Inside: Homelessness, police staffing discussed at safety summit
Camp Fire art rises from the ashes theorion.com
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Wednesday April 24, 2019
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Vol. 82, Issue 12 |
print and online content free |
INSIDE
Vol. 82, Issue 12
CONTACT | EDITORIAL Phone: 530.898.5627 Email: editorinchief@theorion.com
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Managing Editor Natalie Hanson News Editors Josh Cozine Brian Luong A+E Editor Alex Coba Opinion Editor Rachael Bayuk Sports Editor Ricardo Tovar
Visuals Editor Christian Solis Copy Chief Salma Reyes Copy Editors Christina Cahill Sam Rios Art Director Alex Coba Art Design Eddie King
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CONTACT | BUSINESS Phone: 530.898.6919 Email: orionadvertisingmanager@gmail.com Website
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Business Manager Brooke Martin Social Media / PR Edward Lampkin
Branding Coordinator Audree Hernandez
www.theorion.com
530.898.4799
Adviser Susan Wiesinger
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community discusses safety issues
wildcats talk rape culture
queer prom celebrates expression
Artist designs camp fire project
rugby weekend games
Camp fire Survivor shares story
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page 11
page 15
Wednesday April 24, 2019
CALENDAR |3
Upcoming Events Wednesday, April 24
California State University, Chico
A Star is Born Movie Screening
Get your research
funded! RESP can help!
Join CADEC for a screening of A Star is Born and stay for a discussion about prescription drug misuse and addiction. Pizza and popcorn will be provided. When: 7 p.m.-10 p.m. Where: The Hub Price: Free
Friday, April 26 Swim 2 Swim by yourself or bring a squad and swim. Our Lifeguards and Swim Coaches will be there to give encouragement and can help with technique. You’ll also be able to take a break from swimming laps to try Scuba Diving! Snacks and music will be provided as well. When: 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Where: The WREC Pool
Foundation Directory Online Private and public foundation grants InfoEd Global SPIN and GRC GrantSearch Search databases for funding opportunities and receive alerts via email GRC Deadlines Monthly alert of grant opportunities categorized by discipline csuchico.edu/resp/funding/databases
Price: Free
Saturday, April 27 Arbor Day Tree Planting Replanting valley oak trees within the park to replace those that have fallen or are no longer living. Sign up on Wildcat Sync. When: 10 a.m.–1:00 p.m. Where: Lower Bidwell Park, across from 977 Woodland Ave
@csuchicoresp
Contact Julie Jessen csuchico.edu/resp
Price: Free but preregistration is required
4 |NEWS
Wednesday April 24, 2019
SAFETY
Summit discusses homelessness and mental health Kendall George Staff Writer
Public safety was discussed Friday at a forum in Colusa Hall 100. The safety summit brought campus and community members together in a discussion of safety concer ns over the past few semesters. President Gayle Hutchinson, University Police Chief John Reid, Chico Police Chief Michael O’Brien, Mayor Randall Stone and A.S. President Alisha Shar ma were there to talk about student safety. “We can solve anything we put our minds to, and because we are a community it is important that we come together to do so,” Hutchinson said at the start of the summit. “I, too, am more than just a university president; I am a very concer ned resident of the community where I live,” The summit was held 2 - 5 p.m. and covered homelessness, mental health, diversity and inclusion and safety concer ning partying. Each topic was broken up table to table with two 45 minute sessions to discuss. After the two sessions, a group conversation was started regarding what had just been discussed at the individual tables. “The incidents and rising crime that have occurred for the last few months and years have been very scary, uncomfortable, unsettling. That affects how we lear n in the classroom, that affects our mental health,” Shar ma said. “We live in a world where we are advised to not go anywhere alone, where if you don’t have pepper spray you are the odd one out and that school shootings are real.” “I think the big takeaway for me really was working with the City of Chico Police Department to build bridges
People attending the summit sat at different tables and discussed different safety issues facing the campus and the city. and relationships with our students of color on campus,” said Chief Reid. “I think we can be more engaged and we have a student body that wants to be engaged in that way.” Senior Marqia Smith is a psychology student and president of the Just Unity Sistas.
“I noticed that there was a lot of people who had a lot of dehumanizing ideas about homeless and transient folks.”
After the meeting, she reflected on what she believed to be the key takeaways of the safety summit. “I think this meeting was very important,” Smith said. “I have experienced a lot of racism here and I have never experienced it so overt until I came to Chico State.” Smith emphasized building bridges between students and Chico Police. “We need to reach out to students of color, black students in particular, so we can be a part of this conversation.” However, Alejandro Ramirez, who was just elected as A.S. Director of
KENDALL GEORGE - THE ORION
University Affairs, did not think the meeting was productive. “I noticed that there was a lot of people who had a lot of dehumanizing ideas about homeless and transient folks,” Ramirez said. “We always tend to ‘other’ them in a way we don’t do to other groups of people. A lot of our students are battling homelessness.”
