highlandernews.org
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
OPINIONS
FEATURES
ON PAGE 7
ON PAGE 8
HOUSING AD ALIENATES STUDENTS ASTRONAUT ANNA FISHER AT UCR
Highlander University
Established 1954
Campus mourns loss of Coline Roche, 26
of
C a l i f o r n i a , R ive r s i d e
One Free Copy
UCR professor sworn in as California Poet Laureate
E r i c G a m b oa SENIOR STAFF WRITER
On March 28, UC Riverside student Colin Roche passed away due to injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. Roche was 26-years-old and was in his first year at UC Riverside after having transferred from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge Community College and Riverside City College. “He was enrolled in the Bourns College of Engineering as a Material Science and Engineering major. Colin was doing very well both academically and as a member of the UCR community,” noted a somber Chancellor White in his weekly email. “He was known to be enthusiastic, curious about most everything, and had a strong drive to engage in research as an undergraduate.” Roche’s ashes will be dispersed in the ocean and mountains in order to reflect his love of the beach and hiking. According to an announcement by Bourns College of Engineering Dean Reza Abbaschian, memorial services will be held in Colin’s home state of Louisiana and on campus. The chancellor and dean’s emails have both highlighted the UC Riverside Counseling Center as a source for support (via telephone and in-person consolations) for those grieving. Efforts are underway to collect statements from Colin’s friends and other university acquaintances in order to be delivered during the memorial services. Individuals seeking to make donations have also been directed to a memorial fund established in H the Bourns College of Engineering. ■
C o u rt e s y
E r i c G a m b oa SENIOR STAFF WRITER
UC Riverside Professor Juan Felipe Herrera will be California’s first Hispanic Poet Laureate, upon receiving senate confirmation. On March 21, California Governor Jerry Brown appointed Herrera, whose work focuses on the Chicano experience—a subject that holds special significance to Herrera since he was the son of migrant farm workers. “No one is more worthy than Juan
Felipe Herrera, both for this distinctive honor and for the task at hand as the California Poet Laureate,” proclaimed UC Riverside Chancellor Tim White in his weekly email. Within a week of the appointment, Herrera traveled to Sacramento where the governor swore him in. Herrera currently serves as the Tomás Rivera Endowed Chair at UC Riverside’s Creative Writing Department. “I want to thank UC Riverside for such a great com-
of gov.ca.gov
munity of support. All the students here inspire me greatly. This award is for all the young writers who want to put kindness inside every word throughout the state, because kindness is the heart of creativity,” stated Herrera in an article by UCR Today. According to Herrera’s personal website, the renowned poet has published 24 volumes of work including theater, children’s books and young adult novels. Herrera, POET LAUREATE CONT’D ON PAGE 5
UCR Medical School aims for 2013 opening Carrie Meng STAFF WRITER
B rya n T u t t l e /HIGHLANDER
THIS WEEK’S EVENTS TUES 04/10
Baseball vs. Pepperdine 6:00pm - 9:00pm Riverside Sports Complex
WED 04/11
UC Riverside officials will be re-seeking accreditation for the UCR Medical School after obtaining significant financial commitments from the state and the UC Office of the President (UCOP). If the accreditation attempt is successful, the medical school would welcome its first class in August of 2013. UCR Chancellor Timothy P. White wrote in his Friday Letter of March 30, 2012 that the UC state financing office has established a $30 million, 10 year line of credit for the medical school. Additionally, UCOP will commit $2 million annually for the next 10 years in
Indigenous Choreographers: Welcome Reception 6:00pm - 7:00pm Arts 300
THUR 04/12
non-state discretionary funds. “It’s really a time to celebrate an important step to allow us to go in front of the accrediting body with confidence,” White said in an interview with the Press-Enterprise. “It feels like we’re making progress.” The School of Medicine was initially scheduled to open in the fall of 2012 but a lack of secure funding resulted in the rejection of the school’s first attempt at accreditation. Governor Jerry Brown passed a $10 million cut to the UC budget, which was the amount that had been requested for the medical school. UC officials had emphasized that the accreditation rejection stemmed only from the lack
World Water Day 2:00pm - 4:00pm Orbach Science Library 240
SAT 04/14
of funding and was not tied to the school’s curriculum, structure or any other factor that UC Riverside was responsible for. “It’s really unfortunate that there’s been a delay but what’s important is that [the School of Medicine] will open soon,” said Benjamin Nabong, a fourth-year UC Riverside student who plans on applying to medical school. “This new medical school will definitely build UCR’s reputation in the long run and it provides the opportunity to students who want to enter the medical field.” The announcement is seen as a victory for those who have long MEDICAL SCHOOL CONT’D ON PAGE 4
UCR MFA Thesis Exhibition Opening Reception 6:00pm - 9:00pm Barbara and Art Culver Center
FACEBOOK: UCR HIGHLANDER NEWSPAPER -- TWITTER: @ UCRHIGHLANDER -- highlandernews.org
Volume 60
Issue 23
2
NEWS
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
HIGHLANDER
Arrests made, tax initiative discussed during UC regents meeting
S a n dy V a n CONTRIBUTING WRITER
On March 28, the UC Board of Regents gathered at the UCSF Mission Bay for a three-day meeting to discuss the framework of a multi-year funding plan with the state to provide financial stability for the 2012-2013 UC Budget. UC President Mark Yudof announced that he would endorse
C o u rt e s y
Governor Brown’s tax initiative and encouraged the regents to also rally behind the measure. As many as 40 student protesters came to voice their opinions and questioned whether the tax initiative would allocate enough funding toward higher education. Three of the protesters were arrested for failure to disperse from an unlawful assembly.
of
LA T i m e s
Although the multi-year plan remains in its early stages, UC officials have asserted that the plan is heavily dependent on the outcome of political decisions—especially from the November ballot. A series of yearly tuition increases are almost certain under most models, although the most optimistic (from the view of students) would see only modest increas-
es in tuition. The models are reflective of the information reviewed during last quarter’s town hall meeting hosted by Chancellor White, in which he presented scenarios involving yearly tuition increases. However, there is also discussion of an effort to delay any tuition increases during the 2012-2013 year. “We have been talking explicitly about a buyout of a 2012-2013 tuition increase,” stated Dan Dooley, senior vice president for external relations for UC. “In my view, it represents the best opportunity I’ve seen in my four years in California for the state to clamber out of a sinkhole of fiscal uncertainty and move forward into a better, more prosperous future,” stated Yudof, who remained “cautiously optimistic” about the tax initiative. The revenue for the tax measure would come from a temporary sales tax increase of a quarter-cent per dollar and an increase in the income tax of those earning more than $250,000 per year. The initiative is expected to raise billions of dollars for edu-
cation and other state services. According to Vice President of Budget and Capital Resources Patrick Lenz, if the tax measure is not approved then the UC system could face a $200 million mid-year trigger cut. In a UCOP press release, university officials clarified that it was legal for regents to take a stand on ballot measures. Supporters of Governor Brown’s tax initiative will have until June 28 to submit more than 1 million signatures in order to place the initiative on the November ballot. At one point during the meeting, protesters attempted to extend the public comments session by staging a “spring break beach party” and declared themselves “spring broke.” The demonstration was meant to denounce the regents for hosting the meeting during spring break—a period when most students were away from campus. Amidst the swimwear and beach balls, the regents began exiting the room and police officers subsequently gave protestors three warnings to vacate REGENTS MEETING CONT’D ON PAGE 3
Study criticizes UC faculty for advocating political activism E r i c G a m b oa SENIOR STAFF WRITER
A recent study has drawn controversy over claims that the alleged leftist leanings of UC professors has undermined the quality of education. The study, conducted by the California Association of Scholars, argues that UC professors’ advocacy of political activism leads to the politicizing of issues and the indoctrination of students. “Faculty teach what to think rather than how to think: that is, they demand correct attitudes and beliefs of students more than they require independent reading and thought,” stated the study, which was written specifically for the UC regents. UC officials have responded critically to the study and have insisted that the University of California promotes the highest levels of intellectual discussion. “UC’s scholarly success nationally and internationally would not be possible if our faculty were doctrinaire and not subject to having their work forged in the marketplace of ideas,” remarked UC Provost Lawrence Pitts in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. The study concludes with eight suggestions for the UC regents to consider including a public acknowledgement of deficiencies and a reinvigoration of efforts to uphold university prohibitions against the advancement of specific political beliefs. The study primarily focuses on humanities and social science courses, where the threat of politicization is deemed to be the highest. The mentioned consequences of this trend include a decline in course
workload, the increased use of political topics in writing courses and the reliance on textbooks with one-sided political arguments—which the authors blame for the creation of graduates who are underprepared for the workplace due to deficiencies in writing and analytical skills. “If graduates cannot even write short declarative sentences competently, that is not surprising when writing courses neglect writing and focus instead on radical politics,” stated the study. The method used by the study to gauge the political influence in each campus was based on an examination of department mission statements, course descriptions and student feedback. UC Riverside’s Labor Studies Program and Sociology 169 (Modern Sociological Theory) were specifically identified as examples of violations of the UC regents’ 2005 policy on course content, which holds the regents responsible for ensuring that “the University remain aloof from politics and never function as an instrument for the advance of partisan interest.” The Labor Studies Program was highlighted due to its mission statement that openly mentioned the exploration of “alternative models for organizing for social justice.” UC Riverside Professor of Women’s Studies Piya Chatterjee, who is also a faculty member in the Labor Studies Program, defended the program by stating that it exposes students to the realities of working class communities and provides them with the analytical tools necessary to evaluate labor history. “The fact that classrooms are
A r chi v e /HIGHLANDER
‘politicized’ (aka through community-based work) through internships (with unions, for example) cannot be equated to a ‘narrowing’ of the scholarly inquiry and debate….Especially at UCR, given our population of student-workers and workers, these programs of scholarship and community-engagement are more vital and more urgent than ever,” stated Chatterjee in an interview Highlander. The theme of exposing students to real-world conditions was also voiced by John Gust, a UC Riverside graduate student in anthropology and unit chair of the teaching assistant union, who argued that the study’s authors are intolerable of an education which exposes the wrongdoing of past hegemonies who benefited from such things as capitalism and racism. The study has also been criticized due to the partisan backgrounds of the study’s authors. UC Riverside Ethnic Studies Chair Dylan Rodriguez noted that leadership of the National
Association of Scholars (the parent group of the California Association of Scholars) is filled with openly right-wing individuals; among them is the association’s chairman who received an award from the American Conservative Union Foundation, and the association’s director of communications who published a work on becoming an “edu-con” (conservative educator) in an anthology named “Proud to be Right.” “The National Association of Scholars boldly appoints itself as a defender of academic objectivity, rigor, and seriousness, and purports to oppose ‘political’ teaching and thinking in the classroom. However, its very existence as a right-wing academic interest group demonstrates that every fiber of the university is entirely political, and suggests that their most recent report is just another salvo in an ongoing— perhaps perpetual—ideological war,” stated Rodriguez in an
interview with the Highlander. A particularly controversial portion of the study pertains to a criticism of professors’ promotion of action over analysis. “While academic teaching and research aim for intellectual depth, political action must tend toward simplification…political activism tends toward brief slogans (‘stop the war!’), while academic thought is likely to produce much more hedged and uncertain statements that weigh pros and cons, neither of which can be wished away,” stated the study. The statement stands in stark contrast to the actions of thousands of California students who have engaged in organized protests against budget cuts. The study’s opposition to politicization at the UC also contrasts with recent political-based decisions made by top UC officials; UC President Mark Yudof recently announced his support of Governor Brown’s tax initiative and Speaker Perez’s Middle Class H Scholarship proposal. ■
HIGHLANDER
ASUCR update K ev i n K e c ke i se n SENIOR STAFF WRITER
During last week’s ASUCR meeting on April 4, the ASUCR board approved, by majority vote, changes to the ASUCR Constitution, an ASPB referendum and a UCR Theatre referendum. All three items will be on the ballot in the upcoming elections. The constitutional changes would entail a restructuring of ASUCR’s elections process in which students would directly elect the executive branch and the senate. Currently, candidates run for one of the 20 senator spots and then internal elections are held among the newly elected senators to elect the new officers. However, Elections Chair Jonathan Mansoori claimed that it was the consensus among the student body that ASUCR needed a more democratic elections process. If passed, the changes would require that candidates run directly for either an officer or senator position. A member of the executive cabinet could no longer also be a senator. The changes are modeled after the U.S. government’s three branches—execuREGENTS MEETING FROM PAGE 2
