THE HIGHLANDER
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE
est. 1954
FOR THE WEEK OF TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2018
VOL. 66, ISSUE 18
ASUCR appoints new chief justice
EVAN ISMAIL Senior Staff Writer
JIMMY LAI / HIGHLANDER
Allegations of anti-blackness plague UC-wide diversity convention ANDREAS RAUCH Senior Staff Writer
On the weekend of Jan. 26-28, UC Riverside, in conjunction with the University of California Students’ Association (UCSA), hosted the 30th Annual UC Students of Color Conference (SoCC), bringing together students from a variety of backgrounds to discuss issues faced by minority students across the UC system. The three-day event, consisting of workshops and presentations by student and leaders within communities of color, drew criticism, however, from African-American attendees who are accusing organizers and other participants of displaying anti-black sentiment and behavior. In
a statement sent to the Highlander on Wednesday, Feb. 14, the aggrieved students, organizing themselves as the Black Caucus, cited that conference seminars suffered from a lack of awareness of issues faced by black students in the UC system and resulted in a hostile environment not conducive to the discussion of the aforementioned challenges. In the 10-page document, the complainants detail what they observe to be continuing patterns of ignorance of these challenges within the UC system. In one instance, during a meeting focused on women’s issues during the SoCC, the release cites a lack of understanding and investment on the part of conference organizers to ensure that issues faced
by black women were properly discussed. “Black women who did not previously volunteer to do labor for SOCC,” says the document, “happened to be the main folks leading the caucus and the only ones moving the conversation forward.” During the men’s caucus meeting, a conference designed to address the concerns of men of color, a similar lack of attention given to black men’s concerns with the UC system left many black students feeling “overlooked and disrespected,” according to the document. After multiple attempts to address racial hierarchies within communities of color, several attendees, feeling frustrated with the lack of cooperation, felt forced to leave the conference.
The public statement also highlighted perceived non-inclusivity toward trans and gender non-conforming students, which, according to the authors, manifested as “the use of gender binary language” and caused “a wave of discomfort for black trans and gender non conforming (sic) students.” Attempts to rectify this by adhering to gender-neutral language went unheeded, and the allegedly hostile and unaccommodating environment was exacerbated by a lack of gender-neutral restroom facilities, which, in one case, forced students “to enter the women’s bathroom, thus invalidating their gender identity,” claims the document.
Beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21, ASUCR held their twelfth senate meeting of the academic year in the senate chambers, HUB 221. ASUCR President Aram Ayra presented his nomination for chief justice of the ASUCR Judicial Council, Jo Gbujama, a fourth-year philosophy law and society and ethnic studies double major. Gbujama, who served as chief justice last year, was nominated by Ayra because of the resignation of Casey Thielhart, who stepped down in order to run for vice president of campus internal affairs in the 2018 elections. Ayra explained his process behind selecting the new chief justice; he originally sought Vice Chief Justice Matthew Whiles, a fourth-year history major, but Whiles declined the position due to other commitments on campus. Ayra briefly considered nominating 2016-17 Vice Chief Justice Hayden Jackson, a third-year political science major, but Ayra and Jackson decided against it due to a potential conflict of interest stemming from Jackson’s position as Ayra’s current chief of staff. “Jo (Gbujama) is ready and willing,” said Ayra during the meeting, “He’s had previous experience on judicial council so he’s been through the wringer a few times and seen us at our lowest points and (has) gotten us through that.” Gbujama was approved unanimously, 13-0-0, in a closed ballot vote.
► SEE ANTI-BLACKNESS, PAGE 4
► SEE ASUCR, PAGE 4
Winter SOULstice 2018: Who brought the soul? SARAH BAZZY Contributing Writer
Winter Soulstice is an event that comes to UCR once a year courtesy of ASPB, a time for all the R&B heads on campus to come together and sing their hearts out for one night. It’s more low-key than any of the other concerts, being held in the Student Recreation Center (SRC) and lacking the large-scale advertisement that other mini-festivals have. This makes the concert more intimate and, consequently, less rowdy than HEAT (R.I.P.), Block Party or Spring Splash, which is ideal for sultry R&B. This year, ASPB chose three artists — Kyle Dion, Marc E. Bassy and H.E.R. — to get everyone in their feelings. All three artists’ styles are rooted in R&B but have distinct features: Dion has a sultry, funky flare; Bassy is pop-oriented; and H.E.R. offers a raw, intimate passion. The mixture of these R&B styles resulted in one smooth night. “The night was a twelve out of ten for me,” said Allison, a first-year. Every act had something to bring to the table but the question is, who brought the most soul? ► SEE WINTER SOULSTICE, PAGE 12
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News
Allegations of anti-blackness plague Students of Color Conference ► FROM ANTI-BLACKNESS, PAGE 1
The caucus also proposed a series of demands for UC administrators to implement in the system as a whole and during future conferences. Among these demands are the creation of “spaces for the centering of vulnerable people within their community,” payment of participants involved in leading discussions and “trainings on anti-blackness for (UCSA) members,” in order to reduce future instances of anti-black hostility. Additional suggestions include hosting future SoCC
events at universities with easily accessible gender-neutral bathrooms (UCR has 111, according to the LGBT Resource Center’s website), more publicity campaigns, the establishment of curricula emphasizing black writers and thinkers and mandatory gender diversity training for UCSA board members. The statement concluded with a summary of grievances against the UC’s perceived lack of diversity and sensitivity to black students’ issues. Among the points raised were the pervasive discrimination and racism faced regularly by these
students and what the caucus perceives as the UC’s false image as a neutral and progressive campus. ASUCR Vice President of External Affairs (VPEA) Johnathan Li was responsible for logistical arrangements and facilitating the SoCC. Li voiced his concerns in an interview with the Highlander, stating that, during the conference, “Black folks felt silenced. Women of color, men of color and queertrans people of color (QTPOC) discussed and discovered that this was the same issue as last time.”
Li referred to similar allegations of anti-blackness during the previous iteration of SoCC, which took place at UC Irvine in Nov. 2016. “People were asking, ‘How did this happen again?’ What was learned at UCI wasn’t enough.” According to Li, following the UCI conference UCSA leaders implemented new strategies to ensure a discussion more welcoming of black students, including paying delegation leaders and bringing two outside consultants to address “cultural competency issues.” Li also emphasized, howev-
er, that these recent allegations bring new responsibilities for conference organizers. “UCSA needs to step it up,” Li said, adding, “SoCC was supposed to be a safe space. How do we learn from this? How do we improve the experience at the UC?” UCSA leaders have expressed their intention to work with organizers and black student groups to address these issues and promote inclusivity in future conferences, according to Li. As of time of writing, there is no further information on whether such changes will be implemented. ■H
ASUCR
ASUCR appoints new chief justice ► FROM ASUCR, PAGE 1
In an interview later in the week, Gbujama expressed his excitement to be returning as chief justice. “A lot of my most cherished memories come from being a part of the student government. I’m more that (sic) ready to come back and serve my community as a member of the ASUCR Judicial Council,” wrote Gbujama in an email. Gbujama shared that he felt both his experience in ASUCR as well as his numerous extracurricular activities on campus afford him a unique skill set when approaching the position, which requires conducting judicial meetings and presiding over the impeachment hearings of executive officers. During his tenure as chief justice in 201617, Gbujama utilized the Judicial Fellowship Program to recruit curious students and teach them about the Judicial Council. Additionally, he started the Judicial Transparency Program which made available all judicial rulings and decisions on the council website. He intends to restart uploading judicial records to the website during his time as chief justice. Gbujama, who serves as president of the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, International and vice
president of UCR’s Black Law Student Association, explained that the interactions he has had with legal professionals “has benefited my understanding of the legal system and my capacity to be an effective justice.” He also believes that his experience teaching a R’Course in spring and fall 2017 entitled “Introduction to Africana Philosophy” will help him effectively mentor the new justices that sit on the council. Gbujama, who plans on attending law school after his graduation this spring, will fill the remainder of Thielhart’s term, lasting through the rest of winter quarter and all of spring quarter 2018.
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Highlights: •
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Elections Director Taylor Brown revealed that after candidacy filing closed on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 66 total candidates were applied to run in the 2018 ASUCR elections. A total of 20 people are running for various seats in the executive cabinet (ECAB). The senate filings are as follows: 33 CHASS candidates, seven CNAS candidates and six BCOE candidates. In a statement at the begin-
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ning of the meeting, Ayra announced that HEAT was cancelled because the HUB Governing Board, after a 2001 referendum that lowered the student fee from $110 to $90, has $1.5 million “less to work with.” Ayra also explained that the HUB may let more of the concert culture fall to the authority of the Associated Students Program Board, since, per Ayra, they have done “such a phenomenal job.” Ayra also revealed that a nameless wealthy alumnus and former ASUCR president from 1972 is donating a sculpture embodying the UC’s motto, “fiat lux,” or “let there be light.” According to Ayra, the statue will resemble a “giant silver flame coming out of black granite.” CHASS Senator Grant Nakaoka divulged during senate reports that he is working on a resolution to recognize that the land UCR is built on once belonged to the Cahuilla people, a Southern California Native American tribe. Nakaoka also told the senate that this has expanded to possibly getting an indigenous studies requirement passed through the
MARTIN LOPEZ / HIGHLANDER Jo Gbujama (above) was appointed as the ASUCR judicial council’s Chief Justice.
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Academic Senate. Nakaoka also plans on visiting the Cahuilla reservation near Anza, California in the near future. CHASS Senator Marco Ornelas notified the senate that he will be proposing a cut to ECAB members’ stipends. Ornelas explained in an email that “Some members of the executive cabinet get paid upwards of 10 grand ... no one working for an elected position in a college student government should be making that much money.”