Kendall George can be reached at newseditor@theorion.com or @kendallmgeorge on Twitter
Wednesday April 24, 2019
Staff Writer
The Chico Fire Department responded to a fire at Cafe Petra on 163 2nd St. at about 4 p.m. on Monday. The fire was contained between the first and second floor of the building. Fire crews worked through the afternoon to open the roof and the ceiling to ventilate and extinguish the fire. There was a significant amount of charring according to Chico Fire Chief Steve Standridge, but there was no structural damage and the building should make a full recovery No one was injured during the fire and Chico Fire Department is currently looking into how it started. Gordon Papalias can be reached at newseditor@theorion.com or @GordonPapalias on Twitter
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The police blotter is a selection of information cited directly from the Chico Police Department and the University Police Department. Call Type: Theft Thursday, 12:28 p.m., CSU Chico Student received a scam to her Chico State email and lost approximately $6,000. Call Type: Sex Crime Thursday, 3:02 p.m., W. Sacramento Ave The victim stated that she was raped but does not want to pursue criminal charges and would not provide information on the suspect. The victim states that the rape occurred off campus. Call Type: Vandalism Monday, 2:36 a.m., Plumas Hall A worker returned to his car which was parked on Warner St. and noticed damage to the hood and bumper areas. There was also a bicycle mark located on the hood of his car. Call Type: Suspicious Person Friday, 10:48 p.m., Meriam Library A subject was caught jumping onto the construction site from the bridge side. The subject was issued a warning.
Call Type: Brandish Thursday, April 16, 10:06 a.m., W. 2nd/ Salem St. Two transients were across the street from Madison Bear Garden with a pitbull aggressively panhandling. The reporting party told the transients that he didn’t have any money. The transients began to harass the subject with racial slurs, profanity and followed the subject for a short period.
Chico Police
Gordon Papalias
University Police
Fire at Cafe Petra in downtown Chico
NEWS| 5
Call Type: Theft Sunday, April 19, 11:05 p.m. Humboldt/ Bruce Road Two suspects had stolen a portable toilet off of Humboldt and Bruce Road earlier that night. Suspects appeared to be near other property that also appeared to be stolen. Call Type: Harassment Complaint Sunday, April 19, 2:14 p.m., 1400 Citrus Ave. Woman reported ongoing issues with her neighbor. The neighbor continues to leave various items on the subject’s front porch and claims to be a part of the Secret Service.
6 |ARTS
Wednesday April 17, 2019
SEMINAR
Sexual assault survivor brings awareness to Chico all together.” Following the assault, Piper dealt with tremendous amounts of self-blame based on the victim-blaming surrounding her case. For the people she’s met along the way that meant well, she described the discon-
Rayanne Painter Staff Writer
The room was silent as the request was posed: “I’d like you to stand if you know of someone close to you who has experienced sexual assault.” The students in the room looked around at each other in horror as most of them stood up. “Now, I want you to stay standing if you know that person reported their assault.” All but three people sat back down. Sexual assault survivor, public speaker and activist Brittany Piper brought these uncomfortable conversations to Chico State on Thursday. Ten years after the assault that altered her life, she refuses to stay silent on the sensitive issues of consent, rape culture, bystander intervention and trauma. Piper pointed out that approximately 1 in 4 of the women in the room and 1 in 6 of the men have already experienced some form of sexual assault, even before college. These statistics are a haunting reminder of how pervasive sexual assault has become in our lives and cultures, and how desensitized we’ve become. Mainstream shows like “Breaking Bad” and “Game of Thrones” often expose their viewers to triggering scenes that include rape and sexual assault. This normalizes rape and, Piper said, contributes to rape culture. “Rape culture tells us we are living in a time where sexual
RAYANNE PAINTER-THE ORION
Chico State Panhellenic and Safe Place, the sponsorers of Brittany Piper’s visit, pose with Piper after her presentation. assault is not only expected or normalized, but the perpetrators are getting away with it,” said Piper. “They have this mentality that what they do is okay.” Piper broke down what consent means and how to know when a sexual encounter is consensual between all parties involved. She also debunked myths about sexual assault that society has misconceptions. “The media does a good job at making us believe that sexual assault is always a stranger
down a dark alley,” Piper said. “That is typically not the case. It’s actually a very rare occurrence. Sexual assault is usually committed by somebody you know, possibly by somebody you’ve already engaged with sexually.” Near the end of her presentation, she showed a newscast clip about a sexual assault case that had sent the perpetrator to prison for 60 years. An anonymous survivor spoke to the news team about how the man brutally beat and raped
her after offering to change her flat tire at a gas station, and how she would do anything for justice. piper revealed that the woman in the interview was her, but was uncomfortable with being hailed as “the survivor that refused to be broken” by media. “What people didn’t know is that I was seriously struggling behind closed doors,” said Piper. “But I felt like I had to put on this brave face because my case was incredibly publicized and I had to pretend to have it
nect between the empathy she should have been receiving, and the sympathy she ended up getting in most situations. As an example, she compared the reactions between her two roommates the night of her assault. She returned home with broken bones and a broken jaw and one roommate told her to go back to bed. Her other roommate heard her cries from her room and came to carry her to the hospital while her mom called her a few days later to question her decision making. “There’s a difference between empathy and sympathy,” Piper said. “We have to get to a place where we are emphasizing with survivors, not analyzing what they did to put themselves in that situation.” The presentation ended with attendees gathering in small groups to discuss rape culture and bystander intervention on Chico State campus. Piper is currently touring the United States to jumpstart these conversations and educate as many people as possible. She’s available through her Instagram to talk with anybody that may be struggling or feel alone.
