May 30, 2017

Tue sday, May 3 0, 2017

C a l P o ly, S a n L u i s O b i s p o

w w w. m u s t a n g n e w s . n e t

E s t a b l i s h e d 1916

March &

protest Students and faculty stand against traditionalism and rape culture

FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT

FRANK HUANG | MUSTA NG NE W S

| On Thursday, conservative speaker Lauren Southern spoke on “The Return of the Traditional Woman” where students gathered to protest her denial of rape culture.

Emma Withrow & Sydney Harder @ CPMustangNews

“Whatever we wear, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no!”

This was one of the many chants heard on campus Thursday evening, Cal Poly Queer Student Union, Triota, Empower Poly Coalition, Students for

Quality Education and Cal Poly Democrats organized a peaceful protest where students condemned of rape culture across college campuses while demonstrating their support for survivors of sexual assault. The march was in part a reaction to conservative speaker Lauren Southern’s event on campus Thursday.

“I know too many people who have been affected by [sexual

assault] to not say something about it and the fact that this is a problem in 2017 still baffles me,” communication studies junior Lanie Woods said.

Several Cal Poly administrative staff were also at the March Against Rape Culture.

“Me and my staff are here to support the students and the community members and we want to make sure everybody

has an opportunity for free speech on our campus and that they feel safe expressing themselves,” Dean of Students Kathleen McMahon said.

Some students shared their own stories of overcoming sexual violence.

Agricultural science junior and incoming Associated Students, Inc. President Riley Nilsen also joined the march.

“Rape culture is real and I hope that moving forward, we are able to recognize [that] and hold each other accountable when it is needed,” Nilsen said.

The march culminated at Clyde P. Fisher Science Hall (building 33) where Southern was set to speak at 7 p.m.

PROTEST continued on page 2

Determination: The journey of Donovan Fields

MATT LALANNE | MUSTA NG NE W S

ON THE WAY UP | Fields overcame long odds to make it to Cal Poly.

Michael Frank @ frankmichaelss

MONOCHROMATIC

TABATA GORDILLO | MUSTA NG NE W S

| Student Evan Ricaurté (above) danced in several of the 18 dance pieces. Each piece was choreographed by students.

REVIEW: ‘Liberation’ empowers student directors and dancers Emliy Merten @ CPMustangNews

Liberation means freedom from constraints and limiting thought forms. For some, liberation is a state of mind and a form of empowerment. For one group of student performers, liberation comes in the form of dance.

Cal Poly’s spring student

dance concert “Liberation” featured a show of student-choreographed pieces, all of which connected to the theme. More than 100 students performed a broad range of styles from hiphop to tap to ballet in the show.

Students run the show From directing to choreographing to performing, students were in charge of “Liberation.”

Nutrition sophomore Sarah Nguyen performed in two pieces and said the student-led aspect made for a diverse show.

With 19 choreographers, each piece brought a unique perspective to the concert.

“You get so many people with different ideas from different backgrounds collaborating together,” Nguyen said. “[Choreographers] work and

collaborate with other students to develop a piece they are proud of.”

While some choreographers planned their routines solo from start to finish, others entered the choreographing process seeking inspiration from the dancers in the piece.

LIBERATION continued on page 5

It was one of the championship games of the Holcombe Rucker Community League’s summer session in New York. The game was held in a gym in the projects of the Bronx in New York City.

A high school kid from Newburgh, New York had the ball in his hands. He was 5-foot-8.

He wasn’t from the city, but he’d been there plenty of times. He didn’t like the Knicks and he still thought that football might be his future.

His team was playing four on five due to injuries and foul trouble, but still, he knew he wasn’t losing this game.

“He took over the game,” his dad said. “They couldn’t double team him and they even tried triple teaming him, but nothing worked on him.”

The kid from Newburgh put up 41 points in this championship game to lead his team in an improbable win.

That kid—now man—is Donovan Fields.

Fields went from Newburgh, New York to Concord, North Car-

News 1-3 | Arts 4-5 | Opinion 6 | Classifieds 7 | Sports 8

olina to Odessa, Texas and now to San Luis Obispo, California. His journey has been long and lucky, making it out to the West coast as an up-and-coming Division 1 college basketball player.

Beginnings Fields was given a basketball as soon as he could walk.

Newburgh, his hometown, is about an hour north of New York City and is known for its crime and gang violence.

Fields didn’t grow up in the city of Newburgh though, unlike many of his friends and teammates throughout his childhood.

