Issue 16 12/12/2017

NEVADA SAGEBRUSH SERVING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO SINCE 1893

THE

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2017

FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES $1.00 EACH

NEWS in REVIEW

By Karolina Rivas

THE DIVERSITY PROBLEM and what is being done to fix it

INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA LEGALIZES SAME-SEX MARRIAGE In November, a majority of Australians voted in favor of same-sex marriage and after a parliamentary vote on Thursday, Dec. 7, same-sex marriage has officially been legalized in the country. There were only four votes against the measure.

“This belongs to us all,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said. “This is Australia: fair, diverse, loving and filled with respect. For every one of us this is a great day.”

After the measure was passed, a video of those in attendance at the public gallery vote began to sing “I am Australian” creating a few teary-eyed lawmakers.

The New York Times reports that the new law will provide equality to same-sex couples in areas such as government benefits and will change the definition of marriage from “the union of a man and a woman” to “the union of two people.”

Australia will join 25 other countries that have legalized same-sex union.

NATIONAL FOUR INJURED IN FAILED TERROR ATTACK IN NYC Officials have identified 27-year-old Akayed Ullah as the man who set off a pipe bomb strapped to his body on Monday, Dec. 11 in a crowded New York City subway. Police say the pipe bomb did not go off as planned or malfunctioned. Four people, including the suspect, were injured.

Ullah was taken into custody.

“This was an attempted terrorist attack,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a news conference. “Thank God the perpetrator did not achieve his ultimate goals.”

Ullah was reported to have consumed terrorist propaganda and learned how to make the bomb from videos he watched online. According to officials, there is no evidence that Ullah had any direct communication with ISIS, but was reported to have been angry over U.S. bombings in ISIScontrolled territories.

Ullah was a Bangladeshi immigrant and electrician from Brooklyn.

LOCAL MAN DIES AFTER SNOWBOARDING CRASH IN TAHOE The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office has pronounced 23-year-old David Karlin dead after a snowboarding crash at Sierra-at-Tahoe on Thursday.

Thea Hardy, the Sierra-atTahoe communications manager, reported Monday morning that witnesses claimed Karlin had lost control while traveling at a high rate of speed down the Lower Snowshoe Trail, an intermediate run. The Union reports that after falling several feet off the trail, Karlin collided with a snow fence where Lower Snowshoe meets the Sugar and Spice trail on the upper mountain.

In an interview with News 4, Sergeant Anthony Prencipe stated that first aid was provided by an acquaintance and ski patrol while Karlin was being transported by paramedics. Officials were unable to revive Karlin.

Karolina Rivas can be reached at mpurdue@sagebrush.unr. edu and on Twitter @karolinarrivas.

VOLUME 124, ISSUE 16

File Photos/Nevada Sagebrush

1. President Marc Johnson speaks at the State of the University. 2. Message supporting Officer Antonio Guitierrez posted on marquee of Wolfstop Gast Sation. 3. Swastikas painted in graffiti staircase at Church Fine Arts. 4. Marchers take to the streets of downtown Reno for a Black Lives Matter protest. 5. Officer Antonio Guitierrez dresses as a Colin Kaepernick caricature. 6. A screenshot from UNRPD bodycamera footage shows the moment when an officer jokingly threatens Kevin McReynolds (right).

By Madeline Purdue and done going forward.

Karolina Rivas WHAT HAPPENED When the country watched as white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, no one could predict the implications it would have immediately and subsequently on the University of Nevada, Reno, campus. The events that occurred over the course of this semester spotlighted and ignited conversations on an issue many people face at the university — diversity.

Since the beginning of the semester, students and faculty have called for change from the administration on how they handle issues of diversity. For some, what the university has done to address the issues is enough, but others believe more can be done to support the diverse university population. In this report, The Nevada Sagebrush looks at the events spanning the semester, what the university has done in response — both immediately and over time — and what the university community wants to see

The fall semester kicked off with a protest — two, actually.

The first happened on Friday, Aug. 11, at the University of Virginia. Members of white supremacist groups gathered to protest the removal of a Confederate statue from the campus. News and photos of the protest quickly went viral, which led to the identification of one of the participants as UNR student Peter Cvjetanovic — creating national attention for the university.

In the days following Charlottesville, UNR President Marc Johnson gave a news conference and sent out an email announcing that Cvjetanovic could not be expelled from the university or fired from his on-campus job — from which he would later resign.

Members of the community organized a counter-protest put on by the Reno-Sparks chapter of Black Lives Matter on Sunday,

Aug. 27. More than 1,000 people gathered and marched downtown against the hateful acts seen in Charlottesville.

The ASUN Senate also held a special meeting for university members to speak about their thoughts and feelings on the Charlottesville protest and the university’s decision to keep Cvjetanovic on campus. They responded with creating the “I am the Real Nevada” T-shirt campaign. They ordered 2,000 shirts to hand out to students during the festivities that come with the beginning of the semester.

Three days after the Black Lives Matter march, the former Assistant to the Director of the Latino Research Center, Iris West, resigned from the university with a four-page letter detailing issues of diversity at UNR. The letter accused President Marc Johnson of making “tonedeaf” decisions and that the administration has marginalized voices of color in favor of white women.

In late September, UNR graduate student Kevin McReynolds and friends were pulled over in a routine traffic stop by the University Police Services. While in conversation, an officer joked that he would shoot McReynolds “if things go sideways.” The entire incident was caught on body camera footage.

UNRPD released the video of the traffic stop and put the offending officer on administrative leave while the Title IX office investigated the situation.

The investigation concluded on Thursday, Nov. 9, but the results remained confidential. However, McReynolds said he has seen the officer in question on campus since then.

Not long after the McReynolds incident, graffiti of swastikas was found in the Church Fine Arts building’s graffiti stairway. The stairway is dedicated to graffiti artwork, however the swastikas found on the morning of Friday, Oct. 13, were considered vandalism.

Cameras face the entrance to

Homelessness on West Reno fire department Coast a growing issue assists in L.A. Fires

By Joey Lovato If you have ever been to Rock Park along the Truckee River in east Reno, you will see children playing in the river and families enjoying barbecues. But if you follow the Tahoe-Pyramid Bikeway north just a few hundred feet, you will come across a large homeless encampment along the Truckee across from the Grand Sierra Resort.

Many homeless people spend their nights in tents along the bikeway between downtown Reno and the eastern edge of town. The homeless population in cities on the West Coast has been rising steadily this year, and Reno is no exception. Shelters are available, but most of the homeless population still remains outside. With winter coming into full swing, temperatures are dropping below freezing and shelters are becoming over-

crowded.

As tech giants Tesla, Switch, Amazon and Apple continue to grow their presence in the Reno area, increasing housing prices are often making it more difficult to find affordable places to live. It’s led to worries that there may be an increase in the homeless population, as was the case in Seattle, where a soaring cost of living has been sending low-wage workers to the streets.

The Reno City Council has turned its attention to the homeless problem, but any large changes have been slow so far.

There are plans to build a second homeless shelter on Sage Street, but certain city ordinances and zoning laws are slowing the process, and some laws need to be changed in order to allow for the shelter to be constructed.

In the meantime, the city is spending roughly $300,000 to renovate a temporary

See COAST page A2

By Karolina Rivas

See FIRE page A3 Cameron Strandberg/Wikimedia Commons

Wildfire similar to the fire’s in California are destroying structures and forcing many people to evacuate . The Reno Fire Department has deployed two fire engines to help battle the Creek Fire.

the stairwell, but the quality of the footage in addition to not knowing the exact time the stairway was tagged made it nearly impossible to find the perpetrator or perpetrators. It is likely that they will not be caught unless they come forward themselves.

Members of the community gathered the following Sunday to paint over the swastikas in the stairwell.

Two weeks later, a photo of university police officer Antonio Gutierrez, dressed as a caricature of Colin Kaepernick, circulated on social media. The costume included a red shirt resembling a 49ers jersey, painted beard, an afro wig, fake nose and a sign that reads, “Will stand for food.”

Some people were outraged while others showed support for the officer.

Moe Alazawi, manager of Wolf Fastop gas station on North Virginia Street, posted a message

See DIVERSITY page A2

UNR looks to move homes south of

By Madeline Purdue

The University of Nevada, Reno, is planning on selling 12 houses that border the south end of campus after the Nevada System of Higher Education gave the university permission to on Friday, Dec. 1.

The plan for the sale or transfer of these houses will be available after the new year.

The houses are on Lake Street and N. Center Street between Interstate 80 and Ninth Street. Plans to expand the area were announced by the university in 2015. Since then, groups have been trying to preserve some of the historic homes, which were built between 1895 and 1971. One of the houses is on the registry for historic homes for the city and state.

Executive Director of External Relations at UNR, Heidi Gansert, told the Reno Gazette-Journal that groups interested in buying the homes include organizations that work with the homeless, seniors and foster children.