Rayanne Painter can be reached at artseditor@theorion.com or @Rayphenomenon on Twitter
Wednesday April 17, 2019
ARTS| 7
LGBTQ+
Queer Prom offers music, dancing and inclusivity
ANGEL ORTEGA-THE ORION
Chico State’s Envy Hip Hop Team performing during Queer Prom.Saturday.
Angel Ortega Staff Writer
The second annual Queer Prom, organized and promoted by Chico State’s Gender and Sexuality Equity Coalition (GSEC), was hosted on Saturday at the Bell Memorial Union. Queer Prom was held as part of Gender and Sexuality Week, in which GSEC puts on many inclusive events for the LGBTQ community and their allies regarding gender identity, activism and celebration of sexuality and individuality. The dance offered catered food from Associated Students, a photo booth and a DJ playing music throughout the whole night. The theme for this year’s Queer Prom
ANGEL ORTEGA-THE ORION
. (Top)Queer Prom was open to the public for both LGBTQ members and allies. (Bottom) The Second Annual Queer Prom was held in the BMU Auditorium.
was “Blast to the Past,” “A lot of [LGBTQ] and featured music members that are in ““Queer prom is an exfrom the ‘80s, this dehigh school have really perience for all individcade and every decade been silenced to not beuals… [and for] finding in between. Whether ing able to go to a prom yourself throughout it was Blondie or Ms. with their partner, not different activities and Lauryn Hill, the music being to go to an event events and dancing and stayed consistently where you’re meant to just being who you are.” be you, where you’re high-tempo and maintained a vibrant mood Drew Belisle meant to have that bond throughout the evening. with other people just The inspiration like you,” Belisle said. behind Queer Prom, as said by Drew On top of lots of dancing from guests, Belisle, the Queer Program Coordinator Queer Prom also featured various at GSEC, is to give a space where indidance performances from members of viduals of the LGBTQ community can the Envy Hip Hop Dance Team, among get “a grasp of what community is like” others. for those who may have felt discouraged Queer Prom was open to the public, for from participating in activities during individuals 18 years of age or older, and high school. welcomed both LGBTQ members and
allies. GSEC coordinators and staff greeted guests with open arms, instilling a warm welcoming that evidently left many in a cheery mood. Not a worry was had by anyone at the dance as the dance floor was constantly occupied for the four-hour duration of the event. Queer Prom concluded Gender and Sexuality Week but is one of many events hosted by GSEC throughout the school year. On April 25, GSEC, in collaboration with other organizations, will be hosting Take Back the Night, an event focused on bringing awareness to sexual assault survivors Rayanne Painter can be reached at artseditor@theorion.com or @Rayphenomenon on Twitter
8 |ARTS
Wednesday April 24, 2019
Artist turns Camp Fire su Artist brings Camp Fire community together with keys
MELISSA HERREA-THE ORION
Jessie is gathering several jars of keys from paradise locals who lost houses and businesses in the camp fire. Rayanne Painter Staff Writer
When the Camp Fire began on a fateful November morning, the small communities of the Paradise Ridge were ripped apart. Families who had lived in the path of the blaze had lost their homes, businesses and towns. Hundreds of children were displaced to the remaining schools in the county. Many people lost their lives. But, in the ashes rose a phoenix. Former Paradise resident Jessie Mercer is a self-taught artist with passion like no other. Desperate to help
her community that had been scattered across the country, and hoping to heal within herself, she set out on what would become her most noteworthy artistic journey. Within the months following the Camp Fire, Mercer curated the beginnings of the Key Project Tribute: Unlock Possibilities. Made entirely of keys from doors lost in the fire, she is in the process of creating a phoenix statue that will be given back to Paradise once completed. On the day the Camp Fire started, Mercer was ensuring that her father was safe and had shelter that night. She became
Jessie drives this borrowed Phoenix Solar Energy truck all around Butte County. She creates murals with stu bothered that she now had keys that no longer had doors to unlock and realized that her father’s key also had no doors, along with most residents of Paradise.
