Volume72 issue2

Daft Punk wins big at Grammys

P. 7

P. 8

Faculty Spotlight: Karin Jaffe

Cheerleading heads to Nationals

P. 11

Sonoma State Star

SINCE 1979

VOLUME 72 // ISSUE 2

SONOMASTATESTAR.COM

JANUARY 28 - FEBRUARY 3, 2014

Administration considers success fee University officials seek student input, opinions Katie McDonagh & Kayla Galloway Editor-in-Chief & Asst. News Editor

P

STAR // Connor Gibson President Ruben Armiñana visited the STAR to discuss various issues, including the possible fee.

rovost Andrew Rogerson and President Ruben Armiñana are heading ongoing university-wide discussions to explore the introduction of an Academic Success fee, which could be implemented as early as fall 2014.

The fee would be classified as a Category II, campusbased mandatory fee and would only be used for academic purposes such as increasing class availability, improving both academic and career advising, and introducing scholarship opportunities. Rogerson said class availability measures, such as hiring more faculty and opening more class sections for bottleneck courses, is his topmost priority.

Though both Rogerson and Armiñana insist the fee is not set in stone and is contingent on university discussions, both have used an estimate of $250 a semester – or $500 a year – as a placeholder. According to Rogerson, this would amount to $4.2 million extra a year to go toward academics.

“More students should graduate between four to five years,” said Rogerson, adding that the fee would guarantee a reduction of the time it takes to graduate. “Although $2,000 extra sounds like a lot for students, [they] are going to save money compared to the $18,000 [they] spend staying an extra year at Sonoma State.”

This potential fee increase comes off the heels of Governor Jerry Brown’s budget proposal for the 2014-15 fiscal year. His budget provides $2.47 billion for the California State University, a 6.3 percent increase from last year. It also promises no visible tuition increases. But it fell short of the $2.6 billion the CSU had requested in November.

“The CSU is unable, from a funding perspective, to provide enough classes for [students],” said Armiñana. “And I don’t see that changing in the next couple of years.”

Armiñana told the STAR he did not believe the fee would drive out cultural diversity, calling the theory “an empty argument” that “has never proven to be true.”

“If a small change [in tuition] gives you the number and

type of classes needed to graduate in four years or so and saves you another semester or year, the savings to the student would be about $17,000 a year or more,” he said. “That would be an incentive for all the students, including those from diverse backgrounds, to attend SSU. We might even become more attractive to all students who want to move on with their careers.”

However, Susan Gutierrez, director of Financial Aid at Sonoma State, said the fee increase would not be covered by student loans alone.

“We don’t have other programs that would step in to cover that fee,” said Gutierrez. “Because the loans that are available to students in their own name only cover the cost of a CSU education ($5,472 for full-time undergraduates), the maximum amount a student could take for an academic year would not increase.”

She did say that parents with PLUS loans – loans meant to cover education expenses up to the cost of attendance minus all other financial assistance – would be eligible to take out more money, since mandatory campus-based fees are considered when Financial Aid sets a maximum loan amount for parents.

Rogerson acknowledged the lack of financial aid coverage for students unable to utilize parent PLUS loans as a disadvantage of the fee.

“This will be painful to some students,” he told the Associated Students Senate last Friday. “It will hurt some students more than others. But if they’re getting out with a faster degree, [one] could argue it offsets [that extra cost].”

Rogerson said he has had multiple discussions about the fee with students and faculty since November 2013. He hopes to host on-campus discussions, such as town hall meetings, to get as much student input as possible.

“Associated Students is thinking about how to engage students in this conversation,” said Director of Associated Students Erik Dickson. The Associated Students will devote time to discuss the subject at their next open meeting this Friday.

Under California State University Executive Order 1054, there are two ways in which Armiñana, with the help of the Campus Fee Advisory Committee, may implement this fee. The preferred See FEE Pg. 5

University appoints first Director of Sustainability

STAR // Evan Croker Theatre Arts Professor Paul Draper was given the post after his successful production of “Water Works” last year.

Kory Arnold Staff Writer

S

onoma State has taken a step toward preserving the natural resources of life that some may take for granted. On Jan. 14, Sonoma State named Paul Draper the very first Director of Sustainability.

Draper, who currently is a professor of theatre arts at Sonoma State and previously served

as chair for the department, was offered the two-year assignment after his successful set of productions known as “Water Works.” The productions promoted water sustainability as well as alternatives on how not to waste water during everyday uses. Draper will also serve as chair to the newly created Sustainability Executive Committee, which was approved by President Ruben Armiñana last spring.

The key messages of the productions were dispersed throughout campus and promoted more awareness from students as well as faculty on the matter of sustaining natural resources.

“Sustainability was established formally as an overarching goal of SSU’s strategic plan several years ago, but we did not have a formal administrative structure to push us forward,” said Director of SSU Preserves and Coordinator of the WATERS Collaborative Claudia Luke.

With the new Sustainability Executive Committee guided by Draper, we have a leader and a group of people that can think strategically about how to highlight the issues of sustainability,” said Luke. “We can begin to assist students as well as faculty who are interested starting new initiatives or projects, and create an environment pursuing sustainability solutions.”

Luke also creates ways to engage faculty and students to get involved in regional See SUSTAINABILITY Pg. 4

STAR // Cara Fuqua Public smoking has come under increasingly strict legislation as the effects of second-hand smoke become more well-known.

Campus to go smoke-free Claudia Jambor Staff Writer

D

iscussions have resurfaced regarding Sonoma State University shifting toward a smoke-free campus.

This issue was re-ignited after Timothy P. White, Chancellor of the California State University system, announced it would bestow the responsibility of smoking policies on individual campuses.

Mike Uhlenkemp, director of public affairs for the CSU system, said the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees are working on a system-wide policy to be released later this year.

“We are in the process of putting together a system-wide smoking policy. It will be a basis for campus [smoking] policies. It will be the minimum [requirement],” Uhlenkemp said.

Dr. Georgia Schwartz, director of the Sonoma State Health Center, is concerned See SMOKING Pg. 4

‘Decision Driven’ student art gallery opens in library

Wine Sense Club is intoxicating

Women’s club volleyball beats Chico 3-2

See the review on page 6

Get the story on page 9

Read the story on page 10

Page 2

Editorial

Jan. 28 - Feb. 3, 2014

sonomastatestar.com

THE STAR

Spring 2014 Editorial Board Katie McDonagh, Editor-in-Chief Micaelyn Richmeier, News Editor Kayla Galloway, Asst. News Editor Shyanne Lopez, Opinions Editor Cameron Hatheway, A&E & Online Editor Dylan Sirdofsky, Asst. A&E Editor Amanda Levine, Features & Asst. Online Editor Kayla Webster, Sports Editor Connor Gibson, Photo Editor Chad Bianchi, Co-Copy Editor Brandon Stachnik, Co-Copy Editor Garett Knight, Editorial Cartoonist & Distribution Manager Amanda Saiki, Ad Manager Paul Gullixson, Faculty Adviser The Sonoma State STAR is located at 1801 East Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park, CA 94928, Salazar Hall, room 1053.

To contact the Star office call (707) 664-2776.

For advertising information please call (707) 664-2714 or e-mail sonomastatestar@gmail.com, attn: Amanda Saiki.

For other information, e-mail the STAR at star@sonoma.edu.

Subscribe to the STAR!

Get Sonoma State’s student-run newspaper delivered straight to your door next semester.

Perfect for families, friends and alumni of Sonoma State.

star@sonoma.edu Editor’s Pick

This week’s can’t miss article:

“Off on the right foot” If you haven’t been quite as loyal to your New Year’s resolutions as you had originally planned, don’t feel bad: none of us have. Opinions Editor raises good points about the effectiveness of New Year’s resolutions - including why we decide to do them in the first place - and makes you feel a little better about your guilty decision to skip the gym today.

See pg. 2 for more

Letters to the Editor A letter to the editor forum will be open to the expression of fact or opinion that will be of interest or importance to readers of the STAR. Letters which fit within the scope of First Amendment protection, and that meet other stipulations spelled out in this document will be published on a space available basis as explained below. Each edition of the paper will include a letters column if letters are available.

Letter writers may expect prompt publication of their letters in the paper’s opinion section, as space is available. Letters of up to 500 words will be allowed and must be submitted no later than the Thursday before the publication date.

Published letters must be free of libel, since the publication is held legally accountable for all content. Although personal controversy will be tolerated, it is the responsibility of the editor to check statements purporting the facts.

The editor is also responsible for making decisions as to the pertinence of the letter to the SSU community. The STAR reserves the right to refuse publication to any letter and to edit for length.

Letters must sign all contributions and the editor must verify the signer and the writer are one in the same through personal conference. The Star will honor requests for anonymity at the editor’s discretion.

To send a letter to the editor e-mail star@sonoma.edu. Letters received in any format other than by e-mail will not be published.

Corrections/Clarifications

In Issue 1, the article “Student Center parking lot unavailable for students” was written by Staff Writer Erica Abel.

In the photo accompanying “WATERS collaborative receives three-year grant, biology student Fujun Bernie (left) samples water with professional researcher Mami Kainuma.

Publication

The STAR is published every Tuesday during the fall and spring semesters. Printing is done by Healdsburg Printing.

The weekly publication of the STAR is made possible by Instructionally Related Activities Funding.

Opinions

Opinions expressed in the STAR are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the STAR or SSU. The editorial reflects the views of the STAR editorial board on issues it considers to be of particular relevance to the campus community.

STAR // Garett Knight

The state of our affairs An open letter to California Dear California, Even if we manage to get out of our college education without completely annihilating our savings, our parents’ savings and our credit score, will we be capable of surviving the real world with growing climate change and without a sustainable supply of water?

We’d like to think so, but we have a lot of work to do.

Last week Governor Jerry Brown delivered his State of the State address, a helpful reminder to Californians that we’re in this together. Brown lauded California for accomplishments such as the passage of Proposition 30, the initiative to increase minimum wage the creation of “a million new jobs since 2010.”

So the sun is shining bright in California – but apparently it’s a little too bright, seeing as we’re in the middle of the worst drought in recorded history. Brown has officially declared a State of Emergency, meaning our first step as responsible citizens is to

start conserving water in as many ways possible (hello, group showers!).

This is absolutely critical, as anything could happen to our environment and our already low water supply. Take West Virginia, for example: environmental activist and film inspiration Erin Brockovich is assisting with an investigation of a chemical spill in Elk River that affected 300,000 people’s access to safe tap water.

The crisis serves as a scary reminder that we must prepare for the worst. As the top agricultural producer in the country with a population of 38.04 million – 20 times larger than West Virigina’s – the effects of an equivalent spill in California could be massively destructive.