Ornelas explained that this type of income attracts the “wrong people to the job” and would be an additional step to reform ASUCR and increase transparency. Ornelas said that he would use this money to build storage containers for campus organizations and donate more money to the R’Pantry. He is unsure if this will apply to senators but finds it fair to reduce ECAB stipends to around $1,000 a year and directors and senators’ stipends to $500 a year. ■H
Former UCR student presents on the Arab Spring VASKEN NAJARIAN Contributing Writer
On Wednesday, Feb. 21, former UCR student and current UC Irvine sociology doctorate candidate Arman Azedi gave a lecture at UC Riverside focused on the cause of the Arab Spring. The lecture, sponsored by the Middle Eastern Student Center (MESC), took place inside HUB 260 with about 30 students in attendance. The term Arab Spring refers to the beginning of a series of uprisings that have occured in 12 Arab countries since a 2010 demonstration in Tunisia where an individual lit himself on fire in order to protest poor treatment by the Tunisian police. The Tunisian Revolution influenced uprisings in Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain, where either the ruling regime was overthrown or major uprisings and social violence occurred. Azedi maintained that although each of the countries had unique circumstances
leading to their respective uprisings, there is a significant amount of similarities between the situations in these countries. Azedi first noted the commonalities in age distribution, which across the board favored young adults. With the tendency of this age group to be more willing to protest than people both younger and older, having more young adults in these countries led to more frequent uprising, explained Azedi. He also mentioned Iran’s 2009 presidential election protests because, while elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the more popular candidate according to polls inside and out of Iran, uprisings occurred because more moderate candidates, such as MirHossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, were not elected. Azedi acknowledged that although these candidates were not favored by the majority of people, they did have the support of the younger demographic. In addition, he explained that this younger demographic had
a high unemployment rate even though they were more educated than previous generations, resulting in young people’s frustration with diminishing returns for education. Azedi also highlighted an acute food crisis in the lead up the Arab Spring, in which Arab countries, generally net importers of food, experienced radical price hikes of staples such as wheat. This food shortage was coupled with the prevalence of authoritarian republics or monarchies, rather than democracies, in the Arab world, leading to people demanding widespread change. He provided polls from the Arab countries showing that 49 percent of the population wants democracies while 43 percent are opposed to a switch. In an email interview with The Highlander, Azedi explained his primary inspiration behind the lecture was for students to understand what factors led to the unrest. “I thought the Arab Spring uprisings were given a ton of attention but the actual underlying causes of it
(sic) are relatively less known,” stated Azedi. He also explained that given the fact that it was a presentation targeted at university students, it would be relatable to learn about a global uprising that began with issues facing young people in other countries. Azedi wrote, “I thought it would be relatable to youth in the US how youth in Arab countries are going to college at unprecedented
rates, but are simultaneously experiencing tremendous economic difficulty.” Azedi encouraged students who found the lecture interesting to attend MESC events in the future or visit the center and discuss these issues with individuals who may have direct ties to the issues facing those regions. MESC is located in HUB 337. ■H
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UCR launches Center for Social Innovation to promote Inland California innovation AMANI MAHMOUD Contributing Writer
On Friday, Feb. 9, at the Riverside Art Museum, a launch event was held for the Center for Social Innovation, a research center that aims to highlight the potential of Inland California as a focal point for innovation and intends to spark investment in the area. This research center intends to dispel the image of Inland California as an area of poverty and need. The Center for Social Innovation instead plans to accentuate Inland California’s potential for innovation through the initiation of investment in the area. Through the assembly of local researchers, community and nonprofit organizations and civic stakeholders, the center plans to facilitate investment in the area through collaborative research, policy innovation and a change of the narrative associated with Inland California. The center is funded by the San Francisco-based James Irvine Foundation as well as the Weingart Foundation of Los Angeles and the Miami Wallace H.
Coulter Foundation. At Friday’s launch event, UCR Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox outlined UCR’s role in supporting Inland California’s innovation at a community level. Wilcox stated, “Innovation isn’t a thing that lives on a campus in Riverside ... Our commitment has never been about any one entity, but the collective.” The center comprises four UCR faculty-led research groups which focus on vital disciplines for Inland California. These groups include the Civic Engagement Group, the Economic Mobility Group, the Immigration Research Group and the Leadership and Entrepreneurship Group. The Civic Engagement Group will be co-directed by Francisco Pedraza, an assistant professor of public policy and political science at UCR, and Loren Collingwood, an assistant professor of political science at UCR. This group aims to bring scholarly and applied research expertise together in public opinion, political representation, voting and other forms of civic participation. The Economic Mobility Group, directed by Ellen Reese, a professor of sociology at UCR,
builds on the work of UCR’s Labor Studies program and its collaboration with worker centers and other organizations in the region. This research group will also focus on the creation of opportunities in for-profit and nonprofit sectors which promote economic mobility as well as inclusion. Cecilia Ayoon, an associate professor of public policy at UCR, will direct the Immigration Research Group which aims to make research and data on immigration and immigrant integration relevant to a variety of audiences, including scholars, journalists, community organizations, government officials and the general public. Directed by Karthick Ramakrishnan, public policy and political science professor and associate dean at the School of Public Policy at UCR, the Leadership and Entrepreneurship Group will focus on new opportunities in order to boost nonprofit innovation in Inland California. The Leadership and Entrepreneurship Group will focus on key operations such as the coordination of regional policy summits, the creation of a nonprofit fellowship program, a nonprofit summer institute and
a peer network and mentor network that encourage and sustain social innovation and nonprofit leadership. During the launch event, Ramakrishnan stated, “The Inland area is the future of California —
future jobs, future housing, future population growth ... we’re highlighting the kinds of solutions that are happening at the local level in this region, with important implications not only for the rest of the state but for the country.” ■H
COURTESY OF UCR CENTER FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION
Discussion about the risks of worrying reveals positive benef its VIVIAN LEE Contributing Writer
On Tuesday, Feb. 20, two UCR professors held an open conversation at the UCR Extension Center about the risks of worrying and its mental consequences. Kate Sweeny, associate professor from the Department of Psychology, and Emily Rapp Black, assistant professor from the Department of Creative Writing, led the discussion, hosted by the UCR Center for Ideas and Society, under an ongoing monthly series titled “Disciplines in Dialogue.” Sweeny spoke about her research on worrying as elaborated on in her paper titled, “The Surprising Upsides of Worry,” published in the journal Social and Personality Psychology Compass. She argued that although most people believe worrying can be a detriment to health and, in excessive amounts, could lead to serious mental health issues, it is not inherently harmful
and can serve a fulfilling purpose. She prefaced her argument by defining “worry as a combination, especially an unpleasant one, of anxiety, on the emotional side, and repetitive thoughts, on the cognitive side.” In her research, Sweeny focused on interviewing people with various backgrounds and occupations about the stressful events in their lives, from law students studying for the bar exam, to terminally ill patients awaiting news about their biopsies. Sweeny laments that many people, including herself, can understand how worrying can continue with “looping thoughts of uncertainty.” However, she shared with the audience that the satisfaction that comes after seeking solutions to their worries makes repetitive worrying conducive to a more productive lifestyle. The unpleasant feeling attached to worrying serves as a cue for people to find a solution, and motivates them to be more proactive in their lives. This can range from something as simple as wearing a seatbelt to prevent in-
jury, to having an annual mammogram to detect early symptoms of cancer. Black also spoke about how worrying previously affected her personal life and informed her writing. Black shared with the audience how experiencing the emotional toll of tending to her son, who was terminally affected with and eventually passed away from Tay-Sachs disease, changed her perspective on worrying and made her more attuned to the people and events in her life. She also began to recognize things that previously seemed important in her life as trivial, such as concerns about the public response she would receive about what became her best-seller novel published in March of 2013, titled “The Still Point of the Turning World.” The Disciplines in Dialogue series will host their next talk at both the UCR Extension Center on March 20 at 3:30 p.m. as well as the UCR Palm Desert location on March 21 at 6:00 p.m. This discussion, led by UCR professors Bella Merlin (Theatre,
Film and Digital Production) and Rachel Wu (Psychology), will be centered around the topic of taking new chances and learning new things at any age. ■H
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UCR professor speaks on the science behind vibranium VASKEN NAJARIAN Contributing Writer
Marvel Studios’ latest film “Black Panther” has seen significant success since its release on Feb. 16, netting $292 million in its first week in North America. UCR Metallurgist and Assistant Professor Suveen Mathaudhu spoke with The Highlander about the science behind Black Panther’s armor. Vibranium is an imaginary metal that is present in Black Panther’s armor, as well as the equipment of many other Marvel superheroes, and is unique in its ability to both store and release energy. While vibranium is a fictional substance, Mathaudhu explained its value in an interview with the Highlander. “I take inspiration from stories like these (“Black Panther”) and I use it as teaching material,” he shared. Mathaudhu also spoke about the different properties of metals that he works with in his lab and emphasized the property of damping. “Materials are all made up of different kinds of atoms and they have a property called damping. Damping tells you all about how much energy is absorbed by the material.” He went on to explain that, for the optimal armor material, a higher damping material is required for the purpose of
