Volume 9, Issue 17

Volume 9, Issue 17 | April 1 - April 7, 2015

UCSB’s Weekly Student-Run Newspaper

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SHOWCASE

TOMMY

WARM UP

Explore the surreal and provacotive illustrations of Luis Bondoc, one of UCSB’s finest artists.

Tommy Wiseau, cult hero and creator of The Room, has returned with a new terrible work of art, Neighbors.

Worried about the potential consequences of events like Deltopia? Fret not— concerts are here to save us.

PHOTO / 3

A&E/ 7

OPINIONS / 8

GUILT BY ASSOCIATION PART III: GREEK LIFE & AS SENATE, PAGE 2 ISLA VISTA BEAT REPORT

New Policies Enacted to Regulate Deltopia, Prevent Local Violence

Photo by Lorenzo Basilio | The Bottom Line Kelsey Knorp IV BEAT REPORTER

In anticipation of the upcoming Deltopia weekend, an array of regulations and programs will be enacted during the first two weekends of April as part of efforts by local law enforcement, Santa Barbara County, and the University of California, Santa Barbara to prevent the violence of last year’s event.

Two key county ordinances to be enforced by law enforcement are designed to limit “unsanctioned festivals,” according to a public message issued by UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang. One of these, designated by section 6-70 of the county municipal code, defines such a festival as including live or prerecorded music, attracting 500 or more attendees, and occurring anywhere without a “permanent installation constructed for the purpose of conducting such activities.”

Isla Vista Foot Patrol lieutenant Rob Plastino cautions against interpreting this legislation too literally, as usually his officers will have to eyeball the size of a party rather than attempt to count heads. He advises party hosts to take measures such as hiring security to ensure that they are making an effort to control their events.

“There’s no such thing as a law that states that you can’t have an open party, but there are nuances to that,” he said. “If juveniles are going in, let’s say, and they’re drinking alcohol, now that party, an open party, is in violation of the law because they’re serving alcohol to minors. So, it’s not so much that the party is open, it’s more that the open environment has gone and broken the law.”

The festival ordinance, traditionally invoked during Halloween weekend, prohibits any music between the hours of 6 PM and 7 AM on designated nights, with a penalty of up to $500 in administrative fees and a misdemeanor charge per violation.

A recent amendment updated the ordinance to prohibit such activity from Friday, April 3, to

Sunday, April 5, and Friday, April 10, through Sunday, April 12, in addition to the already-specified last weekend in October and first weekend in November.

A second important ordinance, listed under section 28A-1 of the code, prohibits unpermitted events that draw crowds which obstruct right-of-way, with a penalty of up to $500 per violation.

This indicates that both the host of an event and its participants are liable to receive citations should officials deem the event to be blocking the street adjacent to it.

According to information disseminated by the UCSB Office of Student Life, music will be allowed during the day, between the hours of 7 AM and 6 PM, permitted that “it is not loud enough to create crowds in front of the property or is targeting the street,” in compliance with the county rightof-way ordinance. Plastino confirmed that this will be the case, though his officers will expect that music be played at a lower volume than is typically heard on a Friday or Saturday night.

“People that live in IV deserve a chance to party responsibly during the day if they want to do so, but in order to curb it, you still can’t play to the crowds [or] play your music to the masses—it’s got to be a small party,” Plastino said. “That music has got to be at a level that cannot be heard out on the street. If it’s heard out on the street, it’s going to be in violation.”

Unlike in previous years, extensive parking restrictions will be effected in the area surrounding Del Playa Drive. Those UCSB students forced to move their cars as a result of these restrictions may purchase a pass from UCSB Transportation and Parking Services permitting them to park on campus from 11 AM on Friday, April 3, to 7:30 AM on Monday, April 6. Paper permits dispensed in campus parking lots will not be honored.

Parking restrictions will mirror those enforced during Halloween, prohibiting all street parking on the 6500, 6600, and

Students take a selfie on Del Playa Drive.

Photo by Andrea Vallone | Copy Editor 6700 blocks of Del Playa as well as on the sections of Camino Del Sur and Camino Pescadero extending between Del Playa and Trigo Road. Additionally, there will be no parking allowed on the 6500 block of Trigo or on El Embarcadero between Del Playa and the top of the loop that splits the road in two.

Residents of the 6500 block of El Nido Lane and the 6500, 6600, and 6700 blocks of Sabado Tarde Road will not be required to move their cars off the street, but should plan not to enter or exit the restricted area during the event. Police roadblocks will enforce these parking restrictions from 9 AM on April 4, to 7 AM on April 5.

To discourage visitors from out of town, the city of Goleta has also prohibited street parking in all neighborhoods between Hollister Road and the borders of IV, with the exception of residents who obtain a special permit from the city.

According to Yang’s message to the public, the UC Police Department will station more than 100 officers from both UCSB and its sister campuses in Isla Vista to aid with enforcement of these regula-

Crowds flood Del Playa durng Deltopia 2013.

tions. Santa Barbara County will provide approximately 200 officers in addition to these, which will bring police staffing to a level on par with that seen during Halloween, Plastino said. The county will also provide emergency first aid, similar to that offered during Halloween, at the Embarcadero loop and the corner of Camino Pescadero and Trigo Road from 12 PM on April 4 to 2 AM on April 5.

University efforts to deter visitors have been supplemented by a no-guest policy in all residence halls, effective throughout the weekend. The chancellor’s office has also approved several new programs, put on by various campus organizations and designed exclusively for UCSB students, as alternatives to house parties in Isla Vista. Associate Dean of Student Life Katya Armistead has been working closely with these groups to put together the events. “[Students] just want something fun to do,” she said. “They don’t necessarily want to tear the town apart and be completely reckless… and if we say, ‘Well, you can’t do that, but we’re not going to give you any alternatives,’ then what can we expect? I felt

like Halloween weekend was just so telling… I stood outside the Thunderdome as students were leaving, and they were just so joyful, saying, ‘Thank you so much; I hope you do that every year.’”

The largest of these university efforts is The Warm Up, a series of scheduled on-campus events planned by a variety of student organizations. During the day of April 4, there will be a street fair in Lot 27, which will include local bands, food trucks, and a rock climbing wall, among other activities. The UCSB Recreation Center will offer additional activities at that time, including free workout classes and rollerblading.

The University Center HUB will also present “Sharkfest,” a series of shark-themed movies shown throughout the day. At night, there will be a concert in the Thunderdome featuring DJ/producer Sweater Beats and synthpop duo Purity Ring, presented by AS Program Board.

