FOR THE WEEK OF TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
Highlander University
Volume 62
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C a l i f o r n i a , R ive r s i d e
Issue 26
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ASUCR: Pro-divestment support reflected in audience turnout
JASON LIN / HIGHLANDER
Students rise up and give final opinions as the time to vote on the divesetment resolution draws near.
AARON GRECH Contributing Writer SANDY VAN Senior Staff Writer
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motions were high when senate resolution 18 (SR 18), calling for divestment from companies that allegedly profit from human rights abuses against the Palestinian people, scraped past the ASUCR senate at a close margin of 8-7-0. The resolution, spearheaded by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), was voted under a secret ballot vote and drew over 150 audience members from the UCR community. The senate meeting was temporarily relocated to the University Lecture Hall to accommodate the outpouring of audience members, last seen at the last divestment meeting back in February. At the time, senators controversially divided the audience by “pro-” and “anti-” divestment sides prior to voting on a similar divestment resolution that ultimately failed to pass. During last week’s meeting, SJP representatives Tina Matar, Arman Azedi and ASUCR Senator Shadi Matar delivered a presentation, arguing that the aims of the bill were to dissociate the UC and UCR from
OPINIONS
companies such as Caterpillar and Cemex. “This is a student issue,” stated Tina Matar. “We pay tuition, we pay the UC fees, we are UC students (and) we should have a say where our money goes.” The representatives stated that the bill was not an attack on Israel or
“We pay tuition, we pay the UC fees, we are UC students (and) we should have a say where our money goes.” -Tina Matar
singling out of students, but rather of corporations profiting from Palestinian human rights violations. Signs and Palestinian flags often flew up from the pro-divestment audience members, while only a trickle accumulated from those against the resolution. Shadi Matar argued against an existing “double standard” when it came to delivering any pro-Palestinian or pro-divestment resolution that is seen as divisive.
FEATURES
We explore the possibilities of scientists using crowdfunding to support their research projects. PAGE 11
“We have to contact the people who are against (the resolution), we have to make sure that they’re okay with the presentation,” Matar expressed. “We basically have to meet them halfway when they’re not putting the same efforts toward us.” As a resolution supported by
Interim Director at The Well, Stacy Grady overcame cancer and osteoarthritis and participated in the Boston Marathon. PAGE 13
the Palestinian-backed Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Shadi Matar further explained the cause as a “peaceful” one. “BDS has rules, you cannot target individuals with this boycott; you cannot target the people, you can only target corporations and institutions,” said Matar. The key tenants to ending the BDS movement include: ending the alleged Israeli military occupation by disbanding the wall, acknowledging
the fundamental rights of Palestinian Arabs in Israel and granting Palestinians passage to lands they previously occupied. The wall is a barrier in the West Bank of Israel that separates the region from the Palestinian territories. According to Israel, the purpose of it is to protect Israeli civilians from terrorist attacks; however, there is much controversy regarding its creation as it prevents Palestinians from entering the West Bank. President of Highlanders for Israel (HIFI), Benjamin Morag, echoed much of the concerns from the antidivestment side and said that the rewritten, “watered-down” resolution was biased against Israel due to its underlying support from the BDS movement. Morag also described the Israeli-enforced checkpoints and the wall dividing Israel and Palestine as saving multiple Israeli lives. “When we make a resolution as an institution ... that says that what (the people of Israel are) doing to defend themselves is illegitimate and we only support Palestinians, that to me sounds like bias and non-neutrality,” said Morag, fearing that the divestment resolution may cause further harm by
RADAR
► SEE DIVESTMENT, PAGE 5
SPORTS
From cardboard snails to a headlining parade, last weekend’s Coachella was one to remember. PAGES 18-19
The Los Angeles Clippers are clouded by controversy, but an NBA championship is still well within reach. PAGE 26
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NEWS
TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
HIGHLANDER
Chancellor Wilcox’s investiture: selfies, history, growth MATTHEW WARD Contributing Writer
Lead by the UCR Bagpipe Band, a procession of regents, faculty and distinguished administrators, welcomed Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox as the ninth Chancellor of the University of California, Riverside on April 24. Last in this line was Wilcox himself, who just prior to beginning his walk down an aisle made up of the nowseated dignitaries was approached by a student. The student’s request: a selfie. Selfies In the midst of one of the most formal events of his academic career, Wilcox hesitantly looked up as if to see whether or not UC President Janet Napolitano — only two people ahead of him in line — was looking just before he posed for a selfie with third-year student Reem Blaik. The crowd sitting toward the back of the Student Recreation Center responded with laughter as the procession continued. History Wilcox received a phenomenal introduction from the community and UC family including the Chairman of the UC Board of Regents Bruce Varner, U.S. Congressman Mark Takano and ASUCR President Sai Patadia, among others during Thursday’s ceremonies. On behalf of the students, Patadia praised Chancellor Wilcox for his “genuine curiosity and interest of the students” and recalled in his first memory of Wilcox, his “infamously hearty laughter.” After receiving words of inspiration and the UCR Chancellor’s Medal from
UC President Janet Napolitano, Chancellor Wilcox welcomed those in attendance, declaring, “Each of you is a partner in today’s celebration which of course is not really about me, it’s about the University of California, Riverside and about the enduring concept and power the research university itself.” During his investiture, Chancellor Wilcox took the audience of nearly 1,000 in attendance through a history of UC Riverside. “Let’s start in the year 1954. I’d like to think of this as a rather big year for both me and for the campus. You see both of (us) started that year.” In a few weeks, Chancellor Wilcox will also turn 60 years old. Wilcox further joked, “I have the dubious honor of being almost as old as the first word spoken by a professor to a student at UCR.” Going back to the 1860s, Wilcox explained the notion and founding of the public university. In 1862, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln passed the Morrill Land Grant Act, which planted the roots for public universities. The chancellor proudly declared, “We, at the University of California, Riverside, are part of the very grand tradition.” Wilcox’s address reflected his respect for history and tradition as he continued to outline his future visions for UC Riverside. Growth In continuing to “write the story” of Lincoln and Morrill, Wilcox called for specific areas of growth in his investiture address, such the addition of 300 additional faculty members — about a 50 percent increase — within five years. The university reportedly has 673 tenure-track professors,
Photo of the Week
CAMERON YONG / HIGHLANDER
Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox’s investiture was held last week at the Student Recreation Center.
according to the Press Enterprise. “We will have the potential to lead the nation in faculty diversity just as we do in student diversity,” said Wilcox. UC Riverside is expected to grow from its current enrollment of 22,000 students to 25,000 by 2020, according to the university’s master plan. With students from more than 60 nations, Wilcox says that there needs to be a greater push to develop a globalized campus culture, with the university currently seeking to fill the position of vice provost of international affairs, according to the chancellor. Wilcox also seeks physical expansion of campus from the south and along the 215 freeway. He announced his goals of constructing a new interdisciplinary research building, which aims to provide 150,000 square feet of space for over 60 faculty research groups.
“Escape Velocity,” the giant astronaut who roamed the Empire Polo Fields around the Coachell Valley Music and Arts Festival for the weekend, slowly makes his way through the crowd during weekend 2.
Quotebook “It’s the most peaceful thing that you can do, which is not spend money.” -ASUCR Senator Shad Matar on the senate resolution to dissociate from U.S. companies that profit from the occupation of Palestine
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Tuesday
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The afternoon reception at the UCR Carillon Bell Tower that followed the investiture welcomed students and guests with a special recital from carillonneur David Christensen. Along with refreshments and peach cobbler a la mode, the reception included student entertainment from a mariachi group to a Bollywood-esque performance from the Raas Team at UCR. One student joked to Chancellor Wilcox, “Let’s do this every Thursday?” after which Wilcox responded, “So long as you organize it!” followed by his renowned hearty laugh. Chancellor Wilcox succeeded Timothy P. White, who became president of the California State University system in 2012. Jane Close Conoley, currently the first female president at California State University, Long Beach, served as UCR’s interim chancellor for seven months before Wilcox arrived in September 2013. ■H
Wednesday
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TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
Unidentified male indecently exposes himself to UCR student ESTEFANIA ZAVALA Contributing Writer
On April 21 at 10 a.m., a female university student walking by Bannockburn Village was stopped by a stranger in a vehicle who exposed himself to her. She immediately reported the incident to the UC Police Department (UCPD) who is now on the lookout for the suspect. A similar incident occurred at Riverside Community College at 10:30 a.m. on the same day and police officials are working under the assumption that it is the same perpetrator. The suspect is described as a Hispanic male in his 30s with a thin mustache and a slender build. The vehicle he used to approach the victims is a black and gray late 1990s sedan. “We ask that if anyone was in the area and saw the vehicle or any related activity to contact UCPD,” read the UCPD crime
bulletin. In response to the incident, UCR Director of Media Relations Kris Lovekin said, “Indecent exposure is taken seriously by police.” She advised UCR students to walk in groups, to avoid using the cellular devices in public and to dodge interactions with strangers. Student reactions to the incident have been optimistic. Stonehaven Resident Advisor Nicholas Paniagua said, “We’re always going to have stranger danger … but I think the steps UCR Dining and Housing Services have taken, such as the ROAR campaign have made a difference in security around campus.” The UCR Dining and Housing Service’s ROAR campaign has placed safety signs around campus to increase awareness and empower individuals to take an active role in ensuring their own safety. ■H
NEWS
HIGHLANDER
Increase in cell phone thefts reported near campus SANDY VAN Senior Staff Writer
Around the campus of UCR, there have been five reported cell phone thefts since April 22, according to a campuswide email from the UC Police Department (UCPD). The first two reported cases occurred on April 22 in the parking lot by 7-Eleven on Iowa Avenue and outside a business located at 1400 University Ave. Two additional cases occurred the following day, near the intersection of Watkins Avenue and Blaine Street and at the intersection of Canyon Crest Drive and Blaine Street. A fifth reported case occurred on April 24 in the alley adjacent to Everton Avenue, near the intersection of Cranford Avenue. One aforementioned theft left a victim with minor injuries, according to UCPD. Oftentimes, a suspect approaches a person using their
phone, snatches it from their hands and runs off before the victim can react, or a group of three or four suspects approach a person, demanding their belonging. “In most cases, the victims in these recent incidents were unaware of the suspect’s approach or even their presence until after the crime had been committed,” read the email. UCPD advises the public to avoid using cell phones or other electronics out in the open and encourages all students, staff and faculty to use UCR’s free Campus Safety Escort Service (CSES), located in front of the HUB information desk and inside of the Rivera Library. CSES operates from 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., Sunday to Thursday. Other free campus services include the Point-to-Point shuttles, which are available from 6 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, and are located in front of the campus bookstore. ■H
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NEWS
HIGHLANDER
TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
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► DIVESTMENT FROM PAGE 1
setting a precedent of perpetuating an existing, international conflict. “It frames the situation as Israeli as the repressor and the Palestinians as the guiltless victims,” Morag opined. Following up on the SJP presentation, ASUCR President Sai Patadia later mentioned how UCR students expressed feeling marginalized last year after the brief passage of a similar divestment resolution in early 2013. “It is our job as your student representatives to take into perspective all students, not just one side,” said Patadia. “I just want to say that it’s different on every university, so you have to take into consideration the student population before you put in that claim that (the resolution) wouldn’t divide (the campus).” President Pro Tempore Aaron Johnson, told the Highlander that he was against SR 18, citing that it was “identical” to the resolution that failed to pass in February. Both Johnson and members of SJP acknowledged that the language in SR 18 was “softened” and no longer described Israel as an apartheid state. Liza Tobias, second-year linguistics major, broke out in tears in front of the senate after taking at the podium, expressing her sorrows about the increasing tensions in the room. Tobias referred to the moments where
Students wait anxiously as the votes are tallied up to decide whether or not the divestment resolution will pass.
