Daily 49er, August 31, 2016

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LONG BEACH

VOL. LXVIII, ISSUE 4 | AUGUST 31, 2016

COURSES

Revised AIS minor increases program accessibility Students interested in reconciling their majors with additional classes focusing on American Indian studies have new opportunities.

D49er

By Miranda Andrade-Ceja Managing Editor

see AIS, page 3

Jason Enns | Daily 49er

Riley Natividad, first year painting and drawing student, pauses to look at “Yurari (Where the River Flowers).”

COLORS OF THE JUNGLE Student art galleries offer a break from the typical school day.

By Jason Enns

Arts & Life Editor

Sculptures are scattered throughout the room, fibers are hung from the ceiling, screenprints and photographs are framed on the walls and an array of paintings line the adjacent

room; in the corner, a majestic, painted jaguar peers into your soul.

Master in Fine Arts student Laura Lopez sits outside the student art galleries as visitors make their way from one exhibit to the next, stopping on their way out to meet her jaguar’s gaze.

“The jaguar is a very powerful animal of the jungle; it’s like this animal that balances the ecosystem in some way,” Lopez said.

“For [some indigenous Amazonian tribes] animals in certain traditions are like deities. Some animals are really the reincarna-

tion of a god for them.”

Lopez is one of several MFA students this week featured in the student galleries located next to the campus art store. The five gallery rooms have been divided into different focuses of study: photography, drawing and painting, printmaking, fibers and sculpting. These particular exhibits have been available since Aug. 28, and will remain open until Sept. 1.

Lopez moved to Long Beach

“

“

A revised 15 unit minor returns this fall semester — now, Cal State Long Beach students can qualify for a minor in Native American Cultures while simultaneously taking classes that complement their majors.

This change is a product of new partnerships created among the American Indian Studies department and nineteen CSULB schools, departments and programs, according to AIS director and professor, Craig Stone.

Some of the new partners include: American studies, human development, philosophy, social work and political science.

Stone said that these partnerships are an effort to expose non-American Indian studies majors to the experiences and history of American Indian folks, especially in cases where a student’s major may influence the lives of American Indian communities.

Currently, a 21 unit certificate for American Indian and Indigenous Studies is available for students to pursue.

Though AIS used to be offered as a major, alterations to the ethnic studies department resulted in a shift towards a certificate.

The jaguar is a very powerful animal of the jungle; it’s like this animal that balances the ecosystem in some way.

-Laura Lopez, Fine Arts student

see GALLERY, page 4

RESOURCES

CSULB students can swap until they drop The Swap Shop lets students donate and pick up school supplies.

By Michaela Kwoka-Coleman News Editor

Michaela Kwoka-Coleman | Daily 49er

Assorted goods are available for pick up at the Swap Shop located in USU room 302.

Don’t have it in your budget to get that three-ring binder you desperately need? Have no fear, Swap Shop will make sure you have all your school supplies.

The Swap Shop, located next to the Beach Pantry in the University Student Union room 302, is the brainchild of Associated Students Inc. Vice President Logan Vournas.

“The Swap Shop is a place where students can drop off, pick up and exchange school supplies like binders, notebooks, writing utensils and other items essential to school,” she said in an email.

Rudy Ojeda, a communications and political science major who works at the shop, said that supplies are usually leftovers from previous semesters.

“The way it works is that at the end of the semester when [students] have leftover notebooks or anything that’s still feasible for students to use, [students] are able to come in here and drop it off,” the junior said.

Aside from students dropping off donations, ASI is partnering with different campus groups to hold monthly supply drives, according to Vournas.

Currently, ASI is holding a supply drive with the 49er Shops and has plans for a second drive with the athletics department.

Supply drive bins are located throughout various parts of campus, such as the University Dining Plaza..

Vournas also said that ASI is currently doing outreach with the Long Beach community and different area grocery stores to see if they would like to contribute to either Swap Shop or Beach Pantry. She was a driving force behind both projects.

