THE HIGHLANDER
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE
FOR THE WEEK OF TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
VOL. 68, ISSUE 18
est. 1954
Senate unable to pass any legislation or allocate funds after not meeting quorum
AMANI MAHMOUD Senior Staff Writer
With only eight senators in attendance, quorum was not met at last Wednesday’s ASUCR meeting causing all legislation and allocations to be postponed.
LLOYD KAO / HIGHLANDER
Construction on new art sculpture is completed
LIZBETH MARQUEZ TORRES Contributing Writer
The construction of UCR’s first art sculpture has officially been completed. The sculpture, titled “a circular sculpture about usefulness amongst other things,” was designed by San Diego-based artist Roy McMakin. The McMakin piece, which is composed of tall yellow poles that display the words “Things Change” and “Change Things,” is meant to highlight the use of multiple mediums in order to engage the campus community to interact with art culturally, physically and visually, according to Jason Espinoza, a project manager with the Office of Planning Design and Construction. The transformative reuse of landscape into an interactive art exhibit is an attempt to exemplify the university’s commitment to the city of Riverside’s concept of arts and innovation, said Espinoza. Espinoza also stated that UCR’s Department of Art had the intention to include artwork in front of the Arts Building. The installation was intended to capture a dynamic visual that interconnected the commuter and pedestrian campus experience. The intention of the piece was to enhance the students’ experience by exposing them to creative expressions of diverse perspectives. The goal was also to encourage the campus community to interact with public spaces uniquely. ► SEE ART PAGE 4
On Wednesday, Feb.12, ASUCR held their sixth meeting of the quarter. Executive Vice President (EVP) Abigail Cortes was not in attendance, which meant that President Pro Tempore Miguel Ramirez filled in for the EVP. ASUCR meetings are set to begin at 6:45 p.m. but only eight senators, including Ramirez, were in attendance. Senators began making remarks that they did not meet quorum and therefore could not discuss or pass any minutes approval, agenda approval, policy items or action items. This prompted GSOE Senator Evelyn Castaneda to leave before the meeting was called to order. Castaneda told
► SEE ASUCR PAGE 4
The UCSC wildcat strike is a fight againt an antiworker UC system
ORLANDO CABALO Contributing Writer
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her fellow senators in attendance to just count her as absent for the meeting. The meeting was called to order at 6:50 p.m. Roll Call was conducted. CHASS Senators Angelica Garcia, Angel Cuevas, Adam Gutierrez, Miguel Ramirez, CNAS Senators Luv Amin, Natalie Hernandez, Danielle Velarde and SPP Senator Emily Thomas were present. According to Ramirez, CHASS Senators Yoseline Gutierrez De La Torre, Nelson Huerta, Tiffany Menendez, Matt Nguyen and CNAS Senators Ky Nguyen and Jaime Perez all had excused absences. CHASS Senators Isaiah Kim, GSOE Senator Evelyn Castaneda and BCOE Senators Maurice Armstrong and Leo Ngo all had unexcused absences.
Treating workers with respect, dignity and fairness is something that is completely foreign in many nations, especially in the United States. Although there was a massive labor movement that won many concessions in the way of collective bargaining and unity for workers, today over half of the states are blatantly anti-union. This pervasive anti-worker attitude from the government has crept into the University of California (UC) system as well. From resisting negotiations of a fair contract for the service workers of the UC, to the wildcat strike in UC Santa Cruz (UCSC), the administration loves waging war against labor. Despite the fact that American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees local 3299 (AFSCME 3299) new contract solidified a
victory for service workers, the fight for all workers to be treated with fairness and dignity doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon. One would think that, after finally giving AFSCME 3299 a contract, the UC would at last bargain with unions in good faith, but that wasn’t in the cards. In fact, UCSC graduate students facing an astronomical cost of living have gone on strike to demand better pay. The UCs inability to cooperate with workers is insulting. Unions in the UC system have only asked for basic workplace rights like job security and a living wage. To make matters worse, even though workers have demanded the bare minimum from their employers, UC administrators have stalled and dragged their feet in negotiations. A glaring example of this worker exploitation is the UCSC graduate students. ► SEE UCSC IN OPINIONS, PAGE 10
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
HUMANS OF UCR
UPCOMING EVENTS: WEEK 7
ETHAN TANCHOCO | MICROBIOLOGY | FOURTH-YEAR COMPILED BY ISURU KARUNATILLAKA
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History of the Undocu Movement in the IE 12:00pm to 1:30pm HUB 260
ASPB Presents: Nostalgia Night 6:00pm HUB 302
Intercultural Speed Pals 12:00pm to 1:30pm HUB 302 South
Unity Hour- UCR 1:30pm to 2:30pm Undocumented Student Programs, Costo Hall 224
20
Know Your Rights 10:00am to 11:00am HUB 265
TRANSFER MIXER 12:00pm to 2:00pm HUB 302 South
21
48th Annual Community College Day 8:00am to 3:00pm HUB 302
GCAP Free Boba & Reusable Straws 1:00pm to 3:00pm Outside the Bear’s Den
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25th Annual Mujer Conference 8:00am to 3:00pm Watkins 1000
Rec Day Basketball Tournament 6:30pm Student Recreation Center (SRC), lower courts
Resilience & Bravery: A Motherscholar’s Testimonio 11:30am to 1:00pm HUB 265
Mario Madness 12:00pm to 2:00pm HUB 355
Tuesday
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Wednesday
Thursday
“The best part about being an SI instructor is being able to interact with a lot of different people that I originally wouldn’t. With academics, everyone needs help in subjects like organic chemistry or biology, and so being able to connect with people while helping them is very rewarding. As an SI,
Friday
being able to get different interactions and perspectives on academics or life allows me to not only teach people but to get to know them as well. “
Saturday
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ASUCR
Senate unable to pass any legislation or allocate any funding after not meeting quorum
► FROM ASUCR
According to Chapter 1, Section 3 of the ASUCR bylaws, quorum shall constitute a simple majority of the elected senators, rounded up to the nearest senator. If quorum is not reached at any point in the meeting, the presiding officer shall continue with all items of business except for minutes approval, agenda approval, policy items and action items until quorum is met. When quorum is met, a motion to approve all agenda items previously covered shall be in order. According to Article V, Section H of the ASUCR constitution, the quorum of the senate shall be half plus one of the voting membership of the senate. If quorum is not met, the senate is not able to conduct official business, but can go into a Committee of the Whole in which no items can be voted upon, but discussion can take place. The finance, GCAP and LRC reports could not be presented or voted on. Since the finance meeting minutes could not be passed, ASUCR cannot release the money for any organizations or clubs on campus that were allocated at the previous finance hearing meeting. Money allocated from GCAP at their previous meeting also cannot be released until they are voted on and passed. Two resolutions, SR-W20001 and SR-W20-002: R’Web Icon Voter Initiative could not be presented or passed. ASUCR’s previous meeting minutes also could not be voted on, discussed or approved. Sarah Al-Khalili, the president of the Muslim Student Associated stated, “You (senators) have one main job and that is to show up to senate meetings because there are organizations that need funding ... There are organizations here that are trying to do social justice work. MSA has been
Quorum not met after only eight senators attend ASUCR meeting.
working on this resolution (SR-W20-001) for about three weeks now. Now that it is finally on the senate floor it can’t even be voted on because senators did not want to show up to do their job.” Samia Alkam, another member of MSA, also addressed the senate during Public Comment. Alkam referred to the previous weeks’ meeting in which SB-W20-009 Amendments to Chapters 10, 8, 2 & 4 of the ASUCR bylaws which would propose a stipend increase for the EVP, was denied. Alkam stated, “I do not see the person who is asking for more pay here which is very confusing to me because when you are asking for more pay you should show a track record of all of the excellent things you are doing.” Alkam went on to
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state that she felt it was disrespectful that there are students who take the time to come and represent something and there are not enough senators present to vote on legislation. She stated, “This is hindering our freedom to protest on campus and to pass legislation ... In respect for all of the work student activists on campus put in, there should at least be senators here to listen to it when not only is it your job to hear it but you are being paid for it regularly and asking for more pay.” During Senator Reports, many senators chose not to share their report and instead save it for the meeting next week due to their disappointment that many of their fellow senators were not present to hear their reports.
The meeting then moved on to Roundtable and Announcements. ASUCR President Julian Gonzalez addressed the senate and stated that he saw that people had to leave the meeting since the senate did not meet quorum and could not get their resolutions passed. Gonzalez also stated, “Now we have two resolutions that are not going to be passed, student funding that is not going to be allocated to student organizations and other issues that still need to be solved and discussed ... I am very disappointed.” Gonzalez stated that he wants senators who were not in attendance to personally apologize to all the organizations that are not receiving funding or their GCAP allocations and to students whose resolutions are not getting discussed or passed. “It is kind of getting ridiculous at this point. Now I am starting to agree with what other people who come up here say about the senate and it is disappointing. I urge you to call an emergency meeting in the next few days to vote on the things that were on the agenda.” ASUCR Executive Director Laurie Sinclair echoed Gonzalez’s sentiments about holding an emergency meeting. Sinclair stated, “There are clubs that are waiting for their allocations. They have events happening as soon as next week. Our hands are tied until we have your vote ... a lot of times clubs get very upset when we don’t meet quorum because they can’t receive their money and sometimes have to postpone their events.” According to Article V, Section G, Part 5 of the constitution, special meetings may be called by the president or at the request of any five senators, however, no public notice was given after the meeting that an emergency meeting was called. The meeting was adjourned at 7:11 p.m. ■H
Construction on new art sculpture is completed
► FROM ART
According to Espinoza, the interest in this project sparked over 11 years ago with Jim Isermann, a UCR arts professor and sculptor. Isermann proposed the addition of this piece shortly after CHASS was built because he wanted to “create a place to stop on that throughway and to make sense of the chaotic walkways and mismatched concrete benches.” In 2008, the wheels of the project began to spin when Timothy White, UCR’s chancellor between 2008 to 2012, met with the Advisory Committee on Campus Art (ACCA) that was led by Isermann. Espinoza noted that during his time as UCR’s chancellor, White decided to invest in an artistic project that would enhance the “intellectual connectivity among a diverse academic community.” Espinoza explained that the funding for this project was established in 2009 and stood at $1 million but since then has escalated due to economic conditions. Still, the project’s team managed not to exceed the original budget and all costs were covered by the chancellor. The Highlander interviewed Katie Cunha, a third-year media and
“a circular sculpture about usefullness amongst other things” by Roy McMakin
culture studies. Cunha stated that she believed the piece was “ugly and confusing” and she wishes UCR would have used that funding to transform the “brown, old and dusty” building into something more “artsy.”