“I thought there might be an opportunity to transition that pain into a positive and something that could be inclusive in my community. So, we threw our keys in a jar.” Hoping that other families and community members might want to contribute,
Mercer left 13 jars at local businesses in Chico and Red Bluff. People that had lost homes, businesses, churches, schools, boats, jet skis, safes and other items came from all over the area to drop off their keys. Some came with just a few, but others brought bags and boxes full. Mercer now has over 10,000 keys from fire survivors and still receives more through the mail. She has the base completed and is now working on the wing structure, then eventually the feathers, head, beak and talons. She doesn’t have an anticipated end date yet, but will keep working until she’s sure it’s finished.
Wednesday April 24, 2019
COVER| 9
urvivors’ keys into artwork
udents who are also adding more artwork to the community.
“There might be moments where I think it’s finished,” said Mercer. “But I’ll keep going back and keep critiquing to make sure I produce the best project, for not only myself as an artist, but for the community that it represents.” The project will be a gift dedicated to Paradise and the communities affected. The Phoenix’s final landing spot will be at the Gold Nugget Museum in Paradise.
MELISSA HERRERA-THE ORION
MELISSA HERRERA-THE ORION
Opening the back of the truck to reveal all her tools and crafts for the art projects. Mercer is also lending a helping hand to the displaced youth from the Ridge. In the past six weeks, she and her mobile art studio have visited six different schools in Butte County to create detachable murals with students of all ages. Every mural is personalized by the school and students themselves, allowing students to paint and create along with Mercer. Mercer was awarded three grants to fund her mural project: Butte County Art on Wheels. A solar energy vehicle was donated for her to borrow until she can get a vehicle of her own.
“There was an importance after the Camp Fire which was mobilization, and going to where people were and living in the fact that we are scattered,” said Mercer. “I got over 200 businesses to listen to me with a flier I printed out and I just went around and asked for a paintbrush or a can of paint, or anything businesses felt like they could offer, so I could help now.” Mercer still has five stops left in the
next month, her next one being a collaboration with The Boys and Girls Club, who have absorbed over 500 children from the Ridge. Jessie Mercer’s progress with the Key Project Tribute and Butte County Art on Wheels can be followed on their Facebook pages. The Phoenix is well underway, but Mercer expressed that keys are still being welcomed to be mailed in now and even further into the future.
Rayanne Painter can be reached at artseditor@theorion.com or @Rayphenomenon on Twitter
10 |ARTS
Wednesday April 24, 2019
REVIEW
‘The Curse of La Llorona’ an attempt at horror Angel Ortega Staff Writer
Exhibiting one of the most flawed and uninspired narratives in contemporary horror, “The Curse of La Llorona” displays nothing original and is reflective of New Line Cinema and Atomic Monster Productions’ lazy filmmaking. The film takes place in Los Angeles during the 1970s. Anna Tate-Garcia (Linda Cardellini), a social worker for Child Protective Services, is a widowed-mother of two children. When Anna hears about the mysterious death of two children she was working with, the legendary ghost of La Llorona targets Anna and her kids as her next victims. La Llorona, or “the Weeping Woman” in English, is one of the most famous myths in Mexican folklore, along with El Cucuy and the Chupacabra. As the story goes, there was a woman named Maria who was known in her village for her beauty. When a handsome, wealthy ranchero passes by the village, he notices Maria and instantly falls in love. The couple married and had two boys. However, the ranchero leaves Maria for a younger woman. Heart-broken and enraged, Maria decides to take revenge against her husband and drown their two kids in a river. Realizing what she had just done, Maria is overwhelmed by guilt and drowns herself. Maria is challenged at the gates of heaven and is told she cannot enter until she is able to locate the souls of her two children. Therefore, her soul roams along rivers and
”WARNER BROS. PICTURES’ PHOTO
streets in Mexico, searching for her two boys, crying out “mis hijos”, or “my sons,” during the night. As told by many Mexican parents to their children, when La Llorona comes across children that resemble her own sons, she asks for their forgiveness before killing or drowning them near a body of water. If one is to hear her cry, it is said that they are marked for death and running away would be pointless. The myth is told to many Mexican children by their parents, including my own, to discourage them from going out at night and to behave correctly. The story of La Llorona is a harrowing one but holds an immense amount of potential to deliver a truly dreadful horror classic.