He grew up in the suburbs of Newburgh, not as dangerous and not as connected to gang activity.

“My life was a little different growing up,” Fields said. “Some of my friends were exposed to things at an early age that I didn’t have to go home to. Some of the things they had to deal with, no kid should have to experience that.

I respect them because they came out stronger. I feel lucky I didn’t have to deal with any of that.”

FIELDS continued on page 8

NEWS 2

MUSTANG NEWS

On your marks, get set, solar: PROVE Lab helps kids build solar cars Cassandra Garibay @ CPMustangNews

Unpredictable weather did not interfere with the long awaited Prototype Vehicle (PROVE) Laboratory outreach program’s race.

During the course of a year, Cal Poly students mentored local middle schoolers and taught them how to build a solar-paneled car.

On Thursday, the three middle schools — Mesa Middle School, Los Osos Middle School and El Camino Junior High School — came together to demonstrate the skills they learned.

While weather prevented the cars from being powered by the sun, PROVE mentors improvised by lighting the race track with borrowed lamps and a generator.

“I think we kind of pulled together a great engineering solution, which was a good example for the kids,” aerospace engineering senior and PROVE Lab outreach leader Thomas Rohrbach said.

In the end, The Blur, a team from Mesa Middle School, walked away with the top speed of three feet and 32 inches in 4.7 seconds. They were rewarded with a one-week internship this summer where they will help work on PROVE Lab’s main car.

“The most beautiful moment for me was walking into the lab and seeing kids whose cars had [cracked] or something wasn’t quite fitting right, and they were all just huddled around the car with the tools,” Rohrbach said. “I think they took the most out of that experience. It wasn’t racing the cars, that was just a fun little test.”

The outreach program was spearheaded by aerospace engineering assistant professor Graham Doig when the PROVE Lab was awarded the American Honda Foundation grant for education.

“Our goal was to target underrepresented populations in STEM education or STEM careers,” liberal studies senior and outreach team co-lead Amanda

Wong said. “So basically, what that means is we tried to look for students [who] don’t always have those opportunities.”

Even with this in mind, mentors were faced with challenges they had not expected, such as different student’s exposure to algebra and interest in STEM. It was as much of a learning experience for Cal Poly mentors as it was for the middle school students.

“It takes time to understand learning and how it does affect people differently and how they learn,” Los Osos teacher and program advisor Greg Wilcox said.

“So I think the Cal Poly students learned that aspect of it for sure, that planning or instructing students, it doesn’t matter who they are, requires extra time built into the planning process.”

Even though the grant funding ended, Wilcox looks forward to continuing a relationship between Cal Poly and middle school students. According to Rohrbach, they missed the deadline for the American Honda Foundation grant for the next year, but are hoping to take that time to assess how they can better the program for the future.

ANDRE W EPPERSON | MUSTA NG NE W S

IMPROVEMENT | Thomas Rohrbach (above) helped students from El Camino, Mesa and Los Osos middle schools build and race their solar cars.

PROTEST continued from page 1

Nilsen noted the irony of Southern coming to speak at a public institution, “where women are getting degrees, going out into the workforce, going out as CEOs, as leaders.”

Southern, a Canadian conservative activist, writer and political commentator, drew a crowd of approximately 100 protesters when speaking on campus Thursday.

Southern’s speech was titled “The Return of the Traditional Woman” and primarily focused on the benefits of traditionalism for women. She cited numerous studies that provided statistical evidence that showed proving women have happier lives with fewer sexual partners and a more traditional role in a marriage.

“When it comes to the happiest vocation for women, having children is the happiest vocation,” Southern said.

Southern has been labeled as a rape culture denier and was asked about her stance on rape culture during the question and answer portion of her event.

“The reason you hear that rape

TABATA GORDILLO | MUSTA NG NE W S

OPPOSITION | Students protested Southern’s conservative views such as her stance on rape culture. is constantly happening is because the definition of rape has been completely changed; ‘I got drunk and had sex,’ that’s rape; ‘I didn’t have a consent form,’ that’s rape,” Southern said.

In defense of hosting Southern, Cal Poly College Republi-

cans cited their right to exercise free speech.

Several protesters, however, asserted that the right to freedom of expression is not a free ticket to proclaim offensive beliefs.

“Free speech is a great part of

our country and a great right that we all have, but it’s disappointing to see how some people use it to hurt others,” psychology sophomore Emma Cohen said. “It’s important to show that we’ll use our free speech to build people up.”

