Volume 64 Issue 3

MEET OUR NEW ATHLETIC DIRECTOR UCR’S NEWEST ATHLETIC DIRECTOR IS FULL OF ENERGY AND READY TO MAKE AN IMPACT

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Highlander

University of California, Riverside

Volume 64

Serving the UCR community since 1954

Issue 03

FOR THE WEEK OF TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

President of Ghana lectures on African diaspora at UCR

John Dramani Mahama, the president of Ghana, spoke at the University Theatre about his country, its progress and the rapidly changing global climate due to technology.

AARON GRECH Senior Staff Writer

The President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, gave a lecture regarding the African diaspora in the University Theater, which was filled to its capacity with over 300 people. The lecture, titled “The African Diaspora: Possibilities and Privileges of Empowerment in this Technological Age,” was hosted by African Student Programs.

Prior to his position as

president, Mahama served as a member of the Ghanaian parliament from 1997-2009, minister of communications from 1998-2001 and vice president of Ghana from 2009-2012. Upon the death of former President John Atta Mills in 2012, Mahama assumed the presidency and was formally elected as president in December of that year.

UCR Undergraduate Cultural Ambassador Ama Serwaa and Vice President of Campus Internal Affairs Michael Ervin opened

the lecture with the national anthems of Ghana and the United States respectively. After the anthems, Chancellor Kim Wilcox introduced the president and his entourage, which included the Minister of Education Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, who will be working with Vice Provost Paul D’Anieri to create partnerships with Ghanaian universities and UCR. The president then proceeded to speak on issues such as the recent death of Sandra Bland,

and stereotypes amongst those of African descent, which exist due to cultural ignorance created by the displacement of the African people across the world. According to Mahama, while many in the diaspora are separated by distance, technology assists in uniting those of African descent.

Mahama credited advances in technology and the advent of social media for allowing many Africans to be informed of events affecting them across the world

AARON LAI / HIGHLANDER

in the diaspora. “If it wasn’t for technology that we have today, those of us who live on the other side of the globe ... we would never know of the frustrations and concerns of the Africans in the diaspora,” Mahama stated.

While crediting social media for providing greater exposure to these issues, Mahama expressed concerns about how mainstream news can portray stereotypes. ► SEE GHANA, PAGE 5

District attorney speaks on rising crime in Riverside $6.89 million approved for new research building

GUY HOCKER Contributing Writer

Last Thursday, UCR’s new School of Public Policy hosted Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestrin at the Center for Environmental Research (CE-CERT) building off campus. Hestrin lectured on the rising crime in Riverside County. According to the district attorney, a combination of imperfect legislation and a lack of resources are responsible for the rising crime rate.

Hestrin’s presentation asserted that total crime in Riverside County increased 7.23 percent (14,852 to 15,296 events) when comparing January to June 2014 to the same period in 2015. It also stated that the city of Riverside saw a 14.48 percent increase in robbery, an 8.93

percent increase in larceny and a 4.27 percent increase in auto theft, all factoring into a 5.98 percent increase in the total amount of crime (5,315 to 5,633 events) when comparing the aforementioned timeframes.

California’s government has notably attempted to do their part to reduce prison populations.

AB109 was implemented in 2011 and allows those convicted of “non-serious, non-violent, and non-sex offenses” to go to local jails rather than state prisons.

This led to overcrowding in county jails, although Hestrin asserts that they were above capacity before AB109.

Riverside County has 2.293 million people, with a prison capacity of 3,900 beds, below the ratios of many other counties. Federal mandates force Riverside’s

overcrowded jails to release prisoners early. According to Hestrin, the current average jail time for someone with a non-violent, non-sex offense felony conviction of two years is less than a month.

Recently, California voters took another swing at reducing incarceration and approved Proposition 47 which decriminalized many felony offenses.

Hestrin stated “I opposed Prop 47 on a number of grounds, and the main one was that it took progressive punishment away, meaning that no matter how many times you commit a theft under $950 of value that is always and forever a misdemeanor … If you commit it 100 times in a row, it is a misdemeanor.”

Hestrin highlighted the ► SEE CRIME, PAGE 4

NEWS 1 • OPINIONS 7 • FEATURES 11 • A&E 14 • SPORTS 20

JOSEPH AVILA Senior Staff Writer

$6.89 million was approved at a September 15 meeting between the UC Regents and Chancellor Wilcox and his team to fund the preliminary phase of construction for a new research building known as the Multidisciplinary Research Building 1, or MRB1. The initial phase or phase 1 activities of the project will include procuring a competent design team and conducting surveys and analysis to maximize design efficiency with respect to the environment, among other things. The total cost for the MRB1 project is an estimated $150 million dollars.

“UCR is at pivotal point in our history. We’ve increased our enrollment, we’re expanding our faculty, our reputation is improving, we’re in the midst

of a multipronged approach to creating multidisciplinary research space from existing and new facilities across the campus and this new building will play critical role in that expansion.”

Wilcox argued during his presentation to the regents referring to the implementation of the broader expansion plan UCR 2020: Path to Preeminence.

The building will be constructed on the north side of campus between the Materials Science and Engineering building and the newly expanded student recreation center. The general model for the building assumes that it will inhabit approximately 150,000 gross square feet, be constructed as a five-story structure and consist of wet and ► SEE BUILDING, PAGE 6

PLEASE RECYCLE

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NEWS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/news

NEWS IN BRIEF

ASUCR updates website, launches video blog

BY JOSEPH AVILA, SENIOR STAFF WRITER

ASUCR president Ashley Harano addressed updates to the ASUCR website at the senate meeting on Wednesday. The updates to the website aim to increase student involvement and provide greater organizational excellence and transparency. They include a video blog series entitled “President’s VLOG” and a “Get Involved” tab on the website that will lead students to information on how to get involved with ASUCR and various other organizations on campus.

The first video of the

COURTESY OF MILLION STUDENT MARCH

UCR to participate in nationwide Million Student March On November 12th, UCR students will take part in a national day of protest called the Million Student March alongside several UC campuses and various other colleges and universities from states across the country. The march is meant to collectively demand tuition-free

public college, a cancellation of all student debt and a $15/hr campus-wide minimum wage at every college in the country.

The website for the march explains, “Over 40 million Americans share a total of $1.2 trillion in student debt and over half of that is held by the poorest

25 percent of Americans.

While top administrators take home six and seven figure salaries, campus workers are paid poverty wages. We will no longer sit idly by. With students, college graduates, and workers united we can build a movement capable of winning debt-free

college for all and a $15/ hr minimum wage for all campus workers!”

ASUCR vice president of external affairs, Mohamed “Momo” Hussein, and president pro tempore, Corey Willis, among others are working on the particulars of UCR’s actions and involvement in the march.

R’Garden to host upcoming free fall movie nights The Green Campus Action Plan (GCAP) together with R’Garden will be hosting free fall movie nights starting October 8 at 7 p.m. in the campus’ community garden. The series promises to showcase films that are “a mix of kid friendly movies and documentaries with themes of sustainability and food.”

The first movie to be shown is the French-Italian animated movie “Mia and the Migoo,” which is about how a young girl’s journey to find her father in a tropical paradise is threatened by

Conan O’Brien spotlights UCR engineers’ mushroom powered battery On the October 1st broadcast of Conan O’Brien’s late night talk show and in observance of World Vegetarian Day, an engineering team from UCR’s Bourns College of Engineering was mentioned in his opening monologue for their research on a lithium-ion battery anode powered by Portobello mushrooms.

The research was published September 29th in the journal, “Nature Scientific Reports.” The paper, authored by Professor Mihri Ozkan of the Electrical Engineering Department, Professor Cenzig Ozkan of the Mechanical Engineering department, and three of their former graduate students, was titled “BioDerived, Binderless, Hier-

archically Porous Carbon Anodes for Li-ion Batteries,” and outlined how the properties of the portobello mushroom, including the porosity and high potassium salt concentration, contributed to its utility as an alternative power source to synthetic graphite.

Brennen Campbell, a graduate student in the Materials Science and

series was posted before the meeting and featured Harano giving a quick tour of the ASUCR senate chambers, an overview of the ASUCR website and an invitation to students to attend ASUCR meetings held in the chambers every Wednesday starting at 6 p.m. Future video blogs will consist of information on the various projects ASUCR directors, senators and executive candidates are working on. Harano hopes to upload a video on the website every other week.

Engineering program and co-author of the research paper told UCR Today, “With battery materials like this, future cell phones may see an increase in run time after many uses, rather than a decrease, due to apparent activation of blind pores within the carbon architectures as the cell charges and discharges over time.”

the construction of a giant hotel resort. This event is free and free parking will be available in Lot 30. Goodwin’s Organic Foods and Drinks will provide popcorn, wraps and drinks for attendees of the event via food truck.

Jackie Perez, graduate student in UCR’s Graduate School of Education, will attend the event because she believes that “It’s a good event to bring the community together outside of an academic environment and it represents UCR’s strong H stance on sustainability.” ■

PHOTO OF THE WEEK “Engineers from UC Riverside have created a lithium-ion battery using portobello mushrooms. They came up with the idea while using a different kind of mushroom.”

-Conan O’Brien on mushroom batteries.

MULTIMEDIA

f

UCR Highlander Newspaper @ucrhighlander UCRChannelH

AARON LAI

KUCR 88.3 FM, Wednesdays @ 9 a.m.

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

“President Mahama listens closely to a UCR student’s question on the African Diaspora and how African-Americans are to reconcile with the changing political and social conditions within the African continent today.”

UPCOMING EVENTS

FALL 2015, WEEK 2

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

10/6

10/7

10/8

10/9

10/10

10/11

10/12

110 Bootcamp 6:45 - 7:45 a.m.

SRC Upper Courts

Career Station 11 a.m. - :30 p.m.

Bell Tower

Salsa Dance, Beginning 8 - 9:30 p.m.

SRC MPR E

PB&J Jogging 10 - 11 a.m.

HUB 248

Children’s Swim Lessons 10 - 11:30 a.m.

SRC Pool

Kayaking at Newport Bay 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

SRC OE Shop

Part-Time Job Search & Resume Writing 1 - 2:30 p.m.

HUB 260

Sexual Health Drop in Class 1 - 2p.m.

Veitch Student Center

Intramural Sports Registration 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

SRC Competative Sports Office

Financing, Accounting and Business Job Fair 4 - 7 p.m.

HUB 302

Ballroom/Latin Dance: Waltz/Cha Cha 6:45 - 8:45 p.m.

