Daily 49er, March 2, 2017

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LONG BEACH

VOL. LXVIII, ISSUE 73 | MARCH 2, 2016

FINANCES

Students protest tuition hike with march Student groups participated in protest against proposed tuition increase.

By Adam R. Thomas Staff Writer

Jose De Castro | Daily 49er

Senior designated hitter Alex Muzzi tries to avoid being tagged by kt Wiz catcher Haechang Lee during an exhibition game at Blair Field Wednesday.

WORLD LESSON The Long Beach State baseball team hosted Korean Baseball Organization’s KT Wiz Wednesday night in an exhibition that brought two different playing styles together. While the Dirtbags didn’t win, the team was able to have multiple guys play, giving the normal starters a day off before the team heads to North Carolina this

To chants of “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!” members of Students for Quality Education marched to Brotman Hall yesterday.

The protest was organized to galvanize support against an upcoming Cal State University Board of Trustees vote on raising tuition for CSU students.

The vote on the tuition increase is scheduled for the next BOT meeting, to take place on March 21 - 22. The proposed five percent increase would raise undergraduate rates by $270 per year, credential program rates by $312 dollars per year and graduate student fees by $438 per year.

“A tuition increase isn’t something that’s simple to handle for folks, unless you have money,” said Norberto Lopez, a senior Sociology and Chicano & Latino Studies major and member of SQE that helped organize the event. “Even if you do receive federal or state financial aid, it still isn’t enough. Rent goes up, food [costs] go up, so it isn’t just a $270 increase. That’s the point we’re trying to get across . . . at the end of the day if you raise tuition, you’re going to send more people onto the streets.”

Thirty SQE members met outside of the campus bookstore in the free speech zone before marching on Brotman Hall. After short speeches from Lopez and Dale Lendrum, a Cabinet

weekend. To read more about it, see page 8.

see FEES, page 2

ASI

Senate session puts students first

By James Chow Staff Writer

The Associated Students, Inc. Senate passed a senate resolution in its first reading that urges Cal State Long Beach to allocate health resources for transgender and gen-

derqueer students, faculty and staff during a Wednesday session.

The resolution, called Support for Transgender and Gender Non-Binary Resources, advocates for a portion of the recent health fee increase to go toward areas of mental health service and specialty clinics that focuses on transgender and genderqueer – an inclusive term for individuals who do not identify with common conceptions of gender – health resources.

Part of the student health fee, which will increase from $45 to $75 by fall semester, would fund mental health services.

ASI Vice President Logan Vournas, who authored the resolution, expressed personal struggles involving

“

“

ASI advocates for part of the health fee increase to go toward resources for transgender and nonbinary individuals.

Part of the student health fee, which will increase from $45 to $75 by fall semester, would fund mental health services.

genderqueer resources to the senate.

“As a genderqueer student, I can’t find any resources here with the issues I’m facing with my health,” Vournas said. “If I didn’t have doctors that are specifically for that, then that leaves me out.”

Vournas also delineated an issue for in-the-closet college students under 26.

“If you’re under 26, you’re typically under your parents’ health insurance.

So, if you’re not out to your parents, then you can’t access those resources at all because your parents will find out and that’s a risk to your personal freedom,” Vournas said.

Also, the ASI Senate passed in its second reading a resolution that would alert students if the senate wanted to allocate funds to the Beach Pride Referendum. The referendum established funding for the athletic

see INCLUSIVE, page 3

FAST FACTS

TERMS TO KNOW Transgender - identifies with a gender other than what they were assigned at birth.

Genderqueer - does not identify with common conceptions of gender

2 NEWS

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CAMPUS EVENT

Women’s March momentum continues

By Xochitl Abarca Staff Writer

“First we march, now we act.”

A smorgasbord of student identities rallied under the slogan on Wednesday afternoon at Cal State Long Beach’s Women’s Gender & Equity Center for “CSULB Huddle,” a political discussion group formed in response to the nationwide Women’s March in January.

The Women’s March LA was part of a worldwide resistance day following President Trump’s inauguration to unite in solidarity against racism and sexism.

The introductory meeting took place at Liberal Arts 1 Room 102.

CSULB Huddle was organized by

FEES

continued from page 1

member for Associated Students, Inc., the group began their march, holding up signs reading “Save my education,” and “Can’t afford $270.” Once at the fountain in the plaza outside Brotman Hall, the SQE members gave a series of speeches and led chants to draw attention to the upcoming vote.