Morag and anti-divestment supporters would speak in the front, causing waves of prodivestment posters to rise in opposition. “And (the resolution is) saying that it’s not targeting any students … and only the business, but seeing that, it is to the student, it is to the community,” she said. “(Morag) was being singled out and it’s really sad because he has a small community.
Due to the narrow passage of the bill, the ASUCR executive cabinet still has the power to veto it within seven days of its passing, according to the ASUCR constitution. If a veto occurs, then the ASUCR senate has the option of overturning the veto through a two-thirds vote, when quorum is present. So far, three other UC campuses — Berkeley, Irvine and San Diego — have already
voted to approve a similar divestment resolution in their respective student governments. UCOP media specialist Shelly Meron said the UC regents shall only adopt a policy of divestment if the U.S. government declares that a foreign regime is committing acts of genocide, which is currently not applicable to Israel. “It was also noted at the time that divestment is a serious
JASON LIN / HIGHLANDER
decision that should be rarely pursued. The university must also be careful not to hold one organization or country to a different standard than any other,” Meron said. “The U.S. government has not made any declaration regarding the State of Israel, so we have no plans to bring a recommendation before the Regents to divest from companies doing business with ■H the State of Israel.”
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TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
NEWS
HIGHLANDER
COURTESY OF THE UCR OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY
The UCR Office of Sustainability staff poses in front of an inflatable fuse bomb that represents one ton of carbon dioxide.
UCR named to Princeton Guide’s 332 top green colleges list ANTHONY VICTORIA Staff Writer
UCR was once again recognized in the fifth annual Princeton Review’s Guide to 332 Green Colleges for 2014 as one of the top green colleges in North America. The schools were selected based on a 2013 survey of administrators from hundreds of fouryear colleges across the United States and Canada. Data includes the school course offerings, infrastructure, extracurricular activities and career preparation as ways of assessing their commitment to sustainability and the environment. The survey was conducted in collaboration with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools (USGBC). The guide was released on April 17 and is available online. According to the Princeton
guide, UCR has highlighted nine areas of sustainability: academics, buildings, energy and climate, food, procurement, recycling, waste management, sites, transportation and water. In addition, the campus was given a green rating of 93 out of 99 points, appearing in the Princeton guide since its inception in 2010. “UCR is proud to have been included once again in Princeton Review Green College Guide — our fifth year in a row to make it,” UCR Director of Sustainability John Cook told UCR Today. “Next year we will move the needle with 4 megawatts of on-site solar, 16 LEED Certified Buildings and a 3 (percent) reduction in overall potable water use.” Yassamin Kavezade, fourthyear psychology major and environmental science minor involved with Sustainable UCR, Green Campus Action Plan and the chancellor’s sustainability com-
mittee, said she initially found the UCR administration to be “very non-approachable,” but says that UCR’s placement in the Prince-
Services to increase recycling and maintain sustainability. Twentyseven percent of UCR residential halls serve vegan or vegetarian
“UCR is proud to have been included once again in Princeton Review Green College Guide — our fifth year in a row to make it,” -John Cook, UCR Director of Sustainability ton guide is a testament to greater lines of communication between the administration and student body about campus sustainability. According to the Sustainable UCR website, UCR currently has a recycling rate of 19.2 percent, but seeks to increase that number to 75 percent. The office of sustainability collaborates with other departments such as UCR Dining
foods; and 43 percent of disposable paper items are compostable or made from renewable sources. In comparison to other UC campuses such as UCLA or UC Irvine, Kavezade said she is proud that UCR still has come so far in terms of “green” initiatives, but believes the campus still needs to continue to educate departments and students that are not a part
of the “sustainability bubble,” through grassroots initiatives. “Whether it be in … sponsoring events for local community organizations or statewide and nationally recognized organizations like the Sierra Club and 350.org, (students in Sustainable UCR) want to help get the word out,” said Kavezade. “This is huge.” The survey report in the Princeton guide commended UCR for: spending 17 percent of UCR’s food budget on local or organic food, having 18 percent of all new construction LEED-certified (for high performance green buildings), having a 50 percent wastediversion rate and requiring 10 percent of the student population to take a sustainability course. UCR was also recognized for providing different transportation alternatives through indoor bike storages and free or reduced price transit passes through a campus shuttle. ■H
Dining Services’ annual spending on food totaled $6,114,779 $1,012,023 or 17 percent of the total food purchases went to products that meet one or more of the UC policy on sustainable practices
COURTESTY OF UC RIVERSIDE
NEWS
HIGHLANDER
TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
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Seven ASUCR candidates disqualified days before elections SANDY VAN Senior Staff Writer COLIN MARKOVICH Senior Staff Writer
After several months of planning, postering and advertising, seven candidates for elected positions within ASUCR were revealed to be disqualified — a mere four days prior to the beginning of the the 2014-15 ASUCR elections. Some of the disqualifications allegedly occurred due to poor grades. The disqualified candidates included Elizabeth Gamboa, Mohammad Hussein, Alexander Mastache and Ranjit Nair of [YOUR]SIDE in addition to Vox Populi nominees Neftali Galarza, Sonia Garcia and Annamae Lagdaan. No members from ABC were disqualified. The candidates were allegedly notified of their disqualifications by Elections Director Chris Sanchez on the afternoon of Thursday, April 17, and were allowed to appeal the decision during a judicial branch meeting later that day. Five candidates appeared to testify before the justices, but each appeal was rejected. “The fact is (Galarza) didn’t meet the 2.0 (GPA) requirement.” ASUCR President Sai Patadia said during an ASUCR meeting the following Wednesday. “So if you were notified two weeks in advance, or two minutes in advance, you would’ve not been eligible to run based on the judiciary’s vote.” Some candidates have expressed frustration that they had limited time to prepare for an appeal. “We were unfairly treated,” Galarza said. “We were just notified a couple hours before — one whole business day before elections.” After the judicial branch hearings, Executive Vice President Armando Saldana, who is also running as the presidential candidate for Vox Populi, called a special meeting to discuss the disqualifications on Monday, April 21 at 7 a.m. The senate voted to support the judicial branch’s decision and
refused the ineligible candidates re-entry to the elections. During the subsequent public forum period, numerous senators left the chambers, citing class conflicts. Tension escalated at the end of the public forum, when Outreach Director Mina Kato motioned to reconsider the vote to uphold the judicial branch’s ruling, a move Patadia claimed was unconstitutional. Members of the senate began arguing over whether or not such a move was permissible. As it became apparent that senators would not reach agreement, senators Niela Darmani, Sandy Saly, Jessica Moncayo, Kelly Tran and Sanam Rashidi stormed out of the Senate chambers in an effort to deny quorum and prevent the senate from voting on the motion. “I would encourage everyone that is not running in the elections that is in the senate to stand up right now and leave this meeting,” Patadia announced. With less than nine senators at the ASUCR horseshoe, Saldana declared that quorum was not met and thus adjourned the meeting before a vote on the motion could take place. Hussein, notified of his disqualification less than three hours before the judicial branch hearing, criticized members of the ASUCR senate for disbanding. “I saw everyone walk out,” Hussein said. “Nobody cared about what I was doing last quarter. When I was going through (personal issues), no one gave a damn.” Other ASUCR candidates, such as Silvia Abdulnour of ABC: A Better Choice and second-year biology major, were empathetic toward the disqualified candidates, but felt that it would be “unfair representation” to allow the ineligible candidates special treatment. “As a fellow candidate, I feel like the students that did make grades … worked just as hard (and) campaigned just as hard (as the disqualified candidates),” Abdulnour said. Under contention are multiple provisions of the
NEWS IN BRIEF
CAMERON YONG / HIGHLANDER Seven ASUCR candidates were disqualified in this year’s elections. Some disqualifications were due to not meeting academic requirements.
Elections Code, one of which stating that ineligible candidates be notified “immediately” after the candidate application deadline, Feb. 21. However, grades for winter quarter were only made available after the end of spring break on March 28. Complicating matters, the person specifically permitted by the Elections Code to retrieve grades, ASUCR Executive Director Laurie Sinclair, was out of commission for a week and a half to undergo gallbladder surgery. Sinclair went on sick leave on March 31 and did not return until April 9. The candidates were discovered to be ineligible on April 16 and Sanchez contacted the candidates the next day. Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), only specific individuals are allowed to access students’ educational data, such as a student’s GPA, preventing the information from being obtained earlier. However, it may have been possible for Sinclair to permit someone else with FERPA authorization to access the grades during the time she was on sick leave. The judicial branch’s decisions were based on provisions in the ASUCR constitution, which state that,
Niela Darmani, both members of the elections committee, voted in favor of the finance allocation. Temporarily speaking on behalf of Tang, who was absent at the senate meeting, Figueroa furthered, “The confusion might have arisen because (the allocation) was not coming from (Sanchez’s) own budget, but it was coming from the internal vice president’s budget and I don’t think they understood that concept.” Echeverria, candidate for internal vice president under the [YOUR]SIDE party, said he was running late during the meeting and felt misinformed about the matter as the reason behind his abstention. In an interview with the Highlander, Echeverria said there should be an alternative process in case the executive director is unable to verify the grades. “The responsibility falls on the elections director to notify candidates the process was not completed and to find another way to check the grades,” he said. Echeverria also felt it becomes “unfair” to have ambiguity in the ASUCR bylaws and constitution, due to the changes in the elections process, which shifted from a four-week to two-month period compared to last year. ■H
COMPILED BY MICHAEL RIOS, senior staff writer
SOLAR-POWERED BENCHES GIVE NEW MEANING TO FIAT LUX Thirteen solar-powered benches that feature outlets for students to recharge their portable devices were installed all across UCR last week. The concept of the benches, according to Sustainable UCR, started in 2010 after a group of students wanted to find a way to charge their devices in an environmentally friendly way. After four years of planning, the solar-powered benches are now fully operational. The benches’ solar panels, which double as canopies, are used to charge the controllers that rest at the base of each bench. The controllers, in turn, manage the sun’s power to charge the batteries which then supply energy to
“All persons wishing to run for office must have a minimum 2.0 grade point average at the time of elections and must be in good standing with the University.” The Elections Code additionally requires candidates to maintain a 2.0 GPA in the winter quarter prior to elections. Candidates were informed of the GPA requirement during a mandatory candidate meeting and in signed paperwork. During last week’s regularly scheduled senate meeting, Senator Niela Darmani questioned whether Monday’s candidate disqualification meeting may have impacted other functions of ASUCR. On April 21, the finance committee failed to approve the $1,000 transfer funds to the ASUCR elections committee, which Darmani said was meant for security purposes during election events. “The reason for (the funds) not being approved was because … three members abstained from the vote and said that they did not have enough information,” Darmani said. The three members were Brandon Chan, Nafi Karim, Fernando Echeverria and Janice Tang, who abstained due to her role as chair of the finance committee. Sandy Saly and
the power outlets and USB ports. According to James Innes, CEO of CarrierClass Group — the company responsible for bringing the units to campus — the benches are off-grid solar systems, meaning they can be powered without needing to be connected to an electrical grid. Additionally, the units were designed for durability and longevity as they can withstand winds of up to 120 mph and the batteries can last as long as five years before they need to be replaced. Each of the benches cost about $11,500 and are funded by the Highlander Union Building administration, the Student Technology Fund and the Green Campus Action Plan (GCAP).
