DAILY 49ER California State University, Long Beach
Vol. LIX, Issue 825
www.daily49er.com
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
A BRIEF
RAIN
REIGNS ON CAMPUS On average, Long Beach recieves about 2.22 inches of rainfall in March, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Greg Diaz | Daily 49er
A CSULB student dashes for cover as the rain begins to fall in the courtyard between the Liberal Arts 3 and 4 buildings on Monday.
MONDAY
TUES
WED
THUR
FRI
At approximately 10 a.m. on Monday, an elusive rainstorm accompanied by thunder and lightning plagued California State University, Long Beach. A brief stint of hail followed in the moments before the clouds parted; then the day transitioned into a sunny afternoon. The high temperature peaked at 61 degrees Fahrenheit around 2 p.m., with winds reaching 8 miles per hour.
The national weather service anticipates a 20 percent chance of showers before 10 a.m. Meteorologists estimate the high temperature at 61 degrees with winds of 5-10 miles per hour.
It should be smooth sailing from here on out; sunny skies can be expected through the day. Meteorologists anticipate a high temperature of 65 degrees and winds of 5-10 miles per hour.
Sunshine will kiss the campus throughout the day, accompanied by a high temperature of 70 degrees. The average high for March 5 is typically 67 degrees, according to Wea Weather Spark.
National Weather Station anticipates sunny clear skies and a high of 73 degrees. Meteorologists anticipate a 0 percent chance of rain and winds averaging at about 10 miles per hour.
What the hail? Hail forms when strong updrafts push ice crystals back up into the clouds, accumulating ice until they become heavy. By Danielle Carson Print Manager
A thunderstorm on Monday morning quenched Southern California, but along with it came an icy surprise brewed by the perfect potion for precipitation. With the right combination of moisture and wind, hail momentarily replaced torrents of rain in Los Angeles at around 11 a.m. Monday. “It is a little unusual in Southern California, less usual than in other parts of the country,” Dr. David Pepper of the California State University, Long Beach geography department said. Thunderstorms materialize from low-pressure systems that form when warm, moist air rises from the Earth’s surface, according to the department of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University. Pepper said the low-pressure system creates a “mid-latitude cyclone” that pushes air up through
News 2
the center and directly into the atmosphere. Low-pressure systems differ from high-pressure systems, which have the opposite effect and usually produce the clear skies that Long Beach boasts for the majority of the year. “[In a low pressure system,] air is rising in the center, and air at the surface is rushing in to fill the space as the air in the center rises,” Pepper said. “This causes winds to start to rotate.” Quickly rising winds, or updrafts, combine with condensation of moist vapor to form cumulonimbus clouds. These build further up into the atmosphere, where it is much colder than at the earth’s surface. While Long Beach’s streets were around 55 degrees, the clouds above were below freezing, which made the water droplets in the clouds freeze into ice crystals. “The mechanism is, that these small ice crystals fall, and updrafts carry them back up and keep making them bigger,” Pepper said. As the updrafts continually churn the ice crystals back up into the freezing clouds, the crystals accumulate more layers of ice, getting larger until the force of the up-moving wind can no longer support their weight. The icy nuggets will then fall to the ground.
Men’s Volleyball
Breaking the streak
Bobby Yagake | Daily 49er
Long Beach State looks to snap its four-game losing streak in its upcoming matchup against No. 8 UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday.
See SLUMP, page 8
See HAIL, page 2
Opinions 4
Diversions 6
Sports 8
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Tuesday, March 3, 2015
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News
Nebraska’s same-sex marriage ban struck down; appeal pending NEBRASKA - A federal judge on Monday blocked Nebraska’s voterapproved ban on same-sex marriage, though the ruling will not take effect immediately. In his ruling issuing a preliminary injunction in the case, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bataillon said it's time to bring the "unequal provision to an end." "For the majority of married couples, those without children in the home, marriage is a legal and emotional commitment to the welfare of their partner. The state clearly has the right to encourage couples to marry and provide support for one another," Bataillon wrote. Though Bataillon denied a request from state officials to stay his decision, he delayed the date the injunction would take effect to March 9 to give officials time to deal with potential administrative problems. In response to Bataillon's ruling, Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson filed an appeal with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The decision came in a lawsuit supported by the American Civil Liberties Union
Lawmakers face another risk of shutting down Homeland Security WASHINGTON — With no political solution in sight, Congress faces another deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security by midnight Friday — a do-over of last week’s bitter battle as Republicans try to stop President Barack Obama’s immigration plans. The Republican-led House and Senate narrowly avoided a crisis late last week by compromising with Democrats to temporarily fund the department, which oversees the nation’s vast domestic security and anti-terrorism apparatus, for seven more days. Republican leaders vowed to continue pursuing their strategy because they view Obama’s attempt to defer deportations for up to 5 million immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally as an abuse of executive power. So far, the GOP strategy has failed in the face of Democratic opposition, as most members of the president’s party agree with Obama’s action. Moreover, Republican leaders have struggled to form a coherent way out of the impasse. Senate Republicans last week joined Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and agreed to a bipartisan bill with Democrats to fund the department until September, and put the immigration fight on a separate track. But Republicans in the House under Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, balked. Republican leaders now want the House and Senate to go to a conference committee to resolve their differences, but that effort failed Monday. McConnell opened the Senate on Monday as Republicans sought support from the handful of Demo-