In order to take items from the Swap Shop, students need to fill out an informational form with their student ID

see SWAP, page 2

2 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016 DAILY49ER.COM | CITYD49ER@GMAIL.COM

ECONOMY

Europe tax penalty on Apple could top $18 billion

By Levi Sumagaysay and Rex Crum

The Mercury News

CUPERTINO, Calif.­— In one of the biggest tax-related rulings in its history, the European Commission has ordered Apple to pay back taxes to Ireland, saying the country gave the tech giant illegal tax benefits worth up to 13 billion euros, or $14.5 billion.

The commission said Apple’s tax deal with Ireland allowed the company to avoid paying taxes on almost all the profits generated by sales of Apple products across the single-market European Union.

Ireland has a corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent; the commission said in a news release Tuesday that after two years of investigations, it found that the “selective treatment” Apple received from Ireland slashed the effective corporate tax rate Apple paid on its European profits from an already low 1 percent in 2003 to 0.005 percent in 2014.

“This selective tax treatment of Apple in Ireland is illegal under EU state aid rules, because it gives Apple a significant advantage over other businesses that are subject to the same national taxation rules,” the European Commission said.

Apple accused the commission of trying to rewrite tax laws retroactively.

And the ruling quickly caused tension between Europe and the United States, with the U.S. Treasury Department saying in a statement the ruling “could threaten to undermine foreign investment, the business climate in Europe and the important spirit of economic partnership between the U.S. and the EU.” In addition, the U.S. is concerned that European taxes imposed on American companies could cut into taxes it wants to collect.

“There is the possibility that any repayments ordered by the Commission will be considered foreign income taxes that are creditable against U.S. taxes owed by the companies in the United

Niall Carson | Zuma Press

Apple CEO Tim Cook in a file photo from 2015. The European Commission has ordered Apple to pay back taxes to Ireland, which could reach the billions.

States,” the Treasury Department said in a white paper released last week.

“If so, the companies’ U.S. tax liability would be reduced dollar for dollar by these recoveries when their offshore earnings are repatriated or treated as repatriated as part of possible U.S. tax reform.”

Apple has had a long-standing presence in Ireland, dating back to 1980, when Steve Jobs set up Apple’s first European business operations in the city of Cork. Since then, Apple has expanded its production facilities in Ireland, and now has almost 6,000 employees across the country.

Steven Milunovich, an analyst who covers Apple for UBS, said the backtax issue centers around two Apple subsidiaries, Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe, both of which were incorporated in Ireland. In 1991 and 2007 the Irish government gave Apple permission to use certain means for allocating taxable income to those subsidiaries.

It’s clear that Apple didn’t break any actual laws, Milunovich said, but in the

EC’s opinion, “the tax position is believed to violate European Union rules preventing members from providing preferential treatment to corporations.”

Not long after the commission’s decision became public, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook published a lengthy letter saying the company will appeal the ruling.

And Cook warned Tuesday that should the $14.5 billion penalty stand, it could end up costing jobs across Europe.

“Beyond the obvious targeting of Apple, the most profound and harmful effect of this ruling will be on investment and job creation in Europe,” Cook wrote in an open letter posted on Apple’s website Tuesday. “Using the Commission’s theory, every company in Ireland and across Europe is suddenly at risk of being subjected to taxes under laws that never existed.

“The Commission’s move is unprecedented and it has serious, wide-reaching implications,” Cook wrote. “It is effectively proposing to replace Irish tax laws with a view of what the Commis-

sion thinks the law should have been.”

The Irish government, which maintains low corporate tax rates to lure companies _ Google and Facebook’s European headquarters are in Ireland _ also said it was disappointed by the decision and would appeal.

Estimates about how much in back taxes Apple would actually have to pay to Ireland have varied. JPMorgan has warned that the bill could reach up to $19 billion, while the Irish Times has reported that the figure could be as low as $100 million.

Apple, which has a cash hoard of $231.5 billion, keeps most of it stashed overseas. Cook has pushed for lowering U.S. corporate tax rates.

Last year, a study by the Citizens for Tax Justice and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund said Apple keeps $181 billion offshore, the most among U.S. companies.