absorbing shock or projectiles such as bullets. To illustrate both of the qualities that vibranium has, Mathaudhu dropped small stainless steel balls onto both a titanium surface, which damps well and a liquidmetal surface, which is a metal that returns energy well. While the ball stopped bouncing nearly instantly on the titanium surface, it was able to bounce against the surface similarly to a rubber bouncing ball. The advantage of vibranium is that it has the qualities of both these metals, so it has the ability to store energy from impact but also return it. “Vibranium is an imaginary metal that absorbs all energy, stores it, then releases it,” said Mathaudhu. “There are multiple scenes in the movie in which (Black Panther) is attacked and his suit absorbs energy and is able to release that energy back at whoever is attacking him.” This is a fictional quality because, though real materials are able to absorb a significant amount of energy, it is unrealistic for a single material to be able to release energy as well. “Similarly to vibranium there are some batteries called supercapacitors that can take in and store energy then release it in large and small amounts.” Supercapacitors are advanced energy storage devices that are becoming increasingly relevant in the advancement of
cell phones, electrical vehicles and other technologies. Mathaudhu does consulting for Comic-Con and other entertainment businesses. He has also written a number of articles regarding the science behind superheroes, including the composition of Spiderman’s web and Magneto’s struggle to manipulate Iron Man’s armor. In our interview, Mathaudhu drew attention to the fact that many Marvel superheroes were scientists or engineers before becoming superheroes. “Sometimes we lose the fact that Spiderman was a chemistry student who was bit by a spider. Black Panther, while they do not say it in the movie, had his physics degree from Oxford,” said Mathaudhu. Other Marvel Comics heroes that were scientists included Bruce Banner (The Hulk), who was a physicist exposed to gamma radiation, and Tony Stark (Iron Man), a mechanical engineer who built his suit. Mathaudhu attributed his interest in science and engineering to the comics, cartoons and television shows he grew up watching. He also noted that his father was an engineer and that helped spark his interest in STEM. “I think it is a chicken and an egg conversation because kids are influenced by the things they see and what they want to be,” said Mathaudhu, explaining that
he is no exception to what is a recurring trend in the entertainment industry’s impact on children’s eventual career choices. Mathaudhu pointed to the fact that there are studies relating the release of the movie Jurassic Park and enrollment increases in paleontology programs as well as forensics from the release of CSI. “I have talked to many people including Stan Lee himself, who largely wrote based off of what he had seen in his time. It is not like he was reading technical articles or going to universities,” added Mathaudhu, explaining, however, that Lee, the former editor-in-chief of Marvel comics and foundational comic book writer, was able to further clarify the scientific backing behind his
stories. Lee explained to him that when the nuclear race was prominent, characters such as Spider Man and the Hulk premiered who were affected by radiation. The advent of the space race in the 1960s saw stories such as “Guardians of the Galaxy” and the “Fantastic Four,” involving characters who travel across the universe. “I would say that it was the general awareness of scientific discoveries at those times that were causing them to write these comics,” said Mathaudhu. Some of Mathaudhu’s current research focuses on biomedical implant materials for adolescents that dissolve away as the children grow so they do not have to be removed. In addition, he works on advanced armor for soldiers and vehicles. ■H
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Opinions HIGHLANDER EDITORIAL
Politicians must not allow NRA donations to keep them from acting on guns
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mericans are still reeling from the trauma brought forth by the school shooting that took place on Wednesday, Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. A conversation that is all too familiar to many is once again returning to the limelight, that of gun violence in the US and the extent to which new gun laws should be implemented to prevent tragedies of this nature from occuring ever again. As many have noted, a key distinguishing feature about Stoneman Douglas is that, in the wake of the shooting, student survivors have spoken out against the National Rifle Association (NRA). Students like Emma Gonzalez, David Hogg and Sarah Chadwick are achieving high-profile activist levels of spotlight for their claims that the NRA are chief among the adult parties responsible for allowing the shooting to take place. “We should change the names of AR15s to ‘Marco Rubio’ since they are so easy to buy,” Chadwick tweeted on Feb. 22, referencing the fact that Republican senators like Rubio receive large sums of donation money from the NRA. To some, this degree of lobbying and ideologically driven donations points to the seediness of the US congressional and legislative arms seeming as if they are being paid to enact and restrict certain laws from passing based on donors’ agendas. It’s irrefutable that the NRA opposes gun control — they adamantly refuse to change their positions on major gun laws that many believe should change to combat mass shootings. But the bigger question to ask is, just how much of a role do lobbying groups like the NRA play in the realm of gun control legislature? Lobbying directly translates to money
JUSTUS ROSS / HIGHLANDER
in politicians’ pockets, which in turn directly translates to obstacles built by money. Lobbyists (not limited to the NRA) grease the palms of politicians, who, history has taught us, have a tendency to bow down to the highest bidder. In this case, nobody’s pockets run deeper than the NRA’s. They stifle productive debate of gun control by focusing their lobbying efforts on turning gun issues into issues of Constitutional freedom. Unfortunately for the greater majority of the American public, nothing substantial can happen that lobbying groups like the NRA don’t want, at least not without massive efforts from the public to overcome their influence. Within this debate, it is important to consider whether or not the right to bear arms should be a privilege rather than a right. This, however, leads into an entirely different (and, potentially, more heated) area of debate regarding Amendment changes. Americans, however, value the Second Amendment far too much to consider altering it; the semantics of the Second Amendment remain unchallenged, though current and future bipartisan discourse need analyze it to bring forth progress. The operative word looming over the minds of millions is action. What action must be taken to deter another Stoneman Douglas, another Las Vegas, another Sandy Hook? Where does the NRA fit in with all this? Legally speaking, the only way to get rid of (most) mass shootings is to go through a Constitutional amendment process to alter the Second Amendment and limit gun rights, but one can assume that politicians on the NRA bankroll would be opposed to considering this. The next option, shy of repealing or attacking the Second Amendment, is passing gun control laws in a very red Congress,
which will also never happen beyond token efforts like banning bump stocks or raising the age limit from 18 to 21 — something President Donald Trump has recently advocated for. The gunman, 19, was legally able to purchase an assault rifle despite numerous red flags prior to his purchase. These red flags include, but are not limited to, anonymous tips to the FBI concerning a troublesome Youtube comment under the gunman’s name and his obvious emotional troubles. This points to what should be a no-brainer: The importance of background checks when purchasing a firearm. It stands to reason that not every single American deserves the privilege of owning a tool specifically designed to cause death, let alone a military-grade rifle specifically designed to cause multiple deaths within a short time frame. Home defense, naturally, is equally an important issue for many Americans — a wholly justifiable point of view. But must citizens be armed with anything more than semi-automatic handguns, traditional hunting rifles or even semi-automatic shotguns? It’s impossible to please both camps of the gun control debate, but establishing a middle ground that isn’t as ludicrous as arming teachers or banning all weapons is the key to cooling, not fanning, the flames of ideological-turned-personal wars. In the immediacy of post-gun-violencetragedy discourse, finger-pointing and rash conclusions are inevitable, but unproductive responses. As important as the issue of gun control is, as crucial to this problem the NRA is, there are other sides to the conversation that need to be heard. In spite of all wrongdoings they should be held accountable for, to outright and holistically demonize them and disregard the firearm safety education they bring is reductive.
Responsible firearm owners pose no threat and should not be held in the same light as the ideologues whose phobia of rational debates restrict progress. The FBI, and especially the Broward County Police Department are accountable entities that failed to save the lives of 17 young adults. This isn’t unique to this shooting, and no tragedy is exactly the same. However, progress arrives from the cohesion of parties willing to coalesce their resources and deliver concrete methods to stomp out this uniquely American tumor. What we need isn’t teachers with guns or militant defense ready to mow down the slightest of potential threats: We need policy, and we need to hold our politicians and their lobbyists accountable, lest the reputation of moneydriven scum of the earth politician-businessman be perpetuated. What we need to understand is that the current system doesn’t work. Immediately after shootings, political spats ensue, with liberals’ gun control rhetoric being met with conservatives’ decrying attempts to fold tragedy into politics. Two weeks later, we’re on to the next big thing. Security at schools shouldn’t and wouldn’t even be an issue if there was no threat, and while it is important that educators train themselves and their students in the case of an attack, this unfortunate reality is predicated on the pathetic laws that allowed a mentally unfit 19-year-old to take those 17 lives with a legally purchased military-grade rifle. ■H 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.
OPINIONS
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2018
7
OPINION POLL Compiled by Adrian Dizon, Staff Photographer and Louie Villanueva, Contributing Writer
“If you could bring any speaker to campus, who would it be?”
Gracie Osuna Political Science First-year
Maria Almutawa Undeclared First-year
Simone Zamora Psychology Second-year
Stefani Edguilang Psychology Second-year
Alex Jones Economics Fourth-year
Daniel Cabrera Biology Fourth-year
“Jenna Marbles. She understands the college life, gives me hope in case I don’t want to go further into my field of study.”
“Scarlett Johanson. I like what she has said about women’s rights and health.”
“Obama. I have a lot to worry about with Trump as president and Obama is a good speaker.”
“Philip Wang from Wong Fu Productions. I saw his commencement speech at UCSD last year and he’s a genuine content creator.”
“David Graeber, an anarchist anthropologist professor who was kicked out of his teaching position for his views.”
“Neil deGrasse Tyson. He uncovers common misconceptions about things like religion.”
