Volume 8, Issue 15 by The Bottom Line (UCSB)

Volume 8, Issue 15 | Feb. 26 -Mar. 4, 2014

UCSB’s Weekly Student-Run Newspaper

@tblucsb / thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu

FAMILY

TWITCH

VOYEUR

Santa Barbara indieelectronic locals FMLYBND make SOhO “Come Alive.”

Users decide on anarchy or democracy as the masses of the Internet trudge through Pokemon.

A young man decides to lose his virginity in front of an audience. Is it art or obscenity?

A&E / 5

Sci & Tech / 7

OPINIONS / 8

WALK FOR WATER

AS BEAT REPORT

AS Senate Approves Video Documentation and Discusses Campus Plagiarism

Photo by Lorenzo Basilio | Staff Photographer

Members of the Investment Advisory Committee present to the AS Senate last Wednesday, Feb. 19. by Kelsey Knorp AS BEAT REPORTER

Photo / 4 Photo by Benjamin Hurst | Staff Photographer

THIRSTY: Students pose for a photo at the Walk for Water, a project to raise awareness about the world’s water needs, on Feb. 22, 2014.

IV BEAT REPORT

Isla Vista Reeling from Report of Beating and Rape of UCSB Student

Photo by Margarita Baliyan | Staff Photographer

Take Back the Night raises awareness of their “Take Back the Streets” campaign.

by Giuseppe Ricapito IV Beat Reporter

etween the hours of 11 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22, and 4 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 23, a female University of California, Santa Barbara student was severely beaten and raped by multiple suspects at an undetermined location between the UCSB campus and Isla Vista. UCSB students were made aware almost immediately via the university’s Emergency Alert system of the two cases of sexual assault that occurred over the past weekend. An updated Santa Barbara Sheriff ’s Office news release notes that the victim was last seen on the Sunday between midnight and 12:30, “walking northbound on Embarcadero Del Mar in the vicinity of Segovia Road.” Following the attack, the victim was able to return to her Isla Vista residence and notify her roommate. Her roommate immediately called the police and the victim was “transported by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment of her injuries and an

examination.” The victim was released from the hospital Monday afternoon and is currently with her family. UCSB released a statement Monday afternoon in response to the sexual assault. “The University is deeply concerned about the attack this weekend on a student of ours,” it noted. “The safety and welfare of our students and our campus community is our highest priority.” Santa Barbara County Sheriff ’s Detectives and Deputies with the Isla Vista Foot Patrol are working with University of California Police Department Officers to discover the identities of the perpetrators and uncover where the incident occurred. The suspects are described as adult Asian males. One night earlier, on Friday, Feb. 22, another female was sexually assaulted on the 6500 block of Del Playa Drive. An unknown male suspect, described as “5’ 6” with dark hair and brown eyes and a thin build,” met the victim outside of a

See REACT | Page 2

'Facing Race' Challenges Internalized and Institutionalized Racism

by Alex Albarran-Ayala STAFF WRITER

ssociated Students’ Students Commission on Racial Equality (SCORE) held the 15th annual Facing Race conference on Saturday, Feb. 23. In total, 143 attendees gathered at the Student Resource Building of the University of California, Santa Barbara in order to discuss issues regarding racial equality. The theme, “Fighting Racism Within: Transforming SelfHate to Self Love,” deals with internalized racism, said co-chair of SCORE and fourth-year Middle Eastern Studies major Hani Tajsar as he prepared to introduce keynote speaker Steven Osuna. “Educate, be excited about it, and organize,” said Osuna, a UCSB Ph.D candidate in sociology, drawing from Italian socialist thinker Antonio Gramsci. “Those are three things that are very important for us to think about when we think about internalized racism.”

After the keynote speech, SCORE initiated the first workshop session and reminded students of various community agreements such as the “Use of inclusive language” and “Challenge the idea, not the person.” In session one, a workshop titled “Potato: Decolonizing Beauty Standards on Brown Bodies” was presented by the South Asian Student Association. Third-year Prabhjot Singh, secondyear Tara Atrian, and third-year Hari Kota presented topics such as shadeism, body hair, beauty, and “potato” in the context of South Asia. “[Like a potato,] brown is the outside but it has a lot of internalized whiteness,” said Kota as she explained the title of the workshop. Throughout this session, students shared personal anecdotes and ideas about the stigmatization of darkness, specifically in South Asian cultures. “Historically, women who had pale skin were in a very high

See RACE | Page 2

Associated Students Senate approved the production of video recaps of its meetings and learned of a recent increase in plagiarism among students at its informal meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Due to a glitch in the sending of this week’s Senate agenda, it was not released to the rest of AS a full 24 hours before the Senate convened. This meant that they were prohibited under the Brown Act from formally voting on any of these matters, and the meeting held Wednesday night therefore served as a preliminary discussion before the email vote that took place the evening of Thursday, Feb. 20, and the morning of Friday, Feb. 21. Wednesday night, Student Advocate General Kristian Whittaker mentioned during his report to the Senate that recent cases dealt with by his office have demonstrated a trend toward increased plagiarism, mostly among international students. “They have never been properly briefed on our academic policies, and their idea of plagiarism is very different than our idea of plagiarism,” Whittaker said. As a result of this influx, Whittaker said that his office is working to develop a more comprehensive program for these students to complete at their orientations. He also noted that the trend he has seen is cheating on exams, rather than plagiarism committed by not crediting sources or by directly copying work in a paper completed outside of the classroom. “A Resolution in Support of Producing ‘The Senate Room’ Video Logs,” which passed with a 20-1-0 vote submitted via email, authorizes the production of a short weekly video summarizing Senate proceedings at that week’s meeting. The first video was released Wednesday night, resulting in significant excitement from its producers, Off-Campus Sens. Montana Maclachlan and Andre Theus. “I haven’t seen something like this come out of AS in the last three years,” Theus said. “This is a huge step for AS.” Each video is projected to be one to two minutes long in order to summarize Senate operations concisely while avoiding a loss of viewer interest. Theus and Maclachlan both hope that the videos will endure throughout future years as a means of providing transparency within AS. Senior Associate Dean of Student Life Debbie Fleming also gave a report during Wednesday’s meeting regarding the upcoming meningitis B vaccine clinics to occur at the UCSB Recreation Center’s Multi-Activity Court (MAC) from Feb. 24 to Mar. 7. She noted that representatives from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention will be present at the clinics for consultation purposes. Fleming warns the student body to be cautious, noting that there were several months between similar cases of meningitis at Princeton University and that the outbreak cannot be considered finished until more time has passed without a new case. AS President Jonathan Abboud noted during his report later in the meeting that the vaccine’s cost has been estimated at $2 million, but as of yet this charge has not been assigned to any particular department or faction of the UCSB administration. He feels that due to the public risk caused by the outbreak, the University of California Office of the President or other such entity should shoulder this financial burden. The Senate also passed “A Resolution Urging the Association to Reduce Water Usage” and “A Bill to Restructure the LRC Legal Code” during its email vote.

