University of California, Santa Barbara || Volume XIII, Issue XVI || Mar. 13, 2019 || BottomLineUCSB.com
NEWS
FEATURES
OPINIONS
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
SCIENCE & TECH
PHOTO
Twen on tour PHOTOS
VIDEO
Page 12
Photo by Katie Michel | The Bottom Line
UC Regents
Transparency
A 2017 audit has called into question the business actions of UCOP after it was revealed that the Office of the President failed to disclose $175 million in reserve funds. NEWS
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New Framework for Sexual Assualt Cases UCOP implements temporary SVSH framework; these revisions are unrelated to the Trump Administration’s Title IX changes. NEWS
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TBL | Mar. 13, 2019
2 | NEWS
STATE AUDITOR calls for UCOP financial Transparency MINH HUA Campus Beat Reporter A 2017 audit from state Auditor Elaine Howle claimed that the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) failed to disclose $175 million in reserve funds, calling into question the transparency of UC President Janet Napolitano office’s business practices. However, nearly a year after the deadline for improvements, a new report from Howle concluded that Napolitano “is still doing business in a way that lets her office amass ‘virtually an unlimited amount’ of money” due to an absence of appropriate reserve policies, reported Nanette Asimov of the San Francisco Chronicle. According to Howle’s 2017 audit, UCOP “did not disclose the reserves it had accumulated” and that “more than onethird of [UCOP’s] discretionary reserve, or $32 million, came from unspent funds from the campus assessment.” These assessment fees are money that UCOP requires each UC campus to pay annually for the purposes of financing its operations. However, the 2017 audit stated that UCOP budgeted 55 million more dollars for the 2015-16 fiscal year than it had actually spent. Additionally, “UCOP did not provide the Regents with its actual fiscal year 2014-15 expenditures and instead only provided what it planned to spend in that previous fiscal
year — which turned out to be overestimated.” Critics of UCOP’s actions believe that the reserve funds could’ve been used towards something more beneficial. Howle stated that much of the $32 million could have been spent on students and that part of the amount should be returned to the campuses. According to Melody Gutierrez of the San Francisco Chronicle,” Howle said, “I’m sure that Regents had the best interest of their students in mind when they decided they had to increase tuition, but they didn’t know there was a reserve amount out there that could have covered a portion of that tuition increase, reduced the amount or maybe eliminated it completely.” In January 2017, the Regents voted 16-4 to raise tuition for the first time since 2010-11, a 2.5 percent increase, reported Teresa Watanabe of the L.A. Times. It was only last year that the UC Regents approved a budget plan that saw the first decrease of tuition in nearly 20 years — an amount of $60. In addition to negating tuition hikes, the reserve could have partly addressed the steady decrease in UC enrollment of California residents. Currently, California residents pay $13,900 in tuition and student fees, and nonresidents face tuition and student fees of $42,900. In general, international students pay twice as much as California residents
TBL 2018-2019 STAFF
in tuition and fees, which leads to the issue of increased competition for California residents. According to Gary Robbins of the San Diego Union-Tribune, UC San Diego, pressured by reduced state funding, heavily increased its enrollment of international students, resulting in the number of international students now accounting for almost 25 percent of the school’s enrollment versus six percent in 2008. Similarly, the number of international students soared from 3.4 percent UC Santa Barbara’s enrollment in 2008 to 13.7 percent in 2018. Whereas the number of enrolled residents only increased by 875 from 2008 to 2018, the surge for international students was 2,829. Napolitano challenged the 2017 audit’s claims in a letter, claiming that “UCOP’s budget and financial approaches reflect strategic, deliberate, and transparent spending and investment in UC and State priorities.” Napolitano broke down the usage of the $175 million in systemwide programs and initiatives such as research grants and support for medical centers. In the end, Napolitano concluded that only $38 million is leftover in the actual reserve, a “prudent and reasonable” amount for unexpected expenses such as cybersecurity threat response and support for undocumented students. In addition to the reserve