Clearly, improving the chances and longevity of our survival tops the state’s priority list right now. We can fuel sustainability by cutting down on personal car usage – Brown reported that each year, motorists use more than 14 billion gallons of gasoline

to travel over 330 billion miles (the sun, he added, is only 93 million miles away). Since it doesn’t appear that we’ll be enduring any disastrous wet weather anytime soon, enjoy the beautiful weather when you can and walk to more destinations. And who knows, maybe the looming construction of the bullet train will alleviate gas usage, but it’s not the right time (or budget, for that matter) to prioritize that.

What we should prioritize is – are you really going to make us say it? – education. We think the governor feels the same way, since he plans to increase the budgets of both K-12 and higher education while promising to repay K-12 budget deferrals from previous years.

We are a little closer to finally revitalizing the nation’s conscious need for a worthwhile and effective public education system.

It’s no secret that our education system is significantly lagging compared to the rest of the

world, specifically in math and science. A continuous reinvestment in all forms of education is key for sustainability in regard to our environment, our global competitive edge, our nation’s intelligence and, quite frankly, our sanity.

We’re glad the governor has made substantial progress in prioritizing education and the environment. Last week, borrowing from American philosopher George Santayana, Brown told California, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Clearly, he remembers the past few years and is attempting to reverse the damage as realistically as possible.

So now, California, it’s now up to us to show our governor – and the rest of the country – that we can spend our resources wisely to develop the healthiest, most conscientious and most educated human population possible.

We finally have the chance to turn our state around; let’s take full advantage of it.

Editorial Policy: The commentary expressed in the unsigned editorial represents a majority opinion of The STAR’s Editorial Board on a topic facing the campus community in keeping with journalistic precedents of other major newspapers, and may not be shared by all staff writers. The board encourages readers to write letters to the editor about all topics, including the editorial.

Letters to the Editor Student questions parking citation policy

According to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo: “They have no place in the state of New York.”

“Their problem is not me and the Democrats; their problem is themselves. Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay?

Dear Editor: Is that who they are?

I would like to recognize the parking policemen and Because if that’s who they are and they’re the extreme women for their diligent work this new year, citing any and all conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, student vehicles seen parked in violation of “No Valid Permit.” because that’s not who New Yorkers are.”

A semester parking permit is a minimum of $97, the General What Cuomo is saying is if you are pro-life or pro-Second Permit being the most “budget friendly” for the full-time stu- Amendment you are an “extreme conservative” and are not dents. welcomed in New York. When was any state given power to Yes indeed, the parking police were coming in hot with say who and who isn’t allowed to live where any American the No Valid Permit citations. There is no such thing as hav- pleases? Does the First Amendment not apply to New York? ing an expired permit; there is only strict penalty without a Freedom of religion. One of the greatest reasons why America “valid” one. is the greatest nation on Earth. Except for Catholics in New Since being a student at this university, I’ve received York who are apparently “extreme conservatives” based on emails regularly from the school. Last year I received emails their faith of not killing children in the womb. They have no for over a week pertaining to the maintenance on an elevator, place in New York, according to Cuomo. and campus electricity outages, and etcetera. Although these The last part of Cuomo’s “extreme conservative” labeling emails were typically mundane, they were nonetheless sent to is that of being “anti-gay”. What exactly does that mean? Does the student of common courtesy. it mean gay marriage? Does it mean gay people in general?

Surely, someone else can see the irony in a situation such Does being anti-gay mean an individual hates someone just for as this. Who are the parking police truly servicing in this being gay? I know people disagree on whether gay marriage deal? A simple email to remind students would be on a basic should be legalized or not, but no one that I have encountered level considerate, much appreciated by the students, and most who does not support gay marriage has said that they hate gays likely effective. just because that is who they are. Just because someone does

not support gay marriage does not mean that they will hate Thank you for your time, and despise and do everything in their power to eradicate gays Geena Woods everywhere. Could there be a few individuals who don’t like gays because they are just gay? Sure, just like there may be some small fraction of people who don’t like other cultural or social groups just because of who they are, but those numbers of people are small and they don’t have to be a “conservative” either.

The bottom line comes down to this, if the New York government has the power to declare Americans not able to live in New York does the First Amendment even matter? Or will Dear Editor: this exclusion happen elsewhere across the United States of Is the state of New York still Free for All? Apparently not America? for “extreme conservatives” that live in New York.

- Carlos Kimball

“Extreme conservative” definition challenged

Opinion

Jan. 28 - Feb. 3, 2014

sonomastatestar.com

SSU’s furry little problem Animals on campus have their pros and cons Julia Chacko Staff Writer

I

f you live on campus, you have most likely heard the occasional bark or meow of an animal emerging from the open window of a student dorm. Cats and dogs, among other small furry animals, are very popular within the residential college community. And it’s not surprising in the slightest.

The emotional and physical benefits of having a pet have consistently been scientifically proven to be massive. Owning a pet not only increases the likelihood and frequency of daily activity or exercise but also notably raises one’s serotonin and dopamine levels.

Naturally, the result of this is an infinitely healthier person both inside and out. So the fact that several Sonoma State students clearly own pets shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Well, Campus Housing certainly would take issue with that statement. According to Section 1: General Policies of their Policies and Regulations form for the 2013-2014 school year, no pets (other than fish in 20-gallon or smaller bowls) are allowed to reside within the Residential Community. Violation of this policy will result in the necessary removal of said offending animal within 24 hours and the implementation of “disciplinary action.”

Needless to say, Housing doesn’t take kindly to the idea of keeping a dog or cat hidden in the student dorms. I am a huge animal lover, so my first response to this policy was a bit on the cynical side. The happiest moments of my life have been spent with my beloved pets, and I would not doubt that many of you can say the same.

Going off to college is already an earthshattering change; a pet’s presence can make adjusting that much easier. After all, why should anyone ever have to suffer through many a potentially stressful day without the guaranteed “pick-meup” of coming home to a loving pet? That was my staunch, self-righteous opinion, anyway.

But that was before my suitemates and I bought a kitten of our own. As adorable as he was, our suite’s furry little friend brought far more trouble than his precious presence was worth.

Whether it be the endless hours spent attempting to calm a crazed kitten, the constant cleaning of a rancid litter box, or the perpetual fear of being caught, having a cat in our dorm was, in retrospect, a stupid decision.

Luckily for us, we managed to find our kitten a proper home before the consequences of sheltering him became unbearable. Most are not so fortunate.

In fact, every SSU student I ask has said that they either had a pet in their

dorm once or know of someone who did.

Their experiences more often than not culminated in the animal’s discovery and banishment.

Regardless, my brief foray into the wearisome world of a secret kitty harborer completely altered my opinion of Housing’s pet policies.

Not only did the cat bring an additional lack of sanitation to an already less than hygienic college dorm room, but also we were far too immature and irresponsible to be trusted with the task of caring for him.

Simply caring for oneself, let alone another living creature, is a seemingly unattainable endeavor for a majority of college students. In other words, there’s a more than justifiable reason that keeping a pet in the Residential Community is not

Simply caring for oneself, let alone another living creature, is a seemingly unattainable endeavor for a majority of college students. allowed.

Granted, there are a couple of necessary and much-appreciated exceptions to that rule. Service dogs are definitely permitted, but I believe that should be a given in any place, public or private, in our society.

What I find particularly special about Sonoma State is the ease with which comfort dogs and cats are accepted. One would be remiss to compare owning a comfort animal to hiding a hastily bought shelter pet inside the dorms.

Comfort animals fall into the category of providing emotionally distraught or simply stressed out students the warmth and well-being which other human beings cannot, or will not, provide.

Also, they are highly trained pets whose presence would be much less intrusive and cumbersome for fellow suitemates. Of course, I would only recommend applying for a comfort animal if you have already consulted with CAPS and have mid-to-severe anxiety and depression or have recently suffered a significant traumatic experience.

Just as I no longer support students keeping pets in their dorms “for fun,” I would strongly discourage students who feel “a little sad” once in a while from attempting to apply for a comfort animal.

After all, our campus is incredibly animal friendly; the days when I don’t see a few dogs roaming happily about the school are few and far between.

Trust me, it is not difficult to get your furry, cuddly animal fix around here. And you certainly don’t need to violate a very necessary campus policy to receive it.

STAR // Robbie Geiss Pets can seem like a great way to make a dorm seem more like a home, but in the end people often find they bit off more than they could chew.

Page 3

Off on the right foot Shyanne Lopez Staff Writer

Y

ou broke your New Year’s Resolution and January isn’t even over yet now what?

A New Year’s resolution really is a funny thing if you think about it.

There is something refreshing and hopeful in the idea that making a list of things we want to accomplish will significantly affect our lives in the New Year.

I think the problem with the mentality of making a list to improve ourselves or our situation is that we are more committed to the promise of the resolution itself than actually taking the necessary steps to attain our goal.

I’m not saying this applies to everyone, because there are some people out there who are absolutely amazing at mapping out just how to do better this semester, or how to spend less money on unnecessary things.

I am not one of these people.

I tend to be a dreamer—and I’m not the only one, cheesy reference intended. I’m one who puts more effort into envisioning my goal than actually figuring out a strategy to follow through with it.

Then life hits and all of a sudden that saying “old habits die hard” makes a lot of sense.

But, here’s the thing: change and progress is not about never making a mistake or two, or three. Those are precisely the things that teach you what not to do.

Mistakes and falling off the wagon are incredibly helpful because they provide you more insight into how you should approach whatever it is you want to change about yourself than a simple wish list every could.

I was frustrated with myself when, just shy of a month into 2014, I was already setting off on the wrong foot in regard to school and the other responsibilities in my life.

Being someone who works 20 hours a week, holds three positions in her sorority, and is an editor for the school paper, my ultimate goal for this semester was to balance better.

I’m not just talking about my abundance of responsibilities either, but also with my relationships and hobbies.

Let me tell you, it’s hard. I already slipped up a little in each of the various areas of my life. So, technically I failed my resolution.

I don’t like to think of it that way though. If anything, I want to stress the importance of realizing that all any of us are ever going to be is a work in progress. There’s

no such thing as “New Year, New Me,” contrary to Instagram and Facebook statuses.

We are all struggling with the same thing we struggled with a month ago in December, and perhaps it will be the same another month from now.

Ultimately, New Year’s resolutions are bogus. Not that wanting to strive for a positive change in your life is bogus, but putting pressure on yourself to live up to a wishlist and expecting yourself

I want to stress the importance of realizing that all any of us are ever going to be is a work in progress. to be a whole new person kind of is.