UCSB Observes International Mother Language Day with Linguistic Scholars by Mimi Liu STAFF WRITER University of California, Santa Barbara hosted the International Mother Language Day conference on Thursday, Feb. 20, in the McCune Conference Room in the Humanities and Social Sciences Building (HSSB). The conference featured Carole Chaski and Maria M. Carreira. Feb. 21 was named International Mother Language Day by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in remembrance of University of Dhaka students who participated in the Bengali Language Movement 62 years ago. The student activists were killed in their protest to have Bengali recognized as an official language of Pakistan. “The conference…seeks to promote multilingualism, awareness of the plight of language minorities, tolerance toward different cultures and the preservation of linguistic diversity,” according to the UCSB press release. Chaski is a computational linguist and executive director of the Institute for Linguistic Evidence (LLE). She has been

See LANGUAGE | Page 2

Page 2 | News

The Bottom Line | Feb. 26 -Mar. 4, 2014

—RACE

Photo by Benjamin Hurst | Staff Photographer

Attendees perform the unity clap at Facing Race on Feb. 22, 2014.

class,” said third-year communication major Chris Nguyen. “They didn’t have to work. They would stay indoors all the time, and then that’s how the image of a darker person is viewed as lesser, because darker people are working class.” Next, in session two, a workshop about UC investments was presented by first-year communication major Anumita Kaur and firstyear global studies major Allison Bettencourt. Bettencourt said that in the case of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, some UCSB students were critical of where their tuition money was going, so they brought forth “A Resolution to Divest from Companies that Profit from Apartheid” to AS Senate in Spring 2013. As a comparison, Kaur used the successful UC divestment from apartheid-era South Africa. “We as students do have so much

power,” she said. In the last session, one workshop presented by AS Student Initiated Recruitment and Retention Committee (SIRRC) addressed microaggressions, primarily as they occur in the educational setting. “[Microaggressions are] comments or jokes or just anything said about a certain group that is either intentional or unintentionally derogatory or offensive towards them,” said fourth-year undergraduate Iris Yang, retention co-chair for SIRRC. Sometimes these microaggressions may detract students from desired career paths. “For a while I felt so not confident about my major,” SIRRC co-chair and AS Sen. Belen Verdugo said. “But then I just really learned to love my major.” The presenters briefly discussed the possibility of the Gaucho mascot being a racist icon, an idea previously

continued from page 1

announced by AS Living History Adviser Mahader Tesfai on his Facebook wall. Reception of this topic was neutral. Afterwards, caucus spaces were made available for people who identified as part of a particular group. The groups included South Asian, Queer People of Color, and Pacific Islander, among others. “I haven’t really been in a time where I’ve been in a room with people that are all of mixed race,” said secondyear EEMB major Kai Wilmsen after attending the Mixed Heritage caucus, “so I thought that was really cool and a very refreshing experience to be able to talk about the things that we face as mixed race students.” Finally, guest speaker Kashira Ayers, third-year communication and feminist studies double major, gave the closing statement. Ayers’ speech concluded with these words: “In solidarity and in struggle, we will rise.”

—REACT

continued from page 1

party and then assaulted her behind a vehicle. The suspect was last seen fleeing west on Del Playa Drive. Take Back the Night (TBTN), a student group committed to raising awareness of sexual violence, is currently involved in a project called “Take Back the Streets,” a weeklong effort to combat street harassment. The very visual campaign— complete with banners, t-shirts, and flyers all across campus—will promote the committee’s advocacy for survivors of sexual assault. TBTN Co-Chair Tara Atrian, a second-year sociology and Black studies major, confirmed that “Take Back the Streets” would be addressing the weekend’s incidents. “Take Back the Night is working directly with other members of Associated Students to put pressure on our administration to focus on issues of sexual violence and publicize/provide more resources for survivors,” she said. “In a sense, the

entire Take Back the Streets campaign addresses the recent sexual violence incidents because through this campaign we are reclaiming the streets and letting the community know that we are no longer afraid.” These attacks have raised greater concern about student and community safety in Isla Vista, especially during dark, late nights. Though new LED lighting was constructed in October 2013, illuminating portions of Del Playa, Sabado Tarde, Trigo and Camino Corto, many portions of Isla Vista still remain unlit and potentially unsafe for residents. More effective and frequent local policing was another proposed preventive measure for rape in Isla Vista. The university statement in response to the sexual assault noted “increased UCPD patrols on campus and in the community to provide an added measure of security…”

TBL 2013-2014 Staff Executive Managing Editor | Cheyenne Johnson Executive Content Editor | Parisa Mirzadegan Copy Editor | Camila Martinez-Granata News Editor | Lily Cain Features Editor | Katana Dumont Opinions Editor | Anjali Shastry Arts & Entertainment Editor | Deanna Kim Science & Technology Editor | Matt Mersel Photography Editor | Magali Gauthier Senior Layout Editor | Haley Paul Senior Layout Editor | Robert Wojtkiewicz Layout Editor | Beth Askins Layout Editor | Morey Spellman Multimedia Editor | Brenda Ramirez National Beat Reporter | Allyson Werner Isla Vista Beat Reporter | Giuseppe Ricapito Associated Students Beat Reporter | Kelsey Knorp Promotions Director | Audrey Ronningen Advertising Director | Marissa Perez Staff Adviser | Monica Lopez Writers this issue: Travis Taborek, Giuseppe Ricapito, Bailee Abell, Mimi Liu, Lexi Weyrick, Pragya Parmita, Cindy Chan, Julia Frazer, Sam Goldman, Alex Albarran-Ayala, Allyson Werner, Deanna Kim, Ivy Kuo, Kelsey Knorp, Janani Ravikumar, Gilberto Flores, Anjila Hjalsted, Evelin Lopez Photographers this issue: Lorenzo Basilio, Magali Gauthier, Benjamin Hurst, John Clow, Margarita Baliyan, Neha Pearce Illustrators this issue: Amanda Excell, Maya Bolanos

The Bottom Line is sponsored by the Associated Students of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Opinions expressed in TBL do not necessarily represent those of the staff, AS, or UCSB. Published with support from Generation Progress/Center for American Progress (genprogress.org). All submissions, questions or comments may be directed to bottomlineucsb@gmail.com or content.tbl@gmail.com.

The Bottom Line provides a printed and online space for student investigative journalism, culturally and socially aware commentary, and engaging reporting that addresses the diverse concerns of our readership and community. This is your community to build, share ideas, and publicize your issues and events. We welcome your questions, comments, or concerns at bottomlineucsb@gmail.com, or call our office phone at 805-893-2440.

THE BOTTOM LINE IS A PROUD MEMBER OF

Our web magazine offers hard-hitting journalism, analysis, and multimedia on issues of the greatest concern to young people; gives young writers, reporters, artists, and others the chance to publish nationally; and builds a community of progressives interested in issues, ideas, and activism.

The statement also referenced educational advocacy. “We will work with our students, faculty and staff through training, prevention and support programs to continue to raise awareness about sexual assault,” it said. Atrian suggested that a wide “awareness of the issues” would ultimately inhibit the notion of street harassment as “normal.” “Hopefully students will be inspired by this campaign to address various aspects of street harassment,” she said. “It will show perpetrators that sexual violence and street harassment will not be accepted in Isla Vista any longer.” The Take Back the Night campaign comes at an important moment; as it recalls survivor empowerment and an effort to eradicate sexual violence from Isla Vista, the events of the past weekend will undoubtedly be on student’s minds.

Photo by Margarita Baliyan | Staff Photographer

Take Back the Night creates T-shirts for their campaign to combat sexual assault.

—LANGUAGE consulted and testified in courts up to the federal level, and has published over 50 articles. Chaski presented many real case scenarios in which forensic linguistics is used in law, the first involving a suicide note found on a home computer after the death of a healthy man. “It showed me the absolute seriousness of this field,” Chaski said. “What you’re doing has real life significance, and is going to really affect somebody.” She specifically talked about forensic linguistics, the field of analyzing and observing language that has any kind of forensic significance at all. There must be certain linguistic standards for the analysis of language with forensic significance, using the linguistics model of language. This stylistic approach separates grammar into “bad” and good grammar. However, this is not always the best approach when identifying an author in a forensic linguistic setting. “Stylistics relies on the examiners’ intuitions about oddity,” Chaski said. “And linguistics relies on linguistic norms and frequencies.” An example she presented is that

continued from page 1 many times, authorities will use multiple misspellings as a way to identify a criminal. In short, stylistic analysis relies on an examiners’ intuition, and linguistic analysis relies on statistical analysis. The former tends to have a low or nonexistent accuracy rate, and the latter has a high accuracy rate of over 95 percent. Chaski finished by welcoming interested scholars into the community of forensic linguistics. Carreira, professor of Spanish at California State University, Long Beach, presented “Lost in Translation: Mapping the Value of Heritage Languages and Heritage Speakers” next. Her research is about heritage languages, identity, and developing and maintaining one’s heritage language. “Twenty-two percent of children in the country speak a language other than English at home,” Carreira said. “For California it’s 46 percent.” She talked about the possibilities that heritage learners and speakers— people raised in a home where a language other than English is spoken— possess, including valuable linguistic and cultural skills. Her focus extends from linguistics to the sociocultural

aspects of language. “I want to look at how these young people negotiate these very difficult situations…and their ability to straddle two worlds,” Carreira said. Her research has concluded that the majority of people report that having a mother tongue has benefits, from making friends at school and understanding other people better to, very importantly, having the ability to understand oneself. Carreira has examined foreign language classes and believes that they could improve. Many textbooks don’t account for the perspective of two different languages and cultures that many heritage language learners must adjust to. Additionally, many learners of a language are of that descent, but are not native speakers, and that is not taken into account; most classes contain a mix of native and non-native speakers. “Heritage languages have value to others and society,” Carreira said. “It’s the ability to help others in a variety of ways, particularly by engaging in language and cultural brokering, which are critical skills for teachers, social workers, healthcare professionals, and business professionals.”