The U.S. is concerned that additional European taxes imposed on those offshore cash stockpiles could reduce the amount of taxes the United States ultimately could collect.

SWAP

continued from page 1 number, their type of need and whether or not they would like to be contacted by a staff member to receive additional community assistance.

Ojeda said that ASI hopes to include toiletries, feminine products and diapers in the Swap Shop’s inventory.

For now, there is no set structure for how Swap Shop supplies and Beach Pantry items are being distributed. However, Ojeda said that ASI is working towards creating a points system much like the system at Sacramento State University.

According to the Sacramento State ASI food pantry website, students are allowed to one visit per week and up to 16 points per visit. Food items are separated into three categories and are either worth one, two or three points.

One-point items are side dishes or non-food items such as canned fruit and toiletries; two-point items are a meal such as canned soup and top ramen; three-point items are lasting meal supplies such as cereal and dry beans.

Students are allowed to take up to four one-point items; three twopoint items; and two three-point items.

Although the Swap Shop is open to all CSULB students, it is aimed to serve those who face financial hardship or could better use their money elsewhere.

Vournas said that she believes students will “embrace the swap” by donating their old or unused supplies in exchange for what they need.

“We also believe students will value it as a resource and will understand that it’s a service to help students who need it,” said Vournas.

The Swap Shop is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m and 5 – 7 p.m.

Yasmin Cortez contributed to this story.

CORRECTION: In “Beach Pantry addresses student needs,” run Aug. 28, the University Interfaith Center Food Pantry is still open at the Soroptimist House with roughly 1,000 lbs of food available.

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NEWS 3

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STATE LEGISLATION

Lawmakers move to lift time limits on rape case

By Sophia Bollag Los Angeles Times

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Legislature on Tuesday sent the governor a bill to end the statute of limitations for prosecuting rape and other felony sex crimes.

If the governor signs the bill, crimes including rape and child sexual abuse could be prosecuted at any time.

Under existing law, such crimes generally must be prosecuted within 10 years unless DNA evidence emerges later. Sex crimes against minors must be prosecuted before the victim’s 40th birthday.

SB 813 would not apply retroactively to crimes in which the statute of limitations will have expired by Jan. 1, 2017.

Democratic Sen. Connie Leyva introduced the bill in the wake of news that dozens of women have said comedian Bill Cosby raped them. Most of their cases cannot be prosecuted because the statutes of limitations for those crimes have expired.

“It’s called the Justice for Victims Act for one clear and specific reason: Victims should always have the opportunity to seek justice in a court of law after such a violent act,” Leyva said Tuesday just before the California state Senate voted unanimously to send the bill to the governor.

Comparing rape and sexual assault laws by state can be difficult because definitions for those offenses can vary.

But if the bill becomes law, California will join at least 16 other states that generally do not have time limits for prosecuting rape and sexual assault cases, according to data from Rainn, a sexual assault survivor advocacy organization that tracks sexual assault policies.

Three women who accused Cosby of

AIS

continued from page 1

According to Stone, the department’s hope is that this minor will produce culturally competent individuals in all job fields and make accessing American Indian histories and experiences easier for students.

“The idea is, people make films about American Indians. People make art about American Indians,” Stone said. “Rather than create a lot of ex-

Allen J. Schaben | Los Angeles Times

Protesters join women who have accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault during a rally at Cosby’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in November 2015. Inspired by the case, the California Legislature on Tuesday, Aug., sent the governor a bill to end the statute of limitations for prosecuting rape and other felony sex crimes. sexual assault testified in support of the bill in April.

Lili Bernard, a Los Angeles actress, testified during a hearing in April that Cosby had drugged and raped her in the early 1990s, before New Jersey, where she alleges the crime occurred, lifted its statute of limitations on sexual assault cases. When she tried to press charges, she said she was told she missed the deadline.

“War criminals, no matter how many decades have passed, cannot evade prosecution,” Bernard told Senate committee members at the hearing. “I am

asking you to do the same thing for us, rape survivors, who survived the war upon our body.”