One of my favorite quotes pretty much sums up what I’m trying to say: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail Better.”

So don’t be down on yourself if 2014 doesn’t live up to that mental check list of yours. Sure, keep striving, but mostly just fail better.

Tips for eating healthy on a budget Tyler Drinnen Staff Writer

L

a s t week, y o u decided that you were going to live a little bit more luxuriously than most weeks and you ended up spending a large portion of your paycheck.

You open up your cabinet doors and find a whole lot of empty space requiring the need for an abundant amount of the only thing that you need to survive: food. It has been a solid two weeks since you even set foot in your local grocery store or supermarket, but at the same time you only happen to have around $100 to spend on groceries until your next biweekly paycheck. Your brain suddenly switches from spending mode to savvy mode in a matter of seconds.

These are just a few initial thoughts to have in order to make that dollar go a little further, without feeling like a completely broke college student. Students in the surrounding area of Sonoma State University, consider the local Grocery Outlet and Foodmaxx when shopping for your everyday groceries.

Grab your handy-dandy 4G tablet or any other smart device you have and jot down the top 10 must have items that you plan to see in your shopping cart at the end of check out. Keep in mind, you may already have a general idea of the price-per-product while making your list. Then write down all of your other groceries in order of importance to you. You’ll be surprised how many items have a huge lack of importance to a well budgeted, nutritious diet. Just in case you’re curious this list of grocery essentials should last you about two weeks long.

Coffee, an essential one might need to wake up every morning, generally ends up being the most expensive item and is often seen as an absolute necessity among college students. If you’re willing to spend just under $13.99 for the largest bag of coffee beans, you are reducing your cost basis per serving making your purchase an absolute investment.

The two percent milk is about $3.98, giving you a well-balanced

need of calcium and additive for that coffee. Eggs at $1.99 per dozen, can be used in interchangeable ways especially in their many ways of preparation. Plus, if you aren’t aware, eggs can also provide for a great source of well-needed protein throughout your day.

Adding a generous amount of seasonal organic fruits and vegetables commonly comes out to be within a $40 limit. This usually creates a larger variety of ways to consume your food while encouraging a well-rounded college diet.

For the best quality, most nutritional valued bread, I wouldn’t spend any more than $4.99. This is a perfect time to search for those 100% whole wheat products and keeping an eye on the ingredients label. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient chances are it’s not worth consuming nutritiously.

The second most used carbohydrate amongst students is the noodle. Think larger quantities in your preferred variety of dry pasta. At just $1.49 a box, you can get the best source of fiber with the non-bleached flour brands. Most of the time pasta can be found on sale for buy two get one or on sale for something similar. Let’s say you buy six boxes (knowing that pasta lasts the longest of your products) it should only cost you about $5 Now whether you’re living a healthy vegan, vegetarian or a

general meatatarian lifestyle, you probably want some hardy meat or meatless substitutes to give you the most compatible meals. I personally lean closer to a high nutritional vegetarian diet with the occasional adding of non-hormone pumped, lean chicken.

You have about $10 to $15 left in your budget (not including tax), to use towards those meat or soy products. You can also attribute to your shopping cart whatever items you feel are missing.

You’ll eventually make it home with a generous amount of product with the addition of some cheese, butter, and protein bars, bringing you to a tax included, budgeted amount of approximately $100.

As a college student myself, I would encourage you to start enjoying yourselves by not over indulging or under nourishing your body. After growing familiar with the ultimate ways to provide for food on a budget and spending on a habit, I exercise this very implementation all the time.

I had to learn the difference between what I wanted and what I really needed, in order to live a comfortable and affordable college lifestyle.

I’m sure a list would benefit you, try it sometime and you might just might be able to undo your unnecessary spending habits.

STAR // Eddie Blake When picking out snacks, it’s so much easier to go for the Hostess cakes than veggies.

Page 4

News

Jan. 28 - Feb. 3, 2014

sonomastatestar.com

SUSTAINABILITY: Director, committee promote awareness Continued from Pg. 1

watershed management.

The Director of Sustainability will serve many roles in regard to the contribution here on campus as well as in the community. Draper will be known as the contact for long term and complex sustainability initiatives including: coordination with community partners and members of SSU, convening with the Sustainability Executive Committee to outline ideas and future projects, and keeping track of, communicating, and advertising sustainability events on campus.

He will also be responsible for seeking external funds for priority initiatives as well as working with community engagement initiatives.

“There are many folks on campus who are passionate and very knowl-

edgeable about these issues, far more than myself,” said Draper. “I have learned that sustainability is not something any one person directs; as I see it, my role and the role of the Sustainability Executive Committee is to publicize, support, and foster sustainable actions and ideas on campus as well as with the community.”

Draper also stressed the importance of learning the fundamentals of sustainability not just with public events but also in the classroom.

“Increased academic engagement is key; faculty in particular, need to teach and engage students about sustainability and in turn listen and respond when student learning and action speaks to better the university community,” said Draper.

Natalie Williams, a third-year Environmen-

tal Studies and Planning student, was influenced

by Draper’s Water Works productions last year and now sees the importance of campus sustainability.

“Most students do not know the level of concern we should be having when it comes to preserving our natural resources with today’s ever-changing environment,” said Williams.

“With having a new Director of Sustainability, students and faculty will now be able to collaborate with the community on new ideas with each other and essentially come up with more solutions to preserve and better the area around us.”

Draper noted that the Sustainability Executive Committee will host a Sustainability Week that will take place Oct. 21-24 and will encourage students and faculty to achieve sustainability goals.

STAR // Evan Croker On Sunday, Sonoma State commemorated the 30-year anniversary of the university’s Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series.

Campus marks 30 years of Holocaust, genocide series Megan Kleszcz Staff Writer

T

STAR // Cara Fuqua According to Director of the Health Center Georgia Schwartz, 45,000 50,000 people die each year of second-hand smoke exposure.

SMOKING: “Policy has to be enforced by all the community” Continued from Pg. 1

delaying the smoke-free policy for Sonoma State campus is endangering the health of students and staff.

“Every day we don’t do something people are being exposed to the dangers of second-hand smoke which are very real.

Every year in this country 45,000-50,000 people die who have never smoked but have been exposed to second-hand smoke,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz emphasized that making the campus smoke-free would also assist smokers’ efforts to quit.

“Statistics show that when smoking becomes inconvenient or expensive or when people have to change their location, the smoking rate drops; it becomes easier for people to quit or harder for people to become addicted,” Schwartz said.

The proposed policy intends to respect the rights of those who wish to smoke as well as non-smokers by encouraging constructive collaboration as a community.

“The policy proposed for Sonoma State was focused on a collegial community-based compliance and not a disciplinary-based compliance,” Schwartz said.

A collegial community-based compliance parallels the policy concept envisioned by the Administration Board at Sonoma State. Matthew Lopez Phillips, chief student affairs officer for the academic division of the university, expressed the importance of the entire university community working together to make a smokefree campus policy effective.

“This policy has to be enforced by all the community, students, faculty and staff.

There are 9,000 students here and several hundred faulty members and staff. It’s really a community effort; we can’t have the smoking police looking around for these folks,” Lopez-Phillips said.

The University of California Davis campus implemented its smoke-free policy on Jan. 1 of this year. Similar to Sonoma

State’s vision for the smoke free policy, spokeswoman for UC Davis Julia Ann Easley said its policy takes “an educational approach” resulting in student support.

“We’ve had a lot of support from our students. We’ve had some students in clubs who have been taking action for all and promoting it,” Easley said.

UC Davis’s smoke-free policy is also very focused in supporting smokers while they adapt to the smoke-free campus by providing counseling and nicotine replacement therapy packages.

“Among the resources that we are offering is that students who want to quit can arrange through one of our health units to get a month’s supply of nicotine replacement therapy for free and individual counseling,” said Easley.

Lopez-Phillips expressed that inciting cultural change about attitudes toward smoking at Sonoma State is the foundation for effective community-based compliance and thus vital to a successful policy.

“I think the best way to start is with cultural change, having people start engaging in conversation and start taking responsibility for making this kind of change on campus… The most successful policy is when it’s part of the culture,” Lopez-Phillips said.

Schwartz urges students and staff to be proactive toward implementing a smokefree campus for the greater public interest at Sonoma State University.

“Unless the students nudge the campus administration, they will wait for the Chancellor’s office. I think really that someone needs to speak up… somebody besides the Health Center needs to take up that mantra because everybody expects us to do it, they’d be serving more than the Health Center, they are serving in the public interest,” Schwartz said.

Students looking to quit smoking can visit the Student Health Center on the west side of campus across from Zinfandel Residence Halls or call 707-664-2921 to book an appointment.

his year marks the 30th anniversary of the Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series, and will be known as “Never Again.” This specific series will not only cover ground about the Holocaust but will go into further detail about the genocides in Bosnia and Guatemala.

The ambassador from the Republic of Rwanda to the United States Mathilde Mukantabana, shared in her lecture the many challenges she has faced and how she became who she is today. She explained what the organization has done for her.

“Rwanda shows that there is hope after a genocide has occurred,” said Mukantabana.

The Holocaust series at Sonoma State University first came about when Sonoma State faculty, Holocaust survivors, and community members came together in 1983 to insure an act like the Holocaust would “Never Again” take place. Their combined efforts and talents led to the creation of the lecture series. This allowed students, professors, and fellow community members to have the chance to listen to speakers talk about the pain and suffering that took place during the Holocaust.

“Students are in a better place to do something signifi-

cant. They are able to organize and really tackle issues of genocide. Lack of education results to the continuation of the genocide. Students’ actions really make a difference. Eventually, every individuals’ actions will add up,” said Mukantabana. “As cliché as it sounds, genocides will be finished when the world is ‘all of one and one for all’.

Goodness as well as badness is contagious. Students from Sonoma State University can make a huge change.”

The Lecture Series is not a one-night event. There have been a series of speeches that have taken place since Jan. 14 and will continue on until April 29. The introduction to the series has already taken place but there is much more to come.

There will be lectures on the concept of genocide, the historical aspects of the Holocaust, lessons learned from children of the Holocaust, and then the lecture will switch to an open discussion on genocide.

The Bosnian genocide will also be covered, as well as the Guatemalan genocide. Mukantabana will also lead a discussion on the genocide in Rwanda and how it has developed since.

“To come back [to Sonoma] is to come back home for me,” said Mukantabana, who is a recurring speaker at the university.

In 1983 Sonoma State Universitiy President Peter Diamandopoulos challenged Robert L. Harris, the coordinator, to do more than celebrate the Holocaust one day a year. Harris discussed the president’s challenge with many people and eventually an alliance formed.