SRC MPR A

110 Bootcamp 6:45 - 7:45 p.m.

SRC Upper Courts H

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NEWS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/news

JANINE YBANEZ / HIGHLANDER Safety concerns for students and residents who hike to the “C” arise with plans for 200 Metrolink trains to run at the base of the trail. Access to the trail would be considered unsafe with the lack of a crossing gate on the train tracks.

Perris Valley Line blocks entrance to “C” hiking trail IXIA JOHNSON Senior Staff Writer

The Perris Valley Line will begin running Metrolink test trains in October on upgraded tracks at the bottom of Big Springs Mountain, banning hikers from entering the Big Springs Road entrance to the “Big C” hiking trail and other popular hiking trails nearby.

This 24-mile commuter line began construction in October 2013 and will be completed this December. The newly upgraded tracks will run an estimated 240

Metrolink trains along these tracks each month and will increase efficiency of public transportation in the area.

In order to prevent accidents caused by heightened train traffic, local Riverside city and UCR officials are searching for ways to prevent pedestrians from crossing the tracks due to safety concerns raised with the increase in train traffic.

John Standiford, deputy executive director at the Riverside County Transportation Commission, explained that there have not been a significant number of

injuries near the tracks and the Riverside County Transportation Commission intends to keep it that way. “There will be 12 additional trains traveling through (sic) the area when Metrolink service begins at the end of this year. The trains are quieter and faster than the freight trains that have normally traveled through the area.”

“Railroad tracks are not public spaces. They are designed solely for trains. Trains can't swerve out of the way, and depending on their speed, need a considerable break time to stop. Not surpris-

ingly, merely being on the tracks is considered trespassing,” Standiford clarified.

In 2014, 93 deaths and 52 injuries occurred in California due to pedestrian rail trespass. In order to avoid further accidents, Alisa Sramala, a city recreational trails coordinator, will be working with other Riverside county and city officials to bring awareness to the national campaign called “Operation Lifesaver.” The campaign aims to educate the public on the importance of rail safety in the area.

Suggestions for effective

methods of deterring hikers from the construction areas near the trail include social media posts, group outreach and posting fliers around the UCR campus and the Big Springs entrance to the trails.

While an alternative trail exists at the end of Blaine Street, navigating to the hiking trail will require a little more time. “I love hiking up there so it wouldn’t matter if I would have to take an alternate route,” elaborated Hugo Diaz, a fifth-year mathematics major in regards to having to change the traditional route from the Big Springs entrance.

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UCR botanist receives $180,000 grant to study drought IXIA JOHNSON Senior Staff Writer

Louis Santiago, a UCR associate professor of physiological ecology will begin a two-year project to study the effects of extreme drought conditions on shrubs and trees after receiving a grant totaling $187,165 from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

California is in its fourth year of drought, which has caused a swift and immeasurable increase in vegetation mortality and is leading to a decline in biodiversity, drastic changes in many ecosystems and magnified chances for invasive species to inhabit the area.

“We will be studying a group of 15 plant species that occur at our site in Morongo Valley. We are studying all of the woody plant species there,” Santiago elaborated. “We have a lot of data on the physiology of these 15 species, now we have to go out and see who survived the big drought.”

The site that Santiago has chosen to study is an area known to react rapidly to changes in vegetation due to record-breaking droughts. Both physiological and ecological effects that foster survival will be documented in order to identify what kind of effects an ongoing drought may have on vegetation.

Santiago’s goal is to find out which types of plants are ► FROM CRIME, PAGE 1

effect the combination Prop 47, AB109 and overcrowding of prisons has on deterrence.

“When we take the deterrent effect away from a whole level of crimes, those of us in law enforcement were waiting for the other shoe to drop…

Through experience and

more drought-resistant and what characteristics these kinds of plants display. From his previous research, he discovered that plants with very deep roots have a tendency to be less droughtresistant than their shorter root counterparts.

One of the specific components that has been heavily observed throughout this project is the plant’s xylem. This section of the plant is made up of transport tissue that helps facilitate the movement of water from the roots to its leaves. The deprivation of water generated by the drought can lead to the xylem ceasing to properly perform its function, triggering the plant’s death.

“It is now urgent that we link the identity of survivors with physiological mechanisms, such as deep roots or specialized leaf and wood types, so that in future droughts, we can predict which plants will live and which ones will die,” Santiago told UCR Today.

The focus of this work aligns with the mission of NSF because it works to study the health of forests and watersheds, while addressing climate change, drought resistance in plants and natural resource management.

While Santiago presently has two graduates that will be helping him full-time, he intends to have several undergraduate students involved throughout the course of this project.

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COURTESY OF UCR TODAY Associate Professor of Physiological Ecology Louis Santiago will be using the grant money to study the drought effects on local shrubs and trees.

through common sense we thought ‘this is going to make crime go up.’”

Mr. Hestrin emphasized that coupled with the rise in crime has been a decrease in resources for his departments, including some which target child pornography and gang violence.

His proposed solutions were expansion of rehabilitative

programs, work-release programs, alternatives to jail housing and the reinstitution of progressive punishment.

Progressive punishment is best characterized with California’s three strikes law, where habitual offenders are punished more harshly as they reoffend.

A legislative committee has been established to pursue these changes.

The need in Riverside County to house criminals is being partially addressed with the expansion of the Indio jail, a project that will add approximately 800 beds.

When asked his opinion on divestment from prisons, mentioned as an agenda item of ASUCR at last week’s initial ASUCR meeting, Hestrin said, “well, I mean, I think

those senators or whoever is saying that will, if they get their way, then they’ll learn [a] hard lesson. Incarceration and punishment and dealing with criminal justice is part of the basic job of government, so not having enough jails for the population is irresponsible, it’d be like not having enough hospitals because we don’t H have to have sick people.” ■

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/news ► FROM GHANA, PAGE 1

“Mainstream news outlets provide information that is not so much inaccurate as it is incomplete.

It is not the whole picture ... Just look at images that are displayed of Africa and the misinformation it projects,” Mahama explained.

“There are many people who still believe that all Africans live in villages, have firewood, chase monkeys by the day,” Mahama elaborated in regards to the stereotypes. In addition, the president added that “Many African-Americans believe that Africans are backwards and primitive ... while many Africans believe African-Americans are lazy and violent.”

Toward the end of the lecture, Mahama described how earlier technology divided many Africans as they were colonized by European nations. Mahama explained how phone calls, for example, had to be routed back to European countries first to communicate with another country that bordered Ghana.

With the advent of the web

however, Mahama stated that “Now we’re able to overcome those divisions, and we should be mindful of that. We should use technology as a tool for empowerment.”

After the lecture, a Q-and-A was held between audience members and the president. Belinda Addo, a student at Cal State Dominguez Hills, asked “What is Ghana doing to try to encourage young Ghanaians like myself ... to move the country forward?”

Mahama explained that the world financial recession, which began in 2008, led to a large amount of Africans to return to the continent. In order to encourage Africans to come to Ghana, the country passed a right of abode law, which allows anyone of African descent to seek citizenship in Ghana.

Ashley Reyes, a first-year English major who attended the lecture out of curiosity, had a warm reception for the president. “You can tell that he had the best interest of his people at heart ... and I respect politicians that put their people first and you don’t see that now in a lot of countries,” Reyes stated.

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NEWS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

The turnout for President Mahama’s speech at UCR was so great that overflow was directed to a separate lecture hall.

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AARON LAI / HIGHLANDER

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NEWS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

► FROM BUILDING, PAGE 1

dry research labs, vivarium and common areas for students and faculty. The MRB1 project team worked closely with UC San Diego faculty to adapt a model for MRB1 from UCSD’s Biomedical Research Building 2.

The approved funding will be allocated to master architect fees at $1.784 million, design building fees at $2 million, campus administration at $429,000, $92,000 for surveys, tests, plans and specifications and special items at $2.858 million, which include environmental review and documentation, specialty consultants and design-build stipends.

“What kind of a savings do you anticipate will be realized because of using something that is very lovely and functional … versus starting all over?” asked UC Regent Charlene Zettel alluding to the adaptation of building plans from UC San Diego’s.

Campus architect Rob Gayle who also attended the meeting, did not have a specific monetary value in mind but replied, “The chief savings will be in the efficiency of planning, that is the time saved and the ability to come to solutions quickly working with a core faculty group.”

The duration of Phase 1 is expected to last approximately 11 months and another presentation to the regents with construction costs and detailed design is due by May 2016. Physical construction or Phase 2 is slated for Summer 2016 and will finish fall 2018.

A second multidisciplinary research building (MRB2) and an additional engineering building are also expected to materialize once the regents have been presented with and approve a more defined budget proposal.

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HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/news

Dining services reduces meal perk in half AARON GRECH Senior Staff Writer

UCR Dining Services has reduced their meal perk program for student workers from $10 to $5 in order to save on costs from the old program. According to Dining Executive Director Cheryl Garner, this reduction allows the department to continue hiring and scheduling shifts for the 900 students it has employed in recent years.

In the past, students who were employed by dining services were allowed to have up to $10 worth of food, excluding drinks which were provided for free at many restaurants, as part of their meal perk during breaks, as well as before and after shifts. Under the new policy however, dining students are only allowed to have up to $5 worth of food, which is worth less than many items on campus restaurant menus.

“For every 3-hour shift, it was costing us about $3.30 each time a student were to receive a meal.

Multiply that by all of the shifts and students we employ and the costs quickly became astronomical,” Garner explained.

Dining services is the largest employer of students on campus, providing jobs to approximately 4 percent of the student body. Consequently, the costs associated with the old program easily surpassed $25,000 each week student workers came into their shifts.

In addition, Garner pointed out that it was also following the trend many local restaurants in the area have in regards to their meal perks.

Local chains such as Carl’s Jr. give only a 50 percent discount to its employees during shifts, and a 20 per-

cent discount at all other times.

Gardner also explained that the rising costs of goods were also severely impacting the dining service budget. In order to provide fresh produce to students at a cheaper cost, Gardner explained that it has partnered with the R’Garden to receive produce. She also mentioned that they are in the process of working with other local businesses to help reduce costs.

Despite these efforts, a few dining service students remained upset about the change. Eunnis Lee, a fifthyear political science major and student manager for dining services stated, “I hate it. I am spending about $15 more per week just to get my meals.”

Another student worker who is a fourth-year and wished to remain anonymous stated, ”First off, just like the many of us, I applied for UCR Dining because of the benefits ... As a college student, you are swamped with classes and work and clubs and life. So, it was nice to know that you had a dinner to look forward to when you attended your shift. That way, you are sure you got something to eat throughout the day.”

