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University to host event discussing gender in Jain traditions
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BY JOSHUA FLORES Contributor
The second annual conference in Jain Studies will examine different aspects and roles of gender, with a focus on Jain thought and tradition, through keynote speakers, roundtable discussions and presentations from April 6 to April 8.
and the role of gender from the textual sources to contemporary lived tradition.”
The conference is sponsored by a grant from the Uberoi Foundation for Religious Studies, allowing the conference to be more expansive and comprehensive. Last year’s conference had about 500 people in attendance over the three days. This year’s turnout is expected to surpass last year’s, according to Bothra.
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The first day of the conference will be held at the Jain Center of Southern California in Buena Park, from noon to 5 p.m., where attendees will receive a tour of the temple. The following two days will be at the Anna W. Ngai Alumni Center on campus, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
“Jainism is actually a religion from India, and according to Jains, it’s as old as any other religion in India,” Shivani Bothra, assistant professor of religious studies and Bhagwan Suvidhinath Endowed Chair in Jain Studies said. “Jains follow the teachings of Jinas, who are also called the Tirthankaras, the word Jain comes from Jinas.”
In Jainism, a Jina is an individual who conquered their desires and achieved spiritual enlightenment and Moksha or liberation from Samsāra, the life, death and rebirth cycle.
Jains preach nonviolence, non-materialism and open-mindedness. These three tenets are referred to as Ahimsa, Aparigraha and Anekantavada.
“We are exploring with a fresh insight about how gender is being analyzed, how gender is being proposed, what are the perspectives on gender and how gender is perceived within the Jain tradition,” Mehta said. “We have speakers that also look at religion from different points of view… sociological, animal rights, veganism, LGBTQ.”
Speakers include Long Beach State students Caitlin Below and Eric Magdaleno.
CSULB is only one of two schools in the CSU system to have an endowed chair dedicated to Jain studies.
“The scholars who are coming for this conference are all distinguished scholars of Jain studies from different universities in America and some from outside of America,” Bothra said. “There are emeritus and distinguished professors who will be examining the whole about looking at gender as a useful category for Jain discussion.”
Sophia Pandya, professor and department chair of Religious Studies and co-director of the Beach Pluralism Project, will also be speaking at the event, conducting a welcome speech and moderating a discussion on gender.
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“Jains have the idea of three genders. It’s not just a [polarity] of feminine and masculine, but there is also an understanding of third gender, which is also translated sometimes as hermaphrodite,” Bothra said. “So this conference basically reimagines gender from the perspective that the rules of gender has been changing with times…
land acknowlEdgmEnt
“Students learn something. The Jain tradition may be small, but the significance of the ideas of Jainism align with what we at Cal State Long Beach believe in,” Pandya said. “It’s an extraordinary event, one of a kind, with so many experts in a field in one place.”
Here at the Long Beach Current we acknowledge that the school we report on is located on the sacred site of Puvungna, “the gathering place”. We are on the land of the Tongva/ Gabrieleño and the Acjachemen/Juaneño Nations who have lived and continue to live here.
We also acknowledge the Gabrieleño/Tongva (pronounced: GABRIEL-EN-YO/TONG – VAH) and Acjachamen/Juaneño (pronounced: AH-HACH-AH-MEN/JUAN-EN-YO) as the traditional custodians of the Los Angeles region along with the Chumash (pronounced: CHOO-MOSH) to the north and west, and the Tataviam (pronounced: TAH-TAH-VEE-YUM) and Cahuilla (pronounced: KAH-WEE-YAH) Nations to the east.
We respect and value the many ways the Tongva/Acjachemen cultural heritage and beliefs continue to have significance to the living people and remind us about the sacred and spiritual relationship that has always existed here at what we now call California State University Long Beach.
Editorials: All opinions expressed in the columns, letters and cartoons in the issue are those of the writers or artists. The opinons of the Long Beach Current 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 Long Beach Current.
