Daily 49er, March 1, 2016

DAILY 49ER California State University, Long Beach

Vol. LXVII, Issue 83

www.daily49er.com

On the issues:

Immigration

Here’s what the 2016 presidential candidates had to say on immigration.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

This article is part of a weekly series informing students of where candidates stand on the issues for the 2016 presidential elections. See page 3.

Don Bartletti |L os A ngeles Times |MCT

“I’m in favor of... getting the 12 million or so immigrants out of the shadows.”

-Hillary Clinton

“...criminal aliens have an average of seven arrests. That’s at least seven crimes committed against American citizens by each of these criminals who should never have been allowed to cross our borders.”

-Donald Trump

“...Election, tax, and other information needed by millions of citizens would be available only in English.”

-Bernie Sanders

CFA

BASKETBALL

California Democrats endorse CFA The California Democratic Party supports the 5 percent salary increase for Cal State professors.

By Taryn Sauer Staff Writer

Johnny Romero | Daily 49er

Long Beach State’s Gabe Levin has committed to four different schools in his three-year collegiate career, but the sophomore forward finally feels at home at The Beach. Levin is playing a major role in the 49ers’ run for a championship this season, averaging in double digits in points and leading the team in rebounds. See page 8.

News 2

The Fight for Five secured support from 3,200 delegates of the California Democratic party Sunday, who voted to endorse the California Faculty Association’s “Fight for Five” campaign in the negotiation process with the California State University system.

Arts & Life 4

“California State University faculty have stood with students and parents to protect our public universities during the recession,” Chairman of California Democratic party John Burton said in a statement. “We need to give CSU faculty the respect they deserve and pay them what they are worth.”

The CFA said they are geared toward maintaining the “People’s University” in a statement, citing the organization’s democratic ideals of “economic justice and social mobility,” two values that affect not only professors, but students as well.

Among many public educational dues, CFA President Jennifer Eagan said in a statement that students deserve faculty that don’t have to stretch their time between multiple jobs, which take away from profes-

sors’ ability to help their students “achieve their dreams.”

“They deserve better than higher fees in exchange for a growing bureaucracy with highly paid administrators who don’t teach,” Eagan said.

While Cal State tuition has increased 283 percent since 2000, professor salaries have remained essentially flat, according to the CFA. The CSU has attributed the flat line in pay to the recession’s stringent hold on budget plan allocation.

In the ongoing debate with the CSU, the CFA said it is a matter of differences in priorities and ideals, not only within higher public education, but on a state level as well.

If the two groups fail to reach a settlement, CSU faculty will go on strike for five days, April 13-15 and 18-19.

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NY magistrate rules Apple can’t be forced to open iPhone WASHINGTON – A federal judge in Brooklyn ruled Monday that the government cannot force Apple to unlock an iPhone – a decision that could be a blow against the FBI in its legal battle to get Apple to open the phone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook.

In both the New York and the California cases, the federal government argued that Apple is required to cooperate with law enforcement under the All Writs Act, a vague 1789 law granting courts power to issue orders not covered by other laws.

But unlike the magistrate in the San Bernardino case, U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein of the Eastern District of New York sided with Apple, signaling that the legal outcome in the San Bernardino case is anything but certain.

“After reviewing the facts in the record and the parties’ arguments, I conclude that none of those factors justifies imposing on Apple the obligation to assist the government’s investigation against its will,” Ornstein found in a case in which the Drug Enforcement Administration wanted Apple to unlock an iPhone owned by a methamphetamine dealer.

Orenstein wrote that Congress must decide if tech companies should be required to open their devices to law enforcement. The government can’t use a nearly 220-year-old law to force Apple’s cooperation, he ruled. The ruling likely will give impetus to legislators like Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California to push for tougher legislation than the current favored course of a commission to study the issue.

“That debate must happen today, and it must take place among legislators who are equipped to consider the technological and cultural realities of a world their predecessors could not begin to conceive,” Orenstein wrote. “It would betray our constitutional heritage and our people’s claim to democratic governance for a judge to pretend that our Founders already had that debate, and ended it, in 1789.”