NEWS 3

TUESDAY, MAY 30, 2017

Cal Poly Graduation Initiative Team proposes plan to increase four-year graduation rates Aidan McGloin @ mcgloin_aidan

Cal Poly’s Graduation Initiative Team sent a plan for increasing graduation rates to the California State University (CSU) Chancellor’s office at the beginning of May. According to the team, if approved and enacted: • On-campus housing would be required for both freshmen and sophomores.

• Freshman block scheduling would be expanded to the entire academic year instead of only the first quarter.

• More grants would be awarded to students in need of financial assistance.

• It will be easier to get into courses.

is most needed and creating a larger center in the library for tutoring.

Removing barriers to graduation Removing barriers to graduation would entail a redesign of high fail-rate classes, providing grants to students who are struggling financially, hiring more faculty to teach more classes and turning the Graduation Writing Requirement into a class.

Improving the campus community

The team thinks that creating a two-year on-campus residence policy would create a more supportive campus, creating a sense of belonging for everyone that will translate into positive classwork.

Eliminating achievement gaps Eliminating graduation gaps levels the playing field for all students, Bruno Giberti, architecture professor and member of the team, said. According to Giberti, there are some issues that affect groups differently.

For example, the team has ob-

served female students from minority groups have higher graduation rates than male students from minority groups. The team is unsure what the specific issues are, but plan to commission a study once their plan is approved.

Using data The team also hopes using data will improve the number of desired courses students can enroll in.

“The primary focus, the most important focus, [is] making sure we are offering enough courses to the students,” Se-

nior Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Planning Mary Pedersen said. “The course offerings, it’s fair to say that’s number one.”

Pedersen said the use of PolyPlanner is very important to the team’s goals and is used in scheduling decisions.

The plan’s budget has not been detailed yet, but funding is expected to be provided by the CSU’s Graduation Initiative 2025. The Initiative plans to increase the six-year graduation rates of all CSU students to 70 percent from 57 percent and the four-year graduation rate to 40

percent from 19 percent.

There are other sources of money for the initiative, but $800,000 in funding for shortterm goals have been provided through the CSU system.

Graduation rates are one of the ways California measures budget spending for the CSU system.

Four-year graduation rates for Cal Poly already increased from 30 percent to 47 percent in the past five years and sixyear graduation rates increased from 77 percent to 83 percent, according to the Cal Poly Fall 2016 Fact Book.

The plan is intended to increase four-year graduation rates, which will make it easier for students to graduate.

If it works, students will pay less money because they won’t be taking additional quarters and will be able to get into the classes they need and more students will receive degrees from the university, as there will be a higher turnover rate.

The team’s specific goals are broken up into five categories: improving advising and support, removing barriers to graduation, improving the campus community, eliminating achievement gaps and using data more often in administration.

Improving advising and support Improving advising and support includes sending emails to students to check in at certain points of their career where the team has noted advising

Giuseppe’s: Senior project turned popular restaurant Megan Schellong @ meganschellong

When political science student Joe DiFronzo chose his senior project back in 1988, he knew there was only one option: opening a restaurant.

DiFronzo runs the homestyle Italian restaurant Giuseppe’s Cucina Rustica, which first opened in the Landmark Hotel space on Price Street in Pismo Beach. But starting a business as at 20 years old wasn’t easy.

When DiFronzo pitched his idea to his senior project adviser, her response was: “How does that relate to political science?”

“This is what I want to do with the rest of my life. This will be more impactful and less material than a paper that’s going to be thrown away,” DiFronzo told her.

DiFronzo’s argument worked.

He was slated to begin the project in his final year.

Though DiFronzo grew up with uncles who owned Italian delis, he didn’t necessarily know how the restaurant business worked.

“My passion far exceeded my talent,” DiFronzo said.

Though the restaurant business was a common thread among his uncles and extended family, managing people proved to be the toughest challenge for him.

DiFronzo also had to learn to

cook for a restaurant packed with people.

“It’s easy to cook for two to four people, but I didn’t know how to cook for 200 to 500 people and still keep the quality,” DiFronzo said. “That’s the main part: maintaining consistency and quality.”

That quality is maintained to date. All the recipes originate from DiFronzo’s grandparents and some of the ingredients are grown in DiFronzo’s garden.

The broccoli rabe, tomatoes and basil all come from DiFronzo’s own plot of land, as does the DiFronzo wine served in house.