“I think what’s helpful is seeing our students self-regulate each other,” Armistead said. “Because if anything’s going to change, it’s really the students deciding what kind of community they like, that they want to have.”

TBL | Apr 1-Apr 7, 2015

2 | NEWS

SPECIAL AS BEAT REPORT

GUILT BY ASSOCIATION: Greek Life and AS Senate ‘Too Cozy’?

Bailee Abell AS BEAT REPORTER The Open People’s Party at the University of California, Santa Barbara is associated with consistently gaining votes from members of Greek organizations during the Associated Students election each spring, and OPP continually wins the majority of the seats on the AS Senate and in the executive offices.

Due to the relationship between Greek life and OPP, UCSB students have expressed concern that Greek life receives more funding and representation than other student groups and organizations.

“Typically there is a good portion of Greek life that OPP actively reaches out to,” said former OPP campaign manager Mathew Burciaga*, who worked during the Spring 2014 election. “We typically have senators from Greek life… the more traditional fraternities and sororities and the cultural ones.”

Burciaga stated that OPP continuously tries to gain votes from the Greek life, due to the size of the Greek community.

“At just a regular house in IV you might have five or six people, but, say, at the Beta senior house, you might have a dozen, maybe 16 people,” said Burciaga. “How can you maximize the amount of votes you get with the smallest amount of effort?”

According to College of Creative Studies Senator Liam Stanton, who ran independently of a political party, this type of campaigning can lead to representational consequences.

“There is this dynamic where, especially with the party in power right now, they have a very cozy relationship with Greek life,” said Stanton.

Approximately 30 percent of the 20142015 AS Senate is affiliated with Greek life.

This percentage is larger than the overall percentage of Greeks in the student body, with only 11 percent of undergraduates affiliated.

Burciaga stated that OPP purposefully slates members of Greek life as senators and executive candidates due to their ability to gain votes from other members of the Greek community, as well as their availability during the academic year. “[Being a senator] is a part-time job,” said Burciaga. “You have to be inherently privileged, or have some sort of financial backing, or just be more well-off in general, to be able to run for senate and be an effective senator… Most kids are working 15-20 hours a week just to put food on the table, just

to survive.”

According to Burciaga, because members of Greek life are typically more affluent than non-members, they have an advantage when being slated for candidacy. These students are able to work 15 hours per week, only receiving payment in the form of honoraria at the end of each quarter.

“You slate someone that is working 1520 hours a week, they won’t have time to do another 15-20 hours of work on top of schoolwork, on top of already being tired from work,” said Burciaga. “In essence, you try and slate those in Greek organizations because they are more well-off, because they might have more time to give to senate duties.”

With Greek life largely represented on the AS Senate, the manner in which that representation manifests has been questioned by a variety of sources.

“You don’t criticize funding for certain groups, because those groups have a lot of power and influence,” said Stanton, referencing the Greek community at UCSB. At the final senate meeting of fall quarter, Stanton authored a bill, seconded by Letters and Sciences collegiate senator and OPP member Nadia Blant, to update Article IV Section 7 of the ASUCSB Legal Code, which states that “any dues-collecting organization seeking any kind of ASUCSB sponsorship or funds shall disclose publicly its quarterly and/or yearly income from dues to AS Finance Board, as well as to the Senate. This information shall weigh heavily in cases of limited resources and financial prioritization.”

The bill was written in order to prevent student groups with already large amounts of funding, accrued via members’ dues, from requesting additional funding from AS. However, the bill was tabled indefinitely; Stanton stated that this tabling was possibly a result of of OPP’s connection to the Greek community, as a large amount of senate members also belong to Greek life.

In retrospect, Stanton stated that he disagrees with the bill.

“It was a petty bill—it was a completely wrong idea and I see that now,” said Stanton.

“It was dumb on my part because it would have created huge unnecessary obstacles for organizations [in general] just to get their funding… students voted for their lockin fees to be distributed as efficiently and freely as possible, and that bill would have hindered that.”

Blant, the co-author of the bill, declined to

comment on the intentions of the bill or the reasoning behind its proposal.

According to off-campus Senator and Democratic Process party member Xin Ma, the relationship between Greek life and AS Senate can lead to funding decisions that benefit Greek life over other organizations.

“In terms of funding and representation, compared to Greek life, there are a lot of organizations that don’t get as much funding or resources or support, in that sense,” said Ma. “And I feel like that could be better used for different student groups. I’m not against Greek life at all.”

In a funding analysis by The Bottom Line, however, it was determined that Greek life in the 2014-2015 year was funded no more than other student groups, as the 17 Greek organizations received a total of $24,964. As of week seven of Winter Quarter 2015, the AS Senate had allocated approximately $419,497 to fund various student organizations— including Greek life—and events held by Office of Student Life groups, according to AS Finance and Business Committee Chair, Letters and Science collegiate senator, and OPP member Jimmy Villarreal. This statement was made at the Feb. 25 meeting of AS Senate.

AS Chief Financial Officer and party chair of OPP Andre Theus stated that because a percentage of students are involved in Greek life at UCSB, those students should be allowed to request funding from AS as well.

“I, on a basic level, feel that if students are paying fees then they should have access to those fees, and that’s how unallocated funds work,” said Theus. “Yes, there is a high percentage of Greeks who are putting on events, and these events tend to be very costly, but as a board you are supposed to go through those costs and see what we actually should be paying for.”

According to Theus, within the AS Financial Policies and Procedures is the requirement that if a Greek group is requesting over $5,000 in funding, they are required to meet that amount in fundraising. Despite this, it has been a concern among several UCSB students that Greek organizations request funding from AS because they do not want to fund their events on their own.

“These are very wealthy, very well-funded organizations, but as with any organization, they won’t want to use their own money unless they have to,” stated an anonymous OPP senator who served during the 2013-2014

academic year. “What ends up happening is, ‘Let’s go to finance board, and if they don’t fund us then we’ll ask a bunch of other organizations, and if they don’t fund us then we’ll use our own money.’”

Villarreal stated that the Finance and Business Committee “does not consider funding requests based on any specific distinctions (Greek vs. non-Greek or any other groupings)” and instead focuses on “funding student groups whose events are open to the campus and enhance the experience of students at UCSB.” However, the anonymous senator opined that although Greek organizations advertise their events as open to all students, the events can often become exclusively Greek.

“If I wanted to go just to see where my funding was going,” she said, “I would feel awkward because I’m not Greek, I’m not wearing letters, and I stand out.”

Villarreal stated that the events held by Greek organizations that are funded by the Finance and Business Committee “are open to the student body and generally are either philanthropic or concerned with outreach to high school students.”