The New York ruling is not binding on Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym in California as she considers Apple’s challenge of her court order telling the company to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone.

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NEWS

Women leaders to receive award Nominations are open for the Advancement of Women Awards.

By Jason Enns Staff Writer

K ATIE FALKENBERG | TNS

Tom Wolff holds a sign in support of Apple outside of the the Apple store in Santa Monica, Calif.

But it is the first time that a judge has ruled that current law cannot be used to force a tech company to retrieve encrypted data for a law enforcement investigation.

Apple expressed a belief that the ruling “is going to have some persuasive effect for the magistrate in California.”

The California case is far more high profile, involving a terrorist who, along with his wife, killed 14 people in December. Legal analysts said it could go to the U.S. Supreme Court and will draw far more legal interest than the matter of a Brooklyn drug dealer’s phone.

The legal issues are largely the same, though.

Orenstein noted in his ruling that Congress considered forcing tech company cooperation when it passed the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, which in 1994 set the rules for electronic eavesdropping. But Congress declined to do so, Orenstein wrote in his 50-page ruling siding with Apple.

Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce said the department was disappointed by the ruling and would appeal.

Apple said the government is asking more of the company in the California case than the New York case. The New York case involved an earlier operating system, iOS 7, and Apple could access the data.

The iPhone used by the California shooter has an iOS 9 system. The company says it cannot bypass the security features of the newer system without creating new software and essentially hacking its own device.

The judge’s ruling came a day before Apple General Counsel and Senior Vice President Bruce Sewell was to testify on encryption before the House Judiciary Committee.

According to Sewell’s prepared testimony, he will argue that Congress needs to decide the encryption issue and not leave it to judicial interpretation of the 1789 law.

“The decisions should be made by you and your colleagues as representatives of the people, rather than through a warrant request based on a 220-year-old statute,” according to Sewell’s prepared testimony.

—Sean Cockerham | TNS

Want to recognize someone for making strides in the advancement of women on campus? Nominate them.

The President’s Commission on the Status of Women at Cal State Long Beach is asking for nominations for the 14th Annual Advancement of Women Awards.

“PCSW awards are an important opportunity to recognize the daily work done by individuals and a community organization that support the advancement of women,” award committee chair Ebony Utley said.

“Our nominees deserve much more than our recognition, but it is an essential acknowledgment of the tireless work of those who support women in our community.”

Nominations can highlight any woman or man in the campus community that actively contributes to the advancement of women.

Nominees should be someone making strides for women through scholarship, teaching, organizational work, community service or any other activity or achievement relative to the support of women at CSULB. The PCSW will be presenting an award to a student, a staff member or administrator and a faculty member, and nominations can come from anyone.

The awards will be held on April 14 at the Spring Women’s Research Colloquium, and the nomination deadline is March 21.

To make a nomination, email Utley a completed nomination form at ebony.utley@ csulb.edu. Forms are available at http://csulb. edu/org/women.

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where do the top 2016 presidential candidates stand on...

IMMIGRATION

By Ariana Sawyer & Liam Brown Staff Writers

Hillary Clinton

Bernie Sanders

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, D, believes in comprehensive immigration reform that would open up a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. She acknowledged that net immigration has fallen to zero but that immigrants keep our country “young and dynamic.” She was critical of the Obama administration’s immigration raids on women and children. She said she believes it is very important for Americans to learn to be bilingual.

Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., running as a Democrat in the presidential election, has been asked often about his complex stance on immigration. In 2007, he voted against a comprehensive immigration reform bill because he said it contained “semi-slavery” provisions for guest workers. He favors a path to citizenship, supports President Obama’s executive actions and says the United States can increase border security without a fence. He voted affirmatively on a bill that would keep federal funds going to “sanctuary cities.” However, in 1998 he voted negatively on a bill that would increase visas to highly skilled workers.