funds, Howle also alleged that UCOP was engaged in questionable practices and, in particular, that it interfered in its own assessment. According to Howle, campus statements that were critical of UCOP had been removed or revised, and negative ratings had been changed to be more positive. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, assemblyman Phil Ting stated, “One of the core questions that I had asked that wasn’t answered was there is administration at [UCOP] and administration at each of the 10 campuses, is there any duplication? That question wasn’t answered because [UCOP] intercepted all the campus surveys and had them rewritten.” Unreported duplications within staff can lead to inflated budget estimates, siphoning resources from research, an infrastructure critical to UC’s goal as a research university. In fact, there has been a plethora of discourse concerning the growth of academic versus non academic functions at UC. According to a report compiled by retired UC Berkeley professor Charles Schwartz, while total staff employment grew 62 percent in the entire UC system, management grew 308 percent; in comparison, total student enrollment grew 62 percent. The trend is similar for UC Santa Barbara, where total staff employment grew 36 percent
while management grew 258 percent. However, according to Christopher Newfield, an English professor at UCSB, administrative bloat isn’t the only issue that the audit brings up. Newfield states “the tragedy of this particular audit is that UCOP is so busy saying it did nothing wrong that it can’t tell the more important story, which is that research is a vital public function that costs enormous amounts of money. UCOP has to subsidize a lot of it or it won’t actually happen. It has to use state money to do this, as it always has.” After the 2017 audit was released, then California Governor Jerry Brown withheld $50 million from UC in his revised budget plan, “saying the money would be released only when UC makes progress in fixing the financial problems identified in the audit and meets other conditions set by his office,” reported Asimov and John Wildermuth of the San Francisco Chronicle. As of Feb. 2019, UCOP has implemented four out of Howle’s 16 recommendations, which includes: “a plan to restructure salaries for employee development and pay equity; documentation of all spending requests; a published review of spending initiatives; and documentation of money to returned to campuses: $40 million by the end of this month,” reported Asimov.
Opinions expressed in TBL do not necessarily represent those of the staff or UCSB. All submissions, questions or comments may be directed to editors@bottomlineucsb.com
Editor-in-Chief | Alex Yam
Features Editor | Victoria Penate
Sports Editors | Juan Gonzalez and
Web Editor | Docean Park
Managing Editor | Mable Truong
Arts & Entertainment Editor | Addison Morris
Jacob Wong
Layout Editor | Elaine Chen
Executive Content Editor | Lauren Marnel
Science & Tech Editor | Hannah Maerowitz
Photo Editor | Juan Gonzalez
PAGES: 4, 5, 6
Shores
Opinions Editor | Jessica Gang
Campus Beat Reporter | Minh Hua
Layout Editor | Chrissy Cho
Senior Layout Editor | Mikaela Pham
Video Editor | Fabiola Esqueda
Isla Vista Beat Reporter | Alondra Sierra
PAGES: 7,8,9
Senior Copy Editor | Spencer Wu
Advertising Director | Tanya Gosselin
National Beat Reporter | Jacob Wong
Layout Editor | Vivianna Shields
Co-News Editor | Arturo Samaniego
Marketing Director | Erica Kaplan
Copy Editor | Sheila Tran
PAGES: 10,11,12
Co-News Editor | Annette Ding
Copy Editor | McKinsey FIdellow
TBL | Mar. 13, 2019
3 | NEWS
UCOP INTRODUCES
N E W
FRAMEWORK JACOB WONG National Beat Reporter The UC Office of the President (UCOP) announced on Friday, Mar. 1 that it was implementing an interim framework to address cases involving sexual violence or sexual harassment (SVSH) within the UC system. UCOP applied the changes to Appendix E in its Policies Applying to Campus Activities, Organizations, and Services (PACAOS), which describes University policy for resolving reports of sexual violence and sexual harassmentrelated incidents. Despite the framework’s ties to UCOP’s Title IX Office, the change is unrelated to the Trump Administration’s updated Title IX policy, proposed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The main policy change
achieved through the interim framework has to do with the University’s appeals process. Procedures for reporting sexual misconduct, conducting an investigation of the charges, and presenting findings and sanctions remain mostly unchanged. Under the new framework, both parties in a sexual misconduct case would have more opportunities to appeal the Student Conduct office’s decision in cases involving suspension or dismissal. Previously, members of either party were allowed to request an appeal of their cases, with a chance at a live hearing. However, it was a conditional allowance — parties could only submit a request for an appeal if there was a procedural error in the case, the decision was unreasonable, new information was presented, or disciplinary
