle would have had a baby, that baby would be Ed Sheeran.

Jay Leno looks more like a bobblehead than an actual bobblehead.

Bruce Willis looks like an actual angry booger.

I am 99.9 percent sure that Christopher Walken is a serial killer.

It is impossible to differentiate between the noises Jennifer Lawrence makes during fight scenes and during sex scenes from audio alone.

Thank you and carry on.

Gabrielle Ouelette | Loyolan

The Bluff is a humorous and satirical section published in the Loyolan. All quotes attributed to real figures are completely fabricated; persons otherwise mentioned are completely fictional.

life+arts

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Jonas Brothers make a comeback Emma the Engineer Emma Averill Life+Arts Intern @laloyolan

W

ith iconic pop anthems like “Burnin’ Up,” “Lovebug” and “Year 3000,” the Jonas Brothers won over the hearts of preteens in the mid2000s. Now, in 2019, they’ve announced their comeback, a new single and the potential for a tour all in a span of days.

The Jonas Brothers are a boy band made up of three brothers from New Jersey: Joe, Nick and Kevin Jonas. The band got their start on Disney Channel, scoring lead roles in “Camp Rock,” guest starring on “Hannah Montana” and starring in their own TV show, “Jonas.”

The band split up in 2013, but their fans grew suspicious of a potential reunion when the Jonas Brothers Twitter account was reactivated in early 2019. Then, on Feb. 28 the band confirmed suspicions with a Twitter post announcing that their new single, “Sucker,” would drop on March 1.

The band even posted a 2019 remake of one of their old YouTube videos from

via Peggy Sirota

The Jonas Brothers reunite after years of pursuing solo careers with the single “Sucker.”

2008, sending fans into full-blown nostalgia and chaos.

The hype for the revival was strong to say the least. For days I couldn’t scroll through Twitter without seeing some sort of Jonas Brothers-related meme. This week, all preteen excitement for the boy

band we all grew up with resurfaced. One burning question, however, remained: would the new single be any good?

I decided to ask LMU students how they were feeling about all of this. The morning after the song release, I walked over to a group of people at the Den and

asked if they’d heard any of the Jonas Brothers buzz. Freshman psychology and theatre arts double major Emma Hernandez laughed, “We were just talking about them!”

As for the new single, Hernandez commented, “I love it, it’s modernized but still has the classic 2000s Jonas Brothers vibe.”

Freshman finance major Connor Sochocki also chimed in, stating that he is obsessed with the music video for the song. The music video features Nick’s wife Priyanka Chopra, Kevin’s wife Danielle Jonas and Joe’s fiancee Sophie Turner in an elaborate English mansion, with the boys singing to them.

Talk of the Jonas Brothers also created other exciting discussions: who’s next? If the Jonas Brothers could reunite after six years, who’s to say other beloved groups like One Direction or Big Time Rush couldn’t do the same?

If nothing else, this week taught us one important lesson: no matter how much time has passed, there’s always a chance for our favorite boy bands to reunite.

Preteen hearts and spirits always have This is the opinion of Emma Averill, a freshman civil engineering major from Porter Ranch, CA. Tweet comments to @LALoyolan or email comments to aboulas@theloyolan.com.

Q&A with performer Maje Adams Ally Cat Ally Boulas

Life+Arts Editor @allyroseboulas

A

s “Hair” came to a close this past weekend, the cast has had some time to decompress. Cast member Maje Adams, a junior theatre arts major, took some time out of his weekend of relaxation to chat with me about the politics of “Hair,” the reality of being a black actor and an epidemic of ripping jeans.

Ally Boulas (AB): Would you be able to tell me what “Hair” was about?

Maje Adams (MA): I could, even though it doesn’t have very much of a plot [Laughs]. The plot centers around Claude Hooper Bukowski, who is kind of like a messianic figure for this group, but he’s torn between pressure from his family to do something with his life by submitting to his draft and going to war, and knowing that he and all of his friends believe in peace.

So that’s the general thing: it’s a presentation of protest culture, drug culture, the Summer of Love and conflict within Americans around the Vietnam War. It’s incredibly prescient for us today — even though it’s centered on the Vietnam War, there were a lot of vignettes that had to do with protest culture in general, so it’s very applicable to today.

AB: It can tie in to the Parkland protests and youth movements that are happening now.

