MONDAY, M AY 5, 2014
Volume 95, Issue 50
MARIAH CARRILLO / Daily Titan Headliner Waka Flocka Flame performed with high energy to a packed house Friday night at this year’s ASI Spring Concert. His hour-long set included hits “Hard in the Paint” and “No Hands.”
Flocking to Spring Concert Eclectic acts bring thousands to their feet at highlyanticipated concert in Titan Stadium
Waka Flocka Flame looks forward to the future, with new album set to drop later this year
CECILY MEZA Daily Titan
DENA HAMEDANI Daily Titan
Cal State Fullerton’s annual ASI Spring Concert was held Friday night at Titan Stadium, welcoming a crowd of students anticipating to hear an eclectic array of music including the alternative pop-rock band Basic Vacation, electric dance musician Dirty South and rapper Waka Flocka Flame. Basic Vacation opened the show, proving they were not so basic with their performance characterized by their singalong lyrics and uplifting sound. Their set consisted of their hit single “I Believe” and new music featured from their upcoming album. The group consists of a three male members, vocalist and guitarist Chris Greatti, bassist Jon Paul and drummer Mike Montalbano. They met after playing various shows with other bands
Before making his way onto the Titan Stadium stage as the headliner for this year’s ASI Spring Concert, Waka Flocka Flame sat comfortably on the incline of a nearby stairway. Dressed in all white, with the word “dope” printed across his shirt, even his off-stage energy is nothing short of contagious. Waka is no stranger to the stage. He has been touring since the release of his debut album in 2010. “I haven’t been off tour since 2010. I’ve literally been doing shows nonstop since 2010,” he said. Maintaining his unparalleled energy can be difficult to manage, especially while on tour. Waka said he does it by eating a lot of fruit and not eating past 10 p.m. Waka started rapping at 24, and now at 27, he has attained a level of success
WINNIE HUANG / Daily Titan Crowds surround Waka Flocka Flame during his set Friday.
throughout the east coast before they collaborated to create Basic Vacation. “I just recall reading this story in class … there was a phrase in it where the antagonist or protagonist … was like ‘at that point we took what we deemed to be a basic vacation’ … and it just kind of stuck with me,” said Greatti about how the band’s name came about. After moving to Los Angeles over a year ago, the band has not taken a break since being signed to Atom Factory Music,
a record label discovered by Lady Gaga and John Legend’s manager, Troy Carter. Fans can expect a fulllength album this year with about ten new songs. Basic Vacation will also perform at various festivals around the nation. EDM DJ Dirty South brought his progressive, vocal house music to the stage, including his global smash hit “City of Dreams” to open his set. SEE CONCERT, 5
many aspiring entertainers endlessly strive for. “I’m an entertainer. I’m not a rapper. I’m not a singer. I’m an entertainer. I entertain,” he said. Success hasn’t been an easy feat for Waka. Even with a booming career, his persistent work ethic and humility continue to remain unchanged. “You can’t imagine how many mistakes … I made to get to where I’m at,” he said. “But at the end of the day, if you don’t take advantage of this and you get comfortable, it’s over.”
His highly anticipated album, Flockaveli 2 rings reminiscent of the late Tupac Shakur’s Makaveli alias. “Tupac introduced me to Machiavelli. I named my album from the real Machiavelli. ‘Cause Machiavelli was so opposed by everybody around him. Nobody wanted to see him win, and at the end he was the man. So I feel like that’s how my position was at the time in my life,” he said. SEE WAKA FLOCKA, 5
WINNIE HUANG / Daily Titan Waka Flocka Flame has been constantly touring since 2010.
Criminal justice students put on a show Specialized course focuses on acting out Moscow trials ELIZABETH MUÑOZ Daily Titan
Criminal justice students will take the bench Tuesday to demonstrate their understanding of the 1930s Soviet Russian justice system. An upper-division elective course taught by Julius Wachtel, a criminal justice lecturer, will reenact the infamous Moscow Show Trials, which Joseph Stalin used to squash his opponents in a very public way.
Wachtel’s course focuses on the justice system during pre-World War II Soviet Russia in two parts. The first half of the semester is dedicated to learning the history of the Soviet system, while the other is spent learning the script and rehearsing for the cumulative class project. Students must memorize the script that Wachtel wrote. Although it has been adapted and edited over the years, it always encompassed the show trials from 19361938, condensed into one performance. They assume the roles of the defendants,
prosecutors and judges for the performance, as well as behind-the-scenes jobs like stage managing. However, it isn’t all stage lights and costumes, it’s a way to learn. “One of the ideas is that ... through performing you develop a more organic or a more intuitive understanding of what was actually taking place during that time,” Wachtel said. The Soviet justice system, under the rule of Joseph Stalin, was distorted through a political lens, Wachtel said. The communist ruler used these trials to liquidate people who he believed were his
competitors or who had ever disagreed with him. The phenomenon of falsification and false confession were prevalent during the trials. Defendants in these trials often felt compelled to confess to a crime they didn’t commit to avoid retaliation against them and their family by the communist party. By re-enacting the trials, students are able to understand how that process occurred and the consequences of it, Wachtel said. His fascination with the subject and era derives from his family history. His mother was a Jew in a
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concentration camp until the Soviet army freed the prisoners. This interest in Soviet justice compelled him to eventually write and publish a historical novel called Stalin’s Witness. Despite his passion for the period, his opportunities to teach it are far and few between. This is the third semester that this course has been offered at Cal State Fullerton. The first time was about a decade ago, in 2012 and again this semester. He has taught the class all three times. It can only be offered every couple of years because
it is expensive to have a class with such a low enrollment rate. It doesn’t pay for itself, Wachtel said. Because of the time-consuming and intensive work that must be put into the reenactments, the maximum number of students who can enroll in the class is 15. This semester, there are 11 students registered. Wachtel hopes that CSUF can offer the course more often, but said it depends on the curriculum and if there’s somebody wellversed in the subject to teach it. SEE TRIALS, 2
SOFTBALL Titans win Saturday doubleheader against UC Davis Aggies, but come up short Sunday SPORTS 8 VISIT US AT: DAILYTITAN.COM