On-campus senator and DP party member Steven Kwok also commented on the type of events funded by the Finance and Business Committee.

“Since we allocate from the pool of funds into which the entire undergraduate [student body] pays, we want to ensure that these funds go towards events that everyone (or at least as many people as possible) can benefit from,” said Kwok. “I would define inclusivity, fundamentally, as the ability to attend an event, given the option to go. But the issue of inclusivity is much more complex than that; and I would hope that we as an association recognize the many factors, such as race, gender, and class, that affect people’s perceptions of inclusivity and hold ourselves to a higher standard to better accommodate the student body that we serve.”

Kwok declined to comment on the supposed relationship between Greek life and Associated Students, as he believes he has not seen such a relationship.

This article is the third installment in “Guilt by Association”—a series of investigative articles covering student government and campus representation. New articles will be published in the coming weeks. *Mathew Burciaga is currently a layout editor for The Bottom Line.

NATIONAL BEAT REPORT

A State of Thirst: California’s Continuing Drought Problem Gilberto Flores NATIONAL BEAT REPORTER As the state’s water crisis continues into its fourth year, the severe drought continues to plague crops, deplete water sources, and increase concern over the future of California’s farm-dependent communities.

In response, the state government approved a $1.1 billion drought relief package that is expected to fund new water infrastructure projects and provide emergency financial assistance to farming communities and farmers out of work.

The legislation, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on March 27, is a mixture of funding for previously approved infrastructure and flood control projects, the building of desalination plants to produce clean water from the ocean, and aid for Central Valley farmer communities facing low crop yields and fewer water sources.

The state government also approved a similar $687 million measure last year for storm water recycling and similar projects.

Since the bill was approved last year, only

one third of that funding has been spent.

The new emergency relief package is focused more on preparation for future water crises rather than solving the immediate problem or reversing its effects. The money will not be enough to rescue the state from the drought, but should work towards minimizing the effects of future droughts. $127.8 million will go toward food and water supplies and environmental protection measures. $272.7 million will be for projects like recycling sewage water and improving water treatment facilities. $660 million will be set aside for flood-control projects to help replenish depleted groundwater reserves once the state experiences normal rainfall again.

The traditional rainy season produced very little rainfall and snow levels are likely to be very low in the Sierra Nevada mountains—meaning very little water will be flowing from there. Little rainfall and record heat has drained the state’s reservoirs, which now store merely a year’s worth of water instead of the usual three.

But surface water (water that comes from

TBL 2014-2015 STAFF WRITERS THIS ISSUE: Bailee Abell, Gilberto Flores, Kelsey Knorp, Gwendolyn Wu, Coleman Gray, Kyle Roe, Vall Vinai, David Wills, Sam Goldman, Isabelle Geczy ILLUSTRATORS THIS ISSUE: Luis Bondoc PHOTOGRAPHERS THIS ISSUE: Andrea Vallone, Lorenzo Basilio

The Bottom Line is sponsored by the Associated Students of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Opinions expressed in TBL do not necessarily represent those of the staff, AS, or UCSB. Published with support from Generation Progress/Center for American Progress (genprogress.org). All submissions, questions or comments may be directed to bottomlineucsb@gmail.com or content.tbl@gmail.com.

reservoirs, rivers, lakes, streams) only makes up 25 percent of California’s water supply; groundwater now makes up the other 75 percent. Before the state declared drought in 2011, surface water took up two thirds of the water supply while groundwater took up the remaining third. Since the drought was declared, Central Valley farmers have been faced with a shortage of surface water and have turned to drilling new holes and pumping out groundwater to irrigate their farms.

The legislation has faced some criticism from the environmental community because it does not include mandatory statewide water restrictions. Although the legislation itself does not contain statewide restriction on water usage, California state water officials recently announced a set of new water conservation rules for homes and businesses that will go into effect on April 15. A few of the rules require restaurants to no longer offer water to customers unless requested, and homeowners will be banned from watering lawns after rainfall.

According to a 2012 study by the

Executive Managing Editor | Marissa Perez Executive Content Editor | Matt Mersel Copy Editor | Andrea Vallone News Editor | Isabelle Geczy Features Editor | Deanna Kim Opinions Editor | Sam Goldman Arts & Entertainment Editor | Coleman Gray Science & Technology Editor | Mimi Liu Senior Layout Editor | Morey Spellman

Pacific Institute, a nonprofit research and policy organization, direct use of water— this includes drinking, watering your lawn, or simply taking a shower—only makes up 4 percent of California’s total water footprint. In fact, 93 percent of the state’s water footprint can be attributed to California’s agriculture industry. Of this 93 percent, 47 percent comes from meat and dairy products while 46 percent comes from other agricultural products.

The average Californian uses about 140 gallons of water per day for direct use purposes like bathing, drinking, and washing clothes, but this amount is nothing compared to the remaining water footprint of the state. The study found that “California’s total water footprint is about 64 million acre-feet per year, or 20 trillion gallons of water per year, which is more than double the annual average combined flows of the state’s two largest rivers, the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers.” This data suggests that the new rules will likely do very little to minimize the effects of one of California’s worst droughts in decades.

Layout Editor | Madison Donahue-Wolfe Layout Editor | Mathew Burciaga Layout Editor | Maria Nguyen Photo and Multimedia Editor | Benjamin Hurst National Beat Reporter I Gilberto Flores Isla Vista Beat Reporter | Kelsey Knorp A.S. Beat Reporter | Bailee Abell Promotions Director | Audrey Ronningen Advertising Director | Parisa Mirzadegan

3 | PHOTO

TBL | Apr 1-Apr 7, 2015

What Would Make My Pastor Mad? A Showcase of Works by Luis Bondoc Eccentric and crude, Luis Bondoc creates a world full of vulgar expressions and bizarre creatures engaged in imaginative scenarios shown through artful illustrations. A vibrancy resonates through his art whether color is present or not. Profanity becomes a cause for celebrating the grotesque. Bondoc uses humor to connect with viewers and immerse them in a surreal view of life, approaching the mundane and political aspects of his art with equal gravitas.

TBL | Apr 1-Apr 7, 2015

4 | ADVERTISEMENT

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Instead of Deltopia, check out The Warm Up! Outdoor arts & music festival, Gauchos only concert at the Thunderdome, fun and fitness at the Rec Cen, and entertainment all over campus. Check it all out at LifeOfTheParty.sa.ucsb.edu.

2.

p It Sa fe WEEK END

Always carry a government issued photo ID. If you’re coming to campus, bring your student ID with you.

