Volume 63 Issue 00

FOR THE WEEK OF TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

Highlander University

Volume 63

of

C a l i f o r n i a , R ive r s i d e

Issue 00

Serving the UCR community since 1954

highlandernews.org

UCR Highlander Newspaper

@UCRHighlander

University mural lacks ownership, proper upkeep

UCRChannelH

Female UCR student kidnapped, released right after ESTEFANIA ZAVALA Senior Staff Writer

documentation of the mural from campus departments and bureaucratic processes in the city, Matar realized that his goals of revamping the mural would remain incomplete.

“There’s no clear records of who owns it,” said Matar. “No directions were left behind on how to maintain the mural.”

Serving as the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS) dean prior to the mural’s erection, CarlosVelez Ibanez explained that the mural project came out of the CHASS department to bring the arts to the community and further represent the diverse community in the university.

Ibanez also played a crucial role in developing a series of

On June 8, a female UCR student was abducted from the University Village (UV) Towers parking garage located on 3500 Iowa Avenue. The psychology student was returning from shopping when the suspect struck her, covered her eyes, tied her hands and reportedly forced her into a vehicle for 30 minutes. She talked to the abductor until he returned her to the same parking garage and let her go.

The suspect’s car is described as a 2009 or newer grey Nissan Sentra. The suspect is allegedly a white male in his late twenties to early thirties with medium length, dark blond hair. The Riverside Police Department (RPD) has released a sketch and is asking anybody with more information to come forward.

This is the third attempted abduction this school year. The first attempts happened within hours of each other on April 12 near the Lothian Residence halls. In an email interview, the UCR Director of Media Relations Kris Lovekin said that, “Police have no way of knowing if this kidnapping is related to an attempted kidnapping earlier in the year.”

Since the latest attempt happened off campus, the UC Police Department (UCPD) must leave the investigation to the RPD, which oversees criminal activity in the city of Riverside. Despite this, Lovekin assures the community that, “(The UCPD is) providing … extra security patrolling, and even cameras at certain locations on campus, to make sure that everyone knows — including criminals — that they are likely to be caught if they target UCR.”

► SEE MURAL, PAGE 5

► SEE KIDNAPPING, PAGE 4

After over a decade of no proper upkeep, UCR’s mural located underneath Highway 60 makes some students think it seems due for a change.

SANDY VAN Senior Staff Writer

It’s something that every Highlander will pass by at least once in their university career — the UCR Mural under Highway 60, which has made a particular impression on former ASUCR Senator Shadi Matar.

As Matar came from his classes at the University Village theater, it dawned on him that he wanted to see something more representative of the UCR he was leaving behind, which is why he set out to repaint the 2001 mural over the past winter and spring quarter of the 201314 academic year.

“It’s pretty interesting,” Matar said, referring to the mural’s design. “(There) were pictures of hydrogen cars

and pictures of (older UCR) chancellors … and things that don’t show what UCR is doing right now. Also there’s a bunch of graffiti on it … so if we can’t change it, (we) might as well get rid of the graffiti.”

Serving as a welcoming portal to both the city of Riverside and UCR, the 16-foot-tall mural was constructed a l o n g University Avenue with a price tag of $73,000 provided by city officials and the Gluck Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to

supporting art, dance, theatre and music in local communities.

By 2001, the Gluck Foundation had donated $2.4 million to making the arts more accessible to the Riverside community.

The gateway mural, initially made possible with the collaboration of UCR officials, the Gluck Foundation, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the city of Riverside, was maintained during its first year, but the upkeep stopped soon after due to lack of funding.

Stonewalled by insufficient

“There’s no art on this campus and it makes us look like an industrial complex rather than a school.”

- Shadi Matar

OPINIONS

FEATURES

Editorial: An open letter to UCR students recommends taking advantage of summer, and the diverse opportunity it presents.

PAGE 7

CAMERON YONG / HIGHLANDER

RADAR

Beat the heat this summer with your own Fan of Cash, advising on how to earn some extra money this summer.

PAGE 9

SPORTS

From movies to concerts to theatrical performances check out what’s going on around Riverside this summer.

PAGE 18

After nearly four decades of service, Baseball Head Coach Doug Smith announced his retirement from UC Riverside.

PAGE 20

2

NEWS

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

HIGHLANDER

White House announces student debt relief measures

COLIN MARKOVICH Senior Staff Writer

In the wake of colleges across the country finishing their graduating ceremonies, President Barack Obama has announced a set of measures intended to reduce the record levels of student loan debt, including additional plans to cap loan repayments.

“At a time when higher education has never been more important, it’s also never been more expensive,” Obama said in a June 9 speech announcing the changes. “We are here today because we believe that in America, no hardworking young person should be priced out of a higher education.”

The largest action is an expansion to the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) program, a law passed in 2010 that caps a borrower’s repayment of student loans at 10 percent of the borrower’s discretionary income. Borrowers enrolled in the PAYE program are also eligible to have the sum of their remaining debt be forgiven after 10 years if they work in the public sector, or after 20 years anywhere else.

Currently, only people who took out loans after October 2007 for more than four years are eligible for the program.

Under the new executive action,

students who received loans earlier than October 2007 will be permitted to participate, which the White House estimates will help an additional five million people. The changes to the PAYE program will take effect in 2015.

The White House also announced that it would renegotiate contracts with the companies working with student loan debt, such as Sallie Mae, as well as new plans to communicate the changes by partnering with business and nonprofit groups, such as TurboTax and the YMCA. Student loan debt topped $1 trillion in July 2013, reaching higher levels than credit card debt and car debt for the first time.

In addition to implementing an array of executive orders, Obama also announced his support for the Bank on Students Loan Refinancing Act, a piece of legislation which would allow borrowers to take advantage of interest changes since Congress passed a 2013 law that tied student loan interest rates to the market. Specifically, the act would allow an estimated 25 million people to refinance their existing student loans with lower interest rates.

The current student loan interest rate is 3.86 percent, lower than unsubsidized Stafford

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WHITE HOUSE President Obama promises to relieve student debt woes by initiating reforms to help higher education students.

loans and many private loans.

However, it is expected to increase in future years as the economy improves over time The bill was cosponsored by California Senator Barbara Boxer and received the backing of UC President Janet Napolitano, but subsequently failed to pass the United States Senate after a

Photo of the Week

24

filibuster.

Obama expressed the desire for individual states to place a greater emphasis on higher education. “But as long as college costs keep soaring, we can’t just keep throwing money at the problem. We’re going to have to initiate reforms from the colleges themselves. States

JUNE Writing a Novel 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.

UCR Extension Center

Cameron Yong ASST. PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Construction workers are hard at work building the new Glen Mor apartments which will be finished in time for the 2014-2015 school year.

Quotebook “I just don’t want to be like the loser looking in the eye of an orange and it doesn’t work.”

Upcoming Events

Tuesday

25

Wednesday

have to invest more in higher education,” Obama said.

In the most recent revision of California Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2014 budget, the UC was allotted an additional 5 percent in funding, or $142.2 million. Additionally, Napolitano has pledged another round of tuition freezes for the ■H 2014-2015 academic year.

Citizens University Committee Breakfast Meeting 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Alumni and Vistitors Center

Colloquium Presentation by Professor Wolfgang Rother 12 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Watkins 2206

26

No Events

27

No Events

28

No Events

29

No Events

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

30

Monday

Freeing Your Creativity 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Online

Geographic Information Systems Summer School 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.

UCR Extension Center

- Former ASUCR Sentor Shadi Matar on the periscope-like orange statue near Humanities.