In regards to the department’s efforts to save on costs, the student stated, “Even with them cutting back our food benefit, they are still tossing untouched food. They prefer to toss the food, than to feed their own employees.”

Lee, however, stated that the department could attempt to use other methods to save on costs. “I think that they should go back to the old plan but use some new regulations ...They should charge drinks when ringing up the 10 dollar meal perk. And not give out free coffee to students, I think that might help save a few bucks.”

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LIKE YIK YAK, BUT VISUAL FOLLOW US ON SNAPCHAT AT highlandernews TO GET THE LATEST ON WHAT’S GOING ON, AS IT HAPPENS. highlandernews

COURTESY OF UCR TODAY Dining services halved the benefits of the meal perk programs from $10 to $5.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/opinions

Opinions

7

HIGHLANDER HIGHLANDER EDITORIAL EDITORIAL HIGHLANDER STAFF

UC Regents’ statement on intolerance should be aimed toward all minorities — not just Jewish community

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O

n September 17, the UC Regents rejected the proposed “Statement of Principles Against Intolerance” in favor of rewriting the language of the document to better suit the requests made by public speakers at their monthly meeting. The proposal’s purpose is to combat any acts of intolerance across all University of California campuses, especially with the many displays of anti-Semitism witnessed in the past year: at UC Davis, a Jewish fraternity was defaced with swastikas, while, at a UCLA student council elections meeting, Rachel Beyda was questioned if she was capable of maintaining “an unbiased view” given that she was “a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community.” These acts of anti-Semitism have been tied to the rising tensions and conflicts occurring between Israel and Palestine.

In light of these recent events, the UC Regents have been faced with requests to rectify the fact that the proposed statement doesn’t mention the phrase “anti-Semitism.” In order to curb anti-Semitic activity, Jewish organizations and leaders have asked that the U.S. State Department specify the definition of anti-Semitism, which includes “blaming Israel for all inter-religious or political tensions” or “denying Israel the right to exist.”

Beyond the arguments that adopting such a statement may jeopardize academic expression or criticism on the Israel and Palestine conflict, if the UC Regents follow through with these requests, they will demonstrate preference to only one minority group facing oppression. The “Statement of Princi-

COURTESY OF THE WHITE HOUSE

ples Against Intolerance” should seek to withstand oppression and hatred to all minority groups — not just the Jewish community.

However, this is not to say that the increasing intolerance upon the Jewish community is not important to this statement. It is, but what about the one to four women who have been sexually victimized on their university campuses? What about the African-American student’s unequal experience at UC Berkeley, which even Chancellor Nicholas Dirks commented they “feel the least respected of any group” according to a campus survey due to occurrences like being “excluded from study groups, ignored during class discussions, verbally harassed at parties and social events...”

What about the Asian-Americans and Mexican-Americans at UCLA who were blatantly targeted by a flyer filled to the brim with racist and sexist slurs, which was sent directly to the campus’ AsianAmerican Studies Center. On UC campuses, more instances of intolerance based on religion, ethnicity, nationality, class, gender, sexuality and other characteristics can be named.

With national media outlets like the Washington Post and the Huffington Post paying close attention to this situation, the UC Regents may feel pressure to comply with the requests to specifically include anti-Semitism, yet it must consider all minority groups when it comes to intolerance on its campuses.

Some believe that in order to consider all minority groups within this document that the UC Regents should clearly define each minority group for clarity.

However, attempting to define each mi-

nority group and what counts as intolerance against said groups can be another form of discrimination. In attempting to define each minority group, another can be forgotten in favor of more publicized minority groups.

Instead, the UC Regents should narrow their focus on the statement’s definition of intolerance, which can be handled a number of ways. They can maintain the current definition from the proposal as it already lists various intolerable acts. They can further specify verbal and physical acts that can result in psychological or physical harm, or specify a differentiation between direct or indirect intolerance that pose a clear and present danger.

In regards to the recent anti-Semitic acts, the UC Regents should consider, as the AMCHA Initiative has urged, “developing initiatives for educating the campus community about anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish discrimination.” However, these initiatives should not come in the form of the “Statement of Principles Against Intolerance.” This document must cater to all acts of intolerance thrusted on all minority groups. Despite being one of the most esteemed university systems in the world, the University of California campuses have much to learn about acts of intolerance.

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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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HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/opinions

OPINIONS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

9

TIM BACA / HIGHLANDER

Riverside’s Downtown Library offers a wide range of printed and electronic works. They also have a large amount of Riverside area historical texts.

The library — keeping the heart of the city alive QUINN MINTEN Senior Staff Writer

I’ve always been a major fan of libraries. I have three library cards in my name, if you count the UCR ID as one, and the oldest is at least 10 years old. It isn’t just about the books; if it were, I could always just go to a bookstore when I need something to read.

No, libraries are something special, something beyond just books. They are places for quiet reflection, for working without distraction, for bringing together and sharing different ideas (but the books are still the most important thing). That is why I was shocked to hear about the city of Riverside’s plans for its main library. The city has recently begun considering the possibility of either renovating the current

building or moving the establishment to another site entirely.

They cite the current structure’s age and lack of versatility as reasons for making a change.

Neither of these is a sufficient justification to move the library.

The claim that the building is not versatile is absurd. Having been there multiple times, I can say from experience that the building is large and open on the inside (of course, ignoring the shelving), and what could be more versatile than a large, open building? Nothing that I can think of.

As for the building’s age, this is more of a plus than anything else. Since the main library is about half a century old, I’d say it’s old enough to be a major part of the city’s history. Not only that, but the library is in the dead center of Riverside’s most

historic area — downtown. If memory serves, when you cross one street over from the library you reach the Mission Inn; in the same area, there is the Riverside Art Museum, the California Museum of Photography, the Fox Theater and a variety of other places of interest. You literally cannot beat its location as far as history goes. Lastly, thanks to its location, it’s also iconic in its own right. I recall being in downtown once, and I saw a flier advertising a poetry reading in front of — you guessed it — the main library, because what better place could there be for such an event? It’s an appropriate venue — a literary reading at a literary place — and people know where it is, so I’d say none.

Moving the library could solve some of the so-called “problems” that some may have,

but other issues arise from such action. For starters, there would be huge expenses in building a new library from the ground up, definitely running up a bill of millions of dollars. Then, there would be the cost of maintaining the former main library, which would probably be unused after being replaced. Perhaps most significant, though, is the fact that libraries are not great places to be spending large sums of cash. When the city runs out of money, libraries are the first places that lose staff and hours.

Thus, I don’t see why the city would risk its money on a building that could very well be facing budget cuts by the time it opens (presumably a few years down the line).

One option therefore remains.

A compromise between spending nothing extra on the library and

building a new one, and that’s upgrading the library. As any building gets older, it will develop problems, or at least become outdated. If the city was (or is) willing to spend many millions on a completely new structure, they could just as easily allocate a hefty extra budget to the library to make the most of the structure the city already has. The funding could go toward hiring new staff (possibly allowing the building to play host to more events), and to making necessary cosmetic changes, repairs and upgrades.

And of course, they could buy more books.

Despite people thinking that libraries are obsolete — which they’re not — these places still matter, so Riverside and its people deserve the best one they can get. Luckily, they already have it.

■H

Who is right? The pope or the vandals?

JAKE GONG Contributing Writer

On September 23, Pope Francis visited Washington DC. During the pope’s trip, he canonized — which is to declare sainthood — a controversial, 18th century missionary named Junipero Serra, who set up California’s Catholic missions that housed the native peoples of California.

Shortly after the canonization of the Serra, Carmel Mission, where the missionary is buried, was vandalized, and the statues of him, as well as the graves of Europeans, were damaged. Vandalizing a someone’s grave and other property cannot be morally justified, regardless of what he was said to have done. As for the pope, he should have reconsidered canonizing Serra, due to the troubling effects of the missionary’s actions.

According to a letter between Serra and Felipe De Neve, the Spanish governor of the region at the time, Serra’s job was to make good subjects for the church and state by christianizing and converting the natives. Serra’s approach to turn the natives into “good” Christians was cruel, and the pope should have reconsidered the canonization of Serra.

The missionary’s intentions may have been to help the natives, but the way that he went about it is controversial.

Despite being expelled from

Mexico, Serra was still a loyal subject of the King of Spain and the Church. Serra’s work supported colonialist policies. Serra noted how the natives in the missions were fleeing because of punishments imposed upon them for committing sins against God. An example of a sin was not doing forced labor to the mission’s standards. In order to prevent more natives from deserting, Serra recommended more punishments, like floggings and the stocks, on native officials, in order to set an example to the natives. Serra was a pawn of colonialism, and he built institutions of colonization, which hurt the natives.

Additionally, the population of native peoples significantly declined during Serra’s time.

Steven Hackel, a history professor at the University of California, Riverside, and an author of a book about Serra, states that “with the missions came terrible diseases and population decline in two ways: elevated mortality … and a reduction in fertility among women because of STDs, most likely, and poor health in general.” While disease and conditions of health may not have been directly caused by Serra, his policies and missions certainly intensified it and this contributed to the lowering of the native population.

While Serra does not deserve to be canonized, this does not

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Pope Francis’ recent canonization of missionary Junipero Serra led to backlash in the form of vandalization of the saint’s burial grounds at Carmel Mission.

mean that it was right for anyone to vandalize property. Vandalism benefits no one. First of all, what the vandals did was dishonorable and rude. They only made more tedious work for the mission staff and volunteers, who spent an evening cleaning up the mess.

The vandals wasted their time and other people’s time.

Also, did anyone think any more or less of Serra after mission

property was vandalized? No, people did not think any less of the missionary. In fact, staff and volunteers celebrated the canonization after cleaning things up.

They made those who are against Serra’s canonization look unreasonable and childish by committing a petty crime. If the vandals were really inclined to do something, they should have been constructive; for example, they could

have educated visitors of the Carmel mission regarding the effects of Serra’s actions.

The pope’s decision to canonize Serra reopens dark parts of history. The pope should have at least acknowledged this history and stated the reasons for his actions. Because the pope did not state his reasons to canonize, it seems that he ignored this history.

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10

OPINIONS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/opinions

Left to right: Nathaniel Marin, Andrew de Leon, (Little) Nathan Dominguez and Alex Horta

COURTESY OF NATHAN SWIFT, RYAN VARGAS, ARIEL DE LEON AND JENNIFER ALCALDE

R’PERSPECTIVE:

If time could heal: I still miss you guys even a year later NATHAN SWIFT Senior Staff Writer

There’s a popular cliche that goes “time heals all wounds.”