“I was just walking to my car and I saw some posters and heard people speaking, so I’m just trying to see what’s going on over here,” said Lexi Germaine, a third year communications major who was drawn to the protest. “I don’t think that this increase is something that would necessarily directly affect me, as I’m scheduled to graduate next semester.

But it’s more about the principle. Even if it doesn’t directly affect me, I don’t

“

students Hyla Rachwal, a women’s gender & sexuality studies major, and psychology major Derynne Fuhrer as part of their senior internship project.

This event’s project, like 6,000 other Huddle groups around the U.S., was part of the “Ten Steps for Action in 100 Day Plan” set forth by The Women’s March organization to get people politically engaged and keep the march’s momentum going.

“All these issues were raised after the march – now what do we do?”

Fuhrer said.

Rachwal and Fuhrer wanted to create an open space with information and resources for students to have a concrete place to start from in their activism.

“We want students to know how they can be more involved, we want them to be more educated on our government, what they can do individually, we want them to be empowered,” Rachwal said.

Fuhrer was compelled to start this project because she felt it was irre-

sponsible for U.S. citizens to just sit and talk about human rights issues oppressed groups face instead of ac-

think that means that I should not say anything about it or not support the people who are saying things about it.”

ASI Senator-at-large Daniel Gomez and Vice President Logan Vournas were also in attendance, speaking in support of SQE and their cause.

“We’re working in solidarity [with SQE] when we plan actions like this, so we’re working together on this and actions on the 21st and the 22nd – the days of the vote,”Vournas said. “[ASI] passed a resolution against the tuition increase back when it first came out in November and recently just passed the opposing payment increase act, which is a way us in ASI can work with the legislature to create a sustainable funding model for the CSU system and higher education in general.”

The shared goal of stopping the tuition increase received a major boost when California Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva proposed Assembly Bill 393, the “Student Protection

Act” on Feb. 21. The bill would freeze tuition increases in the CSU system until 2020. Gomez and Vournas said that supporting the passage of this bill was now a key part of their strategy to prevent rising prices on student tuition.

In addition to SQE and ASI, members of Anakbayan Long Beach, an activist group for Filipino youth and students, also showed up to lend their support to the cause.

The group led a chant about reducing money spent on military expenses and promoting further investment in education.

“I don’t go to school here, but I’m born and raised in Long Beach,“ said Jedi Jimenez, the Vice Chair for Anakbayan. “All my friends are either in debt or paying it off. A lot of them are students here. Everybody’s in debt. Education should be free. It’s a human right . . . they should be investing in the lives of the future.”

“

CSULB students and staff come together to educate and mobilize their peers.

There are different things we can do to move forward, there’s no one way. We need to take several approaches to succeed.

-Hyla Rachwal, Women’s gender & sexuality studies major

tually doing something. She thinks that the U.S. will get to where we want to be by making issues important enough for people to want to take action.

“As a nation we have to care enough not to be complacent … it requires showing up and being engaged,” Fuhrer said.

CSULB Huddle also plans to partake in the postcard project called “Hear Our Voice,” established by The Women’s March to write letters and postcards to local representatives on the issues the community wishes to pursue.

Fuhrer brought up the issue of being a privileged person who wants to be an ally but doesn’t know how.

Being a white woman from South Africa, she said she had a hard time accepting she has privilege at the expense of oppression of others.

Fuhrer said that one has to fearlessly look at their own privilege and ask: “How do I show up for [people of color]?” and “How does my privilege allow me to show up and help?”.

“Something I am hoping to get out of this is that, as a white woman that shows up in intersectional spaces with other women and people of color, I would like to become more comfortable with where is there space for

FAST FACTS

CSULB HUDDLE Official meetings: • Open Dialogue, Guest Speakers March 8th, 15th, 22nd April 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th Final official meeting: • Film Screening and Lunch Celebration May 3rd Time • Noon to 1 p.m.

Place • Women’s & Gender Equity Center (WGEC) LA-1 Room 102

see HUDDLE, page 3

Connie Ojeda | Daily 49er

Protesters with the Students for Quality Education march to Brotman Hall on Wednesday at noon to stand against the potential tuition increase.

Cartoonists Wanted!

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NEWS 3

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INCLUSIVE

POLITICS

Russian contact revealed

continued from page 1

department through a student fee. This resolution would increase transparency on use of referendum funds.

The Beach Pride Referendum, which was approved in 2000, has had a controversial history since its inception. The referendum initially called for a $21 increase in student fees. During the fall semester of 2008, a different referendum dubbed the “Beach Legacy Referendum” was introduced and called for a $95 student fee increase.

