Volume 66 Issue 24

THE HIGHLANDER

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE

est. 1954

FOR THE WEEK OF TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2018

VOL. 66, ISSUE 24

view the full list of candidates in Issue 23’s elections guide or online.

asucr elections

2018-2019

ENDORSEMENTS Chancellor Wilcox speaks on MSU investigation MYLES ANDREWS-DUVE Senior Staff Writer

When endorsing himself as a candidate for UC Riverside’s chancellor vacancy in 2012, Kim Wilcox highly touted his experience overseeing the medical school at Michigan State University (MSU), where he served as provost from August 2005 to July 2013. A report from the Detroit News published earlier this month, however, suggests Wilcox failed to act on numerous complaints of sexual misconduct against the school’s former Dean William Strampel.

Strampel, who was dean of the MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine for 15 years, was arrested March 26 on charges of criminal sexual misconduct, misconduct by a public official and two counts of willful neglect of duty. The charges were levied after investigators discovered numerous claims against Strampel as part of the broader probe into former sports doctor Larry Nassar, whom Strampel directly supervised. According to investigators, Strampel, 70, used his position at MSU to harass, discriminate, proposition, sexually assault and solicit pornographic videos of female students, and was complicit in allowing Nassar to molest over 150 young gymnasts and other athletes under the guise of medical treatment.

According to reports, Wilcox became aware of Strampel’s alleged behavior as early as 2010, when he oversaw his dean performance review. The review included complaints that Strampel constantly interjected sexual comments into conversations with staff and students, openly commented about women’s bodies and often boasted about his sex life. ► SEE WILCOX, PAGE 4

UCR students “walk out” against gun violence ANDREAS RAUCH Senior Staff Writer

“The residue of many bullets lives within me.”

These were the words of Katherine Maldonado, a sociology graduate student speaking at the National School Walkout event, a protest against gun violence that occurred by the UCR bell tower Friday, April 20.

On the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School mass shooting, which claimed the lives of 15 and injured 24, Maldonado and others recounted their personal experiences with firearms and gun violence, and offered their opinions on how to deal with this problem that, according to organizer Andrew Eneim, “occurs every day.”

The event, which drew a crowd of about 70 individuals, was organized as part of a nationwide youth-driven response to gun violence in the wake of the Parkland, Fla. shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which resulted in the deaths of 17 and the further injuries of 17 others. The shooting, perpetrated by 19-year-old student Nikolas Cruz, stands as one of the deadliest in history.

Eneim, a third-year cell, molecular and developmental biology major, and co-organizer Jeremy Jurgens, a fourth-year sociology student, set up the event, which was promoted exclusively through Facebook. The march was aimed to promote the debate and discussion of firearm violence on the UCR campus. After a few brief words of introduction, Eneim, wearing a t-shirt that read “This Student Calls BS,” turned over the microphone to a host of other students and allowed them to speak briefly and voice their concerns regarding the debate.

Among these was Maldonado, a “mother, daughter, sister, friend and researcher,” who claimed she was “sick of seeing funeral roses.” Maldonado recounted her childhood growing up in South Central Los Angeles, an area renowned for its high rates of violent crime. Her first encounter with firearm violence occurred when her father, a taxi driver returning to work, was shot and killed. Maldonado was two days old.

Jurgens also recounted his own experiences with gun violence, sharing with the audience a recent incident in which a close friend nearly

committed suicide after buying a gun. Jurgens pointed out the need for gun control, while also calling for increased attention to mental health issues. “He’s a jerk for not telling me about it until three months later,” Jurgens explained. “You are more likely to kill yourself, statistically, if you have a gun in the house.” Although his friend survived the experience, Jurgens lamented, “I’ve known this guy since we were little kids, and all that time he’s battled depression. And he still had a gun.”

Mental health, a consistent talking point in the discussions about gun violence and mass shootings, also featured during the event, with multiple other speakers referring to the issue as either a primary driver or smaller factor causing firearmrelated tragedy. A table set up near the Bell Tower on behalf of UCR’s Student Affairs Case Management contained a wealth of pamphlets detailing the mental health resources available to students under the purview of the office of the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs. ► SEE WALKOUT, PAGE 4

view on pg.8 ASUCR elections debates center on student involvement and food insecurity

Executive and senate candidates speak on outlook of their prospective positions for the upcoming academic year VIVIAN LEE Staff Writer MARK BERTUMEN Contributing Writer

This year’s annual ASUCR debates featured candidates for a variety of positions, speaking about their future plans and initiatives while addressing oncampus issues for the 2018-2019 academic year. The debates were introduced by ASUCR Elections Director Taylor Brown, and moderated by The Highlander’s News Editor Evan Ismail.

PRESIDENTS Debates began with presidential candidates Semi Cole and Diana Jekki responding to questions pertinent to campus and student concerns. One of the leading questions posed to the candidates inquired about their future plans if elected to office.

Cole shared that he wants to “restore the voice of students and their faith in (ASUCR) leadership” while combating what he perceives as general student apathy for student council. He also promised to increase student awareness for programs within Costo Hall. Jekki touted her past experience lobbying to prioritize students’ academic endeavors as well as their overall well-being.

She emphasized the need to vote for the referenda and pass the required 20 percent voter turnout threshold.

MARTIN LOPEZ / HIGHLANDER

► SEE DEBATE, PAGE 5

f UCR Highlander Newspaper @ucrhighlander HighlanderTV NEWS 4

OPINIONS 7

FEATURES 12

RADAR 15

SPORTS 16

KUCR 88.3 FM

2

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2018

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org

HUMANS OF UCR

UPCOMING EVENTS: WEEK 4

ERIC NGO, BIOCHEMISTRY, SECOND-YEAR

24

Grad Fair 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

HUB (Highlander Union Building), 302

Butt Bash (Tobacco Waste Clean Up) 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Scotty the Bear Statue outside HUB

25

3D Scanning for Research 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.

Orbach Library (Science Library), 148

Log Rolling 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

Student Recreation Center (SRC), Pool

Zine Making Workshop 12:00pm-1:30 p.m.

Orbach Library (Science Library), Atrium (1st floor)

UCR Graduate School of Education Info Session 1:20pm-1:50 p.m.

Sproul Hall, 1357

Hiring Part-Time & Summer Now! Employer Panel 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

HUB (Highlander Union Building), 268

Indigenous Choreographers at Riverside Gathering 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

ARTSblock, Culver Center of the Arts

Saturday

Friends of the UCR Botanic Gardens Spring Outing 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Rose Haven Heritage Garden 30592 Jedediah Smith Road, Temecula, CA 92592

Film: The Watermelon Woman 3:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.

ARTSblock

29

Film: Human Flow 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

ARTSblock, Culver Center of the Arts

Tuesday

COMPILED BY JIMMY LAI

Wednesday

26

Thursday

“I don’t really plan where I want to go, I usually just wait and see until I stumble onto a place and think, ‘oh, I want to camp here,’ right now I’d probably want to go camp somewhere in Japan. My first trip was in Yosemite ... I’d like to go back because there is a lot of places I haven’t been to yet.”

27 Friday

28 Sunday

HIGHLANDER STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MANAGING EDITOR

Quinn Minten

Myles Andrews-Duve editorinchief @highlandernews.org

managingeditor @highlandernews.org

NEWS EDITOR

ASST. NEWS EDITOR

Evan Ismail

Andreas Rauch

news@highlandernews.org OPINIONS EDITOR

ASST. OPINIONS EDITOR

Christian Monroy

opinions@highlandernews.org ASST. FEATURES EDITOR

Marcelo Garcia

features@highlandernews.org A&E EDITOR

Julian Medranda

radar@highlandernews.org

Jonathan Fermandez

sports@highlandernews.org

TIP LINE: (951) 827-2105 Help the Highlander stay on top of what is happening on campus and in the general UCR community. Call this number and leave a message for the Editorial Board with your tip. Be sure to include your full name, relation to UCR, and a number or email address where you can be reached for more details.

Editorial Office: (951) 827-3617

Business Office: (951) 827-3457 Fax: (951) 827-7049

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Aida Yeung

productionmanager @highlandernews.org PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS

Brandi Huynh, Stephanie Ma, Alfonso Deza, Kerry Mulia, Nicole Francis Asst. Photo Editor

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Jimmy Lai

Martin Lopez mlope072@ucr.edu

photo@highlandernews.org STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS

Bri Chew, Adrian Dizon, Thomas Holguin VIDEO EDITOR

Catherine Yong

video.highlander@gmail.com BUSINESS MANAGER

Tamara Sasso

highlanderads@gmail.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

TECH DIRECTOR

Kevin Ciampaglia

techdirector@highlandernews.org

MARKETING COORDINATOR

MARKETING INTERNS

marketing.highlander@gmail.com

Jessica Schneider, Esra Yeksek

Taylor Kim

Highlander 101 Highlander Union Building Riverside, CA 92521 www.highlandernews.org editorinchief@highlandernews.org

Classifieds & Billing: (951) 827-5039

SPORTS EDITOR

Chiraag Dave

CONTACT US

The Highlander accepts letters from the campus community. They must be 600-800 words at length and include the author’s name and contact information.

Topics should be UCR-centric and/or pertain to our generation of students. Contact Opinions Editor Christian Monroy at opinions@highlandernews.org by Wednesday if interested in writing a letter and submit the completed letter by Saturday at noon. Letters can and will be rejected if it does not meet requirements.

LEGAL The Highlander is published and copyrighted by the Highlander for the students, faculty and staff of UCR. All rights are reserved. Reprinting of any material in this publication without the written permission of the Highlander is strictly prohibited. Readers are allowed one free copy of the newspaper. For additional copies or for subscription information, please contact the Highlander.

The Highlander fully supports the University of California’s policy on non-discrimination. The student media reserve the right to reject or modify advertising whose content discriminates on the basis of ancestry, color, national origin, race, religion, disability, age, sex or sexual orientation.

The Highlander has a media grievance procedure for resolving complaints against it. All inserts that are printed in the Highlander are independently paid publications and do not reflect the views of the Editorial Board, the staff or The University of California or the Associated Students of UCR.

30

Monday

Free Group Fitness 6:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.

Student Recreation Center (SRC)

MULTIMEDIA

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS ADVERTISING INFORMATION Please submit Classifed ads by calling 951-827-3457 or by emailing Highlanderads@ucr.edu PAYMENT Visa and Mastercard Make checks payable to The Highlander Newspaper No refunds RATES Classified: $2 per line; 17 characters (spaces, dashes, etc.)

MISCELLANEOUS Pregnant? Free counseling and services. We come to you.

Holy Family Services, adoption & foster care.

1-800-464-2367.

Organizational Excellence Showcase Event 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

HUB (Highlander Union Building), Watkins Lawn

UCRHIGHLANDER

f

UCR HIGHLANDER NEWSPAPER @UCRHIGHLANDER UCRChannelH KUCR 88.3 FM, WEDNESDAYS @ 11:30 A.M.

4

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2018

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/news

News

UCR students “walk out” against gun violence ► FROM WALKOUT, PAGE 1

Behind the table was Penny Key, the director of case management, who offered The Highlander her insights on mental health issues. “We have a lot of support resources on campus, and we want students to make use of these supports,” said Key. Regarding the percentage of students seeking out help from Case Management and the similar but separate Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), Key remarked that she had observed a spike in mental health cases during the fall quarter,

MARTIN LOPEZ / HIGHLANDER

with higher than average numbers persisting through winter. Past winter quarters, according to Key, had been the highest; she expressed her opinion that the initial increase in cases was due to “a general feeling of uncertainty.” For college students in particular, Key said that many may have been “reflecting on their lives, causing a lot of anxiety which becomes overwhelming.”