NATIONAL BEAT REPORT

Ugandan President to Sign Anti-Gay Legislation, Obama and UCSB Community React by Allyson Werner NATIONAL BEAT REPORTER

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed a controversial new bill into law on Monday, Feb. 24, under which homosexuals could be sentenced to life-long imprisonment. The proposed law criminalizes homosexuality and makes it a crime to not report homosexual activity. In addition, the law makes it illegal to promote homosexuality–even including talking about it without condemning it. The new legislation requires 14 years in jails for first-time offenders and allows life imprisonment for acts of “aggravated homosexuality.” United States President Barack Obama previously issued a statement condemning the Ugandan government for the discriminatory legislation. “I am so deeply disappointed that Uganda will shortly enact legislation that would criminalize homosexuality,” said Obama. “The Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda, once law, will be more than an affront and a danger to the gay community in Uganda; it will be a step backward for all Ugandans and reflect poorly on Uganda’s commitment to protecting the human rights of its people.”

Museveni wants to approve the law before foreign media in order to assert “Uganda’s independence in the face of Western pressure,” a spokesman said. The United States is currently one of Uganda’s largest aid donors, and Obama told reporters that the new legislation might complicate the relationship between the two countries. The United States gives Uganda roughly $400 million a year, and Uganda serves as an important regional ally for the United States. “As we have conveyed to President Museveni, enacting this legislation will complicate our valued relationship with Uganda,” said Obama. “At a time when, tragically, we are seeing an increase in reports of violence and harassment targeting members of the LGBT community from Russia to Nigeria, I salute all those in Uganda and around the world who remain committed to respecting the human rights and fundamental human dignity of all persons.” University of California, Santa Barbara students active in the LGBTQ community also reacted negatively to the proposed legislation in Uganda. Co-chair of Queer Student Union (QSU) Chris Buck, second-

year sociology and financial mathematics/statistics double major, feels that, although Obama’s statements toward Uganda are positive, he should focus more on the progression of gay rights within the United States. “Though it is exciting to see the president publicly state [support for] gay rights, I feel that Obama is generally missing the mark on the progression of gay rights in the U.S.,” said Buck. For example, Buck feels that Obama’s focus specifically on gay marriage is misguided. “While marriage equality is important, I believe [that] Obama should be using his voice to bring focus onto more important LGBTQ issues, such as the high rates of LGBTQ youth homelessness,” he said. Refocusing on Uganda, Buck said that he would like to see a more active response to the proposed legislation, citing the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights as grounds for action. “This bill clearly violates multiple articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights laid out more than 60 years ago by the general assembly of the United Nations,” he said. “[Obama’s] statement…reads as a formality.”

The Bottom Line | Feb. 26 -Mar. 4, 2014

Features | Page 3

Jodi Cobb’s Worldly Photography Enchants Spectators at Campbell Hall by Bailee Abell STAFF WRITER

Former National Geographic photographer Jodi Cobb presented on the afternoon of Feb. 23 in the third installment of the “National Geographic Live” series by Arts & Lectures at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Almost every seat in Campbell Hall was filled, and the audience was left in wonderment and inspiration from the moment Cobb arrived onstage through the Q&A session after her presentation. Introducing Cobb was her close friend and colleague Tipper Gore, who shared some of her opinions of Cobb, while refraining from telling potentially embarrassing personal anecdotes of their long-term friendship. She regarded Cobb as “a woman who breaks through barriers with a velvet touch.” “She also finds beauty in the world,” said Gore. “Her eye shows us what we would miss otherwise.” Following Gore’s heartfelt introduction, Cobb walked onstage and immediately captivated the audience with her kind-spoken words and worldly experience. “I became a photographer because I wanted to change the world; it’s just been a lot harder than I thought it would be,” said Cobb. Her presentation began with a slideshow of photos from her childhood, from images of her childhood in Iran to the first photos she took herself. During her youth, Cobb travelled the world with her family, and by the age of 12 she had already been around the world twice and visited 15 countries. It was through

the experiences–of meeting people from worlds entirely different from her own–that Cobb came to many realizations. “I knew earlier than most people that I didn’t know anything,” said Cobb. After receiving her Master of Arts and Bachelor of Journalism degrees from the University of Missouri, Cobb began working for a small-town newspaper in Denver, and a majority of her assignments were photographing well-known bands. “I was still a hippie, and most of my friends were musicians,” said Cobb. “We didn’t buy things, because we didn’t have money. We made them.” She was laid off eight months after she started, and when an editor at National Geographic magazine received word, he offered her a trial position. Despite her hesitation to move from a little-known newspaper to a world-renowned magazine, the 26-year-old accepted the offer. “Everyone advises young people to find their passion. That’s a lot easier said than done, I think, but I knew I had found mine,” said Cobb. “Nothing ever happens when you’re ready, so I jumped.” After five years of only shooting in the U.S., Cobb was finally given her first international assignment– a story in Helsinki, Finland. She worked alongside the world’s best journalists in Palestine, and later Hong Kong, which she regards as a “place frozen in time.” The rest of Cobb’s presentation was focused on her most recent projects about the lives of veiled women

Photos by John Clow | Staff Photographer

Jodi Cobb, National Geographic’s first female staff photographer, speaks at the “National Geographic Live” series. in Saudi Arabia and Japan’s secret Geisha culture. But the most captivating story was about slavery in the 21st century. She retold her journeys through countries such as India, where children are forced to spin looms and make bracelets in dirty, poorly-lit rooms with little to no ventilation, and young girls are sold into marriage by their families. “Buying stuff cheap isn’t as nice as it used to be, because someone makes that stuff, and nothing is cheaper than a slave,” said Cobb. Because of the intensity of her past assignments, Cobb wanted to take a break and went on to travel to Venice, where she spent months photographing reflections in the water of the canals. “In the end, maybe I didn’t change the world, but the world

Jodi Cobb shows pictures she took as a child. changed me profoundly and irrevocably,” said Cobb. Currently, Cobb is going through photographs from over 35 years ago for her retrospective autobiographical book. Her other collections are available for purchase.

In one of her closing statements, Cobb said, “I am a journalist, but I am a photographer, and I like to illuminate these situations. I can’t do anything about them…but I can have them reach 40 million people who might be able to.”

The Politics, Culture, and Family of Black Student Union by Ivy Kuo STAFF WRITER The Black Student Union of University of California, Santa Barbara is an organization that empowers and unifies African-American students by providing them with the resources to succeed academically and socially. Through its educational workshops, cultural events, and political programs, the BSU provides a plethora of resources to address the needs of the African Diaspora. “We’re culturally and politically driven,” said Terron Wilkerson, a fifth-year Black studies major and BSU Outreach Co-chair. “We have an obligation as Black people who have made it to higher education. There’s a lot of us that don’t receive this opportunity, so it’s our mission to spread and create awareness, because we’re heavily outnumbered on this campus.” It’s no surprise that the Black Student Union is so politically driven, for the organization was birthed out of a time of social activism in the 1960s, the decade of the civil rights movement and social reform. On Oct. 14, 1968, 12 BSU students were so distressed with UCSB’s treatment of African-Americans that they barricaded themselves inside North Hall, refusing to leave until the chancellor agreed to listen to their concerns. “There were a low amount of Blacks on campus, so they decided they needed an organization to organize them around the issues they were facing on campus,” said Alexis Wright, fourth-year Black studies