Same-sex wedding cake ruling permits baker to selectively discriminate MICHAEL BEELI Contributing Writer
A California judge’s ruling on Feb. 7 stated Bakersfield bakery owner Cathy Miller was allowed to deny her services to a same-sex couple on the basis of her religious beliefs. Miller was asked to make a cake for the same-sex couple Mireya and Eileen RodriguezDel Rio’s wedding and refused to do so, citing her Christian faith as inconsistent with the ceremony. The couple brought the case to court, where Kern County Superior Judge David Lampe ruled that refusing to sell a premade cake to the couple would have been illegal, but that Miller was in no way obligated to create the cake, as that is a protected form of artistic expression. Although the case was approached with admirable nuance, Lampe’s ruling ultimately looks the other away as Miller, a business owner, denies them their rights to purchase wedding cakes freely. The couple alleged that Miller was violating a state anti-discrimination law, while Miller said that her right to free speech and expression of religion overshadowed such concerns. Judge Lampe ultimately agreed that the act of creating a cake is a protected form of artistic
expression, but made it clear that freedom of religion does not give businesses a right to refuse service to groups protected by the Unruh Civil Rights Act. This distinction may seem reasonable, but ultimately falls apart when remembering that creating the cake is a service that Miller provides in her bakery, but refused to provide to a homosexual couple. Miller’s right to artistic expression will always be protected by the Constitution, but the second she decides to market an act, such as the sale of wedding cakes, it becomes critical that her perceived liberties do not restrict or hinder the liberties of others in any way. Furthermore, Lampe’s rulings seem to neglect important legal precedents for the rights of homosexual couples, such as the incorporation doctrine of the Fourteenth Amendment and Obergefell v. Hodges ruling. The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law for all US citizens. Considering that any heterosexual couple has a right to purchase a wedding cake from a baker who might refuse them a cake for any discriminatory reason, it follows that, under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, a same-sex couple wouldn’t be any less protected.
Additionally, the United States Supreme Court made the strength of these protections incredibly clear in the 2015 landmark decision Obergefell v. Hodges, when it ruled that all normal rights enjoyed by citizens, notably the right to marry, was inalienable from samesex couples and protected under the law. In the decision, which was centered on the question of marriage, the court made broad progressive strokes in invoking the Fourteenth Amendment, stating that same-sex couples must be afforded equal protections as all other citizens. Evidently, there is clear and well-reinforced legal precedent established to protect the rights of same-sex couples in this country. Some critics, however, claim that the couple does not have the right to force the baker to make them a cake, and that they can always just go to another baker who would be happy to do so. This line of thought may seem reasonable initially, but it’s important to remember that the American free market which we all treasure is made possible by our fundamental rules and regulations. Our free market thrives because we establish critical consumer and producer protections which includes the right of every consumer to make every legal transaction possible.
In our capitalist economic system, the right to purchase a wedding cake from every wedding cake salesman is a fundamental right of all citizens. Comedian and late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel did an excellent job explaining this dynamic on a cheeky segment called “Food-For-Thought” on his show that aired Friday, Feb. 9. In the skit, one customer was denied the restaurant’s signature salad because the chef was uncomfortable making dinner for a lesbian, a Jewish customer isn’t allowed to order the lasagna and steak has to come off the menu because the chef is Hindu. Through this example, Kimmel explains in
visceral terms how protecting the right of Miller to refuse to bake cakes for same sex customers is protecting discrimination. All eyes are now on a similar case that has been taken to the Supreme Court, where Colorado baker Jack Phillips is claiming that his right to free speech and free expression of religion exempt his legal obligation to comply with a state anti-discrimination law, and allow him to refuse to bake a wedding cake for a samesex couple. California has already failed its same sex couples with its latest ruling, thus it now falls to the Supreme Court to establish precedent for the protection of H same-sex couples nationwide. ■
COURTESY OF PIXABAY
Sorry, conspiracy theorists, the only actor out here is our president ELAINE CHEN Contributing Writer
Along with expressing his condolences for the school shooting on Feb. 14 that occurred in Parkland, FL, President Donald Trump also stated that he was open to the idea of improving background checks for people buying guns. The pressure on the government to act on the ongoing issue of gun violence in the wake of yet another school shooting is heightening. Rallies and protests are being held, fighting against the current system and to prevent Parkland’s massacre from becoming a lost statistic in nationwide mass shootings. The golden opportunity to bring about change is here for the government. However, it’s doubtful they will seize the chance, given the ties with the National Rifle Association (NRA) Trump built part of his campaign on, his hypocritical stance on emphasizing mental health and the lack of action that Trump took on gun reforms during his presidency so far. During his presidential campaign, Trump asserted that
his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton planned to repeal the Second Amendment, while he had no intention of doing so, an argument that brought forth the support of several like-minded conservatives and the NRA. Additionally, the NRA donated at least $10.6 million to fund Trump’s campaign, exchanging their money for the legal protection they’d receive under a Republican majority in office. Trump has endorsed the NRA, claiming in 2017 that “the NRA has been a great supporter. They love our country.” Deviating from his standpoint with guns will risk upsetting some of his followers that voted for him partly because of his beliefs pertaining to firearms. Almost exactly a year ago, Trump rolled back an Obama-era regulation that was specifically implemented to make it harder for people with mental illnesses to access guns. Unlike typical bill signings, there was no press swarming the Oval Office, because the signing was private and the White House refused to release photos of the bill being signed. Though there’s no way
of proving that tragedies like the Las Vegas and Parkland shootings could have been prevented with Obama’s gun bill, Trump’s decision to remove this law further allowed for people with mental states similar to the mass shooters’ to get easy access to firearms. Trump is so insistent on the belief that this recent shooting was centered around “the difficult issue of mental health,” as he stated in his remarks following the tragedy. However, if he wants so badly to stop mentally unfit people from posing as a danger to other people, then why did he quietly sign a bill enabling them to get access to firearms? If Dana Loesch, NRA spokeswoman, told a Parkland survivor that the solution she wants to fight for is to “stop mentally unstable individuals from getting firearms,” then why does the organization she represents continue to donate money to President Trump? It’s plausible to say that as long as Trump continues to receive funds from the NRA and other organizations that are pro-Second Amendment, he can continue to speak empty
promises, whether it be about fighting mental illness, which he’s shown no sign of supporting, and tighter gun regulations, which he signed a bill against. Even if Trump chooses to stray from his core campaign promises, the US has a long way to go in terms of enacting laws to prevent future shootings. Exactly a week after the shooting, the state Capitol of Florida voted down a bill proposing the banning of assault weapons similar to the one used in the Parkland shooting. In addition, currently there are two proposed bills being stalled in Congress right now, that have been on the table for several months now. One concerns banning bump stocks, a tool that makes it easier to fire rounds more quickly, and was introduced in October of 2017 after the Vegas shooting. The other bill is predicted to succeed over the attempt to ban bump stocks; this one would increase enforcement to report criminal records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). However, the chances of one of two bills passing is still doubtful.
Consider that, since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, over 100 gun control bills have been proposed on Capitol Hill, and nearly all of them have failed to pass. Some of the only bills that did included an extension on banning plastic guns that can easily slip past metal detectors, and stricter regulations for US veterans with mental illnesses. However, it is clear to see that these steps being taken are far too small, and despite slim chances of change given a Republican majority in congress, the admirable push by citizens for more drastic changes must continue. The government has failed to listen to the rallying cries of their citizens pushing for gun control and it’s little coincidence that there have been 290 school shootings since Sandy Hook. The people of America are continuing to apply pressure on the government, but will the government step up and take responsibility? The words of David Hogg, a Parkland shooting survivor, provide a blueprint for what it will take: “Work together, come over your politics, and get something done.” ■H
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COMICS SEASON SISTERS #10 BY: RANDY YAMANAKA
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE
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HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/features
Features Legends Community Service group Promotes acts of kindness and importance of family
club
Janine Lano, staff writer
spotlight
ADRIAN DIZON / HIGHLANDER
JANINE LANO Staff Writer
One of UCR’s strongest features is the hundreds of organizations on campus. It gives students an opportunity to explore what they like and get them more involved with the school. However, the bad side of having many organizations is that sometimes, certain clubs are overlooked and don’t get the recognition they deserve. The Legends Community Service Group is only one example. They not only do service acts for the school, but for the whole Riverside community as well. Legends Community Service Group began five years ago by a student named Andre Walker. “The mission of starting the group was to be a light on campus,” says Dywain Bowden, fourthyear business major and current president of the organization. Bowden shares that Walker’s motivation to start the club came from hearing students
complaining about the UCR campus, saying it was boring compared to other campuses. Legends hoped to bring a solution. Legends didn’t begin as a community service group — it was very much a social club where Walker and a few of his friends would throw parties, until one day, when they decided they wanted to be more impactful and make a statement on campus. Legends then established themselves as a community service group through ASUCR and began organizing street clean-ups and adopted a street on Canyon Crest. Still, the social element of the club remains at the root of Legends’ essence and is what attracted Bowden initially. Bowden first heard about Legends as a freshman through the intramural basketball program at UCR, which Walker introduced him to. The members of the Legends basketball team then began talking to Bowden about the club’s service efforts, but, at the time, Bowden was still focused on the basketball and the
social aspect. It wasn’t until after his second year of college where he became more involved. Around that time, Bowden says he experienced a “big awakening” where he began studying the bible. “I realized my life was nothing like what the bible says your life should look like,” he shares. Now as president, Bowden emphasizes the importance of helping the youth in the community and keeping a positive and friendly atmosphere for the Legends members. Legends’ regular efforts include a tutoring program at John W. North High School, where they have partnered up with a the Heritage Plan to keep the program going. Each week, Legends members visit the high school and help tutor AP students in physics and calculus. Most of the AP students are athletes, which helps a lot of Legends members connect with them, since a lot of their members are basketball players. “We bring athletes to athletes,” says Mayra Gonzalez, a second-year business
and economics major and the social media coordinator for the club. “We want them to feel like they have a friend in us. We even guide them on their path to college.” Through the tutoring program, community cleanups and regular get-togethers, both Bowden and Gonzalez have found Legends to be one thing: A family. “All my best friends are in Legends,” Gonzalez remarks. “Everyone has such different personalities.” Legends is also trying to adopt the “family line” seen in fraternities and sororities where members can have a “big” and a “little.” Since the organization is quite small, with about 15 to 20 members, Bowden expressed his desire for long-term members to start interacting with new members to create a friendly atmosphere and avoid the formation of cliques. Just like a real family would, Legends makes sure that all members have each other’s back and get the recognition they deserve. “We start off
the meetings with shoutouts,” Bowden explains. Shout outs are a tradition where members will take time during the start of their weekly meetings to highlight anything positive they did throughout the week. It can be an act as simple as staying after a social to help clean or as large as helping feed the homeless over the holidays. No matter the impact, the shoutouts close with a club mantra: “Thank you everyone for being legendary.” Bowden hopes that, when he comes back to UCR in five years, he sees the club thriving. “I want to come back and see the love that we have in our family now continuing,” he says. Legends Community Service Group hopes for more UCR students to take a chance on them. Not only do they offer services to better the community, they offer a group of friendly, open individuals that will make one’s college experience memorable. Legends holds their meetings every Monday at 7 p.m. in INTS 1134. ■H
Campus Cope
Tips to make your daily commute to campus a little easier By: Marcelo Garcia, Contributing Writer Whether you live in an apartment near UCR or commute from home, your main concern before classes everyday is managing to get on campus in the first place. The second problem, which anyone that drives to school is fully aware of, is finding a parking space. And with only four available parking lots (rest in peace student parking at Lot 13), that is oftentimes much easier said than done. The easy solution is to start your day early. It’s well-known that the earlier you show up, the easier it is park. Arriving anytime before 8 a.m. is basically a free spot, since the lots don’t really start filling up until around 9. And while parking from 9-11 a.m. may take some time, the real nightmare begins if you arrive any time between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. By this point, every lot near campus is on the brink of, if not at, maximum capacity and showing up after 4 p.m., when you have access to Red and Blue permit lots, seems much more appealing. Though if getting up before the break of dawn isn’t your thing, there are still a few things you can do to make sure you’re not late to that exam after scavenging for parking.