The fee failed to pass by the student body in an online vote. But in 2011, the university president passed the $95 proposal under the Student Excellence Fee. ASI Executive Director Richard Haller introduced a senate resolution called “Resolution to Reevaluate the Beach Pride Referendum” in last week’s ASI meeting.

This would inform students of the fee and make sure that they want to continue paying for it.

According to Haller, a referendum must go through the Student Fee Advisory Committee, or it wouldn’t be binding.

One of the points in the resolution calls for a referendum to be conducted on May 3 and 4, dates that Haller fears are too “ambitious.”

A California State University systemwide executive order requires copies of a voter pamphlet to be available to students 30 days prior to the referendum.

Senator-at-large Daniel Gomez voiced his frustrations with the lateness of the referendum during the meeting. “The timing sucks,” Gomez said. “I’m just trying to figure out why we got this news so late.”

Also in the meeting, ASI President Marvin Flores reported that a subcommittee questioned the sale of alcohol on campus.

“Last homecoming, alumni were caught at the top floor of the parking structure and they were inebriated,” Flores said.

“The subcommittee created a policy to contain people who drink alcohol from getting hurt.”

Sessions spoke with Russian envoy during Trump’s 2016 campaign.

“Last year, the senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian, German and Russian ambassadors,” she said. “He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign - not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee.”

The revelation, reported earlier

by The Washington Post, has raised fresh questions about which Trump associates had contacts with Russian government officials during the presidential campaign and what was discussed.

It’s likely to intensify demands that Sessions recuse himself from investigations into Russian hacking in last year’s campaign.

By Chris Strohm Bloomberg News

WASHINGTON – U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions had conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. while he was a prominent surrogate for President Donald Trump’s election campaign, even though he said during his confirmation hearing that no contacts had occurred, the Justice Department confirmed late Wednesday.

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores portrayed the contacts that Sessions had with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak as part of his work as a senator rather than a surrogate for Trump’s campaign.

HUDDLE

continued from page 2 me to have an opinion and help as much as I can,” Fuhrer said.

Rachwal said she hopes to build a movement on campus that’s intersectional and not broken, one that includes people from all backgrounds and spaces.

“There are different things we can do to move forward, there’s no one way. We need to take several approaches to succeed,” Rachwal said.

Justin Sink contributed to this story

The Women’s and Gender Equity Center Coordinator, Pam Rayburn, explained that it is up to the current generation of students to make sure change happens in their community.

“Students need to recognize [their] part in this, it’s [their] civic duty. [They] have to feel compelled to be engaged,” Rayburn said.

Women’s gender & sexuality studies major student Aelexis Frutos said she knew the Women’s March indicated the start of something revolutionary, and she needed to do more to stay

involved in the activism movement.

“I felt [it] was a great start to something,” Frutos said. “This is historical.”

The introductory meeting was an informal talk consisting of separate envisioning activities and an information session about the events this month,Women’s History Month and on to the end of the semester.

Guest speakers from different departments on campus are scheduled to speak on Wednesday meeting days about different themes, like engaging in local

CSULB 2017

Three-Week Session May 22–June 9 (SSI)

www.ccpe.csulb.edu/intersession

government and media literacy.

Planned Parenthood representatives will speak on the future of the organization under the current administration, as well as reproductive health information sessions.

There will be nine official meetings from March to the end of the semester. The last one will be a film screening with a celebration lunch.

Rachwal stated that the gaps between meetings will be controlled by students. They can be about any topic, issue or event students are passionate about.

HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

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4 ARTS & LIFE

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VOLUNTEER

Changing the world one volunteer at a time The Peace Corps application workshop will take place today at 4 p.m. in the USU Building, Room 303.

By Sommer Dalton Staff Writer

The Peace Corps has been providing a way for volunteers to fully immerse themselves in the culture of another country since its establishment in 1961.

The mission of the organization has remained the same for 56 years — to promote world peace and friendship. Alben Phung, a former Cal State Long Beach graduate, is now bringing this goal closer to the CSULB campus.

Phung served two years in the Peace Corps while working in Ethiopia as an agriculture and environment developer.

He now works as a Peace Corps recruiter with the Center for International Education on campus. His office is located in the Career Development Center, where students can ask questions and get a better understanding on what the Peace Corps is looking for in its applicants.

Information sessions and application workshops are also being offered for students to help clear up some of the common questions and concerns surrounding the organization.