Yet, “The Curse of La Llorona” fails to deliver anything scary, and instead delivers a laughably disappointing film, littered with plot-holes and cheap jump scares. The film barely covers the myth and lore behind La Llorona, and instead creates an overtly exaggerated supernatural being and rushes the pace of the film to get to the “scary” scenes. This film is anything but scary or terrifying. La Llorona never truly poses a real threat to the family. Her on-screen presence carries a repetitive pattern throughout the film. She’ll come to the house, terrorize the family momentarily and then retreat. Five minutes later, she’ll come back and terrorize the house before retreating again. This repetition served no value to film other than to attempt to
create jump scares and exhibits blatant, uninspired screen-writing. My biggest gripe with the film, however, was the producers’ decision to incorporate the story of La Llorona into the “Conjuring Universe” film series. La Llorona is a Mexican myth that takes place in Mexico. By having the film take place in the United States, using white actors as their lead characters, director Michael Chaves is gentrifying a significant part of Mexican culture for the sake of seeking monetary success using the “Conjuring” and La Llorona’s names. The film would have been better suited as a horror film if it were a stand-alone film set in Mexico with a Spanish script and Mexican actors. This would bring a much more authentic and
realistic feel and mood to the film. At the very least, New Line Cinema and Atomic Monster Productions could have cast a Mexican family. After all, the representation of Mexicans in mainstream cinema is important but overlooked too often by Hollywood producers. The myth of La Llorona is a crutch for Michael Chaves’ and his producers’ laziness and refusal to attempt to create something original, and I am very disappointed. Rating: 1/5 stars
Angel Ortega can be reached at artseditor@theorion.com or @AngelOrtegaNews on Twitter
Wednesday April 24, 2019
SPORTS|11
RUGBY
Chico State men’s rugby club qualifies for National Title game Lucero Del Rayo-Nava Staff Writer
For the first time in Chico State history, the men’s rugby club has earned a spot in the national championship game. “The boys were clearly prepared to put their bodies on the line for a victory, we started to chase the win this weekend,” head coach Lucas Bradbury said. The Wildcats were faced with an intense weekend that would determine if their undefeated season would come to a halt. On Saturday, they played against Kansas University and defended their home field with an explosive 24-7 victory. Chico State continued on into Sunday to battle it out with Cal State Long Beach with a spot at nationals on the line. As the referee blew the whistle the Wildcats did not wait long to show Long Beach what they were about. “Our team has always been known to be physical it started since I came here five years ago and Chico is known as that team,” fly-half Thomas Gust said. In the first half, Chico State demonstrated why they made it to the top four in the country as Matthew Mulholland powered through Long Beach’s defensive efforts to score three tries. Cal State Long Beach was struggling to get past the unbreakable Wildcats defense and settled for a conversion to get them on the
RICARDO TOVAR- THE ORION
The Chico State club rugby team hoist up head coach Lucas Bradbury after their win against Cal State Long Beach (24-22) on Sunday. scoreboard. Chico State was in a very convincing spot at 19-3 when the first half came to an end. “The kids really stepped up and worked really hard over spring break, working really hard early mornings in the weight room,” forward coach Brendan Purcell said. Both teams came into the second half hungry, with a trip to North Carolina a half away. After a repeating sequence of scrums and lineouts, the Wildcats managed a successful maul that got them near the try zone. Long Beach tightened up their defense and put a long hard fight before Anthony Riley broke through for the Wildcat’s fourth try of the game.
“It can’t be done on a single person, it is top down, bottom up and everyone in the middle needs to do something,” Bradbury said. Chico State kept rising the intensity and used their physicality that had gotten them this far. But the official did not let that slide and benched two Wildcats. Long Beach used the missing players to their advantage as they gained momentum offensively and were on the verge of scoring their first try. Those gaps in defense were costly as Long Beach continued on their aggressive offense and got their first try of the game with 20 minutes still left on the clock. “We have to tighten things up, offensively we did well but
defensively we started leaving more holes in the second half,” Gust said. There was no time wasted from Long Beach as they capitalized on Chico State’s defensive flaws and after another 10 minutes they were scoring at the try zone once more. Cal State Long Beach closed the large gap and the score was now 24-15. This frustrated the Wildcats and they came back to defend the lead they worked so hard for. But even through Chico’s best effort Long Beach slipped by for another try in the final minute of the game. The kick conversion was successfully made but even with such a stunning comeback, Chico State stayed in the lead with a final