She continued by saying she can see “arts students doing something better for free.” Zaina Ali, a first-year art major stated in an interview with The Highlander, “In an institution where
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things never seem to change, or are not allowed to change at the hands of the students, the signs are ironic and feel more like a mockery of what we can’t do than a motivation on what we could do.” ■H
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NEWS
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
5
Equity and Opportunities Referendum aims to provide funding and support for student organizations
AMANI MAHMOUD Senior Staff Writer
On Wednesday, Feb. 5, the Equity and Opportunities Referendum (EOR) was approved to be voted on by the University of California Office of the President (UCOP). The referendum will allocate a $10 student fee to provide support and assistance for UCR’s Underground Scholars Initiative, R’Kids, the Student Veteran’s Organization and the Office of Foster Youth Support Services. Support would go toward better staffing for the programs, more resources and more. $2.50 from the $10 student fee will go back toward financial aid. $1.50 will go to each department housing the individual organizations and the remaining $1.50 will go to an oversight committee for emergency funding and special projects. In an interview with The Highlander, Chris Fernandez, the vice president for UCR’s Student Veteran’s Organization and a representative for the EOR stated that the EOR will provide permanent funding for student veterans, students who are system impacted, students with experiences with the foster care system and students who have children. He stated that funding benefits these organizations by providing a safe space for them to build a community upon which they can better interact with the campus student body and staff. Fernandez also claimed that funding will also provide these students with a staff member who can help them navigate the campus and the educational environment, various financial aid resources and advocate for them both on campus and outside of it. Fernandez stated that the EOR will
also provide students with the ability to conduct outreach. He stated that these populations, more often than not, do not see school as a viable option due to the difficulty in balancing current pressures, limitations and stigma or a general sense of not feeling welcome among their peers. Student veterans lack space, outreach and basic needs, claimed Fernandez. “Veterans have particular issues that come along with service to one’s country. We are provided an advocate who is a UCR staff member, but she can barely keep up with the demands of our population,” stated Fernandez. As a student veteran himself, Fernandez stated that they are not given the funding needed to truly build a community on campus. Student veterans, according to Fernandez, do not receive funding other than the cost of their space. He noted that since their office is located off campus, it creates a sense of not belonging among student veterans. “We endeavor to create an environment where we can help reintegrate our members into society by assisting them in transitioning from service member to citizen, and then from citizen to Highlander,” stated Fernandez. The Office of Foster Youth Support Services and their needs are much in line with the student veterans, but exacerbated, according to Fernandez. He stated that while they have a staff member, Kenyon Whitman, only a portion of his salary is funded through UCR. The rest is provided through donations. Fernandez stated that while they have a space, none of it is funded. “The staff member they have spends the majority of his time fundraising to maintain a space for his students to
come together. This means that there is no work study position, so when he leaves or when he is sick, the doors close for his students,” noted Fernandez. Fernandez also stated that they need funding so that their staff member can better use his time serving his students and helping them navigate life both on campus and with the financial aid system. Financial aid for people who were formerly in foster care and affiliated programs is incredibly complex and Whitman can only do so much when he spends the majority of his time trying to keep the doors open, stated Fernandez. He added, “With better funding, UCR could usher in a new wave of students from these programs and honestly give them a helping hand.” Funding for R’Kids would provide space, a staff member and in time, an emergency child care service, stated Fernandez. Fernandez said, “I personally have had to miss four classes this week due to child care issues, and I have a spouse. Members of R’Kids must balance their education and children very carefully.” With a space, R’Kids could have a childfriendly environment where their students could study. A staff member could provide these services as well as helping to navigate campus life, research opportunities and put on events which would help show their children why they are doing what they are doing, noted Fernandez. He believes that this would provide help and resources so that student parents can focus on both their studies and their children. The Underground Scholars Initiative is an initiative at UCR that aims to create a pathway for formerly incarcerated and system impacted individuals into higher
education. The EOR would provide space, a staff member, outreach and advocacy opportunities for these students. Fernandez stated that the referendum would provide students who are a part of this initiative with a safe space where they could acclimate to college life and be around those with shared experiences, which would then create a community. He stated, “A staff member would be able to help them navigate school life, the various red tape of the legal system, and provide advice on how to move forward in their education.” Fernandez stated that funding these programs is important because he believes in UCR and the UC system. “I served my country and I look around UCR and I see the best of it. For these students, coming to college was not a natural progression of their lives, but an act of desperation by those searching for a way to improve,” he said. He also said that UCR has a unique opportunity to pave the way in creating awareness of the needs of these populations and a system of meeting them which will inspire other schools and our country as a whole. He ended the interview by stating that at UCR, students have a unique opportunity to pave the way in creating awareness of the needs of these populations and a system of meeting them which will inspire other schools and our country as a whole. He stated, “I believe that as students of one of the most well-respected education systems worldwide, it is not just an ability we have, but our duty to do so. We can change lives, show people the way forward, and usher them into a light and future they never could have imagined.” ■H
Performing Arts Support and Access Fee Referendum seeks to provide funding for performing arts departments
ANTONIO VELAOCHAGA Contributing Writer
On Wednesday, Feb. 5, ASUCR approved the Performing Arts Support and Access (PASA) Fee Referendum to be voted on by the University of California Office of the President (UCOP). In an interview with The Highlander, ASUCR President Pro Tempore Miguel Ramirez stated that the referendum was the last resort to provide more funds to UCR’s Departments of Music, Dance and Theatre, Film and Digital Production (TFDP). The referendum was created by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS) Dean Milagros Pena, Associate Dean for Arts and Humanities Kiril Tomoff and the CHASS Assistant Dean and Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Cindy Williams. According to Tomoff, most funding for TFDP comes from the CHASS Dean’s Office, however, those funds come from the Subsidized Student Admission Plan (SSAP) fee passed in 2012. Tomoff stated that the SSAP fee does not provide sufficient funding and is not sustaining the performing arts departments. The PASA referendum would replace the SSAP fee to give greater funds to these performing arts departments. According to the referendum proposal, a lack of funding among the departments of music, dance and TFDP hinders the education of performing arts students. Ramirez stated, “Big performing arts schools like UCLA and UCSC, they get most of their funding from alumni donations. Unfortunately, UCR doesn’t have a wide base of wealthy alumni who could
donate.” He pointed out the obvious issues in these departments such as a lack of classes and professors. Brandon Honaker, a fourth-year TFDP major said in an interview with The Highlander, “I have had a difficult experience in the major … The classes that I need are rarely offered and there’s no professors that teach them and there are no seats in the classes.” Honaker described the difficulty of majoring in a field that does not have enough resources for all its students. He stated that he will be forced to take an extra year of college because he could not take all of his required classes, which were full. Fourth-year TFDP major Sydney Swartz said in an interview with The Highlander, “Since our major has been growing exponentially each year, we don’t have enough resources to be able to teach every student about TFDP.” Ramirez said that these TFDP students need production units but they cannot acquire these units since the TFDP department does not have enough revenue to put up enough productions for students. This prevents students such as Honaker from graduating on time due to the struggle in getting the number of required units. Ramirez remarked, “A lot of my constituents and friends are students within these programs and they’ve told me firsthand how much they’re struggling.” He added, “Having more resources, more money and more funding means having access to more productions … and hiring of more professors.” Ramirez said he plans to use tabling and social media to spread awareness and recruit students to make the referendum
pass. “I’m planning to host an event that will be open for everyone and where I’ll go through the referendum … Ideally I’ll be attracting a lot of the visual arts majors,” stated Ramirez. The referendum states that it would provide funding to the play productions, concerts and other events that the performing arts departments host to fund their respective fields. Tomoff said that if the funding for TFDP does not increase, TFDP cannot grow their productions to accommodate the rising student population and music instruments cannot be properly maintained, repaired or replaced. The referendum fees will also give each department enough revenue to increase their production staff. Currently, students must buy tickets to many dance events, including all professional dance performances; however, the referendum would allow students to receive free tickets to these events. The PASA referendum would
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even enhance infrastructural support and improve planning for faculty-led research conferences, festivals and performances. If the PASA referendum is passed, it would require each student to pay $9.50 per quarter with $7 dollars funding the performing arts departments and $2.50 being allocated to financial aid. This would give the CHASS performing arts departments $600,000 per quarter. Regarding the referendum, Ramirez stated, “I think it will be an impactful solution that will help a lot of students.” He said that after UCOP approves the referendum, it will be voted by ASUCR as to whether it will be on the election ballot. He stated that if it is added to the ballot, it will need 20% of students to vote for it in order to pass. If the referendum is passed it will go into effect fall quarter of 2020. ■H
6 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
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Voter registration icon to be implemented on R’Web before the Feb. 18 deadline
LAURA ANAYA-MORGA Senior Staff Writer
On Monday, Feb. 10, Samuel Roberts, a fourth-year public policy major and student ambassador for the School of Public Policy, held a town hall in HUB 255 to discuss his proposal to add a voter registration icon to the R’Web student portal and the R’Space faculty portal. “I’m here today to lead a discussion about a proposed application I’ve been working tirelessly to get integrated on R’Web,” stated Roberts. The purpose of this application is to get all eligible students and staff at UCR to register to vote online through their portal in less than two minutes. With the deadline to register for the primary election coming up on Feb. 18, the added icon would need to be uploaded immediately, stated Roberts. The implementation of this voter icon will be split into two phases and Roberts stated that he has been working with UCR’s Banner Leadership committee to begin the process. Phase one of the project will install the icon in the selfservice portion of R’Web and R’Space to allow students and staff to register to vote from the UC Office of the President’s online registration page. This webpage is in partnership with Rock the Vote and allows anyone to fill out the voter registration form in under two minutes. Roberts stated that though the deadline is approaching quickly, he believes it is necessary “to show UCR that we as students believe this application benefits us as citizens of Riverside.” Roberts also presented a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom,
Fourth-year public policy major Samuel Roberts is leading an intitiative to create a voter registration icon on R’Web.
Secretary of State Alex Padilla and UC President Janet Napolitano in September 2016. This MOU states that both the state of California and the UC system are in a mutual agreement to increase civic engagement in colleges and universities. The MOU states, “By working together, both Parties can amplify the reach and strength of their efforts that will result in students having an even greater voice in the democratic process.” More specifically, in Section 7 of the MOU under “Technology,” it states, “We will pilot a plan with the Secretary of State’s office to implement software that pre populates online voter registration forms with as much campus-held student information aspractical.”
The goal of this proposed application is to create an online registration page within each UC student portal that would lead students to an autopopulated registration form that would make the process faster. Roberts stated that while it has taken a few years to develop this system, UCLA has taken the leap in creating this application. He also mentioned that he has been in communication with UCLA’s deputy director of student life who has agreed to share UCLA’s completed voter registration application with UCR. This would make the process much faster and easier for UCR Information Technology Solutions, stated Roberts. Roberts stated that this application is
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essential for UCR because of its diversity. With UCR being the seventh most diverse school in the country, higher voter engagement is essential for the politically underrepresented communities that attend this school, stated Roberts. He also highlighted the power student voices share: “Our voice has been limited for too long and now it is time to show the nation that our voice does matter.” Roberts ended by reminding the audience that Feb. 18 is the last day to register to vote with the California primaries being held on March 3. He also reminded students that if they live on campus, their polling station will be located at Glen Mor. ■H
NEWS IN BRIEF:
ASUCR hosts R’Vote Matters event to increase voter awareness
LAURA ANAYA-MORGA Senior Staff Writer
On Monday, Feb. 18, ASUCR hosted an R’Vote Matters event in HUB 355 from 1 to 3 p.m. The purpose of the event was to increase voter engagement and awareness on campus as well as teach students about important upcoming dates. At the entrance, ASUCR representatives set up flyers on a table for students to take as they made their way to the signin sheet where they could receive a complimentary burrito from El Ojo De Agua. The flyers included information about voting by mail in comparison to voting at a polling place, reminding them that their vote-by-mail ballot can be requested up to seven days before Election Day. They also provided a voter bill of rights reminding students that they are eligible to vote if they are a U.S. citizen living in California, at least 18 years old, registered where they currently live, not currently in state or federal prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony and not currently found mentally incompotent to vote by a court. Students were also given information
on nonpartisan offices and a voter education workshop that taught them about the three types of elections: primary, general and local.
ASUCR also had a voter registration table where students were able to register if they had not done so already.
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At time of writing, ASUCR President Julian Gonzalez did not respond to The Highlander ’s request for comment. ■H
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Opinions
8 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
OPINIONS
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HIGHLANDER EDITORIAL
Overhauling California’s PE system: it’s going to take more than simple revision of physical fitness tests
T
hroughout history, parents have fought to get their children an education because they want them to grow into successful, functional adults. While in school, a child will learn how to write, how to solve equations and, in a perfect world, how to live a healthy and active life. Unfortunately, California’s public education system’s past attempts to provide that health education have been shaky at best. California Governor Gavin Newsom seems to agree. In fact, he has gone so far as to propose a three year suspension on all physical fitness testing. Newsom’s reasoning behind this halt is undeniably solid. He fears that current mandatory physical fitness testing, which includes a Body Mass Index (BMI) screening that only considers male or female options, is discriminatory against non-binary individuals. Furthermore, he argues that the tests are inherently biased against students with disabilities, and that the public nature of the testing promotes the bullying of children who may not perform as well as their peers. Gov. Newsom’s reasoning is nuanced and reasonable. The three year halt he proposed is meant to give the California Department of Education time to revise the tests so they can be better implemented in the future. This is where Newsom’s proposal falls short. Fitness testing for grade school and middle school children is fundamentally flawed from the very beginning. Ideally,
JUSTUS ROSS / HIGHLANDER
fitness testing would not only be stopped permanently, but the way physical education (PE) classes are run would be revised entirely. When a student takes any other exam, the test results are private and the student’s peers will never know their results unless said student chooses to share them. Conversely, the fitness tests taken during a student’s PE period are most often performed in groups of other students. A student struggling with the FITNESSGRAM pacer test, for instance, has no way of hiding their results. Their peers will know how well the student performed whether the student likes it or not. This can lead to bullying and, in turn, discourage the student from participating in physical activity later on. At the end of the day, if a student has an alarming health concern, the conversation should take place behind closed doors with the child’s parents and the school nurse. The other children in the school yard have only one use for such information — it makes for good ammunition when picking on others. Compounding that, many components of the tests fail to provide an accurate estimate of a student’s overall health and well-being. A student’s ability to perform a perfect pushup or touch their hands together behind their back is not a particularly useful measure of how healthy the student is currently, nor is it an accurate predictor of how healthy they will be in the future. Moreover, as Gov. Newsom noted, the use of BMI in testing is
fundamentally flawed. According to the current formula, people with a BMI between 18.5 and 25 are of a normal weight, those between 25 and 30 are overweight and those with a BMI over 30 are obese. Most embarrassingly, the formula, which takes an individual’s weight and divides it by their height squared, is incredibly short sighted. This formula results in one’s weight being divided by too much in shorter children and by too little in taller children, which leads to taller children being told they are more overweight than they actually are and shorter children being told they are thinner than is the case. A formula so flawed should have no place in informing a child of their fitness levels. Still, many worry about the health of their children, and reasonably so. These fitness tests have been in use for decades now, and parents who are concerned with their child’s development are inclined to defer to them. Many claim that the tests are conducted in the interest of making sure children stay active and fit. They give children a tangible reason to strive to improve. Like the proverbial sword of Damocles, the fitness test hangs high above their heads, swinging ever so slightly lower as the year goes on until the test is finally upon them. If the child wants to do well, they need to get in shape. Of course, this is all well and good until one considers the fact that these tests tend to have just the opposite effect.There is little evidence to suggest that these
tests promote healthy behaviors. In actuality, the tests are more likely to harm a student’s desire to be active than encourage physical growth. Forced public fitness testing can be uncomfortable and embarrassing for some children, leading them to dread the inevitable test date. Poor test scores, which can be inaccurate and misleading, also serve to demotivate children to do better in the future, instead teaching children that they are doomed to an unhealthy and unhappy future. These issues don’t end when the last student completes their final sit up and it’s time to go back inside for math. The potential for bullying and prevalence of discouragement are woven into the way gym class is run as a whole, suggesting that the entire PE system is flawed and requires revision if there is any hope of providing children with proper physical education. It is a secret to no one that children will fight tooth and nail to avoid activities they don’t want to participate in. If the goal is to encourage kids to be healthy, fitness must be made fun. Unfortunately, gym class can all too often be just the opposite. In most districts, PE is supervised by coaches, whose passions lay in the actual sport, not education. The severe, judgemental comments coaches are prone to making may be appropriate in certain settings — say, when a sports team is training to take on a rival school — but mean spirited comments from old men in tight shorts are rarely encouraging to the average child, especially if
the child doesn’t have a natural interest in physical activity. Highly trained physical education teachers should instead fill these roles, and coaches should not be forced to teach if that isn’t their primary interest. They should be allowed to do what they do best: coach sports. To ensure students are showing up for class, PE should remain mandatory, but it should be taken pass or fail. A child’s GPA should not be contingent on how quickly they can run a mile. Furthermore, if funding permits, students would ideally have a choice between different forms of exercise. Forcing a child who hates playing football to play football will only cement the idea that sports, and by extension physical activity, is painful and boring in their minds. Not every kid is born eager to go out and shoot hoops, but physical fitness can be encouraged. To do so, the school system must meet the children where they stand. Physical fitness tests serve as the first major obstacle. It may take a while to implement these changes, but Gov. Newsom is trying to push California in the right direction. With proper revision to PE standards, Californian students may see better health outcomes soon. ■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.