“I’m in favor of comprehensive immigration reform, which includes tightening our border security, sanctioning employers to employ undocumented immigrants, getting the 12 million or so immigrants out of the shadows. That’s very important to me. After 9/11, we’ve got to know who’s in this country. And then giving them a chance to pay a fine, pay back taxes, learn English & stand in line to be eligible for a legal status in this country.”

Sanders maintains that an “English only” mentality in the United States hurts immigrants of all kinds. “This means that members of Congress from a heavily Hispanic or Polish district, for instance, would be prohibited from communicating with their constituents in Spanish or Polish. Election, tax, and other information needed by millions of citizens would be available only in English.”

Ben Carson

Ted Cruz

Marco Rubio

Dr. Ben Carson, R, said he believes that all “illegals” without a criminal record should be put in a guest worker program for jobs Americans don’t want to do for a period of six months. That program would be based on the Canadian model. Any other immigrants would be deported. Carson said he would use drone strikes to secure the Mexican-American border. He criticized the U.S. for both lacking the will to finish the Mexican-American wall and failing to offer a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who make up the cheap labor. He has also said it would be unfair to offer amnesty to immigrants who “jumped ahead” in the line illegally.

Junior Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is unequivocally opposed to President Obama’s recent executive orders on immigration, calling them “lawless amnesty” and saying they aren’t fair to millions of legal immigrants. However, Cruz also advocated for an increase in green cards and supported “a path to legal status,” the New York Times says. Cruz also supports more police and military action on the issue, approving “boots on the ground” and a toughening of border security.

Marco Rubio, R, said he would like to change immigration from a family-based system where most immigrants get visas from family members to a skills-based system. In a skills-based system, immigrants would get visas based on their professional experience and potential economic contribution the the United States. He said that he believes the children of immigrants should receive in-state tuition and should be given a legal status but not recognized as citizens.

“The overwhelming majority of Americans want the southern borders of our country secured and our immigration laws enforced, but several administrations recently have been unwilling to get tough on this issue because they do not want to alienate a large voting block of Latinos.”

“You know, there was reference made [by Donald Trump] about our leaders being stupid. It’s not a question of stupidity. It’s that they don’t want to enforce the immigration laws. That there are far too many in the Washington cartel that support amnesty.

There’s 7 billion people across the face of the globe, many of whom want to come to this country. If they come legally, great. But if they come illegally & get amnesty, that would fundamentally change this country.”

“My family is immigrants. My neighbors are immigrants. My in-laws are immigrants.

America doesn’t have one immigration problem, it has three. First, we have people coming illegally. Second, we have a legal immigration system that no longer works.

It is built on the basis of whether you have a relative here instead of merit. And third, we have 11 million people who are here illegally.

We must deal with all these problems. We cannot deal with all three in one piece of legislation.”

Donald Trump

John Kasich

Donald J. Trump, R, is strictly opposed to immigration. He has said he would like to complete the wall on the Mexican-American border and get Mexico to pay for it. He said he believes that half of the immigrants are criminals and that the U.S. should not count “anchor babies” as U.S. citizens. He has said that illegal immigration harms the economy, calling immigrants “rapists” and “criminals.”

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, R, said he thinks the U.S. should strengthen the border but enact policies that focus on keeping families together. When Kasich campaigned for governor, he said that children of undocumented immigrants should be denied citizenship but changed his mind in 2015. Kasich voted yes on more immigrant visas for skilled workers. He also supports a guest worker program.

“America’s prisons house 351,000 criminal aliens who committed a crime after having already broken the law by entering America illegally. Making taxpayers pay for 351,000 criminals who should never have been here in the first place is ridiculous. The annual price tag to incarcerate these thugs is $1.1 billion. And get this: criminal aliens have an average of seven arrests. That’s at least seven crimes committed against American citizens by each of these criminals who should never have been allowed to cross our borders.”