the premises before declaring an “unlawful assembly.” In the aftermath, three UCLA students were arrested for obstructing an officer, failing to disperse, using violence against law enforcement and for “taking by means of a riot any person from the lawful custody of a peace officer.” Authorities said that one student then pushed a police officer in a corridor and two others interfered with his arrest. Students have denied the allegations of pushing and have criticized the police response as an overreaction, particularly in regards to the piling of officers on top of individuals being arrested. Numerous protesters expressed their perception of the governor’s tax measure as a temporary solution. This view was elaborated upon by UC Riverside Professor of Economics Victor Lippit, who believes that serious reform in California would involve repealing Proposition 13, changing the initiative system and returning budget and taxation votes to a majority vote system. “Over time, California needs a complete makeover of its taxation system. The current system already relies excessively on taxing the very high income earners, especially by treating capital gains as ordinary income… California has had to rely much more heavily than other states on income taxes, which distorts incentives to work or even to live in the state,” stated Lippit in an interview with the Highlander. “Also, the voter initiative system in California was meant to democratize the creation of laws, but in fact has often done just the opposite... Although taxes should remain progressive, the entire state should participate in paying for the public services that benefit all of us.” The next regents meeting will take place in Sacramento H from May 15 to 17. ■
NEWS tive, legislative and judiciary. Other UC student governments maintain this structure. “This way, all three branches can keep each other in check, which provides for more accountability and transparency,” stated Rachel Chieng, ASUCR Senate Chair. Some ASUCR members, such as President Stephen Lee, expressed concern over the change to the constitution because of its radical alteration to the way the organization operates. Personnel Chair David Falstein claimed that the constitutional changes do not reflect the proper structure of the student senate. Meanwhile, the ASPB referendum would increase student fees in phases of three years from the current $10 to $20 in 2012, $30 in 2015 and $40 in 2018. Also, 25 percent of the fee would be returned to financial aid to help offset costs for students who are eligible for financial aid ($2.50, $5.00 and $7.50 respectively based on the fee timeline). According to the referendum, the revenue would help ASPB fund the Spring Splash and Block Party events by keeping the events free, securing better artists and enhancing interactive event attractions, providing ma-
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
3
W e n d y M o n t e r o /HIGHLANDER
jor comedy shows, increasing movie premiers, hosting three or more major guest speakers a year and providing up to five times the amount of current funds available for student organization co-sponsorship. In addition, the money would be used to accommodate rising operational costs such as security and fences, TAPS and other event related costs.
The UCR department of theatre’s referendum proposes a student fee increase of $2.50 per quarter to subsidize the cost of undergraduate student admission to performances produced by the department. If passed, undergraduate students would be able to attend performances for free. The next ASUCR Senate meeting H will take place on April 18. ■
4
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
NEWS
California colleges may begin gauging size of LGBT community Andie Lam
STAFF WRITER
California state colleges and universities may soon be asking students about their sexual orientation on application forms as part of an effort to determine whether campuses are thoroughly servings its student populations. The move has stirred acclamation and concern among many campus communities. The decision to allow gender expression on forms coincides with a state law (AB 620) that seeks to estimate the size of student populations who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). The law proposes that the University of California, California State University and California Community College System offer these questions in order to examine whether sufficient student services, such as counseling, are being offered. “It would be useful to know if we are underserving the population,” said Jesse Bernal, the UC system’s interim diversity coordinator, in a Los Angeles Times article. With the option of voluntarily answering the questions, Bernal believes that it “sends a positive message of inclusiveness to LGBT students and creates an environment that is inclusive and welcoming of diverse populations.” AB 620, which was written by Assemblyman Marty Block and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last October, requests that schools en-
force policies for all campus members in order to prevent the intimidation and harassment of LGBT students in California. Additionally, the law would allow students and faculty “to identify their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression” on demographic surveys. Nancy Jean Tubbs, the Director of the LGBT Resource Center at UC Riverside, believes that the move will benefit the diverse student populations. “I think this is a positive step because too often LGBT people are rendered invisible by institutions,” Tubbs said in an interview with The Highlander. “I think it is very important for our campus to include gender identity and sexual orientation demographic questions on surveys and assessments because otherwise collected data is useless in evaluating and serving the needs of all students.” However, Tubbs also maintains that campus officials will need to understand that any applications asking these questions will underreport the actual number of LGBT students. Some students will skip the question because they either fear “outing” themselves or because they are still forming a sexual or gender identity. According to Robert Anderson, a UC Berkeley professor and Academic Senate chairman, the questions on sexual orientation and identity have been approved by the UC Academic Senate. At the earliest, the questions could commence
when students enroll at UC campuses in fall of 2013. Likewise, talks are in progress for questions to be included on enrollment forms for fall of 2013 at each Cal State campus. “AB 620 and the questions may benefit the LGBT community by encouraging institutional systems to provide resources and safe spaces that were never available before in some campuses,” stated Gloria Diaz, an LGBT student activist at CSU San Marcos, in an interview with The Highlander. “Recognizing the LGBT as people instead of second class citizens would be a huge step toward equality.” The decision has also raised some concern about confidentiality. State Sen. Tom Harman stated in an LA Times article, “It is an invasion of privacy.” Harman, an opponent to the bill, worries that the personal information may be improperly utilized and divulged. Emily Lin, a student at UC Riverside, believes that schools having access to the surveyed data “can better cater to the diversity o f t h e c a m p u s t h a t ’s n o t l i m i t e d t o e t h n i c a n d r a c i a l d i v e r s i t y, a n d r e l i g i o u s i d e n t i t y. ” H o w e v e r, with the sensitive information, she added, “schools should take precautionary measures of contacting students and faculty members before they try to use the information for whatever other purposes so that it would not be detrimental to the students and H f a c u l t y. ” ■
HIGHLANDER MEDICAL SCHOOL FROM PAGE 1
petitioned for the school’s opening. With an estimated shortage of 3,000 primary care physicians in the Inland region, medical school advocates were backed by statistical data which shed light on the need for a nearby medical school. “The medical school will be an economic stimulus to the region, as well as improving access to healthcare,” White stated in the Friday Letter of March 30. “There is a well-documented need for more physicians and better health care access in Inland Southern California, which lags near the bottom in nearly every measure of health when compared to other counties in the state.” During the January’s UC Board of Regents meetings held at UC Riverside, a large portion of the public forum period consisted of individuals urging the regents to make the medical school their top priority. Aside from the state and the University of California, the medical school has received a substantial amount of funding from local groups including the County of Riverside, Riverside Medical Clinic, the Desert Healthcare District and annual funding from the school’s initial medical partners. Combined with other grants and private donations, these contributions have directed tens of millions of dollars toward the medical school. “We are very grateful that many private donors have also participated, and many have indicated that accreditation will make the effort even more attractive to them,” stated White in his Friday Letter. The annual guarantee of $10 million will likely enable the School of Medicine to enroll 50 students a year. This number was originally 80 but the lack of funding had caused the number to deH cline. ■
NEWS
HIGHLANDER
Court favors release of UC Davis task force report, but without officer names Cristina Granados STAFF WRITER
On March 28, an Alameda County Superior Court Judge disagreed with the Federated University Police Officers Association in regards to blacking out parts of the report on last November ’s pepper-spray incident at UC Davis. Judge Evelio Grillo ruled against the police union’s arguments that much of the incident report was protected, citing the report’s similarity to reports used in the police personnel files for disciplinary actions. This ruling could change, however, as it is a preliminary injunction and is subject to an appeal. “UC officials are pleased with the ruling of privacy, and plan to complete the investigation with full public disclosure as soon as possible. We are pleased that Judge Grillo agrees, in almost every respect, with our arguments for full public disclosure of reports from the task force chaired by former California Supreme Court Associate Justice Cruz Reynoso. While he also ordered names of some police officers in the reports to be redacted, we would
like that information ultimately to be made public,” stated UC General Counsel Charles Robinson in a statement dated March 28. Grillo’s ruling in favor of the report’s release was contested by claims that the decision would be a breach of the 15 to 20 named officers’ constitutional privacy. These concerns were addressed in Grillo’s allowance of all but two police officers’ names to be blacked out. Lt. John Pike, who gained notoriety after videos surfaced of him pepper-spraying sitting protesters, was one of the officers whose names was not withheld. The other was UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza who, by virtue of her public position, did not express any concerns regarding the release of her identity. The withdrawal of the other officers’ names was prompted largely by the consequences that have arisen due to Lt. John Pike’s name being made known to the public. “After Lt. Pike’s name was public, a person or persons circulated his contact information on the Internet and he subsequent-
ly received hundreds of letters, over 10,000 text messages and over 17,000 email messages. Most of these letters and messages were threatening or derogatory,” noted Judge Grillo. “Given this history of threats and harassment, the potential harm to other officers from disclosing their participation in the incident is far from speculative.” Despite the positive ruling, UC officials have hesitated releasing the uncontested portions of the police report, fearing that edits and missing pages are too extensive to accurately portray the overall tone of the report. “We will confer with Justice Reynoso about when and how the reports will be released to the UC Davis community and the general public. All of us— including Justice Reynoso and UC President Mark G. Yudof—remain committed to full public disclosure and recommendation of the task force,” continued Robinson. Prior to the legal issues that have postponed the release of the report, UC officials had initially planned for the report to be released H on March 6. ■
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012 POET LAUREATE FROM PAGE 1
a graduate of UC Los Angeles and Stanford University, has received dozens of highly prestigious awards and has seen much of his work been turned into plays and musicals. “Many poets since the 1960s have dreamed of a new hybrid art, part oral, part written, part English, part something else: an art grounded in ethnic identity, fueled by collective pride, yet irreducibly individual too. Many poets have tried to create such an art: Herrera is one of the first to succeed,” noted a New York Times review of Herrera’s work, as quoted in the governor ’s press release. The position of California Poet Laureate was created in 2001 and is primarily shaped by the California Arts Council. The council, which consists of 11 experts in fields such as the arts, education, and community development, are tasked with selecting candidates who would best promote and serve as an advocate of poetry in the state of California. Following his senate confirmation, Herrera will begin his two-year term and his tasks will include providing six public readings and completing a
5
cultural project with the goal of exposing poetry to individuals of all backgrounds. According to the California Arts Council website, the criteria for selecting the Poet Laureate depend on the achievement of scholarly excellence, the size of published work, the reputation of the poet and the willingness to partake in the cultural project. The Poet Laureate position has been vacant since September 2011 and was last held by University of Southern California Professor Carol Muske-Dukes. “This honor reflects what we have had the privilege of seeing up close ever since he joined our distinguished faculty: namely, this remarkably gifted poet’s unique ability to connect—through his art and teaching—with everyone, regardless of their cultural or educational background,” stated Andrew Winer, chair of the Department of Creative Writing, in the UCR Today article. Herrera’s recent accomplishments include being elected to the Academy of American Poets’ Board of Chancellors and receiving the 2010 Guggenheim H Fellowship in Poetry. ■
6
. OPINIONS .