“The thing we live by is ‘Chi mangia bene sta andando a vivere bene,’ which translates to ‘Whoever eats well is going to live well,’” DiFronzo’s son, Giuseppe DiFronzo, said.

From a player to coach DiFronzo said watching the team of 50 to 60 people grow over the years has been rewarding for him as leader.

“I’m a coach, I’m not a player anymore,” he said, reflecting back on his Cal Poly football career when he served as the team’s nose guard.

Even when DiFronzo was a political science undergraduate and football player, he knew he would not pursue politics or sports. As a first-generation Italian-American, he didn’t follow the path his parents en-

DEMAND

BJ YEBISU | MUSTA NG NE W S

| Because of the success of the original restaurant in Pismo Beach, Joe DiFronzo opened up a second location in downtown San Luis Obispo.

visioned for him.

“They wanted me to get a career after graduation and wear a suit and tie,” DiFronzo said.

But instead he chose the restaurant business, which he attributes to his deli-owner uncles. Because of his family, he was instilled with the entrepreneurial spirit to make something new.

Room to grow DiFronzo’s vision and mindset for growth proved him well the past 30 years.When he first

wanted to open Giuseppe’s in Pismo Beach at the Landmark Hotel, he said to the owner, an 89-year-old dairy farmer, “Hey, I can make something of this place.”

That’s just what he did. Giuseppe’s opened in 1988. Three years later, he relocated his vision from the Landmark Hotel to another vacant space: Plessas Tavern, a historic Greek-family-owned restaurant.

“I brought this place back to life,” DiFronzo said.

One of his favorite memories

traces back to the Pismo restaurant when his family from Italy came to visit Giuseppe’s.

“They saw a two-hour line outside the door and they saw I made it from nothing,” he said.

“I was proud.”

Looking back on his success with the restaurant, DiFronzo said it comes down to one thing: “If you have a dream, follow it.

People told me, ‘Pismo is a dead town. There’s nothing there,’ but I thought I could [open a restaurant] and it happened,” DiFronzo said.

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Giuseppe’s Pismo location will reopen during September or October this year after being rebuilt from a fire last June. DiFronzo said the restaurant will have the same look and attributes as the one before because that is the classic Italian style.

“I’ve cleaned up the ashes. I have no roof, but I can see the stars again. I can see the sky,” he said.

In the meantime, Giuseppe’s downtown San Luis Obispo location is still open for business.

ARTS 4

MUSTANG NEWS

Diversity mural installed in Baker Science

FRANK HUANG | MUSTA NG NE W S

MIRROR IMAGE | Denver-based artist and muralist David Ocelotl Garcia named the Baker mural “Integrated Visionaries” because he wants the viewer to recognize themselves in the piece’s abstract figures.

Mikaela Duhs @ CPMustangNews

A white sheet hung in the Warren J. Baker Center for Science and Mathematics (building 180) foyer for two weeks, waving in the wind with each open and close of the doors throughout the day. It hid the new mural

commissioned by the College of Science and Mathematics (COSAM), waiting patiently until May 26 when people could finally see its colorful 22-by-6-foot panels.

The artist Designed by Denver-based artist and muralist David Ocelotl Garcia, the mural combines his

passion for fusing nature and science in his work. Garcia said he takes pride in being able to capture the movement of nature on multiple mediums. Inspired by quantum physics, Garcia seemed the perfect fit to design a mural for the COSAM. “I see art—even though it is a design— I almost see it as an

interpretation of what energy looks like if you would be able to make it stop or give it some sort of visualization,” Garcia said. “Obviously we can’t see it with our own eyes. This idea is something I connect with, that I can give energy an actual shape and can make it into a composition that tells a story.”

The idea The sizable mural was the idea of COSAM Dean Phil Bailey, who will retire from Cal Poly at the end of the 2016-17 academic year. In addition to encouraging the mural, Bailey spearheaded building the Faculty Offices East and Baker Center. He also started the “Study 25-35” campaign and assisted underrepresented students financially and otherwise when completing their degrees at Cal Poly.

During Summer 2016, Bailey approached Exhibits and Campus Arts Curator Catherine Trujillo with the idea to fill the empty wall space above the physics department office with a mural promoting diversity and inclusivity.

Trujillo saw Bailey’s vision through by calling upon students and members of Black, Chicano, Latino, Pride, Asian Pacific Islander and Indigenous faculty staff associations. About eight members from the various groups were present during a meeting to discuss ideas for the mural.