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION BAN UPHELD IN MICHIGAN By a 6-2 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Michigan’s decision to ban the consideration of race, ethnicity or gender — also known as affirmative action — when students apply to public universities. Michigan, like California, previously passed a ballot initiative that banned affirmative action. Ever since the ballot initiative was passed in 2006, Michigan has debated the merits of the ban on affirmative action and some have called for the ban’s repeal. On April 22, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ban, however, in the Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action case. The ruling overturned the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 6th Circuit’s decision which originally called Michigan’s ban unconstitutional. California currently faces a similar issue. Debate is ongoing over Senate Constitutional Amendment 5 (SCA 5), an amendment which would repeal provisions of Proposition 209 and allow the consideration of race in public university admissions. Ever since California passed Proposition 209 in 1996, some citizens have called for its repeal, arguing in favor of affirmative action. On Jan. 30, 2014, the state senate approved SCA 5, but the amendment has since been tabled by California State Assembly Speaker ■H John H. Perez.
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NEWS
TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
HIGHLANDER
JASON LIN / HIGHLANDER
Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox was present at former Chancellor Orbach’s presentation.
Former UCR chancellor talks about nuclear fusion ANTHONY VICTORIA Staff Writer
Former UCR chancellor and renowned physicist Raymond L. Orbach returned to UCR on Friday, April 25, to give a lecture on “Science and Diplomacy” to students and the general public at UCR’s genomics auditorium. Having worked for the Department of Energy under former U.S. President George W. Bush, Orbach played a pivotal role in founding the international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), which is currently constructing the world’s biggest tokamak nuclear fusion reactor. Discussions about founding ITER began in 1986 after Iceland’s Reykjavik Summit between then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in which the two discussed nuclear disarmament. After failing to come to an agreement, they decided upon the concept of developing fusion energy between the United States, China, Japan, India, South Korea, the European Union (EU) and Russia, who proceeded to organize the ITER organization in 2006 — beginning construction of the site in Cadarache, France in 2010. Despite the seven nations at the negotiating table, there were stumbling blocks from the
beginning, according to Orbach. There were disputes on where ITER would be built. From the U.S. point of view there were four potential construction sites: the Darlington Site on Lake Ontario in Canada, the Spanish site near Barcelona, the Rokkusha-mura in northern Honshu, Japan, and the French site in Cadarache — the latter ultimately being chosen. In 2001, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Securing America’s Future Energy Act,” which required the Department of Energy to take a number of actions exploring a “burning plasma” experiment that could generate fusion energy.
“Those seven (countries) are involved because they are the ones who are going to benefit.” -Raymond Orbach
In 2002, the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences endorsed the ITER effort as a necessary next step in the U.S. fusion energy research program. There was also a breakthrough in 2005, when the Energy Policy Act explicitly authorized U.S. participation in ITER. Remaining challenges,
JASON LIN / HIGHLANDER
Former Chancellor Raymond Orbach elaborates on the function of ITER and how it was built and designed.
according to Orbach, deal with costs and poor project management that has led to the U.S. contributing 9.1 percent (or about $3.9 billion) in funding. “The reason I went over all this,” said Orbach, “is because this is not the last truly internationally scientific project. What we did is work through all those issues to reach some kind of agreement among very different legal systems.” Orbach says, in the future, the building of a large-scale facility will exemplify years of long-term international agreements. Rachel Tennell, a fourth-year public policy student, asked Orbach if the energy would be distributed around the world evenly or only benefit the seven nations that contributed. “Those seven are involved
because they are the ones who are going to benefit,” he said. “However, they have a pretty sizeable fraction of the world’s population. It will give them an edge over everybody else. What they do with it is a political issue.” With the project costing around $4 billion, water science and policy doctoral candidate Edgar Humberto Tellez-Foster asked if the project was a matter of muchneeded additional funding or the need to develop advanced fusion to accelerate the overall project. “You’ll be alive, I won’t,” said Orbach, sparking laughs around the room. “The answer in my view is you don’t want to throw money at it unless you are sure that the money will be well-spent. At some point we have to take the chance that this is it.” ■H
. OPINIONS . OPINIONS
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TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
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HIGHLANDER HIGHLANDER EDITORIAL EDITORIAL
OUT OF FUNDS? UC BERKELEY GOES OUT-OF-STATE
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W
hat does it mean to be a public university? It’s not just pursuit of knowledge. Although it plays a crucial role, desire of knowledge is something that all colleges seek to foster, be they public or private. Research isn’t a necessary condition either. For some public universities, it’s part of their mandate (like the UC), yet others don’t necessarily do research (like the CSU system); either way, they are still universities. And much to the surprise of many of us first-time students, it’s not all booze and parties either. It’s something a lot more foundational than that — and a lot simpler. At the end of the day, a public university is just an investment by a society in its collective future. Essentially, it’s a trade-off. We as taxpayers decide to give up a little bit of our present income. In return, our institutes of higher learning, funded by our dollars, work to benefit our future society, one where we have discovered the cure for malaria, prevented the warming of the globe and educated citizens who can then become hard-working, productive members of society. California citizens and the state legislators should do well to remember this agreement — especially with the announcement that UC Berkeley has decided to boost its number of out-of-state students solely to raise revenue. In the past, Berkeley set a target for out-of-state students at 20 percent. But now, facing the tightening budget vicegrip, Berkeley has boosted it to 23 percent. “In the wake of the state’s disinvestment in higher education, UC Berkeley’s financial model is more dependent on tuition than it has been in the past,” UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks admits. Without the financial support from the state, Dirks can only say that the decision “was the best available option to help minimize the campus’ ongoing operating deficits.” Let’s first point out that accepting more out-of-state students is not inherently a bad thing. Out-of-state students provide
BRANDY COATS / HIGHLANDER
any university with a breath of fresh air. Universities recruiting the same students from the same locations for too long results in a stifling of creativity and a stagnation of ideas. Critical thinking atrophies as students aren’t forced to challenge their norms, counter to the UC’s very existence, which serves to expand horizons, not close them. Out-of-state students are like a spring breeze after a cold, still winter, bringing with them different ideas, cultures, identities and beliefs. Dialogue is refreshed and the bud of knowledge is renewed. Without having out-ofstate students as part of the university experience, UC life would be stale. This is the rationale often presented to California students when the UC debates increasing its out-of-state admissions. Now we know that it is all a ruse — the desire for more money is just too much. Somewhere, buried under a need to satiate its hunger for more funding, that original goal of promoting diversity of opinion may still hold true. But it’s been swallowed by a neverending, single-minded obsession over money. The UC’s reasons for pursuing actions are just as important as the actions themselves. The decision to admit more out-of-state students isn’t inherently wrong. But the futile attempt at justification (We can’t help it, we need the money!) is pitiful. The admission is disappointing, but unfortunately it’s also hardly unexpected. After all, it is a rational decision in turbulent economic times, and UCs have to do something to make up the difference in funding. Should they refuse professors tenure? Roll back academic services? Deny hard-working employees a cost-ofliving increase? It’s like a hungry child having to choose between eating prunes and brussels sprouts. The UC is not wanting for choices — there’s a buffet of them on the table. But all of them induce the gag reflex at best and are inedible at worst. The most disconcerting aspect of UC Berkeley’s new policy is the reason for the new policy existing in the first place: the
state’s divestment from higher education. More than anything, UC Berkeley’s move reflects a new reality where the state no longer takes heed of the basic contract between its people and its future. The entire idea of a public university requires the state to financially support it. Failing to do so does not mean the university no longer needs funds. Instead, once-proud institutes of higher education degenerate into slavish courting of wealthy donors and institute merciless tuition hikes. The result is a concentration of power among an oligarchy of cashinfused tycoons who can grant the university money — but only at their capricious whims. Meanwhile, students are shouldered with the cross of providing our society’s future benefits. Such a state of affairs leads to corruption in academia, a decrease in social mobility and a failure of society to preserve its future. The UC provides the state with $46.3 billion in economic activity every year, a more than 15:1 return-on-investment. UCR alone provides the state of California with over 13,000 jobs and more than $1 billion in economic activity. Four of the top five universities that contribute to the public good are UCs, providing California with countless intangible societal benefits that the state would go without otherwise. This seems like a more than worthy deal for the state of California. As we consider UC Berkeley’s decision to prioritize grabbing funding over educating students, it’s just as important to look back on why this is necessary in the first place. For more than a century, our society’s basic bargain has been upheld. The state grants the university public money. The university gives the state future growth. The UC has upheld its end of the deal. Now it’s time for the state to ■H do the same. Highlander editorials reflect the majority view of the Highlander Editorial Board. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Associated Students of UCR or the University of California system.