cratic senators who have publicly disagreed with the president over his immigration action. “This week promises to be a busy one,” McConnell said. “I’d invite our Democratic friends to drop all the negativity and drop all the gridlock — join Republicans in advancing a positive agenda for the American people.” Most Democrats filibustered Monday evening’s vote, however, preferring to fund the Homeland Security Department now and hold a separate immigration debate. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., explained that Democrats were blocking the conference committee move because “it will be counterproductive” and fail to produce a compromise, so long as Republicans insist on adding the restrictions on immigration. “Senate Democrats will not be a party to yet another Republican charade that will inevitably shut down the Department of Homeland Security and put our nation at risk,” Reid said. The measure failed to advance, 47-43, a party-line vote that was short of the 60 needed. A separate vote to table the bill _ in essence punting the issue back to the House _ passed with a simple majority, 5831 _ as McConnell and Republican leaders joined Democrats. The outcome left Congress at a stalemate, with funding now set to expire again Friday. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has pleaded with Congress to provide stable funding for his department, which oversees border patrol, airport screenings, Coast Guard, Secret Service and other critical security operations.
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Officials said more than 200,000 employees of front line agencies would be required to show up for work without pay if Congress fails to act. But thousands of others would be furloughed, and numerous services and offices would be shut down across the country until the budget is restored. Though back pay is often provided after shutdowns, it is not guaranteed. Boehner and his leadership were set to assemble their majority for early Tuesday for a meeting. And late Monday, former Vice President Dick Cheney met at the Capitol with a group of key GOP lawmakers headed by Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., who is responsible for rounding up votes on bills. Cheney, who had been invited almost a month ago to talk about foreign policy, was himself a whip when he served in the House. As the week headed toward a repeat of last week’s showdown, which wasn’t resolved until just hours before the midnight funding deadline, some lawmakers held out hopes that cooler heads would prevail. The House is set to recess by Thursday afternoon so lawmakers can spend the following week away from Washington, and many lawmakers already have fundraisers and events planned in their home districts. But with a new deadline ahead, Congress may be more likely to push the issue to the brink. —Lisa Mascaro Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS) Staff writer Michael A. Memoli in Washington contributed to this story.
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CORRECTION In Monday’s issue of the Daily 49er, the pie chart that went with article titled “Students vote against fee” should have indicated that blank votes comprised 5 percent of the vote.
in which seven couples challenged the ban on gay marriage. The case includes plaintiffs Susan and Sally Waters of Omaha, who were legally married in California in 2008. They returned to their native Nebraska in 2010, and in 2013, Sally Waters was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. Without formal recognition of their marriage, Susan wasn't able to receive the same tax and Social Security benefits to take care of the couple's children. In 2000, 70 percent of Nebraska voters supported a constitutional amendment that recognized marriage as strictly being between a man and a woman. The amendment also outlawed any civil unions or domestic partnerships between same-sex couples in the state. Several states, including Ohio and South Dakota, have similar voterapproved bans on same-sex marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to decide later this year whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. - Kurtis Lee, Los Angeles Times
HAIL
continued from page 1
A llen J. Schaben | L os A ngeles Times
A surfer gets ready to head into the water as a blanket of hail covers the beach justing south of the Huntington Beach pier, Monday, March 2, 2015 in Huntington.
The stronger the updraft, the larger the hailstones tend to be. Although the storm mainly white washed the shores of Huntington Beach, Pepper said the Great Plains would be the ideal terrain for these conditions, because there is a lesser chance that mountains would obstruct the updrafts. “In the western U.S., there’s often not enough moisture to have really big thunderstorm clouds,” he said. Pepper said that for meteorologists, forecasting its location is still fairly difficult. “I think the biggest hailstorm I remember in this general area was in South LA near Watts a few years ago,” he said. “It can really happen anywhere.” While Long Beach was hit with a brief storm, the mountains were gathering snow. Pepper said that although the icy pebbles and snowflakes may seem to be related, they form through completely different processes. Snow falls under slightly drier conditions when the atmospheric temperature is below freezing, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. The difference between
snow and hail is that, snow crystals grow by absorbing surrounding water droplets and fall once they get heavy enough, and unlike hail stones, are not pushed back up into the clouds. Unlike hail, Fluffy snowflakes fall most often in the mountains, where the peaks block winds that would otherwise break apart the ice crystals. Some CSULB students were able to catch a glimpse, or at least an earful, of the quick hailstorm. Richard Manly, a CSULB Alumnus and senior writer at CSULB university relations, said he was completely caught off guard by the hailstorm. “This is historic,” Manly said. “I understand it even hailed down in Huntington Beach. When was the last time that ever happened?” Katy Gneier, a customer service representative at the 49er bookstore, said that the sounds and sight of hail bouncing all over campus made she and fellow students uneasy. “We always get a lot of people who kind of panic any time water of any sort starts to fall from the sky,” Gneier said, “and so we tend to sell a bunch [of umbrellas].”