major and BSU Co-chair. The students presented a list of demands that addressed the flaws of an education that didn’t reflect their needs and offered solutions. Thus, their diligent efforts accomplished a tremendous feat, for the UCSB’s Black Studies Department and Center for Black Studies Research was then established, both of which were major achievements for the AfricanAmerican community. The Black Student Union remains just as politically centered today, as they continue to address race relation issues and initiate direct action. The members hold intellectual discussions and come up with solutions through caucuses, group dialogue, and conferences, such as at their annual Afrikan Black Coalition Conference. Every year, BSU chapters at all UC campuses come together to represent Black students of California, discuss the inequalities students of color regularly face at universities, and attend workshops. “The workshops are not only where we talk about issues, such as campus climate and matriculation, but we also come up with solutions,” said Aja Marshall, third-year communication major and Afrikan Black Coalition Co-chair. “We had a lot of really good speakers, like Bobby Seale and Angela Davis, and that was really important and empowering for us, because we’ve only read about them in our history books.” The number of African-Americans at UCSB has remained below an underwhelming 5 percent of the

student body for the past few decades. The conference aims to address issues of underrepresentation and to build camaraderie among students of color who often feel disenfranchised in a school setting. “We believe that the university should reflect the makeup of the population or state, and that’s not happening at most higher education institutions,” said Wright. “On this campus, it hasn’t gone up above 4 percent since 1968.” In the spring of 2012, BSU released a list of 10 demands to the UCSB administration, regarding its low recruitment and retention rate of Black students. “It’s not enough to just get us here, because a lot of Black students share the sentiment that we come in with 30 people and graduate with 15, and for some reason, we’re not retaining to the university,” said Wright. Along with its political and cultural programs, BSU also organizes numerous social events in order to unite the Black community, ranging from tabling at the Arbor, open mic performances, comedy acts, and movie nights. The club provides an open setting where African-American students can unite and bond, free of any uncomfortable social stigma that may be present on other parts of campus. “Alexis and I have done everything we could to make sure that the community stays unified, and provide whatever resources we can to the community,” said Lisa Berry, fourth-year Black studies major and BSU Co-chair.

Photo by Benjamin Hurst | Staff Photographer

Alexis Wright and Aja Marshall of the Black Student Union on Feb. 23, 2014. “It’s a nice family space,” said Marshall. “Every time I come to a BSU event or meeting, I know I’m around friends and family. It’s really nice to have that break from

academics.” The BSU will be holding its last Black History Month event, Comedy Night in the Hub, on Friday, Feb. 28, at 9 p.m.

Questions with Surfing Leader Shaun Tomson by Alex Albarran-Ayala STAFF WRITER

Shaun Tomson, South African businessman and former world surfing champion, visited the University of California, Santa Barbara to give a keynote address to inspire waves of student leaders. The event, held at Corwin Pavilion on Feb. 20, 2014, was part of the Office of Student Life’s 14th Annual Student Leader-

ship Conference. After his speech, Tomson dedicated time to talk with students, faculty, and staff, as well as autograph copies of his newest book, “The Code: The Power of ‘I Will.’” TBL sat down with Tomson to find out more about his code of self determination and his role as a leader. Q: How did you realize that using a code would become a positive motivation for people? A: I didn’t intend it to be that. What I originally intended was just to be a gift to a group of young people–a distillation of what surfing had given me–and I was then giving that gift unto a group of young people. So it was never meant to give people

hope like it has. You know when you think of something and then you write it down, it develops a life of its own. The words become animate, they move and they love, and that’s what happened to it–it’s become something alive. Q: Do you support any nonprofit or philanthropic organizations? If so, what are they? A: Yes, I have been on the board of directors of Surfrider Foundation for many years; I was the first person to actually be a member in 1984. And I am a big supporter, and on the board, of Santa Barbara Boys and Girls Club. So both helping the environment and helping young people are very big passions of mine and part of my life’s mission.

Q: What advice would you give to students confronting difficult life decisions? A: Think twice before you make a decision. I think that mantra should be at the forefront of every young person’s mind, because when you are young you have more chance of dying, and if you just think twice it’s that moment of introspection before you make a decision that can save your life. Q: What would you recommend to students who are trying to become entrepreneurs themselves? A: Try to find something that you are passionate about and build your career around that. I’ll tell you why, because it doesn’t feel like work!

Q: Could you give me a description of growing up during the transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa? A: It was like a flower that had been closed that was suddenly opening, and not just opening and releasing its beauty, but releasing this kind of fragrance that enveloped the country in this fragrance of hope… There is a big movement [Surfers Not Street Children] in Durban, my old city, where a friend of mine [Tom Hewitt] is rehabilitating gang kids through surfing and putting them on a positive path using surfing as the vehicle… He, for his philanthropic work, was actually given an MBE [Most Excellent Order of the British Empire] by the Queen, so it’s a very high civilian honor.

The Bottom Line | Feb. 26 -Mar. 4, 2014

Page 4 | Photography

Above and below by Neha Pearce | The Bottom Line

Volunteers carry buckets full of water on a 5k walk around the lagoon in order to gain an appreciation for the distance an average person in Honduras would have to walk in order to obtain drinkable water.

Third-year environmental science major Evan Garcia and fourth-year geography major Ryan Fallgatter carry their buckets full of water.

WALKING

Photo by Madison King | Staff Photographer

Mary Gao (left) and Krista Fruehauf (right) walk ahead of the 5K participants.

UCSB students gathered on Saturday, Feb. 22, to raise money for sustainable water projects in rural Honduras. Organized by UCSB Global Water Bridages, the event drew students who volunteered to carry a bucketful of ocean water 5 kilometers around the campus lagoon. This experience was intended to help raise student awareness of the journey many people around the world go through in order to simply access clean water.

WATER

Photo by Benjamin Hurst | Staff Photographer

Fourth-year geography major Ryan Fallgatter holds up at sign before the Walk 4 Water began.

Photo by Neha Pearce | The Bottom Line

Participants in the Walk 4 Water reach the finish line.

Photo by Benjamin Hurst | Staff Photographer

First-year Jose Jimenez and first-year computer engineering major Luis Ramirez Liva enjoy water after the Walk 4 Water.

Photo by Benjamin Hurst | Staff Photographer

Third-year cellular and developmental biology major Mary Gao (right) and third year-physiology major Krista Fruehauf (left) take a break after participating in the 5k Walk 4 Water.

Photo by Neha Pearce | The Bottom Line

Third-year environmental science major Evan Garcia and third-year economics major Paul Dingus struggle to separate the buckets they will use.

Arts & Entertainment | Page 5

The Bottom Line | Feb. 26 -Mar. 4, 2014

FMLYBND Gives a Golden Gig at SOhO

by Deanna Kim ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

FMLYBND, Isla Vista’s next big musical act, brought their indie-electronic vibes to SOhO Restaurant and Music Club on Friday, Feb. 21, courtesy of We the Beat. Touring their recently released EP “Gold,” the six-piece band performed a stellar show to a sold-out crowd, alongside local artists Shoes Pretty and Givers & Takers. Live electronic artist Shoes Pretty set the mood with his ambient electro-pop sounds. As SOhO was slowly filling up, his glitchy beats and synthesized vocals combined to provide a chill atmosphere. The obscure sounds of repetitive hi-hats, backing drums, upbeat keyboard, and electronically warped vocals were evocative of Baths, or an experimental and R&B influenced Postal Service. Next, the “eclectic-psychedelic” rock band Givers & Takers gave a fun and funky performance. The soulful voice of lead singer Zack Greenwald ranged from falsetto to grunge, getting the crowd to sway, bob, and bounce around. Just like the varying vocals, the music altered from heavy and distorted lo-fi noises to slow and melodic rock to groovy jazz-reggae. “I love Givers & Takers because they push the envelope,” said Michael Austin Million, a 23-year-old Santa Barbara resident. “They push through the boundaries of what is acceptable with pop music and what most kids are listening to now a days. Its great to have them back in Santa Barbara. I’m really excited for their new material.” The band is wrapping up their first full-length album, “Let Me Have It,” to be released this year. With all on vocals, the band is composed of Drew Bruchs (bass), Greenwald (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard, tambourine), Alan Krespan (drums), and Mark Pollack (guitar, MIDI). The band members’ great musicianship and close-knit chemistry were evident in their hour-long rock-out performance. “It was a great crowd. Everyone was dancing, everyone was energetic, and having a good time,” said Bruchs. By the time FMLYBND got on stage, the dance floor of SOhO was packed. The once busy bar was now relatively empty, and groups of friends and couples crowded to the front. “What’s up Santa Barbara,” greeted lead singer Mac Montgomery. “This is our hometown, and this is our first time playing at SOhO actually. So we’re pretty stoked its sold out. Hope you enjoy a couple of our tunes.” With that, FMLYBND began their set with “Electricity,” the song that has brought them national attention and blogs buzzing with excitement. In late 2013, they were dubbed one of Billboard’s “Next Big Sounds.” FMLYBND is truly a family–only without any vowels. The band consists of IV natives Mac Montgomery (lead guitar, vocals), Braelyn Montgomery (vocals), Al “GoldenBear” Valles (guitar), Ethan Davis (drums, sampling), Justin Huntsman (drum machine, bass), and Erik Mason (synthesizers). Davis is also half of the bass-heavy DJ duo Candyland. The band’s lively music is uplifting and begs all those that listen to dance and sing along. They have been compared to lo-fi/surf bands such as MGMT, Grouplove, and M83, only with touches of 80s synth-wave, nu-disco, and dream-pop. The crowd was also treated to three unreleased songs, including a song written by the lovely Braelyn and a promising single entitled “Young Wild.”