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Students and faculty rally together for back-to-back protests
BY NASAI RIVAS & JUSTIN ENRIQUEZ News Assistant & Photo Assistant
Long Beach State students, faculty and campus organizations gathered for back-to-back rallies focusing on university divestment, budget cuts and support for undocumented students.
Students for Quality Education attended Wednesday’s march, along with the Long Beach Chapter of the California Faculty Association and La F.U.E.R.Z.A.
Tuesday’s protesters marched from the quad to Brotman Hall, opposing the university’s ties with defense contractors. Organizers instructed demonstrators to avoid interacting with or antagonizing counter-protesters and engaging with administrators or the press. Protestors were also encouraged to cover their faces with masks.
Wednesday’s group marched from the upper quad to the front doors of the Office of the President in Brotman Hall.
Once there, members taped a list of demands for President Jane Close Conoley on the office’s glass doors.
Luis Ortiz, a communication studies major and one of the media liaisons for the rally and march, said the march was powerful and unified students and clubs of different backgrounds.
“We are all united under this; we are all against budget cuts, we are all against the cutting of ethnic studies, we are all against austerity measures, we are all here for a free education and we are al l here, of course, for undocumented students and our undocumented community,” Ortiz said.
Assistant Professor of Sociology and CFA Member Rob Chlala spoke with the Current before the march.
He said students are feeling targeted and threatened not only by the federal government but also administration.
“[CFA] is here to stand with them, to make them know faculty is by their side, and the campus is exactly the right place to express themselves,” Chlala said.
He said his concern is for vulnerable students. According to Chala, students who are undocumented or have green cards or visas are in a vulnerable place
due to the Trump administration.
“We still haven’t seen evidence that our university administration is actually gonna take proactive measures to protect people from that,” Chlala said. “We see a lot of general talk about ICE on campus and protecting undocumented students, but when it comes to specific action like that, we don’t see anything.”
Ortiz said he wants to make sure the college has a more robust response to ICE during the upcoming fall semester.
“[They need] to do everything they can to make sure ICE is deterred,” Ortiz said. “We need a community response team to deter ICE.”
He added it is essential for them to protest to showcase the university’s fault in failing to educate people on the university’s ICE protocol and to highlight the clampdown on “Free Palestine” student activists from the Trump administration.
Alyssa D., 20, a second-year journalism major and the group’s second media liaison, said the CSU system is cracking down on student activism on campus due to the revised Time, Place and Manner policy.
“[TPM] really infringes on our right
to free speech,” Alyssa D. said.
Despite the current TPM policy, Alyssa D. said students have been calling for a rally or protests on campus for undocumented students and faculty.
“That’s why I am here today—to support them and to show that we are not gonna let admin keep us quiet,” Alyssa D. said.
According to the TPM policy, Brotman Hall—the final stop during Tuesday’s march—is a non-public space.
In an email response to the Current, Student Affairs Vice President Beth Lesen said any person believed to have violated the TPM policy will be notified.
“The university respects the rights of campus community members to engage in lawful expressive activity on campus within the rules and regulations of the viewpoint-neutral TPM policy,” Lesen said.
Ortiz said the protest was peaceful. “We kept it peaceful; this is not a violent demonstration whatsoever. We were here because we wanted to give our demands to our president,” Ortiz said.
News Assistant Ethan Cohen contributed to this story.
Protest Media Liaison Luis Ortiz leads the students in a chant as the group make their way to Brotman Hall.
Photo credit: JUSTIN ENRIQUEZ / Long Beach Current
Ten million dollar donation expected to help establish M.A. in translation, interpreting
BY MAYRA SALAZAR News Asssitant
The Clorinda Donato Center for Global Romance Languages and Translation Studies received a $10 million gift from Mario Giannini to establish a master’s degree in translation and interpreting.
“It’s a pretty momentous gift,” Donato Center Director, Italian and French professor and the center’s namesake, Clorinda Donato said. “The donor has stuck with us and has really been excited about all the things that we’ve done.”
She said the $10 million donation will largely go towards student scholarships but will also provide infrastructure, support, licenses and software to keep the center up to date.