This selection committee developed a request for proposal (RFP) for a mural that was sent nationwide in search of artists to commission the piece.

Despite the tough requirements, Trujillo was pleasantly surprised by the number of applicants.

“We got lots of questions by telephone,” Trujillo said. “Artists were really excited. I sent the RFP out and got 42 responses back. I thought there would be a dozen.”

Trujillo explained that commissioned art is rare on campus, but because of this project, she designed a proposal process for future commissioned murals.

Garcia was chosen based on his interest in science and insight into the diversity and inclusivity themes. Garcia’s website describes his work as “modern, figurative, narrative, abstract, tribal, surreal, geometric and contemporary. His art is culturally diverse, inspired by tradition, history, nature, balance and everyday life.”

“In my work I like to speak nature, science and geometric forms. For this particular mural, I pulled out nature, science, math, cultural interaction, community and diversity of people,” Garcia said.

His flow of shapes, vibrant colors and abstract figures caught the eye of the multicultural committee.

“His work was very, very colorful,” committee member Camille O’Bryant said. “There was

For this particular mural, I pulled out nature, science, math, cultural interaction, community and diversity of people.

Creating the mural The project was no easy task, as part of the requirement of the artist was to complete the finished mural very quickly; the RFP was sent in January with the hopes of revealing the mural in late May. The artist also had to complete the finished mural in their own studio and ship it in panels to the university. The committee wanted elements of diversity, inclusivity and community in the mural, so applicants had to create three renditions of the concept and submit a written narrative explaining their designs.

DAVID OCELOTL GARCIA

no real way to connect with a specific gender or ethnicity. It wasn’t like he had a bunch of black, brown and green people, you know? The shapes were geometric and abstract in the way that reflects sciences and the arts. It had a nice blend of color, dimension, breadth, perspective, but also had a scientific feel because a lot of the imagery in there reflects the disciplines,

not just in our college, but at Cal Poly.”

Garcia’s renderings proposed mirror images, as to suggest incomplete work or the same image on either side of the centerfold. Trujillo, the art curator, facilitated communication between Garcia and students, faculty and staff about their opinions and ideas for the piece to include them in the artwork and creative process.

“I am a means of creating a visualization, like manifesting an idea,” Garcia said. “I use this base information, but it becomes a partnership. We work together to create it. Creating murals and creating images is about feeling, but I have to be able to feel what you’re telling me. The students and faculty will be able to tell me what to feel and what it is I made.”

Working with these groups, Garcia created specific themes within the greater concept. These themes include representation of the Chumash American Indian population through the symbol of a sea shell and a butterfly, representing the undocumented student community.

Garcia said the mural is titled “Integrated Visionaries” because he wanted the viewer to recognize themselves in the art’s abstract figures. Garcia called his concept the integration of humankind, which is the morphing of shapes to draw a larger metaphor about society.

“You will see a face made up of different portions of different faces,” Garcia said. “The nose, the mouth and that sort of thing. It creates the silhouette of a face, but also symbolizes people from different cultures, colors and genders. It comes together as the central figure in the mural.”

Trujillo travelled to Denver while Garcia was painting the mural, recording his process and interviewing him throughout. His sketches were sent to the campus art collection so students could review them and give feedback. Trujillo said she wanted the students to feel like they were a part of the artistic process through this video documentation because Garcia was working on the mural in his Denver studio. The video was shown on the day of the unveiling, allowing students to be immersed into the piece like Garcia was.

“It is a teaching collection,” Trujillo said.

ARTS 5

TUESDAY, MAY 30, 2017 LIBERATION continued from page 1

Software engineering senior Fina Beauchamp co-directed and choreographed “Liberation.” She said she hadn’t finished her piece titled “Silver Linings” until her dancers brought it to life.

“All I knew was I had this feeling,” Beauchamp said. “I had some choreography and over time I was able to generate more choreography, but I definitely went to the dancers for inspiration.”

FEELING FREE

Collaborative efforts brought each dancer’s creativity and individuality to the concert. Beauchamp gave her dancers credit in the program for helping with the choreography in her piece.

Liberation through dance While past spring concert directors created a theme to guide the dance pieces, the directors of this year’s concert chose the theme of liberation after reviewing the pieces the choreographers created.

Co-director and choreographer Patrick Douglas said themes of liberation and empowerment emerged from different aspects of each dance piece, whether it was through costume, choreography or the intent behind the piece.

“We wanted to really make [the theme] mean something,” psychology senior Douglas said.