When the bill passed the state Assembly earlier this month, Democratic Assemblyman Mike Gipson called the bill “long overdue” and one that would “ensure that criminals be placed in jail.”

The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the bill, arguing that the time limits protect innocent people from wrongful conviction.

“The statute of limitations is there for a reason,” said Natasha Minsker, direc-

tor of the ACLU of California Center for Advocacy and Policy. “When a case is prosecuted literally decades after the event, it becomes much more … difficult to prove that you are wrongfully accused.”

Cosby is being tried in Pennsylvania after he was charged with several counts of felony sexual assault.

The woman who is pressing charges filed them nine years after the alleged assault. Pennsylvania has a 12-year statute of limitations for rape cases.

Cosby has said his relationships with

his accusers were consensual.

SB 813 is one of several bills passed by the Legislature prompted by high-profile assault cases. When Brock Turner, a Stanford University student, was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to six months in jail, many said he should have received a heavier punishment. In response, lawmakers sent the governor bills that would expand the definition of rape to include all forms of non-consensual sexual assault and impose new mandatory minimum punishments for rapists.

perts...we would like to be able to impact those students who are in those majors, [the majors that] lead to the careers that impact the lives of American Indians.”

Stone said that having culturally competent professionals (professionals who are educated in interdisciplinary studies involving race, culture and the intersection of identity) benefits disenfranchised communities. He said that when post-graduates enter their field with this understanding under their belt, they can better serve the American Indian communities with empathy and appreciation.

The priority to teach American Indian

studies courses, Stone said, is one of the products of a lack of genuine American Indian histories being taught through academics, media representation and socialization.

Another change in the department includes a new faculty hire, Theresa Gregor, who specializes in English and literature. She is teaching a cross-listed course titled “AIS 340: American Indian Literature.” Gregor is a culturally competent specialist, according to Stone, who is a member of the Santa Isabella reservation in San Diego and a community activist.

Stone said that this is not the only effort to introduce non-AIS students to the

field.

Through the Long Beach College Promise, a partnership consisting of Long Beach Community College, CSULB and the Long Beach Unified School District, AIS faculty teach ethnic studies courses at high schools throughout LBUSD that will then translate into college credit.

Additionally, this semester, AIS professor Larry Smith is teaching a subject specific to American Indian cultures at Long Beach Polytechnic High School in Long Beach.

Though American Indian studies was formerly a part of an interdisciplinary studies program that students could ma-

jor in, Stone said that the department is not focused on bringing back the major.

Moreover, AIS hopes to further the partnerships they have been developing thus far.

“We did have some students go through and get a degree in American Indian studies...all of our people have been very, very successful. But it’s a way of thinking about education, which is not cookie cutter,” Stone said.

“If a bachelor’s degree is something that grows out of this, then that’s okay.

But it’s more important that the content is taught, no matter what the form it takes.”

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4 ARTS & LIFE

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016 DAILY49ER.COM | ARTSNLIFED49ER@GMAIL.COM

GALLERY

continued from page 1

Jason Enns | Daily 49er

(Above) Laura Lopez stands in front of her collage style piece “Recycled.” (Below) The white jaguar lays in the center of the colorful Amazon rainforest in “Yurari (Where the River Flowers).”

from Medellín, Columbia two years ago, and is in her final year of her MFA. She worked for several years with her undergrad degree in architecture before deciding she wanted to continue her education abroad– specifically in the Southern California coast.

“I love the weather of California and the ocean,” Lopez said. “It was going to be a different experience because I live between mountains.”

Lopez has two paintings hanging in the Gatov East gallery: a 50 by 114 inch collage of painted or sketchedon cuts of paper called “Recycled,” and a 38 by 45 inch oil-on-canvas painting named “Yurari (Where the River Flowers)”. “[Painting] is something I’ve done all my life. I’m 37, [and I’ve been painting] since I was a kid in some way,” she said. “I always liked to paint, so sometimes I change from acrylic to drawing. It depends on the moment– in this moment I am experimenting with oil.”