“FMLYBND are having a lot of fun… There’s no ‘too cool’ vibe, and that’s nice,” said 25-year-old Westmont College graduate Jake Blair. The band was full of hair flips, laughs, and smiles. Huntsman jokingly told the crowd that Braelyn was his wife, to which Mac replied, “She’s mine!” Mac and Braelyn Montgomery have been married since 2011. “I wanna see everybody moving,” said Mac. “I wanna see this whole place moving.” FMLYBND closed the night out with their vivacious dance song “Come Alive.” And with that, pretty much all of SOhO was on their feet, from couples spinning one another around and friends frolicking about. As the song reverberated to an end, drummer Davis hoisted himself up the ceiling pillar for a last hoorah. FMLYBND is performing at the upcoming Austin X Games in June, headlining with the likes of Kanye West, Flaming Lips, Pretty Lights, Dillon Francis, Candyland, Slightly Stoopid, Mac Miller, Dillon Francis, Mayer Hawthorne, Wavves, and Bad Religion.

Photos by Magali Gauthier | Photography Editor

1 | FMLYBND performs at SOhO on Feb. 21, 2014. 2 | Drew Bruchs, bassist for Givers & Takers 3 | Erik Mason plays the synthesizers at FMLYBND’s show. 4 | Mark Pollack, guitarist for Givers & Takers

The Second City Brings Big Laughs to Campbell Hall by Gilberto Flores STAFF WRITER

Photo by Lorenzo Basilio | Staff Photographer

Liz Reuss and Scott Morehead reenact a “realistic” shower scene during The Second City show last Wednesday at Campbell Hall.

Presented by University of California, Santa Barbara’s Arts & Lectures, The Second City, Chicago’s seminal improvisational comedy troupe, performed their hilariously satirical comedy revue entitled “Happily Ever Laughter” for a sold-out audience at Campbell Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 19. The troupe began their performance with a hilarious musical number about the realities of modern adult life. Singing about the importance of playing “the game,” they provided a variety of scenarios in which most people would prefer nothing more than to tell the honest truth. For example, when a groom asks his friend to be his best man, but he declines and says he does not think the marriage will last two years and would prefer not to be part of it. Or when a woman asks a coworker if he’d like to see her recent vacation photos, but he declines by saying, “I was not there and don’t care that you were.” This perfectly set the tone for the group’s smartly crafted, honestly satirical, and laughout-loud funny material. What followed was a medley of The Second City’s signature mix of smart satire and quickwitted improvisations. Some of the highlights of their scripted material included a sketch in which a man tries to impress his date by “trying out his Spanish” at a Mexican restaurant by enunciating “guacamole” and “tacos,” and rolling the “r” in “burrrrito” and “rrrrice and beans.” Another great sketch depicted two university ethics professors giving a senator a crash course in ethics, complete with the requisite demonstration of puppets to appeal to the senator’s preschool-level understanding of ethics (or

“ethnics,” as he mistakenly called it). Their improvised material allowed for some audience participation, turning simple words like “wrestler,” “microwave,” and “7-Eleven” into some very imaginative sketches about a disgraced former wrestler, a woman who strongly believes microwaves are the future, and a 7-Eleven employee’s first day on the job. Sprinkled throughout the show were shorter sketches that were only a few seconds long. In one, two women are having an intimate conversation over the phone, only to be joined by an eavesdropping NSA agent. In another, a man introduces himself to his neighbor as a registered sex offender; the neighbor is furious and demands to speak to her congressman, but the plot twist is that the man is her congressman. Lastly, an unapologetic doctor tells her friend that she isn’t the only doctor to sleep with her patient, to which her friend replies, “You’re a vet!” Comedy infused all aspects of the performance, from the opening announcements regarding cell phone use up to the intermission. “Ladies and gentlemen, it is now time for intermission,” announced a troupe member over the speakers. “So go forth and intermit.” But the night’s finest sketch featured the ladies of the troupe giving an informational presentation on non-violent self-defense for women, or as they put it, “Wits Over Hits.” When approached by a man attempting to steal her money, second city member Marlena Rodriguez furiously replied by asking, “Daddy?… Daddy?… Why don’t you love me daddy?,” effectively sending the criminal run-

ning away in fear. When approached by a robber, troupe member Liz Reuss replied by hysterically asking the criminal if he wants to move in together, get married, have children, and meet her parents, successfully making him flee to safety. But when all else fails, Sarah Shook demonstrated how to ward off a criminal by simply and furiously yelling random threats and expletives. “I will f*ck you up, motherf*cker,” she yelled to the criminal, who ran away to the crowd’s laughs. For the past 50-plus years, The Second City has graduated some of the biggest names in comedy, many of whom have gone on to perform on shows like “Saturday Night Live,” “MADtv,” and many award-winning sitcoms. Wednesday night’s audience may have just witnessed the next generation of great comedy performers. The Second City opened its doors in December of 1959, formed by previous members of Chicago comedy troupe The Compass Players, who stopped performing in 1958. It has since been producing some of the biggest names in comedy, including Martin Short, Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Catherine O’Hara, and Stephen Colbert. Over 50 years after its start, The Second City is still performing around the country and developing the next generation of comedy stars. UCSB Arts & Lectures brought The Second City back to UCSB due to popular demand, and it’s easy to see why. They delivered a sold-out performance that would have made its founders proud.

Page 6 | Arts & Entertainment

The Bottom Line | Line Feb. |26 -Mar. 2014 The Bottom Nov. 27 -4,Dec. 3

Pollock Theater Joined by Oscar-nominated Screenwriter John Ridley of ‘12 Years a Slave’ by Evelin Lopez STAFF WRITER The University of California, Santa Barbara’s Carsey-Wolf Center’s “Script-to-Screen” series presented the Oscar-nominated 2013 film “12 Years a Slave” on Sunday, Feb. 23. With only a week before the 86th Annual Academy Awards, Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Ridley was at the completely packed Pollock Theater to hold a Q&A session after the free screening. Set in the 1880s, “12 Years a Slave” is based on the true story of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a New York citizen who was deceived, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. Northup struggles to maintain his dignity and hold onto hope, as he experiences the inhumane conditions of slavery in the South before the American Civil War. The film’s cast, cinematography, and score intertwine and showcase the horrors faced during this dark time of American history. The film, directed by Steve McQueen and adapted by Ridley, is the memoir written by Northup after he was freed from slavery. “12 Years a Slave” is a remarkable tale that has received nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (McQueen), Best Actor (Ejiofor), Best Supporting Actor (Michael Fassbender), Best Supporting Actress (Lupita Nyong’o), Best Adapted Screenplay (Ridley), Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Film Editing. At the end of the film, the 296-seat theater burst into applause as audience members were left appreciating the unique tale. On cue, Pollock Theater Director Matt Ryan commenced the Q&A session by presenting the screenwriter. “I thought that I knew a good deal about slavery, and Solomon’s memoir is honestly one the most singular documents–personal narratives–that I have ever had the opportunity to read,” said Ridley. “His clarity of detail is elevated: language that he uses, the way he describes scenes and situations,” he continued. “But more importantly the way he talks about his experience… without bitterness and without hatred…finding beauty in humanity in circumstances that were absolutely inhuman.”