“It takes young people to change the world. Of all of the classes students take, they must leave college knowing and understanding the holocaust and the genocide for it to stop,” said Christyne Davidian, president of the Alliance for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide.

Professor John Steiner, a Holocaust survivor, was the leader of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide. This began in February 1987. Steiner wanted to accomplish educating the world one step at a time, about the origins, nature, and consequences of the Holocaust.

“Although you may not have been alive, you still must feel some responsibility as the next generation and hopefully become aware of genocides. There is only one way to do that and it is to take the course,” said Emerita Professor Myrna Goodman of the Department of Sociology, and director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide at Sonoma State University.

News

Jan. 28 - Feb. 3, 2014

sonomastatestar.com

Page 5

FEE: Attempt to provide more classes

STAR // Evan Croker Voting for the Associated Students elections will begin March 1.

Associated Students elections approach Aaron Studebaker Staff Writer

STAR // Connor Gibson Provost Andrew Rogerson said that implementation of the fee would guarantee that students graduate sooner.

Continued from Pg. 1

method of CSU is by referendum via campuswide vote, such as the vote to build the Student Center. The second method would be an alternative consultation, requiring Armiñana to seek a representative sample of students to make the decision.

Both Armiñana and Rogerson said each process would be transparent, inviting all students to provide feedback. They added, however, that referendums tend to have a low turnout of students, implying it was not the best option.

They also plan to release a “white sheet” to the public in the near future, which would document exactly where the proposed money would go. This would occur before the decision of whether or not to implement the fee would be reached.

Sonoma State would join six out of 23 California State University campuses that have already enacted a “student success” fee: San Bernadino, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, San Jose, Pomona and San Marcos. And just last week, the San Diego campus began having similar discussions, hoping to reach a decision in February.

While large-scale campus discussions

have yet to occur, students catching wind of the fee are already contemplating whether or not it would be worth it.

“Although it wouldn’t affect me personally, [the student success fee] could benefit us in the long run by allowing more students to graduate in a timely manner and get more out of their education,” said junior Juliana Morcate, a philosophy major who plans to have completed her degree in three and a half years upon graduation. “I don’t think it would have much effect [on campus diversity].”

Junior Business student John Wilcox, who will not be graduating in four years, thinks otherwise.

“I would be against this fee because our tuition should already be going toward teachers and classes – we shouldn’t have to pay additional fees to get a standard education,” said Wilcox. “This fee will make it tougher for individuals with low income families to attend Sonoma State. Overall, I think it will negatively affect Sonoma’s diversity.”

Students and faculty interested in learning more about the fee are encouraged to contact the provost, keep on the lookout for discussion events and attend the Associated Students Senate meeting on Friday at 1 p.m. in the Bennett Valley conference room in the Student Center.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! www.facebook.com/sonomastatestar @sonomastatestar

T

he Associated Students at Sonoma State University is preparing for the next student government election as the applications for candidates are reviewed. The Elections Commissioner Angie Ulloa has held meetings with the potential pool of candidates who plan on running for offices. The candidates will be announced on Feb. 7 after all applications are received. The voting period will begin on March 11.

Student government is intended to give students a chance to be involved in their school and community, and is beneficial as work experience for governmental or business jobs in the future. The Associated Students strives to make the campus as interactive as possible by hosting open events and conducting campus activities.

An elected officer serves as the official voice of the student body. They must have leadership skills, maintain a solid grade point average, and act as a representative of

the students while serving the school.

The offices open for candidates are president, executive vice president, chief officer of finance, and a committee of 12 senate seats that belong to five academic schools and seven special interest groups. The student voting is conducted under a simple majority rule.

The Senate however, appoints its own chairman.

The Associated Students act as the student council in making decisions on behalf of the student body. They hold weekly meetings and discuss issues on finances, academics and community issues.

Ulloa is the elections commissioner and handles the eligibility of the candidates by reviewing their application material. She also checks that their paperwork is submitted on time and if it matches up to the major they are enrolled in. The commissioner has no say in the election, for it is all determined by students’ votes.

The elections are done electronically, in contract with an outside company. Students can cast their votes online once the voting period commences in March.

As of recently, Associated Students has been holding information sessions to inform potential candidates on position descriptions and the frequently asked questions regarding student government elections.

“We like to have candidates who have some idea what it [Associated Students] is,” said Executive Director Eric Dickson. “The Associated Students is a pretty serious leadership experience which asks a lot of our student leaders.” Dickson said that the Associated Students is more than just a student government, but also a $2 million corporation.

Those who have demonstrated interest, dedication and the proper GPA could be potentially running for office.

Now it is a matter of getting applications and paperwork in on time. Associated Students offers a hands-on chance to learn some of these leadership skills and aims to give students the training they might need to take on future tasks. Students interested in running for office for the 2014-2015 academic year must submit an application on OrgSync by Feb. 7 and attend an orientation session.

Forum helps students publish research Amanda Scrabis Staff Writer

T

he Society & Culture Undergraduate Research Forum (SCURF) is a forum designed to assist students looking to get their research published.

The Sonoma State University Anthropology department held the first SCURF forum in 2009.

Founded by the Sonoma State University Anthropology Club, the SCURF Mission Statement says the forum is “dedicated to assisting students in preparing, presenting and publishing their research pertaining to issues of human society and culture in a professional setting, developing new skills that will be useful in professional and public careers and advantageous in post graduate academia.”

The Anthropology Club participates in the execution of the forum each spring. Between 15 and 25 reports, either oral or poster, are given each year.

Many of these presentations come from class term papers, research done with a professor, or even senior thesis or capstone projects. Dr. Alexis Boutin, co-advisor for the Anthropology Club, says the forum is a way to for students to formally present their research. “[The forum] was created to provide undergraduates in the Social Sciences with an opportunity to present their original research in a formal conference setting,” said Boutin.

SCURF is looking to broaden its horizons this year by encouraging students from different schools on campus to participate in the forum.

Their goal is to enrich the Sonoma State community and offer a more hands-on experience for a variety of majors throughout the university.

“Since then it has broadened to include students from many more academic disciplines, including arts and humanities, business and economics, and science and technology. Any research that touches on human (or animal) societies and

cultures is welcome,” said Boutin.

SCURF is a way for undergraduate students to get involved in the publication process, especially for those that are planning on continuing their education through a masters program or who would like to gain work experience in their field. Tomio Endo, a current organizer of SCURF, became involved with the forum through participation.

“As a participant, I was a new anthropology major who was, and is, very passionate about academic research and I was looking for a way to get involved in an academic student run project,” said Endo. “So I wrote up an abstract and submitted it when the first call for abstracts went out. I was very excited at the idea of presenting my research to a receptive, professional, and encouraging audience without the crazy implications of writing, publishing and presenting to a professional journal. Plus I thought this would be a great resume item for my academic/professional career.”

This year’s forum will be held on April 9 in the Student Center’s Ballroom B. This year’s forum theme will be “Imprints,” and there will be a keynote speaker that is yet to be announced.

The forum is open to all students, faculty, administrators, and public that wishes to attend.

There will be light food and drinks served to all the attendees as well as the participants.

For all students that are interested in participating in the forum, the application period begins this week. Students will submit an “abstract” or summary of their project to Moodle.

To find out more information on the forum look out for a Facebook page that will be debuting by the end of the week. Information is also located on the Moodle page. There will also be flyers and general information on the forum in the Anthropology department located in Stevenson Hall.

The deadline for priority entry is Feb. 15. Students who submit their abstracts in that time will be given feedback and time to revise their proposal before the official deadline. The final deadline to submit proposals is March 3.

Page 6

Arts

Jan. 28 - Feb. 3, 2014

sonomastatestar.com

STAR // Cara Fuqua The public admires the wide range of creativity of the different works on display at ‘Decision Driven: Works on Paper,” held at the University Library Art Gallery.

‘Decision Driven’ exhibition showcases creativity S tuart Courtney Staff Writer

P

aper — taken for granted by generations of Americans, but coveted by millions of less fortunate souls throughout the world.

Most tear it off binders, crumble it up in balls and toss it in the trash or recycling bin like a worn out toy. They cherish it like the invaluable resource that it is.

Over the years, paper has been used to make billions of books, documents, envelopes, spitballs, paper airplanes and even jailhouse shanks.

Paper is also the medium of choice for a group of student artists currently showing at the University Library Art Gallery.

The exhibit is called “Decision Driven: Works on Paper” and is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays through March 13. An opening reception was held Jan. 23.

The featured artists are Will Elias, Ashley Farlan, Hillary Gattian, Siera Goodrich, Sarah Heyward, Andrew Kozimor, Ariel Lockshaw, Isaac Lopez, Sarah Newcomb, Hadley Radt and Corinne Robertson.

“It’s impressive work on par with the graduate level,” said Nathan Haenlein, professor of studio art. “All of the artists are advanced students with a Works on Paper Emphasis. We chose students representing a good cross-section of the program.”

Haenlein said the SSU Works on Paper Emphasis was launched in 2007 and that all of the work in the exhibit was made in the last year, and most in the last six months.

“Decision Driven is an exhibition of student works on paper. This show includes 11 artists from the department of art and art history at SSU,” said Haenlein in an email interview.

“The works on display highlight an array of opportunities for artistic exploration using paper as a substrate. Additionally, the artists included in the exhibition demonstrate the maturity and commitment our students exercise in their research.”

Per the department of art and art history section of sonoma.edu, students majoring in the art studio concentration may choose “an emphasis in one or more of the following: painting, sculpture, printmaking, works on paper, photography and ceramics.”

The Works on Paper Emphasis offers upper-division classes such as Intermediate Drawing, Intermediate Life Drawing, Advanced Drawing and Advanced Life Drawing.

Kozimor said he likes the exhibit because it offers him “a chance for people to see my work.”

He studies printmaking and sculpture in conjunction with his Works on Paper Emphasis.

“I’ve been drawing as long as I can remember,” said Kozimor, “and did lots of doodling in class when I should have been paying attention.”

The three pieces in his portion of the exhibit feature layered expressions of “digital printing with micron and graphite under Plexiglas.”

Some attendees at the opening reception walked through the exhibit with casual interest, but most lingered long enough to form their own opinions about the creativity.

“I saw the f lyer and was attracted to the fact that the artists are students,” said Miki Dora of Santa Rosa. “There are quite a few interesting pieces.”

While viewing Siera Goodrich’s “Behind the Screens,” senior art history major Leah Madsen said, “It’s kind of like two different views of heroes — the priest and the luchador.”

A few minutes later, Madsen and her companion, junior Maria Gasque, were admiring another piece by Goodrich called “Age Sex Location,” an etching and monoprint.