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10
TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
OPINIONS
Cutting a rug in the garden won’t cut it: UCR needs to do more to go green ALANNAH IVY LEBLANC Contributing Writer
In honor of Earth Week, UCR held an array of green events open to the public, with the Extreme Green Fest at the Family Housing Park kicking off the festivities. Community members were encouraged to join UCR in a number of engaging activities like bike and sustainability tours, a planting start-up at the Bell Tower, and, as a last splash, a “Dig N’ Dance” in the UCR Community Garden on Saturday, April 26. While this is all exciting stuff, can we, as UCR students, do more to create and sustain a healthy environment for future students and even Riverside as a whole? Is it enough to throw a week-long promotion once a year? In short, the answer is no — it’s not enough. Promotions like these and even the recent policy change calling for a tobacco-free campus are excellent starts, but galaxies’ worth of room for improvement remains. UCR can and should commit itself to being a green university yearround, not just during Earth Week. True, UCR already does quite a lot in the scheme of eco-friendliness. Silverware in the HUB is compostable and the recycling bins are separated by type to ensure the highest degrees of efficiency in recycling. Scotty’s even sells a few vegan snacking options — I just may be keeping that place in business with my kombucha and “Chocolate Chip Kale Krunch” consumption alone. This is all well and awesome, but I ask this: Why stop at pricey kale chips and forks that might come back in their next lives as tomato plants? UC Riverside needs to begin making pragmatic changes in two places: specifically regarding its high levels of water consumption, and its levels of consumption overall. First, in the middle of a serious drought, it should begin by replacing its turf lawns, which undoubtedly require huge amounts of water. I’m not sure a lot of us realize this, but clean water is actually pretty hard to come by in Southern California, which is for the most part an arid desert. It takes teams of professionals to locate, clean and distribute said water, and most of California’s water comes from groundwater and the Colorado River. An article in the San Francisco Gate spotlights Andrew Fahlund, deputy director of the California Water Foundation. He compares groundwater to a savings account, saying, “We are in a situation in many places where it’s analogous to having overdrawn your savings account right before losing your job. We have this drought, and this is the time when you most need to rely on groundwater, but unfortunately our groundwater tables in many parts of the state have been overdrawn.” This poses a problem, as Southern California does not enjoy enough rainfall to replenish these water tables. In fact, in January, San Jose Mercury News reported that in a meager 60 to 120 days, 17 communities are expected to simply run out of their water stores. The fact that even communities in Northern California are having to buckle down goes to show just how pressing this issue is. A photo taken in 2011 of Folsom Lake, a reservoir in Northern California, showed the lake at 97 percent capacity;
another photo taken in January of this year pictures the same reservoir dramatically receded and at a stunning 17 percent of its capacity. “Growers of almonds — a state crop valued at $5 billion in 2012 — have been pulling trees out of the ground while they’re still in their prime, in desperate actions driven by high water costs,” says one NPR article. Other California communities continue to join that list as we continue to find ourselves rather wanting. I personally am a CHASS major, so I won’t do that math here for you, but I do know that rain isn’t so common in Riverside after April. Removal of water-hungry grass has already been done with the medians in Lot 31, but to make significant dents in its consumption of water, UCR needs to replace the turf lawns with droughtresistant landscapes. It doesn’t take much green to be green. In fact, in replacing the turf lawns, UCR could potentially get money back in the long run by spending less on water. Riverside citizens also have access to a program called SoCal Water$mart, the Metropolitan Water District is offering rebates to individual homeowners and commercial buildings who decide to do just this. Doing away with the lawns could leave a hefty impact on the community who might be encouraged to improve their own water consumption. UCR should also take steps to reduce the number of goods we consume by pledging to abstain from the buying or selling of any products that are not Fair Trade. The label “Certified Fair Trade” is actually more than mere hipster jargon; it ensures that farmers in developing countries work under fair labor conditions and are offered better prices for their products, like fruits, vegetables, coffee, tea, sugar, beans and nuts. Currently, the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf admittedly “do not provide any Certified Fair Trade coffee” though they “foster long-term relationships with coffee growers directly.” In the same way that the label “organic,” without 100 percent as its qualifier, could mean that pesticides still come in contact with the product, would it be so far-fetched to imagine that a “long-term relationship with coffee growers” might also be more euphemistic than informational? UCR could also take steps to install more vegan options in the dining halls and in the HUB to cut consumption of animal products. Choosing to lessen one’s intake of animal products is good for environmental sustainability. Aside from the ethical debates concerning factory farming, it has some substantially negative implications for the environment. Often, forests are clear-cut to grow grain to feed animals on said farms which largely contributes to increased greenhouse gas emissions. Runoff from farms often causes water pollution and severe degradation of coral reefs. Factory farming also contributes to land degradation and decreased biodiversity. So let’s celebrate Earth Week. Let’s dance in the garden. Let’s sow spring seeds and ride our bicycles, but let’s expect more from our university. Let’s demand a greener campus that strives year-round to promote environmental sustain■H ability.
COURTESY OF THE UCR OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY Although Earth Week has ended, that doesn’t mean we should start neglecting the environment.
HIGHLANDER
Better meals on wheels: Improving the Food Truck Festival
DANIEL GARCIA / HIGHLANDER The second annual Food Truck Festival still suffered from extremely wait times. SANUJA DAS Contributing Writer
On April 16, UC Riverside held its second annual Food Truck Festival on campus during the weekly nooner. In collaboration with ASUCR, the school was able to bring 21 food trucks that ranged from various snack foods to ethnic meals to delicious desserts. The smell of the food from the Meat the Greek and the potato skewers at the Tornado Potato to the sushi boxes offered by the numerous sushi trucks defined the diversity of food available to everyone. The variety most definitely satisfied the food cravings of the attendees as lines snaked around the lawn and people started to go food-crazy. From a student’s perspective this event was a definite success. In comparison to last year’s festival, this year ASUCR made a more noticeable job of advertising, constantly promoting this huge event two to three weeks in advance through Facebook and fliers. This gave more students the opportunity to come out and participate. It was no longer an event people attended because they just happened to be on campus but a social gathering that people planned their day around. Good food and good company make for a great day. However, ASUCR arguably
could have implemented better provisions for shade and water for the students by positioning all the trucks under or near trees that surrounded the Bell Tower rather than in one big plaza facing each other directly under the open sky. This also resulted in clashing lines and long waits. Even if completely reorganizing the trucks was out of the question, the trucks could just as easily have been positioned so the lines moved in opposite directions. The lines themselves were monstrosities that never
The smell of the food from the Meat the Greek and the potato skewers at the Tornado Potato to the sushi boxes offered by the numerous sushi trucks defined the diversity of food available to everyone. ended and left students waiting for sometimes 25 to 30 minutes before they even got near the front of the line. The two parallel lines of food trucks positioned near Rivera Library had maybe 40 feet of space between them. Volunteers monitoring these lines requested students to ► SEE FOOD TRUCKS PAGE 11
OPINIONS
HIGHLANDER ► FOOD TRUCKS FROM PAGE 10
leave almost no space between each other so more people could be added to the lines while still keeping them in a designated area of the lawn. This tactic may have worked in containing the expansion of certain lines in the space provided and stopped different food truck lines from intertwining with each other. But it sure didn’t make for happy students, who were left with the hot sun, a substantial amount of surrounding body heat and the lingering stench of sweat. But this wouldn’t even be necessary if the lines were shorter. How? The volunteers can count off around 50 people to get in the line at once and order, then close the line so students aren’t forced to stand and wait around. Then, once the line disperses, a new line can be formed again, making it easier on students and the food trucks
Water stations can be positioned in close proximity to the trucks to keep students hydrated while they stand around in the sun for up to an hour to get their food. who have to serve them. This would inevitably call for more volunteers because you would need someone to be manning the line at all times. But this could be a good thing because more volunteers means more student involvement, which could make this event even more populated in the future. As for hydration in the extreme heat and humidity, a simple solution can be to have water stations. Water stations can be positioned in close proximity to the trucks to keep students hydrated while they stand around in the sun for up to an hour to get their food. If students are paying fees to help make the Food Truck Festival possible it would be smart to invest in water dispensers and cups to provide water for the students. Aside from the 81-degree heat and long lines, the event brought thousands of students on campus and united the school. It’s brilliant, really — what better cause to share with your friends and fellow classmates than food? Improving the structure of the Food Truck Festival, providing more ways to hydrate and having more student volunteers would only better the outcome of the Food Truck Festival. And since it has already proven to be a successful event there is nowhere to go but up. ■H
TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
11
Is crowdfunded science a viable option for the future?
DANIEL GARCIA / HIGHLANDER
Crowdfunding has garnered wide appeal with contemporary users, but is it a viable alternative to traditional funding for something like scientific research? JAMESON ADAME Contributing Writer
With the advent of the Internet and its increasingly cheaper costs and userfriendly interfaces, it should come as no surprise that many businesses are allowing the consumer the ability to influence the directions some companies go in. This same attitude of consumer empowerment has led to the creation of several highly successful crowdfunding sites where consumers are given the ability to subsidize the production of goods and services they want to see in the marketplace. While this system has had mixed success in financing new products, does the ability to succeed without traditional funding sources mean that scientific research is viable using the same system? The answer is both a yes and a no. For scientists Alex Piel and Edward Miracco, this new idea has already proven fruitful, raising them $9,055 for chimpanzee research and $6,215 for the extended use of an electron microscope. However, while these two succeeded in funding their projects, there’s much more to their successes than appears on the surface. For instance, most of the 37 donors to Miracco’s campaign were his family and friends. This leaves very little raised by everybody else through experiment.com, a crowdfunding website designed specifically for scientific research. Miracco and Piel’s successful fundraising efforts are also extremely small when compared to the final tally of cash pledged to other projects. In the realm of consumer and entertainment-based patronage, numbers have risen as high as $10 million for the Pebble watch, $5 million for a “Veronica Mars” film and $4.5 million for the startup data-mining company Bitvore. More than the price tag, though, what separates the aforementioned projects from anything a small research team of scientists (or even a large one for that matter) could provide to donors is the possibility of a tangible and consumable product or service. Without the incen-
tive of a donor being eventually able to buy the product they helped fund, much of the motivation is lost, regardless of the long-term benefits these projects may yield. Furthermore, it’s much more difficult to promise donation perks for donors to the campaign. These scientists are already low on funds, whereas other projects offer such benefits as early access to the product and sometimes a behind-the-scenes look at what that donation is doing.