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OPINIONS
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
9
OPINION POLL Compiled by Lloyd Kao Staff Photographer
“Do you believe that gym class should be taken for a grade?”
Alex Courtney Pre-Business First-year
Rebecca Wong Psycology First-year
Andrew Gomez CMDB First-year
Suzette Vega
“Depending on the student, it would be helpful. A lot of students ignore their own physical health, so adding the graded part will make them more proactive about their own health because most people are not active. However, the graded part will only affect students for so long because once we are out of college, we won’t be graded.”
“It really comes down to how the class will be graded in the end. I am not saying that if you perform the best, you would receive a better grade. I think that the amount of active effort and engagement should be the driving factor to getting a good grade. I think that it will motivate people to go to the gym more.”
“Although I go to the gym often, it should not be taken as a grade. A lot of us have other things on our plate and we should not need to worry about having a gym class. Besides, we came to college to pursue what we are passionate about, not to take a class.”
“This would definitely make people engage with their physical health more, accumulate better eating habits, and possibly influence them to have good exercise practices in the future. For those that do not believe they have the time to work out, having it as a class would allow them to be more consistent.”
Psycology
Third-year
Ramee Beool Biology Fourth-year
Vallery Saputra Economics Third-year
“Sure, it would motivate people that don’t necessarily get involved, but I believe because it is our own personal responsibility to look after our health.”
“No, we are all not physically the same. It would not be fair for those who have an advantage over others. Grades do help pressure people to be more active because intrinsically, most people are lazy when it comes to physical activity.
Iowa in a flurry: suspicious caucus results weaken Democrats in 2020 General Election
TIMOTHY HUGHES Staff Writer
Two weeks ago, the nation waited with baited breath for the caucus results that never came. Iowa holds the country’s first contests for political party primaries, and the Democratic party contest was a total disaster. The results are still incomplete, with many errors uncorrected even weeks later. The country now moves on to other primaries, but this fiasco will not be forgotten. The caucus failure stems from the seemingly tampered results, giving ammunition to Republicans in the general election for their typical weapons of calling Democrats corrupt and incompetent. Many voters are now suspicious of the results due to the event’s connection to Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg. The precinct captains managing the caucuses were to report results on an app that had recently been developed by a company called Shadow. Buttigieg’s campaign made a donation to the company, and the owner of Shadow is a known Buttigieg supporter. If that wasn’t enough, the errors that occurred in the app appeared to mostly disadvantage Bernie Sanders and benefit Pete Buttigieg. With state delegate equivalents being awarded to Buttigieg that should have gone to Sanders. Buttigieg is a favorite of the Democratic establishment, and it’s no secret that Sanders is in the doghouse. It’s not much of a stretch of the imagination to assume the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) was intentionally manipulating the caucus results. The method by which the IDP chose to release the results makes the situation look even worse. The day after the results were supposed to be in, the IDP decided to release only 60% of them, claiming the other precincts were not yet counted. They waited hours to release the rest, and the count didn’t go above 90% of the results for days. The early results showed Buttigieg leading, allowing him to claim victory and command the news coverage of the caucuses,
leading to an increase in his polling in other early primary states. But as more results were revealed, Buttigieg’s lead shrunk considerably. Sanders beat him by 6,000 votes, and was only 0.1% behind in state delegate equivalents. In spite of their statistical tie, Buttigieg was awarded 14 national delegates, while only 12 were awarded to Sanders. Given the facts, it is unsurprising that many believe the release of results was orchestrated to benefit
Buttigieg going into the New Hampshire primary the following week. Trump has already levied attacks against the Democratic party, calling the caucuses a disaster and praising the Republican contest for going so smoothly. The IDP chair has now resigned, citing mishandling of the election and public pressure as the reasons. It is good that he resigned, but the spotlight on the Democratic party’s incompetence has done its damage.
Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaking with attendees at the 2020 Iowa State Education Association (ISEA) Legislative Conference at the Sheraton West Des Moines Hotel in West Des Moines, Iowa.
The Iowa Democratic Caucus was a definitive disaster. At best, it showcases an egregious amount of incompetence. At worst, it was an orchestrated attempt to boost the Buttigieg campaign and undermine Sanders. Either way, the Democrats have been weakened going into the 2020 general election, handing Trump one more way to undermine the party on a silver platter. The battle against Trump will be difficult and ugly — democrats must be more careful. ■H
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
OPINIONS
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The UC application dip: tuition hikes and lack of financial aid lower application rates
MADISON RHEINS Contributing Writer
Getting accepted into the University of California (UC) system is a high honor for many high school students. Young adults put in hours of hard work to earn a spot at any of the nine UC campuses. However, since 2018, there has been a 5.4% decline in freshman applicants for five — Los Angeles, Davis, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Merced — out of the nine schools. It’s very clear that the drop in freshman applicants is in direct correlation to the increasing tuition fees. Governor Newsom’s budget plans since being in office have continued to fall short in meeting the needs of the UC campuses. Despite his most recent 5% increase in funds for the system, UC officials claim that it is still not enough to support the quality of learning provided on their campuses. With the government unable to contribute the necessary funds for the UC system, tuition has been on a steady increase. In turn, many students are withholding their applications
The Finance and Capital Strategies Committee approved a recommendation to the University of California Board of Regents to increase nonresident supplemental tuition by 2.6 percent during its meeting. This would increase tuition for nonresident students from $28,992 to $29,754, a difference of $762. (MacKenzie Coffman/Assistant Photo editor)
as incoming freshmen because of the steep prices. In fact, university wide, the UCs have experienced a decrease in freshman applications within the past year. Statistics reflect that both California residents and out-of-state students alike are ill equipped to foot the bill for the University of California. UC regents will soon be voting on a tuition hike in hopes that it will allow them to support the campuses in a way that the government cannot. The vote for
a tuition hike could potentially increase California residential fees by 2.8%. So far there are two proposed plans, and both call for the increase of tuition by an estimated $3,000 for California residents and an estimated $50,000 for out-of-state students. This potential tuition hike will likely result in a continued decrease in application rates. Fewer people will be able to pay tuition out of pocket and financial aid is already a challenge to receive for most middle-class
families. Many middle-class families struggle to receive adequate financial aid due to the expectation that they should be able to afford more than most. However, tuition for one’s first year at a UC can be as high as $36,000 depending on the school, which is almost half of a middle class family’s income in a year. These examples all factor into the fact that if the UC regents vote for another tuition hike, their freshman student
bodies will definitely see a decrease. In contrast to entering a fouryear university as a freshman, many people are opting for the community college route in order to cut costs. In fact, transfer applications for the UC have increased by 4.8% system wide for California residents. With the tuition being considerably affordable at $46 a unit, junior college has become a major contender when weighing options for a student’s academic future. Students are finding it easier to afford college after transferring and more capable to take on college level work. If tuition continues to increase over the years, there will likely be a further decrease in the rate of freshman applicants. Many students will be more inclined to continue looking for cheaper routes to take when it comes to their academic future, like community college. Tuition statistics directly reflect the rate of freshman applications and applications will continue to dwindle if UC regents vote on their increase. ■H
The UCSC wildcat strike is a fight against an anti-worker UC system
► FROM UCSC
One would think that, after finally giving AFSCME 3299 a contract, the UC would at last bargain with unions in good faith, but that wasn’t in the cards. In fact, UCSC graduate students facing an astronomical cost of living have gone on strike to demand better pay. The UCs inability to cooperate with workers is insulting. Unions in the UC system have only asked for basic workplace rights like job security and a living wage. To make matters worse, even though workers have demanded the bare minimum from their employers, UC administrators have stalled and dragged their feet in negotiations. A glaring example of this worker exploitation is the UCSC graduate students. The housing crisis in Santa Cruz coupled with the campus administration’s complete lack of empathy toward the issue has been crippling to many students and workers on the campus. In fact, the housing crisis in UCSC has gotten so bad that the administration has begged professors to allow students to sleep in extra rooms in their homes. Unfortunately, this severe housing crisis in Santa Cruz has been especially damaging to the graduate students of
UCSC graduate students hold an on-campus strike in demand of wage increases.
UCSC who work as lecturers and TAs on the campus. Against empathy and logic, graduate students in Santa Cruz are paid ridiculously low stipends while the cost of living in the region has shot up to unsustainable amounts. With stipends of around $17,000 a year, many graduate students are paying around 50 to 60% of their salary to housing alone. For reference, the typical amount one is meant to pay for housing is about 30%. This means that graduate students in UCSC are being paid a paltry sum compared to both their worth and what they actually need
to survive. Not only is it morally wrong to pay employees less than what they need to survive, but with such low stipends undergrad students will suffer as well. Since their TAs are preoccupied with how they will make it through the month, they won’t be able to put as much effort into their lectures and grading. It is especially worth noting that, as graduate students have been embroiled in fighting for a living wage, most chancellors of the UC system make around $400,000 a year. Fortunately, there is hope.
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After all this agitation and the injustices with unfair stipends, UCSC graduate students have been fighting back. It began with a grade strike, in which graduate students refused to submit fall quarter grades, with over 12,000 grades having yet to be submitted. These TAs have had enough, and a majority of graduate students in Santa Cruz have gone on strike since Feb. 10. Although UC officials and the chancellor of Santa Cruz have continued to hide behind the fact that the United Auto Workers (UAW) and their TAs already have a contract, there still
remains the fact that graduate students in the region do not have a stipend that they can live on. With such high costs of living for graduate students at UCSC, it is obvious that they need a stipend increase, but the UC has continued to fight them at every step. As a point of maximum pressure, graduate students have gone on an unauthorized strike to finally get fair pay from their employers. Because the strike is unauthorized, this is an incredible act of bravery. Unfortunately, UCSC’s administration has forced these workers’ hands, primarily because they have refused to pay a decent stipend. This battle for fairness in the UC system is just another chapter in the long story of worker suppression on campus. In fact, just last week alone, over 17 graduate students were arrested in UCSC during the strike. With a UC system that seems to care more about lining its own pockets instead of providing their workers with a living wage and their students with an affordable education, it is obvious that this greed must be fought. The only way to truly fight against this hostile administration is for workers and students to come together as allies and continue to advocate for their workplace rights. ■H
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
OPINIONS
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Shakira and J-Lo’s halftime performance strays away from women empowerment HEEWON KIM Contributing Writer
The 54th annual Super Bowl featured global sensations Shakira and Jennifer Lopez for the halftime show. Although both performed their iconic songs, their halftime performance garnered much attention from the public. Many were concerned over whether or not their performances objectified women or empowered them. While the two performers might have had good intentions in their performance, their main focus seemed to not be women empowerment as they advertised it to be. Rather than focusing solely on empowering women, both performers chose to express their Latin culture instead. Shakira is already widely known for her Colombian and Lebanese background and music. Her performance was nothing short of impressive, weaving her Colombian and Arabic heritage together at one of the most American sporting events in history. Throughout this performance, Shakira wore figure-hugging articles of clothing. Past performers have worn revealing clothing in order to stand out during
Shakira performs on stage during the 2020 superbowl.
their performance. Last year, for instance, Adam Levine took his shirt off during his performance. This year, those who tuned into the Super Bowl got explicit camera shots of Shakira’s rear end and Jennifer Lopez’s suggestive poledancing. The show continued with Jennifer Lopez; the highlight of her performance was a pole dance routine that commanded the audience’s attention. Though it requires superb upper body strength, pole dancing is not a widely respected practice.