sanctions were disproportionate to the findings. According to a statement attributed to UCOP Title IX Coordinator Suzanne Taylor, some aspects of the original procedure remain unchanged under the interim framework — the investigation file, provided by the University’s Title IX investigator, will still be entered into evidence at the hearing, and an allowance for parties to be physically separated remains in place. Additionally, parties are not allowed to cross-examine each other directly or with a lawyer. The interim policy comes in light of a California appellate court ruling from January 2019 which held that colleges and universities in the state must provide live hearings for all parties involved in cases where “a student accused of sexual misconduct faces severe
disciplinary sanctions, and the credibility of witnesses is central to the adjudication of the allegation.” Acknowledging that its current investigation procedures do not fulfill this new requirement, Taylor also announced that the University had already formed a “workgroup” to develop a more lasting approach to the hearing process. In its announcement, the Office emphasized that it would seek a solution “that is fair, treats parties with respect and compassion, and results in just and reliable outcomes.” In the meantime, Appendix E will serve as a stopgap until a more permanent framework can be put in place. The University made it clear that it had only set the interim framework as a response to the California appellate court’s decision, not the U.S. Department
of Education’s proposed changes to its Title IX Regulations. UCOP has openly voiced its concerns with the Department of Education’s rule changes in the past, citing the guidelines’ emphasis on live hearings over investigation and a narrower definition of what constitutes sexual harassment as its main objections. For now, the university seems committed to following the appellate court’s ruling while still seeking out a process that sufficiently protects both parties involved. “While the interim Appendix E is in place the workgroup will help develop a longer-term approach to a live hearing that is fair, treats parties with respect and compassion, and results in just and reliable outcomes,” stated Taylor.
FOR HANDLING
SEXUAL ASSAULT C A S E S
4 | FEATURES
TBL | Mar. 13, 2019
isla vista
art in the park
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1 A participant crafts a bracelet at the friendship bracelet making station. 2 IV Art’s in a Park organizer Nerwel Zhao poses. 3 Attendants Julan, Quinlan, and Thomas show off their freshly dyed t-shirts.
3 2
5 4
4 Artists Anthony Kouglas and Luminesse Divine perform with guitars. 5 Guests make their own collage artwork at the collage making station.
5 | FEATURES
TBL | Mar. 13, 2019
CAREER s e r v i c e s Gets the Job Done VICTORIA PENATE Features Editor Whether it’s helping with career indecision through expert counseling or streamlining the process of searching for and applying to jobs, UCSB Career Services offers a valuable collection of resources with the potential to enrich the academic experiences of all those who visit. According to Career Service’s annual report for the 2017-18
academic year, plans for the current year included “a professional clothing closet … to support under-resourced students with access to professional attire for job search related activities.” This goal was fulfilled in January as they held a five-hour event in which students were invited to freely choose from business-style clothing donations. According to the report, another 2018-2019 goal includes “focused and intentional programming for first-generation,
under-resourced students to support their career readiness needs.” This, too, was achieved during the past quarter through events centered on financial literacy, job search strategies for international students, and interview skills workshops specific to Educational Opportunity Program and firstgeneration students. In a Director’s Note prefacing the report, Ignacio Gallardo, the director of Career Services, describes the reach of the center’s counseling services during the previous year. “Our career counselors saw over 2,500 students in individual appointments and over 3,600 in drop-in advising,” said Gallardo. Gallardo went on to say that “job and internship opportunities for students were at an all-time high,” attributing this partially to the outreach and resources provided by Career Services. These include the deployment of online job-search platform Handshake, and the administration of professional tests designed to identify personal strengths and aptitude.