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
HIGHLANDER
On June 6th, the Supreme Court refused to strike down a California law that offers state residents reduced tuition rates at California colleges. The law’s opponents argue that the bill, which does not distinguish between lawful residents and illegal immigrants, violates a federal law that prohibits states from giving college benefits to illegal aliens on the basis of residence within a state. Unfortunately for the law’s detractors, the Supreme Court wouldn’t even hear their challenge. Lawyers for a conservative immigration-law group that backed the appeal claim that the law is patently unfair to the thousands of full-bred American high school graduates who apply to California colleges from other states each year. These students will have to pay as much as $20,00 more for college tuition than the illegal immigrants (and many other California residents) that the bill aids. Others have argued that the bill gives preferential treatment to illegal immigrants - it is just one more derivative of affirmative action, bent on taking positions away from the hard working, middle-class Caucasians who really deserve
HIGHLANDER EDITORIAL
C o u rt e s y
of
Lucas Jackson / Reuters.com
“STAND YOUR GROUND” LAWS ENCOURAGE VIGILANTISM It is not yet clear why George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year old on the way back from a local convenience store in Sanford, Florida on Feb. 26. What is clear, however, is that many are not happy with the way in which local authorities have handled the case since then. Zimmerman was never officially arrested by the police, nor has he ever been charged with having committed any criminal act. The simple reason: he claimed that he killed Martin in self-defense, and investigators said that they had no evidence to prove otherwise. They argued that, as such, they were bound by Florida’s now-controversial “stand your ground” law, which gives citizens the right to defend themselves with deadly force if they fear death or bodily harm at home or in public, to release him without further incident. Needless to say, the Trayvon Martin shooting has brought a lot of negative attention to “stand your ground” and laws like it, which are currently in place in as many as 20 states in the US. The principle concern for many is whether or not Zimmerman had a right to appeal to the legislation in the first place. Since the shooting, police reports and 911 calls from Zimmerman and others have revealed that it may have been Zimmerman, who told a 911 operator that he found Martin “suspicious” prior to the shooting, that elected to pursue Martin, not the other way around. There is no proof, as of yet, that Zimmerman had any reason to believe that Martin was an imminent threat to his safety before he began following him. Many have argued that Zimmerman was, therefore, not acting in self-defense and that “stand your ground” does not apply to his case. Some have even asserted that, if anyone had the right to invoke “stand your ground” in this instance, it was Martin, not Zimmerman. However, HIGHLANDER STAFF
one of the biggest problems with “stand your ground” is that it is fairly ambiguous as to what constitutes an act of self-defense. After all, there are more than a few potential definitions of what it means to be in fear of serious bodily harm or death. What if, after Zimmerman caught up with him, Martin became violent? What if he thought he saw a gun on the teenager during the scuffle that followed? Could Zimmerman not, in both of these cases, claim that he had reason to fear for his safety, even though he was technically the initiator of the conflict? Shockingly, there is precedence for such a ruling. Earlier this year, Greyston Garcia, a resident of Miami-Dade County, Florida, chased a burglar who had broken into his house for over a block before catching up to him and stabbing him to death. In March, a judge ruled that the thief, who swung a bag of stolen car radios at Garcia after he overtook him, posed a serious threat to Garcia’s safety at the time. Under the “stand your ground” law, Garcia had a right to use deadly force to defend himself; all charges against him were, therefore, dropped. That Garcia was not, at the time he began pursuing the burglar, in any immediate danger apparently had no effect on the ruling. At some point during the incident he could prove that he feared for his life; and that was enough to support the conclusion that he acted in self-defense. “Stand your ground,” then, can clearly be used to justify some very unintuitive conclusions about the nature of self-defense. The ambiguity of the legislation is further complicated by the fact that “stand your ground” necessitates that the authorities make a ruling as to who the aggressor and defender are in a given altercation; and in a case like the Martin shooting that often means giving the killer the benefit of the doubt. If he or
Editor-in-Chief
Managing Editor
editorinchief @highlandernews.org
managingeditor @highlandernews.org
Photography Editor
Chris LoCascio
News Editor
Eric Gamboa
news@highlandernews.org Opinions Editor Townsend Gallinger-Scholz opinions@highlandernews.org A&E Editor
Emily Wells
Kevin Keckeisen
photo@highlandernews.org
Leena Butt, Lin Chai, Kevin Dinh, Jonathan Godoy, Wendy Montero, Wesley Ng, An Tran, Bryan Tuttle, Kirsten Voss Production Manager
Irin Son
radar@highlandernews.org Features Editor
Production Assistants
Fatima Mirza
features@highlandernews.org
Tyler Joe
Staff Photographers
productionmanager @highlandernews.org
Winny Woo, Bryan Tuttle, Sireena Sy, Jacob Rich Business Manager
Erin Mahoney
highlanderads@ucr.edu
Tech Director
Ryan Simon
Administrative Staff Asst. Photography Editor
J a m es N j u g u n a STAFF WRITER
First passed in March 2010 under a cloud of partisan bickering and populist anger, the Patient Protections and Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, has faced a great many challenges to its legitimacy. The foremost of these is undoubtedly the 26 state Attorney Generals currently suing the federal government on the legality of the so-called individual mandate, the mechanism within the legislation that allows the entire law to work. The efforts of these men and women finally culminated, after two years of battling in the legal system, in a case before the highest court in this country, the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ended up hearing oral arguments during the last week of March and is set to make a ruling on it this summer. It has to be said that the current batch of Supreme Court Justices is the most predictable in recent history. Almost everyone who knows anything about the nine justices knows four will usually vote left and four will usually vote right, while the lone independent on the bench, Anthony Kennedy, will generally be the deciding vote. It is for this reason that his questions and obvious skepticism concerning the legality of the individual mandate served as the center of attention during the process. The lawyers for the government found themselves trying to win a crucial vote in Justice Kennedy, a rather arduous task considering the man himself was once a brilliant lawyer. The government’s case was built on the foundation that healthcare coverage is a necessary and essential utility for all members of the public; thus government must insure those who currently do not have insurance and force them to pay a fine in order to compensate for the cost of the government providing that service. Justice Kennedy did not seem to buy the idea that the government possesses the right, under the commerce clause, to force people to buy health insurance or make individuals pay a fine. This fact left many onlookers and pundits sure that the individual mandate will be struck down this OBAMACARE CONT’D ON PAGE 7
Kendall Peterson
sports@highlandernews.org
Gordon Huang
Highlander editorials reflect the majority view of the Highlander Editorial Board. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Associated Students of UCR or the University of California system.
Distribution Manager
Sports Editor
Pranav Bhakta
she claims that he or she was acting in selfdefense, then police have a responsibility to protect him or her from prosecution (pending the discovery of additional evidence that proves otherwise). It is then left up to a judge, not a jury, to determine whether or not the use of force was justified—the case only goes to trial if said judge rules that force may not have been necessary under the circumstances. “Stand your ground” laws, ergo, presume the innocence of the attacker as long as he or she can establish that there was a reasonable threat of serious bodily harm or death at the time of an attack. They basically make it legal, under the right circumstances, for one citizen to kill another without fear of legal repercussion. While it is true that there are some cases in which an individual should be allowed to defend him or herself from unwarranted aggression with deadly force, “stand your ground” is far too vague as to just what cases qualify. The law has been used to justify some highly questionable rulings, and it may very well be used to do so again in the future. The only instance in which any American citizen should be allowed to kill another is when doing so is the only means of avoiding a serious and imminent threat to one’s safety. Regardless of whether or not George Zimmerman is found guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin, the American people must take action against these deeply unsettling H laws before they claim any more victims. ■
Obamacare not the right plan for America
Kelly Mahoney
LEGAL
Contact Us Highlander 101 Highlander Union Building Riverside, CA 92521 www.highlandernews.org editorinchief@highlandernews.org Editorial Office:
(951) 827-3617
Classifieds & Billing:
(951) 827-5039
The Highlander accepts letters from the campus community. They should be 600-800 words in length and include the author’s name and contact information. Contact editor Townsend Gallinger-Scholz at opinions@ highlandernews.org for more information.
Business Office:
(951) 827-3457 Fax:
(951) 827-7049
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. 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.