Northup was born a free man with every right that those around him had. He was one of the few, out of many, that wrote a memoir, because he had the ability to read and write. Ridley began to get emotional as he began expressing the relativity one can feel about this period of American history. “I don’t think…I’m pretty sure nobody in this room would take a whip to anyone,” said Ridley. “There’s nobody in this room who’s going to willfully take someone’s rights away, beat someone, treat someone like a dog.” He continued to explain how Northup took things for granted and wanted the audience to see how many things, like family, are taken for granted all the time. When someone was kidnapped in the 1800s, the lack of technology meant that there was no quick form of communication. “Nobody could be aware,” said Ridley about people who went missing during those times. Ridley then spoke about the ensemble and how he did his best to stay true to writing without adding cinematic elements. Ridley explained that he wanted to create a story that showed “all aspects of slavery through [the] characters.” This included a hypocritical slave owner, a fearful overseer, a suicidal slave, and a hopeful slave. The dynamics between these actors held the same “emotional velocity” the memoir had. “12 Years a Slave” allowed the cast to explore their acting skills outside of their accustomed roles. Every actor and actress was so committed that Ridley said he oftentimes forgot they were acting and not racist Southern folk or tormented slaves. Ridley also revealed that the character of Mistress Epps was the biggest failure of the ensemble, since he did not give actress Sarah Paulson the necessary tools to develop her character. He explained that what is on the script is not entirely accurate on screen, since everything is a product of collaboration. Paulson was the one who “created her own tools to make such a hated character.” In the end, Ridley said patience helped capture the clarity of detail in Northup’s memoir. And it was this patience that created a unique screenplay, helping “12 Years a Slave” earn numerous prestigious awards and recognitions.

Photo by Benjamin Hurst | Staff Photographer

...the way he talks about his experience… without bitterness and without hatred… finding beauty in humanity in circumstances that were absolutely inhuman.

Psychojohn

Dropwise

Photo by Lorenzo Basilio | Staff Photographer

Photo by Benjamin Hurst | Staff Photographer

Battle of the DJs Announces by Lexi Weyrick STAFF WRITER

For the first time ever, on Tuesday, Feb. 18, and Wednesday, Feb.19, eight top-rated local DJs battled it out at University of California, Santa Barbara’s The Hub to see who would win a slot at this year’s Extravaganza. The eight DJs were selected by the Associated Students Program Board after over 20 hopefuls submitted samples of their work. With music ranging from trance, experimental, and house, to trap, the eight DJs were Kuro, Betawave, Angorola, Psychojohn, DJanet Napolitano, T-Fresh, Underbelly, and Dropwise. After a grueling competition on Tuesday night, only four DJs remained for Wednesday’s final round. Competing in the semi-finals were Betawave against Angarola and T-Fresh against Dropwise–and the competition was fierce. The energy was great in The Hub, and the amount of practice that went into the sets the DJs played was evident. “It exposes [the DJs] very well,” said Crystal Marquez, a firstyear undeclared major. She, along with most other audience members, enjoyed the talent. At the conclusion of the semi-finals, Angarola and T-Fresh were the last remaining DJs left to duke it out on the stage. “Mixing ability, song selection, originality, energy, and audience response” were the main judging criteria, according to the official AS Program Board rules. The bracket style competition was broken up in such a way that the highest ranked DJs were in separate brackets in order to create a fair competition. Each performer had 15 minutes to display their talent. The DJs all certainly executed these qualities with their unexpected song choices and the incredible stamina required to move to and deliver beats. The relatively small crowd grew larger as the event continued, and the audience members in front of the stage filled the floor with dancing. Marl Ayson, a fourth-year biopsychology major whose favorite DJ was T-Fresh, was one such dancing student. “I think it’s a good opportunity for them,” Ayson said. “It puts a spotlight on a dying act.” The night ended after a hard-fought battle between Anga-

T-Fresh as the Winner

Betawave Photo by Lorenzo Basilio | Staff Photographer rola and T-Fresh. T-Fresh walked away the winner, guaranteeing himself a spot at UCSB’s Extravaganza, which occurs every spring quarter. T-Fresh, whose real name is Tyler Fish, plays many shows in Isla Vista and the surrounding campus area. The fourth-year communication major is a popular local DJ, as was evidenced by his success in the competition. While the audience was stoked on the announcement of TFresh as the winner, it was nothing compared to how Fish himself felt when he realized he would be playing Extravaganza. “Words cannot express how incredible the feeling was when I was pronounced the winner of the competition,” said Fish.

“Knowing that the winner takes a slot at main stage at Extravaganza was a complete game changer in the layout and energy of my set.” The up-and-coming DJ will get the chance to perform in front of a large audience of his peers alongside headliner artists, gaining both experience and exposure. “It was an honor to participate in the first annual battle of the UCSB DJs,” said Fish. “Every competitor brought a lot of heat and I am confident in saying that it was the toughest competition I’ve ever been in. It was an excellent opportunity to get to know the other DJs in the area and connect with fellow UCSB students.”

Science & Tech | Page 7

The Bottom Line | Feb. 26 -Mar. 4, 2014

Religion, Politics, and Teamwork Come Together in Twitch Plays Pokemon by Janani Ravikumar STAFF WRITER

Anarchy or democracy? If you’re looking to join Twitch Plays Pokemon, you had better bone up on your political and religious studies. This game isn’t just about catching Pokemon anymore. Illustration by Amanda Excell | Staff Illustrator The infinite monkey theorem, according to Princeton University, states that when a monkey randomly hits keys on a keyboard for an infinite amount of time, it will almost surely produce any given text, such as the works of Shakespeare. But this isn’t thousands of monkeys at thousands of keyboards–this is thousands of monkeys at a single keyboard, and it’s every bit as chaotic as it sounds. The premise of Twitch Plays Pokemon is simple: as of last week, Twitch. tv has been streaming a game of “Pokemon Red” that anyone can contribute to. In order to play the game, thousands of people input commands into a chat window, and, after a delay of 20 to 40 seconds, the command will be executed. The game hinges on two systems of government: anarchy, where almost every command is executed, and democracy, where the most popular input is executed after a 20-second voting period. To switch from one system to the other, a certain percentage of votes must be made for the opposing system–80 percent

to switch from anarchy to democracy and 50 percent to switch from democracy to anarchy. Unfortunately, players can never seem to agree on a system for long, and rallying cries of

The community is rallying together and getting this character through the game...It means when people come together to do something, always it’s chaotic but there’s always a goal in mind–which you’re all moving toward at the same time. —Twitch Vice President of Marketing Matthew DiPietro

“anarchy” and “democracy” constantly slow the game down. As we have reported in the past, the San Francisco-based Twitch.tv allows its users to watch live and recorded streams of video games and broadcast their own. At the end of 2013, the company averaged over 900,000 unique broadcasters per month, with 10,000 live broadcasters. It had more than 45 million monthly viewers who watched, on average, 106 minutes of video each day. Twitch Plays Pokemon has shattered those statistics, with more than 20 million total views and more than 140,000 subscribers. Many of these viewers may regularly use Twitch, but a significant portion consists of people who play, have played, or enjoy Pokemon in general. For the most part, Twitch Plays Pokemon involves the protagonist, Red, constantly running around in

Anarchy

circles, banging into walls, opening and closing the menu, saving the game, trying to use items in his inventory that serve no immediate purpose in the game, and spending hours upon hours trying to surpass simple obstacles that even first-time Pokemon players can easily evade. Despite this–and some other setbacks, such as the accidental release of pivotal Pokemon–the participants of this “social experiment” have somehow made it through more than half of the game. Over the past week, Twitch Plays Pokemon has become an entity of its own, as its followers have established an elaborate backstory and religious narrative for the game, bringing in new layers of character and plot development that the original game may have lacked. A dedicated community has been created on Reddit that documents events as they happen, allowing

viewers to remain up to date with the constantly changing game, and dozens of artists have submitted fan art for the experiment’s own canon. Those who believed that the players would likely quit early on in the game have been proven wrong, as Twitch Plays Pokemon’s players refuse to stop, determined to finish the game despite the perpetual strife and disagreement. Either way, people from all over the world are uniting under a single cause. “The community is rallying together and getting this character through the game,” said Twitch’s vice president of marketing, Matthew DiPietro, according to NPR. “It means when people come together to do something, always it’s chaotic but there’s always a goal in mind–which you’re all moving toward at the same time.”