“Recycled” gets its title from the natural cycle of jungle. It represents the idea that though trees may wither away and die on a daily basis, they are fertilizing the soil and planting

seeds for new life.

According to Lopez, Yurari is a word used by indigenous Amazonian tribes referring to a portion of the river that gets very bubbly.

“For them it is special because when something is bubbling it is very related to the vitality of the river, it’s kind of flowering,” Lopez said. “Also there’s a metaphor that the pleasure of sex or joy has to do with this bubbling that they see in the river.”

Both paintings are very colorful depictions of the Amazon jungle, a place that has resonated with Lopez ever since she was able to travel there when she was 20.

“I like the vibrancy of the jungle,” Lopez said. “That’s why I think I selected all this color.”

However, amidst the colorful display of “Yurari” lays the white jaguar.

Lopez says these tribes she studied see jaguars as a kind of garden spirit, and the jaguars are often related to shamans.

“The [shamans are] ones that cure certain sicknesses that are like these bridges between two worlds – the spiritual world and the world of the social structures,” Lopez said. “[The tribes] say that [the shaman] turn into jaguars.”

Shamans are often referred to as medicine men or healers, and there is certainly a type of healing offered by visiting these serene exhibits in the middle of a hectic school day.

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6 OPINIONS

Stripped of their rights

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016 DAILY49ER.COM | OPEDD49ER@GMAIL.COM

How French politicians are oppressing Muslim women.

By Nubia Valdez Staff Writer

I

n the 1950’s, it was common for European woman to receive citations from authorities while at the beach for wearing bikinis that were “too revealing.”

I can see why someone might receive a fine for showing too much skin in a public place; but fast forward to 2016, and women in France’s coastal regions are being fined for not showing some skin.

The burkini, which is a bathing suit designed for Muslim women who wish to sport Islamic religious garb while at the beach, has been banned in 30 French municipalities.

Why? Their religious garb is seen as a national security threat, according to French politicians who voted in favor of the ban.

Wearing a piece of fabric is not going to convince someone to become an Islamic extremist.

David Lisnard, mayor of Cannes, France, described the burkini as “the symbol of Islamic extremism,” while the nation’s very own Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, also stated that the burkini represented the “enslavement of women.”

Despite France’s highest administrative court ruling that this bathing suit ban is actually illegal and a “violation of fundamental freedoms,” most of the mayors in these French towns have decided to keep the ban.

A bathing suit designed for Muslim woman should not cause panic; however, as a result of the recent terrorist attacks that France has undergone by Islamic extremists, it is a problem — for bigots.

France’s politicians — and anyone who supports the ban — must understand that there is no affiliation between a burkini and extremism.

The only “enslavement” I see is being done by the so-called secularist French politicians. They are creating a hostile environment where a woman cannot wear what she wants — especially if she’s Muslim.

Not only does this ban take away a woman’s right to choose what she wears, it shows how predominant Islamophobia is in the so-called “progressive” nation of

Illustration by Miranda Andrade-Ceja | Daily 49er

France.

The ban comes just a month after the Islamic State claimed responsibility over an attack that left 84 people dead in Nice, one of the towns that strictly enforced the law.

On Aug. 23, at a beach in Nice, a woman wearing a burkini was confronted by four armed policemen and not only forced to take off her so-called “extremist” bathing suit, but also given a fine of 150 euros – which translates into 205 USD. In no world should a woman be forced to publicly undress, regardless of what she is wearing.

French politicians are stripping women of their religious rights and instilling fear in Muslim women. They are attempting to gradually make these women conform to their own standards of what a woman should look like and how she should express her religion.

There has been much debate on whether headdresses in general are oppressive or not.

In 2011, CNN hosted a live debate between two Muslim women, Hebah Ahmed and Mona Elthaway, after France

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had banned the niqab and burqa, which are head coverings worn by Muslim women.

In the debate — Ahmed, who is a niqab-wearing blogger who stood against the ban, argued that she wears the headdress because she “is fighting against a systematic oppression against women, in which women’s bodies are being sexualized and objectified.”