“The images represent the media portrayal of men and women, and how they are objectified,” said Gasque. Working in tandem, Madsen added, “They are what the media focuses on … forget about the person behind it.”

Sandy Kaplan, a “literacy intervention teacher” with 18 years of experience from the Shoreline Unified School District in Tomales, said she “loved the graphic aspect and colors of the Native American expression above the photo” while admiring artist Robertson’s “Defeat,” a work described as “lithograph, silkscreen and gel pen.”

Kaplan is working on a master’s in reading and language at SSU. Perhaps an entry in the gallery’s comments book said it best: “Beautiful provocative art! Thank you, students. Your creativity is impressive and inspiring. — Associate Professor of English Sandra Feldman.”

STAR // Cara Fuqua “Untitled” by Hadley Radt.

STAR // Cara Fuqua “Untitled” by Sarah Newcomb.

Handel’s ‘Theodora’ brought back to life

STAR // Connor Gibson Conductor Harry Bicket leads the orchestra in Handel’s “Theodora.”

Dylan Sirdofsky Asst. A&E Editor

W

eill Hall was packed to a capacity crowd Saturday evening for the masterpiece oratorio known as George Frideric Handel’s “Theodora” (1750), guided by the artistic director of The English Concert and the renowned concert and opera conductor Harry Bicket.

Considered one of Europe’s most excellent Baroque orchestras, Bicket was aided by the vocal talent of mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly (Irene), tenor Kurt Streit (Septimius), countertenor David Daniels (Didymus), bass-baritone Neal Davies (Valens) and soprano Dorothea Röschmann (Theodora), who made her San Francisco Bay Area debut.

Tenor Andrew Kennedy was originally set to make an appearance as Septimius, but has reportedly taken a short vocal leave according to The English Concert’s Facebook page and was

replaced by vocalist Streit.

Having performed the two-act opera “Die Zauberflöte” (German for “The Magic Flute”) in 23 different productions around the globe, Streit has been studied as one of the world’s finest Mozart interpreters throughout his career.

Headlining as well with the piece was the Choir of Trinity Wall Street of New York City directed by Julian Wachner, who also supervises all professional, liturgical and community Music and Arts program arrangements at Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel.

Handel’s “Theodora” is presented in three acts set to an English libretto by Thomas Morell, involving Theodora, a Christian martyr, and her lover Didymus, a Christian-converted Roman.

Full of revenge, lust and the power of virtue, Handel’s penultimate oratorio includes an array of the composer’s most inspirational and heart-wrenchingly celestial music.

Oratorios are described as grand musical composition for soloists, choir and orchestra,

similar to an opera yet distinctively a concert piece and not musical theatre.

However, sometimes oratorios are organized as operas; likewise for operas being given in concert form.

For first time goers of an event like this, an observation can be made of the atmosphere and appreciation of the music that is being presented.

The audience has very little interaction with the show, other than collectively keeping track of the text and following along, which is one of the more relaxing aspects to engage in as lines are often repeated in certain scenes.

Each individual artist of The English Concert has their own unique vocal styling and background which have helped contribute to their roles in the performance.

Conductor Bicket is especially known for his interpretation of Classical and Baroque repertoire, having become director in 2007 and appointed as chief conductor of the Santa Fe Opera in October 2013.

Connolly is a native of County Durham, England where she studied singing and piano at the Royal College of Music, where she is now a Fellow.

In 2011 she was honored with the Distin-

guished Musician Award by the Incorporated Society of Musicians.

Daniels is an American artist who was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, who has not only been hunted after for the works of Handel, but also of Mozart, Monteverdi, Gluck and Britten.

He holds the 1997 Richard Tucker Award and Musical America’s Vocalist of the Year in 1999.

Davis did his studies at King’s College, London and the Royal Academy of Music, and in 1991 he won the Lieder Prize in the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.

Röschmann, from Flensburg, Germany, is regarded as one of the most exceptionally admired singers that her generation has to offer and has performed many notable roles at the Salzburg Festival.

The next upcoming performance at the Green Music Center will be Trio Ariadne and The Decoda Ensemble, scheduled for Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m.

Price of the event is free, but a ticket will be required nonetheless.

More information for upcoming GMC events can be found at gmc.sonoma.edu/events.

STAR // Connor Gibson Acclaimed soprano Dorothea Röschmann performs.

Entertainment

Jan. 28 - Feb. 3, 2014

sonomastatestar.com

Daft Punk ‘Get Lucky’ at Grammys Cameron Hatheway A&E Editor

The 56th Annual Grammy Awards aired last Sunday on CBS and a pair of robots from France took home both Record of the Year and Album of the Year.

The competition leading up to the Grammys was fierce, with Jay-Z receiving nine nominations and Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Justin Timberlake and Pharrell Williams all tied for seven.

Right out the gate, power couple Jay-Z and Beyoncé performed “Drunk in Love” in front of a packed house, with Beyoncé looking quite fierce for a mom who just gave birth a mere two years ago.

The performances were star-studded and actionpacked throughout the evening, with some fascinating musical pairings from the most unexpected of artists.

While awards were given out between the songs— it is an awards show, after all—it felt like 90 percent of the Grammy Awards were given out earlier in the day, with the most popular of categories being reserved for primetime.

This could be confusing for viewers at home, for when certain artists were mentioned, the presenters would casually mention the artist in question had already won a Grammy for a not mentioned category earlier in that day, ultimately making us muggles who aren’t involved in the music industry feel out of the loop.

Lorde (Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O’Connor) won Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for her hit song “Royals.” The 17-year-old New Zealander performed an eerie rendition of the song earlier in the show.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis won Best New Artist, Best Rap Album (“The Heist”), Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance for the single “Thrift Shop.”

Macklemore later went to Instagram to apologize to Kendrick Lamar for “robbing” him of the Best Rap Album Grammy.

“You got robbed. I wanted you to win. You should have. It’s weird and it sucks that I robbed you,” Macklemore wrote. Perhaps Lamar can find an old Grammy the next time he visits a thrift shop.

The real winners last night were Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams. Williams had a thumb in every pie in 2013 and because of it won Producer of the Year for his collaborations with Daft Punk, Robin Thicke, JayZ and Frank Ocean.

Both Williams and Daft Punk went home with Record of the Year (“Get Lucky”), Album of the Year (“Random Access Memories”) and Best Pop Duo/ Group Performance. Daft Punk also won Grammys in the Best Dance/Electronica Album and Best Engineered Album – Non-Classical categories.

It was an emotional moment for the robotic duo (Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de HomemChristo) upon winning Album of the Year, as they hugged for a good 10 seconds in their Stormtrooperesque outfits, proving they were human after all.

Despite many artists being nominated for multiple categories, not all of them went home with arms filled with the coveted golden gramophone. Compton rapper Lamar didn’t win a single award that night.

While some artists performed solo or with their groups, it was the mash-ups that really shook things up.

Robin Thicke and the legendary Chicago performed a mash-up of “Saturday in the Park” and

“Blurred Lines,” while Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons had an awkward and bizarre rendition of “Radioactive” mixed with “M.A.A.D. City.”

Pink dazzled the audience with another acrobatic ribbon twirling performance that took place high above the crowd, while she simultaneously sang “Try” before coming down and performing “Just Give Me a Reason” with fun.’s Nate Ruess.

Ex-Beatles Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney reunited on stage for “Queenie Eye,” a new single off McCartney’s “New” album.

Daft Punk, Nile Rodgers, Pharrell Williams and Stevie Wonder performed “Get Lucky” with a little bit of “Le Freak” and “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” mixed-in, proving to be one of the more entertaining performances of the evening.

One of the final big performances of the evening turned out to be one of the most controversial.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis performed “Same Love” and halfway through Queen Latifah came out and married 33 gay and straight couples in the audience as Madonna sang the chorus of “Open Your Heart” while wearing an outfit usually seen on Colonel Sanders.

Overall, the Grammys definitely provided some quality performances and surprising wins this year, but in the end, Daft Punk brought life back to music and showed that they were harder, better, faster, stronger around the world one more time.

facebook.com Daft Punk won a total of five Grammys, including Best Record of the Year and Best Album of the Year.

“Transgender Dysphoria Blues,” focuses on gender dysphoria with a punk rock attitude.

Punk rock gets transgendered Finn Maloney Staff Writer “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” is powerfully thought out and while it is deep in meaning and emotion, it is perfectly executed in a way that lends itself to a classic albeit a slightly older and mature punk feel.

It is the newest studio album by long established rock band, Against Me!. The title and the subject matter for the album itself stems from the real life experience of now front-woman Laura Jane Grace, who recently underwent treatment to complete her identity change from who she was previously known as, Against Me! front-man Tom Gabel.

The album is the most recent and most interesting in a series of ever changing and ever evolving catalog of albums which spans almost two decades and consists of some of the most honest music of the genre.

Against Me! began as a garage punk band in Florida, gaining a national following and respect after the popularity of their tape, “The Reinvention of Axl Rose” which is heralded as a true postpunk classic album.

“The Reinvention of Axl Rose” has an amazing distorted sound, a signature of the band. For those who were asking for the band to return to this form, “Drinking with the Jocks” as well as “Osama bin Laden as the Crucified Christ” definitely fit the bill.

The albums following their early work (when they were signed to a more major label), “New Wave” and “White Crosses” have a much more produced feel, appealing to a wider audience who, at the time, were just starting to become

accepting of mainstream punk in the early 2000s.

They went on to create a more commercialized rock feel and were very successful, reaching within the top 35 of the Billboard chart. This album offers a much less commercialized sound, although it is unrecognizable from the loud aggression and noise from their first albums.

Songs from “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” are similar to that point in their career in many ways, especially the songs “Unconditional Love” and “Two Coffins”.

It is on these tracks as well as another entitled “F---MYLIFE666” that offer a more romantic subject matter, while still remaining tragic and hopeless.

Grace and the band itself have been through a lot as of late, especially considering the media pressure that came with Grace’s 2012 reveal of her true gender identity.

Grace then wrote this album during and after undergoing treatments and hormones. It is during this time, as well as during her most painful memories of inner pain and self doubt that she had been struggling with her whole life, that she writes about.

This is where the subject matter for this album stems from, and this comes across especially in the final four songs which beautifully end the almost concept style album about a person undergoing something that completely uproots them.

The musicality is very respectable and they are clearly talented musicians that have obviously aged in more ways than one since their first release over a decade ago.

However, when first hearing the album one somehow feels that something is missing, some stylistic rebellion that felt so sweet and fulfilling in the original albums.

In some ways the album’s production value turns the majority of the songs into more of a poppy and conventional rock song feel.