Caterina Araiza, a senior international studies major at CSULB, had expressed interest in joining the Peace Corps at one point in her life. Araiza says that although it seems like an amazing experience, the timing to join would not be right at this point.

“Where I am in my life, I’ve already done my exploration and I’m ready to move on to a career,” Araiza said. “If I was in my early 20s and still figuring things out, it sounds like a great opportunity to travel and see a part of the world that you normally wouldn’t.”

Timing is everything when it comes to making a decision such as joining the Peace Corps. The organization requires a two-year commitment from its volunteers, who receive benefits after their service is complete.

These benefits include a readjustment allowance of $8,000 upon return, reduced tuition for graduate

Creative Commons

school, professional skills such as learning a language that can be applied to future jobs and more.

Penelope Orellana, a sophomore Illustration major at CSULB, attended one of the information meetings on campus to get a better idea about what joining the Peace Corps entailed.

“I’ve been interested in the Peace Corps before but I didn’t know how to apply or what I had to do to get in,” Orellana said. “So, I came to the meeting to get more information.”

Orellana has a desire to travel and learn about different cultures. She sees the Peace Corps as a great opportunity to help people and after attending the meeting, sees it as something she might pursue in the future.

“I’m interested but I think I’m going to wait a little before going forward,” Orellana said. “Two years away is a little too much for me right now, but in

the future I may be more open to it. Seeing the pictures and knowing that there’s a completely different culture with a different calendar and a different year they follow is really cool to me.”

Peace Corps at CSULB will be hosting other events throughout the month of March, one of them being an application workshop held today in the USU Building, room 303 from 4 - 5 p.m.

Another upcoming event is the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Panel Stories on March 9th, which is one that Phung says students still on the fence about joining should attend.

The event will feature three returning Peace Corps volunteers who will speak about their experiences serving in Costa Rica, the Philippines and Tanzania.

Two of the speakers are alumni and one is an economics professor at CSULB.

live music calendar

FAST FACTS

PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER SERVICE FIELDS • Agriculture • Community economic development • Education • Environment • Health • Youth in development

By Jason Enns

Arts & Life Editor

Go watch live music. In the words of Shia LaBeouf, “Do it.” Really, do it. Here’s a calendar with everything you need to know to… do it.

Thursday Listen Long Beach— Songwriters (featuring Alyssandra Nighswonger, Heather Sommerhauser, Kurt Hunter, Taylor Crawford, Dustin Robinson, Madison Douglas, Jesse MacLeod and Shannon Brackett) The Prospector 2400 E 7th St Long Beach, CA 90804 $5 9 p.m.

Friday John Surge & the Haymakers First Fridays 4321 Atlantic Ave, Long Beach, California 90807 FREE 6:30 p.m.

Saturday

Sunday

White Fang Feels Chief White Lightning The Pesos Crimewave 5150

Shitty Petty - Tom Petty tribute Too Tough 2 Die - Ramones tribute Vampirates

The Packard Long Beach 205 Anaheim, Long Beach, California 90813 $12 8 p.m.

Alex’s Bar 2913 E Anaheim St, Long Beach, CA 90804 $7 8 p.m.

ARTS & LIFE 5

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017 DAILY49ER.COM | ARTSNLIFED49ER@GMAIL.COM CSULB

The hidden world of CSULB’s shrinking cat colonies Even with lower numbers, colonies of feral cats still roam the grounds that are cared for by community volunteers.

By Adam R. Thomas Staff Writer

Most students attending Cal State Long Beach spend their days on campus rushing along the grounds in a flurry of motion. With this regular stream of activity, it can be easy to miss the fact that all of the people who occupy CSULB on the daily are in fact sharing it with other living creatures.

No, I’m not just referring to CSULB’s remarkably plump squirrel population that will bug you for a bit of that cookie you picked up at the Beach Hut. Rather, there’s another animal population that most students know almost nothing about: a shrinking colony of feral cats.

If you’re surprised, well that makes sense. The cats don’t come out in the day, but the night. They are mostly nocturnal animals after all.

When CSULB was built in 1949, it was constructed over what used to be the Bixby family ranch. The Bixby ranch once had a decent sized group of cats to catch mice, and even though classrooms went up over their prior owners’ land, they never left. By 2008, there were estimates that the total population of feral cats numbered past 200, according to Dorothy Burstein, a retired teacher who comes to CSULB every day to feed and care for the remaining colonies of kitties.