Scan this QR code and visit us

at highlandernews.org

H

4

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

NEWS

HIGHLANDER

UC President Napolitano forms systemwide LGBT advisory committee SANUJA DAS Contributing Writer

On June 4, UC President Janet Napolitano announced the formation of a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) advisory group throughout the UC system. For the past two years, the UC task force on climate and inclusion made eight recommendations, ranging from data collection to cultural training, to advance the well-being of the LGBT community and to call for the permanent establishment of the LGBT group.

“The task force recommendations are a concrete next step to advance UC’s efforts to create more welcoming and inclusive campus environments for members of the LGBT community,” said Barbara French, UC San Francisco vice chancellor of strategic communications and university relations.

Notable recommendations

by the task force include establishing an LGBT resource center at UC Merced, allowing students to self-identify their preferred name on their academic record, providing UC employees in domestic partnerships with health benefits and developing and implementing a system-wide gender-inclusive restroom policy.

Blazing a trail to LGBT rights, UCR became the first California university to have a professional staffed LGBT resource center when it opened in 1993. The formation of the center was made possible with the help of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee and groups like the Queer Alliance, the longest-running LGBT student organization at UCR dating back to the 1980s. UCR became the first college campus in the state to offer an LGBT studies minor in 1996 and nine years later, UCR also became the first in the nation to offer gender-neutral housing option to all students.

■H

Cultural training and data collection are focuses of Janet Napolitano’s LGBT advisory committee. ► KIDNAPPING FROM PAGE 1

UCPD Police Chief Mike Lane urges students to stay vigilant and to review important tips for personal safety and the protection of property. “There have also been several cameras installed at the University Avenue entrance of UCR, Canyon Crest, Linden, Blaine and Rustin streets,” Lane said in an email interview. He goes on to note that more blue call boxes have been placed near UCR Family Housing and on-campus apartments as safety precautions. There is also the Campus Safety Escort Service available during the school year.

ARCHIVE / HIGHLANDER

“It’s really scary,” says Sneha Sharma, a student at the UCR Graduate School of Education and future resident of the UV Towers. Undaunted by the recent abductions, she adds, “But I have pepper spray and I am not afraid to use it.”

Anybody with additional information about the kidnapping may contact Detective Rick Wheeler at 951-353-7134 or Detective Rick Cobb at 951353-7135. UCPD detectives promise to remain in constant communication with RPD detectives regarding this investigation and to share updates with the UCR community.

■H

WRITE. SHOOT. DESIGN. MEETINGS ON MONDAYS @ HUB 101, 5:15 P.M.

NEWS

HIGHLANDER

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

5

UCR receives largest federal grant to improve energy usage SANDY VAN Senior Staff Writer

PHOTO COURTESY OF UCR TODAY Professor Jing Shi’s project, SHINES, hopes to increase energy efficiency and heat management in nanoscale computer applications.

► MURAL FROM PAGE 1

proposals to bring more art on campus, including changing the name of the college to include “arts” and developing the Fine Arts Building.

“In terms of the murals, there were no arrangements made for their support after their completion in (2001) and after I stepped down as dean in 1999 my oversight ended as well,” Ibanez said in an email. “What has to be understood is that the murals themselves are not just a historical artifact but rather my attempt (to) create a tunnel of art from the university to the broader communities.”

Efforts to renovate the gateway also seem further hindered by the relationship between the university and the renowned world artist behind the gateway art piece, John Wehrle.

“While I applaud efforts to repaint the UCR mural, I think there would be considerable difficulty, as the university, against my recommendation, made me apply a polyurethane clear (anti-graffiti) coat over the finished work, which was painted with Keim silicate paint,” Wehrle

reported to the Highlander.

“This is not a removable varnish and paint will not adhere to the coating.”

In order to remove the coating, Wehrle said it would probably require “sandblasting the entire thing and starting from scratch.”

He explained that the art piece was intended to grow over time, referencing the notable arches extending throughout, but said, “It looks like it could stand a good cleaning.”

Matar adds that repainting the mural will require approval from multiple sources, such as the city of Riverside, Caltrans, along with specific permission from UCR officials: Chancellor Kim Wilcox, a university dean who wants to take on the project and a public arts committee (which hasn’t existed since 2007) which must be organized to approve all art on campus.

Margie Haupt, manager of Riverside’s department of arts and cultural affairs, informed that there would need to be additional paperwork and permits approved through the city and Caltrans to make any changes to the mural, since it falls along city grounds and may affect traffic in the area.

A UC Riverside-led project has received $12 million over four years from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) — the largest single federal grant the campus has ever received — to improve the nation’s energy production and usage. Spearheaded by UCR Professor of Physics Jing Shi, the project, “Spins and Heat in Nanoscale Electronic Systems” (SHINES), seeks to convert excess energy in spinning electrons into electricity and increase efficient heat conduction in nanoscale computer applications.

SHINES, along with 22 other projects, has been named an Energy Frontier Research Center, which will serve as a platform for researchers to study energy storage and new technologies. Along with UCR, the project will involve a collaboration of researchers from seven universities, including two other UCs: UC Irvine and UCLA. DOE will provide a total of $100 million to ongoing research projects.

“Electrons have a spin just like (how) the planet earth is orbiting around the sun and at the same time, it rotates around its own

With limited visible artwork on campus, Matar desires to see more art pieces beyond the UCR Mural and the giant, periscopelike orange next to Humanities (which he was told broke upon installation). “For example, the Scotty on a Bench, that’s a piece of art and that makes people happy to see and take pictures next to,” he said.

“This campus is deprived of art and art can make a huge difference in someone’s day,” reasoned Matar. “There’s no art on this campus and it makes us look like an industrial complex rather than a school.”

Sharing a similar viewpoint to Matar, current CHASS Dean Stephen Cullenberg expressed that he is working with a donor and the chancellor to bring additional outdoor art to campus.

In reference to the mural, Cullenberg confirmed that there may be limited records of its past erection.

“I don’t know who owns the mural, in the sense of who is responsible for its upkeep. In the meantime if ASUCR were to pass a resolution requesting an upgrade of the mural, I would think that that might matter a lot,” he said.

■H

axis. Electrons also have the same motion,” Shi said about the study of energy-related material.

“We try to imitate the electrons spinning, so the excess energy stored in the electrons spinning (can be converted into energy), which has never been used before for (the generation of) electricity.”

Shi says another goal is to use nanotechnology to design better materials to conduct heat more efficiently in computer applications and chips. As an intercollegiate collaboration between the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and Bourns College of Engineering, the UCRled research team is currently based out of the Materials Science and Engineering building.

According to Vice Chancellor of Research Michael Pazzani, the grant will lead to new discoveries in energy consumption and provide students with careers in the technology industry.

“This could be new (computer) chips that require less energy than current electronics. Such inventions may be valuable in themselves and reduce electrical usage throughout the world thereby reducing emissions associated with the creation of energy,” Pazzani said.

■H

CAMERON YONG / HIGHLANDER 13 years since its completion, UCR’s mural is starting to show its age.

6

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

NEWS

The ARTSblock hopes to utilize its recently acquired $125,000 research grant to further Latino science fiction research expeditions.

HIGHLANDER

VINCENT TA / HIGHLANDER

UCR ARTSblock receives $125,000 to explore Latino science fiction ESTEFANIA ZAVALA Senior Staff Writer

On June 12, UCR ARTSblock was awarded a $125,000 research grant for an upcoming exhibition of work called, “Critical Utopias: The Art of Futurismo Latino.”