Alan Nguyen, a fifth-year electrical engineering major and president of the UCR chapter of the College Republicans, also spoke about mental health as important to understanding gun violence. Nguyen, a self-described “short Asian guy with a cowboy hat,” took the microphone to rebut the claims in favor of gun control offered by the previous speakers. Nguyen spoke about his childhood, during which his family home was broken into on multiple occasions by armed burglars. He said he bought three firearms as a response, which he credited with resulting in a feeling of safety and security. Nguyen expressed sympathy for those suffering from gun violence, and emphasized the need for a productive and inclusive conversation surrounding the issue.

“We’re here to represent lawful gun owners,” Nguyen told The Highlander, adding that he felt that “gun ownership had been demonized.” Standing in front of a booth bedecked with the American flag and with posters reading “I’m pro-gun: change my mind,” Nguyen explained his organiza-

tion’s embattled stance. “We’re all about not giving every Tom, Dick and Harry a gun. We just want federal gun laws to be enforced before adding more laws that affect good people.”

Nguyen’s stance was echoed by several other speakers, who expressed their support, to varying degrees, for respecting the right to buy and own weapons. Despite the potentially polarizing nature of the topic, calls for respect from the organizers resulted in a conversation largely free from personal attacks and emotional responses.

Eneim indicated that his main concerns leading up to the event had been focused

MARTIN LOPEZ / HIGHLANDER

on turnout. Due to the lack of conversation about gun violence in the days and weeks leading up to the event, he and his coorganizer had feared a lower turnout than expected.

Although pleased with the tone and scale of the event, Eneim indicated that he hopes for a continuation of the discussion surrounding firearm-related violence.

“We had multiple contradicting viewpoints come up and speak,” he said. “I think that’s the beauty of it. I think it’s gonna be really good now that we’ve been able to start that dialogue, and it’s important that we continue it.”

■H

Chancellor Wilcox speaks on MSU investigation ► FROM WILCOX, PAGE 1

According to the Detroit News, Wilcox endorsed the former dean in spite of these complaints, writing, “Our several discussions over the past several months have reinforced my commitment and that of Dean Strampel to advancing the goals of the College within the broad mission of Michigan State University,” in a 2010 letter in Strampel’s personnel file.

At the time of the report, Wilcox refused to comment on the matter, telling The Highlander in an email sent April 4, “I will not comment on any ongoing investigations or legal proceedings involving Michigan State University (MSU) at this time …

I join MSU in supporting efforts to provide the public and authorities with all documents and records necessary for a full and transparent investigation, including any records that involve my

participation.”

But this past Friday, April 13, Wilcox elaborated on his role at MSU in a statement emailed to The Highlander, where he directly acknowledged the claims that he was aware of Strampel’s alleged behavior in 2010. “To the best of my knowledge, none of the feedback I received while supervising Strampel described behaviors articulated in the Michigan Attorney General’s criminal complaint filing,” wrote Wilcox.

Wilcox did, however, receive “some anonymous feedback that Strampel had made several inappropriate comments,” according to his statement, but claims he responded by instituting “a corrective action plan that directed Strampel to cease making such comments and to obtain counsel on proper and professional communications.”

He further claims that he recommended the campus conduct a follow-up review on Strampel in

2013, though this has yet to be confirmed by an MSU spokesperson at time of writing.

When asked whether Wilcox did, in fact, know of these complaints in 2010, an MSU spokesperson did not provide an answer, writing in an email sent to The Highlander on April 6, “Kim Wilcox was Provost at Michigan State University from August 2005 to July 2013. In this role he was responsible for completing dean performance reviews. Any questions about his statements should be referred to Mr. Wilcox.”

Wilcox says he is “troubled” by the revelations brought forward about Strampel’s alleged behavior at MSU. “Having reviewed the criminal complaint against Strampel, I deeply regret that he caused pain for so many. I further regret that some individuals felt they could not report Strampel’s actions at the time they occurred, and I ad-

mire the courageous individuals who have come forward to report sexual harassment and sexual violence at MSU,” he wrote in the statement. “Finally, I continue to support efforts to provide the

public and authorities with all documents and records necessary for a full and transparent investigation, including any records that involve my participation.”

■H

ARCHIVES / HIGHLANDER

ASUCR MYLES ANDREWS-DUVE Senior Staff Writer

This Wednesday’s ASUCR meeting happened in the backdrop of the annual ASUCR debates being held at the HUB Plaza. Here are some highlights: •

New judicial general advocate sheds light on handling of elections cases ... Heidi Awada, the new general advocate for the judicial council took to the podium during public forum to introduce herself to the senate. The general advocate serves as “the liaison between the judicial council and the rest of ASUCR,” according to Awada. In her comments, she gave a brief rundown of the recent activity in the judicial council, noting they have discussed the handling

•

•

of elections cases going forward.

“They will go to the elections director and the judicial council will serve as the appellate court and each day of elections, two justices will lock up the ballot box,” said Awada.

“Fix the broken chairs, please” … Vice President of External Affairs Jonathan Li used part of his officer report to share information on the upcoming Fund Higher Education press conference being held this Friday, April 27. The conference will feature Assemblymembers Jose Medina and Eloise Reyes and other legislators for a discussion on “how state legislators can urge to provide more funding to the UC and CSU,” according to Li. Adjusting the Students of Color Conference ... The UCSA Board of Directors met at UC Merced

last week and a key proposal centered around reenvisioning the annual Students of Color Conference (SoCC), according to Li. The proposal looks to adjust the SoCC reenvisioning summit to create a smaller scale group of “about 150 people,” says Li. The adjustments come following controversy surrounding this year’s conference, which was hosted by UCR and shrouded by allegations of antiblackness.

• Spring Food Truck Festival is here … ASUCR’s Spring Food Truck Festival will be happening this Thursday, April 26 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the HUB Plaza and Bell Tower, announced Marketing and Promotions Director Connie Wi. ASUCR will be holding their next senate meeting this Wednesday, April

25 in senate chambers (HUB 221).

■H

JORDAN HOM / HIGHLANDER

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/news

NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2018

5

ASUCR elections debates center on student involvement and food insecurity

Executive and senate candidates speak on outlook of their prospective positions for the upcoming academic year ► FROM DEBATE, PAGE 1

Each candidate expressed different approaches to the presidency, touching on issues such as food and housing insecurity. Addressing concerns about recent nationwide instances of police brutality, Cole introduced his idea to create a University of California Police Department task force to keep the department accountable. Cole encouraged students to meet with him following the debate and said, if elected, he would be available for students to share their opinions about ASUCR during his office hours.

Jekki followed by discussing her plans to increase transparency and reduce divisive topics such as the R’Gear controversy. In addition, Jekki mentioned her goal to forge better relationships with Costo Hall programs and other organizations.

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Following the presidential debate were Executive Vice President candidates Johnathan Li and Andrea Cuevas, who answered questions centered around their past experience working for ASUCR. Li elaborated on his experience currently working as vice president of external affairs in 2017-18, which segued into a discussion of his plans to further develop his current projects such as the clicker rental program and establishing an agreement with Stater Bros. to help provide funding and donations toward a self-sufficient R’Pantry. Cuevas followed by explaining her initial role in ASUCR as a senate intern, and then vice chair of personnel in 201718. These roles allowed her to “bring a fresh perspective to ASUCR” and create “structure to the senatorial and (firstyear) fellowship program,” according to Cuevas. Both candidates emphasized the need for senator accountability and encouraged a stronger relationship with Costo Hall and their minority programs by reminding their constituents of the referendum’s role in these programs’ future.

EXECUTIVE CABINET Vice President of Internal Affairs: Jose Cortez-Hernandez followed, running unopposed for vice president of internal affairs. After noting his involvement with ASUCR as CHASS senator in 2016-17 and vice president of finance in 2017-18, Cortez-Hernandez proposed that there be structural changes to the Association. He wishes to create a referendum that provides permanent funding to R’Pantry for its staff which, according to his connections in R’Pantry, has a bigger problem than gathering food for students. He also seeks to put the Diversity Council in charge of planning the Beyond R’Margins Conference.

Outreach Director: After CortezHernandez, one of the two candidates for outreach director was next up on the stage: current CHASS Senator Carolyn Chang. Isaiah Kim, the other candidate, was absent from the event. Chang introduced herself by outlining her time at ASUCR, first as a freshman finance fellow, and as a CHASS senator. Chang

MARTIN LOPEZ / HIGHLANDER Executive Vice President candidate Johnathan Li speaks at the ASUCR debates on Wednesday.

said that, if elected, she intends to visit at least two high schools a quarter to educate younger students about college and how to prepare for it.

When asked about how more money would be raised for student organizations, Chang responded that the organizations currently get a sufficient amount of money from the students’ quarterly ASUCR fee. But, if elected, she plans to alter the system of clubs signing up for funds to increase the amount of clubs eligible for funding. “Instead of having nine clubs and three auto-renewals sign up, there will be more positions for clubs to sign up for the money, so more clubs will have an equal chance for funding,” Chang said.

Personnel Director: Jordan Steinhauser and Nataly Morales, came to the front. Steinhauser aims to get UCR students more involved on campus, wishing to improve turnout at events, such as the one she was currently speaking at, and to allow more volunteers to be accepted for campus activities on the basis of personal merit, not connections.

Morales remarked that publicity in the social media field has been “lacking” for both ASUCR and committee events and intends to improve on it by posting committee the minutes and monthly reports activity on the ASUCR website.

Transfer and Non-traditional director: If elected as director, Vanessa Salinas said she wishes to hold more events that cater to both transfer and non-traditional students. This is meant to counter the uneasiness that those students face entering a new academic environment, to let them socialize more and become more involved on campus. Salinas also intends to increase the overall publicity of the committee her position overlooks, noting that the position opened up only two years ago and is currently “working to make a name for itself.”

CHASS SENATORS: Julian Gonzales, a second-year political science major, aims to increase diversity, make UCR more affordable to attend and “create a campus that everyone is proud of.”

Brandon Lieu, a third-year business administration major, outlined his appointments to various committees and the Academic Senate. As senator, Lieu aims to improve student aid wait times, promote student success with mental health programs for students and improve on the “bad light” UCR has with the community and the Inland Empire.

Kiley Atwood spoke on how she wanted to increase leadership, especially among CHASS students. “I want to find new ways ... to find leadership opportunities and open them up to avenues like ASUCR.” She cites her leadership experience on women’s cross country and track team as merit for her campaign to be a CHASS senator.

Mehvish Ali, a second-year business administration major, opened by saying “Ubuntu (I am because we are),” a phrase she learned from a leadership conference in her first year at UCR. As senator, she aims to provide occupational skills to students early on in their academic career, as well as improve UCR’s relationship with the surrounding community. She also wants to let the school’s prestige be recognized, referring to UCR’s medical school which is the first medical school built on the west coast in the last 50 years.

Justin Domecillo, a third-year transfer student and campus organizing director for the Office of External Affairs, emphasized his understanding of student issues. “I am not a very traditional student, and I don’t have a lot of traditional ideas ... I’m running because I have ideas that empower students.” If elected, Domecillo aims to add another seat to the finance committee, specifically for an undocumented student, and to allow a bylaw allows students in the audience to interrupt Senate meetings if something untoward is said by a delegate.

Juan Riley, a second-year economics major, stated that as a student athlete, he and other student athletes were not strongly connected to the student body, and wants to work to strengthen that connection, such as by increasing

student turnout to games. He also wants to work with R’Pantry to improve food security on campus.

Jonathan Escobar, a first-year political science major, intends to get students more involved in the decisions that affect them, such as the policies enacted

by ASUCR and committees, and to give them a voice for those student organizations to listen to. Escobar refers to UCR as a “majority of minorities,” and remarked that they are not to be neglected.

Luis Huerta, a first-year student majoring in political science, stated that there was a disconnect between ASUCR and Costo Hall that he wanted to eliminate in part by allocating more funds to Costo Hall. He also plans to work on the clicker rental program, and ensure that there is an ample supply for students in the future.