“You do it with fencing and you do it with technology, drones and sensors. … I’ve been told by grownups, real experts, that most of this can be done effectively. Guest worker program, the 12 million that are here, if they violated the law, they’re going to have to pay a fine and pay a penalty for the fact that they violated the law. But, you know, if they’re part of our culture now and society, and they’re doing fine, they’re hard working, they’re just like all of us, then I think they can stay.”

I llustrations by M iranda A ndrade -Ceja

that keeps track of candidate voting records and public statements.

Source: A ll information comes from Ontheissues.org, a nonprofit

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Racism outlined in ‘No Happy Color’ The play emphasizes on anti-black racism and benevolent racism.

By Natalie Rodriguez Staff Writer

Living in a society that deals with racism, judgment, and ideologies — “No Happy Color” takes the audience through the fundamentals and challenges that minorities face everyday.

“No Happy Color” advocated for and recognized Black History Month on Monday at the Cal State Long Beach Player’s Arts Theater.

Hosted by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the student nonprofit organization Up and Coming Actors, the play consists of racist ideologies that everyone goes through on a daily basis.

Tahirih Moeller, co-creator of UCA and senior theater performance major, enjoys performing and creating work that advocates for people of color.

“I wrote two versions of this show, and the first version focuses on the black community and how color affects them and the anti-black racism,” Moeller said. “But after the revision I focused on different communities and like the Latino community and the

Grester Celis -Acosta | Daily 49er

Actors perform the student-written play “No Happy Color” at the University Player’s Theatre Monday. various forms of colorism within the black community as well.”

The play is broken down into three scenes, each of which carries themes of racism. The story is told by a diverse cast who come from different ethnic backgrounds and cultural values.

Although the play contains diversity within the Latino, Asian, White

and African American communities, it centers on and emphasizes the experiences and encounters that African Americans face due to their race.

Moeller wanted to showcase how different ethnicities get judged and discriminated by their skin complexion. Moller said that throughout people’s lives, they’ve experienced and dealt with the constant struggle

of racist ideologies within their own community but have overcome those barriers.

“Growing up and being a lightskinned black girl, I was inspired by my own experience and I would always get perceived by my skin tone as a woman with a higher standing since I wasn’t a dark black woman,” Moeller said. “Noticing that aspect in my life

threw me off because I was raised to believe that it was ‘blacks vs. whites’ and I didn’t understand when your own community separates themselves because of color and as I got older I realized that this happens within other racial and ethnic communities as well.”

Moeller wanted to highlight the similarities that each ethnic community faces within its battle of racism in America.

“It’s a comforting thing to know that what I have experienced and what I am still experiencing today, others are as well, and now we can all voice the issue and change it,” Moeller said.

By the cast sharing and voicing their own experiences, Moeller hopes that people can accept diversity within each community.

“I hope that people can see each other as individuals rather than judge them by their color and be able to see each other as a person rather than putting a label,” Moeller said. “I want a man to be recognized and perceived as a man not a ‘black man,’ I would want people to be seen through their personalities, not their color.”

“No Happy Color” brought different ethnic communities together in the hope of advocating change and awareness within each other.

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Jonny Strang (left) Karim Bedran (center) Alex Mendez (right), members of New American perform at the Nugget. New American draws inspiration from facets of musical history.

New American makes classic rock Local band fights for recognition in the challenging music industry.

Staff Writer

T

he likelihood of making a living as a musician if they’re not headlining the Hollywood Bowl or regularly featured on the radio is a virtual impossibility. For a student musician trying to get discovered, life becomes a balancing act.

When Cal State Long Beach senior Jonny Strang and former CSULB student Alex Mendez started New American five years ago they couldn’t have known the priority their band would have for them now.

New American is a local band that brings a classic style back to the stage during a new age of rock that often incorporates keyboard synthesizers and computer samples.

Although the stage is usually small, New American’s sound is anything but. With loud guitars and overdrive pedals, they offer audiences a full sound of a certain raw quality and talented musicianship reminiscent of a style from a past generation.

“It’s probably a combination of the music I grew up listening to in the ‘90s,” Strang said.