That’s either a complete lie, or never enough time comes to pass.

Nathaniel, Andrew, little Nathan and Alex — it’s been about a year since the four of them perished in a car accident.

It’s amazing to try and recreate a scene in your head when you weren’t even there. I try to imagine the best scenario: a truck driving the speed limit going west on Pine Avenue in Chino Hills. It’s a skinny two-lane road where drivers occasionally pass by long patches of dirt and small farmlands. It’s especially dangerous to drive on in rainy or foggy conditions. Fortunately, there was neither rain or fog when their truck passed through an intersection. Here, I like to imagine something magical happening, something that isn’t so bad. Like maybe they somehow collided into a tree, and the impact immediately got to them. That would at least allow a quick and merciful death.

I don’t like to imagine the reality of that night. Of a truck dangerously speeding down a

tiny road, colliding with multiple cars, which overturned the truck, shortly before it caught on fire. I like to think that they were all at least incapacitated before the flames reached them.

That was the first knockout punch I barely recovered from during the last school year. At one point, I was crying every night before going to bed. But, more tragedy was on the way. I lost my 16-year-old Australian shepherd named Blue in January, followed by my grandmother to breast cancer in February.

After her passing, I felt numb. I wanted the onslaught of tragedy to stop.

Time has helped me overcome the loss of Blue and my grandmother. I have many more pets in both of my homes, so the loss of one never stings too badly. And I loved my grandmother the way most people love their grandmothers: with unconditional respect.

But my four friends were a different story. The people you spend the most time with when growing up often have the largest influence on your personality. I spent my childhood right next to these guys. We first met in middle school band, where half the time we dicked around

like the immature teenagers that we were. We crumpled up pieces of paper and threw them at each other across the band room when the conductor wasn’t looking.

We told the stupid “your mom” jokes to each other.

All of that only got better in high school. It was at this point in our lives where band was life, and we proved this by always sitting at “the band table” during lunch. It was us versus them, “them” being the rest of the world that simply didn’t “get” just how cool us band kids were together. We knew we were band kids, and we fully embraced our nerdiness by being absolutely stupid with each other.

One of my funniest high school memories involve how I always packed a small sandwich, some chips and a granny smith apple for lunch. I loved putting my chips into my sandwich before eating it (please don’t judge me, I was really weird back then). Somebody or something would distract me and, when I turned back, my apple would be smashed into my sandwich with the chips in tiny pieces and the bread flattened.

I’d look up to Alex, and he’d go, “what? I don’t know what happened,” while trying his best not

to laugh.

We were all dicks to each other, but that’s simply how our friendship expressed itself.

I’m happy they were my friends because deep down, I unfortunately inherited my family trait of being very scholarly and serious, but these four guys taught me that it’s good to not take life too seriously. Life’s a joke sometimes, and the best thing to do is laugh at it.

Looking back, I know that life’s occasionally a joke, but I take it more seriously now than ever before. This irony isn’t completely lost on me. I know when I should laugh at things, and I know when to be serious or professional.

But I’ll never laugh at them being forever gone. Time doesn’t heal all wounds; in fact, it doesn’t even heal some wounds at all. Time is more like a bandaid you have to keep ripping off and putting back on over and over again. I kept my nightly crying sessions under control in the spring, but when I returned home for the summer on a Friday, I broke down into tears. Summer Fridays had always been our big days to hang out and do things together. And on that particular Friday, I felt

so fucking lonely. It felt too surreal, like it was last year all over again. I’ve cried a few times in the week leading up to the anniversary — October 3.

I wish they were here. I always do.

The one takeaway lesson I could give is to never set your expectations too high for anything. I think I felt so down and defeated last year because I entered it with such high hopes — I was entering my third year of college, it was my first year as a Highlander editor and I had moved into a great apartment with good friends — I wasn’t mentally prepared for all that shit to happen. So maybe that could be the lesson here: lower your broad expectations, and you’ll be better prepared for terrible things to happen to you.

But even the mentally bestprepared people still get sad when bad things happen, so maybe the lesson is to never make friends. Or make some really shitty friends you never get close to. I can’t tell you how to live your life. All I know is that I don’t regret my friendships with Nathaniel, Andrew, Nathan and Alex.

I’ll always love you guys.

Wish you were here.

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/features

Features

Students play basketball in the pool during Highlander Poolooza. The event welcomed students to cool down in the Riverside heat while enjoying free taco catering.

THE HIGHLANDER { PooLOOZA

11

ANT PHAN / HIGHLANDER

starting off the quarter with a splash

}

Tiffany Liaw, Senior Staff Writer and Ashley Chung, Staff Writer

O

n a blazing hot Thursday at 2 p.m., eager and hungry students lined up by the student recreation center to attend one of the first ASPB events of the school year: the Highlander Poolooza.

Dressed in complete swim attire and even everyday attire, students of all years were motivated to attend through the promise of free tacos from El Ojo de Agua and soft serve from our very own Moo Moo Truck (limited supply).

After a 15-minute delay resulting in an anxious mob of people, security finally gave the clear for us to move into the pool area, where we were greeted by inflatable swans, a small photo booth area, the Moo Moo Truck and a rock climbing wall. Multitudes of other tents were also littered around the lawn surrounding the pool, offering a variety of free items such as caricatures and flash tattoos. Small crowds gathered

{ }

near the lounge chairs, casually chatting under the cool shade of large, blue umbrellas with their soft serve, disappointed that the tacos wouldn’t be ready until 3 p.m.

The wafting scent of sizzling, spiced meats and large barrels of assorted agua frescas being carted over to a tent by the entrance seemed to distinguish the main attraction of the event: the free tacos. An impatient, hungry crowd of Highlanders rushed toward the booth to join the seemingly endless line.

The savory aroma of the tacos on the grills and the heavenly thought of icecold beverages only seemed to prolong the wait as temptation overcame us. Fifth-year public policy major Ogechi Opara pointed out that she “looked forward to the free food and ice cream the

most” as she neared the front of the line. Expecting free tacos was most likely the main reason students were willing to bear the treacherous heat.

The enduring wait for the

The savory aroma of the tacos on the grills and the heavenly thought of icecold beverages only seemed to prolong the wait as temptation overcame us.

tacos was undoubtedly rewarding. Students strolled away from the tent with not only a bountiful plate filled with Spanish rice and beans, pickled

veggies, three assorted tacos, and a refreshing cup of a sweet, chilled agua fresca, but also a wide, teeth-baring smile. Some returned to their previously claimed spots on the lounge chairs under the soothing shade to slowly enjoy their meal and company, while others quickly gobbled it down before exploring other aspects of the Highlander Poolooza.

With only two artists and an abundance of students desiring a unique, blown out-of-proportion self-portrait, yet another lengthy line filed alongside a tent on the grassy lawn. It wasn’t long before the row of people waiting for caricatures had to be cut short — probably from the cramping hands of the artists, as they hurriedly, yet masterfully drew out the diverse faces of UCR’s student body.

Others decided to take advantage of the other attractions, and visited the classic bean bag toss or chose from an ample array of fancy, metallic temporary tattoos. Highlanders also waited to spin the wheel located at the ASPB tent for a free prize of a water bottle, bag, sunglass or even a pair of ear buds, while some did flips off of the daring diving board into the cool and refreshing pool to soothe the burn of the heat.

The Highlander Poolooza “was just the event I needed to transition into yet another great school year with my friends,” explained second-year creative writing major Alexandria Mendez. Though the free food and giveaways brought most of the appeal, it was the lively and enthusiastic atmosphere that brought together our students yet again. Highlanders received the chance to socialize and celebrate a new academic year with others while relieving themselves of the stress and pressure that may also come with being tossed back into a hectic school year.

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DEAR FRESHMAN ME Nelson Luu, Staff Writer Dear Freshman Nelson, I regret to inform you that your preconception of college going by slowly like high school is a sorely misguided notion. As a super-senior typing this during his last 10 weeks here, I can guarantee you that these years will fly by so quickly you will wonder what happened in the past five and a half years (yes, you read that right, five and a half). And really, it’s not that you wasted your time here, it’s quite the opposite. You’ve done so much here and filled your days with so much school, work and extracurriculars that the years will go by in the blink of an eye.

Freshman Nelson, please don’t ever lose your sense of curiosity while you

are here. Please don’t become complacent with your life and settle for the same old, same old. There is so much for you to do here, and so many opportunities to satiate your thirst for knowledge and experience. In your limited amount of time here, I would encourage you to constantly be open to new experiences: whether it be in the form of a random class on the history of witchcraft, taking on a summer internship in LA, asking that girl out (and later fully realizing you might not be all that into girls), taking on leadership positions in clubs, pledging for a fraternity or writing for the newspaper. The world is not an oyster, it is rather made up of many delicious hors d’oeuvres.

College is not meant to be a particu-

larly comfortable experience and that’s the beauty of it. You never grow without conquering your fears and opening yourself up to new experiences. The doubt you constantly face will eventually fade away as you gain confidence in your intuition and yourself. You’ll eventually start figuring out what you’re truly passionate about and find others who either share your passions or support you as you develop those passions. I can’t even begin to tell you how important it is to surround yourself with people that are supportive of you.

Finding community inside and outside of school will be the foundation upon which you will build yourself. You’ll have to make the difficult decision of cutting toxic people out of your life on

a regular basis. As bad as you may feel sometimes, you have to realize that for a tree to successfully bear fruit, it must be constantly pruned.

Which leads me to my last bit of advice to you. While I encourage you to try out as many things as you can, there will come a time when you will need to evaluate what is worth committing to and what is worth letting go of. Whether it’s a major, friendships or extracurriculars, never hold onto things that don’t make you happy. It’s not your responsibility to hold yourself back to please others. You have no one else’s expectations to live up to besides your own.

Now off you go, enjoy the next couple of years. I will be waiting for you on ■H the other side of this letter.

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

the

FEATURES

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21 and over club

RIVERSIDE ROBERT LEES, SENIOR STAFF WRITER

R

iverside doesn’t deserve all of the criticism it receives. Sure, the weather ranges from terrible to terrible and windy, the crime rate leaves much to be desired and the job prospects for someone with minimal qualifications are lacking, but it has an amazing bar scene. While it can’t compare to certain parts of San Diego or Los Angeles, there are certainly worse places to drink in California. I’ve spent a lot of time all around Los Angeles and Orange County, and Riverside always has more to offer and usually at a better price; you just have to know where to look.