“The students are super excited because $10 million is a lot of money, so people stood up and noticed,” Donato said. “It does speak to the fact that there is something unique going on here.”
She said both the donor and the university have recognized the progress the center has made.
She recalls it took many years to get the piece of the building where the Donato Center is located. So it has taken a lot of groundwork to prepare for the future of the center and program.
“There aren’t many Translation Studies programs in the United States, even in California where the industry is currently booming,” Ana Gabriela Gonzalez Meade, lecturer of audiovisual translation and localization in Translation Studies, said.
She said catering to the current needs of audiovisual content is necessary to have an additional set of skills that only a postgraduate program can provide.
“We need U.S. linguists to become certified translators, who know how to do the job whether they want to do the translation for subbing or dubbing, there’s a lot of work,” Meade said.
The Translation and Interpreting Masters of Arts degree at Long Beach State would be the first of its kind in the CSU system and will be joining few pro-
grams in the state.
“I think it’s really relevant for a California-based university to offer a master’s program for translation,” Gonzalez said.
The program will also provide students with practical, hands-on experience so the transition from school to interpreting or translation work is smoother.
“A lot of students don’t know that being a translator or being an interpreter is an actual career path,” Manuel Romero, Donato Center associate director and Translation Studies lecturer said.
He said the master’s degree is going to be 36 units, over five semesters with exposure to more topics than the Translation Studies Certificate, and through the electives of the program, students will be able to specialize a bit more. A
student can choose the translation or interpreting track.
“When you are able to advertise a degree program that has quality, uniqueness and scholarships, it’s very attractive,” Donato said.
According to Romero, at the master’s degree level, there will be between 10-15 scholarships, both full scholarships and partial scholarships.
“We’ll have to wait and see how many applications we get and we’ll have to make the decision whether we want to help as many people as possible or have a selection process,” Romero said.
Lahoucine Boumahdy, a Fulbright scholar and PhD student in the field of audiovisual translation, said being part of the center and its different expertise helped him tremendously.
“To me, being here, it was life-chang-
ing I know that’s a sentence people say a lot but I mean it,” Boumahdy said. “I came here and got to work at the Donato Center and under the supervision of Ana, being able to get that perspective and help need for the PhD, especially on the theoretical grounds was important.”
He said they have all different expertise that will give anyone visiting the opportunity to do research in any field they want and how diversity is so important in bringing the program to becoming as vibrant as it is.
The Master of Arts degree program in translation and interpreting will be established by fall 2026.
“Hopefully, we’re going to be building the generation of scholars who will be the professors of this discipline in other U.S. universities which there is a need for,” Donato said.
Photo credit: MAYRA SALAZAR/Long Beach Current
From left: Manuel Romero, Ana Gabriela Gonzalez Meade, Clorinda Donato and Lahoucine Boumahdy at the Donato Center located in LA1.
Events and Outreach Coordinator for the Society of Women in Business, Daisy Guzman Navarrete believes the impact of the drive is to make sure that the women in the shelters know they are receiving help and “to make it at least a little bit better.”
Campus donation drive supplies aid for women in need
BY NI BALINESS Contributor
Shirts, socks, pants, warm clothes and feminine hygiene products, for “people that need it, and deserve it.”
These were the items students from Long Beach State’s Black Business Student Association and the Society of Women in Business collected to support local women in need, according to BBSA Director Ryley Oxford.
“The mission of the drive was one, to connect and do something for women’s month, as well as give back to our community as we are Long Beach State students,” Oxford said.
The drive, which ran from March 3 to
26, asked students to drop donations off right outside of the Associated Business Students Organizations Council room 241 in the College of Business.
Although Oxford noted that places like Goodwill can provide clothing to women in need, they think women in shelters should have the opportunity to receive new clothes.
For the three weeks the drive ran, Oxford said the donations poured in with an overwhelming amount of clothing.
Despite this success in clothes, hygiene donations had been low, according to a third-year accounting major and Fundraising Director for the Black Business Student Association, Jada O’Connor.
“The box of clothes is overflowing and even though our hygiene box isn’t overflowing as much as our clothes box,
there’s people from the community that are donating money,” O’Connor said.