These resources present a promising opportunity for students, particularly those who are approaching completion of their degrees, or otherwise expecting to enter the job market soon. In an interview, fourth year economics and philosophy major Connor Pardini told The Bottom Line about his experience taking three Career Services-offered assessments: the Strong Interest Inventory (SII), the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality assessment, and Clifton Strengths for Students. “The assessments suggested by my counselor really helped to expand my thinking about what kind of careers I could pursue,” said Pardini. The SII, described by the Career Services website as “[assessing] your interests against six broad categories of work,” is aimed at students who would like assistance in determining the field which they would most like to enter for their career. The MBTI and Clifton Strengths assessments, on the other hand, each provide a comprehensive analysis of the student’s
qualities — knowledge which may be applied to the job search in any field of work. Each of these assessments, which are offered free of charge to any UCSB student, may be accessed by visiting the Career Services office to inquire with a counselor regarding signing up. In each case, the student will complete the test on their own and then follow up with a one-on-one counseling meeting in which they will receive a professional interpretation alongside their results. “[My career counselor] also showed me a list of employers in the area I’d like to work [for] as well as how to structure an application for each of them,” said Pardini. Through diversity of programming and easily-accessible career resources, Career Services may become an essential resource to any student seeking to widen their awareness — not only regarding the job opportunities that exist out in the field, but also the strengths they may find within themselves.
CHECK OUT ON FACEBOOK Have a Horse? Bring it to School. If you have a horse that you wish to not leave behind at home, no worries because you can bring your horse with you. The UCSB Horse Boarders Association located behind Isla Vista Elementary School and near Goleta Butterfly Grove is a student-run collective that houses horses. Watch the video to know more!
TBL | Mar. 13, 2019
6 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
The organizer of the band lottery waits for people to arrive. Photo by Katie Michel | The Bottom Line
BAND LOTTERY
Show up, Hang out
FORM A BAND
RAYMOND MATTHEWS Staff Writer
While UCSB hosts multiple concerts and performances that cater to diverse audiences, if you aren’t a music major or a classically trained musician, you may find it hard to get involved in performing arts here on campus and in the Isla Vista community. Fortunately, now there’s a way for students and community members alike to write and perform their own music thanks to Isla Vista’s first annual Band Lottery. Hosted last weekend at the Biko Garage, the Band Lottery was a unique event that started out with multiple solo musicians and ended with fully formed bands. Attendees simply filled out a form, naming their favorite music genres and their favorite bands, and the event’s organizers sorted them into bands based on instruments and music tastes. One of the Lottery’s organizers, Spencer Milano, in an interview with TBL, described it as “a place for musicians to network with each other ... Sometimes that means talking to people you
never normally would, and that’s what makes for really interesting bands.” Milano is the former head of a local arts and entertainment center known as Funzone that hosted film screenings, art workshops, and networking events such as the Band Lottery in the lower east side of Santa Barbara from 2014 to 2017. When Milano chose to leave Funzone and reestablish the Band Lottery at UCSB, the Biko Co-op seemed like a perfect venue for it, saying that it “hosts so many workshops and creative events a lot like Funzone used to do.” This event was in high demand among students who love music but don’t identify with the more traditional, classic music styles that UCSB normally showcases. When asked about the music environment here at UCSB, secondyear sociology major Solay Midas said that she hasn’t “really been exposed to many different kinds of music outside of the music minor, and [she] definitely [hasn’t] found any performance groups outside of the music department that [she] could join or would want to join. “
“I’ve been thinking about starting what I’ve been calling my fantasy band for a while now,” continued Midas, “but there haven’t really been any kind of networking events or meetings for people with mutual interests where music is concerned, which is why I think that things like the band lottery should be happening a lot more here in I.V. and on campus.” But the event didn’t just attract students and Isla Vista residents. Steven Johnson, an audio engineer from Ventura, said that the band lottery “was the closest place to come out and meet new people that might share similar interests.” Johnson elaborated, “I come out to Santa Barbara and Isla Vista a lot to see the local bands and for the most part I really enjoy the music scene here. It’s been a good long time since I’ve been in a band, and right now I’m interested in niche music, so I like old school folksy stuff that not a lot of people play nowadays and I figured that something like this was my best shot at meeting people who might be interested in the same kind of music.” One might assume that a band
lottery would appeal to traditional rock musicians, but according to Milano, “A ton of really niche genre bands have come out of the lottery in the past. We’ve had folk rock bands, screamo fans, punk rockers, and electro-pop groups come together, it really just depends on the unique pool of people that we get in a given year.” The Bico garage was filled with excitement and anticipation as attendees waited to meet their future bands and organizers arranged musicians into groups like Harry Potter sorting hats. As the bands were announced, each musician lit up, and all launched into discussions about their favorite bands and the new music they were excited to make together. If the excitement and chemistry between these new bands is at all indicative of how they’ll play together, then the Band Lottery will introduce new, refreshing sounds to the Isla Vista community for all to hear in the near future. Fans of local talent can eagerly await more garage shows, soundcloud albums, and house concerts from these student groups as a result of UCSB’s first Band Lottery.