This exhibition will explore Latino science fiction in the visual arts as a social, cultural and political critique in futuristic utopias. The research will be conducted by select arts and humanities professors at UCR. This grant comes courtesy of the Getty Museum and is part of the museum’s “Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA” initiative, which studies the connection between

Los Angeles and Latin American culture. “‘Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA’ raises complex and provocative issues about presentday relations between north and south and the rapidly changing social and cultural fabric of Southern California,” said President and CEO of the Getty Trust, Jim Cuno, in a press release.

Thus far, the Getty Foundation has awarded $5 million to arts institutions throughout Southern California for the initiative, which will present 46 exhibitions and events from San Diego to Santa Barbara.

UCR was selected for this award based on its status as the

home of the Eaton Collection, the world’s largest science fiction collection and its successful implementation of the only Science Fiction and Technoculture Studies (STFS) program in the nation. UCR was also chosen as a recipient of this grant for its diversity and commitment to the Hispanic community.

As Sherryl Vint, a UCR English professor and the codirector of the SFTS program said in an email interview, “UCR is a Hispanic-serving institution … and the particular focus of this Getty grant thus addresses the specific local community.”

The UCR research team for this project is composed of Vint,

along with five other UCR faculty members. The research continues UCR’s focus on science fiction and draws on the UCR faculty (such as Vint herself) devoted to science fiction.

“Since I’ve come here (in 2012) I’ve made one of my priorities to develop programming and courses based on science fiction written by people of (color),” Vint furthered.

“Futurismo Latino” will be comprised of the exhibition galleries at UCR ARTSblock’s three venues: California Museum of Photography (CMP), Culver Center of the Arts and Sweeney Art Gallery. ARTSblock is located on 3800 Main Street in downtown Riverside.

■H

. OPINIONS .

HIGHLANDER

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

7

HIGHLANDER HIGHLANDER EDITORIAL EDITORIAL

EXPERIENCE YOUR SUMMER WITH VIGOR

HIGHLANDER STAFF Editor-in-Chief

Managing Editor

Colin Markovich

Jake Rich

News Editor

Asst. News Editor

Sandy Van

Estefania Zavala

managingeditor @highlandernews.org

editorinchief @highlandernews.org

news@highlandernews.org

Opinions Editor

Jake Rich

opinions@highlandernews.org

Asst. A&E Editor

A&E Editor

Nathan Swift

radar@highlandernews.org

Christal Mims

Features Editor

Maxine Arellano

features@highlandernews.org

Sports Editor

Asst. Sports Editor

Darren Bueno

Cody Nguyen

Photography Editor

Asst. Photo Editor

Vincent Ta

Cameron Yong

sports@highlandernews.org

photo@highlandernews.org Staff Photographers

Richard Lin, Laura Nguyen, Aaron Lai, Jaspery Goh Production Manager

Brandy Coats

productionmanager @highlandernews.org Production Assistants

Dear UCR students, First off, congratulations on finishing that last final. It was brutal, wasn’t it? Trust us, we know exactly how you felt. Or, if you’re a new, incoming student spending your orientation learning about your new college, congratulations on surviving high school. Whether it’s the last days of your high school years or the last final exam (for now) at last, after destroying (or at least getting past) that last seemingly immovable wall, that prosperous time of year has found its way into the hearts and minds of students everywhere — summer, and the release it brings from essays and midterms.

When comparing summer and those tedious assignments, the summer day easily comes out this time as being the more lovely and temperate of the two.

But for those of us who have ever had more than two weeks off for summer vacation, something else inevitably sets in: boredom.

While the endless attention-seeking “I’m bored” Facebook or Twitter updates can be obnoxious and irritating, there is a reason they’re out there: because people can’t think of anything to do with themselves when they have three months alone in the sprawls of Southern California and its unrelenting heat.

Just because you are confined to Riverside or the surrounding areas, however, doesn’t mean that summer can’t be a time where new horizons and explorations are made, along with a heap of new memories.

Rather than let the vast expanse of nothingness weigh you down, let the opportunity of free space be your great advantage. Though Riverside may seem quaint in scope of activities or large-scale, big-name events compared to some other cities, there is much more than meets the eye for students and whoever desires to go exploring and learn new things about the city and yourself while filling up the vast expanse of free time.

Places like Back to the Grind, among

numerous others, usually have open mic nights weekly, and while this may seem like something you can do anytime, it’s never too early to have your first open mic experience.

You can really make it something worth your while — meeting new people and holding out for that one amazing artist can make events as spontaneous as open mics an opportunity to make memories you’ll never forget. Who knows, someone you meet at a random night out at an open mic or other event downtown could happen to be a future great friend — but you’ll never find out if you don’t go out and see what’s out there.

Beyond that, there’s a plethora of eateries and bars downtown Riverside has to offer.

Let’s face it: Some are hit-and-miss, but you’ll never know if you don’t try it. The same goes for the artistic events Riverside has going on during the baking summer heat.

Sometimes they’re hard to find, but they are out there, and you can take advantage of them.

Even if you’re not feeling socially inclined on a certain day, but want to keep your mind sharp over summer, pick up a book you’ve been meaning to read. It can be extremely difficult to actually find time to read novels, comics, short stories or anything else you want to read during the hectic school year full of other things to do and full of assignments.

If you’re already a UCR student, you have access to the wealth of material that all four of the school’s libraries contain over summer, whether they’re light novels or some of the more heavy-duty stuff. So now is the time to pick up whatever you’ve been wanting to read — 3 months should give you ample time to read nearly anything you’ve been wanting to get through (though we suggest starting now if you’re trying something as massive as, say, “Infinite Jest”).

The important thing really is to get into the spirit of it all. It’s unlikely that you’ll have another time in your life (or at least not for a while, or if you win the lottery) when you will have this much free time and this many

VINCENT TA / HIGHLANDER

options because of your age and position as a student. Your favorite bands in town? Go see them. A band you’ve never heard of is in town? Go see them. You’ve never been to a concert before? Go to a bunch of them!

This applies not just to just music performances but also to gaining new experiences in general.

Volunteer opportunities abound in the Riverside area, and most organizations love having young people with energy representing their organization. It’s a way not only to fill your time, but to meet more new people and help gain different perspectives or points of view you may have not encountered before. And if it doesn’t turn out to be that fun, at least you’ve got something you can add to your resume.

So before you post that status or update about how bored you are, go find your opportunities. Make this the summer that you actually do something — and actually do something, not just say you’re going to do something. It’s such an easy trap to fall into just talking about how bored you are that it’s no wonder that many students fall into it. There’s hardly a student at this school, let alone any student, who has not wasted away some valuable summer time, complaining about boredom. This doesn’t mean don’t take time to relax — catching up on your Netflix queue has got to happen at some point — but it also means to not stand idly while you have the opportunity to make some summer magic happen.

So go make experiences. Do random stuff with friends. Or alone. Or read a book. Write a story. Make a film. Because come October, we don’t want to be wondering where all the time went, and how it all slipped languidly away.

■H Highlander editorials reflect the majority view of the Highlander Editorial Board. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Associated Students of UCR or the University of California system.

Olivia Bocanegra, Travis Hong, Mei Huang, Rain Nambayan, Sireena Sy Business Manager

advertising reps.

