University of California, Santa Barbara || Volume XIII, Issue XIV || Feb. 27, 2019 || BottomLineUCSB.com
NEWS
FEATURES
OPINIONS
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
SCIENCE & TECH
SPORTS
VIDEO
THE STORY BEHIND S&T Page 8
Illustration by Alyssa Long | Staff Illustrator
Grant Awarded to Expand I.V. Community Garden
Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
The United Methodist Church hopes to utilize the expansion of the I.V. Community Garden as a resource for I.V.’s Latino family population.
TBL traces the history of KITP, distinguishing UCSB’s scientific legacy in the global physics research community.
NEWS
S&T
Page 2
Page 9
TBL | Feb. 27, 2019
2 | NEWS
GRANT T O
AWARDED
ALONDRA SIERRA Isla Vista Beat Reporter The University United Methodist Church has been awarded an $11,090 grant from the Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD) to expand the Isla Vista Community Garden, a collaboration between the United Methodist Church and UCSB’s Campus Edible Program. The grant will go towards growing the size of the garden and increasing awareness and involvement from Isla Vista’s longterm Latino residents and students. Planted on the corner of Camino del Sur and Sueno, the community garden can be found outside the United Methodist Church building — a structure built in the early 1960s, now laden with structural issues that render it obsolete for worship. To make the most of the building, its interior now serves as a warming center for Isla Vista’s homeless during harsh weather, and its once vacant landscape is now an expanding community garden to address food insecurity in the community. The idea for the garden, which has been open to the public since October, began over two years ago. “In the beginning, I really doubted that [the garden] would be a worthwhile project for a church, but I completely stand corrected,” said Pastor
Frank Schaefer, who has been at the church since 2014. Having no experience in community gardening, Pastor Frank, along with his church committee, reached out to UCSB Sustainability last spring, forming a collaboration with the Edible Campus Program, a campus coalition aimed at addressing food insecurity through sustainable food production. Since its development, the Edible Campus Program has constructed an urban orchid of citrus trees under Storke Plaza, a vertical garden at the Recreational Center, and a student farm at West Campus — all of which harvest produce that is then distributed through the Associated Students Food Bank. Back in May 2018, the garden received its first grant from the United Methodist Church of $5,750, according to Pastor Frank, around the same time that the IVCSD had also initially approved their grant that would be awarded to fund the garden. But, technical issues arose that prevented the IVCSD to award the grant to the Edible Campus Program — of which the garden is under direction — and instead, almost a year later, the grant was given to the United Methodist Church to allocate funds. The approved grant proposal outlines plans for raised beds, new benches, soil and seeds, a native California plant and pond area, and a
TBL 2018-2019 STAFF Correction: In Volume 13, Issue 13, Hugh Hefner’s name was incorrectly spelled as “Heffner.”
pizza oven. “We have only built out about half of the growing spaces that we hope to create,” said Katie Maynard, UCSB Sustainability coordinator. Organizers behind the fenceless garden, including the church committee, have a vision of a community-driven space where anyone is welcome to learn about cultivating plants and harvesting their own, while also serving as a place to socialize. The proposed native plant and pond area, for example, will be a meditation and spiritual spot for community members in addition to the garden, which is spearheaded by student intern Whitner Grange, a second-year environmental studies major. The grant will also cover the costs for a bilingual intern, newly hired third-year sociology major Adriana Meza Gonzalez, to do outreach within Isla Vista’s longterm Latino family community. “It’s very important to include [the Latino community] because they are not only supporting themselves, but also their families,” said Gonzalez. “Having a resource like the community garden that doesn’t require them to pay a fee for a plot or anything is very helpful.” While plans for expanding the garden begin, the Isla Vista Community Garden joins the ranks of St. Michael’s and Estero Gardens — both plot-based — as an open and public garden for and by the community.
