DAILY 49ER California State University, Long Beach
Vol. LXVII, Issue 1
www.daily49er.com
Monday, August 24, 2015
Column
The Yeezus and Mary Chain Show
Black lives matter to Bernie’s campaign Michael Mendoza Assistant Opinions Editor
Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign has been gathering a significant and unexpected amount of support from citizens over the past few months. Peacefully resolving confrontations with the Black Lives Matter movement after a near-disaster at a rally on Aug. 8 in Seattle has put Sanders in position for a primary win. This comes at a time when Hillary Clinton’s campaign is under
Bernie Sanders has reformed his campaign platform to include the concerns of the African American community.
fire for her lack of transparency. The missteps in Clinton’s campaign and Sanders’ new ideologies, has created a perfect storm. The BLM movement — created after the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown last year — recently took the initiative to speak with Sanders at one of his speeches in the least subtle approach. During the event in Seattle, Sanders was scheduled to speak to an audience at a city park, when two members of the BLM movement grabbed the microphone and began stating their cause. The members began demanding that the audience to hold Sanders “accountable” for not putting in enough effort to address the looming issues of police brutality and racial inequality, the primary focuses of the organization. They were met with boos and requests from the crowd for police to arrest them. Those actions were a blessing in disguise for Sanders. The confrontation exposed a kink in Sanders’ populist campaign. As appealing as his policies might sound to the average hard-working American, racial equality has not been at the forefront of his campaign.
See BLM, page 8
News 2
Jose Negrete
for
FYF Fest
Kanye West steamed up the the first night of FYF Fest on Saturday night at the L.A. Memorial Sports Arena.
Identity crisis or not, FYF Fest still had attendees grooving their funky little hearts out. By Kevin Flores Diversions Editor
E
leven years ago, when FYF Fest started out as a small hardcore and punk festival in Echo Park, with a bill full of
thrashy guttural performers such as Wires on Fire and The Mean Reds, nobody would have ever guessed F*ck Yeah Fest would one day be headlined by a commercially successful rap superstar. This year, after Saturday night headliner and alternative hip-hop performer Frank Ocean dropped out—cancelling due to scheduling conflicts, according to a statement released by his publicist—Kanye West was brought in to plug the hole. When the announcement was made, the reaction on social media was mostly negative, ranging from disgust and immediate ticket hawking to disappointment over the festival’s direction.
It seems FYF Fest is either having an identity crisis or trying to diversify its range of performers. Looking back at previous line-ups, the turning point between a more underground scenester-geared line-up and one that tilts toward mainstream and electronic acts was 2011—when Goldenvoice, the promoters behind Coachella and Stagecoach, began co-producing the FYF Fest. This year the genre boundaries have been pushed even further. With such an eclectic array of performers, FYF Fest risks becoming diluted and losing its identity. On the other hand, by of-
See FYF, page 7
CSULB to go smoke free in 2016 President Conoley announces plans to make CSULB smoking free during Convocation. By Greg Diaz Editor-in-chief
Cigarette smokers at CSULB might soon be holding onto their butts. During Friday’s Convocation speech at the Carpenter Center, California State University, Long Beach President Jane Conoley announced plans to eliminate smoking on campus by August 2016. As part of the plan to ban smoke and tobacco, Conoley also announced
Arts & Life 6
a new campaign: Breathe. This project will try to educate smokers about the health risks associated with tobacco. The campaign will also include training for people to manage their lifestyle without smoking. “Part of smoking really is the environment,” Conoley said. “You know, ‘whenever I have a cup of coffee I do this...’ [We’ll] look at those kind of triggering environments and come up with a more positive behavior.” Another part of the Breathe campaign includes the removal of the ashtrays from around campus and putting up signs encouraging people to quit, Conoley said. Though smoking will be banned on campus next year, Conoley said that a grace period of one to three years will be given before students begin getting citations for breaking the ban. The president is still finalizing
JohNNY romero | DailY 49er
CSULB president Jane Conoley speaks at the 2015 Convocation on Friday at the Carpenter Center. During her speech she announced that the campus will ban smoking by August 2016.
the details of the Breathe campaign; CSULB’s executive director of news Michael Uhlenkamp said it will be released soon. The move to a smoke-free campus
Opinions 8
began last year with the formation of a smoking task force that researched the
See CONVOCATION, page 4
Sports 10