OPINIONS
HIGHLANDER
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
7
Apparently commuters don’t really go to UCR
T i m R. A g u i l a r STAFF WRITER
In an effort to increase the number of students living on campus, UCR Assignments and Marketing adopted the following slogan: “You’re not really going to UCR unless you’re staying at UCR.” This slogan appeared on posters in the HUB and currently appears on the front page of the Housing, Dining and Residential Services’ (HDRS’s) website. The poster also claims that if you live on campus you will enjoy a greater sense of satisfaction, 24/7 peace-of-mind and lifelong friendships. Really! This marketing slogan suggests that over 70 percent of UCR’s student body is not “really going” to UCR because they do not live on campus. If this is the case maybe commuting students should receive a refund. At the very least, marketing should pull the slogan from the website, burn the posters and apologize to the countless students its campaign disenfranchised. There is simply no excuse for this offensive and insensitive marketing strategy. In response to the slogan, Vic-
G r a p hic
tor Lucero, a fourth-year economics student said, “When I first saw the ad I thought it was stupid. For me, I save a lot of money by staying home. If housing was a lot cheaper I’d probably stay in housing.” When asked about the poster’s claims that campus living is more satisfying he said, “That’s a lot of BS, because a lot of people leave the dorms every weekend.” Lucero added that he received a 4.0 GPA last quarter and is very active in school. Second-year sociology student Cynthia Galan said of the slogan, “I thought it was, like my friend said, rude and inconsiderate to the commuters since there are a lot of people that commute.” Marketing Director Robert Brumbaugh, when he was informed that the marketing slogan in question appeared to alienate the student commuter population, responded, “…as in most successful marketing, there is a provocative element that is designed to get attention. Our slogan seems to have been successful at this without being risqué or vulgar. Our intentions are never
OBAMACARE CONT’D FROM PAGE 6
summer, leaving President Obama with little to run on in terms of domestic achievements. However, even if the case weren’t being heard in the Supreme Court, even if the individual mandate were somehow legal, that would not make the Affordable Care Act good for Americans. The week before the aforementioned Supreme Court proceedings commenced, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) came out with new estimates that starkly differ from anything the Obama administration has preached over the past two years. Firstly, though the CBO estimates that the ACA will cost $48 billion less than it was originally thought it would from 2012-2021, the law will exponentially increase the federal deficit over time (starting in 2022 and 2023). This explicitly contradicts the foolhardy notion that Obamacare will decrease the deficit over time, as some Democrats like to brag. In 2010, when the CBO came out with their first projections on the cost of the legislation, they included four years of no actual Obamacare spending; so, in reality, the 10 year projection only covered six years of spending. Also, they based their projections on a very strong economy with an unemployment rate of 4.9 percent by 2014.
to alienate…” However, official school slogans should never suggest, as in this case, that any population of students is less significant than any other segment of the student population. This slogan alienates commuters, implying that they are so unimportant that it is as though they don’t “really go” to UCR. The slogan may have gotten attention, as suggested by Brumbaugh, but for all the wrong reasons. Many students found the slogan offensive and rude. When Brumbaugh was asked if he would respond to student’s impressions of the marketing slogan as insensitive and ignorant, he said, “These posters were really intended for prospective incoming students at the campus’ Discover Day. We are vested in making them successful. Many of them will eventually be ‘attending’ UCR. But we want more for them. ‘Going’ is a loaded concept in this slogan pointed in their direction.” But when marketing slogans are placed in a heavily populated area, such as the HUB, their target population becomes everyone within sight
The recent release, however, is not as rosy. Instead of having four years of nonspending, the projections cover two, 2013 and 2014, so they are a lot more accurate than the original projections. Also, the CBO has reviewed their economic projections and assumed that the economy will not be as strong as it was originally thought it would be, with the unemployment rate projected to be around 8.7 percent in 2014. Additionally, according to the CBO, Obamacare will prevent some who currently have health insurance from keeping it—their best estimate being that around 5 million people will lose their employerbased coverage. The 2,700 page bill is riddled with loopholes and opportunities for both big corporations and small businesses to wiggle their way out of the obligation of providing their workers with health insurance, meaning a lot more people will rely on the new legislation than previously realized and the cost will be driven up even further. Also, the cost of healthcare will, according to the CBO, go up instead of down— a fact that is perhaps more bruising to the current administration than any other. Health insurance premiums will skyrocket five and 10 years down the line, in most cases two or three times above the rate of
of them—they are not exclusive to them, the target population. It doesn’t get any simpler than that. Brumbaugh directed my attention to the Higher Education Research Institute study, “Completing College: Assessing Graduation Rates at Four-Year Institutions.” The study is a complex data-driven longitudinal cohort research study that assesses graduation rates; it takes into account numerous characteristics of firsttime freshmen, although it does not address the concepts of satisfaction, peace of mind or lifelong friendships. The research found that students living on campus are more likely to have higher grades and graduate. However, the study warns that raw graduation rates can be misleading because of varied characteristics, such as a large commuter population or a large number of first generation students, which are both prevalent at UCR. The study also recommends that commuter institutions capture on campus living benefits through alternative programming designed for non-residential learning communities. And, lastly, the
inflation. This is because the bill failed to address the main reason that healthcare is currently so expensive. Thanks to the aging baby boomer population, the constant growth of frivolous healthcare lawsuits and the surprisingly steep surge in chronic diseases, not to mention new technology and other mitigating factors, the cost of healthcare will necessarily go up, even if Obamacare is enacted in the best way possible. Methods such as tort reform, letting insurance companies compete across state lines, focusing on preventative practices such eating healthily and exercising, streamlining hospital records and affluence testing, among others, would go a long way to drive down the cost of healthcare, certainly further than Obamacare ever will. Another reason that Obamacare is a miserable, doomed legislative initiative is the fact that it takes away half a trillion dollars from Medicare, a bedrock American safety net; and there is little way of knowing whether or not the federal government will be able to keep track of any of the funds. Another big problem the current administration faces is the sheer unpopularity of the law. A CBS News/New York Times poll taken on March 21 showed that only 36 percent of the public approves of the bill, with 47 disapproving and only 17 percent not
by
Irin Son
study is based on aggregate data and does not compare institutions with similar types of students, which may result in a different finding for UCR. Certainly, campus living has its advantages, but the marketing slogan used to entice incoming students into buying into campus life is divisive and offensive. The slogan could have easily read, “Enjoy all the benefits campus living has to offer,” but then it might not have been provocative enough to grab their attention. Commuting students balance life’s demands and make the sacrifices necessary to attain a college education. Students commute for very legitimate reasons and in so doing they embrace the resolve that makes this school great. And while this segment of the student population may have preferred an easier path to the graduation podium, vis-à-vis residency, the measurement of satisfaction for a commuting student is no less. Marketing must rethink their slogan—we don’t need provocative at the expense of offensive on the campus of H any university. ■
sure. If Obamacare is going to be front and center this fall during the general election, the president has little chance of winning, especially if the Supreme Court decides to strike down the individual mandate. So here we are, knee deep in yet another presidential season, the news saturated with stories concerning the Republican presidential primaries and the insistence of Rick Santorum to keep on running. Come this summer and the conventions, and onwards to November, the incumbent will find himself trying to defend and deny things he currently holds dear to his heart. If the Supreme Court decides to uphold Obamacare, the backlash from the public will be so massive that Obama will be a lame-duck president for his entire second term (that is if he wins). If the court decides to rebuke it, he will have to endure criticism that he wasted his first year in office trying to pass a law that was illegal all along. It is a lose-lose situation, but any student of contemporary politics knows never to count out the Teflon president—the absurdly smooth politician with a talent for slithering out of any controversy. It will be highly entertaining, not to mention remarkably important, to watch how this plays out. Here’s to hoping this law gets revoked H and repealed in its entirety. ■
8
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
. FEATURES .
HIGHLANDER
Astronaut Anna Fisher SPEAKS
to
STUDENTS
Tanya Selvam, Contributing Writer // Jonathan Godoy, Photographer
Photo Courtesy of The Pictorial Arts
On April 3, UC Riverside welcomed Anna Lee Fisher, one of the first female astronauts, who visited campus to speak to students about her career with NASA. After years of extensive schooling, working on exciting projects with NASA, and eventually venturing into space, Fisher compiled the various lessons she learned and offered them to students and faculty in attendance. About 100 students gathered at the event organized by the Women’s Resource Center as a part of the Leadership Community for Women Initiative. Women’s Resource Center’s Director Adrienne Sims explained that the initiative addresses the issue that women are the most disparaged group in the world. The initiative aims to offer hope to young women by exposing them to female role models such as Fisher. The event began with an introduction by Richard Olds, the Vice Chancellor of Health Affairs and Dean of the UCR School of Medicine. Olds spoke of Fisher’s impressive degrees from UCLA: a Bachelors and Masters in Chemistry, as well as a Doctor of Medicine with a specialization in Emergency Medicine. During the time she was receiving her degrees, medicine was a male dominated profession and he praised her perseverance. After acknowledgements and remarks Marylynn Yates, Barbara Purvis and Adrienne Sims, Anna Fisher began to share her incredible life experiences. Fisher had never dreamed that she would one day be an astronaut. It was only after she heard of Alan Shepard, the first American in space, that she became fascinated by the possibility. Fate would have it when, upon completing medical school, a friend of Fisher’s serendipitously notified her of a position within NASA which would launch her career in a completely new direction: up. Instead of working on human beings, her subjects shifted to satellites and space shuttles. As mission specialist, one of her first missions was working on a space salvage mission, during which she was able to retrieve two satellites. She gave audience members insight into life at the Johnson Space Center, which felt to her much like a college campus. There she spent a strenuous year in training. One of the many things she did there was spend several hundred hours