“So, very much like the heavy ‘90s rock music just from more of a blues structure.”

Strang heads up the band as frontman and guitar player, backed by Mendez on drums. The

two have known each other since elementary school, but for them school began to fade out of focus. “[I] have an idea of what it takes to do well on a test, how much homework I need to do, you know they tell you ‘C’s get degrees,’” Strang said. “It’s really work, school and band that are the real trouble.”

“

“

By Jason Enns

We just tend to have a little more riff-oriented, heavy music, and because of that it does make things a little more difficult.

-Jonny Strang, Vocalist and guitarist

Strang may be the only one currently in school, but he and the rest of the members each have their respective positions in the workforce that have to be prioritized over the band. You can’t be in a local band without money.

“I don’t feel like school is for me right now, at least in my life, I want to do [New American] more,” Mendez said. “One of our friends hooked us [Mendez and Strang] up with a job

at a factory, you know, just something to pay the bills right now.”

Bass guitarist Karim Bedran runs a used car auction lot, and lead guitarist Chris Pleasant works at Guitar Center.

Jobs are important because being in a band can sometimes cost you more than you’ll make, especially with the emerging popularity of free shows “The idea of the $5 show is probably not going to exist soon,” Strang said. “It’s only going to be free shows or expensive shows.”

Playing venues like the Nugget Grill and Pub doesn’t rake in too much cash. At free shows, audiences pay nothing so bands get paid nothing, though they certainly have their place in a local music scene.

“Free shows are the most beneficial shows to bands honestly,” said Mendez “You got to get your rep up somehow.”

The reason free shows are good for starting bands is because the alternative to that is payto-play shows.

“That is that phenomena where they tell a band that actually has no fan base, have never played shows before, ‘Here’s 25 tickets, you have to sell all of them or you can’t play,’” Strang said. “You’re just going to pay out of your pocket every time because you end up having to eat those tickets.”

Unfortunately for them, a lot of bands have to start off this way, because what it comes

down to is a numbers game. The more time a band’s name appears on a playbill, the better it is for that band.

“People notice that,” Mendez said. “They see your name over and over again and they start asking, ‘Oh, how is this band?’”

Of course, in today’s day and age, playbills are not tangible pieces of paper, but PDF files spread across Instagram and Facebook. “[Promotion was] all by word of mouth, but that’s not how it is anymore, and I wish it wasn’t that way because I don’t particularly care for social media,” Strang said. “I’m a romantic, I wish I grew up in Seattle, Washington, in the ‘90s.”

That romanticism is part of what gives New American their sound, but it doesn’t always serve their best interest.

Pulling influence from Josh Homme and Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, Nirvana, and even Hendrix, New American aims to represent not only a fading genre, but a fading element of the music industry itself.

“If we were some sort of synth, indie, happy band, we’re in the right place. Long Beach is a great place to be one of those bands, L.A. is a great place to be one of those bands,” Strang said. “But we’re not that band. We just tend to have a little more riff-oriented, heavy music, and because of that it does make things a little more difficult.”

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Q&A: Kate Winslet ‘rules’ as a ruthless mob boss For anyone suffering from awards season prestige fatigue, the new movie “Triple 9” is here just in time. Directed

by John Hillcoat from a script by Matt Cook, the movie is a gritty, rough-andtumble crime thriller with an interesting take on loyalty and responsibility.

Both shot in and set in Atlanta, the film takes place within a world of high-tech weapons and low-down double-crosses, where law enforcement, criminals and ex-military intersect.

A team of former military personnel and corrupt cops carry out a series of heists, including a daring plan to use the police force’s highest distress call — 999 — as a distraction. The film features an impressive cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Aaron Paul, Clifton Collins Jr., Norman Reedus, Teresa Palmer, Gal Gadot and Michael K. Williams. Kate Winslet plays the head of a Russian-Israeli mob in an outsized performance that is part garish, part chilling.