Instead, this album relies on its lyrics and messages to create the sense of disestablishment while still empowering their audience to live as honestly to one’s self as possible (and taking a stab at things like obnoxious high school stereotypes and forbidden love).

Grace now seems to be a happier, freer person who has created something that is a true representation of herself.

While it may not be for everyone, it definitely earns its place amongst great conceptual punk records.

Lifetime axes ‘Lizzie Borden’ facebook.com Macklemore, Mary Lambert, Madonna, Ryan Lewis and Queen Latifah helped marry 33 couples in the audience during “Same Love.”

‘Polarity’ graphic novel insanely fun Cameron Hatheway A&E Editor Some may view superheroes as being crazy when they dress up in spandex costumes and use their powers to fight evil. But what if one were to gain super powers by simply getting crazier and crazier?

That’s the premise in the graphic novel “Polarity,” written by Say Anything frontman Max Bemis and illustrated by Jorge Coelho. Originally released as a four issue mini-series in 2013, it’s now available as a 112-page trade paperback from BOOM! Studios.

The story surrounds Brooklyn artist Tim Woods as he discovers that he has bipolar disorder after walking out of his apartment and into the street without any pants on one day, then promptly getting hit by a car going 35 miles per hour.

After waking from a year-long coma and getting much needed help (and thousands of pills), Tim has a better understanding of what makes himself tick as he tries to re-immerse himself into the hipster art scene. He isn’t a hipster by any stretch, but while he was manic he created brilliant pieces that made waves in the scene.

Although his works were once spectacular, now that he’s on medication their quality has diminished somewhat progressively. His hipster girlfriend, Alexis, encourages him to ditch the pills and return to his former glory, but Tim was hoping that she would just dump him instead so he could pursue his crush, Lily.

Needing that inspiration to take ahold of him once again, Tim flushes the medication down the toilet, starts

facebook.com

Page 7

boom-studios.com “Polarity” by Max Bemis and Jorge Coelho. drinking and smoking pot and lets the insanity take him over. He can hear his neighbors’ thoughts, he can find the hidden bromance messages in every Judd Apatow comedy, but most importantly, he thinks he’s under surveillance.

His long-time psychiatrist Dr. Mays fears Tim has stopped taking his medication and grows concerned for his well-being. As it turns out, Tim was under surveillance and he located the agent spying on him before accidentally killing him with a head-butt, causing the agent’s head to literally explode.

That’s when the story takes a sharp turn, sending the reader into the unknown where Tim gets more and more superpowers the crazier he becomes.

He’s like the Hulk of crazy, and drugs and stimulants make him increasingly powerful.

It’s also revealed that Dr. Mays isn’t so innocent in all of this as well, for the psychiatrist is the one that has been keeping tabs on Tim for a darker, more sinister purpose.

Bemis’ story is consistently dark, intriguing and humorous throughout.

The way he hooks the reader with an intoxicating cocktail of hipsters, superpowers and bipolar disorder is as clever as it is gratifying.

There have only been a handful of occasions where musicians have done a marvelous job at adapting their stories in the medium of comic books—Gerard Way with “The Umbrella Academy” and Tom Morello with “Orchid” come to mind—and it’s safe to say that Beamis’ name can be added to that pantheon.

The art by Coelho was extremely fitting to the story: going back and forth from normal life to chaotic, with the bizarre situations transitioning wonderfully and never looking out of place.

Some of the imagery was downright creepy at times, but it never entered the realm of cliché visions of a mentally unbalanced person that is seen all too frequently in the media.

Extras at the end of the book include a cover gallery featuring the original covers of the four issues from talented artists like Ulises Farinas, Tyler Crook and the amazing Frazer Irving.

“Polarity” is something both new and old comic readers can enjoy, no matter where they lay on the spectrum of sanity. With such an imaginative concept, you’d have to be crazy not to pick it up.

Alexis Garcia-Mills Staff Writer “Lizzie Borden Took an Axe,” a movie that is based on a true story illustrates the murder that has remained a legend in American society. In a majority of well-known murder cases, the tribute usually goes to the person or persons who were killed. But in this case the believed murderer, Lizzie Borden, is the main fascination and focus.

“Lizzie Borden took an axe. Gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done. She gave her father forty-one.” This nursery rhyme embellished and continued Lizzie Borden’s legacy to inspire for over a century. Today there are still movies, books, songs and theater performances being made about this horrific controversy.

Borden’s stepmother, Abby Borden, was stuck with a one-handed axe 19 times and the father, Andrew Borden, was struck 10 times on his skull approximately two hours later.

Premiering on the Lifetime channel last Saturday night was another recreation of the scandalous murder of Mr. and Mrs. Borden. “Lizzie Borden Took an Axe” incorporates the true facts of the story, but includes the ways they believe Borden tried to hide the evidence of this controversial murder.

The movie provided an interesting insight into the crime as the majority of the scenes matched what actually happened. Except some events such as burning the dress, committing the crimes naked, or knowing for sure that Borden killed her parents are not proven.

The movie started with the day of the murder as Borden finds her father dead on the couch in the sitting room.

After that dramatic event, the movie flashbacks to when tensions began to arise greatly in the Borden household.

Borden’s father, Andrew Borden, kept her on a tight leash and she felt she was kept in a prison at her father’s rule.

With a four-person household and

two dead, investigation began and Borden was a prime suspect. Other than the housekeeper, Bridget, who was cleaning the windows outside, there was no one else on the property the day of the murders. Even though there was no physical evidence to prove that Borden was the murderer, there has been no other explanation that makes sense.

Another interesting aspect is how Borden’s story about what happened that day was not consistent. Her story was constantly changing because she could not keep up with her lies. She said she was in the barn during the murder to find her fishing supplies, but later investigators found out she never owned any fishing supplies. She also told the police that she was downstairs when her father came home but then later said she was upstairs.

By being upstairs the assumption was made that she had just killed her stepmother in the guest bedroom where she was found. Approximately two hours later, her father was murdered, which meant that the murderer had to remain hiding in the house until no one was around and for the father to fall asleep.

Christina Ricci played Borden and she played the role perfectly by expressing the hidden rebellious secretive side. She conveys a look in her eye as an entry into her psychotic mind. She put on a front to hide behind another persona that she was only a woman so there was no possible way she commit this crime.

In this era, murders of this sort were unheard of, especially by a woman. One of the main reasons this case remains unsolved is because people believed a fragile beautiful woman such as Borden could not kill her own parents so violently.

This suspenseful thriller was informative to be able to see the overall history of the Borden case while taking artistic license with the story. For a Lifetime movie, this was a well-done method to tie the whole storyline of Borden together into a intriguing fashion.

Page 8

Features

Jan. 28 - Feb. 3, 2014

sonomastatestar.com

HUB honors civil rights activists Kathleen Collins Staff Writer This past December, the world lost an irreplaceable inspiration, leader and friend-Nelson Mandela.

On Jan. 20, as is customary every January, schools and businesses across the country enjoyed a day of rest to honor the late Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. On Jan. 22, the HUB at Sonoma State hosted a discussion on these two brave men and their groundbreaking contributions to the development of the civil rights movements.

The discussion included outside guests, as well as a class of Hutchins’ students and members of the HUB’s staff.

The contributors gathered for an introductory exchange, then broke off into smaller sections to discuss the information presented to them about the two leaders.

They then reconvened to open the discussion to the entire group. The talk covered a wide range of aspects of the men, including Dr. King’s “Triple Evils” theory and the differences in the dignitaries’ speech-delivery.

The energy in the room was unmistakable; the topic was full of passion and intensity, it was clear that this discussion was no ordinary lecture.

“What can we learn from these people, how can we learn how to act? Their inspiration acts as a backbone,” said Jason Smith, a senior communications major.

Different contributors brought their own views and insight to the table, resulting in a colorful, exuberant exchange.

They discussed how the peaceful approach used by Mandela contrasts the modern-day tendency that leans heavily towards violent rebuttals and war, which led into a questioning of what it means “to love.”

An idea of real-life application was at the underlying forefront of the discussion; the attendees were encouraged to take away a new sense of radicalization and to make little, positive changes in the world around them.

Doing simple tasks to help out their fellow man was encouraged and the point was stressed that large-scale advancement begins on a smaller scale.

Both men served as heads of different civil rights movements; Mandela in South Africa and Dr. King in the United States.

They shared similarities in their stance on peaceful protests, civil rights and equality.

Both are recognized for their ability to maintain a peaceful front in the face of physical violence; the contributors brought up the reasoning that peaceful movements are so successful because it’s hard

Faculty Spotlight: Karin Enstam Jaffe

COURTESY // sonoma.edu Karin Jaffe, Ph.D., is a biological anthropologist and is also the Anthropology Department Chair at SSU. Her main passion lies within studying primate behavior.

Angelica Viera Staff Writer Lions, tigers and bears, Oh my! But what about primates? About 50 years ago the most common name to be associated with these complex creatures would probably be primatologist, Jane Goodall.

Fast-forward to 2014, and Sonoma State has its very own force to be reckoned with in the jungle.

Biological anthropologist Karin Enstam Jaffe is the Anthropology Department chair and also the director of the Sonoma State University Primate Ethology Research Lab (SSUPER).

At first, Jaffe wanted to be an archeologist but then after realizing the vast amount of languages she would have to learn she chose to go down a different avenue.

Before starting her college career not sure of what she wanted to pursue, Jaffe reached out to a trusted high school teacher, in her case her AP History teacher, to talk about college and her options based on what she was interested in.

“He gave me a textbook on anthropology and I was leafing through it and I saw a section on Jane Goodall studying primates and primates are my favorite animal,” said Jaffe. “I started looking at schools that offered some kind of coursework or internships in primate behavior.”

She followed her appreciation for the social mammals to University of California San Diego where part of her coursework would be assisting in multiple projects at the San Diego Zoo, specifically with Orangutans and the space use of the François Leaf Monkey.

In 1994, she received her undergraduate degree in anthropology and went on to University of California Davis for her Master’s where she studied vervet and patas monkeys for two years in Laikipia, Kenya. Her specific area of interest, in terms of that project, was anti-predator behavior, seeing how their habitat affected their responses to predators.

“I studied things like if the monkeys were in an environment where trees are short and spaced far

to fight someone who won’t fight back.

Not every subtopic was as positive; the group also discussed how Dr. King applied for a gun for protection after a threat was made to his family and how he was denied because of the color of his skin.

The HUB, located on the second story of the student center, holds discussions like this several times a month.

They are open to anyone who is interested in the topic, which changes with every meeting.

Mark Fabionar, the director of the HUB, said that the main objective of the organization is to offer students and faculty a place to openly discuss diversity and social justice issues.