Democracy

UCSB Women’s Center Project Aims to Diversify STEM by Mimi Liu STAFF WRITER Finding My Place in STEM: A STEM Field Diversity Project, is the brainchild of Desireé Shibata, a Women’s Center Event Programmer for University of California, Santa Barbara. The project includes pictures of people from all backgrounds holding up a whiteboard with a few words about their experiences involving STEM, the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics fields. “The mission of [this project] is to increase awareness of the issues surrounding students, specifically women and underrepresented groups, in STEM,” reads the promotional material for the project. According to research, most

women and minorities gravitate toward the humanities instead of STEM. In a survey of 850 girls performed by the Girl Scouts of America, about 50 percent of the girls felt that STEM wasn’t a typical career path for women. Shibata wants to know why. “There shouldn’t be a reason why lack of support prevents students from getting involved in STEM. If you don’t get that at home, then you should get that support at school,” she said. Shibata, a first generation college student, identifies as a woman of color. She was majoring in biochemistry, but recently switched to sociology and Chicano studies due to family issues. Still, she plans on a future in the medical field, and said that she can-

not see herself doing anything else. “I didn’t have a support group at home, and my advisors didn’t give me that support,” Shibata said about majoring in science. “Even professors were basing me off my test scores, but I worked hard…they just didn’t understand my circumstances.” Shibata worked 30 to 40 hours a week while taking her classes, and she interned with a surgeon at a hospital in LA every weekend during her first year of college. “I know it’s not because I’m not good enough,” she said. “And I can’t be alone. The issue of diversity in STEM is not brought up often, and I wanted to help.” She gestures towards the gallery, set up in the conference room of the Women’s Center. The wall displays

dozens of photographs of women holding whiteboards with their unique personal stories. Many of them are students, both involved in STEM and not, and professors. “I wanted to hear individual stories,” Shibata said. “I wanted everyone to have their own space and their own voice.” She talks about the antiquated stereotype that women cannot be involved in STEM, or that they just do not have an innate talent for certain subjects. However, a look at history proves this to be untrue. Ada Lovelace was a brilliant mathematician and the world’s first computer programmer; Mae C. Jemison was the first African American woman in space aboard the 1992 space shuttle Endeavour; Hedy Lamarr invented

transmission techniques still used in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies to this day. “I’m really surprised that [Finding My Place in STEM] took off,” Shibata said. “My ultimate goal is to gain more support at our campus level, and then spread this to UC campuses as well.” The STEM Field Diversity Project can be found at the Women’s Center, located on the second floor of the Student Resource Building. The gallery will be open through March 22, and visitors can add their personal stories to the wall, creating a thought-provoking display. Additionally, online submissions can be made to ProjectStemUCSB@gmail.com and viewed at projectstemblr.tumblr.com.

UltimEyes iPad App Has Potential to Improve Vision by Julia Frazer STAFF WRITER An app developed by University of California, Riverside neuroscientist Aaron Seitz is capable of training users to see farther than before. According to a study published this week in the journal Current Biology, Seitz and his researchers performed their research for the app, called UltimEyes, on 19 players from the UCR baseball team. After 30 sessions of using the app for 25 minutes at a time, the players’ vision was improved by 31 percent–beyond perfect 20/20 vision. According to the International Business times, vision training is becoming more and more important in major league baseball teams because of the necessity of seeing the baseball and calculating when to swing in order to score runs and win the game. “We were using standard, on-thewall eye charts. Normally, you stand 20 feet away, but our charts only measured down to 20/10 [vision]. So we moved some of these players 40 feet away from the eye chart and they were still reading the low lines. I was shocked,” Seitz told Popular Mechanics. Seven of the players attained an

Illustration by Maya Bolanos | The Bottom Line astounding 20/7.5 vision, meaning the brain does should be able to be that a distance of 20 feet, they were improved.” able to see what someone with norUltimEyes exercises the visual mal vision could see at 7.5 feet. cortex, or the part of the brain that According to Popular Mechan- controls vision. Researchers have ics, UltimEyes works through rewir- determined that the visual cortex ing the brain, a concept known as breaks down incoming information neuroplasticity. from eyes into fuzzy patterns called “Within the last decade or so Gabor stimuli. Thus, UltimEyes we’ve started to learn that brain fit- training works through the theory ness is a bit akin to physical fitness,” that by directly confronting eyes Seitz told Popular Mechanics. “If with Gabor stimuli, it is possible to we exercise our brain in the proper train the brain to process them more ways, pretty much everything that efficiently. Over time, this prac-

tice improves the brain’s ability to manufacture clear vision at farther distances. The app is certainly different from the brightly colored games that can be found in the app store. UltimEyes presents the user with increasingly difficult challenges of identifying faint Gabor stimuli shown against a gray background. The effects of Seitz’s app are very real. “Trained players showed improved vision after training, had

decreased strike-outs, and created more runs; and even accounting for maturational gains, these additional runs may have led to an additional four to five team wins,” said researchers Seitz, Jenni Deveau, and Daniel J. Ozer in the study published in Current Biology. “These results demonstrate real world transferable benefits of a vision-training program based on perceptual learning principles.” Testimonials on the UltimEyes website reveal that the app is not just for athletes. One reviewer, a 45-yearold woman named Cora, saw a measurable improvement in her vision. “I did the program over a two month period and could read three lines better on an eye chart from twenty feet away!” said the woman. However, according to Popular Mechanics, the details about exactly how UltimEyes works on adult neuroplasticity are hazy. “These Gabor stimuli have proven to be very good at activating visual cortex and causing very strong improvements,” said neuroscientist Peggy Series to Popular Mechanics. The UltimEyes app is available for download from the iTunes app store for free. A license code must be purchased from the official website for $5.99 to make the app work.

Page 8 | Opinions

The Bottom Line | Feb. 26 -Mar. 4, 2014

The Art of Voyeurism by Sam Goldman STAFF WRITER

Students challenge society and conventional wisdom with physical protests all the time. In 1968, University of California, Santa Barbara students took over North Hall to protest and mitigate the campus’ dearth of cultural awareness and, in 1989, went on a hunger strike for demands that included a divestment from South Africa. Clayton Pettet, a 19-year-old student at London’s Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, plans on challenging society and conventional wisdom too–only he’s doing so in the form of an art project. On April 2, 150 ticketholders will get to attend his “Art School Stole My Virginity” performance, in which Pettet will have sex for the first time with an unnamed male partner. In a Tumblr post, Pettet stated that his one-time exhibition is meant to generate serious debate over what virginity really is and what it means, asking, “Is virginity even real, for women and men? Or is it just an ignorant word that was used to dictate the value of a woman’s worth premarriage?” The second part of his exhibit will feature a gallery of his work studying the female orgasm. Art is a profoundly difficult, if not totally impossible, concept to define. In many respects, people’s definitions of it are culturally influenced; something may be considered art in one society, but deemed a worthless obscenity in another. Art, in my own opinion, is something that requires creativity and effort and often at least some level of skill. It’s something meant to portray something in the real world or in the imagination, or some form of beauty, truth, or symbolism. I don’t believe it is something that can be wholly natural and unaffected by human resourcefulness, like the plain human body or a smile. Unfortunately, Pettet’s project does not fall within the bounds of what I consider to be art. There is no creativity involved in having sex in front of 150 rather voyeuristic individuals. Simply attempting to make a controversial statement in the form of a perfectly natural activity does not in and of itself constitute art. Even the most bizarre forms of performance art require creativity: plays, for example, need imaginative scriptwriters, creative costume designers, and talented choreographers.