inside space simulators, which were remarkably similar to an actual spacecraft. Fisher shared pictures of the patches she designed for the flight suits, her crew and the shuttle itself. A week before the launch, the team was obligated to undergo full quarantine. According to Fisher, taking off was akin to sitting in a chair that had its back to the floor for three hours. She described the launch as, “bumpy with lots of noise and vibration in the cockpit, but once the Earth’s atmosphere had been cleared, was just smooth acceleration.” Considering the shuttle’s acceleration from zero to 17,500 miles per hour within eight minutes, a slightly bumpy ride was hardly surprising. But that was only the beginning of the odd physical effects of space travel. Fisher explained how odd weightlessness felt: instead of one’s blood being drawn downwards due to gravity, it becomes more evenly distributed in one’s body and tends to fill out one’s face. A fact about space that, she joked, was good for minimizing wrinkles. During Fisher’s first night in space, she had trouble falling asleep. Not only was she farther from home than she had ever been, she also had to deal with the irritating consequences of having no gravity. She was floating around so much that she could not fall asleep. In order to fix this, she hooked two sleeping bags together to form a make-shift hammock, and then anchored it to the shuttle’s walls. By tethering her sleeping bags, she was able to avoid floating around the room. During her presentation, she shared a beautiful photograph taken of the Himalayan Mountains from inside the Shuttle. After concluding her description of her first mission, she told attendees what NASA is currently working on and where the future of NASA is headed. She explained that there are now space stations that exist to serve as a long term stage for scientists to conduct research and experiments. At this time, they are working on making the space station more sustainable. They are even capable of recycling urine. NASA is also attempting to develop a shuttle that can go beyond Earth’s orbit and ultimately reach Mars. Fisher shared the possibility of a future where shuttle rides can be tourist attractions or perhaps there could even be commercial structures for universities, in which a school could have a laboratory in space. She also shared, idealistically, that a way to resolve problems between countries could be to have them work together in an international effort to advance space exploration. Fisher’s talk exemplified everything the Leadership Community for Women Initiative hopes to bring to students. In a time where there were hardly any women in the field of medicine, Fisher excelled. But even that accomplishment was not enough, Fisher became one of the few females to brave the greatest unknown, the mysteriH ous uncharted frontier: outer space. ■
FEATURES
HIGHLANDER
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
9
THE DIGITAL WORLD WITH RYAN SIMON SEEING THE FUTURE WITH PROJECT GLASS
WRITE FOR THE HIGHLANDER NEWSPAPER
MEETINGS ON MONDAYS 5:15PM @ HUB 101
Today’s smartphones do a pretty good job keeping people organized and socially connected, but there may be a better and more intuitive way to accomplish these tasks. Imagine a world where technology and your everyday life work together to create a new reality. What if you could simply look up at the sky and receive weather information, or respond to a text message and check your to-do list without ever pulling out a phone or other electronic device? It may sound too futuristic to even be plausible, but Google thinks otherwise. On April 4, after months of rumors surrounding a Google augmented reality project, Google finally announced to the public Project Glass. The idea for Project Glass revolves around a sleek and portable piece of eyewear. Its design is much like a pair of glasses, but without any lenses. Instead, the headset has a single viewing glass that is elevated over one’s right eye. This design allows for information to be accessed at the leisure of the user, and avoids completely distracting one from the real world in front of them. Google’s plan is to incorporate their full suite of software into
WRITTEN BY RYAN SIMON, SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Project Glass. In a video uploaded to YouTube, Google showcases some of the many uses its augmented reality glasses may be capable of. Search, voice recognition, listening to music, Google Maps, Google Navigation, calendar, Google+ messaging and video chat and taking pictures are all planned for Project Glass. What makes Project Glass stand out against other competing technologies is that Google already has most of the software for the project done and in the hands of users. If anything would hold back the capabilities of something as promising as Project Glass, it would be the performance of its accompanying software, but that is something Google seems to have been planning for. Everything from voice recognition to Google Navigation has already been heavily tested and in use by Android phone consumers. Google is preparing to build the ultimate culmination of all their services with Project Glass. Despite the very real nature of Google’s presentation of Project Glass, the company is far from completing a final and consumer-ready version of the product. Since the RYAN SIMON CONT’D ON PAGE 10
Photo Courtesy of Google Plus
10
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
FEATURES
HIGHLANDER
RYAN SIMON FROM PAGE 10
WEDNESDAYS @ 9AM
KUCR RADIO 88.3
Photos Courtesy of TechCrunch
HIGHLANDER NEWSROOM
device is still in an early prototype phase of testing, Google is collecting usage data and trying to solve engineering issues. During a charity event last week, Google co-founder Sergey Brin was spotted wearing the glasses and was asked about how the project was coming along. Brin responded by saying that the prototypes are still a ways away from being as fully functional as the project’s announcement video portrays the device. He also confirmed that there is currently no planned release date for Project Glass. Even without a concrete release schedule, Project Glass is a reminder to the public that Google is continuing to push the boundaries on what is possible in today’s digital world. Whether or not Project Glass makes it to the consumer marketplace in the near future is completely up in the air, but just the possibility of such a device has many in the tech world inspired by its potential. One can only imagine the H possibilities. ■
HIGHLANDER
Jacqueline Balderrama, Staff Writer Fatima Mirza, Senior Staff Writer Lin Chai, Photographer
FEATURES
The HUB was abuzz with excitement this past Tuesday when students and faculty members gathered for Sister Spit. Sister Spit is a queer-feminist group that began in San Francisco in 1994 as an open mic night for females in response to the other open mic nights that were predominantly male. But since then the group has grown, and they have been touring since the late 90’s, headed by M ichelle Tea. The program, put on by UCR’s creative writing depar tment, was a night of immense talent, filled with Sister Spit ’s talented poets, novelists, singers, per formance ar tists and filmmakers. Tea, the co -founder of the group, is the author of numerous creative works including novels, poems, stories and articles. Tea has been the host of Sister Spit ever y year, and each year she is accompanied by a different group of ar tists and per formers. They tour for 30 days in a van visiting various cities and campuses across the U.S. Distinguished professor of creative writing Susan Straight was ver y involved in bringing Sister Spit to UCR. Straight met Tea at a reading held in San Francisco, and af ter hearing
about the wild, talented and diverse group, she k new it would be an event per fec t for UCR students. The night began with a reading from Tea’s novel, “Rose of No Man’s Land.” The stor y fo cused on two girls and their adventure hitchhik ing. Despite a seemingly dangerous encounter with the driver and other passengers, the audience was in hysterics thanks to the quirk y fearlessness of the charac ter, Rose. Straight said of Tea’s work , “M ichelle Tea, the organizer, has a huge following for her own fic tion, which is edgy and hilarious.” Kit Yan then took the stage and energetically recited po etr y from his new slam poetr y CD, “As We Fell.” He focused on themes of struggle and love, carr ying the audience with an animated voice and exaggerated hand gestures. In one poem entitled, “Plastic or Paper,” he immersed the listener in the odd comedy of his family ’s hab it of reusing plastic bags and jars to save money, and save for their future. He recited, “[ They used] any sor t of pack age that could have another life, so that we could have another life.” Nex t, Cassie J. Sneider read
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
11
from her stor y “Sugar, Sugar ” about two sisters and their mother on a Halloween night. The sarcastic voice of the piece enter tained listeners as they laughed at her humor. Sneider recalled the events of that Halloween night and how she was only able to purchase a “sex y wizard costume” which she wore over a sweater and looked like a, “bargain fright-mare.” The narrator decides that “trick- ortreating is boot- camp preparation for real life.” Per former and play wright Erin Markey took the stage as a little boy with a baby- doll named Secret while singing a ver y rac y and hilarious broadway style song. She sang to audience members and urged them to put money in the baby, mak ing all listeners giggle with ner vous laughter. She returned later as herself singing about personal struggles. She sang, “Come up for breath...They call my name, but it ’s the water that ’s so loud.” Professor Susan Straight and Professor Nalo Hopk inson also shared a reading with the audience. Straight selec ted a deeply emotional passage from her up coming book that she has been work ing on for about a decade. SISTER SPIT CONT’D ON PAGE 12
12
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
FEATURES
HIGHLANDER SISTER SPIT FROM PAGE 11
Photos by Lin Chai
The passage was about a tragic incident and a young man in love with a beautiful, troubled woman. Hopkinson read a passage from her science fiction/fantasy novel that detailed the suspense prior to a desert battle. Following the readings, a short film by Hilary Goldenberg was shown. The film was based on a chapter from Michelle Tea’s book, “Valencia Memoir.” The scenes depicted a group of friends deciding what matters while on shrooms, and it incorporated both photos and claymation. Writer and musician Brontez Purnell read some racy and astonishingly funny stories from his upcoming novella about partying, drinking and health. He explained blackout-reviews—having to piece together the night before after too much partying, and he explored the difficulty of homelessness from an intimate perspective, all while winning over the audience with laughter. The final reading was done by Dorothy Alison, legendary author of “Bastard Out of Carolina” which has reached its 20th anniversary edi-
tion this year. Straight described Allison as, “The godmother of fiction writers because she writes without fear or hesitation about some of the darkest parts of American working class life—the love and violence and tenderness of families, the way women have to fight to break free and then fight to keep loving those they left behind, and the way young artists often have to leave to reinvent themselves.” Allison read a heartbreaking excerpt from her novel, “Bone,” about a little girl who is abused by her father. At one point, Allison, aware that the audience was filled with many aspiring writers said, “I hope for you writers that you write a book that you love. That it does what you want it to… and 20 years after it is published they release a 20th anniversary edition.” As one of the group’s inspirational figures, Dorothy said that Sister Spit is here for the “difficult material.” Perhaps that best describes Tuesday’s performance. Through the harsh, sometimes disturbing, and eccentric expressions of each artist, there comes a message full of H humor and humanity. ■
HIGHLANDER
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
13
R adar ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Photo Courtesy of Lionsgate
14
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
HIGHLANDER Photos Courtesy of courtofFittheniche.com
A FASHION COLUMN
NO KILTS [ ALLOWED ] Emily Wells, Senior Staf f Writer // Graphic by Irin Son
L A Fashion Week 2012 Recap I look forward to the LA Fashion Weeks all year. The most recent one, this past March, showcased the upcoming trends for fall and winter shoppers. The week opened with an elegant party benefiting Hollywood Arts at a private Beverly Hills estate. The home had a breathtaking view of the Los Angeles skyline. Decorating the venue was an array of art by Herb Ritts, Alan Aldridge and Niki Sabet, varying from a pair of lace-up ballet boots to surrealist cartoon pieces. No fashion designs were on display, but the night set the precedent for a great week to come.