“Our goal is to keep as many together as possible,” Gansert told the RGJ. Moving the houses to other locations is estimated to be expensive, but the cost would be the responsibility of the buyers of the homes — not the university.

The addresses of the 12 homes planned to be moved are 801 Lake Street, 825 Lake Street, 829 Lake Street, 843 Lake Street, 127 E. 8th Street, 815 N. Center Street, 820 N. Center Street, 821 N. Center Street, 829 N. Center Street, 839 N. Center Street, 847 N. Center Street and 895 N. Center Street.

The university told the RGJ that keeping the houses would impede the university’s growth. According to

See HOUSES page A2

@NevadaSagebrush | nevadasagebrush.com

A2 | NEWS

NEVADA SAGEBRUSH

THE

Student voice of the University of Nevada, Reno, since 1893.

Volume 124 • Issue 16 Editor-in-Chief • Jacob Solis jsolis@sagebrush.unr.edu

News Editor • Madeline Purdue mpurdue@sagebrush.unr.edu

Asst. News Editor • Karolina Rivas mpurdue@sagebrush.unr.edu

Sports Editor • Brandon Cruz bcruz@sagebrush.unr.edu

Asst. Sports Editor • Javier Hernandez bcruz@sagebrush.unr.edu

Opinion Editor • Ryan Suppe rsuppe@sagebrush.unr.edu

A&E Editor • Joey Thyne jthyne@sagebrush.unr.edu

Design Editor • Nicole Skarlatos nskarlatos@sagebrush.unr.edu

Photo Editor • Andrea Wilkinson awilkinson@sagebrush.unr.edu

Copy Editor • Robert Roth jsolis@sagebrush.unr.edu

Copy Editor • Clay Temme jsolis@sagebrush.unr.edu

Multimedia Editor • Bailey MeCey bmecey@sagebrush.unr.edu

Web Manager • Willis Allstead wallstead@asun.unr.edu

Illustrator • Zak Brady jsolis@sagebrush.unr.edu

Social Media Manager • Jessie Schirrick jsolis@sagebrush.unr.edu

Distribution • Zacary Brown jsolis@sagebrush.unr.edu

Staff Writer • Emily Fisher efisher@sagebrush.unr.edu

Media Adviser • Nichole Collins nmcollins@unr.edu

CONTRIBUTING STAFFERS Patrick Hardin, Joey Lovato

DISCLAIMER The Nevada Sagebrush is a newspaper operated by and for the students of the University of Nevada, Reno. The contents of this newspaper do not necessarily reflect those opinions of the university or its students.

It is published by the students of the University of Nevada, Reno, and printed by the Sierra Nevada Media Group.

ADVERTISING For information about display advertising and rates, please call the Advertising Department at 775-784-7773 or email adnevadasales@gmail.com.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters can be submitted via email at jsolis@sagebrush.unr.edu

CORRECTIONS The Nevada Sagebrush fixes mistakes.

If you find an error, email jsolis@sagebrush.unr.edu

SOCIAL MEDIA The Nevada Sagebrush @NevadaSagebrush @SagebrushSports Nevada Sagebrush nvsagebrush nevadasagebrush.com

Recap

Continued from page A2 on one side of the gas station’s marquee stating “Officer Gutierrez standing for food is better than taking a knee.” On the other side of the sign, a photo of Calvin from the Calvin and Hobbes comic was seen urinating on the name “Kaepernick”.

About a week later, a hole was shot into the sign.

The university has been watched locally and nationally for the events that have occurred over the semester, and many students are voicing their concerns that the administration is not doing enough.

Emails from President Johnson were sent to the university community addressing most of these issues as they happened, but this action has become too routine and “bureaucratic” for some. However, the administration has assured the community they are listening and are taking action.

“I think this has been a rough fall for the campus,” said UNR’s Chief Diversity Officer Patricia Richard. “We have been listening to students and faculty who have said that we need to take action. Yes, we recognize the difficulties the campus has.”

THE AFTERMATH The spotlight has yet to waver from the university administration about what they are going to do about the diversity issues.

In President Johnson’s State of the University on Tuesday, Sept. 26, he announced that the university is actively seeking to hire more diverse faculty and is creating more diversity initiatives.

Richard confirmed the university is trying to create a more diverse university population.

“We are working to diversify our faculty,” Richard said. “We have launched an implicit bias training program and we will have trained almost 800 members of the search committees in implicit bias. In that way, we are listening to the students and our faculty.”

Richard has other plans going forward as well. She said that she has put together a diversity council to help with a strategic plan on how exactly to move forward with diversity initiatives, and has met with members of different organizations that represent diverse groups.

“I think that we will be working on a strategic plan on a diversity plan for the campus,” Richard said. “We have not had that in the past and to coordinate all the efforts and be transparent about it. We will be working on that in spring semester, so we’re really excited about it.”

University Police Services has also changed the way they do things after incidents involving university officers occurred twice this semester.

According to Police Chief Adam Garcia, the University Police Services has set high standards of professional conduct that personnel will be required to follow.

“I am committed to implement changes to prevent these types of incidents in the future, including supervisor leadership training to include zero tolerance of abusive language, department-wide cultural competency training, a change in body cam video review policy, and aggressive diversity recruitment [...],” Garcia said.

ASUN has also been trying to help solve these issues by creating opportunities for the community to talk about these situations.

On Tuesday, Nov. 14, ASUN and the UNRPD hosted a Con-

versation with the Police at the Blind Onion in the Joe Crowley Student Union. Members of the community were invited to directly ask Chief Garcia and the members of the police force questions related to campus safety and the events of the semester.

The ASUN Senate also hosted a special meeting — similar to the one they held after the Charlottesville protests — on Wednesday, Dec. 6. Students talked about the things they wanted to see done by the university — including more discussions. McReynolds spoke at the meeting and called for the administration to prioritize safety for all students.

“I think as a campus we have a duty to the people on this campus to make safety a priority for all people, whether it’s minorities or anyone else.”

Full coverage of the special meeting can be found in the Senate Recap article on page A2 and online.

WHY THIS IS HAPPENING The events of this semester have led to many questions, but one seems to come up more than others — why does this keep happening?

Blane Harding, the former director for The Center, Every Student, Every Story, said the issues UNR faces also happen on other campuses.

“Most universities around the country have a diversity issue,” Harding said. “Some universities are taking steps to really address it, some universities are thinking of taking steps, but they really don’t know what to do and some universities aren’t doing anything.”

Harding also believes UNR’s campus is reflective of a national attitude toward diversity.

“I think the reason it’s just gotten worse is that it’s just you know reflective of what’s happening across the country,” Harding said. “I think the campus is just a reflection of what’s happening in society.”

While some people welcome the dialogues that have been created because of these events, Harding has different feelings on them.

“They think that dialogue is actually going to lead to some conclusions,” Harding said. “But unless you’re addressing the institutional systemic problems that exist on campus, then the dialogues don’t mean anything.”

These systemic issues include low funding for diverse organizations on campus — such as the LRC and The Center. It also includes a campus culture that doesn’t prioritize diversity and people in charge with little to no experience on how to address diversity issues when they arise.

“It’s a shame that from all the Latinos that have passed and people of color that have been at the university in positions of leadership, they all end up finding a better place than UNR,” West said. “I think that says tons about the environment in which they have to work.”

McReynolds believes the problem is the culture the campus has toward diversity, and the lack of consequences for the perpetrators of hateful acts.

“The culture is if you do something discrimination wise, nothing happens,” McReynolds said. “And I think that that’s the thing — people realize they won’t get in trouble if they say something to somebody, and they know it’s wrong.”

McReynolds said these situations have been happening on campus for a while, but the university didn’t acknowledge it until it was in the open.

“It took this campus to see a video of what happened to me

Houses

in order to take the necessary steps to try and address the situation,” he said. “They were finally forced to talk about something that they weren’t comfortable talking about.”

Another systemic issue these people see is the fact that Richard holds the position as Chief Diversity Officer despite not having a background in diversity.

“The fact that there’s a person that is the Chief of Diversity with no experience, no knowledge, no history of doing anything regarding diversity, and yet is lauded by the president as the most adequate person for that job — and she’s doing two other jobs on top of that — shows that there’s no real interest in doing something serious,” West said.

Richard holds three positions at the university — Chief of Staff, Assistant Vice President, and Chief Diversity Officer.

However, Richard does not see her job as three.

“They’re really all one position,” Richard said. “I know they’re three different titles. The Chief of Staff is a position that the president uses me to handle special projects and right now diversity is at the forefront of the university so that is my chief of staff position. Chief Diversity Officer is the top priority. One of the reasons the president wanted me to take the Chief Diversity Officer is because we meet so frequently and this way it stays at a top level while we are working across the campus.

It takes everybody across the campus to be engaged.”

McReynolds says that her multiple roles are reflective of the university’s commitment to diversity.