Graphic illustration by Stephanie Hak

“I have a feeling that the cats that live on campus are smarter than your average domestic cat,” Burstein says. “Their ability to survive is amazing.”

Burstein knows a lot about the oft-invisible colonies of cats on campus. Burstein drives to CSULB every day of the week, doing her rounds filling up several hidden feeding stations on campus, one of the last members of the now defunct Beach Cats club.

While there have been community and campus clubs that have existed on campus since the 1980’s, it wasn’t until 2008 that the Beach Cats club was officially formalized to feed, water and manage the

campus cat population.

“I just enjoy it,” says Burstein. “It’s a charity, a volunteer thing. I don’t get any tax deduction for it, and the cats don’t call me up. It’s a totally giving thing, that nobody thanks you for. But I get a great pleasure taking care of these creatures that just as soon wouldn’t have me around.”

Burstein started volunteering her time in 2007 and had a route of tending to numerous stations that fed and watered 100 cats when she first started. These days, she attends five stations which take care of around 20 cats — roughly half the current population of 40 cats on campus by her estimation.

“There used to be complaints, in part because the cats would pee in or near air vents,” said Mary Stephens, the Vice President of Administration and Finance at CSULB. “Now, the population is down to such a manageable level that these problems have ceased.”

In 2010, the Beach Cats club started a “Trap-Neuter-Return” program that effectively began managing the then exploding growth of the kitty population. It’s been shrinking ever since.

But even though the feral cat colonies are smaller and the volunteers make a concerted effort to spay and neuter them, the colony can grow due to students and neighbors abandoning them.

“I think there will always be cats because irresponsible people abandon their cats here,” Burstein said. “They couldn’t bear the idea of euthanizing their cats, couldn’t find homes for them and they thought they’d be safe here. But it’s very unsafe for a tame cat, because of the coyotes.”

When this happens, Burstein and the other volunteers work hard to find homes for the felines.

Though they haven’t had to do this in a while, Burstein herself still has three cats she rescued from CSULB. “We don’t want the cat community getting any larger,” Stephens said. “But we have to be humane.

The volunteers are doing the right thing in keeping the population manageable. And in that we [at CSULB] support them.”

While CSULB doesn’t spend any money to aid Burstein and the five other volunteers that keep up a vigil of care for these stray animals, they don’t need to. Folks like Dorothy Burstein spend their time, and even if you can’t see them, for the remaining cats on campus that’s more than enough.

6 OPINIONS

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IMMIGRATION

Traveling in a time of bans and borders While undocumented and racialized peoples are targeted

by ICE and Border Patrol, American citizens continue to vacation in their countries of origin.

BOARDING PASS

CSU 49

I

Departure Gate

S17

» Young travellers are not likely to give way to

economic problems, epidemics or political unrest.

Seat Number

· Fewer job openings can even encourage them to travel

36A

or obtain work experience abroad.

Source: Trekk Soft; Infographic by Stephanie Hak

there are refugees suffering abroad (because of you are staying critical of your behaviour. I hope U.S. intervention in the Middle East, Mexico, Latyou are researching the communities you visit, in America, etc.) who are being denied access into preferably on a historical continuum — not just America? the local tourism.

When children’s parents are arrested by ICE, I hope you understand that the reason you are and they are left wondering when they will see able to enjoy the food in Oaxaca or the beaches their mothers and fathers of Boracay is paid in part by again. When students are hundreds of years of colonial wondering if they will be violence and imperialism. deported at school. When But, good job on saving all “foreigners” are being targetof that money for your airMy conscience is too weak ed by the likes of piss-beer fare and hotel — don’t forget with empathy to justify drinking, cotton-hooded, your SPF 50 sun screen. the weight of luggage and white terrorists — we conNo, I have never been to souvenirs. tinue to book flights, downMexico. Because my mother load language apps and bask can not go back. in the glory of culture and For safety, for solidarity, modernity? for those silenced and weary My conscience is too and longing for their home weak with empathy to justify away from home — I can not the weight of luggage and souvenirs. go.

As for my peers who do not live in fear and conYes, there are plenty of “naturalized” citizens tinue to travel, especially south of the border, or who work hard and travel, either back to their to countries which are risque in order to expand home countries or beyond. their horizons and chase expensive thrills: I hope But the privilege that is attached to assimilation

“

Daily 49er Miranda Andrade-Ceja Managing Editor managingd49er@gmail.com

· 49% will say “I or my family deserve it.” · 31% would spend more for their health and well-being.

