“ROCKY” PETER AJOKU
10
RIVERSIDE ALUM SINGS HIS WAY TO ‘AMERICAN IDOL’
Highlander University
Volume 63
of
C a l i f o r n i a , R ive r s i d e
Serving the UCR community since 1954
Issue 14
FOR THE WEEK OF TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015
College Panhellenic Association to add one more chapter
AARON GRECH Senior Staff Writer
SANDY VAN Senior Staff Writer
More Greek letters are expected to blanket Pierce Lawn after UCR’s College Panhellenic Association (CPA), representing six single-gendered sororities, voted to add another chapter for the first time in over two decades. After six months of combing through sorority applications, visitations and presentations, CPA decided to support the colonization of Alpha Delta Pi in spring 2015. When former CPA president Caitlin Harrington first started UCR in 2010, the average sorority size was 87 women per chapter. Four years later, that number increased to 113, prompting her to take a serious look at expansion in May 2014. “So we saw this massive jump,” explained Harrington, “and that in conjunction with a lot of other problems coming up, like not being able to reserve rooms or the organizations being kind of static … we were like, ‘it’s time to do this.’” She felt that the chapter expansion would decrease the number of members in each chapter and ultimately make it easier for them to find enough physical space to hold meetings. An exploratory group made up of CPA chapter presidents and advisers released a feasibility report, which revealed that membership grew from 5.2 percent of female undergraduates in 2008 to 6.9 percent in 2013. This percentage had fluctuated around 5.2 percent up until 2013, when the organization saw a spike
Freedom march questions, ‘Are we living Dr. King’s Dream?’ A crowd of about 35 people attended the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom March and Celebration on Jan. 17 to commemorate the life and work of the late Martin Luther King Jr., who played a leading role in the Civil Rights Movement. Organized by Alphi Phi Alpha, African Student Programs and Associated Students Program Board, the event opened with a prayer thanking event organizers, past and current civil rights leaders and King. The prayer was followed by King’s last speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” which played to allow the audience to settle in as the speakers began. Lazaque Mugerwa, a fourthyear electrical engineering major and main organizer for the event, recognized the legacy of King, stating, “He had to dream because his personal reality drove him to a deep sleep, to escape the horrors of the Jim Crow south, segregation, police
ARCHIVE / HIGHLANDER Sororities and fraternities can often be found setting up letters around the Bell Tower to promote their campus presence.
from 488 to 662 members. CPA presidents, approving the expansion process in June 2014, received applications from a total of nine sororities applying for colonization. Such as in the cases of Chapman University and UC Irvine, Harrington says chapters are typically added every four or five years, which made UCR’s two-decade-long dry spell unusual. “Everybody was freaking
‘BRAZILIANS IN CALIFORNIA’ Amazing Villa-Lobos concert breaks boundaries over what classical music can be. 14
out,” Harrington said about the expansion process. “We were this hot button thing and everyone wanted to be at UCR for some reason.” President of Kappa Kappa Gamma Hailey Grisel initially did not know how to react to the news, but felt hopeful that more facility space would be offered to her sorority. “This past October, we were forced to use both the HUB and Pentland facilities
to accommodate the large number of women in our chapters. Had our community not gone through this expansion process, we may have run out of facilities to hold the larger chapters,” she said. The CPA report touched upon concerns over the creation of a “funneled structure,” a system where there are more new ► SEE PANHELLENIC, PAGE 4
Cell phone robbery on Rustin Avenue AARON GRECH Senior Staff Writer
Two males allegedly committed a cell phone robbery on the south side of Rustin Avenue on Jan. 11, about four blocks from campus. The suspects, one of whom was holding a baseball bat, approached the victim as he was walking on the sidewalk. They struck him in the leg with a basketball and took his cell phone from his sweatshirt pocket before running south on Rustin Avenue toward Tripoli Street. The victim was not injured. The suspects were described as two males, around 5 feet 8 inches, one wearing a brown jacket and the other wearing brown shorts,
NEWS 1 • OPINIONS 6 • FEATURES 10 • A&E 13 • SPORTS 20
according to the Riverside Police Department (RPD). No further description was provided by either department about the suspects. Both UC Police Department (UCPD) and RPD conducted an immediate investigation of the area, but neither department was able to locate the suspects. RPD took over further investigation into the crime, as it occurred within their jurisdiction. UCPD Assistant Chief of Police John Freese released a campuswide email urging students to take precaution at night. “Please take care to be aware of your surroundings and try to walk in groups, especially late at night,” ■H said Freese.
► SEE MLK WALK, PAGE 5
UCR sees 9.8 percent increase in applications for 2015-16 GUY HOCKER Contributing Writer
The UC has received a record number of applicants for the 2015-2016 school year, with the UC receiving 5.8 percent more, and UCR receiving 9.8 percent more applications than last year. A breakdown of UCR’s applicants reveals a high degree of diversity — just over half of the 47,699 applicants come from families with incomes less than $45,000 per year, and 58 percent would be the first in their families to attend college. In addition, Latinos and Asian Americans make up 77.3 percent of applicants. First-year neuroscience major Jasper Kuo thinks the rise in applicants could be good for UCR. “Sociologically it’s better ► SEE ENROLLMENT, PAGE 4
PLEASE RECYCLE