“What this campus shows is that minorities are worth onethird of their time,” McReynolds said at the special Senate meeting. “[Richard] has three jobs. I’m not saying she needs to be fired, I’m just saying that she needs to pick one … You signal to all the students that are minorities that we don’t matter to you, we’re worth one-third of your time.”

McReynolds called for a nationwide search to find someone with more experience — saying that if the university can look nationally to recruit athletes, it can put the same amount of effort into finding a Chief Diversity Officer.

“If she’s the best we come up with, she’s the best we come up with,” he said. “But I think there needs to be a real effort.”

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE There are different things the university community has called for in order to address these situations. One thing that can be agreed on is that the response needs to be improved.

“As it gets worse, that’s really the time that the institution needs to step up,” Harding said.

“It’s really the time we need to actually take a look at how we do things and how we address things and what systems we have in place to address these concerns and issues that we know basically what they are.”

McReynolds agrees that things need to improve on campus.

“Every time that one of these incidents happen, the way the school handles it, it erodes that trust that is there,” McReynolds said. “They don’t handle the situation right.”

He suggests that the university implements a reporting system similar to the one in place for sexual assault.

“If a sexual assault is reported on this campus, there is a clear pathway to reporting it and how it gets handled — but with

the UNR masterplan, the land the houses currently sit on will be used to develop university buildings.

“The goal of the City of Reno and the University is to create a vital urban district with a mix of academic, retail, commercial, residential, research and innovation, and public uses that will continue to the rebirth of Downtown Reno,” a briefing document said.

As of now, the homes are used as housing or office space for students or staff, and the leases are due to expire on or before June 2018 and two of the homes stand vacant.

The current residents have been notified of the plans to move the houses.

Since the announcement of the plan to expand the university to this space in 2015, groups have worked to oppose UNR. The City of Reno’s Historical Resources Commission has strongly opposed the plans. They do not agree with the relocation and do not want the organizations that deal with the homeless, elderly and foster children to occupy the historical houses because of the damage these groups could cause.

Continued from page A1

Andrea Wilkinson/Nevada Sagebrush

A house in Reno’s Gateway District as it stands on Monday, Dec. 11.

Houses such as this one are being sold by the university and relocated to in order to make space for UNR to expand.

Madeline Purdue can be reached at mpurdue@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @madelinepurdue.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12 , 2017

diversity, it’s not like that at all,” McReynolds said. “I think that’s a problem, and I think there’s a way to handle it moving forward.”

McReynolds is helping to create more diversity on campus.

He is working to create a foundation that will give a scholarship to a student of color to work at University Police Services while pursuing a degree in criminal justice.

“I think that the UNRPD needs to add African Americans and more minorities and more training,” he said. “I think as this campus looks forward and we move past these things that have happened so far this semester, we have a duty to students. Right now, UNR is not a safe campus.”

McReynolds would also like to see a Chief Diversity Officer in every department so that all students have a person to go to.

Harding did not see enough change university-wide in his former position as The Center director and decided to change his role at the university.

“I don’t really have a lot of faith in terms of those that are in charge of diversity, so I don’t really want to be involved on a campus-wide basis anymore,” he said. “I took myself off the five diversity committees I was on because we sat around tables and talked. But I never really saw anything to come out of those meetings.”

Instead, he is focusing on helping the College of Science — where he now teaches African American history — become more diverse. He is helping create a diverse course the College of Science can teach and is working on a program that helps first-generation students succeed.

At the special Senate meeting, students called for the university to take more action.

One action they did not want to see anymore is the emails from President Johnson addressing these situations. Harding said other students have come to him with similar feelings.

“Quite frankly they’re tired of it. They want something to actually happen. They want something to be put in place.

They want the university to put their dollars where they know that the issues and concerns are.”

MOVING FORWARD Going into the next semester, students are going to be looking for change from the university administration and fewer incidents involving diversity.

The university students and organizations have held numerous events with opportunities for the university community to speak their mind and share their ideas.

“My hope is that they’re listening and they’re willing to have these conversations and not just willing to have the conversations but create change from it,” McReynolds said.

Richard mentioned that she — along with other university members — are putting together a strategic plan next semester in hopes of moving on from these events and into a more diverse campus.

Students will be looking for action.

“I think it’s time for enough sorrys,” McReynolds said. “We’re past the point of sorry.”

Coverage around these events and more can be found online at nevadasagebrush.com.

Madeline Purdue and Karolina Rivas can be reached at mpurdue@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.

SENATE RECAP DEC. 6

By Madeline Purdue

PUBLIC COMMENT This week, the Associated Students of the University of Nevada Senate held a special meeting, inviting the university community to voice their concerns about events that have impacted students and faculty this semester — including the events in Charlottesville in August, swastika graffiti in the Church Fine Arts stairwell, the traffic stop involving University of Nevada, Reno police services and a graduate student, another officer dressed as a negative rendition of Colin Kaepernick and more.

STUDENTS CALL FOR UNIVERSITY TO MAKE DIVERSITY PRIORITY ON CAMPUS Although the meeting was open to the public, less than 10 people spoke — a low number compared to the amount of people that showed up to the special ASUN meeting held in the wake of Charlottesville.

While the community was invited to talk about other events and issues, speakers largely focused on issues of diversity.

There was agreement among speakers that something needed to be done at the university, but specifics differed.

John Marrow, a UNR student studying social work, called for the people on campus with moderate political views to bring the political extremes together. He encouraged people to have conversations with others who have different views in order to “build bridges” on campus.

Other people, however, wanted more action from the university administration rather than from individuals.

Lewis McGreel from the College of Liberal Arts said the concerns of the students were not being met by the university, and that the “I am the real Nevada” T-shirt campaign and emailed statements were “useless” in response to the events that had happened. He said the university had a systematic problem and that people felt like nothing was being done. He did offer a solution to the problem, but said it was not just a “one-step policy solution”.

A graduate student named Aubrey said she felt like the issues could be solved if the administration took time to know their student body, had smaller conversations and listened to “what matters to students”.

Kevin McReynolds — the graduate student at the focus of the UNRPD police stop in late September — spoke about implementing a system to report acts of hate, racism and violence. He compared the design of this system to the one set up for sexual assault on college campuses.

McReynolds said that the country was paying attention to UNR now, but not for the right reasons, and more needs to be done moving forward.

The Senate listened to these concerns and will pass future legislation on it. After the special Public Comment, a regular Senate meeting resumed.

LEGISLATION FUNDS APPROVED FOR TECHNOLOGY REPLACEMENT The Senate approved legislation that would update technology in certain departments in the Center for Student Engagement on the third floor of the Joe Crowley Student Union. The funds would pay for two iMac computers, four Microsoft Surface Book2 computers, four Dell Optiplex computers, two Sharp 55” TVs with wall mounts, four video converters and three Apple iPad mini tablets with mounts and cases. The total needed for the update is $27,010.97 and is being funded through ASUN’s capital fund.

ONLINE MEDIA REQUIRED TO BE ADA ACCESSIBLE A resolution that requires all online media produced by ASUN to be ADA accessible passed this week. It requires that any person that writes agendas within ASUN must take a course on ADA accessibility so that any person can access open meeting agendas.

The course is offered weekly on campus.

Madeline Purdue can be reached at mpurdue@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @ madelinepurdue.

File Photo/Nevada Sagebrush

In this file photo, a man sits in front of a motel in Downtown Reno. High costs of living are increasing the homeless and displaced population on the West Coast.

Coast

Continued from page A1 shelter built from a warehouse.

However, the city council also wants to pass new, contro-

versial anti-vagrancy laws that would prohibit sleeping and panhandling in the downtown area in a continuing effort to revitalize downtown Reno. To help curb the impact this would have on the homeless people

downtown, the council is also attempting to set up a way to hire caseworkers to connect those homeless with resources such as job help and temporary housing.

Reno is only one of several cities in the West that has seen an increase in its homeless population.

In California, Oregon and Washington, the homeless populations grew by roughly 14 percent in the last two years, and almost a quarter of those who are homeless are not in a shelter. Over 100,000 people every night are sleeping on park benches, in the streets, or in tents, just in these coastal states alone.

Nationally, the homeless population is up about 1 percent this year. According to The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, there are roughly 554,000 homeless people in the U.S. on any given night. Of the homeless population, 34.8 percent, or 193,000 people, did not have access to shelter — an increase of 9 percent since 2015.

Joey Lovato can be reached at mpurdue@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12 , 2017

Pot, Partisanship and sexual misconduct: a recap of state politics in 2017

By Jacob Solis As 2017 comes to a close, the holiday season provides a time to reflect on a year gone by. And when it comes to state politics, there is certainly plenty to reflect on. Below is a recap, a selection of highlights covering all the highs and all the lows of a year in Nevada politics.

A YEAR OF PARTISAN FIGHTS A biennial affair that brings transients from across the state to Carson City once every two years, Nevada’s legislative session is always a hectic affair. But in 2017, proceedings were driven largely by one thing: partisanship.