Alternative parking spots
If all four lots are completely filled, you may find yourself in Lot 30 having a nervous breakdown as you make endless circles waiting for someone to leave. But not to worry, there are actually a few alternatives to the five main lots mentioned earlier.
The first option is the pay-to-win alternative, which requires you having bought a Gold+21 permit. If that is the case, you will have access to Lot 21, located behind Pentland Hills on West Linden St. There are also a small amount of Gold+13 permits available that offer access to Lot 13, but again that requires paying extra. But not to worry, there are other substitutes for those who can’t afford or just aren’t willing to pay extra for their unalienable right to park. For one, there are designated spaces near Falkirk that all Gold permit holders have access to. And while there aren’t many parking spaces, there are usually a few open ones at any given time. There is also the Gethsemane Church parking lot on Blaine that is has designated spaces available to UCR students with Gold permits from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If all else fails...
If you simply can’t find parking when you arrive on campus, there is always a very effective, but pretty bothersome option, and that’s getting on campus extremely early. As mentioned earlier, finding a spot between 11:30 and 2 is basically impossible. However, parking at 7:30 a.m. feels amazing — if you’re not half asleep and barely functioning off the coffee you bought on the way. Bonus tip: If your class doesn’t start until 9 or 10 a.m., you can stop by Orbach and take a quick nap to recharge. Since almost no one is there studying at 8 a.m., you can easily claim one of the comfy lounge seats on the
second or third floor to sleep in. For anyone that lives nearby campus, one thing to consider is avoiding parking altogether and taking the bus. Your student ID also functions as a bus pass for any Riverside Transit Agency vehicle. You can look up the bus routes and schedules online, but in summation Route 16 is the probably one you want to take and the bus shows up every 20 to 30 minutes depending on the time. If you chose to take the bus remember to always, and I do mean always, show up earlier than the schedule says. The bus can be really inconsistent at times and is sometimes off by as much as 15 minutes, so you want to be sure to take that into account when planning your commute. Of course, there’s always walking or biking to school, but this also depends on exactly how close you are to campus. And while students who live near campus have a variety of options, those luxuries unfortunately just aren’t available for commuters. While carpooling with a friend is an option, carpoolers will still run into the same problems as regular commuters if they show up after 9 a.m. With a student population of over 23,000, and an enrollment rate that’s growing by the year, parking is a major concern that needs to be addressed. The current situation creates unnecessary stress for students before they even attend classes. We can only hope that more parking lots will be built in the future, until then best of luck to all you student drivers. ■H
FEATURES
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The Fast Lane Chiraag Dave Senior Staff Writer
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2018
11
The Tesla Model 3 is the car of tomorrow
COURTESY OF TESLA
Powertrain & Chassis (5) Acceleration 4 Transmission 5 Fuel Economy 5 Steering Feel & Handling 4.5 Brake Feel 4 Ride 4.5 Value 4.5
Interior/Exterior (5) Front Seat Comfort/Space 5 Rear Seat Comfort/Space 3.5 Cargo Space 3.5 Fit and Finish 3 Features 5 Interior Styling 5 Exterior Styling 4
overall: 4.5/5
Engine 3-phase internal permanent magnet electric motor; 75 kWh Lithium Ion Battery Transmission Single-ratio transaxle Horsepower 271 horsepower Torque 307 lb-ft 0-60 5.1 seconds 0-100 12.0 seconds Top Speed 143 mph Fuel Economy 131 City 120 Highway MPGe; range 310 miles Base Price $35,000 price as tested $59,000
COURTESY OF TESLA
12 years ago, Tesla co-founder Elon Musk highlighted his master plan for the company’s success. It went as follows: Create a low volume car, which would necessarily be expensive (the Tesla Roadster), use that money to develop a medium volume car at a lower price (the Tesla Model S and Tesla Model X), then use that money to create an affordable, high volume car (the Tesla Model 3). In April 2016, Tesla showed the world their car for the masses, the $35,000 all-electric Model 3, and over 400,000 people worldwide subsequently placed $1,000 deposits on a reservation spot for a car that wouldn’t be delivered to them for at least 19 months. With Tesla’s history of production delays, that time frame was viewed as optimistic at best. But here we are, 19 months later and customers are finally taking home these cars. A $35,000 Model 3 doesn’t get you much. Want any color that isn’t black? That’ll cost you $1,000. The $5,000 premium package will give you all the essentials you’d want in a premium car like 12-way power and heated seats, wood trim and upgraded interior materials, a premium sound system, a pair of rear USB ports, power-folding and auto-dimming side mirrors, poweradjust steering column, tinted panoramic roof and autodimming, LED fog lights and a center console with two phone docks. Looks like Tesla pulled a page from BMW’s book on the art of nickel and diming. If you want Tesla’s famous Autopilot, a system that allows the car to drive itself on the highway, interchange between highways and park, it’ll set you back another $5,000. And if you’re already paying for Autopilot, you might as well add the $3,000 fully autonomous package which will allow your Model 3 to completely drive itself when the software is available in the future. The $35,000 model comes with a standard battery capable of going 215 miles on a charge. A larger battery with 310 miles of range is available at $44,000. That brings the total for a fully loaded Model 3 to just south of $60,000, which seems like quite a gap from the starting $35,000, but when you look at it from a value perspective, it’s a damn good deal. The Model 3 is a handsome looking car. It isn’t as good looking as its sibling the Model S but it has a distinctive look to it. While other automakers such as Lexus and Audi keep expanding their grills to encompass the entire front ends of their cars, the Model 3 does away with a grill altogether, leaving just a silhouette in the sheetmetal of where the grille would be. The Model 3 is so different from nearly every car you’ve ever driven. Instead of a traditional key or fob, Tesla gives you an RFID-enabled credit card-sized key for the Model 3, but chances are most owners will just
use the smartphone enabled Tesla app to lock and unlock the Model 3 via bluetooth. That’s right, you can just walk up the Model 3 and get in once the car detects your paired smartphone. Once you’re inside you’ll find no start button anywhere, either place the key card on its designated pad or if you have the Tesla app on your phone, you can just put the car in drive and go. A start-stop button isn’t the only button absent from the Model 3 interior; there are virtually no physical buttons in the entire interior. Many of the car’s functions are controlled through a horizontally mounted 15-inch touch screen display. The only physical controls that remain are turn signals, wiper controls, window switches, the horn, multifunctional sliders on the steering wheel and the overhead mounted hazard lights switch. The boldest interior design element, however, is the absence of a traditional gauge cluster. Speed and range are instead displayed on the left side of the center-mounted 15-inch display. You won’t even find traditional air vents on the dash like you would on any other car, instead they’ve fitted one long vent that spans the length of the entire dashboard that is controlled through the touch screen display. I usually find myself cramped in cars this size but the Model 3’s simple interior design creates an exceptionally roomy cockpit. The space in the back was generous as well: It’s possible to sit a six-footer behind a six-footer rather comfortably, which is rare in this class. The low mounted seat meant there was ample headroom but I can see it being uncomfortable on longer drives. The Model 3 is very quick. Tesla says the shortrange model will do zero to 60 in 5.6 seconds and the long-range in 5.1 seconds although several owners have beaten these times by up to half a second. The instant torque makes it feel faster than it really is but in all reality, you’re looking at the wrong Tesla if speed is all you care about. The dynamic highlight of the Model 3 is its excellent handling thanks to its low center of gravity. The Model 3 has an excellent weighted steering feel in Sport mode and while its not as fun as the BMW 3 series, it’s a lot more fun than a Model S or most comparable electric cars. While some of its competitors may be quicker or handle better, the Model 3 does have one trick up its sleeve: Tesla’s Autopilot semi-autonomous self-driving system. A lot of new cars today come equipped with radar cruise control, a system that keeps a fixed distance between you and the car in front of you and slows down by itself if need be, and other driver aids like lane-keep assist. Tesla’s Autopilot system will not only keep a safe distance between you and the car in front but it will also keep you
in your lane, change lanes, take an exit or change between freeways and even park itself. The Model 3 even comes equipped with the hardware for full self-driving capabilities for when it’s available, which Tesla says will be soon. But until then, this is the closest thing to a selfdriving car on sale today. The Model 3 isn’t the first affordable long range electric car to hit the streets. Last year Chevrolet debuted their answer to the Model 3 in the $37,495 Bolt hatchback, an all-electric hatchback with 238 miles of range per charge. I had the pleasure of reviewing a Chevrolet Bolt last year and found it disappointing for the most part. The main downfall of the Bolt is its identity. It’s a built like a $15,000 hatchback and no impressive powertrain can hide that — nothing justifies the $37,495 price tag. General Motors (GM) has several more manufacturing resources available at their disposal, so quality control and production numbers are no issue for GM. Tesla, on the other hand, is a relatively new and small car company. The Model 3 is the third vehicle in their current lineup and with the insane demand, it’s been tough for Tesla to meet production goals. Cars just began being delivered to customers in December and some customers have already complained about poor build quality and it has been rumored that some components of the cars are being handbuilt because the production line is incomplete. The Model 3 has been under a microscope by the media as a result and Tesla has been close-fisted when it comes to lending cars to the media to review. For an as-tested price of $59,000, the Model 3 may be priced steep but it’s a bargain. The vehicle I used for this review was a customer’s personal car and apart from a few exterior panels that didn’t line up right, the car seemed relatively well put together. The overall fit and finish is not near the level of a comparable Audi or Mercedes-Benz but that’s just the price to pay. The story is the same for the car as a whole. It may not be as comfortable or well built or as fun to drive as the competition but it’s damn near close and for something that’s so representative of the future, it’s enough to justify its superiority. The Model 3 is avant-garde, it’s an automotive breakthrough and only points to bigger and better things. Chief Competitors: Chevrolet Bolt, BMW 3-Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Audi A4, Lexus IS. ■H Are you in the market for a new or used car but don’t know where to start? Reach out to me at thefastlane.highlander@gmail.com and I’ll help you with the search.