Erin Mahoney

highlanderads@ucr.edu

Innas Islam, Breana Ross

Distribution Manager

Tech Director

Oscar Ho

Garrett Braatz

Video Editor

Asst. Video Editor

James Fierro

Oscar Ho

techdirector@ highlandernews.org

video.highlander@gmail.com

CONTACT US Highlander 101 Highlander Union Building Riverside, CA 92521 www.highlandernews.org editorinchief@highlandernews.org TIP LINE: (951) 827-2105 Help the Highlander stay on top of what is happening on campus and in the general UCR community. Call this number and leave a message for the Editorial Board with your tip. Be sure to include your full name, relation to UCR, and a number or email address where you can be reached for more details.

Editorial Office:

Business Office:

(951) 827-3617

(951) 827-3457

Classifieds & Billing:

(951) 827-5039

Fax:

(951) 827-7049

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Highlander accepts letters from the campus community. They must be 600-800 words at length and include the author’s name and contact information. Topics should be UCR-centric and/or pertain to our generation of students.

Contact opinions editor Jake Rich at opinions@highlandernews.org by Wednesday if interested in writing a letter and submit completed letter by Saturday at noon. Letter can and will be rejected if it does not meet requirements.

LEGAL The Highlander is published and copyrighted by the Highlander for the students, faculty and staff of UCR. All rights are reserved. Reprinting of any material in this publication without the written permission of the Highlander is strictly prohibited. Readers are allowed one free copy of the newspaper. For additional copies or for subscription information, please contact the Highlander. The Highlander fully supports the University of California’s policy on nondiscrimination. The student media reserve the right to reject or modify advertising whose content discriminates on the basis of ancestry, color, national origin, race, religion, disability, age, sex or sexual orientation. The Highlander has a media grievance procedure for resolving complaints against it. All inserts that are printed in the Highlander are independently paid publications and do not reflect the views of the Editorial Board, the staff or The University of California or the Associated Students of UCR.

.

8

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

OPINIONS

HIGHLANDER

PHOTO COURTESY OF FLICKR

President Barack Obama spoke at UCI’s class of 2014 commencement which also commemorated the school’s 50th anniversary.

Stop protesting commencement speakers COLIN MARKOVICH Senior Staff Writer

Commencement season is always a heady time of year, filled with the buoyant spirits of students ready to take flight in the big blue world. Our friends and family come to congratulate us on our four-plus years of hard work and wish us the best for our post-college endeavors. We can spend all our dining dollars buying out every last scrap of food at Scotty’s in an exuberant celebration of victory. We walk up to the podium, seize our degree, and with it, we seize our destiny.

We deserve to be happy: Our entire lives have been building up to this moment so far. And after all of the late nights, cram sessions and excessive caffeine intake, we’ve succeeded. When we graduate from college, we do so with pride because we are no longer fledglings.

We are able to say, with a degree to back us up, that we have learned the skills we need to succeed in life: in-depth knowledge of the world around us, openmindedness to other perspectives and the ability to think critically in order to evaluate ideas for our own. To obtain these skills is, after all, the whole point of college.

The commencement, the ultimate encapsulation of the finality of the college experience, should reflect that faith in the open exchange of beliefs. But then a funny thing happened — it stopped.

Former UC Berkeley chancellor Robert Birgeneau withdrew from giving a speech at Haverford College. Christine Lagarde, the first female head of the International Monetary Fund, similarly passed from her speech at Smith College.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has been involved in education before, serving as Stanford’s provost, cancelled her commencement speech at Rutgers.

The reason? Each of them did something somewhere in their career that

some students found objectionable. For Rice, it was her association with the Iraq War that did her in, with students deciding that it warranted one of the largest sit-ins occurring in Rutgers history. There was nothing wrong with Lagarde herself, who shattered several glass ceilings and is a staunch supporter of women’s rights, but she served for the International Monetary Fund, an organization protesters called “directly against Smith’s values to stand in unity with equality for all women, regardless of race, ethnicity or class.” And outcry from students forced Birgeneau to withdraw due to his initial expressions of support for the police during the Occupy protests, even though he quickly reversed course after the true levels of brutality became apparent, apologizing and taking full responsibility.

This year isn’t an anomaly — cancellations prompted by student protest have always occurred, and as long as free speech is protected, will always occur.

But it wasn’t always so frequent either. According to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, the number of disinvitation incidents, defined as when students issued a large-scale protest to a commencement speaker, quintupled from 2000 to 2013, with over 30 such incidents occurring in 2013 alone. Last year, one high-ranking government official was awkwardly forced to decline his invitation from his alma mater, Swarthmore College.

While it is certainly well within students’ power and rights to protest speakers they find objectionable, this seems to be a wider net than usual.

Censure is a powerful tool, but by wielding it overenthusiastically, we risk

lumping those whose views we disagree with alongside the truly odious. We’re putting Birgeneau, the person who oversaw Berkeley’s granting of financial aid to undocumented immigrants and who has been praised as an advocate for LGBT rights, in the same category as people who “accidentally” called a transgender doctor ”shim” (a combination of “she” and “him”), or who assert that “violence is inherent in Islam.” There is a point where speech becomes hateful and students have an obligation to protest, but by most measures Birgeneau doesn’t cross that line.

Another disconcerting factor is the fact that the speakers have gotten predominantly liberal over the past decade.

In a comparison of the speakers at the top 30 universities and liberal arts colleges between now and a decade ago, the number of conservative speakers dropped precipitously.

In fact, in the past two years, not a single speaker at these universities was clearly aligned with the Republican Party; in the same timeframe, 25 Democrats spoke.

A lot of the cancellations flew under the radar simply because President Barack Obama’s decision to give the commencement address at UC Irvine sucked up all the oxygen in the room.

Although he touched on a lot of universally uplifting themes, it’s also true that his speech was frequently political, calling congressional Republicans out for their intransigence and unwillingness to tackle issues like gun safety and climate change.

It’s fair to say that there were probably members of UC Irvine’s graduating class who disagreed with the President on a fair

If we refuse speakers simply because of the ideas they are expressing, we lose a valuable opportunity for dialogue and learning . . .

number of issues. But instead of whining about how Obama was turning the United States into a communist state and taking away our freedom, they listened to what he had to say. Maybe they came away disagreeing with him, or maybe they learned something new. Either way, at the end of the day, they heard a different perspective and new ideas. And in so doing, they evaluated different beliefs and had a conversation, even if it was only with themselves.

Isn’t that the reason we go to university in the first place — to learn about different perspectives and challenge our own beliefs? Colleges are founded on the exchange of ideas and information.

If we refuse speakers simply because of the ideas they are expressing, we lose a valuable opportunity for dialogue and learning, and we deny the value of listening to other points of view.

Colleges should be havens of support for debate and conversation, not fortresses where people encase themselves in the protective reaffirmation of their own opinions. Not to mention it only adds to the negative perception of universities as closed-minded ivory towers of political correctness.

The right of free speech isn’t reserved only for people we agree with. The precise reason free speech is important is that it protects the rights of those we disagree with. When these speakers cancel, a valuable opportunity for dialogue about the disagreements we have with one another is lost. If you believe your views are right, come prepared to the debate table and prove it.

Benjamin Franklin once said that people who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither. Let’s not sacrifice our commitment to hearing others out for security in our beliefs. Students are smart enough and ready enough to have that debate — our long nights of study, toil and eventual graduations are proof enough of that.

■H

The opinions expressed in the Opinions section belong solely to their authors and do not represent the Highlander Editorial Board or the University of California, Riverside.

. FEATURES .

FEATURES

HIGHLANDER

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

ACash

9

CAMERON YONG / HIGHLANDER

fan of

Maxine Arellano, Senior Staff Writer

C

aps, gowns and exams have finally left the building — but not for long.

