FOR THE WEEK OF TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2014
Highlander University
Volume 62
of
C a l i f o r n i a , R ive r s i d e
Issue 30
Serving the UCR community since 1954
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UCR Highlander Newspaper
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UCR students, Riverside police forge deal to open new boxing gym SANDY VAN Senior Staff Writer
UCRChannelH
ASUCR: Gender studies requirement passes within senate ESTEFANIA ZAVALA Senior Staff Writer
For the past two years, Highlander Gloves at UCR, the official student boxing club on campus, has trained underneath the Amy Harrison bleachers near Lot 24, but that’s about to change over the next few months. Approached by Riverside Police Detective Mario Lopez, the UCR boxing club will be provided with boxing equipment, a ring and a brand-new gym to train in — all of which will be free of charge — and in exchange, a crop of student boxers will be tasked with tutoring high school students for 30 minutes a day, three days a week, starting in July 2014. “It came out as an idea (between) me and another person from the police department,” Lopez said. “We were working out with my dad in a park several years ago and that’s how the idea started: How can we bring boxing, (education and self-accountability) in this community?” Lopez, along with a handful of members from the Riverside Police Department (RPD), funded and formed the Raincross Boxing Academy (RBA), a lowcost tutoring and boxing program that promotes education, community and a healthy lifestyle for underrepresented youths in Riverside. The program will focus on boxing instruction, community service, accountability toward academics and physical fitness through the gym’s mentoring program. According to a press release, the RPD will collaborate with local high school educators, administrators and parents to identify at-risk students who qualify for the program. “Atrisk” students are categorized as those having financial difficulties or lack of interest in schoolwork, sports or physical activities. With grants provided by the Riverside Police Foundation, which consists of local residents who fund youth programs and
community outreach, RBA was able to rent out space within a building in downtown Riverside to construct a brand-new gym. Lopez says a good ring can cost upward of $7,000, boxing bags at around $150 apiece and a speed bag around $65. Located near Third Street and Vine Street in downtown Riverside, the rented space will consist of one floor of a building with three rooms: one for the gym and another for the tutoring center, with the third room’s use still being determined. The building is owned by the City Church of Riverside. “When you look at the building, one of the first things that comes to your mind is: ‘Wow, that’s right out of a Rocky movie,’” Lopez alluded, and said that the building was once an older warehouse and is located near railroad tracks, all of which gives the vicinity a more “traditional” feel. A membership fee of $30 per month will be charged to the public for using the gym and all proceeds will go to support overhead operating costs and
OPINIONS
RADAR
involvement. Major obstacles facing club members will include scheduling tutoring times between student boxers who may feel an additional obligation alongside their academics. Student boxers are not obligated to tutor and tutors are not required to be members of the UCR boxing club. Lagunas said the ultimate goal is to create a college pathway to Riverside youths by introducing them to mentors, creating a support system for them and showing students a better life. “(The academy is) providing a computer lab to help high school students and for us to teach them different ways to use a computer in order to get into college,” Lagunas said. She hopes to get at least 20 Highlander Gloves members to participate in the program. She adds that the new location may be a better alternative for the UCR boxing club, which is limited in terms of resources and spacing, noting that individuals are not allowed to hang boxing
In the heightened spirit of the last meeting of the year, senators unanimously passed a resolution that would support the implementation of gender studies requirement courses at UCR. Dubbed Senate Resolution 25 (SR 25), this proposal will now be presented to the Academic Senate for final approval. This resolution passed after a rousing presentation by incoming senator Summer Shafer and liaison to the Women’s Resource Center Malhar Shah on the necessity of a gender studies requirement for UCR and the availability of courses to meet the new requirement. The presentation offered visceral statistics to support the need for the resolution such as the fact that 95 percent of sexual assaults go unreported on college campuses. Shah and Shafer challenged the senators to see this rape phenomenon as preventable through the force of education. “Too many students are too sure of what gender and sexuality is. This often leads to prejudices and misconceptions. The gender and sexuality courses will give them the tools to engage (with these topics) and ask questions,” said Shah. Shah and Shafer’s solution aimed to make the breadth requirement easy on UCR students. The requirement, if adopted, would only apply to incoming freshmen so as to not delay graduation time for any currently enrolled students. They also anticipated opposition that the new requirement would delay graduation by making the gender studies course part of the additional humanities and social sciences elective which all colleges require students to take. This requirement is
► SEE BOXING GYM, PAGE 6
► SEE GENDER STUDIES, PAGE 2
JANINE YBANEZ / HIGHLANDER Highlander Gloves boxing club president Celia Lagunas (left) helps a member practice his punching throws during one of their meetings located underneath the softball stands.
Editorial: The city of Riverside should carefully chose how to inject life into downtown, instead of throwing money into empty spaces. PAGE 8
any additional revenue will go to scholarships for participating high school students in the tutoring program. With the goals of enhancing youth development, Lopez emphasized that high school students accepted into the program (about 20) will be granted free membership, in addition to all UCR tutors. Lopez said that he was initially “surprised” to hear that UCR had a boxing club, but after reaching out to Highlander Gloves around Jan. 2014, he was ultimately “impressed” after the first meeting. “The club was a lot more organized than I’d see in a traditional boxing gym, so it impressed me talking to them,” he expressed. Pitching the idea to Highlander Gloves President and certified USA boxing trainer Celia Lagunas, she expressed excitement, but understood the challenges of obtaining gym space and of creating a tutoring program. The club, which is in charge of developing the RBA’s tutoring program and part of the training routine, will emphasize community and social
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SPORTS Track and field crowns three individual champions at the Big West Championships in Davis, Calif. PAGE 24