WINTER
SOULSTICE 2018
H.E.R. M A R C E . BA S SY KYLE DION BRI CHEW / HIGHLANDER
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/arts
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2018
WHO BROUGHT THE SOUL? S a r a h B a z z y, C o n t r i b u t i n g W r i t e r ► FROM WINTER SOULSTICE, PAGE 1
KYLE DION BROUGHT THE SOUL, SEXINESS AND AN IMPRESSIVE FALSETTO
KYLE DION BRI CHEW / HIGHLANDER
The 23-year-old singer sprang out of South Florida in 2014 when he released his first mixtape, “Sixes and Sevens.” He continued to make a name for himself by landing features with artists like Kehlani and Austin Mahone. Although this opener was a mystery man to a majority of the crowd, his obscurity did not stop the audience from getting down with his music. His fervent stage presence had everyone dancing along with him as he glided from one end of the stage to the other. Dion had the audience weak in the knees as he hit every high note with ease. The crowd steadily moved to upbeat songs like “Timed Out” and then slowed it down to newer singles such as “Brown.” By and large, attendees unfamiliar with Dion engaged well with Dion, becoming new fans. “I didn’t know who he was before this but I will definitely look him up after the show to see what he is about. His vocals, his falsetto and vibe were great. I liked how he was just so smooth,” said Mia, a third-year. Some people, like first-year Simone, who came to see H.E.R., liked him so much they wished he was the second act and not the opener, “He should have gone right before H.E.R., their styles mesh better together.” Interestingly enough, Dion wasn’t on the original line-up; canadian singer, K. Forest was set to open but dropped due to unforeseen circumstances. This cancellation seemed to work out fine as UCR students embraced Dion with open arms and added him to their music libraries.
M A R C E . BA S SY BROUGHT THE HYPE Bassy is no newcomer to the music industry. He started his professional career in 2007 as lead vocalist for the boy band 2AM Club. They signed to RCA records in 2008, having a good run for about five years until Bassy created an independent following of his own. His popularity did not go unnoticed at Soulstice: The moment he set foot on the stage students fought their way to the front to get a glimpse of the pop-soul singer. Bassy began his set with high energy, singing some of his most popular tracks like “Some Things Never Change.” Unfortunately, there were a few technical difficulties; the keyboard was not working and the mic gave off horrible feedback. However, this did not stop Bassy from putting on a great show. DJ Shabazz kept the energy alive by spinning popular songs like “Bodak Yellow” and “m.A.A.d city.” Shabazz even stole the show for a little bit by performing some great scratch work. Once all technical difficulties were taken care of, Bassy brought the heat with his double platinum song, “You & Me.” “He got the crowd super hyped and I loved his DJ,” said Natalie, a second-year that was drawn to the event by H.E.R. Although most people really enjoyed Bassy and Shabazz, he wasn’t as smooth and soulful as the other performers, “I thought he was kind of awkward and he didn’t connect with me that much, but I noticed that everyone else in the crowd loved him,” admits Tiffany, a third-year. Bassy knows how to put on a show, but he is not as emotionally profound in his music as the other two performers. After the show, he walked right into the crowd and was swarmed by the iPhone cameras of fan girls who wanted to know where his afterparty was. Despite the lack of soul, it was clear that UCR loved him.
M A R C E . BA S SY BRI CHEW / HIGHLANDER
H . E . R . — H E A R TS : S I M P I N ’ . M I N D S : B LOW N . S O U L S : STO L E N .
H.E.R. BRI CHEW / HIGHLANDER
The headliner of Soulstice gained recent popularity through her work with R&B singer Daniel Caesar on his latest album “Freudian” and has cultivated her own loyal fan base through her EPs “H.E.R. Volume 1” and “H.E.R. Volume 2.” Despite her fairly recent success, H.E.R. has been involved with music since she was a child. Through years of experience, the artist developed a dynamic, ardent style that listeners are still slowly uncovering. In a word, H.E.R.’s set was effortless. She came onto the stage in sweats and a UCR gear which automatically earned her the love of the audience. “I loved how she wore a UCR sweater and represented us,” said Myles, a second-year. She displayed her raw talent outside of her vocal performance by randomly jamming on the drums, piano or guitar with an incredible sense of proficiency. Songs like “Focus” showcased the sheer vocal control she has on stage and in the studio. The amount of chemistry between H.E.R. and the background vocalists made for an intimate jam session. One of the vocalists even took to singing Daniel Caesar’s verse when they performed “Best Part,” which the audience loved and supported by singing alongside him. After passionately singing “Changes,” she addressed the women in the crowd when speaking about relationships. “Sometimes in love we allow unnecessary people and unnecessary things to get in the way of us loving and being loved by someone,” the singer said. “I know all the females out here have been through some bullshit and they’re tired of it, I know I am. That’s why I sing my heart out on this stage, I try to relay a message with hopes that someone will connect to it.” This resonated with the audience, igniting waves of cheers and hollers. Second-year student Skylar loved it, saying, “I’m so thankful she was comforting us and letting us know we aren’t the only ones who go through bad relationships.” H.E.R. knew how to connect and relate to the audience better than any of the other performers. By speaking to the crowd’s sensibilities and expressing herself effortlessly through her music, she capped the night off excellently. So, who really ■H brought the soul? “H.E.R.,” said everyone.