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CSU SOFA endorses Freedom of Association Act
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C a m p u s Vo i c e
What’s your favorite kind of weather?
The act would allow exclusivity CSU organizations to be exclusive. By Riva Lu
Contributing Writer
The California State University, Long Beach Student Freedom of Association Act intends to reform the “open membership” policy so that student groups can co-exist on campus, SOFA stated in a press release Friday. By adhering to the “open membership” requirement, many student organizations are made “vulnerable,” according to CSU SOFA. Clubs are required to accept members or leaders to their group who may disagree with the basic tenants of their groups. “Reforming the ‘open membership’ can be beneficial because it ensures that no organization is kept off of campus because of its view points,” Joseph Cohn, the legislative and policy director of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, said. Founded in September 2014 by Nate and Logan Honeycutt, CSU SOFA aims to unify CSU student organizations and other concerned individuals to advocate with a unified voice for comprehensive reform pertaining to the “Open Membership” policy mandated by CSU Executive Order 1068. According to the CSU SOFA website, diversity is created when students take initiative to form organizations that reflect their interests, passions and goals, and use these groups to advocate for their particular cause. If a student did not like a club they were currently active at on campus, they could create their own club, the website stated. “The bill is a positive step toward protecting student organizations on public university campuses in California,” Honeycutt said. “Too many
student groups have been forced to compromise their values and kicked off campus because they refused to compromise.” Cohn said that goal of the bill is to ensure that all students “find a home” within CSU organizations. “It is about trying to make sure that individuals can find organizations that represent their own view points without the university saying which views are acceptable and what views aren’t,” Cohn said. Cohn said that if there were a club devoted to Evangelical Christians, and a Catholic member joined or a member of the LBGT community, the club would not fully be one for Evangelical Christians and their strict beliefs. Instead of having multiple different viewpoints within a group, CSU SOFA petitioned to allow individuals the right to have their own separate organizations so that all voices are heard within a group without any discrimination. “Generally, people don’t join clubs that they’re not interested in,” said Richard De Leon, a senior sociology major and a member of the Model United Nations club. “If someone does join a club just to be on the contrary, they will be in the minority. Their views will be heard but they won’t have much influence.” CSU SOFA’s goal is to increase campus diversity by providing an even platform for students to organize and self-identify around competing values. “Under this bill, LGBT organizations and evangelical organizations would both be able to co-exist, without the universities deciding which organization’s viewpoints were acceptable,” Cohn said. The CSU system-wide organization intends to permit students of different groups and backgrounds to feel comfortable within their own organizations on CSU campuses.
“I actually like it when it is snowing or raining. California is in a drought, so this morning when it was raining I thought it was really good.” —Mitchell Cheng, senior, film and electronic arts major
“My favorite type of weather would have to be when the sun is out, but it is not too hot and there is kind of a breeze, so pretty much in between – not too cold and not too hot.” —Ennovy Bowman, junior, public relations major
“Warm, but not too warm because then I could go to the beach and not get burned. It’s not too cold, so I don’t have to worry about freezing.”
“My favorite weather is kind of like today: kind of windy, a little bit of rain here and there. It makes it nice to just get home and get in bed.”
—Destiny Jones, sophomore, liberal studies major
—Esvin Garcia, senior, sociology major
Lower gas prices bring relief in Mississippi Magnolia Wilson used to spend at least $150 a month filling up her 2002 Mercury Sable _ about 12 percent of her monthly take-home pay of $1,240. But the drop in oil prices over the last few months has put real money in her pocket. In many places in Mississippi, the cost of gas is less than $2 a gallon, compared with over $3 just six months ago. “I don’t buy too much for myself,” said Wilson, who has a 50-mile daily commute to her job at a thrift store in Tutwiler, a dilapidated town in the Mississippi Delta whose one acclaim is as the birthplace of the blues. Now, she says, she can afford to buy clothes or a pair of shoes. “It’s a big help. Believe it or not, it’s a big help.” Few places in the U.S. are benefiting from lower gas prices as much as Mississippi. Residents spend about 6 percent of their after-tax income on gasoline, more than any other state. Nationally, the average is less than 4 percent. One reason gas makes such a big difference in Mississippi is that the state ranks as one of the most rural in the nation. People drive a lot of miles.