Although some may enjoy pole dancing as a hobby, to others it’s their main form of income — to fulfill someone’s sexual fantasies in order to get easy cash. In other words, it is not the best way to represent women as empowered individuals; in fact, one could argue it does more to objectify them. Furthermore, their suggestive hip thrusts and sexual movements on stage debases their intentions of empowering women. A better example of female empowerment would be
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someone like Katie Sowers, the first female football coach to coach a Super Bowl. Football is a sport that is highly concentrated with male coaches and players. Sowers had shared that people would tell her to do something that is more fit for a female. However, she stayed the course and broke gender norms by following her passion and becoming the first female to coach for the 49ers at this year’s Super Bowl. Shakira and Lopez simply performed another halftime show, during which they
wore shiny, revealing clothes and expressed themselves as singers, not as advocates for women empowerment. Admittedly, the performances themselves and the song choices were entertaining, but it was clear that positive female representation wasn’t the goal. Aside from the fact they are two women of color, the performance did little to empower other women, instead choosing to express their ethnic backgrounds. Both Shakira’s and Jennifer Lopez’s performances were strong examples of cultural representation. However, it seems as though female empowerment was not part of their agenda. It’s one thing to represent your country, but it’s another thing to inspire other women to pursue their true passions. Their performance displayed their strong nationalism and shed light on political issues, such as the children detained at the U.S.-Mexico border. Although Shakira and Lopez’s performance didn’t specifically target female empowerment, they showcased one of Super Bowl’s most memorable halftime shows, showed pride in their cultural identity and raised awareness to important current issues. ■H
Op-ed: Want true universal health care coverage? Nominate Bernie Sanders
GABRIEL BECERRA
Gabriel Becerra is a third year International Affairs and Public Policy student here at UCR. He participates in several political student organizations with the most time spent with YDSA which meets every Thursday. Email: gbece011@ucr.edu It’s that simple. Bernie Sanders, the most favorably viewed U.S. senator, has the best plan to have the U.S. join the rest of the developed world in having universal health care. Universal health care coverage, dubbed as “Medicare for All” under the Sanders’ banner, polls favorably with majority support even when painted as socialized medicine; its connotation aligns more closely to the U.K. model where the state runs every aspect of the health care sector. The U.K.’s “big scary socialist” model holds a favorability rating of 54% satisfaction with 22% dissatisfaction. Compare this to the U.S. where our current health care system has an almost inverse result with 20% satisfaction and a staggering 50% dissatisfaction. Seeing as the most important issue for primary voters is addressing the health care crisis in the United States, Americans have acknowledged the dire situation that is our health care
system and as a result are in favor of implementing “Medicare for All.” There are many differences between the U.K. system and the U.S. one, but of those two that stand out are cost and the concept of universality. By now you have most likely come to the realization that health care in the U.S. is expensive, but you may not realize that it is more than twice as expensive when compared to other developed countries. In 2017, the expenditure per capita spent on health care in the U.S. was $10,224. Compare this to other developed countries like France and the U.K. where not only are health care outcomes generally better (evidenced in metrics such as a lower infant mortality rate and higher success rates in preventative care) but the cost of them is less than half in either, $4,902 and $4,246 respectively. This is despite having better outcomes and universal coverage within their borders. The next question is why. The answer to this is complicated and has more than a few explainers but the common theme among them is the concept of universality. Universality is the concept in which all parties within a country participate within a sector and therefore all parties hold a stake in advocating
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders walking in an Independence Day parade.
for the success of the sector. Countries with this approach to social programs have seen widespread success in the level of quality provided by these systems. Finland is regarded to have the best education system in the world by many different measures, largely in part because the government outright banned private institutions from participating in the education sector. When you force the wealthiest and most privileged to participate in the well-being and success of a public good it comes as no surprise that these programs flourish. Bernie Sanders is the only candidate looking to move the country towards a true universal health care system by calling for the abolishment of the private health care insurance
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industry. No other candidate has had the political courage to call out the problem where it truly lay: in the diametrical corruption and lecherous greed of the private health insurance industry. The private health care industry in the U.S. acts as a parasitic middleman, siphoning money into the pockets of wealthy oligarchs that would otherwise go to lowering health care costs and broadening health care coverage. Warren, the only other candidate to claim support for Sen. Sanders’ “Medicare for All” bill, has since waffled on her support for the bill instead claiming to support a much more conservative approach to instituting universal coverage. She claims that she can implement universal coverage
by passing two seperate bills through a senate that will most likely remain in the hands of Mitch McConnell. While Sanders’ bill also faces the same obstacle it would be foolish to start from a weaker position and already be making concessions before even coming to the table. In a sense, Warren seems eager to make the same mistake Barack Obama made by showing her eagerness to compromise instead of taking the hardline approach in advocating for the United States to join the rest of the developed world in guaranteeing health care as universal human right. Only Bernie Sanders has shown that he has the political courage to stand up to both the private health care industry and ■H Republicans alike.
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Football to financials: NFL player Brandon Copeland speaks on money management
COURTESY OF UCR TODAY
MARK BERTUMEN Senior Staff Writer
When New York Jets linebacker Brandon Copeland isn’t playing on the field, he’s lecturing as a professor for his class “Inequity and Empowerment: Urban Financial Literacy” at the University of Pennsylvania. Last Tuesday, Feb. 11, Copeland visited the Alumni and Visitors Center to teach business students what he talks about in that class: the knowledge and know-how necessary to be financially stable and successful. The event, Cope’ing With Success, was hosted by the School of Business at UCR and the A. Gary Anderson School of Management. Assistant Professor of Finance Greg Richey said that the event was for “some inspiration, inspiration for financial literacy.” Jean Helwege, another professor of finance, started BUS 001, Personal Finance, at UCR in 2017 “because I wanted students to be thinking very hard about the amount of money that they are putting up to come to this school,” noting the average debt of $27,000 per graduated student in the U.S. She encouraged her students to attend the talk for those reasons. “A lot of the things we talk about in Personal Finance can’t be applied immediately, like the investing portions,” Richey pointed out, “but it’s good to have students know it’s there when they enter the real world. Everyone’s gonna want to retire, everyone’s gonna have bills to pay, they’ll have to budget and watch their credit: business major, finance, everything in between, this is important to everybody.” While scheduled for 4 p.m. , Copeland arrived around 4:30 p.m. due to traffic but jumped straight into the presentation as soon as he got himself set up; the event began as he asked for people to pair up, and for Person A to tell B what financial goals they had for themselves. Responses varied
between things like stock knowledge or tax filing. Person B had to then tell A what their biggest failure was; the crowd groaned upon hearing someone had lost thousands of dollars in the stock market. This was meant to be a confidence builder; “as you eliminate self-doubt … you get more and more confident in
Copeland asked that the audience think through the advice given to them. “When you’re listening to (financial) info you have to listen to it, to digest it and make a plan for yourself,” he said, keeping in mind that every situation needs a different response, making an example of Batman’s utility belt.
"The most important thing you all can do from a financial journey standpoint is figure your why" yourself, and can withstand the minor pitfalls, which at the moment seem major,” Copeland explained, referring to his lateness as an example, which in the moment felt like worse of an issue to him than it would be looking back later on. Copeland also spoke about his career as a football player, his experiences with his family and everything outside of his career, with all of its ups and downs and then got into the nitty-gritty of the topic of financial advice at hand: “Be comfortable and be willing to put in the research if you really want to take control of your financial life,” he stated. He pointed out that some people don’t do the right things to end up where they want to be. “There is no one-stop shop from a generational standpoint,” Copeland explained. He also mentioned the “financial gurus” and their tips, both of which he has disdain for because they are “selling what the media wants them to sell.”
“It sounds super cliche, but why are you doing this?” Copeland’s current why is financial freedom; “the last goals I had were empty goals, but what did I accomplish?” he asked rhetorically. “Some days I want to do what I want when I want; other days I want to wake up and do nothing, but having that, to me, is freedom. It’s not about jewelry, it’s not about chains — for some people it is, and
there’s nothing wrong with that — but you have to understand what you’re working for, understand what makes you happy.” The floor opened up to questions, and the event ended around 5:40 p.m. Akshay Shetty, a second-year business administration major, came out “because I heard it was a talk about financial literacy; I didn’t actually know too much about Mr. Copeland before I came here, but I definitely learned a lot of information I’ll use moving forward.” Chiree Rice-Coplin, another business administration major, came out less for the financial aspects of knowledge and more to figure out the answers to the questions, “Why am I doing this, why am I in college?” Copeland’s brother Chad Copeland was also at the event, who was Copeland’s business advisor and the one who booked the lecture. “From Brandon’s side, we’re looking to make present that he speaks (on financial literacy) and that he has the capability to do so outside of Penn. Synergies with programs at UCR and Brandon’s goals just kind of worked things out, and Brandon is ultimately set out to make financial literacy cool.” Helwege added on that the Hylander Financial Group, meeting every Monday at 7 p.m. in the HUB 367, would be a good place to get H started with investment decisions. ■
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A Red Death
White Butterfly
Walter Mosley headlines 43rd Writers Week
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Little Scarlet
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Over 40 books in 30 years, and all his struggles in between
MARTIN LOPEZ / HIGHLANDER
MARK BERTUMEN Senior Staff Writer
UCR held its 43rd annual Writers Week all throughout the week of Feb. 9, with mystery writer Walter Mosley as the kickoff headliner speaker. Students and outside visitors alike took their seats in the University Theatre, some coming in just to see Mosley in action, and others coming in for writing assignments. Jamal Ogans, a first-year political science major, heard about Writers Week from his creative writing professors. “It’s for an assignment, but I think it’s also pretty cool to see a published author,” he noted. Tom Lutz, chair for the department of creative writing and Writers Week director, began the event at 7 p.m. by thanking everyone for coming out and handing the microphone to Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox. Wilcox introduced Mosley as “an iconic figure in science fiction, fantasy, detective and fusion, an author of over 50 books, TV and film projects.” He mentioned that Mosley had one of the bestselling historical series with his recurring character Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, an African American detective that persists throughout Mosley’s mystery works starting with “Devil in a Blue Dress,” which was turned into a movie and starred Denzel Washington as Easy. Mosley’s won an O’Henry Award, a Grammy Award and 10 America’s Lifetime Achievement Awards, earning another of the latter, the UCR Creative Writing Lifetime Achievement Award. As Mosley took his seat, the other was taken by interviewer Steph Cha, author of “Your House Will Pay,” a fictional bestseller on a Korean American and African American managing the aftermaths of Rodney King brutalized by police. The night started out and stayed humorous, as Mosley joked if getting a Lifetime Achievement Award meant that “life was coming to an end” given the name. When asked about how many more stories he planned on making, he said he
aimed for an “even hundred,” but upon reaching 99 that he’d take a long break. Talking about past Lifetime Achievement awards, Mosley mentioned that he received one from multi-literary media group PEN America. When accepting it, he told the audience at the time that “‘You people need some people of color in the room. Why’s there so many white people here?’ And they didn’t like that,” he reflected. “I still got the award
at Johnson State, something that Cha contrasted with Mosley’s current field and asked about how it felt “shifting into this kind of very focused career doing this one thing at ridiculous speed and skill,” and if he just sort of ambled into it. Mosley disagreed, citing Californian culture as the reason. “If you’re from anywhere else, you got to get your stuff together very quickly,” he started, but said that in California, no matter your age, if
“I’ve never wanted to stop writing,” he plainly stated. “It’s really a wonderful thing for me, it’s an exploration and I think that the uniqueness of one’s personality becomes more and more refined by the work itself.” though,” he finished, to which the audience of students and locals laughed aloud at. After discussing his plethora of past awards, Mosley went into how he came to be a novelist, which he said wasn’t at all what he planned for. “By the time you’re 35, if you haven’t done anything, regardless of what’s reality, you begin to think of yourself as a failure,” Mosley noted. “But it’s a great feeling to feel like a failure and then be successful,” he countered himself. Back in his college days, Mosley was kicked out of Vermont’s Goddard College. He later majored in political science
you could still touch your toes, you might think “I’d like to study ballet.” It was that sort of thinking that spurred Mosley to think “Maybe I should be a novelist,” and even then he didn’t expect to write a short story, let alone be published to start with. Mosley faced difficulties with publications, such as those with his book “Gone Fishin’.” It’s a coming-of-age story featuring Detective Easy and was called “good writing, but not commercial,” which Mosley jokingly dissected for true meaning: “white people didn’t read about black people; black women didn’t like