Some of the routines in “Liberation” tackled difficult topics prevalent in society today. For example, some pieces took on the theme of gender.

“There’s at least a couple pieces in the show that focus on gender and liberation from typical binary gender roles,” Douglas said.

Not only do the themes of the show evoke feelings of liberation, but the art of dance itself is a way of breaking free for the dancers. Nguyen, Beauchamp and Douglas agreed that dancing allows them to forget about day-to-day stresses of college.

“Whenever I’m dancing, it’s an out-of-body experience,”

Beauchamp said. “It’s like I’m not thinking about anything.

Everything is muscle memory.

I feel liberated, not a lot of worries. I’m just moving and everything comes together.”

Full circle Closing night of the show brought a bittersweet moment of reflection to the green room.

Both directors got their start in the dance community at Cal Poly through the spring dance concert in years prior and are

graduating this spring.

“I discovered one of my biggest passions through [the spring show] and I want to grant that opportunity to other people,” Douglas said.

“Liberation” was Douglas and Beauchamp’s first experience directing a dance concert.

Both agreed that working with the dancers to create meaningful pieces made the hard work worthwhile.

“We’re helping peoples visions come to life,” Douglas said.

TABATA GORDILLO | MUSTA NG NE W S

| The show’s theme of liberation was chosen based on different aspects of each dance routine, whether it was through costume, choreography or the intent behind the piece.

‘#TheatreMajor’ tells the story of life on stage Sabrina Thompson @ sabrinaswriting

When she had her first glimmer of the idea during her sophomore year, theatre arts senior Sabrina Orro didn’t know she’d create an eight-episode mini-series about the life of a theatre student. Her web series “#TheatreMajor” encompasses the tales of theatre majors at Cal Poly, a non-performing arts college. Orro and her team put Learn by Doing to the test.

The web series explores the expectations and relationships of college theatre students. Romances, friendships and drama are a part of almost every student’s life,

but “#TheatreMajor” highlights the added demands that theatre students may face. In the series, students work on a main-stage production based on two popular theatre shows: “Wicked” and “The Crucible.” The series tells the students’ personal stories alongside the bigger plot line of rehearsing for the big show.

“It is a lighthearted story,” theatre arts senior and “#TheatreMajor” director Emily Brehm

said. “I hope that audiences who watch this enjoy it and we make them laugh.”

The characters in the show are based on stereotypes found in almost every theatre department, according to the team. A diva, a nutty professor and a tech-geek are just some of the personas “#TheatreMajor” incorporates.

Orro said the team wanted to humanize these tropes through the show.

“I chose this topic because there [are] so many stories I’ve heard from other people, experienced myself, read about online, that are so unique to theatre majors but also relatable to non-theatre majors,” Orro said

Filming is a lot like putting together a puzzle, while theatre is more like creating ceramics.

Her dreams of acting post-graduation guided Orro’s journey in creating “#TheatreMajor.” Working during the past few months, Orro recruited a small team to help with production. Brehm and production manager and theater arts senior Antonio Mata began collaborating with Orro, developing each episode and providing feedback.

“I would send [the script] back and forth between them to get their feedback on each episode [to] see what they thought,” Orro said. “They helped me make each thing better as it kept going.”

Crew and casting calls went out at the end of Winter 2017 after the script was complete. Orro looked for actors and technicians to help with the fictional series.

When she found her crew, Orro

stepped into the role of Dani Gold, a character in the series.

Brehm and Mata worked together to ensure shooting days went smoothly. Because scenes were shot out of order, the actors were responsible for knowing where they were chronologically in the stories.

“It ties in the idea that in theatre you are going to have to adapt,” Mata said. “You are going to have to take a situation that comes up and say ‘OK, this isn’t exactly what we had planned, but how can we make it as close as possible?’”

Using professors and on-campus locations, the web series found support in the Cal Poly community. Theatre professor Philip Valle became the advisor for “#TheatreMajor” and other professors offered classrooms

and space for scenes to be filmed.

With no financial help, the crew sought out resources that make their project more unique. Since “#TheatreMajor” is about college students and made by college students, the team’s production style is a match for the characters in the show.

The “#TheatreMajor” crew also has an extensive amount of experience in live theatre, so the web series mirrors what they’ve learned. However, Brehm explained that film is a different beast than theatre.

“Filming is a lot like putting together a puzzle, while theatre is more like creating ceramics,” Brehm said.

The team’s goal is to run the series on YouTube, ending production at the end of the school year.