The newest local gems I came across this past week are Brew Crew and Wicks Brewing Co. Located at the far end of Sterling Avenue in the middle-of-nowhere wasteland that is south Riverside, Brew Crew can be hard to miss. Its windows are perpetually dark, and I strained my eyes to see any sign of movement from within. Some of the interior light managed to pour out around the doorframe, so Tim (my photographer and fellow beer connoisseur) and I headed inside.

The interior reminded me of a pub in the harbor district of some Atlantic town, with its small foyer opening into a large warehouse and a keg room in the back. Aside from the bartender, there were only two other people inside, sipping their drinks in the back room. After a brief readthrough of the three LCD monitors that displayed the selection, we began ordering small tasters of the various drinks.

There are three companies that supply beer for Brew Crew: Delicious Science, Polymath and Brew Toys. Of the three, I found I was drawn to the Polymath selections, as the other two had an extensive selection of IPAs (India Pale Ale) and not much else. I tried a sample of the Dimebag Dubbel, the Ultimate Three Tripel and the Four Horsemen, and decided to order a 12 ounce goblet of the Tripel, which had a smooth, crisp finish (much like champagne) and boasted an impressive nine percent alcohol content.

It was at this point that I realized that the tap list and interior design didn’t match any of the information from the Wicks website, and after a few questions to the bartender, I realized we were next door to our intended destination. This strikes me as a little nearsighted, akin to opening a pizza place next door to a much more well-known pizza place, but the bartender admitted that a fair amount of their business comes from ignorant patrons (like myself) coming into Brew

brewing district

Crew while looking for Wicks. Still, we made the most of our situation, and moved into the back room to taste our drinks.

The drinking room was massive, with brewing containers lining the side wall across from Pac-Man and Galaga arcade machines. The vaulted roof was lit by strings of incandescent bulbs, and we sipped our beers, comparing the legs, hoppiness and finish of the drinks. Brew Crew, aside from their large selection, also offers free popcorn, and I found its saltiness made our drinks go down easier, and we passed the time smoking cigarettes, trading jokes and watching the passing trains, our sobriety dwindling.

As a Portland, Oregon native, I can appreciate a certain amount of self-aware quirkiness. If you ever find yourself wanting to visit the Pacific Northwest, but can’t afford the travel cost, I would suggest going to Wicks. It’s hard to pin down exactly what it is that reminded me so much of my auteur hometown, but the vibe was definitely there. Maybe it was the barrels converted into tables, maybe it was the medieval aesthetic of the beer names or maybe it was the bearded brewmaster slaving over the steaming kettles of water, hops and barley while an employee conducted a still-life painting class to a group of clearly tipsy 30-something women. Feeling very much at home, we sat down and began our sampling.

For those new to beer tasting, I would suggest Wicks as a good entry point. Rather than listing their beers in haphazard order, they are ranked from lightest to darkest, from the smooth Belgian cream ale “Squire” all the way to the dark and mysterious “Black Knight” — an Imperial Porter. I sampled almost everything they offered, with the Hefeweizen, Bard’s Song and Blood Moon being my favorites. I settled on ordering 16 ounces of the Hefeweizen while Tim chose the more aromatic Paladin, one of their most popular selections. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to try any of the food offered, because the kitchen closed at 8 p.m.

While their tap lists are a little daunting and their locations remote, I highly suggest trying one or both of these places before you leave Riverside. Wicks is a lively, upbeat counter to the dark, relaxed atmosphere of Brew Crew, but both offer competitive prices (around $6 for a large beer) and a selection that is unavailable literally anywhere else. I know that Wicks also offers painting classes and live music performances, and those interested in getting into beer tasting or even brewing would be remiss to try anywhere else in Riverside.

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TIM BACA / HIGHLANDER Wick’s Brewing Co. offers a big list of on-tap selections, with medieval themed brews like Paladin and Dark Knight brewed in-house. 4 oz. tasters can be had for cheap, allowing guests to sample the different drinks.

FEATURES

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HAU T E H A X

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

VIC T O R I A N G U Y E N , S E N I O R S T A F F W R I T E R PHOTOS BY JASPERY GOH

FR OM LANYARDS T O LAZINESS: T HE COLLEGE TRANSFORMATION

N

ow that fall quarter is in session, a new batch of freshmen has been welcomed to UCR. Whether they’re wandering around school with a campus map or traveling in herds (a.k.a. their entire hall), spotting first-years can be pretty simple.

Don’t get me wrong. Being a freshman doesn’t carry a negative connotation. If anything, every other class is probably jealous of how convenient most first-years have it: dining dollars and the dining hall,

being able to wake up and walk to class in under 10 minutes and no matter what, any class you take will fulfill some kind of graduation requirement. The first year of college is arguably the most exciting and least stressful. It is probably for these reasons that, collectively, freshmen are able to prioritize their appearance more than their upperclassmen counterparts. Just wait, freshmen. You might be putting in the effort to look good now, but it won’t always be that way.

THE FRESH YEAR The first year of college is the best time to start fresh. Everything and everyone is new. Whether someone was labeled as the outcast, goody-two-shoes, dumb jock or drama queen in high school, entering the new environment that is college gives people the chance to make new first impressions. Many freshmen are eager to get involved with student organizations and bond with their peers, so looking their best is one way of putting their best foot forward.

I’ve seen countless freshmen girls on campus walking around with a face full of makeup and their hair completely curled or straightened while wearing some of the trendiest outfits. These girls might be dressing up for someone they want to impress or just for themselves, but trust me, these girls probably spend at least 45 minutes getting ready. Generally, freshmen are trying to maneuver their way through college, so giving them a compliment wouldn’t hurt.

One piece of advice to freshmen: you’re going to give up trying to look that nice every day once midterms hit. Don’t worry, you’ll learn how to look fierce with minimal effort — it’s an art in itself.

For guys, their change in fashion sense is less dramatic than most girls. Some of my guy friends own timeless articles of clothing that they’ve clung onto since their first year of college because let’s face it, a plain white tee and jeans will never go out of style. If anything, tons of guys merely upgraded their closet (i.e. they switched out their bulk Hanes t-shirts for some bulk Uniqlo ones). A more apparent transformation between freshman year and senior year for guys is their ability to grow facial hair, properly style their hair in an effortless manner and finally getting those gains from the gym. A lot of first-year guys stick out like a sore thumb because of their peach fuzz, baby-faced smiles and lack of muscles.

THE MIDDLE CHILD [ REN ] I like to refer to second and third-years as “the middle children.” By this point in college, a lot of them have found their place on campus and finally feel at home, but don’t have to stress about post-graduation yet. For the most part, they prefer being in Riverside where their school friends are because what used to be their huge group of home friends has whittled down to a few close friends who tend to be away at college too.

Many second and third-years are calming down from their reckless partying habits from freshman year and are taking on leadership roles in student organizations or getting jobs. They’ve also learned how to strategically plan which lectures to go to and which food places to avoid on campus; another year older another year wiser right?

These students are less likely to elaborately plan their outfits because they’re still debating on whether or not they should even go to campus that day. I guess you could say the debate lies in whether or not they think they’ll find parking in Lot 30 or if walk-

ing to school from the UV in 100 degree weather is worth it. During freshman year, a lot of students were lucky enough to walk back to the dorms and change their outfit during Riverside’s unpredictable weather.

Once you live off campus, stashing extra clothes away in your car is a must.

In addition to that, second and thirdyears tend to adopt a gym-grind after gaining the inevitable freshman 15 or coming to the realization that we pay about $200 per quarter for rec center fees in our tuition. Girls switch out their sundresses and gladiator sandals for yoga pants and tennis shoes; guys wear self-made sleeveless t-shirts that are cut ridiculously low on the sides. During this period of college, students are constantly “working on themselves,” so they concentrate more on how their bodies look or feel rather than the clothes that are on it. Without even trying, second and third-years display more confidence than they did freshman year because they’re more comfortable in their own skin.

THE SURVIVORS Have you ever watched one of those reality TV shows like “Survival” where a perfectly normal individual looks like complete death by the end of the season? Well, that’s the best way I can explain how fourth years and up feel. We’re not only dressing the way we do out of pure convenience; there’s a well thought out method to our madness.

We wear hats to survive the Riverside heat and hide our unruly hair. Gym clothes aren’t always for the gym either. Four possible reasons behind our gym attire: 1) we didn’t do all of our other laundry because the utility bill was too high, 2) we slept in it the night before, 3) we gave up on bringing extra clothes for after the gym or 4) comfy clothes means we can nap anywhere on campus comfortably.

From our first to last year of college, priorities have changed. Once you approach graduation, you start to feel like you have to play catch-up. This practice involves piling up on units to make sure we can graduate on time, frantically searching for extra internship opportunities or trying to prepare our organizations for a future that doesn’t include us anymore. A lot of seniors come off

as intimidating because we wear sunglasses and are mad-dogging the world the majority of the time. Honestly, our sunglasses just help us hide our massive under-eye bags from 3 a.m. study sessions or night shifts at work. As for our angry stares, I’m sure we’re just hungry, deprived of caffeine or thinking of our futures…

However, we do clean up nicely. Years of attending student organization recruitment events, parties, formals or even interviews have prepared us for looking our best when we need to. Now that we’re jam-packed with responsibility, we make up for any lost time with larger-scale fun (i.e. musical festivals, bar hopping, road trips, a weekend in Vegas, etc.). As you get older, you start to realize that there isn’t enough time to prioritize your day-to-day look. Through finding your niche on campus and maturing as a person, you’ll find that the clothes you wear, while it does reflect a little bit about you, is just clothes. If you focus your energy on your schooling, health and doing whatever it is that makes you happy, you won’t need a trendy outfit in order to put your best foot forward.

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R adar ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

UPCOMING EVENTS 10/9

Open Mic Night @ Back to the Grind, 6 - 8 p.m.

10/9

Ballroom/Latin Dance: Waltz/Cha Cha @ SRC MPR A, 6:45 - 8:45 p.m.

10/10

Philharmonic performance @ Fox Performing Arts Center 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.

VINCENT TA / HIGHLANDER

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/arts

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIE REVIEWS

COMING OUT SOON: PAN

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015 THE WALK STEVE JOBS

15

VICTORIA GOOSEBUMPS

THE MARTIAN // RATING: ★★★★★ ROBERT LEES Senior staff writer

You know, it isn’t easy being this salty. Seeing a mediocre or bad film usually leaves me a little leeway, with so much to criticize I can normally focus on the most glaring of the glaring issues, and avoid having to get too embroiled in serious analysis. While there are times when a film is so bad that reviewing it feels like beating a dead and currently putrefying horse, on the other side of that coin is Ridley Scott’s “The Martian,” adopted by a novel written by acclaimed author Andy Weir.