Hillcoat’s previous films include “The Proposition,” “The Road” and “Lawless,” and each of those films created a specific world; “Triple 9” is no different. The Australian-born Hillcoat currently lives in Los Angeles, where he recently sat down for an interview to talk about the film.

Q: The movie has a large cast, as did your previous feature “Lawless.” What appeals to you about that?

A: When you’re working with an ensemble, I think you really need different energies, because you don’t have much time with each character to make them feel real. You want strong personalities that are very different. Traditionally the

Hollywood approach is you get one big star and then it trickles down to background extras.

Q: Winslet in particular has never played a character quite like this. And other actors had to stretch as well.

A: We were both surprised. … Especially now, with everything she brings to the screen, she just rules. She was so excited to do that. And those guys, an actor like Chiwetel brings such detail and commitment and power. Chiwetel is already a force, he’s a powerful actor, but physically he had never had that level of training and there’s a physicality to that world, especially ex-Special Forces. So he trained for months with a Navy SEALs guy. Casey also found his own physicality.

Q: In the middle of the film there is a police raid on a housing project that is incredibly gripping. How did that sequence come together?

A: It was deliberately trying to find things we haven’t seen before. We started with the classic busting through doors and taking shots and running.

And then because we were working so closely with our advisors, they said, “We wouldn’t go in here without a shield.”

And we were like “What?” And also the way they lined up behind each other for protection. But one of the key things we did was the way they clear rooms methodically, just like in Iraq or Afghanistan. It’s that military training and we didn’t realize how much it affected the action in the scene. By introducing that it changes the whole dynamic and for us it was really exciting.

I love shows like “The Wire” and

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Bob M ahoney | Open Road F ilms

Kate Winslet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Belevtsov and Alexander Babara in “Triple 9.” wanted to be sure we got that kind of credibility, so that people in the know, cops, military, street criminals, someone watching it would say, “Yeah, they got it right.”

Q: What is the point of a crime story like this, what’s the larger theme?

A: I’ve been itching to do something contemporary and urban, in that kind of murky world of crime.

There’s all the action and also not knowing how volatile things are, and these guys are living their lives like that. I wanted to capture that. For me it’s all these shades of gray. When people make this choice they know

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seem to have avoided any issues simply by depicting the world as it is.

A: That’s what I wanted to do, to be matter of fact. Just look at an urban city. Atlanta is one of the fastest-growing cities in America, it’s replicating L.A. The new architecture could be almost anywhere, and it’s that mix that has made America what it really is.

We weren’t making an issues thing of it, we were just being matter of fact. I just like grounding it, and to me that felt like a reflection of where we are in America.

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what’s going to come. There’s a part of them that thinks they’re getting out after that one last job to be off on an island somewhere and a part of them that thinks, “Nah, it’s not going to turn out like that.” But they can’t stop themselves.

I’m actually a humanist, believe it or not, and I believe even when people are corrupted, even when they’ve gone to the dark side, they are still human beings. Being under pressure always brings out the best and worst in people.

Q: The film is opening against the backdrop of all the recent conversation around diversity on screen and you

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The City of La Mirada is hiring!

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49ERS IN THE PROS

Back so soon Former LBSU basketball star James Ennis continues to struggle to find minutes in the NBA while several other ex-49ers are grinding abroad.

By Josh Barajas Sports Editor

The Memphis Grizzlies recalled former LBSU basketball star James Ennis from the team’s Development League affiliate, the Iowa Energy, twice in the month of February.

The first call came on Feb. 3, but

Ennis remained on the Grizzlies’ bench and headed back to Iowa without logging a single minute in the NBA. The Grizzlies added Ennis to the team again on Feb. 17, and played his first minutes with the team the very next game for the first time since Jan. 12. Ennis played four minutes on Feb. 19 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, finishing with a steal and a point. He then saw seven minutes of action across two games against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday and Friday. He totaled two points and two rebounds in Friday’s matchup at Staples Center.

Playoffs?!