EMILY BREHM

ACTORS PL AYING ACTORS

BERIT BINGHAM | COURTE SY PHOTO

| Through the fictional web series, the “#TheatreMajor” crew is telling personal stories of theatre students rehearsing for their school’s big theatre production.

OPINION 6

MUSTANG NEWS

John Coltrane: A prophet on the woodwind Hunter White @ CPMustangNews

Hunter White is a history junior and Mustang News columnist. The views expressed in this column do not reflect the viewpoints and editorial coverage of Mustang News.

Despite the undeniable facts which point toward a chaotic world usurped entirely by the mad and the bloodthirsty, there remains an unquenchable hunger towards the divine.

This state of contradiction has been the central question of the 20th century explored in overwrought novels, Campbell’s Soup cans and World Wars. It is a space of constant searching, of wading through the grim and the entropic in search of some lost sublimity.

This is the space where John Coltrane composed music. He sought to preach through his horn as both his grandfathers had preached from the pulpit. After losing the coolest job in jazz as a member of Miles Davis’

band due to heroin addiction, Coltrane got clean and set himself on a righteous path of his own design, informed by an insatiable curiosity of about everything from world religions to Einstein.

Like any self-respecting prophet, he cloistered himself away in the attic of his home for five days, coming down only for the bare nourishment needed to keep going. “Like Moses coming down from the mountain,” Coltrane’s wife recalled of Coltrane on his return after the completion of his defining record. Through the strength of his composition, Coltrane sought to express all he had come to know of God and of himself in the only language capable of conveying it.

This audacious attempt to reach heaven on the wind of a saxophone culminated in his magnum opus: the 1965 record “A Love Supreme.”

In only 30 minutes, Coltrane drags the listener through the totality of human experience. The album opens with a flourish and

a resounding gong while washing cymbals pull the curtain back for the four-note motif and messianic chant, which lives within the whole movement. The album descends into an improvised chaos, which physically drives the listener back into dark valleys where the warmth of the preceding minutes has melted

Coltrane sought to express all he had come to know of God and of himself in the only language capable of conveying it.

away till it seems to have never been present. The mind recoils against the loping bass, once again consumed by black thoughts and oozing paranoia.

Just as the weight of it grows beyond what one can bear, when all hope is lost and Christ descends into hell, a piano rings; rolling drums and rattling cymbals open into a clear sky where the drone of Coltrane’s saxophone glows with a love supreme. It is a moment every bit as miraculous as any burning bush.

When asked less than a year before his death of his plans for the next decade, Coltrane replied, “Sainthood.”

He was not a man of meager ambition. This ambition would see reality in The Saint John Coltrane Church, which holds service to this day. Of course the deification of a mid-century American saxophonist may seem a tad ludicrous, but if you are willing to posit that man can in fact grab hold of some piece of the divine, then there is reason to consider “A Love Supreme” alongside the Bible or “The Bhagavad Gita.” While the final two will leave you with plenty of snappy new aphorisms and rules for nomadic shepherds, the former will leave you only in awe.

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METEOR 17 | PROMOTIONA L

CAN’T STOP A MOVING TR ANE

| Many people simply enjoy listening to Coltrane, but for members of the Saint John Coltrane Church, it is also a religious experience.

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SPORTS 8 FIELDS continued from page 1

As Fields grew older, his dad, Michael Fields, mentored him. Michael was Fields’ single biggest influence in life and in basketball.

“Donovan is very open,” Michael said. “He knows how to get his point across. He listens very well and that sets him apart from a lot of people.”

They watched Knicks games together every night and Michael taught Fields about basketball.

He was Fields’ coach up until he was 15 years old.

“Donovan’s IQ was and is high,” Michael said. “He was smart. He was a sponge. He wanted to get good. Just being a good kid made a huge difference and helped him a lot.”

Two sport kid By age seven, Fields was played two sports full-time: basketball and football. He was a quiet kid that played sports and video games, and that was it.

“There was almost no time when I wasn’t playing basketball or football,” Fields said. “When I wasn’t doing that, I was either eating or sleeping. It was fun. I was just playing with my friends, so that’s all I wanted to do and that’s really all that we did.”

Fields played in rough Newburgh leagues, where toughness was almost as important as skill. He was fouled constantly coming down the court, but both him and his father think it was necessary.

“I wanted that edge, that toughness instilled in him,” Michael said.