“

don’t tell people I have only crossed state lines once in my life because I am ashamed.

Not of myself, though. Not of the low-income life that I have known and grown into, which denies such luxuries as twenty-hour flights to Saigon or Sweden.

Shame comes in many forms; but what I find most overwhelmingly shameful about the nuisance which people call “wanderlust,” is the lack of compassion felt for local communities made impoverished by the post-colonial act of travel.

No, I don’t plan on going abroad anytime soon.

In fact, I’ve only been to Oregon once for a family event – which I mostly dreaded.

And as you read this, I will be on a plane to San Francisco, heading to a journalism conference I didn’t think I would be able to attend because of my tight work schedule.

Not only does this trip come as an inconvenience for work and school, but it comes at a time when the privilege of American citizenship is most valuable.

Even domestic flights are not safe from the crackdown on immigration, apparently. Last week, Customs and Border Patrol refused to let anyone off a Delta plane that landed in New York without checking their identification, reports an article by Gothamist.

Passenger Matt O’Rouke specified that a flight attendant on board announced, “Please have your papers ready,” several times, which disconcerted passengers.

CPB officials maintained that they were assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the persecution of someone who had a criminal background and that the behaviour was not unusual.

The incident, as the article suggests, is a result of the travel ban implemented by President Donald Trump’s administration.

I know.

We can’t stop talking about immigration.

But how am I supposed to go abroad when

Editor-in-Chief eicd49er@gmail.com

» Amidst people who plan a travel budget increase:

Flight Number

Opinions Editor

Micayla Vermeeren

Travel & Tourism Statistics of 2016

John Doe

By Hanna Suarez

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

The opinions of the Daily 49er are expressed only in unsigned editorials and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the journalism department or the views of all staff members. All such editorials are written by the editorial board of the Daily 49er.

allows for people to be complacent and insensitive when it comes to travel, contributing to the exotification of countries with vacation destinations.

There is something very telling the fact thatsearch engine entries for vacations offer the “safest places in the Middle East.”

Or as Forbes documents in a December clickbait article titled The 21 Best Budget Travel Destinations For 2017, “Northern Vietnam is where the most sensational scenery and culture can be found. Rice terraces, towering mountains, twisting roads and ethnic minority people all add to the adventure.”

When you book your budget flight and gaze upon wide, rural landscapes, note the “ethnic minority people.”

Note the ebb and flow. And appreciate the work and toil on land which you have deemed paradise.

Use your travel journal to jot down any similarities you might find with your own home town, and question the conditions you find yourself in: What are the people like? Are they happy, and would you welcome them, the way they have so graciously welcomed you?

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SPORTS 7

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SOFTBALL UPCOMING GAMES:

VS. When: Today, 12:30 p.m.

Where: Fullerton

VS. When: Today, 5:30 p.m.

Where: Fullerton

VS. When: Saturday, 2:30 p.m.

Where: Fullerton

Junior catcher Lauren MacLeod attempts to block Utah infielder Anissa Urtez from scoring Feb. 19.

Jose De Castro | Daily 49er

SOFTBALL

The Beach heads to CSUF LBSU looks to get its offense on track when it faces some tough competition this week in Fullerton

By Zulema Suarez Staff Writer

After some rough losses, the Long Beach State softball team will make it a point to keep its composure and roll with the punches when it heads to Fullerton this week.

Julia Lombardi, junior infielder, said, “I think we just let the pressure get to us a little bit these last games, and this week we’ve definitely been talking a lot about being relaxed, staying calm and having the same approach in every at bat as we would against a top ranked team or an average team.”

Head coach Kim Sowder agrees that the team needs to stay focused on their perfor-

mance, rather than the team they’re playing against.

“We’re just trying to build on our confidence as a team and really trying to play to the best of our abilities and stay focused on ourselves and not get caught up in who we’re playing,” Sowder said. “We don’t need to add any extra pressure because of our opponents.”

Junior catcher Lauren Macleod added, “[We’re building from these last games by] staying relaxed, staying within our own team and having each other’s backs no matter what.

We need to focus on not playing as individuals and instead playing as one unit.”

Macleod was also able to provide insight on how the 49ers prepare to face such tough teams.

“We try to address what the pitchers are going to throw, hitting-wise,” MacLeod said.

“Our pitching coach also tries to learn what their hitters are going to do...But, other than that, we stick to the same routines we normally have.”

Coach Sowder commented on the team’s weakness as well.