black men; and black men didn’t read, so … ” he trailed off as the audience chortled. But the topic of racial inequalities turned more serious as Cha touched on “American Dirt,” a story that has “generated conversation on the state of publishing and how a lot of things haven’t changed.” In 1998, at the City College of New York, Mosley asked for and got established the Publishing Certificate Program to help people of color and minorities at the school get involved with the field. Mosley pointed out that “a lot of people of color get into publishing, but leave because they don’t have people they can talk to; not necessarily people of color but just people they know, connections,” he said. Mosley stated that because publishing has historically never been governmentfunded, publishing companies never felt obligated to hire people of color. Personally, in a disconnect from global ethnic tags, Mosley doesn’t “believe in the existence of white people, in the same way there’s no such thing as a black or yellow person,” and that it’s not fair that there’s this sort of white requirement to be successful. Before the floor opened up to audience questions, Cha asked if Mosley ever hit any low points in life, to the point that he wanted to stop writing. The first question from the floor was not a question, but an appreciation from a local. “You write about sex, drama, murder, but in ‘Devil in a Blue Dress,’ there’s this: ‘The San Bernardino rain is the most beautiful in the fall, the high winds get rid of all the smog and the skies take your breath away.’ All the drama and all that stuff is great, but that’s the Walter Mosley I read for.” The event ended around 8:30 p.m. At the book signing afterwards, Walter gave a piece of advice to aspiring writers: “Write every day. Just write, just write, just write and everything else will follow that, like the jab in boxing.” As an author of over 40 books, written over just above 30 years, Mosley lives up to that tip to a tee. ■H
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FEATURES
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
LisaTeasley Teasleyspeaks speaksabout abouther her Lisa Teasley speaks about her Lisa Teasley speaks about her Lisa Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences aabout black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her By:speaks Margari tas a Manzo, Conributing Writer experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer experiences asaaaabout aabout blackher writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her Lisa Teasley speaks her experiences as black writer experiences as black writer Lisa Teasley speaks Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences asaaabout aabout blackher writer Lisaexperiences Teasleyspeaks speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks her experiences as black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her as black writer Lisa Teasley experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer experiences asaaaabout aabout blackher writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her Lisa Teasley speaks her experiences as black writer experiences as black writer Lisa Teasley speaks Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her experiences asaaabout aabout blackher writer Lisaexperiences Teasleyspeaks speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley speaks her experiences as black writer Lisa Teasley speaks about her as black writer Lisa Teasley experiences as a black writer Lisaexperiences Teasley speaks speaks about her experiences as a black writer Lisa Teasley about her experiences as a black writer experiences as a black writer blackwriter writer experiencesasasasasaaaablack black writer experiences black writer experiences
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Black Black Black Black Black Black Black Black Wri t ers Black Wri t ers Black Wri t ers Wr i Black Wri t ers Black Wri t ers Black Wri t ers Black Wri t ers Black Wri t ers Week Black Wri t ers Week Black Wr Wri t ers Week i Black Wri t ers Week Black Wri t ers Week Black Wri t ers Week Black Wri t ers Week Black Wri t ers Week Black Wri t ers Week Wr Black Wri t ers i Week Black Wri t ers Week Black Wri t ers Week Black Wri t ers Week Black Wri t ers Week Black Wri t ers Week Black Wri t ers Week Wr Black i Wri t ers Week Black Wri t ers Week Black Wri t ers Week Black Wri t ers Week Black Wri t ers Week Wri t ers Week Wri t ers Week Wr i Wri t ers Week Wri t ers Week Wri t ers Week Wri t ers Week Wri t ers Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Author Lisa Teasley presented as part of UCR’s Writers Week at the CHASS Interdisciplinary Building on Monday, Feb. 10. Some of her well-known works include “Glow in the Dark,” which deals with those in the midst of addiction and complicated love affairs, and “Heat Signature,” which stars Sam Brown, a man attempting to escape his current life but unable to leave behind the questions about his murdered mother. Teasley also worked as a writer and host for the BBC documentary “High School Prom” and will have paintings displayed at the Marie Baldwin Gallery from March to April of 2019. She is currently a senior editor with the Los Angeles Review of Books. The room held a sparse audience, mostly professors and a few students filling the auditorium. Teasley entered in a bit of a hurry, warming the crowd up with her story of a canceled flight to Bangkok and her family’s worry As part of the 43rd annual Writers Week, about her African Student Programs (ASP) encouraged possible students to view the presentations of black contact writers throughout the week. ASP is hosting events with for Black History Month all throughout February. More info can be found at their office in Costo Hall 133, or online at asp.ucr.edu. More coverage of their events can be found online at highlandernews.org.
the coronavirus. She then revealed to the crowd she was going to give a reading of a book she’s currently working on, “Genuine.” Kritika Srinivasan, a second-year creative writing major, took note of it of the author’s tone during the reading: “It was cordial and intense. Since the author was reading her own story the way she wanted it there was more emotion in it.” After that she read “Full Circle,” a story about how the connection between a couple stretches across time and gender, as described in Zyzzyva’s synopsis. Zyzzyva is a literary journal that is dedicated to showcasing otherwise unknown artists, poets and writers. After her reading, she remarked that her narrators are usually omniscient and start off more cynical before becoming more understanding, or are compassionate throughout. In an email to The Highlander, Teasley revealed a major difference between “Genuine” and other works she wrote in the past. “Normally, my novels (two published by Bloomsbury, as well as two put away in a drawer) are character driven … I have previously never written a ‘plot driven’ short story or novel. It’s still true that this is about ‘Genuine,’ as a character on her journey, on her own growth arc,” she wrote. Marcos Leon, a master’s student in creative writing, asked if her painting ever helped with writing. Teasley said only on one occasion have they worked in tandem with each other. “While I was writing the novel ‘Heat Signature’ I had to write a rapist and a murderer … I painted his mugshot and the process of doing that made it so much easier to get that view and finish the novel.” As for her perspective on being part of ASP’s Black Writers Week, Teasley wrote about how her experience as a black woman impacted her writing. “Decades ago when my first novel (one of the two still filed away) was out to publishers, there was this near unanimous response that it would be hard to ‘market’ a black female writer whose work was not set in the ‘ghetto’ and was not centered on ‘alcohol, drug or sexual Author Ishmael Beah spoke Wednesday, Feb. 12, in INTS 1128, asked me to describe what abuse’… it is always harsh to be faced with, and to stare down, as part of the 43rd annual Writers Week at UCR. With a crowd of I saw,” his dad all the while stereotypes. We see that now students and local visitors, the event began at 6:30 p.m. as MFA keeping his eyes closed. in today’s big conversation candidate in non-fiction, Amanda Oliver, introduced Beah. In order to escape the wars taking regarding authenticity She talked about Beah’s bestselling books “A Long Way Gone: place in his country, Beah entered the and diversity in Memoirs of a Boy Soldier,” a memoir on Beah’s own childhood, U.S. upon adoption from a family in New publishing.” and “Radiance of Tomorrow,” where the characters struggle York. However, when trying to apply to to rebuild a war-torn town. Oliver herself “had the pleasure schools, he could not submit a report card that of meeting Ishmael at a literary event last year and was the schools required; in response, Beah wrote an struck, as many others have been, by his immense essay titled “Why I Do Not Have a Report Card,” warmth and kindness.” which not only ended up letting him in but also earned Beah began by saying that he was “more of him scholarships. “I’m ashamed to look at it now,” Beah a reader than a writer,” and started out telling admitted, but it was from experiences like that that Beah the audience of his childhood days in learned of the power of words. Sierra Leone, mentioning the widespread In the author’s note for Beah’s “Radiance of Tomorrow,” he dislike of writing as a career, “If you mentions his village’s tradition of storytelling, and how he aims said you wanted to be a writer, to “bring a lot of that oral tradition to my writing … to let it seep you’d be kicked out of school,” into the words.” Beah said that in Sierra Leone, there were 15 which garnered a good laugh different spoken languages, seven of which he spoke, as well as from the crowd. Beah then three dialects. talked about something The note reads that his mother tongue, Mende, has complex his father did to help English equivalents; “night came suddenly” instead translates from Beah describe the Mende as “the sky rolled over and changed its sides,” something world: “I’d sit on Beah said “seems labored, but is actually done deliberately.” Beah his shoulders, acknowledges the difficulties, but focuses on something more we’d walk to when writing: “Sometimes I can’t find the right words, but I try to the village keep the feelings more than anything else.” On Thursday, Feb. 13, Rachel Howzell, an African American novelist, came square Beah also includes his own experiences of war in his writing; to UCR to share her journey as a writer as part of Black Writers Week at UCR, a n d for a short story competition, he wrote on what war did to a hosted by the Department of Creative Writing. Various students, especially creative capital city. Jet fighters would bombard the area for rebel groups, writing majors, were eager to hear what Howzell had to share. and it was then that people would come out to cook their food Howzell attended the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) and graduated control because it was the only time the rebels wouldn’t be out to steal with a degree in English and American literature. She humorously commented on m y it. The story focused on two fictional characters in the situation, the UCSC nudity scene: “There are people that are not wearing clothes. And those body and and Beah later noted the importance of moderating how you people are the ones you don’t want to see naked.” I couldn’t present war: “The role of a writer is not to represent those Howzell faced conflicts as a writer other than naked pedestrians. In one of her control what who make history, but rather those who suffer history,” English courses, she read a text where Shakespeare described a character as “dark- God was saying he proclaimed. skinned.” Howzell suggested to her professor that the character could be black, to me.” Cancer gave The event concluded at 7:30 p.m., where which the professor dismissed as ridiculous. “Why can’t the character be black?” Howzell clarity and the people then purchased books by Beah to have it Howzell questioned. opportunity to start doing autographed and took pictures with the writer. Howzell came from a religious background, specifically Adventist (a Protestant what she wanted. She was Beah was also the first receiver of the D. Christian denomination). “Even though I enjoyed going to church there were not contracted with an agency, Charles Whitney Award that night. some things that I didn’t understand. We couldn’t go to the movie theater or ‘your so she was free from restrictions guardian angel would leave,’” she stated. Despite not being able to understand on what she wanted to write about. the rules of the church, she held onto her religion and used her experience within “My mortality was a question formal education and religious upbringing in her writing. because I kept getting tumors that wanted Howzell started working at PEN Center USA West. “That’s where I finally got to kill me. This is when Amazon helped to meet writers who were black. I had a chance to meet writers that looked like me publish my books.” Howzell published me,” Howzell said. They were a group of writers that wrote mystery, crime and two e-books on Amazon; one of them is “No stories of everyday people; however, Howzell doubted that she could write for One Knows You’re Here,” where Syeeda McKay, these genres because of the sparseness of black novelists back in the 1990s. a driven crime reporter, is introduced as a character Howzell shared how she published “A Quiet Storm,” her first book. “It was who, three weeks after cancer surgery, is in pursuit of published on the first anniversary of 9/11 and nobody cared about this story of a Los Angeles’ most active serial killer. black person struggling with mental health,” she stated. The timing for Howzell’s Howzell continued the lecture with an excerpt from her potential success was ill-fated. “I found it difficult to get another book deal. But latest novel “They All Fall Down.” In it, seven sinners are when I started (publishers) weren’t interested in the type of voice I had.” This was invited onto a private island along the coast of Mexico, but later the time when Sister Souljah, another black novelist, was publishing urban fiction on discover they were sent under false pretenses. The attendees and the letters Howzell received from her agency would say Howzell’s voice listened attentively to her story. After Howzell’s lecture the attendees wasn’t “black enough” or “urban enough.” were welcome to talk to Howzell and purchase any of her breathtaking “It was a shock to me because all my life I’ve been nothing but black and I grew thriller novels. up in urban places all my life,” continued Howzell. ASP is hosting events all throughout February for Black History Month. During this troubling time of her life, Howzell was diagnosed with breast cancer The next ASP event, “ASP Leadership Series: SPECIAL EDITION: Poster while pregnant with her daughter. “In addition to turning to faith and my family, I Presentation Workshop,” will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 18 from 2 p.m to 4 p.m turned to writing. It was something I could return to and I could control. I couldn’t at HUB 260. ■H
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HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/features
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