When gas prices were much higher, the next service station was never far from Wilson’s mind. She almost always put in $20 at a time, and that meant she had to stop every three days to refill. They’re pleasant stops now, she said. She’s thrilled to see the fuelgauge needle move past the halfway point. The gas savings have been like a pay raise, scarce in these times, and can be seen inside the cupboards and refrigerator in Wilson’s three-bedroom home that she shares with her disabled younger sister. They live in a community once called Dirty Corners, renamed New Hope about a decade ago after the last of the residents moved out of shacks that had no indoor plumbing. With her fuel bill cut almost in half, Wilson has been stocking up on tissues, detergent and other small things for the house. “We got a little more pork chops and more chicken and ground beef,” said the 61-year-old. “I’m saving pretty good.” As a small concrete contractor, Phillip Willard of Clarksdale hauls
his pickup up and down the country roads, past bayous with moss-draped cypress trees and vast stretches of fields speckled with cotton and other crops. Willard, 54, figures he spends $150 to $200 a week for gas. In the past he dealt with the high costs by making as few trips as possible. “When you get a call to look at a job, I’d put it off till tomorrow if I could do it all at one time,” he said of going out to give estimates. On a recent frigid afternoon, Willard was wearing knee-high boots and a hunting cap as he filled up his GMC Sierra truck. He put in premium at $2.29 a gallon. “The worst place to come is the gas pump and the grocery store,” he said. “Now it’s just the grocery store.” Gas can be a budget breaker for many families here. The state has the highest jobless rate in the nation, most recently at 7.2 percent, compared with 5.7 percent for the U.S. overall. In much of the Mississippi Delta, unemployment is in double digits. “The scarcity of jobs means a lot of people are driving good distances to
work,” said James C. Cobb, a University of Georgia history professor who has written widely on Mississippi and the South. So cheap gas is more than just a few extra dollars. It is peace of mind. “That’s the best relief we’ve had in a long time,” said Johnny Jefferson, 52, whose work hours at a gas station convenience store in Tunica were shaved last summer after the closing of the
nearby Harrah’s casino hotel and golf course. With the drop in pump prices, the clerk said, sales have picked up in recent weeks for drinks, cigarettes and other food items. And that might give him a bit more job security, if not a few more hours of work every week.
—Don Lee, Los Angeles Times
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It’s okay. Just skip.
Opinions
Here are six reasons to not go to class. to ask for notes. Don’t bother emailing your professor— chances are, they’ve already eaten and won’t take an empty belly as a valid excuse.
Madison D’Ornellas Assistant News Editor
1. Anxiety - Stress can lead to poor work performance. If life is feeling like it’s too much, and your next class feels like your next root canal: skip. Being anxious in class will distract you from lecture or discussion, and thinking about the rest of your schedule while trying to take notes can be nearly impossible. So shoot your professor an email, explain your schedule and the reason you are pulling your hair out. Chances are your professor will understand and give you a free pass. But don’t make it a habit. Take the time you’re not in class to get your life organized.
2. Hunger - Being hungry in class sucks. Eating in class can be embarrassing and awkward, especially when the food on your desk takes up all the space. So if you haven’t eaten in two days and you are working on your fifth cup of coffee, take an hour to get some food fuel before your next class. Email your fellow classmates on the Beachboard database
3. You’re sick. [Like really sick] - Sniffles? Dry cough? Go to class. But if your stomach feels like the Grand Canyon is caving into itself and your migraine is an actual jack hammer jamming deeper into your brain with every blink of your tired eyes: go home. Don’t come to class to get the rest of your classmates sick. Also, stepping outside of class every 10 minutes to relieve your bowels distracts the professor and your classmates. So, take a day. Email your professor before class to explain your symptoms [in brief] and get some sleep. Your puke bucket awaits.
4. Work, work, work - Students work. Before class, after class and in the middle of a school day, students will leave campus to schlep to their part-time job. Work and school puts tolls on the brain. Going from work to school, students are already tired form their workday. Paying attention in class takes energy. Whether
Michael A res | Daily 49er
you’ve been slinging burgers all day or sitting behind a desk, the last thing you want to be doing is sitting in a desk and taking notes. So, if a workday kicked your butt, go home and rest. Next time, consider your work schedule before choosing your classes. Don’t schedule back-to-back classes if you’ll be working all day.
5. Professor angst - To succeed in teaching a class,
the professor must be able to perform for a wide audience. If you do not gel with your professor, either drop your class or, if the deadline to drop a class without a W on your record passes, make a friend and get notes from them. If attendance is required, talk to the respective department chair and explain your concerns. Don’t skip recklessly. Professors are here to help you, so if their help is hindered by an accent, attitude or laziness, resolve the issue. Don’t hide in the library until your
next class. Professors don’t bite.