Ahmed describes it as a different form of empowerment that allows her to be in control of her sexuality in public and forces others to deal with her brain rather than body.

Elthaway, a Muslim against wearing headdresses, argued that everyone should agree with the French government banning the religious outfit, stating, “It represents an ideology that does not believe in Muslim women’s right to do anything but choose to cover her face.”

In agreement with Ahmed, I believe there is nothing more empowering than a woman being able to choose for herself, whether it be choosing to cover up or bare it all, and this ban is taking away that right.

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While the Quran does mention that Muslim women should dress modestly, it does not specifically state that they must wear a headdress.

Moreover, during the Rio Olympics, there was plenty of conversation about an Egyptian volleyball player wearing a headdress with her fully clothed uniform compared to the German players who were in bikinis.

While many social media users viewed the coming together of two cultures as a beautiful and interesting sight, other users were quick to say that the stark contrast between the two countries displayed the “oppression” of the female Muslim community and the “freedom” of the West.

Other Egyptian players were not wearing the burqa, exemplifying that adopting a headdress is a choice made by the wearer, not a requirement.

Burkinis give Muslim women a chance to go out and enjoy doing things they were not able to do before, like swimming or going to the beach.

Lisnard said burkinis were a sign of the “salafisation of our society,” or an at-

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tempt by Muslims to sway the religious structure of France.

Nicolas Sarkozy, who is currently the right-wing front-runner in the French presidential elections, not only wants to ban the burkini nationwide, but also plans to ban Muslim headscarves from being worn in universities and workplaces.

Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights clearly states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”

The burkini ban is a result of politicians, once again, trying to regulate women and their choices. Out of fear of extremism, they are taking away Muslim women’s freedom of religious expression.

While these politicians fear for the lives of non-Muslim citizens, they are oppressing and objectifying the rights of Muslim women in the country.

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Editorials: All opinions expressed in the columns, letters and cartoons in this issue are those of the writers or artists.

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SPORTS 7

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016 DAILY49ER.COM | SPORTSD49ER@GMAIL.COM US OPEN

Serena Williams powerful in US Open first-round victory Serena Williams looks strong in first-round of US Open.

By Jeff Williams Newsday

NEW YORK - If Serena Williams’ right shoulder was bothering her Tuesday night, you couldn’t tell by the way she handled Ekaterina Makarova in her opening match of the U.S. Open.

Williams seemed as powerful and dominating as usual, dispatching Makarova, 6-3, 6-3, in a little more than an hour at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

After her Wimbledon victory in July that tied her with Steffi Graf with 22 Grand Slam titles, Williams had a largely inactive and unsuccessful summer with shoulder woes she had been dealing with for a while finally having significant impact. She lost in the third round of the Olympics and pulled out of the Cincinnati tuneup event.

But there she was hammering away at Makarova on Tuesday night. She served 12 aces and four service winners. Only 25 of her 45 serves were returned in play.

Combine that with 27 winners, that’s the Serena way. Except she said it wasn’t quite the full-bore Serena serve.

“I didn’t make too many adjustments, I just didn’t hit them as hard as I usually do,” Williams said. “I just went for placement.”

She wasn’t entirely confident coming in that the serve was going to be working. By the end of the night, it was working well enough.

Corinne Dubreuil | ABACAPRESS.COM

Serena Williams of USA during practice at the 2016 US Open at Billie Jean National Tennis Center in New York City, NY, USA, on Aug. 29.

“I was pleased with my serve because I haven’t been hitting a lot of serves at all,” she said. “In practice, none of them were going in, so I was definitely excited about that.”

While Williams held a 4-1 record against Makarova heading into the match, that one loss was on the big stage at the 2012 Australian Open in the fourth round. She also encountered Makarova

twice at the U.S. Open, beating her in the semifinals in 2014 and the third round in 2012.

“I needed to be focused because I’ve played her. She’s gotten to the semifinals.

She goes deep in majors,” Williams said.

“She knows how to play big matches on big courts. She’s not intimidated. I knew I had to really come out today.”