Democrats controlled both the state assembly and the state senate and were eager to push through a wide-ranging agenda that included a minimum wage hike, among other things. However, an early spat between Dems and the GOP over education savings accounts — a voucher-like program meant to fund tuition for public school students who wish to go to private school — set the stage for a 5-month-long back and forth on any bill that came with any amount of controversy. And it meant a number of bills were passed through on straight party-line votes.

In the end, Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican, used a record number of vetoes to stop most of the Democratic agenda — including that minimum wage increase. By sine die in June, bipartisan bills — such as a measure that makes price changes for insulin drugs more transparent — were few and far between.

And outside of the policy sphere, a sexual misconduct scandal struck. Longtime state Sen. Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, was forced out of his seat shortly after the session ended when an internal investigation found dozens of instances of sexual harassment over just the last few years of his time in office.

As the session ended, so too sprung up even more partisan fights — this time over recalls. A group linked to state Sen. Michael Roberson, R-Clark County, has been looking to unseat three state senators: Democrats Joyce Woodhouse and Nicole Cannizzaro, and Independent Patricia Farley, all of Las Vegas.

The move, if successful, would provide Republicans a chance to flip the state’s upper house in 2019 — something that

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Fire

would likely not happen under normal electoral circumstances.

The first petition, targeting Woodhouse, was initially successful. However, though it brought in several thousand more signatures than it needed to succeed, a legal challenge from the Woodhouse camp that alleges more than 5,000 signatures are invalid may yet derail the petition altogether.

The petition against Cannizzaro was also initially successful, though by a slimmer margin and with lingering challenges to the method by which the signatures were verified. The final petiFile Photo /Nevada Sagebrush tion against Farley failed after gathering less than half of the signatures needed to Nevada’s 2017 legislative session begins on Monday, Feb. 6. The session ended in a record number of vetoes from Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval. trigger a recall election.

THE MARIJUANA BOOM Much of the legislating done in Carson City this year centered around pot. The drug had been OK’d for recreational use

by Nevada voters in 2016, and both legislators and the state tax commission were eager to get rules in place in time for the planned start to recreational sales in July.

That deadline was met, but early sales were somewhat stalled by problems with distribution. Liquor distributors argued the wording of the original ballot measure that legalized pot gave them the sole ability to distribute pot to individual stores. However, the drug proved to be so popular that stores quickly began selling out — and had no way to stock back up quickly enough to meet demand.

To ease the supply problems, the tax commission sought to allow marijuana businesses to also act as distributors.

That move was immediately challenged by the liquor distributors, however, and the matter is still hung up in the courts after the state supreme court denied a move from the tax commission to give pot businesses distribution licenses and dismiss the liquor suit altogether.

Even with those problems, however, early sales numbers have been stronger than predicted. Pot shops in the state sold about $27 million in July and $33 million in August, amounting to nearly $9 million in total tax revenue through the first two months.

CAMPAIGN SEASON STARTS EARLY Now less than a year away from midterm elections in 2018, a number of candidates for all manner of different

offices are settling into the campaign grind.

In the race for the U.S. Senate, Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen is looking to unseat sitting Republican Dean Heller.

Heller is considered one of the most vulnerable Republican senators in the country and is facing an uphill primary battle against a challenging Danny Tarkanian.

Tarkanian lost by a narrow margin to Rosen in the 2016 race for Congressional District 3 but has since courted the support Steve Bannon and the Breitbart crowd in his effort to replace the highly unpopular Heller.

In the race for governor, Republican Attorney General Adam Laxalt is looking to take over for Sandoval. Challenging him in next summer’s primary are Dan Schwartz, the state’s treasurer, and grassroots candidate and bike shop owner Jared Fisher.

That’s in addition to two Democratic entrants, Steve Sisolak and Chris Giunchigliani, both Clark County commissioners. While Sisolak is far better funded than Giunchigliani (entering the race this summer with roughly $4 million in his campaign war chest), the latter has brought several outside consultants to her campaign — including a campaign manager who helped Democratic Montana Gov. Steve Bullock win reelection in 2016, even as Donald Trump won his state.

And while northern Nevada’s congressional seat will likely remain with Republican incumbent Mark Amodei, seats in the south look to be up for grabs.

As Rosen leaves Congressional District 3 for a chance at the senate, Democrat

Susie Lee — who lost a bid for CD 4 in 2016 — will seek to replace her. That’s in addition to a number of Republican hopefuls, including former Assemblywoman Victoria Seaman, sitting state Sen. Scott Hammond, and former TV reporter Michelle Mortensen.

In CD 4, the looming sexual misconduct scandal surrounding incumbent Rep. Ruben Kihuen has the potential to throw a wrench into Democratic plans to hold the seat in 2018. It’s not yet clear if Kihuen will choose to run for reelection, though he has said that he won’t resign from his seat. If that remains the case, then CD 4 — which includes North Las Vegas and has a not-insignificant Democratic voter registration advantage — will likely be far more of a toss-up than in a “normal” election year.

AND ALL THE REST Even as the holidays approach, there has yet to be a shortage of political happenings. Be it graceful resignations or exits from politics — from the likes of top gaming regulator A.G. Burnett to the state legislators like Reno Assemblywoman Amber Joiner, or Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante Adams or Sen. Patricia Farley, both of Las Vegas — or the less graceful downfalls of those who’ve been accused of sexual misconduct, including the likes of Manendo and Kihuen.

If one thing is for sure, then, it’s that the political world keeps on turning.

Jacob Solis can be reached at jsolis@ sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @ NevadaSagebrush.

of Corrections Director James Dzurenda Continued from page A1 told the RGJ that those being sent are trained Firefighters in and prepared to fight Southern California the fires. are facing six wildfires To assist in the efthat have wreaked forts, the Reno Fire havoc in the region, Department has dedestroying hundreds ployed two fire engines of buildings and as a part of a mutual forcing thousands of aid system Nevada has residents to evacuate. with California.

The Thomas Fire is “When we have fires the fifth-largest fire in they send us apparatus California’s modern and equipment and history and began on when they have large Monday, Dec. 4 in Ven- fires they ask that we tura County. The blaze send them apparatus has covered more than and equipment,” 230,000 acres and is 15 Leighton said. “On percent contained as large emergencies like of Monday. that, they don’t have According to CNN, enough firefighters to the Thomas Fire basically handle the claimed one life when emergencies that are 70-year-old Santa going on or put out the Paula died in what fires. The fires are too officials believe to be big and they’re burna car crash while Paula ing too fast and they’re was trying to flee the too large for any single fire. city or fire district to The Creek, Lilac, Rye, handle those emerand Skirball fires are gencies on their own.” located in LA County The fires are not preand are more than 80 dicted to end any time percent contained. soon and Governor Lastly, the Liberty fire Jerry Brown has told in Riverside County Southern Californians and has been fully that the wildfires are a contained but officials new normal. are keeping an eye due “This is kind of the to possible re-ignition new normal,” Brown due to tropical-storm said. “With climate force Santa Ana winds. change, some scien“The winds play a tists are saying that huge part in fires,” Southern California is Steve Leighton, literally burning up,” Operations Division he said. “So we have to Chief for Reno Fire have the resources to Dept. said. “The fires combat the fires and that we’ve had here, we also have to invest the Colin fire, the in managing the vegWashoe fire, any large etation and forests ... fire we’ve had here. in a place that’s getting The winds had a big hotter.” effect on the fire. They Health officials are need the winds to die strongly encouragdown, they need to ing people to avoid get enough firefighters unnecessary outdoor there to control and exposure and limit all get a perimeter around physical activity due the fire.” to the unhealthy air According to the quality that is spreadRGJ, around 126 ing across the San security inmates Fernando Valley and from prison camps areas in Los Angeles in Nevada that pose a County. low-security risk are being deployed to as- Karolina Rivas can be sist in the Thomas Fire reached at mpurdue@ in Ventura County. sagebrush.unr.edu and on Nevada Department Twitter @karolinarrivas.

Your Guide to Surviving Finals with help from the JCSU

ASUN

Photo Illustratgion designed by Nicole Skarlatos

By Emily Fisher Finals are here once again. It’s the season for all-nighters, increased caffeine intake, flashcard making and general anxiety. The last couple weeks of a semester can be rough. Luckily, as you may have noticed while reading past News You Can Use articles, the university is here to help with stress relief tools, extended building hours, and even free food!

The Joe Crowley Student Union becomes the hub for all things finals survival on Dead Day, Wednesday, Dec.13 through 17.

The JCSU will be open around the clock so you can study until the sun comes up in a safe, warm environment!

There are a lot of fun activities to participate in during the week and The Nevada Sagebrush is here to tell you about them all with

A GUIDE TO THE 24-HOUR STUDY HALL. Wednesday: Though Dead Day is technically the start of finals, the end of the semester leaves students ready for a mental break. From 7 to 9 p.m. in the Food Court, there will

be free canvas finger painting.