BY Silvia Ferrer senior staff writer Located in the heart of downtown Riverside, Baba’s Chicken is the newest addition to the Riverside Food Lab. While a bit out of the way for UCR students, it is well worth the trip; the eatery features chicken sandwiches, tenders and fries. Multiple sides accompany the main showstopper: the hot chicken recipe. It’s impossible to miss Baba’s Chicken upon entering the Food Lab, as a yellow neon light sign of a chicken spouting a short flame illuminates the front of the restaurant. As per usual, there were plenty of people roaming around, so there was a bit of a wait to order. When I eventually made it to the front of the line, I was greeted enthusiastically by the cashier and the owner. The owner, Mahmoud Hemood, who is a third-year business administration major at UCR, wanted to make sure that UCR students got a discount. He added that while it took a while to get approved, he had ensured that campus-goers received a 10% discount at Baba’s. After looking at the menu, which followed the same neon red and yellow color scheme as the sign, I decided to try Baba’s Hot Sandwich. The sandwich, which looked hefty even on the menu picture, was accompanied with fries and totaled $12. I was relieved at the prices — it seemed reasonable, especially compared to other restaurants in the vicinity. Monty’s Good Burger’s own burger and fries combo, for example, totals $16. After chatting with the owner in further detail about the discount process, we grabbed our drinks and headed to the stainless steel table in front of the joint. While it took longer than expected for the food to arrive, I was surprised to see the owners waiting for my friends and I with our orders plus a basket of Baba’s Loaded Fries ($9). I was impressed with the exceptional customer service, but
even more so with the food itself. The first bite into the chicken sandwich was transcendent! The Heat Levels range from Classic to Extreme, and I had ordered the Medium to be safe. It wasn’t too spicy, but it was far from bland. In an email interview with The Highlander, Hemood said of the recipe, “Upon discovering Hot Chicken, I completely fell in love with the heat and spices associated with it.” I felt the same; the hot chicken seasoning was perfectly salty with a bit of a kick without being too overwhelming. The chicken itself was incredible: thick, moist and tender. According to the Riverside Food Lab website, the restaurant has built a direct relationship with chicken suppliers to ensure that all of the chicken is freerange, humanely processed and hormone free. Baba’s Chicken is also Halal certified. The quality was apparent in one bite. Even the crisp was ideal. This was no accident; Hemood wrote: “I gave huge attention to … a marketing campaign that completely revolved around the customer’s demands and needs when it came to fried chicken
UCR student opens Baba’s Chicken: a splendid, spicy addition to the Riverside Food Lab
and chicken sandwiches. I took a lot of feedback to the point of understanding exactly how crispy customers wanted their chicken.” While fast food chicken especially can be overly greasy and way too crunchy, Baba’s chicken reached a balance. It’s not a messy sandwich by any means. The oiliness was minimal and the crisp struck the perfect ratio with the meat itself. Although the chicken in Baba’s Hot Sandwich certainly stole the show, the other ingredients did not fall short. The fried goodness of the chicken was countered by the fluffy bun, juicy pickles and fresh coleslaw. The house sauce added some sweetness into the otherwise tangy sandwich. My one qualm with the meal was that I had opted out of the cheese, which was $0.50 extra. There was a slice of cheese in my sandwich, but it could have definitely benefited from more. Customers have their choice between fries, a fried pickle and macaroni and cheese as sides for the sandwich. I gave the fries a try and I was not disappointed. They were hot, soft, fresh and not too salty. Preeti Juturu, a secondyear public policy major, said that
Baba’s Hot Sandwich
8/10
Baba’s Loaded Fries
7.5/10
Crinkle Cut Fries
9/10
Craft Soda
9/10
Price
$
ambiance
9/10
the macaroni and cheese “felt as though it were homemade; I wished that there were more cheese blends in the mac and cheese, because it was a bit bland. However, I enjoyed the homeyness of the dish and I think that with some more seasonings, it could be a solid side.” The Mac & Cheese, Crinkle Cut Fries, and Fried Pickles are offered as sides for $3.50 each. In terms of beverages, Baba’s offers different flavors of craft soda ($2.50) and bottled water ($1.25). Like other menu items, the craft soda is also locally sourced. My pick, Pineapple Cream, was delicious. It was refreshing and sweet, and worked in tandem with the spiciness of the sandwich to give an overall balanced taste. The Loaded Fries had bits of crispy chicken sprinkled in, which were an added bonus to the already tasty plate of potatoes. Baba’s Loaded Fries were also topped with coleslaw, cheese, ranch and house sauce. Although they were not my personal favorite, Samuel Harrison, fourth-year
COURTESY OF BABA’S CHICKEN
psychology major, stated, “The fries are delightfully crispy and soak up the sauce well. Paired with the chicken, these fries are the ultimate side dish!” Baba’s Chicken is not only a testament as to how good food can be, it is a testament as to the impressive occupation UCR students undertake. Although Hemood underwent many hurdles in the process of opening his restaurant, he remarked, “The lessons here at UCR are very well worth it. Many of the concepts I learned in business helped me save a lot of money, such as inventory control methods, employee management strategies, branding, and marketing. Companies pay a lot of money in hiring people to solve these problems for them, yet here at UCR, we are given that knowledge without recognizing its true value. Part of being the new generation is that we can use concepts that have been around for many years in a much more creative way.” Baba’s Chicken is open Monday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. ■H
RADAR
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
EVENTS THIS WEEK 02/21
ASPB Presents: Winter SOULstice 6:00 PM SRC Gym
02/27
ASPB Presents: Soundclash 7:00 PM HUB Plaza
02/27
Altered Carbon: Season 2 Premier Netflix
MARTIN LOPEZ /HIGHLANDER
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Radar
HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/arts
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
THE HEDGEHOG’
misses the iconic nostalgic charm of the ‘90s By: Adam Alvernaz, Senior Staff Writer The blue hedgehog zooms onto the silver screen with his first feature length film. Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog” has finally arrived in theaters for better or worse. With a rocky production cycle wrought with redesigns and reshoots, the film has been released to much anticipation. With video game films finally back to receiving positive reviews, like “Detective Pikachu,” for example, Sonic seeks to carry the torch with his very first live-action outing. The overarching plot is simplistic in nature. After escaping from his home world, Sonic (Ben Schwartz) finds himself in Green Hills, Montana with no friends or family to accompany him. Yet problems arise as he accidentally causes a blackout, prompting the U.S. government to investigate by sending the brilliant but crazy Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey). To elude the authorities, Sonic attempts to leave Earth by using his rings that can teleport him to different worlds and locations, but after encountering Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) he drops his rings through a portal onto a high rise in San Francisco. Sonic then befriends the Green Hills’ sheriff, who assists him in escaping Robotnik’s grasp and leaving Earth. Thus, the unlikely duo speed off on a journey full of hijinks and madness. The structure of the film is quite jumbled as our two main characters embark on their grand journey to San Francisco. Their adventure takes them to several different set pieces that all feel unconnected and unnecessary. It’s a very generic plot that only really serves as a way to fill the hour and a half runtime. For a series that’s known for its imaginative and creative settings, it’s sad to see the film lock itself into Earth for practically the entire film. Apart from that, the most jarring inclusion to the film are the strange product placements that feel extremely forced. It’s definitely
one thing to include brands in a film, but this movie includes full lines of dialogue that feel out of place. Some of the acting talents featured in the movie are great, however. Jim Carrey easily steals the show with an excellent performance as his comedic lines and brilliant insanity is captured perfectly. Despite that, I was very lukewarm on James Marsden’s character; he mainly served as an audience stand-in for Sonic to play off of. There was little chemistry between the two and many of their emotional scenes felt superficial. I did enjoy Schwartz’s voice acting talents for Sonic. By no means is he the greatest actor to lend his vocal cords to the blue devil, but his portrayal is serviceable and humorous at times. Aside from the main characters, all other inclusions are tangential and very forgettable. While the performances aren’t all bad, some of the humor doesn’t quite land. In classic Sonic style, he never stops talking and cracking jokes, which can be grating at times. Even some of the jokes feel dated and cringey as Sonic is constantly making pop culture references. Yet, most of Dr. Robotnik’s lines are well executed thanks to Carrey’s great acting. He certainly is trying his best to lend his creativity and ridiculous attitude to the character, which works in many scenes. One of the redeeming factors to the movie is of course the visual effects. After facing backlash from fans, Paramount decided to redesign the blue blur to be more in line with his classic design. The work done by veteran Sonic animators Marza Animation Planet and Blur Studio is truly fantastic. The film takes full advantage of it’s various reshoots and new scenes to help its lackluster plot. Compared to the horrific original design choice, it’s a miracle the film looks as great as it actually does. The original score for the film is unfortunately not as impressive. While fans might
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recognize a few remixed tracks from the source material, most other tracks are lacking. The film relies heavily on a whole host of licensed music. For a franchise that is most commonly identified with its strong sense of music, it’s disheartening not to hear any familiar tracks outside of the grossly overused Green Hill Zone theme. Possibly the oddest inclusion to the soundtrack is an original song called “Speed Me Up” featuring Wiz Khalifa, Lil Yachty, Ty Dolla $ign and Sueco the Child. While hip-hop certainly isn’t a genre of music Sonic is unfamiliar with,
Verdict:
the track itself feels out of place for a movie targeted at a young generation. “Sonic the Hedgehog” is certainly a better video game film than most others. Despite the derivative plot and dull humor, the movie is a fun cheerful experience. It never crosses any deep themes or connections, but it wasn’t trying to. The film was made for kids and it succeeded at making an exciting film for the younger crowd. The visuals are pleasing and some scenes are genuinely entertaining. While it takes very little from the source material, Sonic H feels authentic and true to his character. ■
While not perfect, “Sonic the Hedgehog” is a lighthearted, fun video game film. The movie definitely suffers from a jumbled plot and misplaced humor. Still, it’s a great attempt for Sonic’s initial breakthrough to the live-action cinema scene.
HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/radar
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
‘P.S. I Still Love You’
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ADDS A LOVE TRIANGLE TO THE FAIRYTALE ENDING
EBAN T S E IA R D N A X E AL G WRITER CONTRIBUTIN
COURTESY OF NETFLIX
“P.S. I Still Love You” is the much anticipated sequel to “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” the 2018 adaptation based on the novel by Jenny Han. The Netflix original movie follows the love life of Lara Jean Song-Covey (Lana Condor) after the fiasco in which her personal love letters are sent out to all her ex-crushes. Lara Jean winds up in a relationship with Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) and although their romance did not start in a conventional way, the pair seem to be the perfect match until another recipient of a love letter shows up at Lara Jean’s front door. Directed by Michael Fimognari, the film did an excellent job at faithfully portraying each of the characters from the books. Each shot was cute, quirky and vibrant with colors. From Lara Jean’s untidy bedroom to the grandness of the retirement home, each set seemed to reflect Lara Jean’s personality as well as her taste for extravagance. The soundtrack was filled with indie pop artists such as Anna of the North and Asche, which helped set the romantic tone of the film.
In this film, Condor and Centineo are joined by Jordan Fisher, who plays the role of John Ambrose McClaren, a new love interest set on winning Lara Jean’s heart. Though John Ambrose was introduced at the end of the first film, at the time he was played by Jordan Burtchett. Presumably, the writers were unsure of how the first film would be received and John Ambrose was only meant to be a tease for the fans who have read the rest of Han’s books. In the book, John Ambrose was said to have looked like “a young Robert Redford” with hair that was “sunny and fair like white summer corn.” Fisher may not match the physical description of John Ambrose, but he did manage to steal hearts with his portrayal of the beloved character. Fisher even managed to showcase his own talents with the piano and on the dance floor. Trina Rothschild (Sarayu Rao) was another new character that was introduced in this sequel. Ms. Rothschild was a love interest for Lara Jean’s widowed father. The love story between Ms. Rothschild and Mr. Covey in the film was a bit more
rushed than in the books, as more focus was placed on Lara Jean’s love life. However, the director did a good job at ensuring that Ms. Rothschild was likeable and understanding of Lara Jean’s family dynamic. She does not act like she could ever replace Lara Jean’s mother, but she does treat the Song sisters with respect. One aspect in which the film lacked was in creating a strong connection between Ms. Rothschild and the Song sisters. There are moments in the film where we see Kitty, Lara Jean’s little sister, attempt to push their father into a relationship with Ms. Rothschild, but this seemed forced. There wasn’t enough interaction between Kitty and Ms. Rothschild to justify why Kitty would think that she was the perfect person for her father to be with. The relationship between Ms. Rothschild and the girls could have been explored more to show how having a motherly figure back in their life affects them, especially now that the girls are older and have been living without a mother for a long time. The best change this movie made
verdict
from the book was taking steps toward mending the relationship between Lara Jean and Genevieve (Emilija Baranac). In the book, Genevieve was depicted as too stubborn and spiteful to ever try and fix her relationship with Lara Jean and in the first film, there was a definite feud between the two characters. The two girls still dislike each other in this film, but by the end they seem to reminisce on their old friendship. It was nice to see Genevieve’s character begin to soften and there is potential in expanding their bond even more in the next film. Overall, this book to movie adaptation was well-done. Though specific parts in the book were cut out or altered in the film, the director did his best to stay true to the source material. This film is the perfect rom-com for couples to enjoy and for single people to cry over. This sequel has left fans excited for more. Due to the success of the first film, the third and final installment of the film franchise, “Always and Forever Lara Jean,” has already finished filming and is set to be released in 2021. ■H
LANA CONDOR’S PERFORMANCE WITH NOAH CENTINEO AND JORDAN FISHER BROUGHT AUTHOR JENNY HAN’S CHARACTERS TO LIFE. THIS QUIRKY TEEN ROM-COM, WITH ITS DIVERSE CAST AND RELATABLE CHARACTERS, IS NOT TO BE OVERLOOKED THIS VALENTINE’S DAY SEASON.