Take The Warm Up Pledge to not invite friends from out of town. Respect the UCSB and Isla Vista communities. Your actions make a difference!

4.

Move your car off the street. Buy a campus Night and Weekend parking permit for only $14.70. You can use it the rest of the school year. Visit http://www. tps.ucsb.edu for more information.

Close your parties — keep the door shut to your apartment/house and don’t allow anyone you don’t know in, even if they look like college students.

Remember, overcrowding your residence, especially your balcony, can be dangerous. Roof tops are never safe - stay off!

6.

Direct, Delegate, Distract are the three ways that you can safely intervene when you see something going down that just doesn’t seem right. If you are comfortable intervening — then do it! Wouldn’t you want someone to do the same for you?

Be aware that combining alcohol with other drugs, even prescribed medication, can lead to dangerously slowed breathing and heart rates and can be lethal.

If you are concerned about your friend, don’t hesitate to call 911.

8.

If you’re going to be outside all day, remember to wear sunscreen and drink plenty of water.

Keep it legal to avoid citation or arrest.

Remember, there is strict enforcement and zero tolerance during Deltopia weekend. There will be more than 300 Sheriff’s, Police, and CHP officers in IV during Deltopia weekend.

10.

If you see illegal, dangerous, or suspicious activity, just call 911.

In an emergency, JUST CALL 911!

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS Isla Vista Foot Patrol: (805) 681-4179 UCSB Campus Police: (805) 893-3446 CSO Escorts: (805) 893-2000 Campus Advocacy, Resources & Education 24/7: (805) 893-4613 Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center, 24/7: (805) 564-3696 Emergency 911 (off campus) 9-911 (on campus) Santa Barbara County Jail: (805) 6814260 JUST CALL 911 Know the warning signs for alcohol poisoning and drug overdose.

Symptoms of alcohol poisoning or drug overdose: Person cannot be awakened; cold, clammy, or bluish skin; slow and/or

irregular breathing; vomiting while passed out. Turn the victim on his/her side to prevent choking in case of vomiting.

LIFE OF THE PARTY Have fun, enjoy the weekend regret-free! http://lifeoftheparty.sa.ucsb.edu or http://www.facebook.com/ WeGauchoBack CONFIDENTAL ADVOCACY CARE offers free, confidential advocacy for those affected by stalking, sexual assault, and dating/domestic violence. To reach a confidential advocate 24/7, call (805) 893-4613.

Stay informed about Deltopia and The Warm Up events:

LifeOfTheParty.sa.ucsb.edu

TBL | Apr 1-Apr 7, 2015

5 | ADVERTISEMENT

>>> Make sure you’re attending the event on Facebook so you can get more information about The Warm Up events!

Instead of going to Deltopia this year, check out The Warm Up! Friday, April 3rd: • Game of Thrones Season 4 Marathon Campbell Hall | Begins @ 5pm

Catch up on the latest season of Game of Thrones before the Season 5 premiere on April 12th. FREE SNACKS will be available!

• Improvability Embarcadero Hall | 8pm

Improvised comedy. Tickets are $3 at the door.

• First Friday in Isla Vista Events Little Acorn Park| 2pm - 1am

Concert in the park, free movie showing, silent disco and IV Resident Artist Exhibition at 970 Embarcadero Del Mar (IV Medical Clinic bldg).

Saturday, April 4th: • Kendra’s Race: 5K + Aquathlon Campus Point| 8am

Register at UCSBtriathalon.net/kendra-s-race-2015

• The Warm Up: Festival Lot 27 | 12-6pm

Food trucks, carnival snacks, KCSB live radio show, performances by local bands, inflatable bounce house, rock climbing wall, and more!

• The Warm Up @ the Rec Cen Rec Cen | 2pm - late night!

Water sports, lawn games, open pool hours, open climbing hours at the Climbing Center and an evening roller skating party with DJ at the MAC!

• The Warm Up: Spring Concert featuring Purity Ring Thunderdome| Doors open @ 9pm

AS Program Board presents The Warm Up Spring Concert featuring Purity Ring and Sweater Beats! Tickets for this event will be available at both the AS Ticket Office and the Theater and Dance Ticket Office, for $5.

• Shark Fest Corwin Pavilion| Doors open @ 7:30pm

Head over to Corwin for FREE WAHOO’S BURRITOS and showings of Jaws (8pm) and Sharknado (10pm).

*Events on campus are for Gauchos ONLY

TBL | Apr 1-Apr 7, 2015

6 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

The Disaster Auteur at Work: The Cult of Tommy Wiseau

Kendrick Lamar Ecloses with ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ Kyle Roe STAFF WRITER

Tommy Wiseau | Photo Courtesy of Creative Commons License Coleman Gray ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR It’s not often that someone achieves widespread fame for doing their job poorly—yes, there was someone at Coca-Cola who felt that Coke needed to change its formula to something “new,” and for some reason, Captain Edward Smith could not avoid the iceberg that sank the Titanic; but, you can’t really say that any of them were truly bad at their jobs, at least not in the same way that cult film icon Tommy Wiseau is bad at his job. Wiseau might be the world’s worst filmmaker.

Wiseau’s latest disaster, a sitcom called The Neighbors, was released on Hulu this past month, but his strange journey to cultural prominence began when The Room premiered on June 27, 2003. This independent film, written, directed, produced by, and starring Wiseau is as much a labor of love as any film you could ever see. Except that it’s terrible. The Room is so incomprehensibly bad that it forces the viewer to question the sanity of everyone involved, including the audience: those who choose to watch the plot hole-riddled, cringe-inducing, gut-punching 99-minute long train wreck that has been compared to “being stabbed in the head.” But, if you can move past its pure awfulness, and appreciate it as the “best bad movie ever,” The Room is outstanding. Its nonsensical plot, terrible writing, worse acting, and unbelievably poor directing will never be equaled. And because of its incredible, hilarious terribleness, it has become a Rocky Horror Picture Show-esque cult phenomenon.

But, at the center of this cult adoration is the film’s creator and star, Tommy Wiseau. Wiseau’s writing and directing are very, very bad, but his portrayal of the protagonist Johnny is particularly inspired ineptitude. Wiseau may believe he is a world class director and writer, but it is obvious his true love (and his greatest delusion) is his acting ability.

He cites Marlon Brando and James Dean among his acting inspirations, and throughout filming constantly pleaded for his fellow performers to demonstrate more “emotion and drama.” Of course, this plea is not necessary for Wiseau, as he overacts in nearly every scene. His overacting is especially noticeable considering his sometimes unintelligible accent and his uncanny and unnerving physical appearance, but this is where the cult of Tommy truly begins.