The second night was spent at a joint show shared between Alicia Estrada’s “Stop Staring!” line and Ina Soltani’s namesake line. “Stop Staring!” features an array of vintage, retro-inspired dresses. The designer certainly brought in loads of celebrity fans probably because the line is a particularly easy one to wear. Real Housewife of Orange County star Gretchen Rossi adores Alicia Estrada’s dresses. “I love the line! I mean, look at the dress, it fits perfect. It’s a little bit sophisticated, a little bit sexy, it has a retro flair to it, which I absolutely love.” Rossi personalized her basic dress with a
belt and eye-catching red shoes. Angel McCord, sister of 90210’s Annalynne McCord and co-designer of their line, “The Sisters 3,” says that she loves the line as well. “I think the retro look is here to stay. That’s the great thing about living in this day and age—we can fly anywhere we want, wear anything we want and be anything we want.” Next, I talked to Tinsel Korey, who plays Emily in the hit “Twilight” series. While she couldn’t give us any hints about the upcoming movie, she was eager to discuss why she loves the “Stop Staring!” line. She said, “I’m a big fan of the 40’s and 50’s feel, and I like that they’re affordable! I think that since Marilyn Monroe has popped back up the retro look is coming back.” While all the dresses in the collection are quite wearable and classic, the last dress shown by Estrada was the real showstopper—a glitzy, sequined, floor-length gold gown. The designer came out to greet
the audience, accompanied by the model of the dress. It was clear that this was the design that Estrada was most proud of. The collection featured an array of wearable evening gowns and cocktail dresses in a variety of colors and textures. Soltani has demonstrated true versatility as a designer with this line. Later in the week, I ventured to the American Heart Association benefit show, also at the Vibiana. The “Go Red for Women Celebrity Red Dress Fashion Show”, cohosted by Taylor Armstrong from “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” attracted hundreds of people, including Katlin Mastandrea from “The Middle” and “Anger Management,” and Meagan Tandy, Miss California 2007. Tandy was born with a heart murmur, and she thinks it’s good to have programs for people who are suffering from the heart disease. “It’s just great to come out and sup-
port causes like this,” Tandy said. Tracy Broughton, Ms. America 2011, came with a $35,000 dollar crown on her head and a glittery cane. The final night of LA Fashion Weekend at at Sunset Gower Studios was a spectacular finish to a week of celebrating upcoming fall trends. The night featured fashion designer Tal Sheyn, who worked to create a fashion line based off of Alexis from the Real HouseWives of Orange County, Romeo and Juliet Couture’s Gossip Girl inspired line, and Lizzie Parker’s creations. Each designer had a personalized take for upcoming fall fashion. Even as a fashion week veteran, I always am surprised by the various trends that debut. Gretchen Rossi said it best: “I think we have some really talented designers here! Sometimes I think LA gets a bad rap in comparison to New York and Tokyo, but I think we are hopeH fully catching up here.”■
MOVIE REVIEWS ALSO THIS WEEK:
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
LOCKOUT
THE THREE STOOGES
DETENTION
THE HUNGER GAMES RATING: ★★★★☆
BY: DIANA S. HUANG, STAFF WRITER Photos Courtesy of Lionsgate
Another worldwide phenomenon dominated the box office and news headlines across the world as “The Hunger Games” started off its opening weekend by breaking the record for largest worldwide opening for a movie released outside of summer and the holidays. It also sold the most first-day advanced screening tickets on Fandango. The most notable of these accomplishments is the abundant praise for the film. Not only has the silver screen adaptation captured the interest of those across all age dc emographics, but it also succeeded where many of the Harry Potter films failed—Director Gary Ross’s vision actually pleased many fans of the book. Set in a post-apocalyptic country called Panem (a.k.a. North America), 12 districts surround the rich and bountiful Capitol, the location of the central government and where inhabitants are surrounded and spoiled by limitless wealth and luxury. Many years ago, after a failed rebellion against the Capitol, a treaty was signed which decreed that every year, a boy and girl between the ages
of 12 and 18 from each district must be selected as tributes to participate in the Hunger Games: a televised event where all 24 must fight to the death. Suzanne Collins’s novel focuses on the 74th Hunger Games, where 18-year-old Katniss Everdeen from the impoverished District 12 volunteers in place of her younger sister Primrose. Unbeknownst to Katniss and the rest of Panem, the strong and independent heroine
will soon become the symbol of hope and the spark that gives the districts strength to stand up again. Often (wrongfully) compared to the Twilight Saga, “The Hunger Games” and its subsequent sequels are a far cry from Meyer’s angsty teenage dramas. Despite being geared toward young adult readers, Collins’s fantasy world holds its own in the literary world by introducing a young hero
who forges her own path and possesses uncanny survival instincts. The trilogy also deals with such relevant themes as oppression, war, self-preservation and draws from mythological influences such as Theseus and the Minotaur. Gary Ross stayed quite faithful to the novel and did a spectacular job showcasing the differences between the poverty-stricken districts and the excessive decadence of the
Capitol—an important and recurring theme in the books. At the center of this pandemonium is the capable and charismatic Jennifer Lawrence, who brings Katniss to the giant screen with a resounding bang. The second youngest actress to ever be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Leading Actress in the film, “Winter’s Bone,” the 21-year-old Kentucky native has recently been praised by Rolling Stone magazine as the most talented actress in America. Lawrence’s portrayal of Katniss also brings to the forefront an entirely new type of female hero—a disheveled and barefaced tomboy who’s good with a bow and would rather chase game through a forest than be primped and shoved into gowns. The only disappointing element in “The Hunger Games” is the absence of Katniss’s gutsy-ness. There’s no denying that Lawrence translated the young hero’s vulnerability and bravery wonderfully, but some of Katniss’s actions in the film made her weaker than HUNGER GAMES CONT’D ON PAGE 15
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
HIGHLANDER
HUNGER GAMES FROM PAGE 14
her off-screen counterpart. Many of those who read the book were disappointed with how the film diminished some of Katniss’s more courageous moments and glossed over the development of several pivotal bonds and relationships. The blunder, however, can be easily overlooked as the author’s tone and voice still presides a heavy reign in every scene. Collins co-wrote the screenplay, and her influence remains unchallenged as “The Hunger Games” is a reflection of exactly what she intended her world to be. Other notable delights in the film include Donald Sutherland’s sinister and cunning President Snow and Elizabeth Banks’ eccentric and bizarre Effie Trinket. The novel versions of Peeta and Gale are generic and bland, and the misfortune bled over into film as Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth both struggled to breathe life into their twodimensional characters. Luckily for the young actors, they have at least two other movies to tweak and better their roles, and hopefully by the time “Catching Fire” rolls
around, Hutcherson will have found another way to make Peeta more lively and less of a background wallpaper. With a PG-13 rating, Ross handled the bloodbaths and deaths skillfully, utilizing the popular and shaky handheld camera technique and positioning the scenes in a way that suggested gore without having to show it. As a whole, “The Hunger Games” is a solid and well-thought out film that was able to coax and provoke the right emotional responses out of the audiences at the right time. Amandla Stenberg’s Rue and Isabelle Fuhrman’s Clove drew equal measures of sympathy and disgust from viewers, and their performances rounded out the group of young tributes. It’s hard to not like “The Hunger Games” with Lawrence in the lead, and with “Catching Fire” often being toted as just as good of a book if not better than its predecessor, there will undoubtedly be legions of fans eagerly awaiting the November 2013 release H of the second installment. ■
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
15
16
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
HIGHLANDER
21 JUMP STREET RATING:
★★★★☆
BY: ALEXANDER SUFFOLK, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
“21 Jump Street” is a comedy based on the late 80’s TV show of the same name. However, name and concept are about the only things the show and the movie have in common. The show was dramatic and starred Johnny Depp before he was inseparable from Tim Burton; the movie is hysterical and stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. It tells the tale of two young cops, Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum), who both had unsatisfying high-school experiences and didn’t attend their prom night— Schmidt not having the courage to ask a girl out and Jenko not having acceptable grades. Years later, the two meet at the police academy, where they decide to become friends and pool Jenko’s brawn with Schmidt’s brain. They graduate police training only to have the unsatisfying position of patrolling the park on bicycles. After an overzealous arrest botched by the pair’s hilarious inability to read the Miranda rights, the two are reassigned.
They are to report to Captain Dickson (whose screentime was always a treat thanks to the energetic Ice Cube) at 21 Jump Street. They are then assigned to go undercover as high schoolers to infiltrate and end the distribution of a new synthetic drug going around the campus. However, within their first day back at high school, Jenko and Schmidt accidentally swap identities, leaving Schmidt to get in with the popular kids in drama class and Jenko to deal with the concepts and flirtatious teacher of “app chemistry.” Along with learning the details of the drug circles, the two get caught up in reliving the high school experience in new lights. Jenko begins to feel more intelligent as he bonds with a trio of honor-roll students and Schmidt begins to finally get that feeling of being cool and accepted by the popular crowd. Eventually they learn to deal with their issues and confront the drug supplier at the prom night the two never got to attend. “21 Jump Street” is one of
those movies that is such a steady stream of comedy gold that it becomes difficult to pick out the truly precious moments. What do really stand out are the scenes in which Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are together. While it seems like the pairing of the actors is strange and unprecedented, the two really have great chemistry. There are scenes in which they are able to unite in their immaturity and absurdity while there are scenes that highlight the drastic difference in their characters, allowing them to effectively bounce off of one another. Admittedly, Jonah Hill once again does his standard schtick, often relying on social awkwardness and clever wordplay to get laughs. Not that it is bad, but it is noticeable that this sort of thing has been done before and done better in movies like “Superbad” and “The Sitter.” It is Tatum who is surprisingly the showstopper of the movie. I used to think all he did in movies was stand around looking like a gorilla, but “21 Jump Street”
has given me a bit more respect for him. When the movie went back and forth between Tatum and Hill, I have to say that Tatum’s screen time was far more entertaining. His dull wits, earnest nature and large stature often made him the butt of several jokes, and yet he still somehow managed to come off as the cooler of the two. I was also pleased with the intelligence of the writing. The film seems to be very self aware, commenting on the trends and tropes of today’s society and entertainment. During their reassignment, Jenko and Schmidt’s job is described as a rehashed idea from the 80’s due to 21 JUMP STREET CONT’D ON PAGE 17
Photo Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
CLASSIFIEDS Advertising Information
Please submit Classifed ads by calling (951) 827-5039 or by emailing HighlanderClassified@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.)