EXPAND
ISLA
VISTA COMMUNITY
GARDEN
Photo Courtesy of Isla Vista Student Ministry UCM
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 | Feb. 27, 2019
3 | NEWS
F
O
R
M
E
R
BLACK PANTHER
PAR TY LEAD E R JACOB WONG National Beat Reporter
GIVES
A LECTURE
AT
“Good evening. You all look so beautiful ... your smiles are so big.” Ericka Huggins, a human rights activist and former Black Panther party leader, addressed a packed Campbell Hall last Thursday, Feb. 21. Her lecture came as part of the Black Student Union’s Heart & Soul Case Series, a two-day event meant to celebrate Black art forms, expression, and entrepreneurship during Black History Month, which takes place in February. Huggins spoke on three topics over the course of the evening: identity, activism, and change, showcasing a perspective built on a diverse set of experiences. Now 71 years old, Huggins has lived a life defined by diversity in a variety of ways, from ethnic diversity to diversity of thought. In 1968 she joined the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party, a militant civil rights organization that sought to elevate the economic and political status of African Americans throughout the 1960s. One of Huggins’s most notable contributions as a member of the Black Panthers
was an eight-year stint as the Director of the Oakland Community School, an elementary school in Oakland, California that the Party founded to provide children an alternative to the curriculum employed by the local school district. Huggins served as the school’s director from 19731981, according to her website. In 1969, Huggins was placed on trial along with Black Panthers founder Bobby Seale for charges related to the torture and death of Party member Alex Rackley. Over the course of the two-year trial, Huggins spent time in solitary confinement, where she began to practice meditation. Following her acquittal in 1971, Huggins never lost her newfound spirituality. On her website, she writes, “From that time [in prison] I’ve incorporated spiritual practice into my community work, as a speaker and facilitator, teaching as a tool for change — not only for myself, but for all people, no matter their age, race, gender, sexuality or culture.” Throughout the evening, Huggins rarely hesitated to incorporate memories from her past into her message. She didn’t shy away from her time in prison and provided
an anecdote from her incarceration while addressing what she perceived to be the difference between social change and transformation. Social change is the historical struggle for civil rights, dependent on the rule of law to achieve equality, according to Huggins. To illustrate the concept of transformation, Huggins told the story of a police officer whom she befriended during her time in prison, recounting how he would make small talk and help her into the squad car safely as she was shuttled between her cell and court. “He treated me like a human being,” she told the audience. To Huggins, the distinction between social change and transformation is a human element. “If we honored everyone’s human rights, then we would not be living in the world we are living in,” she told the crowd. Today’s world was another recurring topic throughout the evening. The Black Panthers are now long gone — in 1982, the Oakland School closed amid controversy surrounding Party leader Huey Newton — even Huggins acknowledged this, at one point saying the Party existed “only in spirit.”
However, she still had a lot to say about America’s current political climate and the state of race relations in the country. “Think of yourself as a speck of pepper in a sea of rice,” she told the audience, calling for those in attendance to be “awake and aware” of cultural inequities based on race and gender — constructs which, as she was sure to remind the crowd, are “all made up.” For Huggins, recognizing America’s racial history is also a two-way street. “No man or woman is responsible [for racial injustice] — it was here before we got here,” she said. When discussing the topic of activism, Huggins dismissed the perception that it was limited to holding a picket sign and protesting. “Activism is what you do to achieve the change you want to see,” she said, bringing to mind her years of service as an educator in the Oakland School. Over the course of the three hour event, Huggins touched on a broad range of issues, accentuated with her own personal experiences. Through it all, her message was clear: change is good, but real transformation requires diversity in thought.
CAMPBELL HALL
4 | FEATURES
TBL | Feb. 27, 2019
UCSB’s First Annual Women’s Empowerment Conference JADE MARTINEZ-POGUE On Sunday, Feb. 21 hundreds of women gathered in Corwin Pavilion for UC Santa Barbara’s first annual Women’s Empowerment Conference. The conference was sponsored by UCSB Panhellenic, the Council that oversees UCSB’s sororities, with the mission of providing a valuable resource to the campus community. “Our goal for the event was to create a space for UCSB women to meet other women and feel inspired,” Ariana Marmolejo, vice president of programming for UCSB’s Collegiate Panhellenic Council, told The Bottom Line. “We want everyone to know about the resources they actually have.” The idea of holding this conference dates back to the last fall quarter. Once the Panhellenic Council determined that they would undertake this task, they reached out to the United Sorority and Fraternity Council to find others willing to help out. This process resulted in a subcommittee of approximately 50 women working to make the conference come to life, according to Marmolejo. “If we’re going to do this, it’s
really important to have a diverse group of women giving their input to see what people think they can benefit from the most,” said Marmolejo. The conference featured an hour-long talk by keynote speakers Gina Fisher and Gloria Soto. The talk was titled “Just Keep Swimming” and promoted a message of women’s empowerment by demonstrating “how women are best served supporting each other and propping each other up.” Following the speech, students had the opportunity to participate in five breakout sessions, in which they could talk with specialists on topics such as women in politics and dismantling normative beauty ideals. This was a discussion-based segment of the conference, allowing students to seek out answers to any questions that interested them. The conference also dedicated the opening hour to a resource fair, in which students walked around freely, obtaining useful information from a wide variety of female-centered sources — including tables for organizations such as Planned Parenthood and Domestic Violence Solutions of Santa Barbara. “These are organizations
made by women and for women. It’s our responsibility to support and empower all women of our community,” Marmolejo said. Marmolejo recognizes value in all of the resources that are provided to students, and specifically women, on campus, and emphasized that it was the responsibility of UCSB Panhellenic to inform the student body of those resources in order to contribute to a more positive school community. “It’s not something you can do on your own, so I think being able to meet other women with similar interests is important,” she said, referring to the aforementioned effort to improve a campus environment. “It’s critical that we had a public event dedicated to this idea.” Marmolejo expressed her belief that it was a beautiful thing that so many women could gather to inform and encourage each other at this dedicated event, each fostering a better empowered mindset as a result. “This is something that should always happen at every school. UCSB has amazing resources, and it’s our responsibility to contribute to that.”