MA: Right, the need for young people to come out and say, “Wait a minute, the government is maybe not serving my best interests, we need to rise up and we the people can say something about it, regardless of what authority figures have to say about us and the way we think.”

AB: So, tell me a little bit about your character.

MA: I played Hud Johnson.

Hud is—I say [this] both in an investigative and loving way—not really a character. Hud is more of an archetype. There [are] a number of characters where the script doesn’t really give them much to do. The nature of who they are has to come from the way it’s performed. For me, it’s an interesting thing because Hud was the first black character I’ve ever played. The first explicitly black character I’ve played, ever.

And so the way that I fashioned Hud is that he’s sort of a wannabe Black Panther. A kid living and seeing on TV the rise of the Black Panthers in Oakland and believing that he’s on the wrong coast, you know? So he’s very angry, he’s got a whole lot of righteous indignation about his circumstance. But his part to play in the entire narrative is that he, as a black man in the ‘60s, knows the struggle.

Nobody wants to go to war, but Hud accepts that it is just a different kind of danger. He could be killed any day just for being a black man living in America. The danger that is being faced for white men in the play is still real and still valid but it’s new, and for Hud it’s not like he didn’t already live with this existential danger every day at home. And it’s not like if he can escape the draft everything is going to be okay for him, whereas with other characters it might be. It made the dynamics between Hud and the other characters unique in that way, and it was enjoyable getting to craft that sort of thing.

We all got very into the heads of our characters in the show. Because they’re described as a tribe, we kind of acted like it. We didn’t even really call ourselves a cast, we called ourselves a tribe all the time.

We spent a lot of time hanging out outside of rehearsals and working on our characters together and getting in their heads together.

Almost like a living process.

AB: I’ve heard that the rehearsal process was pretty demanding. Can you explain a little bit about what went into creating a show like this?

MA: It was definitely a tall order because we only had five weeks of rehearsal to put on the show. And five weeks is a short amount of time for any show, but especially a show of this magnitude — a 24-person cast, with this huge set and all these projections. For everyone, actors and non-actors, this was a huge undertaking. The fact that it was successful was not guaranteed in any sense. And we just get to look back at it and be like, “Hell yeah, this worked.” We really lived in it. Not just in the show but in each other the entire time. My apartment became kind of a spot where a good number of [cast members] would hang out, decompress or talk about anything and everything.

We had tons of fun, but we also put each other’s feet to the fire. We weren’t afraid to ask each other, “Hey, what did you think of this?”

Whereas a lot of people would view notes [on how to improve your performance] from fellow cast members as a derogatory thing, it never got to the point where it felt disrespectful, cutting or competitive. We all wanted to see each other as the best version of ourselves [that] we possibly could, and as a performer it’s really refreshing to never feel like the people that you are coming together to create a show with have any ulterior motives.

AB: As an actor, I know that there can be a lot of funny things that go on behind the curtain or backstage that the audience wouldn’t be privy to.

Can you tell me one? Without embarrassing anyone.

MA: A little light embarrassment never killed anybody [Laughs].

So the Hair cast was called a week before [spring semester] classes [began] to start on early rehearsals.

viaJason Munoz

Junior theatre major Maje Adams as Hud in LMU’s production of “Hair.”

We had a number of folks split their jeans in the middle of rehearsals, it happened a bunch of times during that first week. And a part of me was like this is hilarious — like, someone splitting their pants is funny, right? It was Brendan McLaren who split his pants first, who was playing Berger, and it was extra funny to us because we all knew that he was going to have to take off his pants and have the halfnude scene right at the beginning of the show. But then Brian [Reyas], our Claude, ripped his pants right after that and it became crazy, like everyone was splitting their jeans.

But it was a really funny joke during that first week of rehearsals and then no one really thought of it after that.

But then, at our matinee performance for the donors [on March 2], in the middle of the second act, Lena Conlon, who played Sheila, split her jeans and it all came full circle. We were all like “Wow, the pants-ripping curse is back!” And she handled it super well, but it was funny.

We all just had a really good laugh about it because it brought back something from so much earlier.

But that’s only the tip of the fun iceberg for us as a cast, we had a lot of incredible moments.