Our story begins somewhere in the near future, amidst the swirling, dusty chaos of a Martian sand storm. Our hero, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is impaled by a piece of radio antenna in the frantic escape sequence and the rest of his crewmates, assuming him dead and running out of time to reach their orbiting spacecraft, must depart and leave him for dead. However, he doesn’t die, and in the ensuing months, he must struggle to survive on an alien planet while the members of his crew, the staff at NASA and an ensemble cast of engineers and astrophysicists struggle to communicate with him and find a way to bring back their abandoned comrade.

The film adeptly captures the feeling of what it must like to be truly alone, the brutish and beautiful Martian landscape, tinted red by a distant sun, reflects Watney’s isolation and determination, as he struggles to secure our most basic

of necessities day in and day out.

His fellow astronauts and NASA engineers face their own isolation, wracked with the guilt of leaving one of their own behind while facing the daunting challenge of reaching someone 140 million miles away.

Watney’s determination is actually quite fitting. Sandra Bullock’s character in “Gravity” always came across as surprisingly inept during her screen time, as NASA specifically grooms their staff to have a cool head even in the direst of situations. Damon fully channels these qualities in his immense screen time, doing his best despite all the gut punches of fate the universe throws at him, keeping his sanity with some well-written gallows humor in the face of impossible odds. The levity in the dialogue deserves notice, as the audience needs a pick-meup in the film’s darker scenes. If all that impaled by an antenna and left for dead business from earlier

I fear that anything I write won’t ever do justice to this movie’s artistry. sounds unsurvivable, you really have to see the punishment the screenwriters heaped upon poor Damon.

Aside from its narrative heft, the film shows a superb handling of its exposition, sound editing and camera work. Most of Watney’s plans for surviving his day-

COURTESY OF 20TH CENTURY FOX

to-day interactions are conveyed via on-screen video diaries, most of which are never meant to be seen by any of his surviving crew during his dwindling lifetime. It works in the context of his character however, as he accepts that anyone who may learn of his struggles will arrive years if not decades after his death, and he leaves his notes as a sort of autobiographical epitaph, doing double duty by giving voice to his internal monologue while also explaining his scientific reasoning to the audience.

The soundtrack features a mix of both diegetic and nondiegetic music, be it Watney listening to the stations supply of disco music during his daily routine, or the dulcet tones of David Bowie’s “Starman” serenading the NASA staff as they prepare for their hail

Mary rescue mission in a montage that was my personal high point of the film. The cinematography, as previously mentioned, shows a great amount of concern for the audience’s mind and stomachs, as it avoids the mortal sins of harsh jump cuts or shaky cam, favoring instead long panning shots that really show off the unobtrusive CGI and the cruel beauty of the Martian Acidalia Planitia.

The film manages to dish out both levity and melancholy, with one scene leaving me particularly bleary-eyed. Without trying to spoil anything, Watney leaves his final thoughts to his former captain, asking her to tell his parents he died for something “greater than himself” if he never makes it home. If anything, this is the central theme of the film, as space exploration

is humanity’s last physical frontier, and the life or death of one man doesn’t amount to much in the pursuit of scientific advancement. Then again, the life of one man amounts to everything.

There is a lot more praise that I left out, but there’s only so much I can say about this terrific film in the space I have. I fear that anything I write won’t ever do justice to this movie’s artistry, and focusing on any more detail, no matter how large or small, will only spoil the film’s other wonderful surprises for any potential moviegoers. Just remember that I don’t give high scores lightly, yet there was never a doubt in my mind that this film deserved its perfect ranking.

I’m glad that’s over with.

Now I have to watch something H awful to get my groove back. ■

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/arts

SICARIO //

RATING: ★★★★☆ FARAZ RIZVI Contributing Writer

L

et me preface this review by stating: this is a cruel and complex film, for a cruel and complex reality.

“Sicario” which means “hitman” in Spanish, is Denis Villeneuve’s fourth film and stars Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro.

The narrative focuses on a state agent, Kate Mercer (Emily Blunt) who is recruited by a federal task force for a covert operation on the border. This operation is shrouded in mystery, and its parameters are never quite defined, nor its objectives clearly stated. This movie is a thrilling foray into the war on drugs, and the havoc that this war has created in Juarez.

The first is incredibly disturbing — an FBI raid on a house in Arizona that contains close to 35 dead bodies sealed in its walls. This raid leads to virtually all of the officers vomiting outside the house once the bodies have been discovered, only for the officers outside to be killed by a landmine planted by the cartel. After this episode, which explicitly shows the severed limbs of the agents and the bodies, a task force is convened to, in Brolin’s’ characters words, “to react dramatically.”

This “reaction” is deliberately vague, and at first Kate seems to be skeptical of joining this vague operation. All that is known is that the agency is tracking the upper echelons of the Sonora cartel, and that this will involve extracting information from different cartel members as to the whereabouts of the cartel leaders. What becomes evident, as the narrative unfurls, is that this operation is increasingly going to be eschewing legality and procedure, and unleashing what may be a dangerously illegal amount of violence that seems more like an

COURTESY OF LIONSGATE FILMS

act of retribution than an attempt at restoring order.

The film’s strongest aspect is that it forces the audience to clearly think about the violence the war on drugs has caused and the way this violence is mapped onto mutilated bodies and corpses. Villeneuve takes an unflinching look at how this violence is so hidden from citizens in the first world, and how it all makes so little sense to people living comfortably in the first world. Before the first mission in Juarez, Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) states to Kate, “Stay close.

Nothing there will make sense to your American ears.”

However, apart from fixating solely on cartel violence, “Sicario” explores the response by agents to this violence. The operation begins with an illegal foray over the border into Juarez, and catalogues the brutality of the methods and strategies employed by the secretive task force. The operation ends in a shootout on the border, with American agents open-firing on a crowded, traffic stopped freeway with civilians.

The best part of the film is Del Toro’s acting. His role is incredibly restrained, and his character comes across as a calculating, ruthless, and yet humane individual. While

Brolin’s role as federal agent Matt is less dominating on the screen, his performance is as great as Del Toro’s. His character is cunning, and seems to have no moral qualms about any of the violence that he is responsible for, always on screen with a disarming, and creepy, smile on his face. In the hands of a lesser actor the subtle insanity that Matt displays would be overplayed.

The film is paced quite slow, with a lot of intermediary shots and dialogue occurring before any of the action, and this slowness is doubled up by Villeneuve’s camerawork. The camera is fluid, meandering until the action is caught

in the center of the frame. While this meandering and fluid camera work slows the film down even more, “Sicario” is buoyed up by Johansson’s brilliant score. The rumbling bass and cello work perfectly in tandem with the camerawork to instill a sense of menace into virtually every scene. Moreover, Roger Deakins’ cinematography perfectly captures the urban sprawl of Juarez, showing the chaos of the city.

“Sicario” finds an astute political observer in Denis Villeneuve.

This movie is deeply engaging, troubling and at times problematic: H the hallmarks of a masterpiece. ■

BLACK MASS // RATING: ★★★★☆ MICHAEL LOCASCIO Contributing Writer

I

n a world where superhero movies reign supreme, seeing a well-put-together realistic crime-drama is a breath of fresh air. “Black Mass,” is both literally and figuratively a dark film.

If what you want from a movie is a fun, family-friendly laughfest, turn around and run. But if mid-20th century organized crime stories are of any interest to you, (think “The Godfather” or “Goodfellas”) then go to your nearest theater as soon as possible and see this film.

Director Scott Cooper brings to life the violent and disturbing story of real-life Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger (Johnny Depp), which includes his involvement with the FBI as a valued informant and his rise to power under their protection. Set during the mid-1970s up until Whitey’s arrest in 2011, “Black Mass” takes place primarily on the streets of “Southie” (south Boston), where FBI agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) seeks out the assistance of his old friends Billy (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Bulger in order to take down some of Boston’s most powerful criminals, who happen to be after Bulger’s’ head. Though adamantly against “rats,” Bulger agrees to form an “alliance” with agent Connolly in order to take out his enemies and consequently increase the influence of his own crime organization, the Winter Hill Gang.

“Black Mass’” strengths run deep, from its consistently fantastic acting, to its atmospheric soundtrack and visuals. The cast and crew are bound to win a few awards for this piece. Depp’s performance as James “Whitey” Bulger in particular stood out from

the rest. Half the time, I completely forgot it was Depp playing the role — I sat down in the theater thinking that he’s just too strongly associated with characters like Captain Jack Sparrow to be capable of becoming the monster of a man that is Whitey Bulger. I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least. Cumberbatch as Whitey’s brother and Massachusetts state senator William Bulger was also a standout; his position as Whitey’s orderly well-mannered younger brother served to be a near-perfect antithesis to Whitey’s chaotic personality.

From Joel Edgerton as agent John Connolly to Peter Sarsgaard as the psychopath drug-addict Brian Halloran, the entire supporting cast gave phenomenal performances deserving of Oscar nominations.

You read that correctly.

The only aspect of the film worthy of any dispute would be its soundtrack. Put simply, the soundtrack isn’t anything special. Movie soundtracks play an important role in the quality and memorability of any given movie as a whole. The “Black Mass’” soundtrack isn’t memorable, but that’s okay. When scenes weren’t accompanied by an ominous silence, most of the music was somewhat generic, background orchestration, and because it doesn’t distract from the more dramatic scenes, it worked. This isn’t meant to be a flashy action-adventure movie with an equally flashy soundtrack — “Black Mass” is meant to bring to light the atrocities committed by Bulger and his Winter Hill Gang, under the protection of a corrupt FBI, and the film’s soundtrack (or lack thereof) adequately supports the mostly somber and tense atmosphere surrounding the events portrayed.

Despite being an overall out-

COURTESY OF WARNER BROS . PICTURES

standing film, “Black Mass” did suffer from a few distracting visual hiccups. In particular, the makeup for some of the characters, including Depp’s Whitey and Jesse Plemons’ Kevin Weeks, appeared to be overdone and even exaggerated in some of the early scenes of the movie. Especially with director Scott Cooper’s emphasis on close-ups, the makeup was of-

ten distracting, and I was tugged away from a few otherwise deep and atmospheric scenes. Depp’s bright blue contacts had a similar effect; in a movie that’s otherwise grounded in reality, the obvious contact lenses were a distraction during some of the film’s most intense moments.