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HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/arts
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2018
MOVIE REVIEW “EX MACHINA” DIRECTOR ALEX GARLAND FOLLOWS UP WITH WICKED, WEIRD, WONDERFUL “ANNIHILATION” JULIAN MEDRANDA Senior Staff Writer
Cells, high-school biology and protaginst Lena tell us, divide and proliferate, creating life as we know it through selfsustaining processes of growth. But what the hell does it even mean to be alive? I ask this mostly rhetorically, but also to invite you to consider. To be alive is to have cells, surely, so discount rocks, include fungi, coral, trees, humans. But we’re still at an impasse — I mean, what is life, really, but a really big puzzle whose pieces are just beyond our reach? For some the truth is carnal, others cosmic. So many movies have attempted to address this primeval wonder — most fail, yet others help us fill in some gaps in the plot holes of our existence. I don’t think I’ll ever understand what the hell any of this means, but at least there are stories like “Annihilation” that consider looking at the puzzle from a different perspective. “Ex Machina” director Alex Garland may not yet be a household name in scifi filmmaking alongside luminaries like J. J. Abrams or Ridley Scott, but the 47-year-old has more than proven his guile. (Maybe his success on the periphery of the mainstream might be more telling of his grit as an artist than as another moneybags). Before his directorial debut with “Ex Machina,” he wrote “28 Days Later,” “Never Let Me Go” and “Dredd,” nottoo-distant sci-fi and horror flicks with remarkable senses of palpability beyond the harsh landscapes of decay. “Annihilation” is no different in this regard, even with a broader scope. Fortunately, its breadth isn’t groan-inducingly
high-concept or skeletal. The film stars a dedicated Natalie Portman as a professor of cellular biology and former US Army soldier Lena. 12 months ago, her husband, Kane (Oscar Isaac), was deployed on a classified Army mission and hasn’t been heard from since. So imagine her surprise when he suddenly appears at the foot of the stairs in their house. But something’s off — her once-loving, vaguely Southern-accented husband is a hollowed-out shell of his former self. On the way to the hospital, the two are intercepted by a SWAT team which takes them away to a coastal government facility called Area X. It’s there that the plot thickens and Jennifer Jason Lee’s stoic Dr. Ventress informs her of an otherworldly, iridescent dome aptly referred to as the Shimmer. Lead by Ventress, Lena and three other women of science — paramedic Anya Thorensen (Gina Rodriguez), physicist Josie Radek (Tessa Thompson) and anthropologist Cass Shepherd (Tuva Novotny) — embark on an expedition into the Shimmer to unravel the nature of the phenomenon and resolve their respective internal strifes. Two things: One, comparing one film to a bunch of others is problematic — it’s reductive and blindsides a film’s individual ambitions and accomplishments; two, this film is unmistakably similar to Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Stalker” and, to a greater extent, Denis Villeneuve’s “Arrival.” The Shimmer is dense with lush overgrowth, causing structural decomposition on buildings within its enclosure. (In fact, one of “Annihilation’”s greatest strengths is its gorgeous color palette). Like The Zone in “Stalker,” it gives an impression
COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES
of sentience and defies logic with its ecosystem of anomalies both beautiful and horrific. Structurally, “Annihilation” reads like “Arrival” — a griefstricken white educator aids the government in penetrating the core of an eldritch entity that sheds light on existence as we know it. Still, the parallels don’t dilute a film this bold. The team’s goal is to reach the lighthouse at the edge of the Shimmer. The trek is days away, complicated by refractions within the Shimmer that disorient comms devices and mess with their heads. As a sci-fi horror-thriller, it succeeds at building tension
and throwing curveballs at the audience. One moment the team will be peacefully keeping watch or investigating flora and, out of nowhere, the next moment they’re ambushed by … things. Revelations deepen the mystery, and even by the end the mystery is one which Garland leaves the audience to unpack. “Annihilation” feels predictable, but Garland surprises us at every turn. As smart as the ideas are, it doesn’t teeter on pompasity or overindulgence. The ending, as much of a weird, wildly imaginative fever dream of cosmic proportion as it is,
feeds the audience with enough information as to not starve us of something to cling to. Paired with the dazzling score by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury, the film crawls through the final leg with eerie measure; the music and visuals warrant sitting through the credits and reflecting on the strangeness.
duo whose personalities are equally competitive, driven to succeed at any and all games they participate in be it charades, DDR or murdermystery. Every weekend, the couple hosts game night at their house, inviting friends over to partake in the festivities. When Max’s older brother, the more attractive and more successful Brooks (Kyle Chandler), is in town for the weekend, the stakes are raised as Max sets his eyes on finally beating his jerk of a brother. But when Max, Annie and their friends congregate at Brooks’ lavish home and realize the game they’re playing isn’t Scrabble or Life, but instead an interactive murder-mystery that will last them all night, they split off in hopes to beat the game and win the grand prize — Brooks’ ‘76 Corvette Stingray. Only the game is a bit too real to be a game. The trailer for “Game Night” is underwhelming to say the least. If you’ve seen any comedy film this past decade, you must have fallen victim to the trap of watching a movie just because the jokes in the trailer were great, only to find out they’re the only funny moments in the entire movie. Trusting trailers is a zero-sum game nowadays. Thankfully, “Game Night” is funny. And the humor in this film isn’t in the same vein of hackneyed ad-libs that permeate the market of comedy
films nowadays; for all the good Judd Apatow has brought to mainstream comedy with works like “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Bridesmaids,” a malignancy has affected most of the Hollywood schlock pile of comedies in the form of painfully unfunny and overstayed improvisation. “Game Night” certainly beats the dead horse silly sometimes, but there’s a peppering of lighter jokes here and there that draw less attention to themselves than the grander setups and payoffs, ultimately helping the film in terms of constant entertainment. And the film is entertaining. The friends in the group, like our leads, are simple and mostly one-dimensional in a way that works for this type of movie. Brooks has some skeletons in his closet that tarnish his image — he’s the most straight faced person among the bunch and, consequently, the most boring. But Ryan (Billy Magnussen) is the doltish, affable friend whose series of shallow plusones gets tested when he comes to Brooks’ game night with the older Sarah (Sharon Hogan). Kevin (Lamorne Morris) and Michelle (Kylie Bunbury) are childhood sweethearts who spend most of the film arguing over Michelle’s ostensible lapse in faithfulness with a celebrity over 10 years ago — in between evading guntoting criminals and solving
riddles, of course. The odd man out is Gary, played perfectly bone dry by the great Jesse Plemons. Gary’s a lover of lamb shanks, a proud dog owner, an officer of the law and, most importantly, a major creep. Seriously, Plemons is great in all the serious roles he’s been in so far but seeing him as this grave weirdo ranks among the most memorable. Max and Annie used to invite him to game nights, back when he was still married to his wife, but since their divorce (a bleakly recurring motif that adds insult to injury and is brutally hilarious), he’s turned into a proper oddball. Halfway through watching “Game Night,” it’s easy to get frustrated with the incessant references to pop culture. Even now, it’s important to note that merely referencing something doesn’t equate to making a joke (see: “Family Guy”), but in reflecting on the context of a bunch of trivia junkies in a screwball comedy of their own, it only makes sense.
Verdict: As much as it would seem to be an untimely “Arrival” clone, “Annihilation” is anything but. It’s as intelligent of a genre piece we’ve come to expect from Alex Garland, anchored by compelling themes and the mystique of its setting. ■H
“GAME NIGHT”: I KNOW THAT REFERENCE! JULIAN MEDRANDA Senior Staff Writer
Remember the rumor that circulated middle school campuses nationwide that Marilyn Manson surgically removed his own ribs to fellate himself? I certainly do. Remember when Ed Norton was The Hulk? What about “Fight Club”? “Eyes Wide Shut”? Mark Perez, the writer behind “Game Night,” does,
and he wants to make sure you do too. “Game Night” is directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the duo whose shared works include their co-directorial debut, “Vacation,” and the screenplays for “Spider Man: Homecoming” and “Horrible Bosses,” among others. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams star as Max and Annie, a husband and wife
COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES
Verdict: “Game Night” doesn’t look to be anything special because it isn’t. But must every film be special to be watchable? Of course not, especially with regards to comedies as big as this one. In all its absurdity, “Game Night” promises a respectable amount of laughs that warrants at least one viewing some time down the line. ■H
HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/sports
SPORTS
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2018
Highlander World Cup Halftime
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Group A, Part II
The 2018 World Cup in Russia is still months away, and some teams are still being put together. However, that’s not stopping the Highlander from breaking down every group to give you a comprehensive overview leading up to the first kickoff.
Egypt Uruguay FIFA Ranking: 21
FIFA Ranking: 31 World Cup Appearances: 2 First Appearance: 1934 Last Appearance: 1990 Best result: Group Stage, 1934
Coach: Hector Cuper, Argentine, since 2015, previously coached Al Wasl (UAE).
World Cup Appearances: 12 First Appearance: 1930 Last Appearance: 2014 Best result: Winners, 1930 and 1950 Coach: Oscar Tabarez, Uruguayan, since 2006, formerly coached Boca Juniors (Argentina)
Players to watch: Mohamed Salah The 25-year-old right winger plays for Liverpool FC since 2017 and has set the English Premier League alight, his 22 goals in 26 appearances leading many to hail him the player of the year. Salah’s speed and eye for goal make him Egypt’s talisman as they seek to claim their place among the great powers of world football.
Players to watch: Luis Suarez The 31-year-old striker has played for FC Barcelona in Spain’s La Liga since 2014. Suarez stands as one of the best strikers in the world, both for club (where he combines with Lionel Messi to form a deadly strike partnership) and country (49 goals in 95 appearances). Despite a colorful disciplinary history, Suarez is sure to make an impact when he pulls on the sky blue shirt this summer.
Mohamed Elneny The 25-year-old central midfielder is a rock in Arsenal FC’s midfield. His tireless workrate and physicality in the tackle place him in the center of Egypt’s lineup, anchoring the team and protecting his defensive line.
Jose Maria Gimenez The 23-year-old center back lines up for Atletico Madrid in Spain’s La Liga since 2013. Standing a staggering six-foot-one, Gimenez represents a new generation of young Uruguayan stars looking to make their mark on the world stage. Gimenez will try to build on his three previous World Cup matches in the 2014 tournament (37 total appearances, four goals) and usher in the next stage in Uruguay’s solid defensive line.