When the Open ends on Sept. 11, Wil-

liams will be ranked No. 1 for 186 consecutive weeks, tying her with Graf for the longest such streak of all-time. But when the revised rankings come out that following Monday, she will need a good performance in the Open to assure she stays atop the heap and breaks the tie with Graf.

If Williams wins a record seventh Open title, breaking a tie with Chris Evert in the Open Era, she’s No. 1 no matter what and

will have been since Feb. 18, 2013.

But the rankings math could get a little dicey if she doesn’t win, depending on what Angelique Kerber, currently No. 2, does here. If she makes the quarterfinals, Williams needs to reach the final to stay No. 1. And if Williams should lose early, Garbine Muguruza and Agnieszka Radwanska would also have a shot at No. 1 if they reach the final or win it.

NFL

Kaepernick remains calm at center of storm

By Tim Kawakami The Mercury News

SANTA CLARA, Calif. Everybody crowded around him again, but Colin Kaepernick didn’t hold a formal media availability at his locker inside Levi’s Stadium on Tuesday.

Instead, he laughingly declared that there was a transcript available from his Sunday marathon session answering any and all questions about his decision to remain seated for the national anthem.

Oh yes: The Transcript. Pretty famous and lively one.

Kaepernick wasn’t running away from the Anthem Issue, of course, especially with Thursday’s exhibition game in San Diego coming up _ and protests sure to surround it and him.

In fact, after the camera crews left, Kaepernick amiably hung around his locker and chatted informally with several of us, confirming for me that he has been a vegan for nine months and saying he feels great because of it.

But you could tell Kaepernick was ready for this to move forward to a new stage, with different questions.

And for the 49ers that means deciding if he’s going to be on this roster once they make their final cuts in the days following their preseason finale.

Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer and others have suggested that Kaepernick might be released for “football reasons,” not because of the anthem protest.

49ers executives and Kaepernick have wanted to end this relationship for

Jose Carlos Fajardo | Daily 49er

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) shows support for his teammates while on the sideline during the first quarter on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. months and this new development probably has not helped that.

But ... can Kaepernick logically be released for football reasons when he’s essentially competing for a roster spot with late-round rookie Jeff Driskel and journeyman Christian Ponder?

Coach Chip Kelly doesn’t have the ultimate authority on the team’s roster _ that’s general manager Trent Baalke’s call _ but Kelly made it pretty clear that he still values Kaepernick.

Kelly hasn’t even officially named Blaine Gabbert the starter, though that

formality is coming. Gabbert isn’t playing Thursday in a game that starters don’t usually play, and Kaepernick is playing, mostly with backups, because he’s the backup.

If he’s ahead of Driskel and Ponder, Kaepernick should make this team going into Week 1, right?

I asked Kelly, is Kaepernick currently one of the team’s best two QBs? “Yes,” Kelly said.

Have you had any discussions about releasing Kaepernick?

“We haven’t had any discussions about

the quarterback position so far,” Kelly said.

If it’s your decision, would this strictly be based on football judgments?

“It’s not up to me,” Kelly said. “And any decisions on this team are made through everybody.

“And I do not have control of the 53man roster. So I don’t sit there and say, ‘This is the 53 we’re picking.’ It’s a group effort.”

So many things are happening all at once in 49ers land, with so many tripwires and so little time before the start of

the regular season.

But it’s safe to say that Kelly is noting that keeping Kaepernick would be the logical football move but that it’s Baalke (and owner Jed York) who will make the final determination.

Locker-room strife over Kaepernick’s stand? If it’s there, I haven’t seen it the last two times the media has been allowed in.

Kaepernick, after his chat with us on Tuesday, wandered over to laugh with several offensive linemen; it was as loose and comfortable as I’ve ever seen him around teammates, frankly.

“I think when you talk to our players, they’re focused on the 2016 season and how good a team the San Francisco 49ers can be,” Kelly said.

“And I think like we’ve said all along, we recognize his right to express his feelings. But that doesn’t affect what we do when we get here at 8:15 in the morning till we leave here at 8 o’clock at night.”