They also hold workshops and lectures on a wide range of topics and student organizations use the space to meet and plan.

The discussion and interaction with other minds helps clarify such issues. “[It was good to hear] others’ thoughts on how to move in a better direction, and apply it to current-day situations,” said grad student Kelly Hodgins.

Anyone who is interested in attending a discussion at the HUB is encouraged to check out their information site, Facebook.com/sonoma.thehub

facebook.com The HUB discussed the legacies that both Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela left in regard to the civil rights movement and the quest for equality.

apart, do they respond to predators differently than if they had really tall trees to climb up and then escape in the canopy?” said Jaffe. “It doesn’t make much sense to climb up a tree and not go anywhere if it’s short and close to the ground.”

Her favorite part about the wildlife experience was all of the animals she was able to see on a daily basis in their natural environment. Walking around seeing elephants, giraffes and zebras are not something everyone gets to see everyday.

After her two-year study, Jaffe went back to University of California, Davis to earn her Ph.D. in anthropology in 2004.

As she was finishing up her dissertation on the behavioral ethology of anti-predator behavior of vervet and patas monkeys, a friend reached out to Jaffe asking if she’d be interested in giving a lecture for his class.

She enjoyed the idea of being in a teaching environment at SSU and was aware there was a position open in the anthropology department.

Jaffe was able to meet with the staff and faculty she would be working alongside and everything just fell into place.

“It’s actually a really good place for me to be. I wanted to be at an institution that focused on teaching,” said Jaffe.

She’s happy that she could work relatively close to where her family lives in Portola Valley, in the Bay Area, and also close to collaborators in Davis.

“When I read the position announcement, I knew I wanted the job,” said Jaffe.

Currently not involved in fieldwork, Jaffe focuses more now on studies of primates and other species in captivity. She is the director of the SSUPER Lab, which gives the opportunity to five or six anthropology or biology undergraduate and graduate students to assist with a number of hands on research projects at various sites like the San Francisco Zoo and Safari West in Sonoma County.

“Right now I have biology students working on a project with an all male group of squirrel monkeys at the San Francisco Zoo,” said Jaffe. “Then I have students studying cheetah mating behavior at Safari West.”

Jaffe recently met with officials at the San Francisco Zoo to start a new project on her previous comrades, the patas monkeys.

She wants the students to focus on applied ethology projects where she reaches out to sites and asks if they are having any problems with their animals or any questions about their behavior that they would like some data on.

“For the most part, the keepers don’t really have the ability or the time to run those kinds of projects,” said Jaffe.

She then finds the right student to pair with an animal study based on what the site needs and what the student is currently studying. She says it is a win-win situation because it gives back to the site and also gives the students academic credit doing something that they enjoy.

Jaffe hopes to build stronger linkages and expand her number of sites to work with and hopefully turn those projects into publications, but for now she is comfortable with the size group that she has ensuring that everyone, most importantly the animals, are receiving the attention that they need.

“I honestly see myself at Sonoma State for the rest of my career,” said Jaffe. “Hopefully building that research program. If you’re interested in animal behavior, come visit me in Stevenson 2054D!”

Find us online Sonoma State STAR is online!

Updated within an hour after hard copies hit the stands, our website hosts every issue as well as online exclusive content, reader comments and interactive links. Share and view digital copies anywhere by visiting:

sonomastatestar.com Sonoma State STAR

@SonomaStateSTAR

Features

Jan. 28 - Feb. 3, 2014

sonomastatestar.com

Page 9

STAR // Melanie Hernandez Left: (From left to right) President of Wines and Vines Magazine Jacques Brix, Dylan Price, Taylor Hood, Wine Sense Club Vice President Cooper Niswonger, Club President Lauryn Mitrovich and Kristie Dyer; Right: Long tables are set up with snacks and wine glasses for members to mingle during meetings.

Wine Sense Club builds up wine appreciation Melanie Hernandez Staff Writer Sonoma State University lies in the heart of wine country, so why not be educated on the fundamentals of wine?

One way to ensure your knowledge of wine is to join the Wine Sense Club.

In meetings twice a month students get the opportunity to socialize with friends while they learn about wine and its industry.

Vice President Cooper Niswonger explained the club as a way to “expand the millennial generation’s knowledge of wine.”

The club’s job is to enhance the appreciation of wine in a way that intrigues anyone who attends their meetings and allows them to get to know the wine industry in a comfortable, engaging environment.

During their meetings, the Wine Sense Club tastes a variety of different wines along with snacks, such as grapes, cheese, crackers and olives.

Large tables are spread out during the meeting, making it easy to make friends and share opinions with students.

The Wine Sense club is a great opportunity for anyone

who has a wide appreciation of wine and wants to share it with other students at Sonoma State.

All of the club officers are Wine Business majors and have jobs at local wineries, making them knowledgable in the field of wine.

With the intelligent club officers, the meetings are often accompanied by guest speakers. This week was Jacques Brix, president and publisher of Wines and Vines magazine.

Along with their knowledge of the wine industry, guest speakers bring wine for the students to try.

This week’s guest speaker brought wines from a winery named De Novo along with a survey.

This survey was given to the students in the meeting as the millennial generation and will also be given to those of the baby boomer generation.

The survey was to compare the tastes of the different generations to see what consumers today prefer in buying wine compared to those of the baby boomer generation.

The survey included questions ref lecting the label on the wine bottle and the price of the wine.

The club officers do everything they can to ensure that students have an enjoyable experience at their meetings.

This includes amusing gift giveaways, like giving gift bags and throwing candy to people who have answered ques-

tions about what they have learned during the meeting or about wine in general: For example, how many vineyards are in the county of Sonoma?

Their gifts range from wine necessities to funny gag gifts that anyone would love.

Every Wine Sense meeting is vastly different, making it more exciting to go to every meeting since they are always doing something new and stimulating.

Information and upcoming events can be found on social media sites.

Students can follow them on Instagram or Twitter at ssu_ winesense, you can find them under “SSU Wine Sense” on Facebook, or follow their Tumblr, http://ssuwinesense.tumblr. com, to follow their upcoming events.

The club is welcome to any Sonoma State student from any major, giving an opportunity to learn what majors different from yours do. However, IDs are checked at the door.

Students under 21 have the opportunity to join their mailing list until you get the chance to attend their meetings.

The meetings are vibrant and full of pleasure, making one feel welcome even as a newcomer.

Their next event is on Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. in Schulz 1121.

Korbel, a large producer of sparkling champagne, will be visiting. The club will be making champagne cocktails.

STAR // Melanie Hernandez President of Wines and Vines Magazine came to speak at last week’s meeting.

facebook.com Members of the club were able to sample De Novo wines during their last meeting.

Identify

Students You Tell Us Tell Us Your Thoughts

Build

Participation

Design Your Library Build Your Library

Create

Make

Tell the Library

Discussion

Looking for the perfect opportunity to fulfill that New Year’s resolution to do more community service?

The Greek community and Join Us Making Progress have combined efforts to plan an SSU Greek-wide community service day.

The service day will be on Sunday, March 2 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will involve at least 500 Greeks volunteering for 12 to 15 organizations across Sonoma County.

Some of the organizations involved will be Redwood Empire Food Bank, Rohnert Park and Santa Rosa Animal Shelters, Sonoma State Children’s School, Sonoma State Community Garden and Rancho Cotati High School.

Adam Rosenkranz, senior at SSU and president of the InterFraternity Council, is one of the driving forces behind this project.

Rosenkranz is very passionate about showing Sonoma County that the Greek community and other clubs at Sonoma State are invested in the place they live.

“This event will give us an opportunity to show that we care and that we want to get involved in the community,” said Rosenkranz. “It is important to show that we are invested.”

He explained that this event would also give a chance to build relationships among students in different Greek organizations as well as individuals in other clubs on campus.

This event also fulfills the community service aspect of Greek life.

Rosenkranz, along with others working on this project, have reached out to other clubs on campus to get involved with this service day.

Not affiliated with Greek life? No problem.

“Anyone can join us for this day of service.

We want to make this a very successful event and any student can volunteer, even if you are not affiliated with any of the participating clubs,” said Rosenkranz.

There will be 12 to 15 site leaders to organize the specific volunteer work needed to be done at each volunteer site.

The delegation of work amongst different individuals will give these students the opportunity to not only volunteer for a good cause, but a chance to organize a successful large scale event.

Participating and organizing large volunteer events are always résumé worthy.

Each site will offer a different volunteer experience and there is something for everyone.

Some service projects involve on-site cleanups and painting.

If you like animals, perhaps cleaning cages or walking dogs at either the Rohnert Park or Santa Rosa Animal Shelter might suit you.

Individuals who volunteer at the Redwood Empire Food Bank can have the opportunity to be onsite at a food distributor.

Students can also be a part special group boxing projects for those in need.

If you like gardening, you can volunteer at the Sonoma State Community Garden, where you can tend to the existing vegetable plants.

Rosenkranz and others involved are still finalizing the list of volunteer organizations and they encourage any student with new ideas for possible volunteer work to let them know.

Students can contact Rosenkranz by e-mail at ifcsonomastate@gmail.com with any new volunteer ideas or can get more involved with this opportunity to and give back to the community.

Vision

Sara Molenda Staff Writer

Create Your Library

Greek community plans service day

Page 10

Sports

Jan. 28 - Feb. 3, 2014

sonomastatestar.com

Baseball field expects improvements

STAR // Halia Daughtery Despite a team injury, club volleyball won 3-2 against the Wildcats.

STAR // Connor Gibson Improvements will eventually include stadium lighting, new bleachers, restrooms and possibly a turf field.

Vasilios Loufas Staff Writer

S

onoma State is excited to welcome a new season of spring sports for the 2014 academic year. Sports fans are especially excited for Sonoma State baseball to get started. SSU’s baseball program has been around for a long time, and has been coached by John Goelz for the last 28 years.

“This will change the face of the program. This is my 29th year with this team and all we have are port-o-potties.”

Goelz has done a great job of running the program successfully, being nationally ranked in 23 of his 28 seasons coaching here. Goelz, along with the rest of the baseball program, wants to advance the baseball facilities and playing-level for the team.

Currently, a new building consisting of necessary baseball accommodations is being created. The new baseball headquarters right next to the field will consist of a locker room, players’ lounge, coaches’ offices, a

film room equipped with highspeed cameras, and four indoor batting cages. This project will help the baseball program train and better prepare themselves for games using high-speed cameras to watch super slowmotion film to study for games.

Goelz and the rest of the team believe it is only right that the baseball program takes necessary steps to elevating the program. Other schools have facilities and their teams have the much-needed batting cages and locker rooms to properly run a team.