Avi Idea, a first-year business student, outlined the three platforms he stood on as a candidate: Improving accountability in ASUCR and making it easier for students to get involved with the governing body; improving food security at UCR, citing the 62.5 percent statistic of food-insecure students oncampus as reason, by collaborating with R’Pantry and CalFresh; and addressing security and safety on campus by increasing the number of lamps on campus, additionally referring to the recent slew of “lewd acts” that have been occuring on campus.

Tony Xu, a transfer, commuter and international student, moved down to California to start a business, but had to go back to school. Xu intends to improve the quality of academic advising at UCR. Lennin Kuri, a first-year political science student, introduced himself as the government relations assistant director under the vice president of external affairs. As senator, he wants to “make sure marginalized voices are heard within our diverse campus, make sure their voices are uplifted and represented.”

Alyssa Tocker, a third-year sustainability studies and theatre, film and digital production double major, currently serves as the programming director for GCAP. Her main platform is to ensure that all students are represented fairly by holding her office hours in the HUB. She also wants to address food insecurity, as well as accessibility to classes.

Chelsea Davenport, a classics major and non-traditional student, returned

JIMMY LAI / HIGHLANDER

to school after years of having to work.

During her speech, she touched upon the communities that are not included in the decision process of governing bodies, and aims to work toward making those voices become heard. She also wants to end the stigmas associated with using organizations like the R’Pantry.

BCOE SENATORS Sarah Al-Khalili, first-year bioengineering major, focused on the cost of access codes for students’ homework, stating that she wants to circumvent those fees. “Students in all colleges have to deal with this, and I believe that students shouldn’t have to pay just to do their homework.” Al-Khalili also noted that she is running due to the lack of women in BCOE. “I want to be a voice for them, since we are basically the minority in that college.” She also wants to represent the Muslim community at UCR, since she found that the group was not especially represented at many campus events.

Joel Sanchez, a first-year mechanical engineering student said that he plans to address the academic development of freshman and transfer students in BCOE. For both, he specifically wants to deal with issues that arise around textbook codes and school supplies. Sanchez also focused on professional development in his speech, wanting to work with the Society of Hispanic Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers “to look toward minority students in engineering and seeing how they can improve upon themselves and grow into the engineers of the future.”

Voting begins on Monday, April 23, and ends on Friday, April 27. There will be polling booths near AberdeenInverness (AI), Bear’s Den, the Student Recreation Center and the Rivera Library. Students must have a UCR card to vote or a valid ID and proof of your registration to the UCR campus.

Voting can be done between the hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Incentives will be given to the earliest voters of each day. The first 500 voters on Monday will receive a Carl’s Jr. meal, the first 300 voters on Tuesday will receive a taco plate, the first 150 Wednesday voters will get a Jamba Juice beverage, all Thursday voters get a color-changing cup and the H first 100 Friday voters get a donut. ■

MARTIN LOPEZ / HIGHLANDER CHASS Senator candidate Justin Domecillo explained how he is “not a very traditional student, and I don’t have a lot of traditional ideas.” He is seeking to increase student representation at ASUCR meetings.

6

NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2018

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/news

Newspaper referendum seeks to fund future of independent media

AMANI MAHMOUD Contributing Writer

The Highlander Newspaper has stood for 64 years as UC Riverside’s independent and student-run media outlet, serving as a source of information and engaging commentary and storytelling for students and the community. The Highlander News Referendum proposes a $1.00 increase to the current quarterly fee of $2.00 (to be collected fall, winter, spring and summer quarters — effective starting fall 2018). In accordance with campus policy, 25 percent of the new fee, or $0.25, would be returned to financial aid.

A $1.00 increase to the quarterly Highlander News fee will be established by a referendum vote of the student body, and be run through the Associated Students office. The Highlander Editorial Board will monitor the expenditures created by the additional revenues. In compliance with UC and UCR policies, this referendum must meet

the following criteria during elections to be approved by the student body: At least 20 percent of the student body must vote on the issue, and a majority of the votes cast must vote in favor of the issue.

The ballot language states that, if passed, the Highlander News Referendum will help The Highlander continue to “provide practical experience for students interested in journalism, marketing, media production and design on a campus without a journalism program” and deliver “breaking news and commentary on the issues that affect the future of UCR’s campus.” The Highlander also hopes to expand their multimedia team and “resources to consistently hold campus administrators, faculty and student leaders accountable,” according to the ballot language.

Atenas Odriozola, a contributing writer for The Highlander and a firstyear anthropology major, said that The Highlander Newspaper is beneficial in providing news to the student population. She believes that the referendum

is important because the newspaper is an independent news outlet that provides news without a filter. Odriozola stated, “The Highlander gives me the chance to explore and learn about UCR. I have the opportunity to explore topics I would not have known ranging from the exoplanet discovered by a UCR faculty to drought resistance in the Amazon rainforest.” She stated that The Highlander has helped her because it has made her “grow not only as a writer, but as an individual.”

Another writer, Michael Beeli, stated that contributing to The Highlander brought him much needed breaks from monotonous breadth courses. “I’ve been able to explore fascinating topics of interest across a wide range of disciplines and immerse myself in some of modern society’s most interesting and complicated topics.” Beeli continued, “The knowledge base I’ve gained from writing the articles is invaluable by itself, but most important is really that The Highlander allows me to refine my writing abilities while sharing my work

and opinion with the campus community.”

Assistant Photo Editor Martin Lopez said that joining The Highlander was the “best decision of my college career thus far.” Lopez stated that he developed an artistic side “I never really knew I had” and saw the life of UCR’s diversity up close. “Hearing the stories of students from so many backgrounds and walks of life has made me appreciate UCR so much more. It’s hard to imagine my life without the newspaper.”

In order for the Highlander News Referendum to pass, 20 percent of undergraduates must vote in order for the results to count. A majority of the votes cast must vote in favor of the issue.

Voting will take place April 23-27.

Hours and location of polling sites will be 10 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5 p.m.-7 p.m. near the Aberdeen-lnverness residence hall, Bear’s Den, Student Recreation Center and Rivera Library. Election results will be announced the first week H of May at noon near The Bell Tower. ■

Costo Hall referendum seeks to “empower” students AMANI MAHMOUD Contributing Writer

The Highlander Empowerment Student Services Referendum (HESSR), also known as the Highlander Empowerment Referendum, provides additional staff, services and resources through the Ethnic & Gender Programs at UCR. In Spring of 2015, UCR students voted for a Student Services Fee of $14.00 per quarter to aid the seven ethnic and gender programs in Costo Hall. Of that, $10.50 per quarter would be divided among the seven departments. The remainder is returned to students in the form of financial aid. $3.50 of the money will be put into financial aid each quarter.

If approved, in fall 2020, this referendum will replace the current HESSR fee of $14.00 per quarter for a net increase of $2.00 per quarter and will include funding for Undocumented Student Programs. Currently the ethnic and gender programs include: African Student Programs, Asian Pacific Student Programs, Chicano Student Programs, LGBT Resource Center (LGBTRC), Middle Eastern Student Center, Native American Student Programs and Women’s Resource Center.

HESSR also proposes the removal of the “sunset clause,”

language that currently requires a new vote to reaffirm the referendum every five years. Instead, the current Highlander Empowerment Referendum opts for an administrative review every five years. The new fee, effective fall 2020, would be $16.00 per quarter.

The fee will be assessed to undergraduate students in fall, winter, spring and summer quarters. 25 percent of the fee ($4.00 per quarter) will be returned to financial aid to help offset costs for students who are eligible for financial aid. The remaining $12.00 per quarter will be split evenly amongst all ethnic and gender programs and transferred to each program’s budget.

Approval of HESSR would provide increased coprogramming with student organizations and studentled initiatives. This includes funding and advising, staffing to assist students in finding support and resources support for conference hosting and conference travel, support for Common Ground Collective projects and collaborative initiatives with the Diversity Council. Peer mentoring and education programs support more resources in each student program office, such as student computer support and educational materials.

HESSR funds directed to

the seven ethnic and gender programs will be governed by the Referendum Student Advisory Committee (RSAC) which is made up of UCR undergraduate students.

RSAC will be made up of 16 members to include eight UCR undergraduate students (with voting privileges) nominated by the director of each of the eight programs; eight staff members representing the eight programs (ex-officio nonvoting); and one staff member (ex-officio non-voting) nominated by the chancellor or the chancellor’s designate to provide administrative support.

RSAC will recommend to the chancellor or chancellor’s designate, for final approval, how the Highlander Empowerment Student Services Referendum funds will be utilized a portion of the funds going directly to the eight programs will be used to support and sustain the work of RSAC. In an interview with The Highlander, Joaquin Malta, a second-year psychology major at UCR and Chairman of RSAC wrote, “These programs allow all students to explore their identity, become an ally, speak their truth and learn from meaningful experiences.”

He believes that it is important for undergraduates to vote on HESSR and wrote, “UCR is known for its diversity. And

the Highlander Empowerment Referendum empowers just that. As a Highlander that supports the prosperity of a multicultural campus, I believe voting is a great way to express that. Voting is every student’s chance to vocalize their opinions on matters that impact them. So, if a Highlander believes in what HESSR does, and will continue to do, then I ask that they go out and vote!”

The Assistant Dean of Students for the ethnic and gender programs at UCR Joe Virata told The Highlander, “The Highlander Empowerment referendum offers greater opportunity for developing programs and events that are rooted in UCR’s diversity, and it provides students with a great way of defining the type of campus climate they want to have.”

By bringing additional resources and staff to the ethnic and gender resource centers, Virata claimed that HESSR increases UCR’s ability to take advantage of the diversity of our student body and the experiences they represent.

“If HESSR funding is not extended past 2020, offices will lose professional staff,” stated Nancy Jean Tubbs, the director of the LGBTRC. She added that the HESSR is important because the LGBTRC, “counts on education and

resources from Undocumented Student Programs (USP) to help students who are undocumented or who have family who are undocumented.

Our campus really needs USP to help all Highlanders.” Tubbs claimed that HESSR funds over 80 percent of the LGBT Resource Center’s operating budget. It pays for student wages, conference delegation travel for students, supplies such as CyberCenter printing and programs such as Building Common Ground.

Wendy Guzme, a secondyear psychology major at UCR, stated that “HESSR is especially important for the Undocumented Students Program. This referendum will allow us to fund scholarships and other necessities for undocumented students at UCR.” In order for HESSR to pass, 20 percent of undergraduates must vote in order for the results to count. A majority of the votes cast must vote in favor of the issue. Voting will take place April 23-27 and the hours and location of polling sites will be 10 a.m.3 p.m. and 5 p.m.-7 p.m. near Aberdeen-Inverness residence hall, Bear’s Den, Student Recreation Center and Rivera Library. Election results will be announced the first week of May at noon near the Bell Tower.

■H

UCR student receives $25,000 Ford Foundation 2018 Dissertation Fellowship

VASKEN NAJARIAN Contributing Writer

UCR fourth-year bioengineering doctoral candidate Donovan Argueta, a first-generation college graduate, has received a Ford Foundation 2018 Dissertation Fellowship. The Ford Foundation aims to develop individuals to become role-models and mentors to an increasingly diverse student population. In receiving the one-year fellowship, Argueta will be receiving $25,000 along with the ability to attend an annual conference of Ford Fellows this upcoming fall. It is a fellowship that he claims will allow him the time to complete his doctoral degree while completing a search for a future postdoctoral position.

Argueta explained the application process in an interview with The Highlander. He said that it required him to develop a research and personal plan for the rest of his graduate studies. “(It) allowed me a chance to critically assess my progress and the work necessary to complete the dissertation; being first-gen, this has given me a more clear road map for

what lies between now and graduation,” he explained.