score of 24-22. “It’s humbling we put in a lot of work this season and it can all just come together now, “ Forward Brandon Roscoe said. The Wildcats have a couple of weeks to train as they face Dartmouth University on May 4 to determine the 2019 National Champion in North Carolina. Chico State goes into the championship undefeated thus far, Dartmouth is returning to defend their national title from last year. “We are going to play against their strengths and exploit their weaknesses,” Bradbury said. Lucero Del Rayo-nava can be reached at sportseditor@theorion.com or @del_rayo98 on Twitter
12 |SPORTS
Wednesday April 24, 2019
BASEBALL
Chico State gets critical win over Pomona Noah Andrews Staff Writer
Grant Larson was a man on a mission Chico State baseball hosted the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos at Nettleton Stadium this Saturday. In a game that had serious tournament implications for both teams, Chico State emerged with the 4-1 victory. The win moved Chico’s overall record to 21-17 and 17-16 in the CCAA. More importantly, the win allowed Chico to overtake both Pomona and Sonoma State in the standings. They now hold the fifth spot in the standings and have the end of season tournament in sight. With nine games remaining in the season, the Wildcats hold their tournament hopes in their own hands. “This was a big win,” said assistant coach Dillion Kelley, “If we come out and play like this the rest of our season, we’ll be a dangerous team in the tournament.” The story of the day was the pitcher-catcher tandem of Grant Larson and Myles Moran. Larson pitched a complete game, allowing only four hits, while Moran threw out two runners and went 3-4 hitting with an RBI and a score of his own. The complete game marked Larson’s third of the season and moved his overall record to 5-3. A wild pitch at the start of the first inning from Larson lead to the Broncos batting in
the runner and taking their first and only lead of the game. However, Moran was able to even the score in the bottom of the second inning after getting driven in by a JT Navaro double. He followed it up in the third inning with an RBI single to center field that gave Chico their first lead. Stellar pitching from Larson through the next four innings would see him retire 13 batters straight. He finished with nine total strikeouts on the day and was vital in what was a rough offensive showing from the ‘Cats’. They left 14 runners stranded on base throughout the course of the game before finally securing a couple of insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings. The Wildcats will look to keep the momentum rolling as they play a make-up game this Tuesday against Cal State East Bay before returning home to host Sonoma on Friday. The fourgame series against the Sea-Wolves will have major tournament implications for both teams involved and should make for a great competitive series. The first game will kick off Friday night at 6 p.m. at Nettleton Stadium, those unable to attend can still watch through the Chico State Athletics website. Noah Andrews can be reached at sportseditor@theorion.com or @SPORTSFROMNOAH on Twitter
OLYVIA SIMPSON — THE ORION From Left: Kyle Pineda keeps an eye on the Cal Poly Pomona outfielders scrambling to get the ball as he advances toward first base. From Right: Larson went all nine innings, allowing four hits, one unearned run and securing the win for the Wildcats .
Baseball Season Record
Overall: 21-7 CCAA: 17-16
Home: 8-4 Away: 12-5
Grant Larson Myles Moran JT Navarro
Notable Athletes 9 IP 0 ER 9 SO 0 BB 0 EBH 4 AB 3 H 1 R 1 RBI 2 AB 1 H 2 BB 1 RBI
Baseball Upcoming Games
April 26 vs. Sonoma Noon and 3 p.m. April 6
vs. Sonoma 6 p.m.
Wildcat Facts
T. Olson is tied for first in triples with 3 A. Lopez’s 1.38 ERA leads the CCAA for starters A. DeVito leads the CCAA in hits by a pitch at 14
Wednesday April 24, 2019
SPORTS| 13
CROSS COUNTRY
Chico State welcomes cross country commit Each year, student-athletes from all over the country decide which school they are going to compete for on the collegiate level. For Chico High’s cross country star Charlie Giannini, that was his hometown’s
The senior’s efforts in the classroom have earned him a 4.2 overall GPA. “We have a lot of hardworking and high-performing kids at Chico high and Charlie exemplifies that,” said Gary Story, the athletic director for Chico High School. Giannini’s grades and performance
own Chico State. Giannini grew up in Chico and joined the cross country team after one of his longtime childhood friends joined. He didn’t have any competitive running experience at all and didn’t exactly know what to expect when he showed up for the team. “At first, I was kind of just there to keep my friend company, but it quickly became a really big part of my life and something that I enjoy a lot,” Giannini said. The team is coached by Kevin Girt, a Chico State alumnus who ran on the cross country team in the ’90s. “Coach Girt is a great coach and he doesn’t ever put any of his runners down and if you have a bad race he just says: ‘we’ll get past that’...He’s been really important to my success,” Giannini said. Giannini’s teammates have also been a big part of his career and a motivating factor for him. “I run alongside a good group of friends that I’ll probably have in my life forever, and the support from them, my parents and Coach Girt has been a huge motivator,” Giannini said. Giannini has been on the cross country team all four years of his high school career which has also opened up doors for him to compete on the track and field team. He runs in the 1600-meter and 3200-meter events and has the team record for both of those events this season. Giannini will also be running these longdistance events for the Chico State track and field team. Giannini’s hard work and accomplishments don’t end there, either.
