DAILY 49ER California State University, Long Beach
Vol. LXVII, Issue 86
www.daily49er.com
Madness begins The Long Beach State men’s and women’s basketball teams wrapped their seasons up on Saturday with both teams heading into the Big West Tournament riding winning streaks. The women’s team enters the tourney as the No. 3 seed after its second consecutive 20-win season. The men’s team also enters its tournament as the No. 3 seed after winning nine of its last 10 games.
Monday, March 7, 2016
Getting to the point The university will hold an open forum after a student pulled a knife in class. By Ariana Sawyer News Editor
By Will Hernandez
By Grester Celis-Acosta
The Long Beach State men’s basketball team overcame an 11-point, second-half deficit to defeat Hawai’i 74-72 Saturday to finish the regular season 18-3 and 12-4 in the conference. After knocking off Hawai’i for a second straight time, the 49ers finished the season winning nine of their last 10 games. With that type of momentum, LBSU head coach Dan Monson said he likes the team’s chances going into the tourney.
The Long Beach State women’s basketball team finished its regular season 23-7 after defeating UC Davis 74-64 on Thursday and Cal State Northridge 79-69 on Saturday. The 49ers also finished 12-4 in the Big West, winning their last five games heading into their Big West Tournament opener on Wednesday as the No. 3 seed. LBSU and Hawai’i ended the season tied for second place in the con-
Vice President of Student Affairs Carmen Taylor invited Cal State Long Beach students in an email Friday to an open forum Thursday to discuss campus safety concerns after a student brandished a knife in class. The forum will be the first in a series, Taylor said. The administration’s effort to reach out came after students took to social media over the last several days to criticize the university’s lack of communication regarding the Feb. 25 incident in which a 20-year-old male student “displayed” a knife to a female student in a sociology class on race, class and gender. Much of the criticism stemmed from the fact that the altercation was not disclosed to the campus community in a timely warning email, and that the incident was perceived to have been racially motivated. “A careful assessment of [perceptions of race in] the reported event bears further scrutiny,” CSULB President Jane Close Conoley said Sunday in an email. The student was asked to leave, and the rest of the class was cancelled, according to Terri Carbaugh, a university spokesperson with the Office of Public Affairs. Whether the student is still on campus remains unclear. According to Conoley, who addressed the incident at last Thursday’s Academic Senate meeting, a timely warning was not issued, but she acknowledged that there should be a system to present the information to students. She refuted claims on social media that there was another incident with the same person last week. “The timely warning was not issued because according to the protocol of the threat assessment, there was no clear and present danger to this campus,” Conoley said at the meeting. “This is based on a protocol we use in every single incident on campus.” Conoley said University Police cleared the student to carry the knife on campus. “That doesn’t take away from the perception the people in the class had,” Conoley said. “This student did go and ask: ‘May I carry this?’ And he was told ‘Yes,’ so, in his experience — that’s what I’ve been told; this will be investigated.” Campus standards of conduct section 41301: b, 13, state that students may not bring knives to campus unless they are approved by the campus president. However, the president said she has delegated this task to CSULB Chief of Police Fernando Solarzano. “I’ve done this so the police can investigate the situation that might be causing a student to feel unsafe,” Conoley said in an email. “I’m not able to do that with any expertise, but our University PD can accomplish this with great skill. When the police chief works with a student about a unique situation, he can better assess whether the student should be allowed to have a weapon. He can also offer advice, protection, and prevention efforts to keep the student safe.” Conoley said she regretted not sending an email out right away and called it a “lesson learned.” “I would say to any student, you don’t need to bring anything that looks like a knife, acts like a knife to a class, alright?” Conoley said at the Academic Senate meeting.
see HAWAI’I, page 8
see FINALE, page 8
see KNIFE, page 3
Bobby Yagake | Daily 49er
LBSU guard Nick Faust goes up against Hawai’i guard Sai Tummala in the 49ers’ two-point win over the Rainbow Warriors on Saturday inside the Walter Pyramid.
Mainland fever
Hot out West
The 49ers shot 42.9 percent from downtown as they handed Hawai’i its first road loss in conference play Saturday.
The 49ers picked up a pair of 10-point wins to close out their regular season as the No. 3 seed in the conference.
Assistant Sports Editor
News 2
L alig Tarbinian | Daily 49er
Junior forward Madison Montgomery looks to go up and score in LBSU’s win over UC Davis on Thursday inside the Walter Pyramid.
Staff Writer
Arts & Life 5
Opinions 6
Sports 7