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/arts
The final season of ‘BoJack Horseman’ is an unexpected but fitting end to the beloved series By: Adam Alvernaz Senior Staff Writer
Every great television series eventually meets its end as cancellations and rushed endings are quite prevalent in today’s media outlets. With a final eight episodes, Netflix’s premier show, “BoJack Horseman,” has finally come to an end. For over five years, the combined talents of series creator and writer Raphael Bob-Waksberg, cartoonist Lisa Hanawalt and voice actor Will Arnett (BoJack Horseman) have worked to push the show to greater heights. After five successful seasons, the two-part final season had major shoes to fill in order to fully wrap up a multitude of different storylines and character conflicts. While some of the decisions made to the end were questionable, the finality of the season was handled well as it was able to give a satisfying ending. The second half of season six retains the familiar style “BoJack Horseman” is known for as each episode focuses on different characters and their various dilemmas. With the first few episodes relying on this format, the latter half gives us a more intimate look into BoJack’s struggles. We start with BoJack’s life as a professor and eventually witness the build up of his mistakes come to a crescendo over the eight episode run. While a majority of
episodes are a natural progression of the show’s evolving story, the ending does come across as a tad too rushed. Despite this, the season never came across as unfinished or inconclusive. At its core the series has been character driven, and this season was no different as we get to explore the final storylines of our main characters: BoJack Horseman and Diane Nuygen. As the star of the show, BoJack Horseman takes center stage. He begins his journey as the drunk, unhinged, self-deprecating horse fans have come to love. Yet in this final season, his story is full of redemption while he carries the cost of his past actions. Overall, BoJack was able to overcome his demons and be a better person for his own sake. Despite losing people who care about him, he successfully builds a better outlook on life based on the mistakes and faults of his past. Yet, in classic “BoJack Horseman” fashion, nothing ever ends happily. He is forced to face the biggest demons that have been eating away at his psyche for the past five seasons. His story to combat these problems is compelling and engrossing; it will leave viewers on the edge of their seats wondering what comes next for the famous sad horse. “BoJack Horseman” is widely known for its various portrayals of
mental health issues and the struggles that come with managing them. This final season is no different as characters must battle their own demons and come to terms with finding help and changing for the better. Most often this motif follows Diane Nuygen (Alison Brie), who constantly struggles with anxiety and depression. Particularly, the episodes that highlight her mental health problems are frighteningly relatable and very clever in the portrayal of her anxiety-fueled spirals into deeper depressive episodes. After divorcing Mr. Peanut Butter and experiencing the single life, she finds herself in a healthier relationship with a bull named Guy who helps her navigate the frightening world of medication and getting help. While she struggles to pull it together, she finally gets the peace and stability she’s been wanting for six seasons. Even the show’s various side characters were given great resolutions to tie their stories together. Most notably, Mr. Peanut Butter was given a very fulfilling character arc. Throughout the series, he has constantly relied on his various partners to help him wade through life. Yet, after his relationship with Pickles Aplenty peters out, he learns
to become independent and focus on his own life first and foremost. While Mr. Peanut Butter has been a joke character used for ironic humor for a large portion of the show, the writers managed to weave in a clever and gratifying resolution to his story. The laid-back freeloader Todd also gets a pretty solid concluding arc to round out his story. After having a falling out with BoJack, Todd has spent quite some time trying to find a purpose, from leading a play to developing a dating app for asexual people. Eventually, it leads him to a very fulfilling place with Princess Carolyn as he seemingly finds solace in finally having a stable job and relationship. The final season of “BoJack Horseman” ties up essentially all of the important threads and conflicts the show has been building for nearly six years now. While these final eight episodes carry a sadness and finality that feels deserved and necessary, it’s unfortunate to see it end so soon. Many series too often continue well after their prime, but “BoJack Horseman” was right in the midst of its best moments. I guess that’s the point of ending it so abruptly, as it is better to end while its great before it fades away into obscurity. ■H
HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/arts
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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Radar Replay allows the Radar writers to celebrate a certain piece of media for its impactfulness or importance. It’s here where we get the chance to discuss the significance of our favorite pop culture pieces and the value they carry today.
RADAR
REPLAY
‘A Cinderella Story’ is a quotable blast from the past SILVIA FERRER, SENIOR STAFF WRITER
“A Cinderella Story” (2004) combines the timeless plot of the classic fairy tale with all of the drama of high school. Although there have been several other reboots since then, “A Cinderella Story” remains the most impressive because of its lasting relevance, fantastic take on the wholesome children’s story and superb soundtrack that is brimming with nostalgic tunes. It not only encapsulates the early 2000’s era of teen romantic comedies with ease — the performances and plot make it arguably one of the best representatives of the era. Although most audiences will be familiar with the plot of a poor girl falling in love with a rich prince, “A Cinderella Story” switches things just enough for it to be relatable and entertaining for modern audiences. As with other Cinderella tales, Sam (Hilary Duff) is an orphan with a horrifying stepmother, but she is not the meek girl of the fairytale. Sam puts up with Fiona (Jennifer Coolidge) because she knows that otherwise, she won’t be able to pay for college. Unlike other retellings, Sam is strategic and smart; Duff brings a certain likability to the role that counteracts her wicked stepmother and the evil head cheerleader, Shelby Cummings (Julie Gonzalo). Movies of that era and beyond have tried to force audiences to sympathize with the villains. Both “Mean Girls” (2004) and “Sierra Burgess Is A Loser” (2018) for example, redeem the bullies by the end of the film. “A Cinderella Story” is a lot more consistent in their characterization and less saccharine than other teen films. Shelby and Fiona both terrorize Sam until the end and neither feel guilty. Coolidge and Gonzalo’s performances are flawlessly malicious; the audience loves to hate them, which makes the ending all the more satisfying. The film not only embodies the epitome of teenage rom-coms, it is basically a blast back to 2004. Sam spends a majority of the movie texting with Austin Ames (Chad Michael Murray) on a bedazzled flip phone! Even the way that she and Austin meet is so early 2000’s: they
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meet online, in a Princeton chat room. Even the fashion choices, while not over the top, are nostalgic. Sam lives in low rise pants, which you’d be pressed to find in any high school now. The superb soundtrack adds the same nostalgic tint to the film. It’s filled with certifiable bops, from everything from Mya to Jesse McCartney to Jimmy Eat World. Even better, the songs are cut in at perfect moments multiple times so the music bleeds into the world of the film instead of existing only to add ambiance for the audience. When Austin and Sam first meet at a Halloween
homecoming dance for example, the DJ transitions seamlessly into McCartney’s love ballad “Best Day Of My Life,” as Sam descends, to Austin’s amazement. “A Cinderella Story” may not be a nuanced, artsy film critics will obsess over, but it is entertaining and continues to be relevant today. There are hundreds of tweets reminiscing about the final scene of the film and some have thousands of likes and retweets. There are several iconic lines in the film that will ensure “A Cinderella Story” remains in the public’s memory. ■H
‘High Anxiety’: an overlooked gem in Mel Brooks’ iconic filmography COLIN CARNEY Senior Staff Writer
To many, Mel Brooks is the king of parody and satire. His library of work contains some of cinema’s most famous comedies that unapologetically lampoon various genres and films. Many may be unaware of his name today, but have likely heard of his work with such cult classic films like “Spaceballs,” “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein.” These films are classics and still beloved today, but several of Brook’s other films have flown under the radar despite being brilliant comedies nonetheless. One such film is Brooks’ loving parody of Alfred Hitchcock in his hilarious 1977 film “High Anxiety.” Casting himself in the lead role, “High Anxiety” follows Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke as he assumes his new position as the director of the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous following his predecessor’s mysterious passing. As evidence of a conspiracy unravels, Thorndyke must discover the truth that lies behind the institute. All while mysterious forces try to eliminate him as his own mental stability is called into question. As is the case with all Mel Brooks’ films, hilarity ensues as outrageous characters are met with increasingly
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absurd circumstances. In comedic tribute to Hitchcock, several scenes directly parody famous films from the master of suspense. Some of these include a unique take on the iconic “Psycho” shower scene and a thrilling chase from a flock of defecating birds. This is all masterfully done in a tone intentionally reminiscent of a Hitchcock classic that will leave fans of both filmmakers hilariously satisfied. Perhaps the most important reason this film should be revisited by current
audiences is because of the all-star cast of comedic legends. Similar to other films in Brooks’ filmography, he fills the cast with a treasure trove of comedic talent. “High Anxiety” is no exception as it is filled with some of the best comedic stars of its time. Filling out the cast are comedy greats such as Cloris Leachman, as the militant Nurse Diesel, Harvey Korman, as the conniving Dr. Montague and Ron Casey, as the enthusiastic chauffeur Brophy. All of these legends deliver on memorable
performances, but the film’s stand out performance undoubtedly comes from the ever impressive Madeline Kahn. Kahn plays this film’s parody of the “Hitchcock blonde,” a term used to describe beautiful and sophisticated women in Hitchock’s films who also carry with them a great deal of mystery and suspense. She plays Victoria Brisbane, the daughter of a wealthy patient at the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous who she believes is being kept there against his will. Kahn, alongside the remarkable cast gathered by Brooks, help create a hysterical take on several Hitchcock tropes as well as a unique opportunity to witness all these comedy greats in the same film. Of all of Mel Brooks’ classic comedies, “High Anxiety” is often overlooked despite being a hilarious take on the cinematic icon that is Alfred Hitchcock. In fact, the film even garnered the approval of the master of suspense himself as Brooks screened the film for Hitchcock. Furthermore, current viewers should give this movie a look chiefly for its star-studded ensemble cast of comedy stars. The film offers viewers the opportunity to view some of that era’s greatest comedic actors share the screen for one of Mel Brooks’ greatest overlooked classics. ■H
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HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/sports
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
H I Garchives HLANDER Highlander Archives allow the sports writers to revisit a certain moment in sports history. Here we get the opportunity to examine the memorable or most impactful moments in sports history and understand why we should revisit the significance of those events.