The canvas and paint will be provided while supplies last, so let your creativity shine, and maybe paint a self-portrait showing how happy you’ll be once finals are over!

Thursday:

If the early morning exercise classes at the Fitness Center don’t do enough to calm your frustration, release more by joining in on free yoga sessions at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the Great Room. After you get your yoga on, there will be a DIY Trail Mix Bar to perfectly keep you going strong through finals. Just don’t try to steal the trail mix without participating in the yoga, snacks are for yogis only!

Sunday:

By Sunday, some lucky students may be on their way home for the holidays, while others are preparing for those last few tests.

Whatever the case, come cure your sweet tooth or get some extra energy from a free dessert bar in the Great Room from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.

WAIT, THERE’S MORE! On all three days from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m., there will be extra de-stressing activities available for students to participate in. This

includes an oxygen bar, a room full of board games and coloring activities.

Counseling Service’s Take Five Program will also be available to help you learn relaxation techniques and test-taking strategies.

You can even find free coffee, snacks, Scantrons and bluebooks at the Theatre Box Office on the third floor.

During the week, there will also be various activities to take your mind off the stress of finals in other locations on campus. On Dec. 13 in the Knowledge Center, some cuddly canine companions will be available to love from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Don’t forget to also take advantage of many of the other resources available to students year-round including free exercise classes, drop-in counseling and Campus Escort for help getting around campus after latenight study sessions.

Good luck Wolf Pack, may the curve be ever in your favor.

Do you have any helpful finals tips? Share them with us @ NevadaSagebrush.

Emily Fisher can be reached at efisher@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.

A4 | A&E

PACK N THE EVENTS THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR THIS WEEK

By Joey Thyne

@NevadaSagebrush | nevadasagebrush.com

Albums of the Year Indie/Rock

Hip-Hop/Pop

Ryan Suppe

JCSU 24-HOUR STUDY

Joey Thyne

HOT THOUGHTS Spoon

DATE: Wednesday TIME: 7 p.m.

LOCATION: Joe Crowley

Student Union INFO: The Joe is staying up all night to help you cram for finals. There will be lots of amenities, including an oxygen bar, a room full of board games, coloring room and Take 5.

Concession on the third floor will give away coffee, snacks, scantrons, and blue books. This runs until Sunday.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12 , 2017

I have yet to hear a bad song from Spoon. Not even a “meh, it’s alright” sort of reaction. It’s more like “that’s not my favorite song, but it rocks and I’ll listen to it any day of my goddamn life and be into it.” All the way through it’s another solid record from the indie rockers from Texas, singing about being indie rockers from Texas. They can do no wrong.

RUN THE JEWELS 3 Run the Jewels Killer Mike is one of the most underrated lyricists of his generation and El-P is one of the most underrated producers of his generation, so Run the Jewels is a hip-hop nerd’s match made in heaven. In a world full of too-cool-to-care hipsters, Run the Jewels’ fearlessness to just go for it is so refreshing. Run the Jewels brings the energy of the craziest metal band you can think of.

FLOWER BOY HANG Foxygen

DOUGLAS CLIFFORD OF CCR DATE: Wednesday

Tyler, the Creator

TIME: 7 p.m.

LOCATION: Nightingale

Concert Hall INFO: Do you like Creedence Clearwater Revival, or have ever seen a movie with a Vietnam War scene in it? Come check out Doug “Cosmo” Clifford, the former drummer of Creedence Clearwater Revival speak at UNR. The northern Nevada resident will speak about the music industry.

This album sounds like it could be the soundtrack to a dark yet hopeful Pixar movie set in Los Angeles about a “lady of the night” turning his/ her life around after meeting a welcoming group of singing and dancing vagabonds. I played the song “Mrs. Adams” for my dad once and he asked, “Is this Billy Joel?” No, it’s Foxygen, and they rock even harder than Billy Joel.

THE OOZ King Krule

This album unfolds like a summer afternoon daydream. It’s that warm feeling in the pit of your stomach when you’re crushing on someone but you don’t want to tell the person because your imagination is so much more lovely than reality could ever be. He dropped the abrasive act while keeping his unique idiosyncrasies

MELODRAMA Lorde

EVANESCENCE DATE: Friday TIME: 9 p.m.

LOCATION: Grand Sierra

Resort INFO: WAKE ME UP! Wake me up inside! I CAN’T WAKE UP! Wake me up inside! SAVE ME! Call my name and save me from the dark! WAKE ME UP! Bid my blood to run! I CAN’T WAKE UP! Before I come undone!

SAVE ME! Save me from the nothing I’ve become!

RENO WIND SYMPHONY DATE: Saturday

When was the last time something that sounds so gross felt so good?

Singer-sonwriter wunderkind extraordinaire had such high expectations for this album, and he blew them all out of the water. “The Ooz” is some of the darkest, densest, jazziest most deranged music you will ever hear. Check out this album is you want to feel lonely, cold and insane.

AMERICAN DREAM LCD Soundsystem “American Dream” is a pop record from a disco/house music group, but that doesn’t mean you can’t blow the speakers in your car getting krunk to it like I did. He bares his soul on this album. He talks about getting old, complains about current pop music, he sends a sonic middle finger to his critics and he sings a lot about drugs.

“Melodrama” is a concept album revolving around one house party. It’s celebration of youth: every petty, gross, devastating and exquisite detail. The album really thrives on understated tunes like “The Louvre” and “Supercut,” as well as soul-baring ballads like “Liability,” “Hard Feelings” and “Writer in the Dark.”

CTRL SZA SZA is a hopeless romantic in a world where Tinder hookups get ghosted daily. This album is not just for fans of R&B; she combines elements of pop, rock, indie and psychedelia. I could find a lot of fancy words to describe the technical aspects of the album, but it wouldn’t do it justice.

There is something so effortlessly enchanting about it. I just like it a lot.

TIME: 7:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Nightingale

Concert Hall INFO: Get into the holiday spirit. Per tradition, the Reno Wind Symphony is coming to perform some Christmas tunes. KOH radio personality Ross Mitchell will be joining. They are also performing Sunday, Dec. 17 at 7:30 p.m. This event is FREE, but you must pick up tickets from MacLean Financial Group or Heritage Bank of Nevada.

WINE WALK DATE: Saturday TIME: 2 p.m.

LOCATION: Riverwalk

District INFO: Brave the cold and take in this month’s wine walk. Drink the stress of finals away in the middle of the day. Pay $20 and get wine from participating locations in the Riverwalk District.

This month’s is an ugly sweater wine crawl.

Join in the tradition of spending too much money on sweaters purposely designed to look horribly kitschy and then never wear it again.

Joey Thyne can be reached jthyne@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @joey_thyne

CRACK-UP Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes is a group of the most talented musicians in rock music today. “Crack-Up” is stronger and more refined than their previous albums. It hits you and apologizes sweetly, then hits you again even harder. They take “tension and release” to a whole new level on “I Am All That I Need / Arroyo Seco / Thumbprint Scar” and “Third of may / ōdaigahara.” They got snubbed and disrespected at the upcoming Grammys and replaced by the artist formerly known as J. Tillman. Yuck.

DAMN. Kendrick Lamar After “To Pimp a Butterfly” came out in 2015, many critics and fans wrote off Lamar as a “conscious rapper.” However, in 2017 Kendrick, now Kungfu Kenny, came back to prove he can make current-sounding music and do it better than anyone else. Just because there are trap beats and an appearance

by Rihanna doesn’t mean the music is any less challenging. No, the lyrics are dense with themes of religion, fame and so much more. With DAMN., I dare say, Kendrick has proved himself as the greatest rapper of all time.

Christmas events around Reno

By Joey Thyne

‘Tis the season for standing at the back of church, feigning joy when opening presents, scraping ice off your windshield, buying your Secret Santa candy at the last second, pretending to like eggnog, crying because you learned you have to retake Journalism 108, using the excuse of “it’s the holidays” to gorge on cookie dough, getting irritated by your family and paying for Mariah Carey’s mortgage. It all can be a little much. In order to stave off seasonal affective disorder, I have curated some fun holiday events around Reno.

go with her. Then again, she will probably buy me Shirley Temples...

WINTERFEST Taking place at the Greater Nevada Field, this bash goes on for the entirety of December. Festivities include Holiday Express Train, Santa’s Village, fresh cut Christmas trees, and the ice skating rink. Sure, ice skating sounds like a good first date idea, until you fall and sprain your wrist and spend the rest of the night crying and your date leaves because she suddenly remembers she has to pick her cousin up from the airport...or whatever...