AB: So on a more individual level, how does Hud compare to other roles that you’ve played at LMU? MA: He ties back a bit to a role I played my freshman year in a Del Rey Players show, Assassins, which was about people who throughout history have attempted or succeeded in assassinating presidents. I played Leon Czolgosz, the man who assassinated William McKinley.

I felt a similar sense working on both characters [and] the mortal political urgency of their situations — Czolgosz was less justified because he took it to this extreme of killing a president. He felt a sense of being trapped by his government and his society, and that’s something to empathize with deeply.

But for me, the reality of playing Hud hit me a lot harder as a black man. It was my first time not only playing a black character but also a black character that was incredibly, unapologetically black and very politically black.

It wasn’t so much like, here I am getting into the mindset of a role, it was here I am, taking genuine fears that I have in my everyday, and putting them into a character — speaking to my truth.

life+arts

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LMU DJs combine live music and tattoos DJ Donna Donna Borges Life+Arts Intern @donnaborgess

A

group of music lovers gathered in a barber shop off campus after hours on Feb. 22 to see live music from local bands and to get a variety of tattoos, both traditional and hand-poked. Two local bands, The Ivories and The Groans, performed between sets by KXLU DJs. This show was organized by Mall Fight, an event booking program started by two LMU students and KXLU DJs Olivia Nolan and Erica Brown. Nolan shared the origins of Mall Fight, stating that they didn’t have a reason for starting it. “[We] just wanted to throw our own shows. I’ve been to a lot of shows and always thought it would be fun to throw my own,” Nolan said.

Alexa Terry, a sophomore animation major and a KXLU DJ, attended the Mall Fight show because she wanted to do something fun on the weekend.

“Mall Fight always hosts good shows. Also, I like to support local, independent artists and I always want to meet new, unique people at shows,” Terry said.

This particular show’s venue was especially interesting, and I was surprised to find myself in a closed barber shop that was emptied to make room for the bands’ gear and tattoo artists’

via Morgan Cochrane

Local band the Ivories played a set at a show organized by Mall Fight, a booking service run by LMU DJs. work stations. It was definitely one of the most unique DIY venues I have been to. Terry commented on the venue, saying “it had a very interesting aura to it.” Although the space was different from traditional venues, the show was no less enjoyable. “We chose the venue because it was one of the cheapest places we could rent, and the owner is super chill.” Nolan said.

There were a lot of people at the show, consisting mostly of KXLU DJs and their mutual friends, as

well as the mutual friends of the bands. Nolan later confirmed that about 60 people attended the event throughout the night. A number of attendees paid to get tattoos, including sophomore music major Lilly McCarty. “[It was] not as sketchy as I was expecting. It was significantly cheaper than going to a parlor and my artist was clean and had a machine. For sure [it was] an experience I will never forget, forever ingrained into my skin.”

This idea to combine a DIY show and a tattoo flash sale was unique

and unlike any other event I have been to. “This show was unique because it was the first one we did that wasn’t just music,” Nolan said. “The tat and music part was my idea. It is kind of a wacky idea, but many more people got tattoos than I thought they would, so I’m really happy about how that turned out.”

The bands that played were very high-energy and kept the crowd dancing throughout the night. The Ivories are an alternative rock band based in Los

Angeles who have almost 4,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

The Groans are a local pop-punk band consisting of three queer artists who use their music to raise money and awareness for a variety of social justice issues, including Black Lives Matter and Trans Lifeline. Nolan shared their dedication to supporting local artists — “For me personally, it’s very important to feature local and small artists. I also work hard to book queer, transgender and POC artists whenever possible, it’s important to give everyone a space to share their art and passion.”

Although the show was successful overall, there were a couple of hiccups along the way. “It was too bright with all the lights on [while the bands performed], but it was too dark for the tattoo artists with them off.

Eventually, we got enough lights to make it work for everyone,” shared Nolan after the show. Terry agreed, “I think the only thing that I didn’t like is that the lighting of the space was a little strange and didn’t allow the space to be as dark as usual for a show.”

Overall, the show was a success.

“I liked how there were tattoo artists tattooing simultaneously with the music,” Terry said. Keep your eyes peeled for new show announcements and follow Mall Fight on Instagram @mallfight for updates.

This is the opinion of Donna Borges, a sophomore marketing major from Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Tweet comments to @ donnaborgess or email comments to aboulas@theloyolan.com.