Some students took the well-deserved week to recover from finals’ PTSD just to jump right back into it. Summer session can either speed up the process of getting the heck out of UCR or be a reminder that the over-nighter after the party didn’t quite pay off. That doesn’t mean, however, that summer is only composed of fanning yourself off with scantrons and blue books. Financial aid is quite limited as well this time of year … limited to none, actually. And if students haven’t had a job all year to find only dust in the wallet come June, summer can only go downhill from there. Jobs all across Riverside are waiting for students who need a break from the books to earn some extra cash. So before you get too deep into classes, always remember you got options.

If you were held captive on campus during the regular academic year, chances are it’ll be the same during summer session. There are many jobs available on campus — especially now of all times. One of the most available jobs right now is tutoring. Through the end of May and beginning of June, R’Mail was flooded with emails of tutoring jobs looking for students in all fields.

From English to engineering majors, UCR and corporations alike, such as University Eastside Community Collaborative, are looking for tutors.

These positions are open to all students who have to endure the battle of summer session.

But let’s say you need a job to pay for a tutor for yourself — the jobs on campus do not end there.

Because many students have said “good day” to

UCR for the next three months, all of those jobs they took are now vacant. Check the eateries as well as the library on campus for available positions. Always check SCOTlink for jobs that are available just for students. And, if you get lucky, this job might even be guaranteed for the 2014-2015 academic year (but don’t hold me to it).

If you can escape from campus during summer session, you have a lot more options, starting with the UV. Just like campus jobs, many of these positions have been deserted since many students have gone home or even graduated. The University Village may be small, but it is bursting at the seams with jobs for summer. Ice cream shops, for example, are eateries that are almost always looking for applicants during summer. Most ice cream parlors are going to be hiring for this time of year because — I mean come on — what else is summer without ice cream dripping on the side of your hand waiting to be licked up? So your favorite ice cream place should be first in mind to apply.

Another shoo-in available at the UV (and elsewhere) is a movie theater. Just like the ice cream places, people all over want to beat the Hades heat that thrusts itself on Riverside with someplace cool … ergo, they need people to help with the summer rush. Watch some movies, make some popcorn and sit in one of the coolest places for the summer while getting paid.

For the commuters out there, the possibilities are endless and retail stores are right up your alley.

Most stores located in malls are hiring right now.

People stay and go to the mall because it is cheaper than running your own air conditioner. Malls are a great opportunity to drop your interest at multiple

places at once without breaking a sweat. Don’t think the mall is limited to just selling dresses and shoes, though. Kids are spilling out of arcades, dying to spend their parents’ money while you’re working for your own (moment of silence).

If you’re not a picky pants and the sun does not scare you, venture out for those outdoor positions. Amusement parks and anything of the kind are entering their busiest time of the year and in need of desperate students’ help. For example, Castle Park may be a smaller (sketchier) amusement park, but waiting for someone to run that carousel. Another option is water parks.

Besides a ride operator at a theme park and food and beverage employees, water parks require lifeguards. Lifeguards for water parks usually give the applicant training and certification in order to be employed with them. City pools, however, usually require certification upon applying, but are something to keep in mind. Get a tan, get a workout and feel like a badass when you say, “I am a lifeguard.” It’s a great way to spend summer.

Salary and hourly wages vary for different positions. But with minimum wage going up within the next couple of weeks, these jobs look a lot more appealing. Remember, when inquiring for any job, a stellar resume takes you far and a positive attitude takes you even further. Do not get discouraged if the first one doesn’t work out for you; there are many students fighting in the workforce. But once a job works out — and one will — be sure to have some fun with the extra cushion in the wallet. Because fanning yourself with money is so much more fun ■H than with a book.

10

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

FEATURES

HIGHLANDER

free laundry or freedom? maxine arellano, senior staff writer

It wouldn’t have surprised me if we thought college was going to be like an episode of “Fresh Prince.”

experience may be, but I can barely go get coffee with a friend with permission and reassurance of the 10 p.m. curfew of a weekday. I sit and ask: Will all students be going home face this?

A recent graduate moved back home with her parents. Boxes were her 3D wallpaper as she crammed a whole apartment into her bedroom. “I don’t know about you coming home late,” her parents said she opened the front door.

She thought to herself, “I didn’t ask,” but before she could rebut, she heard “my roof, my rules.” Same goes when the students had their own roof — but usually the rule is leave shoes in the basket and don’t pour the booze if you plan on babysitting. Are students ready to give up their castle?

So maybe the savings you had stored may have to go toward the electricity bill because of the A/C rather than that trip to Las Vegas. Remember though, it is your A/C to crank up or turn down, you get to choose for what. Make living here worth wild. If you decide living away from home, make your place your own!

■H

WEDNESDAYS @ 9AM

out day? They loaded up on Rice Krispy Treats and Red Bull right before they got the taste of free laundry, free food and even space. But, when at home with parents, what is the price of freedom?

I may have hung out at my friends’ apartment, but only because I told my mom I was “studying.” And even though there was an open book in front of us, I doubt I’d be allowed to go if she knew we spent our time cackling in front of the TV while watching “Copy Cat” on MTV with Chinese food handy. Since I never moved out from under my mom’s wing, I don’t know what it’s like to come home from that late-night cram at Rivera or wake up on the side of the toilet with a half-filled bottle of Fireball next to me. Those two scenarios may be just a facades of what the college

KUCR RADIO 88.3

family vacation or moving into some place with a new lease, they can call Riverside their home once again. But does it live up to the hype that is presented in the media?

(I’m pretty sure Disney shows ruined our perception of high school. It wouldn’t have surprised me if we thought college was going to be like an episode of “Fresh Prince.”)

I hung out at my friends’ apartment during finals week, and I swear, when I opened up the fridge, all that was found was two eggs in a carton and a fourth of a juice jug. Their diet consisted of chips and water until Thursday … the day of their last final. “I don’t want to waste money if it’ll only be used for three days,” they explained. Was this how many students felt right before the final scrub-down of the kitchen and apartment during move-

HIGHLANDER NEWSROOM

T

ime to crank up the air conditioner and load up on sunscreen.

Summer has taken over campus and it looks like a scene from the “Walking Dead”: deserted with casual zombies and fearless warriors. The “Welcome Home” mat at the front door of their home was either folded up into a box or stepped on while running to class. Students who have stayed living in or around UCR may be contemplating whether it was the right decision to stay or not. On the other hand, the others who have decided to make the trek back home are probably contemplating the same thing.

“Home away from home” may not feel as different from their parents’ roof as they thought — until they have to live under it once again. But is this a good thing or a bad thing? Coming from someone who still lives with a parent, I can add a little for those who wonder what it would be like living back at home.

Students enrolled in summer session had about a week before jumping right back to it. Whether that week was spent on

COURTESY OF FLICKR

H highlandernews.org Stay up to date with the latest UCR news or relive your favorite stories — it’s all online.

DESIGN

WRITE

SHOOT

for the Highlander

Meetings on Mondays at 5:15 p.m. at HUB 101 CLASSIFIEDS

Advertising Information

Please submit Classifed ads by calling (951) 827-5039 or by emailing HighlanderClassified@ucr.edu

Payment

Visa and Mastercard Make checks payable to The Highlander Newspaper No refunds

Rates

-Classified: $2 per line; 17 characters (spaces, dashes, etc.)

EMPLOYMENT

Gain great experience!

Get your name and your work published!

Learn the trade of journalism!

Work for the Highlander!