In completing the fellowship, Argueta will continue to be mentored by a guidance committee which he has worked with throughout his doctoral career. Nicholas V. DiPatrizio, associate professor of biomedical sciences, will continue to serve as his dissertation advisor. Speaking with The Highlander, DiPatrizio discussed his interactions with Argueta, stating that Argueta embodies the spirit of the Ford Foundation Fellowship Program through his devotion to science and teaching, along with the progress he has made with his experiment. He said, “I have no doubt that Donovan will grow into an outstanding independent research scientist and teacher.” He also drew emphasis on the fact that Donovan is not only a first-generation American, but the first in his family to earn a bachelor’s degree. DiPatrizio also said he will continue to support Argueta as he completes his academic career and into his postdoctoral career.

Argueta’s research will focus on identifying biological mechanisms in the gut that become dysregulated from obesity

which result in overeating of high-energy foods. He said that his lab will focus on uncovering the molecular signals that tend to cause obesity. The ultimate aim is to achieve results that will inform novel therapeutics or behavioral interventions to treat and ultimately prevent obesity. DiPatrizio expanded upon this, stating that “he is performing his dissertation research that aims to identify key gut-brain signaling pathways that control food intake and become dysregulated in diet-induced obesity.”

Argueta expects to graduate with his Ph.D. in July of 2019 and he aims to continue research as a postdoctoral scientist. His long-term career goal is to attain a tenure-track position as a research faculty member in a university setting.

■H

COURTESY OF UCR TODAY

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/opinions

Opinions

OPINIONS

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2018

7

WHAT HAS THE HIGHLANDER NEWSPAPER DONE FOR YOU? PRESIDENTS

CATHERINE YONG, VIDE O E D IT O R

Wowiee! College has been a crazy ride. If you told me prior to starting college that I would find my intense passions and a sense of belonging at UCR, I would’ve told you that you’re outta your mind. I attribute a lot of these realizations to The Highlander. To me, The Highlander encapsulates a safe space where I can exercise my creativity amongst fellow creators with equal fervor. Believe it or not, when I first joined the Highlander video team, I didn’t even know how to turn on a DSLR camera. Fast forward to now, I am able to produce cinematic films, direct video shoots and lead video editing workshops. What’s crazy is that this is only the beginning; I am constantly learning and growing. I feel so unbelievably grateful to say that my coworkers, the editors and the staff at The Highlander inspire me every single day. If The Highlander was able to do this for me, imagine what this organization can do for others on campus that want to share their creativity, but have no outlet to publish.

MICHAEL BEELI, STAF F WR IT E R

Writing for The Highlander has become a sort of therapy for me. During long weeks of studying and coursework, often for breadth courses which can occasionally feel long and uninteresting, writing for The Highlander’s Opinions section has been a great way for me to show my interest in the issues that interest me most on a weekly basis. The process that involves searching for, reading, researching and writing arguments on political issues that interest me has been an invaluable experience that keeps me engaged and helps me build on and expand my passions for politics, policy and economics. The staff is very supportive and caring and really is there to help everyone who has a passion get their voice out in the best way possible.

In my time writing for the paper, I’ve been able to explore fascinating topics of interest across a wide range of discipline and immerse myself in some of modern society’s most interesting and complicated topics. The knowledge base I’ve gained from writing the articles is invaluable by itself, but most important is really that The Highlander allows me to refine my writing abilities while sharing my work and opinion with the campus community.

MARTIN LOPEZ, ASSIS TAN T P H O T O E D IT O R

If I’m being honest, joining The Highlander was probably the best decision of my college career thus far. The amount of ways that the newspaper has changed not only the way I see the world but how I see myself is difficult to put into words.

Since finding The Highlander in the winter of my first year, I’ve been given many incredible opportunities as both a photographer and a student, but also as a person trying to find their place in the world. Before joining, I never really considered myself to be very artistic. I understood Watson and Crick better than I could have ever understood Plato or Picasso, but through the paper I discovered a passion for photography, and developed an artistic side to myself that I never really knew I had. As I dove deeper and deeper, I found myself fascinated with the inner workings of the campus, and everything from the intricate politics of ASUCR to the stories of triumph and defeat from the SRC courts drew me in. In the end, working for The Highlander gave me a better feel for the pulse of the campus as a whole and was what prompted me to try and be more in tune with the world around me. Hearing the stories of students from so many backgrounds and ■H walks of life has made me appreciate UCR so much more. It’s hard to imagine my life without the newspaper.

The ideological curtain concealing disarmament

SHYAM RAJAN Contributing Writer

It has always been the case that the enemies of the U.S. are whatever the U.S. is not. This has included Tories, Confederates, Catholics, communists, fascists and terrorists. It begs to invoke an ideological explanation.

But, since the start of the Cold War, this too has changed.

Following World War II, the Soviet Union did not remain allied to the U.S. for long.

Four years after the end of the war, they tested their first nuclear missile. What began as a communist containment program transformed into an arms race with one nucleus — stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, reuniting East Germany with its democratic counterpart. The arms race with the Soviets had ended.

Its territories were freed, and it seemed that containment succeeded. Not only could democracy spread to the East, but communism, under the veil of socialism, could spread westward.

It was not long after that did the Gulf War begin.

After Iraq invaded Kuwait, a multilateral force led by the U.S. dispelled Iraqi troops back to their nation. The allies would not appease Iraq as they did during Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Czechoslovakia. A key fixture was Iraq’s capacity to construct weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The future of their arsenal was halted after a United Nations (UN) decree required they end their program.

In 2003, Operation Iraqi Freedom began under guise that Iraq had ignored the UN mandate. It was not an efficient war, like the one fought a decade earlier. Rather,

it dragged on for almost a decade, and the complications surrounding it, including the misleading military intelligence that caused it, fueled growing unpopularity toward the George W. Bush administration.

On Saturday, April 14, President Donald Trump tweeted “Mission Accomplished.”

He was referring to the success of the 105 missiles launched against Syria the night before.

The missiles crippled the Syrian regime’s ability to further develop its chemical weapons. He was sure not to make the same mistake as his predecessors. Like the Gulf War, the strike was swift and complete. Like the Iraq War, chemical weapons — and the capacity to develop them — would be destroyed.

Words have been thrown around by pundits and civilians alike, including “terrorist,” “Islamic fundamentalist” and “insurgent.” The Bush-era media frenzy regarding terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda played a part in creating this image and it has persisted through coverage of related groups like the Islamic State. Even if Operation Iraqi Freedom was the catalytic domino that set the Arab Spring in motion, people have shown they can and will take control from oppressive regimes if given the chance. Although the U.S. has claimed that it is spreading democracy to nations which do not have it, the common thread in foreign involvement is the disarmament of WMDs. Oppressed citizens alone cannot end what has the potential to become an escalating arms race reminiscent of the Cold War. Tensions between Israel and the Middle East persist because issues like the legitimate statehood of Palestine and

the occupation of Jerusalem remain salient. However, the overarching conversation involves possession and trade of WMDs. Although Israel is an asset to U.S.-Middle East relations, their refusal to disarm has produced divided opinions internationally, hindering adoption of a WMDfree Middle East because the U.N. agreement omits Israeli participation. Even as eyes turned to Iran, which had begun to develop WMDs, no war was ever initiated because they agreed to sanctions regarding their program. Other violating nations could acquiesce, but they have not. The focus has since shifted to North Korea, who have rarely been labeled as “terrorists.” There is conflict simply because they refuse to halt their WMD programs.

Ideology is no longer

the keystone in the arch of American policy. The Cold War left a precedent that Americans still heed. The ideological conflicts that spurred American involvement abroad sugarcoats the dangerous issue

TIT-FOR-TAT WITH WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION IS A DANGEROUS GAME TO PLAY. of international disarmament.

Even through all the upheaval, the Vietnam War was outlined

by American nuclear threats aimed explicitly at the Soviet Union. Though ideological

containment was successful, it remained in the background to WMD threats, of which events such as the Bay of Pigs can contend.

As the threats of communism tapered hand in hand with disarmament, so too will those of terrorism. Behind any border or beneath any iron curtain, the U.S. persistently seeks WMDs as if it were the cheese in a mouse’s maze. Far removed from the Middle East, North Korea finds itself in the same situation today as all the others who have transgressed before it. It is not the form the dynamic U.S. enemy takes, but the common weapon it conceals.

Tit-for-tat with weapons of mass destruction is a dangerous game to play.

Rather than fueling the fire, nations must lay down their arms together for the sake of peace.

■H

COURTESY OF MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE

8

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2018

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/opinions

ASUCR 2018-2019 ELECTIONS ENDORSEMENTS PRESIDENTS PRESIDENT:

The Highlander Editorial Board has elected not to endorse either candidate for president, as the Board could not come to a unanimous agreement on an endorsement. Regardless, in the case of either candidate’s victory, The Highlander looks forward to working with ASUCR’s next president to ensure the accountability of our student government representatives and providing accurate, up-to-date news for the campus community.

EXECUTIVE CABINET: Johnathan Li Executive Vice President:

We endorse Vanessa Salinas for the position of transfer and non-traditional student director. During the debates this past Wednesday, Salinas clearly outlined the issues that transfer and non-traditional students face that other students simply don’t have to deal with. Even better, she proposed solutions for helping transfer and nontraditional students get accustomed to UCR and increase awareness of resources for supporting them. Additionally, her experience with student government at Citrus College and her accomplishments in helping students deal with food insecurity there mean that the transfer and non-traditional students here will be in good hands with her as director.

Chelsea Davenport

Kiley Atwood

Out of the many candidates running for senate, these individuals have set themselves apart as the best ones for the job. They have demonstrated not only a clear understanding of the challenges that they will face as senators, but also the obligations that they will have to the student body. Their platforms list clear issues that they wish to tackle as senators as well as offer clear and realistic solutions that they can implement to ameliorate said issues. While there are many qualified individuals among this year’s candidates, the group we have chosen have solid ideas, a selfless passion for serving and leading the campus and a willingness to go the extra mile, earning them our endorsement.

Readers can view the full list of senate candidates in Issue 23’s elections guide or online.

Jordan Steinhauser, Personnel Director:

REFERENDA: We endorse all three referenda on this year’s ballot: The Highlander News Referendum, the Highlander Empowerment Referendum and the Green Campus Action Plan (GCAP) Referendum.

Justin Domecillo We endorse Johnathan Li for the position of executive vice president. Li is an experienced candidate for the job, serving in the past as ASUCR’s vice president of external affairs, senate secretary and president pro tempore.

Further, he has an extensive record of accomplishments to show for his time, such as starting the Clicker Checkout Program and the Motorist Assistance Program. His long record of serving the campus is a clear indication of what he will continue to offer students as their executive vice president.

Austin Mok, GCAP Director:

We endorse Jordan Steinhauser for the position of personnel director. Steinhauser has extensive experience with dealing with screening and hiring students through her time in ASUCR as executive assistant to current Executive Vice President Carisha Moore, and articulated the importance of encouraging and increasing opportunities for student involvement on the campus during the debates last Wednesday.

Her experience and her vision for increasing student involvement and improving the atmosphere of the campus will be instrumental for fulfilling the duties of the role.

CNAS SENATOR: Andy Veliz

We did not endorse any candidates for the other executive cabinet positions.

Readers can view the full list of executive cabinet candidates in Issue 23’s elections guide or online.

SENATORS: The Highlander Newspaper endorses the following candidates for the ASUCR senate: We endorse Austin Mok for the position of GCAP director. Under Mok’s previous leadership as vice chair and director, the Green Campus Action Plan has supported some much-needed environmentally sustainable projects, produced clear improvements to the campus and offered many opportunities for student involvement and leadership. Mok has also been visible and communicative with the students about GCAP’s progress, and his campaign to serve again as GCAP director demonstrates his willingness to maximize his time as GCAP’s director and expand what it can offer the campus.