7 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
TBL | Mar. 13, 2019
ISLA VISTA ARTIST SPOTLIGHT:
Oliver Thompson
KAYLAN CHOLEWA
Oliver Thompson, a junior at UCSB, uses his paintings as a means of letting his hands do the talking; but more, he creates art for the purpose of selfexpression; each piece reflects part of himself. Thompson, a biological-anthropology major, has been drawing and creating for the majority of his life, but now has found passion in painting and displaying the work he and his friends create all around the walls of his apartment. Thompson, originally from Turlock, California, is a transfer student pursuing a career in medicine. As is the case for many other transfer students, Thompson worked hard to earn a spot at UCSB. Since acceptance, he has been taking advantage of the many opportunities offered, and has fostered a new passion for painting. Starting from a young age, Thompson was an auditory learner — he found himself doodling in notebooks while listening to what his teachers were saying. What’s more, Thompson states, “I only took two art classes in high school...basically it was just practicing shading and drawing with pencils.” One would never guess this fact by the sheer amount of assorted art pieces hung on the wall that draw in one’s attention. Besides formal education, Thompson gets inspiration for his art from other things in his environment such as the symmetry of church buildings, music, and his father’s drawings. When Thompson’s father was a late teenager, his father was drawing perfectly detailed sketches of architecture, designs, and faces. Thompson has a multitude of drawings hanging around the apartment that his father had in an old art portfolio.
UCSB Junior Oliver Thompson showcases his work in home studio. Photo by Kaylan Cholewa | The Bottom Line
Thompson reflects on the intricacy of his father’s work by saying: “My dad was always so good at being detailed. I like his drawings because he was so precise with it… some of his stuff I really like, but some of it is too precise for me.” Thompson discussed how his father provided some inspiration for his paintings. “You could say I get my inspiration from my dad… growing up,
my dad was always quiet… it wasn’t until later in my life that I began to respect the hard work he put into helping make ends meet for our family.” In one specific drawing he shared from his father’s work, a simple, but very intricate sketch of a home was displayed on the page. It was a design of his mother’s dream home that his father had taken the time to detail.
From the moment one steps into Thompson’s apartment, one can’t help but let their eyes wander around all of the paintings and drawings hung up on the wall, each one created by either himself, his friends, or his father. When asking Thompson how long he’s been painting for, he mentions that “I started around six months ago, but I have really been focused on it for the past two months or so.”
Thompson describes that he mostly paints in his apartment with friends, occasionally he goes down to the beach or Santa Barbara to paint sceneries, but mostly likes to hang out with friends in his home to paint. To celebrate creativity, art, and friends, Thompson started doing “Wine Wednesdays,” a tradition for him and his friends to get together on Wednesday evenings, hang out, and paint whatever they want. All of the art materials are provided by Thompson; in return, he simply requests that his friends let him hang up their art on the wall afterwards. When aasked if he plans to pursue a career out of painting, he discussed how he dreams of becoming a doctor, but hopes that he can still maintain his passion for painting throughout his life and career. Thompson’s father stated that “Painting is a way to let my hands do the talking instead of my mouth. I use it as a destressor.” As of now, Thompson has not displayed his work anywhere, but he hopes to be able to showcase his work at the Glen Dallas Gallery in downtown Santa Barbara in the near future. If one is interested in viewing Thompsons’s work, they can follow his Instagram at: 42_olly, or his Snapchat at: imoliver. My last question for Thompson was if he had any advice for aspiring artists getting started, to which he replied: “I believe one has to jump in to swim.”