HOUSING 1bed/1bath adjacent to UCR 12 mo lease from $770 9 mo lease from $800 Closest location to campus 951-684-6828 257 West Big Springs Road www.walktoucr.com ------------------------UCR rental service - we match UCR students with the perfect house within 1 mi. of campus. Repair/cleaning service on call. 3-7 bdrms starting at $1450, furnished/unfurnished We do the legwork for you! 951/892-6261 ------------------------1 furnished bdrm. in my home. female pref. $435 util. incl. w/kitchen privileges and internet access. 951-686-5957
MISC Tuesday Big Book Study Noon-1 p.m. St. Andrews Newman Center 105 Big Springs Road, 92507 ------------------------AA Information: www.inlandempireaa.org 909-825-4700 ------------------------EGG DONORS WANTED: Women 21-29, help an infertile couple and make $6500+! Apply at www.bhed.com ------------------------CHILD CARE Preschool and Day Care Center in a school setting. Very close to UCR. Licensed by State of California since 1994. Full Time/Part Time openings. Reasonable rates for UCR students and staff. Parking available. Call 951-682-1202 ------------------------Thursday Lunch with Bill Noon - 1 p.m. Discussion St. Andrews Newman Center 105 Big Springs Road, 92507 ------------------------WINE FOR EVERY TASTE Canyon Crest Winery in the Canyon Crest Towne Centre across from Ralphs: Tastings, custom labels, private parties www.canyoncrestwinery.com 951-369-9463
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
HIGHLANDER 21 JUMPS STREET FROM PAGE 16
a lack of ideas, a fun little poke at Hollywood’s current fascination with rebooting and sequels, the film itself included. Jenko is perturbed by the new breed of popular kids in high school: those who are enamoured with social awareness, environmentalism and indie music. The pair comment on an apparent lack of explosions during their car chase with a biker gang, and two characters from the original series make quite a memorable cameo towards the end. Then the film ends with a hint at a sequel, garnering both excitement and dread from the characters, much like real-world reaction to news of a sequel. While there are plenty of clever jokes throughout the film, a majority of the humor is crude, vulgar, or based on shock-value, earning the movie’s R rating. The plot can often be seen as unbelievable or just plain silly at times. However, you should already know that going in. If you are looking for something serious or a little more mature, this is definitely not for you. But if want your jaw to ache a bit from laughing at some lighthearted fun, H check out “21 Jump Street.” ■
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
15
MUSIC REVIEWS THE SHINS // PORT OF MORROW RATING: ★★★★☆
BY: JACQUELINE BALDERRAMA, STAFF WRITER
The Shins, known for their singles “New Slang” and “Phantom Limb,” released their fourth album, “Port of Morrow,” their first album in five years. Even with the break, the band has not sacrificed any of their appeal. This new album falls seamlessly into their signature style with calming narratives, James Mercer’s steady tenor voice and poetic lyrics. Though “Port of Morrow” does not branch out much to new subject matter, its melodies are varied. Because of this, nearly all the songs make good impressions. They are particularly rooted in memorable choruses and the themes of untraditional romances, the struggle against loneliness and revival of self. The first track, “The Rifle’s Song,” starts off with a guitar, drums and an array of poetic imagery ranging from weapons to subways. Though the piece is charming to listen to, the lyrics of this song seem to get lost in the poetry. Listeners must rely on the melody to guide the message of the song. However, not all the tracks are hidden in obscurity. Most of the tracks, including “Simple Song” and “Bait
and Switch,” have a good harmony between the clarity of the lyrics and the pleasantry of the music. “Simple Song,” which was released earlier this year, focuses on a romantic relationship and self struggle. Mercer sings the memorable chorus, “I know that things can really get rough when you go it alone.” This is a reoccurring theme of overcoming loneliness. Perhaps what makes The Shins attractive to most is this ability to stay outside of cliché. The stories within this album remain as complex and relatable as they should be. “It’s Only Life” responds as the following track with a somber melody and hopeful lyrics, “I’ve been down the very road you’re walking now. It doesn’t have to be dark and lonesome… we can figure this thing out and turn it back around.” Still, the album is not confined to dreary, love-recovery themes. “Bait and Switch” offers a lively tune in contrast to the previous songs. It focuses more on the individual. Good choruses continue through this track while re-
occurring images of the sea and nature begin to emerge from the album. Furthermore, “September” and “No Way Down” focus more on narratives both romanticizing natural images and employing catchy choruses. There are some surprising quirks in this album such as the incorporation of an electric guitar in “Fall of ’82” and Mercer’s falsetto in the final song “Port of Morrow.” Unfortunately, in breaking their traditional boundaries, this namesake track seems to fall short. There are no memorable choruses to support its dive into darker images of “flowers in the garbage and a skull under… curls.” Overall, the Shins’s genius collaboration of melody, poetic lyrics and voice satisfied fans in “Port of Morrow.” Though there are a couple of tracks that feel imbalanced, the majority are flawlessly entertaining and thought provoking. Regardless of the fact that this album is a continuation of what The Shins do best, each track is surprisingly individual. Though long awaited, “Port of Morrow” is a strong adH dition to the group’s previous work. ■
18
. SPORTS .
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2011
HIGHLANDER
UCR men’s tennis outmatched by tough Anteaters
Lin Chai/HIGHLANDER
A d o l f o B ej a r STAFF WRITER
UCR men’s tennis opened its 2012 Big West conference participation with a difficult visit to UCI. The string of five conference games that await the Highlanders will be
the biggest test of the season for the team. Lately, the Highlanders have been significantly improving their tennis in recent games with wins against Idaho state and Seattle. UCR has demonstrated great progress and a thirst for victory. For this
game, the Highlanders were trying to get back on the winning track after dropping its last game against Sacramento, while the Anteaters were hoping to extend their winning streak. The action opened with doubles matches. At court No. 3, UCR’s Simon Peters and Jimmy Roberts faced UCI’s Fabian Matthews and Shuhei Shibahara in a tight encounter; the match was even for almost the entire game with both pairs exchanging points back and forth. UCR’s pair struggled to keep with UCI’s pair pace and by the closing and decisive stages of the match. UCR dropped the rhythm and lost the game in agonizing fashion; the final result was 8-7. The match at court No. 2 was significantly different. UCR’s Luis Gastao and Kevin Griffin were swept by UCI’s Jon Kazarian and Mika DeCoster. The Anteaters dominated the game from end to end, attacking the Highlanders constantly and pushing them back, eventually winning 8-1. At court No.1, UCR’s Felix Macherez and team captain Austin Andres were completely dominated by UCI’s Sam Gould and Jacob Jung in a match that was too fast for the Highlander duo, finishing with a score of 8-3. With these results UCI scored the opening point of the evening.
UCR golf falls to Santa Barbara Ram Menon CONTRIBUTING WRITER
It was a difficult two days for the UCR men’s golf team at the OGIO UC Santa Barbara Invitational as the Highlanders dropped from 12th to last place out of 13 teams. With an initial 298, UCR shot 308 in the next round to fall behind 11th place Cal State Bakersfield by a small margin of 2 shots. The first day of play was led by David Gazzolo, who shot a 147 (70-77) for the Highlanders and sat tied for 21st place individually. The final 18-hole round on Tuesday yielded a negative result as UCR shot 311 as a team. With
a total score of 917, the Highlanders dropped to 13th place, just shy of 12th place Santa Clara. BJ Doucett led UCR individuals in the second day by going for 223 (76-73-74) and positioning in 25th place overall. Gazzolo shot a total 227 (70-77-80) and placed second among Highlander individuals. In third was Ryan Smith, who finished 54th overall, going 232 (77-75-80). Rounding out the Highlander squad were Jason Semthiti and Matt Fitzgerald. Semthiti finished 63rd overall, having shot 236 (75-83-78), while Fitzgerald placed 64th overall, having shot 240 (78-83-79).
The individual winner of the OGIO Invitational was Long Beach State’s Xander Schaufeele, shooting a low 208 (71-69-68) after three rounds. Schaufeele just edged out Saint Mary’s Anders Engell by one stroke. Long Beach State won the team title, scoring a solid 854, distancing themselves from second place Saint Mary’s by nine strokes. The host UCSB Gauchos came in third with a total score of 876. The Highlanders will next be hosting their annual Braveheart Classic on April 9 and 10 in Beaumont, CA at Oak Valley H Golf Club. ■
In singles action, UCR improved its tennis and fought fiercely every game, yet UCI had the upper hand at the end and scored four of the six points in play. UCR team captain Austin Andres faced UCI’s Jacob Jung in a contended match in which two of the three sets had to be decided by tie breaks. UCI’s Jung controlled the opening games of the match, moving the ball as he pleased. His powerful forehand forced Andres to drop behind the baseline and defend for most of the first set. After losing the first set, Andres came back strong and controlled the court in his favor for the
second set. After tying the match to one set, both players felt the pressure of their physical match where they both fought fiercely for every point. Ultimately, it was Jung who had the upper hand as he hit two decisive winners in the final tie break, completing the match 6-3, 6-7 and 7-6. UCR’s points came thanks to wins by Luis Gastao, who came from behind to beat UCI’s Jon Kazarian by 2-6, 6-4, 6-0. Highlander Kelly Dickson defeated UCI’s Eric Gast in a contested match by 7-5, 4-6, 7-6. Next for the Highlanders is a visit to UC Davis on April 14, 2012 for H the second conference match. ■
SPORTS
HIGHLANDER
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
19
Track and field return to Tempe, AZ at the Sun Angel Track Classic P r a n av B h a k ta SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The UC Riverside men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at the 33rd Annual Sun Angel Track Classic this past Friday and Saturday. The Highlanders previously competed in Tempe, AZ this season in March at the Baldy Castillo Invitational. The great weather made for stiff competition and strong performances as the Highlanders competed not only with collegiate athletes but also with professional and international athletes. On the men’s side, the relay team of Justin Harris, Michael Hern, Jerome Rideaux and Bryan Adams finished in seventh place with a time of 41.27. Their time was the fifth best alltime in UCR track history. In the 400m hurdles, Michael Koger finished in ninth place with a time of 52.35, with teammate Peter Guenther finishing right behind Koger in 10th place with a time of 52.59. In the 100m dash, Michael Hern finished in third place with a time of 10.35. Bryan Adams ran a 21.84 in the 200m event finishing in 11th place. Freshman Cody Jordan ran the 1500m with a time of 3:56.71. Jordan’s time set a personal best and also qualified him for the Big West. In the 5000m event, Talal Khan came in 11th place with a time of 14:58.68. In the 4X400m relay, Peter Guenther, Jerome Rideaux, Michael Koger and Bryan Adams finished in fourth place with a time of 3:14:06. In the men’s field events, Caleb Stuart placed seventh in the hammer throw with a throw of 61.52m and placed sixth with a toss
PRANAV BHAKTA
P-BHAK’S CORNER
of 15.41m in the shot put. In the discus, Chima Ikeme had a toss of 44.70m, good for seventh place. Ted Hooper placed eighth in the long jump with jump of 6.99m. Ryan Swafford in the triple jump placed fifth with a leap of 15.27m. On the women’s side, Briana KennedyFeldhaus ran the 100 hurdles in 12th place with a time of 14.45. In the 200m dash, Michelle Macias ran a time of 25.14 finishing in 13th place, while setting a personal best. Alisha Brown placed fourth with a time of 4:33.87 in the 1500m event. Damajeria Dubose ran a lifetime best in the 800m placing second with a time of 2:09.08. In the 3k steeplechase, Tanya
Jonathan Godoy/HIGHLANDER
Valenzuela ran 11:05.85 finishing in eighth place almost setting a personal best. In the 4X400 relay, the team of Yozmine Modeste, Adriana Paz, Alisha Brown and Raquel Hefflin finished in 10th place with a time of 3:53.37. In the women’s field events, Ashley Gatewood placed fifth in the hammer throw with a throw of 55.49m. Deja Watkins placed fifth in the discus with a throw of 46.70m and 11th in the shot put with a toss of 13.05m. In the javelin, Jazmine Lewis placed 12th with a throw of 35.87. Track and field will next compete at the Beach Invitational and the Mount Sac Relays H on April 19-21. ■
Women’s tennis lose to nationally ranked UC Irvine A d o l f o B ej a r STAFF WRITER
UCR women’s tennis started its Big West conference participation with a devastating loss to the nationally-seeded #60 UC Irvine on Thursday afternoon. The Highlanders traveled to Orange County looking to beat the Anteaters, who held a solid record of 12-5. The action started with doubles matches. UCI controlled all three games in their entirety, giving the Highlanders little chance to score the doubles point in their favor. At court No. 1, UCR’s Taylor Raney and Jamie Raney had the upper hand at the begin-
ning of their match by scoring the first points, but were ultimately beaten by UCI’s Courtney Bryon and Hannah Holladay with a scoreline of 8-5. At court No. 2, the Anteaters confirmed their great form as Franziska Goettsching and Kristina Smith swept UCR’s Natalie Mckay and Kat Saltarelli by 8-1. At court No. 3, the Highlanders couldn’t do much to overcome UCI’s momentum and were thrashed by 8-1. By winning the three games UCI scored the first point of the match. In singles action, the momentum and finer tennis stayed with the Anteaters.