Nearly all of Tommy Wiseau’s life is a mystery; he has never revealed anything about his personal or professional life. It has been speculated that he might be from a former Soviet Bloc country, or maybe Poland—or possibly Neptune.

There are countless other theories that surround him and his work, but they will most likely forever remain mere theories.

What little we do know about him stems mostly from his costar and only real friend, Greg Sestero, and his tellall book about the creation of The Room. In The Disaster Artist, we gain an in-depth look at the craziness of Wiseau.

Sestero recalls countless stories about Wiseau’s strange obsession with him (which eventually turns into a toxic and abusive friendship), his extremely erratic conduct on set, and his manic behavior off of it. By the end of the novel, we learn

“

exactly how one man alienated and antagonized everyone working on his film, and how he created one of the worst films ever made.

However, compared to his newest work The Neighbors, The Room is a masterpiece. While The Room has been called “the Citizen Kane of bad movies,” Wiseau’s latest project makes The Room look like actual Citizen Kane.

The Neighbors is supposedly a made-for-TV half-hour sitcom that tells of the numerous residents of an apartment building and its landlord Charlie (played by Wiseau). In reality, it’s an affront to television. The show is mean-spirited, misogynistic, racist, utterly incoherent, and so technically bad that it makes you rethink the television medium.

But, if you enjoy The Room, Wiseau’s newest production is a must-see.

While The Room at least looked and sounded like an actual film, The Neighbors has the quality of a seventh-grade video project that you and your buddies did the day before it was due. The sound mixing is either way too high that it sounds totally blown out or too low to even hear. The camera is in constantly, shakily moving around characters’ heads like some kind of demented fly, and oftentimes does not even have the entire face of the speaker in the shot. The editing is really something else: multiple times the credits began to run during the middle of the show, only to stop after a few names, and the show to resume at an entirely different scene.

The characters within the show are just as poorly done, and are composed of nothing but incredibly crude caricatures. There is a stoner stereotype who has the most acute case of Reefer Madness I have ever encountered, a woman named “Philadelphia” who wears nothing but a bikini for all four episodes, a young woman who is some sort of witch, and a slew of other nonsensical tenants with equally nonsensical problems.

Maybe the most confusing part is that all of these people go to their landlord Charlie for advice on everything going on in their lives, despite how idiotic everything he says is. For some reason, Charlie serves as friend, benefactor, therapist, and father figure to these wayward individuals.

In this apartment building on Tommy’s Planet, Charlie is an irreplaceable individual who holds the fraying threads of their lives together with love, compassion, knowledge, and understanding.

In The Disaster Artist, Greg Sestero intimates that Wiseau is so strange because of multiple devastating car accidents, and possibly an abusive and disadvantaged upbringing.

Perhaps this is the best lens through which to view Tommy; despite the cult following which he now has, Tommy Wiseau is alone, and has nothing and nobody except what he can put on screen. The entirety of The Neighbors is just a convoluted way for Wiseau to surround himself with people who he can convince himself are people who need him, who will party with him, who respect him, and who will be his friends. In this way, Tommy Wiseau is akin to Frankenstein’s monster: a grotesque creature who merely wants to be accepted and loved by people. And, apparently for Tommy, his films are the only way for that to happen.

Wiseau might be the world’s worst filmmaker.

”

Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar is well known for releasing intense and thought provoking concept albums; this rarity in modern music is his strength, and it’s the blueprint of his unique take on hip hop that has earned him widespread critical acclaim and stardom. Just listen to the story of Tammy and Keisha in 2011’s Section.80 or the tale of his own upbringing in 2012’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City. Both releases verbalize the struggle of growing up in an environment filled with pressure to join gangs, consume copious amounts of drugs, and, in the end, never escape. On his latest release, To Pimp a Butterfly, Lamar outperforms all his past works in terms of wordplay, storytelling, and production, with infectious jazz and funk beats.

In To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick tells the story of the spiritual journey he went through after the success of Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City made him one of the world’s most famous rappers. It begins with “Wesley’s Theory,” a funky ode to all the fantasies he had of “the finer things” that fame affords. As he lists his desires, he remembers that “Uncle Sam” and White America still get paid off of all the debts he would rack up, ruing the curse of extravagance. The song ends with repeated shrieks of “Tax man comin’, tax man comin’,” reiterating the consequences of overspending that Kendrick hopes to avoid.

“For Free? – Interlude,” has Lamar telling off a girl who thinks his money is all he’s good for, saying, “Telling me green is all I need/Evidently all I seen was spam and raw sardines,” while exclaiming over and over again in an obnoxious tone that “This dick ain’t free!”, asserting his own worth as a lover. This track is a perfect fusion of hip hop and jazz, with Kendrick’s voice acting as an instrument. He spits creative, fast paced, freeform rhymes over an allegro bebop beat.

“King Kunta” is the infectiously funky quasi-banger and show of bravado that casts Kendrick as the king of hip hop, using the triumphant image of the famed slave Kunta Kinte reaching the upper echelons of society. The limitlessly original Lamar calls out rappers who rely on others to write their lyrics when he says, “Most of y’all sharing bars like you got the bottom bunk in a two man cell.” The atmosphere is thick with funk punctuated by psychedelic guitar, until the music stops which leaves only Kendrick’s voice reciting the beginning of a poem: “I remember you was conflicted, misusing your influence…” More and more lines are added to the poem on each track of the album, until its completion on the final song. The end of “King Kunta” is where the album’s story truly begins, and Lamar’s inner turmoil begins to show itself.

On “Institutionalized,” Kendrick’s subject matter returns to Compton, where he laments the difficulties of leaving the ghetto. He mourns the errant, criminal ways of his old friends and the excessive habits of his new show business colleagues. This song is the beginning of the album’s soft, emotional core, as Kendrick feels torn between two lives and sees fatal, unforgivable flaws in both. The back beat starts out funky, with modulating glittery keyboards, followed by a beat change to a melancholy, piano driven, modern hip hop beat.

“These Walls” is about Lamar misusing his influence over a woman who uses sex as an escape from her harsh life.

The back beat is R&B with syncopated funky guitar, including a segment in the middle where Kendrick stops rapping and a keyboard solo ensues with some of the most complex rhythmic patterns I’ve ever heard in a hip hop song. Lamar spits, “Your defense mechanism is my decision,” referencing his undue control over the woman in the song, also saying, “You pray for appeals hoping the warden could afford them.” Kendrick is the warden, and earlier in the song he calls her a bitch, so she pleads his forgiveness as he has control over her “defense mechanism.”