Potential lineup: El Hadary–Shafy, Saad, Hegazi, Elmohamady–Hamed, Elneny–Kahraba, Warda, El Said–Salah Formation: 4-2-3-1 Prediction: Group Stage Elimination, 3rd Place Matches: Vs. Uruguay (opener), 6/15 Vs. Russia, 6/19 Vs. Saudi Arabia, 6/25
Potential lineup: Muslera–Caceres, Godin, Jimenez, Pereira–Valverde, Vecino, Nandez–Rodriguez–Suarez, Cavani Formation: 4-3-1-2 Prediction: 1st place in group, Quarter Final Elimination Matches: Vs. Egypt, 6/15 Vs. Saudi Arabia, 6/20 Vs. Russia, 6/25
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Huskies rain on Highlanders’ parade JON HAMMOND
Senior Staff Writer
UCR’s baseball team (2-4) travelled up north for a four-game series against the University of Washington Huskies (4-2) from Friday, Feb. 23 through Sunday, Feb. 25. The Highlanders entered the weekend coming off a couple of two-game tilts against Nebraska and Washington State in which they took one game each from both teams. The first game of the UW series was postponed due to rain, but the second matchup of the weekend had enough excitement for two games. In an 8-0 loss, the Highlanders’ Trenton Toplikar took the mound against the Huskies’ junior pitcher Joe DeMers, who owned the night with a perfect game on only 84 pitches. The perfect game was the first in Huskies history and only the fifth by a Pac-12
pitcher. While the Highlanders were struggling at the plate, the Huskies were hot out the gate, as they strung together four hits to jump out to a quick 2-0 lead in the second inning. The fifth inning was an electric one, seeing the Huskies bat all the way around the order and plate four runners to blow the game completely open with a 6-0 lead. Washington scored the final two runs of the game on a double in the very next inning to secure the game. Game three of the weekend and the final game of Saturday’s doubleheader once again fell Washington’s way, though not in perfect fashion, with a 5-2 win. UCR junior Hazahel Quijada was on the hill against UW’s sophomore Jordan Jones in what started off as a pitching duel. The Highlanders got to Jones right out
the gate as redshirt senior Colby Schultz got things started with a double, and scored on a fielding error to take a 1-0 lead. Quijada had his best DeMers impression going through four innings, but got shaken up in the fifth inning. He issued a walk to the lead-off batter then gave up a one-out single. The Huskies loaded the bases with a single from Ben Baird, then drew another walk to even the score at one. The damage wasn’t done for the inning, however, as two more UW hits scored three more runners to put them up 4-1. Both teams were only able to score one run in the final four innings as Washington completed the doubleheader sweep. The Highlanders managed to avoid the series sweep however, as they won game four 6-3. The Highlander are back on the field Tuesday, Feb. 27 against UNLV at the Riverside Sports Complex at 3 p.m. ■H
COURTESY OF UCR ATHLETICS
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2018
Sports
HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/sports
Men’s basketball goes 1-1 during week, blows lead in final seven seconds against Davis JONATHAN FERNANDEZ Senior Staff Writer
UC Riverside’s men’s basketball team (8-20, 3-11) faced off against fourth place Cal State Fullerton (15-10, 8-5) on Wednesday, Feb. 21. The Highlanders stumbled right out of the gates on both ends of the floor allowing the Titans to shoot 60 percent from the field while only shooting 37 percent themselves. Fullerton’s junior guard Kyle Allman was clearly the best player on the court for either team during the first 20 minutes, using his superior athleticism to score a game-high 13 points and lead his team to a 33-27 lead going into halftime. UCR came out of the break with a renewed intensity that allowed them to get back into the game. The main difference for Riverside in the first and second halves was their frenetic defense. The Highlander players were a lot more active on defense, and even if they didn’t force a turnover they were forcing Fullerton to take difficult shots which led to the Titans shooting 33 percent in the second half. Two three-pointers from junior center Menno Dijkstra started a 12-1 run that gave Riverside a 44-38 lead with 11 minutes to play. The Highlanders would not go on to lose the lead in the remaining 11 minutes despite Fullerton staying close throughout. Sophomore guard Dikembe Martin, who started for the first time since Jan. 11, led the way in scoring for the Highlanders with 19 points on 60 percent shooting from the field. The Highlanders traveled to Davis (19-9, 10-4) to take on the Aggies on Saturday, Feb. 24 where they lost in heartbreaking fashion. Riverside once again started poorly, shooting only 33 percent in the first half before improving dramatically in the second half. UCR shot 50 percent in the final 20 minutes and took a two point lead off of a Dijkstra three pointer with only seven seconds remaining. However, the Aggies had an answer in the final seconds thanks to TJ Shorts II who drove into the lane for a
JONATHAN FERNANDEZ Senior Staff Writer
MARTIN LOPEZ / HIGHLANDER
dagger layup with one second left on the clock to earn the victory. Senior Chance Murray led his team back into the game in the second half, scoring 14 of his game-high 24 points in the final 20 minutes. Murray also had six rebounds, two steals and one block. The Highlanders had two other scorers in
double figures, redshirt sophomore guard DJ Sylvester and Dijkstra who had 10 apiece. The Highlanders next game will be on Senior Night, Thursday, March 1 against Cal Poly (9-19, 4-10) at the SRC Arena. UCR lost their earlier matchup against H Poly this season in a 71-68 nailbiter. ■
Women’s basketball fails to close, suffers back-to-back losses JARYD BONDCARAS Contributing Writer
The UC Riverside women’s basketball team (8-20, 5-9) had significant leads against both Cal State Fullerton (8-19, 3-11) and UC Santa Barbara (12-15, 9-6) but couldn’t quite finish the job. Against the CSUF Titans, the Highlanders led 40-29 at the end of the first half, only to fall apart in the third quarter en route to a 71-62 loss. The Highlanders shot only 20 percent (4 of 20) from the field during the third quarter, being outscored 26-8 in the period. Senior guard Michelle Curry bounced back from a rough shooting night last Thursday, Feb. 15, finishing with 22 points on the night. She also tied a conference season-high of six assists. Sophomore Marina Ewodo flirted with a double-double, scoring a career-high 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting. She rounded out the stat sheet with eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Despite the loss, senior guard Lauren Holt manage to extend her double-digit scoring streak to 20 games, finishing with 10 points. Fellow senior Inara Nyingifa had her best game of the season thus far, putting up all season-highs with eight points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals in 26 minutes of play. In their second game of the week, the Highlanders lost to UCSB in a 72-70 thriller, despite a monstrous 31 point, four assist and career-high 14 rebound performance from Curry. Leading only by one after the first quarter, Riverside used a strong second quarter to lead by as many as 11 points on multiple occasions. The Gauchos would stay within striking distance throughout, in large part to the inside-outside combo of Drew Edelman (27 points, 11-14 FG) and Tal Sahar (21
Softball continues hot start
points, 4 of 7 from three-point land). It seemed as if the Highlanders were icing the game, after a pair of Curry free throws gave them a 66-59 advantage with just 1:23 remaining. However, back-to-back clutch treys from Sahar would cut the UCR lead to three with 37 seconds left. Sahar intentionally fouled Holt right after, as Holt went 1 for 2 at the line. Skyler Lewis would then foul Sahar on a three-point attempt and all three free throws were made. A missed free throw by Nyingifa led to a Drew Edelman layup to tie the game at 70 apiece. Curry’s potential game-winning baseline jumper with two seconds left just missed, but a Gaucho turnover gave the Highlanders one more chance to win the game. With 1.4 seconds remaining on the clock, UCR ended up turning the ball back over on the inbound play with no time being shaved off the clock. UCSB was set to inbound the ball, but
a Highlander foul set up a pair of gamewinning free throws for the Gauchos with half a second left. Sarah Bates knocked down both, capping off a miraculous 11-4 UCSB run in the final 75 seconds. Holt went 10 for 12 to finish the night with 21 points, marking the 21st consecutive game that she’s reached double figures in points and her third time reaching 20 points or more in the last four. Holt also had five assists to round out her stat line. The Highlanders will play their last road game of the regular season against Long Beach State on Thursday, March 1 before heading back home for Senior Night against UC Davis on Saturday, March 3. UCR has clinched a spot in the upcoming Big West Conference tournament, beginning Tuesday, March 6. The team currently sits at the sixth spot in the conference, with a chance to move up or down one spot depending on how Hawai’i and CSU Northridge’s final two games play out. ■H
COURTESY OF UCR ATHLETICS
UCR’s softball team (9-4) was back in action on Friday, Feb. 23 kicking off the Amy S. Harrison Classic against The University of New Mexico (2-11). The Highlanders had won five of their last six going into this game and they continued their dominance against the Lobos. New Mexico only lasted six innings against the Highlanders as Riverside blew out the Lobos 9-1, led by senior pitcher Tayler Misfeldt, who earned her fifth win of the season. Misfeldt only gave up one run in the game which came in the top of the second inning off of a home run from New Mexico University’s senior infielder Chelsea Johnson. At that point in the game the Highlanders were still up 2-1, and they weren’t done yet. UCR made up for the run given up in the top of the second by getting it back in the bottom half of the inning to earn the 3-1 lead. Riverside would also add three more runs in both the fourth and the sixth innings. Misfeldt had a career high 13 strikeouts against 16 batters as she extended her lead on the UCR all time record for wins, which is now at 42. The Highlanders offense capitalized on Misfeldt’s career performance, scoring nine runs off of nine hits. Sophomore first baseman sophomore Sarah Parten and senior third baseman Jenae Lockwood led the way for Riverside’s offense, recording a team high three RBI’s each. UCR’s softball team followed their win against New Mexico with a thrilling win against George Washington University (6-3) on Saturday, Feb. 24. Freshman pitcher Hailey Dolcini started the game on the mound and quickly gave up five earned runs in only 1.2 innings. Sophomore pitcher Haley Marschall came in for Dolcini and did a good job to stop the bleeding, only allowing one earned run in 4.1 innings. Misfeldt then came in to relieve Marschall for the final two innings and held the Colonials scoreless. UCR’s offense was able to bounce back in a major way during the fourth inning by stringing together six hits to score five runs in that inning alone to start their comeback. The Highlanders completed their comeback in the sixth inning off of back to back homers from senior center fielder Jenna Curtan and sophomore shortstop Emma Ramelot to give UCR the 7-6 lead. The Colonials scored in the top of the seventh inning to force extra innings, and score again in the eighth to take a 8-7 lead. Curtan came through one more time for the Highlanders, singling to the left side to bring in junior Bayleigh Heineman and tie the game. With freshman left fielder Seanna Garewal on second base, Ramelot hit a walk off double to win the game for the Highlander, 9-8. The Highlanders next game will be against Saint John’s on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at the Amy S. Harrison Softball Field. ■H