A panel of Working Women participants Gloria Soto, Megan Birney, Gina Fisher, Katya Armistead, and Wendy Sims-Moten (left to right) after the Women’s Empowerment Conference.
UCSB students visit a booth during the Resource Fair at the Women’s Empowerment Conference Photos by Kaylin Cole | The Bottom Line
5 | FEATURES
TBL | Feb. 27, 2019
Süp and Jüs Opens Its Doors in Goleta ZEENA OMAR The next time you’re passing through Goleta, consider dropping by Süp and Jüs, new neighbor — and sister restaurant — to Kyle’s Kitchen. To celebrate their grand opening, Süp and Jüs is offering sixty days of deals. Inspired by Barcelona’s Mercat de la Boqueria, the owners of Kyle’s Kitchen have established a truly charming local quick stop with a variety of soups, juices, sandwiches, salads, and even pastries. The restaurant is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day — maximizing convenience for a visit. Despite being a convenient get-in-and-get-out place, the atmosphere at Süp and Jüs is notably inviting, matching its smiling umlaut logo. The establishment offers a daily rotation of seven hot soups, samples of which are fresh and available, making it easy for guests to make a well-informed decision before ordering. I was eager to
sample the soups, yet quickly disappointed that none were vegetarian-friendly on the day that I visited. My humble request to Süp and Jüs would be to consider more vegetarian-friendly options within all specific rotations, rather than on the menu as a whole. Fortunately, beyond the rotation of the hot and ready soups of the day is a wider selection of refrigerated soups to go, a welcome option if your favorite variety is not being served hot that day. In this way, Süp and Jüs is firmly in the business of making the customer feel accommodated. The organic vegetarian chili was packed with beans, vegetables, spices, and most importantly, a great flavor. At a price of $5, the soup certainly provides its value, as this chili was hearty and filling. Though the establishment’s focus revolves around soup and juice, I couldn’t help but be tempted to try their appetizing sides. The Hatch Chile Mac & Cheese caught my eye, and upon ordering it, I was not disappointed.
It was rich and creamy, with the peppers and Chile seasoning giving ordinary macaroni and cheese a unique flair. If you’re in the mood for a sandwich, there is also a wide selection available. However, the pre-made turkey and cheddar sandwich was underwhelming . It tasted exactly the way you would expect turkey and cheese on bread to taste, but unfortunately, did not offer any particular twist or added flavoring past that. Quench your thirst with one of their freshly made juices, sitting in the refrigerator that might be mistaken for a colorful art display. The tropical pineapple strawberry juice made for a refreshing and healthy drink to grab to go. The flavor itself was ordinary, though still a great quality and nutrition value for its price of $4. Overall, Süp and Jüs makes a nice stop if you are in the area and looking for a delicious and wholesome bite to go.