Meetings every Monday at 5:15 p.m. in HUB 101 No experience necessary -------Needed immediately: bilingual interpreter. Several hours/months at $20/hour.

Call Dr. Chabot 951/242-0060 -------GRADUATE STATISTICS MAJOR needed for Summer projects to help me analyze and summarize my data for research papers. (includes results, discussion of results, conclusion, charts & graph production). Payment is negotiable. Call 951/461-8952 Leave message/no texting

HOUSING

3 br/2 ba single story home in private & secluded location in the sought after University Knolls community of Riverside. Walking distance to UCR. Newly remodeled electrical, new floors, new appliances. 1857 sq. ft. on 1/2 an acre. Can accommodate 4 students. $1795 & deposit.

760/264-3362

MISC.

Campus 12-step meetings Tuesday – Step Study Wednesday – Meditation Thursday – Discussion St. Andrew Newman Center 105 W Big Springs Rd, 92507 Noon-1 p.m.

HIGHLANDER

@highlanderradar

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

R adar ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Events this week Tuesday | 6/24

Osher Summer Film Series, @ UCR Theater Department 1 p.m.

Wednesday | 6/25

Summer Nights in the Park Concert Series @ Fairmont Park, 6 p.m.

Wednesday | 6/25

Saxophonist Foster to Lead Pierce Street @ La Sierra University, 7 p.m.

Sunday | 6/29

An Enchanted Gala @ The Black Box Theater, 4 p.m.

Expect a number of small venue performances to roll through Riverside this summer.

JASON LIN / HIGHLANDER

14

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

HIGHLANDER

MOVIE REVIEWS COMING OUT SOON:

YVES SAINT LAURENT

THE PLEASURES OF BEING OUT OF STEP

TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

RATING: ★★★★☆

W

BY: ESTEFANIA ZAVALA, SENIOR STAFF WRITER

hen I walked out of “The Fault in our Stars,” my thoughts were stars I couldn’t fathom into constellations. Just kidding.

I was bawling too hard to make smarmy allusions to the best-selling novel by John Green this movie is based on. Actually, pretty much everyone in the theater seemed to be openly weeping.

The movie’s premise is not original — a smart, funny teenage girl falls in love with a smart, funny teenage boy.

Plot twist: they both have cancer. Hazel Grace (Shailene Woodley) is the cuttingly self-aware protagonist who narrates the movie, keeping the literary aspect to the story.

Her love interest, Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort) is the ideal young adult genre love interest: He’s attractive, wise and blatantly, conveniently in love with the protagonist.

Together, the two poke fun at their cancer narratives. They visit Amsterdam, which in the film is rendered beautifully and suffused with canals, champagne and charming waiters. They egg a nasty girl’s house in revenge for breaking their friend Isaac’s heart. But though the film emphasizes that these kids are more than their disease, their disease also permeates every aspect of the movie. Hazel keeps her oxygen tank with her throughout the movie.

Augustus has a prosthetic leg which he displays with an affected nonchalance.

If you have an Internet connection (and I hope you do), you are probably already a little familiar with this story. This movie is the newest teen craze — it took in $48.2 million in its opening weekend. However, “The Fault in our Stars” is not picking up the dubious tradition of cliche teen romance left by other book-to-movie adaptations, like “Twilight.”

Instead, this movie is disarmingly honest. This is a love story — but it’s also about dying and the family members of people with cancer. As Hazel so eloquently puts it, “There’s only one thing in this world shittier than biting it from cancer, and that’s having a kid who bites it from cancer.”

There’s a strong focus on the kids’ parents and the movie is better and more realistic for it.

However, the movie does fall victim to the tropes of the romantic comedy genre.

Though “The Fault in our Stars” aims for originality, the dialogue is sometimes sugary sweet and cringey. Characters yell and affirm their love

for one another constantly.

There’s schmaltzy music that swells up whenever the two protagonists kiss. And of course, like every teen movie since John Hughes, the main character Hazel proclaims that her life is nothing like a teen movie.

But she’s surprisingly right. This movie does not end happily but it does require the audience to suspend their sense of cynicism. “Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity,” Hazel says at one point in the film. It’s a pretentious and unabashedly gushy line but this movie is a hundred percent filled with unrelenting emotion, whether happy or tragic. “The Fault in our Stars” doesn’t roll its eyes and it doesn’t let you smirk.

Instead, it compels you to feel everything unironically and to empathize with the characters as they struggle to make use of their limited time. When Hazel says that line, you’re right there, nodding and sobbing along with her grief.

This brings me back to what I will lovingly call the “cryfest” in the theater. No one was ashamed that they were crying so hard at a cutesy movie. They seemed to go with it matter-of-factly.

“I just cried straight through the whole movie,” said Mary Martinez, a fellow movie attendee proudly, as if it were only the decent thing to do.

And in some ways, it was.

I recommend “The Fault in Our Stars” as an intense moviegoing experience if you’re willing to put in the effort and engage emotionally with the characters. Don’t watch it alone, though. If you rent it, make sure you’re accompanied by at least a very large tub of ice cream. You will cry. It’s H okay — you kind of have to. ■

Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

HIGHLANDER

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

15

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2

RATING: ★★★☆☆

D

BY: JAMESON ADAME, STAFF WRITER

reamWorks Animation is hit-or-miss with the majority of its films. For every “Shrek” that has come out of the studio, there seems to be a “Turbo” that just reminds you how thankful you are that Pixar continues to make truly fantastic films. It’s fortunate then that Dean DeBlois, half the directorial team of “How to Train Your Dragon” returned to bring audiences the aptly named sequel, “How to Train Your Dragon 2.”

“How to Train Your Dragon 2” picks up where the original film left off, making the already cool concept of a viking village even better by adding dragons and letting the vikings ride them. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is accompanied by his faithful dragon Toothless who, as always, appears more like a reptilian dog who has the power to shoot balls of purple fire. The two endeavor to create a map and find more lands using their abilities as dragon and dragon-rider to hop from one island to the next (as vikings are wont to do). From there, the story becomes about Hiccup taking over as a leader for his father Stoick (Gerard Butler), and having to face off against the newcomer Drago (Djimon Hounsou) and his army of enslaved dragons.

The plot isn’t anything worth writing home about, and most of the twists and turns were spoiled by the trailers for the movie. There are a few moments in the movie involving Hiccup’s family that may manage to raise an eyebrow of morbid surprise, but if you’ve ever seen a movie for children before, you’ll be far from shocked by most of the curveballs the movie tries to throw your way. While this is sometimes excusable for a sequel to play it safe, many of the subplots in the film go as far to be blatantly recycled from the first film, including Hiccup’s friction with his viking-chief father and feelings that he is too different from his village.

The voice acting in “How to Train Your Dragon 2” is — thankfully so — the saving grace to a film that would be otherwise so by the numbers that it could have been released straight to video. Baruchel and the rest of the main cast manage to do a fine job selling the audience on the gravity of an impending war with a dragontrapping army, and the scenes where characters lament losses they suffered are genuinely moving. That said, the moments of levity, like Hiccup’s scenes with his girlfriend Astrid (America Ferrera) are surprisingly cheesy enough that they would go well with a box of crackers, causing me to wonder whether it was a consequence of hammy writing or acting. Sometimes, the cheesy acting even come off as intentional, making romances between characters believably awkward and jokes measurably more enjoyable, translating how much fun the actors had while making them.