Without the incentive of a donor being eventually able to buy the product they helped fund, much of the motivation is lost, regardless of the longterm benefits these projects may yield. Aside from the nonconsumption nature of scientific campaigns, there is an additional lack of celebrity — whose presence in other campaigns more often than not drives people to open their wallets. With the previously mentioned “Veronica Mars” film, there was already a fanbase who had a desire to see the film made and was familiar with the characters and the actors who played them. The same can be said for Zach Braff ’s film “Wish I Was Here,” whose $3 million success was due largely to his notability as a celebrity and Internet following of over a million on Twitter. Even game-based projects rely heavily upon the notability of a product developer’s name. Certain projects like the game “Mighty No. 9” held not only to the idea of reviving the Megaman style of game that Capcom had let go fallow, but that the game was being designed by Keiji Inafune, the man known
as “the father of Megaman.” This project managed to raise more than three times its goal of $900,000. Even amid people’s desires to support their heroes and the benefits fame brings to these projects, fundraising often shows itself to be more than a little lottery-based. Projects like the video game “To The Death” were said to come from the dream team creators of the “Call of Duty” standards of online multiplayer and gameplay, and the creative director of “God of War.” Unfortunately, even with these appeals to people’s name recognition, the project failed to raise more than a 10th of its $400,000 goal. Considering this, regardless of whether charismatic powerhouses like Bill Nye, Michio Kaku, or Neil deGrasse Tyson utilize their fame to support these campaigns, there is always the chance that the scientific enterprise will fail. While it may seem that there is no hope for the publicly funded scientific research of the future, programs like UCLA Spark pave the way for what could bring these programs into the public eye. UCLA Spark is a crowdfunding site in the same manner as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or Experiment, but utilizes the university’s connections with faculty, alumni and current students to get the projects it hosts the attention they need for funding. While the independent nature of their research is often what leads these scientists to promote themselves on experiment.com, it still seems necessary that — at least in the near future or until the love affair with donating to celebrity dies down — programs like Spark be created at a wider range of campuses across the country. Eventually there may be a place for scientific discovery in the crowdfunded era of business, but in the interim between that time and the present, universities and the programs they have developed to gain funding are the best alternative, giving beneficiaries access to networks more interested in seeing the growth of research ■H than the average Internet donor.
12
OPINIONS
TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
HIGHLANDER
Opinion Poll How do you procrastinate from midterms?
C ompiled
by
J ames F ierro
Alex Ukanwa Bioengineering Second-year
Andrea Gonzalez Global Studies Fourth-year
Brian Avina Mathematics First-year
Ryan Torrento Mechanical Engineering Second-year
Leilani Miller Sociology Fourth-year
“Food, couch, and learning how to ride (my) unicycle.”
“Honestly anything. I always try to find something to do besides study.”
“I go and make new friends; I go try out new foods; I take naps; I do just about anything to avoid doing them.”
“I just find every excuse to not do my work, and my favorite things to do are sleep and eat so that’s usually what I end up doing on my couch.”
“I usually go on Pinterest or I look on LinkedIn to see what jobs are available since I’m graduating this year, but the struggle’s real.”
California state legislature moves to ban orca shows CASANDRA LOPEZ Contributing Writer
Summer’s almost here and it’s the time of the year when amusement parks reel in the most profit. Are you thinking about heading over to SeaWorld? Go right ahead. SeaWorld is open for business, but the park’s main attraction, the Shamu show, may not continue on as a show anymore. In the state of California, legislation was proposed on March 7 that would ban the use of orcas for entertainment purposes in amusement park acts and outlaw captive orca breeding programs. The bill would allow the 10 orcas kept in San Diego to remain on public display in larger enclosures also known as “sea pens” if they cannot be returned to the wild. “It is time that we embrace that the long-accepted practice of keeping orcas captive for human amusement must end,” stated Assemblyman Richard Bloom, a Democrat from Santa Monica who proposed the bill. Meanwhile, in New York, a bill that would ban keeping orca whales in captivity passed in the state’s Committee on Environmental Conservation. Proposed by state Sen. Greg Ball, Senate Bill 6613 would ban “the possession and harboring of killer whales in New York State aquariums and sea parks.” These bills are one step further in the right direction. Nonhuman animal rights are not only being increasingly questioned in today’s society, but defended just as they should. It’s time people realize how animals such as orcas are treated in today’s world. The bills have been brought about in response to the documentary “Blackfish,” which aired on CNN in October. The film narrates the 2010 death of veteran SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau by a killer whale named Tilikum who also killed two other people while in captivity. “Blackfish” challenges the concept of keeping killer whales for entertainment as well as implies that
Tilikum was driven mad due to captivity. Orcas are ocean-dwelling creatures, used to migrating long distances. So to rip them away from their families and force them to live in a glass tank is emotionally and psychologically damaging. Orcas are one of the most intelligent animals on Earth and are known to have a highly complex social society that is often compared to other animals such as humans and elephants. They are social mammals who travel and hunt in large pods and spend almost their entire life with family and friends. Orcas need their family network for a happy and healthy life. Keeping killer whales in captivity creates high levels of anxiety, thus leading to spurts of aggression. Their need for social interaction, open space and family are crucial parts of their natural social structure. The average life expectancy of killer whales can be reduced by as much as two-thirds when living in captivity, causing many of them to only live until around the age of 20. In the ocean, Orcas have been known to live up to 50 to 80 years. SeaWorld refutes claims made by “Blackfish” and defends the welfare of its animals, but it hasn’t tackled the underlying issue: animal rights. Being a multibillion dollar company that profits off the confinement of hundreds of sea animals for human entertainment, I think we can understand why SeaWorld wouldn’t want to take a stance. Orcas do have basic rights to life, happiness and freedom. Orcas are sentient beings with basic desires and interests, and as such, deserve recognition, consideration and protection. SeaWorld has battled the film’s claims of animal mistreatment, calling the film grossly one-sided and the product of animal activists. “The film (Blackfish) … withholds from viewers key facts about SeaWorld,” SeaWorld asserts, “among them, that SeaWorld is one of the world’s most respected zoological institutions, that SeaWorld rescues,
DANIEL GARCIA / HIGHLANDER Orcas require more attention than other animals and are often neglected and mistreated.
rehabilitates and returns to the wild hundreds of wild animals every year, and that SeaWorld commits millions of dollars annually to conservation and scientific research.” SeaWorld has rejected the “Blackfish” accusations of animal mistreatment though their website called the “Truth about Blackfish.” Despite SeaWorld’s efforts, over a million people have already signed a petition on the website sumofus.org, supporting the California bill to end the use of orcas for entertainment. SeaWorld announced record fourthquarter results and record annual revenue results in January, indicating there appears to be no real impact on its business so far. In a CNN interview, SeaWorld responded to a question of the park’s current attendance by stating, “Our attendance is good. In fact, we are
on pace for a record year in 2013.” So people will still continue to come to Seaworld with or without orca shows. If ticket sales ever do drop, SeaWorld will just have to design a new attraction. Maybe a new water ride or roller coaster? How about a boat ride with dinner and a show just like at Disneyland? If the public still wishes to see how the orcas are doing, they can. The California bill would retire all captive killer whales to sea pens and would allow retired orcas to be on display, but not perform. We’ve learned that orcas are complex marine mammals. They require more space, have a more complex social structure and most importantly need their family network for a happy and healthy life. Captivity is detrimental and does not enhance the lives of these animals who are supposed to be roaming ■H free.
The opinions expressed in the Opinions section belong solely to their authors and do not represent the Highlander Editorial Board or the University of California, Riverside.
. FEATURES .
HIGHLANDER
TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
13
RaciNg FOR RECOVERY: The STORY OF STACEY GRADY
By Alannah Ivy Leblanc, Contributing Writer // Photo by Vincent Ta
S
tacey Grady was one of the 36,000 runners to run the Boston Marathon on April 21, 2014. After three tries, she finally qualified for the marathon in February 2013 when she ran the Surf City Marathon in San Diego in just 3 hours, 39 minutes, 42 seconds. Perhaps you celebrated with Stacey as you watched her dreams being realized this week; maybe you didn’t know her, but you’ve seen her around on campus. She works in The Well, UC Riverside’s health and wellness center, as the interim director, where she uses her background in psychology to help students manage stress and achieve better physical and mental health. But the marathon is no simple task, either: It took 600 days and 1,998 miles of training to qualify. Running the Boston Marathon was her lifelong dream — what she calls her “heaven on Earth.” She recalled race day, and the days leading up to it, being different from any other race she had run, describing them as “heartwarming.” “Marathon day itself was incredible from start to finish,” Grady said. She recounted how many of the runners from last year’s race were honored this year: Those who had not been able to finish, due to injury or otherwise, bore markers on their backs with the mile they stopped at and were partnered with ablebodied runners who helped them finish what they started that fateful day in 2013. Stacey was surrounded by runners and spectators the entire time, soaking in an overwhelming sense of camaraderie. “From Athlete’s
Village all the way up until the 26.2 mile marker, there honestly was not an area that wasn’t six or seven rows deep with spectators,” she remarked. Uniquely, the atmosphere was very noncompetitive, something peculiar to that race in her own experience of running full and halfmarathons. Anytime anyone was struggling, a good number of runners stopped and helped them through. “This year, they just wanted to cross the finish line,” she observed.
Stacey exudes a sort of light and positive energy so pervasive that you wish you were on her team; it’s hard to do much but smile when in her company. But something set Stacey apart that Monday on the course. At the young age of 11, she was diagnosed with osteoarthritis and in June of 2013, she would find out she had colon cancer. “If you would have told me I would run the 2014 Boston Marathon, I think I would have smiled and said, ‘That’s just not possible.’” Thankfully, through surgery, the cancer was removed. She beat incredible odds in the face of such obstacles. But when she looks back, she’s thankful. She’s thankful
that doctors were able to catch and treat her cancer so quickly. She’s thankful for the tremendous support she received from her husband. And on some level, she’s even thankful that Boston didn’t happen for her last year. Stacey’s relationship with running developed as a way to treat her arthritis. She was raised in Maryland and completed both her undergraduate and master’s degrees there, but would relocate to California to alleviate some of the harsh effects the East Coast’s humid climate had on her arthritis. When her husband was unexpectedly deployed to Iraq, she moved back home briefly and her arthritis began to flare up again. It was then, in 2004, that her doctors prescribed running to keep it in check. Stacey’s first mile on the treadmill was challenging, to say the least. “I’ll never forget it,” she said. Because of her arthritis, running was something she had to make a part of her everyday routine. And it is something she will have to do for the rest of her life — but luckily, it has become something she wants to do for the rest of her life. This year marks Stacey’s 10th anniversary in her relationship with running. It’s not necessarily the long, hard hours she pounded out every day in training that she attributes her success to (pivotal as they were), but more than that, she said, it’s camaraderie. Fittingly, Stacey exudes a sort of light and positive energy so pervasive that you wish you were on her team; it’s hard to do much but smile when in her company. Her handshake is hearty and when
COURTESY OF STACEY GRADY C a n c e r s u r v i v o r a n d i n t e r i m d i re c t o r o f T h e We l l , S t a c e y G r a d y s a t d o w n w i t h t h e H i g h l a n d e r r i g h t a f t e r c o m i n g b a c k f ro m t h e B o s t o n M a r a t h o n t o s h a re h e r e x p e r i e n c e .
she recounts her story, she relies heavily on the use of one simple word: we. “Anything you want to do — if you have the right team of individuals around you — is possible,” she claimed. Stacey had not only the support of her friends and family, but also that of a medical team who iced and worked on her knees at certain mile markers. She said, “It was certainly a team effort; I would have never been able to do it without their assistance.” Running, Stacey said, has taught her valuable life lessons like perseverance and the importance of togetherness. She admitted that she is a much happier and stronger runner when the headphones are at home and she’s planted in the moment with friends, saying, “Running with others has provided stress relief like no other.” She wants to prove that people can succeed in the face of adversity. Stacey hopes that by sharing her story — something she used to be private about — she can help others.
