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UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

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MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2015

Community garden receives Duke Engery grant for renovations MATT NICHOLS | CONTRIBUTOR

The Community Garden at the University of Cincinnati’s Clermont College will receive a complete makeover with help from a $9,000 grant from Duke Energy. The garden, which has donated over 6,000 pounds of fresh vegetables to local food banks over the past four years, will now be equipped with running water and electricity.

Constructed in 2010 as an Earth Day activity for UC Clermont students, the garden initially consisted of a small 25 square-foot plot of land without a fence and was located only a short walk from campus. The first year’s harvest was scarce, but that didn’t extinguish the program.

The following year, the Community Garden received a $4,000 grant from Duke Energy to erect a fence, buy tools and expand the garden to a .25-acre plot, which is the current size of the garden.

This dramatically increased the crop’s productivity and allowed for small classes to work in the garden throughout the academic year. However, the absence

of accessible water and electricity has made it very difficult for students to work in hot conditions or teachers to provide a proper learning environment for classes.

With the grant’s funding, the garden will now have electric lines and running water by the spring of 2015. The grant not only allows for a dramatic increase in crops yielded, but it will also help convert the garden into a functional outdoor classroom.

The grant funding will also provide for the building of a new greenhouse, which will feature hanging gardens.

Additionally, the college plans to pave a driveway to the garden to improve vehicle accessibility and hopefully provide handicap access for the neighboring senior center.

“My hope is that [students] will know we exist,” said Krista Clark, associate biology professor at UC Clermont.

“Hopefully, the grant and all of the changes will attract people from the PROVIDED

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UC Clermont received a $9,000 grant to improve its Community Garden, which will allow for professors to convert the garden into a functional outdoor classroom for students.

Charges dropped AFROFUTURISM ILLUMINATES PAST against UC student for taunting tweet

LITERARY, ARTISTIC, CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF ETHNIC MINORITIES

JAMES DOLLARD | CONTRIBUTOR

Dr. Reynaldo Anderson gives his presentation on Afrofuturism to UC students and falculty in the Taft Research Center Thursday.

CASSIE LIPP | CHIEF REPORTER

University of Cincinnati students gathered in Taft Research Center Thursday to learn about the fusion of art, science and Africana studies and to gain a glimpse into the future during a lecture presented

by Reynaldo Anderson.

The lecture, titled “Afrofuturism: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Africana Studies,” traced the roots of Afrofuturism back to ancient Egypt, followed its development through 19th century Europe to today and looked at what the future, or “Afrofurturism 3.0,” might look like.

Afrofuturism is a literary, artistic and cultural trend that combines elements of science fiction and fantasy with new technology to analyze and critique the historical and present day dilemmas of ethnic minorities.

Anderson, a humanities professor at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, Missouri, said Afrofuturism relates to students because it is based on the idea of holistic learning.

“I think it’s all about designing your own future,” Anderson said. “It’s about breaking out of your intellectual silo. What I mean is, if I’m in anthropology I need to know something about sociology and science and communications to be a more effective scholar. I can’t just be in a silo of anthropology and think that my silo alone is enough to explain how the world works.”

Anderson, scientists and intellectuals such as Carl Jung and Isaac Newton used artistic elements to animate their own scientific advancement. Prominent figures in the Harlem Renaissance, such as Melvin Tolson, George Schuyler and Aaron Douglass, were also involved in fusing modernism with esoteric activities.

“You have black scholars and intellectuals at the time looking at this relationship between science fiction and modernism, because they wanted to try and find a way to take a people — as [W.E.B.] Du Bois talked about — that is fresh out of slavery and accelerate their development into an industrial society and modernity,” Anderson said during his

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lecture.

Anderson said the behavior and activities of Afrofuturism can be traced back to six events after World War II: the emergence of computers, the space age, atomic energy, transistors, international finance and global freedom movements.

During this time, young people started experimenting with the idea of how black artists could culturally and scientifically adapt and create their own networks to prosper after the war and the decline of the inner city in America.

“One of the things I argue is contemporary Afrofuturism really has its roots in North America,” Anderson said.

Afrofuturism emerged as an avant-garde movement in relation to imperialism and barbarism that was done to people of color at the turn of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Anderson said. In his opinion, contemporary futurism can be somewhat all over the place.

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Charges against a University of Cincinnati student resulting from a threatening tweet were dropped Wednesday, raising questions about monitoring social media and gauging its significance.

On Nov. 10 a Twitter account associated with student Phillip A. Gallegos, 19, tweeted at the UC athletic department’s official account — @GoBearcats — and Cincinnati police — @CincinnatiPD — claiming, “I have a gun in my dorm room at #Stratford ... I just hid all of it so good luck finding it [expletive].”

After searching Gallegos’ on-campus dorm, authorities found a small amount of marijuana, but no gun.

Gallegos was arrested for one charge of inducing panic and two drug possession charges, according to Hamilton County court documents. But all charges against Gallegos were dropped Wednesday.

The case is representative of a growing trend in which authorities monitor social media for a variety of purposes, ranging from data mining and collection, all the way to recognizing what can be interpreted as public threats, as in the case of Gallegos.

Theresa Roth, a second-year athletic training student, said she thinks that while most of these threats are wild goose-chases, they should be taken seriously.

“A student has a gun in his dorm, and you live in that dorm — that’s very frightening,” Roth said.

A manual titled “Social Media and Tactical Considerations For Law Enforcement” and published by Community Oriented Policing Services, an office of the Department of Justice, outlined the rising significance of social media, providing various suggestions on using the public forum as an investigative tool in ways “such as gathering information about threats of mob violence, or isolated criminal activity during otherwise-lawful mass demonstrations.”

The manual goes on to list off different applications of social media, including evidence collection, location monitoring (most social media platforms record location with postings if enabled) and a process called “Criminal Network Identification,” which is a practice where law enforcement gathers data to a point of recognizing hobbies, leisure activities, locations frequented and even inner SEE TWEET PG 3

Fraternity undergoes $2M renovation, house hosts classes for UC students ELYSSE WINGET | STAFF REPORTER

MADISON SCHMIDT | PHOTO EDITOR

The university’s Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house located on Joselin Avenue recently reopened its doors to the public after undergoing a $2 million renovation.

A University of Cincinnati fraternity has recently undergone a $2 milliondollar expansion and renovation that makes it possible for the house to host classes and philanthropic events.

The doors of the Ohio Theta chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon located on Joselin Avenue have been reopened to the public after a summer and fall full of construction.