As the title suggests, the dragons in the film provide a huge amount of the movie’s entertaining qualities. Toothless and the other dragons often seem like domesticated cats and dogs, moving around and acting in ways that remind the audience of their pets at home. Toothless regularly rolls over onto his back, inviting a rub from Hiccup, and there are references to pack animal characteristics that are actually quite interesting for a movie that otherwise plays it very safe while also opening up the film for various sightgags.

Like any animated film however, the strongest aspect of “How to Train Your Dragon 2” is the quality of its animation. The computer animation in the film seems to be up to a standard that even Pixar would be hard-pressed to outdo. Textures of hair, water and even people’s clothes are astounding. Character movements are natural and smooth, allowing the audience to sit back and

Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

enjoy the spectacle of computerized settings and people.

Additionally, the exaggerated and cartoony proportions of the character models prevent the distracting effects of the uncanny valley that CG films

regularly suffer from.

“How to Train Your Dragon 2” is, ultimately, a fun film and as long as audiences aren’t over-familiar with the tropes of children’s movies and the ways in which those plots de-

velop, there is no end of enjoyment to be had. If you’re looking for something enjoyably simple that will give you an hour and a half to turn your brain off, then this is the perfect movie to go see.

■H

16

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

HIGHLANDER

EDGE OF TOMORROW

RATING: ★★★★☆

S

BY: STASEAN WASHINGTON, STAFF WRITER

ummer is here and that means that cinemas are filled with more explosions and gunfire than usual. The interesting subject of time travel warmed things up at the box office.

First it was “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and now we get “Edge of Tomorrow.”

The film is based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s manga and novel “All You Need Is Kill” and follows Major William Cage (Tom Cruise), who finds himself in a time loop when he acquires the power to “reset the day.” Through death, Cage has the power to return back to the day before he hits the frontlines in a massive D-Day style invasion.

He must use his power to win a war with an alien race but finds himself having to go through thousands of combat scenarios to do so.

The film uses time travel in a rather unique way — it’s like a reset button on a gaming console. Cage is a player who has reached a checkpoint, and whenever he dies he returns back to that checkpoint, but the sequence is still the same.

He then keeps dying until he carefully maps out his path throughout the level, so that he can pass it. Although this may seem boring to watch, the film tackles the same situation from multiple angles, allowing

the audience to see multiple facets of the film.

When Cage finds out that he needs to talk to Rita (Emily Blunt), he hits the “reset button” continuously to devise a plan to escape the clutches of Master Sergeant Farell (Bill Paxton). Cage goes from accidentally rolling under a military jeep during a scheduled training exercise to being struck by moving targets as he tries to maneuver his way through a target range to get to Rita. Sequences like these provide for multiple moments of comedic relief.

But, as soon as we get to love our heroes, the audience feels a sense of sadness when we find out that the death of one of the characters is a scripted sequence created by destiny that can’t be avoided.

Cruise manages to play a fantastic role, although he is out of his element for most of the film. Cage does not start the film off as a badass — he’s a civilian who has never picked up a gun in his lifetime and is thrust onto the frontlines.

His ineptness in battle is something the audience can relate to, and we watch as he turns from a character who doesn’t even know how to work the safety on a gun to a seasoned warrior who doesn’t even need a helmet in battle.

Blunt also plays a character

out of her usual role, but still manages to deliver a powerful performance. Rita goes from living up to her nickname of the “The Full Metal Bitch,” leaving her fellow comrades to die, to a sentimental mentor for Cage and eventually a love interest.

However, the film isn’t without flaws. Its unique take on time travel is both a blessing and a curse. Without a doubt, 15 to 20 minutes of filler could have been shaved off of the film’s initial 113-minute runtime. The film relies so heavily on montages of Cage dying that it deviates from the main storyline. Why do we need to see so many instances of Cage training and dying because he is injured?

Why do we need to see so many shots of him constantly dying on the battlefield?

These instances are kind of entertaining, but they run a little over their course and the film could get on with the main plot quicker.

With all of that said, “Edge Of Tomorrow” is definitely a unique experience. Its blend of creativity and basic movie essentials puts it above most summer blockbusters.

Although the movie does run pretty long for what it is, it is entertaining nonetheless and will definitely keep viewers interested.

■H

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

H write. shoot. design.

Join the Highlander 2014-2015 staff.

First meeting and pizza party:

Monday 10/6 @ HUB 101, 5:15 p.m.

18

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

HIGHLANDER

Summer Arts Preview NATHAN SWIFT, SENIOR STAFF WRITER

W

ith the regular school year over, many students staying in Riverside are looking forward to what the locale has to offer in terms of entertainment and the arts, because let’s be honest — sometimes it’s good to catch a break from Netflixing all day. So let’s close our laptops and go see what the fine city of Riverside has to offer (and no, you really don’t need to watch “Breaking Bad” for a third time in a row).

JASON LIN / HIGHLANDER

Concerts: Raising the volume.

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Music Releases: Turn down for what!

This summer’s musical releases will start off with Ed Sheeran, who’s known for working alongside acts like Taylor Swift and One Direction, and his new album “x” (read as “multiply”). Phish (yes, they still exist) also put out their new album “Fuego” after a five-year hiatus. Their album will return to their roots of rock ‘n roll and bluegrass.

Springboarding from the mainstream success of last year’s “Blurred Lines,” Robin Thicke will be following up with “Paula,” titled after his ex-wife Paula Patton, on July 1. July 7 will see the return of heavy metal act Judas Priest and their new album “Redeemer of

Souls” (so metal!), followed up by “Black Market” from straight-edge punk rock group Rise Against, on July 15. That day will also see the exciting release of Weird Al Yankovic’s “Mandatory Fun” (hopefully he’s still got it). Classic rock act Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers hopefully still have it as well, as their album “Hypnotic Eye” releases on July 29. Alternative rocker Sinead O’Connor returns to the music scene with “I’m not Bossy, I’m the Boss” on August 12, and the end of summer break will see “This is All Yours” by indie-rock band Alt-J on September 22.

The Arts: Get your art on.

UCR’s theater department will be hosting its own Osher Summer film series on June 24, July 1, 8, 15 and 22 at 1 p.m., where famous films like “The Godfather” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” will be shown. The Riverside Arts Walk will feature a diverse venue of visual and performing arts at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum and various locations throughout downtown on 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month.

On the theatrical side of things, The Box at the Fox Performing Arts Center will be holding “Beauty and the Beast Jr.,” performed by the Riverside Youth Theater from July 11 to 13 at 7 p.m.

Following in its summer tradition, Riverside will be the host to a number of concerts. The first concert to hit it off will be the Summer Nights in the Park summer series at Fairmount Park on June 25, July 9, 16, 23 and 30. This free, family-oriented event will also include bounce houses, food vendors, face painting and performances by local bands from 6 to 9 p.m. La Sierra’s Gary Foster Jazz Quartet will also be hosting its own concert at La Sierra University on June 25 at 7 p.m. Fairmount Park will also host the Riverside Youth Mariachi Competition on July 19 at 7 p.m., where local and regional

Movies: Let the good times roll.

With all Oscar-quality season yet to arrive, Hollywood’s currently gearing up for for its huge blockbuster hits, which are bound to be spectacularly awesome. There’s plenty of huge action movies that are each a part of a larger franchise. From Michael Bay’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” as well as “Transformers: Age of Extinction” to “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there will be plenty of CGIpacked goodies for our eyes to devour.

Other action films that’ll be sure to draw crowds are “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” “The Expendables 3” (full of old action stars who just need to retire), “Hercules” (starring the ever-fan-favorite The Rock) and

VINCENT TA / HIGHLANDER

mariachi musicians will compete for trophies and prizes in a rich and cultural experience. Grammy-award winning band Los Lobos will also be performing July 17 at 7 p.m. at the Fox Performing Arts Center, as well as Boyz II Men, who will be performing on June 26 at 7 p.m.