“Some days, simply getting up and walking is a milestone,” she says. “If I can help to spread awareness through sharing my story, I hope that I can help at least a few people with arthritis … as so many have helped me along the way.” Her experience has allowed her to connect with and encourage others who have also been diagnosed with arthritis. She also challenges students and colleagues to make lasting lifestyle changes to become healthier. But she’s no pollyanna. To UCR students facing pressing challenges, she said, “There are some odds that we just can’t beat. But there are also many challenges in life that we can overcome. It does not happen overnight. We’re fixers — we want instant fixes. It’s a long road; it’s a long haul. It took a good 18 months of me running before I started seeing positive results. It’s taking baby steps and appreciating small successes. Knowing that you’re in for the long haul makes taking baby steps okay.” ■H
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@highlanderradar
TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
R adar ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Events this week Tuesday | 4/29
Open Mic @ Back to the Grind, 7 p.m.
Wednesday | 4/30
Casey Crescenzo @ the Barn, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday | 5/1
Saturday | 5/3
Indigenous Choreography @ Culver Center, 7 p.m.
Spring Splash @ Bell Tower, 2 p.m.
John Duke O’Neill and Chloe Keedy of Gypsies & Judges share great energy onstage.
RICHARD LIN / HIGHLANDER
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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Awayfrom the
Sprawl: by Jake Rich, Senior Staff Writer
Photos by Jake Rich Graphics by Brandy Coats
Coachella 2014:
“
A Beginner’s Guide to Cardboard Snails
Artists, attractions and art drew large crowds to the Empire Polo Fields once again for the unique experience of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
ifficulty: Intermediate. Build time: 10-15 minutes.” Oh boy, this could be a problem. I’m notoriously bad with my hands and making crafts, and even something at an “intermediate” level, such as constructing the little cardboard snail (a replica of the giant one that roamed the Empire Polo grounds last year) that comes in the Coachella wristband and information box intimidates me. I guess it shows just how much of a Coachella newbie I am. I’ve been to “Couchchella” (that is, watched the YouTube stream from the comfort of my air-conditioned room on my laptop) many times and wished from afar that I could go, but until this year, it was never possible. When this year’s lineup dropped, however, I couldn’t help myself. Too many of my favorite artists were there, and with Coachella being the closest major music festival to campus, I felt that it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Now, as I sit in the afterglow of the second weekend of the festival, I can say one thing: It was more than worth it. Day 1: Well, I guess we’re at Coachella now Walking up to the gates, I was greeted by gigantic, intricately designed art installments shaped like houses and other things you could climb through (oh yeah, it’s an art festival, too). I was immediately struck by how much smaller the festival grounds were than what I had expected. I expected them to dwarf Golden Gate park, where Outside Lands is held, but the Empire Polo Field was only of a comparable size. Because of the lack of trees in the desert, at least part of every stage or tent could be seen almost anywhere on the grounds. Along with the tents, a giant, slow-moving astronaut dubbed “Escape Velocity” roamed the fields and seemed to follow you wherever you went. It was a bit shocking to see how easy it was to get fairly close to the stage on the first day. As the day went on it became more difficult, but simply walking your way through a sitting or well-spaced-out crowd was very easy. The biggest exception to this on day one was Bastille, of “Pompeii” fame, for whom the Mojave tent overflowed — it’s unclear why they were not set on a larger stage. On that note, two of the most surreal moments of the day came from hearing two of the biggest hits of the past year in nearly back-to-back performances. Aloe Blacc, who sings the hit, “Wake Me Up,” best known for its Avicii remix that has permeated radio waves, sang his acoustic version that had the crowd raising their voices as loud as they would all weekend. Bastille immediately followed, and as the crowd ecstatically chanted “eh-oh-oh-eh-oh” as they performed their hit “Pompeii,” I knew I had arrived at the dynamic concert space that was Coachella. Coupled with this, later performances — including watching Billie Joe Armstrong joining the Replacements on stage for their set, and my friend and I casually sitting at the back of the main stage watching Outkast — thoroughly overshadowed a $12 fish-and-chips that included two tiny strips of fish and actual potato chips — not fries! Day 2: How did I miss that?! After stuffing some Smuckers and snacks down my throat at the end of a thoroughly exhausting day one, I knocked out. My friend and I decided that hygiene be damned — we used some baby wipes to clean up a bit and set off showerless and disgusting for day two (just
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kidding, we honestly weren’t that bad). After hitting most of the acts I wanted to see on day one, I knew I was going to have to make some sacrifices on day two. Seeing people mosh at a concert that they paid hundreds of dollars to attend is surreal in itself to watch, but seeing dudes in flower crowns in the mosh pit is even stranger. As Ty Segall raged on with manic punk offerings on stage, a near-constant stream of crowdsurfing people found their way into the pit — from flower crown dudes to the most petite girls, everyone was welcome. The fact that this was immediately followed by a great performance from electro-pop band CHVRCHES, attended by much of the same crowd, showed me for the first time how diverse and welcoming Coachella crowds could be. The energy could even be felt through the performances that I had to skip that day. As I waited for other shows to start, I heard “Kids” by MGMT, “Shake Me Down” by Cage the Elephant and, perhaps most notably, “Get Lucky,” accompanied by a massive amount of confetti, being sung by Pharrell in the background. Though these songs were only in my periphery, they oftentimes warranted longing stares from fellow audience members wishing that they could be in two places at once, experiencing the cheers and music they heard from afar. The best moment of the day came at sunset, as Capital Cities, in matching floral suits, led the crowd through a
I ended my night by sprinting over to the area, and singing along with my favorite band mere feet from them. horn-laden electronic dance party of originals and covers. As the band danced onstage with a remix of their ubiquitous “Safe and Sound” continued to play, a band member encouraged every audience member to take off their shirt (“It’s Coachella, it’s okay to show a little skin!”) or hold up a rag and start waving it around their heads. As a mass of colors emerged around the audience, the drop in the remix came, and for a moment there were thousands of swirling neon rainbows bobbing up and down, enveloping the gorgeous Coachella sunset as palm trees swayed calmly in the background. Day 3: It’s too hot, but we’ve made it this far By this point I knew that we had way overpacked food-wise — we hadn’t touched the string cheese, and we loved string cheese — but we weren’t going to let our over-zealous packing and wasted cash get us down. Day three promised some bands and artists I was most excited for, and I knew I had to end my first-ever Coachella with a bang. What ended up making day three worthwhile was two things: a crowd that knew its party was about to end, and well-established artists still playing like they had everything left to prove. Frank Turner and the Naked and Famous both sang their anthems with reckless abandon, as more moshing ensued during Turner’s “Four Simple Words,” and ecstatic jumping followed during the Na-
ked and Famous’ hit, “Young Blood.” Turner’s boundless enthusiasm for every single one of the 50 minutes he was allotted electrictrified the smallest tent on the grounds, the Gobi, and made it feel as if you were getting to watch a festival headliner perform just for you. I had heard that some of the most special sets occur at sunset during Coachella, and along with Capital Cities, the reunited Neutral Milk Hotel put on a performance to remember. Seeing the disheveled-yet dignified-looking Jeff Mangum lead his old bandmates through a flurry of influential indie-rock tunes was a sight to see. Though the entire crowd wasn’t as responsive as I thought they might be, there were indeed a few audience members who could be seen having obviously emotional moments, closing their eyes and singing along with looks of longing and connection to the legendary act’s set. As the day winded down, and after Calvin Harris, Beck and Lana Del Rey had all put on entrancing and memorable performances (sometimes a little too much — some of Lana’s fans definitely needed to get a room), only Arcade Fire was left — and their top headliner status didn’t stop them from connecting to the audience in a way that came to epitomize my first Coachella experience. After trolling audience members by bringing out a fake Daft Punk as guests (everyone in the crowd couldn’t tell the difference) the band played with a fearless enthusiasm that one may not have expected from a festival headliner. The band led the crowd through their hits along with some not-often-heard fan favorites, and had the enormous crowd hanging on their every note. Even after their set ended, they walked through the space between the stage and the crowd, acoustically playing and singing the chorus of their well-known “Wake Up.” Even after I thought they were done, they kept walking farther, and onto the grass, meshing with the crowd as they slowly moved their way through the mob following them. After it took me a moment to realize how far they had walked, I ended my night by sprinting over to the area, and singing along with my favorite band mere feet from them. As I walked away, wondering what the heck had just happened, I knew I had experienced my “Coachella” moment. I understood the hype. I knew why the festival was so beloved. The next morning, we quickly packed and shoved everything in the trunk. The buzz from the night before was still ringing strongly in my head, and perfect packing certainly wasn’t a priority. There was no line to get out — everything went very quickly. As I drove back down the freeway, completed cardboard Coachella snail riding on my dashboard, I could hardly get any of the weekend out of my head — nor did I want to. Lines from “Wake Me Up” (“So wake me up when it’s all over / when I’m wiser and I’m older”) echoed in my head. I’m still having trouble waking up — all the different people I met, the experiences I had, the new and old music I found and the spirit of appreciation I felt all around me made for one of the most memorable weekends of my life. I keep turning around, expecting to see the giant astronaut that roamed the grounds behind me. I guess I’ll just have to wait till next year’s wristband box appears, when I’ll see the intermediate level required to build my own cardboard astronaut — and know that I ■H can handle it just fine.
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Introducing the
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’ve come to love the Barn. In the evening under a velvety, black sky, it’s the perfect place to commune with friends, indulge in great food and witness some of the most talented artists out there — and with midterms underway, the Barn’s first annual Barn Fest gave stressed students a worry-free night full of great live music and a refreshing sense of community. Audience members danced the night away to the smooth sounds of indie rock band Seaside Audio, jazz band Gypsies and Judges and tropical Afro-Latin band Quita Penas. First up was Seaside Audio, a band comprised of four incredibly skilled young men who lit up the stage with their enthusiasm. I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face as I watched keyboardist David Ajoku grin from ear to ear, bobbing his head as he encouraged the crowd to clap along during their set. Never missing a beat, drummer Luke Johnson kept the group in sync and intrigued the audience with intricate drumming patterns that breathed life into their songs. Vocalists Rolando and Roland Garcia displayed strong vocal ability as they lingered in and out of beautiful harmonies while also playing bass and guitar.