THE NUTCRACKER

POLAR EXPRESS ON THE V&T RAILROAD

The Reno Dance Company will perform the “The Nutcracker” in the Celebrity Showroom at the Nugget of Sparks Dec. 16, 17 and 22-24. Warning: spectators in the front row should bring protective eye wear because of all of the broken nutshells which fly from the stage. Please, no one tell my mom about this event or she will make me

This train ride on the Virginia and Truckee Railroad runs until the 30th of December. Drink hot cocoa and hang with Santa. Buy your tickets early because it sells out every year. You can buy VIP tickets which includes additional entertainment, extra time with Santa, a “special holiday treat” and a commemorative mug. Also, I

think you are allowed to spit on people in coach. So come out and relive that creepy animated movie where Tom Hanks plays 17 different characters. The website claims it is a round trip to the North Pole, which, by my calculations would take approximately 47 hours. So, plan accordingly.

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS On Sunday, Dec. 17, at the Spanish Springs Library, the In-Tunes Tales will present their sing-along version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” teaches children the valuable lesson that if you are shunned from society for being different, you should rid townspeople of their material goods in an act of Marxist defiance.

JAZZ FOR THE HOLIDAYS - A GOSPEL CHRISTMAS The Reno Jazz Orchestra, accompanied

by Pat Esters’ Gospel Choir and the Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra, will perform at Cargo Concert Hall in Whitney Peak on Dec. 16

and 17. Jazz isn’t dead, it just has to perform jingle bells once a year.

HOME 4 THE HOLIDAYS The Nevada Humane Society is looking for future pet owners to adopt 1,200 dogs and cats this Christmas season. They are waiving fees for cats over 5. Think about it: You can be just like Santa Clause (more like Santa Claws, [get it?]).

THE BUTTCRACKER The Brüka Theatre is performing this parody and time travel adventure through Reno Dec. 13-16 and 20-23 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 10 and 17 at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $24. The show is ages 12 and up. 11-year-olds are just too immature. 12-year-olds, however? Very mature. This is the eighth year they have performed it. As in, they have performed it seven previous times and people approved.

Art is dead.

Joey Thyne can be reached at joeythyne@ gmail.com and on Twitter @joey_thyne.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12 , 2017

@NevadaSagebrush | nevadasagebrush.com

Top songs of 2017 Joey Thyne

Ryan Suppe

“Be Nothing” Beach Fossils

“Spent the Day in Bed” Morrissey

“Taxi’s Here” Tame Impala

“Little Dark Age” MGMT

“Feel It Still” Portugal. The Man

“Can I Sit Next to You?” Spoon

“Mourning Sound” Grizzly Bear

“how do you sleep?”

LCD Soundsystem

“Andromeda” Gorillaz

“Fool’s Errand” Fleet Foxes

“Brick Body Complex” Open Mike Eagle

“Boys” Charlie XCX

“STAR” BROCKHAMPTON

“Keep Your Name” Dirty Projectors

“Slip Away” Perfume Genius

“Moonlight on the River” Mac Demarco

“Leaving L.A.” Father John Misty

“BagBak” Vince Staples

“Biking” Frank Ocean

“In Undertow” Alvvays

WED Quesadillas Quesadillas at at the the KC KC

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I n f ron t of t h e Kn owle d g e Ce n te r 11: 0 0 AM - 2 : 0 0 PM

THUR Poetry Poetry & & Pizza Pizza

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B l i n d O n ion , 3 rd F loor o f t h e J o e 6: 0 0 PM - 9: 0 0 PM

F R I Ice Ice with with the the Ace’s Ace’s

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R e n o Ace’s I ce R in k [ o ff- cam pu s ] 7: 0 0 PM - 1 0 : 0 0 PM

MON The The Coffee Coffee Crawl Crawl

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Kn owle d g e Ce n te r R ot u n d a 9: 3 0 AM - 12 : 0 0 PM

TUES Making Making “Ties” “Ties” with with ASUN ASUN

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A S U N O f fi ce s , 3 rd F lo o r o f t h e J o e 6: 3 0 PM - 8 : 0 0 PM

A&E | A5

@NevadaSagebrush | nevadasagebrush.com

A6

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12 , 2017

STAFF EDITORIAL

Shrugging our shoulders at GOP tax bill

R

ight now, the Trump tax plan is being hammered and bent by conference.

It’s the way all bills are smoothed between the inevitably different versions produced by each the House and the Senate, and by and large, it’s a remarkably normal process.

Though, perhaps not this time.

The tax plan, especially in its senate version, was passed under cover of darkness, was read by no one (relatively speaking), and had amendments scribbled by hand in the margins. It was major legislation passed as quickly as humanly possible, at speeds that would, under normal circumstances,

give any legislator whiplash.

It was, by all accounts, a bit of a mess.

But Republicans voted for it anyway, because surely these irregularities would get ironed out in conference.

After all, conference is a time for deal making and pork barrels (which, politicians agree, is the best kind of barrel), and any of those nitty gritty mistakes — like the addition of $1 trillion to the deficit during a time of economic growth — can get tweaked into “features” and “benefits” and “talking points” later on.

But, if by divine intervention, the conference process has at least allowed Congress — and therefore the

nation — a moment to breathe, and to digest: what’s even in this bill?

For one thing, we know it benefits corporations and the wealthy. Now, we won’t be stodgy caricatures of liberals here and say the corporate tax code shouldn’t be adjusted, because it probably should. However, it doesn’t mean the timing of this bill isn't enormously suspect (it is) or that the content of the bill somehow makes more sense because of it (it doesn’t).

In fact, what we’re left with is something that, sure, will lower taxes for most people. But why? Only because the Republicans need something — anything — to hang their hats on next November. And if they can play Santa

Claus while they’re at it, handing out tax cuts like poorly wrapped christmas gifts, then that’s even better.

And that’s to say nothing of the president's role in all this.

The Trump Administration is nothing if not consistently disappointing.

This week, the Treasury Department released their analysis of the tax plan.

It was a one page report that claimed Trump’s whole economic plan would create $1.8 trillion in new tax revenue.

This single page analysis of a nearly 500 page tax plan comes months after Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin promised a detailed analysis of the tax plan and a week after versions of the plan passed the House and Senate. He

has also claimed that 100 Treasury employees were working on the analysis.

By our calculations, that’s probably one analyst for every four words of detailed analysis.

So here we are. With 500 hundred pages of something that is almost surely a tax cut. But what else it might be? We suppose we’ll have to wait and see what kind of frankenstein’s monster emerges from conference. At least it will probably be wearing a tuxedo and singing “puttin on the ritz,” so there’s that.

The editorial board can be reached at jsolis@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.

Kubrick: criticizing the greedy, The power of spite rich and powerful through art

I

B

ertolt Brecht once wrote, “Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.” I don’t know who Bertolt is but I like his style, and I think his quote (which I googled) fits what I’m about to mansplain to you quite well.

In these troubling times, and no I don’t mean finals, I mean the notifications I get on my phone every day of the next guy resigning amid sexual assault allegations. In these troubling times, one can look to art to remind us that the bad guys have been exposed before, and they will continue to be exposed. Art is Ryan a useful tool in this Suppe endeavor. I think Soup of the that’s how Stanley Kubrick meant to use Day his art, as a hammer to smash the penises right off the naked men forcefully masturbating in front of women.

Stanley Kubrick was born to a Jewish family in New York City in 1928. He was not a good student in high school and didn’t make the grades to get into college. He worked as a photographer for Look magazine after graduating. He read extensively at the library, watched movies at the art house movie theater and he became an expert at chess by playing grumpy old men in the park.

He made his first movies by saving up money and asking for loans from family and friends. Throughout his filmmaking career, he made roughly a dozen feature-length films, and he is considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.

I don’t know how or why but at some point Kubrick decided that he was going to tell stories that criticized the rich and the powerful and the greedy and that empowered the less powerful.

Many self-proclaimed cinephiles would be burned at the stake by even more condescending self-proclaimed cinephiles for claiming to know what Kubrick’s movies are about. Usually I would join in because it’s against my

religion to try to guess what the hidden meaning behind the Gold Room in "The Shining" might be; however, I think I can say with confidence that Kubrick was a man who wanted to serve up some justice to the powerful men who deserved it.

Take, for example, his 18th century period drama from 1975 Barry Lyndon.

It is about a young Irish man, Redmond Barry, born into poverty but set on not staying there for long. Barry is scorned by his cousin, who he has become infatuated with. She would rather marry an older, richer military man. Barry vows to never be taken advantage of again. He travels abroad, climbing the social ladder through deceit and opportunism.

He finally sits in the position of power he had hoped for, but by the end, he is thwarted by those he harmed along the way. He ends up sad and alone (and crippled).

Then there is "A Clockwork Orange,"about a young man aroused so deeply by the many pleasures western society provides for a person of his class and stature he must be made into a science experiment for the people in power most responsible for providing those pleasures. "2001: A Space Odyssey" is about a future man-made weapon (the computer) so powerful it outsmarts its own makers. Even "Eyes Wide Shut," as crazy as the movie might be, is simply about a man who wants the status and lifestyle of the richest of the rich, but once he gains access he finds it’s really all about treating women like sex slaves and using power to threaten them. Was "Eyes Wide Shut" about Harvey Weinstein’s gang of manipulative, deceiving, disgusting circus clowns? Maybe.