Both former 49ers playing professional basketball in China missed out

on the playoffs. Casper Ware’s team, the Tianjin Steel, went 8-30 on the season, finishing in 18th place in the 20-team league. Lin Chang’s squad, the Jiangsu Nangang Dragons Nanjing, finished with an 18-20 record.

The Dragons ended up in 12th place, just four games out of the playoffs.

On the right foot

Recent LBSU graduates Mike Caffey and David Samuels are off to great starts in their first professional seasons in Hungary and Cyprus, respectively.

As the starting point guard for Fortress Jaszbereny, Caffey leads the team with 4.1 assists, is fourth with 14.3 points, and third with 4.5 rebounds per game. Fortress is out of playoff contention with a 3-16 record.

Samuels leads Enosis Neon

Paralimni with 9.1 rebounds per game.

He also averages 11.5 points per game and owns a team-leading 51.7 shooting percentage. Enosis sits in sixth place in the 8-team league.

In the thick of it

Several former 49ers are in playoff contention with their respective teams.

T.J. Robinson, LBSU’s all-time rebound leader with 1,208 boards from 2008-12, leads England’s Sheffield Sharks with 11.0 rpg and ranks second with 16.6 ppg. The Sharks sit in fourth place of the British Basketball League with a 14-8 record.

Two former LBSU stars are shining in the Mexican league. Eugene Phelps leads Fuerza Regia Monterrey with 23.6 ppg in the month of February.

Phelps is leading Fuerza Regia’s playoff

charge; they currently sit in third place with a 22-15 record.

Edgar Garibay is also leading the way for his team’s push for the postseason. Garibay is averaging 13.5 ppg and 7.8 rpg in February for Gigantes Edomex Toluca. The Giants sit in seventh place with a 14-22 record while the eighth- and ninth-place Roadrunners and Panthers are within two games behind Toluca.

El jugador mas valioso

Garibay did a little more than participate in the 2016 Mexican National Basketball League All-Star game on Sunday. The 6-foot-11-inch forward led the league’s best Mexican-born players to a 131-129 win over the best foreign players and earned Most Valuable Player.

P hotos courtesy of LBSU Athletics

T.J. Robinson played for LBSU from 2008-12. He ranks in the 49ers’ all-time top-5 in points, rebounding, games played, field goals made and field goal percentage.

Lin Chang played at LBSU from 2009-11. He played just 4.5 minutes per game, averaging 1.4 points per game.

Eugene Phelps also played for the 49ers from 2008-12. He ranks second, along with Robinson, in school history with 131 career games played.

SPORTS PREVIEWS Baseball Who: USC (4-3) When: Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Where: Blair Field Need to know: Long Beach State (5-2) heads into Tuesday night’s showdown with the Trojans with a pair of series wins under its belt and a 10-1 win against UCLA last Tuesday.

Meanwhile, USC enters the game after taking the series against Wake Forest.

LBSU will face USC for the first time since 2014. The Trojans took a 4-3 win at home on April 1, 2014, the last time both teams met . On USC’s last visit to Blair Field, the 49ers took a 2-1

win on Feb. 25. 2014.

Sophomore infielder Frankie Rios leads the Trojans with a .429 batting average through seven games. Four other players on the roster are hitting above .300. Sophomore infielder Adalberto Carrillo is hitting .304 with five RBIs, two doubles and three runs scored.

LBSU right-hander Dave Smith is set to start opposite USC’s righthander C.J. Stubbs. Smith threw 5.1 innings against UCLA last week, allowing just one earned run on seven hits. Stubbs threw six innings, allowing 3 runs in his only start this season.

The 49ers trail the all-time series against the Trojans 80-44.

E milio A ldea | Daily 49er

Freshman left-hander Jacob Hughey throws a pitch in LBSU’s loss to Arizona State University on Friday at Blair Field.

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Tuesday, March 1, 2016

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P hotos by Johnny Romero | Daily 49er

Levin

MEN’S BASKETBALL

After bouncing around the first two years of his collegiate career, Sophomore forward Gabe Levin leads the 49ers with 6.1 rebounds ranks third on the team with 10.1 points per game this season (above). Levin goes up for an uncontested layup in LBSU’s win over UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 28 inside the Walter Pyramid (below).