6. Sleep deprivation - Don’t go to class if you’re just going to sleep like a wilting plant throughout the lecture or discussion. It’s not worth your time and money to go to a class half asleep. Drink some coffee, take a power nap before class or don’t go to class at all. Don’t waste your time and your professor’s time with your need to snooze.
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GET AHEAD AT THE INTERNSHIP CONFERENCE Friday, March 13, 2015 · 8:30 AM-3:30 PM Your portal to career services, job, and internships To reserve your seat RSVP in CareerLINK 1. Go to careers.csulb.edu 2. Login to CareerLINK 3. Click on the EVENTS tab 4. Click on the WORKSHOPS tab 5. Select College of Liberal Arts Internship Conference, and RSVP!
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Opinions
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Can you trust the news? Debby Vasquez Contributing Writer
Former NBC “Nightly News” anchorman Brian Williams used to be one of the most trusted newsmen of the digital age. The public knew Williams by name with his pleasant face and his retro newsman style. Now, Williams is best known for lying about his brush with enemy fire in Iraq since 2003. Williams was more than an anchorman: he acted like a wannabe celebrity. He frequently appeared on talk shows like “The Tonight Show” and “Saturday Night Live,” as well as “30 Rock,” according to the New York Times last month. With NBC suspending him for six months without pay and investigating all of his previous reports, the idea of Williams as a trusted newsman has come to an end. Since the birth of television, the American people have always had someone they could look to for reliable news. When television was in its infancy, millions of Americans trusted Edward R. Murrow and his take on the Red Scare and the Korean War. In the 1960s, when America was divided over Vietnam and other social issues, anchorman Walter Cronkite seemed more trustworthy than any of the presidents in office. In today’s Internet age, news isn’t confined to three channels, and online, anyone can be a “journalist,” so audiences have an increasingly difficult time trusting a news-source. William’s lies have viewers questioning his honesty and wondering if his future newscasts should be taken with a grain of salt. NBC’s move to expel him for six months is not enough to clean the blemish on his record. When the scandal interferes with a profession that is in the spotlight,
Contributing Writer
From meeting fellow peers who are passionate about their studies and social lives to gaining lifelong skills in extracurricular activities like the Model United Nations, students’ experiences throughout their years in college often shape them into new people. However, the most influential part of any student’s university career is the professors. When I took contemporary politics during my freshman year at California State University, Fullerton, professor Jodi Balma who noticed my passion for the subject and encouraged me to become a political science major. The percentage of tenured and tenure-track positions is now smaller than the amount of faculty who work as part time lecturers, according to
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forced retirement or firing is the only solution. Take for example the end of legendary newsman Dan Rather’s career with CBS news. He was one of a trio of important anchormen throughout the 90s and 2000s that Americans tuned in to for current events like the 2000 presidential election and Sept. 11.
When Brian Williams exaggerated and lied about an Iraqi war story, the nation lost faith in his broadcast news.
When Rather reported in 2004 on former President Bush’s National Guard service during the 1970s, other news organizations reported the story was false, according to the Washington Post in November, 2004. After much controversy, Rather retired from his 24-year career with a tarnished name. When credibility comes into question in news reporting, one mistake is enough. Despite all the apologies Williams has released, his best chance at salvaging his reputation is for the Iraq incident to be an isolated event. If NBC discovers more lies in his past reports, such as stories like Hurricane Katrina or meeting the pope, it will be game over for Williams. If it is an isolated event, Williams must at least cut the talk show circuit and focus on the news. With this act of contrition, Williams will have earned his cushy seat at the Rockefeller Center and perchance save the idea of the trusted newsman.
Tenured professors are vital to student education Jacob Yungman
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Lillian Taiz, a history professor at California State University, Los Angeles and president of the California Faculty Association, in the Sacramento Bee on Feb. 18. I am sure that every student on campus has had at least one influential professor in his or her academic career, and this is why we must now stand up for our mentors. In the 2013-2014 academic year, about 51 percent of faculty in the CSU system were part-time, according to a news article in the Sacramento Bee last month. Unlike tenured and tenure-track professors, part-time professors are hired on a semester-by-semester basis and have little job security. According to Taiz, this has led to a 50 percent turnover rate of part-time lecturers at any given university within a 5-year span. In other words, a substantial portion of the professors that students meet
Dennis Van Tine | ABACAPRESS.COM
File photo of Actress Allison Williams, Brian Williams and wife Jane Stoddard Williams attending the 2011 American Museum of Natural History gala at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City onNovember 10, 2011. News anchor Brian Williams has been suspended from NBC Nightly News without pay for six months, the network announced Tuesday. The announcement comes amid an ongoing internal investigation into whether Williams exaggerated stories during his public appearances as managing editor of the top-rated evening news program, both on NBC and elsewhere.