According to O’Connor, the received money from donor The Garden Nonprofit Organization will be allotted to buy more hygiene products in order to balance out the number of clothes they had received.
The two shelters that are being considered to receive donations are the Women Shelter of Long Beach and the Long Beach Rescue Mission.
Depending on how many clothes are collected, the donations will be split between the two shelters.
However, with few hygiene donations and uncertainty of how many products they can buy with the money they have received, the plan is to look at what each shelter wants.
“If the first shelter really likes clothes over hygiene, we’ll split it up in that way,”
O’Connor said. “So it’ll kind of dictate where the stuff goes.”
Third-year finance major and Events and Outreach Coordinator for the SWB, Daisy Guzman-Navarrete said one of the drive’s focal points were feminine hygiene products.
“With hygiene products, it’s not easily accessible to some women,” Guzman-Navarrete said. “We wanted to make it more accessible and get them for free.”
Throughout the course of March, both groups cite seeing the community and students get involved in helping their drive.
“I think maybe for me, I’m just hoping to give some women hope that like even if you live in a shelter, it doesn’t mean that you can’t be glamorous or you can’t be clean,” O’Connor said. “To just kinda brighten their day a little bit.”
Photo credit: NI BALINESS/Long Beach Current
University warns students, faculty to travel with caution for spring break
BY JADYN GILES Contributor
California State University Long Beach administration warned students and faculty of traveling outside of the United States due to the arrival of spring break.
In an email sent by CSULB, recent news reports highlight how individuals with green cards or visas are facing increased scrutiny and challenges when trying to re-enter the U.S. CSULB administration urges students to avoid un-
necessary travel.
“We are monitoring several situations in which international students and faculty are being barred from returning to the US after international travel,” President Jane Conoley said. “A variety of reasons have been given for this, mainly if these people are seen as pro-Hamas.”
Conoley said the changing level of scrutiny is concerning. People who are seen as sympathetic to political groups particularly linked to Hamas, a dedicated terrorist organization, may face examination beyond normal levels.
The email serves as a warning to legal, permanent residents and those residing in the U.S. on a visa. It points out the uncertainty surrounding the scrutiny and restrictions that may be applied upon re-entry into the country.
Given the unpredictable future for international students planning to leave the country, an anonymous CSULB student shared their frustration.
“I think it’s a shame that legal U.S. residents, visa holders have to put up with tomfoolery,” the student said.
Other students believe that the email was sent with good intentions and it is
important to stay informed.
“It’s good that they said something because not many people know about politics and the changes that are happening in the administration,” criminal justice minor Havni Rami, 21, said.
“We thought we should let people know that there’s a new level of scrutiny that defies our usual freedom of expression expectations,” Conoley said.
As this situation continues to develop, students and faculty are strongly advised to consult with legal advisors before making the decision to travel internationally.
Graphic credit: EL NICKLIN/Long Beach Current Green and visa card holders are urged to avoid unnecessary international travel during spring break.
‘No Other Land’ screenings at Art Theatre evoke hopelessness, discussion
BY DANTE ESTRADA Video Editor
In Miami Beach, O Cinema’s choice to screen the documentary “No Other Land” resulted in a now-withdrawn threat from the city’s mayor to terminate the independent theater’s lease.
The film chronicles the journey of Palestinian journalist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham as they document the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the West Bank’s occupied Masafer Yatta from 2019 to 2023.
Despite a recent Oscar win for Best Documentary Film this year, the documentary has struggled to find a proper distributor to be released into movie theaters since its 2024 premiere.
The Art Theatre of Long Beach is among the few independent theaters to show the film.
Kennedy Ghaill, the Art Theatre’s film programmer, curates screenings and acquires films for the theater. Hearing about the movie, Ghaill helped present it with six screenings on March 24 and 25.
With 340 seats in the theater, Ghaill said Monday’s showing attracted an audience of 150 to 200 people, while Tuesday saw between 175 and 300 viewers in attendance.