BARN FEST
By Christal Mims, Staff Writer // Photos By Richard Lin In an interview, Roland implied that it came quite naturally to layer their sounds with both the guitar and bass, and with the help of a pretty awesome gift from a celebrity bass player, they got their start. “I always liked the sound of me complementing my brother on guitar. I loved the sound of two different parts combined together. I was always a fan of a low tone, and realized how thin our sound was with just two guitars. Inspired by Fall Out Boy’s bass player Pete Wentz, I got his signature bass as a gift and learned from there on.” Seaside Audio’s breezy, infectious sound is hard not to enjoy, and with influences like Young the Giant and Foster the People, it’s obvious where they get their style from — but don’t think the band is a carbon copy. Johnson made it very clear that they enjoy being unique. “In our material I’ve always wanted to create a style that was different and not repetitive.” Seaside Audio left the modest crowd cheerful as they performed original songs and covers, exiting the stage to make way for jazzswing band Gypsies and Judges.
Members Chloe Keedy, Nathan Guze, John Duke O’Neill, Nadine Parra, John Garcia and Jordan Hang switched up the sound in the most interesting and rewarding way possible. Vocalist Keedy was electric as she shimmied to the music and carried each song with jazzy and soulful vocals. Between their original songs and modernized 1900s swing hits, Keedy made it a point to converse with the crowd in between songs, and
as Bravo made her way to the stage and had the next song dedicated to her. Overall, Gypsies and Judges had a solid set filled with drums, guitar, fiddle, bass, trumpet and trombone that made sure that they achieved the 1920s-inspired jazz theme they embrace in their sound. I watched as the crowd dispersed from around the front of the stage and paced around the room as they waited for the last band to perform. Slowly but surely, I noticed the Barn gaining a slightly larger audience and heard screams echo as Quita Penas stepped onto the stage. Last but certainly not least, Quita Penas induced elated hollers and prompted some to pull out their cell phones to start recording. When the music started, it was as if the Barn had transformed into a full-on dance club. Couples were swaying swiftly, others were tapping their feet and some bounced around rambunctiously to get their friends just as excited as they were. Quita Penas seemed to be laidback and comfortable, but played just as passionately in a way that only an experienced band could. In an interview, band member Eduardo Valencia described their
Slowly but surely, I noticed the Barn gaining a slightly larger audience and heard screams echo as Quita Penas stepped onto the stage. things took a turn for the interesting when she began telling the story of an original song they were about to perform. She talked about writing the song after the cancelled Heat weekend and witnessing a scene out in the street in the wee hours of the morning between a couple. It just so happened that Keedy was talking about a girl named Gabbi Bravo, who happened to be attending the concert that night. There were hoots and hollers all around
start. “We formed the band mid2011 and decided to form the band because we all knew each other but had been playing different styles. The sound that we have was inspired by a collection of recordings and records that we’d acquired. It was appealing because it was familiar but also because it had a raw, vintage sound that has kind of been hidden because of the commercialization of music.” Valencia also attributed the Riverside arts scene as an inspiration as well. “I credit a lot of my inspiration to the Inland Empire and the people I’ve met here.” It’s obvious that their music is received well in Riverside. During one of their songs, a dance line formed and zig-zagged around the Barn, creating a sense of community that made the night even better. Quita Penas graced the audience with one more song when the crowd began yelling “Uno Mas!” before they left. The diversity of these bands goes to show the immense amount of talent to be found in Riverside, and the willingness of music lovers to embrace local talent. All in all, the first annual Barn Fest was a good time, and I’m sure that these bands will experience an enormous H amount of success in the future. ■
Quitas Penas (above), performed tropical, Afro-Latin music to an energetic crowd who couldn’t stop dancing to their fast-paced rhythms. Last week’s Barn Fest hosted three bands, Quitas Penas (top left), Gypsies & Judges (top middle), and Seaside Audio (top right).
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TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
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Chicken Fingers and Walks of Shame ASPB’s “Girl Code Guy Code” brings big laughs and awkward hilarity to campus
By Stasean Washington, Contributing Writer Photos by Cameron Yong
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TV has become a staple in American pop culture. Originally meant as an outlet to play music videos, today it is best known for its influence on millennials and the social media generation, catering to the woes and wonders of adulthood. Last Thursday night, UCR prepared for its own lesson in relationships, awkward social interaction and direct in-your-face comedy as we welcomed MTV onto campus through ASPB’s “Girl Code Guy Code.” For those of you who don’t know, the stand-up comedy show was based on MTV’s popular comedy television series “Guy Code” and its even more popular spin-off series “Girl Code.” Both shows are a comedic take on the subconsciously developed “code of conduct” respected by both genders when interacting with the opposite sex. The event invited three of the show’s comedians — Tanisha Long, Jessimae Peluso and Jeff Dye — to come and each perform a stand-up comedy set followed by a Qand-A segment. When I arrived, I was greeted by a long line that wrapped around the second floor of the HUB. As crowds filed in a single row at a time, they were greeted by popular segments of the show playing on an overhead projector. Instantly, the night began with one of the series’ most popular members, Tanisha Long, bursting onto the stage. Given that college is a grounds for experimentation and finding oneself, it was all the more fitting that the first topic of discussion was sexual foreplay from a woman’s perspective. The idea of scaring off previous boyfriends by giving “terrible hand jobs” and not liking oral sex was the kicker, as was her discussion of the individuals on her “Hoes on Notice” list. Unfortunately, Long struggled as she began to abruptly compare previous boyfriends to … chicken fingers. Her performance suffered when she began to talk about not liking women whose mindset she deemed stereotypically “blacker than her,” and Long then lost the audience completely when she donned a nasally impression of her mother commenting on her racial preferences in dating. This effectively shut out most of the audience members in attendance, as they did not quite know how to respond. However, the energy in the room was revived when audience favorite, Jeff Dye, walked on stage. Surprisingly, Dye instantly connected with the audience by incorporating the ASUCR elections into his routine. He joked that if he were running for office he would use scare tactics as a means to gain votes. Dye’s comedic performance was made all the funnier as he weaved in a string of jokes revolving around the “faux pas” of the production of the event, like the fact that the laptop connected to the projector constantly went on sleep mode. Dye ended with the topic of racist board games. He created a roar of laughter on such a sensitive topic by imitat-
J e f f D y e , Ta n i s h a L o n g , a n d J e s s i m a e P e l u s o c h a t t e d w i t h t h e a u d i e n c e a b o u t h o w t h e y g o t t h e i r s t a r t s a s c o m e d i a n s .
ing the nervousness of young children upon pulling one of two black characters out of nearly 40 other characters in an intense game of “Guess Who?” What followed was perhaps the best performance of the night as Jessimae Peluso took the stage. Her performance was a powerful combination of audience interaction and crazy antics. Perhaps one of Peluso’s most memorable moments was when she pointed out an older audience member in the crowd, baffled by his presence in an event targeted at young adults. She followed up with an over-the-top imitation of her version of a meth head, as she bent backward and felt up the microphone stand, groaning like a person who’s completely wasted. Peluso ended with a bang, joking about a time she had the chance to meet Will Smith at an award ceremony. She overwhelmed the stage as she opened her legs and began to heave like an animal in heat, comparing her vagina to a steam blower. She pretended to cover it with her hand, joking about her fear of burning off the Fresh Prince’s eyebrows. She kept the flow by transitioning into an impersonation of a creeper dancing to the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” theme song, inevitably ruining her chances by scaring off Will Smith.
The audience had a chance to ask cast members personal questions during the Q-and-A section of the event. Questions ranged from the cast members’ most drunken moments to what their racial preferences were in relationships. One student asked Dye to a sorority formal, while another inquired about the possibility of each of the cast members following her on Instagram. Comedians responded as you would expect comedians to react: with a joke. Dye shared a time when he stole a jersey from former NFL player, Mike Vanderjagt, while Long talked about looking like a hooker while taking a “walk of shame” out of a one-night-stand. This served to effectively lighten up the mood from all of the audience’s crazy requests. As if ripped right from the show, the night was true to its roots, creating some of its own awkwardness as the cast members and audience embodied the ungraceful social interactions portrayed on stage — from talking about being on the delivering end of a scary hand job, to being asked if you have ever been twerked on by a black girl. “Girl Code Guy Code” showcased the reason why both shows are so popular amongst millennials, and the crude reality of it all is what really defined the event. ■H
L e f t t o R i g h t : J e s s i m a e P e l u s o b r i n g s a p a t c h o f g r a s s t o t h e s t a g e ; Ta n i s h a L o n g j o k e s a b o u t h e r l o v e f o r c h i c k e n f i n g e r s ; J e f f D y e f l i r t s w i t h t h e a u d i e n c e a s w o m e n a s k p ro v o c a t i v e q u e s t i o n s .
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Los Angeles Clippers: The New Kings Of LA JASON AHN Contributing Writer
The Brain: Doc Rivers
The Hands: Chris Paul
Doc Rivers coached the Boston Celtics prior to his tenure with the Clippers. He directed the Celtics to an NBA championship title, two NBA finals appearances and three conference championships. When a team gets a coach of this caliber, several intangible changes occur. Free agents’ eyes are drawn toward the team and fans marvel at the potential of winning a championship. Rivers has brought this along with a change of the team’s culture. One way he does this is by keeping everyone from nine-time all-star Chris Paul to backup-center Ryan Hollins accountable. Each and every player is expected to play his part, and will be called out if he doesn’t. Other changes include slowing the Clippers’ offensive pace and a strict rotation of players as well as use of his incredible play-calling skills. Although Vinny Del Negro coached the team to new heights last season, the championship pedigree of Rivers places the Clippers into another stratosphere.
Point guards are essential because they create shots for their team through fakes, passes and by scoring some points themselves. Chris Paul executes this for the Clippers. He led the team in assists with 9.3 per game and steals with 3.6 per game as well as putting up 18.3 points per game. He has achieved all this despite missing 18 games from a separated shoulder. Paul has shown his loyalty by playing with a bothersome hamstring and a fever in game three against the Golden State Warriors. This year, he also broke the 6,000 career assist mark, playing the Detroit Pistons. Paul joins the exclusive club of players in the NBA to reach 6,000 assists before the end of his ninth seasons, including Jason Kidd, John Stockton, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Norm Nixon and Oscar Robertson. Paul is the engine that keeps the Clippers running. If he is playing well, they’re hard to beat.
The Arms: Blake Griffin
The Body: DeAndre Jordan
The Legs: The Bench
He’s the hardworking, relentless super athlete who dunks too often. Fans love it but critics are quick to point out his poor jump shot and free-throw percentage. Two years ago, he shot 52.1 percent from the free-throw line and 25 percent in 10-15 feet shots. Then with a little help in the offseason from Coach Bob Tate, who is known for aiding Jason Kidd’s jump shot in Dallas, Blake’s game improved. His free-throw percentage is now at 70.5 percent and his 10-15 foot percentage is 39.65. Griffin is transforming into one of the best forwards in the league. This season he had a 30-game streak of 20 or more points. Due to Chris Paul’s shoulder dislocation, Griffin had more chances to be aggressive and carry the team. The Clippers’ record was 22-8 during this time. From 2008-2009, only three players have had longer streaks than Griffin: Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Lebron James. Griffin’s improved post-up game and shooting allows the Clippers to have a consistent and legitimate low post threat coupled with Paul’s perimeter game.