and learn from during their first year at university will most likely have left by the time the students graduate. Also, amenities like office space and hours are reduced immensely for part-time lecturers, which means that students have less opportunity to contact and receive the necessary help from their instructors, according to the Sacramento Bee last month. The reason for the decline of tenure-
A decrease in tenure-track positions is hurting the education system for students and professors alike.
track positions and the rise of a faculty stuck in adjunct purgatory has a lot to do with the state’s budget cuts to the CSU system over the past decade. In the 2001-2002 school year, the state of California allocated $2.61
billion to the CSU system, while in 2013-2014 it was only $2.33 billion. To make matters worse, the full-time student population in that time period increased from 316,396 to 341,280 students, according to the CSU website. This lack of funds gave the CSU system an incentive to limit the amount of tenure-track positions that were available. This is a shame since the tenure-track has been vital to encouraging the job commitment necessary to hone the professor’s teaching skills. Even more importantly, tenure has long been an indispensable tool that protects real learning. “ . . . The system of tenure mirrors this idea by seeking to protect academic freedom from the ‘opinion’ of the college or university administration, faculty, and students alike,” said Michael Cameron, former admissions evaluator at New York University’s College of Arts and Science in the Journal of Student Affairs at New York University in 2010. This means that tenured professors cannot be fired for teaching something controversial. Academia’s position in a democratic society is to research and present information and topics regardless of how many feathers it may ruffle.
By taking away the prospects of job security from future professors, it gives them less incentive to produce and disperse knowledge that could be cutting edge and lead to much debate. Tenure is an incentive for bright professors to stay here at CSULB. As tenure is reduced as an option, so is CSULB’s ability to retain the best instructors. The threat of termination from one’s university position in the Soviet Union was common when the government banned any research or material that went against the country’s political doctrine. The CSU system should reconsider its hiring practices and open up more tenure-track positions. CSU has asked the state for $269 million more for the 2015-16 general fund, including $11 million for hiring tenure-track faculty, according to a recent Sacramento Bee article Faculty should not be treated as disposable employees when they are actually essential to a free and democratic society where they not only provide knowledge but also help open students’ minds up to the infinite amount of perspectives and ideas in this world. Jacob Yungman is a fourth year political science major.
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T Tuesday, March 3, 2015
03/03 Tuesday Film screening:
“The Homestretch” Carpenter Performing Arts Center 7 p.m.
Free Admission
03/04 Wednesday
W Noontime Concert: New American University Student Union Southwest Terr ace 12 p.m. Free admission
T S 03/05 Thursday
Film screening: Plastic Par adise Carpenter Performing Arts Center 6 p.m. Free admission
03/07 Saturday
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Civil rights: web style New net neutrality regulations create equality among all Internet content regardless of price. By Josie Mandala Contributing Writer
Internet growth and innovation has flourished since the ‘90s because of its accessibility factor; anyone can go online and research, blog or download content. Luckily, for those with online lives, The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to side with net neutrality, requiring Internet service providers to treat all legal Internet content equally, according to the Los Angeles Times. The new rules will ban providers from making content available at faster speeds in exchange for payment. In order to bring light to a convoluted subject, California State University, Long Beach will host a forum on March 11 at 5:30 p.m. in the University Student Union Ballroom to educate students on the issue and the impact that it will have on them and the Internet as a whole. Panelists will include Gwen Shaffer, an assistant journalism professor at CSULB; David Lazarus, a business columnist for the Los Angeles Times; Arturo Carmona, the executive director at Presente.org; and Kathay Feng, the executive director of California Common Cause. “So many students rely on the net neutrality principle every time we use the web, stream a video or download music,” Shaffer said. “We may not notice it right away, but if Internet service providers were allowed to charge,
Michael A res | Daily 49er
Net neutrality will require Internet service providers to treat all legal Internet content legally. CSULB will host a forum on Mar. 11 to talk about the issue in the Student Union Ballroom at 5:30 p.m.