Vanessa Salinas, Transfer and Non-Traditional Student Director:

CHASS SENATOR:

BCOE SENATOR:

Avi Idea

Sarah Al-Khalili

Brandon Lieu

Jonathan Thai

Highlander News Referendum Of the three referenda on this year’s ballot, the most essential one for The Highlander Newspaper is the Highlander News Referendum. We believe in the preservation of independent media in an era where faith in media is deteriorating and misinformation, which is now more easily spread than ever before, threatens to undermine clear thinking, meaningful conversation and truth. Over the 64 years we have served this campus, we have strived to offer the campus a news source they can rely upon and keep the administration, student government and students accountable. This is more important than ever before on a campus where transparency is at a premium and students need to be informed about everything that’s happening on their campus through a trustworthy, student-run news source.

We are also the primary source of journalism and journalism experience at a university that lacks a journalism major, providing opportunities for writers, graphic designers, photographers, reporters, comic artists and videographers of all backgrounds and experience levels. If this referendum passes, the funding from the small $1.00 increase in student fees will help us to stay afloat and manage rising costs, such as HUB maintenance fees and printing costs. In time, we hope to expand our multimedia coverage and increase the opportunities that we offer students, putting more individuals on the path toward media careers.

Highlander Empowerment Referendum If passed, the Highlander Empowerment Referendum will help fund the ethnic and gender programs, all of which provide many resources for our diverse campus and which help countless students, and will also help fund Undocumented Student Programs. All of these programs are extremely helpful and necessary pillars of our communities. Thus it is essential that they are able to not only expand the services and resources that they offer, but to also increase their involvement with the campus and the opportunities for student involvement and leadership they provide.

The simple $2.00 increase in fall 2020 that the referendum asks for will benefit the entire campus.

GCAP Referendum The GCAP Referendum will help the GCAP continue pushing UC Riverside toward environmental sustainability and further their goal of achieving carbon neutrality at UCR in 2025. Should this referendum pass, the GCAP referenda will be rephrased so that its fee distribution will include food security, thus helping to deal with a very prevalent problem on this campus.

■H

OPINIONS

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/opinions

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2018

9

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: In response to “Wilcox’s silence on sexual violence discussions is deafening” Mariam Lam, Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion Cynthia K. Larive, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Christine Victorino, Associate Chancellor and Interim Chief Compliance Officer

DEAR EDITOR, We are writing in response to the Highlander editorial regarding Chancellor Wilcox and the university administration’s commitment to ending sexual violence and sexual harassment at UCR. Put simply, UCR has zero tolerance for any form of sexual violence or sexual harassment on our campus.

Over the past five years, UCR established the first Chief

Compliance Office to strengthen oversight of the Title IX office; drafted and implemented Title IX student, staff and faculty adjudication procedures; hired additional staff in the Title IX office; launched the Campus Advocacy Resources and Education (CARE) office; and increased campus-wide outreach, training, resources and support services.

The actions described above exemplify our campus’ robust

and proactive commitment to ending sexual violence and sexual harassment. The #MeToo movement has given voice to many victims of sexual violence and sexual harassment. We strongly encourage all students, staff and faculty to come forward if they have experienced sexual violence or sexual harassment so that we can provide support and assistance. Our goal is to create a safe educational environment where all students, staff and faculty

COMICS TALL TAIL #22 BY: JUSTUS ROSS

members can thrive and reach their highest potential.

If you wish to make a report or have any questions regarding sexual violence or sexual harassment, we encourage you to contact the Title IX office by phone (951-827-7070) or email. The CARE office provides confidential support services for survivors.

A complete list of available campus and confidential resources is available online on UCR’s Title IX website.

Sincerely, Mariam Lam Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion Cynthia K. Larive Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Christine Victorino Associate Chancellor and Interim Chief Compliance Officer ■H

10

OPINIONS

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2018

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/opinions

Airstrikes? Yes! Refugees? Well …

ELAINE CHEN Contributing Writer

On Saturday, April 14, President Donald Trump, along with European allies, launched airstrikes targeted toward Syrian scientific research, storage and military posts. This act was committed as a means of retaliation against the recent chemical attack the Syrian government is accused of orchestrating against its own civilians, which killed more than 40 people.

Trump is also characterizing this airstrike as an effort to deter Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from using prohibited chemical weapons on his citizens. Trump’s condemnation of President Assad’s terrorization of his own people leads us to deduce that Trump is sympathizing with the innocent people of Syria. In a statement in which Trump directly called out Assad’s actions, he promised a forceful response to prevent future chemical attacks, stating, “This is about humanity … and it can’t be allowed to happen.”

In terms of humanity, sending airstrikes with the intent of damaging centers where the chemical weapons were suspected to be produced can be seen as an expression of support for the people in

Syria being victimized by the Assad regime. However, when it comes to allowing the people of war-torn Syria into the United States, the humanitarian efforts are more limited. So far this year, the U.S. has only accepted 11 Syrian refugees. For comparison, the U.S. had accepted 790 by this point in 2016, per NPR. If this supposedly is about humanity and reaching out to those being persecuted in Syria, why are we limiting our actions to only airstrikes?

Allowing more refugees into our country won’t completely eradicate all the conflict in this multifaceted war, but it will provide shelter and a new life for those who have nowhere else to go.

In addition to the extreme restrictions placed on Syrian refugees currently being allowed into the U.S., Trump was also in hot water around January of 2017 when he signed his infamous executive order with the intent of denying entry of immigrants from Syria and six other countries he believed were more prone to terrorism.

Trump’s back-and-forth rhetoric about the Syrian crisis is hard to keep up with.

He has stated that the intent behind Executive Order 13769, more famously known

as the “Muslim ban” or “travel ban,” is to stop terrorists from slipping into this country amongst the other immigrants simply seeking refuge from persecution. However, it’s worth mentioning that not a single refugee, Syrian or not, has been involved in any

ALLOWING MORE REFUGEES INTO OUR COUNTRY WON’T COMPLETELY ERADICATE ALL THE CONFLICT IN THIS MULTIFACETED WAR, BUT IT WILL PROVIDE SHELTER AND A NEW LIFE FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOWHERE ELSE TO GO. major fatal terrorist attack in the U.S. since the Refugee Act of 1980, legislation that set up a more systematic process for refugees to enter the U.S. Additionally, the event that inspired President Trump’s “travel ban” was the San Bernardino shooting of December 2015, carried out

by Syed Rizwan Farook and

his wife, Tashfeen Malik.

However, Trump’s executive order wouldn’t have applied to either of them, as Farook was raised in Chicago and Malik was born in Pakistan, then moved to Saudi Arabia, two countries that weren’t included in the “travel ban.” Instead, the temporary blockade on allowing in refugees produced stories such as two families who left Syria to live with their relatives (U.S. citizens in Pennsylvania), but were turned away at the airport in Philadelphia with visas in hand. The families had begun their immigration process from as far back as 2003 to guarantee a safe and legal journey from war-stricken Syria, where they also faced oppression for identifying as Orthodox Christians.

Not wanting to risk an increase of terrorist attacks in the U.S. is understandable, as the safety of the American people, is, after all, supposed to be a priority to the leader of our nation. But consider the statistics of how most perpetrators who commit attacks under the name of radical Islamic faith were either U.S.-born citizens or permanent legal residents.

This refutes Trump’s main intention behind letting in refugees, and loosening up on our current refugee

restrictions is a more direct act of support since we are offering them a haven from the horrors they are facing right now. Airstrikes can only do so much to support Syrians who are being victimized under President Assad and the relentlessly ongoing Syrian conflict, as President Trump also launched an airstrike against a Syrian airfield around this exact time last year as a response to the Syrian government’s previous alleged chemical attack, but Assad clearly hasn’t shown signs of easing his aggression on his own people.

America’s hesitancy about letting refugees in isn’t new.

The U.S. was one of several countries that turned down Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. Granted, at the time when the U.S. was turning down ships of German Jews, nobody was aware of how terrible the Holocaust would become.

However, most refugee policy nowadays is operated with the haunting choice our country made during World War II in mind.

If we are to care strongly about the way Syrians are being treated by President Assad, all efforts should be made to extend a helping hand: We should be welcoming those seeking refuge with open arms.

■H

Hannity revelation conf irms what we already knew MICHAEL BEELI Staff Writer

Fox News TV personality Sean Hannity serves as one of the most vocal supporters of and a critical mouthpiece for the Trump administration. As the professional entertainer continued to rail against the FBI’s investigation of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, it was revealed Monday, April 16 that Hannity was actually a client of Cohen’s — raising significant questions about the ethical stature and credibility of Hannity as a TV host in the political arena. The revelation that Hannity did not disclose his conflict of interest to viewers before commenting on it is of itself a damning stain on his reputation; however, the revelation does little more than remind us of

who we already knew Sean Hannity as: An irresponsible commentator who follows few conventional rules and will make any sacrifice to protect the president.

Michael Cohen appeared in court for a legal hearing on April 16, and disclosed he has worked as a lawyer for 10 clients, including Donald Trump, Elliott Brady and a third client whom he attempted to avoid naming. United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Kimba M. Wood, however, ordered Mr. Cohen’s lawyer, Stephen Ryan, to disclose the name of the third “mystery client,” who was revealed to be Fox News personality and Trump advocate Sean Hannity.

Following the revelation, Hannity shot back, denying that he was a client of Cohen’s, saying “Michael Cohen has

never represented me in any matter. I never retained him, received an invoice or paid legal fees,” in a statement released by Fox News. Later that day on his radio show however, Hannity appeared to contradict these statements, saying “I occasionally had brief legal discussions with him where I wanted his input and perspective” and that he “might have handed” Cohen $10 and said “I want attorneyclient privilege on this.”

Unless Hannity was outright lying, which, despite his history of toying with the truth, is highly unlikely, it’s clear that Cohen never served as Hannity’s personal lawyer. Yet the fact that Hannity shares a personal as well as a professional and legal relationship with him casts a nebulous ethical cloud over Hannity, who has been

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

incendiary in his coverage of the FBI’s raid of Michael Cohen’s office in New York.

Most people familiar with Hannity can deduce fairly

SEAN HANNITY AND DONALD TRUMP HAVE NEARLY BECOME AVATARS OF PERFECTION AMONGST THEIR BASE, AN INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS QUALITY THAT BOTH MEN SHOULD KNOW REFLECTS POORLY ON THEIR CHARACTER. easily that he is a sycophantic hype-man of the president who will stop at nothing to strengthen his image and attack his enemies. Thus his attacks on the FBI and the rule of law are still incredibly troubling, but still socially acceptable to a degree. The fact that the man who said Special Counsel Robert Mueller had “declared war” on the president following the raid has a direct relationship with the man who is under criminal investigation, however, exposes Hannity to an entirely new level of ethical burdens.

Unsurprisingly though, Hannity has not backed down from his role as mouthpiece of Trumpian propaganda and FBI critic. The fact that Hannity hasn’t addressed this complication, which seems to be noticeably more damning and irresponsible, reveals a fundamental truth about Hannity. Hannity isn’t a journalist; he’s an entertainer.

He’s said it himself, yet he certainly doesn’t entertain his

audience responsibly. Hannity is the man who ran ridiculous segments on the fact that President Obama once had Dijon mustard on his burger, has defended birtherism and calls nearly all mainstream reporters “disgustingly biased, ideological and corrupt.”

He is the man who regularly accuses lifetime Republican and George W. Bush appointee Robert Mueller of leading a “partisan witch hunt,” and relentlessly pushed the bogus “Uranium One” scandal aimed at implicating Hillary Clinton, whom he has accused multiple times of being a criminal without any evidence, in treason.

Many Washington pundits wrote about how Hannity had crossed a new ethical line in regards to the Cohen scandal, and that he had tossed out his credibility. The fact is, however, Hannity lost his credibility a long time ago. A master of whataboutism and professional entertainer for fans who wouldn’t stop loving him and Trump even if they “shot someone in the middle of 5th avenue,” what makes Hannity most dangerous is that he is unrealistically popular amongst his base.