His inner conflicts coupled with his guilt over his manipulation of the girl in “These Walls” lead to a “deep depression” followed by a forgiveness of self, homecoming, and eventual self-love. His self-love leads to an ability to see the world with a greater clarity, free from self-doubt and insecurity. To Pimp a Butterfly has so much lyrical content that listening to it sometimes feels like reading a book. A book that plays funky hip hop beats while you read it. I don’t want to spoil too much of the story or even decipher too many of his metaphors, because discovering the meanings of his lyrics is just as exciting as listening to the music.

Listen for the poem that Kendrick builds as the album progresses and any metaphor involving a cocoon or butterfly in particular. But if you listen to any album in 2015, make sure it’s To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar. It is one of the most unique, powerful, and triumphant albums in hip hop, and a true rarity in the genre’s history.

Greendale’s (Not So) Finest Gang Returns for the Sixth Season of ‘Community’ David Wills STAFF WRITER The study group lives on! After countless hurdles, Community is back for a sixth season on Yahoo! Screen streaming, with new episodes being distributed online for free every Tuesday at 8 PM. Community has gone through a lot to end up Yahoo!’s digital distribution platform; the show has undergone hiatuses, cast and crew disagreements, and creative upheaval, and its five-season run was cancelled by NBC in 2014 before Yahoo! announced its revival of the show. It seems as though it is becoming tradition for the show to go through huge obstacles before a new season ultimately reaches viewers.

However, in what is unfortunately becoming another Community tradition, not everyone in the study group has returned. Yvette

Nicole Brown (who played Shirley) left the show in order to take care of her sick father.

This marks yet another major cast member who has left the show; Chevy Chase (Pierce) left the show after the fourth season due to disagreements behind the camera, and Donald Glover (Troy) left in the middle of the fifth season to further pursue his musical career as Childish Gambino.

In the stead of these missing cast members, the show has added several new regular characters. Frankie Dart (played by Paget Brewster) is a consultant hired by the Dean to fix the problems at Greendale. She is introduced in the first episode and serves as the reality check for the other characters’ bizarre antics.

Elroy Patashnik (played by Keith David) is introduced in the second episode as a washedup virtual reality headset designer who starts taking classes at Greendale. Both characters

could use more time to develop, and it is hard to gauge whether these characters will work well in the group’s dynamic. At the moment, though, I am more fond of Frankie than I am of Elroy, as I feel like her character compliments the classic Greendale cast well.

The heart of Community is the show’s goofy, meta humor, and I’m happy to say that it hasn’t gone anywhere. As of this writing, only the first three episodes have been released, but I can safely say that the show’s off-beat humor is back and just as self-aware as ever. In these three episodes alone, the show tackles virtual reality, speakeasy bars, Britta’s parents, and dogs with bachelor’s degrees. Although none of the first three episodes will likely be hailed as classics, they are all funny, solid examples of Community doing what Community does best: poking fun of anything in pop culture, including itself.

It has been a roller coaster of emotions for fans of Community, but at least for now, the show has a home with Yahoo! that seems to work well for it. Yahoo! isn’t shy about using Twitter and other social media to promote the show in ways NBC never did, with different hashtags appearing for each episode to help encourage fans to spread the word. The writers can also get away with things they couldn’t before on a TV network, and the show’s creative direction doesn’t seem to be affected in any way in the transition.

With talks of a movie being produced after this season, it seems fans’ collective hopes for #SixSeasonsAndAMovie (one of the show’s long-running in-jokes) may actually come to fruition. Let’s just hope that the season five finale’s prediction of an asteroid coming and wiping out humanity doesn’t come to fruition as well.

7 | SCIENCE & TECH

TBL | Apr 1-Apr 7, 2015

New Drug May Prove Successful Breakthrough in Alzheimer’s Research Vall Vinai STAFF WRITER

Biogen, a global biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Mass., has manufactured a drug that has successfully slowed mental function decline in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, known to slowly destroy memory and thinking skills. Currently, the disease affects 5.2 million people across America, costing an estimated total of $226 billion in direct costs. Biogen could reap billions of dollars a year from the production of the drug if the successful results can be repeated in larger trials.

The drug, called Aducanumab, aims to counter Alzheimer’s by binding to buildups known as amyloid plaques and ridding them from the brain. Amyloid plaques are widely known to be a contributing cause to dementia; however, the extent to which

the plaques contribute to dementia is controversial and unknown.

Nevertheless, this breakthrough offers hope in a new and innovative approach to curing Alzheimer’s.

“Alzheimer’s disease is a veritable graveyard of failed development efforts so a tempered approach is advised here,” Chris Raymond, an analyst with Robert W. Baird, wrote in a research note. “That said, this is obviously a huge unmet need, and as BIIB037 approaches phase 3, we think it’s plausible that an increasing premium for this opportunity has to start working its way into the stock.”

In 2012, Biogen started the study in 166 patients with Alzheimer’s disease who also tested positive for an amyloid plaque scan.

In order to maximize chances of success, the drug was given in large doses (roughly 4 grams for a 150lb person) and given only to those with a positive scan for amyloid plaque in the brain.

The 166 patients were randomly

assigned to be given the drug or the placebo. The drug not only slowed mental deterioration, but also reduced plaque in the brain.

“It would be kind of hard to get those results by chance,” said Dr. Rachelle S. Doody, consultant to Biogen and director of the Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center at Baylor College of Medicine.

One way to measure cognition is the 30-point mini-mental state exam (MMSE).

Patients receiving the placebo dropped an average of 3.14 points a year, but those taking the drug dropped only an average of 0.58 points for a high dose and an average of 0.75 a medium dose in one year.

The results shattered expectations, and Biogen plans to continue onto larger clinical trials in a hope to achieve the same successful results.

“We’re going to try to replicate what we’ve seen in this relatively small study,” Biogen’s head of research and development,

Doug Williams, said in a presentation at Deutsche Bank’s BioFEST conference in Boston. “Based on these results, we’re planning very aggressively to start the phase 3 program.”

However, several setbacks still remain.

The drug comes with several major side effects, the most significant one being a localized swelling in the brain. This is a common side-effect in most drugs that aim to reduce amyloid plaques, but effects appear to be more significant in Aducanumab.

“We believe we have a safety window to work with,” Williams said. Biogen is continuing the study and will experiment with different doses to reduce possible side effects.

Although several more clinical trials and procedures remain, there is much hope for this new drug.

As Raymond writes, “Bottom line—too early to pop the champagne corks just yet, but definitely a positive development.”