Photos by Micah Morales | The Bottom Line
60 DAYS OF DEALS Feb. 18 - Mar. 3 $4 Juices Mar. 4 - Mar. 18 $1 Handlebar Coffee $5 Breakfast Burritos Mar. 18 - Apr. 3 $6 Sandwiches
6 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
TBL | Feb. 27, 2019
Michael League provides beautiful bass lines while showcasing his worldfamous “bass face” and Bob Lanzetti. Photo by Samuel Yang | The Bottom Line
SNARKY PUPPY BRINGS ECLECTIC JAZZ MUSIC TO S.B. VANESSA SU
AUTHOR’S RECOMMENDED SONG: XAVI
After performing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Brooklynbased band Snarky Puppy stopped by Santa Barbara on Feb. 24 to entertain another enthusiastic, jam-packed crowd at the Granada Theater. Despite having a hectic schedule, the band also stopped by the campus UCSB to bless UCSB’s very own student Jazz Ensemble with a music class. Wowing the world with their jazz and funk collective music since 2004, Snarky Puppy was formed by leader Michael League and contains about 40 musicians who play a variety of instruments including guitar, bass, percussion, strings, and keyboard, among others. As of recently, they’ve released 12 albums of self-composed music and won three Grammy Awards for their innovative, brilliant music. A theater often used for UCSB Arts & Lecture events, the Granada Theater was the perfect stage for Snarky Puppy
and allowed the lively crowd to fully enjoy interacting with the band as they played. As the seats were nearly all sold out, the crowd quivered with an energetic hum as everyone awaited the muchanticipated performance before Snarky Puppy entered the stage. As soon as the lights dimmed, ten members of Snarky Puppy came up on stage. The audience grew excited as they recognized them as Michael League (bass, band leader), Jason “JT” Thomas (drums), Nate Werth (percussion), Shaun Martin (keys), Justin Stanton (keys, trumpet), Michael “Maz” Maher (trumpet), Jay Jennings (trumpet), Chris Bullock (saxophone), Bob Reynolds (saxophone), and Bob Lanzetti (guitar). Wasting no time, the band immediately launched into a set of new music that is yet to be released and planned as part of their new album launching Mar. 15. Among the new music played were also some of their recent releases such as “Bad Kids to the
Back,” which was released on Feb. 22 as a single and is a jazzy, funk song containing heavy elements of saxophone and bass guitar. Between songs, Michael League offered mini anecdotes and backstage stories for each song to the audience. Most memorably, he mentioned the filming process of “Bad Kids to the Back” and how it was written by member Justin Stanton and was the band’s first animated music video. To the crowd’s delight, he also comedically highlighted how the animator made the decision to “put Justin in high heels” in the music video. Towards the end of the show, the band finished their set and walked off stage. The crowd, hungry for more, began to chant for an encore after applauding. Eventually, the band came back and played their hit song “Lingus,” which is a song with an upbeat tempo that relies on electric guitar, trumpets, saxophone, and drums to get the crowd swaying. Overall, the concert did
not disappoint. It not only showcased Snarky Puppy’s amazing performance skills and tracks, but also highlighted the band’s vibrant dynamic as a group. The combination of jazz and funk elements mixed with electro sounds allowed the audience hear a fresh perspective on classic jazz music, which kept everyone in a captivated trance and revealed a playful, adventurous side of jazz. Continuing to perform for and amaze people around the world, Snarky Puppy’s next tour stop is in Osaka, Japan in Club Quattro on Apr. 11. Sadly, they don’t plan to perform in the U.S. again until their performance in Providence, Rhode Island on May 10 in The Strand Ballroom. As mentioned earlier, their newest album “Immigrance,” which all of their fans are eagerly awaiting, is scheduled to be released on Mar. 15.
7 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
TBL | Feb. 27, 2019
Ritt Momney Rocks the Telegram Ballroom in L.A. TOMAS PALPALLATOC Ritt Momney, a small, garage rock band born out of Salt Lake City, Utah, came to the big city of L.A. on Feb. 17 as a part of their first out-of-state tour. The young band, led by Jack Rutter, lead vocalist and songwriter, put on a stellar live performance at the Moroccan Lounge, a last-minute change from their former venue, Telegram Ballroom. Besides Rutter, four other teenagers make up the collective that is Ritt Momney. Auden Winchester plays the band’s primary keyboard, Max Meteos is on the drums, Noah Hamula rocks guitar, and Jonas Torgersen plays the bass. All are from Salt Lake City — the same city associated with Mormon politician Mitt Romney, from whom the band takes its name. Under the same ownership as Teragram Ballroom, the Moroccan lounge is a small bar space attached to a standingroom-only venue. The entire space was dimly lit, and during Ritt Momney’s performance, the bar was mostly empty. This vacancy was most likely due to the retraction of the 21-year age requirement at this particular show — with an abundance of minors in attendance, the bar was seldom used. The actual stage area was simple. The empty walls and dimly
lit crowd put all the focus on the stage, creating an intimate vibe that aligned with the small crowd that attended the show. Ritt Momney’s five band members were illuminated by soft purple lights from overhead. The band sported an interesting arrangement of two keyboards and only one guitar for most songs. The lead singer switched between keyboard, vocals, and even acoustic guitar. Having forgotten their set list that night, Ritt Momney played most of the songs from their new unreleased LP, “Her and All of My Friends.” It was refreshing to hear more than just their sparse seven songs released on public platforms. This new release — their first full release — dips into the realms of electronic by embracing an almost punk sound, and may be their best yet. It was also filled with a love-pained passion that delivered a much more real feeling than some of their older tracks, reminiscent of their most recent release “Pollution//Disclaimer.” With Rutter coming back to the storytelling, rap-like lyrical style presented in “Pollution.” However, what stood out more than their new music was their live performance. Whether it was due to poor recording equipment on their audio files, or simply an increase in talent by the band since their first tracks, seeing Ritt
Momney live was miles better than listening to them online. Their recorded performances pale in comparison to the energy and sound delivered that night. While the band still preserved the more mellow side of their music that had the crowd swaying back and forth in rhythm, other parts shocked the crowd alive. Some songs literally made my head jolt in surprise, as they sounded completely different than what I had heard before. Overall, the band proved during their live show that they have more to offer in terms of style, quality, and quantity of their music in the years to come as, right now, they’re just getting started. All previous releases by Ritt Momney are available on major streaming services such as Soundcloud, Spotify, and Apple Music.