“As far as I know, there’s no plan for an online release, and there’s still no major distribution deal in place,” Ghaill said. “So hopefully, more theaters keep showing it.”
At the 3 p.m. showing on Tuesday, the audience sat as close to the screen as possible to see and follow along with the documentary.
Many were silent once the credits rolled in, while others muttered to themselves or those near them.
Muttering words of devastation among the crowd was Shaun Maderazo, a 49-year-old Long Beach resident and recently admitted CSULB student who said he felt heartbroken after the showing.
Photos by: DANTE ESTRADA/Long Beach Current Attendees poured out of the theater at 3 p.m., after a showing of “No Other Land,” with mixed feelings of devastation or excitement to share their viewing experiences.
Self-described as being “well aware” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Maderazo weighed in on the recent news of Hamdan Ballal.
As reported by Kat Lonsdorf of NPR, Ballal, the Palestinian co-director of the documentary, was assaulted and detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank on March 24.
Witnesses and residents in the West Bank recounted a group of masked Israeli settlers who attacked Ballal, according to NPR.
“We’re always taught to live authentically and stand in our powers and stand for ourselves, and to be silenced for having a voice—it blows my mind. It diminishes hope a little bit,” Maderazo said.
Several Academy members, including Mark Ruffalo, Alfonso Cuarón and Penelope Cruz, criticized the Academy for a “lack of response” to Ballal’s abduction.
As a result, an open letter was penned against the Academy, condemning the Oscars’ governing body for not defending the filmmakers behind “No Other Land” after previously awarding them in their ceremony.
As attendees left the theater, Long Beach State alumnus Maeve J. and Long Beach resident Michael G. passed out flyers with information about the Israel-Palestine war.
As it steadily moves its way to theaters, The Frida Cinema and Laemmle Glendale are among other local independent theaters to screen the documentary.
Some of the information included a list of companies from the BDS Movement to boycott large corporations like McDonald’s and Chevron that provide funding to the state of Israel.
“No Other Land” has not been picked up by an official distributor. However, at the few local theaters where it has been screened, it has earned more than $2
million worldwide.
“It’s a movie that folks who are not engaged need to go see,” Michael G. said. “The people who are unengaged and still have told themselves it’s too complicated or all the other ways that we’ve been led by propaganda that disengaged from this, those are the folks who need to see this movie more than anybody.”
33-year track record continues for Fingerprints Music in new Long Beach location
BY ELIZABETH CARROLL Contributor
In a time when digital music becomes increasingly more popular and convenient, Fingerprints Music owner Rand Foster, 61, opens daily to the general public with an appreciation for vinyl records, CDs, cassette tapes and all things music.
Originally opening their door in July 1992 on 2nd Street, and moving to their more well-known downtown location on E. 4th Street 14 years ago, Fingerprints Music has sought to provide a curated repertoire for all genres and generations of music across Long Beach for 33 years. Now, Fingerprints is making another move as incoming construction to the
neighborhood limits access to the storefront.
“As much as I love downtown, as much as I love this building, I think it’s hard for customers to get here and I think it is going to, over the next couple of years, get more challenging,” Foster said.
Soon to be located in Bixby Knolls on Atlantic Avenue the store opened for its last day of operations at the E. 4th Street location on March 23.
Shopping between the store’s remaining stock and last week clearance sales was Alexandra Matsuda, a local high school student, reminiscing on the memories she has of listening to CDs with her father.
“I feel like at the end of the day, having the physical records, for me, is more valuable than just having the mu-
sic downloaded on my phone,” Matsuda said.
Not only can one find vinyl records and CDs from all walks of life, but the record store proudly hosts a plethora of events, such as the upcoming Record Store Day on April 12 and live concerts from varying musicians and artists.
People from Long Beach, along with some flying in from across the country, join Foster at Fingerprints for opportunities to see and hear some of their favorites perform including Jack Johnson, Hozier, Pearl Jam and Josh Klinghoffer of The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
“You know, a lot of people see their first concerts here, they bring their kids because it’s very family-friendly,” Foster said. “It’s a record store first and foremost, but we try to do a little more than that and really try and focus as much as
we can on community.”
Throughout their last week, Foster and staff welcomed in customers as employees packed up boxes full of records and memorabilia to be moved to the new storefront.
“It’s bittersweet to see this disappearing… but at least they’re not closing,” said Matt Valerio, employee and longtime customer. “Support your local record store.”
While there are fond memories being left behind, a bright-eyed, smiling Foster expressed excitement for the move and the future of Fingerprints Music.
According to their Instagram, Fingerprints Music is hoping to open their new 3811 Atlantic Ave. in Bixby Knolls location as soon as possible, and encourages their audience to keep an eye on their social media for news of their re-open-
Clockwise from top left: Rand Foster, owner of Fingerprints Music, stands near a pile of packaged records that are ready to move to the shop’s new location in Bixby Knolls. A customer shopping in the vinyl section at Fingerprints Music during the shop’s “Final Weekend Downtown” sale. A customer looks though a collection of vinyl during the “Final Weekend Downtown” sale at Fingerprints Music on March 23. A scene from Fingerprints Music on its last day being open after nearly 15 years at its location in Downtown Long Beach.
Photos by: ISABELLA SIQUEIRA Long Beach Current
Graphic
credit: JAZMIN DE JESUS & EL NICKLIN/ Long Beach Current
Out with global pop, in with recession pop
BY JAZMYN DE JESUS Social Media Editor
On March 21, it was announced that record-breaking K-Pop group NewJeans would be going on an indefinite hiatus following legal issues with Korean music company ADOR.
Currently renamed “NJZ” due to said legal issues, the group is no longer able to perform until a negotiation can be reached in regard to their valid exclusive contract.
Considering the fact that NJZ has won major awards inside and outside of the U.S., placed on the Billboard Hot 100 and broke the Guinness World Record for fastest K-Pop act to reach 1 billion streams, this puts a halt on one of the most influential musical acts to come out of K-Pop this decade.
Categories such as “Global K-Pop Act,” “Global Artist” and “Best Global Music Performance,” which were introduced in the late 2000s at the Billboard Music Awards and the Grammys, have
even become parts of the main televised show in the 2020s.
Disbandment, lawsuits, solo projects, military service and injuries have put the genre’s biggest names on the hang back of the music industry.
Similarly, South African pop star Tyla had to cancel her entire 2024 tour due to a back injury. She was not able to ride out the success of her hit “Water” and subsequent debut album despite taking home a Grammy for Best African Music Performance and solidifying her status as a performer.
This has made room in the pop world for artists like Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and Tate McRae to rise, producing electro-dance pop that is reminiscent of the recession pop era of the late 2000s.
This shift of international pop artists topping charts in the U.S. and abroad to now being replaced by dance and house-inspired Western acts, is telling of the climate of where pop culture is headed overall.
Recession pop could be a sign of a collective regression of our interests in the pop music space.
USU renovations will cost students more than just money
BY XAVIER CONSTANTINO Contributor
For decades, the University Student Union at Long Beach State has served as the central hub for students, providing spaces to eat, relax, study and socialize.
However, beginning on April 14, students will face the start of the USU renovations, which will continue until completion nearly three years later.
According to a campus update on the renovations, the USU has needed an upgrade, as the original building was constructed in 1972 to accommodate a student population of 10,000. Now, with around 40,000 people on campus, the update is essential.
Students will also see an increase in USU fees from the $220 fee for the spring semester to a new fee of $475 beginning in the Fall 2025 semester, a $255 per semester increase, according to an article by the Long Beach Current.
Associated Students Inc.’s “Future U” frequently asked questions page states that, “While the USU undergoes construction, the fee will continue to fund the Student Recreation Wellness Center and the essential USU student programs and services, which will be temporarily relocated to ensure you still have access to the resources you need.”
Student sentiment about the financial aspect is that it is not fair for students to bear the $255 increase and be inconvenienced by having to find new spots on campus to do the same things that they once did at USU.
Students also feel that ASI is not doing enough to inform them about the construction of the USU, which is already leading to frustration among students who will bear the ramifications for the next three years.
“It should have been discussed more,
something other than a text or an email,” third-year computer science major Aiden Perkins said. “I still don’t know what they plan to change.”
ASI has notified students of the upcoming construction through pinned posts on their Instagram account and emails sent out by ASI President Nikki Majidi.
The USU construction will affect more than just students. Student programs and services will relocate, while others had no clue about plans to move elsewhere.
CSULB Chess Club President Kevin Abdalla hosts meetings every Wednesday from noon to 2 p.m. in USU-306.
“I didn’t hear much about the closing except from friends,” Abdalla said. “ I feel like there should have been some contact saying what was going to happen. I guess I will have to book a room in one of the Liberal Arts buildings.”
Third-year political science major Romario Leon acknowledged that while the USU does need to be updated, renovations on other parts of campus could have helped students in the future needing to find places to go once the USU closes.
“It would have been better to see these resources allocated into areas that would have benefited students,” Leon said. “What we are losing here, the school should have had comparable spaces in other areas on campus.”
A new student-centered facility, such as an expanded Steve and Nini Horn Center, could have been a more practical investment, especially if it had been completed before the USU closure, ensuring students had an alternative space instead of being left without key amenities.
Students have become the odd ones out regarding the renovation plans for the USU, and much depends on whether ASI can handle all the direct and indirect consequences of the construction over the next few years.
If ASI makes students pay higher mandatory fees, it should ensure that students are not left scrambling for alternatives.
UCI sweeps LBSU at the Pyramid
Long Beach State drops first match of the year in Black and Blue rivalry
BY MATTHEW COLEMAN
Sports Assistant
In front of the largest crowd in Long Beach State men’s volleyball history, No. 1 LBSU’s undefeated start to the season came to a screeching halt Friday night at the Walter Pyramid, with No. 5 UC Irvine pulling off a stunning sweep to shock the whole arena.
The Beach entered Friday’s match boasting a 60-5 set record and an undefeated 20-0 start.
The Anteaters’ road victory was their first at the Pyramid since 2015.
“You have to give Irvine a ton of credit,” head coach Alan Knipe said. “They put some service pressure on us. I thought the first set we had every opportunity to win that set, and we kind of aired ourselves out of it. I would’ve liked to see a better response by us, and our guys know that.”
With “The Sandpit” student section filled half an hour before the first serve, the Pyramid was alive and loud as ever for this top-five matchup.
Freshman setter Moni Nikolov brought the energy in the arena to new heights, beginning the match with back-to-back aces. That energy came crashing down when Nikolov dove into the front row of cameras and was visibly shaken up.
Though he opted to remain in the match, it’s unclear how much it affected him. Nikolov still put up his usual numbers, tallying a game-high 32 assists, four kills and three aces, but LBSU was never able to sustain any momentum offensively.
The Beach’s attack from the service line was unlike anything they have shown this season. The 22 service errors proved costly, preventing them from closing out the first set and mounting comebacks in the next two.
“We got out dug and we came close tonight to giving them an entire set with service errors and that’s a tough recipe to expect to win,” Knipe said.
Midway through the first set, UCI went on a 6-1 run to take the lead, 19-16.
LBSU knotted things at 20-20 with sophomore outside hitter Sebastiano Sani getting a kill by tapping a ball into noman’s land.
The teams traded points the rest of the way, with the Nikolov and redshirt junior opposite hitter Skyler Varga connection on full display. The first set featured eight ties before UCI was able to take the set by a score of 27-25.
Given how dominant The Beach has been this season, a counter to the early set loss was expected. As the match pro-
gressed, the home crowd was left waiting for the Beach to make a run against the amped-up Anteaters team, who built off their set one victory.
“I definitely felt some tightness in our team when we dropped the first set,” Nikolov said.
An 8-1 UCI run during the second set sucked the energy from the building, as the wheels started to come off for a team that’s dealt with little adversity this year.
LBSU was never able to get the deficit below three in the set and lost set two, 2519.