And, of course, we can’t forget "Lolita," an excruciatingly relevant movie about a bunch of full-grown perverts drooling over a 12-year-old girl. Guess how it ends. The perverts die sad and alone.

I think Kubrick was drawn to these types of stories of powerful men meeting swift justice. Many of his films were adapted from existing books. "Lolita" was written by Vladimir Nabokov, "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess and "The Shining" by Stephen King.

Kubrick almost made a movie about

Photos via Public Domain From top to bottom: 1. A young Stanley Kubrick 2. Peter Sellers as President Merkin Muffley in Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 3. Kirk Douglas and Adolphe Menjou in Kubrick’s "Paths of Glory"

Napoleon Bonaparte. It never came to fruition, but I can imagine it would’ve been about a greedy, power-hungry man who dies sad and alone.

Kubrick took those already powerful stories and put them on the screen so that he could persuade the masses through beautiful images and damn good suspense.

I could go on and on, but the moral of all his stories seems to be that the power-hungry, perverted men die sad and alone.

I can’t vouch for the man’s character because I didn’t know him. I’ve heard he could be a real jerk on set. And, I don’t want to pretend to know what Kubrick really thought. He could have been one of the many perverts from his generation (God, I would be devastated), but

I think his work speaks for itself. And it is as relevant today as it has ever been.

We should continue to watch these movies. We should show them to our children when they are old enough. And we should use them as an example of exactly how not to act when you find yourself in a position of power. Nobody wants a Jack Torrence in the world, but they seem to be popping up more and more all the time.

Opinions expressed in The Nevada Sagebrush are solely those of the author and do not necessarily express the views of The Sagebrush or of its staff. Ryan Suppe studies journalism and philosophy. He can be reached at rsuppe@sagebrush. unr.edu and on Twitter @salsuppe

f there is one thing that I wholeheartedly believe in it's the power of spite. MerriamWebster calls spite “petty ill will or hatred with the disposition to irritate, annoy, or thwart”, I call it the driving force behind much of my success and good fortune.

Let me take you to middle school. I wasn’t a happy kid then. I was usually withdrawn, silent in most unorganized social situations, and I had a tendency to erupt in anger. Well, one day I was in line to enter a class and two girls were talking about me literally behind my back. I still remember this conversation: “Oh who cares about Patrick, Patrick he’s just going to kill himself Hardin anyway and nobody will care.”

“That’s not true, when he does it, we are all going to be sad.”

The wording may be off, granted this happened nearly a decade ago, but the last sentence always sticks with me. “When he does it...” This girl, who was trying to defend and stick up for me, had already written me off as a lost cause who will end up offing himself sooner or later. I was already a dead man, well it’s that sentence that made me come alive. I was going to prove them wrong. I was going to be petty by living, and thwart their plans to attend my funeral. I was going to be spiteful, just through the simple act of living. Believe me, my spite paid off.

Whether it was running six times before finally being elected to my high school’s student council, keeping a steady job when some belligerent teachers said I would be fired (and for some bizarre reason, arrested) because of my bullheadedness, referencing Saturday Night Live in my Core Humanities final, writing on topics of social and political importance for multiple publications, I can honestly testify that many times spite can lead to positive success.

Why? Simple, most people have a desire to prove the naysayers, the “haters”, the other guy, wrong.

It’s a mixture of being competitive, vengeful, and greedy. While it can lead to negative effects and self-destruction, when used correctly it could lead to tremendous events and results nobody thought was possible. It’s the power of spite that got Donald Trump elected President of the United States, when everyone dismissed him as a lunatic showboat bigot, he went out and got elected. (Though, by no means take the preceding as an endorsement of Trump, I still think his policies are harmful to the country and I’m crossing my fingers that Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti runs for president and takes Trump to the cleaners.)

Now, why am I saying all this? Because, in the past few years there has been attempts to silence opponents or ideas, only for the power of spite to propel the opposed to victory. Just the other day, a community college employee stole an alt-right speaker’s notes in an attempt to prevent that speaker from speaking. On top of that, entertainers like Melissa Etheridge, John Leguizamo, and Seth Rogen are boycotting SiriusXM over Steve Bannon hosting a radio show on the satellite radio service. These people, from the community college employee to those celebrities, are idiots. 100 percent, Grade-AAA, dumb-as-the-droppings-froma -dog, idiots. Their actions are only going to cause their alt-right opponents to energize and fight back, all out of spite toward the people that tried to silence them. The same spite that can drive yourself to prove them wrong, could drive them to prove you wrong.

There have been many campaigns to be kind, be grateful, be outreaching. I say be spiteful. Prove anyone who dares to say that you can’t do something wrong, by doing that something. Spite is what created Dreamworks SKG, since Jeffrey Katzenberg was spurned from Disney and ended up creating Disney’s largest rival in animation. It was spite that helped Republican Senator from Minnesota Norm Coleman get defeated in 2008. Spite led Stephen Curry to sign with Under Armour, instead of Nike. Spite is like uranium, immensely powerful when used correctly, yet disastrous if misused.

As a part with this cherished institution, I urge you all to be positively spiteful. Prove people wrong when they tear you down. If they think you’re a dead man walking, keep living. Let that anger and passion that spite gives you and channel it into the next great creation. Just don’t allow others to be spiteful against you.

Opinions expressed in The Nevada Sagebrush are solely those of the author and do not necessarily express the views of The Sagebrush or of its staff. Patrick Hardin is a Noted Idiot. He can be reached at pkchardin@ gmail.com and on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.

Sports

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2017

SPORTS | A7

@SagebrushSports | nevadasagebrush.com

Nevada Basketball in good shape despite losses on the road

F

ollowing tough back-to-back road games, the Nevada Basketball team has over a week off to prepare for its last stretch of non conference games before heading into Mountain West play. It is safe to say that the meat of its out-of-conference schedule is done. There has been much ado made about the need for this basketball team to bulk up its schedule in the preseason to help boost its resume come Selection Sunday.

Thus, with the conclusion of its marquee games against Texas Tech and TCU, let’s take a look at what Javier we’ve learned about Hernandez this team thus far as it heads into Mountain West Conference play.

aging 17.4 a contest.

Despite the major contributions that the Martin twins have brought to the team, Caroline is still the heartbeat of this team. His effort on the boards and overall hustle cannot be overstated.

When Caroline plays well, the team feeds off his energy.

In last year’s NCAA Tournament game against Iowa State, Caroline was the one who sparked the near-comeback against the Cyclones. On the biggest stage, he displayed that nobody can match his energy level. His 16 points and 10 free throw attempts helped keep the Wolf Pack afloat when the Cyclones seemed to try and break the game open.

In the game against Rhode Island, Caroline delivered one of the best performances in the season as he bulldozed his way to 28 points. More importantly, he affected the game most with his ability to shift the momentum at points where the Rams seemed to take control of the game. His game-high 17 free throw attempts were what won that high-profile matchup.

Caroline may still be adjusting to being the de facto small-ball “big man” with the departure of Cameron Oliver. However, he has to be able to anchor the post if Nevada is to match up against taller teams.

In Nevada’s sole loss against Texas Tech, Caroline only attempted nine shots and got to the line once. For Nevada to win its matchups against higher caliber opponents, it needs to rely on the play of its most important player. It may be nitpicking to what is otherwise a solid start to the season but Caroline should never shy away from asserting his role in key games.

Twin Identity Ever since head coach Eric Musselman has stepped foot on campus, he has preached that he wanted his teams to play a fast-paced style of basketball.

Prior to the beginning of the season, he believed that he had the personnel necessary to run the majority of his offensive and defensive schemes.

With the departure of three starters from the NCAA Tournament qualifying team in 2016 in Cameron Oliver, D.J. Fenner, and Marcus Marshall, there were some question marks as to who would step up to fill those shoes. Especially on the offensive end, that trio made up a majority of its scoring attack.

Cue Caleb and Cody Martin. The Martin Twins were touted to be the prototypical “position-less” player that Musselman has tried to model his team after. Not to mention that coming out of high school they were both highly ranked consensus four-star recruits, they have been key to giving the Wolf Pack its identity this season.

Caleb Martin, who started off the season with a turf toe injury, has taken on the primary ballhandler/first option scorer for this team that Marshall had last year. He leads the team in scoring at 19.7 points per game. Martin has made a living from beyond the arc, where 52.7 percent of his shots have come from.

Through eight games, he has converted at a 49.2 percent clip. It will be interest-

Andrea Wilkinson/Nevada Sagebrush

The Nevada Basketball team huddles following a foul call in its game against the Rhode Island Rams on Monday, Nov. 13, 2017 at the Lawlor Events Center. The Wolf Pack sits at 8-2 heading into its home matchup against the Radford Highlanders this upcoming weekend.

ing to see whether he can sustain this level of shooting throughout the season.