Sean Hannity and Donald Trump have nearly become avatars of perfection amongst their base, an incredibly dangerous quality that both men should know reflects poorly on their character. Their propaganda has grown to more than just an echo chamber, it has become a weaponization of people’s worst fears and deepest insecurities. Hannity’s latest ethical lapse reminds us of this all the same, he isn’t there to advance truth, but to push a wicked agenda through toxic groupthink. As George Patton once said, “If everyone is thinking alike, then someone isn’t thinking.”

■H

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE

HIGHLANDER

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

WRITE * SHOOT * DESIGN

SINCE 1954

MEETINGs MONDAYS, 5:15 P.M. @HUB101

12

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2018

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/features

Features

M.E. WEEK’S “TATREEZ AND TEA” WEAVES STUDENTS TOGETHER FOR PALESTINIAN TRADITION EDWARD DAVE Staff Writer

A blend of intimacy and coordination were on full display at HUB 377 as the Middle Eastern Student Center (MESC) hosted “Tatreez and Tea.” Tuesday around noon, a dozen individuals filed into the small room and sat around a moderate-sized table adorned with pamphlets and empty tea cups. RSVPing was the only means of entry in an effort to keep the numbers low and reinforce the hands-on nature of embroidery.

Wafa Ghnaim, the sole teacher of the event, was the businesswoman responsible for bringing authentic Palestinian culture to the UCR campus that afternoon. Ghnaim was taught the art of stitching from as early as four years old. Decades later she took the accumulated knowledge from her mother and apprenticeships to make her mother’s lifelong dream come to fruition. That dream was to publish a book that gave an extensive tutorial on the process of stitching to provide the masses with an encyclopedia of embroidery crafted by a real force in the Palestinian stitching community.

In countries such as Palestine, tea is a method of bringing communities together in a kindred fashion. To folks belonging to those communities, tea is more than a remedy for the sick or a beverage to quench thirst — it’s a bonding mechanism that enables families to sit down and indulge in lovely conversation. Additionally, embroidery is also a means of chronicling the trials and triumphs of Palestinian culture that remain preserved throughout generations with grandiose garments and cloth. Material items aren’t made to last forever, but many Palestinians believe that creating art from their rich history is a worthwhile way to ensure their stories cross over to the next generation. Ghnaim in particular uses teachings passed on from two generations of her family in an attempt to weave their perspective narratives into the overarching tapestry of Middle Eastern culture. According to Ghnaim, embroidery boosted her confidence and enabled her to “reclaim her Palestinian identity in the diaspora.”

For this particular workshop, Ghnaim suggested that all of the beginners work on stitching something known in Palestinian culture as the “Tree of Life.” Aside from being one of the easier things to stitch together, the tree itself is a celebratory design

JIMMY LAI / HIGHLANDER

JIMMY LAI / HIGHLANDER

that commemorates life. And despite its generalized meaning, anyone has the agency to embed it with their own message. One of the primary stitches used in Palestinian embroidery is the “cross stitch.” If done correctly, the cross stitch should appear as an “x” and is then repeated in succession to create designs. It’s the preferred way to stitch because the secondary method involves skipping stitches which leaves the knitter more vulnerable to losing their place and scrambling the remnant pieces of cloth in back.

Midway through the workshop, one of the coordinators went around the table and poured herbal tea for each attendee. Along with that, Middle Eastern music played in the background to capture the essence of an actual tea session to boost the vigor each student had for their project. Since the art of embroidery is incredibly intricate, many of the students had trouble finding the small, perforated holes that are important to track when making a cross stitch. In Palestinian culture, there is a huge emphasis on maintaining neatness on both sides of an embroidery. That’s why it was imperative for the students to be meticulous about how they were threading because anything less would be the mark of an amateur. The novice knitters were given Aida cloth to carry out their designs, which according to Ghnaim, is more accessible to beginners because of its large holes that more easily hold a crease.

Although Ghnaim would leave the students to twiddle to their heart’s content, she frequently circled the table and assisted anyone with a threading mishap. Many of the issues stemmed from miscalculations in the

JIMMY LAI / HIGHLANDER

measuring of string or going off design by missing a designated hole. While helping, Ghnaim briefly mentioned collecting all of the candids taken at the event to compile them in a future book. She stressed that even if people did not finish their designs, they at least had the chance to be introduced to the basics of embroidery. Through her lesson, Ghnaim passed down the beauty of stitching to a group of young adults who weren’t wholly aware of its cultural significance. And even without any blood relation among any of the students, the combined efforts of the

MESC and Ghnaim made the quaint room an inclusive place for people inquisitive about Palestinian traditions.

Due to the nature of embroidery, none of the students even got halfway done with their projects, but many of them got a first-hand lesson on the amount of focus and precision that goes into Palestinian art. Ghnaim didn’t just bring in an authentic portion of Palestinian culture, she managed to weave together the worlds of several different students together to continue spreading the wonderful art of embroidery and stitching.

■H

FEATURES

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/features

club

spotlight

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2018

13

Project Sunshine brings light to child patients Martha Delgado, staff writer

After second-year biology major Natalie Taby attended the first general meeting of Project Sunshine in the fall quarter, her smile lasted for two hours. “I was taken back with the mission because it aligned with my beliefs.

I love children,” said Taby, who wants to become a pediatrician.

Project Sunshine is a national organization, with the UCR School of Medicine chapter being the most recent of 50 total active chapters within the organization to be founded. Their mission is to provide recreational, educational and social programs for any child or family going through a medical challenge. The chapter was founded by current UCR School of Medicine students Melinda Ma and Sang Nguyen in August 2017. Now in its first year on campus, the chapter has almost 100 members.

This fall, Taby was hired as secretary for the organization and her goal, along with current chapter president Mohamed Hussein is for the organization to have a greater impact on patients each quarter. “As a pediatric patient, you may not have a sense of normalcy. Our mission is to mitigate that and to give them that sense of normalcy and hope,” explained Hussein, a fourthyear neuroscience major, during the organization’s new member informational meeting.

The patients experiencing medical challenges are often told to

undergo treatment, isolated from their peers, leaving them unhappy and out-of-place.

To create a sense of normalcy, the organization holds events to assemble a variety of kits, including art supply and caregiver wellness packages, which are ordered from the national Project Sunshine office located in New York. After the kits are assembled, they are sent back to the national office where they are given to hospitals to give to their younger patients. Since the organization’s first event in the fall quarter of 2017, they have assembled 700 sunshine kits, made 50 surgi dolls and held three hospital events.

On average Project Sunshine has 40-50 members attending their events, which leads to over 100 kits being made by the organization.

“I think going to the hospital is one of the biggest reasons a lot of people want to join our org. I think it’s truly rewarding,” stated Jeffrey Yang, a third-year applied math major and the chapter’s external event coordinator.

For their first direct hospital event on March 8, Yang and a couple other members visited pediatric patients at Riverside University Health System (RUHS) and made under-thesea themed craft activities. The group saw four patients that day whose ages ranged from 5 to 11 years old. “Going in, I was a little nervous,” began Yang, “but, once

we saw our first patient, I felt a lot more comfortable because I realized just how easy it was to approach and have a conversation with these kids. I could totally see how (creating a sense of normalcy within the hospital setting) impacted the kids I saw.

They were super stoked when we came in with the arts and crafts, because it was something that was not only fun and exciting but also took their mind off of why they were there in the first place.”

“Working with children is a unique component of this organization,” began chapter member Wajiha Akiff, a research assistant on campus. “I’m premed, and (Project Sunshine) is the humanity aspect of medicine that you don’t see.”

When speaking with Taby and Yang, they recalled their first experience with a patient during spring quarter. The pair was visiting RUHS for their first direct hospital service event. “At first he was playing video games, and he just wanted to play video games,” began Taby. “The first five minutes he was hesitant, like ‘who are these people with yellow shirts.’ After we talked with him and finished making crafts with him, he wanted to wrap them and give them to his mom because she bought him a pair of shoes. He wanted to write on them, ‘I love you, mom.’ This boy does not know how to spell, but he knew his alphabet. So, we helped him

spell it out. It was probably one of the most touching moments I ever had.”

Afterward, the patient told them, “You guys are the best people I ever met in the hospital.”

“You’ll see after you leave that they’ll still want you to be there,” Taby commented. She also recalled how later on the patient waved when he saw them in the hall. The experience allowed Taby to see the positive impact Project Sunshine can have on patients.

Akiff also volunteered during the same hospital visit and made clay figurines with a different patient. “It’s beautiful that you can go and bring a smile to a child’s face. You play with them and you make their day a little bit better. Just the little things in life

makes the bleak place of a hospital a little more lively, especially for such a young patient,” she commented.

For the 2018-19 academic year, Taby has been elected to be the chapter’s president. Her goals for the organization include getting more medical students involved and expanding the chapter to other hospitals while also continuing to work efficiently with RUHS, the current hospital that they are working with.

Project Sunshine’s next kitmaking event will be on Thursday, April 26 at 5 p.m. in HUB 265.

For more information on joining the chapter, people can contact the club at their Facebook page (@ ProjectSunshineUCR) or through Highlander Link.

■H

COURTESY OF PROJECT SUNSHINE

DOUBLELIFT SPEAKS ON TEAM LIQUID AND CAREER EXPERIENCES AT “BEYOND THE RIFT” MARCELO GARCIA Senior Staff Writer

“Everyone else is trash” were the words uttered by Peter Yiliang Peng in an interview following a dominate victory at the 2013 League of Legends All-Star Event. Peng, better known by his pro-name “Doublelift,” is a longtime professional League of Legends player, who is known for his mechanical skill and notorious trash talk, in and out of game. With four North American League of Legends Championship Series (NALCS) titles on three different teams, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in North America, with more than enough stats to back up his words. However, after almost five years since that fateful interview, Peng has demonstrated a development in character beyond just the bad-mouthed Attack Damage Carry (ADC) of the West.

Students saw and heard this newfound maturity from the man himself at the ASPB-hosted event “Beyond the Rift,” where Peng spoke with moderator and Highlander Gaming President Sabrina Wong and answered questions from an audience of over 200 attendees on Monday, April 16 in HUB 302. During the event, Peng talked about his past

experiences as a NALCS player, as well as the team dynamic of his current organization Team Liquid (TL), which recently won the 2018 Spring Split tournament with a completely new roster of five players, including Peng. “I’m really grateful because my teammates have enabled me,” he explained.

“Whenever I make a mistake (in game), my teammates are willing to go in and die for me. Bjergsen (Peng’s close friend and former teammate) wouldn’t do that by the way,” he joked, much to the laughter of the audience.

Doublelift also spoke on the initial reaction of fans and analysts alike to TL’s poor teamplay at the start of the spring. “Joining Liquid, the expectations were pretty low,” he described. “At the beginning, we were just getting destroyed by everyone in the LCS, so everyone was counting us out. But I think it’s that underdog mentality that helped bring everyone together as a team.”

As a professional who has played since Season 1 of LCS, Peng reflected on the growth of eSports since his arrival on the scene in 2011. “Season 1 World Championships was really small,” he explained. “It had a $100,000 prize pool and about 50 people in the audience.

Now we’re selling out Madison Square Garden for thousands of people. It’s

nuts.” Peng’s perspective on the growth of eSports is shared by those both those who involved in the community, as well as outside observers.

In 2015 former NBA player and threetime NBA champion Rick Fox made waves when he founded his own eSports franchise, Echo Fox. While the team never saw much success in past years, they finished the Spring Split in third, surpassing old guard franchises such as Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) and Team SoloMid (TSM). Fox has not only

invested into the industry, but helped remove some of the past stigmas held toward eSports, fervently advocating that eSports are a true sport.

Following his conversation with Wong, Peng answered questions from the audience, many of which gave words of encouragement in light of his mother’s recent death and father’s hospitalization.

Following the Q&A, a small meet-andgreet was held where fans could take pictures and receive autographs from one of the NALCS’ all-time greats.