SPORTS

laloyolan.com Page 11

Women’s basketball team’s deficiencies hold them back A shot of Jameson Jameson O’Neil

Asst. Sports Editor @LALoyolan

T

he women’s basketball team capped off their regular season on Saturday, falling to the No. 14 Gonzaga Bulldogs (27-3, 16-2 WCC), 68-58 in Spokane. With the loss, the Lions drop to 17-13 this season and 10-8 in the West Coast Conference (WCC). LMU’s 10-8 record earned the squad a five-seed in the WCC Tournament, which begins on Thursday, March 7.

After starting the season 5-1, including a loss to Northern Arizona on Nov. 24 by just one point, LMU won only two of their remaining six non-conference games before beginning conference play. The Lions’ losing woes seemed to continue as they began conference play at 4-5 before the team turned it around to finish the season 6-3.

The team’s record dipped slightly from last season’s, in which the program finished 19-10, 11-7 in the WCC, to earn them fourth place in the regular season standings. The Lions fell in the quarterfinals of the WCC Championship to the fiveseeded San Francisco Dons, 89-76.

The team saw a number of stars emerge this year. Sophomore guard Chelsey Gipson led the team in scoring, averaging 17.1

points a game, second-best in the conference. She also led the Lions in three-point and freethrow percentage at .372 and .769 respectively, making her eighthbest out of all players in the conference in both categories. The Los Angeles native averaged 2.4 made three pointers a game, the most on her team and second-most in the conference this season, to go with 3.2 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.

Due to her strong play this year, Gipson earned a spot on the 10-person All-Conference First Team. Teammate and senior forward Bree Alford earned an Honorable Mention selection.

Alford led the team and conference in rebounds with 9.4 to go along with 8.2 points. Alford notched 7 double-doubles this season and became LMU’s all-time leader in rebounds this year with 982.

The Lions played much of the season without senior leader Gabby Green due to injury. Last season, the guard earned WCC First Team selection and won WCC Newcomer of the Year. For the 16 games Green played this season, the guard averaged 13.8 points, 2.7 steals, 6.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists.

In her absence, senior guard Andee Velasco saw an increase in playing time. Velasco led the team in assists with 4.6 per game, second-best in the league, and added 5.5 points per game. Sophomore forward Jasmine

via LMU Athletics Communications

Chelsey Gipson (3) was named WCC First Team after 17.1 points per game, which was good enough for secondbest in the entire conference. She also shot .372 percent from three-point range, the best on the team.

Jones contributed 12.2 points and 6.2 boards as well.

The team had a number of strengths in the 2018-19 season, including perimeter defense, passing the ball and steals.

The team was also strong at offensive rebounding and limiting turnovers. It was the group’s major deficiencies, however that stopped them from asserting dominance in the regular season.

The group had a number of major weaknesses that inhibited their success, a major one being free-throw shooting performance.

See Basketball | Page 12

SPORTS

SCORES UPDATE

M BASKETBALL 74-69 W

LION

at San Francisco

SPORTS

14-5 W

BASEBALL

at USC

W WATER POLO

15-6 W

at Sonoma State

SOFTBALL

3-0 W

at CSUN

Follow us on Twitter @laloyolan for up-to-date scores.

Page 12

LOS ANGELES LOYOLAN | March 6, 2019 | laloyolan.com

Former Dodger speaks on baseball and racism Sports and culture come together at lecture in an intercultural communications class.

Alex Hutton

Asst. Sports Editor @LALoyolan Al Ferrara, who played in eight seasons of Major League Baseball as an outfielder in the 1960s and 1970s, served as a guest lecturer in professor Judy Battaglia’s Intercultural Communications class on Thursday, Feb. 28.

Ferrara’s lecture covered a wide variety of topics, including his life and longtime connection to the Dodgers. He was born and raised in Brooklyn and rooted for the team as a child, when the franchise was still located there. During Ferrara’s formative years, the Dodgers were far more than just a team for Brooklyn.

“Baseball was a religion,” Ferrara recalled. “The nuns prayed for Gil Hodges and Jackie Robinson.”

He discussed the team’s history and the unwavering support of Brooklyn fans, even as the Dodgers repeatedly tried and failed to win the World Series.

When the team finally broke through in 1955 to win the first championship in franchise history, the borough was ready to celebrate.

“You came over the bridge and it was the biggest party you ever saw in Brooklyn,” Ferrara said.

This transitioned into a discussion of the team’s relocation to Los Angeles in 1958, and Ferrara’s signing with the team that same year. As Ferrara made his way through the minor leagues and earned limited playing time in the majors, the Dodgers did something that would endear them to their new city — they won, earning World Series titles in 1959, 1963 and 1965.

“You know L.A.,” Ferrara explained. “If you’re a winner, [you’ve] got everything.”

As Ferrara’s playing career continued, it became intertwined with issues of segregation that the game of baseball and the country as a whole faced at that

time. Ferrara’s baseball life, however, had always been connected to race. The first game he ever attended was on April 15, 1947, the day Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.

But it was when he became a player that these subjects came to the forefront for him. He recalled attending spring training in Florida and noticing that AfricanAmerican fans were not allowed to sit in the same places in the stands as white fans. Instead, they were relegated to standing-room spots down the foul lines.

The most powerful story that Ferrara, who is white, told regarding race was also a story from spring training. After a day game, he and a black teammate tried to eat at one of Ferrara’s favorite restaurants, only to be told that the restaurant would not serve a black man. The teammate took Ferrara to a different restaurant instead, where they ate dinner and had a great time. After this night, Ferrara began questioning the systemic issues in society that allowed these events to take place.

“How come he can’t eat at a restaurant I want to take him to, but I can eat at a restaurant that he wants to take me to?”

Ferrara recalled thinking.

Ferrara concluded this portion of his lecture by encouraging the students in the class to vote in their efforts to make change in the world.

The event came about through Battaglia’s love of sports and interest in the impact culture has on them. In addition to the Intercultural Communications course, she teaches a course called For the Love of the Game: Gender, Sport and Communication. Battaglia says that the course “examines race, gender, economics, class, sexuality, disability [and] all these different intersectionalities, and how they relate to sport.”

Battaglia came to know Ferrara largely through his community outreach work with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ferrara played for the Dodgers in 1963 and again from 1965 to 1968. However, Battaglia’s primary connection to Ferrara is via his friendship with her father, Tom, who introduced Ferrara at the talk.

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Alex Hutton | Loyolan

Al Ferrara, who played as an outfielder for three Major League Baseball teams including the Dodgers, lectured in an Intercultural Communications class on Thursday, Feb. 28.

Charlye Sweeney, a junior communication studies major in the class, said that she appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the historical interconnectedness of baseball and race.

“Hearing the stories about [Ferrara] just living in that era, where [discrimination] was in its prime ... was just very interesting,” she said. “I think a lot of people don’t take time to learn about the history.”

After the talk, Battaglia expressed an optimistic sentiment when discussing her

hopes for her students’ takeaways.

“I hope they take away that they really will be the change agents,” Battaglia said. “[Ferrara] mentioned some ways to do it—through activism, through voting— because I think it seems bleak a lot of times but ... they really can see that it is up to them.”

Women's B-ball's poor shooting hurts season Basketball from Page 11

The Lions ranked last in the conference in free throw percentage at .623, yet they got to the line 644 times this year — most in the WCC and seventh-most in the nation. Despite being so skilled in drawing fouls, the Lions could not fully capitalize on their ample opportunities — especially painful considering the Lions lost six games by 10 points or less, two of which were decided by two points or less.

Another major weakness for the Lions has been simply making shots. The Lions ranked last in the conference in field goal percentage this year at .395. In the team’s last nine games, in which the Lions notched six wins, the team improved in their shot selection, shooting .426 from the field and seeing wins come because of it.

LMU has also had issues with

defensive rebounding, grabbing just 24.4 defensive boards a game, second-worst in the conference, according to the WCC's website, as well as with blocks, as the team notched just 50 for the season at 1.7 per game, last in the WCC. As the Lions look toward the West Coast Conference Tournament, they will first face the winner of No. 9 Pacific and No. 8 Pepperdine after receiving a one-game bye on Friday at 6 p.m. in Las Vegas. If the team looks to succeed and go deep into the tournament, they must continue to capitalize on the things they do well and fix the glaring issues that have stopped them from achieving success.

This is the opinion of Jameson O'Neil, a freshman English major from Boston, MA. Tweet comments to @LALoyolan or email comments to mthomas@theloyolan.com.