Rivers predicted that the explosive center DeAndre Jordan would be the defensive player of the year. This is why he gave him the defensive captain title shortly after the two met. As bold of a statement as that is, Jordan came close as he finished third after Chicago’s Joakim Noah and Indiana’s Roy Hibbert. He tallied 13.6 rebounds per game, came third in blocked shots (2.48), a career-best 10.5 points per game and even led the NBA in field-goal percentage. He also finished fifth in the NBA’s Most Improved Player of the Year award voting. Jordan, 25, leaped over his opponents with a career-high 42 doubledoubles in points and rebounds. Not only was he a defensive and offensive machine, Jordan was a healthy player. He started every single game this year, tallying up 237 regular season starts, which is currently the longest streak in the NBA. No matter how great a player is, if they aren’t healthy, they aren’t contributing. Jordan makes sure he helps his team win by taking care of his body and being a formidable presence down low.
The greatness of the trio of Griffin, Paul and Jordan is supported by a team effort from the rest of the Clippers. The combination of shooter J.J. Reddick, sixth man of the year Jamal Crawford and former allstar Danny Granger have contributed toward making the Clippers championship contenders. The developing point guard Darren Collison averaged 11.4 points per game and averages 37.6 percent from behind the arc. Collison is versatile as he can play either the point guard or the shooting guard. He’s able to shoot threes, drive in paint or pass the ball. Jamal Crawford was also a scoring machine with 18.6 points per game, shooting 36.1 percent in three-pointers. Both Crawford and Collison have the skill sets of a starter, but do not mind coming off the bench. This benefits the team by creating less conflict when Rivers takes them out of the rotation after a starter returns from an injury. They are role players who then turn into role models by gaining the respect and trust of their teammates. ■H
As the curtains of the Lakers’ worst season close, all eyes shift toward the Los Angeles Clippers. Rather than fold under the pressure of a spoiled basketball city, the Clippers are determined to win a championship. Despite the recent alleged racist remarks of owner Donald Sterling over the weekend and dropping game four of their series versus the Golden State Warriors, the Clippers are equipped to win with the big three of Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and the now-rising star in DeAndre Jordan. They have a solid shooter in J.J. Redick, as well as Jamal Crawford and Darren Collison who has no problem coming off the bench. To top it all off, they now have a veteran commander in Doc Rivers, with the experience and the hardware to prove it. Although the Lakers have been crowned champions 16 times, the Clippers now have the limelight as they muscle their way toward a championship. Here’s how they’ll do it.
Why they are going to win: The Clippers are currently in the number three seed in the Western Conference. Using the new system Rivers installed, they have made it to the same place in the tournament as they were last year — only this time, they can potentially win the championship. They have the coach, they have a big three and a solid bench. Paul has the vision to create and make plays. Griffin has the athleticism to score from anywhere on the court. DeAndre Jordan is a powerful defender and can score down low. Redick is a sharp three-point shooter plus Crawford and Collison can score off the bench. The improvement of Griffin and Jordan puts their game on par with CP3’s level of play. The added arsenal of shooters now allows Paul to distribute the rock when the post is doubled. The shooters also give the two big men more space to work the paint. Only time will tell if the Clippers permanently steal LA’s basketball spotlight, but from the looks of it, they are well on their way.
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HIGHLANDERS
Around The Big West
By Darren Bueno, Senior Staff Writer
Photos courtesy of UCR Athletics and Highlander Archive
Softball
Baseball
Tennis
Track and field
Squaring off against UC Davis in a Saturday doubleheader, the UC Riverside softball team dropped a pair of games, 3-0 and 4-1, falling to 2-12 in conference play. The Aggie pitching team kept the Riverside bats in check as the Highlanders only tallied seven hits on the day. UC Davis doubled UCR’s production in the category. In the first game, Davis generated three runs in the second inning, which proved to be enough as the visiting team was shut out for the remainder of the game. The second contest followed a similar narrative with the Highlanders struggling to find consistent hitting. UC Riverside only had a single baserunner through four innings en route to a 4-1 defeat. On Sunday, the Highlanders redeemed themselves by snapping a fivegame losing streak with an 8-2 victory over the Aggies. On the day, five players recorded multiple hits.
With the opportunity to cement their status as a formidable force in the Big West Conference, the Highlanders faced UC Santa Barbara in a weekend series marked by power hitting and crafty pitching. In the first game, the pitching of both squads ran the show as UCR’s Jake Smigelski and Gaucho Justin Jacome went head-to-head, both retiring multiple batters before the Gauchos sealed the game with a three-run seventh inning, scoring six runs on only six hits, 6-2. The second game featured the Highlanders jumping out to an early lead, generating three runs in the first inning alone. The two teams went down to the wire as UCR still led 5-4 after six innings. A pitching change proved to be detrimental for Riverside as the Gauchos scored two runs in the seventh inning en route to a 6-5 win. Like softball, the Highlanders recorded a Sunday win 7-3 over the Gauchos to bring their conference record to 7-5.
The UC Riverside tennis teams competed in the Big West Conference Championships over the weekend at the prestigious Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Serving on the same courts that featured Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal just weeks earlier, the Highlanders competed admirably but both squads bowed out in the opening round of the championships. The men’s team tallied two wins on the day. Cooper Bridge and Sean Yun won their singles matches, but UC Santa Barbara was just too good, claiming the victory 6-2. The women’s squad fared no better as the season concluded with a 4-0 loss to Cal State Fullerton. The Highlanders couldn’t muscle a set off of the Titans in singles or doubles. The men’s team finished the season with a 2-22 record while the women didn’t record a win, 0-20.
The UC Riverside track and field team travelled to San Diego over the weekend to compete in the UC San Diego Triton Invitational. Ted Hooper, one of the most decorated athletes on the team, won the long jump, clearing 7.6 meters, only inches off of his best season mark. The 4x400 meter team came in third place with a time of 3 minutes, 21.09 seconds. Caleb Stuart, the Big West Conference field player of the week, threw a top mark of 17.38m, good for fourth place in the shot put. Michael Koger sprinted his way into fourth place in the 400 hurdles, producing a time of 52.19. On the women’s side, Claudia Sepulveda’s time of 1:05.37 was eighth-best in the 400 hurdles while Tayler Fleming came in 17th place in the 100 with a time of 12.46. ■H
Sports Poll Who is your pick to win the NBA championship?
Jorge Esparza Chicano Studies Fourth-year “I don’t know who is going to win. It seems pretty wide open as to who will win.”
Erwin Navarro History Third-year “Spurs are going to win. They had something close to a 20 win game streak as well as the best records. They’re a top choice for the west and the east doesn’t have a solid team except for Miami.”
C ompiled
by
J aspery G oh
Public Policy & Religion Third-year
Akeem Brown
Rukayat Salaam Neuroscience Second-year
Joy Wabi Biology Second-year
Timothy Tran Biology Second-year
“San Antonio Spurs. They’re vertans and play fundamnetally sound. They have one of the best coaches in NBA history.”
“Oklahoma City. I know they’re down right now but they’re a strong team and they have a lot of good players.”
“I think the Spurs. They’re going to win because they have a good roster this year; they came close last time at the end but this time it will be better.”
“Thunder but they’re not doing so well. They are more complete though and are pretty versatile.”
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TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
. SPORTS .
HIGHLANDER
Natasha Hadley:
Road to Success VINCENT TA / HIGHLANDER
Natasha Hadley engages in a discussion about her past, present and future at UC Riverside and beyond.
MELISA BIVIAN Staff Writer
Hustling up and down the courts of the Student Recreation Center arena for five years, center Natasha Hadley is more than just another basketball player for UCR: She has seen the Highlanders’ highs and lows. Although redshirted as a freshman, Hadley watched the women’s basketball team advance to the NCAA tournament after winning the Big West crown in 2010. Heartache has also been a part of the equation as the center has seen the team suffer single-digit win seasons. Lighting up the room with her positive disposition, I was able to sit down and easily converse with one of the Highlanders’ best players about her playing days in the blue and gold and her long road to success on and off the court. Playing basketball since grade school, Hadley learned to truly enjoy the game instead of being pressured by others. It allowed her to have fun and later become who she is today: a determined woman who only looks for the best in her team. “Having it fun at the beginning made it easier to transition to the competitive state in high school and then really wanting to play in college,” Hadley explained. Starting off her freshman year, Hadley suffered a disappointing knee injury in the first week of practice that prevented her from playing. She tore her ACL, MCL and meniscus and had to undergo
ACL surgery, sitting out for seven months. Hadley says the injury was a learning moment for her. “Looking back on it now, it probably was one of the better things for me because I had to grow up faster in a lot of ways,” Hadley said. “It was six months of recovery; you can’t
“Playing basketball since grade school, Hadley learned to truly enjoy the game instead of being pressured by others.” sit there for six months and cry about it. That made me better for later on.” At season’s end, the women’s basketball team, with Hadley watching on the bench, won the Big West Conference title, earning a berth in the NCAA tournament. Hadley saw her first collegiate action against Montana during the 2010-2011 season. Determined to give it her all, Hadley led the team in rebounds on five occasions and continued to
prove herself every year. From being named to the Big West Conference Honorable Mention Team her sophomore year to being ranked 13th in the Big West Conference in scoring her fourth year, every year the center showed improvement. She ended her UCR career in the top 10 all-time in games played, games started, blocks, total rebounds and field goals. A sociology major with a minor in French, the five years that she studied in Riverside taught her a lot. From learning discipline to knowing that people have to do things that they don’t want to, Hadley explained that the things she learned will benefit her in the long run. Her fascination with French has also driven her to pursue playing professional basketball in France. Hadley loves the idea of being able to play overseas, but will have to undergo surgery once again. She explained that her main priority is to recover and be healthy, saying, “I want to start looking for work, but with this, my recovery process is going to be nine months so for the first four months, I’m just looking to get healthy.” If she is unable to continue playing, she would love to find happiness in a career that allows her to feel fulfilled. She knows that she will find something she truly loves. Hadley’s future is yet to be written, but as of now she will always be remembered for being the resilient warrior of the women’s basketball squad. ■H
PARIS, FRANCE
GRAPHIC BY: BRANDY COATS / HIGHLANDER
Natasha Hadley hopes she can continue her basketball pursuits in France, her dream destination.
PHOTOS BY: ARCHIVES / HIGHLANDER