Although he is reserved off the floor, Gabe Levin’s game does all the talking when he is on the court.

A

fter three years and four college programs, Long Beach State basketball’s Gabe Levin finally feels like he is in the right place.

Before Levin became a familiar face in the 49ers’ starting lineup, he bounced around between three different programs.

“I’m happy for Gabe because he is happy,” LBSU head coach Dan Monson said. “He had a long journey for that and it’s fun to see guys appreciate the situation. It’s fun to see him get rewarded by playing well and having some success.”

Coming out of St. Thomas More Academy in 2013, Levin committed to Hofstra University in Long Island, New York.

After Hofstra fired its head coach, Mo Cassara, Levin said he reopened his recruiting options. With Hofstra out of the picture, Levin looked to the west coast and decided to play at Loyola Marymount.

After playing his freshman season at LMU for the 2013-14 season, Levin found himself in a familiar situation.

LMU fired Max Goode, its head coach at the time, at the end of Levin’s freshman season.

Levin decided to change scenery and transferred to Marquette, only to find more instability. The Golden Eagles’ head coach Buzz Williams left

the school to take a job at Virginia Tech in the fall of 2014 and again Levin didn’t want to stay. Levin’s third disenchantment with a university prompted his move to LBSU. “The first time through, LMU had a stipulation that former players couldn’t go to any program where a former coach was at,” Monson said. “So when things went bad at Marquette, Myke was one of the first guys he called because he trusted Myke [Scholl].”

The 49ers had struck gold because of the past relationship between Levin and LBSU assistant coach Myke Scholl.

Scholl spent six seasons with the Lions.

During that time he recruited Levin and built a relationship that paid dividends for the 49ers.

“It just didn’t work out at Marquette and Long Beach was a place I was looking at before,” Levin said. “I knew coach [Myke Scholl] and he was like a mentor to me. I think that was a big reason

why I wanted to come here in the beginning.”

Levin sat out the 2014-15 season as a Division I transfer, making his 49er de-

but against BYU-Hawaii on Nov. 14, 2015.

Even though the sophomore forward out of Oak Park, Illinois leads the team in rebounds with a 6.1 average and puts up 10.1 points per game, he did not settle in right away.

At the beginning of the season, Levin had trouble fitting into the 49ers’ style of play.

“It’s like night and day,” sophomore point guard Justin Bibbins said. “When he first got here he was hesitant on his shot. He was still aggressive and real athletic but I think he was still trying to figure his role on the team.”

Bibbins said when Levin had to sit out three games towards the end of December due to an injury, his misfortune ended up working in his favor. Although he missed the chance of playing against the University of Arizona and Oregon, Bibbins said Levin had some time to reflect on his situation.

“I think when he got injured during

the [non-conference play] that really helped him,” Bibbins said. “He saw things from a different perspective and than when he came back he saw what we actually needed and he started fitting in the role.”

Monson said Levin not only brings length, at 6 feet 7 inches tall, but provides a valuable work ethic to LBSU that goes a long way.

“He’s got a good motor and when you play hard you just find ways to be effective,” Monson said. “He is one of those players that gets the extra rebound and finds creases to get to the lane.”

Now Levin is actually showing what he can do and the numbers show he played a pivotal role during the 49ers’ recent six game winning streak.

With Bibbins out of the lineup and the team shooting a dismal 35.7 percent from the field, Levin carried the load when the 49ers beat UC Davis 5748 on the road on Feb. 13. He scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and wound up winning the Big West Player of the Week award.

“There’s a big difference when he is on the floor and when he is not,” Bibbins said. “He spreads guys out and rebounds like crazy. It’s the spark we need to win the conference tournament.”

Although it was a long and strenuous process to get where Levin is today, he finally feels like he has found a home.

“I think this is where I was meant to be in the first place,” Levin said.