within his sport attracted several colleges to him and he soon had a decision to make. “In the end, it came down to Humboldt State, Chico State, and Cal Poly, but Chico State just felt like the best option for me due to the fact that their team is so well developed,” Giannini said. Giannini’s parents have supported him a lot throughout high school and were also there to help him through the decision-making process. “One day, me and my dad sat down and talked about it all and we kind of just both knew what the answer was: Chico State,” Giannini said. Being able to represent his hometown on the collegiate level also played a part in Giannini’s decision. “We get a lot of support from the Chico community and with it being such a small town, we also get a lot more recognition than we would other places so it feels good to be able to represent that,” he said. Chico State’s cross country team has been quite successful in recent years under head coach Gary Towne. They have won an amazing 17 straight CCAA championships. “I’m really looking forward to being apart of a really well-developed and successful team and I’m very excited to be running for Chico State,” Giannini said. He is also looking forward to all of the educational opportunities that will come with going to Chico State. He plans to major in biological sciences. In the meantime, he just wants to finish
Matthew Ferreira Staff Writer
his senior year on a strong note academically and do well in his last few remaining track meets. “I’m kind of just taking everything one step at a time and I can’t wait for all that is going to come with learning and competing at the next level for the Wildcats,” Giannini said.
Matthew can be reached at sportseditor@theorion.com or @MattFerreira_ on Twitter
RICARDO TOVAR — THE ORION Charlie Giannini is a senior attending Chico High School and will be running for his hometown’s Chico State Wildcats beginning in the fall semester.
14 |OPINION
Wednesday April 24, 2019
CAPITOL PUNISHMENT
EDITORIAL
Death penalty: inhumane but necessary
Textbooks are a waste of money
apital punishment is one of those topics that permeates our modern day justice system and our society. For thousands of years, criminals have been executed in
C
for three reasons. The first is that, life in prison (as a general punishment) for severe crimes, mainly of homicidal nature, can be expensive, given the cost of inmates per year. The second reason is that many of these people don’t generally bear much remorse despite the
considered a humane method of execution. Sometimes the needle for injection misses the critical vein in the arm (more than once), causing severe discomfort. Either way, I don’t really like the idea of killing or making someone suffer. It’s either death, or potential lifelong
various ways, some bordering on, if not completely, barbaric in method. That is no longer the case. In the United States today, capital punishment (in more left wing states, at least) has gone down significantly. When it is used, however, it is done via lethal injection, where a person is strapped to a table and injected with various toxins that render them unconscious and stop the heart, an arrhythmia, ending their life. It is common now due to it being seen largely as a more humane method of execution. Opposed to older methods such as hanging, decapitation, firing squad (the last in the US was in the 1970’s) and the electric chair, probably the worst one of all, due to the fact it painfully fries all of your nerves before it kills you. The question is, should it even be used at all? There has indeed been controversy over whether or not lethal injection is even humane. The possibility that the drug that paralyzes the body doesn’t render one unconscious, instead making the victim more uncomfortable, is disturbing. But there isn’t a way of noticing, because the victim is usually already paralyzed to begin with. Personally, I believe that the death penalty is a “good” thing,
severity of their crimes, and would certainly do them again and again should they get out, even if they are imprisoned for life. The third reason is more along the lines of being humane. Today’s for-profit prisons are overcrowded, more solitary and psychologically cruel to inmates. Some criminals on death row are in prison, awaiting death for decades, which could be argued as befitting their crimes. But if their punishment was death, and death alone, why extend it? The wheels of prison bureaucracy should be turned faster. Maybe I don’t understand prison politics, but this would be for the greater good. However, just because I said it was “good” doesn’t mean that I wholeheartedly find it humane or practical. A lethal injection execution is highly expensive to do these days, coming at great cost to taxpayers. In places like China, the execution is done via a single bullet to the head, and then said bullet is mailed to the family of the executed. This may seem ugly for Americans to hear, but this simple method is far better than executions that take 7.5 minutes to complete, when we don’t really understand the ethics of injection, despite it being
imprisonment sounds like a nasty dilemma for prisons with high amounts of death row inmates. None of the options are humane at all, to be perfectly honest, but something has to be done about those people.
Reed McCoy Columnists
In the end, they have already condemned themselves through their criminal actions. Reed McCoy can be reached at opinioneditor@theorion.com or @ReedMcCoy6 on Twitter.
Janette Estrada Columnist
T
he semester is coming to an end and my textbooks are still collecting dust in the corner of my room. Not that I am a bad student, but textbooks are mostly useless. With increasing tuition fees, college books are a burden that add to student financial hardships. Often times putting students behind a paywall. The College Board says: “Over the course of a year, the average college student spends more than $1,200 on books and materials.” As part of most teachers’ syllabi detailing the expectations of a student, textbooks are a requirement intended to help students pass their classes. The process is simple: The professor picks the textbook and the student pays for it. However, in recent years, there has been a change in how books are distributed and my inner soul is screaming. It seems professors are no longer satisfied with a single textbook. Instead, they are beginning to assign multiple books for reasons outside of our understanding. Ever wonder why students wait until the fourth week of school to purchase their books?