How a Santa Barbara-based Speaker Company Competes with Tech Giants:
8 | SCIENCE & TECH
TBL | Feb. 27, 2019
SONOS
RAYMOND MATTHEWS
When thinking about pioneering technologies, one usually looks to the innovative landscape of Silicon Valley. However, Santa Barbara has its own claim to fame with the popular speaker company, Sonos. Since its founding in 2002, the company has earned worldwide notoriety for its cutting edge speaker technology. Sonos was co-founded by UCSB alum John MacFarlane along with Craig Shelburne, Trung Mai, and Tom Cullen. Each of the four founders had roots in the Santa Barbara community, whether through family ties or professional experience. They realized that laying a foundation between Los Angeles and Silicon Valley allowed them to observe changes in consumer tastes and builders’ means of production among the biggest tech communities. As a result, Sonos became headquartered in Santa Barbara. MacFarlane’s first idea for a startup company did not involve speakers — he originally wanted to provide local-area networks for airplanes. However, his cofounders weren’t sold on the idea. Eventually, all four of the cofounders found common ground
through their mutual love for music. At the time Sonos was founded, listening to music was much less convenient than it is now. Home sound systems were contingent upon the purchase and storage of countless CDs and a willingness to pay for pricey wire and speaker installation. The founders of Sonos sought to solve this problem by allowing consumers to play music of their choosing, anywhere in their homes, but technology hadn’t yet evolved to meet this demand. Sonos decided to create the technology, recruiting one of America’s foremost software engineers, Nick Millington. Millington proved instrumental in developing the mesh networking technology that would allow Sonos speakers to communicate wirelessly in a home audio setting. Mesh networking was traditionally used in military settings for on-the-go communication, but Millington would prove that it had a place in a wireless home setup. “The notion of mesh networking existed, but not in any audio products,” Andy Schubert, Millington’s manager, explained on the Sonos website. “Almost no one anywhere was working on embedded systems with Wi-Fi. There were no good
Linux drivers with Wi-Fi. We were building our own hardware that we hadn’t fully tested. Nick’s the best developer I’ve ever worked with, by far.” By the summer of 2004, Sonos had perfected its speakers’ prototypes and had begun debuting them to industry professionals. Their breakthrough as a company occurred when they caught the attention of industry professionals at the 2004 D: All Things Digital conference. They were viewed as superior to their primary competitor, Apple’s Airport Express, which debuted at the same conference. The Airport Express required the user to use their computers to control the music, while Sonos offered more advanced, user friendly technology available at your fingertips. The encouragement Sonos received at this conference incentivized the company to make their prototypes publicly available the following year. Sonos continued to steadily expand, with a notable spike in business with the launch of the iPhone in 2007. Later, in 2009, they would release the PLAY:5, a smart speaker that offered users a combination of strong audio quality and remote usage. PLAY:5 was able to work independently
or simultaneously with up to 31 other Sonos speakers. With this launch, the company experienced a spike in revenue that allowed them to expand on a global scale and enjoy sustained sales growth. This meant that they could steadily upgrade and improve their products with an emphasis on overall audio quality. In recent years, Sonos has debuted their new soundbar, designed to work with voice services from Apple, Amazon, and Google. Millington has become the company’s chief product officer, making it his responsibility to guide the company through the changing speaker landscape. Sonos will have to keep with new developments such as graphene speakers, which are as small as an earphone that uses a graphenebased diaphragm. This new design has made strides in transistor design and particle physics, threatening traditional speaker platforms as it gains notoriety amongst industry professionals. If Millington can match his past engineering innovations, Sonos will continue to innovate and set industry standards, perhaps even mobilizing their technology to move outside of the home.