we would definitely notice.” The debate over net neutrality has been going on for more than a decade. The term was coined in 2003 by professor Tim Wu at Columbia Law School, according to the Washington Post. The principle of net equality on the Internet has made it possible for smaller pages like independent shops to grow without being slowed to make way for companies with more money. “Some of us have been lucky to use the Internet for the last 25 years and that experience has been one of surfing an open network,” Timothy Karr, the senior director of strategy at
Cirque Mechanics: Pedal Punk Carpenter Performing Arts Center 8 p.m. $45-50 $5
The Last Man on Earth
‘Last Man’ the story of a beautiful, horrible friendship By Robert Lloyd Los Angeles Times (TNS) Will Forte’s “The Last Man on Earth” premiered Sunday night on Fox, with two episodes back-to-back. Now it may be told, without fear of spoilers, that the title is specific only about gender (as far as we can see from here): Kristen Schaal came along in the second half as the world’s last woman to change a show about behavior in the absence of society to behavior in a society of two. Still, as sitcoms go, it is unusually elemental. Despite taking place five years in the future and sharing the title and more or less the premise of a 1964 Vincent Price movie post-pandemic postapocalypse it is not science-fiction. It’s an abstraction, really, a comedy about
Diversions
Michael Ares | Daily 49er
“The Last Man on Earth”, a comedy starring Will Forte, premiered on Sunday with back-to-back episodes on Fox. existential cares and social mores. It asks what you do when it doesn’t matter what you do because there’s no one else around to care, or to care about. And what you do when, suddenly, there is. Do you stop at stop signs? Eat with a fork? Not park in a handicapped space? Schaal’s Carol, who is ruled by rules,
would say yes. To Phil, “the whole freaking world is a parking spot now.” You can go many ways from this premise, philosophically and dramatically. The productive path “Last Man” takes is comedy, some of it broad, some of it smart, some of it low, some of it
nonpartisan organization Free Press, said. “This victory ensures that the next generation of users will also have that open experience. Their ideas, content and community will not be blocked slowed or discriminated because of net neutrality.” Over four million people have shown their support over the years for an open Internet via petition signatures and appeals to the FCC, according to Free Press. Barack Obama and worldwide consumers commended the five members of the FCC after they voted 3-2 in favor of net equality, according to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in an article with the LA Times. Because of the vote, the content consumers see via the Internet won’t be throttled nor slowed because of paid-off Internet service providers, also knows as ISP’s. Essentially, a multi-million dollar company won’t receive priority over a college student’s blog just because they’re able to offer ISP’s more money. Fourth-year economics student at CSULB, Josh Ngo, agreed with the new neutrality rules and the equality it represents. “I think companies should get a fair
chance at putting their information out there,” Ngo said. “One shouldn’t be more accessible just because they pay more.” Despite the overwhelming support, neutrality has faced some opposition from ISP’s and other anti-net neutrality groups. Those opposed to neutrality argue that the adoption of the new regulation conflicts with running a free market, impeding both growth and investment. “Net neutrality is potentially interfering with the pricing mechanism to allocate resources,” CSULB economics professor Jennifer Bailey said. “A price determines how much someone values a good; if someone is willing to pay a higher price, then they should get more because they value it.” Broadband and telecommunications companies like Verizon started showing their disapproval for neutrality in Dec. 2010 when they battled against lenient FCC guidelines. The wireless company argued to constrict the regulations to wired services and won, according to the LA Times. “We want students to be engaged in this conversation,” Shaffer said. “If they believe in it then they should weigh in on it.”
slapstick, some it disturbing, some of it disgusting a laugh for every taste. It is dark, but in a strangely sunny way. (That it is set in the bright desert air of Tucson may account in part for that.) It’s not a show you’ll want to hold to strict standards of possibility. The unexplained virus that has leveled humanity, present company excepted, has also seemingly carted off the bodies and left the place tidy. The world just seems like a Sunday morning before anyone’s gotten up. Shaggy and bearded like his “SNL” character the Falconer, Forte is also the show’s creator. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, of “The Lego Movie,” are his fellow executive producers; their names have also been pillaged for Forte’s character, Phil Miller. As the series opens, Phil has returned home from a nationwide search for fellow survivors, having left the painted message “Alive in Tucson” behind him. Carol has followed the signs; Phil, seconds from completing a suicidal car crash, sees her smoke. A fortyish temp worker before disaster made him the king of all he surveys, Phil has been living off the fat of untended supermarkets, pairing SpaghettiOs with ten-thousand-dollar wine.
Hopeful at first, he grows negligent, then despairing. The mansion he has taken as his own fills up with trash, his beard with crumbs. He has turned a swimming pool into a toilet and a wading pool into a giant margarita, in which he lolls and drinks. “There’s really no wrong way to use a margarita pool,” he tells Carol on tour of his domestic shambles. Carol, by contrast, grows tomatoes, is chirpy and talkative, clean and orderly. She sees a divinely arranged procreative purpose in their meeting. She also wants a proposal first. Forte projects an innate normality that keeps his characters companionable, even at their most astringent or abnormal. Schaal, whom you’ll find seemingly wherever good comedy is, has a naturally daffy bearing she infuses here with seriousness and depth. There were times Sunday night when the series felt on the verge of becoming a tired joke about How Women Are (and How They Want Men to Be), even after the end of the world. But the actors bring it back from that brink. This is just the beginning of a beautiful horrible friendship. —Robert Lloyd Los Angeles Times (TNS)
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Softball
DIFFICULT, NOT
IMPOSSIBLE
LBSU prepares to hand the Gators their first loss of the season on Wednesday. By Josh Barajas Contributing Writer
Bobby Yagake | Daily 49er
After a 3-1 win over Southern Utah on Sunday, Long Beach State (10-10) will take on Florida (21-0) on Wednesday at the 49er Softball Complex.