Goelz explained that the program started with a building fund and raised lots of money for a new building. Goelz said that this would “change the face of the program.” They contacted people and collected money $100 at a time, and also got much larger donations. One man even donated more than $1 million dollars for the project to get going. The new building is being worked on and will be completed soon.

Baseball at Sonoma State started from the bottom and is now building up. Seats have been added and so have required dugouts.

Last year, baseball games averaged almost 500 people every game sitting on bleachers and the surrounding hillside around the playing field. The

baseball team looks to bring in even more seats to attract a crowd that can be seated comfortably.

The program is not going to stop until everything required for a successful team is completed.

There are a few more things that Goelz and the coaching staff would like to see. There are plans for other elements such as adding turf and putting up lights.

Turf would require less maintenance and make it easier on the team. Adding lights means the team can start hosting games at night. Day games can get hot and tiring, while night games can attract a larger crowd at cooler temperatures.

“This is my 29 th year with this team and all we have is port-o-potties,” Goelz said.

Acquiring restrooms is definitely a priority for the team so that fans can use proper restrooms during games. There are more things in store for SSU baseball.

The baseball team has gone to the College World Series tournament twice in the last five years. There are players currently in Major League Baseball that came from Sonoma State. Sonoma State baseball will be better equipped with the necessary workplace in the near future.

STAR // Connor Gibson This new building, located next to the baseball field, will feature a locker room, players’ lounge, coaches’ offices, a film room equipped with high-speed cameras, and four indoor batting cages.

Club volleyball vanquishes Chico Halia Daughtery Staff Writer

W

ith the season taking off this semester, the women’s club volleyball team’s first home tournament arrived Sunday, Jan. 26. The Seawolves conquered against the Chico State women’s club volleyball team with a final score of 3-2. The first of five games played in Sunday’s tournament started off with Chico making the first serve.

The Seawolves, eager to receive the

“I didn’t like that we went to five, I think that we could have taken them down way before.” ball, made it known that they were ready to win as they forcefully hit the ball back and forth with the Wildcats.

Pleasing the crowd, the Seawolves ended the first game with a close score of 25-21. Preparing for the second roundup, the Seawolves took the serve. With a defeat in the first game, the Wildcats made a comeback with a 25-19 win over the Seawolves in the second game.

The Seawolves and the Wildcats were tied; both teams shook out the

“This was sort of our first real game and we just need to learn how to play together and communicate more, there were a lot of emotions involved.”

nerves for the third game on the Wildcats serve. As the game was heating up and the girls were rushing around on the court, one of the Seawolves, Nicole Kielty, was injured in the middle of the game. On the f loor with her team surrounding her, she rose up and was assisted off the court with a large crowd cheering her on. With this motivation the Seawolves ended the game with a 25-18 score.

The fourth game down, the Wildcats came back yet again with a victory of 25-22 over the Seawolves. With the pressure on, having a strong home court advantage the fans stomped their feet and yelled for the girls, giving the Seawolves the courage to beat the Wildcats as they intended to do. The deciding game was ended by the Seawolves scoring 15-13 over the Wildcats. Page Hawkins scored the winning point.

The Seawolves played a good tournament that was entertaining and emotional throughout each game. However, being a back and forth match between the teams, some of the players were slightly displeased by not keeping a thorough defeat throughout the tournament.

“I didn’t like that we went to five, I think that we could have taken them down way before,” said teammate Florencia Hasson. “This was sort of our first real game and we just need to learn how to play together and communicate more. There were a lot of emotions involved.”

The team started off a strong season with a home win against one of our rival schools gives the team, as well as the fans, hope that the rest of the season will be just as strong as the game performance on Sunday.

Sports

Jan. 28 - Feb. 3, 2014

sonomastatestar.com

Page 11

SSU cheerleading ‘brings it on’ Gian D’Ambra Staff Writer

T

he question involving school spirit is frequently asked at Sonoma State. Though there is room for improvement in that category for the school as a whole, it is a mainstay in the attitudes of at least one club here on campus: the cheerleaders. It’s simply what they do. They like to make sure there is never a dull moment at the sporting events they attend. Take, for

“I’m super excited to be able to compete with some of my best friends on my team and I know we’ll do really great. example, the basketball games. “[One of our goals is to] have halftime routines ready, and also have routines for the media timeouts and have our cheers prepared,” said Senior Captain Dana Hachigian. “Just learning new cheers throughout the season so things don’t get boring.”

Performing at basketball games was put off this year until this semester.

It had nothing to do with their desire to be there to energize the crowd and support the teams; their problem was not having a coach. Without a coach they were not allowed to perform during sporting events. To their delight they got two coaches the first week of January. Jennifer Porter is one of those coaches and is ecstatic about the opportunity.

“I love coaching this team. It’s a great group of girls. I’m super excited and I can’t wait to continue on this journey and rebuild this program,” said Porter.

Having coaches that want to be

COURTESY // Josh Cantu Come March, the cheer team will be competing at nationals. around to get the best out of their athletes while making them better is a key component to any teams success. But, having a coach with outside accessibility can be even more important. Porter is also an employee at Fierce Cheer Elite in Santa Rosa, a cheer gym that she uses to her team’s advantage. Fierce is another place to practice and has the same mats that are used at competitions, unlike the Fieldhouse at SSU, their normal practice place, which has a hardwood gym floor.

The competition they will be com-

peting at this year is the United Spirit Association Collegiate Cheerleading and Dance Championships on March 23-24 in Anaheim. Although our cheerleaders love performing at homecoming, basketball games, and other events they are asked to attend, their excitement for this tournament exceeds all else.

“I’m super excited to be able to compete with some of my best friends on my team and I know we’ll do really great,” said freshman Savannah Hanoum.

For many, joining the cheerleading team was a great way to get involved and feel comfortable in college. Hanoum was a competitive cheerleader for six years prior to college and also cheered in high school.

“I’ve met a lot of great girls and I bond with them all the time,” said Hanoum. “I’m lucky to spend all the time I do with them in practice and outside of practice.”

Season is in session for these girls so tryouts won’t be held until later in the semester. The date is not yet set, but try-

Alex Rodriguez sues Major League Baseball Jake Tucker Staff Writer

O

A-Rod has accomplished so many things in his 20-year career. He is a 12-time all-star, three-time Most Valuable Player, and has 654 career home runs (fifth on the all-time list), and has been a huge role model to baseball fans all over the world for two decades.

Seawolf outfielder Giordano Salvetti said, “I think that steroids are unnecessary in baseball. Steroids were a trend

Jan. 28 Men’s Tennis at Saint Mary’s (Exhibition) 3 p.m.

Women’s Basketball at Chico State 5:30 p.m.

“They’re cheaters. They shouldn’t be allowed to play, they shouldn’t be paid, and they shouldn’t be allowed in the Hall of Fame.”

“It gives players an illegal advantage that isn’t earned through hard work every day in the weight room.”

Seawolf Sports

Jan. 31 Men’s Tennis at UC Santa Cruz (Exhibition) 2:30 p.m.

n Aug. 5, 2013, Alex Rodriguez, third baseman for the New York Yankees, was suspended for a recordsetting 211 games for testing positive to four different performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). After an arbitration hearing, this sentence was reduced to 162 games, suspending him for the entire 2014 season. He stated that he was going to fight the ruling in federal court.

This is not the first time Rodriguez has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. In February 2009, Rodriguez was suspended for testing positive for testosterone, Primobolan, and anabolic steroids. All of which are highly illegal for use of a Major League Baseball player.

Rodriguez has filed a lawsuit against Major League Baseball claiming that they bribed the main witness in his case. He believes that Major League Baseball paid Anthony Bosch, the proprietor of the Biogenesis clinic (Rodriguez’s source of PEDs) $5 million to cooperate against “A-Rod.” Rodriguez also claims that the league has breached his confidentiality agreement by sending harmful evidence to media sources.

Major League Baseball players have responded in a big way to A-Rod’s lawsuit. Many headlines thinly veil Rodriguez’s fate when he returns to the league. A New York Post headline states “A-Rod ‘needs to be scared’: Players vent anger over lawsuit.” A CBS Sports also states “Fellow players hope to kick A-Rod out of players’ union.” The report predicts that when Rodriguez returns to the league, he will be intentionally hit by pitches. Not exactly a welcome back party.

outs are usually held in late April every year. Depending on the size of the team after April’s tryouts they hold a final tryout at the end of August, right after school starts each fall.

Find one of the girls on Facebook or go to a practice before they leave for nationals in March to find out more exact details if you are interested in joining the team.

Practices are held weekly on Sunday from 4 - 7 p.m., and Monday and Wednesday 7:30 - 10 p.m.in the Fieldhouse by the main gym.

Men’s Basketball at Chico State 7:30 p.m.

flickr.com Many baseball players at SSU disapprove the use of performance enhancing drugs in professional sports. for professional ball players that have a lack of confidence.

The thing I love about baseball is that it’s not always about strength. It’s about consistency, technique and fundamentals.”

Performance enhancing drugs play a large role in today’s sports. In 2003, 1,200 Major League Baseball players were tested for PEDs and 104 tested positive. That’s almost nine percent of players.

“It gives players an illegal advantage that isn’t earned through hard work every day in the weight room,” said pitcher Haydon Turpin. “Not only does it give other players an advantage that take steroids, it’s horrible for your body. They get you bigger and stronger in a non-natural way.”

When asked how he felt about major league players who use performance-enhancing drugs, catcher Will Lighthouse said, “They’re cheaters. They shouldn’t be allowed to play, they shouldn’t be paid, and they shouldn’t be allowed in the Hall of Fame.”

The league is cracking down on steroid use. They have very strict policies. The first positive test earns players a 50-game suspension. The second positive test lands players a 100-game suspension. The third time results in a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball. All bans are administered without pay.

Feb. 1 Women’s Tennis vs. Dominican 11 a.m.

Men’s Tennis at Santa Clara 2 p.m.

Women’s Basketball at. Cal State Stanislaus 5:30 p.m.

Men’s Basketball at. Cal State Stanislaus 7:30 p.m.

Courtesy of

sonomaseawolves.com

Page 12

Photo

Jan. 28 - Feb. 3, 2014

sonomastatestar.com

This week in photos...

For more, visit our gallery at SonomaStateSTAR.com

STAR Photographers: Connor Gibson, Cara Fuqua and Evan Croker. From top to bottom: (1) Students enjoy their artwork at Decisions Driven Art Show. (2) Handel’s Theodora blows the GMC’s roof off. (3) President Ruben Armiñana speaks to the Sonoma State STAR about a potential new fee. (4) A guest speaks to a crowd during a Holocaust commemoration in Cotati.