Nick Wagner, a fourth-year operations management student and current president of the chapter, said the need for an expansion and renovation was first brought to his attention during his freshman year.

Ray Medina, president of the alumni volunteer council and chapter alumni, said it was a six-year project in the making.

Dean Lutton, an architect at Reztark Design Studio and chapter alum who helped design the house, claims the design was a collaborative effort between the undergraduates and the alumni.

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“It was important that the undergraduates had a sense of ownership,” Lutton said.

Jarrett Frauhiger, a fourth-year operations management student and active member of the chapter, was able to contribute to the process.

“I did renderings and blueprints with the architects and helped out with the design phase,” Frauhiger said.

Medina said before the renovation, the house lacked adequate space for necessary fraternity activities.

“We couldn’t even fit all of our members in the chapter room anymore,” Medina said.

The house, which initially held 35 men at maximum capacity, can now have up to 49 living in it with 17 single bedrooms, a two-story entryway, a chapter room that provides space for social and philanthropy events, a residential learning space, a library facility equipped with computers and a three-car garage.

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MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2015 / NEWSRECORD.ORG

Wellness Center promotes safe off-campus partying FERNANDA CRESCENTE | COLLEGE LIFE EDITOR

Red solo cups, wristbands and Koozies are just a few of the items distributed by the University of Cincinnati’s Student Wellness Center to help students throw safe offcampus parties.

“We were hoping to create a party pack to teach students not only how to drink smart and safely, but also how to have a safe and smart party,” said Morgan Cummins, a fifth-year sociology student and peer educator at the Student Wellness Center.

The party packs were created after the university received several complaints from Clifton residents about

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The Student Wellness Center party pack is free to students living off campus and includes various items for safe party habits.

gatherings outside of campus and students not cleaning up after themselves.

“Since we are such an urban neighborhood, and our students do live in communities where families and other people outside of the UC community live, I think it is important just to teach them and help them better understand that this isn’t just a college community, but there are other people living there as well,” Cummins said.

Although the packs are free, students must have an offcampus address to get them. The Student Wellness Center made that rule so they wouldn’t promote residence hall parties.

All of the contents of the party pack serve the purpose of helping students drink responsibly and keep parties safe. The red Solo cups, for instance, come along with a poster that indicates different types of alcohol and standard drink sizes.

“We advise students to put that in a place where students will be making their drinks or where the solo cups will be handed out — that way they can reference back to the poster,” Cummins said.

The party pack also includes taxi cards so party guests are not driving or walking while intoxicated, a delivery magnet that lists places that deliver late at night, condoms, Band-Aids, Ibuprofen, antibiotic ointments and customized Koozies with smart drinking tips.

“Another problem that we have been having is, since we are in such an urban neighborhood, a lot of people from the Cincinnati area coming into Clifton to party, so students not really knowing all of the people that are in their house at the party,” Cummins said.

The wristbands were specifically added to the pack in an attempt to solve this issue.

They can be used to indicate guests who are over 21, but also to identify outsiders and uninvited guests.

A “guide to a successful party” comes along with the other items. Students can read the booklet to learn more about alcohol poisoning, get useful emergency contacts and review important information on the Student Code

of Conduct and Cincinnati law.

The Student Wellness Center gives out around 100 party packs a semester, Cummins said.

The party packs are part of the Be Wise initiative, which aims to show incoming students the percentage of people who choose to drink versus those who simply stay sober.

The numbers are supposed to help students make their own personal decisions about alcohol consumption when coming to campus.

When questioned about the distribution of party packs to underage students, Jessica Lonzo, a health promotion and education graduate student and intern at the Student Wellness Center, explained they do not promote it, but want to provide students with the necessary resources and information to keep them safe in case they engage in this type of activity.

“Underage drinking is where students tend to have the most high-risk drinking because they are younger, and they haven’t had as much experience with alcohol,” Lonzo said. “So that’s when binge drinking seems to occur the most, so that’s why we think it’s even more important that they have the information about alcohol poisoning, emergency phone numbers, how to drink in a way that you are maybe not binge drinking.”

Lonzo also said the center will continue to provide party packs as long as they continue to get a MillerCoors grant that funds it. Any university can apply for this grant, and it is up to the receiver to determine how the money granted will be used, Lonzo explained.

After each semester, students who received party packs can evaluate the effectiveness of the contents and be entered to win a prize. Last year’s winner received a tailgating chair from the bookstore.

“As a peer educator, I know that our job is to educate our peers…” Cummins said.

“If they don’t choose to drink, that’s awesome, because it is a personal choice and a personal decision, but we are not here to judge those who do choose to drink. We are just here to help those who do choose to drink and teach them how to do it more smart and more safely.”

CECH event sponsors, displays students’ diverse findings WILL KENDRICK | STAFF REPORTER

A conference hosted Thursday by the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services (CECH) delved into a wide variety of topics ranging from utopianism in Ethiopia to the now-defunct Google Glass project.

Diversity Matters Research Day is an CECH event, organized by dean Lawrence Johnson and diversity board co-chairs LaTrice Montgomery and Josie EvanPhillips.

The conference featured graduate and undergraduate student presentations and a series of commissioned posters highlighting student research.

The conference opened with a series of introductory remarks by Montgomery and Johnson.

Johnson said that the CECH is a particularly diverse college at the University of Cincinnati because it contains a distinct range of students, faculty and majors.

Referring to the aspects that set CECH apart from the other colleges on campus, Lawrence explained that its students and faculty “focus on solving real-world problems here, not theory” — a sentiment that was carried on throughout the rest of the conference.

Four CECH students — Meskerem Debele, Melissa Dejonckere, Gina Gibbs and Marina Greben — gave short presentations outlining work done at the college. Topics included Ethiopian utopianism, transgender inmates in the U.S., and the Google Glass project.

The presentations were followed by numerous posters created by CECH students on a wide variety of subjects.

The posters were professionally printed and contained information on the discussed topics, graphics and pictures.

Teminijesu John Ige, a health promotion and education student, created a poster on the effects of female genital mutilation

Meskerem Debele gives a short presentation during CECH’s Diversity Matters Research Day regarding Ethiopian utopianism.

in Africa. Similar to other students that participated in the conference, Ige had compiled his research prior to the conference and was given a small grant from CECH to assemble the poster.

Other posters on display were as diverse as the conference itself, featuring subjects like female body image, social events and their effects on young children and the self-image of African-Americans.

Victoria Baah-Binery, a first-year

education student who attended the conference, said she found the whole experience fascinating.

“I had a few colleagues involved and wanted to see what the diversity conference could do,” Baah-Biney said.

“I wanted to see how we could come together and do something across the departments.”

The conference was held in conjunction with the anti-racism training seminar

DANIEL SULLIVAN | CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER

Training for Change, also to be held in the Teacher’s College this weekend.

Steve Kroger, an associate professor at CECH, is responsible for organizing the seminar.

“Many students and faculty who come here are from mono-cultural backgrounds, and they need to know how to handle and speak on these issues,” Kroger said. “Things like in Ferguson and the like — this is an important time.”

Bhakti Yoga Club’s teachings about love, soul rejuvenate students MICHELLE FLANAGAN | STAFF REPORTER

Since the formation of the Bhakti Yoga Club three years ago, the group has grown from a handful of members to a roomful of people.

The club was created to give University of Cincinnati students a place to get away from the stress of coursework, learn how to cope with problems and learn more about Indian culture.

Weekly meetings focus on understanding today’s application of ancient Indian scriptures. However, the group welcomes a wide variety of faiths, including Catholicism, Islam and Hinduism.

Originally from Mason, Ohio, Nayanabhiram Prabhu brought the club to campus. Although he now resides in Fort Meyers, Florida, he continues to lecture the group via Google Hangout video calls.

“The teachings from Prabhu can be applied to any religion, and can make a person better in their own faith,” said Karthic Vadambacheri Manian, a doctorate student in computer engineering who helps organize the meetings.

While most people think of yoga as specific body movements and deep breathing, that is only one aspect of it, the group explained. Bhakti, meaning devotion in Sanskrit, is a different facet of yoga.

“There are different rungs in yoga, like a ladder has different rungs,”Vadambacheri Manian said. “What most people do here is Hatha yoga — the different postures.

The highest rung on the ladder is Bhakti yoga.”

Hatha yoga was originally meant to help focus the mind on higher realities through postures and breathing, but over time, the concept of spirituality became lost

according to Vadambacheri Manian.

The club focuses on a different topic each week. Thursday’s meeting revolved around the idea of love and eternity of the soul.

The group’s practice began with Kirtan, a singing of the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra that petitions to the Lord to be engaged in his service.

The singing was a call-and-response, led by Vadambacheri Manian, who was keeping the beat with small hand cymbals. Throughout the Kirtan, members of the group clapped along.

Starting the meeting with Kirtan is a way to cleanse the heart and prepare it for the lecture on the Bhagavad Gita, Vadambacheri Manian said Focusing on one scripture verse at a time, Prabhu was able to explain the meaning and its application, answering questions along the way.

After being asked why the scripture was so complicated if it is supposed to be followed, Prahbu explained it is only complicated because of “mankind’s ignorance” not because it truly is.

“All the weapons in the world are made of fire, and even fire can’t destroy the soul,” Prahbu said.

After the lecture, members were given Japa mala beads, a strand of 108 beads used while chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra to help focus the mind on what the mantra is asking. The petition is repeated 108 times, once for every bead.

Vadambacheri Manian clarified that the chanting leads the heart to the same understanding and revelations it would receive from reading all the scripture.

Lastly, a homemade dinner called Prashada, the Indian word for mercy, was served. Members were then able to socialize and reconnect with one another before heading back into their routines.

Atulya Dher, a computer science master’s student, was attending for the first time with a few friends.

“When we come to sessions like this, where we may have some stress first, we can relax ourselves and have some nice peaceful meditation,” Dher said. “That really helped me to focus again on my schoolwork.”

Srikumar Conjeevaram Gopalakrishnan, a mechanical engineering doctoral student, had a similar experience three years ago when he joined the club.

The mantra meditations were able to

rejuvenate his interests and skills.

“The mantra meditation will change how you look at yourself and how you look at others,” Conjeevaram Gopalakrishnan said.

The Bhakti Yoga Club will be hosting a special event 4-6 p.m. Feb. 7 in Zimmer Auditorium.

The seminar, entitled “Turning on the Self Within,” will be presented by Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari, a teacher of Bhakti yoga. The event is open to all UC students and will include a free vegetarian dinner.

BREVIN COUCH | CONTRIBUTOR

Shobitha Basker, a fifth-year mechanical engineering student, and Nandita Subramanian, a third-year computer science student, read verses from the Bhagavad Gita.

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IN BRIEF

MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2015 / NEWSRECORD.ORG

Professor’s remains ID’d

Cafe shooting near campus

The Fleming County, Kentucky, coroner has verified that the buried remains found last October belong to University of Cincinnati adjunct professor Randall Russ, who had been reported missing by his family on Aug. 17, according to multiple local news outlets.

Russ, 56, taught basic computer classes at UC as well as Grant County High School.

Russ’ body was found last fall near a creek

by Ringo Grange City Road. His 2006 Ford Focus was found an hour from the site on Sept. 30, his keys still in the ignition.

Two men — Charles L. Black, 55, and Kevin Howard, 37 — have been charged with the Russ’ murder, but have pleaded not guilty. Black, who was also charged with kidnapping, tampering with evidence and auto theft, guided police to the burned remains, according to the arrest report.

Cincinnati police are investigating a late Friday night shooting that occurred inside Gypsy Café near the University of Cincinnati’s main campus.

A suspect entered the hookah bar on Calhoun Street just before midnight and shot two people in the leg, according to police.

The victims, who are not UC students, were taken to University Hospital and remain there. No update was available at press time.

Witnesses say the suspect — a black male, approximately 5 feet six inches tall with dreadlocks — was wearing cargo pants. Police said on Saturday that they are questioning a person of interest in connection to the shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040.

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MADISON SCHMIDT | PHOTO EDITOR

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Lutton also added that the house is accessible and strives to be inclusive of all individuals of different abilities.

Although the renovations dramatically improved the house’s physical appearance, the fraternity is more interested in the educational aspect of the renovation.

“Our facility is really something built for us to be a partner in higher learning and higher education,” said Logan Brooks, a fifth-year biomedical engineering student and former president of the chapter during the start of renovation.

“We have a whole wing now that’s dedicated to being a learning community,” Frauhiger said.

Starting this semester, the house will offer a class each semester to be taught within it for brothers of the chapter as well as other UC students who would like to take the class.

UC Clermont professor Jeffry Bauer is teaching macroeconomics at the house Tuesdays, Brooks said.

Students will receive three credit hours for taking the class.

The house not only aims to aid the education of UC students — it also offers students the opportunity to participate in social and philanthropic events, such as the fraternity’s annual Ginger Greek competition held every December and its stromboli sales throughout the year.

“We want to integrate everyone into one giant community,” Brooks said.

The fraternity has won the Premiere Chapter Award five out of the past six years.

“For the facility to be on par with what their actual performance is can only benefit them,” Lutton said.

MADISON SCHMIDT | PHOTO EDITOR

Two people were shot in the leg Friday at a cafe near UC’s Main Campus, according to UCPD.

circles of friends and family.

It is not yet clear how much weight evidence obtained through social media bare in court.

In the similar case of United States of America v.

Anthony Douglas Elonis, Elonis found himself under legal scrutiny after taking to social media to post statements and self-written hip-hop lyrics which depicted violent behavior toward his estranged wife.

The case attempted to address the question of whether a conviction of apparent threat requires proof that the “defendant subjectively intended his statements to be understood as threats.”

Jeremiah Greer, a first-year computer science student, said he believes that this wouldn’t be a problem if people were able to control themselves while they were online.

“It’s an interesting situation,” Greer said.

“Unfortunately, they kind of have to take those things seriously, even though a large part of them aren’t necessarily taken to be true, because most people don’t have a filter when they’re online.”

While precedent has yet to be set in these cases, it has become apparent that reckless postings to a public profile, with no regard to the legality of the content, can at least result in aroused suspicion, further investigation from local authorities, and possibly — such as the case of Gallegos — an issuance of criminal charges.

“The significant point is that law enforcement do take these threats seriously,” said Jeffery Blevins, head of the Department of Journalism and associate professor at UC. Blevins also noted the inherent risk of people putting themselves at the mercy of a legal proceeding.

“The problem is interpretations will vary,” Blevins said.

“It can be difficult to impart, and understand, context and nuance in 140 characters or less.”

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community and let them know we’re here.”

Up until now, the college’s biology students have primarily overseen the garden.

The college hopes the expansion of the garden and a new functional outdoor classroom will allow for more classes to use the garden and will raise community awareness, Clark said.

The electricity in the greenhouse will also allow the garden to be open year round, which will further increase the production of crops.

But the potential benefits of UC Clermont’s community garden surpass environmental goals and contributions.

“We have opportunities in this county to make a desirable work force,” said Warren Walker, district manager of community and government relations at Duke Energy. “We want to make industries say, ‘we want to come here because [Cincinnati] has a strong community.’”

The new renovations at the Community Garden will help supply more fresh crops to organizations in the Cincinnati area that need it the most.

“It sounds like it’s a good way to be sustainable,” said Logan Porter, a first-year engineering student. “I don’t know much about UC Clermont, but for the Cincinnati area, it sounds like what we need.”

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During his lecture Thursday, Anderson said Afrofuturism relates to students because it is based on the idea of holistic learning.

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Anderson said early Afrofuturism, or “Afrofuturism 1.0,” was more focused on science fiction. However, the trend is moving forward.

“Afrofuturism 2.0 is moving beyond this focus on literature and music in its genesis of North America and is now looking at trend analysis,”Anderson said.“Afrofuturism is now a trans-national movement amongst some artists and intellectuals right now.”

Anderson showed the group an example of contemporary Afrofuturism: “Starbound,” a transmedia project by the performance group CopperWire.

The future-themed hip-hop group funded the project through Kickstarter. Anderson said he is one of the many that donated to make the project possible.

“Starbound” combines music, a video game and a comic book to remix the group’s previous album “Earthbound.”

The project creates a unique experience for every listener, as it gives them the opportunity to influence the remix. For example, listeners can type in their own 140-character story, which generates a one-of-a-kind remix of the song “Stories.”

Anderson said it is projects like “Starbound” that are

progressing Afrofuturism. In an age where people are increasingly impacted by speed, Afrofuturism is moving toward the “3.0” stage.

When a student asked for Anderson’s idea of what “Afrofuturism 3.0” will look like, he said that he is interested in its application to military science.

In the United States, Afrofuturism is limited to artistic expression, but African nations are applying its themes to military science, Anderson said.

“The nest wave is going to come from the Caribbean and countries that are controlled by people of African descent,” Anderson said.“That’s where the 3.0 is going to come from.

It’s when all these things we learned as kids — fantasy and sci-fi — are going to be possible in 20 years.”

First-year pre-pharmacy students Andy Gebhart and Taylor Beck said their favorite part of the lecture was learning about “Starbound.”

“It’s changing from rap solely to a more holistic and authentic piece or idea, which actually makes sense,” Beck said.

“I thought it was neat how the video is up there and some people watch [your idea] on video,” Gebhart added.

4 / COLLEGE LIFE

MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2015 / NEWSRECORD.ORG

CCM-goers gorge on eclectic artistic performances

MADISON SCHMIDT | PHOTO EDITOR

The upbeat, calming tones of steel drums rang throughout Corbett Auditorium during CCM’s Moveable Feast fundraiser Friday evening. The event is an eclectic mix of artistic performances ranging from classical music to original ballet.

College presents annual Moveable Feast, featuring seven different tracks of unique music, dance, more CASSIE LIPP & MADISON SCHMIDT | THE NEWS RECORD

Crowds gathered dressed to impress in University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music Friday night to eat and be awed by a showcase of the college’s finest music and production programs during the annual Moveable Feast.

The event served as a fundraiser hosted by Friends of CCM, a group of volunteers that works to raise money that helps CCM students. The Feast featured 15 20-minute segments of arts and musical performances across eight venues, and proceeds raised will support scholarships for CCM students.

The evening kicked off at 7:30 p.m. with a jazz and musical theatre prelude in Corbett Auditorium.

Guests soon poured into the aisles to watch the jazz ensemble fill the crowd with energy and excitement as musical theater dancers pirouetted across the stage.

Shortly after, the evening split up into seven customized tracks guests could follow: Classical, which sampled the best of CCM’s classical music; Newbie, which gave those new to the Feast a taste of audience favorites; Theater, which spotlighted CCM’s fabulous stage productions; Party People, inspired by high-energy and interactive arts; Best Kept Secret, which uncovered some of CCM’s hidden treasures; Parent’s Sampler, or an inside look at the college’s programs and facilities; and Create Your Own, which allowed guests to create their own

adventure. This was the first year the Feast included these tracks.

CCM alum William Menefield played piano in the VIP room and talked about how the fundraiser is great because it mixes everything people enjoy.

“Think about it: you have all this different stuff going on all around CCM,” Menefield said. “You go to one room and you eat. You go to another room and eat some more.

Here’s also why it’s cool: It helps out the school.”

Within the theater track, the Patricia Corbett Theatre opened its doors to feature selections from “Simpatico” by Dmitri Shostakovich and “Appalachian Spring” by Aaron Copland, performed by CCM’s ballet dancers.

To reflect the piece’s original intent to illustrate the human battle of self-unity, the “Simpatico” dancers displayed a serene duet as they glided across the stage, incorporating fluid lifts and an air of conflict before the end of the piece.

“Appalachian Spring” soon followed with a lighter tone as flowing blue, purple and red skirts swirled in colorful flights. The piece vividly portrayed the love story of a husband and wife in a town of American pioneers in the 19th century with its own variation to Aaron Copland’s original composition.

While the story typically focuses on the love of the two characters and highlights life events including their marriage, daily life and newborn child, CCM choreographer Andre Megerdichian incorporated his own twist of a love triangle that adds depth and complexity to the ballet.

Following the sample pieces, audience members poured out of the theater in search of their next performance.

“People can move around and just see every single part of CCM and get every single part of the arts that we have here,” said David Goist, a third-year violin performance student.

Goist said his favorite part of Moveable Feast was the orchestra.

“It has the most art that was put in to it,” he said.

Halfway into the night, the CCM Steel Drum Band performed the ingenuity of CCM alum Eugene Novotney’s composition “Everything’s Alright.”

The stage was packed with over 20 steel drums and 17 performers rotated across each instrument, while each note pinged and echoed throughout the stage and invoked a delightful tropical ambience.

All tracks left guests and performers in high spirits with the conclusion and spectacular production of Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 5” performed by CCM’s Philharmonia Orchestra.

“If I can do something for the school from time to time, it’s always a double bonus,” Menefield said. “The school needs help, the students need help, so it’s kind of like a triple bonus: play, eat, help.”

MADISON SCHMIDT | PHOTO EDITOR

LEFT: The two lovers of the ‘Appalachian Spring’ performance express their feelings in dance. RIGHT: Musical theater dancers kicked off the night by performing alongside CCM’s jazz ensemble.

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SPORTS / 5 MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2015 / NEWSRECORD.ORG

Men’s basketball moves to 5-2 in American Athletic Conference JAELYNNE JOHNSON | SPORTS EDITOR

The University of Cincinnati men’s basketball team hosted the University of Houston Wednesday, Jan. 21, during which the Bearcats defeated the Cougars (7-11, 0-7 American Athletic Conference) 67-54.

Cincinnati won both meetings last season against Houston with a 61-60 win at Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston Jan. 7 and a 73-62 victory at Fifth Third Arena Feb. 15. The Bearcats lead the overall series against the Cougars 24-1, including a 12-0 winning streak at home.

Going into the contest, Houston suffered a loss at home on Saturday against Tulane University 68-65.

Danrad Knowles scored for the Cougars, while Devonta Pollard added 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

The Bearcats are 10-1 at home so far this season with their only loss coming to VCU, 68-47, on Dec. 20, which was also the first game head coach Mick Cronin was advised to refrain from coaching due to a diagnosis of arterial dissection.

UC associate head coach Larry Davis has led the

DANIEL SULLIVAN | CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER

Jermaine Sanders takes a hard step back from defenders LeRon Barnes (right) and Danrad Knowles (left).

Bearcats to a 5-3 mark in Cronin’s absence.

Head coach Kelvin Sampson is in his first season with the Cougars after working as an assistant coach in the NBA since 2008; he coached the Houston Rockets (20112014) and Milwaukee Bucks (2008-2011). He entered his season with 500 career wins in 25 years at the collegiate level after previous stops at Indiana, Oklahoma, Washington State and Montana Tech.

Cincinnati struggled in the first half before getting into a groove in the second half. UC outscored Houston, 4326, in the second half after trailing by four at the half.

“During warmups we were kind of down,” said sophomore point guard Troy Caupain. “The coaches kept saying we’ve got to make our own energy. In the first half we were just a little slow and sluggish. But in the second half, all the coaches came in with the rah-rah and kind of got us going. We came out and we kind of locked in together as a team and just grew as the game went on.”

Caupain led the Bearcats with 13 points, six assists and three steals. Behind Caupain was teammate Octavius Ellis, who finished with 11 points, two assists and one block.

After returning from half time, sophomore guard Kevin Johnson landed a 3-point shot followed by a dunk from Gary Clark, which quickly obliterated the four-point halftime difference.

After a 3-point play by Ellis and a basket by Shaq Thomas, the Bearcats were ahead by nine points.

Cincinnati never looked back and took over the game with a 13-0 run in a five-minute time span in the closing minutes of the second half.

UC outscored Houston 31-15, and the Bearcats made 16 of 17 free throws, but were out-rebounded 26-21 by the Cougars. They also put up 14 offensive boards, according to the static sheets.

Cincinnati pulled away with another conference win on the road against the University of Central Florida Knights (9-10, 2-6 American Athletic Conference) Sunday afternoon. This win improved the Bearcats’ overall record to 14-5, 5-2 in the American Athletic Conference.

The Bearcats return home to Fifth Third Arena Thursday, where they hope to retaliate an earlier loss to conference rival University of Connecticut. Tipoff time is set for 8 p.m. After that contest, the Bearcats play at East Carolina University Feb. 1 and at Southern Methodist University Feb. 5.

DANIEL SULLIVAN | CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER

Troy Caupain drops in a dunk after a turnover from the University of Houston on Jan. 21.

Track and field teams perform career bests Women’s basketball JAELYNNE JOHNSON | SPORTS EDITOR

The University of Cincinnati track and field programs returned to Bloomington, Indiana, this weekend where they competed at the two-day Gladstein Invitational meet.

The Bearcats are coming off of an impressive showing from the Kentucky Invitational on Jan. 16-17 with 19 career-best marks and 12 top-five finishes.

Junior Erika Hurd was the only Cincinnati athlete who took away an individual title as she won the high jump event by clearing 5 feet 11.25 inches.

The Bearcats also received second place finishes from senior Je’Rica Sanders in the women’s 60-meter hurdles and freshman Adrian Valles in the men’s pole vault and Sergio Acera Villanueva in the men’s long jump.

On day one of the Gladstein Invitational, Cincinnati posted 18 career-best performances.

Starting the list is senior Frida Akerstorm, who broke her own school record in the shot put with a chuck of 51 feet 6.5 inches. This mark is almost a foot better than her previous throw and garnered her a first-place position.

Following Akerstorm were teammates Mekayla Breland, who threw a career best of 49 feet 9 inches to earn second in the event, and Annette Echikunwoke and Leah Heckaman, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with personal best throws of 46 feet five inches and 46 feet .03 inches.

Those throws placed Echikunwoke and Heckaman fifth and sixth in the UC track and field history books.

Adding to the top performances in the field events were Bearcats Rebecka Abrahamsson, Erika Hurd and Ashleigh Pickens. Abrahamsson, a freshman of Karlshamn, Sweden, won the triple jump with a spring of 40 feet 4.75 inches. Hurd suffered her first defeat in the high jump and took second place with a clearance of 5 feet 10.5 inches, and Pickens had an all-time best of 5 feet 6.5 inches.

The Bearcats did not fail on the track, either.

Red shirt freshman distance runner Toby Loveridge ran the men’s 3,000-meter run in a time of 8:20.35 and placed sixth overall.

In the 400-meter dash, Kenya Woodall and Kevin Konkoly showed up for the women’s and men’s teams. Woodall won the event as she crossed the line at 54.58 seconds, and Konkoly was the second-place finisher with a time of 49.35 seconds.

In the men’s 60-meter dash, sophomore Tevin LloydThompson of Harbourview, Jamaica, and Villanueva both qualified for the finals. Lloyd-Thompson and Villanueva entered the finals with the third and fifth fastest times.

On the women’s side, Kellsa Mbah of West Chester snuck into the finals with an eighth-place time of 7.83 seconds.

Senior Bearcat Je’Rica Sanders took first in the prelims of the women’s 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.51 seconds and was joined by teammate Javette Lee, who qualified with the fourth-fastest time of 8.79 seconds.

Bryan Cain was the only male Cincinnati athlete to qualify for the finals by taking third place in the prelims with a time of 8.07 seconds.

Day two of the Gladstein Invitational began at 10 a.m.

Saturday where the impressive performances continued for the Bearcats.

Freshman Alex Bloom completed his two-day heptathlon competition and claimed third place overall. The Seymour, Wisconsin, native achieved a collegiate-best mark in the high jump of 6 feet 8.25 inches which helped him reach 4,693 total points.

Men’s shot put thrower Macklin Tudor garnered Cincinnati’s lone first-place finish of the day with a throw of 57-feet even in the event, while Monica Phillips took second in the weight throw with a career-best toss of 59 feet 8.25 inches for the women.

Finishing out with good performances in the field events were Cincinnati native Tariq Sanders in the long jump with a leap of 22 feet 3 inches, which earned him third place, and Jordan Hardiman, who finished fifth with a jump of 6 feet 7.5 inches.

Lloyd-Thompson returned to the finals and earned second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.06 seconds, while Villanueva came in fifth with a time of 7.11 seconds.

In the 60-meter hurdles, Sanders ended up finishing third overall with a time of 8.68 seconds. Lee finished seventh with a time of 8.90 seconds.

Cain earned a third-place position in a time of 8.08 seconds and Kelvin Williams finished sixth with a career best time of 8.45 seconds.

Cincinnati now looks ahead to the two-day Armory Track Invitational in New York City on Jan. 30 and 31. The meet is held annually and is considered to be one of the nation’s top indoor meets of the year.

PROVIDED

Tariq Sanders prepares for long jump event at the two-day Gladstein Invitational meet in Bloomington, Indiana.

suffers home defeat

Bearcats’ lack of ball control contributes to one of biggest losses of season, drops team to 5-14 overall JAELYNNE JOHNSON | SPORTS EDITOR

The University of Cincinnati women’s basketball team lost a 96-31 verdict to No. 2 University of Connecticut Sunday afternoon at Fifth Third Arena. The loss dropped the Bearcats to a 5-14 overall record and 2-6 in the American Athletic Conference. The Huskies improved to 18-1 and remain in the top seed of the AAC. Sunday’s matchup was the 12th in the series between the Bearcats and Huskies, with UConn holding an 11-0 record.

The two teams have played every year since the 2006 season when both schools were members of the Big East Conference.

Head coach Jamelle Elliott is a former student-athlete and assistant coach at UConn.

Elliott spent two decades with the Connecticut women’s basketball program. She has been a part of six national championships, including the Huskies’ 2009 undefeated championship run, won a title as a player and also helped UConn win its first championship in 1995.

She also helped guide UConn to a 402-36 record in her 12 years as an assistant coach, leading the team to seven NCAA Final Four appearances in that time frame.

The Huskies displayed their talents early by starting with a 22-0 run in the first half. Five of UConn’s players were in double figures, led by Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Breanna Stewart, who had 19 points each.

Husky Kiah Stokes followed her teammates by finishing the game with four points, snatching 14 rebounds and had three blocks.

Bearcat Marley Hill finished the game with 10 points, grabbed five rebounds, two assists and two blocks. This marked Hill’s 14th game this season and 17th of her career with double-digit points.

Following Hill are freshman teammates Ana Owens, who scored eight points and five rebounds, and Makenzie Cann, who finished 2-of-6 from the three-point line against the Huskies. This marks the 15th time this season she has landed at least one three pointer and is her eighth game this year with numerous three-point shots.

Cincinnati could not seem to control the ball throughout the match which led to the Huskies out-rebounding the Bearcats, 49-25. UConn scored 44 points inside the paint and 23 points off of the turnovers that were committed by Cincinnati.

The Bearcats return to action at home in Fifth Third Arena where they will host another conference match against the University of Memphis. Tipoff time is set for 7 p.m.

UC swimming and diving programs wrap up two-meet weekend JAELYNNE JOHNSON | SPORTS EDITOR

The University of Cincinnati swimming and diving program is headed into its final stretch of the regular season after the men’s and women’s teams wrapped up two meets this weekend.

On Friday night, UC traveled to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where five Bearcats took first place in their respective events, but the overall teams could not obtain success. The men’s team lost to the Rolling Tide 201-94, and the women fell short 189-103.

Sophomore Jackie Keire of Burlington, Ontario, grabbed first place in two of her three events during the meet. She finished in second place behind Alabama’s Bailey Scott in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.48 seconds, breaking her seven individual victories. Scott finished with a time of 23.36 seconds.

Keire won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:50.61 and the 100 freestyle with a time of 51.42 seconds.

Freshman Bearcat Sara Wanasek of Burlington, Wisconsin, and Chris Bready of Missouri City, Texas, took first place in the 1,000 freestyle. Wanasek finished with a time of 10:29.47 and Bready touched the wall with a time of 9:21.48. Behind

Wanasek was teammate Taylor Myszka who had a time of 10:32.07 and behind Bready was Brian Westlake of Alabama with a time of 9:32.37.

The Bearcats had a quick turnaround after the meet in Alabama and headed up north to face Western Kentucky University on Saturday in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where they got similar results as both teams fell to the Hilltoppers.

UC men lost 183-115 and the women 199-92.

Keire touched the wall first in a close race with a time of 1:50.00 in the 200 freestyle, just ahead of WKU’s Michelle Craddock, who had a time of 1:50.24.

Keire took second place in the 100 freestyle, just .02 seconds behind Craddock with a time of 50.92 seconds — another close race. Both women finished ahead of the pool record of 51.09 seconds. Keire also earned second place points in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:04.49. Susan Marquess took first with a time of 4:59.08.

Bready took first place in the 1,000 freestyle again with a time of 9:27.36, just ahead of the Hilltoppers’ Loui Little who finished in 9:28.92. Bready also swam to a second-place finish in the 500 freestyle, clocking in at 4:40.99.

Freshman Ryan DePietro of Lancaster,

Ohio, grabbed first place in the 200 butterfly. DePietro clocked in at 1:51.47 to win by three seconds over WKU’s Luca De Brito, who finished in 1:54.29.

DePietro also garnered third place points in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:54.66, and a second place finish in the 200 individual medley, finishing with a time of 1:54.31.

The Bearcats saw top diving performances with three second-place finishes.

Cincinnati native Jimmy McMahon placed second on the men’s three-meter

board with a score of 266.62. Michael Arnold was second on the one-meter board, scoring 221.92.

For the women’s side, Kaitlyn Woods placed second on the one meter with a score of 140.62.

UC returns to the Keating Aquatics Center for its final regular season meet on Friday, Jan. 30, where the teams host Kentucky. The teams will also honor all of its seniors in the home finale.

The American Athletic Conference Championships will be held Feb. 18-21 in Greensboro, North Carolina.

PROVIDED

University of Cincinnati men’s swimming and diving team competes against Western Kentucky University on Saturday, Jan. 24.

6 / ARTS

MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2015 / NEWSRECORD.ORG

Belle & Sebastian’s bookish excursion into modern pop CHRIS STROHOFER | CONTRIBUTOR

PROVIDED

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is a part of Know Theatre’s seasonal theme ‘Adaptations.’ The play’s ravaged set is reminiscent of a bomb shelter or a prison cell.

Theater Review: ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Solo performance at Know Theatre captures haunting themes of novel ZACK HATFIELD | ARTS EDITOR

The idea is ambitious. Adapting Margaret Atwood’s classic novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” for the stage is its own endeavor, but making it a solo performance, like the Know Theatre has done, brings its own array of theatrical hurtles and narration complications.

That being said, Corinne Mohlenhoff, who plays protagonist Offred, and director Brian Isaac Phillips pull it off.

For those who know nothing about Atwood’s speculative fiction opus, here goes. Set in a theocratical dystopia, selected women are used for breeding purposes in order to sustain humanity in a world doomed by the problems pollution and STDs have rendered.

There are feminist conflicts, vengeful rebels, traumatic memories, overthrown governments and kinky Scrabble games.

Atwood’s novel was published in 1985, but its relevance hasn’t waned at all; sometimes the mistrustful atmosphere can seem eerily similar to the direction our own world is heading.

Offred is given the task of enumerating her account of the horrors she’s experienced in this society through what she calls her “reconstruction.” Mohlenhoff not only creates a fully realized character full of grief and vulnerability, but frequently and skillfully quotes dialogue

from other characters, making it feel like there’s an entire cast with her in the play.

Cincinnati playwright Joe Stollenwerk’s script stays close to its source text, in this case a positive thing (if certain plot points were left out from Atwood’s novel, the audience would doubtlessly feel their phantom limbs).

What makes the concept of a solo performance so compelling is, of course, its biggest risk: one person alone on the stage for the entire duration.

And with an adapted novel, acting out what are exciting scenes in the book can easily drift into boring exposition onstage.

But Mohlenhoff is a perceptive actress, attuned to the tensions and nuances of emotional range necessary to carry the weight of Atwood’s story right through to its vertiginous crescendo.

Andrew Hungerford’s set is a modestly furnished cell — there’s a bed, a lamp, and a chair, and that’s about it.

It’s economical, but captures the hopeless mood of captivity effectively.

Hungerford’s artful use of lighting, which dramatically shifts between a subterranean florescence and something akin to sunlight, creates a tonal dissonance vital to understanding the complex psyche of Mohlenhoff’s role.

The lighting also creates spatial textures that make sure we never tire of the set, which doesn’t change during the performance.

Offred’s crimson dress, designed

by Noelle Wedig, is a visual marvel, encapsulating the appropriate shades of

paranoia and violence.

At almost three hours including the intermission, you definitely get everything the story has to offer, and there are plenty of new experiences even for those who have read the book.

The play unravels with suspense, even though at rare times one could feel the need for Mohlenhoff to take her emotions to the next level and evacuate her comfort zone.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” meditates on a large quantity of things, perhaps most importantly the need to tell your own story and who needs to hear it.

As Offred says in the play with a semblance of doubt that makes us unsure whether to believe her or not, “There’s always someone else. Even when there is no one.”

“The Handmaid’s Tale” plays through Feb. 21 at the Know Theatre in Over-the-Rhine.

Other Literary Adaptations Onstage Year of Magical Thinking @ College Hill Town Hall, 1/30-2/28 Little Women @ Cincy Shakespeare Company, 2/20-3/21

The highly anticipated album from indiepop veterans Belle & Sebastian, “Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance,” begins with the appropriate lines, “Lying on my bed I was reading French/with the light too bright for my senses.”

In the expansive Belle & Sebastian catalogue, one could easily get the impression that a setting more energetic than a bookshop would certainly overwhelm the gentle demeanor exuded by the quiet whispers of frontman Stuart Murdoch. The band has cultivated a thriving 20-year career on its easily discernible brand of quiet, unassuming chamber pop.

However, a handful of songs on “Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance” find the band setting down its acoustic guitars in favor of heavy synths and a dance beat.

Longtime fans will be happy to hear the band hasn’t abandoned the distinguished strengths of past releases. The majority of the album displays Murdoch’s famously clever lyricism that encourages listeners to eavesdrop carefully at which lines will be softly whispered next.

Standout track “Allie” paints a wonderfully worded character portrait of someone torn by the direction her life is heading while “Nobody’s Empire” details Murdoch’s recovery from chronic fatigue syndrome — an illness that put him in isolation for seven years — in a characteristically upbeat and charming way.

These songs allow the clever wordplay to be the leading man and the music accommodates the feelings expertly.

But on a handful of tracks like “Enter Sylvia Plath” and “Perfect Couples,” Belle & Sebastian rely on heavy synths to drive the song. It’s certainly an unexpected shift from a band that’s token sound is as consistent as its softly tinted album covers of the last 20 years. The synths seem to dominate the song often, leaving the band’s historic strengths lost to the loudness of the music and the rhythm of a drum machine.

These musical shifts aren’t particularly interesting in and of themselves and come off as jarring, especially after settling into the lavish string arrangements, jangly guitars and gentle coos that are the band’s staple. The heavy dance music featured on this record seems more like an unwelcomed interruption and distraction than a complementing feature.

“Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance” represents another strong record in the band’s impressive catalogue.

You’ll find plenty of clever and softspoken lyricism with orchestration that is at once gorgeous and catchy. However, the record occasionally does feel like a reluctant foray into modern indie-pop with its bright synths and heavy bass while clenching tightly to endearing and familiar affectations.

Despite the shift, it seems Belle & Sebastian is still at its strongest, soundtracking your lazy Sunday morning rather than your Saturday night out.

WARNER BROS.

Joaquin Phoenix plays a P.I. whose pot-fueled adventures through the underbelly of California make up ‘Inherent Vice.’ This is Phoenix’s second collaboration with Anderson after 2012’s ‘The Master.’

‘Inherent Vice’ frames chaotic ’70s culture with vivid simplicity Paul Thomas Anderson adapts first Pynchon novel to screen with precision MONROE TROMBLY | STAFF REPORTER

Gordita Beach, California, 1970. The ’60s have come and gone and the people have transitioned to a new decade, some with new lifestyles, habits and ideas, as some still cling to the scraps and shreds of the past era, the last remnants of what is often characterized as “the hippie dream.”

This is where we meet Doc, the main character of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Inherent Vice. Larry “Doc” Sportello is played by Joaquin Phoenix, who serves as Anderson’s lead once again following 2012’s brilliant “The Master.”

Phoenix again delivers a performance that is exceptionally talented and cryptic. He has such deft in playing the wackos, weirdos and people at the fringes of mainstream society that it’s often difficult to guess just how he lives when he’s not acting.

Doc is paid a visit by his ex-old lady, Shasta Fay Hepworth, brought to the screen by Katherine Waterston. She sorrowfully tells Doc that she might be in some trouble involving the man she’s currently seeing: real-estate mogul Mickey Wolfmann.

Sloane Wolfmann, Mickey’s wife, and the guy Sloane is seeing on the side, Riggs Warbling, want Shasta’s help in screwing Mickey over and admitting him to a mental hospital.

What seems like a classic screw-over caper by the cheating wife in revenge for Mickey’s infidelity evolves into a story

that is singular unto Gordita Beach, Los Angeles, and the people that inhabited it in late 1969-1970.

“Inherent Vice” is an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel of the same name.

Although Gordita Beach is a fictional place in both the book and movie, both mediums succeed in capturing the specific mood, feel and overall overarching vibe of southern California on the cusp of change.

Within this place, we witness an extremely complex tale of murder, kidnapping, Aryan Brotherhoods, Black Panthers, Indo-Chinese drug cartels, drug syndicates posing as spiritual rehabilitation institutes, 1970s LAPD &

encountering individuals who all have quirks and idiosyncrasies of their own, hippie or not.

It’s a complicated plot to say the least, but Anderson likes the simple shots — shots that aren’t all that hard to figure out, but are sublime in their simple intricateness.

Anderson shot “Inherent Vice” in an immaculately planned way, with most of his scenes shot in one frame, and a slow zoom in on the characters.

Simple close-ups of characters’ faces are employed in scenes of coffee bars, and the camera is steady and still on Doc whenever he drives the sunny streets of Gordita Beach and the surroundings.

While these single, one-frame shots

Both mediums succeed in capturing the specific overarching vibe of southern California on the cusp of change.

FBI, junkies and the unlikely “friendship” between a cop and an independent private investigator.

As always with Anderson’s movies, there is a perfect synchronization of the music and what’s on the screen.

Composed by Johnny Greenwood (Radiohead’s guitarist and frequent collaborator with Anderson), the score includes his compositions in tandem with songs from the ’60s and ’70s from artists such as Can, Minnie Riperton, Neil Young and Kyu Sakamoto.

Smoke from a cigarette or joint fills up much space on the screen, as Doc stumbles from place to place,

may seem overly rudimentary and plain boring on the surface, they push the emphasis of the film onto the dialogue spoken, the characterization of each person, their facial expressions and body language, which capture the specific mood of each scene.

Anderson lets these moods speak for themselves, creating a realistic depiction of a long-gone, not all together fictional dreamland of Gordita Beach, and all of the hopes, promises and wishes that were held by the people who lived there.

The pairing of these compositions with Jonny Greenwood’s score is lastly joined by narration of Pynchon’s prose by both

witness and actual character, Sortilège, played by Joanna Newsom.

The prose, while tricky to fully understand in both the book and movie, is less intricate in the movie, as there is less elaboration of each character’s backstory and Doc’s thought process is told instead through Phoenix’s acting.

There’s a lot packed into “Inherent Vice” — it’s not just the tale of a counterculture, renegade hippie P.I. stumbling across crime, foul play and vice while all the while his pot-smoking fueled intuition leads him to all the right places. “Inherent Vice” is a story that tries to capture and explain all of the moods and feelings felt in a specific time and place — how people were especially driven to drugs — smack, dope, coke and whatever it was in that exact milieu — why people felt the need to become more materialistic than they were in the ’60s, why America was becoming much more of a divided and split country and how and why exactly the “hippie dream” died.

The title, “Inherent Vice,” refers to the unavoidable, the unforeseen thing that can’t be predicted or anticipated. It refers to something that will ultimately happen more often than not for the worse because of some intrinsic defect or flaw, and the only way to predict it will happen is to expect that something will naturally go sour.

It’s not that the characters refuse to move on to a new time, it’s just that there are those of us who are slower than others to alter themselves just to fit the mold of the future.

Thus, an inherent vice is something that’s in everyone and everything — it’s not going anywhere, and it’s here to stay.