The Long Beach State softball team will face its biggest challenge of the season Wednesday when it hosts defending National Champions and No.1 Florida. “It’s just another game, it’s just another team,” senior outfielder Christina Montoya said. “I’m more concerned about us and how we’re going to play.” The 49ers (10-10) are 1-2 against ranked opponents, their lone win coming against No. 12 UCLA on Feb. 27. Junior infielder Darian Tautalafua, who is one home run shy of tying Nalani St. Germain’s school record of 30 home runs, said the team approaches every game with the same mindset regardless of opponent. “[The Gators] are the national champions and everything, but we just need to remember that [it’s just another game.],” Tautalafua said. The Gators (21-0) won their first ever College World Series last year with a 2-0 series sweep of Alabama. Players returning from that championship team include senior infielder Lauren Haeger and Team USA junior infielder Kelsey Stewart. Stewart and Haeger are the Ga-
tors’ top offensive threats. Stewart leads Florida in hits (24), doubles (7), triples (3) and stolen bases (8), while Haeger leads in home runs (6), runs batted in (25) and walks (14). Haeger is also Florida’s top pitcher. She leads the Gators earned run average (0.46), wins (9), innings pitched (46.0) and strikeouts (68). The two-way star earned National Player of the Week awards for pitching and offense earlier this season. Head coach Kim Sowder said the 49ers need to play well in all areas of the game if they want any chance of wrestling down the Gators. “We’re going to have to have a good pitching performance,” Sowder said. “Obviously [Florida] is a very good offensive team. We’re going to have to find a way to put some runs on the board. We’re going to have to play really good softball.” Sophomore right-hander Christina Clermont, who is 4-2 on the season with a 2.36 ERA in 13 appearances, has established herself as the team’s top pitcher. Clermont, who is averaging nearly one strikeout per inning, is the likely starter against Florida. The 49ers will host the Gators on Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the 49er Softball Complex.
Basketball
Men’s Basketball Conference
All Games
Women’s Basketball Conference
All Games
SLUMP
continued from page 1
Breaking the streak The 49ers will look to get back on track as they hit the road again to face the Gauchos and Bruins. By Kayce Contatore Contributing Writer
The No. 10 Long Beach State men’s volleyball team will try to overcome four consecutive losses when it travels to No. 8 UC Santa Barbara and No. 9 UC Los Angeles on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. The 49ers fell to a losing record in the league (8-8 overall, 5-8 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) after Hawaii swept them over the weekend in the Walter Pyramid. Junior outside hitter Dan Glamack said hard work and sticking to the team’s game plan would be the key for the 49ers to regain a winning record. “Our guys are going to put in the work to get better so hopefully that translates into our matches,” Glamack said. Glamack finished the weekend against Hawaii leading the 49ers with 24 total kills. Sophomore middle blocker Bryce Yould added seven kills and a career-high eight block assists Friday night. The 49ers will be without junior outside hitter Cody Martin, who missed Saturday’s match with an abdomen injury and is expected to return in two to three weeks. Head coach Alan Knipe said that it is imperative for the team to not lose Martin for the rest of the season. “We might have to sacrifice the short run and go without him,” Knipe said. “We don’t want to lose Cody, but we have no choice in the matter.” Knipe said it was essential for the team to execute plays in stressful moments no matter who the opponent is. Yould said it is important for the team to reset and refocus in between matches before the team faces the Bruins (9-6, 5-6) and the Gauchos (11-6, 7-6). “Those teams are going to be prepared for the matches so it’s just a matter of who has a better night,” Yould said. UCSB is coming off of an end to a five game winning streak after a loss to UC Irvine Feb. 28. The 49ers fell to the Gauchos early in the season at home as they were unable to contain the hothanded swing of outside hitter Kevin Donohue. The Bruins closed out their weekend matches with a sweep of UC San Diego, and they will take on Cal State Northridge before welcoming the 49ers on March 6. Long Beach State University took the win over the UCLA on Feb. 3, overcoming a slow start to end the night with 48 total kills for the team. Knipe said it was important for the team to not get caught up in a long losing streak. While it can be tough for a team to overcome a slump, Knipe had no doubt in his mind that his team can make it happen. “You have to get back on the horse and find a way to get a win,” Knipe said. “We got to find a way to get a little bit more out of our offense. If you watch my team play, they play as hard as they can and they get better all the time.” The 49ers will travel to No. 8 UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday before playing at No. 9 UCLA on Friday. Both matches expected to start at 7 p.m.