A Nonstick Coating That’s Really ‘Good To The Last Drop’ Gwendolyn Wu STAFF WRITER Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a nontoxic, nonstick coating that allows people to get the last layers of sticky condiments out of their bottles.

LiquiGlide Inc. CEOs and co-founders Dr. Kripa K. Varanasi, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, and graduate student J. David Smith, began to develop the technology in 2012. Their initial goal was to create a slippery surface for industrial usage, such as preventing a layer of oil from sticking to crude pipelines. As the technology developed, Varanasi saw how it could be applied for day-to-day use, such as preventing layers of honey or ketchup from sticking to a bottle.

Condiments like ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise stick to their bottles because they’re viscous liquids that require a forceful push or squeeze to move. The layers of these substances flow at different rates, with the centermost layer flowing the fastest, and the outermost flowing the slowest. The layer closest to the container often sticks to the bottle, which the founders of LiquiGlide work to solve.

LiquiGlide is based on previously hydrophobic technology, where a textured surface creates a cushion of air for the substance to sit on. Superhydrophobic technology strongly repels liquid, causing it to form microscopic balls that sit on pockets of air and roll off easily. What’s problematic about that superhydrophobic technology is that the microscopic texture can be damaged, so when a liquid makes contact with the technology, the pockets of air are displaced and liquid sticks to the surface.

Varanasi and Smith’s work replaces the layer of air in between the liquid and solid material with a liquid lubricant, forming a multi-layer surface where the liquid lubricant clings more strongly to the solid surface than the liquid in the container. The liquid lubricant forms a liquid-impregnated surface on top of the porous, textured material, filling in the gaps where air previously formed cushions.

For condiments and other edible, sticky substances, developers use edible materials to coat the insides of bottles, making it harmless for consumption. For other industries such as crude oil, non-edible chemicals may be used, depending on what liquid lubricants work best with the product.

Researchers Discover Self-Mutating Archaea Gwendolyn Wu STAFF WRITER While searching the depths off the coast of Santa Monica, a research team from the University of California, Santa Barbara discovered a new virus that infects methaneeating archaea living beneath the ocean’s floor.

Archaea, a type of single-celled microorganism, go to great lengths to thrive in the most extreme environments on the planet.

However, it was recently discovered that a virus is capable of selectively targeting one of its own genes for mutation; what’s more, is that some archaea can do this as well.

Using the submarine Alvin, David Valentine, a professor in the UCSB Department of Earth and Science and Marine Science Institute (MSI), and his colleagues collected samples from a deep-ocean methane seep by pushing tubes into the ocean floor and retrieving sediments.

The contents were fed methane gas to help the archaea grow. When the team checked for viral infection, they found a new virus with a distinctive genetic fingerprint that suggested a methane-eating archaea host.

“We found a partial genetic match from methane seeps in Norway and California,” said lead author Blair Paul, also of the Valentine lab. “The evidence suggests this viral type is distributed around the globe in deep ocean methane seeps.” This has likely been affecting archaea for nearly as long as they have been around.

Further investigation showed diversitygenerating retroelements, which allow the virus to prompt and accelerate mutation. These retroelements are also capable of selecting what part of its genome will change. Such genetic elements have been identified in bacteria and viruses, but never among archaea or the viruses that infect them. Although the archaeal virus and bacterial elements seem to resemble

each other, there is evidence of divergent evolutionary history.

“The target of guided mutation—the tips of the virus that make first contact when infecting a cell—was similar,” said Paul. “The ability to mutate those tips is an offensive countermeasure against the cell’s defenses—a move that resembles a molecular arms race.”

Researchers identified similar features in the genomes of a group of archaea known as nanoarchaea. Nanoarchaea target at least four distinct genes, while the virus uses guided mutation to alter a single gene.

“This is a new record,” said co-author Sarah Bagby, a postdoctoral scholar at the Valentine lab. “Previously, a few bacteria had been observed to target two genes with this mechanism.

That may not seem like a huge difference, but targeting four is extraordinary. If they’re all firing at once, suddenly the number of combinations of protein variants in play is really massive.”

The virus tries to find its way into an archaea’s cell and engages in a “genetic arms race,” where both parties are rapidly mutating to outmatch each other. Researchers suspect that these competitors use these techniques to keep the virus at bay and adapt to its home.

“The cell is choosing to modify certain proteins,” Valentine explained. “While we don’t know what those proteins are being used for, I think learning about the process can tell us something about the environment in which these organisms thrive. Right now, we know so little about life in that environment.”

The research was supported by a National Science Foundation Dimensions of Biodiversity grant aimed at characterizing virus-mediated microbial diversity in methane seep ecosystems.

The research team also included scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, San Diego, and the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute. The study was published in Nature Communications.

The technology allows consumers to reduce food waste, and companies to reduce the amount of plastic used in producing packaging.

An estimated one million tons of condiments are thrown out each year because of how they stick to the bottle, and researchers believe that modified packaging that includes the removal of safety caps will reduce 50,000 tons of plastic each year.

Varanasi and Smith first presented the superhydrophobic coating at the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition in 2012, winning the Audience Choice Award and first place in the Mass Challenge. The company was founded soon after in order to capitalize on patents for the technology. In March 2015, LiquiGlide received seven million dollars in equity funding from Roadmap Capital, Inc., allowing the small

company to move into a new office and laboratory. LiquiGlide announced an exclusive licensing deal with Elmer’s Products, Inc. on March 24 to produce slippery coating technology for their glue bottles.

“LiquiGlide will provide Elmer’s with a significant competitive advantage, while showcasing their commitment to product innovation and environmentally friendly best practices,” said Smith in a press release. “Working with marketleading firms like Elmer’s continues to validate LiquiGlide’s technology and the value it brings across a broad spectrum of industries, including [consumer packaged goods].”

According to The New York Times, the first nonstick mayonnaise bottles can be expected as early as this year, and easier-to-squeeze toothpaste could be available by 2017.

8 | OPINIONS

TBL | Apr 1-Apr 7, 2015

Want to Fix Isla Vista and Protect Your Reputation? Throw a Concert.

Photo by Lorenzo Basilio | The Bottom Line Sam Goldman OPINIONS EDITOR It’s no secret why last Halloween’s Delirium and this weekend’s Warm Up concerts exist: to draw student enthusiasm and rowdiness away from partying and its subsequent effects and channel it into something safer and more constructive.

However, Associated Students Program Board’s recent enthusiasm for throwing concerts that coincide with major Isla Vista partying events isn’t just about giving students more wholesome options for how to spend these boisterous days— it’s about protecting reputations.