“We really need to clean up our defense,”

MENʼS VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE 3/3 - 4/15

Date

Opponent/Event

Location

March 1 March 3 March 10 March 11 March 17 March 18 March 24 March 24 March 25 March 29 March 30

vs. UC Irvine UC San Diego George Mason Loyola Cal State Northridge Sacred Heart at BYU at BYU vs. Concordia vs. CSUN MPSF Tournament

Walter Pyramid Walter Pyramid Walter Pyramid Walter Pyramid Northridge Gold Mine Provo Provo Walter Pyramid Walter Pyramid TBD

Schedule Key

Home Event

Away Event

Time 7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

5 p.m.

5 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

TBD ^ Exhibition Event

Sowder said. “That’s something we’d like to see improvement on and be a lot more consistent with. Our hitting is going to come and go as any offense does but our defense needs to improve. It definitely was a difference maker in the game we should’ve won and the game we did win. We’re really learning from our mistakes.”

Although the team has had some tough losses, Sowder mentioned how the team can get better from learning from those games.

“We are focusing on getting stronger as a team and dealing with adversity, having good at bats and dealing with pressure situations,” Sowder added. “I feel like we didn’t stick to our routines in pressure situations and we took ourselves out of the at bat. We didn’t hit the way we hit all the time; we made the moment bigger and we can’t do that. Every at bat [has] an opportunity to make a difference in the game.”

The Beach will be up against Fresno State and Florida on today starting at 12:30 p.m. On Saturday, the team will take on Michigan State at 2:30 and on Sunday they’ll battle Indiana State and South Carolina for the wins beginning at 9 a.m. in Fullerton.

VS. When: Sunday, 9 a.m.

Where: Fullerton

VS. When: Sunday, 2 p.m.

Where: Fullerton

VS. When: March 9, 11:30 a.m.

Where: LBSU Softball Complex

VS. When: March 9, 2 p.m.

Where: LBSU Softball Complex

TRACK & FIELD SCHEDULE 3/4 - 3/30 Date March 4 March 10 March 11 March 17 March 18 March 18 March 23 March 24 March 25 March 29 March 30

Opponent/Event vs. UCLA Ben Brown Invitational Ben Brown Invitational USC Trojan Invite Baldy Castillo Invitational USC Trojan Invitational UCR Spring Break Decathlon/Heptathlon UCR Spring Break Heptathlon/Decathlon

UCR Spring Break Invitational Texas Relays Texas State Bobcat Invitational

Schedule Key

Home Event

Location

Time

Jack Rose Track Fullerton Fullerton Los Angeles Tempe Los Angeles Riverside Riverside Riverside Austin San Marcos, Texas Away Event

All Day All Day All Day All Day All Day All Day All Day All Day All Day All Day All Day

^ Exhibition Event

8 SPORTS

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017 DAILY49ER.COM | SPORTSD49ER@GMAIL.COM

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Men’s volleyball wins ninth straight game

Long Beach State defeats UC Irvine 3-1 Wednesday night at Walter Pyramid.

By Monica Gallardo Staff Writer

After going undefeated for the entirety of February, the Long Beach State men’s volleyball team started off the month of March with a win over No. 6 UCI at the Walter Pyramid, 25-16, 2522, 27-25 and 25-15.

“The most enjoyable part of coaching this team is their ability to come to the gym and truly want to get better,” coach Alan Knipe said. “Our guys will already have watched some video individually and know there’s some things they want to work on individually and we’ll also have some collective things.

And when you get that culture going in the program, there’s a lot of good things that can happen.”

The 49ers (15-2, 11-1 MPSF) cruised to victory in set one by a margin of nine.

LBSU never looked back after Amir Lugo-Rodriguez started off the game with a kill down the middle and held UCI to an overall hitting percentage of 42. The Anteaters nearly caught up with a score of 13-8, but a block by Lugo-Rodriguez and setter Josh Tuaniga garnered momentum for the 49ers, who eventually took the set 25-16.

Set two proved to be more of a match as the Anteaters (11-6, 8-5 MPSF) took the first point after a kill by outside hitter Thomas Hodges. The 49ers never trailed the set by more than four

Bobby Yagake | Daily 49er

Long Beach State sophomore outside hitter TJ DeFalco attempts to spike the ball past UCI senior outside hitter Thomas Hodges and freshman middle blocker Scott Stadick. points and took a late lead after a kill by outside hitter TJ DeFalco tied it at 20. LBSU then took the lead and the set after an attack error by setter Michael Saeta ended it at 25-22.