UCI demonstrated why they are #60 in the nation as they thrashed the Highlanders by controlling all six singles matches. UCR never posed any threat to UCI’s powerful and yet delicate tennis; the Anteaters completed a great run of games by sweeping UCR. Highlander Jamie Raney faced UCI’s Kristina Smith at court No. 1 where both players performed great tennis, but it was Smith’s finesse that made the difference in the end; the game started even but as it progressed Smith seemed more comfortable on the ball; at the end the score line marked 7-5, 6-4 in favor of the Ant-
eater. UCR’s Kate Bergeson was swept by UCI’s Hannah Holladay at court No. 6— the Highlander never stood a chance against Holladay’s powerful backhand; the final result was 6-2, 6-2. The Anteaters rounded up a great performance as Ali Facey comfortably defeated UCR’s Courtney Pattugalan by 6-1, 6-2 in a game that clearly showed the abysmal difference between tennis teams. UCR’s first conference game ended painfully with a final score of 7-0. The Highlanders will look to overcome their losses in their visit to Westmont for their second Big H West Conference match. ■
Overpaying for the Dodgers Dodger fans, while proudly bleeding blue, have also been bleeding red when it comes to management of their beloved baseball franchise. The Dodgers organization has a rich history dating back to its Brooklyn era, a history shared with baseball franchises such as the Yankees and the Red Sox. The Yankees are a great example of a well managed franchise. They are highly respected in the baseball community not just for their number of World Series wins, but also for the leadership of the Steinbrenner family. The Dodgers have suffered a massive amount of incompetent owners wasting years and seasons on issues on and off field, culminating in the tenure of current owner Frank McCourt and his messy divorce. All this has happened while cross-town rivals, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, won a championship in 2002, made the playoffs numerous times and have attracted multiple superstars to play for them—the latest being Albert Pujols. Finally, there may be hope for Dodger fans; a Magic Johnson represented group has stepped up and bought the Dodgers for $2.1 billion. In fact, their offer is the highest cash paid for any professional team in the world. In 2009, the NFL’s Miami Dolphins sold for $1.1 billion and the popular professional soccer franchise Manchester United sold for $1.47 billion. I personally think the Dodgers are not worth the $2.1 billion price tag offer, especially with the amount of work required to get this franchise back onto its feet after many seasons of neglect. The Dodgers have been playing in the same stadium since 1959 and on field success has been minimal with only four playoff appearances in the last 15 seasons. If the Dodgers are worth $2.1 billion, then how much would American premiere sport franchises like the New York Yankees or Dallas Cowboys be? $7 bilH lion anyone? ■
20
SPORTS
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012
HIGHLANDER
U C R s o f t b a l l g e t s p o u n c e d b y P a c i f i c Ti g e r s K e n da ll P e t e r s o n STAFF WRITER
April 6, 2012 Tigers 3 - Highlanders 2 The UC Riverside softball team (18-18, 1-3) held a double header against the Pacific Tigers at Amy S. Harrison field Friday afternoon. In the first game the lady Highlanders came up short losing in route to a 2-3 decision. The winning pitcher for the Tigers was Tori Shepard (9-4) and Riverside’s Jordyn McDonald received the loss. McDonald (8-10) pitched a complete game as she went all seven innings. McDonald allowed 10 hits, four walks and three runs but came up with four strikeouts. In the first inning the Highlanders struck first, putting up a run on the board. The Highlanders scored another run in the fifth inning, which would be their last and final run, giving them a 2-0 lead heading into the sixth inning. Riverside played great up to the sixth inning of the game, holding Pacific to zero runs. The Tigers scored two runs in the sixth to tie the ballgame, 2-2. The Tigers would take the a one run lead at the top of the seventh inning when Taylor Petty hit a sac fly to bring home the eventual game-winning run. In the bottom of the seventh inning the Highlanders got two runners on base but could not bring home the tying run, ending the game. Alexis Pickett played great for the Highlanders as she batted 2-3 with one RBI and one walk. Riverside was unable to execute on the Tiger’s four errors and
only scrounged up five hits as a team while leaving 11 players on bases. Pacific’s Kelsey Rodriguez was their key player as she went 3-4 with one run scored. April 6, 2012 Tigers 9 - Highlanders 1 The UC Riverside (18-19, 1-4) softball team finished the last game of the double header Friday afternoon against the Pacific Tigers (23-13, 3-2) in a Big West conference battle. The lady Highlanders came up way short compared to their previous game as the match was cut short to five innings en route to a 1-9 loss Amy Lwin went 3.1 innings as she started for UCR while she allowed nine hits, seven runs, two walks and was charged with seven errors. Casey Suda came in to save Riverside and allowed five hits, two runs and two walks. The Highlanders only achieved three hits the entire game and allowed the Tigers to get 14 hits. The only run the Highlanders scored was a homer by Dionne Anderson to right center field in the second inning. That was Anderson’s only hit of the game as she went 1-2 with one RBI and one run scored. The two other hits by Riverside came from Ariel Shore and Alexis Pickett. The Tigers did their damage in the fourth inning as they scored eight runs on seven hits. It started with a walk and it es-
Leena Butt/HIGHLANDER
calated from there as Riverside allowed two more walks, four singles and three doubles. April 7, 2012 Tigers 9 - Highlanders 8 The Highlander softball squad (18-20, 1-5) finished the three game series against the Pacific Tigers (24-13, 4-2) at Amy S. Harrison field in what turned out to be a high scoring game with the Highlanders scoring eight runs but would go on to lose the heartbreaking game, 8-9. Jordyn McDonald (8-11)
pitched for Riverside going 5.2 innings. She allowed eight hits on five runs, with two walks and two strikeouts. Taylor Alvarez relieved McDonald and also did not fare well against the Tigers as she allowed four runs on four hits and three walks in 1.1 innings. The first inning, the Highlanders did their most damage as they scored six runs on four hits and two errors. Kayla White started it off with a walk and Shore followed with a single up the middle. Pickett doubled down the left field line for an RBI and later scored on an er-
ror. Jessica Vasser then singled to right field for another Riverside RBI and Anderson doubled to center for two RBIs and later scored on the final error by the Tigers. The Tigers countered back by scoring four runs in the second inning and five runs total in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings as the Highlanders were only able to score two the rest of match. The Highlanders continue play next Saturday, April 14 against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in another three-game series at the Amy S. Harrison H Field. ■
UCR baseball lose three game series to CSULB Dirtbags April 6, 2012
Jonathan Godoy/HIGHLANDER
K e n da ll P e t e r s o n STAFF WRITER
April 5, 2012 Highlanders 3 - Dirtbags 2 (10inn) The Riverside baseball team squared off against the Long Beach State Dirtbags for their first match of the three game series. Riverside in their last 10 games are 4-6 and needed a win Thursday, and they got just that in route to a 3-2 victory in extra innings. Dylan Stuart started the mound for the Highlanders, going eight innings with three
strikeouts and allowed two runs on nine hits. Joie Dunyon (12), who came in to pitch in the extra inning, was credited with the win while striking one batter out. Riverside did heavy damage recording four hits in the first inning as they jumped to a 2-1 lead. Devon Bolasky and Phil Holinsworth both singled and stole their next base. Vince Gonzalez singled to left for an RBI, scoring Bolasky. David Andriese got the last hit with a single to right field that loaded the bases. Clayton Prestridge walked
and that scored Riverside’s second and final run of the inning. The Dirtbags tied the game in the third inning but were held to zero runs for the rest of the game. In the 10th inning Riverside only got one hit—a game winning run. AJ Beckly walked and was moved by a SAC bunt from Holinsworth to second base. After Young was intentionally walked, Gonzalez came up to the plate and doubled to right field, bringing Beckly to the home plate for the win. Gonzales finished the game 3-5 with two RBI’s.
Dirtbags 5 - Highlanders 4 The UC Riverside baseball team faced off against Long Beach State for their second game of the three game series. The Highlanders came up short en route to a 4-5 loss. Eddie Orozco started the mound for Riverside before being pulled after five innings. Orozco allowed nine hits, five runs and got five batters to strike out. Mark Garcia came in to relieve Orozco and allowed three hits and one walk while he got three batters to strike out. The Highlanders as a team only got six hits total and not one player got more than one hit. Nick Vilter who was the DH had his night while he went 1-2 with one RBI and one run scored. UCR had a comeback in the eighth with a leadoff double but the Highlanders could not execute and only scored one run. In response to the loss and how to bounce back, Coach Doug Smith said, “Well it is a tough loss; it is a game that I thought we should have won. We didn’t get the big base hit we needed. We’ll try to regroup tonight and come back to play well tomorrow and win the series. That is always the goal—to win the series.” Feb. 26, 2012 Highlanders 12 -- Coyotes 4 The UC Riverside baseball (9-
15, 2-4) team finished the three game series Saturday afternoon against the Long Beach State Dirtbags in which the Highlanders were scoreless until the seventh inning. Riverside was unable of a 0-6 comeback in route to a 2-8 loss. The Dirtbags got first blood in the first inning and later did damage in the fifth inning, scoring three runs. Trevor Frank started the mound for Riverside and only went five innings before being pulled. Frank allowed eight hits; five runs scored and walked one but got three strikeouts to go with it. The Highlanders finally scored in the seventh inning when they sponged up two runs. Cody Hough started it off with a walk and AJ Beckley followed it up with a single to left field. Both were advanced by a wild pitch. Jake Gallaway grounded out as he scored Hough. Alex Rubanowitz hit a SAC fly to allow Beckley to score his team’s final run. That would be all the scoring for Riverside as they were unable to score in the final two innings. Vince Gonzalez and AJ Beckley both went 2-4 and the only two runs were Hough’s and Beckley’s. The Highlanders are now 4-6 in their last 10 games but could use the stretch of nine home games to make up some ground. Their next match is against Pepperdine TuesH day, April 10 at 6 p.m. ■