“Black Mass” is fantastic. Its flaws are few and far between,

while its outstanding performances are consistent throughout. This is a must-see for fans of the organizedcrime genre, stories set in ‘70s and ‘80s and criminology majors alike.

I’d even say this is a must-see for anybody that enjoys a good movie (and has the patience for a movie not produced by Marvel or DC).

Keep the kids home for this one.

■H

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/arts

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

THE

Cityscape

READER SUBMITTED FICTION & POETRY

by Racheal Adair

Wade through stygian night, Through sprawl of suburbia outward Into urban territory.

A single image of being in a place: Los Angeles skyline jutting upward through Stonewall darkness of nighttime; Freeways like labyrinthine corridors Of concrete. Allegedly, it was the Romans In the second century who perfected the Use of concrete in urban space.

These towers of glass and steel and iron, and concrete, Diminutive to our human scale, Hegemonic in their control of space are “Shearing off the rains tresses.”

And those other lights below them, around them, glinting like pieces of flint struck against steel?

17

HIGHLANDER JOURNAL

How to be an Artist

by Faraz Rizvi

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

Fragile Today

by Christal Mims

Like all good authors, go to Paris.

Go on a boat, remember to sneak absinthe from Chechen smugglers and hallucinate the Frenchman you are kissing in front of another ‘Madonna and Child’ is actually Ernest Hemingway, and soon he will smash the heads of challenging suitors in with a bottle of brandy.

Buy a hundred vintage ‘20s dresses and rent an apartment with walls made of glass perfect distance for jumping into the river.

Sit in the window naked, smoking cigarette after cigarette, staring at a blank piece of paper.

Like all good writers; go to Paris.

The anxiety of being lost in these Corridors, of realizing it just cannot last as It all is. It is that too.

It is the negotiation of being in a place And being swallowed by it.

Fragile today.

Fragile and I have no home.

Dropping pieces, holding the phone, realizing I have no one to call.

Fragile and, please don’t speak too loudly, or I might just drop the ball, and tell you that I’ve been cracking from the inside out, my shell hasn’t been doing too well lately.

Fragile today and I don’t want a later.

Fragile today and I’m trying to truly care about something.

Fragile today and my inability to make up my mind and be one person or another seems like enough to Fragile today and I think maybe I’m ready to…

No I’m not, maybe I am.

No I’m not.

I’ll think about this later.

Fragile today and I’ll drop them all this evening.

No one sees my hands bleeding.

It is a danger to run out of reasons.

Fragile today and I’m trying to keep my glass shards intact.

Fragile today and I still have no one to call.

I never have anyone to call.

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SPORTS

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/sports

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

19

Women’s volleyball drops two vs.

UC Davis, Hawai’i CODY NGUYEN Senior Staff Writer

SEPT. 30, 2015

.............................................................................

Aggies 3 - Highlanders 1

Leslie Pease (No. 11) and Meg Graham (No. 19) jump simultaneously to block the spike.

JASPERY GOH / HIGHLANDER

Coming off a win against the Cal State Fullerton Titans in their Big West opener, the UC Riverside women’s volleyball team looked to continue their success against the UC Davis Aggies.

A hard-fought, neck-and-neck slugfest materialized in the first set, with both teams trading points to the tune of 12 ties and seven lead changes.

The largest lead of the set came when the Highlanders led 18-14. However, over the course of the set’s remainder, the lead had gradually disintegrated and ultimately ended with a 28-26 Aggie win.

The second set was the first and only Highlander win of the match, as they eked out a 28-26 victory over UC Davis.

If there was any such thing as momentum, the Highlanders did not have it in their favor following their win in the second set, as the Aggies handily took down UCR in the third set, jumping out to a 5-0 lead and capping things off with a commanding 25-14 set victory.

In the fourth set, the Highlanders

kept things close, but a late rally by the Aggies to the tune of four straight points allowed them to seal a 3-1 victory over the Highlanders.

OCT. 3, 2015

.............................................................................

Highlanders 0 - Rainbow Wahine 3

After suffering defeat at the hands of the Aggies, the Highlanders returned home to face Hawaii, the 10th-ranked team in the nation.

After jumping out to a 15-8 lead in the first set, the Rainbow Wahine asserted their powerhouse early and often. However, a 5-0 rally by the Highlanders immediately followed and kept things interesting until the Rainbow Wahine scored 10 of the set’s last 15 points to finish with a 25-17 victory. In the second set, the Highlanders fell by a 25-15 margin.

The third set may have represented the Highlanders’ most crushing loss of the season, as they were only able to muster five points in a 25-5 drubbing by the Rainbow Wahine.

With the loss, the women’s volleyball team drops to a 6-10 overall record, 1-2 in conference.

After a disappointing weekend of two straight defeats, the Highlanders look to dig themselves out of the hole as they are set to square off against Long Beach State this Tuesday, Oct. 6, the beH ginning of a four-match road trip. ■

Men’s soccer’s week-in-review CHRISTIAN MAY-SUZUKI Staff Writer OCT. 1, 2015

.............................................................................

Highlanders 0 - Aggies 2

The men’s soccer team opened conference play this past Thursday with a tough home loss against the visiting UC Davis Aggies, 2-0.

The loss was the Highlander’s first home loss of the season after winning the previous two.

The Aggies (5-5-0, 1-0-0) began the game with a quick flurry, taking five shots within the first seven minutes and forcing Highlander goalie Ashkan Khosravi to move and make saves early.

Khosravi ended the game with six saves, the most he has had all season.

The midfield controlled the pace for a decent portion of the first half, with the Highlanders’ (45-1, 0-1-0) physical play keeping the Aggies in check. However, defender Roy Boateng put the Aggies up in the 38th minute after fellow defenseman Greg Salazar chipped the ball to Lucas Mohageg in the middle of the UCR box who then headed it to Boateng, who headed it past the Highlanders defense and past the near post.

The Highlanders had trouble restraining their physical play and lacked focus on the offensive end in the first half, picking up more fouls (five) than shots (four). UCR entered the locker room with a 1-0 deficit.

Entering the second half, the Aggies quickly took advantage of an early opening and converted on another goal in the 50th minute.

UC Davis’ Kyle Higgins took a back heel pass from Justin Wright to launch the ball into the right side of the goal to double the Aggies lead.

Despite facing a 2-0 deficit, the Highlanders continued to exert pressure on the Aggies defense, keeping the ball on the Aggies side of the field for much of the second half and getting clean looks for shots. The Highlanders stayed even with Davis in second half shots at six apiece. The blue and gold forced the Aggies to pick up three yellow cards late in the sec-

ond half: one against Miguel Acevedo in the 55th minute, one on Lucas Mohageg in the 71st minute and another against Evan Barrett in the 77th. UCR’s Jacob Arrieta picked up an 88th minute yellow card as well.

Despite this, fouls continued to kill the momentum of UCR’s attack, and the Highlanders could not break through the solid defensive play of UC Davis, despite taking 10 shots total and five shots on goal — compared to 16 shots and eight on goal for the Aggies.

Despite the efforts of Highlander midfielders Emilio Huerta and Eric Gonzales — who combined for three shots on goal in the second period — UCR simply could not stay on the Aggies’ side of the field for an extended period of time. The Highlanders’ ratio of 12 fouls resulting in only one corner kick opportunity was simply too much to overcome, as Aggies goalie, Kris Schultz made five saves to ultimately shut out the Highlanders.

OCT. 3, 2015

.............................................................................

Highlanders 3 - Hornets 1

The men’s soccer team picked up its first home inter-conference victory of the year — and third victory at home overall — Saturday night, beating Sacramento State by a score of 3-1. The win was a relief for the Highlanders (5-5-1, 1-1-0), who responded with an offensive explosion after being shut out at home for their first home loss of the season on Thursday versus UC Davis.

The Highlanders pumped out 18 shots and challenged the Hornets’ (3-6-1, 0-2-0) defensemen all night, led by Noberto Ochoa, who managed two goals on four shots for the blue and gold.

The onslaught started early for the Highlanders, as UCR got five shots off within the first 10 minutes, including the first of Ochoa’s two goals. Midfielder Emilio Huerta got a steal in Sacramento State territory, and slotted a beautiful pass down the right box side for Ochoa to hit the far post. It was the first assist for Huerta this season, and gave Ochoa his team leading sixth goal.

Sacramento State shook off it’s slow start, taking their first shot in the 11th minute and beginning to

push the focus of the game out of their territory and towards the Highlanders goal. However, their offense was so conservative in its execution, that the Hornets managed zero shots from the 21:48 mark to halfway through the 35th minute, after taking four shots the previous 11 minutes.

The Highlanders increased their lead in the 40th minute, with a goal from Kouri Nago, a substitute midfielder who came on for Huerta in the 34th minute. The goal was Nago’s first of the year, and came off of a beautiful pass from center box to the right side for an easy look by Zachary Dunn, his second assist and second point overall of the year.

The play capped off an excellent bounceback half for the Highlanders, as they took a 2-0 lead into the half. UCR attempted 10 shots in the first half and forced Hornets’ goalkeeper James Del Cuerto to make multiple saves, along with making the Hornet defenders make plays on shot after shot, while Sacramento State only managed five shots, with only one needing to be stopped by Highlander goalkeeper Ashkan Khosravi.

The second half started as a defensive stalemate for both teams, with very little offense being produced. The ball moved like molasses, and the play was highlighted by stagnant and physical segments.

Both teams picked up a multitude of fouls throughout much of the second half, with UCR being assessed five fouls in the early parts of the second half.

About halfway through the 67th minute, the Highlanders scored once again, with Oberto tallying his second goal on a beautiful strike from 17 feet out off of the give and go from Michael Salazar. Salazar had four shots and two on goal along with his assist.

Sacramento State began to up the tempo, now down 3-0, and was able to break through with a goal in the 76th minute. But it was too little, too late for the Hornets, who simply ran out of time as the Highlanders picked up the victory.

The men’s soccer team sits at an even 5-5-1 on the year and a 1-1 record in conference play as they visit UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, October 8, at 7 p.m.

■H

JIMMY LAI / HIGHLANDER Norberto Ochoa (No. 10) looks to gain possession of the ball from his opponent.

20

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/sports

Sports

UC Riverside’s newest athletic director is here to stay MYLES ANDREWS-DUVE Senior Staff Writer

Prior to meeting UC Riverside’s newest athletics director (AD), Tamica Smith Jones, I was quite unsure of what to expect. I had heard she was a “ball of energy” but still, I wondered.