■H

JIMMY LAI / HIGHLANDER

14

FEATURES

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2018

UNDER THE

KILT

Getting cheated on is a risk that everyone takes when entering a relationship. Sometimes in a relationship, people face a sense of suspicion that lingers within them. When faced with these emotions, it is critical to remain collected and level-headed, because at the end of it all, it may just be a suspicion.

Naturally all relationships start off strong, but then slowly dwindle leaving you with questions of doubt. If you think your partner is cheating on you, first try to assess the foundation upon which your relationship was built. Next, assess the amount of trust you have in your partner by analyzing the type of conversation you guys have. If your conversations are often shallow, try to ask them simple questions that may lead to a deeper topic. This will open doors of conversation for you guys to strengthen your relationship by knowing the little things about each other.

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/features

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU THINK YOUR PARTNER IS CHEATING VIVIAN KIM, CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Find an outlet to talk about everything you have noticed — possible options are talking to a friend or writing everything out. This will help you stop overthinking and allow for you to clearly assess your current situation. Overthinking can lead to an over-analysis of your partner’s actions, leading you to create hypotheticals in your head. You will always feel your partner is acting cold and distant if you feed yourself the notion they are. Try to walk into the situation with a clear head to allow yourself to truly observe their actions free of bias. Take more notice on how, not why, they are acting different to have a better gauge if they really have changed.

Finally, if you truly think they are cheating on you, it is best to confront your partner. The keyword is confront, not attack. Explain to them how their recent actions have made you feel insecure in your relationship. There needs to be mutual respect and finally ad-

dressing your concerns will prove that you want to give your partner the benefit of the doubt. Keeping this in mind, it’s also equally important that you listen to your partner. Listen to what your significant other has to say, because there may be a wide array of reasons that explain their behavior. Words are powerful, and when they are used incorrectly they can tear a person down.

With this is mind, be very mindful of your word choice when while speaking to them.

It’s expected this conversation might lead to complete shock or even anger from your significant other. However keep in mind emotions are tricky because they are out of our control. Express how you can’t help but feel this way because of their recent actions. In addition, keep in mind your significant other is also entitled to their own emotions. Being accused of cheating is a blow to their dignity so approach it with

caution.

The most tempting solution is to snoop around their belongings, but please do not because that is a violation of their privacy and trust. This action alone can end your relationship because it shows you can’t trust them enough, so you had to take matters into your own hands. Consider why your partner is making you feel so insecure that you are actually willing to be just as sneaky to go behind their back to find out what they have been doing. If there is a complete lack of trust between the two of you, then you should definitely consider whether the relationship was healthy to begin with.

The thought of your partner cheating can drive you insane, so always try to take a step back to assess the situation at hand, and communicate with your partner. At the end of the day, the only person who can confirm if they are cheating is your partner.

■H

The 2017.5 Mazda 6 The Fast Lane Chiraag Dave Senior Staff Writer

Aging Gracefully

Powertrain & Chassis (5) Acceleration 3.5 Transmission 4 Fuel Economy 4 Steering Feel & Handling 4.5 Brake Feel 4 Ride 4 Value 4 COURTESY OF MAZDA

When shopping for a midsize family sedan, most shoppers turn to the two quintessential choices: The Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. Both cars are known for their legendary reliability and overall build quality and have always been the go-to choices for buyers. In recent years, however, several automakers have begun to pick up the pace and try to capture chunks of the market share away from Honda and Toyota. When the current generation Mazda 6 joined us back in 2014, it became known as the most stylish and sporty sedan in its class. Its sharp handling and luxurious interior made it the ultimate value in the class and the best option that wasn’t from Honda or Toyota. However, since then, Honda and Toyota have respectively gone back to the drawing boards and debuted all-new versions of the Accord and Camry that give the 6 a true run for its money. So where does the 6 stand now amidst its new and improved competition?

Despite being an aging entrant in its class, you would hardly be able to tell by just looking at the 6. The 6 is still one of the most handsome midsize sedans on sale today, boasting sleek and sexy lines benefitting from Mazda’s elegant and attractive Kodo design language. The sharp LED headlamps and LEDlit grill give the car a much

more premium and distinctive look over the rather forgettablelooking competitors such as the Honda Accord.

Nothing quite sets the 6 apart from its competition like the interior though. Similarly to the reactions to the Mazda 3 I had previously tested, many of my passengers were in awe of the excellent build quality and fit and finish of the 6. Like the 3, the 6 maintains a fixed tablet-like center screen which pops up from the dash with symmetrically laid out controls below it. My tester was equipped with beautiful parchment leather which adorned the dash as well as the seats, giving the interior a very upscale and sophisticated look. I found the cockpit itself very comfortable, having enough head and knee room, and the backseat was exceptionally roomy as well. However, the infotainment system is where the 6 shows its age. Although straightforward and simple to use overall, the infotainment system was slow to respond for the most part and visually looked dated, further evidenced by the lack of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. Yet despite that, the 6’s interior is still class-leading and looks much more premium and expensive than it really is.

In the last decade or so, Mazda has established themselves for making the most driver-focused

Interior/Exterior (5) Front Seat Comfort/Space 4 Rear Seat Comfort/Space 4 Cargo Space 4 Fit and Finish 5 Features 4.5 Interior Styling 4.5 Exterior Styling 4.5

overall: 4.2/5

cars in their class. The 6 doesn’t have jaw dropping performance figures and won’t be beating much off the line at a stoplight but what the 6 offers instead is amazing handling and driving satisfaction that is essentially unavailable for a car of this size at this price point. The 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine puts out 184 horsepower and will push the 6 to 60 miles an hour in about 7.5 seconds. The four banger is refined and feels enthusiastic when accelerating but noticeably falls short on power at higher speeds. That could be remedied by opting for a bigger engine, like you can on the Honda Accord or Toyota Camry, but the 2.5-liter four-cylinder is the only available engine on the 6. Where the 6 lacks in power, it makes up for in handling. For a frontwheel drive sedan, the 6 handles wonderfully. The steering has a great sporty feel to it and the chassis responds predictably to inputs. The 6 does all this without sacrificing ride quality; there is nearly zero body roll or wallow in turns.

Despite being in the last stages of its current generation, the 6 doesn’t feel as outdated as some other cars in this class. The 6 comes available with a slew of high-end driver assistance features such as a head-up display with traffic sign recognition, lane-keep assist

Engine 2.5-liter DOHC inline 4-cylinder Transmission Six-speed Automatic; Sixspeed Manual Horsepower 184hp @ 5700 RPM Torque 185lb-ft @ 3250 RPM 0-60 7.5 seconds 0-100 19.2 seconds Top Speed 130 mph (governor limited) Fuel Economy 28 city/40 highway Base Price $21,945 price as tested $35,000

and a blind spot monitor just to name a few. My top-of-the-line Grand Touring model had every option checked off, coming with the aforementioned options in addition to rear cross traffic alert, a Bose premium sound system, navigation and a radar-assisted cruise control. Some of these features can’t even be had as an option on competitors and are typically found on much more expensive and higher-end cars making the 6 feel all the more premium.

The 6 is an all around fantastic car but it does have its shortcomings, albeit very few. The infotainment system feels ancient and is slow to react and operate and even lacks Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. The system itself was frustrating at times to use when driving and could use a much needed update. The main shortcoming the 6 faces, however, is the lack of a larger or more powerful engine. My test vehicle cost nearly $35,000 and an equivalently priced Honda Accord or Toyota Camry can be had with significantly more powerful turbocharged fourcylinder engines or even sixcylinder engines.

Mazda has already shown us the new 2018 Mazda 6 which is a heavily refreshed version of the vehicle I reviewed. With the new 6, Mazda will finally add

a turbocharged 2.5 liter fourcylinder, making 250 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque, which will finally make the 6 much more competitive and even more fun-to-drive. Mazda has lightly restyled both the interior and exterior as well and will add new features such as ventilated seats, parking sensors and a 360 degree camera.

The Mazda 6 is at the very end of its life cycle but despite being an aging entrant in the highly competitive segment, the 6 still manages to remain a contender. The 6’s brilliantly tuned suspension, excellent fuel economy and premium cabin create a perfectly packaged driver-focused car at a very competitive price point. It’s that formula that makes the current 6 a solid pick over cars like the Honda Accord or Toyota Camry, new or used.

Chief Competitors: Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, Volkswagen Passat, Kia Optima, Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy The car used in this review was provided courtesy of Mazda USA. Are you in the market for a new or used car but don’t know where to start? Reach out to me at thefastlane.highlander@ gmail.com and I’ll help you with the search.

■H

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2018

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/arts

15

Radar

MOVIE REVIEW GOOD INTENTIONS CAN’T SALVAGE HOW UGLY “I FEEL PRETTY” IS JULIAN MEDRANDA Senior Staff Writer

Love or hate her, Amy Schumer’s ascent to comedy stardom should come as no surprise to anyone. The brand of self-deprecatory stand-up comedy she has become recognized for, which has always paralleled her male counterparts’, is low common denominator entertainment, coupled with a raunch factor and unabashed demeanor to sharpen the edge that already singled her out. This was an earnest period in the comedian’s career where the word “funny” could accurately describe her material, before the dullness and joke theft set in. If not for the wide appeal of her feminist platform, she may have fared much worse in the entertainment industry and not been given the opportunity to star in hit films like “Trainwreck,”

COURTESY OF STXFILMS

“Snatched” and, most recently, “I Feel Pretty.” It’s a shame, really, that she’s not only managed to fail at being funny for so long, but she’s also managed to miscarry her position as the feminist icon so many have framed her to be.

“I Feel Pretty” is the latest Schumer comedy vehicle with aims at social commentary, and though its thin veneer of body-positive virtue signaling suggests more on its mind than the average romp, the reality is a sloppy film with incongruous confidence. It’s the directorial debut of screenwriting duo Marc Silverstein and Abby Kohn (“Valentine’s Day,” “The Vow,” “How to be Single”), which lends at least some credit to Schumer herself, who served as a producer and plays the lead. Poor casting choice aside, she is hardly the main target of ire here.

The plot here is one told many times over, though through different means. Renee (Schumer) lacks confidence in herself, constantly inundated with reminders that she doesn’t check off every mark of ideal Western beauty standards. Inspired (in admittedly clever irony) by the wishmaking of a young David Moscow in the 1988 film “Big,” she tosses a coin in a fountain in hopes of becoming beautiful. The next day, an accident during a SoulCycle class warps her perception, flipping her selfdoubt into self-love. “I’m beautiful!” she cries, and while this newfound confidence aids her love life and lands her the dream job of receptionist at the makeup company she previously did tech support for, her surface-level understanding of beauty convolutes her relationship with friends and her own self.

For what it’s worth, the messages in “I Feel Pretty” are well-intentioned. So, should this film be cut some slack because it agrees that there’s more to people than how attractive they are? Not really. On all levels, “I Feel Pretty” is a tepid husk of a film whose GAP commercialtype platitudinous stance on gender inequities crumble the instant they near actual insight. The screenplay Silverstein and Kohn penned is so nearsighted it’s hard to believe this film was, from the onset, a genuine attempt at empowering

people with legitimate self-esteem issues.

Are we really — like, really, really, like no bullshitting really — supposed to buy into this focus-tested pandering so much that we should glance over how bafflingly contradictory it is that the character’s “big speech” about body positivity pays lip service to a corporation perpetuating toxic beauty standards? It’s a toothless spiel from Renee’s mouth at best, a glaringly huge lack of selfawareness from the writers that adds more to the problem at worst. If the aim was to poke holes at the character’s absurdly airtight conviction that physical attractiveness is the basis of beauty, the transgressions in mocking this film’s idea of conventionally unattractive women fail to be funny or insightful. It’s painful to reflect on the $32 million that went into pushing out a film with ideas this absurd. If “I Feel Pretty” is anything like Renee’s newly transformed, confident self, it’s all the more a hilarious read.