Illustration by Alyssa Long | The Bottom Line
TBL | Feb. 27, 2019
9 | SCIENCE & TECH
A Look Into UCSB’s Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
Photo by Samuel Yang | The Bottom Line XANDER APICELLA UCSB is renowned for its emphasis on research at all levels — everyone, from freshman to professor, is encouraged to make their mark. UCSB went from a small, accessible UC — best known for its partying reputation — to the powerhouse it is today, with six Nobel laureates on its staff and topof-the-line programs in materials, engineering, physics, and other disciplines. Over time, the school’s admission requirements have become increasingly stringent and its pull in the scientific community has grown. To Bob Sugar, an emeritus physics professor at UCSB, this shift was more than a twist of fate. He came to UCSB because of a belief in its interdisciplinary nature and strong staff. This belief lead him to an instrumental role in the creation of the Institute for Theoretical Physics. Today, the Institute receives the majority of its money from the National Science Foundation (NSF), along with a variety of private donors. One generous donor had his name, Kavli, appended to the institute, known today as the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP). A flow of experienced people with bold ideas come to UCSB’s KITP to learn, teach, and collaborate on diverse research topics — six
to eight per year. It is a national laboratory, the first of its kind. It has evolved into a global phenomenon. It attracts researchers of various backgrounds and specialties from all over the world. Boris Kayser, a member of the NSF, was one of the first to propose the concept of a research lab like the KITP. When Sugar first heard of this idea — a lab where individuals cooperated across disciplines to pursue new, cutting-edge research topics in a theoretical landscape — he thought UCSB was the school for the job. It had four theoretical physicists at the time, with specialties ranging from condensed matter to quantum gravity to particle physics. “Physics was going through a phase where it was less separated into disciplines,” said James Hartle, a physics professor emeritus at UCSB, in an interview with The Bottom Line. “It was less organized. And so there was an idea that we should try to foster...these interdisciplinary connections. And the KITP was one solution to that.” Hartle and Sugar, along with professors Doug Scalapino and Ray Sawyer, began to formulate their proposal for an institute at UCSB. Others thought they were wasting their time. “I was just taking the bus,” Sugar said. “I was very excited about this and was explaining it to somebody in a different department. And he said, ‘why would you waste your
time with that, Santa Barbara never gets things like that.’ Indeed...there wasn’t, yet...a national scale research institute on campus.” To add to the enormity of the project, the concept of an institute in any location was controversial. As Sugar said, the sentiment of many was that “there was a traditional way of doing research at universities and that’s what we should do [because] it’s very successful.” Sugar and his team sought to subvert tradition, bringing their proposal before the NSF in Washington, D.C. They were up against institutions that outranked UCSB by far at the time, such as Caltech, Columbia, and Yale. “The NSF announced that if they had an institute at all, it would be in Santa Barbara — which was great, in the sense that we won the competition — but a little disheartening that we really hadn’t gotten the prize yet,” Sugar said. The NSF was unsure it wanted to fund anyone at all without an outstanding director lined up to head the institute. Sugar and his team delivered, bringing in Walter Kohn as the institute’s first director in 1979. Kohn earned the NSF’s approval quickly — by then, he had already won a Nobel Prize for his density-functional theory of interacting electrons and was a leading figure in condensed matter physics. After Kohn left in 1984, Robert Schrieffer stepped in as director.
He had already earned a Nobel Prize in 1972 for his work on superconductors, and continued to study their viability at high temperatures. The next director was James Langer, who served from 1989 to 1995. He directed the design of the KITP’s current headquarters, Kohn Hall, by contemporary architect Michael Graves. The building’s style orbited around a single desire: to generate faculty interactions with spontaneity and frequency. After Langer served as director, James Hartle stepped in. At the time, he was a leader in the interdisciplinary field of quantum cosmology, which searches for a unifying thread between the worlds of the very small and the very large. “My particular interest is in the very beginning,” Hartle said. “So Stephen Hawking and I put out a theory of the quantum beginning of the universe — the wave function of the universe — in 1983. Finding the consequences of that is a big effort.” David Gross followed in 1997, winning a Nobel prize for his discovery of asymptotic freedom during his time as the director of the KITP. This discovery lead to the modern understanding of the strong nuclear force — one of the four fundamental forces of the universe. The current director, Lars Bildsten, stepped in for Gross in 2012. His most notable work is in high-energy astrophysics, especially
his work on the theory of stellar structure and the phenomena associated with neutron stars (such as nuclear burning and generation of gravity waves). The KITP has pioneered new fields, like particle astrophysics (by embracing the theory of dark matter and dark energy), quantum computing, string-theory, and BoseEinstein condensation theory. “It attracted a lot of outstanding people,” Sugar said. Today, the KITP focuses on utilizing machine learning concepts to understand the Rough HighDimensional Landscape Problem and Quantum Many-Body Physics. Though these subjects are at the forefront of the KITP’s work, they do not limit the content explored there. “Once I went to a lecture by a music composer,” Morrison said. “They talked about how they got ideas for their compositions.” It is this warm embrace of external subject matter — with the acknowledgement of its importance and possible connection to their own work — that makes the KITP so valuable. Many of the researchers that go through stay, but most move on. Around 2300 pass through, with each spending an average of 23 days there. Those who stay become an integral part of UCSB and build further its commitment to research, learning, and the improvement of the world as we know it.
5 TIPS FOR BEING A
RAD ROOMMATE
10 | OPINIONS
TBL | Feb. 27, 2019
Illustration by Alyssa Long | Staff Illustrator
STEVEN JIN Unless you have enough disposable income to rent your own place and live alone while attending UCSB, it’s more than likely that you will live with a roommate. Be it a partner, friend, or a random person, living with one other person reduces the cost of living significantly. I have lived with both strangers and friends in dorms and university-owned apartments. From my experience, living with a roommate requires some maintenance and responsibility for the cohabitation to be peaceful. I’ve learned many lessons on cohabitation, when living with familiar people, as well as new. The most important lesson I’ve learned throughout the years is the importance of communicating effectively with my roommate. Regardless of who I’ve lived with, be it a total stranger or a close friend, being able to talk candidly about any issues, conflicts, and suggestions resolves any anxiety or stress. You should give your roommate the benefit of the doubt. If they do something to annoy you, talk to them about the issue rather than letting the stress build up. In psychology, there is a concept called fundamental attribution error, which theorizes that we often attribute fault to the person’s personality rather than to the external environment. For example, say your roommate left a pile of dirty dishes in the morning, clogging up the sink; you may assume that your roommate intentionally left the pile of dishes there because they are some sort of bastard after your own heart. However, it may simply be the case that they had to rush off to take an important midterm. Now both of these scenarios seem plausible, but you never really know the truth unless you talk to them. If you talk to them, you get to hear their side of the story, instead of just relying on your own interpretation of the situation. If it turns out they really did have an important midterm they just could not afford to miss, it’s harder to fault them for cutting corners for that. It’s better to give your roommate the benefit of the doubt, especially when you’ll inevitably need them to do the same for you at some point. The takeaway from this example is that if you talk to your roommates about issues that matter to you, they are likely to listen. If they seem to be at fault, it also gives them an opportunity to explain themselves and make things right. Aside from the importance of clear and open communication, here is an assortment of other tips I’ve accumulated from experience:
Tip #1: Share Food
If you live in an apartment with your own kitchen, it might be a good idea to share common foods and costs with rowwommates. This gives you an opportunity to befriend a new roommate (breaking bread or opening a cold one) or bond with a friend. Plus, it’s convenient and provides an opportunity to go grocery shopping with an extra pair of hands.
Tip #2: Good friends are not always good roommates (and vice versa)
Just because you like your friend, living with them is a whole different story. You probably don’t love every single aspect of your best friend. For example, maybe you really like your friend Mike who takes you on all sorts of fun adventures, but he lives like a slob at home. Picking a roommate is a tremendous commitment and sometimes living with a friend may not be the best option.
Tip #3: Exchange basic, as well as emergency, information
Exchanging basic information such as phone numbers should be pretty intuitive and could be useful for when you lock yourself out, or if you need the roommate for a certain amount of time. Exchanging emergency information is useful for life’s unexpected surprises. I got into an accident last quarter and my current roommate was the one who took me to the emergency room right after. Telling your roommate to not let stalkers in can also be important information to provide.
Tip #4: Be conservative and considerate of resources
If you have a shared resource such as utilities or toilet paper, it would be in everyone’s best interest to be conservative so everyone can save more. We are students after all, and every dollar makes a difference. Also, replace the Brita filter and toilet paper, we are all adults.
Tip #5: Roommate agreements
Roommate agreements can be a great resource for both unfamiliar roommates, as well as friend roommates, because it sets keeps everyone accountable for responsibilities and duties. The key here is compromise. Roommate agreements often cover topics like quiet hours, weekly cleaning duties, guest policies, etc. It’s important to establish a roommate agreement so that everyone is held accountable, leading to a healthy and responsible environment.
11 | OPINIONS
TBL | Feb. 27, 2019
The Significance of the Jussie Smollett Case SABRINA BUI Staff Writer Within weeks, Jussie Smollett went from successful TV actor to sympathetic victim of a hate crime to a possible convicted felon. Once the story came out, politicians and media outlets were quick to jump onto the story; however, at this point, the Chicago Police Department has confirmed the entire incident was a hoax to further Smollett’s career. The incident has become quite the “W” for conservatives, at least on social media, with President Trump’s tweet on the issue garnering more than 200,000 likes. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, it’s undeniable that the case has received a lot of attention from both liberals and conservatives. And that’s for a simple reason: in such a politically divided, racially tense time,
a case like this boils down to one thing — clout. But cloutchasing and politics make for a terrible combination, and Smollett is a prime example of that. In an age that is fueled by attention and clicks, it’s become a way for people to survive, and in the right circumstances (not Smollett’s), it’s a beneficial tool. As someone in the limelight, Jussie Smollett is acutely aware that clout tokens are a viable currency in today’s age. With a family history tied back to civil rights activism — Smollett’s mother worked with prominent members of the Black Panthers and other civil rights leaders — a large portion of Smollett’s image is based on his activism. In a New York Times interview, Smollett’s sister stated, “It makes it hard to be just an actor and to sell your soul, because you have a conscience… [T]hat’s why I say no to projects, that’s why Jussie says no to
projects, and that’s why we fight for the ones that we’re told ‘no’ to.” In other words, Smollett has always been a fighter. That’s his brand. People love that type of story, and it appears Smollett does too. In his Good Morning America interview after he went public about the alleged attack, he claimed that people were coming after him because he “comes hard” after the current administration. He made it a point to talk about how if the attackers were other minority groups, there would be more support. Looking at the interview and his behavior post-arrest, we see a man who made an orchestrated attempt to be seen as a great activist, or the poster child for what activism should look like. Smollett called himself the “gay Tupac” at a concert shortly after the alleged incident took place; he preached about how he
wouldn’t allow this incident to define him. People responded well to that because a story of victimhood is one that sells. In an age where power dynamics are being called out more than ever, a story about oppression or having the big guys come after the little ones makes for impactful news. But alas, the whole situation was theatrical from the beginning. And while theatrics are great in Empire, they’re not great in real life. While Smollett’s story may have gotten him clout, it was at the expense of others. While people may circulate memes and use the case as a chance to further their political agenda, this is a loss for everyone across the board. “As everything has gone down, it’s really upsetting to see someone try to take advantage of very heightened issues in our society and take advantage of something so emotional,” Leslie
Garcia, a fourth-year political science and Middle Eastern studies major and president of UCSB Republicans, said in a phone interview with The Bottom Line. “It makes me angry that he would bring something to light that had happened and make other people question situations that truly did happen.” It’s a case where we have let extremes take over and, ironically, allowed it to cloud our judgment. Yet, all we seem to talk about is how the case can help our side, our platform, our beliefs. So now we’re here: giving a man who faked his own hate crime the clout he always wanted because deep down, that’s all we really want to do.
Comic of the Week
The Bottom Line File Photo
Comic by Jake Ortega | The Bottom Line
TRIUMPHANT
12 | PHOTO
In their first homestand of the season, the UCSB baseball team swept the Hartford Hawks in a three-game set (10-5, 6-4, 14-0) from Feb. 22-24. Catcher Eric Yang (Jr.) and Outfielder Armani Smith (Jr.) provided most of the offensive firepower for the Gauchos over the weekend, combining to hit for a .600 batting average (12 hits in 20 at-bats) with nine runs scored and eight runs batted in. Freshman starting pitcher Rodney Boone had a solid collegiate debut in the second game of the series, allowing three earned runs and striking out nine over six innings. The Gauchos (5-2) played their next game at USC on Tuesday night (2/26) at 6:00 p.m.
1
Reporting by Jacob Wong | Sports Editor Photos by Docean Park | Web Editor
HOME OPENER
2
4
1 Junior infielder Armani Smith celebrates after crushing a solo home run to center field. 2 Senior outfielder Tevin Mitchell breaks for second base. 3 Freshman Michael McGreevy picked up his first collegiate win after tossing five dominant innings of relief. 4 Sophomore infielder Andrew Martinez slides safely into home plate.
3