The Bundle Problem: As a transfer student, I was in shock to hear my professor assigned her students three different textbooks during my first semester at Chico State. One for quizzes, one for homework and one to write a paper. A 100% useless purchase. The
text was absolutely irrelevant to the in-class content. Excuse me, but why? Unless professors plan on using their academic books purposefully throughout the semester, there is no point in assigning the text. Tip: Loads of reading make students lose interest in the material.
Self-authored books: The prices of textbooks are increasing at an alarming rate. Ultimately, students do not have a role in selecting course materials. This leaves pricesensitive materials we may not be able to afford in the hands of our professors. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said that from 2006 to 2016, “consumer prices for college textbooks increased 88 percent.” Under academic freedom, professors hold the right to select their own instructional goal for the course. This means should they generate content to meet these criteria. Not to say self-written books are trash, but why are we paying so much for a book that isn’t for the benefit of students? I am not paying for the historical scripts. Please be considerate of our empty pockets.
Continue reading at theorion.com... Janette Estrada can be reached at opinioneditor@theorion.com or @jane11_e on Twitter
Wednesday April 24, 2019
OPINION| 15
CAMP FIRE
How one Camp Fire survivor found normalcy Gage Northcutt Columnist
The Morning Of
N
o one would have imagined an inferno could swallow an entire community in a matter of hours. Yet, on the morning of Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, that very thing happened to Paradise. For Victoria Militar-Tweedie this was a regular day of doctor’s appointments for her and her husband, Bill Tweedie. Until, she received a phone call from her husband’s doctor that the appointment was canceled due to the fire being five minutes from the doctor’s house. Militar-Tweedie responded in confusion, “What fire?” The doctor replied, “Look out the window.” “We weren’t worried,” MilitarTweedie said. “In paradise, you know you get fires like what? Four times a year at least? We turned on the TV and readied our go-bag… We know the drill.” Militar-Tweedie and her husband never had an order to evacuate. They watched TV for updates until the power went out. After which they grabbed their dog and whatever they could carry and left. “The skies were getting darker,” Militar-Tweedie said. “So we kind of thought it was time to go.” The evacuation of MilitarTweedie went fairly smoothly due to her home being farther from the fire than most parts on Paradise. But it was not far enough.
The Mourning Of In the afternoon of Saturday,
Nov. 10, 2018, Militar-Tweedie and her husband received confirmation that their house had perished in the fire. While grief-stricken, MilitarTweedie has not had more than a few moments to actually feel the complete weight of her loss. “Maybe it will weigh more later. Because right now the focus is to stabilize your life, and that means finding another house to stay in.” Militar-Tweedie said. One of the few times MilitarTweedie had any time to grieve was when she and her husband went to go look at the house and former neighborhood. “We saw the pictures. But there is nothing like seeing it first hand… I think saddest also was because we lived in a cul-de-sac. Not one house was left standing on the cul-de-sac and it was sad to see because our neighbors were there at the same time too…” Militar-Tweedie said. This only added to the tragedy for Militar-Tweedie. She said, “To me, it was more sad than losing our house because it felt like you lost your community.”
The Fight for Normalcy Since then Militar-Tweedie has attempted to place the remnants of her life cohesively. The couple had stayed in a hotel for 22 days while trying to find a rental in Chico. They had to have a place that would accommodate the them, and their big dog, which made it even more difficult than Chico. Eventually, they found a trailer with the help of other staff members in the university that would allow Militar-Tweedie
What remains of Victoria Militar-Tweedie and Bill Tweedie’s home in Paradise. to stay close to her job at the university. “The focus right now,” MilitarTweedie said. “[Is] we don’t want to dwell on what we lost right now because if we do that we will not be able to do anything anymore. So we need to start somewhere again.” Despite it almost feeling like too much at times and having every right to give up and feel sorry for herself, Militar-Tweedie says she can not afford to. When everything you know is gone and behind you, there is only one direction to move and that is forward.
Staying Accountable Militar-Tweedie is using Facebook as a means of updating their family and friends while
also having something to keep them accountable with getting things done. “It would somehow keep me in check from feeling sorry for myself… Because I could not let my friends or family feel that I’m giving up… I used Facebook to make me accountable to my family and friends. Accountable for soldiering on.” MilitarTweedie said. Soldiering on and making sure to find something to say because to Militar-Tweedie, “They are waiting for my update… and I don’t want them to pity me.”
What’s Next? Militar-Tweedie and her husband want to rebuild but can’t make any definitive decisions. It is still uncertain when the
GAGE NORTHCUTT-THE ORION
water will be drinkable, when it will be clear to rebuild, or if any refugees will be able to afford to come back. “Rebuilding Paradise, it’ll depend on when. How? We don’t know,” Militar-Tweedie said.
My Thoughts Victims like Victoria MilitarTweedie, Bill Tweedie, their neighbors and the other 90% of Paradise fight every day to return to a state of order. While this is just the story of two people...
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Gage Northcutt can be reached at opinioneditor@theorion.com or @GageNorthcutt on Twitter.