For the underground and indie fans, Blood Orange Infoshop will be hosting an array of concerts throughout the entire summer, featuring bWreck, Young Lovers, Pathos Mathos, Human Behavior and midlife crisis winery. And as always, Back to the Grind holds its own open mic every Tuesday at 7 p.m.

“The Purge: Anarchy.” There’ll be a few gut-busting comedies out in theaters, such as “The Fluffy Movie,” a documentary that follows the life of famous comedian Gabriel Iglesias, and “Let’s be Cops,” a buddy-cop movie starring Jake Johnson and Daman Wayans Jr. Movies like “The Giver” and “Get on It” will also be available for the more serious-minded moviegoers.

There’ll also be some nice kidfriendly films showing on Main Street, Riverside in “Movies on Main.” The event (which is free) will be playing “Monsters University” on July 10, “Despicable Me 2” on July 17 and “The Nut Job” on July 24, with each movie starting at 6 p.m.

■H

SPORTS

HIGHLANDER

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

19

UCR’s Ted Hooper proves All-American status JASON AHN Conrtibuting Writer

WRITE FOR THE HIGHLANDER NEWSPAPER

MEETINGS ON MONDAYS 5:15PM @ HUB 101

Several UCR track and field athletes qualified for the NCAA prelims, but none shined brighter than senior long jumper Ted Hooper, who qualified and placed 14th at the 2014 NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon on June 12.

Prior to the NCAA Championships, six Highlander athletes had made the NCAA West prelim rounds. This is an achievement in itself as only the top 48 athletes in their respective events make the NCAA West prelim round. Of those, the top 12 times and marks from both the East and West prelims make it to the NCAA Championships.

Danielle Littleton, who

was named the athletic department’s Female Student Athlete of the Year, placed 18th in the long jump and also placed 22nd in the 100-meter hurdles, at 13.73 seconds. Phoenisha Schuhmeier placed 38th in the long jump. On the men’s side, Michael Kroger placed 39th in the 400 hurdles with a 52.87 time. Caleb Stuart placed 41st in the shot put and fouled out of the hammer throw. Chime Ikeme placed 42nd in the discus while Carl Nahigian fouled out in the shot put.

Hooper placed second in the prelims with his first jump. Then at the NCAA Championships, Hooper earned a 23.95 foot mark, missing the nationals by less than five inches. This was the second time he was recognized as a second

team All-American as he placed 13th overall last year at the same venue.

Hooper is no stranger to adversity and success as he fouled all three jumps at the NCAA regional meet following his first Big West title in 2010. This year, he competed with a cast after fracturing his wrist while weight lifting.

A year earlier, his junior year, he finished 13th at the U.S. Track and Field Championships.

This season Hooper also broke UCR’s school record, one that has remained since 1972, setting the bar at 25 feet, 10.25 inches.

Over his career, Hooper three-peated as a Big West Champion in what will be remembered as one of the most successful track and field careers in UCR ■H history.

COURTESY OF UCR ATHLETICS Ted Hooper not only placed 14th at the NCAA Championships, he also broke UCR’s 42-year-long record.

20

. SPORTS .

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014

HIGHLANDER

Six Highlanders selected in 2014 MLB Draft

BRANDY COATS / HIGHLANDER Six students at UCR were recently drafted to the MLB due to their performance with the UCR team. They hope to grow more as professional baseball players and Highlanders at heart.

MELISA BIVIAN Staff Writer

Not knowing the next step in a collegiate career can give any student athlete pause, but beginning on Friday, June 6, six UCR baseball players got a dose of relief as they were drafted to the MLB. Highlander infielder Nick Vilter was selected by the San Diego Padres in the ninth round. The following day, pitcher Jacob Smigelski was selected in the 13th round by the Miami Marlins. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim drafted Zach Varela in the 23rd round, while first baseman Francisco Tellez was chosen in the 24th round by the Boston Red Sox. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected

outfielder David Andriese in the 30th round and finally the New York Yankees chose outfielder Devyn Bolasky in the 31st round. Meanwhile, senior pitcher Dylan Stuart signed a free contract with the Atlanta Braves. The Highlanders had the most drafted players since the 2011 team.

Vilter had a phenomenal season as he won several awards. He was named to the Big West Spring All-Academic Team; he was second in home runs per game and tied for second in home runs overall during the Big West season. He also compiled a league-leading 10 home runs.

Smigelski was also recognized in the Big West Conference. He was an All-Big West Conference Honorable Mention

selection during the 2014 season, as he finished 11th in innings pitched (99.1) and was tied for fourth in victories (8).

Smigelski had the second-best strikeoutto-walk ratio (3.83) on the team and struck out a career-high six batters at Portland on March 16.

Varela made 11 relief appearances to start the season, posting a 2-0 record with a 0.53 ERA over 17.0 innings. Varela pitched 86.2 innings while striking out 47 batters during the season.

Tellez was the second-highest in the Big West in slugging percentage (.583) in conference play, and his four triples in conference play led the league. He was another All-Big West Honorable Mention selection for the Highlanders.

Andriese was also an Honorable

Mention selection, finishing eighth overall in the league in runs scored (38). He tied for first on the team in hits and sac flies, led the team in RBI’s and at-bats and finished in the top five in batting average, slugging percentage, doubles, triples and total bases.

Bolasky finished first on the team in sacrifice bunts, second in runs scored and third in batting average. He was also sixth in the Big West with a .336 batting average and was named to the Big West All-Conference Second Team.

Stuart led the Highlanders in starts, innings pitched and complete games.

Stuart also set the school record for lowest ERA in a season for pitchers who averaged at least one inning per team ■H game at 1.41.

Baseball: Doug Smith announces retirement after 36 years ALEXANDER MANZO Contributing Writer

On June 3, 2014, Head Coach Doug Smith announced his retirement from the baseball program at UC Riverside. Smith has been a part of the program for the past 36 years, including the last 10 as head coach. In 2007, he was named Big West Conference Coach of the Year after leading UC Riverside to its first Big West Conference baseball championship and its second trip to the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.

Smith started his journey with the UC Riverside baseball team in his junior year back in 1973, serving as catcher for the next two seasons. From 1976 to 1980, he would also

serve as an part-time assistant coach to the team while he pursued his master’s at Cal Poly Pomona. During that time, the UC Riverside baseball team also won their first two national championships.

Nearly 150 of his former players have been signed to Major League teams and three former Highlanders have even won World Series rings.

“I’ve been honored and privileged to be a part of UC Riverside and the Highlanders baseball program for 36 years,” said Smith in an official statement, “and during that time I have been fortunate to be surrounded by great mentors, great peers and great studentathletes. I have been a very lucky man. I look forward to

continuing my relationship with UC Riverside Athletics, this time as a fan and supporter.”

“In addition to being a tremendous leader on this campus and in our department, he has been a true friend to the Riverside community,” said Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jim Wooldridge in an official statement. “We are going to miss seeing him (in) the dugout next spring, but he leaves the program in great shape, and the future of UC Riverside remains bright.”

Smith will be missed by players and athletics staff alike. Pitching Coach Bobby Applegate has been named the team’s interim head coach as a national search for Smith’s fullH time replacement has begun. ■

COURTESY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RADIO Throughout the years, coach Doug Smith has seen the evolution of the baseball team and will be missed for years to come.