8 | SCIENCE & TECH
TBL | Mar. 13, 2019
New Summer Course to Explore Architecture and Music XANDER APICELLA Staff Writer
Yin Yu, a media arts and technology Ph.D student at UCSB, designed a pre-college class entitled “In the Digital Age — Experiencing Architecture and Music Through STEM” that she will be teaching this summer. The class intends to break down the barriers between art and science for high school students. Yin discovered these barriers as an electrical engineer in Silicon Valley, where she realized that she missed design and art. Following this realization, she decided to go to architecture school because she viewed architecture as bridging art and technology. She found inspiration in the work of Iannis Xenakis, a Greek-French composer and architect who worked with one of the world’s first computers to make music in the 1950s. His music spurred his architectural design. With the work of Xenakis as her inspiration, Yin began to experiment with her own passion for electronic and digital music in her architecture. After spending time in architecture school, Yin realized that engineering and architecture were both missing something. “Engineers don’t really thinking about design or beauty. They just focus on the functions [and] the utility,” said
Photos by Jungah Son | The Bottom Line
Yin in an interview with The Bottom Line. “While working in an architecture firm, people are thinking about design, but people will not really use new technology. They are a little bit reluctant and scared.” Coming to this conclusion drove her to combine the technical focus of engineering with
ate students push towards creating synergy between art and technology. Due to the diverse influences on the MAT curriculum, the program has replaced the term STEM with the term THEMAS (standing for Technology, Humanity, Engineering, Mathematics, Art, and Science). Some educational institu-
of 2018. After gaining interdisciplinary teaching experiences, Yin decided to create her own class based on her specific interests within THEMAS — architecture and music. Another reason why she chose these topics is because people are surrounded by them, making them familiar to
the design focus of architecture through education. To further this aim, Yin enrolled in UCSB’s media arts and technology (MAT) program, which immerses students in an interdisciplinary experience that combines media, engineering, programing, and art in order to contribute unique research and perspectives. Yin and other MAT gradu-
tions, such as the Rhode Island School of Design, have adjusted terminology to add art to the STEM curriculum, replacing the term stem with the term STEAM. However, UCSB’s MAT program goes one step further. Yin was a TA for Professor Marcos Novak’s undergraduate THEMAS course, INT 80, in the winter and spring quarters
almost everyone. “We live in architecture all the time. This booth is architecture and this chair is architecture,” Yin said, gesturing around the interview location. She connected everyday sounds, like that of a door closing, to music. She will use these understandings to teach her fourweek summer course that is de-
signed for high school students. These students face pressure to choose the “right” major and many may face pressure to major in a STEM discipline. Yin’s course focuses on STEM concepts, while also breaking free of traditional STEM constraints. The goal of the course is to develop a scientific intuition for architecture and music through the use of computational tools like 3D modeling and sound fabrication programs. Students will also explore more abstract concepts, like the role of soundtrack in a cinematic experience and the architectural flow of amusement parks. The course will include a mixture of lectures by UCSB faculty and hands-on workshops. Since Yin designed the course according to her own research interests, it will give students a glimpse into Yin’s unique, cross-sectional discipline as well as the opportunity to gain research and presentation experience. She intends to challenge her students’ preconceptions and open them to new experiences. Yin views interdisciplinary understanding as vital to empowering students everywhere. “In the future, we will design a better world, for us,” she said.
9 | SCIENCE & TECH
TBL | Mar. 13, 2019
Tech Companies Are Consolidating Like Crazy facebook
In the United States, tech giants like Amazon and Facebook are acquiring small businesses at a rapid pace — in other words, they are consolidating to become increasingly powerful. In line with this trend, Facebook purchased Instagram in a $1 billion acquisition deal in 2012 and just two years afterwards, purchased WhatsApp for $19 billion. Facebook isn’t alone in sealing these multi-billion dollar deals. In 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. Although substantial sums of money are sacrificed to purchase these companies, companies like Amazon and Facebook are making these investments in order to gain more consumers and power. When companies are purchased, their consumer base is also acquired. Acquiring more consumers generally corresponds to acquiring more influence and power, which makes purchasing other companies an economically attractive strategy to companies who can afford to do so.