Is she genuinely of the highspirited mold of which many in the athletics department have described her? What if this side of her is only accessible by those within her professional circle?

As I sat in the waiting room of her office, another question arose: what will be the worth of this interview? Funny it may sound, but given the history of UC Riverside athletics, it is a legitimate question. You see, not only is Jones UCR’s newest AD, but she is the school’s fourth AD in just over 10 years. For comparison’s sake, Pac-12 powerhouse UCLA has seen a total of two new faces at the AD position over the last three decades.

So, needless to say, UCR’s director of athletics position has not been the greatest model of stability over the years. And it is particularly difficult to overlook this verisimilitude when preparing to approach the proverbial “next one up.”

However, upon walking into Jones’ office, my questions were quelled. Her office’s domesticated aesthetic, coupled with her warm, hospitality instantly relayed that of somebody who finds comfort in their current role and plans to settle down.

Therefore, it was fitting that when I asked what she believes she offers the program at UCR, her prompt response was, “stability.” I saw her smile grow wide as her voice rose with excitement and it is in that moment that her vivacious and lively personality emerged.

She went on to enthusiastically describe her visions for UC Riverside athletics; which include — but are not nearly limited to — upgrading the facilities, developing a greater presence on campus and enhancing the growth of the fan base throughout the community.

Jones’ uplifting, positive nature and astounding bravado is wholly unique for one in her seat. Yet it is fitting as she is among a select few at her position. Throughout the vast NCAA Division 1 landscape, Jones is one of just 37 females at the helm of their respective programs. That list dwindles even further when considering African-American females outside of at a historically black college or university. And when solely microscoping UC Riverside, Jones is the first-ever female and African-American to hold the position in program history.

One would expect these milestones to bear weight on one’s shoulders, however, Jones is undeterred, professing, “[These] are high honors and definitely ones that I take with much pride.

But to me, I’ve still got to work just as hard. If not harder.”

After 15 years as a Division I school (the highest level of collegiate athletics in the country) many believe UCR has yet to make the necessary and significant strides as a program, leading some to wonder whether the school remains worthy of its D-1 status. What does Jones say to this?

She immediately pointed to a few UC Riverside alumni who

have made an impact at the professional level. Athletes such as Brendan Steele, who is currently ranked 76th in the world golf rankings or Jose Diaz who went second overall in the Major League Soccer supplemental draft in 2013. Jones plans to make success stories such as these the norm for UCR athletics.

“We are a D-1 program and we are here to stay [...] over my tenure, you’ll see that we are able to recruit the best [athletes], retain our best athletes and elevate the profile of [UC Riverside] athletics.”

Audacious? Indeed. But Jones is such for good reason.

Since she was a child, Jones has been surrounded by success. After being born in Atlanta, GA, Jones was raised in Alabama, where her mother was an accomplished businesswoman and her father owned and served as the pastor of a prominent church within the city.

As for Jones herself, she was a highly-talented student-athlete in high school who excelled in basketball and track and field, eventually earning an academics and athletics scholarship to attend Troy University in Atlanta, GA. Jones spent two years at Troy before ultimately transferring back home to Alabama A&M where she earned her bachelor’s degree in management and also developed a close relationship with her assistant basketball coach, Walter Tullis, along the way.

“He saw something in me that I really didn’t see in myself,” says Jones.

Upon earning her bachelor’s, Tullis influenced Jones to continue her education at Savannah State, where he had just been named head coach of the women’s basketball team. While at Savannah, Jones pursued her master’s degree in public administration and also earned the opportunity to work under Tullis as a graduate assistant — her first-ever coaching job.

Just a year later, Savannah State released Tullis prior to the upcoming ‘98-99 season and it was Jones who was thrusted into the head coaching role.

Jones had a natural presence on the sideline and led the Panthers to their first winning record in five years that season.

“I started really enjoying what I was doing,” she says, “I started looking at it through a different lens as a role model and an administrator.”

Yet, still looking to follow in her mother’s footsteps, Jones left Savannah State after that year with her master’s degree in hand, ready to pursue a career in the corporate world.

Or so she thought.

Shortly after leaving Savannah State, Jones got a call from her old athletics director at Alabama A&M who offered her an assistant coaching job at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, GA. For Jones, not only was this a great opportunity to continue her career, but it was a chance to return home. And from there, she says, “the rest is history.”

Jones quickly became the senior women’s administrator (SWA) of Morris Brown and moved into the same position years later at Clark Atlanta University, then again at the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) where she helped sig-

JIMMY LAI / HIGHLANDER Tamica Smith Jones steps into the Athletics Director position at UCR. A role that has had an usually high turnover rate in the past decade.

nificantly develop the program during her two-year tenure.

And now, finally, here she is.

Holding her first position as the outright director of an athletics program.

As for what drew her to UCR? Well, it goes back to stability.

“Because he (Chancellor Jim Wilcox) wanted stability in this seat, I was serious about taking a good look at the program and [seeing] if I could advance it forward.”

And if you are worried about all those other stops in the past, don’t be. She is here to stay. “I have two small children,” she chuckles, “so I have no interest in coming somewhere for two years and then moving somewhere else.”

Jones’ commitment to UC Riverside is clear. After just about two months on the job, she took the time to extend the contracts of a majority of the Highlanders’ head coaches and assistants — an effort that she declares was all about keeping continuity within the department. Most notable of these moves was the extension of

head men’s basketball coach, Dennis Cutts’ contract through 2020.

Cutts, for one, is an avid believer in Jones’ ability to turn this program around. “She’s got a ton of energy,” he proclaims, “she really has a clear vision of what D-1 athletics needs to be and is unafraid to attack issues that face this department.”

For somebody who never had visions of being involved in athletics administration, Jones’ journey to this seat — and the confidence she immediately draws from her peers — can sound quite unbelievable to many. And oftentimes, when one experiences the success on multiple levels as she as, it is credited to luck and good fortune as opposed to their talent and hard work.

While good fortune certainly played a role in Jones’ ascension, I would argue it is more so a byproduct of her diligence than the presiding factor. To Jones, however, she will tell you it can all be attributed to something else entirely: her faith. ”I don’t know where I would be without having the belief

that there is a higher power than what I do on a daily basis. That is [what] wakes me up in the morning. [...] There is something that’s out there that is above everything that I can do.”

Growing up in a religious household, faith has been and continues to be a key point in Jones’ personal life. And as for her career, it is also faith — from various angles — that has settled her into this position today: her parent’s belief in her as a scholar and an athlete, her former coach’s confidence that she could serve as an assistant and her past administrator’s faith that she could assist in turning a program around.

And now, as UCR athletics looks to become a consistent and competitively palatable program, their faith rests entirely in her.

Her aspirations are lofty. Her personality is vibrant. And her drive is unparalleled. Yet, the question still remains, can she get it done?

Well, if her past is any true indicator of what lies ahead, I have enough faith to assert, she will.

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8

OPINIONS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/opinions

Opinion Poll Look up, what do you see?

C ompiled

Haley Masters Biology Third-year “I see the moon.”

Sachit Verma Business Economics First-year “Big dreams.”

Eliza Alcaraz Computer Science Fourth-year

Jensine Junus Psychology Fourth-year

“A very clean underside of a table.”

“I see white globes, circles and smooth wooden planks.”

by

J aspery G oh

Pablo Hernandez Environmental Engineering Third-year

Ivan Cahuana Electrical Engineering Fourth-year

“Brick and blue sky.”

“The lenses glasses.”

of

my

Choosing colleges 101: rankings aren’t that important ALEXANDER WILSON JR. Contributing Writer

College can’t be defined by a ranking on some prestigious newspaper’s “best colleges” list.

The fact that such a large amount of high school seniors and transfer students rely so heavily on these rankings is extremely troubling. They are limiting because they hinder prospective students from having a real experience at a university before being bombarded with specific numbers as well as stereotypes and prejudices that are associated with them. College students are critically judging their potential schools based off of rankings made by people with no direct connection to them. Ultimately, they do a great deal of harm and offer little to no help.

They will lose their significance as soon as students stop giving them attention.

An essential part of college that is completely ignored by these flawed numbers is personal experience.

College is mostly about your individual growth and understanding who you are as a person.

Through your triumphs and hardships, you will become more educated and at one with your true self. If at the end of college you’re still the same person you were when you started, then you ultimately wasted your time. Things such as making lifelong friends, going to collegiate events and becoming a part of your university are all major aspects of college that are completely ignored.

Wherever you attend college is not only going to immediately grow on you, but will become a very special place to you personally because of everything that you will experience there. In college, you will meet many people, discover new and interesting subjects and learn more about yourself than ever before.

In September 2015, U.S News released their college rankings with UCR at 121st. In another one

by Washington Monthly, UCR was second in the nation. The noticeable difference in UCR’s status by these two ranking systems illuminates the bias different sources can have. While U.S. News focuses more on percent-

age of alumni who donate and undergraduate academic excellence, while Washington Monthly focuses more on “social mobility (recruiting and graduating lowincome students), research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).” Frankly, college rankings don’t encapsulate the entire college journey, and thus, they should have little to no influence in the prospective student’s decision process.

College is mostly about your individual growth and truly understanding who you are as a person. Through your triumphs and hardships, you will become more educated and ‘at one’ with your true self. If at the end of college you’re still the same person you were as when you started, then you ultimately wasted your time.

No numbers can guarantee your experience at any institution and thus shouldn’t be a deciding factor in what school you choose to attend. College is just another stepping stone in this wonderful adventure we have come to know as life, and you shouldn’t hinder yourself the special opportunity of attending a specific university solely because of its ranking.

In addition, you shouldn’t completely focus on a college’s social reputation or nicknames associated with the school, such as “UC Rejects” for UCR. That nickname and ideology are beyond senseless. Tens of thousands of students apply to UCR in hopes of admission every year.

UCR also boasts the only creative writing and public policy (undergraduate) majors in the UC system.

Whether it is UCR or any other college, I have a personal motto about college that you should consider when dealing with prospective students’ concerns about a collegiate ranking: “You make the school, the school doesn’t make you.” Regardless of where you go to school, you are going to get out of it as much as you put in. So don’t chase after a university with a prestigious name or positive numbers, but rather find yourself at your university and thrive without limits.

You’re here for a reason; find your purpose.

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Scotty the Highlander poses with students during the first nooner of the school year.

BRI CHEW / HIGHLANDER