Given the unsavory effects last school year’s Halloween and Deltopia had on the community and how they injured both IV and the University of California, Santa Barbara’s reputations, Program Board’s efforts are meant to diminish the celebrations that are most dangerous to the reputation of the university they’re associated

Students at the intersection of Camino Pescadero and Sabado Tarde Deltopia 2014

with. These concerts are the latest—and potentially most effective—effort the university’s made to alter longstanding cornerstones of IV’s partying tradition. And it’s great.

The Delirium and Warm Up concerts and events like them are the best possible approach to making IV safer and preventing the town’s more lively celebrations from unfairly harming UCSB’s reputation. They allow the university to influence and shape the rowdiest aspects of Isla Vista lifestyle without directly interfering with or regulating how the town spends its leisure time. Rather than dilute IV’s distinct culture and lifestyle and absorb the town into the greater UCSB system—watering down students’ independence and unique ability to mold the community to their own needs and preferences in the process, these concerts preserve and even expand residents’ freedom to conduct themselves as they’d like.

The more often the university puts on such events, the more successful they’ll be in the

future in drawing people away from the most harmful of Halloween and Deltopia practices.

For example, the appearance of Young the Giant on campus will no doubt portray UCSB as a more attractive venue for other big names. Also, the more these events are put on, the more the university will figure out what is most effective in drawing students in. Rather than relying on the often-questionable practice and consequences of increasing police presence or exercising direct control over how IV conducts its business, these concerts preserve students’ ability to party and provide comparable alternatives while replacing much of the detrimental elements of widescale partying.

Among other efforts such as Associated Students’ AS in IV initiative and the recent report by the UC Santa Barbara Foundation Trustees’ Advisory Committee on Isla Vista Strategies on how to make IV less embarrassing and more livable, Program Board’s recent efforts to put on high-

end concerts likely represent the most effective, realistic, and practical approach. Bringing in more “mature adults” and families while simultaneously reducing the residential density of IV (as the Trustees’ report recommends) is never going to realistically happen; a proliferating police presence will only exacerbate distrust and drive harmful activity underground.

Putting on big concerts with a variety of activities geared toward student interests helps achieve many of the safety- and reputationoriented goals the university and other local stakeholders have while not watering down the independence, lifestyle, and culture of IV. UCSB should play a role in the town its students call home and take steps to protect its own reputation, and it’s finally hitting the nail on the head by providing residents with high-end, constructive alternatives to wild partying.

Now if only these concerts could keep rent rates down as well…

Napolitano—

‘This Crap’ Pays Your $570,000 Base Salary Isabelle Geczy NEWS EDITOR If the director of a system dismisses the people that system is intended to serve, which is broken—the director, or the system?

In a stunning display of apathy, the University of California President Janet Napolitano was caught on a hot mic calling a student protest over tuition hikes “crap” on March 18, during the second day of a UC Regents Meeting at the University of California, San Francisco, Mission Bay. The slip was uncovered through the livestream of the meeting, for at the time the students’ chants of protest prevented Napolitano’s comments from being heard by the other meeting participants. On the livestream though, her comments to UC Regent Chairman Bruce Verner can be heard loud and clear, with Napolitano stating, “Let’s go. We don’t need to listen to this crap.”

The “crap” Napolitano is referring to was a group of roughly 20 students who had stripped down during the public comment period to either undergarments or exercise attire.

Many of the revealed articles of clothing sported phrases such as “student debt,” with the protest overall symbolizing the fact that UC students are already forced to figuratively give the shirt off their back to pay for their education.

After her slip was publicized, Napolitano made a reference to it in her opening statement at the start of the third day of the UC Regents meeting on March 19, stating “I was caught on a mic with a word that was unfortunate. So I want to just say I apologize for that.” I’m curious about the world Napolitano inhabits, because under no circumstances does that seem like an apology for the grievous error she was caught committing.

It’s not every day that such patent disregard is made so evident—and I’m not sure what’s worse: the fact that Napolitano apparently couldn’t care less for what the public university students she is supposed to serve deem important, or that tuition hikes at said institutions aren’t grounds for concern. Frankly, the damning part of the whole incident is the toxic combination. Not only does UC President Janet Napolitano think that student opinions are “crap,” but also, she has no regard for the sanctity of affordable higher education.

Up until 1970, attending any school in the UC system was tuition-free for California residents. Starting in 1970, however, a move towards student fees occurred: California residents needed to pay $450 to cover registration and “educational fees” for the year. Compared to today, though, such a cost seems almost farcical. According to the UC Santa Barbara Office of Financial Aid, a California resident undergraduate student today must pay $13,866 for tuition and campus fees.

Even accounting for inflation using data published by the US government’s Consumer Price Index, that $450 in 1970 would only equate to roughly $2,722. Obviously, the UC is no longer free: there is a price, and it keeps rising at a cost to students. As of 2013, tuition became the largest source of income for the UC system, with students contributing nearly $3 billion in tuition for the 2012-2013 year, according to the released UC budget for said year. The state of California, in the same period, only contributed $2.4 billion.

The student protesters at the fated meeting were attempting to draw attention to the latest round of tuition hikes, voted on and approved at the Nov. 20 meeting of the regents, which will increase student fees by up to 5 percent for each of the next five years. The dream of being able to attain

a high quality public education without saddling oneself with debt for one’s foreseeable future is unfortunately now a pipedream for many Californians. The tragedy is that accessible public education is what many believe made California great—but as the opportunity diminishes through funding cuts and tuition hikes, the future is dim.

Dimmer still is our system president, whose seems to serve little purpose aside from failing to serve or represent the students of the UC system. Napolitano recently garnered criticism following a statement to the California Assembly budget subcommittee on March 3, when she announced that the UC will cap in-state enrollment while still raising nonresident enrollment should a new budget with Governor Jerry Brown not be negotiated. This statement prompted a flurry of legislative proposals, with many California lawmakers questioning the ability of the UC to budget effectually for the benefit of California students—the people Napolitano was chosen to serve.

Education has been referred to as the great equalizer, the manner in which all people can elevate their status and find prosperity and happiness. While such a statement is essentialist in nature and fails to account for a host of socio-cultural elements, it remains a fact that receiving an education is a vital core component for succeeding in the US. The UC system has been heralded as the best system of public education in the US, with many UCs even credited for excellence at a global level, too. Yet said education is quickly becoming cost prohibitive to the “public” the UC system was created to serve. This, coupled with the fact that the current system president thinks so lowly of student voices, spells disaster for the future of the UC. It’s a tragedy in slow motion.