When it comes to making an attentiongrabbing statement and throwing a wrench into the gears of conventional wisdom, Pettet may very well succeed. But no matter how inspired he may be to make his statement, or how effective he may be in altering the discourse of virginity, his project amounts to an exhibitionist performance. My little fourth grade painting of a tree in a field may not stack up to the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or the Terracotta Army, but it involved a creativity and effort to depict something that “works,” which Pettet’s exhibi-

tion lacks. There certainly isn’t a sharp line we can draw between what is and what isn’t art, but losing one’s virginity to send a message is far enough out there to where it should safely be excluded. While everyone’s entitled to their own definitions of art, its prestige, specialness, and our admiration for the concept will gradually erode if we continue expanding the general consensus (as vague and disjointed as it might be) and incorporating more and more. Can art–which, I don’t think anyone would dispute, covers such

acclaimed pieces as the Mona Lisa and Michelangelo’s David—still be art when it also incorporates “works” such as Pettet’s performance, Andy Warhol’s “Invisible Sculpture,” or Yoko Ono’s “Voice Piece for Soprano”? I don’t think every novel or daring action people come up with, whether the person claims it art or not, deserves the label of art. The UCSB students who went on hunger strikes to successfully enact important changes engaged in a potentially controversial physical activity as well, but I don’t think very many people would think to call their efforts art.

Illustration by Amanda Excell | Staff Illustrator

Comcast and Time Warner Cable: Cloud TV or Worse Netflix? by Pragya Parmita STAFF WRITER Comcast recently shocked Wall Street when the company announced its plans to buy Time Warner Cable (TWC) for $45.2 billion in stock, a deal that could prove disastrous for consumers as well as for smaller companies. The merger would combine the two largest U.S. cable companies and would allow Comcast about 30 percent of the TV market subscribers and 38 percent of high-speed Internet customers. While one would expect opposition to the merger from Comcast’s competitors and from television networks, the industry has been largely quiet on the matter, primarily because they don’t perceive the merger as a threat. CBS and TWC were involved in a messy “war” over content prices just last year–a fight that cost TWC 300,000 subscribers but had almost no impact on the television network. CBS, one of the five major English-language networks in the U.S., already reaches over 97 percent of the households in the country. Similarly, companies like AT&T and Verizon have little to complain about regarding the merger. If the Comcast-TWC merger were to go through, they would be able to makes similar requests of deregulation or expansion from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). So, fighting this merger has been left to consumers, smaller

cable companies, and satellite TV providers. And, that’s why it’s all the more important. Comcast already ranks among the 10 least reputable companies in the U.S., according to Harris Interactive annual “Reputation Quotient” survey. It also has the fourth-worst rating in the country according to the American Consumer Satisfaction Index. The company provides sub-par Internet services for high prices. The United States as a whole suffers from slower Internet speeds than most developed countries across the globe, primarily because a small group of corrupt, large, and profitable companies such as Comcast dominate the broadband market. A merger between Comcast and TWC would give the company even more power over the broadband market, which could not only lead to increased prices, but also poorer service for certain websites, such as Netflix. In addition, Comcast is unique in that it is not only a broadband and cable company, but since its 2011 merger with NBC Universal, it is also a content creator. Comcast also owns most of the regional sports networks in the areas it controls. Not only does Comcast have control over what media is pushed to the public, with access to a large number of subscribers, but it can also control whom the media reaches. Furthermore, as the FCC’s net neutrality rules were struck down by a federal appeals court last month, broadband companies can now block or prioritize Web traffic. This would allow companies like Comcast to charge Web companies such

as Netflix and Hulu for better Internet service, and this cost is likely to show up on consumer bills. And while during negotiations for the NBC merger, Comcast agreed to abide by the net neutrality rules until January 2018, there is little to control Comcast and other companies’ ability to discriminate between web companies past that deadline. This is especially important as the number of subscribers for cable companies continues to dwindle. Several people are beginning to favor satellite TV or, even more so, options like Netflix or Hulu Plus. And according to TheWrap, Comcast, “could favor its [own] channels and services such as Steampix… over the high capacity services of others.” FCC has yet to approve the merger, and former FCC commissioner Mike Copps has publicly said, “This is so over the top that it ought to be dead on arrival at the FCC.” However, Comcast’s profitable relationship with several officials in Washington could certainly help the company with the merger. Comcast has reportedly spent $18.8 million for lobbying purposes in 2013. There is also the possibility that the company might agree to extend the deadline for following net neutrality rules in hopes of getting the merger with TWC approved. A merger between Comcast and TWC will give Comcast an unfair leverage over content providers who need broadband access to push media to subscribers. Open Internet Advocates and groups that fought against legislation such as SOPA and PIPA continue to fervently oppose the merger.

Is Standing Your Ground Against Loud Music

Justifiable Self-Defense or Murder? by Janani Ravikumar STAFF WRITER When you kill someone in self-defense, is it justifiable? On Nov. 23, 2012, 47-year-old software developer Michael Dunn pulled into a gas station in Jacksonville, Fla., parking next to an SUV that contained four black teenagers. Dunn complained about the loud music booming from the SUV, and what started as normal neighborhood drama quickly ended in tragedy. At the end of the day, Jordan Davis, one of the teenagers in the SUV, was shot to death by Dunn. This past weekend, Dunn finally received his sentence: the jury found him guilty of three counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of firing into an occupied car. However, according to CNN, the jury couldn’t agree on the most serious and most important charge: a count of first-degree murder for killing Davis. In the end, Dunn’s actions were deemed justifiable, but is that really fair to Davis and the other teenagers targeted? According to NPR, the federal law permits you to defend yourself when a stranger attacks you in your own home, but you must try to retreat if an altercation breaks out in public. Since 2005, Florida, as well several other states, has followed a “stand your ground” law that doesn’t require you to retreat. In other words, it’s perfectly legal to use lethal force to defend yourself if you feel threatened in any way, shape, or form. In states with “stand your

ground” laws, homicides are twice as likely to be deemed justified, according to the MetroTrends Blog; in these states, homicides are deemed justifiable in about 10 percent of cases, as opposed to shootings that are only ruled justifiable in about 1.5 percent of cases. When the shooter is white and the victim is black, the rate jumps to a disturbing 34 percent, but when the roles are reversed, the rate is only a little more than 3 percent. Perhaps the most baffling and disturbing part of Dunn’s case is that the murder of one teenager was deemed justifiable, though the attempted murder of three others was not. According to The Huffington Post, Dunn claimed that he acted in self-defense after seeing a firearm pointing at him from the SUV, even though no such weapon was found. If anything, Dunn opened fire because he felt disrespected by the occupants of the SUV, though the worst Davis apparently did was increase the volume of the allegedly too-loud music after Dunn complained. “That defendant didn’t shoot into a carful of kids to save his life,” said Assistant State Attorney John Guy to the jury. “He shot into it to save his pride. Jordan Davis didn’t have a weapon, he had a big mouth.” The fact that homicide cases involving a white shooter and black victim are deemed justifiable far more often than cases with the races reversed is a disturbing statistic, though that’s all it is–a statistic. We can’t automatically assume that the jury that failed to convict

Dunn acted under their own personal form of prejudice and bigotry. They could have just as easily been subconsciously influenced by perceptions of race and human behavior from outside sources, such as the media, and we can’t assume that juries of other cases similar to Dunn’s operate the same way. Still, a sentence like Dunn’s is wrong. The factors that influenced it will take a lot of time and effort to eradicate, but a more immediate solution to the problem would be to reform “stand your ground” laws in general–so

Photo Courtesy | bossip.com

that cases like Dunn’s, regardless of the victim or defendant’s race, don’t have such an high chance of being deemed justifiable. While the principle behind the “stand your ground” law makes sense, it’s still far too easy for people like Dunn to exploit it and walk away with murder without serious consequences. The definition of what constitutes a legitimate threat should be revised so that people like Jordan Davis, who, in the grand scheme of things, did nothing wrong, do not get wrongly persecuted and punished.