In Nevada’s loss against Texas Tech, it was evident that he had the same green light that Marshall had last year at points during the season. Musselman loves to get his players into isolation situations where they can exploit the defense. It is clear that he trusts Martin to the point where he took over 30 percent of the team’s shots that game.

Cody Martin has become the Wolf Pack’s designated defensive stopper.

While he is the third leading scorer on

this team, averaging 16.2 points per game, his greatest contributions have been on the defensive end, guarding the opposing team’s best player.

Without the presence of a real shot blocker unlike in years past where Cameron Oliver anchored the paint, Martin has helped stabilize the defense. Instead of traditional position-type players, the Wolf Pack essentially has the length and speed to switch every ball screen. In most cases, this is a strength because Martin has thrived in both defending perimeter and post players.

Depth One of the main storylines in the early portion of the season is the depth that this Wolf Pack team has.

Through nine games, the Martin twins have been a pleasant surprise to Wolf Pack fans as the duo has played a large part in molding the identity of this iteration of Nevada Basketball.

Caroline Heading into the season, Jordan Caroline was the media’s pick for Mountain West Conference Player of the Year. He has played well in the non conference portion of the season. He trails Caleb Martin in points per game as he is aver-

Opinions expressed in The Nevada Sagebrush are solely those of the author and do not necessarily express the views of The Sagebrush or of its staff. Javier Hernandez can be reached at bcruz@ sagebrush.unr and on Twitter @SagebrushSports.

Education is the key to preventing CTE ic brain injury that affects your brain function according to mayoclinic.org.

Headache, temporary loss of consciousness, confusion, amnesia, dizziness, ringing in the ears and nausea are just a few of the many symptoms that come with concussions. While many of these symptoms are temporary, it is important to note that any type of physical activity should be halted. In Texan QB Tom Savage’s case, this did not happen. Savage took a vicious hit from Elvis Dumervil during the team’s game this past Sunday.

Not only did he appear disoriented, but while still on the ground after the play, Savage’s hands appeared to be seizing.

Savage was allowed to play the remainder of the game after sitting out for one series.

The problem with allowing Andrea Wilkinson/Nevada Sagebrush Savage in the game Jaden Sawyer prepares to exit the tunnel and run onto the field in Nevada’s game after he was clearly against the UNLV Rebels on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2017. Nevada defeated the Rebels in suffering from a its annual battle for the Fremont Cannon. concussed state, is the extremity of line. The referee blew the whistle and the side effects. Yes, t was a balmy Vegas night at Ed seconds later the ball was in my grasp, anybody who plays Fountain Park in March of 2010. as I hightailed it through the center of a contact sport is The street lights were glowing, the field. Just as I had spun out of one taking a risk by uschants were echoing across the tackle, I got tagged by a 200 plus pound ing their bodies as fields and the start of my second teenager on the other team. I was sitting vehicles of violence, youth football season was about to around 105 pounds at this point in my but the reason concommence. We were playing this life. I felt a bit disoriented and confused cussion protocol is team that labeled but I ran into the offensive huddle any- supposed to be in themselves as the how to start the first drive. Our quarter- place is to evaluate Raiders, and to many back called the play in the huddle and the symptoms and people’s dismay we broke. Before the hit I knew every issues when they every teenager on play in the playbook, where to line up, happen to limit the field was supwho to block in any defensive scheme the magnitude of posedly the “same and so forth. After we broke from the negative effects on age.” Lets just say it huddle I barely knew what position I the brain. If Savage appeared as if our was and had no idea if I was getting the got hit again during two teams were cut ball or not. This was my first concussion that game against Brandon from a different size as an athlete, but not my last. the San Francisco Cruz of cloth. But coaches Tevin Coleman, Nathan Peterman, 49ers there’s a good always preached Todd Davis, Tom Savage and Kendall chance the conse“It’s not about who’s Lamm. What do all of these players quences would have bigger, but about who gets lower when in the National Football League have compounded.

In contact erupts.” in common? They’re all sitting on the some cases, athletes Once the regular proceedings fin- injury report for their respective teams who have played ished up we were set to return the kick. due to concussion protocol. with concussions I was the lone returner on our 20-yard Concussions are labeled as a traumat- end their entire

playing careers because the risk of serious brain damage is too high.

All the while during the series of occasions where athletes get these consistent concussions the risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy rises. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE for short is a crippling brain disease commonly found in athletes and military veterans who have a history of repetitive brain trauma. CTE begins by creating a protein called Tau which then starts spreading through the brain, killing off brain cells. When CTE was first discovered in 1928 by Dr. Harrison Martland, some boxers described it as “punch drunk syndrome.” But CTE

truly came to the forefront of American society’s attention after Will Smith starred in the movie “Concussion.” In this true story, Smith took on the role of Dr. Bennet Omalu, who found a neurological breakdown in the brain of NFL player Mike Webster during an autopsy in 2005.

Opinions expressed in The Nevada Sagebrush are solely those of the author and do not necessarily express the views of The Sagebrush or of its staff. Brandon Cruz can be reached at bcruz@sagebrush. unr and on Twitter @SagebrushSports.

Wanting to Learn German?

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Learn conversation & literature from a German native. For details, email Hanna, at hrp.reno@gbis.com

Court Report TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2017

@SagebrushSports | nevadasagebrush.com

SPORTS | A8

UNDEFEATED STREAK SNAPPED Wolf Pack Basketball loses back-to-back games against Texas Tech and TCU

LOOKING BACK

By Javier Hernandez The Nevada Wolf Pack lost a tough neutral site game against the TCU Horned Frogs this past Friday at the Staples Center. The Wolf Pack, who had just lost a road game against Texas Tech earlier in the week, fell short of mounting a late game comeback against the Horned Frogs.

TCU jumped ahead to an early 10-2 lead in the opening minutes of the first half. However, the Wolf Pack was able to bounce back after a three point basket by Cody Martin followed by a jumper

by Kendall Stephens that helped weather the initial storm.

But The Horned Frogs were able to impose their will in the interior as they outscored the Wolf Pack in points in the paint 22-14 in the first half.

The Martin twins helped keep Nevada afloat in the first half, combining for 17 points (on 7-of-14 shooting). Heading into the half, the Wolf Pack trailed the Horned Frogs by 11 points.

In the second half, the Wolf Pack tried to cut into the deficit. However, TCU

was able to respond to most of the Wolf Pack’s attack by continuing to score on their end. The lead ballooned to as much as 16 points with less than 10 minutes to play in the game.

With its back against the wall, the Wolf Pack responded with a methodical 16-5 run to cut the deficit down to five points with 5:01 remaining in the game. However, despite the sustained attack by the Wolf Pack, TCU was once again able to respond late in the game. They ran off a 9-5 run led by sophomore point guard Jaylen Fisher.

Following his converted free throws to stretch the lead to nine points, the Horned Frogs were able to hold off the Wolf Pack to earn its first win over a top 25 opponent this season.

LOOKING AheaD The Wolf Pack fell to 8-2 on the season and will look to finish out the nonconference schedule on a high note.

They will take a week long break for final examinations before taking on Radford this Saturday. This should be a good bounce back game for the Wolf Pack as Radford should pose little to no threat to them. For comparison, the Wolf Pack are ranked 29th in the nation in effective field goal percentage while Radford is ranked in the mid-200s.

Following Radford, the Wolf Pack will face UC Davis, a top 30 RPI ranked team. This should be the toughest challenge for the Wolf Pack heading into conference play. The Aggies are a solid team that has posted wins against Washington State and Pacific. They will be another team that will present another challenge for the Wolf Pack as they boast two players that are listed at 6’ 10” and 6’ 11” in Colin Russell and Matt Neufeld.

That game can be a good test to see the improve-

ment in the Wolf Pack’s interior defense heading into conference play.

Following UC Davis, Nevada wil be facing two teams both ranked in the 200s in RPI in Southern Illinois and San Francisco.

These games are part of the Las Vegas Continental Tire Classic. These games can be a challenge for the Wolf Pack as they will be playing Southern Illinois on the 22nd and then San Francisco the day after.

While both opponents should present no problem for the Wolf Pack, the back-to-back games can be a challenge for the Wolf Pack.

Following the Wolf Pack’s games in Las Vegas, they will begin conference play against Fresno State at the Save Mart Center on Dec. 27.

Fresno State currently has a record of 8-2 and has a six game winning streak after beating Cal Poly Javier Hernandez can be reached at bcruz@ sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @SagebrushSports.

Andrea Wilkinson/Nevada Sagebrush

Caleb Martin rises up to shoot against the Rhode Island Rams on Monday, Nov. 13, 2017 at the Lawlor Events Center. Nevada will face Radford this upcoming Saturday.