Amazon’s purchase of Twitch, a popular video game live-streaming service, is an example of this consolidation. By creating desirable features on Twitch that were only available to Amazon Prime members, Amazon was able to market to Twitch’s substantial viewer base. In a capitalistic system, corporate consolidation is both legal and economically viable, as it weeds out competitors and often contributes to increased revenue. However, capitalism does not account for the ethics behind this practice and current laws do not prevent these companies from veering towards monopolizing industries. Although Google, Amazon, and Facebook are all relatively recent innovations, they now hold significant power because so many people use their services. Google’s search engine processes around three billion searches each day. Amazon has around 197 million unique visitors a month and Facebook has roughly 2.32 billion active users each month. As more people use these companies’ increasingly ubiquitous services, monopolization of the
digital space will become easier. “The world has gotten smaller and bigger at once,” said Jennifer Holt, a professor of Film and Media Studies at UCSB who specializes in media criticism. “But we made a lot of trade-offs for that convenience — primarily, sacrificing varying levels of surveillance or the exchange of our personal privacy. We made a lot of bargains in the process of this shift.” Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal, as well as the monetization of its users information, is an example of a bargain that’s been made. Information has been traded for convenience. Additionally, as companies make more money, they gain more political and social influence, which could contribute to influences on legislation as well as their consumers. The effects of consolidation are immediate. Whole Foods is a grocery store chain specializing in organic and high quality products, but soon, its customers may not be greeted by fresh-off-the-farm tomatoes PREPARING and spinach. Instead,FOR theyA CAREER IN might beHEALTH greeted byCARE? the newest Join Health Scholar and Summer version of theour Amazon Echo.
“ In a capitalistic
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10 | OPINIONS
TBL | Mar. 13, 2019
BEST and WORST GE Classes ADDISON MORRIS Arts & Entertainment Editor
As a graduating junior who has recently completed her general education requirements, I feel prepared to share advice on my favorite and least favorite General Education (GE) classes. My hope is that students registering for spring courses find this advice useful while other students who might have already taken some of the classes find it relatable, funny, and hopefully not too PTSD-inducing.
Top 5 1
ENGLISH 15: SHAKESPEARE With another outstanding professor, English 15 is a no-brainer. After all, William Shakespeare has influenced so much of contemporary language, literature, and popular culture that a basic course in his works ought to be a general education requirement on its own. To take the class or not to take the class? That is a foolish question.
2 ANTHROPOLOGY 5: INTRO TO BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
I’m not just plugging this class because I’m a bio-anth major — Anthropology 5 is the class that converted me. Titled “An Introduction to Evolutionary Biology,” Anthropology 5 will change the way you think about every creature around you. The class format includes video lectures to watch when you so choose, a fully discussion-based class, and an easy-to-follow textbook written by the professor himself.
3 EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURAL STUDIES 5: INTRO TO BUDDHISM
While Professor Hillis is hands-down one of the coolest professors at UCSB, the course has merit in its own right. If going into the class you think that Buddhism is all zen, meditation, yoga, and good karma, be prepared to have a philosophical and possibly existential crisis, as EACS 5 will make you question everything you thought you knew.
4
CLASSICS 40: GREEK MYTHOLOGY Even if reading and writing are your Achilles’ heel, take CLASS 40 because the fascinating subject matter makes all the difference. Greek Mythology is a storytelling class. Show up to lecture to hear epic tales, glorious myths, and tragic stories; read the accompanied texts to learn more and I promise you won’t be sorry.
5 SOCIOLOGY 152A: HUMAN SEXUALITY No doubt about it: sex, nudity, and porn are alluring — and those are major components of the class. However, the less seductive topics of the course include STI/STDs, female genital cutting, and childbirth in all their gory detail. Of course, every topic taught, regardless of the appeal, is extremely important, relevant, and eye-opening. Balancing fun and none, SOC152A takes spot #5 on my list.
Bottom 5 1
ANTHROPOLOGY 3: INTRO TO ARCHEOLOGY If you want to hear an old male professor talk about his favorite fantasies of young actresses in skimpy caveman outfits three days a week, take Anthropology 3: An Introduction to Archeology. If this disinterests and disgusts you, avoid the class altogether.
2
ART HISTORY 6A: ART SURVEY I: ANCIENT-MEDIEVAL ART
Be prepared to learn no art and all history. The class focuses on prehistoric or ancient art — meaning rock piles, settlements, and archaeological artifacts. I hardly considered these things art when I was expecting to learn about famous drawings and paintings, and, thus, I was extremely dissatisfied.
3 ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES 5: INTRO TO ASIAN AMERICAN LITERATURE
More than 200 pages of reading per week, quizzes every section, two close reading papers — have I said enough yet to convince you? If not, let me add that the professor tries to get to know every single student’s name in the 200-person lecture hall — a noble endeavor, but a tragic catastrophe.