He stayed like this until he was a sophomore at Newburgh Free Academy, the only high school in Newburgh. The school was a sports powerhouse in the area and Fields wanted to live up to that reputation.

Fields went unnoticed, though.

He was known as a solid football player that also had some

MUSTANG NEWS — just some — skill on the basketball court.

“Nobody knew who I was. Nobody expected me to do what I did,” Fields said.

He started 10th grade coming off the bench for the varsity basketball team. After a few games, he was given a chance to start.

He didn’t waste it.

He quickly became the full-time starter, showing he was more than just a fast football player.

He continued to work on his game, but his size continued to be questioned.

“He’s always been the underdog,” Fields’ prep school coach said. “He’s always had a chip on his shoulder because of his size.”

In his free time, Fields played American Athletic Union [AAU] basketball with another family friend, Harold Rayford Sr. Rayford Sr. has known Fields since he was a kid and watched him fall in love with the game of basketball. “[He was the] only kid that ever really came to me and asked me to constantly get in the gym and put up shots,” Rayford Sr. said. “There’s a difference between a kid that wants to play basketball and a ballplayer. Don is a ballplayer. He’s a player that will put up shots after a game until midnight.”

Rayford Sr.’s AAU 17-and-under team went to the AAU national basketball tournament when Fields was still in high school. With Fields leading the way, the team finished third in the country, making it Rayford Sr.’s most successful team he’s ever coached.

During Fields’ senior year, he was the starting quarterback for the most prolific offense in his high school’s history. He was a natural-born leader, mainly because of his work ethic.

“When you’re always there and your effort is never questioned,and you do the right things in and out of school, people listen,” Newburgh’s Coach

DRIVE AND KICK

MATT LALANNE | MUSTA NG NE W S

| Sophomore guard Donovan Fields is the shortest player on Cal Poly’s team but earned a starting role this season.

Bill Bianco said.

Bianco knew that Fields was a basketball kid, but also knew that his work ethic allowed him to be just as successful in football.

“He basically ruined any excuse to miss a practice,” Bianco said. “I tell kids now that if Donovan could do it and hold a 90 average and be a two-sport star athlete and always be around, then you can be here, too.”

After losing in the conference finals for football, it was his last basketball season and he was going to make it count.

Newburgh made it to the conference championship against their rivals, Kingston High. They had lost several players because of eligibility rules.

Fields put up 36 points in one of his final high school basketball games, purely due to willpower.

“I wanted it so badly. I told myself I wasn’t losing that game. It’s

not slipping away,” Fields said.

After getting offers from Army West Point, Rutgers and other schools for football, along with a few offers from smaller schools for basketball, Fields decided to carve his own path.

A different path Fields decided to take a post-graduate year at Concord Prep Academy in North Carolina. He took his team to the final four of prep nationals.

His coach at Concord was Harold Rayford, a family friend, a life mentor and son of Rayford Sr. “People have taken a chance on him and he’s always willing to take a chance on other people and make new relationships,” Rayford said. “His work ethic is phenomenal. With his work ethic, he has pro potential. He doesn’t need anybody to wake him up in the mornings. His passion wakes him up.”

Fields de-committed from Morgan State in Baltimore and decided to go to Odessa community College in Odessa, Texas.

After playing for one year in Texas, he got a call from Cal Poly men’s basketball coach Joe Callero.

A couple of weeks later, he was on the Cal Poly campus, committing to a school he’d never heard of in a place he’d never been.

Fields is one of the few people to make it out of Newburgh and he knows he’s blessed to be having this opportunity.

“A lot of the guys on that high school championship team and a lot of the guys that were really good from the inner city, they keep me motivated,” Fields said.

“They tell me to keep grinding and keep putting on for the city.

I feel like I represent the city.”

Now at Cal Poly, Fields has big plans for the future.

With one year under his belt,

he is looking to get more comfortable and to continue to make a bigger impact for Cal Poly. His skillset is wide and his passion is irreplaceable.

“It’s more than one thing,” Michael said. “He’s very unselfish.

He doesn’t mind the spotlight being on someone else. Donovan plays basketball like chess. Every move is calculated.”

His leadership role is expanding, but those around him believe he’s ready for it.

“He can be the Derek Fisher of the locker room,” Rayford said.

“He always has a knack for saying things at the right time,” Bianco said.

With a couple years left on his eligibility, Fields has one goal for his time at Cal Poly.

“By the time I leave here, I’ve gotta bring another Big West championship back to Cal Poly and get to the [NCAA Tournament],” he said.