LBSU took the early lead in set three by an error, once again courtesy of Saeta, but the Anteaters soon took the lead and let the 49ers regain control just once. Despite eight attack errors by UCI, the 49ers could not catch up to the

Anteaters, causing them to lose set four 27-25 and the possibility of a sweep.

The 49ers looked like a No. 2 team again in set four, taking it 25-15 and never letting the Anteaters tie the game or take the lead. A hitting percentage of .542, compared to the Anteaters’ .087, gave LBSU a comfortable set win and its ninth-straight victory.

Outside hitter Kyle Ensing ended the game with 14 kills and 17 points.

“We feel pretty confident as a team, we’re all clicking and our transition number is very high and I think that’s what’s getting our wins going for us,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any different strategies to it. I think it’s just how we’ve been doing it so far and keep moving on.”

The 49ers were able to bounce back and their resilience has improved.

“There’s no doubt the response was

good and more importantly it came a lot from the defense side and that is exactly what makes your offense a little bit better,” Knipe said. “You look at our hitting number on the fourth set ...and everything felt a little more comfortable. I certainly like the things that we’re doing.”

The 49ers will be at the Pyramid again on Friday at 7 p.m. to host UC San Diego.

BASEBALL

Dirtbags play KT Wiz at Blair LBSU hosts exhibition game against Korean Baseball Organization team Wednesday night.

By Luke Ramirez

Assistant Sports Editor

Jose De Castro | Daily 49er

Sunggon Jung gave up seven hits and three runs as the KT Wiz defeated the Dirtbags 8-4 during an exhibition game at Blair Field Wednesday.

Wednesday night at Blair Field was no ordinary home game for the Long Beach State Dirtbags, who faced KT Wiz, a professional baseball team from Suwon, South Korea for an exhibition game.

The visiting team showcased pitchers with slow windups, hitters with softball-style slap hitting technique and lots of red baseball gloves and bats.

“Tonight was a good opportunity for our guys,” head coach Troy Buckley said.

“Regardless of what country they come from, playing good teams is always going to benefit our guys.”

KT Wiz won the game 8-4 against the Dirtbags, who had 11 hits but had three errors.

“I thought they threw strikes, played catch, and ran the bases very well,” said Buckley. “It was good to play [KT Wiz] and get some new guys on the field and see what they could do.”

This was the first time the Dirtbags

have played an exhibition game against the Wiz – who were founded in 2013 and stand as the newest team in Korean Baseball Organization. LBSU has played two games about professional Korean teams in the last three years, the most recent being against the NC Dinos in 2015.

The Wiz have been training and playing exhibition games in the U.S. for the last two weeks and will fly back to Korea on March 9.

KT Wiz’s starting pitcher was righthander Kwon Ju, who will be a part of the Chinese national team in this year’s World Baseball Classic.

“Most of our players dream of playing in the MLB,” KT Wiz Travel Secretary Patrick Choi said. “They have been very impressed by the fields they have trained on and by the competition they have played.”

The Wiz have traveled from Tucson to southern California, playing games against college and professional opponents.

“The college baseball atmosphere at Long Beach is very good,” Choi said.

“Tonight’s game was special to our players.”

Buckley gave the usual starting nine players a night off on the bench to enjoy the display of Asian-style baseball.

“They do everything the right way,” junior pitcher Darren McCaughan said.

KT Wiz had a big inning in the top of the fourth, scoring five runs on five hits and one error against freshman pitcher Dylan Spacke.

LBSU scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run single by freshman catcher Ryan Mendoza that came with bases loaded and no outs. Though it won’t count towards his official stats, Mendoza recorded his first hit and RBI’s in the season.

The Dirtbags will travel to North Carolina to play the Tar Heels in a three game series Feb. 3-5. McCaughan will take the mound against the Heels LBSU scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run single by freshman catcher Ryan Mendoza that came with bases loaded and no outs. Though it won’t count towards his official stats, Mendoza recorded his first hit and RBI’s in the season.

Freshman pitcher Tyler Lawson had the performance of the night, coming in for the Dirtbags and throwing four quality innings: 4.0 IP, 0R, 2H, 4K. “I was excited to make my first outing as a Dirtbag tonight,” Lawson said.

“They battled up there against me. I had to keep fighting deep in counts and they made me earn every out I got out there tonight.”

The Dirtbags( 4-4) will travel to North Carolina to play the No. 13 ranked Tar Heels (7-0) Feb. 3-5.