“We were timid. I think it’s a great learning experience, there’s a lot of firstyear guys that haven’t really been in that experience of dropping a set in a huge environment against a good team,” Varga said.
The Anteaters kept their foot on the gas, opening the third and final set 4-0, leading to a timeout from The Beach.
UCI added to their advantage, leading by as much as nine midway through the set. Short bursts of points from LBSU weren’t enough as UCI took the third set by a score of 25-19.
The Beach will not have to wait for a rematch, as they head to Irvine Saturday night. This match carries playoff implications as only two teams from the Big West can make the NCAA Tournament.
“This is not a postseason match in a one-and-done tournament, you get a chance to respond,” Knipe said. “That’s what the conference season is about. It’s about growing.”
Photo credit: SAMUEL CHACKO/Long Beach Current
Long Beach State freshman setter Moni Nikolov looks near the bench after a UC Irvine point as The Beach lose 3-0 to UCI on March 28.
Pandemonium: LBSU gets its revenge
BY MATTHEW COLEMAN Sports Assistant
One night removed from No. 5
UC Irvine beating No. 1 Long Beach State men’s volleyball in an improbable sweep and making them look human, LBSU returned the favor by sweeping UCI at the
Bren Events Center.
In front of another sold-out arena, freshman setter Moni Nikolov and The Beach gave the crowd a show on their way to a statement victory in three sets, including a cinematic finish.
After looking rattled the prior night, The Beach came out of the gates with an evident sense of urgency, opening up an
The Beach’s late-set execution was stellar on both sides of the ball and it was on display at the end of the first set.
A block from junior middle blocker Ben Braun set up match point for The Beach which was then converted thanks to a kill from redshirt junior Skyler Varga, sealing a 25-23 set one victory.
Eerily similar to Friday night’s match at the Walter Pyramid, things played out nearly identically in the second set, but with a reverse outcome.
LBSU built off the first set’s momentum to open up a sizable advantage, leading 18-11 at one point before a UCI timeout.
The Beach closed out the set and took down the Anteaters 25-19, setting up an opportunity to deliver a sweep of their own to their conference rivals.
Despite the Anteaters’ strongest counterstrike coming in the third set, The Beach came back from being down as much as four to even things at 23.
UCI had an opportunity to escape the third set and force a fourth, but instead, service errors hurt the Anteaters as they literally fell short and failed to get it over the net multiple times.
With the set tied at 27-27, a kill from freshman outside hitter Alex Kandev sent LBSU’s single-season ace record holder, Nikolov, to the service line for a chance to win it.
With 4,758 fans all on their feet holding their phones out and ready to erupt, Nikolov launched a dart just north of 70 miles per hour narrowly in bounds for the win.
Nikolov’s ace sent the fans donning black and gold into a frenzy, along with The Beach’s bench, who were now all on the floor celebrating.
“I know that when it matters most, that’s when somebody’s shining and somebody’s personality shows the most,” Nikolov said. “So I just trusted myself and I knew I was acing that.”
Among many great moments he has created in the season thus far, this one felt different as The Beach finally dealt with adversity and Nikolov’s cinematic “silencer” celebration, dubbed famously by LeBron James, silenced the 24 hours of questioning from the volleyball world to LBSU.
The spectacle didn’t end there as hundreds of young fans waited for Nikolov postgame for autographs and pictures.
early 4-0 lead in the first set.
“I’m super proud of these guys, we were significantly more invested in every point tonight from the opening battle,” LBSU head coach Alan Knipe said.
UCI was resilient, staying composed and quickly evened things at 5-5. From that point, both teams engaged in backand-forth action.
“I was saying our best server is serving before their best server gets a chance, let’s end this thing,” Knipe said.
LBSU and its “Beatlemania” team, as described by Knipe, picks back up on the road again on Thursday with The Beach facing off against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in the Thunderdome.
Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics
The Beach celebrate after a point on a night worth celebrating as they took down the No.5 UCI Anteaters in Irvine on Saturday night. The win comes after the Anteaters swept The Beach on Friday night and handed them their first loss of the season.