4
ANTHROPOLOGY 2: INTRO TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Boring, intuitive, and repetitive, Anthropology 2 may have been more of a disappointment to me than to other students because it was a let-down compared to my other Anthropology classes in the biological realm. On the other hand, if the class had simply taught me something I didn’t already know about some diverse world cultures, I would’ve counted it a success.
5 MATHEMATICS 8: TRANSITION TO HIGHER MATHEMATICS
Transition to Higher Mathematics is about as fun as it sounds. If you didn’t think math could get any harder than Calculus or Linear Algebra, think again. In my opinion, this class starts to get into recreational mathematics — an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one — where it stops being applicable to real-life situations and starts being too complicated and theoretical.
11 | OPINIONS
TBL | Mar. 13, 2019
THE PROBLEM with Disarming Campus Police MADISON KIRKPATRICK A.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling for the complete disarmament of campus police, on the grounds that students should no longer fear armed police. I, along with others, believe that no student should be afraid for their safety, especially not at school. Students, especially students of color, can feel intimidated by a heavy police presence for a variety of reasons. This new resolution can alleviate some of the stress these students feel towards law enforcement. However, we should consider whether or not disarming campus police is the best longterm solution to this problem. Mar. 3, the night the resolution was passed, was also the 49th anniversary of the Isla Vista Riots. During the A.S. Senate meeting on Feb. 27, student advocate Ivana Cruz said, “It’s rarely talked about. The night of the Bank of America burning, a student was walking home from a liquor store and he was violently arrested because the police mistook his handle for a
Molotov cocktail.” According to Cruz, armed law enforcement has resulted in increased fear and tension between police and students. Portland State University and the University of Oregon both recently passed bills to disarm their campus police. Student leaders supported this choice, believing that it would guarantee student safety. I agree that this was a smart decision on Oregon’s part; even I fear for my safety doing something as simple as going downtown with friends or walking to class. I believe these bills will protect students, but we need to consider how officers can defend themselves. An example of the potential dangers of lack of defense can be found in the death of Natalie Corona, a police officer in Davis, California. The campus-based law enforcer was shot and killed in the line of duty while responding to a car accident near campus. What some people do not realize is that those in law enforcement are not all dangerous. Though there have been dis-
gusting instances of police misconduct, not every police officer deserves to be labeled as a threat. Corona was a human being with family and friends who had to mourn her death over something that could have potentially been prevented if she were armed. I hope that I am safe in my surroundings, but for me this does include police being able to defend themselves. Instead of taking guns away, we should focus on enacting stricter gun control. With UCSB’s decision, the hope is that police brutality and gun violence will be alleviated. However, I wonder if this is a good fix to the problem. Though I do agree with the decision, it might be better to have a longterm fix that does not compromise the safety of students or law enforcement, since everyone deserves to be protected. It seems ironic that by taking away something that causes students to feel uneasy, it does not really ease their feelings if a dangerous situation occurs. They cannot protect themselves or be protected by campus police, who are em-
ployed to make sure students are safe. I do believe that UCSB’s decision can be effective and has good intentions. Unfortunately it doesn’t do much if the people we want to protect us are putting themselves in danger. We cannot always expect students to protect themselves. With the decision, I hope students feel safer on campus
as the law intended. If it does not, I hope the school can look into other options. Illustration Courtesy of Wikimedia
Comic of the Week The Bottom Line File Photo
Comic by Jake Ortega | The Bottom Line
12 | PHOTO
TWEN ROCKS Photos by Katie Michel and Docean Park | The Bottom Line
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STORKE plaza
TWEN is an indie band currently on tour. They’ve been making their way up the cost, performing in San Diego prior to their show here at UCSB. They performed in Storke Plaza as part of AS Program Board’s weekly Storke Show series. They promoted a relaxed vibe as their guitarist improvised some jazz and played along to a nice sunny day.
4 1 Lead singer and guitarist of TWEN, Jane and Ian, rock out. 2 TWEN guitarist Ian harmonizes with back up vocals. 3 TWEN performs at the ASPB Storke Show. 4 TWEN lead singer Jane and bassist Gwen perform at the ASPB Storke Show last Thursday. 5 Drummer Jeff Crenshaw immerses himself in his part, all the while keeping pace with bassist Gwendolyn MacPhee.
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