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The magic of Linsanity JORDAN HOM Senior Staff Writer
Linsanity was one of the most magical moments in NBA history. It featured the story of an underdog, of someone who was never expected to reach the NBA, let alone global stardom. Through his rise to prominence, Jeremy Lin battled through adversity and racism to achieve his ultimate dream of playing in the NBA. For context, the 2011-12 NBA season came after a lockout, the first since 1999. Owners and players were unable to find a middle ground of how to restructure the salary gap and thus, a disagreement ensued. The lockout finally ended with the two sides coming to terms and agreeing to start the season on Christmas Day. At the time, the New York Knicks were in a state of flux, with a talented but flawed roster struggling to find wins. Because of the lockout, many of the players were out of shape and more susceptible to injuries. Prior to the start of the season, the team acquired Tyson Chandler who was fresh off a championship season with the Dallas Mavericks. The new trio of Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Chandler were supposed to be an Eastern Conference powerhouse. However, with various injuries to many players and the lack of meshing on the basketball court, the Knicks were losing games and seemingly out of options until Lin came along to ignite a much needed fire into the team. On the verge of being waived, Lin had one of his last chances to prove that he belonged in the NBA. He was signed in December by the Golden State Warriors but rarely saw minutes on the court due to the many point guards ahead of him in the rotation. On Feb. 4, the Knicks were
matched up with their division rival, the New Jersey (soon to be Brooklyn) Nets. With Mike Bibby and Baron Davis injured, Knicks coach Mike D‘Antoni decided to give Lin a chance to play meaningful minutes. In a victory against the Nets, Lin posted a statline of 25 points, seven rebounds and five rebounds in 36 minutes of action. After having the game of his life against the Nets, Lin had secured a spot on the roster. Lin carried his momentum into the next game as the Knicks faced off against the Utah Jazz. Anthony, the teams’ leading scorer, was out of the lineup with an injury and Stoudemire was out for personal reasons. Once again, the Knicks got the victory with Lin having another solid performance of 28 points and eight assists. Lin followed up the Jazz game with a 23 point, 10 assist double-double game against 2010 No. 1 overall pick John Wall and the Washington Wizards. By this point, the hype behind Lin was growing significantly. Lin was being mentioned on ESPN nightly and showcased as a focal point for many sports media outlets. His next game, the peak of the basketball craze, would make him a global phenomenon. Lin and the Knicks were set to face off against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. Kobe made comments prior to the game saying he didn’t know what Lin had done. This game had an even bigger audience because it was being broadcasted on ESPN. With an increasing amount of media attention and pressure, Lin delivered on national television with a career-high 38 points and seven assists. After this game, Lin was on top of the world. Everyone was talking about him — not just sports media but the national media. Lin had appearances and mentions
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on Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman and by many other prominent media figures. Lin was creating a buzz, a vibe that New York hadn’t seen in a long time. Despite all the noise from media and fans, Lin would continue his hot streak with a buzzer beater against the Raptors and a win against the Dallas Mavericks. But Lin’s magic would soon come to an end. Teams started to game plan for him and scouted his weaknesses. In a game against LeBron James and the Miami Heat, Lin was shut down; he had a poor shooting night and multiple sloppy turnovers. Tensions started to arise as Anthony was slated to return from injury and Mike D’Antoni resigned from his position. The Knicks made the
playoffs, but Lin’s season ended with a knee injury. For a span of two weeks, Madison Square Garden and the city of New York felt a vibrance like no other time before. Despite being relatively unknown at the time, Jeremy Lin took the NBA by storm. An undrafted Asian American player was leading the Knicks to win after win, while putting up star numbers in the box score. Lin inspired many Asian Americans and underdogs alike through his perseverance to never give up on his dream. Despite all the adversity and obstacles Lin faced throughout his journey, Lin gave many a glimmer of hope that success could be achieved through hard work and dedication. ■H
HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/sports
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
SPORTS
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Track and field travels for second invitational of the 2020 season DAMIAN GARCIA Staff Writer
On Thursday, Feb. 13, the Highlander’s track and field team traveled to Albuquerque, home of the University of New Mexico, for the start of a two-day invitational. In the men’s events, senior Ethan Van Setten blazed through the 600-meter event placing in first with a time of 1 minute and 21.18 seconds. Although Van Setten did not lead in any interval split, his consistent pace and strong final push allowed him to win the event. The following day, Van Setten ran the 800-meter event in which he set a lifetime best of 1:54.27, placing him fourth overall. Senior Ondrej Rapp participated in the men’s 200-meter event finishing with a time of 22.07 seconds that set him in 33rd place overall. In the long jump finals, Rapp was able to travel a distance of exactly seven meters, where he placed third in his bracket and finished 12th in an event with 47 participants. In the women’s triple jump, junior Hana Johnson elevated a total of 12.07 meters, placing her in 16th. The women’s side of the invitational featured solid performances. In the 600-meter event, freshman Alonna
Johnson was able to set a personal record, clocking in at 1:37.21. Johnson built upon her previous work in the 400-meter event where her finishing time of 56.43 seconds landed her in eighth place overall and second in her section. Juniors Kenady Jackson and Maya Cook also toppled a school record in the 200-meter previously held by UCR alumni Ashla Giles, at 24.70 seconds. Jackson and Cook came in just under .01 at 24.69. With milliseconds separating the duo, Jackson and Cook placed 19th and 20th, respectively, in an event with 109 contestants. Jackson took fourth in her section while Cook was able to finish first in her section. In the 4x400 meter relay event, the UCR women’s team placed first in their section and 11th overall with a combined time of 3:51.73. An all around strong effort proved crucial, as the difference between the fastest and slowest split was only a time frame of 1.9 seconds. Looking ahead, the Highlanders will travel out of state again to Seattle, Wash. for the MPSF Indoor Championships, hosted by the University of Washington. The twoday event will begin on Friday, Feb. 28 in Dempsey Indoor Center. ■H
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Softball dominates home opener with a shutout win over San Diego State
CALLIE LAWSON-FREEMAN Staff Writer
UC Riverside women’s softball earned their first shut-out win of the season in a 5-0 victory over San Diego State University (4-3) on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at Amy Harrison Field. The home opener improves the Highlanders record to 3-3 after they opened their season at the California State, Fullerton Titan Classic Tournament from Feb. 7 to 9. The Highlanders defended against the Aztecs from the start. In the top of the first, San Diego State junior first
baseman Taylor Adams reached base safely on a two-out single and her teammate junior third baseman Kelsey Munoz followed with a four-pitch walk. The Highlanders scored first after the ninth batter in the lineup, sophomore center fielder Haylee Kela, hit a triple, moving freshman infielder Lauryn Garewal up a base after she had previously reached base on a fielder’s choice. Starting pitcher senior Melanie Olmos ended the inning by getting Aztec sophomore utility player Summer Hargett to fly out to left field to end the inning. Freshman pitcher Briza Blanco
VICTOR LEI / HIGHLANDER
came in to relieve Olmos in the top of the second inning and allowed four hits. In the fourth inning, the Highlander bats caught fire. UCR scored four runs while still holding the Aztecs off of the scoreboard. The inning was highlighted by Olmos who hit a 1-0 pitch far over the center-field fence to give UCR a 2-0 advantage. Later in the fourth, senior third baseman Emma Ramelot delivered a run batted in before senior first baseman Sarah Parten struck a two-run single to close out the scoring. In the sixth, senior pitcher Jacy
Boles shut down the Aztecs over the final two halves to preserve the 5-0 lead. Boles hit San Diego State junior first basewoman Taylor Adams with a pitch and Munoz hit a single to centerfield looking to chase Riverside freshman pitcher Briza Blanco from the game. Hargett successfully moved both runners up a base after a long hit to center field, but the Aztecs still could not get a run across the plate against the Highlander pitching. Boles pitched to San Diego State junior outfielder Alexa Schultz who hit a fly ball to right-center field that wasn’t deep enough to score. Boles struck out San Diego State sophomore centerfielder Sara Lillie to end the inning and the game. Parten finished the game with a team-high two RBI and Blanco earned her first collegiate win against SDSU. This game was a stand-alone, outside of the Highlander Classic that was held Feb. 14 to 16. During the tournament Riverside (5-3) went undefeated in their two games. On day one, the Highlanders defeated Idaho State University (3-7) in a close 2-1 game. Riverside kept the winning momentum as they went on to defeat Santa Clara University (4-4) 6-4. Next, the Highlanders will compete in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The tournament will take place in Cathedral City, California from Feb. 20 until Feb. 23. There, the Highlanders will face University of New Mexico, Brigham Young University, Mississippi State University, University of Utah and Oregon State University. ■H
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
HIGHLANDER // highlandernews.org/sports
UCR women’s basketball earns victory in close battle against Long Beach State JORDAN HOM Senior Staff Writer
On Saturday, Feb. 15, the UC Riverside women’s basketball team (8-16, 4-6) battled against Long Beach State University (11-13, 6-5). The final score was 58-57, with the Highlanders getting the win in a nail-biting victory. Earlier in the season, on Jan. 30, the Highlanders suffered a double overtime loss to the Beach, with UCR losing 73-67. Before the game, members of the audience received pink shirts as the team honored those who lost their lives to breast cancer. The UCR women’s basketball team also wore pink and white warmup shirts and jerseys. The Highlanders started the game strong, as they made basket after basket while holding Long Beach offense to only 16% shooting from the field. Consecutive jumpers by senior guard Jannon Otto put the Highlanders ahead by a substantial margin. By the end of the first quarter, the Highlanders had a 16-4 lead over the Beach. In the second quarter, the Beach increased their intensity both offensively and defensively. They kept the
scoring pace even with the Highlanders as both teams traded buckets back-andforth. The Beach implemented a full-court press scheme and the Highlanders were unable to keep control of the basketball as they committed seven turnovers in the quarter. While Long Beach was evenly matched with UCR early on, the Highlanders still maintained an edge going into halftime with a 30-19 lead. The third and fourth quarters saw the momentum start to shift toward the Beach. Led by Long Beach sophomore guard Justina King, the Beach started to catch fire as they went on an 18-7 run near the end of the third quarter. They kept the defensive pressure on the Highlanders as they utilized the full-court press once again. With a little over one minute remaining in the game and the score tied at 55 a piece, the Highlanders gave the ball away on back-to-back possessions. A foul with 40 seconds on the clock by sophomore forward Lauryn Pointer put King at the free throw line. King knocked down both attempts as the Beach took a two-point lead. With seven seconds remaining, Otto had possession of the ball and attempted a mid-range
COURTESY OF UCR ATHLETICS
jumper near the baseline. The shot was off to the right of the rim but senior forward Marina Ewodo grabbed the offensive rebound and quickly put the ball into the basket while being fouled. Ewodo knocked down the ensuing free throw and the Highlanders took the lead 58-57. King attempted
a final shot for Long Beach before the buzzer expired but her attempt was off the mark. The Highlanders escaped with a one-point victory. Otto led the charge for the Highlanders, as she finished the game with 18 points and eight rebounds. Ewodo added nine points, nine rebounds
and six assists including the game-winning basket for the Highlanders. Senior forward Skyler Lewis contributed 13 points and eight rebounds. Up next, the Highlanders will battle Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (6-16, 3-8) on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 5:00 p.m. at the SRC Arena in Riverside. ■H
Men’s basketball suffers third consecutive loss to UC Irvine
VICTOR LEI / HIGHLANDER
SILVIA FERRER Senior Staff Writer
On Wednesday, Feb. 12, UC Riverside’s men’s basketball team (14-12, 4-6) suffered a close defeat against the UC Irvine Anteaters (16-10, 8-2). The final score of the game was 63-59, in favor of the Anteaters. After losing to the CSU Northridge Matadors on Feb. 8, this is the Highlanders’ third straight loss in the Big West Conference play. Wednesday night at the SRC Arena was the annual World Game, in which international
students from UC Riverside Extension created posters to display during the game with messages of support in different languages. The Highlanders started off strong against the Anteaters, who currently hold the top spot in the Big West. Graduate student point guard Khyber Kabellis and junior guard Dominick Pickett established a six-point lead for the Highlanders early in the game, during which they both knocked down three-point shots. Although Pickett alone contributed two jump-shots in
the paint and another threepointer, by the first 10 minutes of the first half, the Anteaters had closed the lead, 18-17. UCR dominated offensively early in the game and were able to build upon their lead in the first half. The Highlanders consistently scored in the paint throughout the game largely due to the pick-and-roll duo of sophomore center Callum McRae and Kabellis. The game was contentious during the latter portion of the first half as each team tried to regain the lead which was
traded back and forth eight times before UCI’s senior guard Evan Leonard made two baskets to extend their lead to nine points. Ultimately, the Anteater’s aggressive offensive strategy and UCI senior guard Eyassu Worku’s free throws secured the lead for UCI. The first half ended at a considerable disadvantage for the Highlanders, at 38-29. One of the highlights of the night was when UCI fumbled the ball, giving junior forward Arinze Chidom an opportunity to dunk on the fastbreak. A twopoint basket and series of free throws by sophomore guard Dragan Elkaz led to a 40-40 tie with 8:24 left to play. Sophomore forward Collin Welp and senior guard Eyassu Worku managed to score four points each with 1:31 left on the clock; these baskets broke the tie in favor of UC Irvine. Although Pickett scored one last three-pointer with nine seconds left on the clock, it wasn’t enough to catch up to the Anteaters, who won, 63-59. Head Coach David Patrick said, “To beat a good team, you can’t give them any life. ‘Cause they find a way to execute in the end. So hats off to Irvine for doing that. It’s something that’s going to hurt us, but something that we can learn from.” Although UCR’s defense proved to be effective as the
team finished with 28 total rebounds while forcing 10 turnovers versus UCI’s 27 total rebounds and 12 turnovers, as the first half progressed the Highlanders struggled to keep up with the Anteaters. Irvine worked in tandem with one another with eight assists overall, while UCR became less uniform in their play. UCI’s overall field goal percentage was 46.7% compared to UCR’s 45.5%. Pickett led the charge for the Highlanders with 17 points and four rebounds. McRae and Kabellis were two of the top scorers of the night for UCR with 16 and 10 points respectively. Additionally, McRae grabbed seven rebounds and Kabellis dished out seven assists. Pickett commented on the loss in a press conference after the game, stating, “It stings. It stings a lot. But I think we’re all trying to stay positive knowing we were a couple of possessions away from winning the game if we just take care of business on the offensive end and get a couple of stops.” The Highlanders suffered another close loss at the hands of Long Beach State (9-17, 4-6) on Feb. 15, 63-65. Next, they will try to recover from the loss when they compete against the University of Hawaii at Manoa (14-10, 5-5) on Thursday, Feb. 20. ■H