If you want to believe Kelly is subtly shifting responsibility on this hot-button decision to the front office, that’s a fair conclusion.

If you want to believe that Kelly just legitimately believes that Kaepernick is one of the QBs he wants to keep on the roster and is merely spelling out the reality of the 49ers power structure, that’s fair, too.

The 49ers are weird, have been weird for a while, and will assuredly remain weird for the foreseeable future.

And the Kaepernick situation is gasoline poured on top of their usual amount of brushfires, though he is the one who seemed calmest and most comfortable with all of it Tuesday.

8 SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016 DAILY49ER.COM | SPORTSD49ER@GMAIL.COM

Rising to the occasion

T

he Long Beach State women’s basketball 2016-2017 schedule was released Tuesday and it looks like the 49ers are in for a rough ride.

Elizabeth Campos | Daily 49er

Long Beach State women’s basketball team announces schedule.

By Grester Celis-Acosta Staff Writer

Long Beach State will play in two tournaments: The ASU Classic in Tempe, Arizona at the beginning of December and the Play4Kay Shootout in Las Vegas.

In the ASU Classic, the Beach will play against Florida in the first round. The Gators went to the NCAA Tournament in 2016, only to lose in the first round. If the 49ers win, they will play against either Arizona State or Boston University in the final.

As for the Play4Kay Shootout, the 49ers will be in a pool of eight teams.

The tournament includes five teams that competed in the NCAA Tournament including Oklahoma State, New Mexico State and South Florida, and three teams that competed at the Women’s National

Invitational Tournament.

The 49ers begin division play on Jan. 5 against Hawai’i, the defending Big West Tournament champions, for the second straight season at the Walter Pyramid. The Rainbow Wahine beat the 49ers twice last season.

Afterward, LBSU will play back-toback games against Big West opponents UC Davis, who finished second in the Big West Tournament and Cal Poly, who was eliminated in the Big West Tournament by Long Beach State.

Other key matchups include UC Riverside on Jan. 28 and Feb. 23. Both games are crucial, since the Highlanders finished with a 16-0 record in the Big West Conference .

The 49ers will end the season on the road against the Rainbow Wahine in Honolulu, Hawai’i. This matchup will be significant because it could end up deciding the victor for the Big West Conference and seeding in the Big West Tournament. deciding the victor for the Big West Conference and seeding in the Big West Tournament.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Ben Hammerton | Daily 49er

Senior Raven Benton gets interviewed by ESPN after Long Beach State beats Cal State Fullerton at the Walter Pyramid in January.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL 2015 STATISTICS

DATE 11/11

MATCH Nevada

LOCATION Reno, Nevada

TIME 6:30 p.m.

PLAYER Raven Benton

PPG 13.5

RPG 5.1

APG 2.1

SPG 1.1

MPG 25.1

11/13

Pepperdine

Malibu

1 p.m.

Madison Montgomery

9.4

3.8

0.6

1.3

26.6

11/18

Houston

Walter Pyramid

7 p.m.

Anna Kim

8.8

2.1

2.1

1.6

25.8

11/20

San Francisco

San Francisco

2 p.m.

Jewelyn Sawyer

7.3

5.7

1.4

2.1

25.0

11/25

Duke

Walter Pyramid

7 p.m.

Gigi Hascheff

7.1

3.0

1.8

1.4

23.9

11/27

USC

Los Angeles

TBA

Jessica Gertz

6.4

1.4

0.8

0.9

19.6

12/03

Florida

Tempe

TBA

Chanterria Jackson

5.1

2.4

0.2

0.5

14.1

12/04

TBD

Tempe

TBA

Cecily Wilson

4.3

2.7

1.0

1.6

19.1

12/07

Pacific

Walter Pyramid

TBA

Katie Webster

1.9

1.1

0.6

0.3

10.3

12/10

Loyola Marymount

Los Angeles

TBA

Martina McCowan

0.6

0.6

0.6

0.4

7.1

12/16

Biola

Walter Pyramid

7 p.m.