As shocking at is may be, Schumer herself is the best part in this film — which, of course, says very little.

Setting aside personal disdain, she displays some chops at physical comedy that some may get a kick out of. Maybe.

Probably not, because the physical comedy is poorly constructed; what she does offer, however, is a suggestion that she is comfortable taking lessons from the physical comedy school of Lucille Ball.

Verdict: “I Feel Pretty” might have had some scrap of integrity early in the writing process, but the final product is a joke of a social commentary, and as much a comedy film as a tickle fight is an attempted murder. It’s hard to imagine this appealing to anyone other than people who aren’t acquainted with the fact that even those lumped outside of socially constructed notions of beauty are (surprise!) human, too. It’s what on the inside that counts, and “I Feel Pretty” is not a good movie.

■H

IF TRUE, THE “CALL OF DUTY” RUMORS SAY ALOT ABOUT THE FUTURE OF AAA GAMES JULIAN MEDRANDA Senior Staff Writer

There’s a running joke among fans of the “Call of Duty” franchise that players worth their salt don’t bother with the campaign or, at the very least, that engaging with the mode is an afterthought contra the massively popular modes of multiplayer and zombies. For a while though, the series’ single-player mode was highly regarded for its thrilling setpieces a la Hollywood blockbusters and an assortment of memorable, if simple, characters.

The short and sweet of this is, essentially, that Activision’s got the online multiplayer gameplay loop down to a science, despite relapses in game balance. Most gamers simply can’t be bothered for a story-driven experience that veers from this formula.

While hero shooters (read: “Overwatch” and its imitators) have emerged to popularity in

recent years, no other subgenre than the recently booming battle royale shooter has come close to dethroning “Call of Duty” as the most profitable, most played title. Given the success of “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” and “Fortnite: Battle Royale,” the rumors that Activision’s top-selling property might be abandoning its singleplayer campaign in favor of a battle royale mode raises no brows.

A report form Polygon speculates that the upcoming title in the “Call of Duty” series, “Black Ops IIII” (not “IV,” “IIII,” don’t ask why), scrapped its longrunning single-player mode late in development. Their sources say that in lieu of a traditional singleplayer mode, greater emphasis has been placed on strengthening multiplayer and zombies as well as inserting a battle royale mode come launch date. Paired with the plausibilty of a multiplayer-less “Modern Warfare 2” remaster, the

COURTESY OF ACTIVISION

future of “Call of Duty” is taking unexpected twists and turns that could potentially influence other developers’ and publishers’ game release strategies.

This isn’t really surprising, but upsetting nonetheless. On one hand, dropping campaign is a blow that most of “Call of Duty” players won’t hurt from, and multiplayer and zombies could greatly use some more refinement.

But considering “Call of Duty’”s place in the gaming industry as console players’ mainstay casual shooter, they’re setting an example to other publishers that this strategy is the way to go for profit margins. “Fortnite” is only getting bigger in player base and relevancy, and as the genre develops, it’s not unwise for Activision to take the series in this direction. Time will only tell how (if at all) they choose to innovate within the genre.

What effects, other than inspiring a wave of franchises adopting a battle royale mode to their new installments a la wavebased horde modes post-“Gears of War,” this may have on the gaming industry more broadly is yet to be seen though it’s safe to say the days of the modern military shooter patriarch are near gone.

Health bars, not regenerating health, prerequisite battle royales and the clashing between “Call of Duty’”s gameplay philosophies and the last-man-standing bloodbath is something very intriguing, conflicting even.

At best, the battle royale mode purportedly developed

by Raven Software will be a high production value game — perhaps not likely to implement groundbreaking tweaks to the battle royale formula but technically sound and responsive.

The worst effect, which unfortunately has been a trend

COURTESY OF EPIC GAMES

in past years, will likely be that story modes as a whole will drop off in numbers. Games-for-profit designs are more worthwhile to publishers like Activision or Epic, leaving narratively satisfying experiences a relic of a different time in gaming. A flooded market of battle royales distinguished only on the micro level is sure to follow (and a fatigue along with it).

There’s only so much speculation can accomplish though, and the “Black Ops IIII” reveal on May 17 is sure to leave plenty to discuss, like a tangible

setting and aesthetic and the upcoming “Modern Warfare 2” remaster. This news comes around the same time that anxieties about the future of online gaming in the wake of “Fornite’”s celebrity status trigger waves of anti-battle royale sentiment, especially as new modes for existing properties.

For people still interested in the series, it may be interesting so far as you’re willing to play it; for everyone else, Activision’s moves will determine a lot of the change we’re bound to be witnessing in the coming years of the industry both large-scale and indie.

■H

16

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2018

HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/sports

Sports

Highlander World Cup Halftime Group D, Part I The 2018 World Cup in Russia is still months away, and some teams are still being put together.

However, that’s not stopping the Highlander from breaking down every group to give you a comprehensive overview leading up to the first kickoff.

Jose Flores, Contributing Writer

Nigeria FIFA Ranking:

Iceland FIFA Rank-

ing: 22 World Cup Appearances: 0 First Appearance: 2018 Last Appearance: N/A Best result: Group Stage elimination

50 World Cup Appearances: 5 First Appearance: 1994 Last Appearance: 2014 Best result: Round of 16, 1994, 1998, 2014 Coach: Gernot Rohr, German (2016-present). Previously coached Burkina Faso, (2015).

Coach: Heimir Hallgrimsson (Iceland), Iceland’s coach since 2013. Previously coached Iceland as assistant manager from 20112013.

Players to watch:

Players to watch:

Alex Iwobi The 21-year-old striker played for the England national team in the U-16, U-17 and U-18 squad before making a one-time switch to the Green Eagles. Iwobi has played in England his whole career which has given him the experience to place himself in the Nigerian national team lineup. Although he isn’t a starter at Arsenal, Iwobi possesses the traits to lead the Eagles to a surprise run in Russia. The left winger can dribble down the left flank and place crosses into the box with ease.

Although he is questioned for his consistency on the pitch, Iwobi undeniably has talent that he can display in the World Cup. This can earn him a move to a championship contending team or a spot on Arsenal’s starting lineup.

Gylfi Sigurdsson The 28-year-old Everton player is undoubtedly Iceland’s most talented player. After playing in English soccer for most of his career, Sigurdsson will finally play in his first World Cup. The 6’1 midfielder has great vision, ball control and free-kick taking technique. Sigurdsson, along with Aron Gunnarsson, are the leaders of the Iceland national team. Both of these players can demonstrate how vital they are to the success of the team in Russia if they manage to perform well.

Victor Moses Just like his compatriot, Alex Iwobi, Victor Moses had played for the England squad before making a permanent switch to the Nigerian team. A regular for Chelsea, Victor Moses is a strong, yet fast right winger who can score goals as well as place great crosses for forwards to finish on the box. Having played in the last World Cup in Brazil, Victor Moses has the experience to lead his team for generations to come. In what will probably be Captain John Obi Mikel’s last World Cup, Victor Moses must demonstrate he can be the leader Nigeria needs to be one of the surprise teams in Russia.

Potential lineup: Enyeama- Idowu, Awaziem, Troost-Ekong, Ebuehi- Ndidi, Onazi, Obi- Iwobi, Musa, Moses Formation: 4-3-3 Prediction: Group Stage elimination

Aron Gunnarsson Perhaps the most passionate soccer player in the world, Aron Gunnarsson is the captain of the Iceland national team. Despite not always displaying the skills of a talented player, Gunnarsson always demonstrates his commitment to the national team by fighting for every ball and commanding the midfield. Although he isn’t very talented, the duo he makes with the talented Gylfi Sigurdsson compensates for this. After leading Iceland to a surprise quarterfinal finish in the EURO 2016, Gunnarsson can also lead Iceland to a surprise finish in Russia 2018.

Potential lineup: Halldorsson- Sævarsson, Arnason, R.Sigurdsson, Mnagusson- Gudmundsson, Gunnarsson, Hallfredsson, Bjarnason- G. Sigurdsson- Finnbogason Formation: 4-4-1-1 Prediction: 3rd in group, group stage elimination Matches: Vs. Argentina, 6/16 Vs. Nigeria, 6/22 Vs. Croatia, 6/26

Matches: Vs. Croatia, 6/16 Vs. Iceland, 6/22 Vs. Argentina, 6/26

■H

Around Athletics ZIYAYE CHONGWE Contributing Writer

Softball loses two in doubleheader

Le named to All-Big West

On Saturday, UCR softball took on UC Davis in the first two games of the series scheduled for the weekend. In the first game, the Highlanders lost a close one, 2-3, as Davis racked up 12 hits in a extra inning win in game one. The hits continued for Davis as they added 13 more in game two, giving them a 9-2 victory in the second game.

During the Big West Championship, the women’s golf team were able to finish in sixth as a group. For senior Hannah Facchini, her eighthplace finish was her third top-10 finish of this season, as she scored a 223 (74-73-76) over the weekend. She was supported by Jakeishya Le’s score of a weekend-best 71 on the final day. With her success on the course, Le was awarded her third straight All Big West win.

Men’s tennis drop two straight In their first match of the week last Thursday, UCR took on Hawai’i at home. UCR’s singles teams were led by sophomore Gilbert Chung (6-3, 6-1), freshman Vigesh Subramanyan’s (6-2, 6-2) and junior Kyle McCann’s (7-5, 6-3) scores, but that was not enough, as Hawai’i took the overall win by winning the doubles sets. Things got worse for the men on Saturday against UC Davis. The men were only able to win two matches over the weekend out of a total of nine. One of those wins came from sophomore Nabil Abdellah, who scored a 6-2 and 6-1 in his singles match against Davis’s Arjith Jayaraman.

HIGHLANDER

HOT TAKES Why Brad Stevens should be Coach of the Year

JARYD BONGCARAS Contributing Writer

To say the least, this season’s Celtics team has overachieved.

From losing Gordon Hayward on opening night, to Kyrie Irving going down with lingering knee issues, Stevens has done a phenomenal job of maximizing each player’s potential, making him the clear-cut winner for Coach of the Year.

He’s has had to go deeper into the C’s roster, with young studs like Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier coming up big when needed. Stevens has also done his best to alleviate as much pressure he can off of Irving, running offensive plays that have nearly everyone else on the team take the ball up the court.

The majority of NBA teams often concede and make sure their star player has the ball. Stevens’ system forces everyone to get comfortable with handling the ball on isolation plays, which means there’s more offensive threats for opposing teams to worry about.

Most would say that Raptors coach Dwane Casey is the shoein for coach of the year, especially since having the Rockets’ Mike D’Antoni be a back-to-back winner is unheard of. The case for Casey is that his Raptors are sitting atop of the Eastern Conference with a 59-23 record, the best record so far in franchise history.

And although this feat is impressive, it’s less so compared to what Stevens has had to deal with.

Casey has had two All-Stars on his roster for the past five years that have been waiting to make the transition from a good team to a great one. It’s more expected from Casey’s squad to succeed because of their experience and star power, and it took until this season — though injuries to other East teams helped — to get the number one seed.

Stevens’ success was not expected to be at this level. He’s helped will an injury-riddled Celtics team to get the two seed, seemingly doing almost as much as Casey has with much less to work with. This year’s roster is almost entirely different from last year’s, and more adjustments were made once Marcus Smart and Daniel Theis were sidelined with injuries too.

Nobody else stands out as Coach of the Year as much as Stevens has this season, and it’s about time for him to be recognized for his work.

■H

Baseball lose three of four UCR’s baseball team dropped two games last week against Hawaii and Grand Canyon University. In the first game against Hawaii, they gave up four runs in the first before being shutout. In the next game, they lost 1-6 as GCU out hit them by a margin of 12-6.

And over the weekend, the Highlanders’ bad week continued as they split two games against San Jose State. Their win on Friday ended a two-game losing streak, but was short lived in a 3-5 loss on Saturday.

■H

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS